RTHK: Coming days 'crucial' in Ukraine crisis, Macron says

The coming days will be crucial in the Ukraine standoff, French President Emmanuel Macron said after the first meeting between a Western leader and Vladimir Putin in Moscow since the Kremlin began massing troops near its neighbour.

Russia, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and backs separatists in the east of the country, wants security guarantees including a promise that Nato withdraws some soldiers from nearby countries and never admits Kyiv into the alliance.

Washington has rejected those demands but says it is willing to talk about arms control and confidence-building steps as the powers clash over their spheres of influence in post-Cold War Europe.

Macron, who has pushed his diplomatic credentials as he eyes possible re-election in two months' time, held more than five hours of talks over dinner on Monday with the Russian president.

"The next few days will be decisive and will require intensive discussions which we will pursue together," Macron told reporters after the meal, which included reindeer with sweet potatoes and blackberries.

Putin suggested some progress had been made at the summit.

"A number of his ideas, proposals, which are probably still too early to talk about, I think it is quite possible to make the basis of our further joint steps," he said.

The pair are due to speak again after Macron meets with Ukraine's leadership, the next stop on his visit to the region and planned for Tuesday.

As Russia masses more than 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border, it has said it is not planning an invasion but could take unspecified military action if its security demands are not met. It sees Natos addition of 14 new east European members since the Cold War ended three decades ago as an encroachment on its sphere of influence and a threat to its security.

In Washington, US President Joe Biden, hosting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said there was still a diplomatic off-ramp to resolve the crisis, stressing the United States and Europe's biggest economy were "in lockstep."

The two nations will also ensure sanctions can be imposed quickly on Russia in the event of a fresh attack, Scholz told reporters. "It will have very high costs for Russia." (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2022-02-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled a defendant received a fair trial in McDowell County after he was found guilty of felony larceny, felony breaking and entering and injury to real property.

The decision came on Feb. 1, 2022.

Defendant James Wesley Sanford, 48, of Bostic, was found guilty by a jury in September 2019. He was sentenced to 18 months supervised probation and must pay $3,475 in restitution to the victim.

At the time of his sentencing, Sandfords attorney, Sandra Payne Hagood, appealed the decision, stating he didnt receive a fair trial for three reasons  the trial court erred by granting the States motions to preclude Sanford from making certain arguments and using photographs for illustrative purposes; failing to instruct the jury on his theory of defense; and allowing the States witness to testify over objection, according to court documents.

The appeals court disagreed with all three of these claims and upheld the decision from the lower court in McDowell, stating in their opinion after addressing each proposed issue from the defendant, After careful review of record and applicable law, we hold Defendant received a fair trial, free from error. Presiding Appeals Court Judges included the Honorable April Wood, Lucy Inman and Darren Jackson.

Background information from the case reads that Sanford and David Patneaude entered into a verbal agreement in September 2017 on renovations in an office building owned by Patneaude. The agreement was that Sanford would perform renovations and Patneaude would supply the materials needed for the project. A year later, Patneaude said the renovations were coming along slowly, while the defendant argued he wasnt given the proper materials needed to complete the work.

In 2018, Patneaude and Sanford couldnt agree on a completion date, forcing Patneaude to hire someone else to complete the work. During that time, Patneaude changed the locks on the building and left Sanford a note on the building telling him he was no longer in need of his services.

When Sanford arrived at the building to retrieve some tools, he claimed he didnt see the note, and entered through the front door when his key didnt work in the back door. This is where he noticed work had been done that wasnt performed by him. Sanford stated he retrieved his tools and headed out the back door when he saw the note.

After reading the letter, Defendant became concerned he could not finish the renovation work, because he knew there were faults in the completed work that had not been fixed. He thought, Well, if Im not going to be able to fix it, Im going to make it to where somebody else has to fix it, and you cant say thats not my work because it wasnt finished. Defendant proceeded to damage the property and took a hot water heater, toilet, sink and partial box of tiles, the court documents state.

On Aug. 6, 2018, Sanford was indicted on the felony charges and a trial was held on Sept. 16, 2019 where was found guilty. The appeal of the verdict was heard on Aug. 25, 2021, and the decision to uphold the charges was filed on Feb. 1, 2022. To read the opinion in its entirety, visit this story on www.mcdowellnews.com.
The Moroccan government has reaffirmed that the autonomy plan offered by the Kingdom for a lasting resolution of the Sahara regional conflict is the only doable solution to this issue which is fueled by the Algerian military regime.

The unwavering stand was voiced by Moroccos top diplomat Nasser Bourita in an interview with French media, France24 TV Channel and RFI radio station, on the sidelines of his participation in Addis Ababa in the African Summit held Feb.5-6.

In Morocco, there is a desire and willingness to achieve a solution within the framework of the Moroccan autonomy initiative and nothing else but the Moroccan autonomy initiative, he underlined, affirming that this issue can be settled only through the UN-round tables format with the participation of the main stakeholder to this regional dispute, making reference to Algeria

Morocco, which is in its territory and is in its self-defense, has never sought confrontation, added Mr. Bourita, noting that the North African Kingdom is for a solution within the framework of the United Nations and within the framework of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.

Morocco also adheres to UN resolutions on the Sahara, he said, recalling Algerias systematic refusal of the UN resolutions and decisions of the international community.

UN Sahara envoy Staffan de Mistura is working to re-launch the round-table dialogue. But if Algeria refuses to take part in the UN-led process, it would seriously undermine the UN efforts, warned the Moroccan foreign minister.

Regarding Algerias unilateral decision of cutting diplomatic relations with Morocco, Bourita said the Algerian escalation showed that that the ruling regime of this country is a real problem in this region.

Under the wise guidance of King Mohammed VI, Morocco has chosen to ignore the provocative actions of its neighbor, maintaining its composure and focusing more on what unites the two countries and peoples sharing a common history.
Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga accused France on Monday of having worked for the partition of his country through its military involvement, in a new virulent charge before diplomats in Bamako.

Mr. Maiga, head of the government installed by the junta that came to power in two successive putsches in August 2020 and June 2021, attacked France for more than 45 minutes, in front of diplomats gathered at his request at the Prime Ministers Office, without going so far as to explicitly ask for the withdrawal of the anti-jihadist force Barkhane led by Paris.

After (a) time of elation in 2013 when French soldiers liberated northern Mali, which had fallen under the control of jihadist groups, the intervention turned in a second phase into an operation of de facto partition of Mali, which (consisted in) the sanctuary of a part of our territory, where the terrorists had time to take refuge, to reorganize themselves to return in force from 2014, he said.

In a context of high tension between Paris and Bamako, he recalled the Second World War: Didnt the Americans liberate France? () When the French judged that (the American presence in France, editors note) was no longer necessary, they told the Americans to leave, did the Americans start insulting the French? he asked.

Since the Organization of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed sanctions on Mali on January 9, supported by France and various partners of the country, the junta has clung to the sovereignty of the territory.

The Malian authorities accuse France, a former colonial power, of having used ECOWAS as a tool.

The objective is to present us as a pariah, with the unavoidable and unmentionable short-term objective of asphyxiating the economy in order to achieve on behalf of whom we know and by proxy the destabilization and overthrow of the institutions of the transition, said Maiga.
Central African Prime Minister Henri-Marie Dondra has been dismissed and replaced by Economy Minister Felix Moloua, the spokesman of the Presidency of the Republic, Albert Yaloke Mokpeme, announced Monday.

I have resigned as Prime Minister, a new one has just been appointed, Dondra said, eight months after being appointed head of government by President Faustin Archange Touadera in this country at war since 2013.

The online news site Africa Intelligence had assured Friday that Mr. Dondra had submitted his resignation to the head of state who was then in Addis Ababa at the African Union (AU) summit, but neither Mr. Dondra, nor the presidency, had wished to confirm or deny.
A week after the attack on the government palace, gunfire was heard this Monday morning in Bissau. It seems that a private radio station was targeted.

It was the Capital FM radio station in the Bairro Militar neighborhood, a radio station considered close to the PAIGC opposition that was targeted. According to witnesses interviewed by RFI, two vehicles of men wearing military fatigues arrived in the vicinity of the radio station in the morning. Shots were fired.

Three people were injured and equipment was destroyed, but the toll is yet to be confirmed, according to Moustafa Keita, a radio administrator. Members of the radio station have expressed their incomprehension following this attack, knowing that this is not the first time Capital FM has been targeted.

The police have intervened on the scene and the building is inaccessible while local residents are gathered in front of the radio.

These incidents come less than a week after the attack on the government palace. Following the coup attempt denounced by the president, the authorities denounced an act committed by individuals linked to drug trafficking and mercenaries, rebels from Casamance, according to the government spokesman.

These new incidents come after a very calm last few days in Bissau, at least on the surface.
Namibia intends to accelerate the development of its first oil field to ensure production by 2026, an energy official said Monday.

The revelation follows a major offshore discovery by Shell.

The multinational said Friday that the exploration well off the coast of the southern African country had yielded encouraging results.

If we get it right in the next four years, it will be excellent for us, and the Namibian government has committed to the joint venture team to work hand in hand with them to ensure that we accelerate the development of the field so that we can produce as quickly as possible, said Maggy Shino, petroleum commissioner at Namibias Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Shells Graff-1 well was drilled in the deep sea, in water depths of more than 5,000 meters.

Ms. Shino said it was too early to provide exact volumes of oil encountered in the Graff-1 well or to know whether the new discovery was sufficient to constitute a stand-alone project or whether it required further exploration.

Another multinational, TotalEnergies, is currently drilling another well, Venus, in a nearby block.

By May or June, well be able to access enough data to be able to confidently tell you how much were talking about here, she said. Shell did not provide details on the size of the field.

Shell holds a 45% interest in the exploration license where the well is located. Qatar Energy also has a 45% stake and the parastatal NAMCOR holds the remaining 10%. An upper-middle-income country, Namibia is dependent on mining, a sector that provided more than 50% of its foreign exchange earnings between 2015 and 2019, according to the World Bank.

At present, Namibia is not an oil-producing country, but neighboring Angola is one of the major oil and gas producers in Africa.
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Sophia Rois Geffen was working in public health when she decided to train as a nurse so she could connect more closely with people.

With graduation from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing about six months away, she and other fellow Hopkins nursing students realized most patients won't see their faces, masked against the persistent coronavirus.

It's one of the many ways the landscape has changed and challenged nurses in the past two years. But it's not deterring Geffen and her classmates from running headlong into a pandemic that pushed many experienced professionals to the exits and created a massive shortage of nurses nationwide.

"We all came in pretty starry-eyed," she said. "Now, we understand it's a challenging time just to be in the profession."

There are big gaps, with some 3,900 nursing vacancies in hospitals around the state, the Maryland Hospital Association reports. That's up 50% since late August.

Nationally, vacancies are up 45% from a year ago and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 500,000 more nurses to quit this year, leaving the nation short 1.1 million nurses.

Nursing shortages aren't new. Nurses from the baby-boom generation have been retiring in large numbers and structural changes in health care management led hospitals to keep nursing staffs lean to save money, said Peter Buerhaus, a nurse and a health care economist at Montana State University. Sometimes the number of nurses was short, and other times new nurses lacked the experience of the veterans they replaced, though, for the most part, such deficits were regional.

With the pandemic, hospitals across the country just don't have enough of these front-line care providers.

Buerhaus said it's not yet known what types and locations of shortfalls will remain after the pandemic, but an aging population means demand will remain high.

"There are things that need to happen now and when we get COVID in the rearview mirror," he said.

Lawmakers, nursing schools and others are taking steps to boost the nursing workforce with people like Geffen, and keep the skilled nurses on the job.

The University of Maryland School of Nursing has been graduating students slightly early for the past four semesters to get nurses into positions faster and placing trainees in the hospital departments where they plan to work to assure a pipeline and reduce orientation time.

Gov. Larry Hogan used his emergency powers to temporarily loosen some licensing restrictions for retired and out-of-state nurses, and some of the provisions will remain in effect in coming months, despite the recent expiration of the governor's state of emergency.

Longer-term plans include recruiting more teachers for nursing schools, repaying school debt for newly hired nurses, and even marketing to potential students about the opportunities and fulfillment that comes with the job.

There are more than a dozen Maryland universities and community colleges training nurses, and administrators, including Jane M. Kirschling, dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing, have begun recruiting more students and instructors to more sites.

For example, she said, enrollment at the school's Rockville campus in the Washington suburbs grew to 200 this year from 120 or so in recent years.

Kirschling said she also wants a return to positive images of nurses, who were hailed as heroes early in the pandemic but now feel forgotten or worse.

"One thing we need to be careful of is portraying nursing as not a desirable career, that we don't need nurses or that maybe if they become a nurse they won't be employed," she said. "The truth is, they will have tremendous flexibility over the course of their career."

Sarah Szanton, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, also said she wants more positive marketing to attract more students from "all walks of life." She said that includes racially diverse applicants but also men, who make up only 13% of students there.

The school also is creating scholarships with millions in philanthropic dollars to make school more affordable. The average nursing student graduates with $110,000 in debt, but their first job pays an average of $66,000 a year, Szanton said.

It also means boosting Hopkins' annual nursing graduation goal to 400 from 300.

"We turn down thousands of qualified applicants a year," Szanton said. "If nursing schools were able to take them, it would make a big dent in the shortage."

Many Hopkins students turn to nursing as a second career and obtain advanced degrees. Szanton said that can put them on a path toward teaching, research or launching health care startups.

Geffen, 30, is switching careers. She holds a masters of public health from Hopkins and returned for the nursing program so she could enter clinical work.

Most recently, she was a contact tracer in her native Boston, notifying those exposed to the coronavirus. She also worked in the LGBTQ community and wants to use her new training to more directly ensure equitable access to health care. Geffen speaks Spanish and hopes that will help lift another burden on disenfranchised patients.

She said a scholarship from Hopkins "was an enormous factor for me." Tuition in Hopkins' master's program in nursing exceeds $65,000 a year and can top $100,000 for all costs, according to the Hopkins website.

"The emotional roller coaster that comes from hearing about student loan forgiveness on the national stageit's exciting, but you don't want to get your hopes up too much," she said. "It would offer freedom for so many people, especially people who don't come from a higher socioeconomic status. It would also help develop a workforce that looks like the population they serve."

President Joe Biden delayed some school loan payments during the pandemic, and there are other loan forgiveness programs. But advocates say more needs to be done to forgive debt for medical professionals.

Maryland advocates are backing legislation during the General Assembly session underway aimed at reducing nursing debt, similar to a program for doctors who practice in underserved urban and rural areas of Maryland. That program gives doctors and physician assistants $100,000 in repayments in exchange for two years of service. Doctors can reapply for another two years for another $100,000. Supporters are hoping to expand it, too.

Officials from 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, a nurses union representing about 2,000 workers in Maryland, want the program to apply to nurses and other lower-wage medical workers in underserved areas and in specialties with high vacancies.

Any training costs put programs out of reach for many lower-income people, said Ricarra Jones, the union's political director. For example, training and certification for geriatric nursing assistants, which are in high demand for nursing homes, can cost up to $2,000 and a patient care tech certification can cost up to $2,200.

The union also is backing proposals to retain workers by using government funds to match grants offered by employers for training at a community colleges or historically Black colleges or universities and by offering raises to low-paid workers by raising the Medicaid reimbursement rate for medical providers.

"All the bills are aimed at increasing wages, especially among the lowest paid in the nursing industry, who can make $15 an hour at Walmart or Uber and have less demanding work for the same pay," Jones said.

"We hear a lot from nurses about being burned out. They are working short-staffed and often doing double shifts and overtime," she said.

"Other issues are temp agencies are hiring away colleagues and then they come back and make more for the same work," she said. "We need to be thoughtful and not just have short-term solutions or five years from now we'll have the same problems."

Geffen remains eager to graduate in August and go to work. But she agreed there need to be policies and practices to show nurses they are valued. That means providing proper protective gear, sick leave, crisis pay and student loan forgiveness.

"I am inspired by the nurses I have seen who are organizing nationally around these issues and advocating for the safety and well-being of themselves and their colleagues," she said. "This advocacy and these protections can serve as a promising antidote to the moral injury nurses are currently facing."

Explore further The US doesn't have enough faculty to train the next generation of nurses

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People predisposed to heavy drinking and alcohol problems may have lower functional connectivitythe patterns of signaling between brain areasin regions that process emotions and social situations.

In a study published on January 22, 2022 in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine propose that the altered neural activity patterns may impair some people's ability to interpret facial expressions. These differences in brain connectivity, the researchers found, could be used to predict individuals' future alcohol use, and may provide the basis for new interventions to treat or prevent alcohol use disorder.

The risk of developing disordered alcohol use is genetically influenced and has been associated with an individual's level of response to alcohol, or how many drinks they must consume before experiencing the effects. Those with a low level of response to alcohol (low LR) tend to drink more and develop alcohol problems over time, compared to those with a high level of response (high LR).

Prior studies of low LR individuals noted decreased activity in certain brain regions, including the amygdala, that are involved in processing emotions and rewards. However, the new study is the first to assess the functional connectivity between these brain regions in this context.

"The ability to read facial expressions affects the way we interpret a situation and shift our behavior in response," said first author Ben McKenna, Ph.D., assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "If you can't properly process this valuable social and emotional information, this will affect your behavior, including your choice to cease or continue drinking."

In the study, 108 young adults with no history of alcohol problems were characterized as having low or high levels of response to alcohol. They were then asked to either consume a small volume of alcohol or a non-alcoholic placebo beverage, and perform an emotional face processing task to identify happy, angry and fearful faces while brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Researchers found that even with no alcohol consumption, low LR individuals had less functional connectivity between the amygdala and the frontal lobes, insula and parietal regions while processing the emotional faces. After consuming alcohol, this connectivity was further reduced in low LR individuals, while connectivity actually increased for high LR participants.

"We were surprised to find that the brain areas are communicating differently in these people even without any alcohol consumed, and before they have developed any significant alcohol problems," said McKenna.

McKenna suggested these decreased connections make it more difficult for people with low LR to understand and adaptively respond to their social environment. For example, seeing a happy face would typically produce rewarding brain signals, but if these are not being sensed properly in low LR individuals, they may rely more on alcohol to compensate and provide reward itself. Further studies will continue to explore these hypotheses and the specific networks involved in processing positive and negative emotions.

The team also reviewed follow-up data on the same individuals five years later, and found that they could use the participants' functional connectivity patterns from the earlier scans to predict their future alcohol problems.

"If these genetically-influenced neurobiological differences are predictive of future behavior, maybe we can identify them early on and try to educate people before they ever develop problematic drinking," said McKenna.

Marc Schuckit, MD, senior author of the study and Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, has been involved in developing and testing such psychoeducation programs. This research, he said, could help clinicians identify which patients to target, what kind of education to provide, and the best time to provide it.

"When trying to understand the relationship between the brain and behavior, the field has traditionally looked for differences in brain structure or the activity in individual brain regions," said Schuckit. "We're now seeing that functional connectivity between brain areas may add a whole new level of explanation. If we can develop therapies to target these networks, this could be a powerful tool for stopping the disorder in its tracks."

Explore further Gender differentiates how facial expressions are processed in the brains of alcoholics
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Cannabis-related emergency department visits and subsequent hospitalizations for adolescents and young adults in Ontario have increased nearly five-fold from 2003 to 2017, according to a new study led by the CHEO Research Institute.

The study "Cannabis-related emergency department visits by youths and their outcomes in Ontario: a trend analysis" published in CMAJ Open (Canadian Medical Association Journal) highlights an important emerging public health problem and a trend that is persistent and accelerating.

"It's troubling to see such a dramatic rise in pediatric cannabis-related emergency department visits, even before legalization," said the study's lead author, Dr. Melanie Bechard, a Researcher and Emergency Department physician at CHEO, a pediatric health-care and research centre in Ottawa. "The social reasons behind this surge are not found in the data used for this study, but the significant increase in visits should be a warning to families and doctors. More research is needed to identify the causes of this increase and the health and social consequences of cannabis-related visits for these youths."

The study examined more than 14.5 million administrative records of visits to emergency departments in Ontario from 2003 to 2017. The investigators found that the rates of youth with a cannabis-related visit to the emergency department increased. So did the medical severity of cannabis visits and the likelihood that an ED patient with cannabis intoxication would be admitted to the hospital.

"It's important to be aware that cannabis-related emergency department visits in youth were on the rise even before the 2018 legalization of recreational cannabis use for adults 18 and older in Canada. Post-legalization and with cannabis edibles, such as chocolates and gummies, now available throughout Canada, these rates may continue to rise," said Dr. Bechard, also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa. "We suggest that emergency department clinicians maintain a high index of suspicion for cannabis exposure in young people presenting to the emergency department. Suppose a young person has unexplained decreased consciousness or agitation; in that case, doctors should ask about possible cannabis exposure early in the visit."

The study did not aim to explain why there was an increase in cannabis-related emergency department visits. The goal was to provide an overview of an emerging population health issue that needs to be further examined and researched. One possible explanation for the increase in cannabis-related emergency department visits is that doctors may have become more aware of how prevalent cannabis use is. Another possible explanation is that some youths are consuming more potent cannabis products, or efficient modes of drug administration, such as vaping which can give a user a large and rapid dose of cannabis.

"A recent study showed an increased rate of cannabis poisoning in young children under 10 in Canada. Along with our study, this reinforces that parents must be aware of the risks associated with cannabis in youth and properly store and lock any cannabis products in the home," advised Dr. Bechard.

Explore further Cannabis poisoning in young children increased nine times after legalization

More information: Melanie Bechard et al, Cannabis-related emergency department visits by youths and their outcomes in Ontario: a trend analysis, CMAJ Open (2022). Journal information: Canadian Medical Association Journal Melanie Bechard et al, Cannabis-related emergency department visits by youths and their outcomes in Ontario: a trend analysis,(2022). DOI: 10.9778/cmajo.20210142

Provided by Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
Graphical abstract. Credit: DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-1012

Cancer metastases, the main cause of cancer-related mortality, are sometimes triggered by successful chemotherapy. A research group at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine analyzed this phenomenon and demonstrated ways of intervening to prevent it happening.

A study carried out in the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology sheds light on the mechanisms that sometimes result in successful chemotherapy, but that lead to the development of cancer metastasisthe main cause of cancer mortality. The article, published recently in Cancer Research, was selected to feature as the cover story and written about in an opinion piece by the magazine's editors.

Professor Yuval Shaked and doctoral student Jozafina Haj-Shomaly, who led the study, explain that the existing cancer treatments are highly effective and in many cases save lives, as demonstrated in clinical studies and data accumulated over the years. However, they say there are patients who do not respond to this treatment, and in whom the disease breaks out more aggressively afterwards, including metastases in other organs such as the lungs. The article explains the mechanism that causes metastasis after treatment even in cases where it successfully inhibits the initial tumor.

The researchers focused on the development of metastases in the lung tissue following chemotherapy for breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women; it also occurs also in men, albeit at a low rate. The survival rates of Israeli breast cancer patients are increasing thanks to the early detection of the disease and the improvement of treatment technologies. However, when the tumor metastasizes to other organs, the chances of recovery plummet. According to the statistics, about 30% of patients diagnosed with early stage breast cancer who are treated conventionally are expected to develop metastases within a few months or years.

Metastases derived from breast cancer are due in part to the breast's proximity to the lymph nodes in the armpits. This proximity makes it easy for cancer cells to make their way from the breast to the lymphatic system, which is a branched tubular system very similar to the circulatory system. Through the lymph fluid, the cancer cells migrate to other organs such as the lungs, liver, and bones, where they produce metastases.

The question that preoccupies many cancer researchers, in this context, is what conditions encourage the metastatic process and which medical interventions might contain it. According to Prof. Shaked: "Today we know that the metastatic process is not completely random. The metastases thrive in tissues where they find mechanical support and a supportive cell environment."

Prof. Shaked's research group discovered in previous studies that LOX, a common enzyme that affects tissue configuration, may alter lung tissue in a way that makes it easier for cancer cells to stick to it and develop metastases. When the researchers inhibited the activity of the same enzyme, a significant reduction in the ability of the cancer cells to attach to the lung tissue was achieved, thus reducing the formation of cancerous metastases.

In the current study, the researchers also focused on the LOX enzyme but this time in a different contextits involvement in the development of metastases following its secretion from specific immune cells: T cells classified as CD8+.

The LOX enzyme can also be found in high doses in lung tissues in healthy individuals, however this dose increases rapidly and dramatically in response to chemotherapy. Contrary to popular belief that this enzyme manifests itself in mesenchymal cells, the Technion researchers were surprised to discover that the increased concentration of LOX was due to its increased secretion by the immune cellsthose T cells classified as CD8+. The increase in the presence of this enzyme affects the properties of the lung tissue and transforms it into an environment that benefits cancer cells. This phenomenon can explain why some patients undergoing chemotherapy develop metastases even following successful primary care. The explanation, as stated, is in the effect of chemotherapy on the lung tissue in a way that this tissue becomes comfortable for cancer cells.

"When we talk about the lung environment in this study," explained Prof. Shaked, "we refer to the ECM, the extracellular environment within which the cells are located. This is a complex network of proteins that supports the cell structurally and mechanically as well as in terms of various functional aspects. In the current study we found that LOX's activity harnesses the extracellular environment in favor of the cancer cells. Following the changes that the T cells and the LOX enzyme cause in this medium, it begins to help the cancer cells grow, survive, move, divide, and cling to each other. Moreover, it can block the entry of normal immune cells and even anti-cancer drugs into the malignant region."

The study was conducted in a breast cancer model in mice and the anti-cancer drug Paclitixel, but the researchers assume their findings will be relevant to other drugs and cancers, which are expected to be tested in future studies. "We were surprised to find that the mechanisms of action we discovered, which encourage the development of cancerous metastases, are activated not only in response to surgeries as previously found, but also in response to chemotherapy and other drugs that we are currently investigating," said doctoral student Jozafina Haj-Shomaly.

"Our achievementthe detection of the mechanism that causes a structural change in health by the immune systemmay enable the development of combined drugs and treatments that prevent this phenomenon and reduce the chances of developing metastases," said Prof Shaked. "We are now working on developing barriers to the different proteins that cause the same structural change in lung tissue. We believe the findings of the studies will lead to an updated definition of the therapeutic bank targets and the use of LOX inhibitors to inhibit metastatic developments."

Explore further Cancer cells may promote metastases and resistance to therapy, depending on their state

More information: Jozafina Haj-Shomaly et al, T Cells Promote Metastasis by Regulating Extracellular Matrix Remodeling following Chemotherapy, Cancer Research (2021). Journal information: Cancer Research Jozafina Haj-Shomaly et al, T Cells Promote Metastasis by Regulating Extracellular Matrix Remodeling following Chemotherapy,(2021). DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-1012
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Princeton University have developed a CRISPR-based technology that can rapidly differentiate between omicron, delta, and other COVID-19 variants, as well as other respiratory viruses including flu. The team used the method, known as mCARMEN, during the beginning of the omicron surge in December 2021 to get a provisional look at the rising prevalence of the variant in Massachusetts. Based on those results, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) shared this information with hospitals in the state to help guide treatment options for COVID-19 patients.

To design mCARMEN, the researchers adapted CARMEN, the CRISPR-based diagnostic technology developed at the Broad in 2020, to be faster, more sensitive, and more easily implemented in clinical and surveillance labs, with the goal of using the optimized platform more widely during future outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 or other pathogens.

mCARMEN, an acronym for "microfluidic Combinatorial Arrayed Reactions for Multiplexed Evaluation of Nucleic acids," is described in Nature Medicine.

"The COVID-19 pandemic shows us that we need more testing, more often, particularly early on in a pandemic," said co-senior author Cameron Myhrvold, who helped develop CARMEN as a postdoctoral researcher at the Broad and is now an assistant professor of molecular biology at Princeton University. "COVID-19 shows us that challenging viruses will keep emerging, so we have to keep looking for them and come up with better ways of doing that."

"It's been wonderful to work on this big collaborative project," said study first author Nicole Welch, a graduate student in the Virology Program at Harvard University and in the lab of Pardis Sabeti at the Broad. "We're excited that it's already making a difference in this pandemic, and we hope to see its continued use to improve public health."

CARMEN V1

Researchers in the labs of Sabeti and Broad core member Paul Blainey first developed the CARMEN platform using custom microfluidics chips and CRISPR-based guide RNA molecules that can detect specific sequences in a pathogen's genetic material. In a 2020 study, they showed that CARMEN could identify a single type of virus in more than 1,000 samples at a time, or search for more than 160 different viruses, including the COVID-19 virus, in a small number of samples.

However, the original CARMEN platform requires custom equipment, involves a manually intensive 8- to 10-hour workflow, and offers a lower throughput than what's needed during a pandemic. To better respond to public health threats such as the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, the researchers refined the technology in 2021 to make it more clinically useful and allow it to detect multiple viruses and variants quickly.

The team adapted CARMEN to work on the commercially available Fluidigm microfluidics and instrumentation platform, making it easier to run and cutting the run time in half. The researchers also streamlined the workflow for greater sensitivity, so that it can detect pathogens in samples with less genetic material. In addition, by using CRISPR-based enzymes Cas12 and Cas13 in combination, mCARMEN can not only spot the presence of a virus, but also measure the amount of virus in a sampleinformation that can indicate a patient's ability to infect others or whether a treatment is working.

Viewing variants

In their latest study, the scientists showed that mCARMEN could distinguish between 21 different human respiratory viruses in patient samples, including SARS-CoV-2, other coronaviruses, and influenza strains, performing as well as the original CARMEN technology. Working with partners at Massachusetts General Hospital, they further demonstrated mCARMEN's ability to detect and distinguish between a number of human respiratory viruses in samples from patients.

To enable mCARMEN to both diagnose patients and monitor emerging COVID-19 variants, the researchers also developed a way for the platform to track changes in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They devised a "variant identification panel" of CRISPR-based guide RNAs that recognize more than two dozen mutations in the virus's spike protein. Each variant has a unique pattern of these mutations that can serve as a "fingerprint" for the variant in a sample. With this panel, the team showed that mCARMEN can look for these fingerprints and distinguish between six SARS-CoV-2 variant lineages, including delta and omicron, as accurately as can be done with viral sequencing.

The researchers say that mCARMEN can also help flag new variants. If an unknown viral mutational fingerprint shows up in a sample, it can signal that a new variant may be emerging, which can be confirmed with more in-depth viral sequencing.

In partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the MDPH, the Broad Institute has been conducting large-scale viral sequencing to support COVID-19 genomic surveillance since March 2021. With the emergence of the omicron variant at the end of 2021, the MDPH requested that Broad use mCARMEN to test COVID-19 specimens from across Massachusetts and provide a faster, preliminary analysis of omicron's prevalence for public health situational awareness. In late December 2021, the Genomics Platform handed off a subset of COVID-positive samples from its viral surveillance workflow to the team developing the mCARMEN platform.

The mCARMEN team used their platform to process nearly 1,000 samples in a day and quickly generate a picture of the variants circulating within the state. They estimated that omicron had been the dominant COVID-19 variant in Massachusetts since mid-December. In addition to demonstrating the platform's ability to rapidly generate insights from a relatively small number of samples, the finding also had a real-time impact on the state's COVID response. MDPH was able to reach out to area hospitals and advise that when using monoclonal antibodies to treat COVID-19 patients, they should now choose ones better suited to omicron than to delta or other variants.

"With mCARMEN's quick turnaround time, we could help support that immediate public health response," said Welch. "The omicron outbreak shows the need for a diagnostic that gives more information than standard PCR-based testing, without the cost or time required with viral sequencing."

mCARMEN would require regulatory approval to be used to diagnose patients. For now, the team is continuing to use the technology in collaboration with colleagues in the Genomics Platform, the CDC, and MDPH to monitor for omicron and other COVID-19 variants. As new variants emerge, they can easily add new panels of variant mutations to the mCARMEN workflow, to learn what's circulating and support public health responses.

The team is also working with public health departments across the country and beyond to utilize mCARMEN for virus surveillance in those regions. In addition, they are supporting collaborating researchers who are developing new applications of the platform beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, such as detecting and discriminating bacterial infections and monitoring for antibiotic resistance.

"Our hope is to disseminate this technology much more broadly," said co-senior author Pardis Sabeti, institute member at the Broad, professor at Harvard University, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. "With this update to the CARMEN platform, we can design panels for a variety of uses, which will help us prepare for the next infectious disease threat."

More information: Nicole L. Welch et al, Multiplexed CRISPR-based microfluidic platform for clinical testing of respiratory viruses and identification of SARS-CoV-2 variants, Nature Medicine (2022). Journal information: Nature Medicine Nicole L. Welch et al, Multiplexed CRISPR-based microfluidic platform for clinical testing of respiratory viruses and identification of SARS-CoV-2 variants,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-022-01734-1
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The first research definition of what is meant by post acute COVID-19, dubbed 'Long COVID' in children and young people has been formally agreed, reveals a landmark study accepted for publication in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The definition closely complements that proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for Long COVID in adults, and if widely adopted, will substantially help strengthen the evidence base on this debilitating condition, say the researchers.

The slew of definitions currently used, all of which differ in number, type, and duration of symptoms has contributed to the very wide reported variations in the estimated prevalence of Long COVID in children of 1% to 51%. This has hampered research efforts to date.

A consistently applied definition of Long COVID will enable researchers to reliably compare and evaluate studies on prevalence, disease course, and outcomes, providing a more accurate picture on the true impact of the condition, explain the researchers.

Consensus was reached among a representative panel of 120 international experts skilled in service delivery (47), research (50), and lived experience (23), after careful scrutiny of 49 statements each of which was scored from 1-9, depending on their perceived importance.

These statements were sequentially whittled down in three phases (Delphi process), with the final selection of 5 discussed at a virtual consensus meeting. These statements were then reviewed by a panel of eight 11-17 year olds affected by Long COVID to reach final agreement.

The included statements for a research definition of Long COVID in children and young people were as follows:

A condition in which a child or young person has symptoms (at least one of which is a physical symptom) that:

Have continued or developed after a diagnosis of COVID-19 (confirmed with one or more positive COVID tests)

Impact their physical, mental or social wellbeing

Are interfering with some aspect of daily living (eg, school, work, home or relationships) and

Persist for a minimum duration of 12 weeks after initial testing for COVID-19 (even if symptoms have waxed and waned over that period)

These translate into: "Post-COVID-19 condition occurs in young people with a history of confirmed SARS CoV-2 infection [the virus responsible for COVID-19 infection], with at least one persisting physical symptom for a minimum duration of 12 weeks after initial testing that cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis. The symptoms have an impact on everyday functioning, may continue or develop after COVID-19 infection, and may fluctuate or relapse over time."

The researchers emphasize the need to differentiate between a clinical case definition and a research definition of Long COVID.

"It is understandable that the patient groups representing people with Long COVID are concerned about a definition that could restrict access to services that are needed. In our view, the decision whether a child or young person can see a healthcare professional, access any support needed, or be referred, investigated or treated for Long COVID should be a shared decision involving the young person, their carers and clinicians."
Study author Jingru Sun removes a vial of bacteria from a refrigerator in her research lab. Credit: Washington State University

Research led by Washington State University scientists supports a novel theory that the innate immune system people are born with can respond differently to specific pathogens. This quality, known as immunological specificity, was previously ascribed only to the adaptive immune system, which develops over time through disease exposure.

Published in the journal Cell Reports, the study suggests that this innate immune specificity is driven by the nervous system and identifies a neuronal protein as a critical link in the process.

Based on an animal model, these findings hold early promise for the treatment of conditions such as sepsis, arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, in which the innate immune system attacks the body and causes uncontrolled inflammation. They could also provide the basis for finetuning an experimental treatment that harnesses the nervous system to fight infection.

"Clinical studies have shown that stimulating impaired neural circuitseither electrically or pharmacologicallycan cure or alleviate many innate immune diseases," said Jingru Sun, co-senior author on the study and an associate professor in the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. "Knowing how the innate immune system generates a specific response to a particular pathogen enables us to manipulate neural circuits to adjust the intensity of the immune response as needed."

Study author Jingru Sun uses a microinjection microscope to create genetically modified C. elegans for an experiment. Credit: Washington State University

This would essentially help restore balance to the immune system, either by dialing back an excessive response that can cause prolonged inflammation, tissue damage and even death; or by boosting an insufficient response to keep an infection from getting worse. Sun said the latter is particularly significant given that the "post-antibiotic era" is fast approachinga time when existing antibiotics will be useless in the fight against drug-resistant superbugs.

The research was conducted in a tiny worm known as Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) that feeds on bacteria in soil. C. elegans is a commonly used model animal for studying the neural regulation of innate immunity because of its simple nervous system with only 302 well-identified neuronsversus 86 billion neurons in a human brainand its transparent body that allows scientists to see how different genes are expressed. What's more, unlike humans, C. elegans lacks an adaptive immune system, making it possible to study the specificity of its innate immune system without interference from adaptive immune responses.

Initial studies by the WSU team had found that the absence of a neuronal receptor protein known as NMUR-1 had varying effects on the survival of C. elegans when exposed to different bacterial pathogens, indicating that NMUR-1 might mediate the specificity of the innate immune response to infection. Further testing with two bacteria that showed opposite effects on survivali.e., longer and shorter lifespanconfirmed that NMUR-1 drives innate immune specificity and also revealed how the protein drives different responses to different pathogens.

"What we found is that NMUR-1 controls transcription factors, which in turn control the transcription of distinct innate immune genes in response to different pathogens," said co-senior author Yiyong Liu, an assistant professor in the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and director of the university's Genomics Service Center.

C. elegans as viewed under a high resolution microscope. Credit: Phillip Wibisono

First author Phillip Wibisono, a WSU graduate student, said the next steps in this research are to identify which neural circuits NMUR-1 are a part of and then treat those neural circuits to see how that alters the immune response to different pathogens. If successful, that would bring their work closer to potential applications in human treatment.

In addition to Sun, Liu, and Wibisono, co-authors on the paper include Shawndra Wibisono, Chia-Hui Chen and Durai Sellegounder of the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, and Jan Watteyne and Isabel Beets at KU Leuven in Belgium.

Explore further A worm's view on immunity
Dr Sarah Gerson. Credit: Cardiff University

Playing with dolls can prompt children to talk about others' thoughts and emotions, according to the latest findings of a multi-year study from neuroscientists at Cardiff University.

The data expands on research exploring the impact of doll play on children, conducted by experts from the School of Psychology's Centre for Human Developmental Science and commissioned by Mattel.

In the study's second year, researchers from Cardiff and King's College London investigated the importance of what children say while they play.

They found that children talked more about others' thoughts and emotions, a concept known as internal state language (ISL), when playing alone with dolls than while playing tablet games.

The researchers say speaking about others' internal states allows children to practice social skills they can use when interacting with people in the real world and can potentially be beneficial to children's overall emotional development.

Lead researcher Dr. Sarah Gerson said: "When children create imaginary worlds and role play with dolls, they communicate at first out loud and then internalize the message about others' thoughts, emotions and feelings.

"This can have positive long-lasting effects on children, such as driving higher rates of social and emotional processing and building social skills like empathy that can become internalized to build and form lifelong habits."

Credit: Cardiff University

During observation of 33 children aged four to eight, researchers saw increased brain activity in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) region when they spoke as though their dolls had thoughts and feelings. The pSTS region is heavily involved in the development of social and emotional processing skills, further supporting the findings from year one of the study, that found doll play activated parts of the brain that allow children to develop empathy and social processing skills.

The study used state-of-the-art, functional near-infrared spectroscopy equipment to explore activation of the brain while children played with dolls and on tablets, both by themselves and with another person. The researchers found playing alone with dolls prompted more ISL about others than playing alone with tablet games and using ISL about others was related to increased pSTS activation.

"ISL can indicate that a child is thinking about other people's thoughts and emotions while playing with dolls," said Dr. Gerson.

"These skills are really important for interacting with other people, learning from other people, and navigating a variety of social situations. It becomes important for making and sustaining friendships, and how they learn from their teachers, and parents."

Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and global head of Barbie and Dolls, Mattel, said: "We look forward to uncovering even more benefits of doll play, grounded in neuroscience, through our long-term partnership with Cardiff University."

Explore further Doll play activates brain regions associated with empathy and social skills

More information: Salim Hashmi et al, Doll play prompts social thinking and social talking: Representations of internal state language in the brain, Developmental Science (2021). Journal information: Developmental Science Salim Hashmi et al, Doll play prompts social thinking and social talking: Representations of internal state language in the brain,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/desc.13163
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Despite the rapid growth in sales of e-cigarettes in 2017, researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego say smokers seeking to quit were not early adopters of the products. The report appears in the February 7, 2022 online edition of the journal Tobacco Control.

E-cigarettesbattery-operated devices that heat a liquid made of nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals to make an aerosol that users inhale into their lungswere first sold in the United States in 2007. In 2017, 50% of e-cigarettes sold had high nicotine concentrations, providing users with similar blood nicotine concentrations to cigarette smokers.

Proponents suggest that this may help cigarette smokers successfully transition from smoking traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes, however the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health study showed fewer successful quit attempts when e-cigarettes were used as a smoking cessation aid, and no reduction in relapse rates among those who quit using e-cigarettes.

"We found little evidence that smokers took part in the 2017 surge in e-cigarette sales, which was associated with the introduction of the high-nicotine JUUL e-cigarette," said co-author John P. Pierce, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

"This is the first survey in which e-cigarettes were less popular as a smoking cessation aid than FDA-approved pharmaceutical aids. Not only were e-cigarettes not as popular, but they were associated with less successful quitting," he said.

The use of e-cigarettes as a cessation aid dropped from 17.4% in 2016 to 12.6% in 2017 with 2.2% of e-cigarette users reporting a high nicotine version. However, the 2019 data shows an increase in e-cigarette use, which will need follow-up study.

Using data from the nationally representative Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) longitudinal study, undertaken by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the FDA Center for Tobacco Products under contract with Westat, researchers assessed the effectiveness of e-cigarettes used as a smoking cessation aid in the U.S. between 2017 and 2019 among 3,578 smokers who attempted to quit smoking and with 1,323 recent former smokers, some of whom switched to e-cigarette use.

Participants were established smokers in 2016 who self-reported at least one attempt to quit in 2017. In one analysis, the observational study compares individuals who were still smoking in 2017 and who used e-cigarettes as a cessation aid to those who used either no products or who used approved pharmaceutical smoking cessation aids.

The outcome measure was indicated by successful quitting in 2019, which is considered to be 12 months or more of abstinence. Smokers who used e-cigarettes to quit were less likely to be successful.

In a second comparison, the study compares those who abstained from cigarettes in 2017 but who used e-cigarettes daily, to those who used e-cigarettes non-daily, or who used another form of tobacco, as well as to those who did not use any tobacco product (including e-cigarettes). Again, the outcome measure was indicated by successful abstinence in 2019. There was no evidence that e-cigarette use reduced relapse to smoking.

In 2017, 32.8% of this representative sample of U.S. smokers reported a recent attempt to quit. Of these, 12.6% said they used e-cigarettes to help them quit, 2.5% used another tobacco product, 20.6% used only a nicotine replacement therapy or a pharmaceutical aid, and 64.3% did not use any product to quit, often called "cold turkey."

Among the 12.4% of study participants who were recent former smokers, 15.3% had switched to e-cigarettes, 15.9% reported using another tobacco product, and 68.8% reported using neither conventional tobacco nor e-cigarettes. Among those who had switched to e-cigarettes, 2.2% reported using e-cigarettes with nicotine levels of more than 4% while 1.2% reported using JUUL e-cigarettes, which were promoted as best mimicking nicotine intake from cigarette smoking.

Although randomized clinical trials have indicated that e-cigarettes help smokers when compared to pharmaceutical aids, the results have not been replicated in community settings which lack the support that clinical trial participants receive during quit attempts.

"When we controlled for variables that influence cessation, using e-cigarettes to help a quit attempt resulted in seven fewer successful quitters than were seen with approved pharmaceutical cessation aids," said co-author Karen Messer, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health. "Additionally, when looking at former smokers who switched from cigarettes to e-cigarettes, our results were in line with previously published work which did not support e-cigarettes as an effective relapse prevention strategy."

More information: Ruifeng Chen et al, Effectiveness of e-cigarettes as aids for smoking cessation: evidence from the PATH Study Cohort, 2017-19, Tobacco Control (2022). Journal information: Tobacco Control Ruifeng Chen et al, Effectiveness of e-cigarettes as aids for smoking cessation: evidence from the PATH Study Cohort, 2017-19,(2022). DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056901
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The EU's medicines watchdog said Tuesday it has started to evaluate Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 booster shot for children aged 12 to 15 years.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) last week said it would rule soon on a similar application to give the booster jab, called Comirnaty, to teens aged 16 and 17 within the 27-nation bloc.

"EMA has started evaluating an application for the use of a booster dose of Comirnaty in adolescents aged 12 to 15 years," the Amsterdam-based agency said.

"An application in older adolescents aged 16 to 17 years is also ongoing," it added in a statement.

The EMA last October approved Comirnaty booster jabs for all people aged 18 and older, followed by a similar decision to back Moderna's Spikevax shortly afterwards.

The EMA's head of vaccines strategy Marco Cavaleri last week said it was unlikely there would be a decision to approve two vaccines produced by French firms Valneva and Sanofi Pasteurboth currently under rolling reviewbefore Easter.

But he added that vaccinationin particular booster jabs"remained the best form of protection against serious illness from the Omicron variant of the virus."

Explore further EU watchdog soon to rule on boosters for teens aged 16, 17

 2022 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Canadian teenagers who attend schools in areas with high income inequality are more likely to suffer from depression than those in areas with low income inequality, according to the first study of its kind in Canada.

It is already well understood that being poor can negatively affect mental health, said co-author Roman Pabayo, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the University of Alberta's School of Public Health. But, he adds, "On top of the negative aspect of living in poverty, if there's a large gap between rich and poor in the area where they're living or going to school, that can have a further adverse effect on teenage mental health."

Ph.D. candidate Claire Benny, who led the new research, analyzed data from the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking and Sedentary behavior (COMPASS) study, which includes responses from 61,642 students in 43 census districts in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The students were asked a series of questions to measure their psychosocial well-being and mental health.

Her study showed that higher levels of income disparity in a school populationwhere some students come from poor families and others from wealthier upbringingsaffect students' psychosocial well-being, including feelings of inferiority and lack of self-esteem. This, in turn, often leads to depression. In these schools, the effects can be seen in students from both low-income and higher-income families.

"We see rising income inequality and rising depression among adolescents, so we have a wicked problem here," said Benny.

Depression is among the most common mental illnesses in Canada, and teenagers have one of the highest rates, with nearly 28.5 percent reporting symptoms such as feeling sad or hopeless in the previous year, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Benny said income inequality has been on the rise in Canada since the 1990s, especially in the largest cities such as Montreal and Toronto.

Pabayo said a second study by his team, recently published in the journal Health Education & Behavior, suggests income inequality in schools also leads to higher incidences of bullying among boys. Girls tend to cope with the effects of income disparity by internalizing their feelings, which can lead to depression and anxiety, he said. Boys tend to externalize with aggressive behavior, becoming the perpetrators or victims of bullying, or both.

Given that adolescents spend the majority of their waking hours in school, these findings should be a wake-up call for education and mental health experts, say the researchers.

No one wants to return to a time when poor children went to inadequate schools in low-income areas and wealthier students attended better schools elsewhere, said Pabayo, noting that a mix of incomes and racial backgrounds is healthy for a school population. But he added it's important for schools to offer more mental health support and interventions to help students cope with depression and low self-esteem.

Pabayo and Benny said this is particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when income inequality levels are rising, with many lower-paid workers losing their jobs or having reduced working hours while higher-income employees who work at home continue to thrive financially.

"With COVID-19, we're going to see even more problems because COVID has worsened mental health, but it has also worsened the income gaps," said Benny.

Explore further Wide income gaps affect health of rich and poor alike, says researcher

More information: Claire Benny et al, Income inequality and depression among Canadian secondary students: Are psychosocial well-being and social cohesion mediating factors?, SSM - Population Health (2021). Claire Benny et al, Income inequality and depression among Canadian secondary students: Are psychosocial well-being and social cohesion mediating factors?,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100994 Roman Pabayo et al, Income Inequality and Bullying Victimization and Perpetration: Evidence From Adolescents in the COMPASS Study, Health Education & Behavior (2022). DOI: 10.1177/10901981211071031
Image of the human PDAC slice culture that was used to determine the efficacy of the XP-524. Credit: University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois Chicago researchers have developed a compound that may one day offer hope for pancreatic cancer treatment.

A pre-clinical study of the experimental compound shows that it more than doubles the average survival time for mice with pancreatic cancer, and that survival time was extended further when combined with immunotherapy.

Led by Ajay Rana, professor of surgery at the UIC College of Medicine and member of the University of Illinois Cancer Center, the study describes the experiments and how the compoundcalled XP-524works.

XP-524 alters two proteins involved in the formation of several tumor typesbromodomain and extra-terminal motif (BET) and histone acetyltransferase EP300/CBP (EP300). The compound blocks these proteins, which helps to reactivate immune responses to the most common type of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

In the study, the researchers found that XP-524 also sensitizes the pancreatic tumors to immune checkpoint therapy, a specific type of immune therapy that helps the body recognize and fight cancer cells.

"In addition to extending survival in laboratory models of the disease, we also found XP-524 turned on the immune response and, when used in combination with an anti-PD1 antibody, more than doubled the median survival time in mouse models," he said. "It could be a useful strategy to sensitize pancreatic tumors to immune checkpoint inhibition."

Currently, there are no effective treatments for pancreatic cancer. The disease, which is resistant to chemotherapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy, has a low five-year survival rate11% for all stages combined and less than 5% for cancer that has spread. In studies, XP-524 appears to reprogram the pancreatic tumor to extend survival, Rana explained.

"BET inhibitors show promise for treating pancreatic cancer," Rana said. "By simultaneously targeting two aspects of the disease process, we see the potential for a clinically effective treatment."

Previously, clinical trials involving other BET inhibitors were stopped due to high toxicity and limited clinical efficacy. However, that data suggested that BET inhibitors may be more effective when combined with other treatments, which led researchers to investigate a combination approach, Rana said.

The study, "XP-524 is a dual-BET/EP300 inhibitor that represses oncogenic KRAS and potentiates immune checkpoint inhibition in pancreatic cancer," was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Explore further Focused sound waves and immunotherapy combination shows promise in treating pancreatic cancers

More information: Daniel R. Principe et al, XP-524 is a dual-BET/EP300 inhibitor that represses oncogenic KRAS and potentiates immune checkpoint inhibition in pancreatic cancer, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Daniel R. Principe et al, XP-524 is a dual-BET/EP300 inhibitor that represses oncogenic KRAS and potentiates immune checkpoint inhibition in pancreatic cancer,(2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2116764119
Screenshot of a sample page within CareAlign. Credit: CareAlign.

A doctor is ending a shift but her patient will be getting some blood draws later. She also hoped to have a pre-existing, chronic condition assessed by a different doctor in another specialty, who won't be arriving for a few more hours. On top of those tasks, the doctor needs to pass along what she had discussed with the patient already. It's a lot to orchestrate. But she's already noted it all down in the digital workflow system on her phone, and, unlike the recent past, she can walk out of the hospital without a second thought, knowing everything is well taken care of.

In health care, efficiently coordinating care between teams like this has always been a challenge. But several years ago, Penn Medicine created the digital workflow system described above, now called CareAlign, that updates in real-time and provides space for collaborative care planning. A new study published in Applied Clinical Informatics assessing uptake of that tool found that the majority of providers are eager to use the system, with nine out of ten confidently using it in their daily work within a week of receiving the system.

"This demonstrates that there is a definite need for clinician-facing platforms that build on to the investment health systems have made in electronic health records to help clinicians be more efficient, improve communication and streamline documentation," said the study's senior author, Subha Airan-Javia, MD, founder and CEO of CareAlign, and an adjunct associate professor of Medicine in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine and a former associate chief medical information officer at Penn Medicine.

The new studyfor which Jaqueline Soegaard Ballester, MD, a surgical resident at Penn Medicine, served as lead authorshowed that not only did the vast majority of clinicians begin incorporating the digital care coordination system into their day-to-day within a week, but 94 percent of all available departments had voluntarily adopted it four years after its first large-scale roll-out.

The CareAlign system was created when the University of Pennsylvania Health System's chief medical information officer, C. William Hanson III, MD, asked Airan-Javia in 2014 to develop a digital system that would make the workflows around patient care easier and more efficient to manage. Even with the proliferation of electronic health records, pertinent information for care once a patient was handed off to a different shift or team could be relatively difficult to access. Often, work-arounds were created, which might include shared word processing documents, paper print-outs, or even handwritten notecards. These work-arounds were often not consistent across teams within the same hospital, much less across a health system.

Initially, the development team sought to create a tool that just addressed hand-off situations, but they were quickly informed by clinicians that a more expansive system handling overall care coordination, including digital rounding, was needed. That better visibility of vitals, labs and other data, paired with the ability to seeand collaboratively planwhat everyone on a patient's team was doing and when. It was designed to be "information-dense" but in a way that was easy to parse, according to Hanson.

To put it in different terms, patient treatment workflows had been like static, paper day planners, and Airan-Javia and her team, which included members of Penn Medicine's Information Services and the Center for Health Care Innovation, wanted to upgrade them into the minute-by-minute calendar found on smart-phones.

What was developed pulls real-time data from the electronic health records relevant to each patient's current care. It also supplies a space for providers to note and plan the next steps in care, whether they belonged to the same team or worked in a lab or totally different hospital. To make it maximally usable, the system was designed to be accessible on multiple platforms, whether it was a phone, tablet, or workstation computer.

The first version, focusing on digital rounding was initially introduced in 2014. CareAlign in its full form was then implemented across inpatient services during the first six months of 2016 at Penn Medicine's three Philadelphia hospitals. As the health system transitioned to a new integrated EHR in 2017, the application usage remained stable and continues to be an important addition to the health technology stack for the health system.

For the current study of its use, the researchers analyzed usage metrics, surveys, and time-and-motion studies, among other sources of data. They found that once the workflow system was made available, 159 of a possible 169 primary inpatient services across Penn Medicine's city hospitals had voluntarily adopted it by 2020. Often the concern among health care workers when systems such as these are brought in is the time it may take to get comfortable enough with using them. But the study showed that more than a quarter of those who used the system integrated it into their typical workday after just a shift of learning it. Roughly 90 percent of users were using it regularly within a week.

"What we needed to do was create a workflow tool that was designed well enough that not only was it easy to use, but people would want to use it," said Roy Rosin, chief innovation officer in the Center for Health Care Innovation and a co-author on the research paper. "This can be hard in health care, where staff have so many priorities to attend to. But we believe that these numbers show that we succeeded."

The use of the workflow system also appeared to demonstrate increased engagement with patient data. A time-motion analysis showed that data was reviewed 50 percent more often by users equipped with the workflow system.

"One way to interpret this finding is that users of this system are now able to review data to satisfy clinical questions more often, whereas, before, the accessibility of data made it more challenging," Soegaard Ballester said. "Another interpretation is that with increasingly accessible data, more users are learning to incorporate this information into their work more often and in new ways. Increasing access to data may, in turn, help providers make more informed decisions and progress patient care more quickly."

A 2018 survey of users found that 81 percent felt that they felt their daily work would take more time without the digital workflow system, and 75 percent believed that CareAlign had helped them avoid making an error in care.

"Anything we can do to reduce clerical burden in healthcare is a step in the right direction," Soegaard Ballester said. "That frees up clinicians to dedicate more time to non-clerical tasks and/or care for more patients. This is especially important given the increasing rates of burnout in the medical profession and the challenges we are facing amid the COVID-19 pandemic."

Moving forward, the researchers hope to further assess how the use of CareAlign may reduce medical errors and potentially improve care overall. There is also a plan to introduce a CareAlign system for use among outpatient services.

"One of the biggest differences between outpatient care and inpatient care is time. When you are in an inpatient facility, time is measured on a shorter scale: Days, hours, minutes, sometimes even seconds," Airan-Javia said. "Once you switch to outpatient the time scales are biggerdays, weeks, months and longer. But the use of CareAlign is the same in both scenarios: Orchestrating care across many providers for one patient."

Explore further Online tool effective in triaging nearly all COVID-19 patients

More information: Jacqueline M. Soegaard Ballester et al, A Mobile, Electronic Health Record-Connected Application for Managing Team Workflows in Inpatient Care, Applied Clinical Informatics (2021). Jacqueline M. Soegaard Ballester et al, A Mobile, Electronic Health Record-Connected Application for Managing Team Workflows in Inpatient Care,(2021). DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1740256
Gardasil vaccine and box. Image: Wikipedia

In a new Annals 'Beyond the Guideline's feature, two experts debate the most appropriate test and interval for a young patient who has not yet undergone cervical cancer screening but has received HPV vaccination. All 'Beyond the Guidelines' features are based on the Department of Medicine Grand Rounds at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston and include print, video, and educational components published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Cervical cancer currently has one of the lowest case rates of any cancer due to improved screening methods and programs. In recent years, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) have released differing guidelines for screening. The USPSTF recommends that screening start at age 21, continue and through age 29 with cytologic screening every 3 years, then move to any of the following scenarios through age 65: cytology every 3 years, high-risk HPV (hrHPV) testing every 5 years, or cytology with hrHPV co-testing every 5 years. The ACS recommends that screening start at age 25 and then continue every 5 years until age 65, with hrHPV testing (alone) being the preferred screening method for any age.

BIDMC Grand Rounds discussants, Doctors Amy Weinstein and Huma Farid, recently debated the case of a 22-year-old woman who has not yet undergone cervical cancer screening and who has received HPV vaccination.

In their assessment, both Drs. Weinstein and Farid agree that the patient's vaccination status should not impact screening choices or intervals at that time. Because of the patient's age and medical history, Dr. Weinstein recommends that she begin hrHPV screening at age 25 to avoid unnecessary testing. Dr. Farid recommends that the patient should undergo screening now because she is overdue for screening under USPSTF guidelines. Both clinicians also agree that as the rate of HPV vaccination increases, cervical cancer will be less common, and guidelines will need to evolve to include later start ages, longer intervals, and less testing for patients who have been vaccinated.

A complete list of 'Beyond the Guidelines' topics is available at www.annals.org/grandrounds.

Explore further Some cervical cancer screening strategies more cost-effective

More information: Eileen E. Reynolds et al, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement: How Would You Manage This Patient With Severe Aortic Stenosis?, Annals of Internal Medicine (2021). Journal information: Annals of Internal Medicine Eileen E. Reynolds et al, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement: How Would You Manage This Patient With Severe Aortic Stenosis?,(2021). DOI: 10.7326/M21-0724
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

When Armani Nightengale waited in the car last March to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at Chicago's United Center, her husband was more nervous than she was.

Over the next couple of weeks, he carefully checked her arm to make sure nothing looked wrong. Then, the conversation shifted to when he would get the shot.

That's when things got more "combative," Nightengale said, as she began asking why he was reluctant, especially given that they had three young children. Her husband, on the other hand, felt unsure about how signing up for the vaccine would affect his immigration status.

But in December, after months of evolving conversations on the benefits of getting inoculated, he agreed.

"I was speaking as an African American woman who was born and raised in America; he is a white male from Europe," said Nightengale, a 26-year-old who lives in South Shore. "So it was like, how do we combine these two conversations?"

Nightengale is used to these high-stakes discussions as a member of Chicago's COVID-19 Community Response Corps. She is one of about 800 Chicagoans hired by the city for tasks ranging from contact tracing to monitoring the coronavirus hotline to promoting the vaccine through canvassing neighborhoods.

All members are required to take a free class with Chicago Department of Public Health and City Colleges of Chicago to learn effective messaging on COVID-19 vaccines. About 3,000 people have completed the two-hour "vaccine ambassador" course, hundreds of whom are part of the city's COVID-19 response team. Others are just ordinary residents from Chicago and elsewhere, said the city's public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.

The lesson covers the roots of vaccine doubt and its ties to historical racism in the U.S. medical field, as well as answers to vaccine questions and best practices for difficult conversations.

Arwady said it's one way the city is equipping everyday Chicagoans to spark dialog with unvaccinated loved ones who may be more likely to trust a familiar face versus a government official.

People who are vaccinated and boosted are far less likely to be hospitalized with or die from COVID-19.

"If you're somebody who's already been vaccinated, great, but you're not done," Arwady said, "We need you to talk about that with people."

Starting the dialog

Several COVID-19 response corps members spoke with the Tribune about tips they learned from both the vaccine ambassador course as well as their own experience with door-knocking and personal relationships. They agreed on approaching the discussions with a long-term mindset, keeping the tone respectful and knowing when to walk away from a combative atmosphere.

"This conversation is not typically a one-time conversation," Arwady said. "It's more important to keep those lines of communication open."

Nightengale said her first question when she meets a vaccine-hesitant person is, "Why?" Many times, people just desire someone to listen to their fears without bombarding them with immediate criticism, she said. It's also important to gage where that distrust comes from because many times, it'll surprise you.

"You open up a dialog, right? It's no shame, it's no judgment." Nightengale said. "A lot of times when you're able to validate them and give them a chance to speak, they'll also be willing to listen to you."

Caesar Thompson, a COVID-19 response corps member, said he learned that some people are not resistant to the vaccine but indifferent toward it. The 44-year-old from South Deering said his predominantly working-class Chicago neighbors don't always have COVID-19 high on their list of concerns.

For example, several unvaccinated people Thompson met simply didn't know the city offered at-home appointments and as a result, they put off getting the shot because of transportation issues, he said.

"Maybe if you live in my neighborhood, you might not even have a job or even have health insurance," Thompson said. "So you don't have a regular doctor. You don't have continuity of care. You don't have trust in doctors, and so you're much more susceptible to misinformation."

'Don't fight fire with fire'

Thompson also acknowledges that when it comes to close friends and family, it's easy for a casual chat to escalate into an argument. When that happens, it's important to take no for an answer.

Marisol Alfaro, a member of the COVID-19 response corps who works in West Lawn, said one method of staying calm is to not to take rejection personally.

"If they say no, walk away," Alfaro, 46, said. "That's it, right? Don't fight fire with fire."

But such composure is often easier said than done for vaccinated Americans who believe they have done their part and are losing patience with the rest of the country. It doesn't help that being unvaccinated has morphed into a political identity either, Arwady said.

"The way this has landed in the U.S. is indicative of, like, much deeper, larger problems in our political discourse," Arwady said about the topic of vaccination. "But at the end of the day, we don't make progress by further polarizing the conversation."

One strategy for tamping down emotions is to take conversations off social media, Arwady said. Although it may be tempting to directly comment on a negative post about vaccines, such a public spat usually leads to both sides digging their heels in.

"As opposed to piling on to the Twitter thread or the Facebook feed or whatever, actually just reach out to the person, private message them," Arwady said.

Keeping the conversation going

Arwady said above all, nothing is more persuasive than seeing others make the choice to be vaccinated first. She regularly strikes up conversations with strangers on the train and beyond about why she got the shot, and she said that has swayed some of them.

During one 2021 city event featuring CDPH's vaccination bus, one man asked for Arwady's autograph. She told him she'd comply after he listened to her talk about the vaccine.

"I was like, 'I'm just going to be straight with you. I have been vaccinated myself, and I think it's the most important thing to protect your health,'" Arwady said.

Later that day, he waved a fresh vaccine card in front of her face.

"I was like, 'You got to be kidding me,'" Arwady said. "But you just never know.  You are doing the best you can if you can just keep having the conversation with people."

2022 Chicago Tribune.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Why some patients develop metastases and others do not is largely unclear. Researchers around ISTA professor Daria Siekhaus are now contributing to a better understanding of the process in certain types of cancer. They took a close look at the role of a protein called MFSD1the mammalian relative of a protein they had previously identified as affecting cell migration in fruit flies. Therefore, first author Marko Roblek from the Siekhaus group created mouse cancer cells lacking the protein. Without the protein, cells traveled much faster, suggesting that MFSD1 prevents the cells from moving. Together with collaborators from the University of Zurich, the team tested their theory in living mice with breast, colon, and skin cancer. "In the absence of MFSD1, there was a strong increase in metastasis," Daria Siekhaus summarizes the results.

Cancer cells resist starvation and stress

"We wanted to know why lower MFSD1 levels were beneficial to the tumor apart from allowing them to move more freely. As cancer cells travel through the blood for example, they experience a lot of mechanical stress," Marko Roblek explains. Thus, the researchers performed a stress test on cancer cells with and without the protein. Using a tiny rubber scraper, Roblek tried to scrape the cells off the surface of the Petri dish in which he had grown them. While the cancer cells containing MFSD1 quickly died under the mechanical stress, those without the protein tended to remain intact. Without the protein, the team concluded, certain tumor cells could more easily enter the bloodstream and find their way to other parts of the body. In another experiment, the researcher tested the cancer cell's resistance to nutrient starvation with a similar result. Again, the cells lacking MFSD1 survived for longer.

Protein prevents detachment

The team was able to show that both the cell's reaction to starvation and mechanical stress are caused by the protein MFSD1. It does so by affecting specific receptors located at the cell surface. These so called integrins ensure the cells stick to each other and the extracellular matrix, a dens network surrounding the cells in our body. In a constant circle, the cell produces these receptors, transports them to the cell surface and back inside the cell. If a tumor cell lacks MFSD1, they fail to recycle a certain type of integrin. "The result is, that the cells stick less to the surrounding tissue and each other, which makes it easier for them to migrate," says Daria Siekhaus.

In cancer cells, high levels of the protein MFSD1 make it harder for them to migrate to other parts of the body. Credit:  ISTA/Marko Roblek

Patient data supports findings

The team's findings are also supported by an analysis of patient data by Rita Seebock from the University Hospital St. Polten, Austria. The data, which is available online to researchers in anonymized form, showed a correlation between the level of MFSD1 and the patient's prognosis. "We've seen that patients suffering from specific forms of breast, gastric and lung cancer who had lower levels of MFSD1 had a worse outcome. A high level of MFSD1 seems to be protectiveit works like a suppressor of tumor metastasis," cancer researcher Roblek says.

To optimize therapy for their patients, doctors are already analyzing the expression of certain genes. Now, they can also look for the gene encoding the protein MFSD1. "If this marker becomes more established, doctors can use it to help classify how aggressive the cancer is and to decide between different treatment options," suggests biologist Daria Siekhaus. In future studies, the team wants to focus in detail on how the protein functions on a molecular level and is curious to learn if artificially raising the amount of MFSD1 could help suppress the spread of certain tumors. The long term goal is to examine if it can be used as a therapeutic target.

The research was published in Frontiers in Oncology.

Explore further Researchers discover a mechanism that helps immune cells to invade tissues

More information: Roblek M. et al, The Solute Carrier MFSD1 Decreases the Activation Status of 1 Integrin and Thus Tumor Metastasis, Frontiers in Oncology (2022). Roblek M. et al, The Solute Carrier MFSD1 Decreases the Activation Status of 1 Integrin and Thus Tumor Metastasis,(2022). DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.777634
A student participates in Covid-19 surveillance testing. Credit: Georgia Tech

COVID-19 is often asymptomatic and can lead infected individuals to spread the disease without knowing it. Yet, regular surveillance testing of a community can catch these cases and prevent outbreaks.

In early 2020, Georgia Tech researchers designed a saliva-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and encouraged community members to test weekly to track the health of the campus. Their strategy confirmed 62% of the campus's positive cases in the fall 2020 semester. The method of surveillance testingfocusing on case clusters and then having patients isolatereduced positivity rates from 4.1% in the beginning of the semester to below 0.5% mid-semester. Their findings were published in the journal Epidemiology.

"One of the ways you can mitigate spread is not to think about testing as just an indicator for how bad things are, but actually use enough testing that you can begin to pull infected people out of circulation to reduce the spread," said Joshua Weitz, Georgia Tech professor in the School of Biological Sciences who developed the infectious disease models used to monitor campus.

Surveillance testing not only kept the community safe, but also enabled an open campus during a period of the pandemic when vaccines were not available. The strategy showed that combining multiple mitigation effortsfrom testing to social distancingcan keep a university operational.

Designing the test

The program relied on saliva PCR tests compared to the more common nasal swab PCR tests.

"I saw data very early on that the saliva tests were actually probably a little bit more sensitive than the nasal ones," said Greg Gibson, professor in the School of Biological Sciences. "I just knew that students would be more likely to do something that takes 30 seconds to give us spit. It's easy and safe, so it was just a no-brainer."

Saliva-based tests were a practical solution for a campus. The test could be self-administered, requiring fewer medical personnel and creating ease of access for students. The tests were also safer than nasal swabs because the collection tube contained a viral deactivation buffer that killed active virus but preserved the RNA at room temperature for analysis.

The Georgia Tech campus biomedical research labs were also ideal for this type of test. Andres Garcia, executive director of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience, realized robotics labs could build and run tests and make the program scalable.

"Testing requires precisely distributing different amounts of fluid to volumes, and this is a task really well suited for a robot," Garcia said. "With the large number of tests that we were expecting to need to administer, there was really no choice because having the robot really cut down on the human error."

Another novel strategy was double pooling. Each saliva sample was pooled twice into a group of five samples and processed. This had multiple advantages, according to Gibson. One was it prevented false results because each sample had to test positive twice to be considered positive. And, by pooling, the testing system could clear dozens of individuals at once, while also focusing on a positive individual and then referring them for further diagnostic testing.

"A purely surveillance test where you don't give anybody results can be done without much regulation, but it's minimally useful," said Gibson, who is a Regents' Professor, Tom and Marie Patton Chair in Biological Sciences, and serves as director of the Center for Integrative Genomics at Georgia Tech. "The double pooling strategy was a way for us to be able to identify exactly who was responsible for positive tests, and then go back to their original test and do a diagnostic one in a CLIA-certified lab." CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) certification indicates a lab has met federal quality standards for diagnostic testing on human samples.

In the Covid-19 Surveillance lab at Georgia Tech, technicians process saliva samples and load them into a robot that creates the pool that will be tested. Credit: Georgia Tech

The testing strategy

Creating an effective testing infrastructure was also key to the success of the program. A university is a high-density environment where a community lives, learns, and works. When the program was first implemented in the fall 2020 semester, Georgia Tech had 7,370 people in residence and 5,000 students, faculty, and staff who visited daily.

With the ability to run 1,500 tests at the beginning of the semester and up to 2,850 by the end, the program enabled most people on campus to test weekly. Testing weekly helped catch cases early with COVID-19's seven-day incubation period, and positive individuals isolated for 10 days.

Part of why this approach was so successful was because of what Gibson calls "synergistic effectiveness." By combining testing with mitigation strategies like masking and social distancing, Georgia Tech was able to reduce positivity rates.

"We've shown that testing doesn't have to be comprehensive with everybody testing every other day to be effective," Gibson said.

This strategy enabled the researchers to focus on campus hotspots and control spread. In the beginning of the fall 2020 semester, campus positivity was at 0.5% until a cluster was identified in Greek housing in August. This enabled a targeted campaign where 90% of on-campus residents were tested. The asymptomatic positivity rate peaked at 4.1%, but steadily declined back to 0.5% by mid-September thanks to rapid identification and isolation of positive individuals.

"We are a technical universitythat doesn't have a medical school or a school of public healththat developed its own effective testing program and was able to deploy it to test a large segment of the population and keep the campus in operation," said Garcia, who additionally holds the Petit Director's Chair in Bioengineering and Bioscience and is a Regents' Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.

Due to the success of surveillance testing, cases were kept at a manageable number. Most importantly, campus was able to stay open throughout the pandemic. The Georgia state legislature also adopted Georgia Tech's surveillance testing system in January 2021 and is using the program to track and manage cases during this year's legislative session. The strategy continues to keep Georgia Tech an active campus with in-person learning as the pandemic evolves. Ideally, the program established at Georgia Tech will remain in place, prepared to deal quickly with future infectious disease epidemics should the need arise, according to Gibson.

"We developed a program that in practiceand psychologicallyprovided a benefit to community members," said Weitz, who also serves as the Tom and Marie Patton Chair in Biological Sciences and co-director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences. "Many people could go get tested and know that they weren't infectious so that they had a less likely chance of infecting others. Or, if they did end up testing positive, they were able to isolate themselves so they didn't infect others. That is of significant benefit."

Explore further COVID testing using pooled samples showed high accuracy, low cost

More information: Greg Gibson et al, Surveillance-to-Diagnostic Testing Program for Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections on a Large, Urban Campus in Fall 2020, Epidemiology (2021). Journal information: Epidemiology Greg Gibson et al, Surveillance-to-Diagnostic Testing Program for Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections on a Large, Urban Campus in Fall 2020,(2021). DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001448
Papua New GUinea PRIME Minister James Marape sayshis Government is hoping to get China to commit to buying gas from Papua LNG before meeting with Total Energies in France next week.

Papua New Guinea hoping to get China Papua LNG [picture: PNG LNG terminal]

Marape led a delegation of senior ministers, including Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua, Commerce Minister William Samb and Fisheries Minister Dr Lino Tom to China on the invitation President Xi Jinping.

The delegation will be in China until Feb 8 and France until Feb 13.

France President Emmanuel Macron invited Marape for the One Ocean Summit and later the PNG delegation is expected to meet the senior vice president of Total Energies Patrick Pouyanne to further the Papua LNG project.

(Kua) is a principal traveller with me to pitch the sale of Papua LNG and the Pnyang LNG, Marape said.

The gas resource we have mounts up to almost 10TCF (trillion cubit feet).

We are asking the Chinese leadership to ensure that they add on to the present PNG LNG that they buy.

We are going right through to Total and hopefully the Total leadership will be encouraged by the fact that we are able to liaise with the market in China.

Marape said the China trip would be used to pitch the sale of the LNG so that was the link to the trip to France.





Next : Job: Senior Mine Geologist with OK Tedi Mine, PNG
TUESDAY, Feb. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Among U.S. drivers who use both alcohol and pot, over 40% say they've driven under the influence, a new study finds.

"Alcohol and cannabis are two of the most common substances involved in impaired driving and motor vehicle crashes in the U.S.," said study author Priscila Dib Goncalves. She is a postdoctoral fellow at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

For the study, Goncalves and her colleagues analyzed data from more than 34,500 drivers who reported any past-year use of alcohol and cannabis in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2016 to 2019). Interviews collected further information.

Forty-two percent of drivers with past-year alcohol and cannabis use reported driving under the influence. Of those, 8% reported driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI-A); 20% under the influence of cannabis (DUI-C); and 14% under the influence of both (DUI-A+C).

People who used both were 2.8 times more likely to drive under the influence of cannabis and over 3.5 times more likely to drive under the influence of both alcohol and cannabis, the researchers said in a university news release.

Eight percent of the participants said they drank every day, 20% reported daily pot use and 28% reported simultaneous alcohol/cannabis use.

Daily use increased the likelihood of driving under the influence, the findings showed.

One in five study participants met criteria for alcohol use disorder and 18% for cannabis use disorder, according to the report published Feb. 8 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Most of the study participants were male (57%), white (67%), had a family income of $40,000 or less (63%) and lived in a state with medical cannabis laws (68%).

"In the context of increasing daily cannabis use among adults, our findings connecting daily cannabis use and DUI raises public health concerns," said senior study author Pia Mauro, assistant professor of epidemiology. "Population changes in cannabis use frequency that may be associated with health hazards, including daily use, need to be continuously monitored."

The study was important because it examined recent (2016 to 2019) national data on driving while impaired by pot and booze.

Goncalves said identifying which groups are at high risk for DUIs could lead to more focused prevention strategies.

"Future research should also investigate the potential impact of low or 'promotional' cannabis prices with higher levels of use, intoxication, and simultaneous use of other substances," she added.

More information

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has more on impaired driving.

SOURCE: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, news release, Feb. 8, 2022

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TUESDAY, Feb. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News ) -- Mosquitoes see red when they look at your skin, and that brings them in for a bite, according to research showing that these insects find certain colors more attractive.

The findings mean that what you wear can reduce your chances of being bitten, but there's little you can do in terms of your skin. That's because everyone's skin gives off a strong red-orange signal that's highly attractive to mosquitoes.

"I used to say there are three major cues that attract mosquitoes: your breath, your sweat and the temperature of your skin," said senior study author Jeffrey Riffell, a professor of biology at the University of Washington in Seattle. "In this study, we found a fourth cue: the color red, which can not only be found on your clothes, but is also found in everyone's skin. The shade of your skin doesn't matter, we are all giving off a strong red signature."

Researchers found that when a common species of mosquito called Aedes aegypti detects carbon dioxide (CO2) from our breath, it then looks for specific colors  including red, orange, black and cyan  to find its meal of blood.

But they ignore colors such as green, purple, blue and white, according to findings published Feb. 4 in the journal Nature Communications.

"Mosquitoes appear to use odors to help them distinguish what is nearby, like a host to bite," Riffell said in a university news release. "When they smell specific compounds, like CO2 from our breath, that scent stimulates the eyes to scan for specific colors and other visual patterns, which are associated with a potential host, and head to them."

That process is similar to when a person smells something good.

"Imagine you're on a sidewalk and you smell pie crust and cinnamon," Riffell said. "That's probably a sign that there's a bakery nearby, and you might start looking around for it. Here, we started to learn what visual elements that mosquitoes are looking for after smelling their own version of a bakery."

Knowing which colors do or don't attract mosquitoes may lead to better repellents, traps and other methods to ward off mosquitoes.

The study authors said further research is needed to learn how other visual and odor cues, such as skin secretions, help guide mosquitoes to their victims.

More information

Learn how to prevent mosquito bites at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCE: University of Washington, news release, Feb. 4, 2022

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A Hamilton man was sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison on Monday for trafficking meth in Missoula and Ravalli counties.

George Thomas Walker, 44, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to possession with intent to distribute meth. His custodial sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided.

Walker trafficked the drug in Missoula and Ravalli counties from October 2019 to February 2021, court documents say. Law enforcement worked with confidential informants, who reported Walker as a prolific dealer in the area. They said he mostly obtained his meth from Washington state.

In October 2020, authorities found Walker in his vehicle with two guns, ammunition, meth and drug paraphernalia. At a traffic stop a few months later, in February 2021, officers found meth and heroin. The following month in Ravalli County, a search of a residence of an acquaintance of Walker's yielded meth in property Walker had left for safekeeping.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBIs Montana Regional Violent Crime Task Force, Missoula County Sheriffs Office, Missoula Police Department, Great Falls Police Department, Ravalli County Sheriffs Office, and the Montana Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Division.

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Missoula approved payment of almost $8,000 at Monday night's city council meeting for two recent police training sessions with a company mired in controversy surrounding comments made by its director, former Army Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.

In a video that surfaced online last year of a presentation by Killology Research Group in 2015, Grossman, head of the group, implies that sexual pleasure of police officers is amplified following a violent confrontation with a suspect.

Cop says knock down, drag out fight, cuff them, stuff them, finally get home at the end of the shift and cop says, gunfight, bad guys down, Im alive. Finally get home at the end of the incident and they all say the best sex Ive had in months, Grossman says in the video.

He then goes on to say this is one of the perks of holding a law enforcement job.

In a statement sent to the Missoulian and city councilors Tuesday morning, Missoula Police Chief Jaeson White confirmed Grossman delivered four hours of resiliency training to city officers. The two training sessions were held on Jan. 12 and Jan. 26.

Killology Research Group conducts the scholarly study of the destructive act  In particular, killology focuses on the reactions of healthy people in killing circumstances (such as police and military in combat) and the factors that enable and restrain killing in these situations, according to its website.

Since retiring from the Army in 1998, Grossman has been traveling around the U.S. leading training for the military, law enforcement, mental health providers and school safety organizations, the website says.

In a post titled Masks can be Murder on AmericanThinker.com from January 2021, Grossman writes at length about how covering the face with a mask erodes empathy and empowers interpersonal aggression, and how they can lead to increased rates in death and violence in the country.

There are no statistics cited in Grossmans post to support this claim. In January 2021, the U.S. saw a record 94,460 deaths from the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Killology and Grossmans teachings have garnered national attention. Grossman did not respond to a request for comment from the Missoulian.

In 2021, a law enforcement seminar scheduled with Grossman in Michigan was canceled in the wake of community complaints about the messages of his training, the Detroit Free Press reported.

In 2020, the Spokane County Sheriffs Office in Washington state planned to host a training with Grossman but suspended it following public outcry  thousands of people signed petitions protesting the training, as reported by the Spokesman-Review.

The resiliency training provided was not fear based or the promotion of police violence as some have claimed. It was quite the opposite," White said in Tuesday's statement. "The training focused on identifying those challenges, developing proper strategies to mitigate their impact on mental health, becoming resilient, and remaining a professional public servant dedicated to the respect and safety of the community.

The chief attended the sessions provided to Missoula police and found them to be professional and valuable, he said. He had not seen the video with Grossmans comments about police violence leading to better sex prior to the training.

I have personally seen Lt. Colonel Grossman present this information in the past and found it to be valuable for officer resilience and mental survival for a very demanding career field, White said.

Missoula police have no future trainings scheduled with Grossman, White added.

First-term councilor Daniel Carlino raised a concern with the training during Monday nights city council meeting ahead of a vote to approve the spending. He twice expressed concern about the training from Killology. Other councilors, including Jordan Hess and Sandra Vasecka, did as well.

Im bringing this up because I believe that the Missoula Police Department and our city doesnt want someone who was glorifying police violence and killings to be the same person who was training our police officers, Carlino told council.

Council voted unanimously among those in attendance to approve the claims sheet, which included the $7,780.09 charge. That includes 42 copies of the book Bulletproof Mind.

Mayor John Engen told the council he would look into the matter. On Tuesday morning after talking with White, Engen said he trusts the chiefs judgment in establishing training courses for officers that are consistent with the citys goals and values.

(The training was) about resilience and mental health for folks working in a tough profession, the training was professional and well-received by officers and those who took part in the training now have additional tools that allow them to be trusted, professional public servants, Engen said.

While I think the name of Mr. Grossmans company is unfortunate and the content of the video clip was distasteful, Im confident in the chiefs assertion that the training presented to our officers was professional and continues to be well-received by respected law enforcement agencies around the United States, the mayor continued.

Jordan Hansen covers news and local government for the Missoulian. Shout at him on Twitter @jordyhansen or send him an email at Jordan.Hansen@Missoulian.com

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The owner of an assisted living facility in Missoula met Monday with protesters who are concerned about a resident who contracted COVID-19.

The protesters are also upset about a state law that prevents employers from requiring vaccinations.

The protest outside BeeHive Homes was organized by Summit Independent Living, a nonprofit organization that offers advocacy and other services to people with disabilities.

A disabled resident of BeeHive Homes recently contacted Summit Independent Living after contracting COVID-19 in the facility, explained Travis Hoffman, the interim director of Summit.

Although the resident was vaccinated when all BeeHive residents were initially vaccinated, the resident decided to get a booster shot after contracting COVID last week, Hoffman said. Since the middle of January, BeeHive Homes of Missoula has been under health officers order from the Missoula City-County Health Department for an uncontrolled COVID outbreak.

That meant the resident has been unable to leave the facility to get a booster shot or have someone come in, Hoffman said.

In addition, and more importantly, BeeHive does not require staff to be vaccinated, Hoffman said. Disabled people are at far greater risk from COVID-19, and people living in any congregate setting are at extreme risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19.

Ty Harding, the owner of the BeeHive Homes franchise in Missoula, came out and spoke with about a dozen in-person protesters, along with 27 people participating in a livestream of the event.

Several of the protesters, including Marsha Katz, Jenny Montgomery and Gavin Workman, asked Harding what he is doing to encourage his staff to get vaccinated. They suggested he offer incentives for vaccination, because a Montana law called House Bill 702, passed in 2021, prevents employers from requiring vaccinations.

Harding said the law, written by Republican legislators and signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte, prevents his facility from requiring vaccinations.

He also said about 25% of his staff have refused to get the vaccine, although hes vaccinated himself and has tried to educate his employees about the benefits of vaccination.

BeeHive Homes is facing a staffing crisis, he said, and it would be impossible to fill positions if he required vaccination for employment.

This is not a desirable job, he said. And its not easy to find people that have the heart it takes to do this. And for me to take 25% of my team and say, you cant work here, even though youve worked here for 20 years, and you need to go somewhere else, thats hard for me when nobody is lining up to take their place.

Harding noted that the 25% who arent vaccinated feel very strongly about the issue.

Theres another protest going on on the other side of this town that is totally opposite of yours, Harding said, referring to a Sunday anti-vaccine mandate rally on Reserve Street.

After an hour-long conversation, the protesters convinced Harding to at least seek guidance from the health department on how to get a booster shot for the resident.

If you dont, well be back again with more people, said protester Michael Beers.

Harding told the Missoulian that hell work to get every resident a booster shot if they choose to do so.

As for our residents that desire a booster shot, we are currently on lockdown, he said. We have been on lockdown for several weeks now. We are very close now to being released by the health department. Since we have been on lockdown in our five homes here, we have monitored and risk-managed essential doctor visits very closely and rescheduled non-essential visits.

Harding has reached out to the health department to see when they could get someone in to give the disabled resident a booster shot, he said.

Once they are released from lockdown, all non-essential health care visits will continue, he added.

Each case is unique, and we are doing our best to keep our residents and community safe, he said.

Jenny Montgomery, a board member of Summit Independent Living, said HB 702 has put peoples lives in danger. Mondays protest was also aimed at trying to convince the 25% of staff members to get vaccinated and stepping up pressure on state government.

We need the Legislature to step up and protect people, she said, adding that she doesnt understand how staff members rationalize not getting vaccinated when residents get extremely sick or die from COVID-19.

Gavin Workman, a protester, held a sign that said HB 702 is killing people.

People in a protected setting, in a hospital situation or in a congregate care facility should have a right to be around people who are vaccinated and not exposed to COVID-19, Workman said. And HB 702 allows for people who are unvaccinated to come and work in facilities where people should have a right to be protected from certain infectious diseases.

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FORT WALTON BEACH  A man wanted for questioning in a domestic violence-related double homicide was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday.

Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office investigators had been searching for Chad Ankenbrand, 47, since deputies discovered the bodies of his estranged girlfriend, Annastacia Merrell, 52, and her co-worker, Patrick Tymoch, 51, inside Merrells home at 2908 Bentwood Lane in the Willow Bend subdivision Tuesday afternoon.

Original coverage: Man, woman found dead at Fort Walton Beach home. OCSO wants 'armed and dangerous' man for questioning

Do you have any information?: Shooting of 15-year-old on Cinco Bayou Bridge investigated as 'targeted crime,' police say

Merrell and Tymoch appeared to have suffered single gunshot wounds, according to an OCSO news release. Investigators believe the shootings could have occurred Monday. Autopsies have been scheduled.

Ankenbrand, who was considered a person of interest, was found dead Wednesday inside Merrells 2013 silver Nissan Juke not far from the Indiana and Illinois state line.

Investigators believe Ankenbrand was trying to get to Illinois, where he had connections. His missing black Ford Mustang was found at a home east of Crestview on Wednesday.

Two people were found dead inside a home at 2908 Bentwood Lane in Fort Walton Beach Tuesday evening. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is asking for anyone with information to contact 850-651-7400 or their nearest local law enforcement agency.

Investigators learned that he had sold the car Monday to a resident who immediately contacted law enforcement after discovering Wednesday afternoon that the OCSO was trying to find the vehicle and Ankenbrand.

The OCSO is continuing to investigate the shooting to determine all the facts, the release said.

Neighbor Zaria Shane said her family met Ankenbrand when he offered to help them carry boxes about four months ago as they were moving in across the street from Merrells house.

Shane slept in a bedroom facing Merrells house and she said she would often hear Ankenbrands Ford Mustang pull up because of the loud noise it made.

Shane recalled seeing Ankenbrand be violent with Merrell about a month ago. But the family was shocked when they saw several deputies surrounding the house Tuesday.

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Weve seen him hit her and kind of shove her into the house. We didnt expect it, but we saw signs of it, Shane said. We thought they were really nice people. The woman was really sweet. Every time they were outside we would talk to them.

Her mother, Christina Shane, said the neighborhood has generally seemed like a safe place to live.

When the cop came and asked me questions yesterday, he said that he hasnt had to come on this road for years, Chrstina Shane said. He said this was very surprising. We just had cameras installed yesterday, so if we had our cameras one day earlier we may have been more help.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Fort Walton Beach double homicide person of interest Chad Ankenbrand found dead
PROVIDENCE  House leaders have been waging an out-of-sight battle for votes to extend Gov. Dan McKee's emergency powers, in the face of resistance from COVID-weary legislators.

If nothing is done, the powers that Democrat McKee has exercised in Rhode Island's long-running public health emergency to order mask-wearing in schools, immunize health-care facilities from lawsuits  and more  would expire on Monday under a 180-day time limit the lawmakers imposed earlier.

A late-emerging compromise that would extend McKee's emergency powers through March 31  instead of the April 15 cutoff date initially contemplated  won the approval of key House and Senate committees on Tuesday. But the battle is not over.

The 45-day extension cleared the House Committee on State Government & Elections on an 11-to-5, that placed the chairman, Evan Shanley, and his fellow Democrat Arthur Corvese in the minority along with Republicans Blake Filippi, Brian Newberry and George Nardone.

The Senate Committee on Special Legislation also approved the compromise, on an 8-4 vote with Democrat Leonidas Raptakis joining Republicans Elaine Morgan, Jessica de la Cruz and Dennis Algiere in voting nay.

"We are back in session so I think that delegating all of this power to one branch of our government is not constitutional," said Morgan, R-Hopkinton, before voting no.

Before casting his own vote in favor of the extension, the chairman  Sen. Walter Felag  urged McKee to set parameters for exiting the state of emergency.

"When do we get out of this situation? What is the light at the end of the tunnel?" Felag asked. "Can you provide us with some metrics that indicate that if we get to this certain position, we will be able to ... get rid of the mask for good?"

The matching bills now go to the full House and Senate for votes on Thursday.

Here's what they said: A new poll asked RI parents about COVID and schools

COVID in the classroom: School nurses are the unsung heroes of the pandemic

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As of late last week, passage of the extension was by no means guaranteed, however, especially in the House, where 33 representatives signed a letter in September asking the governor to drop an Oct. 1 deadline for Rhode Island health workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or else lose their jobs. All but nine were Democrats.

Emails from House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi to his House colleagues on Friday, and again on Monday, reflect the resistance he felt he needed to overcome  and not just from the small bloc of mandate-opposing Republicans.

House spokesman Larry Berman told The Journal: "Some House Democratic members expressed concerns that 60 days may be too long."

Shekarchi, a Democrat from Warwick, personally campaigned for the temporary extension.

RI lawmakers see no reasonto end McKee's emergency powers; Republicans say it's time

An email he sent colleagues on Friday said in part:

"I realize it may not be a popular decision with everyone, but in the interest of public health, our children, and our families, I strongly encourage you to join me and my Leadership Team in support of this necessary measure as a responsible wind-down to the pandemic."

"This resolution is not a mandate," he wrote.

"Furthermore the Governor can terminate executive orders at any time as they are no longer necessary," he wrote.

At Shekarchi's request, high-profile emergency room doctor Megan Ranney, who is also academic dean of the School of Public Health for Brown University, sent a letter encapsulating her own arguments for maintaining the governor's emergency powers.

Dr. Megan L. Ranney

Her key points:

 The state "is certainly on the downsurge of the Omicron variant, and we boast a tremendous vaccination rate compared to other U.S. states."

"Nonetheless, our Rhode Island intensive care units are still at 90%+ capacity, hospitals are still unable to conduct surgeries and other preventive care, and the National Guard is still in place supporting staffing."

 "Mask-wearing is not necessary forever. It is, in fact, likely that mask mandates will NOT be warranted within a few weeks in our state, particularly in areas with high rates of vaccination of kids, as our case rates and hospitalization rates continue to drop," she wrote.

"However, it is important for the Governor to retain the ability to [institute] mask mandates if there are new, dangerous surges."

Interim RI health director: 'Light at the end of the tunnel' as omicron surge subsides

In emails to his colleagues, obtained by The Journal, Shekarchi also attached letters from "prominent physicians in the fields of public health and childrens health who are strongly in favor of temporarily maintaining the current public health measures."

They included Dr. Leonard Mermel, medical director of the Department of Epidemiology and Infection Control at Lifespan, who wrote:

"If there is an early end to important public health measures such as indoor masking, there will certainly be more COVID-19 cases in RI, leading to more emergency room visits, more hospitalizations taxing the already stressed healthcare systems ... and deaths."

Others sending letters included: Dr. Allison Brindle, president of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; and Dr. Michael Koster, director the of pediatric infectious diseases division at Hasbro Childrens Hospital.

"I am sharing these letters with you,'' Shekarchi wrote colleagues, "to encourage you to support this resolution based on scientific facts and the well-being of all Rhode Islanders."

Tuesday's votes mark the first hurdle, and they come a day before McKee is expected to announce an "update'' to R.I.'s mask-wearing mandates in public venues and schools.

Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey announced Monday that he will no longer require students and school employees to wear masks, beginning the second week of March. Connecticut's governor, Ned Lamont, is recommending that his state's school mask mandate end Feb. 28. New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island are among a group of 11 states with school mask mandates.

Over the weekend, the number of COVID-positive hospital patients in Rhode Island dropped below 300 for the first time since Dec. 10.

The latest: On Tuesday, the Rhode Island Department of Health reported two more coronavirus-related deaths and 581 additional cases of COVID-19, along with 8,194 negative tests, for a 6.6% positive rate.

There were 288 COVID-positive patients in Rhode Island hospitals at last count, up from 286 reported Monday, with 35 in intensive care. Rhode Island has reported an average of 748 new cases of COVID-19 over the last seven days, down 49% from a week ago and down 70% from two weeks ago.

There are currently nine executive orders predicated on the governor's emergency health declaration that will expire Monday, without General Assembly action. They include measures to:

-Allow employment for retired teachers and "certain [Rhode Island Department of Health] retirees in critical public health roles."

-Require that all students, staff and visitors in K-12 schools wear masks indoors.

-Require masking and/or proof of vaccination in indoor public places.

-"Permit public bodies to conduct their business by remote means to ensure the safety of their members and the public while ensuring continued public access to government decision-making."

-Adopt updated CDC guidance on isolation and quarantine procedures for COVID-positive people or their close contacts, with exemptions for health-care workers in facilities facing staffing crises.

*Provide "limited civil liability to hospitals for patient treatment under COVID-related emergency circumstances."

With reports from Michael McDermott and Patrick Anderson.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: McKee's COVID emergency powers the focus of battle in General Assembly
BISMARCK  The University of Mary, in partnership with United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) and with the support of Bismarck State College (BSC), is inviting the public and media to the second annual Mid-winter Powwow on campus. The event brings cultures together and helps celebrate the life and dignity of the human person. The Mid-winter Powwow was an annual event at the university in the 1980s and 90s and was revitalized in 2020, after a 30-year hiatus.

We extend a joyful welcome and our Benedictine hospitality to our partners at UTTC, our good friends at BSC, and everyone participating in this beautiful and colorful annual event of dance, singing, and fellowship, which serves to affirm the culture and dignity of all peoples, said University of Mary President Monsignor James P. Shea.

Monsignor Shea and the UMary team have done a great job of bringing back the UMary Mid-Winter Powwow, stated UTTC President Dr. Leander McDonald. The UTTC team has appreciated the opportunity to provide input on this important Native cultural event for our campuses as well as the larger Bismarck Mandan metro area. I encourage anyone who has not been to a powwow to attend as the master of ceremonies Whitney ReCountre does a tremendous job of sharing the history and background for the dances and singing that occurs.

The event Sunday, January 16, begins with a 10:30 a.m. Mass celebrated in honor of a holy man and Servant of God, Nicholas Black Elk  regarded as a historically notable and influential Native American leader who died in 1950. As a member of the Oglala Lakota peoples, Black Elk was a participant in the Battle of Little Bighorn as a boy, and present during the Wounded Knee Massacre. He later converted to Catholicism, and led a humble life as a catechist in service to spreading the Gospel. In 2016, the Diocese of Rapid City officially opened his cause for canonization as a saint.

Following Mass, the celebration continues with an introduction to the Powwow  "Powwow 101"  in Lumen Vitae University Centers (LVUC) Founders Hall at 11:30 a.m. The Mid-winter Powwow commences with a grand entrance at 1 p.m. in the McDowell Activity Center (MAC), with a second grand entrance at 7 p.m. Prizes for various categories of dance will be awarded. Attendees are invited to a traditional frybread and buffalo feed between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. in LVUCs Crows Nest Restaurant. The buffalo is sponsored by Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Chairman Mark Fox.

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Entry fee for those five to 65 years of age is $5 per person, which includes the meal at the Crows Nest Restaurant.

For more information about the Mid-winter Powwow, visit umary.edu/powwow.

The Powwow marks the first day of the University of Marys new Week to Celebrate the Life and Dignity of the Human Person, Life and Dignity Week. The week continues Monday with the celebration of Martin Luther King Day. The University of Mary is honoring the civil rights leaders famous speech with an I Have a Dream art contest for students, sponsored by the Black Student Union. A special convocation and a celebratory dinner will also mark MLK Day. The week continues with a Community Learning Day on Wednesday with discussion of various social topics through the lens of Catholic social teaching. Life and Dignity Week culminates with the national March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 21. Nearly 250 University of Mary students will board five buses to make the 60-hour round trip for that highly anticipated annual event. Also, that day, the public is invited to take part in the second annual statewide March for Life event that begins with Mass at 10:30 a.m. celebrated by Bishop David Kagan in Pro-Cathedral of Saint Mary, followed by the march to the steps of the North Dakota Capitol for the rally at 12:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Devils Lake Journal: University of Mary and UTTC Bring Cultures Together for Mid-winter Powwow
The following mugshots are taken from the top bond amounts from the week of Dec. 19-25:

Crystal Marie Hughes, 31, of 2309 U.S. 70 W., Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $25,000 secured bond.

Dustin Kyle Vanwhy, 28, of 117 Curtis St., Morganton, was charged with two felony counts of failure to appear or comply and one misdemeanor count each of failure to appear or comply, assault on a female, damage to personal property and stalking. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $20,000 secured bond.

Christian Thomas Hill, 23, was charged with felony larceny by financial transaction card, felony fraud of a financial transaction card and one misdemeanor count each of no liability insurance, larceny of property, receiving or possessing stolen goods and resist, delay or obstructing a public officer. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $16,000 secured bond.

Rafael Septine Soto, 36, of 2856 Pax Hill Road, Morganton, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear or comply. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $14,400 secured bond.

Morgan Brooks Sumpter, 29, of 3151 Bee Tree Road, Lenoir, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of assault by pointing a gun, communicating threats and assault with a deadly weapon. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond.

William Isaiah Loftis, 22, of 143 Beach St., Morganton, was charged with felony speeding to elude arrest and one misdemeanor count each of improper passing and driving during revocation. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond.

David Lee Gross, 32, of 2608 Old Blue Ridge Lane, Connelly Springs, was charged with misdemeanor probation violation. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond.

Leslie Ann Roberts, 41, of 201 White St., Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor second-degree trespassing. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. Her court date was set for Feb. 25.

Joseph Tyler Whisnant, 28, of Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of communicating threats and resist, delay or obstructing a public officer. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. His court date is set for Thursday.

William Norris Jr., 55, of 3636 Sunset Grill St., Connelly Springs, was charged with felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, felony possession of a controlled substance on jail or prison premises and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond.

Kimberly Pritchard Hartley, 49, of 5721 Walt Clark Road, Crossnore, was charged with felony possession of methamphetamine and one misdemeanor count each of possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance, possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to appear or comply, driving during revocation and expired registration. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond.
The following charges were served on Sunday, December 19:

 Christopher Scott Markey II, 27, of 104-A S. Phoenix Ave., in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of improper turn, driving the wrong way on a one way street and driving while impaired. He was granted a custody release and his court date was set for Feb. 25.

 Rafael Septine Soto, 36, of 2856 Pax Hill Road, in Morganton, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear or comply. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $14,400 secured bond.

 Lance Kirby Powell, 23, of 857 Oakland Ave. Ext., in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $750 secured bond.

 Jeffrey Dewey Hahn, 36, of 5122 Queens Creek Road, in Connelly Springs, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $162 cash bond.

 Charles Timothy Higdon, 41, of Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor second-degree trespassing. He was issued a $1,000 unsecured bond. His court date was set for Feb. 21.

The following charges were served on Monday, December 20:

 Ricky Dean Franklin, 43, of 1705 Bethel Road, Lot 5, in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each larceny and possession of stolen goods. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $250 secured bond.

 Crystal Marie Hughes, 31, of 2309 US 70 W., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $25,000 secured bond.

 Bobby Wayne Smart, 28, of 2437 Harding Road, Lot 6, in Connelly Springs, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear or comply. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $200 secured bond.

 Aidan Joshua Burleson, 20, of 105 B & D Ave., Lot 9, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor assault on a female. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a 48-hour hold.

 Taylor Brooke Small, 23, of Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor vandalism by graffiti. She was released with a written promise to appear.

The following charges were served on Tuesday, December 21:

 Christian Thomas Hill, 23, of 406 Rockyford St., in Morganton, was charged with felony larceny by financial transaction card, felony fraud of a financial transaction card and one misdemeanor count each of no liability insurance, larceny of property; receiving or possessing stolen goods and resist, delay or obstructing a public officer. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $16,000 secured bond.

 Morgan Brooks Sumpter, 29, of 3151 Bee Tree Road, in Lenoir, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of assault by pointing a gun, communicating threats and assault with a deadly weapon. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond.

 Sarah Brooke Weedman, 26, of 51 Overlook Park Lane, in Marion, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of driving the wrong way on a dual lane highway, expired vehicle inspection, driving while impaired and failure to appear or comply. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $500 secured bond.

 Barbara Webb, 61, of 4053 Scott Road, in Morganton, was charged with two misdemeanor counts each of assault and battery and communicating threats. She was released with a written promise to appear.

 William Norris Jr., 55, of 3636 Sunset Grill St., in Connelly Springs, was charged with felony possession of a schedule II controlled substance, felony possession of a controlled substance on jail or prison premises and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond.

 Wanda Webb Maloney, 72, of 4053 Scott Road, 01, in Morganton, was charged with two misdemeanor counts each of assault and battery, communicating threats and simple assault. She was released with a written promise to appear.

 David Lee Gross, 32, of 2608 Old Blue Ridge Lane, in Connelly Springs, was charged with misdemeanor probation violation. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond.

 Michael Andrews Smith, 37, of 1681 Lazenby St., in Newton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond.

The following charges were served on Thursday, December 22:

 Dustin Kyle Vanwhy, 28, of 117 Curtis St., in Morganton, was charged with two felony counts of failure to appear or comply and one misdemeanor count each of failure to appear or comply, assault on a female, damage to personal property and stalking. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $20,000 secured bond.

 Treasure Danielle Kelly, 30, of 338 Conley Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor second-degree trespassing. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $500 secured bond.

 Jessica McCorkle Caldwell, 40, of 3157 Jamestown Road, in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of assault and battery and breaking or entering. She was served with a criminal summons to appear.

 Jeremy Nance, 35, of Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $500 secured bond.

 Jeriah Wayne Ledford, 35, of 3250 Norman Drive, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor injury to personal property. He was granted a custody release.

 Cayla Mechelle Byrd, 26, of 3700 Leger Road, 1, in Valdese, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear or comply. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond.

 Taylor Free Stanfill, 27, of 107 Fox Fire Drive, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond.

 Amanda Nicole Smith, 34, of 5022 Hurricane Hill Road, in Granite Falls, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. She was issued a $2,000 secured bond.

 Johnny Allen Wade, 57, of 5686 Heavner Ave., in Connelly Springs, was charged with misdemeanor second-degree trespassing. He was issued a $500 unsecured bond.

 Makayla Tiara Smith, 20, of 304 N. Council Oaks St., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. Her court date was set for Feb. 10.

 Christian Alex Martinez, 20, of 110 Banyon Drive, Apt. 1, in Shelby, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $2,500 secured bond.

 Elmer Rosalino Ramirez-Rafael, 19, of 603 Mull St., in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of reckless driving to endanger, driving after consuming alcohol under the age of 21 and driving while impaired. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond. His court date was set for Feb. 11.

The following charges were served on Thursday, December 23:

 Jessica Ann Cline, 32, of 3184 E. Burke Blvd., Lot 15, in Hickory, was charged with misdemeanor violation of a school attendance law. She was served with a criminal summons to appear.

 Brittany Ann Willis, 31, of 940 Cape Hickory Road, in Hickory, was charged with misdemeanor larceny. She was served with a criminal summons to appear.

The following charges were served on Friday, December 24:

 Kimberly Pritchard Hartley, 49, of 5721 Walt Clark Road, in Crossnore, was charged with felony possession of methamphetamine and one misdemeanor count each of possession of a schedule IV controlled substance, possession of a schedule VI controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to appear or comply, driving during revocation and expired registration. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond.

 John Howard Lambert, 61, of 306 Park Ave., in Drexel, was charged with misdemeanor assault on a female. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a 48-hour hold.

 Leslie Ann Roberts, 41, of 201 White St., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor second-degree trespassing. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. Her court date was set for Feb. 25.

 Joseph Tyler Whisnant, 28, of Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of communicating threats and resist, delay or obstructing a public officer. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. His court date was set for Feb. 10.

The following charges were served on Saturday, December 25:

 William Isaiah Loftis, 22, of 143 Beach St., in Morganton, was charged with felony speeding to elude arrest and one misdemeanor count each of improper passing and driving during revocation. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond.

 Cassandra Jo Prichard, 28, of 206 S. Ottawa St., in St. John's, MI, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of aid and abet a driver while license was revoked and possession of a schedule VI controlled substance. He was cited and released. Her court date was set for Feb. 28.
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) must ensure civilian protection in the wake of recent deadly raids on camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.



Following deadly attacks last week and further attempts over the weekend, there is significant risk that other IDP sites could be attacked as well, Spokesperson Liz Throssell told journalists in Geneva.

She said OHCHR is extremely concerned by recurring incidents of deadly ethnically motivated assaults on camps in eastern DRC.

Wave of attacks



The most recent occurred last week when the armed group Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), an association of various Lendu militia, killed some 62 people at the Plaine Savo site in Ituri province.

The victims, all members of the Hema ethnic community, were either shot or attacked with machetes and knives. OHCHR said this was the latest in a string of CODECO raids in Ituri province, where tensions between the Hema and Lendu communities have existed for years.

The group attacked four other sites between 19 and 28 November last year, including the village of Drodro. At least 58 people from the Hema community were killed, with at least nine women and four children among the victims.

In total, we documented 10 attacks on IDP sites in 2021 in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, in which at least 106 people were killed, 16 injured and at least seven women subjected to acts of sexual violence, Ms. Throssell said.

Fears of retaliation



In addition to concerns that other IDP sites could be attacked, particularly Loda and Djaiba which are located close to Plaine Savo and host members of the Hema community, OHCHR warned of the grave risk of retaliation by the Ituri Self-Defense Popular Front (FPAC-Zaire) armed group, mainly composed of members of the Hema community.

Ms. Throssell reported that the Congolese military authorities have launched a preliminary investigation into the Plaine Savo attack.

The UN Mission in the country, MONUSCO, also stands ready to provide technical and logistical support for these investigations and any potential prosecutions.

We call on the Government to guarantee victims access to remedy by ensuring that these investigations are independent, effective and transparent, and to also investigate other attacks on IDP camps and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice, she said.
JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) is committed to meeting the statutory requirements of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act recently enacted by the Mississippi Legislature and signed by Governor Tate Reeves. The goal is to provide a safe and accessible program that meets the needs of patients and the public health and safety of all Mississippi residents.

The MSDH is currently working to establish the licensing and patient registry structures and plans to begin accepting online license applications for patients, medical practitioners, cannabis cultivation facilities, and others by June 2022.

Visit https://msdh.ms.gov/mmcp with the most up-to-date information regarding licensing, business registration, cultivation and availability, and qualifying conditions. For all inquiries about the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program, send e-mail to MSMedicalCannabis@msdh.ms.gov.

Follow MSDH by e-mail and social media at HealthyMS.com/connect.

Press Contact: MSDH Office of Communications, (601) 576-7667

Note to media: After hours or during emergencies, call (601) 576-7400
Kate McCourt, who has worked in historic preservation at the state, local and federal levels in Montana, has been named as Butte-Silver Bows new historic preservation officer.

McCourt is currently heritage projects and grant manager at the Montana History Foundation in Helena, a nonprofit organization that raises money and provides funding for history and preservation projects across Montana.

She has previously served as historic preservation officer, or HPO, for Great Falls-Cascade County, and did archaeology work for the state of Montana in Virginia City, among other posts. McCourt succeeds Mary McCormick, who retired as HPO in December.

County Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher said McCourt has a great background with lots of experience to oversee preservation policies and efforts in Butte. He made the appointment after a search committee reviewed applicants.

We had a great pool of candidates but Kates background, experience and understanding of historic preservation and our unique characteristics made her the top candidate for the job, Gallagher said Monday.

The committee included Gallagher, Community Development Director Karen Byrnes, Commissioner John Riordan and three other county officials. Byrnes said there were 19 applicants and eight were interviewed.

We are thrilled to have Kate joining our team. She will be a wonderful, highly-qualified addition, Byrnes said.

The HPO in Butte-Silver Bow is in charge of coordinating programs to identify, evaluate, promote and protect historic resources and ensure compliance with local, state and federal historic preservation laws and ordinances.

Its an especially tall order in Butte, where nearly 10,000 acres and 7,900 buildings and other resources make it and nearby areas one of the nations largest national historic landmark districts.

McCourt grew up in the Hudson Valley in New York State and earned an undergraduate degree in history from State University of New York at Albany. She earned a masters degree in archaeology from University College London.

She moved to Montana for the first time in 2008 for her work in Virginia City and fell in love with the state. At the federal level, she has been a contractor for the University of Montanas Center for Integrated Research on the Environment and has been with the History Foundation since August 2020.

She says shes looking forward to her new position in Butte.

I feel like it would truly be an honor to be the steward of one the largest national historic landmark districts in the entire country, McCourt said Tuesday. Butte has always been very fascinating to me, especially getting my start in Virginia City and learning about the beginnings of mining in Montana and then how it culminates on such a large scale in Butte.

Theres so much for me to learn and I really cant wait to do it, she said. I think its going to be a fantastic job  and its going to be an extremely fascinating process for me.

McCormick was Butte-Silver Bows historic preservation officer from 2015 to this past December. She succeeded Jim Jarvis.

McCourts salary will be $60,000. She starts the first week of March.

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ARCHIVED - Spain loses half of its bank branches in a decade



56% of municipalities in Spain now have no bank office

In an effort to digitise financial services and cut down on manpower costs, Spanish banks have been closing local offices at a staggering rate in recent years, to the extent that the country has lost some 20,133 branches in the last decade  thats more than 50%.

The massive closure of branches has come hand-in-hand with a wave of layoffs in the sector. Between December 2010 and 2020, some 84,204 employees have been laid off, the equivalent of a third of the overall jobs, according to the Bank of Spain.

Now read: Caixabank warns of massive text scam across Spain

Spain now has 43.5 bank branches per 100,000 inhabitants and just 3.8 employees for every 1,000, both historical lows which have sparked countless protests around the country, particularly from the elderly and those living in rural areas with poor internet connection, who claim that the move towards internet-based services is isolating their communities.

In the last six years alone, more than 11,000 offices and almost 30,000 jobs have disappeared, leaving almost 600 localities completely without branches. Incredibly, there are now more towns in Spain without a branch than those with one.

This has understandably had a knock-on effect on customer services, with clients across Spain complaining of long wait times in queues and the impossibility of making a face-to-face appointment.

Of the ten banks with the largest presence on Spain, only Caixabank, Unicaja and Bankinter have increased their number of offices in the last six years, the first two due to large mergers with other financial institutions . The opposite trend has dominated among the remainder, with Banco Santander eliminating 45% of its branches during this period.

Image: Archive
ARCHIVED - Spain ranked as third best country for expat healthcare



Spain has been voted the healthiest country in the world thanks to its accessible healthcare system

Moving abroad can be daunting for even the best prepared traveller, and healthcare is often one of the first changes expats have to come to grips with. Although the NHS in the UK often comes under fire for long wait times and chockablock emergency departments, there is little doubt that Britons are offered a pretty good service in comparison to many other neighbouring countries.

According to UN data, 302,000 of the 1.3 million British expats living somewhere in the EU have chosen Spain as their home, so it should come as welcome news that this country has ranked highly in its treatment of poorly residents. The experts from Property Guides have examined the healthcare systems in the top ten most popular countries for foreigners to relocate to, and have found that Spain is comfortably in the top five most affordable and comprehensive.

Spain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) came in joint third on the list, despite having very different healthcare systems to the UK. Spain has recently been voted the healthiest country in the world, a fact which Property Guides attribute to its universal healthcare, which guarantees access to free healthcare for all Spanish nationals.

You might also like: Natural gas stoves: posing problems for health and the environment

The experts added: The good news is, those who are living and working in Spain can access their state healthcare system, but you will need to check the terms and conditions for your region.

While GP visits are usually free with state health insurance, you will have to pay a proportion of your prescription fees, as well as pay for any ER visits, vaccinations, or any specialist treatment.

For this reason, many Spanish citizens pay for private insurance alongside state insurance which will give them access to a wider treatment.

The analysis from Property Guides places Italy at the top of the list for accessible healthcare services, followed by Germany and the Netherlands in joint second place.

Image: Archive
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% of their STRIVE target and would gradually ramp up to as much as $38.68 for facilities at or above 125% 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% 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% 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% 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.

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February 25 is Alexander Clark Day in Muscatine.

In 2018 the city council unanimously affirmed that we will celebrate our famous residents 1826 birthday in perpetuity.

How convenient that our holiday comes during Black History Month!

School children all over Iowa learn the story of brave daughter Susan and the landmark 1868 Iowa Supreme Court decision upholding every childs right to a public education. Iowans brag that it happened right here 86 years before the U.S. Supreme Court made education-equality the law of the land.

Recently I heard a whisper that the Clark story could be getting more traction these days if not so closely associated with the Democratic Party. Really? Let us tell of his devotion to the party of Lincoln even when other Black leaders voiced second thoughts as Reconstruction came to an end.

From Clarks centennial address (Jan. 1876): To this party and her heroic dead, you and I, and every American citizen, owe a lasting debt of gratitude for the liberty we now enjoy as a nation, and for the union of the states; and may it ever be said of the colored men of the republic that we will now be found standing in the ranks of the Republican party in defense of these great measures of justice and right.

From a Chicago paper, reprinted in the Muscatine Journal (Dec. 1876): The Hon. Alexander Clark, the great colored orator of the State of Iowa, will deliver an address upon the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, on the evening of December 5, at Union Hall, corner Clark and Monroe streets.

That was six years before our Iowa hero became the owner of Ferdinand Barnetts Conservator, which he would publish until 1888. During those years he traveled widely and kept residences in both cities.

In January 1885 the nation had just elected the first Democratic president since the Civil War. By then a Chicago lawyer, Clark editorialized:

Today we have no rights which either party desires to annul, nor have we a power of citizenship that both are not pledged to protect. Last year we were the wards of one party, the bane of the other; to-day both hold out to us an inviting hand, and both bid us come. We welcome the change. We want friendship and fair play. If the Democratic party, which christens the New Year with a pledge of equal and exact justice to all, shall fulfill that pledge in both letter and spirit, this will indeed be a happy New Year. We hope it will. We want to feel free. Free in Georgia as in Maine; free in Texas as in Illinois. Our politics have not been questions of State, but matters of liberty and security. We have been Republicans because that party is the apostle of the one and the guardian of the other. The Democratic party comes in power. It promises us all the liberty that the constitution guarantees, and every element of security known to the laws. If these promises are kept, politics will no longer be the one thought of our lives. With the perfect freedom universally accorded, and absolute security unreservedly guaranteed, we shall be able to turn our powers to the up-building of our race. We shall save our money, till the earth, and educate our children. These are the needs of the race; these will we recognize. Thus shall the cloud of disappointment show to us a side bright with proffers of peace, assurances of friendship, prompting us to engage all our powers in the important matters of business, the accumulation of wealth, and the general enlightenment of the race.

Later that year the Journal reprinted a Conservator article about wealthy colored men. Editor John Mahin, Clarks ally since the 1850s, added that Clark is a fine example.

We heard him say, years ago, that he foresaw in the early history of Muscatine that the lumber business would be profitable at this place and that he would have embarked in it but for the fact he knew that as a colored man many would through race prejudice refuse to patronize him except in some menial avocation. Nevertheless, Mr. Clark has, by industry and prudent management acquired quite a competency.

In 1887 he chaired the executive committee of the National Colored Press Association and shared the rostrum with Ida B. Wells. She later moved to Chicago, married Barnett, and herself became editor of the Conservator. (Today the former Congress Parkway is Ida B. Wells Drive. Call that to mind whenever you drive under Chicagos Old Main Post Office!)

Their party returned to power in 1888, President Benjamin Harrison awarded Clark one of the highest positions attained by any Black person of the century: Minister Resident/Consul General of the United States to Liberia.

There is so much more to be told about Muscatines part in Black History. One month is never enough.

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Its more important than ever to attract and keep the best and brightest teachers here in Iowa. Thats why I am pushing for school funding to ensure smaller class sizes, competitive salaries and benefits, and the resources necessary to cover the rising costs of equipment, materials, utilities and busing.

Teacher-prep faculty and educators in training visited the Statehouse last week to talk with legislators about how teacher preparation programs are working to recruit, retain and support a diverse group of educators for Iowa schools.

These future teachers have a passion for educating our next generation. I want to see them succeed. Unfortunately, Governor Reynolds workforce crisis and Republican attacks on public education are driving many educators out of the classroom.

A recent survey found that nearly half of teachers said theyd considered changing jobs in the past month, up from 32% just five months before. And not enough qualified new teachers are entering the field to replace those leaving.

Its not just a shortage of classroom teachers thats making it tough for students to get the world-class education they need. School districts are also struggling to find bus drivers, paraprofessionals, nurses, office staff, custodians and food service workers.

Iowa ranks 39 out of 50 in public school funding per student. Thats well below the national average, as are Iowas starting teacher salaries. Educators often pay out of their own pockets for items that should be covered by the schoolclassroom supplies, paper, snacks, books, educational toys, first aid kits and more.

Our students, schools and educators need a solid boost. I support increasing funding for education by 5% so local schools can address many long-standing needs and our state can send a message that we value teaching and learning.

It makes more sense to invest an additional $300 million in our public schools than it does to give big corporations another $300 million tax break. Lets make Iowa students, educators and public schools our #1 priority again.

State Senator Zach Wahls works for the people of Johnson and Cedar counties. Contact him at 515-281-3901 or zach.wahls@legis.iowa.gov.

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Who couldnt see that coming? In the Feb. 2 issue of the Journal Joe Murphy, of the Iowa Business Council, (executives of the 23 largest companies in Iowa) praised Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds for proposing a 4% flat tax for individuals and a 5.5% corporate tax rate. This is a terrible idea.

Once more Republicans want to go to the reverse Robin Hood economic plan. They want to take from the poor and give to the rich. Whats the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Tax cuts like this never pay for themselves and the trickle-down theory never works.

Iowa is in such a rosy financial picture now because of the infusion of money from the federal government. The CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan (which Kim Reynolds called a blue-state bailout) supplied the states with much-needed help during the pandemic.

According to Randy Bauer ( Oct. 17, 2021, Bleeding Heartland, Iowa "Governor Wrongly Claims Credit for Large Budget Surplus"), Direct assistance to individuals and businesses, including the Paycheck Protection Program, enhanced and expanded unemployment benefits, three rounds of economic impact stimulus, and advance child tax credit payments, helped the U.S. economy rebound from its induced hibernation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those funds helped keep people employed and active participants in the economy- which translates into taxable consumption and income.

Mr. Murphy wonders why Iowas population is stagnant. Could it be that people dont like poor water quality, starving public schools budgets, attacking public school teachers, and a minimum wage that is still stuck on $7.25?

Thank you for your time.

Don Paulson

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Local residents attempt to talk with a woman leaving a Planned Parenthood Health Center in Sacramento on Feb. 2, 2022 as California abortion providers are preparing for an influx of patients from other states if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe vs. Wade case.
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Repatriation flights to FSM on indefinite pause; affected persons may be entitled to financial assistance
Telkom and Cell C have slammed draft regulations that will stop allowing them to charge more for mobile termination rates (MTRs) than Vodacom and MTN.

These complaints are included in their submissions in response to a discussion document published in November 2021 by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

The document proposes that the current asymmetric MTRs be scrapped, and all networks pay each other at the same rate.

MTRs, also called call termination rates, are the fees that mobile operators charge each other for calls to their networks.

These fees are supposed to reflect the cost of facilitating a phone call on a network and have come down substantially from around 125 cents per minute in 2009 to 13 cents per minute in 2017.

That has resulted in significant price reductions on voice calls for consumers.

Telkom and Cell C currently charge 13 cents to terminate a call on their networks, compared to the 9 cents that Vodacom and MTN are allowed to charge.

The reason for the discrepancy (and reductions) is an intervention by Icasa aimed at evening out the playing field between smaller network operators and larger ones in the cellular industry.

Having been established in 1993 and 1994, Vodacom and MTN had already built up larger customer bases and network infrastructure by the time that Cell C and Telkom had entered the market in 2001 and 2010, respectively.

Their greater economies of scale allowed the two larger operators to incur a much lower cost per call.

Vodacom and MTN also allegedly concluded an agreement that saw the companies increase their MTRs from 20 cents per minute to R1.25 in the years leading up to Cell C entering the market.

Icasa eventually managed to impose asymmetric MTRs in 2010 as a pro-competitive measure and revised them again in 2014 and 2018.

This included a glide path that would see gradual reductions in MTRs over time.

Initially, Cell C and Telkom were permitted to charge a rate of 44 cents, while Vodacom and MTN could only charge 20 cents.

However, following a court challenge, Icasa adapted the regulations with new charges.

These were as follows:

October 2014 to September 2015  31 cents vs 20 cents

October 2015 to September 2016  24 cents vs 16 cents

October 2016 to September 2018  19 cents vs 13 cents

October 2018 to September 2019  18 cents vs 12 cents

October 2019 to September 2020  16 cents vs 10 cents

October 2020 to current 13 cents vs 9 cents

What operators are saying

Telkom maintains that removing the asymmetric rates at this stage would be detrimental to competition.

Telkom and Cell C have yet to reach the minimum efficient scale to compete effectively, the company said.

The Authoritys proposal to remove the pro-competitive MTR asymmetry for existing mobile operators comes at a time when Vodacom and MTN continue to hold a duopoly position in the retail mobile market with a combined market share of 82% in terms of mobile voice subscribers, and 88% of mobile voice revenues in 2020, it added.

Meanwhile, Vodacom and MTN have welcomed the proposal to treat all networks equally.

Among other arguments, the two large operators have suggested symmetric MTRs would be in line with international practice.

European benchmarking is not suitable

But Cell C has warned that benchmarking recent European regulation for call termination policy in South Africa is wholly inappropriate.

The progression of South Africas mobile market does not in any way, resemble modern European markets, but rather the European markets of the early 2000s, prior to the push for symmetry in those markets that only began in the early 2010s, the operator said.

Cell C is therefore of the view that call termination rate regulation, and in particular asymmetry to the benefit of small operators with lower economies of scale and higher unit costs, is the only substantial active and arguably, effective, regulatory tool that Icasa has at its disposal to improve the competitive state of the market (and fulfil its mandate to give effect to the objects of the ECA).

Cell C has also argued that call termination had only become truly cost-reflective over the past three years.

Icasa will now hold public hearings to interrogate the submissions and get a clearer and deeper understanding of the views expressed by networks.
Mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe says the use of coal is unfairly being attacked, reports the Sunday Times.

Speaking at an event in Pretoria, Mantashe said that extending the lifespan of coal mining is important, even as some try to shorten it.

We are here to discuss how we can survive that offensive and extend the life of coal mining, said Mantashe.

We are in a situation where coal is under siege. What I am putting to you as labour and communities is that I do not hear you. Half the time, you whisper.

This follows COP26s November 2021 pledge to provide South Africa with R130 billion in low-cost funding towards low-carbon alternatives.

Mantashe argued that this figure is only one years income in the coal market and is insufficient to transform the industry.

When you generate R130bn in one year, my mind gallops to say we are being offered R131bn to close coal mining, and I am saying you are making that money in one year, said Mantashe.

How do you close your projects for what you do in one year? I am not a rebel. I am raising the reality that must be in the analysis we are making.

Mantashe also explained earlier this week that he suspended a community representative from the National Nuclear Regulators board because they were an opponent to atomic power.

Mantashe is being sued by Peter Becker, who served on this board while also being a spokesman for the Koeberg Alert Alliance until Mantashe suspended him.

You cant be in a board of something you are working against, Mantashe said.

You are an anti-nuclear activist. You cant sit in the board of nuclear and get all the details of the plans and go and plan a programme against that entity. Its not allowed.

Load-shedding

Mantashes vocal support for coal and nuclear power has drawn the ire of environmental activists.

However, the need for a robust power grid continues to be clear, as South Africa is yet again experiencing load-shedding.

The country is currently undergoing stage 1 load-shedding, reduced from stage 2 at 21:00 on Friday.

While there has been an improvement in the generation capacity, and a significant recovery in the emergency generation reserves, caution is still called for as this is not sufficient to suspend load-shedding at this point, Eskom said in a statement.

Eskom will continue to evaluate the system and make the necessary adjustments as soon as conditions allow.

Stage 1 load-shedding is set to end at 05:00 on Monday.

Now read: Gauteng racks up R841 million electricity bill
Dept. of Surgery event focuses on medical racism and racist origins of American gynecology

Historian Deirdre Cooper Owens, author of Medical Bondage, and community organizer India Walton will join medical students and faculty to explore these issues

Deirdre Cooper Owens, PhD, The Charles & Linda Wilson Professor in the History of Medicine and author of Medical Bondage"

Its critically important for health care workers to understand the ways that African Americans have been used and misused within the medical industry over centuries. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  The University at Buffalos Department of Surgery continues its Beyond the Knife series focused on surgerys role in fighting systemic racism with its second annual Anti-Racism and Health Equity event on Feb. 10.

Deirdre Cooper Owens, PhD, The Charles & Linda Wilson Professor in the History of Medicine and director of the Humanities in Medicine Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and author of Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology, will give the keynote lecture, What History Reveals in Our Understanding of U.S. Medicine.

The in-person event is free and open to the public; it takes place at 5 p.m. in Room 2220, the M&T Lecture Hall, in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, 955 Main St., Buffalo. It also will be live-streamed on Zoom. Registration for either in-person or virtual attendance is at this link.

Cooper Owens talk will be followed by a panel discussion with UB faculty, students and community members featuring India Walton, community organizer, co-founder of the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust and former Buffalo mayoral candidate. A book signing and sale of Cooper Owens book Medical Bondage will take place afterward.

Cooper Owens brings an historical perspective to medicine that she says is critical to fully understanding the difficulties that African Americans experience today when they need to access health care. Its critically important for health care workers to understand the ways that African Americans have been used and misused within the medical industry over centuries, she says. The distrust African Americans have voiced about medical workers is rooted in the exploitation and racism that stems from the era of U.S. slavery.

Providing historical context for so many of the issues related to the birthing crisis affecting Black birthing people and the legacy of medical racism that include harmful ideas about supposed biological differences between Black and white people is critical for medical professionals, she says.



That context is an integral part of medical education at the Jacobs School, says Allison Brashear, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School, who will give welcoming remarks. The Department of Surgerys anti-racism initiative is an example of the Jacobs Schools unwavering commitment to providing our students with the social and historical understanding they need in order to be the most effective physicians, she says.

Mayowa Adebiyi, a member of the Jacobs School Class of 2024, will be on the panel following Cooper Owens talk. Beyond the Knife is a necessary platform for this community, she says. These conversations ground us in the details, not only of our history, but of the obstacles currently facing the populations we serve.

As medical students, we are reminded of the twin tasks before us: to build an inclusive and culturally humble workforce, and to heal communities that continue to suffer from health inequities and structural racism.

She adds that the perspectives of Cooper Owens and of Walton, who has been a health care worker in Buffalo, will be a source of inspiration for all who attend.

The Department of Surgery established the Beyond the Knife series following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. This annual lectureship event represents an effort to educate ourselves and others by drawing attention to the tough issues and having the difficult conversations that are so badly needed, says Steven Schwaitzberg, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Surgery and president of UBMD Surgery. We are excited to have Dr. Owens bring a historical perspective and help us understand how we got to where we are today and identify the deep roots of structural racism.

Without a doubt, India Walton captured the hearts and minds of many Buffalonians this year, he adds. Her background in health care will add further perspective to this important conversation.

In addition to the above, speakers on the panel include:

 Henry-Louis Taylor Jr., PhD, professor of urban and regional planning in the School of Architecture and Planning at UB and director of the Center for Urban Studies.

 Thomas J. Ward, Jr., PhD, assistant dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Farmingdale State College.

 Michael Lamb, PhD, research assistant professor of surgery at UB, moderator.

 Rita Hubbard-Robinson, JD, CEO at NeuWater & Associates LLC.

 Vanessa M. Barnabei, MD, PhD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UB; associate dean for faculty affairs in the Jacobs School.

 Beth Harvey, MD, surgery resident at UB.
Just over two years after its launch, South Africas first smartphone factory is going on auction.

The Mara smartphone assembly plant near Durban was opened by President Cyril Ramaphosa in October 2019 and punted as a state of the art facility that would help create thousands of jobs.

Mara Phones set up the factory using half of R1.5 billion in funding from Standard Bank and the Industrial Development Corporation.

The remaining amount was to help ensure its continued operation.

Mara claimed the facility could assemble 1.2 million smartphones for the domestic and regional market and already employed 200 workers at its opening.

The models made at the factory were affordable smartphones such as the Mara X, Mara Z, and Mara S.

But now its funders have demanded the factorys sale through Park Village Auctions, suggesting they are trying to salvage what they can from the facility.

Auction documents have revealed that the plant and its contents are being sold  lock, stock, and barrel.

The auction lot includes the plant, manufacturing and testing equipment, smartphone components, and the completed phones kept in its storage facilities.

The line is in very good condition and could be reworked to make other electronic components, said the auctioneers.

Among the equipment noted are a reflow oven, calibration and RF testing hardware, battery simulators, and a power generator.

Other items included in the sale are computers, screens, peripherals, and office furniture.

The auctioneers told BusinessInsider that local and international buyers have expressed interest in buying the factory, including one call out of India.

It was unclear what led to the sale of the factory and whether this was due to the brands inability to gain traction in the South African market.

The Mara X and Mara Z smartphones sold for between R3,000 and R4,000 at launch.

But South Africans have a wide range of capable but affordable smartphones in this segment, including many models from well-established Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Vivo, and Huawei.

Standard Bank told MyBroadband it could not comment and referred all queries to Mara.

Mara Phones previously failed to respond to our questions about how many smartphones it had managed to sell in the country at various points in time.

The company did not respond to our latest query about the factorys sale either.

The fate of Maras factory workers and those at its experience store in Maponya Mall in Soweto, which was launched in November 2020, is also unknown.

Mara has manufacturing facilities in other African countries, but it was unclear whether it would continue selling its smartphones locally.

Although its South African website was still live at the time of publication, all three Mara models on offer were out of stock and unavailable to order.

The factorys sale also brings up another question  what will happen with Maras status as a preferred smartphone brand for the governments RT15-2021 contract?

National Treasury has stipulated that preference would be given to locally-manufactured brands for state employees who took out mobile packages via the contract.

As Mara was the only company assembling smartphones in South Africa at the time of the contracts finalisation, it automatically topped the list of preferred manufacturers.

Another flop

The sale of the Mara Phones factory comes after the flop of another smart devices manufacturing facility  Yekani Manufacturings R1-billion plant in East London.

In that instance, the company had failed to repay Standard Bank for a R200 million loan, which led to the bank applying for the plants liquidation.

Yekani challenged the liquidation in February 2020, and a court suspended the process pending a hearing over a possible business rescue of the company.

Since that time, there does not appear to have been any developments in this regard, and the factory has remained closed, with 500 workers out of a job.

Numerous South African retailers told MyBroadband they never held stock of any smartphones, tablets, or laptops Yekani had claimed to manufacture.

The factory did make Explora decoders for MultiChoice for a period, but the broadcaster also stopped doing business with it.

Update: Mara responds  9 February

Mara has answered questions about the factorys failure.

Read more: Why South Africas first smartphone factory failed.
The Pretoria High Court will hear arguments in Telkoms case against the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) over the auctioning of long-awaited radio frequency spectrum on 1114 April 2022.

The Acting Judge President confirmed the dates today after a meeting of the parties involved in the case.

This comes after Telkom asked the respondents to agree to an expedited hearing on the merits of its case.

In exchange, Telkom said it would drop its interdict against the auction.

Telkom is pleased with the cooperation from the parties in reaching agreement on expediting the court process to finalise the hearing of the merits of Telkoms arguments against the [invitation to apply] and the process leading up to it being issued, the company said in a statement.

As indicated by parties at the meeting with the Acting Judge President, the regulator would now be expected to carefully consider the prudence of proceeding with the auction, Telkom warned.

The partially state-owned telecommunications operator said that Icasa must be mindful that the outcome of the hearing of its case may have a material impact on the process and outcomes of the auction.

Telkom says that it has reserved its rate to reinstate its interdict should it become necessary at any point.

MTN, Icasa, Vodacom, Rain, and communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni filed papers opposing Telkoms application.

Telkom said there are significant problems with Icasas spectrum licensing process:

Analogue TV spectrum  known as the digital dividend  remains occupied, even in areas where Icasa said it should be vacant. Telkom is especially keen on this lower-frequency spectrum. E-tv owner eMedia has a court case against Ntshavheni and Icasa about its analogue TV spectrum that will only be heard in mid-March  after the spectrum auction is set to conclude. Doesnt consider the competitive landscape. Uses uniform caps on the amount spectrum each operator can hold  a major disadvantage for Telkom that holds a substantial amount of higher-frequency spectrum. Delay of the national wireless open-access network (WOAN).

Telkom asked the court to issue an order forcing Icasa to essentially restart the spectrum process, as follows:

Launch public consultations on the various options available to license spectrum, including the effect of each option on competition in the market.

Public consultations on the minimum requirements for the WOAN to be effective, including the spectrum it will need.

Publish a draft invitation to apply and invite interested parties to submit feedback before finalising it.

Implement remedies that compensate for the event that E-tv might occupy some of the digital dividend spectrum at the time of licensing.

If Telkom wins, it will result in Icasa being forced back to the drawing board.

Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions founder Dominic Cull has said that would delay the release of additional spectrum by at least 1518 months.

MyBroadband asked Icasa for comment, but the regulator did not respond by the time of publication.

Now read: Spectrum chaos in South Africa
Two men were arrested Sunday evening after leading American Canyon Police officers on a high-speed pursuit that ended in a crash in Richmond, the department reported.

At about 5 p.m., officers saw a white Honda sedan on southbound Flosden Road, and matched its license plate to a reported car theft in San Francisco, police said in a news release.

When officers tried to stop the driver, he instead tried to ram a patrol car before driving off through Vallejo and later onto Interstate 80, according to police.

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The pursuit continued down I-80 over the Carquinez Bridge and into Richmond as speeds exceeded 100 mph, American Canyon Police reported. Later, the driver lost control of the Honda and crashed into two other vehicles near I-80 and Central Avenue in Richmond, causing minor injuries to the occupants, according to police.

Both the driver and passenger fled on foot after the crash, but officers detained the driver and an American Canyon patrol dog aided in the passengers arrest, according to the department.

The motorist, identified as 32-year-old Gary Pilapil of Vallejo, and his passenger, 40-year-old Joel Lacsamana of San Francisco, were booked into the Napa County jail.

Police: Two arrested after high-speed chase from American Canyon to Vallejo A driver led police officers to speeds nearing 100 mph during a vehicle pursuit Friday night, according to American Canyon Police.

Pilapil continued to be held Monday morning for investigation of attempted assault, evading police officers, wrong-way driving while evading police, and vehicle theft. Lacsamana, who was booked on suspicion of criminal conspiracy and resisting arrest, was released Monday morning, according to jail records.

Sundays police chase was the fourth vehicle pursuit in 10 days involving American Canyon officers.

A chase Friday night involving a stolen Acura began at Highway 29 and Napa Junction Road, and ended with a Lake County mans arrest after he crashed into a utility pole in Vallejo, according to police.

Officers also were involved in two pursuits on the night of Jan. 27, which American Canyon said also involved stolen cars. One ended with the drivers arrest in Richmond, but the other resulted in a crash on I-80 in Cordelia that fatally injured the driver, 30-year-old Ashley Ross of Oakland.
The Napa school districts voting map for the next decade will keep American Canyon largely split between east and west  in a layout that officials said will continue to give the countys second-largest city a chance to elect two of its residents to the school board.

A modified map for the Napa Valley Unified School Districts board elections won the unanimous support of the district board Thursday night. The map adjustment  which state law requires after each once-a-decade U.S. census to account for population shifts  adjusts boundaries of NVUSDs seven voting districts to keep their populations roughly equal, but continues to use most of Highway 29 as a dividing line halving American Canyon and its 22,000-plus residents into two areas.

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The continuing split enables American Canyon voters to potentially select two city residents as board members of NVUSD, whose territory also includes Napa, Yountville and unincorporated areas of Napa County. Each trustee must live in one of seven areas in the district and is chosen only by residents of that zone, under an area-based election system the school system adopted in 2020.

Area 2 east of Highway 29 will be composed of about 70% American Canyon residents in the refreshed election map, while some 30% of those living in Area 4 west of the highway will live in the city. Two alternative maps offered to the NVUSD board would have created an Area 2 with more than 75% of its population from American Canyon, but with townspeople comprising less than 25% of Area 4.

As in NVUSDs current election map, Highway 29 will separate American Canyons two voting areas as far south as American Canyon Road, where Area 2 will just west of the highway down to the Vallejo city line.

After launching a series of public hearings in November on the new maps, the school district faced a push by the Napa County Progressive Alliance to map nearly all of American Canyon into a single voting area in order to guarantee the city at least one board seat, predicting that its division into two zones  each also containing portions of south Napa  risk leaving it with no residents to speak on the citys behalf.

In the absence of a school board seat assigned exclusively to American Canyon, NVUSD should have chosen one of two alternative district maps, said Jason Kishineff of the progressive alliance, which has argued that a voting zone encompassing the city best protects the influence of Filipino-Americans and other minorities. Both of the alternatives shift more of western American Canyon from Area 4 into Area 2 in the east  as far north as Donaldson Way in one option, and farther north to Rio del Mar in the other.

When looking at voters, we talk so much about communities of interest and maintaining them to enhance and not dilute their vote, said Kishineff, whose groups 2020 petition to NVUSD prompted its switch to zone-based board elections.

However, trustees chose to stick with American Canyons two-zone split, arguing that its eastern zones majority of city residents already virtually assures it of a voice in education matters, while providing the largest possible base of west-side residents with which to elect a second school board member.

The reshaped election map keeps in place the areas represented by two NVUSD trustees  Lisa Chu, an American Canyon resident whose Area 2 includes the eastern city, and Eve Ryser of south Napa, who represents western American Canyon in Area 4.

While Chu conceded the appeal of a safely all-American Canyon voting area, she declared the city too large to be properly represented by only one board member with a growing population and public schools spread over both sides of a busy highway.

I may personally want (an all-city district), but now I have to think about 22,000 people. What is best for all 22,000 people? she said. As a trustee, I need to look higher; I need to look at a broader level. How does the board get the information they need to represent the entire city of American Canyon? I am very compelled to say, lets give an opportunity to our residents to step up and maybe have two trustees.

Theres no perfect map, added trustee Ryser. As weve gone through this process over multiple hearings over (many) months, if you adjust to accommodate one interest or concern, you pull on that thread and create another concern somewhere else.

Despite the adjustments to their borders, NVUSDs voting areas will occupy the same basic territories within Napa County as before.

Area 1 will cover Yountville, areas northeast of the city of Napa, and Lake Berryessa. Area 3 continues to include downtown and Old Town Napa, although it loses the alphabet streets neighborhood to Area 5 just north.

Area 5 encloses Napa north of downtown, east of Highway 29, and south of Trancas Street, while Area 6 is bounded by Browns Valley Road to the south and Redwood Road on the north, plus some neighborhoods east of the highway as far north as Sierra Avenue. Area 7, on the districts northwest flank, will be bounded mainly by Highway 12/121 in the south and Dry Creek Road to the north.

Redrawing of voting maps follows each federal census in order to keep election districts as equal in population as possible. California allows up to 5% variations from the average, which is about 16,907 within the Napa school district.

A voting zone must cover a community of interest that may be based around a school, a shared culture or heritage, or other common social and economic interests. Past U.S. Supreme Court rulings, however, have blocked the practice of drawing district boundaries to deliberately create a racial majority.

You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com

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An ebbing of new coronavirus cases reported by Napa County health authorities last week is continuing with a drop-off in weekend case counts, officials reported Monday afternoon.

Newly confirmed COVID-19 infections totaled 282 for the Friday-to-Monday weekend, according to the countys informational website on the virus spread. That figure is a downturn from the 375 cases recorded for the weekend ending Jan. 31, and the 490 cases announced Jan. 24. (By comparison, the county reported 301 new infections in its most recent single-day update on Friday.)

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The fall-off in weekend case counts comes on the heels of a 30% decline in Napa Countys seven-day total of positive tests. New infections for the week ending Thursday totaled 1,394, marking the countys first reduction in cases since COVID-19s more contagious Omicron variant began driving up infection rates in the U.S. toward the end of 2021.

Local hospitalizations due to COVID-19 remained unchanged from Friday at 20 patients, down from 26 in late January, and 20% of the countys hospital beds were vacant on Monday.

County spokesperson Leah Greenbaum said Friday that officials believe their hospitalization numbers largely reflect those receiving medical care specifically because of COVID-19, but that complicated data and illnesses falling across categories could add to the total those who test positive for the virus after being admitted with other conditions.

Napa County reports two more COVID-19 deaths Napa County has two more COVID-19 deaths and the first fall in weekly new case numbers in two months.

Napa Countys death toll from the coronavirus stands at 116, including five non-residents. The two most recent fatalities occurred on Jan. 28 and 29 and involved unvaccinated Napa city residents in their 60s who died outside the county, officials reported last week.

Across California, coronavirus deaths have topped 80,000 and another 3,000 people are projected to die by month's end, although infections, hospitalizations and intensive-care cases are falling almost as quickly as they climbed earlier in the pandemics Omicron-fueled surge.

Another 220 deaths in California were reported Thursday and the state's forecasting models show the death toll topping 83,600 by the end of February. Despite the grim tally, other indicators showed California is clearly past the peak of the latest and most infectious wave.

The state's hospitalizations have fallen by more than 3,300 from their peak of 15,435 two weeks ago, which was well below the all-time high of nearly 22,000 in January 2021. There were fewer than 2,300 intensive care patients as of Friday, down 300 cases from 10 days earlier and less than half the January 2021 number.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com

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Ann Linde says Finland will almost certainly apply for NATO membership

European Commission may relieve Hungary, Slovakia of embargo on Russian oil purchase

Resistance Movement to continue large-scale civil disobedience actions on 3 May in Yerevan and regions

EU countries to continue to pay in euros or dollars for Russian gas

Resistance Movement participants return to France Square

Russian and Turkish defense ministers discuss current situation in Ukraine

NEWS.am digest: Turkey says they have agreements with Armenia on border clarification

Toivo Klaar informs about meeting of Armen Grigoryan and Hikmet Hajiyev in Brussels

PACE initiates resolution on threats to journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan

Diplomat kidnapped in Haiti

Hungarian president asks Orban to form new government

Georgia PM hands over first part of questionnaire answers for accession to EU

Resistance Movement participants march in central Yerevan

Half of Japanese oppose change of peaceful constitution

Resistance movement rally on France Square in Yerevan

Blinken and Armenia FM sign memorandum on strategic cooperation in nuclear energy

Another earthquake registered on Armenian-Georgian border

FLYONE ARMENIA launches regular direct flights between Yerevan and Tbilisi

Georgia abolishes requirement to wear masks in closed spaces

One dollar drops below AMD 450, euro also falls in Armenia

Georgia PM receives Justice Minister of 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.  Zhoghovurd newspaper of Armenia writes: Yesterday Armlur.am had written that the questioning of 8 Armenian prisoners of war who returned to Armenia [from Azerbaijan] was quite tense and difficult.

The thing is that while the investigators questioned them due to the necessity of the criminal case, the relatives of the prisoners of war raised uproar in anger and tried to break the windows of the building of the military investigation department. The situation was restrained by the police officers. The demand of the parents was bit one: that the law enforcement release their children as soon as possible.

According to the information received by Zhoghovurd daily, the questioning started at about 15:00 and lasted for about 7-8 hours.

And now an important question is whether the repatriated captives will be arrested or not. We learned from our law enforcement sources that the investigative body has not yet charged, detained any of the boys who returned to Armenia. And it is difficult to predict what new circumstances will emerge in the criminal case in the future.

P.S. The questioning of the 8 prisoners of war ended late in the evening at the military investigation department. We found out that 6 out of the 8 prisoners of war were released by the investigative body; they went home, whereas 2 of them, who are conscripts, were transferred to the military police in order to resolve later the matter of their [military] service.
Russia and France have reaffirmed the importance of the work of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in resolving the issues in Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)], Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday, the Kremlin press service reported.

"While observing the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh, we noted the positive role of Russian peacekeepers, who ensure the maintenance of the ceasefire and help establish a peaceful life. We reaffirmed the importance of the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, including in resolving urgent humanitarian and socioeconomic issues in the region. The French president informed about the results of his recent joint videoconference with the President of the European Council, Mr. [Charles] Michel, with the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia," Putin said.

In his turn, the French President noted that a number of other issues, in particular, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, were discussed during their talks.

"Here I want to express my joy that eight [Armenian] prisoners were released [by Azerbaijan] this morning. Our French crisis center has provided a plane to transport them [to Armenia]. Last Friday, we held a press conference with Presidents Aliyev and Pashinyan via video link, during which issues of missing persons, refugees, and a number of other issues were raised, which are also elements of stability.

During our talks with President Putin, we expressed joint views on a number of issues. I would like to welcome the role of your military on the border during a difficult time for Armenia and Azerbaijan. Also, both France and Russia have a corresponding role within the framework of the existing agreements of the Minsk Committee."
Destination Dental School accepting applicants

The School of Dental Medicine is accepting applications for the second cohort of students for the Destination Dental School program, an initiative that aims to remove barriers to careers in dentistry for underrepresented and disadvantaged students.

The free, eight-week summer program, which is open to underrepresented or disadvantaged undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students nationwide, provides participants with an understanding of the day-to-day life of a dentist and dental student, helps strengthen their dental school applications, and develops their skills as researchers.

Participants receive a stipend to cover travel expenses, study resources and reimbursement for the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), and a waived application fee to the UB School of Dental Medicine.

The deadline for applications is March 31. Decisions will be communicated to applicants by April 15. Interested students are encouraged to apply online on the Destination Dental School website.

The hybrid program will take place virtually each Saturday throughout June and July, as well as include a three-day, in-person, intensive training session from July 25-27.

The previous cohort of 24 students drew participants from 14 states, stretching from New York to Florida to California.

The program will provide hands-on simulations that teach tooth anatomy and the process for placing fillings and taking impressions; presentations that explore the various disciplines within dental medicine; networking opportunities with local dental leaders; dental school application assistance that includes weekly guidance from more than 30 UB dental faculty, staff, students and alumni; and preparation for the DAT  a standardized exam required for entry into dental school. Participants will also complete a capstone research project.
The Chinese representation in the EU opposes the expansion of NATO and considers the corresponding efforts supposedly undertaken to ensure global security to be useless. This is stated in a statement published on Tuesday on the agency's website.

NATO expansion will not help ensure security and stability in the world, it noted.

According to the document, such attempts by the alliance only contribute to the formation of political blocs and the emergence of confrontation in the military sphere.

We call on NATO to abandon the mindset and ideology of the Cold War, to show respect for the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries, for the differences in their civilizations, history and cultures, the statement said.

NATO is a product of the Cold War, it says. The Chinese side believes that regional security cannot be ensured by the forcible expansion of military alliances. According to the statement, the North Atlantic Alliance should make more efforts to strengthen interstate trust, truly protect regional peace and stability.

On Monday, at a press conference in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the joint declaration of China and Russia following the meeting of the leaders of the two countries in Beijing should allegedly be considered an attempt to deny the right of sovereign countries to make independent choices" regarding defense alliances. He stressed that "the doors of the alliance remain open.

On February 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening of the Winter Olympic Games. On Friday, he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is the first visit by a Russian leader to China since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. During the summit talks, a joint statement was adopted by Moscow and Beijing on international relations entering a new era and global sustainable development.
Vahan Hunanyan, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, has issued a comment on the statement by the Azerbaijani minister of culture. The comment reads as follows:

We strongly condemn the statement made by the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Anar Karimov (February 3) on the establishment of a working group for the destruction and change of the identity of the Armenian religious and historical-cultural monuments fallen under the control of Azerbaijan. The establishment of such a working group at the state level aimed at deliberate and illegal looting of the historical and cultural heritage of the neighbouring people and depriving them of their historical memory, is unprecedented even in the history of conflicts. It once again demonstrates the fact that the cases of vandalism and destruction of the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] during the 44-day war and the following period, are deliberate and pre-planned, and are part of the policy of annihilating Nagorno-Karabakhs indigenous Armenian population.

This action of the Azerbaijani Government is a blatant defiance to the decision on application of provisional measures issued by the UN International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021, which clearly obliges Azerbaijan to; Take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts.

In view of the current situation, the immediate intervention and unimpeded involvement on the ground of the international community, in particular UNESCO, is becoming more urgent for the preservation and prevention of the cases of vandalism against the Armenian monuments of Artsakh, which are part of the universal cultural heritage.

This policy of destruction and distortion of the identity of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage and religious sanctuaries contradicts Azerbaijan's statements on achieving reconciliation in the region, and creates serious obstacles to the establishment of lasting peace in the region.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Armenia Fukushima Masanori, the press service of Armenian Prime Minister reported.

The message of the PMs press service reads as follows:

The Prime Minister highlighted the development and expansion of cooperation between Armenia and Japan in all spheres. In particular, Nikol Pashinyan stressed the need to deepen trade and economic ties, noting that the Armenian Government is interested in attracting Japanese investments to our country. Highly appreciating the technical assistance provided to our country so far in the field of emergency situations and healthcare, the Prime Minister expressed hope that it will be continuous and will contribute to the effective implementation of reforms in those areas.

Ambassador Masanori noted that the development of relations with Armenia in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres is of great importance for the Government of Japan. The Ambassador added that the Japanese side is also interested in expanding economic cooperation and is ready to work intensively with its Armenian partners in that direction. Fukushima Masanori presented to the Prime Minister the programs implemented by the Embassy of Japan in our country, which are aimed at providing various fields with technical equipment.

The interlocutors also discussed issues related to the implementation of student exchange programs in the field of education, cooperation in high technologies, healthcare and other areas, as well as issues related to Armenia's participation in the Osaka 2025 Expo.
Research News

UB to expand COVID-19 wastewater surveillance in WNY

A student prepares to test wastewater for COVID-19 in Ian Bradley's lab. Photo: Douglas Levere

By PETER MURPHY

Monitoring wastewater can provide an early warning to future pandemics and potential variants of viruses. We can also use it as a measure to estimate drug abuse, such as opioids, in a given area, which will generate data for public health officials.  Yinyin Ye, assistant professor Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

UB engineers will expand wastewater surveillance monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in Western New York. Since late 2020, engineers have been working with Erie County to monitor the prevalence of the virus that causes COVID-19 in and around Buffalo. The effort buttresses data collected at hospitals and other health care providers that inform the regions infection rate, and can serve as an early-warning system for changes in infection dynamics. Thanks to two recently announced partnerships  one led by the New York State Department of Health and Syracuse University, the other by Virginia-based Ceres Nanosciences  UB will have additional tools that will allow engineers to conduct more testing in a more efficient manner, including bringing wastewater monitoring to the regions four other counties. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are funding initiatives to build national wastewater-testing capacity throughout the United States, says Ian Bradley, assistant professor of environmental engineering and a UB RENEW faculty member. Based on the criteria and our ongoing work surveilling wastewater in Erie County, Western New York was an ideal fit. Bradley and Yinyin Ye, assistant professor of environmental engineering, are leading this effort; a team of undergraduate and graduate students will perform the work.

Ceres partnership boosts efficiency

Ceres is a privately held company that received $8.2 million from the NIH to enhance wastewater surveillance and testing capacity throughout the country. With the grant, it designated nine wastewater centers of excellence facilities nationwide, including UB. The centers are a mix of academic and commercial organizations, and the plan is to extend current wastewater surveillance and testing to rural areas, tribal lands and areas with high percentages of underrepresented minorities, says Bradley. UB engineers will utilize Ceres technology to optimize their current methods for collecting and testing wastewater. The current methods are labor intensive, and the team of researchers needs to collect 500 milliliters of wastewater to test samples. Ceres new technology allows researchers to collect samples in 15 milliliter tubes, and test 24 samples at once, making the collection, testing and transit processes more efficient. Once implemented, the new technology will make the process more convenient and help us expand from Erie County to the rest of the region, Bradley says. The center of excellence distinction provides UB with an opportunity to further develop expertise in this area. According to Ye, the ongoing project has trained five masters students and six undergraduate students in wastewater processing and virus-detection methods. Students are learning wastewater-based epidemiology and clinical lab methods associated with polymerase chain reaction [PCR], a ubiquitous tool for amplifying data, she says.

Expanding surveillance in WNY
The Ministry for Culture of Azerbaijan has issued a statement confirming the intention to destroy and "Albanianize" the Armenian cultural heritage in the now Azerbaijani-occupied territories. This statement reads as follows, in particular:

Azerbaijani officials have repeatedly stated that historical and religious monuments located in our liberated territories constitute part of the Azerbaijani heritage and as such, their protection falls under the responsibility of the Azerbaijani state. Restoration of mosques along with 2 Christian churches, within the large-scale restoration and reconstruction process in Shusha [(Shushi)], can be considered as a vivid example of this. Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan does not discriminate its historical and cultural heritage based on religious and ethnic ground and is committed to its obligations under international conventions, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. It should be added that, the Ministry for Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan is currently conducting relevant monitoring procedures in the liberated territories.

When it comes to the ancient Albanian heritage in the liberated Azerbaijani territories, it should be noted that a working group has been set up to study this heritage. The working group, comprised of both local and international experts, will monitor and study this Christian heritage, subject to the security conditions on the ground. Should any falsifications be identified, they will be documented with the participation of international experts and presented to the international community. We would also like to recall that any alterations on the historical and cultural heritage, as well as altering their origin runs in contradiction with the provisions of the 1954 Hague Convention.
Ann Linde says Finland will almost certainly apply for NATO membership

European Commission may relieve Hungary, Slovakia of embargo on Russian oil purchase

Resistance Movement to continue large-scale civil disobedience actions on 3 May in Yerevan and regions

EU countries to continue to pay in euros or dollars for Russian gas

Resistance Movement participants return to France Square

Russian and Turkish defense ministers discuss current situation in Ukraine

NEWS.am digest: Turkey says they have agreements with Armenia on border clarification

Toivo Klaar informs about meeting of Armen Grigoryan and Hikmet Hajiyev in Brussels

PACE initiates resolution on threats to journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan

Diplomat kidnapped in Haiti

Hungarian president asks Orban to form new government

Georgia PM hands over first part of questionnaire answers for accession to EU

Resistance Movement participants march in central Yerevan

Half of Japanese oppose change of peaceful constitution

Resistance movement rally on France Square in Yerevan

Blinken and Armenia FM sign memorandum on strategic cooperation in nuclear energy

Avril Lavigne tests positive for Covid-19

Another earthquake registered on Armenian-Georgian border

FLYONE ARMENIA launches regular direct flights between Yerevan and Tbilisi

Georgia abolishes requirement to wear masks in closed spaces

One dollar drops below AMD 450, euro also falls in Armenia

Georgia PM receives Justice Minister of Armenia

Armenia MFA says there is no discussion, agreement on re-demarcating border with Turkey

Why Justin Lin exits Fast and Furious 10 as director?

Cavusoglu claims there is agreement to clarify Armenia-Turkey border

Azerbaijan president receives Brice Roquefeuil

How does climate change affect human health?

Spain national team midfielder to join Barcelona

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

Netflix cancels shooting of Meghan Markle's animated series The Pearl

ATP No change in top 10

Yerevan Police apprehend opposition MP

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All Kardashians invited to Met Gala for the first time

Police: 199 people apprehended in Yerevan as of noon

Armenia defense ministry refutes Azerbaijan MOD statement

Simone Inzaghi Let's believe in victory until the end

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

Scientists identify mechanism of immune response formation leading to severe COVID-19

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

Pete Davidson tattoos names of Kim Kardashian's children

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

Xavi congratulates Real Madrid for winning the title

Small plane crashes in Canada, 4 dead

125 people taken to Yerevan police stations

Erdogan says will hold talks with Putin this week

Over 48,000 people in Armenia already get booster shot against Covid

Liverpool to sell Salah in summer

Eurovision 2022: Armenias Rosa Linn holds first rehearsal in Italy (PHOTOS)

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

La Liga: Barca defeat Mallorca

Serie A: Roma play goalless draw at home with Bologna

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

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Police dispatching additional forces to Yerevans France Square

Opposition to set up tents at France Square in downtown Yerevan (PHOTOS)
The Armenian and Belarusian peoples are fraternal peoples, they have very close friendly ties, and no statement can affect that friendship. Deputy speaker Hakob Arshakyan of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia told this to reporters in the NA Tuesdayand referring to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenkos statement Monday that, "Armenia has no place to go."

"I do not see any reason to comment here, I do not want to respond to such statements, there have been various expressions similar to it at various times. These are statements being voiced on their internal political issues concerning the country. Such matters are not discussed in Armenia in any way," he said.

Arshakyan made a reference to the respective statement issued by the Armenian foreign ministry spokesman, adding that his comments in this regard could not differ from those of the foreign ministry. "If the MFA makes any comments, then it is appropriate," he said.

And to the remark that perhaps secret negotiations are actually underway to create a union state comprising the former Soviet countries, the Armenian official responded: "No. There are no such discussions."

In an interview with renowned Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov, and speaking about a union state of Belarus and Russia and the prospects for other post-Soviet countries joining it, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko had said: "Armenia has no place to go. Do you think anyone needs them? They have already seen [that] ... [Armenian PM] Nikol Vovayevich [Pashinyan] has seen that."
Today

Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. High 57F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low 39F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph.

Tomorrow

Windy with a mix of clouds and sun in the morning. Showers developing during the afternoon. High 58F. SSE winds shifting to N at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Higher wind gusts possible.
The choice of the table for the talks between Russian and French presidents Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron was related to the current situation in the world with the coronavirus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this, according to Podyem's Telegram channel.

"Exclusively epidemiological measures," the Russian leader's spokesman explained.

Earlier, a number of foreign publications drew attention to the very long table at which Putin and Macron sat during talks in Moscow. In particular, the British newspaper The Sun noted that the Russian president held the meeting with his French counterpart, seating him at the other end of a large table to keep his distance. For his part, Daily Mail journalists suggested that in this way Putin wanted to point to the gap that currently exists between Russia and the West.

Earlier, a photo of the two leaders at a meeting in the Kremlin became a meme on social networks. In particular, users joked that it was because of the length of the table that the talks between Putin and Macron lasted so long, Lenta reported.

The talks between the two leaders were held in the Kremlin on 7 February and lasted more than five hours. Following the meeting, Putin said that the meeting with Macron was conducted in a businesslike manner, it was substantive and useful. The head of state also said that he had discussed with the French president the non-expansion of NATO and the situation around Ukraine.
Ukraine reportedly has 20 Turkish TB-2 drones. They may not matter in the wider war with Russia, David Axe noted in his Forbes article.

"We knew Ukraine had Turkish-made hunter-killer drones, each capable of finding and destroying enemy armored vehicles without exposing crews to enemy fire. We didnt know many of the propeller-driven Bayraktar TB-2s Kiev managed to acquire as a powerful Russian army massed along the border with Ukraine," he noted.

Twenty drones is not much, while even the tired Ukrainian air force has about 125 manned combat aircraft, and the Russian air force can muster hundreds of manned aircraft to attack Ukraine.

The Ukrainian fleet of armed drones seems even more paltry when you consider that Russia has deployed thousands of armored vehicles  enough for at least 75 battalion tactical teams  within range of Ukraine.

But the TB-2, in the right conditions and with the right support, is a powerful weapon. A 21-foot camera-equipped drone, flown by a crew of three on the ground, can carry a pair of Smart Micro Munition guided missiles up to 80 miles in line-of-sight.

During a brief but bitter war in 2020, Azerbaijan's drone fleet of about 10 TB-2s destroyed at least 567 Armenian vehicles, artillery pieces and air defense systems.

"Russia isnt Armenia. And a possible, wider war between Russia and Ukraine would be much more violentand dangerous for anything that fliesthan the relatively low-intensity Azerbaijan-Armenia war," he added.

Azerbaijani TB-2s in most cases not only managed to slip past the Armenian air defenses, but the drones also damaged this defense. TB-2s were shot down by three Strela-10 short-range air defense systems, 16 Osa-SHORAD vehicles and a ZSU-23-4 mobile gun.

Instead, the Armenians shot down two or even three TB-2s. Armenia reportedly unsuccessfully attempted to jam the drone control signal with its Krasukha-4 electronic warfare equipment.

But Russian forces have more and better air defense and electronic warfare systems than Armenian forces have or had. Russia is deploying thousands of man-portable air defense systems, self-propelled artillery mounts and surface-to-air missiles.

However, Russian forces sometimes found it difficult to counter small drones. Islamic State militants have repeatedly launched swarms of small drones loaded with explosives at Russian bases in Syria.

Russian jammers blocked some of the drones. Others were shot down by Pantsir anti-aircraft missile systems. But some got through.

The TB-2 is larger than a production quadcopter and theoretically easier to spot. But it's also faster. And he can fire his missiles at targets miles away.

However, all of these factors can be controversial. It doesn't matter how effective the Ukrainian drones are or how ineffective the Russian air defense system is against them if the drones never get off the ground.

A Russian offensive into Ukraine would certainly have been preceded by devastating artillery fire, air- and sea-launched cruise missiles, and land-launched ballistic missiles.

Given how much the Russians fear and loathe the TB-2, unmanned units - their command trailers, transmitters and crews, and the air vehicles themselves - will undoubtedly be at the top of the list of targets.

Meanwhile, Kiev has placed orders for additional TB-2s and also signed an agreement with Turkey to manufacture drones under license.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 08.02.22:

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has not filed a criminal case against the eight prisoners of war (POWs) who were returned to Armenia Monday from Azerbaijan, and all of them have been released, the committee's press secretary, Vardan Tadevosyan, told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He added that six of these POWs were released Monday, while the other twowho are conscriptswere transferred to Military Police to resolve the matter of their future military service.

Commenting on the reports that these POWs were questioned in a tense atmosphere, Tadevosyan said that their questioning had lasted for about seven hours, during which their parents were emotional.

"The reports that the parents broke the windows are false," he noted.

After returning eight Armenian prisoners of war, Azerbaijan said in exchange it expects to receive information about the Azerbaijani soldiers and civilians killed in the first Karabakh war and presumably buried in mass graves, as well as the location of these graves.

"Both in the first and the second Artsakh war, the Armenian side has missing persons. We attach importance to finding out the fate of the missing. In this sense, the Armenian side did not assume any unilateral obligations," Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vahan Hunanyan noted.

Emerging from a meeting in the Kremlin that lasted more than five hours, the two leaders voiced hope that a solution could be found to the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready for compromise and would look at proposals put forward by French leader Emmanuel Macron during talks on Monday, while still blaming the West for raising tensions over Ukraine.

Russia and France have also reaffirmed the importance of the work of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in resolving the issues in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

The French President noted that some other issues, in particular, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, were discussed during their talks.

"Here I want to express my joy that eight [Armenian] prisoners were released [by Azerbaijan] this morning. Our French crisis center has provided a plane to transport them [to Armenia]," he noted.

An Armenian judge Boris Bakhshiyan was arrested on Monday in what he sees as government retaliation for his decision late last month to grant bail to an opposition figure detained in December 2021.

A court allowed the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) to take Boris Bakhshiyan into custody.

The NSS and state prosecutors requested a state judicial watchdogs permission to indict Bakhshiyan days after he agreed to release Ashot Minasian, a prominent war veteran, and opposition activist, on January 26.

Minasian was arrested on December 1 after being charged with plotting to kill Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and overthrow the Armenian government and illegally possess weapons. The National Security Service dropped the coup charges later in December.

Bakhshiyan lawyers said last week that Minasians release is the reason why the authorities decided to prosecute the 36-year-old judge working at the court of the first instance of southeastern Syunik province. The prosecutors deny this.

The move was justified by the fact that the churches were originally a legacy of 'Caucasian Albania', an ancient kingdom that was once located on the territory of modern Azerbaijan. This theory, not supported by leading historians, has long been promoted by nationalist Azerbaijani historians and is supported by the current government in Baku, the authors of the article note.

Culture Minister Anar Karimov said at a February 3 briefing that a working group had been set up to be responsible for removing fictitious traces left by Armenians on Albanian religious temples.

The USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza touched upon the topic and tweeted: "We are deeply concerned by Azerbaijan's plans to remove Armenian Apostolic inscriptions from churches. We urge the government to preserve and protect places of worship and other religious and cultural sites."

In March 2021, a user named Karabakh Honor posted a video on his YouTube channel, which clearly shows that the Saint Astvatsatsin Armenian Church of Artsakhs (Nagorno-Karabakh) Karintak village, which came under the control of Azerbaijan after the 44-day war in the fall of 20220, is being vandalized, according to monumentwatch.org, which monitors Artsakh's cultural heritage.

The video clearly shows that the Holy Altar of the church tabernacle is broken and divided in half, the inside of the church is turned upside down, the Azerbaijani soldiers enter and leave the church, climb on the tabernacle, desecrate it, and enter the depositorieswhich are also turned upside down.

During a two-hour interview with Russian journalist Vladimir Soloviev on February 4, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said the union state initiated by Moscow and Minsk will include most of the former Soviet republics - Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asian states  in the next fifteen years.

"Armenia can't escape it. Do you think anyone needs them? They have already seen it," Lukashenko said, adding that Nikol Pashinyan has already witnessed this fact.

Armenia has reacted to Belarusian president's statement harshly.

Armenian MFA spokesman, Vahan Hunanyan noted that they are convinced that the unique geopolitical analyses of the Belarusian President are aimed, first and foremost, at serving his own domestic political agenda, and they have nothing to do with Armenia and its foreign policy.

The parliament has also reacted to the statement by speeches from the ruling party MPs.

Moscow and Ankara have reached an agreement on Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Turkey, but no specific dates have been confirmed, the Russian leader's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

Indeed, there is such a trip in the future. As we have repeatedly said, Putin and Erdogan agreed on this visit. They agreed the visit happen once the working schedule and conditions allow. There is no concrete date yet, but they will be agreed in time through diplomatic channels, said Kremlin spokesman.

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said earlier that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had invited Putin and Zelensky in a bid to try to bridge the gaps between the two countries.

The Chinese representation in the EU opposes the expansion of NATO and considers the corresponding efforts supposedly undertaken to ensure global security to be useless.

NATO expansion will not help ensure security and stability in the world, the agency said in a statement.

According to it, NATO is a product of the Cold War. The Chinese side believes regional security cannot be ensured by the forcible expansion of military alliances.
Yerevan has not yet responded to Turkey's invitation to attend the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said to journalists.

He reminded that invitations to the forum, which will be held in southern Turkey on March 11-13, were sent to Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Armenian National Assembly Vice-Speaker, special envoy Ruben Rubinyan.

"Yerevan has not yet confirmed participation in the forum," the Turkish minister said, adding that no invitation has been sent to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Paashinyan. "Our president is sending them to the leaders," he said.

He added that it was the Armenian side that preferred Vienna as the venue for the second round of talks. "They offered on the phone to hold the second meeting either in Vienna or in Geneva. We consulted with our special representative and, as there had been a failure in Geneva in the past, we chose Vienna We want to hold meetings both in Ankara and Yerevan, but the Armenian side has chosen a third country. Nothing, the main thing is that the process is underway" Cavusoglu said.
On 8 February, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Armenia Alexander Konyuk visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vahan Hunanyan told NEWS.am.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman did not specify the message conveyed to the ambassador. Earlier, the Armenian Foreign Ministry commented on President Lukashenko's resonant statements, noting that "the unique geopolitical analyses of the Belarusian President are aimed, first and foremost, at serving his own domestic political agenda, and they have nothing to do with Armenia and its foreign policy."

In an interview with renowned Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov, and speaking about a union state of Belarus and Russia and the prospects for other post-Soviet countries joining it, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko had said: "Armenia has no place to go. Do you think anyone needs them? They have already seen [that] ... [Armenian PM] Nikol Vovayevich [Pashinyan] has seen that."
A junior in Emory College of Arts and Sciences will make her literary debut Feb. 8 with a book heralded as both one of the best and most anticipated young adult novels of 2022. But you can be forgiven if You Truly Assumed wasnt on your radar.

The Robert W. Woodruff Scholar from the Washington, D.C., area has kept her accomplishment close.

Laila Sabreen didnt bring up the book with the professor who oversaw her yearlong research into the portrayal of Black Girlhood in Black womens fiction  a question her novel addresses through the story of three Black Muslim teens who become friends after a terrorist attack heightens the Islamophobia they face.

Sabreen did discuss her writing with friends. But, after they recorded her signing her agent contract as a first-year student in the Raoul Hall lounge, most conversations centered on more traditional college chatter like weekend plans, classes and exams.

My writing was originally just for me, Sabreen says. Then I realized it could go somewhere a lot of stories dont, with Black Muslim characters written by a Black Muslim author. I hope (the novel) makes space for more Black Muslim authors to write whatever story is authentic to them.

You Truly Assumed is being published by Inkyard Press, a young adult imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Sabreen will share her experience writing the novel during a virtual book launch with Decaturs Little Shop of Stories bookstore on Feb. 8. An Emory-centered online event, featuring Margari Hill of the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, will be held Feb. 16, co-sponsored by Emorys departments of English and religion.

She may also be a featured speaker in Muslim Womens Storytelling, the cross-listed Emory College course that has included the novel for analysis this spring.

For a while, it was just mine, Sabreen says. Looking back, I realize it was a coming-of-age story with little pieces of me in it. A lot has changed since then now that its ready for anyone else.

Scholar and author

Growing up, Sabreen always enjoyed reading and writing. She ran a book blog with her reviews during her first two years of high school, then shifted to writing as a way to express her feelings as she watched anti-Muslim sentiment grow following the 2016 election.

Even as author Adiba Jaigirdar helped her with the novels revisions and provided other support through Author Mentor Match during her senior year of high school, Sabreen expected her writing would remain private.

At Emory, she initially planned a pre-health neuroscience and behavioral biology (NBB) major or a quantitative methods (QSS) major focused on health care. Days before starting her first year on campus, she completed Emorys STEM Pathways pre-orientation program for students from underrepresented groups interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

There, she cemented the close friendships that have marked her time at Emory. She told her friends she was a novelist in the same matter-of-fact way that others might describe a day as sunny, but it didnt quite register.

As STEM people, we didnt really know what it meant to be a novelist other than it seemed serious to have an agent, says Olivia Bautista, a junior majoring in QSS with a concentration in biological anthropology. Now I know Laila is always in the process of writing a novel, even though she does all these other things at Emory.

Though the pandemic ruptured Sabreens first year on campus, she has been active as both an executive board member with the Emory Black Student Alliance and as a tutor at the Emory Writing Center.

An introductory sociology class opened her eyes to analytical approaches to explaining how people interact with each other and the world around them. She declared a double major in English  literature, not creative writing  and sociology to explore that overlap.

Working on the edits of my book made me more aware of what I was enjoying at Emory and gave me the confidence to follow that interest, Sabreen says. The writer in me is very interested in peoples motivations and what that means if I can create more realistic characters.

When Sabreen reached out near the end of her first year to Meina Yates-Richard, an assistant professor of African American studies and English, it was not to discuss her own writing.

Instead, she presented a reading list to begin the research she wanted Yates-Richard to guide. Sabreen is now submitting the resulting Scholarly Inquiry and Research Experience (SIRE) project to a peer-reviewed journal.

She also is expanding the project, focused on Black female authors in the 21st century, to include authors from the 19th and 20th centuries for her honors thesis. Her plan after that is a PhD in English literature.

We met at least bimonthly, sometimes weekly, for an entire year, and she never mentioned [her novel]. Not one time, Yates-Richard says. Discovering Laila is an author makes such sense, though, because I can see her aligning herself with a specific tradition in African-American literature whose depth comes from a grounding in research that fuels the imagination.

An important window

Sabreens ties to the tradition of scholar-writers continue this spring, with You Truly Assumed being included in the cross-listed Muslim Women's Storytelling course.

Instructor Rose Deighton, a post-doctoral fellow in Emorys Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, assigned the novel as the first text for the class. The unit pays particular attention to the ways Black Muslim women are overlooked in public understandings of Islam and marginalized within some Muslim communities.

Lailas engaging storytelling offers an important window into the multiple different ways Black Muslim girls and women negotiate their identities and experiences, Deighton says.

To help readers, especially anyone unfamiliar with that intersectionality, students in Deightons class also are creating a readers guide for the novel.

The guide will include a glossary and chapter-by-chapter prompts, such as asking about Sabreens intentional use of slang and decision not to italicize Arabic words. Deighton will edit the guide, then give it to Little Shop of Stories to share with customers.

As publishers recognize that more diverse stories need to be told, were seeing a lot more adults reading Young Adult novels now, says store co-owner Diane Capriola. Its an exciting time to be a YA bookseller. We have a lot more to offer readers when they are looking to read a book like Lailas.

To reach as many people as I possibly can

It is also an exciting time to be Laila Sabreen, in both author and student form. She stepped away from serving in Emorys BSA to focus on book events this spring, but she continues mentoring with Matriculate, helping low-income high schoolers navigate the college application process.

She also has begun digging in on her honors thesis and recently submitted her second novel. Written during the first books editing, the novel is an examination of grief and loss Sabreen wrote after the sudden death of a family member just before she came to Emory.

A lot comes out in my writing. Its my way of processing what Im feeling and thinking, she says.

Sabreen has told friends that a short story  part of an anthology due next year  was loosely inspired by her first semester on campus.

I know she will keep it general, but I cant wait to read it, says junior Helena Zeleke, an NBB major who became close with Sabreen in STEM Pathways.

Being around Laila, seeing her go after the things that seem unimaginable and succeeding, has made me wonder what is out there for me to try, adds Zeleke, who applied and was admitted to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with Sabreens encouragement. Its powerful to have a friend like that.

Lest it not take any future readers by surprise, Sabreens powers also include drafting a third novel over the recent winter break. That way she can focus on her favorite part of writing  the revision  while making time for her academic work.

My interests change, so I want to be able to shift focus, Sabreen says. I want to reach as many people as I possibly can, when Im ready.
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China slams latest US arms sale to Taiwan

The Foreign Ministry says the US arms package undermines China's security and sovereignty. Image: Shutterstock

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday condemned the latest planned US arms sale to Taiwan, saying it seriously undermined China's security and sovereignty.



China will take robust measures to uphold its own security interests, spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily news briefing.



Washington has approved a US$100 million support contract with Taiwan aimed at boosting the islands missile defence systems.



It's the second arms sale to Taiwan since US President Joe Biden took office. (Reuters & AP)
Officials order partial evacuation of Fu Yuet House

Authorities say residents of all units on the second floor of Fu Yuet House will be sent to a quarantine centre. Photo: RTHK

The government said it has arranged for some residents of a public housing block in Sham Shui Po to be evacuated over concerns that the Covid-19 virus had been spreading through means like vertical or horizontal transmission.



In a statement issued Tuesday night, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said residents of all units on the second floor of Fu Yuet House at Fu Cheong Estate will be sent to a quarantine centre.



Officials had announced earlier in the day that the block will be locked down for a second night of testing, after 22 preliminary positive infections were detected.



Meanwhile, the CHP said Qatar Airways will be banned from flying passenger flights from Doha to Hong Kong from today to February 21, after three passengers on flight QR818 tested positive after arriving in the SAR on Sunday.
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], February 8 (ANI/BusinessWire India): A Memorandum of Cooperation on movement of specified skilled workers to Japan from India for a maximum period of up to five years has been signed by India and Japan on 18th January 2021. The MoC covers 14 categories of specified skills under which skilled workers from India who meet the skills requirement and Japanese language tests would be eligible for employment in Japan. There are 14 specified industry fields that offer Jobs in Japan under SSW category these are nursing care (caregiving), building cleaning management, machine parts & tooling industries, industrial machinery industry, electric, electronics, and information industries, construction industry, shipbuilding, and ship machinery industry, automobile repair and maintenance, aviation industry, hospitality sector, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, food and beverages and food services sector. Great Job opportunity for Indian Candidates to work in Japan Aurawoo signed an exclusive MOU with Japanese organisations to provide language training, skill training, and cultural training to Indian candidates. Aurawoo also helps candidates in interview preparation and assists Indian candidates in obtaining the best job prospects in Japan. Aurawoo is having a job order of 3000 candidates which needs to be fulfilled in 2022. Aurawoo is a start-up company recognized by the Department For Promotion Of Industry And Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India with certificate number DIPP93880. Director of the company Priyank Shrivastava said that Aurawoo helps businesses across the world to optimise and build their diversified workforces, work culture, talent by providing best language, technical, and skill training to the candidates. He added that MOU between Japan and India will help Indian job seekers in getting great Job opportunities in Japan. Shrivastava also added that skill-based training is the future of workforce. Rajan Sharma Head of Program mentioned that with just language and technical training of 11 months the candidate from India can be placed in the multinational companies of japan for 5 years. Aurawoo Program includes Japanese Language Training, Technical Training, Skill Training, Japanese Culture Training, Job matching, Interview Preparation, and Placement. Benefits to the Job Seeker Candidates 1. The average salary of Rs. 1,60,000 under TITP and Rs. 1,90,000 under SSW Category per month. 2. 100% Guaranteed Job Placement in Japan to the candidates who have cleared the Japanese Language & Skill Test. 3. Free Visa and Flight Tickets from India to Japan and Japan to India. 4. Free Accommodation, Commuting, Health and Social Insurance by the Company. 5. Government approved Job Order attested by embassy of Japan. Job Categories in Japan There are two job categories available for Indians who are willing to work in Japan. The first one SSW and Second one is TITP. In April 2019, Japan established a new status of residence, "Specified Skilled Worker (SSW)", to welcome capable specialists from overseas countries to work in certain Japanese industrial fields, to function as workers ready to take on jobs without prior training. This page will introduce information for those that want to play an active role in Japan by making use of the expertise and skills they have cultivated so far. TITP (Technical Intern Training Program) program is run by Japanese government that facilitates international workers to work for up to 5 years in Japan and learn Japanese way of working. To amplify the impetus on making India the skill capital of the world, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India, has initiated several measures. One such noteworthy measure is the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. The MoC was signed on October 17, 2017, to significantly expand the bilateral cooperation between India and Japan in the skill development sector. Website: www.aurawoo.com This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 8 (ANI/NewsVoir): Trade Kings Group is digitizing their retail landscape in Africa with data-driven supply chain solutions. For the sub-Saharan FMCG giant who has been driven by the ambition of improving lives in Africa since its inception, the partnership with Bizom is a testimony to Trade Kings Group's affiliation towards innovative products that creates a progressive and sustainable future. Revamping the supply chain with intelligent retail technology will help the company intensify the reach and efficiency of product distribution, and increase the potential of the company's iconic CPG product ranges like The Boom Cleaners, Daily Gold, Yoyo Fun Snacks, Swiss Bake, Big Tree and more. Trade Kings is expected to drive higher ROI on marketing expenditure and increase their footprint in the African consumer market by leveraging Bizom's holistic, analytical retail tools. The company is also expecting a soaring growth in sales numbers across all business units, with a reduced lead time for delivery. Commenting on this new transformation in the downstream markets, Luxminarayanan Subramaniam, Group General Manager at Trade Kings said, "Trade Kings Group is committed to bringing a good life to every African consumer, irrespective of their financial status. Our partnership with Bizom will help us drive more granular market insights and accelerate our efforts to ensure that our products are reaching every kiosk in Sub-Saharan Africa, at the right time. We aim to leverage their technology in the coming years to aggressively drive our passion for improving lives in Africa." The 25-year-old African conglomerate has its vast range of product portfolios spread across southern Africa in countries like Zimbabwe, Angola, and more. Bizom's retail-focused solutions will assist the company in connecting the entire supply chain across all markets in a digital-first way. As Zambia's largest manufacturing company, the ambition and efforts of Trade Kings Group towards uplifting the economy, has been relentless. Trade Kings Group has always been a versatile flagbearer for Zambia's growth, from providing a good lifestyle with affordable, consistent and reliable products to empowering African lives through employment and programs. Now, with enhanced retail solutions plugged into their supply chain, the company is expecting to increase the accessibility of their products in Africa, promptly. Lalit Bhise, CEO of Bizom shares how Bizom will boost Trade Kings Group's retail presence, saying, "The Trade Kings Group has been a pioneer in Africa's consumer world for creating a more hygienic and healthier environment for the masses. We are proud to work alongside such a renowned African brand and support their vision of improving lives in Africa. Bizom is built of everything retail, and I'm highly optimistic about the efficiency and market insights our solutions will deliver for Trade Kings, helping the company grow unprecedentedly." The trust that Trade Kings Group has nurtured in the African market and the capabilities and opportunities of the Bizom platform will come together to drive the ambitious goals of the company, headstrong. Trade Kings Zambia is an indigenous African company that specializes in the creation and manufacture of innovative laundry and cleaning products, delicious sweets, confectionery, snacks, biscuits and reinventing both traditional and exciting new beverages. The company has been in existence since 1995 and has grown into a conglomerate; a Group of companies namely Big Tree Beverages, Dairy Gold, Swiss Bake, Yoyo Foods, Royal Oak and Universal Mining and Chemical Industries Limited (Kafue Steel). Bizom is a Retail Intelligence platform that provides end-to-end supply chain automation for consumer product brands, enabling them with complete visibility on each movement in the supply chain, and providing accurate real-time actionable retail insights. Trusted by CPG brands in India and emerging markets, Bizom's retail intelligence platform empowers 7.5 million retailers, of 500+ brands to sell better, every day and helps brands achieve smart distribution by improving their manpower efficiency, channel performance and product performance. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], February 8 (ANI/PNN): Ganga Forging Ltd. (NSE: GANGAFORGE), one of the leading steel forging and machine components manufacturer with specialized components supplying to major industries like Construction, Railways, Mechanical industries, Oil refineries, Mining, etc., has informed the Exchange that it has bagged an Export order from US aggregating to US $ 5 33,588 (approx. Rupees 40 million). Products of the company include Crankshafts, connecting Rods, etc. The company manufactures forging parts, and has over 3 decades of experience, at its state of art, ultra-modern latest, fully automated forging and machining manufacturing facilities near Rajkot, Gujarat. The company's vision is to be recognized as leaders in the forging manufacturing industry. It strives to achieve this by onboarding the right talent and by growing as an organization. In the manufacturing space, it is one of the few forging parts manufacturers growing at an exceptional rate. It is on a mission to become the brand that has world-class ethics and business principles. It's mission also entails becoming internationally reputed and we are on the path towards that objective. The company has built an honest name recognition in our field because of our consistent delivery of quality products. 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 8 (ANI/ATK): Rrashima's debut book has recently been released worldwide. Titled 'A Break In Love', the book is a highly engaging, contemporary romance that has been garnering excellent reviews across social and print media. Represented by The Book Bakers literary agency and published by Vishwakarma Publications, 'A Break In Love' does a deep dive into modern-day relationships and their challenges. The book has been receiving praise for its widespread, universal connect, as well as for being very high on the relatability index. The plot is relevant to the times we live in, the characters have been beautifully sketched out, the setting is realistic and the story has ample doses of romance, emotion and humour. Other than being an enjoyable read, the book also answers some extremely pertinent questions about making relationships work in a fickle, fast-paced and technology-driven world. The success of the book as well as the rave reviews that have been pouring in have amply demonstrated how a novel and fresh plot, entertaining narration and believable characters can keep readers hooked and prove to be a truly winning combination. A strategic business analyst with leading US-based business research and consulting organization, Rrashima Swaarup Verma has over 20 years of experience in the corporate sector. Rrashima is also a prolific writer, columnist and poet as well as an award-winning speaker. Her stories, articles and poetry across genres like romance, humour, lifestyle and women's issues are regularly published in leading national and international literary magazines and newspapers. Some of the publications that have featured her work are The Statesman, First City, The Writers and Readers Magazine (UK), West Trestle Review (California), Active Muse, Spark - The Magazine, Indian Review, Poet Crit, Indian Periodical, Woman's Era and Women's Web. You can also read some of Rrashima's work on her website www.rrashimaswaarupverma.com. A keen traveller, she also writes a monthly travelogue. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
New Delhi [India], February 8 (ANI/NewsVoir): SHREE, the quintessential Indian ethnic wear brand expands its footprint in the international markets with the launch of its first store at City Centre, Sharjah, UAE, and is in the process of opening a second store at the City Centre Deira, Dubai. Along with growing its impression overseas, the brand is all set to bring quality, chic, affordable ethnic wear to more cities in India! Adding to its burgeoning portfolio of 100 stores, SHREE will open 50+ stores in India in 2022. Speaking on this occasion, Sheetal Kapoor, Co-founder & Director, SHR Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd. said, "We are excited about this new endeavour, launching our brand to our customers in UAE has been in the planning for a while and we are thrilled to see it come to life. Soon, we will be launching an online e-commerce website for our UAE customers to shop SHREE online (shree.ae). We are also looking forward to our new store launches in India. The more stores we launch the closer we are to our customers!" Furthermore, the brand is reinventing itself, and this year, it is all set to unveil the new SHREE! The aim here is to bring out the vision and mission of the brand - Shree designs outfits for women who are rooted in India's rich cultural heritage but have a global outlook! SHREE now has a completely new logo, tagline, and a brand story wherein lies the brand's true essence. The new tagline "She is Special" enunciates on what SHREE stands for - the power that every Indian woman withholds. Besides, the new branding promotes the brand motto "Made in India". The goal is to promote the employment of home-grown factories, small job workers, tailor masters, and every life we touch in the making of our garments. SHREE goes from fibre to fashion domestically. It is a truly Indian product - Inspired, Sourced and Made in India. Speaking on the new brand identity, Kapoor adds, "Our rebranding activity seeps into our new store concept as well. We call it SHREE 2.0. This new retail concept is inspired from the idea of bold femininity and Indian culture/architecture. One can see the cultural nuances in the motifs, vintage designs and colour palette that brings forth a sense of celebration! To add to all that is new happening at SHREE, we are now launching our Spring Summer 2022 collection titled "She is Special"! To all of us this is a special collection as it's our first since the transformation." Ethnic wear can be worn anytime, anywhere! Creatively designed keeping in mind the needs of today's women and the new trend (work from home) heralded by the pandemic, Shree's latest Spring-Summer 2022 collection is all about keeping you comfortable yet pretty! This new line is vibrant and classy. Enthused by the soothing pastel shades that depict the approaching summer, this collection consists of fabrics that are airy and breathy, styles that express comfort and convenience, and patterns that showcase 'chic' at its very core. The different types of detailing, surface ornamentation, handwork digital print, and embroideries enhance a variety of styles. The "Fabrics in Focus" this season are easy and breathable fabrics such as cotton, rayon, flex, muslin, khadi cotton, etc. In terms of cuts and styles the focus is mainly on straight cuts, A-lines and fit and flare across kurtas, tunics, ethnic sets, multi-functional 3pc sets and dresses. Adding to the expansion plans, Kapoor adds, "A major part of our investment has been to ramp up the brand. We have invested 5 crores for our stores and e-comm portal in UAE. With online shopping becoming top priority for our customers, our focus is to provide them ease of purchase and payment. Thus, we have also invested a major chunk of our budget in our website, WhatsApp store (store-to-door) and more. Besides, we are in the process of revamping our existing 100 stores as per the new retail concept." SHREE has always been about keeping up with the ever-changing demands of the Indian fashion world, while making it chic and affordable for its customers. Its main priority is and always will be the comfort and convenience of the consumers. Hence, the brand has ramped up to make shopping with SHREE a breeze! SHR Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd. is an ethnic wear manufacturer and distributor of everyday women's clothing across India and abroad. With an exquisite range of ethnic wear for women, Shree celebrates the Indian-ness of every woman and takes pride in our Indian culture. The brand, in its' entirety is quality conscious and constantly strives to provide the best to its "Parivaar" without cutting any corners. Shree traces its origins from the Sanskrit word devi which means divine. Deeply rooted in the Indian spiritual ethos, 'Devi' is quintessentially the core of every Indian woman. The company draws its inspiration from the modern Indian woman; a woman who gracefully and efficiently maintains a perfect equilibrium between her social and professional life. Every Shree garment captures and celebrates an Indian woman's sense of individuality. Website: byshree.com. Facebook: www.facebook.com/Shreeisspecial Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCVYDrhg7TXCXOzdAbYDDOPg Linked In: www.linkedin.com/company/shreeisspecial. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Smith will star and executive produce the series titled 'Pole to Pole', which will stream on Disney+ as part of the Nat Geo hub.

The actor will reunite with the team from his series 'Welcome to Earth' to travel the length of the globe; that means they will go on a 26,000-mile trek from the South Pole to the North Pole, crossing all of Earth's biomes and spending time in communities along the way.

Including the Nat Geo series 'Welcome to Earth' producers Nutopia and Protozoa Pictures, Smith will executive produce the 'Pole to Pole' via his Westbrook banner along with the company's Miguel Melendez and Terence Carter; Nutopia's Jane Root and Peter Lovering; and Protozoa's Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel.

The show will film over more than 100 days; a start date and premiere haven't yet been announced.

'Pole to Pole' is one of several series orders Nat Geo announced during its time before the Television Critics Association on Monday. They include projects produced by James Cameron, Jon Favreau and the BBC Studios Natural History Unit and an adventure show starring magician David Blaine. (ANI)
Following the 2022 Academy Awards nominations, Jane Campion has entered the Oscars history books as the first woman filmmaker to boast of two career nominations in the Best Director category. Campion has been nominated for directing her acclaimed work on the Netflix-backed 'The Power of the Dog', which also won her the directing prize at last year's Venice Film Festival and a nomination at the Directors Guild of America Awards. According to Variety, her first Oscar nomination for directing came in 1994 when she was nominated for 'The Piano' at the 66th Academy Awards. She won the Oscar for an original screenplay that year. Apart from directing, 'The Power of the Dog' picked up several Oscar nominations this year in categories such as best picture, actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, supporting actress for Kristen Dunst, supporting actor for Kodi Smitt-McPhee and Jesse Plemons, adapted screenplay, editing, score and cinematography. Ari Wegner, the film's director of photography, is now just the second woman nominated at the Oscars in the cinematography category. Campion is nominated in the 2022 Oscars directing category opposite Steven Spielberg for 'West Side Story', Kenneth Branagh for 'Belfast', Paul Thomas Anderson for 'Licorice Pizza' and Ryusuke Hamaguchi for 'Drive My Car'. To date, only seven women have been Oscar-nominated for best director: Lina Wertmuller for 'Seven Beauties,' Campion for 'The Piano' and 'The Power of the Dog,' Sofia Coppola for 'Lost in Translation,' Kathryn Bigelow for 'The Hurt Locker,' Greta Gerwig for 'Lady Bird,' Chloe Zhao for 'Nomadland' and Emerald Fennell for 'Promising Young Woman.' Out of the lot, only Bigelow and Zhao are the only two winners. The year both Zhao and Fennell earned nominations marked the first time in Oscars history that two female filmmakers competed for best director, as per Variety. 'The Power of the Dog' is Campion's adaptation of the 1967 Thomas Savage novel of the same name. In the film, Cumberbatch plays a sadistic rancher who meddles with his brother's new wife (Dunst) and her sensitive son (McPhee). (ANI)
The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India has been successfully completed on January 27, 2022, said Union Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Monday. On the question of the percentage of shares disinvested, the Minister stated that 100 per cent shares of Air India (including 100 per cent shares of its subsidiary, Air India Express Ltd (AIXL) and 50 per cent shares of its JV, AISATS) have been disinvested. The Minister further stated that with the disinvestment of Air India on January 27, 2022, there is no equity stake of the Centre left in Air India or AIXL and the airlines are now under the management control of the strategic buyer. Notably, after 69 years of its nationalisation, Air India formally became part of Tata Group, its founder. The government formally handed over the airline to Tata Group at a ceremony held in the national capital. (ANI)
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Of the 28 assembly seats, 10 seats have been given to women candidates. This is in line with the party's commitment to give 40 per cent seats to women candidates.

The party has fielded Ashish Shukla from the Amethi constituency.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress Party and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) state in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are emphasizing on women. The party has adopted the "MY" factor comprising of Mahila and youth.

Meanwhile, elections to the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10.

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. (ANI)
Congres members staged a walk out after Shashi Tharoor made his remarks on the budget. They said presence of the minister when the debate is initiated is a tradition.

"Budget is a matter concerning Lok Sabha. Until the Lok Sabha appropriates the sum demanded by the Finance Ministry, the Government cannot go ahead. On this solemn occasion, our Finance Minister is conspicuously absent. It is really an unbecoming scenario," Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said points spoken by Tharoor had been noted.

Some other members took part in the debate which will continue. The Union Budget 2022-23 was presented in parliament on February 1. (ANI)
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday alleged that the Centre's sudden announcement of the lockdown during the first wave of COVID-19 led to several people losing their lives. The Congress leader's remarks came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the Opposition parties in Parliament today accusing the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)of contributing to the widespread of COVID-19 in the initial days by pushing migrant labourers to leave Mumbai and Delhi, thereby triggering a crisis. "PM had suddenly announced a lockdown during the first wave of COVID19. No food was available for migrant labourers. Many migrant workers returned home on foot and several people lost their lives," Chowdhury said reacting to PM Modi's remarks. PM in his reply to the Motion of Thanks debate in Lok Sabha said, "The Congress Party has crossed all limits during the first wave COVID pandemic. During the first wave, when people were following lockdowns, in the entire world guidelines were suggesting that people stay where they are... then Congress leaders were standing at Mumbai station and scaring innocent people. They pushed migrant workers in Mumbai to return to their states." The prime minister said that the (Congress) had crossed all limits and committed a 'Paap' (sin) and a 'mahaapradh'... "pushed migrant labourers into difficulties." "Congress gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai. At the same time, the Delhi government went around slums in jeeps and announced on mics that whoever wants to go home, buses have been arranged to leave the city.... This led to the spread of COVID in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand. What kind of politics is this? How long will these politics continue? The entire country is shocked by the behaviour of Congress," the PM added. Reacting to PM Modi's remarks on 'Make in India', Chowdhury said, "We don't deny 'Make in India', the slogan was raised by former PM Indira Gandhi. India's import from China is currently USD 69 billion, where is your 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'? The unemployment rate is also increasing." Earlier today, PM Modi had said some people have a problem with 'Make in India' because, for them, it means that there will be no corruption, they will not be able to gather money. "We do not agree with the approach of scaring our youth, wealth creators and entrepreneurs. One can have suggestions on 'Make in India' but which mindset can say it will fail? Those making fun of 'Make in India' have become a joke themselves," Prime Minister added. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday informed the Lok Sabha that the Ministry of Home Affairs sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh government on the attack on the convoy of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi. Reiterating the statement he made earlier in Rajya Sabha, Shah urged the Lok Sabha MP to accept the Z category security cover being provided to him by the Central government. "Union Home Ministry sought a report from State Government on the attack on the convoy of Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM chief. I request him to accept the security given to him by the Central government," Shah said in the lower house. Shah told Parliament, "The threat to Owaisi has been reassessed and a bulletproof vehicle and Z category security has been given to him. But, as per verbal information by himself, he has refused to accept it. I request him to accept the security given to him by the central government." "Home Ministry took a report from the State government immediately. On basis of earlier inputs from central security agencies, the Centre had ordered to provide him security. But due to his unwillingness to avail security, Delhi and Telangana Police's efforts to provide him security did not succeed," he added. Informing the House further about the investigation into the attack on All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief, the Union Home Minister said, "Taking quick action two accused were arrested. Two unauthorized pistols and a car were recovered from them. The forensic team is doing a minute investigation of the car and the incident site. Evidence is being collected." Shah said that the district administration had no prior information of Owasi's visit to Hapur as he did not have a prescheduled event. "Two unidentified people had fired on the carcade. He came out safe but there were three bullet marks on the lower portion of his vehicle. The incident was witnessed by three witnesses. An FIR has been registered. Owaisi had no prescheduled event in Hapur district. No information about his movement was sent to District Control Room beforehand. After the incident, he reached Delhi safely," said the Union Home Minister. Notably, 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. The AIMIM president 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. However, the AIMIM chief refused to accept the security. (ANI)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hit out at his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanth saying that the latter was giving advertisements in the Time magazine when the dead bodies of people were flowing in the river during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kejriwal's remarks came in response to Adityanath's tweet in which he said the Delhi government forced the migrant UP workers to leave the national capital when the entire humanity was groaning due to the pain of coronavirus. "Listen Yogi, You just let it be. When the dead bodies of the people of UP were flowing in the river, you were giving advertisements of your false applause in Time magazine by spending crores of rupees. I have never seen such a vicious and cruel leader like you," read Kejriwal's tweet roughly translated from Hindi. Earlier on Monday, taking to his Twitter handle, UP CM said that the Delhi government's move to force the migrant workers out of the city was an inhuman act. "Listen Kejriwal, You forced the workers of UP to leave Delhi when the entire humanity was groaning due to the pain of Corona. Your government did an undemocratic and inhuman act like leaving even small children and women helpless on the UP border in the middle of the night. Call you a traitor or...," read UP CM's tweet roughly translated from Hindi. In another tweet, Adityanath said, "Kejriwal has a knack for telling lies. When the whole country was battling a global pandemic like Corona under the leadership of the respected Prime Minister, Kejriwal showed the migrant labourers the way out of Delhi." "The electricity-water connection was cut and the sleeping people were picked up and sent to the UP border by buses. An announcement was made that buses are going for Anand Vihar, beyond that buses will be available for UP-Bihar. The UP government arranged buses for the migrant labourers and brought them back safely," he added. The UP chief minister's remarks come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the Opposition parties in Parliament on Monday accusing the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of contributing to the widespread of COVID-19 in the initial days by pushing migrant labourers to leave Mumbai and Delhi, thereby triggering a crisis. "Congress gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai. At the same time, the Delhi government went around slums in jeeps and announced on mics that whoever wants to go home, buses have been arranged to leave the city. This led to the spread of COVID in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand," said PM Modi. (ANI)
An FIR has been registered against two police constables for allegedly assaulting a journalist after the latter questioned them for not wearing helmets while they were riding bikes in Basugaon in Assam on Monday. Speaking to ANI, the journalist namely Jayant Debnath said, "Two policemen on a bike were not wearing helmets, my only fault was that I questioned them saying what message would it give to the general public. They abused, assaulted me in broad daylight. When I told them I am a journalist, they got more furious." "Police is given free hand in Assam and they are misusing it. I want to tell the Assam government that you make laws and your own people break them. I urged the government to take quick action. Had the incident occured at night, they would have perhaps shot me dead. I am shocked by their behaviour," he added. Meanwhile, Laba Kr Deka, Chirang Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) ensured that the necessary action is being taken in the matter. "Based on the FIR by Jayant Debnath against two constables, we are taking necessary action in the matter. We have 'reserved closed' the two constables," he stated. Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI)
As per Kolkata Criminal Investigation Department, it transpired during the investigation that the accused is a noted wanted criminal of Bangladesh and is one of the members of Islami Chhatra Sibir of Chittagong.

He has been sent to 10-day police remand, added CID Kolkata. (ANI)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that the party ought to be flattered that a large part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in the Parliament was devoted to attacking Congress. "His entire speech was an attack on the Congress party. It was a very political speech with a large portion devoted to attacking Congress... I suppose we ought to be flattered that he sees us this way...," he stated. Replying to the debate in Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President's Address, PM Modi on Monday slammed Congress over various issues, adding that the party has not shed its arrogance despite repetitive defeats. Reacting to PM Modi's 'tukde tukde' remark for Congress, he alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the real 'tukde-tukde' gang that has divided Hindus-Muslims on the basis of religion, separated people on language lines, divided North-South India. "I had said a few years ago that the real 'tukde-tukde' gang is BJP that has divided Hindus-Muslims on the basis of religion, separated people on language lines, divided North-South India...BJP is doing these divisions," he said. PM Modi on Monday had said the Congress was banking on its "divide and rule" policy and had become the leader of "tukde tukde gang". (ANI)
The debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Rajya Sabha concluded on Monday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reply to the debate on Tuesday.

Forty members, including three women members, participated in the debate that lasted for 11 hours 25 minutes.

With PM Modi's reply tomorrow, the total duration of debate will exceed 12 hours allocated by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC).

After Prime Minister's reply, the debate on the union budget for 2022-23 will begin for which 11 hours have been allotted.

Rajya Sabha last week clocked 100 per cent productivity, with the Upper House making full use of the available time in the ongoing Budget session in the absence of any adjournments.

The 2022 Budget Session of the Parliament commenced on January 31 with President Ram Nath Kovind's address.

The first part of the budget session is being held from January 31 to February 11 and the second part will take place from March 14 to April 8. (ANI)
Sri Lankan Navy apprehended 16 fishermen belonging from Tamil Nadu in the early hours of Tuesday, informed Q branch police, Tamil Nadu. Q branch police informed, "16 fishermen from Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu along with 3 boats apprehended by Sri Lankan Navy at 2 am near Delft island". More details are awaited. (ANI)
President Joe Biden has appointed six new members of the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors, including two former academy commandants and the son of late Sen. John McCain, the White House announced Monday.

Bidens appointees are Gen. John R. Allen, Paul J. Angelo, Robert E. Clark II, Admiral Michelle J. Howard, Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain IV and Lt. Col. Amy McGrath. All six new members are Naval Academy graduates.

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These nominations are critical for our board to be able to meet and carry out our oversight responsibilities  I am glad to once again have full membership on our board, said Board of Visitors Chairman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democratic Congressman whose district spans several counties, including Anne Arundel County. He has been a board member for 13 years and has served as chair since 2020.

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The Board of Visitors inquires into the state of morale and discipline, the curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods and other matters relating to the academy, according to the Naval Academys website. Other board members from Maryland include Sen. Ben Cardin and Rep. Anthony Brown, both Democrats.

For about a year, the Board of Visitors was barred from meeting while the Department of Defense completed a monthslong review of all its advisory boards. In September 2021, the department cleared the board to begin operations again after evaluating defense department members and dozens of military advisory boards to ensure they aligned with the priorities outlined in the National Defense Strategy.

The conclusion of the review came after Joe Biden asked for the resignation of 18 service academy board members appointed by former President Donald Trump. For those who did not resign, their positions were terminated. Sean Spicer, Trumps former press secretary, was among the group who were asked to resign.

The board will meet three times this year: on Feb. 28 in Annapolis, and Sept. 19 and Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C.

New members

Gen. John R. Allen is a retired four-star Marine Corps General who served as the 79th Commandant of Midshipmen from 2002 to 2003. He was the first Marine to hold that position.

Allen graduated from the academy in 1976 and returned to teach as a political science instructor. He became the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan in 2012. He currently is president of the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

Robert E. Clark II, a 1984 Naval Academy graduate, served 32 years of military service, which including being the 84th Commandant of Midshipmen from 2010 to 2013. He retired from the Navy in 2015 to become the president of Wesley College before retiring last summer.

Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain IV is a reserve Naval Aviator for Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 85. He is the son of the late Sen. John McCain and a 2009 graduate of the Naval Academy  the fourth McCain to do so.

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McCain was deployed five times in the Pacific, Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. He was a leadership instructor at the Naval Academy and a search and rescue pilot in Guam. He is currently working as American Airlines Director for State and Local Government Affairs for the Western United States.

Lt. Col. Amy McGrath is a retired U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot who served three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. She graduated from the Naval Academy in 1997 and later returned to teach political science at the academy between 2014 and 2017. She was the first female Marine to fly in a F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet during combat.

In 2018 and 2020, McGrath unsuccessfully ran for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in Kentucky. She has since founded Honor Bound, Inc., an organization committed to leadership development for women with a service background and encouraging those women to run for elected office.

Admiral Michelle J. Howard, a 1982 Naval Academy graduate, served 35 years in the Navy, including missions to the Middle East, Africa, Indonesia, North Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Somalia.

In 2012, she became the first Black woman promoted to a three-star rank in the U.S. armed forces. In 1999 she was the first Black woman to command a U.S. Navy warship, and in 2006 she became the first female graduate of the Naval Academy to achieve the rank of rear admiral. She is also the first Black woman to command an Expeditionary Strike Group at sea.

Paul J. Angelo is a fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he researches migration, insecurity and strategic competition in the Western Hemisphere. He has served several tours with the Navy, including one as an instructor at the Naval Academy, where he holds a bachelors degree in political science with honors.

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In addition to Bidens appointees, three board members are appointed by Vice President Kamala Harris, four appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, one designated by the Senate Armed Services Committee and one designated by the House Armed Services Committee.
The war of words between the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intensified after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao skipped the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's programme of inaugurating the Statue of Equality in Hyderabad. On February 5, the Prime Minister inaugurated the 216-feet tall 'Statue of Equality' that commemorates the 11th-century Bhakti Saint Sri Ramanujacharya. KCR was not present at the Hyderabad airport to receive PM Modi and chose to send Minister of Fisheries Talasani Srinivas Yadav as the Minister-in-Waiting to receive the Prime Minister. The Chief Minister and his son were conspicuously absent from the inauguration event. A day after the event the son of Telangana Chief Minister, K Taraka Rama Rao, making a jibe at PM Modi on Twitter said, "The Icon of Partiality unveiled Statue of Equality and irony just died a billion deaths!!" Not to hold back, Union Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Development of North Eastern Region, G Kishan Reddy reacted sharply and said that KCR and KTR valorise Nizam whose Razakar army massacred Hindus at will and abuses PM whose only dharma is 'Sab ka Saath sab ka vikas'. "If the police is removed for 15 minutes, we Muslims will finish 100 crore Hindus. CM KCR and KTR endorse such statements by aligning with Owaisi and MIM. They valorise Nizam whose Razakar army massacred Hindus at will. He then abuses PM whose only dharma is 'Sab ka Saath sab ka vikas'," Reddy said. He further the Prime Minister is used to such political attacks and urged to spare Saint Ramanuja from this. "It is unfortunate that a spiritual event meant to celebrate the ideas of equality as enunciated by Sri Ramanujacharya is being politicized. Even by TRS party standards, this is a new low. Our PM is used to such political attacks but please spare Saint Ramanuja from this," he added. Initially, after the budget announcement in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Telangana Chief Minister held a 2-hour long press conference where he criticised the Union Budget. The Chief Minister claimed that various allocations in the budget were well below previous allocations and took specific examples such as the Fertiliser subsidy, MGNREGA budget allocations, Health sector allocations and allocations for the Food subsidy. At that time, G Kishan Reddy had rebutted the points made by KCR. The Union Minister pointed towards the previous year's budget and said that in various programmes including in Fertilizer Subsidy, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) and Health budget, the allocations have either increased or have been kept stable compared to previous budgets and in no place were there any reductions. Stirring up a controversy, Rao had said 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. Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi "short-sighted", Rao said, "BJP (at Centre) needs to be removed and thrown in the Bengal sea (Bay of Bengal). We will do whatever is needful for the country; will not sit silent. This is democracy. Our PM is very short-sighted." His statement led to an uproar from various opposition parties and Dalit organisations who stated that this revealed the Chief Minister's hatred for them. (ANI)
Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday informed that fly ash dumping, caused due to State Power Generation Company's (Mahagenco), at Nandgaon village has been stopped from February 4 onwards. Taking to Twitter, Thackeray said that after hearing multiple complaints from Nagpur residents on fly ash dumping at Nandgaon village, he had held a meeting with the stakeholders, locals and NGOs to understand the impact of pollution on the ground and had requested the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to intervene and immediately rectify the issue. "On Feb 1, MPCB issued a direction notice on the same. I am happy to state that fly ash dumping at Nandgaon was stopped on Feb 4. Now, Maharashtra Environment and Climate Change Ministry and the Energy Ministry are jointly developing a pollution mitigation plan for thermal power stations across Maharashtra," he said. Sharing a letter of Mahagenco that read: "the total disposal of ash slurry of 500 MW at Nandgaon Ash Bund has been stopped and Waregaon Ash Bund is made operative for 500 MW," the Minister said that environmental protection and economic growth must go hand in hand. "We are keen on sustainable development and more so, keen on renewable clean energy in the future. One cannot come at the cost of the other. I am thankful to citizens and NGOs who brought this to my notice," he added. Thackeray extended thanks to the officials from MPCB, Maharashtra Environment and Climate Change Ministry and Mahagenco "who took cognisance of the issue and are working together to resolve this and on mitigation measures for such other plants across the state." Notably, a recent study had found that Mahagenco Khaparkheda and Koradi thermal power plants are causing life threats and damaging the livelihood of people residing in nearby areas. The study that was carried out jointly by Nagpur's Centre for Sustainable Development (CFSD), Pune's Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, and ASAR Social Impact Advisors Private Limited found that due to these plants, surface and groundwater are contaminated with toxic metals like mercury, arsenic, aluminium, and lithium. It had recorded widespread contamination of air, water, and soil due to unscientific disposal and handling of fly ash. The survey had also revealed that out of 21, 18 villages are being affected due to fly ash depositing in various parts of the village, leading to extensive air pollution. (ANI)
"The man named Arvind Kalawat has filed a complaint that Hetram Gurjar and Golu has brutally beaten him. First, they asked Kalawat if he has stolen their phone and then started beating," said Rakesh Gupta, Station in-Charge, Vijaypur Police Station.

"Gurjar has been arrested. Other accused is absconding, we are looking for him," he said.

A case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Further probe is ongoing. More details are awaited. (ANI)
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld the order of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting revoking the license and removing the name of a Malayalam news channel named 'Media One' from the list of permitted news channels citing security reasons. The Single Bench of Justice N Nagaresh dismissed the writ petition filed by 'Media One' seeking a direction to withdraw the order. The Court dictated that the "Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has called for various intelligence agencies. Based on the inputs from these agencies, it has been decided not to renew the security clearance. There are inputs that justify the decision." (ANI)
"The victim is undergoing treatment at a hospital and his condition is stable now," said a Delhi police officer.

"Multiple teams have been formed to arrest the culprit," the officer added.

A case has been registered under the attempt to murder and various other sections of the Arms Act.

Further investigation is ongoing.

More details are awaited. (ANI)
Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the political leaders sitting at responsible positions should not put allegations on each other rather should work for the development of people. Addressing a press conference in Uttarakhand's Haridwar today, Kejriwal said, "We, the political leaders who are sitting at responsible positions chosen by the public should not indulge in political rivalries and put allegations on each other. We should work for the development of people." His remarks came after UP CM on Monday said that the Delhi government's move to force the migrant workers out of the city was an inhuman act. "Listen Kejriwal, you forced the workers of UP to leave Delhi when the entire humanity was groaning due to the pain of Corona. Your government did an undemocratic and inhuman act like leaving even small children and women helpless on the UP border in the middle of the night. Call you a traitor or...," read UP CM's tweet roughly translated from Hindi. Following the statements by UP CM, Kejriwal also counter-attacked him and said the latter was giving advertisements in the Time magazine when the dead bodies of people were flowing in the river during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. AAP chief also clarified the reason behind replying to Yogi Adityanath's remarks against him. He said, "Yesterday, I replied to Yogi Ji's remarks because people would have said that I have accepted these allegations." Kejriwal also assured the people of Uttarakhand to work for the development of the state which includes health infrastructure, education facilities, employment opportunities and many more. He also asserted that AAP will resolve all the problems faced by farmers in the state if voted to power. Further, Kejriwal appealed to Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters or voters to give a chance to AAP this time. Uttarakhand is scheduled for polls on February 14. The results will be announced on March 10. (ANI)
Congress MPs have walked out of Rajya Sabha during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address in the House saying that instead of speaking on President's Address, the PM is accusing the party. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We have walked out of the PM speech on Motion of Thanks because instead of speaking on President's Address, he accused Congress." In a scathing attack on the grand old party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Congress's thinking has been hijacked by 'urban Naxals'. Prime Minister said that if there was no Congress, there would be no Emergency, no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred and Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened. "It was said here, 'Congress na hoti, toh kya hota'. It's a result of the thinking, 'India is Indira, Indira is India.' I think 'Congress na hoti, toh kya hota' because Mahatma Gandhi wanted. He knew what will happen if they continue to be and he wanted to disband them beforehand," said PM Modi, in his reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address in Rajya Sabha. "Had Congress ceased to be, as per the wish of Mahatma Gandhi, democracy would've been free from a dynasty. India would've walked on the path of national resolutions, instead of taking to foreign view," he said. "Some members asked- if there was no Congress, what would happen... I would like to say, if there was no Congress there would be no Emergency, there would be no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened, if Congress would not have been there, there would've been no incident of daughters being thrown in 'tandoor'," he added. The Prime Minister said that defeat and victory happen, but don't impose your frustration on people. "Congress accused us of trying to change history. Congress's thinking has been now been hijacked by 'urban Naxals'," he said. The Prime Minister said the democracy and debate are ongoing for centuries in India but Congress never thought beyond a dynasty. The Prime Minister also suggested changing the name of the Indian National Congress to the 'Federation of Congress.' "When Congress was in power, they didn't allow country's development. Now when in Oppn, they are obstructing the development of the country. They are now objecting to 'Nation'. If the idea of 'Nation' is unconstitutional, then why is your party called Indian National Congress?" he added. (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will launch the second edition of tranche of Jagananna Chedodu on Tuesday. On 8th February, for the second year in a row, the Andhra Pradesh Government disbursed Jagananna Chedodu. According to a press statement from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Office (CMO), under this scheme, this year funds have been credited to 2,85,350 citizens from Rajakas, Nayee Brahmins, and Tailors belonging to all communities. Through a Virtual Launch taking place at the Tadepalli Camp Office, Rs 285.35 crores in financial aid has been credited to the recipients' accounts. Under this scheme, beneficiaries will be provided with a one-time amount of Rs 10,000. This fund can be utilized by the beneficiaries for purchasing tools, equipment, and other essentials to grow their source of income and work establishment. This will help them to fulfil their investment needs. This year's disbursement is Rs 285.35 crore, so far, the state government has disbursed Rs 583.78 crores for this scheme. Jagananna Chedodu is a state government-funded welfare scheme only for tailors, washermen, and barbers of the state, who have their own shops and have lost their livelihood due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund provided to each beneficiary will be transferred directly to their bank accounts. The beneficiaries will be identified and shortlisted through surveys. Speaking on the occasion, The Chief Minister said, "These are such hardworking people, who keep themselves self-employed, it is our responsibility to extend a lending hand, we recognize their plight and are taking this step to economically uplift and support them. This scheme is orchestrated in such a way that it leaves no room for any corruption or fraud. These are not the backward classes of society but rather they are the backbone classes of society." Beneficiaries are chosen by presenting a list of qualified applicants in village and ward secretariats, completing a social audit, and implementing a very transparent procedure that is devoid of bribery and prejudice. This Scheme was designed to provide economic upliftment to the BC Communities who are living below the poverty line. In the last two and a half years, the state government has created a conducive environment for growth in an economically, politically, and socially competitive world, and brought in schemes that favour the ignored classes of society BC, SC, ST, and Minorities. Andhra Pradesh is the first state to appoint a BC Commission on a permanent basis, 60% of ministerial posts are given to BCs, SCs, STs, minorities. From 5 Deputy Chief Ministers, 4 are from BCs, SCs, STs, Minority communities. The post of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly was also given to the BCS. The Chief Minister said, "We are the government which has enacted a law giving 50 per cent reservation to these categories in contract work, in such nominated posts." (ANI)
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday charged that the Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav has affirmed that he's into the politics of appeasement by inviting the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla alleged that Banerjee had shown disrespect for Lord Ram and the people of Uttar Pradesh. "Yadav has shown that he is only wearing a mask of being an electoral Hindu, but in reality he only does appeasement politics," said Poonawalla, adding that Banerjee humiliated the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar by calling them goons during the West Bengal Assembly elections. "She gets angry at people and files cases against those who chant Jai Shri Ram," said Poonawalla. The BJP spokesperson also alleged that Yadav by inviting Banerjee has shown to be an electoral Hindu only. "He claims to be a devotee of Lord Parashuram and says Lord Krishna comes into his dream. But he has shown that he is only wearing a mask of an electoral Hindu. He's actually practising appeasement politics," he added. Banerjee reached Lucknow on Monday where she was welcomed by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. "In Uttar Pradesh, I am not going to contest Assembly polls but I am going to support Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav. We (TMC) will contest from Uttar Pardesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," Banerjee had said earlier.The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
Addressing a gathering in the Gangolighat Assembly constituency, Singh said, "It is my promise to make Uttarakhand an ideal and developed state".

Noting that it was the dream of late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to make the state a centre of attraction, the Minister appealed to people to cast their vote in favour of the BJP and to choose Pushkar Singh Dhami as their chief Minister, promising "we will take all steps to make the state prosperous state".

Singh said that nearly 78 lakh voters will write the fate of Uttarakhand in this Assembly election which is slated to poll on February 14.

The Defence Minister also hit out at the Congress for "snatching the special status" of Uttarakhand, which he said was created by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"Congress people snatched the special status of Uttarakhand and they are now coming to seek your vote...Prime Minister Narendra Modi again give the state special status after BJP-led government came in the Centre in 2014," said Singh.

The Minister said that the BJP's motto is "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas (everyone's company, everyone's development, everyone's faith and everyone's effort).

He also said, "Congress thinks that BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate in Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami is a flower but I make it clear that he is a flower as well as fire"

Singh also lashed out at the Congress, saying " the party is facing internal clash due to which it has not yet declared its chief ministerial candidate".

Uttarakhand is scheduled for polls on February 14. The results will be announced on March 10. (ANI)
The following items have been compiled from police reports at the Wilkens precinct of Baltimore County police:

Washington Boulevard, 3600 block, 21227. 11:19 a.m. Jan. 31. An individual was arrested for damaging a vehicle that was occupied.

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Courtney Road, 900 block, 21227. 9:36 a.m. Jan. 31. A suspect entered a location and removed several electronic items.

Washington Boulevard, 3600 block, 21227. 8:44 a.m. Jan. 31. An armed subject was stopped for shoplifting and then threatened an associate. The subject left the location prior to officers arriving.

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Fenor Road, 4400 block, 21227. 1:01 p.m. Jan. 29. An unknown person attempted to assault a victim and then left the scene. The victim was not injured.

Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. >

Linden Avenue, 1300 block, 21227. 10:39 a.m. Jan. 29. An unknown suspect broke into a location and stole a cash drawer.

Hollins Ferry Road, 3900 block, 21227. 1:09 a.m. Jan. 29. A group of unknown suspects assaulted a victim and stole personal items. The suspects have not yet been identified.

Frances Avenue, 1300 block, 21227. 5:21 a.m. Jan. 28. An armed suspect entered a business, went behind the counter and removed money from both registers. The suspect fled on foot.

McDowell Lane, 4200 block, 21227. 12 p.m. Jan. 27. Two unknown suspects gained entry into a location through a window. No items were stolen.

Washington Boulevard, 3500 block, 21227. 11:35 a.m. Jan. 27. A suspect attempted to assault an employee at the business and was arrested.

Anne Arundel St. and Oak Grove Avenue, 21227, 2:18 p.m. Jan. 25. A suspect attempted to gain entry into a storage area by damaging a metal door.

Rambling Oaks Way, unit block, 21228. 11:43 a.m. Jan. 25. An unknown subject threatened a victim and ran from the location prior to officials arriving.
The National People's Party (NPP) on Tuesday sought additional security cover for its candidates contesting elections in Manipur stating that they are facing "intimidation and abuse in a targeted manner". According to the press release issued by NPP today, the outfits namely "KNF-MC, KNF-Z, UKLF, KNA, HPC (D) have openly come out in blatant support of our opponent's candidates from BJP and NPF". In 55-Tipaimukh AC, the cadres of militant outfits HPC (D) are moving around with arms intimidating the voters and village chiefs to vote for BJP candidates. The underground group like KNA and UKLF under Suspension of Operation (SOO) is threatening our party workers and village chief to support BJP candidate Letpao Haokip at 42 - Tengnoupal AC, the press release claimed. At Tamenglong constituency, outfits under SOO are campaigning strongly for NPF and BJP candidates. The outfit has warned our party workers with dire consequences, the release further said. Earlier on February 6, the KNF-MC and KNF-Z leaders Paokholen Haokip, Jangkhonlum Haokip, and Lunmang Haokip threatened NPP workers and village chief to vote for BJP candidate Letzamang Haokip of 57-Henglep AC. The outfit members had halted six women NPP workers and two drivers at Lamden Kuki village and threatened to shoot them if they campaign for NPP candidate, NPP said in its release. "We have complained about the incidents of attacks and threats issued to our candidates to Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur State, and to Election Commission of India. The ongoing situation is an attempt to jeopardize the conduct of peaceful, free, and fair elections in the State of Manipur," NPP said. "We at National People's Party would like to urge the authorities to put all underground groups under SOO in their respective camps and recover arms from their possession. We would also like to urge that all constituencies, which has presences of UGs be declared 'MOST SENSITIVE' and additional security is provided in the constituencies for the conduct of fair election process," it added. The party also urged that adequate security cover should be provided to its candidates, who are contesting the election from different parts of the State. Voting in Manipur will be held in two phases on February 27 and March 3 and the results will be declared on March 10. (ANI)
Taking to Twitter, Bommai said, "Met our Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh ji in New Delhi today and presented a copy of a compilation of our govt's achievements in the last six months as well as an ISEC study report on the impact of various policy decisions."

As per an official statement from Chief Minister's Office, Bommai drew the attention of the Defence Minister to Kranti Veera Sangolli Rayanna Sainik School being built by the state government at a cost of Rs 189 crore, which is nearing completion. He requested Rajnath Singh to approve handing over the school to Sainik School Society under the Ministry of Defence.

A committee comprising officers from the Sainik School Society and the Belagavi DC, who is the head of the committee, has already visited the school for an assessment.

CMO said that measures have been taken to ensure that the school complies with all the parameters fixed by the Sainik School Society. In this background, the Chief Minister requested the Defence Minister to approve the proposal for affiliating the school under Sainik School Society.

Karnataka Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol and senior officials were also present on the occasion.

Earlier in the day, Bommai met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and presented a handbook on the achievements of his government in the past six months. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Hauz Khas for noncompliance with its orders. A valuation report was called by the Court of the Joint Registrar with regard to a property furnished as a guarantee by a surety but was not filed. Justice V Kameswar Rao ordered, "Let a court notice be issued to the Anuj Kumar Bhati, SDM, Hauz Khas for his appearance before this court on 9 February 2022." The bench said that it is seen that the concerned SDM has not complied with the orders of the learned Joint Registrar dated February 2, 2022, wherein the SDM was to submit a report with regard to the ownership, possession, valuation, encumbrances and notify the present status of the property at Safdarjung Enclave in New Delhi. The Joint Registrar has directed the SDM to expedite and sent the valuation report at an early date. It appears that the direction has not been carried out, the court said. The matter was listed before the bench of Justice Rao on the basis of an order passed by the Joint Registrar. The order said, "In compliance of order dated February 2, 2022, the counsel for the petitioner has filed an affidavit of service regarding the supplying the order on the same day to the SDM concerned. Despite the supply of the order physically on February 4, 2022, neither the report has been forwarded by the SDM nor has any other communication been received from the said office. The high court on January 24, 2022, allowed an application filed by Sanjay Soni for suspension of LOC. It was directed that the petitioner shall furnish security of a sum of Rs 5 crore to the satisfaction of the Registrar General of the High Court in the form of FDR, a Bank Guarantee, or unencumbered immovable property of the same value belonging to the petitioner or any of his relatives. The Court had also said that if the security already furnished, pursuant to the order dated November 18, 2021, has not been released to Vijay Gupta, if he agrees, the same shall be considered, subject to a fresh valuation report is called for from the concerned authority. This matter was listed before the joint registrar for further proceeding on February 2, 2021. Joint Registrar had passed an order which said Verification report/ market valuation report from the SDM concerned with respect to property furnished as security by surety Vijay Gupta is still awaited since long. (ANI)
Amid a row over wearing hijab in college, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday ordered the closure of schools and colleges in the state for the next three days. "We are awaiting directions from the Karnataka High Court. I appeal to students to maintain peace and harmony. I have directed school administrations to see there are no clashes between students. I appeal to all concerned persons from outside not to make provocative statements," Karnataka Chief Minister told media persons in Delhi. Taking to Twitter, Bommai said, "I appeal to all the students, teachers and management of schools and colleges as well as people of Karnataka to maintain peace and harmony. I have ordered the closure of all high schools and colleges for the next three days. Three-day holidays for high schools and colleges announced. All concerned are requested to cooperate." Protests have erupted at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi as students wearing hijab and another group of students wearing saffron stoles-headgears raise slogans on the college campus. Notably, Karnataka State Primary and High School Education Minister BC Nagesh recently said that the students wearing hijab in Kundapura were allowed to enter college premises as a "courtesy" while maintaining that complying with uniform code is a must. The Minister made it clear that the students will need to follow the rules. "Ours is not a Pakistani culture. It is Indian culture. These girls aren't aware of the school norms and customs, and they will understand later," Nagesh told media persons. The Karnataka High Court will hear petitions filed by five women from a government pre-university college in Udupi, questioning Hijab restrictions. The Hijab protests began on February 4 at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district when some students alleged that they had been barred from attending classes.The pre-University education board had released a circular stating that the students can only wear the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges. (ANI)
Karnataka High Court on Tuesday appealed student community and the public at large to maintain peace and tranquillity while hearing various pleas challenging a ban on hijab in the state. The HC's appeal came after the Advocate General apprised the court that there are some parallel agitations. Advocate General urged the High Court to issue an interim order that there should be no public protests or demonstrations. Appearing for petitioners, Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, also apprised the Court about a video where a girl in hijab was being chased by boys. He also said that it agreed with Advocate General that law and order should be maintained and assured that as far as petitioners are concerned, they will not hold any protests on the streets. Advocate General said that since the court is already ceased the matter, the law should not be taken in hand by anyone. The Court said that it requests the student community and the public at large to maintain peace and tranquillity. "This Court has full faith in the wisdom and virtue of public at large and it hopes that the same would be put to practice," the Court said. Thereafter, the Court posted the matter for further hearing for tomorrow. During the course of the hearing, the petitioner advocate told the Court that wearing a headscarf is an essential part of Muslim culture. He also sought interim relief by allowing the students to attend classes for now considering that exams are approaching. Senior Advocate Kamat, while advancing his arguments cited various judgments and also apprised the Court about some countries following the concept of "negative secularism" which does not permit the display of religious identity in public. Kamat said, "India practice positive secularism, where every religion is being respected." He also claimed that the government order is beyond the jurisdiction of the state. At the beginning of the hearing, the Court said that it will go by reason, by law, not by passion or emotions. "We will go by what Constitution says. Constitution is the Bhagavad Gita for me," the Court said. The Court was hearing various pleas challenging the Karnataka government order prohibiting hijab in education institutes. The Karnataka education department on Saturday issued a directive that all the government schools should follow the uniform dress code announced by the state government. "All government schools should follow the uniform dress code, declared by the state government. Students from private institutions should follow the dress decided by the school management," Karnataka Education Department said. The department said if there is no dress code for colleges under the Department of Pre-University, one can wear the dress which will not affect equality, integrity, and law and order. 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. 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)
Months after losing 12 MLAs to Trinamool Congress (TMC), the remaining five MLAs of the Congress in Meghalaya on Tuesday joined the National People's Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government. The Bharatiya Janata Party is a constituent of the ruling alliance in the state. After 12 legislators, including former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, defected to the TMC in November last year, the Congress was left with only five MLAs who also switched sides, toppling Congress' position of a formidable opposition in the state. Earlier today, the five remaining Congress MLAs met Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and submitted a letter to formally join the coalition government. These MLAs include M Ampareen Lyngdoh, PT Sawkmie, Mayralborn Syiem, Kimfa S Marbaniang, and Mohendro Rapsang. The Chief Minister welcomed the MLAs into the alliance in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong. "We wish to support you and the MDA to strengthen the government's arms and decision-making, so as to ensure that our joint efforts will take the State forward in the general interest of its citizens," read the letter signed by the five MLAs, underlining their decision to join the coalition government from February 8. Welcoming the Congress MLAs, the Chief Minister tweeted, "We are happy to welcome members of the Congress Legislature Party who have pledged their support to the MDA Government officially today. We will work together under the banner of MDA to strengthen the Government in the interest of the people & the State." Meghalaya MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh after quitting Congress told ANI: "We were ditched and nobody took any action. So, we've taken this decision for the benefit of the people of our individual constituencies." The TMC is now the Opposition party in the state. (ANI)
Weight training or resistance training has been known to have many benefits including building muscle, burning body fat, strengthening your bones and joints, reducing injury risk, and improving heart health. A new study from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has discovered that lifting weights for as little as three seconds a day can have a positive impact on muscle strength. The study titled, 'Effect of daily 3-s maximum voluntary isometric, concentric or eccentric contraction on elbow flexor strength' was published in the 'Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports'. A collaboration with researchers from Niigata University of Health and Welfare (NUHW) in Japan had 39 healthy university students perform one muscle contraction at maximum effort for three seconds per day, for five days a week over four weeks. The participants performed either an isometric, concentric or eccentric bicep curl (see definitions below) at maximum effort, while researchers measured the muscles' maximum voluntary contraction strength before and after the four-week period. Another 13 students performed no exercise over the same period and were also measured before and after the four weeks. Muscle strength increased more than 10 per cent for the group who performed the eccentric bicep curl after the four weeks, but less increase in muscle strength was found for the other two exercise groups. The no exercise group saw no increase. Lead researcher Professor Ken Nosaka from ECU's School of Medical and Health Sciences said the results showed people didn't need to spend vast amounts of time exercising to improve their muscle strength. "The study results suggest that a very small amount of exercise stimulus - even 60 seconds in four weeks - can increase muscle strength," he said. "Many people think you have to spend a lot of time exercising, but it's not the case. Short, good quality exercise can still be good for your body and every muscle contraction counts." These three classifications relate to what the muscle is doing when being activated. An isometric contraction is when the muscle is stationary under load, concentric is when the muscle is shortening and eccentric when the muscle is lengthening. For a bicep curl, a dumbbell held with an arm by one's side, before lifting the weight upwards towards the chest and then lowering it back down via the elbow. Lifting the weight sees the bicep in concentric contraction, lowering the weight sees it in eccentric contraction, while holding the weight parallel to the ground is isometric. The study showed that all three lifting methods had some benefit to muscle strength, however eccentric contraction easily produced the best results. Researchers measured each group's concentric, isometric and eccentric strength. The concentric lifting group improved slightly (6.3 per cent) in isometric strength but saw no improvement elsewhere, while the isometric group only saw an increase in eccentric strength (7.2 per cent). However, the eccentric group saw significant improvements in strength across all three measurements: concentric increased 12.8 per cent, isometric 10.2 per cent and eccentric 12.2 per cent. The eccentric group's overall muscle strength improved 11.5 per cent after 60 seconds of effort in total. "Although the mechanisms underpinning eccentric contraction's potent effects are not clear yet, the fact only a three-second maximal eccentric contraction a day improves muscle strength in a relatively short period is important for health and fitness," Professor Nosaka said. Professor Nosaka said the findings were exciting for promoting physical fitness and health, such as prevention of sarcopenia - a decrease in muscle mass and strength with aging. "We haven't investigated other muscles yet, but if we find the three-second rule also applies to other muscles then you might be able to do a whole-body exercise in less than 30 seconds," he said. "Also, performing only one maximal contraction per day means you don't get sore afterwards," he concluded. Professor Nosaka and NUHW's Dr Masatoshi Nakamura designed the study and the data were collected by Dr Nakamura and his PhD and Masters students. (ANI)
The Congress party was continuously seen accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of making government by toppling other state governments as they repeatedly mentioned Goa and Manipur. But the scene at Rahul Gandhi's house in Delhi on Tuesday didn't match with their allegations earlier addressed to the BJP. Elections to the Tripura Legislative Assembly are due in 2023 and just before the elections, Congress has made a big dent in the Bharatiya Janata Party- former BJP MLAs Sudip Roy Burman and Ashish Shah joined Congress after meeting Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday. Sudip Roy Burman after joining Congress said, "This is 'ghar wapsi' (returning home) for us. Many more are there in the queue." Interestingly, two more Tripura Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs Burba Mohan Tripura and Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl were also part of the meeting. At present, both these MLAs have not joined Congress due to some political reasons. But as per Congress leaders, after March, many BJP MLAs are expected to join the Congress. Speaking to ANI, Tripura Congress in-charge Dr. Ajay Kumar said, "More than a dozen BJP MLAs are in touch with Congress and they can join Congress after March." Dr. Ajay Kumar further added, "For the first time, elected MLAs, if they leave the party and join any other party without completing the tenure of 4 years, then they won't benefit the pension that the MLAs receive from the government. They are waiting for March with which they will complete 4 years tenure." Tripura Congress in charge stated that after March, all the disgruntled BJP MLAs will join the Congress. Ajay Kumar said that not only the BJP but also most of the leaders of the Left parties and Trinamool Congress wanted to join the Congress. Kumar, while speaking to ANI, said that the political turmoil in Tripura after March can disrupt the BJP government in the state and it may lose the majority in the Tripura Assembly. He added that there is a possibility that the Assembly elections in Tripura can be held earlier. (ANI)
"Saddened to know of the death of Army Personnel in avalanche tragedy in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest condolences to their family and friends. We salute the martyrs," said a tweet from Gandhi.

Seven Army personnel, who were hit by an avalanche in a high-altitude area of the Kameng sector in Arunachal Pradesh have been confirmed dead and their bodies retrieved from the avalanche site, the Army said on Tuesday.

The soldiers were stuck in an avalanche on February 6.

An Army statement said search and rescue operations, which were launched immediately on February 6 including airlifting of specialised teams, have now been concluded. The area, located at an altitude of 14,500 feet, had been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall for the last few days.

The bodies of the soldiers are currently being transferred from the avalanche site to the nearest Army medical facility for further formalities, the Army said. (ANI)
Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday took a pot-shot at the Congress for taking state Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lightly saying "Hamara Pushkar flower bhi hai aur fire bhi" (our Pushkar is a flower as well as fire). Addressing a gathering, Singh also said Pushkar Dhami will "neither stop nor bow" despite his simple and gentle nature. Referring to the movie 'Pushpa', Singh said, "There are lots of discussions about a film these days. The name of the movie is Pushpa. Hearing Pushkar, Congress is considering him only as a flower. Our Pushkar is a flower as well as fire. This Pushkar Dhami will neither stop nor bow." The Union Minister lauded Dhami for exemplary development in Uttarakhand in a very short time and mentioned that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state has passed Rs 1 lakh crore for the development of the state in only one year. He also hit out at the Congress party for targeting BJP for changing three Chief Ministers in Uttarakhand in five years, saying "it is our decision whom we keep in the post of Chief Minister" "BJP is an ideological party. Here prominence is given to ideology, not to individuality. We have declared our CM face as Pushkar Singh Dhami. However, Congress is still not able to declare CM candidate in Uttarakhand. The spark is smoldering inside the Congress," said the Minister. Singh said the BJP is talking about "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas" while other parties including Congress are fighting elections with the help of "Ghar Ka Saath, own development, distrust of all and single effort". "Whereas Congress neither has a leader nor intention nor any slogan. Congress looted the country, looted the state. BJP won't let you loot anymore. Their words are false, every promise is false. BJP won't give up any more," said Singh. Noting that late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee created Uttarakhand and gave special status to it, Singh said when there were Congress governments both at the Center and in Uttarakhand, then the status of special hill states of Uttarakhand was withdrawn. "When Modiji became Prime Minister in 2014, Uttarakhand was declared as a special category hill stat," said the Defence Minister. The BJP leader further said the Congress has been "wiped out from the whole country and only lurking in the mountains". "Clear it (Congress) from here (Uttarakhand) as well. I have come among you to make this appeal," Singh said. The Minister also asserted that the BJP is determined to make Uttarakhand an "ideal and developed" state. Singh appealed to people to cast their votes in favor of the BJP and to choose Dhami as their Chief Minister, promising "we will take all steps to make the state prosperous state". Singh said that nearly 78 lakh voters will write the fate of Uttarakhand in this Assembly election which is slated to poll on February 14. Uttarakhand will go for polls in one phase on February 14 and the votes will be counted on March 10. (ANI)
As Canadas capital remained paralyzed by nearly two weeks of protests against pandemic measures, a new road blockade effectively cut off Canadas busiest link to the United States, threatening to undermine a significant sector of the countrys economy.

While smaller than the protests that have buffeted Ottawas downtown, the new protest targets the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit. The bridge is a vital link for the automobile industry, which relies on a constant shuttling of parts and components across the border to keep factories humming in Ontario and the Midwestern United States.

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The heavy trucks and private vehicles have blocked traffic destined for Canada. On Tuesday morning, the Canada Border Services Agency listed the bridge as temporarily closed. But Windsor Police said on Twitter that traffic was again moving to the United States through a secondary entrance to the bridge.

Most of the trucks in the Windsor protest were covered with flags and posters denouncing vaccine mandates and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau himself had his own message for the protesters in the national capital, whom he accused of undermining Canadian democracy: It has to stop.

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Trucks are backed up heading to and from Canada on the Ambassador Bridge, due to protests on the Windsor side, in Detroit on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. (Daniel Mears/AP)

Speaking to the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday night, the prime minister said the protests, which began in opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, were harassing Ottawa residents in their own neighborhoods.

They are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens daily lives, he said.

Trudeau said on Twitter that hundreds of Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been mobilized to support Ottawa police officers, and promised that the Canadian government and city would employ whatever resources are needed to get the situation under control. On Sunday, authorities in Ottawa had declared a state of emergency.

In Ottawa on Tuesday morning, several hundred trucks continued to paralyze the city center but the nonstop honking of previous days appeared to have subsided. Reports on local radio in Ottawa said residents had had a good nights sleep for the first time in over a week. But many businesses have been shuttered during the protests, losing tens of millions of dollars.

The demonstrations in Ottawa started in January as a loosely organized convoy of truck drivers and protesters rumbled across the country en route to the capital to oppose the mandatory vaccination of truckers crossing the U.S.-Canadian border. It soon attracted the support of other Canadians exhausted by nearly two years of pandemic restrictions.

The Ottawa protests have also become a rallying cry for powerful far-right and anti-vaccine groups around the world.

Photos of the Canadian truckers appeared on anti-vaccine groups on Facebook and other social networks about two weeks ago. Since then, prominent far-right figures in numerous countries, including the United States, Australia and Germany, have praised the protests, spreading the images and arguments even more widely. Some, including in the United States, want to replicate the protests.

Donors have contributed millions of dollars meant for the Canadian protesters in online campaigns.

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Now, the protests are threatening the supply chain of an industry with deep links between Canada and the United States.

Flavio Volpe, the president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, a Canadian trade group, said that about $300 million in goods cross the bridge daily with about $100 million of that related to the auto industry. Most assembly plants, he said, have enough parts for only one days production, raising the possibility of layoffs if there is a prolonged border disruption.

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The idea that a group is hiding under the profession of trucking, though unsupported by trucking associations, to disrupt this is brain-dead, he said. Theyre showing Canadians that they dont actually care whats on the shelves or that they dont care if they can go to work.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, denounced the bridge blockade Tuesday, noting that it is used by many health care workers.

Officials in Detroit are redirecting traffic bound for Canada to a border crossing about two hours away in Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario. Another Canadian protest convey closed a highway leading to that bridge Sunday and slowed border traffic.

A blockade of the border between the Western province of Alberta and Montana that started Jan. 29 continues to slow and sometimes close the border in the town of Coutts.

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In Ottawa, the protesters remain defiant. Some were clearly on the fringe, wearing Nazi symbols and desecrating public monuments. But some say they had never attended a protest before. And many described themselves as ordinary Canadians driven to take to the streets by desperation.

They keep doing the same thing, and its not working, said Nicole Vandelaar, a 31-year-old hairdresser, who was at the protest in Ottawa. They have to do something else. No more lockdowns. Let us live our lives.

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The President said that the soldiers laid down their lives in the service of the country and their "selfless sacrifice" will be remembered.

"The death of soldiers due to an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh is a tragedy beyond words. The brave soldiers laid down their lives for the service of the nation. Their selfless sacrifice will always be remembered. My condolences to their families," President Kovind tweeted.

Seven Army personnel, who were hit by an avalanche in a high-altitude area of Kameng sector in Arunachal Pradesh, were confirmed dead and their bodies were recovered from the avalanche site, the Army said on Tuesday.

The soldiers were stuck in an avalanche on February 6.

An Army statement said search and rescue operations, which were launched immediately on February 6 including airlifting of specialised teams, have now been concluded. (ANI)
The farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Mawana, famous for its sugar mills in the county, hailed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government for timely payments of their dues. The majority of the voters in Mawana are associated with sugarcane farming. The area falls under the Hastinapur Assembly constituency in the Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is the country's biggest sugarcane-producing state. In 2020-21, there were 27.40 lakh hectares under sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh. "Payment is on time in last five years, but during Samajwadi tenure, we got it after two years. Present Yogi government have provided electricity 24 hours which is a great help," sugarcane farmer Sanjay Gujjar told ANI. Another farmer Lalit Kumar opined that good value to produce is what a normal farmer demands for his hard work and since dues are getting cleared quickly, he has batted for the Yogi government's working style. "Farmer just want good payment and we are getting payments on time within 10 days," he added. Although some farmers believe that payment for their produce is on time but still electricity rate is a cause of concern which is why they want to give a chance to other parties and change the government. "Although payment of dues done on time but electricity is an issue. Akhilesh Yadav has promised 300 units of free electricity which will be helpful as electricity is costly," said Mohan who is also a sugarcane farmer. Sitting Hastinapur MLA and minister in Uttar Pradesh government Dinesh Khatik said, "We have made the payment to sugarcane farmers on time. Before 2017, Rs 150 crore due was pending and it was given immediate By Yogi ji. Now in 10 days, the payment is done. Farmers are happy." The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. 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 secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party bagged 47 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats. (ANI)
A three-day holiday has been declared in all the universities under the Department of Higher Education and colleges under the department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE) in view of the Hijab row, announced Minister of Higher Education Dr CN Ashwatha Narayana on Tuesday. However, the examinations scheduled on these dates will be held as scheduled, he has clarified. The 3 day holiday starting from February 9 up to February 11 is applicable for government, aided, unaided degree colleges, diploma, and engineering colleges, the minister stated. "The government has taken this decision in order to ensure the maintenance of law and order in the state till the court pronounces its verdict regarding the petition related to matter. Wearing Hijab or Saffron shawl is not permitted in classes of educational institutions. No one should venture to take law into their own hands. Ultimately the verdict of the court should be honoured," added the minister. Several protests have erupted in Karnataka after some students were allegedly denied entry to college wearing hijab, a headscarf worn by Muslim women earlier this month. The Hijab protests began on February 4 at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district when some students alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. The pre-University education board had released a circular stating that the students can only wear the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges. (ANI)
Rai in a written reply to a question of MP Anto Antony informed that the Central government, on October 6, 2021, entrusted the investigation of the case relating to seizure of 2988.21 Kgs of narcotic substances at Mundra port in Gujarat to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The case, the minister said is under investigation. (ANI)
Since Hastinapur constituency in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district came into existence, the assembly election results in the state have shown that whichever political party won this legislative assembly seat has always formed the government in the state. Beginning from 1957, when the constituency came into existence and Congress won the seat and eventually formed the government till Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) came into power in 2017, all the parties which formed the government conquered this seat. According to Hindu mythology, Hastinapur was the capital of the Pandavas who ruled from there after the Mahabharata war. In 1957, Congress candidate Bishambhar Singh won the seat defeating the Communist Party of India's (CPI) Pritam Singh. Congress went on to form the state government with Sampuranand as its chief minister. In 1962 and 1967 as well, Congress won the Hastinapur seat and formed the government. Since 1967, Hastinapur has been the only reserved seat for scheduled caste candidates in the Meerut district. In 1969, Congress lost the seat to Bharatiya Kranti Dal's (BKD) Asha Ram Indu. BKD was formed by Chaudhary Charan Singh following his separation from Congress in 1967. Later on, Singh went on to become the UP Chief Minister for the second time in 1969. Congress won the seat again in 1974 with Revti Raman Maurya winning the Hastinapur seat and then Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna became the chief minister. The party held the power in 1976 when ND Tiwari was the state's chief minister. In 1977, Revti Raman Maurya won the elections as a Janata Party (JP) candidate and as had become the ritual, JP leader Ram Naresh Yadav went on to become the state chief minister In 1980, Jhaggar Singh from Congress (I) won the election from the seat and Vishwanath Pratap Singh became Chief Minister. In 1985, Harsharan Singh from Congress won the seat and ND Tiwari again became the Chief Minister. In 1989, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the chief minister and in the same year, Jhaggad Singh won the Hastinapur seat as a Janata Dal (Socialist) candidate. In the 11th and 12th legislative assemblies, elections did not take place in the Hastinapur constituency. In 1996, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) formed the government in Uttar Pradesh and party candidate Atul Khatik had grabbed the Hastinapur seat. Samajwadi candidate Prabhu Dayal Balmiki first won from Hastinapur in 2002 where Mayawati held the chief minister post for more than one year and then Mulayam Singh Yadav gained power for the rest of the period. In 2007, Yogesh Verma from BSP won the seat and Mayawati formed the government in the state. In 2012 polls, Balmiki again emerged victorious by a narrow margin of 6,641 votes over BSP candidate Yogesh Verma. Akhilesh Yadav became the state's chief minister. In 2017, BJP's Dinesh Khatik defeated then BSP Yogesh Verma and Yogi Adityanath became Uttar Pradesh chief minister. However, both the candidates are in the fray this time although Verma is contesting as an SP-RLD candidate. Congress has fielded Archana Gautam as its candidate on this seat and Sanjeev Jatav is fielded by BSP. When BJP's Dinesh Khatik was asked about this electoral coincidence, he told ANI, "Whoever wins Hastinapur, forms the government in UP. I have blessings of all and Yogi Adityanath will again form the govt. Under the leadership of Yogiji and Modi ji, we have provided benefits to all sections, women have also become empowered." It will be interesting to see who will win the Hastinapur seat in the 2022 state polls and if the winning party again forms the government in Uttar Pradesh. The seven-phase election in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. Hastinapur will go for polling on February 10. (ANI)
A pacemaker is a small device that's placed (implanted) in the chest to help control the heartbeat. It's used to prevent the heart from beating too slowly. A recent study has elaborated on a revolutionary pacemaker, that re-established the heart's naturally irregular beat. Manaaki Manawa, the Centre for Heart Research at the University of Auckland led the research and the results have been published in journal, 'Basic Research in Cardiology'. The revolutionary pacemaker is set to be trialled in New Zealand heart patients this year, following successful animal trials. "Currently, all pacemakers pace the heart metronomically, which means a very steady, even pace. But when you record heart rate in a healthy individual, you see it is constantly on the move," said Professor Julian Paton, a lead researcher and director of Manaaki Manawa. "If you analyse the frequencies within your heart rate, you find the heart rate is coupled to your breathing. It goes up on inspiration, and it goes down on expiration, and that is a natural phenomenon in all animals and humans. And we're talking about very ancient animals that were on the planet 430 million years ago." Twelve years ago, Paton was a member of a group of scientists who decided to investigate the function of this variability. They made a mathematical model that predicted it saved energy. That made them question why a metronomic heartbeat was used in heart-failure patients who lacked energy. They asked, "Why aren't we pacing them with this variability?" All cardiovascular disease patients lose the heart rate variability, which is an early sign that something is going wrong. "People with high blood pressure, people with heart failure, their heart rate is not being modulated by their breathing. It may be a little bit, but it's very, very depressed, very suppressed," Paton said. "We decided that we would put the heart rate variability back into animals with heart failure and see if it did anything good." Following positive signals in rats, the latest published research was on a large animal model of heart failure, performed by Dr Julia Shanks and Dr Rohit Ramchandra. "And the big news is that we believe we have now found a way to reverse heart failure," Dr Ramchandra said. Dr Julia Shanks, the research fellow who carried out the research, explained, "There's nothing really on the market that will cure heart failure. All the drugs will do is make you feel better. They don't address the issue that you've got damaged tissue that's not contracting as efficiently as it was. Our new pacemaker brings back this variability, which of course is natural, in a way you could call it 'nature's pacemaker'." Dr Ramchandra said, "Currently, pacemakers trigger a metronomically steady beat, but this study shows introducing a natural variation in the heartbeat improves the heart's ability to pump blood through the body. The other big news is that we get a 20 percent improvement in cardiac output, which is effectively the ability of the heart to pump blood through the body. And 20 percent is a big number." "The pacemaker is almost like a bionic device," said Paton. "It understands the signals from the body that tell the device when we're breathing in and when we're breathing out. And then the device has to communicate back to the body and pace the heart up during breathing in and down during breathing out." On seeing the results, interventional cardiologist Dr Wil Harrison from Middlemore Hospital in Auckland remarked: "Very interesting study. We do recognise clinically that permanent pacing is 'non-physiological' to a certain degree, and pacing-induced cardiomyopathy is a well-recognised phenomenon. It will be exciting to see if the findings translate over to humans." Dr Martin Stiles, a cardiologist from Waikato Hospital, in Hamilton, New Zealand, who will lead the trial said: "We typically see improvements in heart function with current pacemakers, but this bionic pacemaker has far exceeded our expectations. This discovery may revolutionise how heart failure patients are paced in the future." (ANI)
US President Joe Biden promised there would be no launch of Nord Stream 2 pipeline project if Russian troops cross the border with Ukraine. Responding to a question on Nord Stream 2, Biden said there would be no chance of the project going ahead if Russian tanks and troops crossed the Ukraine border. "If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," Biden said after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is on his first trip to the White House since taking over from longtime German leader Angela Merkel. The United States is trying to demonstrate a united front with allies in plans to push back against any effort by Russia to further invade Ukraine. The US is preparing harsh economic sanctions that officials say would be triggered by a renewed Russian invasion. Last week, Biden also authorized the deployment of 3,000 troops to Eastern Europe to provide additional support to NATO allies, including Germany. Meanwhile, there are reports that the first group of American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division arrived in Poland following Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby's announcement about 1,700 additional troops from the United States to be sent to the country. Last 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, according to The Sputnik News Agency. Russia denies the West's and Kiev's accusations of preparations for invading Ukraine and reiterates that it has no plans to attack any country. (ANI)
"We have confirmed at least one deceased inside, one was transported by medical," the spokesperson said during a press conference on Monday.

The spokesperson said the suspect is still at large and is believed to have used a handgun in the shooting.

Moreover, the spokesperson said the motive of the shooting is unknown and the investigation into the incident is ongoing. (ANI/Sputnik)
Taliban has rejected a report by the United Nations Security Council Monitoring Team which said that following the political change in Afghanistan, foreign insurgent groups enjoy greater freedom in the country. "There are no recent signs that the Taliban has taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist fighters in the country. On the contrary, terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than at any time in recent history. However, Member States have not reported significant new movements of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan," the report citied by Tolo News reads. It further questioned the Islamic Emirate's commitment under the Doha Agreement to preventing "international terrorist" threats from having a foothold in Afghanistan. The UNSC Monitoring Team expressed concerns that foreign groups might find safe haven in Afghanistan. According to the report, Osama Bin Laden's son visited Afghanistan late last year. "One Member State reported that Bin Laden's son, Abdallah, visited Afghanistan in October for meetings with the Taliban." Reacting to the report, the Islamic Emirate said the report lacks evidence. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly rejects recent report by the UNSC Monitoring Team asserting an increase of foreign groups in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate deems such reports lacking evidence, documents and addresses neither in the interest of Afghanistan, the region or the world," the Islamic Emirate's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Tolo News reported. The statement said the Islamic Emirate has implemented its commitments laid out in the Doha Agreement and does not allow anyone to threaten any country from Afghanistan's territory. The statement said the Islamic Emirate will play a positive role toward security in Afghanistan, the region and the world. "The UNSC Monitoring Team's reports which says foreign group's presence and activities have increased in Afghanistan, is untrue," Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesman of the foreign ministry said, Tolo News reported. According to the UNSC report, Amin Muhammad ul-Haq Saam Khan, who coordinated security for Osama Bin Laden, returned to his home in Afghanistan in late August last year. Regarding the report's allegations, "no visit and no meeting between anyone happened," said Islamic Emirate's Deputy Spokesman Bilal Karimi. "The economic and political instability in Afghanistan will pave the way for activities of terrorist groups inside and outside of Afghanistan," said Hikmatullah, a political analyst. "Serious revisions should be made to such reports. Allegations that can shock the people of Afghanistan and world should be prevented," said Abdul Ghafar, a political analyst. The report warns that Afghanistan has the potential of becoming a safe haven for al-Qaida and a number of 'terror groups' with ties to the Central Asia region and beyond, the media outlet reported. (ANI)
Moscow [Russia], February 8 (ANI/Sputnik): Russian President Vladimir Putin said that NATO members continued to pump Ukraine with weapons, this issue was discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron. "NATO member countries continue to pump up Ukraine with modern types of weapons, allocate significant financial resources for the modernization of the Ukrainian army. They send military specialists and instructors," Putin said at a press conference following the Russian-French talks. "Of course, we talked about everything with the president, as you can see, for quite a long time, there was a discussion for almost six hours," Putin added. Kiev ignores all possibilities for a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas, Putin said, adding that he drew Macron's attention to Kiev's refusal to comply with the Minsk agreements. "Of course, for my part, I drew Mr. President's attention to the unwillingness of the current Kiev authorities to comply with the obligations under the Minsk package of measures and agreements in the Normandy format, including those reached at the summits," Putin said. Kiev headed for the dismantling of the Minsk agreements, he said. "In my opinion, it is obvious to everyone that the current authorities in Kiev have set a course to dismantle the Minsk agreements. There is no progress on such fundamental issues as constitutional reform, amnesty, local elections, legal aspects of the special status of Donbas. The well-known -- at least for experts -- Steinmeier formula is still not enshrined in the Ukrainian legislation," Putin said. Putin expressed hope that Macron would discuss in Kiev issues raised on Monday during the Russian-French talks. "We hope that Mr President, at least as he said today, intends to discuss tomorrow at a meeting with the Kiev leadership the issues of guarantees and ensuring security and stability in Europe within the Ukrainian settlement," Putin said. A number of Macron's ideas can well be used as the basis for further steps on Ukraine, Putin said. "A number of his ideas, proposals, which it is still too early to talk about, nevertheless, I think, are quite possible in order to make them the basis for our further joint steps," Putin said. Putin believes that Macron "will have a hard time" in negotiations with the leadership of Ukraine on Tuesday in Kiev. "This is a complex set [of questions], that's why we talked for so many hours, and tomorrow, to Mr President, I understand that there are no easy questions there, he will have a hard time in Kiev either. But we agreed that after consultations we will also get in touch with the leadership of Ukraine and get some kind of feedback on what the Ukrainian leadership today considers acceptable for itself, what is unacceptable, how it is going to move. And depending on this, we will build our own steps further," Putin said. Putin said that after Macron's visit to Kiev, they would still call each other. "Let's see how the meeting of Mr President in Kiev goes, we agreed that after his trip to the capital of Ukraine, we will still call each other and exchange views on this matter," Putin said. On Tuesday, Macron plans to visit Kiev for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (ANI/Sputnik)
The Anne Arundel County Council voted down a public campaign finance resolution at its meeting Monday night after more than 50 people weighed in on the proposal.

The resolution would have put a question on the November 2022 ballot asking voters to decide if candidates should be given the option to raise money through local small dollar donors, with supplemental funding from county government. Under this proposal, candidates who choose this path would be banned from taking large-dollar donations from political action committees, corporations, unions and special interest groups.

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The four Democrats on the council voted in favor of the resolution, while Republicans Nathan Volke, Jessica Haire and Amanda Fiedler prevented it from passing. A supermajority of five votes was required to bring the question to the fall ballot.

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Forty people left comments online regarding public campaign finance. Fifteen speakers discussed their stances on the resolution at the meeting, most of whom were in favor of the plan, including representatives from Common Cause Maryland, the League of Women Voters and Women Indivisible Strong Effective and Get Money Out  Maryland.

Its an extremely important resolution. The county executive said its one of the most important weve brought forward in our entire term, said Peter Baron, director of government relations for the Office of the County Executive.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said Tuesday morning that he was disappointed by the vote. However, he said the proposal could still get on the ballot if 10,000 residents sign a petition in favor of adding it  an option he said he expects to see utilized soon.

I feel very strongly that this small donor public finance option should be on the ballot, Pittman said.

At Monday nights meeting, Haire, of Edgewater, and Fiedler, of Arnold, voiced their concerns about the Charter Review Commission, a body designed to review county charter protocols, not having a chance to review the resolution. Democrats Lisa Brannigan Rodvien, of Annapolis, and Allison Pickard, of Glen Burnie, argued that allowing the commission to review the resolution would render it less effective as it would take up too much time. The commission only convenes once a decade in conjunction with the release of U.S. Census data.

Volke, of Pasadena, had a different perspective saying some of his fellow council members had won their elections with significantly less cash on hand than their opponents.

Some of my colleagues up here have won with David and Goliath odds, Volke said proceeding to ask why this resolution was necessary in the first place.

Baron responded that this option is designed for candidates who might have almost no name identification and even less money than their colleagues did to start off their campaigns.

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Candidates matter, campaigns matters  but money also matters, Baron said. Some dont have the donors even to raise a couple of grand.

Council member Sarah Lacey, a Jessup Democrat agreed saying the resolution would level the playing field for both candidates and donors.

It takes money to make money, Lacey said. You might not even have anything to get started; it doesnt mean youre not a good candidate. This spreads the buy-in so that more people can play. This makes democracy more accessible to the common man.

Rodvien said the council is limited currently due to its homogenous nature and said the public campaign finance option would allow for more perspectives on the council.

We have seven white members and that is not a reflection of our county, Rodvien said.

This vote disrupts a statewide pattern as several counties have begun adopting and using the public campaign finance option over the past few years.

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Montgomery County has had the public campaign finance option since 2018 and Howard County is utilizing it for the first time this election cycle. Prince Georges County and Baltimore County will have it as an option in the 2026 election. Baltimore City is considering adopting it as well, said Maryland Board of Elections Candidacy and Campaign Finance Director Jared DeMarinis. It has also been used at the state level, including by Gov. Larry Hogan.

Another concern raised by the council Republicans was the cost. Haire said she felt uneasy about supporting a bill that had an unknown price tag. DeMarinis responded that the cost could be reasonably estimated based on other counties that have adopted it. He said Montgomery County budgeted about $11 million for it and only used around $6 million, while Howard County budgeted about $5 million for it and only spent a little over $1 million. DeMarinis said he estimated it would cost less than $6 million for Anne Arundel County.

The council also passed a new councilmanic district map by unanimous vote. The map was drawn by the Office of Planning and Zoning based on new census data. The most notable changes in the map will be in the center of the county where parts of District 4 have been added to District 5 and District 6. This is because District 4 was too large by the standards of the Office of Planning and Zoning, diluting the impact of each voter.

In terms of neighborhoods, the southern part of Millersville will now be split between Districts 5 and 6, the southern half of Severn will now be in District 5, the northern half of Crownsville will be in District 6 and the eastern half of Gambrills will be in District 5.

The map will now have the districts more evenly divided with each being closer to the target population of 83,633, which is about one-seventh of the countys current population.

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The vast majority of county residents will remain in their same districts, Rodvien said. Its everything you can want in a fair map.
"Keeping in mind the plight of the masses & government's ineptitude & failure in every field, there is a consensus in the party that Imran Khan government has to go. Every day that it is allowed to stay will add to the misery of the people. Not a single member disagreed," PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz said in a Tweet.

On Monday, the daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also said that a virtual meeting of PML-N's Central Executive Committee (CEC) took place yesterday to discuss a strategy to oust the incumbent government which expressed "full confidence" in party leader Nawaz Sharif.

Geo News citing sources reported that the CEC meeting was held under the chairmanship of PML-N supremo Nawaz from London and party President Shahbaz Sharif from Lahore.

The meeting was attended by senior PML-N leadership, central officials, and provincial party presidents.

"PMLN CEC meeting on. All members reposed their implicit & unconditional trust in [?]Nawaz Sharif.[?] Party said it will support & back all decisions taken by him. Alhamdolillah!" Maryam Nawaz tweeted further.

The participants said that Imran Khan should be removed with a no-trust motion, adding that they will agree with whatever Nawaz decides, Geo tv reported citing sources.

Pakistan principal opposition parties Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan People's Party have joined hands to move no-trust motion against the ruling Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.

Both the PPP and PML-N have announced separate long marches on Islamabad with the former's starting on February 27 and the latter's March 23. Both parties have not yet confirmed whether they will stage a sit-in after reaching the capital, as noted by Dawn. (ANI)
The political situation in Myanmar continues to pose a national security threat to the United States and constitutes a national emergency, US President Joe Biden said on Monday (local time). "The situation in and in relation to Burma, and in particular the February 1, 2021 coup... continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. For this reason, the national emergency declared on February 10, 2021, must continue in effect beyond February 10, 2022," Sputnik News Agency reported qouting Biden. He officially extended the national emergency for one year and transmitted a notice on the matter to Congress. Security forces in Myanmar have killed at least 114 children since the military takeover last year, including 18 children in January alone, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday. The UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said the number of injured children has been significantly larger. Haq reminded the country's security forces of their obligations to uphold children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Myanmar signed in 2019. On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military seized control of the country in a coup, prompting nationwide protests. The military said it had to act because of election fraud committed by the ruling party and placed senior officials, including the democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, under arrest. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed by Myanmar security forces with thousands of others arrested, according to the United Nations, amid a crackdown on strikes and protests which has derailed the country's tentative democracy and prompted international condemnation. In a recent update, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the conflict has intensified over the past month, with increased reports of army raids across Myanmar, especially in the northwest and southeast regions. (ANI)
Washington [US], February 8 (ANI/Sputnik): The United States will cut tariffs on Japanese steel imports to grow trade and relations with Tokyo and circumvent China's "unfair practices," the departments of Trade and Commerce said. "This agreement, combined with last year's resolution with the European Union, will help us work together with Japan to combat China's anti-competitive, non-market trade actions in the steel sector, while helping us reach President Biden's ambitious global climate agenda," US Trade Representative Katharine Tai said in a statement on Monday. Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced a new tariff agreement with Japan that allows historically-based sustainable volumes of Japanese steel products to enter US markets without duty. The statement said the deal will help ensure the long-term viability of the US steel sector and protect American jobs while giving relief to manufacturers in the United States seeking readily accessible, affordable steel to make their products. Raimondo said the tariffs had been a major irritant to US ties with Japan, one of Washington's most important allies. "Today's announcement builds on the deal we struck with the EU and will further help us rebuild relationships with our allies around the world as we work to fight against China's unfair trade practices and create a more competitive global economy for America's families, businesses and workers," Raimondo said. The announcement on the tariff cuts came after the US House of Representatives passed on Friday a bill aimed at increasing US semiconductor manufacturing and boosting competitiveness with China. The bill has, among others, a USD 52 billion provision to make chips, some USD 160 billion for scientific research and innovation and a further USD 45 billion to improve supply chains for critical items. Prior to that, the US Senate passed in June a USD 250 billion competition bill called the US Innovation and Competition Act. The two legislative chambers are expected to spend the next weeks hammering out the differences between the two bills, before sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature. The United States waged a more than two-year long trade war with China under Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, leading to an array of tit-for-tat tariffs between the two sides that was finally resolved in a trade deal that Beijing only partly fulfilled. Biden, who took office in January of 2021, has his own rocky relationship with China, warning that Beijing will economically overtake the United States without a comprehensive set of policies from Washington. (ANI/Sputnik)
Moscow [Russia], February 8 (ANI/Sputnik): Russia has nothing to do with companies that operate in Mali, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. Putin on Monday held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. At a press conference following the talks, Putin said he had discussed the situation in Mali with Macron. "Mr President knows our position. The Russian state has nothing to do with those companies that operate in Mali. As far as we know, the Mali leadership has not made any comments about the commercial activities of these companies," the Russian president said. "The Russian state has nothing to do with this. There are commercial interests of our companies there, they negotiate with the local leadership. We will take a closer look at this, but we have nothing to do with this," Putin said. "Regarding (the) Wagner (private military company). I said that the Russian state has nothing to do with this. I am saying it with complete responsibility. They are negotiating, and the local authorities invite them at the state level, thank them for the work done, and so on," the Russian leader said. The talks between the presidents of Russia and France in Moscow lasted more than 5 hours. Moscow has repeatedly denied allegations of Russia's military presence in various African countries. In particular, the Kremlin stated that there were no representatives of the Russian armed forces on the territory of Mali. Russia has also repeatedly stated that the country's authorities have nothing to do with the work of private security companies. (ANI/Sputnik)
Citing sources, Daily Times reported that the deceased was identified as Bibi Kamila, while the injured included Bibi Khadija, Bibi Anzala, and an unidentified woman, who were shifted to the Bolan Medical Complex (BMC).

Meanwhile, two Pakistan's Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were injured in an explosion in Balochistan's Quetta on Monday.

The explosion took place on Quetta's Sariab Road.

The FC personnel were on routine patrol in a village when the bomb -- fitted in a motorcycle on the side of the road -- was detonated remotely as they approached the site, Dawn newspaper reported citing the Frontier Corps spokesperson as saying.

The injured officials have been shifted to the FC hospital, said the spokesperson.

There has been an uptick in violence in Balochistan with several attacks and explosions reported since the start of the year.

At least 13 separatists were killed and seven security personnel, including an officer, killed during armed attacks on two security forces' camps in the province's Naushki and Panjgur districts last week, Dawn newspaper reported.

Last month, 17 people, including two policemen had been injured in a grenade attack in Dera Allahyar town of Jaffarabad district. (ANI)
China has given the assurance of expeditious development of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said Pakistan Prime Minister's Special Assistant on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor. This assurance was made during Imran Khan's 4-day visit to Beijing, Radio Pakistan reported. This statement comes after Pakistan and China on Friday inked the Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation under Beijing's multi-billion CPEC project. Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Monday, Mansoor said the leadership of Chinese companies during meetings with Imran Khan appreciated the environment and facilitation being provided by Pakistan to the Chinese investors. Pakistan's ties with China are the cornerstone of Islamabad's foreign policy, said Pakistan Prime Minister on Sunday, inadvertent admission that his country's foreign policy is completely dependent upon Beijing. He underscored that the Pakistan-China relationship was "the cornerstone of its foreign policy" as both sides reiterated their support on issues "concerning each other's core interests", according to The Express Tribune. "The leaders of the two countries held an in-depth exchange of views on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations as well as the regional situation and international political landscape," said a joint statement after the meeting. Stressing the need for structural reforms, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last week had said Pakistan can improve its economic connectivity if the USD 60 billion CPEC is implemented successfully. "The CPEC is an initiative to build economic connectivity and regional integration between the PRC and Pakistan. However, the CPEC alone will not bring optimal results. Structural reforms for private sector development are needed as well," the ADB had said in a report. On Sunday, former Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that CPEC is currently stalled under Imran Khan-led PTI government. Taking credit for the planning and execution of CPEC projects, Abbasi said all projects were completed during Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government's term while funding to the ongoing project stopped during the current government's tenure. In 2015, China announced an economic project in Pakistan worth USD 46 billion. With the CPEC, Beijing aims to expand its influence in Pakistan and across Central and South Asia in order to counter the influence of the United States and India. The CPEC project would link Pakistan's southern Gwadar port in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea to China's western Xinjiang region. (ANI)
The United States has approved a possible USD 100 million sales of equipment and services to Taiwan to "sustain, maintain, and improve" the Patriot missile defense system used by the self-governing island claimed by China. "The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) of equipment and services to support participation in the Patriot International Engineering Services Program (IESP) and Field Surveillance Program (FSP) for five years, including engineering services support, designed to sustain, maintain, and improve the Patriot Air Defense System for an estimated cost of USD 100 million," US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement on Monday (local time). In a statement, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it has delivered the required certification notifying Congress following State Department approval for the sale requested by Taiwan's TECRO. "This proposed sale serves US national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient's continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability. The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region," read the statement. The statement stated that the proposed sale will "help to sustain the recipient's missile density and ensure readiness for air operations. The recipient will use this capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen homeland defense. The recipient will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment and services into its armed forces." The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region, the statement added. In a meantime, Taiwan has welcomed the US move to approve USD 100 million arms sales. Taking to Twitter, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "We welcome @StateDept's approval of a USD100 million arms sale to Taiwan. The decision demonstrates the US government's commitment to the #TaiwanRelationsAct & #SixAssurances. It also supports the maintenance of our defensive capabilities, as well as regional peace & stability. The move comes at a time when tensions between China and Taiwan are heightened. The relations between China and the US have also deteriorated in recent times due to various reasons including Beijing Winter Olympics, Indo-Pacific and coronavirus pandemic. China has repeatedly threatened Taiwan with invasion and has adopted an aggressive policy to intimidate the self-governing island. For decades, the Chinese government has claimed authority over Taiwan. Though Taiwan is not recognised by the UN, its government maintains a relationship with the US and does not accept Chinese authority. (ANI)
The report was commissioned in September last year after reports emerged that China has been trespassing in the district of Humla.

This committee was formed under the Home Ministry Joint Secretary to study the dispute over the Nepal-China border. The team studied border pillars, especially in the Limi valley, and initial findings confirmed that there were some serious border issues between Nepal and China.

Nepal's Hindu Civic Society, Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan on Monday handed over a memorandum to the UN, saying that China has encroached on their land in the Humla district and urged the international community to pay attention to Chinese land grabbing.

Ekta Abhiyan chairperson Binay Yadav handed over the memorandum to UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard in Kathmandu, Khabarhub reported. The civic society organisation also urged the Nepali Congress-led government to take action as suggested by the committee formed under its initiation.

"According to the study, the area between pillar number 5 (2) and the middle of the Kit Khola has been marked as the border between the two countries since the 1963 Boundary Protocol," the Rastriya Ekta Abhiyan's appeal said. However, the Chinese side has erected fences and wires in Nepali land.

Despite all evidence on the ground, the report is now pending with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Surprisingly, Kathmandu remains silent over China's expansionist approach in the Himalayan nation despite reports indicating illegal encroachments in bordering districts including Humla, Gorkha, Darchula, Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk.

Last month, Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan burnt pictures of the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi in the capital city protesting China's "increased interference" in Nepal's internal matters.

Demonstrators also lambasted the Chinese Ambassador for interfering in Nepal's internal affairs and imposing an unannounced blockade in Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani. The protesters also raised slogans against Chinese Ambassador Yanqi. (ANI)
The two representatives discussed matters of mutual interest, regional security, the current situation in Afghanistan, and bilateral defence relations, Pakistan's Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Bajwa said that Pakistan values its historical and brotherly relations with the Kingdom and acknowledges its unique place in the Islamic world, Geo News reported.

The Saudi minister pledged to play his part for further improvement in diplomatic cooperation with Pakistan at all levels.

Back in December, Bajwa had met with Saudi Foreign Minister. They discussed regional security and bilateral defence relations.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have both diplomatic and military ties. However, their relations have strained in recent years.

In May last year, Saudi Arabia's rice charity had triggered a political row in Pakistan. The announcement of 19,032 bags of rice from a Saudi aid agency came after Pak PM's trip to the kingdom.

Pakistani public viewed the rice donation as an outcome of what the ruling PTI government had called a "highly successful visit." (ANI)
Russia and China are enjoying a confluence of aims, as the former eyes political control over Ukraine, and the latter dreams of conquering Taiwan. Along the way, they both relish the prospect of giving the USA comeuppance. Strengthening ties between Moscow and Beijing were underscored by a meeting on 5 February, when President Vladimir Putin met Chairman Xi Jinping during the Winter Olympics, their first face-to-face meeting in more than two years. The China-Russia Comprehensive Partnership of Coordination for a New Era was agreed on 5 June 2019, when Xi visited Putin. That was his eighth visit to Russia since 2013, underscoring closer ties between the two strongmen. Naturally, China will not want Russia to invade Ukraine while the Beijing Olympics are running. These Olympics represent one of two pinnacles for 2022 for the Chinese Communist Party, and it wants nothing domestically or internationally to detract from its moment in the spotlight. This is illustrated in the fact that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) temporarily paused provocative flights into Taiwan's air defense identification zone. On 23 January, these flights had peaked at 39 in a single day. However, one can be certain these flights will resume assoon as the Olympics conclude. Russia is unlikely to upset China by militarily moving against Ukraine during this sporting event. It would unduly antagonize China, at a time when both need mutual support. Although Russia invaded Georgia just one week before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, it is unlikely to act this way again in regards to Ukraine. Some commentators posit that a conflict in Ukraine would be to China's advantage. Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington DC, begs to differ, however. Nonetheless, he did admit, "Yes, a conflict in Ukraine could temporarily divert American strategic focus, reducing pressure on China. Yes, it would make Russia more dependent on China, thus giving Beijing greater leverage in its relations with Moscow. Yes, senior Chinese officials are parroting some of Moscow's favorite talking points (e.g. the US and the West need to drop their 'Cold War mentality', the US should not pursue security at Russia'sexpense, etc.). Beijing will not do the US any favors." Conversely, Hass noted that "China's focus this year is on the Olympics and Party Congress. Beijing wants stability and predictability. They will not welcome foreign turbulence. Unsurprisingly, Chinese officials are calling for steps to lower tensions and implement theMinsk agreement." Thus, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun addressed a United Nations Security Council open meeting on Ukraine on 31 January: "China once again calls on all parties concerned to remain calm, not to do anything to aggravate tensions or hype up the crisis, and to properly resolve their differences through consultations on an equal footing on the basis of mutual respect and fully taking into account each other's legitimate security concerns." Yet Zhang leaned heavily on Russia's side. "NATO is the product of the Cold War, and NATO expansion epitomizes bloc politics. We believe that the security of one country should not be achieved at the expense of the security of other countries. Still less should regional security rely on strengthening or even expanding military blocs. Today in the 21st century, all parties should completely abandon the Cold War mentality and come up with a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations, with Russia's legitimate security concerns being taken seriously and addressed." As can be seen, Beijing's Foreign Ministry has issued tame comments over the threat of war in Ukraine. Chinese sentiments are clearly sympathetic to Russia, and Beijing is happy to blame the USA and NATO for the current impasse. Hass further argued why war is not in Beijing's interests: "Chinese officials recognize that Beijing will be found guilty by association if Russia invades Ukraine after Putin's meeting with Xi. China will suffer significant reputational damage, especially in Europe and the US, for being seen as Russia's enabler." This line of thinking was echoed by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. He told the NBC: "We believe that Beijing will end up owning some of the costs of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, and that they should calculate that as they consider their engagements with the Russian government over the next couple of weeks ... If Russia does choose to moveforward, not only will it come at a strategic cost to Russia, but if China is seen as having supported it, it will come at some costs to China as well, in the eyes of the world, in the eyes of Europe and in the eyes of other countries who are looking on now and sending a clear message that they would prefer to see diplomacy over war." It could be countered that China is already acting imperiously in ways that antagonize, and that it has already shown willingness to pay a price. In the South China Sea, in its relations with Taiwan, its "wolf warrior diplomacy", its subjugation of Hong Kong and imprisonmentof more than a million Uyghurs in Xinjiang, Beijing is prepared to spurn public opinion when it comes to its core interests. Hass made another point: "A Russian invasion likely would not do Beijing any favors on Taiwan. Conversely, it could cause the US to show greater strength in the Pacific so that China doesn't draw any wrong lessons from Putin's incursion, perhaps a bit akin to events at the start of the Korean War. A Russian invasion also could generate negative consequences for Chinese hi-tech companies, particularly if Russia gets designated with foreign direct product rules, and Chinese firms are swept up in US secondary sanctions and lose access to Western equipment and investment." When an American journalist asked Jake Sullivan about the Taiwan implication, he replied that "the United States is going to take every action that we can take, from the point of view of both deterrence and diplomacy, to make sure that the Taiwan scenario you just described never happens". Nonetheless, Xi must see parallels between Russia's claims on Ukraine and his "ownership" of Taiwan. Ukraine therefore forms a timely case study on the cost-benefit of any future military action against Taipei. An attack by Putin will act as a barometer of potential consequences for China, whether it be Western countermeasures, sanctions or the fallout on Russia's economy. In Europe, China will be keen to see whether American security guarantees are discredited and whether international faith in American resolve wavers. If the USA does nothing to thwart Putin, then perhaps the lesson it will take is that Washington DC will be similarly timid in Asia. If China's neighbors doubt American determination, then China will be able to bully its neighbors even more than before. The USA is aware of this. Marco Rubio, the US senator for Florida, warned: "If Putin is able to move into Ukraine, take on a few sanctions and some international condemnation, but ultimately, not pay a terrible price, it doesn't just impact Ukraine, it becomes the model that China, Iran, North Korea and the other rogue governments around the world will follow." Taiwanese retired admiral Lee His-Min, a senior fellow at the Project 2049 Institute, concurred: "China is watching very, very closely, there's no doubt about that. No matter the results of the Ukraine [confrontation], I don't think there will be an immediate full-scale invasion of Taiwan, but if they find out that this salami-slice tactic works for Russia, they may try to take one of Taiwan's offshore islands." Xi refuses to renounce the potential use of force against Taiwan, threatening to take "all necessary measures" to "smash" any moves towards Taiwanese independence. One important difference is that Ukraine is not a NATO member, and so the organization is not obliged to come to Kyiv's rescue. On the contrary, the USA is committed via its Taiwan Relations Act and, in October 2021, Biden promised the USA would help defend Taiwan if China ever attacked. There has even been speculation that China and Russia would mount a coordinated dual attack, one into Ukraine and the other against Taiwan. However, this is far-fetched. There has been no observable build-up of PLA units near Taiwan, like there has been of Russian units near the Ukrainian border. Another thing to bear in mind is that China also maintains good relations with Ukraine, buying foodstuffs and other equipment as Ukraine's top trading partner. Just last month, Xi sent a congratulatory letter to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Hass thus concluded, "...China is in a diplomatic jam. It would face difficulties and unwelcome turbulence from a conflict in Ukraine, but at the same time it wants to preserve strong relations with Russia and it does not want to do the US any favors." Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the USA, agreed with Hass's comments, but added, "Yet, if China overtly sides with a Russian invasion of Ukraine and helps mitigate the impact of Western sanctions, it will reveal volumes about Xi Jinping's worldview, ambitions and priorities." A major war in Eastern Europe would drag down China's yearly growth target of 5.5-6%. It would also cause oil and gas prices to spike, something problematic for China given that it is the world's largest crude importer. European countries are wary of Russia; if China is seen to be backing Moscow, they will be forced deeper into NATO's embrace. This will impinge upon China's efforts to enlarge market shares in these countries. Militarily, China and Russia have grown closer together strategically, in cooperative mechanisms and in practical ways. China has bought Russian equipment such as S-400 air defense systems and Su-35 fighters, and Russia is assisting China to create a ballistic missile defense network and develop a heavy-lift helicopter. At the ministerial and Central Military Commission level, the two militaries communicate regularly. Despite COVID-19, joint exercises have been conducted, such as Xibu Unity 2021 in China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Peace Mission counterterrorism exercise, the International Army Games 2021 and Joint Sea 2021. John Van Oudenaren wrote for The Jamestown Foundation: "As Russian troops mass on the Ukraine border and the odds of a major war in Eastern Europe mount, Xi faces a complex dilemma. On the one hand, he has an immediate interest in avoiding a major international crisis that could destabilize the global economy, and undermine his domestic political position in a critical year. However, he also recognizes an abiding strategic interest in sustaining and deepening the Sino-Russian partnership, which is far more viable if Russia and the West remain at permanent loggerheads. In order to reconcile these two conflicting interests, Beijing has advocated for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis, while simultaneously supporting Moscow's assertion of privileged security interests in Eastern Europe." Another interesting geopolitical dynamic is occurring too, with a China-Pakistan-Russia triangle developing. Whilst Putin was the first leader that Xi hosted personally after the Olympics opening ceremony, he met with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan too. Their joint statement issued on 6 February reaffirmed their "close strategic ties and deep-rooted friendship," and they "reiterated their support on issues concerning each other's core interests" (e.g. China's stance on Taiwan, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet). Both nations reaffirmed their support for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, of which Gwadar is a "central pillar". They will jointly accelerate construction and operation of Gwadar port. They also promised closer defense and security cooperation. Most interestingly, Khan will be in Moscow later this month, the first time a Pakistani leader has conducted such a visit to Russia in 23 years. By contrast, President Joe Biden is still yet to speak to Khan after assuming the presidency. This could mark the beginning of a regional realignment for Pakistan. As Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, observed, "Pakistan's deep ties with China are lubricating Pakistan-Russia ties. I fully expect a Russian presidential visit to Pakistansoon. Growing China-Russia alignment has geostrategic consequences." Putin is often thuggish in the way he acts - as typified by military escapades in Georgia and the Crimean Peninsula. China tends to be more nuanced, practicing brinkmanship with distinctive Chinese characteristics. One of those ways, as the ancient strategist Sun Tzu advised, is that it is better to "win without fighting". Hence, part of Beijing's modus operandi has long been a psychological one, where it wants others to believe that resistance is futile. (ANI)
Maryland Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Doug Gansler is teaming up with Candace B. Hollingsworth, a former mayor of Hyattsville, as his running mate in the 2022 campaign.

Hollingsworth was the youngest-ever mayor and the first Black mayor of the town in Prince Georges County, winning election in 2015 before resigning in 2020 to focus on Our Black Party, an advocacy organization she cofounded.

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As they announced their political partnership Tuesday, Gansler and Hollingsworth posted a video in which she acknowledges having had personal financial struggles. Hollingsworth said in the video her financial setbacks make her sympathetic to Marylanders facing the same challenges.

Hollingsworth, 40, grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and her career in nonprofit grants management brought her to the Washington, D.C., region, where she settled in Hyattsville in 2009.

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Hollingsworth said in an interview that shes excited to work with Gansler, who she said has a beautiful mix of care and compassion alongside real ability and leadership to do the things he cares about.

Gansler said he picked Hollingsworth as his lieutenant governor candidate because hes been impressed with her work in Hyattsville.

What she has done to revitalize Hyattsville is a success story that we will strive to replicate all across Maryland, Gansler said in a statement.

Breaking News Alerts As it happens When big news breaks in our area, be the first to know. >

Gansler, 59, worked as a federal prosecutor in Washington before winning election as states attorney in Montgomery County. He then was elected Maryland attorney general in 2006 and served two four-year terms. A bid for governor in 2014 was unsuccessful and hes been in private practice since then.

Online court records show Hollingsworth has been the subject of seven cases involving tax liens or contract disputes in Maryland between 2009 and 2016.

Hollingsworth said she and her family had to make tough financial decisions without a safety net. When things happened to me, when Im behind on my mortgage, theres no one to call, she said in the interview.

Hollingsworth said she and her husband, Nyere, have worked on payment plans and satisfied much of that to date.

The rocky personal financial history shouldnt deter voters from supporting the campaign, Hollingsworth said, as they represent common struggles for families. She said her personal financial struggles didnt affect her fiscal leadership in Hyattsville.

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Another ticket was announced Thursday in the crowded governors race, ahead of an extended March 22 deadline for political hopefuls to file their candidacy paperwork for the June primary. Democrat Jerome Segal named Justin Dispenza, a Town Council member in Galena on the Eastern Shore, as his running mate.

The race has attracted 10 Democrats and four Republicans so far.
China believes NATO's expansion does not contribute to global security and stability, the Chinese Mission in the EU said on Tuesday. The statement comes as the situation around Ukraine has worsened over the past several months. NATO and Kiev continue to accuse Russia of building up troops near the Ukrainian border and preparing for an invasion. "Thirty years after the end of the Cold War, NATO continues to expand its geographical scope and the range of operations and engages in bloc politics and confrontation. This is not conducive to global security and stability. China believes that regional security should not be guaranteed by strengthening or expanding military blocs," the embassy statement said. "We call on NATO to abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, respect the sovereignty, security, interests as well as the diversity of civilizations, history and culture of other countries, take an objective and impartial view of other countries' peaceful development, and do more to increase mutual trust among countries and maintain regional peace and stability," it said. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met on Friday in China on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics and reaffirmed their close ties in the face of US pressure, prompting a wave of media attention in the West. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Saturday that fears are growing in Washington that Moscow is moving closer to Beijing. "Of course, the message [media coverage] was very negative. There were clear concerns about Russia and China moving closer together," Antonov said on the Solovyov Live show. According to Antonov, Russia is bracing for more US sanctions after seeing consensus on the move cut across party lines in Congress. "Unfortunately, we expect sanctions. There is no telling what they will be. Much of the squabbling has been about who will hit Russia harder and more painfully," Antonov added. During their talks on Friday, Xi and Putin had an in-depth and thorough exchange of views on China-Russia relations and a series of major issues that concern international strategic security and stability. (ANI)
London [UK], February 8 (ANI/Sputnik): The UK is considering deploying Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect southeastern Europe and reinforce the British battlegroup in Estonia, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. "We are considering deploying RAF Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect southeastern Europe," Johnson wrote to The Times on Monday. The West will do more to help Ukraine defend itself, Johnson added, noting that the UK is preparing to reinforce the British-led Nato battlegroup in Estonia. "Nato allies are agreed that we are willing to send more forces to guarantee the security of our allies on the eastern flank. The foreign ministers of Latvia and Estonia have called for extra support due to the Russian military build-up in Belarus. We stand ready to provide it," Johnson said. In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of amassing troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for invasion. Russia replied that it has no intention of invading Ukraine while stressing that it has the right to move its forces within its own territory. Russia has also expressed concerns over NATO military activity near its borders and ongoing military support of Ukraine, including an increase in the number of Western instructors in the breakaway Donbas region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow is not excluding that the "hysteria" around Ukraine fueled by the West is aimed at concealing Kiev's plans to sabotage the Minsk Agreements on Donbas. (ANI/Sputnik)
Pakistan's senators have warned that a humanitarian crisis is brewing in Afghanistan that could have serious ramifications for Pakistan's national security, local media reported on Tuesday. Speaking on the rapidly developing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, Former Senate chairman and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Mian Raza Rabbani said that Pakistan would be affected the most by a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and it would have an impact on the country's national security, Dawn reported. Rabbani also referred to the commitments made by the Afghan Taliban that terrorism would not be exported to Pakistan, and raised questions over the talks held with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) without taking parliament into confidence. He said the so-called ceasefire reached with the TTP had repeatedly been violated by the other side. Highlighting the recent attack in the country, PPP's parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman said the recent terror attacks in the country were of a grave nature. She said the ruling government must hold the Afghan Taliban accountable for the use of their country's soil for conducting attacks inside Pakistan. Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of the Jamaat-i-Islami said that the US and its allies were responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. He said a large number of Afghans, including children, were facing hunger in the war-torn country. The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since the Taliban took control of Kabul last year in mid-August. 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)
London [UK], February 8 (ANI/Sputnik): Over 100 members of the United Kingdom Special Forces have arrived in Ukraine and may be deployed in Donbas, Ivan Filiponenko, a military spokesman of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), said on Tuesday. "We have received data on the arrival of more than 100 soldiers of the UK Special Operations Forces in Ukraine," the spokesman told reporters, adding that their arrival in Donbas is expected "in the near future." (ANI/Sputnik)
The incident took place near an expressway in the capital, Xinhua reported citing local media. It further added that police and rescue team reached the site.

Police told local media that both of the parties had an old enmity.

According to the report, police cordoned off the area and started a search operation for the arrest of the assailants.

Pakistan is witnessing a tide of violence in recent months.

In recent months, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the southwestern region of the country, with recent attacks on security posts in Pakistan that resulted in the death of seven Pakistani soldiers and 13 separatists. (ANI)
China on Tuesday warned the United States against a USD 100 million deal on weapons supply to Taiwan and said that Beijing will take necessary actions to protect its sovereignty. The United States has approved a possible USD 100 million sales of equipment and services to Taiwan to "sustain" and "improve" the Patriot missile defence system used by the self-governing island. "China strongly protests and condemns this action," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a briefing, adding that the US should "withdraw" this proposal immediately. Zhao said China will take necessary and effective measures to protect its sovereignty and ensure its security. The development comes at a time when tensions between China and Taiwan are heightened. The relations between China and the US have also deteriorated in recent issues concerning human rights, coronavirus pandemic and trade. US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Monday said it has delivered the required certification notifying Congress following State Department approval for the sale requested by Taiwan's TECRO. "This proposed sale serves US national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient's continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability. The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region," the statement read. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region, the statement added. Meanwhile, Taiwan has welcomed the US move to approve USD 100 million arms sales. "We welcome @StateDept's approval of a USD100 million arms sale to Taiwan. The decision demonstrates the US government's commitment to the #TaiwanRelationsAct & #SixAssurances. It also supports the maintenance of our defensive capabilities, as well as regional peace & stability," said Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China has repeatedly threatened Taiwan with invasion and has adopted an aggressive policy to intimidate the self-governing island. (ANI)
South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Wednesday conveyed regret to his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar over the offence caused to the people and Government of India by the social media post on Kashmir. "Foreign Minister of Republic of Korea H.E. Chung Eui-yong called External Affairs Minister this morning. While they discussed several issues, the RoK Foreign Minister also conveyed that they regretted the offence caused to the people and Government of India by the social media post," said External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. This comes as India summoned the South Korean envoy over Hyundai Pakistan's social media post on Kashmir. In a media response, Bagchi informed that India expressed its strong displeasure of the government on what is described as an "unacceptable social media post" by Hyundai Pakistan. "Immediately after this social media post on Sunday, 6th February 2022, our Ambassador in Seoul contacted the Hyundai Headquarters and sought an explanation. The offending post had been removed subsequently. The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs yesterday 7th February 2022," the MEA spokesperson said. "The strong displeasure of the Government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him. It was highlighted that this matter concerned India's territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise," he added. Bagchi further said India welcomes investments by foreign companies in various sectors. "But, it is also expected that such companies or their affiliates will refrain from false and misleading comments on matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity." (ANI)
Taking to Twitter, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla called on the visiting Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Prof. G. L. Peiris. Discussed strengthening of the relationship in multiple spheres including a people-centric development partnership. @MFA_SriLanka"

Earlier, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Monday met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris in New Delhi and discussed prospects of economic investment initiatives to strengthen the island nation and exchanged views on the fishermen issue.

Jaishankar said he held productive talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart that focused on additional steps to enhance Sri Lanka's energy security.

Both the Ministers recognized the importance of greater tourism for economic recovery. They also noted the importance of people to people linkages through greater connectivity.

Peiris's three-day visit comes as Sri Lanka is facing economic hardship back home.

Jaishankar last met Peiris in September last year in New York where they held a comprehensive discussion on the close partnership between the two countries.

Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa travelled to India in December last year. His trip focused on measures concerning the economic crisis faced by the island nation.

Moreover, Jaishankar had a virtual meeting with Sri Lankan Finance Minister on January 15, where he conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka and will continue to extend support.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister's latest visit comes days after the USD 400 million SAARC currency swap facility was extended to Sri Lanka and the ACU settlement of USD 515.2 million was deferred by two months. Another USD 500 million LOC for the purchase of fuel from India has also been extended. (ANI)
The Taliban on Monday rejected UN reports on movements of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan and said that it has implemented its commitments laid out in the Doha Agreement. Reacting to the report, the Taliban said the report lacked evidence and said that the Islamic Emirate has implemented its commitments laid out in the Doha Agreement and does not allow anyone to threaten any country from Afghanistan's territory, reported Tolo News. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly rejects a recent report by the UNSC Monitoring Team asserting an increase of foreign groups in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate deems such reports lacking evidence, documents and addresses neither in the interest of Afghanistan, the region or the world," the Taliban's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The UNSC Monitoring Team's reports which says foreign group's presence and activities have increased in Afghanistan, is untrue," Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesman of the foreign ministry said. According to the UNSC report, Amin Muhammad ul-Haq Saam Khan, who coordinated security for Osama Bin Laden, returned to his home in Afghanistan in late August last year, reported Tolo News. Regarding the report's allegations, "no visit and no meeting between anyone happened," said Islamic Emirate's Deputy Spokesman Bilal Karimi. However, the UNSC reports said that Osama Bin Laden's son visited Afghanistan late last year. "One Member State reported that Bin Laden's son, Abdallah, visited Afghanistan in October for meetings with the Taliban." "There are no recent signs that the Taliban has taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist fighters in the country. On the contrary, terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than at any time in recent history. However, Member States have not reported significant new movements of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan," the report added. The report questioned the Islamic Emirate's commitment under the Doha Agreement to preventing "international terrorist" threats from having a foothold in Afghanistan. The UNSC Monitoring Team expressed concerns that foreign groups might find safe haven in Afghanistan, reported Tolo News. "The economic and political instability in Afghanistan will pave the way for activities of terrorist groups inside and outside of Afghanistan," said Hikmatullah, a political analyst. "Serious revisions should be made to such reports. Allegations that can shock the people of Afghanistan and world should be prevented," said Abdul Ghafar, a political analyst. The report warned that Afghanistan has the potential of becoming a safe haven for Al-Qaida and a number of 'terror groups' with ties to the Central Asia region and beyond. (ANI)
It has planned to import this stock of rice at US $ 445 per metric ton through the Sri Lanka State Trading (General) Corporation, reported Colombo Page.

Sri Lanka, which is facing a severe food crisis, has approached various countries including Myanmar for the import of rice to increase its food stock.

A bilateral agreement was signed between the Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Trade.

Notably, China has donated one million metric tons of rice to Colombo to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Rice-Rubber pact which is expected to reach Sri Lanka in March, 2022.

Earlier, Sri Lanka, on November 30, had also requested Pakistan for a comprehensive Credit line of USD 200 million to import cement, rice and other essential food items. (ANI)
Imran Khan and Bajwa will be given a comprehensive briefing later in the day and they will also meet local tribal elders, reported Dawn citing the Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR).

Bajwa will spend the day with troops and also meet those who repulsed the attack on February 2. The Army chief will be briefed about the security situation in the area as well as operational preparedness of the formation to counter-terrorist activities, reported Dawn.

A meeting of the Federal Cabinet was cancelled on Tuesday due to Imran Khan's visit.

Fawad Chaudhary, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, earlier on Tuesday in his Tweet had said federal cabinet meeting had been cancelled due to Quetta's visit of the premier.

It came after 20 terrorists and nine soldiers were killed last week as security forces repulsed terrorist attacks on their camps in Balochistan's Naushki and Panjgur. (ANI)
UK's former chief of defence David Richards on Tuesday said that the West will recognize Taliban sooner or later and urged governments to be "magnanimous in defeat." "I think the West is going to end up recognizing the Taliban government. If that's the case, then we'd better get on with it quicker, sooner rather than later. There's a great phrase to be magnanimous in victory. I think this is an occasion for us to be magnanimous in defeat," said Richards to a UK-based media, reported The Khaama Press. Richards warned that it was time to accept that the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan has been lost and that the United States must start working with the new leadership for the sake of the Afghan people. David Richards has also acknowledged that there are elements inside the Taliban that the UK can work with them and said that the Taliban are now leaders of Afghanistan and they are responsible for 40 million people, reported Tolo News. The call for recognizing the Taliban comes as no country has yet come forward and the country is experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis over half of the population in need of assistance and eight million more starving. Taliban, who are desperate to seek international recognition, and have time and again been reminded that respect for women and human rights, establishing inclusive government, not allowing Afghanistan to become a safe haven of terrorism are the preconditions for the recognition set by the international community. (ANI)
Notably, the meeting scheduled to be held in the Chinese city Peking, is said to be an in-person one.

Furthermore, this will be the third such meeting on Afghanistan in which Foreign Ministers of Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan will participate, reported Khaama Press.

The first meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries took place in Pakistan while the second one was hosted by Iran. (ANI)
This is a key development as the US has already warned of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"I obtained that there will be no degradation nor escalation," Macron said as he arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukraine's leader, reported France 24.

Earlier, following the Russian-French talks, Putin said, "NATO member countries continue to pump up Ukraine with modern types of weapons, allocate significant financial resources for the modernization of the Ukrainian army. They send military specialists and instructors,"

Putin expressed hope that Macron would discuss in Kyiv issues raised on Monday during the Russian-French talks. (ANI)
"It not only demonstrates the significance the US government continues to place on Taiwan's defence capabilities but also shows the rock-solid Taiwan-US partnership," Taiwan News quoted Taiwan's Presidential Office Spokesperson Xavier Chang as saying

This is the second weapons sale since President Biden took office and the first arms deal this year, said Chang.

Chang also stressed that Taiwan's consistent position is to neither be the aggressor when it has support nor bow to pressure.

Further, the spokesperson stated that Taiwan will continue to improve its defence capabilities. He vowed to continue to deepen security partnerships with like-minded countries including the US, in order to safeguard national security, and jointly maintain peace, stability, prosperity, and development in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific, according to Taiwan News.

The United States on Monday (local time) approved a possible USD 100 million sales of equipment and services to Taiwan to "sustain" and "improve" the Patriot missile defence system used by the self-governing island.

The announcement drew China on Tuesday and Beijing warned the United States against a USD 100 million deal on weapons supply to Taiwan. China said it will take necessary actions to protect its sovereignty.

"China strongly protests and condemns this action," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a briefing, adding that the US should "withdraw" this proposal immediately. (ANI)
The Imran Khan government must address the deprivations of the people of Balochistan, said Pakistan's Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq calling on Islamabad to ensure the fulfilment of the commitments made to them, reported local media. The people of the province had been being deceived in the name of different packages since the tenure of Pervez Musharraf. The government must address the deprivations of the people of Balochistan, Dawn quoted Haq as saying. The JI leader also called on the government to ensure the fulfilment of the commitments made with the people of Balochistan by the governments in Islamabad for years. The JI leader was speaking to a Baloch delegation that called on him at Mansoora on Monday. Haq further hit out at Imran Khan government and said that they recently signed an agreement with the leaders of the Gwadar rights movement but it so far failed to honour its commitment. The Baloch people were deprived of basic rights despite the fact the province was enriched with enormous resources, said the JI leader inline the call of the people of Balochistan. Calling on the Imran Khan government to realise the sensitivity of the situation, Haq urged Islamabad to take concrete measures to address the issue. (ANI)
China's aid to Pakistan in developing nuclear energy technology and assisting the country in the construction of nuclear power plants pose proliferation risks, reported a Canada-based thinktank, International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS). Pakistan refused to meet International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards and due to this, Canada decided to terminate its nuclear energy cooperation with Islamabad in 1976. Safeguards are activities by which the IAEA can verify that a State is living up to its international commitments not to use nuclear programmes for nuclear-weapons purposes and Pakistan denied to meet these guidelines. Ever since that, China, as part of its regional balance of power strategy in the South Asian region, has been enabling Pakistan to augment its nuclear capabilities. This move undermines China's commitment to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation. Not only this, it also enables Pakistan to devote more of its 'unsafeguarded nuclear infrastructure' to fissile material production for nuclear weapons, reported the thinktank. According to IFFRAS, It did not take much time for China to reach out to Pakistan with their assistance in further developing Islamabad's programme once Pakistan was denied help from Canada. The think tank said that in the garb of addressing Pakistan's electricity shortages, China has been assisting the country to build its nuclear energy program. In September 1986, China and Pakistan signed an agreement to facilitate the transfer of civil nuclear technology. China supplied Pakistan with various nuclear weapon delivery systems, such as the export of the solid-fuelled, short-range DF-11 (M-11) ballistic missile in the early 1990s. This sale equipped Pakistan with a reliable nuclear-capable delivery system amidst the development of a nuclear warhead, which it first tested in 1998. This export was carried out by a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) named, China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC), which markets and sells missiles abroad on behalf of other state-owned firms. Between 1994 and 1995, a separate SOE, China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (CNEIC), shipped 5,000 ring magnets to Dr A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories is a facility in Pakistan which is immune to international nuclear safeguards. Ring magnets are key components that stabilize centrifuges used in uranium enrichment. This transfer from a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), which is China's largest nuclear energy SOE, to one of the primary research organizations working on Pakistan's nuclear weapon program was a certain proof that the export was an intentional contribution to Islamabad's growing nuclear weapons programme. In 2017, Wuhan Sanjiang shipped components with applications in missile transporters and launchers to an entity connected to Pakistan's nuclear and missile work. Most recently, on September 8, 2021, PAEC and CZEC signed, 'The Framework Agreement on Deepening Nuclear Energy Cooperation, which would enable technology transfer for uranium mining and processing, nuclear fuel supply and setting up research reactors, reported the thinktank. (ANI)
The European Union, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, and UNAMA have communicated serious concern over the fate of Afghan women activists who disappeared after participating in protests to demand fundamental rights for women, reported Tolo News.

The United Nations Secretary General's envoy for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, met with the Taliban's Deputy PM, Abdul Kabir, to convey her concerns about the safety of the women.

UNAMA said on Twitter: "Convey(ed) deepening concern about ... 'disappeared' women activists, Kabir committed to seeking answers. We appreciate this & await an update. World support to Afghanistan is eroded without respect for all Afghan's rights."

The EU's special representative for Afghanistan, Tomas Niklasson, said the detention and disappearance of citizens contradict the Taliban's commitments to protecting human rights, reported Tolo News.

"Taliban announced 'interim government' claims to be owned by the people. Arbitrary detention of citizens and disappearances undermine such claims and contradict their declared commitments to uphold human rights. I join the call for an immediate release," Niklasson said.

Meanwhile, Potzel Markus, German ambassador-designate to Afghanistan, and Hugo Shorter, Charge d'Affaires of the UK Mission to Afghanistan, have addressed the disappearance of women, saying the issue is worrying, reported Tolo News.

Tamana Zaryab Paryani, Parwana Ibrahimkhil, Mursal Ayar, and Zahra Mohammadi have been allegedly detained during the past month for taking part in protests for women's rights.

Moreover, a number of Afghan women claimed that the Taliban asks women not to attend protests after releasing them.

"When the girls are released, the Taliban asks them not to attend protests, which is very worrying. Protesting is our right, no one should forbid it," said Nafisa Bahar, a women's rights activist. (ANI)
Families of the missing persons on Monday protested in front of Swat Press Club and chanted slogans. They were asking the authorities to let them know about their whereabouts. They demanded early recovery of their loved ones and asked that they should be allowed to visit their loved ones languishing in jails, reported Dawn. Holding photos of their missing relatives, the protesters chanted slogans. The protesters, including Syed Karimullah, Syed Rahim, Shahid Ali Khan, Nasir, Aminuddin and Mohammad Ihsan, said their five loved ones, who had been missing for the last 10 years, should be produced in courts, reported Dawn. The protesters said they were in agony as they did not know whether their loved ones were alive or dead, and appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the army chief and the Prime Minister to help in tracing the whereabouts of the missing persons. They said the families of the missing persons were living a very hard life since they had gone missing, reported Dawn. The protesters alleged that many other people were still in the custody of security forces even after serving their jail terms. "Families, especially women and children, of the missing persons have no one to take care of them," a protester bemoaned, saying they were dependent upon their neighbours and relatives for food and medical treatment. Meanwhile, the Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said earlier in the Senate that it seems that the bill on missing persons has been lost while emphasizing that the issue of missing persons in Pakistan is important. She said the government prepared the bill on the missing persons, which was passed by the National Assembly and sent to the Senate. "It is not known why the bill is not being introduced in the Senate. Chairman, I have spoken to you today as well. Why is the bill not being introduced? The issue of missing persons is intolerable in a democratic system," she said addressing the Senate chairman, The News International reported. (ANI)
Children's Hospital in Larkana in Pakistan's Sindh province tells the same story, reported Naya Daur, a Pakistani Magazine.

Notably, Pakistan is currently in the middle of the fifth deadly corona wave and what is disturbing is that the coronavirus protocols which are claimed to be prioritised by the provincial government, were entirely violated.

The people who transgress the corona appropriate behavior included hospital staff and paramedics, as well as by patients and their attendees.

Three physicians were attending to patients in a single room. The room was without partitions and this demonstrates the extent of the mismanagement.

There was a ruckus in the consulting room as many parents with their children and some of the visitors, all were talking at the same time.

It revealed not only an unprofessional working atmosphere but also an open breach of patient privacy, which is one of the basic pillars of the health department's patient care system, reported the magazine.

Patients were either given the medicines party or were suggested for a cheaper one.

Not only this, some of the patients were refused any medicines altogether, instead of being asked to buy from the private medical store, located some yards away.

A meticulously written report recently published in Medical News titled "Sindh hospitals in deep crises due to shortage of life-saving drugs", reported the magazine. (ANI)
He also accused NATO saying that they present the movement of Russian troops on its own territory as a threat of a Russian invasion.

Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said, "President Vladimir #Putin: NATO has designated Russia an adversary. While advancing its military infrastructure very close to our border, @NATO and its member states believe that they have a right to teach us where and how we can deploy our armed forces."

These statements come at a time when French President Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday said that he had managed to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin not to "escalate" the crisis around Ukraine.

"I obtained that there will be no degradation nor escalation," Macron said as he arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the Ukraine crisis. (ANI)
The Nepal government has reacted to a recent UK media report on encroachment by China on Nepalese land and said that the issue should be dealt with on the basis of reality, not on reports, adding that Kathmandu would study the matter and bring out an official statement thereafter. "Regarding the query about the border dispute with China which has been raised, we should deal it not on the basis of reports but on the basis of reality, at appropriate times. The reality should be studied promptly and the government would publicize official statement thereafter only," Government's spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communication Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said in response to a question by ANI at a regular press conference on Tuesday. "Our borders whether it is with India or China, if there are any issues about the borders then we are ready to solve those through diplomatic ways and these problems should not arise and the government would work diligently on it," said Karki. A leaked Nepal government's report commissioned last September has accused China of encroaching into Western Nepal along their shared border. The government's report was commissioned in September last year after reports emerged that China has been trespassing in the district of Humla. The committee was formed under the Home Ministry Joint Secretary to study the dispute over the Nepal-China border. The team studied border pillars, especially in the Limi valley, and initial findings confirmed that there were some serious border issues between Nepal and China. "According to the study, the area between pillar number 5 (2) and the middle of the Kit Khola has been marked as the border between the two countries since the 1963 Boundary Protocol," said Nepal's Hindu Civil Society, Rashtriya Ekata Abhiyan's memorandum handed over to the UN on Monday over the encroachment. Despite all evidence on the ground, the government's report is now pending with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The committee has already submitted the study report to the Home Ministry. The report noted that the Chinese side had crossed the border and suggested that the two sides work together to resolve the issue. The report is now pending with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was reported that the border encroachment was intensified in Humla during the then KP Oli-led government. But then-Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, referring to a study done in 2016, said the structures were built on Chinese soil. Similarly, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu had clarified that the structures were constructed in its own territory and there was no border dispute between Nepal and China. However, the then main opposition party, the Nepali Congress had issued a statement accusing the government of trying to cover up the border issue despite evidence that it had crossed the line. But the NC-led government has not published the report formed on its own initiative. (ANI)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed on Tuesday (local time) for his trip to the Indo-Pacific region for the Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meeting in Australia and to attend other events and bilaterals in Fiji and Hawaii. "Departing Washington for an important trip to the Indo-Pacific region. Looking forward to productive meetings with leaders and communities to promote our shared values and advance our goals in the," said Blinken in a tweet on Tuesday "In Australia on February 9-12, Secretary Blinken will attend the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meeting, hosted by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne," the US State Department had said in a statement last week. "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 statement added. Secretary Blinken will meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Payne, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and other senior officials to discuss a range of bilateral and global priorities. The Secretary will also engage with students, scholars, and technology leaders in Melbourne, according to the statement. "I am confident that, when our foreign ministers get together, they will reaffirm those principles and values that we hold dear," said Daniel J Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs last week. "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," Kritenbrink added. (ANI)
The Taliban on Monday said that Ukrainian companies have shown an interest in investing in railways in Afghanistan. Officials from the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) held talks with a technical team representing a number of Ukrainian companies about establishing railways in Afghanistan. "The Ukrainian delegation had a meeting with the ministry's leadership team. They discussed the transit of goods, enhancing the capacities of railways' engineers, the security of the Mazar-Hairatan railway, and building railways," Hamidullah Misbah, the spokesman of the ministry said, reported Tolo News. Meanwhile, a number of economic analysts said connecting Afghanistan to other countries through railways will result in an increase in transit and trade. "We should have railways in most of our provinces. Most of our borders (ports) should be connected through railways with the neighbouring countries and from there with the world," said Khairuddin Mayel, deputy head of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI). According to the ACCI, by the extension of railways in the country, Afghanistan's exports will increase and goods' exports will become easy and quick, reported Tolo News. "The extension of the railway is in the interest of the people of Afghanistan. We want our railway to extend. After sea shipping, railway is the cheapest and quickest means of transportation," said Mohammad Yunus Momand, ACCI acting director. Currently, Afghanistan is connected to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan through the Hairatan-Aqina railway in the north, and to Iran through the Khawaf-Herat railway in the west. (ANI)
The UK is disappointed by China over the latter using "coercive" trade practices against Lithuania, said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday as Beijing has been targetting the Baltic nation over its decision to host a Taiwanese representative office in the country. Johnson on Tuesday held talks with his Lithuanian counterpart, Ingrida Simonyte in London, reported Sputnik. "The Prime Minister reiterated the UK's disappointment in China's use of coercive trading practices against Lithuania, and Prime Minister Simonyte welcomed the UK's support at the World Trade Organisation on the issue," a spokesperson for Johnson's office said after both leaders held talks in London. China had recalled its ambassador to Lithuania and reportedly banned Lithuanian businesses from the Chinese market, following the Lithuanian government's decision last month. It came after the Baltic nation's decision to host a Taiwanese representative office. In late January the EU launched a WTO case against China for using discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania. The EU had said that China's actions are hampering exports both in Lithuanian and in the EU and they also said that these actions also target products with Lithuanian content exported from the bloc. (ANI)
Taking to Twitter, he said, "Deeply grieved by the loss of lives of Indian Army personnel due to an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh. Those who guard our frontiers risk their lives everyday. The nation is deeply grateful for their service and commitment. My condolences to the bereaved families."

Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind also condoled the demise of Indian Army personnel who lost their lives.

Expressing condolences to the bereaved families of the Army personnel, the Prime Minister said their "exemplary" services to the nation will not be forgotten.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said, "Deeply saddened by the loss of lives of 7 brave Indian Army Jawans, who were trapped in an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest condolences to the bereaved families on their tragic loss. May God give them enough strength to bear the irreparable loss," Khandu tweeted.

Seven Army personnel, who were hit by an avalanche in a high-altitude area of Kameng sector in Arunachal Pradesh, were confirmed dead and their bodies were recovered from the avalanche site, the Army said on Tuesday.

The soldiers were stuck in an avalanche on February 6.

An Army statement said search and rescue operations, which were launched immediately on February 6 including airlifting of specialised teams, have now been concluded. (ANI)
Nearly 100 Afghan refugees who wanted to enter Iran illegally have been shot dead by Iranian security forces, and their bodies transferred to Afghanistan within six months since the Taliban took over, according to local officials. Local officials in Nimruz province said that scores of Iran-bound Afghan refugees were killed and hundreds were beaten up, reported Tolo News. According to officials from the Herat Department of Refugees and Repatriations, in the past six months, over 460 wounded who have been beaten have entered Afghanistan from Iran through the Islam Qala border. "According to relatives of the patients, the sick and wounded people were beaten on the border when they wanted to cross the border into Iran," said Jailani Sharifi, Nursing Director of Nimruz Hospital. "The dignity of Afghans must be preserved and not disrespected. They should deport them with dignity," said Bismillah Sirat, a resident of Nimruz. "Afghans are not seen as human beings and are being oppressed," said Abdul Hakim, a resident of Nimruz. The body of 16-year-old Sohrab just arrived in Herat from Iran. According to the teenager's relatives, he was shot and killed by Iranian soldiers in Isfahan. Sohrab had gone to Iran illegally to find work, reported Tolo News. "Sohrab jan wanted to go to Iran to work there, he told me 'I am going to Iran to help my father here in Afghanistan,'" said Mirwais, a relative of Sohrab. "Sohrab went to Iran once ten days ago, but he was deported from the border, the second time he reached Isfahan," said Mustafa, Sohrab's relatives. Some sources in Herat said that several bullet-riddled bodies have entered the province in recent months from the border of Islam Qala, reported Tolo News. "There are people who have been beaten, their arms and legs have been broken," said Mawlawi Abdulhai Manib, head of the Refugees and Repatriation Department of Herat. Tens of thousands of Afghans mostly youth are resorting to dangerous ways to get out of the war-torn nation after the Taliban's takeover on August 15 last year. (ANI)
Kyiv [Ukraine], February 8 (ANI/Sputnik): Paris will allocate 1.2 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Kyiv that will help Ukraine to stabilize its economy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. "We really appreciate this step of solidarity... on the part of France - the allocation of 1.2 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. This will really help us stabilize our economy," Zelenskyy told a press conference after his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. (ANI/Sputnik)
Canberra and its allies will "lose the next decade" unless they stand up against Beijing in the South China Sea, said Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton. "I think we have lost a considerable period of time where China gave assurances about their activity in the South China Sea," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Dutton as saying. "And the United States and others acquiesced and allowed the militarisation now to the point where China has 20 points of presence in the South China Sea, which does not help stability in the region," Dutton added. Stressing on the matter, the Minister said: "If we continue on that trajectory, then I think we shall lose the next decade. And my sense is that we are better off being honest about that." Expressing his belief, the Minister noted that it was important to speak out about China to educate the Australian public and to ensure the past decade was not repeated in which Beijing had militarised the South China Sea, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The Australian Minister also revealed he was extremely confident that Australia would have its first nuclear-powered submarine before 2038. Dutton said that recent discussions with American and British officials under the AUKUS agreement had reassured him that the submarines would be built years earlier than many defence experts expected. Emphasising that his focus was on "prevailing peace" in the region, Dutton said that it was important to realise that Australia was not the only country experiencing significant tensions with Beijing. It came as Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is set to take place in Australia which will witness the presence of the foreign ministers of the Quad nations, the US, India, Japan, Australia. The Dialogue is expected to intensify co-operation on security and development assistance in a bid to stand up to China. (ANI)
Notably, the UN has pledged to provide Afghanistan with up to $32 million cash every week until March 2022.

The first tranche of money came to Afghanistan through Kabul International Airport and was delivered to Afghanistan's International Bank, as per the DAB statement, reported Khaama Press.

The country is currently battered by the deepening economic, humanitarian, and security crisis following the Taliban takeover.

The international community, from governments to non-governmental organizations, has been providing various forms of assistance to the Afghan people. (ANI)
Ministry of Health urges to boost use of Cubas Covid-19 vaccine

The Ministry of Health has asked 12 localities to finish the third shot of Cubas Covid-19 vaccine Abdala this month.



The ministry has sent the instruction on the vaccination to the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Hai Duong, Thai Nguyen, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Tien Giang, Can Tho, An Giang and Kien Giang.

Illustrative photo

Between October and November last year, the provinces were provided with a total of five million doses of the Abdala Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 19-65.



However, by January 28, around 541,400 doses of the vaccine had not yet been used, so the ministry urged the localities to complete the third jab for local people, using vaccine Abdala in February.



The ministry noted that the vaccination drive should be sped up to avoid its expiration.



If any locality faces the vaccine expiration, the chairman of the local Peoples Committee will have to take responsibility for this.



Vietnam spent VND742.6 billion (USD32.26 million) taken from the countrys Covid-19 vaccine fund on the purchase, transportation and delivery of vaccine Abdala.
Teams of workers are striving to repair a bridge in southwestern Russia near the border with Ukraine that was damaged in what a local governor described as an act of sabotage. The regional administration said it expects the repair work will be completed Wednesday. Kursk regional Gov. Roman Starovoit said Sunday that the bridge was blown up by unidentified attackers and the Investigative Committee, Russias top state investigative agency, has launched a probe. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on the bridge, that follows a series of explosions and fires in western Russia as the war has entered a third month. more >>
"The FDFA confirms that the Taliban is in Geneva at the invitation of a non-governmental organization that seeks to improve the observance of humanitarian norms and principles," Raggi said, according to Sputnik News Agency.

According to the spokesperson, the Taliban will hold talks with members of non-governmental organizations and high-ranking officials of the FDFA this week.

The meetings will focus on the issues of humanitarian access to Afghan populations in need, protection of humanitarian organizations and respect for human rights, including the rights of women and minorities in the country. Raggi said that the talks would be held in private, Sputnik reported.

The spokeswoman also noted that the visit of the Taliban delegation to Geneva was not organized by the Swiss authorities.

"Their presence in Switzerland is not legitimization or recognition of the Taliban," she said.

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since the Taliban took control of Kabul last year in mid-August.

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)
Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have expressed grave concern over the suppression of independent media in Hong Kong by the Chinese authorities in the past months. A joint statement issued on Tuesday was signed by the government of more than 21 countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. "The undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition express their deep concern at the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities' attacks on freedom of the press and their suppression of independent local media in Hong Kong," the joint statement said on Tuesday (local time). "Recent developments include the raid of Stand News offices, the arrests of its staff, and the subsequent self-closure of Citizen News, stemming from concern over the safety of its staff. Since the enactment of the National Security Law in June 2020, authorities have targeted and suppressed independent media in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region," it also said. "This has eroded the protected rights and freedoms set out in the Basic Law and undermines China's obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. This has also caused the near-complete disappearance of local independent media outlets in Hong Kong. These ongoing actions further undermine confidence in Hong Kong's international reputation through the suppression of human rights, freedom of speech and free flow and exchange of opinions and information," the statement further added. The coalition countries also urged Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities to respect freedom of the press and freedom of speech in the region, in line with the Basic Law and China's obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. In past months, crackdowns against news organizations and pro-democracy activists have intensified in Hong Kong. On January 3, the independent Hong Kong news site Citizen News has announced that it will shut down to "ensure the safety of everyone", days after the city's national security police raided another independent online news outlet over allegations of sedition. On December 29 last year, the arrests and raid on the offices of the now-defunct news outlet Stand News attracted condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union as well as other countries including the US, Germany, and Canada. (ANI)
Korg jump-started the craze for affordable, portable synths when it launched the Volca series in 2013. Major players like Roland got in on the action. As did more niche companies like Critter and Guitari and Modal Electronics. But 1010 Music might deserve credit for cramming the most raw power into the smallest possible package.

The company is launching a new line of candy-colored Nanobox instruments, starting with Fireball (a wavetable synthesizer) and Lemondrop (a granular synth). These are impossibly tiny, full-fledged synthesizers with a level of depth that dwarfs any Pocket Operator. But theyre not cheap, either. While they were never going to reach impulse-purchase territory, current supply chain issues mean the Fireball and Lemondrop are coming in at a somewhat pricey $399. For context, thats more than twice what most Volcas cost. The thing is, though, after about 10 minutes with 1010 Musics latest instruments, it becomes clear that theyre not competing with the Volcas, and might not have any direct competitors at all.

Hardware

Engadget  Fireball Sound Samples

Before digging into the software side of things, lets talk hardware. The Fireball and Lemondrop are just palette-swapped versions of each other: one a rich red, the other a yellow that might be visible from space. (Im sure you can figure out which is which.) Theyre fun looking in a way that few other synths are, regardless of size.

On the front theres a two-inch touch screen, two knobs and four physical keys. Mastering the buttons, and how exactly they interact with the UI, takes a little practice. But once you figure out the logic behind the menu system its not too difficult to get around. Each section (oscillators, home, etcetera) has layers, and each layer has pages, which you navigate with the arrow buttons.

1010music Lemondrop and Fireball

Around back is a USB-C jack for power (sadly, no MIDI over USB); -inch audio ins and outs; as well as TRS MIDI in and out anda microSD card slot. The synths come with a 32GB card installed, with over 100 sound sources and presets. If you want to load your own wavetables or sound files for processing with Lemondrops granulator, this is where youll need to copy them. But remember, since the Nanoboxes only use USB for power, youll have to actually take the card out, put it in a computer and copy the files over, before putting it back in the instrument.

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The most distinctive thing about them physically, however, is their size. At 3.75 inches wide, 3 inches tall, and 1.5 inches thick, you can easily toss one (or both) of these in a bag or a large pocket. Even though I knew the dimensions beforehand, I was still shocked by just how tiny they were when I took them out of their boxes. And youd be forgiven for immediately feeling skeptical of them. How can you possibly make music on something this small? And why would you want to? The answer to the first question is actually surprisingly straightforward. The second is a bit more complicated.

Engadget  Lemondrop Sound Samples

Lets start with the easy bit. Despite the tiny size of the screens, both Lemondrop and Fireball are more than usable. Would it have been nice if they were a bit bigger? Sure. But theyre big enough to give you most of the important information at a quick glance: the movement of LFOs, envelopes, grains and changing waveshapes. The two knobs to the right of the screen are assignable macros when used from the main display screens. Twisting these can give you quick control over complex sets of parameters, or just change the filter cutoff. Its up to you.

1010music Lemondrop and Fireball

Those macros can also be controlled using the touchscreen when it's in X/Y mode. Frankly, for something of this size, its basically the ideal way to interact with it. Its immensely satisfying and easy to dramatically alter the sound of a patch simply by sliding your finger around the screen. When youre in this mode the two knobs change the default point of the macros on the X/Y axis, so you can push it all the way to the bottom left of the screen, then tap the top right to create intense rhythmic pulses.

Pairing X/Y mode with an external MIDI controller gives you a surprisingly hands-on instrument. But, if you want to just play the devices themselves, you can. Theres a grid mode where you can tap out notes, and you can lock it to a scale to avoid making too many mistakes. Now, this isnt exactly the easiest or most enjoyable way to play a synth, but it gets the job done. Ive found it particularly useful for sampling notes and chords from the Fireball to my PO-33, or playing a drone on the Lemondrop (using the hold function) and using the X/Y to create evolving soundscapes.

The biggest knock against the Nanoboxes on the hardware front is the lack of battery power. Yes, USB batteries are nearly ubiquitous at this point, but it would be great to have the option of powering them with a couple of AAs. Between audio, MIDI and power, theres an awful lot of cables coming out of the back of what is ostensibly something portable.

Software

1010music Fireball and Lemondrop

The two instruments share a lot in common under the hood as well. The UI is largely the same. They both have a pair of primary sound sources (two wavetable oscillators or two granulators), plus a third simple oscillator that can help thicken up a sound using saw, square, triangle or sine waves. They both have two envelopes, two LFOs and a modulation sequencer, plus two morphable filters (low pass, high pass, bandpass and notch) that can be routed in series or parallel. Lastly, they both have two effects slots, one for modulation (chorus, flanger / distortion, or phaser) and one for time (delay or reverb).

This means basically that every pro for the Lemondrop also applies to the Fireball (with one notable exception well get to later), and every con for the Fireball also applies to the Lemondrop. For example, while the effects are solid, and having pingpong delay on board is a welcome touch, theyre not going to win any awards. I will say that the reverb is truly excellent, though. Cranking it to full gets you some lovely, slightly unnatural ambience. And, when combined with the distortion, it results in some gorgeous digital howls that are perfect for scoring the surrealist ending of an arthouse horror film.

The two envelopes and LFOs are extremely useful for shaping your sound. They can create motion or manipulate the oscillators to constantly shift the tone. And many parameters can have up to three modulation sources for serious unpredictability. But not everything can be a modulation destination. Oddly, too, some destinations can only use a specific set of modulation sources. So if you wanted to use the LFO 2 to modulate the rate of the flanger  tough.

1010music Fireball and Lemondrop

Similarly, the modulation sequencer is great for creating complex patterns, but it can only be used with a few different destinations. Thankfully, one of those destinations is oscillator pitch, and it can be quantized. That gives you access to a rudimentary sequencer, or makeshift arpeggiator without the need for additional gear. You can even use the sequencer to control just a single oscillator, giving you a note pattern played against a bass note.

I also cant help but wish there was a centralized UI for controlling the modulation routing. Right now, if you want to see what macro X is controlling you have to dig through all the parameters one by one and go into the modulation submenu for it, and just kinda keep track as you go.

In general, designing patches requires a decent amount of menu diving. Thats not surprising given the size of the instruments. And credit to 1010music for designing an interface that never feels too cumbersome. That said, I do occasionally find myself forgetting where particular options are located.

Sound

1010music Fireball and Lemondrop

Ultimately, the only real difference between the two is the sound engine. But it is a big difference.

The Fireball is very much a bread-and-butter wavetable synth. It comes with 103 wavetables and 123 presets covering everything from growly 90s bass tones to crystalline pads. But you can easily load your own wavetables if you have them. (The Fireball uses the same format as Serum  2048 samples per cycle and 256 cycles  so finding wavetables should be pretty simple.)

The Fireball has eight note polyphony, which should be more than enough for most people. And the unison mode, with detune, is great for bulking up monophonic patches.

You can try to get something vaguely analog sounding out of it by using the right wavetables, and adding some drift with the modulation sources. But the 96kHz oscillators really are best at bright, clear digital tones. Which is fine, since the 90s are back in style, apparently. (See: the resurgence of Doc Martins and JNCOs.)

1010music Fireball and Lemondrop

The Lemondrop, on the other hand, is something different. It, too, is obviously digital sounding. But it uses granular synthesis instead of wavetables. That means that it can take any sound file (up to 30 seconds in this instance), chop it up into tiny bits (or grains) and spit it back out. Those files can be literally anything you want: drum loops, synth pads, bird chips or the clanking of industrial machinery. There is only four-note polyphony here, but considering the complexity of the sound source, thats more than enough. There are 16 grains per oscillator, and playing eight notes of jungle ambience simultaneously will only result in chaos.

What exactly each patch will sound like will depend largely on the audio source, but granular synth is pretty distinctive. Unsurprisingly, Lemondrop is exceptionally good at otherworldly soundscapes, atonal drones and oddball pads. While you find plenty of those among the 311 WAV files and 153 presets preloaded on the SD card, there are more traditional synth tones as well. By the way, you can, with the right settings and source material, create percussive loops that knock pretty hard when the granulators are beat-synced.

1010music Fireball and Lemondrop

Granular synthesis isnt new. But, dedicated hardware granular synths are few and far between. And often quite expensive. Its far more common to find granular engines in Eurorack gear or as software. So that puts the Lemondrop in a fairly unique position as one of the only dedicated, standalone granular synths for under $500. Bastls microGranny is only $200, but its version of granular is far more limited, and its more of a lofi sampler than a proper synth. (That said, it is an awesome lofi sampler.

Both the Lemondrop and the Fireball also have external audio in jacks. You can feed other instruments through their built-in effects and use the X/Y pad to manipulate them in real time, just like with a Korg Kaoss Pad. This gives them both performance value beyond simply synthesizers. But, here again, the Lemondrop really differentiates itself from its sibling.

1010music Lemondrop and Fireball

The granulators can use live incoming audio as their source material. That means you could process live vocals, or a guitar, or another synth in real time, breaking it up into little grains and mutating it with the X/Y pad. A particularly neat trick here is feeding a monophonic synth into the Lemondrop, and instantly turning it into a four-note polyphonic one.

Wrap-up

1010music Fireball and Lemondrop

The Fireball and Lemondrop are undeniably fascinating devices based entirely on their form factor. If space is the most important thing to you  whether thats because your synth dungeon is the size of an airplane bathroom or because youre trying to cram as much synth power as possible into a briefcase  there is obvious appeal here. These are among the smallest full-fledged synths you can get. And they offer a lot more power and flexibility than your average Volca.

There are obvious trade-offs, though. The lack of hands-on controls might deter some people. Sure, you can map an external MIDI controller to all the parameters, but that negates some of the portability. The lack of battery power also feels like a missed opportunity. Being able to throw one of the Nanoboxes in my bag with a couple of AAs and my PO-33 feels like it would be an almost unbeatable on-the-go setup.

Lastly, theres price. $399 isnt absurd considering the quality of the engines and the decent sound design tools. But, there is a lot of competition in the sub-$500 market. Modals Craft and Skulpt synths are tiny, dirt-cheap digital behemoths. To be fair, though, their interfaces are infuriating. And if portability isnt a concern, theres always the $349 MicroFreak, which requires almost no menu diving and is far more flexible than either Nanobox.

1010music Lemondrop and Fireball

But, what none of those synths offer, is granular processing. So, while the Fireball is a good synth that faces some steep competition, the Lemondrop is ultimately peerless. The GR-1 is one of the few dedicated granular synths out there. Its a large, reasonably high-end unit that costs 849.00. An arguably better option, at that point would be an Organelle, which has a number of granular patches available for it and is a few hundred dollars cheaper.

Both the Fireball and Lemondrop are impressive feats in engineering and sound great. But of the two, its the Lemondrop that makes an obvious case for space in your backpack or studio.
VIRGINIA  As the coronavirus pandemic continues to place renewed importance on access to safe, quality health care, a new ranking by Healthgrades has recognized 12 hospitals in Virginia for superior performance.

Healthgrades, an online health care information company, on Tuesday released its 2022 list of America's Best Hospitals. The annual ranking recognizes the top 1, 2 and 5 percent of hospitals in the nation.

To compile the ranking, researchers looked at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid data between 2018 and 2020 for more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Researchers then analyzed how each performed across 31 commonly treated conditions and procedures including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, respiratory failure, sepsis and stroke.

In a release announcing the 2022 list, Healthgrades said that only 22 percent of U.S. adult patients said that they considered hospital quality the last time they selected a specialist. By offering easy access to data-driven hospital ratings, Healthgrades connects consumers with the providers and hospitals who are right for their care needs.

"It is crucial to know the top-performing hospitals in your community and look to these centers of clinical excellence to support you and your family's health long-term," Burt Kann, executive vice president and Head of Product at Healthgrades said in a news release on Tuesday.

"Many individuals choose a specialist without considering the quality of the hospital where that doctor treats patients. These questions need to be asked, and Healthgrades has the answers."

This also means that if all hospitals performed similarly to Healthgrades America's Best Hospitals, 167,235 lives could potentially have been saved, the release says.

After identifying eligible hospitals, Healthgrades used a series of steps to compile its final rankings. Read the full methodology for the rankings.

Here are the Virginia hospitals ranked among the best in the nation.

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Top 100:

Top 250:

The hospitals listed above are organized alphabetically and are not ranked in any particular order. Healthgrades' complete list of the top 250 hospitals is also organized by state and not ranked in any order.

"Now more than ever, consumers understand the importance of researching hospitals and finding the best organization to meet their health care needs," Dr. Brad Bowman, chief medical officer of Healthgrades, said in a release. "Especially in this era of COVID-19, we commend the recipients  for their commitment to providing superior outcomes and keeping their communities safe."

In addition to its Best Hospitals ranking, Healthgrades provides information to consumers based on patient surveys, data from government sources and data that comes directly from providers or practices.

You can see the full list of the top 50, 100 and 250 hospitals from Healthgrades on its website.

RELATED: 12 Virginia Hospitals Ranked Among 2021's Best

This article originally appeared on the Falls Church Patch
Troy Kotsur is the first deaf man to win best actor. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

The 94th Academy Awards were held on Sunday, March 27.

Jane Campion won best director  she's the first female director to be nominated twice in her career.

Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man, and second deaf actor overall, to win an acting award.

Apple TV+'s "CODA" won best picture at the 2022 Oscars, making it the first streaming service to win the night's biggest prize.

Eugenio Derbez, Sian Heder, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Emilia Jones, Daniel Durant and Amy Forsyth, winners of the best picture award for "CODA," on March 27, 2022. David Livingston/Getty Images

"CODA" was acquired by Apple after the Sundance Film Festival for a record-breaking $25 million in January 2021.

Netflix had two other competitors in the field this year, "The Power of the Dog" and "Don't Look Up," but failed to win. Netflix has also been nominated for the award in years past for "Mank," "Roma," "The Trial of the Chicago 7," "Marriage Story," and "The Irishman."

Speaking of "CODA," Troy Kotsur's best supporting actor win made him the first deaf man, and the second deaf actor overall, to win an Oscar.

Troy Kotsur holds his award for best actor in a supporting role for "CODA" on March 27, 2022. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Kotsur took home the best supporting actor award for his role in "CODA" as supportive, yet stubborn, father Frank Rossi.

In "CODA," his wife was played by Marlee Matlin, who was the first deaf actor ever to win an Oscar. She won the best actress statue for "Children of a Lesser God" in 1987.

Marlee Matlin became the first deaf person ever to win an Oscar when she won for 1986's "Children of a Lesser God."

Marlee Matlin. Bettmann/Getty Images

In addition to being the first deaf person to win, Matlin is also the youngest woman to win best actress. She was 21.

Ariana DeBose became the first openly queer person of color to win an acting Oscar. She won for "West Side Story."

Ariana DeBose poses with her Oscar for best supporting actress for "West Side Story" on March 27, 2022. David Livingston/Getty Images

DeBose also became the first Afro Latina woman to win.

In her acceptance speech, she called herself an "openly queer woman of color, an Afro Latina who found her strength in life through art. And that's what I believe we're here to celebrate. Anybody who's ever questioned your identity ever or find yourself living in the gray spaces? I promise you this: There is indeed a place for us."

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Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro were the only men to win Oscars for playing the same role, Vito Corleone, in "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II"  until Joaquin Phoenix took home the Oscar for "Joker."

"The Dark Knight" and "Joker." Warner Bros. Pictures.

Brando portrayed Vito Corleone as an old man, with adult kids and grandkids. De Niro played Corleone as a young man who had just emigrated from Italy.

When Joaquin Phoenix won for "Joker" last year, it marked the second time this happened, as Heath Ledger posthumously won for his performance as the Joker in 2008's "The Dark Knight."

And now, Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno are the first women to win Oscars for playing the same role. They each won for playing Anita in "West Side Story."

Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose attend the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Moreno won for playing Anita in the 1961 film "West Side Story" at the 1962 Oscars. Sixty years later, DeBose took home the Oscar for the same role in Steven Spielberg's 2021 remake.

Legendary composer John Williams has the most Oscar nominations of any living person, with 52 nods.

John Williams. Reuters

Williams has won five times, for his work on "Fiddler on the Roof," "Jaws," "Star Wars," "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial," and "Schindler's List."

He is also the only person to ever be nominated for an Oscar in seven different decades.

John Williams in 1982. Bettmann/Getty Images

He's been nominated at least once a decade since his first nomination for 1968's "Valley of the Dolls."

However, with 22 wins from 59 nominations, Walt Disney is the most decorated Oscar winner in history.

Walt Disney holding four Oscars. George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

In one night, in 1954, Disney took home the Oscars for best documentary feature for "The Living Desert," best documentary short subject for "The Alaskan Eskimo," best short subject (cartoon) for "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom," and best short subject (two-reel) for "Bear Country."

Bong Joon-ho is tied with Walt Disney for most Oscars in a single night  "Parasite" earned him four statues in 2020.

The director won four Oscars in 2020. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

He wrote, directed, and produced "Parasite," which won awards for best original screenplay, best director, best international feature film, and the most prestigious honor of the night, best picture.

"Parasite" also became the 12th film in history to win best picture without receiving a single acting nod.

"Parasite." CJ Entertainment

The last time this happened was in 2009, with "Slumdog Millionaire." Here are the other 10 movies this has happened to.

"Parasite" was also the first foreign language film to win best picture.

Meryl Streep is the most-nominated actress in Oscar history, with a staggering 21 nominations under her belt. She's won three times.

Meryl Streep. Michael Buckner/Getty Images

Streep has won best actress twice, for "Sophie's Choice" and "The Iron Lady." She won best supporting actress for "Kramer vs. Kramer."

The country that's taken home best foreign language film the most is Italy, which has produced 14 winners from 32 nominations.

Director Paolo Sorrentino in 2014. Jason LaVeris/WireImage/Getty Images

Most recently, Italy won for "The Great Beauty," or "La grande bellezza" in 2014, directed by Paolo Sorrentino. He was nominated again in 2022 for "The Hand of God," but lost to Japan's entry, "Drive My Car."

According to Guinness World Records, Martin Scorsese is the most nominated living director in Oscars history, after receiving his ninth nomination for "The Irishman."

Martin Scorsese. Gotham / Contributor / Getty Images

Overall, he's been nominated nine times for "Raging Bull," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Goodfellas," "Gangs of New York," "The Aviator," "The Departed," "Hugo," "The Wolf of Wall Street," and "The Irishman." He's only won once, for "The Departed."

In 2022, Steven Spielberg became the first person nominated for the best director award in six different decades.

Steven Spielberg with his Oscars for "Schindler's List." Steve Starr/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Spielberg's "West Side Story" earned a best director nod. In total, the movie secured eight nominations, winning one.

His previous best director nominations were for "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1978), "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982), "Schindler's List" (1993), "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), "Munich" (2005), and "Lincoln" (2012). He won for "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan."

Before this latest nomination, he and Scorsese shared the record for a director nominated in five decades.

In 2021, Anthony Hopkins took the mantle of oldest winner in an acting category from Christopher Plummer  the then-83-year-old won best actor for "The Father."

Hopkins and his first Oscar in 1992. Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Hopkins' win was one of the most shocking moments of the night  almost everyone had considered Chadwick Boseman in his final performance a shoo-in.

Hopkins took the record from Plummer, who was 82 when he won for "Beginners" in 2012.

Plummer is still the oldest nominee in an acting category, though. He was 88 when he was nominated for best actor in "All the Money in the World."

Christopher Plummer with his award for best supporting actor at the 2012 Oscars. Rick Rowell/ABC via Getty images

He was also nominated in 2010 for "The Last Station."

Plummer died in February 2021 at the age of 91.

But the oldest winner in any category is James Ivory, who was 89 when he took home the Oscar for best adapted screenplay in 2018.

James Ivory, winner of the best adapted screenplay award for "Call Me By Your Name," poses during the 90th Annual Academy Awards on March 4, 2018. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Ivory won for the "Call Me By Your Name" screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by Andre Aciman.

The youngest person to ever be nominated for an Oscar was 8-year-old Justin Henry for "Kramer vs. Kramer" in 1979.

"Kramer vs. Kramer." Columbia Pictures

Henry is now 50 and acts sporadically.

And the youngest winner was 10-year-old Tatum O'Neal for "Paper Moon" in 1974. She won best supporting actress.

Tatum O'Neal. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

O'Neal co-starred in "Paper Moon" with her father, Ryan O'Neal.

She continues to act today.

But the true youngest winner is Shirley Temple, who was 6 when she won the Academy Juvenile Award in 1935. This category doesn't exist anymore.

Shirley Temple as a child star wearing an accordion pleated dress. Bettmann/Getty Images

Other notable winners include Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Bobby Driscoll, and Margaret O'Brien.

This year is the first time two couples have been nominated for awards in the same year  their nominations cover the four acting categories.

Cruz and Bardem, left, and Plemons and Dunst, right. P. Lehman/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, who married in 2010, were both nominated: Cruz for best actress in "Parallel Mothers," and Bardem for best actor for "Being the Ricardos."

A second couple, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons both secured best supporting acting nominations for their roles in "The Power of the Dog."

Cruz and Bardem lost to Jessica Chastain and Will Smith, while Dunst and Plemons lost to Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur.

Three movies are tied for the most wins. "Ben-Hur" (1959), "Titanic" (1997), and "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" (2003) all won 11 awards.

"Titanic." Paramount Pictures

"Joker" was nominated 11 times in 2020 but only won two awards (best actor and best original score).

Three movies are also tied for the most nominations with 14 Oscar nods: "All About Eve" (1950), "Titanic" (1997), and "La La Land" (2016).

"La La Land." Lionsgate

As previously stated, "Titanic" went on to win 11 awards. "All About Eve" and "La La Land" each took home six statues.

This year, "The Power of the Dog" has the most nominations, with 12. It won one, for best director.

The longest winner of best picture in Oscars history is 1939's "Gone With the Wind," which clocks in at 3 hours, 58 minutes.

"Gone with the Wind." Loews Cineplex Entertainment

That's even longer than the notoriously long "The Irishman" or "Drive My Car."

The most prestigious award of the night is best picture, but it doesn't always go to the best movie. The worst-reviewed winner, according to Rotten Tomatoes, is 1929 winner "The Broadway Melody." It has a 33%.

"The Broadway Melody." MGM

"'The Broadway Melody' is interesting as an example of an early Hollywood musical, but otherwise, it's essentially bereft of appeal for modern audiences," writes Rotten Tomatoes.

This year's winner, "CODA," has a 95% critics score, and a 93% audience score.

The first woman to win the best director award was Kathryn Bigelow in 2009 for "The Hurt Locker."

Kathryn Bigelow. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Prior to Bigelow, just three women had been nominated for directing: Lina Wertmuller for 1975's "Seven Beauties," Jane Campion for 1993's "The Piano," and Sofia Coppola for 2003's "Lost in Translation."

In 2021, two women were recognized for directing, and winner Chloe Zhao became the first Asian woman  and second woman overall  to take home the award.

Chloe Zhao holding her first Oscar. ABC via Getty Images

She won for "Nomadland."

This year, Jane Campion won the Oscar for best director. She's the only woman in Oscars history to be nominated in the category twice.

Jane Campion, winner of the directing award for "The Power of the Dog" poses in the press room at the 94th Academy Awards. David Livingston/Getty Images

Her first nomination was for "The Piano" in 1994.

Campion's 2022 win marks the first year women have won the best director Oscar back-to-back after Chloe Zhao's win in 2021 for "Nomadland."

Also in 2021, Steven Yeun became the first Asian American to be nominated for best actor.

Steven Yeun attends the 93rd Academy Awards on April 25, 2021. Matt Petit/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images

While Yeun lost the award to Anthony Hopkins, his nomination for "Minari" was still a record-breaking moment.

Only one movie to win best picture has been rated X: "Midnight Cowboy" (1969).

"Midnight Cowboy." United Artists

It was mainly rated X simply because it wasn't suitable for kids  the "X" rating was almost brand new in 1969 and didn't have the same connotations as it does today. However, MTV does point out the film has "a fair amount of nudity and some brief scenes of sexual activity."

When it was later re-rated, it earned an R rating.

Only two sequels have won best picture: "The Godfather Part II" (1974) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003).

"The Godfather Part II." Paramount Pictures

In total, seven sequels have been nominated for Best Picture  "Toy Story 3," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," "The Godfather Part III," and "The Bells of St. Mary's," plus the two winners.

You may be wondering, what about "The Silence of the Lambs"? The Anthony Hopkins/Jodie Foster joint could be considered a sequel to "Manhunter," but it's really more of a reboot.

When Cate Blanchett earned an Oscar for playing Katharine Hepburn in 2004's "The Aviator," she became the first person to win an Oscar for playing an Oscar winner.

Cate Blanchett in "The Aviator" and the real Katharine Hepburn. Warner Bros.; Bettmann/Getty Images

She's not the only actor to win an Oscar for portraying an icon, but she was the first to win an Oscar for portraying an Oscar winner.

Hepburn herself holds the record for most Oscars for acting  she won four times.

Katharine Hepburn. Reuters Pictures

Hepburn won in 1933, 1967, 1968, and 1981 for "Morning Glory," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "The Lion in Winter," and "On Golden Pond," respectively.

Though, famously, she never attended an awards show to collect her statues in person.

The first Black actor to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel in 1939.

Hattie McDaniel in 1940. Bettmann/Getty Images

McDaniel won the best supporting actress award for "Gone with the Wind," in which she played Mammy, a role that's since been mired in controversy.

Sidney Poitier became the first Black man to win when he was awarded best actor for "Lilies of the Field" (1963).

Sidney Poitier. Bettmann/Getty Images

Poitier had previously been nominated for his role in 1958's "The Defiant Ones."

He died in January 2022 at 94.

With four nominations, Viola Davis is the most Oscar-nominated Black actress in history.

Viola Davis and her Oscar. ABC/Tyler Golden

Davis has been nominated four times  twice for best supporting actress for "Doubt" and "Fences" (which she won), and twice for best actress for "The Help" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

"For me, it's a reflection of the lack of opportunities and access to opportunities people of color have had in this business. If me, going back to the Oscars four times in 2021, makes me the most nominated Black actress in history, that's a testament to the sheer lack of material there has been out there for artists of color," said Davis in a February 2021 interview with Variety.

Octavia Spencer is right behind her with three nominations ("The Help," "Hidden Figures," and "The Shape of Water"). Whoopi Goldberg, with two, is the only other Black actress with more than one competitive Oscar ("Ghost" and "The Color Purple").

Denzel Washington is the most nominated Black actor of all time. With "The Tragedy of Macbeth," he secured his 10th nomination.

Denzel Washington with one of his two Oscars. AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian

He has been nominated 10 times between 1988 and 2022, earning nods for best supporting actor ("Cry Freedom," "Glory"), best actor ("Malcolm X," "The Hurricane," "Training Day," "Flight," "Fences," "Roman J. Israel, Esq." and "The Tragedy of Macbeth"), and best picture ("Fences").

He has won twice: He won best supporting actor for "Glory" in 1990 and best actor for "Training Day" in 2002.

In 2022, songwriter Diane Warren earned her 13th nomination  she's the most-nominated woman in Oscars history to have never taken home a statue.

Diane Warren at the 2021 Oscars. Matt Sayles/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images

Warren was nominated in the best original song category for "Somehow You Do" from the movie "Four Good Days."

In 2022, she lost out on a statue following her 13th nomination, but she took the loss in her stride.

"At least I'm consistent," she tweeted, accompanied by two emojis.

Only two people have won Oscars posthumously: Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight" and Peter Finch for "Network."

Ledger and Finch. BILLY FARRELL/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images; Photoshot/Getty Images

Joaquin Phoenix thanked Ledger in his SAG Awards acceptance speech, calling Ledger his "favorite actor."

Last year, Jamika Wilson and Mia Neal became the first Black winners of the best makeup and hairstyling award for their work on "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," according to Guinness.

Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson, and Sergio Lopez-Rivera. Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty Images

They shared the award with Sergio Lopez-Rivera, as well.

Read the original article on Insider
St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, admitted stealing $835,000 while principal of an LA-area school.

She diverted tuition to a secret account, which she used to fund casino trips, prosecutors said.

Kreuper was sentenced to one year in prison Monday and told to pay back the money.

An 80-year-old nun was sentenced to prison Monday after she last year admitted to stealing more than $800,000 from an elementary school to fund her gambling habit.

Mary Margaret Kreuper stole the money between 2008 and 2018 while working as the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, near Los Angeles, the US attorney's office in the central district of California said Monday.

Kreuper diverted tuition fees and donations into a savings account, which she then used as a slush fund for "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges," the office said, quoting court documents.

Kreuper then falsified monthly and annual reports "to cover up her fraudulent conduct," the US attorney's office said. She also "directed St. James School employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit," it said.

In July last year, Kreuper pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one of money laundering.

During a virtual meeting Monday, Judge Otis D. Wright II sentenced Kreuper to one year in prison and ordered her to pay back $825,338 in restitution.

"I have sinned, I've broken the law and I have no excuses," Kreuper told the court via video link, according to The Associated Press.

"My actions were in violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me.

"I was wrong and I'm profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering I've caused so many people."

Read the original article on Insider
The Aberdeen City Council has agreed to move forward with a 10-year agreement involving Stryker EMS to update all the equipment in the five Aberdeen Fire & Rescue ambulances.

The council approved the agreement, with an annual payment of $90,130, at Monday's regular meeting.

Fire Chief Joel Weig said with this agreement, the city has the option to update equipment between year three and five and, at the end of the 10-year agreement and all equipment can be purchased for $1. According to city documents, the equipment will have a projected lifespan of another seven years once the contract is finished.

Weig said originally the agreement was going to cost $111,130 annually, but the South Dakota Department of Health is providing Lifepaks, or defibrillators, for all ambulances in South Dakota. With that in mind, Weig said, the city's contract does not include Lifepaks.

Weig said Stryker is also allowing replacement Lifepaks between years three and five.

In other action, the council:

Approved the purchase of five new fleet vehicles at a total cost of $186,771. City Manager Joe Gaa did not recommend the purchase of 1/2 ton pickups as those vehicle bids did not come with the typical discount for government entities. Gaa said it's unknown when the vehicles will be delivered, but the hope is within six months.

Approved a $33,100 engineering agreement with HR Green to design electrical improvements at the Water Treatment Plant. Plant Manager Bob Braun said four of the 12 electrical lines to the generator have failed. Braun said the generator is tested weekly, but an electrical issue was discovered this past summer when there were issues with the main power at the plant and the generator wouldn't work.

Approved the purchase of 30 desktop and 12 laptop computers through Dell at a cost of $38,247.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Aberdeen City Council approves 10-year ambulance equipment agreement
SEASON FOUR

When Rhoda Nathan's lifeless body was discovered in her hotel room, it was assumed she'd had a heart attack. The autopsy proved otherwise: Nathan, 67, had been viciously beaten to death, punched so hard by her assailant that two of her teeth had been knocked out.

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Days later, a hotel employee went to the hospital to be treated for an infection in his hand, which was teeming with a bacteria most often found in human mouths. That, plus a pendant an officer said was discovered in the trunk of his car, sealed the fate of Elwood Jones, who awaits execution on Ohio's death row.

For nearly 30 years, Jones has maintained his innocence -- and accused police of straight-up framing him. The journalists of Accused are reexamining the case to learn if Jones truly belongs on death row, or if a botched investigation let someone else get away with murder.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Accused podcast's fourth season reexamines the case of Elwood Jones
Washington and Kyiv  High-stakes diplomacy is underway in Washington and Europe this week as President Biden and other leaders race to find an agreement with Russia to prevent the military standoff on Ukraine's borders from escalating into all-out war. With more than 100,000 Russian forces positioned around Ukraine's borders and the U.S. warning that President Vladimir Putin could order an invasion any time, Mr. Biden and his German counterpart tried to show a united front on Monday amid concerns that Europe's biggest economy isn't confronting Moscow as forcefully as it could.

Mr. Biden hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House, while Putin met for five hours behind closed doors in Moscow with French President Emmanuel Macron.

With additional U.S. troops and weaponry deploying to Eastern Europe, close to Russia's border, President Biden warned Americans in Ukraine to get out, saying he would "hate to see them get caught in the crossfire."

As CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe reports, Mr. Biden made the remark alongside Scholz, as the leaders insisted their countries were in agreement about the consequences Putin should face if he orders an invasion of Ukraine.

"He would pay a heavy price," Mr. Biden said.

Germany has been less aggressive than other NATO allies in warning Russia against an invasion  which the Russian leader has consistently denied any plans of launching.

A major sticking point for Germany is Nord Stream 2, a more than 750-mile natural gas pipeline being built between Germany and Russia. Europe relies on Russia for a third of its natural gas supply, and if and when the pipeline is opened up, it's estimated that tens of billions of dollars in gas revenue will flow back into Russia.

On Monday, Mr. Biden said unequivocally that if there's a Russian invasion of Ukraine, "there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2 we will bring an end to it."

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Scholz didn't go as far, saying only that NATO would be united in its response to any Russian invasion, but Mr. Biden insisted the U.S. and its allies were "not taking different steps, we will do the same steps."

Dueling war games

So far, the warnings from the West and the influx of NATO forces to countries in what Putin considers his backyard have failed to persuade the Russian leader to pull back his troops.

Instead, Putin's government announced on Monday that it will hold 10-day joint military exercises in Belarus, a Russian ally that sits on Ukraine's northern border. Satellite imagery released over the weekend shows Russian and Belarusian troops and weapons, including attack aircraft, positioned within 30 miles of Ukrainian soil.

An image from video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on February 8, 2022 shows Russian Navy ships at sea, after Russia announced the deployment of eight large landing ships to the Black Sea for pre-announced naval exercises. / Credit: Russian Defence Ministry/Handout

Six Russian warships were on their way to the Black Sea, Russian officials said on Tuesday, to take part in sweeping naval exercises that Moscow announced in January. The drills are to involve every Russian naval fleet, from the Atlantic to the Pacific virtually everywhere in-between.

The Pentagon believes Putin now has in place at least 70% of the forces he would need to launch a full-scale land invasion of Ukraine. Putin's military deployment around Ukraine is "well north of 100,000, and it continues to grow," Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said on Monday.

Ukraine, reacting to the Russian exercises in Belarus, said on Tuesday that it would carry out its own military drills during the exact same timeframe.

More U.S. troops and machinery arrived in Poland, meanwhile, as part of American efforts to bolster the defenses of NATO allies around Ukraine. Ukraine, an American partner, is not a member of the transatlantic military alliance, and the White House has said no American forces will be deployed there.

The specter of simultaneous war games on either side of Ukraine's borders, as both Russia and NATO continue bolstering their forces in the region, highlights the urgency of efforts to find a diplomatic solution.

Diplomacy in high gear

After his long meeting on Monday with the French leader, Putin indicated that he was prepared to continue negotiations to prevent the crisis from spiraling into a full-on war with Ukraine. He said President Macron had presented proposals to deescalate the crisis that could at least create "a foundation for our further steps."

The Russian leader again denied any intention of invading Ukraine, and he agreed to have a call with Macron on Tuesday after the French leader visits Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Moscow, Russia, February 7, 2022. / Credit: Sputnik/Kremlin handout/REUTERS

Macron said on Tuesday that he believed his meeting with Putin would help to prevent a further escalation of the crisis, but the Kremlin quickly shot down reports that the Russian leader had agreed to refrain from further military exercises in the region.

Putin's spokesman, however, did appear on Tuesday to try to ease any concerns that the thousands of Russian forces deployed to Belarus in recent weeks for the military exercises might remain there.

"No one ever said that Russian troops would remain on the territory of Belarus, there was no talk of this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "We are talking about allied exercises, and it is understood that after these exercises are completed, the troops will return to their permanent locations."

As U.S. and European leaders and military commanders try to read the clues from Moscow about Putin's next step, Russian military analyst Alexander Baunov told CBS News foreign correspondent Imtiaz Tyab that in some ways, Putin is using the mere threat of military action to get what he wants: World powers negotiating amongst themselves over his security demands to prevent war.

"The fear of the war is a working political instrument," Baunov told CBS News, to "make Russian demands and Russian concerns to be listened to."

The inherent risk in this coercive form of diplomacy, Tyab noted, is if Russia doesn't gain something, and soon, Putin may decide he has to use force to avoid looking weak.

Growing public outrage in Mexico as journalists are targeted and killed

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby discusses Russia-Ukraine standoff

High-stakes diplomatic talks ongoing in Russia-Ukraine standoff
Rep. Mark Finchem's tweet justifying the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.

If we believed in oaths  this is to say, if we actually believed that those who swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States must be held to that promise  then none of the insurrectionists from Jan. 6, and none of those who gave them aid or comfort, would be permitted to hold any elected office.

Not Reps. Andy Biggs or Paul Gosar.

Not former state Rep. Mark Finchem, now running for Arizona secretary of state.

Not former state Rep. Anthony Kern, now running for the state Senate.

The list goes on.

They should be disqualified. All of them.

Constitution bars violators from holding ANY office

Not because I say so. Because the U.S. Constitution says so. The same Constitution the insurrectionists swore to uphold. The Constitution most of them still pretend to believe in.

The reason they should be excluded is laid out, simply and succinctly, in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

It reads:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The disqualification is clear cut, straightforward and easily understood.

And yet, for some reason, it goes unenforced.

Except, maybe, in North Carolina.

The case in North Carolina against Rep. Cawthorn

Voters in that state have filed a challenge with their states Board of Electors saying Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a Republican candidate for Congress, is ineligible to run because he fails to comply with an amendment. He has filed a lawsuit to stop the challenge.

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But Cawthorn was a speaker at the rally leading up to the attack on the Capitol, egging on the crowd. If that isnt giving aid or comfort to the enemies of the Constitution, I dont know what is.

The same goes for all of Arizonas insurrectionists.

Finchem and Kern were at the Capitol that day.

Biggs and Gosar gave more aid and comfort to those attempting to overturn the election and stage a coup than just about anyone in the country.

Do we believe in oaths or not?

And then there is every member of the fake slate of Republican electors who filed paperwork to try to overturn the will of the people. None of them should be permitted to hold office. Ever.

This is not some farfetched notion.

Its simple. It is there in black and white in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

If we believed in oaths  believed that those who swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States must be held to that promise  then none of the insurrectionists from Jan. 6, and none of those who gave them aid or comfort, would be permitted to hold elected office.

None of them.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

For more opinions content, please subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's Jan. 6 insurrectionists should be barred from public office
Will Arnett reflected on his divorce from Amy Poehler in an interview with The Guardian.

He said it was "almost excruciating" filming "Arrested Development" season four in that period.

He added that he once "cried for an hour" on the side of the road on the way to the set.

Will Arnett told The Guardian that he "cried for an hour" on the side of the road on the way to shooting "Arrested Development" season four amid his separation from Amy Poehler.

Poehler and Arnett married in 2003 and had two children, Archie (13) and Abel (11) Arnett. In 2012, they announced that they were separating and filed for divorce in 2014. Their divorce was finalized in 2016.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Arnett reflected on the divorce. At the time, he was filming the fourth season of the sitcom "Arrested Development" (picked up by Netflix after season three), and he said the shoot was "almost excruciating." He continued, "Just brutal, brutal, brutal. I was driving to the set one day and I pulled over to the side of the road and cried for an hour."

The star said that working with Mitchell Hurwitz, the series' creator, helped him turn his pain into something "hilarious and cathartic" on the show.

Will Arnett in "Arrested Development" season four. Mike Yarish/Netflix

Arnett also spoke about the public's reaction to the divorce.

"People talk about you like they know you and they talk about your relationship as if they know what's going on.

"So imagine how weird that is. It's brutal with any relationship, and we have kids, and without getting into specifics, you then see stuff online, like, this one journalist wrote: 'I'm Team Amy.' I'm like: 'You're a grown person. What are you talking about? This is a breakup. This is a family. This isn't some game.'"

The "BoJack Horseman" star clarified to The Guardian that his relationship with his children and family was good now.

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"Yeah, you get on with it," he said. "It's been almost 10 years and my kids are so lucky that Amy is their mother and I'm so lucky that we're such a huge part of each other's lives, even more so than we were five years ago."

In 2020, the pair quarantined together to coparent their two children. Some fans speculated after seeing them together that they might have rekindled their romance. But at the time Arnett was dating Alessandra Brawn, the 33-year-old former CEO of the clothing brand Chapel.

Read the original article on Insider
Feb. 8Dear Doctors: I'm getting this sharp pain under my right heel when I step out of bed in the morning. It feels like it's bruised, but I know I haven't injured it. A friend who had plantar fasciitis thinks that's what it is. Can you please explain plantar fasciitis? How do you get it to go away?

Dear Reader: Plantar fasciitis affects an estimated 2 million Americans each year. That makes it the most common cause of heel pain in the U.S. It occurs when the long, thin band of fibrous tissue that runs just beneath the skin along the bottom of the foot becomes irritated, inflamed or damaged. Known as the plantar fascia, this tissue connects the heel bone to the bones of the toes and plays a role in supporting and stabilizing the arch of the foot.

Plantar fasciitis can be caused by something as simple as a change in the type of shoes you're wearing or an increase in the types of activities that result in repeated jolts or constant pressure on the foot. Being overweight, having either flat feet or a high arch, rolling inward onto the arch of the foot when walking, having tight calf muscles or a tight Achilles tendon, and running, walking or standing for long periods on hard surfaces can all contribute to developing the condition.

Plantar fasciitis often first makes itself known with a stabbing pain in the bottom of the heel when you take your first steps of the morning. Although the discomfort often goes away as the tissues warm up with continued movement, it can recur when you rise after prolonged sitting or while standing or walking for a period of time.

Diagnosis is based on your medical history and a physical exam of your foot to check for areas of tenderness. The specific location of the pain helps to pinpoint its cause. It's possible that imaging tests, such as an X-ray or MRI, may be used to rule out other potential causes for the pain, such as a stress fracture.

Because plantar fasciitis often begins with intermittent pain, you may be tempted to ignore it. However, it's important to see your health care provider for an accurate diagnosis. Left unaddressed, the condition can lead to chronic pain that interferes with daily life. And while it's possible to mitigate the discomfort by altering your gait, the resulting misalignment can lead to foot, knee or hip problems.

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The good news is that most cases can improve with nonsurgical treatment. That includes decreasing or even ceasing the activities that activate the heel pain, switching to cushioned and supportive shoes, and perhaps using orthotic inserts. Because plantar fasciitis is associated with tight muscles in the calves, as well as a tight Achilles tendon, your doctor may recommend targeted stretching exercises. It's important to be gentle in performing these exercises and not overdo it.

Over-the-counter pain medications can offer relief, and icing the area several times a day can help ease inflammation. Improvement can take from three to 12 months, so it's important to be patient.

Eve Glazier, M.D., MBA, is an internist and associate professor of medicine at UCLA Health. Elizabeth Ko, M.D., is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at UCLA Health. Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla.edu. Owing to the volume of mail, personal replies cannot be provided.
The Redding Civic Auditorium pictured on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021.

Ask the Record Searchlight is a newsroom-wide collaboration to connect with you, our readers. If you wondered about something happening in town or had questions on a North State issue, please email your questions to RRSEdit@redding.com. We'll do our best to answer in our live chat, our mailbag or in a story.

Our mailbag handles questions we were not able to answer in the most recent chat on the newspaper's website, Redding.com. The next live chat is scheduled Feb. 17.

Questions are edited for clarity, length and accuracy.

Q. Any news yet on when there will be more meetings about the future of the Redding Civic Auditorium and Redding Rodeo grounds?

A. The last of a wide range of information the California Department of Housing and Community Development requested about the land was submitted to the state last month, Redding City Manager Barry Tippin said.

"We assume they're processing it. So we're just waiting for them to tell us that everything looks OK," he said.

A map shows the location of the Redding Civic Auditorium, Redding Rodeo Grounds and other property that could be affected by a riverfront development proposal.

Tippin said the information requested included land deeds and parcel maps of the properties, which includes the Redding Civic Auditorium, Redding Rodeo Grounds and associated parking lots for both areas.

That's to ensure that any land action is in compliance with state law AB1486, which recently went into effect and governs how municipalities may declare city-owned property to be surplus. The process includes first determining interest in the land from affordable housing developers.

While the state does not control whether Redding can sell city-owned acreage, Tippin said, "what they do have control over is what the process is. Really, what they're looking at is ... do we have the right process?"

Decision delay: Redding delays surplus property decision for Civic Auditorium land, rodeo grounds

Asked when the issue will be back before the City Council, Tippin said, "I don't know. I've got to wait for the state to tell me everything's OK." While there's no required response time on the state's part, Tippin estimated the issue could return to the city in March.

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Redding city officials in December said that state officials needed more time to review the issue before the City Council would consider whether to declare land near the Civic Auditorium and Rodeo Grounds to be surplus property.

The land in question includes 45 acres where the Rodeo Grounds and Civic Auditorium are located. Last September, the city received an unsolicited offer from an alliance of four organizations interested in redeveloping the area.

The consortium has proposed spending up to $1 million to complete a detailed master plan that would guide future development throughout the entire 212.75-acre area, including mostly undeveloped property along the Sacramento River.

Ask the R-S mailbag: What's happening on Civic Auditorium's parking lot? More on the Hilltop senior center.

While initially looking at the rodeo and civic arena acreage, future changes could be approved elsewhere in the area, dependent on guidance from the master plan and from the community, according to the alliance. Tippin last week said the riparian areas proposed for the master planning process are not slated for sale.

The City Council has final say on whether the process moves forward. A series of public workshops on the issue took place last year.

The alliance includes the nonprofit McConnell Foundation, Missouri-based design firm Populous, Inc., Redding-based K2 Development Co. and Turtle Bay Exploration Park, a Redding nonprofit museum operator that is not an equity owner in the proposed project.

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Michele Chandler covers city government and housing issues for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Follow her on Twitter at @MChandler_RS, call her at 530-225-8344 or email her at michele.chandler@redding.com. Please support our entire newsroom's commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Latest on meetings about Redding Civic, Rodeo land: Ask R-S mailbag
An investigation by the Delaware Office of the Attorney General found a state trooper's use of force was justified in the shooting death of a Seaford woman, the department announced last week. The case is the subject of a separate lawsuit filed by the family.

Trooper Dean Johnson shot and killed 51-year-old Kelly Rooks on March 25, 2021. He was dispatched following a called 911 she made claiming she'd been poisoned by neighbors and needed to go to the hospital, according to the attorney general's report. While he was there, she pulled out a gun, the report says.

Based upon the evidence available, we conclude that Trooper Johnson reasonably felt in fear for his own life, and the lives of others when Rooks asked, Which one of you pigs wants to die tonight, and then raised and fired a gun at Trooper Johnson, the report states.

The investigations purpose was solely to determine whether Johnsons use of force was lawful. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed in July 2021 by Kelly Rooks brother and mother, Raymond and Geraldine Rooks, claims two counts of excessive force, assault and battery, gross negligence and wrongful death by Johnson and Delaware State Police.

Kelly Rooks, right, with her mother, Geraldine Rooks, and brother, Raymond Rooks.

Two police vehicle camera recordings were provided in the report, but neither of the cameras was facing the home. Johnsons vehicle camera recording was not provided.

According to Department of Justice spokesman Mat Marshal, none of the officers on scene at the time of the incident were wearing body cameras. Delaware State Police began using body cameras in 2016 but never fully implemented them. A law passed last year will soon require all Delaware police to wear body cameras.

Delaware State Police declined to comment on the attorney general's report except to say they conducted their own investigation and that Johnson is still employed by the agency.

BACKGROUND: Seaford woman called police for help; one who responded shot her dead

The Rooks family also declined to comment through their lawyers. Patrick Gallagher and Raeann Warner of Jacobs & Crumplar are representing the family, and said in an April 2021 statement Johnson "fired through a closed door, killing (Kelly Rooks)."

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As her family, we have serious concerns about the circumstances of Kelly's death, and we insist upon a credible investigation to uncover the truth. As a human being, she deserved better," the family said in the same statement.

Kelly Rooks' bipolar disorder qualified her as disabled, according to the lawsuit. She was diagnosed after a car accident a few years ago, the lawsuit says, but she had no violent criminal record as an adult.

Findings by the attorney general

During the week leading up to March 25, Kelly Rooks called 911 several times and showed up at Troop 5 in Bridgeville twice, according to the attorney generals report. She had been saying that the neighbors were entering her house and stealing from her, according to the report.

A mobile crisis team was twice deployed to assist Rooks that week, according to the report.

The night of March 25, just before she called 911, Kelly Rooks suddenly started screaming and saying she had been poisoned, Geraldine Rooks said in her interview with the attorney generals office.

Johnson responded to the Rooks Danny Drive home in Seaford at about 7:15 p.m.

POLICING: Omissions in police use-of-force report are 'slap in the face,' Black Delaware leaders say

The first of the two responding EMTs said Kelly Rooks seemed confused and non-compliant, according to the report. She did not know the date and appeared to be in an altered mental state, the first EMT said, and she was, therefore, unable to sign a patient refusal form. Johnson said she told them she had smoked her medical marijuana and believed she may have overdosed, according to the report.

A post-mortem toxicology report later found she had benzodiazepines and cannabinoids in her system.

The EMTs told her she needed to go to the hospital, but she refused and she grew agitated with their presence as well as the presence of the Delaware State Police, the report says.

At some point, Kelly Rooks went to her bedroom. Her boyfriend, Robert Krause, who is wheelchair-bound, came out of the same bedroom and said Rooks was crazy and needed to go to the hospital, the report says.

This Delaware Department of Justice photo was captioned as "Gun used by Rooks."

Two other Delaware State Police officers, Trooper Jermaine Cannon and Cpl. Brandon Yencer, then arrived at the home.

According to the report, Kelly Rooks grabbed a gun, later determined to be a shotgun, from behind the wall." According to the lawsuit, she faced the open door with the shotgun in her hand, pointing it toward the ceiling.

Only one EMT was in the house, at that point, and was able to exit, according to the report. Krause then went back into the bedroom and shut the door, while Johnson radioed that Kelly Rooks had a gun and a possible hostage, according to the report.

According to Trooper Cannons interview with the attorney generals office, he entered and saw Johnson aiming his gun at the bedroom door, issuing commands to put the gun down. The door was cracked, but what was happening inside the bedroom was unclear to him, according to the report.

WESTERN SUSSEX: Why Seaford won't disclose who's paying for its legal defense, and how that may influence politics

Cannon grabbed the then-78-year-old Geraldine Rooks and removed her from the home, according to his interview with the attorney generals office and she stumbled over the coffee table as he took her outside.

However, Geraldine Rooks told the attorney generals office it was Johnson who threw her on the floor and, later, while she was still on the floor, she was dragged out of the residence, according to the report.

She broke her hip during the incident, the lawsuit states.

Around this time, Krause came out of the bedroom and said he had unloaded the gun and that police needed to leave, according to the report, but Johnson told him they could not. Krause didnt want to leave the house, so Cpl. Yencer wheeled him out, according to the report.

As Johnson shouted for Kelly Rooks to exit the room and put (her) hands up and drop the gun, according to the report, he though he heard her pick up the gun. During this exchange, the report says, Kelly Rooks said more than once, Which one of you pigs wants to die tonight?

Johnson told the attorney generals office her statement sent a shockwave of fear through me that Ive never experienced in my life, and said he responded, Come out with your hands up, well get you to a hospital, according to the report.

LAUREL: 'I lost everything.' Community rallies around families in apartment building fire

Johnson said Kelly Rooks then opened the door, raised the gun toward him and fired a shot, striking the floor in front of him, the report says. Johnson said he fired back and she fell backward onto a bed, but got up and started advancing toward him again, still holding the gun, according to the report. Johnson said that when he fired again, she fell backward and the door closed behind her, according to the report.

When Johnson said over the radio that he was unable to see Rooks, the responding police supervisor ordered everyone out of the house and a perimeter was established, according to the report.

KENT COUNTY: 37-year-old Wyoming man killed in town's first homicide in almost 9 years

Kelly Rooks autopsy showed she died from multiple gunshot wounds. She was shot in her shoulder, twice in her abdomen and twice in her left thigh.

"Trooper Johnson reasonably believed that the use of deadly force upon Rooks was immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself and others," the report says.

Johnson saw her bring out the firearm, but did not fire immediately, the report points out. He didnt use force until force was used against him, according to the report.

What the Rooks family lawsuit contends

The lawsuit, scheduled to go to trial in 2023, argues Johnson escalated and provoked an otherwise static situation by his reckless tactical response.

Upon seeing Kelly Rooks grab the gun, Johnson should have sought cover and a crisis team or trained negotiator should have been employed, according to the lawsuit.

Johnson knew of Kelly Rooks' mental disability, the lawsuit says. He responded to one of her calls once before and was hostile and aggressive towards Kelly," the complaint states. The attorney generals report makes no mention of whether Johnson had any prior interaction with her.

MORE: Higher pay to housing stipends: Beach towns ramp up efforts to recruit seasonal police

Kelly Rooks, 51, was shot and killed at this home on Danny Drive in Seaford on March 25, 2021. Tire ruts were visible in the lawn the next day.

It also makes no mention of whether Kelly Rooks was shot through a closed door, a focal point of the lawsuit, which says the door behind which she was standing had three bullet holes in it. A photo from the report shows what appears to be three markers in the door.

Based upon the angles of the bullet holes, the door was closed or closing when (Johnson) shot, the lawsuit states. The ballistics report included in the attorney generals report does not mention bullet holes in the door.

In fact, the only people who saw Johnson and Kelly Rooks exchange gunfire were Johnson and Kelly Rooks, according to the report and the lawsuit. Cannon said he saw the bedroom door open, heard shots fired, then saw the door shut, but neither he nor Yencer saw the shots fired, according to the report.

MORE: Wilmington council president brings Police Department's 'whitest Black guy' trophy to light

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Attorney general finds trooper justified in March 2021 shooting death




The Australian prime minister apologized Tuesday to a former government staffer, Brittany Higgins, who alleges that she was raped by a more senior colleague in a minister's office in 2019, The Associated Press reports.

"I am sorry. We are sorry. I'm sorry to Ms. Higgins for the terrible things that took place here," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said before Parliament.

Morrison thanked Higgins for showing courage in coming out with her allegations.

"The place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare. But I'm sorry for far more than that. For all of those who came before Ms. Higgins and endured the same, but she had the courage to speak, and so here we are," said Morrison according to the AP.

Higgins has alleged that she was raped by a senior colleague, Bruce Lehrmann, in a minister's Parliament House office, per the wire service. She has said she felt she had to choose between reporting the alleged rape and continuing her career; she quit her job last year before reporting the allegation to police in January.

Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins performed an investigation into the parliamentary workplaces after Higgins's allegations went public.

A report on the investigation released this week included comments from 1,700 people, including past and present government staffers, and found that 37% of people in parliamentary workplaces had experienced bullying and 33% had experienced sexual harassment, the AP reported.

Morrison's comments on Tuesday came as presiding officers of the Australian Senate and House of Representatives issued an apology and promised that work would be done to improve the parliamentary workplace culture, according to the wire service.

Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to a rape charge and will stand trial in a Canberra court in June.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's COVID-19 hospital cases and people admitted to intensive care continued to trend lower on Tuesday as authorities urged people to get their vaccine boosters to prevent serious illness and deaths from the coronavirus.

Fuelled by the Omicron strain, Australia's total infections have now touched nearly 2.4 million, almost 10% of the country's population, with about 2.2 million in the last two months alone.

But Omicron's less lethal impact and the gathering pace of Australia's programme of booster doses have fed optimism that the country's worst outbreak of the pandemic may have peaked.

Dominic Perrottet, the leader of New South Wales (NSW), said he was seeing "so many green shoots" amid a steady decline in hospital cases.

Just over 2,000 people with COVID are in hospitals in the state, Australia's most populous and the hardest hit during the Omicron wave. That's the lowest tally in three weeks.

"It is pleasing to see the decline in hospitalisations and ICU admissions and we are hoping that trend continues," NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said during a media briefing.

Australia had been largely successful in limiting COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic, helped by tough travel and social distancing restrictions. It began easing curbs late last year after reaching higher vaccination rates despite the threat from the Omicron variant.

On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, facing criticism over his handling of the Omicron outbreak, said Australia will fully reopen its borders https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-fully-reopen-borders-vaccinated-travellers-feb-21-2022-02-07 to vaccinated travellers from Feb. 21 after nearly two years.

More than 28,000 new cases were reported in the country on Tuesday, up around 5,000 from a day earlier, but well below the pandemic peak of 150,000 last month. A total of 55 new deaths were reported, taking the toll since the start of the pandemic to 4,303.

(Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during a Democratic town hall meeting on February 3, 2016 in Derry, New Hampshire. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Bernie Sanders in a new op-ed blamed Vladimir Putin for the Ukraine crisis.

But Sanders also said Russia has "legitimate" concerns when it comes to NATO expansion.

Russia, which has 130,000 troops on Ukraine's border, has blamed NATO for the situation.

Sen. Bernie Sanders in a new op-ed for The Guardian warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could lead to "the worst European war in over 75 years," calling on the US to "do everything possible to try and find a diplomatic solution to what could be an enormously destructive" conflict.

The independent from Vermont explicitly blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the crisis, but also said Moscow had "legitimate concerns" about NATO's eastward expansion towards Russia and that the US was "hypocritical" to dismiss their concerns.

"We should be clear about who is most responsible for this looming crisis: Vladimir Putin," Sanders said. "Having already seized parts of Ukraine in 2014, the Russian president now threatens to take over the entire country and destroy Ukrainian democracy."

Beyond annexing Crimea in 2014, the Kremlin since that year has supported rebels in a war against Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbas region.

Sanders said the US should "unequivocally" support Ukrainian sovereignty and "make clear that the international community will impose severe consequences on Putin and his associates if he does not change course." Along these lines, the Biden administration has warned that Russia would face major economic sanctions if it invades.

But Sanders went on to express concerns about hearing "the familiar drumbeats in Washington" amid the tensions with Russia over Ukraine, warning against "bellicose rhetoric that gets amplified before every war."

The Vermont senator, among the most influential figures in Washington following two high-profile presidential campaigns, said that recognizing the "complex roots of the tensions" in the region was key to fostering a peaceful resolution to the present crisis.

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For years, Russia has opposed NATO expansion in Eastern Europe and the addition of countries formerly part of the Soviet Union into the alliance. Moscow is especially opposed to Ukraine joining NATO, viewing this prospect as an existential threat. NATO was originally founded in the wake of World War II to protect Western Europe against the Soviet Union.

"It is good to know some history...Invasion by Russia is not an answer; neither is intransigence by NATO," Sanders said. "It is also important to recognize that Finland, one of the most developed and democratic countries in the world, borders Russia and has chosen not to be a member of NATO."

"Putin may be a liar and a demagogue, but it is hypocritical for the United States to insist that we do not accept the principle of 'spheres of influence,'" Sanders went on to write.

Over 1,400 miles of Ukrainian territory border Russia. Northern neighbor Belarus is a close Russian ally that's currently hosting joint exercises with Russian troops amid the build-up. Ukraine borders multiple NATO allies that are south and west of its western region.

The senator then pointed to the ways in which US foreign policy has long been influenced by the Monroe Doctrine  the idea that the US is the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere and can act accordingly  including it being employed to justify undermining or overthrowing "at least a dozen governments."

Sanders said that even if Russia wasn't ruled by "a corrupt authoritarian leader" like Putin, the Russian government "would still have an interest in the security policies of its neighbors."

"Does anyone really believe that the United States would not have something to say if, for example, Mexico was to form a military alliance with a US adversary?" Sanders asked.

"Countries should be free to make their own foreign policy choices, but making those choices wisely requires a serious consideration of the costs and benefits," Sanders added. "The fact is that the US and Ukraine entering into a deeper security relationship is likely to have some very serious costs  for both countries."

Ukrainian soldiers patrol on the frontline in Zolote, Ukraine on January 20, 2022. Wolfgang Schwan/Getty Images

Since late 2021, Russia has gathered roughly 130,000 troops on Ukraine's border. The Kremlin has said Russia is not planning to invade, but recent history has made Western leaders skeptical of this assertion. Russia has also refused calls to pull its troops back in order to lower the temperature, while blaming NATO for the contentious dynamic.

Amid diplomatic efforts to prevent a new war in Europe, Russia has made demands for binding security guarantees from the West. This includes permanently banning Ukraine from NATO. The alliance and Washington have repeatedly dismissed this demand as a non-starter, contending that countries should be free to choose their own allies.

Ukraine has sought to join NATO for years, and maintains a strong partnership with the alliance. Many NATO members, including the US, have provided Ukraine with military aid. But NATO has not put Ukraine on a path toward membership, and it's unlikely to join the alliance any time soon.

The Biden administration has also given vague answers on the question of Ukraine's NATO ambitions. And given Ukraine is not a NATO member, President Joe Biden has ruled out sending US troops to defend it if Russia invades. That said, Biden has deployed several thousand US troops to NATO member countries in the region as a show of support to the alliance amid the stand-off.

Read the original article on Business Insider
BET founder Robert Johnson told CNBC the Biden administrations Build Back Better bill needs additional steps to tackle the wealth gap.

What I look at is, what can you do to increase Black wealth? And that means you got to put more capital at the disposal of Black businessmen and women who want to create jobs, create wealth, create growth opportunities, Johnson said on CNBCs Squawk Box. Thats what was missing in the Build Back Better Act.

Johnson, Americas first Black billionaire, said Bidens $1.75 trillion bill does not include cost-free provisions that would help Black Americans accumulate savings and wealth. Johnson added the bill also doesnt address the racial wealth gap.

The BBB stalled late last year as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) opposed the bill despite his constituents begging him to support it. Johnson is also urging Congress to pass Rep. Rashida Talibs (D-Mich.) BOOST Act, which will provide $30 billion to companies that invest in businesses owned by people of color and provide relief for low- and moderate-income households by introducing a new tax credit for working-class individuals and families. The BET founder called the BOOST Act the most significant way to direct capital to Black businesses.

This isnt the first time Johnson has called out the political establishment and its inability to truly help Black Americans. Last year, the entrepreneur touted a $14 trillion proposal that he believes will close the racial wealth gap. During the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, Johnson also suggested Black Americans form their own political party.

The racial wealth gap is growing further apart, and the idea of closing it is still being labeled as a dream of progressive Democrats. According to the Bay State Banner, closing the racial wealth gap would create almost 2 million jobs and add an additional $350-$400 billion to the economy.

Closing the Black wealth gap is not a job. Its not giving us more consumption money to spend. Its giving us more access to wealth sustainability, Johnson said.




Arizona lawmakers announced on Monday that they would introduce legislation to protect gay and transgender people from discrimination at the hands of businesses, landlords and employers.

The anti-discrimination legislation comes from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including the state's Republican House Speaker, Russell Bowers.

"The coalition supporting this are people from so many walks of life coming together based on values of fairness and freedom for all," Rep. Amish Shah (D), who is one of the bill's main sponsors, said on Monday at a press conference announcing the legislation.

The legislation prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in places of work and public accommodation as well as in housing matters. Religious institutions would be exempt from the policy but not individuals who claim that their faith prevents them from serving certain customers, according to The Associated Press.

Though many businesses and faith leaders support the measure, it is opposed by a social conservative group known as the Center for Arizona Policy, according to the wire service.

"This legislation would treat reasonable disagreement as if it were discrimination, dictate a coercive sexual ethic and penalize those who dissent," Cathi Herrod, the group's president, said, per the AP.

The measure faces difficult odds in the legislature, even with the Republican House Speaker's backing, as social conservatives have significant influence among House and Senate Republicans in the state, the AP noted.

Ten Arizona cities, including Phoenix and Tucson, have added LGBT protections to their anti-discrimination ordinances.
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil on Tuesday defended its decision to allow British military planes flying to the Falklands Islands to stop at Brazilian airports, landings that annoyed Argentina.

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry said in a note to Reuters that while it backed Argentina's sovereignty claims over the islands, that support does no affect its "important partnership" with Britain.

Argentina's ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, last week complained over the increase in flights stopping in Brazil on their way to the Falklands Islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas.

Scioli said there had been seven Royal Air Force flights in January that had landed at Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre.

"The Brazilian position of authorizing the overflight and landing of British military aircraft on the Falklands route is guided by the principle of not contributing to the modernization and expansion of the United Kingdom's military resources and war potential in that archipelago," the Brazilian ministry said.

The note said Brazil authorized the landing and docking of British planes and vessels on their way to the Falklands when the requests involved emergency situations, search and rescue missions, or health and humanitarian reasons.

The Brazilian foreign ministry said the number of overflight and landing authorizations granted to British military aircraft varied from year to year, ranging from 150 some years to just 1 in others.

The British government dismissed the Argentine concerns saying they were routine flights and any claims of militarization were wholly false.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; editing by Grant McCool)
An ongoing protest in Canada over COVID-19 vaccine mandates spilled over into Detroit Monday evening via the Ambassador Bridge.

The protesters blocked traffic on the largest international suspension bridge and prevented motorists from passing, with signs calling for an end to the mandates.

The bridge to Canada in Detroit has been closed, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation, and motorists should use the tunnel rather than the bridge, or head to the Blue Water Bridge that goes from Port Huron to Sarnia, Ontario.

Update: other on I-75

Location: Both Directions I-75 at Bridge to Canada

Event Type: other

County: Wayne

Event Message: BRIDGE TO CANADA IN DETROIT IS CLOSED@Modernize75  MDOT - Metro Detroit (@MDOT_MetroDet) February 8, 2022

In Canada, the Huron Church Road exit was "temporarily interrupted" by the demonstration, and the Windsor Police Department asked residents and travelers to avoid the area.

The exit from the Ambassador Bridge onto Huron Church Rd (both N/B & S/B) is temporarily interrupted at this time. Avoid the area or find alternate route, if possible. Officers are working to restore the orderly flow of traffic in the safest manner possible. dg 12833  Windsor Police (@WindsorPolice) February 7, 2022

Gregg Ward, president of Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry, has been in the border-crossing business for 30 years. He said the bridge closing is unprecedented.

He said the last time he can remember it fully shut down over a demonstration was in 1990 for the independent truckers protest.

The bridge is used to transport goods for trade, and businesses often rely on getting their deliveries on time, he said. Now, those businesses, especially in the auto industry, won't get their supplies when they need them.

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"They usually get (their goods) just on time. It all depends on how much inventory they had, and if they anticipated this," Ward said. "I know there was an expected slowdown, I would bet most people didn't think there would be a complete closure."

In terms of truck drivers themselves, Ward said going up to Port Huron and around that way increases the driving time, which raises questions about how many hours they work.

More: Another Whitmer kidnap suspect to plead guilty: We 'were not entrapped'

More: Eastern Michigan to enter mediation in sex assault lawsuits

This came one day after Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency after a 10-day demonstration by truckers protesting the vaccine mandate, Reuters reported.

"(This) reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government," Watson said in a statement.

Ward said he understands people have the right to protest issues they disagree with, but blocking an international border negatively impacts residents and businesses.

"I understand there are grievances, but you know, it's how you express those grievances and resolve those grievances that's important," he said. "And blocking international trade may be effective for getting attention, but I don't think it's an effective method to resolve issues."

Contact Emma Stein: estein@freepress.com and follow her on Twitter @_emmastein.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Protesters in Canada block Ambassador Bridge
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty

With her raucous cabaret act, Bridget Everett has never been shy about putting all of herself out there for audiences to enjoy. But in her new semi-autobiographical series Somebody Somewhere, which HBO just renewed for a second season, she is laying herself bare on a whole new level.

In this weeks episode of The Last Laugh podcast, Everett opens up about the real-life trauma that helped inform her revelatory performance, what she learned about being relatable from a previous pilot that didnt get picked up, and dishes on what it was like to get back on stage for the first time in two years. She also shares hilarious stories about being cast in the Sex and the City movie, meeting her friend Amy Schumer for the first time, and getting in the middle of an epic feud between Jerry Seinfeld and Bobcat Goldthwait.

Despite earning nearly universal critical raves, Everett admits she felt a little uncertain at first about Somebody Somewhere, because its a show that kind of wears its heart on its sleeve and thats not always considered cool. The low-key exploration of life by a group of mostly queer outsiders in her conservative hometown of Manhattan, Kansas, aka the Little Apple, is a far cry from the sweaty, booze-soaked bonanzas that Everett had been putting on for years at Joes Pub in the Big Appleuntil the pandemic made her style of up close and personal cabaret nearly impossible.

Im not gonna lie, I became really, really depressed about it, she says of her long hiatus from the stage. The live stage show is the juice, it drives me, it makes me very happy. So instead of trying to recreate her onstage persona on screen, she asked herself, What if Bridget Everett never moved to New York and stayed in Kansas?

I had never thought about doing a show back in Kansas. Id left for a reason, she tells me. But honestly its been really fun and cathartic and healing in a way to do a show back in Kansas. And though the series is full of deeply personal details about her family, including her sisters death and her mothers alcoholism, she insists, This is not like a hit piece on my family. Im not coming for them. Because they would not fucking have it if I did.

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Everett says Somebody Somewhere, which was co-created by High Maintenance alums Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, is really about finding your people and re-engaging with the world after losing a loved one. And for me, those themes are present in my real life, she says. Im a wildebeest on stage, but in real life Im an introvert whos sad a lot, which isnt very interesting, but its true.

When I was younger, I was always getting in trouble for being a little too foul-mouthed or a little too obnoxious or a little too wild, Everett adds. But the bigger and wilder she got on stage, the more she felt like she had to protect her real self by becoming more withdrawn and even reclusive at times. Because I share quite a bit on stage, both emotionally and physically. And I mean that from the heart to the tits, she says. You sort of leave it all on the floor. And so then I just need to go home and sit with myself.

Everetts character, Sam, begins Somebody Somewhere without the emotional outlet of the stage and only starts to open up as she begins performing songs as part of the towns underground queer-friendly choir practice nights. The actress says it wasnt hard to put herself back in that mindset, because there was a very long span of her life when no one was giving her an opportunity to sing in public.

The only real singing I was doing in my twenties and thirties was in karaoke bars, she says. And then in my late thirties, I found cabaret and started getting a little more successful at it. But there were many years when I was here in New York and my friends were becoming successful on Broadway and TV and movies and I was still a waitress. And theres nothing wrong with that, but if thats not your dream, its going to leave you a little empty.

Everett was a karaoke queen once a week and when she didnt get to perform, she recalls, I was just angry. I was a mean friend and a little lost. I know a lot of people that are in their thirties and forties and not quite connecting to the thing it is that they really want to do, or not finding a way to do it, or not fully giving themselves a chance to do it. And you certainly dont see a lot of women pushing 50 that are protagonists trying to just start their life at that age.

Bridget Everett Is the Breakout TV Star Crashing Into 2022 Like a Wrecking Ball

Somebody Somewhere is actually Everetts second shot at television success. About five years ago, she made a pilot for Amazon Prime Video with Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King called Love You More. At the time, Amazon was having viewers vote on their pilots to see which ones would get picked up to series, and Everett says her show was the most popular one on the slate by that measure.

And then they just took it to a focus group and a couple guys were like, We dont think shes relatable, Everett recalls. I was like, oh, OK, maybe Im not relatable. I guess there goes my shot and its over.

We might have been a casualty of war, she says with a sardonic laugh about Amazons particularly toxic culture during that period, which also led to the premature cancellation of beloved series like Tig Notaros One Mississippi and Joey Soloways I Love Dick.

Tig Notaro Tried to Warn Us About Louis C.K. Now, Shes Happy to Move On From Him.

Instead of walking away from that experience thinking she should try to be more relatable, Everett ran in the other direction, realizing that the more specific I am to me and the more true I can be to my story, the more viewers will connect with her work.

And at the end, I was like, Fuck, this is kind of a tender and sweet show. Is this going to not be cool and just fade away, just slip into the darkness? she says. But she knew that ultimately she had put all of herself into Somebody Somewhere. And if it failed, it failed, but at least I gave it everything that I had.

Just before the Omicron wave crashed into New York City, Everett got the chance to perform live for the first time in nearly two years at Joes Pub. It felt like being in an electric car, being drained down to zero and then going to get a supercharge and all of a sudden youre just buzzing, she says with a smile. At the same time, she admits, I was really scared for the first five minutes. I thought Id lost it. And then I sang Titties, which is a real crowd-pleaser and it snapped me right back into place.

I was scared to be near anybody for a number of reasons, really. But the people in the audience were just like, Bring it on! she continues. Everybody was so in need of connection and in need of the thrill of it. I took out a lot of the audience participation. I scaled it back probably 70 percent, just for everybody's sanity. But Ive never felt an audience as I did in that week, like they needed as much as I did.

In the years since Everett started performing her stage show, during which she will frequently shove audience members heads into her chest or straddle their faces mid-song, attitudes about consent have evolved. And she has tried to evolve with them.

Ive changed the language in the show. I dont go near people as much. I say, May I? she explains. Were all learning as we go. It cant be as haphazard as it used to be. And it shouldnt be. Lets ride with the times and learn and grow and make sure everybodys comfortable and happy.

At the same time, pretty much everyone who comes to see Everett live knows what theyre in for. Theyre there for a reason, she says.

Listen to the episode now and subscribe to The Last Laugh on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts, and be the first to hear new episodes when they are released every Tuesday.

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LONDON  British Defence Minister Ben Wallace is due to head to Moscow later this week as London cranks up its efforts to head off a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.

Wallace started the week meeting his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak in London on Feb. 7 to discuss the deteriorating situation and looks like ending the week in Moscow for talks with Russian defense minister Sergey Shoigu.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is also due in Moscow for talks with her counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Feb. 10, although the visit is said to be separate to Wallaces trip.

The British defense minister will add the Russian capital to a list of visits that has seen him shuttle between London, the Netherlands, NATO headquarters, Germany, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia in recent weeks as tensions on the Ukrainian border rise with Moscow continuing its build-up of troops and weapons.

Wallace originally invited Shoigu to London for discussions on mutual security concerns and the rising tensions caused by the more than 100,000 Russian troops sitting on the border with Ukraine.

Instead, in reply, Shoigu invited Wallace to Moscow. For the moment nobody is confirming the precise date of the visit.

A British Ministry of Defence spokesman would only say that later this week, the defense secretary is expected to travel to Moscow to further diplomatic discussions with his Russian counterpart.

Its likely to be a frosty meeting , and not because of Moscows chilly temperatures. Wallace has already told the British Parliament he is not optimistic " about the outcome of the discussions.

The Moscow talks will come at the end of a hectic week for British efforts to dissuade the Russians from invading the Ukraine.

Talks with fellow NATO allies Poland coincided with an op-ed in The Times newspaper Feb. 7 by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that outlined plans to deploy further British forces to Eastern Europe.

Wallace announced Britain is to dispatch an additional 350 troops to Poland in the coming days. Royal Marines from 45 Commando will deploy to Poland to provide support with joint exercises, contingency planning and capacity building, said the MoD in a statement.

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The British said the deployment is being offered on a bilateral basis and is not part of any NATO effort.

The British already have a light cavalry squadron numbering 150 troops stationed in Poland.

In December, the U.K. deployed 140 military engineers in response to the migration crisis sparked on the border by the Belarus government. The engineers are expected to remain until April.

Britain also has around 100 troops in the Ukraine conducting training.

The British recently delivered around 2000 NLAW weapons to the Ukraine to strengthen its anti-tank capabilities.

Writing in The Times, Johnson said Britain and its NATO allies had agreed to boost troop numbers on the alliances eastern flank.

For Britain, the move would reinforce the UK-led NATO battlegroup in Estonia. We would also bolster our contribution to the exercises of the Joint Expeditionary Force, he said.

The force is a British-led formation comprising units from 10 Scandinavian and northern European countries.

Britain already has over 900 troops stationed in Estonia.

Johnson also said the government was looking to boost the defense of nations in southeastern Europe.

Deploying Royal Air Force Typhoon combat jets and Royal Navy warships to the region is under consideration, the prime minister said.

He said there could not be a more compelling argument for the necessity of NATO than the sight of Russian tanks invading a European country once again.
Business leaders are calling on an end to the protest blocking traffic at the Ambassador Bridge. (Photo by Tara Walton for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Business leaders called for an end to the protest that brought traffic to a halt at the Ambassador Bridge, a critical economic link between Canada and the United States and the busiest border crossing in North America.

The border crossing between Windsor, Ont. and Detroit reopened to U.S.-bound traffic after being blocked in both directions due to anti-vaccine mandate protests on Monday evening. Limited traffic was being allowed into the U.S. through the bridge, Windsor Police said shortly after noon on Tuesday, and commercial vehicles were being redirected to the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia, Ont. Police urged people to avoid the area and use alternate routes.

Congestion continues along Huron Church Rd. Limited traffic is being allowed into U.S through the Ambassador Bridge. Officers are on scene maintaining traffic points, public safety and enforcement. Please avoid the area and use alternate route. Thanks for your patience. https://t.co/bDo26C9qbP  Windsor Police (@WindsorPolice) February 8, 2022

The Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) listed the Ambassador Bridge as temporarily closed as of 11:58 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The Michigan Department of Transportation said the Ambassador Bridge remained closed on the U.S. side and advised those headed to Canada to use the Port Huron crossing.

Windsor Police said more than 100 protesters remained on the scene of the demonstration early Tuesday.

The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest border crossing between Canada and the U.S., with an average of 40,000 commuters, tourists and truck drivers crossing the border carrying more than $300 million worth of goods each day.

"The blockage of the Ambassador Bridge is completely unacceptable," Rakesh Naidu, president and chief executive of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement on Twitter.

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"Everyone has the right to protest but not at the cost of other people's lives and livelihood. Businesses already reeling due to COVID-19 will be further hammered."

Matt Moroun, the chairman of the Detroit International Bridge Company that owns the bridge, released a statement on Tuesday saying "international commerce needs to resume."

"The Ambassador Bridge and the Moroun family sympathize with truck drivers and those caught up in this blockade. We recognize that truck drivers are essential workers that work hard to deliver necessities to all of us, and that the Canadian government has done a tremendous job with vaccine rates," Moroun said in the statement.

"The Ambassador Bridge has a solemn obligation to facilitate safe and efficient international trade and travel. We encourage the appropriate officials to take prompt action to alleviate the situation as quickly as possible in a manner that reflects mutual respect."

The border crossing is an especially critical link for the automotive industry. Automotive parts and components cross North American borders (including Mexico) up to eight times before a vehicle is assembled, according to the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association.

Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA), says about $100 million in automotive parts cross the Ambassador Bridge on a daily basis. Given most automotive manufacturers operate under a just-in-time production model, Volpe says there are only enough parts "for a day or two" before production will be affected.

"Anytime you are unable to make a shipment it's a problem," Volpe said in an interview.

"Our message is enforce the laws that are on the books... We all have the right to protest in both countries. But you don't have a right to park your car in the middle of the street and leave it there, and you don't have the right to block an international border crossing."

Blocking the Ambassador Bridge could CREATE a daily SHORTAGE of about $300M goods & RAISE prices on both sides of the border.



Brain dead move.



Thank you to  WORKERS for your PATIENCE & understanding if you get temporarily laid off while we wait for PROTESTERS to grow up.  Flavio Volpe (@FlavioVolpe1) February 8, 2022

Perrin Beatty, the president and chief executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, also called for an immediate end to the blockade.

"The illegal blockade at the Ambassador Bridge is an immediate and grave threat to the wellbeing of our citizens and the ability of our economy to recover," he said on Twitter.

"It needs to be peacefully ended now."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the crossing is a vital trade artery between Canada and the United States.

"Many essential workers, including frontline health care workers, rely on it to get to work," he said on Twitter. "Police are on the scene to ensure traffic is moving safely."

With files from the Canadian Press

Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
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




California's legislature has passed a bill allowing many employees in the state to have two weeks of paid sick leave for COVID-19.

The legislation, approved Monday, will allow employees at businesses with 26 or more workers to take paid time off to recover from COVID-19 or take care of family members who are infected, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The policy will also let employees attend their vaccination appointment and recover from being vaccinated or take care of children who are unable to attend school due to virus-related closures or quarantines.

Companies can require employees to submit proof of a positive test to qualify for additional time off, according to the L.A. Times. The measure limits employees to three days, or 24 total work hours, for vaccine appointments or recovery from side effects.

In a statement, California Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jennifer Barrera said that employers will do their part to protect their employees, the Times reported.

"California employers continue to do their part to keep employees and the public safe during this pandemic," Barrera said. "The COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave is another example of this, where employers will take on an additional burden to provide leave, but do so in order to protect the broader public."

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is expected to sign the approved legislation later this week, the Times noted.

Lawmakers approved the measure along with several other bills. The state legislature also allocated an additional $1.9 billion to address testing, vaccinations, hospital surges and other COVID-19-related needs.
SACRAMENTO  California will end its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people next week but masks still are the rule for schoolchildren, state health officials announced Monday amid rapidly falling coronavirus cases.

After Feb. 15, unvaccinated people still will be required to be masked indoors, and everyone  vaccinated or not  will have to wear masks in higher-risk areas like public transit and nursing homes and other congregate living facilities, officials said. Local governments can continue their own indoor masking requirements and last week Los Angeles Countys health officials said they intend to keep theirs in place beyond the state deadline.

State officials also announced that Indoor mega events with more than 1,000 people will have to require vaccinations or negative tests for those attending and those who are unvaccinated will be required to wear masks. For outdoor events with more than 10,000 people, there is no vaccination requirement but masks or negative tests are recommended.

Still need a shot?: NFL to host COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Super Bowl

Those thresholds increase from the current 500 attendees for indoor and 5,000 attendees for outdoor events. The increased threshold comes after Sundays Super Bowl that will draw as many as 100,000 football fans to SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles.

With coronavirus cases falling fast, California also is lifting a requirement that people produce a negative coronavirus test before visiting hospitals and nursing homes, effective immediately.

Omicron has loosened its hold on California, vaccines for children under 5 are around the corner, and access to COVID-19 treatments is improving, said state Public Health Officer Dr. Tomas J. Aragon. With things moving in the right direction, we are making responsible modifications to COVID-19 prevention measures, while also continuing to develop a longer-term action plan for the state.

California has seen a 65% drop in case rates since the peak during the wintertime omicron surge.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom holds his face mask during a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.

A brief second: Newsom under fire for maskless selfie with Magic Johnson at Rams-49ers game

California joins New Jersey, Delaware in lifting mandate

Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration brought back the masking mandate in mid-December as omicron gained momentum and last month extended the requirement through Feb. 15. California passed 80,000 pandemic deaths and 8 million confirmed positive cases last week but new cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions all continued falling Monday and are projected to keep declining at a rapid clip.

Before resuming the masking requirement in December, California had lifted the requirement for people who were vaccinated as of June 15, a date that Newsom had described then as the states grand reopening. However, many counties soon reinstituted local mask orders as the summer delta surge took hold.

Denied time off, sick leave pay?: California lawmakers to vote on COVID protections for workers

Newsom, a Democrat, has come under pressure from Republicans and other critics to ease the mandates. He recently has said the state is preparing for the day when the coronavirus can be considered endemic, with rules that accept that it is here to stay but can be managed with caution.

We are glad to see Governor Newsom remove mask mandates on adults, especially since he and other elected officials violate these rules flagrantly in public, said Jonathan Keller, president of the conservative California Family Council, referring to Newsom and others removing their masks at a football game last month. But this isnt good enough. We should free our children as well, especially since COVID-19 poses the least danger to minors out of any age group.

Health officials said Monday that more changes to the states policies will be released in the coming week.

The developments in California come as New Jersey and Delaware announced plans Monday to lift the statewide COVID-19 mask requirement in schools next month. They are among a dozen states with mask mandates in schools.

California health officials said Monday that they are continuing to work with education, public health and community leaders to update masking requirements at schools to adapt to changing conditions and ensure the safety of kids, teachers, and staff.

Last week, Los Angeles County public health director Barbara Ferrer said the winter surge will be considered over in the nations most populous county when hospitalizations fall below 2,500 for seven days in a row. The county will then end its mask requirement for large outdoor events such as concerts and sporting events and for outdoor spaces at schools and child-care facilities.

It plans to keep indoor mask requirements in place until the county has two straight weeks at or below a moderate rate of 50 new cases per 100,000 people and there arent any reports of a new, troubling variant circulating, Ferrer said. The current rate is 117 cases per 100,000 people.

Health officials continue emphasizing that those most at risk for the virus are the unvaccinated, and that booster shots in particular provide significant protection from serious illness, hospitalization and death.

This article originally appeared on The Record: California will lift mask mandate as omicron cases fall
California workers who had to miss work because they or a loved one caught COVID-19 this year will be able to get at least 40 hours of paid sick leave under a bill passed by the state Legislature on Monday.

The bill applies to anyone at a company with more than 26 employees and covers time taken off between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30.

Workers can use the 40 hours of paid leave for a swath of COVID-19-related reasons, including COVID-19 symptoms, vaccine appointments, or caring for a family member with COVID-19 or a child whose school or place of care is closed due to COVID-19.

If the worker exhausts the initial 40 hours, theyre entitled to another another 40 hours of leave if they or a family member theyre caring for tests positive for COVID-19. The employee can take time off if theyre waiting for test results, and the employer must make a test available to the employee at no cost.

But if the employee doesnt take a test or refuses to provide results, the employer doesnt have to grant them another 40 hours of leave.

It now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has promised to sign it, for final action.

Senate Bill 114 is similar to a measure lawmakers enacted last year that expired in September. But in light of rising cases over the winter months, Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and state Senate President pro tem Toni Atkins agreed on a plan to reinstate the supplemental benefits.

The move was praised by labor groups and unions across the state, who said it was critical to slow the spread of the virus while giving workers the support they need to stay afloat.

As the Omicron surge intensified, workers screamed from the rooftops about the desperate need to reinstate COVID paid sick leave, said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, in a statement.

Paid sick leave is key to ensuring no worker has to make the impossible choice of going to work sick or losing wages needed to make rent and keep food on the table.

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The bill provides $100,000 to the state labor commissioner to implement and enforce the new sick leave rules, but employers are largely responsible for bearing the burden of the cost, which the Legislative Analysts Office estimated would cost between $500 million and $1 billion. Unlikely last year, businesses will not have federal tax benefits to offset the costs.

Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco and chair of the Assembly budget committee, said lawmakers were not able to put financial relief in this specific bill, but said they could enact some kind of relief for businesses in the June budget proposal.

We were not able to get that into this proposal, but its something that we continue to talk bout and we really would love to see that in the June budget proposal, Ting said.

A representative for the California Restaurant Association told members of the Assembly budget committee that the requirement would be a further burden on a sector that is still struggling from the pandemic.

Restaurants were the first to be closed during the pandemic and will be the last to recover from the devastating financial impact of these closures, said Katie Hansen, the associations senior legislative director. Still today restaurants are struggling with a shortage of workers that is forcing restaurants to limit their operations. The spike in cost of labor, food and supplies as well as any debt the business may have incurred from the pandemic. So any additional cost increases will impact a restaurants ability to recover.

Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Kern County, and vice chair of the budget committee, said there will be significant unintended consequences to this bill.

Requiring small businesses and nonprofits to pay up to two weeks of sick pay leave, on top of existing pay leave, is a financial burden that could bankrupt a local store, a local restaurant, or a nonprofit thats barely holding on by the skin of its teeth, Fong said.

State Sen. Andreas Boregeas, R-Fresno, said the states should use its $31 billion budget surplus to shoulder the burden of the policy.

Asking these small businesses to do so I think is an unnecessary burden when we have the capabilities to step in, Boregeas said.
YouTube

Teachers, students, and community activists in California have been waging a battle against Oaklands school district after officials proposed a controversial plan to dismantle 15 schools that mainly served students of color.

Two educators took the matter so seriously that they vowed to fight until the death with a hunger strike that began one week ago.

Medical teams had to assist Oakland Community School Program Director Moses Omolade and Westlake Middle School choir and dance director Andre San-Chez early Tuesday morningthe eighth day of their hunger strikeafter they experienced health issues, CBS 5 Bay Area reported.

In a statement, San-Chez told the Oakland school board, If I die, I want the board to know my death was at your hands.

Omolade and San-Chez launched their hunger strike Feb. 1refusing to eat until the Oakland Unified School Districts board votes Tuesday evening on the schools fate, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

We will not eat until you end all school closures, Omolade said, according to The Oaklandside.

School District Pulls Acclaimed Book on Racial Injustice Over One Parents Gripes

Im feeling charged by my community, Omolade told Democracy Now in an interview. Im feelingobviouslyweak in the body, but the spirit is strong. Im feeling leveraged to push back against systemic racism thats happened in our communities.

Under a plan presented at a Jan. 31 board meeting, 15 schools in the district would either be permanently closed or merged with others, with officials citing the financial deficits the schools face. District officials say that enrollment at the schools has decreased and insist their financial futures are grim.

While we do not deny these changes are difficult and painful for African American and Latino families, we aim to build improvements in school environment and academic outcomes through these changes, district officials said in a letter to the school board, according to NBC Bay Area.

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We know that our students, staff and families all agree that we need a district of thriving schools, Oakland Unified School District spokesperson John Sasaki said in a statement. Yet, not everyone necessarily agrees on how best to get there.

But some community members arent buying those financial arguments, claiming that the schools monetary issues actually stem from resources being funneled to district charter schools.

Hundreds of Fed-Up Boston Students Walk Out to Protest Learning in COVID Petri Dishes

School board director Mike Hutchinsonwho opposes the closuressaid that the decision to consolidate the schools came too quickly and was made without enough community discussion.

If were going to make decisions, permanent decisions, about which neighborhoods still have a public school, that needs to be a robust process that involves the community, he said, according to CBS 5 San Francisco. At this point, theres been zero community engagement and there have been zero discussions, even among the school board to do this.

Educators have cried that the move will put too much pressure on teachers who will be forced to handle classes that are simply too large.

In front of the district offices now. Westlake choir director Maurice Andre San-Chez began a hunger strike at midnight that will not end unless OUSD calls off the proposed closures. pic.twitter.com/awenWykzlS  ashley mcbride (@ashleynmcb) February 1, 2022

Why were doing this is very straightforward and clear, Omolade said to Democracy Now. Racism has run rampant in our communities for far too long. We are attempted to be shut down without community engagement. Its not something that were going to stand for; thats whats currently happening. The school board is attempting to close predominantly Black and brown schools without engaging us at all. So, we are deciding to push back. We are deciding to make noise and to cry foul about the reasons in which theyre choosing to close our schools. Balancing the budget, especially when its only 2 percent of the budget, on Black and brown bodies is not something thats acceptable.

The future of the schools will be voted on Feb. 8 during a special Oakland district board meeting. Community members hope that the hunger strike and public momentum will influence the board members decisions.

Members of the Oakland Unified School District did not immediately respond to The Daily Beasts requests for comment.

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U.S. Capitol Police officers are seen on the East Front Plaza during sunset on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.





A top police union official says U.S. Capitol Police leadership "betrayed" the force on Jan. 6, 2021, when officers defended the building from a mob of Trump supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

Jim Pasco - the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, a union that includes U.S. Capitol Police officers - told Yahoo News's "Skullduggery" podcast that officers dispatched to defend the Capitol that day were not prepared when it came to equipment or information needed to manage the "overwhelming and totally hostile force" they were met with.

"Those officers out there were betrayed on a number of levels," Pasco said.

"They were betrayed by their leadership on that day because they were sent out ... unprepared and unknowing of the level of force and weren't prepared in terms of the equipment that they went out with and the strategies that they employed to deal with the overwhelming and totally hostile force that addressed them," he added, Yahoo reported Tuesday.

The Hill has reached out to the Capitol Police for comment.

The department has been under scrutiny in the year-plus since the Jan. 6 riot.

Steven Sund, who was serving as chief of the Capitol Police, resigned from his post one day after the insurrection. Sund's announcement came hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on him to vacate his position.

In June, the department's No. 2 official - then-Capitol Police Assistant Chief Chad Thomas - also resigned from his post.

The Capitol Police's internal watchdog testified before a House committee in April, detailing two reports that outlined a number of failures by the department's top officials and calling for changes to the force's training and operations.

In December, the inspector general said the department had not made enough improvements since the Jan. 6 attack.

Roughly 140 police officers were assaulted on Jan. 6, according to a statement from the Department of Justice, including about 80 Capitol Police officers and approximately 60 individuals from the Metropolitan Police Department.

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Five police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 died in the days and weeks after the riot.

Pasco told Yahoo News's podcast that there was "abundant, ample information" from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement sources regarding potential violence on Jan. 6 that was not given to officers.

"The officers were never apprised of the potential for the kind of event that occurred that day," he said. "And in that sense, the fact that they were overwhelmed is due in at least some part to the fact that they were unprepared for the assault."
The case of a 59-year-old man accused of a 2020 stabbing in Delhi will move forward to trial, a Merced County judge decided Monday.

Debs Hugh Grissom, who appeared remotely for his preliminary hearing, was arrested Aug. 10 for the attack on a man near the El Rancho Market. He allegedly attacked the male victim from behind before stabbing him in the back of the neck with a knife multiple times.

Presiding Judge Steven Slocum held Grissom to answer on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats. He has pleaded not guilty.

When police arrived at the scene the day of the stabbing, they found Grissom about a block away with a knife in his hand, according to Detective Luis Ortiz of the Merced County Sheriffs Office, who testified Monday.

During the investigation sheriffs deputies collected video surveillance from a barbershop nearby, which appeared to show someone matching Grissoms description attacking the victim.

The suspect was coming from behind the victim, pushing the victim down, then straddling the victim and stabbing the victim approximately nine times in the neck, Ortiz testified.

Grissom is being held at the John Latoracca Correctional Center in lieu of $580,000 bail. His next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 22.
Military leaders need to invest more in intelligence capabilities  particularly informants on the ground  if they expect to be able to continue effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, according to the White Houses pick to head U.S. Central Command.

Army Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla, in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, said that maintaining over the horizon monitoring of Afghanistan is extremely difficult, but not impossible in the wake of the American military exit there last summer.

The biggest challenge for Afghanistan is that as a landlocked country, so we rely on other nations to be able to enter Afghanistan, he said. The distances required to fly [surveillance] is great. We spend approximately two-thirds of the time just flying there and getting back.

It is resource intensive, to be able to do the finding and then the fixing and the finishing of those targets that youre going after.

XVIII Airborne Corps commander set to be next CENTCOM boss

Since August, when the last U.S. troops left Afghanistan soil, lawmakers have voiced concerns about military assertions they can still adequately monitor  and, if necessary, eliminate  terrorist threats within the Taliban-controlled country.

Kurilla acknowledged the significant distance between Afghanistan and the nearest U.S. military bases presents a significant challenge.

He said a typical MQ-9 Reaper aircraft can remain in the air for about 30 hours. Right now, in order to keep constant vision on targets in Afghanistan, that requires having a drone take off every 10 hours to ensure no gap in coverage. In more complex missions, multiple surveillance aircraft may be needed simultaneously.

Kurilla said officials are still in discussions with countries near Afghanistan to potentially set up aircraft bases, cutting down that travel time. But no agreements have been reached.

An MQ-9 Reaper sits on the flight line at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, Dec. 17, 2019. The Remotely Piloted Aircraft enterprise is made of Airmen across all career fields to deliver justice to our Nations enemies 24/7/365. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Haley Stevens)

The nominee said hell also focus on building up other intelligence resources for Central Command once he takes over.

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I think we need to reinvest in our intelligence capabilities and human intelligence capability that was lost during the withdrawal, he said, acknowledging that accomplishing that is a challenge.

Last fall, Defense Department leaders said that terrorist groups within Afghanistan could strike international targets by this spring if left unchecked. Kurilla on Tuesday reiterated that danger.

Al Qaeda and ISIS-K, they are reconstituting, he said. They have aspirations to attack the [American] homeland, but they do not have the capability yet.

Over 100 ex-Afghan forces, officials killed since US pullout: UN

Lawmakers offered support for Kurilla but skepticism about the effectiveness of Central Commands ability to contain the looming threat.

Terrorist groups increasingly threaten U.S. personnel, partners and the homeland, said committee ranking member Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. Afghanistan is now back to pre-Sept. 11 conditions. The Taliban controls the country, and it has already killed more than 100 former Afghan officials, soldiers, and coalition partners, according to the United Nations.

Kurilla said, if confirmed, he would brief lawmakers on what additional resources may be needed to improve that work.

Committee members signaled they will likely advance his nomination to the full Senate in coming days.

Kulilla currently serves as the commander of XVIII Airborne Corps out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He told lawmakers that he was scheduled to travel to Europe following the hearing, to oversee troops recently deployed there to bolster NATO forces in light of ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirks plans for an America First online educational academy have suffered a blow after a consultancy firm backing the project pulled out after a backlash from its staff.

The Washington Post reported Arizona educational firm StrongMind has withdrawn from the academy after staff raised objections about having to write a curriculum that aligns with Turning Points ideology.

Mr Kirk had sought investors for the K12 academy by claiming schools were poisoning our youth with anti-American ideas.

Documents obtained by the Post revealed StrongMind had assessed the academy as generating up to $40m in gross revenue from 10,000 students.

Freedom Learning Group, a subcontractor helping to prepare the curriculum, also pulled out of the academy when it became aware of Mr Kirks involvement.

A spokesman for Mr Kirk, one of Donald Trumps most outspoken advocates, told the Post he still plans to open the academy later this year with different partners.

Turning Point USA announced last year it was planning to open an academy amid heightened tensions between parents and school districts over lockdowns and subject matter being taught to students.

It claimed students at public schools are being taught a false narrative about America and that the academy will promote a reliable, honest, and quality America-first education.

A 2021 investor prospectus for the academy claimed the next few years will be an all-out war between the truths that have defined our country since 1776 and media, tech companies and left-wing politicians empire of lies.

Turning Point USA was founded by Mr Kirk in 2012, and gained notoriety for encouraging students to out liberal professors.

The Independent has contacted StrongMind and Turning Point USA for comment.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Monday floated the disproven idea that COVID-19 vaccines are contributing to higher mortality rates in the U.S. over the last few years.

We deserve answers, and some would conjecture, Hey, does this have something to do with the fact that we might have done a mass inoculation strategy? Kirk asked Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Kirk declined to elaborate on this claim, and instead lumped it in with entirely legitimate factors.

We know that there [were] deaths of alienation, suicide and otherwise. But there [are] no answers, the Turning Point USA founder said, inaccurately. No ones talking about it.

Kirk based his wild speculation on the findings of life insurance company OneAmerica, whose CEO, J Scott Davison, said last month that death rates have risen by 40 percent among people ages 18-64 when compared to pre-pandemic levels. The severity of this number, Davison said, is illustrated by how a 1 in 200-year catastrophe would cause only a 10 percent increase.

While the rise in fatalities is largely due to COVID-19, and people who contracted it later dying of a separate illness, Kirk peddled the debunked claim that the vaccines themselves could be the reason for the higher death rate. Carlson,, whos made similar claims, didnt push back at all on his guests assertion.

Last spring, Carlson insinuated that 30 people every day die because of vaccines, citing an open-sourced database that PolitiFact notes has become a breeding ground for misinformation. That database, Carlson claimed, showed fewer than 1 percent of vaccine adverse events.

So what is the real number of people who apparently have been killed or injured by the vaccine? We dont know that number, Carlson said then, in the same vein as Kirk on Monday. Nobody does and we are not going to speculate about it on the show. But it is clear that what is happening now, for whatever reason, is not even close to normal. Its not even close to what we see in previous years with previous vaccines. Most vaccines are not accused of killing large numbers of people.

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Chrishell Stause on season four of "Selling Sunset." Netflix

Chrishell Stause bought a $3.3 million house in LA following her 2019 divorce from Justin Hartley.

In her memoir, she writes that she sold her wedding ring and put the money toward the purchase.

The "Selling Sunset" reality star reflects on her move as a "major milestone" in the book.

Chrishell Stause sold her wedding ring following her divorce from "This Is Us" star Justin Hartley and put the earnings toward the purchase of her Los Angeles home, she writes in her new memoir.

The "Selling Sunset" star, 40, was married to Hartley, 45, for two years before he filed for divorce in 2019. Following the breakup, Stause rented a one-bedroom apartment in Hollywood Hills before eventually buying her $3.3 million home in June 2021.

In her new book, "Under Construction," which hit shelves on Tuesday, the licensed real-estate agent reveals that she sold her wedding ring and used the resulting funds to help purchase her four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom abode in Hollywood Hills.

"Moving into my home, a home I'd worked hard to earn (okay, fine, selling my wedding ring helped), was a major milestone that I won't forget," Stause writes.

Chrishell Stause attends the celebration of Chrishell Stause's DSW Fun, Flirty Capsule Collection at Sunset Tower Hotel on July 14, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for DSW

The Kentucky native, who was homeless at multiple points during her childhood, recognizes that "it's tough to get out of the cycle of leasing."

"I spent my entire childhood acutely aware of this fact. The toughest part is the down payment, and I bought this place when I was just about to turn forty," she writes.

The soap star's real-estate hunt is featured on season four of "Selling Sunset," which is currently available to stream on Netflix. And though Jason Oppenheim, the brokerage's founder and president, aided Stause, she denied reports that he was behind the deal.

"I just got told that a story came out about my house, and it says that Jason was the agent on it," she wrote on her Instagram story in June 2021, as reported by Us Weekly, adding, "I really don't feel like this happens to men. I was my agent. I did it."

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She continued: "Yes, I used Jason to help me  he's my broker. But I was the damn agent. Give me some credit, thank you. I worked really hard on this and it wouldn't hurt to get new possible clients if it's gonna be all over the place. Credit where credit is due, that's all. It's a constant battle to let people know I am a real hardworking agent, not just for TV. And this didn't help."

Chrishell Stause and Jason Oppenheim attend Disney's premiere of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings" in Los Angeles, California. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images

Following the divorce, which was finalized in February 2021, Hartley married his "The Young and The Restless" costar Sofia Pernas.

Stause dated "Dancing With the Stars" professional Keo Motsepe for several months before they broke up in February 2021. She later got into a relationship with Oppenheim, but the costars went their separate ways in December 2021.

Read the original article on Insider
MILLVILLE  An Italian meat processing company has signed an agreement to purchase industrial land from the city near the municipal airport, as long as upcoming inspections of the land show it is as suitable as advertised.

Levoni America Corp. is the North American arm of the meat company, which set up a North American operation in 2014. Its corporate offices are in Hoboken.

The contract that was signed at the end of January grows out of negotiations in 2021 and gives the company 45 days to conduct due diligence inspections before meeting to finalize the sale, General Manager Alberto Morandi said on Friday.

More: N.J. courts holding off on new county jail sentences, COVID-19 pressures cited

More: Here's why Vineland council can't stop legal marijuana grow operation

The City Commission unanimously approved a purchase and sale agreement at its Jan. 18 meeting. The sale would be for 9.19 acres in the James R. Hurley Industrial Park.

An agreement actually was first approved by the prior City Commission on Dec. 7, 2021, but it was rescinded later in December to include revised conditions. So, the current agreement is the third iteration of the pending sale.

Vice Mayor Joseph Sooy said both sides were concerned about the overall capacity of the municipal waste treatment system to handle the facility, including capacity at a sewerage lift station on Ireland Avenue.

Sooy said that, with a waste pre-treatment process at the facility, the municipal treatment plant will be able to service the Levoni facility.

At the commission meeting this week, Sooy said that the Ireland Avenue lift station needs to be upgraded given increased interest in the industrial park.

Thats in the design phase, and it should be completed Im hoping within the year, Sooy said Tuesday. Also, we will be working in drainage at the airport. Of course, with more development there, were going to have more impervious surface, more water flow. Were working on plans to remedy any situation that exists out there with the engineering department.

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Millville revised its development plan for the park specifically to make food processing a permitted use.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey more than 30 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

Have a tip? jsmith@thedailyjournal.com. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Vineland Daily Journal: City, Italian meat company sign conditional land sale agreement,
NORTHPORT, AL  The Northport City Council Monday evening unanimously approved the city's 2022 Legislative Agenda, which will now be sent to Tuscaloosa County's delegation in Montgomery for consideration.

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There are 10 total talking points on the approved legislative agenda, with City Administrator Glenda Webb pointing out during Monday's briefing ahead of the full Council meeting that there are several items pending before the legislature that may impact the city.



"Our staff made some additional recommendations on some items that are concerning to the community as a whole and the municipality," she said.

ALSO READ: Crucial Change Proposed For Tuscaloosa's Next Municipal Election As Part Of 2022 Agenda

Here's a closer look at each of the agenda points

1. Supporting tort liability limits

While the state of Alabama has sovereign immunity from any tort claim for money damages, municipalities are currently liable for certain financial damages accrued due to wrongdoing by an employee.

The law, as its written, currently limits damages to $100,000 per person for each occurrence and a total of $300,000 in the aggregate.

Northport city officials initially believed the State of Alabama would rewrite these laws to extend sovereign immunity to municipalities in cases of tort claims against an employee in their individual capacity. However, recent lawsuits and court decisions have called into question the limits on claims, as Northport city officials fear its employees could be exposed to personal liability in excess of the set limits.

2. Supporting legislation requiring adequate funding by the state general fund for criminal corrections, mental health systems, transportation and maintenance, in addition to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

This part of the agenda also expresses opposition for legislation that would pass financial burdens on to local governments without accompanying state funding.

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3. The opposition of any legislation that would provide exemptions for pharmacies from gross receipts generated by drug sales in determining the issuance of a business license.

City Attorney Ron Davis: "We have so much of that in Northport, we get a lot of income from the business licenses for CVS and Wal-Mart and various drug stores. There's no sales tax on consumer businesses, so this would really be a windfall for businesses that sell drugs."

4. Supports and requests certain funding for infrastructure improvements, including along Highway 82 West to Rose Boulevard, in addition to along Highway 69 and Highway 43 to Larry Lake Road.

This agenda point aligns with an ongoing effort by city officials to add needed infrastructure improvements to the busiest travel corridors within the Northport city limits.

Roughly a year ago, for example, $2 million was approved by Gov. Kay Ivey and used to widen U.S. Highway 43 from Mitt Lary Road to Paul Howell Road.

5. Support of revisions to procedures to allow EMS units to return to service with more expediency, which is due to increased wait times for ambulance units at local hospitals with respect to transfer of care for patients.

City Administrator Glenda Webb : "this is making sure wall time is not such a big issue at DCH so our EMS providers whether it's us or our ambulance franchise holder."

"Wall time" refers to the period of time between arrival of an ambulance patient at the emergency room until the EMS and ER personnel transfers the patient to an ER stretcherand the hospital staff assume the responsibility for care for the patient.

6. Opposition to House Bill 111, which the city claims would limit its ability to budget for law enforcement within the municipality.

This bill would create the Police Funding Protection Act, establishing a system in which a county or municipality may not reduce the operating budget of its respective law enforcement agency by more than 20% in a 10-year period.

City Administrator Glenda Webb : "The way the deal is currently drafted, we oppose taking away our flexibility. Historically here, capital items have been rolled into the general budget, so when you pull out capital items, there can be substantial change by percentage and with that, we don't support the way it's currently written. We think it's a little overwrought. We would be glad to work with the League of Municipalities to discuss that particular bill."

The bill would also allow a budget to be reducedif a county or municipality could prove that the reduction was fiscally appropriate.

If passed, the Alabama Attorney General would be tasked with determining whether a county or municipalityhas reduced the operating budget by more than 20%.21 This bill would also exclude a county or municipality from various funding if found to be in violation.

House Bill 111 has had its first reading in the Alabama House of Representatives and has been referred to the House County and Municipal Government Committee.

7. Opposition to an exemption from sales of food from state sales and use taxes, as Northport is would otherwise face a significant decrease revenue, with no other way at present to shore up the funding lost.

District 3 Councilman John Hinton said "If that sales tax legislation passes, we're in trouble" when considering the revenue currently generated for the city by sales tax on groceries and prescription drugs.

8. Supporting an amendment to the appeal procedures for the Council's Planning & Zoning Commission, which would require an appeal submitted within 15 days of the final judgement being handed down.

9. Supporting legislation authorizing community paramedic programs and allows mid-level providers the ability to bill for services rendered, as well as providing funding for such through appropriate mechanisms.

10. Allowing for electronic bids versus in-person bid submissions for city contracts.

City Administrator Glenda Webb: "Because of COVID and the way the world works now, we want to make sure we are keeping up with the times and state law will specifically will allow that, for the use of electronic bids."

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com



This article originally appeared on the Tuscaloosa Patch
An advocacy group filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday, the latest step in a push to give employee status to college athletes and afford them the right to competitive pay, collective bargaining and other benefits and protections.

The National College Players Association filed the unfair labor practice charges against the NCAA, Pac-12 Conference, UCLA and the University of Southern California as single and joint employers of Bowl Subdivision football players and Division I mens and women's basketball players.

College athletes meet the definition of employee under labor law, said Ramogi Huma, the NCPA executive director and a former linebacker for UCLA. They are highly skilled in their sport, paid scholarships and stipends to perform athletic services, and they perform their work under extensive control of their employer. These athletes deserve every right afforded to them under labor laws  just like other hard-working Americans.

The NCPA's move comes about four months after the NLRB's general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, wrote in a memo to NLRB field offices that in her view college athletes who earn millions for their schools are employees.

The guidance had been expected to lead to a fresh challenge of college sports' longtime view that athletes are amateurs who are not eligible for benefits afforded employees.

This is a logical consequence of Ms. Abruzzo putting out her memo," said Michael LeRoy, professor in the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois. The general counsel has really provided a blueprint for how to file a successful complaint."

An NLRB spokeswoman said Abruzzo would not comment on the NCPA's filing because it is an active case. The NCAA, Pac-12 and UCLA declined comment. USC said it was aware of the charge and reviewing it.

Ramogi said the NCPA's charges were bolstered by a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that found the NCAA's limits on the education-related benefits violate antitrust laws. That decision has already led to sweeping changes across the NCAA and its nearly 500,000 athletes, including their ability to now earn money based on their celebrity.

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LeRoy said between the NLRB process and possible appeals in federal courts, it could take three or four years for the unfair labor practice charge to be adjudicated.

Football and basketball players are the only athletes mentioned in the complaint because those are the only revenue sports. Huma predicted womens basketball, though not nearly as lucrative as football and mens basketball, will become more so as the NCAA responds to pressure to increase promotion of the womens national tournament.

Including only athletes in revenue sports is an important distinction, Huma said, because Abruzzo's memo referenced Northwestern football players unsuccessful effort to form a union and said those players, and other similarly situated athletes, qualify as employees.

Were not against other athletes pursuing employee status, Huma said. (But) FBS football and Division I basketball players are all similar in that they are the only college athletes that are paid full scholarships and receive less than their fair market value.

We know the industry can afford to treat FBS football and Division I basketball players as employees, he said. He added that schools might eliminate non-revenue sports if all Division I athletes were considered employees.

Huma said fairly compensating FBS football and Division I basketball players is a matter of economic and racial justice. Black athletes make up a majority of rosters in those sports and, he said, face a disparate impact from NCAA sports illegal compensation prohibition.

Employee status also would allow college athletes to earn pay commensurate with the free market and ultimately form a union and negotiate collective bargaining agreements.

If athletes immediately unionized without a willingness to withhold their labor, they would be pushed into a bad CBA, Huma said. Athletes will wield the most leverage toward a fair agreement by first establishing employee status, which will lead toward free market wages.

The NCPA is based in Southern California and chose to bring unfair labor practice charges against both UCLA and USC so a ruling can apply to both athletes at public (UCLA) and private (USC) schools. Huma said he expects the Los Angeles NLRB field office to handle the case.

The NCPA also has sponsored a legislative bill in California that would pay college athletes fair market compensation, create state enforcement of Title IX gender-equity laws and preserve all sports.

It complements our NLRB effort well, he said.
I watched the College of the Desert Board of Trustees meeting Jan. 21, and was struck by the defiant and evasive tone taken by Trustees Ruben Perez, Bea Gonzalez and Aurora Wilson.

The published agenda raised numerous red flags, suggesting that it was only a public face of a hidden agenda designed to gaslight the taxpaying public.

Why is it necessary to hire an outside public relations firm if you are doing a good job in a transparent fashion? Why put forward a toothless resolution of support for a West Valley campus if you actually plan to build it as promised, planned and funded?

Why bring in a bond issue lawyer, who acknowledged that he had not reviewed all the pertinent documents, to throw up trivial roadblocks to a West Valley campus?

It seems clear that the three trustees are working from a hidden but obvious agenda.

Lewis Stewart

It is clear that they intend to kill, or severely limit, the construction of the West Valley campus. They clearly intend to divert approved funding from the Palm Springs campus to an East Valley campus in Coachella, for which there is no allocated funding.

The East Valley already has campuses in Indio (currently being expanded) and Mecca/Thermal. Does it seem fair to have three East Valley campuses and nothing in the West Valley, which has 35% of COD enrollment and pays a large proportion of the Measure CC taxes?

Lets consider the testimony of the bond issue attorney. He said a feature of the planned culinary school, a training hotel, could violate state law on the involvement of private parties, assuming that a private management firm, rather than in-house instructors, would be hired.

By all means, judicial review should determine whether such a hotel is an appropriate use of allocated funding. If so, proceed with construction. If not, downsize the building to an ordinary instructional facility and develop work-study programs for the students at local hotels and the Palm Springs Unified School District culinary kitchens.

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Or, perhaps, replace the culinary school with a teacher training facility, to create a pipeline of locally grown teachers from high school academies to COD to Palm Desert's Cal State campus for credentialing; this program would create good local jobs, raise median income in our poorer communities and help with teacher retention.

At any rate, issues with the culinary school should not be allowed to sidetrack, or derail, the construction of a complete West Valley campus.

Students should not have to ride a SunBus for 2 hours to get to the nearest campus.

Taxpayers should not be forced to pay thousands of dollars on their property tax bills with none of the promised benefits of Measure CC.

Its past time for the three trustees to come clean on their hidden agenda. There is still room for negotiation that would allow the West Valley campus to be built, as planned and promised, as well as a satellite campus in Coachella.

I fear, though, that the continuing lack of transparency and the hidden agenda of the three trustees will continue to expand this boondoggle until it becomes a court battle that no one wins.

Lewis Stewart lives in Palm Springs.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: College of the Desert trustees' secrecy suggests a hidden agenda
Chicago-area school districts are relaxing their COVID-19 policies or revealing they plan to stay the course in the wake of an Illinois judges decision to temporarily prevent Gov. J.B. Pritzkers school mask mandate and other safety measures from being enforced statewide.

After canceling classes Monday to study the ruling, St. Charles District 303 and Geneva District 304 announced they are encouraging students and staff to continue to wear masks, but will no longer require them to do so. Both districts are among dozens of schools systems that are defendants in legal challenges waged by downstate attorney Tom DeVore, who argued Pritzker exceeded his authority with requirements that students and teachers wear masks inside schools, that unvaccinated school employees provide negative COVID-19 test results and that close contacts of infected people stay home.

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[ Ruling on Illinois school mask mandate throws districts into chaos ]

There has been confusion about school mask and quarantine requirements since Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow issued the temporary restraining order Friday because several hundred Illinois school districts were not named in the litigation. Pritzker on Monday encouraged those districts to continue to follow the prescribed public health protocols.

The Tribune spoke with Nancy Fredman Krent, who teaches education law as an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, about what the decision means for schools as the pandemic continues.

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Does the judges decision only cover the plaintiffs in the lawsuit or all students in districts that were sued?

DeVore represents hundreds of parents and educators, though he has said he believes others will join his efforts. Grischow denied DeVores request for class certification last week.

The judge didnt certify the class, so technically only the plaintiffs would be covered. But if you read the order, the judge enjoined the defendants (including both the state defendants and individual school boards) from requiring the school districts to mandate use of masks by students or staff, Krent said. So you can read the order as covering only the plaintiffs or read it as covering the defendants in their actions generally.

She continued: The judge refers in the footnotes to non-named plaintiffs without holding directly they are specifically covered, but she implies they are or, at a minimum, she believes that if they sue, they will get the same result as this decision.

Parents and students protest school mask mandates Monday outside the School District 181 Administration Center in Clarendon Hills. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

What happens if a school district that was sued continues requiring masks?

Algonquin District 300, a defendant in the litigation, announced Monday it will still enforce mask requirements and school exclusion for close contacts, except for the students who sued.

Because the judge did not apply her decision to all students in District 300, all non-party students will continue to follow our established and pre-existing COVID-19 prevention strategies, Superintendent Susan Harkin said in a statement.

Please note that students refusing to wear a mask will be asked to do so or they will be subject to being assigned to an alternative setting and/or disciplinary measures.

DeVore has said he will seek penalties against districts if his clients are harassed for not wearing masks.

Krent said Illinois school districts are likely weighing the potential for more litigation against the need to protect the health and safety of all the students that they are responsible for.

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What about Chicago Public Schools, which has a COVID-19 safety agreement with its teachers union?

CPS is a defendant in the litigation. In her Friday decision, Grischow wrote that individual collective bargaining agreements for each union will have to be analyzed.

CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union started the school year without a safety agreement, but forged one last month after the unions members voted to refuse in-person work amid the omicron-fueled surge in COVID-19 cases. The deal includes a provision that everyone entering a CPS facility must wear a mask.

In the agreement, the district promised to continue to follow health department quarantine guidance, which calls for students and staff members who are close contacts of an infected person to stay home temporarily unless they are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic. Around 35% of CPS students and 91% of staff are fully vaccinated, according to district data.

After the judge issued her decision, CPS announced it will stay the course with its COVID-19 protocol.

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 district said in a statement last week. CTU vowed to stand shoulder to shoulder with CPS in this battle.

I think CPS probably has a strong argument that they are allowed under the labor laws to continue to enforce an agreement that they have validly made with their employees, Krent said.

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One school, Oriole Park Elementary on the Northwest Side, reiterated the districts policies in an email to parents Monday night.

Today, some students came to school without masks. When we contacted parents, the parents refused to allow their children to comply. Following the guidance of CPS administration, we did not exclude these students from school, the Oriole Park message read.

We did document the event, and a possible consequence for repeated mask refusal is recommendation for remote learning. In the meantime, these students are required to follow strict social distancing.

Whats next for the litigation?

The Illinois attorney generals office filed an appeal Monday, demanding a stay to Grischows decision. The plaintiffs have a chance to respond.

Temporary restraining orders are considered to be emergency orders, and so they take precedence over other things on the docket, Krent said. I expect that we could have a ruling from an appellate court within the next 10 to 14 days. And then after that, potentially, the Illinois Supreme Court.

How have court challenges to Pritzkers pandemic policies fared?

Grischows ruling is not the first blow to Pritzkers COVID-19 plans. Legal challenges from churches seeking to block his stay-at-home order early in the pandemic prompted Pritzker to ease guidelines for houses of worship.

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In fall 2020, a Kane County judge granted a request from FoxFire Tavern for a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of Pritzkers indoor dining ban. An appellate court later sided with Pritzker, and the Illinois Supreme Court rejected the Geneva restaurants appeal.

tswartz@tribpub.com
A Columbus police officer is on administrative leave after he shot at a suspected car thief and wounded two people inside the vehicle Monday night, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the citys police department.

According to the GBI, Columbus police received a call around 5:15 p.m. from a man who said he saw his sisters vehicle that was stolen a few days before. The man followed the car to Riverwind Apartments.

Two officers responded to the apartment complex and parked their cars in front of the stolen vehicle. As the officers approached, the driver accelerated towards one of the officers, and the unidentified male officer fired his handgun. Police were unaware if any of the vehicles occupants were wounded at that time, the GBI said.

The abandoned car was later found by police at Thornton Drive and Lumpkin Court. Hours later, three people arrived at Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital. Two of them were wounded. One person had a gunshot wound in the shoulder, and the other was shot in the arm, the GBI said

Video from the area where the car was abandoned appears to show the same three people fleeing from the vehicle. Charges from Columbus police against the three people linked to the stolen car are pending, the GBI said.

The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Following the investigation, the case file will be provided to the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorneys Office for review, the GBI said.

The officer was placed on administrative leave, and the Columbus Police Departments Office of Professional Standards will conduct an administrative investigation into the shooting as well, the department said.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation may contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 2 Field Office at (706) 565-7888. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
A recent assault at the State College Area High School with ties to a racist and antisemitic photo prompted community members to speak at Mondays board of directors meeting, with Superintendent Bob ODonnell also addressing the troubling actions.

The assault occurred at the high school on Feb. 1 after a photo containing racist and antisemitic imagery circulated.

The district was unaware of the photo prior to the assault, ODonnell said during the meeting.

We were absolutely not aware of the photo that was taken in the school, he said. Not one faculty member or administrator was aware of that until after the assault.

About ten people who spoke during public comment voiced concerns about the districts policies, questioned how the assault took place on school grounds and what will change in the future. Beyond ODonnells statement, the assault was not addressed further by the board.

The local NAACP chapter started a GoFundMe campaign Monday afternoon to help pay legal fees for a 16-year-old Black student they say was charged in the assault after being harassed and targeted by a white student who circulated the photos.

The State College Police Department and Centre County District Attorneys office have not commented on the charges, which are not public record for juveniles.

It is unacceptable for a child to be charged with assault, Lorraine Jones, president of the State College NAACP chapter said during the meeting. ...We are not asking for our kids dignity and respect, we are demanding it.

President of the State College chapter of the NAACP Lorraine Taylor speaks Monday during the public comment of the State College Area School Board meeting.

During the meeting, ODonnell assured those in attendance that the district would not tolerate racism or antisemitism of any kind but could not talk about individual student discipline due to privacy concerns.

We are dealing with youth, and our response needs to be grounded in whats best for our students, ODonnell wrote in a statement prior to the meeting.

A majority of those who spoke were concerned about racial harassment and bullying occurring at the school.

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The Black boys response ended up being physical after months, at least 30 days of being harassed and racially intimidated, said Tierra Williams, a Ferguson Township supervisor. How long was he expected to deal with racial bullying before a teacher or the administration stepped in?

In an email over the weekend urging community members to support the family of the student charged in the assault, Jones wrote that SCASDs action against this 16-year-old Black youth will be disastrous for this young man.

In a statement, ODonnell clarified that the district does not have discretion to refer physical altercations to the police department.

In addition to prompting our own internal investigations, every physical altercation within our high school is automatically logged by our school resource officer (SRO), a police officer, ODonnell wrote. The district has no say in whether charges or arrests follow. Charges are up to the victim in collaboration with local police departments.

On Monday night, community members and ODonnell also spoke about restorative justice, a process that involves students, families, and possibly community members to help the students involved make amends.

You must demonstrate how this incident provides all the members of staff the opportunity to practice respect, dignity and restorative justice as a way to reflect and implement SCASD practices, Terry Watson said. I would like to see SCASD administration and board members utilize the tools and training they have received by using mediation and restorative justice as a course correction.

ODonnell stressed that a restorative approach is a collaborative approach between the school and families.

As we continue moving forward through the troubling actions in the high school we will work toward further preventing acts of bias and hate and to improve our school climate, ODonnell said.
Good morning, Chicago.

Chaos and confusion marked the start of the school week across Illinois, after a judge ruled that Gov. J.B. Pritzkers COVID-19 mask mandate was authorized illegally.

At least two school districts, St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 and Geneva Community Unit School District 304, took an emergency day and shuttered schools. School districts in Naperville and Elgin kept masking rules in place. Chicago Public Schools continued to mandate masks, which officials said is allowing them to protect the safety of students and staff and keep schools open for in-person learning.

Meanwhile, some south and southwest suburban districts were taking varied approaches to the temporary restraining order.

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.

COVID-19 tracker | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Daily horoscope | Ask Amy | Todays eNewspaper edition

Current and former Jewish residents of West Rogers Park have made two things clear since the attacks that Chicago police are investigating as hate crimes: They love their community, and they dont want to live in fear.

Rabbi Levi Notik said he will respond to the hatred at F.R.E.E. Synagogue with acts of love. Its like a dark room. When you light a small match, that little bit of light, it dispels a lot of darkness, Notik said. And thats the way it is in the world.

The Chicago Tribune has filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago over records on cases involving misconduct allegations that officials have refused to release despite two separate attorney general opinions in the newspapers favor.

Its unfortunate that the city has forced us to take this action, but the Tribune will always prioritize the publics right to know over the comfort of elected officials, said Tribune Executive Editor Mitch Pugh.

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Chicago is expanding its carjacking task force as residents remain concerned about high violent crime, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Superintendent David Brown announced.

Brown said the task force is currently staffed during two out of three watches but will soon be staffed 24 hours a day with officers focused on arresting carjackers.

With the country grappling with a surge in homicides and shootings, Eddie Bocanegra has been named senior adviser for community violence intervention in the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a release from Heartland Alliance, where he serves as senior director.

Some said the appointment is an acknowledgment from the administration of President Joe Biden that solutions to the two-year spike should include input from people on the ground  such as Bocanegra  who have responded to persistent gun violence with street outreach and mediation, direct support for victims, job training and therapy.

Everly Backe (rhymes with hockey) is just 4 years old and has already endured and rebounded from three open-heart surgeries because of her congenital heart defects.

The Crystal Lake natives condition is unique, even though congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect. Her health condition has left her with a number of physical scars. But it was the scar down her chest, her zipper scar from said open-heart surgeries, that her dad Matt wanted Everly to feel less unique about. So, he got a tattoo similar to her scar on his chest, in the same place as hers, in January.
Juanda Beck Jones, president of the Democratic Club of North Florida, welcomes the audience to the Anita Davis tree dedication.

The Democratic Club of North Florida dedicated a magnolia tree planted at the Jake Gaither Community Center to honor the memory of Anita Louise Porter Davis who served the community of Leon County in various capacities for over 40 years.

Former Commissioner Anita Davis died on Jan. 17, 2021.

Davis leaves behind a legacy of public service leadership as the first African American woman elected to the Leon County Commission (1990) and then presided as chair over the commission (1993-1994). Davis served as the President of the Tallahassee Branch of the NAACP and the Jake Gaither Neighborhood Association. Commissioner Davis died on Jan. 17, 2021.

Anita Davis served as the President of the Tallahassee Branch of the NAACP and the Jake Gaither Neighborhood Association. Commissioner Davis died on Jan. 17, 2021.

Elected officials extolled the influence Davis had on their political paths. Mayor John Dailey, City Commissioner Curtis Richardson, and Property Appraiser Akin Akinyemi each praised her for mentoring them.

As president of the Tallahassee Branch of the NAACP, Davis successfully sued the Leon County Commission to establish single member districts. Former District 1 Commissioner Henry Lewis and current District 1 Commissioner Bill Proctor said they owed their seat to Davis.

Former Mayor Dot Inman-Johnson introduced elected officials, special guests, and family members.

Former Mayor Dot Inman-Johnson introduced elected officials, special guests, and family members. Club president Juanda Beck Jones presided over the ceremony and read the inscription on the dedication plaque.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Democratic Club dedicates tree in memory of Anita Davis
Blue state governors and state health officials who most vigorously embraced pandemic restrictions are pivoting toward a new era, using Omicrons decline to dial back precautions that have become a hallmark of the last two years.

Health departments from Oregon to Maine have over the last few weeks ended almost all of their government-run Covid-19 contact tracing operations and shifted the responsibility to the public.

At the same time, Democratic governors in the Northeast and West, where case counts are dropping dramatically, are loosening mask policies and preparing residents for the reality that Covid-19 will be around long term.

Were not going to manage Covid to zero, said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who has taken a strict approach to pandemic protocols, but who on Monday said he would lift the states school mask mandate. We have to learn how to live with Covid as we move from a pandemic to the endemic phase of this virus."

Governors in Connecticut and Delaware, as well as Oregons health department, also announced Monday that students could soon remove their masks. Governors in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York have also signaled forthcoming changes to their mask rules, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, announced he is ending the indoor mask mandate next week but keeping masks in classrooms, for now.

These actions, from governors who have been among the most aggressive in pursuing pandemic restrictions, come as President Joe Biden and his top health officials have begun intimating a new normal is on the horizon as they prepare for a world where the virus is a present but not a dominant part of peoples lives.

The shift in pandemic policy comes as case counts and hospitalizations have rapidly declined from their peak last month, offering fresh hope that the latest surge is the last. And while Covid-19 is still very much a pandemic  with the country averaging roughly 250,000 new infections and 2,500 deaths each day over the last week  state health officials are increasingly peppering their statements with the e-word.

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We have to look at shifting to treating it more like an endemic illness, Marshall Vogt, senior epidemiologist in the Virginia Department of Healths Division of Immunization, told POLITICO. I dont think we know that yet for sure, but I think were on the cusp of being able to figure that out.

Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine said last week that Omicron has hastened our pathway to the endemic state. Colorado has put out a request for proposal seeking the private sectors help in developing an endemic response plan. And Newsom is expected to unveil an endemic strategy for the state after Los Angeles hosts the Super Bowl this weekend, though business groups and others familiar with the discussions dont yet know exactly what that means.



In Republican-controlled states, where governors have largely resisted mask mandates and economic restrictions, the declining case counts are providing a reason to end the remaining traces of their states pandemic response.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced her final emergency declaration extension and plans to decommission the states Covid data sites, and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson recently urged the federal government to provide clear guidelines to states on how to transition from a pandemic to an endemic response.

Some health officials view the changes as a prelude to what a post-pandemic management of Covid might look like, with the onus for preventing the virus day-to-day spread on individuals, while health departments play a supporting role in vaccinating, educating the public and stopping outbreaks in high-risk settings.

Public health experts are urging caution, though, noting warm weather and declining case counts have lulled Americans into a false sense of security before. Last summer, Biden declared the nations independence from Covid  only to have the virus come roaring back thanks to the Delta and Omicron variants.

I think we are certainly at a point where we're living with Covid, said Meredith Allen, vice president for health security at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. But I think it really is hard to predict out what may or may not come in the future.



During previous surges, overwhelmed health departments struggled to trace contacts because of testing slowdowns and significant case volumes but they still believed in the utility of the practice. Now, many public health experts say not only is contact tracing not feasible, but its also no longer useful in most cases for Covid.

Because Omicron has a shorter incubation period than previous variants, by the time someone finds out they have tested positive, those they have infected are likely a couple days into their illness and already passed the virus onto other people, creating a situation where the virus is one step ahead of public health officials.

The bottom line here is that contact tracing is a race. It's a race between public health and the virus. Who's going to reach people first, us or the virus? Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah told reporters last week. Until Omicron, that race was fairly neck and neck, but Omicron is a different competitor. The virus that we all first knew about in 2020 has changed. It now has a jetpack on its back.

The increase in at-home testing also means many cases are going unreported to health departments, leaving it up to those individuals to notify their contacts when they test positive.

Public health officials say government-run contact tracing will continue to play a role in mitigating the spread of Covid-19, just in a more targeted capacity. Most health departments that have abandoned widespread contact tracing for the public still plan to conduct disease investigation and tracing in high-risk settings, including hospitals, nursing homes and jails, where case clusters are likely and where the practice can more effectively stop transmission.

We need to use the best tools we have in response to where the pandemic is at the moment, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Summer Tonizzo said.



For the public, many health departments are promoting booster shots, informing people of the importance of wearing higher quality masks and directing Covid-positive patients to local case support hotlines. National health organizations, including the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the National Association of County and City Health Officials, are backing the trend toward putting more responsibility on individuals.

It is time to empower the public to act when they suspect COVID-19 infection, they wrote in a recent letter supporting the shift away from contact tracing among many state and local health departments, and urging others to follow suit.

For health departments, its a balance between making sure they are still responding to the crisis at hand while also preparing for a future where the response to Covid becomes quotidian and they have more energy to devote to other public health threats, including the pandemic-era rise in sexually transmitted infections, overdose deaths and mental health issues.

Its a conversation thats been happening for at least a year now, Adriane Casalotti, chief of public and government affairs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said.

Were thinking about what the next stages could be and were really hopeful that theres an end to this in sight, or at least an endemic piece to this in sight, Casalotti said. But we need to make sure that were not looking so far in the future that we cant be doing the work thats necessary between here and there.

Susannah Luthi and Victoria Colliver contributed to this report.
Editors Note (May 2, 2022, 10:42 a.m. ET): NBC News has determined that two passages in an earlier version of this article  one about the child tax credit payments and another about Sen. Joe Manchins opposition to the credit  were not properly attributed to their original source and did not meet our standards for original material. The passages have been removed from the article.

WASHINGTON  Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday said they are not giving up hope on extending the child tax credit, hedging their bets that they can win over Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a key holdout.

"Senator Manchin has not slammed the door on this," said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., during a news conference Tuesday. "We know over the last six months that people have spent the money the way we said they were going to spend the money, which was to buy groceries, to pay for rent, really importantly to pay for child care so they could stay at work."

The news conference was held as a part of the Biden administration's outreach campaign to get millions of families to file their taxes so they can receive the second half of payments from the expanded child tax credit, which has helped keep families across the country afloat during the pandemic.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said she has sent material to Manchin answering the questions that he has had and "we're not, you know, throwing in the towel on this."

"We want the partnership of all of the Democrats and Senator Manchin and answering the questions, she continued. "And again, the data over and over again supports some of the issues that he had concerns about and we're going to keep at that and the American people are going to keep at that as well."

But Manchin told reporters on Tuesday that he is "not a part of any organized discussions" about the child tax credit.

On the 15th of each month, parents who signed up received payments of up to $300 per child under age 6 and $250 per child ages 6 to 17. Within weeks of the first payment in July, 55 percent of middle-income families spent their payments on food, more than 26 percent spent it on clothes, and 23 percent spend it on costs related to school and after-school programs, according to data from the Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey.

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One concern of Manchin's that Democrats say they can't satisfy is people who dont work receiving benefits. Manchin has told reporters that any expanded child tax credit should include a work requirement, and he floated an income limit ($75,000 or less) in an interview with a West Virginia radio station. He also privately raised concerns that parents would use their child tax credit payments to buy drugs, three sources familiar with the comments told NBC News in December.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., refuted the proposal of work requirements, highlighting the tax cuts signed by then-President Donald Trump in December 2017.

"It's interesting to me in these policy arguments the double standard that gets put forward and no one even challenges it," he said. "What are the work requirements for the tax cuts given to the richest of the rich in 2017? Where are those work requirements?"

However, Bennet said Democrats might consider lowering the income threshold, though he did not specify a number.

"I think we would all agree that we'd all be comfortable with the income level being lower than it has been, I certainly would," he said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to unveil his planned off-ramp from pandemic restrictions in Illinois on Wednesday as the omicron-driven COVID-19 surge continues to subside, but the requirements are expected to remain in place for schools amid an ongoing legal challenge, sources said.

[Update] Gov. J.B. Pritzker will lift indoor mask mandate by Feb. 28, but rules remain in place for schools 

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Pritzker said during an appearance in Springfield on Tuesday that people looking for some indication of when his mask mandate would end should stay tuned.

Were very close, he said, while declining to offer any specifics.

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The governor is scheduled to make the announcement at a 2 p.m. news conference at the James R. Thompson Center in the Loop.

Pritzkers move would follow announcements from Democratic counterparts on both coasts on plans to roll back mask mandates in the coming weeks.

A decision on the mask mandate that has been in place since August for all indoor public places in Illinois would also come at a pivotal time for the first-term governor.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker at the Illinois Emergency Management Agency office after issuing a disaster proclamation and activating 130 members of the National Guard to assist with emergency operations in central Illinois ahead of a winter storm on Feb. 1, 2022, in Springfield. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

In addition to being in the midst of a reelection campaign, Pritzker is fighting in a state appeals court to overturn a judges order that called into question his legal authority for requiring masks in schools.

Pritzker in recent days has pointed to COVID-19 hospitalizations as the key indicator for when it may be safe to forgo masks in public settings. Illinois is one of nine states that currently has a universal mask mandate.

On Tuesday morning, Pritzker alluded to a plan to remove the mandate to be revealed shortly, though he did not provide specific thresholds of when the mandate might be lifted.

Im pleased with the fact that we are at nearly a third of where we were when we were at our peak in terms of hospitalizations, Pritzker said during an unrelated event in Normal. Our hospitals are actually in much better shape now in terms of being able to manage the other people who come to a hospital.

A day earlier, Pritzker pointed to the low point in hospitalizations last summer  when he temporarily lifted the mask mandate  when asked about a specific bench mark for removing it again.

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When the requirement was rescinded June 11, the state was averaging 760 COVID-19 patients in hospitals per day, compared with an average of 3,025 during the week ending Monday. The average number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital reached an all-time high of 7,245 per day during the week ending Jan. 13.

On Monday, the Democratic governors of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon announced plans to roll back their mask requirements for schools over the next two months. In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced masks will no longer be required for fully vaccinated people beginning Feb. 16, though the rule will remain in place for schools, hospitals and certain other settings. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday also is expected to announce the end of the states mandate.

Noting the change of course among Pritzkers fellow Democrats, House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs sent the governor a letter Tuesday demanding to know what he has planned for Illinois.

Governor, it has been a long two years, and the people of this state deserve to know what you are doing, Durkin wrote. Will you follow the lead of your Democratic colleagues across the nation, or will you continue to force your will on the people of Illinois, depriving them of any optimism for their future and the future of this state?

Prtizkers office did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Durkins letter.

The moves by governors across the country are at odds with the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which continues to recommend universal masking in schools, regardless of vaccination status, and in areas the federal agency defines as having substantial or high coronavirus transmission. That still includes every county in Illinois and nearly every county in the country, according to the most recent data.

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The CDC guidelines were issued during the delta variant wave last summer and havent been updated in response to the more recent surge driven by the omicron variant, which in general caused less severe disease.

Still, because the variant is more transmissible, the omicron surge filled hospitals with more COVID-19 patients than any previous wave of the pandemic and drove death tolls not seen since before vaccines were widely available.

During his Springfield stop Tuesday afternoon, Pritzker didnt give a clear indication of whether any move to roll back the mask requirement for indoor public places would include schools. Last summer, he issued an order requiring masks in schools before expanding the requirement to other settings.

Its such a central focus of communities and, literally, sometimes thousands of people are interacting in a school in a single day in one location  parents, grandparents, teachers, staff, kids  and then they spread out in the community ... not just ... in the afternoon when school lets out but also on the weekends, Pritzker said. And so weve got to be very careful about how we remove those mask mandates and also making sure that the schools are doing whats responsible.

That includes making sure districts have coronavirus testing available and know when to consider instituting local masking requirements, he said.

Pritzkers decision has been complicated by a Sangamon County Circuit Court judges Friday decision to block the state and school districts named in a set of lawsuits from enforcing the mask requirement for students and teachers named as plaintiffs in the case. The state is seeking an appellate court order reversing the lower court ruling.

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The increasing pressure over masks comes as COVID-19 cases have dropped to their lowest level in more than two months.

Over the past week, the state has averaged 6,815 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases per day, down from a record high of 32,501 daily cases during the week ending Jan. 12 and the lowest level since the week ending Dec. 5.

While cases are no longer the most reliable indicator of transmission because of the prevalence of home testing and other factors, health officials have pointed to the declining hospitalizations as a key indication that the surge is declining.

State health officials on Tuesday reported 87 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the statewide death toll to 31,570 since the pandemic began.

Chicago Tribunes Jeremy Gorner contributed from Springfield.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com

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cspaulding@chicagotribune.com
During his second confirmation hearing Tuesday, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo dodged questions about how much time hes been spending at the University of Florida where he also works, his plan for promoting boosters and his association with a "fringe medical group."

He also refused, again, to say whether he has been vaccinated, calling it a private medical matter.

Those were posed to him by Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, who had first crack at questioning and remained his chief interrogator of the Harvard-educated research doctor from the University of California Los Angeles before the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.

Sen. Tina Polsky poses questions for Dr. Joseph Ladapo during a confirmation hearing held by the Senate Ethics and Elections CommitteeTuesday, Feb. 8, 2022.

Polsky is the same senator he snubbed several months ago by declining to wear a mask in her office at her request; she had recently begun cancer treatment.

But, unlike Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book did at the first hearing, Polsky did not ask for an apology. Instead she saved her dig at Ladapo for her closing remarks, after a lengthy hour-long extra inning of grilling before the Ethics and Elections Committee voted 5-4 Tuesday night to recommend his confirmation.

"Were in the middle of a pandemic," Polsky said, sizing up a nominee who "was not recommended by his former supervisor; is part of a right-wing, fringe medical group who has turned his position into a political one; who is dubious about vaccines and thinks masks are useless  even when requested by someone to wear one."

Background check: UCLA supervisor wouldn't recommend Joseph Ladapo for Florida Surgeon General job

"Arrogance and polite avoidance": Senate Democrats walk out as Republicans on panel OK Joseph Ladapo as Florida Surgeon General

'Spectacularly unqualified' or a 'hazing' by Democrats?

Ladapo was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in September to replace Dr. Scott Rivkees as the state's surgeon general. He also serves as head of the Department of Health. His appointment must be confirmed by the full Senate.

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Earlier, Polsky asked Ladapo what he knew about Americas Frontline Doctors, a group Ladapo associated with while at UCLA. In July 2020, he stood on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court with several other members of the organization, championing hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as treatments against COVID-19.

When he said he couldnt answer accurately, she asked, Why would you speak with them if you don't know what they do?

After attempting to distance himself from the group Ladapo conceded that its members were friends and colleagues. "I didn't say I didn't know much about the organization, he said. I know many things about them but don't feel qualified to talk as a representative.

More: 'Fear is done': Florida's new surgeon general Ladapo outspoken critic of COVID lockdowns, mandates

Sen. Tina Polsky poses questions for Dr. Joseph Ladapo during a confirmation hearing held by the Senate Ethics and Elections CommitteeTuesday, Feb. 8, 2022.

The committee went into recess after a half-hour of questioning as it ran out of its scheduled time. Committee members returned after 6 p.m. and hammered Ladapo with one fault-finding question after another over his views on masks, testing, herd immunity and vaccinations.

During one exchange, Polsky accused Ladapo of equivocating instead of giving yes-or-no answers to questions about the efficacy of vaccines. "Why can't you come out and say vaccines work?" she asked.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo responds to questions posed by senators on the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee during a confirmation hearing Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022.

Coverage from the USA TODAY Network  Florida:

Sen. Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze, commended Ladapo for his patience putting up with what he said amounted to a "hazing and badgering" with a lot of "suspicious" questions. Broxson added he believed Ladapo was just the right person to lead Florida through the COVID pandemic.

Even the committee chair, Sen. Dennis Baxley, broke his otherwise calm composure as he exhorted his Democratic colleagues to "focus on him and our objective of whether we can vote for him, rather than medical cross examinations."

But when Broxson made a motion to recommend confirmation, Polsky asked for debate, and Baxley granted it.

"I don't think we have spent an excessive amount of time discussing a life and death issue," said Sen. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach, who asked several non-COVID questions about health disparities, HIV in Florida, and lack of access to care for the uninsured.

Ultimately, Berman said, Ladapo was "spectacularly unqualified" with no vision for how to move the state forward on those issues.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo enters the Senate meeting room as the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee holds a confirmation hearing Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022.

UF work under the microscope

Another key concern was the amount of time Ladapo would be spending at his second job as a research professor at UF.

I couldnt answer in terms of how much time I spend, he answered, and instead talked about how much time he spends raising his three sons, trying to be a good husband, conducting research and running the Department of Health. I dont get a lot of sleep as a result.

Asked to name one clinical trial he was conducting, Ladapo said all his clinical trials are listed online. Pressed to explain how he was earning his six-figure salary at a public university, he mentioned a weight loss trial he started at UCLA and has been conducting for several years.

Like his predecessor, Ladapo works part-time at the University of Florida College of Medicine as a clinical researcher. He makes a combined income of $437,000 a year, with just under $200,000 of that coming from UF.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo enters the Senate meeting room as the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee holds a confirmation hearing Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022.

Under his contract, Ladapo is supposed to spend 20% of his time conducting research and clinical trials at UF College of Medicine. He also was supposed to transfer his grants from National Institutes for Health and Robert Woods Johnson to UF.

Dr. Ladapo has been in contact with the UF College of Medicine and UF Health leadership about the details of his faculty appointment, continuing the onboarding process, UFHealth spokesman William Levesque said in an email. The transition of faculty joining the university from another institution is often complex and takes time.

Ladapo visited the campus two weeks ago to meet with the UF Health Cancer Centers tobacco cessation working group, Levesque said. His next trip to campus is still being organized and we do not yet have a date scheduled.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo enters the Senate meeting room as the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee holds a confirmation hearing Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022.

Several questions were directed at testing Ladapo on his role as the head of the Department of Health, and whether he had a plan for promoting booster shots since initial vaccinations lose their effectiveness over time.

In terms of our approach to sharing information with the public about vaccines and boosters, we have focused on education and access, Ladapo said. It is easy for people to log into our website and find locations for boosters.

He also said that about 40% of adolescents to upwards of 90% of seniors have received their initial vaccinations and about 40% total have received a booster shot.

It sounds like you are taking a laissez-faire approach to boosters, Polsky said, asking why he isnt taking a more proactive approach.

Again, Ladapo emphasized the educational approach of the department: Providing that information is the basis of our strategy rather than taking more coercive measures to promote a public health goal.

Jeffrey Schweers is a capital bureau reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida. Contact Schweers at jschweers@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers.

Subscribe today using the link at the top of the page and never miss a story.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida Surgeon General grilled by Democratic senators in confirmation hearing
As wildly popular podcaster Joe Rogan comes under heavy fire for spreading Covid-19 misinformation and his long history of racist, misogynistic and transphobic remarks, former US President Donald Trump has encouraged him to stand his ground.

In a statement issued on Monday night, Mr Trump wrote that the host should shrug off the attacks against him and resist efforts to silence him or change his ways.

Joe Rogan is an interesting and popular guy, wrote the ex-president, but hes got to stop apologising to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics.

How many ways can you say youre sorry? Joe, just go about what you do so well and dont let them make you look weak and frightened. Thats not you and it never will be!

While the growing outrage at Mr Rogan was sparked by a recent run of interviews where he and his guests shared false claims about Covid-19 and the veracity of peer-reviewed scientific research into the virus and vaccines designed to protect against it, many of his critics have pointed to myriad incidents in which he uses racist epithets, jokes about coercing women into sex acts, and mocks trans people using offensive terms.

Mr Rogan has apologised for some of the incidents, and Spotify  which paid $100m to host his podcast exclusively  has removed multiple back episodes while defending its decision to keep him on its platform.

As major artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell withdraw their music from Spotify citing Mr Rogans hosting of misinformation, many on the right besides Mr Trump are defending him from what they consider an act of organised left-wing cancellation.

Right-wing website Rumble yesterday offered Mr Rogan $100m to defect from Spotify to its anti-censorship platform, writing that we stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation.
Eastern Michigan University has agreed to enter mediation with those suing it in federal Title IX lawsuits amid reports of a series of sexual assaults at the school.

The school and an attorney for the 23 women and one man suing it confirmed they plan to meet amid the two ongoing lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. District Judge Linda V. Parker had asked EMU to report its stance on mediation by Feb. 3, according to online court records.

"The court discussed with the parties the option of engaging in a round of mediation with plaintiffs at this stage, and we have agreed to participate," Vice President of Communications Walter Kraft said in an email. "As yet we have no information on the timing of such a process."

More: He called 2 Eastern Michigan University men rapists. He was arrested before them.

More: Eastern Michigan women reported sex assaults by the same man. Now they lean on each other.

Todd Flood, attorney for the 24 individuals suing EMU, two fraternities and a sorority, also confirmed the mediation.

The lawsuits accuse EMU and its Title IX office of turning a blind eye to sexual assaults and covering them up, which the school has vehemently denied.

It also levies accusations at Greek Life entities that housed several men referenced in the lawsuits, a number of whom also face criminal charges. One fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, reached a settlement in December. Details of the settlement have not been divulged. Three other Greek entities remain named in the lawsuit, and at least two have filed responses fighting the claims in the lawsuits.

The lawsuits come amid a Detroit Free Press investigation into sex assaults reported at the school, and the criminal charges.

More: Eastern Michigan police found unresponsive woman in dorm with man now accused of rapes

More: Eastern Michigan says it couldnt act on Title IX report noting multiple victims

More: Eastern Michigan says emails show they didn't mistreat women reporting sex assaults

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In its wake, the school has launched an audit of its Title IX office, launched numerous programs to quell sexual assaults at the school, including mandatory Title IX training, and launched reviews of two fraternities.

During the process in the fall, Alpha Sigma Phi chose to leave school oversight, but remain intact in Ypsilanti, citing concerns with a "kangaroo court;" the school said the fraternity didn't wish to participate or adhere to protocol.

Students protested in front of the fraternity and sorority houses in October and two individuals suing the school confronted the Board of Regents at a meeting in December.

Darcie Moran is a breaking news reporter and podcaster for the Detroit Free Press. She's served as an investigative reporter and covered justice issues, crime, protests, wildfires and government affairs. Contact Moran: dmoran@freepress.com. Twitter: @darciegmoran.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Eastern Michigan to enter mediation in sex assault lawsuits
Residents of Porter Ranch and other San Fernando Valley communities rally in January 2020 in support the permanent closure of the SoCalGas Aliso Canyon underground gas storage facility. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

To slow climate change, California has to move quickly to replace gas furnaces, water heaters, stoves and dryers with electric models powered by renewable energy.

The nations largest natural gas utility, Southern California Gas Co., does not share that outlook. The company, which sells methane gas, a leading source of planet-warming emissions, is fighting policies that would improve energy efficiency and cut planet-warming pollution. And in some cases, it has been using the money it collects from ratepayers to do so.

That's outrageous, and ratepayers should rejoice that SoCalGas is finally facing financial penalties for sticking them with the bill for its efforts to block climate action. State regulators want to impose a $9.8-million fine on the gas company for violating a 2018 order that it stop using customer money to fund advocacy work against stronger energy efficiency standards.

The penalty, outlined in a decision released Thursday by the California Public Utilities Commission, is a welcome sign that state regulators are getting serious about this violation, which the utility previously denied.

California utility companies are allowed to spend ratepayer money to lobby for higher efficiency standards for buildings and appliances. But SoCalGas is accused of doing the exact opposite  using ratepayer money to push to delay and weaken those standards. Worse, the utility kept doing it even after its tactics were revealed and the commission ordered the company to stop in May 2018.

Its understandable that SoCalGas would resist policies that threaten its business model, and there is nothing preventing the company from using shareholder money to do just that. Ratepayer money collected from customers, however, is strictly regulated.

The utility has been repeatedly criticized for using customer money for pro-fossil-fuel advocacy. In one instance, it helped create an astroturf group called Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions that pushed local government officials to oppose local gas bans, though it later changed course and agreed to charge that to shareholders instead.

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In another case that is still pending, environmentalists and the Public Advocates Office, an independent arm of the utilities commission, want SoCalGas to be fined $255 million for allegedly using customer money to fight stronger energy efficiency codes and standards for buildings and appliances, saying the utility has been involved in a concerted effort to undermine efficiency goals since at least 2014. The commission has ordered the utility to return the money it misused to ratepayers, but has not issued a financial penalty.

And let's remember that the utility is also responsible for the largest methane leak in U.S. history that began in 2015 at its Aliso Canyon storage facility.

Frustration with the gas companys arrogance shines clearly through last week's decision by administrative law judge Valerie Kao, who wrote that SoCalGas repeatedly chose to substitute its own judgment for the Commissions so as to avoid compliance with a Commission order, that its  insolence must be accorded a high degree of severity and that its arguments for why it shouldnt be penalized demonstrate profound, brazen disrespect for the Commissions authority.

Still, the penalty amounts to less than 2% of the companys annual net operating income, according to the decision. Thats not enough to provide a real deterrent to SoCalGas and its parent company, Sempra Energy. The fossil fuel giant reported $650 million in earnings for the first nine months of 2021. Does anyone think $10 million will cause any real pain to its shareholders?

As more comes to light about the company's efforts to use customer money to sabotage climate action, the commission must get more aggressive with penalties. Regulators should consider, for instance, using higher penalties to help low-income households install heat pumps, induction stoves and other electric appliances the company has fought so hard to prevent.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Two young men recently were arrested in connection with a drug-related shooting in the Lower Valley last summer.

Joey Joel Gonzalez, 18, and Kevin Jose Castillo, 20, both of El Paso, were arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Jan. 29 at the Ysleta border crossing, an El Paso police spokesman said.

The pair are accused in a shooting on the afternoon of Aug. 1 in the parking lot of Michelle's Apartments, 8507 Alameda Ave., police said.

Joey Joel Gonzalez

Marcos Ruben Rojas-Bustamantes, 20, was shot in the chest and critically wounded but survived, police and a prosecutor said.

Rojas-Bustamantes was going to buy marijuana in a deal set up by Castillo when he was shot by Gonzalez in what appeared to be an "attempted hit," a state prosecutor alleged during a teleconference bond hearing last week.

Violent crime: Shooting wounds 2 men in vehicle by Interstate 10 freeway in East El Paso

Gonzalez, who is a senior at El Dorado High School, also faces five unrelated counts of aggravated robbery with a handgun, according to jail records and information at the hearing.

Kevin Jose Castillo

Gonzalez is being held at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown on a $500,000 bond in the shooting case and a $75,000 bond on the robbery charges, a jail log stated.

Castillo also remains at the Downtown jail under a $250,000 bond in the shooting, along with bond revocation warrants on drug possession and unauthorized use of a vehicle cases, according to jail records.

Marijuana-deal homicide in 2018

The same apartments were the scene of a deadly shooting during a marijuana-deal robbery in 2018.

Ashley Richelle Galloway, then 19, and Jerrica Marie Arredondo, then 18, were arrested on murder charges in the death of 25-year-old Carlos Calderon.

The two women were accused of planning to rob Calderon after setting up a deal to buy marijuana from him in an apartment but the robbery didn't go as planned.

Witnesses saw Galloway shoot Calderon twice as he was running out of the apartment before he fell down, bleeding on the building's stairs, according to a criminal complaint.

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In September 2019, Galloway pleaded guilty to a murder charge and was sentenced to 35 years in prison, according to court records.

Next month, Arredondo is scheduled to go on trial in the 243rd District Court on charges of murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 915-546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.

More: Circle K shooting in South-Central El Paso wounds dad trying to keep son away from gang

More: Fatal shooting of 2 El Paso teens stems from drug deal robbery at Shawver Park, police say

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso police arrest 2 in shooting at Lower Valley apartments
By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France, facing a presidential election in weeks, has halted moves to clear an EU trade deal with Mexico which would allow in 20,000 tonnes of beef imports and wants to make it tougher to access the bloc's markets, diplomats say.

The European Union's second largest economy runs a consistent overall trade surplus with non-EU countries and its companies benefit from the lower tariffs of trade deals, but farmer sensitivity to beef imports in particular makes trade politically explosive.

A new trade pact might spark farm protests or fuel anti-globalisation rhetoric from far-right opponents, hampering President Emmanuel Macron's expected re-election bid in April and legislative elections in June.

Interbev, France's meat federation, has urged Macron to oppose the deal and block ongoing negotiations that could lead to further "ultra-competitive" meat imports from the likes of Australia, New Zealand or the Mercosur bloc, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Conveniently, France holds the rotating presidency of the bloc for the first half of the year, giving it the chance to steer EU policy.

One trade agreement that would normally have been put to EU governments for approval is the update of an existing deal with Mexico, signed in 2020, which would allow in 20,000 tonnes of beef imports.

Trade talks were indeed suspended with Australia after French fury over a cancelled submarine contract. France also put on hold the conclusion of negotiations to modernise its trade deal with Chile, according to EU diplomats and officials.

"The (EU) Commission has accepted, due to the importance of the election and the sensitivities around trade and globalisation, that nothing will get through. It's frustrating. We can complain, but this is how it is," said one EU diplomat.

A French government spokesperson said it was not France holding up trade deals.

Trade Minister Franck Riester points to Chile having a new president, who only begins in March and whose administration will need to work with the Commission to finalise a deal. The Mexican agreement is in the hands of the Commission, he said.

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A PAUSE OR A DAMAGING DELAY?

Paris is not without allies. Some EU countries, with sizeable farm sectors to protect, are quietly backing Paris. Many EU lawmakers also favour greater reciprocity and trade based more on European values.

"There's more than just French fingerprints on this trade paralysis," said a senior EU diplomat.

Some diplomats and trade experts believe this is just a pause given the next holders of the EU's rotating presidency are the more free trade-minded Czech Republic and Sweden.

Others say it undermines the bloc's credibility among trade partners, who spend years negotiating deals with the Commission, only to find it taking years more for it to be sold to EU lawmakers and governments.

There is also a matter of timing, in terms of the leaders, domestic politics and the electoral cycle.

"The question is whether the stars are aligned. For the EU deals with Japan and Vietnam they were aligned, but it may not have happened again," said Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of trade think tank ECIPE.

TRADE DEFENCE

By contrast, France is enthusiastic on more protective trade measures.

It wants agreement by early March on legislation designed to limit foreign bidders for EU public procurement contracts if their own countries do not reciprocate.

It is also keeping a keen eye on a review of conditions for striking a free trade agreement with Europe.

The latter centres on environmental and labour standards that the bloc insists its free trade partner must uphold. France though has raised eyebrows with its talk of a need for "mirror clauses".

Riester says such clauses already exist in bans on growth hormones in meat or plans to limit trade in products linked to deforestation. Other EU members are concerned they could go much further, deterring would-be partners that would need to mirror EU working practices with no EU commitment to mirror theirs.

Bernd Lange, the influential head of the European Parliament's trade committee, said the EU was learning, along with other economies, that trade policy needed to take workers and the environment more into account.

"The old-fashioned theory of trade based on Ricardo and Smith, that you just withdraw trade restrictions and growth will come, benefiting everybody, is quite wrong," he said.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; additional reporting by John Chalmers in Brussels and Leigh Thomas in Paris; editing by Mark John and Nick Macfie)
By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union authorities need to better understand the futuristic digital world known as the 'metaverse' before they can decide how to regulate it, the bloc's antitrust chief said on Tuesday.

The metaverse involves a network of virtual environments accessed via different devices where users can work, socialize and play. It has come into sharper focus since Facebook changed its name to Meta last October to reflect its bet on the new sector.

That move has in turn triggered concerns about Facebook's possible dominance.

"... the metaverse is here already. So of course we start analysing what will be the role for a regulator, what is the role for our legislature," Margrethe Vestager told an online event organised by a group of German newspaper publishers.

"Everything we do must be fact-based and based on the information that we can get... We need to understand it before we can decide what actions would be appropriate," said Vestager, who is Denmark's representative on the EU's executive Commission.

Facebook is already in Vestager's crosshairs over its collection and use of data. Companies can be fined up to 10% of their global turnover if found guilty of breaching the bloc's antitrust rules.

Meta, which is betting the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet, has invested heavily in virtual and augmented reality. It has not shared many details about how brands will monetize in the metaverse.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Gareth Jones)
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield has long been mired in political shenanigans, but advocates hope a bill just passed by state legislators will lead to better and more transparent institution.
By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) - An American lawyer convicted of assaulting a plain-clothes Hong Kong police officer during anti-government protests in 2019 lost his appeal on Tuesday and was taken back to jail to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Samuel Bickett, a former anti-bribery compliance director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, was jailed for four months and two weeks in June last year for assaulting Yu Shu-sang on Dec. 7, 2019. He was released on bail in August after spending more than six weeks in jail.

In 2019, the former British colony faced the longest and biggest pro-democracy protests since its 1997 return to Chinese rule, often involving violent clashes between protesters and police. More than 10,000 people were arrested in relation to the demonstrations, some of them by plain-clothes police.

In videos widely circulated online, Bickett is seen attempting to snatch an extendable baton from Yu's hands as the officer fell to the ground. When asked by another person using a derogatory term for the police whether he was a policeman, Yu, wearing jeans and a blue jacket, said "no" then "yes".

"As observed by the court, time and time again, police officers or any public officers who are carrying out their public responsibilities must be protected when in the execution of their duties," High Court Judge Esther Toh said.

Bickett said in a statement he was sent back to prison for a crime he did not commit and he would appeal again to a higher court.

Bickett has said he was trying to stop Yu from assaulting another person in a train station.

Yu earlier told the court he was using his baton to stop a man from jumping over the turnstile without paying and he did identify himself as a police officer.

Magistrate Arthur Lam in the Eastern Magistrates Court said it was understandable Yu did not immediately answer "yes" to the "disrespectful" question.

Bickett, who has lived in Hong Kong and Taiwan since 2013, was immediately detained.

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He told Reuters in November he believed he suffered an injustice.

"I dont regret stepping in that day, doing the right thing," Bickett said.

(Editing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Robert Birsel)
A demonstrator holds a photo of Amir Locke during a rally in protest of his killing, outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 5, 2022. KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images

The family of Amir Locke plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the Minneapolis Police Department, their lawyer said.

"We feel that excessive force killed Amir Locke," civil rights attorney Ben Crump told Insider.

Locke was fatally shot in an apartment by police carrying out a no-knock warrant on February 2.

The family of Amir Locke, the young Black man fatally shot by Minneapolis police carrying out a no-knock warrant earlier this month, is poised to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city's police department for the killing, the family's attorney told Insider on Tuesday.

"We anticipate a lawsuit being filed" for the February 2 death of 22-year-old Locke, said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Locke's family.

"We feel that excessive force killed Amir Locke," Crump said, adding that the SWAT team officers who executed the raid at a downtown Minneapolis apartment building "just entered that house without giving [Locke] any warning" as he slept.

Crump said he believes the Minneapolis Police Department, as well as the city of Minneapolis, is at fault for Locke's death.

"We think the no-knock warrant policy killed him more drastically than the bullets from the police officer's gun," said Crump. "If they did not have this policy then Amir would be living today."

Locke was shot to death as a team carried out the no-knock warrant as part of a St. Paul, Minnesota homicide investigation.

Police have said that Locke was not named in the no-knock warrant.

Graphic footage of the incident from a police body-worn camera shows Locke under a blanket on the couch when police stormed into the home just before 7 a.m.

Locke can be seen in video footage on the couch with a pistol in his hand moments before he was shot dead.

Locke's family said he was a legal gun owner.

"Just like any American citizen, he has a right to the Second Amendment," Crump said. "Black people have rights to the Second Amendment."

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Crump said Locke, an aspiring hip-hop artist, was a driver for the food delivery company DoorDash and owned a gun "for safety."

"He talked to both his mother and father before he got the gun," Crump said, adding that Locke "researched it, he did everything that a responsible citizen would do to exercise their Second Amendment rights."

"When these police officers broke into the home while he was asleep, in a dead sleep," Crump said, Locke reacted "as any reasonable law-abiding gun owner would have."

The use of no-knock warrants have come under fire in recent years, especially after the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was killed during a no-knock police raid in 2020 in Kentucky.

Several cities have banned no-knock warrants and Minneapolis restricted the use of the controversial practice in 2020.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A look at some of today's top stories, the weather forecast and a peek back in history.

Though conservationists worry about climate change and other threats, federal officials say the Sonoran desert tortoise is safe from extinction.

A Maricopa County judge rejected appeals from state officials for an immediate ruling on the constitutionality of Proposition 208, a tax increase that GOP lawmakers say must be resolved before they decide whether to lift a spending cap and spare deep cuts to school budgets.

The voucher debate returns to the state Capitol on Tuesday with proposals to expand the program, an annual exercise that inflames passions about the state's public schools and parental choice.

Today, you can expect it to be sunny, with a high near 74 degrees. Clear skies at night, with a low near 45 degrees. Get the full forecast here.

Today in history

On this date in 1881, Gila County was created from parts of Maricopa and Pinal Counties.

In 1913, the University of Arizona unconditionally prohibited ragtime dancing and said all social functions must end by 11:30 p.m.

In 1932, Winnie Ruth Judd was found guilty of murder by a jury of twelve men at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix.

In 1935, Albert Steinfeld, a pioneer Tucson merchant, died.

In 1988, Gov. Evan Mecham is removed from office through impeachment after the state Senate convicted him of obstructing justice and misusing $80,000 in state funds allegedly funneled to his Pontiac dealership to keep it afloat.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ Briefing: Feds won't list Sonoran desert tortoise as threatened
Are the Kids Alright? is Yahoo Entertainment's video interview series exploring the impact of show business on the development and well-being of former child entertainers, from triumphs to traumas.

Christy Carlson Romano laughs about it now: that time she dropped a lot of the cash she'd earned, beginning as a teen on Disney shows like Even Stevens and Kim Possible and playing Belle on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast, on a crystal. It wasn't at all funny in the moment, though.

"I think it was like 21 when things started to get really complicated with my finances," Romano, now 37, tells Yahoo Entertainment, "I was making all this money and, rather than invest it in a house or invest it in you know, passive income and build up my portfolio  like, that was not a concept  I was a little bit spiraling in a way that I was confused about the value of the money that I had. So I didn't really understand when I started seeing a psychic."

Christy Carlson Romano appears at Disney's D23 EXPO 2019 in Anaheim, Calif. (Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney+)

While her sessions with the psychic were initially "very chill and very relaxed," they soon began to make her feel like her life depended on her buying certain things. The crystal was one such item.

"It was a big, big mistake. I think it cost like $60,000 or something crazy," she says. "I thought it was a pretty rational decision. And, in doing so, I've realized it was silly! It takes a long time to learn that when you're in your 20s, that's for sure."

In May 2019, Romano explained more of what led her to that point in an essay for Teen Vogue, which was titled My Private Breakdown. She said that while she had dreamed about going to school after the show ended in 2003, the reality was much tougher than she had envisioned. "A tape inside my head softly began to play, telling me I wasn't good enough in either the normal or entertainment world," she wrote. "My personal value was irrelevant until validated by my most recent accomplishment."

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Christy Carlson Romano, Tom Virtue, Donna Pescow, Shia LaBeouf and Steven Anthony Lawrence star in Even Stevens. (Photo: Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection)

She thought her feelings might change when she started doing theater in college. Instead, Romano found herself attempting to self-harm, scratching at her skin with a fingernail.

"I became a bit harder-edged, binge-drank more at loud nightclubs, and started to accept the transient natures of love, sex, and friendship," she wrote. "Growing up, I entertained thousands of families only to feel completely lonely. People were as replaceable as they had deemed me to be. Imposter syndrome had stiff competition against my self-hatred at that point."

In hindsight, Romano had thought the infamous crystal would somehow heal her after her childhood fame and all that came with it.

As she tells Yahoo Entertainment, "I think that the industry is a workplace for adults. It's not geared towards protecting kids. It's not a kids' workplace."

The struggle in all areas of Romano's life continued for about a decade after the show, until she went back to school, studying and graduating from Barnard College. There, she met her husband, Brendan Rooney. They now have two daughters, 5-year-old Izzy and Sophia, who turns 3 on Feb. 18.

Romano, who marked five years sober in July, continues to share her incredibly honest takes on child actors, celebrities in college and more on her YouTube channel.

Nearly two decades after the show ended, her resume also includes narrating audio books and writing books of her own. Her latest, Christy's Kitchen Throwback Cookbook, which comes out this spring, is an adaptation of her YouTube series, in which she prepared food with other former child stars from the '90s and 2000s.

She's had plenty of time to think about what she would have liked to know back then.

"If I could give any advice to young actors today, it would be to set boundaries," Romano says. "These young actors, they want to please everybody, because they're performing and they're getting attention and love. And it feels really good. But when that goes away, who are they? The earlier that any child actor can learn how to set boundaries, the better."

 Produced by Olivia Schneider and edited by Steve Michel
By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Former Pope Benedict on Tuesday acknowledged that errors occurred in handling sexual abuse cases when he was Archbishop of Munich and asked for forgiveness, as his lawyers argued he was not directly to blame.

Victims lamented a lost opportunity for healing from a scandal that has rattled the worldwide Catholic Church.

The Vatican issued a letter by Benedict and a three-page addendum following a report released last month on abuse in the archdiocese from 1945 to 2019 which included the alleged failure by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ex-pope-benedict-criticised-munich-church-abuse-report-2022-01-20 to take action in four cases when he was Munich archbishop between 1977 and 1982.

"I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate," he wrote in the letter, his first personal response to the report.

Noting that he had asked for forgiveness for the Church in his meetings with abuse survivors, Benedict, 94, wrote:

"I have come to understand that we ourselves are drawn into this grievous fault whenever we neglect it or fail to confront it with the necessary decisiveness and responsibility, as too often happened and continues to happen ... once again I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness."

A separate analysis by four legal experts he commissioned, however, disputed the specific allegations against the former pope, saying investigators had mischaracterised actions and ignored facts.

SNAP, a victims' group, said Benedict had squandered an opportunity for a "cleansing" that could have helped healing.

"Despite evidence from secular authorities ... the former pope cannot do the simple thing and offer full accounting and apology," SNAP said.

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While his lawyers' rebuttal was sharp, detailed and contentious, Benedict's page-and-a-half page German letter was deeply personal and couched in religious terms as he reflected on a long life approaching its end.

In one section he openly wondered if he, as all Catholic do in a prayer known as the Confiteor at Mass, should ask for forgiveness for what they have done and what they have failed to do "by my fault, by my most grievous fault".

He wrote: "It is clear to me that the words 'most grievous' do not apply each day and to every person in the same way. Yet every day they do cause me to question if today too I should speak of a most grievous fault."

AWAITING HIS LAST JUDGEMENT

Benedict does not answer his own question but says he is consoled that God forgives.

"Quite soon, I shall find myself before the final judge of my life," he wrote.

Benedict, who resigned unexpectedly in 2013, also thanked Pope Francis for the "confidence, support and prayer ... personally expressed to me". He did not elaborate.

Soon after the German report was issued, Benedict acknowledged that he had been at a 1980 meeting over a sexual abuse case when he was archbishop of Munich, saying he had mistakenly told German investigators he was not there.

At the time, Benedict's personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, said the omission was the result of an oversight in the editing of 82-pages of testimony he had sent the investigators and not done out of bad faith.

In Monday's letter, Benedict said: "To me it proved deeply hurtful that this oversight was used to cast doubt on my truthfulness, and even to label me a liar."

The Vatican media package issued on Monday included videos of Ganswein reading the pope's letter in German and Italian.

The three-page addendum, called "Analysis of the Facts by the collaborators of Benedict XVI", was written by three canon (Church) lawyers and one civil lawyer.

Last month's report on abuse in Munich, which identified nearly 500 abuse victims over nearly 75 years, was written by a German legal firm commissioned by the archdiocese.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Nick Macfie)
The property of the former Tuscany Square Ristorante will be the site of the new office for District Judge Rick Russo in Neshannock Township.

NESHANNOCK TWP.  Lawrence County Commissioners approved an agreement Tuesday with Wish Development for the new office location for District Judge Rick Russo.

The new location will be at 3470 Wilmington Road, at the site of the former Tuscany Square Ristorante.

The office had been located in the plaza next to Allshouse Appliance at 3455 Wilmington Road. The new location is essentially across the street from the current one, according to Commissioners Chairman Morgan Boyd.

Russo serves the communities of Neshannock Township, South New Castle, Wilmington Township, New Wilmington, Pulaski Township, Volant, Shenango Township, Hickory Township, Scott Township, Washington Township and Plain Grove Township.

Boyd said Russo is in favor of the new location.

New office specifics and plan

The deal for the new office is described as a partnership between Wish and the county, as Wish will be paying to acquire the property, and for all the planning and renovation work that will occur, while the county will pay for the monthly rent.

The new office will contain new painting, signage, a custom interior floor plan and new security.

While the property itself is 5,200 square feet, the new judge office will only use 2,910 square feet, plus the outdoor patio area which will have a roof placed over it to be turned into the new waiting room.

Wish plans to complete the renovations in 180 days or less. The company will impose a self-monetary penalty on itself each day it is delayed.

The buildings landlord will also make sure whoever uses the remainder of the property space will be appropriate to be located next to a magisterial office.

Commissioner Dan Vogler wanted to thank the Allshouse family for allowing the county to use space in their plaza, for different district judges, for around 40 years.

He also said every 10 years, magisterial judge boundaries are reviewed, and the Lawrence County Courts have proposed to the state to keep the boundaries the same for all four county district judges for the next two years.

Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Ellwood City Ledger. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ellwood City Ledger: New district judge office location secured in Neshannock Township
TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisia's main Western donors voiced "deep concern" on Tuesday at the president's move to dissolve a body tasked with ensuring judicial independence after he seized wide powers last year in a move critics call a coup, as the foreign minister sought to allay fears.

President Kais Saied announced his declaration to abolish the Supreme Judicial Council on Sunday, a move the body rejected as illegal and an attempt to undermine judges' independence.

The head of the council, Youssef Bouzakher, told Reuters on Tuesday that its members were defying Saied's push to close it down and were discussing via email their next steps to oppose the move.

Ambassadors to Tunisia from the G7 group of rich democracies said "a transparent, independent and efficient judiciary and the separation of powers are essential for a functioning democracy that serves its people".

Foreign Minister Othman Jarandi received on Tuesday ambassadors of the G7 group and the representative of the Commission on Human Rights and informed them the president's decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council aims to reform the judiciary.

"The president's decision does not aim in any way to put a hand on the judiciary", the minister said.

Tunisia faces a crisis in public finances, with Tunisians already complaining of shortages of some goods and with the central bank governor warning of an economic collapse like in Venezuela or Lebanon.

While Tunisia has started talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a rescue package seen as necessary to unlock other financial help, donors have urged Saied to adopt an inclusive approach to reforms.

The president has promised to uphold rights and freedoms Tunisians won in the 2011 revolution that triggered the Arab Spring and brought democracy, but his latest move has increased concern for the continued rule of law.

In July he suspended the parliament and dismissed the prime minister, later saying he could rule by decree while he prepares a new constitution that he says will be put to a referendum this summer.

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However, rights groups fear he is growing increasingly authoritarian and his latest move to bring the judiciary under his control would mean he had absolute power over all branches of state.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, also urged Saied to restore the council, warning its dissolution "would seriously undermine the rule of law".

Rights group Amnesty International also said on Tuesday the move posed "a grave threat to fair trial rights in Tunisia".

The judges association said in a statement that it would suspend all work in courts on Wednesday and Thursday and that judges would hold a protest against Saied's decision on Thursday.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara, writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Alex Richardson, Alison Williams, Angus MacSwan and Marguerita Choy)
If Netflix is the big dog in Hollywood now, then The Power of the Dog is the dog behind the dog at this years Academy Award nominations, announced Tuesday.

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The films 12 Oscar nominations include best picture, adapted screenplay, direction and all four key actors: the lead (Benedict Cumberbatch, wholl win if Will Smith in King Richard doesnt) plus three sizable supporting turns (Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons).

Nominations for The Power of the Dog handed a second directorial nod,to screenwriter-director Jane Campion, following The Piano a generation ago. Campions Netflix-backed 1925-set chamber Western of repressive sexuality and expressive vistas premiered last summer at the Venice International Film Festival. After that, to quote Popstar, it never stopped not stopping.

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At this profoundly uncertain juncture in global screen culture, Campions film hit the mark, certainly critically, and even by some squishy, shadowy Netflix audience metrics. The Power of the Dog is a little bit traditional, a little bit outre, reassuring in its quality and just faithful enough to novelist Thomas Savages source material to make the most of a narrative full of tortured soul, as well as intriguing payoffs.

Benedict Cumberbatch, left, and Jesse Plemons in a scene from "The Power of the Dog." (KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX  2021/AP)

The 94th Oscar nominees reflect a year that felt like two or three. (Not a full year; the Oscars eligibility release window was shortened to 10 months.) Most people saw movies at home, not in a theater, and millions appear unlikely to return to the communal screen option.

For worse or better, or at least better for next quarters earnings, Hollywood has made its peace with streaming. The studio conglomerates have appeased their stockholders with an increasing number of simultaneous, self-competing theatrical and streaming premieres. This was the case with several multiple-Oscar-nominee titles, notably best picture prospects King Richard (looking good for Will Smith for best actor) and Dune (looking likely for various design and technical categories).

Writer-director Adam McKay scored with Dont Look Up  like The Power of the Dog a Netflix-backed best picture nominee. McKay cast his doleful satire of climate change denial and MAGA belligerence with seemingly half the available members of the Screen Actors Guild. He agreed to the fees (reportedly $30 million and $25 million, respectively: all hail unequal pay for equal work among superstars!) negotiated by topliners Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. And he ended up with four nominations, including best picture.

Another Netflix title and one of my 2021 favorites, The Lost Daughter, failed to make that top slot but scored two richly deserved acting nominations, one widely predicted (Olivia Colman), the other more surprising but wonderful (first-time nominee Jesse Buckley). Director and adapter Maggie Gyllenhaal was nominated for adapted screenplay.

The acting nominees in lead and supporting ranks offered additional and often heartening surprises, and evidence of verifiable diversity married to formidable quality. The only performance category without a person of color in the ranks was best supporting actor; meantime, best actress nominees this year include Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers). Best actor nominees include Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos); Will Smith (King Richard); and Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth), in addition to Cumberbatch and, for his fervent portrayal of Rent creator Jonathan Larson in Tick, TickBoom!, Andrew Garfield.

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Will Smith in a scene from "King Richard." (AP)

Garfield, for the record, also showed up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the film that saved the theatergoing experience from utter pandemic irrelevance and proved that theres no business like Marvel business. Soon enough therell be no other business besides Marvel business, if we dont watch out and occasionally make new stuff.

Soon well wade back into the yearly tradition of unreliable, unwarranted, unsound predictions about wholl win what. This years Oscars ceremony comes March 27, returning to a hosted live show at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Tuesday mornings network TV coverage of the nominations flashed rather forlorn early-morning footage of the sidewalk outside the Dolby, sitting quietly next to a Sephora and a Walgreens.

It looked less like a sleeping giant of popular culture than an anchor tenant in an indoor/outdoor mall, waiting for retail trends to reverse course.

Meantime, some wholly justified cries of outrage tempered by a few bright spots:

No Passing? No Ruth Negga? No Tessa Thompson? No Rebecca Hall?

Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, nominated for Being the Ricardos: Really? Nomination worthy? Yes, if were nominating most valiant and conspicuous effort to make sense of our miscasting.

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No Jared Leto for House of Gucci! Fine by me! (Lady Gaga, on the other hand, I wouldnt have minded at all.)

Drive My Car among the 10 best picture nominees  way to go!

West Side Story: Every nomination, ripely deserved, although I wouldve loved also to see Mike Faists Riff nominated along with screenwriter Tony Kushner.

Jonny Greenwood: The inspired composer deserved a win for Phantom Thread, but the Academy will make it up to him this year for The Power of the Dog.

Belfast and King Richard best picture nods: Oh, well. You know. Nice films, more fraudulent than authentic. But thats where casting comes in. Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench do all they can, effortlessly, in Belfast, while in King Richard Aunjanue Elliss confrontation scene with Will Smith arrives just in time to toughen up a movie inclined to soft-pedal the fascinating man at the films center.

Finally: Kristen Stewart! Yes! An excellent surprise, as she is excellent in Spencer, a film few saw in a year when even the comparatively popular titles felt weirdly unseen.

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Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

mjphillips@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @phillipstribune

Kristen Stewart in a scene from "Spencer." (Pablo Larrain/AP)

BEST PICTURE

Belfast; CODA; Dont Look Up; Drive My Car; Dune; King Richard; Licorice Pizza; Nightmare Alley; The Power of the Dog; West Side Story

BEST DIRECTOR

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Kenneth Branagh, Belfast; Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car; Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza; Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog; Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

BEST ACTOR

Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos; Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog; Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick  Boom!; Will Smith, King Richard; Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye; Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter; Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers; Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos; Kristen Stewart, Spencer

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

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Ciaran Hinds, Belfast; Troy Kotsur, CODA; Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog; J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos; Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter; Ariana DeBose, West Side Story; Judi Dench, Belfast; Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog; Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Belfast; Dont Look Up; King Richard; Licorice Pizza; The Worst Person in the World

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

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CODA; Drive My Car; Dune; The Lost Daughter; The Power of the Dog

ANIMATED FEATURE

Encanto; Flee; Luca; The Mitchells vs. the Machines; Raya and the Last Dragon

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Dune; Nightmare Alley; The Power of the Dog; The Tragedy of Macbeth; West Side Story

COSTUME DESIGN

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Cruella; Cyrano; Dune; Nightmare Alley; West Side Story

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Dune; Nightmare Alley; The Power of the Dog; The Tragedy of Macbeth; West Side Story

EDITING

Dont Look Up; Dune; King Richard; The Power of the Dog; Tick, Tick  Boom!

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

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Coming 2 America; Cruella; Dune; The Eyes of Tammy Faye; House of Gucci

SOUND

Belfast; Dune; No Time to Die; The Power of the Dog; West Side Story

VISUAL EFFECTS

Dune; Free Guy; No Time to Die; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Spider-Man: No Way Home

SCORE

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Dont Look Up; Dune; Encanto; Parallel Mothers; The Power of the Dog

SONG

Be Alive (King Richard); Dos Oruguitas (Encanto); Down to Joy (Belfast); No Time To Die (No Time to Die); Somehow You Do (Four Good Days)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Ascension; Attica; Flee; Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised); Writing With Fire

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

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Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Bhutan; Flee, Denmark; The Hand of God, Italy; Drive My Car, Japan; The Worst Person in the World, Norway

ANIMATED SHORT

Affairs of the Art; Bestia; Boxballet; Robin Robin; The Windshield Wiper

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Audible; Lead Me Home; The Queen of Basketball; Three Songs for Benazir; When We Were Bullies

LIVE-ACTION SHORT

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The Dress; The Long Goodbye; On My Mind; Please Hold; Ala Kachuu  Take and Run
BERLIN (Reuters) - The leaders of Germany, France and Poland will discuss ways to de-escalate tensions over the Russian military build-up on the border of Ukraine in their talks late on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

"Our common goal is to prevent a war in Europe," Scholz said alongside President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda ahead of talks in the German chancellery.

(Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska; Writing by Sarah Marsh)
David Julen

The bad news about the war on drugs seems to be unrelenting. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control reveal approximately 200,000 Americans died in 2021 from substance abuse, drugs, and alcohol.

That is approximately 30,000 more deaths than the total all the wars in U.S. history, outside the Civil War and World War I and World War II. Is there any good news?

Actually, there is, the results of a landmark study on recovery completed by Harvard Medical and Massachusetts General Hospital, called the National Recovery Study, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29055821,completed in 2017 are being more widely distributed.

One of the most encouraging results of this study is that approximately 75% of the people that self-identified as having drug and alcohol problems, wind up in recovery. That is ray of hope in what may seem like a cascade of bad news. Interestingly, of the 9.1% or 22.35 million in recovery, close to half, 46%, found recovery without going through any recovery program or twelve-step group.

According to John Kelly at Harvard some of the characteristics of this group in self-recovery, in general, were less likely to have been taking some of the harder drugs, started later, and had been using a shorter time. In addition, they often had more social capital, relationships, family, and support of community. Still, it is encouraging news, that three out of four people will find their way to recovery.

Other findings are more sobering. Relapse is the norm for all that find recovery, and the process to full recovery is not normally 30, 60, 90 days, but quite often years. Perhaps, we need to rethink some of our assumptions as a society and in the church about recovery.

Often in the church our focus has been on striving to bring people to an authentic point of repentance. There are examples of those who are miraculously healed, I have met them. However, most people in recovery are in process, in the church and out.

The act of repentance and surrender often is the start, not the end of the journey. Maybe we need to view long-term support as a vital role in addition to calling for repentance. I am reminded of Paul leaving Trophimus sick in Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20), there is no hint here he does not have enough faith to get well, simply that he is still sick.

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Bearing others burdens, (Galatians 6:2), visiting the sick, (Matthew 25:36), binding their wounds, (Luke 10:30-37) are Scriptures that call us to help in the journey toward healing.

If those with social capital are more able to recover, the church, should see this an opportunity to be the church, for those suffering from addiction and for their families. Many families that have been active in church have shared stories with me that after heart attacks, surgeries, through chemo, they have been almost casseroled to death from their church family.

However, when a family member is suffering from substance abuse, too often they experienced a ringing silence. The church is to be the body of Christ, (1 Corinthians 12:26-27), to share in joy and suffering, (Romans12:12). Recovery programs and support groups are vital, but simply a willingness to lend a shoulder to cry on, to listen, to sit down with a cup of coffee is often what people desperately need.

Pastors and church leaders need to be more vocal about expressing that substance abuse is a problem for our society and for those in faith communities. They can intertwine that awareness in sermons, prayers, and educational opportunities. According to a Pew Research Study, (Oct. 26, 2017), 46% of Americans have a close friend or family member that is currently struggling with a substance use disorder or has in the past.

So, if you look to the left or right of you in the pew one of those folks has been touched by addiction.

If three out of four people find their way to recovery, we need to find ways to keep them alive to recover. Authors of the study express their great concern that the flood of fentanyl has begun to upset the equation of three out of four finding recovery. Many, that would eventually find their way to recovery, are dying from overdose.

One injection, one pill, one mistake, can cause accidental overdose. I think people in faith communities need to reconsider their thinking about harm reduction, clean needle exchange, passing out strips to detect fentanyl.

These activities can keep people alive for God to work. Help us not to be like the disciples arguing over the blind man at their feet in John 9, ignoring his need, arguing about the cause of his blindness, and the religious leaders arguing that his healing did not follow the pattern they preferred.

David Julen is the minister at Cramerton First Baptist.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Churches need to re-think how they respond to addiction
Bengals fans lined up in the cold to buy the limited edition 2022 Hudepohl Hu-Dey beers on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022.

Clad proudly in orange and black, masses of Bengals fans waited for hours in the cold outside Hudepohl's Over-the-Rhine brewery for the return of a Cincinnati classic: a six-pack of Hu-Dey beers.

The line wrapped around an entire city block Monday afternoon, from the brewery on Moore Street all the way to Huber Street.

The brewery, which is owned by parent company Cincinnati Beverage Company (CinBev), brought back the iconic beer in a newly designed limited-edition can, just in time to drink while watching the Bengals play the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI.

The new Hu-Dey beers were all brewed locally in Cincinnati. Only 2,800 six-packs were produced.

Though for many who braved the long wait, it was more about sentiment and tradition than the drink itself.

"We won't drink them, we'll hold on to them," said Jennifer Martin, 48, of Reading.

After driving about 100 miles from his home in Lucasville, Ohio, Phil Mower, 52, stood in line for over three and a half hours to purchase his six-pack.

Hudepohl is released a limited edition 2022 Hu-Dey beer, available for purchase in six packs at the brewery Feb. 7.

Mower, a self-proclaimed life-long Bengals fan, has both sets of collectors' edition cans the brewery released back in the 1980s.

Hudepohl first released its beer in a Hu-Dey can back in 1981, when the label bore a tiger face, stripes and the chant "Who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals."

Later, collectors' edition cans filled with Hudepohl's 14-K beer were printed with the 1988 Bengals schedule (sans hyphen) as HuDey.

"I had to get this one," Mower said of the newest edition of cans.

Many others either own or have someone in their family who owns a set of the 1980s cans.

When his grandfather died two years ago, Matt Wilkes, 33, of Loveland, found some of the old Hudepohl Hu-Dey cans tucked away in his grandfather's shed.

"That's 100% the reason I'm still standing in this line is to get one of those just as a keepsake to put with the rest of them," Wilkes told The Enquirer. "Cause I know he'd want me to do that."

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The line stretched an entire city block, from Hudepohl's Over-the-Rhine brewery on Moore Street all the way to Huber Street.

For Michael Konnagan, 40, the Hudepohl Hu-Dey beers are something he remembers from when he was a kid.

"I got to experience a little bit of that with my dad," Konnagan said, holding his six-pack under his arm. "That's something that's been passed down" through the generations.

As for what Konnagan plans to do with his six-pack: "I stayed in the weather all day to give this to my old man."

"This is a great time for Cincinnati," he said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Scores of Bengals fans wait in the cold for the return of Hu-Dey beer
If far-right politics is music to your ears, an Idaho gubernatorial candidate has a concert for you.

But it wont be in Boise. Nope, this ones gonna rock Emmett.

Supporting Ammon Bundys run for office, country singer Collin Raye will perform Wednesday, Feb. 23, at Stoneys Road House, 1050 Cascade Road, in the redeveloped Boise Cascade Mill complex.

This is a Keep Idaho IDAHO concert, a press release explains. Its a private event hosted by the Ammon Bundy for Governor campaign, open to the public.

Despite Bundys infamous fondness for chairs, this wont be a reserved-seat show. General-admission tickets cost $55 in advance, $65 at the door (if still available).

Raye, 61, has sold millions of albums. Since breaking out in the early 1990s, hes had 21 songs reach the Top 10 of the Billboard country charts. Four hit No. 1: Love, Me (1992), In This Life (1992), My Kind of Girl (1995) and I Can Still Feel You (1998).

Bundy, 46, has resisted millions of arrests. Kidding! It just seems like it. This anti-government militant and activist (Wikipedias words) has made Idaho news repeatedly for run-ins with the law since he moved here in 2015. (Yep, the guy keeping Idaho IDAHO is a Phoenix transplant.) Among other things, Boiseans know him as the cowboy-hat dude who got wheeled out of the Idaho State Capitol in an office chair, handcuffed, after being charged with trespassing and resisting arrest in 2020. (The incident did inspire at least one amazing Halloween costume.)

If you do really want your own seat at the fundraising concert headlined by Raye? Sponsorship tickets with reserved tables are being sold at collinconcert.com. Theres even a VIP platinum package for $5,000. Hey, with extremist politics, expect a few extreme prices.

Besides, this event already is a source of cheap entertainment. If you peruse the comments after Ammon Bundy for Governors recent Facebook post advertising the Raye concert, youll see what I mean.
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Upcoming

Introduction to Senior Health. Top 10 Tips for Optimum Senior Health with Nurse Lisa, Friday, Feb. 11, from 10-11 a.m. In this introductory program, Lisa also will survey the audience for what topics are of greatest interest for possible future presentations. RSVP required to 321-751-6771. One Senior Place is located at 8085 Spyglass Hill Road, Viera, FL 32940.

Nutrition and Pain Management. Thursday, Feb. 17, from noon to 1 p.m. Presented by Aquatic Health & Rehab. Benefits that go hand in hand. What to do and eat, and what not to do and eat. For more information and to RSVP, call 321-253-6324. One Senior Place is located at 8085 Spyglass Hill Road, Viera, FL 32940.

Support Groups

Parkinsons Discussion Group. Wednesday, Feb. 16, from 10 to 11 a.m. Come and share ideas, make new friends at the Parkinsons Discussion Group. Bring your questions and let us discuss our experiences and feelings as we deal with Parkinsons disease. RSVP to 321-751-6771. This does NOT replace the support group that is held the first Monday of the month. One Senior Place, 8085 Spyglass Hill Rd, Melbourne, FL 32940.

Alzheimers & Dementia Support Group. Wednesday, Feb. 16, from 2-3 p.m. The group encourages caregivers to maintain their own personal, physical and emotional health as well as optimal care for the person with dementia. Sponsored by Market Street Memory Care, to RSVP call 321-751-6771. One Senior Place, 8085 Spyglass Hill Rd, Melbourne, FL 32940.

Ongoing

Line dancing class. An excellent was to stay physically and mentally fit while also enjoying the social benefits. Beginner level. Larry Wright, Instructor (321-323-4928), Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., $5 a class, Viera Regional Community Center, 2300 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Fl 32940.

Free memory screenings. The Memory Disorder Clinic at Health First, 3661 Babcock St. 2nd floor, Melbourne, FL 32901, one of 17 state-funded memory clinics, provides free memory screening to anyone over the age of 18 who is concerned about memory. Memory screenings are not a diagnosis but an important first step in the evaluation process, serving a vital role toward detection and treatment. Call 321-434-7614 for an appointment.

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Zumba Gold. Perfect for active adults looking for a modified Zumba class that recreates the original moves you love at a lower intensity. Come ready to dance every Monday and Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at Freedom 7 Senior Community Center, inside the Cocoa Beach Country Club, 5000 Tom Warriner Blvd, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931. Everyone is welcome. Visit www.freedom7seniors.org or 321-783-9505 for more information. Drop in, no preregistration required.

Questions About Your Hearing? Personal Hearing Solutions, every Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at One Senior Place, 8085 Spyglass Hill Road, Viera. Sandra Wagner will be on hand to share information and answer your questions about hearing loss and solutions to it for a safe and healthy lifestyle. For more information, stop by or call 321-253-6310.

Overeaters Anonymous (OA) Meetings in Brevard County. Do you worry about the way you eat? Overeaters Anonymous may have the answer for you. For more information on the Space Coast chapter, including more meetings and contact info, visit https://oaspacecoast.org/

Cocoa Beach: 11 a.m. on Monday at the Cocoa Beach Public Library, 550 N. Brevard Avenue, Cocoa Beach

Merritt Island: 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Hobbs Pharmacy, 133 N. Banana River Drive, Merritt Island - person to person meeting or call into meeting 515-604-9755 Enter 558911#

Indian Harbor Beach: 11 a.m. on Friday at Circle Club, 230 E. Eau Gallie Blvd., Indian Harbor Beach

Indialantic: 9:30 a.m. on Saturday at Eastminster Church, Melvin Hall, 106 N.Riverside Drive, Indialantic, FL

TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly)

TOPS Chapter FL 0043 meets at 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays at the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, 3050 N. Hwy A1A, Indialantic, FL 32903, Room 101. Weigh-in begins at 3:30 p.m. Cost is $4 monthly chapter dues and new member fee is $49.78 first year only; yearly member renewals are $37. More info, call 321-271-9427 or visit http://www.tops.org

TOPS Chapter FL 0066 meets at 6:15 p.m. Thursdays at the Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library, 308 Forrest Ave, Cocoa, FL 32922. Weigh-in begins at 5:45 p.m. Cost is $4 monthly chapter dues and new member fee is $49.78 first year only; yearly member renewals are $37. More info, call 321-271-9427 or visit http://www.tops.org

TOPS Melbourne Chapter FL0164 meets on Thursdays with weigh-in starting at 8:45 a.m. and the meeting follows at 9:30 a.m. Beginning Jan. 6, 2022, the meeting place will be Wesley Methodist Church, 2075 Meadowlane Ave., West Melbourne FL (Mask optional). The new member fee is $49.78 first year only; Yearly member renewals are $37 and monthly Chapter dues $5. For more information call 720-215-8015 or visit http://www.tops.org.

TOPS Chapter FL 0307 meets at 10 a.m. Fridays St. Lukes Presbyterian Church, 1255 Knox McRae Dr, Titusville, FL 32780. Weigh-in begins at 8 a.m. Cost is $5 monthly chapter dues and the new member fee is $49.78 first year only; yearly member renewals are $37. More info, call 585-305-0626 or visit http://www.tops.org .

TOPS Chapter FL 0456 meets at 09:30 a.m. Fridays, Building C, Room 1, 625 Barefoot Bay Blvd, Barefoot Bay, FL 32976. Weigh-in begins at 9 a.m. Cost is $3 monthly chapter dues and new member fee is $49.78 first year only; yearly member renewals are $37. More info, call 321-271-9427 or visit http://www.tops.org

TOPS Chapter FL 0473 meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Roseland United Methodist Church, 12962 Roseland Road, Roseland, FL 32968. Parking provided behind building. Weigh-in begins at 6:00 p.m. Cost is $5 monthly chapter dues and new member fee is $49.78 first year only; yearly member renewals are $37. More info, call 321-271-9427 or visit http://www.tops.org

TOPS Chapter FL 0506 Meets at 10 a.m. Thursdays at the right side entrance, Faith Baptist Church, 341 Emerson Drive NW, Palm Bay, FL 32907. Weigh-in begins at 9:15 a.m. Cost is $6 monthly chapter dues and new member fee is $49.78 first year only; yearly member renewals are $37. More info, call 321-271-9427 or visit http://www.tops.org

TOPS Chapter FL 0544 Meets at 10:30 a.m. Thursdays in the Fellowship Hall, Ascension Lutheran Church, 1053 Pinetree Drive, Indian Harbour Beach, FL 32937. Weigh-in begins at 9:45 a.m. Cost is $5 monthly chapter dues and new member fee is $49.78 first year only; yearly member renewals are $37. More info, call 321-271-9427 or visit http://www.tops.org

TOPS Chapter FL 0876 meets at 10 a.m. Wednesdays, Building 2, Martin Anderson Senior Center, 1025 Florida Avenue South, Rockledge, FL 32955. Weigh-in begins at 9:30 a.m. Cost is $4 monthly chapter dues and new member fee is $49.78 first year only; yearly member renewals are $37. More info, call 321-271-9427 or visit http://www.tops.org

If you have items you'd like placed in this calendar, email Tim Walters at twalters@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Health calendar: Feb. 8, 2022
PENNSYLVANIA  As cases continue to drop in Pennsylvania and around the region, health experts say that school districts should lift their mask mandates as long as local numbers are falling as well.

The recommendation comes in the latest update from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia COVID-19 PolicyLab. The team of doctors and healthcare policy leaders there says that it's not a matter of if masking works  they say it does  but simply whether it is necessary in districts that are already seeing sharp declines.

And much of the region is in decline, just a month after cases were at record high levels.

"We acknowledge that a transition away from mitigation requirements, such as moving from mask mandates to mask-optional policies, may lead to anxiety across some school communities," the Lab said. "In that context, we offer perspective as to when and how schools might consider making this transition and how families might navigate their own choices in response."

Pennsylvania has not had a mask mandate in school in place ever since former Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam's order was ruled unconstitutional last year. Gov. Tom Wolf's administration appealed, but the state Supreme Court upheld the ruling. Beam resigned days after the ruling, and control of school masking went back to individual districts.

While some districts either immediately lifted their mask order or have lifted it since, others left it in place through the omicron surge and still now, out of caution.

Other states are moving to lift their mandates. Connecticut will lift theirs on Feb. 28, and New Jersey will lift theirs on March 7. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has not changed their formal guidance, but CHOP's latest recommendation is clear.

"In our own community, weekly testing of all school staff, which has continued in the School District of Philadelphia as part of their safety protocols, has revealed that rates for asymptomatic infections have quickly dropped to 1 in 200 individuals, from 1 in 4 the week after Christmas," the Lab added. "And as case incidence has dropped abruptly, regional adult hospital census has also dropped by half, and pediatric hospital census by nearly 80% in the last couple of weeks."



CHOP did note that districts in towns that are still seeing high case numbers, or areas that still have public mask mandates in place, should keep their own school mandates in place.

This article originally appeared on the Norristown Patch
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A dispute over who would lead Honduras' newly elected Congress has been resolved, lawmakers said on Monday, paving the way for new President Xiomara Castro to pass anti-corruption reforms she promised on the campaign trail.

Dissident lawmakers in Castro's party aligned https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rival-honduran-lawmakers-back-different-congressional-heads-dispute-with-next-2022-01-23 with opposition National Party legislators to elect a Congress president opposed by Castro last month, triggering political paralysis ahead of her inauguration.

Calling the move that endangered her legislative agenda a "betrayal," Castro had expelled the dissident lawmakers from her party, leaving her without a majority in Congress.

The expulsion has now been reversed and the dispute has been settled as the legislators have come to an agreement, according to lawmaker Jorge Calix, who served as the dissident faction's Congress president.

"We are going to keep our word in the campaign to support President Xiomara Castro's legislative agenda of anti-transparency and anti-corruption laws," Calix said in a news conference.

Calix and 16 other lawmakers from Castro's leftist Libre Party said they had signed an agreement on Monday accepting that the Congress will be led by a Castro-backed lawmaker, Luis Redondo, and agreed to work together in chamber.

The agreement means that the Libre and its allies in Congress have 68 votes in the 128-seat chamber, lawmakers say.

The simple majority will allow Castro to push through her proposal to repeal several laws that grant impunity to officials and legislators passed during the conservative government of ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez, said political analyst Raul Alvarado.

But Castro will still have to negotiate with Hernandez's National Party to elect a new Supreme Court chief justice and a new attorney general, said Alvarado.

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Rosalba O'Brien)
Eliza Coupe stars in the Fox comedy Pivoting with Ginnifer Goodwin and Maggie Q, about three friends who pivot their life priorities after the death of their friend. For Coupes character, a local talk show producer, that means actually spending time with her young kids, despite her complete lack of maternal instincts or even a desire to be around her own children.

As an actor on shows such as the Chicago-set sitcom Happy Endings, Coupe has established herself as the queen of the acerbic line reading and perhaps thats why people dont look at me and go, Yeah, lets have Eliza Coupe play the mother. Nobodys doing that. I just dont give off that vibe. But I know I can do it and I enjoy doing it. The way it was pitched to me was, You have kids. But youre not into having kids. But you love your own kids. And I was like, perfect! Sounds pretty much how I would be! So thats great! Done and done  Im pretty sure I can do that with my eyes closed!

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From left, Maggie Q, Ginnifer Goodwin and Eliza Coupe in "Pivoting." (Fox/TNS)

When asked to share a worst moment in her career, it was a cringe-y audition that came to mind. The funniest thing was, it was with Seth Rogen, Coupe said, and then years later I ended up being on Future Man, which was his show on Hulu, he was the producer. And Ive never even brought it up to him.

My worst moment 

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I was just out of the HBO Aspen Comedy Festival, which is how I got my start, and I was getting all these great auditions. This was 2007 or 2008. Months earlier I had been a bathroom attendant in Times Square. Then I did my show at Aspen, and space and time was collapsing over this four month period and all of a sudden I was going to do a directors session with Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen. I was so excited. I think it was for the movie Funny People. Ive tried to block this entire memory out, but it was a very big Judd Apatow movie and I was supposed to read with Seth.

But something was clearly going on because when I walked in, they were all on their Blackberries. And yes, Blackberries, not iPhones, to give you a sense of when this was. You cant unhear the click-click of those Blackberries (laughs).

So I just come bebopping in. Remember, I had just won the breakout award at Aspen and I was also on Varietys list of 10 comedic actors to watch. So I was having to live up to my own reputation. And I was so nervous, I hadnt done an audition like this before. So I go in thinking, oh were going to have fun and then there was clearly some sort of catastrophe going on in their world because they were all on their phones and dealing with stuff and I was like, I guess this is how it goes?

So I started to mimic that and pulled out my phone.

And that was not the right move to make because they thought I was disinterested. And Im like, but wait  youre disinterested! I got so confused and that shot my confidence and I gave the worst audition of my life. I was the most unfunny person and I couldnt even make eye contact with them. I want to seep into the carpet and disappear.

A scene from "Happy Endings" starring (from left) Damon Wayans Jr., Eliza Coupe, Casey Wilson, Elisha Cuthbert and Adam Pally. (Adam Taylor / ABC )

We tried to improvise something and I did everything that youre not supposed to do. When you do improv, its supposed to be Yes, and  and I was like, No, full stop! I didnt come up through the improv ranks and I can improvise a script, thats easy for me because once I know it, I can play because Im improvising off a story. But they were like, Yeah, were not going to use the script at all. And I was like, Wait, what? And they wanted me to start it!

I dont know what happened, but all my funny was removed from me in that moment. All I know is, Aubrey Plaza ultimately got the part.

It took a long time for me to recover from that audition. I really beat myself up about that one.

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When an actor walks into an audition, isnt it natural to assume the attention would be focused on you?

It is a natural thing to assume! But they were clearly dealing with something that was affecting all of them and the project. Maybe a deal fell through. Something was going on and (laughs) it was the worst situation to walk into as an actor because actors, by nature, we take everything personally and we look to other people to validate us! So its like: Oh god, Im not important.

So I pulled out my own phone and mimicked them in a jokey way and it was the worst choice possible because I didnt really commit to it. I just looked like I was on my phone. I looked like a (jerk). And then they were like, Um, whenever youre ready  And I was like, Oh! Ive been ready since six oclock this morning! I really just misread the moment.

I have crippling anxiety  or I did have crippling anxiety as a kid  so this kind of audition was a big deal. And I think I blacked out everything afterward when I walked out. I had to call my manager and tell them how bad it all was. And the whole walk through the studio, I think I got lost and it was so embarrassing just to find my way back to my car.

Eliza Coupe stars in the Fox comedy "Pivoting." (Jeff Lipsky/Fox)

Back then I didnt have a lot of tools to work through things. I was so young. So I think I just decided to take it out on myself. And then I probably went and ran up a mountain; walking and hiking is usually what Ive done in the past to process these feelings.

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The thing with acting, for me, is that if I dont get to release my energy through my art, its almost what I would assume (sexual frustration) is for a dude, where you cant release! So when Im not able to honor my artistic expression  it never came out  then I need to go find someplace to get that energy out. So I would go hiking or running or sometimes I would yell or scream by myself, just to get that energy out. It needs to be released.

I do remember the next auditions I had, I killed it because it was all in me having to come out.

Why did Coupe never mention this to Rogen?

I dont know! I think maybe because I did eventually work through it. I guess I thought, whats the point?

Its the same reason why I never brought up to the people of SNL that Ive met that I was a bathroom attendant at their after-parties in New York. I had full-on conversations and went to an after after-party with Will Forte and Jimmy Fallon. What happened was, Will Forte invited a bunch of us that worked at this restaurant to the after after-party and we all went and had a great time and we were all talking and it was really fun and then I ended up doing a fundraiser with Will Forte years later and rode in a private jet with him and I never brought it up and I dont know why! I guess I thought it would be weird.

The takeaway 

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Its one thing to read the room and understand how to match the energy of the people in that room. But its another thing to completely abandon yourself to do that as opposed to, no, what do I feel in this moment that I should do? What do I want to do? What is my highest choice here?

If I had it to do over, I would probably be like, OK guys, whenever youre ready. Like, Take your time, send off those emails on your Blackberries.

I should email Seth and be like, Heads up about this article 

The cast of the Fox comedy "Pivoting" from left: Maggie Q, Eliza Coupe and Ginnifer Goodwin. (Jeff Lipsky/Fox)

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic

nmetz@chicagotribune.com

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By Emilio Parodi

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors are investigating two former finance chiefs of Booking.com in relation to allegations of unpaid taxes by the travel website company and have asked Dutch authorities to question them, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Italy's tax police in June last year alleged that Booking.com had evaded 153 million euros ($175 million) of value added tax (VAT) in connection with holiday rentals booked through its platform from 2013 to 2019.

Booking.com, based in the Netherlands, works as an intermediary between property owners and guests. Private accommodation sites which are not professionally run often have no VAT number. But the Italian tax authorities believe the online travel agency should then collect tax in such cases.

A Booking.com spokesperson said the company was cooperating with the Italian inquiry.

"We are continuing to actively and transparently collaborate with the Italian tax authorities as part of our commitment to ensuring compliance with all local laws, and look forward to continuing the dialogue," the spokesperson said.

The company has said that hotel and bed-and-breakfast owners using its platform were themselves responsible for collecting and paying the VAT they owed in Italy and other European Union countries.

The Italian tax police have said they believe that failure to levy the tax allows Booking.com, owned by Delaware-based Booking Holdings Inc, to undercut other hotel groups in one of the world's most popular tourist markets.

Italy's tax office has backed the findings of the tax police's initial audit into Booking.com and has started a process which allows the company to pay the outstanding sum or to contest any allegations of wrongdoing, the sources said.

DATA SOUGHT

Prosecutors in the Italian port city of Genoa last month sent their colleagues in Rotterdam a European Investigation Order (OIE) asking them to obtain data on, among other things, the company's turnover with private parties, the sources said.

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Italian magistrates also asked their Dutch colleagues to question Olivier Bisserier, chief financial officer at Booking.com from 2013 to 2019, and Marcela Martin, CFO from 2019 to 2020, both under investigation in relation to the tax allegations against Booking.com, the sources said.

The two former Booking.com executives did not respond to Reuters' emails requesting comment.

In the OIE document, the Italian magistrates noted that questioning the two former CFOs could provide clarity and possibly allow prosecutors to ask for the investigation into the two executives to be dropped.

A first European Investigation Order sent by the Italians in August 2018 in relation to Booking.com was rejected by Rotterdam prosecutors in May 2019, while a second request with supplementary information from August 2019 has not been answered, the sources said.

The Rotterdam prosecutor's office declined to comment.

Booking.com accounts for 68.4% of hotel sales made by the online travel agencies in Italy, a 2021 study of European hotel association HOTREC showed.

($1 = 0.8744 euros)

(Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Keith Weir and Jane Merriman)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's parliament on Tuesday adopted a resolution on rising tensions over Ukraine, denouncing any attempt to change the status quo by force and urging Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government to do all it can to help achieve peace.

The resolution by parliament's lower chamber comes after Russia amassed more than 100,000 troops along the border with Ukraine, raising fears of war.

"Deeply concerned about the situation, this chamber declares it is always with the Ukrainian people who hope for the stability of their country and the region. Changing the status quo with force by any country is never acceptable," parliament said in the resolution.

In a virtual meeting last month, Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden committed to work together to deter Russian aggression against Ukraine, and the prime minister pledged to coordinate closely with the United States and the international community on taking strong action in response to any attack.

"We call strongly on the government to embody our intention, cooperate with the international community, utilise all diplomatic resources and do its utmost for easing tensions over Ukraine and realising peace swiftly," the resolution said.

Japan's ties with Russia have long been plagued by a territorial row over a string of western Pacific islands seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War Two.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By Daniel Leussink and Akiko Okamoto

TOKYO (Reuters) - When Japan handed Tokyo bus driver Keiki Nambu and his wife, Takako, $870 for each of their nine children, they spent it exactly as the government had feared: paying down a mortgage instead of going shopping.

That kind of financial prudence has helped Japanese households amass a staggering $17 trillion in assets over the years, with more than half of that parked in savings. But it also represents a headache for policymakers, who struggle to kick-start consumption and boost a moribund economy.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government has paid nearly $17 billion in cash stimulus to families. But unlike U.S. stimulus that lifted consumer spending, the impact is seen as limited in Japan, where households are more likely to save the money or repay debt like the Nambus.

It highlights a consistent problem in the world's No. 3 economy, where public debt is already more than twice the size of the gross domestic product (GDP).

"If dad's salary remains the same but prices keep going up, all we can do is ask him to do his best and work as much as he can," said 39-year-old Takako.

Her husband makes about $44,000 a year, including the discretionary "bonus" paid twice yearly by Japanese companies but cut when times are lean, as happened during the pandemic. In the end, the stimulus money is just helping to make up for that shortfall, Keiki said.

The Nambus' children range in age from less than a year to 17. Kids only get water and milk to drink, although the family consumes about five litres of milk a day. Keiki makes sure the kids take quick showers to keep the water bill down.

In terms of size, the Nambus are hardly typical - the average Japanese household has shrunk https://tmsnrt.rs/3Go0HeD to 2.21 people as of late 2020 from 2.82 in 1995, according to census data. Tokyo's average was even smaller, at 1.92.

Their frugality is common, however.

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BIG SAVERS

Private consumption accounts for more than half of Japan's GDP.

But households may be spending just 10% of the stimulus cash and saving the rest, said Koya Miyamae, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. Economic insecurity keeps consumption flat, Miyamae added, and a recent surge in Omicron infections has also made people hesitant to spend.

Another economist, Hideo Kumano of Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, reckons that about 75% of the handouts will end up as savings, although he cautions that number could be higher if parents decide to set aside more for their children's education.

Concern that the money would end up in savings prompted some municipalities to pay half of the stimulus as vouchers. Tokyo wasn't one of them.

Separate cash payments to all residents of Japan earlier in the pandemic saw about 27% of the money spent, according to a July 2020 survey by Mitsubishi Research Institute.

The Nambus received around $8,700 in total from this round of stimulus - 100,000 yen ($870) yen per child and another one-off payment from the government.

They initially flirted with the idea of an overnight family trip to a hotel run by their city ward. In the end, frugality won out, although they did spend about $210 on sushi and ice cream.

They will also use some of the money to buy a school bag and gym clothes for Keifu, 6, who is starting primary school in April.

The hand-me-down gym clothes were too threadbare after being worn by six of his older siblings.

($1 = 115.3400 yen)

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Akiko Okamoto; Editing by David Dolan and Gerry Doyle)
A New Jersey nurse accused of lighting a colleague on fire and striking her with a wrench was found dead Tuesday, officials said.

Nicholas Pagano, 31, was found in Waterford Township with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Bergen County Prosecutors Office said.

Prosecutor Mark Musella had announced Monday that Pagano was wanted on charges of attempted murder, aggravated arson, aggravated assault and unlawful weapons possession.

Pagano, a contracted employee at Hackensack University Medical Center, was accused of burning a 54-year-old co-worker and hitting her with a wrench in a break room. Sources told NBC Philadelphia that he used a culinary torch to set the woman on fire. He then fled, they said.

Image: Hackensack University Medical Center (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Authorities had warned that the public should consider him armed and dangerous.

The victim, who has not been identified, "suffered third-degree burns over her upper body, face and hands, as well as a laceration to her head that required stitches," the prosecutors office said. She was initially treated at Hackensack University Medical Center and then transferred to another hospital.

Hackensack Meridian Health did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
New Jersey's most prolific serial killer, who is thought to have murdered up to 400 people, is heading to Netflix.

Charles Cullen, a former nurse, was convicted in 2006 for murdering 29 patients with rogue injections while he worked at New Jersey and Pennsylvania hospitals, including Hunterdon Medical Center and Somerset Medical Center.

"The Good Nurse," a film based on the true-crime book of the same name, will be released on the streaming platform this year, according to a Feb. 3 Netflix tweet.

Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne, known for his roles in "The Danish Girl," "The Theory of Everything" and Les Miserables, is cast as Cullen.

Charles Cullen is shown in a courtroom in Somerville in 2003.

According to the tweet, Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty," "Interstellar") also stars, likely as Amy Loughren. Once a friend and colleague of Cullen's, Loughren helped investigators secure the evidence needed for Cullen's conviction.

Food TV: 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' is going back to the Skylark Diner in Edison

"The Good Nurse" is directed by Tobias Lindholm, a Danish screenwriter and director. Its screenplay was written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who was nominated for an Oscar for her work on the 2019 film "1917."

Suspicious that her colleague is responsible for a series of mysterious patient deaths, a nurse risks her own life to uncover the truth in this gripping thriller based on true events. THE GOOD NURSE stars @Jes_Chastain and Eddie Redmayne, and is directed by Tobias Lindholm. pic.twitter.com/MIlt65nOSv  NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) February 3, 2022

The 2013 book was written by Charles Graeber, who chronicled the story of Cullen's crimes, investigation and conviction. Cullen was sentenced at the Somerset County Courthouse in Somerville to 11 consecutive life terms totaling 397 years in prison for the murders.

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On the big screen: A new Anne Hathaway movie is being filmed at a South Amboy bar this week

In exchange for cooperating with authorities in identifying his victims, Cullen was spared the death penalty. He is incarcerated at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.

Staff Reporter Jenna Intersimone: JIntersimone@Gannett.com or @JIntersimone.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ serial killer Charles Cullen coming to Netflix in 'The Good Nurse'
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A federal judge has issued a civil contempt order against Mississippi's largest county, saying officials have failed to fix more than two dozen problems in a jail plagued by violence and lax security.

The U.S. Justice Department sued Hinds County in 2016 after it had found unconstitutional conditions at the county's jail in Raymond, including dangerously low staffing levels," violence among detainees and violence by staff against detainees. It also found problems with treatment of juveniles and suicidal detainees. And, it said, the jail had cell doors that would not lock.

Hinds County supervisors agreed to a federal consent decree in 2016, saying it would correct the problems.

Supervisors promised again in 2020 to fix the problems as the county faced the threat of being held in contempt of court.

It is now 2022. Many of the problems the Board promised to address have not been corrected, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves wrote in his contempt order Friday.

The order noted that the courts can set financial penalties for civil contempt orders.

Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones, who was elected in late 2021, told WAPT-TV that the jail has had problems since it opened in 1994, and those have continued to get worse. Jones said he is working on a plan to hire more detention officers.

Whatever I can do to prevent death, serious bodily injury in our detention facility, Im currently dedicated to doing that, Jones said.

The legal action over the Hinds County jail is separate from an investigation that the Justice Department began in February 2020 after an outbreak of violence in Mississippi prison system.

Reeves wrote Friday that the situation at the Hinds County jail deteriorated significantly in 2021. He wrote that a monitoring team found in May that there continue to be fires set by inmates, there is an extremely large amount of contraband in the facility including drugs.

Between January and October 2021, six detainees died in the Hinds County jail, Reeves wrote.

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The first death occurred in March of that year, when nobody carried out a nurse's order to hospitalize a person who had been arrested, the judge wrote. The person collapsed, and someone went to get automated external defibrillator from the jail's medical unit, but the device had no pads and could not be used. The person died.

The fourth death, by drug overdose, occurred in August. Reeves wrote that inmates said they called for assistance for that person for five hours and the jail staff did not respond.

The consent decree and a monitoring team were approved by U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr., and the case was transferred to Reeves when Barbour took senior status in December 2018.
By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - A federal judge ordered the U.S. government to pay slightly more than $230 million to survivors and family members of victims of a 2017 mass shooting at a Texas church that killed 26 people.

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled seven months after finding the government 60% responsible for the Nov. 5, 2017, massacre by former Air Force airman Devin Patrick Kelley at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

"The losses and pain these families have experienced is immeasurable," wrote Rodriguez, who works in San Antonio, Texas.

Kelley, whom the judge found 40% responsible, used firearms he should not have been allowed to buy after admitting in a 2012 court martial to domestic assault. The Air Force had failed to enter that plea in a database used for background checks.

In addition to those killed, 22 people were injured when Kelley, 26, dressed in black and wearing a skull mask, opened fire at a Sunday service at the church, 31 miles (50 km) east of San Antonio.

He later died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head following a police chase.

In his 185-page decision, Rodriguez rejected what he called the government's effort to "obfuscate its responsibility" by adopting a "no-fault" approach to damages similar to that used to compensate victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Monday's decision covered about 80 claimants, most of whom were awarded money.

A spokeswoman for the Air Force said it was aware of the awards and reviewing the decision.

In December 2018, a government report said the Air Force had missed six chances to alert law enforcement about Kelley's history of domestic abuse.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie Adler)
A teenager "ruined so many lives" by allegedly opening fire on a Michigan school, the suspect's mother said hours after that deadly shooting, a witness said Tuesday.

Oakland County prosecutors revealed a series of electronic messages sent by the parents of accused killer Ethan Crumbley, as authorities hope to show that his mother and father should be bound over for trial and possibly held criminally responsible for the Nov. 30 assault at Oxford High School.

"My son ruined so many lives," Jennifer Crumbley wrote in a Facebook message, according to testimony from the mother's friend, Kira Pennock.

Their son, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, is accused of gunning down four people at his high school. The teenager is being charged as an adult and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

His parents are accused of ignoring warning signs of their sons potential violence and not doing enough to keep him away from firearms in the house. Theyve pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Pennock, who owns a farm that boards the Crumbleys horses, testified that Jennifer Crumbley knew her son was troubled long before the shooting.

She said that he did not have any friends, Pennock said. She thought it was weird that he wasnt out doing things like a normal kid.

Oakland County Sheriff's Detective Edward Wagrowski showed a series of text messages Ethan Crumbley sent to his mother in March last year, saying their house was haunted.

The investigator said he found no electronic evidence that either parent addressed Ethan's claims that supernatural forces were responsible for clothes and other items flying off shelves.

"He said the house is haunted and he has videos and a picture of the demon," Wagrowski testified.

A day filled with dramatic testimony reached an emotional crescendo in the afternoon when a handcuffed Jennifer Crumbley, wearing a mask and black-and-white striped jail garb, broke down in tears as prosecutors played a 911 call from her husband to police on the day of the shooting.

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After the shooting began, James Crumbley called police to report a gun was missing from their home and he feared his son could be the shooter.

Jennifer Crumbley's attorney, Shannon Smith, wiped tears away from her client's face, reaching around the defendant's glasses and mask.

Before testimony began on Tuesday, a judge prohibited the parents from making any gestures or communicating with each other in court, saying they were being disruptive and disrespectful.

Prosecutors had complained that Jennifer and James Crumbley allegedly mouthed the words I love you during in-person and virtual court hearings on Dec. 14 and Jan. 7.

District Court Judge Julie Nicholson admonished the defendants from any communication with each other while court is in session.

"Mr. and Mrs. Crumbley, this is a court proceeding," Nicholson told the defendants as they were seated at the defense table, separated by two defense attorneys.

"While maybe I'm looking away or someone else is looking away, you're not to have communication with each other. It's disruptive. It's disrespectful."

Testimony on Tuesday also seemed to reveal that Jennifer Crumbley was very concerned about losing her job after the shooting.

She worked as a marketing director for a real estate management company at the time of the shooting. And her boss, Andrew Smith, recalled Tuesday the anguished scream he heard from the defendant when she learned of the shooting.

Crumbley left the office and then called and texted Smith later, saying her son was the shooter, Smith told the court.

"'I need my job please don't judge me for what my son did,'" Smith testified, recounting a text message from Jennifer Crumbley.

"I was surprised by that text. I was surprised she was worried about her job at the time. I thought she'd be more worried about what was going on."

The company's human resources director, Kathy Poliquin, also recalled hearing from Jennifer Crumbley the day of the shooting, pleading with bosses not to be fired and to return to work.

"She thought she could possibly come in a few days later, maybe for a half a day, to get her mind off things," Poliquin testified. "We said, 'No you're on administrative leave. Don't worry about coming into work. We'll talk in a couple of weeks.'"

Poliquin told the court that their company offers paid time off for employees to attend to any family emergencies or medical appointments.

The human resources head said she can't recall Jennifer Crumbley taking time off to take Ethan to receive any kind of medical attention  but had expressed concern about the health of her horses.

The court day ended with Detective Wagrowski still going through volumes of messages being introduced by prosecutors.

The judge called a recess and ordered all parties back to court on Feb. 24.
Foreign Minister to visit RoK, attend SEARP meeting

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son will pay an official visit and attend a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Southeast Asia Regional Program (SEARP) in the Republic of Korea (RoK) from February 9-11.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son of Vietnam to visit the Republic of Korea and attend a SEARP meeting there from February 9-11. (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)





This is the first working trip to the RoK by a Vietnamese Foreign Minister over the past five years.



Both sides are expected to discuss activities to mark 30 years of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and the RoK in 2022 and make clear orientations for bilateral relations in the time to come.



According to Vietnamese ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung, priotitised areas of bilateral cooperation include politics-diplomacy, defence-security, and socio-economic affairs.



Minister Son will also meet with representatives of the Vietnamese community in the RoK.



He will also attend a meeting of the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Program as co-chair of the program for the 2022-2025 period. Currently, Vietnam is also acting as coordinator of the ASEAN  RoK cooperation in the 2020  2023 period.



This visit will open up new opportunities for stronger cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK in an effort to promote multilateral cooperation mechanisms, including ASEAN and the RoKs Enhanced New Southern Policy, said Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tung in an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency ahead of the Ministers working trip.



Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have maintained regular contact and strong cooperation.



As of November 2021 the two-way trade value rose 20% year on year to US$70.4 billion. The RoK last year became the second largest investor in Vietnam with a total investment of US$7.4 billion, up 85% compared to 2020.



The RoK was the second largest development aid donor for Vietnam, committing US$1.5 billion in the 2016  2020 period.



The RoK has so far donated more than 1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam. RoK businesses and friendship organisations contributed US$20 million to Vietnams COVID-19 vaccine fund.



The two countries have set a target of raising their two-way trade value to US$100 billion by 2023 and US$150 billion by 2030.



Vietnam and the RoK have cooperated well at multilateral forums, including ASEAN and ASEAN-led regional multilateral mechanisms, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), the Asia-Europe Cooperation Forum (ASEM), the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum, as well as in multilateral trade mechanisms such as the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and even in sub-regional mechanisms like the RoK  Mekong partnership.
The governors of four states announced plans Monday to lift statewide mask requirements in schools a month or two from now, citing the rapid easing of COVID-19s omicron surge.

The decisions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon were announced as state and local governments grapple with which COVID-19 restrictions to jettison and which ones to keep in place. The changes also come amid a growing sense that the virus is never going to go away and Americans need to find a way to coexist with it.

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FILE - Students line up to enter Christa McAuliffe School in Jersey City, N.J., April 29, 2021. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will end a statewide mask mandate to protect against COVID-19 in schools and child care centers, his office said Monday, Feb 7, 2022. (Seth Wenig/AP)

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called the move a huge step back to normalcy for our kids.

The four states are among a dozen with mask mandates in schools, according to the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy. New Jerseys requirement has been in place since classes resumed in person in September 2020.

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Murphy cited the dramatic decline in our COVID numbers in announcing the rollback. The omicron variant fueled a spike in infections over the holidays, but cases in the state are down 50% and hospitalizations dropped off by one-third since last week, he said.

We are not  and Ive said this many times  going to manage COVID to zero, the governor said. We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, speaking with reporters, said he thinks the state has the tools people safe.

What we got to figure out is, how we as a society, we as a state, learn to live with COVID, which hopefully has a diminishing impact upon our state and community for a long time to come. Lamont said.

Lamont recommended ending the statewide mandate in schools and child care centers on Feb. 28. New Jersey will roll back the requirement on March 7. Delaware Gov. John Carney said his states school mask mandate will run through March.

Oregons statewide mask requirement for indoor public places will be lifted no later than the end of March, health officials announced. Mask requirements for schools will also be lifted on March 31.

Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state medical officer and epidemiologist, said education and health officials will meet in the coming weeks to revise guidance to ensure schools can continue operating safely and keep students in class once the mask rule is lifted.

The March 31 deadline was selected using predictions by health scientists that COVID-19-related hospitalizations will decrease to 400 or fewer by that time  a level that Oregon experienced before the omicron variant surge.

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The debate over masks in schools has been polarizing in much of the U.S., with parents protesting at school board meetings and slates of candidates  pro- and anti-mask  seeking school board seats in an attempt to shape policies.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that universal mask-wearing in schools still remains our recommendation, but she did not fault states for dropping the requirement.

Its always been up to school districts. Thats always been our point of view and always been our policy from here, she said.

Eight Republican-led states, including Florida and Texas, have bans on school mask mandates, though some have been suspended amid legal fights with districts and parents who want to require masks, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.

In Illinois, where a judge last week struck down Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzkers statewide school mask mandate, the Democratic attorney general said Monday he will appeal the ruling. The Chicago school system, where teachers recently refused to hold in-person classes until an agreement was reached on safety measures, including providing KN95 masks to students and staff, said the ruling doesnt apply and the nations third-largest district will continue to require masks.

Murphy faced pressure from Republicans and some parents who have held rallies at the statehouse demanding an end to the mandate. But the governor has had support for the mask rule from the New Jersey Education Association, the states biggest teachers union.

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In a statement, the union noted that trends show COVID-19 heading in the right direction, and added: It is appropriate for Gov. Murphy to allow local districts to continue to require masking in communities where that is prudent based on local conditions.

Nationwide, new COVID-19 cases per day have plunged by more than a half-million since mid-January, when they hit a record-shattering peak of more than 800,000. Cases have been declining in 47 states over the past two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Also, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 has fallen 24% since mid-January to about 111,000.

Deaths are still running high at more than 2,400 per day on average, the most since last winter, reflecting a lag between when victims become infected and when they die.

In New Jersey, it is unclear how many and how soon the states 600-plus school districts might end the wearing of masks.

In Paterson, the states third-biggest city, the school system will take time to consult with administration officials, principals, parents and staff, said district spokesperson Paul Brubaker.

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Melissa Alfieri-Collins, a mother of two who disagrees with mask mandates in schools, saying she prefers choice, called the governors decision good news. But she raised concern that districts might keep mask rules in place.

For this reason, parents need an opt-out option for when and if districts do this, she said.

Connecticut will also allow school districts to retain the mandate. Its unclear if Delaware will follow suit, but the governor said he wanted to give school districts time to consider a local mandate.

Stephen White, a 55-year-old father of a 14-year-old son, said that if the lifting of the mandate were to take effect immediately, he wouldnt be in favor of it. But four weeks from now is a different story.

By that time period, if the rates are going down and they can say that OK, kids are vaccinated  if they have a substantial amount of kids that are vaccinated  I dont have a problem with them not wearing a mask at school, he said.

Francis Amegah, a 63-year-old with two children in the Newark school district, said the end of the mandate is well overdue.

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They shouldnt be wearing masks. If something happens, well be able to handle that. The parents should be able to take care of that, he said.

Republicans claimed responsibility for pushing the governor to end the mandate.

Gov. Murphy will never admit that the pressure is getting to him, but it absolutely is, GOP Senate Leader Steve Oroho said.
A Raytown man pleaded guilty Monday to a federal crime after he tried to solicit sex from minors by messaging undercover FBI agents posing as underage girls, according to prosecutors.

Brent Deadmon, a 45-year-old registered sex offender, pleaded guilty to one count of transferring obscene material to a minor in the Western District of Missouri.

Last year, Deadmon started messaging one agent based in the Chicago field office through an online dating application. The agent was pretending to be a 14-year-old girl. Deadmon sent pictures and videos showing his face and his genitals, court records show.

While messaging the agent, Deadmon acknowledged the age of the girl as under the legal age of consent to sex and continued to seek a meetup, prosecutors said.

I do like young, he said in one message.

At the same time, Deadmon messaged another federal agent in the St. Louis field office again seeking sex. He offered $500 to simultaneously have sex with a 15-year-old girl and her 10-year-old sister that the undercover agent was pretending to be.

After Deadmon was arrested, officers found images of child sexual abuse on his phone, according to prosecutors.

He faces 10 years in federal prison when he is sentenced at a future date.

Deadmon had a prior conviction of sex crimes with children in Jackson County. He pleaded guilty in 1999 to statutory sodomy, statutory rape and providing pornographic material to an 11-year-old girl, court records show.

The Stars Bill Lukitsch contributed to this report.
As Democrats ramp up spending for the midterms, theres an ongoing debate among national party officials, donors and major outside groups over how much time and money to commit to Florida in the wake of the partys crushing losses there in 2020.

As part of an effort to make sure the state isnt written off by Democrats, Latino Victory Fund, a Democratic super PAC, is backing candidates in two Florida primaries  endorsements that come with a six-figure investment in ads, fundraising events and organizing help for the state.

The progressive organization will announce Tuesday that it will endorse Annette Taddeo, a Miami-area state senator running for governor, and Maxwell Frost, an activist running for an Orlando-area congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Val Demings, who is vying for Marco Rubios Senate seat.

The endorsements are designed to send a larger message to the party: Show up for Florida or Democrats risk losing ground with Hispanic voters.

There are folks who are kind of abandoning the state and we said, Weve invested too much time, energy and resources and we are going to continue investing because Florida is too critical of a state, said Nathalie Rayes, president and CEO of Latino Victory Fund. We cannot build national Latino political power without investing in Florida. The state must always, always, always be part of the equation.

Democrats are facing an uphill battle this year in Florida  home to the third largest Hispanic population in the country. After a series of bruising losses over the last three election cycles, the states status as the nations largest swing state has been put into question.

In 2020, Joe Biden lost the state by more than three percentage points. While he won the majority of the Florida Latino vote, Donald Trump made some of his most impressive gains with Latinos there. Late last year, Florida Republicans officially outnumbered Democrats in registered voters for the first time in state history.

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Still, Rayes said that Democrats need to remember that it hasnt been that long since Barack Obama carried the state in 2008 and 2012. Obama also made notable inroads with the states conservative-leaning Cuban Americans during his two campaigns.

Rayes shares the concern of other Democratic operatives that donors are weighing spending their money in states that currently appear more competitive than Florida, such as Arizona and Wisconsin. One longtime Latino Democratic operative said more Florida donors are echoing the opinion that resources could be better spent elsewhere, which the operative insisted should worry all Democrats about the partys future in the nations third-most populous state.

I hadnt really seen that happen before and that helps solidify this national narrative that investments and resources are better leveraged in other states we narrowly won, said the operative, who was granted anonymity to speak openly about the partys Florida troubles. If Florida donors themselves are not pushing back against the national narrative, it doesnt give a lot of encouragement or urgency for people to come and invest.

The operative cautioned there are still donors doubling down on investing in the state because theres an understanding that their contributions arent only about Democrats winning the current election but future elections.

Rayes said she has already spoken to several groups, such as Hispanic Federation, a Latino nonprofit that works to register voters, that arent planning to step away from Florida this year.

A nonprofit founded by Biden allies, Building Back Together, has also begun to run both English and Spanish-language ads in the state. Last month, the group announced a $1.5 million ad campaign focused on reaching key constituencies, including Latino voters, in battleground states. Of that, the group is spending six figures on targeting Florida Hispanics with ads that are already airing in the state, a spokesperson for Building Back Together said.

Taddeo, who would become the states first Latina governor if she wins the Democratic nomination and defeats GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis in November, has long been warning her party that they will continue losing ground in Florida if they dont focus on and improve their Latino outreach immediately. Now is not the time for national groups and donors to give up on the state, she said.

The races in Florida are always going to be close and about the margins, Taddeo said, adding that she doesnt think Florida is losing its position as a swing state.

Now, if we dont get the Hispanic vote back, then yes, we will. Its a must, she said. Clearly, the Republicans get it.
Mina Fedor stands up against anti-Asian hate. Credit - Courtesy Photo

For Mina Fedor, there was no other option but to speak up. The preteen had witnessed a harrowing rise in anti-Asian violence since the start of the pandemic, including a troubling incident that happened to her mother, who is Korean, near their home in Oakland, Calif. She started small, calling out xenophobia during a virtual school assembly in March 2020. But after seeing the organizing around Black Lives Matter during a national reckoning with systemic racism and a shooting in Atlanta that killed eight, six of them Asian women, nearly a year later, Fedor wanted to do more to stand up to racist hate.

In March 2021, she organized a rally to bring attention to stopping racist violence towards Asian Americans, hoping that at least 70 people would attend; the rally drew a crowd of 1200. I really just wanted to speak out for my community, Fedor says.

Following the success of the rally, Fedor launched AAPI Youth Rising, a collective of middle school activists who are devoted to uplifting their community and stopping racist hate. In the fall of 2021, they joined other student-led coalitions in demonstrations of support for AB 101, an education bill that would require every public high school student in California to take an ethnic studies course.

Asian American history is American history, and everyones history deserves to be taught and represented, Fedor says. Histories that negatively reflect America tend to not be taught as much and thats very wrong, because we dont learn about our previous errors. She thinks that if more people were aware of the long history of anti-Asian violence in America, there might not have been the current surge in racist incidents towards the AAPI communitya rise that was exacerbated by xenophobic comments by former President Donald Trump.

In 2021, Fedor organized a rally to bring attention to stopping racist violence towards Asian Americans. Courtesy Photo

The bill was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October, and Fedor feels it will be key to stopping racial discrimination and violence. Now, AAPI Youth Rising has turned its sights to making sure that ethnic studies education is available to students in all states.

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While Fedor says she believes real change is in legislative action, she is adamant that social change also happens with small actions daily, from calling out racist comments or bullying when you witness them to committing to vote or helping others register to vote. (AAPI voters are one of the lowest registered voter groups.)

If there is one thing that anyone can do for their community, its to treat everyone with respect and kindness, she says. Dont be afraid to stand up to people who are harming you. Dont be afraid to speak out about things you feel are unjust and dont be afraid to have opinions. Youre never too young for anything.

Age has never stopped Fedor from taking action. She was first inspired by activism at the age of eight, when she traveled to Los Angeles for the 2017 Womens March and was in awe of the power of rising up together in numbers.

She also credits her family with instilling the value of justice and standing up for what you believe in. Her maternal great-grandfather, a political activist in Korea during the Japanese occupation, is her personal hero. Fedor also looks up to intersectional feminist, activist, and journalist Helen Zia; the activist, poet and organizer Grace Lee Boggs; and Vice President Kamala Harris; as well as her parents, both immigrants to the U.S., and her friends who fight for justice alongside her in AAPI Youth Rising.

Now 13, Fedor knows her journey for racial justice will be life-long. Shes made it her personal mission to learn as much about AAPI history as she can, in addition to working to ensure that its taught in her schools. What excites her most about the future, however, is all that her generation is doing now for a brighter world.

Youth can make a difference, she says. We are the future.

Read about more of the 2021 TIME Kid of the Year finalists here.

Watch the Kid of the Year broadcast special, hosted by Trevor Noah, on Nickelodeon on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 7:30pm/6:30pm CT to find out which finalist will be named TIME Kid of the Year
SOUTH BEND  The League of Women Voters presents a talk by Dan Graff at its next virtual luncheon, at noon Feb. 11.

The director of the Higgins Labor Program at the Center for Social Concerns and professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, Graff will address the long-term labor crises confronting the country, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and hell introduce the Just Wage Framework, an online tool for multiple economic stakeholders to deploy with the aim of producing a fairer, more inclusive and more just economy.

For more information and the Zoom link, visit lwvsouthbend.org.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: League of Women Voters Dan Graff Notre Dame Just Wage Framework
On a snowy day last month, Mohamed Deria walked past the leasing office at his North Side apartment complex, holding a piece of paper that might soon force him out of his home. His eyes fell on a bright red sign displayed outside the office window: Sorry No Section 8 Accepted.

For nearly two decades, Deria, 70, has relied on federal Section 8 housing vouchers to afford a unit at Chesapeake Mill apartments. For him, the sign  advertising a policy that is now illegal in Columbus  serves as a constant reminder that he is not welcome in his own home.

Making that even clearer was a lease termination notice he received in December asking him to leave his apartment within 30 days.

Primas Rentals, the company that manages Chesapeake Mill, told the Dispatch that it issued notices to all 18 voucher holder families at the complex. Several, including Deria, said that they have not been able to find another landlord who would take them in.

Mohamed Deria, 70, looks at peeling paint and plaster in his kitchen on last month. He, along with other tenants of the Chesapeake Mill apartment complex, received lease termination notices. All of them receive Section 8 financial support.

I keep my apartment clean. My payments are never late. But every day, I live with the fear of getting kicked out, Deria, a Somali immigrant, said in Somali through an interpreter. Ive tried to look for other places, but no one wants to accept Section 8 people. I never get a call back.

Low-income voucher holders such as Deria are not supposed to face such predicaments following Columbus' newly implemented anti-discrimination law.

A sign displayed outside the office window at Chesapeake Mill apartments indicates that it does not accept federal Section 8 housing vouchers, despite the Columbus City Council passing an ordinance last year that made it a criminal offense to deny individuals leases based on their source of income.

In March 2021, the city council passed an ordinance that made it a criminal offense to deny individuals leases based on their source of income, including subsidies such as Section 8 vouchers. But the law, which went into effect in July, has not made an immediate impact, according to residents, advocates and government officials.

A small group of landlords, including Devias property manager, still explicitly reject Section 8 tenants. Others are coming up with new ways to circumvent the law by raising minimum income, credit score and other rental requirements.

After the source-of-income ordinance was implemented, we started having owners tell us that theyre going to start asking the resident to make 3 times the rent, said Justin Davis, vice president of the Columbus Municipal Housing Authoritys (CMHA) Housing Choice Voucher Program.

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That's a quick way around source-of-income discrimination because they dont have to say No Section 8, but these new requirements mean that most Section 8 residents will be automatically disqualified.

Meanwhile, the city attorneys office, which is responsible for prosecuting such violations, has yet to file any cases under the new ordinance.

We haven't had any experience in the city of Columbus on source-of-income discrimination because its a new ordinance, City Attorney Zach Klein said. We're working with partners to get the process set up, and we want to make sure that whatever the facts of the case are that we need to prove in court, they're proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Problems for Columbus renters: After apartment buildings are sold, many tenants can't afford new owners' rent jumps

Housing help in Columbus: Court project helps elderly, low-income property owners with code violations stay in homes

Affordable housing in Columbus: Voucher holders have few choices

The Housing Choice Voucher program is intended to alleviate economic segregation and give low-income residents freedom in choosing where they want to live. In reality, though, voucher holders' options are severely constrained  from identifying an available unit to finding landlords who accept Section 8 tenants.

In Columbus, voucher recipients have 120 days to look for a landlord unless CMHA grants them an extension. In the past three years, more than 3,600 out of the 12,200 vouchers issued to families  about 30%  ended up expiring because residents could not secure a lease in time, according to statistics provided by CMHA.

This chart shows how Columbus' housing voucher program has fluctuated over the past two years, according to data provided by the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority.

Approximately 7,000 voucher recipients were ultimately housed; the rest are still looking for rental options.

Those selected by the program have continued to lose their vouchers after the city outlawed source-of-income discrimination. In fact, there has been an uptick in the number of expired vouchers in recent months  nearly 1,500 since July 2021.

The high expiration rate is largely due to the lack of affordable housing units in the city that has tilted the balance of power in favor of landlords, advocates said.

In Franklin County, there is an estimated affordable housing shortage of 54,000 units, according to research by the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio. As a result, landlords often are reluctant to cap the rent price, go through inspection, fill out paperwork and comply with other CMHA requirements just so they can work with Section 8 tenants.

When you have lots and lots of applicants who are meeting your income eligibility criteria and can just write you a personal check, you are not motivated to take payments from third parties, said Melissa Humbert-Washington, director of programs and services at Homes for Families, a Columbus-based nonprofit group that promotes housing stability. Its a stock issue, and a discrimination ordinance isnt going to solve it."

Losing a voucher can be especially disheartening for people who had to wait years to get selected. Right now, there are more than 20,000 residents in CMHA Housing Choice Voucher lottery pool and about 5,900 lottery selectees who are waiting for their vouchers to get processed, according to CMHA statistics.

Paulette Yarber, 35, holds her 2-month-old son, Sage Hayes, as her 2-year-old daughter, Karma Hayes, plays in the living room of their South Side home. Yarber has been waiting on a Section 8 housing voucher for seven years.

Paulette Yarber, of the South Side, said she first signed up for the program seven years ago. In April, the 35-year-old mother of seven was relieved to find out that she was finally selected. After experiencing serious medical complications during her most-recent pregnancy last year, she had to quit her call center job to rest in bed and became at risk of eviction.

For Yarber, a voucher means housing stability for her and her children, but she's still waiting for her voucher to be processed.

I waited all these years to get selected and still havent gotten my voucher, Yarber said. You feel so bad that you even need this kind of help, but with me not able to work right now, its very hard to afford a place big enough for all my kids.

What to know about Section 8 in Columbus: How housing vouchers work

Housing discrimination complaints: Refugee tenants report unfair evictions and discrimination by property managers

'It's really a Catch-22'

The city might need more time to establish an effective enforcement system, but for many low-income voucher holders, the stakes are high right now.

Tonya Ligon, a 62-year-old retired healthcare worker, said she experienced prolonged housing instability due to multiple denials.

Tonya Ligon, a 62-year-old retired healthcare worker, said she experienced prolonged housing instability due to multiple denials of her housing choice voucher.

In early 2021, she separated from her husband. With nowhere to go, she moved into a shelter. Ligon said she was severely injured when a fight broke out among residents and had to relocate to a nursing center where she used a wheelchair for months.

Last August, Ligon received a Housing Choice Voucher, and her social worker identified a one-bedroom apartment for her at The Life at Edgewater Landing, an apartment complex on the city's Southeast Side. It was an area that Ligon was familiar with, so she applied right away.

A month later, however, Ligon said she got a call from the property manager informing her that the corporate office decided that they would no longer rent to Section 8 tenants. Ligon burst into tears when she heard the news.

I was so disappointed, and I cried for two days, Ligon said. I was ready to get out of the nursing home and take the next step of getting my own apartment.

The Life Properties, which manages the complex, blamed the denial on a "computer error" that has "resulted in some applicants being wrongly denied and misinformed that we do not accept Section 8," according to an email statement from the company.

"We have fixed the problem and are working to contact any applicants who were rejected due to this mistake," the email statement said. But Ligon said she never got a follow-up call from the property manager.

As Ligon continued her search, there were at least two other landlords who explicitly told her that they would not accept voucher holders, Ligon said. With the help of her social worker, she was recently approved at another place and is now awaiting her move-in date.

Molly Hennessey, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, said she has seen a number of cases where landlords would cite private rental criteria to disqualify low-income voucher recipients.

One of Hennesseys clients, a 67-year-old woman, had been staying at her one-bedroom apartment on Columbus North Side with Section 8 subsidies for more than two years when her landlord decided to terminate her month-to-month lease in June.

The woman, who suffers from health issues, was not able to find another apartment immediately, and her old landlord filed an eviction case against her just a few days before she finally identified a new property owner who agreed to take her voucher.

Her rental application was denied due to the pending eviction case, which was later dismissed, Hennessey said. Right now, the woman is staying in temporary housing at a hotel. Her voucher has since expired, and she is negotiating with CMHA for an extension.

Its really a Catch-22, Hennessey said. The landlord filed an eviction case against her because no one would take her voucher and then the new landlord denied her application because of the pending eviction case. ... Many of my clients face these problems."

Housing discrimination: The case for proactive enforcement

Across the country, there are more than 100 cities and counties that have banned source-of-income discrimination. In Columbus, a landlord found guilty of refusing to rent based on an individuals income source would be guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

So far, the Columbus Urban League, the citys fair housing contractor in charge of investigating violations of the new policy, has not been able to identify any clear-cut source-of-income discrimination case to refer to the city attorneys office, according to Jeaneen Hooks, associate vice president at the organization.

Being able to have evidence of a discriminatory act is important, and that's where things can get a little blurry, Hooks said. Many times these things are not as overt as they need to be a really clean, straightforward case. You find it in an attitude. Sometimes it's communicated verbally, and there isnt a way to verify that.

Columbus current tenant-driven complaint process is inadequate and could lead to underreporting of discriminatory rental practices, said Michelle Heritage, executive director of the Community Shelter Board, a Columbus-based nonprofit group aimed to prevent homelessness.

Right now, the fair housing laws are reactively enforced, meaning that someone has to report someone and then there could be action, Heritage said. A potential tenant has to know about the fair housing laws, know how to report, and be able to provide evidence that the landlord is engaging in discriminatory practices."

That poses a lot of limitations on enforcement, she continued. Theres also the fear of retaliation. People are already having trouble finding an apartment, and they are afraid that if they report someone, landlords are not going to work with them.

In many other jurisdictions, government agencies and third-party contractors would conduct undercover testing to hold landlords accountable. Columbus, however, does not have these programs, according to Columbus City Councilmember Shayla Favor, who pushed for the ordinance.

Favor noted that proactive enforcement is an area that the city is currently exploring. Columbus is also partnering with local groups to hold educational events in order to inform property owners and tenants of the new law.

"With our enforcement mechanism newly created, we are continuing to work on additional ways we can be proactive in enforcing this legislation," she said. "We have reviewed what an undercover testing operation would look like and feel confident that this will be underway in 2022."

'Where would I go?'

At Chesapeake Mill, the property manager is not ready to back down.

The company does not wish to work with Section 8 residents because it has not been able to figure out a CMHA-approved method of billing tenants for water, according to a manager at Primas Rentals who answered the phone but would not give his name.

From left: Mohamed Deria, 70; Halima Mumin, 80; and Khadija Ali, 60, air grievances at the Somali Community Association of Ohio last month. All are tenants of the Chesapeake Mill apartment complex in Columbus who received lease-termination notices.

We're taking an income loss for keeping Section 8 tenants, said the manager, who said he is aware of the source-of-income discrimination ordinance. We don't want to lose them. But if Section 8 is not willing to work with us on that front, we really have no other choice.

CMHA accepts alternatives to typical billing for utilities and will provide allowances directly to the tenant, according to Davis.

City Attorney Klein said he would encourage residents to report the case to the Columbus Urban League and work with the organization to investigate the landlord's alleged misconducts.

Meanwhile, time is running out for the 18 families who were asked to leave by this past Monday.

One of them, Halima Mumin, said she has been struggling with depression and anxiety ever since Primas Rentals took over the property four years ago and repeatedly pressured her to leave the apartment that she had been living in for about 10 years.

I dont know what I should do at this point, Mumin, an 80-year-old Somali immigrant, said in Somali through an interpreter. Its so cold outside. Where would I go?

Yilun Cheng is a Report for America corps member and covers immigration issues for the Dispatch. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at https://bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.

ycheng@dispatch.com

@ChengYilun

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Affordable housing: Columbus Section 8 tenants face discrimination
Anna Nicole Smith, the late Playboy and Guess model turned billionaire's wife turned reality show star, is being remembered by her family as "truly one of a kind."

"Still remembering this one 15 years after her death," Larry Birkhead wrote Tuesday on the Instagram account he shares with Smith's 15-year-old daughter, Dannielynn.

"She was truly one of a kind," he wrote about the larger-than-life star who was 39 at the time of her accidental drug overdose. "She struggled for love and acceptance. Just when she found a little piece of one or the other, life seemed to sabotage."

(Screenshot: @larryanddannielynn via Instagram)

Larry, who dated Smith on and off for approximately two years, wrote to the late star, "Today, I remember your heart, your soul and your beauty, both inside and out. Your love is alive still to this day, in the form of a truly one of a kind teenager with her Moms smile, beauty and courage."

He ended by writing, "Thanks to Annas fans for helping keep her memory alive. We love you Anna Nicole."

Larry, a Louisville-based freelance photographer, met Smith while she was shooting the Anna Nicole Show at a Kentucky Derby party in 2003. She flirted with him and later hired him to photograph her. Larry eventually moved to Los Angeles, where Smith was based with her odd hodgepodge of hangers-on, as they began a tumultuous romantic relationship. Smith  who long struggled with substance abuse  told Larry she was pregnant in early 2006. However, Smith abruptly ran off to the Bahamas, along with her ever-present attorney Howard K. Stern, and gave birth there in September 2006. She claimed publicly Stern was the baby's father.

Things only became more tragic. While Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel, visited her in the maternity ward, three days after the star gave birth, he fatally overdosed and died in Smith's hospital suite. Five months after that, a heartbroken Smith then fatally overdosed herself in a Florida hotel room  on Feb. 8, 2007  with nine different prescription drugs in her system. Most of the pills were prescribed to Stern, not her. In the wake of Smith's death, a paternity case resulted over baby Dannielynn  with even more potential fathers coming forward in a true circus event  and DNA tests proved that Larry was the father. He's been raising her ever since.

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Dannielynn Birkhead and Larry Birkhead attend the 145th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4, 2019. (Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Churchill Downs)

There's now an Anna Nicole biopic, Hurricanna, in the works, reportedly looking at Smith's tragic final days  which she spent at a Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Fla. Holly Hunter is in talks to appear in the film, which will be directed by Francesca Gregorini. It was briefly reported that Betty Gilpin, 35, was in talks to play Smith but there was a scheduling conflict.

The film centers on Smiths therapist, Khristine (Hunter), who tries to save her clients life, setting off "a 36-hour odyssey in which she unknowingly delivers the fatal blow," according to the Hollywood Reporter. Smith is likened to a hurricane-like force, which ultimately destroyed everything in her path  not to mention that this all played out when celebrity coverage was vicious, especially to women in the limelight.

In the wake of Smith's death, her psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich and attorney Stern were charged in 2009 with giving thousands of prescription drugs to Smith in the years leading to her overdose. They were convicted in 2010. The following year, all the convictions against Stern were tossed out. Eroshevich had one remaining, but it was later reduced and she had no jail time.

Larry previously told his story of his hot and cold love affair with Anna Nicole in a Lifetime documentary called Hopelessly In Love: Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead.

As for Dannielynn, the teen lives largely out of the spotlight with her dad. Each year they attend the Kentucky Derby party where Larry met Smith. Last year, in an effort to teach Dannielynn more about her famous mom, Larry took her to Smith's Texas hometown and old L.A. haunts.

"She has a big heart like her mom," Larry said about Dannielynn. "I look at her and she's my everything. When I see how big she's become, I'm just so proud of her... She reminds me so much of her mom and as she gets older, and her features are changing, it's just like having a little miniature Anna Nicole running around in so many ways."
DAKAR (Reuters) - At least 30 Islamist militants were killed and dozens of vehicles and weapons destroyed during joint operations between the French-led Takuba task force and Malian soldiers last week, the French Army Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

During the main operation on Feb. 3, a column of fighters on motorbikes was spotted by a drone, the statement said.

The engagement of a Mirage 2000 patrol fighter jet in support of European and Malian forces deployed on the ground "led to the putting out of action of about twenty terrorists," the statement said.

It added that a vehicle with dozens of kilograms of explosives, weapons and motorbikes, mostly used by the fighters in raids in the West Africa Sahel region, were destroyed.

The joint operations from Feb. 1 to Feb. 6 coincide with tensions in relations between Mali and France, and has forced Paris and other European allies to question their continued military presence in Mali.

The European allies are set to decide by next week how to continue their fight against Islamist militants in Mali, describing the situation as "untenable" https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/france-partners-consulting-mali-operations-amid-standoff-with-junta-2022-01-28.

In a verbal attack on Monday https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/relations-fray-mali-accuses-france-splitting-country-spying-2022-02-08, Choguel Maiga, who was appointed interim Prime Minister following a coup last year, accused France's military of deliberately dividing the West African country and of committing espionage during its fight against Islamist militants.

The French army ministry said in its statement that the operations in the tri-border area of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso showed the high level of cooperation as well as the effectiveness of combat partnership between the Malian army and the European task force that included Estonian special forces.

(Reporting by John Irish; Writing by Bate Felix; editing by Grant McCool)
Editorial cartoon

A tribute to staff at Cape Coral Hospital

After 19 months on hiatus due to the pandemic, my wife and I returned to our volunteer positions at Cape Coral Hospital. The nurses and CNAs had, in addition to their regular duties of caring for patients, to do all the functions of the volunteers. This included cleaning beds and adding clean sheets, pillows and blankets, sometimes transporting patients from post anesthetics to post-op and subsequently to their cars. They also had to take the time, somehow, to make admissions bags with gowns, hair nets and non-slip socks. While performing all these extracurricular activities, they still had to treat their patients with love and care. Untold numbers of people in their charge have told us personally how great everyone treated them. The best, most apropos comments were they treated me like I was their only patient.

These gallant caretakers seldom get any recognition from the public so I wanted to give some credit where its due.

Glenn Chenot, Cape Coral

Ghost candidates are real election fraud

DeSantis is asking lawmakers to set aside $5.7 Million to create the Office of Election Crimes and Security despite little evidence of widespread voter fraud. If approved, the new office would have a 52-member team to investigate, detect, apprehend and arrest anyone for an alleged violation of election laws. And yet, just a year ago, he claimed the way Florida did it, I think inspires confidence, I think thats how elections should be run. But DeSantis has remained silent when confronted by actual election fraud with ghost candidates.

The ghost candidate controversy involves three independent candidates who ran last year in Central and South Florida. These candidates were an apparent attempt to siphon away votes from the Democrats in those races. They did not campaign but were boosted by an ad blitz promoting them as progressive outsiders. In Miami-Dade County, this scheme was investigated, charges were filed and the $45,000 bribe was exposed. Republican Ileana Garcia, Senate District 37 won by 32 votes. Two additional candidates in the 2020 election were deemed ghost candidates.

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State Sen. Annette Taddeo tried to amend the Election Crimes bill to prohibit candidates from acting in bad faith to deceive voters by intentionally drawing votes away from a legitimate candidate. That is an actual problem we have seen right here in Florida, and we should be trying to fix that. That amendment was rejected.

We are trying to fix a non-issue while ignoring election fraud because of partisan politics.

Marjorie Lyman, Cape Coral

Republicans sacrifice principles for privileges

President Eisenhowers quote ("People who value privileges above principles soon lose both") is so poignant because the demise of our democracy may be at hand. The majority of our Republican senators and representatives in Washington value their privileges so intensely that they refused to vote in support of laws to protect voting results in 19 states. They sold their principles to Donald Trump who recently bragged on TV that he had attempted to overthrow our government Jan. 6, a heinous crime indeed.

It blows-my-mind that very wealthy, often educated people and corporations, support Trumpism because they value their privilege (money and saving from taxes) above principles (saving our democracy). The wealthy are not alone; millions of ordinary Americans are victims duped by lies from Fox News, social media, Trump, some Republican members of Congress, Christian nationalists and even Russias Putin.

Our enigma now is how straitjacketed minds of millions of victims can be rescued to function based on facts and reality. Republican senators Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have shown great leadership by laying bare Republicans' and Trumps lies about winning the election and about his repeated criminal threats to our democracy. In contrast, some Republican members of Congress acclaim Trumps lies loudly about winning the election even though they know of his failures.

Florida senators Scott and Rubio, fearful of losing their privileges, have sacrificed principles, thereby fulfilling President Eisenhowers quote in that they accept loss of both, for themselves, their families and for America. Do they deserve your vote?

William Pettinger, Bonita Springs

Tax breaks increase national debt

In answer to letter Spending addiction on Jan. 26., stating Democrats are the biggest spenders on the national debt (ND). That is totally false, as it is the conservative Republican Party that owns the lion's share of our ND. Especially since the Reagan administration (40 years) in 1981. Reagan triples the national debt, mainly because he gave the wealthy big tax breaks in his first term as president. Then the administrations of both Bushes and Trump continued giving large tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporations. You cannot pay the bills giving tax breaks to the rich. The Trump administration debt was enormous, some $6.8 trillion over four years, one of the worst in America history.

The letter writer mentioned the debt of the Infrastructure Bill by Biden of $1.1 trillion, this debt will pay for itself over five to 10 years. This is probably the most needed bill since the Eisenhower infrastructure in the 1950s.

What would most Americans do without Social Security and Medicare? You can bet many more millions of people would be homeless.

E.L. Bud Ruff, Naples

Rubio runs to political corner

Sen. Rubio's statement the Jan. 6 committee investigation is a "partisan scam" is interesting in an important omission.

His omission is the GOP congressmen's refusal to participate in investigating the root causes of the attack on our Capitol. The GOP House members, with the exception of Rep. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, followed their leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy's orders not to cooperate or support this investigation. This position created a Democratic majority left to do the heavy lifting, get to this insurrection's root causes to, hopefully, prevent it from happening again.

Jan. 6 was a sharp reminder our democracy is fragile and requires diligence and commitment to preserve. This frightening experience should be a bipartisan wake-up call to unite and address the growing threat, instead of running to a political corner to attack the process, not the cause.

Finally, as a white male, I have to wonder what our collective response would have been if these "demonstrators" participating in what the GOP has now officially declared a "legitimate political discourse" were Black or Muslim -- just wondering.

James Keough, Cape Coral

No balanced coverage of riots

Why is it in your article about Jan. 6, 2021 the word "deadly" was used. How many small businesses were burned down on Jan. 6, 2021? How many stores were looted? How many female senior citizens had white paint poured on them? How many citizens and first responders were beaten? How many police officers had their eyes tasered? I am not defending Jan. 6 but I would have like to have seen the same type of coverage and disgust from your news outlet that you are devoting to Jan. 6, 2021 dedicated to the months and months of riots average citizens had to endure.

Patricia Tobiasen, Fort Myers

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Tuesday, February 8, 2022
The Lexington Police Department has announced it has arrested a 17-year-old juvenile in connection to a homicide that occurred on Hollow Creek Drive Monday afternoon.

The juveniles name was withheld due to their age. The suspect has been charged with murder, minor in possession of a handgun and tampering with physical evidence, per police.

Officers were called to the 400 block of Hollow Creek Drive at 1:18 p.m. Monday for a report of shots fired. When officers arrived, they found a 44-year-old man inside a residence who had been shot, police said.

The victim, identified as Cornelius Allen by the Fayette County coroners office, was transported to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital but died from his injuries.

Jeremy Chisenhall contributed to this report.
Tuesday marks the local first elections in 2022, with voters in Oklahoma County and neighboring counties selecting mayors, city councilmembers, school board leadership and deciding on several bond initiatives.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling places can be found by entering name and birth date at okvoterportal.okelections.us.

The Oklahoman will track election results for Oklahoma City, Midwest City, Norman, Yukon, Warr Acres and The Village live Tuesday night at oklahoman.com.

Live results: Follow along for live results in OKC's mayoral election

Mayoral candidates Jimmy Lawson, left, Carol Hefner and Frank Urbanic speak beside a picture of Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt during a recent debate.

Oklahoma City

Incumbent OKC Mayor David Holt faces challengers Jimmy Lawson, Carol Hefner and Frank Urbanic. Find out more about the candidates and their positions online at The Oklahoman's Oklahoma City mayor election central.

Oklahoma City mayor election central: All about the 2022 candidates and more

Midwest City

Midwest City voters will be selecting mayor along with two city councilmembers:

Norman Mayor Breea Clark leads a city council meeting in 2021.

Norman

Norman voters will be selecting mayor along with four city councilmembers:

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Yukon

Voters in Yukon's Ward 1 will choose between Rodney Zimmerman and incumbent Richard WJ Cacini for city councilperson.

Warr Acres

Voters in Warr Acres' Ward 1 will choose between Judy Myers and Joseph Shiff for city councilperson.

The Village

Residents of The Village will vote on two propositions:

Proposition 1 is a bond proposition for $9.9 million for projects related to streets and drainage in The Village.

Proposition 2 is a bond proposition for $3.3 million for projects related to parks and recreation in The Village.

Local school board and bond elections

Voters in Norman, Edmond, Mustang and Piedmont school districts will vote on school board members.

More: Oklahoma school board candidates running on parental-control platforms

Voters in the Choctaw-Nicoma Park, Edmond, Deer Creek and Robin Hill school districts will vote on bonds for school improvements, including new classrooms, storm shelters, buses and more.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Election Day: Oklahoma City, Norman, Midwest City are voting for mayor
Chicago firefighters prepare to give out smoke detectors to residents near the scene of a fire that left two dead on the 3600 block of North Kedvale Avenue in Chicago's Old Irving Park neighborhood on Feb. 8, 2022. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

An 88-year-old woman and her 70-year-old son were found dead in an apartment early Tuesday after Chicago firefighters extinguished a blaze in the building  which did not have working heat and was so filled with belongings it was difficult for firefighters to move around inside the first-floor unit, according to Chicago fire officials.

The two people who died were identified as Marian Frieri, 88, and Michael Frieri, 70, according to information from the Cook County medical examiners office. Marian Frieri was listed as the owner of the building, according to property records.

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Neighbors told the fire department they were mother and son, said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Fire Department.

No cause of death had been determined by the medical examiners office Wednesday morning.

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Emergency responders were called to the 3600 block of North Kedvale Avenue in the Old Irving Park neighborhood around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, Chicago police and Fire Department officials said. The pair were pronounced dead before 5 a.m., according to the medical examiners office.

The probable cause of the fire was a careless use of smoking materials, which could include cigarettes or other smoking-related items, Langford said.

Since 2008, cigarettes sold in Illinois have had to pass safety standards indicating they should not burn all the way down if left unattended, according to the states website. A study cited by Reuters in 2017 indicated that all 50 states had implemented similar laws by 2012, but their effectiveness in fire prevention was unclear.

Space heaters also were used in the two-flat, as it didnt have a functioning heating system, but those heaters did not appear to start the fire, Langford said.

The building heat had been turned off for two years, he added.

The temperature at OHare International Airport, the most reliable nearby weather site, was 19 degrees around the time of the fire, said Brett Borchardt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Landlords in Chicago are required to provide heat or maintain functioning individual unit heating equipment, according to Title 14X of the citys municipal code. The code specifies that space heaters do not meet this requirement.

However, property records indicate the two-flat was owned by the 88-year-old woman, and Langford said the other unit was vacant at the time of the fire. Since the two-flat was essentially being used as a single-family home, the city code regarding landlords would not have been applicable.

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Additionally, there had been no lawsuits filed regarding the property, or complaints to the Department of Buildings or 311, so the property had not been investigated, a city official said.

The apartment was a hoarding situation, so densely filled with objects it was difficult to get around in the building apart from a narrow pathway, Langford said.

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oolander@chicagotribune.com
OTTAWA COUNTY  A longtime supporter of the Ottawa County Parks system and namesake to several nature initiatives in the county, Bea Idema died Thursday, Feb. 3, at age 99.

Idema and her late husband Bill were instrumental in several projects in Ottawa County, including the Grand River Greenway, the Idema Explorers Trail and a gift to construct the Idema Explorers Camp and other amenities at Ottawa Sands County Park.

Bea Idema walking across the Grand Ravines Suspension Bridge, which Idema provided funds to construct, with Ray Statema.

Bea had an adventurous spirit, a kind, giving heart, and an infectious joy. We will miss her dearly, stated Monica Verplank, co-chair of the Grand River Greenway Capital Campaign.

The Idema Explorers Trail is currently under construction, with 13 miles of the planned 36.5-mile route in place. The trail will connect 13 parks along the Grand River Greenway, connect to Kent County and connect the GVSU Allendale campus to Grand Rapids and Grand Haven.

There will be special sections along the trail named for both Bea and Bill Idema. The Bea Aldrink Eastmanville Legacy Segment is planned for construction in the coming years, while the Bill Idema Moraine Nature Segment is currently under construction.

A section of the Idema Explorers Trail  the Bea Aldrink Eastmanville Legacy Segment  will be specifically dedicated to Bea Idema. It will be constructed in the coming years.

The whole Ottawa County Parks family will greatly miss Bea Idema, who was a friend of nature, with a passion for fun and good times as it states on the dedication plaque for the Bea Aldrink Eastmanville Legacy Segment, stated Ottawa County Parks Director Jason Shamblin. As is always the case with Bea, the plaque also invites others to share in the fun: Now, its your time to make memories.

A $2.5 million gift from the Bill and Bea Idema Foundation will help fund construction of the Idema Explorers Camp and other amenities at Ottawa Sands. It will be a place for adventure, joy and creating memories and serve as an integral capstone feature at the west end of the Grand River Greenway.

Left-right: Parks Commissioner David VanGinhoven, Bea Idema, Parks Commissioner Ray Statema, Alma Statema, and County Commissioner Greg DeJong at a dedication event for Grand Ravines County Park.

Ottawa County Parks Foundation President Bobbi Jones Sabine credits Idema with making Grand Ravines a popular destination in the county.

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We give Bea Idema full credit for helping to make the Grand Ravines one of our most popular parks, Jones Sabine stated. Grand Ravines is a reflection of Beas joy in helping to create such special places for everyone to enjoy. Were really going to miss her.

According to her obituary, Bea is survived by her sisters Ethel Brunger and Joyce Versluis, sister-in-law Diana Aldrink, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband William Idema, brothers John (Kathryn) Alderink, Jake (Janice) Aldrink, Harry (Beatrice) Aldrink, and Cal Aldrink, sister Irene (Chet) Lautenbach, and brothers-in-law Peter Brunger and Philip Versluis.

Left-right: County Commissioner Matt Fenske, Judge Peter Versluis, Bea Idema, GVSU President Philomena Mantella, Ambassador Peter Secchia, and County Commissioner Greg DeJong at the Versluis GVSU Campus Segment of the Idema Explorers Trail ribbon cutting in 2019.

A funeral for family and friends will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, at Heritage Funeral Homes in Grand Rapids.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the Covenant Village of the Great Lakes, Land Conservancy of West Michigan or another charity in the name of The Bea Idema Memorial Fund are appreciated.

 Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Longtime Ottawa County parks supporter Bea Idema dies at 99
Louis Theroux has said that parents should warn their children that the porn world isnt the real world.

In the documentary filmmakers new three-part series, Forbidden America, he takes a behind-the-scenes look at on-camera sex work in the US.

In a new interview, Theroux discussed Billie Eilishs recent remarks about how porn destroyed my brain after she started watching it aged 11.

Speaking to Radio Times, Theroux said: Someone needed to say to her when she was a child  it sounds like Im blaming the parents, and maybe I am, slightly  children and young adults need to understand that the porn world isnt the real world.

The 51-year-old  who is father to sons Albert, 15, Frederick, 13, and Walter, seven, with his wife, the TV producer Nancy, 5  added: Im on the cusp of my kids entering that stage of their lives, so I may have a rude awakening ahead of me. I havent even disabled the settings on my internet.

Ive talked to them. I have said to them, When you see porn, if this is something youve stumbled across, just so you know, thats not the real world. Thats not how people have sex.

Thats people who are performing and doing things to satisfy consumers and dont mistake it for how sex takes place.

Theroux said his sons told him to shut up.

13.02.22

Louis Theroux's Forbidden America begins on BBC2 and BBC iPlayer#louistheroux #forbiddenamerica pic.twitter.com/fNBsrmBb2s  Mindhouse Productions (@MindhouseTV) February 6, 2022

Forbidden America will focus on porn performers, far-right online influencers and rappers.

The show will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, with the first episode airing on 13 February 2022 at 9pm.
Emmanuel Macron Chris McGrath/Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave him a guarantee that Russia would not make any aggressive moves against Ukraine, BBC reports.

"I secured an assurance there would be no deterioration or escalation," Macron said before meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

Macron spent almost six hours speaking with Putin in Moscow on Monday.

According to The Guardian, however, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov quickly told reporters that no such assurance had been given.

"This is wrong in its essence. Moscow and Paris couldn't do any deals. It's simply impossible," Peskov said.

Per BBC, a French official also told reporters the two presidents "had agreed that Russia would pull troops out of Belarus at the end of exercises taking place near Ukraine's northern borders," a claim Peskov also denied.

In comments he made immediately after his meeting with Putin, Macron did not mention any guarantee from Putin.

"Right now, the tension is increasing, and the risk of destabilization is increasing," Macron said at the time. Macron also said he plans to call Putin after his meeting with Zelensky to brief him on what was discussed.

Putin said it would be possible for Russia to consider "a number" of Macron's "proposals and ideas ... in order to lay a foundation for our further steps."

Putin also argued that if Ukraine is allowed to join NATO, the alliance would be obligated under the terms of the treaty to re-conquer Crimea, which Russia annexed in in 2014. "Do you want France to go to war with Russia? That's what will happen!" he told a French reporter, according to The New York Times.

Russia has massed approximately 130,000 troops on Ukraine's border and is demanding that NATO roll back troop deployments in Eastern Europe and bar Ukraine from membership in the alliance.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine "any day now."

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French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured him that he will not escalate the Ukraine crisis.

After a five-hour talk with Putin, Macron said the Russian leader "won't be initiating an escalation" and the "objective is met" for preventing an escalation of the conflict, according to a news conference covered by The Associated Press.

However, the Kremlin denied reports that a de-escalation agreement was struck, the AP noted.

Macron met with Putin on Monday after concerns about the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine increased over the weekend as U.S. officials said Russia had amassed 70 percent of the forces needed for a full invasion and could attack any day. Russia has denied those reports and any claims that it will invade Ukraine.

The U.S. is preparing for a potential conflict and has deployed around 3,000 troops to Eastern Europe for support. But officials are still hoping to resolve the conflict diplomatically, despite refusing to give in to Russian demands, including a commitment not to include Ukraine within the security alliance NATO and to roll back forces in Eastern Europe.

President Biden on Monday met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and presented a united front with the European leader, who has been questioned over his response to the Ukraine crisis and for not sending weapons to the nation. But Biden warned that any incursion into Ukraine would "bring an end" to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, an important energy project for Russia under German control.

Macron also met with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and said both he and Putin were willing to implement the Minsk Protocol, according to The Associated Press. The Minsk Protocol is an agreement to end conflict in Ukraine after Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from the country in 2014, but Russian-backed separatist forces have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since the annexation of Crimea.

Presidential advisers from France, Russia, Ukraine and Germany will meet on Thursday in Berlin to discuss the conflict further, the AP reported.
Madison Township Fire Chief Kenneth Justus

Madison Township Fire Chief Ken Justus is looking to finish a project that was started in 2019 to upgrade the departments communications to the state sponsored and developed Multi Agency Radio Communications Systems (MARCS) radios.

Justus told the township trustees at their regular meeting on Monday that the department is working with an "incomplete" system and a patchwork of hardware, saying it's time to "eliminate this nonsense."

Justus said the department received $50,000 for MARCS radios when it first applied for a grant from the state Fire Marshals office, did not apply when the department did not have a chief in 2020, and has not been able to secure state funding since.

Everybody went with the MARCS system and was told they would get financial assistance from the state and now theyre being told thats not happening anymore, he explained. Most county fire departments applied for grants and not one department in this county got a grant this (past) year.

In addition to leaving the department with an incomplete system with half the trucks lacking radios and only a handful of portable devices, Justus said the program resulted in the purchase of two different styles of radios. That gave the department four different models of portable radios and three different models of mobile radios.

None of them have interchangeable batteries, or antennas, or chargers or cases, Justus said. My goal is to eliminate this nonsense and have one system. My goal is to figure this out and be done with it.

Justus said he has asked the Motorola Corporation to come up with a plan to make sure all fire department vehicles are equipped with the radios and that the department has a sufficient number of portable radios for use on calls.

He said Motorola has a payment program that will allow the department to allocate $10,000 per year and cover the cost over five years. He said he will have specific cost figures at the trustees next regular meeting.

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Trustees did give the chief the OK to spend $9,210 in special fire levy funds to buy two new battery-operated ventilation fans to evacuate smoke during structure fires. He told the board that the department has two gas-operated fans that are 15 to 20 years old that are noisy, starting to fail on a regular basis, and put carbon monoxide from the motor exhaust into the buildings.

The new fans will run on the same type of batteries that the department uses for its hand lights, cordless rescue equipment and other tools.

Justus also reported the department is moving the bunk room at the main fire station into the old training room at the front of the building, using mostly internal labor. He said he also is planning to renovate the bunk room at Station 2.

Trustees Chairwoman Kathy Swank noted that she and Justus met with representatives of two architectural firms over the last month to discuss preliminary ideas of what the township might want in the design of a new fire station when it eventually comes down the road.

In other business, trustees opened bids for the Manner Drive drainage project, which will be funded with a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission. Simonson Construction Services of Ashland was the apparent low bidder of three firms with a figure of $139,886.

The other bids were $145,000 from BK Layer LLC of Perrysville and $214,910 from Madex Construction of Cleveland.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Madison Township fire chief seeks to fix radio system 'nonsense'
A man who earned a spot on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list after opening fire at a crowded Milwaukee Park in 2006 during a heated argument with his estranged wife, killing two and wounding three others, has been captured in Mexico.

The FBI announced that Octaviano Juarez-Corro was apprehended Thursday night in Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico after more than a decade on the run.

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, said Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle, of the FBIs Milwaukee Field Office. 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.

Juarez-Corro had been added to the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in September of 2021.

Investigators have alleged that Juarez-Corro went to South Shore Park on the banks of Lake Michigan on May 29, 2006, as hundreds of families were celebrating Memorial Day and approached a friend of his estranged wife.

At the time, Juarez-Corro and his wife had been in the final stages of a divorce and shared a 3-year-old child together.

He demanded to see his daughter but his wife, who was also at the park that day, told him he was not allowed to see the child and asked him to leave, according to an earlier statement from the FBI.

Juarez-Corro allegedly became agitated and pulled a handgun from the waistband of his pants.

He demanded that five of the people at the party get down on their knees and began shooting them execution-style, authorities said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

All of a sudden, within this, you know, split second, it turns into a massive shooting scenario where five people are ultimately struck, Agent Steve Whitecotton said in an episode of the Inside the FBI podcast.

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Two people, including the friend Juarez-Corro had first approached, were killed. His wife was shot twice in the chest but survived the attack. Two other people at the scene were also injured.

Investigators believed that Juarez-Corro had fled to Mexico after the deadly shooting, but for years he remained on the run.

With his capture, we are one step closer to bringing justice and closure to the victims, the victims families and everyone that was impacted by this traffic event, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said in the statement from authorities.
Authorities investigated at the scene Sunday after a Shawnee County Sheriff's officer fatally shot 38-year-old Jason D. Ickler in the parking lot of a hotel in the 1200 block of S.W. Wanamaker Road.

A fugitive jumped from a window about 7:30 a.m. Sunday as uniformed Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies converged on the room where he'd been staying in a hotel in the 1200 block of S.W. Wanamaker Road, said Sheriff Brian C. Hill.

A deputy saw the man, 38-year-old Jason D. Ickler, get behind the wheel of a car in the parking lot, Hill said Monday.

"When the deputy approached the vehicle, the suspect engaged the vehicle and accelerated towards the deputy," he said. "The deputy then discharged his duty weapon while trying to avoid being struck by the vehicle."

Ickler was pronounced deceased at the scene, Hill said. The deputy's name hasn't been made public.

More: A Kansas officer shot a girl while aiming at her dog. Can he claim self-defense immunity?

The Northeast Kansas Sheriffs Officer-Involved Critical Incident Investigation Team was continuing Monday to investigate, and planned to forward its findings to the Shawnee County District Attorney's Office for review once that probe was complete, Hill said.

That team currently consists of members from the Shawnee County Sheriffs Office, Jackson County Sheriffs Office and Morris County Sheriffs Office, said Abigail Christian, an officer who is spokeswoman for the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office.

Hill said officers went to the hotel to try to locate and arrest Ickler, who was wanted in connection with reckless driving, interference with law enforcement and fleeing or attempting to elude police, each linked to an incident that occurred Friday in the area of S.W. 29th and Topeka Boulevard.

More: $1 million sought in use-of-force lawsuit against Topeka police officer; city dropped as a defendant

Items suspected to be methamphetamine and illegal drug paraphernalia were seized from Ickler's car after he was shot, Hill said.

He said Ickler had also been wanted on:

An outstanding warrant from Barton County in central Kansas charging him with burglary, possessing stolen property, possessing a narcotic drug, interfering with law enforcement and fleeing or attempt to elude police.

An outstanding Johnson County warrant charging him with forgery, identity theft, tampering with electronic monitoring equipment and fleeing or attempt to elude police.

And an outstanding Sedgwick County warrant charging him with possessing a narcotic drug, being a habitual traffic violator and fleeing or attempting to elude police.

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Kansas Department of Corrections records show Ickler formerly spent time on community corrections supervision after being convicted:

In Lyon County of one count each of felony drug possession and misdemeanor drug possession, both committed in 2008.

In Russell County in north-central Kansas of obstructing the legal process or official duty, committed in 2006.

In Douglas County of battery against a law enforcement officer and obstructing the legal process or official duty, committed in 2005, and fleeing or attempting to elude police, committed in 2006.

And in Finney County in southwest Kansas of attempted burglary and obstructing the legal process or official duty, both committed in 2002.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Man fatally shot as he allegedly accelerated toward officer in Topeka
A 55-year-old Chicago man is accused of spitting in the face of an FBI special agent, then saying, Good luck proving it  theres no video when the agent told him he had committed a federal crime right outside the FBIs Chicago field office, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday.

Jerome Bychowski, of the Kilbourn Park neighborhood, was arrested and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. He is facing federal charges of assaulting an FBI special agent after he tried to intimidate the agent and spat in his face on Jan. 12.

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Bychowskis charges were unsealed Monday after his arrest. At a hearing Monday afternoon, prosecutors asked that Bychowski be detained pending trial based on a risk of flight. A detention hearing was scheduled for Thursday.

Bychowskis lawyer, James McGurk, told the Tribune on Tuesday his client vehemently disputes the FBI agents allegations about the incident, which he characterized as an argument on the street, nothing more.

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Mr. Bychowski had no idea that the person he was arguing with, who was in plainclothes, was an FBI agent, McGurk said. He said Bychhowski is a lifelong resident of Chicago and longtime carpenter and general contractor.

Just after 7 a.m. Jan. 12, Bychowski was driving a white van and pulled in line behind the special agent, who was waiting in a car line on South Leavitt Street, which is on the west side of the FBIs Chicago field office, at 2111 W. Roosevelt Road, the complaint said.

The agent was second in line trying to enter the offices parking lot through a security gate, the complaint said. Bychowski began honking his horn repeatedly, so the agent opened the drivers door of his bureau-issued vehicle and told Bychowski to stop honking and to wait.

Instead, Bychowski pulled his van next to the agents vehicle, rolled down his passengers side window, and told the agent he was honking at the person in an SUV in front of the agent, not at him, the complaint said.

But after the agent refused to talk to the person in the SUV, Bychowski got angry and told him to just go inside and do your (expletive) job. The agent told him to stop being aggressive and to get back in his van, the complaint said.

Again, Bychowski didnt listen and instead drove his van alongside the SUV in the front of the line, got out of his drivers seat and walked back toward the agent, the complaint said. He then said, If youre such a tough guy, get out of the car and show me.

The agent stayed in his car and told Bychowski to calm down, and, according to the complaint, Bychowski called him a (expletive) whos hiding behind your job and your car and afraid of getting your ass kicked.

Bychowski then leaned toward the open drivers side window of the agents vehicle and spat at him, hitting his cheek and forehead, the complaint said.

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The agent told Bychowski that he committed a crime, but Bychowski got back into his van and began backing up, the complaint said. The agent got out of his vehicle and told him again that he was committing a crime, and Bychowski said, Good luck proving it  theres no video.

The SUV driver who was first in line was also an FBI agent who saw Bychowski lean in to spit at the other agent and then overheard him admit to spitting on the agent, the complaint said. That agent then took out his phone and snapped photos of Bychowski in his van and a picture of his rear license plate.

Chicago Tribunes Jason Meisner contributed.

pfry@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @paigexfry
Cameron Kalani has been spared jail after breaking into Buckingham Palace mews (PA)

A man who scaled Buckingham Palace with a 20cm kitchen knife and bag of cocaine has been spared jail.

Cameron Kalani, 44, was told he was lucky not to have been killed by police after he entered the Royal Mews  which houses the royal familys horses  on 10 May last year.

He was arrested after climbing back onto Buckingham Palace road, with officers finding the knife and drugs in his possession.

The court accepted he was in the grip of a mental health crisis, and "did not know" where he was.

Kalani was handed a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, at Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to trespassing on a protected site, possession of a bladed article and possession of a wrap of cocaine.

Deputy District Judge Roy Brown told him: You are a very fortunate man indeed.

Read more: Duke of Cambridge supportive of Queens move to make Camilla Queens consort

The Royal Mews houses the horses at Buckingham Palace (PA)

It is just good luck and good fortune that neither you nor anyone else was either seriously injured or killed in the course of your escapade in May last year.

The police were extremely restrained in the way they behaved with you in the face of an ongoing threat.

Prosecutor Alexander Alawode told the court Kalani was captured on CCTV at around 4.30am climbing over the fence into the Royal Mews and trespassing on the grounds.

He was then observed climbing over the fence back into Buckingham Palace Road before being detained around 10 minutes later outside the Royal Mews by palace police officers, he said.

He seemed very confused.

The court heard friends said Kalani is a talented wildlife photographer with a keen interest in mathematics and physics who has never shown any interest in the royal family.

In his basis of plea he said he had travelled to London from his home in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, while in a state of psychosis in a bid to be arrested.

Kalani, who was supported in court by his mother and aunt, said he had packed his bag with a knife in an envelope and the drugs, scaling the fence after seeing a sign reading: Do not climb.

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I did not know the fence was attached to or formed part of the Buckingham Palace estate, he said.

My sole intention was to be arrested. I did not seek to do anyone harm or damage any property.

Read more: Prince Charles pays tribute to darling wife Camilla in message celebrating Queens Platinum Jubilee

Ben Lay, defending, said his client was in a severe mental health crisis, an episode of psychosis at the time of the offences.

In that state, Mr Kalanis only intention was to get help and thought the best way to do this was to get arrested.

The judge said he did not accept Kalani had carried the knife and drugs simply to get arrested, adding: There are easier locations to attend if you want to draw the attention of the police.

He added: Your behaviour at that time was largely due to your psychiatric state.

As part of Kalanis suspended sentence, he must attend a 30-day rehabilitation programme and cannot enter the SW1A postal area. He was also ordered to pay 213 costs.

Mr Brown told him: Behave yourself and you wont go to prison.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) speaks during an event with President Biden to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure deal during an event at the Port of Baltimores Dundalk-Marine Terminal in Baltimore Md., on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.





Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) will not run for the Senate, rebuffing overtures from senior Senate Republicans who had sought to put another seat in play during the midterm elections.

At a press conference Tuesday, Hogan said he had considered a run but that he ultimately concluded he should focus on finishing out his second term as governor. Hogan is term-limited and cannot run for reelection this year.

"I will not be a candidate for the United States Senate. I sincerely appreciate all the people who have been encouraging me to consider it. A number of people have said they thought I could make a difference in the Senate," Hogan said. "I don't aspire to be a United States senator, and that fact has not changed."

"I plan to run through the tape and finish next January," he said.

Hogan called Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday to inform him. Hogan said he had also spoken with Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) to tell them he wouldn't be running.

Hogan said he also called Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the incumbent who will seek reelection next year.

"I also just spoke with Sen. Van Hollen to let him know that he can rest easy and get a good night's sleep tonight," Hogan said, laughing.

Hogan, whose approval rating has remained high throughout the coronavirus pandemic, has been a vocal opponent of former President Trump. Hogan said he voted for someone other than Trump in both 2016 and 2020, and he has made little secret of his own interest in a White House campaign in 2024.

At the same time he closed the door on a Senate bid, Hogan seemed to take another step toward a presidential bid. His political action committee, An America United, released a video Tuesday highlighting Hogan's call for a new approach to politics delivered during his State of the State address last week.
A handful of Michigan Republican lawmakers support creating new regulations that would ban large, private social media platforms from removing the accounts of political candidates that violate their terms of service.

The measure comes about one year after Facebook and Twitter banned former President Donald Trump, suggesting some of his posts after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol could incite further violence.

A Twitter logo is displayed on a mobile phone with former President Donald Trump's photograph.

It's unclear that the proposal is enforceable and it may be unconstitutional: A federal judge in Florida blocked the implementation of a similar bill in that state, saying it likely violated free speech protections enshrined in the First Amendment among other issues.

The Michigan bill would also establish new government restrictions on businesses, something conservatives frequently oppose.

More: Twitter locks Donald Trump's account for 12 hours, threatens permanent suspension

More: Jan. 6 attacks haven't proved a setback to Republicans. Here's why

But it will certainly garner attention and potentially some support among Republicans and Trump supporters frustrated that their favorite politicians may be banned from social media platforms after sharing information deemed inaccurate or dangerous by the companies.

State Rep. Beau LaFave, an Iron Mountain Republican and GOP candidate for Michigan secretary of state, is the bill's lead sponsor.

"It is un-American to shut down debate that you don't like, or speech that you don't like," LaFave said in a phone interview.

"We have a First Amendment in the United States to make sure that all ideas are debated, and the best ideas at the end of the day win. When you're shutting down one side of the ideological coin, we have a real problem."

LaFave is joined by state Rep. Matt Maddock, a Milford Republican and husband of Michigan GOP party co-chair Meshawn Maddock, and a cadre of other Trump-supporting Republicans in championing the measure.

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They're calling the bill the "justice-abolishing, corporate-kneecapping act," or the JACK act, an apparent swipe at former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

The Michigan bill would ban social media companies with more than 1,000 employees from "deplatforming"  defined as temporarily or permanently removing an account or profile  someone who is a politician or candidate. That person would need to qualify as a political candidate under Michigan election law.

If a company did deplatform a candidate, that person could file a civil lawsuit and potentially win $10,000 for every day the candidate was banned from the social media site.

The bill would ban any deplatforming, for any reason. LaFave said he would support removing someone trying to incite violence, though.

"The bill isn't about Donald Trump. He's a big boy; he'll be fine," LaFave said.

"This is about protecting the little guy in local school board elections."

The measure is up for discussion Wednesday in the House Communications and Technology Committee. A spokesman for House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, did not say whether the chamber leader supports the measure.

"He is going to let the committee do its work and vet the proposal before weighing in, " said Gideon D'Assandro.

More: Draft Trump order suggested seizing voting machines based on Antrim irregularities

More: GOP candidates for Michigan governor jockey for endorsement from former President Trump

Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a similar bill into law. That measure allowed the Florida election commission to fine social media companies up to $250,000 a day for deplatforming candidates for statewide office.

Several private companies sued the state, challenging the constitutionality of the law. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle agreed with their arguments, issuing a preliminary injunction in June 2021 that blocked the law from taking effect.

"The legislation compels providers to host speech that violates their standards  speech they otherwise would not host  and forbids providers from speaking as they otherwise would," Hinkle wrote.

"Whatever else may be said of the providers actions, they do not violate the First Amendment. ... Like prior First Amendment restrictions, this is an instance of burning the house to roast a pig."

The state of Florida appealed that ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. That case is still pending, but the law is not in effect.

Contact Dave Boucher: dboucher@freepress.com or 313-938-4591. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan GOP bill: Ban social media from removing politician accounts
Milwaukee mayoral forum

When Milwaukee City Hall opened in 1895, it was the third-tallest building in the U.S., according to Arthur Drooker's new book "City Hall."

We're down to the wire for the Feb. 15 primary in the Milwaukee mayoral race.

Tonight at 7 o'clock, the candidates square off during a forum at Turner Hall Ballroom moderated by TMJ4's Charles Benson and the Journal Sentinel's James Causey.

The event is hosted by the Pabst Theater Group, Milwaukee Press Club, WisPolitics.com, Listen MKE and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

The forum will also be live-streamed on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Facebook page.

Here's a rundown of some past forums.

And here's a look at how the candidates approach one of the big issues: public safety.

Another top issue: the approach to COVID-19.

And yet another issue: views on the city's looming pension spike.

As for the vote count, Alison Dirr has an interesting piece on the rise in partisan nominees working the polls on election day.

Daniel Bice weighs in with a column on a secretive group spending big bucks to promote Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

Seven people are bidding to complete the term of former Mayor Tom Barrett, who left the post to become U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.

The candidates: Johnson, Milwaukee Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, former Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan, Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas, state Sen. Lena Taylor, community activist Ieshuh Griffin and businessman Michael Sampson.

[Sign up to get the On Wisconsin Politics newsletter every week.]

Ron Johnson really said that

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson answers questions after he spoke at the Town Clerk's Office in the Town of Brookfield on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022 . Johnson traveled to Waukesha and Dane counties on Thursday, visiting with Wisconsin business leaders, parents, and students.

In the race for U.S. Senate, Ron Johnson made a bit of news in his push for a third term.

The Oshkosh Republican said Saturday he won't try to persuade a Wisconsin manufacturer to place more than 1,000 new jobs in his hometown.

"It's not like we don't have enough jobs here in Wisconsin. The biggest problem we have in Wisconsin right now is employers not being able to find enough workers," Johnson said about Oshkosh Corp.'s plans to locate the jobs in South Carolina.

Johnson said he supports having more manufacturing jobs in the state but indicated the company is best suited to make the call on where to build vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service.

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"I wouldn't insert myself to demand that anything be manufactured here using federal funds in Wisconsin," Johnson told reporters after appearing at a "Parent Empowerment Rally" in Washington County. "Obviously, I'm supportive of it. But in the end, I think when using federal tax dollars, you want to spend those in the most efficient way and if it's more efficient, more effective to spend those in other states, I don't have a real problem with that."

Milwaukee readies pitch for GOP

A Republican National Committee site selection panel could be in Milwaukee as early as next week to assess the city's pitch to host the 2024 GOP convention.

Officials say they are working with a projected budget of $65 million to stage the event and have already secured at least $10 million to $20 million in commitments.

"We're chasing this purely for the economic health of our city," said Peggy Williams-Smith, the president and chief executive of VISIT Milwaukee who is helping spearhead the effort.

The race to host the event is entering its final stages with three cities in the running: Milwaukee, Salt Lake City and Nashville.

Power line politics

You've heard of politicians flip-flopping. Here's the corporate version.

Patrick Marley writes about power line owner American Transmission Co. urging Wisconsin lawmakers to pass legislation that would guarantee it would be the one to build future power lines.

Turns out that's a flip-flop from the position the company took on an identical Minnesota law.

Marley writes: "The measures in the two states are meant to ensure the owners of power lines can build additional ones, but the effects of them for ATC are not the same.

"The Minnesota law keeps ATC from building lines because it has few existing lines there. The Wisconsin legislation would give it a lock on building more lines in much of the Badger State.

"The Wisconsin bill has backing from Republicans and Democrats who sit on legislative committees that oversee utilities. It has attracted an unusual collection of opponents that includes environmentalists and Americans for Prosperity, the conservative heavyweight that was formed by industrialists Charles and David Koch."

You can read the article here.

Around the horn

Ron Johnson refuses to weigh in on the RNC censure of U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger.

Tony Evers vetoes bill that would have barred school lessons on systemic racism.

Greg Kazmierski steps to the helm of the Natural Resources Board and vows to tackle issues despite the ongoing rift over Frederick Prehn.

Republican lawmakers are seeking help from a felon who was convicted of fraud as they review the 2020 election.

Outspoken state AG candidate Adam Jarchow is systematically deleting old tweets, including criticism of Donald Trump.

Tweet of the week

Here's an interesting take on drop boxes from former Fond du Lac County GOP chair Rohn Bishop: "If we still haven't found any fraudulent votes, why do we care about drop boxes? Waupun has one at city hall, I've used it. We also have blue drop boxes called USPS."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson really said that; Milwaukee readies pitch for GOP
A mom is hitting back at parents comments that her school drop-off outfit was too inappropriate to be around children.

Vanesa Medina was recorded while dropping her son off at school in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. As she carried her sons backpack from the car, another parent secretly filmed the fitness model, who was wearing a pink and white fitted romper. In the clip, the woman filming comments that her clothes are inappropriate to wear in front of young children, and it wasnt the first time Medina had worn something revealing at morning drop-off.

The video went viral on social media, and Medina  who is a fitness model  took to Facebook to respond to her critics. In the translated post, she wrote, I wanted to express my gratitude to everyone who sent messages of support, signs of affection and appreciation with such beautiful words, and defending me on social media over that video that went viral with bad intentions against me. Medina said that by posting the video, the concerned parent had exposed her four-year-old son to the internet, without knowing that is a crime.

Im a fit mommy who works and takes care of my baby boy with all the love in the world, Medina added.
MARTINSVILLE  The challenges in the labor market in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted almost every industry in the workforce.

The issues have been encapsulated in the restaurant and healthcare industries, and now public safety departments are having staffing issues  including departments in Morgan County.

The show must go on: Martinsville High School prepares for winter show after snow storm.

Morgan County EMS Director Keenan Blair explained the need to make changes in the department's pay matrix to members of the Morgan County Council on Monday, Feb. 7.

Blair met with the county commissioners earlier in the day, and had received approval from the board to make changes. Since the requested changes involve salary and benefits, council approval was also required.

Currently, the pay scale for paramedics is based on 5-year intervals.

Paramedics earn the base pay for the first five years of employment. From 5 to 10 years, they earn the second level of pay.

Then, after 10 years, they earn the highest rate of pay currently allowed.

Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are under the same pay scale.

Blair asked the council to change the pay scale to 1-year intervals. A paramedic would be at the top rate of pay in 3 years, an EMT would be at the top rate in 5.

Blair also proposed changes to the way employees earn Paid Time Off (PTO) and comp time. He said those changes would help save funds currently being spent on overtime.

Blair said the changes would help the county compete with other EMS services for employees.

Pandemic update: Morgan County's COVID cases fall 46.6%; Indiana cases plummet 46.1%.

He told the council there were several employees who planned to leave for better paying jobs if the changes were not made.

Blair had updated information on the amount of money the agency had generated in 2021, in which the department had received more than $1 million in revenue..

Blair said he had plans to expand the department in the future, which includes making medical transfers and doing in-home medical care.

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He said changes in the industry are making those jobs financially possible.

Blair noted COVID-19 had caused many of the challenges to EMS.

Council conflicted

Several council members told Blair when they first heard of his proposal, they felt he either should have presented it during the past budget session, or later this year during budget time. But after Blair finished his presentation, they had changed their minds.

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Council president Kim Merideth said Blair was right when he said COVID had impacted everyone. There was a question, she said, of what the cost of those changes would be.

Several council members thought funds from the American Rescue Plan could be used to provide funding for the department.

At the end of the discussion, the council voted to approve the changes Blair's requested.

The council waived the second reading which allows the changes to be implemented immediately.

Monrovia drainage study

The council appropriated an additional $25,630 to pay for a drainage study around Monrovia.

Morgan County surveyor Terry Brock said the town was experiencing drainage problems and had planned to do a study.

Alternative education: Learning opportunities for all walks of life in Morgan County.

He told the council the town asked if the county could help it with the study.

Brock noted the county could do the study in the area outside the town.

The council approved appropriating the funds for the study.

In other business

Council members declined to approve a $10,800 request to pay for COVID testing kits. The kits were purchased due to the possibility the county may have to do testing on its employees. The council had given its approval at an earlier meeting to purchase the kits. Council members said they were not against the purchase of the kits but they wanted the funds to come from the ARP funds. The matter will be re-advertised and voted on at the council's March meeting.

Council members approved the use of around $1 million from the county's Rainy Day Fund to pay for the design work for the county's construction projects. The money will be replaced in the fund once the bonds are sold.

Alan Bishop: Preserving Indiana's distilling history while charting new directions.

Council members approved transferring one million dollars from the county's General Fund to the Rainy Day Fund.

The council approved the Morgan County Health Department's budget for the COVID vaccine center on east Morgan Street. The money, $330,000 comes from a federal grant.

The next meeting of the Morgan County Council is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 7 at the Morgan County Administration Building, 180 S. Main St., Martinsville.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Morgan County Council OKs changes in EMS pay, Monrovia drainage study
Feb. 8MORGANTOWN  Agents from the Mon Metro Drug Task Force arrested a Morgantown man during a search warrant executed after the man allegedly sold drugs to confidential informants on more than one occasion.

Robert Dal Allen Jr., 30, was taken into custody after members of the Task Force executed a search warrant at his 4006 Kathryn Drive residence on Feb. 3, a criminal complaint said. Allen was present during the search and was confirmed to be the lessee of the residence.

Sergeant J.D. Rogers of the Task Force filed several criminal complaints against Allen, citing interactions Task Force informants had with Allen dating back nearly three years, in which cocaine and heroin were exchanged.

According to one complaint, agents from the Task Force conducted a controlled drug buy in March 2019 in which Allen was identified delivering heroin to a confidential informant at a location in Monongalia County.

Rogers said the substance Allen sold to the informant in 2019 field tested positive for heroin.

A second complaint states in another controlled deal conducted in February 2020, Allen was identified as delivering a confidential informant an unrevealed quantity of cocaine base, otherwise known as crack, as well as heroin.

The substances delivered in the 2020 deal field tested positive for cocaine and heroin, Rogers reported.

When Task Force agents executed the search warrant at Allen's home Feb. 3, they located and seized an undisclosed amount of cocaine and U.S. currency from his residence. Rogers noted packaging materials and scales were also located inside Allen's residence.

Allen was taken into custody and charged with three counts of felony delivery of a schedule I or II substance for the 2019 and 2020 exchanges and one count felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance for the items seized from his residence.

A preliminary hearing for Allen has been scheduled for Feb. 14 in Monongalia County Magistrate Court.

He is currently being held on a $100, 00 bond at North Central Regional Jail.

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Five women and four men who call themselves the Laquan Nine are facing federal fines for loitering in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in the Loop as ex-cop Jason Van Dyke was being released from prison last week.

Throughout the morning and early afternoon Tuesday, each member faced a sanction hearing via video conference with U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer.

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They included David Power, JaMal Green, Justin Blake, William Calloway, Amber Leaks, Nataki Rhodes, Catherine Readling, Kina Collins and Cassandra Greer-Ramsey.

All but one of the nine are to pay a $200 fine. The exception was Readling who had an extra $50 tacked on for going to the courthouse equipped with a megaphone and the intention for disturbance and disrespect for the court, according to Pallmeyer.

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Community organizer William Calloway, at the Quin Chapel AME Church on Feb. 4, 2022, as Cassandra Greer-Lee, back row from left, Cate Readling, Kina Collins, Amber Leaks, William Calloway, Ja'Mal Green, Dave Power, and Nataki Rhodes listen. All members of the group were arrested in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse building during protests following the early release of ex-police Officer Jason Van Dyke who was serving time for the murder of Laquan McDonald. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

The money will go toward the Crime Victims Fund which includes deposits from federal criminal fines and are collected by prosecutors, the federal court system and the Bureau of Prisons.

Some, including Collins, expressed remorse for their actions. In the hearing, she admitted to being part of an inconvenience to the court but stated that she and her fellow protesters wanted to amplify the name and the life of Laquan McDonald.

Justice is difficult at this point, Collins said. Us in the community have been waiting more than eight years to get justice for 17-year-old Laquan McDonald and are asking for the government to intervene.

Van Dyke was released from state prison Thursday after serving a little more than three years behind bars for the 2014 murder of McDonald, a Black teenager, a shooting captured on police dashcam video that roiled the city.

A police sergeant and a demonstrator argue outside the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Feb. 3, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Justin Blake, who is the uncle of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot by a Kenosha police officer in 2020 and left paralyzed, said he and the eight others were trying to assemble peacefully because they believe that federal charges should be brought against Van Dyke and that he should still be behind bars.

We did break the rules, Blake said. But sometimes you have to march and re-march with counterparts in order to get things that we believe are just, and thats historical.

As with each defendant, Pallmeyer acknowledged their reasoning and explained why a fine of $200 was assessed.

You are not being imposed because of your viewpoints, Pallmeyer said of the fines to the Laquan Nine. Its rather because you refused to leave the courthouse lobby after more than an hour.

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The nine will also be barred from entering the courthouse for 60 days. The restriction would only be lifted for personal litigation matters.

tatturner@chicagotribune.com
MUNCIE, Ind.  A Muncie man twice convicted of aggravated battery has been arrested on a preliminary count of murder.

Jason De'Andre Harris, 32, is accused of fatally shooting a 28-year-old Muncie man, Erik J. Sparks, after allegedly forcing the victim at gunpoint to walk on the Cardinal Greenway north of McGalliard Road.

Harris reportedly led Muncie police to Sparks' body, which he had covered with snow, and said he had shot the victim three or four times with a .40-caliber handgun.

Jason Harris

The Muncie man also was preliminarily charged with criminal confinement, pointing a firearm, intimidation and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was being held without bond in the Delaware County jail.

An autopsy on the victim was conducted Tuesday morning at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, according to Gavin Greene, Delaware County's chief deputy coroner.

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According to an affidavit, the investigation leading to the arrest began Monday when Harris' brother reported Sparks, his roommate, was missing.

The brother said that the evening before Sparks' disappearance, Jason Harris came to their South Clark Street home and pointed a handgun at his brother, "threatening his life."

When he woke up the next morning, the brother said, Sparks was gone and "Jason was at the house."

When he asked where Sparks was, the brother told police, "Jason made a motion with his hand pulling his thumb across his throat as if Erik was dead."

The brother said Sparks' car, phone and keys remained at their house.

Police later learned Jason Harris had contacted another family member in Chicago and indicated he had "shot someone, and needed to get out of town."

Harris  later found at the Clark Street house  at first told investigators he and Sparks had been confronted by an unknown gunman while walking on the Greenway. That man fatally shot Sparks, Harris claimed, and he dragged the victim's body into a nearby wooded area and covered it with snow.

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Harris  who later admitted killing Sparks  provided police with the victim's wallet.

Harris told police that after an argument, "he walked (Sparks) down the trail at gunpoint, where he ordered Erik to his knees before shooting him," investigator Ryan Plummer wrote in a report.

"Jason advised he blacked out and came out of it when he realized what he had done and Erik was lying on the ground," Plummer added.

Deputy Police Chief Melissa Pease asked anyone with information on the case to call the Muncie Police Department's detective division at 765-747-4867.

Jason Harris in December 2020 was placed on electronic home detention for a year after he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a substantial risk of death.

That conviction stemmed from an attack  in October 2018  that took place in a downtown apartment Harris had shared with the victim in that case for about about a week.

Harris told authorities at the time that victim had made unwanted sexual advances while Harris was trying to nap.

In the 2018 case, a Muncie police detective wrote the 52-year-old victim had some of the worst injuries I have seen in a nine-year career on the left side of his head (and) face.

At the time of the attack, Harris on on probation for a 2017 conviction for aggravated battery.

In that case, the Muncie man had been accused of repeatedly stabbing his brother in the back.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man preliminarily charged in Delaware County homicide
A Tallahassee homeschool group enjoys a Field Trip to Gadsden Arts.

After attending a doctors appointment, you are probably used to receiving a prescription that states a particular drug, the dosage to take, and how many weeks to take it. But what if instead of a prescription that took you to a pharmacy, your doctor gave you a prescription for a visit to the Gadsden Arts Center & Museum?

In Belgium, this sort of prescription is becoming commonplace under a new pilot program. In September of 2021, the three-month program was devised by the Brugmann Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Brussels, to assist patients suffering from stress and trauma. As an important response to COVID designed to rebuild mental health, the program allows doctors to prescribe individuals with free visits to five participating museums in the city (The Guardian, Boffey, 2021).

With the COVID-19 pandemic, museums like Gadsden Arts have been pushed to the forefront of a mental health crisis brought on by isolation. Cultural institutions around the country have begun using their art collections and educators to address the needs of a grieving public, preparing exhibitions that feature scenes of nature, meditation, and tranquility. (The New York Times, Small, 2020).

Through the beauty of their objects on display, museums offer their visitors a break from increased isolation, and a sense of refuge. GACMs Art @ Home Kits have offered families the ability to make art in their own homes, and Art Talk Live online programs have offered learning and discovery along with social engagement.

In addition to improvements in mood and mental health, museums have been connected to physical health benefits. In the past few years, studies have linked engagement with museums and the arts to longer lifespans.

A 2019 project published by British researchers followed thousands of people over the age of 50 for 14 years, and found that those who went to a museum or attended a concert just 1-2 times per year were 14% less likely to die during the study period than those who did not visit a museum or the theater at all.

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Those who went to a museum once a month, or once every few months, were 31% less likely to die. The study found that engaging in the arts reduced loneliness, promoted empathy, and kept people from being sedentarywhich all contribute to a longer life (The New York Times, Cramer, 2019).

A trip to the Gadsden Arts Center & Museum may therefore offer the chance to view wonderful works of art, enjoy Quincys historic setting, and also mental and physical health advantages. With six gallery spaces and rotation of most exhibitions every quarter, Gadsden Arts serves as a place for extended rest and relaxation, helping to improve quality of life in Floridas Big Bend Region.

Be sure to stop by Gadsden Arts to see Eluster Richardson: Three Decades and four more exhibitions, bring children to the ArtZone on Saturdays, and browse the Fletcher Museum Shop. Guided Group Visits for adults and Field Trips for childrens groups are also available by calling 850-627-5023.

Gadsden Arts is located in Quincy, Florida, 20 miles northwest of Tallahassee. It is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m.5 p.m. Admission is free for members and children ages 17 and under; $5 for nonmember adults, and $3 for adult students. A free admission day is offered the first Saturday of every month, and free Gadsden Arts @ Home Art Sets are available for any family. Visit gadsdenarts.org.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Can Gadsden Arts be your prescription for well-being?
The Perseverance rover is a capable machine, but one thing it can't do is send rock, sediment and atmospheric samples from Mars back to Earth by itself. NASA hopes to retrieve some of those through its Mars Sample Return Program, and it's taken another step forward in the project. The agency has chosen Lockheed Martin to build the first rocket to be fired off another planet.

The Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) will be a small, lightweight rocket and is a crucial component of NASA's ambitious plan. This groundbreaking endeavor is destined to inspire the world when the first robotic round-trip mission retrieves a sample from another planet  a significant step that will ultimately help send the first astronauts to Mars, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.

A Sample Retrieval Lander will take the MAV to the surface of Mars. It will land in or close to Jezero Crater, where Perseverance landed last February .

The lander will act as the launch platform for the MAV. Once the MAV is in orbit, the plan is for a European Space Agency Earth Return Orbiter equipped with NASAs Capture, Containment and Return System payload to capture the rocket. The aim is to bring the samples back to Earth by the mid-2030s.

We are nearing the end of the conceptual phase for this Mars Sample Return mission, and the pieces are coming together to bring home the first samples from another planet," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA headquarters, said. "Once on Earth, they can be studied by state-of-the-art tools too complex to transport into space.

Lockheed Martin will deliver multiple MAV test units and a flight unit to NASA. The contract, which is worth up to $194 million, calls for the company to design, develop, test and evaluate the integrated MAV system, and to design and develop the ground support equipment.
National Archives officials last month retrieved 15 boxes of White House documents that former President Donald Trump had removed to his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, including what Trump has described as love letters from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, The Washington Post reported Monday.

One source told the Post that there had never before been a similar volume of information retrieved from a former president.

The Presidential Records Act requires that the White House preserve and transfer all written communication related to a presidents official duties  including everything from memos to emails  to the National Archives and Records Administration.

The records whisked away by a former president who brazenly ignored the law should have been transferred to NARA from the White House at the end of the Trump Administration in January 2021, NARA said in a statement to the Post.

The boxes of documents removed by Trump included historically important communications, including a letter from former President Barack Obama left for Trump when he took over the Oval Office, and letters from Kim, sources told the Post.

The Presidential Records Act of 1978  instituted after the Watergate scandal, when then-President Richard Nixon blocked access to records  is a vital accountability tool, officials pointed out.

The Presidential Records Act is critical to our democracy, in which the government is held accountable by the people, Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero said in the statement to the Post. There should be no question as to need for both diligence and vigilance. Records matter.

Trump representatives are reportedly continuing to search for other records that may have been spirited away from the White House.

National Archives officials have struggled to cope with a former president who has flouted document retention requirements, the Post noted.

The startling news that Trump had removed boxes of White House records to Mar-a-Lago follows an earlier Post report that the former president routinely ripped up documents while he was in office, from memos to briefings to schedules.

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He didnt want a record of anything, a former senior Trump official told the Post. He never stopped ripping things up.

Staffers often scooped up the shreds of paper to tape them back together to comply with the law, but the torn documents were also at times added to burn bags to be destroyed, trashed or simply lost, sources told the newspaper.

Some documents provided last month to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol had been ripped up  and were taped back together by National Archives personnel, the Post and CNN reported. A statement from the National Archives noted that they had been torn up by former President Trump.

Trump has not commented on the boxes removed from Mar-a-Lago.

Read the Washington Post story on Trumps White House records here.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
A panel of national Republicans has given a green light to Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses as the party gears up for its 2024 contest.

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann leads the national partys Temporary Committee on the Presidential Nominating Process. He told the Des Moines Register Monday that the committee has reviewed possible modifications to the party's presidential nominating process but will not recommend changes to Iowa's caucuses or to the early nominating calendar.

The committee has made its recommendations, which now must be accepted by the Rules Committee and voted on by the Republican National Committee as a whole. That process is expected to conclude by late summer.

Kaufmann said he is cautiously optimistic that the recommendations will be accepted, officially solidifying Iowa's 2024 Republican caucuses.

"There's already been multiple opportunities for people to suggest other ways by which we might proceed with presidential nominating," he said. "And at this point, there has been nothing brought forward."

National political figures with possible 2024 ambitions have already been traveling to Iowa as though the caucuses are official. They include politicians like former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who will be in Davenport in March for a fundraiser with the state party.

But as Republicans move closer to officially sanctioning Iowas caucuses and its place at the front of the nominating calendar, Democrats are signaling that they plan to make changes.

A panel of the Democratic National Committee met in late January to begin discussing possible alterations. Although no proposals were made, committee members spoke about the need to increase diversity within the process, bring battleground states into the mix far sooner and ensure accessibility for those who want to participate.

More: National Democrats take aim at Iowa's caucuses as discussions begin over 2024 calendar

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Republicans and Democrats caucus very differently. Republicans caucus by casting a secret ballot and tallying the numbers to declare a winner. Democrats use an elaborate system in which caucusgoers physically stand in a certain area of the room to openly declare their support for a candidate. The winner is determined through a complicated system of "state delegate equivalents."

Iowans have been the first to cast their preferences in presidential elections since 1972. And at various times, Iowans have had to ward off efforts by other states to leapfrog to the front of the line. But the biggest threat of all came after the 2020 Iowa caucuses when Democrats were unable to report out timely and accurate results.

Kaufmann has been a vocal defender of Iowa Democrats and has argued that both parties should maintain their first-in-the-nation status.

"I'm thinking about the importance of this to our state," he said. "And I strongly believe that the continued health of Iowa's first-in-the-nation status is linked to both of our parties being able to start our presidential nominating process right here in Iowa."

Republicans and Democrats were scheduled to hold their off-year caucuses Monday evening across the state. After feuding with the Iowa Democratic Party, local county parties were allowed to hold their events virtually in an effort to curtail the spread of the coronavirus if they chose. Some of Iowas largest county chapters in Dallas, Johnson and Pottawattamie chose to caucus virtually.

Former Republican President Donald Trump, who placed second in Iowas 2016 caucuses behind U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and who has kept the possibility of another presidential campaign alive, issued a statement of support for the caucuses. He called them one of the most time-honored and American of traditions.

"On Monday the incredible people of Iowa exercise their sacred right to peaceably assemble and participate in the great Iowa Caucus!" he said in the statement. ... With me, Iowa will ALWAYS keep its first-in-the-Nation status. The great people of Middle America will have a powerful vote and voice.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 2024 Iowa caucuses shouldn't be modified, Republican panel recommends
News briefs for June 27, 2019.

Kin Hunters to meet in Clyde

CLYDE  The Kin Hunters of Sandusky County will meet 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the Masonic Lodge 136 Hamer St. (behind the NAPA store).

This month is Show and Tell, so take good finds/stories and tell how they were found. In April, Hannah Auxter Mapus will attend to speak on funeral home.

Volunteers needed at Magee Marsh Gift Shop

OAK HARBOR  Friends of Magee Marsh Gift Shop, located inside the Bird Center at Magee Marsh, is seeking volunteers to work at the shop a few hours a month.

Volunteers are only needed March-May for this year as the Bird Center will be closed June 1 until March 2023 for a complete makeover.

A training session for all those interested in volunteering will be held at 1p.m. March 20. A pizza lunch will be served. To sign up or for more information, contact Mary at Windbird@bex.net.

Woodmore Facilities Committee to meet Wednesday

ELMORE  Woodmore's Facilities Committee has moved its meeting 5 p.m. Wednesday in the High School Media Cente, 633 Fremont St. Call 419-862-1060 with questions.

VFW to hold roast beef dinner

FREMONT  The Fremont VFW Post 2947 will host an open-faced roast beef dinner 5-7 p.m. Friday. The meal is open to the public. Dine-in and carryout are available for $9. For more information call the VFW at 419-334-2551.

Marblehead committee to meet Thursday

MARBLEHEAD  The Marblehead Village Finance Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday on the second floor of the Town Hall, 513 W. Main St. to continue work on 2022 permanent appropriations.

Trinity UMC planning Sunday Funday

FREMONT All are welcome to join the congregation at Trinity United Methodist Church, 204 N. Wayne St. at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 27 for a Sunday Funday event.

The fun will include a Chili Challenge and potluck followed by a shuffleboard tournament and variety of games. Take a pot of a favorite chili or a side dish. Weekly worship begins at 10:15 a.m. each Sunday. The public is welcome. For more information call 419-332-8167.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: News Briefs: Kin Hunters to meet in Clyde
Nikki Haley made clear on which side of the January 6 divide in the Republican Party she stands on Monday during a Fox News interview in which she criticised Mike Pence for rightfully asserting that he lacked the constitutional authority to interfere in the presidential election.

In an interview with Fox News, Ms Haley characterised the former vice president as committing Republican on Republican attacks during his recent speech to a meeting of the Federalist Society in Florida.

Well, you know, I think, look, Mike Pence is a good man, an honest man, I think he did what he thought was right on January 6, said the former UN ambassador.

But I will always say ... Im not a fan of Republicans going against Republicans, because the only ones who win when that happens are the Democrats and the media, she continued.

In actuality, Mr Pences remarks last week to the Federalist Society came in response to months worth of personal attacks from the former president, who has blamed his former vice president for disloyalty through his refusal to go along with the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

President Trump is wrong, Mr Pence said on Friday. I had no right to overturn the election.

Mr Trump branded his former vice president a coward in a tweet now no longer accessible due to his ban from Twitter, and in recent statements has claimed that the January 6 committee should shift its focus to an investigation of Mr Pence for supposedly not doing his duty to help Mr Trump remain in office despite losing the election.

As a result, Ms Haleys remarks were pilloried by anti-Trump Republicans, including writers at The Bulwark, which previously called Ms Haley a potential Republican presidential nominee who might save the GOP in a post-Trump era.

What I appreciate about Nikki Haley is how consistent shes been in forcefully voicing this principle, especially when Donald Trump was attacking Repub.hahahahahahahahahahah, tweeted the publications Sarah Longwell.

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The sites founder, Bill Kristol, was just as critical, tweeting, Nikki Haley: Duty, honor, country? Nah. Party first.

Another author at the site, Christian Vanderbrouk (formerly of the Bush administration) went even further, claiming that Ms Haley would have sided with Mr Trump and interfered in the Electoral College vote count at his behest on that day; Mr Pence was known to be the target of a wide-ranging lobbying campaign led by Mr Trumps inner circle seeking to convince him to use his power as president of the Senate to halt the peaceful transfer of power.

Nikki Haley would've done exactly what Donald Trump told her to do on January 6th, tweeted Mr Vanderbrouk.

With her comments on Monday she joins Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who like Ms Haley and Mr Pence is seen as a potential 2024 presidential contender, in refusing to back the former vice presidents correct assertion that he did not have the constitutional authority to interfere in the election process.

Mr Trump has argued otherwise in public statements for month, and many political experts openly worry that he will attempt similar tactics should he run again and be defeated in 2024. Since leaving office, he has made a concerted effort to purge the GOP of those who stood up to him in the days and weeks after the riot, including local officials who refused to interfere with their state election processes like Georgias Brad Raffensperger.

Mr DeSantis was asked by reporters about the issue on Monday, and dodged questions about Mr Pences remarks before claiming to have a great working relationship with the former president.




An 80-year-old nun was sentenced to one year and a day in prison on Monday after admitting to stealing more than $830,000 from an elementary school where she previously worked.

"I have sinned, I have broken the law, and I have no excuses," Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the former principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., told the judge, according to the Los Angeles Times.

She referred to her crime as "a violation of my vows, the commandments, the law, and above all the sacred trust that so many had placed in me," the news outlet noted.

U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II struggled to settle on a sentence for Kreuper, expressing that several students and parents in the community had forgiven Kreuper for stealing the school's tuition money to fund her vacations to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, while others demanded Kreuper be punished, the Times reported.

"I haven't slept well in God knows how long," Wright reportedly told a Zoom audience during the hearing. He later added that he could not honor prosecutors' call for a two-year sentence because he did not want to judge Kreuper solely on "the worst thing that she's done in her life."

Kreuper served as St. James Catholic School's principal for 28 years and retired in 2018. In July, she pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, sharing that she stole tuition checks to spend during casino outings and then attempted to cover it up.

Prosecutors argued that with the money Kreuper stole, 14 students could have had their tuition paid for 10 years. They also noted that the school lacked new books, classroom supplies and field trips as a result, the Times noted.

"To know that she had been taking money from my parents and my peers' parents the whole time I was there is extremely shocking, and it sways me away from the Catholic Church," Julija Garunkstis, who previously attended the school, reportedly said. "Trust shouldn't be broken like that."

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Following her sentence, Kreuper said she promises to follow "more closely in Christ's footsteps," the Times noted.

"I was wrong, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain and the suffering that I have caused so many people," she reportedly told Wright. "I apologize for the public scandal, the embarrassment and the financial burden that I have placed on the sisters in my religious community, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, St. James School, the parishioners, parents and students who placed their trust in me."

Updated at 9:25 a.m.
Chicago is expanding its carjacking task force as residents remain concerned about high violent crime, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown announced.

Brown said the task force is currently staffed during two out of three watches but will soon be staffed 24 hours a day with officers focused on arresting carjackers.

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In the last year and a half in particular, theres a very real and pervasive fear of carjacking across our city, our region and our state, Lightfoot said at a news conference.

Over the past two years, Chicago has experienced major spikes in violent crime. The city recorded more than 800 homicides in 2021, its worst year in at least two decades.

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Carjackings in Chicago rose about 135%, to 1,415 in 2020 from 603 in 2019, according to a Tribune review of police information. The 2020 tally was the highest figure recorded here since 2001, when Chicago logged only slightly more with 1,422, the city statistics show.

Chicago also recorded an increase in 2021.

In response, Lightfoot has repeatedly acknowledged that many Chicagoans dont feel safe, a dynamic that threatens public safety, residents mental health and the citys economy, and she has repeatedly said her administration is working on the problem.

Chicago police Superintendent David Brown speaks alongside Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Jan. 4. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Brown said carjackings are down by 23% so far this year compared with the same time last year. The department has found that half the arrests made in relation to stolen vehicles are teenagers and children under 18, some as young as 11, and many are repeat offenders.

An 11-year-old boy was arrested Jan. 26 by the vehicular carjacking task force after being identified as the person who took a car on the 11000 block of South Harding Avenue in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood on Nov. 19, Brown said.

Officers saw him get out of a stolen Chevrolet Malibu, and the boy was given a felony charge of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a weapon and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Brown then listed off an extensive arrest history, especially for one belonging to an elementary school-aged child. Brown noted arrests starting in 2020, most relating to stolen cars.

This idea of resources for our young people is real, Brown said. Its critical to our success.

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Brown did not expand on what those resources might be, but Lightfoot added that she doesnt believe that children should be locked up with the key thrown away.

That cant be the answer, she said. It has to be something more. But what also is true is that theres got to be accountability.

Lightfoot said she has had conversations with the states attorney and is reaching out to the public defender in addition to a working group that was created last fall to find ways to provide meaningful interventions for these children, who may have challenging personal circumstances.

It cannot be arrest and release, arrest and release, she said. Because were not solving any long-term problems by just doing that.

Lightfoot said the city saw the rise in cases in 2020 and believed there was a correlation between remote learning and carjackings. She said some parents left for work thinking their kid was attending their virtual classes when in reality they were on the streets.

I asked is there some new market for stolen cars? And unfortunately, that answer was no, that for many of these kids, who some of whom had no prior involvement in the criminal justice system, this was pure boredom, Lightfoot said.

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Lightfoots comments drew almost immediate criticism from the Chicago Teachers Union, which called her remarks intellectually unsound and politically venal.

Every child in our public schools in Chicago deserves an apology from the mayor today, who claimed with zero evidence that there was a correlation between remote learning in 2020 and an increase in car-jackings, which have been growing across the nation, the union said in a statement.

To suggest that our students are somehow disproportionately responsible for these crimes is precisely the kind of scapegoating and smear tactics Black and Brown students and adults have had to contend with in any discourse about crime for generations, said the union, which has repeatedly clashed with Lightfoot over whether there are adequate COVID-19 protections in schools.

Mondays announcement isnt the first time city officials have vowed to work on the issue, publicly or privately.

Ald. Greg Mitchell texted Lightfoot in July 2020 about several car jacking/armed robberies in Calumet Heights on the South Side. He told her about kids stealing high-end luxury vehicles at gunpoint and using the stolen cars to commit additional carjackings.

On it! I will call you back myself as soon as I get a break from meetings, but I have been worried about this, consistently asked about it, and was told by CPD that they had a collaborative plan with the burbs, Lightfoot said in response. I will make sure this gets renewed focus.

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In January 2021, South Side aldermen partnered with private security to watch gas stations  a program they called Operation Safe Pump.

But despite their efforts, crime remains high.

On Monday, Brown said the city wants to reduce carjackings to pre-pandemic levels.
Nvidia's deal to acquire Arm is off, the two companies and Arm owner SoftBank announced Tuesday.

With this, there is also a major leadership change at Arm. The company's current CEO, Simon Segars, is leaving his post, effective today, with Rene Haas, the president of Arm's IP group (and former Nvidia VP and general manager of its computing products business), taking his role.

Since the deal is now off the table, Arm says it is exploring a public offering in lieu of the acquisition. The current plan is for the IPO to happen sometime within the next 12 months.

The Financial Times first reported that the deal had collapsed earlier today.

As Haas told me in an interview shortly before today's announcement, Segars' decision to leave the company was very much a personal choice. "He has decided that at this stage of his career, the time and energy required to take the company public and everything around that was not something he wanted to sign up to," Haas said. "So he's going to step down. I'm going to take over for him."

"Rene is the right leader to accelerate Arms growth as the company looks to re-enter the public markets," said Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. "I would like to thank Simon for his leadership, contributions and dedication to Arm over the past 30 years."

Haas noted that Arm's business today is stronger than ever.

"We are very enthusiastic and excited about this next chapter for the company," he told me. "The company's been doing great. [...] Revenue and profitability levels never seen by Arm before and certainly not seen before we joined SoftBank. But, probably more importantly, the diversification of the business relative to what it looked like pre-SoftBank, we're a much stronger company now in areas like the cloud and the data center, we're a much stronger company in markets like automotive and we have a huge opportunity for future markets such as IoT and metaverse."

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While Haas wouldn't comment any further on Nvidia's and SoftBank's decision, noting that the deal finally collapsed today, he admitted that the discussions about a leadership change had started earlier.

"While we are disappointed that the acquisition didn't go through, we are, at the same time, very excited about our prospects going forward and can't wait to get this next chapter started," he said.

Haas wouldn't say just yet what that will look like, but he noted that the company will continue its efforts to push into the CPU and GPU market, as well as continue its efforts in the AI space.

"Continuing what we've been doing and executing on that is going to be really important, because we've demonstrated a recipe on how to grow the business and we definitely want to continue that," he said.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang echoed this.

"Arm has a bright future, and well continue to support them as a proud licensee for decades to come," he said in a statement. "Arm is at the center of the important dynamics in computing. Though we wont be one company, we will partner closely with Arm. The significant investments that Masa has made have positioned Arm to expand the reach of the Arm CPU beyond client computing to supercomputing, cloud, AI and robotics. I expect Arm to be the most important CPU architecture of the next decade."

In some ways, today's announcement doesn't come as a surprise. After the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that it would sue to block the merger, arguing that the combined company would be able to "unfairly undermine Nvidia's rivals," Bloomberg reported that Nvidia was preparing to abandon its plans. In the U.K., where Arm is headquartered, the merger hit similar roadblocks in recent months, as well as with EU antitrust regulators.

In the end, an Nvidia that dominated the GPU and AI accelerator market and also owned the IP to the chips that power virtually every smartphone and IoT device rang all kinds of alarm bells. The two companies would've likely had to make considerable changes to their deal to get it through the regulatory process.

Nvidia first announced its plans for this mega-merger in September 2020. At the time, Nvidia CEO Huang argued that this would allow his company to create "a company fabulously positioned for the age of AI."

Throughout all of this, Nvidia's and Arm's leadership publicly remained optimistic that the deal would eventually pass muster with the regulatory authorities. Knowing that there would be some pushback, the two companies had always given themselves a lot of time to close this deal, with an expected closing date of March 2022, 18 months after the announcement.

In recent months, both companies admitted that they would miss this date. They were also up against a bit of a deadline of September 2022, after which SoftBank would keep its $1.25 billion breakup fee, though now that the deal is off, SoftBank will keep it anyway.
UPPER WEST SIDE, NY  After omicron surged through the city in late December and early January, case rates are falling across the five boroughs  including on the Upper West Side.

As of Monday, the New York City COVID rate stands at 4.52 percent  a more than 80 percent drop from where the number stood on Jan. 17.

These same trends are seen on the Upper West Side.

Here is the COVID data for the Upper West Side from Jan. 29 through Feb. 4.

10025: Upper West Side/Manhattan Valley

7-Day Percentage Positivity Rate: 2.34 percent

New Positives: 131

Number of People Tested: 5,607

10024: Upper West Side

7-Day Percentage Positivity Rate: 3.44 percent

New Positives: 90

Number of People Tested: 2,617

10023: Upper West Side Lincoln Center

7-Day Percentage Positivity Rate: 3.7 percent

New Positives: 104

Number of People Tested: 2,812

The current case rates on the Upper West Side are near the middle of those seen in Manhattan ZIP codes.

The 3.16 average rate on the UWS is a steep fall from where the neighborhood was around a month ago, when the three ZIP codes saw its rate shoot from 2 percent to just under 7 percent, to over 20 percent in the span of two weeks at the end of December.

The city's highest case rate is currently in Mott Haven, Bronx, where the seven-day percent positivity is just over 15 percent.

On the other end of the spectrum, the NYC ZIP code with the lowest positivity rate is in Central Harlem at 1.30 percent.



You can check out the COVID data for yourself on the city's website.

This article originally appeared on the Upper West Side Patch
How a Duke Energy initiative in South Carolina supports fresh food options

Northampton, MA --News Direct-- Duke Energy

A salad with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. Celery boats with radish, cream cheese, smoked paprika and chili lime spice. Spiced pear dessert burritos. Those are just some of Catherine Sadlers creative dishes from the past months.

I never, or rarely ever, she said, make the same thing twice.

Healthy food is some of the most difficult food to be able to secure because of the cost and the convenience factor, said Dan Weidenbenner, executive director of Mill Village Farms, who pointed out that healthier food is usually farthest from low-income neighborhoods.Her experiments in her Greenville, S.C., kitchen didnt include this variety of fresh produce before she started using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to receive produce boxes from Mill Village Farms FoodShare Greenville program.

The problem these communities face: food insecurity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says food insecurity is a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life as a result of limited financial resources. In 2020, as many as 38 million Americans were identified as food insecure.

Greenville and South Carolina are not unique, Weidenbenner said. Its across the country, the way that our food system is set up, that has created this problem.

A growing response to food insecurity

At the onset of the pandemic, in addition to offering utility assistance, the foundation made a decision to start incorporating food insecurity in its philanthropy.To combat the problem in South Carolina, the Duke Energy Foundation launched a monthlong campaign in November 2021 by committing $250,000 for a variety of feeding programs. It granted $50,000 to Mill Village Farms for Weidenbenner and his team to distribute to other FoodShareSC programs, to assist with similar food box distributions.

We were hearing from hunger-focused nonprofits that they were seeing double and triple the normal need for services, said Amanda Dow, stakeholder manager for the Duke Energy Foundation in South Carolina. Thats what started our relationships with the feeding programs in our communities. We have continued to check in with them, trying to use them as a gauge for what the needs of individuals are during the pandemic.

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In addition to the FoodShare funding, the monthlong campaign included nearly $150,000 in surprise microgrants to organizations that address food insecurities and inequities, and $50,000 to Harvest Hope Food Bank for mobile food pantries that serve rural areas in the upstate and Pee Dee regions.

Previously, Duke Energy pledged $1.3 million to health and human services and hunger relief efforts across its seven service states as a response to COVID-19. That included a commitment in Florida to provide funding to Second Harvest Food Bank and Seniors First Meals on Wheels. In Indiana, Duke Energy donated to the Dare to Care food bank and Meals on Wheels.

Her doctor recommended she go vegan for better health. She signed up for FoodShare after learning about it through a diabetes management program. While the veganism didnt work out, her higher consumption of fresh produce did.The pandemic dried up Sadlers finances. She got sick with COVID-19 before the country shut down, and she faced unemployment for more than a year and a half. At 61, she struggled to return to the workforce with her background in administrative assistance and office management.

FoodShare made it so easy, said Sadler, who now has temporary production line work. Every other week I get a box of fruits and vegetables.

Which means access to a variety of colorful, fresh ingredients for $5, a discounted rate she wouldnt be able to find at a supermarket.

The best aspect of the boxes?

Its the surprise, said Sadler, whose co-workers are always curious to see what she brings for lunch. I like to experiment with food and flavors. It makes it so much fun to never know what Im getting.

Providing access to farm-fresh foods

Mill Village Farms is a nonprofit that grows food on vacant properties to supply produce to those who are struggling financially, including communities with limited access to farm-fresh foods. The organization provides produce at farmers markets, as well as through FoodShare Greenville, which supplies discounted boxes filled with a diversity of produce at different agency sites.

Sadler said no matter who you are or what age you are, as long as you enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and getting lower-priced produce, Mill Village Farms FoodShare program is the way to go.The aim is to make these boxes affordable and easy to pick up for people who may not have access to fresh food and are instead relying on fast food and dollar store options. The boxes also contain recipe cards in English and Spanish so customers are inspired to cook with produce they might not have encountered before, whether thats a kiwi or spaghetti squash.

While there is federal programming in place, aid doesnt consistently trickle down to nonprofits like Mill Village Farms. For example, SNAP gives temporary benefits to low-income families to buy groceries. With the help of limited state funds, Mill Village Farms gets a reimbursement when families use SNAP benefits to buy their produce, but it doesnt cover the full cost.

That means financial contributions are necessary to support the growing infrastructure of nonprofits that combat food insecurity and to support the overwhelming number of Americans like Sadler who need help buying affordable, fresh food.

This is still an issue in our communities, Dow said, and you can help, too.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Duke Energy on 3blmedia.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/one-way-to-solve-food-insecurity-healthy-food-distribution-programs-843086175
Its time to reformthe police again. After each high-profile police killing, the conversation turns toward changing police policies. The definition of insanity is allegedly doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. So we have to ask: How many more times can we reform the police?

Though police brutality is a near-constant presence in the lives of marginalized people, wider interest in police brutality and its aftermath ebbs and flows  the tragedies differ in location and victim but are linked by a violent sameness.

Police officer kills Black person. The people object. The officer faces punishment either in the legal system or in the court of public opinion. An elected official pledges to do better, to fix the problem, to reform the police. And the rage turns into a simmer as we wait for the cycle to inevitably begin again.

Last week, Minneapolis police officers shot and killed 22-year-old Amir Locke, a Black man who his parents say was asleep on a couch, while serving a no-knock warrant. Locke was not listed on the warrant and he legally possessed the gun on his person.

Lockes tragic death comes at a time when the appetite for police reform has been put on the back burner by elected officials, maybe because there was a lull in the visibility of police violence. (Make no mistake about the frequency. According to a Washington Post database, 1,052 people were shot and killed by police in 2021.)

After several high-profile law enforcement killings in 2020, including that of George Floyd, cities across the country hopped back on the reform train. The death of Breonna Taylor, a 27-year-old awakened and killed by police serving a no-knock warrant, sparked a slew of reform laws, including limiting the use of no-knock warrants.

Minneapolis was one such city that declared it would make policing safer for the public. In November 2020, the city announced new restrictions on no-knock warrants but did not ban them.

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Its a great example of something heralded as police reform that has yielded very little of the desired results.

Now, more than a year later, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has halted no-knock warrants while they are under review by the city and police. But its still not actually a moratorium. Under the new policy, police officers can use no-knock warrants if there is an imminent threat of harm and the police chief has signed off on them.

The special carve-out that allows police to decide whether danger lurks right around the corner is the type of circumstance that will lead to another senseless death like Lockes. Mayors of major cities may tout these policy changes but, in reality, they are just more of the same: Police policing themselves.

In Washington, D.C., Karon Hylton-Brown was killed in a fatal crash in October 2020 after Metropolitan Police Department officers pursued the 20-year-old on a motor scooter. The officers said they suspected Hylton-Brown was armed, but the chase violated the citys no-chase policy. The officers involved have been indicted.

When New York City Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo killed Eric Garner by putting him in a chokehold in 2014, the move had already been banned way back in 1993 after NYPD officers choked a 21-year-old man to death while his hands were handcuffed behind his back. So why did Pantaleo use it to subdue Garner for the crime of selling loose cigarettes? A report from The City found police officers were still using the banned chokehold even after Garners death.

Then in 2020, after Floyds death, the New York State Assembly passed a new law making aggravated strangulation a new crime.

These types of mealy-mouthed reforms leave the vast majority of the power in the hands of the police, who still decide what constitutes danger or fear. They can easily claim they were in fear of their lives when they burst into that Minneapolis apartment and saw a 22-year-old Black man with a gun.

The leeway that police officers have in deciding to use deadly force allows them to deflect claims of excessive force or violating policy. Its much easier for an officer to claim that Locke was a threat than it is for Locke to claim the same, despite the polices poor record of treating Black people like humans.

For now, Mayor Frey has enlisted the help of DeRay Mckesson. The activist first came to prominence in Ferguson, Missouri, during the protests sparked by the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014. Mckesson hasnt been without fierce critics from the right and left, and during the George Floyd protests, his push to implement new policies to help curb police violence was ridiculed after critics pointed out that many of the policies were already in place and yet the deaths still continued.

Progressive police reform has failed to provide anything more than empty promises and deadly cycles of violence. Perhaps the problem is that law enforcement was designed to operate this way; too many liberal politicians and activists are trying to fix something thats not broken.

In the end, I am sure the Minneapolis Police Department will pledge to do better. Maybe the police officers involved will face punishment. Or maybe not. But eventually, the news cycle will begrudgingly move on, and his loved ones will be left to mourn. But then the clock will restart. And it wont be long before there is another dead Black person and yet more promises to reform the police.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
DANA POINT, CA  Orange County Supervisor wants to hear from Dana Point and Laguna Niguel residents on how to spend the money received from the American Rescue Plant Act.

The County of Orange is seeking feedback now until March 11 on how the money should be spent as part of the county's 2022-2024 budget development process.

Dana Point and Laguna Niguel residents can file their public comments online by visiting the County of Orange's website.

The Americans Rescue Plan Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021, is designed to give $1.9 trillion in financial assistance to states, localities and metropolitan areas that have been impacted by COVID-19. Orange County received about $616.8 million.

Legislation on the act requires the funds to be disbursed in two separate installments.

The first installment of $308.4 million was received on May 21, 2021, and the second installment is expected to be received no sooner than 12 months from the first payment, according to the county's website.



Visit the county's website to view the discussion on the funding allocation.

This article originally appeared on the Laguna Niguel-Dana Point Patch
BEAVERTON, OR  It was only about a week ago that the total number of new cases of COVID-19 in Oregon was regularly in the 10,000 a day range. That was part of the omicron-driven surge that gripped the state for around two months. For the last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the total was 7,928.

That's for three days. Combined. Total.

The Oregon Health Authority said Monday that there were 4,503 cases on Friday, 2,047 on Saturday, and 1,828 on Sunday.

The declines were predicted. On Friday, researchers at Oregon Health Sciences University released a forecast said that the peak an subsequent decline are underway.

There are still issues.

OHA reported that 30 more Oregonians died over the weekend, bringing the state's death toll to 6,244 since the pandemic began.

On Monday, 1,072 Oregonians started their day in the hospital. Of those, 197 were in intensive care units.

As for the 7,928 new cases, they were spread across 34 of the state's 36 counties.

Here's the county by county breakdown:

Baker (22), Benton (242), Clackamas (652), Clatsop (63), Columbia (104), Coos (110), Crook (89), Curry (42), Deschutes (561), Douglas (178), Gilliam (1), Harney (7), Hood River (22), Jackson (416), Jefferson (97), Josephine (133), Klamath (178), Lake (2), Lane (776), Lincoln (110), Linn (384), Malheur (43), Marion (774), Morrow (13), Multnomah (1216), Polk (213), Sherman (1), Tillamook (34), Umatilla (98), Union (22), Wallowa (12), Wasco (35), Washington (1088) and Yamhill (190).



This article originally appeared on the Beaverton Patch
CAIRO (AP)  A yearlong battle over the strategic Yemeni city of Marib has displaced about 100,000 people., the international charity group Oxfam said Tuesday.

The stark warning underscored how the fighting over Marib has worsened an already dire humanitarian situation of the displaced, many of whom have fled multiple times from fighting elsewhere in war-wrecked Yemen, Oxfam said.

Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels launched an offensive in February last year to capture Marib, sweeping through the surrounding province  also named Marib  to reach the city's outskirts, with the aim of completing their control of Yemens north.

However, their efforts collapsed earlier this year when Yemeni government forces, supported by airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition, and their Emirati-backed allies known as Giants Brigades pushed back, retaking large swaths around the city, including the province's second largest district.

Ordinary people who have sought refuge in a place once described as an oasis of calm have become collateral damage in a protracted conflict, said Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfams director in Yemen.

The group said at least 43 airstrikes hit civilian targets, including houses and farms, in January in the province. Land mines, improvised explosive devices, and shelling also targeted civilians in Marib. Eight people killed by land mines in January alone, compared to five over the past year, Oxfam said.

Children have been killed while tending farm animals and even gathering firewood can be deadly. I am particularly worried by reports that records are not kept of where land mines are, Siddiquey said.

The province of Marib has hosted about 1 million displaced  a quarter of the overall number of 4 million displaced  with 80% of them women and children, according to the United Nations. Local authorities put the Marib figure at around 2 million.

As fighting intensified, the Houthis stepped up cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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Elsewhere in Yemen, government forces and their allies have almost completed the retaking of the district of Harad in the coastal Hajjah province bordering Saudi Arabia. Retaking Harad will enable the reopening of al-Tawal border crossing, the largest between Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It has been closed since 2015.

The war in Yemen  the Arab worlds poorest country  began in 2014, when the Houthis took the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government to flee to the south, then into exile in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition, backed at the time by the United States, entered the war in 2015 to try to restore Yemen's government to power.

The conflict has since become a regional proxy war that has killed tens of thousands of people, both fighters and civilians, and spawned the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.
As executive director of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association and as a former member of the Pennsylvania Department of Health Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, I would like to express my concerns and those of many of our membership about the legalization of marijuana and the relative effects on public safety in or communities. I believe that marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania will pose significant challenges for law enforcement as a result of the unanticipated consequences it has on crime and public safety.

More: Recreational marijuana coming to Pa.? Legislature takes first steps toward legalization

Pennsylvania Sen. Mike Regan, the chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, held a hearing on Monday, Feb. 7th to explore and advocate for the legalization of marijuana in our state. No professional law enforcement association was invited nor were written briefs to the committee permitted. In a recent news publication, Regan admits convincing statewide organizations representing law enforcement to alter their position on marijuana legalization will be a tough sell, but the former law enforcement officer himself is hoping to barter with them when they come to asking for his support on other issues. 'I think we can make progress there,' Regan said. 'Id like to get them to neutral.'

Scott Bohn

Professional law enforcement executives do not barter the publics health, safety, and or welfare concerns. The publics safety and welfare are the first priority for our elected officials and law enforcement. Professional law enforcement leaders are committed to public service and ensuring our communities are safe. They take an oath or affirmation to obey and enforce the law. We value the public we jointly serve. Commercialized sale of what science proves to be a harmful and addictive drug should be opposed. This is simply a state revenue issue, and the 2018 projections of what taxing marijuana would generate for Pennsylvania by taxing the legalized sale of marijuana. The Pennsylvania Auditor Generals estimate at that time was $580 million annually if taxed at 35%. Ask yourself, who are the real benefactors and at what cost to the public safety?

Sen. Regan: Legalization of adult-use marijuana is inevitable

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In our meeting with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, we supported decriminalization for possession of small amounts of marijuana. In our last and only contact with Sen Regan in September 2020, we expressed the same view and provided considerable data and evidence-based information.

More: PA state senators Dan Laughlin, Sharif Street unveil marijuana legalization bill

There is an important distinction to be made here for the commonwealths residents. Legalization of marijuana is the process of removing all legal prohibitions against it. Marijuana would then be available to the general adult population for purchase and use at will, similar to tobacco and alcohol. Decriminalization is the act of removing criminal sanctions against an act, article, or behavior.

We have strongly suggested that there is insufficient data to determine the true impact of legalized marijuana on crime and safety. However, studies in Colorado show:

 High-potency THC from marijuana hash oil extractions, which are used in making legalized laced edibles and beverages, has led to overdoses, potential psychotic breaks, and suicide attempts.

 Youth use and addiction rates have increased due to ease of accessibility, and there is great concern about the significant health impacts of chronic marijuana use by youths.

 Banking systems are unavailable to the marijuana industry because of federal laws, creating a dangerous level of cash that can lead to crime.

 Difficulties in establishing what is a legal marijuana operation have created problems in conducting investigations, determining probable cause and search and seizure procedures.

 Marijuana illegal trading through the black and other markets has not decreased. Diversion across state boundaries has created issues for states that do not have legalized marijuana laws.

 Detecting driving under the influence of marijuana is a significant challenge for law enforcement. There is no roadside test for marijuana intoxication.

 Many states have had difficulties caused by conflicting state legislation and local ordinances, policies, and procedures. The situation is even more complex because marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law.

One of the most salient concerns we have relates to the consequences of drug-impaired driving. We have all witnessed our share of crashes and traffic congestion as well as vehicular, pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. Law enforcement officials are uniquely qualified to discuss the issues and concerns related to impaired driving.

Our efforts to curb drunk driving have met with a great deal of success over the last decade, but drug-impaired driving is not the same as alcohol-impaired driving and our understanding of the impairments due to drug impairment is limited.

Alcohol is unique among impairing drugs in that there is a documented correlation between blood alcohol levels and levels of impairment. This does not exist for other drugs, and it has been shown to be nonexistent for THC in marijuana. It is not possible to currently identify a valid impairment standard for marijuana or any other drug equivalent to the .08 percent BAC limit for alcohol. Exacerbating the problem is the matter of how to best create, implement and enforce the laws prohibiting impaired driving. In populous areas of our commonwealth, this is particularly concerning where the risk of catastrophic consequences related to a drug-impaired driving incident is exponentially more probable.

The percentages of traffic deaths related to the use of recreational marijuana doubled in Washington state in the year retail marijuana sales were allowed. In Colorado, marijuana is now involved in more than one of every five deaths on the road.

These statistics highlight why it is necessary to wait until we have a better understanding of the impacts and management of marijuana intoxication.

Given the statistics that are available today, it is clear and indisputable that the use of recreational marijuana negatively impacts the motoring, pedestrian and special needs community, and that innocent people in states where recreational use of marijuana has been legalized are at a greater risk of harm, injury and death due to the increased number of drug- impaired drivers.

Law enforcement executives in the commonwealth need answers that are supported by valid data and scientific research rather than being promised consideration on other issues that impact the publics safety. Current information validates our concerns and strengthens our collective resolve that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania should not legalize the use of recreational marijuana.

Scott L. Bohn is a retired police chief and executive director of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Pa. chiefs of police: Legalized marijuana poses health and safety risks
A federal judge heard nearly two hours of arguments Tuesday over key legal questions in the corruption case against Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, a significant step in moving the case to trial.

Burke, the longtime 14th Ward alderman and former head of the powerful Finance Committee, is accused of trying to use his political reach and authority to help developers in exchange for being retained to handle property tax appeals.

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Federal prosecutors built their case around evidence from wiretaps of Burkes cellphone and City Hall offices, which allowed the FBI to monitor thousands of conversations the alderman made and received over the course of nearly a year.

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Burkes attorneys on Tuesday argued the government failed to show probable cause for the wiretaps, and instead pushed their own narrative.

Far from showing there was a scheme afoot, you had this construct, a construct continually pushed by the government, Burke attorney Andrew DeVooght argued.

Defense attorneys for the alderman and his two co-defendants in the case have filed multiple motions challenging the evidence, leading to a year and a half of back-and-forth legal briefs. All of that was up for debate Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Robert Dow, who will rule on the motions at a later date.

Burke did not attend the hearing.

Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, speaks during a Chicago City Council meeting on Dec. 15, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

The judge heard from the attorneys on critical questions raised in the motions, including whether prosecutors need to prove there was a meeting of the minds between the bribe payor and payee to charge someone with federal honest services fraud or extortion.

But a good portion of the hearing was devoted to the use of the wiretaps and the role of then-Ald. Daniel Solis. Burkes legal team has said federal investigators tried to set Burke up in a scheme involving the old main post office by improperly using Ald. Solis, who was secretly cooperating with the FBI, as a go-between.

In a 227-page response last year, prosecutors denied accusations that Burke was unfairly targeted, saying in many cases it was Burke who had his hand out.

Again and again, Burke shamelessly tied official action to his law firms receipt of business, prosecutors wrote. The government acted more than reasonably in investigating Burkes conduct, an inquiry that ... revealed Burke to be thoroughly corrupt and worthy of prosecution.

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In court Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu underscored that point, saying the evidence showed Burke was engaged in the scheme and was also fully aware that Solis, as chair of the Zoning Committee, had the power to block and approve any project.

Mr. Burke is no dummy, the prosecutor said.

At the center of the defenses efforts is a motion to suppress the evidence gleaned from the wiretaps on Burkes cellphone and City Hall offices.

The 71-page motion, filed in August 2020, accuses prosecutors of directing Solis to have scripted interactions with Burke and lie about the post office deal in an effort to curry favor with the government. At the time, Solis had been recorded committing a number of different crimes, the motion stated.

The government did not disclose that it instructed a desperate (Ald. Solis) to record his conversations with Ald. Burke, even though (Solis) told the government that he had no knowledge of Ald. Burke ever having been involved in corrupt activity in the 25 years they served together on the City Council, the motion stated.

According to the filing, then-U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo used the alleged misinformation from prosecutors to find that there was probable cause for the wiretaps.

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The hearing came after months of delay brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the mountain of material submitted by both sides.

Burke, 78, a Democratic stalwart and onetime dean of the City Council, was originally charged in a criminal complaint in January 2019. He was indicted four months later on 14 counts including racketeering, federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.

The 59-page indictment outlined a series of schemes in which Burke allegedly tried to muscle developers into hiring his law firm, Klafter & Burke, to appeal their property taxes. Among the projects Burke tried to capitalize on was the massive $800 million renovation of the old main post office in the West Loop, according to the charges.

Peter J. Andrews, a longtime political operative for Burke, was accused in the indictment of assisting the alderman in attempting to shake down two businessmen seeking to renovate a Burger King restaurant in the 14th Ward.

The indictment also accused developer Charles Cui of hiring Burkes law firm in exchange for the aldermans help with a sign permit and financing deal for a project in the Portage Park neighborhood.

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All three have pleaded not guilty.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Paso Robles police arrested a 30-year-old man suspected of sexual assault and burglary early Tuesday morning in Paso Robles, the department said in a news release.

Courtney Quiros, 30, is alleged to have broken into a home in the 400 block of Kenton Court and sexually assaulted a woman while she was sleeping.

A Police Department K9 tracked Quiros to a nearby house, where he was arrested and taken to San Luis Obispo County Jail on suspicion of several felonies related to the burglary and sexual assault.

The investigation is ongoing, and the Paso Robles Police Department asks anyone with information to call 805-237-6464.
Shares of Pfizer fell on Tuesday after the drugmaker's forecast for this year's sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral pills came in below Wall Street estimates.

Although Pfizer raised its forecast for the vaccine to $32 billion, it cautioned that final sales for 2022 may not top that figure.

Last year, the company increased its COVID vaccine sales forecast several times as it signed more deals to supply the world with its shots.

But Pfizer said its COVID-19 pill Paxlovid looked more promising, saying that sales forecast could increase. It expects $22 billion in sales for the treatment this year.

The company expects to produce at least 120 million courses of Paxlovid, a two-drug regimen meant to be taken at home, and is selling the treatment to the U.S. government at around $530 a course.

Overall, Pfizer expects sales of $98 billion to $102 billion for the year, which was also below the estimates of analysts, who expected Pfizer to make more than $105 billion this year.

In a research note, one analyst said it's unclear whether sales from Pfizer's COVID-19 products are sustainable long term.
BRUSSELS (AP)  Police in Belgium detained 13 people on Tuesday following raids in and around the port city of Antwerp as part of an investigation into alleged terror activities.

According to the federal prosecutors office, the suspects were all part of the same group, which it described as close to Salafist circles. About 100 police officers were involved in the operation.

The prosecutors office did not reveal details of the groups plans, but said the police operation was not aimed at stopping an imminent threat of attack.

The suspects will appear before an investigative judge who will decide whether they should remain in custody.

Belgium has been hit by several terror attacks in the past decade, including suicide bombings in 2016 that killed 32 people and injured hundreds more in the Brussels subway and airport.
Acting Sergeant Tony Ruth used a ladder to rescue the children from the fire. (Met Police)

A police officer who rescued three children from a burning flat has been recognised for his bravery.

Acting Sergeant Tony Ruth's quick thinking helped save the youngsters after his team spotted a blaze at a block of flats in Uxbridge, west London.

Police bodycam footage showed the officer climbing up to the window of the home in Station Road to rescue each of the children.

Met Officers also guided two adults down the ladder to safety.

On Monday, Acting Sgt Ruth was commended for his actions when he was named 'officer of the month' for the West Area Command Unit.

His colleagues, PC Dave Collinswood and PC Ryan James, were also recognised for the important part they played in the response to the fire.

Acting Sgt Ruth (L) receiving his commendation. (Met Police)

The officers were on a routine patrol in Uxbridge shortly after midday on 27 December when they noticed smoke coming from the underground storage area of a block of flats.

As they got closer to the building, it became apparent that there was a fire and that smoke was spreading quickly through the building.

They requested assistance from the London Fire Brigade but knew they had to act fast.

After checking the ground floor of the four-flat block and helping a resident leave the building, the officers heard a woman calling for help from one of the upper flats.

She shouted that she was trapped due to the smoke and had three children and another adult with her.

With the help of members of the public who provided a ladder, the officers were able to help the trapped family.

The family was taken to hospital as a precaution but nobody was seriously injured.

Read more:

Dachshund dogs stolen from house as police launch appeal

Lamborghini driver injured in shooting before fleeing in Rolls-Royce

Father's heartbreak over murdered son who used last breath to say killers names

Acting Sgt Ruth, part of the emergency response team based at Hillingdon, was treated for the effects of smoke inhalation and was discharged following treatment.

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After being recognised for his bravery, he said: Its great to be recognised in this way but its important that this incident and everything we do in this role is a team effort.

Chief Superintendent Sean Wilson, policing commander for the West Area Command Unit, added: It goes without saying that the quick-thinking and courageous actions of A/PS Ruth, PC Collinswood and PC James, with the assistance of members of the public, potentially saved the lives of this young family.

They have demonstrated the best qualities that we expect in our officers, putting themselves in harms way to protect the public. I, and all their colleagues on the West Area Command Unit, are immensely proud of them.
Feb. 8Honolulu police have opened an attempted murder investigation after a male suspect allegedly fired a handgun at a vehicle occupied by several people in Waikiki early Sunday.

The alleged shooting occurred in the 400 block of Nahua Street at about 4 a.m.

Police said at least one bullet hit the vehicle occupied by at least five people with ages ranging from 17 to 49. It's unclear at this time how many gunshots were fired.

There were no injuries reported.

Police said the suspect fled in a dark-colored sedan.

The suspect and victims are not known to one another.

Police said there are no arrests at this time.
Feb. 8The Portland City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products.

"This is just one of many tools we can use to create a better public health outcome for everyone," said Councilor Tae Chong, who chairs the council's Health & Human Services and Public Safety Committee, which approved the ban 3-0 in November. "Banning flavored tobacco isn't the only strategy. Prevention and intervention and all those other things are going to come into play, but this is one way to help the overall health of our kids and also marginalized populations."

The ordinance will take effect June 1, the same day a similar ordinance is scheduled to take effect in Bangor. Both municipalities are among more than 330 communities nationwide that have passed restrictions on the sale of flavored tobacco products, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a nonprofit that advocates to reduce tobacco use.

The American Lung Association, in a statement following the council vote, applauded the decision and urged the rest of Maine to take the same step.

"The city of Portland made a bold statement tonight when it acted to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products," said Lance Boucher, assistant vice president for state public policy for the association, in the statement. "Not only did they take a stand to prioritize our kids' health over tobacco industry profits, they sent a message to Augusta that Mainers are ready to leave tobacco behind."

The council heard more than two hours of public comment on the ban from the public, including parents and public health experts who asked that they approve it.

"I think this is an opportunity for the city of Portland to take a leadership role along with the city of Bangor," said Michael Bourque, a resident who said two of his four children, who are now in their 20's or late teens, started vaping in middle school.

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Bourque said vaping had a "special attraction" to his children when they were very young. "It was easy. It was discreet. It was cool and they were almost immediately addicted," Bourque said. "Six years and eight years later it's still a problem. Neither of them have been able to quit entirely."

Elizabeth Nalli, a school nurse in Portland Public Schools, said hardly a day goes by in the district, as well as schools nationwide, where staff don't have to intervene in instances of students smoking on school grounds. She asked the council to pass the ban.

"Almost universally the product of choice is vape pens designed to deliver flavored hits," Nalli said. "The array of flavors is clearly designed to appeal to the palate of youth with flavors like mocha, Pop Tart, banana blast and cotton candy on top of the traditional menthol flavors."

Businesses and tobacco industry advocates argued that the ban is overly broad and that flavored tobacco products should remain available for adults. They said a ban would only send customers to other communities to make their purchases.

Chris Jackson, who said he owns a tobacco specialty store in the city, suggested that the city explore alternatives to a ban, such as allowing specialty stores that only allow customers 21 and up to enter to continue selling flavored tobacco products.

"What is the actual cost of this ordinance going to be?" Jackson asked. "And not just in monetary value, (what is) the loss of businesses, the loss of jobs? Who's going to enforce this? ... I believe we're jumping into this a little too soon."

Lisa Walters, manager of The Quality Shop, a convenience store on Stevens Avenue, said in an interview before Monday's meeting that she also thinks the ban is a bad idea. About 30 to 40 percent of sales at the store are flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. "It's going to drive business outside of Portland, which is going to hurt all the small businesses," Walters said.

She suggested employers take a harder stance on checking ID's and refusing sales to underage customers as an alternative way to keep tobacco out of the hands of youth. "Small businesses are already hurting with staff shortages and this is just going to hurt them even more," Walters said. "I think employees should be more educated and have more confidence when they're approached by a minor or a minor with a fake ID."

While councilors expressed support for the ban, some also said they struggled with the idea of prohibition. "The thing I was getting stuck on was trying to find some common-sense solutions with harm reduction and education rather than prohibition," Councilor Victoria Pelletier said. "I still don't know that outright prohibition is really the best policy."

Pelletier said she was swayed to support the ban because it would be the best for kids in her district. "By moving forward with the ban, I'm asking, 'Do I even have a percentage of a chance to help protect the kids at King and Reiche (schools), especially the Black and brown kids?" Pelletier said.

The new ordinance defines a flavored tobacco product as "any tobacco product that imparts a taste or smell, other than the taste or smell of tobacco, either prior to, or during the consumption of, a tobacco product, including, but not limited to, any taste or smell relating to fruit, menthol, mint, wintergreen, chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, honey, or any candy, dessert, alcoholic beverage, herb, or spice."

It applies to any natural or synthetic tobacco or nicotine products intended to be consumed by inhalation, absorption or ingestion by any other means. That includes flavored cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuff.

Cannabis products are excluded, unless they contain, or are made of or derived from, tobacco and nicotine.

Violations of the ordinance would carry fines of $100 to $500 for each offense.

The Brunswick Town Council also is considering a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products and will hold a public hearing on the proposal Feb. 22. Councilor Kathy Wilson, who is sponsoring the proposal, said that as a former smoker, she knows how addictive nicotine can be.

"I think this vaping, which sucks in the kids, is just not the right thing for us to be doing as responsible adults," Wilson said. "I know a couple people have said, 'I quit smoking and I'm vaping.' We're not taking away vaping. It's the flavored tobacco we're going after."

Maine lawmakers, too, are considering a statewide ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. Rep. Michele Meyer, D-Eliot, is sponsoring a bill, L.D. 1550, that passed out of the Legislature's Committee on Health and Human Services last year and was carried over to the current session.

Meyer said Monday that she expects her bill to come up for a House vote this spring, though a vote has not yet been scheduled.

As a registered nurse, Meyer said she too has seen the impacts of nicotine addiction, which often starts in childhood. She said recent polling in Maine has shown a majority of residents would like to see restrictions placed on the sale of flavored tobacco products and that passing a ban on a statewide level will "level the playing field" for municipalities.

"As municipalities one by one go in this direction, we as state lawmakers need to take a good hard look at what our constituents are saying and what our municipalities are doing and listen to the people who are placing public health over tobacco industry profits," Meyer said.
On a summer day eight years ago, Eddie Bocanegra, with his daughter Salome on his shoulders, stood at the head of a wooded hiking trail in a Chicago suburb to lead a group of teens on a walk.

The youths, who navigated dangerous paths every day back home in Little Village, were there as part of Bocanegras Urban Warriors program, which brought street-involved young men and military veterans together for mentoring.

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This is my sanctuary, Bocanegra said as he stepped into the sunlit forest.

Urban Warriors was the first of two violence prevention programs Bocanegra has launched in Chicago during the past eight years, a time period in which the citys long history of neighborhood-based violence prevention experienced a major revitalization.

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Eddie Bocanegra, center, holds his daughter Salome while hiking during a group meeting of the Urban Warriors program at Wolf Road Woods on June 14, 2014, in Willow Springs. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Now, with the country grappling with a surge in homicides and shootings, Bocanegra has been named senior adviser for community violence intervention in the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a release from Heartland Alliance, where he serves as senior director.

Some said the appointment is an acknowledgment from the administration of President Joe Biden that solutions to the two-year spike should include input from people on the ground  such as Bocanegra  who have responded to persistent gun violence with street outreach and mediation, direct support for victims, job training and therapy.

To me it signals that the (Biden) administration is still following what the research says  you cant solve gun violence just with cops and handcuffs, said Walter Katz, who worked under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel as deputy chief of staff for public safety in Chicago. Being able to effectively investigate crimes and use cops to solve crimes is very important but another absolutely crucial part of that is  trying to work with people who are involved in violence to address the underlying causes. That is what Eddie has shown: A pathway, down to the individual level, to steer people in the right direction.

Bocanegra, who served time in prison and went on to earn a masters in social work from the University of Chicago, first worked to fight violence in Chicago as an outreach worker at CeaseFire, an organization known for its work to interrupt street disputes with workers in neighborhoods where they take place.

Eddie Bocanegra at his home in La Grange Park on Feb. 7, 2022. Bocanegra, who has worked in violence prevention in Chicago for more than 15 years, has been named a senior adviser to the Justice Department on violence prevention. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

He then joined the YMCA of Metro Chicago, where he started Urban Warriors. The program paired youth in Little Village with military veterans for mentoring and therapy, based on shared experiences of coping with and surviving danger. Bocanegra thought it was a way to help treat mental and emotional wounds that youths often suffer from growing up in Chicagos more fractured communities.

Bocanegra later moved to Heartland Alliance, where he started the READI program, which sought out those most at risk to be involved in violence to for an intense jobs program as well as therapy to deal with unaddressed trauma. The program partnered with other violence prevention groups in the city that have organized into a more formalized structure to try and reduce violence during the last five years.

Eddies new position with the Department of Justice is a testament to his vital work with READI Chicago and demonstrates the important role leaders in Chicago and Illinois play in the field of community violence intervention, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in the release. When U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Chicago last year, he included a visit to St. Agatha Catholic Church to talk with Eddie and participants in the READI program. If we want to end the epidemic of gun violence, we need to invest in community-based solutions that end cycles of trauma.

In an interview Monday, Bocanegra said he is hoping to be a voice in Washington for his entire field, the organizations and individuals he knows in Chicago and across the country who work every day to identify people who need help and determine how to deliver it to them.

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Eddie Bocanegra kisses his son Eliseo, 2, at his home on Feb. 7, 2022, in La Grange Park. Bocanegra, who has worked in violence prevention in Chicago for more than 15 years, has been named a senior adviser to the Justice Department on violence prevention. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

It is a complicated process, and Bocanegra said he was excited that people in Washington wanted to learn more about it.

I see this opportunity as our president and our current government walking the walk when they talk about criminal justice reform, he said. This is a part of it, they are allowing someone like me to be in this space.

Bocanegra knows from firsthand experience how hard it is to intervene and help people who have been exposed to violence. Not everyone in READI or Urban Warriors was successful, and policymakers need to understand why.

I think that is part of the reason I am going into this role, he said. We think because you have a program or intervention, that is going to solve peoples exposure to trauma or lack of education, which has happened for 20 years. Were grappling with decades of disinvestment and exposure to this level of violence.

Paul Carrillo, a former intervention worker in L.A., said Bocanegras appointment provides an opportunity for Washington officials to really understand how hard the work is.

There arent many in our industry that do what we do, specifically on the hard to reach, the most at-risk, said Carrillo, who is now director of the Community Violence Initiative at Giffords Law Center. So it says a lot. ... I personally think it is a significant move by the White House in that we are all going to be better for it.

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Bocanegras appointment comes at a tumultuous time around issues of public safety and policing in the U.S.

After the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, there were widespread and sustained demands across the country for a re-examination of the role of law enforcement. Many called for outright defunding of departments, citing the deaths of unarmed citizens, mostly Black men, from the actions of police officers.

Then, in the wake of the past two years of sustained gun violence across the country, which coincided with a pandemic that caused economic and emotional stress, came increased pressure on lawmakers to return to a more punitive law enforcement response to stop violence.

Eddie Bocanegra, far left, of the Urban Warriors initiative, leads military veterans and teens during an Urban Warriors outing on June 14, 2014, in Willow Springs. (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune)

Bocanegras appointment also comes as the neighborhood where he grew up, Little Village, or La Villita, as it is known has been back in the spotlight for high-profile crimes. Despite its troubles, it serves as both a cultural destination and an entry point for Mexican immigrants looking to earn a living in Chicago and beyond.

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Despite a continuous focus in recent years on the root causes of violence and outreach to families by community organizations, the vibrant community anchored by its 26th Street shopping district has seen no end to gang warfare. Some of the conflicts have their roots in the 1960s.

Prosecutors have said those entrenched conflicts sparked the shooting that killed 8-year-old Melissa Ortega on Jan. 22. That killing was about a half mile east of a 2019 Halloween shooting that wounded a 7-year-old who was trick-or-treating.

In addition to the young victims of crime, the conflicts very often involve teenagers and young adults used as gang foot soldiers and enforcers.

In March 2021, an on-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo during a foot chase, after officers responded to someone shooting at cars, highlighting the issues surrounding police response in the neighborhood.

Marches and parades to honor Adams memory were held, with some gathering to protest police. The shooting remains under investigation by the department.

Such is the high stakes debate Bocanegra will find himself in when he lands in Washington. When asked about that Monday, he said he understood the legitimate criticism of police conduct but also said that many are moved to serve in local law enforcement out of a true sense of purpose.

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And as charged and divisive as the topic is, he said an increased understanding of shared experiences will lead to solutions.

He noted that three of his five siblings served in the Armed Forces and that his reflection on their experiences and his  as someone who chose a street life instead  is what led to the Urban Warriors program.

Bocanegra, who is on leave from Heartland, now lives outside Chicago with his wife and seven children.

asweeney@chicagotribune.com

wlee@chicagotribune.com
Over a hundred protesters held a rally against a 30-story detention complex planned for Manhattans Chinatown on Sunday, saying it will tarnish the historic neighborhood.



The construction of a 295-foot tall mega jail, is scheduled to begin in two weeks at 125 White St., replacing the current Manhattan Detention Complex  also known as The Tombs  that sits next to the Chung Pak senior residence center.



Demonstrators at Sundays rally carried signs that read, No new jails, Save our neighborhood and Mayor Adams, listen to Chinatown, according to amNY.



Mayor Adams, it is not too late to stop this jail and reconsider what criminal justice and criminal reform looks like, said Democratic district leader Victoria Lee, who also co-founded the nonprofit Welcome to Chinatown.





These TWO Chinatown jails aka The Tombs and Man. Detention Complex now have 850+ EMPTY beds. The buildings are being prepared for demolition at the start of the #Lunarnewyear and #BLackhistorymonth. 24 Months of unmitigable toxic dust and water, vibration and noise. #STOPTHEJAIL pic.twitter.com/AfmTD2W6X4

 Neighbors United Below Canal (@NUBCanal) February 6, 2022







Former Mayor Bill de Blasio first laid out the plan to close Rikers Island Prison Complex by 2027 and replace it with a jail in every borough except Staten Island, reported amNY. The proposal, which was announced in 2017, has since triggered multiple protests from the local community.



Critics have also referred to the health risks of air pollution that could result from the planned demolition and construction. In July 2019, the New York University Center for the Study of Asian American Health (NYU CSAAH) submitted testimony citing studies that detail the dangers of construction site emissions), including links to lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, early onset dementia and even premature death.



The impact of long-term demolition, construction and possible relocation on the health of older adults in Chinatown should be taken into consideration, the center wrote. Increases in exposure of the elderly to elevated levels of PM from construction sites, even short-term, can not only worsen co-morbidities, including cardiovascular and respiratory disease, but also result in hospitalizations, acute disease episodes, and/or death.



The construction of the jail is also believed to negatively impact local businesses, which have already suffered losses and been targets of anti-Asian attacks since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.



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Candidate for Mayor - Eric Adams speaking on April 2nd 2021 , he said "No building up a jail at this location" We believe you Mr. MAYOR, and we know the City can do better than building MEGA-jails that are untested, unproven, and unsafe for anyone. pic.twitter.com/7QLKX9mwib

 Neighbors United Below Canal (@NUBCanal) February 6, 2022







Mayor Eric Adams had originally promised not to build the jail while campaigning last April.



I know its possible to solve the problems we are facing in incarceration without the destruction of communities, he said at the time.



Councilmember Christopher Marte, who led Sundays rally alongside Neighbors United Below Canal (NUBC), criticized de Blasio for failing to discontinue the plans, saying, He chose Chinatown to be in a decade of dust, with the construction of the tallest jail in the world, Marte said, as per CBS New York.



The NUBC, which represents thousands of stakeholders in the diverse and unique communities below Canal Street and the surrounding area, vowed not to give up on their fight.



We will not go quietly into that dark night, the group wrote on Twitter. We will FIGHT this plan to continue #incarcerationforprofit and perpetuate the #businessofpoverty. We will not let #GRAMERCYUSA roll in demolition trucks!



Featured Image via CBS New York

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Umpires check the hat and glove of Trevor Bauer for foreign substances. (Meg Oliphant / Getty Images)

For six months, Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer and a San Diego woman have waited to hear whether he would be charged with sexual assault over two encounters that his representatives said were wholly consensual and the woman said were not.

The answer came Tuesday. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined to charge Bauer with a criminal offense.

With the allegations resolved by the justice system, questions and answers about what happens next:

The Dodgers are set to start spring training next week, so Bauer can join them, right?

Well, about next week ...

Ah, right. The owners have locked out the players. But, whenever the Dodgers get started this year, Bauer can join them, right?

Tuesdays decision does not mean Bauer is cleared to resume his career. Police investigated Bauer, but so did Major League Baseball. The leagues domestic violence and sexual assault policy specifically allows the commissioner to suspend a player even if he is not charged with a crime.

Is MLB expected to suspend Bauer?

Yes.

Based on what?

The policy states that a single incident of abusive behavior  may subject a player to discipline. The woman has provided medical records in which doctors diagnosed her with assault by manual strangulation and acute head injury following a sexual encounter with Bauer. The pitcher's legal team has contested the accuracy of the medical assessment.

The judge who denied the woman a restraining order against him said her injuries, as depicted in photographs, were terrible, even if she was not ambiguous about wanting rough sex in the  first encounter and wanting rougher sex in the second encounter.

In a video Tuesday, Bauer said the woman had stayed overnight after both encounters and left the next morning without any incident or concern.

He added: When she left, she certainly did not look anything like the photos that were later attached to her family court declaration and circulated by her lawyers to the media.

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He also said: I never assaulted her in any way, at any time. And, while we did have consensual rough sex, the disturbing acts and conduct she described simply did not occur.

The Washington Post reported that an Ohio woman had made similar allegations against Bauer, which he has dismissed as categorically false. The Ohio woman has cooperated with MLB investigators.

Of the 15 players that have been suspended under the policy, none had been publicly identified with more than one alleged victim.

So what happens next?

Now that Bauer need not worry that anything he says could be used against him in a criminal case, MLB is expected to ask Bauer to meet with its investigators as required under the league policy. MLB investigators would share their findings with Bauer and allow him to respond, and to provide any information he believes the league should consider.

How long might a suspension last?

Previous suspensions have ranged from 15 games to 162 games. In a normal year, 162 games is a full season.

Can Bauer appeal a suspension?

Yes, but every player suspended has reached a negotiated settlement. If Bauer were willing to consider a negotiated settlement, he could ask that it include time served. He was on leave for the second half of last season, so he could say he already has served half a season.

Bauer maintains he has done nothing wrong, and he might not be willing to negotiate. If he appeals, an independent arbitrator would hear the case.

In 2014, when MLB suspended Alex Rodriguez for 211 games for use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances  over the course of multiple years, an arbitrator reduced the suspension to 162 games. In 2012, after Ryan Braun had been suspended 50 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing substances, the suspension was thrown out via arbitration because testing protocols had not been followed.

Bauer essentially could aim to put commissioner Rob Manfred on trial, claiming the league would be trying to equate unconventional but consensual sex with domestic violence and sexual assault.

However, while baseballs drug policy allows suspended players to keep playing until an appeal is heard, the domestic violence policy has no such provision.

Would Manfred suspend Bauer while a lockout is in force?

It's unlikely.

The Dodgers have two proven starting pitchers, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias. Would they welcome back Bauer, whenever that might be?

Major league sources consider that unlikely, but the Dodgers have remained publicly silent on that question.

After MLB put Washington Nationals infielder Starlin Castro on leave last year to investigate domestic violence allegations against him, the Nationals said Castro would not return to the team. He was suspended, then released at the conclusion of the suspension.

Could the Dodgers release Bauer?

They could, so long as they pay off the balance of his contract.

They owe him $32 million for the 2022 season and another $32 million for the 2023 season, although suspensions are unpaid  and, during a lockout, so are salaries.

If the Dodgers wish to cut Bauer after a suspension and not pay the balance of his contract, they could argue they had acted in accordance with the standard player contract, which allows a team to terminate the deal should the player fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship.

That likely would trigger a grievance. In 2004, after pitcher Denny Neagle was cited on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute, the Colorado Rockies terminated his contract, citing that very same language from the standard player contract.

Neagle filed a grievance. In 2005, he and the Rockies reached a settlement under which he was paid roughly $16 million of the $19.5 million left on his contract, according to the Denver Post. In 2006, Neagle pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of patronizing a prostitute and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Less than a month after escaping an armed hostage taker at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker urged Congress on Tuesday to increase funding for a federal program that bolsters security at houses of worship at risk of attack.

Every congregation needs to be prepared, yet the gap between the need and funding is profound, Cytron-Walker said of the Federal Emergency Management Agencys Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which allows houses of worship and other vulnerable nonprofits to apply for grants of up to $100,000. The funds can be used to pay for various security measures such as fencing, cameras, reinforced doors and hiring personnel.

Cytron-Walker was part of a panel of Jewish leaders called to testify about the grant program and the particular threats currently facing the Jewish community during a virtual hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism and the Emergency Preparedness, Response, & Recovery Subcommittee, both of which fall under the House Homeland Security Committee.

While all of the witnesses were able to speak to the growing need for enhanced security at synagogues amid rising rates of antisemitism across the U.S., Cytron-Walker offered a unique perspective on the importance of security funding, which he credits with helping him and his fellow congregants escape an armed gunman who held them hostage just a few weeks earlier.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker addressing reporters in Southlake, Texas, on Jan. 17. (Emil Lippe/Getty Images)

Cytron-Walker has been hailed as a hero for throwing a chair at the gunman, allowing him and the other remaining hostages to escape after nearly 11 hours in captivity. He attributed his decisive actions to his participation over the years in a half-dozen different security workshops offered by the FBI, the [Anti-Defamation League], Colleyville Police and the Secure Communities Network.

Those sessions helped me to stay alert, look for an opportunity and gave me the courage to act, Cytron-Walker said.

The rabbi also credited the Nonprofit Security Grant Program with funding additional security measures at the synagogue, such as upgraded security cameras, which, he noted, Matthew DeSarno, the special agent in charge of the FBIs Dallas field office, has said gave the decision makers, the negotiators and others general situational awareness during the hostage situation.

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Because of all the plans and funding and courses and literally dozens of small things that just happened to go our way, we were able to escape, Cytron-Walker said, adding that while his synagogue may have been prepared, there are far too many houses of worship that are just beginning the process we started six years ago.

Right now, there are far too many houses of worship that have developed plans and are counting on the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to put them into place and help them feel more secure in their spiritual home, he continued, arguing that, without a substantial increase in federal funding, there are far too many houses of worship who wont get the support they need.

Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, where a man held hostages for more than 10 hours on Jan. 16. The hostages were able to escape, and the hostage taker was killed. (Brandon Wade/AP)

A variety of Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Federations of North America and the Secure Community Network, which were represented at Tuesdays virtual hearing, have been lobbying Congress in recent months to double the annual budget for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which is currently $180 million. Last week, a bipartisan group of more than 170 members of Congress, led by Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., and John Katko, R-N.Y., expressed support for the increase in a letter to the House Appropriations Committee. The letter cited the hostage event at the synagogue in Colleyville as one of many incidents reported this past year of racially and ethnically motivated violence that continues to target faith- and community-based organizations, including shooting, arson, bombing, assault, and property damage.

Tuesdays hearing comes one day after the Department of Homeland Security issued its latest National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin, which warned that the United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories online. The DHS bulletin, the fourth of its kind that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has issued since January 2021, points to the recent attack on the synagogue in Colleyville as indicative of the continuing threat of violence based upon racial or religious motivations, as well as threats against faith-based organizations, and notes that supporters of foreign terrorist organizations have encouraged copycat attacks.

The man suspected of taking Cytron-Walker and his fellow congregants hostage on Jan. 15 has been identified as Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen. Investigators have said they believe Akram, who was ultimately killed following a lengthy standoff with law enforcement, was motivated by a desire to release Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman serving an 86-year sentence in federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, for trying to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan.

According to the accounts of the hostages and those who heard the gunman on a livestream of the synagogues Saturday service, Akrams decision to attack the small Beth Israel congregation in Colleyville was rooted in long-standing antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories that Jews secretly control politicians and world events. America only cares about Jewish lives, Akram reportedly told his prisoners, explaining that he chose to attack a synagogue during Saturday services because he thought the Jewish worshippers gathered inside had the power to secure Siddiquis release.

A senior Homeland Security official told reporters on Monday that in the wake of the hostage standoff, the attack on the synagogue in Colleyville has been promoted by online commentators aligned with ISIS and al-Qaida, as well as on white supremacist platforms.

More and more, were finding that these extremist ideologies dont exist in isolation  the lines between hate, terror and conspiracy are increasingly blurring together, said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., chair of the House Subcommittee on Intelligence & Counterterrorism. In the weeks after Colleyville, its become clear that this tragedy, like so many before it, has become a rallying point for hate and extremism of all kinds: al-Qaida supporters, white supremacists, Holocaust deniers, QAnon conspiracy theorists, Islamophobes  all have seized onto this tragedy for their own twisted ends.

Cytron-Walker, facing camera, hugs a man after a healing service at White's Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas, on Jan. 17. (Yffy Yossifor/Star-Telegram via AP File)

Cytron-Walker was not aware of Akrams intentions when he welcomed him into the synagogue and offered him tea on the morning of Jan. 15  a fact the rabbi was sure to highlight in his opening remarks, as he acknowledged his own conflicting emotions about the topic of Tuesdays hearing.

I am truly horrified that in our society today, religious leaders must devote themselves to security training, said Cytron-Walker, calling the conversation about how to harden religious facilities both necessary and anathema to religious ideals of hospitality and loving the stranger.

I welcomed a terrorist into my congregation, he continued, saying he has thought about that moment a great deal in the days since. Four of us could have died, and I would have been responsible. I live with that responsibility.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  A trail of red flags about his behavior toward women followed Matthew Harris on an academic journey that took him to three of the nations most prestigious universities  Duke, Cornell and then the University of California, Los Angeles.

Former graduate classmates at Duke and Cornell, where he studied before becoming a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA in recent years, described him as inappropriate and creepy, with obsessive behaviors toward some women that became harassment and, in at least one case, sexual harassment.

Last week, police in Colorado arrested Harris after he allegedly emailed an 800-page document and posted videos threatening violence against dozens of people at UCLA, prompting the school to cancel in-person classes for a day.

Harris did not speak Tuesday during his appearance in federal court in Denver. Another hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23 and a judge ordered him to remain in custody. His public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In online class reviews, interviews and emails obtained by The Associated Press, current and former students at all three universities alleged negligence by the schools for letting Harris slide previously, despite his concerning conduct.

Two former Duke students, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they fear for their safety, said that while they did not report Harris to the university at the time, his behavior was well known within the small philosophy program and they did not feel they would have been supported if theyd come forward.

Taken together, the students allegations at three top-tier colleges raise questions about the line between uncomfortable and actionable behavior, a universitys duty to encourage the reporting of it, and an institutions obligation to prevent it from occurring at another school.

The students descriptions prompts another question: What, if anything, did the universities do to get Harris help?

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___

A graduate student at Duke as he completed his Ph.D. in 2019, Harris also attended Cornell for a year before UCLA hired him as a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer until he was put on investigatory leave last March after allegedly sending pornographic and violent content to his students.

The former Duke students described their initial interactions with Harris as largely collegial, but with strange undertones.

But Andrew Janiak, a Duke philosophy professor and former chair of the department, said he never had any indication of such behavior. Janiak received the first reports of harassment in late March, after Harris had left Duke, and the philosophy professor immediately contacted UCLA.

Duke and Cornell declined to comment.

___

The signs were there, like bread crumbs scattered across the three schools.

A house party at Cornell where Harris tried to rope a relative stranger into a discussion about his mental health. Negative reviews of his UCLA lectures. Odd interactions with women on the Duke campus. Incessant text messages and emails.

No one would look at that kid and say, Oh, hes fine, said Brian Van Brunt, an expert on campus violence and mental health. Typically someone like this didnt just appear out of nowhere.

In recent years, most colleges and universities have formed behavioral intervention and threat assessment teams in response to school shootings. Emails and court documents show UCLA's behavioral intervention team was involved, but possibly not until as late as March 30.

That spring, Harris began sending bizarre and disturbing emails. Emails to UCLA students allegedly included pornographic and violent content sent to women in his research group, prompting his suspension.

UCLA officials said in an email that people at the university brought concerns to its Title IX office last year, which worked with the individuals to address the concerns. The university announced Monday that it was creating a task force to conduct a comprehensive review of its protocols for assessing potential threats.

In April, Harris' mother reached out to a professor at University of California, Irvine, saying her son in January had threatened in emails to hunt and kill the woman. The professor had briefly met Harris in 2013 while they were both at Duke and he reached out in 2020.

Harris' emails to his mother prompted the UC system and UCLA police to obtain protective orders against him.

In November  months after hed been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility and diagnosed with schizophrenia  Harris tried to buy a gun but was denied because of those orders.

___

Now, his former classmates wonder: How did Harris even get hired at UCLA?

The onus is on the incoming institution to ask targeted questions about an applicant beyond their academic credentials, according to Saunie Schuster, a lawyer who advises colleges.

While schools typically cannot mention unproven accusations for fear of a lawsuit, Schuster said, they can do a background check. Its not clear whether UCLA officials did so; the university did not answer APs questions regarding its hiring process.

Schuster said a background search would've allowed questions to be posed to former employers like, Has this individual demonstrated any conduct that youve observed that would give you concerns?

For Harris' former classmates, the answer is clear: Yes.

___

Associated Press writers James Anderson and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed.
By Paul Lorgerie

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali has accused France's military of deliberately dividing the West African country and of committing espionage during its fight against Islamist militants, in the latest verbal volley that has seen relations spiral in recent weeks.

Choguel Maiga, appointed interim Prime Minister following a coup last year, did not provide evidence for his claims, made during a meeting with global diplomats on Monday evening to which the media was also invited. French officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Maiga's remarks will further fray tensions between Mali and its former colonial ruler France, whose 9-year counter-insurgency strategy in the Sahel region is unravelling as popular opposition to its military presence grows.

Maiga said the arrival of French troops in 2013 divided the country and allowed jihadists linked to al Qaeda to regroup and continue carrying out attacks.

"The intervention turned into a de-facto partition of Mali, which contributed to the sanctuarisation of our territories for the terrorists who had time to take refuge and reorganise themselves in order to come back in force," Maiga said.

Without providing evidence, Maiga also alleged that France had directed a United Nations peacekeeping plane to spy on the construction of Malian army bases on its behalf. The U.N. mission declined to comment.

Mali on Monday expelled a journalist from the French magazine Jeune Afrique less than 24 hours after his arrival. Authorities said he hadn't obtained the appropriate accreditations.

Tensions between Europe and Mali are nearing boiling point. Paris has suspended air travel and the European Union has sanctioned its leaders for delaying planned elections. Mali expelled the French ambassador last week and demanded Danish troops from a European special forces mission leave the country.

The spat has isolated the military-led government in Mali, which is also under sanctions from West African nations after it said it would not hold elections until Dec. 2025 - nearly four years later than planned.

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France maintains a significant military force in Mali's desert north as part of a mission to combat violence by Islamist militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, but is drawing down troops.

Meanwhile Russian military contractors and trainers have begun arriving in Mali at the bequest of officials, and have been well received by some.

(Reporting by Paul Lorgerie; Additional reporting by John Irish; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Edward McAllister and Raissa Kasolowsky)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Sixteen people went on trial in Istanbul on Tuesday, charged with political and military espionage on behalf of Israel, Turkish media reports said.

The defendants, including Palestinians and Syrians, were arrested in October in an operation by Turkeys national intelligence agency, MIT, according to the pro-government Sabah newspaper and other Turkish media. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The suspects allegedly spied on Palestinian and Turkish students and other people on behalf of Israel, operating in five separate groups, Sabah newspaper reported. Some of the suspects allegedly met with Israeli officials in Switzerland, Croatia, Romania and Kenya.

Turkish intelligence officers reportedly monitored the group for a year before they were arrested.

Turkish officials have not commented on the arrests.

Sabah said the initial hearings in the trial would last four days.
ROME (AP)  Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness Tuesday for any grievous faults" in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticized his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.

Benedict's lack of a personal apology or admission of guilt immediately riled sex abuse survivors, who said his response reflected the Catholic hierarchy's permanent refusal to accept responsibility for the rape and sodomy of children by priests.

Benedict, 94, was responding to a Jan. 20 report from a German law firm that had been commissioned by the German Catholic Church to look into how cases of sexual abuse were handled in the Munich archdiocese between 1945 and 2019. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.

The report faulted Benedicts handling of four cases during his time as archbishop, accusing him of misconduct for having failed to restrict the ministry of the four priests even after they had been convicted criminally. The report also faulted his predecessors and successors, estimating there had been at least 497 abuse victims over the decades and at least 235 suspected perpetrators.

The Vatican on Tuesday released a letter that Benedict wrote to respond to the allegations, alongside a more technical reply from his lawyers who had provided an initial 82-page response to the law firm about his nearly five-year tenure in Munich.

The conclusion of Benedicts lawyers was resolute: As an archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse, they wrote. They criticized the report's authors for misinterpreting their submission, and asserted that they provided no evidence that Benedict was aware of the criminal history of any of the four priests.

Benedicts response was more nuanced and spiritual, though he went on at length to thank his legal team before even addressing the allegations or the abuse victims.

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I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church, Benedict said. All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate.

Benedict issued what he called a confession, though he didn't confess to any specific fault. He recalled that daily Mass begins with believers confessing their sins and asking forgiveness even forgrievous faults. Benedict noted that in his meetings with abuse victims while he was pope, I have seen firsthand the effects of a most grievous fault.

And I have come to understand that we ourselves are drawn into this grievous fault whenever we neglect it or fail to confront it with the necessary decisiveness and responsibility, as too often happened and continues to happen, he wrote. As in those meetings, once again I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness.

His response drew swift criticism from Eckiger Tisch, a group representing German clergy abuse survivors, who said it fit into the church's "permanent relativizing on matters of abuse  wrongdoing and mistakes took place, but no one takes concrete responsibility.

Benedict cant bring himself simply to state that he is sorry not to have done more to protect the children entrusted to his church, the group said.

The retired pope's response will likely complicate efforts by German bishops to try to re-establish credibility with the faithful, whose demands for accountability have only increased after decades of abuse and cover-up.

The head of the German bishops conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, had previously said that Benedict needed to respond to the report by distancing himself from his lawyers and advisers. He must talk, and he must override his advisers and essentially say the simple sentence: I incurred guilt, I made mistakes and I apologize to those affected,' Baetzing said.

But in a tweet Tuesday, Baetzing only noted that Benedict had responded.

I am grateful to him for that and he deserves respect for it, Baetzing wrote. The tweet didn't address the substance of Benedicts response.

The law firm report identified four cases in which Ratzinger was accused of misconduct in failing to act against abusers.

Two cases involved priests who offended while Ratzinger was archbishop and were punished by the German legal system but were kept in pastoral work without any limits on their ministry. A third case involved a cleric who was convicted by a court outside Germany but was put into service in Munich. The fourth case involved a convicted pedophile priest who was allowed to transfer to Munich in 1980, and was later put into ministry. In 1986, that priest received a suspended sentence for molesting a boy.

Benedicts team had earlier clarified an initial error in their submission to the law firm that had insisted Ratzinger was not present at the 1980 meeting in which the priests transfer to Munich was discussed. Ratzinger was there, but the priest's return to ministry was not discussed, they said.

Benedict said he was deeply hurt that the oversight about his presence at the 1980 meeting had been used to cast doubt on my truthfulness, and even to label me a liar. But he said he had been heartened by the support he had received.

I am particularly grateful for the confidence, support and prayer that Pope Francis personally expressed to me, he said.

The Vatican had already strongly defended Benedicts record after the law firm report, recalling that Benedict was the first pope to meet with victims of abuse, that he had issued strong norms to punish priests who raped children and had directed the church to pursue a path of humility in seeking forgiveness for the crimes of its clerics.

The Vaticans defense, however, focused primarily on Benedicts tenure as head of the Holy Sees doctrine office and his eight-year papacy.

Benedict reflected on his legacy in his letter.

Quite soon, I shall find myself before the final judge of my life, he wrote. Even though, as I look back on my long life, I can have great reason for fear and trembling, I am nonetheless of good cheer. For I trust firmly that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who himself has already suffered for my shortcomings."

Benedict's response also rang hollow outside of Germany, with the U.S.-based survivor's advocacy group, SNAP, accusing him of repeating words of apology that have fallen on deaf ears for decades.

And Mitchell Garabedian, the Boston attorney of Spotlight fame who has represented hundreds of abuse victims, said Benedict's words re-victimized and insulted survivors.

Hes a leader setting a poor example morally, and in the process he is encouraging further cover-up of clergy sexual abuse," he said.

But Pope Francis' top adviser on preventing abuse, Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, found in Benedict's letter sincere contrition for what has been lacking in his stewardship."

Benedicts acknowledgement of the irreparable harm caused by sexual abuse in the church and of his own failings to do everything to prevent such harm is a challenge to all those who hold positions of leadership in the church, O'Malley said. We must do better.

___

AP reporters Geir Moulson in Berlin and Mark Pratt in Boston contributed.
A federal grand jury has indicted a Rochester dentist on multiple drug-related charges.

Phillip Jensen, 61, is charged with eight counts of drug diversion, eight counts of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, one count of tampering with consumer products, and three counts of false statements related to health care matters, according to a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of Illinois.

Jensen, according to the release, was arrested Monday and had an initial appearance at the federal courthouse in Springfield. At that hearing, Magistrate Judge Tom Schanzle-Haskins issued a temporary order of detention.

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A detention hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday.

It was unclear if Jensen is represented by legal counsel.

The indictment alleges that as early as December 2019 and continuing to at least Aug. 17, 2020, Jensen altered the fentanyl that was supposed to be used as anesthesia during his patients surgeries. The indictment alleges that prior to surgery, Jensen allegedly removed half the fentanyl from the vials and set it aside for his personal use. He then refilled the vials of fentanyl with another solution and administered the adulterated fentanyl to his patients, according to the indictment.

Illinois COVID update: Sangamon County officials report 3 additional COVID-related deaths Tuesday

Jensen is accused of committing additional federal offenses related to this conduct, including eight incidents of drug diversion. The indictment also alleges eight incidents of Jensen acquiring fentanyl by fraud and one count of tampering with consumer products.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, with the assistance of the Sangamon County Sheriffs Office, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. attorneys Douglas McMeyer and Sierra Senor-Moore are representing the government in the prosecution.

The indictment was returned by the grand jury on Feb. 1.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rochester Illinois dentist Phillip Jensen indicted, faces drug charges
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) asks questions during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss reopening schools during Covid-19 on Thursday, September 30, 2021.





Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) says that he texted his niece, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, after the RNC censured Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) last week.

"We've exchanged some texts. ... I expressed my point of view," Romney said Monday.

He declined to comment on the conversation, but described McDaniel as "terrific."

"I think she's a wonderful person and doing her very best," Romney added.

The text messages come after the RNC sparked fierce backlash after it described Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of former President Trump's followers breached the Capitol, as "legitimate political discourse" in a resolution censuring Kinzinger and Cheney, the only two Republicans on the select House committee investigating the attack.

McDaniel appeared to try to clarify the resolution, saying in a statement that the two GOP lawmakers were involved in persecuting citizens "engaged in legitimate political discourse" but "that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol." The last section was not in the RNC resolution.

Romney, who was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump in an impeachment trial in the wake of Jan. 6, has been critical of both the censure resolution and the language used in it.

"It could not have been a more inappropriate message," the former Republican presidential nominee said, adding that it was "so far from accurate as to shock and to make people wonder what we're thinking."
Jonathan Swain, a Hyde Park business owner and community leader who leads an educational nonprofit, announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, joining a crowded field seeking to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush.

No one else has the diversity of experience that I do and no one else will work as hard as I will, Swain said in his introductory launch video.

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Swain becomes the 14th Democrat to announce for the seat that Rush intends to vacate at the close of his term in January after 30 years in Congress.

Black Bench Chicago's advisory board chair Jonathan Swain and program founder Alex Sims speak as the first cohort of graduates gathers Nov. 14, 2021 during an event at Tree House in River North. The organization launched in spring 2021 with the goal of training a new generation of Black leaders in politics, government, policy and advocacy. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Swains campaign said he has already raised $200,000 for his bid in the newly drawn 1st District, which runs from Chicagos South Side through the south and southwest suburbs and continues nearly to Kankakee.

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Swain is president and CEO of LINK Unlimited Scholars, a nonprofit group that works to help Black youths to succeed in college. He owns his familys Kimbark Beverage Shoppe and is a past president of the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce. He also is a founder of the Hyde Park Brew Fest.

Swain previously was a member of the Chicago Board of Elections, chair of the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals and deputy commissioner in the city of Chicagos Department of Planning and Development.

As a lifelong Chicagoan and South Sider, I understand the life experiences and values of the 1st District. I grew up here, I lead a business here. I have served here and I am raising my children here. I hope to earn the opportunity to continue my lifes work of expanding opportunity and uplifting the community I call home as its congressman, he said in a statement.

Swain joins a field that includes Chicago Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd; state Sen. Jacqueline Collins; Jonathan Jackson, a son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Karin Norington-Reaves, the head of workforce development for Chicago and Cook County, who has received Rushs endorsement.

The district is overwhelmingly Democratic, making the winner of the partys June 28 primary the likely successor to Rush.

rap30@aol.com

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By Maria Kiselyova and Ece Toksabay

MOSCOW/ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Six Russian warships are heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean for naval drills, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's Defence Ministry as saying on Tuesday, in what it said was a pre-planned movement of military resources.

Russia announced last month its navy would stage a sweeping set of exercises involving all its fleets in January and February, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, in the latest show of strength in a surge of military activity during a standoff with the West over Ukraine.

Three of the ships passed through Turkey's straits to the Black Sea on Tuesday, according to a Reuters witness. Turkish sources said the other three are expected to pass on Wednesday.

The vessels include the Korolev, the Minsk and the Kaliningrad, which navigated the Bosphorus on Tuesday, while the Pyotr Morgunov, the Georgy Pobedonosets and the Olenegorsky Gornyak are scheduled to pass on Wednesday.

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border. It denies any plans to invade but is seeking sweeping security guarantees, including a promise of no missile deployments near its borders, a scaling back of NATO military infrastructure and a ban on Ukraine ever joining the alliance.

Legally, NATO member Turkey could shut the straits to transit if Russia were to take military action against Ukraine.

"Turkey is authorised to close the straits to all foreign warships in wartime or when it is threatened by aggression. Also, it is authorised to refuse transit to merchant ships belonging to countries at war with Turkey," said Yoruk Isik, an Istanbul-based geopolitical analyst and head of the Bosphorus Observer consultancy.

Turkey, which shares a maritime border with both Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has said any military conflict would be unacceptable and has told Moscow any invasion would be unwise.

However President Tayyip Erdogan has also offered to mediate in the row between Moscow and Kyiv. Ankara has cordial relations with both countries, though Erdogan says it will do what is necessary as a NATO member in the event of a Russian invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron, said on Tuesday after talks in the Kremlin with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that he believed steps can be taken to de-escalate the crisis and called on all sides to stay calm.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones and Mark Heinrich)
Salina Unified School District No. 305 has its offices at the former Glennifer Hill Elementary School building, 1511 Gypsum Ave.. The district's board of education also gathers for its meetings in the building.

The Salina Unified School District No. 305 Board of Education is reviewing the district's COVID policies this week after there were changes made at the county health department.

The Return to Instruction, which was last approved in July, is the district's comprehensive plan to continue in-person learning and will have another review by the school board at its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

According to the proposed changes in the meeting's agenda, the main portion of the plan that may change is about contact tracing for COVID-positive students, teachers and staff. The Saline County Health Department, as the agency that has "statutory authority to order quarantines and isolations," is no longer contact tracing, so the proposed changes to the plan would halt the practice in 305 schools as well.

This change would also affect school nursing staff, who were coordinating with county health for contact tracing.

Jennifer Camien, the district's public information director said the purpose of this plan, and its updating, is to comply with the Kansas State Board of Education's policies in regard to learning.

More: Saline County sees highest number of COVID cases

Masking still a part of plan

Missing from the proposed changes to the district's Return to Instruction plan is any change to its current masking policy.

Part I of the plan deals with how the district will maintain health and safety of those who are a part of the district, according to recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Section A of the plan directly states the district's mask policy, which says it will use CDC and Kansas Department of Health and Environment recommendations, requiring masking in district facilities for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

Exceptions to this policy include students engaging in vigorous physical activity and people outdoors on district property, such as a playground.

More: Saline County Health Department adopts state quarantine guidelines

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To help students and others understand the requirements, the district has placed information about it and the correct way to wear masks throughout its buildings.

Some members of the public have come to these meetings and not worn masks.

Camien said that board meetings are no different than any other time, and everyone who comes to the meetings is offered a mask.

"They are informed with information posted about the universal masking policy that the district has in place," Camien said.

Other board meeting business

Also set for the meeting Tuesday are action items relating to the district's summer food service meal program, possible retention incentives given to new hires to help meet the need of school bus drivers and the district's summer school plan for 2022.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina USD 305 school board will discuss changes to COVID policies
SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD, NJ  In light of Gov. Phil Murphy's announcement on Monday to end the state mandate on mask-wearing in schools as of March 7, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Public School announced it will transition to "mask optional" on that date.

In an email to the district, Superintendent Dr. Joan Mast said the governor's announcement is "a welcome step and a sign that we are moving slowly but surely to a more normal, pre-pandemic way of life."

While mask use will be optional in the Scotch Plains Fanwood Schools as of March 7, Mast said the district may need to return to stricter mask policy if necessary.

In lifting the states mask requirement, Murphy cited data showing that the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have fallen dramatically in recent weeks. Murphy is leaving it up to individual districts to decide whether they will keep the mask mandate or not.

Mast said the school district's case numbers have followed state trends, which has led them to the decision to not require masks. During the week of Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, approximately 13 students and 3 staff members reported testing positive for COVID-19.

Mast added that it is important that the community supports each family's decision regarding mask wearing and that everyone has personal circumstances they are dealing with.

She said the state Department of Health will develop guidance for school districts over the next few weeks, and there could be some adjustments to the mask-wearing rules for specific populations and/or circumstances.

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools will work collaboratively with the Regional Health Departments for guidance.

"As always we strive to make the best decisions for everyones well-being and safety," Mast said. "Navigating these times has been an ongoing challenge for our school community, and we appreciate your continued support."

Have a news tip? Email remy.samuels@patch.com.

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This article originally appeared on the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Patch
The storefront of Scotch & Soda's new store at the Mall of Berlin.

A popular international clothing brand that celebrates "the free spirit of Amsterdam" in its designs will soon open its first brick-and-mortar store in Arizona.

Scotch & Soda will open on Friday, Feb. 11, at Scottsdale Fashion Square. The nearly 1,700-square-foot store, which touts "sustainable features ... reflecting the brand's sensitivity to the planet," will be on Level One between Steve Madden and Sunglass Hut.

Scotch & Soda, which has around 250 stores around the world, offers a collection that spans menswear, womenswear, children's clothing, eyewear, fragrances and accessories. Its "upbeat designs" "redefine everyday dressing with daring mixes of classic and contemporary, color and print, and texture on texture," according to a press release.

For subscribers: New stores in metro Phoenix: Activewear, bridal, comics and more

The release also states that "shoppers can expect a warm welcome, including an exclusive gift with purchase," during opening weekend in Scottsdale.

"Were excited to bring the free spirit of Amsterdam to Arizona as we continue to grow our brick and mortar footprint, Karis Durmer, CEO of the Americas, said in a statement.

Another anticipated opening at the mall this year is Christian Louboutin, which is poised to make its Arizona debut at Fashion Square.

Reach the reporter at kimi.robinson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimirobin and Instagram @ReporterKiMi.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scotch & Soda clothing will open first Arizona store in Scottsdale
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP)  A juror in Scott Peterson's two-decade-old murder trial will be granted immunity before testifying at a hearing that could determine whether a new trial is granted, authorities said.

The offer to Richelle Nice will come before she testifies at a Feb. 25 evidentiary hearing, Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager announced Monday.

Nice was Juror 7 in the trial that ended in 2004 with Peterson's conviction for killing his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son.

Prosecutors say Peterson took his wifes body from their Modesto home on Christmas Eve 2002 and dumped her from his fishing boat into the San Francisco Bay, where her body and that of her unborn son washed ashore separately in April 2003.

Peterson's lawyers want to overturn his murder conviction on grounds of bias and misconduct. They contend that Nice lied on a jury questionnaire when she denied having been the victim of a crime or involved in a lawsuit.

Attorneys say Nice did not reveal during jury selection that she had been beaten by a boyfriend while pregnant in 2001. She also didnt disclose that during another pregnancy she had obtained a restraining order - considered a type of lawsuit  against a boyfriends ex-girlfriend, whom she feared would hurt her unborn child.

I dont think you can make a cogent argument that somebody who is pregnant and has been the victim of violence can go into a trial and at the very least not feel some bias towards a circumstance where a victim is a pregnant woman who basically had violence occur, Petersons lawyer, Pat Harris, said Monday after the hearing.

Petersons attorneys have argued that she actively sought to join the jury because she wanted Peterson to be punished for the deaths.

She has denied it.

I did not lie to get on this trial to fry Scott, she told the Modesto Bee in 2017.

Nice had said that without immunity  which could protect her from a perjury charge  she would invoke the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. However, if she refuses to answer questions on the witness stand after being given immunity, Nice could be held in contempt of court.

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Nice later wrote dozens of prison letters to Peterson while he was on death row. She also co-authored a book on the case with other jurors.

The evidentiary hearing will run about a week, following which the judge will then decide within 90 days whether to grant Peterson a new trial.

Peterson, 49, was sentenced to death in 2005 but he was resentenced to life without parole in December. The California Supreme Court tossed out his original sentence in 2020 on grounds that the jury was improperly screened for bias against the death penalty.

However, the justices also said in their decision that there was considerable circumstantial evidence incriminating Peterson in the first-degree murder of Laci and the second-degree murder of their unborn son.
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Fans of the Netflix original series Sweet Magnolias are clearly a pretty loyal, hardcore bunch. Because the much-anticipated 10-episode second season of this show  about three best friends, set in a small Southern town  only just debuted on the streamer on Friday. And yet its already shot all the way to #1 on the service, topping everything else on Netflixs combined ranking of the top TV show and movies at the moment.

Whos in this series, and whats it all about? Weve got all the details below. Weve also shared some of the reactions from critics so that you hopefully have enough information to decide whether you want to check the series out or not.

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Sweet Magnolias season two

Thank you to our incredible writers, cast, and crew. And to viewers like you!  #SweetMagnolias pic.twitter.com/cuICfVqlNf  Sweet Magnolias (@SweetMagnolias) February 5, 2022

As noted, the story here focuses on three best friends: Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue. They were born and raised in a South Carolina town called Serenity. The kind of place where everybody knows everybody else  and everybody elses business.

As Season 2 opens, Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue learn who is in the car, Netflixs synopsis explains. But thats just the first of many surprises that come out of Prom Night  surprises that reshape relationships all over town. Friendships flounder. Old loves end and new loves begin. Long-hidden secrets disrupt jobs, change lives, and shift the balance of power in Serenity.

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But in laughter and in loss, according to Netflixs press material, we also learn that the Sweet Magnolias continue to fight for what is right for themselves and the people they love.

Netflix announced its green-lighting of this show back in 2018, at the same time as it said it had ordered another new scripted drama series: Virgin River. Both of which are based on best-selling romance novel collections that follow the lives of female protagonists.

You gotta admire people that stay somewhere, you know, and put down roots

Sam Ashby as Jackson, and Anneliese Judge as Annie Sullivan, in the Netflix original series Sweet Magnolias. Image source: Netflix

In the case of Sweet Magnolias, its based (like many streaming titles, actually) on a series of novels. Specifically, a series published by New York Times best-selling author Sherryl Woods, who also serves as an executive producer on this series.

The cast includes JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Maddie Townsend, Brooke Elliott as Dana Sue Sullivan, and Heather Headley as Helen Decatur.

The series second season is only just now out. But critics, of course, have had plenty of time to digest the inaugural set of episodes. And over at Rotten Tomatoes, season one currently enjoys a nearly 80% critics score. You see most often descriptors like charming and that its something of a guilty pleasure in the myriad reviews. Even from critics who dont necessarily enjoy the sweetness herein.

One Guardian reviewer who wasnt a fan nevertheless was forced to acknowledge Sweet Magnolias charms, of a sort. I cannot in good faith describe this show as good,' critic Adrian Horton wrote. But I also cant deny that it knows exactly what its trying to be.

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
The Secret Service and the FBI are investigating the incident, which happened the same day Spelman College reported another bomb threat of its own.

Secret Service evacuated Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff from a northwest D.C. high school after a confirmed bomb threat on Tuesday. Emhoff was visiting a museum at Dunbar High School for a Black History Month event.

US Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff arrive at the Elysee Palace for the inaugural dinner on the first day of the Paris Peace Forum on November 11, 2021 in Paris, France. (Photo by Kiran Ridley/Getty Images)

The Secret Service said this is an ongoing investigation but emphasized that theres nothing to indicate that the threat was directed against Mr. Emhoff or the White House. The Secret Service is working with the FBI as they investigate the incident.

According to press pool reports, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris was ushered out at 2:15 p.m. local time. The event was Emhoffs first public Black History Month event.

A White House source contends that Emhoff was involved in other celebrations this month. Tuesdays appearance was in partnership with the high school and National Park Service and was previously planned with a pool of White House reporters following the second gentleman for the event.

Dunbar High School is a historically Black school and is the nations first public high school for Black students. It has attracted prominent figures to the school over the years, including musical icon Stevie Wonder.

Large metal letters spelling out DUNBAR grace the entrance at the new Dunbar High School. Photos preview the grand opening (soon) of the new $160 million state-of-the-art school building at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School. Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Details of the event with the second gentleman came from the pool report from Spectrum News as follows:

SGOTUS was ushered out of the room at 2:18 p.m. by a Secret Service agent. The agent said something like, We have to go. Dunbars principal followed a few minutes later, read the pool report.

SGOTUS staff informed the pool there was a security threat reported by the school to secret service. They did not give pool any more information.

A school announcement came over the intercom at 2:34 calling on teachers to evacuate the school and pool left the building as well.

Black History Month has been a focus of the White House as the Biden-Harris administration recognizes the importance of not just the contributions of Black Americans but also the power of the Black vote, which has been and will be pivotal in their continued White House efforts.

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As a precaution, if anything is reported to authorities in the downtown D.C. area it is followed by heightened security around the perimeter of the White House. During the time of the bomb scare at Dunbar High School, the streets surrounding the White House were shut down.

Meanwhile, another bomb threat was reported Tuesday in Atlanta at another Black learning institution. Spelman College, the top HBCU in the country, tweeted Tuesday afternoon: The campus was on lockdown for four hours while officials completed a thorough sweep of the campus. Classes are canceled for today and the campus is closed to visitors.

(Photo: Spelman College)

As threats continue to hit HBCU campuses across the country, the Southern Poverty Law Center held a national roundtable Tuesday that included government leaders and several presidents from HBCUs to discuss the security issue.

Deputy Assistant Education Secretary Dr. Michelle Asha Cooper said the White House is taking every threat seriously.

Please know that the threats are being taken very seriously by Secretary Cardona, the U.S Department of Education Secretary and the leadership at the US Department of Education, Dr. Cooper said on the call.

The timing of these threats coinciding with the first day of Black History Month was likely an attempt to exploit tensions amongst some factions of our society. The threats that we witnessed last week and throughout the month of January and even now were hearing that theres some other threats.

She emphasized, These threats are reminiscent of the civil rights era bomb threats against Black people is an unfortunate part of American history.

Photograph of the Congress of Racial Equality conducted march in memory of Negro youngsters killed in Birmingham bombings. Dated 1963. (Photo by: Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Cooper acknowledged that the White House is concerned about the rash of bomb threats, adding, The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force are leading the investigation into these nationwide bomb threats. And these investigations are being given the highest priority.

Early reports have revealed six juvenilles are a focus of the investigation of bomb threats made against several HBCUs.

The president of Edward Waters College, Dr. A. Zachary Faison, said,This is rooted in many respects out of ignorance and not necessarily in a pejorative sense but in the literal sense that our young people are not being exposed to history and not being exposed to the truth. I certainly am hopeful that we wont see a softening of whatever kind of response that there might be if, in fact, they are found to have been guilty of this heinous crime.

Alcorn State University President, Dr. Felecia Nave, said her students are traumatized buttheyre resilient, and they are resolved to continue to move forward and to make it known that we wont be threatened, we wont be scared away that we will continue to contribute to society in a greater sense.

In addition, Dr. Cooper said The White House Initiative on HBCUs is also coordinating a government wide approach, they convened a campus safety and resiliency cluster, led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland security.

Each threat is being taken seriously, however, there is a concern from authorities in D.C. that many of these bomb threats are copy cat in nature.

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The post Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff escorted out of Black History school event after bomb threat appeared first on TheGrio.
Jails in the Cape Fear area are seeing the effects of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases  largely due to the contagiousness of the omicron variant.

Lt. Jerry Brewer, spokesperson for the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, said 64 inmates tested positive for COVID-19 in January  nearly 12% of the roughly 540 inmates there. Additionally, 15 staff members reported positive tests last month.

Brewer said this number reflects a slight increase in cases compared to last year, due to the increased contagiousness of the variant.

With the recent rise of the omicron variant, Cape Fear-area jails are working to curb the spread of COVID-19 among inmates.

By the beginning of February, New Hanover County reported a 37.4% positivity rate  up from 31% reported in mid-January and well above the states positivity rate of 24.2%.

The Pender County Jail saw positive cases among 35% of its 72 inmates with 26 positive cases by mid-January, according to Randy King, Pender County Jail administrator.

According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections, prisons across the state saw a surge in positive cases in January. By mid-month, the state was reporting more than 100 positive cases among offenders each day.

Emily Flax, public information officer for the Brunswick County Sheriffs Office, said the Brunswick County Jail didnt see much of an increase in cases last month  by Jan. 31, just one of the facilitys 241 inmates was positive for the virus.

Our numbers have remained very low, Flax said. Our detention facility staff has done an amazing job keeping it at bay by simply following protocol.

Wilmington police chief: While violent crime dropped in 2021, 'I want us to be better'

King said about 33% of the inmate population has been fully vaccinated  which reflects a rate lower than the 51% of the countys population that has been fully vaccinated, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. King said all inmates are tested for COVID-19 upon entry and offered the vaccine.

Brewer said the jail offers vaccinations to inmates and worked with the New Hanover County Health Department to begin administering booster shots to vaccinated inmates in early January.

Brewer said the New Hanover County Jail has been unable to accurately track the number of vaccinated individuals. If someone enters the facility and says theyve been vaccinated, but dont have a vaccination record card to prove it, Brewer said theres no way to track it accurately.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington-area jails working to curb the spread of COVID-19
The Chicago Tribune has filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago over records on cases involving misconduct allegations that officials have refused to release despite two separate attorney general opinions in the newspapers favor.

The lawsuit asks a Cook County judge to uphold Freedom of Information Act requests made over the last two years by reporters Gregory Pratt and Jeremy Gorner.

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The lawsuit alleges one of the citys motives in blocking a September 2020 records request from Pratt was to save the workers accused of mistreating other employees throughout Chicago government from embarrassment.

The city thumbed its nose at the Tribune and the attorney generals office over records that Gorner sought in May 2021 about misconduct allegations involving ranking members of the Chicago Fire Department, the lawsuit says.

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These records are clearly public, Tribune Executive Editor Mitch Pugh said. Two attorney general opinions make that abundantly clear, yet the city has refused to follow the law.

Its unfortunate that the city has forced us to take this action, but the Tribune will always prioritize the publics right to know over the comfort of elected officials.

Chicago City Hall is seen in 2019. The Chicago Tribune has filed a lawsuit against the city over records on cases involving misconduct allegations that officials have refused to release. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago law department spokeswoman Kristen Cabanban said in an emailed statement that the City will review the filed complaint and will have no further comment as the matter is now in litigation.

Pratts request was for records that included discrimination or harassment charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights and served on the city.

In both cases, the Tribune said it asked the city for responses that redacted the names of people complaining of mistreatment in order to protect their privacy.

The Tribune took both of the disputes to the attorney generals office.

The AG in a nonbinding opinion said the city improperly denied Pratts request. The office said records from the EEOC and the state Human Rights Department can be disclosed because those two agencies privacy protections dont apply to the city once it receives copies of the discrimination or harassment charges.

The AGs office said the city should turn over the records, but it allowed for redactions of names, personal contact information and details that might help identify the alleged victims.

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According to the Tribunes lawsuit, the city stunningly defied the attorney generals opinion, citing the need to maintain the privacy of those who alleged mistreatment  a point the Tribune charged was ignoring the fact that the AG office had permitted the city to redact their names and identifying details.

Chicago officials further argued it sought to protect the alleged victims from retaliation  a position the paper contended was ignoring the fact that the only entity that could conceivably retaliate against any complainants was the city itself, the lawsuit said.

Calling the citys reasoning inconsistent and insupportable, the Tribune charged one of the citys true motives in refusing to produce documents responsive to the September FOIA is to protect from embarrassment those city employees who have been accused of discrimination or harassment and other city employees who are tasked with investigating, responding and remedying such claims.

Gorners request to Chicagos Department of Human Resources was for records sufficient to show any and all investigative files in their entirety pertaining to sexual misconduct and/or bullying and/or workplace harassment and/or intimidation and/or sexual harassment allegations filed by a specific Chicago Fire Department employee.

The city, after asking for more time to respond, denied the request entirely. When the Tribune appealed the matter, the attorney generals office said not all of the records were exempt but that the city could redact information that identified the alleged victim, witnesses and particularly graphic, sexually explicit portions.

But the AG also said the city improperly withheld factual statements, such as records of witness interviews.

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The Tribune is seeking to have the city pay its legal fees and other costs of bringing the lawsuit, an option in the law aimed at urging public bodies to follow open government laws.

rlong@chicagotribune.com
Senate Republicans are not happy with the Republican National Committee.

In interviews on Monday evening, GOP senators lashed out at their own national party's overwhelming vote to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for working on the House's investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. They warned that alienating a portion of the party for being overly anti-Trump is not a political winner heading into the midterms, a sharp message from sitting members that goes far beyond criticism already aired by a handful of GOP pundits.

Several Republican senators took more direct action: Both Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) were in communication with RNC chair Ronna McDaniel about the censure, with Graham calling her and Romney texting his niece.

A very unfortunate decision by the RNC and a very unfortunate statement put out as well. Nothing could be further from the truth than to consider the attack on the seat of democracy as legitimate political discourse, Romney said in an interview. Graham said the party is going in the wrong direction when its not talking about taking back control of Congress.

The RNC is supposed to be a unifying organization within the party. But its passage of a resolution censuring Cheney and Kinzinger for the persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse is having the opposite effect  reopening divisions between the large pro-Trump wing of the party, the smaller anti-Trump wing and the rest of a GOP still trying to find its way amid a favorable midterm cycle.



The intrigue will continue to play out later this week, with internal discussions in the House over the censure and future of Cheney and Kinzinger in the party.

The RNC did say in their resolution that the job was to win elections. I agree with that. But then they go on to engage in actions that make that more challenging, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is close to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. I dont think you can kick out of the party everybody you disagree with. Or its going to be a minority party.

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McConnell, who has defended Cheney in the past, said he would address the matter on Tuesday at his usual press conference. Several members of his leadership team expressed their concern about GOP infighting. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, the No. 5 GOP leader, said it shouldnt be the job of the RNC to censure individual members of Congress: I wish they wouldnt. I would leave it up to the states.

Weve got a lot of issues that we should be focusing on besides censuring two members of Congress because they have a different opinion, said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who serves on McConnells leadership team. I thought: Free speech for everybody.



The timing of these new tremors in the party is inopportune, because on paper the GOP is looking increasingly strong in the battle for the House and Senate. President Joe Bidens polls are lagging, House Democrats are retiring en masse to avoid the minority and the Senate map gives the GOP a real chance at netting the single seat it needs to win back the chamber.

Rather than reflect on whether it was right or wrong for the RNC to take action against two sitting Republicans, most in the GOP said that the censure was a badly timed distraction. But some took great umbrage with the phrase legitimate political discourse in the censure, which McDaniel later amended in a statement to include those who committed no violence on the day of the insurrection.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said those who assaulted police officers, broke windows and breached the Capitol were not engaged in legitimate political discourse, and to say otherwise is absurd.

The Republican Party started this year with the decided advantage on the issues that will determine the outcome of the fall elections, Collins added. But every moment that is spent re-litigating a lost election or defending those who have been convicted of criminal behavior moves us further away from the goal of victory this fall.

Among more than a dozen GOP senators interviewed Monday, just Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he agreed with the decision, though several did criticize the Jan. 6 panel. Paul said he would include Liz Cheney and Kinzinger as basically Democrats now and alleged they are abusing their power on the Capitol riot committee.

A spokesperson for the RNC downplayed divisions within the party, saying that Republicans in both chambers of Congress and across the country remain united in our efforts to hold Democrats and Biden accountable for their failures to take back the House and Senate come November.

The RNC resolution mirrored Trumps attacks on the Jan. 6 select panel at a moment when some congressional Republicans are inching away from his influence. There's more leeway to break from him among Republicans in the Senate, with its statewide elections and six-year terms, although seven House GOP members  including Cheney  are running for reelection after voting to impeach Trump last year.

Still, many House Republicans have a thirst for battle with Cheney and Kinzinger. In addition to serving on the Jan. 6 committee, the duo occasionally appears to relish taking digs at Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

A subset of the House GOP, most of them members of the conservative Freedom Caucus, is pushing to have the two booted from the conference. So far, McCarthy and other GOP leaders have opposed taking such measures.

They dont represent the party. They should be censured  if not stronger, said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the Trump-ally-stacked Freedom Caucus.

Removing Cheney and Kinzinger from the GOP conference would win praise from Trump and his network while sparking an avoidable intra-GOP fight guaranteed to divert attention from House Republican efforts to retake the majority. Some rank-and-file Republicans questioned why such an action needed to be taken in the first place.

Theyre out of their league, quite honestly, said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) of the RNC. A former House member, Cramer argued voters make the call every two years whether to censure House members: To me, its diminishing of the peoples House.

House GOP leaders have sought to convey that their party is a big tent," but that claim is undercut by the censure of two members considered too far out of line with a Trump-tethered conference. The RNC's resolution also refocused the national discussion on Republican divisions after months of the party happily hitting Democrats for their moments of disarray.

And perhaps most ominously for the GOP, the RNC resolution underscores how much Trumps false claims about the 2020 election continue to haunt the GOP, nearly one year after it faced a wave of internal turmoil after 17 House and Senate Republicans supported the former president's second impeachment.

Senate Republican leaders continue to encourage the party to focus on the future, even as Trump's litigation of his election grievances continue to divide the party. On Friday, the same day that the RNC approved the censure resolution, former Vice President Mike Pence forcefully rebuked Trumps suggestion that he could have overturned the 2020 election.

None of those topics are exactly on the GOP's list of talking points for the midterms.

The focus right now needs to be forward, not backward. If we want to get majorities in the fall, then its better to turn fire on the Democrats and not each other, said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.).


Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) addresses reporters after the weekly policy luncheon on Tuesday, February 1, 2022.





Top Senate Republicans are keeping their distance from the Republican National Committee's (RNC) characterization of Jan. 6, 2021, as "normal political discourse" and its censure of Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

Members of Senate GOP leadership, who gathered on Monday for a weekly meeting, warned that focusing on Jan. 6 wasn't a unifier for the party.

"I just think right now if we want to win the elections in November, [there are] better things for us to be focused on," said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 GOP senator.

"I think the focus right now needs to be forward, not backward. If we want to get majorities in the fall, it's better to turn our fire on Democrats, not on each other," he said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said referring to Jan. 6, when a mob of the former president's supporters breached the Capitol, as "legitimate political discourse" was "not an accurate description."

"Being accurate is really important in particular when you are talking about something that sensitive," he said.

Asked about the RNC censuring Kinzinger and Cheney, Cornyn said he thought it was "not a unifying action," though he also thinks the two GOP lawmakers shouldn't have accepted the appointment to the Jan. 6 committee.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), another adviser to McConnell, said the party had other "issues that we should be focusing on besides censuring two members of Congress."

Asked if she thought it was a problematic position for the party, Capito, who was heading into McConnell's office, said that she was "going to move on from there."

The RNC passed a resolution on Friday censuring Cheney and Kinzinger for engaging in the "persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse," referring to the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

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RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel appeared to try to clarify the statement amid nearly immediate backlash, saying in a statement that the two GOP lawmakers were involved in persecuting citizens "engaged in legitimate political discourse," but "that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol." The last section was not in the RNC resolution.

The resolution's language sparked pushback from GOP lawmakers and Democrats alike.

Among Senate Republicans, the GOP senators who previously voted to impeach former President Trump last year were among the most vocal in their criticism.

"Those who assaulted police officers, broke windows and breached the Capitol were not engaged in legitimate political discourse, and to say otherwise is absurd," GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) told reporters on Monday.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said that he texted with McDaniel, who is his niece, and "expressed my point of view."

Not every GOP senator weighed in on Monday.

McConnell, asked about the censure resolution, told reporters that he would address the issue on Tuesday, when he does a weekly press conference.

Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said the RNC's language is "what they want to say."

"That's a decision that members of the RNC get to make. ... I think what happened on Jan. 6 was wrong," Scott said.

Asked a question about the censure, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said it wasn't "the real world in Iowa."

"I'm hearing about the cattle bill. I'm talking about the prescription drugs stuff. And those are policies I got to worry about," Grassley said.
Feb. 8CONCORD  Along party lines, a key Senate panel on Monday approved maps that will alter the voting boundaries for all 400 seats in the House of Representatives and the 24 districts in the state Senate.

But the Senate Election Laws and Municipal Affairs Committee decided to wait, at least a while, before tackling the even-more controversial, House-approved map to dramatically change the state's two congressional districts.

The panel voted 3-2 on Senate (SB 240) and House redistrict maps (HB 50) with all three Republicans in support, both Democrats in opposition.

Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy of Manchester tried without success to keep intact the district of colleague Sen. Kevin Cavanaugh, D-Manchester.

The Senate redistricting map would take two city wards and Bow away from Cavanaugh's district while giving it the more Republican towns of Goffstown and Raymond.

"This restores those districts to how they have been for a number of years now," Soucy said of her proposal.

Committee chairman and Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, said by the numbers, Manchester should have two senators, but he rejected a map that would have had Sens. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, and Cavanaugh run against each other.

Soucy's other changes tried to undo giving the district of Sen. Suzanne Prentiss, D-Lebanon, the college towns of New London and Plymouth and sweeping changes for the district of Sen. Denise Ricciardi, D-Bedford, that would have her district run from her hometown, a Manchester suburb, all the way to the Vermont border.

Gray said the Senate Democratic changes all would increase the maximum deviations in population and he couldn't support that.

Sen. Rebecca Perkins-Kwoka, D-Portsmouth, said the House map denied many towns their own state representative even though they had enough people to receive one.

House Redistricting Committee Chairman Barbara Griffin, R-Goffstown, said many larger towns had to be grouped with smaller ones that were landlocked.

klandrigan@unionleader.com
Courtesy Family

Ocean Ancrum-Robertson was 5 months old when she was hit in the head by one of two dozen bullets fired into the car where she was riding with her mother on Dec. 5, 2020.

Her mother, FaQuansa ShaGeorgia Ancrum, known as Molly, became one of a record 170 homicides in Louisville, Kentucky, that year. The responding officers were told upon their arrival, Theres a baby shot!, and realized Ocean was still alive when they heard her moan. They immediately began CPR and raced her to a hospital in a radio car rather than wait for an ambulance.

Thanks to the quick action of the officers, the determined efforts of the trauma team, and the skill of the pediatric neurosurgeons in a series of brain operations, Ocean survived. She did not become a part of the body counts by which gun violence and homicide rates are charted by city, state, and the whole nation.

Ocean instead became one of the uncounted kids who are left permanently disabled by gunfire. She suffers as many as 10 seizures a day and has reached none of the milestones she should have passed as someone now 19 months old.

She still cant walk, she still cant crawl, she cant sit herself up, and she cant hold a bottle, her maternal grandmother, Sherry Ancrum, told The Daily Beast on Monday.

Little Boy Who Cried It Hurts! Joins Chicagos Grim List

Ocean also cannot eat solid food.

So shes still on baby formula, Ancrum said.

Unless you notice that her unfocused eyes cant track an object, you might think she was just a normal child.

She look good on the outside, but on the inside, shes really messed up, Ancrum said.

That becomes clear when seizures hit. Ancrum holds the child's face and massages her chest.

I holler, Ocean! Ocean! Ancrum said. And when she comes out of it, shell give me a little cry. Then shell sleep almost that whole day because when you have a seizure, it tires you out real bad.

When the seizure just continues, Ancrum has to once again rush Ocean to an emergency room, as she did on Friday. Ancrum has a Feb. 17 appointment with a surgeon who is speaking of removing the damaged part of Oceans brain in the hope that it will curtail the seizures. Ancrum will otherwise just continue an exhausting routine that includes an 80-minute drive from her home in Lexington to Oceans doctors in Louisville.

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Only thing I can do is keep going back and forth to her doctors appointments and going to the emergency room, Ancrum said.

Ancrum drives with the baby seat facing forward in the back seat so she can steal glances back at Ocean.

When I see myself in the clear, I have to look back at Ocean, Ancrum said. If she goes into a seizure, I have to pull over.

Back home, Ancrum is often up much of the night, checking on the child.

Making sure shes breathing, making sure shes not having a seizure, Ancrum said. I might close my eyes now and then, but then Im back up.

Ancrum can sometimes hear Ocean make a sound that seems altogether miraculous given the circumstances.

Youll hear her laughing, Ancrum said. Shes a really happy baby.

Ocean can also smile, though Ancrum has difficulty discerning what prompts it.

You really cant tell, Ancrum said.

Oceans vision is impaired, and Ancrum is not always sure that the child registers her presence.

Theres times when you talk to her and she will look at you, Ancrum said. Other times, you talk to her, she doesnt.

Ancrum is also raising her murdered daughters four other children, along with a child she took in at 3 weeks old a dozen years ago. Her granddaughter, JaMyla, was in the car at the time of the shooting, but escaped injury along with the man who was driving. JaMyla turns 3 on Saturday and seems to be generally doing well, though she and her three brothers have difficulty grasping what bullets have done to their lives.

FaQuansa ShaGeorgia Ancrum, Oceans mother. Courtesy Family

They really still dont understand, Ancrum said.

A reminder of their loss came a few days ago, when Ocean for the first time began making what were likely just noises, but sounded like ma-ma-ma.

One of the boys said, You can tell she miss mama because shes calling, Mama, Ancrum recalled. We all miss her.

Ancrum added, To be honest, I still havent had time to grieve my daughter.

But the grief was unmistakable in her voice as Ancrum recalled that she had been home on her day off from her job in a nursing homes laundry when she got a call from a cousin saying something had happened to Molly.

I said, Why you say that? Ancrum told The Daily Beast. She said, I was on the phone with her and the person she was riding with was calling her name and she wasnt answering.

In the midst of that call, another came, this one from Mollys phone. Ancrum answered and heard the voice of the man who had been driving her.

He was like, You need to get here!. They just killed Molly! They just killed Molly! Ancrum recalled. I said, What?

Ancrum then got a call from Norton Childrens Hospital in Louisville.

Asking, Is this the grandmother of Ocean? she recalled. I said, Yes, it is. They said, OK. we need some information because she was just brought in with a gunshot wound to the head.

Molly had been taken to University of Louisville Hospital, where she had been beyond saving. Ocean was on a ventilator at Norton. Ancrum saw her lying on a ventilator amid a mass of tubes and wires. The childs head was so swollen the doctors would not be able to determine the bullets path for three days. She underwent a series of major surgeries.

Ocean in the hospital. Courtesy Family

Ocean had tested positive for COVID upon her arrival and the two cops who had saved her were quarantined. They afterward became regular visitors.

One of them is her godfather now, Ancrum told The Daily Beast.

Ancrum said the man who was driving Molly developed amnesia and the case remains officially unsolved.

Its an active investigation, Ancrum said.

On Monday, Ancrum took Ocean to therapy. Ancrum told The Daily Beast that part of it involved Braille and Oceans right hand, the right side of her body presently the stronger side.

They take the right hand and run it across and say the words even though she cant respond, Ancrum said. They teach you so that when you get older you will know.

Whatever progress she made could not have been enhanced by the five seizures she had during the session. Ancrum figures that Ocean has a long struggle ahead no matter how the next surgery goes. The child will at least have her grandmother beside her.

When I really get so tired and burned out, theres nothing I can do but do my best and keep doing what Im doing, Ancrum said.

And even as ever more kids are shot every day, Ancrum will once in a while hear that improbable laugh or see that miracle smile that testifies to what survives even when so much has been lost.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Happy Tuesday, neighbors, and happy National Kite Flying Day! Here's everything you need to know going on locally today.

Mount Saint Charles celebrates National School Counseling Week. Also, the Woonsocket Harris Library is getting ready for school vacation week. Finally, do you remember the blizzard of 78?



First, today's weather:

Snow and rain in the morning. High: 45 Low: 24.

Here are the top five stories in Woonsocket today:

Mount Saint Charles is celebrating National School Counseling Week! It started with a shoutout to Mrs. Tenreiro, Mrs. Ferry, Ms. Rando, and Mrs. Lancaster. Other schools are sure to follow suit. (@MtStCharles) The Woonsocket Harris Library is planning a full week of fun for school vacation week. Running from February 21 to 25, all events are free. They include pretzel log cabin construction, teen role playing game, fondant fun, painting palooza, and pretzel wands and trivia for teens. (On Worldwide) RI weather forecasters remember that Blizzard of 78. It happened 44 years ago Sunday. Maple Street looked more like a slope than a road. (@weatherinri) The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts awarded a $100,000 grant to Pawtuckets Cape Verdean Museum, allowing the venue to open on July 5. The facility celebrates the culture and history of Cape Verde and Cape Verdean Americans. We learned Wednesday that exhibit donations are already en route to the museum. (The Valley Breeze) Saturdays Rhode Island Brew Fest at the Waterfire Arts Center was a success. Fifty breweries introduced guests to new and established beers. A crowd-pleaser was the peanut butter chocolate porter. (WUN)

Today in Woonsocket:

Two For Tuesday Preschool Music Program on Zoom with the Woonsocket Harris Public Library (10:30 AM)

The Ultimate Traffic Hacks Masterclass (online) (3 PM)

Andres, Coletta, I Met a Yeti at Alchemy (6:30 PM)

McAuliffe Evening Book Club: Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam at Framingham Public Library (hybrid) (7 PM)

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From my notebook:

The Woonsocket Harris Public Library received a small supply of COVID-19 rapid at-home self-test kits. Pick up your free kit at the front checkout desk during regular business hours, while supplies last. (Facebook)

Medical Reserve Corps RI is holding flu vaccination clinics at the Woonsocket Harris Public Library from 5:30-7:30 pm on upcoming Thursday dates. (Facebook)

More from our sponsors  thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

Youth and High School Rugby Camp! (February 22)

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You're officially in the loop for today. See you all tomorrow for another update!

 Sylvia Cochran

About me: Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing full-time since 2005. She loves dogs, cats, books, plays Best Fiends (don't judge), embraces social justice, and tries to live out Micah 6:8.

This article originally appeared on the Woonsocket Patch
Brandy Abel, first grade teacher at Edgewood Primary School, gives her students instructions Monday before they start a group assignment. Several of Abel's students have had to quarantine multiple times this school year due to COVID-19 infections and close contacts.

As COVID-19 cases in schools rise and fall, many local parents, teachers and staff are stretched thin and feeling overwhelmed.

The Monroe County Community School Corp. and Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corp. recently changed their COVID-19 procedures, including shortening the length of quarantines and allowing at-home antigen tests, to maximize the amount of time students receive in-person instruction.

When cases in schools surged after returning from winter break, Heather Bault pulled her daughter Avery, a kindergartner at Edgewood Primary School, out of school for two weeks to try to keep her safe.

Bault can work from home and stay with her daughter  a luxury she acknowledged many parents dont have  so she was able to help with e-learning. Bault also has two sons, 4 and 2, who cant be vaccinated, so the family takes extra care to keep them healthy.

I do know that kids are more resilient than adults, but at the end of the day, how do we know how anyone is going to react to this virus? she asked. I dont want my kids to become some statistic who cant get into a hospital bed in Riley (Hospital for Children in Indianapolis) for days on end.

Changing protocols: MCCSC shortens quarantine time for COVID-19 exposures despite surging cases

Baults decision resulted in her daughter racking up two weeks worth of unexcused absences despite notifying school administration to explain why she was staying home.

It just seems like shes penalized because Im keeping her home for the same reason all kinds of other students are already staying home, she said.

Bault said she understands the protocol was changed to keep kids in school, which shes thankful for  Avery needs the socialization with her peers and in-person help from teachers. But some of the changes feel negligent, she said.

Her biggest concern is allowing students to return with only a negative at-home test result, which parents are supposed to send a photo of to the school.

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That blows me away because how are you even going to hold some people accountable? she asked.

Parents have also expressed concerns with contact tracing. The MCCSC changed its contact tracing protocol to prioritize high risk cases, Superintendent Jeff Hauswald said at the January school board meeting. Additionally, the district's COVID-19 dashboard, which included more detailed information on school cases than the states dashboard, is no longer updated.

Due to the number of cases and staffing limits, maintaining our current procedures has become impossible, Hauswald said at the board meeting.

Case counts: Monroe County's COVID cases fall 35.9%; Indiana cases plummet 46.1%

Jason Hillenburg has two daughters at Templeton Elementary School. Third-grader Flannery has had to quarantine three times in recent months. She tested negative twice and positive the last time and missed at least five days of school each time.

Hillenburg said he had to get approval from a contact tracer before his daughter could return to school but had difficulty getting in contact with anyone in the first place.

When Flannery was recently quarantined, Hillenburg said he called several phone numbers and sent emails to get in touch with a contact tracer and never heard back.

The last time I called, I said, Please just give me 30 seconds. Call me back and tell me at least maybe when she can go back, he said.

Eventually, he drove to the school to attempt to talk to someone in person and talked with Principal Tim Dowling, who said he would contact someone himself. That afternoon, Hillenburgs ex-wife got an email from the contact tracing team saying their daughter could return to school.

Hillenburg said he thinks school principals and other school staff should have the authority to decide when students can return to school if the contact tracers become overwhelmed.

I know principals are not medical professionals, but they are chief administrators at the schools, he said. They are the ones who are onsite and see our kids every day  I dont understand why they werent allowed to have a small degree of latitude to make decisions like that.

Both Hillenburg and Bault said they feel for their school district administrators when they have to make difficult decisions like this. They also both said their kids teachers have been helpful in keeping their students up to date on homework so they didnt fall behind while out of school.

Brandy Abel, a first grade teacher at Edgewood Primary School, said she doesnt know of anyone in the school that isnt swamped right now, from teachers to custodians to administration. The school nurse, who does much of the contact tracing, seemingly works all hours of the day, Abel said. Shes received emails from her as late as 1 a.m.

In terms of COVID-19, this year has been more challenging than last year, Abel said.

Several of her students have been quarantined multiple times this school year. A significant number of first graders are likely testing positive because they are not vaccinated yet, she said, as most have only been eligible for a short amount of time.

Right now, Abel is focused on teaching kids the most important information before moving onto second grade. This includes being able to read fluently and certain math and writing skills.

This group that we have this year didnt even have a full kindergarten experience, she said. We are going to see the effects of this for years and years to come.

Abel said she hopes the shortened quarantine guidelines will alleviate pressure on parents as well as teachers and staff.

Theres so many layers that go into these decisions that I dont think many parents are fully aware of, she said. None of this is ideal. Its been uncharted territory from the get-go. I just hope that all parties are giving each other grace.

Contact Herald-Times reporter Christine Stephenson at cstephenson@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: MCCSC, R-BB parents, teacher react to COVID-19 in schools
A victims advocate group is demanding that a major Roman Catholic publishing house stop selling two books that were written by priests who were "credibly accused" of sexually abusing children.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, better known as SNAP, said TAN Books is "profiting off of those who have abused children."

"Is it worth the nearly 12 dollars per item to associate your brand with men who are known to have committed crimes against children?" SNAP asked in a letter dated last Wednesday to the North Carolina-based publisher. "Do you believe that you are better arbiters of the facts of the case than the Church officials and lay review boards who heard the details of the abuse?"

TAN Books, according to its website, was founded in 1967 and acquired by Saint Benedict Press in 2008.

Chris Cona, a vice president of Saint Benedict Press, said in an email that "this is the first that we have heard of any complaint from SNAP."

"If they sent us a letter on February 2, management has not yet seen that letter," Cona continued. "We have no knowledge that the priests in question have been credibly accused. We will investigate this matter immediately."

TAN Books identifies itself as a "family-owned traditional Catholic publishing company located near Charlotte N.C." that has published more than 1,000 titles.

"Our products are distributed across the world," the company says on its website. "Our uncompromising mission is to help people become saints."

The two books SNAP is focusing on were written by priests who are both dead but whose books continue to be part of the TAN Books catalogue.

One is "My Daily Bread" by the Rev. Anthony Paone, a Jesuit priest who had postings in New York, New Jersey and Ohio before his death in 1990.

"He was accused of sexually abusing a minor in approximately 1953 while he served at Brooklyn Preparatory School," according to a law firm representing some of Paone's accusers. "After an investigation, the allegation was deemed to be credible."

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The company also sells a "follow-up" to Paone's first book, titled My Daily Life, for $11.95.

The other book is My Meditation on the Gospel by the Rev. James E. Sullivan, who was based in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens before he died in December 2006.

The Brooklyn Diocese identified Sullivan in 2019 as one of the more than 100 priests who had been hit with "credible" accusations of sexual misconduct with a minor.

TAN Books also sells another of Sullivan's books, which is called My Meditations on St. Paul and sells for $11.95.

SNAP's request comes amid a wave of book bannings in schools across the U.S. led largely by right-wing conservatives who have targeted titles dealing with race or sexuality for elimination.

SNAP Executive Director Zach Hiner insisted that the group isn't trying to "cancel" TAN.

"We have no issues with the rest of their offerings," Hiner said in an email.

But if TAN continues to sell the books in question, "they should simply be donating that money to survivors," Hiner said, "not enriching the orders and dioceses that helped cover-up the crimes of these men."

"I think there is a clear and stark difference between asking a company to stop profiting off abusers versus banning books that tackle subjects like social and racial injustice," he said.
ST. LUCIE COUNTY Jon Prince will be the school district's next superintendent.

In a 4-1 vote Monday, the School Board selected Prince to succeed Wayne Gent, who announced his retirement less than three weeks ago. Jennifer Richardson cast the lone dissenting vote.

The decision comes 11 days after the board already signaled it was prepared to promote Prince, the deputy superintendent since 2015, without considering any other candidates.

Prince, 52, is expected to start July 1, after Gent's June 30 retirement and a new contract is negotiated and approved.

Retirement: St. Lucie Public Schools Superintendent Wayne Gent to retire June 30, ending 45-year career

Community forum: Will Jon Prince be the next St. Lucie school superintendent?

Column: St. Lucie County needs competitive process for hiring next school superintendent | Opinion]

The St. Lucie County School Board Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, selected Jon Prince as the school district's next superintendent.

Rather than hire a search consultant  as the district did for its past four superintendent searches in 1996, 2003, 2013 and in 2015, when Gent was hired  the board selected Prince Monday immediately after a community forum.

"Some of the board members and community members have expressed we should be doing a search, we should be conducting an interview," Prince told the board. "I'd submit to you that I've been in a 6-year interview, and I've delivered results."

Ensuring students had devices for virtual learning and working with the teachers union on an agreement that allowed them to work from home during the pandemic were some "delivered results" Prince referred to.

A Fort Walton Beach native, Prince has been a teacher and principal in Palm Beach County schools. Before becoming deputy superintendent here, he was principal of Colonial High School in Orange County.

When he steps into his new role, addressing loss of learning and teacher burnout from the pandemic as well as paying employees more will be among his priorities, Prince said.

School Board Vice Chairman Troy Ingersoll reiterated Monday that a "quick" search was necessary because "there's a season to education," when people in leadership positions may start looking for jobs in March and April.

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Jumped the gun: St. Lucie County School District took easy way out with superintendent selection | OPINION

Most of the 15 people who spoke Monday  which included Sheriff Ken Mascara; former state Rep. Larry Lee; Christian Baca, chair of the St. Lucie Public Schools Youth Advisory Council; Chris Fogal, a member of the St. Lucie County Economic Development Council; and multiple principals within the district  endorsed Prince for superintendent.

"Dr. Prince emphasizes the importance of equity and learning opportunities for all students," said Allapattah Flats K-8 School Principal Ana Rodriguez. "Not just students in some schools, or students in some academic zones or groups of programs, all students  including students with disabilities, students who speak English as a second language, students who struggle with discipline and students from different socioeconomic status ..."

Others, however, worried the board's rushed hiring process was not inclusive or transparent, and recommended a larger search that included more candidates.

"This has nothing to do with Dr. Prince. I've worked with him when I was a teacher. I can say a whole lot of excellent things about him, but the process should be fair," said St. Lucie County NAACP President Aisha Nash. "It should be equitable and we should be able to have some type of input."

Echoing Nash, Richardson voiced dissatisfaction with the way Prince was selected.

"Our community is growing and diversifying, and this process does not and did not allow for any minority candidates to come forward to tell us what they can do for the school district," she said.

And while all board members acknowledged the hiring process could have been done differently  one admitting they may have "jumped the gun," and others stating they could at least have included an internal search  the majority of board members stuck by their decision that Prince should be the next superintendent.

"We give one-year contracts," Chairwoman Donna Mills said. "If that contract is not up to par and we don't feel like he's meeting that contract, we can always decide to get a different superintendent."

Gent, 67, earns $204,063 annually overseeing 39 schools here with more than 39,000 students, according to the district. His retirement ends his 45 years of working in Florida's public-education system.

Prince currently earns $152,621.

"I cannot be Mr. Gent ... but I can be the best version of myself everyday," Prince said. "And I will promise you my commitment is to make sure that every decision that we make as a system is about children."

Olivia McKelvey is TCPalm's watchdog reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach her at olivia.mckelvey@tcpalm.com, 772-521-4380 and on Twitter @olivia_mckelvey.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Jon Prince selected as next superintendent of St. Lucie schools
Michael Markey thought he had it all figured out: call signs behind the plate, gun down baserunners and smack fastballs over the fence.

Baseball was his dream. And for more than 20 years, he was encompassed in that dream.

But after breaking up a no-hitter against the University of Michigan, the Eastern Michigan University catcher dove headfirst into second base and knew something wasnt right. A screw had popped out of his shoulder. After 18 months of rehab and a half-dozen surgeries, his baseball career was over.

Although frustrating, Markey, now 38, says that dreamer mentality never faltered. It just opened another door, and another, and a few more  which has now led to him being the latest Republican to jump into an expanding primary contest for Michigan governor.

The Grand Haven financial advisor and business owner formed a campaign committee last month, which gave him the avenue to start fundraising and collect the signatures to appear on the August primary ballot. His hope is to bring cohesion in a polarized political climate, increase education funding and, above all, keep dreaming.

Grand Haven financial advisor and business owner Michael Markey, left, and his wife Vanessa Markey, right, pose for a photo. Markey is the latest Republican to join the race for Michigan governor, among 13 others aiming to test Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the general election.

It all starts with a dream, said Markey, the co-founder of Legacy Financial Network. Whether it was religious freedoms, dreaming of independence, Henry Fords dream of the automobile, Martin Luther King Jr.s dream of equality, the space race was a dream. Now, it seems like all our kids dream about today is leaving our state.

Markey is among 13 Republicans so far aiming to test Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the November general election. In a crowded race where the front-runners have planned their campaign organizations for much of 2021, Markey understands the chatter behind gaining enough recognition and fundraising.

However, between his own contributions, his family and friends pledges, and the continual flow of revenue coming in, his reports project him to be in the top five for funded campaigns in two weeks time.

Weve got the staying power and weve got a team in place, he said. I think well have the signatures necessary to be there (on the primary ballot) and open some eyes at the end of the day.

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Along with his 15 years in financial services, Markey is an author, motivational speaker and radio host. He recently received his masters degree from Harvard and is father of three children.

With one of his focal points in education, he recalls a light bulb moment that sheds perspective on current times.

Our kids are never worried about safety, food or access to good education, Markey said. Imagine kids being scared for their safety, how much do they focus on education? One thing thats happening right now is were making class issues into race issues. When minorities have unfortunate lower socioeconomic proportions, is that necessarily a class issue?

I dont care where youre at on the political spectrum, everyone should agree that our children need fantastic education, be safe and be well fed, he added. Most of us have been given some of those opportunities, but not everyone has that chance to succeed. If we all have those tools, the success rate is far higher.

Markey says he concurs with Whitmers calling for a rollback of Michigans tax on pensions, which estimates to affect 500,000 senior citizens in saving them about $1,000 a year and further stimulating the economy.

Ive worked with a lot of retirees and theyve been waiting a long time for their pension, he said. Mathematically, it makes sense to repeal, and people are happier now because they can spend that money on whatever they want. It makes us a more retiree-friendly state.

Markey aspires to bring more tax-friendly systems and more employment opportunities to Michigan. Its a three-pronged test that Markey says he has used on the financial side, which translates to his campaign message: Do you need help? Do you want help? Can we help?

The parallels between finance and politics are scary, he said. Most advisors are trying to do the right thing and politicians are the same. We need to bring people together, and if we had handled the recent Supreme Court justice nomination process like a marriage, how would it be handled? If every time I wanted to do something in a marriage, with no regard and no communication, how long would that marriage last? Weve stopped sharing ideas because of different parties. My hope is that we can bring people together because I believe were more alike than we are different.

Michigan at one point led the entire country in U.S. manufacturing, but we lost that ability to dream, he continued. Now we have to dream together to bring back those jobs and get rid of these bounded rationalities that hold us down.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Grand Haven man joins race for governor
A four-level town house that former Mayor Richard M. Daley and his wife owned in this South Loop development was sold on Friday by the couples daughter, Nora, for nearly $1.2 million. (Cook County Assessor / HANDOUT)

The four-level, 3,405-square-foot town house in the South Loop that former Mayor Richard M. Daley and his late wife, Maggie, owned from 1993 until 2012 was sold on Friday by the couples daughter, Nora, and her husband, Sean Conroy, for $1.17 million.

Nora Daley and her husband bought the town house from her father in 2012 for $750,000. The $425,000 gain on their sale is not far from the $340,000 return that the former mayor reaped on the town house, which he and Maggie Daley purchased for $410,000 from its developer, MCL Development, in late 1993.

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When Maggie Daley, who died in late 2011, and Richard M. Daley bought the town house in 1993, the move attracted considerable attention, including some carping from Bridgeport residents disappointed about his departure from the familys longtime neighborhood.

In 2011, shortly after Daleys mayoral term ended, he and his wife moved from the town house, in the South Loops Central Station area, into a rental condominium in the Bloomingdales building on the Gold Coast. That paved the way for the former mayor to sell the South Loop town house the following year for $750,000 to his daughter.

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Now, Nora Daley and her husband have moved on from the town house. Located in Central Stations gated Park Row community, the town house faces a courtyard and has four bedrooms, a lower-level family room and a top-floor lofted space. It also has a large primary bedroom suite with a fireplace, seating area and three closets, along with a primary suite bathroom with double bowl sinks and a soaking tub.

Other features include a back deck, a north-facing balcony with skyline views and a kitchen with a large island, eat-in seating for five, a built-in desk, a double oven with a warming drawer, a vented stove, a beverage refrigerator and a significant amount of pantry storage.

Nora Daley and her husband listed the town house in December for $1.19 million. Listing agent Joelle Cachey Hayes of @properties declined to talk specifically about her clients or where they are off to, but in response to a question about the appreciation in value of the town house, she told Elite Street that the South Loop keeps getting better.

Its a really well-built unit with a nice sized square footage, she said. So the comps (comparable sales) definitely supported the price. And its a private, gated community. My clients are happy that a nice young family will be moving into it.

The town house had a $21,681 property tax bill in the 2020 tax year. Homeowners association fees are another $434 per month.

The former mayor now owns an eighth-floor condominium unit in a high-rise on North Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive on the Gold Coast, which he bought in 2015 for $865,000.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance writer.

Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news.
By ExecEdge Editorial Staff

The wide-ranging United States investment marketplace accommodates investors with differing priorities. Some investment professionals target specific industries, developing substantial knowledge in that defined arena. They perform intensive due diligence to find businesses that offer game-changing products or technology. According to seasoned investor Steph Korey, this due diligence goes beyond merely crunching the numbers.

Often, investors search for established companies that meet a predetermined set of investment criteria. In both cases, investment candidates have gained a foothold in the marketplace and have achieved a positive track record. These businesses are generally poised to jump to the next level, and they need the financial resources to put their plans into action.

Snapshot of an Angel Investor

At the other end of the spectrum, angel investors help to fund start-up and/or early-stage companies. In many cases, these investors execute the business first outside capital investment (beyond the founders or their family and close friends).

Many wealthy angel investors are accredited investors who have a $1 million or higher net worth. Alternatively, the angel investor must show at least $200,000 in annual income to qualify for this exclusive group.

In exchange for the investors financial support, they typically want a certain amount of equity (or stock) in the company. Some angel investors may instead accept convertible debt, which is a loan that can be converted to equity in the future. An angel investment has no defined parameters, and it can range from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.

What Angels Bring to the Table

In addition to their cash investment, an angel investor frequently contributes their entrepreneurial experience and targeted expertise to the venture. To illustrate, a highly successful medical device manufacturer may offer funding and guidance to a startup with an innovative product but with little cash to bring it to market.

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The angel investor often leverages their extensive network to help the business move forward. To illustrate, the investor may help the startup secure otherwise off-limits sales appointments with the investors business colleagues. In another example, the angel investor may negotiate cost-effective accounting services or discounted advertising rates.

Entrepreneur/angel investor Steph Korey brings supply chain management expertise and mentorship skills to each investment. Possessing a strong belief in universal talent distribution, she typically seeks out underrepresented entrepreneurs who may be good investment partners.

The Value of Goal Alignment

To create a mutually beneficial business relationship, both parties must share a commitment to the same values and goals. That philosophy certainly holds true in the angel investment arena. The UK-based SyndicateRoom, a data-driven early-stage investment group, conducted an early-2022 angel investor survey that showed investor-business alignment to be a top priority.

Specifically, angel investors are often more interested in the founders motivations and goals compared to the companys operations logistics. The founder should take time to share this key information, and they should supplement it with relevant data. Taken together, this information provides the investor with a much clearer picture of the business desirability as an investment.

Finally, experienced angel investors are excellent judges of character. They place a high value on authenticity, which could factor into their decision between two otherwise-equal investment targets. The investor also values the founders courteous demeanor and prompt responses, as these provide a window into their receptiveness to a collaborative business arrangement.

Alignment with Social Philosophy

Many angel investors work with business owners who share the investors commitment to specific social causes. To illustrate, an investor with a commitment to sustainability may choose to support a business that furthers that goal in some way.

Steph Korey believes that each entrepreneur, no matter what their resources, can make an important contribution to a worthy organization. By making that commitment, the business owner can make a positive impact on both the micro and macro scale.

Steph Korey offers sage advice to entrepreneurs at all business stages. Start now, and think beyond just writing a check! You dont have to wait until youre able to donate moneyinstead, just identify the talents of your team and figure out how to leverage those talents to make a positive impact. Your employees will appreciate the opportunity to give back, and your partner will be grateful for the support no matter what shape that might take, she concludes.

5 Ideal Attributes on Angel Investors Wish Lists

Although most potential investments arent likely to check all the boxes, angel investors look for certain positive attributes in every investment candidate. Elizabeth Kraus, MergeLane Chief Investment Officer, shares five angel investors Gold Standard criteria.

Proven Leadership

Angel investors want to see a CEO with documented achievements in this business arena. Whether they have successfully marketed a similar product, or have engineered a profitable exit from other ventures, their ability to skillfully navigate complex business challenges is highly desirable.

Large-scale Market

Business owners should have completed extensive research on their target market. They should have also obtained guidance from a reputable market research firm with proven expertise in similar industries.

Ideally, the business target market will have a value of $200 million (or more). A target market of over $1 billion is preferable. In addition, if the business foresees a need for future venture capital, a market of $500 million (or higher) is ideal.

Protected Intellectual Property

An investment candidates intellectual property should have ironclad protection via one of three methods. Patents and trade secrets are two commonly accepted intellectual property protection vehicles.

In certain cases, the intellectual property may have been previously protected by another company. However, the protective period has lapsed, and the intellectual property can now be claimed by another entity.

Significant Sales

Ideally, the business has already realized substantial product sales volume. MergeLanes Elizabeth Kraus says a sales volume of at least $300,000 is an optimal figure. Alternatively, the company has documented sales/licensing contracts that ensure distribution of upcoming production.

$4 Million Maximum Valuation

An angel investor ideally wants a 5X-10X return on their investment. Therefore, they prefer that the business have a pre-revenue valuation of $4 million maximum. This number is not set in stone, as it can be affected by the industry, business geographic location, and business stage.

Elizabeth Kraus emphasizes that she, along with other investors, has made exceptions to these and other rules. However, businesses that fulfill these criteria (or come extremely close) will have a significantly higher chance of raising the capital they need.

Strong Emphasis on the Financials

Angel investors are keenly focused on their potential investment returns. Therefore, they carefully analyze each candidates current financial position and future projections. Forbes highlights three finance-related issues important to angel investors.

Intimate Financials and Metrics Knowledge

Investors want to know that the business founder genuinely understands their companys financials and key metrics. Besides providing an in-depth explanation of each term, the founder should be able to coherently address questions related to the terms applications. Common financial terms and metrics include:

Gross Margin

Customer Acquisition Cost

Lifetime Customer Value

Monthly Burn Rate

Projected Revenue Growth

EBITDA

Realistic Financial Projections

An angel investor wants to support a business that is positioned to achieve significant growth in a realistic timeframe. If a business owner projects accelerated growth, but they lack the sales figures and infrastructure to support that expansion, the investor may well discount that candidate. Other unrealistic projections may experience the same fate.

Reasonable Capital Use and Burn Rate

Each potential investor wants to know exactly how their capital will be used. Equally importantly, they want to know the business estimated monthly burn rate.

With this knowledge, the investor can determine when the next round of funding will be needed. These figures also enable an investor to see if the business capital requirements and fundraising vehicles are in sync. Finally, the investor can tell if the business cost estimates are in line with similarly positioned companies they have supported.

More Key Questions

Also on the financial front, the angel investor wants to know how long it will take for the business to generate a profit. In a similar vein, the business owner should provide information on the companys projected capital needs (if any) for the future.

The investor also wants details about product liability and/or regulatory risks. The founder should expect to provide information on the steps the company has taken to mitigate these risks. If the business owner can document that they have lessened specific risks, they may be in a better position to attract investors.

Industries to Watch in 2022

SyndicateRooms early-2022 angel investor survey produced some intriguing results. Collectively, the angel investors hoped that additional sustainable investment opportunities would emerge during the year. These successful investors also expressed a desire to work with more female-owned and ethnically diverse businesses.

The angel investors also predicted substantial growth in health technology investment in 2022. Moving down the list, they planned to invest in the green technology, cryptocurrency, and education technology industries, in that order.

About Steph Korey

Entrepreneur and angel/early-stage investor Steph Korey brings a multifaceted skill set to her investment activities. Her rich multicultural upbringing helped to drive her interest in collaborative entrepreneurship. At Brown University, she earned a B.A. in International Relations. Korey also earned her MBA from Columbia Business School.

In the business arena, Steph Korey served as co-founder of lifestyle brand Away. She also excelled as Warby Parkers Head of Supply Chain, leading the team focused on product development and distribution. Finally, Korey consulted with growing eCommerce mattress retailer Casper during her time at Columbia Business School.

Today, Steph Korey frequently invests in startups and early-stage businesses. She mainly focuses on talented, underrepresented entrepreneurs who might not qualify for other funding sources. Her distinctive business experience places her in an optimal position to mentor her investees along the path to success.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday night that the "Freedom Convoy" that has ensnarled Ottawa's business district with hundreds of parked big-rig trucks for a dozen days is "trying to blockade our economy, our democracy. and our fellow citizens' daily lives. It has to stop." The people of Ottawa, he added, "don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods."

Trudeau lambasted the protesters in a speech to an emergency session of the House of Commons, and it was his first public appearance since he tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 31, two days after the trucks rolled into Ottawa. Trudeau said all Canadians are tired of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the restrictions at the center of the protest won't last forever and the vast majority of Canadians support "science" and public health measures. "A few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are," he said.

In a letter Monday, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson asked Trudeau for 1,800 additional police officers to help the overwhelmed Ottawa Police Services dismantle what "has now turned into a siege of our downtown area." He also referred to it as an "insurrection." Ontario Premier Doug Ford has called the "Freedom Convoy" an "occupation."

Trudeau told Parliament "the federal government will be there with whatever resources the province and city need in this situation," but did not make any specific commitments. He said last week that sending in the military is "not in the cards."

The "Freedom Convoy" was a proximate response to Trudeau's order that cross-border truckers be vaccinated, one of the few public health measures the federal government instituted. (Most are enacted by provincial governments.) The protesters are now demanding an end to all vaccine requirements and COVID-19 restrictions, and the dissolution of Trudeau's recently re-elected government.

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The Ottawa police, who planned only for a three-day protest, have started tackling the supply lines to the entrenched protesters, including fuel, food, and money, much of it coming from the U.S. Physically removing the trucks has been ruled impractical. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra urged Ford to do more, suggesting the Ontario provincial government "begin suspending commercial licenses and also insurance of commercial owners of equipment blockading the streets for days on end."

Canadian officials have also hit back at Republican politicians in the U.S. who are encouraging the protest and trying to restore funding avenues.

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Story County Republican caucuses had a bit more excitement than usual Monday night as caucus captains waited for the updated voter lists and updated maps of the precincts.

"Due to the late redistricting, which was caused by the late 2020 census, we didn't get the updated voter lists and precinct maps in our hands until about an hour before the caucus started," Story County Republican Chair Brett Barker said Tuesday. "But we had everything in time and it all ran smoothly."

Barker said he and the county's central committee have until the county Republican convention March 12 to gather information from the caucuses. For now, that information is sitting in boxes.

Republican Caucus goers talk to each other in their precinct meeting during the party caucus at Oakwood Road City Church Monday night.

The caucuses are the grassroots first step of the state's political process where people state their positions on issues, called planks. Those planks are then gathered into a single large document called a platform.

The platforms of national politics start at the grassroots level, like the Iowa caucuses.

The caucuses also elect delegates to the county, district and state conventions where the platforms will be finalized.

Caucuses are held every two years, Barker said. When the caucuses are held on a non-presidential year, like this year, the meetings deal with processes and issues, rather than selecting candidates.

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Barker said that although he hasn't had time to review the proposed planks from the Republican caucuses Monday night, he expects to see a few positions that come up every year including something to do with the second amendment, right to life, lower taxes and limiting government's influence over the people.

The Story County Republican platform of 2018 includes statements like "we support efforts to reduce the number of divorces and harmful custody battles," and "we support the legalization of cannabis oil and other medical marijuana products."

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The county Republican party stated in financial documents Jan. 19 that they have $13,341 in their account to fuel this year's campaigns.

Story County Democrats begin their work

Story County Democratic Party Chair Madalyn Anderson didn't return messages Tuesday, but told the Ames Tribune last week that she expected education to be a big topic at this year's caucuses.

The Story County Democratic Central Committee as of Jan. 19 was holding $29,814 in its bank account.

The Story County Democrats 2020 Platform includes positions such as support for "stronger enforcement and penalties for agricultural polluters," and opposition for "eminent domain for purely private/commercial uses."

Story Country Auditor Lucy Martin speaks during the Democratic Caucus at Ames Middle School Monday night.

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The Story County Democratic Platform Committee will meet on Feb. 12 to gather the various planks submitted at the caucuses and begin building the county's platform.

The Committee on Committees will meet on Feb 12 and will divide into three committees:

The Credentials Committee is responsible for verifying the credentials of the delegates and alternates to the County Convention

The Rules Committee is responsible for writing the Rules of Convention and overseeing and counting ballots of the elections held at Convention.

The Arrangements Committee is responsible for helping set up Convention and compiling the reports of the other committees into the Convention Book.

The Story County Democratic Convention is March 26. The District Convention is April 23 and the State Convention is June 18.

The county Democrats begin their work at the same time Iowa Democratic candidate for governor, Deidre DeJear, released campaign finance reports that show she had less than $10,000 available in her account while Gov. Kim Reynolds had $4.8 million.

Teresa Kay Albertson reports on the news in central Iowa for the Des Moines Register and the Ames Tribune. Reach her at talbertson@registermedia.com or 515-419-6098.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Political party conventions highlight the coming spring
Washington  Move over, Harvard and Yale. With Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement opening a vacancy on the Supreme Court, there's a new push for President Biden to push aside the Ivy League and give alumni of public universities a chance.

Mr. Biden is poised to nominate the first Black woman to the nation's highest court, and if the Senate confirms his pick, it would mark the first time two African-American justices were on the court at the same time. Four women would also be on the bench simultaneously. Now, some on Capitol Hill are also urging the president to bring some educational diversity to the Supreme Court with his pick.

And with a bench filled with graduates of Harvard or Yale law schools  with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a graduate of University of Notre Dame Law School, the lone exception  the public-school pedigree of U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs is being heralded as a plus-factor for her candidacy.

"I'd like to see the court have a lot more balance, some common sense on it," GOP Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told "Face the Nation" last week. "Everybody doesn't have to be from Harvard, Yale. It's OK to go to a public university and get your law degree."

Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn, the House's third-highest ranking member who helped secure Mr. Biden's pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, also lauded Childs' educational background and the message her appointment would send to young Americans.

Judge J. Michelle Childs listens during her nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 16, 2010. / Credit: Charles Dharapak / AP

"It says to every little child up there growing up under moderate circumstances, needing the entire community help raise it, getting scholarships to go up to school because she couldn't afford to go otherwise, going to public schools because you didn't get an offer from one of the big private school, it says to them, you've got just as much of a chance to benefit from the greatness of this country as everybody else," Clyburn told "Face the Nation."

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Democratic Congressman Al Green of Texas, too, said one does not have to be an Ivy League alum to sit on the high court: "The qualifications of a Supreme Court nominee should not be dependent on what university they attended, but more importantly, on who they are."

Childs, 55, attended the University of South Florida and the University of South Carolina Law School, and she would be the only justice who attended public universities, if Mr. Biden selects her for the Supreme Court and she is confirmed by the Senate.

A 2016 analysis of the educational backgrounds of Supreme Court members conducted by Jason Iuliano and Avery Stewart found that of the justices with law degrees, 30% graduated from Harvard, followed by 12% from Yale and 10% from Columbia. The nation's highest court has not been without a graduate of Harvard Law since 1881.

"There is something of value to having people with different backgrounds and life experiences sitting in a room discussing the case," Iuliano, a law professor at University of Utah, told CBS News. "You get nine people in a room who all have the same background, and they will look at it from the same vantage point and have similar approaches to it."

Through his picks to the federal judiciary, Mr. Biden has sought to address a gap in the legal professions represented on the bench, with 30% of his judicial nominees in 2021 having worked as public defenders, according to the Alliance for Justice, a liberal judicial advocacy organization.

The president also broke the record for the total number of public defenders nominated to the federal circuit courts, with six of his circuit court nominees having that experience. Seventy-three percent of Mr. Biden's nominees are women, and nearly 65% are people of color, according to the Alliance for Justice.

But the educational backgrounds of nominees often gets less attention, even as Iuliano and Stewart found that educational diversity across the federal bench was at an all-time low as of 2016, and a shrinking number of law schools claim a growing share of judgeships.

Of the 2,917 federal judges who served between 1789 and 2014 and graduated from law school, nearly 10% went to Harvard, while more than 4% went to Yale, the researchers found.

Iuliano attributed the trend toward less educational diversity, particularly among Supreme Court nominees, to the confirmation process, which has grown more bruising and politicized over the decades.

"Part of it is minimizing the different avenues the opposition can use to attack your nominee," he said. "No one ever came out and said you shouldn't have picked the Harvard or Yale grad because they're unfit for the bench."

But "you do lose a lot of folks who are extremely intelligent and qualified but don't have the same pedigree, and they're thrown out for that reason because you're going to give the opposition a line of attack," he said.

Minimizing the potential areas of attack could be even more of a crucial consideration for Mr. Biden and his eventual nominee given the razor-thin margins in the Senate, where Democrats and Republicans each hold 50 seats and Vice President Kamala Harris  a graduate of University of California Hastings College of the Law  casts tie-breaking votes.

"Given the split in the Senate at this point, anything that might lose a single vote could tank the process," Iuliano said. "Risk aversion seems to be a very central or important consideration at this point for who can get across the finish line."

Benjamin Barton, author of the forthcoming book "The Credentialed Court: Inside the Cloistered, Elite World of American Justice," said the focus on candidates with an Ivy League education has "hardened and crystallized" over time, with both Republican and Democratic presidents pulling from a pool of Supreme Court candidates with Ivy League degrees.

"This court is the most diverse in terms of gender and race ever, and with Biden's addition, that court will be the most diverse in terms of gender and race. We're making huge strides," Barton, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, said. "That being said, it's a weirdly non-representative court given the experiences these people have had. It's a tiny percentage of the population that's gone to Ivy League undergrad or law schools. It's most representative in gender and race, but least representative in terms of every other factor of their life experience."

The White House has confirmed Childs is among the women under consideration to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. She joins a list of more than a dozen candidates Mr. Biden is weighing, which includes Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the federal appeals court in Washington, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger.

Jackson graduated from Harvard Law, while Kruger went to Yale Law.

White House officials have been tight-lipped about the selection process, though a memo sent Monday to lawmakers and outside groups stressed Mr. Biden "is choosing from among a wealth of accomplished and inspiring Black women with the strongest record, credentials, and abilities anyone could have for the highest court in our nation."

"It's long overdue that a Black woman serve on the Supreme Court, and there is bipartisan tradition for ensuring that the richness of our country is represented in its leadership and on the highest Court," the memo from the White House, obtained by CBS News, said.

Ed O'Keefe contributed to this report

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WASHINGTON  A Supreme Court ruling allowing Alabama's controversial congressional map to stand has exposed continued divisions among the justices over the practice of deciding major cases in a hurry on the high court's so-called shadow docket.

The nation's highest court allowed Alabama's redistricting plan to stand  for now  over objections from plaintiffs who asserted that state lawmakers violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act when they drew only one majority Black congressional district out of seven.

Alabama's population is 27% Black.

Lurking just below the battle over the congressional maps is a deeper dispute about how the high court considers emergency cases. Dueling opinions Monday in the Alabama case suggested there is still discord on the court about how that expedited process works.

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The Supreme Court on Feb. 7, 2022.

The Alabama ruling "is one more in a disconcertingly long line of cases in which this court uses its shadow docket to signal or make changes in the law, without anything approaching full briefing and argument," Associate Justice Elena Kagan wrote. The case is a "serious matter ... which cannot properly occur without thorough consideration."

Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh dismissed that argument in a concurring opinion, calling it "catchy but worn-out rhetoric" that he said was "off target."

What's the 'shadow docket'?

The Supreme Court usually decides a case after the parties submit months' worth of legal briefs and take part in an hourlong oral argument. The opinions are usually signed  so its clear how each justice voted  and they generally involve the court parsing complex questions about how to apply the Constitution or a federal statute.

Shadow docket disputes, by contrast, usually involve deciding whether to temporarily block a law while the underlying legal questions are considered by lower courts. The parties sometimes have days to file briefs, and there are generally no oral arguments.

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The high courts emergency docket drew fresh criticism last fall when the justices allowed Texas ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy to stand on a temporary basis, despite the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established the constitutional right to abortion.

"The majoritys decision is emblematic of too much of this courts shadow-docket decision-making  which every day becomes more unreasoned, inconsistent, and impossible to defend, Kagan wrote in a dissent in September.

Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer pay their respects to former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, who lies in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building on Dec. 9, 2021.

Before that, the court unwound President Joe Bidens eviction moratorium on the emergency docket, blocked state COVID-19 restrictions that limited gatherings in churches and synagogues, and required the federal government to keep migrants seeking asylum in Mexico.

Perhaps in response to the criticism, the court has scheduled an unusual number of shadow docket cases for oral argument. The justices heard arguments in a Texas abortion case, for instance, and handed down a signed opinion in December that allowed the law to stand while lower courts consider its constitutionality.

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Most recently, the court moved a challenge to Bidens COVID-19 vaccine-or-testing mandates off the emergency docket and heard arguments in January. Days later, a divided court blocked enforcement of the requirement for large employers but permitted a vaccine mandate for health care workers at facilities that receive federal funding.

Alabama's Black voters

The emergency docket isnt new. The Supreme Court needs some way to consider emergency requests to block a lower court's ruling. Associate Justice Samuel Alito pushed back on the criticism in September, calling some of it "rank nonsense." Because the court isnt considering the merits of a case, he said, it can move more quickly.

It's a point Kavanaugh raised repeatedly in his opinion in the Alabama case on Monday.

"To reiterate," he wrote, "the court's stay order is not a decision on the merits."

But others note the expedited decisions do have a practical impact, in part because they can signal which way the court is heading and in part because they can run out the clock: By the time courts can address the underlying questions  which can take years  the dispute often resolves itself.

In the government's vaccine case, the Biden administration ultimately withdrew its mandate. The Texas abortion law, the most restrictive in the nation, remains in force.

In the Alabama voting suit, a three-judge federal panel ruled last month that the states proposed congressional districts likely violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The court ordered the state to try again before this years midterm elections.

By pausing that order on Monday, the Supreme Courts decision will leave those maps in place for the state's primary in May  at least.

The court said it would hear arguments in the case later this year but didnt say when. That leaves open the possibility that it wont take up the dispute until after the November general election.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court: Alabama redistricting case renews shadow docket fight
Police have arrested the man they say burst into a Newington motel room Monday and attacked two occupants  stabbing one more than a dozen times.

Roberth Rodriguez, 36, of 354 Berlin Turnpike was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, home invasion and unlawful restraint, police said Tuesday.

Newington officers arrested Rodriguez Monday night in Plainville with help from local police after obtaining a warrant for his arrest, police said.

Both victims have been released from the hospital, Sgt. Ryan Deane said. Police learned that the male victim had been stabbed or slashed 13 times. Some of the wounds were superficial.

Rodriguez was in custody Tuesday morning on $550,000 court-set bail and was scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court in New Britain later in the day.

According to police, Rodriguez forced his way into a room at the Hi-View Motel, 2273 Berlin Turnpike, about 3 a.m. Monday and confronted a man and woman inside. He threw something at the woman and the object hit her, giving her a head injury.

Police said he then stabbed the man repeatedly before leaving the room and running away. A police dog track was not successful.

Rodriguez is known to the victims, said police, who described it as a case of domestic violence.

Christine Dempsey may be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.
WASHINGTON  The debate over whether children need to wear face masks in classrooms to prevent the spread of the coronavirus took a new turn on Tuesday, with Randi Weingarten, head of the influential American Federation of Teachers, indicating that she was in favor of unmasking, provided certain metrics were met.

I think we have to be talking about the off-ramp for masks, Weingarten said during an appearance on MSNBC. "No one wants masks in schools, she added some moments later. Not teachers, not students.

Lori Manz substitute-teaches a math class at Vista View Middle School in Huntington Beach, Calif. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Weingarten added that she was waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue new guidance. She wrote to the agency and to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in November, asking them to start a transparent process and work with educators and parents on the metrics and standards for easing indoor mask requirements without sacrificing safety.

Weingartens letter has received no response from the Biden administration.

Any plan to unmask children in the fall was put on hold by the arrival of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus, which forced schools across the country to temporarily close in January. Now that schools are open, whether children should learn in masks has become a pressing issue, one that has confronted local officials and the White House alike.

The CDC did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did the National Education Association, another powerful teachers union. Its head, Becky Pringle, has generally taken a cautious approach to schools' reopening.

The complexity of public education  in which state, local and federal imperatives often clash, as do those of unions, parents, superintendents and children  means that a coherent approach to masking is all but impossible on a national level. Some states led by Republicans, for example, have banned masks outright.

A skilled political operator fluent both in labor dynamics and national trends, Weingarten made her remarks a day after Democratic governors in New Jersey and Delaware moved to end mandatory masking, allowing individual districts to make their own decisions. The issue has become a growing concern for parents, even as some educators insist that masks keep them and their students safe.

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A student at Robert M. Pyles STEM Academy in Stanton, Calif. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

With vaccination rates among teachers high and the Omicron wave apparently receding across much of the country, some believe the moment is right to revisit the controversial universal mandate.

It doesnt work, University of Minnesota epidemiologist Michael Osterholm bluntly told the New York Times in comments published on Tuesday.

But others say that given varying rates of vaccination across the country  and low uptake of booster shots  the time isnt right to dispense with masks.

It's shortsighted to say that things are normal when they're anything but, Boston University public health expert Julia Raifman told Yahoo News in a phone interview. We know that COVID spreads in crowded spaces, including schools. We know that masks reduce the spread."

A study published last fall by the CDC showed that schools in Arizona that implemented universal masking saw many fewer coronavirus cases than did schools where students went unmasked. Some, however, have called that studys methodology and conclusions into question.

Last months Omicron surge saw a record number of children hospitalized, but infection rates are falling across the country, and the conversation about masks in schools has become all but unavoidable for educators. Whether that conversation descends into acrimony is another question altogether.

How are vaccination rates affecting the latest COVID surge? Check out this explainer from Yahoo Immersive to find out.
A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to making threats to former Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen because of her COVID-19 vaccine advocacy.

Scott Eli Harris, of Aubrey, Texas, now faces a maximum of five years in federal prison, though his attorney and federal prosecutors will debate what sentence the judge should hand down. Taking into consideration criminal history and other factors, actual sentences are usually less than the maximum.

With his plea Monday, Harris admitted sending a threatening email to Wen in July. His email included ethnic slurs, other offensive language and referenced violence, according to his indictment.

Never going to take your wonder drug. My 12-gauge promises I wont, Harris wrote. Im a 5th generation U.S. Army veteran and a sniper. I cant wait for the shooting to start.

Harris demanded in his email to know where Wens office was.

Mr. Harris is embarrassed by his conduct and sincerely apologizes for the harm he has caused, Harris attorney, federal public defender Elizabeth Oyer, said after the hearing.

Wen, who regularly appears on CNN as a medical analyst, has been a vocal proponent of the COVID-19 vaccine. The inoculations are critical to stemming the coronavirus pandemic, according to public health experts like Wen, as they dramatically reduce the risk of serious illness, hospitalization and death in vaccinated people who contract COVID-19.

Assistant U.S. Attorney P Michael Cunningham said in court Monday that Wen promptly forwarded Harris threatening email to the FBI, which began an investigation.

Federal agents traced the email address and message back to Harris, who sent the email from his cell phone in Texas.

Harris is released under the supervision of pretrial services pending his sentence, which has not yet been scheduled, according to court records.

U.S. Magistrate Judge A. David Copperthite agreed to modify to Harris supervision last month. According to his order, Harris is not longer prohibited from having a cell phone, so long as he provides all the information about it to pretrial services, which can inspect the phone at any time.
A Texas National Guard soldier assigned to the southern border under Gov. Greg Abbotts border enforcement operation was killed Monday in a non-mission-related incident.

The soldier, who has not been identified, was injured in Brackettville and flown to a San Antonio hospital, according to the Texas Military Department.

While the department said the cause of death remains under investigation, the Army Times reported that a fellow soldier accidentally shot the victim with his own gun. The soldier is the sixth Operation Lone Star mission soldier to die since October, according to the newspaper. Four of those deaths were suicides, and the most recent was another accidental shooting.

Abbott introduced Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to respond to a rise in illegal immigration, according to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission.

His declaration directed the Department of Public Safety to use available resources to enforce all applicable federal and state laws to prevent the criminal activity along the border, including criminal trespassing, smuggling, and human trafficking, and to assist Texas counties in their efforts to address those criminal activities.

In April 2021, Abbott opened Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities for detaining those arrested under Operation Lone Star.

Our hearts are heavy at the news of the tragic death of a Texas Guardsman stationed at the border as part of Operation Lone Star," he said in a statement Monday. The Texas National Guard plays an important role in our efforts to keep communities safe and we are grateful for their courage and commitment."

The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident.

Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, adjutant general for the Texas Military Department, said: We are deeply saddened by this loss. We are focused on supporting the Soldiers family and are providing all available resources."
Street food tour by motorbike in HCM City among worlds best Tripadvisor

A private street food tour by motorbike with students in Ho Chi Minh City has been named among the world's 25 best travel experiences by Tripadvisor readers.













A corner of Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: VNA)

According to TripAdvisor's 2021 Travelers Choice of the Best Things to Do, the private street food tour by motorbike in HCM City came in 14th on the list.



The food tour by motorbike would take visitors around four hours to delve into the street food scene in Vietnam's southern metropolis.



Theres no better way to get into the swing of Saigon than riding a motorbike. Enjoy the immediacy of scooter travel without the self-driving risks on this private guided foodie adventure. Pull up a kindergarten chair and channel Anthony Bourdain as you sample eight separate tastings at a range of street eateries, TripAdvisor said.



A top gear motorbike tour from Hue to Hoi An was also named on the list, ranking 12th. The 7.5-hour motorbike tour from the former imperial capital of Hue to the ancient town of Hoi An allows visitors to explore famous tourist attractions in central Vietnam like Lang Co Beach, Hai Van Pass, Da Nang, the Marble Mountains and Hoi An itself.



Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards is an annual award voted by the site's travellers. In addition to Travel Experience, the award also has other categories: Destinations, Restaurants and Beaches./.
A Glenview man is facing additional charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault and predatory criminal sexual abuse for on two additional complaints allegedly abusing minor children, according to the Glenview Police Department.

Bruce Claver, 57, of the 3000 block of Knollwood Lane, was charged Friday with predatory criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse following a complaint made on Jan. 10, according to a news release Monday. The continued investigation of these incidents revealed two additional complaints involving separate minor children. Claver was brought to the Skokie Courthouse for a bond hearing on Feb. 5.

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Police said there is no additional information being released at this time.

Claver was previously arrested on Jan. 10 on two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and one count of predatory criminal sexual abuse, after an investigation of nearly three weeks, according to a news release.

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The Glenview Police Department started an investigation Dec. 24 after a parent of two minor children made a complaint to police that Claver allegedly abused the youngsters over several years.

While conducting the investigation, Glenview Police Sgt. Joel Detloff said, in January, police learned Claver allegedly abused a third child. Claver is facing charges for all three situations. There is no family relationship between Claver and the victims.

A spokesperson for the Cook County States Attorneys office said in a January email predatory criminal sexual assault is a Class X felony and aggravated criminal sexual abuse is a Class 2 felony. If convicted, he could face between 12 and 44 years in prison, according to Illinois law.

Police received assistance in the initial investigation from the Childrens Advocacy Center of North and Northwest Cook County, the Department of Child and Family Services and the Cook County States Attorneys Office, according to the release
The Innovation Hub at Research Park this week announced the winners of its annual Presidents Innovative Startup Awards, through which the presidents of Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center recognize startups that exemplify innovation and commercialization.

The awards give early-stage startups space and critical access to equipment to become revenue-generating companies. Texas Tech awarded four startups a total of $55,000. TTUHSC awarded three startups a total of $45,000.

The 2022 Presidents Innovative Startup Awardees are:

Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University Presidents Awards

 EmGenisys Inc: The company was founded with a common commitment to improving the standard of livestock production. Its flagship product is a Software as a service (SaaS) solution offering a noninvasive analysis of embryo morphokinetic activity to improve pregnancy outcomes of assisted reproductive techniques in livestock.

Founder and CEO: Cara Wells, an alumna of Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources.

Award: $25,000

 Envirostatus LLC: The company specializes in passive sampling technology that accurately measures freely dissolved concentrations of contaminants in aquatic media.

Founders: Texas Tech staff and faculty members Magdalena Rakowska, Balaji Anandha Rao and Danny Reible.

Award: $15,000

 Ogallala Greens: The Slaton-based leafy greens producer is building a hydroponically operated greenhouse to provide vegetable produce to the Lubbock market year-round.

Founder and CEO: Cory Roof is a West Texas community member.

Award: $10,000

 AlvMat: The company is on a mission to transform material innovations from the lab to real life, ranging from large-scale architectural applications to fingertip sensations. They are currently developing a Smart Breathing Window made with electro-responsive soft material to improve indoor air quality.

Founders: Texas Tech faculty member Wei Li and graduate student Shakil Shimul.

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Award: $5,000

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center logo

TTUHSC President's Awards

 Buclid LLC: The medical education SaaS provider is developing a software, Meldogram, in collaboration with TTUHSC to automate the grading of written exams.

Founders: TTUHSC faculty members Dr. Sarah Kiani, Dr. Hassan Khalid and TTUHSC medical student John Ciubuc.

Award: $25,000

 SmartMate Solutions LLC: The companys mission is to develop and market health support solutions. The company has designed and developed an IV Pole (SmartMate IV) to reduce patient falls in care settings and detect falls when they happen.

Founders: Texas Tech faculty members Debajyoti Pati, James Yang, John Harry and graduate student Seyedehnastaran Hashemi.

Award: $15,000

 HiPr Innovation Inc.: The company innovates devices to prevent pressure ulcers.

Founder: TTUHSC medical student Harikrishan Sachdev.

Award: $5,000

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech, Health Sciences Center Presidents Innovative Startup Award funds 7 startups
BANGKOK (AP)  Thailand on Tuesday moved one step closer toward being the first Asian nation to decriminalize marijuana, after its health minister signed a measure officially dropping cannabis from a list of controlled drugs.

The delisting will mean all parts of cannabis, including flowers and seeds, are allowed to be used in Thailand. However, extracted content will remain illegal if it contains more than 0.2% of the psychoactive ingredient that produces a high"  tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

At a signing ceremony, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he hoped to set out a new history for cannabis in Thailand and remove the stigma around it.

Cannabis actually has plenty of medical benefits, not different from other herbs, and we are trying our best to make the Thai people enjoy both medical and economic benefits from it," Anutin said Tuesday.

Production, sale and possession of cannabis will remain partially regulated, however, meaning recreational use of marijuana is not yet legal. The ministry's stated policy is to promote the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and build an industry around derived products.

Thailand in 2020 became the first Asian nation to allow the production and use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, under tight controls. Anutins Bhumjai Thai Party, a major partner in the current coalition government, campaigned in the previous year's election for the legalization of cannabis production to aid farmers.

The delisting will take effect 120 days after its publication in the government gazette. In the period ahead of it becoming effective, the ministry will seek to have a bill on cannabis approved by Parliament to clarify several legal points.

The proposed Cannabis Act would allow only patients whose diseases can be eased with marijuana, such as cancer and depression, to grow the plants at home, said Tonnam Niyamapar, a member of The Alliance of Citizens' Cannabis Association, a lobbying group.

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He said that the act would also allow people to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes. Flowers of the plant had been on the list of controlled drugs, so until now cannabis oil had been permitted only for treatments.

The ministry's list of controlled drugs regulates a number of substances  from heroine, which is banned, to prescription and over-the counter medicine.

Tonnam questioned why Thailand cannot legalize cannabis for recreational use, in the same legally-controlled manner it does with cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.

I hope Thailand will finally liberalize cannabis for both medical and recreational use like the United States or Canada, he said. But I understand that it will take more years to make that happen.
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey will not turn its back on its commitment to a Palestinian state in order to broker closer ties with Israel, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, ahead of an expected visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog next month.

The two countries expelled their ambassadors in 2018 after a bitter falling-out and relations have remained tense but Ankara has taken steps to mend strained regional ties, including with Israel.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Herzog would visit Turkey in mid-March, the first such trip in years, adding the two countries could discuss energy cooperation. Herzog has yet to confirm the visit.

Ankara, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has condemned Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its policy towards Palestinians, while Israel has called on Turkey to drop support for the militant Palestinian group Hamas which runs Gaza.

"Any step we take with Israel regarding our relations, any normalisation, will not be at the expense of the Palestinian cause, like some other countries," Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, referring to the rapprochement between Israel and some Gulf countries that has angered Turkey.

"Our position there is always clear," he added. "These ties normalising a bit more may increase Turkey's role regarding a two-state solution as well, as a country that will be in touch with both countries, but we will never turn back on our core principles."

Gulf states that have established ties with Israel have sought to reassure the Palestinians that their countries are not abandoning the quest for statehood, despite Palestinian leaders having decried the deals as a betrayal of their cause.

While Erdogan has spoken to Herzog before during the tensions, the Israeli presidency is a largely ceremonial role. In November, he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the first such call in years.

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Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Monday there was a "positive approach" from Israel since the formation of their new government, according to broadcaster A Haber, while Bennett told reporters "things are happening very slowly and gradually", when asked about the possible visit to Turkey.

A senior Israeli official who requested anonymity said the country was "progressing with a good deal of care when it comes to Turkey", but added regional tensions should not prevent the two countries from collaborating.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Ece Toksabay and Alison Williams)
Kelly Procter Pierce and Rep. Justin Boyd are running against each other for Arkansas Senate District 27.

A state representative and a Fort Smith lawyer are fighting for the State Senate seat representing Fort Smith.

Rep. Justin Boyd and Kelly Procter Pierce, both Republicans, are the only two set to face off for the position.

The senate seat is open because Sen. Mat Pitsch, who represented the area as District 8, is running for state treasurer.

Boyd has served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for almost eight years. He represents District 77, which will become District 50 after the election, reflecting the district lines after the Arkansas Board of Apportionment redrew them.

Rep. Justin Boyd is running for Arkansas Senate District 27.

Boyd, 46, is running for the seat to work more closely with the governor and to represent a larger coverage area.

Ive had four terms in the house, and Id like to carry that experience over to the senate," Boyd said.

With his background as a pharmacist, he wants to continue playing a role in shaping the state's health care.

Boyd also hopes to give parents a larger voice in their children's education. He would like to be mindful of taxation, allowing for government to run as efficiently as possible with as little burden on the citizenry as possible.

As the state grows, changes we have to always be mindful balancing the needs of a citizen's with taxation," Boyd said.

Boyd would also like to see elections streamlined to allow voters to be more aware of when they are happening.

I want voters to know these are the normal times to know to expect to vote," Boyd said.

Procter Pierce, 56, has practiced law in Fort Smith since about 1993 and owns the law firm, Kapp Legal.

Procter Pierce wants to run for office to make a difference in her community.

Kelly Procter Pierce is running for Arkansas Senate District 27.

I think everybody gets started in politics wanting to make the world a better place," Procter Pierce said.

She said being a good politician is all about keeping that zeal for justice and continuing to fight to serve the people.

She wants to bring with her the problem-solving skills that practicing law has provided her with.

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Procter Pierce said she has traditional, Republican values. She is pro-life, favors the Second Amendment and small government.

I just want to make sure that we stay on a path where people have individual rights and freedoms," Procter Pierce said.

Alex Gladden is a University of Arkansas graduate. She previously reported for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Jonesboro Sun before joining the Times Record. She can be contacted at agladden@swtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Two Republicans compete for Arkansas Senate District 27
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States has approved a possible $100 million sale of equipment and services to Taiwan to "sustain, maintain, and improve" its Patriot missile defense system, the Pentagon said on Monday, drawing an angry threat of retaliation from Beijing.

China, which claims self-governed Taiwan as its own, routinely objects to U.S. arms sales, adding to existing Sino-U.S. tensions.

A statement from the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it had delivered the required certification notifying Congress following State Department approval for the sale, which was requested by Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington.

Upgrades to the Patriot Air Defense System would "help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region," the DSCA said in a statement.

"This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient's continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability," the agency said.

The main contractors would be Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin, it said.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said it "highly welcomed" the decision.

"In the face of China's continued military expansion and provocative actions, our country will maintain its national security with a solid defense, and continue to deepen the close security partnership between Taiwan and the United States," it said in a statement.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian offered strong condemnation.

"China will take appropriate and forceful measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and security interests," he told reporters.

Asked what measures China would take, Zhao said: "I wish to ask everyone to wait and see".

China has imposed https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-china-taiwan-idUSKBN27B0P0 sanctions on Lockheed Martin and other U.S. companies in the past for selling weapons to Taiwan, though it is unclear what form the penalties have taken.

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Taiwan's Defense Ministry has said the decision to obtain newer Patriot missiles was made during a 2019 meeting with U.S. officials in the administration of President Donald Trump.

The ministry said the deal was expected to "come into effect" within one month.

The democratically governed island has complained of repeated missions by China's air force in its air defense zone, part of what Washington sees as Beijing's effort to pressure Taipei into accepting its sovereignty.

The United States, like most countries, does not have official relations with Taiwan, but Washington is its biggest backer and is bound by law to provide it with means to defend itself.

U.S. officials have been pushing Taiwan to modernize its military so it can become a "porcupine," hard for China to attack.

China's ambassador to the United States said last month that the two super powers could end up in a military conflict if Washington encourages Taiwan's independence.

(Reporting by Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Martin Pollard in Beijing; Editing by David Gregorio, Leslie Adler and Louise Heavens)
Alabama State University's Department of Psychology has received a $250,000 grant from the United States Army.

The grant will be used to acquire equipment and advance research and education, according a press release.

Dr. Calvin Smith, assistant professor of psychology and the project's lead investigator, submitted a proposal to the Army Research Office.

Dr. Calvin Smith, assistant professor of psychology and the project's lead investigator, submitted a proposal to the Army Research Office.

"The teaching of statistics in the contemporary classroom should incorporate the use of technology and statistical software packages as much as possible," said Smith in a statement.

"In addition, as we encourage more students to participate in research, the laboratory provides the tools necessary to conduct data analysis."

'BRAIN DRAIN': How do we keep talented graduates in state? Retain Alabama could be the answer

MORE: Alabama Legislature will stay in GOP hands, but some shifts could take place

The proposal, titled Creating a Statistical Training and Research (STAR) Laboratory for the Behavioral Sciences, included developing a statistical and data analytics center, developing a center to conduct data analyses, implementing data and statistical analyses to better behavioral science career preparation and increasing education in statistics and behavior-related science.

Jemma Stephenson is the children and education reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at jstephenson@gannett.com or 334-261-1569.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama State University receives Army grant to establish research lab
By Julie Steenhuysen and Carl O'Donnell

(Reuters) - With COVID-19 cases still high nationwide, "now is not the moment" to drop mask mandates in schools and other public places, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Reuters on Tuesday.

Her comments follow announcements by officials in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, California and Oregon that they plan to lift indoor mask mandates for K-12 public schools and other indoor spaces in coming weeks, seeking a return to normalcy as infections spurred by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus ebb.

"I know people are interested in taking masks off. I too am interested. That would be one marker that we have much of the pandemic behind us," Walenksy said in an interview.

Right now our CDC guidance has not changed ... We continue to endorse universal masking in schools.

Walensky said the CDC has always acknowledged that state and local jurisdictions are responsible for masking policies, but the agency's guidance remains unchanged.

"We have and continue to recommend masking in areas of high and substantial transmission - that is essentially everywhere in the country in public indoor settings," she said.

She sees the health crisis becoming endemic when infections are at a steady state and the virus is no longer disruptive to society.

And while Walensky said she is cautiously optimistic COVID-19 cases in the United States will fall below crisis levels, "I don't think we're there right now."

Even with declines in infections from recent record highs, Walensky noted that the United States is still seeing around 290,000 COVID-19 cases each day and higher rates of hospitalization than it did during the peak of cases caused by the Delta variant in 2021.

Hospital capacity is one of the most important barometers for whether COVID-19 should be considered a pandemic-level public health crisis, Walensky said. Right now, U.S. hospitals remain overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, she added.

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A sign the virus has become endemic, she said, is when "anybody walking in the door who'd come in for a heart attack or a stroke or a motor vehicle accident could quickly get care because hospitals weren't overburdened or overwhelmed."

As the pandemic recedes, monitoring cases will remain important, as will testing for levels of virus in municipal wastewater, a program the CDC has recently expanded.

"We can see rises in cases in wastewater signals four to six days before we ever see rising cases," she said.

Case counts and wastewater data will be used as early warning signals that a surge is coming and that people should resume COVID precautions, such as getting boosted or covering faces indoors, she said.

Preparing for some semblance of normal life with COVID represents "a lot of the work that we have ahead as we work to come out of this crisis time."

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen and Carl O'Donnell; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 33 Republican senators warned U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday that they would work to thwart implementation of any new Iran nuclear agreement if his government did not allow Congress to review and vote on its terms.

Led by Senator Ted Cruz, a long-time opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal, the senators told Biden in a letter dated Monday that they would use "the full range of options and leverage available" to ensure that his government adhered to U.S. laws governing any new accord with Iran.

Indirect talks in Vienna between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 agreement are due to resume on Tuesday. Talk of a possible agreement has driven oil prices lower, with markets anticipating that the possible removal of sanctions on Iranian oil sales could boost global supplies.

The Biden administration has been trying to revive the deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities, a deal from which former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States in 2018.

Iran later breached many of the deal's nuclear restrictions and kept pushing well beyond them.

Cruz and other senior Republican senators told Biden that implementation of any new deal would be "severely, if not terminally hampered" if he did not meet statutory obligations aimed at ensuring congressional oversight over revisions or changes to the 2015 Iran nuclear accord.

They provided no details about their plans, but Republicans have used various tactics to slow down other legislation or put holds on Biden's nominees, including many for ambassador posts.

Democrats control the 50-50 Senate only by virtue of a tie-breaking vote that can be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris, but they could lose control of the Senate and the House of Representatives in mid-term elections later this year.

The senators said any nuclear agreement with Iran was of "such grativity for U.S. national security" that it would by definition be a treaty requiring the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate, they argued.

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Any deal that fell short of Senate-ratified treaty would "likely be torn up in the early days of the next presidential administration," they added, anticipating a Republican victory in the 2024 presidential race.

In addition, they noted that a 2015 law passed before completion of the initial nuclear deal requires that any new agreement related to Irans nuclear program to be transmitted to Congress for a 60-day review period during which Congress could pass a joint resolution of disapproval that would essentially prevent the deal from going into effect.

It said those mandates would be triggered by Iran's progress toward developing a nuclear weapon over the past year, which would require new oversight measures.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Michael Perry)
Police have charged a suspect with felonies after he broke into the Lincolnwood home of an 80-year-old woman, threatened her with scissors and locked her in a room during a barricade situation that stretched from Sunday night into early Monday morning, police said. The suspect was nearly naked and wielded knives when police tried to arrest him, they added.

James H. Davis III, 32, whose last known address was in the 700 block of North Dearborn Ave., Chicago, was charged with home invasion with a dangerous weapon, a Class X felony; aggravated kidnaping while armed with a dangerous weapon, a Class X felony, and two counts of aggravated assault against a peace officer, a Class 4 felony.

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At approximately 9:40 p.m. Sunday, police officers arrived at a residence on the 4600 block of Morse Avenue after the homeowners daughter did not hear from mother and requested a wellbeing check, according to a police statement.

Responding officers saw a broken window on the first floor of the house along with the presence of blood, Police Chief Jay Parrott said Monday.

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Believing that a burglary might have occurred, they went into the residence and they were able to locate the resident, and she indicated she was being held against her will by an unknown subject who was still in the residence, Parrott said.

An investigation determined that the suspect had discarded his clothing in the early morning hours on Sunday in what police believe to be a mental health crisis, and then broke into the victims residence, the statement said. The suspect, armed with scissors, then awoke the victim, demanded she provide him assistance, threatened her and collected all telephones/cell phones within the residence so she couldnt call for help, the statement continued.

The suspect forced the victim into the basement bathroom, securing the door with a chair, police said. Having taken knives from the kitchen, the suspect retreated to the homes second floor, where police encountered him armed with the knives, they said.

Police attempted to take the subject into custody by deploying a Taser, the statement said, but that didnt succeed and they made a decision to call in a SWAT team from the regional NIPAS (Northern Illinois Police Alarm System  Emergency Services), a team composed of police from various departments who are trained to respond in barricade situations and other emergencies.

He did not voluntarily surrender, Parrott said. Police used less than lethal options to take him into custody successfully.

Those included the taser and a 37mm less than lethal projectile, he said.

Police took the suspect into custody shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday and brought him to a hospital for medical treatment prior to returning to the Lincolnwood Police Department to be charged.

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The police investigation determined that there were no previous contacts or connection between the victim and offender. Parrott said police are investigating why the suspect was in the village.

Parrott added in his nearly four years as the villages police chief in Lincolnwood, this was the first time officers have encountered a barricade situation where a SWAT response was necessary.

This is not indicative of something we see in Lincolnwood, he said.

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Davis is slated to appear at the Skokie courthouse on a date to be determined at bond court.
(Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday barred current or former Somali officials and others accused of undermining the democratic process in Somalia from traveling to the United States as Washington pushes for quick and credible elections in the Horn of Africa country.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the visa restrictions will apply to those who have encouraged and engaged in violence against protesters, intimidation of journalists and opposition members, and manipulation of the electoral process.

"The best path toward sustainable peace in Somalia is through the rapid conclusion of credible elections," Blinken said.

"Somalia's national and federal member state leaders must follow through on their commitments to complete the parliamentary process in a credible and transparent manner by February 25," he added.

Somalia, where no central government has held broad authority for 30 years, is in the midst of a protracted indirect election process to choose new leadership, repeatedly held up amid confrontation between rivals President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble.

In April, an attempt by the president to extend his four-year term by two years led army factions loyal to each man to briefly seize rival positions in Mogadishu.

The raging, months-long dispute is widely seen as distracting the government from fighting an Islamist insurgency.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)
By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) -U.S. Secret Service agents rushed Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, to safety on Tuesday while students and administrators evacuated after a bomb threat to a Washington school celebrating a Black History Month event, officials said.

Emhoff was at Dunbar High School, the first high school for Black Americans in the United States, according to its website.

A series of bomb threats were made last week to at least a dozen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) nationwide, forcing the institutions to cancel classes and raising fears among Black communities. No explosives were found at any of the locations but the threats are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Police said that preliminary information indicated Tuesday's bomb threat was neither related to last week's threats nor was it targeted at Emhoff. However, it added that a connection with last week's threats could not be completely ruled out.

Police said that the bomb threat was made in a phone call, which authorities were tracing. The area was deemed safe by late afternoon.

Emhoff's staff earlier told reporters that the school reported the threat to the U.S. Secret Service, which protects U.S. political leaders and their families. Emhoff was safe, his spokesperson said.

"We had a threat today to the facility so we ... took the precaution of evacuating everybody, as you saw. I think everyone is safe. The building is clear," a District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Aurora Ellis and Grant McCool)
BERLIN (Reuters) - The Munich Security Conference will gather some 35 heads of state and government at its traditional venue in the Bavarian capital in mid-February, organisers said on Tuesday, after the 2021 meeting was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference, known as "Davos for defence", brings together the world's defence and security elite at the luxurious Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich. It has been scaled down drastically this year to comply with COVID-19 restrictions.

The meeting on Feb. 18-20 comes at a sensitive time.

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine's border, prompting the West to reinforce NATO's Eastern flank with thousands of extra troops while trying to ward off any military conflict with a flurry of diplomatic talks.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin will not attend the meeting, the conference's outgoing Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger told reporters, adding it was not clear whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would accept his invitation.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are among those expected to come to Munich, according to Ischinger.

He said he hoped for clarity soon on whether U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will join the meeting, while China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi planned either to attend in person or virtually as the Winter Olympics in his country will still be going on at the time.

The foreign and defence ministers of Germany and France are among more than 100 ministers expected to be present in Munich, Ischinger said, as well Britain's defence minister.

After 14 years as chairman of the conference, Ischinger is due to hand over the reins at the end of this year's meeting to Christoph Heusgen, former Chancellor Angela Merkel's advisor on foreign and security policy.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Catherine Evans)
By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) - The United States faces heightened threats from extremist groups domestic and foreign, underscored by last month's hostage standoff crisis in a Texas synagogue and bomb threats at many historically Black colleges and universities, a U.S. government agency said on Monday.

The warning comes after some schools across the United States cancelled classes and issued shelter-in-place orders last week. Investigators ultimately failed to turn up any explosives.

"Threats directed at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other colleges and universities, Jewish facilities, and churches cause concern and may inspire extremist threat actors to mobilize to violence," the Homeland Security Department said in a bulletin.

Last month, British-born gunman Malik Faisal Akram took four people hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, including its rabbi, Charlie Cytron-Walker. He brandished a gun and held them hostage for 10 hours https://www.reuters.com/world/us/rabbi-threw-chair-texas-synagogue-hostage-taker-before-escaping-2022-01-17. The standoff ended in gunfire, with all four hostages released unharmed and the suspect dead.

"Supporters of foreign terrorist organizations have encouraged copycat attacks following the January 15, 2022 attack on a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas," the federal agency added.

The U.S. intelligence community warned months ago https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-terrorism/u-s-report-warns-of-threats-from-white-supremacists-militias-idUSKBN2B92SG of a threat that racially motivated violent extremists, such as white supremacists, would seek to carry out mass-casualty attacks on civilians.

The United States remains in a heightened threat environment, the department said on Monday.

"Foreign terrorists remain intent on targeting the United States and U.S. persons, and may seek to capitalize on the evolving security environment overseas to plot attacks."

The agency also warned that the Islamic State or its affiliates may issue public calls for retaliation due to a U.S. special forces raid in Syria https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-led-coalition-operation-northern-syria-targeted-jihadists-2022-02-03 last week that led to the death of the group's leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's foreign ministry was the target of a serious cyber security incident earlier this year, according to tender documents posted on the government's website.

"The Authority was the target of a serious cyber security incident, details of which cannot be disclosed," according to the document. The news was first reported by The Stack.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was forced to call in BAE Systems Applied Intelligence to deal with the incident, according to the documents. It paid BAE Systems 467,326 pounds ($632,946) for the work.

"We do not comment on security but have systems in place to detect and defend against potential cyber incidents," a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack - or the effects of it. It was also unclear why the details of the incident could not be disclosed.

($1 = 0.7383 pounds)

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill and Guy Faulconbridge)
LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, fighting for his political survival, reshuffled some ministers in his administration on Tuesday to try to appease his lawmakers angered by a series of scandals.

Johnson had pledged to reset his premiership to turn the tide on his gravest crisis yet, which is fuelled by the fall-out from a number of boozy events in his Downing Street office and residence during strict COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

The changes did not include any of the senior Cabinet positions.

After appointing new hires to his team in Number 10, Johnson then reshuffled his "whips" operation - the team of lawmakers who enforce discipline in the governing Conservative Party to make sure lawmakers back government policy.

Mark Spencer, who was the chief whip, was replaced by lawmaker Chris Heaton-Harris, a close ally of Johnson who has been working to shore up support among lawmakers during months of reports about lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street.

Spencer becomes the leader of parliament's lower chamber, the House of Commons, taking over from Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was appointed minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency.

"This was about making changes both in the workings of Number 10 and changes to strengthen that relationship between Cabinet, parliament and Number 10 and I think that's what we're seeking to deliver," the spokesman told reporters.

He described Rees-Mogg's appointment as one to "drive forward the changes we are now able to make now that we've left the EU (European Union) delivering on our post-Brexit agenda".

Johnson promised his lawmakers last week that he would shake up operations in his Number 10 office. Four of his closest aides resigned on Thursday.

Lawmaker Andrew Griffith was appointed head of Johnson's policy department and Cabinet office minister Stephen Barclay has become his new chief of staff. He has also appointed a former colleague, Guto Harri, as his new director of communications.

Several Conservative lawmakers as well as opposition leaders have demanded that Johnson resign. The opposition accuses him of misleading parliament, a charge he has denied.

(Reporting by William James and Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Kylie MacLellan, Angus MacSwan and Jonathan Oatis)
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine is looking forward to discussions with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron on Russia but will not be forced to cross its own red lines, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a briefing on Tuesday.

Macron is visiting Ukraine after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A French official said Putin promised not to carry out new military initiatives near Ukraine. But it was not immediately clear what Russia might expect in return.

"We are all waiting with interest for the signals that Mr. Macron brought from Moscow," Kuleba said, speaking alongside visiting counterparts from Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. "But I have repeatedly said that we are open to dialogue, we are constructive, we are looking for a diplomatic solution, but we will not cross our red lines and no one will be able to force us cross them."

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Matthias Williams; Editing by Alex Richardson)
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's army will conduct military drills from Feb. 10 to Feb. 20 in response to Russian exercises in Belarus near the Ukrainian northern border, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said late on Monday.

Reznikov told a local TV channel, that Ukrainian soldiers were constantly holding different exercises and from Feb. 10 they would start drilling the use of Bayraktar drones and anti-tank Javelin and NLAW missiles provided by foreign partners.

Western countries say they fear Moscow may be planning to invade Ukraine as it has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and deployed 30,000 more in Belarus for joint drills. Russia denies such a plan saying it needs to strengthen its defence amid NATO expansion to the East.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed disappointment on Tuesday with what he cast as China's coercive trading practices against Lithuania.

China has downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania and pressured multinationals to sever links with the Baltic state after it allowed Taiwan to open a de-facto embassy in Vilnius.

"The prime minister reiterated the UK's disappointment in China's use of coercive trading practices against Lithuania," a Downing Street spokesman said after talks between Johnson and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.

On Ukraine, Britain and Lithuania cautioned that a Russian invasion would be a big mistake.

"They agreed that any invasion by Russia into Ukraine would be a disastrous mistake, and that it was important to continue providing practical economic and defence support to Ukraine," the spokesman said.

Simonyte said that due to a buildup of Russian forces in Belarus, Lithuania needed an increase of NATO forces.

It wants sequential strengthening of air defense and rapid reaction forces, the supply of additional ammunition and regular military exercises of allies in the Baltics, her office said.

(Reporting by Muvija M in London and Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by William James)
A 30-year-old Naperville man was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting death Friday of a maintenance worker of the Fairways of Naperville apartment complex on the citys northwest side, according to a news release from the DuPage County states attorneys office.

Bond was set a $1 million Xavier Caffey, of the 900 block of Fairway Drive.

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Jeffery Churchill, 41, was found by Naperville police around 8:30 a.m. Friday at 960 Fairway Drive with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, the news release said. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital at 9:19 a.m.

According to the release, Churchill, a maintenance worker at the apartment complex, and another individual were inside a garage when Caffey allegedly walked into the garage, pointed a handgun at the other individual, then pointed the handgun at Churchill and shot him twice in the head.

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Caffey then left the garage and returned to his residence, where he remained during an hourslong standoff with the Naperville police crisis negotiation team, the release said. Caffey surrendered to authorities in the afternoon.

The allegations that Mr. Caffey, who was completely unprovoked, approached an innocent, unsuspecting man, put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger twice, killing him execution style, are very disturbing, DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release.

Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres in the release said Naperville has a strong foundation as a safe community, and this type of crime can be extremely jarring to that sense of safety.

Violence of any kind will not be tolerated by this department, and we will continue our efforts to combat gun violence at every turn, Arres said.

Caffeys next court appearance is scheduled Feb. 28. He faces a sentence of 45 years to life in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

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When Hilary Green received tenure at the University of Alabama, she knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate. The associate professor of history visited the campus' historical marker dedicated to the university's first Black student: Autherine Lucy Foster.

There, Green posed for her first professional photos as a tenured professor.

I know whose shoulders I was standing on, Green said. Without her, I wouldn't be where I stand today.

The universitys board of trustees announced Thursday that a campus building called Graves Hall would be renamed to honor Lucy Foster. But beside her name, the name "Graves" will also remain, honoring former Alabama Gov. Bibb Graves, who was once a Ku Klux Klan officer.

As Green learned about the board's decision, one painful thought lingered: A Black woman alone was not enough to have her own building.

The move to rename the building Lucy-Graves Hall has sparked outrage among many professors, students and alumni who argue placing Lucy Fosters name beside a former KKK member taints her legacy.

Video: Ohio police chief resigns after putting KKK note on Black officer's desk

They're clearly trying to appease our students of color and students who believe in diversity while still holding onto that violent, racist legacy they're unwilling to relinquish, said Sidney Sheppard, a 2021 UA graduate who was part of a years-long, student-led movement to rename the building after Lucy Foster. They preach social justice and equity yet they still hold onto Graves's name so tightly.

Several Alabama universities have Graves name on buildings and structures, but two recently removed it from their campuses: In 2020, Alabama State University took his name off a residence hall, and Troy University replaced his name with civil rights icon John Lewis on a business college building.

WHO WAS BIBB GRAVES? Controversy sparks retelling of Graves' history with KKK

Lucy Foster attended classes at UAs Graves Hall for just three days in 1956 before she was expelled after protests and threats against her life. At one point, a mob surrounded Graves Hall in protest of her enrollment, and she spent much of her time at the university hiding in between classes, said Trustee Emeritus Judge John England Jr. at a meeting announcing the name change.

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The university didnt enroll another Black student until 1963, England said.

In 1989, Lucy Foster returned to the university as a masters degree candidate in the College of Education, housed in Graves Hall. She graduated in 1992 and has since been recognized by an endowed scholarship and clock tower in her name.

I am so grateful to all who think that this naming opportunity has the potential to motivate and encourage others to embrace the importance of education, and to have the courage to commit to things that seek to make a difference in the lives of others, Lucy Foster said in a board of trustees statement.

Green, who works in the Department of Gender and Race Studies, called Lucy Foster "a pioneer" who "offers a model for students today that they can persist too."

When she was denied this full honor and her name was put next to a Klansman's, it felt like the mob that threatened her won again, she added.

FREEDOM RIDERS TRAVELED TO THE SOUTH IN 1961: Klansmen beat them, then set their bus on fire.

Gov. Bibb Graves' connection to the KKK and a 'mixed' political legacy

When 2021 graduate Lauren Upton gave tours to prospective students, shed take them down the underground hallway where Lucy Foster hid between classes.

She was threatened and her safety was at risk, just for going to classes, said Upton, who was part of the student movement to change the name. We need to think about the fact that we're putting her name next to somebody who was part of an organization that enabled the behavior that made her scared for her life.

The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees convened a committee in June 2020 to review the names of campus buildings after students pushed for the renaming of several buildings. Last year, the board voted to rename a building to honor Archie Wade, the first Black UA faculty member.

During last weeks board of trustees meeting, England acknowledged the KKK was part of Gravess initial career. Graves, who served two terms as Alabama governor in the 1920s and '30s, was a Grand Cyclops, a chief officer at a KKK chapter. In his first year in office, Graves lobbied against anti-Klan laws and worked to undermine an investigation of Klan violence in Crenshaw County, the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.

Graves allowed his Klan membership to lapse in 1928, according to newspaper archives. But he made his departure ambiguous and denounced reports he had left, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

England said the board weighed his deplorable Klan connection against his political achievements, including ending the state's convict lease system and increasing public education funding.

On the one hand, Gov. Graves is regarded by historians as one of, if not the most, progressive and effective governors in the history of the state of Alabama, England said. Some say he did more to directly benefit African American Alabamians than any other governor through his many reforms.

13 INVESTIGATIONS, NO COURT-MARTIALS: Here's how the US Navy and Marine Corps quietly discharged white supremacists

Sheppard said she agreed with the words UAs student newspaper, the Crimson White, used in a staff editorial denouncing the renaming, calling the move a cowardly compromise. The editorial accused Graves of using his Klan membership as a convenient stepping stone in his political career.

We should be advocating for standing up for what's right, especially when it's hard, just as Lucy Foster did, Sheppard said. But even if he supposedly only joined the Klan for political reasons, the choice Graves made to join the Klan was self-serving.

Green also said the rationale for including Gravess name was unsatisfactory.

He's a Klansmen, and he wouldnt have become governor without his Klan ties, Green said. While he might have done something for education and convict leasing, that's because he was pressured to do so. He's seen as this super progressive governor. But he wasn't.

Green added that, based on health outcomes, lynching records and other measures, Graves didnt do a lot for Black Alabamians in the heart of Jim Crow Alabama.

UA history professor Juan Jose Ponce Vazquez said he was livid that Graves name remains, calling it disrespectful to Lucy Foster. He added that Graves political legacy is heavily mixed and not purely progressive.

The Board of Trustees is arguing that some historians believe that Graves membership in the KKK was opportunistic rather than sincere, he said. This is just a possible interpretation. The fact remains that he was Exalted Cyclops of the KKK. ... This is not the record of someone that should be honored next to a Civil Rights pioneer, a woman who had to hide to avoid being mobbed on campus. This is reprehensible.

STATUE OF CONFEDERATE GENERAL REMOVED: Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville to be melted down, turned into art

Green said she hoped the university would drop Graves name from the building. In the meantime, she will continue to teach her students about Lucy Foster, but she won't call the building Lucy-Graves Hall. To her, she said, it is only Autherine Lucy Foster Hall.

I hope my students see this as a reminder that the fight isn't over, she said. We have made progress, but students have to continue to use their voice and see their power. And they also have to see that the institution is not always a willing ally, so we cannot stop agitating.

Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

'YOU COULD BE KILLED ANY MINUTE': Civil rights veterans share horrors of battling white supremacy

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: University of Alabama hall renamed for first Black student, KKK leader
Photograph: Stephen Lovekin/Rex/Shutterstock

Black business ownership is surging in the US despite the coronavirus pandemic, research shows, with a rise in businesses owned by Black women.

Related: Peloton to replace chief executive and cut 2,800 jobs amid sales slump

At the start of the pandemic, Black-owned businesses suffered. Between February and April 2020, Black business ownership dropped by more than 40%, the largest drop of any racial or ethnic group, according to a report from the House committee on small business.

When government aid became available, Black business owners received fewer small business grants than white business owners, with paycheck protection program funds only reaching 29% of Black applicants versus 60% of white ones.

But according to research from University of California Santa Cruz economist Robert W Fairlie, Black business ownership is now up by almost 30% on pre-pandemic levels.

The Biden administration has said a record number of people are starting their own businesses. Women of color are the fastest-growing group of female entrepreneurs.

At a time when folks are rethinking their lives and choices, it is not surprising that more Black women are electing to become CEOs of their own companies rather than waiting for their intelligence and skills to be recognized at their current firms, Melissa Bradley, founder of 1863 Ventures, an agency for Black and brown entrepreneurs, told Business Insider.

Pandemic layoffs could be another factor in the rise of Black business ownership. Job insecurity caused by Covid-related restrictions prompted many people to explore alternative options, including starting businesses.

Diamonte Walker, deputy executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, told the Pittsburg Post-Gazette: Being beholden to corporations and institutions just doesnt feel like a safe bet in times of uncertainty, whereas the risk of starting a business now starts to feel a lot less than the risk of sitting on a job not knowing when your number is coming up.

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Experts say the emergence of female Black business owners could be explained by Black women wanting more control over their work life.

Millions left their jobs during the pandemic due to inadequate pay, lack of childcare options and debates about remote work, all compounded by systematically low pay and workplace discrimination.

If you start your own business, some of those obstacles may not be as acute as if you were relying on employment from someone else, the Wells Fargo chief economist, Jay H Bryson, told Insider.

There may be avenues that certainly benefit anybody, but proportionally theyd be more beneficial to the Black community than other parts of the population.
US Army Green Berets with 10th Special Forces Group conduct sniper training during a Joint Combined Exchange Training in Albania, July 23, 2021. US Army/Sgt. Devin J. Andrews

In January, US Special Operations Command Europe said it would set up a new headquarters in Albania.

The command said it chose Albania because of its proximity to major transport hubs in the Balkans, thus reducing travel times.

The announcement comes as ongoing disputes with Russia add to tension in an already tense corner of Europe.

Against the backdrop of Russia's truculence in Eastern Europe, US special operators have established a new forward-operating base in another tense corner of Europe.

In early January, US Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) announced its decision to set up a special-operations headquarters in Albania.

The new headquarters will help in SOCEUR's mission to "galvanize our relationship with Allies and partners to counter malign influence, build interoperability, rapidly respond to emerging threats and if necessary, defeat aggression," the command said.

Access and convenience

A US Green Beret observes close-quarter-battle drills by Albanian Special Forces during training in Albania, July 21, 2021. US Army/Sgt. Devin J. Andrews

SOCEUR said the headquarters will be based in Albania on a rotational basis, suggesting that it will only be used during particular months of the year or during times of need.

The number of special operators in the new headquarters will be small  about 10 to 15  Maj. Gen. David Tabor, SOCEUR's commanding officer, told a local media outlet.

The command, which oversees special-operations activities in Europe, also said it chose Albania because of its proximity to major transportation hubs in the Balkans, thus reducing travel times for special operators and conventional units.

"The ability to rapidly move and train within the Balkans, in close coordination with other allied and partner forces, made Albania the best location for this effort. Albania remains an important NATO ally and a valued security partner, both regionally and globally," Tabor said in a press release.

A US Green Beret prepares Albanian Special Forces soldiers for close-quarter-battle drills during training in Albania, July 23, 2021. US Army/Sgt. Devin J. Andrews

"The Balkans have always been a place of interest for us dating back to the Cold War. You will see 10th [Special Forces Group] guys in Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, [and] Greece all the time," a retired Army Special Forces operator told Insider.

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The region has long been volatile because the many different ethnicities, nationalities, and religions in close proximity there, which has in turn made it "fertile ground for conflict and atrocities, as we unfortunately saw with the genocides in Bosnia during the war," the operator said, speaking anonymously because he still works with the US military.

Special-operations forces "are all about access," whether it's a forward-operations base or a standing partnership with a foreign military, and "the more access we have, the better positioned we are to operate," the retired Green Beret said. "We can then use this access to our advantage should we [be] tasked to operate."

But beyond access and convenience, the new special-operations headquarters will help counter malign Russian influence in the region.

Countering Russian malign influence

A US Green Beret observes close-quarter-battle drills by Albanian Special Forces during training in Albania, July 21, 2021. US Army/Sgt. Devin J. Andrews

Albania has been a NATO member since 2009. It sent troops to support NATO and the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, and the alliance has helped Albania improve its military capabilities.

However, several countries in the region, including Bosnia, Serbia, and Bulgaria, aren't exactly in the US's sphere of influence. These countries were aligned with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and some maintain close ties to Russia.

As tensions with Russia increase, Moscow might try to use such connections to stir up trouble. It has already done so in the recent past  in 2016, Russian intelligence officers attempted to organize a coup d'etat to overthrow the Montenegrin government. Moscow also criticized North Macedonia's accession to NATO in 2020.

Activities conducted by US special-operations forces at the new headquarters will likely focus on foreign internal defense, civil affairs, and psychological operations, the retired Green Beret said.

A US Green Beret teaches communication techniques to Albanian Special Forces soldiers during training in Albania, July 20, 2021. US Army/Sgt. Devin J. Andrews

"Albania isn't next to Russia, so you don't get that physical proximity to an adversary. But the Balkans are important, and Russia still has a lot of sway there," he added. "Bottom line, Russians are Slav[ic] and so is most of the Balkans, with very few exceptions, like Greece, and Russia has always played that card to manipulate and control the situation there."

Turkey is also a factor in the region. Turkey has invested heavily in Albania and both are NATO members as well as majority-Muslim countries, but under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has steadily moved away from the transatlantic alliance, raising concerns about NATO's access and operations in an important part of the world.

SOCEUR's decision to base the new special-operations headquarters in Albania might be a tactful attempt to preserve some of that access or to keep Turkey from pulling other NATO countries away with it. Albania's willingness to host the headquarters definitely played a part, as other governments might have faced domestic opposition.

For now, the new headquarters is more symbolic than operationally significant, but special operators are always on the hunt for access and will benefit from having this base. The decision to put it in Albania suggests that the Balkans are once more a region of importance for the US military.

Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Many want to participate in the democratic process, but are nervous about voting in person on Election Day while coronavirus continues to ravage the country.

If you want to vote using an absentee ballot this fall, there are several steps you need to follow to ensure your vote is counted.

In Michigan, there's a solution for every registered voter: casting an absentee ballot. If you are not already on the permanent absentee voter list, clerks can start processing your absentee ballot applications on Thursday.

The process of voting absentee is straightforward, with protections along the way to ensure the security and integrity of your ballot, say local and national elections experts.

Here's how to vote absentee in Michigan.

Step one: Register to vote

One definitive way to ensure your vote will not count this fall is if you are not registered.

While you can register up to and through Election Day in Michigan, the sooner you register the sooner you can apply for an absentee ballot.

If you have a valid driver's license or state ID, you can register online. If not, you'll need to go to your local clerk and bring other documents that show where you live.

More: Michigan SOS Benson to mail millions of postcards to encourage absentee voting

More: Here's how Michigan ensures your absentee ballot is secure

Step two: Apply for an absentee ballot

The application is two pages: one that you need to fill out, and a second that explains how to complete the application. Fill in your name and address, indicate that you want to receive an absentee ballot for the general election and sign. Note: it's a crime to impersonate someone on a ballot application. Don't do that.

Starting Thursday, Michigan voters can complete this application online. Chances are you may also receive an unsolicited application from an advocacy group. You can also print out a hard copy of the application and fill it out. If you do not have access to a computer, your local clerk should be able to assist you in getting an application.

Applications can be mailed, hand-delivered, faxed or emailed to your local clerk. If you decide to email the application, you can take a picture of the completed application and send it to the appropriate email address (check with your clerk for this email). But make sure you have a steady hand when you take the picture, and include your signature in the photograph!

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Clerks need to receive these applications requesting an absentee ballot be mailed to you by 5 p.m. on Oct. 30. You can also go in person to the clerk's office and request an absentee ballot until 4 p.m. on the day before the election.

But in reality, request your absentee ballot now. The longer you wait to apply, the lower your chances are for successfully receiving and casting your ballot through the mail.

Just apply as soon as possible.

Find contact information for your clerk at www.michigan.gov/vote.

More: Michigan clerks: What we need to count absentee ballots in November

More: Unsure if your absentee ballot was received? Check this website.

Step three: Fill out your absentee ballot

Now that you've applied, you're going to need to wait a minute. Expect your clerk to receive hundreds or thousands of applications, many more than in previous years.

There's no hard and fast rule on when you'll receive your ballot. While state law says clerks need to have absentee ballots available at their offices and start putting them in the mail to voters by Sept. 24, some jurisdictions may start this process sooner.

It never hurts to check with your clerk to see when you may receive your ballot.

Want a sneak peek at your ballot while you wait? Go to www.michigan.gov/vote or this site and enter your personal information. The site should provide a sample ballot, along with contact information for your local clerk and other important details for Election Day.

When that ballot arrives in the mail, don't throw it away or put it with your stack of newspapers (thanks for subscribing!) and forget about it.

As long as you feel comfortable that you're ready to vote, you should complete your ballot as soon as possible.

Completing your ballot quickly ensures that you can get it back to the clerk faster, increasing your chances that your vote counts. Unlike the primary, where you could only vote for candidates from the Republican or Democratic parties, anyone can vote for a candidate from either party in the General Election. (Don't vote for more than one candidate in a race, unless the ballots specifically states that you may.)

Make sure you correctly seal the secrecy envelope that comes with your ballot, put your ballot in the return envelope and sign the outside of this envelope. There's a big box where you're supposed to sign, don't miss it!

Hundreds of Michigan voters did not sign their absentee ballot return envelopes in the August primary, resulting in invalidated ballots. Sign it!

More: How to run a primary in a pandemic: Michigan clerks get a crash course

Step four: Return your absentee ballot

Your ballot is done! But that vote doesn't count until the clerk opens up your absentee envelope on Election Day.

There are several ways to return your ballot: the mail, taking it directly to your clerk or using a drop box.

If you're using the mail, you cannot mail your ballot soon enough. Like, stop reading and go mail your completed ballot now.

But seriously, there is no penalty for sending in your ballot weeks before the election. Clerks are required to keep absentee ballots in a private, secure area; state law bars opening any absentee ballot until Election Day.

The amount of postage needed for a ballot depends on where you live. Some cities or counties are offering prepaid absentee ballot return envelopes, but many are not. The final cost of postage depends on the weight of the ballot  longer ballots with more issues up for a vote are likely to weigh a little more and potentially cost more.

It's safest to call your clerk to ask about postage, or to take your envelope directly to the post office.

In Michigan, you may also use private carriers like FedEx or UPS to send your absentee ballot. If you do this, just make sure your ballot is still in the secrecy envelope and return envelope, and that you signed the outside of the return envelope.

Many jurisdictions throughout the state also have drop boxes  they look like big mailboxes but they're specifically for absentee ballots. If you choose to go this route, you must use the drop box for the area where you're registered to vote. If you live in Saginaw and put your ballot in a Lansing drop box, that's not gonna work.

Call your clerk or check this website for more information about drop boxes in your area.

Ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted. If you're reading this and Nov. 3 is right around the corner, it's probably safest to either take your ballot directly to your local clerk or to a drop box.

More: Formerly incarcerated people can vote in upcoming Michigan elections

Step five: Revel in the fact you performed your civic duty

You did it!

Like millions of other independents, Republicans and Democrats, you've successfully cast an absentee ballot.

Once the ballot is in the mail, in a drop box or at a clerk's office, you can track its progress at www.michigan.gov/vote. After you enter your personal information, the site will show you whether your clerk has received your ballot.

More: Wayne County Commissioners allocate $100K for absentee ballot drop boxes

Bonus step: Can I change my absentee ballot?

Buyer's remorse? A change of heart?

No worries! If it's not yet Election Day, there's time to nullify your absentee ballot.

Through a process called "spoiling," voters can essentially cancel their absentee ballot. This is pretty common, especially during primary elections where voters send in a ballot early and then their preferred candidate drops out of a race.

In order to spoil a ballot, a voter needs to send a signed and written request to the appropriate local clerk. If the request is mailed, make sure you indicate whether you want a new absentee ballot or if you plan to vote in person instead. Clerks need to receive a mailed request by 2 p.m. on Oct. 31, or an in-person request to spoil a ballot by 4 p.m. the day before the election.

There is no option for spoiling an absentee ballot on Election Day once your clerk has received your ballot.

Once you've spoiled your ballot, you can follow the absentee ballot steps above or vote in person. Only one ballot counts!

Good luck!

Contact Dave Boucher: dboucher@freepress.com or 313-938-4591. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How to vote by absentee ballot in 2020 Election: Michigan
Wales will play three Tests in South Africa this summer (PA Wire)

Wales will play a three-Test series against world champions South Africa this summer.

SA Rugby announced games in Pretoria on July 2, Bloemfontein a week later and Cape Town on July 16.

It will be Wales first trip to South Africa since 2014, when they lost 38-16 in Durban, before suffering a 31-30 defeat in Nelspruit.

Wales have won four of their last six Tests against the Springboks but lost on all 10 occasions in South Africa.

After the Wales Test series, South Africa kick off their Rugby Championship campaign against New Zealand on August 6.

SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux said: Its exciting to announce such a strong list of Springbok fixtures this season after a successful 2021 season for the team.

Pending the return of crowds to our Tests and with the Covid-19 pandemic still presenting challenges throughout the world, we understand the fluid nature of match schedules.

But it is important for us that the team face quality opposition as we gear up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
A 21 -year-old Chicago woman was ordered held on $50,000 bond Monday after being charged with helping to steal more than $17,000 in merchandise from the Oak Brook Neiman Marcus store Friday.

Toni Collins, 21, of the 100 block of W. 110th Street, Chicago, was charged with burglary, a second class felony, and retail theft, a third class felony, Du Page County States Attorney Robert Berlin and Oak Brook Interim Police Chief John Krull announced Tuesday. Judge Leah Bendik set bond at $50,000 with 10% to apply.

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According to a news release, around 2:54 p.m. Feb. 5, Collins, along with several other individuals, entered the store and met up with two males who were already in the store. Law enforcement officials allege Collins and the individuals with whom she entered the store, along with the two males who were previously in the store, then went directly to a coat section of the store. Collins and the others allegedly cut the security wires off numerous Monclear coats and ran toward the stores exit.

It is also alleged Collins and the other individuals attempted to leave the store, a loss prevention officer knocked the items out of Collins hands, including coats and a pair of wire cutters, the release said. Collins was detained at the scene while all the other individuals were able to flee prior to the arrival of the Oak Brook Police Department. Additional coats were found outside the store.

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Smash and grab thefts involving multiple individuals are not a crime of opportunity, Berlin said in a statement. They are well organized by those who resort to violence and sheer numbers to commit their crimes. The allegations that this defendant, along with several others, entered a retail store in the middle of the afternoon intent on stealing merchandise will not be tolerated in DuPage County and will be met with the full force of the law . . . . I commend the loss prevention officer at Neiman Marcus for his outstanding efforts in apprehending and detaining the defendant in this case until the police arrived.

This type of activity is reprehensible and places everyone at increased risk, Krull said.

Collins next court appearance is scheduled for March 7, for arraignment in front of Judge Daniel Guerin.
PANAMA CITY BEACH  Debbie Ingram, spokeswoman of Panama City Beach, says there is no denying art is an important part of the local community.

To help decorate Panama City Beach and better integrate the arts into everyday life, local officials have launched the Public Art Project, which began last week and will let any approved artist or art group place their work throughout the city, either on public or private property.

"Art stimulates the imagination while spurring creativity," Ingram wrote in an interview. "It's a nice addition to a park or other public places and something that causes us to pause and reflect. Public art is something that can be enjoyed by thousands of people over an expanded period of time."

Art in Panama City Beach: 'SeeLife' statue decorations unveiled

More: Artists unveil public art on corners in Panama City

Inspired by the success of SeeLife, an initiative last year that installed about a dozen statues of decorated sea turtles and dolphins throughout the city, local officials have launched the Public Art Project.

She noted that the initiative was inspired by the success of SeeLife, a similar project last year that installed about a dozen statues of sea turtles and dolphins that were decorated by local groups throughout the city.

Participants in SeeLife included Panama City Beach Fire Rescue, Miss Hill's Art Club at Hutchison Beach Elementary School, the Fifth Grade Art Club at Breakfast Point Academy, Nate's Sanitation Service, the Sunset Club, Colleen Greene Arts, Community Bank, Beach Art Group and the Tyndall Active Airmen Association.

Ingram said anyone can participate in the Public Art Project, but the piece "must be created by an artist or an organization affiliated with the local arts community or an educational institution."

"It could be a great project for an elementary school art class, for example," she wrote. "It's as easy as filling out an application and submitting that to the city, along with a design of the proposed art."

Applications, which should include the property owner's written permission for the art to be displayed, will then be reviewed by the Public Art Committee.

Story continues

Ingram said the Public Art Committee includes Building and Planning Director Mel Leonard, local artist Alfie Martin and local artist Helen Ferrell, who agreed with Ingram that the additions would improve the local quality of life.

As of Thursday, the city had not received any applications, but officials expect that to soon change as warmer weather approaches and pushes people outside more often.

"The arts uplift the spirit, creating a space for people to come together and build a strong community," Ferrell wrote in an email. "The arts allow us a space in our busy lives to 'just be.'"

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach launches project to add public or private art in city
A remarkable part of the story of early central Ohio is the speed at which men of professional training and expertise came into the area.

In the wake of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, the southern two-thirds of what is now Ohio was opened to survey and settlement by the recently formed United States.

Ed Lentz

Surveyor and frontiersman Lucas Sullivant was an appointed surveyor of the northern reaches of the Virginia Military District between the Scioto and Miami rivers in the country north of the Ohio River.

Taking his pay in land, Sullivant laid out a town at the forks of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers in 1797. An admirer of Benjamin Franklin, Sullivant called his town Franklinton.

Franklinton had some problems initially. Sitting on low ground, the whole site was flooded in 1798. Having more fortune on higher ground, Franklinton survived a short distance to the west of its original site. And it was to this site  a village of only a few dozen people  that several young professionals soon arrived. Among them were attorneys, ministers, journalists and a few doctors.

Lyne Starling gave $30,000 for the formation of Starling Medical College at Sixth and State streets. It now is the site of Grant Hospital.

They came because this small town on the edge of a moving frontier offered what often was lacking in the structured and established societies of the East and South. They had the promise of possible success in a new place.

Among the earliest arrivals was Dr. Lincoln Goodale in 1805. Goodale came from Belpre along the Ohio River, where he had received medical training from Dr. Leonard Jewett. His father had been robbed and killed when Goodale was young, and he grew up as the sole support of his mother. He brought her with him when he came to Franklinton and established his medical practice.

He soon found that this would not be easy. Most residents had little money, and Goodale tired of taking his pay in fruit, vegetables and the occasional live chicken, decided to diversify.

Dr. Lincoln Goodale

Goodale soon opened a store in the center of Franklinton. It was what later would be called a general store with special interest in the sale of herbs, drugs and medicines. The store and his continuing medical practice were successful, and Dr. Goodale soon was investing his profits in land.

Story continues

He was not alone. Franklinton became the home of Dr. Samuel Parsons in 1811. Trained in Connecticut, Parsons soon was known as a skilled physician. Franklinton was the county seat of Franklin County and soon attracted Drs. Pelleg Sisson and John Edmiston.

The high banks opposite Franklinton became the home of the new capital city of Columbus in 1812 just as the War of 1812 had begun. Franklinton became a mobilization and training center, and central Ohio began to increase in population on both sides of the Scioto River.

In 1814, Edmiston became the first practicing physician in Columbus. He was followed by Parsons in 1816 and Goodale shortly thereafter. Edmiston died in 1834.

Another recent arrival, Dr. John Ball, also had a short career. A local resident later remembered, Dr. Ball sacrificed his life for the public good and died, March 10, 1818, aged but 43 years.

As It Were: Sally Waits' story is tale of romance with William Merion

As It Were: Some 200 years ago, disease hit Columbus area hard

Parsons and Goodale were more fortunate. Parsons acquired a lot of land east of the town limits of Columbus. In time, East Public Lane became Parsons Avenue, and the family built a large mansion at the corner of Parsons Avenue and Bryden Road. It would later become the first home of the Columbus School for Girls.

Goodale acquired land north of downtown Columbus. In 1851, he gave the city its first park which came to be called Goodale Park. He also gave nearby land to newly formed Capital University, which stayed there until it was moved to its current home in 1876.

In time, the growing city of Columbus felt the need for a medical school and hospital. It acquired both through the largess of Lyne Starling, one of the four founding proprietors of Columbus.

In 1847, Starling gave $30,000  a immense sum at that time  for the formation of a medical college and hospital. Shortly thereafter, a site at Sixth and State streets was acquired, and the Starling Medical College was constructed. St. Francis Hospital operated by the Sisters of the Poor opened at the college in 1865. The entire site is now occupied by Grant Hospital.

In 1910, Dr. Starling Loving, a nephew of Lyne Starling and a longtime practicing physician at the medical college, remembered the early physicians of Columbus. These men were reasonably well-qualified and their practice compared favorably with that of their compeers in other parts of the country.

All these people were and are well worth remembering.

Local historian and author Ed Lentz writes the As It Were column for ThisWeek Community News and The Columbus Dispatch.

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: As It Were: Young doctors lured to Columbus with promise of success




The White House on Tuesday condemned a bill making its way through the Florida legislature that would prohibit the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in the state's primary schools.

"Every parent ... hopes that our leaders will ensure their [children's] safety, protection and freedom, and today conservative politicians in Florida rejected those basic values by advancing legislation that is designed to target and attack kids who need that support the most, kids from LGBTQI+ community," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a briefing with reporters.

"Make no mistake, this is not an isolated action in Florida," she continued. "Across the country, we're seeing Republican leaders taking action to regulate what students can or cannot read, what they can or cannot learn, and most troubling, who they can or cannot be. This is who these kids are, and these legislators are trying to make it harder for them to be who they are."

Psaki, when asked why the administration was weighing in on state legislation, said the White House felt it was important to speak out against the Florida law.

The Parental Rights in Education law, which critics have described as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, would bar discussion of sexual orientation in elementary schools across the state. Republicans argue the discussion of LGBTQ issues is not age appropriate for those students.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday appeared to voice support for the law, which recently passed the state Senate's Education Committee.

"Schools need to be teaching kids to read, to write. They need to teach them science, history. We need more civics and understanding of the U.S. Constitution, what makes our country unique, all those basic stuff," DeSantis said, calling it inappropriate for teachers to be discussing gender identity with their students at such a young age.

The bill, which follows a wave of anti-transgender legislation in GOP-led legislatures, has been criticized by parents in the state and LGBTQ activists.

Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, warned last month that the bill "will kill kids," citing the high rate of suicide attempts among LGBTQ youth.
William Shatner.

At 90, William Shatner blasted into outer space last year as a passenger on the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin rocket.

What can he do for a follow-up? For starters, the legendary "Star Trek" actor plans to come to Novi.

Shatner will be attending Motor City Comic Con, the biggest pop culture gathering of its kind in Michigan. The event runs May 13-15 at Suburban Collection Showplace.

By that time, he will be a venerable 91.

Announced Tuesday morning, Shatner's appearance will bring the O.G. of "Star Trek" heroes, Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise, to the Con on May 13 and 14. He will be doing autographs for $120 and photo ops for $130.

Tickets go on sale at noon Tuesday.

More: Motor City Comic Con returns after pandemic break with some new rules, same starry lineup

Shatner is famous for playing Kirk on the "Star Trek" TV series from 1966 to 1969 and in seven "Star Trek" movies that launched the film side of the franchise.

William Shatner in his classic role as Captain James T. Kirk on the original "Star Trek."

The Canadian-born actor also has had a noted career apart from the sci-fi classic in roles like attorney Denny Crane on "The Practice" and "Boston Legal," a character that won him two Emmys.

Shatner made back-to-back appearances at Motor City Comic Con in 2014 and 2015. Another original cast member, George Takei, aka Sulu, was there in 2019 for the 30th anniversary of the event, which drew about 70,000 people.

To buy tickets and find out more, go to the official site, MotorCityComicCon.com.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: William Shatner to appear at Motor City Comic Con 2022
(Twitter/NBC)

An Olympic Big Air freeskier had to go back up the slope after an acrobatic jump to collect his wallet after it flew out of his pocket..

The skier, Kim Gubser of Switzerland, launched himself backwards off the ramp and spun multiple times as he flew through the air before landing.

And he instantly reached for his pocket, when he discovered he was missing something.

He then skied as far back up the slope as he could before sidestepping his way to the item, and once he dad grabbed it waved it to the cameras as he made his way back down the hill.

I think he might have dropped something? one announcer said in a clip posted by NBC.

When you a land a trick so hard, you drop your wallet. Literally. 



 @peacockTV and https://t.co/hUdWxRkUGS pic.twitter.com/YDNqABresh  NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 7, 2022

Dropped his wallet in the money section there near the bottom, his colleague replied.

And NBC posted video of the incident, with a caption that read, When you a land a trick so hard, you drop your wallet. Literally.

Gubser didnt qualify for the final after finishing in 23rd place out of 31 competitors.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

A contract to make 165,000 new postal trucks will add 1,000 jobs for a Wisconsin-based manufacturer.

Oshkosh Defense has indicated it will add those jobs to a new plant in South Carolina.

Senator Ron Johnson says he will not push Oshkosh Defense to spend federal dollars in Wisconsin.

It appears that Wisconsin has accomplished something that most US states could only dream of: it has too many jobs.

Wisconsin apparently has so many jobs, that one of its own US senators, Ron Johnson, is content to let South Carolina have 1,000 of them from an Oshkosh-based manufacturer.

"Obviously I am always supportive of manufacturing here in Wisconsin, but at the same time, I recognize that manufacturers have different capabilities elsewhere,"Johnson told local media, regarding Oshkosh Defense's decision to produce 165,000 new US Postal Service trucks at a new facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

When the decision was announced back in June, Oshkosh Defense's president John Bryant said that the company was unable to find a building in Wisconsin that was "viable for this project."

The company is repurposing a warehouse to accommodate large-scale manufacturing.

In a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Johnson's Democratic counterpart, Senator Tammy Baldwin, said: "To me, it's simple  I want Oshkosh Defense to manufacture trucks in Oshkosh with Wisconsin workers."

"It's not like we don't have enough jobs here in Wisconsin," Johnson said. "The biggest problem we have in Wisconsin right now is employers not being able to find enough workers."

"If it's more efficient, more effective, to spend those [federal dollars] in another state, I don't have a real problem with that," he added.

Johnson blamed Democratic leadership for "programs that are paying people and allowing them to stay on the sidelines," though numerous studies have shown that federal pandemic aid did not keep workers out of the labor force.

He also cited a June survey from Wisconsin's Chamber of Commerce that found nearly nine out of 10 employers were struggling to hire workers. Wisconsin's minimum wage is $7.25 per hour  the lowest allowed under federal law.

Read the original article on Business Insider
On the afternoon of February 6, 2022, President Xi Jinping met with Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, who was on a visit to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, at the Great Hall of the People.

Xi Jinping pointed out, China appreciates your valuable support for China's bidding and preparation for the Olympic Summer Games Beijing 2008 and the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and China thanks Luxembourg's royal family for the firm support for and active promotion of China-Luxembourg friendship. Luxembourg is a friendly and cooperative partner of China. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Luxembourg supported each other and joined hands to fight the pandemic, adding new dimensions to the friendship between the two countries. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Luxembourg. China is willing to work with Luxembourg to push forward the sustained and stable development of China-Luxembourg relations.

Xi Jinping stressed, China-Luxembourg relations have withstood the test of the changing international landscape, and the key is that the two sides have stayed committed to mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win results. Both sides should treat each other as friends with sincerity, firmly keep the development of bilateral relations on the right course, and continue to respect and take care of each other's core interests and major concerns. China stays committed to further opening up, and is willing to embrace the whole world. Luxembourg enterprises are welcome to align their operations with China's new development pattern and new opening measures, fully tap the potential of cooperation in high technology, green economy and other fields, and enlarge and enhance the "Air Silk Road" of China-Luxembourg freight transport routes. The two sides should stay committed to learning from each other through exchanges and holding varied cultural activities, so as to bring the feelings of the two peoples closer, and cement the foundation of popular support for bilateral relations. China hopes that Luxembourg, as a founding and core member of the European Union (EU), will make greater contributions to the development of China-EU relations.

Henri said, the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 was well organized and the opening ceremony was splendid. The Year of the Tiger symbolizes courage, strength and determination, all of which are excellent qualities displayed by the Chinese people. Thanks to the great unity of the Chinese nation, China has made extraordinary achievements. What's more, China has brought tangible benefits to the Chinese people and the world by eliminating absolute poverty. China is a great partner. I certainly agree with President Xi Jinping's important exposition on the common values of all humanity and a community with a shared future for mankind. Although Luxembourg and China are different in size, our relations have always been very good, with a high level of cooperation in trade, investment, finance and other fields. Luxembourg hopes to further deepen cooperation with China and jointly promote world development. Luxembourg thanks China for its important contributions to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and promoting economic recovery in many countries, including Luxembourg. The Belt and Road Initiative is a good initiative, and Luxembourg supports and will actively participate in it.

Ding Xuexiang, Yang Jiechi, Wang Yi, He Lifeng and others were present at the meeting.
To a room full of applause, Campbell County School Board members unanimously voted Monday night to direct the school systems staff to draft a resolution that would ban critical race theory (CRT) in Campbell County schools.

School board member David Phillips brought the item to the floor, directing staff to draft the resolution condemning the use of inherently divisive concepts including Critical Race Theory following feedback the board has received from meetings and constituents.

CRT is an academic concept that examines how policies and the law perpetuate systemic racism. In his first day in office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order banning the teaching of CRT in Virginia schools.

The Campbell County School Board noted at its July meeting CRT was not being taught in schools at the time.

In recent months, the school board has held its meetings in Rustburg High Schools auditorium to make room for larger crowd sizes. Mondays meeting was the boards first one back at the Campbell County Technical Center since last summer.

However, similar to the meetings at Rustburg High School, the public comment section was filled with speakers weighing in on CRT in Campbell County schools.

Phyllis Floyd, a speaker during the public comment section, called the curriculum trash and also said it will affect our grandchildren. It will affect everybody.

Jackie Mendez, a Campbell County resident who spoke during public comment said, Our children are being introduced to words such as race and advocate. I think this is outrageous. I wasnt learning those words in third grade, and I was in public schools.

The board officially will discuss and vote on the resolution at its next meeting, which is scheduled for March 14.

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Forty-two acres of property at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah has been placed in a conservation easement in a partnership with the Virginia Outdoor Foundation (VOF), the camp announced in a news release.

The release says 42 of the camps 47 acres were placed in the easement to be protected for future generations.

The easement will limit the use of the land going forward to ensure its conservation values are protected.

The land recently was purchased by Camp Kum-Ba-Yah as a part of its $2.5 million capital campaign launched in 2019, which is being completed in two phases.

The camp received three grants to purchase the property from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VCLF), which provided $530,941 toward the easement project.

Grants like these are transformational. Were also very grateful for all our donors in the Lynchburg community who have helped us get this far in buying and protecting this property, Amy Bonnette, the camps executive director, said in the news release.

Now that the land is purchased and protected, we can move to Phase II of our capital campaign, which will give us the opportunity to renovate some of the existing structures for year-round multigenerational use.

According to the release, the grant also helped fund the 1.7 mile Cosby Trail which encircles the property and is open to anybody to walk year-round.

With an elementary school adjacent to the property and many neighborhoods within walking distance, access to the trail will provide many Lynchburg residents with the opportunity to experience Cosby Woods, the release said.

VOF Executive Director Brett Glymph said in the release, Places like Camp Kum-Ba-Yah help children build connections to the outdoors and their community that last a lifetime. We are proud to help preserve this treasure for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

Founded in 1950, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah was a hot spot for the civil rights movement under Bev Cosby. The famous pools on the campgrounds were the home to the first integrated swimming experience in the City of Lynchburg.

For more information on the camp, or how to get involved as a volunteer, visit CampKumBaYah.org.

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The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Tuesday began offering free deliveries of self-testing kits for coronavirus upon request, with the aim of lessening the burden on the medical system.

Tokyo officials say that applications on the first day reached the daily limit of 40,000 in about five and a half hours.

The self-testing kit allows users to take a nasal sample with a swab and provides a result within 15 to 30 minutes.

Officials say the kits are aimed at people who have come into close contact with an infected person, and that they will arrive a few days after an application is lodged.

The kits will allow people who develop symptoms while isolating at home to test themselves for viral antigens. This will help to reduce the burden on medical institutions struggling to cope with a surge in cases of infection in the capital.

A positive result is to be treated as a legitimate diagnosis, according to the officials, doing away with the need to visit a medical institution. They are calling on those who get a positive result to demonstrate this when consulting a medical professional remotely or in person.

The officials add that people should remain at home even if the test comes up negative because the kits are not fail-safe.

Applications will be accepted until February 27.
A program operated through Iowa Western Community College helps area high school students learn about careers and get some first-hand exposure to them.

The Iowa Intermediary Network  Southwest Iowa Workplace Connection connects high school students and educators to local careers through relevant, work-based learning experiences, a description on the Iowa Western website states. It is funded by a grant from the Iowa Skilled Workers and Job Creation Fund, according to Natalie Harris, who has been the regional coordinator since the programs inception in fall 2014.

The program is open to all high school students in grades 10-12 who live in the colleges service area. Last summer and fall, the program served 881 students and 21 educators, she said.

Harris and her staff get the word out by working with school counselors, administrators and CTE teachers and coordinators. Jolene French, intermediary specialist, and Harris also give presentations to students at many schools.

To sign up, students fill out an online application and select a career pathway or cluster they are interested in. It can be any field or career cluster, Harris said. They start by using online resources and listening to guest speakers to learn about various fields. Often, the speaker is someone who works in a particular field and talks about what they do and what it takes to get into it.

We really try to give them exposure to all the pathways that are out there, she said.

Through partnerships with more than 200 area businesses and industries, students can tour workplaces, job shadow and learn about internship opportunities, Harris said.

By the time they get to a job shadow, they know something about (the occupation), have done some research and have maybe heard a speaker, she said.

Job shadowing experiences vary in length, Harris said.

Its typically anywhere from a couple hours to half a day, she said. Some businesses want students to stay longer.

Depending on the occupation a student is interested in, they may be able to do a work simulation activity in one of Iowa Westerns labs or at a partnering business, she said. The college has labs for health sciences and a range of trades. The program also includes opportunities for mock interviews.

The Iowa Intermediary Network also provides opportunities for Iowa educators, including tours, externships and other educator experiences. A total of 2,451 educators participated in work-based learning opportunities in fiscal year 2019, according to information on the programs website, iowain.org. Externships are usually six weeks long and are offered during the summer.

Google donated $60,000 to the Iowa Governors STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Advisory Council to sponsor 10 IT externships during summer 2021, which covered the cost of teacher stipends, graduate credits and other program needs and resources. Employers were lined up to host externs.

The Iowa Intermediary Network has a separate program that offers one-week, paid externships in which high school educators spend a week with an area employer, gain a deeper understanding of a specific career field and apply that knowledge to their classroom curriculum. Information and applications for externships through the Iowa Intermediary Network will be posted in the coming weeks on the Iowa Western Community College website at iwcc.edu/community-and-business/siwc/hse.

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Furniture that made the Iowa School for the Deaf dormitories seem a little more like home for more than 25 years will soon help families evacuated from Afghanistan make new homes in this country.

Thanks to grants and private donations to the Iowa School for the Deaf Foundation and some state funds, ISD was able to purchase all new furniture for its dorms, which arrived in December and January, according to the school.

To make room for the new, ISD facilities manager Scott Mauch mustered crews that moved the old furniture into three shipping containers ISD had rented for a renovation at the high school. Each container is 40 feet long.

We were hoping to find another use for the furniture instead of going through the state auction system, Mauch said in a press release. When we learned families in Omaha needed the beds, it was satisfying to know we could provide something for our community, because it has always been so supportive of us.

Iowa State University, which acted as a purchasing agent, connected ISD with the Iowa Waste Exchange and, through that organization, Habitat for Humanity of Council Bluffs became involved. Habitat connected with Restoring Dignity, which is working with 900 Afghan evacuees expected to enter the United States. The Furniture Project is helping with arrangements, and the Refugee Empowerment Center will distribute goods to the families.

All the partnerships helped ISD and Habitat put together their own supply chain.

Twin-size beds are really needed, so it was perfect timing, said David Klitz, ReStore director for Habitat for Humanity of Council Bluffs.

So Klitz and Trudy Patzner, retail sales associate at the ReStore, have been moving furniture -- one truckload at a time.

A total of 41 bed frames are going to The Furniture Project for Afghan refugees or anyone else who qualifies for their services, he said.

The rest of the furniture -- dressers, wardrobes and lounge chairs and couches -- will be sold at the Council Bluffs ReStore and others throughout the Metro, Klitz said.

Finding places for the furniture helps keep materials from the landfill and expands our store inventory, he said. The proceeds will help us with our programming.

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With the aid of extended reality technologies, visitors to the ongoing Expo 2020 Dubai will be able to travel through time, back to the bustling streets of Kaifeng  imperial capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).

At the China Cultural Center, people will find themselves surrounded by busy merchants, impressive architecture and bountiful landscapes, as depicted in the 12th-century Chinese painting Qingming Shanghe Tu ("along the river during the Qingming Festival"), now at the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing. There will, however, be some differences, as the scenes visitors will be immersed in are digitally generated images of a carved wood replica.

It took Ji Zhi over two years to craft the classical painting on a piece of rosewood, combining various techniques in traditional wood carving. The final presentation to be unveiled at the China Cultural Center will unfold a panoramic view of Chinese history, arts and crafts.
Morocco has announced its decision to support the candidacy of Saudi Arabia for hosting World Expo 2030, the largest international exhibition bringing together countries, the private sector, civil society and the general public around interactive shows, workshops, conferences

The supportive stand was voiced by Moroccan foreign ministry, saying this reflects the strong distinguished ties existing between the two brotherly countries and between King Mohammed VI, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Moroccos backing of the Saudi candidacy is also part of the tradition of continuous solidarity, active cooperation and unwavering and mutual support between the two brotherly countries, underlined the ministry in a press release.

Besides Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Korea, Italy and Ukraine are also vying for World Expo 2030 event. The host country will be elected in 2023 by member countries of the Paris-based International Bureau of Expositions.
The Moroccan Sahara region is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom, writes the magazine LEssentiel des Relations Internationales in a special report on the occasion of the 35th African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa Feb. 5-6

The Sahara region is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom, which is supported by an international diplomatic momentum in favor of Moroccan sovereignty over the region and the Autonomy Plan as the only political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara, writes the magazine.

This regional and international momentum is materialized through the American Proclamation of December 10, 2020 (recognizing Moroccos Sovereignty over the Sahara) and the opening of 23 Consulates, representing all Continents, in the region.

This momentum strengthens the political process conducted under the exclusive auspices of the UN to achieve a final solution to this dispute, which will ensure the stability of the region and its surrounding space, the magazine argues.

The international magazine also highlights the momentum for sustainable and inclusive development in the Moroccan Sahara, noting that the region has experienced in recent years a sustained development that was embodied on November 6, 2015 through the launch of a new 85-billion-dirham development model.

The article also surveys the strong potential that the Moroccan Sahara region offers economically in the fields of industry, fisheries, agriculture, renewable energy and tourism, noting that the reforms undertaken in the region aim to boost the local economic fabric to create inclusive growth and sustainable development beneficial to local populations.

This region, with its multiple investment and trade opportunities, is a real socio-economic hub of regional, continental and international dimensions, writes the magazine, focusing on several structuring projects that have been launched in the region. These include the mega-project of the Dakhla Atlantic Port, the Tiznit-Laayoune-Dakhla expressway, the West Africa Free Zone project, and seawater desalination projects, especially in Dakhla.

With two cities of trades and skills and a technology park, the Moroccan Sahara region offers a qualified human capital to support the industrial expansion and the establishment of innovative ecosystems of international standards, notes the publication.

On the energy front, several projects have been initiated to develop renewable energy in the region with high solar and wind potential, including the installation of wind farms in Tarfaya, Foum El Oued, Akhfenir I and II, and the commissioning of solar power plants Noor Laayoune I and Noor Boujdour I, intended to establish Moroccos place as a regional and continental hub of clean energy, notes the magazine.

This global impetus has enabled the Moroccan Sahara to position itself as a destination of choice for many foreign economic operators, it adds.

The magazine highlights, on the other hand, the U.S. recognition of the Saharas Moroccanness, recalling that Washington has adopted a new map of Morocco which includes the Sahara, used by all U.S. administrations.

The Permanent Mission of the United States to the UN has also disseminated to members of the Security Council and the 193 member states of the United Nations the presidential proclamation of this recognition, in the six official languages of the UN.

On the economic front, the magazine points out that Washington is committed to the economic and social development of the region by encouraging U.S. investment and funding a number of projects to benefit the local population.
Libyas state legislature, House of Representatives (HoR) located in Tobruk, shortlisted Monday former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha and businessman Khaled Al-Bibas as the only two candidates meeting conditions for the post of Prime Minister in replacement of embattled Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, reports say.

Aguila Saleh, Speaker of the parliament, during a session held to vet the candidates said Bashagha and Al-Bibas were the only two candidates to qualify for the job of Prime Minister after the house received seven candidates including that of former presidential candidate and deputy Prime Minister of former Government of National Accord (GNA), Ahmed Maiteeg.

The house will elect one of them today Tuesday to replace Dbeibeh in place since February and whose mandate according to parliament expired on Dec. 24; date of the failed presidential elections.

Dbeibah has come under scrutiny by a group of Libyan politicians who accuse him of corruption and taking advantage of his position.

Dbeibah also vowed to stay in his position until the holding of elections after it had paved the way for all needed electoral process measures.

Bashagah who also was Interior Minister in the GNA and also candidate for the botched elections, vowed to renounce the presidential elections if he is elected Prime Minister.

He also told the parliament that he waives any legal immunity for him and his colleagues in the ministry in favor the judiciary to hold them accountable for any accusation.

Al-Bibas on the other and told the parliament his priorities are a balanced foreign policy, facilitating the return of the displaced, establishing security and unifying the military institution, in addition to paying attention to education and health care.

Posted by North Africa Post North Africa Post's news desk is composed of journalists and editors, who are constantly working to provide new and accurate stories to NAP readers.
The five-year old Moroccan boy, who died last week after being trapped in a well in the northern region of the country, continues to draw worldwide sympathy with the bereaved family and generate gratitude to the search teams.

Following this tragic incident, King Mohammed VI offered in a phone call his condolences and sympathy to the parents of Rayan. Pope Francis praised the Moroccan people and the rescuers for putting their all into trying to save him.

In Washington, the State Department said: We grieve with the people of Morocco as they mourn the passing of five-year-old Rayan Oram, who died tragically after falling into a well in the countrys northern region last week  despite a heroic four-day rescue operation.

Like millions around the world, we were awed by the dedication of the rescue team and the solidarity of the Moroccan people as they held out hope for Rayans survival. We offer our deepest condolences to Rayans family and all Moroccans, added the state Department in a statement.

In New York, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General said UN Chief Antonio Guterres is saddened by this news. Our hearts are with [Rayans] family and his community.

We praise the work and time spent by the rescuers to save little Rayan, underlined the UN official.

For its part, the UNICEF offered its condolences to the family of Rayan and hailed the efforts made by the rescuers.

In a press release, UNICEF paid tribute to all those who worked day and night during Rayans rescue operation, stressing that this intense five-day hard work proved the real value that the nation places on the rights of its children to life and protection.

After Rayans rescue odyssey, an epic was born today. This sad event has demonstrated how much Morocco, all stakeholders involved, faces the challenges that could affect its children, said the UN agency.

Rayan is a new icon of childhood in Morocco and elsewhere, it is our duty to the memory of Rayan to make every effort to ensure that all children in the world are better protected and their rights to life, survival and development better defended, underlined the statement of UNICEF.

Condolences and sympathy were also expressed by Heads of State, including President Emmanuel Macron and Dubai Ruler Mohammed Bin Rachid Al Maktoum, ambassadors, political figures, international organizations, artists
Tuesday kicks off a busy week in the Nebraska Legislature, with five significant North Platte and regional 2022 bills receiving public hearings over three days.

Gov. Pete Ricketts proposal to revive the 1894 Perkins County Canal project will be heard Wednesday, while Speaker Mike Hilgers Thursday will present a special committees plan for additional state-funded improvements at Lake McConaughy near Ogallala.

North Platte state Sen. Mike Groene Tuesday will introduce his bills to further boost state matching funds for industrial rail parks and refine his 2020 microTIF law.

Groenes bid to apply $75 million in federal COVID-19 aid toward Sustainable Beef LLCs planned North Platte beef processing plant appears on Wednesdays schedule.

All hearings start at 1:30 p.m. CT in Lincolns State Capitol, with Nebraska Public Media livestreaming them through the Legislatures website.

Senators, who return Tuesday after a four-day weekend recess, will hold floor debate each morning on other bills.

Following are brief recaps on the five bills and others involving west central Nebraska or introduced by a regional lawmaker:

 Perkins County Canal: Legislative Bill 1015, introduced by Hilgers on the governors behalf, will be first on the Natural Resources Committees hearing agenda Wednesday in State Capitol Room 1525.

LB 1015 would invoke Nebraskas right under the 1923 South Platte River Compact to resume and finish the canal. Ricketts has separately asked the Appropriations Committee to set aside $500 million toward its construction.

Early Perkins County settlers dug some 16 miles of the canal in fall 1894, starting just south of Ovid in Colorados Sedgwick County, before their funding collapsed.

Ricketts issued a surprise call to revive the canal Jan. 10, citing Colorado studies and proposals to tap South Platte water the compact entitles Nebraska to use for a canal.

Colorado lawmakers responded last week with a bill to make South Platte water-use development a top priority in that state.

 Lake Mac projects: Hilgers will return to the Natural Resources Committee Thursday to present LB 1023, a product of the special committee lawmakers formed last session.

That panel, known as the STAR WARS committee for its acronym, says in the bill that it is in the public interest to expand water access and recreational opportunities by adding a new marina at McConaughy.

Committee plans unveiled by Ricketts Jan. 10 also call for a formal entrance sign, most likely just north of Ogallala, and the addition of left-hand turn lanes at three entrances to Lake Mac areas off Nebraska Highway 92.

LB 1023 also proposes a new 4,000-acre lake between Omaha and Lincoln and more facilities at Niobrara State Park and Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area.

Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango, a member of the special committee, also is a co-sponsor of Hilgers bill.

 Rail parks: Groene will open Tuesdays Appropriations Committee hearings in Room 1524 with his LB 788, a follow-up to his original 2021 rail-park bill (LB 40).

That bill, approved 49-0 last May, set a $50 million maximum for statewide rail-park matching funds. Senators approved an initial $10 million to launch the program.

Groene has said he wants to use existing state revenue surpluses to fully fund LB 40, which includes Gordon Sen. Tom Brewer among its co-sponsors.

The North Platte Area Chamber & Development Corp., which helped write LB 40, has applied for matching funds to help build its proposed rail park near Hershey.

 MicroTIF: After introducing LB 788 Tuesday, Groene will head to Room 1510 to present his microTIF update bill (LB 1065) to the Urban Affairs Committee.

It builds on Groenes original measure to encourage rehabilitation of older homes and business buildings by letting their owners recover additional property taxes generated by fixing up or replacing them.

LB 1065 would let microTIF also be used on long-platted vacant lots, lengthen the period to collect microTIF refunds from 10 to 15 years and raise the bills limits on estimated final taxable values for projects.

It also would formally limit microTIFs use to buildings and vacant lots that have been inside a citys or villages corporate limits for at least 60 years.

 Sustainable Beef: LB 783, Groenes bill to have the state chip in more toward the North Platte beef plants $325 million in financing, will be Wednesdays third bill before the Appropriations Committee in Room 1003.

The District 42 senator has argued that COVID-19s disruptions of beef beef-plant production meets federal requirements that American Rescue Plan Act funds be related to problems arising from the pandemic.

Ricketts included just $15 million for Sustainable Beef in his COVID-19 budget recommendations, saying water and sewer projects are specifically allowed in the aid law Congress passed in March 2021. His recommendation would help pay for the plants wastewater treatment system.

 Workforce housing: Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg, a co-sponsor of Groenes Sustainable Beef bill, will present his own LB 1071 to the Appropriations Committee later Tuesday.

It would add $30 million to the Rural Workforce Housing Fund that Williams helped establish in a bill enacted in 2017.

 School year: Bayard Sen. Steve Erdman will pitch his LB 1001, saying K-12 school years must run between Labor Day and Memorial Day, to the Education Committee Tuesday in Room 1525.

 Private school scholarships: Brewer Wednesday will take up a battle letting income-tax payers apply up to $25,000 toward K-12 private-school and parochial-school scholarship funds.

Brewer introduced LB 1237 after senators refused Jan. 12 to break a filibuster of a similar measure by Omaha Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (LB 364).

His bill will be heard by the Revenue Committee, which Linehan chairs, Wednesday in Room 1524.

More by Todd von Kampen

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A 47-year-old Naples, Florida, man is accused of assaulting a man at the North Platte Flying J, then chasing and threatening to kill him with a knife.

Yoannis Polanco Aguilera appeared in Lincoln County Court on Monday. He is charged with use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, terroristic threats and assault causing bodily injury to a person.

Aguileras bail was set at 10% of $50,000 and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 17.

According to court records, North Platte police responded to the Flying J on Sunday night in response to a report of a physical assault.

A man told officers that Aguilera had entered the drivers lounge and started to punch him.

He added that Aguilera tried to get him to go outside and fight and made several threats, saying that he was going to kill him.

The man said Aguilera entered the store and began chasing him through Flying J with a knife and screaming at him.

Several witnesses confirmed that Aguilera had chased the man through the store with a knife.

The stores video surveillance footage showed Aguilera punching the man in the face with his left fist, and entering and leaving the store several times. Footage also showed the other man running to one end of the store with Aguilera following with a knife in his hand.

Officers located a knife in Aguileras pocket.

More by Tim Johnson

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State lawmakers dreams of making major tax cuts this year are about to collide head-on with the pandemic-driven costs of caring for Nebraskas most vulnerable citizens.

On the one side are proposals to reduce individual and corporate income taxes, exempt Social Security benefits from taxes and drive down property tax bills with increased state aid for schools.

On the other are providers such as Alan Zavodny, CEO at North Star Services, talking about his board approving pay raises that could send the longtime developmental disability service provider over the edge.

He said the no-win decision puts North Star more than $400,000 into the red, but may allow the agency to compete for workers in an increasingly tight labor market. The agency only survived this far by using ridiculous amounts of overtime and having supervisors take shifts as front-line workers.

Never has the future of the DD system hung in the balance more than today, Zavodny told members of the Legistlature's Appropriations Committee last week. I dont know if theres enough duct tape and baling wire in the world to hold this thing together and keep it from flying apart.

He was among numerous people who urged the committee to put money in the state budget for higher payment rates to Nebraskas health and human services providers.

They spoke in support of bills to raise provider rates by 10% to 15% in the fiscal year starting July 1, proposals that would boost state spending by $75 million or more for the two-year budget period.

Based on the committees preliminary budget plan, that would leave $30 million or less for tax cuts or other spending priorities. The amount available could change after a state panel meets in late February to update state revenue projections.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the Appropriations Committee chairman, said rate increases are necessary to fulfill the states obligations in an unprecedented time. He said he hopes to lay a foundation, between state dollars and federal pandemic relief money, so providers can emerge from the pandemic with competitive wages and the ability to provide critical services.

Increasing provider rates is something you have to do, he said. You do not want to call out the National Guard for group homes. All Im trying to do is do whats right, trying to keep people in business, trying to keep services going.

But it will be up to the full Legislature to decide where to put the states money. One testifier last week spoke against the rate increases and urged the Appropriations Committee to exercise fiscal restraint.

Instead of looking for ways we can spend, spend, spend, we should be looking for ways to return money to the taxpayer where it came from, said Terry Jessen, who identified himself as a taxpayer, voter and Nebraska resident. We shouldnt get caught up in, hey, we have a pot full of money, lets see how fast we can spend it.

Gov. Pete Ricketts did not include any permanent rate increases in his budget proposal, while calling for nearly $67 million worth of tax cuts in the budget period ending June 30, 2023. His proposal would leave about $40 million for other tax cuts or spending priorities.

However, his administration boosted select provider rates for the first six months of this year, using $61 million of federal pandemic relief dollars, federal matching funds and unspent state dollars. He also proposed using the one-time pandemic relief money to extend some child welfare rate increases for a year.

Among those not included in the temporary rate increases were the states behavioral health providers, who told the Appropriations Committee of staff shortages and rising costs that reduce their ability to help people, at the same time that the pandemic has created an explosion of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, family conflict and trauma.

Jon Day, executive director at Blue Valley Behavioral Health, said his mostly rural agency has seen a 20% increase in adults and children seeking services since the start of the pandemic, compared with the 3% or 4% annual increases pre-COVID-19.

People are truly hurting in a way that weve never experienced before, he said.

Nursing home representatives and child welfare providers painted much the same picture.

In long-term care, representatives told of nursing homes forced to boost beginning wages for certified nursing assistants to $20 or $22 an hour, up from $12.50 an hour, yet still unable to fill all the staff vacancies. They told of revenues declining as staff shortages and pandemic fallout translate into fewer residents.

Nathan Schema, president and CEO of the Good Samaritan Society, said his organization closed three Nebraska homes at the end of last year when the financial trends could not be reconciled.

Our costs have gone up exponentially in the last two years, he said.

In child welfare, providers described wait lists for services to heal troubled families and help abused and neglected children. They told of payment rates that have increased only 6% since 2010, while state requirements have raised costs.

They testified about family reunifications delayed because of staff shortages and of cases turned away because agencies could not afford the losses on driving long distances or providing intensive services.

We have found ways to cobble things together over the years, said Jeff Schmidt, president of Jenda Family Services. Were at a point where that is no longer possible.
You are here: China

Beijing on Monday reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the municipal health commission said Tuesday.

This is the first time the Chinese capital has reported zero new confirmed local cases since Jan. 17.

Beijing reported one imported COVID-19 case and eight imported asymptomatic carriers on Monday, according to the health commission.

As more people return to Beijing after the Spring Festival, the city has urged its residents to adhere to strict protection measures such as necessary nucleic acid testing and home quarantine requirements.
Washington, PA (15301)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. High 68F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 48F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
As a followup to the last post detailing the the rumors of how River Phoenix died, Im making this one to explore who he was in life. This post will be image and video-heavy, so follow the cut for more about River.







Children of God cult





River and his young siblings grew up in the notorious Children of God cult, which practiced child rape, encouraging initiating children into sex starting at 4 years old. River admitted in a 1991 interview to Details magazine that he lost his virginity at age 4. Rivers parents were prominent leaders of the Venezuelan chapter of the cult where his father was archbishop. Any money they made went to the founder of the church, David Berg, and the Phoenixes were destitute. To feed themselves, they pushed River and his sister, Rain, to busk for money on the streets. River taught himself guitar at age 6 and was the primary breadwinner for his 7-person family by age 7.





Environmentalism





River was a staunch environmentalist and animal rights supporter. As a young child, he decided to stop eating animal byproducts after seeing fishermen near his Venezuela home killing their catch and converted his entire family to veganism. He used his celebrity to push forward his environmentalist agenda every chance he got, as he felt it was his duty to improve the world with the platform he had. River practiced what he preached- on film sets, he refused to wear any animal products and would insist his costumes be vegan. Before he death, he bought 800 acres of rainforest on the border of Costa Rica and Panama, as well as created a non-profit to save endangered species. Before PETA lost its damn mind, he was one of their early and most famous spokespeople.



River for outtakes and commercial PETA:





River and Lisa Bonet on a talk show discussing their beliefs:



Alekas Attic/Musicianship

River was a talented natural actor with no formal training. He enjoyed acting, but his first true love was music. He started a band as a teenager called Alekas Attic. The release of the album, with the proposed titles

and

, was postponed due to River's death. Though Rain spent two years weeding through unfinished tracks and mixing what was a slew of performances, no finished product was ever completed. The reason is that there has been communication problems between the Phoenix family and former members. In 1997, Phoenix's friend

Michael Stipe

of

R.E.M.

bought the rights to all of Aleka's Attic's material from Island Records.



Aleka's Attic, "In the Corner Dunce"

In 1989, River was nominated for an Oscar for his film Running On Empty, wherein he learned to play the piano skillfully. While he never pursued the instrument, he can be seen playing in the movie.

One of the most interesting parts about Rivers legacy is how the people who knew him speak about him. He was beloved by all of his colleagues and became close friends with many of them, who still speak about him with reverence and sadness. Among his close friends were Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Keanu Reeves (I Love You to Death and My Own Private Idaho,) Dan Aykroyd (Sneakers,), Ethan Hawke (Explorers,) Dermot Mulroney (Silent Tongue and The Thing Called Love,) Jonathan Pierce (they formed a bond on Dark Blood,) Flea (My Own Private Idaho,) and so on.

Ethan Hawke talking about River Phoenix for 2 minutes and 4 seconds straight pic.twitter.com/jKf1GUrKOo  The River Phoenix Gallery (@phoenixsgallery) November 6, 2021

Keanu gets emotional talking about what led to River's death:

River and Flea talk music:

Dan Aykroyd and River met on the set of Sneakers and became fast friends. Awkroyd was in the process of opening up what later became a chain music venue, The House of Blues. The company was originally financed by Dan Aykroyd, Aerosmith, Paul Shaffer, River Phoenix, Jim Belushi, and Harvard University, among others.

An interview snippet: They are opening up The House of Blues in Cambridge, Maryland and will soon have a franchise of nightclubs and blues accessories around the country. Help ever, hurt never, the card slogan reads. I cant stand parties and I hate bars, Phoenix says after being asked about his participation with the new venture. but I love music. You might see a scheme that snares this naive kid into gambling a considerable bankroll on Aykroyds new project. Soon, Its clear that Phoenix wants to invest on his own. Blues, he says, aside from the Native American music, its true, its the only true indigenous American music

River had many iconic roles during his short career, including Chris Chambers in Stand By Me and young Indy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. However, the role of narcoleptic gay street hustler, Mike Waters, from My Own Private Idaho remains his most iconic. Famously, River rewrote the character to be gay when he was originally supposed to be asexual, and rewrote the famous campfire scene which has since become iconic. His depiction of innocent, unrequited love for Keanu Reeves character broke hearts everywhere.

Below is a video of LGBTQ+ young people discussing the impact his character had on their lives in 1996:

The famous campfire scene:







Half Jewish

Rivers mother was a Bronx-born jew! So he is technically a tribe member.





To all of the River fans out there and those who are just curious about him, I hope you enjoyed this post! Please use this to discuss all things River.





Sources:

Alekas Attic Wiki/In the Corner Dunce

Running On Empty piano scene

Keanu Reeves interview

Ethan Hawke tweet

Flea/River video

House of Blues interview

Documentary from MOPI

Campfire scene MOPI

Talkshow video

PETA video
The former British colony of Guyana, one of South Americas poorest nations, is undergoing a major economic transformation driven by a massive oil boom. ExxonMobils 2015 discovery of crude oil has been a game-changer for a deeply impoverished Guyana that was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. energy supermajor, after making a slew of quality oil discoveries, is investing heavily in offshore Guyana commencing petroleum production during 2019 from the Stabroek Block. That has been a boon for the former British colonys economy. International Monetary Fund data shows Guyanas 2020 gross domestic product expanded by a notable 43.5%, despite the pandemic, and grew by 20% during 2021 as oil reserves and production surged. The rapid growth being experienced by Guyanas economy is gaining momentum. The IMF expects the tiny South American countrys GDP to expand by a remarkable 49% during 2022 as oil reserves and production soar. Guyana is expected to be pumping over one million barrels of crude oil daily by 2028, making it the 11th country globally to reach that number, which will generate a further significant windfall for the economy. Guyanas national government in Georgetown has recognized that to maintain the booms momentum and achieve such an impressive production goal it needs to build out critical infrastructure while boosting foreign energy investment. Georgetown is also seeking to increase Guyanas cut of the massive oil profits that will be generated as production expands. Since entering office in August 2020 President Irfaan Ali has launched a series of initiatives aimed at improving regulation, increasing the governments share of oil revenues, and attracting further energy investment. A key plan currently being explored is cooperating with neighboring Suriname, which shares the prolific Guyana-Suriname Basin, and Brazil, Latin Americas largest oil producer. The presidents of all three countries were supposed to meet last week to discuss the possibility of joint infrastructure and energy projects. Unfortunately, Brazils President Bolsonaro had to cut short his visit for personal reasons after meeting Surinames President Chandrikapersad Santokhi in the capital Paramaribo, meaning he was unable to meet his counterpart in Guyana. The considerable petroleum potential of all three countries, as well as the growing scale of industry operations, coupled with the significant financial income they can generate, means such close cooperation has the potential to reshape South Americas economy.

Key to progressing Guyanas oil boom and making the country a regional transport hub is the construction of a deep-water port. Not only would such an asset benefit Guyana but it would also make it a crucial transportation hub for Suriname as well as northern Brazil because of their proximity to the former British colony which can offer quick and easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. Guyanas foreign secretary, Robert Persaud stated in a recent Reuters article; The deepwater harbour is a major part of our transformation agenda, and we want Brazil to be part of it,. The construction of a deep-water port will be a game-changer for the region because it would further facilitate crude oil and petroleum product exports as well as the importation of heavy machinery utilized for oil exploration and production.

In November 2020 Exxon announced that it was making Guyana a priority for investment. The energy supermajor is allocating considerable capital to exploration and development activities in offshore operations in the deeply impoverished South American nation. Exxon, earlier this year, reported two more oil discoveries in the prolific Stabroek Block where it had already made 23 discoveries and identified 10 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil resources. The integrated energy supermajor is the operator of the Stabroek Block and owns a 45% interest with partners Hess holding 30% and CNOOC 25% ownership. Exxon discovered crude oil at the Fangtooth-1 well and the Lau Lau-1 well which are 11 miles northwest and 42 miles southeast, respectively, of the Liza oilfield. Those discoveries will further boost the Stabroek Blocks already announced recoverable resource estimate of 10 billion barrels.

Exxon is investing significantly to develop the block. The Liza Phase 2 project will come online during the first quarter of 2022 with the Liza Unity floating production, storage, and offloading vessel or FPSO having arrived from Singapore during late October 2021. When Liza Phase 2 is operational it will add capacity of up to 2220,000 barrels of crude oil daily to production from the Stabroek Block where the Liza Destiny FPSO reached operational capacity during December 2020 to be pumping 120,000 barrels per day. Upon Liza Unity reaching operational capacity, total production from the Stabroek Block will rise to 340,000 barrels per day. Exxon is developing the Payara project which is expected to commence operations in 2024 and add a production capacity of another 220,000 barrels per day. The supermajor is also progressing the Yellowtail development where it is targeting the development of up to 67 wells. At the end of 2021, Exxon awarded contracts to companies that will provide the infrastructure and machinery required to develop the project. Yellowtail is expected to pump the first oil in 2025 adding 250,000 barrels per day capacity to the Stabroek Block.

Related: The Story Behind The Worst Energy Policy In The United States

Offshore Guyanas appeal for foreign energy companies is underscored by low breakeven prices, due in part to low royalties and favorable contractual terms established with Georgetown, compared to other deep-water operations. This makes operating in Guyana highly profitable, especially with the international Brent benchmark trading at around $87 per barrel. Exxons Liza Phase 1 operation is pumping crude oil with a breakeven price of $35 a barrel, while for Liza Phase 2 the breakeven price will fall to $25 per barrel. The Payara project has a forecast breakeven price of $32 per barrel whereas for Yellowtail it is estimated to be $29 a barrel. Offshore Guyanas appeal is further enhanced by the characteristics of the petroleum found which has a low sulfur content and is light meaning it has reduced carbon intensity, making it highly appealing in a world pushing to decarbonize the economy and reduce emissions. Exxons Liza grade has an API gravity of 32 degrees and 0.58% sulfur content, making it lighter and sweeter than many other more carbon-intensive crude oil blends being produced in Latin America.

For these reasons Exxon is making significant investments in offshore Guyana and expanding its drilling efforts in the Stabroek, Canje and Kaieteur Blocks which it operates.

Exxon Operated Offshore Blocks In Guyana

Source: ExxonMobil.

In late 2021, the company submitted a proposal to Guyanas Environmental Protection Agency for a proposed 12 well drilling campaign in the Canje Block. Exxon currently has six drilling vessels currently conducting exploration and development drilling across the three blocks it operates in offshore Guyana.

Guyana is fast becoming one of the hottest offshore oil booms globally which are a game-changer for the deeply impoverished tiny South American country of nearly 800,000. In a March 2020 report, petroleum industry consultancy Wood Mackenzie predicted that Exxon and its partners will be pumping over one million barrels of crude oil per day from the Stabroek Block by 2028. That will further boost the impoverished countrys economy and make it a major oil exporter. Georgetowns efforts to build out urgently required supporting infrastructure will attract further foreign energy investment, especially when the countrys low offshore breakeven prices and low-carbon-intensity crude oil are considered. Those measures will be bolstered by Georgetowns efforts to secure an alliance with Brazil, Latin Americas largest oil producer, and Suriname. Guyanas government will be able to tap the considerable expertise that has accrued in Brazil since that countrys offshore oil boom started in 2006.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

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Mexico, which was one of the top-ten oil suppliers to India last year, has drastically cut its crude exports to the Asian consumer so far this year as state oil firm Pemex works to launch a large refinery to process fuel domestically, Reuters reported on Tuesday, quoting sources and industry data.

Pemex and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador aim to inaugurate the Dos Bocas oil refinery in the summer of this year, although analysts doubt the refinery would produce any gasoline by the end of 2022.

Nevertheless, as it prepares for more crude to run at its domestic refineries, Mexicos Pemex is slashing exports to India, according to Reuters sources and estimates from industry data.

India is scheduled to receive just one cargo from Mexico in the first two months of 2022, meaning the worlds third-largest oil importer will have 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Mexican crude in January and February, compared to nearly 98,000 bpd it received in the same period last year, according to Reuters.

In recent years, India has been buying more Mexican oil, to replace lost heavy crude volumes from Venezuela after the U.S. sanctions on Nicolas Maduros regime. In 2021, Mexico was the sixth-biggest crude oil supplier to India.

Now that Pemex is preparing for the new refinery, it is reportedly cutting oil exports, not only to India but to all customers.

Mexico is also reportedly looking to suspend crude oil exports in 2023 in a bid to focus on domestic self-sufficiency. The move is part Lopez Obradors plan to increase local fuel production to reduce dependence on imported fuels.

Meanwhile, the construction of the Dos Bocas oil refinery is running $3.6 billion over budget. Delays could mean that the flagship project of Lopez Obrador may not start operations this yearand maybe not even in time to achieve the state oil firms plan to end oil exports in 2023 and focus on refining fuel domestically. Mexicos Energy Minister Rocio Nahle responded to reports of huge overruns, saying that the refinery was being built in record time. Opinions around the world are very positive.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Few people noticed when energy reporters wrote in early January that the United States had become the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Now, a group of U.S. senators has noticed and say those exports may be driving up heating and electricity costs for their constituents. In a letter to the secretary of energy, they are asking the secretary "to conduct a review of LNG exports and their impact on domestic prices and the public interest, and develop a plan to ensure natural gas remains affordable for American households."

Who knew that exporting natural gas from American gas fields would raise natural gas prices at home? Well, the natural gas industry certainly knew. In the last decade, the industry was smarting under persistent low prices as it continually overproduced gas into a flooded domestic market.

It pushed for and succeeded in relaxing rules for exports in general and for expedited approvals of new export cargoes and facilities. The U.S. Department of Energy still has de facto control over most natural gas exports. But the policy in the last five years has been to assist and encourage expansion of those exports.

The industry has always contended that there would be plenty of gas to go around because of the extraordinary growth in gas production from deep shale deposits that new technology can now extract. The so-called shale gas revolution, which arrived in the early part of the last decade, foretold an era of plentiful and cheap suppliesso much supply, in fact, that America would become a major exporter.

But the revolution seems to have stalled as marketed U.S. natural gas production has hit a plateau around 3 trillion cubic feet per month since late 2018. Prices have not been favorable until recently, and investors have fled the industry as they realized that negative free cash flows for practically the entire previous decade were not likely to turn around. That has meant less money for drilling with a predictable result: stagnant production.

So, stagnant production has now collided with growing LNG exports. The latest numbers available from November 2021 show that LNG exports now constitute 9.7 percent of all U.S. marketed production. As recently as November 2015 those exports constituted a tiny 13/100ths of a percent of total domestic production. The raw numbers show an increase from a little under 3 billion cubic feet of LNG exports for November 2015 to 306 billion for November 2021.

The industry makes the point that practically everything else America produces can be exported freely and so is priced based on world prices. Why then should natural gas be singled out? Shouldn't natural gas producers have the same opportunity to sell their product to whomever they choose as practically every other American business does?

But the senators mentioned above and a trade group representing natural gas users, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, beg to differ. They say that energy is unique and keeping it affordable is critical to the business competitiveness and vitality of the U.S. economy.

The natural gas industry notes that recent tensions between NATO allies and Russia have occurred during a period of unprecedented natural gas prices in Europe, a continent heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies. U.S. cargoes of LNG sent to Europe have had a role in providing some relief to America's allies. Yes, the industry says, U.S. natural gas is special, but in this case, as a tool for helping allies with badly needed energy supplies.

One group that should benefit from higher natural gas prices will be the renewable energy industries such as wind and solar. These sources become more competitive when the prices of natural gas and other fossil fuels rise. But it's understandable that the renewable energy industries want to stay clear of the fray even though high fossil fuel prices help them. Nobody scores points with the public by celebrating higher energy prices.

If U.S. natural gas prices continue upward, look for this battle between consumers and producers of natural gas to escalate. The U.S. Congress has the power to intervene and rein in exports if it chooses. That fact may become relevant later in the year when voters who heat their homes with natural gas and buy electricity from gas-fired utilities decide who should represent them in Washington.

By Kurt Cobb via Resourceinsights.com

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President Joe Biden issued a threat for the Nord Stream natural gas project if Russia were to invade Ukraine, although he did not elaborate on how such a move would be made.

If Russia invades -- that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, the U.S. President said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as quoted by CNBC. We will bring an end to it.

In response to a question from a Reuters journalist on how exactly this would be done, Biden declined to elaborate, saying only We will, I promise you, well be able to do it.

Yet the effect of the declaration may well have been a little spoiled by the statement of the German Chancellor, who did not appear nearly as enthusiastic about punitive action against Nord Stream 2 as his U.S. counterpart.

We have intensively prepared everything to be ready with the necessary sanctions if there is a military aggression against Ukraine, Scholz said. It is part of the process that we do not spell out everything in public, because Russia should understand that there might be even more to come.

In response to Reuters Andrea Shalals question on whether he would commit to pulling the plug on Nord Stream 2, Sholtz declined to do so.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is seen as a key supply channel for Germany, whose gas needs are about to rise further after it closes all of its nuclear power plants and moves ahead with the retirement of its coal power plants.

This is the reason Germany is a lot more reluctant than the United States to make threats against the project or, indeed, the Russian state amid the current geopolitical tensions.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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The spot charter rates for shipping U.S. liquefied natural gas to Europe have just turned negative, suggesting that there are now too many LNG vessels in the Atlantic region but fewer requirements, according to LNG freight price assessor Spark Commodities.

In December and January, dozens of cargoes of U.S. LNG flocked to Europe, which had a record-high natural gas price amid the gas and energy crisis. The crisis pushed regional LNG prices way above the Asian LNG benchmark and 14 times higher than the U.S. Henry Hub price. Tankers were not only traveling between the U.S. and Europe, but many were also diverted away from Asia to Europe as spot sellers took advantage of the higher gas prices in Europe.

As the number of available LNG tankers in the Atlantic basin surged, freight rates plummeted. On Tuesday, Spark Commodities assessed its first-ever negative spot LNG freight rate at -$750/day for the Spark30S Atlantic assessment.

The negative freight rate Highlights how current vessel charter payments do not cover the fuel cost of ballasting the vessel back to load port. Lots of ships and few requirements, Spark Commodities noted.

Last week, LNG freight rates continued to slide on the back of weak vessel demand and increasing availability in both the Atlantic and Asia Pacific basins, according to Spark Commodities.

There just arent enough charter requirements to keep these ships fully utilized, Tim Mendelssohn, managing director of Spark, told Bloomberg on Tuesday, commenting on the negative rates for Europe.

The recent slide in LNG tanker rates is a dramatic shift from late last year when freight rates reached an all-time high with Asia stocking up for the winter and Europe desperate for any gas supply in the crisis.

Now the soaring European imports from the U.S. have sent spot freight rates below zero.

Europe was the top destination for U.S. LNG exports in January, for a second month running, ahead of Asia, according to Refinitiv data cited by Reuters last week. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. LNG exports traveled to Europe last month after 61 percent of American LNG shipments went to Europe in December.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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A couple of quotes have been swirling around in my head ever since I read about parents in several states protesting mental health services at their childrens schools.

The first quote is from Kahlil Gibrans beautiful poem, On Children, published in The Prophet in 1923.

They come through you but not from you, Gibran wrote. And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls. For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

The second quote is from Seth Lavin, the principal of a Chicago Public Schools elementary school about four blocks from my house.

Children are not okay, Lavin wrote in a Jan. 24 Chicago Sun-Times op-ed. Teachers are not okay. Schools are not okay. We need help and we need understanding. 

Help and understanding dont seem like such a big ask. Not when the stakes are our kids, which is to say our whole hearts, the better angels of our nature, no less than our future.

But help and understanding dont mean the same, or land the same, with everyone.

In several states, including Utah, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and Indiana, groups of parents are pushing back against social emotional learning in schools and lobbying against legislation that would fund suicide prevention programs.

Conservative groups argue that social emotional learning has become a Trojan horse for critical race theory, a separate academic concept that examines how systemic racism is embedded in society, according to a recent NBC News story. They point to SEL lessons that encourage children to celebrate diversity, sometimes introducing students to conversations about race, gender and sexuality.

Activists have accused school districts of using the programs to ask children invasive questions  about their feelings, sexuality and the way race shapes their lives  as part of a ploy to brainwash them with liberal values and to trample parents rights, the story continued. Groups across the country recently started circulating forms to get parents to opt their children out of surveys designed to measure whether students are struggling with their emotions or being bullied, describing the efforts as data mining and an invasion of privacy.

Parent groups have asked their kids schools to focus on core academic subjects and, as the Southlake Families PAC in Southlake, Texas, put it, Leave mental health and parenting to parents.

But trying to learn core academic subjects when your head and heart are in knots is like trying to learn while youre hungry. We know kids need certain things to learn optimally  food, shelter, a stable environment. We wouldnt tell schools to get rid of their cafeterias and leave feeding to parents. (Or we would be rightly laughed at if we did.)

We also know academics are only one of the ways in which schools forever shape and grow a young person. We know schools feed kids social lives, physical fitness, hobbies, independence, their sense of who they are outside the walls and roles of their home.

And we know that many young people are struggling mightily  were, in fact, already struggling mightily before a pandemic arrived to add to their woes.

From the U.S. surgeon generals rare public advisory, released in December, we know that the proportion of high school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40%, from 2009 to 2019. We know that the share seriously considering attempting suicide increased by 36%, and the share creating a suicide plan increased by 44%.

We know there were more than 6,600 deaths by suicide among 10- to 24-year-olds in 2020, according to the advisory, and that Black children are now nearly twice as likely to die by suicide than white children.

We know, from the advisory, that depressive and anxiety symptoms doubled during the pandemic, with 25% of young people experiencing depressive symptoms and 20% experiencing anxiety symptoms, the advisory reports.

Its wildly unfair to ask educators to ignore those statistics and focus on math. Mental health and academic rigor dont sit in opposition. They are, in fact, impossible to disentangle  and wed do well to stop trying.

Our job is to be what children need, Lavin wrote in his Sun-Times op-ed. Their needs are different now. We have to be different, too.

Which brings me back, again, to Gibrans poem.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

Into a future we cant predict and probably wont recognize. But it will belong to our children, and we owe them every shot at arriving there healthy and whole.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's meetings with leaders from Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are constructive in advancing relations, said media and political analysts from these Mideast countries.

On the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics, President Xi met separately with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, all of whom were invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The Egyptian president's meeting with Xi will deepen political trust between the two countries, and yield fruitful outcomes in economic, commercial, and political cooperation, said Tarek Fahmy, professor of international relations at Cairo University.

Al-Sisi's visit to China will have a positive impact on Egyptian-Chinese friendship, said Diaa Helmy, secretary general of the Egyptian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and expert on Chinese affairs.

The Emirates News Agency, the UAE's official news agency, said Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and President Xi "discussed ways of furthering friendly ties and explored opportunities for increasing cooperation, especially in investment and economy, under the joint comprehensive strategic partnership."

The meeting between Qatar's emir and Xi will definitely push forward the friendly relations between Qatar and China, reported Al Sharq, a daily newspaper based in Doha.

The newspaper also said that the meeting will strengthen the strategic cooperation between the two countries in various fields, and provide opportunities for the two countries to exchange views and coordinate positions on major international issues of common concern.

Al Raya, a leading Qatari daily, said the meeting between the two leaders is a strong starting point for the two countries to further deepen bilateral relations, and provides a guarantee for consolidating bilateral relations.

The Qatari emir's attendance at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics showed Qatar's willingness to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields, especially in the field of sports, the paper added.

The meeting between Qatari and Chinese leaders will inject more vitality and strength into the friendship between two nations, said Al Watan, a Qatari daily morning newspaper.

The meeting is of great significance to promoting and strengthening the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries and maintaining regional and global security and stability, it added.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added even more destinations on Monday to its ever-growing list of places considered to be a "very high" travel risk for Covid-19.

Level 4, the CDC's highest, has now swelled to almost 135 places, illustrating the rapid surge of the Omicron variant around the world. In early January, there were around 80 destinations listed there. Level 4 now has more destinations than all the other CDC categories combined.

Joining the Level 4 ranks this week are two island nations on opposite sides of the world: Japan in Asia and Cuba, the largest and most populous island in the Caribbean.

The other new Level 4 nations are also scattered around various parts of the globe.

Armenia is in the mountainous Caucasus region on the far reaches of eastern Europe. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is in the heart of Central Africa while Libya is on the Mediterranean coast of northern Africa. Oman is on the Arabian Peninsula, while Israel is on the Mediterranean shores in the Middle East.

The CDC places a destination at Level 4 when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days. The CDC advises travelers to avoid travel to Level 4 countries.

To recap, this week's additions to Level 4 are:

 Armenia

 Cuba

 Democratic Republic of the Congo

 Israel

 Japan

 Libya

 Oman

Last week, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was at "moderate" Level 2. Armenia, Cuba, Japan, Libya and Oman had been at Level 3, in the "high" risk category.

Israel was added to Level 4 on January 18 along with 21 other destinations and remained there in subsequent updates. However, the CDC listed Israel as an updated entry in Level 4 on Monday because the agency has added information on Gaza and the West Bank. The CDC does not have separate entries in its listing for those.

Other significant places at Level 4

The CDC does not include the United States in its list of advisories, but it was color-coded at Level 4 on February 7 on the agency's map of travel risk levels.

Last week, Mexico and Brazil were the most notable of a dozen places added to Level 4.

Other tourist favorites parked on Level 4 even longer include Australia, Canada, France, Peru, Singapore and Spain. The United Kingdom has been there since July 2021.

You can view the CDC's risk levels for any global destination on its travel recommendations page.

In its broader travel guidance, the CDC has recommended avoiding all international travel until you are fully vaccinated.

Ray of hope at Level 3

The Level 3 category -- which applies to destinations that have had between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days -- saw three additions on Monday. They were:

 Bangladesh

 Montserrat

 South Africa

South Africa, where the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was first reported, dropped from Level 4, providing a ray of hope for the coming weeks and months that other places will follow suit.

However, the move to Level 3 meant worsening conditions in populous Bangladesh in South Asia and Montserrat, a small British island in the Caribbean. Both had been at Level 2.

Levels 2, 1 and unknown

Destinations carrying the "Level 2: Covid-19 Moderate" designation have seen 50 to 99 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. This level saw only one addition on Monday: Pakistan. It previously had been at Level 1.

Currently, there are just five destinations at Level 2, including New Zealand, which has some of the world's tightest travel restrictions.

To be in "Level 1: Covid-19 Low," a destination must have fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past 28 days.

No destinations were moved to Level 1 on Monday. There are currently only seven destinations in the category. That includes China, which is hosting the Winter Olympic Games.

Finally, there are destinations for which the CDC has an "unknown" risk because of a lack of information. Usually, but not always, these are small, remote places or places with ongoing warfare or unrest. There were no additions this week.

Tanzania, Cambodia and the Canary Islands are among the more-visited locations currently listed in the unknown category. The CDC advises against travel to these places precisely because the risks are unknown.

Cruising

The CDC includes cruise ships on its destinations list.

On December 30, the CDC increased the risk for cruise ship travel to Level 4 and said it should be avoided, regardless of vaccination status. It remained at Level 4 in the newest update.

Meanwhile, the CDC's Covid-19 guidance has become optional for many cruise ships.

The CDC's extended conditional sailing order expired recently, and the agency has transitioned to a voluntary program for foreign-flagged cruise ships operating in US waters.

Considerations for travel

Transmission rates are important to consider when making travel decisions, but there are other factors to weigh as well, according Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst, emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

"The transmission rates are one guidepost," Wen said. "Another is what precautions are required and followed in the place that you're going and then the third is what are you planning to do once you're there.

"Are you planning to visit a lot of attractions and go to indoor bars? That's very different from you're going somewhere where you're planning to lie on the beach all day and not interact with anyone else. That's very different. Those are very different levels of risk."

Vaccination is the most significant safety factor for travel since unvaccinated travelers are more likely to become ill and transmit Covid-19 to others, Wen said.

She said people should be wearing a high-quality mask -- N95, KN95 or KF94 -- anytime they're in crowded indoor settings with people of unknown vaccination status.

Before you travel, it's also important to consider what you would do if you end up testing positive away from home, Wen said. Where will you stay and how easy will it be to get a test to return home?

The-CNN-Wire

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Top image: People pass next to Hokan-ji Temple (also known as Yasaka Pagoda) in Kyoto, Japan, on October 14, 2021. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
Civil rights leader, museum founder, historian, author, student, educator, speaker, promoter, playwright, journalist, administrator, mentor, wife and mother. Bertha Calloway had a lot of titles during her long life but is perhaps best known as founder of the Great Plains Black History Museum in Omaha.

About 500 people attended the opening of the Great Plains museum, 46 years ago today, at 2213 Lake St., as part of the celebration of National Black History Week.

The museum focused on the contributions of Black people who had lived in Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Colorado since the time of the Emancipation Proclamation. The 10 rooms of exhibits showed Black contributions in history, religion, art, music, sports, defense and education.

At the time, it was the only museum of its kind west of the Mississippi.

Calloway was among a handful of Omahans who began working for racial equality in the 1940s and '50s, long before the 1964 Civil Rights Act. As a Creighton University student, Calloway had joined the Omaha DePorres Club, which worked to end segregation and discrimination.

She continued as a civil rights activist and later, with her husband, James T. Calloway, protested housing discrimination in Lincoln and attended Omaha City Council meetings to push for open housing policies.

In 1962, Bertha Calloway organized the Negro Historical Society in Omaha, which led to the eventual founding of the Great Plains Black History Museum more than a decade later.

Calloway had amassed a collection of photographs, historical documents and other artifacts on Black history that became so large, she had to find a place for it, her son Jim Calloway once said.

"I believe in this neighborhood," Bertha Calloway said in a 1977 interview, "and I believe the Great Plains Black Museum makes a contribution toward its betterment. It certainly is a focal point of pride."

The museum opened, after several years of effort by many people, thanks primarily to a $100,000 government grant.

"Our grant will end soon, so we need donation or some other form of financing to keep goin' in the fashion we're accustomed," Calloway said in 1977.

"The preservation of Black history is much more important, more valuable than the never-ending quest for funds."

But that quest continued and, over the years, funding for the museum ebbed and flowed. Its original home deteriorated, and the museum closed its doors in 2004.

It survived as a series of of temporary exhibitions and workshops until it reopened in a tiny space in the Crossroads Mall in 2014.

Eventually, an opportunity came along to move the museum closer to its North Omaha roots, and it opened on North 24th Street in the historic Jewell Building in October 2017, about a month before Bertha Calloway died.

Earlier that same year, the museums board of directors hired Eric Ewing as executive director.

The museum's new home once housed the Dreamland Ballroom, where jazz and blues greats performed.

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A Delta Air Lines flight from Omaha to New York City was delayed more than an hour Monday when several passengers, apparently employees of an Omaha company, were removed for unruly behavior.

Laura Austin, a Creighton University graduate who lives in New York, had been in Omaha to visit her parents. She said she had noticed a large group of younger people drinking and being loud at an Eppley Airfield bar. She estimated that the group, many of whom were wearing polos and face masks with Buildertrend logos on them, consisted of about 30 people.

We heard someone from the group say they had been scheduled to take a Frontier flight to Orlando, but Frontier was having computer issues and they were being detoured through New York, Austin said. When we got on the plane, that group of Buildertrend people were seated near the rear of the plane. We were in first class, but we could all hear them.

A Black flight attendant told Austin and other passengers that the flight crew would have to decide whether the Buildertrend group would stay on the plane. The flight attendant then went to the back of the plane and returned very shaken, Austin said.

She told us that she asked some people to put their masks on, and someone called her the N-word, Austin said. She was very upset because here she is trying to do her job and that happens.

Its a shame to see that sort of behavior and racist attitude, Austin said, because I know people in Omaha arent typically like that.

A spokeswoman for Buildertrend said Tuesday morning that the company is taking this incident very seriously and apologize to the passengers who experienced a disruption as a result.

The plane, which had begun to taxi for takeoff, returned to the gate, and everyone on board was told to get off, Austin said. After airport police investigated, she said, noticeably fewer people from the Buildertrend group got back on the plane.

Austin said someone from Delta then came onto the plane to talk to the flight attendant, who was upset because two of the four people who she said had been causing problems earlier somehow had made it back onto the plane. Austin said the flight attendant told the Delta official that she did not want to fly with those two on the plane, so they were escorted off and left quietly and quickly.

The rest of the flight, she said, everyone was very quiet and there were no issues at all. She added that she thought Delta handled the situation well.

Delta Flight 5593 originally was scheduled to take off at 1:10 p.m., but the pilot told passengers that weather issues would delay takeoff. Issues with the unruly passengers pushed the takeoff back to about 3:40 p.m.

Delta officials told Eppley police that the group wasnt complying with mask rules and regulations, said Eppley Police Chief Tim Conahan. Members of the group  who Conahan said may have been intoxicated  became loud and vocal. He said one flight attendant told officials that she thought one of the passengers had used a racial slur toward her.

Four members of the group were removed from the flight and no charges were filed, Conahan said.

The passengers who were removed were extremely cooperative with police, he added, and all four were able to book different flights.

Austin and another passenger posted messages about their experience on Twitter. One passenger said, @Buildertrend one of your employees just called a flight attendant on my @Delta flight the N word & are being kicked off for that + not wearing masks. Pro tip: if youre going to send a whole BDR team on a plane & theyre going to be asss, dont give them masks w/ your logo.

Austin followed that post with another Tweet.

These individuals were drunk, disrespectful, and took racist aim at our flight attendant, she wrote. They also disrupted the lives of everyone on the plane.

Buildertrend, an Omaha-based company located near 118th and I Streets that specializes in cloud-based construction project management software, responded on Twitter that its looking into the incident.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are doing our best to learn more. Plainly, we do not stand by any such behavior, the company replied.

In no way do the behaviors reported on social media align with our core values, Buildertrend spokeswoman Megan Longo said Tuesday in an email. We are working diligently to understand what happened, and are conducting a review with all parties involved, including Delta Airlines and the Eppley Airport Police Department. Once we have a complete understanding of the incident, we will take appropriate action.

A Delta spokesperson provided this statement on the matter: Delta Connection flight 5593 operated by Republic Airways from Omaha to LaGuardia on Feb. 7 returned to the gate due to unruly customers. All customers were deplaned for their safety, and the flight later continued safely to LaGuardia after the unruly customers were removed from the flight.

Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior at our airports and on our flights as nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and flight crews. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have had for our remaining customers.

Situations like this one have become a regular occurrence, Conahan said. Flight crews are tasked with handling passengers as well as enforcing mask use.

Flight crews have a tough job, he said. Follow the instructions that the flight crews give. Thats really what it comes down to.

World-Herald Staff Writer Kelsey Stewart contributed to this report.

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The Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska is back after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event, in its 40th year, is scheduled for June 5 to June 11. The ride starts in Alliance and finishes in Wahoo.

Cyclists can choose three- or four-day rides in addition to the typical seven-day tour.

Overnight stops will be made in Hyannis, Thedford, Callaway, Ord, St. Edward and Shelby.

Cyclists will ride on paved highway shoulders on Nebraska Highway 2.

The cost of the tour is $350 for the full seven days, $200 for four days or $150 for three days. Registration prices increase after April 15.

The fee includes transportation of gear, road support, showers, coffee, a T-shirt and a water bottle. Bus rides to the starting town are an extra fee.

Proceeds from the ride go toward scholarships for high school seniors in host communities to attend Nebraska trade schools, colleges, universities or other postsecondary opportunities.

In past years, the ride has drawn 600 or more riders. Riders have ranged in age from 8 to 85.

Our ultimate goal is to offer bicyclists a safe and fun ride each year, organizers said.

To register, or for more information, visit bran-inc.org.

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A red flag fire danger warning was issued Tuesday by the National Weather Service in Valley for most of eastern Nebraska due to warm, dry and windy conditions.

"It doesn't include Douglas County and other counties along the Missouri River, but there is still a very high fire danger here," said meteorologist Becky Kern of the Valley office. "Our offices in North Platte, Hastings, Sioux Falls ... just about everywhere have all of issued warnings."

The red flag warning means that strong winds, low relative humidity and warm conditions can contribute to extreme fire risk. The warning is in effect Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Kern said.

Winds are expected to be out of the northwest at 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Any fires that ignite could spread rapidly and be difficult to contain.

The Douglas County fire chiefs have placed a countywide burn ban into effect until further notice. All existing open-burn permits are placed on hold until the ban is lifted.

"The warning is very widespread," Kern said. "Any help we can give the firefighters today preventing fires is important."

A high temperature of near 60 degrees is forecast for Tuesday in Omaha, with unusually warm weather expected to continue throughout the week. A brief cool-down is expected Saturday, when the high temperature is forecast to be 30 degrees.

"Then we bounce right back," Kern said. "We're forecasting highs in the upper 50s again next week."

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Legal authority

I was surprised to read that City Council members Brinker Harding, Aimee Melton and Dan Rowe expressed their frustration with Lindsey Huses decision on the mask mandate by calling her a unelected and unaccountable bureaucrat, clearly meant as a derogatory epithet. I think this is unfair. She is certainly accountable, just not to the voters. There are hundreds of so-called unelected bureaucrats who work daily to keep this city and county running. Some make important decisions within the authority granted by law to their positions. While the issue of mask mandates evokes different opinions, Huse is making a decision in her de facto position as city health director, appointed by the City Council, which in the city attorneys opinion, is within her legal authority.

Stanley Krieger, Omaha

Lawsuit question

I wonder if the county health director would have been sued by the state attorney general if the position was held by a male physician instead of a female nurse with a doctorate?

Mary Tracy, PhD, RN, Omaha

Library move

The Omaha Public Library has been kicked to the curb. The Omaha Public Library Board has signed contracts to move the W. Dale Clark main library of the Omaha Public Library from its rightful position at the head of the new Gene Leahy Mall. The library building and services will be bifurcated  public services moved to a warehouse, and administrative services to an empty department store, miles away.

Fire is the No. 1 enemy of libraries. Susan Orleans The Library Book describes the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library. The fire licked up 400,000 books and materials and damaged 750,000 volumes. An arsonist was never arrested. Hard to believe how any 109-year-old storage building could ever meet modern day fire codes.

And then theres the need for weight-bearing floors to accommodate thousands of volumes in a library. And how will the new-old library accommodate 5G and the digital library? Will the Do Space set up shop in another location?

Ann Stephens, Fremont

Crime rates

Congratulations to Police Chief Todd Schmaderer, Omaha Police officers, Mayor Jean Stothert, Gov. Ricketts, Nebraska legislators and ABIDE Ministries who have worked together diligently to decrease the crime rates in Omaha and the State of Nebraska.

Rigorous law enforcement, community involvement at the local level and realistic sentences for criminals appear to be factors that make the world in which we all live safer for all our citizens.

With this kind of continued success, the population in ours jails should go down as the number of criminals on the streets decrease because of the effectiveness of these factors working together.

Janet M. Heliker, Waterloo, Nebraska.

Trash talk

Lets talk trash  in other words pollution. Last spring rolls around, the sun was shining and fresh air was beckoning. I grabbed the wheeled trash can and went to the corners of my street where leaves and trash had accumulated and picked up trash.

Walking the trash can back, my nephew spots me and says Hey Aunt Lisa, I have heard of walking the dog, but walking the trash can? That was the chuckle of the day. Which segues into the next story, if businesses are stressed in finding employees, why doesnt Omaha close their businesses on Sunday? The day of rest, worship and family time.

There is a song about Mayberry, a simpler time. Less traffic, less pollution and if families are totally bored, they could take their trash can for a walk. There was a radio announcer, Paul Harvey, who use to say, Now the rest of the story. Two years ago, I cleaned the street gutters with old trash cans  not fun. Cars slowed down, one guy honked and gave me a thumbs up, a guy in a white truck asked why was I doing the citys job? I told him I like my neighborhood clean.

My neighbor moved, she used to do this, and she passed on the trash to me. Now in the words of Paul Harvey, good day.

Lisa Caveye, Omaha

Governors race

When Donald Trump supported Chuck Herbster for governor of Nebraska, I assumed Jim Pillen would be a more level-headed, responsible choice for Republican voters to choose as their candidate. That was until I saw his campaign ad.

Ever see a rich guy pretend to be a working guy, so he can appeal to regular people? Here is this obviously not regular guy, holding a shotgun in a corn field, complete with hunting dog. This is what Nebraska politics has fallen to.

We have Charles Herbster promising more rodeo clown drama like we had with Trump. Then, we have Jim Pillen, trying to woo voters by trying to sound uneducated. I noticed both Herbster and Pillen refused to participate in the candidate debate. It figures  they are both two sides of the same bad penny.

I think the race should center on Brett Lindstrom and Theresa Thibodeau. At least they act like they respect average Nebraskans.

Robert Hathaway, Omaha
Humble ISD FFA students demonstrate speaking skills

The FFA students from Humble ISD came prepared to thank members of the Rotary Club of Lake Houston for their support and to invite the group to the 75th annual Humble Livestock Auction.

The students instead found themselves showing their public speaking skills as the Rotarians peppered them with questions  friendly questions  about the livestock show, the auction, and about the students themselves.

We want to know a little about you, too, said Summer Creek Satellite Club President Deborah Rose during the meeting Jan. 26 at the Lake Houston Family YMCA.

First, though, each of the FFA officers from Humble ISDs five high schools spoke briefly about a part of the auction.

The students told Rotarians the animal each is raising for the auction. Some are taking part in both the Humble ISD Auction and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeos junior market auction and so are raising two animals.

In addition to the traditional auction, Humble ISD also has a freezer sale which is open to anyone to buy an animal that is not sold in the auction or did not get a guaranteed buyer.

The FFA presidents had kind words to say about Lynette Calfee, a longtime supporter of the Livestock Show and Auction and the Humble Rodeo and Cook-Off noting that she and husband, Byron, who was honored at the 50th anniversary auction, continued to support and work the auction and rodeo long after their sons graduated from Humble ISD.

The Kingwood and Kingwood Park presidents were excited about the almost completed North Agriculture Science Center that is replacing the current ag building. The students pointed out it was built in a flood plain in Kingwood and so, floods periodically requiring moving the animals and feed.

After the student presentation, Rotarian Don Thompson introduced himself as the managing partner of DT Construction, the general contractor that is building the ag barn found at the intersection of Mills Branch Road and Ford Road in the northeast part of Kingwood.

The students ended their presentation by emphasizing that they learn more than animal husbandry. They learn about business, public speaking and leadership skills. Twenty-five FFA students obtained their Lone Star degree which is the highest degree obtained in high school FFA. Five students obtained the American degree, the highest degree achievable in the National FFA Organization.

Out of 651 teams throughout Texas competing for the State Leadership Building contest, two Humble ISD FFA teams competed and one placed seventh.

The Rotarians wanted to know more.

Do you get attached to your animals? Eric Gomez asked. They do, the students said, and they even give their animals names. Gomez followed up with, Do you cry when the animals go to market?

Before anyone could answer, Deborah Rose responded for the students. They cry if they dont go to market, she said.

The students explained how they go to the ag barn to pick out their animals. One student said she progressed from raising a baby rabbit her first year to a 1,300-pound steer in her final FFA year.

In answering additional Rotarian questions, the students said some FFA members are learning to be judges, a skill they can use to help judge auctions when they go to college. The students admitted FFA helps them be less shy, learn to speak up, and helps them choose a lifetime career, mostly animal science or veterinary school.

This is a program that is not fading, Larkin Le Sueur, career and technical education director, told the Rotarians. The program is growing. Students realize FFA is a gateway to what they want to do next. Humble ISD is committed to this program. In fact, we have hired two additional ag teachers this year.

As the meeting ended, club members agreed to select Juan Aybar as president-elect for the next fiscal year which will begin in May. The club also chose Roger Brown as president-elect when Aybar becomes president in 2023-24.

Summer Creek Satellite Club President Deborah Miller then reported the good news that the club has outgrown its meeting room at Generation Park and has moved to a large space in what Generation Park calls its Nimble Workspaces at Redemption Square. The group now boasts 14 members and meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 8:30 a.m., at 250 Assay St. in Generation Park. The Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area meets Wednesdays, 11:45 a.m., at the Lake Houston YMCA. To learn more about the advantages of being a Rotarian, lharotary.com.
West Fork Place to be affordable housing for seniors

A new affordable housing development is coming to Kingwood. Zach Cavender, senior vice president of the Mark-Dana Corporation, provided the Kingwood Super Neighborhood Council with a slide presentation in January about West Fork Place, a proposed real estate development of affordable housing for senior residents. The site is located just west of Highway 59/69 and south of the Kingwood Medical Center.

This is an affordable development for seniors, restricted to 55 and older, Cavender said as he displayed a map of an undeveloped land area at the southwest end of Kingwood Place Drive. It is planned to include a three-story building containing approximately 120 apartment units. It will be wheelchair accessible and include a swimming pool, club room with kitchen and media area, community laundry facilities, a fitness room and an equipped business center. Various tenant services will be provided to its residents.

The building and its provisioning will all be of class A construction including 100% masonry exteriors that include brick, cultured stone, stucco and/or Hardi Plank, Cavender said. The building will be fully sprinkled to meet fire safety standards and will use energy efficient materials and insulation throughout. The apartments will include Energy Star appliances, ceiling fans, smoke detectors, laundry connections, wall-to-wall plush carpeting, electric ranges, self-cleaning ovens, frost free refrigerators, dishwashers and hot water heaters.

Each unit will be wired for phone, cable and data and will have 9-foot ceilings.

Cavender pointed out West Fork Place will have a positive economic impact on the Kingwood area. He highlighted an example with a similar project located in Galveston County.

Affordable Housing is a tax credit program that is a public/private partnership. In return for incentives, the developer provides affordable rents restricted for 35 years, resident services including credit counseling, financial planning assistance, computer training, exercise classes and business centers. It creates a quality housing option for a segment of renters that is difficult for the market to supply, he said.

Tenant incomes are based on the Area Median Family Income and adjusted by family size. He explained the AMFI for a family of four for Montgomery County is approximately $79,200; 60% of the AMFI is $47,520, 50% is $39,600 and 30% is $23,760.

Rent limits are determined by a formula assuming that a tenant should not spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs, Cavender said.

Cavender closed his presentation by pointing out these kinds of projects have long-term compliance requirements including annual file audits and periodic site inspections including both state and federal oversight for up to 40 years. In addition, there are specific tenant screening requirements. They include full criminal background checks, credit checks, employment or source of income verification, recertified every year. The tenant income must be at least 2.5 times the rent in order to qualify. Cavender pointed out there is a zero-tolerance policy for criminal activity.

In other business:

Humble ISD Board Member Marques Holmes announced there will be a bond issue referendum included in the upcoming May 7 Humble ISD school board election. Once the school board completes defining the specific projects in the estimated $750 million bond proposal, Holmes plans to present it in detail to the council at its Feb. meeting.

Roycelyn Bastian of Lone Star College, Kingwood announced LSC redistricting is now underway. The board must redivide the district into the appropriate number of trustee districts if the census data indicates the population of the most populous district exceeds the population of the least populous district by more than 10 percent. This situation occurred in the recent national census, said Bastian. Kingwood College is currently in District 8 for trustee election purposes. District 8 community forums are now scheduled to be held April 6 and May 3 on the Kingwood Campus to explain the redistricting process. Since LSC holds its trustee elections in November of even-numbered years, the date required to complete redistricting is by Aug. 10. Full information is available at lonestar.edu/redistricting.

The next Kingwood Super Neighborhood Council Meeting is currently scheduled to be held Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. Due to the continuing COVID-19 threat, the meeting will be conducted as a Zoom teleconference.
In 1993, top-ranked womens tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back during a match in Hamburg, Germany, by a man who described hims
BLOOMINGTON  Bloomington-Normals two school districts continue to require students to wear masks, but most of the countys rural districts rolled back their mandates Monday.

The changes came even as Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul appealed Friday's ruling by a Sangamon County judge that invalidated Gov. J.B. Pritzker's requirement that masks be worn in schools to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

McLean County districts that have stopped enforcing the mandates include LeRoy Community Unit District #2, Heyworth Community Unit District #4, Lexington Community Unit District #7, Blue Ridge Unit District #18 and El Paso-Gridley Community Unit District #11.

Bloomington District 87, McLean County Unit 5 and Illinois State University Laboratory Schools all continued to require masks as of Monday.

"We have made the decision for now to stay on the course we've been on," said District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly.

District leaders met with various attorneys over the weekend to determine how the ruling would affect districts that were not parties to the case, he said. In the end, they decided the correct course was to keep the mandates in place. They were also concerned about appeals and later rulings that might force them to re-implement the mandates.

In a statement sent out over the weekend, Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle said the district would continue to comply with the existing executive order. On the advice of its attorney, Unit 5 is acting on the basis that it was not subject to the ruling and therefore is still under the mandates.

Unit 5 is the subject of a separate lawsuit by district teachers regarding COVID-related mandates. That case has not been heard yet.

The vast majority of Unit 5 students came to school with masks on Monday, Weikle said.

There was one incident in District 87 where a family with two elementary students came to school without masks, Reilly said. After being told they could not attend school without a mask, the mother let the children choose. One decided to wear a mask and stay, and the other left for the day.

The Bloomington Area Career Centers main campus is in the same building as Bloomington High School and continues to follow District 87s guidelines, said Assistant Principal Bryce Hansen. The satellite locations are also following their local districts, but as far as he knew, they were all still requiring masks.

Its pretty much status quo for us, he said.

ISU Lab Schools Acting Director Barbara Meyer said the administration has been discussing what to do and will likely continue to meet and figure things out throughout the week. In the meantime, the schools are requiring masks.

The Friday evening ruling on a temporary restraining order by Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow said that the stage agencies and school districts lacked the legal ability to enforce the mandates without due process.

The restraining order affects around 170 districts directly. It voids certain emergency rules from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education, and prevents the defendants from enforcing mask, vaccine or test requirements.

Grischow denied a request for class standing for the plaintiffs. Some of the defendants, like Mattoon, are reading the order as only applying to the named plaintiffs, while others are rescinding mandates for the entire district.

Area districts named as defendants include El Paso-Gridley, Congerville-Eureka-Goodfield Community Unit District #140, Roanoke-Benson Community Unit District #60 and Prairie Central Community Unit District #8.

In their announcements and social media posts announcing mask-optional policies, many districts recommend that students and staff continue to wear masks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also continues to recommend everyone wear a mask in schools.

Masks are still required on buses under federal mandates.

Raoul on Monday asked the 4th District Appellate Court in Springfield for an emergency halt to a temporary restraining order, which could lead to the state mandates being reinstated.

The governor criticized the judge's ruling at a press conference on Monday, saying it was based on a misreading of state law and was causing chaos for school districts, students and families. He encouraged districts not named in the case to continue following the mandates.

In its Facebook post, Lexington #7 acknowledged the potential for quick changes in the requirements as the case goes through the appeal process.

It is not lost on the Lexington #7 Board of Education that the potential of flip-flopping back and forth on requiring and not requiring masks and other mitigations is likely and not ideal for anyone, the district wrote. However, the Lexington #7 Board of Education would be remiss to not take the opportunity to govern by local control when given the ability to do so."

At District 87, Reilly said he anticipated that a ruling in the appeal would clarify the impact of the ruling for districts that were not defendants.

It has been frustrating for district staff to find themselves caught in the middle of these politicized debates, he said.

"We are trying to just be in the business of teaching and learning," Reilly said.

The Chicago Tribune and Lee Enterprises' Scott Perry contributed to this report.

Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter: @connorkwood

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BLOOMINGTON  Two candidates vying for the vacant seat on the McLean County Board pitched their qualifications for the spot to executive committee members Monday.

Derek Lough, 35, and Beverly Bell, 64, are seeking to fill the remainder of Laurie Wollrabs term through the end of 2022.

Each candidate is a Democrat, as they must be of the same political party as the member they are replacing.

Bell highlighted her experiences in the community, as well as her 22 years spent overseas with her husband serving in the U.S. military. She also worked for 25 years at the Normal Police Department, with the majority of that time as a police service representative at the front desk.

I come to you as a citizen that has tried to uphold the law, follow the law and make sure that people  poor, white, Black  can come together and sit down at the table, and everyone has a fair shake at the table, Bell said.

Lough, a second-year doctoral student in the School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University, said he is studying the intersection of efficacy and climate justice through a lens of problem-based learning.

The truth is, weve got a lot of challenges in front of us when it comes to the environment and how local government, small businesses and people in the community can tackle those challenges, Lough said.

When asked which committees they would want to serve on, if they had the opportunity to choose, Lough said the finance and transportation committees, especially because those two are definite possibilities in addressing some of the long-term issues of climate justice in small, practical ways.

Bell said she also would choose to serve on the transportation committee, as its very personal to me, because her brother was killed on an eight-lane highway while working construction in Texas.

Another focus for Bell would be improving the mental health resources in the county, especially at the jail.

Lough and Bell also expressed their abilities to work with Republicans or other board members they disagree with on issues.

I actually like nothing more, Lough said. I love a strong, healthy debate. I am a big fan of well-crafted arguments and even more than that, I enjoy engaging people with different opinions than my own.

He also pointed to his times in differing communities at various schools from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, which featured a lot of people with very down-to-Earth and dare I say conservative ideas, to the University of San Francisco, which is about the exact opposite and people who had ideas far more radical than my own.

Bell, who served several years on the Bloomington Planning Commission, recollected experiences when she had to sit down at the table and say, Hey, I feel this way about something or maybe we can rethink it and still get something passed, because not everybody is going to write it in the same language  there are going to be differences  but Im willing to talk them out.

The two candidates also expressed interest, but did not commit to saying they plan to run for re-election to the county board at the end of the current term.

McLean County Board Chairman John McIntyre will recommend a candidate for appointment to the board, subject to the boards approval, at its monthly meeting Thursday.

Contact Kade Heather at 309-820-3256. Follow him on Twitter: @kadeheather

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News  Vietnam

Over 90 percent of workers return to work after Tet holiday
 Flash

An estimated 4.3 million people have been affected by the severe drought which is ravaging several parts of Somalia, up from 3.2 million a month ago, the United Nations humanitarian agency said on Monday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said the escalating drought has seen some 271,000 have abandoned their homes in search of water, food and pasture. "With the next rainy season not expected until April 2022, Somalia is staring at a potential catastrophe," UNOCHA warned in its latest drought response released in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

It said the UN Central Emergency Response Fund has allocated 25 million U.S. dollars for the drought response and the Somalia Humanitarian Fund has complemented this funding with an allocation of 6 million dollars; a second allocation is underway. Additional funding for priority sectors is urgently required to save lives and livelihoods, including substantive and early funding for the 2022 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan.

"Severe water shortages and inadequate access to sanitation and hygiene facilities have heightened the risk of disease outbreaks," the UNOCHA said. It warned that the drought is projected to intensify as Somalia faces the risk of a fourth consecutive failed rainy season in early 2022.

The UN agency said the drought is compounding severe vulnerabilities and humanitarian needs caused by decades of protracted conflict and insecurity, climate shocks and disease outbreaks. It said thousands of children have dropped out of school as parents can no longer afford to pay fees, adding that food insecurity is increasing and malnutrition is high in drought-affected areas.

According to the UNOCHA, local communities, authorities and humanitarian partners are scaling up assistance and intensifying resource mobilization, guided by the drought response plan.
CHICAGO - A jury of eight men and four women was selected Monday in the trial of Chicago Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, the grandson and nephew of the citys two longest-serving mayors who is the first member of his familys political dynasty to face federal criminal charges.

Thompson, 52, who represents the 11th Ward where the Daley family built its once-formidable political machine, is charged with filing false tax returns and lying to federal agents about a line of credit he received from a Bridgeport bank that later collapsed.

The alderman walked into the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in the Loop shortly after 8 a.m. He sat next to his attorney in U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderramas courtroom, dressed in a dark suit and wearing a face mask. He was introduced to the panel of prospective jurors only as Pat Thompson.

Valderrama announced the panel of 12 regular jurors at about 3:45 p.m., after spending more than five hours questioning potential jurors about their backgrounds and answers to a questionnaire that identified Thompson as a Chicago alderman and probed their knowledge of the Daley family and its politics.

Among those picked to serve on the jury: An IT professional, a customer service representative and part-time music teacher, a sales associate at a furniture store, a high school teacher, a physical educational instructor, a rail car cleaner, and a shipping manager at a dental center.

Another juror, a woman in her 20s, works as an EMT and said her mother works as a machine operator for the Chicago Tribune.

Four alternate jurors  all men  were then selected before the whole panel was sworn in and the judge broke the trial for the day. Opening statements in the case were set for Tuesday morning.

Most in the jury pool said theyd never heard of Thompson or read any news reports about the case. One man, however, an internal audit manager at Chicago bank, said he had heard through his job that the bank at the center of the allegations, Washington Federal Bank for Savings, had folded and was in receivership with the FDIC.

Thompsons attorney asked that the man be stricken for cause, but the judge declined. He wound up being cut as part of the defenses peremptory challenges.

Another man, a residential contractor, was cut by the prosecution after he said during questioning he was a fan of and proud of the Daley family.

Thompson is the first sitting alderman to face a jury since the Operation Silver Shovel probe more than two decades ago.

But even more importantly, Thompson will be the first member of the Daley clan ever tried on federal charges  a prospect that would have been virtually unthinkable when the family was at the height of its power, holding sway over virtually every aspect of the citys political structure, including who would serve as the U.S. attorney.

The trial is slated to last at least a week.

Thompson, who has been on the City Council since 2015, was charged last April in a seven-count indictment with filing false tax returns and lying to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials about $219,000 in loans hed received from clout-heavy Washington Federal before it was shuttered in 2017.

The indictment alleged Thompson filed false tax returns stating he had paid a total of more than $171,000 in interest to Washington Federal related to the loans, when actually he had paid nothing, the indictment alleged. He also allegedly understated his taxable income on those same returns, according to the indictment.

Thompsons attorney, Chris Gair, has sought to portray any discrepancies in the paperwork as sloppy bookkeeping, not fraud. In a statement after the indictment was announced last year, Thompson said his conscience was clear and that hes paid the back taxes owed and repaid the rest of the loan in question.

I did not commit any crime, I am innocent and I will prove it at trial, the statement said. The charges in the indictment do not relate in any way to my public service or to my professional life. I remain 100% dedicated to serving the people of Chicago to the best of my ability.

The more serious charges of making false statements carry a maximum of 30 years in federal prison, while the tax counts are punishable by up to three years behind bars.

Meanwhile, a conviction on any of the counts would likely force Thompson to immediately resign his seat on the council.

The case is an offshoot of a bigger probe filled with intrigue. The banks president, John Gembara, died by suicide at the home of a customer days before the feds shut it down. A massive federal investigation later led to criminal charges accusing a number of former bank employees and customers of running a multiyear, $31 million embezzlement scheme that doled out millions of dollars in loans with no collateral or expectation of repayment.

Thompson was not charged as part of the embezzlement scheme and U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama has barred any direct testimony about it. Instead, the evidence in Thompsons case will be largely dry, focusing on his bank records and tax returns.

The evidence is also expected to contain little if any mention of Thompsons position as an elected official or his role in the Daley family. In fact, the indictment doesnt include the Daley name at all, only his middle initial, and the judge has barred Thompsons attorneys from showing the jury the aldermans biography posted on the 11th Ward website.

A questionnaire filled out last week by prospective jurors, however, does identify Thompson as a Chicago alderman and states his grandfather was the late Mayor Richard J. Daley and his uncle is former Mayor Richard M. Daley.

To help weed out any potential biases, the questionnaire asked whether anything about those facts would lead them to treat him differently in this case than someone not in politics.

At a hearing Friday night, nine potential jurors were stricken for cause, all due at least in part to their views of the Daleys and their ability to remain impartial.

Thompson, a real estate attorney who still lives in the Bridgeport bungalow where his grandfather, Richard J. Daley, raised his family, began his political career when he was elected to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District a decade ago.

With the support of his uncles, former Richard M. Daley and Cook County Commissioner and 11th Ward Democratic Committeeman John Daley, he then promptly won a seat on the City Council in 2015, representing the South Side Bridgeport neighborhood that has been his familys seat of political power for decades.

Observers noted Thompsons jowly, blue-eyed resemblance to his grandfather, a connection bolstered by the fact that he and his family live in his grandfathers former home.

Since his indictment, Thompson has remained involved with City Council issues. He attends nearly all the Zoom meetings for council committees on which he sits, frequently questioning Lightfoot administration officials about the potential impact their proposals will have on city policies and finances.

And he has spoken up repeatedly during the city ward remap fight in defense of keeping the Back of the Yards neighborhood in the 11th Ward, instead of cutting some of it out as part of a move to create Chicagos first majority Asian ward.

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SPRINGFIELD  Republican gubernatorial candidate Jesse Sullivan says there are three core values that guide his life: "faith, family, service."

And it's "not just a political slogan," Sullivan said, who fashions himself an anti-politician. At the very least, he's a political neophyte.

Sullivan, a venture capitalist from Petersburg who was a virtual unknown before launching his campaign last September, is one of five men seeking to take on incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker in November.

He is currently embarking on a 19-stop "Save Illinois" truck tour across Central Illinois, the region he's from yet where many voters are still getting to know him.

"Just going around trying to learn from them, hear what issues matter most and then also getting to introduce myself," Sullivan told Lee Enterprises in a 14-minute interview Monday. "I started this race at -1 on the name ID side. And so, just really getting to share who I am and the conservative values I hold."

Sullivan is a wild card of sorts in the Republican primary, which also features candidates like state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, lauded by many conservatives for challenging Pritzker's COVID-19 emergency orders, and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, a moderate with significant financial backing from larger Chicago-area donors.

Also running are businessman Gary Rabine and former state Sen. Paul Schimpf.

"I'm a fiscal-social-constitutional conservative," Sullivan said. "And I think Republican primary voters are good at sussing out and figuring out who actually shares my values, and who's viable to actually beat J.B. Pritzker in this next election and who can lead."

Sullivan himself is well-financed, having relied on a handful of large out-of-state donors to amass a warchest of nearly $11 million before launching his campaign. He still had $9.1 million on hand as of Dec. 31, according to campaign finance records.

With these resources, Sullivan is the only Republican airing television advertisements besides Irvin. His message compares certain parts of Chicago to war-torn Afghanistan, where he spent time as a civilian intelligence analyst.

"Pritzkers leftist agenda is literally killing us, turning parts of Illinois into a war zone, Sullivan says in the ad.

"I want to bring people back and make Illinois the 'Land of Lincoln' again," Sullivan said, speaking after a campaign meet-and-greet in downtown Springfield. "And I feel like it's become the capital of Capone, where it's corruption, crime and chaos."

The Petersburg Republican called for the repeal of the Safe-T Act, the massive criminal justice reform bill signed into law by Pritzker last year.

Though he acknowledged that some of the most controversial provisions, such as the elimination of cash bail, have not gone into effect, Sullivan said the law and sentiment behind it has had a chilling effect on law enforcement.

Pritzker has defended his support for the legislation and announced more funds for public safety in his budget, including $250 million for community-based violence prevention initiatives.

Sullivan, however, was mum when asked about a resolution passed last week by the Republican National Committee that declared the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol "legitimate political discourse."

That day, supporters of former President Donald Trump violently stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. About 140 police officers were injured and one was killed in the attack. More than 750 have been charged in connection with the riot.

"I do not pay attention to national politics at all," Sullivan said. "I genuinely have no interest right now in fixing D.C., I have every interest in fixing Illinois. And my entire attention and focus is on my neighbors here in Illinois..."

Sullivan was critical of Pritzker in other ways, including the latter's handling of state finances, saying he "looked the other way" on the biggest challenges facing the state, specifically mentioning the state's massive unfunded pension liability.

The state's pension problems preexist Pritzker, who, unlike some previous governors, has made required payments into the system every year while proposing an additional $500 million in his fiscal year 2023 budget.

Sullivan said he wants to lower taxes while still dealing with the massive mountain of pension debt and other growing obligations, something that can be done by expanding the state's tax base.

Though state coffers are flush with cash due to strong economic growth and COVID-19 stimulus funds, Sullivan said people are still leaving the state, an ominous long-term sign.

"I have a commitment to growth," Sullivan said. "It's one that says 'we want to look more like Florida and Texas, not like California, New York.' So that means let's lower our taxes and regulation so we can attract in the industries of the future, the talent all coming to Illinois."

Sullivan also applauded a Sangamon County judge's ruling barring the state from enforcing its school mask mandate.

"I am a believer in local control," Sullivan said. "We're a diverse state and local communities should be making those decisions and parents get to weigh in with school boards to decide 'how do we want to handle this situation?'"

Sullivan, at the first of six meet-and-greets in Central Illinois Monday, talked with about two-dozen voters. He was joined by his wife Monique and their one-month-old son Will.

He would then head to events in Lincoln, Decatur, Monticello, Farmer City and Normal.

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CHICAGO - Chicago-area school districts are relaxing their COVID-19 policies or revealing they plan to stay the course in the wake of an Illinois judges decision to temporarily prevent Gov. J.B. Pritzkers school mask mandate and other safety measures from being enforced statewide.

After canceling classes Monday to study the ruling, St. Charles District 303 and Geneva District 304 announced they are encouraging students and staff to continue to wear masks, but will no longer require them to do so. Both districts are among dozens of schools systems that are defendants in legal challenges waged by downstate attorney Tom DeVore, who argued Pritzker exceeded his authority with requirements that students and teachers wear masks inside schools, that unvaccinated school employees provide negative COVID-19 test results and that close contacts of infected people to stay home.

There has been confusion about school mask and quarantine requirements since Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow issued the temporary restraining order Friday because several hundred Illinois school districts were not named in the litigation. Pritzker on Monday encouraged those districts to continue to follow the prescribed public health protocols.

The Tribune spoke with Nancy Fredman Krent, who teaches education law as an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, about what the decision means for schools as the pandemic continues.

Does the judges decision only cover the plaintiffs in the lawsuit or all students in that districts that were sued?

DeVore represents hundreds of parents and educators, though he has said he believes others will join his efforts. Grischow denied DeVores request for class certification last week.

The judge didnt certify the class, so technically only the plaintiffs would be covered. But if you read the order, the judge enjoined the defendants (including both the state defendants and individual school boards) from requiring the school districts to mandate use of masks by students or staff, Krent said. So you can read the order as covering only the plaintiffs or read it as covering the defendants in their actions generally.

She continued: The judge refers in the footnotes to non-named plaintiffs without holding directly they are specifically covered, but she implies they are or, at a minimum, she believes that if they sue, they will get the same result as this decision.

What happens if a school district that was sued continues requiring masks?

Algonquin District 300, a defendant in the litigation, announced Monday it will still enforce mask requirements and school exclusion for close contacts, except for the students who sued.

Because the judge did not apply her decision to all students in District 300, all non-party students will continue to follow our established and pre-existing COVID-19 prevention strategies, Superintendent Susan Harkin said in a statement.

Please note that students refusing to wear a mask will be asked to do so or they will be subject to being assigned to an alternative setting and/or disciplinary measures.

DeVore has said he will seek penalties against districts if his clients are harassed for not wearing masks.

Krent said Illinois school districts are likely weighing the potential for more litigation against the need to protect the health and safety of all the students that they are responsible for.

What about Chicago Public Schools, which has a COVID-19 safety agreement with its teachers union?

CPS is a defendant in the litigation. In her Friday decision, Grischow wrote that individual collective bargaining agreements for each union will have to be analyzed.

CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union started the school year without a safety agreement, but forged one last month after the unions members voted to refuse in-person work amid the omicron-fueled surge in COVID-19 cases. The deal includes a provision that everyone entering a CPS facility must wear a mask.

In the agreement, the district promised to continue to follow health department quarantine guidance, which calls for students and staff members who are close contacts of an infected person to stay home temporarily unless they are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic. Around 35% of CPS students and 91% of staff are fully vaccinated, according to district data.

After the judge issued her decision, CPS announced it will stay the course with its COVID-19 protocol.

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 district said in a statement last week. CTU vowed to stand shoulder to shoulder with CPS in this battle.

I think CPS probably has a strong argument that they are allowed under the labor laws to continue to enforce an agreement that they have validly made with their employees, Krent said.

One school, Oriole Park Elementary on the Northwest Side, reiterated the districts policies in an email to parents Monday night.

Today, some students came to school without masks. When we contacted parents, the parents refused to allow their children to comply. Following the guidance of CPS administration, we did not exclude these students from school, the Oriole Park message read.

We did document the event, and a possible consequence for repeated mask refusal is recommendation for remote learning. In the meantime, these students are required to follow strict social distancing.

Whats next for the litigation?

The Illinois Attorney Generals office filed an appeal Monday, demanding a stay to Grischows decision. The plaintiffs have a chance to respond.

Temporary restraining orders are considered to be emergency orders, and so they take precedence over other things on the docket, Krent said. I expect that we could have a ruling from an appellate court within the next 10 to 14 days. And then after that, potentially, the Illinois Supreme Court.

How have court challenges to Pritzkers pandemic policies fared?

Grischows ruling is not the first blow to Pritzkers COVID-19 plans. Legal challenges from churches seeking to block his stay-at-home order early in the pandemic prompted Pritzker to ease guidelines for houses of worship.

In the fall of 2020, a Kane County judge granted a request from FoxFire Tavern for a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of Pritzkers indoor dining ban. An appellate court later sided with Pritzker, and the Illinois Supreme Court rejected the Geneva restaurants appeal.

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In todays politically charged climate, it is infrequent that an issue or piece of legislation garners bipartisan support.

Last year, in a rare display of bipartisanship, an essential and long-overdue reform designed to modernize Americas infrastructure was signed into law by President Joe Biden, having received the support of dozens of congressional Republicans and nearly all Democrats.

This year, Biden and Democrats in Congress have another unique opportunity to pass an important piece of legislation on a bipartisan basis: the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, or JCPA.

The JCPA, which initially was circulated in 2018, was reintroduced last year by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Kennedy, R-La. The Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee recently held a hearing on the legislation, which is designed to curb Big Techs monopoly over news and information.

If passed, the JCPA would allow news publishers to collectively negotiate  under the authority of a federal arbiter  with social media companies, namely Meta (Facebook) and Alphabet (Google), over how news is distributed online. This would make the news industry stronger and more equitable by ensuring that the smaller media entities that own local news outlets receive adequate compensation for their content so that they can continue to operate.

As things currently are, Big Tech is able to disseminate the intellectual property of media outlets without offering any compensation or benefit to these local newspapers and content providers. This is not only blatantly unfair  as it represents an expropriation of outlets work products without any economic benefit  but it is also one of the major reasons why local newspapers across the country are facing unprecedented challenges in remaining both economically viable and as the lifeblood of their communities.

The necessity of implementing the reforms contained in JCPA is clear from a practical perspective. The world of news and information has changed dramatically over the last two decades, yet antitrust and antimonopoly laws havent changed with it. As a result, local newspapers have been on life support throughout much of the 21st century.

Given that companies such as Alphabet and Meta have not taken the initiative to self-regulate by making meaningful changes to their practices, it is now the job of the federal government to step to make news and information a freer and fairer industry.

It is noteworthy that the JCPA is part of a global trend in which governments have been cracking down on social media monopolies by strengthening their antitrust laws.

In the U.S. alone, over the last several months, there have been numerous antitrust hearings in Congress in which the CEOs of Big Tech social media companies were questioned about their approach of essentially bullying competitors into either accepting buyouts or face being destroyed.

Some critics  mainly on the left  are claiming that the JCPA would enable large news outlets to make special deals with Big Tech companies, thus worsening the problem of monopolization in the news industry. However, this is inaccurate, as the bill does not allow big companies to negotiate alone or to broker side agreements under the threat of harsh penalties.

Those on the political right have taken issue with the bill for different reasons, arguing that it would actually give Big Tech more power to discriminate against smaller conservative publications for the purposes of demonetizing the outlet. Yet, the JCPA is written to prevent Big Tech from engaging in this kind of behavior.

Though there are provisions and language in the current bill that need to be carefully studied and debated over the next several months, its clear that the time has come for the U.S. to rein in Big Tech.

Douglas E. Schoen is a Democratic campaign consultant.

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UTAG embarked on strike on January 10 this year, calling on the government to restore members to the 2013 Interim Market Premium (IMP) of 114 percent of basic salary.



They also wanted the government to address the general conditions of service of the University teachers.



UTAG believes that the IMP, which was instituted after the implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy, was 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 and contends that to date, the determination has not been made, which has resulted in the erosion of the university teachers salary, according to a graphiconline publication.



However, the National Labour Commission (NLC) has directed UTAG to call off their strike but the latter has refused.



It is feared that, after 21 days of no teaching, the Universities will be compelled to shut down.



This is said to be a law but the Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum has refuted the claim.



In an interview on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' with Kwami Sefa Kayi, the Education Minister set the record straight disclosing that it's nowhere in the laws of Ghana that Universities should shut down after 21 days of inactivity as peddled around.



He stressed; ''It's not lawful. It's rather become a practice. It's a only convention. There is no law that says that.''







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Dr. George Ayisi Boateng, a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and former Ghana's High Commissioner to South Africa has called on Ghanaians to rally behind Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum in his quest to transforming Ghanas education sector.



He said, the leadership of the current Education Minister has injected innovation into the sector with great potentials to produce intellectuals in the long term with the support of Ghanaians.



The former Ghana's Ambassador to South Africa who was speaking to the media in Kumasi, particularly mentioned the huge investments being made in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as a step in the right direction.



He added that TVET is critical to efficient manpower base of the country and must be a priority for all stakeholders, especially parents who often discourage their wards from pursuing TVET courses.



He implored parents to support their wards who have chosen to pursue technical and vocational courses to realise their potentials not only for personal benefits but the overall national development.



According to the leading member of the New Patriotic Party, the success of Ghana's industrialisation agenda largely depends on the effective implementation of TVET; he stressed the need for all stakeholders to back the Education Minister to achieve his of vision in that direction.



'The Minister has so far demonstrated his commitment to make TVET as relevant as other courses and we must all play our respective roles as stakeholders', he noted.



Dr. Ayisi Boateng also praised the Minister for promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.



He highlighted the fact that that is the way to go as a nation so as to build the capacity of the younger generation to solve complex issues in the fields of science, technology and engineering.



He was of the strong conviction that if the programme is well managed and sustainably resourced, Ghana could become a hub for technology and engineering in the near future.



The Education Minister, he emphasised, is not only leading the implementation of the STEM programme but also, personally sponsoring some of his constituents to study science and engineering courses in various public universities across the nation.



This singular gesture, he noted, shows the determination of a man committed to improving livelihoods through education; he reiterated the need to support his transformation agenda at the Ministry of Education.



Watch Video Below





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The shortage of the 32-page passport booklet is due to the effect of Covid-19 on global supply chains, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has announced.



The Minister made the announcement at a Press Conference held in Accra on Monday, 7 February 2022.



Reacting to concerns raised by some persons who applied for the 32-page passport, the Minister said: I regret to announce that due to Covid related disruptions to global supply chains, we currently do not have in stock the 32-page booklet.



The Ministry placed an order sometime in August last year, but the booklets are yet to be delivered. The Minister advised persons who had put in applications for the 32-page booklet to apply for the 42-page passport in the time being.



She further cautioned the applicants against paying middlemen to assist them to acquire passports. There is no need for anyone to pay money to middlemen to help them.



The middlemen do not fast-track the application process so please do not patronise them, Ms Botchwey stated.









Source: class fm









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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Early warning systems, including maritime coordination centres, have been set up to pick intelligence on potential security threats to the country.



Measures are also being put in place to establish an Accra initiative for coastal states and communities, where the leadership of the security services will meet periodically to review the security situation in coastal areas.



They will also share intelligence to prevent security threats, particularly among Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that share common borders.



The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, who announced this at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, said the systems were in line with measures adopted by member states of ECOWAS in the wake of rising security threats.



She explained that while the early warning centres would pick up signals relating to political instability, terrorism and violent extremism in the sub-region, the maritime centres were part of a regional framework to counter illegal activities such as piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea.



Tenure



The minister also said that the ECOWAS Commission was considering a supplementary protocol on good governance and democracy that would ensure that constitutionally elected Heads of State had a maximum of two-term tenure.



She was responding to a question on what preventive measures ECOWAS was putting in place to address issues of political instability in the sub-region as a result of some leaders changing constitutions to extend their stay in power.



Ms Botchwey said public education on the benefits of good governance and democracy was also key to ensuring that the citizenry, including leaders, imbibed those tenets, adding that there is no justification for any constitutionally elected leader to subvert the will of the people.



Political stability



She further said Ghana had a strong interest in the stability and security of the African continent, including its neighbours.



The insecurities we see or experience  whether due to attacks or murder of thousands of people in communities across the Sahel, including ECOWAS member states  are worrisome, she said.



The minister also expressed concern over the inflow of weapons, including small arms that usually accompanied migrants and terrorists, into some countries in the sub-region.



She said those security threats had a negative impact in the development of the country, including our Ghana Beyond Aid agenda".



We cannot realise the benefits of free trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) if terrorism, insecurity and political upheavals disrupt trade and the industrialisation agenda that should support increased trade and employment in our countries," Ms Botchwey added.



She further mentioned some communities in Afram Plains and Agogo in the Eastern and the Ashanti regions, respectively, and said people may not be aware that they are part of the story of upheavals in the Sahel, but the people feel the disruptive and damaging effects of the migrating herdsmen from the Sahelian region".



She said in Ghanas capacity as Chair of ECOWAS, under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, we have provided leadership to address the sources of division and instability in our member states.



Other matters



The minister's briefing covered security in West Africa and the Sahel Region, service delivery on passport and consular services, enhancing the country's image abroad, influence, as well as economic diplomacy.



She also threw light on the premium passport service, the extension of the passport validity period, the establishment of passport application centres, service delivery, the construction of the Upper East Regional Passport Centre in Bolgatanga and the introduction of chip-embedded passports.



She said as part of efforts to decentralise the acquisition of passports, 13 passport application centres had so far been established throughout the country, with the construction of the Upper East Regional centre to commence soon.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Personnel from the Police and Ghana National Fire Service at Nsawam in the Eastern Region have successfully cleared an articulated truck which veered off the road at Aburi Junction and crashed into three taxis and blocked the Nsawam road.



The incident which happened on Monday, February 7, 2022, resulted in heavy traffic congestion on that stretch of the road.



Following the accident, personnel from the Nsawam MTTD and Ghana National Fire Service went to the scene to control the situation.



The police also advised motorists to use the Nsawam - Suhum bypass as they worked to clear the road.



The police in a statement said all the vehicles involved in the accident have been removed, hence allowing the Police to open the road to normal traffic flow.





Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Ghanaian foodservice Industry in the Central region has welcomed a newborn restaurant and beverage service dubbed 'Finest Pub and Restaurant' located in Assin Fosu, the capital of Assin Central Municipal District.



The company which is considered among the top class of food and beverages services in the Central Region was officially launched on the 24th December 2021.



The night hosted several patrons from the cardinals of the region and Assin Fosu indigenes who were thrilled with musical expositions.



The food service company is poise to render top quality service to the people of Assin Fosu and its enclaves under a healthy environment.



Finest Pub and Restaurant in its early days in the Food Service Industry has given a good meaning to the fact that it serves as a public house that serves food and acts as a community gathering place.



For travellers, Finest Pub and Restaurant will be best located on the coordinates 542N 139W.



Finest Pub and Restaurants run friendly, welcoming services, taking care of customers' needs in an appropriate time frame.



The food service company runs the entire services of a pub and restaurant and that makes it a standout within the Central Region enclave.



Finest pub and Restaurant has in availability all kinds of drinks (both hard and soft) and every local and international food one may think of.



Food and beverages services include Plate Service, Cart Service, Plater Service, Buffet Service and Family style service.



On the other side, the company provides food delivery services where food ordered by customers are delivered at their doorstep.



Finest pub and restaurant has an average of about 100 employees ranging from chefs to cleaners.



The pub has an advanced auditorium which on a normal day can host about 800 patrons for any event.



The launch recorded over 1000 concertgoers and patrons who thronged the venue to establish their joy and alongside get entertained with good musical performances.



The auditorium is open to hosting all kinds of musical concerts, birthday parties, refreshments among others at an affordable price.



As a newborn, Finest Pub and Restaurant has stood out among others in terms of pricing and charges.



Currently, the Food and drinks Service company is running a discount promo for its patrons which comes along with some good treats.



Potential customers are therefore admonished to patronize Finest Pub and Restaurants for all brands of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages alongside local and international cookeries.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris on Monday exchanged congratulatory messages on the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic relations.

Wang said in his message that China and Sri Lanka have always shown each other mutual understanding and support, setting a good example of friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries of different sizes. The two countries have worked together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the spirit of mutual assistance since its outbreak, enhancing their traditional friendship. The two countries are now seeking further alignment of their development strategies and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, so as to inject impetus to the post-pandemic economic recovery.

Wang said he paid a successful visit to Sri Lanka recently and jointly launched celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact. Both sides agreed to carry forward the tradition of solidarity and mutual assistance, deepen China-Sri Lanka practical cooperation and expand shared interests of the two countries.

Wang said he is ready to work with Peiris to maintain close communication and coordination, and move forward the strategic cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual assistance and enduring friendship.

In his message, Peiris mentioned that the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and China coincides with the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact.

Over the years, he said, the enduring friendship and cooperation between Sri Lanka and China have flourished, bringing common benefits to their partnership in various fields, and the close exchanges between the leaders of the two countries have witnessed the enduring development of bilateral relations.

Despite difficulties brought by the pandemic, Wang visited Sri Lanka during his first overseas trip in 2022, which fully demonstrates the priority both sides give to Sri Lanka-China relations, Peiris said.

Peiris said he believes that Sri Lanka and China will continue to strengthen cooperation in economy, poverty reduction, international and regional issues, people-to-people exchanges and vaccine cooperation, among others.

He also looks forward to working closely with Wang to further deepen and expand the traditional friendship and the strategic cooperative partnership between Sri Lanka and China, delivering benefits to the two peoples together.
A Deputy Finance Minister, Lawyer John Kumah, believes there is a grand scheme to force Ghana into accepting financial intervention from the International Monetary Fund.



To John Kumah, the assessment done by international economic ratings firm, Moodys, cannot be said to be accurate since no representative has been to town to have a first-hand information about the country's economy.



Moodys has downgraded Ghanas long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B3.



Ghanas outlook has also been moved to stable from negative.



Moodys projects that Ghanas government debt ratios will continue to deteriorate in the next few years with extremely weak debt affordability significantly constraining policymaking.



Moodys estimates that government debt ended 2021 at 80% of GDP while interest payments alone consumed half of government revenue that year (positioning Ghana with the second largest ratio among Moodys rated sovereigns).



But speaking on Okay Fm's Ade Akye Abia programme, he explained that Moody has no credibility to disclose or rate Ghana's financial standing because they have not even visited the country to understudy the country's financial and fiscal policy.



".....they lack knowledge about the country's economy.....How can you sit behind your computer somewhere in your office and decide to rate a country you have not even visited and have no knowledge about our financial standing? he quizzed.



To him, the country needs to be patted on the back for the way it has handled its affairs relative to the pandemic.



"Covid 19 has really destabilized a lot of country's financial standing. Even the UK is reeling under serious economic hardship so if Ghana has been able to manage its economy properly in these hard Covid times, you cannot give us a negative rating," John Kumah argued.



Watch Video Below





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Government to suspend some taxes on petroleum products as a remedial measure to cushion consumers against the continuous hike in fuel prices.



The Party, at a media briefing in Accra on Monday, February 07, 2022, urged the Government to suspend the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy, and the Sanitation and Pollution Levy on petroleum products to reduce the percentage of taxes on the total price build-up.



Mr George Opare Addo, National Youth Organiser, NDC, who addressed the media, said failure on the part of the Government to keep the fuel prices at affordable levels could badly affect the livelihoods of the people.



The country in recent times is rolling back on its progress. Times are hard for young people and families alike.



...we demand that the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy be suspended without fail and the irrelevant Sanitation and Pollution Levy all added to the petroleum price build-up be cancelled, he said.



Fuel prices have gone up by at least 50 pesewas per litre at the pumps since February 01, 2022.



Petrol and diesel are currently being sold at an average of GHc 7.3 and GHc 7.4 per litre respectively.



The hike has been blamed on rising cost of Brent crude on the international market, with some analysts projecting that fuel prices could hit GHC8.0 per litre by March this year if the situation on the world market progressed.



The National Youth Wing of the NDC said it would on Thursday, February 10, 2022, stage a demonstration dubbed Yentua, to wit We wont pay to oppose the proposed Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy).



Mr Addo said the rationale behind the demonstration was to among others, support Minority in Parliament to resist the passage of the E-Levy Bill, demand a resolution of the prolonged industrial action by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), and payment of the gratuities of NABCO trainees.



The NDC is not against taxes. The Government must tax the right sources. Last year alone, mobile money transactions exceeded $500m. What it simply means is that they (Telcos) made more profits.



Financial institutions are making abnormal profits. What the Government needs to do is to tax financial institutions and financial companies. The extractive industry is still available, he noted.



Mr Bernard Monarh, Convener for the pressure group, Justice for Ghana Movement, said the Group would persistently resist the E-Levy until it was completely withdrawn from Parliament.



He said the tax had the potential to collapse Ghanaian businesses, particularly those that relied on mobile money for daily transactions.



We believe that taxes are levied on profits, gains on capital, interests, and other incomes. Taxes are not levied on the working capital, he said.



Mr George Kofi Aboah, a convener of the Coalition of Concerned University Students, appealed to the Government to urgently resolve the impasse with UTAG for academic activities to resume.



When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. The students are suffering. Weve paid exorbitant tuition and hostel fees and yet our lecturers are on strike for weeks, he lamented.

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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The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has said President Nana Akufo-Addos regime is a challenge to Ghanas democratic system.



He berated President Akufo-Addo for turning himself into a dictator and literally ditching the constitution in his government.



It appears we dont have any constitution in Ghana now; the only constitution we have is Akufo-Addo. He takes decisions without recourse to the constitution. The constitution is there to guide our leaders so that they dont become monsters, but Akufo-Addo is largely pulling us out of the democratic system. Well resist it, he told the Ashanti regional youth wing of the NDC in Kumasi on Sunday, February 6, 2022.



He believes President Akufo-Addo is part of the reason the lawmaking Chamber has seen utter chaos and disorder in the eighth Parliament.







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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The Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Bill, 2021 is expected to take centre stage in Parliament as the House resumes sitting today, February 8 to Friday, February 11, 2022.

The E-Levy bill is expected to be withdrawn and reintroduced in Parliament by the government on Friday, February 11, 2022.



The Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who presented the Business Statement for the week in Parliament last Friday, said the withdrawal would take place after the Minister of Finances ongoing sensitisation tour in certain parts of the country to educate Ghanaians on the bill.



Mr Afenyo-Markin added that in the event that the minister was unlikely to withdraw and reintroduce the bill on February 11, 2022, he would do so on Tuesday, February 15, 2022.



Members are, therefore, encouraged to participate fully in the consideration of the bill for the passing of a good piece of legislation for the benefit of all, Mr Afenyo-Markin, who is also the Deputy Vice Chairman of the Business Committee of Parliament, said.



Minority



Whether the E-Levy bill would be reintroduced this week on the floor of Parliament or not, the Minority in Parliament has said they were still opposed to the bill.



Commenting on the business statement, the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said by the rules of the House, when a bill was introduced and referred by the Speaker to a designated committee, it was such committee that was enjoined to conduct inquiry into the bill.



He, therefore, said it did not lie with the Minister of Finance to go round the country to engage stakeholders and Ghanaian citizens on the E-Levy bill.



With regard to lack of clarity surrounding the bill, he said members of the House needed to be furnished with when the bill might be introduced to enable them to plan their life.



I do not want to believe that this bill is being held in search for numbers for purpose of voting on it; no, that is not how this Parliament should run. That I am holding the bill and when

I am satisfied I have the number to take favourable decision and it is introduced, he said.



Questions



During this weeks sitting, six ministers of state would also appear before the House to respond to questions.



They are the Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful; Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum; Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson; Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen; Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, and the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah.



They are scheduled to answer a total of 48 questions during the week, three of them being urgent, and 45 oral, on the floor of the House.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A map of Tonga and outlying islands and where the Tonga Kitchens project did work, compiled from Google Maps. Credit: David Webster, Author provided

Tonga is still assessing the devastation of January's volcanic explosion that was hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

The eruption caused a tsunami that hit Tonga and outlying islands, and spurred tsunami warnings in North America. It was a reminder that the South Pacific is not as distant from us as we might think.

Emergency relief aid is reaching Tonga, though it's been complicated by a nearby earthquake a few days later as well as restrictions that seek to keep the country free of COVID-19.

The larger challenge will be reconstruction once the attention of the world has moved on. As the speaker of the national parliament said: "It's going to be a long road to recovery."

During Canada's ongoing International Development Week, it's important to remember there are lessons from a similar natural disaster 40 years ago in the South Pacific. That's when Canadians helped rebuild after cyclone Isaac, the worst storm in the region in the 20th century. Emergency relief arrived throughout 1982, but people in hard-hit outlying islands were still suffering a year later.

Development and kitchens

One desperate need was for cooking houses. Traditional societies in outlying islands use three types of structuresdwelling houses, cooking houses and bathing houses. While international agencies helped to rebuild homes, there was poor understanding of the need for cooking houses, known as peito (kitchen in English).

Enter a new Canadian organization: the Pacific Peoples' Partnership (known at the time by its previous name, the South Pacific People's Foundation). Its director, Phil Esmonde, an American-born veteran turned Canadian peace activist, communicated with village women's groups in the more remote islands of Tonga and shared the need for cooking houses.

A year after the cyclone, Esmonde wrote in an internal document contained in the organization's unpublished archives:

"Many peitos now consist of nothing more than a fire pit under a tree or a few pieces of leftover roofing iron."

Village women emphasized the need for cooking houses to store and prepare food, to eat and to allow women to gather and carry out traditional functions and work, such as weaving.

In other words, peitos were not just about reconstructing villages. They were about reconstructing village life and about women's needsaspects not normally prioritized by international humanitarian agencies.

Focus on gender, Indigenous needs

In response, the Pacific Peoples' Partnership launched the Tonga Kitchens project as its first full-scale development effort. It focused on issues of gender and Indigenous needs, not imported models.

Equally important, it paid close attention to the more remote northern islandsincluding many of the same islands hit hardest by January's tsunami, including Nomuka and Mango, where every house was destroyed following the eruption.

Delving into the Pacific Peoples' Partnership's archives unearths stories about close ties between Canada and the Pacific islands. The organization was founded in 1975 as an offshoot of the United States-based Foundation for the South Pacific, the brainchild of Australian actor Elizabeth (Betty) Silverstein and her husband, American studio executive Maurice (Red) Silverstein.

The Canadian organization increased its impact through grants from the British Columbia government. Under NDP Premier Dave Barrett, B.C. created an innovative fund to match aid money raised by B.C.-based non-governmental organizations.

The Tongan island of Mango is seen in this 2013 photo. Credit: Scott Mills, CC BY-SA

Matching fundraising dollars

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was at the time also willing to match fundraising as part of its emphasis on working closely with civil society both in Canada and overseas.

CIDA funding for development education within Canada allowed the Pacific People's Partnership to host Tongan artist Sinisia Taumoepeau, who strengthened the organization's existing ties with local women's development groups in Tonga in the early 1980s.

She was part of the Tonga Kitchens project, in which the Pacific People's Partnership sent $40,000 (more than $100,000 in today's money) to help rebuild hundreds of peitos. Islanders did all the work, contributing 80 percent of the project's value. As the organization's archives say: "The project was truly theirs."

CIDA's emphasis at the time on integrating women in development made the Pacific People's Partnership's work with Tongan women attractive in Ottawa. The partnership has retained that emphasis, with Tonga's Women and Children Crisis Centre now a major partner.

The crisis centre stresses the Indigenous Tongan method of talanoa (talking informally) to provide mental health and other services. Its founder is feminist researcher Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki, a leading thinker in building equitable north-south partnerships.

Aid now less effective

The Canadian government, however, later abandoned its earlier emphasis on civil society, women in development, development education and on the highly effective matching grants collaboration with Canadian civil society organizations.

It substituted corporate-driven and bureaucratic strategies such as pairing non-governmental organizations with Canadian mining companies or promoting structural adjustmentsshifts that have often made Canadian aid less effective.

Only in recent years has Ottawa rediscovered ideas like "civil society partnerships" and a "feminist international assistance policy."

That's a positive development, but we also need to recover the historical memory of Canadian development assistance and craft effective strategies on civil society and feminist aid as the Canadian Network on Humanitarian History does. The Tonga Kitchens project shows the needs have remained constant over the decades, including after the latest eruption.

We should also learn from the sustained engagement of groups like the Pacific Peoples' Partnership rather than rely on short-term contracts and project-based approaches. Canada's government seems to create a new aid strategy every few years, then celebrates it. Instead, it should reckon honestly with its past and current aid record.

A further lesson is that initiatives should be informed by the affected community. Tongans know their needs better than foreign visitors. Aid needs to be reframed as solidarity, not as benevolence. In other words, Canada needs to decolonize its aid.

Finally, when disasters strike, Canadians need to remember that reconstruction takes years. To be effective, it should focus on the expressed needs of local people, especially voices that can become marginalizedthose of remote Indigenous peoples and village-based women.

Work such as the Tonga Kitchens project not only delivers concrete help, it also "strengthens and solidifies the efforts of grass roots women's groups, and affirms their organization," as one archival Pacific People's Partnership report noted.

Explore further Tonga eruption is one for the record books

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Waterbird numbers in Albania's Divjaka-Karavasta wetlands fell 25 percent between January 2021 and January 2022.

Thousands of migratory birds have failed to make their annual visit to Albania's western coast this winter, experts say, pointing to climate change, overfishing and urbanisation as likely factors.

The number of waterbirds recorded in January 2022 in the Divjaka-Karavasta wetlandsan internationally important wintering site along the European migratory flyway - was 25 percent lower than at this time last year.

Western Albania recorded the drop during the annual International Waterbird Census, a three-day global event to monitor the migration patterns of waterfowl across the world. Several species are affected by the decline, according to Taulant Bino from the Albanian Ornithological Society.

"We discovered that some 9,000 waterbirds are missing from the Divjaka-Karavasta lagoons compared to last year," said Ardian Koci, head of the Divjaka-Karavasta National Park, where the protected wetlands are located.

Koci told AFP a total of 25,000 birds were counted in Divjaka-Karavasta - one of the most important wetland ecosystems in the Mediterraneanduring the census on January 15-16, as compared to 34,000 in the survey a year earlier.

"The reasons are multiple but above all, it is global warming that has disrupted the migration and breeding seasons," Koci explained.

Nexhip Hysolokaj, a regional biodiversity expert, said scientists in Albania had tracked a rapid decline in migratory bird populations over the past three years.

Birds fly over Albania's Divjaka-Karavasta wetlands, a key wintering site on Europe's migratory flyway.

Disruptive weather patterns

And while scientists say more research is needed to understand exactly how climate change is affecting birds, some point to the simple fact that ever-warmer weather means certain species no longer need to leave their northern breeding grounds when winter comes in order to find food further south.

"If there aren't extreme temperatures in northern Europe, they prefer not to move, or they just migrate over shorter distances," said Mirjan Topi, the author of the first guide to Albania's birds.

In recent years, several species of migrating geeseincluding the Greylag Goose, the White-fronted Goose and the rare Lesser White-fronted Goose, which breeds in the tundra of northern Russia and Scandinaviahave largely failed to make their winter pilgrimage to Albania's marshes.

The western lagoons are also famous for their resident Greater Flamingos and Dalmatian Pelicans, which have a three-metre wingspan rivalling that of the albatross.

But experts say the breeding cycle of the iconic pelicanwhose fragmented populations are a concern for the long-term stability of the speciesis being disrupted by increasingly erratic weather patterns.

Flamingos fly over a lagoon in Albania's Divjaka-Karavasta National Park.

In 2021, the pelicans began breeding at the start of January. This year, the nesting season did not begin until the end of Januarya difference of several weeksafter a winter that started exceptionally late.

"The pelican breeding season seems to be behind last year," Sajmir Hoxha, an expert in Albania for the French conservation group Noe, told AFP.

Meanwhile, illegal fishing has depleted vital food sources in Albania's lagoons, and rapid urbanisation is threatening fragile ecosystems, especially in the network of marshes and sand dunes along the tourist magnet that is the Adriatic coast.

To add to the pressures, a sprawling international airport is set to be built near the protected marshlands of the Vjosa-Narta region, just south of Divjaka-Karavasta.

This 100-million-euro ($114-million) project, backed by a Turkish-Swiss consortium, "would directly affect wildlife and is a threat to species that breed there, winter there or stop over there on their way to Divjaka", Topi said.

 2022 AFP
Starlink Satellites pass overhead near Carson National Forest, New Mexico, photographed soon after launch. Credit: M. Lewinsky

If you've ever tried to star gaze in a residential or urban area, you know that a streetlight or even the lights from a nearby town can greatly interfere with your ability to identify Orion's Belt and see a rare comet or other celestial bodies. But what is more of a disappointment for us is a cosmic disruption for scientists and others in the space industry.

To preserve this vital characteristic of the universe, a new International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference has been established.

Siegfried Eggl, faculty member in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Robert Gruendl in Illinois' Dept. of Astronomy have been selected to participate. They are both members of the Center for AstroPhysical Surveys in the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at UIUC.

"With the advent of more affordable launch options large-scale commercial use of space has become a reality," Eggl said. "As with so many ambitious projects, the increased presence of tens of thousands of artificial satellites in low-Earth orbit comes with challenges. For example, sunlight reflected off solar sails causes satellites to be bright enough to be visible with the naked eye. At times those satellites are brighter than most stars on the sky. Because they are also fast moving, they pose a significant challenge to ground-based astronomy, but they may also affect wildlife relying on a starry sky to navigate."

Eggl said the purpose of the new center is to bring all stakeholders together and find practical solutions to minimize potentially adverse effects of so-called "mega-constellations."

"UIUC is one of the main contributors to the new center," Eggl said."This speaks to the trust the international community puts in us to create links between aerospace industry, astronomers, regulators, and other stake holders."

According to Eggl, the center is primarily focused on being a forum of exchange betweenstakeholders - a safe place where concerns are heard and practical solutions worked out in a collaborative spirit.

Bright trails left by SpaceX Starlink satellites are visible in a wide-field image captured by the Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory in Chile. Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/ AURA/DECam DELVE Survey

"Naturally, there will be reports and recommendations to agencies all over the world, but the policing has to be done by regulators."

Eggl's role is to coordinate UIUC's efforts for the center and develop software that can help to better understand the effect of satellite mega-constellations on large astronomical surveys such as the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time conducted at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

"In particular, I will study how constellations affect our ability to spot potentially hazardous asteroids and work with aerospace industry to mitigate any potentially negative effects to the largest possible extent," Eggl said.

Gruendl serves as the production scientist for the Dark Energy Survey at NCSA.

"This astronomical survey ended just as the satellite constellations began to grow in earnest," Gruendl said. "The camera used for that survey, DECam, continues to operate at the Cerro Tolo

lo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. We can use the infrastructure developed for the Dark Energy Survey to monitor the impact as the satellite constellations grow and to test strategies for mitigating their impact."

The center was officially announced on Feb. 3, 2022 by the leading entities: the International Astronomical Union, the National Science Foundation's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, and the SKAO Observatory.

Explore further Finding Earthlike planets in other solar systems by looking for moons

Provided by University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering
The expansion of the land area for agricultural production contributes significantly to tropical deforestation in Brazil. Credit: ZEF/University of Bonn

Agriculture accounts for around 25 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. A large share of these emissions come from livestock production and fertilizer use. However, more than one-third of agriculture's emissions is caused by land-use change, especially the conversion of forests and other nature reserves to agricultural land in order to satisfy the rising global demand for food and feed. "Using better technologies to increase crop yields on the land already cultivated could reduce this land-use change and the associated emissions," says study author Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim, Director of the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn.

Certain types of genetically modified cropssuch as GM maize and soybeanare widely grown in other parts of the world, but hardly in Europe. "The main reasons are public acceptance issues and political hurdles," says Qaim.

In the new study, he and his colleagues from the Breakthrough Institute used global agricultural data and estimates of the yield effects of GM crops to model how increased technology adoption in the EU would affect production, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions. The estimates suggest that more widespread use of genetically modified crops in the EU could prevent the release of 33 million tons of CO 2 equivalents, which corresponds to 7.5 percent of the EU's total annual greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.

Higher yields in the EU would have a global effect

"Most of these positive climate effects are attributable to reduced land-use change," says Dr. Emma Kovak from the Breakthrough Institute, the study's first author. The research team's conclusion is that "the EU imports a lot of maize and soybean from Brazil, where the expansion of agricultural land contributes to tropical deforestation. Higher yields in the EU could reduce some of these imports and thus help preserve the Amazon rainforest."

The authors stress that in their analysis they only look at already-existing genetically modified crops. "New genomic breeding technologies are currently being used to develop a wide range of new crop applications that could lead to additional climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits in the future," says Qaim.

The research was published in Trends in Plant Science.

Explore further Study provides basis to evaluate food subsectors' emissions of three greenhouse gases

More information: Emma Kovak et al, Genetically modified crops support climate change mitigation, Trends in Plant Science (2022). Journal information: Trends in Plant Science Emma Kovak et al, Genetically modified crops support climate change mitigation,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2022.01.004
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

World leaders, scientists and major companies gather in France this week to boost efforts to protect the oceans, which cover 70 percent of the planet but receive far less attention than land ecosystems.

The One Ocean Summit in the northwestern port city of Brest on February 9-11 seeks to raise the international community's ambitions to protect sealife, cut plastic pollution and tackle the impact of climate change.

The world's five connected oceans regulate the climate, nurture millions of species, feed the world and enable trade but are still badly understood and lack protection.

President Emmanuel Macron hopes to eke "ambitious commitments" from "a small but determined" group of more than 40 countries and multinational companies, including European maritime transport giants Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and MSC.

European Union leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel will address the summit in person as France heads the bloc's six-month rotating presidency.

Environmental groups hope the Brest summit will jump-start efforts to finalise a wide-ranging and legally binding UN treaty in March.

The treaty would protect marine life in international waterswhich cover nearly half the planetand the expansion by one million square kilometres (386,102 square miles) of the marine reserve in Antarctica and the South Pacific.

But campaigners are also urging France to do more at this week's summit, petitioning to stop dolphins being accidentally killed by fishing vessels off the French coast and demanding an end to French exploration of the deepest marine trenches.

These ocean trenches, more than four kilometres deep, are home to extraordinary marine life, much of which is not fully understood, and to potentially lucrative mineral resources.

"We have no idea what the ocean really is," said Francoise Gaill, an expert at France's national scientific research centre.

Last year, governments and NGOs at the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Congress approved an international moratorium on deep seabed mining.

France was one of several countries to reject the move.

The Brest summit comes ahead of major UN environmental negotiations in the coming months.

These include efforts to clinch a global agreement on curbing plastic waste, the high seas treaty, key summits on climate and biodiversity and a UN conference on the oceans.

Explore further US throws support behind treaty to curb plastic

 2022 AFP
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission will visit Japan from February 14 to 18 to verify the safety of discharging nuclear contaminated water from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Monday.

The IAEA review is conducted in an objective, credible and science-based manner and will help to send a transparent and credible message to the people of Japan and other countries, Grossi said.
Fisheries bycatch in Gabonese waters. Credit: Tim Collins/WCS

Gabon's network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provides a blueprint that could be used in many other countries, experts say.

Since announcing a new MPA network in 2014, Gabon has created 20 protected areasincreasing protection of Gabonese waters from less than 1% to 26%.

The new paperby Gabonese policymakers, NGOs and researchers from the University of Exeterhighlights the lessons from this work and its relevance elsewhere.

"A combination of factors made this MPA network possible, but a crucial first step was the creation by President Ali Bongo Ondimba of a government-led initiative called 'Gabon Bleu' in 2013," said Dr. Kristian Metcalfe, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

"This sent out a clear signal that the Gabonese government wanted to develop an MPA network."

"That ensured all sectorsfrom government agencies to ocean resource userswere engaged in the planning process, and it gave confidence to external funders and the private sector to support the research that underpins the MPAs."

Dr. Emma Stokes, Wildlife Conservation Society Regional Director for Central Africa & Gulf of Guinea, added that "this political will and long-term engagement was vitalcreating a 'tipping point' towards effective change."

A patrol boat in the MPA network. Credit: Tim Collins/WCS

"Collective action has accelerated progress, and the country has now committed to the 30x30 pledge to protect 30% of its oceans by 2030."

Global MPA coverage is still short of a 10% target set in 2010, partly due to limited progress in many low-income and middle-income countries.

However, a few of these countriesincluding Gabonhave met or exceeded international commitments on land and sea.

The MPAs are based on detailed evidence, resulting in an inter-connected network tailored to protect important habitats, as well as globally important populations of sea turtles and marine mammals, with protected zones extending from north to south, and from coastal waters to 200 nautical miles offshore.

The new paper argues that lessons from Gabon can be used to inform Post-2020 global biodiversity commitments and implementation.

It suggests a four-step approach for countries and donors:

Gabonese waters are home to rich biodiversity. Credit: Tim Collins/WCS

Governments must build and maintain their research and implementation capacity, ensuring scientific evidence underpins policy decisions. Countries should make public pledges on marine conservation targets, signaling their commitment to the international community and potential donors. The conservation community should respond by helping to create or strengthen the country's environmental agencies either directly or, if financial safeguards are weak, via international organizations. Each implementation agency should lead on developing national marine conservation frameworks, working with stakeholders and donors to produce plans that are ambitious but politically feasible, combining top-down initiatives with bottom-up approaches as much as possible.

In Gabon, crucial implementation work was led by the national parks agency, ANPN.

Professor Lee White, Gabon's Minister of Forests, Oceans, Environment and Climate Change and former Executive Secretary (head) of ANPN, said that they "learnt from the process that resulted in the creation of Gabon's terrestrial national parks by Omar Bongo in 2007 and were able to provide the scientific and legal framework to make President Ali Bongo Ondimba's vision for a sustainable blue economy a reality."

Professor Brendan Godley, of the University of Exeter, added that "by scaling conservation and fisheries management measures across the entirety of its EEZ, Gabon has made significant steps to ensure the long-term persistence of its marine biodiversity and fisheries resources, and should be celebrated as a global exemplar."

The University of Exeter's work was funded by the UK government's Darwin Initiative.

The paper is published in the journal Conservation Letters.

Explore further UNESCO awards Gabon's Ivindo park World Heritage status

More information: Kristian Metcalfe et al, Fulfilling global marine commitments; lessons learned from Gabon, Conservation Letters (2022). Journal information: Conservation Letters Kristian Metcalfe et al, Fulfilling global marine commitments; lessons learned from Gabon,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/conl.12872
The distribution of manatee species in the world's oceans. Credit: Diana LeDuc

During the Ice Age, giant mammals such as mammoths, saber-toothed cats and wooly rhinoceroses once roamed Northern Europe and America. The cold oceans of the northern hemisphere were also home to giants like Steller's sea cow, which grew up to eight meters long and weighed up to ten tons, and has been extinct for around 250 years. Now an international research team has succeeded in deciphering the genome of this ice-age species from fossil bones. They also found an answer to the question of what the genome of this extinct species of sea cow reveals about present-day skin diseases.

The giant sea cow from the Ice Age was discovered in 1741 by Georg Wilhelm Steller and later named after him. The 18th-century naturalist was interested not only in the enormous size of this animal species but also in its unusual, bark-like skin. He described it as "a skin so thick that it is more like the bark of old oaks than the skin of an animal." Such a bark-like structure of the epidermis is not found in related sirenians, which today live exclusively in tropical waters. In scientific circles, it was previously assumed that the bark-like epidermis was the result of parasite feeding, but also insulated heat and thus protected the sea cow well from the cold during the Ice Age and from injuries in the polar seas. In the current study, the scientists led by Dr. Diana Le Duc and Professor Torsten Schoneberg from Leipzig University, Professor Michael Hofreiter from the University of Potsdam and Professor Beth Shapiro from the University of California, show that the palaeogenomes of Steller's sea cow reveal functional changes. These changes were responsible for the bark-like skin and the adaptation to cold.

To find this out, an international research team from Germany and the US reconstructed the genome of this extinct species from fossil bone remains of a total of twelve different individuals. "The most spectacular result of our investigations is that we have clarified why this giant of the sea had bark-like skin," said Diana Le Duc from the Institute of Human Genetics at Leipzig University Hospital. The scientists found inactivations of genes in the sea cow genome that are necessary for the normal structure of the outermost layer of the epidermis. These genes are also used in human skin. "Hereditary defects in these so-called lipoxygenase genes lead to what is known as ichthyosis in humans. This is characterized by a thickening and hardening of the top layer of skin with large scales, and is sometimes also known as 'fish scale disease,'" said Schoneberg from the Rudolph Schonheimer Institute of Biochemistry. "The results of our research thus also sharpen our view of this clinical picture," explained the biochemist, adding: "Here may lie the key to new therapeutic approaches."

The scientists pinpointed the genetic defect by comparing the genome with that of the closest relative, the dugong. The researchers received support with their investigations from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, which contributed its bioinformatics expertise in the analysis of ancient DNA. As a result, they identified important evidence of genetic changes that may have contributed to adaptation to the cool North Pacific habitat. "This is an impressive example of how gene defects can not only cause disease, but also have advantages depending on the habitat," said Hofreiter from the University of Potsdam. Furthermore, the genome data revealed a dramatic reduction in population size. This began 500,000 years before the species was discovered and may have contributed to its extinction. Hofreiter summed it up as follows: "With today's molecular genetic clarification, our study closes the circle of an exact observation by a German naturalist in the early 18th century."

Georg Wilhelm Steller (17091746) studied medicine and the natural sciences in Leipzig, Jena and Halle and took part in the legendary expedition by Danish captain Vitus Bering to Alaska in 1741. Bering, after whom today's Bering Strait was named, and many of the ship's crew died during this expedition. Steller survived and was the first and only explorer ever to see and scientifically describe one of these gigantic sea cows alive. The related sea cows (sirenians) that exist todaymanatees and dugongsare found exclusively in tropical waters. They grow to a maximum length of three meters, less than half the body length of their ice-age ancestors. Of the former population of Steller's sea cow of around 100,000 animals in the 18th century, only bones can be found today on the coasts of Bering Strait islands. Georg Steller first described the sea cow from the Ice Age in 1741. His landmark work was completed by his secretary on the basis of his manuscript and academic tributes. It was published in 1753, a few years after Steller's death. He died on his return journey from eastern Siberia to St Petersburg.

More information: Diana Le Duc et al, Genomic basis for skin phenotype and cold adaptation in the extinct Steller's sea cow, Science Advances (2022). Journal information: Science Advances Diana Le Duc et al, Genomic basis for skin phenotype and cold adaptation in the extinct Steller's sea cow,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abl6496
Protesters gather in Georgia in 2019. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

When controversial laws are passed, people take to social media to share their thoughts, vent frustrations and encourage action. And just as often, people criticize those making such posts as "clicktivists," or simply being all talk without actively working for the change they seek. A new study from the University of Kansas shows that when a controversial abortion ban was signed into law in Georgia, those opposed to it not only shared their thoughts on Twitter, they encouraged action and mobilized citizens affected by the law, which can provide guidance for reproductive rights activists in the future.

In 2019, Georgia passed House Bill 481, which outlawed abortions after a fetal heartbeat was detected, often around six weeks. Supporters of the bill framed the legislation as protecting the unborn, defending innocence and assigning personhood and rights to fetuses. Media took a more neutral approach, presenting the arguments of supporters, interviewing activists and discussing what came next. But little was known about how everyday citizens opposed to the law framed their thoughts. Alesha Doan, professor of public affairs & administration and of women, gender & sexuality studies at KU, has performed extensive research on abortion debates, and one of her co-authors, Lindsay Orchowski, was versed in social media activism research.

"We thought this was a good opportunity to examine how regular people were responding to this legislation through available channels. The hashtag #HB481 began trending after the law's passage, so we looked at how Georgia's abortion ban was being framed on Twitter in Georgia, then and long-term, how that might frame activism in other areas," Doan said.

The authors performed a content analysis of nearly 600 tweets discussing the law and found they coalesced in three major frames: Mobilization, identity and rejection. The study, published in the journal Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, was written by Doan; Katherine Bogen of the University of Nebraska; Elise Higgins, doctoral candidate in women, gender and sexuality studies at KU; and Orchowski of Brown University.

The primary theme of the messages was mobilization. Tweets in that frame not only voiced opposition to the new law but encouraged people to take specific action, such as registering to vote, voting out politicians who supported the law, contacting legislators to voice their disagreement and even to boycott corporations such as Netflix that do a large amount of business in the state.

"There has been a long debate about how relevant social media is for encouraging activism to happen. We found people were calling out for very specific action, such as boycotting certain corporations doing business in Georgia and voting out politicians," Doan said. "And it was followed with concrete informationfor example, contact information for representatives or links to voter registration sites."

Tweets in the frame of identity were found to make calls to resist oppression across gender identities, meaning posters were clear the effects the law would have not just on cisgender women, but on nonbinary people and transgender men. They also spoke to how the restriction of reproductive rights would be a continuation of oppression of people of color and other groups that are often disproportionately affected by such laws. Messages in the rejection frame were the least nuanced and largely consisted of people stating flat-out rejection of the law and its effects.

While anti-abortion activists and lawmakers' messages have been widely shared and successful in recent decades, messages from reproductive rights groups have been largely concentrated to activist organizations. The researchers said that better understanding grassroots activism and the ways people are communicating, especially through social media, can be key in not only understanding how they share their message, but in how they can be successful in sharing their message with those in power, including supportive lawmakers and news media. The law's supporters framed their message in terms of fetal personhood and media presented quotes or arguments from them without fact-checking or disputing falsifiable claims, Doan said. Understanding the push for women's autonomy and reproductive freedom is key.

Georgia's HB 481 was ultimately struck down by the courts but could still take effect depending on upcoming rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. Whatever rulings are made, the abortion debate will continue with people framing messages and sharing them via social media.

"Watching people connect their emotions like anger and shock in real time to political action was a really moving reminder of the feminist tenet 'the personal is political," meaning our lived experiences are shaped by power and shape power," Higgins said. "Giving consideration to everyday people is the only way we'll win a country where everyone can end a pregnancy or get pregnant and become a parent when they want to. It's clear that groups who focus their firepower on Congress and the courts have lost. Now, it's time to work and research from the ground up."

More information: Alesha E. Doan et al, A content analysis of twitter backlash to Georgia's abortion ban, Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (2021). Alesha E. Doan et al, A content analysis of twitter backlash to Georgia's abortion ban,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.srhc.2021.100689
Early Medieval cremation found in an urn in The Hague. Waasdorp, J.A.; Eimermann, E. (2008): Solleveld, Gemeente Den Haag. DANS

An incredible quantity of archaeological reports are stored in digital archives. If you want to search for information in them, you have to do this manually. And that is a real chore. Archaeologist Alex Brandsen has now used deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence, to develop a search engine that can search very precisely through all the data. His Ph.D. defense is on 15 February.

Archaeologists are often looking for very specific information in a huge amount of data that is available in archives. But the current search engine can only search for general keywords and the titles of PDFs, such as "Middle Ages" and "pottery." Brandsen: "If you're looking for axes in the Middle Ages, you now have to download everything about the Middle Ages and search manually."

Large amount of data

Archaeologists have been producing an enormous amount of reports since the Treaty of Valetta (1992). This treaty regulates how European archaeological heritage is handled. It means that if you are going to start construction work anywhere, you first need to check whether there is archaeological heritage in the ground. This has meant that in the Netherlands alone thousands of reports are written per year.

Deep learning

Brandsen used deep learning to develop a smart search engine, a kind of Google for archaeologists. He trained a language model to recognize words in archaeological reports. It was important that the model could also recognize synonyms and distinguish between different meanings of a word. Brandsen: "The word bijl [Dutch for axe, ed.] can refer to an artifact that you can chop things with, but it can also be a surname. If you are now looking for the artifact bijl, that is all you will find and no Mr Bijls anymore." It is also possible to search geographically. This will retrieve information about an area specified by the user.

Map showing known cremation sites (red circles) from the early Middle Ages and sites found thanks to AGNES (blue squares). Yellow diamonds indicate early Medieval sites. Credit: Leiden University

Other languages

Brandsen and a colleague tested the search engine, AGNES. "My colleague had been given a database of cremations in the early Middle Ages in the Netherlands by the expert on the period. This professor has spent his whole life collecting this data. But with the search engine we found 30 percent more cremations from the early Middle Ages. So you see that even an expert doesn't know everything because there is so much data."

A rough version of AGNES is now online and can now carry out searches at an accuracy of about 80 percent. As a postdoc Brandsen is going to make the search engine more accurate and expand it by also enabling searches in other languages.

Explore further Apple developing search engine to compete with Google: report
Credit: PARALAXIS/Shutterstock

Deforestation fires in Brazil and Indonesia accounted for 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively, of the planet's total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in 2019 and 2020, finds a new study in Frontiers in Climate. Of that amount, fires in peatlands contributed to between 40 percent and 60 percent of the GHG emission impact, showing a severe underrepresentation by previous estimations. The researchers urge better forest and peatland protection policies.

Global forest fires in 2019 and 2020, such as the wildfires in Australia and California, and the deforestation fires in Brazil and Indonesia, accounted for between 10 percent and 15 percent of global GHG emissions.

In Brazil, a total of 11,088 km2 of forest were destroyed from August 2019 to July 2020. In 2019, Indonesia lost 31,000 km2 of forest to deforestation fires. Many of these fires burned in carbon-rich peatland ecosystems.

"The impact that human activities are causing in forests, especially in critical ecosystems like peatlands, is not well communicated to the general audience," explained author Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, of the University of Houston.

"During the 2019 fire season in Indonesia and Brazil, we observed a wide range of numbers being quoted in scientific and media communications," continued Krishnamoorti. "We wanted to understand the basis of these numbers but ran into challenges accessing the data. That led us to analyze the sources of measurement and errors, how the errors are compounded over time, and their impact on policies."

To do so, Krishnamoorti and his colleague, Dr. Aparajita Datta, quantified the GHG emissions associated with the 2019 and 2020 deforestation fires in Brazil and Indonesia and examined the share of emissions stemming from peatland fires.

From carbon sinks to sources

Covering only 3 percent of the world's landmass, peatlands exist across 180 countries and are the largest terrestrial carbon sink. They store at least twice as much carbon as any other vegetation type, yet 15 percent of the world's known peatlands have been irreversibly damaged or are currently undergoing extreme degradation due to activities that support human development.

When peatlands burn, the stored CO 2 gets released into the atmosphere, together other GHGs such as carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH 4 ). Peatland fires are characterized by slow burning of surface vegetation and underground smoldering of peat soils over days or weeks. The accompanying smoke plumes contribute to air pollution, affecting wildlife and human health.

Deforestation fires emissions

The researchers used publicly available data for deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia to estimate the total GHG impact of deforestation fires in 2019 and 2020. They accounted for emissions from fires from above-ground biomass, as well as peat soils and dry matter in peatlands. They analyzed available data from all Indonesian provinces, and the Legal Amazon and Pantanal regions in Brazil.

The results show that Brazil and Indonesia collectively emitted nearly 2 gigatons CO 2 equivalents (CO 2 e) in 2019 and 1 gigaton CO 2 e in 2020 from the burning of above-ground biomass.

When the researchers included the emissions from deforestation fires in peatlands, the combined GHG impact in both countries increased to 3.65 gigatons CO 2 e in 2019 and 1.89 gigatons CO 2 e in 2020.

Underestimation of peatland fires

As peatland fires primarily burn underground, their detection through satellites is challenging. The thick plumes of smoke further limit the efficacy of satellite monitoring.

The researchers showed that using data based only on real-time satellite measurements gives a partial and skewed estimate of the actual emission impact of deforestation fires in peatlands, which, in turn, has an impact on climate policies and climate crisis mitigation.

Their results indicate that peat emissions in Brazil and Indonesia accounted for between 40 percent and 60 percent of the GHG impact from deforestation fires in both countries. Comparing the results of the study with previous GHG estimates shows that the prior data is underestimating the true impact of deforestation fires by two- to threefold during severe fire years.

"Monitoring and measurement challenges in peatlands lead to an underestimation of the true impact of deforestation fires. Since these estimates form the basis of the policy response from national governments, it results in inadequate attention to forest and peatland protection as part of climate crisis mitigation efforts," said Krishnamoorti.

The study highlights the need for better mapping of peatland ecosystems and peatland fires, along with regular pre-and post-fire ground measurements to complement satellite measurements.

Explore further Efforts to restore Indonesian peatlands could save billions in wildfire costs

More information: Aparajita Datta et al, Understanding the Greenhouse Gas Impact of Deforestation Fires in Indonesia and Brazil in 2019 and 2020, Frontiers in Climate (2022). Aparajita Datta et al, Understanding the Greenhouse Gas Impact of Deforestation Fires in Indonesia and Brazil in 2019 and 2020,(2022). DOI: 10.3389/fclim.2022.799632
This illustration lists the many uses of hemp in food, pharmaceuticals, and industrial products. The industrial hemp industry was shut down in the 1930s due to prohibition and confusion with its cousin, marijuana. The 2014 Farm Bill allowed for the reintroduction of this valuable crop to the United States. Credit: Sabry Elias, Aaron Cadena

After decades of being relegated and regulated, research on industrial hemp as a valuable crop is far behind. That's because the United States banned the use of hemp in the 1930s. The result was all research about this crop stopped, too. Now that the Farm Bill allows for the growing and use of industrial hemp, researchers have a decades-long gap in knowledge.

At the forefront of those trying to enter back into the hemp marketseed companies and potential growersis seed quality after harvest.

This is where Sabry Elias, professor of crop and soil science at Oregon State University, and his team come in. Elias recently presented his work at the 2021 ASA-CSSA-SSSA annual meeting, held in Salt Lake City.

"One of the challenges in growing industrial hemp is that the plants have an indeterminate flowering pattern," Elias explains. "This results in seeds with different maturity levels and ages on the same plant at the time of harvest."

This poses a series of questions that Elias and his team investigate. What is the difference in quality between a seed higher on the plant versus one lower on the plant? How can they test for these quality differences? After harvest, do seeds go dormant? If they do go dormant, for how long and how can dormancy be broken?

There are two fundamentals that impact seed quality that the researchers investigated: viability and vigor. Viability is the capability of seeds to germinate and produce normal seedlings. Vigor is the ability of seeds to germinate and grow under a wide range of field conditions. Elias explains that these qualities are controlled by genetic and environmental factors.

"Improved varieties possess good traits such as high yield, seed quality, and disease resistance," he says. "Seeds that develop and mature under optimum conditions resulted in quality seeds. On the other hand, seeds developed under moisture stress, nutrient deficiency, extreme temperatures, etc. often result in light, shriveled seed or collectively called poor quality seeds."

A close-up of a hemp seedling. Research at Oregon State University is looking at the viability and vigor of industrial hemp seeds in the growing industry. Credit: Sabry Elias

The researchers performed four different tests on two varieties of hemp seeds. Two measured seed viability by trying to tell the difference between live and dead seeds. Two others measured seed vigor by looking at how fast they germinated and how well they grew under stress conditions.

"Two seed lots can have the same viability percentage (e.g., 85%), but one of them can be more vigorous than the other," Elias explains. "It is like both a 90-year-old and 25-year-old are alive, but the person who is 25 is (usually) healthier than the one who is 90 years old."

One viability test used biochemical reactions and subsequent color changes of seeds to measure if a seed is viable. The other measured the capacity of seeds to germinate and produce normal seedlings. One of the vigor tests germinated the seeds to test how quickly they do so. The second placed the seeds in high-stress conditions and then germinated them.

Their findings showed that all four of these tests were useful in measuring the quality of hemp seeds. The team's experiments also showed that harvesting the seeds lower on the hemp plant seven to eight days later than those higher on the plant improved the overall quality of the seeds.

"This makes the whole plant, upper and lower parts, available for harvest," Elias says. "It increases the yield by one-third because the current practice of some hemp farming systems is to harvest only the upper two-thirds of the plants to avoid the underdeveloped seeds from the lower part."

Lastly, the scientists looked at the dormancy of the seeds. Elias explains that dormant seeds are viable seeds but will not germinate even under favorable conditions, until dormancy is broken. Seeds are most dormant right after harvesting.

Dormancy slowly disappears over time or with treatments such as pre-chilling, dry heat, or hormonal treatments. Their research showed that a pre-chilling treatment at 10 degrees Celsius for five days was able to break dormancy.

"I believe that hemp has great potential as a cash crop for growers in the United States and around the world because of its multiple uses in food, pharmaceuticals, and industrial products," Elias says. "In addition, I have passion for the areas of seed physiology, quality, and dormancy, particularly because research in hemp had been put off for decades."

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More information: Seed Quality and Dormancy in Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Seed Quality and Dormancy in Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2021a  app.cgi/Paper/132766
Schematic diagram of the evolution of a high-PV system over the Tibetan Plateau and its migration from the Tibetan Plateau. Credit: Ma Tingting

The Yangtze River Valley experienced several disastrous rainfall events throughout the record-breaking Meiyu season in 2020. However, the mechanism of the extreme precipitation over the upper reaches of the Yangtze River remains unclear.

A study by researchers from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed that the activities of high-potential vorticity (PV) systems over the eastern Tibetan Plateau should be responsible for the above-normal rainfall not only over western China but also over eastern China.

The study was published in Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

"The activity of high-PV systems is characterized by a prominent diurnal cycle," said Dr. Ma Tingting, the lead author of the study. "And their formation is closely related to the thermal contrast between the near-surface and lower atmosphere."

In the morning, surface sensible heating increases sharply after sunrise, leading to a decrease in diabatic heating with height. Accordingly, PV weakens in the lower atmosphere, and the formation of high-PV systems reaches a minimum. An increase in turbulence increases near-surface evaporation, which in turn reduces surface diabatic heating. At the same time, cloud formation increases diabatic heating at approximately 400 hPa. Consequently, the thermal contrast below 400 hPa leads to an increase in diabatic heating with height, favoring the generation of high-PV systems.

Compared with the climatology, an excessive water vapor supply from the anomalous anticyclone over the northern Bay of Bengal, forced by the Indian Ocean warming in 2020, contributed to a stronger thermal contrast and enhanced activity of high-PV systems over the Tibetan Plateau.

The researchers also investigated the conditions under which the high-PV systems may migrate from the Tibetan Plateau. They found that it is the arrival timing of high-PV systems at the eastern flank of the Tibetan Plateau that plays an important role in the subsequent development of these systems. Early arrival in the afternoon or evening is generally accompanied by air convergence and sufficient water vapor supply downstream of the Tibetan Plateau, which favors the systems moving off the Tibetan Plateau and influencing precipitation downstream.

"Our results not only reveal the multi-scale interactions, but also explain how Indian Ocean, though far away from the Yangtze River, plays a role in record-breaking rainfall in the region via high-PV systems over the Tibetan Plateau," said Prof. Liu Yimin, the corresponding author of the study.

Explore further Drought over southwestern Tibetan Plateau triggered by ocean warming more than 10,000 miles away

More information: Tingting Ma et al, Abnormal warm seasurface temperature in the Indian Ocean, active potential vorticity over the Tibetan Plateau, and severe flooding along the Yangtze River in summer 2020, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society (2022). Tingting Ma et al, Abnormal warm seasurface temperature in the Indian Ocean, active potential vorticity over the Tibetan Plateau, and severe flooding along the Yangtze River in summer 2020,(2022). DOI: 10.1002/qj.4243
Laser-thermal propelled spacecraft in Earth orbit awaiting its departure. Credit: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Could a laser send a spacecraft to Mars? That's a proposed mission from a group at McGill University, designed to meet a solicitation from NASA. The laser, a 10-meter wide array on Earth, would heat hydrogen plasma in a chamber behind the spacecraft, producing thrust from hydrogen gas and sending it to Mars in only 45 days. There, it would aerobrake in Mars' atmosphere, shuttling supplies to human colonists or, someday perhaps, even humans themselves.

In 2018, NASA challenged engineers to design a mission to Mars that would deliver a payload of at least 1,000 kilograms in no more than 45 days, as well as longer trips deep into, and out of, the solar system. The short delivery time is motivated by a desire to ferry shipments and, someday, astronauts to Mars while minimizing their exposure to the damaging effects of galactic cosmic rays and solar storms. Elon Musk's SpaceX envisions a human trip to Mars would take six months with its chemical-based rockets.

McGill's concept, called laser-thermal propulsion, relies on an array of infrared lasers based on Earth, 10 meters in diameter, combining many invisible infrared beams, each with a wavelength of about one micron, for a powerful total of 100 megawattsthe electric power required for about 80,000 U.S. households. The payload, orbiting in an elliptical medium Earth orbit, would have a reflector that directs the laser beam coming from Earth into a heating chamber containing a hydrogen plasma. With its core then heated as high as 40,000 Kelvin (72,000 degrees Fahrenheit), hydrogen gas flowing around the core would reach 10,000 K (18,000 degrees Fahrenheit) and be expelled out a nozzle, creating thrust to propel the ship away from Earth over an interval of 58 minutes. (Side thrusters would keep the craft aligned with the laser's beam as Earth rotates.)

When the beaming stops, the payload zips away at a velocity of almost 17 kilometers per second relative to Earthfast enough to go past the moon's orbital distance in a mere eight hours. When it reaches the Martian atmosphere in a month and a half, it will still be traveling at 16 km/s; however, once there, placing the payload in a 150-km orbit around Mars is a difficult problem for the engineering team to solve.

It's difficult because the payload can't carry a chemical propellant to fire a rocket to slow itself downthe fuel needed would reduce the payload mass to less than 6 percent of the original 1,000 kilograms. And until humans on the red planet can construct an equivalent laser array for the incoming craft to use its reflector and plasma chamber to provide reverse thrust, aerocapture is the only way to decelerate the payload at Mars.

Even then, the aerocapture, or aerobraking, in Mars' atmosphere could be a dicey maneuver, with the spacecraft experiencing decelerations of up to 8 g (where g is the acceleration due to gravity at Earth's surface, 9.8 m/s2), about the human limit, for only a few minutes, as it is captured within a single pass around Mars. The large heat fluxes on the craft due to atmospheric friction would be above traditional thermal protection system materials, but not those under active development.

Laser-thermal propulsion of spacecraft into deep spaceMars and furthercontrast with other previously proposed methods of conveyance, such as laser-electric propulsion, in which a laser beam would impinge on photovoltaic (PV) cells behind the payload; solar-electric propulsion, in which sunlight on the PV cells creates the propulsive thrust; nuclear-electric propulsion, in which a nuclear reactor creates electricity that produces ions propelled out a thruster; and nuclear-thermal propulsion, in which a nuclear reactor's heat converts liquid to a gas that's propelled out a nozzle to create thrust.

"Laser-thermal propulsion enables rapid transport missions of 1 ton with laser arrays the size of a volleyball courtsomething laser-electric propulsion can only do with kilometer-class arrays," says Emmanuel Duplay, lead author on the study, who worked on the project over two years while part of McGill University's Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering Program. Duplay is now in Delft University of Technology's Master of Science Program in Aerospace Engineering with a specialization in Spaceflight.

A great advantage of laser-thermal propulsion mission concept presented by Duplay et al. is its extremely low mass-to-power ratio, in the range 0.0010.010 kg/kW"unparalleled," they write, "far below even those cited for advanced nuclear propulsion technologies, due to the fact that the power source remains on Earth and the delivered flux can be processed by a low-mass inflatable reflector."

Laser-thermal propulsion had first been studied in the 1970s using 10.6 micron CO 2 lasers, the most powerful at the time. Today's present-day fiber-optic lasers, at one micron, which can be combined in massively parallel, phased arrays with a large, effective diameter, means a focal length of power delivery over two orders of magnitude higher50,000 km in Duplay's laser-thermal propulsion concept.

Duplay explains that an architecture for phased-array lasers is being developed by a group led by physicist Philip Lubin at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Lubin's group's array uses individual laser amplifiers of about 100 watts eacheach amplifier is a simple loop of fiber optics and an LED light as a pump, and can be mass produced inexpensivelyso the Mars mission envisioned here would require on order of 1 million individual amplifiers.

The first humans to Mars likely won't get there using laser-thermal propulsion technology. "However, as more humans make the trip to sustain a long-term colony, we will need propulsion systems that get us there fasterif only to avoid radiation hazards," Duplay says. A laser-thermal mission to Mars might launch 10 years after the first human missions, he speculates, so perhaps around 2040.

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More information: Emmanuel Duplay et al, Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion, Acta Astronautica (2021). Journal information: Acta Astronautica Emmanuel Duplay et al, Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.11.032

 2022 Science X Network
Patches of secondary forest in Panama that regrow after agricultural use has been abandoned 70 to 100 years ago. Credit: Clemson University

Tropical forests are being cleared for agriculture and other uses at alarming rates.

While scientists say it is essential to protect old-growth forests and stop further deforestation, studies by an international team of tropical ecologistsincluding Clemson University professor Saara DeWaltshowed that naturally regrowing forests recover surprisingly fast and can play a role in climate change mitigation.

"Nature will take care of it if we let it," said DeWalt, chair of the College of Science's Department of Biological Sciences. "Restoration of tropical forests should rely on natural regeneration. It's the most efficient way to do it. It's the most ecologically efficient. It's the most economically efficient."

"The services that tropical forests provide are important not just to the people who live around them, but to the globe," DeWalt continued. "We're trying to keep the climate from changing, and one of the key ways we can do that is making sure that we're taking up carbon dioxide and storing it rather than releasing it into the atmosphere."

Tropical rainforests play a crucial role in the global ecosystem because they absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in our atmosphere. The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the more pronounced the greenhouse effect and climate change could become.

Secondary forests regrow naturally after nearly complete removal of forest cover for anthropogenic use, usually for shifting cultivation, conventional cropping or cattle ranching. Currently, over half of the world's tropical forests are not old growth but naturally regenerating forests, of which a large part is secondary forest. In the neotropics, secondary forests cover as much as 28 percent of the land area.

In a study published in the journal Science, the researchers analyzed how 12 forest attributes recover during the natural regeneration process and how their recovery is related. They studied 77 sites and 2,275 forest plots across tropical forests in North and South America and West Africa. DeWalt's contributions came from plots she and her collaborators have been studying since the 1990s in central Panama.

They found that soil fertility takes less than 10 years to recover to old-growth forest values. Plant functioning takes less than 25 years, and species diversity takes 60 years. Above-ground biomass and species composition take over 120 years.

"While it is essential to actively protect old-growth forests and stop further deforestation, tropical forests have the potential to regrow naturally in already deforested areas on abandoned lands. These regrowing forests cover vast areas and can contribute to local and global targets for ecosystem restoration," said Lourens Poorter, a professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and lead author of the study.

If the deforested area isn't too big or farmed too much, a nearby forest could provide a nourishing and interconnected ecosystem necessary for a new forest to grow. But some circumstances require reforestation.

"If there's no source for seeds, heavily degraded soils, and no way for animals to get there, that's going to be a problem," DeWalt said. "There will be times when planting will be necessary," DeWalt said.

Another study in which DeWalt took part gives insight into the selection of tree species to enhance tropical forest restoration success.

The international team of researchers analyzed recovery in functional properties of 30 tropical forests across North and South America, using data from over 1,000 plots and 127,000 trees. They measured seven traits that are important for drought tolerance and productivity.

They found that dry and wet forests strongly differ initially in their functional composition, follow different successional pathways, but become more similar in functional characteristics as forests grow older.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study compared plots that differed in the time since land was abandoned and forests began to regrow, ranging from zero to 80 years ago.

The findings showed species turnover in dry forests was driven initially by traits that improve resistance to drought, such as smaller leaf size. In wet forests, traits associated with faster tree growth were most common initially. Later, features associated with faster growth and greater tolerance to the shaded conditions of these tall and closed-canopy forests drove species turnover.

"If we need to actively reforest, the functional traits of species could be simple indicators to know which species to plant," DeWalt said.

For reforestation projects, the scientists recommend planting drought-tolerant species in dry forests and fast-growing species in wet forests.

"Preservation of old-growth forests is the gold-standard for forest conservation, but all of our studies show that allowing secondary forests to regrowassisted or even unassistedcan be an important part of the toolkit for tropical forest conservation," DeWalt said.

Explore further Tropical forests regrow surprisingly fast
Effect on support for restrictions (Index, Dynata 1). Notes: This figure shows the change in predicted support by party and experimental condition. The horizontal dashed line is the control condition and baseline for comparison. Positive values indicate an increase in support. The vertical lines represent 95% confidence intervals. The figure is based on regression results from Model 1 in Table 2. Credit: DOI: 10.1007/s11109-022-09771-9

What one person views as a major terrorist threat to the country, another may dismiss as a minor problem in society.

In the United States, that perspective can often be tinted by whether you're a registered Democrat or Republican. That's according to a new article titled "Partisanship and Support for Restricting the Civil Liberties of Suspected Terrorists" that appears in Political Behavior.

"The first thing that comes to a lot of people's minds if you just say the word 'terrorist' in the United States is Islamic fundamentalism or extremism," said Kevin Mullinix, associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas. "But when Democrats hear terrorism, they have other things like white nationalism coming to their minds."

Mullinix, who co-wrote the paper with Cora Caton, KU doctoral student in political science, argues that the social categorization of a suspected terrorist is consequential for civil liberty attitudes and that the effects are contingent on partisanship. For example, Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to constrain the civil liberties of white nationalists compared to unspecified suspected terrorists, their research found.

The authors said that their research isn't about which terrorist categorization is a bigger threat to society. It focuses more on uncovering the role of partisanship in shaping these threat perceptions.

"Partisanship is coloring people's perceptions of the threats associated with different individuals and groups in society. And then in turn we're seeing these pretty substantial differences between Democrats and Republicans and their willingness to restrict the civil liberties of various groups," Mullinix said.

In fact, unwavering partisanship may be damaging the nation's core values.

"It fundamentally changes our view of the world," he said.

"It's a pair of glasses we're all putting on that either have red or blue lenses, and it filters everything around us. These lenses are shaping who we see as a threat in society. So then we're willing to support the government monitoring people's phones without warrants in one situation but not do that in another one. Or support the government detaining people indefinitely in one situation and not in another."

Caton said, "Partisanship as a screen might color which groups you're seeing and not seeing as a threat. But part of that screen and that perception comes from the messages you're getting."

She explained partisans go to different sources, whether those are political leaders or media outlets. If Democrats hear their sources discuss white nationalists in terms of terrorism, it's treated as a serious issue. That same viewpoint is less frequently shared by conservative media and influencers.

The impetus for this research began when Caton noticed many liberal-leaning media outlets began using the label "white nationalist terrorism"whereas conservative outlets and elites rarely discussed it in those terms, if they discussed it at all.

"I read a paper about the effect of threat perceptions of suspected terrorists on restricting civil liberties," Caton said. "But what they weren't accounting for in that study was essentially, "Who is that suspected terrorist?'"

To study this, the pair deployed question-wording experiments in four surveys. Three of the studies were composed of national samples implemented at different points in time. A fourth sample used a targeted sample of U.S. military service members.

The results yielded three conclusions: First, the effect of categorizing suspected terrorists as white nationalists for restricting civil liberties (like banning public speech, monitoring phones and holding indefinitely) was contingent on partisanship; second, the effect of the Islamic fundamentalist label was inconsistently moderated by partisanship across studies; third, the context in which the studies were implemented may have affected inferences.

That third conclusion is best illustrated by the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

"After the Capitol insurrection, we found the largest partisan differences in the effects of the white nationalist label in people's reactions," Mullinix said. "What it suggests is that while these group labels often matter, the extent to which they impact our attitudes and beliefs is altered by the context. If things change in the world around us, our threat perceptions can shift as well."

Mullinix is an expert in public opinion and public policy who has worked at KU since 2018. His past research has centered on wrongful convictions and police use of force. Caton specializes in researching terrorism, conflict and political behavior.

The researchers hope their study allows people to engage in a bit more self-reflection about how partisanship might be shaping their own views.

"Labels matter for people, specifically for whether they will support policies that restrict civil liberties," Caton said. "And how those labels matter depends on a person's partisanship. That's really important because civil liberties are largely regarded to be a cornerstone of democracy."

Explore further Study proves strong link between political bias and social tie formation on Twitter

More information: Cora Caton et al, Partisanship and Support for Restricting the Civil Liberties of Suspected Terrorists, Political Behavior (2022). Journal information: Political Behavior Cora Caton et al, Partisanship and Support for Restricting the Civil Liberties of Suspected Terrorists,(2022). DOI: 10.1007/s11109-022-09771-9
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A federal judge on Monday ordered the U.S. Air Force to pay more than 230 million U.S. dollars in damages to survivors and victims' families of a 2017 Texas church shooting.

In an ongoing civil lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled that the federal government failed to flag a conviction that might have kept the gunman from legally buying the weapon used in the shooting.

Twenty-six people were killed and 22 others injured when Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire during a Sunday service at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Kelley died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound afterwards.

Rodriguez ruled in July that the U.S. Air Force was "60 percent liable" for the tragedy since Kelley had threatened mass violence while in the Air Force before the attack, aligning with the victims and families who believe the massacre could have been prevented if the Air Force had submitted Kelley's assault conviction to a national database.

The family members and victims requested around 418 million dollars and the federal government was originally only willing to pay roughly 31.8 million dollars.

The federal government has 10 days to file objections to the case, reported local media.

There are approximately 80 claimants. Payments to each victim or family member are laid out by the judge based on relation, physical harm, mental harm and future expenses and mental anguish.
Whip-poor-wills are not often seen, but their chant-like calls are easy to recognize in eastern forests. Credit: Ian Souza-Cole

Using GPS tags attached to the birds, researchers discovered some surprising facts about the long migrations that eastern whip-poor-wills make from their Midwest breeding grounds to where they winter in Mexico and Central America.

The results showed that birds from across the Midwest all traveled a similar migratory path and moved at nearly the same time in the fall, concentrating the population in a small area of parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and east Texas on a single day in early October.

That highlights a critical danger to the whip-poor-will population, which has already declined by nearly 70% in recent decades, said Christopher Tonra, co-author of the study and associate professor of avian wildlife ecology at The Ohio State University.

"About half of the entire population of whip-poor-wills breed in the Midwest, and our findings indicate their migration south is very synchronized," he said.

"That suggests we have to protect the forested habitat in that small area of Oklahoma, Arkansas and east Texas, which is a vital migratory stopover. And we must find ways to protect the birds as they all move through the highly urbanized areas of east Texas," he said.

The study, led by Aaron Skinner, a graduate student at Ohio State, was published recently in the journal Diversity and Distributions.

Whip-poor-wills are cryptic, seldom-seen nocturnal birds named after the sound of the calls that they make, often for hours at a time, during summer nights in the forests where they breed (Listen to the whip-poor-will call here.) Due mostly to this call, whip-poor-wills are a common cultural reference in country songs, poems, stories and legends.

"I associate whip-poor-wills with camping in eastern forests and hearing them call through the night," Tonra said.

"The idea of them disappearing is very alarming, and we're trying to learn more about what may be causing their decline."

The researchers captured and tagged whip-poor-wills in five breeding areas across four midwestern states: Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio.

The birds were fitted with archival GPS tags, which meant that the researchers had to recapture them the following year to collect the GPS data. (Most whip-poor-wills return to the same breeding site year after year.)

The researchers got usable data from 52 of the 115 birds they tagged in the summers of 2017 and 2019. The study focuses on fall migration because complete data on all 52 birds was only available for the journey south.

Findings showed that, unlike some other species of birds, breeding populations of whip-poor-wills from across the Midwest all share a similar migratory path and travel at about the same time, Tonra said.

The path is so similar that on one date in early October in one year of the study, all the GPS-tagged birds were within about 300 miles of each other in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

"These birds started their journey in four different states, from northern Wisconsin to southern Ohio," Tonra said.

Whip-poor-will in hand. Credit: Jay Wright

"To have them all end up so near each other on the same day of migration is remarkable."

One reason that their paths were so similar is that whip-poor-wills, unlike other species of birds, avoided flying over the Gulf of Mexico to reach Mexico and Central America, the study found. As a result, the birds were concentrated in a small area of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas as they made their way around the Gulf.

This finding shows the importance of forest management efforts in that area of those states, Tonra said.

Another issue is that the migratory path takes many whip-poor-wills through four major urban areas in Texas: Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston.

Like many bird species, whip-poor-wills migrate at night and can be disoriented by the bright lights of cities, Tonra said. They often are attracted to the light and end up dying in building collisions.

"Studies show that whip-poor-wills are at particularly high risk for high-rise building collisions and so that could be a significant source of mortality for them, especially in early October," Tonra said.

Some cities in the United States have instituted "lights out" programs during migration to protect birds that are passing through, he said. Such programs could be particularly helpful in Texas.

The findings showed that nearly all the birds from the Midwest breeding sites wintered in the same general area in southern Mexico and Guatemala.

In contrast, some species of birds that breed in different areas of the United States and Canada also winter in different areas in Mexico, and Central and South America, Tonra said.

These findings have implications for possible causes of the rapid population decline of the species.

Tonra noted that while the overall population of whip-poor-wills is in decline, populations in some breeding areas in the United States are relatively stable, while other populations have disappeared or are in decline.

This fact, coupled with the finding that nearly all the birds wintered in the same area, suggest that whip-poor-wills may face their greatest challenges here in their U.S. breeding grounds, Tonra said.

"If the wintering grounds were the major problem, we should see similar population declines in all their different breeding areas, which is not what is happening," he said.

One issue may be the decline in insect populations on some of their breeding grounds. Whip-poor-wills are insectivores, eating mostly moths on the wing.

Tonra said the researchers are planning a project to trap moths on current breeding grounds, as well as in areas where whip-poor-wills have disappeared, to see if declines in moth populations may have played a role.

Explore further Study reveals key locations for declining songbird

More information: Aaron A. Skinner et al, High spatiotemporal overlap in the nonbreeding season despite geographically dispersed breeding locations in the eastern whippoorwill ( Antrostomus vociferus ), Diversity and Distributions (2022). Journal information: Diversity and Distributions Aaron A. Skinner et al, High spatiotemporal overlap in the nonbreeding season despite geographically dispersed breeding locations in the eastern whippoorwill ( Antrostomus vociferus ),(2022). DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13477
Pictorial view of the combined atomic position and electronic charge density of a charge density wave compared to a normal metal. The amplitude of the modulations is exaggerated in scale for illustration. Credit: David Le Bolloc'h, LPS, Orsay France

The axion is a particle that physicists have hypothesized for decades. It has garnered attention in recent years for its potential involvement in dark matter. Their very existence, however, remains in dispute.

Russian and French researchers say an experimental approach for demonstrating the existence of an axionic behavior in specific materials may not have found it as previously reported. In Applied Physics Letters, the multinational team was unable to detect the expected increased magnetoconductivity in the charge density wave of a compound made up of tantalum, selenium, and iodine, called (TaSe 4 ) 2 I.

The findings come three years after an article published in the journal Nature seemed to provide sufficient evidence for an axionic behavior using a similar approach.

"A null result, as we report, is in its own an interesting result," said co-author Pierre Monceau. "The nonreproducibility in the results could be the source of a controversy but, more importantly, may open a scientific debate to uncover experimental ways for investigating this new field."

The concept of an axion in particle physics was proposed in the 1970s to explain why the strong nuclear force does not exhibit parity violation. Such a violation would have led, for instance, to an electric dipole moment for the neutron, which so far has not been detected experimentally.

Evidence for the axion lies in the specific way it couples to its electromagnetic field. Recently, it was theorized that a similar coupling occurs involving electrons in Weyl semimetals, a model for condensed matter that includes (TaSe 4 ) 2 I.

Under the right conditions, these electron interactions can induce a charge density wave.

Charge density waves can take on axionic characteristics if they include electrons with spiral-like movement that mirror one another in a magnetic field. The key finding that would suggest this is an increase in a wave's magnetoconductivity.

(TaSe 4 ) 2 I achieves the right conditions because of its structure, which can separate electron states according to their helix formation.

"Our surprise was to detect no effect in the conductance in a magnetic field," Monceau said. "We think that, given the lack of further evidence, it is premature to assert that (TaSe 4 ) 2 I harbors an axionic charge density wave."

Monceau said charge density wave excitations might demonstrate axionic characteristics that may be revealed by appropriate experiments, including measuring the nonlinear dynamics in a magnetic field along the charge density wave.

The group aims to continue these experiments and hope the results will inspire others to develop new techniques for confirming the existence of axion counterparts in condensed matter.

Explore further Axion particle spotted in solid-state crystal

More information: "Does (TaSe 4 ) 2 I really harbor an axionic charge density wave?" Applied Physics Letters (2022). Journal information: Nature , Applied Physics Letters "Does (TaSeI really harbor an axionic charge density wave?"(2022). aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/5.0080380
Rakeh Saleem and Saanchi Kaushal, both architectural engineering doctoral students, and Rebecca Napolitano, assistant professor of architectural engineering, evaluate the damage of buildings in the aftermath of the tornadoes. Credit: Mariantonieta Gutierrez Soto, Penn State

Sometimes research means combing through data on a computer or studying a sample in a quiet lab. Other times, it means taking an unplanned, 12-hour road trip to don a hardhat and collect the data yourself. Faculty members and graduate students from the Penn State College of Engineering did the latter, traveling to Mayfield, Kentucky, to capture data on tornado destruction in the wake of the December 2021 Midwest Tornado series.

As members of the Field Assessment Structural Team, known as FAST, within national Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) Network, Mariantonieta Gutierrez Soto, assistant professor in the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs and global engineering design engagement coordinator, and Rebecca Napolitano, assistant professor of architectural engineering, are notified by StEER when there is a need to deploy researchers to document damage immediately after a natural disaster.

"This trip was a recon mission," Napolitano said. "We needed to capture some of the data that wouldn't be there two weeks later due to cleanup. We did a door-to-door assessment, got a street view with a camera on the car and used a drone for aerial evaluation."

In addition to documenting the built environment with photographs, the two researchers and their graduate students, Saanchi Singh Kaushal and Rakeh Saleem, assessed damage using standard language and observation metrics, as agreed-upon by StEER. For example, in assessing damage to a roof, the researchers used a wind damage rating that differentiates between half of the roof being attached still, one third of it attached, and so on. They also included information that can only be determined by immediate, on-the ground observation, such as damage that they can tell was caused by a tree or by litter, sincebefore clean-up effortsthey can still see the trees and litter in the area.

Their data was compiled with information collected by other network members at various universities in the StEER 2021 Midwest Tornado Outbreak Joint Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report and Early Access Reconnaissance Report. The report summarizes the performance of various structures and recommends research paths for developing disaster-resilient structures.

Napolitano and Gutierrez Soto will use the data to inform their research on the resiliency of older structural features for potential contemporary use and the structural engineering aspect of community recovery after disasters, respectively.

"How resilient is the entire community? How fast is the community recovering?" Gutierrez Soto asked. "Every state has a management plan after natural disasters. We're tapping into that space to understand how different communities prepare differently and how we can design so everyone can better prepare with monitoring tools and more."

The researchers plan to revisit Mayfield over the next few months to continue assessing the community's recovery.

Explore further The recent killer tornado's track is visible from space
Fig. 1: Observed relation between religiosity and credibility ratings per source for each country. Countries are ordered by size of the source-by-religiosity interaction (from left to right, top to bottom). Red lines and circles denote ratings for the spiritual guru and gray lines and circles denote ratings for the scientist. Circles reflect individual observations and are jittered to enhance visibility. Credibility was measured on a seven-point Likert scale. Credit: DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01273-8

What influence does the source of information have on its credibility? Scientists have more authority than spiritual sources, both among religious and non-religious people. This is apparent from a large-scale experiment conducted by UvA researchers working in an international team. In the experiment, the researchers presented nonsense claims made by both a scientist and a spiritual guru to more than 10,000 subjects from 24 countries. They describe the universal effect found, which they call the Einstein effect, in a publication that appeared on Monday, 7 February, in the scientific journal Nature Human Behavior.

The corona crisis has recently brought the subject of the credibility of science to the fore. Does keeping 1.5 meters apart really work? Are vaccinations safe? Does wearing a face mask help? In many cases, the answers to such questions ultimately boil down to who we trust most and consider the most credible authority. Should we take the word of an anti-vaxxer or listen to the national health authorities to guide our beliefs and behavior regarding the virus? "In our research, we looked at the influence that the source of the information has on its credibility, apart from the content of the information itself. We did that with a simple experiment using nonsense claims. They were not about corona, but our findings are also very relevant to the debates around corona," says UvA psychologist Suzanne Hoogeveen, who led the study.

Meaningless, but profound-sounding

The 10,195 participants in the experiment were presented with two meaningless but profound-sounding statements: "We are called to explore the cosmos itself as an interface between faith and empathy. We must learn how to lead authentic lifes in the face of delusion. It is in refining that we are guided." and "Yes, it is possible to exterminate the things that can confront us, but not without hope on our side. Turbulence is born in the gap when transformation has been excluded. It is in evolving that we are re-energized." One claim was attributed to a scientist and the other to a spiritual guru. Participants were then asked to indicate on a 7-point scale to what extent they found the claims credible.

Cross-cultural differences

Even the most religious subjects saw the scientist's claim as more credible than that of the spiritual guru, although the effect was less strong in that group. They found the spiritual guru's words relatively more credible than the non-religious participants in the experiment.

The effect found was universal; at the same time, there were also differences between countries. For instance, the Dutch participants were the most skeptical about the claims across the board. The difference between credibility of the scientist and the guru was greatest in Turkey and smallest in India, China and Japan. "It could be that the relatively smaller effect in Southeast Asia is because the spiritual guru, as presented in the study, is more closely aligned with Eastern belief systems than with the more Western Christian traditions," explains Hoogeveen. "However, based on our data, we cannot make firm statements about this."

"Our findings suggest that regardless of one's worldview, science is seen worldwide as a powerful indicator of the reliability of information. In these times when there is a lot of talk about skepticism with regard to, for example, climate change and vaccinations, that is hopefully reassuring," says Hoogeveen.

Explore further Healthy skepticism: People may be wary of health articles on crowdsourced sites

More information: Suzanne Hoogeveen et al, The Einstein effect provides global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity, Nature Human Behaviour (2022). Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour Suzanne Hoogeveen et al, The Einstein effect provides global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01273-8
GREENWICH  Police have arrested a suspect in the fire that destroyed a Main Street building Sunday.

Witnesses said they saw a man jump from a second-floor window of the building around the time the midday fire broke out and flee on foot to the west.

In an email Monday morning, Sgt. Robert Danko of the Cambridge-Greenwich Police Department said his officers, a K-9 unit from the Washington County Sheriffs Office, and New York State Police found the suspect.

With the assistance of state police investigators, police arrested John M. Fox, 48, of California, and charged him with second-degree arson, second-degree criminal mischief and first-degree reckless endangerment, all felonies.

In coordination with Greenwich fire officials at the scene, an excavation contractor took down enough of the wreckage so that it was not a hazard to its surroundings, finishing early Monday morning, according to an update from the Washington County Public Safety Department.

Crews from the village of Greenwich Department of Public Works, Washington County Department of Public Works and New York State Department of Transportation assisted.

Main Street was reopened around 1:20 a.m. Monday.

National Grid crews repaired damaged power lines and restored electricity to 233 customers late Sunday evening.

In an e-mail Monday, Greenwich Town Supervisor Jim Nolan said all the buildings residents escaped safely. They were taken to St. Paul Episcopal Churchs parish hall across the street where they were assisted by EMTs and the American Red Cross.

My understanding is that they are with relatives now, Nolan wrote. Several groups are organizing clothing drives.

The Northeastern New York Chapter of the American Red Cross provided immediate assistance to four adult residents of the building, according to a news release. That included financial help for shelter, food and clothing, emotional support and comfort kits with personal care items. Staff and volunteers will remain available to those affected by the fire.

The four businesses in the burned building, the building itself, and businesses in adjacent buildings are members of the Greater Greenwich Chamber of Commerce.

On its website, the chamber said it is seeing an outpouring of messages and support to the fires victims and is setting up a fund to collect and disburse donations to the businesses and residents.

The businesses directly affected lost inventory, equipment, records and physical space and will suffer long-term disruption, the chamber said. Others will suffer indirectly through business interference.

One affected business was Clifford Oliver Photography, a commercial and fine art photography business. A GoFundMe fundraising page states that owner and operator Clifford Oliver Mealy lost most of his photography equipment, including cameras, lenses, lights, a printer, backdrops, an antique camera collection and, most heartbreaking, decades of irreplaceable work.

The chamber, just up Main Street in the Greenwich Village Hall, has offered its office phone, internet, equipment and technical help to those who may need it.

The chamber is seeking temporary office space and furnishings, housing, help with filing insurance claims, clothing and personal items for the residents and businesses that were burned out. Two local mental health providers have offered support.

Comfort Food Community, the area food pantry, and Greenwich House of Pizza and Pasta have offered food.

More information and updates on donations will be posted at https://battenkillstrong.org.

Tim Hardy, deputy director of Washington County Public Safety, offered heartfelt thanks to the many in Greenwich and surrounding communities who extended support to the first responders on the scene and their understanding and patience with the road closures and power outages.

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LAKE GEORGE  The Warren-Washington Industrial Development Agency has approved financial assistance for the ongoing renovations at the Fort William Henry Hotel and Conference Center.

The IDA works to increase economic development by providing incentives in the form of tax abatements.

How can we keep businesses in the area? This was a question posed by Dave OBrien, chair of the IDA, at Wednesdays meeting. It is a question that underpins every major project the IDA undertakes.

Our mission is to help businesses build from the ground up in the first 5-10 years, and while Fort William Henry has been around for a while, they are going through a transition. Banks and loaners encourage businesses to seek help from agencies such as ours, OBrien said in a follow-up interview after the meeting.

The financial assistance would be in the form of sales tax abatements, mortgage tax abatements and payments in lieu of taxes. These abatements will be used toward construction materials.

Part of phase one of a $3.5 million plan, the projects the IDA will help with includes a three-season porch that will surround the White Lion Room, expansion of the kitchen and transforming the Tankard Tavern into a new restaurant.

The hotel and conference center is considered a service retail operation, and while the IDA does not typically help these kinds of entities, Fort William Henry is an exception because it draws people from all over New York state, according to OBrien.

It is crucial to remember: were trying to help people, OBrien said.

During Wednesdays meeting, the CEO of Fort William Henry, Kathryn Muncil, outlined how the renovations could help economic development in the Lake George area.

Well be expanding our kitchen, which allows us to therefore run two full-time service operations out of the kitchen, Muncil said. The new restaurant is currently being considered to be named Circa 1855, she added.

When the projects are complete, Fort William Henry will be able to run full-time wedding services in addition to its regular daily food services. In the past, the hotel had to limit these retail food operations in order to accommodate wedding events.

These adjustments will allow us to provide year-round daily food service to our guests, Muncil added.

This means more employment opportunity in Lake George during off-season months.

Currently, the hotel is able to do 30 to 50 weddings a year. With the new and improved three-season porch along with an expanded kitchen, the hotel will be able to increase that number.

How many immediate jobs would this expansion create?

On our application we put a small number in terms of being conservative. ... I would suggest it would be anywhere between 12-16 people when the dust is settled, Muncil said.

It will also allow us to do weddings in a larger format and fashion, she added.

I suspect this will also keep some of the wait staff and cooks that go to Florida in the wintertime because theres no place to work in Lake George when a majority of places shut down, IDA member Michael Grasso said.

The renovations on the expansion of the kitchen and the three-season porch will not begin until Nov. 1. Part of phase 1 of the entire project, these adjustments have been delayed so as not to interfere with wedding events during the spring and summer.

The renovations will be facilitated by BBL Construction Services, Design and Supply Interior Designers and HBT Architects.

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U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, on Feb. 2 introduced legislation to effectively ban Chinese drone manufacturer Da-Jiang Innovations, better known as DJI, from operating in the United States.

Stefanik said in a news release that the company manufactures more than half of the drones sold in the United States.

Stefanik said The Washington Post recently reported that the Chinese government is an investor in the company, contrary to previous denials by the company.

The legislation  HR 6572  would add DJI to a Federal Communications Commission covered list of drone companies the FCC is in the process of prohibiting to operate on U.S. communications infrastructure.

The possibility that DJI drones could be equipped to send live imagery of military installations, critical infrastructure and the personal lives of American citizens to China poses too great a threat, Stefanik said.

The legislation had two co-sponsors, both Republican, as of Feb. 8.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

In other regional political news:

Small dollar

Matt Putorti is in the lead for small dollar contributions, seen as an indicator of grassroots support, among the four candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, according to reports the campaigns filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Putorti, who lives in Whitehall, received $116,765 in un-itemized contributions of less than $200 per donor, for 31.2% of his total receipts, as of Dec. 31.

North River resident Bridie Farrell received $79,299, for 32% of her total receipts.

Matt Castelli, who lives in the town of Saratoga, received $50,481, for 11.4% of his total receipts.

Ezra Watson, of Wilton, received $3,012, for 84.5% of his total receipts.

Stefanik received $2.2 million, for 48.6% of her total receipts.

Weighing Assembly run

David Catalfamo of Wilton, the Republican who unsuccessfully challenged state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, in 2020, said Monday that Republican leaders are urging him to run again, and he will make a decision soon.

Winter recreation

The Hiking Senator, as state Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, is known in Albany, has gone motorized.

Stec posted on Facebook on Feb. 5 that he went snowmobiling for the first time that day.

The Cranberry Lake Mountaineers Snowmobile Club hosted the ride.

Stec, an Adirondack 46er, has not stopped hiking.

On the way to St. Lawrence County and on the way back that day, he took three short hikes, as part of a sequence of winter hikes to waterfalls that he is undertaking.

Bicentennial

State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, on Jan. 22 introduced legislation to establish a state commission to plan a celebration in 2025 of the opening of the Erie Canal and subsequent development of the state canal system.

Sen. Pamela Helming, R-Canandaigua, introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

Early voting

State Assemblyman Matt Simpson, R-Brant Lake, on Jan. 10, introduced legislation to enable Warren County to make the county Municipal Center its primary location for early voting.

The law, which would be Warren County specific, would amend election law, which currently requires an early voting polling place in a city.

It would instead require Warren County to have at least one early polling place at the county Municipal Center in Queensbury.

Sec. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors requested the legislation in August.

Gender language

Legislation that state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, introduced to require gender neutral references in state municipal law passed the Assembly on Jan. 25.

References to councilman and councilmen would be replaced with council member and council members, references to chairman would be replaced with chair, and references to alderman and aldermen would be replaced with alder person and alder persons.

The use of gendered labels is antiquated and inaccurate, states the legislation  A08272.

State Sen. Samra Brouk, D-Rochester, has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

Woerner also has introduced legislation  A01327  to require gender-neutral references on insurance claims forms.

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The Washington County Public Health Department on Monday reported the COVID-related death of a 74-year-old resident.

According to the department, the individual had recently been hospitalized and died late last week. This person was not vaccinated, the report said.

Washington County officials offered their thoughts and prayers to the family, friends and caregivers of the deceased in a news release.

The Public Health Department also reported a total of 147 active COVID cases.

The county stated 11 residents are currently hospitalized, as of Monday.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate was at 10.6%.

The county continues to administer PCR COVID tests on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m to 3 p.m. at 1153 Burgoyne Ave., Fort Edward. Appointments must be made through the Washington County website.

Warren County

Warren County Health Services reported a total of 104 new COVID cases recorded on Sunday and Monday.

The report stated only 38 new cases were recorded between Sunday and Monday morning.

This is the lowest one-day total in Warren County since Dec. 26, which was an artificially low number due to Christmas Day testing site closures, according to county officials.

The county report stated 15 residents are currently in the hospital, with nine vaccinated patients and four critically ill.

Glens Falls Hospital spokesman Ray Agnew reported 33 COVID patients and three in the ICU.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate remains under 10%, at 9.9% on Monday.

Warren County distributed 3,500 at-home COVID test kits to municipalities in the county. Visit Warren Countys website for information on receiving a test kit.

Warren County Health Services will hold vaccination clinics, open to the public, at the following schools:

Queensbury Union Free School District, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Lake George Central School, Thursday, Feb. 10, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

An additional clinic is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 8, at Warren County Municipal Center.

Registration links can be found at warren-county-ny-covid-19-warrencountyny.hub.arcgis.com/pages/vaccines.

Statewide

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the states lowest one-day total of positive cases since Nov. 8, on Monday.

The governor also reported, in a news release, that COVID cases are down more than 40% statewide over the past week.

The decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are cause for celebration and hope, but not complacency, Hochul said. There is still plenty of progress that can be made to ensure we stop the spread and keep our businesses and schools open.

According to a state news release on Monday, out of the 90,292 test results reported, 3,795 were positive cases.

The states seven-day rolling positivity rate was at 4.5%.

According to the data, 74.6% of New Yorkers have completed the vaccine series and 88% have received one dose of the vaccine.

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The Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament) on Tuesday reopened the nomination for the post of president of the country for three days, after the parliament failed on Monday to hold its second session to elect a new president.

The parliament decided to open the door for candidacy for the post starting from Wednesday and will continue for three days, the Iraqi parliament said in a statement, citing that the decision came due to the expiration of the constitutional period of 30 days (from the first session on Jan. 9) to elect a new president.

The Iraqi parliament had set February 7 as a date for holding its second session to elect a new president of the country from among 25 candidates, but the parliament failed to hold the session due to a lack of quorum and the political disputes among parliamentary political blocs.

On Jan. 31, the Iraqi parliament announced the names of 25 candidates for the presidential election, including incumbent President Barham Salih who represents the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, former Foreign Minister and Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Rizgar Mohammed Amin, former chief judge of the Iraqi Special Tribunal that organized the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

However, the Iraqi federal court on Sunday decided to suspend the nomination of Zebari as a candidate for the presidency until a corruption lawsuit against him would be resolved.

On Jan. 9, the Iraqi parliament held the first session, in which the lawmakers elected the speaker of the parliament and his two deputies. According to the Iraqi constitution, lawmakers should elect a new Iraqi president from the candidates by a two-thirds majority of its members.

Once elected, the new president will ask the largest parliamentary alliance to name a prime minister-designate to form a government within 30 days.

On Oct. 10, 2021, Iraq held the fifth parliamentary election, where Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Sadrist Movement emerged as the biggest winner with 73 out of the 329 seats.
TRENTON  Superior Court Judge Michael Blee will lead the Atlantic and Cape May Vicinage starting March 1, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said Monday.

Blee will replace head Judge Julio Mendez, who is retiring, ending a 20-year career on the Superior Court bench, 10 of which were served as assignment judge.

From his leadership in municipal court reform, to his efforts to connect recovery court graduates with jobs, and so much more, Judge Mendez leaves a legacy of innovation in pursuit of justice, Rabner said in a statement. The Atlantic/Cape May Vicinage will remain in capable hands under the leadership of Judge Blee, a talented and fair-minded jurist with a wide range of legal experience.

Blee has previously held a private practice for 24 years, Rabner said.

Blee first joined the vicinage a decade ago, serving over three years in its family division before he was appointed to the criminal division in 2015. He was also a municipal judge for eight months, Rabner said.

I am grateful to Chief Justice Rabner for his confidence in my ability to lead this vicinage, Blee said in a statement. Im very excited about this new challenge of continuing the exemplary work of Judge Mendez.

Throughout his career, Blee also served in various prosecutor roles for South Jersey communities, including Brigantine, Northfield and Absecon. He was also labor relations counsel for Egg Harbor Township, Rabner said.

Contact Eric Conklin: 609-272-7261 econklin@pressofac.com Twitter @ACPressConklin

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NEW YORK  A year after winning a major court battle against the opening of so-called safe injection sites  safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics with protections against fatal overdoses  the Justice Department is signaling it might be open to allowing them.

In response to questions from The Associated Press, the Justice Department said it is evaluating such facilities and talking to regulators about appropriate guardrails.

The position is a drastic change from its stance in the Trump administration, when prosecutors fought vigorously against a plan to open safe consumption sites in Philadelphia. The Justice Department won a lawsuit last year, when a federal appeals court ruled that opening such the facility would violate a 1980s-era drug law, aimed at crackhouses, which bans operating a place for taking illegal drugs. The Supreme Court declined in October to take the case.

About six weeks later, the first officially authorized safe injection sites opened in New York City in November. The two facilities  which the city calls overdose prevention centers  provide a monitored place for drug users to partake, with staffers and supplies on hand to reverse overdoses.

Such sites exist in Canada, Australia and Europe and have been discussed for years in New York and some other U.S. cities and states. Needle exchange facilities, like one in Atlantic City, have operated for some time.

Atlantic City Council President George Tibbitt was among the majority of council members voting to close the citys needle exchange last year, saying it was putting too great a burden on the city and other towns in the region werent willing to do their share of providing services.

Since then the state passed a law taking away the ability of municipalities to site or close syringe access centers, giving that right to the state Department of Health.

Tibbitt said Monday he sees the pros and cons of safe injection centers.

Theyre not on the street or on the corner behind a trash can overdosing because nobody finds them, Tibbitt said. It all comes back to its somebodys kid.

He just doesnt want Atlantic City to become the only location in the region to host such a facility, he said.

It could be my kid or your kid, Tibbitt said. Im just angry how much is in Atlantic City versus the surrounding communities, and the fact that nobody else will do their fair share, he said of providing safe syringe access and other social services.

Advocates have hailed them as a way to curb the scourge of overdose deaths. Drawing from the latest available death certificate data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses from May 2020 to April 2021.

Critics, however, argue that safe injection sites encourage illegal drug use and burden neighborhoods.

For months, the Justice Department  under Attorney General Merrick Garland  had refused to take a public stance on safe consumption sites. Officials now say they are weighing their use.

Although we cannot comment on pending litigation, the Department is evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety, the agency said in a statement Friday to the AP.

The New York City sites so far have intervened in more than 110 overdoses among more than 500 users, many of whom have made multiple visits, according to OnPoint NYC, the organization running them.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat whose administration allowed the centers to open, said the citys attorneys believed that the federal statute is aimed at drug trafficking, not at medical facilities, as he characterized the consumption sites.

But U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a New York City Republican, has urged Garland to work to shut them down, citing the appeals court ruling against the Philadelphia proposal last year.

As the highest-ranking law enforcement official in the country, it is imperative that you enforce this legal precedent, she wrote to him in a November letter, urging DOJ to focus on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S. and locking up traffickers.

Some other arms of the federal government also have signaled some willingness at least to explore safe injection facilities, if not yet embrace them. Asked about the New York sites, White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta told CNN in December he was interested in looking at the science and data behind all of the emerging harm reduction practices.

Later that month, the National Institutes of Health issued a call for harm reduction research that mentioned safe consumption sites, among other approaches.

Staff Writer Michelle Brunetti Post contributed to this story.
Czech Republic Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek Visits RFE/RL, Meets With 2020-2021 Vaclav Havel And Jiri Dienstbier Journalism Fellows Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic Jakub Kulhanek visited Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertys (RFE/RL) broadcast center in Prague on June 25, 2021, to meet with the 2020-2021 class of Vaclav Havel and Jiri Dienstbier Journalism Fellows. Kulhanek, together with RFE/RL President Jamie Fly, presented Certificates of Achievement to the Havel and Dienstbier Fellows, congratulating them on their exceptional journalistic talent and successful completion of the fellowship despite the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Minister Kulhanek noted how important independent media are to the healthy development and defense of democracy and human rights, goals shares by both the Czech Foreign Ministry and RFE/RL. A concrete example of how these shared goals are put into practice, Kulhanek added, is the ministrys longstanding partnership with RFE/RL on the Havel and Dienstbier Fellowship programs  one of several projects the ministry supports to promote press freedom globally. The Fellows thanked Minister Kulhanek for his ministrys support of the two Fellowship programs, and told the minister about their personal experiences in journalism and the political and financial challenges independent media face in their countries.

Vaclav Havel Journalism Fellows 2021

Aren Melikyan, Armenia

Aren Melikyan worked for Media Initiatives Center, formerly known as Internews Armenia, and also for Chai-Khana.org, an award-winning regional media platform that engages with minority groups, women, rural communities, and conflict-affected communities in the Caucasus. He also contributed to the independent media outlet EVN Report, which offers a mix of political reporting, analysis, and commentary. Aren produces podcasts, multimedia stories and documentaries. Aren has also worked as a fact-checking journalist for Facts Investigation Platform (fip.am), and as a reporter for Public TV of Armenia. Aren, winner of Tvapatum 2018 media award, has earned a bachelors degree in journalism. Working as a correspondent during the second Nagorno-Karabakh war (2020), Aren contributed and bylined for several international media outlets, such as CNN Digital and BBC World Service. In addition to his native Armenian, Aren also speaks English and Russian and elementary German.

Izzatkhanim Jabarli, Azerbaijan

Izzatkhanim Jabarli has worked for the past three years as a freelance journalist for media outlets in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus region. She also worked as a copy writer and content manager. Before that she was a video editor in chief and video reporter for Azerbaijans Toplum TV. Izzatkhanim studied Management and Business Administration at the Azerbaijan State University of Economics, and attended the Democracy School of Journalism in 2016, and has also received journalism and photojournalism training at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and at the Mentor Academy, Baku, Azerbaijan. In addition to her native Azerbaijani, Izzatkhanim also speaks Turkish, Russian and English.

Vitaut Siucyk, Belarus

Vitaut Siucyk is a TV journalist and news presenter for the Warsaw-based Belsat TV, and a radio journalist for Belarusian Radio Racyja. As a radio journalist he is responsible for conducting interviews, collecting news, and preparing radio broadcasts. Vitaut earned a masters degree from the Center for East European Studies of the University of Warsaw. In addition to his native Belarusian language, Vitaut also speaks Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, English, Serbian and Croatian.

Sandro Gvindadze, Georgia

Sandro Gvindadze is a journalist with six plus years of experience working in media and the NGO sector. He currently works for the media organization ThroughTheNews as a reporter and creative manager. He also worked for the news agency Mediamall and contributed to Die Tageszeitung. Sandro earned a masters degree in media and communication from Tbilisi State University, and has participated in numerous journalism-related internships, trainings, and seminars. In addition to his native Georgian, Sandro also speaks English and Russian.

Ekaterina Golenkova, Russia

Ekaterina Golenkova is a digital media producer for the online human rights project OVD-Info, where she has developed and implemented several digital media projects from idea generation through post-production. Prior to joining OVD-Info, Ekaterina worked as a contributing writer for the information portal Takie Dela, covering social topics in Russia. She earned both bachelors and masters degrees while studying at Russias Higher School of Economics. In addition to her native Russian, Ekaterina also speaks English.

Artur Korniienko, Ukraine

Artur Korniienko was most recently a staff writer at the Kyiv Post, a Ukrainian English-language newspaper, reporting on culture, social issues, business and politics, as well as doing some freelance work. Previously he worked at the independent Hromadske news channel, producing a weekly program about Eastern Europe for an international audience, and as a correspondent for UATV English, Ukraines international broadcaster. Artur has a masters degree in journalism from the Ukrainian Catholic University. In addition to his native Ukrainian, he speaks English and Russian and is learning French.

Jiri Dienstbier Journalism Fellows 2021

Donika Gashi, Kosovo

Donika Gashi has worked as a journalist, producer, and co-host at Klan Kosova, a major national television network in Kosovo, since 2015. For the past four years, she has worked on NIN, a prime-time show devoted to social and cultural issues, where she has honed her interview skills and ability to address topics that are still considered a 'taboo' in Kosovo society. Donika has earned a bachelors degree in political science from the University of Pristina. In addition to her native Albanian, Donika also speaks English.

Teodora Cvetkovska, North Macedonia

Teodora Cvetkovska is a journalist with Telma TV, reporting on education and social justice issues. She is also a reporter for the investigative program KOD with Sneyhana Lupevska. Previously, she worked as an investigative reporter for Inbox 7 and for SCOOP Macedonia and the Center for Investigative Journalism, as well as for the website of Nova TV web and Fakulteti.mk. A winner of the Voice of the Invisible award from the Macedonian Anti-Poverty Platform, Teodora has studied journalism at the University ss.Cyril & Methodius, as well as optometry studies at the University Goce Delchev. In addition to her native Macedonian, Teodora also speaks English and Serbo-Croatian.
Bettendorf City Council member Scott Webster announced Tuesday that he is seeking the Republican nomination for the open Iowa Senate District 47 seat, setting up a GOP primary contest.

The district includes Eldridge, Bettendorf, Riverdale, Panorama Park and parts of LeClaire and Davenport.

LeClaire City Council Member Barry Long announced his candidacy to run for the seat as a Republican in late December.

Bettendorf doctor Mary Kathleen Figaro is also running for the seat, as a Democrat.

The new district is not currently represented by an incumbent after Iowa State Sens. Jim Lykam, D-Davenport, and Roby Smith, R-Davenport, were drawn into the same district.

Smith, who previously represented parts of the new district, has launched a campaign to run for state treasurer rather than seek reelection to the Iowa Senate.

Lykam last month announced he will not seek reelection to the Iowa Senate and will retire after serving out this current term through 2022.

Webster, who owns Premier Customs Homes, Webster Properties and Quad City Disposal, was elected to the Bettendorf City Council in a special election in July 2014 and was reelected in 2015 and 2019.

"I am running for the Iowa Senate because it is vital we maintain the pro-growth policies being implemented over the last several years," Webster said in news release announcing his candidacy. "As a home builder, I know how critical it is to lower taxes, reduce needless government regulations and support policies to create jobs and opportunity."

Webster, too, pledged to take his "record of strong support for first responders and public safety on the Bettendorf City Council with me to the Iowa Senate.

"I look forward to talking to voters in Scott County about improving the state so our children have opportunities right here in Iowa," Webster said in a statement announcing his candidacy.

He was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Webster served as former president of the Iowa Homebuilders Association and Quad City Builders and Remodelers Association. He also has served on the Bettendorf 4th of July Committee, Student Trades Committee and the Family Museum strategic plan committee.

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Caseys is joining forces with Feeding America to fight food insecurity across the Midwest. According to a news release, 1 in 9 people face hunger in the United States.

In February, Caseys guests can directly contribute to this effort by rounding up their purchases, with each $1 donated equating to 10 meals distributed.

Feeding Americas network enables these donations to be allocated directly to 52 different local food banks across Caseys 16-state footprint, including River Bend Foodbank in Davenport and three others in the state.

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CAMBRIDGE  A former Geneseo teacher is facing a prison term for the dissemination of child pornography following his plea to the charge Tuesday in Henry County Circuit Court.

Brian W. Duwe, 55, entered the partially negotiated plea to one count Class X felony dissemination of child pornography, a video of a child under the age of 18 engaged in an act of sexual penetration. Eight other counts  even additional Class X felonies and one Class 3 felony  were dismissed. Judge James Cosby accepted the plea.

According to a factual basis for the charge to which he pleaded, the Illinois State Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that child pornography registered to an email address had been sent and 33 files uploaded between Nov. 10, 2020 and Nov. 14, 2020.

State police personnel reviewed the files, determining it was child pornography and Duwe was identified as the owner of the ISP address. A search warrant was executed at his Orion residence, and in an interview, Duwe made admissions to the charge.

Duwe submitted his resignation to the Geneseo School District, which was accepted by the board of education effective Feb. 26, 2021.

Duwe faces a minimum of six years in prison and a maximum of 30 years as well as a minimum fine of $1,000 up to a maximum of $100,000. The charge is not probationable. He will also have 18 months of mandatory supervised release after his prison term.

Sentencing was set for April 13.

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The aromas of spicy, warm, good things on the stove hit the nose several feet into the hall of Bettendorf High School, drifting from Amanda Thibodeauxs classroom.

Inside, a number of students in clean, white kitchen jackets bustled around a handful of stoves atop which green-gold broth, heavy with vegetables, bubbled in pots and chicken browned and sizzled in big skillets.

On that February days menu was chicken tortilla soup, and its smell grew richer the farther into the room you went.

Culinary courses at the high school include food and nutrition, advanced foods, introduction to baking and pastry arts and culinary principles, according to the high schools website. That final course is dual credit through Eastern Iowa Community Colleges.

Things students who enroll are meant to learn include food preparation techniques for foods representing cultures found in the U.S.; safety and sanitation; and studying the food industry.

Thibodeaux, who teaches family and consumer sciences, said the most essential skill she wanted her students to exhibit while making the soup was not technical culinary skill but time management.

So this is a longer lab that they have a time crunch to be under, Thibodeaux said.

But Thibodeaux said she also wanted to see their knife skills.

Dice, slice, julienne  so are we seeing mincing, so are we seeing these skills being utilized correctly, Thibodeaux said.

Finally, their basic cooking methods should also be on display  things like simmering, poaching and sauteing, Thibodeaux said.

At one of the stoves, Melissa Robinson, a 17-year-old senior, was stirring the soup.

She was letting the chicken simmer in the broth before taking it out, shredding the meat and returning it to the soup.

Its going to infuse the soup and the chicken more so you can taste it (the chicken) when you eat the soup, Robinson said when asked how simmering would help the dish.

The Bettendorf Community School District has been letting the culinary students show off their skills at district events. They made cookies and other treats for the recent unveiling of the districts Certified Nursing Assistant program and also for the state of the district address in late January.

Robinson said she began learning cooking from her mother, and she likes to prepare meals like tacos and spaghetti.

Shes been involved in the program for a couple of years and is interested in learning the skills mostly for her own kitchen.

The most important skill shes learned is how to use the knives, Robinson said.

Like Robinson, sophomore Hayden Robnett, 16, and Santana Bryce, a 16-year-old junior, said their families cooking sparked their interest in learning about food.

Robnett said he was considering food as a career.

Use the knowledge Ive gotten from both my family and in school, and see where that can take me, Robnett said.

As far as what aspect he is interested in professionally, Robnett said he really likes Asian food.

Really big into that, make a lot of, you know, noodle dishes, rice dishes, all that sort of stuff, Robnett said. Big into meats, as well. I cook a lot of steak, pork, chicken, all that stuff.

Bryce, who was one of the students who catered the state of the district event, said that  now that hes tried cooking  hes decided he likes it.

His favorite part is the smell of the food he and his classmates have been cooking. His favorite personal culinary creation has been his chocolate chip cookies.

Bryce said currently he was not considering kitchens as a career. Learning how to cook was more just for fun.

Letting good kitchen smells wander the halls is one of Thibodeauxs tactics for encouraging students to explore the culinary arts, she said.

Her recruitment technique overall is pretty sensory.

Just kick open the doors, let the students walk by, see whats happening, smell the good food, Thibodeaux said.

They can see their fellows at work in their chef coats, see the hands-on skills in play, Thibodeaux said.

And say, I want to do that, Thibodeaux said. I want to do that for my personal life, I want to do it for my professional life, whatever aspect they want to do it for.

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GENESEO - The idea for the proposed Concordia Lutheran Academy in Geneseo is moving forward.

At the churchs voters meeting in January, it was voted to move forward with the appointment of a Creation Committee for the kindergarten to Grade 5 school. The Creation Committee is 16 volunteers who will create an operational model and a budget for the school.

It is extremely important to the Concordia Lutheran Church that our school become a viable, successful academic institution that will serve the Geneseo community for many years to come," Marifaith Mueller, a member of the Creation Committee, said. "This will take a great deal of planning and fundraising over the next year.

The Creation Committee plan to present the updated model and plan at the next church meeting in May.

Concordia Lutheran Church anticipated a parochial school in 1972 when they added the educational unit to the church building.

In days gone by in the Lutheran church, it wasnt out of the ordinary for a church to have its own school," pastor Rev. Stephen Mueller, said. "When a church was founded, likely a school would also soon be started. We hope to bring back the school that Concordia first had so many years ago, and offer a quality, Christ-centered, classical education to our Church and community.

Parents seek to train up their children in the way they should go, so that when they are old they will not depart from it, he said. Our hope is that Concordia Lutheran Academy will greatly assist parents in this God-given task.

To learn more about the school, call the church office at 309-944-3993.

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On a summer day eight years ago, Eddie Bocanegra, with his daughter Salome on his shoulders, stood at the head of a wooded hiking trail in a Chicago suburb to lead a group of teens on a walk.

The youths, who navigated dangerous paths every day back home in Little Village, were there as part of Bocanegras Urban Warriors program, which brought street-involved young men and military veterans together for mentoring.

This is my sanctuary, Bocanegra said as he stepped into the sunlit forest.

Urban Warriors was the first of two violence prevention programs Bocanegra has launched in Chicago during the past eight years, a time period in which the citys long history of neighborhood-based violence prevention experienced a major revitalization.

Now, with the country grappling with a surge in homicides and shootings, Bocanegra has been named senior adviser for community violence intervention in the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a release from Heartland Alliance, where he serves as senior director.

Some said the appointment is an acknowledgment from the administration of President Joe Biden that solutions to the two-year spike should include input from people on the ground  such as Bocanegra  who have responded to persistent gun violence with street outreach and mediation, direct support for victims, job training and therapy.

To me it signals that the (Biden) administration is still following what the research says  you cant solve gun violence just with cops and handcuffs, said Walter Katz, who worked under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel as deputy chief of staff for public safety in Chicago. Being able to effectively investigate crimes and use cops to solve crimes is very important but another absolutely crucial part of that is  trying to work with people who are involved in violence to address the underlying causes. That is what Eddie has shown: A pathway, down to the individual level, to steer people in the right direction.

Bocanegra, who served time in prison and went on to earn a masters in social work from the University of Chicago, first worked to fight violence in Chicago as an outreach worker at CeaseFire, an organization known for its work to interrupt street disputes with workers in neighborhoods where they take place.

He then joined the YMCA of Metro Chicago, where he started Urban Warriors. The program paired youth in Little Village with military veterans for mentoring and therapy, based on shared experiences of coping with and surviving danger. Bocanegra thought it was a way to help treat mental and emotional wounds that youths often suffer from growing up in Chicagos more fractured communities.

Bocanegra later moved to Heartland Alliance, where he started the READI program, which sought out those most at risk to be involved in violence to for an intense jobs program as well as therapy to deal with unaddressed trauma. The program partnered with other violence prevention groups in the city that have organized into a more formalized structure to try and reduce violence during the last five years.

Eddies new position with the Department of Justice is a testament to his vital work with READI Chicago and demonstrates the important role leaders in Chicago and Illinois play in the field of community violence intervention, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in the release. When U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Chicago last year, he included a visit to St. Agatha Catholic Church to talk with Eddie and participants in the READI program. If we want to end the epidemic of gun violence, we need to invest in community-based solutions that end cycles of trauma.

In an interview Monday, Bocanegra said he is hoping to be a voice in Washington for his entire field, the organizations and individuals he knows in Chicago and across the country who work every day to identify people who need help and determine how to deliver it to them.

It is a complicated process, and Bocanegra said he was excited that people in Washington wanted to learn more about it.

I see this opportunity as our president and our current government walking the walk when they talk about criminal justice reform, he said. This is a part of it, they are allowing someone like me to be in this space.

Bocanegra knows from firsthand experience how hard it is to intervene and help people who have been exposed to violence. Not everyone in READI or Urban Warriors was successful, and policymakers need to understand why.

I think that is part of the reason I am going into this role, he said. We think because you have a program or intervention, that is going to solve peoples exposure to trauma or lack of education, which has happened for 20 years. Were grappling with decades of disinvestment and exposure to this level of violence.

Paul Carrillo, a former intervention worker in L.A., said Bocanegras appointment provides an opportunity for Washington officials to really understand how hard the work is.

There arent many in our industry that do what we do, specifically on the hard to reach, the most at-risk, said Carrillo, who is now director of the Community Violence Initiative at Giffords Law Center. So it says a lot. ... I personally think it is a significant move by the White House in that we are all going to be better for it.

Bocanegras appointment comes at a tumultuous time around issues of public safety and policing in the U.S.

After the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, there were widespread and sustained demands across the country for a re-examination of the role of law enforcement. Many called for outright defunding of departments, citing the deaths of unarmed citizens, mostly Black men, from the actions of police officers.

Then, in the wake of the past two years of sustained gun violence across the country, which coincided with a pandemic that caused economic and emotional stress, came increased pressure on lawmakers to return to a more punitive law enforcement response to stop violence.

Bocanegras appointment also comes as the neighborhood where he grew up, Little Village, or La Villita, as it is known. It serves as both a cultural destination and an entry point for Mexican immigrants looking to earn a living in Chicago and beyond.

Despite a continuous focus in recent years on the root causes of violence and outreach to families by community organizations, the vibrant community anchored by its 26th Street shopping district has seen no end to gang warfare. Some of the conflicts have their roots in the 1960s.

Prosecutors have said those entrenched conflicts sparked the shooting that killed 8-year-old Melissa Ortega on Jan. 22. That killing was about a half mile east of a 2019 Halloween shooting that wounded a 7-year-old who was trick-or-treating.

In addition to the young victims of crime, the conflicts very often involve teenagers and young adults used as gang foot soldiers and enforcers.

In March 2021, an on-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo during a foot chase, after officers responded to someone shooting at cars, highlighting the issues surrounding police response in the neighborhood.

Marches and parades to honor Adams memory were held, with some gathering to protest police. The shooting remains under investigation by the department.

Such is the high stakes debate Bocanegra will find himself in when he lands in Washington. When asked about that Monday, he said he understood the legitimate criticism of police conduct but also said that many are moved to serve in local law enforcement out of a true sense of purpose.

And as charged and divisive as the topic is, he said an increased understanding of shared experiences will lead to solutions.

He noted that three of his five siblings served in the Armed Forces and that his reflection on their experiences and his  as someone who chose a street life instead  is what led to the Urban Warriors program.

Bocanegra, who is on leave from Heartland, now lives outside Chicago with his wife and seven children.

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DES MOINES  A requirement to expand access to the E15 blend of corn-based ethanol at Iowa gas stations, one of Gov. Kim Reynolds top priorities, appears to be well on its way to her desk.

The proposal passed through a streamlined legislative process Tuesday in the Iowa Senate, leaving it just a few legislative steps away from the governors pen.

The legislation would require that most Iowa gas stations offer E15 ethanol in at least half their pumps. The proposal contains a waiver process for stations that cannot obtain E15 ethanol or lack the sufficient equipment to store the fuel.

It also contains tax credits to support ethanol and other biofuels.

Iowa Sen. Dan Zumbach, a Republican from Ryan who chairs the Senates committee on agriculture, said the legislation will expand the availability of E15 to Iowa drivers and help strengthen the price of corn and soybeans, the states top crops.

This is about Iowa. This is about the people that live in Iowa. This is about supporting Iowans, he said. I think we have a real opportunity to do well for Iowans.

The bill, House File 2128, previously passed the Iowa House on a bipartisan 82-10 vote.

On Tuesday, the Senate agriculture committee essentially combined two legislative steps into one, passing the bill through the subcommittee and full committee process in one meeting. It also must go through the Senates committee on tax policy, and if it passes there will be eligible for consideration by the full Senate, where Zumbach said he thinks there is sufficient support to pass it.

This bill answers a lot of questions. Does it create some? Absolutely. But this bill is about doing what Iowans do, and thats support Iowans, Zumbach said. I think we got good policy here.

No Democrats spoke about the bill during Tuesdays hearing; it passed through the committee process unanimously on voice votes.

Should it pass the Senate, the bill would head to Reynolds desk. She proposed the bill at the beginning of the session.

It is Reynolds second attempt at a sweeping renewable fuels bill. Last year, she proposed requiring gas stations offer E15 at all but one pump. When gas stations pushed back at that proposal, she returned with a new pitch this year.

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The St. Clair County State's Attorney's office on Monday filed charges in connection with the murders of a woman and her adult son in Cahokia Heights.

Simeon M. Moore, 32, who shared an address with the two alleged victims, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Monday. He is being held at the St. Clair County Jail on $2 million bond.

Esther Cummings, 76, and Ronnie Cummings, 48, both of the 2700 block of Calvin Boulevard, were found shot and pronounced dead at the scene at 8:58 a.m. and 8:59 a.m. respectively, according to St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr.

A person of interest was taken in custody at that time. The shooting appeared to be domestic in nature, said Francella Jackson, director of administrative operations for Cahokia Heights.

She also confirmed the arrest and charges.

Jackson thanked the local agencies that assisted in the investigation, including Dupo Police, Sauget Police, St. Clair County Coroner and Illinois State Police.

Moore is an employee of East St. Louis School District 189.

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CROWN POINT, Ind.  A Northwest Indiana police officer remained in stable condition after he was allegedly ambushed and shot while investigating a vehicle that was driving recklessly, authorities said Tuesday.

Detective Sgt. William Fazekas, a 33-year veteran of the Gary police force, will not be making any public statements, according to police, who have asked for respect for his privacy and that of his family. Gary Police Department Public Information Officer Lt. Dawn Westerfield said he had a shoulder repair surgery scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, detectives were expected to meet Tuesday morning with prosecutors after a suspect was taken into custody in the wake of Monday's shooting, according to Pam Jones, public information liaison with the Lake County Sheriffs Department.

The suspect, who has not yet been identified by police, was taken into custody during a massive manhunt Monday afternoon following the shooting shortly before 1 p.m.

Fazekas, who joined the Gary Police Department in December 1989 and currently works in the Violent Crimes Division as an investigator, was shot while responding to a vehicle accident he happened to pass, police said.

He was driving down the street when he witnessed a vehicle strike another vehicle, Evans said.

Fazekas went to see if he needed to render aid or otherwise help out when the suspect started shooting at him near West Fifth Avenue and Johnson Street, Evans said. Fazekas was able to return fire.

"We do not know if he struck anybody," Evans said. "The individual we have in custody was unharmed."

Lake County, Indiana, Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said the suspect was taken into custody at an abandoned building in the area of West Fourth Avenue and Buchanan Street.

Westerfield said the Lake County Sheriff's Department has taken the lead on the investigation.

Gary Mayor Jerome Prince said he had visited briefly with Fazekas following the shooting.

"He appeared to be doing as well as could be expected," Prince said. "It's sort of cliche to say police personnel and fire personnel run to danger when others run away from it. But having said that, it's important to note that these men and women place themselves and their lives in danger every single day.

"He has proven himself to be committed to the success and safety of our city, and we're certainly grateful to have him. But also I wanted to mention I am grateful to all of the officers who responded to the scene."

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A state Senator who won a nasty election battle with a member of the same party is calling for an end to the official nonpartisan status of the Nebraska Legislature.

Sen. Julie Slama of Sterling insulted the founder of the nonpartisan Unicameral George W. Norris and most Nebraskans when she introduced her proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the requirement to nominate and elect members of the Legislature in a nonpartisan manner.

It's high time we end the idolatrous practice of celebrating Nebraska's nonpartisan unicameral simply because it's unique," she said.

Let me tell you whats idolatrous Senator. Its the attitude that Republicans like you have that youre the only ones who can make policy that impacts the lives of all Nebraskans, Democrats and Independents and Libertarians and whatever other party affiliations make this state unique.

"This form of government has failed to address structural issues in our state  from property taxes and school funding to Second Amendment rights  on the altar of being 'special,'" she said in a written statement accompanying her introduction.

"This measure brings a renewed transparency to the Nebraska Legislature," she said.

What transparency? Anyone who has been paying attention knows that there are 32 Republicans and 17 Democrats in the officially nonpartisan body. Once there was a Libertarian. Once there were a couple people who were officially registered as nonpartisan. Independent, we liked to call them.

Some of those Republicans can be counted on to break ranks with the party stance, which is apparently orchestrated, by the governor and his minions, many of whom signed on to Slamas proposal.

Slama is a registered Republican who was appointed to the Legislature by Gov. Pete Ricketts in 2019 at the age of 22. She was elected to a four-year term in 2020 after a particularly nasty election battle with fellow Republican Janet Palmtag who had the endorsement of former Gov. Dave Heineman and several other notable Republicans.

Secretary of State records indicate at the end of 2021 there were: 594,126 Republicans; 355,306 Democrats; 270,786 Nonpartisans; 18,253 Libertarians; and 1,303 members of the Legal Marijuana Now Party registered to vote in Nebraska. Do the math, yes, there are more Republicans than any other group of registered voters.

So, roll with that Sen. Slama and idolize that number and leave the nonpartisan status of the Nebraska Legislature alone.

"There is no evidence to support claims that Nebraska's nonpartisan Legislature offers any benefit to Nebraskans in policy outcomes," Slama said. "No other states in America have adopted and maintained a similar form of government."

Granted, there is often division over issues that separate most of the Republicans from most of the Democrats, but they do not regularly vote in a bloc or answer to party leadership within the body. The late Gov. Charlie Thone had a number of Republican Senators the media referred to as Thone Clones. Heineman clearly had a coalition supporting him, as well. Ricketts has maybe 10-12 who can be counted on to vote his way.

Writing in the HUFFPOST several years ago, political observer David Moshman noted that Nebraska law is better than it would otherwise be because it is generated through a process designed to promote deliberation. There is, in fact, substantial evidence in cognitive and social psychology that democratic deliberation increases the likelihood of rational outcomes. In a time when party politics overwhelms genuine argumentation across the nation, Nebraskas unicameral legislature may be worthy of emulation.

Norris represented Nebraska in the U.S. Congress from 1903 to 1943, first as a Republican member of the House of Representatives, then as a Republican senator, and finally as an Independent senator. Nebraskans voted in 1934 to replace their traditional bicameral legislature with a unicameral legislature, which began operation in 1937.

Every act of the legislature and every act of each individual must be transacted in the spotlight of publicity, Norris said. In a one-house legislature, no actions could be concealed as was commonly done in the conference committee of bicameral legislatures. Conference committees resolve differences when bills passed in both houses vary in content. In Nebraska, the appointed six-member committee met in secret and members' votes were not public record. Norris said these committees had too much power and could be influenced easily by lobbyists.

By the way, Moshman said, a unicameral legislature is also less expensive to run than a bicameral legislature. You can be sure that was a factor in the thinking of fiscally conservative Nebraskans when they downsized the legislature. But finances aside, deliberative democracy is a good idea, and we desperately need more of it today. A nonpartisan unicameral legislature is one way to foster that.

Lets review. Leave it alone.

 J.L. Schmidt has been covering Nebraska government and politics since 1979. He has been a registered Independent for more than 20 years.

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A group of supporters for American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier gathered outside of the federal courthouse Monday in Rapid City, calling for Peltier's release from federal prison.

Peltier, 77, has spent most of his life in prison after being convicted in the 1975 killing of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 28.

There were protests in several states Monday to call for his release 46 years after his original arrest by the FBI on Feb. 6, 1976.

Contact Nathan Thompson at nathan.thompson@rapidcityjournal.com.

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PIERRE | A proposal from Gov. Kristi Noem to allow employees to gain exemptions from their employer's COVID-19 vaccine mandates gained the support of Republicans on a Senate committee Tuesday, clearing a crucial legislative hurdle.

All eight Republican senators on the Senate Commerce and Energy committee voted in favor of the bill after an aide of the Republican governor cast the proposal as a reasonable solution that sought a middle ground between doctors urging vaccines and groups opposed to mandates altogether.

The committee's lone Democrat opposed the bill, which next faces a vote in the full Senate before it can proceed to the House.

The bill would allow employees to receive an exemption to an employer's vaccine requirement by citing either a medical exemption certified by a medical professional, any religious grounds for refusal, or a test showing antibodies against COVID-19 in the last six months.

Noem, as well as several Republicans on the committee, have expressed resistance to telling businesses how to operate as they faced pressure to counteract employers vaccine mandates.

Its about right on the tipping point for me as far as I personally would go, said Republican Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, adding that vaccine mandates have become a politically charged topic, unfortunately.

The proposal comes as South Dakotas rate of 59% of people fully vaccinated lags behind the nationwide rate of 64%. A recent surge of infections left 312 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday, but that was a decline from last month when the number topped 400  the highest rate in over a year.

Katie Hruska, the governors general counsel, noted that the bill is not meant to discourage shots and that Noem herself has been vaccinated.

COVID vaccination should be a choice and is not one that the government needs to make for us, she told lawmakers during a hearing that drew a standing-room-only audience.

President Joe Biden's administration pushed last year to boost the nations COVID-19 vaccination rate and slow the spread of the coronavirus through mandates for employment. But the U.S. Supreme Court has stopped that effort.

However, Biden's requirement for millions of health care workers, issued through Medicare and Medicaid providers, has remained. Noem's proposal also carves out an exemption for those health care providers, as well as National Guard troops.

The state's largest group representing doctors, South Dakota State Medical Association, opposed the bill, arguing that it would enact another set of exemptions to the ones that are already carved out for school vaccinations.

How easy would it be to cross out COVID-19 in the title and all of a sudden, you blow up our current exemption, said Dean Krogman, representing the medical association.

Noem is pushing for the proposal to take immediate effect if it passes, but that would take a two-thirds majority vote from both the House and Senate. If the bill gains only a simple majority in either chamber, it would not take effect until July 1. The bill also has a clause that would cause it to expire on June 30, 2023.

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The Montana Department of Transportation is asking for public comment on a proposal to resurface about 2.5 miles of U.S. Highway 93 south of Victor.

The project begins near the intersection of U.S. Highway 93 and Bear Creek Road and extends north for about 2.5 miles ending near Victor.

Proposed work includes a seal and cover (chip seal), fog seal, upgraded pavement markings and signage. The purpose of the project is to take a cost-effective action to prolong and preserve the existing pavement.

Construction is tentatively planned for 2023 depending on completion of design and availability of funds. No new right-of-way or utility relocations will be needed.

An important part of properly planning for future projects is partnering with the community. The Montana Department of Transportation welcomes the public to provide ideas and comments on the proposed project. Comments may be submitted online at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/mdt/comment_form.shtml or in writing to Montana Department of Transportation, Missoula office at PO Box 7039, Missoula, MT 59807-7039. Please note that comments are for project UPN 9938000.

The public is encouraged to contact Missoula District Preconstruction Engineer Jacquelyn Smith at (406) 544-5802 or Project Design Engineer Nathaniel Walters at 406-523-5833.

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A manufacturer of paper towels and tissues is expanding its operations in Henrico County and adding 69 new jobs.

American Paper Converting, a maker of bathroom tissue, facial tissue and paper towel products sold mostly to janitorial and food service distributors, said Tuesday it is spending $17 million to expand its East Coast operations through a relocation to a newly built factory in Henrico.

The Woodland, Wash.-based company is moving its Henrico manufacturing operations from the current location at 4401 Carolina Ave. to a larger, 120,000-square-foot plant at 5801 Tech Park Way near the White Oak Technology Park.

The company said the new location would allow it to expand manufacturing and provide overnight access to 55% of the U.S. population and major international ports.

The new space, which is under construction but expected to be operational in about a month, will have upgraded machinery and equipment, as well as new technology  including robotics automation.

The company employs about 45 people in Henrico now, said Anthony Romanello, Henrico Countys economic development director. The new jobs will be in production with an average salary of $39,000.

Weve been working with them and helping them with some workforce solutions as they have been going through the construction, Romanello said. I know they are looking to ramp up quickly.

Romanello also noted that the company is a certified SWaM company, a designation given to businesses that are small, woman-owned or minority-owned.

Back in 2011, we fell in love with Henrico for its superior logistics, diversified business community, and dynamic labor force, Lydia Work, American Paper Convertings owner and founder, said in a statement released by the company and Henrico officials.

In 10 years, that love has only deepened. As we transition to a larger facility to answer the rising demand of our vast client base in healthcare, education, business, manufacturing, recreation, government, and the public sector, we are thrilled that Henrico already had everything in place to support our accelerated growth, Work said.

The company converts paper by taking large parent rolls of paper and resizing them to products for consumer use.

The expansion plan by American Paper Converting is the third significant manufacturing expansion in recent months, the county said.

In September, Coca-Cola Consolidated said it was investing $23 million in new equipment and new production capabilities at its plant on Eastpark Court, which is north of Interstate 64 just off the Airport Drive exit.

In November, global snacking leader Mondelez International Inc. disclosed it was investing $122.5 million to expand its Henrico bakery on Laburnum Avenue to house a high-speed production line mostly for its Oreo cookie-making operations and to open a 490,000-square-foot sales fulfillment and distribution center about 3 miles away in the Sauer Industrial Center.
A Senate committee approved a modified bill Monday that would toughen punishments for hazing at Virginia colleges. But it no longer elevates hazing from a misdemeanor to a felony, and the family of Adam Oakes said theyre disappointed the bill has been watered down.

Oakes was a 19-year-old freshman who died of alcohol intoxication following a Virginia Commonwealth University fraternity party last year, and his family has pushed for change to Virginia laws.

In its current form, the bill allows a prosecutor to more easily charge a student with both hazing and manslaughter, creates a safe harbor provision for students who report hazing, and holds a school president responsible if he or she knowingly allows hazing to continue.

The committee moved the bill forward to the Senate floor by a vote of 10-4. Four Republican senators opposed the bill: Ryan McDougle, Hanover; Tommy Norment, James City; Mark Obenshain, Rockingham; and Richard Stuart, King George.

That the bill no longer makes hazing a felony was disconcerting to Oakes family.

Were just really disappointed but holding out hope that theyll do the right thing and pass the bills, said Courtney White, Oakes cousin.

The Senate has already passed a separate bill, known as Adams Law, which would require fraternities and sororities to undergo hazing prevention training and colleges to publicly report the violations of their student organizations.

In Virginia, hazing is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by no more than one year in prison. The bill, SB 440, originally would have made it a Class 5 felony if it resulted in the death or serious injury of the victim, punishable by one to 10 years in prison. Thirteen states consider hazing a felony.

But that was a little much for the Senates subcommittee on criminal law, said Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax.

Instead, the senators amended the bill to say that a prosecutor can charge a student with both hazing and manslaughter. Currently, if a student is found guilty of misdemeanor hazing, a manslaughter charge could be voided by double jeopardy. The revised bill gives prosecutors the ability to charge a student with both hazing and manslaughter.

After Oakes death, 11 members of the Delta Chi fraternity were charged with hazing; none was charged with manslaughter. (The new law would not apply to old cases.)

But the risk of double jeopardy hasnt always impeded prosecutors from seeking manslaughter charges. In 2015, four men pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and hazing related to an incident at Virginia State University in which seven students were instructed to walk into the Appomattox River in the middle of the night. Two of the students, Marvell Edmondson of Portsmouth and Jauwan Holmes of Newport News, died.

The sentences of the four men ranged from five to 15 months in prison.

In an effort to encourage students to report incidents of hazing, the bill includes a safe harbor clause. Students who report hazing cannot be charged with involuntary manslaughter. In Oakes case, no student called 911 until he had already died.

The bill also would hold school presidents accountable. If a court finds that the president knowingly allowed hazing to continue, the president can be fined between $500 and $2,000. Delta Chi had a long history of misbehavior before Oakes death, a Richmond Times-Dispatch investigation showed.

One way to help make sure this is treated seriously is that colleges and universities do everything they can to put an end to it, said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, the bills sponsor.

But the legislation no longer holds fraternity national headquarters responsible, another amendment made to the bill.

In the House of Delegates, there are two anti-hazing bills identical to the original versions of the Senate bills. On Monday, a House subcommittee advanced Adams Law, which would require student organizations to conduct hazing prevention training.

HB 993, which would make hazing a felony if the student dies or endures severe injury, has not received a hearing and has not been amended from its original form. The House has until Feb. 15 to consider new legislation.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin is in favor of tougher hazing laws, but he hasnt put his weight behind any of the four specific bills.

The governor supports strengthening anti-hazing laws and looks forward to reviewing the final version at his desk, said Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for the governor.

White hopes significant change happens now. Theres a danger in waiting, she said. Collin Wiant died in an alleged hazing incident at Ohio University in 2018. The following year, Ohio legislators brought forth Collins Law to strengthen hazing provisions. The bill didnt pass.

Three years later, Bowling Green State University sophomore Stone Foltz died after a fraternity initiation just days after Oakes death in Richmond. This time, Collins Law finally passed.

I dont want to be Ohio, White said.
Delma J. Francis, the first Black woman to hold the role of assistant city editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, has died.

Ms. Francis died Jan. 1 at her home in New Hope, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis, after a brief illness, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she spent most of her career in journalism. She was 68.

From 1989 to 1993, Ms. Francis was the assistant city editor at The Times-Dispatch. Ms. Francis talked about being the newspapers first Black female assistant city editor while serving as a panelist on a Minority Hiring in the News Media forum at the 1991 annual meeting of what was then called the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

I do think the city desk at The Times-Dispatch was very receptive to having me become a part of it, but these were men who had never, ever worked with a woman as a peer, and never had worked with a minority person. I always felt, and still do, as I was sort of on trial. Its a terrible burden. Its a lot of stress in a business thats already stressful enough, she said at the forum.

Bonnie Newman Davis, who worked as a reporter at the Richmond News Leader and The Times-Dispatch, met Ms. Francis in 1979 in Louisville, Ky. At the time, Ms. Francis was a reporter at the Louisville Times/Courier-Journal while Davis served as intern there.

She sort of took me under her wing, showed me the dos and donts, Davis said of Ms. Francis.

Davis remembered they were both assigned to cover a visit by then-President Jimmy Carter. It was a rainy day, Davis said  a reporters worst nightmare as its hard to take notes with pen and paper.

She looked at me and said, Just write faster, Davis said. Thats how she was: always competent, smart, had a grasp on things.

Mentoring and fostering young Black journalists was important to Ms. Francis, according to another of her mentees, Felecia Henderson. The two women became lifelong friends.

When they met in 1984 in Louisville, Henderson was new to journalism, which was predominantly white and male-dominated, working her first job as a clerk reporter, she said.

She made sure I was comfortable in the newsroom, Henderson said.

Ms. Francis encouraged her to join the National Association of Black Journalists, where they found camaraderie no matter where they worked. Ms. Francis even introduced Henderson to her late husband.

It was because of her that I saw that there were opportunities and a future for me in this business, and people that looked like me, said Henderson, who now is the director for cultural competency at the Maynard Institute, a nonprofit that helps trains minority journalists.

Richmond was not the first place Ms. Francis blazed trails. In 1974, the Kentucky native was the first Black editor-in-chief of The Eastern Progress, the student newspaper at her alma mater, Eastern Kentucky University. She graduated from the university the following year.

In 2021, Ms. Francis received the universitys Hall of Distinguished Alumni Award, its highest honor given to alumni who have achieved high stations in their chosen fields and in service to society.

A commemorative marker in front of the Keen Johnson Building and a framed photo in the Progress offices ensure that future generations of Eastern students draw inspiration from the accomplished media pioneer, the school said in the announcement of her alumni award.

Ms. Francis earned a masters degree in community development and public administration from the University of Louisville.

She began her journalism career at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. After leaving The Times-Dispatch, she worked at the Hartford Courant in Connecticut. In the mid-1990s, she joined the Star Tribune, where she worked as a reporter and an editor for 13 years.

She is survived by her daughter, Whitney Francis of Minneapolis, and a brother, Terry Francis of Cincinnati, according to the Star Tribune obituary.
Opponents of mask mandates in schools are using the power of the legislature to make it optional for parents to send their child to school with a mask.

The Virginia Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would prevent local school boards from levying mask mandates and from punishing students whose parents opt to send their child to school without a mask.

The bill is the latest development in a push by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, to do away with mask mandates in schools, which top Democrats in the state have heavily criticized. But on Wednesday, it was a coalition of Democrats that cleared the way for the end of such mandates.

Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, filed the provision Tuesday as an amendment to a bill about in-person learning introduced by Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico. Democrats have 21 votes in the Senate to Republicans 19. Ten Democrats voted for the amendment, nine voted against it, and two abstained.

The bill is expected to clear the GOP-controlled House.

Youngkin hailed the Senate vote as a victory for parents and children. His administration plans to fast-track the bill to becoming law once it reaches his desk, meaning that it could be the law in less than two weeks.

Opponents of the measure on Tuesday criticized it as taking power away from localities and for not being adaptable to future surges of the COVID-19 virus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend universal masking in schools. On Tuesday, the agencys director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said now is not the moment to drop mandates in schools, pointing to the ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases.

The governor is tied up in several legal disputes challenging his executive order giving parents the power to opt out of local mask mandates, as school districts and parents await clarity.

On Monday, the Virginia Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to Youngkins executive order filed by a group of parents in Chesapeake. The ruling came three days after an Arlington County judge found that Youngkin does not have authority to supersede the judgment of local school boards in setting policy for reducing the threat of COVID to students, teachers and other school employees.

In Albemarle County last week, a group of parents of students with disabilities filed a lawsuit in federal court against Youngkin, alleging his executive order allowing masks to be optional for schoolchildren violates the Americans With Disabilities Act and other federal law. Meantime, in Loudoun County, a group of parents who support Youngkins order sued the local school board over its continuing mask requirement.

In the Richmond area, Richmond and Henrico County school officials continue to require masks while Chesterfield and Hanover counties recently moved to make masks optional.

Youngkin and Petersen on Tuesday both pointed to a group of Democrat-controlled states that have announced in recent days plans to end mask mandates in schools, arguing that making masks optional has overwhelming public support regardless of party affiliation.

Youngkin pointed to Oregon, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware, which will lift statewide school mask mandates in the coming weeks. But, in each of those four states, localities will still have the power to levy their own mask mandates. The law backed by Youngkin would ban localities from doing so.

Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, who opposed Petersens amendment, derided what she called a one-size-fits-all policy for every school division that is inconsistent with [CDC] guidelines.

Local school divisions should have the flexibility to keep kids and adults in the school buildings safe from COVID, based on the circumstances in that locality, McClellan said. She also urged lawmakers to consider children who are immunocompromised or are too young to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

House Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, also criticized efforts by Youngkin to remove the power over mask mandates from localities. She also noted that while other Democrat-led states are doing away with statewide mask mandates, their decisions come as the omicron variant recedes. She notes Youngkins executive order on masks came while cases were still surging.

Tuesdays vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate is a significant bipartisan victory for Youngkin. The measure will face another procedural vote in the Senate on Wednesday and will then head to the GOP-controlled House of Delegates, where the measure is expected to pass despite Democrat opposition.

Once the measure reaches Youngkins desk, the governor is planning to add an emergency clause to the bill, according to spokespersonwoman, Macaulay Porter. An emergency clause  if approved by the legislature  means a bill takes effect upon the governors signature.

A governors emergency clause used to require a four-fifths vote in the House for passage. House Clerk Paul Nardo said Tuesday that Democrats dropped the rule for the governor under then-Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, and Republicans didnt reinstate it under new Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.

With simple majority votes in each chamber, masks could be optional for all students across the state as soon as Feb. 21.

This shows that when we work across the aisle, we put Virginians first, Youngkin said. I look forward to signing this bill when it comes to my desk.

mleonor@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6254 Twitter: @MelLeonor_ Staff writer Michael Martz contributed to this report.
A House subcommittee on Tuesday voted 5-4 to reject a proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore rights to felons who have completed their sentences.

The panel also voted 6-4 to reject a proposed constitutional amendment to remove from the state constitution defunct wording to bar same-sex marriage.

The votes mean the measures will not go to voters in statewide referendums in November.

The vote on the proposed same-sex marriage amendment, sponsored by Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, came after an emotional speech by Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond, a member of the Privileges and Elections subcommittee.

My entire life all I ever wanted to be was married, Adams said. And my entire life I knew that wasnt a possibility.

She added: You really cant understand what its like to grow up in an environment when you knew you didnt mean anything to anyone.

The GOP-led subcommittee rejected the voting rights amendment sponsored by Del. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria.

Under current Virginia law, people convicted of felonies lose the right to vote unless a governor restores it on an individual basis. Last year, when Democrats led the General Assembly, lawmakers backed a proposed constitutional amendment to restore voting rights automatically once felons are released. A proposed amendment must pass the legislature twice before going to the states voters in a referendum.

Herrings resolution would have recognized a fundamental right to vote in the constitution and revised the qualification for voters so that people convicted of a felony would automatically be eligible to vote upon their release.

The measure also would have updated the existing prohibition on voting by people found mentally incompetent. It instead would refer to people found to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting.

I ask that we pass this and at least give it to the voters to decide whether to amend our constitution, Herring said.

Representatives of more than a dozen advocacy groups spoke in favor of the measure. No one spoke in opposition.

Kaitlin Owens, of the American Conservative Union Foundations Nolan Center For Justice, told the panel: We want to reintegrate people that have served their time, that may have kids in school, may be productive members of society, but cant have a voice.

Teresa Hepler, a lawyer and advocate for the Legal Aid Justice Center, also spoke in favor of the resolution.

The consequences for the criminal legal system fall disproportionately on marginalized communities, meaning that the loss of the right to vote also falls disproportionately on those communities, she said.

The proposed constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage also passed the legislature in 2021 when Democrats led the General Assembly. The resolution would have repealed the provision in the state constitution that defines marriage as only a union between one man and one woman. It would have declared a fundamental right to marry.

Sickles noted that in 2006, Virginias voters backed a constitutional amendment to bar same-sex marriage.

While it passed, the world continued to change, Sickles told the subcommittee.

In 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws that prevented same-sex marriage.

Our Marshall-Newman amendment was no longer enforceable, yet it sits in its utter ugliness in our constitution, Sickles said.

He said that since the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Im unaware of any heterosexual couples who have been torn asunder by the trauma of seeing more happiness about the land.

Equality Virginia spoke in favor of the resolution, as did Carol Schall, a plaintiff in the court case that brought same-sex marriage to Virginia. The Virginia Catholic Conference and The Family Foundation were among groups in opposition.

Jeff Caruso of the Virginia Catholic Conference said: In light of current federal law, Virginias constitutional prohibition against same-sex marriage is a dormant position, but federal laws can change.

Josh Hetzler, legislative counsel with The Family Foundation of Virginia, asserted that Sickles proposed amendment does not define marriage and could open Virginia to polygamy.

Adams told the panel: This matters to people. And its not hurting anybody and its not hurting God. And its offensive to be lumped into polygamy and all kinds of other crazy stuff.
Hanover County teenager Ethan Lynne, 17, found himself in the national spotlight this past weekend after an online spat with a Twitter account for Gov. Glenn Youngkins election campaign.

Lynne, a senior at Patrick Henry High School and a Democratic activist, retweeted a Richmond public radio stations report about a historian resigning her Executive Mansion position telling stories of the enslaved. The radio stations report contained an error, which Lynne noted on Twitter hours later after the station issued a correction.

By then, Team Youngkin, the official Twitter account for the governors campaign, had posted a photo of Lynne with former Gov. Ralph Northam at a Democratic fundraiser in October, The Associated Press reported.

Heres a picture of Ethan with a man that had a Blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook, Team Youngkin tweeted shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, pairing the October photo with a racist picture from Northams 1984 medical school yearbook that surfaced in 2019.

Lynne has been outspoken on Twitter and critical of the governor, posting tweets like This has been the worst first 3 weeks for a Virginia Governor in recent history, on Saturday. And Truly embarrassing that it hasnt even been a month and Youngkin is already facing 4 major lawsuits, he tweeted on Friday.

While its normal in politics for both sides to trade attacks back and forth, Lynne said, attacking minors is never the norm for politicians. It gets called out on both sides historically. Thats what shocked me. I never thought a minor would be attacked, Lynne said on Monday, speaking from his Ashland home.

I was surprised and quite honestly I couldnt even believe that it was real, he added. I could have never imagined that the governor would use his platform to bully a high school student.

National publications like The Washington Post, Newsweek.com and The Guardians website scooped up the story over the weekend and wrote about it.

After Youngkins campaign posted the tweet, Lynne said he was inundated with messages from hundreds of thousands of online trolls who were told to ridicule and humiliate me. People from all over immediately rushed in to mock and harass me all because of the governors action, Lynne said.

To my knowledge, no governors campaign account has ever done this or has stooped this low. Part of the reason why its grabbed so much attention is because this is something Donald Trump would do. I think its made people stop and stare in disgust and call out what they see as wrong, Lynne said.

The Youngkin campaign deleted the tweet on Sunday morning.

It was brought to [our] attention that this Democrat Party official repeatedly elevated by Senator Louise Lucas as a source of official Democrat Party communications is actually a minor, so the tweet was removed, said Matt Wolking of the Youngkin campaign.

On Monday, Youngkin disavowed the tweet from his campaign and claimed no responsibility for it.

On Saturday night, an unauthorized tweet came from a campaign account, the governor wrote on Twitter. I regret that this happened and it shouldnt have. I have addressed it with my team. We must continue to work to bring Virginians together. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.

But Lynne said the governor has created a culture of toxicity and thinks the governor should personally apologize for the offending tweet.

If young people get into the political arena and they argue, certainly they dont get a free pass, said Bob Holsworth, a veteran commentator on local politics and a former professor and dean at Virginia Commonwealth University. But the issue here is that they put up a picture of a minor, then linked it to the Northam yearbook picture which holds the implication someone is endorsing racism in general  I think thats what crossed the line here.

Holsworth said he thought a personal phone call and an apology to Lynne would be a more appropriate response.

I think this was a very poor example of how the Youngkin campaign responds to divisive comments, he said. This wasnt modeling the appropriate behavior.

Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate who has become a prominent voice on Twitter for Democrats with over 40,000 followers, encouraged her followers to follow Lynne on Twitter and called on every reporter in this state to get on this [story] immediately. The Governor is attacking a high school student.

Before the weekend, he had roughly 25,000 followers on Twitter. After the flap and the national recognition, he scooped up followers and now has nearly 40,000.

While Lynne and Lucas have been trading tweets back and forth, Lynne said he doesnt consider Lucas a mentor and that hes never been an intern for her. He did recently serve as a page in the Virginia Senate.

Shes been great on Twitter amplifying the voices of teachers and against dangerous charter schools. Shes a good person to follow on Twitter, he said.

Lynne got involved in politics at 10 years old, helping flip a 30-year GOP held Hanover Board of Supervisors seat to blue, he said, and has never stopped.

Besides being the co-founder of VATeenDems and being active politically, he works part time at a grocery store and at a restaurant. He has been speaking out about Youngkins executive order on parents opting out of masks in schools and has been gathering signatures to keep masks in Hanover schools.

Its important to me to stay involved because politics affect students and my future. The planet we live on, the roads we drive on, how safe we are in school and the rights to make decisions over our own bodies can all be changed based on who wins in November, he said.

ccurran@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6151 Twitter: @collcurran Politics Editor Andrew Cain and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Virginia Senate on Tuesday voted to reject Gov. Glenn Youngkins nomination of Andrew Wheeler as secretary of natural resources.

The Senate voted 21-19 along party lines to back a committee amendment removing Wheeler, who served as EPA administrator under President Donald Trump, from a list of appointments working its way through the Senate. The Cabinet list comes up for a final Senate vote on Wednesday.

Wheeler would be the first Cabinet nominee in 16 years to be rejected by the legislature.

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, said he was concerned that if confirmed Wheeler would do exactly what he did at the federal level  systematically deconstruct regulations that protect our environment.

Quoting Maya Angelou, Ebbin said: When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.

Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter said in a statement: Its clear Mr. Wheeler is extraordinarily qualified to be Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and admirably served for decades in the highest levels of government. The governor is disappointed in todays vote because he was looking forward to Mr. Wheeler accomplishing great things on behalf of Virginians.

Pursuant to the Constitution, he will continue to serve as Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources until the General Assembly adjourns. In the meantime, we hope the Senate will reconsider.

The Union of Concerned Scientists in 2019 created a list of 80 Trump administration attacks on science and called Wheeler a driving force behind many.

Three former EPA administrators who served under Republican presidents expressed concerns in 2019 about Wheeler.

And a group of former EPA employees wrote a letter to Virginia senators expressing concerns about Wheeler, which Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, made note of when Republicans asked why Wheelers name was being pulled.

Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George, said on the Senate floor Tuesday that Wheelers credentials are impeccable and that Wheeler is an incredibly accomplished man. He said Wheelers pending rejection was about politics.

Stuart said that under Wheeler at EPA, the first rule was developed to require schools to test for lead. He said Wheeler also got funding for a major aquifer project in Hampton Roads.

I get the politics, Stuart said. I understand that some of these environmental groups out there dont like him because of who he worked for and thats just a real shame.

Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, who presided over his committees questioning of Wheeler as chairman of Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, said Wheeler was the smartest person in the room, but sometimes thats not enough.

Petersen said the job of the states secretary of natural resources is not commerce, its not thinking of ways to get around environmental rules  its actually protecting our lands and waters.

He said Wheeler was part of an administration that defunded the Chesapeake Bay, dismantled the Clean Power Plan, an Obama administration effort to combat climate change, weakened coal ash rules and effectively silenced scientists.

Petersen said Wheeler is talented and has expertise that might help Richmond with combined sewer overflows of untreated waste into waterways and that might help Virginia achieve its WIP goals, a reference to Watershed Implementation Plans to restore the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries.

Ultimately, Petersen said, he concluded that Wheeler is not the right person for the job.

This secretary needs to be somebody who is focused on preserving natural resources, not just finding ways to get around those rules.

Wheeler, of Alexandria, did not apply for the job, but served on Youngkins transition committee handling energy issues and Youngkin offered it to him.

In March 2006, Republicans in the House of Delegates rejected Gov. Tim Kaines nomination of Daniel LeBlanc, former state leader of the AFL-CIO, for secretary of the commonwealth.

Republicans cited LeBlancs opposition to the states right-to-work law, under which union membership may not be required as a condition of employment.
Nearly seven years after 18-year-old Anjelica A.J. Hadsell was found dead behind an abandoned Southampton County home, her stepfather Wesley Hadsell was convicted of her murder.

A jury in Southampton County Circuit Court deliberated just 40 minutes on Monday before announcing its verdict, finding Hadsell guilty of first-degree murder and concealing a dead body in the 2015 death. He faces the possibility of life in prison when hes sentenced April 4.

Hadsell shook his head slightly after the verdicts were read. Two of A.J. Hadsells younger sisters started to sob, while their mothers eyes filled with tears.

A.J. Hadsell was spending her spring break from Longwood University at her familys home in Norfolk when she disappeared on March 2, 2015. Her body wasnt found until five weeks later, partially buried behind an abandoned house in Southampton County, near the North Carolina border.

A medical examiner determined she died from acute heroin poisoning and homicidal violence. The amount of heroin in her system was three times the lethal amount, and her eyes and chin were blackened and bruised. The examiner, however, wasnt able to determine if shed been sexually assaulted because of damage inflicted on her body by animals and insects.

Hadsell wasnt charged in the case until 2018. His first trial began in 2020 in Southampton County, but a mistrial was declared after just two days over a disagreement on what evidence the jury should be allowed to hear.

His latest trial began two and a half weeks ago. It was held in an old school building the county is using for a temporary courthouse while a new one is built.

Closing arguments were offered Monday and the case went to the jury shortly after 4 p.m. Circuit Judge L. Wayne Farmer told the panel that while it was late in the day, he wanted them to at least get started on their deliberations and that they could come back tomorrow to work more. But about 40 minutes later, they notified the court they had a verdict.

Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Toni Colvin and Commonwealths Attorney Eric Cooke laid out their theory of the case in great detail during closing statements.

They argued that Hadsell  whod been kicked out of the house by his wife several days earlier because of his drug use and erratic behavior  abducted A.J. while she was folding laundry and listening to music in the living room. The laundry was half folded and the music was still playing on the speaker when her mother got home later.

Prosecutors believe A.J. wasnt killed until the next day. A line of bruises found across her chest were consistent with someone holding an arm across her chest, Colvin said, and bruising on her chin likely was caused by someone holding it tightly in their hands, the prosecutor said. Thats how Colvin believes Hadsell got the heroin into her.

Defense attorney James Ellenson argued that A.J. committed suicide  a claim that prosecutors called absurd. Ellenson said A.J. was depressed over her relationship with her boyfriend and had been downloading images with captions related to suicide in the days leading up to her disappearance.

Hadsell declined to testify in his own defense.

A.J.s mother, Jennifer Wright, testified that her daughter had been happy at the time. She described her ex-husbands behavior in the days surrounding her daughters disappearance as erratic.

It was very odd, she said. He was always coming and going. Just acting on edge a lot.

Norfolk police found heroin hidden in a crevice near the ceiling of a motel room where Hadsell was staying after he got kicked out by his wife. Norfolk Police Department officer Matt Burnham testified he searched Hadsells motel room a couple weeks after A.J. disappeared. Inside, he found a small baggie of a white substance that later proved to be heroin and two boxes of 9mm bullets.

Hadsells drug dealer testified that he sold heroin to Hadsell the day after A.J. was reported missing.

A cadaver dog trained to detect the smell of decomposing bodies alerted on an area of Hadsells motel room, but didnt react to anything in his work van.

In Hadsells work van, Burnham found a shovel and duct tape in the back, and a hair band between the seats. There also was a photo of A.J. in the van, but none of her sisters.

A GPS unit in the van led police to an abandoned house on Smith Ferry Road in the Franklin area where A.J. Hadsells body was found. The unit showed the van had traveled there from Norfolk on March 4, two days after she went missing. Bank records and convenience store surveillance videos also put Wesley Hadsell in the area, prosecutors said.
Virginia State Police said they responded to 65 crashes, two of them fatal, in central Virginia between midnight and 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Sgt. Jessica Shehan, a state police spokesperson, said a majority of the crashes in the region were non-life-threatening incidents, but that police did respond to two fatal crashes.

At around 7:10 a.m., officers responded to a single-vehicle crash on southbound Interstate 295 near the Varina exit in Henrico. One person died in the crash.

Officials also said there was one confirmed fatality in a single-vehicle crash that occurred at around 7:14 a.m. in Goochland on I-64 between the Oilville Road and Ashland Road exits.

Neither victim has been identified.

Many crashes are still under investigation, and police cannot confirm that ice was a factor at this time, Shehan said. However, Tuesdays icy conditions caused several roads and bridges to close due to safety concerns.

After the rain stopped Monday night, the sky cleared a little more quickly than anticipated, allowing the temperatures to inch below freezing. Bridges are especially vulnerable to ice in this situation because the air cools their road surfaces from above and below.

This differs from a normal roadbed, which only cools from the top. As a result, in borderline temperatures situations like Tuesday morning, wet bridges can become icy more easily.

In the Richmond area, the Willey Bridge and Huguenot Bridge closed for a short time Tuesday morning due to wet and icy conditions. Most bridges and overpasses were iced over, according to a statement from Henrico.

Henrico County and Richmond contacted their transportation department officials to treat the roads in preparation for rush hour traffic.

The Virginia Department of Transportation reminded motorists to drive cautiously, maintain distance from other vehicles and be wary of icy paths until temperatures rise above freezing.

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Carilion Clinic cannot recover nearly all of its losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, which exceed $150 million, from its property insurance carrier, a federal judge has ruled.

In a decision Friday, U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski dismissed the bulk of a lawsuit the Roanoke-based heath care system had filed against American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Co.

At issue was whether the virus  which has killed more than 900,000 people nationwide and caused untold financial losses for households and businesses  inflicted the kind of harm covered by Carilions policy.

Urbanski granted a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by AGLIC, which argued that its insurance was meant for damage caused by the likes of fires, floods and hurricanes.

While the virus and COVID-19 have undoubtedly caused Carilion Clinic to suffer losses in terms of facility shutdown, reduction of medical procedures, and increased costs, the losses are not direct physical losses covered under the property insurance policy, the judge wrote.

Although the 40-page opinion kept one part of the disputed policy alive, a clause that pays for interruption of business by communicable disease, that provision is limited to a $1 million payout.

Carilion spokeswoman Hannah Curtis issued a statement Monday evening. We are aware of the ruling and are reviewing it. Because this remains an active legal matter, Carilion is unable to comment further on the proceedings.

The pandemic has unleashed a flood of legal battles between property insurance companies and their policyholders  from hospitals to restaurants to fitness clubs  in state and federal courtrooms across the country.

Most courts have ruled in favor of the insurance companies, Urbanski wrote. On appeal, eight of the 12 federal appellate courts have held that COVID is not applicable to insurance policies that cover direct physical loss or damage to buildings or other property.

In urging the judge not to follow the herd, attorneys for Carilion have argued that the health care systems experiences were more in line with decisions that have gone the other way.

But there was some physical loss of property in those cases, whether it be methamphetamine, gasoline, ammonia, or asbestos contamination, a rock fall or failed drainpipe, Urbanski wrote.

Here, in contrast, Carilion claims no infirmity associated with its property. Rather, the claimed cause of loss is the global pandemic.

Carilion filed suit last March, saying that AGLIC had turned its back and refused to cover losses amounting to more than $150 million, much of it from elective surgeries that were postponed and patients who stayed home for months rather than seek treatment for more minor ailments.

The health care system, which treats nearly 1 million people in Southwest Virginia, was also forced to impose costly safety measures against a virus that infected more than 1,300 employees in a workforce of about 13,000, it said when the suit was filed.

Carilion says it paid $874,863 a year for a policy that failed to deliver.

In oral arguments last October, attorney Scott Greenspan of New York described the insurance plan as a Rolls Royce model that turned out to be a Yugo.

Efforts to reach AGLIC through its parent company, Zurich Insurance Co., were unsuccessful.

In court papers, the company has argued that its policy was never intended to cover something like the coronavirus. The virus harms people  it does not harm property, the company maintained.

A virus does not require property to be repaired, rebuilt or replaced. A virus can simply be wiped off the surface with disinfectant, so there is no physical damage.

AGLIC had asked Urbanski to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety But the judge let stand a claim that the company failed to honor part if its policy that provided up to $1 million for interruption of Carilions business due to a communicable disease.

Maintaining that it never denied a claim, AGLIC says it was waiting on Carilion to provide the information it needed to make a decision. Carilion countered that the insurance company was deliberately stalling, and that it had to sue when it did to meet a filing deadline.

A September trial is scheduled for that part of the case.

It was not known Monday whether Carilion will appeal Urbanskis ruling. Such an appeal would go to the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has yet to decide a COVID insurance claim.

Previously, Carilion has declined to say whether it was covered by any other insurance policies or received aid from the state or federal governments to offset the pandemics toll.

The nonprofit has also declined to say, citing the pending litigation, whether it is still doing business with AGLIC. According to court documents, the disputed coverage expired June 30, 2020.

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Later this month the Franklin County Board of Supervisors is expected to consider a resolution to confer some manner of recognition upon the Franklin Militia, perhaps indirectly.

Theyre a diverse group of gun-owning male constitutionalists who love their country, their county and their Second Amendment. Maybe not necessarily in that order.

Oddly and for no good reason, much dander has been raised over this issue. But the critics are drawing a totally distorted picture of militias. As if theyre a bunch of old, out-of-shape yahoos firing machine guns and playing Army in the woods, in between batches of moonshine.

Fake news alert! The Franklin Militia has no machine guns, presently. Besides that, the citizen-soldier aspect has been unfairly overblown. In reality, these guys are patriotic volunteers who distribute toys to needy children at Christmas and help people during natural disasters. Those are good things.

Who else would respond after an asteroid strikes Smith Mountain Lake and launches a tsunami that wipes out Bridgewater Plaza? The devastation would be awful. Whos going to recover all those formerly docked boats that wash up in Vinton?

The Franklin Militia, thats who.

Also, who will restore public order the next time Cahas Mountains volcano blows its top, filling the sky with red-hot lava chunks that rain down on Boones Mill?

The Franklin Militia will be there, helping save the roadside stand that sells Confederate flags and Jim Crow statuary.

Yes, at some point in the future, maybe the Franklin Militia will serve in some kind of limited home-defense capacity  like if a hostile army crosses the Pigg River and lays waste to Ferrum. Thats unlikely, but not impossible.

Until the militia formed, Franklin County was totally exposed to attack by the Floyd Militia on the west and the Bedford Militia on the east. Thats an unsettling strategic predicament, as Adolf Hitler learned near the end of World War II.

And after that came the Cold War, recall?

Remember the concept of Strategic Balance? So long as each side had roughly equal amounts of weapons of mass destruction, neither would attack. Otherwise, both would be blown to smithereens.

A related concept is Mutually Assured Destruction, which has a deviously ironic acronym.

MAD logic compelled both the United States and Soviet Union to spend trillions on machines of death and destruction  and to muster entire armies, navies and air forces  precisely so we would never have to use them against each other.

We know it worked fabulously, because today, Earth bears no resemblance to a marshmallow thats been toasted over a campfire for three hours.

Some of the same principles apply to militias in Virginias 125-plus independent localities. And right now the chief problem isnt the handful of places with recognized militias, such as Bedford County. Its the jurisdictions without them.

By failing to keep up with their neighbors, militia-less areas have created a strategic imbalance thats destabilizing the whole region. That must be especially nerve-jangling for residents of undefended areas. Like militia-less Roanoke County.

Clearbrook would be the first Roanoke County neighborhood overrun if/when the Franklin Militia invades. From there its a short hop to the Battle of Tanglewood Mall.

(I know, I know, the Franklin Militia is purely defensive. Thats the credo behind every military buildup in human history.)

Hopefully Roanoke County grasps its vulnerability  and encourages its own militia. Otherwise its southernmost community will remain on edge. The sacking of Clearbrooks Walmart would be a travesty.

Of course, if Roanoke County gets a militia, Roanoke will need one. And then Salem and Botetourt County will get in on the act. Otherwise, those defenseless localities could easily fall, one after the other, to the Low Moor Militia.

Remember the Domino Theory? Thats another Cold War concept.

Just for giggles, imagine what would happen if Roanoke declared war on Salem, or vice-versa. Salem would probably kick Roanokes butt, right? Especially with Gen. Carey Harveycutter leading its militia.

Few appreciate the Salem tourism directors genius for guerilla warfare. Smartly, Harveycutter would commandeer all the heavy equipment at Carter Machinery and roll those bulldozers east. Can you picture Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea waving a white flag from the parking lot of the Roanoke Weiner Stand No. 2?

Hopefully theyll strike a truce before the Salem Militia levels Deyerle.

Once every locality has its own militia, the focus will shift to armaments. Naturally, each militia will want the latest and best defensive weaponry. And thatll spawn a fascinating synergy.

Lets say the Bedford County Militia gets a tank. Then, of course, the Franklin Militia will need an anti-tank gun and depleted-uranium munitions. Or maybe bazookas will keep Bedfords tank out of Hardy.

Such patterns can easily spiral into an arms race just like the Cold War. Before you know it, the Floyd Militia will buy a Stealth fighter, so it can thwart the Montgomery County Militias RADAR system as its lone warplane flies strafing runs over Shawsvilles Tomato Festival.

If you think thats ridiculous and could never happen, talk to a former Yugoslav.

Which Virginia militia do you reckon will be the first to get a nuke?

My moneys on the Loudoun Militia, from Virginias wealthiest county. It has a lot to lose if it ends up in a war with Montgomery County, Maryland, over the debacle that shut down Whites Ferry.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan wont dare pull anything once the Loudon Militia has an H-bomb.

Thats exactly why we need local militias.

Overall, militarization on a neighborhood scale will certainly give daily life in the Old Dominion a different flavor. But whos to say that wouldnt be better than the present? At the very least we would live more alertly.

So there you have a long list of good reasons why the Franklin Militia deserves official recognition by the Franklin County Board of Supervisors. And why every other Virginia city, county, town, village, hamlet and borough should have one.

And maybe every highway rest area and 4-way-stop intersection, too.

Because what could go wrong? The formation of 742 or so unregulated private armies across the commonwealth seems destined to bind us more tightly together, as Virginia patriots, and make our union even more perfect.

Wink.

Contact metro columnist Dan Casey at 981-3423 or dan.casey@roanoke.com . Follow him on Twitter: @dancaseysblog

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CHRISTIANSBURG  Fridays fatal shooting at a Blacksburg hookah bar occurred at a party that was to celebrate a Roanoke high school students recent acceptance into a junior college, the father of two of the wounded victims said Tuesday.

Instead, the party ended with the death of 18-year-old Isiah O. Robinson, a senior at Patrick Henry High School, and the wounding of four other people.

On Tuesday, the first court hearing for the man accused in the shooting, 24-year-old Jamel Duquon Flint, also of Roanoke, lasted only minutes.

Flint appeared in Montgomery County General District Court via a video link from the Western Virginia Regional Jail. Judge Randal Duncan asked if the financial forms Flint had filled out were accurate and after Flint said they were, Duncan said that he qualified to have an attorney appointed.

The judge then named Naomi Huntington of Radford to defend Flint. The hearing ended, with Duncan noting that Flints next court appearance is scheduled to be a preliminary hearing on April 14.

If Flint wants a judge to consider setting a bond that would let him out of jail while his charges are being resolved, Huntington can request a hearing, Duncan added.

Flint is charged with first-degree murder for the slaying of Robinson, and with four counts of attempted murder for wounding four other people. He also is charged with using a gun to commit a felony.

The father of two of the victims, Innocent St. Velus Sr., of Roanoke, said that the shooting occurred at a party that was being thrown for Robinson, a former schoolmate of his son Innocent Jr., who is now 20. St. Velus said that he did not know Robinson well, but was glad to hear that he was heading to college.

He sounded like a good kid, St. Velus said.

It was not until around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, St. Velus said, that he learned what occurred at the party  that Innocent Jr. had been hit by bullets in both legs and one of his hands. It was still later when he found that his younger son, Brandon, 18, also had gone to the party  and was shot as well.

What really killed me was I didnt know Brandon was involved, St. Velus said.

The first call came from a hospital and said that Innocent Jr. had been shot and undergone surgery and was expected to recover, St. Velus said.

Then four hours later, after St. Velus and his fiancee had begun to calm down, a second call came that Brandon was in a different hospital, also wounded in both legs, also now post-surgery, and also with a good prognosis, he said. The boys still are in separate Carilion Health System facilities, St. Velus said.

Its crazy when youve got two sons in the hospital. I thank God theyre still here, St. Velus said.

His sons told him that as shots were fired, everybody starting running. They were all running side by side, St. Velus said. His sons told him they were near Robinson when he was shot, and that all three fell near one another.

St. Velus said that he was not sure what led to the shooting and was trying to figure out what the connection to Flint could have been.

St. Velus said that he is from Haiti and noted that Flints Facebook page, where Flint posted a video Saturday of his own arrest, said that Flint was from that Caribbean nation as well.

But St. Velus said that he had been asking friends about the accused shooter, and We dont know him.

According to police statements, the shooting occurred just before midnight Friday at a North Main Street business that police called the Melody Hookah Lounge. The business website lists its name as the Melody Hookah Bar.

The Melody Hookah website said that the business was closed Friday for a private event that ran from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m., when it reopened to the public.

Investigators think the shooter was outside, with some of the victims outside the business door and running inside, and other victims inside, according to Montgomery County Commonwealths Attorney Mary Pettitt.

Law enforcement officers photographed and collected evidence from the sidewalk outside the business for hours after the shooting.

One of the wounded was a Virginia Tech student. Tech officials said Saturday that the student, who has not been publicly identified, underwent surgery and was recovering.

On the night after the shooting, Flint was arrested in Roanoke after a law enforcement effort that involved the Blacksburg, Virginia Tech and Christiansburg police departments, Virginia State Police, U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Flint appeared to have recorded the arrest on Facebook Live. He acted relatively calm as he was walking to turn himself in to authorities, while assuring those watching his video stream live that he was innocent.

A second man, Jalen Mykal Pierce, 28, of Roanoke, was arrested Monday as being an accessory after the fact to murder. He was released on a $10,000 secured bond and as of Tuesday afternoon, did not yet have a court hearing scheduled.

Authorities have not said publicly exactly what Pierce is accused of doing.

Court records showed an assortment of prior charges against both Flint and Pierce, including a methamphetamine possession charge from 2020 against Flint. Last year he pleaded guilty and was given a deferred disposition that would have dropped the charge in 12 months if he stayed out of trouble.

But Flint was found to have violated the rules of his probation by smoking marijuana and not attending drug treatment, according to court records. Flints next hearing in the drug case is scheduled for Feb. 28 in Roanoke Circuit Court.

Flint also was convicted of intoxicated driving in 2020, and of two counts of petit larceny in 2019.

Pierce has navigated an array of vehicle-related charges, including multiple convictions for driving with a suspended or revoked license. In 2017, he was found guilty of marijuana possession charges in Radford and Roanoke County.

Staff writer Alicia Petksa contributed information to this report.
A Roanoke County woman is accused of felony murder in the death of a boy who was diagnosed with acute methadone poisoning.

Christiana Leigh Justice, 35, of Vinton, was indicted Friday on charges of felony murder and child neglect, according to Roanoke County Circuit Court records. The charges reflect that authorities believe the childs death occurred accidentally during an instance of neglect.

Court records list the victim as a boy whose obituary described him as a 1-year-old who was deeply loved and reveled in smiles and sunshine. He died Oct. 21. Surviving relatives named included a twin brother and the childs mother, Christiana L. Justice.

The cause of death was determined by the state medical examiners office.

Justice hasnt yet appeared in court to respond to the allegations. The indictments in the case were issued by a grand jury Friday.

A date for an initial hearing didnt immediately appear on an online court docket.

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Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 9, Botetourt County public school students will not be required to wear face masks, although teachers will remain masked, the school board announced Tuesday.

The board cited a recent court interpretation of federal guidelines in announcing the decision regarding COVID-19.

Wearing masks while indoors, though no longer required, is still encouraged as an effective component of our layered mitigation strategies, the division said in a press release. This decision does not apply to faculty & staff, and masks will still be required for all employees while inside all K-12 school buildings.

The Virginia Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit against an executive order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to make student masking optional. In its ruling, the court interpreted that school divisions have a degree of discretion to modify or even forgo coronavirus strategies provided by the Centers for Disease Control.

The Botetourt School Board unanimously decided during a special meeting in late January to wait for a court order before implementing the masks-optional executive order. In light of Mondays high court ruling, it is up to Botetourt County parents to decide whether their kids wear a mask to school.

But school faculty and staff are still required to mask up, because the division follows state code that requires any employees in areas of substantial or high coronavirus transmission to do so, said school spokesperson Mike Moser.

We will continue to monitor our communitys transmission rate and adjust our requirements for our staff when it is safe and appropriate to do so, according to an email from Moser. At this time, masks are required of all employees, regardless of vaccination status.

Coronavirus cases have dropped by 36% in Botetourt County during the past seven days, but community transmission is still considered high, mirroring transmission status across Virginia and in more than 99% of counties nationwide, according to CDC data as of Tuesday.

Everyone in Botetourt County, Virginia should wear a mask in public, indoor settings, said guidance from the CDC.

The Roanoke and Alleghany health districts released information Tuesday that shows all localities within those areas have high transmission rates. While case counts are down, death rates have increased in recent days, according to the information.

Botetourt County, according to the Tuesday data, has a test positivity rate of 29 percent currently.

According to the health district data, 35.5% of those ages 5-17 have received a vaccine in Botetourt County. Those vaccinated ages 5 and up  across the rest of the countys population  is 66 percent, according to the data.

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A 66-year-old inmate died in an apparent medical emergency during Mondays early morning hours, according to Western Virginia Regional Jail.

Darrell David Davis was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead around 3:30 a.m. after lifesaving measures, including CPR and defibrillation, were attempted by facility staff as paramedics were summoned, officials said.

No signs of acute distress in Davis had been observed by officers or medical staff in prior interactions. The death appeared to be the result of natural causes, administrators said, but the medical examiners office will make a final determination and an outside investigation will be conducted by the Roanoke County Police Department.

Davis was booked into the regional jail Jan. 29 while awaiting transfer to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

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RICHMOND  For those whose past mistakes return to haunt their job searches, a bill approved by the Virginia Senate on Monday could enable potential state employees who are looking to hurdle barrier crimes.

Certain convictions in Virginia are those barrier crimes, preventing otherwise qualified people from gaining employment with state agencies, even if their convictions are decades old, said Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke.

In this country we have a right to life, liberty and property, Edwards said. Having a job is an employment right.

Edwards is sponsor of Senate Bill 425, which creates a process allowing agencies the option to waive applicants barrier crimes for the purpose of hiring. The bill passed its third and final reading in the majority Democratic state Senate on Monday by a vote of 22-18, mostly along party lines.

Nobody should be barred for life from working in a certain type of occupation, Edwards said. This would provide people with an opportunity to petition for waiver with the particular departments involved.

As an example, he said those now sober with prior drug convictions are unable to work as peer support specialists for the states behavioral health agency. But a case-by-case waiver process would help the agency staff such positions.

People who have been addicted and are now clean are often good at dealing with other people who are addicted, because they have the life experience to help them do a good job, Edwards said. You just wouldnt be barred with this waiver process.

Another area where the state needs more staffing is in foster care. A waiver process could broaden the pool of eligible foster parents, according to an impact statement attached to SB 425.

There are over 200 children in the custody of the City of Roanoke Department of Social Services who need caring adults in their lives to provide guidance and stability, said a message posted online by Roanoke Department of Social Services Director Steve Martin. We rely on foster and adoptive parents to fill this need.

Senators voting against the bill said it is overly broad and could allow dangerous people to be hired by state agencies.

The employer would not be required to hire anybody, Edwards said. The departments have to approve it, and the employer would have knowledge of this.

SB 425 next awaits hearing in the majority Republican House of Delegates. Bills will cross over between House and Senate chambers next week.

Also in the Senate Monday, a bill co-sponsored by Edwards to remove almost all mandatory minimum jail sentences was rejected on its third reading by a vote of 21-19, with detractors again saying the proposal was overly broad.

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RICHMOND  It wasnt the first time that someone found a disparity in the number of older Black youth who end up in adult court for trial on criminal charges, compared with their proportion to Virginias population.

But the racial and ethnic impact statement attached to a Senate bill that would shift many of those cases into juvenile courts was a first under a new state law. It requires the legislatures watchdog agency to assess the effects of proposed criminal justice legislation on racial and ethnic minorities, if asked.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the states watchdog agency, conducted its first  and so far only  impact statement under the law for Senate Bill 134, introduced by Senate Judiciary Chairman John Edwards, D-Roanoke, who also asked for the review.

The statement said that Edwards bill  which proposes to change the legal venue for cases involving youths from 18 to 21 years old  would most affect Black or other minority youths who represent a disproportionate number of cases tried in general district and circuit courts.

The number of cases is much higher in general district courts, which handle lesser charges, but the disparity is greatest in circuit court, where Black and other minority youth are twice as likely to be tried than others of their age in the general population, JLARC found. In general district courts, Black people and other minorities were 1.4 times more likely to be tried.

The legal outcomes and penalties are much different for youths tried in adult courts than in juvenile and domestic relations courts, JLARC said.

Cases resolved in J&DR court generally result in less severe sanctions and greater access to rehabilitative services, the agency said, referring to juvenile and domestic relations court. In addition, some juveniles who commit less severe offenses are eligible to have their cases diverted from the system and handled without court involvement.

Currently, youths under 18 are tried in juvenile court, although they can be transferred to circuit court for trial on serious charges.

JLARC said that general district courts handled the cases of 25,000 older youths a year from 2018 through 2021. Circuit courts handled about 1,900 cases per year during that period, excluding individuals charged with the most serious offenses, which would still be tried in circuit court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-0 to support the bill and refer it to the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee to assess any effect on the state budget, which would be significant for the courts and Department of Juvenile Justice, according to a separate fiscal impact statement prepared by the Department of Planning and Budget.

Last year, then-Del. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, proposed legislation to require racial and ethnic impact statements. Her bill passed the House of Delegates by a vote of 69-31 and the Senate by a 20-18 margin.

Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, joined with Republicans to oppose it. He said Monday that he opposed the bill last year because he was concerned about legislative delay, whether it was necessary and because he contended it did not specify a process for JLARC to follow.

I supported the intent behind the bill but without a process, how are we, as legislators, to know what was even studied? Morrissey said in an email.

Previously, JLARC has prepared financial impact statements on legislation if requested by the legislature as second opinions on the budget implications of proposed bills.

The new law allows the chairs of the Senate Judiciary and House Courts of Justice committees to request that JLARC prepare up to three racial and ethnic impact statements in each General Assembly session.

JLARC Director Hal Greer said Edwards bill is the only one the agency has been asked to review of its racial and ethnic impact.

There has been a substantial amount of work to prepare for this new function as well as to conduct the analysis and research for the first statement, Greer said. However, we have been able to handle the work with our existing staff.
RICHMOND  Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday disavowed a weekend tweet from his campaign that criticized a teenage Democratic activist from Hanover County.

"On Saturday night, an unauthorized tweet came from a campaign account," the governor wrote on Twitter.

"I regret that this happened and it shouldnt have. I have addressed it with my team. We must continue to work to bring Virginians together. There is so much more that unites us than divides us."

Teenage Democratic activist Ethan Lynne tweeted Monday that while the Republican governor acknowledged what happened, he did not apologize or condemn it. Lynne called on the governor to recognize what Lynne called the "culture of toxicity" that he has created.

Lynne, co-founder of VATeenDems, has more than 37,700 Twitter followers. He has posted a number of critical tweets about the governor.

The twitter dispute blew up on social media over the weekend.

Lynne retweeted a Richmond public radio station's report about a historian resigning her Executive Mansion position telling stories of the enslaved. Lynnes tweet called it shameful. The reporter posted a correction to his story, noting that the governors office says it did not convert an educational space into a family room.

On Saturday night Youngkins campaign posted a tweet of Lynne standing next to then-Gov. Ralph Northam, juxtaposed with the blackface photo from Northams 1984 yearbook at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

The Team Youngkin tweet said: Heres a picture of Ethan with a man that had a Blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook.

On social media many Democrats rallied to Lynne's support.

The Youngkin campaign deleted the tweet Sunday morning.

It was brought to (our) attention that this Democrat Party official repeatedly elevated by Senator Louise Lucas as a source of official Democrat Party communications is actually a minor, so the tweet was removed," said Matt Wolking of the Youngkin campaign.

Lynne tweeted Sunday that the governors campaign was bullying him as a 17-year-old.

"Last night the Governor's official campaign account attacked me, a high school senior and 17-year-old on Twitter."

In that tweet, Lynne added, in part: "In school, we are taught how to spot bullying, and their tweet last night perfectly fit that description."
RICHMOND  The power of place is a big part of what makes a national park, said Doyle Sapp, superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield Park.

Whether its a historical site or a natural area, Sapp said, the place where something happened or the place where theres a beautiful natural process is very important.

The National Park Services most recent local land acquisition  371 acres of Malvern Hill Farm, along Route 5 in eastern Henrico County, at the edge of Charles City County  is a perfect example. It complements the portion of the Malvern Hill battlefield already owned by the park service, further telling the story and also preserving the farmland and forests and centuries of other history that exist on the property that doesnt look altogether different than it did during the Civil War.

When he can, Sapp likes to walk the battlefield and stand on the hill  on the newly acquired land  where Federal cannons fired down on the advancing Confederate infantryman in the final, bloody clash of the Seven Days Battle in 1862.

We cant and we shouldnt recreate the carnage and the suffering that took place, but we can at least provide a sense of place where the visitor can perhaps see a little bit of what the soldiers saw themselves, he said.

The newly acquired land is a very powerful addition to the park, Sapp said. The Malvern Hill Farm piece brings the park services holdings to about 1,300 acres at the Malvern Hill battlefield, ensuring most of the battlefield will be preserved. In all, the park service owns almost 4,000 acres for all of its Richmond National Battlefield Parks 13 Civil War sites around Richmond.

The park service acquired the land from the Capital Region Land Conservancy, a nonprofit land preservation group, which in 2018 completed a $6.6 million deal to purchase the 871-acre farm from the family that had owned it for almost 80 years in order to prevent it from being developed.

Having a single nonprofit handle the initial purchase makes for a more nimble and straightforward process for the seller, said Parker Agelasto, CRLCs executive director.

From the beginning, CRLCs intentions were to perform the heavy lifting  negotiating the agreement with the more than two dozen heirs of the Ferguson family and working out the details of the transaction while using grants and philanthropic support to pay for the purchase  so that it eventually could transfer the land to its partners: the park service, Henrico and the James River Association.

The land conservancy financed the purchase with The Conservation Fund while waiting on contributions from such organizations as the Cabell Foundation, the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation, the American Battlefield Protection Program, the American Battlefield Trust, the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation, the Virginia Battlefields Preservation Fund and the Virginia Outdoors Foundations Open Space Land Preservation Trust Fund.

The land transfer with the park service was completed in December and announced in late January. The county took ownership of its piece of the farm property  more than 400 acres  in 2020. The county will use its portion of the property as parkland and an outdoor learning environmental for a new high school specialty center. An additional 60 acres in Charles City County that was part of the original purchase sold last year subject to the terms of a conservation easement held by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

CRLC now owns none of it.

We no longer have any interest in the land, Agelasto said, other than we helped secure and protect it.

  

Malvern Hill Farms colonial history goes back to the 17th century; ruins from the earliest dwelling remain on the farm.

The Ferguson family came to Malvern Hill in 1942, when William Ferguson and his wife, Myrtle Deane, purchased the property. Ferguson was manager of the nearby Curles Neck farm and a member of the Henrico Board of Supervisors.

It was so great, said Meade Ferguson Welch, William and Myrtle Fergusons granddaughter, who grew up on the farm with her three siblings, when asked what childhood was like at Malvern Hill. Its so pretty out there: the pasture and the fields and the forests.

Welch spoke of star-filled skies, the songs of whippoorwills and bobwhites, and catching fireflies on summer nights.

Her parents moved from the farm a few years ago, and the family  which included children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren  decided to sell.

We looked for the best possible way to be good stewards of the land, Welch said.

As for the sale to the land conservancy that ensured the property would be saved from development, said Welch, noting she was speaking only for herself, I am thrilled that its being preserved. Itll be so nice that everybody will be able to enjoy the land.

Prior to the sale, there was concern the farm could become a residential subdivision with hundreds of homes.

I would submit that would have impacted the cultural landscape, the viewshed and that feeling of that sense of place to a certain amount because it would be right there on the edge of the property that we owned, Sapp said.

Though the park service has not had time to come up with any firm plans for its portion of the farm property, Sapp envisions an expansion of the parks existing approach to its battlefield interpretation with the development of trails and wayside exhibits.

Henrico considers its part of the property a park asset but also more of a conservation area, said Neil Luther, the countys director of recreation and parks.

Long-term, he doesnt envision development beyond a visitor center and a network of trails that connect to the battlefield park and the nearby Virginia Capital Trail, the 52-mile bike and pedestrian path that runs between Richmond and Williamsburg.

This is parkland, but it is specifically restricted for environmental and historical interpretation, so it would never be programmed for active recreation, ball fields, that kind of stuff, he said.

In the spring, the county plans to offer tours of the property led by experts from different fields.

Sheep graze on part of the land, helping to keep hillside grass down. A portion of the property is still actively farmed and will continue to be on a leased basis, Luther said, in keeping with the historical use of the land.

A canoe/kayak launch on Turkey Island Creek developed by the James River Association to provide access to the James River and Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail is part of the county property and is now open to public access.

The farm also will be a site for educational activities associated with the new Center for Environmental Studies and Sustainability that opens in the 2022-23 academic year at Varina High School.

Considering its location on a mostly level plateau that drains into Turkey Island Creek and Crewes Channel and then into the James River to the south, the farm could serve as a site for watershed and water quality studies and a comparison to other areas along the James, such as Deep Bottom and Wilton Farm where Henrico is considering the location of an environmental studies center, said Eric Rhoades, Henrico schools science specialist.

The historic dwellings and history of Malvern Hill will serve as a rich opportunity for students to learn about Henrico and Virginia history, Rhoades wrote in a statement. The centers students will have a variety of Henrico locations for their environmental studies as they consider how they can preserve Henrico for future citizens.
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" " Thomas Edison (left), lightbulb inventor and Charles Proteus Steinmetz, mathematician and electrical engineer, join forces. Steinmetz used imaginary numbers to figure out how to build functioning electrical circuits, which would bring electricity into homes. The Print Collector/Getty Images

Fractions. Calculus. Imaginary numbers. If you're math-phobic like many of us, words like these trigger anxious memories of high-school math class, when the scribbles on the board were both confounding and mind-numbingly boring. "Why does anyone care about math, anyway?" we complained. "What's the point?"

Michael Brooks gets it. The British journalist may have a Ph.D. in quantum physics and an editor gig at New Scientist, but he understands why so many of us detest "maths" (as they say in the U.K.). In school, math can be dreadfully dull, and once it becomes more interesting, math is cast as this almost mystical, unknowable force only comprehensible to Stephen Hawking.

But in his fascinating and accessible new book, "The Art of More: How Mathematics Created Civilization," Brooks makes a convincing argument that some of humankind's greatest achievements were only made possible by math. Not only is math not boring, but it's also not mysterious, either. It's a practical way of solving problems that's made our world a better place from ancient Sumeria to Silicon Valley.

Here are four colorful stories that illustrate how some simple (and not so simple) math has changed our world.

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1. All Hail Shulgi, King of Addition

About 4,000 years ago, the ancient city of Ur was one of the great capitals of Sumeria in southern Mesopotamia. The agricultural revolution had enabled settlements of unprecedented size, but it was increasingly difficult for priests and kings to keep track of grain harvests, storage and disbursements to feed both the gods and men.

What they needed, of course, was math. Nothing fancy at first, just some basic arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). And one of the earliest champions of arithmetic, according to ancient clay tablets recovered from Ur, was a guy named King Shulgi.

"There are records of hymns that were sung about his ability to add stuff up," says Brooks. "He made his subjects worship him for his mathematical abilities."

Shulgi didn't just show off his godlike math skills; he built what scholars recognize as "the first mathematical state," says Brooks. Math was mainly put to use in bookkeeping, which allowed Shulgi and his scribes to maintain tight control of Ur's finances and prevent people from defrauding the state.

You could argue that Shulgi and his scribes were nothing but glorified auditors, but auditing, Brooks writes in "The Art of More," is "the true cradle of civilization."

" " People attend a festive event at the Great Ziggurat temple in the ancient city of Ur in Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar in 2021. King Shulgi (whose arithmetic skills were sung about) is credited with building this temple. ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images

"Shulgi recognized that once you've got control of the numbers, it starts to be very financially lucrative," says Brooks. "This math thing works."

By putting math to work, Shulgi and Ur grew tremendously wealthy and used that wealth to develop one of the world's earliest and greatest civilizations. Shulgi is credited with constructing the Great Ziggurat of Ur, building an extensive road network and expanding his trade empire to include Arab and Indus communities.

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2. The French Revolution Started With an Accountant

" " King Louis XVI (right) reproaches Jacques Necker. Necker was loved by the people, and his dismissal started the French Revolution. Christophel Fine Art/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The 18th-century French monarch Louis XVI helped bankroll the American Revolution, but it left France mired in debt. The king needed a good accountant to help balance the books, so he appointed a Genevan banker named Jacques Necker as his minister of finance.

But Necker was a little "too good" at his job. He made the budget public  unusual for an absolute monarchy  and used double-entry bookkeeping to carefully track expenses. Brooks says Necker believed that balanced books were not only good accounting, but also the basis of a moral, prosperous, happy and powerful government.

"The profligate French royal court didn't like it, because it meant they couldn't spend money on anything they wanted to," says Brooks. "So, Necker was sacked."

The king's cronies may have despised Necker, but the revolutionaries loved him. It was Necker's dismissal, in fact, that was the spark that lit the powder keg of the French Revolution.

"They carried a bust of Jacques Necker on their shoulders as they were storming the Bastille," says Brooks. "He's kind of a cool accountant."

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3. Kepler Invented Integral Calculus to Save Money on Wine

The German astronomer Johannes Kepler is famous for his laws of planetary motion, which proved that the planets in our solar system orbited around the sun in elliptical paths, but he also wrote an entire book about the proper shape of wine barrels.

The story goes that Kepler ordered a barrel of wine for his second wedding in the town of Linz, Austria, but when it came time to pay for the wine an argument broke out. Kepler didn't like the method that the wine merchant used to price the barrel.

" " This illustration is taken from "Nova Stereometria Dolorium Vinariorum" by German astronomer Johannes Kepler. Kepler's book formed the basis of modern integral calculus. SSPL/Getty Images

According to custom, the wine merchant laid the barrel on its side and poked a long rod through a hole in the center of the barrel until it struck the opposite corner. The rod was removed, and the cost of the wine was determined by how much of the rod was wet.

Kepler quickly saw where the method fell short: The price for the same amount of wine would change with the dimensions of the barrel. A long and thin barrel would cost less than a short and fat one. Kepler grumpily paid the bill, but he couldn't drop the question of how to construct a barrel that results in the most wine for your money.

Kepler's method was to calculate the volume of a curved wine barrel by imagining it as a stack of flat cylinders. To get the most accurate result, though, you need to use lots of cylinders. In fact, they need to become infinitesimally small to fill up every inch of space inside the barrel. "And when we slice time, distance or anything else into infinitesimals," Brooks writes in his book, "we are in the realm of calculus."

In 1615, Kepler published "Nova Stereometria Dolorium Vinariorum " or "New Solid Geometry of Wine Barrels," now considered the foundational text of integral calculus.

In showing how to maximize the dimensions of a wine barrel to minimize its price (the Austrian barrels were spot on, by the way), Kepler pointed the way to using calculus to maximize the efficiency of all manner of things. Brooks uses the modern examples of calculating the right dose of a cancer drug to deliver the most effective response, or how much fuel a 747 should carry to travel the farthest without being weighed down.

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4. Imaginary Numbers Electrified America, Literally

Nothing is as triggering to math-phobes as imaginary numbers. Math is hard enough when we're using actual numbers! Now you want us to mess around with imaginary numbers?

Calm down, Brooks says. It turns out that imaginary numbers are very real; they just have a really stupid name.

The problem started when mathematicians tried to solve quadratic equations that required the square root of a negative number. Since it's impossible for any number times itself to equal a negative (even a negative times a negative equals a positive), mathematicians started calling numbers like that "imaginary numbers."

Imaginary numbers might have remained a curious mathematical oddity if not for a 4-foot, 9-inch (1.45-meter) phenom born Karl August Rudolf Steinmetz, but better known as Charles Proteus Steinmetz.

" " A demonstration of an artificial lightning generator takes place in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Proteus Steinmetz (Steinmetz is holding the stool). Bettmann/Getty Images

Steinmetz discovered how to use imaginary numbers to solve one of the most challenging engineering problems of the 1890s: how to harness the exciting new power of electricity and deliver it to homes and businesses. While bigwigs like Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla argued over the benefits of AC vs. DC current, engineers wrestled with the incredibly complex math required to build functioning electrical circuits.

"Charles Steinmetz came up with a formula for taking all of these really difficult calculations and making them into really easy ones that used imaginary numbers," says Brooks. "That's basically how we electrified America."

Steinmetz's formulas powered the electrical age and great leaps forward in industrialization and scientific discovery. Half a century later, Bill Hewlett and David Packard used imaginary numbers to design their first product, an audio oscillator, in their garage in Palo Alto, California, known as the "birthplace of Silicon Valley."

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Now That's Cool Born with a hunchback, Steinmetz was small but mighty. He famously diagnosed a faulty generator in Henry Ford's automobile factory by listening to it operate for two days, then drawing a chalk mark on the giant machine where the engineers needed to replace 16 wire coils. Brooks says that when Ford balked at the $10,000 invoice and asked for an explanation, Steinmetz replied with an itemized bill: "Making chalk mark on generator: $1. Knowing where to make mark: $9,999."
(CNN) -- An English pub that claims to be the oldest in Britain is closing due to financial problems worsened by the pandemic.

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St. Albans, just north of London, has been in business since 793 AD, according to its website.

Now it has closed its doors "after a sustained period of extremely challenging trading conditions," according to a statement from landlord Christo Tofalli, posted on the pub's Facebook page on Friday.

"Along with my team, I have tried everything to keep the pub going," Tofalli wrote. "However, the past two years have been unprecedented for the hospitality industry, and have defeated all of us who have been trying our hardest to ensure this multi-award-winning pub could continue trading into the future."

Tofalli said trading conditions were "extremely tough" before the pandemic, but the effects of Covid-19 were "devastating" and left the pub struggling to meet its financial obligations.

"It goes without saying I am heartbroken: this pub has been so much more than just a business to me, and I feel honoured to have played even a small part in its history," he wrote.

Britain's pub industry was struggling even before the pandemic, as people ditched drinking in pubs for bars, restaurants and their homes.

Between 2008 and 2018, more than 11,000 pubs closed their doors, according to the UK's Office for National Statistics, reducing the total number by almost a quarter.

The main structure of Ye Olde Fighting Cocks was built in the 11th century and was originally used as a pigeon house, according to the local tourist board.

The pub took its name from the cock fights that were held there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Oliver Cromwell reportedly slept one night at the inn during the English Civil War.

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks used to be recognized as the oldest pub in England by Guinness World Records, but the record title is now inactive, a spokeswoman for Guinness told CNN.

"This record was rested in 2000 when it became clear that it was not possible to verify it in full," the spokeswoman said in a statement.

"Even when we did publish information in this regard in the past, we were never able to state definitively which was the oldest pub in the country, since the age and historical usage of buildings is in many cases uncertain," she added.

Record holder or not, this may not the pub's final chapter.

A spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers, the brewery that owns the premises, said it was working to reopen it.

"We can confirm that sadly our tenants at Ye Old Fighting Cocks have appointed administrators but can reassure locals that this is not the end for the pub," the spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

"We are currently exploring all opportunities for the site's future and hope to reopen the pub under new management as soon as possible," they added.

The UK is home to many historic pubs, including London's famous Prospect of Whitby riverside tavern.

Established in 1520 and formerly known as the Devil's Tavern, the pub was a renowned hangout for smugglers, villains and pirates, the latter who traded contraband and sold bodies that had washed up from the Thames river.

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Canadian protests over Covid-19 regulations are stretching into a second week of blocked roads and boisterous demonstrations, with claims of hate-related incidents under investigation and arrests made amid reports of rocks and eggs thrown.

Sparked by a group of truckers who drove into the heart of Ottawa on January 29 to protest new coronavirus vaccine and testing rules, other protests sprouted over the weekend in major cities across the nation, including Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Quebec City.

Keep scrolling for a gallery of photos from the protests in Canada

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency Sunday afternoon as the capital city has become a focal point of the "Freedom Convoy" protests. Most of the more than 60 criminal investigations underway in Ottawa involve hate crimes, property damage, thefts and mischief, police there said.

"Declaring a state of emergency reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government," Watson said in a statement.

At least seven arrests were made Sunday and at least 450 citations issued since Saturday morning, the Ottawa Police Service said. Demonstrators "exhibited extremely disruptive and unlawful behaviour," police said in a statement, which created "risks to public safety and unacceptable distress" for residents.

While mostly acting peacefully to voice their disapproval of recent vaccine mandates, demonstrators' tactics of idling trucks and blocking motorways have become a greater nuisance with each passing day for residents and businesses.

The majority of businesses in downtown Ottawa have been closed for more than a week or have been operating with reduced hours, and owners are complaining to city officials of financial difficulties as customers dwindle.

Still, some attendees of the protests say they're not going anywhere until changes are made.

"The whole event has gone beyond just vaccines, and it is now about the entire ordeal," protester James MacDonald told CNN, adding he's been in Ottawa since last weekend and has no plan to leave until health measures are dropped.

The demonstrations began as an objection to a recent vaccine mandate requiring truckers entering Canada to either be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements. Other protesters have joined to rail against mask mandates, lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and other Covid-19 preventative efforts.

Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with about 4 in every 5 Canadians fully vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Ottawa police investigating potential hate crimes

Police have responded to more than 650 calls for service in relation to the demonstrations since they began, they said Sunday.

The city's hate-motivated crime hotline -- established after reports of anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic acts at the Covid-19 protests -- has also gotten more than 200 calls, according to police.

"We already have a number of hate-related incidents that we're investigating," Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said last week. "We encourage anyone who's been the victim of a hate crime or think they may have been the victim of a hate crime or exposed to hate incidents to contact us."

Road closures and barricades remained in place Sunday morning across much of Ottawa, especially in the city's downtown core, according to police, who have repeatedly advised demonstrators to "not enter Ottawa, and go home."

Police issued hundreds of notices over the weekend, including for excessive honking, driving the wrong way or on a sidewalk, not wearing a seat belt, having alcohol readily available and having the improper class of driving license, they said.

Vehicles and fuel have been seized, police said, and they are advising "anyone found bringing fuel to the demonstration trucks in red zone could be subject to arrest and charges."

A weekend of arrests and protests

In Vancouver, several hundred vehicles traveled through the city en route to demonstration there, Vancouver Police said. Five people were arrested Saturday amid reports of "rocks and eggs being thrown, cars being kicked, and nails being strewn on roadways," police said. The five were taken to jail and released, police said.

Among them was a 29-year-old US citizen from Washington state who was arrested after officers saw him wearing a balaclava and pulling a wagon full of egg cartons, police said. The man had a knife in a sheath tied to his belt, and two eggs in his jacket pocket, they said.

"Everyone has the right to peacefully assemble and express their views, and the Vancouver Police Department is committed to providing a safe environment for lawful protest," said police Sgt. Steve Addison. "Today's protests attracted thousands of people who feel passionately about their causes. While most protesters were peaceful, some had to be arrested for violent behavior and unlawful conduct."

In Toronto, Canada's largest city, thousands took to the streets Saturday. And despite the efforts of Toronto police, several trucks blocked a major intersection for hours. Police reported problems clearing the way for emergency vehicles near the protest, warning again in a statement this was "unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

Quebec City similarly reported thousands of protesters and hundreds of trucks clogging streets while residents and visitors tried to enjoy a winter carnival.

In Winnipeg, a demonstration Friday night turned dangerous when a man drove into a crowd, hitting four people, according to the Winnipeg Police Department. Three of those hit didn't require medical attention and the fourth was treated and released from an area hospital, police said.

The suspect, who was arrested after a brief struggle with law enforcement, faces 11 charges, including assault with a weapon, dangerous operation of a conveyance and failure to stop after an accident, authorities said.

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PHOTO GALLERY

CNN's Joe Sutton, Keith Allen, Laura James, Melissa Alonso, Caroline Kucera, Caroll Alvarado, Eric Levenson and Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report. The-CNN-Wire  &  2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A White House review found credible evidence that top scientist Dr. Eric Lander violated its "Safe and Respectful Workplace Policy," but the administration plans to keep him on the job after giving him counseling.

An internal review last year, prompted by a workplace complaint, found evidence that Lander, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to President Joe Biden, bullied staffers and treated them disrespectfully. That put him at odds with Biden's day-one directive that he expected "honesty and decency" from all who worked for his administration and would fire anyone who shows disrespect to others "on the spot."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said senior administration officials had met with Lander about his actions and management of the office.

"Following the conclusion of the thorough investigation into these actions, senior White House officials conveyed directly to Dr. Lander that his behavior was inappropriate, and the corrective actions that were needed, which the White House will monitor for compliance moving forward," she said.

Psaki added, "The president has been crystal clear with all of us about his high expectations of how he and his staff should be creating a respectful work environment."

Pressed why Lander still had a job despite Biden's comments, Psaki said the administration was following a "process" to handle workplace complaints.

The White House said Lander and OSTP are required to take certain corrective actions as part of the review. It also said the review did not find "credible evidence" of gender-based discrimination and that the reassignment of the staffer who filed the original complaint was "deemed appropriate."

On Friday, Lander issued an apology to staffers in his office, acknowledging "I have spoken to colleagues within OSTP in a disrespectful or demeaning way."

"I am deeply sorry for my conduct," he added. "I especially want to apologize to those of you who I treated poorly, or were present at the time."

The letter and the findings against Lander were first reported by Politico.

Lander, whose position was elevated to Cabinet-rank by Biden, appeared prominently with the president last week when he relaunched his "Cancer Moonshot" program to marshal federal resources behind research and treatment for cancer diseases.

The founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Lander is a mathematician and molecular biologist. He was lead author of the first paper announcing the details of the human genome, the so-called "book of life."

His confirmation to his role in the Biden administration was delayed for months as senators sought more information about meetings he had with the late Jeffrey Epstein, a disgraced financier who was charged with sex trafficking before his suicide. Lander also was criticized for downplaying the contributions of two Nobel Prize-winning female scientists.

At his confirmation hearing last year, Lander apologized for a 2016 article he wrote that downplayed the work of the female scientists. At the hearing, he also called Epstein "an abhorrent individual."
MADISON, Wis.  Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said hes not fighting to persuade Oshkosh Defense to locate 1,000 jobs in Wisconsin rather than South Carolina, providing an opening for his Democratic challengers to accuse the two-term incumbent of being out of touch with the needs of his state.

Johnson told reporters at a news conference Saturday that he was not trying to get Oshkosh Defense to put the jobs in his hometown of Oshkosh as part of a multibillion-dollar contract the company won last year to build new delivery vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service.

The company announced in June that the vehicles would be built in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Its not like we dont have enough jobs here in Wisconsin, Johnson said Saturday. The biggest problem we have in Wisconsin right now is employers not being able to find enough workers.

Johnson also said he wouldnt insert myself to demand that anything be manufactured here using federal funds in Wisconsin.

Obviously, Im supportive of it, he said. But in the end, I think when using federal tax dollars, you want to spend those in the most efficient way and if its more efficient, more effective to spend those in other states, I dont have a real problem with that.

His top Democratic rivals were dumbfounded at his comments.

Once again Ron Johnson has turned his back on Wisconsinites, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said in a recorded statement on Twitter. If Ron Johnson wont rebuild the middle class, were going to do the work for him.

Barnes on Monday sent letters to Oshkosh Defense, President Joe Biden and members of Congress asking that the trucks be built in Wisconsin. When asked at a news conference why Wisconsin should go after the jobs despite existing problems with worker shortages, Barnes said: Ive never heard that take before.

Why limit ourselves? he asked.

Treasurer Sarah Godlewski said Johnson doesnt care about Wisconsin workers.

A U.S. Senator should fight tooth and nail to bring good jobs and taxpayer dollars back to our state, instead, hes just giving up, she said in a statement.

Alex Lasry, who is on leave from his job as an executive with the Milwaukee Bucks, said in a statement that Johnsons comments were just another example of how out of touch he is with Wisconsinites.

Tom Nelson, the county executive in neighboring Outagamie County, said the 1,000 jobs would have a multiplier effect leading to even more jobs in the region.

Wisconsins biggest problem is Ron Johnson, Nelson said Monday. This is one more reason we must do everything we can to defeat him. We need a senator who will stand up and fight for Oshkosh and Wisconsins working families each and every day.

Johnson responded Monday and said his comments, in which he voiced support for Oshkosh Corp. while also saying he wasnt going to get involved, had been taken out of context.

The Biden administration and Democrat policies have left this country with supply chain issues and a worker shortage crisis, Johnson said in a statement. We need less government interference, not more. For months, as I have traveled around the state every business owner I speak with tells me they cannot find enough workers, even causing businesses to adjust hours or shutter their businesses all together.

Barnes, Godlewski, Lasry and Nelson are among a crowded field of Democrats who will square off in the Aug. 9 primary to face Johnson in November.

Oshkoshs decision not to build the vehicles in Wisconsin has drawn blowback from Wisconsins other senator, Democrat Tammy Baldwin, as well as U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat from neighboring Michigan. They, along with unionized workers in Oshkosh, have been working persuade the company to locate the jobs in Wisconsin.

Baldwin and Peters sent Oshkosh Defense officials a letter in November asking for more information about its plans to build the trucks in South Carolina. Oshkosh Defense will build 50,000 to 165,000 van-like vehicles during the next 10 years, replacing a fleet that is up to three decades old.

Its my job to support job creation in Wisconsin and I want the trucks built here, Baldwin said in a statement. To me, its simple  I want Oshkosh Defense to manufacture trucks in Oshkosh with Wisconsin workers.
Le Premier ministre malien, Choguel Maiga, lors d'un entretien avec l'AFP, le 26 septembre 2021, a New York

Dans une nouvelle charge virulente devant des diplomates en poste a Bamako, le Premier ministre malien, Choguel Kokalla Maiga, a accuse, lundi, la France d'avoir volontairement cherche a diviser le pays a travers son engagement militaire.





La France a divise le Mali, selon le Premier ministre malien, Choguel Kokalla Maiga. Ce dernier a accuse, lundi 7 fevrier, la France d'avoir uvre a la partition de son pays a travers son engagement militaire, dans une nouvelle charge virulente devant des diplomates en poste a Bamako.





Choguel Kokalla Maiga, chef du gouvernement installe par la junte arrivee au pouvoir a la faveur de deux putschs successifs en aout 2020 et juin 2021, s'en est pris a la France durant plus de 45 minutes, devant les diplomates reunis a sa demande a la Primature, sans aller jusqu'a demander explicitement le retrait de la force antijihadiste Barkhane conduite par Paris.





Partition du Mali





"Apres (un) temps d'allegresse" en 2013 quand les soldats francais ont libere le nord du Mali tombe sous la coupe de groupes jihadistes, "l'intervention s'est muee dans un deuxieme temps en une operation de partition de fait du Mali qui a (consiste dans) la sanctuarisation d'une partie de notre territoire, ou les terroristes ont eu le temps de se refugier, de se reorganiser pour revenir en force a partir de 2014", a-t-il estime.





Dans un contexte de vives tensions entre Paris et Bamako, il a convoque le souvenir de la Seconde Guerre mondiale : "Les Americains n'ont-ils pas libere la France ? (...) Quand les Francais ont juge que (la presence americaine en France, ndlr) n'etait plus necessaire, ils ont dit aux Americains de partir, est-ce que les Americains se sont mis a insulter les Francais ?", a-t-il dit.





Depuis que l'organisation des Etats ouest-africains (Cedeao) a impose au Mali le 9 janvier des sanctions soutenues par la France et differents partenaires du pays, la junte s'arc-boute sur la souverainete du territoire.





"Le sabre"





Les autorites maliennes accusent la France, ex-puissance coloniale, d'avoir instrumentalise la Cedeao. L'objectif est "de nous presenter comme un paria, avec l'objectif inavoue et inavouable a court terme d'asphyxier l'economie afin d'aboutir pour le compte de qui l'on sait et par procuration a la destabilisation et au renversement des institutions de la transition", a dit M. Maiga.





Les dirigeants francais "n'ont jamais dit a leur opinion publique, quand ils intervenaient en 2013, qu'ils allaient diviser le Mali", a-t-il dit.





"On ne peut pas nous vassaliser, on ne peut pas transformer le pays en esclave ; ca, c'est termine", a-t-il poursuivi en reference a la colonisation.





M. Maiga s'est aussi attaque a Takuba, groupement europeen de forces speciales initie par la France et destine a accompagner les soldats maliens au combat face aux jihadistes.





Takuba, "c'est pour diviser le Mali. C'est le sabre, en (langue) songhai et en tamasheq, ca n'est pas un nom qui a ete pris par hasard", a-t-il dit.





"Debordements"





En plus de retarder le retour des civils au pouvoir, la France et ses partenaires europeens ou americains reprochent a la junte d'avoir fait appel au sulfureux groupe russe de mercenaires Wagner, ce qu'elle conteste.





Devant les diplomates, au premier rang desquels l'ambassadeur russe Igor Gromyko, M. Maiga a assimile les soldats de la Legion etrangere, corps de l'armee francaise, a des mercenaires.





Il a evoque le rappel en fevrier 2020 - avant la prise du pouvoir par les colonels maliens - de l'ambassadeur malien a Paris Toumani Djime Diallo. Celui-ci avait provoque la colere des autorites francaises en accusant des soldats francais de "debordements" dans les quartiers chauds de Bamako.





Les autorites maliennes avaient rappele le diplomate a la demande de la France "sur la base de simples declarations (...) sur le comportement peu orthodoxe de certains legionnaires francais au Mali, j'allais dire mercenaires", a declare M. Maiga.




FILE PHOTO: Workers assemble cars inside the Hyundai Motor India Ltd. plant at Kancheepuram district in Tamil Nadu

By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India said on Tuesday it had summoned South Korea's ambassador to express displeasure over a social media post by a Pakistani partner of Hyundai Motor over disputed Kashmir that has caused a furore in the country.

The foreign ministers of India and South Korea also spoke by telephone as the car company faced a backlash in India from social media users incensed by comments expressing solidarity with the people of Kashmir.

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed his regret during the conversation with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The diplomatic escalation is a rare moment of discord between the two countries that have long enjoyed friendly ties, and highlights the risks global companies face while navigating local sensitivities amid rising nationalism in the region.

The row erupted on Sunday, a day after Pakistan marked the annual Kashmir Solidarity Day. Posts on behalf of Hyundai's partner, the Nishat Group, appeared on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram commemorating what it described as the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for self-determination.

India and arch-rival Pakistan control parts of Kashmir but both claim the Himalayan territory in full.

India says Pakistan supports an armed insurrection against New Delhi's rule in India-controlled Kashmir that broke out in 1990. Pakistan denies the charge and says it only provides diplomatic and moral support for the Kashmiri people.

South Korea's envoy was called into the Indian foreign office on Monday to register New Delhi's protest against the posts, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.

"The strong displeasure of the government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him," he said.

"It was highlighted that this matter concerned India's territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise. We expect the company to take appropriate action to properly address these issues."

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Earlier on Tuesday, Hyundai issued a statement saying it deeply regrets any offence caused to Indians by an "unauthorized" tweet from the account of its Pakistan partner.

"As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region," Hyundai said in a Twitter post.

The company said its independently-owned distributor in Pakistan made Kashmir-related social media posts from its accounts, and "misused the Hyundai brand identity".

"We deeply regret any offence caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity. We have put in place processes to prevent a future recurrence," Hyundai said.

The Nishat Group, Pakistan's largest business conglomerate, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Hyundai is India's second-largest car seller after Maruti Suzuki, selling close to half a million vehicles in the country in the last fiscal year and exporting over a million units, making it India's largest car exporter.

Hundreds of people on social media demanded the company apologise for being insensitive to India's concerns. Others said they were cancelling their car orders.

Twitter users in India have made similar calls in the past, seeking to boycott Chinese goods in 2020 after a border clash between the two Asian giants. Amazon.com Inc has also faced social media backlash in India after its overseas website was found selling goods with faces of Hindu gods and other sacred symbols.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Raju Gopalakrishnan and David Evans)
Michael K. Williams in August 2021. (Leon Bennett/WireImage)

When law enforcement announced the arrest last week of four drug dealers linked to the Sept. 6 accidental overdose death of beloved actor Michael K. Williams, the tone was triumphant.

"This is a public health crisis. And it has to stop," Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement announcing the charges on Feb. 2. "Deadly opioids like fentanyl and heroin don't care about who you are or what you've accomplished."

The actor, 54, best known for The Wire, was found dead in his Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment on Sept. 6, with the medical examiner ruling it had been the result of "acute intoxication" by the "combined effects of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl [a fentanyl analog], heroin and cocaine," leading many to believe Williams had used either cocaine or heroin that had been laced, without his knowledge, with the synthetic opioids, which can be at least 50 times more powerful than heroin.

Reports broke down how the NYPD "cracked the case," with the police commissioner noting, "I commend our NYPD investigators, working closely with their federal partners  for their work to clean up this long-embattled block." The four arrested, who range in age from 39 to 70, were charged with one count of narcotics conspiracy and, one of them, Irvin Cartagena, with causing Williams's death in connection with the conspiracy, carrying a sentence of 20 years to life.

It's why instead of celebrating, many took to Twitter to express a range of emotions  from uneasiness to anger  over the continued approach of criminalization when it comes to the U.S. response to the opioid epidemic.

Some shared exasperation over the continued attempt to "arrest our way out of this," while others pointed out the "irony" of the situation, considering both the message of The Wire and the pro-harm-reduction beliefs held by the actor himself.

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Heartbreaking that addiction took Michael K. Williams' life, made more so because we've learned so little from past mistakesand his own most well-known workthat we're still trying to arrest our way out of this. Addiction is not a vice, it's an illness. https://t.co/gGIpJ3eWsj  Evan Sutton (@3vanSutton) February 2, 2022

This is terrible. We will not arrest ourselves out of the overdose crisis we find ourselves in. More safe injections sites, more access to testing kits, and legalization, not criminalization, is what will stop these tragedies. https://t.co/yB7kUSgDSz  Vedan Anthony-North (@vedan__) February 2, 2022

Michael Williams was the star of a TV series about how dumb it is to arrest anyone for his overdose death.https://t.co/ueDNML4JqI  Tamale Enjoyer (@hamilt0n) February 2, 2022

I can't help but think what Michael K. Williams would've thought of the breathless reporting on the arrest of the people who allegedly sold him drugs. It's all a very weird vibe.  Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) February 3, 2022

Williams, in a 2016 opinion piece for CNN, wrote about his own battles with addiction and his anger over the then-45-year-old "war on drugs," noting, "The war on drugs is a war on people and a war on progress. It's a war on opportunity for a generation of Black and brown Americans who have grown up conditioned to believe that prison is inevitable and incarceration is imminent." He implored readers to act, writing, "We must demand that policymakers in Washington begin unraveling the policies that have shackled generations of young Americans by supporting criminal justice reforms such as the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act and start peeling back layers of policy that have criminalized and demoralized our communities for too long."

A link to the piece, along with a reminder that Williams was "an advocate for ending the failed war on drugs," was tweeted  and then liked over 3,300 times  by Alyssa Aguilera, co-executive director of Vocal New York, a statewide campaign organizer focusing on HIV, drug policy, incarceration and homelessness, and a direct-service provider of clean syringes, naloxone and outreach services in Brooklyn, where Williams lived and died.

Michael K. Williams was an advocate for ending the failed war on drugs  I know hed want safe supply, not more ppl locked up for selling drugs. https://t.co/TBz4kpxLox  Alyssa Aguilera (@alyssaguilera) February 2, 2022

"I actually remember going to drug policy spaces and events, and he would be there, and he'd talk about the connection to The Wire but also real life  about mass incarceration and ending the drug war. I knew he held those beliefs," Aguilera tells Yahoo Life. "So when I saw the alert of the arrest, I just thought, I'm sure this is not what he would want justice to be or that this is a mechanism to make sure that more people don't overdose in the future.  It's just more of the same criminalization, the same drug war he was against, and not harm reduction or safe supply."

Aguilera admits it's understandable to see people embracing the arrests as justice.

"Overdose, sadly, impacts so many people, and of course when somebody you love dies, so much of what's ingrained in our society is about revenge and punishment, and those are very natural responses," she says. "So part of what our work is to think about how  to reframe the way we even talk about responding to incidents like this  away from punishment and to real solutions that will keep people alive."

What is harm reduction?

Those "real solutions," according to Aguilera and other supporters of drug decriminalization or legalization, fall under the umbrella of harm reduction  a proactive, evidence-based approach and set of interventions aiming to reduce the harms associated with drug and alcohol use. The interventions may include drug users having access to sterile syringes, fentanyl test strips and overdose-reversing naloxone, all part of an approach that "stands in stark contrast to a punitive approach to problematic drug use and "is based on acknowledging the dignity and humanity of people who use drugs and bringing them into a community of care in order to minimize negative consequences and promote optimal health and social inclusion," notes the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), a national nonprofit promoting alternatives to the war on drugs approach.

The DPA weighed in on the recent arrests with a tweet of its own, asking for "less lip service. More practical solutions," and stating that "criminalization fuels the overdose crisis."

Less lip service. More practical solutions.



Responding to the overdose with more criminalization will just lead to more overdose deaths.



Criminalization fuels the overdose crisis. We need overdose prevention centers, drug checking, easily accessible naloxone, and safe supply.  Drug Policy Alliance (@DrugPolicyOrg) February 3, 2022

It's the DPA's position, office of national affairs director Maritza Perez tells Yahoo Life, that "criminalization leads to a poisonous drug supply, which leads to overdose  and also discourages people to seek help should they need it for fear of stigma or criminalization."

A 2020 Harvard University white paper on expert recommendations for the use of opioid settlement funds by advocates and policymakers stresses the positives of harm reduction over "punitive and carceral approaches," noting that "the criminalization of drug use has justified and sustained state-sanctioned violence against BIPOC communities and individuals living in poverty  ranging from arrest, detention, prosecution, incarceration and surveillance to family separation, loss of employment and housing insecurity."

Ending the war on drugs was, many say, what Michael K. Williams supported before his fatal overdose in September. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Perez says that often, "when we're talking about people who sell drugs, we're talking about people who use drugs  we have this tendency to treat them as separate  in order to support their drug use. It's especially important to understand now when we're talking about fentanyl." That's because the criminalization of opioids, she says, has led manufacturers to make the deadly fentanyl analogs that "have become very common in the illicit drug supply in the U.S.," to the point where sellers, if not also manufacturers, might be unaware that [their supply] contains a fentanyl analog.

Instead, Perez highlights the tools that exist  but are not widely available in this country  that could have saved the life of Williams and so many others. Those include fentanyl testing strips, which are cheap, simple to use and found, in a 2018 study out of Brown University, to be effective in prompting drug users to change their behavior to prevent overdose. There's also naloxone, found to be at least 75 percent effective in reversing opioid overdoses when administered by a layperson.

Another tool is that of safe-injection sites  safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics and something the Biden Administration signaled just this week that it may support. Advocates of harm reduction point to the success of such an approach in many other countries around the world, including Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the U.K. and Portugal. (In the U.S., the first government-authorized safe injection sites opened in NYC in November, though their federal legality remains arguable.)

"It's interesting when you look at our country's response to the opioid epidemic versus the COVID pandemic and access to tests," says Perez. "Why aren't we sending fentanyl test strips and naloxone to every household? Instead, this country tends to treat drugs as a moralistic issue and one to be addressed through criminalization."

But what about people who break drug laws?

"It's a hard issue," Jonathan P. Caulkins, drug policy researcher and professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College, tells Yahoo Life. He explains that much of the confusion and controversy in drug policy discussions comes from ideas of decriminalization  reducing criminal penalties  versus legalization, meaning suppliers would be given permission for above-board manufacturing that is tightly regulated and promoted, similar to how cannabis is now sold in some states.

"Should somebody who sells a hard drug be subject to any restrictions whatsoever? Or operate the same way grocery stores operate?" Caulkins asks, noting that general consensus is to not support full legalization of hard drugs. "The question is, What do you do with people who break that law? That's a hard issue."

He adds, regarding the recent arrests, "We're really, really good at being outraged. So on this issue of what to do with low-level sellers, we can be outraged that they get arrested  and say it damages so many lives.  But there are also people outraged with the idea that these guys who sold to Williams had already been convicted of violent crimes and drug distribution  with the claim that [Cartagena] was back on the street selling after 10 days [in 2020]."

In this case, those arrested are known as retailers  part of a multitiered distribution chain that, with cocaine, begins with peasants in Colombia and includes Mexican manufacturers and traffickers. They were not high up on the chain, Caulkins says, but "a gang of relatively high-volume sellers," selling to users.

But there is a "theoretical argument," with three possible outcomes, he says, about why the arrests might prove helpful.

One, if you "hassle drug sellers and make their lives miserable," the theory goes, it's possible to force prices up for the consumer, resulting in what operates like a tax, with fewer people using.

Two, he says, it can "induce those sellers to be surreptitious rather than flagrant" and points to a time, in New York City, when crack markets were "visible, flagrant, scary and brazen," and "bad for quality of life." This argument says that drug dealing happening quietly is way better, he says, "so sometimes you're doing that arresting to keep it from being brazen and flagrant."

And three, he says, though it hasn't worked yet with stopping the flow of fentanyl and its analogs, "sometimes you can say to dealers, 'If you behave in a certain way, we'll come down hard, but if you stick to normal dealing, there will be less hassle.' So 'if you're going to sell cocaine, we don't like it, but with fentanyl, it's really dangerous  because a cocaine user has not developed a tolerance,'" and that will result in harsher crackdowns  hopefully as a way to "get word out on the street."

Still, "it's all ugly. There are really no good options," Caulkins admits. "I just wish people would understand how hard it is for a government to deal with something that's prohibited."

Perez, for her part, adds this about Williams: "Sadly, nothing will bring him back. But there are things we can do to prevent other people from dying  and locking these four guys up is not going prevent it from happening to someone else."

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Spirit (SAVE) came out with a quarterly loss of $0.64 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.89. This compares to loss of $1.61 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 28.09%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this airline would post a loss of $0.95 per share when it actually produced a loss of $0.69, delivering a surprise of 27.37%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.

Spirit , which belongs to the Zacks Transportation - Airline industry, posted revenues of $987.56 million for the quarter ended December 2021, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.67%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $498.49 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Spirit shares have lost about 0.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's decline of -5.6%.

What's Next for Spirit?

While Spirit has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

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Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Spirit: mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is -$0.75 on $973.95 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $0.36 on $4.75 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Transportation - Airline is currently in the bottom 3% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Another stock from the same industry, Copa Holdings (CPA), has yet to report results for the quarter ended December 2021. The results are expected to be released on February 9.

This holding company for Panama's national airline is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.07 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +153.5%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

Copa Holdings' revenues are expected to be $545.37 million, up 243.8% from the year-ago quarter.



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Kiki Aranita and her business partner Chris Vacca poured their hearts into building a restaurant that did homage to the complex food Kiki enjoyed growing up in Hawaii.

Much like the culture of Hawaii itself, their restaurant Poi Dog Phillys fast-casual food was a hybrid, also influenced by Filipino, Japanese and Portuguese food customs. With traditional Hawaiian-style plate lunches and the signature dish of mochi nori fried chicken with furikake and togarashi-yuzu mayo, the restaurant became a beloved Philadelphia fixture, earning two Best of Philly awards in 2014 and 2017.

But like many restaurants, Poi Dog was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, closing for good in the summer of 2020. Aranita, who is a food journalist in addition to a chef, wrote movingly about the experience for Food and Wine.

Faced with the closure, Aranita scaled-up production of three signature sauces which are now sold across the country. The sauces, like the food at Poi Dog, draw from a mix of influences.

Aranita talked about the process of originating her sauces: the Lavender Ponzu is entirely my creation. I think a lot of people are familiar with how ponzu tastes, but they dont necessarily know how it tastes with a floral component like lavender. The chili peppah water is very well-established in Hawaii. The guava katsuthat was one of the first things we served in the food truck. The version that I make now, which tastes exactly the same, is vegan, she told the Counter.

She started Poi Dog with a food truck, later turning it into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. When circumstances changed and she had to transform her business model, Aranita kept what was meaningful about her brand, continuing to offer fans a taste of what made Poi Dog so appealing.

Ive always been of the philosophy that constraints give way to creativity, Aranita told The Counter. During this trying time for chefs, Aranita found a way to generate something deliciously new.

Shop for Poi Dog sauces here.

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Southwestern visitor numbers on the rise

The number of visitors to the southwestern region of Vietnam sharply increased on the Lunar New Year Tet holiday.



Many tourist sites in Kien Giang such as Phu Quoc, Ha Tien and Rach Gia attracted large numbers of travellers during Tet. Local 3-5 star hotels held many activities on Lunar New Years Eve, including traditional art performances.



On February 1-3, Phu Quoc City welcomed 60-62 flights per day.





Visitors in An Giang

Around a total of 98,000 tourists came to Kien Giang for the nine-day Tet holiday, including 5,582 foreigners. The provinces room coverage rate was roughly 56.3 percent.



Phu Quoc City alone lured 79,000 visitors during the time with a room occupancy rate of 71.3 percent.



Nguyen Chi Thanh, deputy director of Kien Giang Provinces Department of Tourism, the Covid-19 pandemic in the locality under control, which is among important factors to attract tourists.



During Tet, An Giang welcomed 316,000 tourists, up 58 percent on-year, bringing the locality a revenue of VND20 billion. Local tourist sites such as Sam Mountain, Cam Mountain, Tuc Dup Hill and Tra Su Mangrove Forest served the most visitors.



Dong Thap attracted 121,965 tourists from January 31 to February 6, up 49.3 percent on-year. Local destinations like Tram Chim National Park and Sa Nhien Flower Village became top choices.



Vo Tien Thanh, director of the provincial Department of Trade and Tourism Promotion Centre, said that the number of travellers to the province during Tet was higher than expected. Dong Thap would co-operate with travel firms in HCM City, Hanoi, Danang and many other localities on tourism promotion.
It's no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has led to more mental health issues, especially among youth.

Suicide was already the second-leading cause of death among Nebraskans ages 15-24, and the disruption caused by the pandemic has led to an increase in mental health issues and suicide attempts among even younger teens and children.

"We've seen rises in the number of children and teens presenting with suicide attempts, depression and anxiety," said Chanda Chacon, president and CEO of Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha.

Chacon said emergency room visits at Children's for mental health issues rose 27% in kids ages 5-11 and 31% in kids ages 12-17 from April 2019 to October 2020. And in the first half of 2021, instances of self harm rose 45% for kids ages 5-17.

She also said research has shown that the overall percentage of kids experiencing mental health issues has risen from about 20% before the pandemic to about 25% now.

"COVID-19 has really disrupted lives in a way that has taken an impact on their social and emotional and mental health," Chacon said.

The numbers certainly show the need for more intervention to help youths with mental health conditions, and a Nebraska group hopes its new app can provide that help, especially when it comes to preventing suicides among the state's young people.

The Nebraska State Suicide Prevention Coalition last week announced the release of a new app called My Companion, which is designed to help young people cope with mental health issues and prevent suicide.

My Companion has a variety of features divided into four primary tabs: reflections, connections, resources and emergency. Users will be able to log daily reflections, input contacts who could be reached in an emergency, access resources, submit anonymous tips and easily reach hotlines.

The application allows youth to communicate their feelings in a journal-like format and to create a support system and crisis system, including warning signs of suicide and access to emergency resources, said Dr. Dave Miers, founder of the Nebraska State Suicide Prevention Coalition and director of behavioral health services at Bryan Medical Center.

Work on My Companion actually began well before the pandemic, in July 2018. It was created by Lincoln-based Dont Panic Labs in collaboration with Boys Town National Hotline. The app was modeled after a similar app released in Utah under the name SafeUT.

According to the 2020 SafeUT annual report, more than 800,000 students accessed the app between August 2019 and May 2020, which resulted in more than 500 lifesaving interventions. The creators of My Companion said they hope to see similar success in Nebraska.

Suicide is preventable and there is hope, there is help and there are resources, Miers said. This app is a great way for youth to interact in a positive, healthy way and have this resource available if needed. Connectedness saves lives and this app will make a difference.

The My Companion app is available from both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.

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SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- Child bedlessness is a national problem, and it's something that Meredith Davies-Vogt, an East Middle School teacher, sees too often.

"I'll have a student who can't stay awake in class," she explained. "I'll ask why and the student will say, at home he sleeps with a blanket on the floor because he doesn't have a bed."

"It is heartbreaking because every child deserves to have a place to lay his head that is warm and soft and promotes a good night's sleep," Davies-Vogt added.

Looking for a solution, she started a Sioux City chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP), an organization dedicated to building and delivering beds to kids in need in Sioux City, South Sioux City, North Sioux City, Dakota City, Sergeant Bluff and Hinton, Iowa.

It is a local offshoot of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, which was founded by Luke and Heidi Mickelson, in Twin Falls, Idaho, in 2012. The organization garnered national attention after it was spotlighted in a segment of the web television series "Dirty Jobs" hosted by Mike Rowe.

Davies-Vogt and more than 100 volunteers worked to construct more than 100 beds during an all-day build day, Saturday at Crossroads Church, 920 West 21st. St., South Sioux City.

In addition to constructing and donating beds, the local SHP chapter also provides a mattress, linens, a pillow and a comforter.

"We had our first big build by building 56 beds right before Christmas (2021)," Davies-Vogt said. "Saturday's build will more than double that."

Luckily, SHP had a good group of volunteers that consisted of everybody from corporate executives to members of the Morningside University Mustangs female volleyball team.

But Davies-Vogt admitted there is still more demand for beds.

"A lot of people heard about Sleep in Heavenly Peace through Mike Rowe," she said. "Since that segment aired, the organization has become something of a movement."

"When more and more people realize that child bedlessness is a problem in Siouxland, I'm sure more people will help out," Davies-Vogt continued.

Indeed, it is a problem she sees frequently.

"There are always students with struggling families that teachers know about," Davies-Vogt said. "However, I'm sure there are kids who are possibly falling through the cracks."

This may be more problematic for families trying to make ends meet in an uncertain economy.

"There are times when providing a roof over your head is the only thing a mom and dad can do," Davies-Vogt noted. "Having said that, no kid should sleep on the floor in our town."

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SIOUX CITY -- Sioux City police have arrested a second man sought in an alleged robbery that ended with a person being stabbed with a sword.

Police served an arrest warrant on Bumatet Duop, 23, of Omaha, on Friday. Duop was booked into the Woodbury County Jail on one count of first-degree robbery. Court documents filed Monday charge him with first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, going armed with intent and intimidation with a dangerous weapon. His bond was set at $100,000.

He and Kuyien Kang are accused of entering a Sioux City apartment building on Jan. 17 and robbing a man at gunpoint before Kang was stabbed.

According to court documents, the apartment's occupant told police that he and a friend were in his apartment at 1716 Nebraska St. when a man he knew entered, followed by Kang and Duop. After Kang and Duop entered, the visitor left. Kang then pulled out a gun and said "this is a robbery" and hit one of the men in the head with the gun before Duop took $80 in cash from the man's pockets.

The other man in the apartment grabbed his sword and pointed it at Kang, who then fired at least one shot. The man stabbed Kang in the abdomen before Duop ripped it from the man's hands and fled with Kang, who collapsed outside his own apartment building in the 500 block of 17th Street. Footage from a surveillance camera showed Kang give the gun and an ammunition magazine to Duop, who left around the side of the building, court documents said.

Kang was found bleeding by a Sioux City police officer and transported to a hospital for treatment.

The man who stabbed Kang reported the robbery to police the following day.

Kang, 24, of Sioux City, was arrested on Jan. 24 and has been charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, going armed with intent, being a felon in possession of a firearm and intimidation with a dangerous weapon. He has yet to be arraigned.

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MILFORD, Iowa -- A woman shot last week in Milford has died, and the suspect now has been charged with murder.

Shelby Woizeschke, was shot at least twice in the parking lot at GrapeTree Medical Staffing, where she worked, in Milford shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday. She was flown to Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, where she had been placed in a medically induced coma while physicians tested brain activity and body functionality, according to a post on a CaringBridge website page set up for her.

She died Sunday at the hospital.

Dickinson County Attorney Amy Zenor on Monday filed an amended complaint against Christian Goyne-Yarns, upgrading his charge from attempted murder to first-degree murder. Goyne-Yarns, 25, of Jackson, Minnesota, is being held in the Dickinson County Jail on a $1 million bond.

According to court documents, Woizeschke called 911 after being shot and identified Goyne-Yarns as the person who shot her. He was arrested about an hour and a half after the shooting.

During interviews with law enforcement officers, Goyne-Yarns has not made any statement about a motive for the shooting, Darrell Simmons, special agent in charge at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said Monday.

Woizeschke, 24, of Spencer, Iowa, had two sons, ages 5 and 3, from a previous relationship with Goyne-Yarns. In a post on CaringBridge, she was described as "a very fun-loving, strong, kind woman" who family and friends said was the "best mother, sister, daughter, aunt, friend out there."

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ONAWA, Iowa -- An Onawa man was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for stealing copper from electrical substations in rural Monona County.

Craig Keller, 40, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft in Monona County District Court. He also pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and absence from custody in separate cases, and sentences in those two cases will be served at the same time as the theft sentence. Five counts of first-degree criminal mischief were dismissed.

The 15-year sentence will be added to a five-year prison sentence Keller was given in June on theft and drug charges. Keller was to have turned himself in to begin serving that sentence in August, but did not report to authorities.

Instead, on Aug. 21, Keller cut several feet of copper wiring and took it from Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative electrical substations. The damage was discovered when workers responding to power outages discovered that someone had broken into the substations and removed copper from grounding rods.

Monona County Sheriff's deputies later recovered items stolen from the substations and in other burglaries in Monona County at a Whiting, Iowa, home.

Whitney Reynek, 40, of Tekamah, Nebraska, was sentenced last month to three years' probation after pleading guilty to one count of trespassing for driving Keller to and from the substations. She was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to the power cooperative jointly with Keller.

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PRIMGHAR, Iowa -- A Sheldon, Iowa, woman has been placed on probation for allowing the continued abusive actions of her infant daughter's father that led to the death of the child.

Brittanee Baker, 22, pleaded guilty Wednesday in O'Brien County District Court to one count of child endangerment, a Class D felony. On Thursday, District Judge Nancy Whittenburg, following terms of a plea agreement, suspended a five-year prison sentence and placed Baker on two years' probation. Baker will be required to undergo substance abuse and mental health evaluations. A second count of child endangerment was dismissed.

Baker and the child's father, Lawrence Ruotolo Jr., were arrested in March.

Ruotolo was caring for the child on July 26, 2020, at the home he shared with Baker when the child began crying and Ruotolo was unable to quiet her. He lost his temper and pushed the girl's face into the floor and committed other abusive actions, court documents said. Baker took the child to the emergency room, where she was treated for abrasions and bruising on her forehead, ears and neck and released.

The following day, the child was again in Ruotolo's care when she was found with no pulse and was not breathing. She was taken to the emergency room and then airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital, where she died four days later. The death was caused by "a suffocation event of an indeterminate nature," court documents said.

Ruotolo Jr., 21, was sentenced in September to five years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of child endangerment.

Stacie Hurlburt, 50, of Sheldon, was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact for helping the parents concoct a story about how the child was injured. She is scheduled for trial in April.

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The UN Security Council votes on a draft resolution to allow a humanitarian exception in Afghanistan sanctions regime, at UN Headquarters in New York, on Dec. 22, 2021. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

-- "We need to consider in all seriousness how to take steps to improve the design and implementation of the council sanctions to minimize their adverse impact."

-- "There was a serious shortage of food and the conditions for medical care leave much to be desired (following sanctions imposed on the DPRK)."

-- "Unilateral sanctions, often in the glorified name of implementing council sanctions, have caused great disasters and chaos, not only putting the UN on the receiving end of the blame when it shouldn't be, but also undermining the authority and effectiveness of the council sanctions themselves."

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday urged the UN Security Council to adopt a prudent and responsible approach to sanctions while raising the issues of sanctions imposed on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and unilateral sanctions.

"It has been China's consistent position that while all UN member states have the obligation to implement in good faith the sanctions authorized by the council, the council should take a prudent and responsible approach to sanctions," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council debate on "general issues relating to sanctions: preventing their humanitarian and unintended consequences."

"For over 20 years, there has been a trend of expansion of the council sanctions regime, whose adverse humanitarian - and livelihood - related impact cannot be brushed aside and has increasingly caused disruptions to the normalcy of economic and social activities of the general public and third countries," said the envoy.

"We need to consider in all seriousness how to take steps to improve the design and implementation of the council sanctions to minimize their adverse impact," added Zhang.

According to the ambassador, sanctions are meant to create enabling conditions for a political solution. "They are not a substitute for diplomatic efforts. The council should keep in check the impulse to resort too readily to sanctions or the threat of sanctions, and should give precedence to non-compulsory measures such as good offices, mediation and negotiation."

On sanctions mechanisms, the envoy said that it is important to design sanctions mechanisms that dovetail precisely with the core issues at hand and the desired objectives.

"The intensity and the scope of compulsory measures should be carefully calibrated with clearly and unequivocally articulated provisions to minimize collateral damage. Humanitarian assistance should not be construed as a violation of Security Council sanctions," he said.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Somalia at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 25, 2021. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

Zhang stressed that member states must faithfully implement the council sanctions. "Neither should they subtract a value from the formula by cutting corners, nor should they add a value to the formula by giving themselves too much license in interpretation and over-compliance."

"The Security Council should closely monitor and comprehensively assess the humanitarian, economic and social impact of sanctions," said the ambassador, adding that "transparent, standardized and actionable exemption provisions should be established."

Zhang pointed out that as a basic principle, Security Council sanctions "should not be open-ended," noting that "a sunset clause" should be introduced into all new sanctions mechanisms going forward.

Referring to the council's sanctions committees, the ambassador underscored that the committees "must be selected against the highest professional standards consistently and in line with the principles of diversity and equitable geographical distribution."

From 2000 to 2016, the Security Council had an Informal Working Group on General Issues of Sanctions, which "did useful work" to help fine tune and improve the council sanctions. Zhang said that China proposes that the Security Council "re-establish a working group on general issues of sanctions tasked with a comprehensive review of the adverse humanitarian and other impacts of Council sanctions and issue specific recommendations for improvement."

Photo provided by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Oct. 12, 2021 shows a defense development exhibition held to mark the 76th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Oct. 11, 2021. (KCNA via Xinhua)

Talking about the sanctions imposed on the DPRK, Zhang said that "Resolution 2397 has brought about serious humanitarian consequences since its adoption," noting that the import of humanitarian livelihood goods such as agricultural machinery, medical equipment and water purification pipes has been severely restricted.

"There was a serious shortage of food and the conditions for medical care leave much to be desired. The experts of the 1718 committee have reported on these issues on many occasions," he added.

The ambassador said that China and Russia co-sponsored a draft resolution on the DPRK in the Security Council last October, aiming to eliminate the humanitarian and livelihood impact of sanctions and create enabling conditions for resuming dialogue and consultation and supporting political solution.

"Regrettably, however, a scant few council members chose to refuse to discuss this draft resolution. China once again calls on those members not to evade the issue, and to participate in the consultations on the draft resolution in a responsible and positive manner," said the envoy.

Turning to unilateral sanctions, Zhang said that "we should be all the more cognizant of the harm of unilateral sanctions imposed by certain countries," adding that "unilateral sanctions, often in the glorified name of implementing council sanctions, have caused great disasters and chaos, not only putting the UN on the receiving end of the blame when it shouldn't be, but also undermining the authority and effectiveness of the council sanctions themselves."

Hundreds of people participate in a rally against the six-decade U.S. embargo in Havana, Cuba, Aug. 5, 2021. (Photo by Joaquin Hernandez/Xinhua)

The ambassador stressed that unilateral sanctions are extremely harmful, but it is a matter of concern that a few countries have not only failed to rein in their unilateral sanctions. "On the contrary, they have been flinging them about left, right and center, in a frenzy so much so that they seem to be addicted to them."

"We have seen that unilateral sanctions imposed in the various names have thrown a spanner in the works of economic and social development and scientific and technological progress of the targeted countries, created an aggravated humanitarian crisis, violated the basic rights of civilians, including women, children, and caused great damage to the harmony and stability of international relations," he said.

Zhang further pointed out that unilateral sanctions have even affected the payment of UN assessed contributions and the participation of targeted countries in the work of the UN.

"We hereby solemnly urge the countries concerned to immediately cease and desist from unilateral sanctions, and to stem the severe consequences of unilateral sanctions. We call on the international community to join hands to come together to resist such unlawful acts," he said. 
As many states see declines in their daily Covid-19 case numbers and hospitalization rates, some have moved forward with plans to lift a significant mitigation measure: mask mandates in schools.

The moves go against guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the agency has remained mum about the states' decisions, simply telling CNN on Monday that it still recommends universal masking for all in schools.

New Yorks governor and health officials are deciding whether to end or extend two COVID-19 mask mandates, one requiring face coverings in schools, the other mandating them in most other public indoor settings, like grocery stores, shops and offices.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, plans to announce Wednesday which rules will stay in place as the state emerges from a deadly wave of cases, fueled by the omicron variant.

And, a bipartisan majority in the Virginia Senate voted Tuesday to advance legislation that would ban public school systems from imposing mask requirements on students.

The move comes as Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's efforts to end mask mandates by executive order are bogged down in legal challenges.

When New York Citys COVID-19 rates spiked last December due to the emerging omicron variant, humans weren't the only mammals affected.

The highly infectious variant also hit the white-tailed deer population on Staten Island, the most suburban of the city's five boroughs, according to a study led by Penn State University scientists.

Across the U.S., the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 has tumbled more than 28% over the past three weeks to about 105,000 on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the ebbing of the omicron surge has left in its wake postponed surgeries, exhausted staff members and uncertainty over whether this is the last big wave or whether another one lies ahead.

Though the Omicron coronavirus variant may have a reputation for causing a much milder form of Covid-19, in January, Dr. Ashley Keilman and other doctors started noticing something that seemed unique to this variant.

"We were seeing more patients with croup, and more patients were testing positive for Covid, which was something that we had not observed during earlier phases of previous surges with Covid," said Keilman, a specialist in pediatric emergency medicine at Seattle Children's Hospital.
SANAA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-led coalition launched four airstrikes on a military camp controlled by the Houthi militia in the western part of the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday at noon, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The airstrikes hit the al-Hafa camp at the foot of Noqum mountain, which overlooks the whole city, the television said without providing further details.

The Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi militia has recently intensified cross-border ballistic missile attacks against the cities of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a key member of the Saudi-led Arab coalition backing the Yemeni army.

Last month, the Houthi militia launched three attacks on the UAE, killing three people and hitting an oil facility in the capital Abu Dhabi. 
Much of Southeast Nebraska and parts of Kansas and Iowa are under a "red flag warning," issued by the National Weather Service to alert people to the extreme risk for potentially dangerous fire spread.

The warning -- which stretches beyond Nebraska's southern border and north of the Platte River -- indicates any open flame could lead to rapid fire spread thanks to high winds, low humidity and dry fuels, according to the Weather Service in Valley.

James Davidsaver, director of Lincoln-Lancaster County Emergency Management, said fire departments wouldn't issue burn permits Tuesday and that any open flame outdoors could have dangerous consequences.

The warning will remain in place until at least 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to the weather service. The region is also under a wind advisory.

Both Davidsaver and the National Weather Service encouraged residents to avoid any activities that could ignite fires.

"It's never a good idea to toss a lit cigarette out a car window," Davidsaver said, but it's an especially bad idea under a red flag warning.

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It appears the GOP has moved closer to securing the states first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses status in 2024, although Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann isnt taking that leadoff position for granted.

After a weekend meeting of the Republican National Committee, Kauffmann is encouraged because the RNC panel he leads unanimously backed a report that would secure Iowas first-in-the-nation caucuses in 2024.

Our very, very critical first step couldnt have turned out better, said Kaufmann, who chairs the RNCs Presidential Nominating Process Committee.

After reviewing options, the panels final report recommended no change for 2024, the next president election year.

That, de facto, would leave Iowa as first-in-the-nation, Kaufmann said.

The report will be presented to the Republican National Committee this summer. Kaufmann said hes hopeful GOP leaders from other states will ratify the plan to have Iowa caucuses first, followed by New Hampshires primary and contests in Nevada and South Carolina.

The Democratic National Committee has not changed its 2024 calendar, which is the same as Republicans. However, members of the DNC have for several years expressed concerns that Iowa is not representative of the party or the country because it is older, whiter and more rural than the party at-large.

Kaufmann expressed confidence that Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn will work to protect the partys first-in-the-nation status.

After a recent DNC meeting. Wilburn said he will continue to fight for Iowa to remain first.

I also understand that the DNC has their own process that must be followed," Wilburn said. "As chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, Im committed to working with the DNC and my fellow early state leaders in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada to ensure future successful Iowa Democratic caucuses.

In making the case for Iowa to go first, Kaufmann said its important to start in a small state and that the Midwest has a voice in the nomination process.

If you bring Nevada and South Carolina and New Hampshire and Iowa together, we check all the boxes whether its geographic diversity, philosophical diversity, ethnic diversity. If we want to ensure that anyone can be president, the carve-out process and the Iowa caucuses must be protected, he said.

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When the Union was fighting to preserve itself in the Civil War, the France of Napoleon III moved troops into Mexico, overthrew the regime of Benito Juarez, set up a monarchy and put Austrian Archduke Maximilian von Habsburg on the throne as Emperor of Mexico -- one month before Gettysburg.

Preoccupied, the Union did nothing.

At war's end, in 1865, however, at the urging of Gens. Ulysses S. Grant and William Sherman, the Union sent 40,000 troops to the Mexican border.

Secretary of State William Seward dispatched Gen. John Schofield to Paris with the following instructions: "I want you to get your legs under Napoleon's mahogany and tell him he must get out of Mexico."

The U.S. troops on Mexico's border convinced Napoleon to comply, though Maximilian bravely refused to leave and was captured and put before a firing squad.

The point of the episode for today's crisis in Ukraine?

A powerful army on a nation's border can send a message and dictate terms without going in and without going to war.

Whether Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to send his 100,000 troops now on the Crimean, Donbass and Belarusian borders of Ukraine into the country to occupy more territory we do not know.

But the message being sent by the Russian army is clear: Putin wants his own Monroe Doctrine. Putin wants Ukraine outside of NATO, and permanently.

If his demands are unacceptable, Putin is saying with his troops on the border, we reserve the right to send our army into Ukraine to protect our vital national interests in not having a hostile military alliance on our doorstep.

U.S. officials have been describing a Russian invasion as "imminent," an attack that could come "any day now."

Given the Russian preparations and size of its forces, some U.S. officials said last week Kyiv could fall within hours of an attack and there could be 50,000 civilian casualties and 5 million Ukrainian refugees.

Ukrainian leaders are less alarmist, arguing that an invasion is not imminent and there is still room for a negotiated settlement.

Russian officials are contemptuous of U.S. claims that they are about to invade. Last weekend, Russia's deputy ambassador to the UN tweeted, "Madness and scaremongering continues. ... What if we would say that US could seize London in a week and cause 300k civilian deaths?"

Should Russia invade, and go beyond what President Joe Biden earlier called a "minor incursion," the event could be history-changing.

A major invasion would trigger automatic and severe sanctions on Russia, crippling European economies on both sides of the conflict and forcing Putin to take his country more fully into a Eurasian alliance with China. Yet, ultimately, it is China, not the U.S., and not NATO, that is the long-term threat to Russia.

Neither we nor Europe have any claims on Russian territory.

But China, with an economy 10 times the size of Russia's, and a population 10 times as large, has historic claims on what are now Russian lands north of the Amur and Ussuri rivers. Russians living in Siberia and the Far East are far outnumbered by scores of millions of Chinese just south of the border. These Russian lands are rich in the resources China covets. The two nations came close to war over these borderlands in the late 1960s.

To return to the analogy of the U.S. waiting for the right moment to force France out of Mexico, China and Russia both now appear stronger, more united, more assertive and more anti-U.S. than either was at the turn of the century.

Russia is now demanding to have its borderlands -- ex-Warsaw Pact nations and ex-Soviet republics -- free of NATO installations and troops.

Half a dozen ex-Warsaw Pact countries and three USSR republics -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- are members of NATO.

China, with an economy and military far larger than at the turn of the century, is also becoming more assertive about its land claims. These include claims against India in the Himalayas, against half a dozen nations on the South China Sea, including our Philippines ally, against Taiwan, and claims to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands.

The combined strength and reach of Russia and China are growing, while the U.S., post-Afghanistan, is facing challenges to its resources that it seems increasingly strained to meet.

Russia has marshaled an army estimated at between 127,000 and 175,000 troops in a few months, just across the border from Ukraine, while the U.S. this weekend sent 3,000 troops to Rumania, Germany and Poland.

Where is the deterrent here?

Again, Putin's demands that ex-Warsaw Pact countries and Soviet republics be kept free of NATO installations, and that the enlargement of NATO end, if agreed to, would leave Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus permanently outside.

But if Moscow is going to push to remove NATO forces from its borderlands, this means an endless series of diplomatic-military clashes or a U.S. recognition of a Russian sphere of influence where NATO does not go.

In short, a Putin Monroe Doctrine.

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Jen Psaki, whose job it is to reassure the press and the public that the main character in the White House has everything under control, has become a bit of a main character herself. Shes been showing up on podcasts and answering How I Get It Done questions in the Cut amid the fallout from her Dec. 6 comment dismissing the idea of mailing Americans free COVID rapid tests. Its certainly a contrast to the early-days post-Trump heroism ascribed to her by fans who circulated clips of her fending off hostile questioners with hashtags like #PsakiBomb, celebrating how she destroyed a reporter from Fox News. Either way you look at it, Psaki has played a starring role in the administration, exceeding even the vice presidents. Even if its clear this hasnt exactly been by design, its less clear whether theres anything Psaki can do about it.

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Its no secret that President Joe Biden sought to reestablish a White House characterized by a distinctly un-Trumpian lack of drama, or that he has succeeded so completely on this front that his own attempts at messaging go mostly unheard. His hopes for his press secretary seem to have been similar. The spokesperson is not and shouldnt be the story because if you are its usually for bad reasons as weve seen, said Jay Carney, one of Obamas press secretaries, of Psakis appointment. She definitely represents a return to an era that was bipartisan where the spokesperson was somebody who could credibly speak on behalf of the president, the White House and the administration and the country.

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In the way she conducts herself in the job, Psaki fits that profile, but its not obvious that such a return is possible. Press secretaries famously became the story early and often during Donald Trumps presidency. Sean Spicer never even tried to establish himself as a plausibly neutral presence. His very first press briefing, a jeremiad against the press for how it covered the crowd size of Trumps inauguration, made headlines for its obvious and desperatebut frighteningly watchable!distortions. Sarah Huckabee Sanders began her tenure by presenting herself as the first mother to serve as White House press secretarycrediting Trump for that innovationand, despite her very real command of the room and comparatively positive relationship with the press corps, set a tone of peculiar but dogged servility to the president. She even started one press briefing by reading aloud a letter from a child praising Trump. These and Kayleigh McEnanys briefings were emphatically performances; there was an overtly theatrical dimension to them and to the various ways they reflected their employer. (I except Stephanie Grisham here, who has the peculiar distinction of conducting no briefings whatsoever during her stint as press secretary.)

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Once the press room became a stage, it became hard to think of it as otherwise. The Trump era, coupled with how easy partisan social media has made it to package and propagate clips of confrontations between press secretaries and journalists, transformed both the role and the publics understanding of it. It is both instructive and sobering to look back at press secretaries who at the time of their tenures were characterized as pugilistic. Obama-era figures like Robert Gibbs and Jay Carney were sometimes described as combative, but clips of their encounters are striking for how poorly they match the pace and tenor of present-day confrontations. Their answers, even to hostile questions, are far too long and detailed to go viral in the way social media algorithms have taught us to recognize. Compared with the style established by Spicer, the aggression seems positively repressed. (This is not necessarily an apt description of the Obama administrations orientation toward the press as a wholewhich was indeed rather hostile, and which Jen Psaki herself has said she did not want to replicate. Its more a reflection of how the prominence of the role has transformed.)

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This is all to say that Psaki is, in many ways, a return to the older style of press secretary. Her answers are usually longmuch longer than Sanders, certainlyand detailed. She does not punish or ignore certain outlets; she calls on everyone. Her interviews are anodyne and factual. This is not the kind of person youd expect to be out there generating #PsakiBombs. Her affect is for the most part amiable, matter-of-fact, and restrained.

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What Ive come to realize is that restraint may be precisely why she became a sensation. The comparative lack of performativity, the emphasis on competence and completeness and even a certain blandness, was incredibly welcome to many Americans exhausted by Trumpian invective. But many observers didnt just want a return to normalcythey wanted a more full-throated rejection of the recent past. This created an environment where Psakis occasional sarcasmshe does have a dry wit and uses it wellwas received with enthusiasm that was disproportionate to the intensity of the encounter described. Its pretty rich, isnt it? she said recently while highlighting the irony of Republican politicians complaining about not getting enough from the infrastructure bill they voted against. But PSAKI DESTROYS TED CRUZ!to take another example of an incident hailed as a #PsakiBombdoesnt perfectly reflect what happened when Psaki was recently asked about right-wing objections to Biden considering Black female candidates for the Supreme Court. She simply read Cruzs remarks praising Trump for nominating Amy Coney Barrett, a white woman, and noted the hypocrisy. It was an able and not particularly dramatic parry (augmented by a somewhat more pointed I am blissfully not a spokesperson for Sen. Cruz) that got narrated as an annihilation. That doesnt reflect Psaki so much as it does the acrid environment in which news items get packaged.

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Naturally, being held to such a pedestal, let alone podium, means theres a height to fall from, so its no surprise that Psakis mistakesof course she was going to make somehave received similarly massive, and personalized, attention. When a reporter asked Psaki back in December why more tests werent being made available to the public by the government, her sarcastic reply, Should we just send one to every American? was tonally jarring and obviously wrong on the meritsthe government would start sending free tests in January. That comment became a true mini-scandal. But her response two weeks later, when asked whether she had reflected on her tone that day, was interesting:

I would say theres not a day that goes by that I dont leave this podium and wish I wouldve said something with greater context or more precision or additional information. And that day there was a lot of good questioning on testing, and during that briefing I conveyed a lot of information about our expansion of testing, about the 50 million tests that we were making available, about the 20,000 free testing sites, and should I have included that additional context again in that answer? Yes, going back, I wish I would have done that. To be clear, so people have accurate information about how it works out there, which I know is your objective as well as mine, were making tests free and accessible without the risk of them going to waste in the home of people who do not want them.

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From a purely argumentative perspective, this is brilliant stuff. It restates what the Biden administration did do, frames as slightly absurd the expectation that she should have to include all that in an answer that was always going to get reduced to a sound bite, expresses regret (perhaps a little sardonically), and slyly enfolds into the charitable suggestion that her interlocutor is equally interested in accuracy the reason she felt mailing tests to everyone was inadvisable: Some people would not want them. Its very well done! Its also far too long to reach virality. And it doesnt fit into the dunking ecosystem.

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But its symptomatic of how the Psaki era is being processed in public: The sound bites, those praising her and those attacking her, dont tell the whole story. When she recently characterized a Fox News segment on crime as part of an alternate universe that distorts Bidens record, right-wing outlets seized on the comment. Her responseon Twitteris almost hilariously un-Twittery. It includes a clipping of her full remarks, which are so extensive I suspect many or most Twitter users wont bother to read them.

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Psaki is justly hailed by many, including Chris Wallace, as one of the best White House press secretaries in recent memory. That is also, it must be said, mixed praise: Being White House press secretary is not a neutral undertaking. It necessitates obscuring things from the public and cultivating a positive relationship with the press in order to curry favorable coverage (Sarah Huckabee Sanders was remarkably good at this part of the job).

Even Psakis Twitter gaffes are comparatively mild. On Jan. 16, a harmless tweet of hers in which she said, Growing up in the northeast I will never understand the closing of stores and restaurants when there is barely an inch of snow on the ground yet, got enormous pushback that reflects, among other things, the extent to which her popularity may roughly correspond to Bidens approval rating. Its a notable tweet, too, for being unusually personal: Psaki presents as a Cincinnati Bengals fan but is otherwise remarkably professional in her self-presentationby which I mean impersonal and aggressively un-idiosyncratic.

A canvas that blank means that any flash of individualism stands out, for better and for worse. Any shade, any sarcasm, any hint of personality leads either to accolades for annihilating political opponents or attacks for the same. Its an interesting conundrum. To the extent that Biden and Psakis comparatively staid management of the national stage counters Steve Bannons flood the zone with shit media strategy, they have suffered: A fart stands out more when it isnt surrounded by sewage.
On Monday afternoon, the Supreme Court crushed yet another key component of the Voting Rights Act, halting a lower court order that required Alabama to redraw its egregious racial gerrymander. The courts intervention in Merrill v. Milligan was so radically unjustified that Chief Justice John Robertsan architect of the judicial attack on voting rightsdissented, alongside the three liberals. The courts order indicates that the five ultraconservative justices are preparing to dismantle the VRAs guarantee against gerrymanders that dilute the voting strength of Black Americans. Indeed, by interceding so aggressively in Merrill, these far-right justices have effectively nullified this guarantee for the current redistricting cycle.

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Over the last decade, the Supreme Court has bulldozed several key provisions of the VRA. But until now, it had not yet repealed the laws protections against the dilution of votes cast by racial minorities. This shield, contained in Section 2 and clarified by 1986s Thornburg v. Gingles, requires a three-judge district court to determine whether a redistricting plan carves up minority communities to prevent them from electing the candidate of their choice. Although the Gingles test can be difficult to apply, the relevant factors here are straightforward: Due to racially polarized voting in the state, Black Alabamians cannot elect their preferred representatives unless they constitute a majority of their district.

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This map is a classic racial gerrymander designed to diminish the political power of racial minorities.

Alabama Republicans understand this fact, and it is why their new congressional map ruthlessly dilutes Black votes. The plan packs a huge number of Black voters into a single, sprawling district that stretches from Birmingham to Montgomery, including as many nonwhite residents as possible. The few remaining voters of color are distributed through six majority-white districts, where they stand no chance of electing their favored candidate. As a result, while Black Americans make up 27 percent of the states population, they control just 14 percent of its congressional delegation.

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This map, in other words, is a classic racial gerrymander designed to diminish the political power of racial minorities. Black residents challenged its legality, and after a thorough trial, a three-judge district court agreed that it violates Section 2 of the VRA in a meticulous 225-page opinion. (Two of the three judges were appointed by President Donald Trump, which illustrates just how lawless and brazen the redistricting plan was.) The court found that Alabama had willfully refused to create a second majority-Black district, instead slicing up minority communities to boost the voting power of white residents. And it ordered the state to redraw its map with another majority-Black district in compliance with the VRA. Predictably, Alabama Republicans appealed to the Supreme Court, asking it to eviscerate Section 2s safeguards against racial gerrymandering.

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Republicans claims were so weak that Roberts, who engineered the decadeslong crusade against the VRA, could not bring himself to humor them. But on a 63 court, the chief justices vote doesnt matter. The five justices to Roberts right halted the district court order demanding new maps and took up the case on the merits. Its unclear whether the court will hear Merrill v. Milligan this term or next, but either way, it wont matter for the 2022 election. The primary is in May, so the courts stay effectively locks in the current maps for the upcoming election. The move is a quintessential shadow docket decision, producing substantive (and disastrous) consequences without an opinion from the court. It sends a message to lower courts and state legislatures that Section 2s bar on racial gerrymandering has been suspended definitely, declaring open season on racial minorities voting power.

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Roberts short dissent commended the lower court for having properly applied existing law in an extensive opinion with no apparent errors for our correction. This praise is remarkable in light of the chief justices long-standing contempt for that existing law. Yet even he acknowledged that the lower court had applied it flawlessly and saw no basis to step in, despite his broader misgivings about the uncertainties arising under Gingles.

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Justice Elena Kagans dissent, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, was significantly fiercer. Todays decision is one more in a disconcertingly long line of cases in which this court uses its shadow docket to signal or make changes in the law, without anything approaching full briefing and argument, she wrote. Here, the district court applied established legal principles to an extensive evidentiary record. Its reasoning was carefulindeed, exhaustiveand justified in every respect. Yet the five ultraconservative justices froze that decision based on the untested and unexplained view that the law needs to change. This intervention, Kagan continued,

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does a disservice to our own appellate processes, which serve both to constrain and legitimate the courts authority. It does a disservice to the District Court, which meticulously applied this Courts longstanding voting-rights precedent. And most of all, it does a disservice to Black Alabamians who under that precedent have had their electoral power diminishedin violation of a law this Court once knew to buttress all of American democracy.

In a characteristically petulant concurrence, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Sam Alito, complained that Kagans catchy but worn-out rhetoric about the shadow docket  was off target. Kavanaugh insisted that the courts order was necessitated by the Purcell principle, which counsels federal courts against altering voting rules on the eve of an election. As Kagan pointed out, Alabamas primary isnt until May, and its general election is about nine months awayhardly the kind of last-minute changes Purcell prohibits. Yet Kavanaugh inexplicably described Alabamas election as close at hand. His version of Purcell would effectively immunize gerrymanders from judicial review, since another election is never that far off.

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Kavanaugh also asserted that plaintiffs did not have a clearcut case against the state, counseling in favor of a stay. It fell on Kagan to point out that Kavanaugh had the law exactly backward: Alabama had the especially heavy burden of proving that it was likely to succeed on the merits before obtaining the extraordinary remedy of a stay. Kavanaugh shifted the burden onto the plaintiffs to demonstrate a clearcut victory, rigging the courts rules to ensure that Alabama would win.

Racial gerrymandering cases dont get more clearcut than Merrill v. Milligan, and when Roberts sides with the liberals in a VRA case, you know its an easy one. Yet five justices saw fit to break their courts rules to deprive Black voters of a hard-fought, richly deserved victory. In doing so, they effectively insulated racial gerrymanders in other states, including South Carolina and Louisiana, from invalidation. And, by extension, they handed Republicans more whitewashed seats in the House of Representatives. The courts order is not merely partisan. It is a lawless assault on the one remaining provision of the VRA protecting Black Americans in red states from political oblivion.
Facebooks parent company Meta has threatened to pull some of its biggest services out of Europe due to a data-sharing dispute. In an annual report that it submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Meta noted that it will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe if its platforms are unable to transfer data from the region back to the U.S. On Monday, however, Meta seemed to waver on this ultimatum, with a spokesperson telling Bloomberg, We have absolutely no desire and no plans to withdraw from Europe, but the simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organizations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the U.S. in order to operate global services. As Business Insider put it: Meta appears to be heading for another stand-off with the European Union.

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At the heart of Metas gripes are ongoing negotiations between the European Union and the U.S. to instate a new transatlantic data transfer pact. The previous pact, known as the Privacy Shield, was invalidated by the EU Court of Justice in 2020 over concerns that it did not protect European citizens from U.S. government surveillance when it came to personal data stored on U.S. shores. In particular, the court was concerned that U.S. agencies are able to retrieve large swaths of personal data collected by U.S. companies, and that European citizens do not have an effective way to seek redress if their information is inappropriately accessed. Irelands Data Protection Commission also initiated an investigation into Metas data transfers from the EU to the U.S. a couple months later. Meta already noted that it would be unable to operate in Europe in its last annual report to the SEC, though it did not specify that Facebook and Instagram were on the chopping block at the time. The company has interestingly not threatened to shut down WhatsApp on the continent, where the service is extremely popular.

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According to Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna of the Future of Privacy Forum, a think tank and advocacy group that includes Meta among its corporate supporters, the absence of a new pact leaves thousands of companies in hazy legal territory, and the U.S. Congress doesnt seem particularly motivated to address the EUs concerns. In this environment, companies face a lot of legal uncertainty and a lot of regulatory risk, because data protection authorities in Europe can assess on a case-by-case basis international transfers of data from the EU to the U.S. she said. There doesnt seem to be an appetite for legislation in the U.S. Meta is basically trying to get regulators to hurry up. Nick Clegg, the companys vice president of global affairs, wrote in a 2020 blogpost, Businesses need clear, global rules, underpinned by the strong rule of law, to protect transatlantic data flows over the long term.

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While this situation may pose some risks for Meta, the notion that it would actually shut down Facebook and Instagram in Europe is likely overblown. Indeed, European leaders are already calling its bluff. After being hacked Ive lived without Facebook and Twitter for four years and life has been fantastic, Germanys economy minister Robert Habeck told reporters during a press conference on Monday. I can confirm that life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook, said Frances finance minister Bruno Le Maire during the same conference. The European Commission also told Bloomberg that the negotiations will take time due to their complexity.

My assessment of chances are zero that they will pull out, said Marietje Schaake, an international policy director at the Stanford University Cyber Policy Center who formerly served as a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands. The European market is simply too significant for them, unlike Australia for example. Europeans make up about 15 percent of Metas user base, though these fairly high-income consumers account for roughly a quarter of the companys revenue. Meta did in fact temporarily prevent users in Australia from sharing news articles on Facebook in 2021 after the country proposed a law to force platforms to pay for content they hosted from publishers. Meta eased up once the Australian government promised that the company could instead negotiate directly with publishers. Australia accounts for about half a percent of Facebook users worldwide.

Meta has tried to throw its weight around in a number of other countries and regions as well. In July, the company reportedly joined Twitter and Google in warning that they would stop offering services in Hong Kong if local authorities put them on the hook for doxing that occurred on their platforms. The trio of companies also warned that they would leave Pakistan in 2020 over policies granting the countrys telecommunication authority to remove content that promotes disaffection toward the government. The government said it would review the policies after the corporate backlash.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Twitter is an ok place to be a little annoyed, right? asked historian of slavery Elise A. Mitchell in January. She then reported in a thread that Grammarly, the freemium writing-assistant app very familiar to consumers of YouTube videos, had started to suggest changes in language around slavery. If a person were to type the word slave, Grammarly would now suggest the replacement enslaved person. The phrases fugitive slave and runaway slave now triggered the suggested replacement freedom seeker. If you were to write slaveowner or master (in places where the context indicates youre talking about slavery), the app would suggest enslaver instead. The use of master or slave in nonslavery contexts (as sometimes occurs in engineering, or when describing that one big, fancy bedroom in a house) provokes a suggestion to consider an alternate. Im wary (and weary) of who gets to be an authority over the language we use to talk about our past, Mitchell wrote.

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These suggestions appeared in the app as of Jan. 18, Grammarly spokesperson Senka Hadzimuratovic confirmed to me in an email. Asked how Grammarly decided to add suggestions about slavery, Hadzimuratovic wrote: We prioritized these particular suggestions based on a combination of the curiosity of our users for these topics as ascertained through user research, the prevalence of the language in question in writing, and the potential hurt the language can cause. (Hadzimuratovic added that the company included subject matter experts on race and ethnicity in its research process; I asked to speak to one, and she declined, citing nondisclosure agreements signed when the experts agreed to work with the company.)

Hadzimuratovic also sent me a list of 11 resources the company had used when researching these changes: guides produced by organizations like the Underground Railroad Education Center, the Southern Poverty Law Centers Teaching Tolerance project, and the NAACP. The suggestions Grammarly provided are, so to speak, in the airyou can find support for every one of them in these resources. So why did the many historians of slavery who replied to Mitchells thread agree that the company had misstepped?

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This is what happens when experts in a complicated subject matter see their work translated into normative prescriptions. First, on freedom seeker. As Mitchell pointed out in her tweets, Not everyone who fled was seeking freedom,  and running away is not the only way to seek freedom.  There is a growing body of academic work on how some enslaved people in the United States who could not run away altogether for whatever reason stayed and sought freedom in other ways: negotiation, temporary absences, smaller (and less permanent and risky) acts of resistance. (Historian Daina Ramey Berry wrote about enslaved peoples negotiations around freedom here, in an essay referring to, and synthesizing, some of this work.)

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Enslaver as a substitute for slave owner doesnt quite work, either. Sometimes enslavers didnt themselves own people. Scholar Nicholas Rinehart wrote a piece about slavery and language for the online journal Commonplace, which he linked in a reply to Mitchell. In it, he has a list of the different roles that could fall into the bucket enslaver:

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Merchants who purchased and sold slaves; ship captains and crew who held them captive; auctioneers who ran slave markets; slave traders who acted on behalf of wealthy planters; overseers on plantations throughout the Americas; managers who ran plantations for absentee estate holders; banks and firms that financed those plantations; institutions and other corporate bodies that owned slaves; and more.

With so many specific roles falling into the enslaver category, an automatic correction in this languagewhether executed by habit or by softwaremight make everything about the history youre describing less precise. And since one of the major lessons historians of slavery try to emphasize is that the institution could be found woven into every part of the economy and society, the loss of specificity could be significant.

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Additional issues arise when you consider the word enslaver in a global context. In replies to Mitchells thread, historians specializing in slavery in Africa, indigenous North America, and South America added that enslavers and slave owners were two different groups in these contexts. People were enslaved so that they could be sold, not owned in Africa during the time of the slave trade, tweeted Rebecca Shumway. To conflate [enslavers and slaveowners] would make the history unintelligible. That distinction is critical to understanding indigenous North American forms of slavery, too, added Brett Rushforth. One cant understand the Jesuits in Brazil without it, Andrew Dial said.

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The substitution of the construction enslaved person for slave is the language change in this set thats probably the most widely practiced, and most natural to a lot of people, me included. As a group of scholars explains in a crowdsourced Google document titled Writing About Slavery? This Might Help, the choice of enslaved person separates the condition of being enslaved with the status of being a slave. Since I made the switch in my own writing and speech, I have not been able to encounter the word slave without feeling a small jolt of wrong-ness. But the consensus on that one is not total, either. When my former colleague Jamelle Bouie and I put together our History of American Slavery podcast back in 2015, our former colleague Katy Waldman wrote about the question of enslaved person vs. slave in a piece for the website. Historian Eric Foner, answering her question, explained why he had not discarded the word slave:

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I do not think that slave suggests that this is the essence of a persons being.  It is a condition in which people find themselves and that severely limits their opportunities and options, but it does not mean, as some claim, that the word means they are nothing but slaves. Slaves are human beings and can be husbands, wives (in fact if not in law), fathers and mothers, members of religious groups, skilled craftsmen.  All people have multiple identities, including slaves.

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In his article about slavery and language, Rinehart argues that this substitution doesnt always do what we think it does. The idea of moving to enslaved person is to reverse the process by which the institution of slavery supposedly, as Rinehart terms it, reduced persons to nonpersons. But this references a historical process that is, in scholarly terms, contested. In places outside of the United States, where other laws prevailed, enslavement did not necessarily render someone a legal nonperson; even in the United States, scholars have begun to identify instances in which enslaved people did assert legal personhood. Whats more, the assumption that slaves were seen as nonpersons, some have argued, lets the people who perpetrated slavery off the hook by allowing them the fiction of historical ignorance. Rather than seeking to extinguish the humanity of its victims, slavery invests in, and relies upon, their human capacity for suffering, Rinehart wrote. The cruelty, in other words, was the point.

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I called Rinehart, who is currently a postdoc in the department of English and creative writing at Dartmouth, after the conversation about Grammarly unfolded online and asked him how he explained all of these fine points of language to studentsone key audience for Grammarlys services. He told me, One thing I want to caution readers and students about in general is this idea that there are good words and bad words. Language is really too context-specific, too complicated, too variable over time for specific recommendations to be made. We can adjust our language in any number of situations, but it doesnt necessarily solve a problem, so much as it introduces a new set of problems.

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While I imagined how frustrating his students might find this, I also know what he means. The problem is that the history of slavery is huge: It spans centuries, continents, and contexts. And the need to be sensitivenot to multiply harms by reusing the language that enslavers favored, for exampleis acute. For a person writing about slavery without a deep level of knowledge, there really isnt any substitute for the investment of time and attention.

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As a reviewer of Grammarly Premium, the version of the app that includes the new suggestions around slavery, put it in Fast Company in 2021, the software, in theory, has the skill set of an actual editor, checking for tone, clarity, and word choice. But of course, actual flesh-and-blood editors misstep in this matter all the time. That crowdsourced Google doc I mentioned above points to several instances where the media has messed up in recent years. When the New York Times called civil rights activist Julian Bonds great-grandmother a slave mistress in his obituary in 2015not that long ago!the choice was so obviously wrong that the papers public editor acknowledged it in a column. No simple phrase can capture the whole of Jane Bonds humanity, historian Martha S. Jones wrote in her response to the situation. To tell her story, however briefly, requires honoring the entirety of her life. No shorthand phrase, like slave mistress, can suffice. Yet the mistake had been made.

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In January, Grammarly responded to feedback like Mitchells by pulling back on at least one suggestionthe one flagging fugitive slave and suggesting freedom seeker instead. On Jan. 21, the app began flagging only the word slave in that phrase and suggesting a replacement accordingly. Grammarly let me test out the premium version of the software while writing this story. And so, as I write, a little tab with a G on it is hovering to the side, ready to flag my infelicities of expression. Its following me around my Mac, appearing whenever I make words in Word, Slack, Twitter, TextEdit, or Gmail.

The interface uses a group of emojis to note when things are going wrong, and when I write in the word slave, here in my Word document, the little yellow face with the mouth thats a line appears. The effect is unsettling, and a little alarminga friendly robot, inserting itself where it cannot belong. Maybe Im wrong, Mitchell ended her thread, but I just dont think we can automate this.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
This kind of trip would not be possible with Hungary, analyst says.

From left, Foreign Ministers Ivan Korcok of Slovakia, Jan Lipavsky of the Czech Republic, Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine, and Alexander Schallenberg of Austria, pose for photo after a joint news briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2022. (Source: TASR/AP)

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Calls for increased efforts to find a diplomatic solution to de-escalate tension between Russia and Ukraine have materialised this week in a number of high-level ministerial visits in Europe.

Slovakia's Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok (SaS nominee), who has stressed the need for a diplomatic solution joined his Czech and Austrian counterparts on a trip of three foreign affairs ministers to Ukraine on February 7 and 8.

Czechia's Jan Lipavsky, Slovakia's Korcok and Austria's Alexander Schallenberg travelled to Kyiv and to the contact line in the east of the country to familiarise themselves with the situation regarding the lasting tension at the Russian-Ukrainian border, the press department of the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

In a tense situation, it is necessary to show solidarity with Ukraine, our immediate neighbour, Korcok wrote on Facebook ahead of the visit.

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Some observers have highlighted the fact that this display of solidarity is taking place within what is known as the Slavkov composition (a grouping of Slovakia, Czechia and Austria), rather than within the better known regional grouping, the Visegrad Group (Slovakia, Czechia, Poland and Hungary).

Observers say that this is because foreign policy is an agenda of the Slavkov format, yet one reason is also the tense relations between Hungary and Ukraine. But they are clear on one thing: Slavkov does not have the ambition of replacing Visegrad.

Diplomatic efforts
Parliamentary discussion accompanied by several incidents and a protest.

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The parliament launched a discussion on the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Slovakia and the United States on February 8.

The agreement was recently signed by Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (OLaNO) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, but it still needs the approval of the parliament and subsequently the president.

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The MPs are expected to continue in session until the debate is over, with the voting on the deal scheduled for February 9 at 11:00. It is not clear how many will support the deal, as some coalition deputies planned to vote against it. Moreover, the voting may be affected by Covid as some deputies need to be under home isolation, the Sme daily reported.

Slovak-US defence pact encounters fierce resistance Read more

The parliamentary debate has been accompanied by several incidents from the very beginning, which include the blockade of the speakers desk and booing (mostly by far-right politicians) and protest held in front of the parliamentary building attended by several hundred people.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of the parliament to protest against the defence deal with the USA. (Source: SME)

General prosecutor not allowed to speak

Originally, General Prosecutor Maros Zilinka came to the session, expressing his will to read an address concerning the DCA. He is known as the critic of the agreement. During the interdepartmental review process, he submitted 35 fundamental objections to the draft and his office has rejected it as a whole.

Yet, the MPs did not allow him to speak to the plenum. He then left, evading journalists.

The employees of the General Prosecutors Office subsequently handed copies of his address to the journalists. Over 25 pages, Zilinka explains why the DCA is disadvantageous for Slovakia.

Opposition protest lured hundreds to downtown Bratislava Read more

He called the interpretation clauses attached to the agreement by both Slovakia and the USA insignificant, and even called the agreement on the stay of Soviet soldiers on the territory of Czechoslovakia after the 1968 invasion more advantageous than the current defence deal with the USA.

A persons own opinion and will are actually his honour, he claimed.

Zilinka later wrote on Facebook that he wanted to ask the MPs to show their disagreement with the DCA.

Incidents caused by far-right politicians

The parliamentary discussion has been interrupted several times, mostly due to incidents initiated by the far-right MPs.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/FWjjWo9p9zM

Members of the Peoples Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) led by Marian Kotleba came to the speakers desk, carrying the Slovak flag, without covering their faces. The current valid rules stipulate that people are required to wear FFP2 respirators inside any building, apart from their own household.

Later, they were joined by the MPs for the junior coalition party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), who brought and unfolded the Ukrainian flag. One LSNS MP subsequently snatched the flag and even snatched off the respirator from one deputys face. Another SaS MP was drenched in water.

The incident with flags. (Source: SITA)

The LSNS MPs then continued blocking the speakers desk, despite being ordered to leave the assembly hall by Speaker of Parliament Boris Kollar (Sme Rodina).

During the speeches of several MPs, including Defence Minister Nad, the far-right MPs were booing and blowing whistles, so it was not sufficiently clear what the MPs were saying. Some from the far-right were even listening to music played from their computers.

President gives conditional support for US defence agreement Read more

Responding to these incidents, Za Ludi MP Juraj Seliga said that he will propose at the March session the creation of a parliamentary guard to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The behaviour of Kotlebas MPs today is unacceptable, he wrote on Facebook.

This behaviour has been condemned by several other coalition politicians.
https://sputniknews.com/20220207/us-says-in-lock-step-with-germany-against-russia-door-open-to-sending-more-troops-to-europe-1092835059.html

US Says In Lockstep With Germany Against Russia, Door Open to Sending More Troops to Europe

US Says In Lockstep With Germany Against Russia, Door Open to Sending More Troops to Europe

Amid a visit to Washington by Germanys new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the White House said the two NATO allies were united against perceived Russian aggression... 07.02.2022, Sputnik International

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"Germany is one of Americas closest allies," US President Joe Biden said during a meeting with Scholz at the White House on Monday. "Were working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe and to address the challenges posed by China and to promote stability in the Western Balkans."Scholzs visit comes days after his government refused to send weapons to Ukraine or to allow Estonia, another NATO ally, to send old East German howitzer artillery pieces to Kiev. While the move drew widespread criticism, Scholz pledged NATO would act jointly in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and that Moscow would pay a high price for the move.Still, in an interview with the Washington Post on Sunday, the German chancellor refused to commit to cutting off the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which has not yet been turned on but would bring gas from Russia to Germany. The Biden administration has pressured Berlin to do so, and the project was strongly opposed by the previous Trump administration, which threatened Germany with sanctions over the project.The US has claimed that Russian troops deployed to Belarus and in southern Russia are a sign Putin is planning an invasion of Ukraine. However, leaders in both Moscow and Kiev have dismissed the possibility. Several European NATO partners have also taken a more middling position, seeking a different tone in talks with Russia than the United States, which has remained intransigent and refused to acknowledge Russian security concerns, which Moscow has said would help to reduce tensions across the region.Those concerns, articulated in a proposal submitted in December 2021, include halting NATOs further eastward expansion, including precluding the possibility that Ukraine will join the alliance, as well as the potential stationing of offensive weapons in Ukraine by NATO. So far, NATO has flatly dismissed the idea of changing its so-called open door policy, although such a policy is not written into NATOs constitution.A day prior, Biden also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, who traveled to Moscow on Monday to meet with Putin before going to Kiev to see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the following day. Macron has portrayed himself as a mediator between Washingtons bellicose posturing and Moscows insistence that its security concerns be addressed."I see how much effort the current leadership of France and the president personally is applying in order to solve the crisis related to providing equal security in Europe [from] a serious historical perspective," Putin said.When asked by a reporter about the administrations position on the Macron-Putin meeting on Monday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said, we are in close contact with the French, of course the Germans, and all of our NATO partners and allies.Late last month, the US placed 8,500 troops on heightened alert to be prepared to deploy to Europe in a few as five days, should the situation arise. The Pentagon also shifted 2,000 troops already in Europe further east into nations closer to Russia.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220208/biden-scholz-talks-energy-expert-explains-why-germany-will-never-join-us-in-ending-nord-stream-2-1092859146.html

Biden-Scholz Talks: Energy Expert Explains Why Germany Will Never Join US in Ending Nord Stream 2

Biden-Scholz Talks: Energy Expert Explains Why Germany Will Never Join US in Ending Nord Stream 2

US President Joe Biden pledged to nix Nord Stream 2 if Russia invades Ukraine during his Monday meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said that... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

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"Nord Stream 2 is a reality and sooner or later will be getting certification from the German and EU energy regulators", says Dr Mamdouh G. Salameh, international oil economist and visiting professor of energy economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London. "It is first and foremost a viable economic project. If it was certified in last September, it would have helped alleviate Europes ongoing energy crisis".The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea from western Russia to north-eastern Germany. It is designed to deliver 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year to Europe, thus doubling the original Nord Stream capacity to a total of 110 bcm.Biden and his advisers have long been looking for an excuse to continue their opposition to the pipeline under the false pretext that it will tighten Russias grip on Europes energy security, according to Salameh. He notes that the ongoing political fuss around Ukraine is just a pretext to try to axe the project. However, the overwhelming majority of Europeans and the whole world know that Washington's motivation is to sell US liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe, which is more expensive than pipeline gas, according to the professor.The United States has a long and failed history of opposing Soviet and now Russian oil and gas pipelines dating back to the 1960s. The Reagan administration in the 1980s tried to halt the USSR's West Siberian pipeline (Brotherhood) aimed at transporting Soviet natural gas to Central and Western Europe through Ukraine. In December 1981, the Reagan administration introduced sanctions preventing US companies from exporting oil and gas technologies to the Soviet Union. In June 1982, these sanctions were expanded to Europe. However, West Germany, France, and the UK opposed Washington's initiative, forcing the White House to lift sanctions against European and American companies participating in the project in November 1982.Salameh forecasts that Germany and the EU might exclude any sanctions on Russian energy supplies or Nord Stream 2 so as to avoid a complete halt of Russian gas supplies.Three Reasons Why Berlin Won't Abandon Nord Stream 2Germany has good reasons to withstand Washington's pressure to halt Nord Stream 2, according to Salameh. Firstly, Nord Stream 2 cost 9.5 billion ($10.6 billion) to build, with roughly half of this sum being financed by a European consortium of companies including OMV (Austria), Wintershall Dea (Germany), Engie (France), Uniper (Germany), and Shell (UK). The energy expert explains that if Berlin nixes the project, it will deal a substantial blow to European energy giants and will sink over 150 major German companies which were involved in the construction of the pipeline.Secondly, if Berlin stops the project it will be a major loser in economic and energy terms, according to Salameh: "Germany depends on Russia for 60% of its natural gas and oil needs", he stresses.Thirdly, Europes energy crisis and shortages of natural gas and LNG supplies is likely to continue throughout 2022 and probably far beyond with gas and LNG prices remaining high. However, the entirety of LNG exports from the United States, Qatar, and Australia could hardly replace the almost 200 billion cubic metres per annum (bcm/y) piped by Russia to the EU in addition to an estimated 15-16 million tons a year (mt/y) of LNG, according to the energy expert. To complicate matters even further, Europe has a limited LNG import capacity. This makes ramp-ups of LNG imports quite useless, particularly if they are needed to replace Russias almost 40% share of the European gas market."Only Russia can satisfy the EUs gas demand", says Salameh. "However, Russia isnt going to ship additional gas supplies to the EU until [the] Nord Stream [2] gas pipeline is certified. The energy balance of power between the EU and Russia has shifted decisively in favour of Russia. By increasing its gas exports to China, Russia is telling the EU that it isnt dependent on the European gas market for its gas exports. It has a far bigger market in China".Russia's Draft Security Proposals are Key to Solving the CrisisThe only way to cool tensions over Ukraine is to address Russias security concerns, according to Salameh. Russia submitted draft security agreements to US policymakers in mid-December 2021. Moscow's proposals include legally binding guarantees of NATO's non-expansion, non-deployment of offensive weapon systems near the Russian border, and the return of the blocs European capabilities and infrastructure to the 1997 level.The European security crisis stems from the West's decision to break its NATO non-enlargement pledge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and other Soviet officials, the energy expert stresses."The United States took advantage of a weakened Russia under President Yeltsin and reneged on that promise exactly as former President Trump reneged on Irans nuclear deal", Salameh says. "In other words, the United States word is worth nothing".The academic says that the US-NATO military build-up in Ukraine resembles nothing short of US President John F. Kennedy's Cuban Missile Crisis, which erupted after the Kennedy administration authorised the deployment intermediate-range Jupiter nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey.

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Ekaterina Blinova

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Ekaterina Blinova

us, europe, russia, nord stream 2, germany, olaf scholz, joe biden, natural gas, liquified gas, qatar, european union, energy crisis
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/breathe-kanye-breathepete-davidson-publicly-calls-kim-kardashian-his-girlfriend--1092859787.html

Breathe, Kanye, BreathePete Davidson Publicly Calls Kim Kardashian His Girlfriend

Breathe, Kanye, BreathePete Davidson Publicly Calls Kim Kardashian His Girlfriend

Rumours about the two dating have been going since last October when the reality TV star hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, where she appeared in a comedy sketch with Davidson with the two kissing.

2022-02-08T19:01+0000

2022-02-08T19:01+0000

2022-02-08T19:01+0000

society

celebrities

kim kardashian

kanye west

travis scott

pete davidson

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Actor and comedian Pete Davidson has confirmed that he is in a relationship with Kim Kardashian for the first time. Speaking with People live from his room, the 28-year-old was asked whether he is comfortable with living in the spotlight. The SNL star responded that he rarely goes out and spends his free time hanging out with friends or chilling "with his girlfriend inside". The interviewer also spotted a candle with a picture of Kim Kardashian on a table in Davidsons room.Davidson and Kardashian first made headlines last October, when the two appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch where they played Aladdin and Jasmine and kissed each other. Since then, the couple has been frequently spotted together. The pair were photographed celebrating Davidsons birthday last November, while in January they were photographed on a vacation in the Bahamas.It seems fans of Kardashian and Davidson will be delighted to hear the actor confirming what the media has been speculating for months. However, the development may raise tensions between Kardashian and her estranged husband, musician Kanye West. The two have been married since 2014, but last February the star of Keeping Up With The Kardashians filed for a divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.Despite calling it quits, the two seemed amicable with each other -- Kim attended the listening party of Wests 10th album Donda last July. However, relations between the two are said to have deteriorated after Kim started dating Pete Davidson. Another issue that allegedly soured relations is Kardashian not letting Kanye see their children. The two have four kids -- daughters North, 8, and Chicago, 4, and sons Saint, 6, and Psalm, 2.West recently accused Kardashian of kidnapping his daughter North in a series of posts on social media. He also attacked his estranged spouse over putting North on TikTok and allowing her to wear lipstick. West has since deleted all social media posts in which he criticised Kim. The rapper, who recently started dating actress Julia Fox, was spotted in the company of model Chaney Jones over the weekend. Jones, who has over 100,000 followers on Instagram, was wearing a suit that was identical to the outfit Kardashian wore to the Peoples Choice Awards in 2021. West was also accompanied by rappers Travis Scott and French Montana.

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society, celebrities, kim kardashian, kanye west, travis scott, pete davidson
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/china-says-us-should-cancel-100-mln-deal-on-weapons-supply-to-taiwan-1092846367.html

China Says US Should Cancel $100 Mln Deal on Weapons Supply to Taiwan

China Says US Should Cancel $100 Mln Deal on Weapons Supply to Taiwan

BEIJING (Sputnik) - The US should cancel a $100 million deal on weapons supply to Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T09:56+0000

2022-02-08T09:56+0000

2022-02-08T09:56+0000

asia & pacific

china

taiwan

us

weapons

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He stressed that Washington should be following the "One China" policy, recalled the Three Joint Communiques (in which the US acknowledged that "all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China"). Beijing will take all of the necessary and effective measures to protect the nation's sovereignty and ensure its security, Zhao added.Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan  a territory with its own democratically elected government  maintains that it is an autonomous country with political and economic relations with several other nations.While the US does not recognise the government in Taipei, Washington's ties with Taiwan have been on the rise over the past few years, with top American officials visiting the island and some reports suggesting that US forces were training the Taiwanese military. President Joe Biden even said that the US will defend Taiwan from Chinese forces.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220208/china-steps-up-pressure-on-uk-to-relinquish-control-over-falklands-citing-un-charter-1092853029.html

China Steps Up Pressure on UK to Relinquish Control Over Falklands, Citing UN Charter

China Steps Up Pressure on UK to Relinquish Control Over Falklands, Citing UN Charter

The spat between China and the UK erupted after Beijing announced support for Buenos Aires' territorial claim over Britain's Falkland Islands. The South... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T17:53+0000

2022-02-08T17:53+0000

2022-02-08T17:53+0000

falklands

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president xijinping

alberto fernandez

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China has stepped up pressure on the UK over the Falklands, a British overseas territory in the Atlantic Ocean, which remains the subject of a sovereignty dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina, which waged war over the archipelago in 1982. On Tuesday, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, affirmed Buenos Aires' "right of sovereignty" over the Falklands, which Argentina calls Las Malvinas. Zhao said the UK should renounce its claim following the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.The statement comes a day after the UK's Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, stated: "We completely reject any questions over sovereignty of the Falklands," in the wake of a meeting between Argentine president Alberto Fernandez and Chinas President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.China raised the issue last year in the UN when the country's deputy permanent representative to the UN, Geng Shuang, demanded an end to all forms of colonialism.The Falklands are a self-governing British overseas territory that has been under UK control since 1833.Argentina and the UK have been in a dispute over the territory nearly 13,000km away from the British mainland. The two countries fought a fierce but brief war over control of the islands in 1982, in which 255 British troops and 650 Argentine soldiers died.

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falklands, china, president xijinping, alberto fernandez, argentina, colonialism
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/denmark-enhances-combat-readiness-to-support-nato-amid-ukraine-tensions-1092858392.html

Denmark Enhances Combat Readiness to Support NATO Amid Ukraine Tensions

Denmark Enhances Combat Readiness to Support NATO Amid Ukraine Tensions

MURMANSK, Russia (Sputnik) - The Danish government decided to enhance the combat readiness of the armed forces to support the North Atlantic Treaty... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T16:38+0000

2022-02-08T16:38+0000

2022-02-08T16:38+0000

military & intelligence

denmark

ukraine

russia

nato

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"The government has decided to take a number of necessary steps, as recommended by the Ministry of Defence, to increase the readiness of the armed forces to strengthen Denmark's ability to support NATO," the ministry said in a statement. According to the statement, the security situation in Europe has worsened as a result of alleged "unacceptable military pressure by Russia on Ukraine."The ministry stressed that the Danish authorities will also increase the readiness of the country's battalion intended for the NATO response force to 1-5 days. Denmark will also enhance the readiness of the armed forces to repel air attacks. Two F-16 aircraft may be transferred to the Danish island of Bornholm, where an air base is located, if necessary.At the same time, the Danish armed forces will not carry out tasks at the border and protect civilian objects in Copenhagen, as it did before, the ministry added. According to the statement, these functions will be transferred to the Danish police or Home Guard.Moscow has repeatedly stated that all flights of the Russian aerospace forces are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of amassing troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for invasion. Russia has insisted that it has no intention of invading Ukraine, while stressing that it has the right to move its forces within its own territory.Russia has also expressed concerns over NATO military activity near its borders and ongoing military support of Ukraine, including an increase in the number of Western instructors in its restive east. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is not excluding that the "hysteria" around Ukraine fueled by the West is aimed at concealing Kiev's plans to sabotage the Minsk Agreements on Donbas.

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military & intelligence, denmark, ukraine, russia, nato
Martin Griffiths, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, is seen on the screen during the Security Council debate on general issues relating to sanctions: preventing their humanitarian and unintended consequences, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 7, 2022. Efforts must be made by the UN Security Council to better mitigate the unintended negative impact of sanctions and curtail unilateral coercive measures that continue to negatively affect the very populations they are meant to protect, said UN officials on Monday. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Efforts must be made by the UN Security Council to better mitigate the unintended negative impact of sanctions and curtail unilateral coercive measures that continue to negatively affect the very populations they are meant to protect, said UN officials on Monday.

UN sanctions are "no longer the blunt instrument" they once were, but concerns remain, Rosemary DiCarlo, under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, told the Security Council debate on general issues relating to sanctions: preventing their humanitarian and unintended consequences.

The council convened the debate, one of the signature events of Russia's council presidency for the month of February, allowing the council to consider a range of UN sanctions-related matters.

Various resolutions make it clear that sanctions are "not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences for the civilian populations," DiCarlo said.

Highlighting several areas for action, the UN political affairs chief said member states can "minimize the burden" of additional due diligence and reporting requirements on humanitarian actors by keeping their domestic legislation as close as possible to council language.

Other vital actions include continued monitoring by the council's sanctions committees for possible negative consequences and increasing cooperation with humanitarian actors and the private sector, she added.

More can be done "to reduce the possible adverse consequences of sanctions," she said, recalling the Security Council resolution 2615 which affirmed that humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan does not violate the council's sanction measures.

Martin Griffiths, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said "humanitarian carve-outs, as we now have on Afghanistan, can allow us to continue our programs for those at greatest risk."

Mitigating the humanitarian impact of sanctions requires the international community to continue reviewing the way sanctions are designed and implemented, he said, urging the council and member states to ensure that measures applicable in armed conflict do not impede the assistance and protection activities of impartial humanitarian organizations for persons who are not fighting.

"In all contexts, they should ensure that sanctions do not restrict the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights including the right to food, water, shelter and health," he said.

To this end, the council and others imposing sanctions should include comprehensive humanitarian carve-outs from the outset rather than case-by-case authorization procedures, he added. 

Rosemary DiCarlo, under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, briefs the Security Council debate on general issues relating to sanctions: preventing their humanitarian and unintended consequences, at the UN headquarters in New York, on Feb. 7, 2022. Efforts must be made by the UN Security Council to better mitigate the unintended negative impact of sanctions and curtail unilateral coercive measures that continue to negatively affect the very populations they are meant to protect, said UN officials on Monday. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/dust-defense-us-academics-pitch-21st-century-flak-to-counter-hypersonic-weapons-1092862818.html

Dust Defense: US Academics Pitch 21st Century Flak to Counter Hypersonic Weapons

Dust Defense: US Academics Pitch 21st Century Flak to Counter Hypersonic Weapons

As the US falls further behind Russia and China in developing hypersonic weapons, it has begun looking for new ways to counter the notoriously evasive... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T21:59+0000

2022-02-08T21:59+0000

2022-02-08T21:59+0000

hypersonic weapons

air defense

csis

military

microwaves

particle

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Academics at the Washington, DC-based policy think tanks Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) suggested in a Monday seminar that the US could use particles designed to hang in the air as a dust defense against hypersonic missiles. They also suggested microwaves and other ways of interfering with the missiles functioning, which might make them malfunction and become easier to shoot down.At hypersonic velocities, missile impacts against atmospheric dust, rain, and other particles can deposit bullet-like kinetic energies, triggering unpredictable aerodynamic, thermal, and structural disruptions, they wrote in the report, noting the conclusion was based on incidents previously encountered by high-speed reentry vehicles.According to academics, hypersonic weapons are actually more suited than other kinds of missiles to being countered by the dust defense.Metallic, pyrotechnic, or other purpose-designed particles could dwell for tens of minutes in the upper atmosphere, relaxing timing requirements for hypersonic engagements, they hypothesized. Such effects would be temporary, but much of the concern about hypersonic missile attack relates to a short, highly concentrated, and structured attack. Given the higher speeds earlier in the flight of a hypersonic glider, a wall of dust would be more effective earlier rather than later in its flight.The authors compared the defense to flak, a mid-20th century means of air defense in which specially designed artillery shells were set to explode at certain altitudes, raining enemy aircraft with clouds of shrapnel in an attempt to damage the aircraft or maim their crews. Raging air battles could see the sky thick with flak clouds.The CSIS academics also suggested that high-powered microwave (HPM) weapons, a type of directed energy that is less vulnerable to weather changes than lasers, could be used to fry the sky ahead of an anticipated hypersonic weapons path, which would damage the missiles circuitry, making it malfunction in ways that might cause it to crash or make it easier for more conventional interceptors to bring it down.Hypersonic weapons, which fly at lower altitudes than ballistic missiles and much faster speeds than other missiles, are extremely hard to intercept. Not only are they hard to spot and very fast, but they can maneuver unpredictably at the same time.In fact, thats why Russia pioneered the weapons: when the US unilaterally pulled out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002 and began pursuing a bevy of new interceptors, Moscow feared the nuclear strategic balance would shift in Washingtons favor, and the US would become capable of executing a nuclear first strike. The US elaborate ballistic missile detection and interception networks are almost useless against hypersonics.Last week, US Vice Admiral Jon Hill admitted that the US Navys RIM-174 missile, also called the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), is the only weapon in the US arsenal capable of potentially downing a hypersonic weapon. The missile has also been sold to South Korea and Australia. Russia has boasted that its new S-500 air defense system is capable of shooting down hypersonic weapons, as well.

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hypersonic weapons, air defense, csis, military, microwaves, particle
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/european-leaders-scholz-and-macron-travel-the-globe-to-resolve-the-nato-crisis-diplomatically-1092836396.html

European Leaders Scholz and Macron Travel the Globe to Resolve the NATO Crisis Diplomatically

European Leaders Scholz and Macron Travel the Globe to Resolve the NATO Crisis Diplomatically

German President Scholz is coming to Washington, DC to meet with President Biden, while French leader Emmanuel Macron is heading to Moscow to push his vision... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T08:15+0000

2022-02-08T08:15+0000

2022-02-08T08:15+0000

the critical hour

ukraine

plo

mali

ned price

macron

olaf scholz

radio

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European Leaders Scholz and Macron Travel the Globe to Resolve the NATO Crisis Diplomatically German President Scholz is coming to Washington, DC to meet with President Biden, while French leader Emmanuel Macron is heading to Moscow to push his vision for a diplomatic solution to the NATO crisis.

Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss the diplomatic process in Europe, Russia, and DC. German President Scholz is coming to Washington, DC to meet with President Biden, while French leader Emmanuel Macron is heading to Moscow to push his vision for a diplomatic solution to the NATO crisis.George Koo, journalist, social activist, and international business consultant, joins us to discuss Eurasia. The announcement of a number of major energy and technology deals between Russia and China have sent shockwaves through the European and Asian business community. Also, we discuss the importance of hypersonic technology in today's national defense discussion.Margaret Kimberly, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents," joins us to discuss the media. The US State Department's infamous press briefing has gone viral and mainstream sources are now questioning the Russian invasion narrative. Also, the New York Times opinion articles are overwhelmingly hawkish and in favor of military action.Gerald Horne, professor of history at the University of Houston, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss Africa. Thousands in Mali celebrate the expulsion of the French ambassador as Africa shakes off the chains of colonialism. Also, we discuss President Biden's policy towards the Sahara region of Africa.Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss the Middle East. We evaluate the Middle East policies of the Biden administration one year in. Also, the PLO is meeting to choose the top Palestinian negotiator.Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "The Velvet Coup: The Constitution, the Supreme Court and the Decline of American Democracy," joins us to discuss Canada's Deputy Prime Minister. Deputy Prime Minister Christina Freeland has frightening familial connections to Hitler's Nazi regime. We discuss the truth behind claims that her grandfather was a supporter of Germany's fascist government during WWII.Dr. Richard Wolff, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts, economist and publisher of "Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It," joins us to discuss the economy. Professor Wolff argues that American politicians spend their time papering over problems that are caused by profit-driven capitalism.Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor in economics and politics at St. Mary's College in California, joins us to discuss Ukraine. Dr. Jack reviews his reasoning as to why the US wants Russia to invade Ukraine.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com

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the critical hour, ukraine, plo, mali, ned price, macron, olaf scholz, , radio
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/irans-irgc-to-unveil-new-domestically-developed-strategic-missile-1092848013.html

Iran's IRGC to Unveil New Domestically Developed Strategic Missile

Iran's IRGC to Unveil New Domestically Developed Strategic Missile

The Islamic Republic has been actively upgrading and developing its defence industry in light of international sanctions that have long prevented the country... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T11:21+0000

2022-02-08T11:21+0000

2022-02-08T11:21+0000

iran

asia & pacific

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Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will be unveiling a new "strategic missile" in the near future, IRGC Aerospace Force commander, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, has stated. It is manufactured domestically in Iran.The brigadier general did not elaborate on the new missile's specifications and effective range as he was speaking to reporters. Yet, he shared that the missile has been in development for some time and has even undergone its first field testing.Tehran has repeatedly stated that it will continue to develop the nation's domestic defence industry regardless of any protests from abroad, arguing that it has the right to maintain its own security. The country has so far achieved a certain amount of success in organising the development and domestic production of such defence products as cruise and ballistic missiles, fighter jets, various classes of warships, as well as air defence systems.The development of long-range strategic missiles by Iran has long caused concerns among those in the West, with several nations repeatedly urging Iran to scale back this programme. Tehran, however, has refused to do so, insisting that these missiles serve as a deterrent to any potential attack by the nation's enemies. The country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stated that the missile programme and the development of the rest of Iran's defence industry were not up for debate.

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iran, asia & pacific, missiles, strategic arsenal
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/irans-supreme-leader-names-two-main-problems-of-us-1092854132.html

Iran's Supreme Leader Names Two Main Problems of US

Iran's Supreme Leader Names Two Main Problems of US

One of the last two US presidents undermined trust in America's words by unilaterally withdrawing the country from an international treaty  the Iran nuclear... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T13:57+0000

2022-02-08T13:57+0000

2022-02-08T13:57+0000

us

iran

ayatollah ali khamenei

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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stated that the US is going downhill due to an unexpected source  their own presidents. In a speech published on the supreme leader's website, Khamenei opined that America's reputation has been greatly tarnished by the actions of the last two presidents  Donald Trump and Joe Biden.He went on to claim that the falsehoods spread by Washington will eventually be dispelled and that "the camp of truth" will prevail.US-Iranian relations took a turn for the worse under the Trump presidency  not only did he withdraw the country from the Iran nuclear deal, slapping Tehran with extensive sanctions, but he also ordered the killing of one of the Islamic Republic's most popular generals  Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.The current president, Joe Biden, vowed to do his best to try and negotiate a deal to limit Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. However, several rounds of talks in Vienna have so far failed to produce any tangible results, with Washington blaming Tehran's unrealistic demands for the fiasco. Iran, in turn, said it demands nothing more than the restoration of the old nuclear accord, while Washington tries to keep some sanctions in effect and attempts to include the country's missile programme in the new agreement.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220208/israelis-outraged-as-bombshell-report-claims-police-spied-on-prominent-figures--activists-for-years-1092843949.html

Israelis Outraged as Bombshell Report Claims Police Spied on Prominent Figures & Activists for Years

Israelis Outraged as Bombshell Report Claims Police Spied on Prominent Figures & Activists for Years

Some Twitter users have branded Israel's police a bunch of liars. Others have been urging the government to dismantle the entire institution, while there have... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T08:24+0000

2022-02-08T08:24+0000

2022-02-08T08:24+0000

middle east

israel

police

surveillance

government surveillance

spying

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Weeks after revelations by Calcalist that suggested Israeli police have been spying on former politicians, mayors, and political activists for years, the news website has stirred up yet another storm.On Monday, the publication unveiled a long list of people who have been monitored by the police, apparently with no warrant from a court to do so, and without any grounds to suspect that they had violated the law.The infamous list includes a number of prominent figures from both the private and public sector, and it also features key ministers, one of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's sons, Avner, as well as a state witness in the ex-PM trials, Shlomo Filber.Politicians from the left, right, and centre have already commented on what appears to be one of the biggest scandals in Israel's history, with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowing to bring those responsible to justice.Defence Minister Benny Gantz tweeted that he was following the reports with concern and that he was "worried" about ordinary Israelis, whose privacy has been exposed and have "zero ability to defend themselves".Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked tweeted that if the reports prove to be accurate, the revelations are "an earthquake" and the deeds of the police are more suited to "dark regimes of the previous century".Boiling With AngerBut for ordinary Israelis, who have taken to social media networks in the wake of the revelations to vent their anger, promises by politicians are simply not enough, and the general mood on the street is that people are boiling with anger.That anger is directed mainly at law enforcement. Some have called it "the police of liars". Others have suggested dismantling the entire institution, and there were also those who expressed their dismay at Israel turning into a "police state", where the rights of citizens are no longer protected.The police, however, are not the only culprits in this saga, with netizens also accusing the prosecution and the judicial system of joining forces with the police and exceeding their powers.Another one lamented: "...There is no police in Israel. There is no prosecutor's office. All we have is corruption. I am sad, that's all".Distrust in the SystemThat frustration is part of a general trend in Israel. In 2019, even before the revelations by Calcalist, public trust in the police and the judiciary had been rather low. Three years later, after the shocking claims, that poor rating has dropped even more.A recent poll revealed that the police only enjoyed the trust of 6 percent of Israelis. Faith in the country's courts and the prosecutor's office was also low, at 16 and 3 percent respectively, and this is why some Israelis have been calling on the state to bring those responsible to justice.Those calls are probably going to be answered. Israel's Minister of Public Security Omer Bar Lev has already announced that he will open an investigation into the conduct of the police. But the question that needs to be answered is whether that probe will be able to resurrect the dying trust of the public.

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middle east, israel, police, surveillance, government surveillance, spying
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/malis-pm-accuses-france-of-de-facto-partition-says-operation-barkhane-helped-terrorists-regroup-1092861691.html

Malis PM Accuses France of De Facto Partition; Says Operation Barkhane Helped Terrorists Regroup

Malis PM Accuses France of De Facto Partition; Says Operation Barkhane Helped Terrorists Regroup

Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga has renewed his accusation that the French intervention in his country helped terrorist groups in the north to... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T20:00+0000

2022-02-08T20:00+0000

2022-02-08T20:00+0000

mali

france

daesh

russia

counterterrorism

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Speaking to a group of diplomats in Bamako on Monday, Maiga doubled down on past accusations that the French intervention in Mali had caused more problems than it solved. However, he stopped short of demanding that Task Force Takuba, its latest iteration, depart from Mali."When the French judged that [the US presence] was no longer necessary, they told the Americans to go. Did the Americans start insulting the French?" Maiga asked, comparing the situation in Mali to that in France at the end of World War II.The French intervention in Mali in 2013 was ultimately a consequence of the 2011 destruction of Libya by NATO. When Muammar Gaddafis government was overthrown by NATO-backed rebels, the power vacuum saw myriad rebel groups arise, including many who pledged their loyalty to *Daesh and *al-Qaeda. These groups proliferated in the Sahara region, spreading into neighboring Algeria, Niger and Mali, among other states. Some sympathetic groups among the Tuareg people in northern Mali declared an independent state of Azawagh.As the war effort against the Tuareg rebels worsened, Malian soldiers blamed their inept civilian government and overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure in 2012. However, the chaos of the coup only aided Tuareg expansion, and they soon controlled nearly half the country. Toures government appealed for international assistance, and Frances Operation Serval began in early 2013.A second military coup in August 2020, provoked by weeks of mass protests against the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, created a provisional government with shared military-civilian power that set a target for new elections in February 2022. The third coup in May 2021 saw France refuse further cooperation with Bamako, and French President Emmanuel Macron soon announced the end of Operation Barkhane entirely, to be replaced with a smaller Task Force Takuba that would focus on the tri-state region between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.Since then, the rift between Bamako and Paris has only deepened, especially after news broke that the government of Interim President Assimi Goita had begun looking for other partners to fill the gap left by the French departure, including Russia - a notion that enjoys some popular support in Mali.Speaking to RIA Novosti in October 2021, Maiga accused Paris of creating an enclave where the terrorist groups could regroup.Mali does not have access to Kidal, it is an enclave controlled by France. They have armed groups that were trained by French officers. And we have evidence of this, Maiga continued. We have an expression that if you are looking for a needle in your room, but whoever is involved in the search for this needle is on it, then you will never find it. This is the situation that is currently in Mali and which we do not understand and do not want to put up with.Western governments have claimed that PMC Wagner is operating in Mali, which Bamako has denied. They have also accused PMC Wagner of being an arm of the Kremlin, which the Kremlin has denied. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did confirm last September that the two governments had discussed sending military advisers, but that nothing had come of those talks.When Macron traveled to Moscow on Monday, the Russian president reiterated that point, saying that Mali has the right to contract with any private company it wishes, but that his government has no connection to it.*Daesh (ISIS, ISIL, IS), al-Qaeda - terrorist groups banned in Russia and many other countries.

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mali, france, daesh, russia, counterterrorism
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/no-mercy-taliban-may-finish-two-suspected-daesh-recruits-detained-near-afghan-border-last-fall-1092857016.html

No Mercy: Taliban May Finish Two Suspected Daesh Recruits Detained Near Afghan Border Last Fall

No Mercy: Taliban May Finish Two Suspected Daesh Recruits Detained Near Afghan Border Last Fall

Daesh* Khorasan, the terrorist groups affiliate in Afghanistan, has conducted multiple attacks in the capital Kabul and other cities since the Taliban** took... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T16:17+0000

2022-02-08T16:17+0000

2022-02-08T16:17+0000

afghanistan

uzbekistan

taliban

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Two suspected Daesh recruits were detained by the Taliban when they tried to enter Afghanistan through its northern border last fall, The Guardian reports.The newspaper cited an unnamed Taliban source as saying that the two were carrying more than 10,000 ($13,000) in cash, military fatigues, and night-vision goggles in their bags, and that they were arrested after a tipoff from Uzbekistan.The insider added that the two told border guards they had family ties in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, and that they were travelling to visit relatives.Asked about how the men would be treated, the source stressed that the mujahideen are very aware of Daesh and are working on this issue very hard. The insider added that he had no direct information on their future, but that the Talibans general policy for Daesh detainees was clear.In November, UN Special Representative Deborah Lyons told the UN Security Council that Daeshs affiliate in Afghanistan, known as Daesh Khorasan (Daesh-K), had a presence in every province in the South Asian nation. According to her, Daesh-K, which is seen as an ideological foe of the Taliban, has carried out multiple large-scale suicide attacks in Kabul and other big cities since the Taliban took power in the country in August 2021.At the time, the Taliban wrapped up an offensive against Afghan government forces, entering the capital Kabul without a shot on 15 August and declaring the end of the war. Subsequent weeks saw a mass evacuation of citizens from Western countries and Afghans cooperating with them from Kabul Airport.On the night of 31 August, the US military finally left Kabul Airport, putting an end to a nearly 20-year American military presence in Afghanistan. In early September, an interim government of Afghanistan was announced, chaired by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who headed the Foreign Ministry during the first rule of the Taliban and has been under UN sanctions since 2001.*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State), a terrorist group banned in Russia and a number of other countries**the Taliban, a militant group is currently under UN sanctions over terrorist activities

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afghanistan, uzbekistan, taliban, daesh, recruits, militants, control, border
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/nord-stream-2-launch-may-de-escalate-ukraine-tensions-french-economy-minister-says-1092855091.html

Nord Stream 2 Launch May De-escalate Ukraine Tensions, French Economy Minister Says

Nord Stream 2 Launch May De-escalate Ukraine Tensions, French Economy Minister Says

PARIS (Sputnik)  The launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is one of the main components of de-escalating tensions on the Russian-Ukrainian border, French... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T14:14+0000

2022-02-08T14:14+0000

2022-02-08T14:15+0000

world

nord stream 2

ukraine

tensions

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It is not the United States but Europe that will have to face the consequences of a conflict in Ukraine in terms electricity prices. The opening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is one of the key points of the negotiation and without doubt one of the key points of the way out of crisis with Russia, Le Maire told the France Inter broadcaster.The launch of Nord Stream 2 is of strategic importance to both Russia and Europe, he stressed.On Monday, US President Joe Biden threatened to halt the gas project should Russia proceed with its alleged plan to invade Ukraine.Moscow has repeatedly called on Western nations to stop politicising Nord Stream 2, which was completed on 10 September, saying that it is a commercial project beneficial to both Russia and the European Union. The project is mainly opposed by the United States promoting its liquefied natural gas in Europe.The Ukrainian crisis has escalated in recent months, driven by Western allegations of Russian plans to attack Ukraine. Moscow dismisses the claims, pointing to NATOs military activities near Russia, which it considers to be a security threat.

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world, nord stream 2, ukraine, tensions
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/pakistani-taliban-allegedly-training-baloch-militants-in-terrorist-camps-along-afghanistan-border-1092851326.html

Pakistani Taliban Allegedly 'Training' Baloch Militants in Terrorist Camps Along Afghanistan Border

Pakistani Taliban Allegedly 'Training' Baloch Militants in Terrorist Camps Along Afghanistan Border

Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa paid a visit to Balochistan province on Tuesday, days after two... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T16:27+0000

2022-02-08T16:27+0000

2022-02-08T16:27+0000

tehrik-i-taliban pakistan (ttp)

balochistan liberation army

afghanistan

pakistan

imran khan

taliban

khyber pakhtunkhwa

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The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist organisation, an offshoot of the Afghan Taliban*, is training fighters from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) at its facilities located along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a TTP militant has claimed, talking to Sputnik.The militant alleges that "hideouts" in Balochistan have of late acted as refuge for TTP fighters as they escape the Pakistani Army's counter-insurgency operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Most of the alleged training camps are located along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the TTP militant said, refusing to divulge any more information as to which side of the border these sites are located on. The BLA and the TTP are known to espouse different ideological motives, with the former involved in an ethnic secessionist movement against the Pakistani state. The main aim of the TTP, on the other hand, is to overthrow the Pakistani state and implement Islamic Sharia law in the country.Both Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces share a border with Afghanistan. The two have witnessed an uptick in militancy since the Taliban stormed to power in Afghanistan last year in mid-August.A study conducted by security the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) think tank found that Balochistan last year recorded 103 attacks and 170 deaths, while the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was the second-worst affected.At a press conference last week, Pakistans Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid also admitted that the TTP had stepped up attacks since last year. The ceasefire between Prime Minister Imran Khans government and the TTP could not go beyond a month in November last year, after Islamabad refused to agree to several of its demands.The alleged support extended to the TTP by the Afghan Taliban is a thorny issue in otherwise cordial bilateral ties between Kabul and Islamabad.Pakistans National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf was on a visit to Kabul last month, with security-related issues as well as the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan constituting major points of discussion between the two sides.Deputy Prime Minister Mowlawi Salam Hanafi reiterated the Talibans commitment to not allow Afghan soil to be used by any foreign terrorist group during his meeting with Yusuf, a pledge in line with the Doha Agreement of February 2020.The Doha Agreement was signed between the Taliban and the United States. As part of the deal between the two sides to end the two-decade-long American military presence in Afghanistan, the Taliban, among other things, provided a guarantee that it would not let Afghan soil be used against the security of Washington and its allies.However, the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani militarys media wing, claimed for the first time on Sunday that five soldiers were killed in a cross-border terrorist attack, which has been claimed by the TTP.Also, a recent report by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), released on Monday, claims that terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there (Afghanistan) than at any point in history. The report has been rejected by the Talibans Foreign Ministry.Pakistan Suspects Foreign Hand Behind Balochistan AttacksThe BLA on 2 February claimed two separate assaults on Pakistani Frontier Corps (FC) bases in the Naushki and Panjgur districts of the resource-rich province. A Pakistani military statement said that nine soldiers embraced martyrdom in the attacks, with 20 terrorists also getting killed during the deadly strikes.Another deadly strike in Balochistans Kech district last month left 10 Pakistani troops dead. The attack was claimed by lesser-known armed secessionist group the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).The Pakistani military and political leadership have alleged that the attacks have a foreign connection."We know that the terrorists movement in Balochistan is not indigenous but is instead backed by those who want to see Pakistan broken. But our enemies would have to face defeat", Prime Minister Khan said during a visit to Balochistan on Tuesday.*The Taliban is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.

https://sputniknews.com/20211105/talibans-interior-minister-reportedly-brokers-temporary-peace-deal-between-pakistan-and-ttp-1090494648.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220128/pakistan-pm-vows-to-rid-country-of-all-forms-of-terrorism-after-attack-leaves-10-soldiers-dead-1092573715.html

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Dhairya Maheshwari

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Dhairya Maheshwari

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https://sputniknews.com/20220208/pro-palestinian-protest-hits-cambridge-amid-visit-by-israeli-ambassador-hotovely-1092844795.html

Pro-Palestinian Protest Hits Cambridge Amid Visit by Israeli Ambassador Hotovely

Pro-Palestinian Protest Hits Cambridge Amid Visit by Israeli Ambassador Hotovely

Activists urged members of the Cambridge Union to boycott the meeting, accusing the envoy of "colonialism" due to her statements regarding the territories of... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T16:29+0000

2022-02-08T16:29+0000

2022-02-08T16:29+0000

uk

university of cambridge

israel

tzipi hotovely

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Sputnik is live from Cambridge, England, as pro-Palestinian protesters gather to hold a demonstration amid a visit by Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, who is set to deliver a speech at the Cambridge Union. Activists from the university's Palestinian society previously signed an open letter denouncing the event.Follow Sputnik's Live Feed to Find Put More!

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Pro-Palestinian Protest Hits Cambridge Amid Visit by Israeli Ambassador Hotovely Pro-Palestinian Protest Hits Cambridge Amid Visit by Israeli Ambassador Hotovely 2022-02-08T16:29+0000 true PT132M37S

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uk, university of cambridge, israel, tzipi hotovely, 
Photo taken in Arlington of Virginia, the United States, shows a screen displaying U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (not pictured) attending a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C. Feb. 7, 2022. Joe Biden told the press conference that if Russian tanks and troops cross the border and enter Ukraine, "there will be no longer Nord Stream 2," referring to the now-finished pipeline delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany through Ukraine. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirmed Monday that a joint gas pipeline project between Germany and Russia won't advance if Russia invades Ukraine, stopping short of explaining how it will be achieved if Germany has reservations for that decision as a deterrence against Moscow.

With visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz standing next to him, Biden told a press conference at the White House that if Russian tanks and troops cross the border and enter Ukraine, "there will be no longer Nord Stream 2," referring to the now-finished pipeline delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany that bypasses Ukraine.

"We will bring an end to it," the president said of the pipeline that is not yet operational.

Asked how the United States will manage to prevent gas from flowing in the pipeline since the project is under Germany's control, Biden didn't elaborate, only saying he can "promise" that Washington "will be able to do that."

Scholz, for his part, repeatedly avoided directly mentioning Nord Stream 2, although it appeared that the pipeline was one of the subjects that most concerned reporters during the press conference.

"We will be united," the chancellor said, speaking in English as if he wanted to give Americans reassurance. "We will act together. And we will take all the necessary steps, and all the necessary steps will be done by all of us together."

Biden and Scholz -- whose ongoing visit in the United States is his first since assuming the chancellorship in December -- were both trying to exhibit the unwavering unity between Washington and Berlin vis-a-vis the handling of the ongoing crisis on Ukraine's borders.

There has been a great deal of frustration expressed by U.S. media and lawmakers on Capitol Hill about Germany's decision not to aid Ukraine with lethal weapons, as well as what they perceived as the lack of clarity from Berlin on whether to turn off Nord Stream 2.

"There's no need for him to win back trust. He has the complete trust of the United States," Biden said in defense of Scholz as the chancellor was challenged by a reporter to rethink whether Germany's decision will make it less of a reliable ally of the United States.

Stressing that the transatlantic partnership with the United States is "one of the permanent pillars of German policy," Scholz said his country has done its part both in terms of strengthening the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's military might and with regard to providing financial assistance to Ukraine.

Further dispelling concerns over Germany's dependence on Russian gas supply, Scholz said his government has been taking measures to accelerate the transition into a clean energy-based economy, noting that one quarter of the total energy that Germany now relies on is generated by gas, "and only part of that gas comes from Russia - big part comes from Norway or The Netherlands." 

Photo taken in Arlington of Virginia, the United States, shows a screen displaying U.S. President Joe Biden (R) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attending a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C. Feb. 7, 2022. Joe Biden told the press conference that if Russian tanks and troops cross the border and enter Ukraine, "there will be no longer Nord Stream 2," referring to the now-finished pipeline delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany through Ukraine. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Photo taken in Arlington of Virginia, the United States, shows a screen displaying German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured) attending a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C. Feb. 7, 2022. Joe Biden told the press conference that if Russian tanks and troops cross the border and enter Ukraine, "there will be no longer Nord Stream 2," referring to the now-finished pipeline delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany through Ukraine. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/reduction-in-russian-gas-supply-would-be-difficult-to-replace---sp-global-ratings-1092861096.html

Reduction in Russian Gas Supply Would Be Difficult to Replace - S&P Global Ratings

Reduction in Russian Gas Supply Would Be Difficult to Replace - S&P Global Ratings

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) - A reduction in Russia's gas supply to Europe would be difficult to replace should the United States and its European partners cut it... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T19:32+0000

2022-02-08T19:32+0000

2022-02-08T19:33+0000

russia

nord stream 2

europe

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"A reduction in Russia's gas supplies to Europe will be difficult to replace," S&P Global Ratings said in a report.The report said that although a recent increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows to Europe, combined with mild weather in Europe and Asia, may help offset the ongoing reduction in Russian gas exports for the coming weeks, the amount of Russian gas output is too large to replace without affecting the global gas markets.In addition, the report said Russia would not be expected to impose an export ban of gas supply to Europe because it benefits from its profitable gas exports and cannot easily redirect gas supply from its major fields to other markets.S&P Global Ratings predicts gas supplies will continue to flow from Russia to Europe under most scenarios with respect to the tensions between Russia and the West.The United States and its European partners have mulled sanctions targeting Russia's energy supplies over the situation in Ukraine. The Biden administration has recently been encouraging major energy producers to increase production. However, US media reported that sanctions on Russian energy is off the table for now.The precarious situation around Ukraine has worsened over the past several months after Russia was accused of building up troops near the Ukrainian border and allegedly preparing for an invasion. Moscow has denied the accusations, pointing to NATO's military activity near Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security.

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russia, nord stream 2, europe
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/swedish-authorities-targeted-by-arabic-social-media-over-kidnapping-of-muslim-children-1092838557.html

Swedish Authorities Targeted by Arabic Social Media Over 'Kidnapping' of Muslim Children

Swedish Authorities Targeted by Arabic Social Media Over 'Kidnapping' of Muslim Children

Each year, approximately 8,000 children in Sweden are taken care of by the social services, with immigrant families admittedly running a higher risk. 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T05:49+0000

2022-02-08T05:49+0000

2022-02-08T05:49+0000

sweden

news

scandinavia

europe

children

society

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An excessive campaign with threats and misinformation against the Swedish government over the alleged "kidnapping" of Muslim children has been launched on Arabic social media, the Nordic country's authorities have reported.According to the Swedish Agency for Psychological Defence, the campaign is extensive and features threats of violence and terrorist acts in the comments fields.The campaign reportedly started at the end of December on Arabic-speaking channels totalling millions of followers. According to the authorities, the idea is to diminish Sweden and paint it in a negative light.Since then both Swedish municipalities and social services have been attacked by accounts linked to violent Islamist organisations that claim that Swedish authorities have been "kidnapping" Muslim children from their parents.Municipalities and authorities throughout Sweden have been alerted about the ongoing campaign. The Swedish Agency for Psychological Defence has launched measures in cooperation with certain authorities to respond to the campaign, without going into detail.Per the agency, the masterminds behind the campaign are adapting to the measures. Since the Swedish Institute, a state-funded agency that promotes the image of Sweden abroad, responded to the spread of false information in Arabic-speaking media, the messaging has become more serious, and the campaign has grown in strength.The national broadcaster, SVT, described "fake" films about crying children who claim to have been kidnapped by the Swedish authorities as the core of the campaign. According to Tofvesson of the Swedish Agency for Psychological Defence, there have been false interpretations of cases where children were taken care of in accordance with the law or the police had to intervene.At the same time, about a hundred Muslim parents who had their children forcibly taken care of by the social services held a demonstration outside the Swedish Parliament on Monday, the news outlet Fria Tider reported.The participants reportedly chanted "We want our children back", yet emphasised that they were peaceful and distanced themselves from the threats on social media.Each year, approximately 8,000 children in Sweden are taken care of by the nation's social services. A special legal provision is applied when voluntary efforts are not possible. In late 2021, Swedish Radio reported that children of immigrants run a higher risk of being taken care of by social services.In recent years, a series of protests across the globe has been held against Norway's Child Welfare Services (Barnevernet) for the "legal abduction" of children. Critics lash out against the policy of "baselessly" taking children away from families seen as problematic, accusing the authorities of running a profitable business. Dozens of cases are being studied by the European Court of Human Rights.

sweden

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sweden, news, scandinavia, europe, children, society
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/us-intel-reportedly-plans-to-order-syrian-extremists-to-target-damacus-security-forces-1092843431.html

US Intel Plans to Order Syrian Extremists to Target Damacus Security Forces, Report Suggests

US Intel Plans to Order Syrian Extremists to Target Damacus Security Forces, Report Suggests

A US military contingent remains in Syria to carry out an official mission of fighting Daesh* militants, in a deployment that was not approved by the UN or the... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T08:07+0000

2022-02-08T08:07+0000

2022-02-08T09:07+0000

syria

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US intelligence agencies plan to direct extremists in Damascus and Latakia to target Syrian security forces, as well as Iranian military advisers and Russian military personnel, the press service of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service has announced."US intelligence agencies plan to direct the 'sleeper cells' of extremists in the capital Damascus, the adjacent region and the province of Latakia to carry out targeted actions against members of Syrian law enforcement agencies, as well as Iranian military advisers and Russian military personnel", the statement added.The press service also said that the US intends to launch a media campaign to inspire protests in Syria. Additionally, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said that Washington actively participates in the shadow trade of Syrian oil, as US troops accompany oil trucks from Syria to Iraqi Kurdistan. The US deployed its troops in Syria under the pretext of fighting Daesh, but has not completely withdrawn them despite declaring the terrorist organisation defeated. Washington also lacks a UN Security Council mandate or an invitation from the Syrian government to justify the deployment of American forces in the Arab country.Damascus and Moscow have repeatedly objected to the continuing stay of American troops in Syria, calling it illegitimate. Washington, in turn, claims that its forces have stayed behind to prevent the local oil resources from ending up in the hands of terrorists. However, the Syrian government insists the US troops are, in fact, engaged in the theft of the nation's oil resources.*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and a number of other countries.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220208/us-republican-senators-vow-to-block-deal-with-iran-if-biden-omits-review-in-congress-1092860088.html

US Republican Senators Vow to Block Deal With Iran if Biden Omits Review in Congress

US Republican Senators Vow to Block Deal With Iran if Biden Omits Review in Congress

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Senator Jim Risch on Tuesday joined 32 Republican colleagues who sent a letter to President Joe Biden to warn him that he cannot sign... 08.02.2022, Sputnik International

2022-02-08T18:34+0000

2022-02-08T18:34+0000

2022-02-08T18:34+0000

us

iran

iran nuclear deal

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"We write to call attention to a range of obligations that your administration is statutorily mandated to fulfill in relation to Congressional oversight over any such agreement," the letter reads. "We also write to emphasize that we are committed to using the full range of options and leverage available to United States Senators to ensure that you meet those obligations, and that the implementation of any agreement will be severely if not terminally hampered if you do not."In the letter, Republican senators remind Biden that under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), his administration is required to submit any Iran deal to Congress or be blocked otherwise. The lawmakers warned that Iran has made progress toward a nuclear arsenal that will require measures beyond the JCPOA to reverse.On Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price was forced to defend a Joe Biden administration waiver that allowed foreign companies to take part in civilian nuclear and safety programmes inside Iran without being subject to sanctions. The Biden administration restored civil nuclear waivers for international nuclear cooperation with Iran on Friday. The State Department has maintained that the sanctions relief was "not a concession to Iran". According to Washington, that would ensure that Tehran was scaling back on its nuclear programme with the hopes it would return to the 2015 deal.The news of the letter broke as talks to revive the agreement resumed on Tuesday in Vienna. The resumption of the negotiations comes after parties to the original deal cited progress in seeking to restore the 2015 accord in recent weeks.Iran, for its part, said that the parties had made "significant progress in various areas of the Vienna negotiations", including on guarantees sought by Tehran that the United States would not violate the pact again.Answers that "the United States brings... to Vienna will determine when we can reach an agreement", Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.Under former President Donald Trump, Washington unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reinstated devastating economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, prompting Tehran to begin scaling back nuclear commitments. In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with the P5+1 group (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; plus Germany) and the EU. The accord stipulated that Iran curb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption.

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us, iran, iran nuclear deal
https://sputniknews.com/20220208/white-house-top-science-adviser-dr-eric-lander-resigns-amid-reports-of-bullying-1092837300.html

White House Top Science Adviser Dr Eric Lander Resigns Amid Reports of Bullying

White House Top Science Adviser Dr Eric Lander Resigns Amid Reports of Bullying

White House Top Science Adviser Dr. Eric Lander Resigns Amid Reports of Bullying

2022-02-08T02:12+0000

2022-02-08T02:12+0000

2022-02-08T04:24+0000

us

biden administration

covid-19

bullying

white house

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Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Eric Lander resigned on Monday following an investigation into reports of bullying.The announcement was later commented on by White House spokesperson Jen Psaki.Lander wrote in his letter that it would "be effective no later than February 18 in order to permit an orderly transfer".The probe was said to have found "credible evidence" that Lander bullied his then general counsel, Rachel Wallace. Apart from that, several women earlier complained "about negative interactions with Dr Lander, where he spoke to them in a demeaning or abrasive way in front of other staff".In an office of approximately 140 people, 14 current and former employees who worked under Lander described the work environment as "toxic", as Lander was said to often mistreat and dismiss his subordinates. Nine current and former employees said Lander yelled and sometimes made people feel humiliated in front of his colleagues.

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Alexandra Kashirina

Alexandra Kashirina

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Goshen Standardbred Horse Sales has announced that their 2022 Goshen Yearling Sale will be held on Monday, Sept. 12, at 12 noon at the Mark Ford Training Center in Middletown, New York. The deadline for all consignments made to this sale is Monday, June 13.

Last year, the GYS saw numbers soar to the highest level ever realized in Middletown since the inception of the sale in 2015. A total of 122 yearlings changed hands and generated sales in excess of $2.1 million, which was a 24 per cent increase over the previous sales record of $1.6 million, set in 2019.

We had a very large turnout of about 1,500 buyers in person at the sale, but our continuing partnership with Cattle In Motion for online bidding and video services drove the remote attendance and buying power much higher for the third consecutive year. Last years sale couldnt have gone any better, but were still working hard to improve this year to make it the best buying and selling experience possible for all, said Mark Ford.

This promises to once again be a deep and quality sale, anchored by consignments from sale regulars Cameo Hills Farm, Winbak Farm and Blue Chip Farm.

For the last seven years, the Goshen Yearling Sale has brought quality New York-bred stock to the sales arena from the industrys top breeders and have seen a host of high-speed, quality stakes winners hit the track as a result. The sale has grown exponentially in both size and popularity each year, and remains a favourite yearling venue for both buyers and consignors heading into its eighth year.

The sales facility is located at 90 Slaughter Road, Middletown, N.Y., which is within a 90-minute drive of many major racetracks and training centres in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, making it a very convenient location.

All inquiries should be made to Mark Ford at 973-568-3253 or by email at [email protected].

(Goshen Standardbred Horse Sales)
Culpeper Republican Nick Freitas is sick and tired of Democrats labeling him and his constituents as racists and sexists simply due to policy disagreements.

The feeling has gone relatively viral after a three-minute speech he gave Jan. 26 on the floor of the historic statehouse in Richmond was viewed by more than half-million so far. Freitas 2018 speech about gun rights was reportedly seen by more than 11 million.

As for name calling, the local delegate is fed up with it.

Almost every day someone on the other side of the aisle gets up either subtly or comes right out and suggests that if you dont agree with them on policy, well then youre not a Christian. Youre a sexist. Youre a bigot. Youre a racist, the local delegate stated.

It is also happening to constituents, said the 42-year-old Iraq veteran, citing incidents of parents being told their racist when asking questions about the teaching of so-called critical race theory in public schools.

Kids are coming home and talking to their parents about it, the delegate said in his floor speech.

That has been the repeated narrative coming from certain members of the other side of the aisle and theres been a lot of times where we sat here politely and just took it. Mr. Speakernot this time. Im tired of it, Freitas said.

Sean Hannity had Freitas on the show about the speech.

Good for you. You never got up before that or spoke before? the Fox News broadcaster asked in a Jan. 28 interview.

Freitas responded, Oh, no, no, Ive spoken before. Many of my Democratic colleagues dont appreciate it when I get up and speak but then again I dont appreciate them saying me or my constituents are bigots because we dont agree with them on tax policy.

The delegate said people had been contacting him from across the country thanking him for standing up. Many Americans have been repeatedly told if they dont buy into whatever the latest progressive talking point is today that somehow this makes them a bigot.

Hannity gave the fourth-term delegate some advice regarding his oratorical skills.

I need you to do me a favor. I need to run for higher officeyou can win, he said to end the interview.

Freitas uncomfortably laughed considering he has run twice for higher office and lostin 2018 against PWC Chairman Corey Stewart to run against Tim Kaine for U.S. Senate and in 2020 against Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Henrico for U.S. House.

The local delegate also appeared on former Fox News commentator Rob Schmitt Tonight to talk about his Jan. 26 speech. The broadcaster commented things are starting to swing back in the right direction in your state with the 2021 election of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

That is where all the D.C. elitists livea lot of them are being impacted by this election, Schmitt said of Virginia.

Youngkin ran on giving parents more choice in their childrens education, Freitas said, and that is what he is delivering on.

To suggest the new governor is a racist or a segregationist or not a Christian because of his policies is absurd, the delegate said of how he feels as well as the voters.

Forbes Breaking News, with its 1.25 million subscribers, took note of the speech in a post: Yesterday in the Virginia House of Delegates, GOP Del. Nick Freitas had a viral moment slamming Democratic accusations of racism and sexism.

In the speech, Freitas said he did not know a single person in the house chamber he would define as racist or sexist or bigoted.

We have very different ideas about how to get to particular end states where all Virginians can be happy, healthy, prosperous and free, he added.

Freitas started his late January speech in saying the remarks were prompted by a Democratic colleague who recently asked him if he was going to be nice this session.

But just so Im very clear. Will be I be nice this session? I would certainly like to be, but Im not about to sit here and listen to that and then go home to my constituents, have them ask me, Why didnt you stand up and defend us? So lets have a robust policy discussion, but if youre going to question the faith of the intentions of anybody that happens to disagree with you on policy then you dont get to lecture us on compassion, tolerance and an open debate, the delegate said in closing.

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Fonner Park, in planning for future horse-racing growth, has firmed up its policy regarding the use of stalls, which has alienated one longtime Nebraska trainer.

Marvin Johnson was not pleased to be told he can bring only horses to Fonner Park this year that he will run at this years meet.

Fonner officials have given that message to all trainers. But Johnson notes that he has run many horses at the Grand Island track during the years and paid a lot of Nebraska taxes.

Johnson, who received the message in August, will not compete at Fonner Park this year for the first time since 1974. He feels he is no longer welcome at the Grand Island track. The news was the biggest punch in the gut hes ever had, he says. It left an awful bitter taste in my mouth.

Not racing at Fonner Park will prevent him from spending two months with his family that he normally enjoys. Johnson, who lives eight miles from Fonner Park, has children and grandchildren in the area.

Fonner Park Chief Executive Officer Chris Kotulak says Johnson is not being singled out.

Marvin Johnson has been racing with us forever. But he is not being treated any differently than what we ask of other horsemen, Kotulak said.

The rule is not new, Kotulak said. But with a casino and bigger purses on the horizon, Fonner Park wants to get its stalls in order for the future.

In his annual letter to horsemen in the 2022 condition stakes book, Kotulak emphasized that the stall rule will be enforced. Asking trainers to bring only the horses they intend to race is something every racetrack in the world would require, he said.

In spreading the news of the tighter enforcement, Kotulak and racing secretary Doug Schoepf informed Johnson first as a matter of courtesy because of his long history here at Fonner Park, Kotulak said.

Johnson was informed six months before the racing meet that we were just going to start enforcing a rule that had been loosely or not enforced at all, Kotulak said.

And then we called other trainers after we spoke with Marvin and gave them the same message, Kotulak said.

The message, Kotulak said, was to please only bring horses here to race at Fonner Park that you put on your stall application and that you intend to race at Fonner.

Johnson said he wont come back to Fonner as long as Kotulak is in charge. If it had been his choice, it would have been different, Johnson said.

We never told him not to come, Kotulak said Were disappointed that he didnt come.

Even before Fonner gave away Johnsons longstanding barn that he had used, Barn N, he was contacted again to make sure he was really not coming. We didnt want to give his barn away to someone else if he was coming, Kotulak said.

Instead of Fonner Park, Johnson will race in Indiana and perhaps other tracks. Nebraskas home, and thats where Id like to be, he said.

Hed especially like to be around his family while hes training. And I was kind of forced away from them, said Johnson, whos a member of the Nebraska Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Johnson, 67, didnt run as many horses as usual last year because of bad weather and tough track conditions. Because of those conditions, he didnt have as many horses ready to run in February and March. Otherwise, Id have had a whole lot more starts, he said.

Ive always run my share there, lets put it that way, with a little bit of exception for the 46 years Ive been coming there, he said by phone from Indiana.

Kotulaks predecessors would never have told me something like that, he said, referring to Al and Bruce Swihart and Hugh Miner.

Johnson feels he was singled out. Several trainers dont run all of the horses they stable at Fonner, he said.

Johnson understands Kotulaks thinking.

But I sure thought I would have been able to do my best and run as many as I could, assuming the track wasnt short on stalls, Johnson said.

Johnson could understand the policy if the stalls were going to be full for this years meet. But he says there will be open stalls.

If it was me, I dont guess I would have been real quick to kick a guy like me out until they needed the stalls, he said.

In telling him that the rule would be enforced, Johnson says Kotulak told him, Were just around the corner from something really good.

Higher purses, brought about by the casino, are expected to bring more horsemen to Grand Island.

A trainer and his horses are called an outfit. Fonner had a new outfit show up for this years meet, which includes a large number of horses. And we needed a barn for them, Kotulak said. Barn N was a good option.

But we still have stall spaces for Marvin Johnson and hes still welcome to come, Kotulak said. Hes never been unwelcome to come. But he must come with the horses on his (stall application) and race those horses.

If Johnson follows the stall rule, we can make room for him. It just wont be his barn anymore because that opportunity has since passed.

Fonner expects more horsemen to arrive in future years. Hence the tighter policy this year.

Were trying to run a business here, and we need horses that are going to come race at Fonner Park, Kotulak said.

Johnson, whos worked at Fonner Park since he was 16, says there are other ways this could have been handled.

The current thinking at Fonner, he said, is not what have you done for me. Its what you can do for me now, I guess.

For all hes contributed to Fonner Park racing, Johnson feels he deserves some loyalty.

You shouldnt have to ask for loyalty, Johnson said.

In his welcome message to horsemen, Kotulak wrote that I want nothing more than Nebraska thoroughbred horse racing to be able to stand on its own and allow YOU the opportunity to thrive without ever leaving the state. Thank you for being with us in the early days of our goal to return to the good ol days  and the better new days to come.

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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 Ukraines 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 Bidens 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.

On Friday, 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. Youre 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 didnt send a clear message, Russias claim that an invasion of Ukraine is unthinkable shouldnt pass the laugh test. Remember, its 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 Putins 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. Its 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 Bidens 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 Zelenskyys 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 theyre 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 Putins propaganda and paranoia are the voice of reason. Carlson asserts that America is pushing Ukraine to join NATO. It isnt.

Some on the right have even convinced themselves that the West is hostile to Putin because he opposes the Wests 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 its Zelenskyys voice that prevails amid the din.
SAN JOSE, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Former Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres takes the lead in the current presidential elections though no clear winner has emerged yet, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) said on Monday.

With 88.2 percent of the ballots counted, Figueres, the candidate of the National Liberation Party and former president from 1994 to 1998, was in the lead with 27.27 percent of the vote, followed by former World Bank official and ex-finance minister Rodrigo Chaves of the Social Democratic Progress Party, who garnered 16.70 percent.

Fabricio Alvarado of the New Republic Party came third with 14.82 percent of the vote, the TSE's preliminary results show.

According to Costa Rican law, if none of the candidates exceed the threshold of 40 percent of the vote to win the country's presidency in the first round, a second round vote should be held on April 3.

The TSE said this would be the last update of the preliminary results, since the definitive count of the votes will begin, to make way for the announcement of the official results.

The TSE has up to 30 days from Monday to finish counting the votes and declare the results.

The final winner of the elections will take office on May 8, succeeding current President Carlos Alvarado. 
Statesville might want to paint the town red after it was announced Sherwin-Williams will invest at least $300 million in the city and Iredell County.

In news releases from the company and government officials, it was announced the paint and coating manufacturer would create 183 jobs in Iredell County through expansion of its facilities on Salisbury Road in Statesville. The company will invest $324 million, according to the news release from Gov. Roy Coopers office, as it significantly expands its manufacturing capacity and establish a larger distribution facility at the site.

This is a great day for Statesville  Sherwin-Williams decision to expand its footprint here represents the largest single investment in the history of our city, Mayor Costi Kutteh said. We have worked extremely hard to accomplish this result and we are grateful to Iredell EDC, Iredell County, and the State of North Carolina for their tremendous partnership with our city. We pledge our collective support to ensure their continued success.

According to the announcement from the state, it is estimated that $10 million will enter the local economy each and every year, due to the payroll impact from the new jobs once the positions are filled.

Sherwin-Williams has been an integral part of the Statesville community since 1993. We are thrilled that they decided to continue to invest in our city, our region and our people by expanding their footprint and adding career opportunities with todays announcement, Kutteh said. We look forward to seeing the progress of the project and to welcoming new Sherwin-Williams employees to the enhanced facility in 2024.

Other local political leaders also spoke about the announcement.

Its a big win, Statesville city council member William Morgan said. North Carolina is definitely on map now, and Statesville is too.

We welcome this great news from Sherwin-Williams, one of our areas signature employers, Sen. Vickie Sawyer said. These new jobs and this major capital investment in our community will bring more prosperity to Statesville, Iredell County, and all the people who live and work here.

Many people worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support the Sherwin-Williams team as they considered this expansion, Rep. Grey Mills said. Were proud of the collaboration between our state, regional and local partners that helped bring these new jobs to our region

In the news release, Cooper touted the announcement as a victory for the state as well.

Manufacturers choose North Carolina time and again, thanks to our states skilled workforce, modern transportation networks, and central, East Coast location, Cooper said. Companies already doing business here understand our strengths best, and were glad Sherwin-Williams will continue to call our state home.

According to the news release, the Sherwin-Williams project in Statesville will include a 36,000-square-foot extension of its existing 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, the addition of four new rail spurs, and the construction of a new 800,000-square-foot distribution and fleet transportation center. The upgrades will add millions of gallons of annual manufacturing capacity to help the company meet the increasing demand for its architectural paint and coatings products.

The planned investment at our Statesville facility supports meeting the expanding needs of our customers in the region, said John G. Morikis, Sherwin-Williams chairman, president and chief executive officer. We want to thank all of the public entities involved in working with us to achieve our combined goals that drive economic development, add good-paying jobs, and support the surrounding community.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders also said it was part of a process that it believes makes the state welcoming for companies like Sherwin-Williams.

Its always great to see the manufacturing base of our state expand, Sanders said. Our states workforce is a big part of why were the top state for manufacturing in the Southeast, and as our First in Talent plan for economic development makes clear, were committed to providing our people with the required education and specialized training to meet the needs of manufacturers like Sherwin-Williams.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce led the states support for the company during its site evaluation and decision-making process.

Money for the project comes from a Job Development Investment Grant approved by the states Economic Investment Committee earlier on Tuesday. Cooper office said over the 12-year term of this grant, the project is estimated to grow the states economy by $1.1 billion. It said it the company meets its job creation and investment goals, the JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $2,723,250, spread over 12 years.

Part of the agreement with the company will move $907,750 into the states Industrial Development FundUtility Account, which helps rural communities across the state finance necessary infrastructure upgrades to attract future business, according to the state.

In Sherwin-Williams news release, it said it will receive incentives and benefits valued at approximately $30 million from the state, count, and local government as part of the agreement.

Sherwin-Williams has long been a top employer in North Carolina. There are currently more than 2,400 full-time Sherwin-Williams employees working in the state, and todays announcement ensures a substantial number of jobs will be added over the next three years, Cooper said. Because of this continued partnership, the state was pleased to provide the necessary financial incentives to support the Companys decision to grow its footprint in the city of Statesville for years to come.

Construction is expected to start by the third quarter of this year, with all work slated to be completed by the end of 2024. The manufacturing facility will continue to operate for the duration of the project.

Partnering with the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the North Carolina Railroad, Norfolk Southern, Mitchell Community College, Iredell County, the City of Statesville and the Iredell County Economic Development Corporation.

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The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education briefly discussed COVID and the current mask mandate at Mondays Committee of the Whole meeting but made no indications as to what decision it will reach at next weeks regular board meeting.

Chief of Strategic Planning and Student Services Boen Nutting gave the board its biweekly update Monday night in which she told the board that the Iredell County Health Department advises that Iredell County should continue to mask through February. The recommendation to continue to mask is because the county is still considered high transmission.

The school system had 36 students excluded last week due to close contact, a decline from the 46 that were excluded the week before.

The board discussed briefly at last months meeting a way to implement a mask-optional policy by the school depending on its positivity rate. Under this policy any school under a 1% positivity rate would be mask optional but it would become mandatory as soon as it went over the 1% threshold.

While there was never a vote held regarding implementation of the policy, Nutting told the board she discussed the idea with the systems principals and the majority were against it because they felt like it would be confusing for parents to keep up from one week to the next as to whether their child had to mask. The other concern was households that had students at multiple schools, one may have to mask while the other did not.

After Nuttings presentation, Superintendent Jeff James made some brief comments to the board.

It behooves us to keep a child in a seat if we are going to have academic excellence. Our principals pay are tied to the performances of our schools and our directors pay is tied to the performances of our schools, so when we err, we try to err on sides of keeping students in a seat, James said.

He continued.

But again, we are up against what the state is saying we must do, and we had some long conversations about that tonight and then we have some decisions to make, either tonight or next week. This is the hand we were dealt, and I think most of us were tired of playing that hand. At some point we are going to have to make a decision on which way we are going.

The board is required by the state legislature to vote monthly on the mask mandate. The board will vote on whether to continue the mandate at Mondays meeting.
February 8, 2022: Iraqs national elections in 2021 revealed much less support for Iran despite increased Iranian threats and financial promises Iran could not keep. Iran has been seeking ways to regain its influence in Iraqi politics and so far, has been unsuccessful. Iran initially responded with a failed assassination attack on the Iraqi prime minister plus rocket and mortar attacks on the American embassy and the remaining U.S. troops. Most Iraqis want some Americans to stay, more economic activity with Arab neighbors and an end to Iranian meddling in Iraq. Iran has other problems that must be tended to, including growing economic problems and domestic unrest because of that. Iraq is now a lower priority, but one Iran will eventually return to.

The 2021 Iraqi elections were mainly about confronting a larger problem than Iran; widespread corruption and resulting government mismanagement of the economy. While most Iraqis agree with this, members of the new parliament, especially the different coalitions, do not agree on where to start with eliminating corrupt practices. Eliminating corruption imposes a one-time tax on many Iraqi groups. The size of the tax varies and the debate is mainly about who gets hit first and for how much. You cannot do it all at once because there is no combined list of all the corrupt practices and what each costs the economy. Eliminating corruption is a simple slogan but implementing it requires far more effort. This problem has stalled the formation of a new government. If no new government exists in two months, the constitution mandates new national elections. Most parties want to avoid the expense and casualties (from those violently opposed to democracy). Working out problems like is one thing that separates a functioning democracy and a failed state or dictatorship.

One of the easier tasks is reestablishing economic ties with the other Arab oil states in the region. These nations, all run by Sunnis, offered peace and investment to Iraq and the new Iraqi government accepted the offer, even as some of those Arab states were establishing diplomatic, economic and military relations with Israel. This is a big problem for Iran because Israel has made it clear that it will use airstrikes and less obvious attacks to stop Iran from developing a working nuclear weapon. Irans prospective first successful underground test, which can be monitored by foreign earthquake detectors plus specialized aircraft that can detect and measure small amounts of fallout which often escape from underground tests. The first test might be an incomplete detonation or fizzle. Fixing this requires making some adjustments and testing again. Eventually the nukes become more reliable. But to make them robust enough to be used in ballistic missile warheads requires a lot more time and effort. That effort became more vulnerable to an Israeli airstrike because of the new Iraqi government and its Gulf Arab neighbors, who will trade with and support Iraq as long as Iraq does not aid Iran in its effort to obtain nukes and destroy the military power of the Arab Gulf states.

Iraq has found China willing to invest in the local economy, especially if it includes developing or operating oil production facilities. Iraq is also aware of the Chinese proclivity for eventually using these investments as political and diplomatic tools to achieve whatever local goals China had.

ISIL Forever

Despite the late 2017 declaration that ISIL was defeated, the Islamic terror group remains active in northern and Western Iraq, as well as in Syria where it was created by Iraqi Islamic terrorists. ISIL no longer controls large areas of Iraq but is a problem because of the violence, extortion, and disorder it brings in several provinces north of Baghdad. Defeating ISIL took four years of effort and several hundred billion dollars to pay for an expanded military, battle damage and economic losses plus over 100,000 Iraqi lives, to kill at least 20,000 Islamic terrorists. This eliminated ISIL control of Iraqi territory. That effort created other problems, and opportunities. Iran offered help and was allowed to organize, train and often lead in combat over 100,000 Iraqi (largely Shia) militiamen in what was and still is the PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces). Most Iraqis, including most Iraqi Shia (about 60 percent of the population) feared an Iran inspired coup but by early 2018 senior Shia clerics in Iraq and Iran agreed that the militias should stay out of politics. Irans government was not consulted on this decision and a minority of pro-Iran Iraqis still want an Iran style religious dictatorship. There are few PMF members who still support Iranian goals and the PMF is no longer a major security problem for Iraq.

ISIL has lost territory, and lots of members, since 2014 and is still around. That is because groups like ISIL persist in the Middle East because there is still plenty of corruption, bad government, economic stagnation and a prevalent religion (Islam) that justifies and encourages terrorism. Islam also creates an atmosphere that encourages corruption and bad government. Most Moslems see this as a fundamental problem that must be fixed. Finding and applying a suitable solution has been a work in process for centuries.

February 6, 2022: In the northeast (Diyala Province) an ISIL attack on a police convoy was defeated. One policeman was killed and three others wounded, including a police general who was apparently the primary target. The convoy was well protected and the ISIL attackers quickly withdrew when they realized that. Assassinations of key security forces commanders and intelligence specialists is a standard strategy with ISIL because it is the most effective way to reduce the effectiveness of counterterrorism efforts.

February 4, 2022: In the north, the autonomous Kurdish government turned over control of one of its combat brigades to the Iraqi Defense Ministry. This brigade, with about 2,000 veteran Kurdish soldiers, will remain in the north and work with Iraqi troops to deal with Islamic terrorists, especially ISIL, that operate on the Iraqi side of the Kurd/Iraq border and along the Syrian border.

February 3, 2022: In the Kurdish north, outside Erbil, ISIL sniper fire wounded three Kurdish troops. Return fire killed one of the snipers and caused the others to flee. Kurdish forces pursued. Attacks like this are rare because there are few Islamic terrorists in the Kurdish north. Kurdish security is good and Kurdish troops are trained to track down and kill or capture any Islamic terrorists. In the Kurdish north there are few local civilians willing to provide support for Islamic terrorists and there are no Kurdish Islamic terrorists. There were a few in the past but they did not survive long.

In Syria another Iraqi head of ISIL was located and killed by the American Special Forces. This took place in northwest Syria (Idlib province) where American commandos raided the house a few kilometers from the Turkish border where Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurayshi, the current leader of ISIL lived. Qurayshi was selected for the job a week after the 2019 raid on the Idlib province hideout of ISIL founder al-Baghdadi. Both men were Iraqi Islamic terrorists who became active after Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003 and ended up in Syria after their Iraq terror campaign was defeated in 2008. Both ISIL leaders were from families that supplied military and police commanders for Saddams forces. Iraqi Islamic terrorists went to Syria after 2012 to join the fight against the secular Assad dictatorship. In 2014 Baghdadi, and senior associates like Qurayshi created ISIL as the ultimate Islamic terrorist organization that was going to restore the reputation of Iraqi Islamic terrorists who failed in Iraq. ISIL was successful for about three years, but then the counterattack by all the enemies they had made, including fellow Islamic terrorists, destroyed the caliphate and forced survivors like Baghdadi and Qurayshi to flee with their families to Idlib province, where the Syrian government allowed surrounded Islamic terrorists to go to as long as they surrendered the territory (neighborhoods or towns) they currently occupied rather than fight to the death and see their surroundings blasted to bits and pro-Assad civilians killed. This tactic worked by concentrating nearly all the surviving Islamic terrorists in within one Syria province on the Turkish border. The Turks fortified their Idlib border and warned Idlib refugees that any attempt to find refuge in Turkey would be resisted with force. Syria, with the help of Russian air power and equipment, have slowly been retaking Idlib province. The Assads cannot go for a quick victory because they would lose more troops than they can afford to lose. Syrian soldiers have been at war for a decade and it is understood that they will stay in uniform as long as the Assads dont get a lot of them killed.

Meanwhile the U.S. offered a $10 million reward for information on Qurayshi and this was not mentioned in reports of todays pre-dawn raid. The rewards program works because if an informant supplies accurate information, he and his immediate family are moved to a safe foreign country. This is something similar to the successful American domestic Witness Protection program.

February 2, 2022: In the south an Iran supported Iraqi militia, the True Promise Brigade, took credit for launching three Iranian UAVs, equipped with explosives and programmed to crash and explode in the UAE. That failed because UAE aur defenses have been upgraded to detect and destroy UAVs or cruise missiles coming from any direction. The True Promise Brigade is not very large or active and is now targeted by Iraqi counter-terrorism forces. Iraq is seeking to improve its economic relationships with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and reduce contact with Iran.

In the north (Kirkuk province) intel about a remote ISIL camp was accurate enough for an Iraqi warplane to find and bomb the target. When ground troops arrived, they found four ISIL men dead,

February 1, 2022: In the north (Nineveh province) Intel efforts paid off as the location of an ISIL bomb workshop was discovered, raided and troops seized 80 explosive devices, including explosive vests, roadside bombs and explosives for turning a car or truck into suicide bomber vehicles. The location was the main supplier of explosive devices for ISIL operations in the north.

January 28, 2022: In the north (Saladin Province, some 200 kilometers north of Baghdad) ISIL gunmen made a night attack on an army checkpoint. Four soldiers, as well as one of the attackers, were killed. So far this year ISIL has been carrying out similar successful attacks several times a week in the north, along the border between Iraqi and Kurdish territory. Most of the attacks fail because there is no element of surprise or the troops targeted are well prepared. This is especially true when ISIL tries to attack army bases, even small ones.

January 25, 2022: In the last 48 hours Iraqi warplanes made three attacks on ISIL targets, including one outside Baghdad and the other two in the north (Nineveh province). Over twenty ISIL members were killed and even more wounded. The targets were located using tips from locals followed by aerial surveillance by UAVs and manned aircraft.

January 23, 2022: In the south ( Qadisiya province) there was another roadside bomb attack on an American supply convoy but there were no casualties or damage

January 22, 2022: In the north (Nineveh province) an Iraqi airstrike killed the ISIL commander in charge of provincial operations and one of his assistants. ISIL commanders are generally very careful when moving and this one may have been hit by chance because the identity of the dead leader was not discovered until the bodies were examined for IDs or useful documents.

January 21, 2022: In the north (Kirkuk province) three soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb and another wounded.

January 18, 2022: In the northeast (Diyala Province) an ISIL attack on an army base left 11 soldiers dead. A later investigation revealed that the garrison was sloppy with its night security and enabled ISIL to get close enough to launch a successful attack. The base was equipped with night-vision devices and if these were used the ISIL attack would have failed.

January 11, 2022: Israel declared that it would attack Iranian nuclear weapons facilities alone if the U.S. and key European countries agreed to lift the economic sanctions on Iran in return of Iranian assurances that it will halt its nuclear weapons program. Israel does not believe Iran will abide by these terms, just as it has never halted work on nukes in the past. Iran work has slowed down in the past, largely because of economic sanctions. When Iran has more money, some of it goes to nukes and most of it goes to overseas military operations in places like Syria, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen. Most nations feel no immediate threat from Iranian nuclear weapons, especially early models, which will be crude and less effective. Iran believes nukes will make neighbors more likely to agree to Iranian demands. The one country that is always mentioned as the first target for Iranian nukes is Israel. The Islamic radicals in Iran continue to openly proclaim their desire to nuke Israel. No other nation has been threatened with nuclear attack and Israel considers lifting economic sanctions on Iran as an opportunity for Iran to finally build a nuclear weapon and use it against the Little Satan (Israel). The Great Satan is the United States, which is too far away and too powerful to be the first foe to feel the nuclear wrath of Iran.

Israel is gaining more Arab allies against Iran. A growing number of Moslem states are establishing diplomatic and trade relations with Israel. After more than a century of increasing anti-Semitism, most of Israels Arab neighbors realized that Israel would be a valuable economic, diplomatic and military ally against common enemies like Shia Iran and Islamic terrorism in general. Israel is also the only nation in the region with nukes and reliable ballistic missiles, which are also used to put Israeli spy satellites into orbit. These missiles can also reach any target in Iran, using nuclear or non-nuclear warheads.

Many Iranians are willing to change but their corrupt leaders are not and use their war on Israel as an excuse to violently suppress any Iranian opposition to the current suicidal strategy. Iranians born after the 1980s are now the majority and want an end to corruption, theocracy and expensive foreign misadventures. The decade-long operation in Syria was seen as particularly wasteful and expensive, especially with Israel threatening to use whatever it takes, including their nukes, to prevent Iran from creating a military presence on their northern border. These young Iranians also know that until the 1980s Israel and Iran were allies and trading partners and that may well be a case of the Good Old Days being more reality than misleading nostalgia.
Kuwait has banned the screening of director Kenneth Branagh's "Death on the Nile" because of Israeli actress Gal Gadot, The Times of Israel reports.

The script for the Agatha Christie novel was to be rented this month. It is mentioned that authorities banned the film from social media following criticism. Users were reminded that Gadot served in the Israeli army. Israel and Kuwait do not have diplomatic relations, Kuwait forbids entry into its territory to anyone who has an Israeli passport.

Another film starring Gadot, Wonder Woman, was previously banned in Kuwait. The actress was even forced to disable her ability to comment on Twitter because of the insults.

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A belief in public service guided Courtney Widener when he joined the Army National Guard following his high school graduation. It continued to propel him when he returned to Smyth County and took a position with the sheriffs office. Now, the conviction has led him to elected office.

Last week, Widener took his seat on the Smyth County Board of Supervisors to represent the Royal Oak District, a place he has called home his entire life.

In an interview last week, Widener said hes had the desire to serve in such a leadership role for the last 10 to 15 years. When Judy Wyant, who held the seat for the last four years, decided not to seek reelection, the time was right. Widener ran unopposed for the seat.

Long before Widener decided to run for office, hes been committed to public service.

Ive always had that urge to try to help people, he said.

He first served his country.

Widener spent 12 years with the Army National Guard that included three different operations. The last, Operation Iraqi Freedom, took him to the Middle East.

The lifetime VFW member followed a similar path when he returned to Smyth County. In 2004, he joined the sheriffs office as a dispatcher. Three years later, Widener began patrolling the communitys roads as a deputy. He continued that work until two months ago when he opted to become a school resource officer and supervisor of the countys 911 dispatch center.

During his career, Widener worked to learn and grow, earning his bachelors degree in criminal justice in 2016.

He plans to take many of the lessons hes learned in military and police service to elected office. Without hesitation, Widener believes communication is a key. People will disagree on issues, he knows, but at the end of the day, we have to make decisions that are the best for everyone as a whole.

He also said hell be as open and honest  as transparent  with people as possible.

During last weeks supervisors meeting, Widener abstained from a vote to approve expenditures from the sheriffs office fund. He said he plans to make it a practice to abstain from votes that would impact him financially. I dont want any appearance of trying to gain from the position, he said.

Widener said that a key to his service is not seeing himself as any different from anyone else.

In law enforcement, Widener observed that officers see a great deal of bad, but we always do everything we can [to create] good in any situation.

For all the burdens that officers carry, Widener said, we still do everything we can for someone in need.

Even when someone has committed a terrible crime, Widener said he believes in treating that person with respect. At the end of the day, he said, were all Gods children. We help one another. We do the best we can for Him.

As for his platform, Widener puts economic growth as a high priority while maintaining Smyth County as a safe and peaceful place that people want to live in and visit. He believes in supporting small business, while also working to attract larger industries. With I-81 down the heart of our county, I believe theres lots of opportunity, he said.

As a father and someone who works regularly in the schools, Widener also makes education a key priority.

With all the struggles theyve faced during the pandemic, he believes not enough credit is given to the schools faculty and staff.

He also wants to help them move forward. Were in a new lifestyle [with COVID], but we dont need to let it hold us back, Widener said.

As for the countys challenges, Widener wants the supervisors to work for long-term solutions and not temporary fixes. I dont want our children to have to deal with problems we should have faced, he said.

His peers on the board of supervisors welcomed Widener last week. Chair Charlie Atkins challenged him to speak up. Dont be afraid to say something stupid. Weve all done it. Dont be afraid to ask questions, Atkins said.

Widener thanked Atkins and his fellow supervisors and his constituents. He promised everyone that he looks forward to tackling the challenges.

You may get tired of hearing from me, he declared.

Later, during the interview, Widener reflected, Ive been very blessed. He said he traveled around the world and worked with some of the best men and women and learned from them. They helped me be a leader in the military and with the sheriffs office, he said. He believes those leadership lessons still apply.

He also gave significant credit to his wife and family. Widener and his wife of nearly 19 years, Vicki, have two children, ages 2 and 16. Theyre also caring for a foster child. With careers in the military and law enforcement, Widener said his family has been put through a great deal.

He noted his 16-year-old Sam, who has his own interest in politics, serving in 2020 as a Virginia Senate page and actively taking part in local, state, and national campaigns, helps out significantly. He gave a special nod to Vicki, saying, Shes our backbone.
Mental health officials say a man charged with murdering his Castle Rock roommate in 2021 can stand trial, after being found incompetent to do so in September.

He pleaded not guilty to three felony charges Thursday in Cowlitz County Superior Court  nearly a year after his arrest  and his trial date is set for June 14.

Case

Western State Hospital officials said Jan. 31 that Duane Allen Black, 22, has the capacity to understand proceedings and assist counsel in his defense.

Black pleaded not guilty Thursday to the felony charges of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree unlawful use of a firearm and tampering with a witness. He was in the Cowlitz County Jail as of Monday afternoon.

Cowlitz County deputies arrested Black for suspicion of fatally shooting Randall Smith, 63, on Feb. 27, 2021, in the 100 block of Porcupine Lane in Castle Rock.

In September, the Department of Social and Health Services said Black couldnt help with his defense because he had post-traumatic stress, depression and alcohol- and drug-use disorders.

Blacks fiance Morrigan Clymer said an argument between her and Smith prompted the February assault, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office. Clymer told police she heard four gunshots after Black walked past her with a rifle and said he was going to get Smith.

The couple had lived with Smith for several months, police said. Before living in Castle Rock, Black resided in Oregon, according to court records.

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The woman who admitted to helping Cowlitz County Deputy Justin DeRosiers killer escape in 2019 was sentenced to a year and a day in prison Monday, after requesting an alternative sentence to be with her children.

Savannah Eastman, 27, is scheduled to report to custody Saturday  ending roughly three years of Cowlitz County Superior Court proceedings, which took a toll on the victims family and colleagues, they said Monday in court.

Alternative sentencing

Eastman was denied an alternative to prison Monday. She pleaded guilty to an additional charge last fall to qualify for an alternative sentence that aims to keep parents and children together for the betterment of the kids by supervising convicts outside of prison.

Eastman pleaded guilty to the original felony charge of first-degree rendering criminal assistance, as well as the newer felony of first-degree criminal impersonation in November 2021.

Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Patricia Fassett said Monday that although the sentencing alternative is available for Eastman, this isnt a crime that connects with the sentencing option.

Cowlitz County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Phelan said these alternatives typically help people with drug or custodial issues receive education and counseling to be better parents. But Phelan said Eastmans crime of helping a killer escape cant be fixed with parenting classes, because she committed the actions due to a character deficiency.

This is a situation where someone actively aided and abetted a capital murder, he said.

Eastmans defense attorney Joshua Baldwin said Eastman committed the crime due to the influences around her. She couldnt reveal the whereabouts of DeRosiers killer in 2019 because her then boyfriend, Michael Veatch, threatened her, Baldwin said. After the crime, Baldwin said Eastman left the area to distance herself from such people.

Baldwin said Eastman takes ownership of her wrongdoing and the law allows her to request an alternative sentence to be with her kids.

She was afraid and she lied, Baldwin said. She was afraid and she helped someone she shouldnt have. That doesnt mean she shouldnt be held responsible, but the Legislature has allowed the court to hold a person responsible by giving them this sentencing alternative.

GoFundMe donations

Eastman said she made bad decisions, but is getting her life back on track.

I understand what I did was very wrong, she said. Im just trying to build a better future for myself and my children.

But DeRosiers widow Katie DeRosier questioned Eastmans sincerity Monday, saying Eastman has made herself seem like a victim and solicited donations to help through the ordeal.

Eastman raised donations to pay for a new home for her and her children after police broke windows and used tear gas to search her home in connection with the DeRosier case in 2019, according to a previous article by The Daily News. At the time, Eastman denied her involvement in the killing.

According to a GoFundMe site, Eastman raised $3,250 after the search. A GoFundMe spokesperson said the organizer of that GoFundMe page set up a beneficiary, so none of the funds went to Eastman directly.

The GoFundMe spokesperson did not release the name of the person who received the donations. The donation page says the beneficiary is Michael Veatch  the name of Eastmans 2019 boyfriend who she said asked her to help DeRosiers killer.

Crime

Eastman admitted to arranging a getaway car for Brian Butts, 33, of Kalama, in 2019 after she said Veatch requested she help Butts escape for shooting Deputy DeRosier, 29.

Butts did not make it to the vehicle. About 22 hours after DeRosiers shooting on April 13, 2019, Butts was fatally shot by Kelso officers after he fired at them in Kalama. DeRosier died April 14, 2019, in the hospital.

Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office Chief Criminal Deputy Troy Brightbill said in court Monday that Eastmans inability to tell officers of Butts location earlier put officers, and others, at risk. During the manhunt for Butts, local residents locked their doors and barricaded inside their homes, he added.

Veatch was killed by officers in 2019 following an unrelated shooting in St. Helens, Oregon. His brother Matthew Veatch pleaded guilty to the felony of first-degree criminal assistance in the DeRosier case and was sentenced to 11 months in June 2020.

Another defendant in the case, Ricky Roberts pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of third-degree criminal assistance in January 2020 and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 16 in Cowlitz County Superior Court.

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TOUTLE  More than 100 Toutle Lake School students and community members Monday lined Spirit Lake Memorial Highway with signs and flags protesting the states mask mandate.

A group of students organized the walkout-turned-protest last week over social media, said senior John Nicholson. Students went to class at 8:30 a.m. Monday, took their masks off and walked out when asked to go see the principal, he said.

We dont believe in the mandates and dont believe its right to be putting these on children that dont have a need for it, Nicholson said.

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 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.

Toutle Lake Superintendent Bob Garrett said about 120 secondary students participated in the walkout. No students were disciplined for their participation. The district considers the absences as unexcused, but the principal asked staff to work with students this one time to make up missed assignments if the student arranges a meeting with them, Garrett said.

Toutle Lake senior and organizer Olivia Clark said students sick of wearing masks in school wanted to come together against the mandate peacefully and in a way not directed at the staff or school.

Us kids are tired of it and we wanted to see if we could make a change, she said.

Clark said more people joined the protest than expected. Along with high school students, some middle school and elementary students participated, as well as parents and other community members, she said.

Nicholson said the group was inspired by a walkout at a Pe Ell school last week, and wanted to send a message to Gov. Jay Inslee.

Students at the Lewis County school staged a walkout Tuesday, and continued to protest through Friday, the Centralia Chronicle reported. Congressional candidate Heidi St. John and Republican District 19 Rep. Jim Walsh joined Friday, prompting the district to ask protesters to move off campus, the Chronicle reported.

A group of Woodland middle and high school students along with some adults participated in an organized protest against the mandate Friday. The administration invited students inside because it was cold, and allowed some students to stay unmasked inside the library, according to the district.

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TEHRAN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday some Arab nations' normalization of ties with Israel will create more problems for the region.

The president made the remarks in a meeting with the new Palestinian ambassador to Iran, Salam Zawawi, to receive her credentials, reported the Iranian presidency's website.

Raisi noted that certain Arab states' move to establish diplomatic relations with Israel will not ensure protection and security for them, and instead, it will create more problems for the region and Arab countries.

He said that the public protests by all Palestinian people and groups proved that "the act of betrayal" was rejected and condemned.

Stressing the Palestine issue should be the Muslim world's top priority, the Iranian president said that Iran is the true supporter of the Palestinian nation and the liberation of Al-Quds, or the holy city of Jerusalem.

For his part, Zawawi censured those Arab states that "rushed" to normalize ties with Israel, saying they turned their back on the Palestinian cause and a blind eye to the rights of the Palestinian people and the existing resolutions in this regard.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized their ties with Israel in 2020 under the U.S.-brokered deals known as the Abraham Accords. Morocco and Sudan also followed suit. 
Researchers used satellite data to more accurately measure the thickness of glaciers, shedding new light on how global water supplies are changing as the planet warms.

The worlds shrinking glaciers contain less ice than previously estimated, according to a ground-breaking study that has significant implications for global water supplies as climate change accelerates. Scientists for the first time measured the thickness and movement of more than 250,000 mountain glaciers using new satellite imaging techniques. More than 1 million hours of computing time was used to analyze nearly 812,000 pairs of high-resolution photos. By estimating the thickness of a glacier, the scientists were able to more accurately pinpoint the volume of ice it contains.

The survey encompassed 98% of areas on Earth that were covered in glaciers from 2017 to 2018. It found wide variations in ice volume and freshwater reservoirs that hundreds of millions of people depend on for drinking water, agriculture and electricity generation. That includes glaciers never before mapped in areas of New Zealand, South America and Europe, according the paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience on Monday.

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Researchers at Frances Institute of Environmental Geosciences and Dartmouth College determined that the Himalayas held 37% more ice than past surveys had found while the Andes in South America contained 27% less.

Those findings could be relatively good news for the eight million people that live in the upper Indus and Chenab basin of the Himalayas who rely on glacier meltwater for more than half of river flow during dry seasons. The study estimated that glacier water reservoirs there are 17% to 31% larger than thought. Researchers also calculated that glacial water reservoirs are 30% to 87% larger in a less populated sub-basin of the Brahmaputra River in the Himalayas.

The Himalayas were the exception, said Mathieu Morlighem, a co-author of the study and professor of earth sciences at Dartmouth. Almost everywhere [else], we found thinner ice.

For instance, the 4 million people who live in three catchment basins of the tropical Andes mountains could face water shortages earlier than expected. The scientists discovered that glaciers in that region hold 20% less ice on average than previously estimated and are among the fastest melting.

The 2.2 million residents of La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, depend on ice melt from one of those basins for up to a third of their water supply in dry months. It seems inevitable that the reduced total reservoir of ice will have an impact sooner than anticipated. wrote the researchers.

Glaciologist Romain Millan, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral scholar at the Institute of Environmental Geosciences, said that he hopes scientists will use this new tool to model the future availability of glacial water. Its important for policymakers to anticipate the effects of climate change on glaciers and water supplies, he said.

The researchers lowered past estimates of mountain glaciers contribution to sea level rise by 20%. If all the glaciers melted  excluding large ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica  ocean levels would increase by about 10 inches rather than the 13 inches previously projected.

Although thats a positive development, its a fraction of the many feet of sea level rise that could be triggered by the liquidation of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. It does not change the fact that glaciers are melting faster and faster, said Millan.

He and Morlighem stressed that the studys estimate that the planets glaciers hold less ice than thought was largely due to a correction in the way ice volumes are calculated  rather than a specific determination that ice is melting faster.

In the past, one group of glaciologists would determine the volume of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica while another group would quantify the ice in mountain glaciers. When a mountain glacier was adjacent to an ice sheet, the total volume would sometimes be double-counted by the two groups.

The researchers said that satellite imaging is an indirect calculation of glacier thickness and called for a greater effort to conduct on-site measurements. Less than 2% of the worlds glaciers have been physically measured.

Such data on the likely future availability of meltwater will be crucial for governments making decisions about when and where to build water infrastructure as glaciers continue to retreat, according to the scientists.
According to NASA, this giant asteroid which is almost twice the size of Burj Khalifa is heading for Earth; Here is how to watch it LIVE and when to do so

A humongous asteroid which is 4000 feet or 1.3KM wide is headed towards Earth. The asteroid has been classified as potentially hazardous by NASA due to its likely proximity to Earth. The asteroid, named, 138971 (2001 CB21), is almost twice the size of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. According to Spacereference.org, the asteroid will fly past our home planet on March 4, 2022 at about 3 AM ET or 1:30 PM IST. The asteroid will fly past Earth at a distance of 3 million miles at an amazing speed of 26,800 miles per hour. According to NASA, any fast moving celestial object that comes within 4.5 million miles radius is considered a potentially hazardous object. However, in all likelihood, the asteroid should make a safe passage away from Earth, according to NASA. However, this does present an exciting opportunity for astronomy enthusiasts to watch the asteroid live as it passes by. If you want to watch this asteroid live, read on to find out how.

Earlier, on January 30, an image of the 2001 CB21 was captured via an Earth-based telescope by Gianluca Masi, an astronomer at the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy. At that time, it was more than 21.5 million miles away from Earth. The asteroid revolves around the sun once every 384 days, which is almost similar to Earth's own orbital period. Its large size makes it bigger than around 97 percent of known asteroids.

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How to watch asteroid live

The asteroid will be making its way towards the Earth on March 4, at around 1:30 PM IST (it is subject to change). Space enthusiasts can watch this giant asteroid 2001 CB21 in two ways.

First, visit the website of The Virtual Telescope project 2.0 by clicking on this link here. The website will begin its live streaming from 8:30 AM on March 4. Second, you can also observe the asteroid at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Small-Body Database Lookup website. You can visit it by clicking on this link here.

Make sure you do not miss this event because the next time this asteroid will come this close to Earth will be on March 6, 2043.

Last month, another potentially hazardous asteroid named 1994 PC1 flew past Earth at a distance of around 1.2 million miles. With the rising incidents of asteroids passing close to Earth, NASA is working on asteroid defence projects like the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) to prevent humanity from asteroid strike. As the name suggests, a NASA spacecraft will attempt to divert an asteroid from its course deep in space.
Potentially hazardous asteroid 2001 CB21 is passing too close to Earth in March. Heres how you can see it go past us.

Potentially Hazardous asteroid heading towards us! In this months edition of the Near-Earth object passing by us, NASA has shared details on a large asteroid thats passing us a very close distance in early March. Asteroid 2001 CB21, which measures over 1.3 km in size, is coming very close to Earth on March 4 when its orbit almost matches that of Earth. The 2001 CB21 goes around the Sun at a very fast pace of 43,236 Kmph and has the potential to wipe us out of the solar system, if it ever hits Earth.

On March 4, the 2001 CB21 will come very close to Earth. At the time of the pass, the distance between the asteroid and Earth will measure only 49,11,298 kilometers. Thats a lot of distance to keep us safe from this rock for now. However, when 2011 CB21 pays us a visit again in March 2043, it will pass us at an even closer distance of 48,15,555 kilometers. NASAs simulations, however, assure that this asteroid isnt going to hit us at least in the next 100 years.

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Potentially Hazardous asteroid coming for us

Since we are at no immediate danger from this asteroid, you can get on your computer to watch it go past us on March 4. The Virtual Telescope Project has already captured the asteroid floating in space and you can continue to track its progress as it hurtles down the solar system. You can watch it live on the WEBTV channel on the Virtual Telescope website.

Prior to this, the Asteroid 7482 paid us visit earlier in January 2022. That rock was bigger than the Burj Khalifa and passed us at a much closer distance of 1 million miles. NASA has, however, said that our planet is not in any immediate danger of getting hit by an asteroid. Hence, we are unlikely to die by an asteroid hit, similar to our din

In the event of an asteroid threat, NASA is preparing for the doomsday, or rather preparing to prevent it. The NASA DART mission lifted off a few months ago and will test its weapon on the moonlet of an asteroid that is currently happy to be a part of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The idea it to crash the spacecraft and see whether it changes the trajectory of the rock.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Amazon is more than doubling its maximum base pay cap for technology and corporate employees in the USA to $350,000 from $160,000.

"This past year has seen a particularly competitive labor market, and in doing a thorough analysis of various options, weighing the economics of our business and the need to remain competitive for attracting and retaining top talent, we decided to make meaningfully bigger increases to our compensation levels than we do in a typical year," Amazon said in an internal blog post for employees obtained by USA TODAY.

Amazon is "increasing overall compensation ranges for most jobs globally, and the increases are much more considerable than we've done in the past," according to the blog post.

The company declined to provide additional information to USA TODAY.

Amazon has favored a combination of stock compensation and salaries in employee pay, The New York Times reported. It was not immediately clear how many employees will benefit from the change or whether stock awards will be modified.

Amazon employed 1.6 million people worldwide as of the end of 2021. That number includes warehouse workers, who are paid at least $15 an hour and earn an average of approximately $18 an hour.

The company increased its workforce by more than 300,000 employees in the past year, according to the Times.

Job openings have neared all-time highs. In December, employers advertised 10.9 million job openings, up from 10.8 million the previous month. The rise was driven by restaurants and hotels, the industries hit hardest by the pandemic.

Explore further Amazon accused of anti-union tactics in New York

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Vodafone Portugal, one of the country's leading telecommunications companies, said Tuesday it had been hacked though no confidential customer data was compromised.

The company said in a statement Tuesday that "a deliberate and malicious cyberattack aimed at causing damage and disruption" was underway.

The attack late Monday affected the company's 4G and 5G services, fixed line and SMS services, and digital and voice customer services, the company said. Some ATMs also briefly stopped working, it said.

The attack affected millions of individuals, businesses and public services, including ambulance services, fire departments and hospitals, Vodafone Portugal CEO Mario Vaz said. He said emergency services were given priority in efforts to restore communications.

He told reporters his company had received no ransom demand from whoever was behind the attack.

"The attack sought to make (Vodafone Portugal) inoperative," he said. He declined to provide details of the investigation launched by the company and police.

Vodafone Portugal provides fixed and mobile telephone services, texting, internet and TV products.

The company says it provides fiber services to 3.4 million Portuguese homes and companies and has 4.7 million cellphone customers. Services were gradually being restored, the company said, but a return to normal would be slow.

By early Tuesday, the company said it had restored mobile voice services, while national and international teams and consultants were working to bring back other services.

Explore further Hackers hit major Portuguese media group, take down websites

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European car sales are expected to rise again in 2022 as the microchip shortage that has put the brakes on the sector will ease, an industry group said Tuesday.

Passenger car registrations in the 27-nation EU are forecast to grow by 7.9 percent to 10.5 million units, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).

But the figure remains almost 20 percent below the 2019 pre-pandemic level as sales collapsed last year due to the severe shortage of semiconductors, which power everything from anti-lock braking systems to airbags to parking assistance technology.

New passenger car registrations fell by 2.4 percent to 9.7 million units in 2021.

The chip shortage is expected to "stabilise" this year, ACEA said.

The forecast comes as the EU launches a plan Tuesday to raise tens of billions of euros to boost semiconductor production in Europe and cut its dependence on imports from Asia.

"In light of the European Chips Act to be published today, ACEA is therefore urging the EU to reduce its reliance on overseas suppliers to avoid such damage to strategic European industries in the future," the group said.

While the shortages hurt fossil fuel vehicles, electric and plug-in hybrid models gained overall market share and now account for almost one in five new cars sold in the European Union, ACEA said.

"However, we cannot forget that this is still quite a fragile market," said ACEA president Oliver Zipse, who is also the chief executive of BMW Group.

He said the market "is highly reliant on support measures such as purchase incentives and, above all, the widespread availability of charging infrastructure."

ACEA warned that the "pace of infrastructure rollout is lagging way behind consumer demand for electrically-chargeable cars", with sales of electric vehicles growing four times faster than the installation of charging points.

With the European Commission eyeing an end to sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, national governments and the European Parliament are discussing continental standards for charging stations.

ACEA urged the parliament and the national governments to bolster the European Commission's Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation proposal "to ensure that Europe builds a sufficiently dense network of charging and refuelling infrastructure."

Explore further Hybrid car sales catch up to diesel in Europe

 2022 AFP
The US tax authority has backed away from its plan to use facial recognition software to confirm taxpayers' identities.

The US national tax authority announced Monday that it will stop using facial recognition software to verify taxpayers' identities when they create online accounts, following a chorus of privacy concerns.

Internal Revenue Service officials had put forth the authentication system as a security measure following years of growing fears over online scams and identity theft, but the program ended up also prompting worries.

The initiative involved identity verification company ID.me, which won a nearly $90 million contract to make taxpayers' accounts more secure.

The IRS said "it will transition away from using a third-party service for facial recognition to help authenticate people creating new online accounts."

"The IRS will quickly develop and bring online an additional authentication process that does not involve facial recognition," it said, as the agency faces staffing shortages and significant backlogs.

ID.me referred all questions on the matter to IRS and offered no other comment.

Criticism has built of the program since it was announced last year, with privacy watchdogs and lawmakers both raising questions.

"While the IRS had the best of intentionsto prevent criminals from accessing Americans' tax records...it is simply unacceptable to force Americans to submit to scans," Senator Ron Wyden wrote.

"It is also alarming that IRS and so many government agencies have outsourced their core technology infrastructure to the private sector," he added.

Facial recognition software has been criticized on several fronts, including that it was developed on predominantly white populations and thus makes more errors on people of color.

Rights watchdogs have accused the technology of reproducing the human biases already present in society, such as racism.

Under pressure from watchdogs, major firms such as Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Google have stopped, at least temporarily, selling their facial recognition software to police forces.

Social media giant Facebook announced in November the shutting down of its long-criticized facial recognition system and deleting scan data on a billion people.

Facebook facial identification launched in 2010, went through changes to tighten privacy, but still was central to a significant lawsuit and regulatory scrutiny.

The social network agreed in 2020 to a $650 million payout after failing to win dismissal of a case alleging it illegally collected biometric information for "face tagging" in violation of a 2008 Illinois privacy law.

Explore further EU privacy groups set sights on facial recognition firm

 2022 AFP


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YINCHUAN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua)-- As a Pakistani son-in-law in China, Murad Haider, 36, is quite familiar with the Spring Festival as he spent this Lunar New Year's Eve just like before: watching the Spring Festival Gala, making dumplings and enjoying a family reunion dinner.

"I made dumplings quite well, and it's fantastic for family members to build stronger family ties during the family reunion dinner," said Haider.

Murad comes from northeast Pakistan's Rawalpindi, a city near the capital Islamabad. He has lived in Yinchuan, the capital city of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, for about 15 years since he came to Ningxia University for Chinese language learning in 2007.

After obtaining his master's degree, Haider also harvested his sweet love for this foreign country and got married to a Ningxia local in 2013.

As a centuries-long tradition in China, the Spring Festival, also known as Chinese Lunar New Year, is a significant occasion for family reunions. Haider, deeply influenced by the traditional Chinese culture, used to travel back to Pakistan with his wife and 7-year-old daughter during the festival, and he would do the same this year if it were not for the pandemic.

"I haven't reunited with my family in Pakistan for two years," said the man. "I miss them, but I'm not lonely at all, because I have family and friends in Ningxia too."

Just like Murad Haider, Nawaz Shah, hailing from northwest Pakistan's Malakand, is another China hand. He has been studying and living in China for 11 years and is now a postgraduate student at Ningxia Medical University.

Nawaz Shah has been to over 20 cities across China. He visited Harbin Ice-Snow World and was impressed with the vivid ice sculptures. He also traveled to south China's Hainan Province for a trip which he described as "entering warm spring after a three-hour flight in a thick down jacket."

He is quite familiar with China, as well as the Spring Festival. Nawaz Shah recalled the big surprise of receiving a red packet when he was invited to a friend's home in a village of central China's Henan Province.

"I know the Chinese elders would give the young generation lucky money or red packets during the festival, but I hadn't expected I could have one," said Nawaz Shah. "I felt touched and would never forget the day."

Zafar Iqbal, a Pakistani expert in Ningxia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, was also impressed about the big day for the Chinese. Because of the pandemic, he also chose to stay in China during the Spring Festival holiday.

"I have experienced and witnessed many spring festivals during my stay in Ningxia. During the festival, people would exchange gifts, give red packets, visit friends and spend a joyful time with family members," said Iqbal.

Having worked in many places in Europe, Africa and Asia, he still likes China's Ningxia best. "Ningxia has a beautiful landscape, spanning from wetlands to mountains, rivers to deserts, green fields to well established and well planned city centers. Everything looks to me like a wonderland."

This year, Iqbal spent the festival with his Chinese friends, enjoying pleasant chat time just like their family members.

In order to help the foreigners enrich their holiday life, the regional government of Ningxia has organized a series of celebration activities, inviting foreign experts to experience traditional Chinese art including paper-cutting and ink painting.

"I experienced paper cutting this year, it feels to me like a wonderful piece of art which I experienced for the first time in my life," said Zafar Iqbal. "I also tried to hold the pen and write the Chinese characters, and to play traditional Chinese music instruments. That was so much fun."

Along with the celebrations, the Pakistanis didn't forget to make new year's wishes. Zafar Iqbal hopes that the pandemic could go away so that he could go back to Pakistan for a family reunion, while Nawaz Shah wishes he could be like a tiger with a stronger body and will, and achieve academic excellence.

"I hope my families could live a happy life, and wish them good health and wealth," smiled Murad Haider. 
Travis Paynes family and friends gathered in Jekyll Square in downtown Brunswick Thursday to mourn and remember the impact he had on everyone he met.
What are the three biggest issues facing Texas in the 2023 legislative session and how would you address them? 250 words

With President Bidens failed, open-border policies creating a record-setting illegal immigration crisis, securing the border needs to be our top priority. Thats why, as a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, I fought for more than $1.8 billion in funding for new walls, physical barriers, and increased law enforcement along the border.

We also need to support our law enforcement and oppose any liberal efforts to defund the police. This session, I voted to stop large cities like Austin and Houston from defunding the police and will continue to provide the brave men and women of law enforcement with the resources and training they need to keep Texas families safe. Thats why I am honored to be endorsed by the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas, Department of Public Safety Officers Association, and Texas Municipal Police Association.

Finally, we need to get serious about lowering property taxes and improving our public schools.

No Texan should feel like theyre being taxed out of their own home. Thats why I worked to cut property taxes by more than $5 billion and fought to increase the standard homestead exemption from $25,000 to $40,000.

I also worked to pass legislation to direct more money in our public school classrooms (not in administration), raise educational standards, and reduce high-stakes standardized testing. I am proud to be endorsed by Texas American Federation of Teachers, Texas Parent PAC, and Texas State Teachers Association.

Should Texas accept additional federal Medicaid funds? Why or why not? 150 words

Access to quality healthcare is a critically important issue for Brazos County and I believe all citizens deserve to be able to see a doctor when theyre sick. Im steadfastly opposed to any expansion of Obamacare or other government-run healthcare in Texas, but I still want to make sure our state receives every federal dollar its entitled to when it comes to funding our healthcare safety net. President Biden should stop trying to stubbornly impose Obamacare on people who dont want it and allow Texas the freedom to draw down additional federal dollars to fund our own, Texas-based healthcare solution. Thats why I passed legislation in 2015 to help our local hospitals access more than $25 million in additional federal funds to provide care for Brazos County residents without an increase in taxes or fees.

How do we ensure that every eligible Texan can vote? 150 words

The right to vote is foundational to our democracy and a sacred part of our national identity. The people of Texas deserve to have confidence in the fact that our elections are fair, transparent, and secure. Thats why I voted this session for legislation to permanently secure our elections by making it easier to vote but harder to cheat. We expanded early voting statewide and took a number of common sense steps to verify voter identity and combat potential voter fraud. When it comes to exercising our right to vote, our citizens should have every confidence that theyre participating in a process thats fair, honest, and free from interference.
Richwood, TX (77531)

Today

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Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 75F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
An advanced persistent threat (APT) hacking group operating with motives that likely align with Palestine has embarked on a new campaign that takes advantage of a previously undocumented implant called NimbleMamba.

The intrusions leveraged a sophisticated attack chain targeting Middle Eastern governments, foreign policy think tanks, and a state-affiliated airline, enterprise security firm Proofpoint said in a report, attributing the covert operation to a threat actor tracked as Molerats (aka TA402).

Notorious for continuously updating their malware implants and their delivery methods, the APT group was most recently linked to an espionage offensive aimed at human rights activists and journalists in Palestine and Turkey, while a previous attack exposed in June 2021 resulted in the deployment of a backdoor called LastConn.

But the lull in the activities has been offset by the operators actively working to retool their arsenal, resulting in the development of NimbleMamba, which is designed to replace LastConn, which, in turn, is believed to be an upgraded version of another backdoor called SharpStage that was used by the same group as part of its campaigns in December 2020.

"NimbleMamba uses guardrails to ensure that all infected victims are within TA402's target region," the researchers said, adding the malware "uses the Dropbox API for both command-and-control as well as exfiltration," suggesting its use in "highly targeted intelligence collection campaigns."

Also delivered is a trojan dubbed BrittleBush that establishes communications with a remote server to retrieve Base64-encoded commands to be executed on the infected machines. What's more, the attacks are said to have occurred in tandem with the aforementioned malicious activity targeting Palestine and Turkey.

The infection sequence mirrors the exact same technique used by the threat actor to compromise its targets. The spear-phishing emails, which act as the starting point, contain geofenced links that lead to malware payloads  but only if the recipient is in one of the targeted regions. If the targets live outside of the attack radius, the links redirect the user to a benign news website like Emarat Al Youm.

However, more recent variations of the campaign in December 2021 and January 2022 have involved the use of Dropbox URLs and attacker-controlled WordPress sites to deliver malicious RAR files containing NimbleMamba and BrittleBush.

The development is the latest example of adversaries using cloud services, such as Dropbox, to launch their attacks, not to mention how quickly sophisticated actors can respond to public disclosures of their invasion methods to create something potent and effective that can go past security and detection layers.

"TA402 continues to be an effective threat actor that demonstrates its persistence with its highly targeted campaigns focused on the Middle East," the researchers concluded. "The [two] campaigns demonstrate Molerats' continued ability to modify their attack chain based on their intelligence targets."
Of three instances in which shots were fired into Grand Island homes since Thursday, the Grand Island Police Department believes two of the cases were related.

GIPD identified a vehicle that may have been involved in the Thursday shootings. Although hes not necessarily a suspect in the shootings, a man traveling in that vehicle was arrested Saturday.

On Thursday, shots were fired into houses on West Charles Street and South Oak Street. The two incidents were more than 10 hours apart.

At 11 a.m. Thursday, a woman reported that someone discharged a firearm, striking her vehicle and residence at 208 S. Oak St.

At 9:35 p.m. Thursday, police responded to reports of gunshots in the area of West Charles and South Washington streets. Police believe the house at 1212 W. Charles St. was the intended target, while shots were fired inadvertently into 1220 W. Charles. Both houses were struck with multiple rounds of ammunition.

No one was injured in the shootings  luckily, said GIPD Capt. Jim Duering.

The rounds were shot from handguns, Duering said.

At about 7:40 p.m. Saturday, GIPD arrested Matthew Davila at 2004 N. Wheeler Ave. An officer was conducting a follow-up investigation into the Thursday shootings.

A possible suspect vehicle was located, and the occupants failed to obey commands, according to GIPD. Davila, 26, was one of the occupants. He initially provided a false name to GIPD.

Davila is not necessarily a suspect in the Thursday shootings, but GIPD believes the vehicle may be related to at least one of the shootings, Duering said.

A search of Davila allegedly led to the discovery of generic Xanax pills, four containers of a small amount of THC wax, butane torches and a smoking pipe.

Davila, who has no fixed address, was arrested for obstruction, false reporting, possession of a controlled substance (Xanax), possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also had warrants for his arrest in Hall County and Nueces County in Texas.

At 3:20 a.m. Sunday, shots were fired into an occupied structure at 904 W. John St.

That residence was the scene of a house party earlier in the evening. A physical disturbance took place at the home, and some people involved in the disturbance returned and are believed to be our suspects in the shooting, Duering said.

Officers found bullet casings and bullets on the scene, as well as damage to the residence.

At this point, GIPD doesnt believe the West John gunshots are connected to Thursdays shots.

Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to call the Grand Island Police Department at 308-385-5400 or Crime Stoppers at 308-381-8822.

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Digital Divide Solutions

Nokia Finishes Phase 1 of Private FWA Network at Rural California District

Nokia today announced it and partner AggreGateway have completed the first of two deployment phases in providing broadband access via 4G Fixed Wireless Access technology to underserved students in the Dos Palos Oro Loma school district of California.

The district, in the predominantly rural San Joaquin Valley in California, has five campuses serving about 2,400 students. The Nokia project will provide secure, fast connectivity to every students home using Nokia Private 4.9G/LTE Digital Automation Cloud (NDAC) operating in the CBRS/On-Go GAA spectrum, and customer premises equipment (CPE) including Nokia FastMile 4G Gateways and WiFi Beacons, according to a news release.

The Dos Palos Oro Loma technology team will manage its new LTE network through a secure Nokia DAC Cloud monitoring application, Nokia said, and the school IT staff will provision LTE / WiFi hotspots to students as needed so they can access the internet using any standard laptop or tablet.

The Federal Communications Commission has said that nearly 17 million K12 students in the United States lack internet access at home, creating a nationwide homework gap. The digital divide grew more pronounced during the pandemic as schools were forced to teach virtually and many rural schools  where commercial internet service is not seen by the market as viable  had we options for connecting their students who didn't have broadband at home.

As we put a plan in place for distance learning during the pandemic, we found we could only provide coverage for approximately 50% of DPOL students via commercial wireless network providers, said Paoze Lee, Technology Systems Director of the Dos Palos Oro Loma school district. Working with Nokia and AggreGateway, we are taking the next steps to level the field and ensure every student has the same access to our learning facilities.

The first phase of the deployment was completed in November 2021, Nokia said, and the remainder will be finished this year. Working on the local design and installation of the new equipment was San Diego-based AggreGateway, a group of network and wireless engineers whose emphasis is designing networks specifically within government and education as well as other sectors.
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WINDHOEK, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's president, Hage Geingob castigated gender-based violence (GBV) on Tuesday, during a virtual official opening of the fifth session of the seventh parliament in Windhoek.

Geingob said this while highlighting the Combating of Domestic Violence Amendment Bill, which made part of the 14 possible bills set to be passed on during the course of the year.

With a focus on the Domestic Violence Amendment Bill, Geingob said the passing of the bill is set to stamp out the highest cases of GBV that plague the country.

"We hope this bill will tighten the loopholes and enable easier reporting, investigation and punishment of GBV," he said, adding that the bill should serve as a reminder to perpetrators that GBV is taboo in the country and is punishable through heavy prison sentences.

According to Geingob, the government is aware that the bulk of rape and domestic violence is caused by men, hence he appealed to all men and the public to become exemplary husbands, partners and fathers and turn a new leaf this year.

Meanwhile, the 14 bills Geingob announced signalled the official start of Namibia's legislative year. 
MOUNT VERNON  A murder suspect and four missing children were located in Mount Vernon following an Amber Alert and a warrant issued by Bardstown, Kentucky police.

Richard Gray, 32, was located by Mount Vernon police after police responded to the scene for a "fight in progress" call at 9:38 p.m. on Friday. He has been charged with murder, unlawful imprisonment, criminal damage to property, possession of a stolen firearm, resisting/obstructing arrest, obstructing identification, aggravated battery and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, Mount Vernon police said.

The four missing children were found safe inside his vehicle and were transported to the police department. The Division of Children and Family Services responded to the police department to assist in returning the children to the family, police said.

Approximately four hours earlier, Bardstown police were dispatched for a welfare check in Kentucky where they found a deceased woman laying on the kitchen floor, Bardstown police said.

During the investigation, police identified Gray as a suspect and an Amber Alert was issued for four children believed to be with Gray, police said.

Police located Gray after responding to a report of a fight in progress at the Mach 1 gas station in Mount Vernon.

Upon arrival, the officers were able to separate the two male subjects involved; however, one of the males did not cooperate and was arrested, police said.

That man was later identified as Gray.

Gray had given police false information regarding his identity, police said.

Police investigated the identity of the suspect and found that the registration on the vehicle in the parking lot that was originally driven by Gray had an amber alert on it, police said.

Officers continued their investigation and confirmed the man was Gray, and that he was wanted for first-degree murder and unlawful imprisonment.

At that point, the children had been successfully located, police said.

Detectives from the Bardstown Police Department traveled to Mount Vernon where detectives from the Mount Vernon Police Department and the Jefferson County States Attorney's Office assisted them with the investigation.

Gray has been incarcerated in the Jefferson County Justice Center.

Any media questions related to the offenses in Kentucky should be made to the appropriate Kentucky authorities.

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Students at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have the opportunity to learn  and interact daily  with internationally recognized faculty who not only are gifted instructors but also talented artists such as Pirooz Kalayeh. An assistant professor in scriptwriting and film production in the School of Media Arts who arrived in last August, Kalayeh is receiving accolades for his documentary feature, Sometimes I Dream in Farsi.

The film will be screened during the Ocean City Film Festival, March 3-9. Audiences can visit the festivals website for information about streaming the film or viewing it in person.

Already, it has earned Best U.S. Documentary Feature at the New York Independent Cinema Awards, was a semi-finalist at the Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival and Dumbo Film Festival and was a finalist in the Dances With Films independent film festival in Los Angeles. The film made its world premiere in 2021 at the Galway Film Fleadh in Ireland. Watch the trailer.

Kalayeh said his goal for students is they become creative problem solvers who can be equally comfortable leading or supporting a team in any writing or production scenario  and that theyre continually filled with imagination, hope and possibility.

Weaving together a story

Kalayeh uses his experiences as an artist, touring musician, writer, actor and director in weaving together genres and mediums into film. He wants students to realize the way content is created and distributed allows for many different paths forward. His classes often incorporate multiple working scenarios within writing and production, including editing, design and distribution, so students learn about operating on large budget film projects, smaller independent films or other creations. He also throws in various restraints and allows for individuals and teams to work to finds solutions.

In this way, through practice and execution, students obtain a diverse set of tools that will allow them to be content creators that could work across all digital media platforms, he said.

Kalayeh spent several years working on the film. His teaching experiences have included universities in Malta, South Korea, Southern California (including Hollywood), and Rochester, New York.

Film focuses on Kalayehs childhood

Kalayeh has been making films for the last 12 years and said he believes Sometimes I Dream in Farsi to be his first film on the path finding his voice within cinema. The 93-minute film focuses on a traumatic racist incident in Kalayehs childhood when Kalayeh was refused a haircut from a barber in Wilmington, Delaware, because of his Iranian heritage. Kalayehs family immigrated to the United States after their forced upheaval following the Iranian Revolution.

The film documents Kalayehs journey through filmmaking over the past five years, which includes returning to the barbershop and a series of role-plays with family, friends and children to understand how racism leaves lasting effects and how Kalayeh and others can move forward.

The film is different from any of his other works, Kalayeh said.

Its about how children and adults can heal themselves after going through prejudice and discrimination, he said. Its also about helping start conversations about how to bring people together. That is why I get very happy for whats happening, because I recognize the film is potentially helping a lot of people and that, above anything else, makes me proud, grateful and hopeful for a world with equality and well-being for everyone. 

Attracted to SIU for several reasons

Robert Spahr, the School of Media Arts interim director, noted Kalayehs strong teaching portfolio and a creative practice that incorporates short films across a variety of media platforms including his most recent feature length film. He represents the exciting pedagogical and creative work being done in the School of Media Arts.

This spring, Kalayeh is teaching film production and scriptwriting courses. He was attracted to SIU and the College of Arts and Media for several reasons, including that the School of Media Arts was geared toward making a program that would meld media arts under one umbrella, which is exactly what students will need to be successful content creators within our current media landscape.

Kalayeh added that before coming to SIU he was taken by Spahrs comments that students can receive just as good an education as they would in Los Angeles or New York City but one they can afford.

He also wanted to experience the Midwest, like one of my heroes, Charles Ingalls, he said.

I figured having a little house on the prairie would be just what the doctor ordered. Maybe, even my very own highway to heaven.

H.D. Motyl, interim associate dean in the College of Arts and Media, noted the colleges belief that faculty should model for our students how to be a successful, practicing artist and creator.

Dr. Kalayehs continuing exhibitions of his short films, and now his feature film, is a prime example of this, Motyl said. He is only in his first year here, and students in CAM already are benefiting from his experience and expertise.

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked Tuesday during an unrelated news conference about the possibility of lifting the state's mask mandate, given the recent decline in COVID-19 cases.

The governor noted that hospitalizations have declined and said he was "very pleased with the direction" of the numbers. Hospitals are now better able to deal with patients who are seeking treatment for injuries and illnesses besides COVID-19, he said.

"You'll be hearing shortly about plans that we have," Pritzker said at the conclusion of the news conference, which was held at Illinois State University.

See video above for the governor's full response to the question.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Gov. J.B. Pritzkers administration are asking a state appellate court to set aside a lower court order from late Friday that invalidated the mask and vaccine mandates that the state imposed last year for public schools.

On Friday, Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow granted a temporary restraining order blocking schools from enforcing those mandates, saying the mitigation rules amounted to a kind of quarantine and that the Pritzker administration overstepped its bounds by issuing those mandates through emergency rules.

The judge's decision cultivates chaos for parents, families, teachers and school administrators across the state, and I've asked Attorney General Kwame Raoul to seek to have the ruling overturned with all possible speed, Pritzker said during a news conference Monday.

Beginning in August 2021, Pritzker issued a series of executive orders related to the reopening of public schools. They included a requirement that schools enforce a mask mandate for all students, staff and visitors; that they require all school personnel either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing, and that they exclude from school premises for specified periods of time any student or staff member who tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been in close contact with someone who has.

The Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education then issued a series of emergency rules to implement the executive orders.

Parents, students and, in some cases, teachers sued roughly 170 school districts across the state seeking to block those mandates. Those cases were eventually consolidated and transferred to Sangamon County.

In her ruling Friday, Grischow said that at the time the emergency rules were issued, the Department of Public Health had known about COVID-19 for well over a year and a half and that vaccines had been around for more than nine months. She then questioned why the rules could not have been developed under the normal process which would have allowed for public comment and legislative review.

She also noted that state law gives the Department of Public Health authority to issue vaccine mandates. But in this case, IDPH did not issue such a mandate, the governor did, and then the State Board of Education issued rules to carry out the governors order  something she said was an improper delegation of an executive branch agencys authority.

The court cannot find (nor did any party provide) any law enacted by the state Legislature that grants the IDPH the authority to delegate and transfer its duties and responsibilities to ISBE and local school districts, Grischow wrote.

She also found that exclusion from school buildings was a form of quarantine, and under state law, people who are ordered quarantined have a right to challenge the order in court and receive due process.

Her order strikes down several provisions of the emergency rules IDPH and ISBE issued in September and specifically restrains the agencies from requiring school districts to enforce mask mandates without a lawful quarantine order from a local health department.

It also restrains them from requiring districts to exclude unvaccinated individuals from the premises who object to weekly testing without first providing them due process. And it restrains them from excluding individuals who are deemed a close contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case without providing them due process.

The attorney generals office filed immediate notices of appeal in the cases and on Monday filed motions asking for an emergency stay of the order pending the appeal.

These requirements  which have provided safety and stability to students, teachers, and schools for months  allow schools to protect their students and staff while providing an opportunity to return to in-person learning, the motion stated.

As of Monday afternoon, the 4th District Court of Appeals had not yet ruled on the motion for an emergency stay.

phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

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A Bamberg home was damaged by fire on Sunday night, according to the American Red Cross.

Red Cross disaster-trained volunteers are assisting the nine people who lived at the Rice Avenue home by providing financial assistance for immediate needs such as food, clothing and shelter, along with referrals to much-needed resources.
After almost seven years, three men accused of killing two adults and two teens are about to go to trial.

Six men and six women were selected as jurors for the case at the Orangeburg County Courthouse on Monday. There are four alternate jurors: three women and one man.

The jury is expected to hear opening arguments on Wednesday.

On July 15, 2015, four people were shot and killed at a Holly Hill home. They were Tamara Alexia Perry, 14; Shamekia Tyjuana Sanders, 17; Krystal Hutto, 28, and Jerome Butler, 50.

Also, 8-year-old Dreamzz Nelson was injured at the 7050 Old State Road residence.

Each victim had a gunshot wound to the head.

Four Eutawville men are accused of four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder: Antley Jermaine Jackie Man Scott, Robert Lee Pockets Bailey, Luther Joseph Smith and Derrick Warren Coleman.

Scott, Bailey and Smith are being tried together.

During the jury selection process on Monday, Circuit Judge Ed Dickson listed Coleman as a potential witness who may testify during the trial.

Also included the list of dozens of potential witnesses is Nelson, the lone survivor. Nelson is now a teenager.

On that steamy July 15 morning, someone discovered Butlers body beside a BMW in the driveway of the Old State Road home.

Officers found Huttos body in one of the bedrooms.

In another room, they found the bodies of Sanders and Perry, who were half-sisters.

They found Nelson, a half-brother to Sanders and Perry, in the home with a gunshot wound to his head.

A medevac helicopter flew Nelson to the Medical University of South Carolina. He survived after undergoing extensive medical treatment.

Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said early in the investigation that the motive was robbery involving illegal drugs.

On Sept. 29, 2016, Ravenell announced that Bailey, Coleman and Scott were in custody and facing four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

U.S. Marshals took Coleman and Scott into custody in Foley, Alabama. Ravenell said the pair had been living in that area for about two weeks prior to their arrests.

Three months later, Ravenell announced Smith was in custody and facing the same charges.

Prosecuting the case is Assistant 1st Circuit Solicitor David Osborne with Assistant Solicitor Chelsea Glover.

Smith is represented by Aimee Zmroczek and Richard Lackey, Scott is represented by Ola Johnson and Bailey is represented by 1st Circuit Public Defender Mark Leiendecker and Assistant Public Defender Ash Chisholm.

Attorneys are scheduled for pre-trial hearings on Tuesday.

Dickson said the trial may last two weeks.

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

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Orangeburg County will continue to require face masks in county government buildings and vehicles following an increase in the number of deaths from the coronavirus in the county.

According to South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Orangeburg County saw seven deaths from COVID 19 during the week of Jan. 15; 11 deaths the week of Jan. 22, and 11 deaths the week of Jan. 29. The numbers are through Feb. 5, Orangeburg County Director of Risk Services Todd Williams said.

For the month of December, the county had 18 deaths from the coronavirus reported to DHEC.

"It saddens me," Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright said. "A lot of people are taking this for granted. A lot of folks don't want to wear a face covering. I think we owe it to ourselves and to others to try to protect each other and try to be as safe as we can. The only thing we can do as a county is to try keep echoing that until better days."

Vice Chair Janie Cooper-Smith stressed the need for council to "set an example" in taking precautions against the virus.

The rules are in effect for the next 60 days unless Orangeburg County Council ends them earlier. Council Monday gave unanimous approval to extend the mask ordinance. The ordinance was scheduled to expire Feb. 17.

An emergency ordinance only requires one reading to become law.

The ordinance does not mandate masks be worn at business establishments within the county. That decision is left up to each individual business.

However, the City of Orangeburg requires face coverings in retail establishments and restaurants within the city limits. The city's rules will be in place through Feb. 16. The city will likely take up its mask ordinance during a Feb. 15 council meeting.

The city requires employees of retail establishments and restaurants within the city to wear masks while working in areas open to the public.

Staff must also wear masks when interaction with other staff is likely and social distancing cannot be observed.

The citys ordinance also requires masks during large gatherings in the city, such as festivals and parades.

People visiting Orangeburg Countys courthouse and courtrooms will have to continue wearing masks, as previously ordered by S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Wayne Beatty.

DHEC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended the use of cloth face coverings to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Masks are still encouraged in indoor public places.

The CDC also recommends everyone eligible get vaccinated.

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Cold, rainy weather did not stop residents from giving the gift of life during a blood drive event on Monday.

The need for blood is concerning, according to Dr. Dion Franga, medical director of the Regional Medical Center's Trauma Program.

He said the coronavirus pandemic has decreased the number of people donating to RMC and the American Red Cross.

That puts us in a critical situation with regard for the need for blood, Franga said.

The blood drive was held Monday morning at South Carolina Surgical, located at 3045 St. Matthews Road in Orangeburg.

Orangeburg resident Dianne Haddock was among those who turned out at RMC's bloodmobile on Monday.

I knew there was a need after not being able to get the people to donate during the virus and my favorite doctor, Dr. Dion Franga, requested people come out and give. So I did," she said.

Haddock was not a first-time blood donor and said she experienced no hesitancy with giving, particularly since people never know when they or others they know may need blood.

I hope they think of their families and the need there may be  hopefully not  for their family members," she said.

Franga said, We need on average probably about 100 units of blood per month at our hospital.

RMCs Blood Assurance Program exists to meet the transfusion needs of RMC patients. The program depends on the active participation of community members to meet the needs of patients.

Each blood donation can help save up to three lives, and blood can be donated every eight weeks.

The hospital has a donor center and a bloodmobile for scheduled blood drives.

All blood collected stays in the community.

Franga said with the support of David Southerland, RMC's president and chief executive officer, the Blood Assurance Program has held blood drives across the community to increase blood donations.

About 30 units were collected in December, with approximately 90 collected in January.

That makes a substantial difference for us in terms of what we require and need from the Red Cross. We're demanding less from the Red Cross, and that means the Red Cross has blood available for other areas, he said.

Franga continued, We thought it would be a good idea to put one together in early February and really increase the volume of blood donated. Patients can still go to the hospital to donate.

We hope to have some after-hour donation times and bloodmobile set ups.

Kellie Winters, lab manager at the RMC's blood donor center, said, Current donor center hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, but we are looking to expand those hours a little bit. We don't have that schedule determined yet, but if anybody wants to donate outside of those hours, they can call and we can accommodate them.

Donors can call 803-395-2824 to set up an appointment.

Winters said O-positive and O-negative blood types are the most critically needed blood types, but we need all blood types, including A and B.

She said the pandemic has affected the volume of blood donated.

People aren't getting out and donating. People are sick, so they deferred. It's a huge impact, and we've been at critical levels for some time, Winters said.

She said, Our blood strictly comes from our donors here and the Red Cross. We have been able to maintain an adequate blood supply. Red Cross has put some limitations, but if we have patient needs, they will give us more. So they have been able to keep us supplied when we get low.

RMC tries to have two blood drives a month.

Sometimes we're able to meet that, sometimes we're not. There has just been a low turnout at some of them. I would say please consider a donation. When (people) live in a community, their blood can go to save the lives of a loved one, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, Winters said.

Blood goes a long way for the community. Also, if they have a friend or family member in the hospital who is receiving blood and they donate in their name, the patient will receive credit for every unit that is donated in their name. So that helps as well, she said.

People who donate at least one unit of blood annually to the Blood Assurance Program receive coverage for all their blood needs and their dependents needs from the program at RMC for one year.

Joette Kittrell, RN, an office manager at South Carolina Surgical, said, All types of blood are welcome and very essential not just for surgery.

Sometimes people can have chronic anemia, where they may need blood replacement, or sometimes during certain cancer treatments they will need to have blood transfusions done.

She encourages individuals to support blood donation efforts in the future.

It's very worthwhile, Kittrell said.

Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow "Good News with Gleaton" on Twitter at @DionneTandD

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South Carolina State University will commemorate the 54th anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, in the Martin Luther King Jr. auditorium.

Following the program, the university will dedicate a new monument featuring busts of Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond and Delano Middleton, the young men killed 54 years ago. The new monument sits next to the original marker on Smith Hammond Middleton Legacy Plaza across Geathers Street from Wilkinson Hall.

The three young men were killed and 28 others were injured on Feb. 8, 1968, 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.

The keynote speaker at Tuesdays event will be retired Voorhees College President Dr. Cleveland Sellers Jr.

Sellers, a protester who was wounded, was the only person ever convicted of a crime in connection with the Orangeburg Massacre. He was pardoned by Gov. Carroll Campbell in 1993.

As a reminder, the campus community and guests are required to always wear face coverings inside S.C. State buildings and during large outdoor gatherings.

The ceremony and the dedication will be streamed live on S.C. States Facebook page and YouTube channel.

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Childrens choir from rural areas in north Chinas Hebei Province makes its way to Winter Olympic stage

People's Daily Online) 17:19, February 07, 2022

A childrens choir from north Chinas Hebei Province sang the Olympic Anthem in Greek, the native Olympic language, at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The 44 members of the choir are from rural primary schools in Fuping county, which previously had high levels of poverty.

Members of a childrens choir sing the Olympic Anthem at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, Feb. 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Li An)

Since 2004, Deng Xiaolan, a retiree, has been traveling regularly to Malan village, Fuping to volunteer as a music teacher.

It took Deng at least seven hours to reach the village from Beijing. Despite the various challenges she encountered, Deng found that the children were talented, being able to sing a song after having just a few lessons with her.

Deng also brought a variety of musical instruments to the village so that the students could learn music to the fullest. Over the past 18 years, she spent at least half a year each year teaching music. In 2013, Deng initiated a concert in Malan village with the aim of allowing her young students to feel the magic of music.

While the children were learning the Olympic Anthem, Deng accompanied them by learning the song with them, while helping the Greek language teacher find more effective methods for the children to memorize the lyrics.

Deng Xiaolan and children from Malan village sing the song Auld Lang Syne during a concert she organized in 2013. (Peoples Daily Online/Shen Yaxin)

When she watched the performance given by the children at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Deng, who is nearly 80 years old, said she would very much like to share the exciting news with her father, Deng Tuo, former president of Jinchaji Daily based in Malan village, which is one of the predecessors of the Peoples Daily.

Deng Xiaolan, who was born in Fuping county and was raised by local residents over the course of three years, now leads the children from the small village to the center of the world stage.

To date, some of Dengs earliest students from Fuping have graduated from colleges, while the poverty reduction story in Fuping is even more inspiring. In 2014, of 209 villages in Fuping, 164 suffered high levels of poverty, with 108,100 locals living beneath the poverty line, with the poverty incidence standing at 54.37 percent. In February 2020, Fuping bid farewell to poverty.

Deng Xiaolan (left) poses for a picture with members of the children choir. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Deng Xiaolan introduces members of the childrens choir in front of a group photo. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jihang)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
by Xinhua writer Denis Elamu

JUBA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least five people are nursing injuries sustained on Tuesday when a cargo plane crashed while landing at Agok Airstrip in the Abyei Administrative Area disputed between the border of Sudan and South Sudan.

Kuol Diem Kuol, Chief Administrator of Abyei Administrative Area told Xinhua that the Antonov 26 plane, owned by the Ministry of Defense, was delivering primary eight examination papers from Juba when it crashed upon landing on the runway.

Diem said the plane had already distributed examination materials in Bentiu town of Unity state, and was destined to deliver more examination materials to Rumbek town of Lakes state.

The national primary school examinations are expected to commence on Feb. 14.

Awut Deng Acuil, South Sudan Minister for General Education and Instruction, confirmed the incident, adding that the examination papers are now in safe custody of the police.

Several planes have crashed in recent years in South Sudan.

In 2018, 19 people were killed when a small aircraft carrying passengers from Juba to Yirol crashed.

In March 2020, a cargo plane crashed in the north-eastern Jonglei state, leaving 10 killed.

The latest accident in November 2021 left five people killed when a cargo plane crashed in the Maban area of the Upper Nile state. 
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Coquille, OR (97420)

Today

Cloudy with occasional light rain during the afternoon. High 53F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Cloudy. Periods of light rain early. Low near 45F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
(TBTCO) - Thi truong chung khoan Viet Nam co ban van giu nhip on inh trong quy au nam nay, tuy nhien, thi truong chiu ap luc ieu chinh kha manh ke tu cuoi thang 3 en nay do tac ong tu cac yeu to ngoai bien va cac vu viec sai pham mang tinh on le cua mot so ca nhan, to chuc. Theo cac chuyen gia, nhung tac ong en tam ly ngan han cua nha au tu la kho tranh khoi, nhung ay la co hoi e huong dong tien i ung huong, giup thi truong gan uc, khoi trong e phat trien ben vung.
Fort Payne, AL (35967)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
TRIPOLI, Lebanon  Zakaria al-Adl was presumed to have attempted a sea escape to Europe after he had gone missing over the summer, but then the young Lebanese man turned up dead in Iraq.

A native of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the 22-year-old is one of at least eight men who have been reported killed in Iraq since December 2021, as a suspected jihadist militant.

They all hail from impoverished Tripoli districts, and were allegedly lured into joining the Islamic State (Daesh) group by the promise of a decent salary, according to a security official.

Dozens more from the same Mediterranean port city are believed to have recently joined Daesh's ranks with their recruitment handled by a Tripoli jihadist who lives outside Lebanon, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity about the sensitive issue.

"We didn't know he was in Iraq until we were notified of his death" in December, Zakaria's mother, Ghufran al-Adl, 56, told AFP from their one-bedroom apartment in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood, one of the country's poorest.

Zakaria had been missing since last summer, but it wasn't until the Iraqi army in December published images and videos of slain IS fighters in Iraq's western Anbar desert that his family came to know of his death.

His brother Ali al-Adl played one such video on his phone, which appeared to show the corpse of Zakaria beside another body on the hood of a car.

In a statement at the time, the Iraqi army said it had killed 10 Daesh jihadists in strikes and clashes.

Youth 'on the sidelines'

Zakaria's family said poverty and not ideological affiliation is what primarily drove the young man to join jihadist ranks, at a time when Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis.

"When he disappeared, we thought that he was planning to go to Sweden illegally," Ali said.

"He left because of poverty," Ali said of his brother, who used to run a vegetable cart.

Ghufran, who is in urgent need of heart surgery that her family cannot afford, said that her son "lived and died on the sidelines."

Since August, dozens of young men have disappeared from Tripoli, which has been especially hard hit by the country's financial crash.

"The number of young men who joined IS is estimated at 48," said a security official, explaining that the latest wave of recruits left Lebanon on Jan. 18.

"Their families informed authorities of their whereabouts after receiving calls from them while they were in Iraq," the same source added.

Only five of the 48 have yet to be accounted for, the official added.

Even before the 2019 onset of Lebanon's financial crisis, Lebanon's second city was widely seen as a volatile militant bastion.

Its poorest neighborhoods have been major supporters of Sunni militants responsible for attacks against the army and involved in jihadist activities in Tripoli and beyond.

Thousands have been detained on suspicion of terrorism links, many without trial.

The security official believes that "financial motives" are the main reason Tripoli's youth are joining Daesh ranks.

The group is luring its recruits with the promise of "salaries reaching up to $5,000 a month," the official said.

Iraq's National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji said Sunday that Baghdad has started talks with Lebanese authorities over the Daesh threat.

Lebanon's interior minister is expected to visit Baghdad soon to discuss concerns, he added.

'Your darling is dead'

In January this year, the Wadi al-Nahleh village near Tripoli received news that Omar Seif was among five of its residents killed in Iraq.

Omar left Tripoli on Dec. 30 and died nearly a month later, according to his family.

Omar's mother found out about it via WhatsApp, according to a relative who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

She had sent Omar a message asking: "How are you, my darling?"

The response she received, from a number Omar had previously used to call her, read: "Your darling is dead."

The Iraqi army issued a statement naming Omar and two of his cousins as Lebanese citizens killed in airstrikes targeting Daesh fighters in the eastern province of Diyala.

AFP had met Omar's mother two weeks before his death.

She claimed poverty took her son, an ex-convict detained on suspicion of involvement in attacks against the army  and who had virtually no job prospects after being released from jail.

"He was desperate," she told AFP then, asking not to be identified for security reasons. "No one wanted to hire him  so he worked as a day laborer."

Omar was planning to marry his fiancee within the coming two months which caused him to obsess over finances, his mother added, blaming the Lebanese state for her son's fate.

When asked if she feared he might have joined IS, she said: "I am afraid he might have  but better die there than ever return to Lebanon, even if that means never seeing him again."
The Department of the Interior announced Monday that it would give nearly $725 million to states this year for reclamation of abandoned mine lands. Wyoming will receive $9.7 million.

Another $725 million, authorized by the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November, will be distributed among coal states annually over the next 15 years.

This program is a shot in the arm for coal country and the energy communities that have long been forgotten and left behind, Mitch Landrieu, White House infrastructure coordinator and senior advisor to the president, said during a call with reporters Monday.

Under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, the federal Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program taxes coal producers, then distributes that money to restoration projects in historic mining states. The fee, initially set at 35 cents per ton of coal from surface mines, dropped to 22.4 cents per ton with the passage of the infrastructure bill.

A deal struck by Sens. John Barrasso, R-WY, and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., made up for the reduced per-ton fee by allocating a bonus $11.3 billion to the program. Its a huge boost: In total, coal producers AML fee payments have amounted to roughly $11.6 billion, with just over $6 billion redistributed to states.

The money is intended specifically for the cleanup of coal mines, such as closure of mine shafts, stabilization of the surrounding landscape and treatment of the local water supply.

In Wyoming, however, the federal government certified in 1984 that the state had restored all of its high-priority coal sites, and authorized it to put its allocation of reclamation funds toward non-coal projects, including abandoned gold, silver and uranium mines. But most of the states AML money still goes to coal reclamation work in communities like Rock Springs, Hanna and Glenrock.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act established mine cleanup requirements in 1977. The reclamation funds distributed to states are intended to clean up mines abandoned before those requirements were established, and they are determined according to coal production before 1977.

Pennsylvania received $244.9 million in this round of funding; West Virginia got $140.8 million. The lower allocation for Wyoming, the nations biggest coal producer, is largely a matter of the industrys age: It has only been the top coal state since 1986.

There are a lot of other states that have a lot of other reclamation obligations, a lot more than Wyoming, said Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. So I dont think its surprising if we see a lot of that money go to some of the eastern states.

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Ramps, bowls and rails. Summer camps. A food pantry. A graffiti wall.

Copper Mack dreams of creating an indoor skate park and community center in Casper, and she has no shortage of ideas. Mack wants it to be a safe place where kids can hang out, pick up new skills and connect with resources and services.

A meeting gauging public interest at the Natrona County Library on Sunday drew about 40 people  more than a few of them in beanies, hoodies and thick-soled skate shoes.

The park would accommodate pretty much any wheeled sport that doesnt use a motor: skateboards, bikes, scooters, inline skates.

Its too early to say what it would cost, or where itll be built, Mack said. But shes not seeking city funding. The plan is to pay for the park with fundraising and grants.

Shes teamed up with Casper resident Deirdre Stoelzle Graves to get the ball rolling. Mack is also forming committees to help guide the project through its fledgling years.

Macks a mother of four and longtime friend to the local skating community. For skaters and young people  two demographics that often overlap  Casper doesnt have a ton to offer, she said.

At the meeting Sunday, it was clear Caspers current skate park, located on K Street, isnt cutting it. Its in rough shape, skaters said, the layout is awkward and its unusable when theres snow or ice.

Parents looking for a place for their kids to kill time are short on options, too, Mack said. There can be long waitlists for a lot of the good summer programs in town, she said, and for many families those programs are financially out of reach.

Mack wants the 307 Skate Park to step in where Casper has fallen short. When done right, skate parks can be a positive outlet for kids, she said  even those without wheels.

She pointed to The Bay, a nonprofit skate park and youth center in Lincoln, Nebraska, as a potential blueprint. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a stomping ground for hundreds of kids every weekend, according to news outlet 1011 Now.

At 307 Skate Park, kids would have access to a free food pantry, showers and a place to do laundry.

The center would also offer job training, clubs, camps and educational programs  including a skate school, of course. Staff would be trained for crisis services.

And thered be opportunities for creative expression. A public graffiti wall is a must have, she said at the meeting. Shes also toying with the idea of having an art closet, a place where kids can come in and get free art supplies.

The whole facility would be designed to accommodate people with disabilities, too.

One of Macks kids has a disability. Her family doesnt go out very much, she said, because its so hard to find disability friendly places in Casper.

Mack imagines the center having special hours for those with sensory needs, as well as permanent low-sensory areas.

And our restrooms and showers will be equipped with adaptive equipment so that no one who has needs will ever have to come out and ask for it, she said. Because dignity is just non-negotiable.

More than anything, Mack wants to hear from skaters on what they want the park to look like.

Theres a bigger skate scene in Casper than people think, meeting attendees said. Its just hard to tell these days.

David Scholtz, 29, was a regular at the Casper College park before it was shut down years ago.

I remember building the ramps up there, he said.

Now, Scholtz said a lot of skaters take to the streets to practice.

Casperites have been pushing for a new skate park for years. The Youth Empowerment Council expressed interest in building an indoor venue in 2019, but those plans fizzled out during the pandemic.

Skate culture has a reputation for welcoming all walks of life, said 24-year-old James Renville. He thinks the park will be a chance to bring more diversity to Casper.

Casper needs this, he said.

Itll take a lot of public momentum, and time, to make it a reality. The rest of this year will be dedicated to raising money. Mack hopes the group will be ready to start applying for grants by the end of 2022.

To get started, Mack is looking for people to sit on the 307 Skate Parks committees. Therell be teams heading up the parks building and design, fundraising, ability inclusion and community relations, among others.

Anyone whos interested in being a part of the 307 Skate Park can join the projects Facebook page. There are also surveys available for people to share their ideas, Mack said.

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When Game and Fish caught wind of a rancher in Natrona allegedly killing wildlife without a license in 2019  and rumored to be helping others do so on his land  they set up a sting.

Their investigator bought a $300 trespass voucher to hunt on Gary Lee Ferriers private land, which he had been advertising on his social media. During three days on Ferriers ranch, his arrest affidavit states, investigators heard him describe his illegal hunting, saw some of the illegally harvested animals and were given beers with antelope hair and blood on the bottom of the cans.

They were served antelope jerky, and packages of jerky labeled organic beef.

After the trip, they tested their evidence, the affidavit states. All of the jerky came back as antelope.

Nine months later, Game and Fish tested 75 more bags marked as beef jerky found during a search of the ranch, packaged professionally and advertised for sale online.

No beef was found in those bags, the affidavit states, but testing found the meat came from at least three pronghorn and three mule deer.

Ferrier pleaded no contest to nine of the 26 charges against him in July, court documents show.

Those charges include wanton destruction of game including mule deer and antelope, hunting big game without a license and selling edible portions of big game. A forensic lab found parts of 18 pronghorn and mule deer poached by Ferrier.

Now, following his plea agreement with the state, the former Natrona County rancher has been ordered to pay $45,000 in fines and restitution. District Attorney Dan Itzen said Ferrier is also serving a year of probation, which is set to expire this summer.

According to a Monday release from Wyoming Game and Fish, Ferrier is also prohibited from hunting, fishing or trapping for five years and cannot hunt in 49 U.S. states until his restitution has been fully paid. The department said they also confiscated his guns, illegal wildlife parts and supplies for meat sales.

Court documents state Ferrier confessed to many of the counts of illegal hunting and to selling the falsely packaged antelope jerky to get himself out of a bad situation. An affidavit tied to his arrest states he first said six people had used his trespass vouchers, then upped the number to eight.

Game and Fish first started looking into Ferriers ranch after a 2018 tip to Wyomings Stop Poaching Hotline. Ferriers girlfriend at the time said he did not have a big game license, showed investigators photos of him with poached pronghorn and mule deer and said that he left most of his game to rot in a shed on the property, according to an affidavit in the case.

Without refrigeration, court documents say she told investigators, the animals spoiled constantly. But Ferrier would just harvest another one, she said.

While setting up the covert hunting trip, investigators said Ferrier showed them more photos of his illegal kills and outlined his hunting activities.

During a three-year investigation, Game and Fish investigators found a burn pile on Ferriers property with 14 antelope and deer carcasses in various stages of decay. Most of those were doe pronghorn, plus a few males and two buck and two doe mule deer.

Two of Ferriers customers identified by Game and Fish told investigators they thought they had paid for individual packages of beef jerky. Cell phone records cited in court documents also showed that Ferrier had apparently sold four cases of jerky to a convenience store west of Casper.

Ferriers Grazing Hills Ranch also sold real beef jerky, according to another former girlfriend of his, who requested anonymity. For the beef products, she said, the ranch sent the meat for processing at a Natrona County company.

But at some point  Ferriers ex didnt know when  he fell out with the processor, she told the Star-Tribune.

The investigation also found that a group of out-of-state hunters had paid Ferrier $1,500 to hunt without licenses on his land in October. One, who killed an antelope, was from Virginia according to the affidavit, and another, who killed a mule deer, was from Florida.

According to the Natrona County Sheriffs Office, Ferrier was booked into jail for one day in January 2021 after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Ferriers restitution comes out to $22,000, to be paid to the Wyoming Wildlife Protectors Association, on top of a $23,000 fine. He now lives in Arizona, his former girlfriend said.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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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.
Back in 2019 before every conversation we had centered around COVID, Tucson Symphony Orchestra would devote the weekend after Thanksgiving to its popular family-friendly cine-concert series.

That's where the orchestra in all its glory and sometimes dressed down for the occasion performed the live soundtrack to a major movie playing on a big screen above the orchestra at Tucson Music Hall.

It was a great way to get folks to see the symphony oftentimes for the first time in a setting that felt comfortable and familiar  the movies.

Of course the pandemic put the kibosh on cine-concerts in 2020 and 2021, but this weekend the orchestra is reviving it with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

How can you go wrong with Star Wars, right?

And what better soundtrack than John Williams booming score that is instantly recognizable and universally adored.

A couple of fun facts to tuck away before you catch the concert/movie this weekend:

Star Wars falls into the film subgenre of space opera, which borrows from science fiction and rom-dram  romantic dramas.

Williams recorded the soundtrack with the London Symphony Orchestra six months before the film was released in spring 1980. The recording cost $250,000, involved 104 musicians performing 18 three-hour sessions after Christmas 1979 and earned Williams a Grammy and an Academy Award nomination.

In November 2020, Disney released a double-vinyl LP of the soundtrack to commemorate its 40th anniversary.

This is the second film in the Star Wars franchise that the TSO has performed. In 2018, over Thanksgiving weekend, the TSO performed the original Star Wars.

If you go: Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, and 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $17 to $88 through tucsonsymphony.org and all in attendance must follow COVID safety protocols that includes showing proof of vaccination or a negative test taken within 72 hours of the performance. Masks are required.

Dove of Peace concert goes virtual

Dove of Peace Lutheran Church is taking its next community concert virtual after the church decided last week to move all its services and events online in response to the rise in COVID cases in Pima County.

The Feb. 13 concert, part of the church's series of free concerts that support local non-profits, will feature a double bill  classical guitarist Bin Hu performing works by Mauro Giuliani, Eduardo Sainz de la Maza, Agustin Barrios Mangore and Joaquin Turina; and flamenco guitarist Misael Barraza-Diaz performing his original works.

The concert starts at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, and can be live-streamed through the church's website, doveofpeacetucson.org. Admission is free but donations are being accepted to support TIHAN, the nonprofit Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network.

Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch

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Former President Donald Trump would routinely rip up documents, drafts and reading materials, and he took several boxes to Mar-a-Lago when he relocated to Florida after leaving the White House -- raising concerns about his preservation of presidential records as required by federal law.

Three former White House officials told CNN they saw Trump, on numerous occasions, manually destroy papers he was no longer interested in or had finished reviewing -- a practice that made it difficult for White House staff secretaries to preserve presidential records. Those officials said the former President sorted through file boxes in a rather methodical way -- tearing up newspaper clippings or drafts of tweets that he had rejected and tossing them to the floor, or stacking papers he wished to hang on to in a disorderly stack atop his desk.

They said Trump, who was often trailed by aides lugging file boxes as he boarded Marine One for day trips or overseas visits, ignored pleas to end the destructive habit. "The Boxes," as they were colloquially known among senior staff, contained all the save-for-later items that Trump would spend long flights going through: articles that he wanted to scribble Sharpie messages on before mailing them off to close friends; gossipy stories about West Wing drama that he would hate-read as he sought to identify leakers; and, occasionally, important memos on any number of policy topics or budding crises.

"He would have something in his hands when he came down from the residence and would say, 'Put this in my boxes,'" former White House communications director Stephanie Grisham recalled. "For longer flights, we would have six or seven boxes. He went through them when he had downtime."

"I remember sitting behind him on one of our Christmas trips to the Middle East, and he would put certain things in folders and then he would tear up others and leave them on the floor," Grisham said of Trump's surprise trip to visit American troops in Iraq during the holiday in 2018.

Typically, the former President's body men would retrieve the leftover scraps of paper once he left the room. Two of the former White House officials who spoke with CNN on the condition of anonymity said it was unclear what was ultimately done with the torn pieces, even after White House officials were warned not to dispose of any records once Politico first reported on Trump's problematic practice in June 2018. The Washington Post reported Saturday that the practice "was far more widespread and indiscriminate than previously known," based on interviews with nearly a dozen sources.

"At first, we were a White House that didn't know about preserving things and then, in the end, didn't care," Grisham told CNN.

Another former White House official said Trump flatly ignored repeated requests from at least two of his chiefs of staff to stop tearing apart paper and instead make piles of what he didn't wish to keep. "It went in one ear and out the other. There was no appreciation for the standard preservation process or concerns about violating it," this official said.

Inside the West Wing, aides often joked about Trump's "system" as they tried to determine whether there was a method to what he kept and what he tore up. One former Trump aide said a large volume of the papers he manually shredded were proposed tweets that then-White House social media director Dan Scavino would type up for his review.

The former President's handling of official records is also being scrutinized after boxes from the White House needed to be recovered by the National Archives from his Florida resort last month, with details of the visit first reported by the Post on Monday.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Archives general counsel Gary Stern contacted Trump's team last fall to inquire about several boxes of records that appeared to have been brought to Mar-a-Lago during Trump's relocation to Florida.

These were boxes that had been in the White House residence and thus were packed up with other personal belongings of the first family, this person said.

The National Archives said in a statement that Trump's representatives have told the Archives that they are continuing to search for additional records that belong to it.

The Presidential Records Act, Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero said in the statement, is "critical to our democracy."

Lawyers for Trump had proposed a date in December for the Archives to retrieve the boxes but settled on early January. The source told CNN it wasn't an Archives staffer who came down to Mar-a-Lago to pick up the boxes, but "a guy with a truck and work order."

To this source's knowledge, Mar-a-Lago is the only Trump property where records have been improperly stored. The boxes at Mar-a-Lago contained several personal mementos, including letters from Kim Jong Un and former President Barack Obama, as the Post reported.

Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former deputy counsel Patrick Philbin were also looped in on the discussions with the Archives, according to the source.

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CNN's Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

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PHOENIX  Hoping to build or restore public confidence, law enforcement agencies from around the state are lining up behind legislation that would require them to farm out some criminal investigations of their own to others.

But not all incidents. And not just yet.

HB 2650, would create a major incident division within the Department of Public Safety. It would be available beginning July 1, 2025, to investigate any critical force incident of any police officers.

That includes the use or intended use of deadly force.

Police and sheriffs departments would not be required to use DPS. Instead, they could turn the inquiry over to a regional law enforcement task force or any other agency.

But the key, said House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, is that the probe could not be done in-house.

It is my hope this legislation will affirm and reaffirm public trust in our law enforcement, he said.

That is critical, Bowers continued. And it will also increase accountability across the state.

The proposal, approved Monday by the House Committee on Military Affairs and Public Safety, comes from a working group of police chiefs and sheriffs.

It is our belief collectively that if theres going to be legislation written regarding law enforcement, that law enforcement leaders must be at the table, not because we expect that it is our wishes that should be carried out, but its our expertise that must be heard, said Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said.

He said it will provide transparency and accountability to investigate our own.

The move comes as police across the nation are under increased scrutiny for their interactions with civilians. That includes not just incidents that result in death or injuries of those who come into contact with police but allegations that there are racial elements in how police do their jobs.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams, whose own agency is facing a Department of Justice inquiry into its use of deadly force, praised the move.

My law enforcement colleges as well as the speaker as well as our representatives have heard the voices of the community mention and say We want independent investigations of our critical incidents, she said.

What HB 2650 does not include is any sort of civilian input into these reviews.

Bowers defended that decision, saying this is only about criminal investigations of use or intended use of deadly force. He said most civilians are not in a position to decide such issues, saying these investigations should be done by professional people.

Penzone said there are good reasons to limit who is involved.

During the investigation, we shouldnt have any outside forces influencing how investigators seek facts, interview witnesses, any of the elements of the investigation, he said.

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MANILA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,574 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,619,633.

The DOH said 83 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country's death toll to 54,621. The number of active cases dropped to 105,550 as the country's positivity rate fell to 16.3 percent.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his appeal to Filipinos to get the COVID-19 vaccine jabs, saying the country, which tallies an average of over 8,000 cases daily, is "not over the hump."

According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque, the country's COVID-19 risk remains moderate. However, he added that four regions in the southern Philippines remain at high risk.

"Our health care utilization rates range from low to moderate risk levels," Duque said during a meeting with Duterte aired late Monday night.

Infectious diseases specialist Edsel Salvana said the Omicron variant "is in full retreat in most regions."

"Metro Manila have peaked with steep downward epidemic curves. Most other regions have either plateaued or have peaked and are trending down," Salvana added.

The Philippines has seen four waves of infections since the outbreak in 2020. The country reported the highest single-day tally on Jan. 15 with 39,004 new cases. The country, which has around 110 million population, has tested nearly 26 million people. 
For the Arizona Hardcore Community (AZHC), rock is part of the solution to the problem of the COVID-19 pandemic: Thats just how they roll.

Shortly after the pandemic started, the organization, which promotes punk and hardcore music and helps to raise funds for nonprofits and various causes in the community, launched a compilation album to benefit those impacted by the economic fallout.

Upon release, Tucson Helping Tucson 2020 COVID19 Support Squad Comp presented by AZHC and Cactus Roots Records raised $500 to benefit the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona Covid-19 Relief Fund. The surge of the Omicron variant has prompted renewed promotional efforts for the album, which can be digitally downloaded for $8 at tucne.ws/azhc; CDs are $10 plus $5 for shipping.

In the past, we were always able to do shows and when people come to shows, they are ready to hand over a door fee or a cover charge, so it is is easy to raise money for the causes we support. When we were all shut down for COVID, we felt so helpless. At a time when everyone needed it the most, we couldnt do fundraisers. We thought, What can we do to help? We can go into the recording studio, said Kristi Davis, a member of AZHC.

Davis is a front vocalist for Destroy All Humans and drummer for Cicada, which contributed several songs to the compilation.

AZHC mobilized friends and supporters to make the 26-song album a reality. Chris Levesque, who plays bass for Pocket Sand, donated time and studio space at Tubacabra Studios to record the album. Funds for CDs and t-shirts were donated by Davis; Jeff Locke, drummer for Los Diablos Gordos and the Blue Collar Criminals; and Mike Panico of The Distortionists, In Good Cause and The Dirty Licks. Ted Riviera of The GunRunners designed art for CDs, shirts and promotional flyers through Cactus Roots Graphics.

The collaborative, can-do effort is reflective of the musicians with AZHC, according to Davis.

It is always surprising to people when we do anything outside the standard punk cliche or rock cliche, but we are constantly doing charity events. Most people wouldnt expect that type of philanthropy from punk musicians but actually the whole genre stands for community and not being so reliant on the government. We want to make sure we hold each other up, said Kristi Davis.

Davis said that AZHC chose the United Way of Southern Arizona COVID-19 Relief Fund as beneficiary because it funnels donations efficiently through a network of local nonprofits.

They work with the Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona, the Community Food Bank, Youth on their Own and so many other nonprofits to get help out quickly to those who need it, she said.

Since its implementation within weeks of the pandemic onset in March 2020, the United Ways COVID-19 Relief Fund has distributed nearly $1.5 million to 35 partner agencies to fulfill critical needs requests from individuals and families, according to Melisa DAuria, vice president of communications and engagement for the United Way.

DAuria said the fund has provided assistance for more than 78,000 households, averaging $529 in support per household. More than 5,200 people have received direct emergency support with rental assistance, utility shortfalls, food access and baby formula, child care, health supplies and other essentials.

DAuria credits caring individuals, businesses, and groups such as AZHC with helping to make the fund so successful.

We are so grateful to the thousands of people who have donated to this fund in support of our community members. Tucson and Southern Arizona are filled with such kind and thoughtful individuals and were proud to provide an outlet for those wanting to give back to those in need. Donations of any size  $5, $10 or $25  make a real impact on real families. As many of us know, you get so much more out of your community when you give back to it, said DAuria.

Ultimately, Davis said the AZHC views the album as the gift that will keep giving while the community rebuilds in the shadow of COVID.

Some people dont like to donate without getting something in return, and this album is something that is never-ending, especially in the era of the digital platform. Economic recovery from the pandemic will take more than a few years and this is something that is sustainable and accessible during the pandemic, she said.

Davis hopes that even people who may not have a taste for the punk or rock genres will find the album appealing.

Where punk and rock may lack in joy for a particular listener, they most certainly make up for it in entertainment and shock value. . .hopefully people will take joy in the fact that they are helping our local community during the pandemic. Our music is just a bonus, she said.

Contact freelance writer Loni Nannini at ninch2@comcast.net

If you go Help Arizona Hardcore Community (AZHC) and Cactus Records Support the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona COVID-19 Relief Fund What: Download Tucson Helping Tucson 2020 COVID19 Support Squad Comp by AZHC and Cactus Records Where: The album is available at tucne.ws/azhc Cost: $8 for the digital download; $10 plus $5 shipping for the CD; t-shirts are $25 plus $5 shipping All proceeds benefit the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona COVID-19 Fund to fill critical needs for those impacted by the pandemic. For more information, or to make an online donation directly to the fund, visit the website at unitedwaytucson.org/relief-fund.

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After years of pressure and litigation from environmental groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is sticking with a previous stance that the Sonoran desert tortoise doesn't need federal protection from development, wildfires, drought or other environmental threats.

The service announced this week that a comprehensive scientific review determined the tortoise isn't at risk of extinction in the foreseeable future, despite a wide range of threats to the animals and their habitat. So it wont list the tortoise as endangered or threatened, the service said.

An activist from one of two environmental groups thats pushed for federal protection of the tortoise accused the service of ignoring threats to the armored-shell animal from livestock grazing. The agency's Federal Register notice announcing its decision made no mention of grazing as a threat to the tortoise's existence, while listing other threats, noted Cyndi Tuell of the Western Watersheds Project.

"They're painting this rosy picture. They're not looking at all the risks to tortoise in their (computerized) prediction models. They are underestimating how quickly the tortoise populations will decline in the future," said Tuell, the group's Arizona-New Mexico director.

The service's decision, announced Monday, said the tortoise numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Computer modeling indicates an estimated 49,222 square miles of suitable Sonoran desert tortoise habitat occurs in Arizona and Sonora. The service has widely varying estimates of total tortoise population, from 148,358 to 2.5 million adults with an average estimate of about 549,000.

The Arizona Cattle Growers Association is gratified by the services decision, said Jeff Eisenberg, an association lobbyist.

We always want the Fish and Wildlife Service to make decisions based on the facts and science and too often in our view that is not the case. So we are gratified that the evaluation of the information led to this conclusion and we just hope it will be supported by the facts and science and it will be sustainable in court, Eisenberg said Tuesday.

Environmentalists said the tortoise's habitat also is degraded by invasive species, increased fire risk, housing developments, off-road vehicles, habitat fragmentation, and increased predation facilitated by human activities.

The wildlife service acknowledged many of these threats and said several, mainly development and drought, may increase over time. But the species and its associated habitat are projected to remain at levels that don't threaten the tortoise's survival, the service said.

"The service has found the Sonoran desert tortoise currently occupies much of its historical range where populations remain stable. ... Available survey data have not indicated systematic declines or extirpations," the service said.

The decision comes more than 13 years since Western Watersheds Project and Wild Earth Guardians petitioned the federal wildlife agency to list the tortoise as endangered or threatened.

The service found in 2010 that its listing was warranted but precluded by higher priority species, then found in 2015 that a listing wasn't warranted.

The two groups sued the service in 2019 seeking to overturn the latter finding. In 2020, the service agreed in an out-of-court settlement to reconsider it, but Monday's decision reaffirmed it.

"Its hopeful news that the Service thinks the future is rosy for the Sonoran desert tortoise based on the agencys modeling scenarios, and we certainly hope they are right, said Tuell in a written statement.

But the tortoise's habitat remains "gravely threatened," said Tuell, who is based in Tucson.

The tortoises live in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Sonora in Mexico. Adult tortoises range from 8 to 15 inches long, with a relatively high domed shell, usually brownish with a pattern and prominent growth lines. They can live to be 35 to 40.

Sonoran desert tortoises spend most of their time in below-ground shelter areas, and their emergence into the open air is timed to availability of resources such as precipitation or forage, the service said.

Their habitat typically consists of rocky slopes and washes that support shelter sites, the service said.

The service estimated the Sonoran desert tortoise not only occupies much of its historic range, but is "abundant" in Arizona and Sonora.

The agency's computer modeling projects future drought is expected to result in a negative growth rate for tortoise populations by the end of this century and likely declines in its overall abundance, the service said.

But the modeling found less than a 1% risk that by the end of the century, the tortoise will reach a state of quasi-extinction, in which a species population may be doomed to extinction even if individuals are still alive, the service said.

Last year, the watersheds project sent the service a detailed report, outlining what its staffers believe are grazing impacts on the tortoise. It cited peer-reviewed studies the watersheds project said identified risks to tortoises or to their habitat from grazing.

In brief, livestock compete with tortoises for the same food, especially in late winter/early spring or monsoon rainy seasons. They crush plants tortoises rely on for food. They crush burrows and actual tortoises.

Livestock infrastructure also harms tortoise habitat, the group said. First, fences and roads can create barriers to movement, it said. Fences provide perches for ravens and other tortoise predators, and increases in watering tanks for livestock provide increased predator populations in tortoise habitat, the group said.

Tuell noted that more than 8,500 square miles of tortoise habitat is managed by the Bureau of Land Management for livestock grazing. Over 77% of the bureaus grazing allotments have 10-year permits that have been renewed at least once without analysis of impacts on the tortoise, she said.

Thats possible due to a 2014 congressional legislative rider that allows BLM to continue authorizing grazing on federal lands without requiring collection or analysis of grazings impacts, she said.

Last September, a wildlife service report on the tortoise said livestock grazing management is an example of how multi-use lands can bring at least indirect wildlife benefits and moderate conservation value to the tortoise. On those lands, best management practices are designed and implemented to reduce potential negative effects in some cases and provide direct benefits in others, the wildlife service said.

That report listed grazing as one of a variety of stressors that may affect individual tortoises but dont have measurable effects on population levels, the wildlife service wrote.

Arizona cattle growers recognize that the Endangered Species Act is an established law in this country, their lobbyist Eisenberg said.

Within the implementation of that act, to extent the agency has discretion, we also strongly believe its important to take into consideration the impacts of their decisions on people, Eisenberg said. Our concern always is its not taken into consideration enough.

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ISLAMABAD, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed when unknown assailants, riding on a motorbike, opened fire at a car in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, local media reported Tuesday.

The incident happened near an expressway in the capital, local media said, adding that police and rescue team reached the site.

Police told local media that both of the parties had an old enmity.

According to the report, police cordoned off the area and started search operation for the arrest of the assailants. 
In early 1970, the U.S. Geological Survey used 71,000 pounds of explosives to create 366 craters on Prescott National Forest near Cottonwood, Ariz., to simulate the surface of Fra Mauro, the proposed Apollo 14 landing site on the Moon.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) brought the Apollo 14 crew to the site in November, 1970, to navigate the craters, some as deep as 50-feet, and practice tasks like collecting samples of lunar rock and dust, photographing the terrain and sending back descriptions.

During simulation, astronauts Alan B. Shepard (one of the original Mercury astronauts) and Edgar Dean Mitchell "landed" on the Lunar surface and Stuart A. Roosa manned the command module in orbit around the Moon. For the simulation, Shepard and Mitchell pulled around what Mitchell described as a "portable work table" to gather samples. Roosa and NASA commanders sent messages to the crew from the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston.

On January 31, 1971, the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 14 crew lifted off from Cape Kennedy for a nine-day journey to the Moon and back. The astronauts were the last to be quarantined on their return (formerly a standard practice). Manned flights to the Moon ended a year later.
PHOENIX  The actions of drug cartels and smugglers on the border constitute an invasion that allows Gov. Doug Ducey to use the National Guard to engage in war, according to a legal opinion from Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

Brnovich says in the opinion issued Monday that the U.S. Constitution says a state may defend itself when it has been actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. This invasion need not be in the traditional sense of a military force, but can also be applied to invasion by hostile non-state actors such as cartels and gangs, the option says.

And, Brnovich said Arizona need not get permission from the federal government to act.

In issuing the 25-page opinion, Brnovich, who is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, took multiple slaps at what he said is the failure of the Biden administration to do its duty to protect Arizona.

He also puts pressure on Ducey, who has not been a political ally  and could enter the Senate race against him  to do more than what he has done to date: deploy about 200 Guard soldiers to the border in support roles like monitoring surveillance cameras, analyzing data and providing administrative support to local law enforcement.

Ducey agrees with some of what Brnovich says of the situation, the governors press aide C.J. Karamargin told Capitol Media Services.

The number of people and drugs we have seen come across our border this year is unprecedented, he said, saying even Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted the situation is the worst it has been in more than two decades.

This administration needs to be held accountable, Karamargin said. But he took a swat at Brnovich for not acknowledging what the governor already is doing.

For Attorney General Brnovich to imply the Guard is not on our border does them a serious disservice and shows that he fails to appreciate the commitment these men and women have to protecting Arizona, Karamargin said.

At the heart of the opinion are two provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

One obligates the federal government to protect states from invasion. The other allows states to act on their own when invaded.

Brnovich acknowledged that courts have blocked states from using this second section to act on their own to protect themselves solely from an invasion by people crossing the border illegally. But the attorney general said whats at issue here is different.

Mexican and Central American cartels are engaging in brazen attacks on Arizona, trafficking in drugs and human beings, he wrote. And Brnovich noted that the president said in a 2021 proclamation that drug cartels and human traffickers are actual threats to the country.

Unfortunately, the federal government has failed to protect Arizona from this threat, he said. However, the state, through its governor as commander-in-chief can exercise its own power of self defense.

In his opinion, Brnovich provided a litany of issues along the border. That includes cartel involvement in human smuggling and sex trafficking, violence along the border and criminals apprehended at the border.

These facts satisfy the definition of invasion empowering the governor to exercise his authority, he said. And Brnovich said the drafters of the U.S. Constitution understood that it was designed to allow the use of a state militia  in Arizonas case, the National Guard  to protect against not just foreign hostility but also ambitious or vindictive enterprises of a states more powerful neighbors.

This phrase includes for-profit activities that involve violence, Brnovich said. The cartel and gang activities described above involve inflicting brutal violence in the pursuit of profit and would thus qualify.

Brnovich, however, was careful to say that his conclusion that Arizona was being invaded is not a license for anyone to take action.

Nothing in this opinion should be read as authorizing any use of force by anyone other than in the chain of command under the governor, he wrote.

Only the governor of the state of Arizona has the power to make a final determination that such exercise is justified, Brnovich said. Similarly, only the governor has the authority to establish the exact parameters for the exercise of the defensive use of force.

There are other concerns, including federal law and treaties, though Brnovich did not say which might come into play.

And there are other potential limits about where the governor could deploy soldiers on his own.

Particular attention must be paid to the states relationship with Native American tribes with reservations at the Arizona-Mexico border, Brnovich said, cautioning that the governor must remain cognizant of tribal sovereignty.

The opinion was issued in response to a request by Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, who called on Ducey last month to use war powers to repel what they believe is an invasion.

An invasion would normally be reference in terms of a nation-state invasion, he said at a news conference with about 20 other Republican lawmakers. But when you look at these numbers, I think its safe to say that this is an invasion.

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PHOENIX  Many of the 2.4 million Arizonans who voted early last election could lose that right under legislation approved Monday by a Senate panel.

Senate Bill 1404 would scrap longstanding law that allows any registered voter to request a ballot by mail, fill it out at home and then either mail it back or drop it off on Election Day at a polling place. Instead, that right would be reserved for only those who meet certain conditions.

Sen. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, sponsor of the bill, said his interest is ensuring that voters dont make premature decisions.

Sometimes theres a lot of information missing between, how many, a week, two weeks, three weeks, a month out, when somebody could early vote by mail to that point when we vote on the first Tuesday in November, he said. Youre going to miss a lot of information thats fed to you.

Gowan said his bill would resolve that by requiring most of the people who now vote early to instead go to the polls on Election Day.

The measure, advanced by a 5-3 party-line vote in the Republican-controlled Senate Government Committee, now needs a vote of the full Senate.

Gowan is willing to allow exceptions.

One is for people who would be absent from their precinct on Election Day. Others who would be entitled to keep getting early ballots include those who are at least 65, live at least 15 miles from the polling place, have religious reasons against going to the polls, or are physically unable to get there.

Jennifer Marson, executive director of the Arizona Association of Counties, told lawmakers she cannot say how many early voters would still qualify if Gowans bill were to become law.

Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, D-Tucson, said that should concern lawmakers of both parties. She said the record shows there were more early votes from Republicans last time than Democrats.

Lawmakers need to think carefully before taking that opportunity away from voters, said Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale.

We gave them the choice, Quezada said. They chose to use that option. They chose it because it is a safe and reliable and secure choice.

The other side of the equation, he said, is: The numbers of people who will not vote because of this will be tremendous.

Quezada also dismissed Gowans contention that those who choose to vote early are denying themselves information.

Personally, he said he gets an early ballot but hangs onto it until the last possible moment to see if there are late-breaking developments. Quezada said, though, he still wants to get the ballot early and presumes others feel the same way.

But Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, said she sides with those who find problems with the whole concept of early voting.

The mail-in voting is something thats convenient, she said. But its been grossly abused.

Rogers said it creates opportunities for fraudulent ballots that effectively can cancel legitimate ones.

I, as an American, dont want my vote canceled, she said. That is disenfranchisement.

Others who spoke before the panel argued the 2020 election showed there are pressing reasons to curb the process  despite the facts that every lawsuit challenging the election returns has been thrown out of court, and the Senate-ordered audit of Maricopa Countys returns failed to produce any evidence of fraud.

What we did have was a lot of counterfeit ballots, insisted Gail Golec, a Republican candidate for Maricopa County supervisor. She cited a report by Jovan Hutton Pulitzer, who was involved in the largely discredited Senate-ordered audit of the election returns, who claims to have technology to be able to spot fake ballots.

Golec also said she has four hours of eyewitness testimony of people who saw batches and batches of Biden ballots in a row. She also claimed there are algorithms of voting patterns that show irregularities.

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PHOENIX  Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is going to court to block Attorney General Mark Brnovich from taking action against her for temporarily taking an online candidate signature-gathering website offline for updating.

Brnovich is pursuing unfounded and unprecedented enforcement action against Hobbs, threatening her with criminal prosecution for performing her duties as the states chief elections officer, Hobbs attorney, Roopali Desai, said in new legal filings.

The lawsuit asks a Maricopa County judge to block Brnovich from initiating any civil or criminal complaints against Hobbs. A hearing is set to begin at 9 a.m. Monday Feb.14, before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joan Sinclair.

Brnovich spokeswoman Katie Conner dismissed the lawsuit as a bid by Hobbs to politicize every issue.

She seems more concerned with avoiding the blame than fixing the problem, Conner said in a prepared statement.

The dispute is over the E-Qual system, first established in 2011, which allows candidates to get signatures they need for nomination online. Normally there are no major issues.

This year, however, the Independent Redistricting Commission drew new district lines for legislative and congressional candidates.

Hobbs said that requires her to take the system offline next month to account for the new districts, as the voter registration system  which determines if signers live within the districts of candidates theyre supporting  cannot accommodate more than one set of maps. The system wont be available for about three weeks to those running for Congress or the Legislature, but candidates can still gather signatures using pen and paper.

That led to a letter from Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright warning that any move to do so would be contrary to law, floating the possibility that Hobbs could be charged with a minimum of a Class 3 misdemeanor, jailed for up to 30 days and fined $500 for knowingly refusing to perform a duty required under state election laws, or even with a felony.

This threat against the secretary is not only legally baseless, but also dangerous, Desai wrote. It is part of a larger systematic effort to undermine election officials ability to oversee and administer elections in the wake of the 2020 election. Election officials across the country have faced unprecedented harassment  and demands to be locked up or worse  simply for doing their jobs.

Desai said Brnovich, a Republican who is hoping to be the GOP nominee for a U.S. Senate seat, is singling out Hobbs, a Democrat running for governor.

Last time Arizonas congressional and legislative maps changed, then-Secretary Ken Bennett took E-Qual offline to allow counties to update voters districts in the voter registration system, Desai noted. There was no litigation.

Brnovich took no action against Hobbs predecessor Michele Reagan in 2016 after she didnt update the E-Qual system to comply with new requirements to extend the system to certain local candidates, Desai added.

No date has been set for a hearing.

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The Covid-19 crisis is nearing the second anniversary of the pandemic declaration by the World Health Organization, on March 11 -- and many people are now ready to know both when and how society can return to what we used to think of as normal.

In the United States, the White House has told CNN that federal officials are "thinking about" what comes next, after the United States transitions out of the current Covid-19 emergency and into a greater state of normalcy -- but officials still have not released a plan for that transition.

"Right now, our focus is on fighting Omicron," White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said at a news briefing last week when asked about whether or when there might be guidance from the White House on what a transition could look like.

He did not provide any details about when or what guidance might come next.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at the briefing that it remains unclear when that transition -- into a phase where Covid-19 no longer has such strong effects on people's daily lives -- might happen.

"We have to be totally honest that we don't know," Fauci said.

"We believe that we are now going in the right direction," he added. "The best-case scenario, as I and my colleagues have often described, is that with the tools that we have -- vaccination, boosting, testing, masking and all the other mitigations that we know about -- when you have a level of community protection, which is the level of immunity throughout the community, we will reach a stage, and I hope that it's sooner rather than later, when this will not dominate our lives."

Nationally, as of Monday, Covid-19 cases were down 43% from the week before, according to Johns Hopkins University data, and infections were trending down in nearly every state. The data also showed that hospitalizations last week fell 19% from the week prior, and new hospital admissions were down -- a promising sign that the downward trend will continue.

Yet federal officials have remained mum about any plans for lifting certain Covid-19 policies and returning to some version of normal.

Meanwhile, some leading public health experts and state governors have called for such plans to be released as soon as possible.

The types of guidance that state officials and public health experts seek include at what metric, such as which level of community transmission or hospital rates, can we declare the end of the pandemic and lift restrictions, as well as which mitigation measures should lift first as communities transition out of the pandemic and into a greater state of normalcy.

The case for guidance

The lack of guidance is not unusual, because "we're still in the middle of a hurricane," Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told CNN last week. The US is now averaging 2,462 new deaths each day, according to JHU, and it has been holding steady.

"We know there is still much to be done to stop the spread of COVID-19 and end the pandemic. We are still seeing far too many new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths," Kristen Nordlund, a spokesperson for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN in an email in late January.

"As we look forward to the spring, it's important to continue practicing prevention measures that we know work -- vaccinating, wearing a mask in public, indoor settings, staying home when you are sick, and washing your hands frequently."

Some public health officials, including CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, have pointed to Covid-19 hospitalization rates as a metric to help determine when to lift certain Covid-19 restrictions.

As hospitalizations trend down but still are high, Dr. Megan Ranney, professor of emergency medicine and associate dean of public health at Brown University, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Thursday that "today is not the day" to start rolling back safety measures.

"We are still in the midst of a surge. We still have hospitalization rates that rival those of last winter, and we still have well over 2,000 Americans dying every day," Ranney said. "When is it going to be time to start to roll back some of these mandates? I expect that it's going to be within a month or so."

But Benjamin, of the American Public Health Association, said he hopes the nation has a "lull" in the Omicron wave right now to develop guidance on moving forward.

"What I would suggest what we do is, we look and we imagine some possible futures of where the disease might go, and then we plan the transition according to those various scenarios," Benjamin said.

For instance, one scenario might be the emergence of a more virulent variant that causes subsequent lockdowns, while another could be Covid-19 shifting into an endemic seasonal disease that no longer overwhelms health systems and quietly circulates at low levels -- as endemic means a disease has a constant presence in a population but is not affecting an alarmingly large number of people, as typically seen in a pandemic.

"The point being is, you lay out those scenarios," Benjamin said. "And then as a nation, we decide how we're going to handle that, with a consensus around that with the governors, with the mayors, and everybody kind of agrees that's what we're going to do, and that's how we move forward."

That guidance could come from a "higher authority" than the CDC, he said, such as the White House Covid-19 Task Force as a whole.

"This is not CDC's responsibility. They will be part of the process, but this is much bigger than CDC because this pandemic has been much bigger than just one agency," Benjamin said. He added that such guidance should include scenarios and models of where the pandemic might be headed and how to address what could happen next.

"While CDC can provide some leadership there -- they can provide the science, they can provide the evidence, and maybe they can do the modeling -- because that involves so much of a society that's got to come at a higher authority," he said. "Maybe the Covid Task Force pulls that together and lays it out for the nation."

'A perpetual state of emergency'

Some state governors also are calling for guidance to be issued.

A bipartisan group of governors told President Joe Biden that the country needs to "move away from the pandemic," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said at the White House last week, adding that they asked for "clear guidelines" on how to return to what we used think of as normal.

Benjamin concurs: "I think the governors are right to begin asking the question: What's the endgame? And I'm glad to see that that's being asked, and I'm glad to see that's being asked in a bipartisan manner.

"There's so many public policy decisions involved with this. CDC is only one of the entities that needs to be involved in this, and it really is a whole of government discussion," he said. "By the way, it's a whole of government discussion at the federal, state and local level. The governors need to be part of that discussion, too."

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, said even though the United States is "not close" to the pandemic's end right now, governors are looking for clearer guidance as to when mitigation efforts should be rolled back.

"I think what governors are agitating for are some clear guideposts that define what the on and off ramp is for this. When do we start to roll back this mitigation? We don't have an agreed upon set of nomenclature and metrics for measuring that," Gottlieb told CBS's Margaret Brennan on Face The Nation on Sunday.

"What governors are sensing is that we need to agree upon a set of metrics -- when we're going to start to roll back these mitigation steps, and give people a light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "What is that point when this stuff gets turned off?"

CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen has added her voice to the chorus that now is the time for the Biden administration to start lifting some Covid-19 restrictions in some areas where cases and hospitalizations are low, as part of a transition back to a state of normalcy.

"We cannot live in a perpetual state of emergency. There is a place and a time for that, and I believe that we best preserve public health authority for when those times are most needed," Wen told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday.

"By the way, I am not advocating that we lift restrictions right now for the entire US," she added. "There are many parts of the country that are still being overwhelmed with patients, that hospitals are still really full. And so we certainly should not be lifting restrictions there. But there are other places that are clearly trending in the right direction, and we need to give people hope. We need to have an off ramp with these same restrictions we're putting in."

The movement begins overseas

"What we're saying is, every country will chart their way out of this in their own way, but we're asking countries to really look at your epidemiology: What's your vaccination rate? What's your hospital status? Is your hospital system in a good place, or is it over-strained?" Dr. Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for WHO, told CNN's Kate Bolduan on Thursday.

Globally, "we recorded record numbers of cases over and over again -- more than 3.3 million cases just in the last 24 hours," Harris said. "So we have huge numbers of cases, but we're in a much better place than we were before because we also have vaccinations, we also have treatments, we've got many more tools that mean we can beat this."

During last week's White House briefing, Zients said that the United States is focused on using those tools -- including vaccinations, treatments and at-home testing -- to improve the current Covid-19 situation.

"At the same time, we are always planning for the future. The most important thing that we have now, when comparing to a year ago, are the tools to protect people: the vaccines," Zients said, adding that the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children younger than 5 is on the horizon and the nation now has access to more treatment options, including Covid-19 pills.

"So, our progress over the last year and the tools we now have certainly allow us to get closer to a time when Covid doesn't disrupt our daily lives, that it's something we protect against and treat," Zients said. "And as we make more progress against Omicron, we'll get closer to that point."

The National Association of County and City Health Officials plans to hold brainstorming and listening sessions this spring with local and federal public health officers to discuss what the end of the pandemic might look like -- and how to determine when we've reached the end.

Representatives from the CDC, Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are expected to be in attendance. The first meeting is scheduled for April.

Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO's chief executive officer, told CNN last week that she hopes the White House might release some guidance before those sessions begin.

"We are hopeful that we will see some of these start to appear before our listening sessions," Freeman said. "The conversations are starting, and it appears to be good timing."

The-CNN-Wire

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Best for Term Life Insurance

Shopping for life insurance can be overwhelming. There are many policy types to choose from, and some insurance salespeople can aggressively push certain options that may not be the best fit for you.

If youre looking for a simple term life policy  the most affordable type of life insurance  Haven Life could be a helpful option. You can apply and purchase insurance online, without having to meet with an insurance agent. And, some Haven Life policies are simplified issues, so you dont have to get a medical exam, making Haven Life our pick for the best term life insurance company.

Term 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 on your state to begin.

Haven Life Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros

Some policies available without medical exams

Up to $3 million in coverage available

Additional benefits included with Haven Life Plus

Cons

Only sells term life insurance

Simplified issue policies not available in all states

Only one payment option

Pros explained

Some policies available without medical exams

In most cases, life insurance companies require applicants to get a medical exam and tests to qualify for a policy. If you dont want to do that, Haven Life has a simplified-issue policy. You can get up to $500,000 in coverage with a no-exam life insurance policy.

Up to $3 million in coverage available

Companies that sell directly to consumers rather than selling through insurance agents usually have limited coverage options. Coverage amounts are usually limited to under $1 million. But with Haven Life, you can purchase up to $3 million in coverage.

Additional benefits included with Haven Life Plus

Haven Life Plus is included on Haven Term policies. It provides additional benefits beyond what life insurance policies typically offer, such as estate planning, end-of-life planning, fitness apps and storing important information.

Cons explained

Sells only term life insurance

Where many insurers sell multiple types of life insurance, Haven Life only sells term life coverage. If youre looking for whole or universal life policies, youll have to work with another insurer.

Simplified issue policies not available in all states

Havens simplified issue policies arent available in all states. Residents of California, Delaware, Florida, New York, North Dakota and South Dakota are ineligible for simplified issue policies, and can only apply for Havens fully underwritten plans.

Only one payment option

Most insurance companies have multiple payment options, such as annual, semi-annual, quarterly or monthly payments, and they may offer discounts if you opt for annual or semi-annual payments. By contrast, Haven Life only accepts monthly payments, so its a bill you have to remember to pay every month for the duration of your policys term.

Haven Life Insurance Products

While other companies sell a range of life insurance products, Haven Life only offers term life insurance. Term life coverage is limited in length, covering you for only a specified period of time. If you pass away during the policy term, your beneficiary will receive the plans death benefit. But once the term ends, the policy is no longer in effect, and your beneficiary receives nothing if you die.

Why would someone opt for a temporary life insurance policy? Its usually significantly cheaper than permanent options like universal or whole life insurance.

Available Life Insurance Plans

Haven Life has two term life plans:

Haven Term : Haven Terms is available nationwide to customers under the age of 64. You can choose a term of 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years, and you can purchase up to $3 million in coverage. Depending on your answers to the preliminary health questions and the amount of coverage you want, you may need to get a medical exam.

: Haven Terms is available nationwide to customers under the age of 64. You can choose a term of 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years, and you can purchase up to $3 million in coverage. Depending on your answers to the preliminary health questions and the amount of coverage you want, you may need to get a medical exam. Haven Simple: The Haven Simple plan is of the simplified issue variety, meaning you dont have to get a medical exam. You can apply online in minutes and, if approved, get coverage the same day. Only individuals between the ages of 20 and 55 are eligible, and you can choose a term of five, 10, 15 or 20 years. Available coverage ranges from $25,000 to $500,000.

Insurance Riders

Haven Life has the following riders:

Accelerated Death Benefit : If the covered person is terminally ill with 12 to 24 months left to live, the accelerated death benefit rider allows the person to use a portion of their policys death benefit while theyre living. This rider is included with all policies.

: If the covered person is terminally ill with 12 to 24 months left to live, the accelerated death benefit rider allows the person to use a portion of their policys death benefit while theyre living. This rider is included with all policies. Waiver of Premium: If you become totally disabled due to illness or injury, you dont have to pay your policys premiums for the length of the disability. This rider is optional, and is available at an additional cost to individuals under the age of 59.

Limitations

Haven Lifes plans are either fully underwritten or of the simplified issue type; the company does not sell guaranteed issue policies. If you have existing health issues, Haven Life may deny your application for coverage.

Get an Affordable Rate with Haven Life

Haven Life Credentials

Haven Life is a fairly new company. It was founded in 2014 by Yaron Ben-Zvi to make buying life insurance easier.

Like most insurers of its age, Haven Life is backed by an older partner. Haven Life is wholly owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), a company that has been in operation since 1851. All Haven Life policies are issued by MassMutual.

Awards

Haven Life was recognized as the Best InsurTech during Benzingas Global Fintech Awards in 2020, reflecting its identity as a leader among those startup companies that are employing new technology and business models to sell insurance. It was also named one of the best small and medium workplaces by Great Places to Work and Fortune.

Financial Stability

While financial stability is important to consider when buying any type of insurance, its especially valuable when buying life insurance. Term life policies can have terms as long as 30 years, so you want to have the security and peace of mind that the insurer you choose will be around for the long haul.

To help you with your research, industry credit rating agencies like Moodys, AM Best and S&P Global issue credit ratings based on their evaluation of insurance companies financials.

MassMutual, the company behind Have Life, has a strong reputation and has received high ratings from the credit agencies. While it has an adequate rating from S&P Global, it receives high marks from two of the most respected ratings agencies for insurance companies: Moodys and AM Best.

Credit Rating Agency Rating Rating Range Moodys Aa3 C to AAA AM Best A++ (Superior) D to A++ S&P Global BBB+ (Adequate) D to AAA

Third-Party Ratings

MassMutual was ranked seventh out of 21 life insurance companies in the 2021 J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. MassMutuals rating was 782, which is slightly higher than the industry average of 776.

The study evaluated and rated companies to measure customer satisfaction based on five factors:

Communication

Interaction

Price

Product offerings

Statements

Regulatory Actions

Haven Life has not been the target of any regulatory actions.

Cost of Haven Life Insurance

Term life insurance is usually cheaper than permanent life insurance, and its generally much cheaper if you buy it while youre young. You can get life insurance in your 20s or 30s much cheaper than if you start shopping in your 40s since youre likely in better health with fewer medical conditions.

When thinking about how much insurance costs, consider the industry average. LIMRA, a non-profit trade association, reported that the average cost of a $250,000, 20-year term life policy for a 30-year-old individual in excellent health was $165 per year, or $13.75 per month.

We requested quotes from Haven Life to get an idea of its rates. You can get detailed quotes for simplified issue policies by answering a few questions, but quotes for Haven Term policies  which are fully underwritten  require you to complete a full application. For this review, we requested quotes solely for its simplified issue policies.

In general, simplified issue policies cost more than fully underwritten policies. Thats true for Haven Life; its Haven Simple plans were more expensive than the industry average, but theyre available without a medical exam and can be purchased online in under 20 minutes.

$50,000 policy $100,000 policy $250,000 policy $500,000 policy $1M policy $1.5M policy 10 years $6.12 $7.82 $11.75 $17.86 $17.67 $23.50 20 years $7.09 $9.13 $14.32 $22.60 $27.67 $38.50

Your rates may vary from the sample rates we received because premiums are based on multiple factors including your age, gender, health history and location.

Haven Life Accessibility

Haven Life sells insurance directly to consumers through its website. It doesnt have insurance agents or financial professionals to advise you, but it does allow customers to contact its support team in multiple ways.

Contact Information

Haven Lifes customer support team can be reached via live chat or phone:

Phone: 855-744-2836

Customer service is available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. EST.

User Experience

Haven Life has an online portal customers can use to pay their premiums, change their beneficiaries or view their policy details. However, Haven Life doesnt have a mobile app for policyholders.

Haven Life Customer Satisfaction

As in addition to scoring a little above average in the JD Power survey noted earlier, which included customer service, Haven Life tends to fare well in other measures of customer satisfaction.

Customer Reviews

Haven Life has a 4.8 TrustScore out of 5 based on over 1,000 reviews, giving it an excellent rating on TrustPilot. Haven Life reviews highlight the companys hassle-free application process and responsive communication.

Complaint Index

Researching the number of complaints that customers submit about insurance companies can give you an idea of what level of customer service to expect. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) collects consumer complaints and uses that data to issue annual complaint ratios to reflect how companies measure up to their competition.

The industry standard complaint index is 1.0. Companies seek to earn ratios below that number since that indicates they received fewer complaints than is typical for a company of its size, while companies with ratios over 1.0 received more complaints than expected.

In 2020, MassMutuals complaint index for individual life insurance was 0.14, which is significantly lower than the industry standard.

Does Haven Life require medical exams?

Haven Life has two policy options. While the Haven Term policy may require medical exams for some individuals and coverage amounts, the Haven Simple policy is a simplified issue option. You can get up to $500,000 in coverage without a medical exam.

When was Haven Life started?

Haven Life was founded in 2014 to simplify how life insurance is purchased. It offers a completely online experience, selling term life policies directly to consumers.

Who owns Haven Life?

Haven Life is backed and wholly owned by MassMutual, a leading insurance company.

How We Evaluated Haven Life Insurance

In our evaluation of Haven Life and other life insurance companies, we looked at the following factors:

Available plans and terms

Insurance riders

Policy exclusions

Underwriting process

Cost

Financial stability

Customer service

Customer reviews

Third-party ratings

Summary of Moneys Haven Life Insurance Review

For individuals looking for basic term life policies without the hassle of medical exams or lengthy application processes, Haven Life could be a useful solution. You can get either fully underwritten or simplified issue policies, and all plans include an accelerated death benefit rider.

However, Haven Lifes life insurance policies may be slightly more expensive than you could find elsewhere, and you can be denied coverage based on your medical history. If you want permanent life insurance, guaranteed issue policies or additional riders, youll be better off working with another company (check our list of the best life insurance companies to start).

Avoid a medical exam and get life insurance coverage this week - apply now to get a free quote. Make sure your loved ones are taken care of with Haven Life Insurance. Click below to get a free quote.

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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.

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MANILA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Campaign for presidential election formally kicked off in the Philippines on Tuesday, three months ahead of the voting on May 9 to choose a new president that will lead this Southeast Asian country in the next six years.

At least 67.5 million Filipinos have registered to vote, including 1.8 million voters overseas. They will also elect the vice president, about 300 lawmakers, and over 18,000 positions as local officials.

There are 10 presidential candidates and nine candidates for the vice president. According to surveys, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., 64, the son of former President Ferdinand Marcos, is leading in the opinion polls. Trailing behind him are 56-year-old incumbent Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo, Manila City Mayor Francisco Domagoso, Senator Manny Pacquiao, Senator Panfilo Lacson, and five others.

In the Philippines, the president and vice president are elected separately. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, 43, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, will run for vice president as the running mate of Marcos Jr..

Duterte, whose six-year term ends in June, has yet to endorse any presidential candidate.

Like in past elections, some candidates already started campaigning on television, social media, and radio months before the campaign season started.

As early as October, presidential aspirants have begun crisscrossing the archipelago to dole out goodies and cash, launch TV promotions and roll out social media advertising programs. The candidates' names and pictures are displayed on giant billboards along major highways.

However, unlike in the past, the candidates are not expected to barnstorm cities and towns, croon love songs, hug babies, and dance on stage to win votes.

The Commission on Elections has imposed restrictions in order to contain the spread of COVID-19, barring politicians from entering houses, crowding, handshakes, hugs, kissing, or any actions that involve physical contact.

Even taking selfies and photographs, activities that require proximity with people, as well as distribution of food and drinks are prohibited.

With the COVID-19 threat, the candidates are expected to be more prominent in digital platforms and hire social media savvy advisers to woo the youth, who comprise more than half of the total registered voters.

Meanwhile, the crescendo of campaign rhetoric and mudslinging is also expected to intensify in the coming days as the three-month campaign unfolds. 
OKLAHOMA CITY  Gov. Kevin Stitt on Monday proposed a relatively flat budget for the upcoming 2023 fiscal year.

Lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Monday to hear Stitts fourth State of the State address outlining his policy and legislative priorities.

Stitts $9 billion state budget proposal is just the starting point. Lawmakers and Stitt will craft a final budget, which is usually unveiled in May.

The Board of Equalization will meet later this month to determine how much lawmakers will have to spend in the next fiscal year.

Stitts staff is expected to have a budget briefing on Thursday to release more details of his proposal, which would keep key state departments, such as education, higher education, health, corrections and public safety, at current appropriation levels.

Stitt proposed Monday in his State of the State address a program that would allow some teachers to earn up to six figures, but details on how it is to be funded were elusive. He told lawmakers it would be done with matching funds.

His proposed budget is further evidence that his education ideas are election-year pandering, said State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who is running against Stitt for the governors seat this year.

During a severe teacher shortage and extensive learning loss as the result of a pandemic that the governor virtually ignored, it is bewildering that he would put forth a flat budget.

Oklahoma is 47th in education funding, said Oklahoma Education Association President Katherine Bishop. Thats a long ways from Top 10 in the country. Its a mystery how we can improve on that ranking if he holds education flat in this years budget.

The governors proposed budget focuses on funding critical items with an emphasis on keeping the recurring expenditure base in line with current levels of recurring revenue.

His budget backs out one-time expenses, such as funds given to the Legislature to accomplish redistricting, something that was completed last year.

The one-time expenditures backed out of the budget total $283 million.

The budget also holds his office at current levels, nearly $3.6 million.

The executive budget proposal would not replenish the $10 million given to Oklahoma Attorney General John OConnor last session to fight federal overreach and file lawsuits against the federal government. Some lawmakers have expressed support for additional money for that purpose.

My overall comment is I am looking forward to discussions with executive budget negotiators, said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Roger Thompson, R-Okemah. My question is: How do we pay for some things (Stitt) proposed today?

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Several protesters were arrested and a Tulsa police officer apparently was injured during a demonstration at the Page Belcher Federal Building calling for President Joe Biden to grant clemency for American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier.

A video posted to Youtube shows an officer and several protesters getting into an altercation on Fourth Street near Denver Avenue, and a livestreamed video on Facebook shows at least three protesters being handcuffed.

Peltier, an Anishinaabe and Dakota man who was convicted by a federal jury in 1977 in the shooting deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, has been in federal prison since his conviction.

Many people consider Peltier a political prisoner and say he was wrongfully convicted.

Calls for Peltiers release or for the overturning of his conviction have been heard from Peltiers first appeal in 1978 through President Barack Obamas denial of his clemency request in 2017, but those calls for release have increased in urgency since Peltier, now 77, tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 28.

Demonstrations were planned across the country, in Fargo, North Dakota  where Peltier was convicted in federal court  and in Florida at the Coleman Penitentiary  where Peltier is incarcerated.

Tulsas protest began about 10 a.m. Monday, and livestreams of the arrests were posted between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. At least 50 people were carrying signs and calling for Peltiers release.

The video posted on Youtube shows several protesters chanting and yelling at a Tulsa police car parked in the street.

The officer then gets out of the car and tells the protesters they need to move out of the street.

One of the protesters is shown telling the officer not to touch him or he will act accordingly. The video then shows the officer and the protesters talking over each other.

The officer says he is Native American, as well, prompting the protesters to become more upset and say he is not a Muscogee Nation Lighthorse police officer.

The officer is then seen putting his hand on one the protesters and telling him to move away; one of the protesters pushes the officers hand away from him, and the officer then is seen grabbing one of the protesters with both hands and pushing him away.

After that, more shoving can be seen, and then the camera pans away from the altercation. A couple of seconds later, three protesters can be seen surrounding the officer as he runs backward, but it appears as if a couple of the protesters are trying to keep the others from engaging with the officer.

The officer can then be seen falling to the ground, at which point two law enforcement officials who identify themselves as FBI point firearms at the crowd of protesters, and a uniformed Tulsa police officer pulls out a Taser.

The FBI officials help the officer up, and he can be seen limping and grabbing his leg.

More officers arrive, some with pepper ball guns, and three protesters are put in handcuffs.

As of 8:45 p.m., online jail records show none of the arrested protesters had been booked into the Tulsa County jail.

The Tulsa Police Department did not comment to the Tulsa World about the officers injuries or what happened.

Ashley Jones contributed to this story.

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A group of city leaders is headed to Las Vegas, Nevada, later this month to take a look at that desert communitys real-time crime information center.

Mayor G.T. Bynum, who is making the trip with Police Chief Wendell Franklin, two city councilors and other city officials Feb. 24-26, said Franklin pitched the idea of establishing such a facility in Tulsa when he took office in early 2020.

Then COVID-19 hit, putting the project on hold.

I really want to go out and see what they are utilizing in Las Vegas and how we might apply it here, Bynum said. But it says a lot to me that our chief of police, when he first came into his job, one of the very first things he wanted to do was to get one of these deployed to help officers in the field make Tulsa a safer place.

Bynum said the real-time information center, as Tulsa police are calling it, would allow the Tulsa Police Department to use a network of cameras to monitor situations around town in real time and to provide video that could be used to identify suspects and follow up on leads.

The idea behind it is you have one place where all of these feeds go in so that the department can track things from a visual standpoint, not just over a radio, and it can be a great force multiplier, and it can also just help on follow up on crimes after the fact, Bynum said.

Thats especially important today, he said, because the city is down 50 officers from last year due to retirements.

We have to find ways to make Tulsa safer, and yes, a big focus of that must continue to be manpower, Bynum said. But if there is technology out there that the Tulsa Police Department believes they can deploy that will help them make a big step forward in their ability to protect Tulsa, then I want to know what that is, too.

Bynum said that in todays world cameras are everywhere and that a system like the real-time information center could be used in a coordinated fashion to help keep the public safe.

For so many of the crimes that the Tulsa Police Department responds to, they retrieve video evidence from businesses that have security cameras and even from people with iPhones and cameras on their phones, Bynum said. So cameras are already everywhere; the difference here is that it puts a network in the hands of law enforcement so that it can respond to and follow up on crimes and get criminals behind bars.

The Police Department last year requested $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to create and staff the real-time information center. But that figure, Bynum stressed, was for a state-of-the-art facility and included $1.5 million in annual staffing costs.

I think we would want to try it out on a limited basis and see if it is really useful before we go all in, Bynum said.

Police Capt. Jacob Johnston said it is too early to tell how much the program would cost because TPD is still in the early stages of research and planning. Across the country, approximately 120 communities are using real-time crime information centers, each one a little different from the others, Johnston said.

We want to make sure we are making the smartest decisions that we can, he said. That is why we are going to places like Las Vegas to ask them about their experience.

Johnston said the real-time information center would not only help officers and investigators in the field but could provide information about the site of a crime, as well.

We can focus on: Have we gone to this location before? Are there any reports related to it that would be related to this call? Johnston said.

Then there is the information not related directly to crimes, such as power outages that affect street lights or rising flood waters. That information would be shared with other public safety agencies through the real-time information center, Johnston said.

We have seen this happen with natural disasters where the flood waters are today being reported back to a central location so that everybody is aware of it, where road closures might be happening, Johnston said. That is why this information is more important than focusing solely on the crime aspect.

Bynum said the cameras are not intended to be hidden and are typically marked  and that he would prefer it that way.

The intent of this is really to focus in specific high-crime areas, and my preference would be that we do it in a way where criminals know that they are there, Bynum said. I want them to know that they are being watched.

I think that that has a deterrent effect as much as following up and getting those criminals arrested and putting them behind bars would have down the road.

Bynum said he and Franklin agree that before cameras are placed in a neighborhood residents in those communities would be contacted and consulted.

We want law-abiding folks to know that they are there and why they are there and how they are being used, and we want their help and support, Bynum said. And a lot of the time they may have ideas on where they ought to go that we at the city are not necessarily going to think of.

Bynum and Johnston said there are no plans for the real-time information center to include facial recognition technology.

We are aware of the technology, obviously, because we are not blind to what is going on, Johnston said. We know some of the challenges that facial recognition has had in the past. At this point it is not a part of our ongoing conversations.

We are more interested in providing the support to our responding officers.

The city has established no timeline for when the real-time information center will be up and running, nor has it settled on a funding source.

Councilors Phil Lakin and Lori Decter Wright are scheduled to make the trip to Las Vegas with the mayor, police chief and other officials.

Featured video: Mayor G.T. Bynum gives highlights of citys annual report for 2021

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The Reservation Dogs are coming to Red Fork.

Or at least their support crew is.

Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a short-term lease with Minim Productions at Monday nights board meeting to use the former Park Elementary School while filming season two of the FX series Reservation Dogs in the area.

As approved, Minim Productions will pay the district $75,000 to use the building through June 30 for offices and storage space and to house production equipment. The lease could be extended later this year if there is interest from the production company.

The lease, which does not include any outdoor activity on the property, is contingent upon approval by the Tulsa Board of Adjustment.

Located at 3205 W. 39th St., Park was one of three westside schools shuttered in 2017 as part of an effort to offset a multimillion dollar budget shortfall. The building was added to the districts surplus list in 2019 and is currently vacant.

During Monday nights meeting, Superintendent Deborah Gist said efforts were underway to try to include broadcast students at nearby Webster High School in some capacity.

Located one mile east of the Park campus, Webster has a digital media and broadcasting program that added a hands-on film component at the start of the current school year through a memorandum of understanding with the Film Institute of Oklahoma.

As designed, Webster students learn the skills needed to go to work on a film set right out of high school. Along with technical aspects, such as lighting, production design and rigging, the Film Education Institute of Oklahoma curriculum includes set safety, transferable soft skills and industry jargon.

Im just excited that one of our schools will be included in a nationally recognized television show, board President Stacey Woolley said. It makes me really excited not only to think that theyre giving back to the community by renting from Tulsa Public Schools but also that theyll also be right by Webster High School, which has this amazing broadcast program.

Im really hoping that there will be some collaboration to get those students involved or at least give them a chance to check it out.

Related

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One year ago today, on May 1, 2021, a memorial service was held in honor of the 41 Tulsa Police Officers who have died in the line of duty at 
A group of city leaders is headed to Las Vegas, Nevada, later this month to take a look at that desert communitys real-time crime information center.

Mayor G.T. Bynum, who is making the trip with Police Chief Wendell Franklin, two city councilors and other city officials Feb. 24-26, said Franklin pitched the idea of establishing such a facility in Tulsa when he took office in early 2020.

Then COVID-19 hit, putting the project on hold.

I really want to go out and see what they are utilizing in Las Vegas and how we might apply it here, Bynum said. But it says a lot to me that our chief of police, when he first came into his job, one of the very first things he wanted to do was to get one of these deployed to help officers in the field make Tulsa a safer place.

Bynum said the real-time information center, as Tulsa police are calling it, would allow the Tulsa Police Department to use a network of cameras to monitor situations around town in real time and to provide video that could be used to identify suspects and follow up on leads.

The idea behind it is you have one place where all of these feeds go in so that the department can track things from a visual standpoint, not just over a radio, and it can be a great force multiplier, and it can also just help on follow up on crimes after the fact, Bynum said.

Thats especially important today, he said, because the city is down 50 officers from last year due to retirements.

We have to find ways to make Tulsa safer, and yes, a big focus of that must continue to be manpower, Bynum said. But if there is technology out there that the Tulsa Police Department believes they can deploy that will help them make a big step forward in their ability to protect Tulsa, then I want to know what that is, too.

Bynum said that in todays world cameras are everywhere and that a system like the real-time information center could be used in a coordinated fashion to help keep the public safe.

For so many of the crimes that the Tulsa Police Department responds to, they retrieve video evidence from businesses that have security cameras and even from people with iPhones and cameras on their phones, Bynum said. So cameras are already everywhere; the difference here is that it puts a network in the hands of law enforcement so that it can respond to and follow up on crimes and get criminals behind bars.

The Police Department last year requested $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to create and staff the real-time information center. But that figure, Bynum stressed, was for a state-of-the-art facility and included $1.5 million in annual staffing costs.

I think we would want to try it out on a limited basis and see if it is really useful before we go all in, Bynum said.

Police Capt. Jacob Johnston said it is too early to tell how much the program would cost because TPD is still in the early stages of research and planning. Across the country, approximately 120 communities are using real-time crime information centers, each one a little different from the others, Johnston said.

We want to make sure we are making the smartest decisions that we can, he said. That is why we are going to places like Las Vegas to ask them about their experience.

Johnston said the real-time information center would not only help officers and investigators in the field but could provide information about the site of a crime, as well.

We can focus on: Have we gone to this location before? Are there any reports related to it that would be related to this call? Johnston said.

Then there is the information not related directly to crimes, such as power outages that affect street lights or rising flood waters. That information would be shared with other public safety agencies through the real-time information center, Johnston said.

We have seen this happen with natural disasters where the flood waters are today being reported back to a central location so that everybody is aware of it, where road closures might be happening, Johnston said. That is why this information is more important than focusing solely on the crime aspect.

Bynum said the cameras are not intended to be hidden and are typically marked  and that he would prefer it that way.

The intent of this is really to focus in specific high-crime areas, and my preference would be that we do it in a way where criminals know that they are there, Bynum said. I want them to know that they are being watched.

I think that that has a deterrent effect as much as following up and getting those criminals arrested and putting them behind bars would have down the road.

Bynum said he and Franklin agree that before cameras are placed in a neighborhood residents in those communities would be contacted and consulted.

We want law-abiding folks to know that they are there and why they are there and how they are being used, and we want their help and support, Bynum said. And a lot of the time they may have ideas on where they ought to go that we at the city are not necessarily going to think of.

Bynum and Johnston said there are no plans for the real-time information center to include facial recognition technology.

We are aware of the technology, obviously, because we are not blind to what is going on, Johnston said. We know some of the challenges that facial recognition has had in the past. At this point it is not a part of our ongoing conversations.

We are more interested in providing the support to our responding officers.

The city has established no timeline for when the real-time information center will be up and running, nor has it settled on a funding source.

Councilors Phil Lakin and Lori Decter Wright are scheduled to make the trip to Las Vegas with the mayor, police chief and other officials.

Featured video: Mayor G.T. Bynum gives highlights of citys annual report for 2021

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ANKARA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces "neutralized" at least five members of Syria's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, Turkey's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

Turkish forces responded to a "harassment fire" opened by the YPG in northern Syria against a border post of the Turkish military in southeastern Mardin city, the ministry tweeted.

At least four YPG fighters were "neutralized" as a result of the punishment fire, said the ministry.

In another incident, one YPG member was "neutralized" after the group attempted to attack Turkey's Operation Peace Spring zone in northern Syria, the ministry said.

The term "neutralized" was used by Turkish authorities to imply the fighters were killed, wounded, or captured in security operations.

Turkish forces and the YPG members often exchange fire on the Syrian border, but the tension increased in the region since the killing of three Turkish soldiers on Jan. 8 when a bomb planted by the YPG exploded on Turkey's border with Syria.

Last week, Turkey staged airstrikes targeting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and YPG in northern Syria. Ankara sees the YPG as the Syrian branch of the PKK which has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades. 
OKLAHOMA CITY  Gov. Kevin Stitt didnt exactly promise a chicken in every pot during his fourth annual State of the State address on Monday, but he did suggest the possibility of six-figure teacher salaries, more state financial support of private schools, and new, smoother and wider roads, all while cutting or eliminating the states two primary revenue sources.

Now is the time for big, bold decisions, Stitt said near the end of the 50-minute speech.

State of the State addresses are usually more about big, bold statements than devilish details, but with virtually complete control of state government, Republicans can do just about whatever they want during the legislative session that began Monday.

For Stitt, that includes radical changes to the education system and a 10-year, $13 billion road-building program.

Oklahomans have elected the largest (Republican) supermajority in state history, said Stitt. We have a very clear mandate to enact strong conservative policies that protect liberty.

The extent to which legislative leaders priorities mesh with those outlined by Stitt in Mondays address and the fiscal year budget proposal he submitted to House and Senate leaders remains to be seen.

Stitt laid out four checkpoints for the coming session and year, but really there were five; he actually began his speech with another attack on the U.S. Supreme Courts 2020 McGirt decision.

McGirt solidified tribal sovereignty in the state and gives the federal government and Indian nations more law enforcement and judicial responsibility and the state less authority in those areas. By moving it ahead of his legislative agenda, Stitt indicated the significance he gives the matter.

Oklahoma has been robbed of the authority to prosecute crimes, he said, echoing previous statements. Put simply, McGirt jeopardizes justice.

Stitts attempts to overturn or neutralize McGirt have further strained his already frosty relations with the states 39 tribes. Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill and two other Muscogee officials, present at the invitation of Speaker Charles McCall, sat stonily through Stitts speech and appeared to be the only tribal nation officials present.

Afterward, Hill accused Stitt of playing Chicken Little and throw(ing) himself down kicking and screaming.

I have no tolerance for his continued ignorance of the facts and his sowing of false fear, Hill said.

In truth, the Legislature would seem to have little role in Stitts fight with the tribes, and he said as much before proceeding to lay out a legislative agenda and his checkpoints.

Those checkpoints include drastic changes to public education, protecting Oklahomans and our way of life, making the state more business friendly, and government innovation.

Each of those categories included many proposals, but common themes included essentially dismantling public education as it now exists by aligning the entire system, adopting a financial system in which every child in the state is allotted a set amount of state money to be spent on K-12 education however the parents or guardians see fit, and rewarding public colleges and universities that produce more graduates in certain fields.

Stitt says he also has a plan to pay some teachers six figures to keep them in the classroom.

Stitt did not address the ongoing Epic Charter Schools scandal, in which founders are accused of misspending millions of dollars, but he did say money should go to classrooms, not into the pockets of bureaucrats.

His budget does not include additional money for common or higher education or career tech.

Stitt came out in favor of eliminating the state sales tax on groceries, which has previously been a Democrat-backed proposal. Doing so would cost the state an estimated $280 million a year.

Stitt also proposed implementing a reduction or phase out of income taxes based on state revenue.

Sales and income taxes are by far the states two largest revenue sources.

Stitt zeroed in on medical marijuana, saying Oklahomans did not know what they were voting on when they OKd its legalization in 2018, and he cast aspersions on the initiative and petition process that allows citizens to put issues to statewide votes.

Oklahomas experiment with medical marijuana has created significant problems for law enforcement and residents who have seen property values skyrocket because of the proliferation of grow operations.

Drug cartels, organized crime and foreign bad actors have no place in Oklahoma, said Stitt.

A call for $13 billion worth of highway improvements appears to be largely tied to Oklahomas turnpike system, which means much of the cost would be covered by bonds underwritten by tolls.

The state is also in line to receive significant federal infrastructure funding.

Stitt touted his success in attracting and retaining businesses, and he introduced Canoo founder Tony Aquila in the gallery. He also bragged about keeping the state open through most of the COVID-19 pandemic and said his administration had kept schools open longer than any in the country.

He did not specifically mention the states relatively high COVID-19 mortality and infection rates and the resulting strain on Oklahoma health care facilities.

In his discussion of the McGirt decision, Stitt highlighted the case of Billy Lord, an 11-year-old Wagoner boy who was killed by a drunken driver in 2013.

The driver, Richard Ray Roth, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 19 years in prison. Last fall, the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals overturned that decision because Billy was a tribal citizen and his death occurred in Indian Country.

Almost all cases overturned by McGirt have been taken up by federal or tribal authorities, but some, like this one, are in limbo while the case is on appeal.

Roth remains in prison pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to court documents.

Despite heightened security, two people identified as Cheyenne Morgan, 30, and Kelsey Cooper, 28, managed to create a brief disturbance in the House chamber while Stitt was speaking. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the two were charged with disturbing state business after they allegedly tried to unfurl a banner from the east gallery.

A similar incident occurred during then-Gov. Mary Fallins State of the State speech four years ago.

Oklahoma City firefighters removed several banners critical of Stitt from an oil derrick on the Capitol grounds. They apparently were attached during the night or early Monday.

During and after the speech, abortion abolitionists chanted and sang hymns outside the House chamber. The movement advocates ignoring federal laws or court decisions protecting abortion rights.

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Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen Pingry, Tulsa World Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion First Lady Sarah Stitt gives a tour of the Governor's Mansion that was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of t Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen Pingry, Tulsa World Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion First Lady Sarah Stitt gives a tour of the Governor's Mansion that was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of t Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen Pingry, Tulsa World Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen Pingry, Tulsa World Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion View of the Capital from the Governor's Mansion in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen Pingry, Tulsa World Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion Staicase with past governors names a the Governor's Mansion that was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion First Lady Sarah Stitt gives a tour of the Governor's Mansion that was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of t Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen Pingry, Tulsa World Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The Governor's Mansion was recently renovated with major updates but preservering the history of the house in OKC, OK, Sep. 13, 2021. Stephen  Uploaded Photos Gov Mansion The State Capitol can be seen from the Governor's Mansion. 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The governor gave a substantive speech outlining several priorities that will take Oklahoma to the next level. I appreciate the governors support of the Oklahoma Empowerment Act, which is a transformative education reform bill. Education is the key to bringing generational change and breaking the poverty cycle in our state. All parents should be empowered to pick the school that best serves the needs of their children. Senate Bill 1647 will put parents back in charge of their childrens education and help students pursue a great education regardless of where they live.

 Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City

House Republicans found plenty to like in the governors speech as we begin another strong year to close out what is already the most comprehensive policy session in recent history. We were glad to hear shared priorities like protecting Oklahomans individual liberties, growing the economy and stopping black market marijuana, plus solid fiscal policy to keep cutting taxes and saving money amid record revenues while still paying troopers more, rewarding high-performing teachers and investing in infrastructure, especially broadband. As always, the House will work in good faith on these and other issues as we continue strengthening Oklahoma together.

 House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka

I  couldnt help but notice the governor started out his speech talking about being pro-life, but then he really didnt have any mention about the Oklahomans we have lost since his last State of the State. When he gave his State of the State in 2021, he talked about 3,000 people who died in Oklahoma because of the current virus pandemic. There have been over 10,000 additional deaths since that point, but we heard no mention of that in todays speech.

 House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman

We are also opposed to new proposals to expand school vouchers. Senate Democrats believe we must invest in our public schools, not drain scarce resources to fund private school vouchers. Public dollars should be invested in public schools."

 Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City

"Governor Stitt seems only to notice the needs of Oklahoma kids and families when it's politically convenient. His voucher plan is a rural school killer and robs funds from the 90% of Oklahoma kids attending public school. Stitt is dismantling public education by handing over millions of taxpayer dollars to fund private tuition for wealthy families.

We deserve better than a governor who slings deals for a select few, picks fights for political gain and neglects his responsibility to lead.

 State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joy Hofmeister

"The relationship between the state of Oklahoma and the Cherokee Nation is one between a state and a sovereign nation, one with specific rights, with a system of justice and with a separate jurisdiction. We do not advocate for unequal rules, or for discrimination, as Oklahomas governor seems to claim. We seek the same ideals as we have for over a century, working together as a partner.

 Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber applauds Gov. Kevin Stitts commitment to maintaining Oklahomas reputation as one of the most business-friendly states in the nation. Judging by the recent growth in project activity within Tulsas Future  the Chamber-led regional economic development partnership  interest in Oklahoma from companies looking to relocate or expand is at an all-time high."

 Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce President Mike Neal

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As the Jan. 6 investigation unfolds I am not sure there is a way to get a report for the citizens to understand the complexity of the threat to American democracy.

American character and values are based on truth and justice and citizens don't understand why the terms are being exploited. Understanding the intelligence, data, and unknown motives that were present that day is a difficult job.

What were the actions, thoughts and beliefs of all the people that have knowledge about the attack on the Capitol at a magnitude for lethal obstruction and insurrection?

Our democracy is called a republic, but if it is to be safe and progress forward it will only be with truth and justice. However, right now chaos, fear and threats to democracy are being exploited by conspiracy theories, propaganda, misinformation, politics and politicians with many untruths and false beliefs.

Americans must not be misled by these fantasy statements and conclusions. Truth and justice are the values that prove American democracy belongs to the citizens. E Pluribus Unum, out of many one. The solidarity is living in freedom in a democracy/republic, the United States, one nation for all.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to tulsaworld.com/opinion/submitletter.

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Tax authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have finished inspecting a coffee shop in Go Vap District for charging a customer a 100-percent value-added tax (VAT) by mistake during the recent Lunar New Year holiday.

The scrutiny came after the customer had taken to social media to complain about paying VND334,000 (US$14.7) for five beverages, including VND167,000 ($7.35) for the net price of the drinks and another VND167,000 for VAT, at Go Coffee on Phan Van Tri Street in Go Vap District on February 1.

The complaint came with a photo of the drink bill, which clearly outlined the 100-percent VAT charge.

February 1 was the effective date of a new government decree, whereby the VAT rate has been reduced from ten percent to eight percent in order to stimulate consumption demand and promote socio-economic recovery and development while living together with COVID-19.

Therefore, it is illegal to collect a VAT of up to 100 percent.

In the case of a surcharge on Lunar New Year holiday, collectors must clearly state it as a surcharge, not as VAT.

This photo uploaded on social media shows a bill issued on February 1, 2022 with a 100-percent VAT charge at Go Coffee in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City.

In light of the inspection, a manager of Go Coffee explained to reporters that his cafe surcharged customers 100 percent of its products and services on February 1, or the first day of the 2022 Lunar New Year, when payments for employees were higher than usual, and 25 percent on February 2 and 3.

However, he clicked the wrong button when producing the bill, making the surcharge to be specified as a 100-percent VAT rate as shown on the photographed bill.

The tax division of Go Vap District concluded the inspection on Monday afternoon and is reporting the details of the case to the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department and the General Department of Taxation, according to an official of the unit.

Meanwhile, bills issued by Go Coffee no longer contained a VAT line as of the same afternoon, as observed by a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter.

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More than 5,000 workers staged a stoppage at a leather shoe manufacturing company in Nghe An Province, Vietnam to demand higher wages on Monday, the very first day they went back to work after the Lunar New Year holiday.

Pham Duc Cuong, chairman of the labor confederation of Dien Chau District in the north-central province, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that a task force has worked with representatives of the workers and the company in question, Viet Glory Co. Ltd., after the strike on Monday.

Some of the striking workers complained that the current base salary and seniority allowance are too low, rendering their monthly income insufficient to make ends meet.

We stopped working because the base salary is too low, said P.T.T., a 32-year-old worker.

My total income, including overtime payment and allowances, is just over VND4 million [US$176] a month.

While prices have escalated, this amount is not enough for me to cover expenses in my family.

We suggest the company consider raising the base salary to ensure the livelihood of workers.

This is not the first time that workers at Viet Glory Co. Ltd. have demanded the leather shoe manufacturer adjust payments as they also had staged a similar strike for annual salary, fuel and meal allowances, as well as overtime payment after last years Lunar New Year holiday, according to Cuong.

After that, the company added a number of benefits for its workers, such as an attendance allowance, a test allowance, allowances for female employees raising children under six months, hazard pay, and performance bonuses in accordance with the companys regulations.

Last year, the company did not establish a labor union so the workers own demands were considered valid at that time and the company made corresponding adjustments, Cuong said.

Currently, the companys labor union has collected workers opinions for consideration.

The Dien Chau District labor confederation chairman assessed that Viet Glory Co. Ltd. is one of the firms that pay employees high monthly stipends, ranging from VND5 million ($220) to VND6 million ($264) per person on average.

Viet Glorys footwear manufacturing and processing factory was established in the district in 2019, with complete foreign capital and an expected capacity of 25 million products a year.

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Many filling stations in Vietnam have been closed over the past few days, with fuel businesses attributing the close-down to either lack of supply or ailing operations.

In the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, the operator of a filling station in Phu Tan District said he had shuttered his facility since Saturday due to losses.

The operator added he purchased RON95 gasoline from his wholesaler at VND24,560 (US$1.08) per liter, which was exactly the same price at which he sold the fuel to his customers.

The prices of fuel that residents buy from filling stations in Vietnam are promulgated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance.

At Petrol Station No. 58 in Chau Doc City, An Giang, RON95 gasoline has run out for about four days.

The facility is only selling E5RON92 fuel but at a low amount.

Nguyen Ngoc Thoi, director of An Kien private business in An Giang, said he received a commission of up to VND1,000 ($0.04) per liter of gasoline from his wholesalers.

Many fuel wholesalers are suffering losses, which shaved about VND500 ($0.02) per liter off retailers, Thoi elaborated.

Huynh Ngoc Ho, head of An Giangs Market Management Department, confirmed that 23 petrol stations in the province had temporarily suspended their operations, with most facilities attributing their closure to lack of supply.

The department is now working to find out whether or not these stations are waiting for fuel prices to increase to resume operations.

In Hanoi, no filling station had to shut down as of Monday, but some places ran out of E5RON92 gasoline.

In Dak Glong District, located in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, multiple filling stations have been temporarily shut down due to the lack of supply.

Local residents had to travel tens of kilometers to Gia Nghi City to buy gasoline.

Losses among wholesalers

Tran Thanh Trung, deputy director of Petrolimex An Giang, a subsidiary of state-run fuel giant Petrolimex, said the unit supplies 7.7 to 7.9 million liters of fuel per month and is suffering losses of nearly VND1,000 ($0.04) per liter.

Petrolimex An Giang holds a 35 percent market share in the Mekong Delta province, Trung continued, adding that the firm is not allowed to shut down as it is a state-owned enterprise.

The deputy director called on other fuel wholesalers to resume normal operations to ensure energy security.

According to Phan Nguyen Sa Truc, director of Mekong Petroleum JSC-An Giang branch, a private petrol station must have a profit of at least VND500 per liter to ensure salaries for its employees.

Both fuel wholesalers and retailers have been suffering losses, Truc continued, adding that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance did not adjust fuel prices in the country in the most recent session due to the Lunar New Year festival, which fell on February 1.

Another session will take place on February 11, Truc added.

Response from wholesalers, trade ministry

A representative from Petrolimex told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the group has been unable to increase fuel provision to its dealers due to supply shortage at Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical plant in north-central Thanh Hoa Province.

Petrolimex has been looking for import sources to cope with the problem, the representative added.

A representative of a fuel wholesaler based in southern Vietnam stated that petroleum reserves have decreased since after Tet, while supply shortage has not been solved.

The more we sell, the more we lose, he continued.

We currently lose about VND1,500 [$0.06] per liter of gasoline and VND1,000 per liter of oil and may have to shut down if this situation persists.

Tran Duy Dong, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that the agency had reported the situation to the central government for solutions.

In the meantime, the trade ministry has asked local authorities to deal with petrol units that shut down on purpose as they wait for fuel prices to increase.

Dong confirmed that Nghi Son Refinery is only operating at 60-80 percent of capacity, adding that it is unclear when the facility will resume full swing.

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Quang Dinh Hau triumphs over his own physical disability and tries to make the world a little better place to live.

Thirty-year-old Hau, a resident of Tu Cung Village, Tinh Khe Commune in Quang Ngai City, the capital city of the namesake central province, drives his motorcycle modified for his physical disability around the neighborhood every day providing the needy with food and essentials with the money he raises.

His charity journeys sometimes take him to Phu Yen and Quang Nam Provinces, approximately 290 and 138 kilometers from Quang Ngai, respectively.

As many people were furloughed, ending up hopeless and even homeless due the COVID-19 pandemic, Hau raised funds to give them much-needed support and encouragement.

Heartwarming deeds

Though Hau has difficulty walking and speaks with a lisp, he has spent the past years asking his neighbors for donations and distributing handouts to people in need.

The idea behind his work is not only to provide food and necessities, but also a pleasant atmosphere and encouragement for those desperate for both financial and emotional support.

Many find it heartwarming that Hau is sharing with others so they are willing to donate, however small it is, whenever he trudges into a cafe or any crowded place with his donation box.

Duy, a local resident, said he always donates the equivalent of a few U.S. dollars to Hau whenever the physically challenged man comes to him.

Hau acts as a bridge. Through him, I can help someone out there who needs food and other assistance, Duy said.

A Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter met Hau at an eatery near the provincial Labor Cultural House.

He gladly showed a plastic bag with a load of small-denomination bills inside.

Painstakingly constructing his words, the man said twice he was going to give the collected money to poor people very soon.

The diners at the eatery also gave some donations to Hau, who mumbled an awkward thank-you.

Haus life has never been easy and his childhood was a series of adversities.

He was born with serious birth defects into a poor family in Tu Cung Village, which witnessed the mass murder of 504 unarmed civilians by U.S. troops in Son Tinh District on March 16, 1968 during the war in Vietnam.

The misfortune of his childhood continued as his parents got divorced and his father later remarried, so the disabled boy grew up with his paternal grandmother.

The teenager soon found himself selling lottery tickets and begging, struggling to provide for himself and his elderly grandmother.

When his ailing grandmother came to live with her other child, Hau began fending for himself through adolescence and early youth.

Whatever life throws at him, the physically challenged man still stands firm on and is able to earn enough cash to afford food and other necessities, not only for himself but also for others who are in a more difficult circumstance.

Hau now spends his days rolling through the streets in Quang Ngai City on his tricycle, constantly on the lookout for anyone who might want to buy the lottery tickets he sells to make ends meet.

Aware of his circumstances, many locals have become his regular customers and tell him to keep the change or even give him extra money.

Quang Dinh Hau (left) carries a donation box to raise funds to help residents in Ho Chi Minh City, the countrys hotbed around August 2021, weather the COVID-19 storm. Photo: Tran Mai / Tuoi Tre

The man does not keep the money for himself but he uses it to help those in need.

He delivers his gifts, which may be low in material value but are filled with humanity and sympathy, directly to poverty-stricken people no matter how far they are from his home.

I distribute gifts to needy people in the same way the better-off give me money out of compassion, Hau confided.

The man never ceases to amaze anyone in conversation with him.

Despite his difficulties, he is always a good-natured man who gives his heart and soul to the cause.

One must have something to lean on and a goal to strive for in life. Im happy I can help someone, Hau shared.

This way I feel Im more blessed than many as Im still mobile while they are bedbound and unable to do most daily activities without assistance.

Hau proudly shared photos and videos of his charity trips during which he endeared himself to disadvantaged strangers by relieving their difficulties and helping lift their spirits.

The man also tries to take away sorrows and give back love and positive energy to those he meets.

Among them is Vo Van Vu, from Tinh Khe Commune, Quang Ngai City.

Vu has a serious spinal cord condition which has caused him to lose the ability to walk and left him bedbound for several years.

Two of his family members also suffer from the same condition so they are heavily dependent on Vus younger sister.

The miserable life led Vu to contemplate suicide more than once.

It was during Vus darkest moments that Hau entered his life, showering him with encouragement and some hope for a brighter future.

Following Haus many visits, I begin to see light at the end of the tunnel and make one effort after another, Vu said, adding he can now walk on his own.

Bui Duc Tho, vice-chairman of Quang Ngai Provinces Fatherland Front, lauded Haus deeds.

Hau never minds vicious stares or comments on his disability when he tries to raise funds, Tho noted.

He sets such a good example.

Many are also appreciative of Haus efforts in raising funds as a way to help those struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic and frontline workers during the virus outbreak in the province in mid-2021.

One of these stories can be seen on the Facebook page of Major Ho Hoang An, of the Quang Ngai City Department of Public Security.

According to Major Ans account, Hau insisted his team receive some gifts from his fund in July 2021.

We are really moved by his good deed, said Major An.

Hau is also active in raising local awareness of how to curb the spread of the coronavirus and collecting vegetables and money from farmers and market stall owners to help needy residents in Ho Chi Minh City around August 2021, when the southern metropolis, the countrys epicenter then, was put under lockdown at different levels.

Nguyen Thanh Thong, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in Binh Son District, said he was deeply moved when Hau carried 10 boxes of instant noodles on his tricycle to his organization to hand out to impoverished people.

That mans physical condition cannot stop him from reaching out to others, Thong remarked.

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Virginia Trioli hosts the 2022 Q+A season premiere live from Melbourne on Thursday.

Guests are:

Dylan Alcott, 2022 Australian of the Year

Rosie Batty, 2015 Australian of the Year

Tom Calma, Indigenous Voice Co-chair

Katie Allen, Liberal Member for Higgins

Tanya Plibersek, Shadow Minister for Education and Women

Coming up on Q+As season premiere, what makes a great leader? We bring together an influential panel, combining those who have had leadership thrust upon them with those who choose to take on positions of power.

Well hear from Australians of the Year past and present  Golden Slam winner and sporting great Dylan Alcott and family violence campaigner Rosie Batty.

Well examine the role of Australian of the Year and look at the expectations we place upon recipients.

Well get an insight into what it takes to strive for social change and ask whether we are doing enough to protect our most vulnerable  those in aged care, in remote Indigenous communities, people living with disability and women and children?

And with the parliamentary year kicking off this week, well discuss the fallout from the release of unflattering text messages about the Prime Minister and threats from some moderate Liberals to cross the floor over the contentious religious discrimination bill. Well look at the tense state of affairs in Canberra and ask, how are our political leaders faring with an election imminent?

Its shaping up to be a fascinating year and we want you to be part of the conversation.

Thursday, February 10 at 8.30pm on ABC.
NZ improvised comedy Educators (Season One and Two) begins this week at SBS on Demand.

Created by Jesse Griffin, Jackie van Beek, Jonny Brugh, the cast also includes Rick Donald.

It screened across the ditch in 2019 and 2020.

Educators is a cleverly crafted improvised comedy series featuring some of New Zealands most well-known comedians. The series focuses on the teachers of an ordinary suburban high school.

The problem with these teachers is that they are all hopelessly inept. They have no grasp of the curriculum, no knowledge of how to follow a timetable, and no idea whether the tasks they set for the students should even be assessed or not.

Issues like parental conflict, exam pressure, turning up late, and exhaustion, are continually stressing them out much more than their pupils do. These dysfunctional educators are childishly trying to survive the day until the bell rings.

Thursday, 10 February on SBS On Demand.

Language, Adult Themes
Screen Producers Australia have announced two two participants selected for the SPA Council Leadership Diversity Mentorship.

Tsu Shan Chambers (left, Wise Goat Productions) and Hayley Johnson (right, Noble Savage Pictures) will be mentored by SPA councillors, participate in Council meetings and bespoke activities to develop skills and experiences, with the goal of generating pathways to formally become members of Council as well as pursue other leadership roles in the sector in the future.

We welcome Hayley and Tsu Shan as the inaugural participants in our leadership diversity mentorship. Our hope is that from this mentorship both will gain insight into leadership styles and aid in the development of their existing skill sets. The SPA Council contains some of Australias most prolific and revered industry professionals and they, along with SPA want to foster new growth within the industry, paving the way for the next generation of leaders in our industry, said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.

President Tracy Vieira sai,d Screen Producers Australia is striving to increase diversity and inclusion at every level of our organisation which includes at the highest level in Council. I am absolutely thrilled that we actively supporting the next generation of leading producers and providing mentorship to support their success. Hayley and Tsu Shan are both incredible producers and I look forward to working with them both as they expand their leadership for the the wider industry.

Vice President Suzanne Ryan added, The SPA Leadership Diversity Mentorship is an incredible step for the SPA Council and the organisation in supporting and elevating new producers who wish to grow their skills. Its wonderful to have Hayley and Tsu Shan be the first producers to be mentored by Council and I look forward to working with them and support them in their new roles.
CDC, along with many other professional healthcare experts, are committed to increasing awareness of AFM. Listen to members of our community of experts as they express their dedication to learn more about AFM.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:15)
DGAP-News: Hot Chili Limited



The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH) (TSXV:HCH) (OTCQB: HHLKF) ('Hot Chili' or 'Company') is pleased to announce that final drill results from its Cortadera copper-gold discovery have been received allowing for a global resource upgrade of the Company's combined Costa Fuego coastal copper development in Chile. Highlights  Updated copper models confirm a new higher-grade core (+0.6% Cu) at Cuerpo 3 and material expansion of both high grade and bulk tonnage mineralisation at the Cortadera copper-gold porphyry discovery in Chile  Final assays received from 2021 resource drilling, including several significant results from the margins of Cuerpo 2 and Cuerpo 3 CRP0155D - 202m grading 0.5% CuEq* (0.4% copper (Cu), 0.1g/t gold (Au)) from 492m depth including 42m grading 0.7% CuEq* (0.6% copper (Cu), 0.2g/t gold (Au)) from 596m depth CRP0144D - 927m grading 0.3% CuEq* (0.2% copper (Cu), 0.1g/t gold (Au)) from 14m depth including 208m grading 0.4% CuEq* (0.3% copper (Cu), 0.1g/t gold (Au)) from 382m depth And 32m grading 1.0% CuEq* (0.8% copper (Cu), 0.2g/t gold (Au)) from 682m depth CRP0170D - 208m grading 0.5% CuEq* (0.4% copper (Cu), 0.1g/t gold (Au)) from 524m depth including 18m grading 0.6% CuEq* (0.5% copper (Cu), 0.1g/t gold (Au)) from 814m depth  Additional 52,000 metres from 146 drill holes have been added to the Cortadera Mineral Resource (October 2020), resulting in a 129% increase in drill meters and linking of all three porphyries  Cortadera Resource Upgrade to be delivered in Q1 2022 February 2022 Revised Cortadera Copper Model Figure 1. Oblique long sections showing the comparison of the Oct 2020 and Feb 2022 Cu wireframes and drilling coverage for Cortadera (looking NE) Final results have returned a number of significant wide intersections from drilling undertaken on the margins of Cuerpo 2 and Cuerpo 3 at Cortadera. The Company has commenced remaining workstreams to complete a resource upgrade for Cortadera, utilising an additional 52,000m drilled since its maiden resource of 451Mt was reported in October 2020. Hot Chili expects to deliver its next leg of resource growth for Costa Fuego in Q1 2022, followed by the completion of a combined Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) in Q3, 2022. Hot Chili's Managing Director Christian Easterday said: 'We are one of a handful of company's outside of the majors that are advanced enough to deliver a meaningful new copper mine into production in the next five years. 'It takes an average 18 to 21 years to move from discovery to production with large-scale copper projects. The quality of Hot Chili's Costa Fuego project is evidenced by the speed in which we have advanced the project from discovery to resource delineation to the planned release of an updated PFS. 'Hot Chili is well positioned ahead of a forecast step-change in global copper demand, combined with a paucity of new copper supply, this decade.' Final Drilling Results Allow Completion of Expanded Model for Cortadera Rigorous technical analysis by Hot Chili's geological team led by Dr Steve Garwin has resulted in updated copper mineralisation models for resource estimation purposes. Updated modelling provides encouragement ahead of Cortadera's resource upgrade, in particular:  The Cortadera Resource footprint now links all three Cuerpos, which reflects the significant extent of the porphyry system discovered to date and provides versatile low grade, low-strip ratio sulphide mining options  The delineation of an additional high-grade domain (+0.6% Cu) within Cuerpo 3 and expansion of +0.3% Cu material at Cuerpo 1 and 2 from surface, provides both open pit and underground mining options  Confirmation of strong vertical and concentric continuity of higher grade mineralisation  The delineation of new high grade copper oxide mineralisation above each of Cortadera's three porphyries  The expanded drilling dataset provides confidence for a material conversion from Inferred to Indicated Classification, paving the way for a successful PFS Drilling Operations Continuing at Cortadera and Productora The Company's 2022 drilling programme is progressing well. Two diamond (DD) drill rigs are in operation at Cortadera completing a number of drill holes for hydrology and geotechnical testwork purposes. In addition, a third drill rig is completing Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling across the first of several large targets being tested this year, Productora Central, located immediately adjacent to the Productora resource, some 14kms from Cortadera. First assay results from Productora Central are expected to be received in the coming weeks. The Directors look forward to providing further updates from the Company's various work programmes as we focus on delivering key growth and development milestones this year. For further detailed information please visit www.hotchili.net.au/investors About Hot Chili Hot Chili Limited is a mineral exploration company with assets in Chile. The Company's flagship project, Costa Fuego, is the consolidation into a hub of the Cortadera porphyry copper-gold discovery and the Productora copper-gold deposit, set 14 km apart in an excellent location - low altitude, coastal range of Chile, infrastructure rich, low capital intensity.The Costa Fuego landholdings, contains an Indicated Resource of 391Mt grading 0.52% CuEq (copper equivalent), containing 1.7 Mt Cu, 1.5 Moz Au, 4.2 Moz Ag, and 37 kt Mo and an Inferred Resource of 334Mt grading 0.44% CuEq containing 1.2Mt Cu, 1.2 Moz Au, 5.6 Moz Ag and 27 kt Mo, at a cut-off grade of 0.25% CuEq.The Company is working to advance its Costa Fuego Project through a preliminary feasibility study (followed by a full FS and DTM), and test several high-priority exploration targets. Certain statements contained in this news release, including information as to the future financial or operating performance of Hot Chili and its projects may include statements that are "forward-looking statements" which may include, amongst other things, statements regarding targets, estimates and assumptions in respect of mineral reserves and mineral resources and anticipated grades and recovery rates, production and prices, recovery costs and results, and capital expenditures and are or may be based on assumptions and estimates related to future technical, economic, market, political, social and other conditions.These forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Hot Chili, are inherently subject to significant technical, business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results reflected in such forward-looking statements. Hot Chili disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, circumstances or results or otherwise after the date of this news release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, other than as may be required by law. The words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "indicate", "contemplate", "target", "plan", "intends", "continue", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", "schedule" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Contact Details Investor Relations Graham Farrell +1 416-842-9003 Graham.Farrell@harboraccessllc.com Investor Relations Jonathan Paterson +1 475-477-9401 Jonathan.Paterson@harboraccessllc.com CEO Christian Easterday admin@hotchili.net.au Company Website https://www.hotchili.net.au/investors/

News Source: News Direct



08.02.2022 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


The upcoming American Born Chinese series adaptation at Disney Plus has found its main cast, Variety has confirmed.

Ben Wang, Michelle Yeoh, Yeo Yann Yann, Daniel Wu, Chin Han, Ke Huy Quan, Jim Liu, and Sydney Taylor will all star in the series, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang.

More from Variety

The series follows Jin Wang (Ben Wang), a teenager juggling his high school social life with his immigrant home life. When Jin meets a new foreign exchange student (Jim Liu) on the first day of school, their worlds collide as Jin becomes entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods. Identity, culture and family are themes throughout.

Full character descriptions for the cast can be found below.

American Born Chinese is written and executive produced by Kelvin Yu, who also serves as showrunner. Melvin Mar, Jake Kasdan, Asher Goldstein, Erin OMalley, and Yang also executive produce. Destin Daniel Cretton serves as director and executive producer. The series reunites Cretton and Yeoh, who previously worked together on the Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. American Born Chinese is produced by 20th Television. Mar and Kasdan were previously executive producers on the ABC comedy series Fresh Off the Boat. They and their Detective Agency production company are currently under an overall deal at 20th TV.

Character Descriptions

Ben Wang as Jin Wang, the American teen whose parents immigrated from Taiwan, and who is struggling to carve out exactly who hes supposed to be, socially and culturally.

Michelle Yeoh as Guanyin, an unassuming auntie who helps her nephew Wei-Chen navigate the challenges of American high school while maintaining her secret identity as the all-powerful Buddhist bodhisattva of Compassion.

Story continues

Yeo Yann Yann as Christine Wang, Jins mom. A strong-willed, opinionated woman with a sly wit, she loves her family deeply.

Chin Han as Simon, Jins father. He is a hard-working, devoted father and husband who is bumping up against the bamboo ceiling at his job.

Daniel Wu as Sun Wukong The Monkey King, the legendary, all-powerful god of the Chinese epic Journey to the West, who enters our world in search of his son.

Ke Huy Quan as Freddy Wong, a fictional character from a popular mid-1990s sitcom.

Jim Liu as Wei-Chen, Jins friend. a teen who has just arrived in the United States, his sweet demeanor belies the deeper mystery of his true identity.

Sydney Taylor as Amelia, a friendly All-American girl who is Jins classmate and crush.

(Pictured, from left to right: Daniel Wu, Michelle Yeo, Chin Han)

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Watch: Sir Lindsay Hoyle says Boris Johnson's comments on Jimmy Savile were 'inappropriate'

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has piled the pressure on Boris Johnson to apologise for his bogus comments on Jimmy Savile, telling him "words have consequences.

Sir Keir Stamer was mobbed by a group of protesters on Monday evening, a week after the prime minister falsely accused the Labour leader of failing to prosecute Savile when he was director of public prosecutions.

The group were heard shouting "Jimmy Savile", "paedophile protector", "traitor" and "disgrace" as police whisked him to safety.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Hoyle said that Johnson's words were "inappropriate".

He told MPs: I know it has been reported that some abuse was directed at the leader of the Opposition yesterday related to claims made by the prime minister in this chamber.

But regardless of yesterdays incident, I made it clear last week that while the prime ministers words were not disorderly they were inappropriate.

As I said then, these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the House and it is not acceptable.

Our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of the fact.

Watch: Boris Johnson's Savile remarks 'did not prompt' intimidation of Sir Keir Starmer by mob, says Chris Philp

Johnson is facing fresh calls to apologise for his widely discredited claim that the Labour leader failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile, after the demonstrators accused Starmer of protecting paedophiles.

Police made two arrests on Monday in connection with the incident.

Technology minister Chris Philp said he did not believe the incident at Westminster on Monday was the result of Mr Johnsons comments in the Commons last week.

I dont think you can say thats why it happened because the people involved in that fracas have previously done similar things to people like Michael Gove and BBC journalist Nick Watt, he told Sky News.

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They did mention Jimmy Savile. They also mentioned Julian Assange repeatedly, they mentioned Covid, they also mentioned the opposition more generally.

I dont think you can point to what the prime minister said as the cause of that. You certainly cant blame him for the fact that that mob were clearly behaving in a totally unacceptable way.

Read more: Boris Johnson condemned after mob surrounds Keir Starmer amid screams traitor and paedophile protector

Watch: Keir Starmer bundled into a police car outside Parliament

Johnson has already faced resignations from his top team and an increasing number of his backbench berating him following his comments last week.

Johnson branded Monday night's incident as "absolutely disgraceful" in a tweet, and said that politicians being harassed was "completely unacceptable", but declined to comment on the nature of the comments.

Amid angry clashes at around 5pm on Monday, officers stepped in to protect the Opposition leader as the group followed him and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy from outside Scotland Yard.

Two arrests were made in connection with the incident after an emergency worker was hit with a traffic cone.

It comes as he is already facing the prospect of a no-confidence vote amid the Partygate scandal.

Politicians across the political spectrum have now called Johnson to retract his comments and apologise.

The Metropolitan police have made two arrests in connection with the incident.

On the Tory side, Tobias Ellwood called on the PM to "apologise please" and Sir Roger Gale said he thought what happened was a "direct result" of Johnson's "careless language" in the commons.

They have both submitted letters of no confidence in the PM to the 1922 Committee.

Former Cabinet minister Julian Smith was among several Conservative MPs to demand that the prime minister fully withdraws the Savile slur for the sake of Sir Keirs security

"What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling," said Smith, the Tory MP for Skipton and Ripon and former Northern Ireland secretary. "It is really important for our democracy and for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full."

Robert Largan, Tory MP for High Peak, tweeted: "I agree with Julian. Words matter. What we say and how we say it echoes out far beyond Parliament. It can have serious real-world consequences.

"Elected representatives have a responsibility to lower the temperature of debate, not add fuel to the fire."

Last Thursday, Rishi Sunak told journalists, "being honest, I wouldn't have said it" when asked at a press conference about the remarks.

Sir Keir Starmer was targeted by a mob in Westminster last night

On Friday, Munira Mirza, Johnsons head of policy and ally of 14 years, resigned following his controversial remarks.

"I believe it was wrong for you to imply this week that Keir Starmer was personally responsible for allowing Jimmy Savile to escape justice," Mirza wrote in a resignation letter.

She added: "This was not the normal cut-and-thrust of politics; it was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse."

Jess Phillips, Labour MP and shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding said she had "no doubt" Johnson's comments had caused the scenes.

"I'd say I have received death threats that quote Boris Johnson in the past so know how dangerous his words can be," she told Yahoo News UK. "I have no doubt that the lies Boris Johnson told have caused this, all while he has overseen an increase in child exploitation and a reduction in conviction of abusers since he has been prime minister."

Following the abuse the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, tweeted: When politicians are harassed and threatened its a threat not just to the MPs themselves, but to the health of our democracy.

We must condemn it and stand united against it. I continue to pray for all who work in politics, and for a culture where we can learn to disagree well.
The UK Government will invite Nicola Sturgeon  and the First Ministers from Northern Ireland and Wales  to work with it on its Levelling Up agenda. (Russell Cheyne/PA)

The First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are being invited by the UK Government to join what it hailed as a new collective effort to level up the whole of the United Kingdom.

The move was announced as the Conservative administration at Westminster prepared to publish its Levelling Up white paper.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has come under fire as a result of the partygate allegations, will attempt to divert attention from the ongoing saga by insisting the defining mission of his government is to level up the country so people have access to the same opportunities regardless of where in the UK they live.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove is to invite Scottish First Minister Nicole Sturgeon, as well as her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford and Paul Givan and Michelle ONeill from Northern Ireland, to take part in the project, calling for the four nations to work together in the same way as they did in the Covid vaccine roll out.

It is the most comprehensive, ambitious plan of its kind that this country has ever seen and it will ensure that the government continues to rise to the challenge and deliver for the people of the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson

In addition, the Glasgow city region is to be one of three new Innovation Accelerator areas, and will receive a share of 100 million of UK Government funding in a bid to encourage innovation and research and development work and boost local opportunities

Speaking ahead of the launch of the White Paper, the Prime Minister said: From day one, the defining mission of this government has been to level up this country, to break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities.

He added: The challenges we face have been embedded over generations and cannot be dug out overnight, but this White Paper is the next crucial step.

It is a vision for the future that will see public spending on R&D increased in every part of the country, transport connectivity improving, faster broadband in every community, life expectancies rising, violent crime falling, schools improving and private sector investment being unleashed.

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The Prime Minister declared: It is the most comprehensive, ambitious plan of its kind that this country has ever seen and it will ensure that the government continues to rise to the challenge and deliver for the people of the UK.

Mr Gove meanwhile described the UK as an unparalleled success story with one of the worlds biggest and most dynamic economies.

Michael Gove said the ambitious plans would only work if all layers of government in the UK worked together. (Steve Parsons/PA)

However he stated: Not everyone shares equally in the UKs success. Great cities like Glasgow, Belfast, Swansea and Manchester, and proud towns from Aberystwyth to Armagh, to Bangor and Yeovil, have huge potential but contain inequalities which hold too many back.

Our ambitious plan to unite and level up the whole UK seeks to end that historic injustice and call time on the postcode lottery.

But he added: We will only succeed if all layers of government  UK, devolved, and local  work together.

We have seen through the success of the vaccine roll-out what we can achieve when we pull together. United, there is no challenge we cannot meet.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack urged Holyrood ministers to work with the UK Government towards improving lives across Scotland.

The Tory added: Initiatives such as the Glasgow City region becoming an Innovation Accelerator, unlocking access to a share of 100 million of new funding, will help Scotland continue its vital role in keeping the UK at the forefront of global science and research.

Thanks to locally led partnerships working closely with the UK Government, the region will become a major innovation cluster delivering high end jobs.

This, along with the UK Governments commitment to invest 20 billion research and development budget outside the greater south east of England, is great news for Scotland and the wider UK as we deliver on our levelling up commitments.
France's 77-year-old former interior minister, Claude Gueant, who is currently serving a two month jail sentence in Paris, is to be released on Wednesday.

A one-time aide to former president Nicolas Sarkozy, Gueant has been behind bars since 13 December because of unpaid fines and damages that date back to 2017 in a case that revolves around cash bonuses paid by the Interior Ministry.

Gueant's lawyer argued that the former minister has "paid in full" his debts via loans from relatives.

He added that Gueant's "health would significantly deteriorate" in the Paris' Prison de la Sante, as he suffers from a form of epilepsy.

The former interior minister has now been granted conditional release, without an electronic tag, starting this Wednesday.

In another court hearing over polling fraud, Gueant was handed a one-year jail term for nepotism on 21 January. That sentence was suspended under a deferred detention warrant.

His lawyer has appealed the ruling.

The Balkany affair

In related news, Patrick Balkany, the former right-wing mayor of the Paris suburb Levallois-Perret, who was convicted of tax fraud in 2019, was returned to prison on Monday.

Balkany, a close friend of former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, was jailed after being found guilty of financial fraud and money-laundering.

He was released in February 2020 on health grounds, but had been returned to prison after a judge revoked his conditional release.
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland will resume its traditional St. Patrick's Day diplomatic blitz next month, sending 32 ministers to destinations around the world from Argentina to Australia after COVID-19 kept officials at home last year.

The March 17 holiday is celebrated in cities far and wide, and successive Irish governments have used it to launch trade missions and meet influential politicians, including an annual bilateral meeting with the U.S. President in the White House.

The engagements were conducted virtually last year after a pared back contingent travelled just as Ireland's COVID-19 outbreak began in 2020. Then Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had to announce a work from home order and the closure of schools and universities from Washington.

The 2022 programme includes a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, who speaks proudly of his Irish heritage, as well as trips to eight other U.S. cities and countries such as Colombia, Chile, Lebanon and South Korea.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by David Gregorio)
Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns made a plea for stable governance in Northern Ireland (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament/PA) (PA Media)

Stable governance is needed in Northern Ireland a Government minister has said while urging the DUP to return to the Stormont powersharing Executive.

Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns made the remarks as legislation which will protect the Assembly from collapse passed its final stage at Westminster.

Northern Ireland was plunged into a fresh political crisis last week when the DUP withdrew Paul Givan as first minister in protest at the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.

The step also automatically removed Sinn Feins Michelle ONeill from her position as deputy first minister and leaves Northern Ireland without a functioning Executive.

Having worked with so many others across this House and beyond to get Stormont back up and running two years ago, last Thursday was deeply depressing

Former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith

Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith told MPs that the latest powersharing crisis at Stormont was a deeply depressing state of affairs.

The Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill will allow for the Northern Ireland Assembly to continue without a functioning Executive for at least six months.

Its passing has lessened the likelihood of an early election as one of its provisions states the Secretary of State cannot call an election for six weeks after the resignation of the first or deputy first minister.

On Monday evening, MPs passed amendments to the Bill from the House of Lords, one of which allows for the legislation to be applied retrospectively, which will cover Mr Givans resignation last week.

The Bill is expected to receive royal assent later this week.

Addressing DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson at Westminster, Mr Burns said: Our message very strongly to the party of the member opposite is we would rather he returned his party to the Executive, a stable Executive, stable governance, is in the interests of the people who matter most in all of this, the people of Northern Ireland.

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Mr Smith said: Having worked with so many others across this House and beyond to get Stormont back up and running two years ago, last Thursday was deeply depressing.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson criticised the EU for its approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol (Peter Morrison/PA) (PA Wire)

Sir Jeffrey said amendments to the Bill will be irrelevant if the issues which have led to the impasse are not resolved.

He added: I would love to see a resolution in the next six weeks because I can assure you if that happens, we will not be found wanting in terms of reinstating those institutions and restoring ministers to office.

Sir Jeffrey went on to criticise the European Union for its approach to the protocol, telling MPs: If the European Union insisted that your constituents personal belongings are searched every time you move from one part of the United Kingdom to another, would you hear from your constituents about that? Might they have cause for complaint?

And yet that is what my constituents will be subjected to if the European Union has its way and the full and vigorous implementation of the protocol is taken forward.

Meanwhile, Stormont politicians have been urged to work to salvage what they can from the chaos caused by the DUP.

Sinn Feins Stormont leader Ms ONeill was speaking in the Assembly after party whips met to discuss how to expedite outstanding legislative Bills through to completion before the end of the mandate.

Ms ONeill was appearing in the chamber for the first time since she was removed from her post as deputy first minister.

She made particular reference to uncertainty that now surrounds a scheduled state apology next month for victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland.

The DUPs actions in unilaterally resigning from the Executive are reckless and have caused concern and uncertainty for businesses, for workers, for families and campaigners on a range of many important issues, she said.

In terms of the survivors of historical institutional abuse they have caused real hurt and real trauma.

While the DUP must bear responsibility for that, I am also very conscious that those of us who are serious about showing responsible leadership and delivering for people can and should seek to salvage what we can from the chaos the DUP have caused.

Earlier, Assembly Speaker Alex Maskey told MLAs it was his intention the Assembly passes as much legislation as possible in the weeks ahead.

Opening the start of business on Monday, Mr Maskey also said he had had no contact with the Northern Ireland Office about ending the Assemblys mandate at an early stage, which would see an earlier election than planned.

Sinn Feins Michelle ONeill said there was a wide range of legislation that needed to be passed at Stormont (Brian Lawless/PA) (PA Wire)

Ms ONeill said there was a wide range of important draft legislation that needed to be progressed into law before the Northern Ireland Assembly mandate ended.

She said that included Bills on climate change, organ donation, integrated education, autism, safe access zones for abortion services, a ban on fracking, welfare mitigation payments and stalking protections.

These are all hugely important issues which all have real-life impacts and real-life consequences, Ms ONeill told MLAs.

Sinn Fein wants to work with the other parties to make sure they are taken forward in the limited time we have left in this mandate.

I stand ready to do this important work, and whilst time is of the essence, progress is still possible across a range of areas. That should be the singular focus of this Assembly in the weeks ahead.
Six Russia warships en route to Black Sea for drills The Russian Navy landing ship Pyotr Morgunov takes part in the Navy Day parade in Kronstadt

By Maria Kiselyova and Ece Toksabay

MOSCOW/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Six Russian warships are heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean for naval drills, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's Defence Ministry as saying on Tuesday, in what it said was a pre-planned movement of military resources.

Russia announced last month its navy would stage a sweeping set of exercises involving all its fleets in January and February, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, in the latest show of strength in a surge of military activity during a standoff with the West over Ukraine.

The six ships are scheduled to pass through Turkey's straits to the Black Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday, Turkish sources said.

The vessels include the Korolev, the Minsk and the Kaliningrad, which are set to navigate the Bosphorus on Tuesday, while the Pyotr Morgunov, the Georgy Pobedonosets and the Olenegorsky Gornyak are expected to pass on Wednesday.

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border. It denies any plans to invade but is seeking sweeping security guarantees, including a promise of no missile deployments near its borders, a scaling back of NATO military infrastructure and a ban on Ukraine ever joining the alliance.

Legally, NATO member Turkey could shut the straits to transit if Russia were to take military action against Ukraine.

"Turkey is authorised to close the straits to all foreign warships in wartime or when it is threatened by aggression. Also, it is authorised to refuse transit to merchant ships belonging to countries at war with Turkey," said Yoruk Isik, a geopolitical analyst based in Istanbul.

Turkey, which shares a maritime border with both Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has said any military conflict would be unacceptable and has told Moscow any invasion would be unwise.

However President Tayyip Erdogan has also offered to mediate in the row between Moscow and Kyiv. Ankara has cordial relations with both countries, though Erdogan says it will do what is necessary as a NATO member in the event of a Russian invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks in the Kremlin on Monday with Russia's Vladimir Putin that the coming days would be crucial in the standoff over Ukraine. Putin suggested some progress had been made in the talks.

(Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Gareth Jones)
BEIJING (AP)  Britain on Monday firmly rejected a statement from China that affirmed Beijing's support for Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands, as relations between London and Asia's leading power remain strained.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a tweet that the United Kingdom completely" rejected "any questions over sovereignty of the Falklands.

The Falklands are part of the British family and we will defend their right to self determination. China must respect the Falklands sovereignty, she wrote.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernandez issued a joint statement on Sunday that said China reaffirms its support for Argentinas demand for the full exercise of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, using the Argentine name for the territory. The two leaders met as Fernandez was in Beijing for the Winter Olympics.

Argentina believes the Falklands were illegally taken from it in 1833 and invaded the British colony in 1982. The United Kingdom sent troops and Argentina lost the two-month war for the South Atlantic archipelago in a conflict that claimed the lives of 649 Argentines and 255 British soldiers.

Argentina still claims the islands. London says the Falklands are a self-governing entity under its protection.

Relations with China have already been strained on multiple fronts, including Britain's joining a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics to protest China's human rights record.

The joint statement also said Argentina reaffirms its adherence to the one-China principle," a reference to China's claim to the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan.

China and Argentina agree to carry on with close communication and coordination in international affairs, and safeguard the overall interests of the two countries and other developing countries," the statement said.

Xi and Fernandez also pledged closer economic cooperation and signed a memorandum of understanding on Argentina joining the Belt and Road Initiative, Xis signature project to build Chinese infrastructure worldwide.

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China has overtaken Brazil as Argentinas main commercial partner, and if talks with Beijing remain on track, Argentina would become the first of the four major Latin American economies to join the initiative.

Belt and Road Initiative integration wont be a paradigm shift but rather a continuation of broader trends of growing Argentina-China engagement, said Pepe Zhang, director and fellow at the Atlantic Councils Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center.

During his visit, Fernandez also laid a wreath at the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, where the embalmed body of Mao Zedong, the communist revolutionary who founded the People's Republic, is displayed inside a crystal sarcophagus.

___

Associated Press writer Debora Rey in Buenos Aires, Argentina contributed to this report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with the members of the Russian Business Congress Delovaya Rossiya at the Kremlin, in Moscow. (Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Vladimir Putin said he hoped for a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis but refused to withdraw troops from the border following a meeting with Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking from the Kremlin on Tuesday, the Russian President claimed he had been tortured by six hours of questioning by the French president.

Despite threats of sanctions against Russia if it invades Ukraine, Mr Putin said there is space for a peaceful resolution to the escalating crisis on the border.

He said: A number of his ideas or proposals - which it is probably too early to speak about - I see as rather feasible for creating a foundation for our further steps.

As far as we are concerned, we will do our best to find compromises that are good for everyone.

Although Mr Putin said a resolution could be found, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Europe was moving to the greatest security threat since the Cold War.

We are living, to my understanding, the most dangerous moment for security in Europe after the end of the Cold War, he said.

Mr Macron, who spoke to Joe Biden on Sunday and is due to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, said the next few days will be crucial in resolving the crisis.

Putin (L) holds a meeting with Emmanuel Macron (R) (SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

We had a conversation that allows us to move forward on a number of proposals. We found points of agreement between the positions of Russia and France, he said.

The coming days will be decisive.

The meeting came as Joe Biden hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday night.

Such are the escalating tensions, both leaders discussed scrapping the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

The pipeline had drawn criticism from the US as it bypasses the Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania on route to northern Germany but has not been given final approval.

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken revealed the US is working with international partners to secure gas supplies should Russia withhold flows to Europe.

He said: When Russia halted gas supplies over a dispute with Ukraine in 2009, people died from the cold. Were determined to prevent that from happening again.

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With an estimated 100,000 Russian troops massed on the Ukrainian border, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said 350 soldiers will be sent to Poland.

These troops will join the 100 Royal Engineers already stationed in the country.

The US is also dispatching 2,000 soldiers to Poland and Germany, with a further 1,000 moving into Romania from Germany.

The tensions come eight years after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula and supported a rebellion in the eastern Donbas region.
Amnesty International has pressed the DUP and Sinn Fein party leaders to make temporary first and deputy first Minister nominations to deliver an official apology to victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse.

The apology had been planned to be delivered by Paul Givan and former deputy first minister Michelle ONeill next month.

However the resignation as first minister of Mr Givan in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol last week forced both of the joint office holders from their positions.

Statements were also to be made by representatives of state and religious institutions found to have been responsible for the abuse in accordance with recommendations made five years ago following a landmark inquiry.

Retired High Court judge Sir Anthony Hart speaking during a press conference in Belfast, flanked by David Lane (left) and Geraldine Doherty at the conclusion of the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland (Colm Lenahan/Pacemaker Press/PA)

The inquiry, led by the late Sir Anthony Hart, a retired High Court judge, examined allegations of physical, emotional and sexual harm of children in residential institutions between 1922 and 1995.

With no first minister or deputy first minister currently in office, it is understood that alternative options are being considered, including the possibility of the apology being delivered by the Secretary of State Brandon Lewis.

Patrick Corrigan from Amnesty said the long delays in the delivery of the official apology is the opposite of the respect, dignity and sensitivity to which victims are entitled.

In a letter to DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Sinn Feins Stormont leader Michelle ONeill, Mr Corrigan urged that they work together to find a solution, and consider temporary first and deputy first minister nominations.

Former deputy first minister Michelle ONeill and former first minister Paul Givan (left) in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings at Stormont (Liam McBurney/PA)

He warned that last weeks events have added further trauma to good people who have already been repeatedly let down.

They rightly want the long-awaited apology on behalf of the State to come from the democratically elected first and deputy first minister rather than a substitute such as a civil servant, he said.

Public apologies are an important part of reparation for harm suffered by victims of human rights abuses and, in this case, is a specific obligation on the Northern Ireland Executive.

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As the leaders of the two largest parties in the Assembly, responsible for nominating the first and deputy first ministers, I urge you to find a solution to the current situation which means that the public apology can proceed, as agreed, on March 11 2022.

I would ask you to consider making temporary nominations of first and deputy first ministers to specifically deliver the public apology.

Such an act would be hugely symbolic and signal that you are both committed to placing the rights of victims and survivors of institutional child abuse above other political considerations.
Belmarsh Prison in London (Lindsey Parnaby/PA) (PA Archive)

An auction of artwork is set to raise millions of pounds towards the legal costs of Julian Assange as he continues to fight extradition to the United States.

A collaboration between Assange and renowned digital artist Pak was launched on Monday, the same day that the WikiLeaks founders legal team filed an application to the UK Supreme Court against US extradition.

The two-day auction is set to raise millions of pounds for Assanges legal battle, as well as for organisations chosen by him and Pak that fight censorship, champion press freedom, or defend rights.

A tattoo on an arm showing Julian Assanges name outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London (Kirsty OConnor/PA) (PA Wire)

Assange is wanted in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following WikiLeaks publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

He has been held in Belmarsh prison in London for almost three years.
A Canadian court has granted an injunction to stop people from honking horns in Ottawa's city centre.

The ruling targets Canadian truckers who have been occupying the capital for more than a week to protest coronavirus restrictions, calling themselves the "Freedom Convoy".

The application for the 10-day injunction was part of a class-action lawsuit launched on behalf of residents, who have described the noise from late-night honking as unbearable.

The request alleges that blasting air horns and train horns "incessantly" was a key tactic that was "organised and planned" by demonstrators to cause "serious discomfort and inconvenience" to residents.

The so-called Freedom Convoy was sparked by the introduction last month of a new rule that all truckers must be vaccinated to cross the US-Canada border, but the protests have grown to express anger about ongoing COVID restrictions.

Police intensified their efforts to shut down the protest on Monday, seizing thousands of litres of fuel and removing an oil tanker.

"We are turning up the heat in every way we possibly can," Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly told reporters, days after he said there may not be a "policing solution" to the occupation.

"We are asking for a major push of resources to come in the next 72 hours."

He said the number of people at the blockades is dropping, with 1,000 trucks and 5,000 protesters counted this weekend.

This is down from 3,000 trucks and 10,000 to 15,000 protesters the weekend before.

The protests, which have included some Confederate and Nazi flags, have been largely peaceful.

The police chief also hailed their efforts to restricting money going to the protesters, which included the shut down of a GoFundMe page that meant "$10m are no longer accessible to the demonstrators".

"There are other funding avenues that we continue to aggressively go after through intelligence information, coordination with financial institutions and all three levels of government," he said.

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"We will be relentless in pursuing the funding that has enabled this demonstration to continue to this point."

A community kitchen, portable saunas and bouncy castles for children have been among the supplies that have sustained demonstrators - paid partly by supporters in the US.

Many Republican politicians have publicly supported the protesters, including former president Donald Trump, who called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a "far-left lunatic" who has "destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates".

The protests spread to other large Canadian cities over the weekend, including Toronto.
Heydemann on course to become first woman to lead Orange -sources Christel Heydemann, head of Schneider Electric France, attends the third annual tech conference "Inno Generation" in Paris

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) -Orange, France's biggest telecoms operator, is on course to name Christel Heydemann as its new chief executive, making her the first woman to lead the former monopoly amid a revamp of its governance, two sources said on Sunday.

Few women hold top executive roles at France's biggest listed companies. Heydemann would become the third CEO of the Paris CAC 40 blue-chip index, after Engie's Catherine MacGregor and Estelle Brachlianoff, who is slated to take the reins of utility group Veolia on July 1.

The board of Orange, on which Heydemann has sat since 2017, is scheduled to meet on Friday to formally appoint her as the new boss, the sources close to the matter added.

Heydemann currently heads European operations at French electric equipment group Schneider Electric. She was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.

A graduate of France's elite engineering school Polytechnique, Heydemann, 47, will replace Stephane Richard at the helm of the state-controlled group after a court convicted him of complicity of misuse of public funds.

Richard, who has led Orange for the past 12 years, denies any wrongdoing.

The Orange board meeting was formally scheduled on Monday, but was postponed to Friday to solve some issues such as the date when Heydemann would formally take over and a potential temporary extension of Richard's operational role, the sources said.

Richard was initially slated to quit the group on Jan. 31. His role as chairman remains to be filled, as the split of chairman and CEO positions is part of the governance revamp.

Heydemann's name has been circulating for days in the French press and presented as the favoured candidate of France's finance ministry, which holds sway over the governance of Orange, in which the state owns a combined 23% stake.

France's weekly JDD was first to report Heydemann's likely appointment at a board meeting on Friday.

The new Orange boss will take the reins of the company as it keeps on deploying the new generation of internet mobile networks and broadband fibre optic infrastructure - capital-heavy investments that have pressured its margins as its two biggest markets, France and Spain, remain highly competitive.

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The group is deemed strategic by the government and scrutinised by the finance ministry and the Elysee Palace, an important factor to take into account for any new CEO willing to embark in a transformative deal.

Orange has managed to stabilise its revenues after the arrival of Iliad's low-cost Free Mobile in France in 2012 triggered a price war, and it has expanded its activities in West Africa, Poland, Romania as well as in cybersecurity and banking services.

But its recent financial underperformance, especially in Spain where it had to cut staff, has disappointed investors, with shares now trading at a price that is about a third lower than five years ago.

(Reporting by Mathieu RosemainEditing by Gareth Jones, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Susan Fenton)
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in Zurich

By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Silke Koltrowitz

ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse faced charges in a Swiss court on Monday of allowing an alleged Bulgarian cocaine trafficking gang to launder millions of euros, some of it stuffed into suitcases.

In the first criminal trial of a major bank in Switzerland, Swiss prosecutors are seeking around 42.4 million Swiss francs ($45.86 million) in compensation from Credit Suisse.

They say the country's second-biggest bank and one of its former relationship managers did not take all necessary steps to prevent the alleged drug traffickers from hiding and laundering cash between 2004 and 2008.

"Credit Suisse unreservedly rejects as meritless all allegations in this legacy matter raised against it and is convinced that its former employee is innocent," the bank said in a statement to Reuters. It added it would "defend itself vigorously in court".

The case has attracted intense interest in Switzerland, where it is seen as a test for prosecutors taking a potentially tougher stance against the country's banks.

The indictment runs to more than 500 pages, and centres on relationships that Credit Suisse and its ex-employee had with former Bulgarian wrestler Evelin Banev and multiple associates, two of whom are charged in the case. A second indictment in the case charges a former relationship manager at Julius Baer with facilitating money laundering.

A legal representative for the ex-Credit Suisse employee, who cannot be named under Swiss privacy laws, said the case was unjustified and his client denied wrongdoing.

That banker would start testifying on Wednesday or Thursday, a preliminary court schedule showed.

A lawyer for the two alleged gang members, who face charges of multiple counts of misappropriation, fraud and forgery of documents in the Swiss federal court but cannot be named under Swiss privacy laws, declined to comment. A lawyer for the former relationship manager at Julius Baer did not respond to requests for comment.

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Banev, who does not face charges in Switzerland, was convicted of drug trafficking in Italy in 2017 and then in Bulgaria in 2018 for money laundering.

He vanished, but was arrested in September in Ukraine.

Bulgarian prosecutors are seeking his extradition to face charges of setting up an organised criminal group for money laundering, while Romania seeks him for setting up a group for drug trafficking, Interpol's red list of wanted persons shows.

Banev's legal representative had no immediate comment.

Julius Baer, which is not facing charges, declined to comment on the case.

CASH IN CASES

The former Credit Suisse employee brought at least one Bulgarian customer, who was an associate of Banev, with her when she joined Credit Suisse in 2004, prosecutors allege in the indictment.

The customer, who was later shot dead as he left a restaurant with his wife in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2005, had begun placing suitcases full of cash in a safe deposit box at Credit Suisse, the indictment says.

Prosecutors allege the gang used a practice known as smurfing, whereby a large sum of money is broken down into smaller amounts that are below the anti-money laundering alert threshold, to launder money, putting millions of euros in small-value bills into safety deposit boxes and later transferring them into accounts.

The defendants said this was standard practice at the time the deposits were made, although Swiss private banks have since adopted much tougher anti-money laundering know-your-client checks after international pressure.

The prosecutors allege the former relationship manager, who left Credit Suisse in 2010 after being detained for two weeks by police in 2009, helped conceal the criminal origins of money for the clients by carrying out more than 146 million Swiss francs in transactions, including 43 million francs in cash.

"Our client is being unfairly accused, because Swiss law requires that a person be implicated in order to condemn a bank," attorneys at law firm MANGEAT LLC, representing the ex-employee, told Reuters. "She is innocent, outraged by the accusations. We will plead for her full and complete acquittal."

Credit Suisse disputes the illegal origin of the money, a source familiar with its thinking told Reuters, saying that Banev and his circle operated legitimate businesses in construction, leasing and hotels.

The Swiss bank, which the indictment says considered Bulgaria as a high-risk country at the time, plans to draw attention to calls made by its compliance department to Swiss prosecutors after Banev was temporarily arrested in Bulgaria in April 2007, the source added.

Credit Suisse is hoping that the court will view that its compliance department's move was a sign of the bank taking its anti-money laundering obligations seriously and of cooperating with prosecutors in the matter.

In June 2007, the prosecutors asked Credit Suisse for information on accounts held by Banev and his associates in response to a request from Bulgaria, the source added.

Noticing a series of withdrawals, the bank's compliance department asked prosecutors whether to freeze the accounts, but was told not to in order to avoid tipping the clients off, according to the source.

By the time prosecutors gave Credit Suisse the go-ahead, much of the money had been withdrawn.

The prosecutors' office declined to comment on Friday, saying the matter was in the hands of the court.

The second indictment filed by federal prosecutors against the former relationship manager at Julius Baer, which is being tried in the same court case, alleges some of the funds were transferred to another Swiss bank.

The former relationship manager, who left a few months after the transfers took place, is charged with facilitating money laundering.

Julius Baer had refused to accept a suitcase filled with cash from the defendants, the indictment says.

($1 = 0.9245 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Silke Koltrowitz; Additional reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Alexander Smith and Barbara Lewis)
PHYSICAL: Ross Moriarty is likely to add some oomph to the Wales pack against Scotland

ROSS Moriarty is in line to toughen up Wales back row for Saturdays Six Nations clash with Scotland, with his Dragons boss stating the aggressive forward is suited to setting the tone rather than chasing.

The 27-year-old won his 50th cap off the bench in the opening weekend defeat to Ireland after his recent return from shoulder surgery.

Wales were outmuscled by the Irish in the 29-7 defeat in Dublin and, while the back row is far the only area that needs attention, Moriarty is poised to return to the XV for what is a must-win clash if they are to retain their title.

The blindside/number eight impressed on his return for the Dragons against Benetton after three months out but Wayne Pivac opted to play it safe for Test rugby by using him as an impact sub.

The game was gone at 24-0 when he was introduced with half an hour to go.

Scotland head to Cardiff buoyed by their Calcutta Cup win over England and Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan believes Moriarty should be on from the off.

South Wales Argus: Ross Moriarty in action for Wales against Ireland

Ross Moriarty in action for Wales against Ireland

I personally would frontload him and use that 50 minutes at the beginning rather than chase something at the end, said Ryan, who was part of the Scotland coaching team in 2013.

Wales do need some sort of reaction and need to show a different intent. If you going to tick a box of who does that then I would Ross is pretty high on that list.

Two Dragons started in the back row in Dublin with Taine Basham and Aaron Wainwright joining forces with Ellis Jenkins.

Ospreys flanker Jac Morgan is pushing hard for an international debut against the Scots but Basham is a shoo-in after backing up his autumn exploits in a losing cause.

The 22-year-old from Talywain made 22 tackles without a fail, carried the ball 15 times for 34 metres and scored a consolation try.

Taine is in that great space in life where things are working for him," said Ryan. He is in the right places and his energy is overwhelming in terms of what he can bring to a game.

What is proving great is that irrespective of what the game is and who the opponent is, he has been able to do it consistently.
Cover Media

The actress/director took to the stage in Las Vegas to promote her upcoming movie Don't Worry Darling and unveil exclusive footage at CinemaCon, the annual trade show for movie theatre owners. While onstage, Olivia was handed a manila envelope from a person in the audience and had a look at the papers inside before carrying on with her presentation, leaving many wondering what it contained. While onstage, Olivia was handed a manila envelope from a person in the audience and had a look at the papers inside before carrying on with her presentation, leaving many wondering what it contained.
Israels domestic spying scandal widened Monday, with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowing government action following new reports that police illegally used the Pegasus malware to hack phones of dozens of prominent figures.

The latest bombshell from business daily Calcalist alleged that Pegasus was used against a son of former premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his advisors, as well as activists, senior government officials, businessmen and others.

Calcalist had previously reported that the controversial malware, which can turn a phone into a pocket spying device, was used by police against leaders of an anti-Netanyahu protest movement.

After Mondays report emerged, Bennett vowed that his government wont leave this without a response.

The reports apparently describe a very grave situation that is unacceptable in a democracy, Bennett said.

These cyber tools were designed to fight terrorism and serious crime, not be used against citizens. We will see to a transparent, in-depth and quick inquiry because all of uscitizens of the State of Israel, government ministers and all establishmentsdeserve answers.

As Bennett pledged action, Minister for Public Security Omer Barlev, who oversees the police, said he would seek authorisation for a government commission of inquiry.

Barlev said that, if approved, the probe would be led by a retired judge to uncover violations of civil rights and privacy.

Shocked

Pegasus, a malware product made by the Israeli firm NSO, is at the centre of a months-long international scandal following revelations that it was used by governments worldwide to spy on activists, politicians, journalists and even heads of state.

Israel had come under fire for allowing the export of the invasive technology to states with poor human rights records, but the Calcalist reports have unleashed domestic outrage.

President Isaac Herzog suggested the credibility of key Israeli institutions was at stake.

We must not lose our democracy. We must not lose our police. And we must certainly not lose public trust in them. This requires an in-depth and thorough investigation, Herzog said.

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Calcalist said dozens of people were targeted who were not suspected of criminal conduct, and without police receiving the necessary court approval.

They include senior leaders of the finance, justice and communication ministries, supermarket magnate Rami Levy, mayors, Ethiopian-Israelis who led protests against alleged police misconduct, and former Netanyahu advisors Topaz Luk and Jonatan Urich.

Avner Netanyahu, one of the premiers sons, was also on the list. I truly am shocked, he wrote on Facebook.

In another revelation set to rock Netanyahus ongoing corruption trial, Calcalist reported that key witness Ilan Yeshua, former chief executive of the Walla news site, was a target.

Netanyahu is accused of seeking to trade regulatory favours with media moguls in exchange for favourable coverage, including on Walla. He denies the charges.

The Justice Ministry confirmed to AFP that the Jerusalem District Court cancelled a hearing in Netanyahus trial scheduled for Tuesday, and instructed prosecutors to answer questions from the former premiers lawyers about the extent of the espionage.

The trial also suffered a blow last week when multiple Israeli broadcasters reported that police may have used spyware on Shlomo Filber, a former Netanyahu ally turned state witness.

Those reports, which Netanyahu described as an earthquake, did not mention Pegasus.

NSO has consistently denied wrongdoing throughout the multi-stranded Pegasus scandal, stressing that it does not operate the system once sold to clients, and has no access to any of the data collected.

(AFP)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that Germany, France and Poland were all "united" in the goal of keeping European peace ahead of talks on the Ukraine crisis with French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda. Read our live updates below to see how all the day's events unfolded.

12:15am Paris time

'Element of detente' after French president's Russia visit: EU's Borrell

French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Russia brought "an element of detente" to the crisis between the West and Moscow over Ukraine, but did not amount to a "miracle," the EU's diplomatic chief said Tuesday.

"As far as people are willing to sit at the table and talk I think that there is a hope for not going into military confrontation," Josep Borrell told reporters at the end of a visit to Washington.

As such, Macron's visit Monday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was "a positive signal" and "a good initiative," Borrell added.

"I think it represents an element of detente."

Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine, prompting accusations from the United States and European nations that it is preparing an invasion.

Moscow denies plans to invade and has demanded sweeping security guarantees from Washington and the NATO alliance.

Intense diplomacy has been underway to avert war, with Borrell previously describing the situation as the most dangerous for Europe since the end of the Cold War.

After Macron met with Putin, he said he saw "concrete" solutions to the crisis and had received assurances from the Russian leader that there would be no further escalation.

But despite his optimism, Borrell said the problem "has not yet been solved."

"The visit of President Macron to Moscow was important, but it has not produced a miracle," he said, with no signs of Russian de-escalation.

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The most important thing for Russian authorities was not Ukraine, but "the new architecture of security in Europe," he said, adding that "they contest this architecture."

"They put pressure on Ukraine in order to obtain sitting and talking about something that for them is important, the enlargement of NATO and the security concern they have."

9:18pm Paris time

Biden will engage 'soon' with France's Macron over Russia

US President Joe Biden plans to engage with French President Emmanuel Macron soon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.

"We will continue to be in very close contact with our French counterparts" about the possible threat of a Russian invasion into Ukraine, Psaki said.

Macron and Biden had spoken twice in the past week, she said. "I expect he will be engaged with him soon," she added.

Macron this week became the first leader of a major Western power to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin since Russia massed troops near Ukraine.

8:45pm Paris time

Macron urges 'firm' dialogue with Russia on Ukraine crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Tuesday for "firm" dialogue with Russia to resolve the Ukraine crisis, in talks with his German and Polish counterparts in Berlin.

After two days of shuttle diplomacy in Moscow and Kyiv, Macron told reporters: "We must find ways and means together to engage in a firm dialogue with Russia," which he called the "only path to peace in Ukraine".

8:30pm Paris time

Poland's Duda says still possible to avoid war in Europe

Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday he was confident war could still be averted by easing tensions with Russia over Ukraine, at a Berlin meeting with the leaders of Germany and France.

"We have to find a solution to avoid war. As I've said, this is currently our main task. I believe that we will achieve it. In my opinion what's most important today is unity and solidarity," Duda said.

8:02pm Paris time

Germany, France, Poland 'united' in goal of keeping European peace: Scholz

The leaders of Germany, France and Poland will discuss ways to de-escalate tensions over the Russian military build-up on the border of Ukraine in their talks late on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

"Our common goal is to prevent a war in Europe," Scholz said alongside President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda ahead of talks in the German chancellery.

6:40pm Paris time

Macron arrives in Berlin for talks on Ukraine crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Berlin on Tuesday evening for talks with the leaders of Germany and Poland on the Ukraine crisis, after a round of shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Kyiv.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who himself just returned from a visit to Washington dominated by the Ukraine tensions, is hosting the meeting with Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda in a bid to present a united front.

4:04pm Paris time

Macron sees path to calm Russia tensions after Ukraine push

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he saw a path forward on easing tensions with Russia over Ukraine, after conducting an urgent round of shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Kyiv.

Macron held talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv a day after a five-hour meeting at the Kremlin with Russia's Vladimir Putin, as the West scrambles to defuse fears Moscow could invade its ex-Soviet neighbour.

The French leader said he now saw the "possibility" for talks involving Moscow and Kyiv over the festering conflict in the east of the country to move forward, and "concrete, practical solutions" to lower tensions between Russia and the West.

"We cannot under-estimate the moment of tension that we are living through," Macron said at a joint press conference after meeting Zelensky.

"We cannot resolve this crisis in a few hours of talks," he said. "It will be the day and the weeks and the months to come that will allow us to progress."

3:20pm Paris time

'Zelensky is not going to concede to any demands Vladimir Putin might make'

Its clear that Zelensky is not going to concede to any demands Vladimir Putin might make," says Rob Parsons, FRANCE 24's Chief Foreign Editor. "The key is going to be, as it always has been over the last few months, how the Minsk agreement is interpreted. This is an agreement between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France on the future of Eastern Ukraine. For the moment, theyve managed to establish a control line where in theory at least there havent been military operations going on. But there has been very little progress towards any real political solution and that really is the key. The problem at the moment is in the different interpretations of the Minsk Agreement, the Russians and the Ukrainians are poles apart."

2:30pm Paris time

Macron says Putin, Zelensky back Minsk agreements

Speaking after his Ukrainian counterpart, France's Emmanuel Macron said the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine had committed to honouring the Minsk accords.

"We have now the possibility of advancing negotiations," Macron told Zelenskiy after the talks in Kyiv.

The Minsk set of agreements were signed in 2014 and 2015 by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany as a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea. They include an aim to end the separatist war by Russian-speakers in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region.

2:25pm Paris time

Ukraine expects summit with Russia, France, Germany soon

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected to hold a summit soon with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany, after meeting French leader Emmanuel Macron in Kyiv.

"We expect that in the near future... we will be able to hold the next talks between the leaders of the Normandy quartet," Zelensky told a press conference, referring to negotiations aimed at ending the festering conflict in eastern Ukraine. His guest, Emmanuel Macron, will be speaking next.

1:15pm Paris time

Denmark boosts military preparedness

Denmark said on Tuesday it is boosting its military preparedness in response to Russia's "unacceptable military pressure" on Ukraine, putting a mobile NATO-operational battalion on alert.

The Danish military "will boost the readiness of the combat battalion at NATO's disposal so that it will be available within one to five days", compared to the usual 30 days, the defence ministry said.

The battalion of 700-800 troops will be located in Slagelse, around 90 kilometres (56 miles) west of Copenhagen, it added.

"The security situation in Europe has intensified as a result of unacceptable Russian military pressure on Ukraine", the Danish defence ministry continued.

11:45am Paris time

Macron says he convinced Putin not to 'escalate' crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that he had managed to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin not to "escalate" the crisis around Ukraine, as the West warns Moscow could be planning an invasion.

"I obtained that there will be no degradation nor escalation," Macron told journalists as he arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukraine's leader.

11:30am Paris time

First US troops reinforcing NATO eastern flank arrive in Romania

The first US troops reinforcing NATO allies on the eastern flank have arrived in Romania, the country's Defence Minister Vasile Dancu has said.

The US is sending nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to shield Eastern Europe from potential spillover from the Ukraine crisis.

The Pentagon said it will relocate a Stryker squadron of around 1,000 US service members from Vilseck, Germany to Romania. In Poland, troops began arriving on Saturday.

Dancu told reporters the first 100 US troops were in Romania handling logistics.

"The Americans have arrived," he said. "Over 100 specialist US soldiers together with our logistics specialists are preparing, which means it will not be long before the rest of the troops arrive."

The US currently has about 900 soldiers in the country, a NATO member since 2004 and host to a ballistic missile defence system, some as part of the NATO force and some under separate bilateral arrangements.

France said it also plans to send troops to Romania and has offered to be the lead nation of a future NATO mission, which could see about 1,000 troops from various countries.

11:30am Paris time

Kremlin denies Putin told Macron there will be no new manoeuvres near Ukraine

The Kremlin has said French assertions that Putin promised Macron that Moscow would not carry out new military initiatives around Ukraine for now are "not right".

A French official said Putin had made the pledge during long talks in Moscow on Monday evening with Macron.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia and France had not yet been able to strike a deal on de-escalating tensions around Ukraine, but said de-escalation was needed and that the meeting had provided the basis for further work on that front.

According to the same French official, Putin also agreed that troops taking part in a military exercise on Belarusian territory near Ukraine's borders will be pulled back once those war games are over on February 20.

10:30am Paris time

Russia says six warships heading to Black Sea for drills

Six Russian warships are heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean for naval drills, the Interfax news agency has said citing Russia's Defence Ministry, in what it said was a pre-planned movement of military resources.

Russia announced last month its navy would stage a sweeping set of exercises involving all its fleets in January and February, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, the latest show of strength in a surge of military activity during the Ukraine crisis.

9am Paris time

Rouble hits four-week high after Putin-Macron talks

The rouble has touched its strongest level in nearly four weeks after last night's talks between Macron and Putin, with investors looking for signs of de-escalation in Moscow's standoff with the West over Ukraine.

At 7:37 am GMT, the rouble was 0.2% stronger against the dollar at 75.34, earlier touching 75.14, its strongest level since January 13. It had gained 0.5 percent to trade at 85.87 versus the euro.

The rouble will likely stay near 75-76 to the greenback for now, Dmitry Polevoy, head of investment at Locko Invest, told Reuters.

"There are signs of optimism regarding Russian geopolitical risk perception this week," said Alfa Bank in a note, pointing to the Macron-Putin meeting and the French leader's scheduled talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy due later today.

8:30am Paris time

Ukraine to conduct drills with drones, anti-tank missiles

Ukraine's army will conduct military drills from February 10 to February 20 in response to Russian exercises in Belarus near Ukraine's northern border, the country's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said late on Monday.

Reznikov told a local TV channel that Ukrainian soldiers were constantly carrying out various exercises and that from Thursday they will start drilling the use of Bayraktar drones and anti-tank Javelin and NLAW missiles provided by allies.

7:50am Paris time

Johnson says UK sanctions ready if Russia attacks Ukraine

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said sanctions and other measures will be ready in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, and his government will ask parliament for sanctions on Russian individuals and companies.

Writing in The Times on Tuesday, Johnson said Britain is considering deploying Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect southeastern Europe.

Johnson also wrote that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will both travel to Moscow soon.

"British sanctions and other measures will be ready for any renewed Russian attack," Johnson wrote.

"The government will ask parliament for new powers to sanction a wider range of Russian individuals and entities, including any company linked to the Russian state or operating in a sector of strategic importance to the Kremlin."

The UK is also preparing to reinforce the British-led NATO battlegroup in Estonia, Johnson said.

"I welcome Germany's statement that Nord Stream 2 would be reconsidered in the event of an incursion," he added.

7am Paris time

Macron heads to Kyiv after Putin compromise vow

Macron's trip to the Ukrainian capital comes after Putin told him Russia would "do everything to find compromises that suit everyone", raising the prospect of a path to de-escalating the volatile situation.

Putin said several proposals put forward by Macron at talks on Monday could form a basis for moving forward on the crisis over Ukraine.

"A number of his ideas, proposals... are possible as a basis for further steps," Putin said after more than five hours of talks at the Kremlin.

He did not provide any details but said the two leaders would speak by phone after Macron meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The French president said he had made proposals of "concrete security guarantees" to Putin.

"There is no security for the Europeans if there is no security for Russia," Macron said.

6:45am Paris time

Biden says will end Nord Stream 2 if Russia invades Ukraine

US President Joe Biden said late on Monday that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be stopped if Russia invades Ukraine and stressed unity with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the West rallies to avert a war in Europe.

At a White House press conference with the new German leader, Biden, a longtime opponent of the decade-old, $11 billion pipeline project to Germany from Russia, said Russian forces crossing into Ukraine would trigger a shutdown.

"If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the ... border of Ukraine again, then there will be ... no longer a Nord Stream 2. We, we will bring an end to it," Biden said.

Asked how, given the project is in German control, Biden said: "I promise you, we'll be able to do it."

Scholz said the United States and Germany had the same approach to Ukraine, to Russia and to sanctions, but did not directly confirm the Nord Stream 2 plans or mention the pipeline publicly by name over the course of his day-long visit.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)
Musk's SpaceX working to restore Tonga's internet - Fiji official FILE PHOTO: A general view shows damaged buildings and landscape covered with ash

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Elon Musk's satellite internet venture is helping to restore connectivity to the Pacific Island nation of Tonga, according to an official in Fiji where the work is underway.

Tonga's sole optic-fibre link to the internet and the rest of the world was severed by a volcanic eruption on Jan. 15 and only limited connectivity has been possible since.

"A SpaceX team is now in Fiji establishing a Starlink gateway station to reconnect Tonga to the world," Fiji's Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said on Twitter.

Starlink is a division of Tesla boss Musk's SpaceX aerospace company and in January Musk himself had taken to Twitter to mention that Starlink may be able to help.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption triggered a tsunami that destroyed villages and resorts and blanketed the capital of the nation of about 105,000 people in ash, as well as cutting the fibre-optic communications cable.

The timing of SpaceX's work is not clear, although the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation, citing Sayed-Khaiyum, said engineers would operate a ground station in Fiji for six months.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Tonga's prime minister's office and state telecom Tonga Communications Corporation could not immediately be reached by phone or email.

Refinitiv shipping data shows cable repair ship Reliance has been off the coast of Tonga's main island for nearly a week as it seeks to fix https://graphics.reuters.com/TONGA-VOLCANO/znpnejbjovl the damaged subsea cable.

Any improvement in communications is likely to be a relief for Tongans who have struggled to stay in touch with relatives abroad and to assist recovery efforts that have also been hampered by a COVID-19 lockdown.

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Michael Perry)
Residents walk past debris of houses and other buildings that were destroyed when a vehicle carrying mining explosives detonated along a road in Apiate

ACCRA (Reuters) -The Spanish company in charge of a truck that exploded and killed 13 people last month en route to an internationally-run gold mine in Ghana violated storage and transport laws and has been fined $6 million, the lands ministry said on Tuesday.

The truck was transporting explosives owned by Madrid-based Maxam Corp to the Chirano gold mine, run by Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corporation, when it collided with a motorbike, caught fire and exploded, levelling a roadside village and injuring at least 100 people.

Maxam, in its first statement since the Jan. 21 disaster, denied responsibility, blaming a local contractor.

Ghana's Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources said in a statement: "The Ministry has established regulatory breaches on the part of Maxam...in respect to the manufacture, storage and transportation of explosives."

It did not provide specific details about which laws were broken or how they contributed to the accident.

The government gave Maxam a $1 million administrative fine for breaching regulations and imposed a $5 million fee for damages, to be paid out in monthly instalments.

In its statement, Maxam said it had contracted a local company called Arthanns Logistics to transport the explosives. The code violations were the fault of Arthanns, Maxam said.

It said that none of the violations contributed to the explosion and that it would pay the fines to continue operating.

Arthanns, whose full name is Arthanns Transport Services, did not respond to requests for comment. It and another local firm called Jocyderk Logistics are being investigated for possible ties to the explosion, the lands ministry said. The actions of unspecified officials are also being reviewed.

Eight witnesses told Reuters at the time that the truck was on fire for 45 minutes before it exploded, in which time residents were allowed to walk to the scene to take photos and video without police or firemen holding them back.

Story continues

They said that it was left to the truck driver to warn residents to leave the scene immediately.

Police said the truck had been travelling with a police escort, which warned people to move away ahead of the blast.

(Reporting by Christian Akorlie and Cooper Inveen; Editing by Edward McAllister and Mark Heinrich)
Shares of Spirit Airlines SAVE surged 17.2% at the close of business on Feb 7 as news of its merger with Frontier Group Holdings ULCC, the parent company of Frontier Airlines, hit headlines. The $2.9-billion ($6.6 billion when the assumption of net debt and operating lease liabilities are considered) deal vows to enhance competition and create the fifth-largest U.S. airline, offering ultra-low fares for travel. Both Spirit Airlines and Frontier carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



The deal between the two discount carriers comes at a time when the airline industry is reeling under the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. With domestic air-travel demand and leisure travel steadily improving, the budget carriers are better placed on the recovery path compared with the bigger carriers, which are being challenged by slow business travel recovery. Fresh travel restrictions as a result of Omicron are also denting international travel demand.



Similar to the challenges being faced by American Airlines AAL and JetBlue Airways JBLU over their proposed (operating) partnership, Spirit Airlines and Frontier might have difficulties in obtaining regulatory approvals.

Spirit Airlines, Inc. Price

Spirit Airlines, Inc. Price

Spirit Airlines, Inc. price | Spirit Airlines, Inc. Quote





Last year, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against American Airlines and JetBlue, alleging that their partnership is likely to reduce competition and jack up air fares. Nevertheless, the two airlines have continued their expansion initiatives under the Northeast Alliance (NEA).



Last December, American Airlines, carrying a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), announced plans to expand its global footprint in 2022 under the NEA with new nonstop service between New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Doha, Qatars Hamad International Airport.



Under the NEA, JetBlue, carrying a Zacks Rank #4, will introduce new services to Vancouver, Canada from both New York-JFK and Boston in 2022. The carrier will also increase frequencies on several of its routes from New York-JFK, including Cancun, Mexico; Guayaquil, Ecuador; RaleighDurham, NC; and MinneapolisSt. Paul, MN.



Coming back to Spirit Airlines merger deal with Frontier Airlines, the combined airline will expand its network across the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, offering more than 1,000 daily flights to over 145 destinations.



The combined entity is expected to generate annual revenues of approximately $5.3 billion (based on 2021 results). Once fully integrated, Frontier and Spirit Airlines are expected to deliver annual run-rate operating synergies of $500 million.



Per the terms of the merger agreement, Spirit Airlines shareholders will receive $25.83 per share, a premium of about 19% on the closing price of Feb 4. SAVE will own approximately 48.5% of the combined airline, while the remaining will be owned by ULCC.



Subject to customary closing conditions, the merger is expected to close in the second half of 2022.



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Euro 2028: UK and Ireland rule out World Cup and announce joint bid to host tournament. (PA)

The UK and Ireland have tabled bids to host Euro 2028 after identifying many areas of uncertainty around a bid for the 2030 World Cup.

England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have announced a joint bid to host the competition.

The five governing bodies confirmed on Monday morning that they would throw their hat in the ring for the continental finals, rather than the centenary edition of the World Cup.

Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said both tournaments offered a similar return on investment, but added: When you look at it for the Euros, weve got a very clear bidding landscape and bidding timeline and, when we assess everything for that, we know we can put together a highly-competitive bid.

I think with the World Cup, there are many areas of uncertainty, in terms of the timeline, in terms of the frequency of the events and so on.

Russia and Turkey are also reportedly in the running for Euro 2028, when it is expected 32 teams will compete instead of the current 24.

UEFA is running the bidding process for the 2028 and 2032 Euros in parallel, with expressions of interests from associations required by March 23. Final bid dossiers must be submitted by April 12, and UEFA plans to announce the 2028 and 2032 hosts in September next year.

Bullingham believes the five-nation Euro bid would be viewed favourably, as UEFA seeks to rebuild its finances following the Covid-19 pandemic.

We believe we can put together an incredibly strong tournament in many ways, he said.

And we also know we can deliver a really strong commercial return to UEFA and we feel that puts us in a strong position.

The association chief executives said precise details on which venues would be submitted for the bid were still to be decided, with the decision on how many finalists were involved key to making that call.

The associations say they will also discuss with UEFA how many automatic host qualification places there would be in either a 24 or 32-team finals.

Story continues

Following an extensive feasibility study, we can confirm we have agreed to focus on a bid to host UEFA EURO 2028 along with the @IrishFA, @ScottishFA, @FAWales and @FAIreland.



Find out more here:  The FA (@FA) February 7, 2022

UK government issue statement over Euro 2028 bid

A UK Government statement said: Following a full feasibility study, and in light of the current uncertainty around the future format of the tournament, we accept the conclusion of the five football associations that now is not the moment to proceed with a (World Cup) bid.

We remain passionate about bringing a World Cup to the UK and Ireland when the time is right.

Meanwhile, the UEFA European Championships are one of the biggest global sporting events. Hosting the full tournament would be an exciting opportunity, bringing significant benefits to the whole of the UK and Ireland. That is why we have initiated work to explore the possibility of bidding to host Euro 2028.

We are looking closely at the outcome of this work and, subject to further discussions, hope to be able to confirm Government support for a bid in the coming weeks.

Croke Park to be part of Euro 2028 bid

The Bolton News: Croke Park is in the Football Association of Irelands thinking as a Euro 2028 venue (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)

Croke Park is in the Football Association of Irelands thinking as a Euro 2028 venue (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)

Jonathan Hill, the chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland, said both the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park in Dublin were in its thinking as potential host venues, and that discussions had already been held with the Gaelic Athletic Association over the latter stadium.

Patrick Nelson, the chief executive of the Irish Football Association, said Northern Ireland was not along for the ride and wanted to host matches rather than just training camps. He would not rule either Windsor Park or a redeveloped Casement Park in or out of the running at this stage.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Ian Maxwell said his organisation would need to look at what hosting Euro 2028 could bring in terms of the redevelopment of Hampden Park.

Noel Mooney, the chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, expected the Principality Stadium would play a key part in any tournament plan and added: We know from the feasibility study that weve got a great chance of winning this (bid). We are really confident going into this that this will be clearly the best bid out there.
Karen Kirkness of Edinburgh-based Meadowlark Yoga has studied in Scotland, Asia and the USA

Name: Karen Kirkness.

Age: 43.

What is your business called?

Meadowlark Yoga.

Where is it based?

Edinburgh.

What services does it offer?

We are a yoga studio and bring together plenty of experience as well as my love for integrated anatomy and how understanding our bodies through movement can lead to positive health outcomes.

To whom does it sell?

My message is geared toward all ages. Im especially interested in how postpartum women can take charge of their recovery by learning more about their anatomy at any stage. I train yoga teachers to be more tuned into anatomy and encourage parents to learn anatomy along with their children.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive: all levels, all skills and all backgrounds are welcome.

What is its turnover?

Meadowlark Yoga is a not-for-profit enterprise, which means all of our 400,000 or so annual turnover is reinvested back into the organisation.

During the initial lockdown period the studio was fully closed for a number of months and all of our classes, workshops and trainings were moved to an online platform. The leisure industry was one of the last sectors to reopen and even at that point, we were still subject to social distancing measures halving our studio capacity. Now we are cautiously and slowly increasing our studio class capacity but we continue to offer an online timetable of drop-in classes, courses, workshops and trainings for those who arent quite ready to return in-person or who find our online offering more convenient for them.

How many employees?

We employ between five and eight staff and around 15 freelance teachers, in addition to our strategic partners.

When was it formed?

2007.

HeraldScotland: Karen Kirkness practices yoga daily

Karen Kirkness practices yoga daily

Why did you take the plunge?

The studio evolved around community interest in yoga. In the early years, I was taking three months per year to go to India to further my yogic studies and during my time away needed to find reliable cover to take my classes. As part of that process, I ended up building strong relationships with a handful of experienced teachers. They all had one common goal: to maintain a daily yoga practice and to earn enough money to support having a space within which to practice together. The not-for-profit business model evolved organically from there.

Story continues

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

I started out as a visual artist working lots of different jobs to make ends meet in the early 2000s. In college while still in the USA, I got invaluable experience working through the intersections of the public and private sector as the Director of what was then called the Art in State Buildings Program.

Meanwhile, circa 2002, I had gotten into yoga and ended up doing my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Thailand. After I qualified as a yoga teacher, I moved to Scotland to continue my academic training with a Master of Fine Art degree and a Masters in Human Anatomy from the University of Edinburgh.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

I saved up all the yoga fees I was collecting through my website. I was in my mid-twenties and had low overheads and no dependents.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

Teaching yoga in a space that is dedicated to helping each individual in our community to find the style that suits them. I also love building the business side, figuring out the money puzzle that keeps our small team gainfully employed doing what we love.

We are excited about 2022 when Meadowlark will be offering a wider range of workshops, beginners courses, training courses and 1:1 yoga sessions in the studio, and our reading club.

What do you least enjoy?

While I take satisfaction out of the business side of running a yoga studio, I also feel the stress of keeping up with the fiduciary responsibilities of ownership. No member of society was untouched by the stress of the pandemic, and I think owners of businesses at every scale faced up to enormously stressful circumstances. I do not enjoy the heaviness of responsibility for the livelihoods of other people.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

Until confidence is restored, we do need continued government support. The rates holiday has been hugely helpful, not to mention all the grants and furlough options weve had since March 2020. I think a rates overhaul would help small businesses trying to stay open post-lockdown. If we dont find a way to spread the overheads involved in keeping our local shopfronts operational, I think well see more shop closures and the dereliction of neighbourhood marketplaces across the country.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

I have learned a lot through trial and error. If I could go back and advise my younger self, I would focus more on self-care and be less critical about the failures. Finding the balance of pushing through a bad decision without over-dramatising, while also reflecting upon it objectively to find the learning thats the greatest of all lessons for me.

How do you relax?

I practice yoga daily and walk, forage, enjoy nature and get creative when I can. Chilling out with our little ones can be chaotic but the cuddles are a sure-fire cure when stress feels over-the-top.
Chinese envoy urges UN Security Council to take prudent, responsible approach to sanctions

Xinhua) 09:00, February 08, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday urged the UN Security Council to adopt a prudent and responsible approach to sanctions while raising the issues of sanctions imposed on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and unilateral sanctions.

"It has been China's consistent position that while all UN member states have the obligation to implement in good faith the sanctions authorized by the council, the council should take a prudent and responsible approach to sanctions," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council debate on "general issues relating to sanctions: preventing their humanitarian and unintended consequences."

"For over 20 years, there has been a trend of expansion of the council sanctions regime, whose adverse humanitarian - and livelihood - related impact cannot be brushed aside and has increasingly caused disruptions to the normalcy of economic and social activities of the general public and third countries," said the envoy.

"We need to consider in all seriousness how to take steps to improve the design and implementation of the council sanctions to minimize their adverse impact," added Zhang.

According to the ambassador, sanctions are meant to create enabling conditions for a political solution. "They are not a substitute for diplomatic efforts. The council should keep in check the impulse to resort too readily to sanctions or the threat of sanctions, and should give precedence to non-compulsory measures such as good offices, mediation and negotiation."

On sanctions mechanisms, the envoy said that it is important to design sanctions mechanisms that dovetail precisely with the core issues at hand and the desired objectives.

"The intensity and the scope of compulsory measures should be carefully calibrated with clearly and unequivocally articulated provisions to minimize collateral damage. Humanitarian assistance should not be construed as a violation of Security Council sanctions," he said.

Zhang stressed that member states must faithfully implement the council sanctions. "Neither should they subtract a value from the formula by cutting corners, nor should they add a value to the formula by giving themselves too much license in interpretation and over-compliance."

"The Security Council should closely monitor and comprehensively assess the humanitarian, economic and social impact of sanctions," said the ambassador, adding that "transparent, standardized and actionable exemption provisions should be established."

Zhang pointed out that as a basic principle, Security Council sanctions "should not be open-ended," noting that "a sunset clause" should be introduced into all new sanctions mechanisms going forward.

Referring to the council's sanctions committees, the ambassador underscored that the committees "must be selected against the highest professional standards consistently and in line with the principles of diversity and equitable geographical distribution."

From 2000 to 2016, the Security Council had an Informal Working Group on General Issues of Sanctions, which "did useful work" to help fine tune and improve the council sanctions. Zhang said that China proposes that the Security Council "re-establish a working group on general issues of sanctions tasked with a comprehensive review of the adverse humanitarian and other impacts of Council sanctions and issue specific recommendations for improvement."

Talking about the sanctions imposed on the DPRK, Zhang said that "Resolution 2397 has brought about serious humanitarian consequences since its adoption," noting that the import of humanitarian livelihood goods such as agricultural machinery, medical equipment and water purification pipes has been severely restricted.

"There was a serious shortage of food and the conditions for medical care leave much to be desired. The experts of the 1718 committee have reported on these issues on many occasions," he added.

The ambassador said that China and Russia co-sponsored a draft resolution on the DPRK in the Security Council last October, aiming to eliminate the humanitarian and livelihood impact of sanctions and create enabling conditions for resuming dialogue and consultation and supporting political solution.

"Regrettably, however, a scant few council members chose to refuse to discuss this draft resolution. China once again calls on those members not to evade the issue, and to participate in the consultations on the draft resolution in a responsible and positive manner," said the envoy.

Turning to unilateral sanctions, Zhang said that "we should be all the more cognizant of the harm of unilateral sanctions imposed by certain countries," adding that "unilateral sanctions, often in the glorified name of implementing council sanctions, have caused great disasters and chaos, not only putting the UN on the receiving end of the blame when it shouldn't be, but also undermining the authority and effectiveness of the council sanctions themselves."

The ambassador stressed that unilateral sanctions are extremely harmful, but it is a matter of concern that a few countries have not only failed to rein in their unilateral sanctions. "On the contrary, they have been flinging them about left, right and center, in a frenzy so much so that they seem to be addicted to them."

"We have seen that unilateral sanctions imposed in the various names have thrown a spanner in the works of economic and social development and scientific and technological progress of the targeted countries, created an aggravated humanitarian crisis, violated the basic rights of civilians, including women, children, and caused great damage to the harmony and stability of international relations," he said.

Zhang further pointed out that unilateral sanctions have even affected the payment of UN assessed contributions and the participation of targeted countries in the work of the UN.

"We hereby solemnly urge the countries concerned to immediately cease and desist from unilateral sanctions, and to stem the severe consequences of unilateral sanctions. We call on the international community to join hands to come together to resist such unlawful acts," he said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Best for Bundling Discounts

Its less easy to get a break on your life insurance premiums by buying from a company that already provides you with other types of coverage than, say, when signing on with home and auto insurance from a single insurer.

Thats a key reason to consider Nationwide for life insurance, especially if youre already a customer of the companys auto insurance and home coverage, or are open to considering getting both.

Nationwide offers a discount on your life insurance if you insure both your home and cars through it. That, and strong records for financial stability and customer service, make the company our pick for the best life insurer for bundling discounts, despite some minor drawbacks.

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.

Nationwide Life Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros

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Very strong customer service ratings

Multiple insurance options

Long-term care riders available

Cons

Most policies must be purchased through agents

All policies are fully underwritten

Term life coverage limited to $1 million

Pros

Multi-policy discounts available

With many major insurance companies, life insurance policies arent eligible for bundling discounts. But if youre a Nationwide customer with an auto and home policy (and you must have both), you can receive a discount on your life insurance premiums.

Very strong customer service ratings

Nationwide was ranked second among more than 20 more companies scored for customer satisfaction for individual life insurance by JD Power, the leading agency for assessing such measures. It has also gathered relatively few customer complaints to the national insurance organization that monitors such customer feedback.

Multiple insurance options

Nationwide doesnt sell just one type of life coverage like some insurers. Instead, it sells term, whole, universal, and variable universal policies, which facilitates choosing the best type of coverage for your needs.

Long-term care riders available

Long-term care insurance is increasingly difficult to find (or at least to afford) as a standalone policy. While life insurers dont often offer long-term care riders, Nationwide does. With its riders, you can get coverage for your long-term care needs, such as hiring a caregiver or moving into an assisted-living facility.

Cons

Most policies must be purchased through agents

Although you can submit an application for term life insurance online, youll have to complete the process through an agent. For all other policy types, you have to work with an agent to get quotes and apply for coverage.

All policies are fully underwritten

While most life insurance companies have some plans that dont require medical exams, Nationwides policies are fully underwritten. To apply for coverage, youll have to get a medical exam and bloodwork.

Term life coverage limited to $1 million

The maximum amount of term life coverage available is $1 million. Other companies offer as much as $10 million in coverage, so those that need a substantial amount of coverage will likely be better off with another company.

Nationwide Life Insurance Products

Nationwide sells four types of life insurance: term, whole, universal and variable universal. All of its policies require medical exams.

Available Life Insurance Plans

Nationwide sells eight different policies:

Term Life

One of the most popular forms of life insurance, term life insurance is relatively inexpensive because it only provides coverage for a specified term. With Nationwides YourLife Guaranteed Level term policy, terms range from 10 to 30 years, and you can purchase up to $1 million in coverage. This plan has level premiums, meaning they wont increase during your policy term.

Whole Life

Whole life coverage is significantly more expensive than term life insurance because it lasts for your lifetime. In addition to a death benefit, whole life policies also can accumulate cash value. With Nationwides policies, your account receives a guaranteed, fixed-rate of interest on the cash value.

Universal

Like whole life coverage, universal life insurance is permanent. Both types of coverage have a death benefit and cash value, but universal coverage is more flexible. You can reduce or increase your death benefit, and you can use your cash value to pay your premiums if youve accrued enough money in the policy.

There are four universal life options:

Indexed Universal Life Accumulator : For those that want to maximize their policys income potential, this plan aims to provide a higher rate of growth for your cash value.

: For those that want to maximize their policys income potential, this plan aims to provide a higher rate of growth for your cash value. Indexed Universal Life Protector : This plan has fixed benefits and a higher rate of cash value growth than a standard whole life plan.

: This plan has fixed benefits and a higher rate of cash value growth than a standard whole life plan. Survivorship Indexed UL : The survivorship plan covers two people, and only pays a death benefit after both persons have died.

: The survivorship plan covers two people, and only pays a death benefit after both persons have died. YourLife CareMatters: This policy includes universal life coverage and long-term care insurance.

Variable

Variable universal life policies are permanent. A portion of your premiums are deposited into a tax-deferred savings account, and you can choose to invest that money in funds selected by Nationwide. Since these accounts are dependent on the performance of the stock market, they have a higher chance of growth  but also higher levels of risk.

There are two options:

Variable Universal Life Accumulator : With the Accumulator option, you can invest your money to potentially increase your cash value to cover future income needs.

: With the Accumulator option, you can invest your money to potentially increase your cash value to cover future income needs. Variable Universal Life Protector: This plan provides a guaranteed death benefit plus cash value growth potential.

Insurance Riders

Depending on the policy you choose, you may be able to add optional insurance riders to your policy. Available at an additional cost, riders allow you to get extra coverage, receive a portion of the death benefit while living or cover other family members. Nationwides riders include:

Accelerated death benefit riders : Accelerated death benefit riders include riders for chronic, critical and terminal illnesses. If you receive an eligible diagnosis and prognosis, you can use a portion of your policys death benefit while youre living to cover your expenses.

: Accelerated death benefit riders include riders for chronic, critical and terminal illnesses. If you receive an eligible diagnosis and prognosis, you can use a portion of your policys death benefit while youre living to cover your expenses. Accidental death : If you pass away and your death was caused by an accident, your beneficiaries will receive an additional benefit.

: If you pass away and your death was caused by an accident, your beneficiaries will receive an additional benefit. Childrens term : With the childrens term rider, you can get term life insurance for a dependent child.

: With the childrens term rider, you can get term life insurance for a dependent child. Guaranteed insurability : The guaranteed insurability rider allows you to purchase additional coverage without having to undergo a medical exam.

: The guaranteed insurability rider allows you to purchase additional coverage without having to undergo a medical exam. Long-term care: The long-term care rider provides you with a benefit if you need care, either in your home or an assisted-living facility.

Limitations

Not all of Nationwides policies and riders are available in all states. To find out whats available, contact a Nationwide agent.

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Nationwide Life Insurance Credentials

Nationwide has a lengthy history. Established in 1926, it has expanded to offer multiple types of coverage, including auto, home, life and pet insurance. Today, Nationwide is a Fortune 100 company, and it has a strong reputation within the insurance industry.

Financial Stability

Life insurance is a unique investment. You hope you wont have to use it, but youre counting on your policy to provide your family with protection. Policies can last for decades, so you want to ensure that the insurance company you choose is financially strong and likely to still be around in 20 to 30 years.

When shopping for life insurance, look up the ratings from credit rating agencies to see what experts think about the company. Nationwide is widely regarded as one of the top insurers. It has an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best, and a A1 rating from Moodys. Those ratings indicate that the agencies believe that Nationwide is financially stable and able to handle any market changes.

Third-Party Ratings

Nationwide is a leading life insurance provider. In the J.D. Power U.S. individual Life Insurance Study, it was ranked second out of 21 companies based on customer satisfaction. The study looked at insurers pricing, product offerings and customer communication to determine its rankings.

Regulatory Actions

In the past, Nationwide has faced regulatory actions, typically around how its universal and variable universal life policies and their corresponding investment options were described. Thats not uncommon for a large company, but you should review your policy agreement carefully before signing and ask questions about anything you dont understand.

Credit Rating Agency Rating Rating Range Moodys A1 C to AAA AM Best A+ (Superior) D to A++

Cost of Nationwide Life Insurance

Although Nationwide sells multiple types of life insurance, it only offers quotes for term life coverage.

We collected quotes from Nationwide for term life insurance for a healthy 30-year-old. Nationwides quotes were in line with the industry averages, and customers that have qualifying auto and homeowners policies may be eligible for discounts.

Your rates may vary from the below rates because your premiums are based on your location, gender, health and prescription history. In general, the earlier you buy life insurance, the better, since youre less likely to have been diagnosed with chronic health conditions.

$100,000 policy $250,000 policy $500,000 policy $1M policy 10 years $11.29 $11.59 $13.56 $19.69 20 years $11.55 $15.09 $19.69 $32.81 30 years $13.48 $19.91 $30.63 $53.81

Your rates may vary from the sample rates we received because premiums are based on multiple factors including your age, gender, health history and location.

Nationwide Life Insurance Accessibility

Customers can get quotes and apply for term life coverage through Nationwides sites. For all other policy types, youll have to work with a Nationwide specialist or your own insurance agent to get information and apply.

You can reach Nationwide by calling its customer service line, or you can schedule a time for an agent to call you.

Nationwide does have an online chat feature, but its an automated chatbot rather than a real customer service representative.

Contact Information

Nationwides support staff is available by phone. You can call 866-207-9160. Customer service is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. EST, and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. EST.

User Experience

Nationwide customers can create online accounts to manage their accounts. You can make payments, adjust your beneficiaries, file claims and download policy documents.

Nationwide Life Insurance Customer Satisfaction

Nationwide is a huge insurance company with a good reputation. Its life insurance segment has a low number of complaints, but its overall customer service score is relatively low.

Customer Reviews

On TrustPilot, Nationwides rating is average. It has a 2.8 TrustScore based on a handful of reviews. Keep in mind that TrustPilot doesnt differentiate between reviews about life insurance and reviews about Nationwides other products, so bad experiences with auto or renters insurance may lower its overall rating.

Complaint Index

Researching the complaint ratios for life insurance companies can give you an idea of the insurers customer service levels. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) releases the ratios each year to reflect how many complaints it received about companies relative to the insurers share of the market. The industry standard is 1.0. Top companies have ratios below 1.0 because they received fewer complaints than the NAIC would expect.

Nationwides complaint ratio is quite low. Its ratio for its individual life insurance segment was 0.26 in 2020, substantially better than the industry standard.

What types of life insurance does Nationwide sell?

Nationwide sells term, whole, universal and variable universal life insurance policies. All of its policies are fully underwritten, meaning they require medical exams. Nationwide doesn't sell simplified or guaranteed issue coverage.

Is Nationwide a good life insurance company?

Nationwide is a reputable insurance company. It was ranked second out of 21 companies in the J.D. power Individual Life Insurance Study, and it received fewer customer complaints than expected for a company of its size.

How much does a Nationwide life insurance policy cost?

We found Nationwide's term life coverage to be about average in cost. Your premiums are based on several factors, including your location and health history, so you'll have to work with an agent to get an exact quote.

How We Evaluated Nationwide Life Insurance

In our evaluation of Nationwide and other life insurance companies, we looked at the following factors:

Available plans and terms

Insurance riders

Policy exclusions

Underwriting process

Cost

Financial stability

Customer service

Customer reviews

Third-party ratings

Summary of Moneys Nationwide Life Insurance Review

If youve been putting off life insurance because of concerns about cost, Nationwide may be a good fit for you. Existing Nationwide customers may be eligible for valuable discounts that reduce your overall cost, making a life insurance policy more affordable. And, Nationwide has multiple policy options and riders so you can customize your coverage to meet the needs of your family.

Nationwides policies are all fully underwritten and require medical exams and bloodwork. If you dont want to go through the hassle or have an aversion to needles, youll need to work with another company that offers simplified underwriting to get a policy.

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.

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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.
A former restaurant worker who is serving 40 years in prison for sexually abusing a boy in 2016 was sentenced to another 12 years in prison Monday in the sexual assault of a second boy.

Manuel Delatorre Perez, 48, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony trafficking of a person in Waco's 19th State District Court Monday in exchange for a 12-year prison term. Judge Thomas West ordered Perez to serve the 12-year term concurrently with the 40-year term in accordance with the plea agreement.

Perez was convicted in 2018 on two counts of sexual assault of a child and was sentenced to the maximum 20-year terms on each count, including fines totaling $20,000. Judge Ralph Strother, who has since retired, stacked the two sentences for a total of 40 years in prison.

During the punishment phase of that trial, a teen boy serving time in a state juvenile facility testified he was 12 when Perez met him through a social media app. Perez paid him $40 or $50 to have sex with him, and they met four or five times, the boy testified.

The teen was sent to the juvenile facility for the sexual abuse of a younger boy, an incident he said would not have happened if he had not himself suffered abuse from Perez.

Perez was sentenced Monday in the abuse of the teen, who is no longer at the state facility but remains under state supervision.

Assistant District Attorney Sydney Tuggle said that while the 12-year term might not add to Perez's prison stay, it was important for the second boy to have his case finalized.

"At Mr. Perez's sentencing during his first trial, a McLennan County jury got to hear this victim testify about his abuse at the hands of the defendant," Tuggle said. "After the defendant was sentenced, I felt that this victim deserved to have a conviction to close the chapter of his abuse, as well. Today our survivor finally go that closure and he can move forward with Mr. Perez in prison, where no more young men will fall victim to his abuse."

Waco attorney Melanie Walker, who represents Perez, declined comment after his sentencing Monday.

During Perez's 2018 trial, the first victim testified he was 16 and looking for work in August 2016 and went into a restaurant on LaSalle Avenue, where Perez was working. He said Perez offered to help him fill out an application and took him to his home in the 3400 block of Ethel Avenue.

When they got there, the boy said Perez pulled out what the boy thought to be a small pistol, stuck it in his side and forced him to perform a sex act on him. Later, Perez performed a sex act on him in Perezs bedroom, the boy testified.

The boy said he returned to Perezs house several times after that, but only because Perez threatened to tell his family and friends about what happened if he did not continue to perform sex acts on him.

Other testimony revealed Perez was placed on misdemeanor probation in August 2016 after his arrest in a prostitution sting by the McLennan County Sheriffs Office.

Perez answered an ad on Craigslist placed by deputies, thinking he was going to have sex with a 19-year-old boy in exchange for a fee, according to testimony.

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All roads lead to Irvington, then and now.

The modern maze includes Interstate 680, Nebraska Highway 133 (90th Street), Sorensen Parkway, Blair High Road, Wenninghoff Road, Irvington Road and Crown Point Avenue. Their intersections are many.

Go into Irvingtons past, and it had a railroad with daily passenger service. The Military Road ran on the ridge to the south, and the community was nestled between creeks that form the Little Papillion.

Its one of Douglas Countys oldest settlements, trailing only Omaha, Florence and Elk City. Its business area moved and left behind East Irvington.

But then as now, Irvington is an unincorporated community. It never had a mayor or town council. It considered organizing once to fight a liquor license. Very understandable, because Irvingtons first residents were New Englanders, including descendants of the religious leader of Plymouth Colony.

Irvingtons settlement began soon after Nebraska was opened as a territory and before the federal government laid out the Military Road from near 24th and Cuming Streets in 1857. Charles Howe took out the first claim. Milton Rogers, who owned a hardware company in Omaha, was next.

According to a 1916 history of early Irvington in The World-Herald by Frank Hibbard, at least six families  the Knights, Brewsters, Timperleys, Noyces, Thomases and Burgmans were in the area by 1857. The Knights were from Massachusetts. Benjamin and Albert, who were brothers, and their cousin Gardner stayed, while two returned home and one died. The Brewster brothers  Henry, Elias, Sardius and Roderick  were from upstate New York. Their ancestor was William Brewster, senior elder of Plymouth Colony.

Benjamin Knight was a civil engineer in Boston working for Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, who also famously made his way to Nebraska. Knight came west with Henry and Elias Brewster.

John Timperley and Charles Noyce came from England, made the Mormon migration to Salt Lake City, married their wives and started families before abandoning the church and retracing the Mormon Trail back to Omaha to settle on homesteads.

Brothers-in-law Lewis Thomas and Isaac Burgman, who had married Thomas sister Nancy, brought their families from Iowa. During the 1860s, seven more siblings of Lewis Thomas joined him. Thomas built the first schoolhouse, making and burning the brick for the 1862 structure, and his sister Sarah, who married Roderick Brewster, was the first teacher.

In 1857, Mormons built the first bridge across the Little Papio. Before they could use it to leave from their camp on the east side, heavy rain washed it away, and they had to start over. Once the Military Road opened, it was a route to the Colorado gold fields. Hibbard recalled seeing in 1867 a schooner coming back labeled Pikes Peak or Bust  Busted, Be Damned. Trail ruts are still visible near 82nd and Fort Streets.

Besides the school, early institutions included the Congregational Church and the post office. Sardius Brewster, better known as Deacon Brewster, married Sarah Gaylord, the oldest daughter of Reuben Gaylord, Omahas first Congregational minister. Rev. Gaylord organized the Little Papillion Church on Aug. 6, 1866, with 11 members, and it became the Irvington Congregational Church in 1870. It survived tornadoes, a fire and a move after the railroad was literally at its front door until a merger in 1961 formed what is now Northwest Hills Church.

Lemuel Bingham became the towns first postmaster in July 1877. Hibbard recalled that the settlers were getting their mail on a thrice-weekly route through Irvington, Summer Hill Farm (174th and State Streets) and Elk City. When the request for a post office was granted, the author said residents met at the schoolhouse to submit its name, and Irvington  which had been the areas name for at least seven years  was chosen.

Until 1888, the post office was on Military Road near the Little Papio. Then the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad came through and the Knight family laid out a plat for Irvington three-quarters of a mile northwest of the post office. The post office was relocated to near the new depot. It apparently set off the Brewsters. Deacon Brewster platted East Irvington at the junction of Military and Florence Avenue (now Crown Point Avenue).

Irvington then enjoyed a building boom, expanding the business community beyond a feed mill, H.S. Johnsons grocery (it had a public telephone) and a blacksmith. E.L. Brewster had the hardware store, Peter Hiler a coal yard and general store and R.M. Twaddell a grocery and coal dealership that had a second-floor community hall. One hotel was built. W.D. Clark was the barber.

Fifteen years later came a new wave of development. H.J. Groves of Benson opened a lumberyard, Charles Pamp (now the owner of East Irvington) was erecting a two-story brick building that had a harness store and barbershop as its first two tenants, and the town lost its dry status, but for a short time. Fred Anderson opened a restaurant with a bar. He lost a legal challenge by Deacon Brewster on a technicality  Irvington was too far away from Omaha city limits.

That didnt stop George Brenner from opening the Irvington Country Club roadhouse in 1915, across from the depot, two blocks from the school and near Irvingtons two churches. In less than a year, Brewster and other townspeople went to court, saying that Brenner was operating an immoral house, drawing many persons of prominence from Omaha and selling liquor on Sundays. Brenner lost his case.

Irvingtons school added high school grades for the first time in 1918 and in 1925 replaced a frame building with a two-story brick building with a red tile roof. Irvington High had a graduating class in 1926 and then continuously from 1933 until 1958, when the district merged with the Omaha Public Schools. Irvington Highs mascot was the Huskies, which became that of Northwest High in 1971. The Irvington grade school closed in 1980, was sold to a Christian high school and is now a church.

Perhaps the best reason to visit Irvington for many years was the ice cream from Irvington Dairy. Opened in 1928, it became Velvet Rich Ice Cream in 1954 and was Irvington Ice Cream when it closed in 1970.

Irvington has had its fires (1948, 1952), floods (too many to enumerate of the Thomas, Knight and Little Papillion Creeks), tornado (1894) and bank robbery (1924). The fires fueled the organization of the Irvington Volunteer Fire Department in 1952.

It opened its second station in 2020 north of 72nd and McKinley Streets.

Rail service was lost with the Chicago and North Western Railway (which bought the tracks from the original owner) abandoning the line in 1977. Nebraska Highway 133 was rerouted away from the business district when the Interstate 680 interchange opened in 1969. Industrial areas have sprung up to the east and west, and a large apartment complex was built along Irvington Road as the gap between Omaha and Irvington closed up.

But Irvington has kept its identity. It hasnt been annexed by Omaha. And it has its exit sign on Interstate 680.
A special three-judge court ordered lawmakers to redraw the lines after ruling that black voters "had less chance" than other Alabamians. The Supreme Court's decision to uphold an Alabama congressional plan that a lower court concluded reduced the power of Black voters.

Following the Supreme Court's restoration of an Alabama congressional map determined by a lower court to have diminished the influence of Black voters, it seemed that the court was ready to become more suspicious of challenges to electoral maps based on racial discrimination.

The verdict was 5-4, with three liberal members joining the Chief Justice in dissent. John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice

Its quick judgment, which was merely temporary without justification, enabled the action to continue while a lower court's verdict was reviewed. It was unclear when the Supreme Court would hear Alabama's appeal of the lower court's judgment.

Because of the stay and decision to hear the case, it appears that the court is open to weakening the role that race may play in the drawing of voting districts for federal elections, laying the groundwork for a major new test of the Voting Rights Act in a court that has gradually limited the law's reach in other contexts.

The Alabama debate is part of a bigger redistricting battle raging throughout the country, with Democrats and Republicans accusing each other of employing unlawful gerrymandering to form electoral boundaries. Because most of such challenges have been filed in state courts, the Supreme Court is unlikely to intervene.

According to civil rights organizations and some Democrats, the redistricting process disproportionately punishes minority communities growing in population. According to Republican state officials, the Constitution only considers race in establishing voting districts in a limited capacity. ...

If the court follows its usual approach, it will schedule arguments in the Alabama case for the fall and issue a judgment several months later, implying that the state's 2022 election will be conducted using the contested map.

Alabama has seven congressional districts, with approximately 27 percent of the African-American voting-age population. It is divided into seven congressional districts. One district had a plurality of black voters on the contested map, a huge discrepancy. A lower court had ordered the State Legislature to create a second district in which Black voters may elect a representative of their choice under the Voting Rights Act, but the State Legislature had refused.

"The stay order does not represent or suggest any modification to voting rights legislation," said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. joined in a concurring opinion released Monday. He said that the appeal was necessary since the lower court acted hastily in the run-up to an imminent election.

Justice Kavanaugh wrote...

"When an election is close at hand, the rules of the road must be clear and settled."

"Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties and voters, among others."

"It is one thing for a state on its own to toy with its election laws close to a state's elections," "But it is quite another thing for a federal court to swoop in and redo a state's election laws in the period close to an election."

In his opinion, Chief Justice Roberts said that the lower court in the Alabama case had erred.

"Properly applied existing law in an extensive opinion with no apparent errors for our correction."

"The Supreme Court's precedents "have engendered considerable disagreement and uncertainty regarding the nature and contours of a vote dilution claim."

The chief justice noted that it would have been preferable if the state's appeal had been allowed to proceed without a stay while the Supreme Court heard the case.

In his opinion, "the practical result of this approach" would be that the district court's ruling would hold the 2022 election but that "subsequent elections" would be regulated by the court's decision on review.

A second dissent by Justice Elena Kagan said that the majority had made a severe error in their judgment.

"It does a disservice to the district court, which meticulously applied this court's longstanding voting-rights precedent," she wrote. "And most of all, it does a disservice to Black Alabamians who under that precedent have had their electoral power diminished  in violation of a law this court once knew to buttress all of American democracy."

She added that the lower court had acted well before the next primary election, in late May, and the general election, in November.

"Alabama is not entitled to keep violating Black Alabamians' voting rights just because the court's order came down in the first month of an election year."

Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined Justice Kagan's dissent.

As a result of previous rulings, the Supreme Court effectively eliminated Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required federal approval of changes to state and local voting laws in areas of the country where there has been a history of racial discrimination. It curtailed the ability of minority groups to challenge voting restrictions under Section 2 of the law.

Section 2 is likewise at issue in the Alabama case, but this time in the context of redistricting.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits any voting practice that "results in a denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote based on race or ethnicity." As the clause goes on, racial minorities "have less chance than other electorate members to engage in the political process and to elect representatives of their choosing" when "the sum of circumstances" conspires against them.

The Alabama Legislature, which Republicans control, redrew the state's seven-district congressional map in November to accommodate the 2020 census, which immediately took effect. It retained a single district in which Black voters constituted a majority of the electorate.

A Democrat has historically represented that district, but the state's other six congressional districts are represented by Republican legislators.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the Federal District Court in Birmingham ruled last month that lawmakers should have created a second district "where Black voters either constitute a voting-age majority or something quite close to it." The ruling came after Black voters and advocacy groups challenged the map.

Judge Stanley Marcus, who typically sat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, was appointed by President Bill Clinton, and Judges Anna M. Manasco and Terry F. Moorer, both nominated by President Donald J. Trump, joined the unsigned ruling.

The panel determined that voting in the state is racially divided. It would be reasonable to design "a second suitably constructed district" to enable Black voters to pick the candidates of their choice in a fair election.

The tribunal ordered the Legislature to present new maps within two weeks, and if the deadline was not fulfilled, it stated it would hire an independent expert to do so on its own initiative. Primary elections are set to take place in May.

Officials in Alabama have petitioned the Supreme Court for an emergency stay. They claimed that the panel's decision would result in "huge disruption" of the state's elections and that "Alabamians would suffer constitutional injury" due to being allocated to racially divided congressional districts.

Their letter said that the only way to construct a map is to prioritize race over race-neutral districting criteria, sorting and dividing people throughout the state solely based on race. As a result, they said, the panel's decision "is predicated on the poisonous notion that redistricting starts and ends with racial considerations."
NATO members have not agreed on how severe sanctions against Russia would be imposed if it invades Ukraine since Biden and Scholz could not see eye-to-eye.

President Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday, mostly to discuss a plan for dealing with a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, French President Macron met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

During Scholz's first visit to the White House, there was some disagreement during a news conference, but it was quick and courteous. However, it also constituted a rare public display of actual disagreement in a partnership that is seen as a cornerstone of European national security.

Although it has not yet begun transporting natural gas, a natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany was completed in September last year.

Biden stated on Monday that if Russia starts a military invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow's army actions imply is impending, Nord Stream 2 will be abandoned. Scholz, on the other hand, declined to say the same thing.

During a joint news conference with Scholz, Biden said that "if Russia invades"  which he defined as "tanks or soldiers crossing the border of Ukraine again"  "there would be no Nord Stream 2." "It will come to an end as a result of our efforts."

German officials have often chosen for a gentler approach, refusing to transfer military equipment to Ukraine or increase the number of soldiers on the country's eastern flank, despite repeated warnings from the Biden administration that Russia would suffer "serious" repercussions if it invaded Ukraine. Furthermore, Germany has shown reluctance to shut down Nord Stream 2, a Russian natural gas pipeline that was not yet operating but intended to transport gas straight to Germany, therefore avoiding Ukrainian pipelines.

As part of his more robust strategy, Biden has rallied European allies to react to Russian threats in a manner consistent with his own. However, at their meeting with Scholz on Monday, the two global leaders emphasized their solidarity in their approach to Russia.

Both leaders avoided mentioning the pipeline when asked about it repeatedly by reporters during an afternoon press conference. But Biden, who stood next to Merkel, said the pipeline would not be built if Russia invaded Ukraine, sending a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the potential economic consequences of such an invasion.

In a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Biden stated that "if Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the  the border of Ukraine again, then there will be  there will be no longer be a Nord Stream 2." Scholz did not go as far as Biden, but insisted that the United States and Germany remain "absolutely united."

A natural gas pipeline from Russia to the European Union through Germany was finished in September but has not yet been put into service. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was completed in September but has not been put into service.

Mr. Biden said that the United States would reimburse Europe for the loss of gas if the pipeline were to be shut down, but he did not elaborate on how. Scholz said that Germany intends to ultimately replace natural gas in areas where it now uses it.

The news conference followed a meeting between Vice President Biden and German Chancellor Scholz, the first between the two since Scholz entered office at the end of last year. During their talk, Mr. Biden said that the subject of Russia and Ukraine was a focus point for them.

Russia has maintained a significant military presence in and surrounding Ukraine. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for an extended period of time.

Mr. Biden said that Americans who are still in Ukraine should leave immediately. The president said he does not know if Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to command an invasion. Still, he has told him that there would be severe economic repercussions if he does.

Biden and German Chancellor Scholz meet amid Russia-Ukraine tensions
The San Diego Air & Space Museum is proud to host the Apollo 16 50th Anniversary, one of the last times mankind walked on the Moon and one of NASAs finest moments. The Apollo 16 50th Anniversary Celebration takes place at the San Diego Air & Space Museum on Saturday, April 23, the Museum announced today.

Tickets to this exclusive event are on sale at https://sandiegoairandspace.org/apollo16

The Apollo programs Moon landings are some of one of the most significant achievements in human history, and the San Diego Air & Space Museum is proud to host the 50th Anniversary Celebrations, said Jim Kidrick, President & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. This year is the final year of the 50th Anniversaries of the Apollo program, offering an incredible opportunity to see, hear from, and meet personally the key figures who took part in the most extensive in-person exploration of the lunar surface, a goal of mankind from time immemorial. Apollo 16 is a truly giant leap in the quest for knowledge and scientific discovery, and we are thrilled to host the celebration. The Apollo 16 50th Anniversary celebration is an evening to remember forever!

Confirmed VIP Participants for the Apollo 16 50th Anniversary Celebration include:

Charlie Duke, Lunar Module Pilot, Apollo 16.

On April 16, 1972, Astronaut and Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke became the tenth and youngest human being to walk on the surface of the Moon. Apollo 16 was NASAs second scientific expedition of the Moon, during which time Duke logged 20.25 hours in extra-vehicular activities (EVA) and collected some 213 pounds of soil and geological samples. He took the only videos of the lunar rover in action as it skidded across the surface. Duke is also known for his crucial role as CAPCOM  the Capsule Communicator  during the hair-raising Moon landing of Apollo 11.

Gerald D. Gerry Griffin, Apollo 16 Flight Director.

Experience: Flight Controller, Gemini Systems; Flight Director, Apollo 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16; Lead Flight Director, Apollo 12, 15, and 17; Deputy Director, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center; Deputy Director, Kennedy Space Center; Director, Johnson Space Center.

Gene Kranz, Apollo Program Flight Director

Eugene Gene Kranz  a former USAF fighter pilot and NASA Flight Director for Gemini 4 and Apollo missions 7,9, 11, 13, 15, 16 and 17  was in control when three astronauts perished in a launchpad fire during a procedural test of Apollo 1 in 1967. That dramatic failure led NASA to what became known as the Kranz Dictum, Tough & Competent: A dedication to diligence and perfection that permeates through the agency to this day.

Dee OHara, NASA First Aerospace Nurse

In 1959, Dee OHara became the first aerospace nurse assigned to NASAs first seven astronauts, the Mercury Seven. Since then, OHara participated in every launch in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, allowing her to establish the foundations for the field of Space Nursing. After Skylab, she was invited to participate in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program (ASTP) and the first shuttle flight in 1981. In 1974, OHara moved to the Ames Research Center where she managed the Human Research Facility until her retirement in 1997.

A limited number of tickets to this exclusive event are on sale at https://sandiegoairandspace.org/apollo16. All proceeds go the Education Programs at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is Californias official air and space museum and education center. The Museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and was the first aero-themed Museum to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum also is the home of the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame. Now Open: SPACE: Our Greatest Adventure, an informative, educational, interactive  and most of all FUN!  experience for the whole family, with selfie stations on the Moon and Mars, and hands-on learning experiences for explorers of all ages. The Museum is located at 2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101. The Museum and gift store are open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with admissions until 4:30 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
The Royal Air Force Museum recently acquired the six medals awarded to WWII Lancaster bomber pilot, Squadron Leader Lawrence Seymour Benny Goodman, following a deal with the auctioneers, Dix Noonan Webb. Goodman died in July 2021, aged 100; a memorial service took place at St.Clement Danes, the RAFs ceremonial church in London, on February 4th, 2022. Goodman was the last surviving RAF 617 Squadron pilot to have participated in a Tallboy attack on the German battleship Tirpitz (Operation Obviate on October 29, 1944). He had flown on 30 bombing operations by the end of the war, and was one of the few pilots to drop the 22,000lb Grand Slam bomb, the heaviest ever dropped by the Royal Air Force.

The medals were sold with Squadron Leader Goodmans brown leather Irvin flying jacket, five RAF Pilots Flying Log Books plus several photographs and images of the recipient, as well as a variety of books.

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Christopher Mellor-Hill, Head of Client Liaison (Associate Director) at Dix Noonan Webb commented: DNW are pleased to have facilitated the sale of Benny Goodmans medals and memorabilia to the RAF Museum by mutual agreement before the auction. They will be part of a major exhibit being planned by the museum.

Squadron Leader Goodmans son, Robert, also added: Im very pleased that my fathers medals and artifacts will be purchased by the RAF Museum with the proceeds of the sale benefitting the Royal Air Force No 617 Squadron Association. Im sure that he would have been thrilled that his legacy will be kept alive for the nation and shared with the world at the RAF Museum while giving back to No 617 Squadron, with which he fought so valiantly during the Second World War.

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Dr. Peter Johnston (Head of Collections and Research, the RAF Museum) explained: The Museum is delighted to have acquired this wonderful piece of history which enables us to tell a unique part of the Royal Air Force story. Benny Goodman had a fantastic relationship with the Museum and was featured in the Jewish Hidden Heroes project that was launched in 2018. We are planning that his medals and logbook will go on display in the Bomber Command Hall as part of its redevelopment in 2023.
It has been a while since our last report from the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum regarding progress with Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver Bu.83393, which their restoration shop has been working on in Granite Falls, Minnesota. This past Friday marked a major milestone for the Helldiver, with the permanent mounting of its Curtiss-Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone engine!

The aircraft is rapidly approaching completion now, with an anticipated first flight coming this summer, as the museums Evan Fagen noted to us in an e-mail yesterday: We plan on doing all the firewall forward, electrical, oil, fuel & hydraulic systems now and fit the cowlings before final paint. The tentative plan is to do its first engine run this spring  this can mean April or early June! Outer wings are still being worked on at Tri-State Aviation, and in house were finishing up the bomb bay doors along with several other components and lots of electrical systems & wiring. Still aiming for Oshkosh, but our outer wing completion is the driving factor there.

The Helldiver is fast approaching its first flight; it will be magnificent to see in the air again! (image via Evan Fagen)

Many thanks to Evan Fagen for the additional details and photographs regarding progress with the Fagen Fighters WWII Museums Curtiss Helldiver project!
The Experimental Aircraft Associations B-25 Berlin Express and the B-29 Doc will join together for multiple History Restored Tour stops in Florida and Louisiana beginning on March 31 to kick off the 2022 tour seasons for both historic aircraft. The two historic World War II-era aircraft will tour together in Tallahassee, Florida (March 31-April 3), at the Sun n Fun Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida (April 5-10), and Monroe, Louisiana (April 14-17). The joint History Restored Tour will include ground and cockpit tours for both warbirds, as well as B-25 and B-29 flight experiences at each location.

The rare opportunity to see living aviation history is even more unforgettable when these two iconic aircraft appear together at these upcoming stops, said Sean Elliott, EAAs vice president of advocacy and safety, who leads the organizations air operations team. These joint appearances bring the history and heroism of World War II out of the books and videos to a personal experience and a tribute to people who defended freedom.

Bringing these two historic and iconic warbirds together to honor the legacy of those who designed, built, flew and maintained these aircraft will be a unique and one-of-a-kind event, said Josh Wells, B-29 Doc Executive Director and General Manager. We are excited to partner with the EAA team to continue our joint mission of honoring the Greatest Generation.

Flight experience tickets are on sale now for both aircraft. EAAs B-25 Berlin Express can be found at www.FlyTheB25.org, while B-29 Doc flight experience tickets can be purchased at www.b29doc.com/rides.

Event details:

Tallahassee, Florida (March 31-April 3)

Hosted by EAA Chapter 445 at Tallahassee International Airport (3300 Capital Circle SW), on Thursday, March 31, through Sunday, April 3. Gates will open Thursday and Friday, March 31 and April 1 for static ground and flight deck tours from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days. Ground and flight deck tours will also be available Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., following morning ride flights.

Sun n Fun Aerospace Expo  Lakeland, Florida (April 5-10)

Both aircraft will arrive at Sun n Fun in Lakeland on Monday, April 4. The B-29 and B-25 will be featured as static displays Tuesday, April 5 through Sunday, April 10. The location of those displays will be announced prior to the event. B-25 Berlin Express and B-29 Doc flights will be available throughout the week of the show.

Monroe, Louisiana (April 14-17)

AvFlight Monroe will host the event at Monroe Regional Airport (5410 Operations Road). Gates will open Thursday, April 14, and Friday, April 15 for static ground and flight deck tours from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on both days. Ground and flight deck tours will also be available Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17 from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., following morning ride flights.





About EAA

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and embodies The Spirit of Aviation through the worlds most engaged community of aviation enthusiasts. EAAs 250,000 members and 900 local chapters enjoy the fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for flying, building and restoring recreational aircraft. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 800-JOIN-EAA (800-564-6322) or go to www.EAA.org. For continual news updates, connect with www.twitter.com/EAA.

About B-25 Berlin Express

EAAs B-25 Mitchell bomber represents the hundreds of these medium bombs used by the Allies during World War II in campaigns around the world. Its restoration was completed in 2019 and it is now painted in the markings of the Berlin Express, the airplane it portrayed in the movie Catch-22. More information is available at FlyTheB25.org.

About Docs Friends and B-29 Doc

Docs Friends, Inc., is a 501c3 non-profit board managing the operation of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress known as Doc. Doc is a B-29 Superfortress and one of 1,644 manufactured in Wichita during World War II. It is one of only two remaining B-29s that are still airworthy and flying today. The mission of Docs Friends is to HONOR the men and women who sacrificed so much for the freedom of others, including those who designed, built, maintained, and flew the B-29 during and after WWII. CONNECT people with the rich heritage of the B-29 and allow aviation enthusiasts to experience the thrill of a B-29 up close. EDUCATE todays and future generations on the contributions of the Greatest Generation during wartime.
WATERLOO  Hawkeye Community College announced Monday that it is joining a new national effort to create a more racially inclusive future for manufacturing.

The Industry and Inclusion Cohort involves Hawkeye and 12 other community colleges across the country selected through a competitive process. Participants will strategize solutions and develop credential-based training programs to boost diversity in manufacturing. They also hope to help deepen relationships between employers and communities in the process.

It's a project led by The Century Foundation, the Urban Manufacturing Alliance and eight urban workforce development organizations concentrated in the Midwest. The Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation, a national philanthropy focused on equity and educational attainment, is funding the effort.

"We are thrilled to be selected as a part of this national effort," HCC President Todd Holcomb said in a news release. "As demand for skilled manufacturing workers grows in the Cedar Valley and in the state, it is imperative to be more inclusive in our recruitment, training, and employment processes. We are eager to share our expertise from our credential programs that connect students directly to manufacturing jobs, learn from our fellow cohort members, and ensure a more racially equitable future for the manufacturing industry."

Pre-pandemic estimates indicated the United States needed an additional 2.4 million manufacturing workers over the next decade, according to the news release. In Iowa, manufacturing employs more than 17% of the workforce and accounts for more than 17% of gross domestic product.

Dave Grunklee, Hawkeye's dean of applied technologies, noted that Cedar Valley industries with well-paying and sustainable jobs are in need of employees. The college would like to help ensure that such jobs are accessible to all  including people of color, who have long faced employment barriers related to racism.

"One of the things with Waterloo and our surrounding area is a very diverse population," Grunklee said in an interview. With manufacturing programs, "we don't see that same diversity reflected in our students."

The college will need to figure out "if we do have to change the way we're doing training to be more engaged with the underserved population," he added. "Right now, this is an area (where) most of these community college's are struggling."

Increasing the participation of racial minorities in manufacturing programs, he said, "leads to a more diverse workforce that's beneficial to everybody."

A three-person team at Hawkeye will meet with mentors every month from the community colleges that were part of the first cohort to go through this process. There will also be peer education opportunities with the current cohort members.

"Most of the work will be done in 12 months, but there will part of it that will take up to 18 (months)," said Grunklee. He said a minimal amount of funding is available to offset costs and implement strategies that the group comes up with.

Other cohort members include: Bishop State Community College, Mobile, Ala.; Pima Community College, Tucson, Ariz.; Sierra College, Rocklin, Calif.; Norco (Calif.) College; Community College of Denver, Colo.; College of Lake County, Grayslake, Ill.; Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis; Baton Rouge (La.) Community College; Forsyth Tech Community College,Winston-Salem, N.C.; Lorain County Community College, Elyria, Ohio; Houston (Texas) Community College; and Milwaukee Area Technical College.

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A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Monday:

RETIREMENT OR RECRUITMENT: Legislation adopted several years ago to allow school districts to use their management levy funds to encourage employees to take early retirement would be modified so schools could use those funds to recruit teachers.

HF 2253 is sponsored by Rep. Cecil Dolecheck, R-Mount Ayr, who in the past chaired the Education and Education Appropriations committees. The bill would allow school districts with fewer than 1,000 students to expand the management levy to adopt a plan for student loan repayment to aid in recruiting teachers.

WIND ENERGY: As of December, Iowa utilities had 6,040 wind turbines across the state with a total generating capacity of 11,660 megawatts, according to the Legislative Services Agency. They account for more than 57 percent of the electricity generated in Iowa.

Only Texas, with more than 30,000 megawatts, has more installed wind capacity. Adair County has the most turbines and greatest generating capacity.

More than half the turbines, about 3,300, are on MidAmerican Energy Co. wind farms generating 7,000 megawatts, which the company says is enough to power 2.3 million households each year.

SCHOOL SUPPLEMENTAL AID: A bill to increase state aid to local schools for the 2022-23 school year by 2.5% will get a hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday. At 4 p.m., the full House Education Committee is scheduled to vote on the plan.

A House Education subcommittee of Republican Reps. Cecil Dolecheck of Mount Ayr and David Kerr of Morning Sun and Democratic Rep. Art Staed of Cedar Rapids will hear from interested parties on HSB 658. In addition to setting the percentage growth in school supplemental aid for K-12 schools, the bill also would increase categorical funding by 2.5 percent.

House Republicans say their 2.5 percent increase, which is what Gov. Kim Reynolds has proposed, would be a $154 million increase in state aid. That is slightly more than the 2.25 percent Senate Republicans have discussed.

CAREER PLANNING: Iowa veterans and their spouses will now have walk-in access to professional career planning from Home Base Iowa from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at Camp Dodge in Des Moines.

Veterans, active duty service members and their spouses will be able to receive resume assistance, advice on career exploration and connections to Home Base Iowa affiliated employers. Career planners also can provide access to valuable career tools, including workshops, mock interviews and hiring sessions at IowaWORKS job centers, as well as assistance with all pathways to employment, such as apprenticeships, certificates and higher education.

Walk-ins will be welcome at Camp Dodge, or email HBI@iowa.gov to schedule an appointment. For more information, visit www.homebaseiowa.gov.

FACTORY FARM MORATORIUM: A Cedar Rapids Democrat plans to introduce legislation for a moratorium on the expansion of confined livestock operations and to hold the owners of livestock raised under contract jointly liable for manure spills that pollute land and waterways.

Iowa is home to the nation's highest concentration of confined hogs that produce more than 72 billion pounds of manure a year, Rep. Art Staed, D-Cedar Rapids, said on a virtual news conference Monday with Food and Water Watch and the Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture.

That manure too often ends up in our waterways, jeopardizing ecosystems and drinking water alike, he said.

The legislation, which he said will have 20 co-sponsors, will build on bills introduced in previous years. Similar bills introduced in the House and Senate by Democrats last year did not get subcommittee hearings.

Iowa legislators need to stop carrying water, dirty water, for the industry while ignoring the impact on our farmers, our communities, our environment and our health, Staed said.

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WATERLOO  The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is evicting park rangers from government-owned houses in George Wyth and 22 other state parks because it doesnt want to spend up to $1 million on repairs.

Critics say if park rangers no longer live in the parks they patrol, park users  more than 16 million people in 2020  will have to wait longer for help if theres a boat crash, medical emergency, power outage or a crime.

Living here, youre on duty 24-7. You cant predict when something is going to happen, said Lori Eberhard, manager for George Wyth in Waterloo, which contains miles of recreational trails, a campground and four lakes, and abuts the Cedar River.

Last year, the park had three drownings, a record.

When emergency workers arrive at the park, park rangers or managers can help with the response, Eberhard said.

At George Wyth State Park, the residence, built in 1965, needs $15,000 in repairs to bring it up to code, according to a DNR report. These include adding a basement beam to support the floor joists overhead, removing and rebuilding the back deck, fixing a gas leak in the furnace and installing a radon mitigation system.

There are another $20,000 worth of noncode updates needed, mainly to replace carpet and galvanized pipes.

Eberhard has been living at George Wyth for about four years, moving in when the parks ranger, who had been quartered at the house, retired.

I responded from where I lived previously, and Ill just do it again, she said.

Evens so, she notes that while finding nearby housing in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area wont be difficult, that might not be the case for officials at other parks located in more remote portions of Iowa.

There is limited housing in some of those communities, she said.

Park staff were notified in November and have until November 2022 to find a new home.

Its a slippery slope when you start depending on other agencies to cover your bases, said Dave Sunne, who was a ranger and lived in Backbone State Park, near Dundee, for 24 years. What do you do when the electricity goes out in the middle of the night and theres no heat in the cabins? You cant call the sheriffs department for that. It is disheartening.

State leaders are also facing the question of why the state does not want to invest in wildly popular state parks when there is a $1.24 billion general fund surplus, said Rep. Chuck Isenhart, D-Dubuque, who introduced House File 2255, which would allocate $20 million from the federal American Rescue Plan toward repairs and renovations of buildings in Iowas 71 state parks, forests and preserves. The bill, which sets aside $4 million for ranger houses, was referred to the House Natural Resources Committee.

Weve been living off the sacrifices of previous generations for a while now, and we havent been making investments in our infrastructure, Isenhart said. Knowing we had these surplus resources, the right thing for the governor to do would be to say its OK to give me recommendations on ways to catch up.

The Iowa DNR did an inventory of the 26 state park houses and determined it would cost $341,000 to get them up to code and another $556,000 for deferred maintenance, such as replacing windows, siding, roofs and heating and air conditioning systems. The agency estimates it would need another $100,000 a year for ongoing maintenance.

Some of the houses were constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, while others were there when the Iowa DNR acquired the parks.

The houses range in style and condition, but some of the maintenance issues noted by the agency include a pool that needs to be removed from the house at Viking Lake State Park, a mice problem at the house in Union Grove State Park, no insulation in the walls at the house at the Lake of Three Fires State Park and mold in the basement of the house at Green Valley State Park.

Lake Macbride State Park, near Solon, has two houses, one built in 1939 that needs $37,500 worth of work and another built in 1957 that needs $48,000 in repairs or updates.

Palisades-Kepler State Park, near Mount Vernon, has a house built in 1940 that needs $18,000 in repairs, the Iowa DNR reported.

A report the agency provided to The Gazette about its plan to ask park staff to move out of the parks says: There is no quantifiable customer service benefit from housing. DNR leadership engaged with staff throughout 2021 to reach this conclusion. Parks with and without housing are equivalently safe, supported, and maintained. Additionally, only one-third of Iowas state parks have housing. Maintenance is very expensive and competes with public amenities for funding. Therefore, DNR has decided to terminate housing.

The Iowa DNR says the change will not impact safety in the parks because staff will continue to work their regular shifts and be available for emergency response.

Whoever is on duty is the point of contact for an emergency, not whoever lives in the park or nearest to the park, the report states.

But Sue Cave, executive director for the State Police Officers Council, the union that represents park rangers and conservation officers, among other law enforcement officers, said forcing rangers to move out will reduce services to park users.

Their (rangers) function there is to be able to provide quick access to emergency response for anything that happens in the park as well as having a deterrent effect of having your house there, Cave said.

Some of these parks are out in the middle of nowhere, so your only other option is calling 911, Cave said. If the closest city is 30 minutes away, that may be where the park ranger lives or where the nearest sheriffs deputy is working.

Some of the states most popular parks, such as Macbride, swell to the size of a small city on summer weekends.

There can be fights, domestic abuse, drunken driving or presumed drownings, Sunne said. Park rangers are trained law enforcement officers who use many of the same tools  including firearms and body cameras  as police officers and sheriffs deputies.

Cave also is concerned some rangers may not be able to find affordable housing near their state park, forcing them to move even farther away.

The Iowa DNR first asked park staff to pay rent, but the union got a tax opinion that they were exempt, Cave said. Agency leaders then notified rangers and other staff they would have to move out. The agency said free and mandatory housing for park staff is no longer the norm.

Wisconsin has housing in some state parks used by rangers and park managers, Brian Hefty, Parks and Recreation deputy bureau director, said Monday. Its parks agency charges rent to staff who live in these houses, which is used to maintain the properties.

In South Dakota, conservation officers, which include park rangers, are required to live within 10 miles of their duty station, said Nick Harrington, communications manager for South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. Some live in state parks, others do not. The officer for Custer State Park, for example, lives in a privately owned house in the park.

Because there is a shortage of housing in much of South Dakota, the state helps pay for housing for some state park staff, he said.

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It appears the GOP has moved closer to securing the states first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses status in 2024, although Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann isnt taking that leadoff position for granted.

After a weekend meeting of the Republican National Committee, Kauffmann is encouraged because the RNC panel he leads unanimously backed a report that would secure Iowas first-in-the-nation caucuses in 2024.

Our very, very critical first step couldnt have turned out better, said Kaufmann, who chairs the RNCs Presidential Nominating Process Committee.

After reviewing options, the panels final report recommended no change for 2024, the next president election year.

That, de facto, would leave Iowa as first-in-the-nation, Kaufmann said.

The report will be presented to the Republican National Committee this summer. Kaufmann said hes hopeful GOP leaders from other states will ratify the plan to have Iowa caucuses first, followed by New Hampshires primary and contests in Nevada and South Carolina.

The Democratic National Committee has not changed its 2024 calendar, which is the same as Republicans. However, members of the DNC have for several years expressed concerns that Iowa is not representative of the party or the country because it is older, whiter and more rural than the party at-large.

Kaufmann expressed confidence that Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn will work to protect the partys first-in-the-nation status.

After a recent DNC meeting, Wilburn said he will continue to fight for Iowa to remain first.

I also understand that the DNC has their own process that must be followed," Wilburn said. "As chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, Im committed to working with the DNC and my fellow early state leaders in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada to ensure future successful Iowa Democratic caucuses.

In making the case for Iowa to go first, Kaufmann said its important to start in a small state and that the Midwest has a voice in the nomination process.

If you bring Nevada and South Carolina and New Hampshire and Iowa together, we check all the boxes whether its geographic diversity, philosophical diversity, ethnic diversity. If we want to ensure that anyone can be president, the carve-out process and the Iowa caucuses must be protected, he said.

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Weather Alert

...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. &&
A five-alarm fire burned San Franciscos first Nigerian restaurant, Eko Kitchen, to the ground in July 2020.

Founder and chef Simileoluwa Adebajo, who had just moved into the building a week before to resume her original takeout and delivery-only model as the pandemic raged around her, lost everything.

The one-two punch would be enough to make any fledgling restaurateur walk away from a business, but not Simileoluwa Adebajo.

I try to always find a silver lining, she says, and there were plenty of them to find: Donations from supporters began pouring in, Eko found a new home in the kitchen at Merkado, the tequila-and-mezcal-focused Mexican restaurant and open-air market in South Beach, and Adebajo discovered SF New Deal, the nonprofit that put Covid-shuttered restaurants to work feeding those in need. Shes now on the latters board of directors.

SF New Deal felt like it was the missing key to finding fulfillment in my business, Adebajo explains. I was able to deliver 12,000 to 15,000 meals to vulnerable people. I would give all of my energy, all of my time, to know that the food I was cooking was making a meaningful impact.

Eko Kitchen's modern Nigerian cuisine. (Reed Davis)

The humanitarian work shes done in San Francisco over the last couple of years is just one of the new ventures now keeping her busy, because Adebajo is as much entrepreneur as she is chef, and her star is rising fast.

Adebajos second business venture, Whipped Ori, a skin- and haircare company cofounded with childhood friend Bimpe Abiru, was born of necessity. When she moved to the U.S. from Nigeria in 2016 for a masters degree in international economics, Adebajo expected to be able to walk into any drugstore to find shea butter, an essential natural beauty product back home. But every jar she picked up was full of chemicals and her skin was suffering. So, she began whipping her own, adding an aromatic pop with essential oils like lavender, tea tree, and peppermint.

The way it made my skin glow and moisturized my hair, I had never seen it look better, she remembers. Before you know it, I said Im going to start selling this and Im going to name it ori, which means shea butter [in Yoruba].

Now a third business, Apere, a lifestyle brand of hand-woven bags, baskets and other products made by artisans in Lagos, is in the works. Together, they are the foundation of a budding empire built around the pillars of nourishing food, natural ingredients, and providing for the most vulnerable members of society.

To balance her time among her projects, Adebajo has strategically decided to stop operating Eko Kitchen as a restaurant. But she is by no means abandoning the business that brought her national attention. Instead, Eko will focus on feeding the community, something which has brought her great fulfillment over the last two years. She will also continue to operate as a private chef and caterer, host events like the upcoming Afrocentric dinner party "Homecoming" at Merkado on February 18th (6pm to 10pm), and teach her popular pop-up cooking classes, including those she's holding virtually during Black History Month (from $50/person).

(Courtesy of Eko Kitchen)

For those who cant make it to an event, theres Adebajos new cookbook, From Eko With Love.

I like to use three words [to describe Nigerian food]: bold, flavorful, and spicy. Our dishes are supposed to take you to one extreme or the other in terms of flavors, she says. Nigerian food is hot but its also complex because, most dishes, youre getting more than one flavor profilesmoky, savory, sour, spicy, sweetthere are multiple things going on at once.

The cookbook is full of modern Nigerian recipes, many of which she perfected at the restaurant, including popular favorites like jollof rice and asun (spicy, roast goat) with sweet potatoes and plantains.

Chances are, its all just the start for this chef and entrepreneur with the rare ability to nurture an idea from dream to reality.

I like to look to other Black women who Ive seen follow this trajectory. Rhianna is one of them. Rhianna went from being a musician, she started a skincare company, a lingerie company, and is a multi-billionaire now, Adebajo says. Im like, why not? Im going to try my best to keep on growing.

// Email ekokitchensf@gmail.com to sign up for a cooking class;ekokitchensf.online, whippedori.com.
Non-alcoholic wines may be trending, but we'll stick to the real deal, thank you very much. Of course, we're also reaching for the good stuffthat is, the many new organic, biodynamic, additive-free wines that have emerged on the scene of late.

Natural wines keep getting better and better, and are at last getting their due in dedicated wine bars and shops around San Francisco, like the just-opened Key Klub, a Lower Nob Hill wine bar from proprietors Lalo Luevano and Paria Sedigh, of North Beach's Bodega.

The Bush Street wine bar takes its name from a 1950s bar of the same name, but the space has gotten a little refresh since then to accommodate for multiple intimate seating areas for drinking and dining on California-style brasserie fare. The best part: It's a totally unpretentious space for discovering natural wines by the glass and bottle.

"Its never been about making the spaces feel too preciousthat's not the wine experience were here to deliver," says Luevano, who says the most important thing is that "we carry wines that taste good."

"We want to allow customers to be themselves, be curious, try new wines, discover a new playlist, start conversations." Coming in spring, the cellar will also function as a shop filled with unique bottles.

Key Klub (850 Bush St.) is set to be be demolished at the end of its four-year lease. Check it out, along with more bars, restaurants, wine shops, and clubs with a strong focus on natural wines around San Francisco.

(Courtesy of Tofino Wines)

Wine Shops + Clubs

Tofino Wines

A Laurel Heights gem, Tofino Wines is an airy 2,500-square-foot space with high ceilings, large windows, and original terra cotta floors from the 1920s. In other words, a lovely space to enjoy a whole bunch of wine. The shop and bar stocks a careful selection of more than 1,200 natty wines from California, France, Italy, and Spain. Not sure where to start? Tofino hosts weekly tastings and events, and as well as rotating wines offered by the glass to pair with small bites in the bar (reopening in mid-February). Ask for the OMGa hand-picked pet nat rose from Austria's Andreas Gsellmann, available here for the first time in the U.S. // Open Tuesday through Sunday; 2696 Geary Boulevard (Lauren Heights), tofinowines.com

Gemini Bottle Co.



Regardless of your zodiac sign, you're going to want to check out Gemini Bottle Co. if you're on the hunt for an extensive selection of natural wines like the latest drop of cuvees from Sicilian winemaker Sergio Drago. This boutique's wine club is also not to be missed, with three different monthly options to choose from: $60 for two bottles, $110 for four bottles, or $110 for two exclusive, high-demand bottles. It's a great way to try some wines that might not be on your radar otherwise. Gemini also offers free tastings on Fridays from 5pm to 7pm. // Open daily; 2801 22nd St (Mission); geminibottlesf.com

Verve Wine

From sommelier Dustin Wilson (who you may recognize from the documentary film Somm), Verve, which also has locations in NYC and Chicago, prides itself on "anti-snobbery service." The idea is to make discovering new wines an accessible experience for everyone. Stop by the sun-lit shop for a tasting, take home some bottles, or order for same-day delivery in SF. You can also join the wine club and get four bottles a month for $95. Looking for a great apres-ski wine? Verve has recs. // Open Tuesday through Sunday; 2358 Fillmore St. (Pacific Heights), vervewine.com

Unrooted

Get natty wines delivered straight to your door with Unrooted. The SF-based online wine store sources exclusively from small and sustainable wineries to bring you 100 percent organic, non-GMO wines free of all the icky stuff. Buy any bottles you please, or sign up for the wine club ($109) to get four bottles along with tasting notes and pairing ideas. Because the founders believe that a wine tastes better when you know a bit about it, they also include education on each wine and stories about the winemakers. Gift subscriptions and holiday packs are also available. // unrootedwines.com

Ruby Wine

This Potrero Hill wine shop and bar keeps its focus on natural wines made by artisan producers. Go for a glass or a bottle ($10 corkage) to enjoy on the outdoor parklet, or join the wine club: You'll get two bottles for $50, four for $90, or two exclusive bottles for $100. Members will also receive 10 percent off retail purchases and and can skip the corkage fee. // Open daily; 1419 18th St. (Potrero Hill), rubywinesf.com

(Courtesy of @woodsbeer)

Bars + Restaurants

Moongate Lounge

The swanky lounge above the Michelin-starred restaurant Mister Jiu's gets a lot of attention for its sultry interior and seasonal cocktails inspired by the Chinese Lunar Calendar, but the wine list is also notable for oenophiles looking for something natural to sip. Wine director Louisa Smith (also of Turntable at Lord Stanley) curates a selection of organic, biodynamic, natural vintages in nine by-the-glass options. // Open Wednesday through Saturday; 28 Waverly Pl. (Chinatown), moongatelounge.com

Penny Roma



At the latest Italian restaurant from the Flour+Water team, trying natural wines has never been easier. Wine director Samuel Bogue (a 2019 Star Chefs Rising Star Sommelier) has organized the list into straightforward categoriesthink crisp whites, medium reds, and orange wineswith a selection of four natural and four classic wines each. If you find a bottle you like, you can take home an extra one at 50 percent off list. // Open for dinner daily; 3000 20th St. (Mission), pennyroma.com

Bar Part Time

If you've ever wanted to drink natural wines under a disco ball with some bumpin' tunes, then head over to Bar Part Time. Founders Justin Dolezal, Jeremy Castillo, and Dan Small made a name for themselves as SF wine party connoisseurs with their early 2020 pop-up at Mercury Cafe in Hayes Valley. Now they've opened a bottle shop and wine bar that transforms into a full-on nightly dance party complete with in-house DJs. Wine club members get three bottles a month for $99, plus 10 percent off all purchases at the bar. Put on your dancing shoes and forget that vodka Red Bull. // Open Tuesday through Saturday, 496 14th St (Mission), barparttime.com

Woods Beer & Wine

Don't overlook the second half of this popular craft brewer's name. Their winesincluding pet nats, a mourvedre, rose of syrah, and moreare made with organic and biodynamic grapes, native yeast, minimal intervention, and no fining or filtration. They've even canned a select few of their wines: Try the 2020 skin-contact gruner veltliner and albarino blend for your next beach or park day. // Multiple locations in SF and coming soon to San Anselmo, woodsbeer.com
When we recently published our 2022 Big Drink7x7's annual list of the 50 most iconic cocktails in San Franciscoa reader instantly reached out to request the recipe for our selection from the Bernal Heights bar Holy Water.

After the Gold Rush, a bourbon cocktail with a tropical twist, takes inspiration from the Neil Young album of the same name: "It was on repeat while we were building Holy Water," says bar owner John Ottman, so "it seemed fitting to name the drink after it. Funny thing is, I didnt realize that I basically just made a bourbon version of the Hotel Nacional cocktail!"

Ottman says the drink is easy enough for anyone to make at home. Of course, you could also pay him a visit and try any of the bar's terrific drinks as well as their carefully curated selection of hard-to-get beers on tap.

Cheers!
For her, soon reality sank in. The crook had wired the woman even more money to launder, but she refused and the FBI stepped in and seized the cash. Now the bad guy wanted "his" money, so he sent another one of his victims, who traveled from New Jersey to Virginia by cab, to knock on her door and demand the loot. At that point she was actually very, very scared, the agent says.

10 romance scam warning signs

While scams vary, Wyman says the romance fraudsters hes encountered share these traits and techniques:

1. They go from 0 to 60 fast. They profess love too quickly, he says. After a week of trading texts, the fraudster will say hes found his soulmate and declare his undying devotion.

Wyman says its not that he doesnt believe in love at first sight; that happened, in fact, when he met his wife. But I dont know that I was professing it within the week  she would have thought I was crazy, he remembers.

2. Theyre flirtatious. They use flowery, over-the-top language, calling victims honey and babe and other pet names just very early on in a process with someone that theyre never actually met in person.

3. Theyre convincing liars. They cook up stories to explain why they cant meet, saying, for example, that theyre working on an oil rig. Or they cast themselves as an amazing businessman at work in a foreign country.

4. Theyre identity thieves. They filch someone else's photos from the web and hide behind the images. A reverse-image search of a photo might quickly reveal the deception.

As with any representation made, Wyman urges thinking like a detective. Does it seem logical that this person who lives on an oil rig is sending you a picture holding a beer can thats from the 70s wearing Vietnam-era silky shorts? he asks.

5. Theyre two-timers. Fraudsters may pretend youre their one and only, but they definitely pursue multiple victims at the same time. In one of his cases, Wyman says an analysis of telephone records showed an offender using different aliases simultaneously pursued two victims in Virginia and third in North Carolina.

The same offenders can pose as a male suitor in some scams and female admirers in others, he says.

6. Theyre always promising to visit in person but...

7. Planned in-person visits are always postponed because of an unforeseen event, such as a hospitalization or flight delay.

8. They need funds to fix a problem. And they will ask for gift cards, prepaid cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency, whatever is easiest for the victim to send.

Again, play detective. If a suitor says hes a successful businessman abroad and needs $5,000 fast to release goods from customs, would someone in the finance department of his company or a banker not be able to help? Why are you, new to his life, being hit up for quick cash by a "successful" businessman?

9. They switch scams. Like the Manassas woman, it's not uncommon for romance scam victims to be converted into mules for money laundering. That crime, too, varies, and one form of it is package reshipping. The goods in the packages that are sent to the victims generally were pilfered or purchased with stolen credit cards, Wyman says, and shipping the valuables to another address is a ploy to deceive investigators. Whats reshipped? Electronics, shoes, cosmetics  you name it, he says.

10. The love they feign is not forever. Fraudsters move on if a victim doesnt send them funds, Wyman says, since theyre not going to spend a bunch of time with a person that they dont think they can actually get to do what they want.
New Jersey and Delaware are still areas of high transmission, per the CDC, and the White House continues to recommend masks in its schools, though White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated that implementation was up to school districts.
If the Republican-controlled Legislature approves the proposal, there would be a 5% increase in base aid for K-12 schools, universities and community colleges, and a 10% increase in revenue-sharing for municipalities.
The Internal Revenue Service is halting a plan that would have required taxpayers to verify their identities with facial recognition software before signing on to its website following backlash from lawmakers and privacy groups.


Boorara Toll Milling Campaigns Completed

Perth, Feb 8, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) is pleased to advise that it has completed two toll milling campaigns treating low grade ore stockpiles from the Boorara open pit at the Lakewood toll milling facility in Kalgoorlie - Boulder.The second campaign comprised 28,410t milled at a reconciled grade of 0.94g/t Au for 781 ounces at a calculated recovery of 91%. Processing of the low-grade stockpiles from the recent trial mining of the Boorara deposit is now completed.In total, 98,121dt of ore was processed in the two campaigns at a grade of 0.93g/t Au and 90.2% recovery. The campaigns generated approximately $1.35 million cash to Horizon after all costs under a profit-sharing arrangement with the toll mill owner.The ore grade reconciled 9% above the mine claimed grade and provided further valuable geological information on grade allocation processes. Gravity recovery was again high at 35% with reagent consumption and throughput rates in line with expectation.Commenting on the Boorara toll milling campaigns, Managing Director Jon Price said:"The toll milling campaigns have provided both cash flow and invaluable geological and metallurgical reconciliation information improving our confidence in the current model for Boorara. ""Given our close proximity to existing infrastructure in the Kalgoorlie region, we will continue to pursue production and cash generation opportunities from our asset base in parallel with the large scale new discovery and project generation exploration programs planned for 2022."About Horizon Minerals Limited

Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.

Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.

Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.


Company Update Presentation

Perth, Feb 8, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd ( ASX:WMC ) ( FRA:NZ3 ) ( OTCMKTS:WMXCF ) aims to be an ASX Top 10 Australian gold mine by 2025 producing over 200,000 oz pa.Wiluna is a fast growing high grade gold producer that has consolidated the northern end of the world's richest goldfield and is ramping up its new high grade underground mine.High impact exploration success and execution will drive share price with industry leading partners and proven POX technology, powerful shareholders, and management that have done it before.*To view the presentation, please visit:About Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd

Wiluna Mining Corporation (ASX:WMC) (OTCMKTS:WMXCF) is a Perth based, ASX listed gold mining company that controls over 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn Craton in the Northern Goldfields of WA. The Yilgarn Craton has a historic and current gold endowment of over 380 million ounces, making it one of most prolific gold regions in the world. The Company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation which has a defined resource of 8.04M oz at 1.67 g/t au. In May 2019, a new highly skilled management team took control of the Company with a clear plan to leverage the Wiluna Gold Operation's multi-million-ounce potential.


Appointment of Investor Relations Advisor

Sydney, Feb 8, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Mie Pay Ltd ( NSX:MIE ) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Convergence Capital (AFSL 503221) as investor relations advisor to a proposed convertible note issue.As the Company transitions from a payment company to an internet of things (IoT) provider to SMEs (see announcement dated 16 November 2021), it is looking to raise further capital to fund on-going development and expansion of clients/users.The Company is also considering a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in due course, in order to attract wider investments and to improve liquidity.About Mie Pay Limited

MIE Pay is a technology driven payments company that facilitates online and offline commerce between retail merchants and end customers. Its operations are based in Auckland and Sydney.

It is a fintech business building an innovative financial technology ecosystem, the core of which is an interactive payment platform, that not only delivers an improved shopping and checkout experience, with payments included as a component, it's also focused on lowering acceptance costs for merchants and aims to supplement the experience with value-added services.

An e-Commerce SaaS platform IE MALL has also been built providing APP-based commerce and in-APP payments for merchants. This technology is being increasingly embraced providing omni-channel shopping experiences for customers.


Invitation to Investor Webinar

Perth, Feb 8, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Torian Resources Limited ( ASX:TNR ) is pleased to provide an opportunity for shareholders, investors, and the broader market to attend a live virtual presentation by Torian's Directors and Senior Management.The Company will present an overview of its recent Rare Earths announcements, as well as its future exploration plans.There will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions of management. Investors are encouraged to submit questions prior the event by emailing info@torianresources.com.auEvent: Torian - Rare Earth WebinarPresenting: Paul Summers (Executive Chairman), Peretz Schapiro (Executive Director) and Claudio Sheriff-Zegers (Exploration Manager), Kenneth Collerson (Geological Consultant)Time Feb 10, 2022 14:00 Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney.Investors must register online in advance to participate in this webinar by clicking on the registration link below.Register in advance for this webinar:After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.About Torian Resources Limited

Torian Resources Ltd (ASX:TNR) is a gold exploration and development company with an extensive and strategic land holding comprising eight projects and over 400km2 of tenure in the Goldfields Region of Western Australia.

Torian's flagship project, Zuleika, is located along the world-class Zuleika Shear. The Zuleika Shear is the fourth largest gold producing region in Australia and consistently produces some of the country's highest grade and lowest cost gold mines. Torian's Zuleika project lies north and partly along strike of several major gold deposits including Northern Star's (ASX:NST) 7.0Moz East Kundana Joint Venture and Evolutions (ASX:EVN) 1.8Moz Frogs Legs and White Foil deposits.

Torian's other projects include the strategically located Mt Stirling and Malcolm Projects in the Leonora region (near Red 5's King of the Hills Project), where it recently completed updated Mineral Resource Estimates and preliminary scoping studies, and a suite of other projects in the Kalgoorlie region including Credo Well JV Zuleika JV, Bonnie Vale, Gibraltar and Mount Monger/Wombola.


Cohiba Admitted to OTCQB Market

Melbourne, Feb 9, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cohiba Minerals Limited ( ASX:CHK ) ( OTCMKTS:CHKMF ) is pleased to announce that trading of its ordinary shares on the OTCQB market will commence on 9 February 2022 under the ticker symbol "CHKMF".The OTCQB market has high financial reporting standards and strong corporate governance requirements, both of which are satisfied through the Company's ongoing compliance with ASX listing rules. Cohiba sought the OTCQB quotation to provide current and potential North American investors with appropriate accessibility and liquidity to invest in the Company. The quotation provides Cohiba access to one of the largest investment markets in the world at nominal cost, with no additional compliance requirements, compared to traditional major exchanges. No new shares in the Company are being issued in connection with the quotation on the OTCQB Market. Existing ordinary shares of Cohiba may now also be traded on the OTCQB Market and investors can find real-time quotes and market information on the OTC Markets website (www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CHKMF/overview ).The Company is in the process of applying for Depository Trust Clearing (DTC) eligibility, which essentially facilitates electronic trading of securities by individual investors that use self- managed online broking accounts (such as TD Ameritrade and E-Trade), as opposed to trading through full services brokers. Pending DTC eligibility, trading of the shares will be handled by brokers who will act as market makers. In the interim OTCQB trading will be conducted through B.Riley FBR Inc as market maker.The Company will continue to have its primary listing on the ASX and be subject to and comply with the ASX Listing Rules and Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act).Commenting on being admitted to the OTCQB Market, CHK's Executive Chairman, Mordechai Benedikt, said: "The Company has long recognised the opportunities provided by the North American capital markets and with exploration activities the Company has planned for each of its projects, the ability to reach out to additional markets will attract key investors into the future"."We believe CHK's admission to the OTCQB will benefit all of our shareholders, enhancing the visibility and accessibility of the Company to US investors, allowing the Company to efficiently grow its North American shareholder base".About Cohiba Minerals Limited

Cohiba Minerals Limited (ASX:CHK) is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with the primary focus of investing in the resource sector through direct tenement acquisition, joint ventures, farm in arrangements and new project generation. The shares of the company trade under the ticker symbol CHK.

The Company recently acquired 100% of the shares in Charge Lithium Pty Ltd, which holds exploration licences in Western Australia.

About OTC Markets Group Inc.

OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX:OTCM) operates a financial marketplace for 10,000 United States and global securities through the broker of their choice. Through its OTC Link ATS, the Company directly link a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services for a spectrum of securities. the Company organizes these securities into three marketplaces to inform investors of opportunities and risks: OTCQX, the best marketplace with qualified companies; OTCQB, the venture stage marketplace with the United States reporting Companies; and OTC Pink, the open marketplace with variable Reporting companies. The OTCQX marketplace offers the informed and trading for the United States and global companies. The OTCQB marketplace offers informed trading for securities of smaller or developing companies that are reporting to a United States regulator (SEC, Bank, or Insurance). The OTC Pink marketplace offers trading in a spectrum of equity securities through any broker.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.  Police were trying to find the shooter who killed a member of Scottsdales Special Olympics Team and adaptive recreation programs.

They said 59-year-old Scott Harkness was found on the side of a road around 1 a.m. Sunday with a gunshot wound.

Police said Harkness was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Officer Aaron Bolin, a Scottsdale police spokesman, said Harkness was a member of the special needs community, an active participant in the citys Adaptive Recreation Program and an athlete with the Scottsdale Special Olympics Team.

Bolin said detectives were investigating the fatal shooting and police were asking for the publics help with any information in the case.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Broad voting legislation backed by Democratic leaders at the Capitol faced a legislative treadmill of sorts Monday.

The measure passed its first Senate committee in the morning, but another committee referral was placed in the proposals path in the afternoon.

Each procedural step adds extra deadline pressure to supporters hoping to navigate the legislation to passage over the next nine days.

As it stands now, the proposal must advance through two Senate committees and the full Senate just to make it to the House. And it would have to pass the House and its committees to reach the governors desk  all by Feb. 17.

The legislation, Senate Bill 8, would automate voter registration at Motor Vehicle Division offices and create a permanent absentee voter list.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, a Santa Fe Democrat and co-sponsor of the legislation, did not object to the extra committee assignment. The proposal deserves extra vetting, he said, to resolve legal questions.

The last thing I want on a bill this important is an argument that we didnt do what we needed to do, Wirth told his colleagues.

The proposal is a priority for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and other Democratic leaders at the Capitol.

It advanced out of the Senate Rules Committee on a 7-4 party-line vote Monday morning, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.

Sen. Cliff Pirtle, a Roswell Republican who opposed the bill, successfully won approval from the full Senate later Monday to add the additional committee referral, sending the bill next to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Pirtle questioned whether the bill would conflict with the state Constitution, an issue the Judiciary Committee can examine.

The proposal has already undergone substantial changes since its introduction last month. For example, it no longer calls for allowing 16-year-old residents to vote in school and city elections.

Among the provisions still in the bill, however, are:

 Establishing a permanent absentee voter list, allowing a person to sign up once to receive ballots in the mail in future elections.

 Automating some voter registration for citizens who are qualified to vote, but arent registered. They would be registered automatically when they complete a transaction at the MVD or another state office, if they submit information showing theyre qualified.

 Designating election day as a holiday.

 Allowing felons to register to vote on release from custody, rather than after they complete probation or parole.

Another election measure  Senate Bill 144, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Katy Duhigg of Albuquerque  sailed through the Senate on a 38-0 vote Monday, sending it on to the House.

It would add employees and agents of the secretary of states and county clerks offices to the New Mexico law making it a crime to intimidate election officials.

The law would apply to threats intended to disrupt the impartial administration of an election.

Senate passage of the bill comes after election officials in New Mexico reported racist mail, being followed and other threats. Toulouse Oliver left home for weeks in 2020 after her personal information was published on a website called Enemies of the People, with targets over officials photos.
After days of frigid temperatures, heavy snowfall and icy roads, New Mexico is expected to have a quiet, warmer weather week with little chance for precipitation.

Daniel Porter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said that patchy freezing fog is still possible in the mornings as snow melts.

But many areas (will be) climbing at least 5 degrees to potentially as much as 10 to 12 degrees by Tuesday, Porter said. We will remain somewhat near seasonal averages for the remainder of the week, and chances for precipitation are not really that appreciable.

Albuquerques forecast is mostly sunny for Tuesday, with a high of 50 degrees.

Wednesday could reach 52 degrees in the city.

As we go into Wednesday night into Thursday, we do have a weak disturbance moving through the region, but theres not a lot of moisture to work with, Porter said.

Thursday temperatures will dip slightly to a high of 51 in Albuquerque.

Fridays high could rebound to 55 degrees.

A backdoor cold front entering northeast New Mexico late this week could bring gusty winds and cooler temperatures to start the weekend.

The upcoming weekend should be mostly clear and sunny in Albuquerque, with a high of 50 degrees on Saturday and 53 on Sunday.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
SANTA FE, N.M.  Lawmakers in New Mexico are considering major investments in cybersecurity, following two serious cyberattacks against school districts in the state just last month, and increased vulnerability of information technology in K-12 schools nationally.

On Monday, the House Education Committee unanimously advanced a bill that would allocate $45 million to hire cybersecurity experts for the state and a grant program for school districts to bolster their cyber defenses. It will be considered by another House committee.

New Mexico lags behind other states in establishing cybersecurity protocols and training in state agencies as well as in schools, according to Legislative analysts.

Last month, ransomware attacks shut down access to student attendance and grade databases in Albuquerque and Truth or Consequences. A similar cyberattack in Las Cruces in 2019 shut down all access to computers in the district for months.

The proposed bill would mandate the creation of a cybersecurity office for schools inside the state Public Education Department, while also adding positions at the Department of Information Technology.

The education department is reluctant to absorb responsibility for school cybersecurity, according to comments cited by Legislative analysts. The agency is already struggling to fill dozens of open positions, including around seven information technology jobs.

___

Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Legislators on a Senate panel late Monday rejected a proposal to reshape New Mexicos pretrial detention system  a key pillar of the tough-on-crime bills introduced this session.

The bipartisan measure, Senate Bill 189, was tabled on an 5-3 vote in the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee, preventing the bill from moving forward in that chamber.

An identical proposal, however, is still alive in the state House.

But Mondays vote is a serious blow to its chances of final passage.

Sen. Bill Tallman, an Albuquerque Democrat who voted against the bill, said he wasnt convinced the measure was the right approach to addressing crime in New Mexico.

Theres no magic bullet. Theres no easy answers, Tallman said. We need a long-term solution.

The proposal is backed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Raul Torrez and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, all Democrats.

Its among a fleet of proposals under consideration by lawmakers this year intended to address New Mexicos high rate of violent crime, twice the national average the last three years.

But the bill has also run into skepticism in both chambers of the Legislature.

In Mondays hearing, supporters said the legislation would be a commonsense step toward reducing crime. It would keep dangerous offenders behind bars, they said, and ensure they dont commit new offenses.

Some testimony came from crime victims and their families.

Angel Alire of Albuquerque said the man accused of killing her son last year had been released before trial, and she asked lawmakers to change the pretrial detention law.

Its not working and because of this my son is dead, Alire said.

Opponents, by contrast, questioned the constitutionality of the proposal and said it would do little to reduce New Mexicos crime rate.

Barron Jones, senior policy strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said he can empathize with families who have lost loved ones to violence, as he has. But holding more people behind bars while they await trial, he said, will damage families as defendants lose jobs and other opportunities.

It will have a disastrous impact on communities reeling from decades of tough-on-crime policies, Jones said.

Senate Bill 189 and House Bill 5 would create a rebuttable presumption of dangerousness for defendants charged with certain violent crimes, including murder, child abuse and assault on a peace officer.

The goal would be to make it easier for prosecutors to secure approval to hold a person in jail while they await trial.

Sponsoring the Senate version of the bill were Senate Majority Whip Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, and Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque.
Fresh off an election victory in the City of Anthony, 20-year-old Gabriel Holguin fetched an incoming text from his phone.

Muchisimas felicidades, Mr. Holguin, he read aloud.

The text, one of many Holguin has received since November, offered congratulations for his successful bid to join the City of Anthonys Board of Trustees  akin to a city council position  to help lead the southern New Mexico community of 8,600 residents.

Its from Mr. Mendoza, Holguin said. I need to get back to him.

Mr. Mendoza, it turns out, is a pivotal name in the life of Gabriel Isaiah Holguin, who is now among the youngest elected officials to have won political office in New Mexico.

Back before Holguin ever thought of running for office, before he graduated from high school or applied for college, before he even considered himself capable of stepping into any professional or political role to serve others, he first had to be rescued himself.

For that, it took a person with insight into the mind of someone from an immigrant family, someone struggling with English and lagging behind the pace of the U.S. educational system. It took a unique person, a teacher, who could speak to the insecurities of a young man with big plans in his heart but mired by setbacks in his life.

For Gabriel Holguin, it took Manuel Mendoza.

I always struggled in school and I was just pushed along from grade to grade, Holguin recalled of his early years in class. I was an English language learner and there was not a teacher who helped me, until my Spanish teacher, Mr. Mendoza.

They met during Holguins sophomore year at Gadsden High School in the fall of 2016. He was behind in his classes and he shared his dilemma with Mendoza. Soon, Holguin learned that this Spanish teacher had taken it upon himself to plan a way for Holguin to catch up on his classes.

I was failing every single class that semester. But when I met him, he would check in with my other teachers to see what I needed to do to better my grades. He really went out of his way, Holguin said. The educators gave up on me, with the exception of this one. He told me I could achieve whatever I wanted. He really helped, he tutored, he was a mentor. He gave me confidence.

Thats when things turned around for Holguin.

I ended up passing all of my classes. Thats the first time that happened. That was a feeling that I did not think was attainable, he said.

Mendoza, now in his 26th year teaching Spanish at Gadsden High School, remembers Holguin as a student ambivalent about staying in school. But Mendoza saw his intelligence, and did not give up on Holguin.

Hes a talented kid. Right away I saw that. I spoke with his teachers, I called his parents, I was mentoring, Mendoza said. He was very creative, very good with technology. He can speak Spanish in one moment, be analytical and go back and forth between Spanish and English.

Once his confidence was built up, Mendoza said, a dramatic change was evident in Holguin.

I saw him coming alive to what education was all about. He wanted to grow, and he was eager to finish high school to embark on his career, he said. He has progressed so much in so little time.

Holguin soon transferred to a charter high school in Las Cruces  Alma darte  rose to the top 10 in his class, graduated at age 17, and entered New Mexico State University. Currently a senior studying education, Holguin is teaching social studies in English and Spanish as a student teacher at Gadsden Middle School in Anthony.

Students find out

On Nov. 2 of last year, at the age of 20, Holguin was elected to a four-year term for the at-large position of the City of Anthonys Board of Trustees. He serves with three other board members  Javier Silva, Daniel Barreras and Elva Flores  and Anthony Mayor Diana M. Trujillo.

The success of his campaign, he said, was to speak honestly about himself, the difficulties hes had, and the optimism he has for the community.

I was really open. Id tell them that I was from a single-parent household, and how we received food stamps, lived in government housing, things like that. I expressed my struggles. I expressed who I really was. I think they saw themselves in me, they saw their kids in me, he said.

He said that, initially, he didnt want his students distracted by his political campaign, so he didnt tell them he was running. But when he walked into his class the day after winning the election, he was surprised by what he saw.

When I got to the class that day, a student was on the Secretary of States website looking at election results, Holguin said with a laugh. He was showing the other students that I was elected. So the students were very excited.

That moment, watching his students celebrate his election victory, captured the best of his ambitions  political, professional and personal.

These are 14- and 15-year-olds, and you dont expect them to be following races, and to be looking at the Secretary of State website for election results, he said.

They saw me get elected while I was teaching them politics, that was a perfect thing for them. To see that, it was a mixture of emotions for me, he said. To have students be excited for their student teacher to be elected, that made me excited about what they can do in their future.

As for Holguins future, he said hes keeping all options open. He wasnt expected to become fluent in English, nor to become a top-10 high school student, nor to enter college. But hes accomplished those, and his recent success in a local election, to him, is just another sign that, like Mr. Mendoza said to him not too many years ago, anything is possible with an education.

Focused on Anthony

Early into his tenure on the Anthony Board of Trustees, Holguin has a long-term goal of becoming a legislator but emphasized that his mind now is set entirely on improving Anthony, New Mexico.

Its a small but complex area composed of the interlinked communities of Anthony, New Mexico, and Anthony, Texas. Known since the late 1980s as the Leapyear Capital of the World, the two communities have existed as neighbors in different states of abutting counties  Dona Ana in New Mexico and El Paso in Texas  and are the first, or last, places that commuters see of each state.

The area that is today divided between two states first began as a single community centered around a local Catholic church, St. Anthony of Padua, which was established at about the same time as the 1881 incorporation of Anthony, Texas.

From the onset, the relationship between the two communities has been peculiar. Anthony, Texas, was incorporated 31 years before New Mexicos 1912 statehood, and was defined by its residents as a town, whereas Anthony, New Mexico  half the geographic size of its Texas counterpart  was incorporated in 2010 as the City of Anthony.

Both the town and the city are majority Spanish speakers, with Anthony, New Mexico, having more than 85% who speak the language, according to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau data. With a population of about 8,600, Anthony, New Mexico, is poorer and less educated than its Texas namesake, and 61% of its residents are not U.S. citizens.

For Holguin, a Mexican American whose grandparents were born in Mexico, increasing the resources available to residents in Anthony, New Mexico, is the best way to improve the areas standard of living.

To him, that means ramping up the public services available in Anthony, New Mexico, so they match those in Anthony, Texas  which he says enjoys disproportionately more public amenities.

Anthony, Texas, is the side with the businesses, with the parks. Anthony, Texas, is the side with resources. New Mexico is the side that does not have the resources, he said.
SANTA FE  Lawmakers in New Mexico are considering major investments in cybersecurity following two serious cyberattacks against school districts in the state just last month, and increased vulnerability of information technology in K-12 schools nationally.

On Monday, the House Education Committee unanimously advanced a bill that would allocate $45 million to hire cybersecurity experts for the state and a grant program for school districts to bolster their cyber defenses. It will be considered by another House committee.

New Mexico lags behind other states in establishing cybersecurity protocols and training in state agencies, as well as in schools, according to Legislative analysts.

Last month, ransomware attacks shut down access to student attendance and grade databases in Albuquerque and Truth or Consequences. A similar cyberattack in Las Cruces in 2019 shut down all access to computers in the district for months.

The proposed bill would mandate the creation of a cybersecurity office for schools inside the state Public Education Department, while also adding positions at the Department of Information Technology.

The education department is reluctant to absorb responsibility for school cybersecurity, according to comments cited by Legislative analysts. The agency is already struggling to fill dozens of open positions, including some seven information technology jobs.
The New Mexico State University Art Museum has been awarded a grant of $300,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

These funds make it possible for us to take the next step toward our vision of growth, including improving operations and hiring a collections curator, said Marisa Sage, director of the University Art Museum, in a statement.

With this support, we can expand public access to collections, and holistically support artists throughout the creation and exhibition process.

The museums mission, she said, has been to communicate the intrinsic value of art in our diverse community, both on and off campus, by presenting exhibitions and acquisitions that more accurately reflect this region.

Since the pandemic hit, the museum moved to an online exhibition format, reaching 8,000 people worldwide through web-based galleries, live performances and free workshops, according to a news release.

Enrico Pontelli, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, in a statement called the award prestigious but well-deserved recognition for such hard work and commitment.

The museum is free and open to the public, and all aspects of the exhibitions, including programming, will be available online and in person.

The Mellon Foundation awarded more than $500 million last year to a range of projects across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
PHOENIX  Police responding to a reported stabbing fatally shot a man armed with a sharp object after he refused to drop the weapon, Phoenix police said.

They said officers responded to reports of a woman being stabbed around 1 p.m. Monday and that the woman and the man may have known each other.

She was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

According to police, the man was shot by police at an intersection and later died at a hospital.

Police didnt immediately release the womans name but identified the man as Emilio Chamizo, 30.

No officers were injured in the shooting, according to police.
Peloton is replacing its CEO, cutting jobs and reining in ambitious expansion plans after badly misjudging the staying power of the exercise-at-home trend that propelled its sales early in the pandemic.

John Foley first pitched the idea for Peloton in 2011, hoping to disrupt the industry. He will give up the CEO position and become executive chair at Peloton Interactive Inc. The company is also cutting almost 3,000 jobs.

Barry McCarthy, who served as CFO at Spotify as well as at Netflix, will take over as CEO, the company said Tuesday.

Pelotons shares surged about 25% Tuesday, despite the company reducing its annual outlook for sales and subscriptions and reporting a big loss for its fiscal second quarter.

Peloton has been on a wild ride for the past two years during the pandemic. Company shares surged more than 400% in 2020 amid COVID-19 lockdowns that made its bikes and treadmills popular among customers who pay a fee to participate in Pelotons interactive workouts. But nearly all of those gains were wiped out last year as the distribution of vaccines sent many people out of there homes and back into gyms.

Pelotons initial success also created competition, with companies peeling away customers by selling cheaper bicycles and exercise equipment. High-end gyms also jumped into the game, offering virtual classes that once were Pelotons biggest draws. All the while, Peloton misjudged the slowing demand and kept churning out its products.

The problem for Peloton isnt that it has a bad product. Nor is it that there is no demand for what it sells, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail in a note published Tuesday. The central problem is one of hubris and bad judgment. Peloton incorrectly assumed that the demand created by the pandemic would continue to curve upward.

In a conference call with analysts on Tuesday, Foley acknowledged that the company expanded its operations too quickly and overinvested in certain areas of the business.

We own it. I own it, and we are holding ourselves accountable, said Foley, noting he will be working closely with the new CEO. That starts today.

Peloton has had to address previous missteps. In May, it halted production of its Tread+ treadmills, after recalling about 125,000 of them less than a month after denying they were dangerous. One was linked to the death of a child, while others were linked to 29 injuries. Last August, the company cut the price of its main stationary bike  the product that was the cornerstone of its original popularity  by $400 because of slower revenue growth.

Peloton also found itself entangled in a marketing debacle in December. Its stationary bike was used in the first episode of Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That, but not in a flattering way. One of the characters, Mr. Big, dropped dead after a ride on a Peloton. The company reportedly knew about the product placement but not the plot line, leaving it scrambling to respond to the negative attention.

And last week, there were reports that Amazon or Nike might buy the company. Those that pushed for the sale of Peloton continued to do so this week, with activist investor Blackwells Capital asking again for the company to be sold despite the change in leadership.

Wall Street analysts were divided over whether the latest moves set up Peloton for a sale or position it to remain independent.

I think the moves, as a whole, do not signify that Peloton is throwing in the towel. I believe this means they are going to slim down, refocus, and stay independent, said Raj Shah, North America lead for tech, media, and telecom at digital consulting firm Publicis Sapient.

Others maintain the change-up means a sale is more likely to occur: We believe Foley leaving makes it more likely that Peloton ultimately sells the company and the board clearly has major decisions to make in the days/weeks/months ahead, wrote Wedbush analysts Daniel Ives and John Katsingris.

Also on Tuesday, Peloton announced that it was cutting 2,800 jobs, including approximately 20% of corporate jobs at the New York City company. The instructors who lead interactive classes for Peloton will not be included in cuts, nor will the content that the company relies on to lure users.

Peloton said its winding down the development of its Peloton Output Park factory in Ohio. It will also reduce its owned and operated warehousing and delivery locations and will instead ramp up its third-party relationships.

Peloton is looking to reduce its planned capital expenditures for this year by about $150 million. The restructuring program is expected to result in approximately $130 million in cash charges related to severance and other exit and restructuring activities and $80 million in non-cash charges. The majority of the charges will be recorded in fiscal 2022.

The company also slashed its full-year sales outlook and now expects a range of $3.7 billion to $3.8 billion. Thats down from a prior range of $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion, which it announced last November. It originally had expected $5.4 billion.

Peloton anticipates it will finish the year with roughly 3 million connected fitness subscribers, compared with previous estimates of 3.35 million to 3.45 million.

Peloton reported a net loss of $439.4 million, or $1.39 per share for its fiscal second quarter, which ended Dec. 31,2021, compared with net income of $63.6 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. Total revenue increased more than 6% to $1.13 billion. Analysts had expected a loss of $1.24 per share on sales of $1.14 billion, according to FactSet.

The company anticipates at least $800 million in annual cost savings once its actions are fully implemented.

___

Associated Press Staff Writer John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
NEW DELHI  When the students were barred last month from entering their classrooms and told not to wear hijab, a headscarf used by Muslim women, they began camping outside the all-girls high school.

The story cascaded across the internet, drawing news crews to the front of the government-run school in Udupi district, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Battle lines were swiftly drawn. The students began protesting outside the school gate and sat huddled in a group, reading their lessons. The school staff, which said the students were defying uniform rules, remained unmoved.

A month on, more schools have begun implementing a similar ban on hijabs, forcing the states top court to step in. It will hear petitions filed by the protesting students on Tuesday and rule on whether to overturn the ban.

But the uneasy standoff has raised fears among the states Muslim students who say they are being deprived of their religious rights. On Monday, hundreds of them, including their parents, took to the streets against the restrictions, demanding that students should be allowed to attend classes even if they are wearing hijab.

What we are witnessing is a form of religious apartheid. The decree is discriminatory and it disproportionately affects Muslim women, said A. H. Almas, an 18-year-old student who has been part of the weeks-long protests.

So far several meetings between the staff, government representatives and the protesting students have failed to resolve the issue. The states education minister, B. C. Nagesh, has also refused to lift the ban. He told reporters Sunday that those unwilling to follow uniform dress code can explore other options.

For many Muslim women, the hijab is part of their Islamic faith. It has for decades been a source of controversy in some western countries, particularly in France, which in 2004 banned it from being worn in public schools. But in India, where Muslims make up almost 14% of the countrys near 1.4 billion people, it is neither banned nor is its use restricted in public places.

In fact, women wearing hijab are a common sight in India, and for many of them, it symbolizes religious identity and is a matter of personal choice.

Because the debate involves alleged bias over a religious item worn to cover hair and maintain modesty, some rights activists have voiced concerns that the decree risks raising Islamophobia. Violence and hate speech against Muslims have increased under Prime Minister Narendra Modis ruling Hindu nationalist party, which also governs the Karnataka state.

Singling out hijab for criticism is unfair and discriminatory. Those opposing it are on record decrying secularism and for openly espousing majoritarianism, said Zakia Soman, founder of a Muslim womens group, the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan.

Others contend it underscores the potential isolation and marginalization of Muslims who feel Modi and his Hindu nationalist party are slowly isolating them, compounding an already growing unease felt by the minority community, in a multicultural country that has guarantees of religious freedom enshrined in its constitution.

What we are seeing is an attempt to invisibilize Muslim women and push them out of public spaces, said Afreen Fatima, a New Delhi-based student activist. She said the ban is the culmination of a growing climate of hate against Muslims which has now manifested itself in the physical realm.

The protests have drawn public condemnation, with the hashtag #HijabIsOurRight circulating widely on social media, but also led to a rather unexpected pushback.

For the last week, some Hindu students in the state have started wearing Saffron-coloured shawls, a symbol of Hindu nationalist groups. They have also chanted praises to Hindu gods, while protesting against the Muslim girls choice of headgear, signifying Indias growing religious faultlines and bitter tensions between the countrys Hindu majority and its large Muslim minority.

The events have prompted the state government to ban clothes it said disturb equality, integrity and public order and some high schools to declare a holiday to avoid communal trouble.

On Monday one of the schools yielded partially and allowed its Muslim students to attend class with a hijab but made them sit in separate classrooms. The move was heavily criticized, with Muslim students alleging the staff of segregating them on the basis of faith.

It is humiliating, said Almas. How long are we going to accept that citizens can be stigmatized because of their religion?
Need relief from those long painful moments of too much chile?

Forget the ice and water, food scientist David Baumler says; only one thing is scientifically proven to ease that fire.

Nothing plant based, it has to be real milk from a cow, real dairy, said Baumler, a former academic who is now CEO and president of Minnesota-based Seed To Gut Cannabis & Food Consulting. Baumler was one of 19 presenters at the 39th annual New Mexico Chile Conference held last week in Las Cruces.

Its all about the casein, a protein found in milk, and the capsaicin, the heat element in chile peppers.

The receptors that we have in our mouths and throughout our GI tract  capsaicin binds to these particular receptors and thats what sends the sensation to our heads about that hot mess, he said.

The capsaicin and the casein will bind to neutralize the burn.

So casein also binds to those same receptors at a higher affinity. So imagine I ate a lot of really hot chile and it has covered all my receptors, he explained. I am in pain, but now if you have some dairy products, it will give you relief.

He said that milk, cheese, sour cream and yogurt will all provide relief.

A lot of people are against cows milk now. They want plant-based milks. I look in my own fridge and I see soy milk, almond milk, pea milk but I drink milk from cows. Some people just dont think cows are sustainable production for milk. But in terms of relief from chile peppers, you are only going to get that from dairy from a cow.
This is our chance to  send a very strong message to the federal government that New Mexico does not consent to this project, says state Sen. Jeff Steinborn, who is carrying a bill to strangle a temporary nuclear storage facility in Southeast New Mexico.

But who does Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, mean by New Mexico? Certainly not Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb, a fellow Democrat, who supports Holtec Internationals plans to build a $2.4 billion interim nuclear waste storage facility between Carlsbad and Hobbs.

Not Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway, who warned in a recent Journal guest column Steinborns bill would undo years of careful study and evaluation.

Not the Eddy and Lea county commissions, Carlsbad City Council or Hobbs City Commission, who formed the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance and bought a thousand acres of remote cattle grazing land for the project.

Steinborns Senate Bill 54 seeks to kill the project by holding back permits for such things as industrial wastewater. So would House Bill 127. Meanwhile, Holtec representatives say they expect the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to issue a facility license in the coming months. The state has sued the NRC saying it is rushing the project.

A Blue Ribbon Commission under President Barack Obama released a report a decade ago saying the nation had an urgent need to construct a consolidated geological repository for nuclear waste after funding for the $15 billion Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository dried up in the face of political opposition. Similar opposition to Holtec also isnt grounded in science but in politics that fail to see the bridge nuclear power offers to clean energy, the expertise in communities like Southeast New Mexicos and the public safety need for both projects.

Currently, there is nowhere to transfer more than 70,000 metric tons of used reactor fuel from power plants in 73 different sites across 39 states, some next to rivers or atop water tables.

Holtec opponents raise the legitimate question of how long is interim and deserve an answer. Under the site licensing, the multilayer storage canisters are certified to last 40 years, can be renewed for another 40 years and will be evaluated for aging. Overall, they are to last 200-300 years.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says the project would jeopardize the oil and gas industry and agricultural operations. But NRC scientists in charge of ensuring the safe use of radioactive materials said in a draft environmental impact statement that Holtecs impacts on land and water, industry and public health would be minimal.

As Janway points out, the regions nuclear triangle has a high level of expertise and experience supporting this industry  from the U.S. Department of Energys $19 billion Waste Isolation Pilot Plant southeast of Carlsbad to the $4 billion Urenco USA uranium enrichment plant east of Eunice to the planned spent-fuel storage facility run by Waste Control Specialists and French firm AREVA Inc. just across the Texas line. We would not have invited Holtec to southeast New Mexico if we believed otherwise, he wrote.

Its time to quit kicking this radiation canister down the road.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Instagram Celebrity

The 'Too Hot to Handle' star's social media activity arrives days after the reality TV star and Good American jeans founder showed a strong reaction to the rumors.

Feb 8, 2022

AceShowbiz - Harry Jowsey has finally reacted to romance rumors between him and Khloe Kardashian. After Khloe denied the speculations, the "Too Hot to Handle" star addresses the matter on Instagram.

On Monday, February 7, Harry took to his page to clear things about his alleged romantic relationship with Khloe. The Netflix star wrote on his bio, "In a very serious committed relationship with @netflix (not Khloe)."

Harry's social media activity arrived days after Khloe showed a strong reaction to the rumors. The former "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star responded to a Kardashian-Jenner fan account which shared an Instagram post claiming that the two have been "DM-ing back and forth."

It's also said that Harry recently "picked up a Bentley and flowers just to deliver them to her house." In the caption, the account wrote, "I'm pretty sure it's not true but what do you guys think about this?" Khoe caught wind of the post and quickly set the record straight by commenting, "ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE."

Fans applauded the Good American jeans founder over her response. "Love her shutting that down right away!! Khloe deserves an amazing man!!!" one user commented, while another wrote, "Klearing up with the Kardashians."

Some others believed that Harry's PR team was behind all of this as Harry did post a photo of a bouquet of flowers in a Bentley. "His PR company were 100% behind this. This guy pretended to be friends with Joe Exotic's boyfriend. He's thirsty for fame," a critic commented, while another chimed in, "It's the 'PR' agency trolls for me."

Harry was briefly engaged to his co-star Francesca Farago during the Netflix hit's May 2020 Zoom reunion. The following month, Francesca announced their split in a five-minute-long YouTube video.

"I flew to Vancouver to spend time with Francesca and I saw a different side of Francesca at that point in time," he explained at the time. "Long story short, I broke up with her for the first time after she came to visit me in Australia. There was a big reason why I had to end things with Francesca because I was in a very dark point in my life."
Instagram Celebrity

'Tinder Swindler', which premiered on February 2, features interviews with multiple women who claim that they are scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by Shimon Hayut.

Feb 8, 2022

AceShowbiz - The man who was investigated in Netflix's documentary "Tinder Swindler" will no longer be able to get his action on the dating app ever again. Tinder has announced that Shimon Hayut has been banned from the app.

"We have conducted internal investigations and can confirm Simon Leviev is no longer active on Tinder under any of his known aliases," Tinder said in a statement to Variety on Friday, February 4. The dating app doubled down on the ban in a statement to E! News on Monday.

"We banned Simon Leviev and any of his known aliases as soon as the story of his actions became public in 2019. He is permanently banned from Tinder," a spokesperson said. "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."

"Tinder Swindler", which premiered on February 2, featured interviews with multiple women who claimed that they were scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by Shimon. He pretended to be the son of Israeli diamond magnate Levi Leviev, the native of Bnei Brak, Israel and lured women in with luxurious first dates.

However, he would later tell his dates that he received threats from so-called enemies in the cut-throat diamond industry. Eventually, he'd say that he feared for his life before asking the women to open a credit card in their name and give it to him because he couldn't use his own card for security purposes. According to Israeli Police and Interpol, Shimon has scammed numerous women out of thousands of dollars.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated that Shimon was previously convicted of defrauding three Finnish women and served three years in prison before being released on bail and disappearing in 2017. Meanwhile, Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang went on to investigate Hayut's multiple scams with the help of Fjellhoy, who secretly recorded a conversation with the 31-year-old con man. Shimon, however, denied defrauding her and others, claiming their accusations were born out of a personal vendetta.

Ayleen Koeleman, one of Shimon's longtime girlfriends, caught wind of the report. She tipped off Interpol and Israeli police to his location, which later led to his arrest at the Athens airport on June 28, 2019.

Shimon was sentenced to 15 months in an Israeli prison after he was convicted of four counts of fraud. However, he only served five months, gaining an early release as part of efforts to decrease the prison population at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Instagram Celebrity

According to a new report, the MTV personality files for divorce from Angelina in Monmouth Country, New Jersey after two years of marriage, while she has yet to respond to the filing.

Feb 8, 2022

AceShowbiz - Things are not looking good for Angelina Pivarnick and her husband Chris Larangeira. If a new report is to be believed, the "Jersey Shore" star has filed a divorce from Angelina after two years of marriage.

Us Weekly claimed that Chris filed for divorce in Monmouth Country, New Jersey late last month. Angelina, meanwhile, has not responded as of Monday, February 7, so the filing remains active.

The latest breakup report arrives after Angelina filed for divorce back in January 2021, just 14 months after their televised wedding. The filing, however, was ultimately dismissed in July as the couple tried to work on their relationship.

Despite that, the pair constantly face breakup rumors for the past few months. They were struggling to repair their relationship amid trust issues and their "nonexistent" sex life.

"We'll fight, and then whoever starts the fight won't want to bang," Angelina shared in a June episode of MTV's "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation". "So he don't want to bang, I don't want to bang--no one wants to bang."

"I'm not the most perfect wife ever. I yell at him, I'll belittle him sometimes. I feel like we're both wrong. But see how I'm admitting it? He won't ever admit that he's wrong," she shared.

Chris also decided to move out right before the holidays. "We got into a fight and he moved in with his mother and it's been a few weeks now," she divulged. "Chris leaving and taking down his stocking, ripping up his 'Merry Christmas to my wife' card, he wanted to see that card ripped up. He wanted to see that stocking gone. Chris wanted me to see all of his clothes gone. For him to do that to me over a fight is just not fair."

In a more recent episode, a psychic told Angelina that she would leave her husband in the coming months.
Stop us if you have heard this before, but Amity is the new No. 1 team in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Baseball Poll. The Spartans claim the top spot after previous No. 1 Warde dropped a 2-1 decision to...
Instagram Celebrity

The 'WAP' hitmaker claps back at haters who leave negative comments on the images of her first child together with Offset, which she posted to her daughter's account.

Feb 8, 2022

AceShowbiz - Cardi B has been trying to update her fans on her personal life only to be left dismayed by some users' reactions. The Bronx femcee fumed after finding out that people have been leaving mean comments on the images she posted to her daughter Kulture's Instagram page.

Being a proud mom, the Grammy Award-winning artist set up an account dedicated to her firstborn, whom she shares with her husband Offset. However, after not checking it out for quite some time, she was alerted the negative comments after a Twitter user posted about them.

After reading the hateful remarks, Cardi has decided to set Kulture's Instagram page private. "Haven't been checking my daughter account but now I'm going to lock her page," she wrote on Monday, February 7, before blasting the naysayers, "I don't know wtf is going on but I hope y'all moms die for giving birth to you hoe a** weirdos."

Cardi also retweeted the post which alerted her to the mean comments. "This is culture comments right nowthey really have some nerve trying to play moral police on here," read the original tweet along with screenshots of some of the nasty things people said about the 3-year-old girl. Some of them said such things as "such a mistake child," "big head squid" and "Hi Kreature."

Cardi has since gained sympathy from kinder social media users. "Is she like 4, who says this to a 4 year old?" one person asked in disbelief. Another shared her/his reaction, "I'd be turning them comments off."

A third commented, "Social media isn't safe for any age honestly." Someone warned kids against using social media app, "Social media not even healthy for adults kids def don't need to be on it," while a fifth added, "Kids OFF LIMITS."

Cardi's decision to lock up her daughter's Instagram account comes amid the debate over North West's TikTok account. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have been at war with each other about whether or not their daughter should be on the video-sharing platform.

Most recently, "The Talk" co-hosts weighed in on the debate, with Jerry O'Connell siding with Kanye. He said in a Monday episode of the show, " I'm 1000% Team Ye." He explained, "You know, they are both parents to these children, and each parent has equal say whether the children should or should not be on social media. "

The actor went on arguing why North should not be allowed access to the video-sharing app, "How old is North West now? 8? So an 8-year-old has a say in what is posted and what isn't. I'm so sorry, come on now. Come on now."
EaseMyTrip, Indias second-largest online travel platform, has launched a brand-new television campaign featuring ace actors Varun Sharma and Vijay Raaz. The quirky ad campaign highlights EaseMyTrips wide hotel collection with a range of budget-friendly booking options.

This is the second advertisement launched by the company as a part of its innovative marketing campaign featuring the two celebrities, highlighting the companys unique features and customer-centric initiatives. The launch of this new TVC comes at a time when the company is increasing its focus on its non-air businesses, specifically the hotel segment.

With the revenge travel sentiment at an all-time high, the TVC highlights how EaseMyTrip offers a wide range of budget-friendly hotels for the customers who are all set to get back to travel. Through this campaign, EaseMyTrip aims to target digital-savvy customers who search for the best online booking options that fit within their travel budget. The campaign is now playing across all television and digital platforms. The campaign will also be amplified through outdoor and print media presence.

The marketing campaign marks the first time that Varun Sharma and Vijay Raaz are coming together as a duo for a brand campaign. The duo has been chosen as brand ambassadors as both of them have created a strong position in the market purely basis their performances, just like EaseMyTrip. Their unique personalities and versatility fit perfectly into the brand's narrative of providing a value-driven booking experience.

Speaking on the TVC launch, Prashant Pitti, Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip said, With the pent-up travel demand set to strongly recover the travel sector in the current year, we believe that this is the right time to highlight our value-driven offerings for a rapidly growing online booking customer base. At EaseMyTrip, it is our constant endeavour to offer the best-priced booking options along with exceptional customer service, especially during such unprecedented times. As people get ready to travel once again, we are showcasing our compelling value proposition of a wide range of budget-friendly and hygiene-focused hotel options that cater to the evolved preferences of customers. Through this unique marketing campaign, we wish to highlight our innovative value-based offerings and customer-centric features in the hotel segment, and drive online hotel penetration, which is a key focus area for the company.

EaseMyTrip has always believed in leveraging relevant and meaningful avenues for brand connect and this association is in-line with the same brand philosophy. The company has aggressive plans to grow its business with a slew of customer-centric initiatives including the zero-convenience fee, full refund on medical grounds, train waitlisted feature which offers discounted airfares to users with unconfirmed train tickets and many more.
Pandas are cute, arent they? But not if one starts to look like them. To empower and embrace a more inclusive vision of beauty that celebrates healthy skin, FixDerma, a cosmeceutic brand providing skincare solutions powered by science and recommended by the best dermatologists of India has roped in veteran actor Boman Irani for its latest campaign #ByeByeDarkPatches. With this, Fixderma intends to emphasize that dark patches of skin shouldnt be considered as a symbol of embarrassment, rather one should opt for ways to cure the skin.

Challenging cultural stereotypes of hiding their real skin, the two episodic video series features actor Boman Irani as Panda bringing the solution to dark patches, thereby, introducing Fixdermas latest launch Nigrifix Cream, first of its kind formulation to repair the patchy skin. The film showcases a teenage girl and a married couple who have dark knees, spots on the neck, and joints concerned for their skin appearance. And suddenly Boman appears on screen wearing a Panda costume highlighting how these black patches appeal good on pandas and not on humans. Further, the campaign aims to normalize the discomfiture of darkening and thickening of the skin at certain body parts like knuckles, knees, elbows, neck, nape, underarms, groin areas, and even back, medically known as Acanthosis Nigricans.

Shaily Mehrotra, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Fixderma said, Acanthosis Nigricans is a very common skin problem and difficult to treat if it gets older. Most of the time the condition is misunderstood as dirt or as not following good hygiene due to lack of awareness and remedies are taken accordingly. With the launch of our campaign #ByeByeDarkPatches, we want to introduce consumers to Nigrifix Cream uniquely formulated to treat hyperpigmentation associated with symptoms of Acanthosis Nigricans. We wanted to weave a narrative that finds its way to the core message through a relatable analogy wrapped in humour and couldnt think of anyone better than Boman Irani for the role. Our intent is to trigger meaningful conversations around healthy skin and how it makes you feel better as an individual too.

Sharing comments on the films, Boman Irani said, I always believe in healthy skin across race and gender. I am really delighted to associate with Fixderma in spreading awareness of the dark patches of skin also medically known as Acanthosis Nigrican. And lead them to Nigrifix which is the ideal and dermatologist approved solution. And to add to my excitement, I am the cute Panda!

The latest product launch by the brand promises improved skin condition within a weeks time by applying twice a day. The campaign will be promoted across the brands social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.

The Films have been executed and conceptualized by the production house, Passion Films by Ricky Singh Bedi
ITC Ltd.s Fabelle Exquisite Chocolates, the pioneers of luxury chocolate experiences in the country, made its debut in Metaverse over this weekend. Fabelle was an integral part of two weddings hosted on the Yug Metaverse and the TardiVerse (metaverse wedding partner - CoinSwitch Kuber) platforms. With this, Fabelle becomes Indias first luxury chocolate brand to be present within Metaverse Weddings. Fabelle made its mark by being an integral part of these weddings and wishes the newly wed a happy married life together.

Metaverse wedding is a nuptial held in the virtual world. For the 1st time, India witnessed a couple hosting its wedding ceremony in the Metaverse where the avatars of the bride and the groom took their vows in a virtual setting. The couple entered the virtual venue where they interacted with guests attending the wedding ceremony from across the world. In the first-of-its-kind wedding event in the country, the groom gifted the bride a metaverse version of Fabelle Trinity Truffles Extraordinaire, one of the most expensive chocolates in the world, making the occasion even more memorable. The brand further integrated a metaverse version of the Fabelle Chocolates cart, where guests could choose from an array of luxurious chocolates that would be delivered to their doorstep for a delightful experience even after the wedding.

The couples residing in Bhopal and Krishnagiri revolutionised the wedding industry by taking their vows in the Metaverse over the weekend. While the setting for one wedding was that of an island, the couple from Tamil Nadu hosted the wedding in a metaverse version of a vintage castle. The elements of brand integration were conceptualised and deployed in association with Wavemaker India, agency partner of ITC.

With the new normal setting in, platforms like Metaverse are bringing people closer than ever before. The future of weddings certainly entails conducting one leg of a ceremony in the virtual world. Fabelle being one of the countrys top luxury chocolate brands and known for delivering unparalleled indulgent experiences seamlessly fits as the perfect partner for these virtual events.

Expressing his delight, Mr. Anuj Rustagi - Chief Operating Officer - Chocolates, Confectionary, Coffee and New Categories - Food Division, ITC Limited said Fabelle was established with the endeavour of creating distinguished, innovative and indulgent chocolate experiences for our consumers. We are now extending this experience to the augmented virtual world as well. Metaverse is sure to elevate the bar of virtual gathering and meetings in next few years, and we were one of the first off the block to transition to this platform. We are delighted to make our debut into the metaverse universe, and stand by our promise of delivering unparalleled experiences. We extend our best wishes to the newly-wed couples and are elated that we have been able to make their once-in-a-lifetime events even more memorable.

Since its launch in 2016, Fabelle has been the trailblazer of innovation in chocolate-making. Renowned for its revolutionary launches each year, Fabelle keeps luxury at the forefront and has the most decadent chocolate collections that are unique and indulgent. Their creations over the years have enabled Fabelle to put India on the global chocolate map. Fabelle chocolate boutiques have presence at ITC Luxury Hotels in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad and multiple other online platforms such as ITCStore, Amazon, Swiggy & Zomato amongst others.
The Kerala High Court has upheld the Ministry of Information and Broadcast (MIB) order revoking the license granted to Malayalam news channel MediaOne, citing security reasons. Dismissing the writ petition filed by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd challenging the MIB decision, Justice Nagaresh has said that this court is not inclined to interfere with the denial of renewal of the petitioner's license. The writ petition fails and is accordingly dismissed."

"Going through the files, I find that the Ministry has called for intelligence inputs. Based on the intelligence inputs, the committee of officers has found that security clearance should not be given. The ministry has decided to accept the finding of the Committee of Officers. There are inputs justifying the denial of security clearance. Therefore, I am dismissing the writ petition, said the Justice.

The court said that the broadcasters reliance on Supreme Courts verdict on Pegasus was not worthwhile as it was given in the context of right to privacy. According to the court, the SC verdict in the 2019 case Digicable (Network) India Pvt Ltd v Union of India which held that there is no right to a prior hearing when clearance is denied on grounds of national security was more pertinent in deciding this case.

The court had requested the files from the home ministry for denying the channel the permission to broadcast citing security reasons.

The channel had filed the writ hours after the MIB revoked its license for want of security clearance. The court immediately provided an interim relief of two days, which was further extended twice. The channel contended that it had not been involved in any anti-national activities and requested the withdrawal of the ministrys order.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with India Today Group Chairperson Aroon Purie at India Today and Business Todays Budget Roundtable 2022 today unveiled Business Todays 30th Anniversary Special Edition. On the completion of 30 years of the magazine, Business Todays anniversary issue has brought out two volumes which culminate in the bumper issue that encapsulates 15 critical areas that will define our future as a nation.

The magazine, publishing since 1992, has been witness to the economic growth of post-liberalization India, meticulously chronicling, and analyzing every big business event that has shaped our economy. India Todays Budget Roundtable also witnessed participation of stalwarts from the industry and the policymakers who were the brain behind the Union Budget 2022.

The 30th Anniversary issue reiterates the power of the Business Today Multiverse, in which the magazine stands firmly and proudly at the center, with a robust and powerful television and digital ecosystem revolving around it. The Digital and social footprints of Business Today have been scaling new heights and setting new benchmarks. The recent budget coverage was a testament to same; On the Budget Day, Business Today website (businesstoday.in) was ahead of CBBC TV18 (cnbctv18.com) in Desktop Organic search traffic, as per SEMRUSH. Also, the power of two megabrands, Business Today and India Today Television helped the live stream of India Today TV beat that of CNBC TV 18 on YouTube by far in terms of average concurrent users during budget speech (1st Feb, 2022, 11:00-12:35 hrs.).

One of the biggest editions ever of the magazine, the30th Anniversary issue has an impressive seven covers, 162 pages of editorial content, and 75 pages of advertisements from across categories like BFSI, IT, Luxury, Education, & real estate among others, which include several innovations. On the circulation front, Business Todays distribution reach has extended to new-age platforms such as Milkbasket, Fresh to Home, Amazon, Flipkart, and non-conventional outlets for magazine sales such as Spencers Retail, Patanjali Mega Mart, milk booths, grocery stores, and super markets. This has not only enabled the magazine sales to revive in the post-pandemic world but also accelerated growth in circulation. As a result, Business Today has already surpassed the pre Covid numbers in terms of circulation by end of January, and with the Anniversary jump of 33 per cent, it has scaled an all-time high.
OMD, Omnicom Media Groups full-service media agency and the worlds largest media network, is marking its 15th year in India this February. Having commenced operations in Mumbai on 7 February 2007, the agency has come of age as an evolved media partner for its roster of clients - a striking mix of prestigious brands like Apple, Beiersdorf, Sony, Mercedes Benz, Renault, Wipro, Au Bank, to name a few.

OMD India has featured stalwart leaders at its helm since its inception. This anniversary also marks another dynamic leader, Anisha Iyer, taking charge of the reins of the agency as its new CEO. With her in the driving seat, the agile and talented team at OMD India has enhanced efforts in its approach to growing up timeless and delivering exemplary work in a world of constant connectivity. Under Anisha's stewardship, OMD India is expected to embark on a new direction of transformational growth - one that does not rest on past laurels but rather is guided by the belief of being future-ready and purpose-led.

Speaking on the occasion that signifies fresh dawn of matured creativity for the agency, Anisha Iyer, CEO of OMD India said, Completing 15 years in the Indian market is a fabulous milestone for OMD. I have for long admired the teams pioneering efforts and the faith vested in it by our valued stakeholders. Anniversaries are a great time to look back at accomplishments thus far and I am proud to be working alongside a team who are a reflection of some of the industrys finest talent. At its core, we believe in a fair balance of being people and result-oriented, driven by our DNA of empathy and innovation. And I am confident that we will metamorphose into an agency with not just consistent business growth, laced with digital expertise, but also build on OMD's current momentum to champion a culture of pride. I congratulate all my peers on this milestone. Heres to many more, together!

It is a remarkable moment for us as OMD India celebrates this milestone. The agency is a leader in benchmarking deep data-driven solutions and we are proud of the brand of integrated capabilities, adaptability and knowledge it has been bringing to the ecosystem over the past 15 years, thanks to an exceptional team and leadership. As we laud this moment, OMD India is gearing up to create the next wave of transformative experiences for both our clients and our people, and we are excited about building for the future, said Kartik Sharma, Group CEO, Omnicom Media Group India.

Today, OMD India is a 132-member strong organization of Empathy Architects and has bagged 32 awards over the last few years for notable clients like Renault, Nissan, Tata, Levis, Sony to name a few. With a combination of innovation, creativity and technological prowess; underpinned by empathy at its core, it has garnered a reputation over the years for creating sharper insights, smarter ideas and making better decisions, faster on behalf of clients. With this new milestone, it promises more empathy-led attention planning to help create valued connections with customers, build profitable business outcomes and ultimately, win the future.
Starting 2022, Pepe Jeans London, the countrys foremost denim retailer has promoted Manish Kapoor as Managing Director in continuation of his current role of Chief Executive Officer, India. India is one of the most crucial markets for Pepe Jeans. In his new role Manish Kapoor will be instrumental in growing the existing businesses aligned with the broader global strategy.

I am delighted to lead Pepe Jeans India into the next phase of growth and continue on the digital and consumer focused transformation journey that we started 18 months ago said Manish Kapoor, MD & CEO, Pepe Jeans India.

Under Kapoors leadership Pepe Jeans India has strengthened the Balance Sheet position by strategic reduction of inventory & debtors along with substantial reduction of debt. His effective leadership has enabled the company to successfully generate free operating cash during this difficult period. Even amidst a challenging retail environment in the last 18 months, Pepe Jeans opened more than 25 new stores in key markets across India. E-com contribution for the brand accelerated from 8% in 2019 to 28% this fiscal year, reflecting the benefit of leveraging omni channel initiatives. The brand also launched its own website in September 21  PEPEJEANS.IN in a record 100 days from testing to go live for consumers.

Kapoor joined Pepe Jeans India in 2014 and was promoted to the role of Sales Director within a span of two years. Owing to his strategic contribution towards the growth of the brand in the Indian market, in April 2019, he was elevated to Chief Business Officer; and subsequently appointed as Chief Executive Officer in September 2019.

During his time with Pepe Jeans India, Manish Kapoor has led the brand to win numerous industry accolades and helped the company earn recognition for its consumer focused business strategy. Pepe Jeans was the recipient of the Images Retail Most Admired Retailer: Retail Re-imagined 2021 for its ground-breaking & innovative campaign Pepe HD (Home Delivery) for having converted Pepe stores in to fulfilment centers to cater to its customers and offer same day delivery in the absence of a website. Kapoor has often been awarded for his exemplary leadership and business know-how. In 2021 he was recognized as The Economic Times Inspiring CEO for his efforts in helping steer Pepe Jeans to great heights even during unprecedented times of the Covid 19 aftermath. In the same year Kapoor was also acknowledged for his efforts towards sustaining a high-trust high-performance culture by Great Place to Work  Indias best Leaders in Times of Crisis 2021.

Manish Kapoor is a strategist & implementer with demonstrated abilities in accomplishing business growth on a consistent basis. He has previously held key leadership roles in brands such as French Connection, Sisley, Benetton India, Pantaloons and Madura Garments to name a few.

Kapoor acquired a B-Tech degree from the Technological Institute of Textiles and Science in 2000 and further continued to pursue a diploma degree in Apparel Marketing and Merchandising Management from NIFT in 2002. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Academic Excellence at NIFT and was an All India topper in his PGDAMMM course across all NIFT centers.
Quint Digital Media Ltd, Indias leading multibrand digital media and mediatech conglomerate, being the only new-age digital media and technology player listed on an Indian stock exchange, has published its results for the nine months ended December 31, 2021. The company has also completed the acquisition of identified stakes in the digital media and media-tech operations of Quintillion Business, Quintype Technologies, Spunklane Media and YKA Media.

The Quint witnessed a robust Q3 FY22, with operating revenues at Rs 9.25 crore and EBDITA of Rs 3.78 crore. Operating revenues for nine months ending December 31, 2021 stood at Rs 25 crore+, registering a YOY growth of 70%+. During the same period, the EBITDA also witnessed a significant improvement to Rs 10.5 crore+ from a loss.

Speaking on the financial results and completion of the acquisition, Ritu Kapur, Co-Promoter & Chief Executive Officer, Quint Digital, said, With the acquisition of stakes in QBM, SMP, and YKA, Quint Digital is diversifying across demographics and geographies, bringing a larger community of readers and viewers into our fold. QBMs acquisition has added the most valuable learnings in running a successful premium subscription platform as the world gets ready for a rapid growth of reader revenues. The expansion of audiences across various websites and new-age social media platforms, makes us way and away the largest pure play digital news and information group in the country. We have close to doubled our group revenue base, giving us size and clout in the digital media space.

Additionally, Quintype brings us cutting edge capabilities in media-tech, which is a critical strength given the current focus on digital innovation, Kapur further said.

Overall financial performance:

INR in 000

Particulars Q3  December 31, 2021 Q3  December 31, 2020 Nine months ended December 31, 2021 Nine months ended December 31, 2020 Revenue from Operations 92,543 62,271 252,465 145,716 Other Income 2,534 3,679 11,719 6,942 Total Income 95,077 65,950 264,184 152,657 Employee benefit expenses 23,565 24,320 69,572 82,420 Finance cost 2,501 2,329 7,720 6,661 Depreciation and amortization expense 19,739 6,276 52,362 14,715 Other expenses 28,754 21,036 83,265 65,277 Total Expenses 74,560 53,961 212,919 169,073 Exceptional Items 5,000 - 5,000 5,736 Profit before tax 15,517 11,989 46,266 (22,152) Tax expenses 4,430 10,177 11,970 913 Profit after tax 11,086 1,812 34,296 (23,065)

Highlights of the audience engagement:

The audience footprint across the websites and digital platforms- including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat etc.- continued its strong momentum in the quarter. Some of the key data points, aggregated across the websites and digital platforms, are given below:

Description/ Period 9 months ending Quarter 3 Quarter 2 Quarter 1 December 31, 2021 FY2021-22 Page Views 418.4 Mn 220.8 Mn 104.2 Mn 93.4 Mn Video Views 849.5 Mn 290 Mn 298.4 Mn 261.1 Mn Unique Viewers 885 Mn 280.3 Mn 313.5 Mn 291.5 Mn Impressions 9.83 Bn 3.30 Bn 3.01 Bn 3.52 Bn

Source: based on data provided by platforms/ other agencies

The digital properties had nearly 16.43 Mn subscribers/followers across various platforms at the end of Q3.

In the video space, as per Facebook Leader-Board, The Quint is the only new-age digital media portal that is rubbing shoulders with traditional and legacy media players. The Quint, including Quint Hindi and Quint Fit, has 7.8 Mn followers on Facebook, which is much ahead of a host of traditional media players and digital media players. The leadership of The Quint is even demonstrated by the number of followers (1.3 Mn) it has on the Instagram Leader-Board.

Additionally, on Facebook, The Quint stands at the 8thposition for interactions and 5th position for video views, ahead of the legacy Indian media players like NDTV, TOI & Indian Express. Similarly, on Instagram, The Quint ranked at the 7thposition for video viewsahead of HT, Times Now, India Times & The Wire.

The brand and quality of journalism of The Quint is demonstrated by the fact that The Quint's Tridip K Mandal won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award for his documentary, 'Diaries From the Detention Camps of Assam'. In addition, other key awards won by The Quint in Q3 include RedInk 2021 Award in Human Rights (TV) Category, WAN-IFRAs South Asian Digital Media Awards 2021 - Gold for Best Use of Online Video, which was awarded for Divya Talwars Life in an Auto: The Inspiring Story of 74-year-old Sole Breadwinner, Desraj Jyot Singh and Silver for Best News Website (or) Mobile Service.

Completion of acquisition of the digital media and media-tech operations:

QDML has duly completed (on January 19, 2022) the acquisition of identified stakes in the digital media and media-techoperations of Quintillion Business Media Private Limited, Quintype Technologies India Private Limited, Spunklane Media Private Limited and YKA Media Private Limited.

Post the completion of the acquisition, QDML owns:

100% stake in Quintillion Business Media Private Limited (www.bloombergquint.com)

50.41% stake in Quintype Technologies India Private Limited (www.quintype.com)

47.92% stake in Spunklane Media Private Limited (www.thenewsminute.com)

34.6% stake in YKA Media Private Limited (www.youthkiawaaz.com)

The acquisition was completed on January 19, 2022; hence, the financial results for the current quarter do not factor in the results from these operations.

Fund raise to facilitate future growth of the company

The Board of Directors approved raising of fresh capital of an amount not exceeding Rs 125 crore by way of a rights issue. The proposed capital raise will go a long way in providing the necessary growth capital to the company and further help to consolidate its leadership position among the new-age digital media and media-tech companies.

The objective of the proposed rights issue is to, inter alia, meet the Companys growth plans, including but not limited to undertaking strategic initiatives, general corporate purposes and/or such other use of proceeds as may be permitted under the applicable laws.

The Board also formed the Rights Issue Committee to decide the terms and conditions of the rights issue including the use of Issue proceeds, rights entitlement ratio, the issue price, record date, timing of the Issue and other related matters.
A 16-year-old student was shot near New Britain High School Tuesday, the police chief said.

The teen was able to communicate and move around after being wounded, Chief Christopher Chute said. The student was taken to the hospital.

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He had non-life-threatening injuries, Chute said during a news conference. He was conscious; he was walking, he was talking.

The shots were fired from an early 2000s light blue or light gray Nissan Altima, he said, and police are looking for the car.

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All of our officers are working on this diligently, Chute said. He said there will be a stepped-up police presence at the school.

According to Chute, the shooting happened at 70 Mill St.  right near the high school at 110 Mill St.  shortly before 11:30 a.m.

The 16-year-old was walking from the intersection of Mill and South Main streets toward the high school when the Nissan pulled up alongside him. There was some kind of verbal exchange, after which at least one shot was fired from the car, the chief said. The Nissan took off, heading west on Mill Street.

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Police believe the teen knows the person who shot him, Chute said.

Officers searched the area after the shooting and declared it safe, he said.

School spokesman Matthew Cannata said the school immediately went into a lockdown to allow the police department time to investigate.

At 12:15 p.m., police asked the school to switch from a lockdown to a shelter-in-place order because they had determined that there was no threat to students or staff, he said. With a shelter-in-place order, the doors of the building generally are locked to prevent people from coming and going, but people can move more freely within the building.

All students and staff are safe, Cannata said in a message to the school community.

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If anyone sees a car matching the description of the Nissan, they are asked to call police. The main number of the New Britain Police Department is 860-826-3000.

Christine Dempsey may be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.
Thailand is the worlds third largest rice exporter with more than4.6 millions rice farmers nationwide breaking their backs daily to satisfy global consumption needs. With Thailands tremendous hot weather sometimes reaching 44.6C, toiling at the paddy field daily in extreme heat is not only tiring but also dangerous to the farmers health. Many farmers live by their lands and works 80 hours a week in this condition with no other choice. Yearly, there are 38 death cases reported of farmers dying of heat stroke alone.

Tra Mongkut, the countrys leading agricultural fertilizer partnered with Wunderman Thompson Thailand to back the health of Thai farmers with a simple but life changing solution  Shelter Signboard.

The Shelter Signboard is not just a signboard. It is custom-made and researched to reduce heat from the scorching sun by 3C - 4C. Its reflective paint reflects back direct sunlight allowing shelter for farmers whilst they work on the fields.

20,000 signboards were handed out to farmers nationwide within 1 month. Sales representatives from Tra Mongkut joined the fields to greet the farmers and provided demonstration and education on the usage of these Shelter Signboards. To share our sincerest gratitude to all these farmers feeding the nation with their sweat and tears, these signboards were printed with messages of cheers and appreciation for their hard work:

The Shelter Signboard became the most wanted premium in the farmers community. Its massive popularity spread organically offline and online and even inspired other farmers to create their own Shelter Signboard.

Even with zero media budget, this initiative gained THB10million of free PR with nationwide news coverage. It generated so much positive news that even the Thai government also joined in to support our innovation by taking this initiative nationwide and focusing more on health of farmers.

Jakkrit Charupong, Product Group Manager, Tra Mongkut, said, Thailand is one of the leading rice producers and one of the dominant food-producing countriesof the world. Thai farmers play a major role in the agricultural sector which has long been the real backbone of the country. That is why we at Tra Mongkut are committed to providing insights and solutions that will inspire and enable a better living for Thai farmers to achieve a healthierand more sustainable living in Thailands agriculture industry.

Park Wannasiri, Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman Thompson Thailand said, This is the whole new way to look at innovation. Its a new, simple solution (almost too simple!)but truly helped and embraced by real users. As a brand leader, we need to build more than just awareness but go for brand action that shows our support to the local farmer community. When we launched the campaign and consumers started to create their own version of our Signboard,we knew it then that this made right impact. Thank you to the brand and research team for knowing what their consumers really need.

As quoted from one of the farmers: Tra Mongkut gave us an incredible weapon  the Shelter Signboard became Thai farmers life hack of the year. Weve got their backs!

CREDITS

Client Credits: Tra Mongkut

Marketing Director: Preeprem Apinhasamit

Product Group Manager: Jakkrit Charupong

Brand Manager: Kamchai Sartruangsakul

Brand Manager: Napassavorn Chunnapiya

Agency Credits: Wunderman Thompson Thailand

Managing Director: Parattajariya Jalayanateja

Chief Creative Officer: Park Wannasiri

Creative Director: Chatchai Butsabakorn

Art Director: Yannapat Boonkate, Nattanan Sutdee

Copywriter: Kunat Chaengcharat

Managing Partner: Vichien Techabunyat

Group Account Director: Wasna Jirasuradej

Account Manager: Pufah Nuntavisit

Senior Strategic Planner: Wanvanissh Chorepancharoen

Strategic Planner: Siwakorn Seetaraso

Project Manager: Mira Vasukulkasemtorn
Whenever there is an important job to do, a little preparation goes a long way to a successful outcome. And for bulls with the job of breeding
The Lyons-Decatur school board is asking its patrons for $21.5 million in bonds to finance the construction of a new elementary wing. It would be built mostly south and east of the current high school building.
Kids who attended the Black Hills Stock Show had an opportunity to take part in a hands-on ag learning experience.

Members of South Dakota FFA ran the Ag Adventure Zone in partnership with Pipestone and sponsored by South Dakota Farm Bureau.

Were pretty thankful that they do that so we can come out here and be out here all week because its a big show and its fun, said Dani Herring, assistant state supervisor of agricultural education.

This was the second year South Dakota FFA ran the booth.

The Sutton family approached the organization last year about setting up an interactive, educational booth similar to the Ag Adventure Center that FFA has operated at the South Dakota State Fair for many years, according to Herring.

The Ag Adventure Zone mission is to showcase modern agricultural practices, communicate commitment to natural resources and demonstrate wholesome, safe food production for all ages, she said.

That mission is accomplished through engaging, interactive displays that feature the diversity of South Dakota ag industry. FFA members and state officers work the booth, interacting with kids and answering questions.

One of the most popular exhibits is the corn table. Thousands of kernels of field corn cover a table filled with toys. As children play with the toys and move the kernels around, they discover facts about the South Dakota corn industry printed on the bottom.

A lot of kids try to eat the field corn, Trinity Peterson, FFA State Sentinel, said.

You have to explain to them that this is not the kind of sweet corn that you can usually eat and that its not for them. The cows can eat it, but they cant she said.

Oversized puzzles have also been a popular attraction. Theres a pig puzzle, a pizza puzzle and a state of South Dakota, each with ag industry facts printed on the pieces.

New this year is the recipe kiosk and grocery store. Kids can scan toy food items and agricultural information about that product pops up on a screen.

Compared with the State Fair, the stock show sees more kids come through the booth with an ag background than those without, but there are still a fair amount who are unfamiliar with the industry.

Its busier on the weekends and evenings with kids from a non-ag background. During those times, Rapid City families bring their kids out to experience something different.

Its the diversity of the crowd that Peterson said she enjoys the most. Peterson and her fellow FFA members get to talk with a variety of people.

A lot of people are here for the stock show and Rodeo Rapid City, so a lot of them do have some sort of an ag background, but there are definitely some people who bring out their kids to experience it for the first time, she said.

Peterson also enjoys working the booth because she gets to interact with both kids and adults.

Its a great opportunity for us as state officers, she said.

It will also be good for her as she looks toward the future. The Willow Lake native is a freshman at South Dakota State University studying political science and ag education.

She says shes deciding between being an ag educator or an ag lobbyist.

I like being with kids and educating them about agriculture, she said but shes also considering being an advocate for the industry on a larger scale.

The Dowling family are some of the Ag Adventure Zone attendees that do have an agricultural background. Luke Dowling, along with his wife Sawyer and their for children raise Angus cattle near Fort Pierre, South Dakota.

Dowlings oldest daughter, 8-year-old Emery was busy putting together the pig puzzle, taking notes on all the information, while 6-year-old Truly and 4-year-old Raina scanned plastic produce at the grocery store. Merit, not yet 2, was a big fan of the corn table.

The family makes a trip out to the stock show every year.

Its just a good experience to bring them out here for something different to do, Dowling said. There is so much to learn out here.

Emery Dowling agreed that she loves coming to the stock show, but not so much because of the education

Theres lots of stuff to get, she said, with hats and clothes being her favorites.

Each of those are made from fibers grown by farmers, so while its not technically an ag education  close enough.

Melisa Goss, Associate Editor for the Tri-State Neighbor, is a South Dakota farm girl whose love of travel has allowed her to see ags vital impact around the world, from Americas heartland to the rice paddies of Southeast Asia and many places in between. She makes her home in Sioux Falls with her husband, daughter and miniature schnauzer. You can reach her at mgoss@lee.net.

The Tri-State Neighbor Weekly Update Get the latest agriculture news delivered to your inbox from the Tri-State Neighbor. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
It may not come as a big surprise, but Scottsdale is home to more short-term rentals than th
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Bid award on Radium Springs trail sections proves controversial

Alan Mauldin / Staff Photo: Alan Mauldin Dougherty County Commissioners Anthony Jones, left, and Victor Edwards are among the candidates who have qualified to run in the May 24 primary election. Four commission seats and three Dougherty County School Board positions are up for election this year.

ALBANY  A decision on hiring a company to build two sections of concrete trail at Radium Springs turned out not to be so simple on Monday, taking three votes and an hour of discussion to arrive at a narrow 4-3 decision.

Prior to the final vote, Dougherty County Commission members heard County Attorney Spencer Lee read from a letter addressed to Jonesboro-based C&S Construction and Consulting Inc.

The letter was in response to a letter from C&S threatening legal action after its bid was declared unsatisfactory.

The companys bid was about $14,000 less than the $985,396 bid submitted by HTS Construction Inc. of Albany, which ultimately was awarded the bid.

In the letter, attorney James H. Edge of the Albany Moore Clarke DuVall and Rodgers firm outlined reasons for the rejection of the bid.

It stated that prices in the bid for bond, grading and concrete were highly irregular, with the prices for bond and grading being significantly higher than the other four companies that tendered bids. The prices given for the concrete work were less than the actual cost of cement, not counting labor and equipment costs associated with installation.

One reference given turned out to be an individual listed as a company officer per the companys filings with the Georgia Secretary of State, and a C&S board member was a second reference listed, the letter said.

The countys phone calls to the references provided went unanswered and unreturned, the letter said. As to the construction projects provided by C&S as past project data, the county was unable to ascertain any usable information regarding C&Ss role in this project, including whether C&S had ever performed any concrete work of the type and scope required by this project.

Commissioner Clinton Johnson, who was joined by Commissioners Victor Edwards, Gloria Gaines and Anthony Jones, first against awarding the bid to HTS and in a subsequent vote that passed to deny the bid to the company, said that minority-owned firms need to be given opportunities.

As a commissioner, I had the idea we wanted to reach out to boost all the economies, he said. I think there is enough business in Dougherty County to spread around to more such businesses.

I dont want to establish a policy that we award 20 percent or this amount, but I thought we had the (heart) to award contracts to those companies. I want all department heads to make the effort to involve all businesses.

After the initial two votes resulted in the rejection of HTS, Johnson proposed awarding the bid to C&S.

That request was rejected by Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas, who responded that the agenda item was specifically for the decision on the company identified by staff as the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. He agreed to place an item to approve C&S on the agenda for the commissions next regular meeting if that was the desire of the majority.

Jones, who finally broke the impasse by switching his vote, agreed the county should reach out to include companies that may be looking to get a foot in the door for government business.

Education is the key, he said. If you look in terms of helping and educating instead of disqualifying based on the rules; lets kind of see if we can educate before we say unresponsive and disqualification.

In an interview following the meeting, Gaines said she would like to see the county review bid policies to ensure more inclusion.

We just need to look at the process, she said. The policy is not producing the results (that) would be fair and equitable. The test of any policy is whether it produces the results you desire.

In his opinion, the county dodged a bullet in that HTS would have a strong legal case had it been rejected in favor of a company whose bid had been unanimously rejected by staff and did not meet specifications, Cohilas said.

Theres no doubt in my mind that if we had gone down the course that was apparently planned, the county would have paid for the trail twice: the bid cost plus the company that should have got the bid (that) they won legitimately, he said during an interview after the meeting. The rules are in place to make sure no preferential treatment can be given to anyone.

Im glad the County Commission got it right and a near-certain financial disaster was averted. I also think its important we follow the rules in place.
Police have arrested the man they say burst into a Newington motel room Monday and attacked two occupants  stabbing one more than a dozen times.

Roberth Rodriguez, 36, of 354 Berlin Turnpike was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, home invasion and unlawful restraint, police said Tuesday.

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Newington officers arrested Rodriguez Monday night in Plainville with help from local police after obtaining a warrant for his arrest, police said.

Both victims have been released from the hospital, Sgt. Ryan Deane said. Police learned that the male victim had been stabbed or slashed 13 times. Some of the wounds were superficial.

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Rodriguez was in custody Tuesday morning on $550,000 court-set bail and was scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court in New Britain later in the day.

According to police, Rodriguez forced his way into a room at the Hi-View Motel, 2273 Berlin Turnpike, about 3 a.m. Monday and confronted a man and woman inside. He threw something at the woman and the object hit her, giving her a head injury.

[ Search on for intruder who hit woman in head, stabbed man at Newington motel, police say ]

Police said he then stabbed the man repeatedly before leaving the room and running away. A police dog track was not successful.

Rodriguez is known to the victims, said police, who described it as a case of domestic violence.

Christine Dempsey may be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.
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Perhaps the most important long-term fallout of the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic has been the exposure of the venality and politicization within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as other federal health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Nothing personifies this corruption more than the FDAs absurdly close ties to the pharmaceutical companies. Thus, their refusal to recognize proven inexpensive therapeutics and their unorthodox approach in licensing certain Pfizer and Moderna mRNA Covid-19 -- vaccines that are not offered for sale in the United States.

What was the FDAs and the pharmaceutical companies endgame in this process? Was it to gaslight the American people in order to sell vaccines and achieve mass vaccinations? Was their motive to protect the pharmaceutical companies from exposure to liability and a tsunami of litigation? Was it so the FDA could more easily approve these vaccines for children who are not at risk of Covid-19? Or all the above?

In August of 2021, the FDA, to great media fanfare, granted permanent approval for a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. The catch: it was for a vaccine that was not available to Americans. What the FDA approved and licensed is Pfizers Comirnaty vaccine, not the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that has been continuously in use under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) since December of 2020. Manufacturers of medicines sold under an EUA are immunized from legal liability.

The FDA decreed that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should remain unlicensed and under the EUA but can be used interchangeably with the licensed Comirnaty vaccine. More importantly, the FDA stated that the Comirnaty vaccine and the existing vaccine are legally distinct and that there are slight differences in the vaccines, though their differences do not impact safety or effectiveness.

Moreover, the FDA acknowledged that there was no inventory of the Comirnaty vaccine available. Nearly six months later there is still no inventory available and will not be in the foreseeable future. Every vaccination with a Pfizer covid vaccine has been and continues to be with the one under the EUA.

Not to leave Moderna out in the cold, the FDA on January 31, 2022, granted permanent approval for a Moderna mRNA covid-19 vaccine. But not the one in continual use since December of 2020 under the authorization of an EUA. This approval was for Modernas Spikevax Covid-19 vaccine.

Not surprisingly, the FDA in its approval letter to Moderna also stated that the vaccine under the EUA can be used interchangeably with the licensed Spikevax vaccine and that Spikevax and Modernas EUA approved vaccine are legally distinct but their differences do not impact safety or effectiveness.

Similar to Pfizers Comirnaty vaccine, the FDA acknowledged there are no stocks of Spikevax available nor will there be for an indefinite period of time. It would be safe to assume, as may be the case of the Comirnaty vaccine, that there may never be an inventory of the Spikevax vaccine available.

EUA products are considered experimental under U.S. law. Federal regulations provide that no one can force a person to participate in being jabbed with an experimental vaccine-- 21 U.S. Code Sec.360bbb-3(e)(1)(A) Authorization For Medical Products For Use In Emergencies. Potential recipients have an absolute right to refuse EUA vaccines nor can they be denied a job or an education because they refuse to be vaccinated. However, U.S. law permits employers, schools, and government agencies to require employees and students to take licensed vaccines.

What better way to coerce the populace into acquiescing to mandates and societal pressure than to play the shell game of obfuscating the licensing of the covid vaccines? The vast bulk of Americans would assume the approval was for the vaccines in current use. And what better way for both Pfizer and Moderna to reduce the massive inventories of their respective EUA approved vaccines than to have government and employers mandate vaccines together with never-ending covid fear-mongering?

There is no FDA licensed and approved Covid-19 vaccine available in the United States today, thus any vaccine mandate is technically illegal.

There is a huge real-world difference between products approved under an EUA as compared to those the FDA has fully licensed. EUA-approved vaccines have an extraordinary liability shield under the 2005 Public Readiness and Preparedness (PREP) Act. Vaccine manufacturers, distributors, and government bureaucrats are immune from liability.

On the other hand, any vaccine manufacturers whose vaccines have been licensed and permanently approved by the FDA for use by those above the age of 12 do not have this liability shield. On the surface, Comirnaty and Spikevax vaccines would, therefore, have no such liability shield. However, the drug manufacturers and the government claim that because of the use of the PREP Act for the original vaccines and as Comirnaty and Spikevax are essentially identical, they have the same legal protections as the EUA vaccines.

If thats the case, why not just license and approve the original EUA vaccines? Why go to all the trouble of submitting another vaccine application for a slightly altered version, particularly as the pharmaceutical companies are now arguing that the vaccines are essentially the same? Why did the FDA go out of its way to highlight legally distinct in their approval letters and why are there two distinct products for each company and the fully authorized one not available now or in the future?

I suspect that there has always been a concern that a class action lawsuit could pierce the PREP Act argument and open a pandoras box of massive litigation if the vaccines labeled Comirnaty and Spikevax were used. Perhaps that is why these two vaccines will remain unavailable until they are approved for use by children.

Pfizer and Moderna together with the FDA continue to seek a more permanent solution to the liability question as at some point they will no longer be able to rely on legal hairsplitting and will have to use the Comirnaty and Spikevax labeled products. The potential solution: The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA).

This law, passed in 1986, provides a legal liability shield to drug manufacturers if they secure full FDA approval for all age groups. According to Steve Kirsch, Pfizer is clandestinely working with the FDA and altering the ingredients (which normally requires a new and separate filing and licensing process) to clear the path for approval.

When Comirnaty and Spikevax are approved for children, then the companies will have definitive government-sponsored liability protection if and when their shaky argument that the original EUA approvals extend to these two products is rendered moot. Pfizer and Moderna are apparently waiting for full authorization for childrens shots before they distribute Comirnaty and Spikevax to the masses.

Children, who have near-zero risk from Covid but are experiencing alarming side effects from the vaccines, be damned. Apparently, the bureaucrats are so malevolent, and the pharmaceutical companies so focused on the bottom line that they would essentially sacrifice children in order to protect themselves and promote ineffective and potentially dangerous vaccines.

How ineffective? Israel, despite 90+% of its population fully vaccinated and nearly 70% having received either the third or fourth booster shot, has just set a record for Covid-19 cases and deaths.

How potentially dangerous? As the information from the CDC and other federal health agencies can no longer be believed, the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database is the most reliable data available.

Based on information from Department of Defense whistleblowers (3 doctors), Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin recently penned a letter to the Department of Defense to confirm the data related to the Covid-19 vaccines that American servicemen and women have been illegally mandated0 to take. Among the data from 2021 as compared to the five-year period 2016-2020:

Neurological issues increased tenfold, from 82,000 in 2016-2020 to 863,000 in 2021. Hypertension-- 2,181% increase Multiple sclerosis-- 680% increase Malignant neoplasms of the esophagus-- 894% increase Guillain-Barre syndrome-- 551% increase Breast Cancer-- 487% increase Pulmonary embolism-- 468% increase

The registered diagnoses of myocarditis, among the most common and most serious side effects of the vaccines, had been deliberately deleted from the database. A military spokesman implausibly claimed that 5 years of DOD medical surveillance system was mysteriously plagued by a giant glitch. However, these data points also reflect the experience of other countries.

It is little wonder that both the pharmaceutical companies and the government bureaucracies are focused on liability and not the efficacy or the hazards associated with these vaccines. They are caught up in a web of deception, venality, and potential legal exposure, therefore they can never admit to their mistakes. Thus, they continue to promote mass vaccinations and by necessity denigrate therapeutics such as Ivermectin.

The FDA and CDC as presently constituted must be abolished and reconstituted as they are joined at the hip with the pharmaceutical industry. Massive class action lawsuits must be filed against the pharmaceutical companies and the government for their collusion in deliberately deceiving the people and promoting ineffective and dangerous drugs. This process must begin with a Republican-controlled Congress in 2023.
Chinese, Sri Lankan FMs exchange congratulations on 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties

Xinhua) 09:27, February 08, 2022

BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris on Monday exchanged congratulatory messages on the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic relations.

Wang said in his message that China and Sri Lanka have always shown each other mutual understanding and support, setting a good example of friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries of different sizes. The two countries have worked together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the spirit of mutual assistance since its outbreak, enhancing their traditional friendship. The two countries are now seeking further alignment of their development strategies and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, so as to inject impetus to the post-pandemic economic recovery.

Wang said he paid a successful visit to Sri Lanka recently and jointly launched celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact. Both sides agreed to carry forward the tradition of solidarity and mutual assistance, deepen China-Sri Lanka practical cooperation and expand shared interests of the two countries.

Wang said he is ready to work with Peiris to maintain close communication and coordination, and move forward the strategic cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual assistance and enduring friendship.

In his message, Peiris mentioned that the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and China coincides with the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact.

Over the years, he said, the enduring friendship and cooperation between Sri Lanka and China have flourished, bringing common benefits to their partnership in various fields, and the close exchanges between the leaders of the two countries have witnessed the enduring development of bilateral relations.

Despite difficulties brought by the pandemic, Wang visited Sri Lanka during his first overseas trip in 2022, which fully demonstrates the priority both sides give to Sri Lanka-China relations, Peiris said.

Peiris said he believes that Sri Lanka and China will continue to strengthen cooperation in economy, poverty reduction, international and regional issues, people-to-people exchanges and vaccine cooperation, among others.

He also looks forward to working closely with Wang to further deepen and expand the traditional friendship and the strategic cooperative partnership between Sri Lanka and China, delivering benefits to the two peoples together.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Frontier Communications has sued a Wyoming communications carrier, accusing it of harassing customers of the Norwalk telecommunications company with robocalls. (Los Angeles Times)

Frontier Communications on Tuesday sued a Wyoming communications carrier, accusing it of harassing customers of the Norwalk telecommunications company with robocalls.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, says Mobi Telecom LLC, a voice over internet provider, is failing to abide by industry standards that seek to limit robocalls. The automatically generated calls are illegal in Connecticut.

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[ Connecticut joins settlement to shut down massive robocall fundraising scam that made more than 1 billion calls ]

Its a rare legal challenge by a telecommunications company against a carrier.

Frontier, which purchased Southern New England Telephone Co. in 2014, is transitioning to broadband connectivity from SNETs legacy landline phone business.

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We still have a substantial number of landline customers, said Mark Nielsen, Frontiers chief legal officer. We want it to be a positive experience.

Frontier says Mobi, which is headquartered in Sheridan, Wyoming, has refused requests for a traceback service that would allow Frontier to determine the source of the robocalls.

Mobi is little more than a vessel to allow foreign and domestic robocallers to target consumers in Connecticut and elsewhere in the U.S., Frontier said. The robocalls have caused economic damage to Frontier because hundreds of customers have dropped landline phone service due to robocalls, it said.

Were doing this in the hopes that others will follow suit and pressure is put on companies that facilitate this scourge of robocalls, Nielsen said.

Mobi and its president, Davinder Singh, could not be reached for comment. The company does not have a website and contact information is not available.

News @3 Daily Catch up on the days top headlines sent directly to your inbox weekdays at 3 p.m >

Frontier is asking that Mobi be ordered to halt robocalls and is seeking unspecified financial demands.

With certain exceptions, Connecticut law prohibits telephone solicitors from making unsolicited sales calls, including sending texts and media messages, to consumers on the state Do Not Call registry unless they receive a consumers written consent.

Even if a consumer is on the registry, the law generally prohibits solicitors, without written permission, from making unsolicited, automatically dialed or recorded telephone calls  robocalls  for sales purposes.

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A $20,000 fine could be imposed for each violation. Robocalls also are generally illegal under federal law.

Frontier is the subject of an investigation launched two years ago by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle Seagull. They said they were responding to more than 1,000 consumer complaints related to quality, pricing and customer service

Customers cited charges for equipment even after returns; poor voice, video and internet quality; unsatisfactory customer service; and billing charges that continued after service was canceled and were higher than promised.

Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.
On June 2, 1948, at Landsberg prison in Bavaria, seven Nazi doctors were hanged by the neck until dead. Seven others faced life imprisonment. The year before, the U.S. Military Tribunal in Nuremberg ordered these sentences for medical experiments without subjects consent, crimes against humanity, and mass murder. From the doctors trial arose the Nuremberg Code that, along with subsequent conventions and laws, governed the ethical practice of medicine in the United States. Until the past two years.

Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, many physicians have disgraced our profession. They have administered experimental vaccines of unprecedented toxicity for an illness with an overall survival rate of 99.74 percent, all without proper informed consent. They have withheld outpatient therapeutics of documented efficacy, leaving patients to sicken or die untreated. Undeterred by reports of catastrophic side effects such as teenage myocarditis, they have injected undisclosed ingredients with unknown long-term risks into children who harbor no serious risk from the illness. National medical associations and state medical boards continue, without due process or sound evidence, to punish physicians who espouse views that challenge our governments claims. Why?

Three sets of quotes illustrate medicines devolution. The first of these is from the classic Hippocratic Oath, formulated in ancient Greece. I swear by Apollo the physician . . . and call all the gods and goddesses to witness, that I will observe and keep this underwritten oath... With regard to healing the sick... I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage Nor shall any mans entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone [italics mine]...

Next, the revised Hippocratic Oath, composed in 1964 by Louis Lasagna. In this version, God and gods have disappeared except for I must not play at God. There is no longer a do-no-harm clause. It refers only to avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism, an intellectualized and vapid dilution of the original unequivocal commandment.

Finally, excerpts from the oath created by my medical schools Class of 2025 during their White Coat Ceremony. We also recognize the acts and systems of oppression effected in the name of medicine. We take this oath of service to begin building a future grounded in truth, restoration, and equity to fulfill medicines capacity to liberate... I acknowledge the past and present failures of medicine to abide by its obligation to do no harm and affirm the need to address systemic issues in the institutions I uphold... I promise to... engender an inclusive, equitable field of medicine...

God has vanished. (One cannot even play God if there is no God to imagine.) Not that ethical healers must worship God. But if they dont, they may worship other godssecurity, status, money, power, reputation, or ideology. These baser idols will corrupt their devotees.

For example, in their oath, these White Coat celebrants never explicitly accepted responsibility for doing no harm themselves. Instead, they self-righteously decried others failures in that regard, befitting a political ideology that emphasizes systemic oppressor-victim grievances and a utopian equity of outcomes. Come to think of it, isnt their White Coat Ceremony an act of racist privilege? The horror.

In recent decades other interests have distracted doctors from do-no-harm and patient-first precepts. A profession of solo practitioners and house calls no more, we owe obeisance increasingly to practice groups, insurers, Big Pharma, and electronic records. (Regarding that last, a 2016 study reported that MDs spent almost 40 percent of their patient care time interacting with computers. Six years later the percentage has surely increased.)

Since 2020 an even more powerful master has commandeered medicines values. The State requires that physicians comply with its unscientific dictates concerning treatments. Many do comply, and no wonder. The confusion about medicines purpose in recent decades has lubricated its slide into surrender. It has forsaken Hippocrates and signed onto a State-uber-alles mentality to ensure its security and public virtue. Do No Harm has been supplanted by Cover Your Ass.

By 1942 almost half of all German doctors had joined the Nazi party. By the early twentieth century, German medicine had become the cynosure of world-class medicine. But gradually the ideology of eugenics captured it. Mass enforced sterilization and abortions of the medically handicapped and the insane led to systematic euthanasia of these populations, and eventually to the Holocaust. Like their American counterparts who inject healthy children, many Nazi doctors believed that their practices served the best interests of society. As E. Ernst stated, The participation in the betrayal of Hippocrates had a broad basis within the German medical profession. Without the doctors active help, the Holocaust could not have happened [italics mine].

Do I trivialize the Holocaust by facile comparisons of COVID medical hacks with Nazi doctors? I reject that charge. The Holocaust was unique in its magnitude. But the processes that facilitated Nazi atrocities reflect tendencies in all societies. Unless we want a repeat on an even greater scale we must recognize those tendencies in ourselves before it is too late.

Steven Goldsmith, MD is a Board-certified psychiatrist, graduate of the Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons, and author of The Healing Paradox.

Image: Uniformed Services University
One of my readers recently wrote that he objected to my use of the term educated ruling class. Said he:

Every Jill Biden with a Ph.D. in kiddie literature considers themselves ruling class. They are decidedly uneducated.

Of course, I use the term while understanding that it is mostly the ruling classs self-image. Our liberal friends believe that their right to rule issues from their education. You doubt it? Heres an Atlantic writer, David Graham, who just cant understand politicians like Ron DeSantis that belie their impressive degrees from Ivy League universities by aligning themselves with the populist conservative movement in some capacity.

And then Vox Day links to a couple of pieces sneering at our ruling class. First, he looks at the way that prestigious institutions recruit.

[Elite employers] only recruit at the most elite colleges, and they want recruits to be attractive, energetic, articulate, socially smooth, and have had elite personal connections, jobs, and extracurriculars.

Extracurriculars? Yes, but they must not be useful, merely prestigious. Excess interest in ideas marks you as a boring tool. He ends with a quote from Dominic Cummings, the Brit that ran the winning Brexit referendum:

Politics is full of people who want to prove theyre the smartest person in the room but they almost never realise that the room theyre in rarely has any really smart people in it!

Then Vox Day picks up an actual piece from Dominic Cummings Substack, where Cummings quotes chunks of Tolstoys War and Peace about courtiers buzzing and humming uselessly around in the court of the Russian Tsar during the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. Says Cummings:

Assuming wrongly that at least those in charge know what theyre trying to do is one of the biggest errors made by the media and high status, often highly competent, observers.

But why? Why should this be so?

How about this?

There is no politics without an enemy. Therefore, the point of any politics is to rally under a warrior leader and then defeat the enemy. Needless to say, you need the best warrior possible, and the best men to fight and conquer the enemy.

But after the victory is won you dont need all those exceptional people anymore. You just need people to keep on carrying on. You mean people who are attractive, energetic, articulate, socially smooth, and have had elite personal connections, jobs, and extracurriculars? That sort of person?

But suppose all those attractive, energetic people have kinda let things wind down while doing all those extracurriculars? Time for a leader with exceptional skills again. But dont expect him from a ruling class that is full of people who want to prove theyre the smartest person in the room when they really arent that smart or are merely courtiers buzzing and humming around in deep-state Georgetown.

And the new leader wont be reprising the over-under political formula with the left as Allies of the majority Oppressed Peoples against the minority White Oppressors.

When John Judis and Ruy Teixeira published their Emerging Democratic Majority in 2002 all the best people knew that the future belonged to a majority coalition of the college-educated, minorities, women, and the young. But when President Biden messes up the economy the Dem college-educated voters reduce to the professional wokists, Dem women reduce to college administrators, Dem minorities reduce to blacks, and the young know that they are screwed by the current system. So the Democratic majority reduces to a small minority, the wokesters, and the serfs.

And a new political formula starts to take shape, the expanding middle. Look, if you folks with the best extracurriculars want to be separate and special, thats OK with us. When you have finished your latest extracurricular we would like to discuss how all your brilliant political ideas and programs have Made Things Worse. If you marginalized folks want to dwell in an ethnic ghetto, as many emerging Americans have done over the decades, well be there to welcome you into the great middle when you are ready to join our great American party.

The question is still what do we call our current ruling class? To say educated ruling class, as my friend says, doesnt really communicate its cluelessness. And I dont want to use pejoratives, so beloved of our liberal friends, because I dont consider the ruling class composed of enemies, but only fools and knaves that have never stepped outside the box of their finishing-school education.

But wait, why not call them the pejorative ruling class? The members use pejoratives, like racist-sexist-homophobe, five times before breakfast, so the shoe fits. But theres another reason. The Latin verb pejorare means to make things worse.

So when we talk about the pejorative ruling class we are talking about a ruling class that Makes Things Worse. Thats just our little joke. Dont tell Whoopi Goldberg.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also, get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class.

Image: Nicolas de Largilliere
The woke culture has infected large areas of our lives over the last few years. Much of it has just been annoying, but a new example could actually be dangerous.

That is the push to hire and staff our airline cockpits with pilots chosen primarily for their gender or race, which I believe to be a very dangerous concept.

Before I comment further, I should explain my background and credentials to speak on the matter. I flew for nearly thirty-seven years, the majority of that time as a Captain, for Trans World Airlines on domestic and international routes. During that time I served as an instructor and line check pilot on several types of jet aircraft, training co-pilots and captains new to the equipment.

In this capacity, I worked with females and members of various minority groups, including African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian Americans. All these pilots, as well as their Caucasian counterparts, were consummate professionals. That was because TWA hired new crew members only on essential criteriaflight experience, intelligence, and demonstrated competence. More importantly, the hiring process was conducted by pilots, not non-flying HR types or managers from other departments of the airline.

Recently, United Airlines announced a plan to establish a flight school to train new pilot candidates. These pilots will replace pilots reaching mandatory retirement age and allow for the airlines planned expansion. There is nothing wrong with this concept, which in fact has been used by some foreign airlines for many years.

In the past, airline-established schools of this type were never deemed necessary in this country due to the fact that our nation produced military-trained pilots in large numbers, many of whom joined the airlines when their military commitments expired. In addition, there were substantial numbers of civilian-trained pilots from corporate aviation who could be hired as well if needed.

All that has changed in recent years due to a scaling back of military pilot training and an emphasis on the use of unmanned drones which are manipulated by individuals at computer terminals thousands of miles away. In addition, the cost of obtaining the necessary pilot certificates has skyrocketed due to the cost of aviation fuel and the cutback in the production of suitable light planes to be used primarily as trainers. This situation, combined with the steady takeover of the hiring and firing of all corporate employees by human resources departments, has created what may become a perfect storm of circumstances that could make the skies above our nation a very dangerous place to be indeed.

I think it is safe to say that most HR managers are not qualified pilots. Not a one is trained to the level required of pilots needed to safely operate a modern airliner. So how will HR intervention affect the hiring process as time goes on, and where does woke culture come into play? To examine that situation, lets go back to Uniteds new Aviate Academy, located in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. United has proudly announced that its first class at the flight school is comprised of eighty percent females or people of color. That, folks, is about as woke as you can get, and indeed as wrongheaded as well.

Anytime you introduce quotas into any selection process, whether it be for employment opportunities, entrance into educational institutions, or indeed for acceptance into a volunteer military service, you invite a possible lowering of standards into the process. A perfect example of this is allowing females to perform at lower physical standards when training for combat status positions in our armed services or allowing a lowering of educational, physical, or testing standards when it comes to hiring new police or firefighters.

Now, consider what will happen if we allow this concept to be implemented in the training and hiring of our future airline pilots? How might that affect safety? One need only to examine third-world airline safety records.

Because of the relatively low level of flying experience of the new co-pilots on many foreign airlines, particularly third world carriers, Airbus Industries came up with the concept of Pilot Proofing the airliners they produce. The level of sophistication of the auto-flight systems on Airbus airliners is astounding.

In fact, pilots rarely hand fly their planes, but rather operate them almost solely on auto-pilot, from shortly after they become airborne to after the airplane has auto-landed and is about to exit the runway on landing. However, as we are all aware, computers can and do fail on occasion. When that happens on an aircraft, the Stick and Rudder skills of the pilots become critical. As two recent fatal crashes proved, the lack of them can have catastrophic consequences.

On Oct. 1, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737-Max, crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia. All 189 people on board were killed.

On March 10, 2019, another 737-Max, operated by Ethiopian Airlines as Flight 302, crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa. All 157 people on that flight died as well.

Initially, the blame was placed on the aircraft, causing all that series of B-737s to be grounded.

However, on closer examination, it became clear that if the flight crews of those doomed aircraft had simply turned off the auto-pilot and other electrically controlled systems like the electric stabilizer trim and the auto-throttles, the aircraft could have been safely manually re-trimmed and landed without incident. Unfortunately, the captains, who on paper had many thousands of hours of flight time, had logged most of that utilizing the auto-flight systems. They simply werent proficient in hand-flying the airplane. The co-pilots even less so.

All this brings us back to the coming pilot shortage in the airline industry. If the airlines are going to have flight academies like United's, they should make sure the trainees first understand the basics of flying, which can be summed up in the phrase: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate! What does that mean in layman's language?

First: FLY THE AIRPLANE! Keep it in a stable attitude and a safe speed.

Second: Maintain situational awareness of where you are, where you are going, the height of the terrain around you, and any obstructions which might threaten the safety of the flight.

Lastly: Communicate your position and situation to other aircraft and air traffic control.

As to the selection of pilot trainees, it should have nothing whatsoever to do with race, sex, or any other criteria except intelligence, competence, and a willingness to master a skill that requires a degree of manual dexterity, as well as an ability to maintain a clear head when faced with unusual, and possibly life threatening-situations. A training manual for pilots in the original Army Air Corps stated:

Although aviation itself is not inherently dangerous, like the sea, it is totally unforgiving of error.

We dont need to hire and train a new generation of individuals who are nothing more than computer operators, incapable of saving the day when the computer fails to perform its proper functions. We need, as we always have, to train PILOTS, who are willing to devote a career to keeping themselves, as well as all the passengers and cabin crew in the main cabin, safe and alive, to fly another day.

Captain D.A. Francis is a retired TWA -commercial airline pilot. He can be reached at 2022captal@gmail.com and www.captain-al-speaking.com

Image: PXHere // CC0 public domain
In times past, the American government stood with productive people and pushed back against the forces of corruption and decay. In Biden's America, though, the opposite is true. Big cities are becoming concierge services for hard drug addicts, and Biden's administration is joining in, with a multi-million-dollar plan to provide crack pipes for addicts. And here's the kicker: in the name of equity, the administration will make a special effort to bring these instruments of destruction to Blacks and members of the LGBTQ+ crowd.

There's a growing trend on the left to facilitate drug addiction. Just recently, under exMayor de Blasio's aegis, New York opened legal shooting galleries  or, as they're politely called, "Overdose Prevention Centers." On the very first day, five people overdosed in the Harlem site  although they were brought back to life.

The theory is that, if the drug addicts have a nice, safe place to shoot up, fewer will die. This is the same belief system that sees parents offer their kids pot and alcohol at home so that they're not on the mean streets doing drugs. Either way, with a green light from those who would ordinarily try to protect them from vice, the kids end up seriously addicted and heading downhill fast. (Just ask Robert Downey, Jr., who ended up in federal prison after his dad got him started on drugs, or ask Mackenzie Phillips, whose father did the same for her.)

Just recently, the Daily Mail published a lengthy photo essay about what's been happening in San Francisco now that the city has opened its "linkage center," which is ostensibly intended to connect addicts with rehab facilities. The center is at U.N. Plaza, which is right off the Civic Center. It was never a very nice neighborhood because it's on the edge of the Tenderloin, but it's turned into a vast, open-air drug consumption and sales site. You must check out the Daily Mail photos, which show a Dante-esque hellscape a couple of blocks away from City Hall. There is no evidence that people who are having their drug use made easier have any incentive to seek rehab.

Michael Shellenberger first broke the story:

Last month, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a sweeping plan to crack down on open-air drug dealing. Shortly after she announced that she would open a "Linkage Center" to connect homeless addicts to rehab. But now, two investigative reporters, Jenny Shao and another reporter who prefers to remain anonymous, witnessed and video-recorded drug dealing, in addition to drug use, at the Linkage Center. And they caught on video at least three official Linkage Center contractors overseeing drug use at the site.

In other words, San Francisco is now the concierge for drug users. It provides drug addicts with laundry, food, water, showers, illegal drugs, and fentanyl. And of course, "if you build it, they will come," so the area is becoming a junkie Mecca. There's no word yet about the recently immigrated Asian families trying to protect their children (although I'm betting children who grow up around this disgusting sight will never touch drugs; I was certainly put off by the Haight Ashbury when I was a child).



Image: London Breed, San Francisco mayor and drug pusher. From Reality Bites by Broc Smith.

When you're a left-wing ideologue, nothing inspires like failure. That's why the Biden administration is getting in on the act. It's set up a $30-million grant program that is meant to make life safer for drug addicts. According to The Washington Free Beacon:

Included in the grant, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, are funds for "smoking kits/supplies." A spokesman for the agency told the Washington Free Beacon that these kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and "any illicit substance."

The rationale is the same as for clean needle programs: dirty pipes transfer infections from one junkie to another. Don't stop the drug use; just stop the germs.

But if you want real irony, it's the fact that the Biden problem is specifically targeting Blacks and people under the LGBTQ+ flag. Again, from the Free Beacon.

Applicants for the grants are prioritized if they treat a majority of "underserved communities," including African Americans and "LGBTQ+ persons," as established under President Joe Biden's executive order on "advancing racial equity."

Think about that for a minute: the experiments in New York and San Francisco show that these programs incentivize drug use and destroy neighborhoods. This means that Biden is deliberately targeting Blacks, gays, and transgenders to incentivize their drug use and destroy their neighborhoods.

By the way, I'm not making light of drug addiction. It's a scourge and needs to be addressed. I'm not conversant with what the best anti-drug programs are, but I'm betting that the government fulfilling all your basic needs so that you can overdose and get Narcaned repeatedly is not the answer.
In the business world, low-performance departments are often audited, reformed, and  if they continue to underperform  eliminated. It's one of the many ways companies stay competitive  by eliminating dead weight to stay profitable and keep customers happy with high-quality service and competitive prices.

This week, the House is set to do the exact opposite. In typical "kick the can down the road" action by our elected officials, a bipartisan group of politicians is shifting billions of dollars in retirement costs from the U.S. Postal Service to Medicare. Supporters celebrate that USPS will remove unaffordable retirement costs from its balance sheet, thus keeping itself solvent. What they've tried to hide is Congress's sleight of hand, which will accelerate Medicare's projected 2026 bankruptcy.

The Congressional Budget Office's July 2021 report laid out the situation clearly. In just the first ten years of the shifting of your tax dollars from one account to another  changing nothing but where the money is located  an additional 25% of retired postal workers are required to join Medicare. That's required, mind you, not requested or given the opportunity to join. And that means you and I, the people who pay the postal workers' salaries, are going to be even more on the hook for their retirements.

I have nothing against postal workers; they do a job that requires dealing with traffic, cold, rain, and dangerous roads. I do wish they weren't quite so obvious in their partisan bias, but nobody is really surprised that unions support Democrats. What I care more about is that Congress's 2022 "solution" to USPS's insolvency is another failed action that will require more action to "fix" what Congress broke this time around.

In politics, everything comes around. We saw a GOP Congress "fix" the Postal Service's pension problems by requiring costly up-front infusions of cash just as the internet began cutting into the Post Office's business model. Worse, the Post Office hasn't even followed that law, according to the CBO  it simply didn't make the required pension payments, which has made the pension problem even worse.

Today, Democrats are leading the charge in a "bipartisan" manner, which will give everyone the chance to brag to his constituents that he "saved" the Post Office. And, sure, all of them did  by throwing Medicare, another boondoggle that congressional "fixes" somehow keep making worse, under the bus.

I recently wrote about why America should end government-run health care in light of the horrendous failure we've seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. From presidents on down to local governments, elected officials and unelected bureaucrats have cracked down on our liberties, ruined our mental and physical health, and spent money we don't have on solutions that don't work. The 2022 USPS "fix" looks like one of those things that Congress will use to try to fool us again. Let's nip this one in the bud.

Michael Feuz is a technology consultant by day and a research associate for a small D.C. think-tank by night. He is pursuing graduate work in economics at George Mason University. His work has been published by Real Clear Policy, the Washington Examiner, and Inside Sources.

Image: EraserGirl via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).
Another piece of evidence has emerged to indicate that the British Pakistani who recently stormed and held a Texas-based synagogue hostage was not just acting in accordance with jihadist ideology but following an ISIS directive.

On Jan. 15, 2022, Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British Pakistani armed with a gun, took four people hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, during Sabbath service. Akram repeatedly demanded the release of his "sister" (in Islam), Aafia Siddiqui, AKA "Lady al-Qaeda," another Pakistani national imprisoned for attempted murder and other terrorist-related activities. In the end, only Akram died in the standoff with police. All four hostages survived.

Instantly, however, and as almost always happens, the initial, official explanation  because we must never "jump to conclusions," must never call it a duck, even if it looks, swims, and quacks like a duck  revolved around anything but the obvious. Thus, whether the FBI initially declared that "we're continuing to work to find motive," or whether Akram was presented as suffering from "mental health issues," few in officialdom wanted to confirm that this was a jihadist operation directed against Jews, who are seen by not a few Muslims as one of Islam's archenemies.

Since then, some evidence has emerged indicating that, yes, Akram was a jihadist who hated the "f------ Jews" and sought to kill them.

Missed, however, is the fact that, a few weeks before Akram stormed the synagogue, the Islamic State (ISIS) issued a directive calling on Muslims to do exactly what Akram did  and for the very same reason he cited.

On Dec. 20, 2021, the ISIS-operated Rocket.Chat communication platform did what it and other jihadist forums always do in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas: it sought to rile and incite Muslims to launch lone-wolf attacks during the festive season, including by posting a drawing of a veiled jihadist brandishing a bloody knife in one hand while holding the severed head of Santa Claus in the other, with the following message:

With the advent of the so-called polytheistic celebrations that the unbelievers are experiencing these days, we send a message to our monotheist brothers in Europe, America, Australia, Canada, Russia, and other countries of unbelief and apostasy Attack the citizens of crusader coalition countries with your knives, run them over in the streets, detonate bombs on them, and spray them with bullets.

We have, of course, over the years seen numerous such lone-wolf attacks, especially those consisting of Muslims randomly driving vehicles into people (Nice, France, 2016, with 86 people killed being only the most notorious) or going on stabbing sprees (the London Bridge incident, with two killed, being only the most notorious).

But the aforementioned Rocket.Chat communiques, which appeared in December 2021, had another message:

Imagine with me, brothers, if Muslim refugees in Crusader Europe took hostages while the pigs [Christians] celebrate their polytheistic holidays and forced the European crusaders to order their angry dogs to release our sisters from the Al-Hawl and Ain Issa camps or else they would cut off the pigs' heads.

This suggested scenario almost perfectly conforms to the actions of Malik Faisal Akram, who, before holding a synagogue in Texas hostage, was investigated in Britain for his known "radical" links  links that almost certainly suggest he visited, and was influenced by, sites such as Rocket.Chat.

Akram did, however, make one minor alteration: he took hostage, not the "pigs" (one of Islam's epithets for Christians), but rather their partners in the infamous "Crusader-Zionist" alliance, the "apes" (one of Islam's epithet for Jews). He did so not while Christians "celebrate their polytheistic holidays," but rather while Jews, whom Islam also accuses of polytheism, worshiped on their holy day, the Sabbath. And he did it all, as ISIS had declared on Rocket.Chat, "to release our sisters," with Lady al-Qaeda  whom Akram repeatedly referred to as a "sister"  being the poster child of female Muslim prisoners.

Image: .
It's true: a picture is worth a thousand words. When I saw the photo of former President Obama, standing, arms folded, at the construction site of his seaside Hawaiian mansion, quite a few words came to my mind.

Sadly, some of them can't be printed here. But I'll share some of the ones that can.

"Narcissist"  Having won the Democrat nomination for President, Barack Obama told his audience and the world, "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." It wasn't enough for the Lightbringer to "fundamentally transform" America  no, Barry was going to save the entire planet!

This luxurious mansion under construction in Hawaii is Obama's third that I'm aware of, and second oceanfront property! There are only possibilities here. Obama either thinks he actually did calm the oceans, or he knew all along that climate change is merely a useful device for controlling the naive, the neurotic, the weak-minded.

Democrat voters, in other words.

"Hypocrite"  Obama used to rail against capitalists and the wealthy, saying sarcastically, "I do think, at some point, you've made enough money!" Well, Barry and the missus certainly have, and they show no signs of stopping. Not only will the Obamas probably become billionaires, if they're not already, but the unfinished mansion in the photo will become their third (second oceanfront!).

"Race-baiter"  When Obama was elected, many thought it heralded the end of racism in America. But our first black president managed to convince blacks they were being held back by deeply ingrained U.S. racism, whether they knew it or not, and whites that they were the oppressors, whether they knew it or not. As a result, racial bean-counting became a powerful tool and a lucrative business.

Let's look at that photo again. There are four obvious construction workers around the president, and they're all, gasp, white! Where's the diversity, Barry? Or did you hire those guys just because you heard they were good at what they do?

"Phony"  St. Barack of Chi-town was many things to leftists, Democrats, and their media lackeys. He was variously described as calm, kind, caring, Zen-like, understanding, and warm.

Check out the photo in question again and notice the obvious anger on Obama's face. He's furious and making no effort to hide it, plus the folded-arm trick is one bullies have used forever to express their superiority and unhappiness.

And look at the four workers! They've clearly just had their posteriors handed to them. Two men have their arms folded in front while leaning back in fear. One guy's slightly braver, arms folded in back and staring straight out at the ocean, perhaps. And the biggest guy is skulking away, head down, a beaten dog.

Someone should ask those working stiffs just how caring, warm, and understanding their famous client actually is. I certainly remember how he treated Republicans.

"Elitist"  Democrats are the mask police. Question wearing a mostly useless product, incorrectly half the time, and you're deemed nothing short of a domestic terrorist, a spreader of misinformation. Democrats, hypochondriacs, the weak-stream media, and self-important lawn gnomes like Tony Fauci all say put on a G-D mask before you kill someone!

Back to the photo. Who's the only one not wearing a face mask?

That's right: The One. Barry doesn't need no stinkin' mask; he knows that much of the Big Government response to COVID-19 was intended merely to intimidate and subdue the masses. See change, climate.

Obama's clearly unafraid of the Wuhan Flu but likes those who serve him to be masked. It's a class thing. Those four schmoes are beneath the former president and hence must cover their pie-holes. Barry, as befitting his celebrity status, needn't bother.

"Fashion disaster"  I know that's two words, but seriously, who dresses Barack Obama? He's a gazillionaire whom designers would gladly gift any of their clothes, and he dresses like me!

Crappy, low-top sneaks: check.

Wrinkled, saggy mom jeans: check.

Cheap-looking, monochromatic, probably polyester shirt: check.

Barry, bubeleh, you dress like an old, retired dentist! Hire a personal dresser already. God knows you got the coin.

There's just not enough space for all the words that iconic, revealing photo of our 44th president brings to mind. Narcissist, hypocrite, race-baiter, phony, elitist, and fashion disaster will have to suffice.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
It began when Democrat "star" and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams retweeted photos of herself visiting a primary school in Atlanta. The photo was initially tweeted by the principal of that school.

She gushed over the photos with a caption: "Spending time with Glennwood's amazing students, faculty and staff ranks as spectacular, delightful and outstanding. Thank you for having me"

The photos swiftly went viral and Abrams was the recipient of a considerable backlash.

These tweets  with a photo showing Stacey Abrams maskless surrounded by masked children & showing Abrams promoting it from her own account  have now both been removed. (Abrams deleted her own tweet and it appears that the original account has been deactivated or something). pic.twitter.com/qzzAPolsE2  Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) February 6, 2022

The reason was that Abrams, a fanatical proponent of COVID-19 mask mandates, was not wearing a mask herself as she posed surrounded by masked young school children.



Source.

A few other photos emerged that showed Abrams bare-faced while the school staff and children were masked.

But instead of issuing an apology and a pledge to practice what she preaches, an attempt at a cover-up ensued.

Abrams deleted her quote-tweet, and so did the school principal. But that did little to improve her situation.

Then Abrams did what most Democrats do at the drop of a hat: she played the race card.

The following statement was posted on her Instagram page: "It is shameful that our opponents are using a Black History Month reading event for Georgia children as the impetus for a false political attack. "

There's an old saying: "when you are in a pit, you stop digging."

No such luck for Abrams.

Her campaign manager, Lauren Groh-Wargo, attempted to defend her boss with a claim that Abrams "wore a mask to the event, and removed it at the podium so she could be heard by students watching remotely and for photos, but only with folks who were masked."

This was a blatant lie and deceived nobody.

In the age of social media, politics is all about appearances.

Abrams's advisers should have asked her to be masked, at least for the photos. Following the outrage, Abrams's advisers should have told her that in the age of social media, nothing can be totally erased; hence, a sincere apology would have served her better.

It is perplexing that such obvious mistakes occur in a modern campaign.

Perhaps the self-righteous Abrams and her team think they can never err. Maybe they think the rules don't apply to them. Perhaps her advisers are sycophants who hesitate to state unpleasant truths because they know that, like most Democrats, Abrams abhors hearing contrarian perspectives.

Since Abrams claims to stand for science, she should read a recent study by York University in the U.K. that states that masks make it difficult for children to recognize faces and could cause psychological problems that affect their ability to socialize and make friends.

Also, prolonged wearing of COVID-19 masks can cause respiratory problems because the individual ends up inhaling his own exhalations, causing a reduction in the oxygen intake and a build-up of carbon dioxide levels in the body.

Abrams hence joins the ignominious ranks of hypocrites such as L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti, who posed for a photo with Magic Johnson bare-faced; AOC, who was photographed maskless both as she partied in Florida and at the 2021 NYC MET Gala where the staff was masked; Gov. Newsom, who violated the very COVID rules that he has imposed on Californians to dine with friends at a fancy restaurant in the Napa Valley, and Barack Obama who was caught bare-faced surrounded by masked construction workers at the site of his Hawaii mansion.

These dual standards intensify the skepticism relating to COVID-19 mandates about the masks and the vaccines and make people wonder if it is an excuse to grab more power.

This has also created a new and more blatant class divide. The "powerful" place themselves above the laws they make for citizens. Citizens run the risk of being fired or fined or reprimanded by authorities or even jailed (in Singapore) merely for showing their bare face.

The Democrats spend their every breathing minute bloviating about their concern for the working class and the persecuted minorities, yet it is they who are leading this new and almost systemic discriminatory practice.

Also, this Democrat instinct of playing the race card to shut down their opponents has resulted in the trivialization of bigotry. The charge of racism is no longer taken seriously. People are skeptical when they learn about race-based hate crimes in the news. People are desensitized because if everything is racism, nothing is. The beneficiaries of these overstatements and fabrications are real bigots.

How unfortunate that this is occurring during Black History Month.

It has to be remembered that Stacey Abrams's path to "stardom" began with her refusal to concede when she lost the 2018 Georgia governor's race to Republican candidate Brian Kemp.

Abrams rose to bigger "stardom" when she founded two nonprofits called "Fair Count" and "Fair Fight Action" that registered an estimated 800,000 new voters, with a focus on minority voters. Perhaps this was implicit coercion to vote for Biden?

It enabled Abrams to be among the black female candidates considered for the position of Biden's running mate. Abrams made a case for herself, rather immodestly claiming she had "the experience and temperament needed to be successful in the role."

In the end, Biden chose Kamala Harris, whose ineptitude and constant verbal gaffes make Biden look like the smart and energetic one. Had he chosen the aggressive and publicity-hungry Abrams, efforts to unseat him via the 25th Amendment would already be underway.

Hopefully, the voters in Georgia will see through all the charades and vote wisely.

Also, if any good comes out of this disgraceful display by Abrams, it should lead the powers that be in Georgia to liberate the state's schoolchildren from their suffocating masks.
Progressive control of the U.S. educational system, operating secretly via entrenched bureaucrats and cooperating elected officials, has been exposed by incidents in Loudoun County, Virginia. In other words, the Deep State rules the classrooms of America.

A major factor affecting the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election (and destined to affect the 2022 midterm elections) is the public's reaction to progressive control of the educational system. This control had been successfully concealed by the major media until an incident at a Loudoun County school board meeting made national news. At this June 22, 2021 school board meeting, parent Scott Smith was arrested.



YouTube screen grab.

Smith was protesting the fact that his daughter had been raped in the girl's bathroom on May 28 by a "transgender" student. School officials' first response was an attempt to cover up the incident. School board member Beth Barts proclaimed, "Our students do not need to be protected, and they are not in danger." Superintendent Scott Ziegler claimed: "To my knowledge, we don't have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms."

Ziegler, who is paid $295,000 a year, intentionally lied to the public about this incident. In fact, he was the creator of one of the records covering the incident. On the day of the attack, he wrote school board members a note entitled "CONFIDENTIAL School Incident." It stated, "This afternoon a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom." When this lie was exposed, he responded, "I regret that my comments were misleading and I apologize for the distress that error caused families." He added, "My heart aches for you and I am sorry that we failed to provide the safe, welcoming, and affirming environment that we aspire to provide."

In spite of his aching heart, Superintendent Ziegler has done his best to maintain the permissive status quo. Assaults are handled "in house" unless, as was the case with Scott Smith, the police are involved. Loudoun County Public Schools have not reported many incidents of sexual assault for several years. This is a violation of state law. Have they successfully covered up other sexual assaults? When Michelle Mege, a mother in the district, wanted to search for school communications that used the words "sexual assault" or "rape" between May 1 and Oct. 18, 2021 she was informed that this Freedom of Information request would cost her $36,000. There were reportedly 100,000 documents responsive to this request. One hundred thousand documents dealing with sexual assault in a six-month period, and the man in charge purportedly knew nothing of this.

As "punishment," the student involved in the attack was merely transferred to another school in the district. Following his transfer, he pleaded "no contest" in a separate case to two charges of abduction and sexual battery at his new school, Broad Run High, on October 6. In a sense, Ziegler is an accomplice to these sexual assaults. He gave this child what the child must have considered a license to rape. The child likely believed that if he was caught again, he would not suffer any real consequences. He would merely be transferred.

This may sound like an outrageous accusation; however, it is also the conclusion of Loudoun County sheriff Michael Chapman, who blamed Ziegler for enabling the Oct. 6 assault. Chapman claimed that Ziegler knew about the May 28 incident and yet allowed the boy to remain in public schools.

The Loudoun County school district is not an isolated example of educational corruption. Pornographic literature (Out of Darkness, Gender Queer, and Lawn Boy) and pedophilia are being promoted throughout the nation. Policies based on Critical Race Theory are also widespread.

Transgenderism has major support from the U.S. government. A 2016 "Dear Colleagues" letter from the Department of Education and Department of Justice advised schools to allow transgender student to shower with members of the opposite sex:

Restrooms and Locker Rooms. A school may provide separate facilities on the basis of sex, but must allow transgender students access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity.

It might be assumed that this is primarily a problem in the larger metropolitan areas on the east and west coasts. That would be incorrect. The Deep State has infiltrated every state in the Union. From Arizona, Texas, and Idaho to Rhode Island, the progressive agenda is being promoted.

John Dietrich is a freelance writer and the author of The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy (Algora Publishing). He has a Master of Arts degree in international relations from St. Mary's University. He is retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. He is featured on the BBC's program "Things We Forgot to Remember."
What is it about radical leftists and getting their hands on people's kids?

Libs of Tik Tok (hat tip: Daily Wire and We Love Trump) found this one, posted on the ritzy Lowell School's site, showing very small schoolchildren, all around age 5, marching in their masks, with signs chanting "Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter..." I suppose we're supposed to say, "Aw, aren't they cute," but the normal response is, Who is forcing them to do that against their will?

A school in DC forced kindergarteners to march around with BLM signs and chant Black Lives Matter pic.twitter.com/wGiuBY13Yg  Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) February 4, 2022

I remember singing "ring around the rosie" at that particular age.

What's more, as a five-year-old in the '60s, I remember seeing Black Panther and Symbionese Liberation Army violence, riots, and gun-waving parade-arounds, Charles Manson and his leftist fangirls, and hippies spitting at troops in airports, on the television set as a kid. I recall viewing those things as vile, hateful, threatening, something never to get involved with. More to the point, it would have been unthinkable to force any five-year-old at that time to go around chanting for those causes as they are for today's similar ones. It simply would not have been done.

But here we are today, with near-toddlers being forced to march and parade around for the cameras chanting for an organization that is characterized by its cause and effects  violence, burning cities, dead police officers, police defunding, zero response to 9/11 calls, and big death spikes in the black community based on unchecked violent crime, corporate kowtowing to the crocodile, and humongous piles of money engulfed in colossal corruption.

Sound like a cause anyone should force a five-year-old to chant for? Not to normal people.

The radicals at the cosseted, tony, $40,000-a-year school, so insulated from normal people, think otherwise  here's some dreck the Daily Wire located from their website.

We firmly believe that we cannot expect children to engage in fluent conversations around identity, equity, and inclusion if these topics are, in any way, "off limits" for young children. Instead, we believe that if we normalize difference and teach children how to share and appreciate difference, the groundwork for equity and inclusion conversations will be that much more firmly laid. ... Part of helping children develop a strong sense of self includes showing them that they each have a voice and they can use that voice in service of a cause they are passionate about. This lays the groundwork for teachers to begin addressing issues of "fairness" and ways that children can make a difference in the world.

How is this "education"? Are these children learning to read and write? This is the kind of garbage that goes on in the Cuban Castro regime, every word delivered in education a word of propaganda for the vile and detested regime. Children are pawns in this scheme, deprived of real education in favor of fist-waving, with the idea that they stay radical activists for life.

Why are they such targets now? Because leftists know they can't persuade the larger public anymore. Only innocent little children who know nothing of politics have become a palimpsest upon which to engrave their hostile, hateful, useless, ideas. Black Lives Matter has fallen into total discredit with the public, according to polls.

It's sad because it's not just this ritzy school that is trying to turn five-year-olds into angry, radical leftists. Bari Weiss has investigated wokesterism in all kinds of tony, elite private schools around the country, getting her information from anonymous parents who are afraid of being bullied, blacklisted, doxxed, or labeled, and who also fear that leftists will take their hate out on their children. She's written about that here.

There is little parents can do, other than pull their kids from the ritzy private schools and lose the old boy's network that such institutions offer. Most won't do it, and those who object might write it off as acceptable since everyone thinks black and all lives matter. On the surface, it might be OK.

But kids grow up. Some may stay radical as their indoctrination and warm memories of naps and milk and cookies stay with them. But others will discern the gaslighting about Critical Race Theory, which tells white kids who never did anything racist that they are oppressors, and black kids that despite the $40,000 their parents laid down for that fancy education, they are victims. What happens when such kids get older and learn the actual history of Black Lives Matter, either through the ruinous effects of its "defund the police" advocacy, or its corrupt money dealings? It's a recipe for cynicism.

The bottom line here is that children do not have choices in this matter and shouldn't be forced to participate in activism for any cause, really. Would leftists like it if their kids were forced to march against abortion at some other tony private school? Kids should be learning to read and write and do math and sing children's songs together as normal children do.

The fact that this particular cause is highly discredited at this point as Democrats scramble to "refund" the police, and in disfavor by the majority of the American people makes the whole thing even worse.

These people are indoctrinators, and they've got America's elite kids under their thumb, so they're going to force-feed them left-wingery of a very destructive type. What a sorry spectacle this is. It's time to defund these destructive establishments, both federally and through parents. Education shouldn't be this bad. This is not Cuba.

Image: Twitter screen shot.
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. Photo by Brad Horrigan | bhorrigan@courant.com (Brad Horrigan/The Hartford Courant)

Gov. Ned Lamont has said that, were it up to him, hed fire Chief States Attorney Richard Colangelo over the fallout from Colangelos decision to hire the daughter of a politically connected state budget officer at the same time he was pressing the officer for raises for himself and other senior prosecutors.

But potentially removing Colangelo from office could be easier said than done  should he choose to ignore calls from the governor and others for his resignation. Colangelo hasnt spoken publicly about his plans; several officials said he was in talks Tuesday about retirement benefits and the outcome could determine his decision.

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If his decision were to stay and fight, which officials following the events said is the least likely outcome, a little-known, never-tested, complicated set of nearly 40-year-old regulations concerning removal of the states top prosecutor could turn the process into a full-blown, election-year impeachment trial.

The controversy over Colangelo already had become political, a week after an investigation commissioned by Lamont questioned his judgment and credibility following the decision to give a high-paying patronage job to Anastasia Diamantis, whose father, Konstantinos Diamantis, is Lamonts former deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management.

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Lamont told reporters Tuesday that he believes that Diamantis was a one-man band in the situation and that other employees in the governors budget office were not involved.

I dont think so, Lamont said. We moved the state construction right back to [the Department of Administrative Services]. ... We have a fresh set of eyes, looking at every single project out there. Were going to err on the side of absolute transparency. I have zero tolerance for this stuff.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont speaks during a news conference at the Capitol on Feb. 7, 2022. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

Lamont let the elder Diamantis go in late October, about a week after federal prosecutors served the administration with a grand jury subpoena for records of two major spending programs that Diamantis oversaw, including school construction. In mid-December, Lamont hired former U.S. Attorney Stanley A. Twardy Jr. to investigate the circumstances around Colangelos decision to hire his daughter. Twardy concluded that Colangelo had not been credible in his explanation.

Lamont said Tuesday that budget director Melissa McCaw  a key player as Lamont unveils his annual $23 billion budget Wednesday  was not involved in the controversy involving pay raises Colangelo sought for state prosecutors.

Shes told me, in no uncertain terms, she didnt know what was there, Lamont told reporters in Southington. She never approved any pay raises and some of the back and forth between Kosta and Colangelo. Shes got a lot of work to do, right now, to get us through this latest budget cycle.

Republicans had been quiet about fellow Republican Colangelo until Tuesday, when GOP candidate for Governor Bob Stefanowski joined the calls for Colangelos resignation.

It has been a week since the independent report was released about the ... behavior of Chief States Attorney Richard Colangelo, said Stefanowski. Its been a week of Connecticut residents questioning the ethics of the states top prosecutor, and that is a week too long. Its time for Mr. Colangelo to resign immediately.

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If Colangelo decides to fight to keep his job, the responsibility for forcing him out, should they choose to do so, would fall to the state Criminal Justice Commission, which appointed Colangelo and has sole power to remove him. The commission, created as a quasi-independent agency to insulate insulate criminal prosecutions from political influence, has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday at 3 p.m. Its brief agenda calls for Executive Session re: personnel matters related to the Chief States Attorney and Discussion and vote related to the Chief States Attorney.

Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald, the commission chairman, would not elaborate on the agenda, but others involved in the event said the intention at the time the agenda was drawn was to either accept Colangelos possible resignation or set in motion the machinery for his possible removal.

McDonald has previously said, The findings in the (Twardy) 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.

McDonald also has said that he asked the Attorney Generals office to advise the commission on the full extent of the due process that would need to be observed in any removal hearing.

FILE - State prosecutor Richard Colangelo speaks during a hearing at Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford, Conn., March 3, 2020. An independent investigation is questioning the "integrity" of Colangelo hiring a state budget official's daughter in 2020 while lobbying for pay raises for staff. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool, File) (Tyler Sizemore/AP)

The process

The law and regulations concerning any possible removal of the chief states attorney leave the process entirely to the commission. There would have to be a formal, written presentation of charges followed by the commissions appointment of a special prosecutor or prosecutors to make its case. Colangelo would be entitled under the rules to hire his own legal representatives.

Whenever the Commission has reason to believe or is of the opinion that the chief States Attorney is guilty of misconduct, material neglect of duty or incompetence in the conduct of his office there shall be an investigation and (the) commission shall prepare a statement in writing of the charges against such official summoning him to appear before the Commission at a date named and show cause why he should not be removed from office, the regulations provide.

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An adversarial proceeding would follow, with the commission serving as judge and jury. The special prosecutor and defense team would present witnesses, exhibits, arguments and counter arguments. There would be no formal rules of evidence; the commission chairman would rule on admissibility of evidence, questions of law and objections, but if the remaining commission members were to disagree, they could vote to overrule the chairman, according to the regulations.

Just as in the case of a criminal trial in a court, the special prosecutor would have the burden going forward and of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that there is just cause for removing the employee. The law and regulations say, It is solely the function of the commission to assess the weight and credibility of the witnesses and the evidence.

What is not clear in the law or regulations is whether the hearing would be open to the public or conducted in secret. It is clear, however, in the rules that once a special prosecutor is appointed, the commission members cannot discuss the proceedings unless all parties are present.

Organizing such a proceeding could require months. The actual proceeding could last months longer and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Testimony would be given under oath and at least some of the proceedings would be transcribed, the rules say. This week the commission has $409 in its budget.

Procedures for removing the chief states attorney and lesser prosecutors were enacted in 1987 at the time the State Police organized crime squad was involved in a bitter dispute with former Waterbury States Attorney John Connelly over the state police use  or misuse  of a notorious informant.

Connelly decided the informant was responsible for more crime than he helped to solve and arrested him. Some in the state police were furious and then-Chief States Attorney John Kelly moved to fire Connelly. Connelly prevailed and kept his job.

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Reporter Chris Keating contributed to this story.
The labor market is tight as employers scramble to find workers. Too many jobs are chasing too few workers. The official narrative is that the crisis is caused by the "Great Resignation," a move in which workers are resigning in record numbers to seek more lucrative employment elsewhere. With the economy roaring back from the pandemic, companies are trying to lure them back with higher wages and benefits. Thus, the whole affair can be reduced to an economic problem of labor supply and demand.

The left proposes a major stimulus package to provide better jobs and benefits. New infrastructure projects will bring back more people and resolve the labor crisis.

Jobs are not a problem now. The present labor market consists of some ten million job openings, two jobs for every job-seeker. All people have to do is show up. The most urgent issue is those who are not showing up. Vast numbers of Americans are not even interested in participating. This problem is beyond economics. It's a moral problem of those who have disconnected themselves from society and the economy.

Plunging Labor-Force Participation Rates

Already before the COVID crisis, the labor market suffered from a huge sector of workers who refused to show up. The unemployment statistics reflect only those who are actively looking for work. Those who have given up the search or made other arrangements do not count.

That is why the present unemployment rate is so low, and the number who don't work is so high. Since August 2020, the labor force participation rate has been stuck at a stubborn 62% of the population. It is 1.5 points below pre-pandemic levels and also below Great Depression rates. People are not showing up to work!

Economists are apprehensive about the vast number of able-bodied men in their prime working age dropping out and weighing down the economy and society. The exodus is straining social services and harming family life.

Why Men Are Absent

It's not the quality of the work but the will to labor that is at stake. It involves the character-strengthening effect of work upon individuals. All the stimulus money in the world would not be enough to fix the problem. In fact, it can make the situation worse.

Nicholas Eberstadt is a political economist at the American Enterprise Institute who has long studied the waning of the labor market. His 2016 book, Men Without Work, looks at the causes behind the drastic decline in labor force participation, which peaked at 67 percent in 2000.

His findings do not reflect well upon this nonworking public, especially men.

Men are dropping out of the workforce in great numbers. In his book, Dr. Eberstadt estimated that a veritable army of ten million able-bodied men is absent from duty. These men are casualties of a cultural shift that has hit them hard and steered them away from their traditional role of providers.

Some reasons for the diminishing ranks include the opioid crisis, a videogame slacker culture, and the stigmatization of traditionally male jobs like construction. Others rely on parents, wives, and friends to keep them afloat. Eberstadt also notes the suspicious rise in the number of working-age Americans receiving federal disability payments, which doubled from 2.2% in 1977 to 4.3% in 2020.

What Do They Do With Their Time?

Instead of working, many men simply stay home and do nothing. One government report claims that the idlers spend a lot of time "watching." They watch lots and lots of hours on screens of every size and shape. Some spend as many as 2,000 hours a year, almost like a full-time job. Streaming movies, videogames, and social media fill their days.

COVID has made matters worse by facilitating sitting around and watching. Before COVID, some of these men at least had menial part-time jobs. The flood of benefits and transfer payments from COVID aid packages gave many an excuse to do nothing.

"We did a limited dress rehearsal for a universal basic income," Eberstadt reports on the 18 months of COVID benefits that discouraged working. People got the idea that government has infinite resources to sustain them in their idleness.

Dropping Out of Civil Society

Even worse, workless men are not engaged in civil society, thus not contributing to the common good. This workless sector is narcissistically self-absorbed. Rarely are these working-age men involved in volunteer work, religious worship, family activities, or public forums.

"By and large, nonworking men don't 'do' civil society," Eberstadt says in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "Their time spent helping in the home, their time spent in worship  a whole range of activities, they just aren't doing."

Had America maintained labor participation rates of the early part of the century, Eberstadt believes that thirteen million more jobs would be filled today. There would be no labor shortage, and the economy would be much healthier.

The sad fact is that once people are paid to do nothing, it is difficult to get them working again.

Image: Pixabay.
(Image source from: bbc.com)

Nepal accuses China of encroaching into the border:- A report from the government of Nepal accused that China has encroached into the western Nepal across the shared border. The report was submitted in September last year after China trespassed into the district of Humla. A committee was formed by Home Ministry Joint Secretary to study about the dispute over the border. The team kept a watch on the border pillars in the Limi valley and the initial investigation revealed that there some border issues between China and Nepal. Nepal's Hindu Civic Society, Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan handed over the memorandum to the United Nations and the report said that China encroached on their land in Humla district.

They urged the international community to pay attention for the land grabbing of China. Binay Yadav, the Chairperson of Ekta Abhiyan handed over the memorandum to the UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard in Kathmandu. They urged the Nepali government to take action against the country soon. The study says that the area between pillar 5 (2) and middle of Kit Khola is marked as the border but China erected fences and wires in the land of Nepal.The report is now pending with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kathmandu is silent over the encroachment of China. Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan burnt pictures of the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi last month.
North Andover, MA (01845)

Today

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High around 60F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

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Cloudy with periods of rain. Low near 45F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
NVIDIAs ambitious proposal to acquire Arm didnt go through based on reports published last month. Were now getting official confirmation of the two parties terminating the acquisition deal due to significant regulatory challenges.

The two parties announced an amicable end to the negotiations in a joint statement. Jensen Huang, CEO and Founder of NVIDIA said, Arm has a bright future, and well continue to support them as a proud licensee for decades to come.

Arm is at the center of the important dynamics in computing. Though we wont be one company, we will partner closely with Arm. The significant investments that Masa has made have positioned Arm to expand the reach of the Arm CPU beyond client computing to supercomputing, cloud, AI and robotics. I expect Arm to be the most important CPU architecture of the next decade.

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Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son said they would take Arm public by March next year

The Softbank Group said it is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for Arm by March 2023. We will take this opportunity and start preparing to take Arm public, and to make even further progress, Softbank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said.

I want to thank Jensen and his talented team at NVIDIA for trying to bring together these two great companies and wish them all the success, Son went on to say in the press release.

NVIDIA and Softbank first announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the former to acquire Arm in September 2020. Softbank was optimistic that the deal would go through in August last year. This is also when NVIDIA said it was facing regulatory hurdles in completing the acquisition.

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Our discussions with regulators are taking longer than initially thought, so its pushing out the timetable, the NVIDIA CEO said last year. The deal was also criticized by companies like Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm, saying this could severely impact the chip market. Moreover, Arm co-founder said this acquisition would be an absolute disaster.

The Softbank Group acquired Arm back in 2016 for $32 billion to revamp their IoT portfolio. Arms technology is currently in use on several devices sold worldwide, including Apple and Samsung smartphones. So its clear why NVIDIAs acquisition of Arm was frowned upon. Additionally, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued to stop the acquisition in December 2021.
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The Connecticut state police union has endorsed former House Republican leader Themis Klarides for the U.S. Senate. Here, she is speaking on the floor of the historic Hall of the House in Hartford. (Christopher P. Keating / Hartford Courant)

HARTFORD  In a high-profile move, the Connecticut state police union Tuesday endorsed Republican Themis Klarides for U.S. Senate.

The unions executive committee made the unanimous choice soon after Klarides entered the race against two-term incumbent Democrat Richard Blumenthal.

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Her concern for public safety has been proven repeatedly over the 22 years she served in Connecticuts House of Representatives,' said the union president, John Castiline.

Klarides is seen as having an uphill fight against Blumenthal, who has more than $7 million in campaign cash on hand. In a deep blue state, Republicans have not won a Senate race since Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1982 as the seat has been dominated by major Democratic leaders such as Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman, Chris Murphy and Blumenthal.

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But colleagues say Klarides has never been known to back down from a challenge. Her entrance into the race immediately gave Republicans a top-tier candidate against Blumenthal, a Democrat who was facing three lesser-known Republicans who have never held major offices.

Republican supporters are energized by an outspoken, hard-charging woman with more than two decades of experience in the legislature, including six years as House Republican leader. Known as a collaborator who held her caucus together, Klarides also had a no-nonsense style that included blunt criticism of Gov. Ned Lamont at times.

The troopers said Klarides backed them in the long-running battle over staffing that called for a state-mandated minimum of 1,248 troopers on the job. That number was included in state law, but it was taken out in a budget-implementation bill when Democrat Dannel P. Malloy was serving as governor.

Klarides also backed the troopers when Malloy announced in 2011 that 56 troopers would be laid off to cut costs and help balance the state budget.

The decision to lay off the 56 rookie troopers marked the first trooper layoffs since the states fiscal crisis in 1991. The state suffered through recessions, budget deficits, Wall Street losses and economic ups and downs during the two decades of 1991 to 2011, but troopers had always been treated as a specialized class in the state workforce and not subject to reductions.

We are confident that Representative Klarides will continue her support for our Connecticut state troopers if she is elected to the U.S. Senate, the union said.

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com
Anniston, AL (36206)

Today

Some clouds and possibly an isolated thunderstorm in the afternoon. High near 85F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

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Mostly cloudy skies. Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 7 - A suspected "radicalised" Moroccan Islamist suspected of terrorism who escaped from Avellino jail south of Naples on January 11 was caught at Metz in northeast France Sunday, but a second jail breaker, a 21-year-old Romanian, is still on the run, sources said on Monday.

Hassin Kalifi, 40, was serving a prison term for drug trafficking and had been converted to radical Islam in jail, sources said.

He was arrested on a European warrant issued by Trento police alerted by Naples anti-mafia prosecutors for drug trafficking.

Kalifi was apprehended by French police.

The young Romanian, Florin Mocian, broke out of jail with Kalifi and another man who was injured in the jail break and soon captured.

The trio carved a hole in their cell wall which police found when they inspected the room, where a fourth man had stayed behind.

Police said the Romanian was not a convert to radical jihadi terror, unlike Kalifi. (ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 8 - Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said Tuesday it was a "very grievous fault" to commit child sex abuse and not to tackle it after he was criticised for alleged inaction as Munich archbishop in a report released in Germany last month.

The report on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising concluded that the former pontiff failed to take action in four cases when he was Archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982.

In a letter on the case, the former Joseph Ratzinger said that meeting with victims "I saw in their eyes the consequences of a very grievous fault and I learned to understand that we ourselves are dragged into this very grievous fault when we neglect it or when we do not tackle it with the necessary decision and responsibility, as has happened and still happens too often".

Benedict said "I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the more great is my pain and every day I ask myself if I today also should not talk of very grievous fault".

He said he felt "shame and pain" for all the abuse and asked for the victims' forgiveness.

"I will soon be faced with the ultimate judge", said the 94-year-old, who resigned as pope in 2013, "and I have confidence".

He added: "even today, sadly, the disciples of Christ sleep".

The Vatican has defended Benedict's record on combatting child sex abuse by members of the clergy.

An editorial on the Vatican News website by Andrea Tornielli, the editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, stressed the efforts Benedict made to combat clerical paedophilia and his willingness to meet and listen to the victims.

"It cannot be forgotten that Ratzinger, who as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had already fought the phenomenon in the last phase of the pontificate of St. John Paul II, with whom he had been a close collaborator, and once he became Pope, promulgated very harsh norms against clerical abusers, special laws to combat paedophilia," Tornielli wrote.

"What's more, with his concrete example, Benedict XVI testified to the urgency of that change of mentality that is so important to counter the phenomenon of abuse: listening and closeness to the victims to whom forgiveness must always be asked...

"It was Joseph Ratzinger, the first Pope to meet several times with victims of abuse during his apostolic journeys.

"It was Benedict XVI, even against the opinion of many self-styled "Ratzingerians", who upheld, in the midst of the storm of scandals in Ireland and Germany, the face of a penitential Church, which humbles itself in asking for forgiveness, which feels dismay, remorse, pain, compassion and closeness".

Benedict has "corrected" his version of events regarding one of the sexual-abuse cases that he was criticised for in the report, regarding a priest who was put into service in the Munich archdiocese even though he was known to be a paedophile.

The pope had told lawyers that prepared the report that he was not at a meeting in January 1980 when the transfer of the priest to Munich was discussed.

But the 94-year-old has admitted that he was at the meeting, according to a report by Catholic agency KNA picked up by the German-language version of Vatican News.

The former pope said the mistake "was not committed in bad faith" but was "the result of an error in the editorial drafting" of his statements, according to the report.

He is "very sorry" about this and apologizes, the report said.

In his letter on the case Tuesday, Benedict said it had "pained" him to be portrayed as a liar.

Benedict has lived inside the Vatican since resigning as pope in 2013. (ANSA).


Plastic in the seas - Rome is the most polluting city in Med Five Italian cities among WWF's top 10

(ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 8 - Out of the top 10 cities most responsible for plastic pollution in the Mediterranean area, five are in Italy - with Rome ranking at the top, followed by Milan, Turin, Palermo and Genoa, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which launched an appeal ahead of the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) scheduled to take place on February 28 until March 2. WWF has called for the adoption of a global, legally binding treaty.



Overall, 229,000 tons of plastic end up in the Mediterranean every year - the equivalent of 500 containers. More than half of this plastic comes from only three countries: 32% from Egypt, 15% from Italy and 10% from Turkey.



Europe, the second main plastic producer after China, releases each year 307-925 millions of waste into the sea, 82% of which is plastic. The main source of plastic pollution in the sea comes from activities on the coast and the inefficient management of waste, followed by activities at sea (22%) like fishing and navigation.



The Mediterranean sea has the highest concentration of microplastics measured in the deep marine environment, 1.9 million fragments per square meter, WWF said. At least 116 species of animals living in the Mediterranean have ingested plastic, according to a recent study. (ANSAmed).




Fundraiser in Palermo for burned multiethnic restaurant A night with food, politics dedicated to venue 'Moltivolti'

(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, FEBRUARY 8 - An event dedicated to food has been organized to raise funds for the multiethnic restaurant Moltivolti in Palermo's Ballaro district, which was damaged by a fire on January 29. The event also has a political side given that it is called "Primarie is on the table" - with a night mixing politics and food on February 10, starting at 8 pm, at Terrazze del Sole in Palermo, where mayoral elections will be held this year.



The issue of primaries, which is key for the imminent administrative vote in Palermo, will be discussed by leading members of the left-wing coalitions as they cook. The conversation will go from the dishes being prepared to programs ahead of the administrative elections.



Giampiero Trizzino and Giorgio Ciaccio, respectively a lawmaker and a former MP of the 5-Star Movement (M5S) will attend as part of the "kitchen brigade" that will interpret in a political way the traditional cooking challenge organized by Moltivolti. Part of the money raised during the event will be given to operators of the multiethnic restaurant in Ballaro, which was severely damaged by a fire in the night of January 29, for a resumption of work and social activities.



Speaking about politics, there will be a challenge in the preparation of a dish giving substance to ideas. "There is no limit to cooking inventive - explained Trizzino - but great awareness in the perspective of changing the city, the only veto is for pasta with sardines, which is used in a metaphorical sense in Palermo to describe scams. In the kitchen, we talk with frankness, the event will be more fun and will allow us to communicate in a better way with our companions of the adventure of municipal elections in a very difficult context". (ANSAmed).




ROME - Oxfam said in a statement that "exactly one year after the escalation of clashes to gain back the rich Yemeni governorate of Marib, the humanitarian situation in the area is disastrous. At least 1 million have been displaced while clashes are not stopping". The organization said in the statement that the "escalation of the conflict, since last February, has already forced over 100,000 people to abandon their homes, to seek refuge from attacks that are continuing to hit civilian targets: 43 in January alone, over one-fifth of total attacks in the last year".

Oxfam has launched once again an urgent appeal to the international community to stop a massacre that doesn't appear to end, putting pressure on the sides in conflict for an immediate ceasefire and reopening a dialogue that brings long-lasting peace. "What is occurring in Marib is a picture of horror and suffering that the entire Yemeni population has been experiencing for seven years", said Paolo Pezzati, policy advisor for humanitarian emergencies of Oxfam Italia. "Civilian victims - over 18,000 between deaths and injuries - are only the collateral damage of the war, which violates each rule of international law, condemning the population to experience a nightmare of bombs and missiles fired via land".

Pezzati added that "over the past few weeks children who were guarding animals or collecting wood were killed".

Oxfam said that, at the moment, the governorate of Marib has between 120 and 150 informal and official camps, where nearly 2 million refugees find shelter (according to estimates by local authorities). Men, women and children have already often fled five or six times from places where they had settled.


Lincoln, NE (68508)

Today

Periods of rain. Becoming windy in the afternoon. High 46F. Winds NE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy. Periods of rain and windy at times early. Low 39F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible.
Israel: police chief denies allegations on Pegasus use 'Probe doesn's prove law infraction'

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, FEBRUARY 8 - Israel police commissioner, Kobi Shabtai, has continued to deny allegations that officials in the force used the spyware Pegasus to hack cell phones of public figures and private citizens of the country, according to newspaper 'Calcalist'.



Shabtai - who shortened his official visit to Dubai in the Emirates - stressed that he has ordered an internal investigation into reports published by the daily and that so far no evidence has been found that the law was broken. Shabtai also wrote a letter to police forces stressing "total confidence" in their "integrity" and that he will fully cooperate with the investigation. (ANSAmed).




Migrants: Greece 'responsible' for cold-related deaths-Turkey 'Athens continuing illegal pushbacks', Turkish foreign minister

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, FEBRUARY 8 - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said "Greece is responsible for the death of 19 innocents who lost their lives due to the cold", Anadolu news agency reported, referring to migrants who died of hypothermia in the border area between Turkey and Greece last week.



"Violating international law and human rights, Greece continues its policy of pushbacks", said Cavusoglu during a joint press conference with Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto, claiming that asylum seekers died due to alleged pushbacks by Greek officials at the border with Turkey.



Ankara regularly accuses Athens of pushing back refugees attempting to enter Greek territory not only by land but also by crossing the Aegean to reach islands near the Turkish coast.



According to a report by Turkish coast guards, in 2021 nearly 16,000 migrants were rescued after being pushed back by Greek officials. Athens has denied the allegations but the situation caused tensions with the European Union, with which Turkey signed an agreement on migrants in 2016. (ANSAmed).




GENEVA - The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday urged Tunisian President Kais Saied to restore the Supreme Judicial Council and warned that its dissolution could seriously undermine the rule of law, the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary in the country.

"Much still needs to be done to align the legislation, procedures and practices of the judicial sector to international standards", however "this is a big step in the wrong direction", said Bachelet in a statement released in Geneva. On July 25, 2021 President Saied suspended parliament and took over executive duties. "Since then - said the UN statement - attempts to stifle dissent have increased, also through abuse towards actors of civil society".

The ambassadors of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, United States of America and the European Union in Tunisia also said in a joint statement that they were "deeply concerned for the announced intention of unilaterally dissolving the Supreme Judicial Council, whose mission is to guarantee the correct functioning of the judicial system and the respect of independence". "A transparent, independent and efficient judiciary - along with the respect of the principle of the separation of powers - are essential for the good functioning of a democracy at the service of the population, based on the respect of the rule of law and fundamental rights and freedoms", concluded the statement.


BRUSSELS - The European Union is "concerned" by the decision of President Kais Saied to dissolve the Superior council of magistrates and insists on the "importance of the independence of the judiciary", said the spokesperson of the leader of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, Nabila Massrali.

"We follow with concern the evolution of the situation in Tunisia, including recent announcements of the president of the Republic on the dissolution of the Superior council of magistrates", said Massrali.

"In the respect of the sovereignty of the Tunisian people, we recall, once again, the importance of the separation of powers and the independence of magistrates as key elements for democracy, stability and prosperity of the country", he added.

"Substantial reforms like this one, as important and necessary as they may be, must be the result of an inclusive and transparent process", he warned.

Tunisian President Saied, who took full powers last July, has announced the dissolution of the self-governing body of magistrates, accusing it of being partial, in a video broadcast in the night between Sunday and Monday.

Yesterday, police did not allow employees to access the organization's offices. The president of the Council Youssef Bouzakher denounced it as an "illegal closure" and accused the executive of "seizing State institutions and the judiciary with force".


Tunisia: magistrates announce two-day strike President lawyers' guild: 'Magistrates want to demonise Saied'

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, FEBRUARY 8 - The Association of Tunisian Magistrates (Amt) responded to the decision of Tunisian President Kais Saied to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council by urging all members of the judiciary to strike on February 9 and 10 in tribunals across the country.



The association also announced the organization of a sit-in of protest in front of the Supreme Judicial Council and urged all magistrates, members of civil society and national personalities to participate. It also indicated that a meeting has been organized on February 12 to discuss the situation of the Tunisian judiciary and the decisions of the president of the Republic.



Different positions on Saied's decision were instead taken by the president of the Tunisian lawyers' guild (Onat, Brahim Bouderbala, who told local radio Shems Fm that detractors of the president, including magistrates, only have the objective of demonizing Saied, who has a lot of respect for the legal profession, he said. "He assured me of this personally", noted Bouderbala, recalling that the lawyers' guild was repeatedly invited by the president of the Republic for consultations.



(ANSAmed).




Tunisia: Saied vows not to touch 'independence of judiciary' President says 'necessary' to dissolve council of magistrates

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, FEBRUARY 8 - During a meeting with Tunisian Premier Najla Bouden, President Kais Saied stressed that the next council of ministers - probably scheduled on Thursday, January 10 - will be dedicated to the dissolution and reorganization of the Superior council of magistrates, reassuring critics in Tunisia and abroad.



According to the president, the dissolution of the Superior council of magistrates has become a need. "I will not intervene with appointments or specific cases, but the duty and historic responsibility have imposed such a decision, also because the Tunisian people want the country to be cleaned", said Saied in a video published on the his office's page.



"This circus must end- I don't want to mention anybody's name, but those who consider justice a means to regulate their personal and political affairs must know that they will not be able to infiltrate tribunals", added the president, citing the "cover-up of evidence" in cases of the political murders in 2013 of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi.



"Some say that the president of the Republic wants to concentrate power in his hands but I only aspire to a Constitution that satisfies the expectations of Tunisians", he added. "I want a Constitution responding to the will of the people and that is not tailor-made". (ANSAmed).




Sir Kenneth Branagh said it had been a hell of a day for his family after his semi-autobiographical film Belfast was handed seven nominations at the 94th Academy Awards.

The director thanked Academy voters for the generous recognition and said his parents and grandparents would have been overwhelmed by the films success.

The film received nods including best picture, best director and best original screenplay along with best supporting actress for Dame Judi Dench and best supporting actor for Ciaran Hinds.

Ciaran Hinds, who received a best supporting nomination for his role in Belfast, said he felt astounded and deeply grateful (Brian Lawless/PA)

Its a long way from the streets of Belfast to the Academy Awards, he said.

Today, I think of my mother and father, and my grandparents  how proud they were to be Irish, how much this city meant to them.

They would have been overwhelmed by this incredible honour  as am I.

Given a story as personal as this one, its a hell of a day for my family, and the family of our film. I thank Academy voters for their incredible and generous recognition.

Dame Judi Dench received a nod for best supporting actress in Belfast and Branagh was nominated for best director (Isabel Infantes/PA)

We are honoured to be among the other extraordinary nominees in a remarkable year for films, and I salute the superb cast and crew of Belfast for their exceptional talent, comradeship and kindness.

Actor Ciaran Hinds, who received a best supporting actor nomination for his role in the film, said he was astounded and deeply grateful for the recognition.

Having worked in this industry for nearly 50 years, I thought there wasnt much that could surprise me still, he said.

Today, I can honestly say, I am astounded, thrilled and deeply grateful.

British star Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley were also recognised for their parts in Maggie Gyllenhaals The Lost Daughter.

Previous Oscar-winner Colman said she felt bloody brilliant after receiving the nomination for her role in The Lost Daughter (Netflix/PA)

Previous Oscar-winner Colman said she felt bloody brilliant after receiving the nomination.

Oh my God yes. Im so excited! she said.

And with Maggie and Jessie, and our fellow nominees, this feeling right now is bloody brilliant.

Thank you thank you thank thank you xxxxxx.

Buckley who received an Academy nod for best supporting actress said it was a wild dream come true.

I am in complete shock! The Lost Daughter is so special to me, she said.

Jessie Buckley. who received an Academy nod for best supporting actress in The Lost Daughter, said it was a wild dream come true (Netflix/PA)

To be recognised for anything connected to it is just a wild dream come true.

And to gorgeous Olivia Colman and our leader and legend Maggie Gyllenhaal, Im so lucky to share this ride with you incredible women. Thank you.

Big success also came for Jane Campion. Her dark western The Power Of The Dog led the pack with 12 nominations including best picture, best director and best actor for Benedict Cumberbatch for his role as a cruel rancher.

The films producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, from See-Saw Films, said it had been an incredible privilege to work with Campion, who made history by being the first woman to be nominated twice for best director.

Big success also came for Jane Campions The Power Of The Dog, which lead the pack with 12 nominations including best picture and best director (Netflix/PA)

It has been an incredible privilege to work with Jane Campion on The Power of The Dog, they said in a statement

She is a visionary director and one of the worlds finest filmmakers.

Her artistry and graceful command of this story can be seen in every frame of the film and we are so grateful to The Academy for recognising it with 12 nominations.

We are equally thrilled for Jane to receive her first ever Best Picture nomination and we are so proud of our incredible ensemble of cast and crew, including those nominated today.

Kirsten Dunst said said working on The Power Of The Dog had been a once-in-a-lifetime experience (Netflix/PA)

Kodi Smit McPhee, who was nominated for best supporting actor in the dark western, said he would be eternally grateful for the trust put in him by director Jane Campion.

Where do I even begin Im simply elated. This is beyond even my wildest imagination, he said, reacting to the news.

Im forever indebted to Janes brilliance and am eternally grateful for her trust in me to bring Peter to life.

Shes a singular talent that every actor should be so lucky to work with. I think I can speak for the cast when I say we were in the most trusted hands imaginable.

Dunst, who played Smit McPhees onscreen mother Rose Gordon, said said working on the film was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

To be honoured by the Academy is a truly humbling experience. For both Jesse and I to get our first nominations together is beyond our wildest dreams.

Congratulations to Jane, Benedict, Kodi and Jesse on their nominations and the entire cast and crew of The Power Of The Dog.

Working on this film was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and Im forever grateful for Jane trusting me to bring Roses story to life.

Thank you to the Academy for recognising our work and for putting me amongst such a remarkable group of actresses.
The Duchess of Cambridge has donned a comfy sweater and sat down by a fire to record a bedtime story reading for CBeebies.

Sat cross-legged on a rug, Kate narrates the modern childrens classic, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, by Jill Tomlinson, to mark Childrens Mental Health Week.

The duchess is following in the footsteps of Hollywood star Chris Evans, best known for playing Captain America; Foo Fighters frontman, Dave Grohl; and British actor, Tom Hiddleston, who have all appeared on CBeebies Bedtime Stories.

For the broadcast on the BBCs channel for young children, the duchess wears jeans and a Fair Isle jumper and appears to be sat in the corner of a green space, with a hot chocolate within reach, two soft, toy owls for company and a fire bowl burning away.

Kate will read a childrens classic on the BBC channel CBeebies (Tolga Akmen/PA)

Patricia Hidalgo, director of BBC Childrens and Education, said: I couldnt be more proud to have the duchess read a CBeebies Bedtime Story as we mark the 20th anniversary of our CBeebies and CBBC channels.

Its such a special and relevant tale and perfectly represents this years Childrens Mental Health week theme. I cant wait to see her deliver her own take on such a classic story and Im sure our audience cant either.

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, illustrated by Paul Howard, tells the story of Plop, a baby barn owl, who is helped by others to grow in confidence and overcome his fears.

Childrens Mental Health Week is a national event that aims to highlight the importance of the issue and Kate, whose reading will be screened on Sunday, picked Tomlinsons book as the story chimes with this years theme of Growing Together.

Youngsters and adults are being encouraged to consider how they have grown emotionally, recognising that trying new things can help people move beyond their comfort zones.

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark read by the duchess on CBeebies Bedtime Stories will be screened at 6.50pm on Sunday.
Should I stay or should I go now? Thats the conundrum for people longing to travel internationally.

Plans to take at least one vacation with family and friends in the next six months is a priority for more than 4 in 5 people, according to Expedia. Roughly half of millennials (49%) and Gen Z (47%) are likely to travel internationally or already have an international trip booked.

The inevitable questions: Is it safe to travel internationally? And whats the best way to navigate the myriad of ever-changing restrictions set by countries, airlines, cruise ships, hotels, shops, and restaurants along the way?

Its complicated. Here's how to stay ahead.

Know your destinations travel requirements

Check testing and travel requirements obsessively as they can change quickly, said Gerri Detweiler, a resident of Sarasota, Fla., who resigned from her position as education director for the Nav site in December and has been traveling with her husband and daughter in Europe.

No matter how well you try to plan, things can go awry, she wrote in an email from Portugal. Testing requirements from country to country are confusing and can be frustrating.

Many countries, in fact, now only allow vaccinated travelers to enter.

U.S. citizens can only travel from the United States to Spain on non-essential travel if they show proof that theyre fully vaccinated. (Photo Credit: Getty Creative)

Effective February 1, for example, U.S. citizens can only travel from the United States to Spain on non-essential travel if they show proof that theyre fully vaccinated and have received the last required dose of their COVID-19 vaccine no less than 14 days and no more than 270 days (9 months) prior to arrival.

On the flip side, some countries, including England, Ireland and The Netherlands are relaxing restrictions once youre there.

How can you keep track? The State Department website offers country specific information about COVID restrictions. The embassy website, or the countrys official government site, of where youre heading also typically provides the latest travel requirements and any forms you might need to fill out.

Online travel sites also offer current country details for tourists. Kayak and Sherpa, for instance, regularly update information on entry restrictions and travel requirements for countries around the world.

Meantime, airline and cruise ship websites list their specific protocol. Holland America, for instance, requires passengers to be fully vaccinated and provide a negative viral COVID-19 test result taken within 48-hours before setting sail. Passengers also must wear face masks in indoor areas of ships, except when eating or drinking or in their own staterooms.

For those who opt to set sail on a cruise, flexibility is the order of the day. (Photo Credit: Getty Creative)

Monitor changing risk

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides an interactive world map with its up-to-date Covid-19 Travel Recommendations by country.

On January 18, it added 22 countries and territories to its highest travel risk category, Level Four: Very High, due to the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases from the omicron variant. Many of the popular destinations were in the Caribbean, including Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Turks & Caicos, and Saint Lucia.

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The agency now has over 100 countries and territories at Level 4. It earmarks countries as Level 4 when more than 500 positive cases per 100,000 residents are reported in the previous 28 days. The CDC recommendation: if you travel to a Level 4 country, you should be fully vaccinated.

Cruisers, take note, the CDC still says its not safe to cruise, regardless of vaccination status.

Guides for pandemic travel

European Union countries encourage people to carry an electronic health pass that is uploaded on your cell phone and displays a QR code that you present at shops, hotels, and restaurants that you visit. The EU digital COVID is also now used in non-EU countries, including Israel, Morocco, and Panama.

The certificate also makes it easier to travel across borders, but its not mandatory. You can generally purchase one at a pharmacy upon arrival. Some embassies will provide access to signing up for a free pass before your departure from the U.S.

Now also might be the time to consider travel insurance. Flight cancellations and even the chance of testing positive for COVID and having to delay a flight and quarantine can disrupt the best planned getaway. The airlines, in general, have been flexible about penalty-free flight changes to date, but the cost of extra hotel nights and meals can add up.

Standard trip insurance plans generally cost 4% to 8% of your non-refundable trip costs. Shop for a plan that offers named- perils coverage that provides trip cancellation, travel delay, and trip interruption coverage. The travel delay benefit, for example, can cover the cost of your accommodations and meals during quarantine if you contract the virus. There are, however, usually daily limits on the amount you can shell out.

Buying cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage will usually give you up to 75% reimbursement for your prepaid expenses no matter what your reason for canceling, but the coverage is pricey, often 40% or more on top of your basic coverage. One place to research coverage is at Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison provider.

The airport experience is more frustrating than it has been in decades. (Photo Credit: Getty Creative)

Patience and flexibility

Navigating the airport checkpoint is a significant hurdle.

The challenge right now with international travel is getting from one country to another, said Kathleen Peddicord, founder of Live & Invest Overseas. The airport experience is more complicated, and frankly, frustrating than it's been in decades.

Another issue is a dearth of flights.

There are way fewer flights and less staff on the ground to help travelers, Peddicord said. You're going to have to be flexible on travel dates and be more open to connections because there aren't as many direct flights, even to very common and popular destinations.

Its not likely to be smooth for most air travelers. Build in more time for the air experience than ever, she said. If you used to arrive for an international flight two hours early, allow three hours. The lines to check documentation are very, very long.

For those who opt to set sail on a cruise, flexibility is the order of the day. Its possible that itineraries can change on a dime due to a port closure, or a sudden new onboard COVID related protocol. And if you do test positive while onboard, you will be quarantined in your cabin.

Homeward bound

Returning home from international destinations has its own set of hoops to jump through. The CDC requires that all travelers coming to the United States provide official proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within one day of their flight, or documentation of recent recovery from the virus, along with a letter from a health professional certifying that the person is cleared to travel.

Many U.S. embassies provide lists of approved local testing providers. Airlines also provide information about testing requirements and airport testing options. Then too, many hotels have the return testing process set up for their departing guests. For the record, you can't use at-home tests you packed to board a flight.

We paid 30 each for our pre-flight home tests, taken at the pharmacy right inside the Charles de Gaulle airport concourse, said Bill Dant, who recently returned to his home in Boston, Va., from a three-week trip to France. The wait for results was only 15 minutes. You get a printout on paper that you present at check-in.

Overall, traveling during COVID may be a hassle, but the hurdles can be surmounted.

If youre comfortable with the potential risks, put your blinders on, make sure you've got the current information on travel requirements, have your documentation ready, and accept that your airport experience is going to be a very painful three hours, but it's only three hours, Peddicord said. When you land at your destination and head off on your vacation, you see Paris is still Paris and Italy is still Italy, and traveling is as great as it always was.

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Kerry is a Senior Columnist and Senior Reporter at Yahoo Money. Follow her on Twitter @kerryhannon

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The Government has been accused of using Covid vaccine donations to developing countries to cut aid spending on the sly.

Analysis by the Centre for Global Development (CGD) claimed that by overestimating the cost of providing the vaccines to developing countries, the Government could reduce the amount it spent on aid by around 171 million.

Ranil Dissanayake, a policy fellow at the CGD, said the move would be immoral and illogical and claimed it would cut real spending on aid by more than the Government donated to Uganda and Tanzania combined last year.

He said: The UK has made many bad calls with its aid budget, but this one is truly scandalous: they plan to make a fiscal profit on donated vaccines by claiming a larger ODA [official development assistance] value than we paid for them.

The UK has promised to donate 100 million vaccine doses to developing countries by June 2022, including 80 million AstraZeneca vaccines and 20 million from Johnson and Johnson.

Although the price paid for the vaccines has not been published, both the British Medical Journal and the CGD have estimated the cost to the UK at three dollars per dose for AstraZeneca and between 8.50 dollars and 10 dollars per dose for Johnson and Johnson.

This would give an average of around 4.40 dollars per dose donated by the UK, but proposals being discussed by major donors would allow countries to claim they cost 6.72 dollars per dose when calculating their spending on international aid.

Donors argue that this better reflects the global average price per vaccine, but it is well above the level the UK is likely to have paid and would allow the Government to claim it has spent more on aid than it actually had.

Mr Dissanayake said: Its immoral to cut aid because were giving away vaccines we bought for ourselves already; its illogical to plan public finances to spend 0.5% of GNI of ODA and then to cut it back on the sly like this; and its unpopular with MPs across the spectrum.

Our global partners deserve better than these tricks to minimise our help to them.

CGD polled MPs on the subject, finding that 92% thought the UK should only claim at most the price paid for the vaccines as aid spending, rather than claiming the higher, global price.

A group of 30 international development organisations have gone further, calling for plans to count vaccine donations towards aid spending to be scrapped entirely.

In a statement on Tuesday, the group, which includes ActionAid, Oxfam and Save the Children, said: These vaccine doses were never purchased in the interest of development partners and should not be counted as such. Indeed, excess purchases of doses in a context of limited global supply were directly responsible for denying access to these life-saving tools in developing countries.

They added: Tapping into existing ODA budgets to pay for doses never originally intended for developing countries risks, in some cases, diverting funds away from other vital humanitarian and development programmes.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been approached for comment.
Boris Johnson has said the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Lithuania and its other Nato allies amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Mr Johnson made the comments at a meeting with Ingrida Simonyte, the Prime Minister of Lithuania, in Downing Street on Tuesday.

We are closer than ever before, I think its fair to say. We see eye to eye on a lot of very important matters, he said.

Ms Simonyte said this is crucial because the times are, so to say, not the calmest, to which Mr Johnson agreed: Theyre not calm.

The Lithuanian PM added: Its very to good to know that, you know, we have a very strong partner and friend and at least that we are together, like Nato and others, and I think its extremely good what you are doing on Ukraine.

Mr Johnson responded: Were shoulder to shoulder with you and all our Nato allies and we want to make clear that we support you we support you when it comes to the immigration issues in Belarus and all the questions that were now facing.

Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has been accused of stoking a migrant crisis on the EUs eastern border, including in Lithuania and Poland.

It comes after Germany announced on Monday that another 350 of its soldiers would go to Lithuania to strengthen Natos eastern flank.

Prime Minister Boris Johnston speaks to the Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Simonyte (Tom Nicholson/PA)

Meanwhile, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said a further 350 British troops would be sent to Poland to send a strong signal that the two countries stand side by side.

Mr Johnson said later on Monday that he was considering dispatching RAF Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect south-eastern Europe.

Writing in The Times, he said the UK will not flinch now and that Britain will remain unconditional and immovable in supporting the Nato defence alliance.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis will continue this week, with Mr Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss expected to head to Moscow for talks.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was whisked out of an event Tuesday at a Washington high school by Secret Service agents following an apparent bomb threat.

Emhoff was at Dunbar High School for an event in commemoration of Black History Month. He was in the school's museum for about five minutes before a member of his security detail approached him saying, We have to go. Emhoff was removed from the building into his waiting motorcade.

Students and educators at the school were instructed to leave the school, with an announcement saying, Evacuate the building.

District of Columbia Public Schools spokesman Enrique Gutierrez said there was a bomb threat. It was not known if it was related to Emhoff's visit or the Black History Month event.

Emhoff spokesperson Katie Peters said the school alerted the Secret Service about what she termed a security incident or a report of a potential security incident.

U.S. Secret Service was made aware of a security threat at a school where the @SecondGentleman was meeting with students and faculty, Peters added in a later tweet. Mr. Emhoff is safe and the school has been evacuated. We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work.

The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Students at the school were dismissed for the day, since it was expected to take several hours for security officials to sweep the building, principal Nadine Smith said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing a meeting in a downtown DC garage the day before the January 6 Capitol Hill riot between the then-leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, the now-indicted leader of the Oath Keepers militia and other far-right figures, according to two witnesses interviewed by FBI agents.

Among the half dozen people gathered at a garage near the Phoenix Park Hotel was Oath Keepers head Stewart Rhodes, who was indicted this year on charges of seditious conspiracy in the insurrection. Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was not present at the riot, was also at the garage meeting but left Washington afterward.

The meeting put the heads of the nations two best-known violent far-right pro-Trump groups in immediate proximity to each other 24 hours before the breach of the Capitol. Three attendees or their representatives contacted by Reuters say they did not discuss matters related to January 6.

Bianca Gracia, who heads a pro-Trump coalition called Latinos for Trump and an affiliated Political Action Committee named Latinos For America First, was at the garage meeting as well, according to witnesses and video taken by a documentary film crew. Also present was Kellye SoRelle, a lawyer for the Oath Keepers and Latinos for Trump. SoRelle told Reuters she was invited by Gracia to meet Tarrio and share information about criminal defense attorneys. She said her role in the meeting was brief, and did not concern plans for the next day.

A U.S. House of Representatives committee is investigating the January 6 riot, in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump sought to block Congress certification of Joe Bidens election as president. The committee has subpoenaed the phone records of a photographer who accompanied Tarrio to parts of the garage meeting.

Tarrio told Reuters last June that his meeting at the garage with Rhodes was unplanned and not significant. By coincidence, Tarrio said, he was inside  that parking garage. He said he shook hands with Rhodes solely to be polite. Hes here, Im not going to not shake somebodys hand. He has denied any Proud Boys planning ahead of January 6.

Reached again in January, Tarrio said he would not answer further questions. I usually speak to all reporters, he texted back after one question, but when they become conspiracy theorists  thats usually when I sever ties. Tarrio has said he stepped down as Proud Boys chairman earlier this year.

An attorney for Rhodes, who is being held pending trial, emailed Reuters that there was no coordination between Rhodes and Tarrio.

The FBIs investigation of the meeting has not previously been reported, nor have the circumstances of the gathering. A short clip of the gathering appeared in a British Channel 4 documentary last year about the Proud Boys, spurring some chatter on Twitter.

Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers poses during an interview session in Eureka.

Michael Simmons, who was present during part of January 6 with Rhodes, said Rhodes had not mentioned meeting Tarrio. When Reuters told him of the meeting, Simmons said he was shocked because, he said, Rhodes had been critical of Tarrio and the Proud Boys. Why would you meet Enrique in a fucking parking garage? said Simmons, who has not been charged. It just blows my mind. Thats crazy!

Federal prosecutors have charged multiple leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers with playing leading roles in the mayhem of January 6. Tarrio has not been indicted in the case.

The Proud Boys is an all-male group that encourages street brawling against leftist protestors and calls itself Western chauvinist. Oath Keepers wear military-style uniforms, train in military tactics and often carry firearms in operations.

Last March, prosecutors cited the social media messages of one Oath Keeper leader indicted in the January 6 case. This week I organized an alliance between Oath Keepers, Florida 3%ers, and Proud Boys, he allegedly wrote in a Facebook message before the riot, citing a different gathering, prosecutors said in a court filing. The Three Percenters is a loosely organized far right militia, some of whose members have been charged in the Capitol attack.

So far, however, the Justice Department has not disclosed clear evidence that the far-right groups plotted to come together on January 6.

An FBI spokesperson declined to comment.

'OUT OF SIGHT'

On the afternoon of January 5, 2021, Washington teemed with Trump supporters preparing for January 6, when Congress was scheduled to ratify Bidens presidential victory at the Capitol. Tarrio had just been released after a night in a Washington jail, where he was held on charges of burning a Black Lives Matter flag in December 2020. A judge ordered him to leave town until his court appearances. Tarrio later served nearly six months for burning the banner and carrying illegal rifle magazines into the city that December.

After he was released on January 5, the documentary film crew working on the Proud Boys report drove Tarrio to the Phoenix Park Hotel, not far from the Capitol building, said a source familiar with the matter.

Oath Keepers leader Rhodes had left Texas on January 3, spending over $10,000 on firearms equipment on his journey to the DC area, prosecutors say in an indictment unsealed January 4. The indictment said he conspired to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power. He stayed at a hotel in Vienna, Virginia.

Just as Tarrio arrived from jail January 5, Rhodes was outside the Phoenix Park Hotel in DC, said a source at the scene.

Gracia, the president of Latinos for Trump, was inside the hotel. SoRelle, the lawyer for Latinos for Trump, says Gracia invited her to meet Tarrio. While Tarrio is best known as the Proud Boys chairman, he was also previously involved in Latinos for Trump and had been its Florida state director.

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is released from jail in Washington.

Sorelle said her recollection was that Tarrio and a couple of others were in the garage when she walked in with Rhodes and Gracia. She said Rhodes shook Tarrios hand and the two exchanged pleasantries. Then she briefly discussed Tarrios need for a lawyer in the DC criminal case, for which hed been arrested the previous day. She said about six people were there. Latinos for Trump has not been accused in the January 6 violence.

Contacted this January, Gracia declined to discuss the garage meeting. Previously, she told Reuters her group had a morning rally on January 6 near the U.S. Senate, and that she left by 12:15 PM, went to her hotel and slept through the insurrection. Were a very spiritual group and were grounded in God and we stayed where we were supposed to stay and we prayed, she said. SoRelle says she too went to the morning January 6 rally by Latinos for Trump, where she spoke, as did Rhodes, SoRelle and Simmons said.

The photographer, Amy Harris, was also with Tarrio at the garage meeting January 5, two sources said. Harris, who originally specialized in photography of music concerts and festivals, had shifted to protests in 2020, and had begun focusing on Tarrio and the Proud Boys. The House committee has subpoenaed Harriss phone records; she is suing the January 6 committee to block the subpoena. Harriss work documenting Tarrio throughout the remainder of 2020 earned her Tarrios trust as a journalist and, accordingly, the trust of the members of his group, her suit said.

Harris and her lawyers declined to comment.

SoRelle said the garage meeting left her puzzled and she says she is unclear why it was held. She said the meeting was not necessary, as she had already shared information about possible lawyers with Tarrio and others. There was no reason for him to show up and there was no reason for me to be there, she said.

The documentary film crew was from a company called Saboteur Media. It gathered a snippet showing Tarrio, Rhodes and Gracia standing in the garage but does not have audio, according to a source familiar with it. Reuters has seen a photo of the participants standing together at the garage.

The FBI has obtained a copy of the footage, a source told Reuters.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that it was not the job of the Republican National Committee to censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for participating in the House investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, which he described as a violent insurrection, in contrast to the partys resolution characterizing it as legitimate political discourse.

His blunt rebuke of the RNCs actions on Friday contrasted sharply with the reactions of House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who declined to say whether he supported the move, and another member of the House Republican leadership, who said the party had acted within its rights.

The resolutions continuing reverberations laid bare the unresolved tensions within the Republican Party between those who want to keep the focus solely on Democrats ahead of this years midterm elections, and President Trump and his loyalists, who want to punish his political opponents and revisit the 2020 presidential race.

Cheney, of Wyoming, and Kinzinger, of Illinois, have been particular targets of the former presidents ire for being the only two Republicans on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, in which a mob of Trumps supporters overran the U.S. Capitol in hopes of preventing the certification of Joe Bidens victory.

The RNCs censure denounced the panel as a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.

Trump cheered the resolution on Friday, disparaging Cheney and Kinzinger as RINOs, for Republicans in Name Only, and stating that the Republican Party would be far better off without them!

But the censure is proving to be a lingering headache for many Republicans, who are being pressed to explain whether they agree that Trump supporters violent actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6 were legitimate.

McConnell, speaking at his weekly Capitol Hill news conference, was unambiguous in describing that day.

It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent a peaceful transfer of power, after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next, he said.

In singling out Cheney and Kinzinger, the RNC broke from the norm of not getting involved in intraparty fights, the Kentucky senator said. Traditionally, the view of the national party committee is that we support all members of our party, regardless of their positions on some issues, he said.

McCarthy, stopped in a Capitol hallway Tuesday by a CNN reporter, said the party resolution was not referring to those who committed violent acts, but to six RNC members who have been subpoenaed by the committee though they were not at the Capitol that day. (The text of the censure has no specific denunciation of the days violence.)

Everybody knows anybody who broke in and caused damage that was not called for  those people, we said from the very beginning, should be in jail, McCarthy said.

The congressman from Bakersfield later speed-walked away from an ABC News reporter asking about the resolution, saying she should make an appointment with his office.

The difference in tone from the two GOP leaders is partly a reflection of the constituencies of their chambers members: Ideologically gerrymandered House districts push many Republican representatives to cater to bases loyal to Trump, while senators run statewide and must appeal to a broader ideological swath of voters.

The former president has also been harshly critical of McConnell, despite the Senate minority leaders statement one month after Jan. 6 that he would absolutely support Trump if he were the partys nominee in 2024. McCarthy, meanwhile, has staked his bid for recapturing the House majority on maintaining a good relationship with Trump.

McCarthy was not present at Tuesdays news conference for House GOP leadership. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who became the No. 3-ranked House Republican after the party booted Cheney from leadership, said the RNC has every right to take any action.

The position I have is: Youre ultimately held accountable to voters in your district, voters who you represent, Stefanik added. And were going to hear the feedback and the views of voters pretty quickly here this year.

At the RNC meeting last week, officials focused on whether Cheney and Kinzinger should be expelled from the party or censured.

Once they settled on the latter, the phrasing about legitimate political discourse wasadded as an afterthought, according to an RNC member who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. In hindsight, the member said, the resolution should have more clearly referred to people who were not at the Capitol during the riot.

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel scrambled after the resolutions passage to add that the phrase legitimate political discourse did not refer to the Capitol rioters actions.

The RNC has repeatedly condemned all acts of political violence and lawlessness, including what occurred on Jan. 6, an RNC spokeswoman said Tuesday in response to McConnells comments. Unfortunately, this committee has gone well beyond the scope of the events of that day, and [that] is why the RNC overwhelmingly passed a resolution censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

McDaniel later wrote an op-ed for the conservative news site Townhall blaming the media for shameful, outrageous, and patently false coverage of the resolution.

Still, it was fellow Republicans, including McDaniels uncle, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who denounced the resolution.

To suggest that a violent attack on the seat of democracy is legitimate political discourse is so far from accurate as to shock and make people wonder what were thinking, Romney told reporters Monday.

Asked whether the censure could harm Republicans efforts to retake Congress this year, Romney said: Anything that my party does that comes across as being stupid is not going to help us.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri agreed that the debate did not help the GOPs cause, but said that D.C. Republicans criticizing the partys actions were the ones causing damage.

Whatever you think about the RNC vote, it reflects the view of most Republican voters, Hawley told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.

Ron Nehring, a former Republican National Committee member from California, predicted the brouhaha will fade from voters memories long before the November election.

I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have handed the Republican Party a wonderful set of issues to run on, he said, listing topics such as inflation and the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Those are overwhelmingly winning issues for the Republican Party, and thats where the focus should be.

Times staff writer Jennifer Haberkorn in Washington contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
N.Korea boasts of 'shaking the world' by testing missiles that can strike U.S. FILE PHOTO: Men walk past a street monitor showing news of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile test in Tokyo

By Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea boasted on Tuesday that it is one of only a handful of countries in the world to field nuclear weapons and advanced missiles and the only one standing up to the United States by "shaking the world" with missile tests.

International tension has been rising over a recent series of North Korean ballistic missile tests, actions long banned by the U.N. Security Council. January was a record month of such tests, with at least seven launches of nine missiles including a new type of "hypersonic missile" able to manoeuvre at high speed.

Also among the tests was the first firing since 2017 of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, capable of striking U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean.

"In today's world where many countries waste time dealing with the United States with submission and blind obedience, theres only our country on this planet that can shake the world by firing a missile with the U.S. mainland in its range," North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The series of tests since New Year represented "remarkable achievements" that strengthened North Korea's "war deterrence," the statement on the ministry's website said.

"There are more than 200 countries in the world, but only a few have hydrogen bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and hypersonic missiles," it said.

The statement cited the Hwasong-15, the longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ever tested by North Korea, which was test fired once in 2017 and is believed to have the range to deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in the United States, as well as the Hwasong-12, which North Korea once threatened to use on Guam.

Talks to persuade Pyongyang to give up or limit its arsenal in return for sanctions relief have been stalled since 2019.

The United States called on North Korea on Monday to defund its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and prioritize the needs of its own people.

U.S. and South Korean officials say they fear the launch of the Hwasong-12 on Jan. 30 could be a step toward fully resuming tests of North Korea's ICBMs or nuclear weapons. North Korea has not conducted a nuclear test or fired an ICBM since 2017.

A Washington think tank said on Monday it has identified a military base close to North Korea's border with China that is likely intended for stationing ICBMs.

(Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin, Editing by William Maclean)
Warning: The following article contains graphic allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office will not criminally charge Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer after investigating allegations of sexual assault against him, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

The district attorney decided there is insufficient evidence in the case to "prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that Bauer committed a crime, the Times reported. The investigation by the Pasadena police department has been open for five months.

A San Diego woman said Bauer had two sexual encounters with her that turned violent at his home in Pasadena last year. Bauer has been on paid administrative leave since the allegations in late June.

Bauer could still face MLB punishment

Trevor Bauer will reportedly not be charged by the LA district attorney's office. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Bauer was put on paid administrative leave on July 2 by MLB and with the agreement of the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) the leave continued to be extended throughout the 2021 season. The last time he pitched for the Dodgers was on June 28.

The league and commissioner Rob Manfred can still opt to suspend the ace as they have for other players who have not faced criminal charges.

"MLB's investigation is ongoing, and we will comment further at the appropriate time," MLB said in a statement.

The next step is for Bauer to meet with MLB investigators, who will inform him of their findings and have him respond, per the Times.

A potential suspension falls under what's allowed by the domestic violence and sexual assault policy. In 2019, Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias was arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery and ultimately not criminally charged. Manfred issued a 20-game suspension.

The longest an MLB player has been suspended under the policy without being charged is a full season. Manfred issued discipline against reliever Sam Dyson in March of 2021. MLB has suspended 14 players over the six years the policy has been active and it has ranged from 15 games to 162, per the Times.

Bauer sexual assault case

The allegations of assault came out in June by the woman in San Diego. The following day, in the restraining order filed against Bauer, she gave disturbing details that include graphic images into the encounters.

The two reportedly met through Instagram and agreed to meet. She said the sex was initially consensual, but turned violent. Among other allegations, she said Bauer choked her until she was unconscious and performed anal sex on her during that time. She said in the restraining order she told Bauer the next morning she didn't enjoy it, and said he seemed to understand that. They agreed to meet again a month later, and she said it was again violent. She said he punched her in the head.

The restraining order was lifted after a four-day court hearing in August, with the judge citing the unlikelihood that Bauer would "cause [the accuser] any harm or even have contact" with her. The Pasadena Police Department opened an investigation. Another woman said a similar incident happened to her when he was with Cleveland in 2017. Bauer's representatives have called the second allegation "categorically false," and said the meeting with the San Diego woman was consensual.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks by video feed from Michigan on the first day of the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention. (Pool via Reuters)

(Reuters) - A second person charged in a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 has agreed to plead guilty and testify at a trial in March, according to a federal court filing on Monday.

Kaleb Franks, 27, will plead guilty to kidnapping conspiracy, in a plea deal approved by prosecutors and his lawyers. The charge carries a sentence of up to life in prison.

Franks is scheduled to stand trial in March in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan alongside four others charged in the case and will admit to conspiring from June 2020 to October 2020 to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat.

In August last year, another man who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the plot received a sentence of just over six years in prison, after he also agreed to testify against fellow extremists in the "Wolverine Watchmen" militia who were accused in the conspiracy.

Ty Garbin was the first to be convicted of scheming to abduct Whitmer from her vacation home. Since the FBI said it uncovered the conspiracy by members of the militia group, more than a dozen men have been charged in state or federal court.

Prosecutors said the suspected participants in the plot sought Whitmer's capture in retribution for wide-ranging public health orders imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Violent threats have become an increasing factor in American politics, ranging from the hundreds of people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, trying to overturn then-president Donald Trump's November 2020 election defeat, to phone threats made to election workers.

Whitmer, who served as a co-chair of Joe Biden's presidential campaign, has previously accused Republican Trump of hyping up far-right groups as he denounced COVID mitigation efforts that were carried out in states run by Democrats.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks during a news conference in Detroit in 2020. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and her 4-year-old son were settling in to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas after putting up Christmas decorations when dozens of protesters descended on her home in December 2020 chanting Stop the Steal and We want an audit.

Benson had been on the radar of President Trump and his allies since the spring, when he railed against her decision to send absentee ballot applications to all Michigan voters, calling her a rogue Secretary. But the late-night protest, marked by what she described at the time as "armed individuals shouting obscenities," solidified her role as a central figure in the fight over control of American elections.

The stakes have increased heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

Democratic groups, donors and incumbents like Benson have raised record amounts to secure seats in battleground states, while Trump loyalists are running on his unfounded election fraud claims, challenging Democrats and Republicans like Georgia's Brad Raffensperger in their bids to administer elections and sign off on the results.

Secretaries of state are, in the battle over the future of our democracy, serving on the front lines, said Benson, who is expected to soon announce her reelection plans, in an interview with The Times. [C]learly the work that we did to successfully defend democracy in 2020 has placed us in a greater spotlight.

Secretaries of state became household names in the last election as they worked to keep voters safe during the pandemic and debunk election misinformation spread by Trump and others. From Bensons absentee ballot applications, to Raffenspergers rejection of Trumps request to find 11,780 votes"  their decisions highlight the outsized role these officials increasingly play in elections.

Ballots are counted  and recounted  in Maricopa County, Ariz., in 2020. (Matt York / Associated Press)

Two dozen states will hold elections this fall to determine who oversees their elections . Trump has endorsed three candidates in those races, including a man seen outside the Capitol during last years Jan. 6 attack who has also acknowledged ties to the far-right Oath Keepers group.

He has also backed Kristina Karamo in Michigan, who rose to prominence in conservative media after claiming she saw fraudulent absentee ballot counting during the 2020 election. Karamo testified before a Michigan Senate committee investigating election fraud allegations, which found no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud in the state's election.

Karamo did not return requests for an interview.

Early indicators suggest Benson has fundraising and name advantage. A recent poll showed her with a 14-point lead. She has also out-raised Karamo 7 to 1, collecting $1.6 million in 2021, compared with Karamos $228,000, according to recent campaign finance reports. Karamo has led fundraising among Republicans vying for the party's nomination in April.

But Democrats say they don't take those numbers for granted. "I anticipate the cost of running for secretary of state to more than double this year, because of that additional scrutiny," Benson said. "What I'm grateful for is that more voters than ever before will be paying attention to these important races."

The Democratic Assn. of Secretaries of State has beefed up its operations ahead of the 2022 elections, hiring its first full-time staffer last April, Executive Director Kim Rogers, and raising a record $4.5 million between the group and its affiliated organizations in 2021.

Rogers said the group is focused on protecting incumbent election officials in Michigan, Colorado, Minnesota and New Mexico, holding on to the open seat in Arizona  where another high-profile Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs, is running for governor  and on potentially flipping Nevada and Georgia.

"We've always said that the states are the last line of defense," Rogers said, adding that she expects interest in state-level politics to increase in the wake of last month's failed effort to advance voting rights legislation in the U.S. Senate.

The Republican State Leadership Committee, which helps to elect Republicans to a range of down-ballot positions, including secretaries of state, raised $33.3 million in 2021, a $14-million increase from 2019.

Its up to us to stop them from continuing to erode public confidence in our elections and to support Republican secretaries of state in their efforts to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, RSLC communications director Andrew Romeo said in a statement to The Times.

If elected, Karamo and other Trump-backed candidates wouldn't be able to unilaterally change election laws and procedures. The powers of the secretary of state are set by state constitutions and election laws, safeguarding against a secretary "going rogue," said Rebecca Green, co-chair of the Election Law Program at William & Mary Law School.

And anything a secretary of state does can be challenged in court. Still, election officials wield significant power to interpret and implement the rules.

Benson's decision to send absentee ballot applications ahead of the election helped lead to a record turnout of the state's 7.7 million registered voters. Of the 5.5 million votes cast, nearly two-thirds were absentee ballots.

But a secretary's greatest power might be their role as the face of a state's election system. In the last two years they have increasingly been responsible for building trust in election processes and in those who administer them.

"Having the person who oversees elections fundamentally believe in the process and in democracy is a pretty important message right now," said Rogers, of the Democratic secretaries group.

A January Quinnipiac poll found that 57% of voters surveyed said they did not believe that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. However, 71% of Republicans said they did believe there was widespread voter fraud.

Supporters of then-President Trump chant during a protest against the election results in Detroit in 2020. (David Goldman / Associated Press)

Trumps Save America PAC has made donations from $5,000 to $7,000 to his favored candidates in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan. He has brought Georgia Rep. Jody Hice and Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem onstage to speak at recent rallies.

Finchem has acknowledged ties to the far-right Oath Keepers group and was seen outside the Capitol during last years Jan. 6 attack. He has also touted the audit of Maricopa Countys 2020 election results, though the review failed to find evidence of fraud, and recently co-sponsored legislation to give the Legislature the power to reject election results.

Hice, a former conservative talk show host, told Trump supporters at a Georgia rally in September that Raffensperger had massively compromised the right of the people at the ballot box and opened wide the door for all sorts of irregularities and fraud to march into our election system.

Raffensperger, meanwhile, has criticized Hice for challenging the certification of the presidential election but not his own reelection to Congress on the same ballot.

Trump's endorsed candidates are part of a coalition of pro-Trump "America First" secretary of state candidates, according to Nevada's Jim Marchant, a former Republican state representative running to lead elections there. Marchant received Trump's endorsement in his failed congressional bid in 2020. Marchant sued unsuccessfully to request a new election, claiming he was a victim of voter fraud.

Marchant, who as of now has not been endorsed again by Trump, said allies of the former president encouraged him to forgo a second congressional campaign in favor of running to oversee elections and reaching out to like-minded candidates.

He compared the campaign to a now-defunct group launched by liberal activists in 2006 to help elect Democratic secretaries of state following losses in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections that they blamed in part on Republican election officials. "We're just learning from them, and we're going to counter that," he said.







The effort to elect Trump allies has coincided with a push by Republican lawmakers in several states to shift duties away from secretaries of state, give legislatures more power over elections, and introduce steep fines for election officials who make technical mistakes or send absentee ballot applications to voters.

In Arizona, lawmakers blocked Hobbs, the Democratic secretary of state, from representing the state in election cases. In Georgia, last year's election overhaul replaced Raffensperger as the head of the State Board of Elections with a political appointee. The board now has power to take over local election boards.

The Georgia secretary has also suffered political consequences: a well-funded primary challenge from Hice and censure by the state GOP.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks at a news conference at the state Capitol in downtown Atlanta in 2020. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via AP)

Although efforts to transfer power from election officials to lawmakers have been successful in Republican-controlled states, they have stalled in states with split government such as Michigan, where Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed new voting laws from the GOP-held Legislature.

In response, conservative activists have launched petition drives, including one that would impose stricter voter ID laws, ban donations to local election offices and block local election officials from sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications. A second petition would create a powerful new board to audit election results, including the 2020 election.

The petitions need 340,000 valid signatures to advance to a vote in the Legislature. If passed, they cannot be vetoed.

As the 2022 midterms approach, Benson said she and her staff are meeting with voters to answer questions about election security, encouraging them to attend the testing of election equipment and volunteer to be poll workers.

The challenge of the 2020 election wasn't administering it or tabulating the results, she said. It was anticipating the level of doubt, falsehoods and concerted efforts to overturn the results that followed.

Though the 2020 effort to overturn a presidential election was a failure, she said. We should anticipate that future election subversion efforts will be more sophisticated, and strategic, and perhaps even successful.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Megan Corbin has been a dancer since the age of 5, performing professionally in musicals and in a Las Vegas show until right before the coronavirus pandemic.

Considering she was young, active and healthy, Corbin said she had no idea that the pain and pressure she felt in her back just a few months later, in July 2020, was a heart attack.

Instead, Corbin, who was 30 at the time, said she thought she was having gastrointestinal issues and waited for the pain to go away.

It was not until she woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain and then soon after felt her arms go numb, that she said her husband convinced her to seek medical help.

"He literally had to scoop me up off the bathroom floor," Corbin told "Good Morning America." "I was limp. I couldn't do anything."

Corbin's husband drove her to the hospital, where she said she was whisked away for evaluation and then told she was having a heart attack.

Corbin said she was at first relieved to have a diagnosis and to have it not be COVID-19, which was still relatively new at the time. That relief soon turned to shock, according to Corbin.

"Prior to the heart attack, I was very active," said Corbin, who was teaching online fitness classes at the time. "It was not on my radar at all. I had no idea that something like this would happen to me."

PHOTO: Megan Corbin, of California, was transferred to a hospital by plane after suffering a heart attack in July 2020. (Megan Corbin )

Corbin, now 31, is not alone, data shows. Only about half of women know that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, causing around one in every five female deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Among women 20 years and older, nearly 45% are living with some form of cardiovascular disease, which is also the leading cause of maternal death in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement.

MORE: Woman who suffered 3 heart attacks at age 40 wants women to know this about heart disease

In Corbin's case, it was only after her heart attack that she discovered she had high cholesterol and elevated blood pressure, two warning signs of heart disease.

Her heart attack was caused by a blockage in one of the main arteries to her heart.

Once she was diagnosed, Corbin was flown from Crescent City, Calif. to a Medford, Oregon, hospital with a more specialized cardiac unit. She underwent surgery so doctors could place a stent in the blocked artery to improve the blood flow.

Corbin was hospitalized for 10 days and then returned to California, where she spent the next several months recovering.

She opened her own dance studio in the fall of 2020, and said she preaches to her dance students what she has learned from her own heart attack experience, to listen to their bodies.

PHOTO: Megan Corbin, of California, survived a heart attack at age 30. (American Heart Association)

"I personally did not go [to the hospital] because I thought I would be turned away because I was so young and the only complaint that I had at the time was pressure in my back," Corbin said. "I like to tell my story so that people my age and younger can be aware to look for certain signs and symptoms."

"When you feel something, say something. Speak up and don't feel like you won't be heard," she said. "Listen to your body because no one knows your body like you do."

In women, symptoms of heart disease can include things like nausea, vomiting, fatigue, pain in the neck, jaw or throat and pain in the upper abdomen or back, in addition to chest pain, according to the CDC.

Corbin, who is featured in the AHA's "Real Women" campaign, said she hopes women in particular learn from her experience and take time to learn about their heart health and know numbers like their cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

PHOTO: Megan Corbin, of California, survived a heart attack at age 30. (American Heart Association)

"Just don't downplay your symptoms because it might be more serious than you think," she said. "Especially as women, we tend to go, go, go. We're superwoman. We do it all. We have to know when to step back and realize that we need a breather. We need a break."

5 lifestyle changes that can help prevent heart disease in women

1. Weight management: Shedding off extra fat and unnecessary pounds will help reduce the burden on your heart, lungs, blood vessels and skeleton, according to the AHA.

MORE: Mental health seen as possible new risk factor for heart disease: Why women are more affected

2. Not smoking: Smoking cigarettes is linked to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to the AHA. The best thing you can do for your health is to quit.

3. Reducing stress: Stress can affect some of the factors linked to an increased heart disease risk, according to the AHA, including high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

4. Being active: Daily physical activity and an active lifestyle can help increase the length, and quality of your life, the AHA states on their website.

5. Knowing your health numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.): It is important that women schedule annual physicals to check their health numbers. As high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, and high cholesterol can contribute to plaque (which can lead to clogged arteries), being aware of your numbers is an important step to take when it comes to owning your heart health. A systolic blood pressure of less than 120, and a diastolic blood pressure of less than 80 is considered normal by the AHA.

When it comes to cholesterol, a total cholesterol of less than 200 mg/dL is considered desirable, including less than 100 mg/dL of LDL and 60 mg/dL or more of HDL, according to the CDC. The recommendations for when to check cholesterol are once every five years after the age of 20, and more frequently if you have a medical condition such as high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity.

I survived a heart attack at age 30: Here's what I want women to know originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Republican Del. Tim Anderson, shown in November at a post-election gathering in Virginia Beach, introduced a bill (HB 27) that would prohibit the state government from requiring COVID-19 vaccines or discriminating against any citizen based on their vaccination status. (Mike Caudill/The Virginian-Pilot)

Richmond  The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 900,000 on Friday. But that hasnt stopped the nation from arguing over mask and vaccine mandates  and Virginia is no exception.

There are about a dozen bills in the General Assembly aimed at blocking or limiting mask and vaccine requirements. All were proposed by Republicans.

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Heres a roundup of the ones that are still alive:

Religious exemptions

A bill from Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, would require the Commissioner of Health to allow religious exemptions when ordering an immediate immunization of all persons during an epidemic.

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When we are talking about something as important as this, I do think there should be proper guardrails within the code so they know what their boundaries are, Freitas said in a subcommittee meeting.

The bill (HB 306) is in a House committee.

Vaccine mandate bans

Del. Tim Anderson, R-Virginia Beach, introduced a bill (HB 27) that would prohibit the state government from requiring COVID-19 vaccines or discriminating against any citizen based on their vaccination status.

In an email to The Virginian-Pilot, Anderson said he believed Virginians should be encouraged, not mandated, to get the shot.

This bill applies only to how government interacts with its citizens and does not apply to what steps private employers or businesses take related to COVID-19 mitigation, he wrote. Simply stated, Virginia state government may not discriminate in any way against an individual of the Commonwealth of Virginia based on the individuals COVID-19 status.

It was recently referred to a House subcommittee.

Loudoun Republican Dave LaRock put forth a bill that would require employers with COVID-19 vaccine mandates to let employees opt out for a range of reasons, including religious objections, medical conditions and current or anticipated pregnancy. Employees would also be exempt if they agreed to periodic testing or the use of personal protective equipment.

The bill (HB 934) additionally prohibits an employer from discriminating against those who claim an exemption. It establishes fines up to $50,000 for employers who do not comply.

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Another bill from LaRock (HB 962) would require the Department of Health to create a process for receiving reports about adverse vaccine reactions, and to make this information available to the public on a website.

Del. Wendell Walker, R-Lynchburg, brought forth a bill (HB 22) declaring adults have the right to be free from medical mandates, including the insertion or injection of any drugs.

Del. Marie March, R-Floyd, has proposed multiple bills addressing masks and vaccines.

HB 512 would prohibit state entities from requiring COVID-19 vaccines or discriminating against any citizen based on their vaccination status.

HB 510 would allow employees who experienced injuries or adverse reactions stemming from an employers medical mandate to take civil action against their employer.

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The employee may recover compensatory damages, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney fees and costs, it states.

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In the Senate, Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, introduced a bill (SB 601) that would prohibit the state government from mandating COVID-19 vaccines or discriminating against citizens based on their vaccination status. It has been referred to a Senate subcommittee.

Masking

A third bill (HB 514) introduced by March would prohibit the governor, Virginia Board of Health and Commissioner of Health from issuing mask mandates or requiring businesses to enforce masking among their customers. It would also block school boards from requiring public school students to wear masks at school, on school buses or at any school-sponsored events.

Del. Phil Scott, R-Spotsylvania, introduced a similar measure (HB 1038) that would block the governor, Board of Health and Commissioner of Health from issuing mask mandates. It does not, however, reference school boards.

Both bills were recently referred to a House subcommittee.

LaRock proposed legislation (HB 1036) that would prohibit school boards from requiring elementary and secondary public school students from wearing masks  unless the boards proved it was necessary to prevent a dangerous disease, and that there were no reasonable alternatives. The bill is awaiting action in a House subcommittee.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
A Stormont minister has criticised the huge operating costs of Northern Ireland Protocol checks as he outlined the multimillion-pound bill for the first year in operation.

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots detailed around 8.65 million of expenditure throughout 2021, but said other costs outside of his department meant the overall total was significantly higher.

Mr Poots, who last week ordered a unilateral halt to the agri-food checks, was responding to a Stormont Assembly question posed by Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister.

A High Court judge has suspended Mr Pootss direction to stop checks on incoming GB goods pending a full legal challenge into his decision next month.

Addressing the Assembly on Tuesday, the minister said the salary costs of the additional staff needed to complete the checks at Northern Ireland ports was around 4,447,500. He said that total included almost 1 million on agency staff.

Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots (Niall Carson/PA)

He said the running costs of the checking facilities in Northern Ireland and the service contract for lorry seal checks carried out on the GB side of the Irish Sea totalled 4.2million.

Mr Poots highlighted that local council staff were also involved in the checks and that expenditure was covered through the Food Standards Agency.

He also pointed to 200 million the Government has invested in a Trade Support Service (TSS) to help companies deal with the customs processes required by the protocol.

So the costs of the protocol to Northern Ireland is huge, the minister told the Assembly.

Its extensive and you know that is why we need to get solutions. Because nobody realistically can argue that, as the protocol exists, it is good for Northern Ireland. You cannot have this burden placed upon business and this cost placed upon the taxpayer and claim it to be good.

Mr Poots claims he cannot continue to lawfully conduct the checks without the wider approval of the Stormont Executive.

Mr Allister asked whether an absence of Executive approval meant the expenditure incurred to date was unlawful.

Doesnt this in fact mean that this is irregular spend, which would cause the accounts of the department to be qualified and another illustration of the squander at a time when vital services are so short of money, he said.

Mr Allister said the money could have employed 200 nurses for a year.

SDLP MLA Matthew OToole said onlookers would be darkly amused by Brexiteers talking about economic costs of their own project.

He said the Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast that Brexit would result in a long term 4% hit to the UK economy.

That is, in cash terms, 80 billion a year in revenue, he said.

Do he and Mr Allister, who asked the question, think that is good value for taxpayers money?

Mr Poots responded by claiming that the UK economy was growing faster than EU member states.

So lets be very clear, the UK is not on its knees as a consequence of Brexit in spite of the desires of the remoaners, he said.

Mr Poots said if a variety of protocol grace periods were to end and the arrangements implemented in full, Northern Ireland would not have enough vets to conduct the required number of checks.

Im not sure where the EU thinks were going to magic these vets up from, he said.

The minister branded the EU stance as bizarre and said the position of its supporters at Stormont beggared belief.
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey will not turn its back on its commitment to a Palestinian state in order to broker closer ties with Israel, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, ahead of an expected visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog next month.

The two countries expelled their ambassadors in 2018 after a bitter falling-out and relations have remained tense but Ankara has taken steps to mend strained regional ties, including with Israel.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Herzog would visit Turkey in mid-March, the first such trip in years, adding the two countries could discuss energy cooperation. Herzog has yet to confirm the visit.

Ankara, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has condemned Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its policy towards Palestinians, while Israel has called on Turkey to drop support for the militant Palestinian group Hamas which runs Gaza.

"Any step we take with Israel regarding our relations, any normalisation, will not be at the expense of the Palestinian cause, like some other countries," Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, referring to the rapprochement between Israel and some Gulf countries that has angered Turkey.

"Our position there is always clear," he added. "These ties normalising a bit more may increase Turkey's role regarding a two-state solution as well, as a country that will be in touch with both countries, but we will never turn back on our core principles."

Gulf states that have established ties with Israel have sought to reassure the Palestinians that their countries are not abandoning the quest for statehood, despite Palestinian leaders having decried the deals as a betrayal of their cause.

While Erdogan has spoken to Herzog before during the tensions, the Israeli presidency is a largely ceremonial role. In November, he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the first such call in years.

Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Monday there was a "positive approach" from Israel since the formation of their new government, according to broadcaster A Haber, while Bennett told reporters "things are happening very slowly and gradually", when asked about the possible visit to Turkey.

A senior Israeli official who requested anonymity said the country was "progressing with a good deal of care when it comes to Turkey", but added regional tensions should not prevent the two countries from collaborating.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Ece Toksabay and Alison Williams)
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ALPHARETTA, Ga.  The Alpharetta City Council approved the sale of more than $27 million in bonds to fund park projects and took steps toward amending the fiscal year 2022 budget at its Feb. 7 meeting.

The bonds will be sold to New York-based multinational banking company Morgan Stanley. Funding from the bonds sale will be used to fund the Alpha Loop project, a renovations at Wills Park and its Equestrian Center, a redevelopment of Union Hill Park and more.

The bond referendum drew sharp divides among council members before it was placed on the ballot last year. Voters overwhelmingly approved the bond in November.

Councilman Donald Mitchell thanked fellow Councilman Jason Binder and former council members Ben Burnett and Karen Richard for their support in getting the referendum on the ballot.

I couldnt be more pleased with how were moving the city forward with the parks, Mitchell said before voting to approve the resolution.

The bonds will begin maturing next year and will continue until 2046.

In other actions at the Feb. 7 meeting, the council agreed to award a contract for a Livable Centers Initiative study on South Main Street to planning and consulting company Kimley-Horn. The Livable Centers Initiative is a grant program headed by the Atlanta Regional Commission to promote walkable and diverse cities.

The study will cost a total of $200,000, with the Atlanta Regional Commission footing $160,000 of the bill and the city paying the rest.

The council also workshopped improvements to the Cumming Street corridor, upcoming improvements to Wills Park and the idea of closing roads into downtown during this years Taste of Alpharetta festival. The council did not take formal action on any of the items.

This years Taste of Alpharetta is set for May 12. The festival regularly draws crowds of over 40,000 to downtown. The plan discussed at the meeting calls for closing Main Street  Ga. 9  from Old Milton Parkway to Academy Street.

The city has received permission from the Georgia Department of Transportation to close off the area during the festival. Mayor Jim Gilvin said that while closures may cause inconvenience, the citys first priority is to ensure that festival attendees are safe.

Regarding Wills Park, Recreation & Parks Director Morgan Rodgers noted the park has 11 vehicle entrances, though some are easily missed. When money from the parks bonds comes in, Rodgers said one of the first priorities will be to create more noticeable gateway entrances at the corner of Wills Road and Old Milton Parkway and the corner of Old Milton and Roswell Road.

Rodgers said after that would come improvements to the Wacky World playground and Waggy World dog park within Wills Park.
MILTON, Ga.  The Milton City Council approved an automatic aid agreement Feb. 7 between the Milton Fire Department and the cities of Johns Creek, Roswell, Sandy Springs and Alpharetta.

Automatic aid allows the fire station closest to an incident to respond, regardless of the city in which it occurred. The partnership represents a significant advancement in the Milton Fire Departments ability to handle major incidents by seamlessly working with cities throughout North Fulton County.

Milton Fire Chief Gabe Benmoussa said the National Fire Protection Association recommends having 17 firefighters on scene for a 2,000-square-foot residential structure fire. However, Milton typically staffs between 15 and 19 firefighters on a shift, so if they respond to a fire and calls continue to come in, there are not enough crews to respond, so they need to ask for help from outside jurisdictions.

Benmoussa said the automatic aid agreement ensures the community will receive the help it needs.

It also eliminates the need for us to have specialized equipment, Benmoussa said. For example, a technical rescue team or hazardous materials team because we can rely on our neighbors to work together, so we dont have to have those resources or invest in those resources because we have them next door.

Benmoussa said Milton has had an automatic aid agreement with Alpharetta since 2008. It also has an automatic aid agreement with Roswell, specifically for the Arnold Mill area. But because they already train and work with the fire departments in Johns Creek and Sandy Springs, he said it made sense for all five cities to create a seamless response between their communities.

The model is already being used in other large metro areas. Benmoussa said Phoenix is well known for its automatic aid agreement with nearly 30 cities. Metro Chicago also has a similar agreement.

Essentially, they operate as one dispatch, Benmoussa said, adding that Milton will most likely receive calls requesting aid from Roswell, Alpharetta and Johns Creek.

The only reason Milton would respond to Sandy Springs or vice versa is if there is a large natural disaster or massive incident, Benmoussa said.

So, what were doing is pre-building those response plans or those units, so theyll be predetermined in CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) so when our incident commander says give me a first alarm, dispatch knows exactly where the call is from based on their location, where right now we have to tell dispatch what units to get and from where.

While there will be expenses associated with Milton supporting Johns Creek and Sandy Springs, the expense will be reciprocated when they respond in Milton.
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Former EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler testifies before the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources at the Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, in Richmond. (Steve Helber/AP)

RICHMOND  Democrats who narrowly control the Virginia Senate stuck together Tuesday and voted unanimously against approving former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkins Cabinet.

On a 21-19 party-line vote, the chamber agreed to an earlier committee amendment that had stripped Wheeler from a resolution containing Youngkins Cabinet appointees requiring legislative approval.

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Tuesdays action isnt necessarily the end of the line for the issue. The resolution still needs a final procedural vote in the Senate before it moves to the GOP-controlled House, which could push for changes.

Wheeler, whose appointment has provoked a backlash from Democrats, environmental groups and many career EPA employees, was plucked out of the resolution last week by Democrats on a Senate committee.

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Republican Sen. Richard Stuart defended Wheeler on Tuesday, saying he shouldnt be penalized for the fact that he worked for former President Donald Trump.

His credentials are impeccable, and he should be confirmed, Stuart said.

Sen. Adam Ebbin agreed that Wheeler was affable, highly intelligent and knowledgeable on federal environmental law.

If were to confirm Mr. Wheeler, though, Im confident hell use the intelligence and subject matter expertise to do exactly what he did at the federal level, systematically deconstruct regulations that protect our environment, Ebbin said.

Among those voting against Wheelers appointment was centrist Democrat Joe Morrissey. Morrissey previously indicated he found Wheelers answers during a committee question-and-answer session satisfactory and told The Washington Post he was open to supporting Wheeler, leading to questions about whether he would vote with the GOP.

Wheeler is a former coal lobbyist who led the EPA during the latter half of the Trump administration, overseeing the rollbacks of environmental protections implemented under former President Barack Obamas administration.

His critics have characterized his leadership of the agency as overly deferential to corporate interests and have accused him of downplaying the threats of climate change.

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Wheeler has said his tenure as administrator was not covered fairly in the news media, and some of his former colleagues have defended his record and professionalism.

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The Senate advanced the resolution without any discussion of other nominees. No one else appointed by Youngkin has drawn the same degree of scrutiny.

The rejection of Cabinet secretaries is rare in Virginia.

Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter said the governor was disappointed in the vote and hoped the Senate would reconsider.

Its clear Mr. Wheeler is extraordinarily qualified to be Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and admirably served for decades in the highest levels of government, she said in a statement.

Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, said the governor should move on and find a new nominee.

With evidence now that he lacks the votes to push this nominee forward, we hope Youngkin will see reason and appoint a Natural Resources Secretary who will prioritize protecting the lands, air and water of the Commonwealth, Town said in a statement.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan visited several military bases in the southern parts of the country on February 7.

Papikyan inspected the ongoing construction works and the training of the on-duty personnel.

The Defense Minister particularly focused on the social conditions at the barracks, and the food supply.

On the same day, Papikyan visited the Zangezur Garrison Hospital, which is equipped with modern medical devices and necessary medications.

The Defense Minister talked with servicemembers who are receiving treatment at the hospital and wished them speedy recovery.
The Islamic State's strength in Afghan has risen from an estimated 2,200 to near 4,000 following the release of several thousand prisoners

United Nations: Al-Qaida's past ties to the recently empowered Taliban have the potential of making Afghanistan a safe haven for extremists, and terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than at any time in recent history, U.N. experts said in a report circulated Monday.

In the wide-ranging report, the experts also said extremists linked to both al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are successfully advancing in Africa, especially in the turbulent Sahel. And they said the Islamic State continues to operate as an entrenched rural insurgency in Iraq and Syria, where its so-called caliphate ruled a significant swathe of the two countries from 2014-2017 when it was defeated by Iraqi forces and a U.S.-led coalition.

In what it called a bright spot in Southeast Asia, the panel of experts said both Indonesia and the Philippines reported significant gains in disrupting Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated terrorism" and some optimism" that their operational capability may be significantly degraded."

The report to the U.N. Security Council by the panel of experts monitoring sanctions against al-Qaida and the Islamic State, also known as IS and ISIL, called the Taliban's return to power on Aug. 15 amid the chaotic final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years the most significant event of the last six months of 2021.

The Taliban first ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001 and were ousted for harboring al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden for masterminding the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. in 2001. In a February 2020 deal that spelled out the terms of the U.S. troop withdrawal, the Taliban had promised to fight terrorism and deny terrorist groups a safe haven in Afghanistan.

But the panel of experts said there are no recent signs that the Taliban has taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist fighters in the country. On the contrary, it said, terrorist groups are enjoying greater freedom, though member states have not reported significant new movements of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan.

The experts noted that al-Qaida released a statement congratulating the Taliban on its victory on Aug. 31, but since then it has maintained a strategic silence, likely an effort not to compromise Taliban efforts to gain international recognition and legitimacy.

Al-Qaida is also continuing to recover from a series of leadership losses and is assessed to lack the capability to conduct high-profile attacks overseas, which remains its long-term goal, the panel said.

Al-Qaida's leader, Ayman al-Zawahri was reported alive in January 2021, it said, but member states continue to believe that he is in poor health.

The experts noted that Amin Muhammad ul-Haq Saam Khan, who coordinated security for bin Laden, returned to his home in Afghanistan in late August. And they said an unnamed country reported that bin Laden's son, Abdallah, visited in October for talks with the Taliban.

As for the Islamic State group, the panel said while it controls limited territory in Afghanistan, it has demonstrated a continuing ability to mount sophisticated attacks, adding to the complexity of the security situation in Afghanistan.

As an example, it cited the complex attack at Kabul airport on Aug. 27 in which more than 180 people were killed.

Member states said the Islamic State's strength in Afghanistan has risen from an estimated 2,200 to near 4,000 following the release of several thousand prisoners, according to the panel, which said one country estimated that half were foreign fighters.

The experts said the Taliban views ISIL as its primary kinetic threat, that seeks to be the chief rejectionist force in Afghanistan with a wider regional agenda threatening neighboring Central and South Asian countries.

The report does not cover last week's killing of the leader of the Islamic State, known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, in a U.S. raid in northwest Syria.

But the experts said that like al-Qaida, ISIL's leadership faces difficulties." They pointed to al-Qurayshi's failure to show himself in the last half of 2021 and Iraq's announcement on Oct. 11 that it captured Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, alias Hajji Hamid, who was in charge of ISIL finances and believed to be the most senior deputy and a possible successor to the ISIL leader.

In its former strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the panel said ISIL continues to withstand sustained counter-terror pressure from forces in the region. It is estimated to retain between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters and is forming cells and training operatives to launch attacks, the experts said.

Both ISIL and al-Qaida continue to make advances in Africa, especially in the Sahel, where the panel said they have successfully exploited local grievances and weak governance to command growing numbers of followers and resources, notwithstanding internal divisions and rivalries.

U.N. member nations remain deeply concerned at the success of ISIL and al-Qaida affiliates in Africa during the last half of 2021, the experts said.
The manifesto, manifesto titled 'Lok Kapyan Sankalp Patra 2022', was released by Home Minister Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a public meeting at Sun Rays Garden hall, in Ponda, Goa, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. (Photo: PTI/File)

Lucknow: The BJP on Tuesday promised 10-year punishment and Rs 1 lakh fine for those indulging in 'love jihad' if it returns to power in Uttar Pradesh.

The announcement was made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the release of the election manifesto titled Lok Kapyan Sankalp Patra 2022' for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

The document was released barely a couple of days before the state goes to the first phase of polling on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Shah claimed, "The BJP has fulfilled more than 92 per cent of 212 'sankalps' (promises) made in its 2017 (poll) manifesto."

The saffron party also promised free electricity for irrigation to farmers in the next five years in the Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra 2022.

If cane payment is not made in 14 days to farmers, the sugarmills then have to pay the dues with interest, the manifesto said.

It said one well-equipped government hospital will be built in every district of the state.

In the next 5 years, the government will strengthen wheat and paddy purchase at MSP, BJP said.

To make the meritorious girl students self-reliant, under the Rani Laxmibai Yojana, free scooters will be given to them, it said.

Under the Swami Vivekanand Yuva Shashaktikaran Yojana, two crore tablets and smartphones will be given, said the manifesto.

General Bipin Rawat Defence Industrial Corridor in Bundelkhand will be completed in a record time, it said.
As the opposition party, too, the Congress is creating hurdles in the country's development, Modi alleged

New Delhi: Family-run parties are the biggest threat to India's democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he launched an all-out attack on the Congress and held it responsible for several ills confronting the country.

Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the president's address in the Rajya Sabha, he said the people of the country had to wait for many years to get basic facilities like water, power and roads because of the the Congress.

As the opposition party, too, the Congress is creating hurdles in the country's development, he alleged.

He also accused the Congress of being in the grip of urban Naxals, who are today controlling its thought and ideology. That is why, the prime minister added, the grand old party has become negative. "The Congress in a way is in the grip of urban Naxals. That is why its thought has become negative."

Modi suggested that the opposition party change its name from Indian National Congress to 'Federation of Congress'.

He said when a family is paramount in a particular party, the biggest casualty is talent.

He also attacked the Congress for sacking over 50 state governments of several parties during its over 50-year rule at the Centre.

Taking a jibe at the Congress, the prime minister said that if there was no Congress, there would be no Emergency, no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred and Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened.

"It was said here, 'Congress na hoti, toh kya hota'. It's a result of the thinking, 'India is Indira, Indira is India.' I think 'Congress na hoti, toh kya hota' because Mahatma Gandhi wanted. He knew what will happen if they continue to be and he wanted to disband them beforehand," said PM Modi.

"Had Congress ceased to be, as per the wish of Mahatma Gandhi, democracy would've been free from a dynasty. India would've walked on the path of national resolutions, instead of taking to foreign view," he said.

"Some members asked- if there was no Congress, what would happen... I would like to say, if there was no Congress there would be no Emergency, there would be no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened, if Congress would not have been there, there would've been no incident of daughters being thrown in 'tandoor'," he added.

The Prime Minister said that defeat and victory happen, but don't impose your frustration on people.

He said the democracy and debate are ongoing for centuries in India but Congress never thought beyond a dynasty.

"The difficulty being faced by Congress is that they never thought of anything else before the dynasty. We'll have to accept that the biggest threat to India's democracy is the dynastic parties. When a family is the supreme in any party, then the first casualty is that of talent," PM Modi remarked.

"It was said in Parliament that Congress laid the foundation of India. Some people feel India was born in 1947. This democracy is not the outcome of your efforts. You strangulated democracy in 1975," PM Modi added.

"When the family is supreme in the party, then the first casualty is talent," he added.
The curious thing is that the economy does not appear to be a relevant subject in Indias political debate

Another Union Budget has come and gone and for a couple of days we have seen and read what people have to say about the economy. Much of this is limited to two things. The first is about the governments taxing and spending and its deficits. And the second on what sops and subsidies have been given. This is of course what the Budget is for and it is what is expected. The curious thing is that the economy does not appear to be a relevant subject in Indias political debate. It is not a part of the electoral debate.

We can go a step further and say that a lack of economic performance and inability to deliver growth does not seem to harm the ruling party. This is not a new phenomenon and we can observe that for decades we had low economic growth, what used to be called the Hindu rate of growth under Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, of about three per cent. Despite this, they and their parties remained popular and remained in office.

A related phenomenon is about jobs. India has, according to the governments own data, the lowest labour participation rate in South Asia and one of the lowest in the world. This refers to those people over 15 who are working or are looking for work. In the United States, this rate is 60 per cent, in Thailand around 70 per cent and in China and Vietnam around 75 per cent. In India it is 40 per cent, lower than Pakistan and even Afghanistan. The theory is that people have stopped looking for jobs because they are impossible to find. MNREGA is today four times the size that it was in 2004 and yet demand for it is unmet because the government has no money.

Though fewer people are in the labour market, the number of the unemployed (those who are looking for work but cannot find it) had reached a record of six per cent in 2018 according to the government, and has not fallen below this rate since.

This problem of jobs has gone along with the softening of the economy. Once again, we only need to see the governments own data here too. GDP growth began to decline from January 2018 and fell sequentially for two years and three months before the Covid-19 pandemic. And then the pandemic produced a recession. This years high growth rate will only take us back to where we were two years ago.

Taken together, we can see that Indias economy and its capacity to give its people work has been in trouble for a long time. But this is not a part of our political debate and there is no pressure on the ruling party to defend its record on this front. It also appears that it is not easy for the Opposition to mobilise people around these two issues of economic failure and mass unemployment.

The mobilisation that has happened on this was spontaneous, such as the Patidar andolan for jobs a few years ago and what is currently happening with railway recruitment in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The Opposition parties want to take the debate away from the Hindu-Muslim and communal polarisation issues and other such things towards the economy and jobs, but it is not able to. The question is why. One answer could be, as Ravish Kumar the news anchor has suggested, that the media chooses not to cover all these issues. He has said that if the media would focus on jobs for two weeks in a row, the government would give in to the demands of those on the street.

Perhaps this is so. But in todays era, with the social media, one does not really require the mainstream media to the extent that one did 15 years ago and so it is unlikely that this is being kept suppressed by a lack of attention from the media.

The answer to the question appears to lie in something deeper. It seems that broad issues such as the economys health and competent management and the ability of the government to create an environment where jobs are available are not of particular concern to us as voters. If these are important, they are less so than other things, like more temples and stopping young women wearing hijab from entering college as we are doing of late in Karnataka, and more statues.

When some of us who are directly affected by this economic crisis are mobilised, as happened under Hardik Patel in Gujarat or as is now happening for the railway recruitment, then there is some activity on the ground. But for the most part our popular politics appears to exclude issues that are crucial in many other democracies, especially those of the West. Things that make or break leaders and political parties and which are the constant subject of daily debate and concern do not seem to be of importance in our India.

We can reflect on what that means about us as voters and us as a nation, and also, if this continues, where we will find ourselves as we enter the Amrit Kaal of our democracy.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks to reporters during brief news conference after a visit to the Alleghany/Roanoke Community Testing Site at Valley View Mall Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, in Roanoke. (SCOTT P. YATES, The Roanoke Times/AP)

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Monday that he regrets what he called an unauthorized tweet sent from his campaign account over the weekend that attacked a high school student and invoked a scandal previous Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam faced.

On Saturday night, an unauthorized tweet came from a campaign account. I regret that this happened and it shouldnt have, Youngkin tweeted Monday. I have addressed it with my team.

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Saturdays tweet was directed at Ethan Lynne, a 17-year-old student involved in Democratic politics. Lynne tweeted about recent news articles that raised questions about the Youngkin administrations plans for an initiative highlighting the history of enslaved people who labored in the Executive Mansion.

Team Youngkin, the governors official campaign account, responded by posting a photo of Lynne with Gov. Ralph Northam, along with a racist photo that appeared in Northams medical school yearbook and surfaced in 2019.

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Heres a picture of Ethan with a man that had a Blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook, the campaign tweeted.

The post, which was later deleted, drew widespread attention online and condemnation from Democrats.

A spokesperson for Youngkin didnt respond to questions from news outlets over the weekend.

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When Youngkin weighed in Monday morning through his governors office account, he also said: We must continue to work to bring Virginians together. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.

Lynne tweeted that Youngkin, in his regret tweet, didnt apologize or condemn what happened.

I still hope he does, and that he will take time to recognize the culture of toxicity he has created within his first month of office, he tweeted.

Lynne and his mother were scheduled to hold a news conference Monday afternoon.

The rhetoric from the campaign account was not in line with Youngkins promises to serve as a unifier and rise above partisan division. Nor did it conform with his previous warm public remarks about Northam, who like all Virginia governors was limited to a single term before leaving office in January.

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Matt Wolking, a consultant at the firm that ran Youngkins campaign, told news outlets over the weekend that the tweet was deleted after it became clear Lynne was a minor. He didnt say who wrote the tweet.

The exchange came after Lynne, who has nearly 40,000 followers, tweeted about a Richmond radio stations reports on the Executive Mansion project. An archeologist on the project, which aims to tell the stories of enslaved workers, told VPM last week that she believes an educational space in the mansion had been turned into a family room. A correction was later issued after the governors press secretary said that assertion was incorrect and that nothing in the space had been moved by the Youngkin administration.
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by Paul Nguyen Hung

Caritas and local priests have undertaken initiatives in favour of the community, including pupils forced into remote learning and lonely COVID-19 patients in hospital. Vietnams Health Ministry plans to rev up its vaccination campaign. The parish has provided small gifts for people with few opportunities.

Hanoi (AsiaNews)  The COVID-19 pandemic has made life much harder for a large section of the Vietnamese population, ranging from youth unable to get an education to the poor, not to mention senior citizens who are increasingly alone.

As needs mount, community leaders in oan Nu parish (Archdiocese of Hanoi), northern Vietnam, along with Caritas have undertaken various outreach initiatives of solidarity, such as providing hot meals, as well as helping in local schools.

Fr Joseph Vu uc Phan, the local parish priest, local nuns, and Caritas are providing scholarships for the 2022-2023 school year to some 36 pupils, both Catholic and non-Catholic, living in particularly difficult circumstances.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Catholic leaders said that these gifts may be small but that they are of great significance because they encourage learning among those who have fewer resources and opportunities.

Even in this part of Vietnam, COVID-19 has turn people's lives upside down. From April 2021 to 1st February 2022, the Hanoi area reported 134,425 cases and 1,661 deaths.

To limit the spread of the virus, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long announced that the vaccination campaign for adults and children would be rolled out at a faster pace between 29 January and 28 February.

Health Ministry data about the adult population, updated to 26 January, show that 100 per cent of adults received a first dose, 95.7 per cent got the second dose, but only 22.3 per cent got their booster shot.

Among youth aged 12 to 17 years, 95.2 per cent have had a first dose, while 86 per cent have had the second.

Given the easy transmission of the virus, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education said that elementary school students up to the 6th grade will continue remote learning in the 2022-2023 school year. By contrast, 7th to 12th graders were scheduled to return to in-person learning as of today.

Given the challenges students face at present, the extra hours of study promoted by oan Nu parish for children and teenagers have been of great help, as have many other activities organised in the community.

During recent Lunar New Year celebrations, some 230 seniors gathered in the parish courtyard to take part in a thanksgiving Mass, calling for God's blessing. The festivities marked the start of the Year of the Tiger.

Poor people, children and seniors are among the main beneficiaries of the social activities organised by the parish, which also reached out to lonely patients hospitalised because of to COVID-19, both Catholic and non-Catholic.
Baloch separatists carried out two attacks before Prime Minister Imran Khan flew to China for the Winter Olympics. The two countries discussed the future of Chinese investment in the port of Gwadar. Some accuse New Delhi of manipulating terrorist groups. The conflict dates back to partition with India.

Islamabad (AsiaNew/Agencies) - China and Pakistan have renewed agreements on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) despite a series of terrorist attacks in Balochistan, where independence groups are opposed to Chinese investments, accusing Beijing of looting them of their resources.

In meetings on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics (Pakistan has only one athlete competing), Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed in particular the progress of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a billion infrastructure project that is part of the Bri, with which Beijing intends to increase trade links with the rest of Asia and the world.

On February 5, Khan and Premier Li Keqiang signed an agreement to implement the second phase of Cpec, which is expected to link Xinjiang, the region in the far west of China, with the port of Gwadar in Belucistan. This will allow Beijing to reach Africa and the Middle East more easily, while Pakistan will gain in terms of transit fees.

But in recent days, a series of terrorist attacks by Baloch independents, who accuse Islamabad of allowing Beijing to exploit the region's mineral resources, has brought attention back to a region that has never been at peace.

Before Imran Khan flew to China, the Majeed Brigade of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), made up of about fifteen fighters, carried out two attacks against the operational centres of the local security forces in the districts of Noshki and Panjgur.

In Noshki, it took 16 hours to bring the situation under control. An explosion broke the windows of a civilian hospital and government buildings nearby. In Panjgur, fighting lasted three days and the civilian population was also trapped in the conflict. Some local residents said they were left without food. On the second day of the siege, a curfew was imposed and mobile phone services were suspended.

After '70 hours of standoff', the Bla declared the 'Gangjal' operation over. The leader of the organisation, Basheer Zeb, then released a 20-minute video claiming that his army had killed 195 soldiers of the Pakistani forces. In reality, the final death toll is expected to be a few dozen terrorists and soldiers.

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest but poorest province and is situated on the border with Iran and Afghanistan. Ethnic Beluci groups claim that their territory was forcibly incorporated in 1947, at the time of the partition with India.

Some local analysts have accused India of being behind the recent attacks, but Delhi denies any involvement. On 28 January, the Baloch Liberation Front, another secessionist group, had led an attack against Pakistani government forces in the town of Kech, killing a dozen soldiers.

Lieutenant Talat Masood told Anadolu Agency that India is trying to "open new fronts" in Belucistan by reactivating its network and unifying the terrorist groups already present. In 2016, an Indian spy had been found in Belucistan, towards the border with Iran, who was later sentenced to death, but whose case is now pending in the Islamabad High Court. In any case, Masood added, "these waves of terrorism will continue to come and go unless the real cause of terrorism - a sense of alienation - is eradicated".
Syro-Malankara Bishop Samuel Mar Irenios Kaattukallil of Pathanamthitta (Kerala) and five priests are accused for mining on Church-owned land. The accused say that the mining was done without the Churchs knowledge on land leased to a farmer. In the meantime, the nun blamed for the suicide of a young woman in the Michaelpatti hostel has been released on bail. The case has been exploited by Hindu nationalists in their anti-conversion campaign.

Kottayam (AsiaNews)  A court in Tamil Nadu ordered the arrest of Mgr Samuel Irenios Kaattukallil, the Syro-Malankara Catholic bishop of Pathanamthitta in the neighbouring state of Kerala, as well as five priests from the same diocese in connection with illegal sand mining on diocese-owned land in Tirunelveli, a district in Tamil Nadu.

Bishop Kaattukallil, 69, has led the Syro-Malankara Diocese of Pathanamthitta since 2019. He and another priest, Fr Jose Chamakala, are currently at the Government Medical College Hospital in Tirunelveli.

The other four priests - the vicar general of the diocese Fr Shaji Thomas Manikulam, and Frs George Samuel, Jijo James and Jose Kalaviyal, were remanded into custody and are held at the Nanguneri subjail, in Tirunelveli.

At the centre of the affair are 300 acres of land in Pottal, a village located near the Tamirabarani River, where allegedly illegal sand mining took place.

In a statement, the spokesman for the Diocese of Pathanamthitta, Fr Joel P John Poweth, confirmed that the land in question is owned by the diocese, but points out that it was leased to a farmer, Manuel George, for cultivation.

Diocesan officials could not go there for the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he explained. Once informed that the lease holder had breached the contract, the diocese took legal action to rescind the contract, Fr Poweth added.

The police, however, claim that in 2019 the diocese allowed the farmer, who was also arrested, to store, process and consume rough stone, graver, crusher dust and sand from its property.

Local residents and environmental groups have long been opposed to sand mining, and complained to the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, which informed police.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated story in Tamil Nadu Sister Sahaya Mary, a member of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was released on bail.

She was arrested and jailed for more than two weeks in connection with the suicide of a 17-year-old woman in a nuns' hostel in Michaelpatti, a village in the Thanjavur district.

Hindu fundamentalists have exploited this tragic story, blaming the death on pressures exerted on the girl to convert to Christianity.

Today she will return home, said Sister Firmina Mary, provincial superior of the religious order. We thank everyone for their prayers and support.

The court ordered that the other nun accused by the girl's father in the affair not be arrested.

However, by decision of the High Court of Madras, the inquiry into the young woman's death remains in the hands of the Central Bureau of Investigation, Indias federal investigating agency, which deals with the most serious crimes.

(Nirmala Carvalho contributed to this article)
Francis makes this appeal in a video message marking World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking. For the pontiff, the domestic and sexual exploitation inflicted on thousands of women and girls reflects the power of the male gender over the female; such violence is an open wound on the body of Christ and affects every one of us.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis released a video message today, World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking, which the Catholic Church celebrates on the same day as the feast of St Josephine Bakhita.

The observance was organised by the women religious International Union of Superiors General (UISG) and the men religious Union of Superiors General (USG) in cooperation with Talitha Kum, the international Catholic network against human trafficking.

In his address, the pontiff called on the faithful to keep your indignation alive vis-a-vis the thousands of women and girls subjected to multiple forms of exploitation, also through forced marriage, domestic slavery and slave labour.

The organization of societies worldwide is still far from reflecting clearly the fact that women have the same dignity and identical rights as men.

Human trafficking, through domestic or sexual exploitation, violently relegates women and girls to their supposed role of subordination, in the provision of domestic or sexual services, and to their role as providers of care and dispensers of pleasure, which proposes yet again a model of relationships marked by the power of the male gender over the female. This occurs even today, and at a high level.

The violence suffered by every woman and every girl is an open wound on the body of Christ, on the body of all humanity; it is a deep wound that affects every one of us too.

There are many women who have had the courage to rebel against violence. We men, too, are also required to do so, to say no to every form of violence, including that against women and girls. And together we can and must fight to ensure that human rights are interpreted in a specific way, respecting diversity and recognizing the dignity of every person, with special attention to those whose fundamental rights have been violated.

Citing Saint Bakhita, the Sudanese slave who was freed to eventually become a woman religious in Italy offering her merciful presence to the downtrodden, Pope Francis explained that her story shows how change is possible.

Her life tells us that change is possible when one lets oneself be transformed by Gods care for each one of us. It is the care of mercy  it is the care of love that changes us deeply and makes us able to welcome others as brothers and sisters. Recognizing the dignity of each person is the first act of care.

I encourage every woman and every girl who is committed to transformation and care, in school, in the family, and in society. And I encourage every man and every boy not to be left out of this process of transformation, recalling the example of the Good Samaritan: a man who is not ashamed to tend to his brother and to take care of him.

Taking care is Gods action in history, in our personal history and in our history as a community. God has taken care of, and takes care for us continually. Caring together, men and women, is the appeal of this World Day of Prayer and Reflection against human trafficking: together we can encourage the growth of an economy of care, opposing with all our might every form of exploitation in human trafficking.
by Arundathie Abeysinghe

Thanks to European Union funding, the Heritage Trails, a collection of walking trails that wind through the country over 300 kilometres, opened. The project is defined by signature experiences and sustainability that aim to develop the local economy while limiting its environmental impact.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  The initial stage of the Heritage Trails, a collection of walking trails that cover more than 300 kilometres across Sri Lanka, opened a few days ago. EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Denis Chaibi, unveiled the signage at the trailhead.

For tourists visiting Sri Lanka, this will be a new experience by paving the way for them to discover the countrys varying landscapes, history, culture, food as well as friendly locals, while walking short distances or undertaking multi-day experiences.

According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), the development of the Heritage Trails is part of the European Unions  5.7-million investment (Rs 1.3 billion) to assist the countrys tourism strategy, designed to expand its signature experiences while making them authentic, inclusive and environmentally sustainable.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also assisted the project with US$ 787,000 (Rs 160 million). The International Executive Service Corps, a US non-profit organisation that fosters private sector development in developing countries, will implement the project.

Over the few decades, the EU and USAID have provided economic as well as humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka.

The Heritage Trails project complements the trail network with initiatives that support tourism employment and entrepreneurship; this includes a grants programme to help establish and sustain small enterprises as well as train people to work in the tourism industry, including hotels.

Almost 50 per cent of tourists arriving in Sri Lanka are travellers from the EU, and arrivals have been growing steadily since October 2021.

The Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka tweeted that the Heritage Trails concept will have a positive impact for three reasons: it will help local and overseas travellers discover the island nation; it will be a more resilient project paving the way for everybody to enjoy the trails in a safe manner interacting with locals, including having a meal with them; and the most significantly, its main aspect will be sustainability, allowing the local economy to grow without increasing its environmental footprint.

The EU is steadfast in working closely with the Sri Lankan government. The trail experience is a good opportunity to explore and develop more signature experiences in evolving post-COVID-19 travel markets.
Today's headlines: China's second-hand goods market booms; Hong Kong stockpiling food for fear of Covid restrictions; the US offers millions of euros for information on the Isis leader in Afghanistan; Iraq's parliament postpones Presidential elections; a high school teacher in St Petersburg is fired for reading dissident poets to students.

TAIWAN - JAPAN

Taipei today announced the lifting of the ban on food imports from prefectures around the city of Fukushima, in force since 2011 following the disaster at the nuclear power plant. The decision follows those of the United States, Australia and Thailand. The aim is to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (Cptpp), of which Tokyo is a member.

CHINA

China's second-hand goods market has grown from 300 billion yuan in 2015 (just over 41 billion euros) to a trillion yuan in 2020, and is set to continue. Products cover all categories, reflecting a demand that has changed, especially among younger people. The boom is also encouraged by the rapid growth of online sites dedicated to transactions.

IRAQ

Parliament has postponed the election of the new President of the Republic until a date to be decided. This decision confirms the political stalemate in Baghdad, with the main faction [linked to the Shiite leader al-Sadr] boycotting the session. By convention, the seat belongs to a member of the Kurdish minority.

AFGHANISTAN

The United States is prepared to offer up to 8.5 million for information on the whereabouts or identification of Sanaullah Ghafari. He is the leader of the Afghan cell of the Islamic State, rooted in the Khorasan province, Iskp (Isis-K). He was allegedly involved in the August bomb attack on the Kabul airport that killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US personnel.

HONG KONG

Residents stormed supermarkets and neighbourhood shops in search of fresh food, vegetables, noodles and other essentials. With an increase in Covid-19 cases and flights to mainland China interrupted, there is a strong fear of a supply crisis. Hong Kong, a metropolis of 7.5 million people, is 90% dependent on imports for food.

THAILAND

Bangkok wants to create tourist corridors with Beijing and Kuala Lumpur to revive a sector brought to its knees by a two-year pandemic. Chinese and Malaysian visitors were the most numerous before the global health emergency, more than a third of Thailand's total of 40 million visitors in 2019. They contributed more than .5 billion to the country's coffers.

RUSSIA

In St Petersburg, a high school teacher, Serafima Saprykina, was fired for reading to students poems by Aleksandr Vvedensky and Daniil Kharms, dissident writers killed in Stalinist camps. The high school headmaster, Svetlana Lebedeva, called the writers "enemies of the people and collaborators of the fascists". For Saprykina, this is a sign that "the terror of 1937 is returning".

KYRGYZSTAN - CHINA

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov returned from Beijing, where he had talks with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Olympics, and announced that China would supply Kyrgyzstan with an additional five million doses of Covid-19 vaccine and offered 50 million yuan in security aid.
by Li Qiang

His sixth profile on the popular messaging site has been deleted. The lawyer says Tencent - owner of the social media - is trampling on civil rights. It was a veiled attack on the authorities, who tightly control the Internet. The academic has long been a government target.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - The popular Chinese messaging site WeChat continues to silence He Weifang, a Peking University academic known for his campaigns in favour of the establishment of the rule of law and freedom of expression in China.

In a handwritten letter that has been circulating on the web since 3 February, the academic denounced the deletion of his sixth profile on WeChat. The social media outlet deleted his last account last month, despite the fact that it was registered under the pseudonym 'old crane'. WeChat has more than a billion users and is also used as a web payment system and as a recognition code for health and transport services.

For the treatment it has received, He is attacking Tencent. According to the professor, the hi-tech giant that owns WeChat "tramples on civil rights". In an interview with the South China Morning Post yesterday, the law professor said he had registered a seventh profile and wanted to see what the operator's response would be. In the event of further cancellation, he is considering legal action.

He argues that a private company cannot arbitrarily decide who can and cannot have a social account. Rhetorically, he wonders who gave Tencent such power, without the user being able to defend himself legally. Given the authorities' tight control over the internet and social media, He's allusion to the government is clear. In his letter, he calls on the population to join him in protest.

The Peking University jurist is a well-known critic of the Chinese regime. Together with two other reform-minded academics, Xu Zhiyong and Xu Zhangrun, he criticised Xi Jinping for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic two years ago.

In a post on WeChat, he wrote that 'China's lack of freedom of speech and expression has encouraged the spread of the lung infection' and that 'without a free press, the people will live in suffering and the government in lies'. Shortly after the message was published, the Chinese cyber security administration ordered its removal.

In the past, He lost his university chair for supporting the well-known dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. He had also supported Charter 08, a document drafted in December 2008 by a number of intellectuals, including Liu, calling for greater democracy and respect for human rights, which was censured by the Beijing leadership.

Freedom of the press, independence of the judiciary , human rights, protection of trade unions and social organisations are at the heart of He's demands for the establishment of the rule of law in China.
Cory Bigsby appears via video for a bond hearing in Hampton Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on Tuesday in Hampton. Bigsby is charged with seven counts of felony child neglect. His 4-year-old son, Codi, was reported missing Jan. 31. Kaitlin McKeown/staff (Kaitlin McKeown/AP)

Hampton  The father of a missing 4-year-old Hampton boy was denied bond Tuesday on seven felony child neglect charges brought against him in the wake of an investigation into his sons disappearance last week.

A judge in Hampton Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court ruled that 43-year-old Cory Jamar Bigsby Sr. should remain locked up pending future hearings in the case.

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In making the ruling, Judge Robert B. Wilson said he was concerned by a prior AWOL conviction that Bigsby had from his time in the U.S. Army, and that Bigsby didnt bring that up when his attorney asked him if he had ever been convicted of a crime.

I am concerned about anything that goes to whether he might not show up for court, Wilson said. I dont think it would be appropriate to set a bond at this time.

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The child neglect charges stem from an admission police said Bigsby made as investigators questioned him about the disappearance of his son, Codi Bigsby.

Cory Bigsby reported his son missing at 9 a.m. on Jan. 31, telling police he last saw his son sleeping in his bed about seven hours earlier. But police say that doesnt match other evidence in the case, and they dont believe the boy walked away in the middle of the night.

As police investigated the boys disappearance, they said Bigsby admitted to leaving Codi and his other three young children home alone on two occasions.

In arguing for bond on Tuesday, defense attorney Jeffrey Ambrose cited Bigsbys 20 years of service in the U.S. Army, including an honorable discharge as a sergeant first class in 2017.

Ambrose also said that Bigsby has lived in the Hampton Roads area since the Army brought him here in 2006, and that he has no felony or misdemeanor convictions on his record apart from the AWOL  away without leave  charge.

The lawyer said Bigsby has been cooperating with investigators, contending that the fact Bigsby spent four days talking with detectives at Hampton Police Division headquarters last week shows hes trying to help police find his missing son.

Thats the furthest thing from obstruction, Ambrose said. He isnt a flight risk, and he isnt a threat to the community.

But Hampton Commonwealths Attorney Anton Bell argued against a bond, asserting that Bigsby is absolutely a flight risk.

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He is the number one suspect for a probable homicide, and he has every incentive to leave, Bell said.

Codi Bigsby is probably dead even as we speak, the prosecutor said. Bigsbys own story about what happened  that a 4-year-old got up in the middle of the night and went out in darkness, in the snow  doesnt make sense, Bell said.

Letting Cory Bigsby out of jail pending trial, Bell asserted, could allow him to obstruct police from finding Codis body.

Regarding the seven pending felony child neglect charges, police have not tied the cases to Codis disappearance, and theres no indication from court documents filed in the case that the children were injured.

But police say Bigsby admitted to leaving the three youngest children  Codi and his twin brothers  at home alone for three hours Dec. 13 to buy a vehicle in Norfolk. On Jan. 25, police say, Bigsby left all four boys alone for several hours in the evening. The children were left home without a phone to call for help if needed, police say.

At Tuesdays hearing, Bell introduced evidence regarding Bigsbys background that he said warranted keeping him in jail pending a trial.

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After Bigsby testified that he has no criminal record, Bell introduced paperwork showing a conviction in military court for being away without leave in the Army. The prosecutor did not specify the date and other circumstances of the AWOL conviction during Tuesdays hearing.

Bell also pointed out that Bigsby was charged twice with assaulting family members. He was accused of assaulting Codis mother in Hampton in 2018 and was charged in a separate case in Norfolk. The charges in both cases were dropped before trial.

Cory Bigsby, seen at left, and Codi Bigsby. (Hampton Police Division)

Discussion of the prior charges led to confusion in the courtroom on Tuesday.

Bigsbys estranged wife  the mother of his four older children, who are not related to Codi or the others involved in the child neglect case  testified she would help Bigsby meet the terms of any bond conditions were he to be released.

That led Bell to ask the woman if she was the complainant in the 2018 domestic assault case.

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I dont know what youre speaking of, she said several times.

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Bell responded that she could be charged with perjury if she lied. A tense back and forth followed for several minutes until the woman clarified that she was not Codis mother and Ambrose explained that a different woman filed the 2018 complaint.

After the hearing, Ambrose said that his client is very concerned about Codis whereabouts.

He is very thankful for every volunteer who has put forward time and energy trying to assist him in locating his son, Ambrose said. He did advise me that hes given everything he knows over to officers so that they can use whatever information he has in order to assist in finding Codi.

Ambrose said he plans to appeal the bond denial to Hampton Circuit Court, which will set another bond hearing in the coming weeks. A probable cause hearing on the child neglect charges has been set in the JDR court on April 15.

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
Only two of them exist in the world and both are still with the Queen , with an estimated price tag of $13.5 million each. This makes them incredibly valuable but, as Select Car Leasing points out, it does not make them the most expensive royal cars in the world. That title still belongs to the bonkers Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II decked in 24-karat gold, owned by the Sultan of Brunei.According to research conducted by Select Car Leasing, the Sultans Rolls-Royce is the most expensive royal car in the world, thanks to its estimated price tag of $14 million. Of course, no one knows exactly how much the custom Silver Spur II cost because were talking here about one of the last absolute monarchs left in the world. Its not like hell do press interviews to talk about it and take enthusiasts through the customization process Aside from a single photo and blurry videos of the car, and the detail that the Sultan had it commissioned for his wedding day (which of the three is not specified), asking that it be decked in 24-karat gold, not much is known about it. The photo available does show the sheer outrageousness of the project: in addition to the gold wrap, the Sultan had new wheel covers made of gold, and fringe-like decorations on the body, also made of gold. The groom and bride didnt sit inside like (rich) peasants, but in a special canopied section over where the trunk should have been, so they could be seen and admired properly.If one image were to be added in the dictionary under opulence, this would probably be it.Then again, this shouldnt come as much of a surprise. The Sultan, who reigns under the title Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III (real name: Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Saadul Khairi Waddien, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam) is a two-time Guinness record holder for his cars only. He is both the owner of the worlds largest private car collection , with his 7,000+-vehicle fleet, and the owner of the worlds largest Rolls-Royce private collection, which counts over 600 vehicles, including the gold Silver Spur II.The Sultan is no stranger to gold-plated cars, but he also owns very rare classics, concept vehicles, or even models designed specifically for himself and his family, like the Bentley Dominator.
HP

Those who feel like theyve heard enough about giant superyachts and the eco-hypocrisy of their wealthy owners will be pleased to know that there are also noble actions taking place in the boating world. For example, this 65-foot (19.8 meters) wooden vessel, which used to be a fishing boat about one hundred years ago, is currently being restored by passionate volunteers under the supervision of a preservation specialist.Called HHM Shenandoah, the venerable seiner boat is on display in the Jim and Carolyn Milgard Maritime Gallery at the Harbor History Museum in Gig Harbor, Washington, and its being restored on site. It took two decades to get to this point after it had been donated to the museum back in 2000. Tony Janovich, a veteran of the commercial fishing industry, had previously owned the Shenandoah.The restoration team plans to unveil the completely-restored vessel by April 2025, when it will become exactly 100-year-old, according to The News Tribune . One of the first steps was to remove the layers of rotting wood, and the century-old boat has come a long way since then. Now, it even boasts a recently-added engine  a 65, three-cylinder Atlas imperial diesel engine, from the same era when the Shenandoah was built. Currently, the team is working on rebuilding the foredeck.The entire restoration process is public, so anyone interested in the classic wooden-boat building can learn more straight from the source. After completion, the venerable fishing boat will welcome guests on its deck and inside the pilothouse. A member of the Gig Harbor community in its own right, and an invaluable piece of history, the wooden Shenandoah is almost ready to celebrate its centenary.
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The Tonale seemed pretty faithful to the concept in a quick glimpse, but the truth is that the proportions of the production vehicle will make you miss the show car. The final version has longer overhangs  especially in the rear. The stance is also not ideal, with wheels that look relatively small for this car. That makes the Tonale seem less harmonious than the Tonale Concept did. It may look better in person than it does in these images.The video that Autogaleria.pl got to watch apparently did not reveal the Tonales dimensions, only details about its powertrain. Thewill have three options, all of them based on a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder derived from the 1.3 FireFly motor developed by Brazilian and Italian Fiat engineers.When this engine was revealed, one of these engineers told us the 1.3-liter displacement was precisely what they wanted to have. Alfa Romeo must have made them change their minds.With the more significant displacement, the engine delivers 130 ps (128 hp) and 160 ps (158 hp), but it never comes alone. The three-cylinder is either part of a 48V hybrid arrangement or is mated to an electric motor that powers the rear wheels in the plug-in hybrid version.The more potent version of the internal combustion engine owes that to a variable geometry turbocharger. As with all hybrids, the 1.5-liter mill follows the Miller cycle, which makes the expansion stroke be longer than the compression stroke. That makes the engine slightly more efficient.In its hybrid versions, the Tonale has a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox with a built-in 48V 15-(20-hp) motor. This electric motor delivers 55 Nm (40.6 pound-feet) on its own. The plug-in hybrid adopts a 6-speed automatic transmission and counts on 275 ps (271 hp).Europe will also have a 1.6-liter diesel option with 130 ps. Foreign markets may get a 2-liter petrol engine  possibly the same one on the Giulia and Stelvio  with 256 ps and a 9-speed automatic gearbox. Cars with this engine will also have the Q4 all-wheel-drive system. It is just not clear if it will be the plug-in hybrid or if Alfa Romeo will count only on the combustion engine for that.The plug-in hybrid is expected to reach an all-electric urban range of up to 80 km (50 miles) thanks to a 15.5battery pack. Stellantis was sure to include urban there because highway speeds will probably make this range reasonably shorter.The Tonale will have two trims (Super and T.I.) and two packs (Sprint and Veloce). It is not clear which trims will get the engine options we already mentioned.Sadly, the new Alfa Romeo seems to perform autonowashing by mentioning that its intelligent(adaptive cruise control) associated with lane centering and traffic jam assist leads to Level 2 autonomous driving. By definition, Level 2 systems are not autonomous. At best, they automate some functions but are never autonomous: they need human attention and intervention when necessary.The reveal may answer all the questions that we still have about the Tonale. If you are not willing to wait, we suggest you visit Autogaleria.pl to check the other screenshots our Polish colleagues obtained. Even if you dont speak Polish, the images speak for themselves.
Last month, the California-based company showed the world its improved Rocket 3.3 breathing fire at Cape Canaveral. Although the static fire test proved to be successful, there wasn't a date set for the launch since Astra was still waiting to receive its launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).Recently, the company got the green light to finally launch its rocket from Space Launch Complex 46. Initially, Rocket 3.3 was supposed to take off on February 5th. However, the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites mission, dubbed ELaNa 41 , was delayed because "an unnamed range asset went out of service."The second attempt was scheduled for today, February 7th. But Astra's Rocket 3.3 never left the launch pad. The team took to Twitter to announce that the reason was "a minor telemetry issue." The company says that it will "soon" provide updates regarding its new launch opportunity.The upcoming flight is part of NASA's Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) program, which awarded Astra a $3.9 million contract back in 2020 to launch small satellites  called CubeSats  into space. If successful, the payload carried by its 43-ft (13-meter) launch vehicle will be deployed from atop of the upper stage into Earth's orbit.Three of the satellites, the BAMA-1, INCA, and QubeSat set to be deployed, were developed by students from the University of Alabama, New Mexico State, and University of California, while the fourth was designed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.Once in space, the BAMA-1 will test a "drag sail" meant to allow a rapid deorbit of the satellite. INCA (Ionospheric Neutron Content Analyzer) is set to improve current space weather models, while QubeSat will test how space affects quantum gyroscopes. Finally, the R5-S1 will demonstrate a cost-effective way to build CubeSats.
My car was STOLEN 1962 Chevy II. This car is near and dear to all our hearts and has been in the GD family for over 30 years. Please send any sighting, tips or info to the Costa Mesa police. Incident # 2015,2016. Please call 714-754-5280 please re-post, & find this car!! pic.twitter.com/BkcaBcxaDg  Billie Joe Armstrong (@billiejoe) February 5, 2022

Billie Joe Armstrong, the frontman of the iconic rock band Green Day, is one such celebrity . One of his cars has been stolen out of a commercial business in Costa Mesa, California, and hes appealing to his legions of fans in the area for help in tracking it down. In fact, he is so desperate to get the car back that hes even appealing online to the thieves themselves.Between Friday night and Saturday morning last weekend, thieves broke into the place and left with a considerable haul. It included Armstrongs 1962 white Chevrolet II Nova, two electric guitars, and one amp, the Costa Mesa Police says in a statement. Theyre asking for tips from the public, as well.This car is near and dear to all our hearts and has been in the GD family for over 30 years, Armstrong says in a post on his social media. In a later update, which you will also find at the bottom of the page, he says that the car is in impeccable condition because its been restored. Hes had it since 1993 when it was passed to him by a friend, whod gotten it from Armstrongs brother. The car has been within his circle of friends and family for much longer.The engine on it is not a matching number, though everything else is mostly original, the rocker says. The Nova has had several engine changes, and he even crashed it once, he explains. This is a car with history, and he wants it back, so hes asking the fans for help by tipping the police if they spot it around California. Since he doesnt want anyone going to jail, he even suggests to the thieves they could simply drop it off somewhere because all he wants is the car to be returned to him.Should the thieves get caught, Armstrong promises he will bail them out. Assuming, of course, the Nova is in the same condition as it was when they took it.
EV

GM secured five J.D. Power Canada ALG Residual Value Awards, with the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, Chevrolet Corvette, and the Chevrolet Bolt, as well as the GMC Yukon and GMC Savana, each winning their corresponding segments title.On the other hand, Toyota managed to get seven wins with the Camry, RAV4, Highlander, 4Runner, Tundra, Tacoma, and the Sienna while also scoring in the premium segment with the Lexus IS, GX, and UX. This allowed Toyota to win the overall mass market award, with Lexus the winner in the premium segment. GM also had one win in the premium segment with the Cadillac Escalade.ALG awarded a total of 16 different brands across 29 vehicle segments, after evaluating 274 different vehicle model lines. The tedious process involved analyzing many factors including used market performance, brand outlook, and overall product competitiveness. A manufacturer needs to have model entries in at least four different segments to be eligible.Also, the J.D. Power Canada ALG Residual Value Awards takes into account how well vehicles hold their value after four years for mass-market vehicles, and after three years for premium vehicles. This restricted the pool size, basically eliminating Tesla from the contest, along with the newer contenders in the EV segment , like Hyundai-Kia and VolkswagenThis also explains how the Chevy Bolt won the mass-marketaward since it had little to no competition. Marred by fire scandals and banned from entering public parking lots and garages, the Bolt is still considered by the Canadians the best EV overall when it comes to value retention among all the eligible manufacturers.The lack of diversity in the 2022 edition of the ALG Canada Residual Value Awards was acknowledged by Eric Lyman, vice president of ALG. Theres not much brand diversity in the winners for 2022, meaning that the few brands at the top have found their niche, especially Toyota with its continued dominance in the utility and pickup segments, Lyman observed.The only other electric vehicle to score a win in this years ALG Canada Residual Value Awards was the Porsche Taycan. It didn't manage to beat the Chevy Bolt overall, which is again surprising considering how well Porsche cars keep their value over time.
If youre a regular visitor to the Custom Bikes section of our website, then you might already be familiar with Differs Moto  a Lithuanian garage run by Povilas Vaisiauskas. Its been less than three weeks since we drooled over Differs custom Honda NX650 Dominator , but the urge to showcase their astounding work got the better of us once again today.On that note, lets see how the cafe racer-style jewel pictured above these paragraphs came into being, shall we? Starting with a factory-spec 1981 variant of Honda s CB750K lineup, the specialists began by discarding each and every last piece of OEM bodywork, except for the fuel tank.Next, theyve tidied up the donors main skeleton to keep things looking nice and clean, while the stock subframe was replaced with a custom alternative thats been crafted in-house. Moving on to the suspension department, we find a fresh pair of YSS shock absorbers supporting the motorcycles revised rear end.You will notice that the original forks are still in play, though theyve been shortened by about three inches (76 mm) in order to achieve a level riding stance. As far as the CB750s footgear is concerned, its five-spoke hoops were wrapped in classy E270 tires from Shinkos inventory. In addition, both the front and rear brakes saw a revitalizing makeover, as did the bikes 748cc inline-four engine.Following the installation of bespoke four-into-one pipework and a premium Spark muffler, the 81 MY specimen received a set of aluminum side covers and an angular tail unit with integrated LED lighting. A solo leather saddle concludes the major aesthetic modifications, while the standard turn signals have all been replaced with Motogadget items.These goodies  along with the creature s new speedometer and Koso Thunderbolt headlight  are powered by a gel battery via reworked wiring. Lastly, youll spot clip-on handlebars taking pride in their place in the cockpit, and they sport ODI grips, aftermarket switches, and bar-end mirrors.
The fuel thats been used at nuclear power plants, called spent nuclear fuel, needs to be disposed of, but theres currently no large-scale transportation system for it available in the U.S. This stuff has been accumulating for half a century, so the need to dispose of it is becoming a burning issue for the government.DOE and the U.S. Navy, through its Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP), are developing a transportation capability for this type of fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste. This future train will be comprised of two locomotives, several Atlas railcars for SNF containers, two buffer railcars that will separate the personnel from the Atlas railcars, plus one special rail escort vehicle (REV).An Atlas 12-axle railcar can carry 17 SNF containers, weighing from 82 to 210 tons, and will be joined by an eight-axle version called Fortis. The REV, on the other hand, is meant to transport the security personnel during the SNF shipment. Its a high-tech railcar with advanced cameras and communications systems for top-level surveillance of the shipment while also providing a comfortable living environment for the crew onboard.Each component of this train has to meet the Association of American Railroads highest safety standard, called S-2043. As a result, these unique railcars can go over low-quality tracks at normal speeds better than any other railcar thats ever been built in North America, Patrick Schwab told FreightWaves . As the Atlas project manager for DOEs Office of Nuclear Energy, Schwab explained that this high standard is meant to ensure a very low probability of derailment.This is why each railcar had to undergo extensive testing. Now, DOE is gearing up to put them all together and start multiple-car testing. This will be done in Pueblo, Colorado, where the U.S. Department of Transportations Transportation Technology Center is located. The Atlas and the buffer railcars are already there, and the REV will arrive later this month from Oregon.Theres still a long way to go, with this new train expected to become operational by 2024. Even then, things wont advance too much because, according to Schwab, theres still no designated destination for the SNF.
A car company that is set on making a lot of EVs now or in the near future needs some serious chain supply management. This is particularly true for those brands that want to prove to their customers that their vehicles are not a burden on the environment elsewhere in the world. Rare earths are what triggered this. These expensive raw materials are used for magnets in electric motors, and they are needed by every automaker that builds EVs. German carmakers have started using less, but they still must order large quantities. After reports that EVs are not really green cars from the start, companies and lawmakers took notice. A change had to be done, since some shady companies delivered rare earths with certificates bought online.To keep everyone happy, the EU set up a scheme for funding an initiative that will track, trace, and certify rare earths. After a couple of months, the Circular System for Assessing Rare Earth Sustainability or CSyARES appeared as a proposal. The idea was liked by the eurocrats and by carmakers, which made everyone happy. The problem is this will take at least three years to set up properly. For a blockchain to work for multiple stakeholders at a time there are important criteria to meet.However, CSyARES has been approved by key players in the space and now a company called Circularise has started working on it. Porsche has already worked with them on plastic tracing. They hope to ship everything faster because processing rare earth ore is a complex operation, involving solvents and toxic waste that needs to be disposed of carefully.This blockchain system might make its way soon to the U.S. because, as the EU, America is mostly dependent on Chinese imports.
Nearly seven years after 18-year-old Anjelica A.J. Hadsell was found dead behind an abandoned Southampton County home, her stepfather Wesley Hadsell was convicted of her murder.

A jury in Southampton County Circuit Court deliberated just 40 minutes on Monday before announcing its verdict, finding Hadsell guilty of first-degree murder and concealing a dead body in the 2015 death. He faces the possibility of life in prison when hes sentenced April 4.

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Hadsell shook his head slightly after the verdicts were read. Two of A.J. Hadsells younger sisters started to sob, while their mothers eyes filled with tears.

18-year-old Anjelica "A.J." Hadsell was the victim of a homicide in 2015.

A.J. Hadsell was spending her spring break from Longwood University at her familys home in Norfolk when she disappeared on March 2, 2015. Her body wasnt found until five weeks later, partially buried in a drainage ditch behind an abandoned house in Southampton County, near the North Carolina border.

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A medical examiner determined she died from acute heroin poisoning and homicidal violence. The amount of heroin in her system was three times the lethal amount, and her eyes and chin were blackened and bruised. The examiner, however, wasnt able to determine if shed been sexually assaulted because of damage inflicted on her body by animals and insects.

Hadsell wasnt charged in the case until 2018. His first trial began in 2020 in Southampton County, but a mistrial was declared after just two days over a disagreement on what evidence the jury should be allowed to hear.

His latest trial began two and a half weeks ago. It was held in an old school building the county is using for a temporary courthouse while a new one is built.

Closing arguments were offered Monday and the case went to the jury shortly after 4 p.m. Circuit Judge L. Wayne Farmer told the panel that while it was late in the day, he wanted them to at least get started on their deliberations and that they could come back Tuesday to work more. But about 40 minutes later, they notified the court they had a verdict.

Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Toni Colvin and Commonwealths Attorney Eric Cooke laid out their theory of the case in great detail during closing statements.

They argued that Hadsell  whod been kicked out of the house by his wife several days earlier because of his drug use and erratic behavior  abducted A.J. while she was folding laundry and listening to music in the living room. The laundry was half folded and music was still playing on the speaker when her mother got home later.

Prosecutors believe Hadsell abducted A.J. to sexually assault her and that A.J. wasnt killed until the next day. A line of bruises found across her chest were consistent with someone holding an arm across her chest, Colvin said, and bruising on her chin likely was caused by someone holding it tightly in their hands. Thats how Colvin believes Hadsell forced the heroin into her.

He abused her, he beat her and then he poisoned her with heroin, Colvin told jurors.

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Afterwards, Hadsell tried to distract police by telling a series of lies and planting evidence in various places, including breaking into the home of one of A.J.s male friends and hiding a jacket that had her name embroidered on it among his things, the prosecutor said. Hadsell admitted to breaking into the house during an interview with a local TV station, but denied planting the jacket there.

Defense attorney James Ellenson argued that A.J. committed suicide with an overdose of a medication she was taking for migraine headaches  a claim that prosecutors called absurd. Ellenson said A.J. was depressed over her relationship with her boyfriend and had been downloading images with captions related to suicide in the days leading up to her disappearance.

Hadsell declined to testify in his own defense.

A.J.s mother, Jennifer Wright, testified that her daughter had been happy at the time. She described her ex-husbands behavior in the days surrounding her daughters disappearance as erratic.

It was very odd, she said. He was always coming and going. Just acting on edge a lot.

Norfolk police found heroin hidden in a crevice near the ceiling of a motel room where Hadsell was staying after he got kicked out by his wife. Norfolk Police Department officer Matt Burnham testified he searched Hadsells motel room a couple weeks after A.J. disappeared. Inside, he found a small baggie of a white substance that later proved to be heroin and two boxes of 9mm bullets.

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Hadsells drug dealer testified that he sold heroin to Hadsell the day after A.J. was reported missing.

A cadaver dog trained to detect the smell of decomposing bodies alerted on an area of Hadsells motel room, but didnt react to anything in his work van.

In Hadsells work van, Burnham found a shovel and duct tape in the back, and a hair band between the seats. There also was a photo of A.J. in the van, but none of her sisters.

A GPS unit in the van led police to an abandoned house on Smith Ferry Road in the Franklin area where A.J. Hadsells body was found. The unit showed the van had traveled there from Norfolk on March 4, two days after she went missing. Bank records and convenience store surveillance videos also put Wesley Hadsell in the area, prosecutors said.

There was no reason for the defendant to be there, Colvin said.

Cell phone data for Wesley and A.J. Hadsell also showed the two phones were pinging in the same places the day after A.J. went missing.

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Jane Harper, 757-222-5097, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
Kendall Jenner, who comes from the Kardashian-Jenner car-loving family, is also passionate about motorized jewels. She has quite a diverse collection, ranging from vintage pickups to modern cars.In a recent post on social media, the model showed her appreciation for some of her rides , including her Cadillac Eldorado, her Mercedes G-Wagen, and Porshe 911.But one vehicle she turns to quite often is her Ferrari hypercar , the SF90 Stradale, which might be one of the strongest and most expensive vehicles from Kendalls garage.A new video from The Hollywood Fix from early February shows that, while on her way to a meeting in Beverly Hills, California, Kendall Jenner found herself with a flat tire on her hypercar. She had someone help her out and replace the tire, which was on the front right. After a few minutes, the model was able to get behind the wheel again and carry on with her day.Her SF90 Stradale comes in a brown color and the Italian brand placed a powerful V8 engine under the hood, working alongside three electric motors. The 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 puts out 769 horsepower on its own, and the three electric motors bring in another 217 horsepower to the mix, to a total of 986 horsepower (1,000 ps).The Maranello-based manufacturer claims that the SF90 Stradale gets from zero to 60 mph (100 kph) in only 2.5 seconds. With these figures and exotic exterior, it's no surprise the hypercar comes with a price tag of over $500,000 (427,200).Kendall Jenner's flat tire experience ended well, but maybe one day we'll get to see her manage the whole thing all by herself.
Shortly after we learned of an F-15EX Eagle II firing a missile over the Gulf of Mexico in the airplanes first live ammunition test, we now hear word of the AARGM-ER being fired in the skies over California, from an F/A-18 Super Hornet.The test, the second flight trial of the new missile, took place in the last days of January, but was just now made public by Northrop Grumman. The missile was fired over the Point Mugu Sea Range, and the missile performed an extended range profile, going after a land-based emitter target located on San Nicholas Island in Southern California.This second flight test verified AARGM-ERs ability to detect, identify, locate and engage a land-based air defense radar system from an extended range, said about the test Captain A.C. Dutko, Navy Program Manager for Direct and Time Sensitive Strike (PMA-242).Through the exceptional efforts of our government/industry team, we are another step closer to delivering capability to suppress the most advanced adversary air-defense systems without putting our warfighters in danger.The Extended Range version of the AARGM should double the range of the existing missile, which is about sixty miles (97 km), thanks to a new propulsion system.The new weapon is equipped with hardware to make it capable of honing in radar electronic transmissions from the surface, comes with a blast/fragmentation warhead, and its design is slightly different than on the existing version, featuring with a new airframe with strakes instead of mid-body wings.The top speed of the ER is not known, but the existing AARGM can fly towards the target at Mach 1.8 (2,280 kph/1,420 mph).
As an iconic nameplate that's only 13 years away from celebrating a century since its first flight, the B-17 is special no matter which of the 12,000+ examples built we're talking about. But "Sentimental Journey" gets extra credit for one of the very few that remain airworthy.Just like the other Flying Fortresses that are still active, "Sentimental Journey" was never flown in combat, but it's been getting plenty of action in the 21st century thanks to the volunteers at the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) museum in Arizona.And not only it's being flown on an annual tour circuit, but you can also take a ride in it. It will cost you $425 on a waist compartment seat and $850 if you want a bombardier or navigator seat in the nose, but hey, it's one of those bucket-list rides you need to check if you're a Flying Fortress buff.To fly regularly, "Sentimental Journey" also needs thorough annual inspections. And the video below shows this bomber sitting quietly in a massive hangar to have every nut, bolt, and piece of equipment checked before it can hit the air again.You'll also get a glimpse of B-17 "I'll Be Around," yet another Fortress that never flew into actual combat. This bomber is no longer in use, but it's also spending its retirement as a display piece in Arizona.The iconic B-17 Flying Fortress took its first flight in July 1935 and went into production in 1936. Boeing built more than 12,000 units until 1945 with primary users including the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Royal Air Force.The B-17 was primarily employed by the USAAF in the strategic bombing campaign of World War II against Germany, but many Flying Fortresses were also used in the Pacific Theater. Following the end of WWII, the B-17 was phased out as an Army bomber but remained in use for air-sea rescue and as a photo-mapping aircraft.As for "Sentimental Journey," it was completed in late 1944 and incorporated into the USAAF fleet in March 1945. It was assigned to the Pacific Theater, but it was placed in storage in Japan until 1947. The Boeing B-17 returned to the U.S. in 1950, when it was converted to air-sea rescue duty.It was used in "Operation Greenhouse" in 1951 and then spent 18 years as a forest fire fighting plane across the U.S. The B-17 was donated to the newly-founded Commemorative Air Force in 1978. That's when it got the "Sentimental Journey" name and the Betty Grable graphics on the nose. The name is a tribute to a popular song released by Doris Day in 1945.
That's right, folks, General Motors is giving the ax to the Spark, a car GM doesn't plan to replace directly. This news comes only months after reports surfaced that the lowly, underpowered, and under-refined 1 Mitsubishi Mirage had beaten the Spark in the most recently available sales data in quarter three of 2021.To say this report was the smoking gun that made GM lose faith in its decade-old subcompact would be a bit of a stretch. But as the American market shifts more and more away from sedans and hatchbacks, a recent slump was all the more reason to look elsewhere.As you'll find, there was a multitude of different factors that caused the Spark to get the boot and the Mirage to unexpectedly shoot to the top of its class in sales. A series phenomenon that the Mitsubishi and GM respectively could have never anticipated.Things started normally enough. The Spark entered the U.S. Domestic Market in the 2013 model year. The car started life as a concept car at the 2007 New York International Auto Show called the Beat. It would go on to have a successful tenure in the Southeast Asian Domestic Market as the Daewoo Matiz starting in 2009, predating its debut stateside by three years or so.The car retained the Beat name from the concept car in the Indian Market. GM hoped the Spark's refinement and better standard features than you'd expect to find would be a combination that sold like wildfire. With a peppy 100 or so horsepower four-cylinder engine under the hood, it was faster than the original Beetle, at the very least. Buyers likely cared more about the perpetually best in its class fuel economy. A figure matched only by the lowly Mirage.Meanwhile, the Mitsubishi Mirage did not try to wow consumers with higher than average levels of technology, refinement, or any sort of exhilarating driving experience. Like the Spark, the Mirage cut its teeth in the burgeoning Southeast Asian Markets, under the Mirage moniker, but also the Space Star and the Attrage for the sedan variant.The Mirage's 1.2-liter, three-cylinder 3A9 engine made a positively puny power figure between 70 and 76 horsepower, depending on the model year. In later models, this was upgraded to a positively face-melting figure of 78 rampaging stallions, still a full 20 horsepower less than the Spark. Where the Spark tried to wow buyers with tech and features, the Mirage simply aspired to be the most affordable, most efficient subcompact around, even if the interior quality feels like it's circa the year 2000 or something.The most bare-bones, manual transmission-equipped, roll-down window sporting Mirages could be had for as little as $12,000 back in 2013. At a time when most new cars were twice as expensive or more, enough people were convinced to buy these plasticky, Thailand-assembled hatchbacks to stick around. Lasting for a scarcely believable entire decade and counting. How much of this longevity is due to Mitsubishi Motor's indifference to the U.S Market is up for debate; there's no arguing that, but the sales don't lie.Even so, the Mirage was like a metaphorical punching bag for just about every critic in the auto industry, an up-and-coming Doug DeMuro included. At least dear old Uncle Doug did admit he understood the Mirage's appeal as a very affordable brand-new car, even if the people commenting on the video couldn't be bothered to watch for long enough to hear him say it. Safe to say, the Mirage racked up one-star review after one-star review year after year. With the Mitsubishi brand crumbling around it, it remained as the sole surviving Mistibishi passenger car.But then, the global health crisis changed everything. With factories sitting idle for months at a time, the global reserve of quality new and used cars started to shrink rapidly. The worldwide microchip shortage that followed the crisis only compounded problems. Suddenly, Honda Civics, Fits, Toyota Corollas, and Yaris economy cars in high demand were nowhere to be found in many parts of the country.But while other car models, the Spark included, failed to be replenished, Mitsubishi Mirages that were ignored for so long suddenly became big money items for people who desperately needed something to drive. The proof in the pudding came when it was announced the Mirage had overtaken the Spark in sales data for the third quarter of 2021.Some people reported paying a whopping $2,500 or more over sticker-price to get their hands on one. But when there isn't a new Corolla, Fit, or Versa for miles and miles in any direction, it was a loss that was worth taking. It sure beats buying a bad used car that pukes up its transmission a few months after you buy it. Only a few months later, the Spark had its plug pulled, seemingly for good.
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EV

Hyundai will initially rely on its IONIQ 5 full electric crossover and the Nexo hydrogen fuel cell, reports Reuters , but its likely that more electrified models will join the carmakers Japanese range in the coming years. One of Hyundais goals is to capture 10% of globalsales by 2025 and expanding into other markets could prove crucial.We havent yet set a target for sales, but we will try to provide more information once we begin taking orders online in May, said Hyundai Mobility Japan boss Shigeaki Kato, during a launch event in Tokyo.Hyundai, together with Kia, first attempted to capture significant market share in Japan back in 2001 but were forced to leave after selling just 15,000 vehicles, despite dominating the South Korean market, while also proving extremely popular in several other global markets.The fact remains that of the five million cars sold in Japan each year, roughly 90% come from Japanese brands, with Toyota holding down a 40% market share. Foreign brands have struggled to establish themselves there, apart from various luxury/exotic offerings.Now that theres a boom in demand for EVs, legacy manufacturers such as Hyundai, the VW Group and Stellantis might have a chance against Toyota in the latters back yard, so to speak. According to the Japan Automobile Importers Association (JAIA), imports of EVs went up three times to a record 8,610 units last year.In a video message, Hyundai CEO Jaehoon Chang actually apologized for his companys departure from Japan 12 years ago, while stating that only 600 Hyundai cars were still being driven there at the time.In order to make sure things will turn out differently this time, Hyundai will be focusing its efforts on online sales, while also partnering with a car-sharing service and an insurance company  in turn, this will allow private car owners to rent out their vehicles.
NASAs first rocket launch from another planet is now one step closer. @LockheedMartin has been tapped to build the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), part of a multi-mission campaign to return samples of the Red Planet to Earth. https://t.co/SDGWHjZNzX pic.twitter.com/vEQvHzBIwE  NASA Mars (@NASAMars) February 7, 2022

NASA's Perseverance rover has been busy drilling into Mars' rocks for the past few months, overcoming any challenges the harsh environment throws at it. The Mars Sample Return mission aims to bring pieces of the alien world stored by the rover in its belly back to Earth. Here, scientists could study them using advanced lab equipment, which would be too big to carry the Red Planet.It will take nearly a decade to get the samples into terrestrial labs, and for that to happen, the mission requires an effort from multiple European partners and NASA centers. The MAV will play a crucial role in the campaign as it is set to become the first rocket that will blast off from another planet's surface.According to NASA, the rocket will work together with the agency's Sample Retrieval Lander, the European Space Agency (ESA) Sample Fetch Rover, and the Earth Return Orbiter to return the samples back to Earth.The lander is scheduled to take off in 2026 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida together with the MAV and a small ESA machine called the Sample Fetch Rover. Once it touches down near or in the Jezero Crater on Mars, the rover would retrieve the samples left behind by Perseverance.The samples would then be returned to the lander and loaded inside a sample container located in the MAV. The lander will function as the rocket's launch platform. Once in Mars orbit, MAV would meet with the orbiter, which will catch the container and then head to Earth.The samples are expected to reach Earth in the 2030s. It's a complex mission, and Lockheed Martin must make sure that the MAV can overcome any challenge. First, the rocket will have to be small enough to fit inside the lander. Then, the team has to ensure that the vehicle is capable of withstanding the harsh environment on Mars and that it is able to work with other spacecraft.This will be the first mission to return samples from another world, and it will include the first launch from another planet's surface. The pieces gathered by Perseverance could reveal important clues about Mars' past, showing if there was once life on our neighbor.
The hot hatch, which guns for the likes of the Ford Fiesta ST, Volkswagen Polo GTI, and Hyundai i20 N, has received a mid-cycle refresh last year, and now, our spy photographers have spotted its successor testing.It is not exactly a new generation, but rather a more significant facelift, bringing the usual tweaked front and rear ends, new technology features, and perhaps revised mechanicals. However, one thing seems certain, and that is that it will definitely fly under the radar, as the changes are not that significant.Visually, the 2024 MINI JCW will get a new front end, with different grille, bumper, and headlights. The front clusters equipping the prototype snapped in Munich, Germany, do not seem to be the final production units. The side mirrors are new though, and the front overhang appears to be slightly longer, yet this move could be blamed on the camouflage.The taillights, bumper, and diffuser will also be refreshed, and unlike the current iteration, which has two tailpipes, the scooped tester only had one. Nonetheless, this, alongside other aspects of the car, might change when it premieres, with the BMW Group-owned brand suggesting that it will debut sometime next year, perhaps as a 2024 model.As for the big news, that is the fact that it will still pack an internal combustion engine, which might be an updated version of the 2.0-liter four-banger powering the current JCW . It pumps out 228 hp and 236 lb-ft (320 Nm) of torque, mated to a manual or an automatic transmission. When ordered with the latter option, the 0 to 62 mph (0-100 kph) sprint drops from 6.3 to 6.1 seconds.
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PHEV

All current developments Nissan has in place will be stopped, and the available resources will be rerouted for electric vehicles (EVs). That means another $4.3 billion will go toward making cars like the Ariya. The automaker wants to be able to compete with other brands like Volkswagen and Tesla. This is why it has already entered a partnership with Renault and Mitsubishi dubbed as the Alliance 2030.As Nikkei reports, Nissan will keep some gasoline engines only for the American market. The company is confident about demand for pickup trucks in the U.S., even though this will be available for a limited time only. Theres no current target for endingcars in America, but some analysts think this will not hold for more than five years at most.The move doesnt come as a complete surprise, since Nissan already cancelled any other developments for gasoline engines in Europe. It was to be expected, but the decision came sooner than experts thought.Giving up on ICE cars everywhere else than America is a sign that the Euro 7 standard prepared by the European Union will be a harsh one. The new rules are expected to go into effect starting from 2025. According to insider sources, the measures will raise the cost of developing ICE engines to levels that wont guarantee any kind of profit. Nissan also decided to keep building the current engines they have for at least four more years, but they wont reach Europe, Africa or South America. These will end up on plug-in hybrid () cars meant only for Japan and China.Surprisingly, there are no job cuts planned for now. Persons familiar with the matter told Nikkei that Nissan plans to train their current experts and relocate them to work on PHEVs or EVs. Others will end up in completely new divisions.
EV

As GM and other leading auto manufacturers like Ford and Toyota struggled under the chip shortage in 2021, Tesla delivered 241,300 units in the last quarter of 2021, 78% more than it did in the previous year.A global shortage of automotive microchips shook the auto industry, shaving off global vehicle production by 5 million units. On the other hand, Tesla racked up sales records, ending the year with twice the amount of units sold in 2020, unhindered by the crisis, New York Times reported.But sources now reveal that the electric vehicle pioneer tweaked the electric control unit, removing one or two components in the steering racks of some Model 3 and Model Y units made in Shanghai to avert the industry-wide shortage, Reuters reports.Themanufacturer failed to disclose this exclusion that affects tens of thousands of units destined for clients in China, Australia, the UK, and other parts of Europe. It is unclear if the exclusion affected units manufactured or shipped to the United States.The global chip shortage affected leading automakers like GM, Ford, and Honda, leading to factory closures that ultimately led to empty dealer car lots and a sudden surge in new and used vehicle prices. Industry insiders warn that the microchip shortage could continue into 2022 The exclusion of components means Tesla made changes beyond what they had made public to avert the crisis and keep sales going and units in production rolling in the last quarter of 2021.According to two Tesla employees, the exclusion will not pose any safety issues but affect driverless functionality on affected units requiring a service visit.
SKT, a major telecommunications company in South Korea, believes that eVTOLs, autonomous driving, and robots will be at the forefront of all future industrial development. Supporting the countrys strategy for urban air mobility (UAM), the company wants to introduce pioneering multi-modal journeys that integrate land and air travel. To achieve that, SKT and Uber launched a joint venture called UT in 2021. Now, Joby , which is also an Uber partner, is joining forces with SKT.The California-based company will provide its electric, five-seat aircraft for these innovative ridesharing services across South Korea. The announcement comes after Jobys founder and CEO and SKTs CEO signed an agreement at the aviation companys manufacturing facility in Marina, California.In the U.S., Jobys aerial ridesharing service will be available through its own app, as well as the Uber app. But the company is also gearing up to launch its service in select markets outside the U.S., and South Korea is a major one. Here, SKT will be operating the innovative multi-modal ridesharing service.The Joby piloted eVTOL can reach a top speed of 200 mph (321 kph) and offers a 150-mile (241 km) range as the result of more than a decade of research and development. At the moment, it has completed over 1,000 test flights, and the company recently achieved what it claims to be the fastest flight of an eVTOL  its aircraft reached 205 mph (330 kph). The Joby air taxi is set to begin operations by 2024.
South Africa: NATJOINTS puts measures in place for safe SONA

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has put in place measures to ensure a safe and secure delivery of the State of the Nation Address at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday.

For the first time, a South African President will not deliver the SONA in Parliament after the building was gutted in a fire in January.

NATJOINTS in a statement on Tuesday said security forces had been deployed and were on high alert to ensure that the SONA takes place in a secure environment, with no incidents of crime before, during and post the important address.

Colonel Athlenda Mathe said: To this end, the NATJOINTS is calling for the cooperation of the public, including those who will be in attendance as well as spectators.

Any action aimed at disrupting the SONA or intentionally contravening the law, will be dealt with accordingly within the ambit of the law.

The NATJOINTS said it had further directed all law enforcement agencies securing the SONA to execute their duties according to their Constitutional mandate and within relevant prescripts.

She said in relation to aviation security, a Notice to all Airmen (NOTAM) had been issued by the Civil Aviation Authority which restricts the airspace within 1.5 nautical miles from the Cape Town City Hall on the day between 1pm and midnight.

Only the South African Air Force (SAAF) will have flexible use of airspace during this period. Please note that this is strictly a no fly zone for drones.

Residents of Cape Town, spectators and those who are operating businesses in the vicinity of the Cape Town City Hall are advised about road closures ahead of the delivery of the Presidents State of the Nation Address, she said.

The NATJOINTS said it was important to emphasise that those who were not accredited or authorised to be in attendance, should avoid the area around the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday, 10 February 2022.

For more information on the list of road closures and parking restrictions, members of the public are advised to go on the SAPS website on www.saps.gov.za as well as Facebook and Twitter social media pages.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-02-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Commentary: Top-level exchanges between China, Mideast to deepen mutual trust, cooperation

Xinhua) 09:38, February 08, 2022

CAIRO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Following the grand opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday held a flurry of meetings with leaders from the Middle East, charting the course for ever closer ties marked by deepening political trust and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Meeting separately with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Xi underscored the importance of dovetailing the development strategies between the two sides.

In his meeting with Sisi, Xi urged China and Egypt to 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.

During talks with Qatari and UAE leaders, Xi reiterated China's willingness to work with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which Qatar and the UAE are both members, to accelerate free trade agreement negotiations. The agreement, if reached, is expected to generate market opportunities that benefit all parties.

Positive momentum already emerged three weeks ago as Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey, and Iran, as well as the secretary general of the GCC, in east China, marking the first round of intensive diplomatic interactions between China and Mideast countries since the start of the new year.

Against the backdrop of the raging COVID-19 pandemic and emerging geopolitical changes in the Middle East, enhanced China-Mideast cooperation will leverage respective advantages and tap into their development potentials, particularly in such fields as pandemic response, infrastructure and energy.

China has been a staunch supporter for the Middle East in its fight against COVID-19 from the very start. China donated and exported a large quantity of COVID-19 vaccines to Middle East countries in dire need of them, at a time when Western countries largely hoarded vaccines for their own good.

In Egypt, Algeria and the UAE, China has helped localize vaccine production to meet the rising demand, demonstrating ever-deepening friendship and mutual trust and opening new areas of cooperation.

The development strategies of China and Mideast countries are also highly complementary. China, a big energy consumer and a major country leading the global green efforts, could expand cooperation with Mideast countries in diversifying their economies and optimizing its own energy structure.

Meanwhile, China has long upheld the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and insisted that its collaboration with foreign countries have no political strings attached.

This principle as well as natural advantage promises broad prospects for practical cooperation between China and Mideast countries, which are long plagued by interference, sanctions and threats from U.S.-led West.

Going forward, China and Mideast countries will continue to benefit from increasingly fruitful cooperation and their common aspiration to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Students walk in the hallway at Centerville Elementary School on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Virginia Beach. (Kaitlin McKeown/Virginia Media)

The Virginia Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a challenge brought by Chesapeake parents over Gov. Glenn Youngkins executive order that seeks to end mandatory masks in schools.

The lawsuit was brought by 13 Chesapeake parents  all of whom have children in Chesapeake Public Schools  and asked the states high court to issue an emergency order blocking the new administration from enforcing the order.

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In tossing the lawsuit, the high court did not take a stand on whether Youngkins executive order is lawful.

By this dismissal, we offer no opinion on the legality of (the executive order), the court said in a footnote to the 3-page order.

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Youngkins order, which took effect Jan. 24, says no teacher, school, school district, the Department of Education, or any other state authority can force a student to wear a mask against his or her parents wishes.

Implementation of Youngkins order was previously put on hold by an Arlington County Circuit Court judge, who issued a temporary injunction Friday in a separate legal challenge.

That case was brought by several school boards  including Hamptons  which claimed the order violates state law and that Youngkin overstepped his legal authority. Youngkins office expects to appeal that decision.

The attorney representing the Chesapeake parents, Kevin Martingayle, said that while the Virginia Supreme Court has rejected the Chesapeake parents case on procedural grounds, it did not find Youngkins order legal. Its now evident, he contended, that school boards cannot be forced to obey it.

This is far from over, Martingayle said.

On the other hand, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares  who is representing the Youngkin administration in the lawsuit  said he and the governor are pleased with the ruling.

We agree with the Courts decision and will continue to defend the Executive Order, Miyares said in a statement. This is a victory for Virginia families.

In its ruling dismissing the case, the Supreme Court said that a Virginia governor holds significant discretion on how to go about executing state law.

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Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that school boards also have their own discretion to decide how closely they adhere to Centers for Disease Control mitigation strategies  to include the recommendation that students be universally masked.

The high court said that language in law says that CDC guidelines must be followed to the maximum extent practicable gives school boards some wiggle room.

That language gives the boards a degree of discretion to modify or even forgo those strategies as they deem appropriate for their individual circumstances, the court wrote. That discretion persists even if the governors order is unlawful, the court said.

The courts order doesnt reach the merits of whether the governors executive order was lawful, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

Instead, he said, the justices ruled the court doesnt have jurisdiction to hear the case based on the facts and legal remedies sought by the plaintiffs.

Its possible, Tobias said, that the Virginia Supreme Court might also believe its better to let the matter play out in the lower courts first before taking the case up. The Chesapeake parents could refile in Chesapeake Circuit Court and start the process again, he said.

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The case brought by the Chesapeake parents asked that the court prohibit Youngkin from acting on his executive order and instead order the governor to follow a state law passed last year. The suit also asked that the Chesapeake School Board not be forced to follow Youngkins order.

The lawsuit contended that Youngkins executive order is in direct conflict with state law.

That law says Virginia school districts must offer in-person instruction to students  but adhere to the maximum extent practicable to COVID-19 mitigation strategies from the CDC.

Given that the CDC currently recommends universal masking in public schools nationwide with only limited exceptions, the lawsuit asserted that that Youngkins order rejects the recommendations of the CDC and thereby violates state law.

But in Mondays ruling, the Virginia Supreme Court said the remedies sought by the parents did not apply in this case.

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A prohibition was not applicable because thats a remedy used to restrain lower courts from acting beyond their bounds  and theres no assertion that Youngkin is acting in a judicial capacity.

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Moreover, the court ruled that a writ of mandamus  a court order telling a public official to take a certain action  isnt appropriate here, either.

Though governors are required under the constitution to ensure that laws are faithfully executed, the court wrote that executing the laws is an executive function, requiring in its performance the exercise of ... discretion.

Tobias said the court ruled that for a writ of mandamus to apply, the governor would need to be under an explicit command from either a state statute or the constitution to do something specific.

Theyre saying that absent that, [a writ of mandamus] cant control or restrict what he does, even if (the executive order) is unlawful, Tobias said. Because its a discretionary act.

Ali Sullivan, 757-677-1974, ali.sullivan@virginiamedia.com

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
Obviously strongly linked with the global health problems, the chip nightmare is still wreaking havoc this year. And if Volkswagens right, it will continue to do the same until at least 2023.Board member Murat Aksel was recently quoted as saying that the German carmaker doesnt believe the constrained chip inventory would be resolved this year. And while some signs of recovery could indeed be spotted in the second half of the year, this doesnt mean well be returning to normal.Not at all, Aksel said, as the chip supply issues would continue well into 2023.Next year, however, we should be able to more accurately predict when the chip crisis is coming to an end, simply because companies out there are investing more and more in the capacity that would help deal with the whole thing.Thats an interesting point of view, thats for sure, but market research firm IDC has recently released another concerning prediction.If the industry keeps investing in production capacity, we could end up with an oversupply of chips , simply because foundries would eventually build more units than carmakers really need. And this could happen, IDC says, as soon as the next year, which is exactly the timeframe when Volkswagen expects the chip shortage to come to an end.Until this happens, however, carmakers continue to go to great lengths to minimize the disruptions of the lack of semiconductors. Ford this week announced that its suspending the production at several North American plans until the chip inventory is restored. Several popular models are affected, including the F-150.
EV

SUV

The new probably another electric will be manufactured over the SPA2 platform that Volvo will reveal with the Embla, the XC90 replacement. Production in Ridgeville should start by early 2025, but the new model will not be made only in the U.S.Automotive News also learned that the new EV would have an estimated annual output of 100,000 units, 40% of which will be made in its American plant. Torslanda could be a candidate for producing it after the SEK10 billion ($1,093 billion) investment there, but it would not be in Volvos plans for this vehicle.The V546 will also be manufactured in China, in a factory that was either not disclosed by Automotive News sources or is yet to be built, which would not be surprising to anyone aware of how things move fast in the Chinese market.The V546 production in China will aim at the domestic market and also some exports. All units made in the Ridgeville factory should stay in North America. In other words, American, Canadian, and Mexican customers will have 40,000 of this new EV to buy every year if things go as planned.Being an intermediate between the XC60 and XC90 makes sense, considering it is an electric vehicle, especially if it is an SUV. The Recharge Concept and the Embla already showed that Volvo would turn its SUVs into longer vehicles to make them more aerodynamically friendly. In lower vehicles, the only option to accommodate passengers more comfortably is to make them longer.Well probably have a concept car anticipating the V546 a while before it gets its official premiere. Now we have to discover how Volvo will call it: the Embla will start a new naming strategy at the company, without letters or numbers.
But the sales figures are showing a rather unusual trend for this once very promising and very strong brand. In 2021, Hyundai sold just 9,061 units and ranked just eighth amongst other automakers and distributors in the Philippine market.

The local distributor, Hyundai Asia Resources Incorporated (HARI), really took the Hyundai automotive brand to new heights in the years past. In a market dominated largely by Japanese auto brands like Toyota and Mitsubishi, it was a remarkable achievement for Hyundai to rise up to third place overall.

We tracked their sales for the last 10 years based on our combined AVID and CAMPI sales reports from 2012 to 2021 and by far last year was their lowest ever in that decade. They reached a high of 37,678 units in 2017 even though they weren't really able to capitalize on the market uncertainty caused by an incoming tax law. The low point was in 2020 given the economic effects of the coronavirus, but while other automakers bounced back in 2021, Hyundai dropped even further by about 40%. That represents the largest drop by a volume brand in the Philippine market last year.

This runs contrary to how we've known Hyundai to be run in the country since HARI took over. Fe Perez-Agudo, the president and CEO of HARI, has a reputation as a fiercely competitive executive at the helm of Hyundai. At the start of her career at the top of Hyundai, she told us how one of Hyundai Motor's Korean executives tried to put her down: You are a woman. What do you know about cars?

Instead of backing down, she shot back: You are a Korean. What do you know about the Philippines?

To us observers of the industry, seeing Hyundai in their current situation is not only strange but incredibly out of character. But it also gives credence to one of the Philippine auto industry's biggest rumors: the distributorship of Hyundai in the Philippines is about to change hands.

The new management will be supposedly led by Hyundai Motor Company. Yes, it's likely going to be a subsidiary or joint venture of HMC with another party.

While Hyundai Philippines officers will definitely not comment on the matter in an official capacity, there is a lot of unofficial talk that we've had with people close to the matter. That's mostly hearsay but it all does match up with a few indicators we've been spotting; signs that point to an imminent changing of the guard for one of the country's strongest brands.

One of the most telling is the lack of activity on Hyundai's online portals. Hyundai used to be very active in social media, but now they're just uploading or sharing photos from customers and owners. But what's more unusual is that they haven't updated their price list online for the Philippines. It all still reads 2021 and it's already February 2022. All other automakers and distributors have updated their lists, but Hyundai hasn't.

Dealers are informing us that the supply of passenger vehicle units from Hyundai is drying up; from what we've been told, only a few Venue and Accent units remain. They don't appear to be importing any more units, which brings us to our next point: Hyundai isn't conducting any kind of major activities in the local market, particularly with regard to the Staria/Starex.

We have not had any word of the launch or even testing of the new generation Staria/Starex. Historically, this is a very important model for Hyundai. The Starex is the nameplate that made Hyundai's name in the Philippines so recognizable. Surely a company that is looking to grow their sales will move everything to bring their flagship model in as quickly as possible, and curb the sales of the model on the gray market.

Hyundai's partners in the dealership network have also been making some changes. We noted that quite a few dealerships have been divided up: one side is Hyundai, the other side is Changan. The local distributor of Hyundai has also become the new Philippine distributor of Chinese automaker Changan, and it makes sense for them to maximize the potential of their dealer network by offering more models from Changan as they make preparations to switch.

Sources do tell us that the switch to the new Hyundai Motor Company-led distributor is going to happen soon. According to some insiders it was supposedly planned for January 2022, but the situation with the pandemic made it impossible or so we've been told.

The prospect of Hyundai Motor Company coming in as Hyundai Philippines is most definitely an interesting development, and there's history to back that up. The last time the "mothership" took over the importation and distribution of a brand here was Nissan in 2013. Prior to then, there were the "two Nissans" with UMC handling the commercial vehicle side (e.g. Patrol, Frontier Navara) and NMPI handling the passenger car side (e.g. Almera, Sentra). Then Nissan Motor came in and established Nissan Philippines, Inc. as the national sales company and they took the brand to where it is today.

If Hyundai Motor coming in can push for that strategy, they can recover the ground lost or even grow further. They will need to reassure customers that warranties will be honored and service will continue as usual. And of course, we wouldn't mind if they sped up the introduction of new models in the Philippine market. We won't be surprised if Hyundai -if that is indeed the case- will go full blast with a big launch with multiple models.

But it's definitely not the end for HARI: we have been informed that the likely scenario is that they retain the Hyundai Truck & Bus business. Given that there has been more activity (e.g. press releases, etc.) on the commercial vehicle side from HARI, we can see that as a very logical move. Their year-on-year growth for commercial vehicle sales was a very handsome 206.89% and it will be quite profitable for HARI moving forward.

The writing on the wall points to big changes happening at the house that HARI built. If you're about to move out of a place you've been renting, would you bother to clean and repaint it for the next guy?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Elon Musk and son X  A-12 on stage TIME Person of the Year on December 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo : Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIME)

A financial filing from Tesla on Monday, February 7, revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission delivered another subpoena to them in an ongoing conflict over tweets of the company's CEO Elon Musk, as per CNBC.

The financial regulator is trying to determine whether Musk and Tesla complied with a revised settlement agreement they agreed upon with the agency back in 2019. According to the filing submitted by Tesla, the SEC is looking for information regarding the electric car maker's "governance processes around compliance with the SEC settlement, as amended."

SEC issued the subpoena shortly after Musk polled his tens of millions of followers on social media platform Twitter, asking them if he should sell 10 percent of his ownership stake at Tesla. Musk did sell some of his stakes afterward, but the sales were already part of a plan he adopted in September of last year.

Musk's dispute with SEC stretches back several years

Musk's dispute with the SEC over his controversial tweets stretches back several years. It all started in 2018 when the SEC charged the Tesla CEO with fraud after Musk tweeted that he had "funding secured" to take the company private at $420 per share. The SEC sued Tesla after that tweet, which sent Tesla's stock fluctuating for weeks.

Musk and Tesla eventually reached a settlement with the SEC after that fiasco. The agreement called for Tesla to have a legal and regulatory compliance point person who will pre-approve any of Musk's tweets containing any information regarding the publicly traded company that could affect its price in the stock market. As part of the settlement, Musk had to step down as Tesla's chairman of the board for three years. Musk and the company also had to pay a $20 million fine each.

Musk drew the ire of the SEC again months later when he tweeted about Model 3 production numbers in early 2019. The SEC asked to hold Musk in contempt of court, saying the Tesla boss violated the initial settlement agreement. Musk's tweet about the production numbers of Tesla Model 3 had not been pre-approved by the company's attorneys.

A judge asked Musk and the SEC to settle their differences, which the two parties eventually did. Musk got some clarification regarding the specific content that needed vetting by Tesla's attorneys before he could post on social media.

Related Article: Million-Dollar Cars Help Barrett-Jackson Auction House Smash Sales Record in Scottsdale Event

Musk makes light of whistleblowers as SEC investigates complaint

Musk remained at odds with the SEC, though, calling them the "shortseller enrichment commission" in 2020. In July of that year, Musk made fun of the SEC by writing a veiled profanity in reference to the federal agency.

He then attempted to make light of whistleblowers in a tweet he posted on December 1, 2021, inviting his followers to blow the whistle on Tesla. A week after Musk sent that tweet, the SEC confirmed that it was investigating a complaint from Stephen Henkes, a former employee of Tesla, in a report on BBC. Henkes said that Tesla had knowledge of but failed to notify the public and shareholders about serious fire risks related to its solar photovoltaic installations.

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A Tesla car Model 3 is seen inside of a Tesla shop inside of a shopping Mall in Beijing on May 26, 2021. (Photo : NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)

Tesla made a stunning revelation with its SEC filing on Monday, February 7, with the world's leading electric car maker saying that it was holding nearly $2 billion worth of bitcoin at the end of 2021.

Tesla purchased a total of $1.5 billion in bitcoin last year. The cryptocurrency finished 2021 up by nearly 60 percent, with bitcoin trading above $46,000 on December 31. In July, it had slipped to as low as $30,000 after the Chinese government launched a regulatory crackdown on bitcoin. Bitcoin's value rebounded, though, rallying to a record high above $68,000 by early November. The cryptocurrency was trading just below $43,000 on Monday morning.

However, the company does not account for bitcoin as a mark-to-market asset, meaning that it only affects Tesla's earnings when it buys or sells the currency. Therefore, the drop in bitcoin's value should not affect the earnings of Tesla as long as the automaker has not divested any of its cryptocurrency holdings.

Tesla's bitcoin holding surges to around $2 billion

Tesla suffered huge impairment losses worth $101 million last year because of its bitcoin investment. The company cited the cryptocurrency's drop in value as the reason in its filing with the SEC. Tesla did realize gains of $128 million after selling a portion of its bitcoin holdings last March.

Even though Tesla gained $27 million in its crypto transactions overall during 2021, the company still recorded this as a negative loss due to restructuring and other expenses. Tesla said in the filing that the carrying value of their digital assets held as of December 31, 2021, was at $1.26 billion, and the fair market value of such digital assets held was placed at $1.99 billion.

Shortly after Tesla changed its investment policy to start adding cryptocurrency and gold to its holding in January of last year, the company decided to officially accept Bitcoin as a payment method to purchase its electric vehicles. Elon Musk posted a tweet on March 24, 2021, confirming this development, saying, "You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin."

Related Article: Semiconductor Shortage Hits Ford Again; Automaker Cuts Production of Mach-E, F-150, and Bronco

Tesla backtracks on move to allow Bitcoin payment

The price of Bitcoin surged following Tesla and Musk's announcement, which was also beneficial to them given their vast holding of the cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin option for Tesla buyers did not last long, though, as the company decided to remove it as a mode of payment just a few days later.

Tesla cited concerns over the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions as the reason behind the move. This was a concern that many community members of Tesla shared when the company first announced its Bitcoin investment. Many of them were angered by the fact that Tesla did not think about the harm Bitcoin did to the environment in the first place.

Musk said in July, however, that Tesla will 'most likely' resume accepting bitcoin as a form of payment once the mining for the cryptocurrency becomes eco-friendly.

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BMW CEO Still Believes in Internal Combustion Engines; Warns World is Not Ready to Abandon Them

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Palmdale, CA (93550)

Today

Sunny skies. Becoming windy late. High 82F. WSW winds at 10 to 15 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph.
A top German lawmaker representing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party says the Chinese government's coercion of Lithuania has underscored the need to abandon Germany's bilateral approach to Beijing in favor of a unified European position.

Why it matters: China has been Germany's largest economic partner since 2015. As broader European attitudes toward Beijing have soured over its human rights abuses and unfair trade practices, Germany has faced calls to rethink the pro-engagement policies favored by former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Driving the news: Nils Schmid, the foreign-policy spokesman for the Social Democratic Party, spoke to Axios ahead of Scholz's meeting with President Biden on Monday, where U.S.-German coordination on China was one of several topics on the agenda.

Schmid had just returned from leading a cross-party delegation to Lithuania intended to "show solidarity" in the face of Beijing's pressure campaign, which escalated after the Baltic nation allowed Taiwan to open a trade office in Vilnius using its own name, rather than "Chinese Taipei."

The European Union launched legal action against China at the World Trade Organization last month, accusing Beijing of quietly barring all imports of Lithuanian goods and pressuring European companies to cut Lithuania out of their supply chains.

What they're saying: Schmid, noting how uncharacteristically swift the EU's lawsuit was, told Axios "it is vital to defend the integrity of the EU single market" and "stand up for smaller member states when they are bullied around by China."

"The EU is not always in all aspects a superpower, but when it comes to trade and the economy, it is a superpower. It's a regulatory superpower," he said.

In addition to the WTO complaint, Schmid pointed to the EU's development of an anti-coercion tool that will allow the bloc to push back against economic intimidation from China and other countries.

The big picture: Schmid said that nobody in Europe talks seriously about "decoupling" with China, given the extent to which the EU and Chinese economies are "intertwined."
Editor's note: The headline, graphic and story were corrected to reflect that BLS data from January cannot be compared to the prior month due to an annual re-weighting of employment numbers based on the latest population data.

Women are still struggling to get back to work, and the Omicron variant may have made that more difficult.

Driving the news: Men's labor force participation rate was up to 70% in January, according to numbers from the Labor Department released Friday. The women's rate is 58%.

Why it matters: Issues with schools and daycare centers kept women, who are typically primary caregivers to children, out of the workforce throughout the pandemic  and it's still happening.

This holds back the economic recovery, keeping women on the sidelines at a time when companies are desperate to hire.

Women with young children at home, who might have considered going back to work, likely couldn't because of unstable school and child care schedules.

What's next: Women are in a tough spot, as there's still a shortage of child care workers and the possibility of school scheduling snafus with future variants.

There is no real policy fix on the horizon, now that Build Back Better is dead.

Child care providers operate on tight margins and don't pay well, and in a tight labor market they're having a hard time finding workers  fueling the crisis.

One state's solution is to deregulate its daycare centers, giving child care workers more children to look after; a widely criticized move that could put children's safety in danger, as Jonathan Cohn reports.

Yes, but: The situation has improved versus September 2020, when hundreds of thousands of women left the workforce even as kids went back to school.

We'll know more as the year progresses. But it's difficult to compare January employment numbers to the prior month because of technical issues with how the BLS weights the data, as economist Justin Wolfers explains.

Our thought bubble: The pandemic exacerbated long simmering issues that American parents, particularly women, face when it comes to managing work and family. Early on in the pandemic, there were signs and hopes that these problems would be addressed. Now, it's clear, women are on their own.
27 W. Queens Way in downtown Hampton will house the new Virginia Tech Coastal Collaborator. (Kaitlin McKeown/The Virginian-Pilot)

Virginia Tech has had a presence along the downtown Hampton waterfront for nearly half a century.

In the 1970s, the university opened one of its Agricultural Research and Extension Centers here, dedicated to supporting the seafood industry. Recent years have seen an expansion of that center as well as additional research space.

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Last week the school announced an extension of its physical presence, one driven by a desire to tackle the states coastal challenges from Hampton Roads to the Northern Neck.

The new Virginia Tech Coastal Collaborator seeks to bring together the schools experts with industry leaders and other local stakeholders.

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Metaphorically, its like a superhighway bringing the intellectual and research capacity to the coast, said Robert Weiss, director of the schools Center for Coastal Studies and a professor of natural hazards. And then the needs back from the coast to Blacksburg, so that we can match the needs.

About 60% of the states population is located in the coastal zone, Weiss said, as well as many major economic drivers including the Port of Virginia and the growing offshore wind industry.

There are also pressing environmental issues, such as sea level rise and the need to build resiliency through natural and manmade infrastructure, said Michael Schwarz, associate director of the coastal studies center and director of the existing seafood research center.

A lot of solutions needed in such fields  aquaculture technology, for example, or developing unmanned submersible vehicles to repair offshore wind infrastructure  lend themselves well to the technical expertise for which the Blacksburg campus is known, Schwarz said.

Everything is on the table for the new space, he said. Were just bringing more tools into the toolbox of the region.

The collaborative space takes up the first floor of an office building on West Queens Way. Its around the corner from the seafood research center and its $10 million revamped building set to open soon.

[ Crab from a lab? Right along Hamptons waterfront, researchers are working on the future of lab-grown meat ]

Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news >

That building will have new facilities, including an aquaculture lab. But rapid growth of the research programs has outgrown not only the existing center but even the capacity of the new one. Virginia Tech leased additional offices last year for a seafood analysis and marketing program.

The coastal collaborator will be located one floor below, including a research bench space and loading dock area for waterfront testing and monitoring. The team plans to hire an onsite program manager, but most people using the space will do so temporarily, coming from the Blacksburg campus or other Hampton offices.

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The idea is that industry partners or scientists could use it to work with the schools researchers. Several companies have already expressed interest, Schwarz said.

Steven Lynch, Hamptons senior business development manager, said in a statement that the collaborator will expose the public and businesses in the city and region to research and technology developments that will benefit from the close proximity to the coast.

Virginia Tech already has relationships with these coastal communities, Schwarz said.

This is just bringing a lot of other areas of expertise into the coastal equation.

Katherine Hafner, 757-222-5208, katherine.hafner@pilotonline.com
I have always had great respect for the enormous impact William & Mary have had on our nation throughout our history, Fiorina said in an interview with the Gazette. As chair of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, I have gained new appreciation for our partnership and the important work we share in bringing our nations origin to life. Washington Post photo by Marvin Joseph (The Washington Post)

On Feb. 16, Carly Fiorina, whom Forbes named as the 10th on the list of the Worlds 100 Most Powerful Women will speak at the College of William & Mary.

Apart from Forbes assessment, Fiorina in 2003 was named by Fortune Magazine the most powerful woman in business, a position she held for five years, and in 2004 was included among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.

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The talk, sponsored by the Reves Center for International Studies, the William & Mary Global Research Institute and the Department of Government, is entitled, The 2022 Beijing Olympics: The State of U.S.-China Business. It will take place at the Tucker Hall, Room 127A, from 5-6:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

I asked Fiorina what made her choose to use the College of William & Mary as a platform for giving a public talk?

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I have always had great respect for the enormous impact William & Mary have had on our nation throughout our history, Fiorina said in an interview with the Gazette. As chair of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, I have gained new appreciation for our partnership and the important work we share in bringing our nations origin to life.

Fiorinas fame originated by her making HP the 11th largest company in the U.S. when the industry was facing the worst recession in 25 years. She did this by making difficult decisions that were necessary to preserve and protect in the short-term, while simultaneously initiating bold moves to create strength and future opportunities.

Fiorina was the first woman to lead a Fortune Top 20 company and break the glass ceiling.

During the 2014 Ebola crisis, as chairman of the board of Good 360, Fiorina led the worlds largest product philanthropy organizations dramatic response to the crisis by galvanizing the U.S. business community to provide U.S. supplies to West Africa.

In the public sector, she was an adviser for the State Department and the Department of Defense and counseled on the formation of the Department of Homeland Security. After 9/11 she was appointed by President Bush to serve as the chairman of the External Advisory Board of the CIA.

In 2015, Fiorina launched a campaign to become president of the United States. She was running as a political outsider who intended empowering citizens to take back government from a political ruling class that has failed to deliver results. Eventually, she ended her campaign.

I asked Fiorina how did the shift from the world of business into politics affected her personally?

Business is all about solving problems and achieving results, she said. While citizens hope politics is the same, it turns out politics are more about running and winning.

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Considering that Fiorina has a long history of dealing with and doing business with China, I asked her about her experience.

China is a place where business and foreign policy have always overlapped in consequential ways. The business community is key to any redefinition of our relations with China, she said. My business experience in China is extensive. It is a complicated and frequently frustrating place to do business. Building relationships over time is key to success. Despite all the difficulties, in global economy, no business can afford to not engage with China.

Reflecting on the current relationship between the United States and China, Fiorina said, It is evolving. Difficult, indispensable. The Chinese are always strategic, persistent and consistent. We must be the same  across administrations and over time.

Fiorina during her business and public sector career had two constants: leadership and problem-solving. But to prove herself, wasnt easy.

She recalled during her first week at Hewlett-Packard, (H/P) Business Week came to see her because they were working on a story about the company.

Before wed even sat down to talk, the very first question from the editor was Is that an Armani suit youre wearing?

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Shatz is a Williamsburg resident. He is the author of Reports from a Distant Place, the compilation of his selected columns. The book is available at the Bruton Parish Sop and Amazon.com.
Lubbock, TX (79409)

Today

Windy with sunshine. High 91F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

A clear sky. Low near 45F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph.
Bakersfield's high-end Seven Oaks area is set to expand to the southwest with the addition of 125 new homes market observers say will provide 
You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @idesai98 on Twitter.
Vijayawada: Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday underlined the need for strengthening agriculture infrastructure and making it beneficial to farmers and allied sectors in the state in an expeditious manner.

Chairing a high-level meeting with AP agriculture mission vice-chairman Nagi Reddy and senior officials here, the CM called for speedy progress in the construction of godowns, given the high global demand for agriculture products raised through natural and organic farming. He advised farmers to avail such opportunities.

The CM laid stress on an action plan on requisite machinery to take up organic and natural farming so that they could be set up at every Rythu Bharosa Kendra in the state. Every effort must be made to ensure a better price to the Agri products raised through organic and natural farming and provide incentives to such farmers, he said.

On the construction of godowns, officials said the land acquisition was over and construction was initiated at 1,165 places and works were in progress at 278 places. Weighing machines and moisture testing machines were being arranged to help farmers and ensure they do not get duped. Some 6,293 tools used in procurement were being made available to the farmers, officials told the CM.

As for the processing units, the officials said 33 seed and millet primary processing units were being set up with a parliamentary segment as base, and these would be ready by Kharif 2022. Processing would help farmers get a good price as quality is to be assured.

They said that those involved in secondary processing would get raw material for use in their trades. On secondary processing units, works were going on in 13 units and efforts were on to set up collection centres and arrange cold storage facilities, especially for horticulture farmers.

Some 175 ambulances meant for animal care, one for each assembly segment, would be flagged off in March.

On the Jagananna Pala Velluva scheme, the officials said milk collection was being taken up in 1,110 villages. Nearly 28 lakh litres of milk was being collected per month. So far, 2.03 crore litres of milk was collected. The dairy farmers were paid Rs 86.58 crore and they got an additional benefit of Rs 14.68 crore.

As for the development of infrastructure for the aqua sector, the officials said aqua hubs etc would benefit nearly 80,000 persons directly or indirectly to earn money. Seventy aqua hubs and 14,000 spokes would be set up by June while work on setting up 23 pre-processing plants and 10 processing plants was in progress.

On fishing harbours, the CM was told that work on developing fishing harbours at Juvvaladinne, Nizampatnam and Machilipatnam was going on and works would be expedited at Uppada. In the second phase, works at Pudimadaka, Biyyaputippa, Vodarevu and Kothapatnam would be taken up and completed by end of December.
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Two Oregon Coast Museum Events Include ID Your Glass Float

Published 02/02/22 at 6:32 PM PST

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Lincoln City, Oregon)  In Coos Bay and in Lincoln City, two different history museums on the Oregon coast feature unique exhibits and events on February 19.

On the southern Oregon coast, the Coos History Museum starts off its new exhibit, Healing Hands, on February 19.

Healing Hands will explore the history of medicine in Coos County. The exhibit will feature a large sampling of the various establishments, people, tools, and continuing indigenous traditional medicinal practices that contributed to the health of southern Oregon coast communities since the 1800s.



Coos History Museum

The exhibit is located in the mezzanine gallery on the second floor of the museum and will be open through the end of the year. The public is welcome to view the exhibit during the museum's regular hours, Tuesday  Saturday from 11:00 a.. to 5:00 p.m., included with museum admission.

For more information about the Society and the Coos History Museum, visit cooshistory.org or email info@cooshistory.org. 1210 N Front St, Coos Bay, Oregon. (541) 756-6320. South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

On the central Oregon coast, the new exhibit at the North Lincoln County History Museum in Lincoln City is Float Odyssey, a look at the fishing floats that wind up on these shores, including those famed glass floats from Japan that once were common.

That exhibit opens officially on February 19 with a special event: Float Identification Day, held in conjunction with Antique and Collectible week here in Lincoln City.

Odysseys are described as long and adventurous journeys, the museum said. We couldn't think of a better word to describe the epic voyages that the fishing floats in this exhibit have endured. After being used and lost at sea by fishermen, these floats were caught in the circular Pacific currents for decades until large storms forced them ashore.

This exhibit follows some of the more extraordinary float odysseys, highlighting their place of origin, their use in the fishing industry, where and when they were found, and how they wound up in the museum's collection. Learn all about glass fishing floats through the stories of the special floats selected for this exhibit.

Dr. Nick Simpson and fellow float expert Ken Busse will be here to answer questions about the new exhibit and to help identify floats. Bring in that old glass float you have hanging in your garage or from a tree in your yard to learn its history from experts. They will be at the museum on Saturday, February 19th, from 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. 4907 Oregon Coast Hwy, Lincoln City, Oregon. (541) 996-6614.

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Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy listens to an audio clip as Chinna Jeeyar Swami smiles at Muchintal ashram near Shamshabad. The chief minister visited the ashram to participate in the Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samaroham. (DC)

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would release financial assistance of Rs 285.35 crore to benefit 2,85,350 people belonging to the Rajaka, Nayi Brahmin and Darji castes under the Jagananna Chedodu scheme for their welfare, on Tuesday.

The government has been offering financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per annum each to the people belonging to three communities who have shops and practise their occupation. So far, the YSR Congress government had paid out Rs 583.78 crore including the financial assistance of Rs 285.35 crore to be handed over to them on Tuesday.

The state government maintained that the selection of beneficiaries to provide financial assistance under the scheme was taken up in a transparent manner and their names were displayed in the concerned village/ward secretariats and a social audit was also conducted on the beneficiaries.

The bank accounts of these beneficiaries were unencumbered so that the banks could not take away the fresh deposits to adjust the old dues.
Lamar University's Center for Midstream Management and Science has joined the International Pipe Line & Offshore Contractors Association, the only university in the United States to do so.

Lamar joins the ranks of three other universities: Gubkin University in Russia, Ghent University in Belgium and Cranfield University in the United Kingdom.

The IPLOCA is a not-for-profit association with a mission of sharing ideas, engaging the industry and its stakeholders, facilitating business opportunities and promoting the highest standards in the pipeline industry, according to a news release.

Each of the four member universities focuses on issues facing the pipeline industry with a unique perspective.

Cranfield University has a Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Center that has a significant role in improving practices in onshore and offshore manufacturing with industrial partners. Ghent University has its Soete Laboratory which develops defect acceptance criteria for pipeline girth welds. Gubkin University is a national research center and source of manpower for the Russian oil and gas industry.

The Center for Midstream Management and Science at Lamar also stands out amongst its colleagues.

"The Lamar University Center for Midstream Management and Science is the only center in the world solely focused on midstream," said Thomas Kalb, director of the center, in a news release. "The center has funded over $900,000 of research in over 25 projects led by Lamar University faculty focuses on solving practical technological and operational problems faced by the industry."

IPLOCA has five membership categories: regular members, associate members, corresponding members, academic members and honorary members. Lamar is an academic member whose activities encompass research and/or the study of pipes, materials, tools, supplies, welding, coating, testing and modus operandi associated with onshore and/or offshore pipelines and/or associated process engineering facilities, the news release said.

The organization has members in more than 40 countries and represents 250 key players in the onshore and offshore pipeline construction industry worldwide.

"The IPLOCA regularly awards scholarships and we will be able to apply for those," Kalb said in the news release. "We also will be included in events and discussions where leaders of industry provide valuable insight into what industry leaders are thinking and care about. This prestigious membership will provide the CMMS with outreach opportunities to industry leaders that we otherwise would not have."

The center was established and funded by the Texas legislature in 2019.

olivia.malick@hearst.com

twitter.com/OliviaMalick
JASPER  In April, Sybil, the Jasper camel, traveled north to Tyler, where she and two other camels from McMurry Farms went to mate with the hopes of growing the herd for a research study on their milk.

You may remember Sybil for having the first successful camel hip surgery in the world. Joanna McMurry, who co-owns McMurry Farms with her husband, Ron, said she and Ron call Sybil the miracle camel. It wasnt just the hip surgery she survived, but also an infestation of meningeal worms when she was 2 or 3 years old.

We noticed that she was leaning and walking drunk, Joanna said. We took her to (Texas) A&M and they did a spinal fluid test and thats where they determined what it was. (We) found out that the worms are passed through white tailed deer droppings.

When Sybil grazed, she ingested the deer droppings and got infected. The veterinarians did not know if she would survive or be mentally impaired, but with treatment, Sybil lived and has normal cognitive function.

Related: Mother and baby camel thrive at Jasper farm after rare procedure

Now, the miracle camel is one of two helping to grow the herds next generation and their owners hopes to find a medical use for the creatures milk.

Bita also is pregnant, but Nadia, the third who went to Tyler in April, died of a parasite infestation. Since Nadias death, Sybil has moved into the role of herd matriarch.

Ron said he is hoping that within the next two years or so, the five camels they currently have will multiply to a total of fifteen, then a research study can be conducted.

His wife calls it a pipe dream, but she concedes that a lot of Rons pipe dreams have actually come true.

Ron is a retired emergency room doctor, who now sits on the hospital board in Jasper and still occasionally treats patients at hospitals across the state when there is a shortage of healthcare workers, something he is increasingly seeing.

In the 1960s, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a paratrooper until he went to Vietnam, where he served as a finance clerk.

After he got out of the military, Ron said he decided to go to medical school.

He went to the Autonomous University of Guadalajara in Mexico, because American universities were not accepting many students.

Related: Pandemic nurse shortage: Kentucy gov declares an emergency

In those days, they were only taking one out of three qualified students in the United States, Ron said.

The theory in the 70s was that we were going to have too many physicians. It didnt work out that way.

These days, not only is there a critical shortage of medical practitioners, but also, there is a dearth of solutions for people, particularly children, suffering from developmental disabilities. Ron said he is hoping to use the camels milk to fill that gap.

There is a lot that Ron does not yet know about camels milk, but he does know that it is very expensive to purchase, its nearly lactose free and it has a number of insulin analogs, which help to improve blood sugar.

Ron said its possible that the milk contains other compounds that could be medically beneficial.

Its frustrating to have kids who need help and theres nothing you can do about it, he said.

They cant develop themselves educationally. They cant integrate into society very well. Its frustrating not to have something.

rachel.kersey@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/ontheREKord
David Pollack/Corbis via Getty Images

The 1936 Texas Centennial played a significant role in Texas history and ending segregation and discrimination in the state.

The centennial gave a space to highlight Black Americans' contributions to the state and nation. That celebration also included "Negro Day," which created a space for Black Texans to plan a strategy to bring about the end of the segregation and discrimination they faced.
Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.
The above editorial was published Feb. 4 by the Chicago Tribune. Its views are its own.
HYDERABAD: Municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) minister K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday held a review meeting pertaining to Strategic Nala Development Plan (SNDP) and instructed Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials to ensure safety, and preparatory measures to avoid any untoward incidents in the coming monsoon season. He asked the officials to complete works pertaining to strengthening and repairing of retaining walls near nalas on war-footing.

The MA&UD minister informed that the government had taken up a safety audit extensively for nalas in all major municipal corporations and municipalities including the GHMC to save the lives of people staying near nalas.

"As a part of the exercise, the officials need to identify the places on the nalas that need to be strengthened and developed. Works related to strengthening, repair, and safety measures like building a retaining wall will be taken up on the nalas," he said.

Rama Rao pointed out that a few unfortunate incidents were being reported despite taking all the precautionary measures. He said senior officials would be held responsible if any untoward incident took place in the future due to lack of safety measures near nalas. He asked the GHMC commissioner to review the safety measures and SNDP works on a weekly basis.
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Bonaventure, Franciscan, theologian, doctor of the Church, was both learned and holy. Because of the spirit that filled him and his writings, he was at first called the Devout Doctor; but in more recent centuries he has been known as the Seraphic Doctor after the Seraphic Father Francis because of the truly Franciscan spirit he possessed.

Born in Bagnoregio, a town in central Italy, he was cured of a serious illness as a boy through the prayers of Francis of Assisi. Later, he studied the liberal arts in Paris. Inspired by Francis and the example of the friars, especially of his master in theology, Alexander of Hales, he entered the Franciscan Order, and became in turn a teacher of theology in the university. Chosen as minister general of the Order in 1257, he was Gods instrument in bringing it back to a deeper love of the way of St. Francis, both through the life of Francis which he wrote at the behest of the brothers and through other works which defended the...
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Stephanie Hertzenberg is a writer and editor at Beliefnet. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary where she majored in Religious Studies and minored in Creative Writing. She maintains an avid interest in health, history and science.

Every February, people present their significant other with chocolate, flowers and cards. Grocery stores and shopping malls are covered in red or pink hearts, and there are a number of drawings of cupid floating around. Children buy packets of Valentines to hand out to friends and classmates, and Mom and Dad get a babysitter so they can enjoy a romantic candlelight dinner at a nice restaurant.Valentines Day has long been a celebration of love. Those who are single on Valentines Day sometimes joke that they are celebrating Singles Awareness Day, whereas those who had a recent breakup often grab either the ice cream or the beer and bury a broken heart in sugar and bad movies. Those without a partner make it a point not to go out to dinner on February 14 because they know that all the restaurants will be full. Valentines Day is so commonly known to be a day of love that few people ever give much thought to its origins. It simply is what it is. Holidays do not appear out of the ether, though. They originate with some memorable event or time in history. So, where did Valentines Day come from?The short answer is that no one is sure. There are a number of different legends that surround the beginning of Valentines Day, but a number of these origin stories surround a Catholic saint named Valentine or Valentinus. So, it is likely that there is at least some truth in the idea that Valentines Day is based on a Catholic martyr named Valentine. The problem is that the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different St. Valentines, and all three of them were martyred.The first St. Valentine that the Catholic Church recognizes is said to have been a priest during the third century. He lived in Rome under the rule of Emperor Claudius II. According to legend, Emperor Claudius II decided that men without families or wives made for better soldiers. As such, marriage was outlawed for men of a certain age. Valentine felt that this was horribly unjust and defied the decree. Valentine continued to act as a priest and performed secret marriage rites for young men. These marriages then allowed young men to escape being drafted into the Roman army. Valentines luck could not last forever, though, and eventually his actions were discovered. Valentine was arrested, and Claudius had him executed.The second St. Valentine was also a Roman Christian who defied the emperor. In this story, Valentine was attempting to convert people to Christianity. In third century Rome, this was a serious crime. Christianity was not welcome in Roman society, and Christians were horribly persecuted. This did not deter Valentine, however, and he continued to gain converts. In addition to trying to convert Romans to Christianity, Valentine would enter prisons and marry the Christians who were held captive there. According to legend, Emperor Claudius II was fond of Valentine and so was willing to turn a blind eye to the other mans activities. Valentine, however, became overconfident and attempted to convert Claudius himself to Christianity. Claudius was enraged and ordered Valentine to renounce his faith on the pain of death. Valentine refused and chose to be martyred instead. Valentine was executed on February 14 outside Flaminian Gate for his crimes.The third St. Valentine that is recognized by the Catholic Church is probably the most famous one. He is also the Valentine that is most closely associated with the sort of love story that is so popular on modern Valentines Day. There are several versions of the legend associated with the third St. Valentine. The first version begins with Valentine helping Christians escape Roman prisons. Christians who were imprisoned were often tortured, and Valentine could not stand to leave them in such conditions. Valentine, however, was caught and thrown in prison himself. While he was held captive, he was visited by the jailors daughter. The two fell in love, but the woman could do nothing to stop Valentines pending execution. The star crossed lovers were doomed. Just before his death, Valentine wrote his love a final letter, and he signed it from your Valentine. This phrase remained popular due to the romantic and tragic connotations, though eventually the tragedy was lost and the phrase became a declaration of love.The second version of this Valentines story begins when a judge named Asterius decided to put Valentines faith to the test. Asterius called Valentine to his home where the judge brought out his daughter who was blind. Asterius told Valentine to restore his daughters sight. If Valentine was successful, the judge vowed to do whatever Valentine wished. Valentine agreed and restored her vision. Asterius was awed. He broke all the idols in his house and fasted for three days before he had all 44 members of his household baptized. Asterius also freed all his Christian prisoners, but Valentine ran afoul of Emperor Claudius and was arrested. The day of his execution, Valentine left a note for Asterius daughter signed your Valentine.While it is uncertain which of these Valentines was the martyr who inspired Valentines Day, it is clear that he was a real person. Archaeologists discovered a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to St. Valentine. Similarly, Pope Gelasius set February 14 as the date for the celebration of St. Valentines martyrdom.St. Valentine was one of the most popular saints during the Middle Ages, and he has continued to influence the modern world. People today send more than 150 million Valentines Day cards in February, and tens of millions of dollars are spent on chocolate, flowers and jewelry meant for significant others. While these may be strange ways to celebrate a day originally dedicated to a saints rather gruesome death, St. Valentine would likely approve. After all, if the legends are to be believed, he risked everything for love. He would approve of a day meant to spread even more love.
Rohingya refugees gather near water after fleeing a fire near Camp 8E, Ukhia, in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, in this undated photo.

Bangladesh should boost security in Rohingya camps, allow refugees to work and pursue education, and begin cooperation with the international community to resettle the stateless minority from Myanmar in a third country, a U.K.-based NGO said in a report released Tuesday.

The recommendations by the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) were based on a survey it did last year of Rohingya living in refugee camps in Coxs Bazar, a district in southeastern Bangladesh near the border with Myanmars Rakhine state.

A majority of the surveyed refugees said that the crowded camps were rife with crime and violence, and that they would prefer to be repatriated to a third country, according to the groups report, titled We Also Have Dreams.

Security officials should increase their presence in areas dominated by criminal organizations or armed groups and ensure the safety of the community. In doing so, they must also ensure they do not arbitrarily harass, arrest, or harm civilians, said the 57-page report based on a survey of 29 refugees across 10 camps.

Arson or similar crimes against the Rohingya community must be thoroughly investigated and the authorities must be transparent about their investigations to foster the trust the community places on them ongoing safety and quality of life issues for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya are legally prohibited from working, but they are willing and able and should be allowed to so they can support themselves financially and are able to afford a little more than only the basic necessities provided to them, the report said.

Many Rohingya interviewed for this report spoke positively about their ability to work and support themselves in Burma compared to how they are living in Bangladesh, even though they faced harsh restrictions on employment and labor in Burma, the Burma Human Rights Network reported.

The willingness to work and the many skill sets the Rohingya bring with them should be encouraged by Bangladesh rather than legally prohibited. This would help ease the burden on aid agencies, allow for greater autonomy for refugees, and could help the economy of the host communities grow as well, it added.

Shah Rizwan Hayat, Bangladeshs commissioner for refugee relief and repatriation, said local authorities had to restrict the movements of Rohingya and keep them confined to the camps in order to prevent potential trouble between members of the refugee community and the surrounding host community in Coxs Bazar.

Making a demand is easy but managing this huge number of people is a tough job for the host-country. There is no scope for allowing Rohingya people [to pursue] formal education here.

A local police official, meanwhile, responded to concerns conveyed in the report about criminality in the camps.

Camp dwellers are now living here with enough safety and security. The camps have now become unsafe for miscreants, M. Kamran Hossain, additional superintendent of police for the Armed Police Battalion in Coxs Bazar, told BenarNews on Tuesday.

Ready to go to another country

With the survey by BHRN showing that 63 percent of refugees would want to be repatriated to a third country if it were an option, the report recommended that the international community work with the Bangladesh government on the issue.

The international community must exercise diplomatic efforts with Bangladesh to allow for the [resettlement] of Rohingya into third countries, the report said.

If resettlement is allowed, the chances of Rohingya fleeing with the help of human traffickers would decrease as would their unsafe passage in rough seas, the rights group said.

Yes, we would want to be resettled into a third country. We are ready to be resettled into a third country. If we cant return to Myanmar with the resolution of our case, we are ready to go to another country, a 38-year-old woman told Burma Human Rights Network.

Meanwhile the shadow civilian National Unity Government in Myanmar must also have a clear repatriation timetable, the report said, because all the Rohingya refugees surveyed had said they wanted to return to Burma despite the atrocities the Burmese military committed against them.

When asked what change they wanted to see in the next five years the majority of refugees said they wanted to return to Burma, the report said.

When asked what needed to change in order for them to go back to Burma, the majority of Rohingya refugees interviewed by BHRN said equal rights (ethnic and citizenship) and safety had to be ensured for them to be able to return.

Additionally, international pressure was raised as a requirement several times, implying that nothing could change if the world didnt raise serious pressure on Burma to equitably return refugees to the country.

Abdur Rahman contributed to this report from Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh.
Abdul Hadi Awang, president of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), speaks during an interview with Reuters, in Kuala Lumpur, Dec. 8, 2020.

A controversy over Malaysias envoy to the Middle East purportedly promising aid to the Taliban government in Afghanistan refuses to die down.

Abdul Hadi Awang, the envoy who also leads the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), said Tuesday through his representative that his meeting with a senior Taliban official in Doha last week was just a dialogue. He indicated that any discussion about aid was akin to Malaysias donation to the U.N. for humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan.

But political analysts and opposition leaders say the government needs to break its silence and state whether the cabinet approved such a promise to the strife-torn nation, given that Muslim-majority Malaysia has not recognized the Taliban government. The Taliban took power in Kabul last August after toppling a Western-backed administration.

If the meeting happened without the official endorsement of the [Malaysian] government, then Hadi, as an appointed envoy, has exceeded his powers as an envoy, Mazlan Ali, a senior lecturer with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, told BenarNews.

This is especially the case when the Taliban-led Afghan government is yet to be officially recognized by Putrajaya. A clear explanation [about what actually transpired] should be given by the government and the Foreign Ministry.

Abdul Hadi met with the Talibans permanent representative to the United Nations, Mohammed Suhail Shaheen, on Feb. 3. On the same day, the latter posted a message on Twitter about Abdul Hadis discussion with him.

He promised [that] Malaysia will do what it can to assist the Afghan people in this critical time, Shaheen said.

The Taliban ambassador to the U.N. was referring to an acute humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. According to a recent statement from the World Food Program, a United Nations agency, 23 million Afghans are going hungry and 8.7 million are at the risk of starvation.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian government has not issued any statement about Abdul Hadis meeting last week.

On Tuesday, BenarNews contacted officials at the Foreign Ministry but did not hear back from them immediately. However last month, Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said that Malaysia was not rushing to recognize Afghanistan under the Taliban leadership.

We would prefer the recognition through certain international platforms, say the [Organization of Islamic Cooperation]. That is our stand for now, Saifuddin told reporters then.

Another analyst, James Chin, with the University of Tasmania, noted that Abdul Hadis PAS party had consistently voiced supported for the Taliban since the political movement was formed.

Last August, Abdul Hadis son, Muhammad Khalil, who is chairman of PASs international affairs and external relations committee, tweeted his congratulations to the Taliban when the United States and other members of an international coalition withdrew the last of their troops from Afghanistan.

Its obvious the cabinet hasnt made a decision about the Taliban [administration] so [Abdul] Hadi Awang is jumping the gun by offering aid and an indirect form of recognition by meeting the Taliban, Chin told BenarNews.

Hes in a position to offer aid in his personal capacity, or [from] PAS, as a party. But if you read the reports carefully, it seems like he offered aid on behalf of the Malaysian government. That, I think, is quite unusual.

Meanwhile, Abdul Hadis political secretary, Syahir Sulaiman, defended the meeting with the Talibans Shaheen and claimed that that it was arranged by Qatars Ministry of Foreign Affairs upon Malaysias request.

The session with [the] Afghan/Taliban rep[resentative] in Doha was a dialogue session, arranged by [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] Qatar upon our request, Syahir said in statement on Tuesday, although BenarNews could not confirm this claim.

[The] whole world is engaging Afghan/Taliban through multiple channels of dialogue, including the OIC [Organization of Islamic Cooperation], the U.N., the US, and China, he added.

As for whether meeting the Taliban official constituted recognition of the Taliban administration, Syahir said Abdul Hadi reiterated the Malaysian governments position.

Regarding recognition the special envoy conveyed Malaysia's official stance that remains the same as stated by [the foreign minister.]

As the EU had said dialogue does not imply recognition but is part of our operational engagement, Syahir wrote on his Facebook page.

Nisha David in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
A health worker inoculates a dose of the Covaxin vaccine to a student during a vaccination drive for people in the 15-18 age group, at Mount Carmel High School in Ahmedabad. (Photo: AFP/File)

New Delhi: With reopening of schools raising concern over the safety of children below 15 years of age, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said in the Rajya Sabha that the government will take a decision to vaccinate this group based on suggestions of an expert group.

The government has constituted an expert group to give suggestions on which age group to be given COVID-19 vaccine first and accordingly vaccination for the 15-18 age group is underway, he said during the Question Hour.

"About 67 per cent in the age group of 15-18 years have been vaccinated so far. The vaccination drive is being implemented in a speedy manner. The future decision (to vaccinate those below 15 year age) will be taken based on the expert group's suggestion," Mandaviya said.

The expert group meets regularly and gives suggestions based on which the government takes action, he added.

The minister was responding to a query by BJP member Syed Zafar Islam on level of threat of Omicron variant of coronavirus on children amid reopening of schools and with those below 15 years of age not being vaccinated Responding to another query by BJP member T G Venkatesh on effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine, the minister said, "I am happy to share that not only India's ICMR but global scientific institutes have said vaccination will help reduce mortality rate and hospitalisation rate.This has successfully reduced."

In India, 97.5 per cent of eligible beneficiaries have got the first dose of vaccination and 77 per cent of them have received the second dose, he said.

"In developed countries, not more than 90 per cent of people have got their first dose. However, India has done...We are tackling the COVID-19 crisis better," he added.

Mandaviya further said India has been able to tackle the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the vaccination.

A study by ICMR released two days back showed that 99.3 per cent people who had contracted COVID-19 were safe as they were vaccinated, he said, and added this is a good indication.

India has set an example before the world in tackling the COVID-19 crisis despite having diversity and a huge population, he added. The minister also mentioned that the vaccine helps develop antibodies in the body and protects from other variants of Covid virus.

Responding to a demand by Johan Brittas (CPI-M) on either reducing the charges or setting uniform charges for RT PCR tests across the country, the Minister said there are different technologies available for RT PCR testing kits. "It is freely available in government hospitals, while rates vary in private hospitals. If government facilities are utilised, there won't be any charges," he added.

Responding to a question by Seema Dwivedi (BJP) on steps taken to remove the fear of COVID-19 among people, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar said the government has taken several initiatives to help such people.

As a result, 5.77 lakh calls have been received on the helpline and about two crore people have benefited from tele-consultation services in which mental health consultation was also a part, she said, adding advisories were issued to states to take steps to reduce mental stress among people.

The MoS said the government in the Budget 2022-23 has announced a national tele mental health program under which 23 centres with the help of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) will be set up.

The tele mental health service through the centre for excellence will provide help to people in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and other states, she added. Replying to a query by Anand Sharma (Cong) and Prasanna Acharya (BJD) on steps taken to support deserted mentally challenged patients, the MoS said about 10 beds are reserved for such patients at district level under the National Health Mission and even funds are provided to states.
A collection of maps describe how different countries refer to the disputed South China Sea.

Whats in a name? When it comes to the South China Sea, with its tangle of competing territorial and maritime claims, more than you might think.

Leni Robredo, Philippine vice president and presidential hopeful, learned that last week when she drew criticism for using South China Sea instead of the local, officially endorsed name, West Philippine Sea.

Whoa, South China Sea???  one person tweeted.

Wait! Did she just call it South China Sea instead of West Philippine Sea? Basic terms, mam!  another posted.

Supporters of rival candidates in the May 9 election jumped on Robredos slip during an interview with a local radio station. The reaction points to one of the less talked-about, but fundamental matters of contention when it comes to the South China Sea where nations dont just have disputes about who owns what, but about what to call it.

The Philippines isnt the only claimant state that uses its own name for at least part of the vast waters stretching over 3.5 million square km (1.35 million square miles) from the Indochinese Peninsula to Luzon Island.

Vietnam calls it the East Sea. In China, its referred to as the South Sea  the source of the anglicized name, South China Sea.

Some people in the region are advocating a new name  the Southeast Asia Sea.

Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo announces she is running for president in the May 2022 election, Oct. 7, 2021. [AFP]

One sea, different names

Disputes among nations over naming, which extends to the myriad reefs and islets scattered across the South China Sea, are perhaps inevitable.

Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim parts of the sea. China draws a nine-dash line to claim historical rights to almost 90 percent of it, which overlaps with the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of another nation  Indonesia.

Although South China Sea has near universal acceptance, use of preferred names among claimant nations is deeply rooted.

In ancient times, names often came from the geographic locations, said Nguyen Nha, a Vietnamese historian. Vietnamese people have been calling the East Sea for thousands of years and the name is embedded in our folk culture.

Theres many traditional sayings that contain the East Sea, like, A harmonious couple of husband and wife is capable of draining dry the East Sea, meaning they can achieve anything they wish to do, Nha said.

In fact, the East Sea has become virtually sacrosanct and the only acceptable version in Vietnamese domestic media and political literature alike.

In the Philippines, the West Philippine Sea has official endorsement. In 2012, then-President Benigno Aquino III officially renamed the part of the South China Sea within the nations EEZ.

Manila then submitted an administrative order and an official map to the United Nations.

The Administrative Order No. 29 (2012) stipulates that the West Philippine Sea includes the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around within the adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.

This was a very important step, clarifying which portions of the sea were ours, said Celia Lamkin, founder and global chairwoman of The National Youth Movement for West Philippine Sea.

I was so happy, the new name brought us some sense of ownership, she said.

Lamkin organized an essay contest that attracted hundreds of participants a few months later.

I have the urge to promote the new name everywhere I go, said Lamkin, adding: I use the name in every paper that our organization produces, as well as at international conferences. When I have to use South China Sea, I put West Philippine after China to make it South China West Philippine Sea!

The author of a book on the Philippines legal case against China brought to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 discussed the names importance. The court in 2016 rejected most of Chinas claims in the South China Sea but Beijing has not accepted the ruling, calling it null and void.

For the Philippines, it is important to call parts of the South China Sea as West Philippine Sea and to raise awareness about the name, said journalist Marites Vitug, author of Rock Solid.

Vitug quoted a former congressman, Walden Bello, as saying the name West Philippine Sea could serve as a psychological blow to China."

If you keep on calling a site the South China Sea, it subliminally connotes some kind of 'possession' by China. ... For us, Filipinos calling the area the West Philippine Sea marks a subliminal paradigm change, Bello reportedly said.

Vitug says that since the Philippine name only concerns our share of the sea within our EEZ, it shouldnt be a contentious issue.

Perhaps it is contentious when it comes to official communiques of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). But this doesn't mean that we cannot continue to use [West Philippine Sea], she said.

Indonesia  although it maintains it is not a party in the territorial disputes over the South China Sea  followed the Philippines action by renaming the northern part of its EEZ North Natuna Sea.

An activist holds a sign with the words defend West Philippine Sea" during a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Manila, July 12, 2021. [Reuters]

Emotional values

Some analysts argue that even though the name West Philippine Sea was not given to the entire South China Sea, it does have political significance and should not be internationally recognized.

In the 1898 Treaty of Paris used to delineate the islands of the Philippines as transferred to the U.S. on paper, it did not form a territorial sea claim or boundary until after independence, said Mark Hoskin, a lecturer on Chinas maritime history and law at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.

Therefore, in his opinion the new name has no place or meaning in history, legally or otherwise.

Chinese people have always referred to the South China Sea as the South Sea, Nan Hai, one of the four seas (North, South, East and West seas). They are very emotional about the name and would defend its use wherever possible, said Hoskin.

Historically, they have had domestic and international acceptance of it for centuries, so it is reasonable in my view for them to want to keep it as the international name for the sea.

But South China Sea, the Anglicized version of Chinese Nan Hai, lacks neutrality and inclusivity, according to Le Trung Tinh, a Vietnamese scholar.

He said it would be more appropriate to call it the Southeast Asia Sea instead since Southeast Asian countries encompass almost the entire South China Sea.

Southeast Asias total coastline is about 130,000 km (81,250 miles), whereas southern Chinas coastline measures only about 2,800 km (1,750 miles).

The name Southeast Asia Sea is more acceptable for countries in the region and also more accurate, in terms of the geography, Tinh said.

In 2011, a change.org campaign organized by a Vietnamese overseas group to promote the name change received more than 40,000 signatures in the first couple of months.

Since then, a total of nearly 93,000 people have signed the petition addressed to world leaders and leaders of Southeast Asian countries. But a change will not be easy to achieve.

Tinh, who is also one of the signatories, said the campaigners should not give up.

We should be persistent, patient and thinking long term, he said, pointing out that a personal campaign that he waged single handedly to replace the word Chinese New Year with Lunar New Year in the U.K. where he lives, has borne some fruit.

The other day I received an email from my sons school talking about Chinese New Year celebrations. I immediately emailed them back asking to change the title, Tinh said.

And you know what? After a few email exchanges they changed.
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Union home minister Amit Shah arrived in Hyderabad and took part in Ramanajucharya Sahasrabdi Samaroham at the Chinna Jeeyar Swamy ashram in Muchintal on the city outskirts. (Photo:DC)

Hyderabad: Union home minister Amit Shah said the message from the life of saint-philosopher Sr Ramanujacharya was that all living beings are equal. He imbibed the basic spirit of the Vedas and broke many traditions without speaking bitterly about anyone or hurting anyone through his actions," Amit Shah said.

He was speaking after taking part in the Ramanajucharya Sahasrabdi Samaroham at the Chinna Jeeyar Swamy ashram in Muchintal on the city outskirts.

Earlier, Shah arrived at the Shamshabad airport and was received by BJP Telangana president and MP Bandi Sanjay. Shah went to the ashram by road and spent nearly three hours there.

The home minister visited the Statue of Equality at the ashram and the 108 Divyadesam (temples) and took part in the rituals at the Yagyashala.

Addressing the gathering for about half an hour, Shah said, "By looking at the Statue of Equality, one's mind gets instilled with peace and happiness. I am sure it will further spread Ramanujacharya Ji's message of Equality and Sanatan Dharma all over the world."

The home minister said, "Gurus and sanths of all Hindu sects from the country are seated here. Seeing all of you here, I am sure that our journey will never stop and you will once again become victorious and spread the knowledge all over the world."
Investigations editor

Larry Parnass joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, CommonWealth Magazine and with the Reuters news service.
Reporter

Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S.
Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989.
Danny Jin, a Report for America corps member, is The Eagles Statehouse news reporter. He can be reached at djin@berkshireeagle.com, @djinreports on Twitter and 413-496-6221.
The Great Barrington Select Board, at a meeting in January. Ed Abrahams, top center, is accused of a conflict of interest with regard to the matter of short-term rental regulations, and is against the proposed bylaw. Leigh Davis, bottom center, is driving the proposal. Most board members, including Davis own homes.
GREAT BARRINGTON  High levels of a compound in Housatonic water linked to cancer might have been caused by record rainfall in July, and possibly extra flushing of the water system to clear discolored water.

Those were among the conclusions reached by a consultant who studied Housatonic Water Works Co. data in a search for causes of the elevated levels of haloacetic acid, or HAA5, a byproduct of chlorine added to disinfect the water. The company since has reduced chlorine levels to drive down the HAA5 levels.

The consultant, Richard Gullick, of Water Compliance Solutions of Leominster, reported those conclusions to state regulators Monday.

Quote Samples taken in August and November showed levels of haloacetic acid, or HAA5, above what the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection says is safe in the long term.

In response to questions about current levels, waterworks co-owner and Treasuer James Mercer said those would be available when the first-quarter report is complete.

Samples taken in August and November showed levels above what the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection says is safe in the long term. The agency, which monitors the water system, mandated an evaluation, deeming the companys December report to the agency inadequate.

Nearly 14 inches was reported in Pittsfield in July, according to the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., making it the wettest July on record.

While timing is not proof of causation, the unusually high HAA5 levels did occur shortly after the historic rainfall in July, Mercer wrote in a mandated DEP report. Future water quality monitoring will help determine if that potential change is temporary (as expected) or long lasting.

It also might be related to extra flushing meant to clear water of excess manganese, which the company says is to blame for bouts of discolored water  flowing from taps in shades of yellow to dark brown  that affect some of the companys 850 water customers.

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Town officials have indicated they are poised to take over the aging private utility and try to merge it with the larger Great Barrington system. Residents clamored again amid news of elevated HAA5 levels.

In a statement last month, the company said the situation is not a hazard for most people.

If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your health care providers about drinking this water, the statement said.

The public water supply is tested for the compound four times a year, in each quarter. From October 2020 to the present, the range of the compound was 44 parts per billion to 103 ppb, according to the company. In October 2021, levels peaked at 103 ppb.

The maximum safe limit is a 60-ppb average of a years worth of test results, according to regulators.

Based on the available information, long term consumption of HAA5 in drinking water above the MCL may increase the risk of certain types of cancer (e.g., bladder, colon, and rectal) and other adverse effects in some people, according to the DEP. The degree of risk for these effects will depend on the HAA5 level and the duration of exposure.

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services gives this guideline about risk: Based on the animal data, at the current HAA5 regulatory level, the cancer risk is estimated to increase by about 1 in 60,000 for every 10 years of exposure.
Andrew Garfield in a scene from "Tick, Tick...Boom!" The film, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and based on the stage musical of the same name, features several references to the Berkshires in its script.
Revanth Reddy said the Congress MPs were staging the dharna to bring to the notice of President Ramnath Kovind and PM Modi the remarks made by Telangana Chief Minister on changing the Constitution. (DC)

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A. Revanth Reddy on Monday demanded action against Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for his proposal to change the Constitution of India.

MPs Revanth Reddy, Uttam Kumar Redy and Komatireddy Venkatreddy staged a dharna in front of the statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar on Parliament premises in Delhi on Monday.

Revanth Reddy said the Congress MPs were staging the dharna to bring to the notice of President Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi the remarks made by Telangana Chief Minister on changing the Constitution. He said Chandrashekar Rao's demand amounted to treason and necessary legal action should be taken against him. He also demanded that Modi respond to Rao's remarks.

Revanth Reddy said the Constitution of India had empowered Dalits, tribals and backward classes by providing them reservation in education and employment. He said the SCs and STs enjoyed reservation in Parliament and state legislatures due to the present Constitution. Further, he said Telangana Chief Minister wanted to impose a dictatorial form of government by changing the Constitution.

The TPCC chief said Chandrashekar Rao's demand was part of a larger conspiracy hatched by the BJP leadership. He said Chandrashekar Rao has acted as spokesperson of the BJP in floating the idea of changing the Constitution so as to trigger a debate and create a favourable atmosphere. He said Modi and Chandrashekar Rao wanted to emulate the leadership of Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jong-un of North Korea and Xi Jinping of China by imposing dictatorial rule across the country by bringing a new Constitution.

Revanth Reddy informed that the Congress MPs would give an adjournment motion notice on the issue in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the TPCC president wrote to information technology minister K. T. Rama Rao on Monday and demanded action on the TRS leaders for allegedly trespassing into public lands and encroaching the government's land. He also alleged that the TRS leaders crossed their limits violating rules in grabbing lands and no action was initiated by the government and the police.
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Who Are Some Other Noteworthy Martyrs?

Answering a question such as this has one feeling a bit like the author of Hebrews when he said, And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about But there are a few notable martyrs within the history of the Christian church.

We know from the Scriptures that John the Baptist, Stephen, and James the son of Zebedee died for being faithful to the mission which God gave them. And we also know that most of the original apostles died a martyrs death. You can read about these in Foxes Book of Martyrs.

Within the first 300 years there are many accounts of martyrs for Christ. In fact, this became a sub-genre of Christian literature. A few important people and works in this regard are Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch, and Justin Martyr. The account of Perpetua and Felicity is also an incredibly interesting read.

There were many who died for their faith within the Middle Ages, but as Christianity become the religion of the Roman Empire, persecution was less common. During the Reformation (and the pre-Reformation) many died to preserve a gospel faith. I think here of John Hus, William Tyndale, Lady Jane Grey, Nicholas Ridley, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and many more. Their stories are also told in Foxes Book of Martyrs.

But there are actually more contemporary martyrs than there have ever been in the history of the church. We are grateful for Voice of the Martyrs, who highlight Christian persecution which is happening today, as well as some of the more recent martyrs. There will be many more who give their life for the cause of Christ.

Was Jesus a Martyr?

In one sense Jesus was indeed a martyr. A hero, opposition, foreseeable risk, courage and commitment, death, audience response are all part of the narrative of Jesus death and resurrection. Revelation 1:5 and 3:14 also refer to him as a faithful martus. This is often translated as a faithful witness, but a letter written in 177AD picks up these words and seems to have more of a died for his beliefs meaning. And the Scriptures speak of Christ giving his lifeit is not taken from him. Christ is used as a model of suffering and standing firm in the face of opposition even to the point of death. He was the model for every martyr which came after. Christ is used as a model even in 1 Peter.

Yet, from another perspective, Christ death isnt martyrdom; it was a substitutionary act. Christs death was necessary for salvation. Acts 2 speaks of this great mystery. On one hand he was indeed a martyrstruck down at the hands of wicked men. But on the other hand he was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. There is more that is happening in the death and resurrection of Jesus than martyrdom.

Was Jesus a martyr? I would say, Yes, but more than that even.

Photo credit: Getty Images/Dragana991
BIG RAPIDS  The latest business set to join the Big Rapids community brings a unique mix of coffee and candles.

The Coffee & Candles Shop, at 1010 Madison St. just outside downtown Big Rapids, is the endeavor of 24-year-old entrepreneur Jerykah Burrus Patterson.

Originally from Evansville, Indiana, Patterson moved to Michigan to pursue her dream of becoming a successful business owner.

Inspired by her love of caffeinated beverages and quality candle burning, Patterson founded the new business to introduce her own coffee brand and candles to the community.

I have always loved both coffee and candles, Patterson said. I have been making candles for a year already and I really enjoy it. I just recently started a coffee business, I have partnered with a coffee company out in Illinois and now I have my own brand with them for my coffee business, and for my candles.

The new shop is a combination of Patterson's coffee and candle-making hobbies, which she has wanted to create a business out of for some time.

The Coffee & Candles Shop will offer a variety of coffee blends that arent found in stores, including flavors like six-bean blend African espresso, Asian plateau blend, Bali blue, blonde, Cinnabon, and candy cane. The store will also stock classic blends like caramel, pumpkin spice, chocolate hazelnut, and breakfast blend.

With my new business I just combined both of my business together to join together in my suite, Patterson said. Candles and coffee are two of my favorites, and I believe a lot of women can agree to this. I didnt want to leave either out because I have been an entrepreneur for a while now. I just want to get my business out there and give outstanding customer service when people come to me. I want them to feel free and open.

My business is unique because of my judgment-free zone, she added. The craft I have for my candles and design my logo says a lot about my personality. Im fun and outgoing and ready to take over. In the corporate world as women, we have to learn to stand on our own without a care in the world. I will have a lot of coffee in that you wouldnt find in stores.

Patterson said she hopes to continue to grow her business and be able to give back.

I do have hopes to give back to the community by giving donations to agencies that are community loving, Patterson said. I feel that does very great, and I will look into a lot of them as I am very new to Michigan. I will do a poll on the ones that [the community] loves the most.

Starting out, The Coffee & Candles Shop will be from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Patterson is hoping to be able to expand her hours and open days as the business grows.

Despite fewer hours, she plans to have free coffee available every moprning for customers to stop in and enjoy.

The shop will be opening potentially sometime in April, according to Patterson.

Patterson said the best way to support The Coffee & Candles Shop is to pay it a visit when it opens officially and to share the news of her new business to the wider community.

Right now, all I need is support, Patterson said. Love, like, share, and leave reviews [on social media]. Everything is very new to me and its hard to find supporters when youre new to a state.
The ninth edition of Investec Cape Town Art Fair will have more than 98 local and international exhibitors from 20 different countries taking part, including 17 first-time participants. The fair returns to its physical space at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), from Friday 18 - Sunday 20 February.

1. A digital divergence

The public can have access to the digital fair from 18-20 February 2022 for free.

Visitors to the digital fair do not have to register.

Go to the investeccapetownartfair.co.za site, and click on the button at the top of the home page (it is clearly marked) which will take you to the digital fair site.

Go to the homepage to see the list of galleries where you can click to see artists and artworks and their listed events.

2. ALT makes its debut

Thefourth [ALT] - Rochelle 'Rharha' Nembhard and Gemma Shepherd, The Beyond, Within, 2021,

3. The new narratives

4. Paint the town red

5. Bringing back the favourites

This Is Not A White Cube [SOlo]  Osvaldo Ferreira_OretratoDaMulherContemporanea_AcrilicoTela

6. See tomorrow's artists today

Guns & Rain [TT], Bev Butkow (South Africa), Disrupting Subversive disruption, 2021, co-made with Marguerite Sanders

7. Walk the talk

Photo credit: Nina Lieska

8. Modern masters

Wall [Past Modern] - Cecily Sash 'Birds' (from the Migration series) 1975

9. Culture club

10. Newbies and navigating

Asele Institute [editions] - Uche Okeke, Ilford Textured Silk 270, Untitled, DSC_7515

The details

The ninth Investec Cape Town Art Fair will run from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 February at the Cape Town International Conference Centre from 11am to 7pm.

Tickets can be purchased via the Webticket link on www.investeccapetownartfair.co.za.

This year visitors can look forward to the added extras that come with attending the fair in person: parties, talks, hosted debates, a bookshop, a space to hang out with artists and curators, drink bubbly or grab Something South African from Crystal Birch, Pichulik, Marigold, Missibaba or Moonbasket at the Fairs inaugural pop-up store.Organisers have also ensured that the experience doesnt stop at the CTICC, so whether youre taking a walk, enjoying a talk or an evening bus tour of the Mother Citys most vibrant galleries, here are 10 reasons to come and enjoy this years Investec Cape Town Art Fair experience:First things first. International travel restrictions neednt stop anyone from experiencing some of the best contemporary art south of the equator.If youre not able to physically be in the Mother City for the actual event, you can still enjoy everything that the fair has to offer thanks to the Fairs reformulated hybrid model.The sophisticated Artshell digital podium adds a whole new dimension, allowing for an intimate online experience between viewers and artworks, collectors and exhibitors. Simply click and explore.How to navigate the fair online:ALT is eye-catching and adventurous. An exciting new addition to the 2022 line-up, the focus is fresh, offering artists outside of the conventional exhibition space a chance to showcase work in a nonconventional way in the art fair setting.This year its dedicated to projects that reflect the ways in which the art world has had to adapt in response to the global shift from physical to virtual.Among the artists who have been selected for ALT are Daniel Malan (South Africa), Guy Simpson (South Africa) and Alex Coetzee (South Africa) all of The Plot online gallery, Colijn Strydom (South Africa) of Untitled in South Africa, Rharha Nembhard (South Africa) of Thefourth (South AfrRwanda) of KomezART in Rwanda.A strong Talks Programme, which provides all with an opportunity to share and learn, has always been a key part of Investec Cape Town Art Fair and this year is no different.Curated by Art Momentum, it takes place on Friday, 18 February from 11am to 6pm at the Westin Hotel.Artists, curators, gallerists and specialist collectors will take to the stage to share and explore various topics and encourage debate and discussion.The topics this year (in order of the talks) are: preserving, interpreting and appropriating heritage for a more equitable future; art and design for the future: towards radical and creative ecologies; autobiography, self-representation, and shifting narratives: Ashraf Jamal in conversation with Thania Petersen and Billie Zangewa; and into the metaverse: the impact of NFTs on the art world.The primary purpose for visiting an art fair may be to see  or buy  art, but theyre also famously good places to party.The enormously popular Gallery Night returns with the famous Cape Town Red Bus taking visitors on a night of gallery hopping in the Mother City. If you desperately want to rub shoulders with the whos who of the African art world over a glass of bubbly or two, be on the lookout for the venue for Gallery Nights official after-party.Red Bus departure details and the full list of galleries that will be visited can be found on the Gallery Night Facebook page and or the Investec Cape Town Art Fair website.Investec Cape Town Art Fair is also bringing back the popular Solo section, which features selected young and vibrant artists and dazzling new work.This year, the popular Solo will explore how artists have reacted to intimacy and introspection caused by the pandemic, as well as the effect that exchange and collaboration have on artistic practice as a whole.Among the participating artists are Johannes Phokela (South Africa) of Eclectica Contemporary, Brett Charles Seiler (Zimbabwe) of Everard Read, Thebe Phetogo (South Africa) of Guns & Rain, Luyanda Zindela (South Africa) of SMAC, Osvaldo Ferreira (Angola) of This is Not a White Cube in Angola, Duduzi (DuduBloom) and More (South Africa) of Berman Contemporary in South Africa.Showcasing sometimes underrepresented talent is the DNA of Investec Cape Town Art Fair, especially talent from Africa.The aim of Tomorrows/Today is to showcase emerging and under-represented artists who are expected to make waves in the future. Its open to those working in Africa and beyond and the ongoing theme is one of transformation and experimentation.This year it is curated by Nkule Mabaso (head curator, Michaelis Galleries, South Africa) and Luigi Fassi (artistic director, Man-Contemporary Art Museum, Italy).The artists include Aldo Salucci (Italy) of A.More Gallery, Feni Chulumanco (South Africa) of Ebony/Curated, Mavis Tauzeni (Zimbabwe) of First Floor Gallery, Philiswa Lila (South Africa) of Melrose Gallery, Abdus Salaam (South Africa) of THK, Bev Butkow (South Africa) of Guns & Rain and Michaela Young (South Africa) of SMAC.The artist with the most exciting presentation wins a cash prize and will be announced on Friday, 18 February at 12.30pm at the Tomorrows/Today booth at CTICC.Always a highlight, the public walkabouts offer a great way to showcase outside studios and allow visitors to meet artists and listen to them talking about their passion. On Saturday 19 February, budding art collectors can learn about Starting an Art Collection with art advisor and avid art collector Amy Ellenbogen.Later in the afternoon, curator Andrew Lamprecht will talk Understanding Contemporary Art.On Sunday 20 February, Lamprecht will host The Solo Section, sharing further insights into the featured Solo Section artists and their response to the pandemic.This is followed by Female Artists, a curated tour of noteworthy female artists locally and internationally. An essential insight into some of the most important voices in the industry led by founder of Under The Aegis & Curator Anelisa Mangcu.Guest curated by Joao Ferreira (art dealer and art advisor), past/modern adds historical context to the fair through gallery-curated presentations of works of art by modern masters, such as Christo Coetzee, Edoardo Villa, Hannes Harrs, Irma Stern, Judith Mason, Paul du Toit, Gregor Jenkin, Cecile Skotness, Lucas Sithole, Marion Arnold, Robert Hodgins, Tinus de Jongh and Willem Boshoff.Cultural institutions and non-profit organisations that nurture and support artistic production in the region through exhibitions and artist residencies have the opportunity to present their work to the public.Participants this year include A4 Arts Foundation, Bag Factory Artists Studios, Evolving Art, Lalela, Norval Foundation, Zeitz Mocaa, and more.Think you need millions to buy art, think again. Aimed at budding collectors, the editions section of the fir is where youll discover specialist prints and multiples.Leading print studios and galleries take centre stage and exhibitors include 50ty/50ty, ArtThrob and South Atlantic Press (all Cape Town), Artist Proof Studio, Dale Sargent Fine Art and LL Editions Contemporary (all Johannesburg), Asele Institute (Nimo, Nigeria) and Samuel Maenhoudt Gallery (Brussels, Belgium).With so much to see, visitors will be spoiled for choice and so Laura Vincenti, director of Investec Cape Town Art Fair has put together some pointers on how to make the best of both events which can be found on the Fairs website.Wherever you wander at the fair, dont be afraid to talk to exhibitors, gallerists and other experts. Their aim is to inspire enthusiasm about the artists they represent, not just sell their work. Most are genuinely excited by the pieces they showcase and will be delighted to discuss them, whether or not you plan to pull out your wallet.
In the wake of a receding Covid pandemic, a theme of ocean rejuvenation and conservation underscores an exciting in-person lineup at the 19th annual Wavescape Surf & Ocean Festival which runs for 11 straight days in Cape Town from 1 to 11 March 2022.

In order to encourage this theme of rejuvenation, the festival presents events that not only celebrate surfing and the ocean but highlight innovative scientific projects and creative techniques and tools, as well as conservation strategies and tactics, to aid us as we seek to strengthen our role as custodians of the wild spaces and creatures of the ocean, she said.

Return of a live and in-person event

Mon 28 Feb: Artboards go up at Jack Blacks Taproom (auction 9 March)

Tues 1 March: Oceans Alive at the Two Oceans Aquarium

Wed 2 March: The Beach Co-op - Under Sea Cleanup at Jagers Walk, Fish Hoek

Thurs 3 March: Slide Night at the Centre for the Book

Fri 4 March: African premiere of Girls Can't Surf at the Labia Theatre

Sat 5 March 12:00pm: The Board Meeting at Jack Blacks Taproom

Sun 6 March am: Save Our Seas Foundation Beach Reach at Dalebrook

Sun 6 March pm: Film screening with The Galileo open air cinema at Kirstenbosch

Mon 7 March: Screening of Our Oceans by WILDOCEANS at the Labia Theatre

Tues 8 March: Blue Oceans Master Class presented by Wesgro at The One Stop Shop

Wed 9 March: Artboard Auction at Jack Blacks Taproom with Nik Rabinowitz

Thurs 10 March: Kommetjie Film Screening

Fri 11 March: VANS Film screening at The Shred - (closing of festival)

Festival Director Shani Judes said: In this difficult era in human history, we feel it is important to recognise and promote the symbiotic connectedness between humans and nature. We really want to remind people that you cannot protect something that you do not love.In the 2022 festival poster, which was designed by Judes & Nemov, the symbolism of the link between nature and humanity is portrayed through the line from a surfer and a fish using their eyes as the point of connected sentience.The festival, which is presented by Vans, is not only about nurturing nature, but also about creating a sense of community among ocean-loving people.Festival co-founder Steve Pike confirmed the launch of a new event: the aptly named Board Meeting, which hosts a surfboard swap and an exhibition by sustainable ocean eco-brands and conservation organisations, with interactive activities for kids at Jack Blacks Taproom on Saturday 5 March.The core events of the festival return live and in-person, including five days of ocean and surfing films at four venues: The Labia Theatre in town, The Galileo outdoor cinema at Kirstenbosch, a screening in Kommetjie, and ending with a Vans night at The Shred skatepark in Paarden Eiland.We return with Slide Night at the Centre for the Book for an epic evening of salty tales on Thursday 3 March, while the Artboard Project returns with an exhibition at Jack Black's Taproom and a charity auction mced by Nik Rabinowitz on Wednesday 9 March. The theme for this years Wesgro Blue Ocean Master Class (Tuesday 8 March) for aspirant environmental filmmakers, is the art of filming underwater: the expertise and equipment required, Pike said.To stay with the underwater theme, Wavescape has arranged with the Beach Co-op and divers from the Shark Spotters Net and Coastal Conservation units to run an underwater cleanup along the coast adjacent to Jagers Walk in Fish Hoek on Wednesday 2 March. The seafloor there is littered with fishing line, nets and plastic debris.A specialist evening of conservation takes place on Tuesday 1 March at the Two Oceans Aquarium. Oceans Alive will host short films and a panel discussion around conservation strategy and tactics with four South African ocean organisations (Sentinel Oceans Alliance, the Litterboom Project, the Sea Change Project and Protect the West Coast), with input from a marine scientist, a former Sea Shepherd activist and a representative of the small-scale fishing community. In the wake of an avalanche of problematic mining activities and seismic surveys around South Africa, answers to common questions - such as how the public can get involved in conservation campaigns - will be discussed.The Ocean Photographic Exhibition - a collaboration between Wavescape, Orms, Canon and SJ Artists - started with a competition that attracted more than 1,300 entries of ocean photographs from around South Africa. The top 20 photographs will be exhibited on the Sea Point Promenade from the end of February.For more info go to: www.wavescapefestival.com Tickets are available via www.quicket.co.za
Due to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday, Parliament has advised Cape Town motorists and pedestrians to expect parking restrictions and temporary road closures in and around the Cape Town City Hall until 16 February.

Source: Sandy Millar via Unsplash

There will also be full closure around the City Hall on the day of the ceremony.The 2022 SONA, which will be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa at 19:00, will be held outside of the usual seat of Parliament for the first time after the fire that ravaged the Parliamentary precinct last month.Corporation Street between Darling and Longmarket Streets will be completely closed to motorists. However, a walking path is available for pedestrians.The closure is effective from 5am to 11.59pm.Curbside fencing around the perimeter of the Cape Town City Hall has also been affected from 1 up until 16 February. The affected streets are: Darling Street Corporation Street Parade Street Longmarket StreetRoad closures as a result of rehearsals have been implemented from Monday, 7 February and will continue until Wednesday, 9 February between 5pm and 11.59pm. Darling Street: between Plein and Buitenkant Streets Darling Street: between Buitenkant Street and the Castle of Good Hope (Traffic Control)On the day of the SONA, Roeland Street between Buitenkant and Brandweer Streets as well as Buitenkant Street between Roeland and Darling Streets will be closed from 17:45 to 19:30. Klipper Road, Newlands: from Main Road (M4) to Newlands Avenue Princess Anne Avenue, Newlands: from Newlands Avenue to Union Avenue Newlands Avenue, Newlands: from Dean Street to Princess Anne Avenue Dean Street, Newlands, westbound: from Main Road (M4) to Newlands Avenue M3, Union Avenue, Rhodes Drive, Philip Kgosana Drive (De Waal Drive), Roeland Street, City-bound carriageway: from Newlands Avenue to city centre Woolsack Drive, Rondebosch, westbound: between Main Road (M4) and Rhodes Drive (M3) Anzio Road, Observatory: from Main Road (M4) to Philip Kgosana Drive (De Waal Drive) (M3) N2, Settlers Way City-bound carriageway: from Main Road (M4) to city centre Buitenkant Street: from Glynn to Strand Streets Darling Street, Sir Lowry Road: from Buitenkant to Tennant Streets (this will include a closure of Hanover Street and Tennant Street)The closures will be from 5.45pm to 7pm.Road closures will also be imposed from 4am to 11.45pm on Commercial Street between Plein and Buitenkant Streets - becoming bi-directional as well as Plein Street between Roeland and Barrack StreetsThere will also be contingency closures on Thursday in case of an emergency from 08:00 to 23:45, that will apply to roads contained in parking restrictions. Parade, Cape Town Roeland Street: outgoing lane between Plein Street and 37 Plein Street (Bld. Next to Nieuwmeester parking) Buitenkant Street from Glynn to Darling Streets (all 3 days 16:00  20:00 and on 9 Feb. from 23:59 to completion) Plein Street: between Roeland and Darling Streets Spin Street: between Parliament and Plein Streets Commercial Street: between Buitenkant and Plein Streets Parade Street: between Caledon and Darling Streets Corporation Street: between Darling and Caledon Streets Caledon Street: between Corporation and Parade StreetsThis includes 14 to 16 February. Darling Street: between Plein and Buitenkant Streets Longmarket Street: between Plein and Buitenkant Streets Corporation Street: between Caledon and Darling Streets Parade Street: between Caledon and Darling Streets Plein Street: between Roeland and Barrack Streets Commercial Street: between Nieuwmeester Parking and Plein Street.The SONA debate and replies will take place from 14 to 16 February 2022.
The Mara smartphone factory

President Cyril Ramaphosa on the Mara Phones Factory

Auction documents reveal that the factory and all its contents are being sold and that two financial institutions have taken possession of it.The auction includes the plant, manufacturing, equipment, components for smartphones, and already completed phones that are kept in storage."Weve had one call out of India, and were waiting for them to come through, and weve had probably about three or four other guys that have already done some viewing in that industry, that are keen on it," Green told"It is unclear what led to the sale of the factory and whether this was due to the brands inability to gain traction in the South African market," areport pointed out.President Cyril Ramaphosa referred to the launch of the factory in 2019 as a 'great moment in South Africas drive to be a producer of advanced goods'.At the time he said: "The CEO of Mara is clear, articulate, visionary, and knows exactly what his company wants to achieve. When we met I immediately knew I was talking to someone who is serious about investing."In early 2018, we announced our intention to mobilise over R1.2tn in new investment over a five-year period."In our inaugural conference in October last year, companies made 31 investment announcements with a total value of R300bn to be invested in South Africa."One such announcement is the one that we celebrate today, the launch of the Mara Smart Phone facility."Mara reportedly established the factory using half of R1.5bn in funding from Standard Bank and the Industrial Development Corporation.Mara at the time claimed the facility could assemble 1.2 million smartphones for the domestic and regional market and was already employed 200 workers at its opening.
People are avoiding the news; there is an information overload and a distrust in the media. Especially with all the events of the past two years and the overwhelming amount of hard news that came out, hard news is not something desired by readers.

People are tired of news

You need a human at the centre of the story, a hero or heroine



You need good context and setting



A clear storyline, somewhere to take the story



A challenge, some kind of obstacle or conflict that the human at the centre needs to face



And at the end of it, you need some kind of resolution - which will be the satisfaction element.

The growth of video

It relaxes them



It teaches them something new



They are able to dig deeper



It makes them laugh



It relates to their passion



The content is inspiring



It makes them forget about the world around them

Brands funding films

Create great, compelling stories that are brand-aligned, told by Africans for African audiences



Stimulate the market and capitalise on the rich creativity that exists in Africa



Create more jobs in the creative industries

Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, is a pioneer in finding true African stories and understanding how to give storytellers a platform to tell their stories.For #BizTrends2022, hosted by Bizcommunity on 2 February 2022, Makura spoke about the future of media - and how soft news with hard data seems to be the way forward - and highlighted three trends.Makura spoke about research that looked at the state of digital news consumption in Kenya. This research analysed close to 180,000 news posts from Facebook and Instagram from 16 of Kenyas top news media outlets. This research was done in 2019 and revealed that the stories that people most engaged with were human interest stories.Simple, engaging, and stories about people were the ones that saw the most engagement. Stories that were inspirational, funny and accessible - things that could uplift the spirits and provide some sort of satisfaction. The data shows that people want soft news.But what makes a good story? Well, according to Makura, there are five things you need:Great stories entertain, they inspire, they build familiarity and trust, and people are increasingly gravitating towards that, Makura said.But how do people want to consume their media?The research showed that more people spent more time watching TV at home than they did listening to music, gaming, engaging on social media, and browsing the internet (with the exception of Gen Zs, who spent most of their time gaming).What this data tells us is that this is an increasingly digital world. Audiovisual content is extremely important to the consumer - especially when you consider statistics like the fact that people watch an average of 16 hours of video a week.HubSpot asked YouTube viewers why they watch video content, and the top seven reasons they gave were as follows:As we can see, people are watching videos to escape and to feel content. One of the biggest trends weve seen, especially during the pandemic, is the growth of video on demand, and free streaming platforms, said Makura.The African Television Broadcast sector is growing as well. Just three decades ago, there were 10 commercial operators on the continent, and today, there are well over 1,000. Its not only happening on the internet.What an opportunity for brands.According to Makura, film is the most influential media for telling stories, and brands need to leverage this. This is not about brand-specific stories, but rather about taking the essence of storytelling and investing in creating filmsFor example, if we look at the Nike Breaking2 film, we see how this can be used effectively. A story about three athletes who are looking to break barriers, we find ourselves with content that doesnt speak to the Nike brand story, but rather their story. The story that the audience can relate to. In fact, the only mention of Nike is that you can see some of their branding on the clothing the athletes wear.This is not a branded film, but a brand-funded film that raises awareness about issues the brand cares about.The Most Dangerous Town on the Internet is a two-part documentary centred on a Romanian town that is well known for hackers. The film dives into cyber-crime and digital threats, and features international hackers and scammers who share their secrets. The brand behind this film is Norton, an anti-virus and security software company.There are a number of US brands that are venturing down this path of brand-funded films; HP, Nutella, and Airbnb among them. They are all investing in making films with real stories that are aligned to their brands.Here is the opportunity I see for Africa, Makura said. The film industry on the continent is ripe for similar partnerships between filmmakers and brands.In 2021, Unesco published a comprehensive mapping of Africas film and audiovisual industries. The report showed that the sector is underfunded and underdeveloped. It's estimated that the sector currently employs about five million people, and accounts for about $5bn in GDP. The important thing is there is a film industry in Africa, Makura said, Most countries are creating movies.Nigerias Nollywood, for example, is the second-largest film producer in the world. They produce about 2,500 films every year. Ghana and Kenya produce about 600 each. Tanzania produces about 500, which is on par with the number Hollywood produces.This is proof that the sector is growing. With limited input from both the private and public sectors. This is all organic, Makura said. Where some see challenges, I really see opportunities for brands.Africa is a youthful continent, and it is rich in talent and creativity. Modern technology is making film-making more accessible and a lot more affordable. Distribution opportunities are growing, and the quality of films is getting better. A Unesco report showed that there is massive potential for this industry - there is a belief that this sector has great potential to create over 20 million jobs and contribute $20bn to the continents GDP.However, the private sector needs to take this opportunity and step in to make this viable. That is the real opportunity for brands in Africa - to do well and do good, Makura said.This has the potential to do three things:I really think that theres a win-win opportunity for brands and filmmakers in Africa, said Makura. And that will see more and better, much better, films coming out of Africa. And that is the trend that Africa is ready, with open arms, to receive.Moky Makura the executive director of Africa No Filter , a donor collaborative focused on shifting the African narrative in the media. She is also a TV presenter, TedX speaker, producer, author, publisher and successful entrepreneur. Follow @mokymakura and @africanofilter
Interview: China's support critical to Botswana's fight against COVID-19, says hospital manager

Xinhua) 13:31, February 08, 2022

GABORONE, Botswana, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's support in such areas as vaccines, medical equipment and personnel has been very critical to Botswana's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak, said Kobamelo Motshidisi, manager at the Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital -- Clinical Services.

According to the health ministry, Botswana has so far recorded over 253,000 coronavirus infections and more than 2,500 COVID-19 related deaths, which has been described by many medical experts as a drop in an ocean when compared to other developing countries across the globe.

Botswana could not have attained such an accomplishment without the "unwavering support we got from China since the outbreak of the pandemic," said Motshidisi in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"I can testify that the support was really critical in dealing with the challenges brought by COVID-19 pandemic," said Motshidisi, who manages the only referral hospital in the northern part of Botswana that serves more than half of its population of 2.3 million.

Motshidisi recalled that vaccination campaign in the country was boosted since it received a donation of 200,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines in April 2021.

"Friendly relations between Botswana and China ensured that we were able to opt for the Sinovac vaccine. We chose to intensify the vaccination campaign with the Sinovac, and we were very satisfied," he said.

Sinovac vaccines produce very few side effects, and this helped ensure that people do not show any hesitancy to vaccinate for fear of side effects, hence Botswana is one of the few African countries which have surpassed the World Health Organization's vaccination target of 40 percent of its population by December, he said.

"Medical teams to Botswana consisted of medical workers from various specialties such as cardiology, gynecology, surgery and anesthesiology," he said, recalling the long history of bilateral cooperation in the field of health since 1981. "These services are much appreciated by the population, and we have a lot of people coming for consultation."

Motshidisi added that the Chinese medical team is also assisting in training local doctors and healthcare workers to improve local medical services.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Sanjay Kumar said the Chief Minister had no right to continue in the post if he had no trust in the Constitution. (DC)

HYDERABAD: The BJP Telangana unit's legal cell has decided to initiate action against Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for his comments on drafting a new Constitution for the country and for his unparliamentary remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and union tourism minister G. Kishan Reddy while addressing a press conference at Pragathi Bhavan on February 1.

BJP state unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Monday held a meeting with the party's legal cell to decide on the future course of action against the Chief Minister on this issue. It was decided to file a sedition case against the Chief Minister for his comments on 'rewriting' the Constitution for India.

It was also decided to hold "Change the CM not the Constitution" protests outside all the courts once the physical hearing of the cases commenced across the state. Later speaking to media personnel, former MLC N. Ramchander Rao said the legal cell discussed in length about the TRS government using the police force to foist false cases with non-bailable sections against BJP leaders and cadres for protesting against the lack of job notifications and other issues throughout the state.

"TRS leaders from the Chief Minister to ministers, MLAs and other leaders are making abusive and unparliamentary comments on BJP leaders including body shaming the Prime Minister. This is unacceptable as TRS leaders have been filing police cases against those making similar comments against them. Their criticism should have been confined to the budget and the government policies but they are resorting to derogatory language against BJP leaders," Rao said.

Stating that the situation in Telangana became worse than Emergency days of the 1970s, Rao alleged that the TRS government was curtailing freedom of BJP leaders and cadres by misusing police force.

"Our president Bandi Sanjay has directed us to fight all such cases in courts and we want to assure our partymen will stand by them and we are not scared of the TRS government, he added. Rao said the BJP only wanted a review on the functioning of the Indian Constitution when it had appointed Justice M. Venkatachaliah Committee during Prime Minister Vajpayees reign following due procedures and debates and never wanted 'rewriting' of the Constitution as demanded by Chandrashekar Rao.

In the meeting, Sanjay Kumar accused the Chief Minister of trying to divert the peoples attention from the corruption charges his government was facing by seeking to rewrite the Constitution. He said the Chief Minister had no right to continue in the post if he had no trust in the Constitution. He asked the Chief Minister to clarify where he found the Constitution a failure.
New Delhi: Dubbing the Samajwadi Party (SP) as fake samajwadis, whose development model will create problems and devour everything in the name of sympathy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday praised the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for developing all regions of the state equally without any discrimination.

Hours later, Mr Modi, who was virtually addressing rallies in three western UP districts  Bijnor, Moradabad and Amroha  cautioned the voters of another poll-bound state, Uttarakhand, to not allow criminals and mafias, who are running from the fear of law from the neighbouring state, to settle in Devbhoomi" (Land of the Gods) by giving a change to the Congress in the upcoming polls.

The PM also made it clear that Pushkar Singh Dhami will continue as the CM in Uttarakhand and assured people that under Mr Dhamis leadership the BJP will "continue providing a fast-paced development government in the state."

After virtually addressing the 'Jan Chaupal' in UP, the PM virtually addressed 'Vijay Sankalp Sabhas' in Uttarakhand. The PM also accused the Congress of mixing the poison of appeasement in "Devbhomi" and mentioned the remark of a senior Congress leader that the party will construct a Muslim university in the state, which has created a major controversy. He also accused the Congress of disturbing the culture and identity of the hill state.

The PM, who was to address a physical rally in UP Bijnore which had to be cancelled due to bad weather, virtually addressed the three western UP districts where he took a dig at previous governments in the state saying the river of development had stopped before 2017 due to the dynastic approach of fake samajwadis. He referred to a poem of famous poet Dushyant Kumar who hailed from the region to attack the previous regime.

He also accused the BJP's political opponents of wrongfully claiming the legacy of farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh. UP CM Yogi Adityanath physically attended the rally in Bijnor and addressed the people.

In the coming 25 years, when the country will complete 100 years of its Independence, UP should wave its flag with golden tales of development... The model of the previous governments was to create problems and then gobble up everything in the name of sympathy. Farmers, youth, poor, Dalit and the oppressed were troubled by this model, said the PM.

Urging farmers to ask those trying to mislead them about how much electricity was given to villages in their area when they were in power, Mr Modi said, I would like to remind the farmers and the entire west UP of one more thing. Today people who are trying to mislead you, ask them that when they were in power, how much electricity was given to this area and to your villages? The government at the Centre and the BJP government of UP is committed to bring back the honour and rights of the farmer brothers.

Later, while addressing the rally in Uttarakhand, Mr Modi asked the voters to keep in mind the history and future of the hill state before casting their vote on February 14. Insisting that he has a special connect with Devbhomi, Mr Modi accused the Congress of committing a sin by holding back the development in the state for many years and claimed that those who had opposed the creation of the state will only take a revenge by looting its resources if come to power.
Rama Rao stated that the SCCL was not just a coal mine but a gold mine that was giving employment to thousands of youths in Telangana. (Twitter)

HYDERABAD: Continuing his tirade against the BJP-led government at the Centre, IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Monday accused the union government of hatching a conspiracy to privatise the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Telangana.

"The Singareni Collieries is a big asset for Telangana. People of Telangana will give a befitting reply to the BJP for their move to privatise Singareni," Rama Rao said in a letter addressed to union coal minister Prahlad Joshi.

Rama Rao stated that the SCCL was not just a coal mine but a gold mine that was giving employment to thousands of youths in Telangana. Employees of SCCL and the people of Telangana would show their power in Delhi if the BJP continued its attempts to privatise the company. This agitation would be much bigger than the agitation staged against the three farm laws, he warned.

Rama Rao said the Telangana leaders would stand by the SCCL employees in this fight against the Centre. The Centre is supposed to allocate coal mines to strengthen the SCCL which is running in profits. Instead, they are asking the company to take part in an auction for mines. This is nothing but creating hurdles for Telangana and its development, Rama Rao said.

The SCCL was the only public sector undertaking in the country to contribute 29 per cent of the profits, he said. Privatisation of PSUs was a threat to the future of youth, especially Dalits and tribals. The people of Telangana would teach a lesson to the BJP if they did not stop this conspiracy, he said. Since the formation of Telangana, about 16,000 jobs had been created by the SCCL, he noted.
From, Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration FY 2022 Harm Reduction Program Grant (Short Title: Harm Reduction) (Modified Announcement) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) No. SP-22-001 Assistance Listing Number No.: 93.243:

The behavioral health disparity impact statement is in alignment with the expectations related to Executive Order 13985 Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.

Via: Daily Mail:

President Bidens Health and Human Services department (HHS) is finalizing funding to dole out crack pipes to drug addicts as part of its Harm Reduction Plan.

The $30 million grant program, which accepted applications until Monday and will begin doling out money in May, intends to provide funds to nonprofits and local governments to make drug use safer, to advance racial equity.

Included in the grant is money to purchase safe smoking kits/supplies. A spokesperson for HHS told the Washington Free Beacon that included in these kits could be pipes for users to smoke substances like crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, or any illicit substance.

HHS said that the kits will serve to limit the risk of infection  typically users smoke out of glass pipes which can lead to cuts and sores that become infected with diseases like Hepatitis-C.

Handing out pipes is also intended to prompt users to smoke rather than inject themselves with some substances, like meth, as injection is far riskier.

Applicants for the program get priority if they serve underserved communities, such as African Americans or Native Americans, or LGBTQ people.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Feb. 7 declared a heightened terrorism threat due to false and misleading narratives, misinformation, and conspiracy theories.

The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors, the DHS bulletin said.

The agency did not say what foreign or domestic actors are responsible for the alleged proliferation of misinformation or disinformation.

Mass casualty attacks and other acts of targeted violence conducted by lone offenders and small groups acting in furtherance of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances pose an ongoing threat to the nation, the DHS continued, adding that some individuals are seeking to sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions.

Some individuals, the bulletin alleged, are calling for violence against critical infrastructure, faith-based institutions like churches or synagogues, colleges, government personnel or facilities, and other targets.

As an example of key factors that allegedly contribute to the heightened threat environment, the DHS said there are misleading narratives surrounding COVID-19 and claimed that some individuals have used COVID-19 mandates or vaccines to carry out attacks since 2020.

The agency did not elaborate or provide additional evidence for its allegations.

The DHS also listed online claims of election fraud as a contributor, and it also did not provide additional details or evidence .

The agency said that foreign terrorist organizations and domestic threat actors continue to amplify pre-existing false or misleading narratives online to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions. It said violent extremists, including the individual who recently launched an attack against the synagogue in Texas, highlight the continuing threat of violence based upon racial or religious motivations, as well as threats against faith-based organizations.

The ISIS terrorist group and its affiliates may issue public calls for retaliation due to the strike that recently killed ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the bulletin said. The Biden administration announced last week that al-Qurayshi was killed during a raid in northern Syria.

The bulletin also made note of alleged recent threats to black colleges and universities across the United States.

Domestic violent extremists have also viewed attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure as a means to create chaos and advance ideological goals, and have recently aspired to disrupt U.S. electric and communications critical infrastructure, including by spreading false or misleading narratives about 5G cellular technology, the bulletin continued.

The DHS said the heightened threat alert will expire on June 7, 2022.
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: February 7, 2022 ~

Winston Churchill once described Russia as a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. The same could be said of Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News, which last Friday ran the false headline Russia Invades Ukraine. For still unexplained reasons, the headline was left up for at least 24 minutes on the digital front page of Bloomberg News.

But as the hundreds of thousands of traders around the globe that use the Bloomberg Data Terminal well know, Bloomberg News first publishes many of its headlines on the Bloomberg Data Terminal  the cash cow of Bloomberg LP that has made its majority owner, Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire. Bloombergs largest customers for its Data Terminals include Wall Street megabanks like JPMorgan Chase that it also provides news coverage on via Bloomberg News. (Sometimes that coverage leaves a lot to be desired.)

Exactly when traders saw that headline is not precisely known. Bloomberg News said this in its statement: We prepare headlines for many scenarios and the headline Russia Invades Ukraine was inadvertently published around 4 p.m. ET today on our website. We deeply regret the error. The headline has been removed and we are investigating the cause. Right next to that statement was the black box with the familiar reminder: Before its here, its on the Bloomberg Terminal.

What is known, from the chart above, is that 101,000 contracts in the E-mini S&P 500 futures traded at approximately 3:55 p.m. EST as the S&P 500 futures plunged, ostensibly as a result of that headline. That was, by far, the largest number of E-mini S&P 500 contracts traded in a short time span all day. If someone needed to exit a short position at a tidy profit, that was a very convenient headline. Stock exchanges in New York close at 4 p.m. weekdays. But the E-mini S&P 500 futures contract trades almost around the clock, from Sunday evening until 5 p.m. EST on Friday.

Bloomberg LP isnt just the owner of Bloomberg News and the Bloomberg Data Terminal. It also owns a trading platform called Tradebook, which is in business with Goldman Sachs. Tradebooks website tells us this:

Equity: Institutional buy-side firms can access Goldman Sachs world-class execution platform, robust liquidity offering, and breadth of global services through Bloomberg Tradebook. Clients can save invaluable time and make more informed trading decisions by leveraging Bloombergs world-class data, analytics and technology all directly from the Terminal.

Goldman Sachs is not the first Wall Street firm to have a business relationship with Bloomberg. The giant brokerage firm, Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America, was a minority owner of Bloomberg LP from its very beginning. After previously selling part of its stake back to Bloomberg, Merrill sold its remaining 20 percent stake back to Bloomberg in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis.
On Feb 3, CIA spook and current State Department spokescreature Ned Price made an astonishing announcement: the Russians are actively preparing a false flag attack on themselves in order to justify an invasion of Ukraine!

AP reporter Matt Lee followed up with a simple question: Where is your evidence?

It goes downhill for Price from there:

Price replies that the evidence is intelligence information contained in a declassified report. 

Lee asks where the report is.

Price says he just gave it to him.

Lee, apparently genuinely confused at this point, replies that there is no report. Its just Ned Price reading unsubstantiated intelligence claims from a script on a stage, made up and wearing a suit and tie with a well-placed American flag behind him for added authority.

Need more proof? Price offers to print a transcript of his own comments from two minutes earlier

Lee again asks for proof of the Russian false flag scheme.

Price accuses Lee of reflecting Russian disinformation and moves on to the next question.

You can read the transcript of Matt Lees Feb. 3 sadistic masterpiece in public humiliation here.

The government said its true, what else do you need? And when have they ever lied to start wars before

To summarize:

State Department Ned: We have a report here that pansexual KGB Russian unicorns gather in the meadow at dusk to fellate each other and make plans to frame Ukraine for acts of war.

Reporter Matt Lee: How do you know that?

State Department Ned: Its in a report.

Reporter Matt Lee: Wheres the report?

State Department Ned: The transcript from me saying it here is the report.

Reporter Matt Lee: But wheres the evidence?

State Department Ned: I just gave you the evidence. Do you want the transcript from this briefing?

Reporter Matt Lee: Thats not evidence. Youre just making mouth noises into a microphone. You havent shared any facts here whatsoever.

State Department Ned: Youre a communist infiltrator. Lady Liberty weeps that you are desecrating this sacred space in the State Department studio with Russian disinformation.

What information? is a baseline of human inquiry, the simplest possible question that a five-year-old asks reflexively.

Its also all you need to stump a government PR spin artist on the public dole paid 6 figures to communicate professionally.

How Matt Lee is still allowed to question State Department talking heads is a mystery. Hes been a thorn in the governments side for years, dating back to when Jen Psaki served as State Department mouthpiece in the Obama years.

Psaki debased herself so dutifully in the service of power, and proved herself so capable of lying shamefully through her saccharine style, that she earned herself a hard-fought promotion to WH press secretary/resident slay queen under the Biden regime.

Nowadays, the hardest questions Psaki gets are milquetoast GOP talking points from Fox News Peter Doocey  why arent you testing illegal immigrants for COVID?, etc.

These arent meant to strike at the root of the rot in the neoliberal corporate state, but rather just to get a snippy soundbite to feed to their boomer audiences.

Journalists like Matt Lee cuts through the gibberish like a knife through butter. He knows the makeup-wearing government stooge before him is lying, and the stooge knows he knows shes lying. Without any chance to get an honest answer to his questions, his sole job becomes to drag them through the mud so the public can behold their naked perjury. Its the closest thing to genuine art you can get in a soulless government propaganda facility.

For just as long as Matt Lee has pressed government representatives on their absurd claims, State Department spokespeople have deflected from his hard questions by insinuating he is doing Russian propaganda.

Matt Lee is a dying breed, a throwback as they call them  to when journalists did hard-nosed work holding corrupt leaders feet to the fire in the public eye.

Its worth noting, though, that Matt Lee doesnt possess any singular apparent phenomenal skill. He asks basic questions that any normal person would have when presented with government lies  lies so offensive not because of their content, but above all because they are told with the expectation that anyone with common sense would believe them.

Matt Lee is a living testament to the extreme mediocrity of the rest of the mainstream journalists in the room with him  to the extent that is what they can be called, rather than state stenographers.

The Deep State Doesnt Even Pretend to Need to Provide Evidence For Its Fantastic Claims Anymore

For all its failures, at least back in the Iraq War days, the government rolled out its dutiful servant Colin Powell to put on a show for the UN in front of the camera.

In front of the world, Powell theatrically read his lines, menacingly dangling a vial that represented Saddam Husseins theoretical anthrax.

He swore to the world Hussein was developing WMDs to blow up the Western world.

Despite the obvious unanswerable questions  for what purpose would Hussein commit political and literal suicide by attacking the worlds superpower, how his rickety Third World regime could source the materials and expertise and build the infrastructure necessary to produce them all under the nose of intense international scrutiny, etc.  the media obediently repeated the patently absurd claims as fact.

And, based on those lies, the US went to war for a decade, wasted untold trillions, and shipped thousands of working-class Americans home in coffins.

There was zero actual evidence presented there just as Ned Price presented none on Feb 3, but at the very least Powell dangled the anthrax vile around.



Now, they dispensed with even the cheap theatrics: just take the governments word for it! Dont let petty memories of other countless elaborately crafted state lies prevent you from reflexive swallowing government narratives:

Steele Dossier and the alleged Trump pee tapes that turned out to be 100% fabrications manufactured by a Democratic Party opposition research firm. The media breathlessly reported it as fact for 4 years.

The Gulf of Tonkin false flag attack to kickstart the Vietnam War

The Operation Northwoods false flag proposal from the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Which brings us to another fresh irony here: up until approximately five minutes ago, belief in false flag attacks were the sole domain of unhinged conspiracy theory nuts.

All of a sudden, when the Deep States geopolitical enemy is allegedly planning them (again, with no evidence presented), false flag attacks now exist.

The Ultimate Questions:

When will the Twitter Blue Checks demand the removal of the State Department Twitter account for misinformation?

When will WH press secretary Jen Psaki pressure Facebook from the podium to censor the State Departments dangerous conspiracy theories she did with COVID dissidents?

When will Bidens handlers roll him out to make a blank-eyed appeal to decency or whatever in the face of swirling misinformation?

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
DeSoto County Election Commission will be replacing its old electronic polling pad machines with new ExpressPoll Electronic Poll Book equipment.
Emporia, KS (66801)

Today

Thunderstorms with locally heavy downpours. A few storms may be severe. High 59F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 44F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
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The Department of National Defence wont say if any soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Shilo have been discharged for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

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The Department of National Defence wont say if any soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Shilo have been discharged for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

Chief of defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre ordered all military members to be fully vaccinated by mid-December to protect the military from the virus.

The Sun asked the Department of National Defence how many soldiers from CFB Shilo have been either involuntarily released or given warnings but was told the department could not provide the local information.

"Unfortunately, we do not have local-level data to provide, especially given it contains medical information and  especially for smaller areas  could potentially serve to identify individuals," a spokesperson for the department wrote in an email.

The department would also not say how many military members across the entire province have been discharged because of "the relatively small number of such instances across Canada."

"We will reassess if further local/provincial detail will be made available as things progress," an emailed statement reads.

Canadian Forces Base Shilo public affairs officer Lori Truscott also directed the Suns inquiries to the Department of National Defence headquarters in Ottawa.

While the vast majority  approximately 98 per cent  have been fully vaccinated, a total of 58 full-time Canadian Armed Forces members have been involuntarily released from the military as a result of refusing to get their vaccine, according to The Canadian Press on Feb. 3.

Warnings have been given to 246 other members of the military in the form of "notices of intent," according to The Canadian Press, which means the process has been started to force them out if they are not vaccinated. They could remain in the military if they do get immunized.

A further 66 unvaccinated members of the armed forces left the military voluntarily.

Regular forces, reservists and Canadian Rangers are also included in the policy.

Military members who were unwilling to get vaccinated were directed to attend a visual educational seminar on the benefits of being vaccinated, according to a policy posted on the departments website.

"Vaccines are a critical tool to resume societal functioning and achieve widespread immunity in a safe way. As the countrys largest employer, the [Government of Canada] is committed to playing a leadership role in the protection of the health and safety of public servants and the communities where they live and work, both domestically and abroad," the directive reads.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Manitoba Indigenous groups are expressing concern over the Conservative Party of Canadas new interim leader.

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Manitoba Indigenous groups are expressing concern over the Conservative Party of Canadas new interim leader.

Candice Bergen, who was named to the role Wednesday, has made "troubling remarks" regarding the trucker convoy that has been parked in downtown Ottawa for the past week, according to the Southern Chiefs Organization.

"On several occasions, Ms. Bergen has exhibited questionable judgement and has chosen a path of division," said SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels.

"I call on Conservatives to chart a course of reconciliation and to not further align with hateful elements of their party."

While there have been hate symbols and confederate flags spotted among the protesters, Bergen compared it with demonstrators toppling the statue of Queen Victoria in Winnipeg on Canada Day last year following revelations of unmarked graves at former residential school sites.

"To even think of drawing similarities between those two movements is disturbingly out of touch," Daniels said.

"Now, the person who is publicly stating that dangerous rhetoric is at the helm of this countrys Official Opposition. I firmly believe the Conservative party has taken a gigantic step backwards by elevating Ms. Bergen into leadership, even if it is just for a short period of time."

Organizers of the "freedom convoy" are calling for an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Bergen is the member of Parliament for the riding of Portage-Lisgar, which is directly east of Brandon-Souris, and contains Portage la Prairie. The towns of Treherne, Swan Lake First Nation and Manitou are on the western edge of the riding.

The Sun contacted a spokesperson for the Conservative Party of Canada for comment on Daniels concerns, but did not hear back by press time.

In a separate statement, Bergen called for a "peaceful resolution" to the protesters encamped in the nations capital.

"To the Prime Minister: Im asking him to provide a clear plan to end the situation in Ottawa. Lets work together to find solutions.

"To the truck drivers in Ottawa: please remain peaceful. Call out and denounce any acts of hate, racism, intolerance or violence.

"Canadians and Conservatives have heard you loud and clear. Regardless of political stripe, we all want an end to the demonstrations, and we all want an end to the restrictions."

The Manitoba Metis Federation has also raised concern with the protest, saying it condemns any use of Metis symbols as part of the "anti-vax convoy."

"It is my understanding that some of the leaders of this protest have either called themselves Metis or have used Metis symbols, like our sash, to encourage the appearance of Indigenous support for their protest," said MMF president David Chartrand in a statement.

"Canadians and Red River Metis Citizens always have the right to protest, but as your elected representatives, we have the duty to inform all Canadians that these individuals and this convoy in no way represent what we believe in."

The Metis Federation has encouraged members to get vaccinated and follow public health orders.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
VICTORIA - Agricultural producers affected by devastating flooding in British Columbia last November can apply for recovery funds through a $228-million package announced Monday by the provincial and federal governments.

Rising flood waters are seen surrounding barns in Abbotsford, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. A recovery package is expected to be announced today for British Columbia's agriculture industry after devastating floods last November. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

VICTORIA - Agricultural producers affected by devastating flooding in British Columbia last November can apply for recovery funds through a $228-million package announced Monday by the provincial and federal governments.

The total losses for the agricultural sector from flooding that stretched across the Fraser Valley into the southern Interior are believed to amount to about $285 million, B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham told a news conference.

The widespread flooding and landslides followed "destructive, climatechange-related" wildfires, drought and heat waves last summer, she noted.

At the peak of the flooding, more than 1,100 farms were under evacuation order or alert and 150 square kilometres of farmland were swamped. Dairy, poultry, beef and hog farms saw serious losses of animals and infrastructure, she said, and more than 7,500 tonnes of field vegetables and other crops were lost.

The recovery funds will go toward expenses not covered by existing government programs or private insurance, Popham said, such as the cleanup and restoration of land, barns, water and wastewater systems, and other essential infrastructure.

The province has started soil assessments and found some instances of contamination, she said, adding that the funding could be used for remediation.

The funds may also be used to address the loss of perennial plants not raised for resale, like blueberries, and cover the rental of temporary production facilities. Animal welfare expenses, such as replacement feed, livestock transportation and veterinary care, may also be eligible under the program, Popham said.

Asked how long it will take to get the $228 million in aid into the hands of farmers and ranchers, Popham said she knows they need support as quickly as possible.

The online application portal opened Monday and 20 ministry staff were on standby to work one-on-one with each successful applicant, she said.

"There are some very desperate situations right now and farmers need cash now," Popham said. "We're going to be able to give interim payments, quickly."

Jeremy Dunn, general manager of BC Dairy, told the news conference the mess left behind by the flooding has been "immense," with 65 dairy farms directly affected.

"We know that recovery will be challenging, but we do know our farmers are committed to helping to feed British Columbians and moving forward," he said.

Part of moving forward is trying to understand the measures needed to adapt to climate change and extreme weather, he said.

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said farmers are on the front line of climate change and Ottawa will continue to help them recover.

Stan Vander Waal, president of the BC Agriculture Council, said the funding announcement will bring a sense of relief to many farmers and ranchers.

The government programs have "reduced eligibility barriers, provided higher compensation rates, and alleviated much of the administrative burden we would have otherwise seen," he said in a statement in the province's news release.

Officials with the BC Chicken Marketing Board and the BC Cattlemen's Association also provided statements welcoming the funding.

The BC Blueberry Council said Monday it was reviewing details of the recovery package to determine whether it will adequately cover losses in their sector.

The flooding affected more than 1,000 hectares of blueberries with growers in the Sumas Prairie region of Abbotsford experiencing the most severe damage, it said.

"There is a strong possibility that severely impacted growers will need to pull out their plants and replant them," council member Harry Sidhu said in a statement.

"Blueberries are a perennial plant, and it takes years for a sizable crop yield, so this may be a significant loss of income for many years."

 By Brenna Owen in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Feb. 7, 2022.
OTTAWA - Police are investigating what appears to be an attempt to start a fire in the lobby of a downtown Ottawa apartment building, where tenants say they have been besieged by anti-vaccine mandate protesters raging in the national capital for more than a week.

Matias Munoz stands outside his apartment on Lisgar Street, where police are investigating what appears to be an attempt to start a fire in the buildings lobby, in Ottawa, on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Tenants say they have been besieged by anti-vaccine mandate protesters raging in the national capital for more than a week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - Police are investigating what appears to be an attempt to start a fire in the lobby of a downtown Ottawa apartment building, where tenants say they have been besieged by anti-vaccine mandate protesters raging in the national capital for more than a week.

Matias Munoz said that when he came downstairs Sunday morning, he saw the carpet and floor were charred, and that there were blackened fire-starter bricks strewn across the lobby.

The building manager showed him surveillance video, which he said appears to show two men light a package of the bricks in the lobby and secure the front door handles together before leaving through the side door around 5 a.m. Sunday.

The video also shows a different man enter the building and put the fire out a short while later, he said in an interview.

There are more than 100 units in the building, he said, and added that he can only imagine what would have happened if the fire had caught the wood panel walls nearby.

The building is just seven blocks south of Parliament Hill, and some residents said they were already at their wits' end with the constant noise from honking and fireworks at night, road blockages, reports of broken windows and harassment on the streets.

"On top of all that, somebody trying to do something as insidious as taping the door shut so people can't leave if there's a fire in the main lobby  it's terror, is what it is," Munoz said.

The fire came after a particularly rough Saturday night for the residents of the building and the protesters camped below, Munoz said.

It sounded like a war zone out there, he said.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson brought the investigation up as part of a special council meeting to address the ongoing demonstrations on Monday. He said the "horrific story" clearly demonstrates "the malicious intent of these protesters occupying our city."

The Ottawa Police Service arson unit is investigating. In a statement Monday afternoon, police said one or more people entered the building and started a fire using undisclosed materials.

"The fire caused minor damage but thankfully no injuries occurred," said the written statement.

Police said they are asking the public to help identify two people of interest.

Steve Bell, the deputy police chief, told a briefing Monday that as the investigation unfolds, police will be better able to determine whether the fire was directly linked with the protest or not.

"That being said, we know there's extreme fear in in these neighborhoods. There's a heightened sense of lack of security there," Bell said, adding police have stepped up their presence in the area.

"We're absolutely dedicating resources and officers to be on the ground, walking those neighbourhoods to build back trust and confidence within those areas."

Several residents in the building reported some kind of confrontation between the tenants and the demonstrators in the early morning hours. Some described people yelling down at the protesters from their windows.

One of the tenants, James Geling, said Monday there had been a number of confrontations between residents in the building and protesters, including one shortly before the fire was set.

He said that one started when a protester refused to stop honking around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, which led to an argument.

"People in this building are so fed up," he said while standing in the hallway of the building.

"It feels lawless downtown. It feels like you can get away with anything."

Geling, who is a chef, said he came upon a couple of people in the lobby late Sunday night after walking his dogs. The people were shooting videos claiming the fire wasn't real, or that it was being blown out of proportion. Munoz had posted about the incident on Twitter Sunday evening.

Geling called the fire a "silly attempt," though he admitted the building "doesn't feel safe." He said he is worried that news of the attempted arson will make the building even more of a target.

Munoz also said he blames what has developed in downtown Ottawa.

"I don't know who it was that lit the fires, but to me, they are connected to the situation that the convoy has allowed to happen here in Ottawa," he said.

Residents of the building said the front doors do not lock.

The owner of the building did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Christina Braithwaite said she has lived in the apartment next to the elevators since September.

Her apartment is on the first floor and she said she has sometimes seen a woman sleeping in the hallways.

She says she slept through the incident on Sunday morning, when the two people captured on video walked past her door. She said she is unsettled by what happened.

"I didn't sleep much last night," she said, later adding: "I'm glad (the person who lit the fire) didn't know what he was doing."

Braithwaite says her friends have started joking that she must have a "guardian angel," as her previous apartment across the river in Gatineau, Que., was hit by a tornado in 2018 while she was away.

She says she doesn't regret moving to her current place, but adds: "If I hear another truck horn "

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2022.
OTTAWA - The latest developments on ongoing protests against COVID-19 restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, both in Ottawa and various cities across Canada. All times eastern:

Fuel containers line a trailer in front of a truck along Wellington Street as a protest against COVID-19 restrictions that has been marked by gridlock and the sound of truck horns continues into its second week, in Ottawa, on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - The latest developments on ongoing protests against COVID-19 restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, both in Ottawa and various cities across Canada. All times eastern:

7.30 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has showed up to the House of Commons in person to take part in an emergency debate on the protest in Ottawa tonight.

It is his first time there since before the winter holiday break.

The House of Commons resumed sitting Jan. 31, but Trudeau was isolating after having tested positive for COVID-19

He has also been staying at a location in the National Capital Region that was not being publicized for security reasons.

Trudeau says in the debate that the protesters are trying to blockade Canada's economy, democracy and their fellow citizens' daily lives and that "it has to stop."

He also says the federal government would provide whatever resources are required to deal with the protests.

---

7 p.m.

Ottawa City Council has voted to formally petition the federal government to assume responsibility for public safety in the parliamentary precinct.

Coun. Catherine McKenney, who represents downtown Ottawa, says they want the RCMP to take over the situation so local police can return to other residential communities.

---

6.50 p.m.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says during an emergency debate in the House of Commons that Canadians are demanding to know who is funding the ongoing protest in Ottawa and where the money is going.

He also criticized what he called a lack of leadership by the federal government and called on Trudeau to take what is happening in Ottawa seriously.

Singh had earlier called for an emergency debate in the House of Commons and blamed the Liberals for using the protest as "a wedge issue."

---

6:30 p.m.

Ottawa city council has voted to ask Ontario Premier Doug Ford to bring legislation into force that would allow the government to charge protesters for some of the exorbitant costs the city has incurred during the anti-vaccine mandate demonstration.

The demonstration has stretched on for more than a week, and police have described it as a volatile and dangerous situation.

Police estimate they are spending $1.8 million to $2.2 million per day to monitor, supervise and attempt to end the demonstration.

The city's lawyer says Ontario has approved legislation that would allow the Ontario Solicitor General and the Ottawa Police Services Board to charge the protesters for those costs, but the legislation has not yet been brought into force.

---

6:20 p.m.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly says it is disingenuous to compare the response to the anti-vaccine mandate protests in Toronto to the situation that is still unfolding in Ottawa.

Sloly was briefed after a meeting of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, and says Toronto credits its relative success during last weekend's demonstrations with watching how Ottawa handled the demonstration in the capital.

He says police services should not be set against each other, but should be working together as partners.

---

6 p.m.

Ottawa city council has voted to request aid for about 200 businesses that have suffered lost income during the downtown demonstrations against COVID-19 measures.

Council voted to ask the federal and provincial governments to provide funds for the affected businesses and their employees.

Many businesses downtown, including the Rideau Centre mall, have closed their doors during the protest because of safety concerns.

Council also voted to ask for financial support for social support services that have helped Ottawas most vulnerable through the demonstration.

---

3:45 p.m.

Scores of people gathered in front of Parliament Hill near the Prime Ministers Office to listen to speeches and music this afternoon.

Almost no one was masked and the smell of marijuana hung in the air.

Three jerry cans sat on the trunk of a car while the occasional protester walked past carrying their own can, with at least one labelled juice bottle.

Small crowds of police gathered on the edges watching and talking while the protest continued to clog the area around the Hill and the National War Memorial.

2:45 p.m.

The two Liberal MPs who represent most of the people directly affected by the ongoing protest in central Ottawa say workers, businesses and residents are suffering.

Ottawa-Vanier MP and Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says this is the furthest thing from a peaceful protest.

Ottawa Centre Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi says his constituents have been harassed and tormented for more than a week, and no words can accurately describe the agony.

---

2:35 p.m.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean has granted a 10-day injunction to prevent truckers parked on city streets in downtown Ottawa from honking their horns incessantly.

McLean says the injunction is temporary because he needs to hear more evidence, but has heard enough to make this ruling today.

McLean will hear further submissions from lawyers on how the injunction could be enforced, so today's court hearing will continue.

Paul Champ, a lawyer representing Ottawa residents in a proposed multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit, had argued the loud and prolonged honking is causing irreparable harm.

Keith Wilson, representing three of the respondents in the case, had told McLean the ruling on the injunction would carry national importance.

---

2:10 p.m.

Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly has asked the mayor to request 1,800 additional police and civilian personnel for immediate use until the end of the demonstration in the city.

That would nearly double the existing resources of the entire Ottawa Police Service, which has 2,100 police and civilian members.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says he will make the request of the Ontario and federal governments.

He says the police service has negotiated a change to the Ottawa officers collective agreement so they can work without days off during the occupation of Ottawa.

---

2 p.m.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says protesters in Ottawa have "crossed the line" of acceptable behaviour "many many times."

He says the "angry, loud, intolerant and violent crowd" that is holding Ottawa residents hostage in their own city need to leave, and that all political parties need to be united in that call.

Mendicino says he is happy to see the success of police in dismantling some parts of the Ottawa convoy but that more progress is needed.

---

1:55 p.m.

The National Gallery of Canada is delaying its public reopening until further notice as Ottawa's state of emergency continues.

The gallery says the decision to keep its doors closed was informed by reports from "several levels of government" and Ottawa's recent declaration of a state of emergency in response to the convoy protest that has snarling the city for more than a week.

---

1:45 p.m.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says he will write to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford for help to dramatically increase the citys law enforcement capacity as quickly as possible.

He denounces the protests against COVID-19 measures that have seized downtown Ottawa for more than a week as an aggressive and hateful occupation of the capital city.

The city is also asking Ontario to increase fines for many unlawful acts that have punctuated the demonstrations.

The city wants an increase in the fine for idling from $100 to $1,000, the noise bylaw fine from $490 to $1,000 and the fine for encumbering a roadway from $350 to $1,000.

Watson says the loud honking that has reverberated through downtown Ottawa for the last several days is tantamount to psychological warfare.

---

11:50 a.m.

Authorities say three people were arrested during the four-day protest against COVID-19 health measures in Quebec City, which wrapped up Sunday evening.

Police handed out 50 tickets for municipal violations including noise complaints, 72 tickets for highway safety code violations and 48 parking tickets.

One person had their vehicle towed.

Police Chief Denis Turcotte tells reporters today officers will be ready if protesters decide to return in two weeks as one organizer promised on the weekend.

---

11 a.m.

A protest against COVID-19 restrictions continues outside the Manitoba legislature.

About a dozen large trucks and farm vehicles continue to sit by the main entrance to the legislature grounds.

Police have advised motorists to avoid the immediate area if they can because of some traffic delays.

Politicians are not scheduled to return to the legislature chamber until next month.

---

10:30 a.m.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling the anti-vaccine mandate protest in Ottawa a crisis, and he wants an emergency debate in Parliament tonight to deal with it.

Singh says the protesters are looking to overthrow the government and he wants to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meet with municipal leaders and offer them help to solve the problem.

He says people in Ottawa are going through a horrible situation.

Lawyers for some downtown residents are going to court today to try to get an injunction to stop the truckers from blaring their horns.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2022.
Some JMU faculty have had to adjust to not only teaching during COVID-19. but also parenting school-age children at the same time. Married professors Tara Parsons and Lars Kristiansen; Leigh Nelson and Eric Fife; and one SCOM professor explained how they've grappled with pandemic changes and cancellations.
Suncorp chief executive Steve Johnston has signalled home and motor insurance premiums are likely to continue rising due to the cost of more frequent and severe wild weather, after a series of natural hazards ate into its first-half profits.

Despite the high disaster costs, which can be volatile, shares in the company behind brands including AAMI and Apia surged 5.8 per cent to $12.07 on Tuesday, amid signs it is making headway in improving long-term performance.

Australia has been hit by several damaging storms over the past six months, leading to a high number of insurance claims. Credit:Brook Mitchell

In its first half results, Suncorp reported cash earnings fell 29.1 per cent to $361 million, and that natural hazard costs were $205 million more than it expected in the first half.

The company said it had been challenged by the La Nina climate pattern, with waves of wild weather in late 2021 that included storms and hail on Australias east coast, and an earthquake in the Victorian town of Mansfield.
Peter Thiel, the tech investor and conservative provocateur who has advised Mark Zuckerberg for nearly two decades at Facebook parent Meta Platforms, will step down from the companys board after Metas annual shareholder meeting in May.

Thiel, who joined the board in 2005 after an early investment in Facebook, plans to increase his political support of former President Donald Trumps agenda during the 2022 election and doesnt want his political activities to be a distraction for Facebook, according to person close to Thiel.

Peter Thiel has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump. Credit:AP

He thinks that the Republican Party can advance the Trump agenda and he wants to do what he can to support that, said the person, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

His focus will be on supporting Blake Masters, JD Vance and others who support the Trump agenda, he added, referring to Republican candidates for US Senate. He wanted to avoid being a distraction for Facebook.
DEATH ON THE NILE, M, 127 minutes

 In cinemas now

When it comes to high camp  as it often does with Agatha Christie adaptations  Kenneth Branagh faces tough competition in taking on the role of Hercule Poirot for a second time.

Among others, Peter Ustinov and David Suchet have been there before him, and Suchet has been acclaimed for setting a new standard with his interpretation of the Belgian detective at his most pernickety. As well as adopting a particularly pointed example of the waxed moustache, Suchet achieved a style so impeccable that Poirots face and figure gleam almost as brightly as his patent leather shoes.

Kenneth Branaghs moustache almost deserves separate billing. Credit:

But in Death on the Nile, Branaghs follow-up to his version of Murder on the Orient Express, he takes a different tack, softening Poirot and making him pretty well human. Christies original is not immune to romance  he has been known to fall in love  but I doubt that hes ever experienced the profound passion the young Poirot feels in the films black-and-white prologue, set in Belgium during World War I. Whats more, we learn that the moustache  luxuriant enough to suggest a small furry animal has come to rest on his top lip  has a poignant reason for existing.
Heavy rains have been blamed for the deaths of 4000 fish in the Parramatta River, with a surge of de-oxygenated black water threatening to trigger a fish kill catastrophe of a million native fish in Menindee Lakes.

A suspected black water event killed up to 4000 fish at Rydalmere on Monday, while thousands of fish and prawns died in Haslams Creek last week. There are also reports of dead fish at Wentworth Point foreshore and near Rhodes Boat Ramp.

Dead fish near the Parramatta River on Tuesday. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Hypoxic, or low oxygen, black water occurs naturally when high volumes of sticks, leaves, bark and grass are washed off the land by floodwaters. When the organic material breaks down the process sucks oxygen out of the water, suffocating fish. The impact can be exacerbated by high temperatures.

NSW Environment Department water planning director Allan Raine said nothing can be done to stop the floodwaters, generated from heavy rain in northern NSW in November, from flowing downstream into the Menindee Lakes systems.
The story of that desperate flight is told in Feddersens autobiography, Substance of Shadows (2010). The things she saw and experienced were imprinted on her mind with such vividness they unfold like a horror movie. When the family finally made it back to their house they found themselves at the mercy of one of their fathers former employees, a communist, who declared himself lord and master of the estate. For three years, the children worked as virtual slaves on their own farm, hiding whenever bands of drunken soldiers came around.

During the war, this charmed existence was shattered when her father was sent to serve at the Russian front, and her mother contracted a fatal illness, dying in 1943. By June the following year there were no more letters from her father who was pronounced missing in action, presumed dead. Within two years, the children had become orphans, left under the care of their aunt, Dora Wedding. As the Russians closed in, the family was forced to flee, taking whatever belongings they could carry.

Jutta Feddersen, who has died at the age of 90, belonged to a generation whose lives were permanently shaped and scarred by the Second World War. Born in 1931, in a German town called Briesen that is now part of Poland, Jutta Schley enjoyed an idyllic rural childhood. One of five children, she was brought up on a prosperous farm, and lived in a large, elegant house.

Between 1943-47, Feddersens story is so harrowing, so relentlessly brutal, one wonders how she survived, let alone became the impressive, confident person I would meet almost forty years later. Her life testifies to the truth of Nietzsches famous axiom: what doesnt kill you makes you stronger. Writers such as Primo Levi have given graphic accounts of the camps and the holocaust, but Feddersens book reveals the cruel impact of the war on German civilians whose only desire was to live their lives in peace.

It wasnt until September 1947, after a bout of imprisonment, typhoid, and another hair-raising escape, that Feddersen was able to join her relatives in West Germany. From this time onwards, she wrote, I aways felt and still do that I never really belong anywhere.

Life began again at age 16, in Bremen, where Feddersen trained to be a weaver and went to work for a local firm. To the amazement of her relatives she applied for a post teaching hand weaving at Sturt College, part of the Frensham School in Mittagong, and was accepted. She would leave Germany in December, 1956, for a two year visit that would leave her with positive impressions of Australia, and many new friends, including a young German engineer named Lorenz Feddersen.

After finishing up at Frensham, Feddersen returned to Germany for six months but realised that she really wanted to be in Australia, with Lorenz, whom she would marry at the end of 1959. With this second and permanent relocation she found work in factories and as an occupational therapist at Concord Repatriation Hospital. Her first daughter, Kirstin, would be born in 1963; a second, Melanie, would follow in 1969.

Living at Elanora Heights, Feddersen bought two looms, and began to make ties, curtains, carpets and dresses, which were sold through shops. In 1972, she travelled to Santa Teresa Mission, 150 kms from Alice Springs, to teach weaving skills to the local indigenous people. Her next excursion would be to Africa in 1974, to research textiles. She gives a long account of this journey in her autobiography, and also of the aftermath, when she returned to Australia suffering from a tropical disease. The next shock came when Lorenz left her for another woman, although the split remained amicable.
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn has stuck with the banks forecast that house prices are likely to grow more slowly this year as interest rates start rising, and could fall by as much as 10 per cent next year.

As the banking giant painted an upbeat picture on the economic outlook at its half-year results, Mr Comyn said households should be able to manage the potential rise in repayments, which would be modest compared with other cycles of interest rate hikes.

CEO Matt Comyn presents the Commonwealth Banks half-year results on Wednesday Credit:

House prices surged more than 20 per cent last year, raising concerns about risky lending and prompting regulators to rein in the maximum amount that homebuyers could borrow.

On Wednesday, Mr Comyn said the bank expected slower growth of 4 to 7 per cent this year, with most of the slowdown occurring in the second half of the year.

Weve seen house price growth slowing, and expect only modest increases this year before the peak is reached and prices settle, he said.

The decline in interest rates to record low levels in recent years has spurred on strong growth in mortgage lending, and with many experts now tipping rate rises, economists have predicted property prices could fall next year.

CBAs economists expect the Reserve Bank will start increasing interest rates from record lows of 0.1 per cent in August, and they have previously predicted house prices would fall by 10 per cent in 2023.

Mr Comyn referred to forecasts for a decline in house prices of 5 to 10 per cent in 2023, adding that forecasts on how house prices would be affected by views on how far the cash rate would rise. CBA economists are betting the cash rate will stop rising in 2023, at 1.25 per cent, which they say would be a neutral rate for the wider economy.

I guess on our basis, given a fairly modest increase in the cash rate over that period of time, I think those sorts of expectations of something like a 5 to 10 per cent reduction in calendar 2023, but on the back of a couple of very strong years, it shouldnt give customers too much cause for concern, Mr Comyn said.

Read the full article here.
A Sydney man has been charged with child sexual assault after he allegedly used vapes to lure a 15-year-old girl he met on Snapchat.

Detectives arrested 37-year-old Anthony Berbari on Tuesday morning, alleging he drove to Newcastle from his Campbelltown home last month to sexually assault the girl he met via the social media app.

A man who allegedly travelled to the states Hunter region and sexually assaulted a teenage girl he met through social media has been charged. Credit:NSW Police

Investigators attached to the Hunter Child Abuse Unit began an investigation after the girl reported the assault.

During their inquiries, police were told that Mr Berbari spoke to the teen online in December and, after exchanging images and personal details, made plans to meet in early January.
There have been cases of pigs heads being left outside Islamic schools or mosques. The Jewish schools in Sydney and elsewhere need armed guards  In Geelong just four or five years ago we saw five different churches burnt down. It was almost not reported in the press Weve seen discrimination against Christiansthe young man sacked from his job in a cafe simply because the owner said, We dont want Christians here. There is this sort of thing. It is on the rise. Its unreported. Its not right.

This was the powerful evidence given by Professor Patrick Parkinson of Freedom for Faith at the Senate Inquiry into the Religious Discrimination Bill.

Scott Morrison puts the case for his religious discrimination bill. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

As principal lawyer of the Human Rights Law Alliance, I provide legal assistance to people experiencing discrimination because of their faith. Sadly, in modern Australia, almost 30 per cent of Australians have experienced discrimination because of their religion or religious views.

If the Federal Parliament genuinely wanted equal protection for people who face discrimination for their deeply held religious beliefs in this country, by the end of this parliamentary sitting week we would see the Religious Discrimination Bill passed in the form the government had proposed. This would have provided minimal but at least some very limited protections against discrimination for people of faith.
An Italian restaurant in the northern Perth suburb of Warwick was shut down overnight and the owner arrested after allegedly operating the venue with unvaccinated staff members.

Topolinis Caffe owner Jodie Jardine and her daughter were taken away by police about 6pm on Monday.

Hours later, a tearful Ms Jardine said the pair had been held in custody for a few hours before being dropped back at the restaurant in the early hours of the morning.

Its a mother and daughter and we were in the cell, she said.
Four men have been arrested in NSW and Queensland over the 2009 killing of Omega Ruston, who was gunned down on the Gold Coast Highway in what was believed to be a road-rage incident.

Police confirmed on Tuesday morning that one man had been arrested in Queensland and three in NSW, with Queensland homicide detectives travelling to Sydney for the trios court case, seeking to extradite them.

Police will allege the firearm used in the shooting was an identical ballistic match to a gun used in a drive-by-style shooting at a west Sydney tattoo parlour in late 2008.

Mr Ruston, a 32-year-old construction worker, was driving along the Gold Coast Highway on January 26, 2009, when he was shot dead in a suspected road-rage incident.
Death threats have been sent and vandals have targeted a religious Brisbane college, leading to the lord mayor pleading for tolerance, as the Prime Minister looks to push through an anti-discrimination bill.

Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner told ABC radio on Tuesday Citipointe Christian College had been vandalised at the weekend and its principal had received death threats.

Citipointe Christian College, the Brisbane school at the centre of a national storm over gender discrimination. Credit:Internet

The college sparked uproar last week over its controversial enrolment contract, which included anti-gay clauses and listed homosexuality alongside paedophilia and bestiality.

The contract was later withdrawn and principal Brian Mulheran announced he would take extended leave.
Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner has called on the state government to consider discounting public transport fares after council announced free or cheaper parking across the city for the rest of the month.

From Wednesday, Brisbanes 7869 metered parking spaces in inner-city areas will be turned off, while prices will be halved at the King George Square and Wickham Terrace car parks.

Brisbane City Council is calling on the state government to work with it in offering free or discounted fares for public transport after announcing free parking for the rest of the month. Credit:Brisbane City Council

However, time limits for car spaces will still apply.

Cr Schrinner said the free parking would coincide with the return of office workers and students to inner-city areas.
Streets in Brisbanes CBD were closed as thousands of CFMEU members marched through the city on Tuesday.

The union said it was protesting over the personal ambition and naked self-interest at senior levels of the Master Builders Association Queensland who were behind the business lobby groups push to destabilise construction industry super fund BUSSQ.

CFMEU members march through the CBD about midday on Tuesday.

The sudden resignation of the three MBAQ representatives from the BUSSQ board last month was a pre-meditated stunt designed to make the fund  which has consistently returned members close to 10 per cent a year  more vulnerable to a forced merger with a larger fund, CFMEU assistant secretary Jade Ingham said.

Make no mistake, this ploy by MBAQ has absolutely nothing to do with governance of the fund, and everything to do with the private aspirations of some within MBAQ.
While nothing will change now that Queensland has hit the 90 per cent fully vaccinated rate, it is still a milestone worth celebrating, experts say.

Queensland recorded 5178 new cases and 12 more deaths on Tuesday, with 663 people in hospital  42 of them in intensive care and 22 of those on ventilators.

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard says its a mystery how the state will fare with the pandemic this winter. Credit:Dan Peled/Getty Images

The 90 per cent double-dose target was a key point in the Palaszczuk governments roadmap to reopening, but it has taken much longer to reach than projected, and in the meantime, many of the changes it was due to trigger have already been implemented.

At the same time, the state has moved away from many of the measures it employed over the past two years to keep the virus at bay  not just external measures, such as border controls, but internal measures, like contact tracing.
A Special Air Service soldier who has given damaging evidence about war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has told the Federal Court he had doubts about the circumstances in which his former comrade received the Victoria Cross, but denied he was seeking to smear his reputation in court.

The serving soldier, dubbed Person 14, told the court on Tuesday he did not doubt Mr Roberts-Smith put his life in danger during a 2010 battle in Tizak, Afghanistan, for which he was awarded Australias highest military honour in 2011, but he did have doubts about the award.

Ben Roberts-Smith outside the Federal Court on Monday. Credit:Flavio Brancaleone

Person 14, whose identity cannot be revealed for national security reasons, was not in Afghanistan in 2010, but served alongside Mr Roberts-Smith in 2009 and 2012.

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing for defamation over a series of news reports in 2018 he says portray him as a war criminal. Person 14 is the second member of the SAS to give evidence in the Federal Court in Sydney for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times, as the news outlets seek to establish a defence of truth.
Professor Grigg said some of his patients had gone six months without seeing anyone, other than their doctors and nurses. Also, those with compromised immune systems continue to be profoundly over-represented in coronavirus hospitalisations during the Omicron outbreak and are far more likely to end up severely ill, he said, even if they have been vaccinated. Several of his vaccinated patients, who have blood cancer, including a young mother in her 30s, have ended up seriously ill after contracting the virus, developing severe pneumonia or requiring oxygenation. Its just incredibly distressing to see that happen to your patients when theyve done everything they can to protect themselves, he said.

Melbourne doctor and president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Karen Price said some people, particularly those with underlying health conditions, were now so accustomed to approaching COVID-19 with caution that they were almost agoraphobic (a condition which can include an irrational fear of leaving the home). Theres a lot of lonely people, she said. We certainly see those people in practice that havent seen anyone for months. Its indescribable that despair. Others are taking a pragmatic approach, trying to avoid getting COVID-19 while they might have contact with a vulnerable family member, or before a special event such as a wedding  attempting to bring a level of control to a pandemic that has taken so much control from people. Dr Price said choices about the level of risk people were willing to accept were often difficult because, while there were clear risk factors for more severe COVID-19, such as being unvaccinated, obesity, old age and pregnancy, it was impossible to predict how any individual would be affected. Doctors including Melbourne oncologist Cameron McLaren said the let it rip approach to Omicron had failed the most vulnerable people in the community, including the immunocompromised and the elderly, who were left scrambling for booster shots and rapid antigen tests.

Loading He said others, including some of his patients undergoing hormone treatment therapy, were confused and anxious about what they should do. Ms Ferugia started wearing a mask everywhere before they were mandated. Before being vaccinated, she frequently stopped working her job at a supermarket whenever coronavirus cases surged. She still avoids crowded places and stays home as often as she can. But her worst fears were realised last month, when she was infected with the virus. She was not well enough to line up at a testing clinic and unable to secure enough rapid antigen tests. It made me feel confused and scared, Ms Ferugia said.

We couldnt stay in lockdown forever, but I feel like the government has opened up without really thinking about people like me. Kathrine Ferugia Weeks later she still feels the lingering effects of the virus, including a persistent cough and crippling fatigue. We couldnt stay in lockdown forever, but I feel like the government has opened up without really thinking about people like me. The way they have lifted restrictions has been quite severe. Also trying to avoid COVID-19 is engineer Monica Russo, who is heavily pregnant with her second child. She enjoyed a relatively normal Christmas with her family, but when case numbers kept rising, and the impending birth got closer, she decided the risk of getting COVID-19 was too high to continue socialising with all but a small circle of close family members and stopped frequenting cafes or restaurants.

Monica Russo and her 20-month-old son Leon are both in isolation at home. Credit: Scott McNaughton Ms Russo said she was told that if she entered labour while carrying the virus, shed have to stay in a COVID-19 ward, wouldnt be able to have her husband with her for the birth and would be largely separated from her baby  bar breastfeeding  until she was cleared of the virus. Thats a scenario the Camberwell mum wants to avoid. The family is in a privileged position where they can largely shut themselves off from the world, with Ms Russo and her husband both able to work from home. The couple also plan to pull their 20-month-old son out of childcare two weeks before his sibling is due to arrive. Weve basically cancelled any social gatherings, and that includes a wedding in the family that we chose not to attend, she said. Everyone was sad, but nobody was angry. I think everyone understood why were doing what we were doing.

There is an early suggestion that the vaccines effectiveness wanes quickly for immunocompromised people, even after a third dose, amid mounting research that organ transplant recipients and those with blood cancers may need a fourth or fifth dose. Professor Grigg said the Austin hospital had already commenced a fourth-dose program for its immunocompromised patients. But he said the most crucial action all Australians could take was to get their booster shot as soon as possible to slow transmission of the virus and create a crucial layer of collective protection for the immunocompromised. People have a community responsibility to have the third dose. Professor Andrew Grigg People have a community responsibility to have the third dose, not just for their own health, but for the health of people who are otherwise going to be stuck at home and scared of going out, he said.

It doesnt diminish the risk entirely, but it means people are less likely to be infectious, at least for longer periods of time. Cancer Council chief executive Todd Harper said there had been a sharp surge in people calling the organisations helpline as coronavirus cases hit tens of thousands of new infections a day this year. More than 650 people called in the first three weeks of January. Of those, more than 20 per cent expressed emotional distress about feeling increasingly isolated. Were really worried about the uncertainty for them, Mr Harper said. Cancer patients are telling us of significant levels of distress and not being able to access the usual support networks during a very difficult period.

Australian infectious disease physician Sanjaya Senanayake said he felt the federal government had moved too quickly from very cautious to zero caution. What we needed was to have that bundle of COVID-safe measures in place, particularly as people gathered for Christmas before Omicron took off, he said. But Professor Senanayake said he always urged his patients to find the joy in life, noting the mental health implications of isolation were profound. Loading Taking precautions, including getting booster shots, investing in high-quality face respirators, such as N95s, meeting up with friends and family outdoors and requesting close friends and family clear themselves with a rapid tests before catch-ups all reduce risk.
Police are assessing images of Coalition MPs  including Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and Nationals leader Peter Walsh  in which they appear to flout COVID rules requiring masks in State Parliament at all times except when eating, drinking or speaking publicly.

Liberal and Nationals MPs on Tuesday posted photos on social media showing Essendon legend Kevin Sheedy delivering a motivational speech to the Coalition party room.

Kevin Sheedy and Matthew Guy in one of the photos posted on Facebook.

None of the MPs pictured were wearing masks, appearing to breach a continuing requirement for masks to be worn in Parliament.

Victoria Police is currently assessing images circulating on social media of MPs without a mask on in Parliament on February 8, a police spokeswoman said. As the incident is being reviewed by investigators, we will not be providing further comment at this stage.
When international tourism was banned at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Terry Smits sightseeing tour business didnt just wind down.

We didnt come to a slow, coasting halt. We hit a tree, he says. Our business just stopped dead. We went from lots of revenue to no revenue pretty much overnight.

Terry Smit with one of the minibuses belonging to his company, Go West Tours. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Before the pandemic, Go West Tours ran about 50 minibus trips each week to such places as the Great Ocean Road and the Yarra Valley, with 95 per cent of customers from abroad.

But just as business was looking up, with Australia reopening its borders later this month, another source of revenue  the officially licensed tour of sites related to the Neighbours TV series  is now under threat.
Attorney-General Michaelia Cash says a move to immediately strip church schools of the ability to discriminate against transgender students would raise complications over bathrooms and uniform requirements, and risk eroding the ethos of single-sex religious schools.

Coalition MPs are deeply divided over the federal governments proposed religious freedom laws, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison facing a revolt from moderate MPs should the bill go to a vote this week.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has defended the governments proposal to protect students from being expelled at religious schools but not transgender students. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

At a lengthy party room meeting on Tuesday morning, Mr Morrison was warned by several MPs they could not accept his proposal to prohibit schools from expelling gay students as part of the religious bills package while leaving transgender students vulnerable to discrimination.

Coalition members were unable to resolve their disagreement over the bill, with the meeting to resume after question time on Tuesday.
Labor is demanding gay and transgender students be protected immediately and protections for religious speech be scaled back, piling pressure on moderate Liberals to cross the floor to vote for amendments to the Coalitions contentious religious discrimination bill.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese says the opposition will fight in the lower house and in the Senate to protect LGBTQI students and stop state and federal anti-discrimination laws being overridden to protect religious statements of belief  but has not confirmed whether his party will ultimately vote for the bill if the amendments fail.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese says amendments must be made to the religious discrimination bill. Credit:James Brickwood

Time is running out for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to legislate his promised Religious Discrimination Act, with just a handful of sitting days left before the federal election, which must be held no later than May. In a sign Labors push could succeed, Liberal member for North Sydney Trent Zimmerman revealed on Wednesday evening he had made the difficult decision to part with my party and indicated he would support the two key amendments.

I could not live with myself if I didnt seek to address those issues, Mr Zimmerman told the chamber.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese will have to put the bill to his caucus to determine the partys position. Labor struggled with religious voters in the 2019 election and the party has been careful to avoid picking a fight with faith communities months from the federal poll. Loading Labor frontbencher Tony Burke would not say whether the Opposition would accept the exclusion of transgender students from the scope of the amendments, but told ABC radio on Tuesday: The Prime Minister previously said he would end discrimination for all students, and he should be true to his word on that. In a letter to Mr Albanese in December, Mr Morrison told his opponent there was no place in our education system for any form of discrimination against a student on the basis of their sexuality or gender identity and informed him the government would amend the SDA to address the issue. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday evening after the party room meeting, Ms Archer said she was horrified that transgender children would not be protected under the proposed reforms and implored her parliamentary colleagues to think about the long term mental health effects of affected people.

I cant wrap my head around this and I fear that it may risk lives, she said. In 2022 I cant believe were having this conversation. This bill is an overreach. Labor MP Stephen Jones gave a moving speech about his gay teenage nephew who had taken his own life last week, and his own 14-year-old son who wears womens clothing, as he said MPs must think about how this bill affects young people. What message do we want this Parliament to send to these kids? Are they as loved and cherished and respected as every other kid? he said. Surely we arent saying to them its okay if youre gay, just so long as we dont see it. The bills package will create a new Religious Discrimination Act, and also amend s38(3) of the Sex Discrimination Act to make it unlawful to expel students because they are gay  but the narrow amendment will leave schools with a legal basis to discriminate against gay students in other ways, and leave transgender students unprotected.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said the decision to protect only gay students  but not transgender students  from expulsion as part of the proposed laws was about ensuring single-sex schools were not ill-equipped to deal with students who transitioned, while also respecting the wishes of other students' parents. If subsection 38(3) of the Sex Discrimination Act were amended to remove the exemption for religious schools to discriminate against a student on the basis of their gender identity, it could have the potential to effectively nullify the intention and ethos of religious single-sex schools, Senator Cash said. Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has defended the governments proposal to protect students from being expelled at religious schools but not transgender students. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen For example, if a current student transitioned whilst enrolled at a single-sex school, a religious single-sex school would not be adequately equipped to cater to the needs of the opposite sex. Matters such as uniforms, bathrooms, as well as the wishes of other parents to send their children to a single-sex school would need to be addressed. Instead, the government has commissioned the Australian Law Reform Commission to review the operation of s38(3) and advise whether further changes are required once the Religious Discrimination Act has been in operation for 12 months.

The Greens will move an amendment to repeal s38(3) in its entirety, setting up an opportunity for rogue Liberal MPs and Labor to vote to provide greater protections for LGBTIQ students and teachers at religious schools. The governments narrow SDA amendment was welcomed by the Australian Christian Lobby, which revealed on Monday that it had been negotiating with the government about a very narrow and very precise amendment. It needs to focus merely on the expulsion of students or the non-expulsion of students based on sexual orientation only, ACL deputy director Dan Flynn told Vision Christian Radio. The government is wanting to know our opinion on a day-by-day basis. Swimming champion and LGBTQI advocate Ian Thorpe, who was in Canberra to lobby against the proposed laws, condemned the bill as state-sanctioned discrimination that sought to gain rights for one group of people, whilst excluding another group of people.
Washington: Members of the US Congress are considering creating an AUKUS caucus to sharpen Washingtons focus on the strategic military pact announced last year to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

As US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken prepares to travel to Australia this week, Democrats and Republicans are in talks to create a special group on Capitol Hill solely dedicated to AUKUS  the three-way alliance between America, Britain and Australia designed to deter China in the Indo-Pacific.

Submarines are potentially just the beginning for AUKUS. Credit:AP

In an interview with The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, Democratic congressman Joe Courtney  a co-chair of the bipartisan Friends of Australia Caucus  said he believed AUKUS would be one of the most important strategic moves the US undertakes in decades.

While it was going to take time for Americans to grasp its significance, he said there was high interest across both sides of politics in Washington to ensure that support is there on the Hill to make sure it succeeds.
Gautam Adani, the Indian billionaire who turned a small commodities trading business into a conglomerate spanning ports, mines and green energy, is now Asias richest person.

The 59-year-old moguls net worth reached $88.5 billion on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Index, eclipsing fellow countryman Mukesh Ambanis $87.9 billion. With an almost $12 billion jump in his personal fortune, Adani is the worlds biggest wealth-gainer this year.

The coal magnate--whose controversial Australian mine project drew flak from climate activists including Greta Thunberg--has increasingly looked beyond the fossil fuel for expansion. Hes moving into renewable energy, airports, data centers and defense contracting--priorities Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also considers crucial to nation-building and meeting the countrys long-term economic goals.

The Adani Group has spotted and entered all the happening sectors at the right time, which has appealed to a select band of foreign portfolio investors, said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at Mumbai-based brokerage HDFC Securities Ltd. The sectors are capital-intensive and the company has faced little difficulty in raising funds to expand.





ALSO READ: Adani Group forms new subsidiary to set up data centre in Mumbai

Some of Adani Groups listed stocks have soared more than 600% in the past two years on bets his push into green energy and infrastructure will pay off as Modi looks to revive the $2.9 trillion economy and meet the Indias carbon net-zero target by 2070. MSCI Inc.s decision to include more Adani in its Indian benchmark index has also meant any fund tracking the gauge will have to buy the shares.

While 2020 was Ambanis year -- his oil-to-petrochemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. created billions of dollars in wealth through a technology pivot that brought in Facebook and Google Inc. as investors -- the pendulum has since swung toward Adani.

Green pledges

Both Indian billionaires--who have built their empires on fossil fuels or coal--are now pushing ahead with green energy projects. Ambani has committed $10 billion over the next three years as part of a larger $76 billion spend plan in renewables. Adani has pledged to invest a total of $70 billion by 2030 to help his group become the worlds largest renewable-energy producer.

Firms including Total SE and Warburg Pincus LLC have invested in Adanis in 2021. The French oil giant agreed in January 2021 to buy 20% of Adani Green Energy Ltd. and a 50% stake in the Indian partners portfolio of operating solar assets, though at a steep discount. The deal value was just $2.5 billion, compared with Adani Greens market capitalization of $20 billion at the time.

In March of 2021, Warburg said it would invest $110 million in exchange for about half-a-percent of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.

As part of his green push, Adani has unveiled plans to boost his renewable-energy capacity almost eightfold by 2025. In May, Adani Green agreed to buy SoftBank Group Corp.s local renewable-power business in a deal that gave SB Energy India an enterprise value of $3.5 billion.

Scaling up

In barely three years, Adani has gained control of seven airports and almost a quarter of Indias air traffic. His group now owns the countrys largest airport operator, power generator and city gas retailer in the non-state sector.

Shares of Adani Green and Adani Total Gas Ltd., a Mumbai-listed joint venture with the French firm, have rallied more than 1,000% since the beginning of 2020. Flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd. has advanced more than 730%, Adani Transmission Ltd. more than 500% and Adani Ports 95% over this period. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex Index has gained 40% by comparison.

Scant analyst coverage hasnt deterred MSCI from adding some of the Adani stocks to its India gauge. Three of the tycoons listed were included in May, taking the groups total footprint to five. The addition has led to a more mandated buying by investors who track the gauge, HDFCs Jasani said.

A college dropout, Adani first tried his luck in Mumbais diamond industry in the early 1980s before returning to his home state of Gujarat to help run his brothers plastics business. In 1988, he set up Adani Enterprises.

Ransom demand

The businessman is a survivor of crises. More than two decades ago, he was kidnapped and held for ransom. In 2008, he was among the hostages at Mumbais Taj Mahal Palace hotel during the terror attacks that killed at least 166 people.

Adanis sustainability claims and green ambitions are criticized by climate campaigners who point to the groups Carmichael coal mining project in Australia, which will expand supplies of the highly-polluting fossil fuel. The Adani Group opted to use its own money after having trouble in securing external funding and said in December that it was ready to begin the first coal exports from the Australian mine.



ALSO READ: Adani Green Energy arms raise Rs 612 cr for debt refinancing

The billionaire has also come under attack from Modis political opponents for his proximity to the powerful leader, with some even calling it cronyism. Adani has dismissed such criticism as baseless, and thrived with his successful strategy of dovetailing his investments with Modis priorities.

Some of the big Adani Group businesses such as ports are almost monopolies, said Sanjiv Bhasin, director at local brokerage IIFL Securities Ltd. With many Adani companies being closely linked to Indias industrialization and infrastructure push, they are in a sweet spot and they have capitalized on it, Bhasin said.

(With assistance from Anurag Kotoky and P R Sanjai.)
China firmly opposes US competition bill 'steeped in Cold War mentality': MFA

(People's Daily App) 13:33, February 08, 2022

China on Monday expressed opposition to the America COMPETES Act of 2022 passed by the US House of Representatives, saying it was "steeped in Cold War mentality and zero-sum game."

"It denigrates China's development path and domestic as well as foreign policy, clamors for strategic competition with China, and makes wanton remarks on issues relating to Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet," Zhao Lijian, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told a regular press briefing in Beijing.

Zhao made the remarks in response to reports that the US House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act of 2022 on February 5.

He pointed out how the US develops itself and enhances its competitiveness is its own business, but it shouldn't make an issue out of China, still less use it as a pretext to meddle in China's domestic affairs and harm China's interests.

"This Act once again exposes the hegemonic and bullying practice of the US, which in a fundamental sense runs counter to the trend of our times and people's shared aspiration for peace, development and cooperation," said the ministry spokesperson. It would only eventually hurt US interests, he added.

The US should discard that mentality and view China's development and China-US relations in an objective and rational light, "delete the negative content regarding China in the bill, stop reviewing and pushing the Act, and stop undermining China-US relations and cooperation in important areas," he said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
The Tuesday did not allow to file written submission in a case related to Future Retail's plea for nod to proceed with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) permission of going ahead with Rs 24,731 crore merger deal with Reliance Retail.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana, which had reserved its order on February 3, was irked over the alleged delayed request of the US-based e-commerce major to file the written note in the case and said that it appeared to be a "luxurious litigation".

You want to complicate the matters. It is fine. You want to drag on, continue these hearings... If I allow you, then I will have to allow them (FRL) also. I do not understand what this practice is. If that day (February 3) you would have asked then it would have been a different story, said the CJI.

It is just to assist the court, the lawyer said.

The bench rejected the submissions saying that the argument seemed to be that the oral submissions have to be given in writing as well.

It seems you think we don't have the ability to understand the oral submissions. After reserving the order, now after five days you again started reopening... I think it's better to not list these matters at all. It is a luxurious litigation it appears, the CJI said.

The apex court on February 3 reserved its order on the plea of Ltd (FRL) seeking to go ahead with the merger deal.

Besides this, a consortium of 27 banks had told the that the money lent to FRL belonged to the depositors and to safeguard the public interest, the entire assets of FRL can be subjected to open bids by and Reliance with a reserve price of Rs 17,000 crore.

FRL has filed a separate plea against the consortium seeking a direction that no coercive action be taken against it for a certain time period due to non-payment of debt.

Prior to this, the apex court, in a verdict on February 1, had set aside three Delhi High Court orders including attachment of properties of FRL and its directors and the refusal to grant a stay on the final arbitral award which had restrained FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,731 crore merger deal with Reliance Retail and had ordered fresh adjudication.

and the Future group are engaged in legal battle for over a year as the US major is opposing the merger of FRL with Reliance Retail.

(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.)
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West Bengal Chief Minister Tuesday expressed grief over the death of seven Army personnel, who were struck by an in the high-altitude areas of Kameng sector in Arunachal Pradesh and extended her condolence to their family members and friends.

"Deeply saddened to know about the unfortunate demise of our seven brave jawans in the line of duty in the snowstorm in Arunachal Pradesh. Our jawans are selflessly striving for our safety & security. My salute to the jawans. My deep condolences to their family & colleagues," Banerjee tweeted.

Seven Army personnel who were struck by an in the high-altitude areas of Kameng sector in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday have been confirmed dead, the Indian Army said on Tuesday.

They were part of a patrol team and their bodies have been retrieved from the site, it said.

The area had been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall for the past few days.

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The emergency use authorisation for Sputnik Light is unlikely to spark high demand for this single-shot vaccine in the short term, according to hospitals.

They are of the view that unless newer segments open up for vaccination, demand for Sputnik Light is unlikely to grow.

Dr Reddys Laboratories (DRL), the marketing partner of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for the Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines, has sought government approval for the use of Sputnik Light as a booster shot or a precaution dose. It is also in discussions to supply Sputnik Light to public health programmes.

The current restricted use in emergency situation approval from the DCGI to Sputnik Light is for the single-shot standalone vaccine. Our efforts to seek approval for Sputnik Light as a precautionary dose/booster are currently underway. Our objective is to seek approval for Sputnik Light as a booster for all vaccines, a company spokesperson said.

As the single-shot Sputnik Light is for the benefit of the unvaccinated (naive) population, we are confident of its ability to impact the population that is serviced by both public health programmes and private sector. We are in discussions on the same, the spokesperson added.





So far, Sputnik V has not been procured by the government and is used only in the private sector. The company, however, did not share the price of Sputnik Light.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Sputnik Light -- the first dose component of Sputnik V -- on Sunday.

But according to several private hospitals, at present, the rule for precaution shots is to use the same dose as before, and therefore, a majority of the demand is for Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) and Covishield (Serum Institute of India).

Moreover, cities have already achieved significant coverage in terms of vaccination, and thus demand in urban centres has slowed down.

Currently, a significant population is vaccinated in Mumbai and surrounding areas. Hence the demand for a single dose will not come from this segment. According to the precautionary dose policy, the same vaccine needs to be given. Hence unless we get demand in the future for the next cycle of vaccination, I dont think we will procure the same, said Joy Chakraborty, chief operating officer of PD Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai.

The city has covered 100 per cent of its population with a single dose, and more than 90 per cent with two doses now.

But hospitals also feel that compliance is likely to be high with a single-dose vaccine, such as Sputnik Light.

Both compliance and demand may benefit from a single-dose vaccine. We will assess the situation over the next few days and take a view, said Dilip Jose, MD, Manipal Hospitals.

Precaution shots are homologous, according to the Government of India's directives, which means one has to take a shot of the same vaccine as his/her previous two shots as a third dose.

DRL said that it has no issue with the availability of the vaccine. We have adequate visibility of manufacturing and supply. On pricing, we will share further information in due course, the spokesperson added.

The subject expert committee (SEC) had recommended approval to Sputnik Light on January 31. Sputnik Light is already approved in 29 countries, including Russia.

The interim data of efficacy trial from Russia has shown 65.4 per cent efficacy 21 days after immunisation.
The government on Tuesday informed the that electoral bonds worth Rs 9,208.24 crore have been purchased by eligible individuals and entities.

The Scheme 2018, was notified by the government on January 2, 2018.

Citing data provided by the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance, Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh said that "so far, (till completion of the XIX phase) electoral bonds amounting to Rs 9,208.24 crore" have been purchased from the authorised bank, State Bank of India, by eligible individuals and entities.

Under the provisions of the Section 182 of the Companies Act, 2013, companies, other than government companies and those less than three years old, are allowed directly or indirectly to contribute to any political party with the approval of their respective board of directors.

"Such companies shall have to disclose in its profit and loss account the total amount contributed by them during the financial year to which the account relates and the name of the party is not required to be disclosed. Therefore, political party wise data is not maintained," the minister said in a written reply.

Singh, who is the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, was responding to a query about the total amount contributed to political parties by companies in the last three years.

The minister also said electoral bonds can be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. Also, a person being an individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.

"Accordingly, no electoral bonds are issued to foreign entities," he added.

To a query on the steps taken by the government to counter the negative verdicts received in international arbitrations, Singh said the government is taking all appropriate legal steps to protect its interests.

According to him, the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 passed by Parliament recently has led to reduction in such ongoing litigations.

"As per the information received from the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, in cases where Republic of India has received adverse awards in international investment arbitration, the government is engaging counsels with relevant experience for setting aside of the award and for handling enforcement proceedings wherever applicable," he said in another reply.

In a separate reply, the minister said no rules have been notified for direct listing of securities on foreign stock exchanges as of now.

"Section 5 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2020 (amending Section 23 of the Companies Act, 2013) has not yet been brought into force," he added.

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India has summoned the South Korean ambassador over the "unacceptable" social media post by Pakistan on the so-called Kashmir solidarity day and bluntly conveyed to him that there could be no compromise on the matter as it concerned the country's territorial integrity.

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong spoke to his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar this morning and the Korean side regretted the offence caused to the people and government of India by the social media post.

Sending a tough message, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the South Korean envoy was summoned on Monday and a "strong displeasure" of the government on the social media post was conveyed.

India expected the company to take "appropriate action" to properly address the issue, he stressed.

Bagchi said the Indian ambassador in Seoul contacted the headquarters and sought an explanation.

The MEA spokesperson said India welcomes investments by foreign companies in various sectors, but, it is also expected that such companies or their affiliates will refrain from "false and misleading" comments on matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Tweets from accounts linked to and its affiliate Kia Corp expressing solidarity with Kashmir separatists triggered outrage in India following which the South Korean firm said it has a "zero-tolerance" policy towards insensitive communication.

"We had seen a social media post on the so-called Kashmir Solidarity Day was made by Hyundai Pakistan. Immediately after this social media post on Sunday, our Ambassador in Seoul contacted the Hyundai Headquarters and sought an explanation," Bagchi said.

"The offending post had been removed subsequently. The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs yesterday. The strong displeasure of the Government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him," he said.

The MEA spokesperson was responding to a media query on the issue.

"It was highlighted that this matter concerned India's territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise. We expected the company to take appropriate action to properly address these issues," he said.

"Foreign Minister of Republic of Korea Chung Eui-yong called External Affairs Minister this morning. While they discussed several issues, the RoK Foreign Minister also conveyed that they regretted the offence caused to the people and Government of India by the social media post," he said.

In a tweet, Jaishankar said:"Received a call from ROK FM Chung Eui-yong today. Discussed bilateral and multilateral issues as also the Hyundai matter." Bagchi also referred to a statement issued by Hyundai Motors conveying its deep regret to the people of India and making it clear that it does not comment on political or religious issues.

"India welcomes investments by foreign companies in various sectors. But, it is also expected that such companies or their affiliates will refrain from false and misleading comments on matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

In Parliament, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that the government has asked Hyundai Motors to be more forceful in its unequivocal apology over the matter.

Hyundai had issued a clarification after it faced calls for a boycott of its cars, but there have been demands for the company to apologise unequivocally.

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MP from Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi, on Tuesday criticised the newly appointed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice chancellor, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit terming her appointment as 'mediocre' that can damage human capital and youth's future.

Varun Gandhi's comment came in view of the press statement released by Pandit after her appointment as VC on Monday, wherein the leader found grammar mistakes.

"This press release from the new VC is an exhibition of illiteracy, littered with grammatical mistakes (would strive vs will strive; students friendly vs student-friendly; excellences vs excellence). Such mediocre appointments serve to damage our human capital & our youth's future," said in a tweet on Tuesday morning.

Pandit in her statement soon after the announcement of her appointment had said (verbatim):

"As Vice-Chancellor, JNU, I thank both the Hon'ble Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education for giving me this opportunity as the first woman and alumnus of this esteemed University from the State of Tamil Nadu.

"The immediate focus of this administration would be to provide clean administration, students friendly and gender sensitive environment for academic excellence.

"We would strive to implement NEP 2020 the vision of our Hon'ble Prime Minister especially in interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary areas of studies, rising to greater heights of academics and research. The focus would in constructing Indo-centric narratives.

"I look forward to working with students, faculty and staff to contribute in achieving these objectives. (sic)"

Pandit was appointed as the first female VC of the JNU by the Ministry of Education on Monday.

Born in Russia's St. Petersburg, Pandit is fluent in English, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, and Konkani. She did her schooling in Chennai and topped the state. She also did her B.A. in History and Social Psychology in 1983 from Presidency College in Chennai and did a diploma in Social Work from California State University. Pandit is also a gold medallist.

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South Korea's Motor said it deeply regrets the offence caused to Indians due to an "unauthorized" tweet from the account of its Pakistan partner that expressed solidarity for the people of the disputed territory of .

"As a business policy, Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region. We deeply regret any offense caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity," said in a post on Tuesday.

Hyundai is facing calls for a boycott by hundreds of social media users in India, which considers the whole of as an integral part of the country. The social media users said the company must apologise for being insensitive to India's position on the decades-old dispute over .

(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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The bodies of the seven soldiers, who went missing after their patrol along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district was hit by an avalanche, have been found, the said on Tuesday.

"Bodies of all seven individuals have been recovered from the avalanche site. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, all seven have been confirmed deceased," it said.

The seven army personnel, part of a patrol, were struck by an avalanche in the high altitude area of Kameng Sector in on February 6.

The area, located at an altitude of 14,500 feet, had been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall since the last few days.

"The bodies of the soldiers are currently being transferred from the avalanche site to the nearest Army medical facility for further formalities," the Army said.

The area has been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall since the last few days, the force said.

is generally divided into Kameng area on the west and Rest of .

The Army's Eastern Command handles the 1,346-km-long Line of Actual Control including Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

This command has three corps - 33 Corps (Sikkim), 4 Corps (Kameng sector) and 3 Corps (Rest of Arunachal Pradesh) to handle the LAC.

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leader on Tuesday expressed surprise over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion that Maharashtra encouraged spread of COVID-19 in other states, and wondered why he "harboured such hatred" for the state that had a lion's share in his election to the top executive post.

"I wonder what delight does the prime minister get in criticising Maharashtra repeatedly, shifting key projects out of the state and undermining the importance of Mumbai. It is unfortunate," Sule told reporters here.

"Maharashtra has never bowed before the authority of Delhi and will never do so," the Lok Sabha member from Baramati said.

Sule said the claims made by the prime minister against Maharashtra during his reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address lacked any scientific basis.

Modi had said, "What did Congress leaders do? They stood at railway stations in Mumbai and distributed free tickets to encourage them to leave Mumbai. They inspired people to leave so that the burden over Maharashtra could be lessened. You go to Uttar Pradesh, you go to Bihar. Go, spread Corona there. You committed this sin and created an atmosphere of chaos".

She said as the pandemic was unfolding in March 2020, Trinamool member Saugata Roy had approached the prime minister with a request to adjourn the session of Parliament.

"But, the prime minister ignored his request as these people were busy toppling the government in Madhya Pradesh," Sule charged.

On the suggestion that Maharashtra had aided spread of Covid in other states, Sule said it was the Centre that operated special trains to ferry migrant labourers to their respective homes.

"The then Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had talked about operating 125 special trains in March 2020, Devendra Fadnavis has thanked the Centre for operating special trains to ferry migrant labourers to Uttar Pradesh," she said.

She said that BJP member Harish Dwivedi, who initiated the deabate in the Lok Sabha, also credited the Centre for running special trains.

"Still the prime Mmnister claims that Maharashtra sent back migrant labourers to other states," Sule said.

The leader reminded the prime minister that Maharashtra had elected 22 BJP members in the Lok Sabha elections and urged him to "at least be loyal to the soil of the state."



Sule, citing Railway Ministry documents, said the largest number of Shramik Special trains -- 1033 -- were operated from Gujarat, followed by Maharashtra (817) and Punjab (429).

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Hours after Prime Minister attacked the Congress in on Tuesday, Rajasthan Chief Minister hit back saying there is an undeclared emergency in the country and no one knows in which direction the nation is headed.

He also said that the prime minister should focus on development work instead of counting the shortcomings of the erstwhile governments.

Replying in to the debate on Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind's address, Modi held the Congress responsible for a host of issues.

He said if the Congress was not there, the country would not have seen the Emergency, the massacre of Sikhs and the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley.

Speaking to reporters after attending the 'Chintan Shivir' of the Congress here, Gehlot asked what's the point of counting the reasons for the imposition of the Emergency when they are already known to all.

"Today there is an undeclared emergency... L K Advani ji had indicated this as soon as the government was formed. There was pressure on him from the RSS and he had to shut up... the entire country knows," Gehlot said.

"The world knows that the Emergency was imposed and a decision was taken. After that, our government fell... Everyone knows that the Emergency was imposed, why it was imposed and what happened during the Emergency.

"Will you keep telling the shortcomings (of the previous governments) or make your own history? If you talk about development, then it is understandable," he added.

On Modi's allegation that the Congress instigated labourers to leave for their native states during the COVID-19 lockdown, Gehlot said the BJP-led government has created an atmosphere of mistrust and tension in the country.

"Nobody knows what is happening in the country, in which direction the country is going. There is an atmosphere of violence, unrest, mistrust and tension in the country. These are our allegations against NDA, BJP and RSS and on the contrary, PM Modi is telling us that we are provoking people," he said.

On the 'Chintan Shivir' of the Congress, the chief minister said everyone put forth their views with an open mind.

The Legislative Assembly session is going to start and elections are also coming up, so we would like to prove ourselves to the people of the state who elected the Congress.

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Homegrown pharmaceutical firm on Tuesday said it has received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to export up to 10 crore doses of Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik.

The approval is for the export of up to 8 crore doses of Sputnik Light and up to 2 crore doses of Sputnik V Component I vaccines, Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

The company's bulk vaccine and fill-finish manufacturing facilities at Waluj and Shendra, Aurangabad, were "jointly inspected and approved by Drug inspectors from (West zone) and Aurangabad State FDA and expert from CDL (Central Drugs Laboratory) Kasauli" to receive the export NOC (no objection certificate), it added.

The state-of-the-art automated manufacturing facilities in Aurangabad are dedicated to producing world-class high-quality injectable products, the company said.

said it had entered into an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Enso Healthcare to manufacture and supply Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines against COVID-19 based on the technology transfer from Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

On Sunday, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had announced that the Drugs Controller General of India has granted emergency use permission to single-dose Sputnik Light COVID vaccine in the country.

Last year in April, India's regulator had granted permission for restricted emergency use of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V with certain conditions.

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A report has said that about 65 per cent of hospital beds in the country cater to almost 50 per cent of the population and stressed that the number of beds must be increased by at least 30 per cent to ensure equitable access to healthcare facilities for people.

In a report titled 'Reimagining Healthcare in India through Blended Finance', the Aayog further said India's healthcare spending is least among BRICS countries.

"It is noteworthy that around 65 per cent of hospital beds in India cater to almost 50 per cent of the population concentrated in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal and Kerala," the report said.

It added that the other 50 per cent of the country's population living in the remaining 21 states and 8 Union Territories (UTs) has access to only 35 per cent of hospital beds.

"This indicates a need to grow beds by at least 30 per cent to ensure equitable access to healthcare for citizens in all parts of the country," the report said.

Blended finance is an approach towards financing where catalytic funding from public and philanthropic sources is utilised to mobilise additional private sector investment to realize social goals and outcomes.

According to the report, the hospital sector in India accounts for 80 per cent of the total healthcare market.

"It was valued at USD 61.79 billion in FY17 and is expected to reach USD 132 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 16-17 per cent" the report said.

Noting that health insurance contributes 20 per cent to the non-life insurance business, making it the second largest portfolio, it said. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) could increase the penetration of health insurance in India from 34 per cent to 50 per cent.

"This would, in turn, increase the demand for in-patient services," the report observed.

It noted the COVID-19 pandemic provided an impetus for the expansion of the home healthcare market in India and with social distancing as the new norm, telemedicine solutions are fast emerging as a convenient alternative.

"The market size for telemedicine in India (USD 830 million, as of 2019) is projected to increase to USD 5.5 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 31 per cent during 2020-25," the report said.

It pointed out that before COVID-19, it was estimated that over USD 500 billion of private capital must be mobilised annually to meet all of India's sustainable development goals by 2030 and to address access, affordability, and quality healthcare, it is estimated that under a business-as-usual scenario USD 256 billion would be needed by 2034 to achieve sustainable development goals related to health.

"But with the adoption of new technologies and a focus on prevention and wellness, the funding requirement is estimated at USD 156 billion," the report said.

It pointed out that India's healthcare spending is 3.6 per cent of GDP, including out-of-pocket and public expenditure.

Observing that the combined total government expenditure of both central and state is 1.29 per cent of GDP, the report said India spends the least among BRICS countries.

Brazil spends the most (9.2 per cent), followed by South Africa (8.1 per cent), Russia (5.3 per cent) and China (5 per cent).

As per the latest estimates by the United Nations, nearly USD 3.9 trillion is needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, more than double the current funding of USD 1.4 trillion dedicated towards SDGs from domestic and international sources.

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On the back of a new five-year Information Technology and enabled services (IT/ITeS) policy, the Government is eyeing an eight-fold rise in IT from the state by the end of the policy tenure.

Aimed at promoting new small and medium units, along with some big projects, the policy looks to grow the current of roughly Rs 3,100 crore to Rs 25,000 crore in the next five years.

According to Vijay Nehra, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, government, the new policy has been developed on the capital expenditure (capex) and operations expenditure (opex) model. "We are adopting a Capex-Opex Model, to provide a simplified and flexible approach towards the industry. So that they can plan the expenditure and turnaround the viability concerns," said Nehra.

Compared to the previous policy, the financial incentives have been hiked from the previous Rs 1 crore to Rs 100-200 crore based on certain conditions. With the new policy being operative from the day of notification, the same would expire on March 31, 2027.

Unveiled on Tuesday by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the new policy for 2022-2027 aims at generating direct employment of 100,000 in the IT/ITeS industry in the said duration.

The new IT/ITeS policy offers upto 25 per cent or maximum Rs 50 crore capex support for projects having Gross Fixed Capital Investment (GFCI) of upto Rs 250 crore and an opex support of upto 15 per cent or maximum Rs 20 crore per annum for five years.

On the other hand, for GFCI of over Rs 250 crore, a capex support of 25 per cent upto Rs 200 crore and an opex support of 15 per cent or upto Rs 40 crore per annum for five years is provided. In an attempt to encourage more and faster investment, the government also announced an early mover advantage for first three companies with GFCI of over Rs 100 crore to be considered as mega units.

To boost employment generation, a one-time support will be provided to those units hiring local employees for a minimum one year period. Moreover, the government will assist 50 per cent of the cost-to-company (CTC) upto Rs 50000 in case of male employee and Rs 60,000 for female employees for each employee employed. The government will also provide upto 100 percent concession for employers on EPF for female employees and 75 per cent for male employees.

While promoting conventional businesses, the policy also entails support for need-of-the-hour domains such as cloud infrastructure, data centres, cable landing stations as well as upskilling of manpower.

For instance, one-time capex support of upto 25 per cent or maximum Rs 20 crore in 20 equal quarterly installments and opex support of Re 1 per unit power tariff subsidy for five years will be provided for setting up a cable landing station (CLS). Similarly, data centres will be entitled for a one-time capex support of upto 25 per cent or maximum Rs 150 crore along with opex support of Re 1 per unit power tariff subsidy for five years.

Commenting on the policy, Patel said, "We are launching this policy with an aim to realise the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission through Atmanirbhar Gujarat with the help of Information Technology. The other objectives of the policy include creating an IT talent pool for the high-skilled industries and providing modern IT infrastructure to build a complete ecosystem."

The policy, according to Nehra, has enhanced the tailor-made incentive scheme with special provisions for mega projects. While the policy fosters R&D in emerging technologies, it also incentivises the development of IT City/ Townships for facilitating a walk-to-work culture.

"A unique incentive structure is specifically designed to ease the complexity involved in claiming the fiscal incentives," Nehra added.

Meanwhile, commenting on the policy, a Gujarat-based leading IT player stated that unlike the previous policy where the state government unsuccessfully aimed at attracting big companies from outside the state, the new policy largely looks to promote the industry within the state even as it makes provisions to attract big companies.
India's grew by 28.51 per cent to USD 8.67 billion during February 1-7 on account of healthy growth in sectors such as petroleum, engineering and gems and jewellery, according to the preliminary data of the commerce ministry.

The during the first week of this month rose by about 31 per cent.

According to the data, USD 8.67 billion per week is almost 20 per cent more than the weekly run rate of USD 7 billion clocked this year.

The country's rose by 23.69 per cent to USD 34.06 billion in January.

Cumulatively, exports during April-January 2021-22 rose by 46.53 per cent to USD 335.44 billion as against USD 228.9 billion in the same period last year.

(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.)
on Tuesday made an aggressive pitch for adoption of products that are designed and made in India, citing better quality and costs, as he affirmed the government's firm resolve to improving and reducing regulations in the sector.

The minister also urged global players to consider developing more partnerships with Indian entrepreneurs, companies, manufacturers, startups and developers.

Speaking at the inaugural session of 'India - Telecom 2022', the minister noted that the comprehensive semiconductor programme, launched recently, has got a "good response".

Listing out India's rapid strides in ushering in new-age technologies, he said the network is in its final stages of development.

The country has also indigenously developed 4G core network and radio network, even as it is participating in development of 6G standards.

"...from the government's side, we are committed to reduce regulation, to make sure that the regulation is in tune with times, that the industry feels committed towards investments...the industry finds interacting with the government as a very seamless experience," he said addressing the virtual event.

He exhorted the industry, academia, organisations and global players to "take a serious look" at products that are designed and .

"These will bring better quality, (are) more economic, and also they would be at a level of technology which is very contemporary... which is going to meet the expectations of the customers of telecom networks," he said, terming it a "great opportunity".

India has emerged as a major hub for electronics manufacturing. Electronics manufacturing in the country is pegged at about USD 75 billion, he noted.

"It is growing at more than 20 per cent CAGR...Now we have launched a major semiconductor programme, a very comprehensive one...right from silicon chip to compound semiconductors and design-led manufacturing, to creating a series of entrepreneurs and also finally, to develop 85,000 semiconductor engineers," Vaishnaw said, adding that the response to the scheme has been "very good".

He appealed to global players to seriously consider teaming up with Indian entrepreneurs, companies, manufacturers, startups and developers.

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Uttar Pradesh farmers will get free power for irrigation and more women will get government jobs, said the (BJP) on Tuesday in its election manifesto.

Home minister Amit Shah released the manifesto called Sankalp Patra (pledge document) in Lucknow as chief minister Yogi Adityanath and senior party leaders cheered him.

The manifesto seeks to woo different sections of society, especially farmers, youth and women voters. In its farm outreach ahead of the elections, the BJP has promised to expand the minimum support price (MSP) basket for vegetable crops such as potato, tomato, onion etc.

The party has announced to invest Rs 25,000 crore in setting up a strong network of cold chain and warehouses for grading of horticultural crops so that farmers get remunerative prices.

Small and marginal farmers would benefit from a proposed Rs 5,000 crore irrigation scheme, apart from getting free power.

To impress the states western region, which goes to polls Thursday, the party announced a Rs 5,000 crore scheme for modernising sugar mills.

Besides, the sugar mills would be mandated to settle the cane payment within 14 days lest they would be subjected to pay interest thereon.

Shah said that BJP would strive to get Rs 10 trillion investment if it returns to power in UP even as the per capita income would be doubled. We will ensure that UP becomes the top economy in India and the state also tops the ease of doing business chart, he said.

Besides, three ultramodern data centres would be established in UP for ensuring data security and promoting data centre parks in the state. The party also promised to set up a mega leather park in Kanpur.

The number of women government employees would be doubled and women above the age of 60 years would get free commutation in public transport. The party promised to give free domestic gas cylinders on Holi and Diwali too.

To strengthen the health sector, six mega heath parks would be set up at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore, while Rs 10,000 crore would be set up to boost the health and medical infra sector in UP.

The party promised to set up an ITI in every block of the state, while two digital learning centres would be established in Lucknow and Noida. Every division would be provided with at least one university.

The party said a Lata Mangeshkar Performing Arts Centre would be set up in UP to pay homage to the singing legend who died in Mumbai on Sunday.

Besides, the wards of labourers would be given free education till the graduation level, while the pensions for the disadvantaged sections would be increased.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), there are more than 150 million registered voters in UP, which has the countrys highest assembly constituencies numbering 403.

UP assembly elections are scheduled in seven rounds in February and March 2022. Votes will be counted on March 10.
AAP's chief ministerial candidate on Tuesday accused the BJP, SAD and the Congress of colluding together to stop his party from forming government in Punjab.

The APP's state unit president made the allegation, asserting that the people of Punjab have made up their minds to "uproot the monarchy of traditional political outfits".

He asked the electorate to stay wary of "nefarious alliance" the Congress, SAD and BJP, which, he said, are "colluding" to stop AAP's ascendancy.

In order to prevent the Aam Aadmi Party from forming a government in Punjab and to maintain the rule of traditional political parties, Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP and Congress have colluded, he alleged.

But the people of Punjab have decided to uproot the monarchy of the traditional political parties and form an AAP government, which has left all the opposition parties anxious and apprehensive," he said, addressing workers in a meeting here.

The BJP, SAD and Congress have forged an anti-AAP nefarious alliance amid a current in favour of his party, he claimed.

He said the nefarious alliance of traditional parties have been looting Punjab for 70 years and asked to be beware of it.

Under a "secret agreement" neither former CM Amarinder Singh nor the central agency Enforcement Directorate took any action against Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia in the drug smuggling case, he alleged.

Even Amarinder Singh and the Congress had not taken any action in the cases of sacrilege of religious books, he added



Mann accused the Akali Dal and Congress of betraying the youth of Punjab and playing with their lives.

"For the last decade, the youth of Punjab have been protesting on streets for employment and facing police lathi-charge but the government gave false promises to the unemployed youth, he said.

Due to the incompetence and lack of intention of Akalis and Congress governments, lakhs of youths today have become over-aged and not illegible for jobs, he said.

Frustrated with life, lakhs of youth are trapped in the quagmire of drugs and many are forced to go abroad, he said.

Mann said the problem of unemployment is not new.

This problem has assumed a formidable form today because the erstwhile Badal-BJP and Congress governments did not take any concrete steps to provide employment to youths, he said.

Accusing the Congress government of misleading youths, he said in the 2017 elections, the party had promised jobs to every household, but after coming to power, they exploited and made fool of the unemployed youths with false and useless job fairs and collected crores through job farms and exams.

Instead of giving jobs to educated unemployed youths, the Congress government gave government jobs to the sons, daughters and relatives of its MLAs and ministers, he added.

The AAP government would solve all problems by providing good jobs and higher education opportunities to youths, besides government incentives to start their own businesses, he promised.

Our aim is not only to provide employment to the unemployed but to make them job creators and providers. We will also stop the forced migration of youngsters and will provide them with ample opportunities and resources in Punjab itself," he said.

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The announced that it will fight the upcoming local body in in alliance with the .

will be held in all gram panchayats -- except Netaji Nagar and Hut Bay, panchayat samitis, zilla parishad, and the Port Blair Municipal Council on March 6. will contest in wards 1, 6, 9, 15 and 21 of the Port Blair Municipal Council, according to the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties.

The two parties also signed an agreement on Monday in presence of Territorial Committee president Rangalal Halder and state organiser AL Kulandai.

"In the last Lok Sabha election, we worked together and won. The alliance with the DMK will ensure victory in the upcoming elections," Halder said.

The has also formed an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for the upcoming .

The TDP will contest from wards 2, 5 and 16 of Port Blair Municipal Council, as per the arrangement.

The last date for filing nominations is February 11, while scrutiny will take place on February 12 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is February 14.

The votes will be counted on March 8.

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The Election Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra, which arrived in the poll bound on Monday on a two-day visit to review the preparation, held a series of meetings with the political parties and senior officials.

Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Agrawal said that on the first day of the EC's visit, the poll panel interacted with the representatives of national and state recognised political parties, District Election Officers, Superintendents of Police and other officials.

The CEC launched the C-VIGIL, an awareness video in local language to deter electors, candidates, agents from inducements, video on otherwise abled electors specially crafted for PwD electors in accessible format, including voice over, sign language and written messages, to participate in the electoral process and a booklet titled "No Voter to be left behind" on activities taken up in collaboration with Handicapped Development Foundation (HDF) in all districts of .

The CEC also launched the Know Your Candidate App, explainer video in Manipuri language.

CEC was accompanied by Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar, Anup Chandra Pandey and senior officials of the Commission.

The EC would continue its meetings with the political parties and top officials including the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police on Tuesday.

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.

--IANS

sc/pgh

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Stephanie Bonin's online petition for a fourth stimulus check to help the economy recover from the pandemic's economic collapse has surpassed 3 million signatures. Last week, the petition, which called for monthly stimulus payments in light of the pandemic's severity, reached its goal.

On the online petition site change.org, over 15,000 persons have signed the popular petition for the stimulus check. It is still the most popular petition on the web.

False Claims About the Fourth Stimulus Check

Although a portion of the ruling congressman backed the cause, lawmakers remained unconvinced. They have claimed that it would be tough to get more monies passed by Congress. Several states have launched stimulus programs for their citizens, and Congress has yet to approve a plan to distribute another round of stimulus checks throughout the country.

According to an IRS representative, there have been three rounds of economic impact payments in all. This week, a slew of posts on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube posted various variations of the bogus claim that the fourth batch of government stimulus checks will arrive this month.

Many Americans may be entitled to $1,400 in relief in the near future, according to a headline on a blog, while a Facebook post incorrectly stated that $2,000 stimulus checks would be put in bank accounts countrywide on February 9, according to Local12.

The Economic Impact Payment, as it was known, was a one-time payment that helped both people and their dependent families. However, after the EIP began in March 2021, there has been no further direct stimulus check. However, as the economy continues to deteriorate, Americans continue to struggle. While employment has increased, it is still far below what it was before the pandemic.

A fourth stimulus check has been requested by both regular individuals and federal senators. However, the nearly a year-long delay has many individuals wondering if the federal government would conduct any more inspections in the future. President Joe Biden would have a hard time passing any new laws with no Republican support for a fourth stimulus package.

He's already stymied by the cost of the infrastructure and the social security payment. And there are certain drawbacks to passing a measure without including the opposition. Only a limited number of times can the reconciliation process be used, and President Joe Biden has other pressing objectives where he would like to employ this limited weapon.

Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, two Democratic senators from West Virginia, have long rejected the concept of a fourth stimulus check, and the Biden administration has to deal with them as well. As a result, it's exceedingly improbable that President Biden would be able to get even a small majority of votes to pass a stimulus bill.

With the situation steadily improving, the likelihood of a fourth check looks to be small unless things suddenly go worse. At the time, it appears that this is improbable, according to Digital Market.

Read Also: Joe Biden Claims Inflation Overshadows Strong Economy as US Surprisingly Adds Half a Million Jobs in January

You Might Qualify to Get a $1,000 Monthly Stimulus Check

Although federal stimulus funds have dried up, ambitious basic income programs are already underway in at least 17 states to fill the gap for those who are most in need. Low-income moms in New York City communities like Washington Heights and Harlem, where the city's first basic income program has started to help them out.

Thanks to the $16 million Bridge Project, 100 such moms began receiving up to $1,000 each month in July. A venture capitalist and his wife started it to see how low-income people respond to monthly, unconditional stipends. Importantly, the debut coincided with the introduction of monthly Child Tax Credit stimulus checks in the United States.

There would be a total of six of these monthly checks in the end. Even though the Biden administration wants to send out more this year? Unfortunately, there isn't enough support for it in Congress. In the meanwhile, the basic income experiment is gaining traction. In April, for example, the initiative will expand to include a larger number of expecting moms in the South Bronx and East Harlem areas of New York City.

The initiative involves several distinct cohorts whose outcomes are being monitored. In one family, half of the members receive $500 every month for the next three years. The other half is a monthly sum of $1,000. Participants in the second set of families receive $1,000 per month for the first 18 months, then $500 per month for the second 18 months. Finally, no money is given to a "control" set of households, BGR reported.

Related Article: Unclaimed 2021 Stimulus Check: This Document Is a Must-Have To Claim Your Remaining Payments

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The on Tuesday turned down the plea by leader Mohammad seeking interim bail and asked him to move the Allahabad High Court, where his bail plea is pending.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Khan, submitted before a bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao that his client's bail plea was not taken up for 3-4 months, despite repeated requests for hearing on the matter. Sibal added that over 80 cases have been filed against Khan and barring a few, he has already been granted bail in many cases. He contended that in a few cases his client was denied bail and it appears that the state government does not want him to participate in the campaigning in the upcoming polls in the state.

The bench, also comprising Justice B.R. Gavai, told Sibal not to bring politics into the court. Sibal replied that politics is already before the court in the matter.

The top court asked the high court to take up the plea and decide on it expeditiously.

Citing the writ petitions filed for grant of interim bail, the bench said: "We can't entertain it..."

Sibal pressed those cases filed in connection with the events, happened long back and the high court is simply adjourning the matter.

The top court also asked the high court to take into account the concerns raised by the petitioner. Khan had moved the Supreme Court, seeking an interim bail to campaign in the Assembly elections in .

(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.)
chief on Tuesday in a rally with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee launched a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after his physical visit to Bijnor was cancelled citing 'bad weather' on Monday, and said, "the BJP's plane of lies won't be able to land in Uttar Pradesh this time."

" deployed its entire strength in West Bengal but they could not defeat (Mamata Banerjee) Didi. She has come to Lucknow from Kolkata but those from couldn't come to UP from Delhi stating 'bad weather'. BJP's plane of lies won't be able to land in UP this time," said Yadav.

PM Modi on Monday while addressing the Bijnor rally virtually said that his helicopter couldn't leave due to weather conditions, so he thought of holding the rally through video conferencing.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was also present in Lucknow rally with Yadav to extend her support said, "History will never forgive those responsible for Hathas, Unnao incidents and bodies dumped in Ganga in UP during COVID-19."

"CM Yogi Adityanath, where were you when these things were happening? Yogi Ji must apologise to the people of Uttar Pradesh," she said.

"I urge you all to support and make them win, defeat . Don't fall for false promises made by BJP... I will also visit Varanasi on March 3," she added.

Banerjee is on a visit to Uttar Pradesh to "support for upcoming state Assembly elections" that are scheduled to be held in seven phases beginning from February 10.

Earlier, Banerjee informed that Trinamool Congress (TMC) will not contest the Uttar Pradesh elections but will field candidates in the state in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

"In Uttar Pradesh, I am not going to contest Assembly polls but I am going to support (SP) chief . We (TMC) will contest from Uttar Pardesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," she said, reflecting her national ambitions in the next general elections.

The Trinamool Congress is seeking to increase its footprint nationally ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

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The assembly elections are to determine if the people of Uttar Pradesh want to reject the misrule of last five years in the state and send a message to those ruling in Delhi and pushing regressive policies, senior Congress leader said on Tuesday.

Making his debut in the Uttar Pradesh poll campaign from Noida, the Lok Sabha MP told people not to underestimate the elections as he stressed that political developments in the state have a resonance and impact throughout the country.

Interacting with a group of city residents, Tharoor, who was batting for Congress' Noida candidate Pankhuri Pathak, said even though people have a single vote to cast but its importance in multi-pronged.

Your first vote is to elect who is going to be your voice in the elected assembly and who is going to look after your interests as a city and an urban space. Your second vote is to help determine who forms the government in Uttar Pradesh in the aftermath of these elections, he said.

Your third vote is actually to send a message to those who are ruling in Delhi, who are seeking validation in some of their most regressive policies through every affirmation of their strength in Uttar Pradesh, Tharoor said.

The former UN diplomat said Uttar Pradesh is a large state and obviously anything that happens in the state has a resonance and impact throughout the country, adding it would be the fourth largest democracy in the world in terms of voters if were a country.

So determining whether the kind of misrule we have seen in the state for the last five years, the politics, frankly, of thuggishness, of bigotry, of the open and blatant expression of communal prejudice, if all of these are going to be given a fresh lease of life or whether Uttar Pradesh going to say that it rejects that kind of politics, Tharoor said.

He also signified the importance of the polls as a message to the BJP-led central government, which he accused of pushing regressive policies and changing the ethos, soul of India.

As you know our ruling party in Delhi, which in many ways is trying some of the worst practices that this country has had to live with, has begun to change in many ways the nature, the ethos, the soul of India, he said.

This party needs a comfortable victory in Uttar Pradesh both to be able to assert that its model is vindicated and also to have more Rajya Sabha MPs who would be coming into the Upper House of Parliament in order to shore up their strength for the kind of things they want to do including electing president and vice president as well as putting forward some of their more regressive laws in both houses of Parliament, he added.

Throughout the attack on the state government and the Centre, Tharoor refrained from naming or any particular leader, maintaining he does not want to engage in negative campaign.

Seeking votes for Pathak, he listed out civic problems in the city that the people faced and said voice to urban issues was overdue in Noida.

Pathak said Noida has the potential to become the best city of north India.

Noida has potential in resources, human resources, with so many distinguished people living here who can contribute to the growth of the city but Noida needs a better public representation, she said.

Voting for assembly polls in Noida will take place on February 10. Election results will be announced on March 10.

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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will address two election meetings at Gangolighat and Janeshwar Assembly constituencies in later in the day on Tuesday.

The Minister took to Twitter to make the announcement of these public meetings in continuation of his similar meetings going on for the last one month at different constituencies in the poll-bound Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

The Minister had attended a rally in on January 6 followed by a road show.

"I shall be campaigning in today. Will address election meetings at Gangolighat and Janeshwar assembly constituencies. Look forward to it," Singh tweeted.

In similar public meetings at Shahjahanpur and Bulandshahr Assembly constituencies on Monday, the Defence Minister and senior BJP leader urged people to keep distance from politicians indulging in politics based on caste, creed and religion, and said "Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and have indulged in politics of appeasement".

Addressing a public gathering in Sikandaraabaad in Bulandshahr Assembly constituency, the Minister had said that Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP''s) motto is "justice to all and appeasement of none".

Singh also said the BJP does politics of "justice and humanity".

"Maintain distance from the politicians indulging in politics in the name of caste, creed and religion. Such kind of politics is done by Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the . They have been doing politics of appeasement. BJP's motto is justice to all and appeasement of none," Singh had said.

The Minister had also advised that "there should not any difference in the name of Hindu or Muslim" but asserted that "all who will be involved in wrongdoings get punishment irrespective of their religion".

Ensuring that "our party will not compromise with corruption", the Minister had said, "we took corruption as a challenge and we are committed to free the society with the menace".

Assembly Elections will be held over a total of seven phases for the five states-- Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur.

Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab will go for polls in one phase on February 14, while Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls in seven phases, and Manipur in two.

Election in UP will be held on February 10, February 14, February 20, February 23, February 27, March 3 and March 7. However, the election in Manipur will start from February 27. Polls will end on March 7 and vote counting will be done on March 10.

Out of these five states going to polls in the coming months, the (BJP) is in power in all the states except in Punjab, where the ruling party is .

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The worldwide excitement over the 94th Academy Awards (the Oscars), which will be held on March 27 at Hollywood's iconic Dolby Theatre, acquired a frenzied pitch on Tuesday evening (early morning U.S. Pacific Time) with the live announcement on Twitter of the much-awaited nominations.

For India, the big disappointment was that the Suriya-starrer 'Jai Bhim', which was a hot favourite for a nomination nod, did not make the cut. Neighbouring Bhutan, though, made history when its official entry, "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom", found its way into the Best International Feature Film nominations.

Of course, in the international category, Riyosuke Hamaguchi's "Drive My Car", which has been picking just about every major award announced thus far, has got the nods for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. The Japanese film is based on the globally celebrated writer Haruki Murakami's short story.

Kenneth Branagh, whose 'Belfast' is a frontrunner, had a jolly good reason to pour himself a Jameson, having ramped up his career record by reaching the pinnacle of seven nominations in as many categories in his lifetime.

For diversity watchers, the big news was the presence of two Black actors in the noms for Best Actor: Will Smith for "King Richard" and Denzel Washington, the second Black man to get an Oscar in the history of the Awards, for "The Tragedy of Macbeth".

And Jane Campion's feminine take on the Wild West, 'The Power of the Dog', is in the running for all major awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), two nods for Best Supporting Actor (Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Best Supporting Actress (Kirsten Dunst), among others.

Here's the full list of the key nominations:

Best Picture: "Belfast", "CODA", "Don't Look Up", "Drive My Car", "Dune", "King Richard", "Licorice Pizza", "Nightmare Alley", "The Power of the Dog" and "West Side Story".

Best Director: Kenneth Branagh ("Belfast"), Ryusuke Hamaguchi ("Drive My Car"), Paul Thomas Anderson ("Licorice Pizza"), Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog") and Steven Spielberg ("West Side Story").

Best Lead Actor: Javier Bardem ("Being the Ricardos"), Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Power of the Dog"), Andrew Garfield ("Tick, Tick Boom!"), Will Smith ("King Richard") and Denzel Washington ("The Tragedy of Macbeth").

Best Lead Actress: Jessica Chastain ("The Eyes of Tammy Faye"), Olivia Colman ("The Lost Daughter"), Penelope Cruz ("Parallel Mothers"), Nicole Kidman ("Being the Ricardos") and Kristen Stewart ("Spencer").

Best Supporting Actor: Ciaran Hinds ("Belfast"), Troy Kotsur ("CODA"), Jesse Plemons ("The Power of the Dog"), J.K. Simmons ("Being the Ricardos") and Kodi Smit-McPhee ("The Power of the Dog").

Best Supporting Actress: Jessie Buckley ("The Lost Daughter"), Ariana DeBose ("West Side Story"), Judy Dench ("Belfast"), Kirsten Dunst ("The Power of the Dog") and Aunjanue Ellis ("King Richard").

Best International Feature Film: "Drive My Car" (Japan), "Flee" (Denmark), "The Hand of God" (Italy), "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom" (Bhutan) and "The Worst Person in the World" (Norway).

This year's Oscars will be an in-person event and will have a host for the first time after three years.

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US President has reaffirmed that a joint gas pipeline project between Germany and won't advance if invades Ukraine, stopping short of explaining how it will be achieved if Germany has reservations for that decision as a deterrence against Moscow.

With visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz standing next to him, Biden on Monday told a press conference at the White House that if Russian tanks and troops cross the border and enter Ukraine, "there will be no longer Nord Stream 2," referring to the now-finished pipeline delivering natural gas from to Germany that bypasses .

"We will bring an end to it," the President said of the pipeline that is not yet operational.

Asked how the US will manage to prevent gas from flowing in the pipeline since the project is under Germany's control, Biden didn't elaborate, only saying he can "promise" that Washington "will be able to do that".

Scholz, for his part, repeatedly avoided directly mentioning Nord Stream 2, although it appeared that the pipeline was one of the subjects that most concerned reporters during the press conference.

"We will be united," the Chancellor said, speaking in English as if he wanted to give Americans reassurance. "We will act together. And we will take all the necessary steps, and all the necessary steps will be done by all of us together."

Biden and Scholz -- whose ongoing visit in the US is his first since assuming the chancellorship in December -- were both trying to exhibit the unwavering unity between Washington and Berlin vis-a-vis the handling of the ongoing crisis on Ukraine's borders.

There has been a great deal of frustration expressed by US media and lawmakers on Capitol Hill about Germany's decision not to aid with lethal weapons, as well as what they perceived as the lack of clarity from Berlin on whether to turn off Nord Stream 2.

"There's no need for him to win back trust. He has the complete trust of the US," the US President said in defense of Scholz as the Chancellor was challenged by a reporter to rethink whether Germany's decision will make it less of a reliable ally of the US.

Stressing that the transatlantic partnership with the US is "one of the permanent pillars of German policy," the German Chancellor said his country has done its part both in terms of strengthening the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's military might and with regard to providing financial assistance to .

Further dispelling concerns over Germany's dependence on Russian gas supply, Scholz added that his government has been taking measures to accelerate the transition into a clean energy-based economy, noting that one quarter of the total energy that Germany now relies on is generated by gas, "and only part of that gas comes from Russia -- big part comes from Norway or The Netherlands."

--IANS

int/khz/

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British Prime Minister said sanctions and other measures will be ready in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, and his government will ask parliament for sanctions on Russian individuals and companies.

Writing in The Times on Tuesday, Johnson said Britain is considering deploying Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect southeastern Europe.

Johnson also said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will both travel to Moscow soon.

His comments come as officials in the United States say an attack by Russia on could occur within days or weeks.

Russia has amassed some 100,000 troops near the border.

It denies it is planning an invasion.

"British sanctions and other measures will be ready for any renewed Russian attack," Johnson wrote.

"The government will ask parliament for new powers to sanction a wider range of Russian individuals and entities, including any company linked to the Russian state or operating in a sector of strategic importance to the Kremlin." The UK is also preparing to reinforce the British-led Nato battlegroup in Estonia, Johnson said.

"I welcome Germany's statement that Nord Stream 2 would be reconsidered in the event of an incursion," he added.



On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden said after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be halted if Russia invades . Scholz said the pair had the same approach to Ukraine, to Russia and to sanctions,

but did not directly confirm the Nord Stream 2 plans.

Europe's most divisive energy project, Nord Stream 2 is designed to double the amount of gas flowing from Russia straight to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

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Canada's two main airlines have demanded that Ottawa reverse COVID-19 travel restrictions amid the ongoing protests against the vaccine mandates that has overwhelmed the nation's capital.

The current wave of protests against COVID-19 measures started when thousands of demonstrators gathered in Ottawa expressing strong opposition to vaccine mandates for truckers crossing the US- border.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. has cancelled 20 per cent of its flights in March amid continuing uncertainty over trucker protest, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

"It is disappointing that remains stagnant in its approach and continues to make travel inaccessible and punitive for Canadians and inbound tourists," said Interim chief executive officer Harry Taylor while adding that travel advisories and testing requirements were meant to be temporary.

Earlier on Sunday, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson had declared a state of emergency in the city.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino on Monday announced that federal police has approved Ottawa's request for additional officers to quell the protest.

"I can confirm that the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) has received and approved a request for additional officers," Mendicino said during an emergency debate on the situation.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister said the trucker protest taking place in Ottawa must come to an end, citing disruptions it has caused to the economy and the local residents.

"Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens' daily lives, it has to stop," Trudeau said in a speech to Canada's parliament on Monday evening.

"People of Ottawa don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighbourhoods. They don't deserve to be confronted with the inherent violence of a swastika flying on a street corner or Confederate flag.

(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.)
Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc said on Monday that billionaire investor Peter Thiel, an early investor who has been on the company's board since 2005, has decided to retire.

Thiel aims to spend time helping elect candidates who he believes will advance former President Donald Trump's agenda in the U.S. midterms, the Congressional elections this year, a person familiar with the situation said.

Thiel, a co-founder of online payments system PayPal and a rare voice of conservative politics in Silicon Valley, became a investor in 2004, when he provided $500,000 in capital at a $5 million valuation for a 10% stake in the company and a seat on its board of directors.

Thiel will serve as a director until Meta's annual shareholder meeting but will not to stand for re-election, the giant said.

"Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions," Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said, thanking Thiel for his service.

The announcement comes as Meta's shares have fallen sharply over concerns that privacy changes to Apple products was making it harder for advertisers to see how their ads work on . The stock fell 5.1% on Monday, and has lost a third of its value this year, but is still worth more than $600 billion.

Thiel left with kind words for Zuckerberg. "His talents will serve Meta well as he leads the company into a new era," Thiel said in the statement announcing his departure from the board.

He did not respond to a request seeking further comment.

Thiel plans in particular to help Blake Masters, a Republican candidate hoping to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, the person familiar with the situation said. He was also backing J.D. Vance, author of the best-selling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" and a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, the person said.

In recent years, Thiel's position on the board has been in the spotlight, given his conservative views, as the company has been caught up in political controversies and backlash.

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Dawn Chmielewski; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Peter Henderson and Lincoln Feast.)

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The is successfully stepping up the fight to fend off risky foreign business takeovers from nations like that could endanger national security or threaten control over essential sectors like energy, transport and health care.

The unprecedented legislation creating a new area of coordination in the 27-nation EU makes the bloc much better equipped to protect strategic homegrown businesses, a top French official said.

We've really woken up to the need to protect our security and our public order, Marie-Anne Lavergne, who heads the office at the French Treasury in charge of the control of foreign investments in France, told a European Parliament hearing on Monday. It's very positive.

In October 2020, after three years of deliberations, the EU put in place a bloc-wide cooperation mechanism for screening foreign direct investments, or FDI. The European law seeks to limit foreign threats to critical infrastructure, and to critical technologies such as semiconductors and robotics.

The legislation reflects a broader EU push to assert more geopolitical weight amid heightened U.S- tensions, renewed muscle-flexing by Russia and greater regional assertiveness by Turkey, among other things.

Also high on the EU's policy-making agenda is a plan for new powers to counter possible economic coercion against the bloc and an initiative for ramping up domestic production of microchips amid a global shortage.

The new EU legislation on screening foreign investments emerged after increased political unease across Europe about Chinese acquisitions abroad. It got further momentum from the COVID-19 pandemic, when EU nations became wary of domestic biotech getting snapped up by overseas buyers.

While the EU remains one of the biggest and most open markets for FDI, the law's goal is to deter investments that may be driven by more than purely commercial considerations and influenced by foreign governments.

The EU has become aware of its vulnerabilities with respect to investments of this type,? said Nathalie Loiseau, a European Parliament member from France. Far from being naive, the EU decided to find a balance between maintaining openness in principle to FDI and reinforced vigilance.

The new European rules are a compromise between EU countries' jealously-guarded sovereignty over security matters and an awareness that, because of Europe's integrated market, a foreign investment in one member can have repercussions for other states in the bloc.

Without taking the ultimate power of approving deals away from individual EU nations, the European legislation effectively creates an alert mechanism for investments in the EU by actors based anywhere outside the bloc. The law does so through data collection and exchange.

EU governments are allowed to request information and offer comments on a foreign investment in a particular member country. In addition, the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm in Brussels, has the right to ask for information and issue an opinion.

The EU is on a right track when it comes to these policies, Wolfgang Niedermark, a member of the executive board of the Federation of German Industries, told the hearing. There is systemic rivalry. It's gaining momentum. It matters for our security.

(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.)
United States President Joe Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House on Monday to discuss the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline and Russia's aggression on Ukraine.

The two leaders also share a commitment in their ongoing diplomatic efforts to urge Moscow to de-escalate tensions and hold off on an incursion of Ukraine. The event marks Scholz's first trip to the White House since being sworn in as chancellor; it is also a trip that Biden is "very much looking forward to."

Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

One senior Biden administration official said that the U.S. president initially met and interacted with the German Chancellor in October. At the time, they said it was clear that the official would be succeeding then-Chancellor Angela Merkel. The official added that Biden was looking forward to getting to know Scholz personally when he visits Washington.

The senior official said that Scholz's visit greatly highlights the continued importance of the U.S. having a bilateral relationship with Germany. They added that the two leaders would discuss their hope for a diplomatic resolution to the Russia-Ukraine controversy, as per Fox News.

Biden and Scholz will reportedly consider "robust sanctions" against Russia if President Vladimir Putin continues with his attack on Ukraine. In a statement, the official said that the Biden administration has been closely coordinating with the German government over the past few weeks.

Read Also: Biden Set To Visit Israel After Bennett's Invitation To Talk About Blocking Iran's Nuclear Program

One of the sanctions that the U.S. could impose is stopping the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is a multibillion-dollar project that runs from Russia to Germany. While the project is not yet operational, it has surfaced as a key issue amid the standoff.

NPR reported that this is because Russia is one of the largest producers of natural gas worldwide and Germany is one of the largest importers of that specific product. Biden said that, if Moscow decides to invade Ukraine, he would put a stop to the gas pipeline.

Sanctions Against Russia

During the event on Monday, Biden, who has avoided publicly criticizing Scholz, said that the German nation wanted a "strong package" of sanctions against Russia. However, the Democratic leader did not detail what those consequences include.

In his definition of an invasion, Biden said that Russia would be punished if it sent troops and tanks over to its smaller neighbor. However, some of the U.S. president's aides argued that Putin can also invade Ukraine by inciting a coup or launching crippling cyberattacks.

When asked about the process of shutting down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Biden did not detail exactly how his administration planned to impose the sanction. On the other hand, Scholz has been vague about whether or not he was agreeing to the termination of the pipeline project that could benefit his country.

On Monday, however, the German Chancellor reiterated his stance and said that "we are absolutely united." The new leader of Germany has had a difficult start after succeeding Merkel in trying to live up to her legacy and cooperating with foreign governments, the New York Times reported.



Related Article: Macron Heads To Meet Putin in Russia In Bid To De-escalate Ukraine Tensions By Proposing A 'New Balance'

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Powerful Congressman Pete Sessions has appointed Indian American Himanshu B Patel as his chief economic development and energy infrastructure advisor for his Crypto Technical Working Group.

In a statement, Sessions said it is vital for the United States and India to take the lead globally on setting standards on innovative frontiers in areas of financial digital technologies and energy infrastructure developments.

"I am excited to be working closely with Himanshu Patel. His counsel is important to my team and I as we look to better educate other policy makers and engage the global business community. I am confident that enhanced collaboration between knowledgeable experts and world-class leaders will advance efforts on a mutually beneficial global scale," he said.

Patel, in a statement, said that his appointment on Sessions' team and the Crypto Technical Working Group will lead the way for collaborative discussions around digital currency and for a fair market and movement to green world policies to promote electric vehicles.

He is the founder and the managing director of Triton Electric Vehicles, which is working towards building global capabilities of producing EV trucks and cars from India.

"I will be focusing on how to bring US and India interest together to accelerate these innovations while doing so in a way that addresses the challenges our energy infrastructure faces as these innovations come online and continue to increase," Patel said.

(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.)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, following Russian-French talks, criticized and its member state for giving a 'lecture' on Russia's armed force deployment in .

He also accused saying that they present the movement of Russian troops on its own territory as a threat of a Russian invasion.

Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of said, "President Vladimir #Putin: has designated an adversary. While advancing its military infrastructure very close to our border, @NATO and its member states believe that they have a right to teach us where and how we can deploy our armed forces."

These statements come at a time when French President Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday said that he had managed to convince Russian President not to "escalate" the crisis around .

"I obtained that there will be no degradation nor escalation," Macron said as he arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the crisis.

(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.)
Russian President met with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the Ukrainian crisis and the security issue in Europe.

The meeting was businesslike and useful, Putin on Monday said at a joint press conference with Macron following their hours-long talks in the Kremlin, Xinhua news agency reported.

Russia's core concerns on security were ignored by the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), while the military alliance attempts to lecture Russia on where and how to place its armed forces, the Russian President added.

He told the French President that Kiev refuses to comply with the 2015 Minsk agreements on a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian issue and even aims to dismantle the deals.

Putin reiterated Russia's opposition to NATO's eastwards expansion.

During the briefing, Macron said that he believes there is still opportunity to find a peaceful path for Europe, where new mechanisms are needed to ensure security and existing pacts should be preserved at the same time.

He said that there is no alternative to a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis and the Minsk agreements remain the basis of it.

As for Moscow-proposed security guarantees between Russia and the US-led NATO, Macron said that negotiations should continue, although it won't be easy to reach a consensus.

Putin and Macron agreed to talk over phone after the latter's visit to Kiev on Tuesday.

--IANS

int/khz/

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Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under pressure to resign over parties in Downing Street during lockdown, on Tuesday reshuffled his Cabinet and appointed Jacob Rees-Mogg as the minister for Opportunities and Government Efficiency.

Rees-Mogg, 52, currently leader of the House of Commons, will be based in the Cabinet Office.

Mark Spencer, the current Chief Whip, will replace Rees Mogg as the Leader of Commons.

The shake-up of the ministerial team follows the appointment of Stephen Barclay as the Prime Minister's chief of staff.

It also comes as Johnson, 57, seeks to relaunch his administration following the Partygate' row.

Johnson is facing intense pressure to step down from the Opposition and Conservative MPs.

Meanwhile, 10 Downing Street said that the prime minister has no intention of apologising after falsely claiming that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had failed to prosecute serial sex offender Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions.

The reshuffle follows several backbench Tory MPs criticising his leadership.

If 54 MPs write letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee, this will prompt a vote of no-confidence in the prime minister.

If he lost this, there would be a full leadership contest, in which Johnson could not run.

At the last Cabinet reshuffle in September last year, Nadine Dorries became culture secretary and Liz Truss became foreign secretary, while Dominic Raab was moved from the Foreign Office to become the deputy prime minister.

Last week, Prime Minister Johnson's five aides, including longstanding policy chief Munira Mirza, chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, principal private secretary Martin Reynolds and communications director Jack Doyle, resigned from their posts within hours of each other.

They stepped down after a damning investigation revealed that multiple parties took place at Downing Street while the rest of the United Kingdom was living under strict COVID-19 lockdown rules.

Officers from the Met Police are investigating a total of 12 Downing Street parties.

It is believed that as many as six of those could have been attended by the Prime Minister.

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Inc said on Monday it received a subpoena from the U.S. securities regulator related to a settlement that required Chief Executive Elon Musk's tweets on material information about the company to be vetted.

The subpoena by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was issued on Nov. 16, some 10 days after Musk asked his Twitter followers if he should sell 10% of his stake in the company, triggering a stock selloff.

As of last close, the electric-car maker's shares had fallen by nearly a quarter since the tweet. The shares were down 1.4% at $909.98 on Monday morning.

The SEC's latest action, which was disclosed in a securities filing by the automaker, adds to pressure on from federal auto safety regulators regarding vehicle recalls https://reut.rs/3J6zUFB and investigations related to its driver-assistance software. The SEC declined to comment.

In 2018, Musk settled a lawsuit https://bit.ly/3uxdTf8 by the SEC over his tweet on taking the company private, agreeing to have the company's lawyers pre-approve tweets with material information about the company.

in December https://reut.rs/3LecIHk was hit by a lawsuit over Musk's social media posts including his Twitter poll on stock sales that pulled down the company's share price. This was not the first lawsuit accusing https://reut.rs/3slo0Rh Musk of violating the settlement terms.

Reuters reported last year that the SEC has opened an investigation https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/exclusive-sec-probes-tesla-over-whistleblower-claims-solar-panel-defects-2021-12-06 into a whistleblower complaint that Tesla failed to properly notify its shareholders and the public of fire risks associated with solar panel system defects over several years.

Tesla said on Monday it "routinely" cooperates with government subpoenas and other investigations and inquiries.

In the filing, the company also said the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing investigated allegations of race discrimination and harassment in Tesla workplaces and gave notice that it has grounds to file a civil complaint against the electric-car maker.

Tesla has already been battling a series of lawsuits on racial abuse and sexual harassment, and a federal jury in October ordered the company to pay $137 million to a Black former contract worker in one of the cases.

New York State Common Retirement Fund said on Monday that it has filed shareholder proposals with Tesla, Activision Blizzard Inc and Starbucks Corp, requesting they report on their efforts to prevent harassment and discrimination against employees.

The proposals ask the to disclose, among other things, the total number and aggregate dollar amount of disputes settled related to sexual abuse or harassment or discrimination.

MUSK-WHITE HOUSE TENSION

Tesla and the White House have been at odds over the past few months, with the Biden administration focusing on legacy automakers, including Ford Motor Co and General Motors in the electric vehicle race.

Last month, GM and Ford's CEOs attended a meeting of tech and auto hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. Musk was not on the list of attendees.

Musk has been using his Twitter account to attack the Biden administration for allegedly ignoring Tesla and holding up Detroit automakers as leaders in the shift to electric vehicles. Musk called Biden a "damp sock puppet https://bit.ly/3uEje42" in a tweet last month.

Musk is also feuding https://reut.rs/3sr49QZ with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, a key ally of Biden's. The National Labor Relations Board in March ordered Musk to delete a tweet that said Tesla workers could lose stock options if they voted to join the UAW. Tesla is appealing that order.

Tesla said on Monday the fair market value of the electric-vehicle maker's bitcoin holdings as of Dec. 31 was $1.99 billion.

The company, which had invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin last year before selling 10% of the holding, said it registered about $101 million in impairment losses last year due to the value of bitcoin.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Joseph White in Detroit; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Matthew Lewis and Aurora Ellis)

(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 United States has approved a possible $100 million sale of equipment and services to to "sustain, maintain, and improve" the Patriot missile defense system used by the self-ruled island claimed by China, the Pentagon said on Monday.



A statement from the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it had delivered the required certification notifying Congress following State Department approval for the sale, which was requested by Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington.

Upgrades to the Patriot Air Defense System would "help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region," the DSCA said in a statement.

"This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient's continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability," the agency said.

The main contractors would be Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin, it said.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said it "highly welcomed" the decision.

"In the face of China's continued military expansion and provocative actions, our country will maintain its national security with a solid defense, and continue to deepen the close security partnership between and the United States," it said in a statement.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry has said the decision to obtain newer Patriot missiles was made during a 2019 meeting with U.S.

officials in the administration of President Donald Trump.



The ministry said the deal was expected to "come into effect" within one month.

The democratically governed island has complained of repeated missions by China's air force in its air defense zone, part of what Washington sees as Beijing's effort to pressure Taipei into accepting its sovereignty.

The United States, like most countries, does not have official relations with Taiwan, but Washington is its biggest backer and is bound by law to provide it with means to defend itself.

U.S. officials have been pushing to modernize its military so it can become a "porcupine," hard for China to attack, and such arms sales always anger China.



China's ambassador to the United States said last month that the two super powers could end up in a military conflict if Washington encourages Taiwan's independence.

(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 group of 33 Republican senators warned U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday that they would work to thwart implementation of any new if his government did not allow Congress to review and vote on its terms.

Led by Senator Ted Cruz, a long-time opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal, the senators told Biden in a letter dated Monday that they would use "the full range of options and leverage available" to ensure that his government adhered to U.S. laws governing any new accord with Iran.

Indirect talks in Vienna between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 agreement are due to resume on Tuesday.

Talk of a possible agreement has driven oil prices lower, with markets anticipating that the possible removal of sanctions on Iranian oil sales could boost global supplies.

The Biden administration has been trying to revive the deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities, a deal from which former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States in 2018.

Iran later breached many of the deal's nuclear restrictions and kept pushing well beyond them.

Cruz and other senior Republican senators told Biden that implementation of any new deal would be "severely, if not terminally hampered" if he did not meet statutory obligations aimed at ensuring congressional oversight over revisions or changes to the 2015 Iran nuclear accord.

They provided no details about their plans, but Republicans have used various tactics to slow down other legislation or put holds on Biden's nominees, including many for ambassador posts.



Democrats control the 50-50 Senate only by virtue of a tie-breaking vote that can be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris, but they could lose control of the Senate and the House of Representatives in mid-term elections later this year.

The senators said any nuclear agreement with Iran was of "such grativity for U.S. national security" that it would by definition be a treaty requiring the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate, they argued.

Any deal that fell short of Senate-ratified treaty would "likely be torn up in the early days of the next presidential administration," they added, anticipating a Republican victory in the 2024 presidential race.

In addition, they noted that a 2015 law passed before completion of the initial nuclear deal requires that any new aagreementa related to Iranas nuclear program to be transmitted to Congress for a 60-day review period during which



Congress could pass a joint resolution of disapproval that would essentially prevent the deal from going into effect.

It said those mandates would be triggered by Iran's progress toward developing a nuclear weapon over the past year, which would require new oversight measures.

(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.)
US President said the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline between and Germany would be stopped if President Vladimir Putin orders an invasion of .

We will bring an end to it, Biden said at a joint news conference at the White House on Monday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a short answer to a question about whether he had received assurances from Scholz. The notion that Nord Stream 2 is going to go forward with an invasion by the Russians  thats not going to happen.

The $11-billion gas pipeline across the Baltic Sea, owned by Russias state-backed energy giant Gazprom, runs from western Siberia to Germany, doubling the capacity of the already-in-use Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The pipeline could heat 26 million German homes at an affordable price and construction was completed in September 2021.





ALSO READ: The standoff in Ukraine: Roots in history



Scholz, who has tended to play up the urgency for diplomacy with Russia, warned about the potential price to the Kremlin, but stopped short of specifically mentioning the pipeline, which bypasses and has been a point of contention within his coalition.

He was pressed on whether he would commit to sanctioning Nord Stream 2. The new German leader switched to English to make plain that there was no daylight between Germany and its allies. He made no effort to dispel Bidens pledge that the pipeline would be stopped.

We are acting together, we are absolutely united  and we will not take different steps, Scholz said. We will do the same steps, and they will be very, very hard to Russia, and they should understand.

The chancellor later underscored those comments, saying Germany is ready to take steps that will have costs for us, Scholz said in an interview with CNN.

European natural gas rose on Tuesday after Bidens warning and as Russian flows through a key route declined. Dutch front-month gas futures rose as much as 4.3 per cent to 83 euros a megawatt-hour and traded 1.4 per cent higher in the day in Amsterdam.
Shares of Ugar Sugar Works hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 48.45 as they rallied 17 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade on the back of heavy volumes in an otherwise weak market. In the past two days, the stock of the sweetener has zoomed 40 per cent after the company announced investment of Rs 200 crore distillery capacity expansions for ethanol production at Ugar Plant.

At 02:34 pm, the stock of Ugar Sugar was trading 7 per cent higher at Rs 44.20, as compared to a 0.28 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. Trading volumes on the counter jumped over seven-fold with a combined 7.1 million equity shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE.

Last Friday, after market hours, the company said that it has received environmental clearance for expansion for 645 KLPD on sugarcane juice / syrup to Ethanol. The company proposed capacity expansion up to 845 KLPD under ethanol blending progammme in a phased manner up to next crushing season. The company has the existing capacity of 75 KLPD.

"This project announced is in line with the policy of Government or India for increase in blending of ethanol in fuel. The proposed capacity expansion up to 200 KLPD (already intimated) Plus 645 KLPD (on sugarcane juice / syrup) distillery will be set up at the companys Ugar Plant at Ugar Khurd. The proposed distillery will utilize sugarcane juice / syrup during the crushing season and in the off season production form B & C Heavy molasses and grains for continuous manufacture of ethanol," the company said.

Meanwhile, for the October-December quarter (Q3FY22), Ugar Sugar reported 56 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 51.17 crore as against Rs 28.49 crore in Q3FY21. In September quarter (Q2FY22), the company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 5.81 crore.
Shares of Adani Wilmar were currently trading at Rs 246.60 on the BSE, a premium of 7.22% as against the issue price of Rs 230.

The scrip was listed at Rs 221, representing a discount of 3.91% to the initial public offer (IPO) price.

So far, the scrip has hit a high of Rs 249.70 and a low of Rs 221. Over 22.73 lakh shares of the company have changed hands in the counter till now.

The initial public offer (IPO) of Adani Wilmar was subscribed 17.37 times. The issue opened for bidding on 27 January 2022 and it closed on 31 January 2022. The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 218-230.

The IPO comprised of fresh issue of equity shares worth up to Rs 3600 crore. The objectives for the fresh issue are capital expenditure of Rs 1900 crore, repayment or prepayment of outstanding borrowings for Rs 1058.9 crore, funding strategic acquisitions and investments for Rs 450 crore and general corporate purposes.

Adani Wilmar is among a few large FMCG food companies in India to offer most of the essential kitchen commodities for Indian consumers, including edible oil, wheat flour, rice, pulses, and sugar. The company's products are offered under a diverse range of brands across a broad price spectrum and cater to different customer groups. Essential commodities, such as edible oils, wheat flour, rice, pulses and sugar, account for approximately 66% of the spend on essential kitchen commodities in India.

The company has 22 plants are strategically located across 10 states in India, comprising 10 crushing units and 19 refineries with an aggregate designed capacity of 8,525 MT per day and 16,285 MT per day, respectively, as of September 30, 2021. Out of the 19 refineries, ten are port-based to facilitate use of imported crude edible oil and reduce transportation costs, while the remaining are typically located in the hinterland in proximity to raw material production bases to reduce storage costs. The company's refinery in Mundra is the one of the largest single location refineries in India with a designed capacity of 5,000 MT per day. In addition to the 22 plants it owns, it also used 36 leased tolling units as of September 30, 2021, which provided with additional manufacturing capacities.

The company intends to further expand its distribution network with an omni-channel approach. It aims to expand its online reach in India from current 25 cities to 100 cities in the next few years. It also aims to have more than 40 Fortune Mart stores opened across India in the next few years.

Adani Wilmar reported a net profit of Rs 357.13 crore on sales of Rs 24,874.52 crore in six month ended September 2021.

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The European Union has not unified its members over the tensions in Eastern Europe, especially the Netherlands might go Brexit on the bloc due to dangers to their natural gas supplies.

Brussels has been ineffective in dealing with Vladimir Putin's control over natural gas and seems unstoppable if his forces roll out over the Ukraine border. At this point, the Dutch don't want to go down with bloc seemingly tempting the Kremlin, which keeps it cool.

Russian Sanctions Could Backfire on the EU

According to the EU commissioner, Josep Borrell gave caution last Sunday that Moscow does not care about threats of sanctions. But the Kremlin has shown ruthlessness in driving the cost of natural gas that affects the bloc negatively, reported the Express UK.

Putin is playing the bloc by lessening the gas flow to pipes supplying the energy to nearly zero. The Netherland is furious over the failed foreign policy of Brussels, prompting it to consider going on its own from the bloc.

According to campaigners of the Nexit Denktank, Borrell stated that Russia could do anything. If there are sanctions imposed against Moscow, it will backfire on the European Union if the unwise choices of Brussels impact the natural gas supplies.

Read Also: Vladimir Putin Outmaneuvers Joe Biden by Falling for Feints and Stratagems Weakening, Dividing the Western Alliance

They called this route by Putin of Brussel and Washington as a shame. May the Dutch would be better off on their own.

Furthermore, Nexit Denktank added that it's their choice, not Brussels to make. Also, Russia and China respect them as an independent state compared to the bloc, cited Bulgaria News.

Compared to the EU, the Netherlands is not so impotent on the world stage, and it is time for Nexit to break away.

EU, US Want Other Gas Suppliers

Borrell wrote in his blog that Russia has learned to be resilient when sanctioned economically. It can control the gas tap is more than the bloc can. If there is no more natural gas, there will be chaos.

The EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has approached the US and liquefied natural gas suppliers to become Europe's suppliers. They want another source than Gazprom controlled by the Kremlin.

She added that it was an alternative energy security plan with Washington for LNG supplies that might cost more, as many bloc members are financially strapped. The negotiation for liquefied natural gas from the Gulf and Asia.

Ukraine is the focus of all concerns where the Kremlin and the West are accused of provocations. This conflict ushered in an energy crisis with record-high gas costs, but Russia supplied the cheapest source.

The blocs gas reserves are less than usual in 2022, though Gazprom has stated all the energy contracts are fulfilled and long-term, noted Reuters.

An angry Brussels accused Moscow of ordering fewer supplies pumped in the pipelines over Ukraine. Russia is not concerned about sanctions but has its foot on the bloc's neck.

Ursula von der Leyen said it was unusual for the Russian gas firm not to take advantage of the huge demand and high prices. She charges that the Kremlin is playing out the use of natural gas as leverage to squeeze the EU.

The European Union has not given a robust response compounded by the US driving everything to the brink. But the Netherlands and other members disagree and keep their cheap Russian natural gas supplies, then risk it.

Related Article: Russia Set To Punish EU Countries by Shutting Natural Gas Supplies; Brexit Could Avoid the Blocs Fate

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Godrej Consumer Products' consolidated net profit rose 5.08% to Rs 527.60 crore on a 8.08% increase in net sales to Rs 3,302.58 crore in Q3 December 2021 over Q3 December 2020.

Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) fell 2.69% to Rs 624.75 crore in Q3 FY22 from Rs 642.03 crore in Q3 FY21.

Among its segments, Home Care saw a steady growth of 4% Y-o-Y (year-on-year). While Godrej Consumer Products delivered a soft performance in household insecticides, the company continued to deepen penetration and gain market share. Goodknight Jumbo Fast Card scaled up well, driving growth in burning formats.

Godrej Consumer Products continued to build on its strategic pivots of taking the category beyond mosquitoes and scaling up the personal repellents portfolio. Air Fresheners continued to witness steady growth, led by gradual recovery in the category. Aer Power Pocket continued to perform well alongside driving new trials. Fabric Care witnessed strong growth.

The Personal Care rose by 12% Y-o-Y. Personal Wash & Hygiene maintained its growth momentum, delivering double-digit sales growth. The firm continued to gain market share, led by micro-marketing initiatives to fuel growth. Godrej Consumer Products continue to navigate high input cost through calibrated price increases.

Hair Colours growth was relatively soft, while the company continued to gain market share. Godrej Expert Rich Cre continues to perform well, backed by strong marketing campaigns. Godrej Expert Easy 5 Minute Shampoo Hair Colour scaled up well.

Overseas, Indonesia business delivered a soft performance with a sales decline of 2% in constant currency terms. Sales excluding Hygiene (Saniter) saw a growth of 2% in constant currency terms. EBITDA margins contracted by 410 bps year-on-year because of increase in input cost, lag in end-consumer pricing, and adverse mix due to low hygiene saliency.

The Africa, USA and Middle East cluster delivered a broad based double-digit sales growth of 12% in constant currency terms (2-year CAGR 14%). Our strong sales growth momentum continues in Southern Africa and West Africa. The company also witnessed a strong performance across categories and continued seeding go-to-market initiatives in key markets. EBITDA margins increased by 60 bps year-on-year, driven by scale leverage and cost-saving initiatives.

On a standalone basis, net profit grew 8.14% to Rs 380 crore on a 7.23% rise in net sales to Rs 1,817.43 crore in Q3 December 2021 over Q3 December 2020. Volume growth remained flat while Q3 FY22 EBITDA declined by 3% Y-o-Y to Rs 450 crore.

Commenting on the Q3 FY22 business performance, Sudhir Sitapati, the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), GCPL, said, "We delivered a mixed performance in Q3 FY2022. While overall sales grew by 8%, and we remain on track to achieve double-digit sales growth for the full year, it was driven entirely by price led growth. We believe that with the relatively non-discretionary, mass pricing of our portfolio and very good performance on market shares, volume growth will return in the medium term. On the other hand, while our overall EBITDA de-grew by 2% and PAT declined by 1%, the quality of profits has improved. We have witnessed sequential expansion of consolidated gross margins of 70 bps and higher Advertisement & Publicity spends of 90 bps."

"We saw steady sales growth in the Home Care and Personal Care categories, of 3% and 12%, respectively. From a geography perspective, India grew at 8%. Our Africa, USA and Middle East business continued its robust growth trajectory, growing at 13% in INR and 12% in constant currency terms. Our Indonesian business saw flat growth in INR, and declined by 2% in constant currency terms."

"We continue to have a healthy balance sheet and our net debt to equity ratio continues to come down. We are on a journey to reduce inventory and wasted cost and deploy this to drive profitable and sustainable volume growth across our portfolio through category development. As always, our values matter the most at this time. We were recently ranked number 1 among the top 100 companies in India, for sustainability and CSR initiatives in 2021. This ranking is based on a survey conducted by Futurescape and published by The CSR Journal. We remain committed to doing our best to truly live The Godrej Way and serving our people and communities," Mr Sitapati signed off.

Shares of Godrej Consumer Products lost 0.09% to Rs 888.55 on BSE. Godrej Consumer Products is an Indian consumer goods company. The company's products include soap, hair colourants, toiletries and liquid detergents.

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Strides Pharma Science on Monday announced that the company's board will meet on 10 February 2022 to consider fund raising.

In an exchange filing the company said, the Board of Directors will consider a proposal for fund raising on 10 February by way of issue of equity shares/ convertible warrants and/or any other instruments through preferential issue on a private placement basis, subject to such regulatory or statutory approvals.

On the same day, the company will announce its financial results for the quarter and nine months ended 31 December 2021.

Shares of Strides Pharma were trading 0.63% higher at Rs 392.05 on BSE.

Strides Pharma Science is a global pharmaceutical company. The company mainly operates in the regulated markets and has an 'in Africa for Africa' strategy along with an institutional business to service donorfunded markets. The company focuses on difficult to manufacture products that are sold in over 100 countries.

The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 162.55 crore in Q2 FY22 as against a net profit of Rs 80.94 crore in Q2 FY21. Revenue from operations during the quarter fell by 9.08% YoY to Rs 721.47 crore.

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In our digital age, it seems very easy to get consumer feedback on any brand or product. Amazon and Google reviews provide us, with the click of a button, information and customer reviews by the thousands. We can sort them by one star, two star etc.

We can read the comments and do AI-powered analysis of the verbal comments. All marketers should now be well versed in the art of scraping and analysing reviews. In a recent project our team did on image perceptions of diagnostic labs, we discovered that some of the labs were doing a better job of managing customer reviews. Some were even ...
Former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan on Monday hit out at the central government, saying aggressive started in the country ever since the came to power.

He said democracy is such a platform where people of different ideologies and thinking speak their own words and the public decides who is right and who is wrong.

"But I do not think that violence, misbehavior, undemocratic language should be used by any person. It is a healthy tradition that we should oppose each other. Even if there are ideological differences, we should use civilized language and violence has no place in and should not be there," he told reporters.

On political appointments which are pending in Rajasthan, Pilot said everyone cannot be given a ministerial or other big post but their participation in the government can be ensured.

He said that in the recent two-three months, party president Sonia Gandhi, AICC has taken some steps in the right direction so he is confident that when the assembly elections are held in 2023, the will again be able to form the government.

To a query regarding REET paper leak case, he said the government, the Congress, and AICC have taken it very seriously and some concrete action will also come out in it.

(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 on Tuesday said that the Party had "throttled" democracy in 1975 and is now teaching the lesson of democracy to the .

Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha, PM Modi said contrary to Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's claim that the laid the foundation of the country and the only hoisted its flag on it, the grand old party had in reality "throttled" democracy in 1975.

Continuing to attack the Party, Modi said the problem with the Congress is that they do not think beyond the dynasty. "The biggest threat to India is from dynastic political parties and when a family is supreme in a party, the first casualty is talent. For years, the country has suffered owing to it. I expect all political parties to follow democracy in their working also and the Congress should take a lead on this."

Holding the Congress' mindset that 'India is Indira and Indira is India' responsible for these debacles, he said: "What would have happened if Congress was not there? This was Mahatma Gandhi's wish too."

Taking a jibe at the party , he said, "Had Congress ceased to be as per Mahatma Gandhi's wish, democracy would have been free from dynastic influence, there would not have been any foreign influence, emergency, no caste and regional divide. Had Congress not been there, then Sikh's massacre would not have happened and Punjab would not have burnt in flames of terrorism for years, there would not have been exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and the daughters would not have been burnt in the tandoor."

His remarks evoked a sharp response from the Congress with the LoP objecting to it strongly stating that Modi should have spoken only on the President's speech.

At this, Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu intervened and said: "Kharge ji, you all had also spoken like this."

The Congress members rushed to the well of the House and kept on protesting. After a while, they staged a walk-out.

Modi went on to say that the Congress has a problem with the word 'nation' as well. "If 'nation' is unconstitutional, then why is your party's name Indian Congress?. Change it to Federation of Congress. Correct the mistakes done by your predecessors." he added.

--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.)
As the row intensified further in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday appealed to the Opposition and the people concerned not to escalate the situation by making "provocative" statements and to wait for the High Court order.

The state government is going by the law on dress code and the same stand has been put before the court, he said.

"Let's wait for the judiciary's decision and we will abide by whatever it says," he added.

The chief minister also said that the government has declared a holiday in high schools and colleges in the state for the next three days to maintain law and order.

Replying to queries from reporters here, Bommai said there were some disturbances in a few places and appealed for peace and harmony.

"I appeal to students to maintain peace and there is no occasion for any clashes. I appeal to teachers to ensure peace is maintained. I am asking concerned people not to make provocative statements and aggravate the situation because it is a every sensitive issue as far as students are concerned," he said.

Students have to sit together and do academic activities. Therefore, peace and harmony should be maintained, he said and asked teachers and management of schools and colleges to maintain peace.

Tension had prevailed at some educational institutions in Udupi, Shivamogga, Bagalkote and other parts of the state as they were rocked by protests for and against today, forcing the police and administration to intervene.

The High Court today heard petitions filed by five girls studying in a Government Pre-university College in Udupi, questioning restriction in college and the matter has been posted for Wednesday.

The protest over dress code started in one school and has spread to other districts.

"It is very unfortunate. The matter is seized by the high court. As I speak now, the high court proceedings on this matter are going on... We are waiting for the directions from the court," he said.

Similar situations were witnessed in other states and different high courts have given different judgements. "Our matter is also in the HC," he said.

As far as the legality of the whole issue is concerned, the state government has put its case clearly as per the Education Act, he said and added: "Let us wait for the direction from the high court, till that time the peace needs to be maintained. I appeal to everyone."

On opposition parties in Parliament raising the hijab row and accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of polarisation, the chief minister said, "These are all allegations and do not have any ground." Proper education has to be given to students in the state. The state government is going by the law on dress code, he said.

Bommai, on the second day of his visit to the capital, met Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal and requested him to give production-linked incentives for toy and fast moving consumer goods industries in the state.

He also spoke to BJP President J P Nadda about the state issue over the phone. "Naddaji has said he will speak to me after two days," Bommai added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
on Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister was afraid of the as it spoke the truth which is why he attacked the party in both Houses of Parliament.

He also said if the prime minister likes abusing the and his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, "be my guest, but do your job".

"I do not need anyone's certificate for my great-grandfather. I don't care what anybody says about him," the former chief said.

Replying to the motion of thanks on president's address, Modi on Tuesday continued his no-holds-barred attack on the Congress declaring even Mahatma Gandhi wanted it dismantled and claiming there would have been no Emergency, no massacre of Sikhs, no caste and no exodus of Pandits from Kashmir had the Congress not been there.

Describing dynastic parties as the biggest threat to India's democracy, he said Jawaharlal Nehru, "concerned about his global image", refused to send the Army to help Ram Manohar Lohia led 'satyagrahis' working for Goa's independence.

The Congress staged a walkout from the House during the prime minister's address, prompting Modi to say that one needs to listen too in a democracy and that the party was used to only preaching to others till now.

Gandhi said the prime minister did not answer the issues of "two Indias", China and Pakistan "getting together" and the attack on India's institutions, raised by him in the Lok Sabha.

"He is a little afraid of the Congress. There is a little anxiety because the Congress speaks the truth. He is in the business of marketing. He has spread lies. So fear is natural and that showed in Parliament.

"The whole speech was about Congress, what Congress did not do and Nehru did not do. But nothing on BJP's promises. There is fear," he said when asked about the prime minister's attack on the Congress.

Asked about PM Modi's attack on India's first prime minister, Gandhi said it does not matter whether he attacks the Congress or Nehru.

"It is important that people understand what he is doing," the former Congress chief said.

"My great-grandfather served this country and gave his entire life to it. He did what he had to do as did other members of my family and millions of people of this country."



Gandhi said in his speech in the Lok Sabha, he raised the issue of "two Indias", one of the poor and the other of the rich, and that all institutions are being "captured" which is harming the country.

He said that he also talked about China and Pakistan "becoming one" that presents a major danger to India.

"The prime minister did not answer any of the three issues I raised," Gandhi said.

The Congress leader pointed out that he had earlier warned that Covid was a danger "but the prime minister did not agree".

"Now I said there is a danger from China and Pakistan and this is a serious issue. This is no joke. The other two issues must also be taken seriously. These are not jokes. The country is being weakened. The prime minister said nothing on these things."



About the statement of the external affairs minister's comments that China and Pakistan were together earlier too, Gandhi said, "The gentleman obviously does not understand his job very well."Following alleging in Lok Sabha that the government brought Pakistan and China together, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "Perhaps, some history lessons are in order: In 1963, Pakistan illegally handed over the Shaksgam valley to China; China built the Karakoram highway through PoK in the 1970s."The external affairs minister said the two countries also had close nuclear collaboration from the 1970s. "In 2013, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor started. So, ask yourself: were China and Pakistan distant then?" he said.

on Tuesday replied, "He has to understand that there is something new that is taking place. That Chinese and Pakistanis are now one and India is facing a cyber superpower. So, India needs to be very careful,"



Cited the USD 90 billion Belt and Road initiative, Chinese troops in PoK, he claimed that Pakistan military people are sitting in China looking into Pakistan and China's military strategy.

He advised the government to "wake up on this serious issue".

"You are in sleep right now, ignoring the facts. The Chinese have entered Ladakh, positioned themselves in Doklam. You are asleep, please wake up. It is very dangerous for the country. If you like abusing the Congress and Nehru, be my guest but do your job," Gandhi said.

(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 on Tuesday continued his tirade against in the Parliament, reiterating his oft repeated point of how dynastic parties are the biggest threat to democracy and suggested the grand old party to change its middle name from 'national' to 'federal'.

PM Modi was speaking in the Rajya Sabha in reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's speech and continued his barbs against as he had done on Monday in the Lok Sabha.

After stating how had doubted the country's ability to deliver on vaccination for all, welfare measures for the poor by his government etc, Modi said in a direct attack on Congress how one can never learn lessons in a democracy from "those who trampled over democracy in 1975."

"When one family prevails over others in a political party, it is the political talent that suffers. Dynastic is the biggest threat to our democracy. I would suggest all parties, especially starting with Congress, to let go of dynastic politics," Modi said.

Recalling remarks by Congress leaders, Modi said some members asked, if there was no Congress, what would happen? and went on a longish tirade: "I would like to state, if there was no Congress, there would have been no Emergency. If there was no Congress, there would have been no caste . If there had been no Congress, there would have been no Sikh massacre. If there was no Congress, Kashmiri Pundits would not have been thrown out of their homes."

Modi took on the word 'federalism' as mentioned by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his speech in the Parliament and said, "People talk of federalism, but they have forgotten, when Congress was in power, they did not allow India's development. Now when they are in opposition, they are obstructing development."

Continuing with the pronoun 'they' (Woh in Hindi as the Prime Minister spoke in Hindi) without taking any particular person's name, Modi said, "Now they are objecting to the idea of nation. If they find the very idea of 'nation' as unconstitutional, why is their party called Indian Congress? Why not change 'national' to 'federal'?"

Earlier on Monday in the Lok Sabha, PM Modi had launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party stating that the party had not lost its arrogance even when it had been out of power for so long. He also said that Congress seems to have decided to not come back to power for 100 years, and he too is prepared for it.

(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 on Monday said Prime Minister gave an election speech in Parliament while skipping the real issues raised by the party and accused him of throwing parliamentary conventions to the winds.

Former chief Rahul Gandhi claimed the prime minister was afraid of the party as it spoke the truth which is why he attacked the in both the Houses of Parliament.

He also said if Modi likes abusing the party and his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, he can do so but he should do his job first as the country faced danger from China and Pakistan coming together.

"If you like abusing the Congress and Nehru, be my guest but do your job," Gandhi said.

"I do not need anyone's certificate for my great-grandfather. I don't care what anybody says about him," the former party chief said.

Replying to the Motion of Thanks on President's Address, Modi on Tuesday continued his no-holds-barred attack on the Congress declaring that even Mahatma Gandhi wanted it dismantled and claiming there would have been no Emergency, no massacre of Sikhs, no caste and no exodus of Pandits from Kashmir had the Congress not been there.

Modi also alleged that "urban Naxals" had control over the party.

Describing dynastic parties as the biggest threat to India's democracy, he said Nehru, "concerned about his global image", refused to send the Army to help Ram Manohar Lohia-led 'satyagrahis' working for Goa's independence.

The Congress staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha during the prime minister's address, prompting Modi to say that one needs to listen too in a democracy and that the party was used to only preaching to others till now.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the PM only spoke against the party, it was irrelevant and did not speak on the president's address.

"The prime minister only gave an election speech and attacked the Congress only as elections to five states are on. He said nothing in the interest of the country and did not give any vision of his government in the coming year,"he said.

Kharge said Modi did not address the issues raised by the opposition and said they are not the ones following Gandhi's ideals but are those who eulogise Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.

"Those who worship Mahatma Gandhi Ji's assassin are now telling us that the Congress should be dissolved," he said, adding that it does behove them to even use Gandhi's name.

The Congress leader claimed that democracy is alive in the country only because of the Congress.

Responding to Modi's attack on the Congress, party general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it is because of the Congress there is space for opposition and dissent and that a party of two MPs is today ruling the country.

"The Congress is there and that is why Babasaheb's constitution is there, dreams of freedom fighters are coming true, Bapu's thoughts and ideals are alive, nuclear power and technological revolution is there.

"Pakistan broke into two after it challenged India and we have been strong even during global recession, and there has also been space for opposition and dissent," Surjewala said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

Because of the Congress, the voice of the people rises even amid oppressive tools and there is a fearless truth even in the midst of lies and propaganda, he said.

"Amid the craze of the useless government full of rhetoric, there is a dedicated opposition which cares about the country and performs the religion of public service, not the slavery of capitalists," the Congress leader said.

"Honourable Modi Ji, the 75th year of Independence is the golden period for lies-hatred-arrogance-propaganda and of capitalists. But for the youth, farmers, housewives, the poor and small businessmen and traders it is 'rahu kaal' (bad time)," Surjewala said.

He asked the prime minister to refrain from using unparliamentary language and making rhetorical speeches, and asked him if he had done some work for the people.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet, "Some elevate debates in Parliament, but even by his pathetic standards of decency, dignity, sobriety of language and fidelity to facts, the PM plumbed new depths in the Rajya Sabha today, forcing an opposition walkout."



He alleged that Modi falsified history yet again, staying true to his character.

Ramesh said the prime minister claimed that Majrooh Sultanpuri was jailed in 1949 for attacking Nehru. "Majrooh Saab was in fact imprisoned with many other Communists that year as the CPI had announced a revolution against the Indian government."



Party leader Gaurav Gogoi said, "Shahanshah Modi ji was so disturbed by Rahul Gandhi's speech that instead of talking about India, he spent close to two hours attacking Rahul ji, attacking the Congress. The prime minister was ultra defensive and so insecure that he thought that price rise is not an issue in today's time."Another Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said it does not behove the prime minister to use such language against opposition leaders and former prime ministers and described it as "tapori language".

Gohil also claimed that Mahatma Gandhi, a day before his assassination, had said how important the Congress is for the country and this has been recorded in history and his journal "Harijan".

(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 National Archives of the United States seized numerous boxes of documents from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property that had been improperly moved from the White House, including "love letters" from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to an article published Monday.

The papers and mementos, which included correspondence with previous US President Barack Obama, were supposed to be given over at the conclusion of Trump's tenure under the Presidential Records Act.

Trump Kept "Love Letters" From Kim Jong Un

The CIA didn't learn about them until last month, according to unnamed sources. Based on a newspaper story, a former Trump adviser indicated that he did not feel the president was acting unlawfully. "We fell in love. No, really. He sent me beautiful letters," the former president told a West Virginia audience in 2018, growing lyrical about his relationship with Kim.

The discovery of the boxes has prompted doubts about Trump's compliance with presidential records regulations adopted in the aftermath of the Watergate incident in the 1970s, which compel Oval Office occupants to maintain materials pertaining to administration activity. The unusual correspondence has been dubbed as the Trump-Kim "love letters" by the media, Trump's supporters, and opponents.

Per NDTV, Trump's attempt to block the National Archives from providing White House diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts, and other information to the House committee investigating the 2021 incident at the US Capitol failed last month.

Former President Trump had ripped up and taped back together some of the documents given over, according to the Archives, which also received a number of records that were still in pieces.

"Love letters" from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been returned from the White House by the US National Archives, which claimed on Monday it had retrieved 15 boxes of records that had been inappropriately removed from the White House and brought to Donald Trump's southern Florida property.

According to law, the documents and mementos, which included correspondence from former US President Barack Obama, should have been turned over at the end of Trump's presidency. However, they ended up at his Palm Beach resort of Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Trump's compliance with presidential records regulations enacted after the Watergate incident in the 1970s, which require Oval Office occupants to save records relating to administration activity, has been questioned by the retrieval of the boxes, as per South China Morning Post.

Read Also: Joe Biden Claims Inflation Overshadows Strong Economy as US Surprisingly Adds Half a Million Jobs in January

What Does Kim Jong Un's Letter to Trump Contain?

According to Trump's advisers, the boxes contained presents, keepsakes, letters from other foreign leaders, and other materials. They further indicated that the removal of the boxes was not done with malice in mind.

Trump's handling of materials was called into doubt last week when the Archives handed over papers to a House committee investigating the January 6 insurgency. After parts of the records were split apart, it was taped back together.

The Archives state that some of the papers that the White House sent over had not been put back together. Trump has filed a lawsuit to keep the committee from accessing records from his time as president, claiming executive privilege protects them.

The Presidential Records Act requires presidents to produce documents. Although it's unclear whether Trump or his advisers knowingly broke the law, tampering with the papers is unlikely to result in conviction.

Kim Jong Un's letters provide a historical record of one of Trump's most unusual years in office. Around the time of their meeting in Singapore in June 2018, Trump and the cruel tyrant exchanged a series of complimentary letters.

A communique was issued as a result of the summit, which echoed a number of North Korean talking points. After Trump refused to eliminate all sanctions against North Korea, a second summit between the bitter adversaries collapsed in Vietnam, Newsweek via MSN reported.

Related Article: Kim Jong Un Calls for More "Military Muscle" After North Korea Fires More Advanced Missile Test That Flies Ten Times The Speed of Sound

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Congress leader on Tuesday responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong attack on the Congress during his speeches in the two Houses of Parliament and said the BJP-led government was "scared of Congress".

Gandhi alleged that the Prime Minister's "fear of Congress" was reflected in the Parliament and he focused on criticising the party and did not talk about the promises made by the BJP.

Gandhi also referred to the Prime Minister's critical references to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in his speeches in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President's Address and said he did not need anyone's certificate for his great grandfather.

"My great grandfather gave his entire life to this country. I do not need anyone's certificate for my great grandfather. I do not care what anybody says about him. They are scared of Congress as we say the truth. They have a network of marketing. They have friends. So they spread lies. His fear of Congress was reflected in the Parliament. His entire speech of him was on criticizing Congress. But Prime Minister did not say about the promises made by the BJP," told reporters here.

He was responding to a query about Prime Minister's attack on Congress and Nehru's policies. The Prime Minister gave his reply to the motion of thanks in Lok Sabha on Monday and in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The Congress leader termed the BJP-led government's foreign policy as "bankrupt" and said they have to understand that something new is taking place and India is facing a cyber superpower.

He alleged that the government is "in sleep right now" and is ignoring the facts and should "wake up".

#WATCH | He (PM Modi) is putting India at risk because he has got a bankrupt foreign policy. EAM said that China & Pakistan got together earlier, the gentleman doesn't understand his job very well: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pic.twitter.com/EPuXGqOpoV  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

"He (the Prime Minister) is putting India at risk because he has got a bankrupt foreign policy. He has allowed China and Pakistan to get together. The gentleman does not understand his job very well. Belt and Road is a USD 90 billion project. Pakistani military people are sitting in China for making strategic affairs. He has to understand that something new is taking place. China and Pakistan are one and India is no longer facing a two-and-a-half front. India is facing a cyber superpower. So India needs to be very careful," said.

He said the BJP leaders can keep "abusing" Congress and Nehru if they like doing so but they should do their "job".

"I am advising the government to please wake up. You are in sleep right now and ignoring the facts. The fact is Chinese have entered Ladakh. They have positioned themselves in Doklam. The government is in sleep. Please weak up. It is very dangerous for the country. If you like abusing Congress or Jawaharlal Nehru. Yes, keep doing it. But do your job," he said.

Rahul Gandhi had also taken part in the discussion on the motion of thanks in the Lok Sabha and attacked the government over its policies.

(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.)
Chief Minister on Tuesday said those involved in the REET paper leak case won't be spared and he accused the opposition of instigating the youth over the issue.

The SOG is doing its work impartially that is why the accused are being caught and new revelations are being made every day, Gehlot said in a tweet.

He alleged that the opposition is demanding a CBI inquiry into the case so that the state government could be defamed.

It is not in the interest of the youth and the government will get all the culprits punished, no matter how influential they are, the CM said.

I had said earlier also that the easiest thing for the government to do is to cancel the exam and get it re-conducted. In the interest of the youth, the government gave a free hand to the SOG, he said.

He said to the satisfaction of lakhs of candidates, the state government has decided to cancel the REET Level-2 exam and re-conduct it by increasing 30,000 posts.

The CM said, The BJP, which has been repeatedly demanding a CBI inquiry on every case, should tell the results of the investigations given to the CBI in the last three years, he said, citing some of such cases.

(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 Tuesday refused to grant interim bail to leader for campaigning in the UP assembly polls.

A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai, however, granted liberty to Khan to approach the concerned court and request for expeditious disposal of bail pleas.

How can you file 32 petitions to seek bail? Don't bring in court, the bench observed.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khan, submitted that 87 FIRs have been filed against the leader and he has got bail in 84 cases.

I am inside prison for nothing. Where do I go my lord? I am not bringing any into it," he said.

Sibal said the bail plea was not being taken up for last 3-4 months despite repeated request for hearing.

(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.)
RLD president on Tuesday accused the ruling of the bid to create a Hindu-Muslim divide and urged people to stay united.

He said this while addressing a programme in favour of a party candidate in the Sadarpur area of Ghaziabad.

He said no stone will be left unturned for the progress of farmers and labourers if the SP-RLD alliance comes to power in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

There will be no place for communal politics, Chaudhary said as he alleged that the is trying to divide Hindus and Muslims.

He also alleged that the government failed to provide transport facility to the workers, who had to travel hundreds of miles to reach their homes during the coronavirus lockdown.

Agitating farmers and unemployed youth were brutally beaten up by the government, he said, seeking votes for the alliance.

(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.)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 8 (ANI/NewsVoir): The much anticipated Union budget 2022 has been termed as progressive, people friendly and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a conscious decision was taken not to increase taxes because of the hardship that people have been facing due to the pandemic.

Where the budget has spoken about the Mental wellness programs which is evidently the need of the hour.It also spoke about the start-ups and how the tax incentive is being extended to help them during these tough times.

Amit Vasistha, Founder & CEO of GALF, the aim of which has always been a 360-degree holistic wellness talked about how the open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem being rolled out is a step in the right direction, as it will provide better access to healthcare facilities. The National Tele Mental Health program is also a much-awaited move which will increase awareness about mental health, and provide access to mental health services regardless of distance. He added, "The budget certainly reaffirms our faith in the government's commitment to give the utmost priority to the healthcare industry."

And the best part of the budget is the corporate tax relaxation, SEZ clause reviews and infra heavy budget which will benefit job creators and also bringing in more blue coloured employment opportunities.

Rajnish Virmani, Managing Partner of Positive Momentum commented on how the announcement has given Digital India required boost. "The pandemic has taught us that Digital approach can supplement and accelerate traditional growth of the economy."

RBI planning to launch a digital currency, the initiative to set up 75 digital banking units in 75 districts will all play a vital role in digitalization. From a telecom sector perspective, the 5G spectrum auction, 100 percent fiber with PPP model will provide further motivation towards digitalization.

Sumbul Siddiqui Co-founder and Chief Executive of Knosh shared her thought saying, "The focus to boost employment through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat, with potential to create 60 lakh new jobs and additional production of 30 lakh crore during next Keycap digit five years is definitely something that India had been looking for."

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi [India], February 8 (ANI/NewsVoir): While the city of Chennai does not face extreme variation in seasonal temperature, it does face extreme heat and humidity, with the mercury level regularly touching 35 to 40, pushing many households to purchase air conditioners.

Being one of the most developed metropolitan cities in India, the residents of Chennai have many options to choose from while buying an AC. However, Hitachi Cooling & Heating Air Conditioners have managed to create a strong and loyal customer base among Chennaiites owing to their wide variety of ACs with Expandable Inverter Technology.

This feature lets the (https://www.hitachiaircon.in) air conditioner expand its cooling capacity according to the weather condition outside and the number of people inside the room. These ACs also have 20% better humidity control which makes them efficient in providing comfort in high humidity regions. In addition to the robust built and modern design, Hitachi air conditioners are preferred due to the strong customer service they provide all over Chennai.

Different Ways to Access Hitachi Cooling & Heating Customer Service Solutions in Chennai

The company has developed several independent customer service channels to help its customers to report complaints or issues effortlessly. These different service channels can be broadly categorised into two channels-Automated and Non-Automated.

Automated Channel

As the name suggests, automated response systems enable the customer to register his complaint/query without interacting with a human. Therefore, the possibility of human error is minimal as well.

IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System)

The customer will dial the company customer care no. +91-79-7141-4848 or +91-75-6788-4848.

The call will be automatically connected to the IVRS.

The customer will enter his registered mobile number.

If the system verifies the mobile phone number entered by the customer, the ticket will be raised, and the customer will get an intimation about the same through an SMS on that mobile number.

Automated WhatsApp Chat

The WhatsApp service can be ideal for those who prefer texting.

The customer has to send a "Hi" message from his/her WhatsApp to the company's WhatsApp customer care number 756788-4848 to activate the WhatsApp Chatbot.

After verifying the mobile phone number, the customer will be provided with different options such as new product registration, complaints, inquiries, etc.

The specific ticket will be raised depending upon the option chosen.

Customer Care App

Today, the young generation likes to have all the necessary services at their fingertips using smartphone apps. Such people can download the 'Hitachi India Customer Care' app free from the Android play store or Apple App Store.

A slew of useful services is available through the app, such as registering your product, raising complaints or queries, following up previous complaints or managing the AMC of the product.

Live Chat Feature (Website)

The live chat feature is available on the official website (https://www.hitachiaircon.in).

Click on the text "Need Help? Chat with us!" on the lower right side of the website to activate the chat.

You will be provided with a few options inside the chatbox.

Select the appropriate option and proceed further without requiring to talk to a person.

Non-Automated Channel

Some people, especially senior citizens, can find the whole automated process overwhelming. Such individuals can take the more traditional approach that requires human intervention.

Contacting Customer Care Executive

While a customer is connected to the IVRS by default on dialling the customer care number, the system will automatically divert the call to a customer care executive if the customer hits any roadblock.

The executive on duty will then take up from there and help the customer with his issues after listening to him.

Email

Hitachi (https://www.hitachiaircon.in/ranges/hot-and-cold-acs) Cooling & Heating has a dedicated email id for customer care: customercare@jci-Hitachi. The customer can send an email to this address explaining his issue. An automatic reply will be instantly sent to the customer acknowledging the mail and providing the request tracking id.

Whether you are a tech-savvy individual who prefers contactless services or a staunch believer in human interaction, you can feel comfortable dealing with Hitachi Cooling & Heating Customer Care - Chennai through any of the ways discussed herein.

Good customer service is the backbone of a great product, and Hitachi Cooling & Heating, India recognises that. The company strives to maintain its strong position in Chennai by further improving upon the customer service experience in and around Chennai.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 8 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Huhtamaki India Ltd, a leading provider of primary consumer packaging and decorative labelling solutions in India - and part of Huhtamaki, a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions based in Finland - was felicitated with two awards at the 5th edition of the coveted SIES School of Packaging (SOP) Star Awards 2021 for excellence in packaging.

The SIES SOP awards platform recognizes innovations designed by various Indian companies globally and honours them for excellence in innovation, creativity and new developments across various product segments.

Known for its innovative and sustainable packaging solutions, Huhtamaki India was recognised for enhancing the packaging functionality, creativity and end-user experience with technical excellence for two of its flexible packaging solutions namely, 'Side gusseted roasted coffee bean pouch with non-returnable valve' and the 'Limited edition variable festive tea packs'.

"Huhtamaki India believes in keeping customer convenience at the core of its products and solutions. We work closely with our customers to develop fit-for-purpose packaging solutions while keeping a strong focus on sustainability. We are delighted to receive this industry accolade and hope that we continue to make our customers proud," said Ashwinikumar Singh, Head of Innovation & Product Development, Huhtamaki India.

Side Gusseted Roasted Coffee Bean Pouch with Non-Returnable Valve:

This pack is an elegantly designed long brick or side gusseted pouch for packing 1 kg roasted coffee beans with inclusion of a non-returnable valve (NRV) on the top front side of the pouch.

Coffee beans continue to emit carbon dioxide for many hours after they have been roasted. The non-returnable valve in the pack ensures that while carbon dioxide is allowed to escape, oxygen is not allowed to enter, saving the pack from puffing up or bursting. This packaging provides reliable barrier against oxygen ensuring the characteristic wonderful aroma remains intact while retaining the freshness of the beans for a longer time.

These packs are digitally printed to cater to the low requirement or small-order quantity as digital printing is more agile and cost effective than traditional printing processes. This elegantly designed long brick pack enhances consumer experience while the side gussets with registered print elements maximise the branding space and impart premium-quality to the pack.

Limited Edition Variable Festive Tea Packs:

These packs were launched as the festive edition packs to commemorate Durga Puja celebrations in West Bengal, India. The design language of the five packs celebrates the essence of five special days of the festival - from the 6th to the 10th day.

The five variable designs were engraved on a single set of cylinders representing each day of the Durga Puja festival from Sashti (6th day) to Vijaya Dashmi (10th day). All designs share the same theme so when the five individual designs are put together they form one large canvas for branding in retail shelves with beautiful storytelling and visual appeal, paying homage to the traditional elements associated with the festivities.

All 5 variable pack designs were produced with matching halftones and each design contains variable graphics with intricate elements - representing significant events for each festive day starting with the arrival of Goddess, to the beats of dhol and ending with sindhur khela.

Recently, Huhtamaki India was also honoured at the prestigious IFCA STAR Awards 2021 with four packaging awards at the grand award ceremony that was held along with the IFCA Seminar - "Packaging-Continuous Enabler for Creating Value" last month.

Winning the SIES SOP platform award now qualifies Huhtamaki India to contest the prestigious WorldStar 2023 awards. Huhtamaki is committed to delivering sustainable packaging solutions and leverages its knowledge and expertise to produce innovative and sustainable solutions that are positioned to support consumers and Mother Nature. Huhtamaki is committed to making its entire range of products recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 8 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Robinsons Global Logistics Solutions (RGL), an asset-light third-party logistics and warehousing company, is on an accelerated growth trajectory.

The company will be investing in excess of INR 20 Cr in 2022, and expanding its footprint across key metros, with a push in tier 2 and tier 3 towns across the country also. RGL will be adding more than 6 lakh Sq. ft warehousing space, and adopting a technology-driven approach to efficient and green operations.

The company is also looking to increase their workforce by an additional 50%, inviting skilled talent that can be a part of the tech-driven vision. RGL's expansion plans are driven by the management's confidence in providing unmatched service delivery to existing and new customers whose demands are dynamic and evolving.

The expansion plans for RGL involve setting up additional Grade A warehousing spaces of 6 Lakh sq. ft, across key locations of Bhiwandi, Kolkata, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

The expansion activities kick-started with long terms agreements of 90,000 and 30,000 sq. ft area in Bhiwandi and Kolkata respectively in January, followed by launching a 75,000 sq. ft. in Gurugram in February. The company will also be leasing warehousing space in key metros in the South, starting with an RGL designed build-to-suit warehouse of 30,000 sq. ft in Hyderabad in May, 100,000 sq. ft in Bengaluru and 70,000 sq. ft in Chennai, by August 2022. There will be another 3 warehouses that have been identified in Gurugram, Indore & Bhiwandi which will be added in November and December 2022.

Speaking about the 2022 plans, Aditya Vazirani, CEO, RGL, said, "We are planning to invest around Rs 15-20 crore to enhance our operations. Of this, we plan to allocate up to 10% of the 15-20 crore investment towards the installation of solar panels in warehouses while 15-20% of the budget will be allocated for tech implementation, manpower training and development. Although the bulk of the amount is designated for space acquisition, we are also channelling our efforts towards environment-friendly packaging of products by eliminating single-use plastic and have already developed an efficient TMS (transport management system) successfully. Also, since we operate on an asset-light model, investing in MHEs (material handling equipment), racks and similar facilities to enhance our in-house warehousing operations and cost efficiencies, will also be a major focus."

RGL has already been a preferred partner to several fortune 500 companies across the world, offering a wide range of services, including Just-in-time, Vendor Managed Inventory, Procurement & Re-Ordering with customer factories, Spare parts management for mobile phones and earth moving equipment company to ensure availability 363 days of the year 24x7, RGL has also recently been roped in by leading e-commerce last-mile delivery aggregator to provide fulfilment services for their customers.

RGL has also set up 2 dark stores for another customer and soon expanding the dark store footprint to 25 locations before the end of the year. RGL's customers range from Global MNC to large Indian corporates and several start-ups with products ranging from Mobile Phones, Dairy, Neutraceuticals, Home Furnishings, High-End Audio Equipment, Televisions, Industrial Engineering Products, Ball Bearings, Gym and Health Equipment to name a few.

Additionally, in response to the need for adopting greener practices, RGL will be looking at replacing customer product boxes with biodegradable, recyclable materials so as to be a responsible partner to its customers while also ensuring uncompromising quality and value delivery.

RGL, with around 25 years of experience in specialized warehousing services has been at the forefront of delivering customized solutions to its clients across sectors. And while the ambitious growth plan is largely being fuelled by internal accruals, they are also in talks with external investors to achieve a profitable and accelerated expansion. Adopting an integrated and holistic approach to its expansion goals, the company is also optimistic about creating a true impact across the entire supply chain.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

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Whats new: Chinas top securities regulator and Singapores central bank said theyll support the two countries exchanges in launching exchange-traded fund (ETF) products that can be traded on each others markets, according to a Monday statement from the Chinese side.

Fang Xinghai, a vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), and Ho Hern Shin, a deputy managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), also discussed strengthening cooperation in securities and futures markets, regulatory approaches, and green finance at a bilateral supervisory roundtable on Jan. 26, the statement said.
Tuck Carlson lashed at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle due to allegedly due to the controversy with podcaster Joe Rogan whom they were not approving of.

But Spotify sustained Rogan and told his woke critics the platform would sustain freedom of speech. The Fox TV host added in his opinions that the exiled Royals were not consistent with their contract, unlike other podcasters on the streaming service.

Duke and Duchess of Sussex' podcast issue

Sources say that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not fulfilling their $25 million mega-deal with Spotify; wading into the comments of US comedian Joe Rogan instead had the opposite effect.

They got the podcast deal more than 12-months compared to more prolific podcasters; they've only had 35 minutes to date. It drew backlash on the couple, cited the BBC.

Due to the slowness of the pair in producing the required number of episodes needed for the deal, Tucker called them 'grifters' as he ranted, reported the Sun UK.

He called Megan Markle, an illegitimate duchess from LA with her kowtowing husband, trying to threaten the streaming service to silence Joe Rogan.

They have not worked to produce any relevant content for the podcast, taking the money and grifting over the deal.

Tucker Carlson stated that Harry and meg in a year had 30 minutes of content in over a year. For each minute of their lone episode, that would be 1 million dollars for less than an hour. This would be too good to be true, hardly any reason to abandon the contract.

Read Also: Nigel Farage Shreds Joe Biden Called First Year Unsatisfactory, Leaving an Opening for a Red Wave

Greg Gutfeld aimed at the Sussexes dilemma, saying they were unremarkable and forgettable on the Five.

Former judge Jeanine Pirro tore at the two who thought what they say matters, mentioning Americans don't care about them. Nobody is keen on engaging them.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle tries to save their deal on Spotify

Due to their eagerness to force out Rogan with the woke mob; it is they in danger of getting kicked out of the platform. Pretty soon, the exiled royal might be looking for another deal.

A statement given by them and read by a spokesperson said they were keen on working with the tech firm; they want to make sure that Spotify keeps out false COVID -19 information.

Anthony Burr, a PR expert, said their deal with the streaming giant could get pulled under their feet. The Duke and Duchess of L.A. are scrambling to keep their brand image untarnished, noted World Today News.

He called it a disaster how the two fell into the controversy that negatively affected them. Everyone sees what they are doing all the mistakes, especially which match up with Carlson's comments.

If they don't like the deal, they should drop it and leave because the platform ignored them and sustained Rogan. They should be more upfront and not grift, as suggested by Gutfeld.

This would be the best time to bow out and not take the money if they are at odds with the content.

Predictably they had raised their concerns over content which they expressed discontent, even trying to cancel Rogan.

Over the controversy, Tucker Carlson said Harry and Meg tried to boot the podcast host off Spotify, but they got ignored; he said half-full describes how the pair are placing themselves in the woke crowd.

Related Article: Meghan Markle Will Be the New AOC When Her Offers Are All Dried Up, Ex-Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage Says

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Senate GOP members have shared their discontent with the Republican National Committee (RNC) over the latter's decision to censure Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

Several Republican senators criticized their own national party's unanimous vote during interviews on Monday evening. They argued that the decision, which opted to censure the two officials for their involvement in the House Select Committee, was alienating a portion of the party for opposing former United States President Donald Trump.

Republicans vs RNC

On the other hand, some GOP senators, both Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mitt Romney of Utah, took more direct action. The two officials were in communication with RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel about the decision to censure the two Republicans.

Politico reported that during an interview, Romney said that the RNC's decision against the two Republicans who were members of the House Select Committee was unfortunate. He argued that there was nothing further from the truth than to claim that the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot was "legitimate political discourse."

Furthermore, the RNC's decision to censure Cheney and Kinzinger came with the release of new video footage by the Department of Justice. The recording showed the horrifying truth of the events of the Jan. 6 insurrection. In the video, it could be seen that a large mob of loyal Trump supporters beat up police officers and vow to drag lawmakers through the streets.

Read Also: Kevin McCarthy Outlines How GOP Will Control Investigation on COVID-19 Origins If Republicans Regain Control of the House

At the time, former United States Vice President Mike Pence was inside the Capitol building counting Electoral College votes. He has since come under fire, especially from Trump, for allegedly failing to "overturn" the elections. He has responded by saying that the Republican businessman was wrong in his assumptions that he, as the head of Congress, had the authority to change the results of an election.

Pence's remarks stirred some Republicans who were quietly opposing the GOP's seemingly aggressive avoidance of the truth and democracy. It also occurred as some strategists have hoped that the former president's grip on the party may be weakening, CNN reported.

However, some Republicans are also eager to cast the blame for the violent Jan. 6 incident on Democrats. The situation also comes as former President Trump has hinted that he planned to pardon some rioters involved in the insurrection if he wins a potential 2024 presidential run.

Censure of Cheney and Kinzinger

According to Yahoo News, what shines through among Republicans is that they are downplaying the events of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot but are also quick to criticize Democrats for allowing it to happen. However, it is widely believed that Trump incited the insurrection when he delivered a speech on that same day in front of the crowd that would later besiege the Capitol.

The RNC's decision has pushed other Republicans away despite the committee supposedly being a unifying organization within the party. The censure of Cheney and Kinzinger has had the opposite effect and shows that gap between GOP members who are loyal to Trump and those who are opposing the former president's skewered views on politics.



Related Article: RNC Calls Jan. 6 Riot 'Legitimate Political Discourse,' Censures Cheney, Kinzinger For Involvement in Select Committee

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In this photo taken from video and released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, a detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet passes through ice fields in La Perouse Strait from the Sea of Japan to the Sea of Okhotsk. The Russian military has launched a series of drills amid tensions with the West over Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Donald Trump issued a statement on Monday, blaming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the attack on the U.S. Capitol by his own supporters on January 6, 2021.

To refresh your memory, hundreds of Trump supporters marched to the Capitol to try to prevent Congress and Vice President Mike Pence from certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election.

Trump Blames Pelosi Over The US Capitol Attack

They just returned from a Trump event, and they were acting on Trump's great lie that the presidential election was rigged and stolen for Biden. Trump defied requests from his closest circle to assist in putting an end to the brawl once it began. He didn't want to post a message imploring his supporters to stop and remain peaceful since he was apparently enjoying the clip, as per HuffPost.

In a phone call with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, he expressed less anxiety about the attack and more fear about having the election results reversed. Trump wrapped out the day with a tweet that rehashed his big election falsehood and expressed sympathy for "great patriots."

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence have managed to avoid a full-fledged battle, despite their sharp disagreement about whether Pence had the right to overturn last year's election.

Read Also: Kim Jong Un Reportedly Sends "Love Letters" To Donald Trump; What Do Former President's Documents Contain?

Mike Pence Avoids Hurting Trump

According to The Hill, Pence's statement on Friday, in which he chastised Trump for making un-American comments about reversing President Biden's victory, was his harshest condemnation of his former boss to date.

Allies of the former vice president, who is considered as a possible presidential contender in the future, were ready for a rhetorical barrage from Trump, who has a reputation for attacking allies who oppose him.

Trump, on the other hand, remained rather quiet in his response to the vice president, who is allegedly well-liked by members of the Trump family. In a series of tweets, Trump slammed Pence's remarks but attributed some of the blame to Pence's "advisors," who said he had no option. He wrote, "I was correct, and everyone knows it."

Pence was not insulted, and the former president saved his harshest remarks for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other unnamed "RINOs." Following Trump's well-selected remarks, Pence's carefully phrased denunciation of Trump, it's clear that neither politician believes it's in their best interests to entirely separate from the other.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is considering a White House run, refused to comment on Monday on one of the GOP's most controversial issues: Could then-Vice President Mike Pence have "overturned" the 2020 presidential election?

Former President Donald Trump has claimed that Pence could have swung the election by overturning President Joe Biden's victory by overriding congressional certification of the results. On Friday, Pence rebuked Trump, saying he was "wrong" to believe he had the power to influence the election's outcome.

When pressed by a reporter, DeSantis shifted the subject, saying that while the two years his government overlapped with Trump's, they had a "wonderful working relationship." He then chastised President Joe Biden's White House for impeding his objectives.

If Trump stands for president again in 2024, he will be the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination. According to early primary polls, DeSantis is a distant second, with early surveys showing him leading the field if Trump does not run. In a crowded field that includes Trump loyalists like Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Pence, who is also building the framework for a presidential bid, comes in third, as per NBC News via MSN.

Related Article: Donald Trump's Coffee Table Book Sells Like Hotcakes; How Much Does He Profit From It?

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Re. Gord Marshalls letter We Need a National Guard (Castanet, Feb. 4)

A surprising letter from Gord Marshall pitching for a National Guard to clean up the anarchists not believing in a civilized society or rule of law.

The situation in Ottawa is very, very different from what occurred on Jan. 6 (in Washington D.C.). (The protesters) are not charging into the Parliament buildings, breaking down doors and smashing windows. They are dancing and singing in the streets, picking up garbage, shovelling walkways and feeding the homeless.

Mr. Marshall is right though, the Canada of today is not what it used to be. I remember just two years ago only having to show identification to get on an airplane, not a tracking app on my phone that validates my ability to fly based upon medical status.

I remember being able to go out to eat at any restaurant I should chose, take in a movie, go to a concert or a Rockets game without having to show identification along with the same government issued app.

I remember people treating each other with respect and openness without fearing their fellow citizen was a carrier of a claimed deadly virus. I remember being able to go out dancing (still working on my form).

I remember being able to go to a gym only scanning a simple membership tag.

I remember that years ago, if one walked into a bank wearing a mask, tellers fingers were on the ready to push the emergency button.

Wishing for a military intervention is not going to bring back the Canada of yesterday.That doesnt turn out well and if proof of the outcome is needed. Just ask the citizens of Venezuela.

J. McMullan, West Kelowna
Photo: Contributed

You have likely heard of shrinkflation, in which companies reduce the quantity of an item they sell without changing the price.

This packaging strategy has been going on for years and creates the illusion youre buying the same amount of product. And when supply chains arent working optimally, food products reach store shelves either less fresh than usual or a little too ripe, robbing consumers of some needed shelf life at home. This is called shelflation.

According to a recent poll by Dalhousie University and the app Caddle, 41 per cent of Canadians have thrown away milk in the past 12 months because it went sour before its due date. And 38.5 per cent of respondents have done so at least twice. For 22.8 per cent of those surveyed, it has happened three to five times.

Throwing away spoiled products before due dates has always happened occasionally, but such a high number of occurrences is quite unusual. Anecdotally, many Canadians have lately noticed some of their produce isnt as fresh as it used to be, so it rots much sooner.

Theres no specific data on this and I suspect many Canadians havent noticed anything different.

But shelflation is quite common and pandemics arent the only way a products shelf life can be compromised. Delays due to weather, natural disasters (like we witnessed in British Columbia last year), labour disputes, massive recalls or equipment failures can disrupt a supply chains efficiency.

Cold supply chains  set at 2 C to 8 C  keep perishables fresh from farm to store. But they can be breached for one reason or another.

Mechanical breakdowns, hindrances outside the warehouse or unusually warm temperatures, for example, can shorten the life of or even spoil products before a shipment reaches the store. Perishables need to be refrigerated and kept in high humidity, and those conditions arent routinely met along the supply chain. Food distribution is complex.

The pandemic has clearly disrupted global food supply chains in more ways than one, so we shouldnt be surprised to see more shelflation. Asking food companies to operate with less staff will eventually bring delays and, of course, more waste. And waste at home will certainly contribute to higher food costs for everyone.

The average Canadian family of four will spend about $14,000 on food annually, and at least 50 per cent of that budget is dedicated to perishables. Wasting a good portion of that can be costly.

The shelf life of a product is the time between production and the use-by date. The shelf life for highly perishable foods is set rather conservatively to ensure food safety. Expiry dates or best-before dates are critical to the fabric of our food safety system, and modern technologies have done wonders to prolong the shelf life of many of our products.

In the store, assessing the state of any food with expiry dates is close to impossible due to air-tight packaging. So we zone in on the dates on the packaging. At the grocery store, we essentially buy time along with our food. We will constantly go for products where the best-before or use-by dates are as late as possible.

For produce, we go for items that are appropriately ripe based on when we think it will be consumed. But consumers can only go by the information provided at the point of purchase, without knowing the products history before it reached the store.

Food waste is a significant challenge in our economy. In Canada, about 2.2 million tonnes of edible food is wasted each year. The most common causes of perishable food waste are retailer overstocking, unpredictable consumer demand, inappropriate quality control and product handling. These factors are compounded by issues up the food chain and retailers dont stand much of a chance. So putting the blame solely on the retailer can be misplaced.

Freshness and quality of perishables will obviously vary, depending on where you live and where you shop. Some regions are better served than others.

But unlike shrinkflation, shelflation can be dodged.

Going to the grocery store once a week or once every two weeks may not be ideal, especially with current food supply chain woes. Visiting the store two or three times a week and buying enough for the next two to three days may help you waste less.

We just need to approach our grocery shopping a little differently.

Sylvain Charlebois is senior director of the agri-food analytics lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Atlas Power Atlas Power Technologies? Dean Hedman, director and chief construction officer, (left); Brooke Wade, Atlas board chairman; and Atltas CEO Mitchell Miller. |

In every electronics circuit board you will find capacitors, which are like tiny batteries that help manage the flow of electricity through electronic devices.

Though they cant store nearly as much electricity as batteries, they do a better job of discharging quickly, and are key to regulating the flow of electricity in electronics.

Supercapacitors can store larger amounts of electricity, and the folks at Atlas Power Technologies believe they could simultaneously solve the energy storage problem of renewable energy while also finding a new use for thermal coal with supercapacitors that use activated carbon made from coal or petroleum coke.

Supercapacitors are electrochemical devices that rapidly charge and discharge energy, and can be used as part of the energy storage and management systems for renewable energy -- wind and solar.

What Atlas Power has done is addressed a cost problem that brings down the cost of supercapacitors.

Currently, the activated carbon used in electrodes for supercapacitors is expensive. Much of the activated carbon currently comes from coconut husks, and can cost $10,000 per tonne, Mitchell Miller, CEO for Atlas Power, told BIV News.

With the help of the Mitacs, Atlas Power is building a new manufacturing plant in Abbotsford that will build supercapacitor cells that may address the cost problem by using cheap, plentiful thermal coal or petroleum coke  a byproduct from oil sands --- as a base for making activated carbon.

Though the price of thermal coal has recently skyrocketed to US180 per tonne, due in part of an energy crisis in Europe and China, it was previously in the US$75 per tonne range, and the projections are for a continued decline in demand, as countires around the world phase out thermal coal power.

Mitacs is a national research organization that helps the private sector find university engineers and scientists with the expertise needed to help solve technical challenges for industry.

With the help of Mitacs, Atlas Power has been working with researchers at the University of BC and Simon Fraser University to try to make one of those what if proposals a reality: What if, using an abundant commodity, like coal, or a byproduct of oil sands production, you could make the activated carbon needed to make supercapacitors that could be used in renewable energy storage?

"We spent years developing our own processes to make a very high-grade, highly porous activated carbon with purity enough that it can actually be used in our cells," Miller said.

Atlas is building a new manufacturing plant in Abbotsford, which is expected to be open before the end of this year. Once in production, Miller said the plant will employ 30 to 50 people -- mostly engineers -- and ramp up to about 140.

Mitacs is providing $400,000 in funding and has provided Atlas Power with three interns. UBC Okanagan School of Engineering assistant professor Jian Liu is supervising the UBC team of Mitacs interns.

Were involved in many industrial collaborations and they dont always get this far, Liu said. Not only did this project go better than I ever expected, but our partner is now building their manufacturing capability right here in Canada and thats very important.

Atlas has private backers helping to finance the new plant in Abbotsford, Miller said.

The role of supercapacitors in large scale storage for renewable energy would be as an adjunct to battery storage to provide greater grid stability -- something that becomes increasingly important as more and more intermittent power gets added to the grid, especially wind power. Supercapacitors can provide the "buffering" needed to stabilize eratic power fluctuations from wind in particular.

Batteries can handle the longer storage needs, while supercapacitors can handle the more immediate storage and distribution, keeping the generation, storage and distribution of electricity more balanced and smooth.

"The really heavy duty, high-power fluctuations the supercapacitors handle, and then the...multi-hour durations is where the batteries would play," Miller said. "The supercapacitor is the workhorse. So any of the large variable demand, the supercapacitor will take it on first. And then the batteries will basically get a regulated power that is much more conditioned.

And in a sense, what Atlas proposes is also a buffer between the traditional use of coal for producing power and newer ways of making power.

"Coal has supported our electrical grid for the last 100 years," Miller said. "That's the consumption rate. That's what we need to replace. So it would make natural sense to use that same material to provide the same benefit that it's currently providing to the electrical grid."
Photo: The Canadian Press Conservative MP Chris D'Entremont rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, June 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

A brown envelope containing disturbing images and an apparent skin and eye irritant was mailed to the Barrington, N.S., constituency office of a Nova Scotia Conservative member of Parliament.

Rick Perkins, member for South ShoreSt. Margarets, said today that an identical envelope showed up at his second constituency office in Barrington, N.S., but staff didn't open it.

And Isabelle Lapointe, chief of staff for Conservative member for West Nova Chris d'Entremont, says a third envelope arrived today at his constituency office in Yarmouth, N.S., which wasn't opened thanks to a warning from Perkins's staff.

Perkins says an employee of his Barrington office opened the thick envelope to find pages of strange and "disturbing" images.

He says the man's hands and eyes immediately began to burn and he called 911 to alert the police and then called the neighbouring constituency offices.

Both Perkins and Lapointe say police are investigating and nobody was seriously hurt.
Photo: Contributed

The Law Society of BC has accepted a proposal by former Maple Ridge lawyer David Andrew Riddell, who has agreed not to practice law for 10 years following a child porn conviction.

The settlement with the provinces regulator of legal professionals comes after Riddell pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in September 2019, resulting in a nine-month conditional sentence and 15-month probation.

A society hearing panel found that Riddell had committed conduct unbecoming the profession.

The Law Societys Discipline Committee accepted Riddells proposal that he may not practise law for a period of 10 years. The committee considered Riddells mental health issues for which he has received extensive counselling, as well as protection of the public by Riddell not being permitted to practise for a lengthy period of time, stated the regulator on Monday, via a statement.

The panel noted Riddell viewed the images over a prolonged period of time and it was not a single event. Mitigating his serious offense, the panel noted he had no criminal record prior to his child porn conviction and he had taken responsibility by pleading guilty, showing remorse and attending extensive counselling with a registered psychologist.

Riddell, 50, became a non-practicing lawyer in 2018 after he was charged. He could re-apply to become a lawyer on Jan. 27, 2032 via the societys credentials committee.

Riddell obtained his law degree at the University of Cambridge; in 1993, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales until he and his wife immigrated to Canada in 2001, according to the hearing panel. Riddell joined the society in 2003 and by 2013 he was a sole practitioner in a Maple Ridge law firm specializing in real estate and commercial law.
Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE 2:45 p.m.

British Columbia's New Democrat government is promising to introduce a long-term economic plan that aims to deliver a "fairer, greener economy" as it begins a new legislative session.

Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin read the throne speech in the legislature outlining the government's agenda as politicians return for a spring sitting expected to continue until June.

The government says in its speech that its new economic plan is the result of provincewide consultation with residents who say they want shared economic growth.

The speech says the government will work to implement a plan that makes the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a core principle of every decision it makes.

The government says it will create a new ministry to ensure economic activity aligns with environmental objectives and measures will be introduced to ensure minimum wage increases are tied to the rate of inflation.

The speech comes two weeks ahead of the government's budget, which is expected to include a financial accounting of last fall's floods and mudslides that devastated communities, farms and highways throughout southern B.C.

"If people are not feeling the benefits of a growing economy, then we can't say it's working," the speech says. "In the coming days your government will release a new vision for building a strong economy. To help solve big challenges, like inequality and climate change, with growth that is inclusive and sustainable."

ORIGINAL 7:05 a.m.

Politicians return to the British Columbia legislature today, where the New Democrat government delivers a throne speech outlining its political agenda for the coming months.

The throne speech comes two weeks ahead of the government's budget, which is expected to include a financial accounting of last fall's floods and mudslides that devastated communities, farms and highways throughout southern B.C.

Legislature members are expected to take their seats in the 87-seat chamber, but COVID-19 protocols remain in place and many events will be conducted online.

Economic Recovery Minister Ravi Kahlon says Premier John Horgan will unveil the government's long-range economic development plan next week that addresses future job opportunities and how the province plans to meet the challenges of a transitioning economy.

Horgan was diagnosed with throat cancer late last year and will be back in the legislature after undergoing successful chemotherapy treatments.

Kevin Falcon was elected leader of the B.C. Liberals last weekend, but Shirley Bond will continue to perform leadership duties in the house as he tries to win a seat in a byelection.

Falcon announced Monday that he plans to run in Vancouver-Quilchena, a seat that former leader Andrew Wilkinson has decided to resign. The NDP government has six months to call a byelection after the seat is vacated.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The Ambassador Bridge border crossing between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit has reopened to U.S.-bound traffic after an anti-vaccine mandate demonstration blocked traffic in both directions on Monday evening.

Windsor police say U.S.-bound traffic is moving across the bridge, and vehicles can use the Wyandotte St. West entrance.

They say traffic along Huron Church Road remains congested.

The Canadian Border Services Agency listed the Ambassador Bridge as temporarily closed for both travellers and commercial vehicles on Monday night.

The Michigan Department of Transportation said the Ambassador Bridge remained closed on the U.S. side.

The department said people travelling to Canada should use the Port Huron crossing which connects that American city with Sarnia, Ont.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the Ambassador Bridge is a vital trade crossing point between Canada and the United States.

"Many essential workers, including frontline health care workers, rely on it to get to work," he said on Twitter. "Police are on the scene to ensure traffic is moving safely."

Ontario Provincial Police in Essex County sent out a statement Monday telling drivers to avoid the area, and to take the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia if travelling to the United States.

The demonstration blocking the busiest international commercial land border crossing in North America began Monday afternoon.

Windsor Police say more than 100 protesters remained on the scene early Tuesday. They say no arrests have been made, and they continue to monitor the situation.

The demonstration is one of several in solidarity with similar protests in Ottawa and across the country over COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers and broader public health measures.

Protesters in southern Alberta resumed their blockade of the Coutts border crossing Monday evening, where trucks and other vehicles began parking on the highway on Feb. 5, stranding travellers and cross-border truckers for days.
As the siege in the heart of Canada's capital city entered its 11th day, officials in Ottawa begged for more police reinforcements.

Mayor Jim Watson wrote letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Monday, requesting 1,800 police officers to help quell the insurgency that the Ottawa Police Service is unable to contain. Watson had declared a state of emergency on Sunday, saying the situation is completely out of control.

Ottawa Declares State of Emergency

According to Politico, the demands were made in response to inquiries about whether Ottawa had been allowed to cope with the problem on its own for the most part. As the large rigs of the "Freedom Convoy" dug in on the streets around Parliament Hill, Trudeau, who tested positive for COVID-19 approximately a week ago, has received criticism for being out of the public spotlight in recent days.

He hasn't made any public comments about the campaign since Thursday although it is raising a lot of money from American donors. It has been praised by former President Donald Trump and has attracted similarities to Jan. 6.

The prime minister reappeared in the House of Commons on Monday evening amid a debate regarding the convoys. Trudeau said that his administration has always backed Ottawa in dealing with the protesters. He vowed that it would offer whatever resources the city needed.

According to police, more than 100 "Provincial Offense Notices" were given for infractions, such as loud honking, driving the wrong way, malfunctioning mufflers, no seat belts, having alcohol readily available, and having the wrong type of driving license. So far, 60 criminal investigations have been started in connection with the event, with the most common charges being mischief, theft, hate crimes, and property destruction. Confederation Park has been cleaned and gated in its entirety.

Read Also: Kim Jong Un Reportedly Sends "Love Letters" To Donald Trump; What Do Former President's Documents Contain?

Truckers, Protesters Paralyze Ottawa, Canada

Per Fox News, a hundred Ontario Provincial Police officers have been assigned to the Ottawa Police Service to help with demonstrations. Declaring a state of emergency underscores the substantial danger and threat to citizens' safety and security presented by the continuous demonstrations, Watson said in a statement Sunday.

Canada's public safety minister said Monday that the United States should stay out of his country's internal affairs, joining other Canadian leaders in criticizing prominent Republicans who have expressed support for the COVID-19 mandate protests that have engulfed downtown Ottawa for more than a week.

The mayor requested almost 2,000 additional police officers a day after the city declared a state of emergency to help suppress the rowdy nightly protests organized by the so-called Freedom Truck Convoy, which has paralyzed the Canadian capital's commercial area with hundreds of parked trucks.

The protests have also enraged residents in the downtown area, particularly those living near Parliament Hill, the federal government's seat of power. Embattled Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly described the protest as an "extraordinary protest [has never been] witnessed in Canada" and admitted that officials had not anticipated it lasting longer than three days, as per The Independent via MSN.

Related Article: Canada Anti-Vaccine Protest Consisting of Truckers in Protest Has Caused Chaos in Ottawa, and the Police Reported

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Photo: Glacier Media

Victoria police are investigating reports of vandalism, theft and confrontations between opponents and supporters in the wake of Saturdays protest at the legislature against pandemic health measures.

A smaller group of protesters was back in front of the provincial legislature on Sunday and Monday afternoons. On Monday, about 30 people waved Canadian flags and held signs as they stood on the sidewalk.

Victoria police are looking for a suspect after several vehicles were damaged Saturday during the protest, which at one point police estimated reached 1,500 people.

Officers with the Greater Victoria integrated public safety unit heard from motorists who had parked their vehicles in a lot on Kingston Street. Drivers told police they had seen a man damaging vehicles in the lot and had a photograph of him, police spokesman Bowen Osoko said.

Tires, paint and other surfaces were damaged and items were stolen from inside the vehicles, he said. Police would not say whether any of the vandalized vehicles carried indications of their owners views on health mandates.

Police searched the area, but the man had left, Osoko said.

He is described as Caucasian, 25 to 35 years old with a medium build, short dark-brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a black bomber jacket and a red T-shirt, wore a gold hoop earring in his right ear and had a noticeable birthmark on the right side of his neck.

Saturdays protest numbers were down from a similar demonstration the previous Saturday that attracted about 5,000 people. Similar protests have been held across the country, the most visible in Ottawa, where truckers have occupied the citys capital for over a week.

There were a couple of reports of assaults associated with the protest on Saturday in Victoria. Osoko said police are encouraging people to come forward if they have additional information.

In one protest-related dispute, police received a report early Saturday afternoon of a fight at Douglas and Pembroke streets. One man was arrested and later released on a promise to appear in court next month. He may face charges of assault and mischief under $5,000.

Police are continuing to investigate, Osoko said.

Also on Saturday, an elderly woman staged a one-person counter-protest in the southbound lane of Douglas Street near Hillside Avenue, taking her walker into the street and sitting on it, blocking traffic. Motorists moved to the lane next to the curb on the west side of the street to avoid her.

Osoko said officers told the woman that what she was doing was unlawful and dangerous.

Police escorted the woman to the sidewalk and stood by to make sure she was all right, he said.
Photo: Glacier Media

Soaring COVID-19 hospitalizations in January prompted the B.C. government to lay out its strategy to prepare for overwhelmed hospitals, and made clear how badly the province needs more health-care workers.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said the government could convert space at the Vancouver Convention Centre previously used to vaccinate residents, and create what he called a field hospital.

He added this facility would be of little use without healthy and trained nurses and doctors to care for patients.

Its not the beds or the space, he said. Its the people that is the most significant thing.

Indeed, B.C.s health-care system needed more doctors, nurses, paramedics and other personnel long before the pandemic descended, industry insiders say.

The Omicron wave of COVID-19 infections accentuated the problem, prompting more than 11 per cent of B.C.s 188,000 health-care workers to call in sick in early January, Dix said.

Absenteeism was nearly double what it was for that part of January, compared with January 2020, he added.

The sick workers included many of B.C.s more than 14,000 doctors, and nearly 63,000 nurses.

Adding more health-care workers in B.C. is a challenging task because the shortages have many causes. It is not simply a matter of pumping more money into medical schools and nursing programs.

We keep losing doctors due to the difficult conditions they often find themselves working in, said Ramneek Dosanjh, president of the doctors advocacy organization Doctors of BC. Issues range from extremely long hours that extend into unpaid evening hours for completing paperwork and forms, such as insurance, WorkSafeBC.

She added that doctors endure rising costs to run their businesses. One sticking point is how doctors are paid.

For many family doctors, the established fee-for-service model works really well, but for others thats not the case, she said.

Doctors of BC is also urging the provinces Ministry of Health to allow virtual care to become a permanent option for doctors, alongside in-person appointments.

The aging population means more doctors, nurses and others are retiring. Younger workers can suffer burnout because they are overworked, and leave after a few years on the job, BC Nurses Union president Aman Grewal says.

In many cases, working conditions include not having access to protective gear, such as N95 masks, or being redeployed to different workplaces with little notice, Grewal said.

That, she added, can diminish job satisfaction to the point where some nurses quit.

Full-time registered nurses in B.C. make between $70,656 and $92,784 per year, which is in line with other provinces, according to the unions contract that expires March 31.

Integrating foreign-trained nurses is another problem, as they have to endure what Grewal called a lengthy and arduous process.

Internationally trained nurses must contact the Toronto-based National Nursing Assessment Service, send in a bevy of notarized documents and have that organization contact their schools to verify their education, among other details.

The process takes up to a year and can include a range of fees that push the total cost into the thousands of dollars.

Aspiring B.C. nurses then ask NNAS to send their applications to various provincial nursing colleges across Canada, such as this provinces BC College of Nurses and Midwives.

The BCCNM then requires applicants to pay more fees, and pass tests for language proficiency and skills, Grewal said.

She added that a simpler process would be to deal with the BCCNM from start to finish.

The longer that [internationally trained nurses] remain out of the profession, the more difficult it becomes for them to transition back, she said.

BCCNM CEO Cynthia Johansen says two pilot projects are aimed at speeding up the assessment process to help internationally trained nurses enter the B.C. workforce in appropriate nursing roles.

One of those pilot projects enables nurses to complete competency assessments for three designations simultaneously.

Before 2018, B.C. had three colleges that licensed nurses. Those colleges have since amalgamated, and Johansen said this means processes are more streamlined.

We also recognize the need for more nurses and are working closely with our partners to remove barriers, she said.

Grewal has lobbied government to provide more funding to nursing programs across the province.

Demand for seats in nursing schools is strong, and it is the provincial government that sets the quota for how many students schools can admit.

The University of British Columbias School of Nursing, for example, last year had 860 applicants seeking the schools 129 registered-nurse seats, director Elizabeth Saewyc said.

UBCs nursing school also annually accepts about 40 students to its masters degree program, about 30 to its nurse practitioner program, about 35 to its nurse-educator and long-term-care home manager program, and between seven to 10 students to its PhD program, Saewyc said.

Additional government funding means that UBC can accept 150 registered nursing students in September  8.5 per cent more than last year.

Provincewide, about 1,300 registered nursing students graduate annually from nearly 20 nursing schools.

Even if more government funding were available, a limited supply of instructors would remain a barrier to training nurses. Nursing programs also require placements in clinical settings in hospitals, and there is a limit to how many student nurses can be in hospital wards at the same time, Saewyc said.
Photo: The Canadian Press Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe

Saskatchewan announced a plan to lift all of its COVID-19 restrictions.

Starting Monday, Feb. 14, Saskatchewan will no longer require COVID-19 vaccine passports. It is also ending its indoor mask mandate at the end of the month.

Premier Scott Moe said Tuesday that providing proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter businesses like restaurants had helped in the fight against spread of the virus.

But he said it also created deep divisions in the province  in effect "two classes of citizens."

"The benefits of this policy no longer outweighs the costs," Moe said, adding people should be able to choose whether they get vaccinated or not.

"This government is going to respect that right."

eHealth Saskatchewan will continue to make proof of vaccination records and QR codes available to Saskatchewan residents for use where needed including for travel or in other jurisdictions.

Moe said it's time to take the next step in living with Covid-19 and getting lives back to normal.

"The benefits no longer outweigh the costs. It's time to heal the divisions over vaccination in our families, in our communities and in our province. It's time for proof of vaccination requirements to end."

Moe said vaccines and rapid test kits will continue to be widely accessible throughout the province.

"As we shift to living with COVID-19, there is a continuing need for personal responsibility for self-monitoring, self-testing and self-management," Moe said. "It will be important for individuals to assess their own risk and comfort levels, and to take appropriate action if they are unwell."

Residents are encouraged to continue to help reduce the transmission of COVID-19, including wearing your best mask, taking advantage of free rapid testing, regular handwashing, staying home when ill and getting vaccinated, including a third/booster dose as soon as you are eligible.
February 4, 2022  new study by CDC authors and global partners in the journal Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses highlights the burden of flu among pregnant woman and their infants in the tropical African nation of Kenya as part of a broader effort to raise flu vaccination rates among pregnant women globally. The study found that women were twice as likely to get sick with flu during their pregnancy compared to after their pregnancy and that flu illness also was more common among women with HIV. Like many middle-income countries, Kenya does not have a flu vaccination program. This study, which underscores potential benefits from maternal flu vaccination in Kenya, is the latest study in an international effort to document the global burden of flu among pregnant women to help inform policy for the use of maternal influenza vaccination.

In the U.S. pregnant women have been known to be at higher risk of developing serious flu complications for many years. In 1960, the US Surgeon General first recommended influenza vaccination for people at high risk, including pregnant women. About 61% of pregnant women in the U.S. get an annual flu vaccine. Internationally, flu vaccination programs are rare, particularly among lower and middle-income countries. CDCs international flu program has been working since 2014 to establish an evidence base to inform flu vaccine policy in other countries. This effort has resulted in 12 studies looking at the burden of flu and potential benefit of vaccination among pregnant women in list countries.

This study in Kenya is among few that have explored flu disease burden among pregnant women in tropical or middle-income countries. The study in Kenya enrolled 3,026 pregnant women and 2,550 infants during June 2015 through May 2020. The study looked for prenatal incidence of laboratory-confirmed flu among mothers and postnatal incidence among mothers and infants. The study confirmed that pregnant women were more likely to get sick from flu during their pregnancy compared with after they give birth. Additionally, like Kenya, many tropical areas of Africa have higher prevalence of diseases like HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria that may influence both the incidence and complications of flu illness.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended in 2012 that countries prioritize pregnant women for flu vaccination. This studys findings suggests that Kenyan authorities should consider the value of vaccinating pregnant women, especially if they are HIV-infected because they are at higher risk for severe influenza illness or mortality.

This eight-year program was supported by funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), Influenza Division. Partners in this endeavor included Australia, Canada, China, El Salvador, India, Israel, Kenya, Laos, Panama, Peru, South Africa, Thailand, and the United States.

Previous U.S studies have shown that pregnant women are at higher risk for flu-related complications and hospitalization and frequently seek medical care for flu-related illness. Changes to the immune system, heart, and lungs during pregnancy make people more susceptible to influenza severe enough to cause hospitalization throughout pregnancy and up to two weeks postpartum. Influenza also may be harmful for the developing baby. Influenza illness may be associated with late pregnancy loss or low birth weight. Parental vaccination also can help protect a baby from influenza after birth (because antibodies are passed to a developing baby during pregnancy).

Getting an influenza (flu) vaccine is the first and most important step in protecting against flu. Pregnant people should get a flu shot. Flu shots given during pregnancy help protect both the pregnant parent and the baby from flu. A list of recent studies on the benefits of flu vaccination for pregnant people is available.

For more information about flu vaccination during pregnancy visit: Flu & Pregnancy | CDC. More information about flu vaccine safety during pregnancy is available at Flu Vaccine Safety and Pregnancy.

You can find this study and similar one available online:
Saudi cement sales fall 6% to 4.9Mt in January

08 February 2022

The total sales of 17 Saudi cement producers fell per cent to 4.9Mt in January, compared to 5.2Mt in the same month last year, according to recent data issued by Yamama Cement Co.

Locally, 13 market players reported lower sales, led by Northern Region Cement Co with a 60 per cent YoY decline. It was followed by United Cement Industrial Co (down 35 per cent YoY), and Al-Jouf Cement Co, down 24 per cent YoY.

On the other hand, four companies recorded higher sales, headed by Yamama Cement Co with a 65 per cent rise YoY. It was followed by Al-Safwa Cement Co and Tabuk Cement, which saw their sales increase by 25 and 12 per cent YoY, respectively.

Five companies exported 64,000t of cement in January. Saudi Cement Co led the way with 35,000t of exports, according to argaam. Six companies exported clinker in January. Arabian Cement Co was top with 101,000t of exports. It was followed by Northern Cement and Saudi Cement with 82,000t, and 50,000t, respectively.

Clinker production grew by six per cent to 4.86Mt in the same month, compared to 4.6Mt in January 2021. Clinker inventories saw a decline of three per cent to 34.76Mt by January-end, down from 35.97Mt a year earlier.

Published under
Beijing reports no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases

Xinhua) 13:33, February 08, 2022

BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Beijing on Monday reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the municipal health commission said Tuesday.

This is the first time the Chinese capital has reported zero new confirmed local cases since Jan. 17.

Beijing reported one imported COVID-19 case and eight imported asymptomatic carriers on Monday, according to the health commission.

As more people return to Beijing after the Spring Festival, the city has urged its residents to adhere to strict protection measures such as necessary nucleic acid testing and home quarantine requirements.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Prince Andrew will join the Queen for a commemoration ceremony for his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, later this month.

The queen, who has now returned to Windsor Castle to resume her responsibilities, will appear beside the Duke on March 29 at Westminster Abbey for a thanksgiving ceremony for Prince Philip. The Duke of Edinburgh, the country's longest-serving consort, died on April 9 at the age of 99, only two months before his 100th birthday, as per Daily Mail.

Prince Andrew Will Appear Alongside Queen Elizabeth

According to sources close to the royal family, the Duke of York is scheduled to meet with attorneys representing Virginia Roberts in London on March 10 - over three weeks before the commemoration ceremony - where he will speak under oath.

Roberts is suing Andrew in New York, claiming she was forced to have sex with the prince three times when she was 17 after being trafficked by paedophile millionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew strongly denies the allegations.

The Prince's legal team in the United Kingdom is preparing him for a two-day grilling by David Boies, 80, one of America's most well-known attorneys, and Sigrid McCawley. Prince Andrew will be questioned about three alleged assaults in 2001 after he was stripped of all of his military titles and royal peerages last month after the matter was confirmed as heading to trial.

According to The Sun Online, it has not been confirmed if Prince Harry would attend the commemoration event for Prince Philip with other members of the Royal Family. Meanwhile, the Queen was seen with her state documents on a table in front of her and a heartbreaking portrait of her father, King George VI, nearby as she commemorated her 70-year reign.

There are no hints that she will take a break from public appearances this year. In the coming days, Palace officials are anticipated to announce a series of public appearances for the Queen, including a slew of 'hardy annuals' like the Commonwealth Day Service in March, signifying her gradual return to work.

Read Also: Kanye West Refuses To Sign Divorce Papers, Accuses Kim Kardashian of Calling Him a Thief

Queen Elizabeth II Renews Vow To Carry on the Throne

The Queen plans to attend the Duke of Edinburgh's thanksgiving ceremony on March 29 and a diplomatic reception at Windsor on March 2. She will also attend The Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14 - one of three engagements listed so far by palace officials.

They will undoubtedly come as a comfort to the millions of people who have been anxious about her health since last autumn. In light of her age, she will mark her 96th birthday in April.

Her Majesty will continue to realistically pace herself in the run-up to the main jubilee celebrations in June, according to sources. In the run-up to her four-day Platinum Jubilee festivities in June, the Queen will take part in a number of engagements.

Today, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, making her the first sovereign in British history to do so. The Queen has been on the throne for 70 years, following the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952.

This extraordinary anniversary will be her first without her loving husband, Prince Philip, who passed away in April. Throughout the year, national events take place, culminating in a four-day bank holiday extravaganza in June.

Per Daily Express, a magnificent performance will be broadcast live from Buckingham Palace, as well as a Thanksgiving service and a pageant on The Mall. Her Majesty is presently on the Sandringham estate, where she spends her winter holiday every year and has returned after quietly commemorating the loss of her father.

Related Article: Prince Charles' Wife, Camilla, Gets Heartwarming Message From Queen Elizabeth II: Call Her "Queen," Not Princess Consort

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Aahil Bhagyaraj, a 10-year-old fifth grader from Chattanooga, has been honored as one of the brightest students in the world by the The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth.Aahil, a student at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts School, was honored with a Grand Honors Medal for an exceptional performance on the SAT, ACT, School and College Ability Test, or similar assessment taken as part of the CTY Talent Search. CTY uses above-grade-level testing to identify advanced students from around the world and provide a clear picture of their academic abilities.Normally, CTY holds a banquet in Baltimore for Grand Honors Awardees and their families, where medals are given to the students.However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the award ceremony was held virtually on Saturday. Awardees received their medals in the mail.Aahil earned this award by scoring in the top tier on both subjects (math and reading) on an above grade level exam and allows him to take advanced level courses. His math score put him in the 99th percentile when compared with Middle School students.He was one of nearly 19,000 students from 84 countries who joined CTY in the 2020-21 Talent Search year. Less than 28 percent of those participants qualified for the CTY ceremony, receiving either high or grand honors based on their test scores. Students who earn Grand Honors have test scores that are among the highest of all CTY Talent Search participants and represent approximately the top 9 percent of all participants.Dr. Virginia Roach, CTYs executive director, congratulated honorees for earning top scores on their test. Your results place you at the top of the top, and that is a great accomplishment, Dr. Roach said, while adding that CTYs Talent Search isnt just about achievement, Its about promise.Alumni of CTY include the co-founder of Google, the CEO of Facebook and leaders in the sciences, arts and government.Honorees also qualified for CTYs Online and On-Campus Summer Programs. CTY offers more than 250 online courses for advanced students in subjects including mathematics, computer programming, chemistry, physics, reading and writing. There are more than 15,500 enrollments in CTY Online Programs courses each year. CTY will also host students at sites across the U.S. this year, including Johns Hopkins University, Loyola Marymount University, Seattle University and UC-Santa Cruz during its On-Campus Summer Programs.
Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson announced the addition of a new K-9 to the team of deputies at the Walker County Sheriffs Office.

Rudie, a Dutch Shepherd who will be two years old this month, was awarded to the Sheriffs Office through a grant 100 percent funded by a nonprofit  Beyond the Call of Duty from Spokane Valley, Wa.

The grant supplied the canine training and boarding with an approximate value of $15,600.

Rudie and his handler, Deputy P.J. Doyle, began a rigorous six week training course in December at Custom Canine Unlimited, learning to work as a team in narcotic and evidence searches, obedience, tracking and apprehension.

Rudie and Deputy Doyle successfully completed their training in January.

Sheriff Wilson conveyed his appreciation and gratitude to Beyond the Call of Duty Chairman J.C. Shah who was instrumental in making the donation possible.


Southern Adventist Universitys School of Music invites the community to an evening of popular music themed Out of This World, presented by the Wind Symphony, Jazz Ensemble, and Steel Band. Under the direction of Ken Parsons and Keith Lloyd, the concert will be on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. in the Iles P.E. Center. Please plan on wearing a mask.

The evening will include works such as East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Brooks Bowman, Mothership by Mason Bates, Star Wars Trilogy by John Williams, Its Only a Paper Moon by Harold Arlen, and more.

This event is free and open to the public and also will be livestreamed at southern.edu/streaming. For more information, visit southern.edu/musicevents or call 236-2880.
The city of Collegedale has started the process of renaming a public area to honor the late State Rep. Mike Carter for his achievements and contributions to the city. The resolution that passed unanimously gave City Manager Wayon Hines authority to write a letter to the Hamilton County Legislative delegation asking for their assistance in renaming an intersection, the section of a road or bridge. Rep. Carter grew up in the Ooltewah-Ringgold Road area on his familys farm. The exact location that will be renamed in his honor will be determined at a later date.

During the discussion, council member Phil Garver brought up the idea for the city to have a committee determine appropriate criteria for when Collegedale renames public spaces in the future. But he said he was certainly in favor of doing this for Rep. Carter.

Another unanimous vote gave approval for a new building automation system for the Collegedale city hall and library buildings. The low bid was $28,373 and it was included in the budget. The new system will control heating and air conditioning in the buildings for efficiency. Lights and electric use could be added later. City Manager Hines said a similar system installed by Sevierville, a city comparable in size to Collegedale, resulted in saving half of prior electric costs and one third of gas costs.

A vacancy on the Parks and Recreation Board was filled with the approval of Robert Gould. The commissioners were told that Mr. Gould has lived in Collegedale for seven years and has been active on the foundation board as treasurer and as a volunteer helping with the latest programs and events the department has held.

After attending the Chinese New Year celebration at Collegedale Commons, Commissioner Garver said that he thinks it would be a good idea for the city to clear up a mistaken belief that everything that happens at the Collegedale Commons is sponsored by the city. One comment he heard last weekend was disapproving of celebrating China with all that is going on there now.

The event was actually organized by a church as a fundraiser and had nothing to do with the city, said the commissioner. Mayor Katie Lamb and Commissioner Debbie Baker also attended the New Years event and described it as a very nice celebration sharing their customs and that is what the city wants. All commissioners agreed that Collegedale welcomes this type of activity and diversity. People find things to complain about that they do not really understand, said Vice Mayor Tim Johnson.

Commissioner Garver also brought up the issue of residents in Collegedale being unable to get the citys name on their drivers license because the zip code is Ooltewah. He asked for this to be looked into. Your drivers license should tell the truth about where you live, he said.

The city manager announced that a community survey will become available and can be logged into on the citys website this coming Friday. He also said with no business to conduct, the planning commission will not meet next week at the regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 14.
A homeowner on Montview Drive told police they found a gun. When the officer arrived, the homeowner took the officer into their backyard and showed a gun in their bushes. The gun was rusty and appeared to have been outside for a long time. The homeowner said police were chasing someone who jumped their fence on Jan. 13, 2020. The homeowner said they didn't know if the two things were related but that was the only way they could think of the gun would have gotten there. The officer ran the gun through NCIC and it has not been reported stolen. The officer took the gun to Property.

* * *

Police found a black Land Rover in the parking lot of America's Best Inn at 7017 Lee Hwy. The vehicle had the windows down and had a license plate that did not return on file. Police did not locate the occupants of the vehicle.

* * *

While on routine patrol on West 6th Street, an officer saw a white Toyota Camry parked on the street near Hotel Indigo without a license plate. The officer ran the VIN and found it to belong to a woman. The tag had not been reported stolen and it is unknown if the woman is aware the tag is not on her vehicle. The officer called the woman and left a voicemail.

* * *

A man told police one of his vehicles, a 1983 Cadillac Deville, was taken from Jay's Bar at 1914 Wilder St. The man was made aware of this by his father. The man said the car is not drivable and must have been towed. He said the keys were not in the car. Inside the Cadillac are two side spoiler pieces valued at approximately $100. As of right now, the man does not have any suspect information. The vehicle was entered into NCIC.

* * *

While conducting an arrest on Signal Mountain Road, a mans phone was removed from his pocket and set on top of a patrol vehicle. It is unclear if the phone was ever secured inside the patrol car for transport. It is believed however, the phone was not secured and lost during transport. The man was notified his phone could not be located upon arrival at Silverdale Jail and the man was understanding of the accidental error.

* * *

Police responded to a vandalism incident at Applebees at 5606 Brainerd Road. An employee said when he was leaving work, he noticed that someone had attempted to remove the catalytic converter from his Ford Ranger. The officer saw the exhaust pipe directly behind the catalytic converter just before the second collector sawed off. Additionally, the officer noticed that the forward collector that connects the Y pipe was not tampered with. Therefore, the catalytic converter was not entirely removed or cut out. The employee told police it would cost around $100 to repair.



* * *

A woman on Hickory Trace Circle told police she was unable to park her car in her driveway because an unoccupied vehicle was blocking her path. The woman was going to wait at the Speedway until police checked out the vehicle. The officer arrived and found a gold Honda Accord in the roadway and blocking the womans driveway. The car was also partially blocking a nearby fire hydrant. The doors were left unlocked but the keys were not found. The car was towed to 1709 Chickamauga Loop by Airport Wrecker because it was a traffic hazard.

* * *

A car was left running and unattended in an owners driveway on Peggy Lane. Someone took the vehicle, but it was found at 404 Tunnel Blvd. about 15 minutes later. The car was not entered into NCIC since it was recovered. The owner wants to press charges but will have to wait til footage can be reviewed per RTIC/Auto Crimes. The possible suspects left in a red, four-door sedan parked in the rear of the apartments at 404 Tunnel Blvd. No prints were able to be lifted from the car.

* * *

An employee at Fesco at 1209 South Watkins St. told police a customer had found a projectile in the parking lot by his vehicle. The employee had placed the projectile in a plastic bag for police. Police recovered the projectile and put it into Chattanooga Police property division.

* * *

An officer was called to check on a person walking in the road on East 11th Street. The officer found two men who kind of fit the description, sitting in the area. They had not seen or heard of anyone walking in the road. They were told they cannot be lying around and asked them to move to a less visible place if they intend on taking a nap.

* * *

Police were called to Lowes at 5425 Hwy 153 on a report of a woman, wearing a gray pull-over and red pants, running around parking lots and acting strange. An officer spoke with the woman who said she was upset about, what she described as, life choices. After speaking with her for a moment, she did not appear to be a danger to herself or others. The woman said she felt safe and did not need assistance.
Ever so often the best stories recirculate on the Internet and over the weekend one of my favorites about sheer gratitude popped up on my screen. Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, whose name is enshrined in our Medal of Honor Museum, is perhaps one of the bravest of the brave but his most vivid stripes came when he was lost at sea for 24 days during World War II.



I dont know who wrote this story but I remember reading it for the first time some 50-odd years ago. Please indulge me because it is one of my favorites on the type of heroes who forged our country into one far better that would allow senseless COVID panic, criminal smash-and-steal episodes in our trendy shopping malls, and drug dealers to check in at our jails before they are out on the streets anew.



Eddie Rickenbacker was the stuff, and when you see the progressives maul our public education system, our truckers make mockery of ridiculous mandates, and our black children told it's okay if they cant read by the third grade, the wish that some Rickenbackers would still walk among us is oh so real:



* * *



THANK YOU .. THANK YOU  THANK YOU

(Author Unknown)

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.



Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.



Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the Pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts ... and his bucket of shrimp.



Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky, a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.

Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you



In a few short minutes, the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn't leave. He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place.



When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along The Pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away.



And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.



If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like a 'funny old duck,' as my Dad used to say. Or, to onlookers, he's just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.



To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant, maybe even a lot of nonsense.



Old folks often do strange things, at least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters. Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida. That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better.



His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero in World War I, and then he was in WWII. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane and climbed into a life raft.



Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger and thirst. By the eighth day, their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were or even if they were alive.



Every day across America millions wondered and prayed that Eddie Rickenbacker might somehow be found alive.



The men adrift needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle.



They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged on. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft. Suddenly Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull!



Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal of it - a very slight meal for eight men. Then they used the intestines for bait. With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait...and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued after 24 days at sea.



Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull... And he never stopped saying, 'Thank you.' That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.



PS: Eddie Rickenbacker was the founder of Eastern Airlines. Before WWI he was a race car driver. In WWI he was a pilot and became America's first ace. In WWII he was an instructor and military adviser, and he flew missions with the combat pilots. Eddie Rickenbacker is a true American hero. And now you know another story about the trials and sacrifices that brave men have endured for your freedom.



P.S. And the road into Key Biscayne is the Rickenbacker Causeway.



P.S. Eddie Rickenbacker, who was awarded The Medal of Honor, died at the age of 82 in 1973 and is buried in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.



royexum@aol.com




To Chester Martin: Just read your nice article about the General. Here are a few of my observations.



I remember the General when it was in the Union Station. In the early 50s my brother and I used to climb all over it.



There were a number of Raider survivors including William Pittenger who wrote Capturing a Locomotive: A History of Secret Service in the Late War , a riveting account of the episode available as a free download from the Gutenberg Project.

Am enclosing a photo of some of the survivors celebrating the 50th reunion in Chattanooga at the National Cemetery. William Pittenger was not among them, having died about 10 years earlier.

Finally I recall in the 1970s that Mayor Ralph Kelly ordered Chattanooga police to apprehend the locomotive in the Wauhatchie Yards on its way to Atlanta while a lawsuit to retain the citys symbol was in process. This became known as Kellys Raiders.

Bill Holmes

Texas
It was Valentines Day 1958 and I was in the fifth grade at White Oak Elementary School. The one-story brick building was located at James Avenue and Memorial Drive with two large playgrounds. The school had a spacious auditorium with stage where students presented live plays. I remember playing a pilgrim in a Thanksgiving play.



Mrs. Floyd Carver was our fifth grade teacher and we celebrated with valentine exchanges and delicious cake and punch provided by several room mothers. When we departed the classroom I didnt have any idea it would be our last time in that building where other members of my family had gone to school. For some reason I left a container of valentines and a brand new box of crayons in my desk. It was a beautiful Friday afternoon and when school was out some of us walked home together.



The next morning (Saturday) we woke up to several inches of snow. I cant remember if weather reports had forecast the five to seven inches all over the area. The White Oak community was without power for a short time, but other parts of Hamilton County werent as fortunate.

As kids we enjoyed the weekend and come Monday morning Superintendent Sam McConnell called Luther to say that Hamilton County Schools would be closed, giving students another day of fun making snowmen and having snowball fights.



Tuesday started out much the same way, but while watching the Bob Brandy show and cartoons in the afternoon with a friend; his sister came into the room saying our school is on fire. You could see the billowing smoke all over Midvale Park where we lived. Dozens of volunteers rushed to the school to try and save as much as possible. They were able to get some books, desks and supplies from the library and several classrooms on the upper side of the school, but the fire moved rapidly and soon had consumed the school. Many parents, students, teachers and nearby neighbors watched years of memories go up in flames. Fourth grade teacher Margaret Sanders told me later she lost all her teaching aids collected during her career.



The Red Bank Fire Department had two trucks and pumped water from the nearby Duck Pond. There was no mutual aid, so other fire departments stayed in their stations. I was told that Chattanooga wanted to respond, but insurance restrictions prevented firefighters from going outside the city limits. A retired fire chief told me with additional equipment and manpower it would have been hard to save the aging structure. The Hamilton County investigator ruled the fire accidental and said it probably started in the furnace area.



My mother didnt allow me to go to the scene, although I walked to the top of the hill on James Avenue with several other students and watched the flames and billowing smoke. I told my mom years later what Id done and she just frowned. That was her school growing up also and she had many memories.



We turned on WDXB radio and they were doing live two-way radio reports with Luke Wilson and Dewey Bryant. I even remember the number one song being played, Lollipop by the Chordettes. Its funny how I also remember some of the other music, Sugartime by the McGuire Sisters and "Tequila" by the Champs. Elvis and the Platters were very popular.



By mid-week Hamilton County Schools reopened, but White Oak Elementary was closed. Three nearby churches, White Oak Baptist, White Oak Methodist and White Oak Church of Christ, came to the communitys rescue and opened their doors. We finished the year going to school in church. Cafeteria workers and volunteers prepared us lunch in the churches' kitchens. Happy Valley, Mayfield and Sealtest Daries pitched in with milk and ice cream. Other businesses donated food for the students. One day for lunch, the Krystal donated two hamburgers each for the entire student body.



One of my classmates was Bill Raines. Mr. Raines was promoted to major general in the Army Reserves and is very successful in real estate. The White Oak Elementary alumnus was a leader in building the new Charles Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center.



The new elementary school was being built a few blocks away on county property that once was the Hamilton County Workhouse, so the White Oak churches graciously let us use their worship houses another year.



The fire didnt dampen school spirit. Mrs. Percy Varner was the glee club director and she made sure our choir performed when invited. We sang before the White Oak and Red Bank Lions Clubs and several of the area churches.



I never went to elementary school in the new building, although both my children did. Mr. Ed Brinkley was very proud of the new White Oak Elementary School and served as principal until he retired.



Years later I asked on my radio talk show if anyone had any pictures of the school fire and a listener sent me one.

There are many memories of the White Oak Elementary School for my wife Julie. When the fire occurred she was in Miss Myrtle Jones first grade class. Her great uncle, Professor J.E. Brown, served as the long time principal of the school before Mr. Ed Brinkley. Her grandmother, Mrs. A.E. Brown, was teaching sixth grade. Mrs. Browns classroom was on the side next to Memorial Drive and lost most of her teaching aids collected over many years. Family members wanted to try and save some of her collection but the raging fire prevented them from entering the burning structure.

Attorney Hoyt Samples remembered, "I grew up on Lyndon Avenue and my father took me down to the fire when it happened. I was about three and a half then, and somewhere I have some slides of the fire.

"I had Mrs. Carver for fifth grade; Miss Jones for first; Mrs. Parker for third; Mrs. DeLuce (one of my favorites who became a life long friend) for fourth and Mrs. Mullis for sixth.

"I have great memories of the new school and got a great education.

"Bill Rainess mom was the secretary and the principal worked at Ruby Falls and wrote a book on it.

"All in all, a great time and thank you for the memories!"

Every Valentines Day I cant help but remember the White Oak Elementary School fire that occurred 64 years ago.

Earl Freudenberg

HeyEarl1971@epbfi.com
Robert Bob Cyphers, 85, of Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, went to be with his Savior on February 5, 2022.

Bob was born to the late Mr. Harvey Cyphers and Mrs. Mary Hoover Cyphers in Kittanning, Pa., on Aug. 17, 1936.

Bob was a kind and generous man with a truly giving heart who was lovingly known as stubborn and a terrible driver. He served his country in the United States Air Force for 20 years. After his military retirement, Bob surrendered to his calling and went to seminary to become a minister and share the love of Jesus. He was a loving husband and a devoted father and grandfather. Bob was a prayer warrior who belonged to Parkway Baptist Church and was also a member of their choir. Bob always remembered every grandchild and great grandchilds birthday because Bobs faith was his priority. He was always giving another chance to everyone who needed it. Bobs love and kindness will be missed by all of those fortunate enough to have known him.

He was preceded in death by his first wife of 61 years, Mrs. Cherrio Cyphers, his parents, sisters and his daughter-in-law Sandee Cyphers.

Bob is survived by his loving wife, Jo Ann Cyphers, son, Dyke Cyphers, daughters; Fonda (John) Parshall and Tawnya (Jay) Fowler. 10 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews also survive to cherish Bobs memory.

To leave online condolences for the family please visit www.lane-southcrestchapel.com.

A funeral service for Bob will be conducted in the chapel of Lane Funeral Home and Crematory South Crest Chapel on Friday, Feb. 11, at 11:30 a.m. with the Revs. Dyke Cyphers, Doug Ripley and David Sampson officiating. Interment will follow in the Chattanooga National Cemetery with military honors rendered.

The family will receive friends at Lane Funeral Home and Crematory on Friday, Feb. 11, from 9:30 a.m. until the service hour.

Arrangements are by Lane Funeral Home and Crematory, Rossville.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will broadcast an event on Saturday, Feb. 19 at noon for children (ages three-11) focused on baptism, the Holy Ghost and the sacrament. The event will be broadcast on Gospel for Kids YouTube channel and at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, as well as other media outlets.



This event is for children everywhere, including the greater Chattanooga area. Parents and teachers are also invited to participate. The event will be available in Spanish, American Sign Language (ASL), French, German, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Cantonese and English.



The childrens organization of the Church is known as Primary.

The Primary General Presidency, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is made up of a president and two counselors. Camille Johnson is president, and Susan H. Porter and Amy A. Wright are first and second counselors, respectively. Under the direction of the First Presidency, they teach and meet with Primary leaders throughout the world.Local primaries and primary presidencies operate in every stake, ward and branch (geographic regions) across the globe. In the Chattanooga stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are 13 primary organizations and about 484 primary children and 108 primary teachers. Leneda Jo Laing is the Chattanooga stake primary president, and Kathleen Patricia Daggs and Mary Bess Young are first and second counselors, respectively, with Jayme Lynn Hodges as stake primary secretary.According to officials, the purpose of Primary is to help children come to know Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost so that they can progress along the covenant path as they meet lifes challenges. As recorded in Isaiah, All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children (Isaiah 54:13).This year, Primary children are studying from the Old Testament. The Old Testament, as noted, predicted and prophesied of the coming of the Savior, His life and Atonement.Given the importance of the Old Testament's message, the Church is offering free Old Testament resources, including stories and lessons for children, at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-stories-2022?lang=eng and https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-primary-old-testament-2022?lang=eng.

"These resources help children come to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us. They know us by name. So, please mark your calendar for Saturday, Feb. 19 at noon for the worldwide broadcast celebrating the great love They have for the children of the world," officials said.
A headless Ancient Egyptian bronze statue was found by archeologists who were perplexed about the origins of the artifact. Through the use of modern technology, an answer may be provided to the puzzle.

It was discovered in a Saqqara site which has yielded amazing relics from the Nile Kingdom several thousand years old.

Ancient Headless Statue Found in Egypt

Located 20 miles from south of Cairo is on the Nile River's western bank where it served as the city of the Dead for Memphis an ancient Capital. Saqqara is where several pyramids have been built, one of the distinct structures is the Step Pyramid that was constructed in the27th Century BC, reported the Express .

According to Mohammad Youssef, the archaeologist and Director of Saqqara, Antiquities Area is managed by the Supreme Council of Antiquities which has been excavating officially close to Step Pyramid for many years.

He and several members were the ones who discovered the enigmatic bronze statue that was featured in the 2021 documentary called 'Tomb Hunters.'

Yousef described the artifact of a scribe in his chair with a papyrus roll he's got in both hands, but he notices the head of the statue is gone.

While on the site the artifact was found near the tomb of Pinomis a highly ranked official then; though initial thought was the sitting scribe was an image of another official.

When examined the researchers saw it was a bronze statue, not stone; which was unexpected as the material was used for gods and kings due to its malleability.

Later the examinations of the headless ancient Egyptian bronze statue according to the experts saying the man depicted was not ordinary; he was someone important.

Read Also: Ancient Egypt's Legendary Temple of the Sun Discovered After 4,500 Years Hidden Under the Sands

Using modern computer modeling to recreate the head, led to a familiar face to Egyptology.

The researchers declared after the process, it was one who is seen in major exhibitions all over the world in such a collection. It was Imhotep who devised the step pyramid.

He revolutionized the pyramid building as the best architect of ancient Egypt, he used the design on the pharaoh Djoser's tomb. It was the first known monument in the ancient world called the Step Pyramid; Imhotep is a byword in western culture.

He added several layers to a single-story mastaba by adding five more layers to make it taller. It's recognizable for its unique layered incline as an iconic feature.

Egyptologist Explains the Structure

Dr. Bob Bianchi called the step pyramid of Saqqara very amazing due to its as the oldest monument made in stone.

Inside the pyramid were the tombs of the pharaoh and family members, with rooms for other purposes. Tunnels in the pyramid were linked to a central shaft that would have a regular measure inside the tunnels.

When the first pyramid was built it was important in Egyptian history; when from 450 years that was a golden era in the time of Pinomis.

It was a boom time for the Nile Kingdom that started massive monuments with unparalleled riches in the ancient world.

Aliaa Ismail said it was anyone's guess then in Imhotep's era if his creation would be seen up to now. But it still is there in the modern era.

The headless Ancient Egyptian bronze statue turned out to be Imhotep the build of the first pyramid that still stands today; several thousand years after his death.

Related Article: Egyptologists Find 18,000 Ancient Time Capsules Giving a Glimpse of Life in Athribis During 600 BCE

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The man who led Chief Deputy Austin Garrett and the Sheriffs Office on a lengthy December chase into Georgia had his charges bound over to the Grand Jury after a judge watched video of the mans terrified daughter in the passenger seat.

The only fortunate thing about what we just watched was that nobody was killed, General Sessions Court Judge Christie Sell said. He endangered the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, during what we saw from that video.

Theres no doubt to this court that his daughter was injured emotionally, probably for the rest of her life. She was traumatized.

Chief Deputy Garrett and Lt. Eliott Mahaffey showed their dashcam and bodycam footage of the incident. At two different times, Keeton drove out of tight quarters to continue the chase. Chief Deputy Garrett said he originally just flashed his lights at an erratically driving Keeton to get him to slow down.

If they correct their driving, I dont pull them over, the witness said. Lights usually have a calming effect.

Instead of slowing down, Keeton sped up and drove through Hamilton Place Malls expansive parking lots, down the freeway, and into Georgia. Security footage from Hamilton Place Mall was shown that corroborated law enforcements account of the events. A law enforcement officer shot one of the tires of Keetons car, which created a cloud of smoke wherever the vehicle went.

Dashcam and bodycam footage gives people a front-page view of what was really taking place, and it hits home on how dangerous a pursuit and vehicle is and how it can be used as a weapon, Chief Deputy Garrett said.

Only after law enforcement hit the car and boxed it in did Keeton get out of the car and run away. Before he got out of the car, Keeton drove his car at a high speed in reverse down the road in an attempt to get away.

Law enforcement and bodycam footage said and showed that Keeton kept reaching for something on the small of his back as he ran away, which is where an empty holster was. Keeton, who is a convicted felon, had a gun and ammunition in the car.

Keetons daughter, who was along on the harrowing ride, later went to the emergency room after she told deputies that she could not breathe and felt dizzy. She provided a recorded audio statement to law enforcement that was played in court.

I dont know why he was going so fast. Then they hit my door and I started feeling dizzy, the child said. I was just sitting there panicking. I was so scared I couldnt even scream.

This was a child so scared, she couldnt even cry, the prosecutor said afterward. As a father with daughters, that makes me shudder.

Deputy Garrett said that by the time law enforcement vehicles hit the vehicle in Georgia, the vehicles were going at a low rate of speed, and it did not endanger the childs safety. He also noted that Keeton also drove into several other law enforcement vehicles during this chase.

They did the appropriate thing, because it was a very low speed and it ended the pursuit, Chief Deputy Garrett said. The driver struck multiple vehicles, and thats what those techniques are for, to end the pursuit. It ends the danger to the public because the driver is going to continue fleeing.

After listening to the testimony and watching the video, Judge Sell bound the case over to the Grand Jury. She also doubled his bond to $350,000 after the prosecution made the argument that Keeton was a danger to society and a threat to escape.
Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy will host its 13th Annual Odyssey Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, March 9, from 11:30 .m.-1 p.m. at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The keynote speaker for the event is Ian Symmonds. Mr. Symmonds is the founder of Ian Symmonds & Associates, an industry leading, global consulting firm located in Southern California. With over 1,000 global clients, Mr. Symmonds and his team have been deemed "the trusted voices of education and nonprofit strategy."

The luncheon is held annually to celebrate the achievements and outstanding academic accomplishments of female students in STEAM. In addition to the awards presentation and Mr. Symmonds keynote message, Odyssey 2022 will also feature a performance by one of the guest of Oprah Winfreys Super Soul Sunday, gospel recording artist, and longtime friend to CGLA, Wintley Phipps. Mr. Phipps will perform with the CGLA Choir.

To purchase a table or individual tickets, contact Donna Williams at 468-4105 or visit cglaonline.com. Individual tickets are $75 and tables start at $600. Corporate sponsorships for the luncheon are still available.
Four Jewish-themed, award-winning documentary films produced in the United States, Israel, France and Canada will be shown virtually on four consecutive weeks beginning Tuesday, Feb. 15 and continuing through March 11. Each film will be available from noon on Tuesday for 72 hours, concluding at noon on Friday.

To register to view films visit www.jewishchattanooga.com. A subscription for all five films is $36. Films can be viewed one film at a time for $12 each. Virtual screenings must be pre-paid in advance by visiting www.jewishchattanooga.com. You will receive the login code the first morning of the screening and a Zoom code for discussions, if one is scheduled, on Thursday.

These films have garnered international film awards and nominations, and have received recognition at film festivals throughout the United States, Europe and Israel.



The DOC Series schedule is as follows:



Feb. 15 - 18: Yerusalem, The Incredible Story of Ethiopian Jewry - For 2500 years, the Jews of Ethiopia believed that they were the last Jews on Earth. Deeply connected to their faith, Yerusalem brings to life the long, dramatic and tumultuous journey of this community as they finally find their way back to the heart of the Jewish people, Jerusalem. Hebrew, Ethiopian, subtitles 90 minutes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JHtf-B5rM0



Feb.. 22-25: Mish Mish - In a basement near Paris a treasure - trove of Egyptian animated films has been found. The films show the work of the Arab worlds pioneers in this genre, the Frenkel brothers: three exceptional young film - makers, creators of Mish-Mish Effendi, the Mickey Mouse of the entire region, which disappeared from Egyptian screens when the State of Israel was created. English, Hebrew, French, subtitles 74 minutes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPL5oTU9RzM



March 1- 4: Outremont and the Hasidim - The challenges of accommodating the "Hasidim", or ultra-Orthodox Jews, in the affluent Montreal borough of Outremont highlight the need for relationship building. After settling there more than 70 years ago, the Hasidim are a rapidly growing minority group which today represents about 23 percent of Outremont's population. The growing presence of the Hasidim and their believed refusal to integrate causes distrust and fear. English, French, Yiddish, subtitles 53 minutes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS-g9xbPWjc



March 8 - 11: The Legacy of Aristides - In June 1940 in Bordeaux, France Aristides de Sousa Mendes saved tens of thousands of Jews and non-Jews by issuing them visas for Portugal. As the Portuguese consul to France in the early years of the Second World War, Sousa Mendes found himself continually more restricted by the policies of Portugal's prime minister, who had assumed a position of neutrality in his desire not to offend Hitler. French, subtitles 72 minutes

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/662428381



"A committee of dedicated volunteers reviews an average of 25 documentary films each year in order to choose four films," officials said. "Films screened at major national and international film festivals, those recommended by peers throughout the United States and those brought to the committees attention by filmmakers are included in the selection process."






In her recently released memoir Enough Already, Food Network host Valerie Bertinelli opened up about her growing journey of self-acceptance, the status of her second marriage, and her relationship with ex-husband Eddie Van Halen until his 2020 death.

As a treat for fans, the former Hot in Cleveland actor strategically scattered beloved recipes throughout the book. And among them is bami goreng, a favorite of Van Halens from his childhood.

Valerie Bertinelli and former husband Eddie Van Halen in 1983 | Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Eddie Van Halens mother taught Bertinelli to make her sons favorite dishes

The late rock star was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and Indonesian mother. Bertinelli soon recognized after marrying Van Halen that his mom was an amazing cook. Eager to learn how to prepare his favorite homemade dishes, she learned one of them was bami goreng.

Bami is basically an Indonesian-Dutch stir-fry with noodles, pork, and veggies, Bertinelli wrote. There are multiple ways to spell itbahmi, bakmi, and bami gorengand even more recipes than spellings. I bet every Indonesian woman has her own variation. I got mine from Eds mom.

After their marriage, Bertinelli stayed with Eds parents as a way to get to know my in-laws. They lived in a house that Ed and [brother/Van Halen bandmate ] Alex had bought them.

Van Halens mother, she said, was a tiny, acerbic, outspoken Indonesian woman with very set ways that all boiled down to her way.

While staying with his parents, Bertinelli asked her mother-in-law to teach her how to make Eds favorites, her Indonesian specialties.  We started with bami.

The Food Network star said her former mother-in-law was like an Indonesian Julia Child

As she began learning to make the stir-fried noodle dish, she discovered how much her mother-in-laws kitchen-classroom style reminded her of her grandmothers.

I quickly realized that her method of instruction was the same as my grandmothers when she showed me how she made gnocchi, Bertinelli recalled. It turns out that there is no difference between little old Indonesian women and little old Italian women.

Her husbands mother, she explained, wasnt always patient with me when she was teaching me how to make this and other favorites. It was like being in the kitchen with an Indonesian Julia Child.

Bertinellis Bami Goreng recipe

The actor shared the sentimental recipe in her new book, but she also posts it on Food Networks site.

Reviewers on the website gave Bertinellis recipe high praise, and its easy to see why.

Featuring ginger, red bell pepper, pork tenderloin, cabbage, chili pepper sauce, thin spaghetti, and a sauce made from ingredients including minced garlic, ginger, and jalapeno pepper, this noodle dish is big on flavor.

Absolutely amazing! This dish had depths of flavor that made it truly an experience in taste! My entire family loved this! one home cook wrote.

Another impressed reviewer added, Spicy & flavorful! I did use chicken in mine instead of the pork. You will absolutely want to double this recipe. Its addicting!

Get Valerie Bertinellis Bami Goreng recipe on Food Networks site or in her memoir Enough Already.

RELATED: Kids Baking Championship: 3 of Host Valerie Bertinellis Most Popular Baked Creations, According to Food Network
SmartNanotubes Technologies, a German startup that has developed the worlds first micro power multi-channel gas detector chip for the mass market, has raised  2.4 million in its Series A funding round. Lead investors are Cottonwood Technology Fund and duotec GmbH.

Game changer in the gas sensor market

SmartNanotubes Technologies, based near Dresden, operates on the principle of an electronic nose similar to the array of receptors in the human nose. Current gas sensor arrays are expensive, large in size, and characterized by low sensitivity and high power consumption. The carbon nanotubes chips of SmartNanotubes, however, are highly sensitive, energy-efficient, compact, and low-cost. SmartNanotubes is a game changer in the gas sensor market as its chips can measure multiple gases while most existing technologies can only detect one gas at a time.

Product quality, safety and security

In a team of four people Dr. Viktor Bezugly and Dr. Birte Sonnichsen co-founded SmartNanotubes in the summer of 2020 after a three year know-how transfer project at LifeScience Inkubator (LSI). Bezugly started his research on carbon nanotubes at DresdenUniversity of Technology twelve years ago. Im delighted to make my research available to thepublic by setting up this company. As of now, our target markets include product quality in materials, food and medical applications, said Viktor Bezugly. Other areas include safety and security in transport, consumer goods and manufacturing through the early detection and identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous gases. Moreover, SmartNanotubes can control air quality, for example in industrial environments such as cleanrooms.

Multiple product lines and markets

In its previous seed round, SmartNanotubes received support from LSI Pre-Seed-Fonds, Technologiegrunderfonds Sachsen (TGFS), TUDAG TU Dresden Aktiengesellschaft, and a private investor. The current investment round is led by Cottonwood Technology Fund and German corporate duotec GmbH and complemented by Mittelstandische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Sachsen.

We first met SmartNanotubes two years ago at the High-Tech Venture Days in Dresden. At the same time, we received a recommendation from a large corporate about its outstanding technology, said Alain le Loux, General Partner of Cottonwood Technology Fund. SmartNanotubes is the perfect example of a deeptech company with a disruptive innovation. It is truly rewarding to help them in the pre-customer and pre-revenue stage with launching their technology in the global market. In particular, because SmartNanotubes offers the possibility of technology-selling in multiple markets and product lines.

For duotec, the investment in SmartNanotubes is a continuation of their innovation strategy. We are expanding our portfolio of expertise through innovative and disruptive technologies, said Arthur Ronisch, Managing Director and CIO of duotec. This novel sensor technology means we are ahead of the competition by more than just a nose, literally. Together with our customers, we will incorporate this know-how into products.

We are very excited to have both Cottonwood and duotec on board as our newest investors,said co-founder Dr. Birte Sonnichsen. duotec is well known as a very professional electronics production partner. And Cottonwood brings us  besides their deeptech startup experience  a global network of relevant corporates including Asia and the United States.
The works of Cherokee Nation artists J. Bryon Test and Tana Washington are on display in April 2019 at the Trail of Tears Art Show inside the Cherokee Heritage Center.
A Cherokee Nation Career Services office is available at the MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor. It is used to help place and train people for jobs in Mayes County and surrounding counties.
The first topic of Gov. Kevin Stitts State of the State speech on Feb. 7 was his dissatisfaction with jurisdictional changes due to the McGirt decision.
Chickasha, OK (73018)

Today

Windy with thunderstorms...perhaps severe. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 82F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered 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 43F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Researchers have found that chimpanzees have shown a certain level of empathy towards each other after they were observed catching insects and using them as makeshift medicine on open wounds of other chimps.

Currently, there is an ongoing study that involved 45 chimpanzees located in Loango National Park in Gabon. The environment is the first-ever documentation via video footage of such a "healing" behavior among the animals. The research team from Osnabruck University in Germany and the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project were responsible for overlooking the study.

Chimpanzee Self-Medication

Researchers published the study on Feb. 7, 2022, in the journal Current Biology, with a volunteer at the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project, Alessandra Mascaro explaining the situation. During a journal news release, the volunteer said that one of the chimps, named Suzee, could be seen looking at the foot of her son before catching an insect flying around.

In a university news release, Cognitive Biologist and project co-leader Simone Pika explained that self-medication is an act where individuals use plant parts or non-nutritional substances to fight against pathogens or parasites. They said that the process has been observed across multiple animal species including insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals, as per U.S. News.

Researchers involved in the study have witnessed multiple instances of the chimps applying medication to other members of their species. Primatologist Tobias Deschner, who leads the project, said the goal of the team was to study the relationships and interactions between the creatures and how they hunt, use tools, communicate, and flex their cognitive skills.

Read Also: Woolly Mammoths Walked the Earth More Recently According to Genetic Evidence Discovered by Scientists

Other animals who are known to self-medicate against parasites and illnesses are bears, elephants, and bees. Furthermore, chimpanzees and bonobos, the two closest living relatives of human beings, swallow leaves of plants with anthelmintic (antiparasitic) properties. They are also known to chew bitter leaves that contain chemical properties to kill intestinal parasites.

CNN reported that the recent video footage is the first recording and documentation of such an act of using other animal matter, such as insects, to open wounds. Pika noted that they already knew chimps ate insects but were unaware that the creatures also used them to treat wounds.

Empathy for Others

However, researchers were unable to identify the insects that the chimpanzees used to treat the wounds and how they helped them recover. But they observed that the insects were small flying creatures and dark in color. The chimps were also observed crushing the insects with their lips before applying them to open wounds.

There were three main instances where researchers observed the act of supposed empathy; one was when an adult female, named Carol, was grooming around a flesh wound on the leg of an adult male named Littlegrey. She was seen grabbing an insect and giving it to the male, who then crushed it with his lips and applied it to his wound.

Carol was later observed with another adult male when they were moving the insect around Littlegrey's open wound. A third adult male approached the group who took the insect out of Littlegrey's wound, crushed it with his lips, and reapplied it to the wounded adult male's leg, the New York Times reported.



Related Article: Ancient Wolf Head Preserved Perfectly by the Permafrost in Siberia Amazes Scientists at the Unexpected Discovery

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Back in 2013, creating a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants in the US was the rare issue that virtually all major American religious groups could agree on. The cause was so unifying that conservative evangelicals joined liberal leaders from other faiths that year to muster an unsuccessful but vibrant faith-based campaign to push Congress to pass immigration reform.

But according to a new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute, that united religious front on the issue may be a thing of the past.

In a survey released on Thursday, PRRI found that, while overall support for a pathway to citizenship has remained virtually unchanged between 2013 and 2021 (63% to 62%), some faith groups have undergone notable shifts.

Support among white Catholics dropped from 62 percent to 54 percent, for example, and those who claim a non-Christian religion dipped from 68 percent to 55 percent.

The most notable shift occurred among white evangelicals: In 2013, most of them (56%) backed a pathway to citizenship in 2013, but now only 47 percent say they support it today.

That makes white evangelicals the only religious group without a majority who support a pathway to citizenship, a difference that widens when limited to those who attend religious services weekly or more (58% to 45%).

But while small downward shifts also occurred among white mainline Protestants (61% to 59%) and Hispanic Catholics (74% to 70%), some faith communities trended in the opposite direction.

Black Protestants are now the most supportive religious group regarding a pathway to citizenship, rising from 70 percent in 2013 to 75 percent in 2021. Support among religiously unaffiliated Americans also increased to 69 percent from 64 percent.

Meanwhile, several major groups are now more likely to describe immigration as a critical issue. In 2013, it was a minority position among white evangelicals (38%), white Catholics (36%) and white mainline Protestants (32%). But last year, majorities of all three said they see the issue as critical, with white Catholics topping the list (57%).

Religiously unaffiliated groups barely changed how they gauge the importance of the issue in that same period, rising only two percentage points to 32 percent.

Among white evangelicals who do view immigration as a critical issue, only 34 percent expressed support for allowing undocumented immigrants to become citizens provided they meet certain requirements.

They were more receptive (41%) to allowing immigrants brought illegally to the US as children to gain legal status, a policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

Former President Donald Trumps rhetoric and hardline policies regarding immigrants were widely decried by religious liberals but often embraced by evangelical Protestants, who were some of his most stalwart supporters.

Trumps attempt to wind down DACA, for instance, was condemned by myriad faith groups in 2017 but drew praise from some of his evangelical advisers.

In some ways, white evangelicals have remained the same, such as whether those surveyed agreed that the growing number of newcomers from other countries strengthens American society.

White evangelicals remain the group least likely to say yes, barely shifting from 38 percent to 35 percent from 2011 to 2021.

The religiously unaffiliated, meanwhile, saw a marked shift and are now the group most likely to say immigrants strengthen society: Support shot up from 65 percent to 74 percent.

An even more dramatic change took place among Black Protestants: While only 48 percent agreed in 2011, 69 percent do now.
Missionaries serving in Ukraine have sent out urgent prayer requests and asked the Lord for his protection and wisdom as they consider whats ahead for them and their ministries as the threat of invasion looms.

Some missionaries have already left to wait out the situation in neighboring nations or even back in the US, while others remain even as the Russian military presence continues to build near the border.

Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky has urged citizens to remain calm, as invasion isnt certain. However, the escalating crisis is impacting ministry at a time when evangelicals say a new generation of Ukrainian church leaders is gaining momentum.

At Kyiv Theological Seminary, American Rick Perhaiwho has served in the country more than two decadesis taking his cues from his students.

They want to be here to study, and that gives me great hope, said Perhai, the schools director of higher education development and a missionary with SEND International.

Even in the midst of this kind of uncertainty, this kind of ominous threats, theyre trying to keep their focus on Jesus. That encourages me to keep my focus on Jesus. They really are a living cloud of witnesses.

The current tensions and pressures are being exerted on a Protestant church that has grown substantially in the past few decades. The choice for missionaries to stay or go is complicated for both the missionaries themselves and for the organizations that send them.

SEND International has been sending missionaries to Ukraine since the 1990s. As of the beginning of February, most of its missionaries were still in the country. The organization trains missionaries to handle crisis situations and has a security team to evaluate risks and make plans for evacuation based on access to food, water, power, transportation, or communication.

As leaders, some of us are not in those local areas, so its important to us to listen to our missionaries on the ground and what the Holy Spirit is telling them, then discerning that with the information that we get from government sources and others who are assessing the situation, said CEO Michelle Atwell, who previously served in Kyiv herself.

In cases of disagreement, SEND will also bring the missionaries sending churches into the conversation, but in the end, the final decision about evacuation will rest with SENDs director of corporate security and international director. However, decisions only reach this point after much evaluation and prayer.

ABWE International operates similarly to SEND, with a security director and crisis management teams. Most of ABWEs missionaries to Ukraine have relocated to neighboring countries, but some remain. Alex Kocman, a communications officer for ABWE, said the decision to stay or go can depend on a number of factors, including if the missionaries have family and children with them.

Joshua Tokar, director of English language services at Ukraine Evangelical Theological Seminary, has relocated to a neighboring country with his family for the time being. Hes able to continue teaching virtually.

Its not a decision thats taken lightly, said Tokar, who has been in the country for eight years. We have built long-term relationships [in Ukraine], and our goal is to stay as long as is reasonably possible.

Ukraines current conflict extends back to when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, but the countries have a history of tension. Under the USSR, Christians faced brutal persecution, recalls Ruslan Khmyz, president of Kyiv Theological Seminary.

I know what it means to be persecuted, Khmyz said. When freedom came to Ukraine, many things completely changed. The number of churches started to grow very fast. Many new Christians dedicated themselves to Jesus, and they wanted to grow, to serve, and to proclaim the gospel.

Khmyz described how the Communist regime tried to destroy Christian theology. Since Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, nationals, missionaries, and foreign ministry organizations have established seminaries and discipleship programs to help believers and develop church leaders.

Ukraine is the main missionary-sending country for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said Tokar. The church is very strong. As far as Europe is concerned, the Ukrainian church is perhaps the strongest and is doing the most for education, training, and sending out workers.

Many ministry organizations working in Ukraine have shifted their approach to instead come alongside Ukrainian believers as they develop their own ministries and send their own missionaries.

Its not from the West to the rest. Its from all peoples to all peoples, said Perhai said. Thats the only way that the Great Commission is going to be completed.

In addition to being mission-minded, Ukrainian churches already have experience ministering to refugees from the conflict in the eastern Donbas region. With the threat of invasion, churches in western Ukraine say they are willing to take in Christians from churches in eastern Ukraine who may have to flee.

Khmyz said his church is encouraging its members to have enough food and water on hand to support their families for a few days and to share with others in a crisis. Doctors have also provided first aid training for church members. However, the greatest hope of Ukrainians is that these measures wont be necessary. Khmyzs church has also held packed prayer meetings. He said theres a sense that many are searching for real hope.

Its not enough to say, Everything will be okay. We need to give people the real hope of Jesus, Khmyz said. The task of the church in unforeseen circumstances and chaos is to stand strong in the Lord and act according to Gods will. Christians must be salt and light in all circumstances, even in times of war.

Even as missionaries and nationals alike deal with these tensions, minister to people, and prepare for a possible crisis, everyday life goes on. For many, there is nothing to do but wait and see.

The president of Ukraine was basically telling his people to be calm and keep living life. We sense thats how our partners there are trying to live, and we also sense that theyre not going to just roll over and wait for the Russians to come, Steve Eckert, president and executive director of READ Ministries, which advocates for the needs of the church in Ukraine and channels support to missionaries and seminaries in the country. Theyre continuing to work, and we will continue to work with them on initiatives for the future.

At this time, Christians in Ukraine are asking for prayer that their country will be able to continue to live in freedom and peace. They also ask those who know someone serving in Ukraine to reach out, offer encouragement, and perhaps connect over video. Leaders see the current attention toward the church in the Ukraine as a chance to spread the word about the mission advancements being made amid such tense circumstances.

Prayer is necessary because we feel unity with other Christians. It gives us the power to live and the power to serve. It gives unity in Jesus. We understand that we are very weak, but God is strong, Khmyz said. We hope that God by his mercy and his grace will protect our country.
Air Force ordered to pay $230M to Texas church shooting survivors and families

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. government must pay around $230 million to the survivors of the 2017 deadly mass shooting at a Texas church and family members of the victims.

U.S. District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled Monday that the government owed around 80 claimants a little over $230 million after having previously concluded that the Air Force was partially responsible for the shooting by failing to properly act on Kelleys history of mental health issues.

On Nov. 5, 2017, a former U.S. Air Force airman Devin Patrick Kelley entered First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs and killed 26 people, including the pastors daughter.

The losses and pain these families have experienced is immeasurable, concluded Rodriguez, as quoted by Reuters.

Last July, Rodriguez ruled that he considered the Air Force 60% responsible for the shooting, concluding that the military branch failed to submit Kelleys domestic violence charges in a federal database, an oversight that allowed him to purchase firearms that he would have been otherwise prohibited from owning.

Had the Government done its job and properly reported Kelleys information into the background check system  it is more likely than not that Kelley would have been deterred from carrying out the Church shooting, ruled Rodriguez. For these reasons, the Government bears significant responsibility for the Plaintiffs harm.

In addition to the 26 people killed at the church, Kelley also wounded around 20 others before he was shot by neighbor and NRA instructor Stephen Willeford.

Kelley fled the church, being pursued by Willieford in his vehicle, with Kelley eventually crashing his car into a ditch.

Kelley died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Although Kelley had a history of anti-religious posts on social media, authorities suggest that his main motive was to kill his ex-wifes family, who regularly attended the church.

The Associated Press reports that the Air Force offered a proposed payment of $31.8 million while attorneys for the survivors and family members asked for $418 million.

These families are the heroes here, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs said in a statement. While no amount can bring back the many lives lost or destroyed at the hands of the governments negligence, their bravery in obtaining this verdict will make this country safer by helping ensure that this type of governmental failure does not happen in our country again.

In 2018, the congregation began constructing a new worship space and held their first worship services in the new building on May 19, 2019. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other elected officials were present.

This is a tangible sign as people drive through Sutherland Springs in the future they will know that this is a place where goodness triumphed over evil, Abbott told those gathered.

Last August, the Sutherland Springs congregation voted to demolish the building where the shooting occurred, in part because the old church was considered structurally unsafe.
North Carolina church hosts 'scream night' for people frustrated with pandemic

A church in North Carolina recently hosted a scream night," allowing people to literally scream about their frustrations, especially regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Duke Memorial United Methodist Church of Durham held the event on Saturday evening, with around a dozen people in attendance, raising their voices over a host of issues.

The Rev. Laura Barnard Crosskey, the event organizer and a licensed psychologist, told The Christian Post that the church hosted the scream night because our emotions have been building up over the last two years as many of us have been stuck at home without our normal outlets that let our emotions move through our bodies and our brains.

We wanted to provide people with a space to let it out with the intention of knowing that they were not alone in their struggles or in their efforts to heal, she added.

According to Crosskey, the observance was divided into five literal screams. The first involved a regular scream, followed by a scream in which participants were allowed to curse. Then, participants screamed statements such as, "My partner is driving me crazy!" or, "I hate COVID!" followed by a scream for those who could not make it to the event. Finally, attendees participated in a friendly competition over who could scream the longest.

Then I invited people to get quiet, to notice their bodies and their breaths. To notice how the scream resonated in our bodies, explained Crosskey to CP.

To feel the connection with others in our shared struggles and shared efforts to heal. Then I invited people to linger as they wished and go in peace as they were ready.

Participants want to do the event again, according to Crosskey, though there is a preference for scheduling at a time more convenient for parents of little kids.

Crosskey told CP that there is initial conversation into hosting future scream nights, as many expressed interest in it, both from people who identify as Christian and named that it would be spiritually helpful for them and for those who do not identify as Christian and felt welcome and safe to come and participate.

Much has been made about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns on the mental health of people in the United States and abroad.

For example, a study published by the Society for Human Resource Management in October 2020 found that as many as 35% of U.S. workers have battled depressive symptoms. However, only 7% of those suffering symptoms reached out to a mental health professional.

Saddleback Church co-founder Kay Warren delivered a speech before the 2021 Evangelical Press Association Christian Media Convention last April, in which she said that churches can play an important role in mental health.

Where do people go who are living with mental health challenges? Where do they go to find compassionate care and understanding? Where can they find hope for their dark days? stated Warren, who lost her son Matthew to suicide.

I really believe that the Church of Jesus Christ needs to be that safe, welcoming, and compassionate place for all who suffer.
Well before killing 26 at Texas church, Devin Kelley threatened Air Force mass shooting

A federal court ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Air Force is 60% responsible for the worst mass shooting in Texas history because it failed to report the criminal history of former serviceman Devin Kelley who executed 26 people at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs before killing himself in 2017.

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in San Antonio noted in his ruling after a bench trial that the Air Force was negligent when it failed to submit Kelleys criminal history to the FBI, which would have prevented him from purchasing the guns he used to carry out the massacre at the church on Nov. 5, 2017.

The Court concludes that the Government failed to exercise reasonable care in its undertaking to submit criminal history to the FBI. The Governments failure to exercise reasonable care increased the risk of physical harm to the general public, including Plaintiffs. And its failure proximately caused the deaths and injuries of Plaintiffs at the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church on November 5, 2017. The Court finds the United States 60% responsible for this harm and jointly and severally liable for the damages that may be awarded, Rodriguez wrote.

A video of the massacre of the 26 members of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, shows Kelley methodically shooting his victims, including children, in the head in an episode that lasted for several minutes inside the church's sanctuary, law enforcement reported at the time. At least eight members of one family, including a pregnant mother, were killed.

Police say Kelley unleashed about 450 rounds of ammunition on the helpless congregation and survivors say the shooter, who later killed himself, expressed an intention to execute the entire congregation.

Court documents shared by The Ammons Law Firm, one of several firms representing families of the victims in the lawsuit against the federal government, show that the Air Force was acutely aware of the danger posed by Kelley and that he even threatened to carry out a mass shooting while he was in the service.

Dr. Harold J. Bursztajn, a psychiatrist, testified that Kelley was psychotic. And the Air Force knew that he enjoyed abusing animals and dismembering them because he told them so. His mental health had deteriorated so badly while in the service that he had to be committed to a mental health facility on two occasions.

A just under 2,000-page transcript from the trial cited evidence from records in which an Air Force colleague worried that Kelley had a coldness about him and that he wasn't all there. Her uneasiness regarding Devin Kelley resulted in telling her supervisor, Sergeant Troy Bizzack, 'We need to watch this guy because he's the kind of person who will come in and shoot everybody.'"

It's safe to say that the Air Force knew more than anybody else in Devin Kelley's life that this was a deeply depraved, mentally unstable man who had extensive violence that the Air Force knew more about than any other person in his life. And that included sexual violence, physical violence, domestic violence. And now we know more than we knew before, extensive threats of mass shooting violence, plaintiff attorney Jamal K. Alsaffar argued during the trial.

Lieutenant Colonel Bearden, the commander of the 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base, documented warnings about Kelley.

"AB Kelley has repeatedly threatened to kill his leadership, he noted on March 22, 2013. "I view this airman as a threat not only to myself but to my staff and the other airmen in this squadron. I have communicated my concerns to the security forces/commander Lieutenant Boyd. And he will be providing the unit an armed escort during his out-processing."

The evidence showed that before Kelley was eventually discharged from the service, he went AWOL twice and the Air Force was so concerned about the threat he posed to his colleagues they even had to assign someone to watch him while he slept.

"The patient, during his hospitalization, also made threats that if he was discharged to the military police, he would try to disarm the police and either be killed or kill someone. At that point, measures were taken to prevent that from happening, one statement on Kelley noted.

In addition to that, Kelly was convicted of assaulting his then-wife, Tessa Brennaman, and his stepson in November 2012 by General Court-Martial.

If the government had entered Kelleys criminal history into a federal background check database used for gun purchases, according to Rodriguez, he would have been prevented from carrying out the mass shooting at the church.

The trial conclusively established that no other individualnot even Kelleys own parents or partnersknew as much as the United States about the violence that Devin Kelley had threatened to commit and was capable of committing, the judge wrote. Moreover, the evidence shows thathad the Government done its job and properly reported Kelleys information into the background check systemit is more likely than not that Kelley would have been deterred from carrying out the Church shooting.

A later trial to assess damages owed to the families is expected to take place at a later date.
Fauci, NIAID spent millions on research using aborted babies' tissue, organs: report

Millions of dollars in taxpayers' money funded research using aborted babies body parts, according to a new report.

The White Coat Waste Project, which released the report, describes itself as a taxpayer watchdog group representing more than 2 million liberty-lovers and animal-lovers who all agree: taxpayers shouldnt be forced to pay over $20 billion every year for wasteful and cruel experiments on dogs, cats, monkeys, and other animals. In a blog published Friday, the group unveiled the findings of an investigation probing experiments conducted by the National Institutes of Health.

A new White Coat Waste Project (WCW) investigation has uncovered that the NIH is actively funding over $27 million of research approved to use Human Fetal Tissue, also known as HFT. That $27 million is just the beginning  the NIH expects to spend over $88 million total on HFT this year, the group said.

White Coat Waste Project noted that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has spent the largest share of the $27 million awarded to NIH to study human fetal tissue research so far. NIAID is headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has become the face of the federal governments efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Faucis agency has spent $21.6 million on fetal tissue research, accounting for 80% of the award granted to the NIH to conduct such experiments.

NIAID then distributed these grants to academic institutions to perform the research. One experiment was conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a public university, using $727,806 in taxpayers' dollars. The experiment involved the implantation of fetal bone marrows, liver and thymus into mice, who were subsequently infected with HIV to examine the human gut microbiome and its role in HIV infection. The White Coat Waste Project reported that researchers later decapitated the mice and removed their brains.

Another experiment, conducted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, involved the creation of double humanized mice by feeding the animals human donor fecal samples. Like the experiment at UNC Chapel Hill, the stated purpose of the experiment was to test the impact of the gut microbiome on treatments for various human diseases like HIV-1 and cancer. The mice in this experiment were given a functional human immune system and a stable human-like gut microbiome to study human health and disease.

The White Coat Waste Project denounced the University of Nebraska-Lincoln experiment as one of the crappiest Fauci-funded experiments weve ever discovered and lamented that it came with a $2.8 million price tag. The watchdog group is not the only organization expressing concern over how NIAID uses some of its tax dollars.

Last year, the pro-life group Students for Life of America held a rally outside the NIH headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, to demand Faucis firing over his agencys role in funding testing at the University of Pittsburgh, where researchers implant the scalps of aborted babies onto the backs of mice.

Pro-life activist David Daleiden called on Fauci to testify before Congress about any knowledge he might have of potentially illegal action taken by the University of Pittsburgh as it conducted the controversial humanized mice experiments.

The outrage over NIAIDs use of taxpayers' dollars to bankroll controversial research comes as the NIH continues to face scrutiny over its role in the coronavirus pandemic. Some scientists and politicians have alleged that the NIH funded gain-of-function research, described by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as juicing up naturally occurring animal viruses to infect humans.

Fauci vigorously denied the allegation that the NIH funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, where the coronavirus is believed to have escaped from, in a testy exchange with Paul last spring. Later, the NIH appeared to admit that it did fund gain-of-function research, although it denied doing so deliberately. Almost immediately after the admission became public, the organization that conducted the study in Wuhan, EcoHealth Alliance, was accused of orchestrating a cover up.

The White Coat Waste Project is advocating for the passage of the Cost Openness and Spending Transparency (COST) Act, which would strengthen a federal law requiring those using taxpayer dollars to conduct medical experiments to disclose how much they spent. Introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, The COST Act has secured the support of four additional senators, all Republicans.

Companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced by Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., has received support from 12 additional House Republicans. So far, the legislation has not been brought up for a vote in either chamber.
Ukraine is set to conduct military exercises from Feb 10 to Feb 20 in response to Russian exercises in Belarus near its northern border, the country's top security official disclosed.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced via a local television channel late Monday that Ukrainian soldiers were frequently carrying out different exercises.

He also mentioned that from Feb 10, they would start practicing the utilization of military hardware from foreign allies, including Bayraktar drones and anti-tank Javelin and NLAW missiles.

Western nations fear that Moscow could launch an invasion of Ukraine any time as it assembled more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and deployed 30,000 more in Belarus for joint military drills this month, according to Reuters.

However, Russia denies such a plan, saying it needs to intensify its defense amid NATO expansion to the East.

Read Also: Russia Rolls Out the S-500 Missile System for Defense of the Border Should NATO, the US Attempt Aggression

US, NATO Preparing Troops as Ukraine Crisis Continues

Meanwhile, Romanian Defense Minister Vasile Dancu announced on Tuesday that the first US troops strengthening NATO allies on the eastern flank have arrived in Romania.

The United States is sending around 3,000 additional troops to Poland and Romania to protect Eastern Europe against potential fallout from the Ukraine crisis.

According to US News, the Stryker squadron, with roughly 1,000 US service members, was deployed from Vilseck, Germany, to Romania. Troops began arriving in Poland on Saturday, according to the Pentagon.

Germany, meanwhile, said it was considering a boost to its existing military deployment in Lithuania.

NATO is also considering bolstering its military presence in the Baltic states and Poland in preparation if Russia decides to maintain its troops in Belarus after a scheduled military exercise, the head of the alliance's military committee said on Monday.

According to Rob Bauer, a Dutch admiral who leads NATO's top military strategy group, further deployments from NATO coalition members were possible. In a news conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, he said that the troops in the coalition of different nations are "looking at it," and there are possible changes "as a result of these developments."

"It very much depends, of course, on whether the Russian troops in Belarus remain in Belarus," he said.

Russia Continues Military Activities

Moscow has denied the allegations of plotting an invasion of Ukraine. However, Russia pointed out that if its security demands are not granted, it may lead to unspecified military action. It also demanded that NATO should never accept Kyiv as a member, which the US and its European allies denied and deemed unacceptable.

In recent months, per PBS, Russia has undertaken several joint maneuvers with Belarus. It has sent nuclear-capable long-range bombers over Belarus, which borders NATO members Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.

Belarus' authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has pushed for stronger defense ties with Moscow. He even offered to host Russian nuclear weapons amid harsh Western sanctions sparked by his assault on domestic protesters.

German newspaper Bild published a report on Saturday stating that Russia is planning a multi-pronged invasion on Ukraine, capturing major cities and installing a puppet government. But Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, scoffed at the allegations. Russia earlier announced that it is still open for diplomatic discussions in resolving the crisis.

Related Article: US, Russia Still Open for Diplomacy on Ukraine Tension, But Britain Warns On Cyber Attacks From Moscow

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tax Dollars Funding Creation of 'Humanized Mice' Using Aborted Human Baby Organs, Journals Show

Federal taxpayer dollars have for years been funding the use of fetal organs from aborted babies in the creation "humanized mice" in experiments and projects backed by the National Institutes of Health.

Writing at CNSNews Wednesday, CNSNews editor-in-chief Terence Jeffrey documented how this has been occurring, and inquired whether or not a Republican Congress would continue funding it.

The NIH sponsored "The New Humanized Rodent Model Workshop" in September 2007, he reported, a summary of which subsequently appeared in the AIDS Research and Therapy journal.

One humanized rodent in this workshop was constructed with a human fetal liver and thymus, organs taken from fetuses five or six months after conception, a chart in the summary explains.

A May 2014 edition of Journal of Immunological Methods tells of how federal employees made a "TKO-BLT," a "triple-knock-out" mouse using bone marrow in addition to the fetal liver and thymus. These were more advanced humanized rodents, where the fetal organs used to make them were even younger than the ones described in the 2007 model.

Americans United for Life, the legal arm of the pro-life movement, tweeted Jeffrey's report Thursday, calling the funding of these experiments "repulsive."

Your tax dollars are going toward the creation of 'humanized mice' made from aborted baby tissue. RT if you're shocked by this repulsive abuse of tax funding https://t.co/orv99XRyuH@cnsnews  AUL (@AUL) December 7, 2017

The use of body parts from aborted babies has garnered significant public attention in the past two years.

In December 2016, a Congressional panel posted its final report detailing the findings of an investigation into biotech firms and their financial transactions with abortion clinics that supplied them with fetal organs from abortion procedures for research purposes.

The harvesting of such tissue in outfits like Planned Parenthood was first exposed in an undercover investigation by David Daleiden, founder of the pro-life group The Center for Medical Progress, in the summer of 2015.

The Congressional report mentioned the "humanized mouse" experiments.

In response to a list of questions about the benefits of fetal tissue research, Harvard University supplied a backgrounder that explained why, among other things, it is better to use tissue from abortions rather than miscarriages, citing the importance of "timing."

"Almost all miscarriages happen at home or in locations in which fetal material is not recovered and, importantly, preserved in a usable state," the Harvard backgrounder reads.

"Just as obtaining tissue during a scheduled surgery or an in-hospital autopsy soon after death provides tissue that is untainted by decay relative to obtaining those same tissues from the morgue or a funeral home, obtaining fetal material from elective pregnancy termination is far superior to obtaining whatever material might be recoverable following spontaneous miscarriage, even assuming a mechanism existed for the collection of such material."

An online chart published by NIH estimates that the government agency has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on human fetal tissue research in the past few years, including $107 million in fiscal year 2017 alone. The chart does not provide estimates about how much of those funds were used to construct humanized mice.

Nevertheless, "[t]he fundamental issue is plain: By spending tax dollars on research that requires tissue taken from aborted babies, the federal government is creating a demand for tissue from aborted babies," Jeffrey said.

He noted that the House of Representatives has passed an omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018 that the Senate has yet to vote on, which clearly states: "None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to conduct or support research using human fetal tissue if such tissue is obtained pursuant to an induced abortion."

Jeffrey concluded: "The question now ... will the Republican Congress fund research that creates a demand for tissue from aborted babies? Or will they end it?"
Texas church shooting: Daughter of man killed while serving communion 'forgives' gunman

[UPDATE, Dec. 30, 2019: The gunman has been identified as Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43.]

The daughter of a godly man who was shot and killed while serving communion at a Texas church said she forgives her fathers killer, yet struggles to understand how the devil could cause such devastation among her community.

Tiffany Wallace was attending service at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, Sunday morning when a gunman entered the building and fired a weapon.

The man gunned down Wallace's father, Anton Tony Wallace, a deacon at the church, and another parishioner before two church members, who were members of the parish's security team, returned fire and killed the shooter.

Wallace told NBC News that her 64-year-old father was serving communion at the time of the shooting.

"It just happened so fast and it was so crazy," Wallace said. "I was like, 'not my dad, not my dad."

After checking to make sure her own children were unharmed, Wallace rushed to her fathers side to tell him she loved him and was going to be OK. Shortly thereafter, he died at the hospital.

Wallaces daughter told NBC's affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, that her father, a registered nurse, was a godly man beloved at the hospital where he worked and at the church where he raised his children.

"He was just our rock that held us together," Wallace told KXAS. "Even when talking about Heaven, he said he was always prepared, but I never thought this would happen. You think dad would get old and sick but never get murdered.

"How could someone so evil, the devil, step in the church and do this?" Wallace asked, adding that while she forgives the shooter, she will never forgive the pain he inflicted on her family and church community.

"I forgive him, and it's the hardest thing to say because it's like, somebody killed your dad, but I forgive him," Wallace said. "Ill never forgive what he did, but I forgive him.

Investigators said the shooter, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, was among the 240 congregants at the church. A livestream recording of the churchs Sunday morning service showed the shooting and the aftermath, local station WFAA reported Sunday.

In the footage, the shooter gets up when the congregation greets each other, shakes hands and walks out talking to someone.

The shooter then reenters the sanctuary, talks to a man in a suit and sits down. The person gets up again and talks to the same man, who points in a direction, and the shooter pulls out a firearm and shoots two people.

Another man pulls out a handgun and shoots the suspect. In the moments that follow, people can be heard screaming and church leaders ask that everyone sit down to wait for the police.

Wallace told reporters she had noticed the gunman and planned to greet him, thinking he was a visitor, probably looking for new church home.

Had the gunman "needed food shelter, we would give it to him  whatever he needed. He didn't need to take an innocent life, our dad, grandfather, husband ... fixing to be a father-in-law," she added.

Matt DeSarno, the special agent in charge of Dallas' FBI field office, said investigators were still trying to determine the motive behind the shooting. He described the shooter as a "relatively transient" person with roots in the area who'd been arrested multiple times in different cities.

Senior minister of the West Freeway Church of Christ, Britt Farmer, said that the church lost two great men, adding the incident destroys his heart. He said the tragedy could have been much worse if the church didn't have its own security force.



"There is evil in this world," Farmer said. "Today is one sermon I'll never preach ... it's called leaving a legacy and two men today left a legacy. But a congregation is going to build on that legacy.

We like to say were a place your family can call home. Today our home was invaded by evil, the pastor said, adding that he hopes in some way, we might be a beacon to those who dont know what to do, because we proved ... that we can be God-fearing people, but we can protect each other as well.

In a statement, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick condemned the shooting and said such a crime in a place of worship makes it even more evil. He urged Texans to keep the church in their prayers.

In a later news conference, Patrick praised the two men who shot the gunman and pointed to a recently-passed law that allows licensed handgun owners to legally carry their weapons in churches, synagogues and other houses of worship.

"This church had its own security team. They were well-trained," Patrick said. "The heroism today is unparalleled. This team responded quickly and within six seconds, the shooting was over."

Texas DPS Director Joeff Williams also commended the church members who were armed and took decisive action, saying, The citizens who were inside that church undoubtedly saved 242 other parishioners."

The shooting comes two years after a gunman walked into the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2017, and fatally shot 26 and injured 20 others, including the daughter of pastor Frank Pomeroy. The gunman was shot by a civilian as he left the church.
Sutherland Springs church to demolish sanctuary where 26 people were killed in mass shooting

The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, which saw a shooter enter its sanctuary in 2017 and kill 26 people, has decided to demolish the building where the tragedy occurred.

At a business meeting held on Sunday after worship, members of the congregation voted 69 to 35 to demolish their former sanctuary, which had been converted into a memorial for the victims.

The church has not released a statement explaining the reasoning for the vote, but according to news station KTSA in San Antonio, the building was considered structurally unsafe.

During the worship service just before the meeting, former associate pastor Mark Collins preached the sermon, discussing how the practices of the early church are remembered, even though their physical buildings have long been lost.

Collins also said near the end of his sermon that however the congregation decided to vote on the status of the building, Gods going to use it.

I pray that the joy of this church will be full, he declared. I pray that after we have this vote, and however we vote, this old associate pastor will be here to do whatever you guys are doing.

If its to paint that old sanctuary, Gods going to use it. If its to build something new there, Gods going to use it  whatever comes of this meeting here in a few minutes, the main thing is that we honor God.

On Nov. 5, 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley, who was discharged from the U.S. Air Force after serving one year in military prison, entered FBC Sutherland Springs during a Sunday worship service and killed 26 people, including the pastor's daughter.

Kelley, who fled the scene, was then wounded by Stephen Willeford, a neighbor and National Rifle Association instructor. He later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Although Kelley had a history of anti-religious social media posts, authorities concluded that his primary motive was because his ex-wife had family who regularly attended the church.

In 2018, the congregation began to build a new worship space, which was completed a year later and held its first worship services on May 19, 2019, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other elected officials giving remarks.

This is a tangible sign as people drive through Sutherland Springs in the future they will know that this is a place where goodness triumphed over evil, said Abbott, as reported by The Associated Press at the time.

The Southern Baptist Conventions North American Mission Board, which helped to raise funds for the new worship building, took to Twitter to offer their support for the opening.

Pray for the members of First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs this morning as they dedicate their new worship facility. Thank you Southern Baptists for making this possible, tweeted NAMB in 2019.

There had been some talk about demolishing the former church building early on, as Pastor Frank Pomeroy told The Wall Street Journal soon after the shooting that it might be torn down.

"There's too many that do not want to go back in there," he told WSJ in 2017. "We will probably turn it into a memorial for a while. We're playing it day by day right now."
'Political messianism:' Whats behind Christian persecution in Nicaragua?

An ideological umbrella, which portrays President Daniel Ortega as being anointed by God  for sacred Nicaragua, is behind the persecution of Catholic and Protestant institutions and individuals in the Central American country, an adviser for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has said.

Dwight Bashir, the director of outreach and policy at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, hosted Christopher Ljungquist, an adviser for Latin America at the USCCBs Office of International Justice and Peace, to spotlight Nicaraguas assault on religious freedom in the bipartisan panels latest podcast last Friday.

A trend of persecution started in Nicaragua after protests against reforms to the public pension system in April 2018. The protests came after about a decade of deteriorating economic conditions in the country. Protesters, mostly students, demanded democratic reforms and that President Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, step down as they allegedly established a dictatorship marked by nepotism and repression.

Hundreds of people died in the protests in 2018.

In 2021, the backdrop for the religious freedom violations was not the ongoing protests but rather the lead-up to the November general election in which Ortega won for a fourth consecutive term, Bashir said.

USCCBs Ljungquist said that Ortegas government operates under political messianism, a movement that sees itself as the national savior, the national liberator.

During the initial days of the 2018 protests, Ortega requested the Catholic Church to act as a mediator. But his administration also began to use brutal force against the protesters and later also on Catholic clergy.

Bashir said Catholic clergy aided and provided sanctuary to protesters and voiced support for the right to protest peacefully. But as a result, Ortega used his government and supporters to persecute clergy members, worshipers and various Catholic organizations.

Ljungquist said he visited Nicaragua in 2018 at the height of the protests. He reflected on Murillos rhetoric in her speeches, saying many believe she is the real power behind the throne.

Her speeches are a theatrical and flamboyant brand of political preaching, he said, adding that she combines Christian symbology with New Age occultism.

She claims Nicaraguas allegiance to God and Daniel, he added. They even dress statues of Mary in Sandinista colors.

Like most totalitarian ideologies, "Sandinismo is hegemonic," he explained.

It seeks to bring the entire Nicaraguan society, especially religion, under the ideological control of its movement, Ljungquist said.

Against this backdrop, the conflict is inevitable when an institution like the Catholic Church calls the government to account, he warned, saying political messiahs do not like to be questioned.

The apparent reason behind the targeting of the Christians is to gain silence  through intimidation, according to Ljungquist. He said that 60% of the countrys population is Catholic, and the rest look up to the Protestant ministers who are in line with the Catholic Church on this.

Here, we have a full Christian front advocating for civil liberties, for plurality and democratic process, he added. They want silence from the national conscience  silence from the message of reconciliation that the Church is preaching even now.

The Church is the only institution with legitimacy, credibility and the independence to challenge human rights abuses and the political abuses of the regime, according to the USCCB adviser.

In 2020, Ljungquist said a cathedral was attacked in what the cardinal of Managua called a "terrorist attack,"

A 400-year-old crucifix brought over from Spain was severely damaged," he said.

While physical attacks mainly occurred between 2018 and 2020, coded verbal attacks continue, he added.

Last October, Ortega called Catholic bishops in Nicaragua terrorists, alleging that the 2018 widespread protests were a coup with foreign influence. Given that Nicaragua has very specific anti-terrorism legislation, Ljungquist said such a declaration sounds like a threat.

It seems like the first couple continues to call bishops terrorists. This could be a prelude to some sort of farcical prosecution effort. I cant even repeat online [some of the things they have called the bishops].

The U.S. State Department placed Nicaragua on its special watchlist for severe religious freedom violations since 2019.

In its 2021 annual report, USCIRF, a bipartisan commission tasked with advising the federal government on religious freedom matters, warned that Nicaragua maintained its campaign against the Catholic Church and continued a pattern of harassment.

Members of the Catholic Church acted upon their religious convictions by providing sanctuary to and voicing support for the protesters, the report reads. Following the Churchs support of the protesters, President Daniel Ortega used his government and his supporters to persecute members of the clergy, worshippers, and Catholic organizations.

USCIRF reported that there were violent attacks on churches, intimidation of worshippers, threats and hate speech, and harassment of Catholic institutions in 2020 that emulate those committed by the Ortega regime since the civil uprising.

The Ortega government harassed Catholic officials and institutions in ways that disrupted the normal functions of the Church, the report adds. In September, the Diocese of Esteli announced that one of its priests had his visa canceled. According to the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua, several other foreign-born priests who have worked in Nicaragua for decades face deportation. Additionally, the government repeatedly hampered the operations of the Churchs primary charitable organization, Caritas.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, USCIRF reports that Caritas had its tax-exempt status denied in April 2020, making it unable to withdraw foreign donations from customs.
Tennessee Down syndrome abortion ban reinstated by federal appeals court

A federal appeals court has allowed a Tennessee law that bans abortions performed based on an unborn baby being diagnosed with Down syndrome to take effect, reversing an earlier court order blocking the law.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued an order Wednesday allowing the law passed in 2020 that bans abortions based on Down syndrome, race or gender to be reinstated. The ruling reversed a temporary injunction.

The circuit court also refused to hear a challenge to the state law until after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on Mississippis 15-week abortion ban after hearing arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization in December.

While the courts order came without comment, a dissent was authored by Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore. The Clinton appointee argued the courts action amounts to stay-and-delay tactics that subvert the normal judicial process.

For now, the majoritys decision to grant a partial stay of the district courts preliminary injunction while delaying our consideration of the case has the effect of reversing a thoughtful and thorough district court opinion indefinitely, wrote Moore.

If the majority ultimately decides to apply a currently unknown and undecided standard to Tennessees previability banswithout the benefit of district court factfinding tailored to that standardsuch a decision would manifest reckless overconfidence and unprincipled disregard for the normal judicial process.

The decision was praised by pro-life activists who advocate for laws limiting abortion.

Abortions based on sex, race or disability diagnosis are a form of modern-day eugenics, permitted at any point in pregnancy  even right up to birth  in America thanks to the Supreme Courts extreme precedents, Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the national pro-life lobbying organization Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement.

The devastating toll of abortion on minority communities, people with Down syndrome, and thousands of missing baby girls is well documented. Tennessees landmark pro-life laws reflect the overwhelming consensus of Americans who oppose lethal discrimination against unborn children and want far greater limits on abortion than our national status quo allows.

Rabia Muqaddam, a staff attorney with the pro-choice advocacy group Center for Reproductive Rights, argued in a statement that the Tennessee law is "unconstitutional."

"Pregnant people are the ones best suited to make decisions about their own pregnancies, and politicians should not get to interrogate a persons reasons for seeking an abortion, the activist said, according to The Associated Press.

Signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee in 2020, and also known as the reasons ban, the law also banned most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. But the heartbeat restriction has remained blocked by courts.

This week's ruling comes after a 6th Circuit panel blocked the provision banning Down syndrome abortions last September and upheld an earlier block on the heartbeat abortion provision.

The ruling comes as other states have also passed laws restricting abortion based on genetic abnormalities. Last September, a federal judge blocked a portion of an Arizona law that criminalizes an abortion "knowing that the abortion is sought because of a genetic abnormality of the child."
Texas pastor allegedly killed by daughter during prayer session

Pastor Gloria Jordan, the former leader of First Pentecostal Church in Wichita Falls, Texas, whose death authorities initially ruled to be natural causes, is now believed to have been killed by her daughter during a prayer session.

Jordan, who died on Nov. 21, 2021, at the age of 70, had spent decades of her life in ministry like her parents before her, Deacon Benjamin Farmer Sr. and Sue Esther Edmonds Farmer, according to her obituary.

Two years after Gloria Jordan and her husband, Elder Glossy B. Jordan, moved to Wichita Falls, they started First Pentecostal Church in 1981. The church still meets today in a quaint, run-down building.

She served faithfully and assisted her husband in any capacity she could, her obituary said. Gloria served as President of the Missionary Department and Sunday School Teacher.

By 1983, the late Gloria Jordan finally accepted Gods call to minister His word. When her husband died in 2015, she took over the leadership of her small church. She was faithfully carrying out her duty until her death that was initially ruled a medical death by authorities, according to court records cited by KFDX.

A few days after she died, however, a family friend raised concern about the nature of her death with police and a follow-up investigation was done, which included an autopsy.

Police then interviewed the only other person who was at home with Pastor Jordan and her 41-year-old daughter, Gloria Ann Jordan, at the time of her death.

The witness told police that she did not share what she knew at the time of the initial investigation because she was afraid of Gloria Ann.

She later revealed that on the day the pastor died, her daughter had been praying for her. During the prayer, the younger Jordan laid hands on her mothers forehead and pushed her back into a chair until it fell over with her mother.

Gloria Ann Jordan then straddled her mothers body and sat on her chest even as the pastor was yelling that she could not breathe. The witness said she tried and failed to help the pastor, but her daughter sat on her until she stopped breathing.

Police later questioned the younger Jordan about her mothers death, and she admitted to straddling her mother during prayer but refused to offer more details when pressed by police.

Her mothers death was ruled a homicide by asphyxia after the autopsy.

Just four days after her mothers death, Jordan was arrested for assaulting her cousin in the same home where her mother died.

The cousin told police that Jordan asked her to drive her to a doctors appointment in Dallas, but when she asked if Jordan had money for gas after repeated requests, Jordan grabbed her head and shouted: I rebuke you in the name of the Lord!

Jordan then began slamming her cousins head into a wall. The cousin reportedly called police after they both fell to the floor and she was able to roll away.

Police arrested and charged Jordan with manslaughter on Tuesday for her mother's death.
Changing America's prayer

A repeated appeal to the Almighty has echoed throughout America's existence from citizens, military, and political leaders alike. From professional sporting events to standup comedians and musicians ending their shows to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," the phrase is uttered in every part of the country  every day.

Yet, "God Bless America" took an unexpected turn when then-President Obama invoked it when ending one of his speeches by asking God to bless Planned Parenthood.

As this familiar phrase perfunctorily continues in America's public life, one can't help but wonder to whom people are praying.

If the deity entreated is the God of the Bible, then specific questions might be in order  the main of which is "do we even know this God so regularly asked to bless America?"

"God" arrives in our language and subsequently in our English Bibles from the Proto-Germanic "Gudan." Yet the God of the Bible was not referred to as such. Surprisingly to some, neither Moses nor the Apostle Paul read from the King James Bible. Considered so holy, the Jews used a shorthand reference to keep the name of the God of the Bible separate and avoid breaking the second commandment:

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." Exodus 20:7

The God of the Bible seems serious about His name  and invoking that name. It seems hard to imagine the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob getting fired up at the Super Bowl, NASCAR, or other events where Americans wax sentimentally. Would the "Great I AM" who made Himself known to Moses  spared during Pharoah's genocide of infants  be pleased when entreated to bless the nation's largest provider of abortion services?

Glibness towards the Almighty implies disrespect, as well as a dismissive contempt of an omnipotent being who "... brought forth the heavens and the earth." Even if merely a higher power, there remains a deplorable ignorance from a culture cheekily referring to Him as the "Man Upstairs."

America's concept of and relationship with God claims roots in the framers and founders of the country. As they knew and described Him, God was indeed the God of the Bible. Their understanding of God is far from this caricature, this "good luck charm," that many superficially mention.

With so many mocking His word, His followers, and His tenants, why would He dismiss such behavior to bless something His Word clearly abhors? Scripture remains clear on God's principles: same-sex relationships, mass genocide of the unborn, immorality and lawlessness are all contrary to Gods will. Yet America flagrantly disregards at best or worse rewrites to accommodate the desires du jour, while still asking for God's approval and blessing.

The prayer must change. The people of God can no longer appeal to the Alpha and Omega for blessings in good faith. "In God, we trust" no longer applies to our culture. In the act of wry honesty, America could change the motto to "In a manufactured god we trust." That's what Moses' brother, Aaron did with the golden calf  and for centuries after, the people of God seemed pre-disposed to repeat Aaron's idolatry and appeal to a created deity that accommodates unbridled desires.

Contrary to pop culture, the character of human beings remains unchanged over the ages. We're not becoming better people. Societies that divorce themselves from the authority of the God of the Bible prove that point each day. Yet even those who adhere to that authority still find themselves coming up short due to our systemic failings. The Biden administration is correct to recognize a systemic evil in America  but they miss the mark by identifying it as racism. The failure is far more profound and none are immune.

Jeremiah, as well as the framers of our Constitution, knew this when describing human beings.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9

America's decline, along with growing defiance against the Almighty, now warrants a change in prayers. No longer can we appeal for God to bless America. Our circumstances now prompt a cry for mercy. Due to our collective decay now bearing fruit, a more urgent prayer is for God to spare America.
College professors who promote pedophilia

Im going to throw up. My stomach is literally twisting. God please help us! That was the response of a viewer on my YouTube channel after watching video clips of two professors advocating adult-child sex  including coercive sex. Wanting to throw up is a very natural reaction.

To be sure, Ive heard these arguments before. In fact, one of the most sickening chapters to write in my 2011 book A Queer Thing Happened to America was the chapter quoting pedophile advocates. NAMBLA (the North American Man Boy Love Association) has more advocates than we could care to imagine.

As quoted in A Queer Thing Happened to America (and cited from Louis Bermans book, The Puzzle), The Dutch lawyer Edward Brongersma wrote an article sympathetic to man-boy love. He cites (page 160) a report (Rossman, 1976) that gives several examples of social workers achieving miracles with apparently incorrigible young delinquents  not by preaching to them, but by sleeping with them. Affection demonstrated by sexual arousal upon contact with the boys body, by obvious pleasure taken in giving pleasure to the boy, did far more good than years in reformatories. Brongersma (page 160) tells of an Amsterdam juvenile judge who in a public speech openly advocated this form of social therapy. This is a sample of the persuasive case that man-boy lovers make to support their position.

Anyone else feel like throwing up?

Yet these video clips are even more disturbing, featuring Professor Stephen Kershnar of the State University of New York at Fredonia and Professor Thaddeus Russell, who now associates with Renegade University.

The two professors are laughing about the subject of adult-child sex, with Russell commenting that hes been advocating for this for more than 20 years in his classrooms. Twenty years! How on earth did he get away with this? (Russell is also an outspoken advocate of lowering the age of consent.)

And to be clear, they were not just talking about an adult having sex with a younger teenager (which they also endorse; the technical term is ephebophilia). Instead, they explicitly talk about adult-child sex in distinction from ephebophilia.

And these men are college professors? (Kershnar is listed by his school as a distinguished professor of philosophy.) These men have been influencing your children? These men have been speaking freely and openly about these subjects, and in some cases writing about them too, and they were never reported or disciplined? How can this be?

Read Kershnars words if you dont believe me: Imagine that an adult male wants to have sex with a 12-year-old girl. Imagine that shes a willing participant. A very standard, very widely held view is that theres something deeply wrong about this  and its wrong independent of it being criminalized.

Its not obvious to me that its in fact wrong. I think this is a mistake. And I think exploring that why its a mistake will tell us not only things about adult/sex and statutory rape and also fundamental principles of morality.

Watching the videos, these professors are glib and flippant, incredulous that people could object to pedophilia. Really now, if there are good results from pedophilia, who are we to object to it?

Yet it gets worse.

These two men openly advocate for coercive adult-child sex. I kid you not. Watch the clips for yourself if you dont believe me.

Yes, they explain, a child lives his or her entire life under adult coercion. To paraphrase, the parents tell their kids, You go to sleep at this time. You go to the school to which we send you. You make your bed. You take piano lessons. You do what your parents tell you to do.

Indeed, they argue, a child sometimes is required to do something simply for the pleasure of a parent. Why not sex? They actually compare it to being told you have to go your uncles funeral even though you dont want to. How different is this from being forced to have sex?

What madness!

The good news is that Kershnars university has disavowed his comments, calling the video reprehensible. And he has now been reassigned. (Why not fired?)

The bad news is that his official bio page noted that, Kershnar has written one hundred articles and book chapters on such diverse topics as abortion, adult-child sex, hell, most valuable player, pornography, punishment, sexual fantasies, slavery, and torture.

This begs the question, were other professors totally unaware of his views? Did no administrators know about it? Did no students ever complain? Was the university totally in the dark?

What Kershnar and Russell advocate is monstrously evil. The fact that they could do it for decades as paid professors shaping the views of our children is mind-boggling and sickening.

May they find repentance before they face the one who said, If anyone causes one of these little ones  those who believe in me  to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. And, See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven (the words of Jesus, Matthew 18:6, 10).

What a dreadful day that will be for those who support adult-child sex. (And let us never forget the children who have been brutally victimized!)
MRC Global (MRC) is expected to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended December 2021. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price.

The earnings report, which is expected to be released on February 15, 2022, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.

While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.

Zacks Consensus Estimate

This energy products distributor is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.06 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -20%.

Revenues are expected to be $686.07 million, up 18.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Estimate Revisions Trend

The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.

Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts.

Earnings Whisper

Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core.

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.

A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.

Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).

How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for MRC?

For MRC, the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0%.

On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.

So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that MRC will beat the consensus EPS estimate.

Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?

Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.

For the last reported quarter, it was expected that MRC would post earnings of $0.05 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.09, delivering a surprise of +80%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.

Bottom Line

An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.

That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

MRC doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

Its a little-known chemical company thats up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.

This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



MRC Global Inc. (MRC): Free Stock Analysis Report



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Marvel Cinematic Universe collaborates with Hot Toys to release Spider-Man: No Way Home Toy Collectibles.

New Hot Toys figures for the latest Spider-Man installment have been revealed. They are based not just on characters who appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's recent Spider-Man film but also included original characters who emerged from the previous franchise.

Spider-Man comic book fans can now enjoy their collectible figure toys in the comfort of their own homes, thanks to a new partnership with Hot Toys.

Spider-Man: No Way Home's Green Goblin

Green Goblin is the first character of the Hot Toys and Spider-Man collection to be revealed. Toymakersmakers Hot Toys have revealed a Green Goblin action figure based on Willem Dafoe's portrayal of the character in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The Deluxe Edition of Hot Toys' Green Goblin figure, which retails for $375, comes with several extra accessories.

The features of Green Goblin are unique and extremely detailed as described in Comicbook in addition to an authentic and detailed likeness of Green Goblin from Spider-Man: No Way Home, the product includes a crafted Green Goblin helmeted head, a hand-painted Green Goblin head sculpt with authentic movie-accurate facial features, six interchangeable gloved hands, one metallic green armored suit, one pair of metallic green armored boots, three pumpkin bombs, a specially designed figure display stand with movie logo and character nameplate, and a specially designed stand.

Spider-Man: No Way Home's Dock Ock

Empty Light House stated that in Spider-Man: No Way Home, one of the most eagerly anticipated returning villains is none other than the infamous Doctor Octopus, also known as Doc Ock, who renowned actor Alfred Molina played in the first two Spider-Man films. Doc Ock's appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home came as a complete surprise, and it resulted in some of the film's most memorable scenes as a result. Since Doc Ock is one of Spider-primary Man's antagonists, it wasn't surprising that he made his film debut in the second Tobey Maguire film, which is still regarded as one of the series' best entries.

Doc Ock, who had attempted to ruin the city with his generator, has now crossed universes through the interdimensional pathway to attack Spider-Man with his mechanical tentacles, according to Lyles Movie Files.

Four additional nanotech tentacles that could be interchangeable with the original ones might be added to The Deluxe Version. This will allow fans to re-create the famous fight scene between Peter Parker and Doc Ock in the Spider-Man No Wa Home movie.

Read Also: Korean Zombie Series 'All of Us Are Dead' Tops Global Netflix Chart: Is Season 2 Happening?

Spider-Man's Classic Suit

According to the official Instagram post of Hot Toys, the collectible they are going to release for the superhero Spider-Man will have the Classic Suit.

Spider-Man's Classic Suit will feature different pairs of interchangeable eyepieces, a masked head sculpt-- a customized body that permits flexibility--and a Spidey Classic suit that is meticulously tailored, following the traditional black spider emblem on the chest and a red and blue color scheme.

They also added detailed accessories like a mobile phone, web effect accessories, tail of a scorpion, and that it includes replaceable hands, including a stinger painted in metallic green.

With that, it also includes a figure stand for the whole display set up, specifically designed character backdrop with a city motif.

Related Article: 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' on Netflix, Disney Plus: When Will Tom Holland's Film Be Available for Streaming?
Typically, Power, an engineering, environmental and technology consulting firm holds company gatherings during the holidays. Instead, because of the COVID pandemic, Power decided to use the funds that would have been used for gatherings to give back to the communities where its employees live.

Locally, Power awarded $15,000 to Nourishment for the Needy in Conroe, a food pantry that serves food insecure families in the area. The company awarded around $500,000 to food banks across the U.S. and Canada in over 55 communities where employees live.

Garret Phillips, a project engineer and office arbitrator with Power in Houston, was familiar with Nourishment for the Needy and made the suggestion to donate the funds there.

We shifted the funds around and decided whats better with our culture than to give back locally if we have those funds available as a company, Phillips said. I actually knew Nourishment for the Needy myself. Ive got a 3-year-old son, hes at the age where hes starting to see giving and giving back, so theyre who weve reached out to as a family to have him see that and help out.

On yourcouriernews.com: Montgomery County organizations are better set for winter blast year after February freeze

The corporate office in Houston agreed that Nourishment for the Needy was the right fit for the holiday initiative.

It felt great, honestly, Phillips said of being able to give this donation to the food pantry. Being able to help them out monetarily like this was fantastic because I know that it isnt just getting the donations that allows them to help people. They have to have their facilities and their places to store.

Nourishment for the Needy started out of a one-car garage with a bag of food and a bag of clothes. Since then, it has grown into a full-blown volunteer operation that provides food, clothing, and toiletries to residents in need twice a week. It operates as a distribution site for the Montgomery County Food Bank and has close relationships with several area churches that help keep it stocked.

It just blesses us, Diane Knobloch, the executive director of Nourishment for the Needy, said of the donation. Were all working together as a community and for them to bless us with that is amazing. Were not a real big pantry and it takes stuff like that to keep us running.

The pantry is open Tuesday and Thursday. Clients set an appointment to pick up food and the pantry can take up to 13 appointments a day. Walk-ups are not turned away but appointments help the pantry plan ahead and build a box of food that the family can pick up as soon as they get there. The money from Power will likely be used for the organizations facilities, like a new fridge to stock food.

I feel blessed to be able  in this community  to be able to help in this area, said Knobloch, one of the founders of Nourishment for the Needy. God called us to do this.

The food pantry accepts monetary donations as well as food, clothing, and especially toiletries. More information about Nourishment for the Needy, the organizations website is nourishmentfortheneedy.org.

jamie.swinnerton@chron.com
EDWARDSVILLE  Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine announced late Monday that the Fourth District Appellate Court of Illinois has reversed the temporary restraining order which suspended the application of the new subcircuit law in Madison County.

"We are disappointed with this result, but appreciate the courts prompt decision," Haine said. "We remain undeterred in our fight against this unconstitutional law."
The Swedish price comparison website PriceRunner said that the Alphabet-owned U.S. behemoth Google had violated antitrust laws and manipulated search results.

With that, PriceRunner is suing Google for $2.4 billion. Alphabet Inc. is the parent company of Google.

According to Barrons, the company participates in the acquisition and operation of various businesses, the most popular web services are the Google search engine and Google segments, including the company's most important Internet products, such as advertisements, Android, Chrome, hardware, Google Maps, Google Cloud, Google Play, and YouTube, as well as other Google services.

This was followed by the European General Court verdict on November 10, 2021, where Google had been found promoting its comparison shopping services in its search engine instead of applying fairness. Due to this reason, the EU upheld a 2.8 billion European Commission fine or $ 54,411,728 levied against the internet giant.

However, despite the ruling last year, Google, to this date, is still not paying the compensation that was ruled by the court. The reason for this has been reportedly due to the fact that Google is in the process of appealing against the fine set by the EU. Google believes that "there are areas that require legal clarification from the European Court of Justice."

As stated by Reuters, in the lawsuit of the Sweden-based company, it was stated that the lawsuit had been filed in Sweden to compel Google to compensate it for the profits it had lost in Sweden, Denmark, and United Kingdom since 2008.

Previous Court Decision on Google Lawsuit

Engadget reported that the European Union General Court upheld a decision last November to fine Google with a hefty price of US$2.8 billion for favoring its comparison shopping services over those of competitors.

It was reported that the tech giant was found to have unjustly favored its price matching services and directed customers to its items rather than those of competitors.

Despite the fact that the $2.8 billion punishment represents a minuscule percentage of the $2 trillion market capitalization of Alphabet, it was the largest financial penalty the commission had ever imposed.

The court statement stated:

"The General Court finds that, by favoring its own comparison shopping service on its general results pages through more favorable display and positioning, while relegating the results from competing comparison services in those pages by means of ranking algorithms, Google departed from competition on the merits."

Read Also: Microsoft Woke Feature Launching For Appropriation, Inclusivity of Word Choices Like Whitewash, Blacklist and More!

Google vs. PriceRunner: Complainants Assertion

The Founder and CEO Mikael Lindahl, clarified that PriceRunner is seeking compensation for all the damages Google has violated over a long time. In addition, Lindahl firmly believes that this lawsuit is a fight for consumers who have suffered tremendously due to Google's infringement of competition law for the past fourteen years and continue to do so until today.

As written in Engadget, PriceRunner states that Google is "abusing its dominant position" and has a "monopoly-like position" in Europe. Furthermore, the company also adds that they highly believe Google has not yet complied with the EU Commission's decision.

Nevertheless, the Swedish company also assumes that since this violation hasn't been addressed with the proper compensation, the violation is still ongoing, and the amount of damages increases daily. They anticipate that the final damages amount of the lawsuit will be significantly higher.

The company claimed that traffic and profits are being diverted away from itself and other shopping services and that its offers are higher than those of other shopping services, causing consumers to suffer.

Related Article: Google Turning On Search Tracking History: What Does It Mean for Workspace Users?
EDWARDSVILLE  With the last two years full of pandemic and chaos, Goshen Coffee Roasters is pretty sure everyone needs some new energy in their lives right now.

To that end, the 20-year-old coffee company has launched its rebranded blends and packaging along with cafe expansion plans in St. Louis.

Goshens signature cafe, at 6120 Shoger Drive, in Edwardsville is open seven days a week, from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. A new Goshen Coffee Cafe is planned in April for 910 Geyer Ave. in the historic Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis.

The family-run Goshen Coffee Roasters is co-owned by Jennifer Hughey and her husband, Mike Bergen, and brother-in-law and sister, Jay and Julie Beard. Company officials said more St. Louis area cafes are in the works, with locations not yet announced. The company has plans to take Goshen nationwide, with hopes of doubling its business this year.

The company also recently rebranded. The new packaging  featuring shades of orange, pink, blue, citrus colors and interesting patterns  was developed by Toky, a St. Louis-based creative studio.

Our vibrant new look differentiates us on the shelves, Hughey said. In a sea of black-and-white coffee bags, our packaging is just as amazing as the coffee inside.

Goshen Coffee is all about flavors with feels, Hughey said. With our new packaging, were talking about the positive vibes that come from having amazing coffee and good people to share it with.

We hope coffee lovers will take some time to replenish the kind of energy we could all use a little more of right now.

Goshen Coffee offers light, medium and dark roasted blends and single origins.

With the rebranding, our amazing coffee stayed exactly the same, and we did introduce our winter seasonal blend and two new single-origin coffees, Kenya Mbegu Ndogo and Ethiopia Yebesele Natural, Hughey said. Our current seasonal is Snow Days and we will have a new anniversary blend coming later in the year.

Other fan favorites include Bright Eyed Breakfast Blend, a vibrant light roast coffee with notes of brown sugar and almond; Bona Fide Blend, a medium roast coffee tasting of syrup, chocolate and dark berries; and Black Dog Espresso, a dark roast full of the essence of roasted nuts, molasses and dark chocolate.

Goshens Chief Coffee Officer Tony Augur said ethically sourcing, a buzz phrase in the industry, doesnt fully explain what the company is trying to accomplish with its worldwide growing partners.

We pay our coffee growers not only sustainable wages, but also premiums that allow them to reinvest in their businesses, he said. We source our beans from all over the world: Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Kenya and Ethiopia, to name a few, and we want to see our growers go beyond surviving and into thriving.

Goshen Coffee Cafes menu includes all sauces and syrups. Lattes and mochas, both iced and hot, are the most popular specialty drinks along with drip and cold brew coffee. Goshen Coffees popular pastries include banana bread, scones and coffee cake from a recipe Hugheys mother has been making for 40 years. Burritos, salads and a variety of creatively topped toasts add to the savory side of the daily menu.

All Goshen Coffee Roasters coffee, equipment, merchandise and apparel are available at www.goshencoffee.com. Find Goshen Coffee on the shelves at Schnucks, Dierbergs, Straubs, Whole Foods, Fresh Thyme and other major grocery retailers. For more details visit www.goshencoffee.com.
NASA confirmed through research that The Red Planet Mars had substantial water on the surface.

Surface water left salt minerals behind as recently as 2 billion years ago, according to Caltech researchers who used the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to make their discovery.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2006, provided scientists with years of data that allowed them to map the presence of chloride salt deposits left behind by flowing water on the planet.

As a result of observations made by a long-running Mars mission, scientists now believe that liquid water may have flowed in Mars as recently as 2 billion years ago, a time that is significantly later than previously thought.

What is Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)?

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a space instrument that orbits around with the purpose of capturing high resolution and extremely detailed images of The Red Planet.

It is also previously reported that the photographs of the comet Siding in 2014, the landing location of the Curiosity Rover on Mars, and the search for water and ice are some of the greatest contributions the MRO rover has participated in the field of space research.

The MRO, in addition, also became the instrument to relay communication for both the Curiosity rover and Opportunity rover on the surface of the Red Planet.

Aside from that, it has provided high-resolution imagery of recurring slope lineae and crater streaks that may be caused by dust features or briny surface water, according to the researchers.

Life on Mars: How Does Mars Have Water Resources?

It is widely believed that the water on Mars evaporated approximately 3 billion years ago.

According to NASA, the data gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter over the last 15 years has, however, been discovered by two scientists, who have discovered evidence that significantly shortens that timeline.

Their study reveals evidence indicating that liquid water on Mars has flowed on the planet for approximately a billion years longer than popularly assumed, as recently as 2 billion to 2.5 billion years ago.

Ellen Leask, the study's lead author, conducted much of the research as part of her doctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Her and Caltech professor Bethany Ehlmann used data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) to map chloride salts across the clay-rich highlands of Mars' southern hemisphere to come up with their findings.

Scientists can estimate a planet's age by counting the number of craters on a given area of its surface.

The presence of these craters helped scientists determine the age of the salts: the fewer craters a terrain has, the younger it is.

Read Also: NASA and SpaceX's New Update Will Be Given Live For Crew-4 Space Mission

How It Was Discovered

The scientists were able to determine that the salt deposits on Mars were younger than previously thought, with the help of CRISM, a spacecraft's compact reconnaissance imaging spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).

With adjustments for factors such as a planet's atmosphere, scientists can estimate the age of a region by looking at how many craters it should have. This allows them to estimate the age of the region.

They did this by employing a technique known as "crater counting." The salt deposits on Mars were younger than previously thought.

Space.com reported that MRO's deputy project scientist at NASA, Leslie Tamppari, stated that NASA could better understand Mars through its History by mapping the planets using their instruments.

She also added that "part of the value of MRO is that our view of the planet keeps getting more detailed over time."

Related Article: NASA's Hubble Images Captures The Dwarf Galaxy; The Galactic Oddball
Hemlock Semiconductor Operations (HSC), the countrys largest manufacturer of hyper-pure polysilicon used in solar panels and semiconductors, has named Jason Griffin as its state government affairs and policy director.

Griffin has worked in and around state politics for the past 16 years and comes to HSC from his position as regional manager of government and public affairs for LafargeHolcim, a world leader in the building materials industry with operations in 70 countries. An expert in energy policy, climate change and sustainability in the manufacturing sector, Griffin also served on Gov. Gretchen Whitmers Energy Intensive Advisory Workgroup to the Council on Climate Solutions and supported LafargeHolcims participation in New Yorks Energy Intensive Trade Exposed Workgroup to their Climate Advisory Council.

In his new role at HSC, Griffin will develop strategies to advance the companys public policy priorities and lead Hemlocks interactions with state lawmakers, executive branch departments and agencies, and other key stakeholders in policy areas that include climate change solutions, manufacturing and energy policy, all of which play a significant role in Hemlocks future as a raw material supplier to the semiconductor and solar industries. He also will track and analyze legislative and regulatory policy developments, providing intelligence and insights to the HSC executive team and board of directors.

Im honored and delighted to join the HSC team, Griffin said. I look forward to guiding our engagement with state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, with the governors team, and with other key stakeholders to ensure that HSCs voice is heard in the halls of state government.

Prior to his work at LafargeHolcim, Griffin served as legislative director and director of campaign strategy for former state Rep. and Majority Floor Leader Jim Stamas, and as campaign manager and director of constituent services for former State Sen. Tony Stamas, both of whom represented the Great Lakes Bay Region in the Michigan Legislature.

Were thrilled to bring Jason on board to manage state relations for HSC, said Brooke Beebe, HSC senior vice president of advocacy and engagement. His background in state politics and his deep knowledge in developing innovative solutions around climate change and sustainability in the energy-intensive manufacturing space will make him a tremendous asset to the Hemlock team.

Its an exciting time to join the global leader in producing hyper-pure polysilicon for the semiconductor and solar energy industries, Griffin said. HSCs commitment to sustainability, operational excellence and community engagement is impressive. I look forward to bringing my knowledge and experience to the table to help the company achieve its goals.

Born and raised in northern Michigan, Griffin lives in the Traverse City area with his wife, Amanda, and their two beloved canines, Brock Lesnar and Ric Flair. He attended Michigan State Universitys James Madison College, where he studied international relations with concentrations in criminal justice and East Asian studies. Griffin is deeply engaged in his community, serving as president of the Andrew J. Griffin Foundation, which fully funds tuition opportunities at the Great Lakes Culinary Institute at Northwestern Michigan College. He also served on the planning committees of both the Children's Trust Fund Signature Event and Habitat for Humanity. Griffin is the grandson of the late U.S. Senator Robert Griffin, who represented Michigan in Washington D.C. from 1966 to 1979 and also served as a Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court.
The recent paradigm shift in the education sector brought about by the pandemic has shown both the potentials and weaknesses of educational institutions and the students.

With the technological advancements seen in recent years, schools were able to adapt to distance and flexible learning setups.

Some schools have implemented fully-remote online learning while others chose a hybrid of distance and face-to-face learning.

It was also during this immense trial that complications started to appear, starting with the lack of access to educational tools like computers as well as the limited capacity of schools to navigate the technicalities of online education, according to a study published in the Educause website.

Although schools seemed to have adapted little by little, there were clear indications that much still needs to be done, especially on empowering both teachers and students in self-assisted technical repair.

It was for such an issue that giant tech companies such as Google are launching computer repair initiatives.

Just recently, Google launched "The Chromebook repair program: A sustainable fix for schools" as its first step in helping education institutions and students cope with technical challenges they encounter.

Read Also: Chromebook: How to Breathe New Life to Your Old Laptop

How Can Schools and Students Benefit From This Project

As online learning changed educational systems, students and teachers became more reliant on laptops or computers as their primary learning and teaching tools.

As such, it needs to be said that it is only necessary that they have enough knowledge and are ready to face technical snags that may come along the way.

In its blog post, Chrome said the energy consumed by its Chromebooks is 46% lesser than comparable devices, saying they were designed "with sustainability in mind."

Starting with such a feature, Google said it has been trying to help students and teachers. Now it is creating a "device ecosystem program" that would benefit the 50 million students and teachers around the world who are using Chromebooks.

The device ecosystem may help students in terms of information and knowledge about laptops, especially Chromebooks.

According to The Verge, Google is also trying to help IT departments find the right Chromebooks for their institutions.

However, The Verge said that the costs of buying computers and the inability of IT departments to integrate the tech are also common issues faced by many.

In line with such an issue, Google said it is taking a step forward by partnering with big tech companies like Acer and Lenovo so they can provide further knowledge to IT departments about which laptops are repairable.

School Repair Program

According to XDA Developers, educational resources that schools and students can access will help them offer Chromebook repair subjects.

Meanwhile, Google said it had created a playbook that can be of great help to schools in creating their Chromebook repair program.

As cited in the said blog post, campus repair programs do not only help students self-repair their computers but also teach them valuable and "transferrable skills."

Once successful and was launched more widely, this Chromebook project may address long-standing issues that the education sector has been facing since then.

Related Article: Chromebook Pros And Cons: Does It Sacrifice Functionality For Portability?
Amazon is reportedly raising its maximum base salary pay towards its white-collar workers due to the highly competitive labor market and the pressure of great resignation during this pandemic.

The maximum base salary is almost a 50% raise to the direct salary of its employees.

Amazon will boost its maximum base pay to $350,000 for corporate and tech employees from the previous $160,000 as part of an overall increase in total compensation intended to help recruit top talent and retain existing employees.

Amazon Salary Increase

For the vast majority of jobs around the world, Amazon stated that they would increase overall compensation ranges, and the increases are significantly greater than what the company has done in the past.

It should be noted that company compensation has traditionally been heavily based on stock options and dividends.

GeekWire reported that other forms of compensation would continue to be in existence.

Other cash compensation, such as sign-on bonuses and restricted stock units, are not included in this figure because they typically vest in increments over a number of years. What this means is that employees' base pay constitutes only a portion of their total compensation.

At the moment, Amazon is amid "Forte."

Forte is a performance evaluation process traditionally done annually in which Amazon employees can get promoted. An example of this is when company founder Jeff Bezos was replaced by the CEO who succeeded him, Andy Jassy.

Competitive Labor Market

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, workers have been given greater leverage to demand better benefits and pay in the workplace. The competition for labor is more intense than it has ever been.

Nowadays, companies are also increasingly offering flexible work arrangements, such as remote or hybrid employment, to attract and retain employees.

As a result, Amazon and other tech companies have acknowledged that failing to provide those benefits could have a negative impact on their ability to attract and retain qualified employees.

According to CNBC, Amazon said that the labor market has been particularly competitive in recent years. With that, they decided to make meaningfully larger increases to their compensation levels.

After conducting a thorough analysis of various options and weighing the economics of their business also affects the decision of the board to increase and improve its compensation pay towards its employees

Read Also: City in the Netherlands To Be Disassembled to Give Way to Jeff Bezos' Super Yacht, Residents Are Mad

Breaking Point in The Great Resignation

Amazon is reportedly coming under fire from its own employees over what they perceive to be below-market compensation.

As reported by Insider, based on compensation data from a startup that analyzes compensation data called Level.fyi, Amazon pays roughly 15 percent less than its industry peers and does not rank among the top 20 best-paying technology companies.

The long-standing hiring and compensation strategy founded by Jeff Bezos is said to have reached a toll on their employees.

As a result, the cash compensation, restricted stock units, and a sign-on bonus that is paid out over a period of two years are a few reasons why Amazon has historically kept base pay lower than many of its competitors.

Unfortunately, working for Amazon during these times may be more challenging for some employees since the world is under the "Great Resignation" phase. This leaves vacant posts to vital job positions since there is great competition for talent.

Other tech companies are offering a higher base salary, as opposed to Amazon's cap of around $160,000, and stock compensation that appreciates more quickly in an attempt to recruit Amazon employees.

Nevertheless, this huge increase Amazon will implement to its pay strategy will surely help retain their talents and align their company with other major tech companies, such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft, in the near future.

Related Article: Google Turning On Search Tracking History: What Does It Mean for Workspace Users?
ROME (AP)  Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness Tuesday for any grievous faults" in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticized his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.

I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate, the retired pope said.

But Benedict's lack of a personal apology or any admission of guilt was likely to rile survivors and further complicate efforts by German bishops re-establish credibility with the faithful. Demands for accountability have only increased as the church has come to terms with decades of sexual abuse by priests and cover-up by their bishops.

Benedict, 94, was responding to a Jan. 20 report from a German law firm that had been commissioned by the German Catholic Church to look into how cases of sexual abuse were handled in the Munich archdiocese between 1945 and 2019. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.

The report faulted Benedicts handling of four cases during his time as archbishop, accusing him of misconduct for having failed to restrict the ministry of the priests in the cases even after they had been convicted criminally. The report also faulted his predecessors and successors, estimating there had been at least 497 abuse victims over the decades and at least 235 suspected perpetrators.

The Vatican on Tuesday released a letter that Benedict wrote to respond to the allegations, alongside a more technical reply from his lawyers who had provided an initial 82-page response to the law firm about his nearly five-year tenure in Munich.

The conclusion of Benedicts lawyers was resolute: As an archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse, they wrote. They criticized the report's authors for misinterpreting their submission, and asserted that they provided no evidence that Benedict was aware of the criminal history of any of the four priests in question.

Benedicts response was far more nuanced and spiritual, though he went on at length to thank his legal team before even addressing the allegations or the victims of abuse.

In the letter, Benedict issued what he called a confession, recalling that daily Mass begins with believers confessing their sins and asking forgiveness for their faults and even their grievous faults. Benedict noted that in his meetings with abuse victims while he was pope, I have seen at first hand the effects of a most grievous fault.

And I have come to understand that we ourselves are drawn into this grievous fault whenever we neglect it or fail to confront it with the necessary decisiveness and responsibility, as too often happened and continues to happen, he wrote. As in those meetings, once again I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness.

His response drew swift criticism from the progressive reform group Wir sind Kirche (We are Church), which said he offered nothing new and confirmed that the retired pope still sees himself as a victim.

And he is still not prepared to stand by the overall responsibility that cannot be delegated, which a bishop has, the group said.

The law firm report identified four cases in which Ratzinger was accused of misconduct in failing to act against abusers.

Two cases involved priests who offended while Ratzinger was archbishop and were punished by the German legal system but were kept in pastoral ministry without any limits on their ministry. A third case involved a cleric who was convicted by a court outside Germany but was put into service in Munich. The fourth case involved a convicted pedophile priest who was allowed to transfer to Munich in 1980, and was later put into ministry. In 1986, that priest received a suspended sentence for molesting a boy.

Benedicts team had earlier clarified an initial error in their submission to the law firm that had insisted Ratzinger was not present at the 1980 meeting in which the priests transfer to Munich was discussed. Ratzinger was there, but his return to ministry was not discussed, they said.

Benedict said he was deeply hurt that the oversight about his presence at the meeting had been used to cast doubt on my truthfulness, and even to label me a liar. But he said he had been heartened by the letters and gestures of support he had received, including from his successor.

I am particularly grateful for the confidence, support and prayer that Pope Francis personally expressed to me, he said.

The Vatican had already strongly defended Benedicts record in the aftermath of the law firm report, recalling that Benedict was the first pope to meet with victims of abuse, that he had issued strong norms to punish priests who raped children and had directed the church to pursue a path of humility in seeking forgiveness for the crimes of its clerics.

The Vaticans defense, however, focused primarily on Benedicts tenure as head of the Holy Sees doctrine office, from 1982 until he was elected pope in 2005.

Benedict reflected on his legacy at the end of his letter, noting that he is at the end of his life and will soon be judged by God.

Quite soon, I shall find myself before the final judge of my life, he wrote. Even though, as I look back on my long life, I can have great reason for fear and trembling, I am nonetheless of good cheer. For I trust firmly that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who himself has already suffered for my shortcomings."

The head of the German bishops conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, had previously said that Benedict needed to respond to the report by distancing himself from his lawyers and advisers.

He must talk, and he must override his advisers and essentially say the simple sentence: I incurred guilt, I made mistakes and I apologize to those affected, Baetzing said. It won't work any other way."

Baetzing didnt immediately comment Tuesday on Benedicts response.

___

Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin.
Two Harris County commissioners are proposing budget slashes that would eliminate more than 1,100 county jobs and would drastically decrease other social services while significantly bolstering law enforcement budgets.

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle and Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey submitted their alternative budget proposals in response to a preliminary draft put forth by County Administrator David Berry which outlines plans for the short fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2023. The county is preparing two budgets as it changes to a fiscal year beginning in October rather than March.

Cagle's proposal seeks, among other items, significant budget increases for law enforcement precincts and detention centers15 percent and 12 percent increases, respectively. However, an analysis of Cagle's proposal by the Harris County office of Management and Budget estimates up to 1,140 county employees would lose their jobs while other departments would experience significant cuts as a result of the amended budget. These cuts would include a 50 percent slashing of public health, a 25 percent reduction of funding for public libraries and a 53 percent loss to community services.

Meanwhile, Ramsey's proposal for the short fiscal year would increase the sheriff's patrol budget by 3 percent while eliminating the budget for the Office of County Administration, reducing the budget for the Department of Economic Equity by 63 percent, and decreasing the budget for public health by 30 percent. It would eliminate the jobs of 1,120 county employees, according to the analysis.

Both proposals target initiatives and funding increases made under County Judge Lina Hidalgo's leadership, including cuts to the budget of her Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity and the elimination of the Justice Administration Department budget.

In an interview with Houston Public Media, Cagle said the jobs gained in law enforcement would be roughly equal to those lost under his proposal, which was modeled off of the 2018 budget. Although, in turn many employees would be "released back into the private sector," he admitted.

"It's very difficult to figure out where the money is going, where it's being spent, Cagle told Houston Public Media. We know that there are things in (the budget) that may be good things, but that I don't necessarily feel are what the taxpayers want to be done out of county government.

In a statement provided Monday, Ramsey argued that the budget currently proposed by County Administrator David Berry only funds 18 percent of law enforcement needs. "This is irresponsible and unacceptable during a crime pandemic," he said.

Ramsey explained that his budget proposal would instead meet 100 percent of the budget requests made by county law enforcement. "Thats 500 law enforcement personnel, of which are over 275 patrol officers. The numbers [of job losses] presented today by my colleagues are not accurate," he suggested. "The proposal adds positions for law enforcement. My colleagues say we need to do the hard work, and thats what Ive done and will continue to do."

In a Monday press conference, Hidalgo called Cagle and Ramsey's proposed budgets "Draconian" and "dystopian," noting the drafted budget already includes $1.4 billion for justice and safety programs. This includes 400 new vehicles for the Harris County Sheriff's Office and county constables.

"We will get through this violent spike in crime that is impacting the whole nation but to do it we have to put ugly and cruel politics aside," Hidalgo said. "We need to work together and do the work that it takes and that means focusing on real solutions, focusing on facts, focusing on civil discourse, focusing on the issues at hand."

The Harris County Commissioners Court has steadily increased budgets for every law enforcement agency in the county over the past several years, including the constables and district attorney. Law enforcement funds increased by about $19 million in the current fiscal year.

Harris County Judge's Office

The Commissioners Court plans to vote on the 2022 budget Tuesday.
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The Perseverance Rover of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) captured an odd-looking rock, which people have claimed to be a proof of extraterrestrial life.

This is not the first time that the first time that the Mars rover has captured unusual photographs of its discoveries.

NASA's Perseverance Rover Captures Photo of Odd-Looking Rock

NASA's Perseverance Rover has captured photos of numerous objects it has found on Mars, including rocks, regolith materials, and the like. Some of these objects, quite interestingly, have come in the oddest of shapes and figures.

Several of these observations of the Martian rover has captured the attention of the public, but it is worth noting that these sightings are just rocks and not signs of extraterrestrial life like some may claim.

For instance, CNET has reported that an UFO-focused site owner, Scott Waring, higlighted that the photo captured by NASA's Mars rover showed a flat rock with a mysterious shape on top of it.

It was then suggested that this image was a proof of extraterrestrial life. Waring has also even claimed that he saw an individual in a dark suit reclining and watching the rover.

Despite the claims of Waring, it should be noted that Mars is a harshly hostile environment, and scientists have yet to find signs of ancient microbial life there.

The image has been posted on Gigapan, which can be viewed by clicking this link.

As we all know, this planet is the fourth planet in the Solar system. It has often been described as a desert-like globe that is frigid and sandy with an incredibly thin atmosphere, per NASA.

Just like our planet, Mars also has its own seasons, polar ice caps, canyons, dead volcanoes, and other indications that it was once a far more active.

Read Also: NASA and SpaceX Investigate The Dragon Capsule's Parachute System

Mars is also the most explored planet among the other existing planets. Additionally, it is the only planet where we've dispatched rovers to study the alien surface. The said rovers are Curiosity and Perseverance, one lander InSight, and one helicopter Ingenuity.

Since these rovers were released to the Martian environment, it captured numerous interesting photos.

3 Other Unusual Photos Captured by Mars Rover

3. Face On Mars

Gizmodo listed numerous weird photos captured by the NASA Mars Rover, including an what seemed to lool like an unusual human face.

The Face on Mars in the Cydonia region was recorded by NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft in 1976, and it became one of the most famous illusions.

The Face on Mars



Image Credit: NASA, Viking 1 Orbiter pic.twitter.com/AZiqmUqPIK  Astrophotography (@astrophotosnap) July 5, 2021

According to the space agency, this is a large rock formation mimicking a human head which was created by shadows providing the illusion of eyes, nose, and mouth. Following images of the feature revealed it to be a mesa, or a plain flat-topped hill.

The Face on Mars is today regarded as a famous example of pareidolia, which is a psychological phenomena where we project familiar faces and objects onto lifeless and banal objects.

2. Light On Mars

Last 2016, NASA Curiosity captured a mysterious light coming from the Kimberley Waypoint in Gale Crater. This photo led to a wild hypotheses like an alien species residing beneath its surface.

NASA's Curiosity rover captured light on Mars, but no aliens (yet): http://t.co/hCJmKy36bG pic.twitter.com/M2HHnOZd6b  Forbes (@Forbes) April 8, 2014

However, Gizmodo explained that the spark of light was most likely formed by a cosmic ray, which caused a visual artifact on the shot.

1. Gold Mineral

During NASA Curiosity's examination on an outcrop Vera Rubin Ridge, the rover accidentally found a gleaming rock which appears to look like a gold mineral.

Do you have a favorite image of Mars? Heres one favorite among my team. A geology gold mine of rock layers with lots of signs that water was once here. Details: https://t.co/MR42TXXUfF



Public favorites: https://t.co/jQbq9rXW53

Vote for your own: https://t.co/L6lhCNdqWq pic.twitter.com/CA6JoQ28en  NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) June 22, 2021

Curiosity has already witnessed comparable events, including a huge metal meteorite in 2015 and a minor meteorite identical to this one in 2016.

Related Article: Life on Mars? NASA Discovers Abundant Water Source In The Red Planet
Local

DeSantis, critics fight over redistricting request

TALLAHASSEE  Critics of Gov. Ron DeSantis request for the state Supreme Court to issue a quick opinion about potentially revamping a sprawling North Florida congressional district argued Monday the ill-conceived attempt to hijack the redistricting process is improper and outside the courts jurisdiction.

The News Service of Florida file photo DeSantis

Meanwhile, DeSantis and supporters of his request said in briefs that they are simply seeking needed judicial guidance as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process.

The issue centers on what is now Congressional District 5, which stretches about 200 miles from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee and was designed to help elect a minority candidate. It is held by Democrat Al Lawson, who is Black.

DeSantis last week asked the Supreme Court for an advisory opinion about dramatically changing the design of the district to make it more compact and only in Northeast Florida. The House and Senate will ultimately have to agree on a congressional map, which then would go to DeSantis, who has veto power.

In briefs submitted Monday to the Supreme Court, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Republican legislative leaders and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry backed DeSantis request for an advisory opinion.

Curry argued that such an opinion would let voters in his city know the district in which they vote and the candidates for whom they vote will withstand constitutional scrutiny.

The groups Common Cause Florida, Fair Districts Now and All On The Line Florida and South Florida Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick submitted briefs opposed to DeSantis request.

Henry Coxe III, an attorney for Common Cause Florida and Fair Districts Now, contended the Florida Constitution does not provide the governor with the right to ask the court to advise him whether he should veto a hypothetical congressional redistricting bill.

Cherfilus-McCormick, who is Black, said that beyond the potential impact to minority voters in District 5, the governors proposed map significantly diminishes the voting strength of minorities in her South Florida district.

The Senate has passed a congressional map that generally would keep the current design of District 5. But DeSantis request paused the House congressional redistricting efforts.

DeSantis proposed map would also vastly alter an Orlando-area district held by U.S. Rep. Val Demings, a Black Democrat, and potentially would increase the number of Republicans in Floridas congressional delegation from the current 16 to 18.

In a Feb. 1 letter to Chief Justice Charles Canady seeking an advisory opinion, DeSantis focused, in part, on what is known as a non-diminishment standard in the Florida Constitution. That standard prevents districts from being drawn that will diminish the ability of minority voters to elect candidates of their choice.

The letter also said, Floridas non-diminishment standard  like the (federal) Voting Rights Acts non-diminishment standard  is a potent, race-based solution to a race-based problem. I ask for your opinion to help me be sufficiently conscious of race to comply with the Florida Constitutions anti-diminishment provision but avoid being so conscious of race that my actions could violate the U.S. and Florida Constitutions.

A brief filed Monday by DeSantis highlights the role of the executive in the process  specifically his veto power  and raised questions about the diminishment issue.

DeSantis argued the need for guidance about the Florida Constitutions minority-voting-protection provision, including whether it requires a district in northern Florida that stretches hundreds of miles to connect a black population in Jacksonville with a black population in Gadsden and Leon counties so that they can elect a candidate of their choice, even though not a majority.

Thomas Zehnder, an attorney for All On The Line Florida, which is linked to the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, argued the governor doesnt have a role in drawing the congressional lines.

The governors request for an advisory opinion at the 11th hour  after the Senate has already passed a congressional plan  is an ill-conceived attempt to hijack the process by asking this court to make decisions about congressional district lines before the Legislature has even enacted a plan, Zehnder wrote.

Coxe wrote that DeSantis request goes beyond part of the Constitution that allows him to seek opinions on executive powers and duties.

This request seeks an advisory opinion purportedly to inform his possible, hypothetical, exercise of his legislative veto power on a bill that has not yet been drafted, much less passed by both houses of the Legislature or presented to the governor for signing, Coxe wrote. In this context, it is well-settled that the governors query about his veto power asks about a legislative function not susceptible to an advisory opinion. Such a request for guidance from this court before a bill is passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor is improper.

But House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, and Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, jointly backed DeSantis on what they said was the narrow scope of the question posed by the governor that would provide needed judicial guidance.

Meanwhile, Moody said the governor isnt asking if his proposed map was unconstitutional, but if the Florida Constitution requires the drawing of a certain congressional district --- a matter that will inform, though not conclusively control, the outcome of the congressional reapportionment process.

There is a strong interest in ensuring that this process proceeds under a correct understanding of the requirements of the Florida Constitution, Moody said in the brief. If the Legislature enacts a map inconsistent with those requirements, the result would be significant uncertainty on the part of voters and candidates regarding the validity of the congressional maps.
U.S. female prisoners suffer sexual abuse: AP

Xinhua) 13:41, February 08, 2022

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Prisoners at a federal women's prison in Dublin, California, said they have been subjected to "rampant sexual abuse" by correctional officers and even the warden, reported the Associated Press (AP).

Inmates "were often threatened or punished when they tried to speak up," the AP reported on Sunday. And prisoners and workers at the federal correctional institution named the jail "The rape club."

The AP said it found a "permissive and toxic culture" at the prisons, enabling years of "sexual misconduct" by employees and cover-ups that have largely kept the abuse out of the public eye.

"The allegations at Dublin, which so far have resulted in four arrests, are endemic of a larger problem within the beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons," said the report.

In 2020, there were 422 complaints of staff-on-inmate sexual abuse across 122 prisons, while four of them were substantiated and 290 are still under investigation, it said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
New leaks and renders for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 have been spotted on the internet. Data miners reveal three incoming tablet models with their sizes, specs, and even accessories.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series is expected to officially launch on Feb 9. However, excited leakers are sharing everything that they can before the date.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Leaks: Specs and Pictures

According to The Verge, serial leaker Evan Blass recently shared the entire press release about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 lineup. The leaks also included a few renders and photos of the gadgets.

Blass said Samsung will have three new tablet models, which are the Galaxy Tab S8, S8 Plus, and S8 Ultra.

Galaxy Tab S8 will be the base model for the lineup, which will come with an 11-inch screen and 2560 x 1600 resolution. It will feature both Wi-Fi 6E and 45-watt fast charging. The tablet will have an LCD screen.

This means Galaxy S8 Plus and Ultra will be the premium variant tablets. Both will still support Wi-Fi 6E and 45-watt fast charging, but will also be upgraded with a "new and improved" S Pen stylus that is teased to use a "prediction algorithm for ultra-low latency."

Galaxy S8 Plus will have a 12.4-inch screen and 2800 x 1752 resolution, while Galaxy S8 Ultra will have a 14.6-inch screen with 2960 x 1848 resolution. Both will feature OLED screens.

It is worth noting that Galaxy S8 Ultra might feature a smaller notched screen. Twitter user @GaryeonHan tweeted a photo of this device in real life.



Read Also: Apple's New Entry-Level MacBook Pro Reportedly Coming This Year; May Not Include ProMotion

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2022: What to Expect in Samsung Unpacked

Aside from the Galaxy tablet details, GSMarena shared leaks for its incoming accessories. Sources said there will be three color options: Pink, Silver, and Black.

Note that these tablets will also have matching-colored case protectors, which feature magnetic strips for the S pen and camera frame. Interested customers can choose from a book cover case and a keyboard case with an embedded touchpad. Be warned that the case with the embedded kickstand seems to be detachable from the set. All accessories are predicted to sell separately from the tablet.

Unfortunately, the leaks did not elaborate on the costs for the tablets and case covers. Fans might have to wait for the Samsung Unpacked event to learn more about the price tag.

GSMarena photos also teased that aside from Galaxy Tab S8, the Samsung Gadgets like Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Ultra, Galaxy Watch4, and Buds might launch in the event.

Note that many of the information listed above is taken from rumors and speculations, so readers are advised to take this in with a pinch of salt. Fortunately, fans do not have to wait long for the official announcement. Learn how to watch the Samsung Unpacked by checking on this article.



Related Article: FCC Estimates $5.6 Billion Costs to 'Rip and Replace' Huawei, ZTE, Other Chinese Equipment
Nurses in the Express Entry pool are now one step closer to Canadian permanent residence.

Nova Scotia holds PNP draw for nurses Nurses in the Express Entry pool are now one step closer to Canadian permanent residence.

Nova Scotia holds PNP draw for nurses Nurses in the Express Entry pool are now one step closer to Canadian permanent residence.

Nova Scotia holds PNP draw for nurses Nurses in the Express Entry pool are now one step closer to Canadian permanent residence. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Nova Scotia invited 278 nurses to apply for a provincial nomination on February 8.

The Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) invited candidates who had profiles in the Express Entry system. Nova Scotia periodically invites Express Entry candidates in targeted occupations to apply for a nomination under its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). In the new draw, the NSNP invited nurses who may be eligible for Nova Scotias Labour Market Priorities Stream.

To get the nomination, candidates need to have a primary occupation as a registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse. Their duties should align with National Occupational Classification (NOC) 3012.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

They will need to provide letters of reference from employers to demonstrate that they have at least three years of experience in their occupation.

Invited candidates need to have a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of 9 or higher in English or French in all language abilities. They also need to hold a bachelors degree or have completed a program of at least three years at a post-secondary institution.

The deadline to apply is before midnight on March 10. If their applications are successful, they will receive a provincial nomination from Nova Scotia. They will be considered PNP candidates in the Express Entry system, which will allow them to apply for permanent residence if they are invited in an Express Entry draw.

About Express Entry

The first step to get an invitation to apply for Nova Scotias Labour Market Priorities Stream is to create a profile in the Express Entry system.

Express Entry manages applications for Canadian permanent residence through three federal immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), and Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

Express Entry candidates are ranked on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). They are awarded points based on factors such as their age, work experience, education, and language ability in English or French.

Now that Nova Scotia has issued invitations, also known as Letters of Interest, invited candidates now have 60 calendar days to complete their application for a provincial nomination.

If they receive the provincial nomination from Nova Scotia, they will automatically be awarded an additional 600 CRS points. This award is enough to effectively guarantee they will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in a subsequent Express Entry draw.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
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Today

Windy with scattered strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 83F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

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Netflix series "All of Us Are Dead" premiered on Jan. 28. Courtesy of Netflix









By Lee Gyu-lee







Netflix's new Korean original series "All of Us Are Dead" has been going strong since making a successful debut on the platform on Jan. 28 and is on track to follow in the footsteps of "Squid Game," which was a global sensation last year.



"All of Us Are Dead" director Lee Jae-kyoo / Courtesy of Netflix

The gory, zombie-apocalypse series landed on the platform's official top 10 weekly chart for non-English series in its opening week, with about 124.8 million hours viewed. It has topped the daily charts in various countries, including the U.K., Japan, Brazil, Thailand and France.







The series' director and creator Lee Jae-kyoo, who is also known as Lee JQ, shared his excitement for the series' success, adding that it feels like two years of production are finally paying off.







"We put our hearts and tried hard in making this series. And I think the viewers responded to the sentiment and story that the series told," he said in an interview with The Korea Times, Monday. "Unlike previous zombie flicks, which focus on how adults handle the apocalypse, 'All of Us Are Dead' is about how adolescents respond to the scenario. And I think that was something new and refreshing about the genre."







Based on the popular webcomic of the same name, the 12-part horror series centers around a high school that becomes ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak.







A group of students  played by Park Ji-hu, Yoon Chan-young, Cho Yi-hyun, Lomon and Lee You-mi  try to make their way out of the school alive, fighting against zombies who were once their schoolmates.







The series delves into the major social issue of school bullying, while also touching on various topics like social class hierarchy, teenage pregnancy and adults' negligence.







"On the surface, the story talks about school bullying but I don't think society at large is much different (from school)," the director said.







"At first, you might think how cruel those kids can be. But as you get through the episodes, you will see that some of the elements run parallel to this society. I hoped that the series could offer viewers a chance to reflect on where they stand in that society."







A scene from the series "All of Us Are Dead" / Courtesy of Netflix





Lee noted that he tried to include real-life events in the story, like the school's principal neglecting the safety of the children and one of the students, Hee-soo, giving birth in a bathroom.







"The story has blended in different tragedies that have happened and are happening in our society," he said. "(In regards to the story of Hee-soo,) there are a lot of young single mothers she tries to abandon the child but goes back. And I felt that the 18-year-old taking responsibility for her child aligned with the series' overall theme."







The series has different types of zombies, like the villain Gwi-nam, who turns into a zombie but retains his human consciousness, and the class president Nam-ra, who remains a human but gains zombie strength.







The director explained that he treated Gwi-nam as "immortal," by surviving after being infected by the zombie virus, and Nam-ra as "immune" due to having stronger antibodies to fight off the zombie virus.







He noted that he adopted the variations in the infection to expand the series' plot into different stories for the future.







"With COVID-19, it's different how the immune system works for people: even though people dine together in a closed space, some might get infected while others test negative. And I thought that a zombie virus might also have such variations where people are not 100 percent infected," he said. "There are traditional forms of zombies from previous zombie flicks, but I felt there could also can be other variants. That way, I can open up different stories within the plot."







Although he is still uncertain if the series will have a second season, the director added that he has implemented some elements to develop further into future seasons.







"I think it's possible to do a second season if viewers show their support for the series. I've taken a second season into account when I was building the story, so there is a story to delve into for the next season," he said. "If season 1 was about the humans' survival, season 2 will be about the survival of the zombies."


Anunt de angajare: Expert/a pentru elaborarea raportului de evaluare a necesitatilor antreprenoriale ale tinerilor din regiunea Centru si a mediului de afaceri regional in cadrul proiectului Youth4Entrepreneurship 
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  North Korea is continuing to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from financial institutions and cryptocurrency firms and exchanges, illicit money that is an important source of funding for its nuclear and missile programs, U.N. experts said in a report quoting cyber specialists.

The panel of experts said that according to an unnamed government, North Korean cyber-actors stole more than $50 million between 2020 and mid-2021 from at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia, probably reflecting a shift to diversify its cybercrime operations.

And the experts said in the reports section on cyber activities obtained Sunday by The Associated Press that an unidentified cybersecurity firm reported that in 2021 the Norths cyber-actors stole a total of $400 million worth of cryptocurrency through seven intrusions into cryptocurrency exchanges and investment firms.

These cyberattacks made use of phishing lures, code exploits, malware, and advanced social engineering to siphon funds out of these organizations internet-connected hot wallets into DPRK-controlled addresses, the panel said, using the initials of the countrys official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

The cryptocurrency funds stolen by the DPRK cyber actors go through a careful money laundering process in order to be cashed out, the panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea said in the report to the U.N. Security Council.

A year ago, the panel quoted an unidentified country saying North Koreas total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at approximately $316.4 million.

In the executive summary of the new report, the experts said North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Although no nuclear tests or launches of ICBMs were reported, DPRK continued to develop its capability for production of nuclear fissile materials, the panel said. Those fissile materials  uranium or plutonium  are crucial for a nuclear reaction.

The experts noted a marked acceleration of North Korean missile launches through January that used a variety of technology and weapons. The experts said North Korea continued to seek material, technology and know-how for these programs overseas, including through cyber means and joint scientific research.

A year ago, the panel said North Korea had modernized its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles by flaunting United Nations sanctions, using cyberattacks to help finance its programs and continuing to seek material and technology overseas for its arsenal including in Iran.

Cyberattacks, particularly on cryptocurrency assets, remain an important revenue source for Kim Jong Uns government, the experts monitoring the implementation of sanctions against the North said in the new report.

In addition to its recent launches, North Korea has threatened to lift its four-year moratorium on more serious weapons tests such as nuclear explosions and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and toughened them in response to further nuclear tests and the countrys increasingly sophisticated nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The panel of experts said North Koreas blockade aimed at preventing COVID-19 resulted in historically low levels of people and goods entering and leaving the country. Legal and illegal trade including in luxury goods has largely ceased though cross-border rail traffic resumed in early January, it said.

The panel has previously made clear that North Korea remains able to evade sanctions and to illicitly import refined petroleum, access international banking channels and carry out malicious cyber activities.

U.N. sanctions ban North Korean coal exports and the experts said in the new report that although coal exports by sea increased in the second half of 2021, they were still at relatively low levels.

The quantity of illicit imports of refined petroleum increased sharply in the same period, but at a much lower level than in previous years, the panel said, adding that direct deliveries by non-North Korea tankers has ceased and only tankers from the North delivered oil, a marked change of methodology probably in response to COVID-19 measures.

The experts said North Korea also continues to evade maritime sanctions by deliberately obfuscated financial and ownership networks.

While the humanitarian situation in the country continues to worsen, the panel said the almost complete lack of information from the country makes it difficult to determine the unintended humanitarian consequences of U.N. sanctions affecting the civilian population.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Charles Taylor Teams Up With Fraud Keeper

Charles Taylor has purchased a majority share in Fraud Keeper, a company based in Argentina that offers fraud detection program on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.

Fraud Keeper has more than 20 years experience in preventing fraudulent transactions and developed a presence in the Latin America and Spain markets. The partnership will bring its technology to new markets and clients globally, Charles Taylor said in a press release.

Fraud Keepers fraud detection software triages, validates and fast-tracks genuine claims, with automated claims payment functionality to reduce the claims lifecycle, Charles Taylor said. The technology can also support risk selection.

Charles Taylor, a global claims management company based in London, said Fraud Keeper will complement its global counter fraud strategy and its Specialist Investigation Services division. The company acquired Contego Investigative Services in January.

Hover Integrates With Xactimate

Hover, which developed a program that transforms smart-phone photographs into precise exterior measurements, can now input data into Verisks Xactimate program.

Hover said the integration of the two systems will allow policyholders and contractors to use the Hover app on their mobile devices to take photographs of a loss site and transform them into an interactive 3D model. The information will allow adjusters to resolve a claim remotely.

It is a very intense and stressful time when a homeowner has experienced a catastrophic event to their home, stated Hover Chief Executive Officer A.J. Altman. Now, we can expedite the entire insurance claim and repair process and get people back in their homes as quickly as possible.

Hover and Verisk will demonstrate the integration of the two systems on Feb. 15-16 at the Verisk Elevate conference in Salt Lake City.

Sedgwick Buys Australian Telemedicine Provider

Sedgwick, an international claims administrator based in Memphis, Tennessee, has acquired Direct Health Solutions, a provider of employer-based telehealth services in Australia.

Sedgwick said in a press release that it is the worlds largest provider of workforce absence management solutions. The purchase of DHS will complement its injury management, employee productivity and workers compensation services in Australia, the company said.

Founded in 2004, Sydney-based DHS was the first company in Australia to introduce a nurse-led telehealth absence management service, Sedgwick said. The company later developed an injury triage service and medical advice line.

DHS operates a 24/7 telehealth nurse contact center that provides medical triage and management advice, along with referrals to Australias most extensive preferred network of occupationally trained allied health professionals and medical practitioners, Sedgwick said.
NEW YORK  Johnson & Johnson created a plan last year to limit the financial bleeding from billions of dollars in jury awards to plaintiffs who alleged the companys 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: To halt all the litigation and transfer the cases to bankruptcy court, where plaintiffs would compete for compensation from a limited pool of money.

In court and in public statements last July, Johnson & Johnson 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.

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 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. LTLs 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 Johnsons 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.

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.

A Reuters spokesperson called J&Js claims without merit.

We reject the factually-unfounded and legally-meritless claims made by J&Js lawyers and will continue to report without fear or favor on matters of public interest, the spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

Bankruptcy Benefits Without Burdens

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 Moodys, the Wall Street ratings firm, to ask if the subsidiary bankruptcy would harm the companys pristine credit, according to emails reviewed by Reuters. She was told it likely wouldnt because the agency would only consider the maneuvers 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.

Moodys 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&Js 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 Oct. 14.

Alternative Justice System

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.

Thats 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 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.

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.

The New Jersey judge overseeing the subsidiarys 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 talclitigation 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.

Tens Of Thousands Of Plaintiffs

J&Js bankruptcy strategy is the latest example of the companys 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.

Tens of thousands of plaintiffs, many with mesothelioma or ovarian cancer, have filed lawsuits alleging that exposure to talc in J&Js Baby Powder and other company products made them sick. Records J&J produced in response to those lawsuits led plaintiff lawyers to refine their argument: The culprit wasnt necessarily talc itself, but also asbestos in the talc.

That assertion, backed by decades of science showing that asbestos causes mesothelioma and is associated with ovarian and other cancers, has had mixed success in court. The company has insisted in lawsuits and public-relations campaigns that the product was safe and asbestos-free.

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 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 theyve 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.

Released From Liability

J&Js 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.

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 Purdues 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&Js 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&Js 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 subsidiarys 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.

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 isnt involved in the J&J subsidiarys 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.

Texas Two-Step

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 products safety.

In April, J&J attorneys consulted with Jones Day lawyers, who explained how the company could use a Texas law to split the companys 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 firms 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.

Project Plato

By July 12, the company had secretly set up the Project Plato team. The more than 30 employees staffing it came from J&Js 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 Moodys to get guidance on the impact to J&Js 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 companys 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 wasnt likely to cause concern about J&Js creditworthiness. Rather, he said, Moodys was highly likely to focus on how the subsidiarys Chapter 11 filing affected J&Js 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&Js existing consumer products business. The merged company then divided itself under the states 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.

Green Light

Early on the morning of Oct. 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 bankruptcys 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 Oct. 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 thelitigation.

A plaintiffs lawyer grilled Robert Wuesthoff  a J&J manager appointed president of LTL Management  on that point in a Dec. 22 deposition.

One of the considerations was to treat claimants equitably; it was for their benefit? Is that what youre 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&Js consumer products business in financial distress.
Tesla Inc. said a California agency informed the electric automaker that it has grounds for a civil complaint, following an investigation into racial harassment.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing issued a so-called notice of cause finding and mandatory dispute resolution to Tesla on Jan. 3, the company said Monday in a regulatory filing. The investigation involved undisclosed allegations of race discrimination and harassment at unspecified Tesla locations.

Tesla has faced numerous complaints and lawsuits from former workers at its auto plant in Fremont, California, about racial discrimination and sexual harassment in recent years. Many complaints never make it to court because Teslas full-time employees sign agreements requiring workplace disputes to be handled in closed-door arbitration.

In October, one former worker was awarded $137 million by a federal jury in San Francisco  the largest such verdict of its kind. Tesla is now appealing the size of the award.

Its a very positive development that the DFEH has made this finding and is willing to pursue a civil case if they cant reach a resolution with Tesla, said Larry Organ, a Bay Area civil rights attorney who represents several former Black employees and contract workers.

Teslas acting general counsel didnt respond to a request for comment. The California fair-employment agency also didnt respond.

The California DFEH filed a lawsuit against video game developer Activision Blizzard Inc. in July for promoting a culture of constant sexual harassment. The department also reached a settlement with Riot Games over sexual harassment and discrimination claims.

Since 2014, workers have filed over 100 complaints with the DFEH alleging discrimination at Tesla on the basis of race, age, gender, disability, medical leave, pregnancy, sexual orientation or national origin, according to a synopsis provided by the agency after a California Public Records Act request. The state shares jurisdiction with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over such cases.

A notice of cause finding from the DFEH signals that the agency believes an employer has violated the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, said Catherine Fisk, a law professor at University of California, Berkeley. It is a warning that the agency intends to sue the company unless the matter can be settled out of court.

Teslas shares were little changed at 3:18 p.m. in New York.

About the photo: A Tesla dealership in Colma, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. U.S. auto sales will climb just 3.4% this year to 15.4 million cars and trucks as the semiconductor shortages continue to constrain vehicle inventory, auto dealers predict. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
SEATTLE (AP)  The Monroe, Washington, School District offered a $34 million settlement to students and parents exposed to toxic chemicals on a public school campus.

The Seattle Times reports the district proposed the settlement in November under court seal, preventing the public from seeing the offer, but the $34 million figure appears in a separate court document obtained the newspaper.

In publicly available court documents, the school district doesnt accept responsibility for hazardous conditions on the Sky Valley Education Center campus, which were detailed in a recent investigation by The Seattle Times and ProPublica.

Instead, the district defended its cleanup efforts on campus, saying it acted appropriately to remove toxicants and inform parents.

Records show the school district was slow to clear out toxic material from the Monroe campus, even as pressure from parents and staff escalated and dozens reported illnesses.

As early as 2014, Monroe School District officials found a mixture of harmful conditions, including poor air ventilation and the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a banned, human-made chemical that the Environmental Protection Agency has linked to some cancers and other illnesses.

More than 200 parents, teachers and students filed a series of lawsuits against Monsanto, the chemical manufacturer of PCBs, for exposure to the toxicant at Sky Valley. Children and staff claim they became severely ill, reporting cancers, brain damage, hormonal problems and skin conditions.

Monsanto, which is now owned by Bayer, has gone to trial in two of the lawsuits, in which juries awarded 11 people a collective $247 million. Several others are awaiting trial.

The $34 million offer is the maximum allowed under the school districts insurance policy in order to protect (the Monroe School Districts) finances and its ability to continue operating, according to a statement the district provided to the Seattle newspaper.

The district called the settlement a prudent action under the circumstances.

The Monroe School District, which serves about 6,000 children, has an annual budget of $93 million.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A visitation will be held on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at the MMS- Payne Funeral Home Chapel from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Family will greet friends from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Grace Ann Harrison passed away on April 26, 2022 at the age of 76 years old. Grace Ann was born to Dryden and Joan Carman 
Cleburne, TX (76033)

Today

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms overnight. Low 66F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
The old saying is that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. I wonder if that is the same for beer cans? A super ugly incident occurred last weekend at Yankee Stadium when fans started throwing beer and other debris at Cleveland Guardians players following a walk-off afternoon win for New York April 23.




By Lee Hae-rin







Air Busan initiated direct scheduled flights between Incheon and Vladivostok on Feb. 5, the airline said Feb. 6.







The Incheon-to-Vladivostok flight is scheduled to operate every other Saturday. A 180-seat Airbus A320 will depart from Incheon International Airport at 11:15 a.m., arriving in Vladivostok International Airport at 3 p.m. and returning to Incheon at 6 p.m., arriving at 8 p.m.







Vladivostok is an administrative center of the Russian Maritime Province and one of the largest geo-economic hubs in the Russian Far East region. Despite the high demand for various flight options, only Russian airlines have served direct flights for over 20,000 passengers last year, hindering exchanges between the two countries.







If Gimhae International Airport grants international flights greater access, the airline is likely to offer more diverse flight options connecting Busan and the capital area, which is expected to bring significant benefits to passengers and the local economy.







In celebration of the flight launch, Air Busan is offering a promotion to upgrade the free baggage allowance from 15 kilograms to 23 kilograms for passengers boarding until June.







Travelers arriving in Vladivostok and Incheon need to bring a negative COVID-19 PCR test result in English conducted no more than 48 hours prior to arrival. Details on entry regulations and quarantine requirements are available on the websites of the Korea Immigration Service by the justice ministry for foreign travelers, and the foreign ministry and Vladivostok Consulate for Korean nationals.


We have had mobile technology in our lives since the early 1980s and like most of us, we could not see a world without having one and the convenience it brings us. The question we should ask ourselves is if you left your wallet at home or your cell phone which one would you absolutely go bac
North Korea test launches an alleged hypersonic missile, Jan. 11, in this photo provided by the North Korean government. AP-Yonhap





A Washington think tank says it has identified a military base close to North Korea's border with China that is likely intended for the stationing of intercontinental ballistic missiles.







The Center for Strategic and International Studies based its report on Jan. 21 satellite images of the base at Hoejung-ni, in North Korea's Chagang Province about 25 km (16 miles) from the border with China and 280 km (175 miles) northeast of Pyongyang.







"The Hoejung-ni missile operating base will, according to informed sources, likely house a regiment-sized unit equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles," the report said.







"Should operational ICBMs not become available in the near term, it is likely that intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) will be deployed," the report added, noting that North Korea tested a Hwasong-12 IRBM from Chagang Province last month.







It said Hoejung-ni was one of approximately 20 ballistic missile bases that have never been declared by North Korea and that although its construction began 20 years ago, it was one of the latest to be completed.







Analysts say stationing ICBMs so close to China would make any pre-emptive strike against them difficult because of the risk of hitting Chinese territory.







The CSIS report comes after a slew of recent North Korean missile tests that have raised fears that the country may resume ICBM tests. North Korea has suggested it could restart such tests suspended since 2017 because the United States has shown no sign of dropping its "hostile policies."







Asked about the CSIS report, a spokesman for the U.S. defense department, Lieutenant Colonel Marty Meiners, declined to comment on "matters of intelligence or commercial imagery analysis."







"However, we have been very clear on the threat posed by (North Korea's) missile programs, and our commitment to the defense of (South Korea), Japan, and the U.S. homeland, and our commitment to uphold regional peace and stability," he said.







Portraits of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are seen in downtown Pyongyang, Dec. 19, 2018. AP-Yonhap





On Saturday, Reuters obtained an excerpt of a confidential United Nations report that said North Korea had continued to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in the past year and cyberattacks were an important revenue source for Pyongyang in the face of international sanctions.







CSIS said there were no signs of an ICBM unit at the base as of January and no protective anti-aircraft positions could been seen within 10 km (6 miles), while the nearest "readily identifiable" surface-to-air missile base was 50 km (30 miles) away.







However, it said its images showed Hoejung-ni to be active and well maintained by North Korean standards and that minor development of its infrastructure was continuing.







The images showed two hardened drive-through missile checkout facilities used for missile arming, fueling, systems checkout and maintenance operations, CSIS said.







Each facility consisted of a large concrete-reinforced shelter cut into the side of the adjacent mountain measuring about 35 meters (yards) in length long, sufficiently large to accommodate all known North Korean mobile missile launchers. (Reuters)


Judge Francine B. Goldberg was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ohios Commission on Technology and the Courts for a three-year term beginning Jan. 1, according to a Feb. 2 news release.

Goldberg said she is honored to serve on the commission.

At this pivotal time in our state, with COVID still in full force, I am committed to the important work of modernizing court operations statewide, enhancing efficiencies, and increasing methods of access to courts and transparency of courts proceedings through technology, Goldberg said in the release.

Goldberg has served as a judge in Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court since December 2014. As a judge, she adopted technological innovations as a way to improve the courtroom experience for litigants and lawyers, according to the release. A proponent of technology in the justice system, Goldberg led efforts to develop CourtConnect, a free mobile app designed to connect litigants and attorneys to the Domestic Relations Court. CourtConnect provides the public with quick, easy, 24/7 on-the-go access to court-related information through mobile devices, the release stated.

This form of cutting-edge technology was the first of its kind for a domestic relations court in Ohio, and possibly the first in the United States, according to the release.

It is exciting for our court to be in the forefront of this innovative electronic application, Goldberg said.

As a former Cuyahoga County assistant prosecuting attorney and the director of Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, technology has always been her passion, the release said. While an assistant prosecuting attorney, Goldberg developed the Shaq Shield  Ohio ICAC iPhone App featuring Shaquille ONeal  to protect children on the Internet. This was the first law enforcement-approved Sex Offender Registry for mobile devices, according to the release. Shaq Shield was designed to help parents protect their children from online predators, and to provide Internet safety tips to monitor their childrens Internet activity and flag signs of dangerous communication.

Goldberg said she is looking forward to working with commission members in support of transforming the way justice is administered in Ohio, and to increase efficiencies and access to justice.
A session of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly is held in Pyongyang, Sunday and Monday, in this photo, provided by the Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's absence from the country's key parliamentary meeting  as well as the lack of public message for South Korea or the United States  is raising speculation that the reclusive country is refraining from its saber-rattling mainly due to the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics.



According to its state-run Korean Central News Agency, the totalitarian state held the sixth session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) in Pyongyang, Sunday and Monday without Kim's attendance. The SPA is the highest organ of power under the North Korean Constitution, although it rubber-stamps decisions of the ruling Workers' Party.



The meeting came on the heels of seven missile tests, in total, in January, including the launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile. In addition, the country has threatened to lift its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and ballistic missile tests in protest against Washington's "hostile" moves. The North Korean leader declared a halt to all nuclear and ICBM tests in April 2018, while engaging in talks with former U.S. President Donald Trump.



Since Kim assumed power in 2011, the leader has attended the SPA on eight out of 14 occasions, with him unveiling the regime's policy directions twice  in 2019 and 2021.



"At this point, a message that can be issued by Kim about its foreign policy would boil down to its decision to scrap the moratorium and sending such a serious message during the Beijing Olympics could pose a problem to its ties with China, which does not want any military tension during the period," said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University.



China is North Korea's lone economic pipeline and diplomatic protector who prevents the United Nations Security Council from imposing sanctions on Pyongyang for its provocations.



Other analysts also see Kim's congratulatory message to Chinese President Xi Jinping for the opening of the Winter Games last week as a sign of suspending missile tests.



The North Korean leader said in the message that the bilateral relations had been cemented into "invincible strategic relations."



"Although North Korea test-fired missiles seven times in January, it is anticipated to refrain from staging provocations until the Beijing Winter Olympics are over (on Feb. 20)," said Cheong Seong-chang, the director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute.



Plus, there were no specific movements, Tuesday, when the nation marked the 74th anniversary of the military's founding.



Park said North Korea may stage a military parade on Feb. 16 to celebrate the 80th birth anniversary of late former leader Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader, during which it may showcase its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles arsenal, but it would not ruffle China's feathers.



Instead, North Korea is highly expected to stage a major show of force in April, when it is scheduled to mark the 100th birthday of its founder Kim Il-sung on April 15.



"North Korea has propagated 2022 as the 'year of revolutionary, auspicious occasions' and April is the most important month to the country, so it could do something significant for its part," Park added.




BEDFORDSHIRE [mdash]Michael A. Litchfield, Age 73, passed away April 23 in Bedfordshire, England. He is survived by his wife Vivian, 2 daughters Donna and Michelle , 4 grandchildren, 2 brothers Alan and Philip, 3 sisters Janet and Karen of Bedfordshire and Patricia Cramer of Clinton. He was 
Stephan Zapisek and his son Joseph celebrate Josephs graduation from the LENA Start program. I am so thankful that LENA and Read Aloud Delaware provided this opportunity to me and my family, Zapisek said.
Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.

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To raise money and further awareness for AIDS, the Penn State Thespian Society held its 20th annual MasquerAIDS benefit concert in the HUB-Robeson Centers Heritage Hall Sunday evening.

PSTS has been hosting MasquerAIDS, also known as MAIDS, to raise money for the Centre County AIDS Resource Alliance since 2002.

MAIDS features multiple performances of all parts of theater including acting, dancing and singing, all set around a single theme.

This years theme for the concert was Ready, Set, Grow.

Many of the acts built on this theme, as the songs sung and danced to were often about growing up, changing or embracing oneself.

MAIDS Producer Kelly Bench said the theme of growth was important given the shows 20th anniversary and its return to an in-person venue.

We wanted to talk about how we've changed as a society in the past few years, how we've changed as a thespian organization and just how the HIV/AIDS community has changed, Bench (junior-public relations) said. So that's really what our show is about. It's about change and growth.

Among the songs featured in this years MAIDS were Dear Theodosia from Hamilton," When I Grow Up from "Matilda the Musical," Being Alive from Company" and Changes by David Bowie.

Jacob Malizio, the director of this years MAIDS, talked about the many different forms of growth that these songs represent, including his own.

There are songs in the show about physical growth, emotional growth, spiritual growth, it's all about growth, Malizio (sophomore-theatre) said. I've grown so much not only through this process, but through the past couple years, and so it's really nice to reflect that on stage.

While this was not Malizios first time directing a show, it was his first time directing one of this size.

I've directed a number of one-acts in high school, Malizio said. I've never done anything to this scale. It's been really fulfilling.

Similarly, this was Sarah Frantzs first year as music and vocal director, after having been assistant vocal director in 2021.

I was, at the beginning of the year, debating on whether or not to actually apply to be vocal director. Then I jumped the gun. I was like, Sure, Frantz (sophomore-mechanical engineering) said. Then they're like, Hey, you want music AND vocals?

Frantz said the most challenging part of working on MAIDS was rehearsing while adhering to the coronavirus guidelines set out by the Performing Arts Council.

[PAC] all of a sudden, like halfway through the year, changed guidelines back to [being] more restrictive, Frantz said. We were hoping maybe they would lighten up so we could go with our original blocking and everything, but unfortunately, they didn't. So we had to work through [that] last minute.

The show was divided up into two acts, with each one being around 40 minutes in length and broken up by a 20-minute intermission.

Nathaniel Hoover said the vocal performances in the show were very good, and it was definitely nice coming out to see it.

There's a couple things I wasn't expecting, especially when they pulled out the Hamilton' song, Hoover (freshman-aerospace engineering) said.

Lizzy Scipione, director of last years MAIDS, was also in the audience.

Scipione (junior-spanish education) described her experience watching the show as a little bittersweet.

To be honest, it was lovely. I love this club, so seeing all my friends on stage was a great experience, but it was hard to see it go on without me, Scipione said. However, that's the whole point. It was good to see it and to have supported such a good cause.

Scipione said she would love to be part of it next year.

Assistant Vocal Director Joshua Ostach described his time working on MAIDS and with the Penn State Thespian Society as an amazing experience.

I've met so many people growing my skills as a leader and as a vocal director, and I'm just honored to be a part of this great cause raising money for AIDS, Ostach said. I'm really proud of everyone we've worked with and the work that we as a production staff have done.

RELATED
At the State College Borough Council meeting on Monday, Mayor Ezra Nanes proclaimed the week of Feb. 7 to 11 as National School Counseling Week and described school counselors as invaluable.

School counselors help students realize their full potential and navigate challenges according to the proclamation.

Nanes cited counselors work with students, parents and teachers as part of the reasoning for the proclamation, and said comprehensive developmental school counseling programs are considered an integral part of the educational process that enables all students to achieve success in school.

I just want to say personally that my family has had the opportunity to interact with our school counselors and theyve been such a wonderful and invaluable part of our lives and were very grateful.

RELATED
Though students have been experiencing winter weather in State College, Penn State professor Jose Fuentes is currently amid even colder temperatures up north in the Arctic Circle in Alaska  conducting research on melting ice and its effects on the atmosphere.

At Penn State, Fuentes teaches two undergraduate courses  Introduction to Micrometeorology (METEO 454) and Atmospheric Dispersion (METEO 455)  and two graduate courses  Biometeorology (METEO 563) and Chemistry of the Atmosphere (METEO 532).

Outside of the classroom, Fuentes serves on various research committees and takes part in research, data analysis, modeling and field work, and this past Saturday, Fuentes traveled to Utqiagvik, Alaska.

The ice in the Arctic is rapidly disappearing, Fuentes said. It is allowing the water vapor to enter the lower layers of the atmosphere. There is a feedback loop there that is enhancing the warming of the Arctic.

Even though hes frequently traveling for research, some of Fuentes current and former students said they continue to feel the impacts of his teaching as they pursue passions hes helped them fully recognize.

Kayla McCauley, now a graduate student in atmospheric science at the University of Arizona, took a total of three classes with Fuentes throughout her Penn State career. The first two were required for her major, but the last one was a graduate-level course Fuentes had recommended for her, McCauley said.

For McCauley, Fuentes made the difficult concepts easier because he really wants everyone to learn.

Beyond his tendency to explain this is why  rather than just explaining the base-level concepts  McCauley said all classes connected with his research.

He would show us the charts of what he did, and he would connect whatever we were learning in class to what he did, McCauley said. It gives you a reasoning  this is why we use it. This is what we do with it.

McCauley said Fuentes was very understanding with the schedules of his students and would listen to their concerns about assignment due dates  often asking students what day would work best for them.

Outside of class, McCauley said Fuentes was available at all times.

He gave us his phone number, McCauley said. For our graduate class, we had to write a publishable literature review, and he was like, If you guys need anything, let me know. I emailed him about my data, and he called me while he was driving.

Overall, McCauley said Fuentes is the happiest man and is ecstatic about everything.

Current graduate student in chemical oceanography at the University of South Florida Nicola Guisewhite took Fuentess graduate-level atmospheric chemistry course when she was at Penn State and looking into a graduate career. She said she wanted to see if she could handle the pressure of it.

Guisewhite said Fuentes promised to personally guide her through the course.

I dont think theres a single person who has wanted me to succeed more than Dr. Fuentes, Guisewhite said. Even if its just a little victory for you, its a major victory in his head. Hes always so proud of you.

When it comes to connecting with students, Guisewhite said Fuentes picks up on the little things.

I walked into class one day, and I was so tired, Guisewhite said. I went to sit and sip my coffee, and he came over and was like, Are you OK? He picks up on those things.

Guisewhites favorite part of the course was working with Fuentes because he loves learning and loves teaching.

In research closer to home, Fuentes is looking into how climate change impacts pollinators  especially bees.

When they want to locate food, they need to identify scents that the flowers produce, and then the bees are navigating against the scents, Fuentes said. Without scents, the bees cannot locate food.

Fuentes said 70% of the food humans consume is impacted by pollination, so the studies hes conducting are important for creating the basic knowledge that can later be used to improve the declining bee population.

We humans have produced a lot of pollutants, Fuentes said. Those pollutants [react] with the scents, and we modify the scents.

For Fuentes, he said he connects with his undergraduate students mainly through assignments, often making them in a way that encourages students to come to him for answers.

I want to establish a connection with the students, and I want them to come and visit with me.

MORE NEWS COVERAGE




South Korea will have in-depth consultations with the United States and Japan in the upcoming three-way ministerial talks to explore "creative" ways of engagement with North Korea, Seoul officials said Tuesday.







The foreign ministry reaffirmed its commitment to diplomacy with Pyongyang, as South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is set to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Hawaii on Saturday following the North's recent missile tests.







"In light of the meeting, South Korea and U.S., as well as Japan, plan to have in-depth consultations on creative and various ways to engage with North Korea," ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a press briefing.







"It is important that North Korea stops acts escalating tension at this point and opts for a diplomatic path via dialogue," Choi added.







The first trilateral ministerial meeting under the Joe Biden administration is expected to discuss ways to bolster their cooperation in response to growing threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile program.







Pyongyang staged seven rounds of missile launches in January, including that of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, marking the largest number of missile tests conducted by the recalcitrant regime in a single month.







It has also hinted at the possibility of breaking its moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing, upping the ante in its drawn-out standoffs with Washington. (Yonhap)


More than a dozen paintings, drawings and illustrations created by local Black artists are on display throughout the state Capitol building to mark the beginning of Black History Month.

The artworks  part of the Solidarity Mobile Mural Project  will be on display from February through the summer. They include 11 artworks hung in the Capitol basement rotunda and several others inside of the governors office lobby, the lieutenant governor's office and the legislative council staff office.

"Our intent was to showcase the wide breadth of artistic talent and perspective among Black creatives living and working in the Pikes Peak Region," said Avenue Creative Circuit, which presents the project with My Black Colorado and the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region. "We're delighted to see a collaborative project like this grow well beyond the three districts that came together to launch it."

The Solidarity Mobile Mural Project features original work by Black artists in the Pikes Peak Region. The work reflects the artists lived experience, perception of beauty and aspirations for the future, Avenue Creative Circuit said.

This is the latest installation of the year-round Creative Capitol Exhibition, which highlights local artists by displaying their work inside the Capitol in an effort to inspire human connections, create social change and support economic vibrancy throughout Colorado, according to the exhibition website.

"I am very glad at the timing," said Ruth Wilson with Colorado Creative Industries, which runs the exhibition. "One of Creative Industries' central focuses is to provide support of all varieties to Colorado artists. We love being able to showcase artwork by Colorado artists in the state Capitol and also to highlight to Colorado legislators, legislative staff and Capitol visitors the vibrancy of the Colorado creative sector."

Here are the artworks on display in the Capitol rotunda, along with explanations from the artists provided by Avenue Creative Circuit:

Its a Wonderful Day, Looking for a Better Day and Getting Fancy by Kevin Johnson

Im a traditional and digital artist and retired Army vet, Johnson said. I love creating art that shows the beauty and positivity in us all. A lot of my images come from my life experiences and imagination. I remember images from my childhood while growing up in Louisville, Kentucky. My friends and family members give me inspiration for some of my paintings.

Facial/Racial Recognition by Floyd D. Tunson

Ive been thinking about Facial/Racial Recognition for a long time because it represents certain issues that have yet to be totally resolved, Tunson said. Black men have been targeted as a supposedly dangerous group, rather than seen as individual human beings. Identifying a person via facial recognition technology can result in erroneous and devastating results for the misidentified.

Space Cadet by Brittney McDonald-Lantzer

In my experience, it feels as if you are Black and enjoy something like anime, comics, video games, etc., that isnt Black enough, you are judged and shamed for enjoying the media that speaks to you, McDonald-Lantzer said. The existence of this piece is simple: I love space, anime, future funk and art. So, I rolled all of that up in the Space Cadet."

Awia Repue by Jasmine Holmes

These works are inspired by consumerist culture and its appetite for devouring the colored body, Holmes said. With an emphasis on the Black figure she draws from social constructs, such as race, class and creed, in order to bring forth an image that both disturbs the viewer and procures contemplation.

Just Us by C.J. Hackett

Ive been unable to find the words that really sum up the way I feel about the struggles and injustices our country is facing right now, but music seems to find me and even without words it provides a powerful connection to the community around me, Hackett said. As a guitarist, I use pedals to generate powerful effects when creating music. The possibilities are endless. If only there were a pedal that could change the world so easily.

Internal Power by Vincent Coleman

This piece reflects how it felt to grow up in the only African American family in an upper-class white neighborhood, Coleman said. These experiences have shaped me into the person Ive become today. Being able to express this through art in these turbulent times is a blessing.

Agape Self Love by Rosario Weston

The year of the COVID-19 global pandemic, I not only quarantined, but also painted and reflected on the visual stories I wanted to capture on canvas, Weston said. Agape Self Love' is a painting that evolved from this reflection. This painting is inspired by nature, people doing what comes naturally to them and American contemporary culture.

Unbound by Parker Camp

As a Reiki master, I refer to my higher self when it comes to creating each canvas, Camp said. If I choose to ignore it, I inevitably end up completely repainting a piece. Its best to not argue. Colors have meaning. Texture is important. Perspective is personal. ... My tattoos, my hair, my skin color, my accent, will always lead others to the wrong conclusion, but my work is open to interpretation. Im ready to see that in motion.

Bus Stop by James A. Dixon

My artwork aims to convey to its audience a sense of inevitability. It should shout out to the viewer, What took you so long to get here? Dixon said. While this pieces title and subject matter reflect the pedestrian rituals of pre-COVID urban life, to me, it pivots towards the unmistakable possibilities that humankind was designed to live peacefully together.
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People's Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo speaks during a debate hosted by Kwanhun Club at Press Center in Jung District, Seoul, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps



By Nam Hyun-woo





Amid a close presidential race, Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the center-right People's Party, has become the most-sought-after politician as two leading contenders are wooing him to team up to field a unified candidacy for a coalition government after winning the election.



But Ahn is turning a deaf ear to their calls, reiterating his position that he is in the race until the end.



During a debate hosted by Kwanhun Club, an organization of journalists, Tuesday, Ahn dismissed any possibility of cooperating with another party to field a single candidate.



"I am running in the presidential election in order to be the protagonist of leadership change," he said. "My goal is an election victory, not finishing to the end."





People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol clears his throat while announcing his science and technology policies during a forum in Gangnam District, Seoul, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps



The comment came after main opposition People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said in an interview with Hankook Ilbo that he would not "rule out the possibility (of a single candidacy with Ahn)."



During the interview, Yoon mentioned the coalition government between former President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil, then a leader of a minor conservative party. In the 1997 presidential election, the two formed a coalition, with Kim Dae-jung becoming the single candidate and Kim Jong-pil and his party members taking prime minister and economic minister posts.



Yoon's comments were interpreted as an indirect proposal to Ahn, but the latter apparently rebuffed him, saying he had never considered anything of the sort.



"No matter what party takes office, the Cabinet and the public will be divided," Ahn said. "I believe I am the right person to form a Cabinet which can unify the public."



Ahn went on to say that he has not received any concrete offers so far.









"A leadership change is a process of building a better country," Ahn said. "What if we unconditionally change the leadership and end up seeing another amateur administration that is worse than the incumbent one?"



Despite Ahn's staunch refusals, the PPP has placed pressure on him to cooperate to field a unified candidate for the 2022 presidential election.



But there is an obstacle inside the PPP. Its chairman, Lee Jun-seok, is against the Yoon-Ahn coalition.

Lee said on a radio interview on Tuesday that "Ahn should make a certain political decision before this weekend," adding that picking a single candidate through a public survey "would not be appropriate given Ahn's current situation." The official registration for presidential candidates begins Sunday.



But other PPP members are continuing to press Ahn to join the Yoon camp.



The PPP appears to be making such a move because recent surveys show that support for Ahn has been stagnant. According to a survey conducted by Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), released on Monday, Ahn's support rate stood at 8.3 percent, trailing behind Yoon with 44.6 percent and ruling Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung with 38.4 percent.



The polls show Ahn's rate fell into the single-digits range. In previous KSOI surveys, Ahn's support rate reached 15.1 percent on Jan. 9, but dropped to 9.6 percent on Jan. 16. The figure slightly recovered to 11.6 percent on Jan. 23, but fell to 10.6 percent on Jan. 31 and 8.3 percent on Monday.





Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung enters the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
Evelyn Juanita Mainord went to Jesus on Monday, April 11, 2022. She was born in Starkville, Mississippi to Rena Evalena (Buckles) Cook and William Louis Cook. Juanita had two older brothers; Louis Greer Cook and William Eckford Cook; and two younger brothers, Martin Douglas Cook and David Le
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Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) / Yonhap





The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), Korea's largest umbrella labor organization, officially endorsed Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), for the country's next president Tuesday.







The decision to officially endorse Lee, a former governor of Gyeonggi Province, in the March 9 presidential election was reached in a mobile vote following a convention of FKTU delegates from 9 a.m. Monday to 1 p.m. Tuesday, the group announced at a press conference in Seoul.







FKTU Chairman Kim Dong-myung said Lee's "on-site administrative experiences and bold ability to break through barriers" were considered optimal in overcoming the current pandemic and economic crises.







In 2017, the group officially endorsed the DPK's then candidate Moon Jae-in while supporting Lee Myung-bak of the then conservative Grand National Party in 2007. It decided not to endorse a candidate in the 2012 presidential race.







The upcoming election has shaped up largely to be a two-way race between Lee and main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party. For weeks, polls have shown the two candidates largely running neck and neck in support with no clear front-runner. (Yonhap)


Dropbox is best known as a cloud storage service, but it also offers some collaboration tools. For example, you and your co-workers can add comments to files and create shared to-do lists. These functions are available with all Dropbox individual user plans (including both free and paid versions) and team accounts for business.

This guide walks you through these collaboration tools when you use Dropbox through a web browser. The Dropbox mobile apps for Android and iOS offer similar features (in a different format to accommodate smaller screens), but the Dropbox desktop apps for macOS and Windows do not offer as many sharing and collaboration options as the web interface.

Share files or folders with other people

To collaborate with other people in Dropbox, you have to first share a file or folder that you want to work on with them. Sharing a folder also shares all the files inside it.

There are a few different ways to share a file or folder:

If youre viewing your files and folders under List view in the middle column, hover the mouse pointer over the file or folder name and click the Share button (the upward-pointing arrow icon) that appears toward the right.

If youre viewing your files and folders under Grid view, hover the mouse pointer over the file or folder name, click the three-dot icon that appears, and from the menu that opens, select Share.

If you want to share a folder that youve already opened in the middle column, click the Share button thats toward the upper-right corner. (If the details pane for this folder is open on the right side of the screen, the Share button appears at the top of the pane.)

The Share this folder or Share this file panel is opened. Inside the Add an email or name box, type in the email addresses or names of people in your Dropbox contacts who you want to share this file or folder with.

IDG When you share a file or folder, you grant invitees view or edit permissions. (Click image to enlarge it.)

Above your recipients is a drop-down menu that defaults to can edit. If you are sharing a file, can edit means that the people you are sharing the file with can edit, download, delete, or comment on the file, or add a copy of it to their own Dropbox account. If youre sharing a folder, the same permissions apply to all the files that are in the folder, and people you share the folder with can also upload files to it.

If you click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of can edit, you can change the permissions to can view. This means that the people youre sharing with can only view, download, or add comments to the shared file or any file in a shared folder; they cant edit or delete files, nor can they upload new files to the folder. (Certain files, such as images and PDFs, can only be shared as can view.)

Inside the box with the words Add a note, you can optionally type a message to your recipients.

When youre finished, click Share file or Share folder on the lower right of the share panel. Your recipients will receive an email that contains a link; clicking it grants them access to your file or folder, and theyll be prompted to add your file or folder to their Dropbox.

Note: Recipients must have a Dropbox account to access your shared file or folder. If they dont have one, Dropbox guides them through signing up for at least a free plan. If theyre already a Dropbox user, they also get a notification through their Dropbox account that you want to share with them your file or folder.

If youre creating a new folder and want to share it, you can save time by doing both actions at the same time. In the left navigation column, click All files. Then click the Create button thats toward the top of the middle column. From the menu that opens, click Shared folder.

Or, in the left column, click Shared. This will take you to a page showing you any files or folders that you are sharing with other people, or files or folders that are being shared with you. In the right column, click the Create shared folder button.

Either way, a panel will appear with two options. Choose the first: Id like to create and share a new folder and then click the Next button. This will then take you to a panel thats similar to the aforementioned share panel. First, type in a name for your new folder, then add people who you want to share it with, choose their edit or view permissions, and so on. Click the Share button when youre done.

IDG Instead of sharing an existing folder, you can create a new shared folder from scratch. (Click image to enlarge it.)

Activate collaboration tools in a shared folder

Click All files or Shared in the left navigation column to view your folders and files in the middle column. Click the shared folder that you want to collaborate with others on to open it.

On the details pane in the right column, near the bottom of the Info section, click on the words Add a few details about this folder here. Then type in a short description for this shared folder. (If the details pane isnt already open on the right side, click the icon of the left-pointing arrow in the upper-right corner to slide it open.)

IDG You can enter a description for a folder in its details pane. (Click image to enlarge it.)

As you type in the description, a toolbar above it offers text formatting options (bold, italic, bulleted lists, etc.), plus three noteworthy functions:

Create link: This chain link icon lets you enter a web link into the description.

This chain link icon lets you enter a web link into the description. Create to-do: The checkbox icon starts a to-do list; each line of text becomes a task with a checkbox next to it. When you (or another person with permission to edit this shared folder) click a checkbox, the line of text next to it is crossed out with a strikethrough.

IDG You can add to-do tasks to a folders description area. (Click image to enlarge it.)

Mention someone: Clicking the @ icon lets you insert the email address or name of someone in your Dropbox contacts. You can also type @ inside the description box to evoke this feature. This person is notified by email and notification in their Dropbox account that theyve been tagged in this folder. (When you tag someone whom you havent already shared a folder with, youre asked if you want to share this folder with them. If you do, youre then taken to the share panel to add them.)

You can also pin a file or another folder as an icon shortcut on the details pane of the folder. Click Pinned items on the details pane, and drag one or more files or folders from the middle column to the area marked Drag files or folders into here to quickly find them later in order to pin them.

IDG Pinning a file or folder in the shared folders details pane keeps it handy. (Click image to enlarge it.)

To unpin a file or folder from the Pinned items section, hover the mouse cursor over the pinned item and click the X that appears to the right of its name.

Manage shared files and folders

IDG Look in the right column of an open folder to see who its shared with.

When you open a shared folder or click the checkbox to the left of a shared file to highlight the file, circle icons toward the upper right show the headshots or initials of the people its being shared with. (If the details pane is open, these icons appear at the top of this pane.) Hover the mouse pointer over one of these icons, and a callout shows if the persons access to the folder or file is can edit or can view.

Whenever you want to add more people to a shared file or folder: Bring up the file or folders share panel as described above, add the new people, assign edit or view permissions for them, and click the Share button.

You can also change the permissions for anyone who youre currently sharing your file or folder with. Toward the top of the share panel, below the name of your file or folder, click [Number] people have access.

This switches to a panel listing all the people youve shared this file or folder with. Click Can edit or Can view to the right of a persons name to bring up a menu that lets you change their permissions to view or edit, or remove their access to this file or folder. With a shared folder, theres an additional option on this panel: You can assign one of these people to take over from you as the new owner of the folder. If you do this, then only they will be able to change this folders settings or to unshare it.

IDG The share panel for a folder lets you manage users access privileges individually. (Click image to enlarge it.)

If you click the gear icon toward the top right of the share panel for a folder, a settings panel opens that lets you control whether all people with edit permissions can add new people to your folder, or if only you (the owner) can do this action. Theres also a Viewer info switch; leave it on to let people with edit access to the folder to see who is viewing files in the folder, or turn it off if you dont want other editors to know whos viewing files. If you want to stop sharing the folder, click Unshare folder at the bottom left. Click Save on the lower right when youre finished making any changes on the settings panel.

When you click the gear icon of the share panel for a file, youll see a similar settings panel with the same Viewer info switch and Unshare file link as described above. Users with paid accounts have access to additional settings such as requiring a password, setting an expiration date, and disabling downloads for the file.

Add files or folders to a shared folder

In the left navigation column, click All files or Shared. Then in the middle column, open the shared folder that youd like to add files or folders to by clicking it. Toward the top of the page, click the Upload button, and from the menu that opens, choose Files or Folder. A file manager tool then opens. It lets you browse through the files or folders on your PC and select the ones you want to upload to your shared folder.

IDG Those with edit permissions for a folder can upload files and folders to the folder.

To create a new folder inside a shared folder, click the Create button (to the right of the Upload button), and select Folder. On the panel that opens, type inside the box with the text Folder name to provide a name for this new folder. Then click Create on the lower right of the panel.

Remember: This new folder will reside under a shared folder. This means that the people youve already given access to the shared folder will also be able to access this new folder that you created inside it. So if youve given them can edit access to your shared folder, theyll also have can edit access to this new folder.

The Create button also lets you create documents in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides; or Dropbox Paper formats in the shared folder.

View files or edit a document

When you click the file name of a viewable file thats in your Dropbox (such as an Excel spreadsheet, image, PDF, video, or Word document), Dropbox will switch to a page that lets you preview it. For example, if its a PDF, youll be able to read and scroll through it. If its a video file, it can be played on this page.

If youve granted someone edit permissions to an editable file of yours (such as a Microsoft Office document), heres how they, and you, can interact with this file through Dropbox in a web browser:

Click the documents filename to open it in the abovementioned preview page. Then click the Open button at the top left of the screen. A drop-down menu opens that lets you choose how to open the document: A .docx file can be opened in Word for the web or Google Docs; a .pptx file can be opened in PowerPoint for the web or Google Slides; a .xlsx file can be opened in Excel for the web or Google Sheets.

IDG You can open and edit .docx files in Word Online or Google Docs. (Click image to enlarge it.)

Make a selection from the two options that youre presented with. You may need to sign in to your Microsoft or Google account and grant it access to Dropbox. Then the document opens in your browser and you can edit it. Any changes you make will be saved to the original document file stored in your Dropbox. The same will be true for anyone who has edit permissions to the document if they make changes to it.

Next page: Commenting on documents, requesting files, and more 




Cyberbullying has yet again cut the lives of an athlete and a Twitch streamer short last week.



Kim In-hyeok, 28, a professional volleyball player of the Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs, was found dead at his home in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday.













Cho Jang-mi, 27, also known as BJ Jammi, a Twitch streamer at CJ's creator management agency Dia TV, was also found dead recently.
Dontwaitmt.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 10 Dec 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the dontwaitmt homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the dontwaitmt homepage on Twitter + the total number of dontwaitmt followers (if dontwaitmt has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the dontwaitmt homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the dontwaitmt homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the dontwaitmt homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if dontwaitmt has a Facebook fan page).

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From left during the Eubanks scholarship check presentation are Dr. Javar Myatt-Jones, a physician at Shoals Primary Care, the events premier sponsor; Dr. Sara Lynn Baird, UNA Dean for the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; Marriott Shoals General Manager Larry Bowser; and Kevin Haslam, Vice President for University Advancement at UNA.
LG Chem to beef up battery material biz



By Baek Byung-yeul





Kwon Young-soo, vice chairman of LG Energy Solution / Courtesy of LG Energy Solution

LG Energy Solution posted lower-than-expected earnings in 2021 due to the prolonged shortage of automotive semiconductors and soaring prices for battery materials. The battery maker said Tuesday it will work on improving its battery manufacturing capability by increasing facility investments this year.



The battery company said its 2021 sales came to 17.85 trillion won ($14.9 billion) while posting an operating profit of 768.5 billion won. Its October-December sales and operating profit came to 4.43 trillion won and 75.7 billion won, respectively.



At the beginning of 2021, the company announced its estimate for sales that year could come to 18.9 trillion won, but ultimately it failed reach that goal, increasing by 42 percent compared the year before.



"It fell slightly short of its 18.9 trillion won sales target for 2021 due to unfavorable external business factors such as the automotive semiconductors shortage and rising prices of major raw materials," the company said. "However, thanks to efforts to improve productivity and rising global demand for electric vehicles, sales rose 42 percent from 12.57 trillion won in 2020."



LG Energy Solution is one of the world's top electric car battery makers, along with its competitors such as CATL of China, Panasonic of Japan and Korea peers including Samsung SDI and SK on. Thanks to investors' expectation that the demand for batteries will keep rising, the company became the second-largest market cap company in the country's stock market right after it was listed on the KOSPI on Jan. 27.



For 2022, the company aims to hit a sales target of 19.2 trillion won. The company set the sales target reflecting increasing demand for electric cars, expanded sales of cylindrical battery cells, the ongoing automotive chip shortage issue and battery cells to be used first in recalled vehicles.



To improve its manufacturing capacity, the company will spend 6.3 trillion won in facility investments, up 58 percent from 4 trillion won in 2021.



"We will do our best to improve quality and secure profitability, which is the most basic value of a company. Also, we plan to bolster investments in future preparations," said Kwon Young-soo, vice chairman of LG Energy Solution.





Shin Hak-cheol, vice chairman of LG Chem, speaks during an online conference, Tuesday. Courtesy of LG Chem
Likely after realizing that it's way cheaper to film the Avengers when they're not in character and instead simply hanging around a public street in a pair of jeans, Disney is producing two new reality shows featuring Brie Larson and Jeremy Renner, respectively. Larson's series is reportedly a "hybrid docu-series that explores the challenges, triumphs, and complexities of adolescence," while Renner is set to host Rennervations  which will presumably come out every Rennsday at Threnner o'clock. Apparently, the project "embraces Renner's lifelong passion for giving back to communities" and involves "reimagining unique purpose-built vehicles to meet a community's needs."

We don't know quite what that means or how exactly having the star of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters overhauling vehicles will benefit these mysterious communities, but this latest move is perfectly in keeping with Renner's career trajectory, which, in addition to acting, is chock-full of weird side-projects.

Most notoriously, there was the Jeremy Renner app, a self-described place to "do fun things." The app was a place for Rennerheads (we assume that's what they call themselves) to connect with each other and Renner himself. And it was totally free  with the exception of in-app purchases, such as "Superstars" that allowed users to "boost their comments" so they will #BeSeen by Renner, with costs ranging from $1.99 to $394.99.
China's resort island sees tourism boom during Spring Festival

Xinhua) 14:13, February 08, 2022

HAIKOU, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's southern island province of Hainan saw robust tourism during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, which ran from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6.

The province handled more than 5.4 million domestic tourist trips during the holiday and raked in 7.53 billion yuan (about 1.18 billion U.S. dollars), according to the provincial tourism authority.

Duty-free shopping with various promotional activities has been a highlight of the tourism boom.

"Duty-free shopping has become an integral part of traveling in Hainan," said Huang Ruijie, a tourist from southwest China's Guizhou Province who made some purchases at a duty-free shopping mall.

She added that it was pretty worthwhile shopping, as there were promotional activities and discounts for the festive season.

Ten offshore duty-free shops in Hainan sold goods worth about 2.1 billion yuan during the Spring Festival, an increase of 151 percent year on year, according to the provincial department of commerce.

While tourists from all over the country enjoyed duty-free shopping, many visitors from around the island preferred to enjoy the rural villages in the mountainous areas of central Hainan, home to the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park.

Wang Yiqin, owner of a rural homestay at the foothills of Bawangling Mountain in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, had a busy time welcoming guests during the holiday.

An increasing number of urban residents nowadays favor the rural landscape, especially during the blooming season of ceiba, Wang said, adding that he plans to further expand and upgrade his homestay. "I believe the prospects of rural tourism will continue to improve."

Wangxia, a remote village tucked away in the mountains of Changjiang, received a large number of tourists. Liu Guifang, a local villager, opened a restaurant with her husband in 2020 and during the holiday this year, the restaurant hosted hundreds of guests.

"The number of visitors saw a boom, and luckily I had made full preparations before the Spring Festival," said Liu, noting that she plans to brew more wine, so visitors can savor the specialty.

According to official data, the rural scenic spots around the island received about 540,000 tourists during the holiday, and they were mainly Hainan residents. Besides, the average occupancy rate of hotels in Hainan reached approximately 72 percent, up 16.5 percentage points compared to last Spring Festival.

China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
IONIQ 5, left, and Nexo displayed at Hyundai Motor media conference held at Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group



By Kim Hyun-bin



Hyundai Motor Company announced it will return to the Japanese auto market at a press conference held in Tokyo Japan, Tuesday. The reentry comes 12 years after Hyundai withdrew from the Japanese passenger auto market at the end of 2009.



"(After the withdrawal from the passenger car market), Hyundai Motor has been contemplating (re-entry) in various forms for the past 12 years," Hyundai Motor CEO Jang Jae-hoon said in a video greeting. "But now, we have decided to go back to square one and service our (Japanese) customers."



Despite the reentry, only online sales will be available. Japanese customers will be able to make payments for cars, insurance, and registration, as well as vehicle option selection and ordering online, providing an offline-like brand experience, purchase support, maintenance, and education, Hyundai Motor said.



Hyundai Motors also changed the corporate name of its Japanese subsidiary from Hyundai Motors Japan to Hyundai Mobility Japan. To better reflect Hyundai Motor's goal of becoming a 'smart mobility solution provider' in Japan.



Hyundai Motor Group has been seeking to expand its presence in the Japanese and Chinese automobile markets with its latest lineup of electric vehicles (EV).



Hyundai Motor Company aims to appeal to the Japanese market with its IONIQ 5 and hydrogen EV 'Nexo', at the same time as Kia Corp. is pushing its EV6 to customers in China, in addition to launching new EV models each year.



In the Japanese automobile market, imported cars account for only 8 percent, due to strong preference for local brands such as Toyota and Honda. Most imported vehicles are German brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi.



Hyundai Motor entered the Japanese market in 2001, but suffered poor performance until 2009, with cumulative sales of only 15,000 units, and eventually withdrawing from the market.



However, as the trend toward electric vehicles has been accelerating recently, Hyundai Motor Group seems to have decided to reenter the Japanese market with its EV lineup as its main competitive force.



In addition, Kia Corp., whose sales volume in China has halved in the past year, is also aiming to recover sales through its EVs.



After the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), to the peninsula in 2017, Kia has been struggling with growing anti-Korean sentiment in China. Kia sold 650,000 units in 2016, but sales fell sharply to 220,000 units in 2020 and 120,000 units in 2021.


Sue B. Donnelly, 87, of Crossville, passed away at her home on April 26, 2022. She was born on May 18, 1934, in Crossville, Tennessee, daughter of the late James T. Brandon and Clara (Hamby) Brandon. Sue was the owner of Boats and Harbors and of the Baptist Faith. She is survived by her chil
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End-to-end encrypted communication has been a boon to security and privacy over the past 12 years since Apple, Signal, email providers, and other early adopters first started deploying the technology. At the same time, law enforcement authorities around the globe have pushed for technological solutions to pry open the chain of protected end-to-end encrypted content, arguing that the lack of visibility provides a haven for criminals, terrorists and child abusers to hatch their plans with impunity.

In 2016, Apple prevailed in a now-famous legal standoff with FBI Director James Comey to unlock an encrypted phone used by a mass shooter in San Bernardino, California. In 2019, Attorney General William Barr revived the so-called backdoor debate to advocate some means of breaking encryption to thwart those who distribute child sexual abuse material. Last month, the UK government kicked off a PR campaign to lay the groundwork for killing off end-to-end encryption ostensibly to crack down on child sex abusers.

Cybersecurity experts and privacy advocates have consistently condemned these efforts as misguided attempts to break what they view as an essential means to keep the internet safer and users more protected from malice. Yet its hard to argue that abuse, crime, and malware arent rapidly rising across the internet.

The question then arises: Without introducing harmful encryption backdoors, how can organizations identify miscreants communicating over their networks if their communications are hidden from view? Experts speaking at last weeks Enigma conference offered some solutions.

4 proposals for spotting threats and questionable content

The first step in solving this dilemma is defining end-to-end encryption, Mallory Knodel, CTO at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), said. What is end-to-end encryption is surprisingly not agreed upon. There is some agreement or some convergence around the use of end-to-end encrypted messaging, for example, the use of the Signal protocol. Theres an effort in the IETF to standardize something called the Messaging Layer Security protocol, which can be used in messaging, and in video and a variety of contexts.

The concept remains largely undefined. Does E2EE have to include perfect forward secrecy or deniability or other features? That is not necessarily agreed upon, Knodel said. Now is a really critical time to define what are the required features of end-to-end encryption, what breaks that, and what doesnt.

Citing a study that CDT released last August, Knodel said several proposals have been floated on how to spot threats and questionable content in end-to-end encrypted environments. The first is user reporting, where users can block and report suspicious content, often using empowerment features. We didnt think this is terrible, she said, particularly if done in a privacy-enhancing way.

The downside to user reporting as a means of spotting undesirable content is that plausible deniability, an essential feature of end-to-end encryption that allows users to cast doubt on whether their data exists, wouldnt be possible, Knodel said.

Another technique is metadata analysis, which looks at the typical type of metadata that typically accompanies most content transmitted over the internet, such as file size, type of file, date and time of the send, who sent it, who received it, and so forth. We would not necessarily suggest creating more metadata to do analysis, but in general, what metadata is there might be a way of doing some degree of content moderation, especially in terms of behavior, she said. Platforms should always be reducing the amount of metadata they keep for sure.

A third technique for spotting unwanted content is traceability, used in India and Brazil primarily over WhatsApp to look for disinformation. Its a scheme that doesnt have anything to do with looking at content but asks where the data came from, who is the first person to send this message, how many people have seen it, and more.

I think of traceability as enhanced metadata. Its exactly what we dont want platforms to do, Knodel said. Platforms are probably not tracking every single origin of a message, who it passes through, who sees it. Thats an extra ask that is taking an end-to-end encrypted messaging system and building additional features on top of it to aid law enforcement. We would reject traceability.

A fourth model is called perceptual hashing, which compares known, disallowed content in a database to content flowing over the network using a fingerprint derived from the disallowed content. Its not something we would recommend. There are questions about whether its effective or good enough.

Finally, predictive matching is a way to identify undesirable content and hunt for matches between the bad stuff and novel content. Predictive modeling is essentially worse than perceptual hashing, so we reject it, she said.

No silver bullet for online abuse

Riana Pfefferkorn, research scholar at Stanford Internet Observatory, considers these methods content-oblivious because they dont necessarily require access to content on the provider's part. The Observatory surveyed 13 online providers, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messaging, and other providers who collectively serve most of the worlds internet users.

Based on the survey results, its clear that while end-to-end encryption prevents automated scanning as a tool for detecting abuse because its content-dependent, it does not affect user reporting or metadata because those are content-oblivious. It's also clear, Pfefferkorn said, that encryption does not affect providers abuse detection efforts uniformly. Specifically, content-oblivious tools are considered much less helpful than automated scanning for child sexual abuse information (CSAI) in an end-to-end encrypted environment.

That alone should not be a pretext for breaking encryption. For policymakers, the big takeaway that I want you to get from this talk is that there is just not a silver bullet for online abuse. Automated content scanning is too often treated as though it is a silver bullet and cure-all for online abuse, Pfefferkorn said. Moreover, CSAI content is unique. It cant be used as the basis for developing a trust and safety program, much less passing a law. Theres no guarantee that automated content scanning is going to continue to be effective against CSAI as it is right now.

The rise of hate and harassment calls for new ideas

Kurt Thomas, research scientist at Google, said that the recent rapid rise of hate and harassment online should foster a rethinking of how providers deal with this kind of content. The problem is that a lot of the existing protections we have in this context really focus on for-profit cybercrime, he said. Weve made immense strides in warning people about spam, phishing, and malware and getting them not to go to dangerous websites. Weve warned them about data breaches and password reuse, and behaviors that put them at risk of being taken over. None of these map onto the security and privacy needs in the hate and harassment context. We need to expand our security threat models to address these attacks that lack the same scale or profit incentives.

Hate and harassment threat actors arent motivated by money, Thomas said. The goal is to silence their [victims] voice, damage their reputation, reduce their sexual or physical safety or even reduce their financial security or their ability to operate independently.

Addressing hate and harassment is going to require some unique combination of warnings, nudges, moderation, automated detection, or even just conscious design, Thomas said. How we go about solving toxic content is going to be fundamentally different than how we go about surveillance, or impersonation, or intimate content leaking online.
Companies that do business on the internet or use network connections in any way, shape, or form are vulnerable to cyberattack. And lets face it, that includes pretty much everyone these days. According to the 1H 2021 NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report, there were nearly 5.4 million distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in the first half of 2021. But although the threat landscape is often discussed in terms of attack numbers, experts in threat intelligence tend to think in terms of people: the adversaries behind the attacks. During a recent NETSCOUT OnGuard webinar, a panel of security researchers from NETSCOUTs threat intelligence team discussed the vital role threat intelligence plays in a modern cybersecurity strategy.

How threat intelligence helps

When it comes to combatting distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and ransomware attacks, threat intelligence is vital. According to Hardik Modi, associate vice president of threat and mitigation for NETSCOUT, threat intelligence is the study of the bad actors who perpetrate these attacks, along with the tactics and tools they use. What we do collectively is study what our adversaries are doing, why they are doing it, and how they are doing it, explained Modi. Our objective is to gather threat intelligence that will better inform and protect our customers.

What we do at ASERT is study the attackers and the attack methodologies, homing in on the tactics theyre using and the types of targets that theyre going after, added Richard Hummel, threat intelligence manager for NETSCOUTs ATLAS Security Engineering and Response Team (ASERT). And then we turn that knowledge into actionable threat intelligence that is pushed out into our solutions, so our customers can have access to that expertise in such a way that they can use it to make forwarding or drop decisions about packets on their network in order to actively defend against those threats.

That actionable insight is crucial for defending against DDoS attacks. There were more than 10 million DDoS attacks in 2020 alone, and that record-setting pace continued into 2021.

DDoS extortion attacks

One pernicious new form of attack recently on the rise DDoS extortion. In these cases, the attacker launches a demonstration attack against the victim and then follows up with an extortion demand. This demand typically states that the attacker has a lot more DDoS capacity and will direct that capacity at the victim if the extortion payment isnt made. Indeed, respondents to the 16th annual Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report (WISR) reported a 125 percent increase in such attacks.

In the newest wrinkle, cyber attackers are using triple extortion tactics, combining data encryption, data exfiltration, and DDoS attacks to create a three-pronged attack that increases the likelihood of the victim complying with the ransom demand. In todays increasingly fraught threat landscape, Organizations have to be prepared to defend themselves against attacks 24 by 7 by 365, explained Roland Dobbins, principal engineer of ASERT. This requires having a plan in place, successfully executing that plan, and regularly evaluating the effectiveness of the plan to strengthen it against subsequent attacks. The good news ispreparation pays off.

Modi suggested one additional consideration. Ultimately, the fundamental aspect of DDoS defense is knowing your own network, he concluded. When it comes down to defending yourself, theres information we can provide that is very useful, but a lot of it will come down to knowing what your services look like and what they depend on, and then using effective solutions to fine-tune the correct level of defense. Threat intelligence is essentially a way of testing your defenses, so you can enhance them.

Read more in the 1H 2021 NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz (not pictured) at the White House in Washington, Feb. 7. Reuters-Yonhap





U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be halted if Russia invades Ukraine and stressed unity with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the West rallies to avert a war in Europe.







At a White House press conference with the new German leader, Biden, a longtime opponent of the decade-old pipeline project to Germany from Russia, said Russian forces crossing into Ukraine would trigger a shutdown.







"If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the ... border of Ukraine again, then there will be ... no longer a Nord Stream 2. We, we will bring an end to it," Biden said. Asked how, given the project is in German control, Biden said: "I promise you, we'll be able to do it."







German Chancellor Olaf Scholz participates with U.S. President Joe Biden in a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 7. UPI-Yonhap





Scholz said the United States and Germany had the same approach to Ukraine, to Russia and to sanctions, but did not directly confirm the Nord Stream 2 plans or mention the pipeline publicly by name over the course of his day-long visit.







Whether the United States and Germany are on the same page over the $11 billion project has become a crucial question as the two major democracies lead NATO allies in pushback against Russian President Vladimir Putin.







Russia has amassed some 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border. It denies it is planning an invasion; but U.S. officials say an attack could occur within days or weeks.







Scholz, under fire at home and abroad for what has been seen as insufficient leadership in the crisis, told reporters Russia would pay a very high price if it invaded Ukraine and said Germany and the United States had the same approach.






Cybersecurity planning can often seem like a futile game of whack-a-mole: You knock down one threat and another appears before you have a chance to relish success; knock down a second and a third, only to see the first reappear.

Thats why IT and security professionals areor should belooking ahead to future challenges.

What are the IT and data security use cases that organizations are focused on securing in the next two to three years? Thats the question we posed to members of the IDG Influencer Network, a community of journalists, industry analysts, and IT professionals who contribute their knowledge and expertise to IDG clients.

Their responses varied from the continued need for basic security hygiene to locking down plans for worst-case data breach scenarios.

Security from the ground up

A few of the IDG experts emphasized their need for regular security hygiene practices, and building them into development initiatives.

The IT infrastructure is becoming increasingly complex  with further adoption of cloud and incorporating edge computing  as organizations expand their digital transformation efforts. In turn, these projects expand the cyberattack threat surface and complicate security planning, according to the 2022 AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report.

Thats why paying attention to the security basics are crucial; the more democratized computing becomes, the more critical security is.

Its important to maintain cyber hygiene to avoid security complacency, says Scott Schober (@ScottBVS), president/CEO, Berkeley Varitronics Systems. I revisit basic protocols and focus on security fundamentals continually throughout my organization.

Isaac Sacolick (@nyike), president of StarCIO, adds that digital transformation projects are causing IT teams to build more apps, APIs, automations, and data services. These efforts, he says, will require DevOps teams to shift security left  in other words, integrate it from the outset and develop with a security-first mindset  by implementing proactive tools, especially web and API protection, customer identity protection, and cloud data security.

Over the next few years, these protections will extend to the edge as more businesses develop IoT and other real-time, real-world experiences, Sacolick says.

Another Influencer, Will Kelly (@willkelly), a content and product marketing manager, is also concentrating on DevOps processes.

Im focused on security of the DevOps/DevSecOps toolchain from man-in-the-middle and other attacks, he says. As the workplace becomes more hybrid, the toolchain becomes a more enticing target for threat actors raising the security stakes.

In addition, Kelly is working on collaboration platform security: Theres bound to be some organizations going through a security reckoning as remote and hybrid work became the order of the day. Some enterprises will [have negative results] for neglecting their SharePoint and other collaboration platforms pre-pandemic with organizational business processes now dependent on those platforms.

Shoring up security for the remote workforce

As Kelly pointed out, some companies are still feeling the security effects of the remote or hybrid workplace. Several experts said this is an area that will require ongoing focus.

Over the next two to three years we will find that a large portion of the workforce will continue to work remotely, says Net Health CIO Jason James (@itlinchpin). IT and security teams must look for frictionless methods to securely support a remote workforce. Security must be ever-present while being seamless and non-disruptive to the workforce. This requires a deeper understanding of where and how users access data.

The need for frictionless data access that prevent leaks, while also providing robust security, was echoed by several Influencers:

Work from anywhere (WFA) continues to take center stage. The best WFA solutions seamlessly adapt to existing trust models, further simplifying and securing the operational model already in use in remote-worker critical cloud deployments.  Adam Stein (@apstein2), principal at APS Marketing

Prevention of data leakage through hacks, or even through internal negligence, has to be at the top of any organizational security strategy. The challenge is: Many companies dont even know where all of their data resides given all of the satellite data repositories deployed in a typical company, let alone how to keep it all safe. The first thing to do is to complete a full audit and find out just where all the data is  on prem and in the cloud. Then, building out a strategy and acquiring the proper tools to implement it must be the focus for the next several years  or however long it takes.  Jack Gold (@jckgld), president and principal analyst, J. Gold Associates

Kayne McGladrey (@kaynemcgladrey), security architect/strategy and GRC practice lead at Ascent Solutions, recommends following the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0, which was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense. It offers a framework that incorporates Zero Trust tenets that will help companies maintain regulatory compliance and ensure that data are adequately protected against evolving threats from nation states and advanced persistent threats, he says.

Filling skills gaps over the next few years

Workforce changes are also complicating an ever-present IT and security skillsets gap, as businesses must now deal with the Great Resignation phenomenon.

Our primary and ongoing focus areas are hiring, training, and retaining cybersecurity and technology talent, says Gene De Libero (@GeneDeLibero), GeekHive.com Chief Strategy Officer. Security and tech execs need to build solid partnerships with HR, and execute a plan for professional growth and career pathing to combat increasingly sophisticated threats from inside and outside the organization.

Other Influencers suggest augmenting existing IT teams with outside services, such as managed security services providers (MSSPs) and cloud services that incorporate built-in security frameworks:

To complement existing enterprise security services for staff, partners, and customers, MSSPs deliver advanced security operations centers (SOCS. Their offerings typically include: cloud security workloads; threat prevention, detection, and remediation for endpoints; Zero Trust identity management; and unified log and analytics management. Stein at APS Marketing

We are focusing on how cloud services may help with data security issues including confidentiality, integrity, and availability of massive volumes of data.  Benjamin Ajibade (@Benni_aji), data analytics lead with SHIFT Nigeria

At a high level, we are looking to get improved cloud security analytics. This will be used for varied security tasks  from user monitoring, insight into operations, threat management, and more.  Ben Rothke (@benrothke), senior information security manager, Tapad

Preparing for the worst

Security incidents are becoming more frequent and sophisticated. For example, ransomware attacks are now organized by criminal gangs that spend significant time and money to develop their methodology. Organizations should prepare for the worst, says Frank Cutitta (@fcutitta), CEO and founder of HealthTech Decisions Lab.

For example, his work has shifted toward the increasing need for ransom negotiators and funding mechanisms for the breach that could inevitably happen. This meshes with an overall incident response and communications plan starting at the reception desk all the way up to the board room, Cutitta says.

The cyberattack landscape will continue to evolve. Gartner predicts a particulary gloomy near-future, where cybercriminals will weaponize operational technology to harm humans  such as the hacking attempt to poison the Oldmar, Fla., water supply. Its imperative to plan how best to protect your organization, and consider your most important IT and data security use cases for the next two to three years.

Download the 2022 AT&T Cybersecurity Insights report to gain additional information into how businesses across the globe are becoming more cyber mature.
3 1 of 3 Jason Neely / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Kim Tyler / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





MIDDLETOWN  Middletown-based Connecticut Humanities, the statewide, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has awarded the Arts Center Killingworth and Spectrum Art Gallery and Store in Essex an $11,400 cultural fund operating support grant.

The arts center and gallery will employ the grant money in a variety of ways with a keen focus on the growth and development of new and innovative programming, according to a press release.
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Two low-cost airlines that serve Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks have announced plans to merge in a $6.6 billion deal.

The deal combining Florida-based Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines, which is headquartered in Denver, is expected to close during the second half of this year. Officials with the two carriers claim the merger will benefit consumers with lower fares and more routes.

If approved, the merger will create the nations fifth-largest airline.

Spirit began providing service from Bradley in June 2017 and Frontier followed in 2018. Frontier offers seven nonstop destinations from Bradley, while Spirit offers six.

Ted Christie, president and chief executive officer of Spirit, said the deal with Frontier will further democratize air travel.

This transaction is centered around creating an aggressive ultra-low fare competitor to serve our guests even better, expand career opportunities for our team members and increase competitive pressure, Christie said in a statement.

Officials with Spirit and Frontier say the combined airline will add 10,000 jobs by 2026.

Barry Biffle, president and chief executive officer of Frontier, said the deal will deliver more ultra-low fares to more people in more places.

Alisa Sisic, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Airport Authority, which oversees Bradley operations, said officials are closely monitoring the proposed merger.

To date, both airlines have been an integral part of the growing route network at Bradley International Airport, Sisic said. We look forward to learning more about their potential merger and what their unified and strengthened national presence may mean for the local market. At this time, there is no impact to our travelers.

Michael Boyd, president of the Colorado-based airline consultant Boyd Group International, said the deal doesnt make Bradley a less attractive option for travelers.

It is still an incredibly viable access point, Boyd said. And by all accounts, both airlines are very happy with the routes they have from there.

Connecticut travelers probably wont see lower fares from the combined airlines as a result of the merger, he said.

These carriers dont compete out of Bradley and they really dont fly any of the same routes, Boyd said.

What it should do, he said, is put the new airline on more solid financial footing.

The combined carriers lost $500 million in 2021 and the merger will remove one set of overhead, Boyd said.

Both Spirit and Frontier target discretionary travelers, he said.

A lot of those people wouldnt be traveling if the two airlines werent operating, Boyd said. They make air travel more of a consumer option.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
Masks in schools, one of Gov. Ned Lamonts most controversial measures during the COVID pandemic, dominated the conversation at a six-hour forum Tuesday on extending 11 of the governors executive orders and the states emergency declarations.

More than 350 people signed up to speak during the forum, which served as a preview of the debates that will likely take place at local school board meetings if the decision on masking shifts to community leaders at the end of this month, as Lamont has recommended.

Many of those who spoke Tuesday were parents, visibly angry and emotional, who said they should have control over whether their children are required to wear masks.

Allison Sherman, a mother of three children under the age of 5, said at this point in the pandemic the cost of masking children far outweigh the benefits. Sherman said her 5-year-old daughter developed a stutter at the beginning of the pandemic that was brought on by the anxiety of trying to be heard through her mask with her soft, high-pitched voice.

She now avoids talking in the classroom, a place that should be a safe and comfortable environment for her, Sherman said. Not only is this hurting her social development at a very crucial age, but shes struggling to learn to read because how can she if she cant see her teachers face?

Lamont, whose emergency powers expire Feb. 15, announced Monday that he is recommending the mask mandate be lifted Feb. 28. The underlying executive order gives state education and health officials the authority to require masks in schools. After Feb. 28, the governor wants local boards of education to make that decision.

However, the legislature needs to sign off on leaving that order in place for the school mask mandate to continue to Feb. 28.

The House is expected to vote on the 11 orders Thursday and the Senate is expected to vote next Monday.

In addition to masking requirements, the orders include requiring vaccinations for staff at long-term care facilities and booster shots by Feb. 11; establishing rules for emergency hospital staffing to ease shortages; easing state purchasing rules for COVID-related items; protections for tenants facing eviction; and requiring insurers to reimburse providers for vaccinations at the Medicare rate.

Tuesdays discussion opened with a group of bipartisan lawmakers posing questions to the states top health official, the head of the state department of education, and the states chief operating officer.

The lifting of the statewide mask mandate comes as Connecticut recovers from the omicron surge. On Tuesday, the state reported a slight uptick in the positivity rate with a total of 1,343 new COVID-19 cases found among 18,982 tests for a positivity rate of 7.08 percent. Hospitalizations declined by 24 patients for a statewide total of 607.

Lamont administration officials said at the forum that the states improved outlook following the omicron surge is a strong signal that the worst of the pandemic has passed, and that remaining orders Lamont is requesting to be extended are only what is necessary to continue to fight the virus.

Lawmakers questions largely focused on the school mask mandate, including the impact on kids, how the order would work going forward, and what metrics would necessitate bringing back the masking requirement, if its lifted at the end of the month.

Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, asked about the magic behind the Feb. 28 date. The states infection and hospitalization rates are decreasing, but theres still a somewhat concerning level of community transmission, said Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer. Lifting the mandate at the end of the month would give extra time for the numbers to hopefully continue coming down, he said.

Geballe said the administration also wanted to give school districts time to prepare for the change and the date was timed after the Presidents Day holiday when students are out of school.

If state lawmakers go along with the plan, decisions on whether students and staff have to wear masks would be up to individual districts. But it remains unclear who at the municipal level will ultimately have say over whether a districts schools enact their own mask mandate.

I think thats going to be determined in the local communities, said Patrice McCarthy, deputy director and general counsel for the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. In some communities, I think the board of education will say this is a health and safety decision, it lies with the superintendent, just like deciding on weather-related closings.

In other communities, Im sure that the board of education will at least want to provide some input based on what theyre hearing from the community, McCarthy added. I dont expect a state piece of legislation that says this decision has to be made by a Board of Education taking an official vote.

Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, who has a young son, asked about the logic of removing the mask mandate when children under the age of 5 are not eligible to get vaccinated.

Dr. Manisha Juthani, the states public health commissioner, said the Department of Public Health would continue to provide guidance to child care centers and schools on best practices to keep kids safe. She cautioned that DPH would no longer mandate certain protocols.

Several lawmakers asked about what metrics should guide the decision to lift, or potentially reimpose, the school mask mandate. Juthani said she couldnt provide concrete numbers, as the pandemic remains fluid with many variables, but that hospitalizations should be closely watched. She said local officials should also monitor vaccination rates in their schools and communities.

Asked Tuesday about some local officials feeling pressure on the mask issue, Lamont said after an event in Southington: Step up. Youre mayor. Youre boards of (education). Youre superintendents. You dont need me to make the call for you, just because you dont want to make the call yourself.

The head of the Connecticut Education Association said at Tuesdays forum that her members are split on lifting the school mask mandate, with most preferring a statewide rule if the requirement remains. Kate Dias said a recent survey of her members shows that 60 percent of teachers still plan to wear masks after Feb. 28.

Hearst Staff Writers Ken Dixon and Nicholas Rondinone contributed to this story.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
Tara ONeill / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  First responders are at the scene of a reported explosion involving a vehicle at a scrap yard Tuesday morning, according to officials.

Crews responded around 7:40 a.m. to the area of Island Brook Avenue for a reported explosion.
U.S. President Joe Biden participates in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 7. UPI-Yonhap





U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday at a meeting with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz that the two countries were "in lockstep" on confronting Russia over Ukraine.







"We're working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe," as well as in meeting "challenges posed by China," Biden said in the White House's Oval Office.







Scholz, on his first trip to the White House since taking over from longtime German leader Angela Merkel, said their countries were the "closest allies and working intensely together."







The German chancellor said he and Biden's tasks included "fighting against Russian aggression against Ukraine. So it's an important meeting at a very, very important time."







Germany's new government has come under criticism from Ukraine and some in the United States over accusations that it is not fully engaging with U.S.-led efforts to push back against Russian military pressure on pro-Western Ukraine.






Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  An individual showed up at fire headquarters Tuesday morning with nitrous acid, according to fire officials and police.

Units are on scene at the Lafayette Street location to remove the contained chemicals, officials said.
Last year, the coronavirus pandemic was a catalyst for a raft of health care reform proposals before the General Assembly, with lawmakers addressing everything from health equity measures to staffing and safety protocols in nursing homes.

When this years legislative session begins on Wednesday, some of that work will continue but on a pared-down schedule. The 2021 session was 22 weeks long; this years is just 12.

Its a very, very short session, House Speaker Matthew Ritter, a Hartford Democrat, said. Its going be very hard to get a lot of substantive legislation done if its not ready by sometime in mid-April.

The ambitious health care agenda for this year includes a revival of bills tackling the high cost of prescription drugs, a plan to expand the states Medicaid program to older undocumented children, a controversial measure that would allow doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminal patients and a ban on flavored vaping products.

One of the highest priorities is drafting and passing a sweeping bill that addresses the mental health crisis in Connecticut, especially among children. Emergency departments saw an overwhelming number of children seek psychiatric care as the toll of the pandemic fell on the states youngest residents over the past two years.

We have been on the precipice of a crisis for many years. And the pandemic really exacerbated the issue and exposed some holes in what we have available for kids, said Rep. Liz Linehan, a Democrat from Cheshire and a key backer of the proposal. This legislation is probably going to be the biggest change in our mental health system for the better that weve seen, possibly ever.

Lawmakers are also exploring whether additional oversight is needed in signing off on mergers, acquisitions, closures and other changes across the health care industry. Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center recently sued Hartford HealthCare and its subsidiaries, including Hartford Hospital, claiming it is trying to create a monopoly on services by acquiring physician networks and demanding that they refer their patients only to Hartford HealthCare. The suit has prompted some lawmakers to consider whether legislative action is needed this session.

Here are some of the top health care issues under consideration by legislators this year.

Aid in dying

Proponents of a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to access lethal drugs are hoping the measure will get a vote in the House and Senate this year. Last year, the legislation made it out of the Public Health Committee for the first time, though it failed to advance beyond the Judiciary Committee.

State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, a longtime supporter of the proposal and a co-chair of the health committee, said he is making a hard push for votes in both chambers. Steinberg is considering not seeking re-election this year after six terms in the General Assembly, and the aid in dying bill has been a key priority for him.

Its certainly something Id like to see done on my watch, he told the CT Mirror. But Im not exactly sure how long my watch is going to last. Leaders of the Public Health Committee consider it their No. 1 issue this session, he said.

Under last years bill, an adult patient with a terminal illness  having six months or less to live  would have been able to access lethal drugs by making two oral requests, at least 15 days apart, and one written request. The written request would have to be done in the presence of two witnesses who could attest that the patient is of sound mind and acting voluntarily.

A physician would prescribe or dispense the medication, and the patient would self-administer the drug. Requests for the medication may be rescinded by the patient at any time without regard to his or her mental state, according to the measure. A doctor would have to refer the patient to another consulting physician for medical confirmation of the persons diagnosis and for confirmation that the patient is competent and acting voluntarily.

Legislative leaders say that while attitudes are shifting and the bill has gained favor among lawmakers in recent years, its still unclear whether it will have enough support to win votes in the House and Senate.

Its one of those issues where everyone has their own personal feeling about it. Its not the kind of thing where the speaker can come in and say, Heres what were going to do, Ritter, the House Speaker, said. This is a very, very emotional, personal thing for members of the caucus. And they will determine the fate of this bill.

Medicaid expansion

Last year, the legislature approved a measure allowing children 8 years old and younger, regardless of their immigration status, to qualify for Connecticuts Medicaid program, known as HUSKY, beginning on Jan. 1, 2023.

Children must come from households earning up to 323 percent of the federal poverty level to qualify for coverage. Thats an income of $41,603 for a household of one or $85,595 for a household of four.

The plan also extends prenatal care to women, regardless of immigration status, whose household income is between 196 percent and 318 percent of the federal poverty level, and up to a year of postpartum care for women whose household income is at or below 263 percent of the FPL.

This year, some lawmakers want to widen that eligibility further, extending HUSKY coverage to all children  regardless of immigration status  up to age 18.

You have so many children who are without health care being brought to emergency rooms, because thats the default care mode for people who dont have insurance of any kind. And thats really not the most efficient form of care, Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said. We would like to expand [coverage] beyond the age of 8 and get as close to age 18 as we possibly can. Thats certainly a priority.

Health care consolidations

With the Saint Francis/Hartford HealthCare lawsuit in the spotlight, some legislators are weighing whether to draft a bill that would bring additional state oversight to mergers, closures, acquisitions and other changes in the health care system.

Connecticut currently has a Certificate of Need program that requires certain providers to get state approval for mergers, substantial investments in new equipment or facilities, halting a medical service or changing access to a service. But Sen. Matthew Lesser, a co-chair of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, said he and others want to review the process to see if more oversight or protections are needed.

There is going to be a lot of attention on service cuts and growing consolidation in the industry. The Saint Francis/Hartford HealthCare litigation is something were going to be looking at but also some of the growing market forces that have changed the delivery method and could adversely impact consumers and providers, Lesser said. We have a [Certificate of Need] process thats designed to ensure resources are distributed adequately, but Im not sure that process alone, especially as its used currently, is really adequate to ensure competition.

The lawsuit filed by Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center accuses Hartford HealthCare of buying physician practices with the predatory intent of controlling the referrals that feed patients to its hospitals, surgical centers and other affiliates. Saint Francis says Hartford HealthCares practices took away its major referrers of cardiac cases and produced a stunning migration of physicians  a 25 percent increase in Hartford HealthCares staff in just two years.

Hartford HealthCare has said the suit is without merit.

Lesser did not specify what the potential legislation would do, saying its too early to elaborate on a strategy.

Childrens mental health

Legislators have described the mental health crisis among children as the one of the most pressing priorities this session. They are crafting what is expected to be an omnibus bill that ties in myriad proposals, from recruitment and retention efforts in the field to resources in schools and hospitals.

Weve come at it from so many different angles, from the provider perspective, from the hospital perspective, from the parent perspective, from the child perspective and from the school perspective, said Linehan, a co-author of the measure, which is still being developed. We have a bipartisan group of legislators who are really putting a lot of work into this to make sure that we have well-rounded, truly effective legislation.

Part of the effort involves creating a grant program so schools can develop their own initiatives tailored to each district or facility and apply for funding to support those endeavors. Linehan pointed to a school district in Waterbury that has a team of people who go door to door to assess student needs and help children struggling with absences get the support they need to return to school. Another district might develop a similar program or focus on one-on-one support for students within school buildings, she suggested.

When writing this legislation, we really wanted to make sure we werent providing programs that would only work in some districts, Linehan said. Instead, were allowing districts to say, This is what we need, and this is how much funding we need. And we have the ability to grant funding for those programs.

Legislators have not settled on a figure for how much funding would be included in the grant program.

The bill would also include incentives to help with recruitment and retention of mental health providers.

It could look like the ability to have sign-on bonuses or ensuring there is enough support staff in facilities, so providers feel they have a good system working for them, Linehan said. Lawmakers will seek input from people working in the field and incorporate those recommendations into the proposal.

The measure is expected to tie in several other provisions, including support for pediatricians, who are often childrens first point of contact in the health care system, and mental health education for school administrators. A draft of the bill is expected to be made public during the first few weeks of the session.

Flavored vaping

Advocates are pushing for a revival of a measure that would ban the sale of flavored vaping products in Connecticut. The proposal has been introduced in recent years but failed to win passage.

A group of legislators and health advocates, including Public Health Committee vice chair Sen. Julie Kushner, called on Gov. Ned Lamont to include the prohibition in the package of bills he submits to the General Assembly this year.

Officials with The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said about 20 percent of high school students and 5 percent of middle school students are using e-cigarettes  nearly all of them flavored products. Vaping delivers large doses of nicotine; for example, each Juul pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 cigarettes, advocates said.

Neighboring states, including Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and New Jersey, have banned flavored vaping products.

Somehow Connecticut has allowed itself to become an island of youth addiction, as were now the only state in southern New England or the tri-state area that still allows the sale of these products, said Kevin OFlaherty, northeast region advocacy director for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. It is inconceivable to me that Gov. Lamont or any member of the General Assembly would let another year go by without doing everything they can to protect our kids.

Backers of the legislation said the state stands to lose only $2.5 million per year in revenue from banning the flavored products.

Republican health care bills

Republican legislators have proposed their own package of reforms aimed at reducing health care costs.

Included in the plan is a proposal to use reinsurance, a program that would pick up a portion of residents health care costs rather than having insurance companies pay, which leads to lower premiums. They also recommended cost growth benchmarking  developing a statewide target for the rate of growth of total health care expenditures.

The benchmarking policy was designed to enhance the transparency of the states health care system and identify health care cost drivers, they wrote in the proposal.

The package also features plans to address the high cost of prescription drugs, such as exploring manufacturing rebates and how those savings can be passed on to patients.

Republicans have also released their own outline for upcoming legislation that tackles the mental health crisis.

Health care is anything but affordable. Cost growth is out of control. Premiums are often the size of a monthly mortgage payment. Drug prices are an enormous burden, said Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly, D-Stratford. All these factors weigh down family budgets and eat into savings, leaving Connecticut families struggling to make ends meet.

Other proposals

Democrats, too, are planning to resurrect a bill that targets prescription medication prices, though they have been tight-lipped about what approach they will take.

Last year, Lamont introduced a measure that would have capped annual increases in the cost of prescription drugs, limiting yearly hikes to the rate of inflation plus 2 percent. Drug manufacturers who exceeded that amount would get hit with a fine.

Legislative leaders declined to comment on what form the bill would take this year but said prescription drug costs are a priority.

Also expected to return is a plan to address health care sharing ministries, nonprofit entities that have been accused of masquerading as health insurance and refusing to cover members medical expenses.

Lawmakers last year raised a bill that would bar insurance agents and brokers from marketing and selling ministry plans in Connecticut. The measure was voted out of the Insurance Committee but did not come up in the House or Senate.

The legislative session begins Feb. 9.
BRIDGEPORT - A local man, on probation for breaking into a Norwalk home, has been charged with reportedly robbing and attempting to sexually assault a woman at the Bridgeport train station.

Ivan Burgos, 36, was arrested Saturday and charged with attempted first-degree sexual assault, second-degree strangulation and third-degree robbery.

He is being held in lieu of $750,000 bond.

According to MTA police, on Sept. 11, a New York woman had taken a train to visit friends in Bridgeport.

Police said the woman was waiting in the Bridgeport train station for a train to New York later that night. She walked outside to smoke a cigarette and was walking back into the station stairwell when police said she was approached by a man who suddenly grabbed her by the neck and threw her on the floor.

Police said the man choked the woman until she nearly blacked out and then tried to sexually assault her. Unsuccessful, police said the man fled with the womans cell phone.

The woman ran outside the train station and alerted a police officer. She was taken to the hospital for injuries consistent with having been choked, police said.

Police said they later viewed surveillance video from the train station and it supported the womans allegations. Police said they could not identify the suspect from the video.

However, police said the images showed the suspect smoking, and then discarding a cigarette outside the station after the alleged assault. Police said investigators were able to retrieve the cigarette and obtain DNA from it that matched Burgos DNA, which was in the state database from his prior arrests.

Police said the victim later identified Burgos as her assailant from a police photo array.

According to court records, in April 2019, Burgos was convicted of third-degree burglary in connection with a 2016 home burglary in Norwalk. He was given three years of probation. A month later he was convicted of third-degree assault and unlawful restraint and sentenced to a year in prison. In November 2020, records show he was convicted of first-degree escape from a halfway house and sentenced to six months in prison.

At the time of his arrest, he was free on $25,000 bond for allegedly violating his prior probation.
SHELTON  City students may soon be able to go maskless in school.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that the state would lift its requirement that students, teachers and staff wear masks in schools  one of his most fiercely contested COVID-19 mandates  and is instead shifting the power to local leaders to make decisions for their districts.

Lamont said he is recommending the statewide mandate be lifted Feb. 28.

This announcement is the first step in a long process, Superintendent Ken Saranich stated in an email to the school community Tuesday.

Saranich would not comment on Sheltons plan going forward, saying that the state legislature will still need to act on Lamonts recommendation before the district can proceed.

We will need to receive guidance from the (state Department of Education) as well as the state and local (health departments), Saranich said. Once the final recommendation is determined, it will be communicated to our community.

Saranich, though, did say the school administration did not intend to extend any mandates that have not been extended by our state legislature. Our goal is to meet the needs of all students and staff in an effort to provide a safe learning environment based on individual choice.

Saranich said, in the meantime, as this process continues, we need to remain focused on our mission of providing instruction in a safe learning environment.

Giving the power to school districts follows a similar tactic Lamont took amid recent spikes in COVID-19 infections in which he empowered municipal leaders to institute their own indoor mask mandates instead of enacting a statewide order.

We are two years into this thing. Youre not going to get an all-clear sign, not going to be a day they say we have zero infections, Lamont said. We know from previous experience that there will be additional ripples as time goes. I think this is the right decision at the right time to give this discretion ... up to our superintendents. More to the point, I think its going to be milder and less impactful and that means your vaccine, and your booster and your mask on special occasions are going to be more impactful and keep you safe.

Lamonts move to lift the school mask mandate came the same day New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a close ally of Lamonts during the pandemic, announced he will lift his states requirement for students and teachers to wear masks.

School board Chair Kathy Yolish said Shelton would comply with the legislatures decision.

If the order is extended, we will comply, Yolish said, And if the masking mandate is lifted, we will obviously go in the direction of the new recommendation.

Yolish said she understood issue was a a tricky one to navigate.

The masking issue is a very sensitive issue on both sides and Im aware that CABE (CT Association of Boards of Education), CAPSS (CT Association of Public Schools Superintendents), and the CEA (CT Education Association) have taken a stance against removing the mask mandate, she said.

Yolish said she would expect Saranich to meet with the districts COVID Operations Advisory Group to address the mask choice option when appropriate.

No matter what transpires we need to be respectful and considerate to everyone, Yolish said. Our students and staff safety and health are our top priority and I am hopeful that the metrics show that we can address this issue collaboratively.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
As the state considers whether to adjust the required mold and yeast levels in medical cannabis products, patients and others remain concerned about the proposed change and are calling for stricter testing standards.

The public comment period ended last week on the state Department of Consumer Protections proposed changes, which would set the total limit at 100,000 colony forming units per gram, and wouldnt allow any detectable levels of harmful breeds of mold in the Aspergillus family.

As Connecticut prepares to launch its recreational cannabis program, the change would mean increasing the levels for one lab, while the other facility would need to lower its amount after gaining state approval last year for more mold and yeast in its products.

While the medical and recreational programs have separate sets of regulations, testing standard changes will be reflected in both programs, said Kaitlyn Krasselt, a Department of Consumer Protections spokesperson.

The proposal came in December after medical marijuana patients complained about the state approving a request from AltaSci Labs last year to raise its limits from 10,000 units per gram to 1 million.

The approval occurred via email, and patients werent notified of the change.

State officials and AltaScis lab director have said the Aspergillus requirement makes the products safer.

The other lab, Northeast Laboratories, left its limit at 10,000 units per gram.

Some of Connecticuts 54,000 medical marijuana patients have expressed concerns over transparency and the safety of the products after learning the state approved the change for AltaSci Labs.

At least two medical marijuana patients who submitted public comments said they have mold allergies. A third who didnt mention an allergy wrote about getting sick from the products.

This is medicine, it should have strict standards and the companies producing it need to be held to those standards, one comment read.

I am deeply concerned for my health due to the recent update to the mold limit that was behind closed doors, another person commented.

Others expressed concerns about transparency and communication regarding the state Department of Consumer Protection and the Medical Marijuana Program.

I think CT DCP & CT MMP really need to improve communication with producers, dispensaries & patients, one comment read. Poor communication will limit potential for CT MMP. Poor communication hurts patients.

Officials from both of the states labs that test cannabis products also submitted comments.

Garrett Johnson, Northeast Laboratories president and director of operations, submitted a comment in support of the change.

AltaSci lab director Jose Zavaleta suggested a handful of changes, including that a third party such as a research institution or university verify testing methods are valid and labs retain samples for three months after testing instead of disposing them.

Fine Fettle, a Connecticut dispensary, and Willow Industries, a company that creates technology for microbial decontamination, suggested lowering the limit for total yeast and mold count from 100,000 to 10,000 colony forming units per gram.

Milan Patel, founder and chief executive officer of testing company PathogenDx, also suggested a change from 100,000 to 10,000 units per gram as well as maintaining testing for Aspergillus molds and E. Coli, among other microbes.

Sherman Hom, director of regulatory affairs for Medicinal Genomics, submitted two letters suggesting changes to testing procedures.

The state Department of Consumer Protection has not yet reviewed the comments to consider whether changes need to be made, Krasselt said.

This is not something were wanting to drag out  were wanting to get it done quickly, albeit thoroughly and do it well, Krasselt said.

Attorneys with experience in drug control and drug control agents will likely review the comments. If needed, they may consult researchers and outside experts, she added.

After the department considers the comments and makes any changes, the proposal will go to the Attorney Generals office for review.

If approved, it goes to the Legislative Regulations Review Committee, which has 45 days to put it on the agenda, Krasselt said.
WESTPORT  Parents showed up in droves at Staples High School Monday night demanding that the Board of Education institute a mask choice policy once Gov. Ned Lamonts school mask mandate is lifted on Feb. 28.

Throughout the night about a dozen parents stood up during public comment period asking the board to do two things: follow the facts and let the parents decide whether their children should wear masks or not.

Superintendent Thomas Scarice said the schools will take the next couple weeks to discuss and review the current situation.

I just hope folks are patient over the next week or two because I do think were going to get more information on developing guidance around this and I think we will be in a good place because our community has been so responsible, Scarice said.

He said there are other implications with existing policies, including the vaccination mandates in place for employees and visitors.

I know it may seem so simple to just change it, but we just want to be thoughtful, Scarice said. We have a few weeks to work this out and we will.

Several residents who spoke questioned the efficacy of masks, urging the board to adopt the mask choice policy instead.

Resident Susan Atkin said masks have negative impacts on mental health, as well as speech delays and learning loss.

Theres no benefit, she added. I urge and ask that you guys elect to remove the mask mandates as soon as possible. Unmasked children across this country and abroad are thriving without masks, why cant ours?

During a virtual press conference Monday afternoon, Lamont announced that soon Connecticut teachers, staff and students will no longer have to wear masks in schools. He said with todays boosters, vaccines and the N95 masks, residents are in a better position to keep their children and themselves safe. However, he said it will be up to superintendents and mayors to make the decision themselves.

One parent on Monday night who voiced his frustration with the mask mandate said he asked his four children who attend Westport schools about their experiences with the masks. One son said the worst part about going to school is no longer seeing his friends smile. Another son said the worst part of going to school was not understanding why children are not allowed to laugh anymore. The third son said the worst part was having to sit in between Plexiglass to eat lunch and not be able to talk to his friends.

Resident Dr. Louis DOnofrio, the former second selectman candidate, urged the board to follow the facts.

I look at data. Im actually published on COVID-19. This is what I do and when you look at the numbers and facts and you look at the town data of kids that were hospitalized or severely injured from COVID, at this point its virtually nothing, DOnofrio said.

He said the masks students are wearing arent that effective.

Its just the data, he added. I get emails every day about how many kids have COVID in my kids school and its going to happen. Its going to happen with the masks or without them. If theyre vaccinated or non-vaccinated.

DOnofrio said he believes its time to move towards normalcy and its a safe call to let the parents make that decision now.

Health Service Supervisor Suzanne LeVasseur said the numbers of COVID-19 have continued to decline. She said the states cases are dropping rapidly, as well as hospitalizations and the positivity rate.

On Monday, Connecticuts daily testing positivity rate was 4.77 percent. Patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 was 631, down 154 since the last reporting period on Friday, according to the state department of Public Health.

As of Feb. 3, Westports postivity rate was 51.4 cases per 100,000 people for Jan. 16 to Jan. 29.

serenity.bishop@hearstmediact.com
For most of the last 70 years in the United States, ever since the Red Scare of the 1950s, the Republican Party has been the party of repression  more intolerant of political dissent, more inclined to censor and more eager to use government to ruin livelihoods.

Of course, the Democratic Party hasnt always been faithful to civil liberties. Southern Democratic administrations enforced racial segregation. Two Democratic national administrations put Martin Luther King under FBI surveillance, and one also spied on Vietnam war protesters. But on the whole, the Democrats moved past those things.

Not anymore. Amid the virus epidemic, the growth of political correctness and the cancel culture, coercion of individuals now is almost entirely a phenomenon of the Democratic national administration, Democratic state administrations and Democratic polemicists. Never before has the old joke been more accurate: that Democrats dont care what you do as long as its mandatory.

The polling company Rasmussen Reports may not be the best in the country, but it is generally taken seriously by leaders in both parties, and a poll it did last month on government policy toward the epidemic may be hard to dispute on the basis of published and broadcast news and commentary.

According to the Rasmussen poll:

55 percent of Democrats favor authorizing the government to fine people who do not accept COVID-19 vaccination, while only 19 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of unaffiliated voters do.

59 percent of Democrats favor authorizing the government to confine to their homes those people who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination. Republicans oppose that idea by 79 percent and unaffiliated voters by 71 percent.

Worse, 48 percent of Democrats favor letting government fine or even imprison people who publicly question the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines. Only 27 percent of all voters  just 14 percent of Republicans and 18 percent of unaffiliateds  favor making such criticism a crime.

45 percent of Democrats favor authorizing government to force people to live in designated facilities or locations if they refuse vaccination. This concentration camp idea is opposed by 71 percent of all voters, including 78 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of unaffiliateds.

47 percent of Democrats favor having the government electronically track unvaccinated people. This is opposed by 66 percent of likely voters.

29 percent of Democrats favor taking children away from parents who refuse to be vaccinated, more than twice the level of support found in the rest of those surveyed.

Of course, especially when Donald Trump is around, polls show that many Republicans also express belief in nutty things. But as reckless and repugnant as Trump could be as president, he was never a serious threat to civil liberty.

Despite the huge support among Democrats for more coercive policies amid the epidemic, Democratic governors, including Connecticuts Ned Lamont, lately have been retreating from coercion, either because those policies seem to cause more damage than they prevent or because the governors realize that people are getting tired of coercion on the eve of election campaigns.

Nevertheless, with repression and coercion finding such support among Democrats  not just in regard to the epidemic but in regard to dissent generally  people who want to preserve civil liberty may want to test all Democratic candidates, up and down the partys ticket, about the potential policies itemized in the Rasmussen poll, just as people might want to question Republican candidates about the return of Trump.

Meanwhile, complaints from parents about public school curriculums and books stocked by school libraries are being called censorship. Theyre not.

While the cancel culture seeks to drive dissenters out of all forums, complaints about school curriculums and libraries involve only what government chooses to teach or recommend to students. Even if the material being challenged in schools is removed, it will remain available elsewhere.

If a school is to be public, it must answer to the public for what it teaches and recommends, and school boards, superintendents, teachers and librarians cant be the last word about that. What is taught and recommended by public schools is ultimately for the public to decide.

Chris Powell is a columnist for the Journal Inquirer in Manchester.
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A federal indictment unsealed Monday accuses a Chinese telecommunications company of stealing technology from Illinois-based Motorola Solutions, in another case highlighting longstanding fears about China pilfering vital U.S. business secrets to bolster its own economy.







The Chicago filing charges Hytera Communications with conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets, alleging it recruited several Motorola employees as part of the scheme. They are accused of accessing Motorola's internal database, then described and even joked about plans to use the stolen material at Hytera.







The secrets regard digital mobile radio technology Motorola developed for walkie-talkie type features on cellphones. For over a decade, from 2007 to 2020, Hytera used thousands of stolen documents to accelerate its development of similar features, the indictment says.







In a 2008 email cited in the indictment, one unnamed individual writes to another: ''We are trying to grab whatever we can. . Do you have anything in mind that you need while we are still here?'' In another, someone writes ''haha'' after describing Hytera as copying Motorola technology. One email expresses concern, saying, ''some of our lies may cause problems once Motorola finds out.''







Hytera's website says the company has 10 development centers in China, Germany, Great Britain, Spain and Canada. The Shenzhen, China, based firm also says some of its two-way radios are being used by security at the Beijing Winter Olympics.







A message seeking comment from Hytera left at its Canadian office wasn't returned.







The 21-count indictment also charges Hytera and individual suspects with possession or attempted possession of stolen trade secrets. The heavily redacted document doesn't identify other charged defendants and a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago announcing the charges doesn't say if any reside in the U.S.







If ever convicted, Hytera would face a criminal fine of three times the value of the stolen trade secrets and individual defendants could go to prison. But U.S. authorities are often unable to bring suspects to court in cases involving Chinese firms because Beijing is unwilling to hand them over.







A Chinese-born American software developer, Hanjuan Jin, was convicted in 2012 of stealing secrets from Motorola. Jin, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was acquitted of more serious charges of economic espionage. A federal judge later sentenced her to four years in prison, a sentence prosecutors said at the time should send a message to those tempted to steal U.S. trade secrets.







The new indictment doesn't name Jin. The U.S. attorney's office statement also doesn't refer to her. Many of the allegations in her case, however, were similar to ones made in the Hytera indictment.







At trial, prosecutors said Jin ''led a double life'' as an outwardly loyal company worker, who was also plotting to steal Motorola secrets. Even before downloading Motorola files over several days in 2007, prosecutors said Jin already worked for China-based Sun Kaisens.







Over 1,000 confidential Motorola documents she stole, including about its walkie-talkie feature, were discovered during a random security check at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where Jin had arrived with a one-way ticket to China. (AP)


Every year during the month of February, we celebrate the innumerable contributions of African Americans in the United States. Its a joyous time and one that is well-deserved, particularly for a people who suffered (and continue to suffer) under the thumb of racial oppression.

Ironically enough, many people are surprised to learn just how much their African American counterparts have contributed to society. A few of these Black History Month factoids may shock you:

Benjamin Banneker taught himself astronomy and math to become Americas First Known African American Man of Science. He helped to design the blueprints for Washington, D.C.

taught himself astronomy and math to become Americas First Known African American Man of Science. He helped to design the blueprints for Washington, D.C. Madam C.J. Walker was an African American entrepreneur who became Americas first female self-made millionaire.

was an African American entrepreneur who became Americas first female self-made millionaire. Allensworth is the first all-Black Californian township, founded and financed by African Americans. Created by Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth in 1908, the town was built with the intention of establishing a self-sufficient city where African Americans could live their lives free of racial prejudice.

What makes these contributions so remarkable is that the people who achieved them did so under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. These individuals lived in a world that chastised them for the color of their skin and for their birthplace of origin. Despite this troubling reality, they learned to navigate in a world that was unkind to them. They were bold, mindful, and brave.

But the truth is, Black History extends far beyond racial lines. Black History is Our History.

It bothers me that there is a distinct delineation between Black History and American History when they are one in the same. The history of United States is filled with stories of boldness, mindfulness, and bravery  from people of all walks of life. But we cannot take the good without the bad. We must accept, recognize, and acknowledge the uncomfortable truths that are mixed into our salad bowl of a nation. These truths, these tales of brutality, hatred, and bigotry have impacted communities that still hurt today.

This month, we turn our attention to African Americans, another month we will focus on the plight of the Asian American community, and another month we will pay homage to the indigenous peoples of Native America. These cultural celebrations have earned their rightful place in our hearts and in our calendars, but dont you think they are worth so much more?

I know what youre thinking: This sounds pretty bleak, Renee. Dont you want us to celebrate Black History?

Yes, of course I want you to celebrate Black History, but expand your mind to think beyond the short month of February. Look to your left and to your right, pick up a newspaper or read an article online and recognize that people are contributing to Our History every day. If we look within our own credit union community, we will find some cool and surprising contributions by our colleagues.

Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate Our History  the history of the United States of America. The soil we stand on is rich in opportunity. And as financial cooperatives and credit union advocates, we have the power to create opportunities and affect change for all people.

Yes, lets lean on the empowering African American voices and talent that our industry has. But more importantly, lets work together to navigate our countrys ever-changing environment, an environment filled with wonderful culture and diversity.

We are the authors of our generational history. Lets change the narrative to encapsulate all facets of history and to authentically reflect how far weve come. The accomplishments of African Americans, and of all people for that matter, are truly innumerable, but what can we do now to make sure they make it into Our History?

When it comes to unifying our nation, its no secret that there is still so much work for us to do to become whole. But I choose to celebrate our collective positive wins toward meaningful change  wins that occur everyday in our daily lives. From the young man opening a door for the elderly woman to the kind patron who pays for the person ahead of them at Starbucks, each day is an opportunity to reshape and rewrite Our History. These small acts of generosity and kindness keep me hopeful that one day soon, very soon  we will celebrate OUR HISTORY.
Cullman, AL (35055)

Today

Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 86F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
All Murray County students have been back learning in-person since Jan. 26, and we plan to stay that way, but its still day by day due to a bus driver shortage, Murray County Schools Superintendent Steve Loughridge (pictured Jan. 20 at the Murray County Chamber of Commerce Business Forecast Luncheon) said Thursday during a Murray County Board of Education work session. Bus drivers are still the issue.
Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High near 80F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.

Tomorrow

Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 78F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Who is to blame for the postponement of plans to tackle the backlog of patients in England, which ballooned in the pandemic? There are supposedly six million of them  one in nine people, the Prime Minister said yesterday.

The penny-pinching, hard-hearted Treasury is allegedly at fault. It has chosen to pick a fight with the Department of Health  and hundreds of thousands of cancer patients aren't getting the treatment they need.

Others claim Rishi Sunak is playing political games, and doesn't want to help a flailing Boris Johnson. In the view of Matthew Taylor, a former aide to Tony Blair and now head of the NHS Confederation, Mr Sunak sees 'any No 10 plans involving money . . . as opportunistic and wasted on a dying administration'.

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak speak to members of staff during a visit to the Kent Oncology Centre at Maidstone Hospital in Kent on Monday

Grateful

Well, it's possible. What seems much more likely is the Chancellor feels more powerful than he used to, and doesn't want to pour billions of further resources into the NHS without insisting on conditions to which the Treasury claims the NHS signed up last autumn.

That seems thoroughly sensible, though of course it's not in patients' interest for the stand-off to last. That said, Mr Sunak is justified in wanting the NHS to accept tougher targets for cutting waiting times.

Last September, it was announced that NHS England will receive an extra 36 billion over three years thanks to a new 'Health and Social Care Levy', while the NHS in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive proportionately similar amounts.

Who will pay? Why, the poor, unfortunate taxpayer, in the form of significantly higher National Insurance payments from April. I think we should be grateful to Mr Sunak for trying to ensure this money is well spent.

Let's stand back for a moment. No one would pretend the NHS is perfect. Most of us have stories of excellence  and horror. The other day, an 83-year-old woman I know with dementia was kept waiting ten hours in Accident and Emergency before being told  wrongly  that she hadn't broken a bone in her foot.

We've all heard of, or had, similar experiences. And the response of some, urged on by Labour, NHS managers and trade unions, is to accept the argument that if only more money were ploughed into the health system, these awful things wouldn't happen.

I don't believe it. One of the lies that many have swallowed is that the wicked Tories have been starving the NHS of funding since coming to power in 2010. It is not true.

In 2010/11, 124.5 billion was spent on NHS England. In 2024/25, expenditure is expected to be 176.4 billion. These figures are at 2021/22 prices. So during 14 years of Conservative rule, spending on the NHS will have risen by nearly 42 per cent in real terms.

This whopping increase is driven by ever more expensive drugs, an ageing population and our conviction that we should all of us be kept alive as long as possible, regardless of the cost.

Johnson and Sunak on their visit at Maidstone Hospital on Monday. Last September, it was announced that NHS England will receive an extra 36 billion over three years thanks to a new 'Health and Social Care Levy'

Needless to say, no other department has received such a large increase. Even during the hard times, the Tories have lavished money on what Boris Johnson calls 'our NHS'.

In fact, the slightly Left-leaning Resolution Foundation reckons that health and social care will devour an amazing 40 per cent of day-to-day government departmental spending by 2024/25. In 2004, it was 28 per cent.

Yet despite this astronomical extra spending  for which the Tories get no acknowledgement  the NHS remains a very uneven organisation, sometimes capable of stunning treatment, at other times infuriatingly dysfunctional.

The UK spends a little less on healthcare than France or Germany as a proportion of GDP, but slightly more than Italy or the EU average. However, several studies suggest that outcomes, particularly with cancer, are worse here than in countries which spend much less on health.

In 2018, the Lancet medical journal produced a monumental report that analysed 37.5 million patients with 18 of the most common cancers, and compared survival rates across 71 countries.

Britain was ranked 27th out of 61 when it comes to prostate cancer, 47th out of 56 for pancreatic cancer, 45th out of 59 for ovarian cancer and 33rd out of 63 for colon cancer.

Latvia, South Africa and Argentina had better survival rates for pancreatic cancer, though they spend far less on their health services per capita than the UK. Romania, Turkey and Malaysia had better survival rates for stomach cancer, for which the UK was ranked 46th out of 60 countries.

Abysmal

One plausible theory for Britain's abysmal cancer figures is that our GP services aren't fit for purpose, with doctors increasingly reluctant to offer diagnoses in person, and face-to-face appointments hard to come by. In many Western European countries there are walk-in diagnostic centres. Why not here?

It seems unlikely that the situation described by the Lancet has changed over the past four years. The truth is that our much vaunted NHS, which Boris Johnson would like us to believe is one of the wonders of the world, is much less good than it should be, given the ever increasing amounts of money being spent on it.

Rishi Sunak at Maidstone Hospital on Monday. The Resolution Foundation reckons that health and social care will devour an amazing 40 per cent of day-to-day government departmental spending by 2024/25

If you don't believe me, try telling a French or German person that it isn't uncommon to have to wait up to ten hours to be seen in A&E. They will look at you as though you are mad.

Isn't it clear that there is something deeply wrong with our insatiable, bureaucratic NHS, with its layers of usually highly paid and often incompetent managers? No other advanced country has anything like it. The NHS is emphatically not envied by the rest of the world.

And yet many of us continue to believe it is. The former Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson famously observed in 1992 that 'the NHS is the closest thing the English have to a religion, with those who practise in it regarding themselves as a priesthood'. It has got worse since he spoke those words.

Defiance

Why don't we look to France or Germany, whose health services, based on different forms of social insurance, are indisputably superior to our own? A poor person in either country will probably receive better treatment than a poor patient in the UK.

In defiance of all the evidence, we British continue in our insular and conservative way to cling to a system that was progressive and humane when dreamt up nearly 80 years ago, but now stands in desperate need of root-and-branch reform.

Where is the politician brave and visionary enough to challenge this Leviathan, and take on the vested interests that depend on it? Where is the leader prepared to shake us out of our complacency, and point out some home truths?

It's evidently not Boris Johnson, who seems hell-bent on lavishing ever greater sums on the voracious NHS. To tell the truth, I doubt it is Rishi Sunak either, despite his attempt to get the NHS to accept new targets in exchange for further billions.

Only a truly great politician could persuade the British people to cease their fanatical worship of this false god. We can only pray that one day such a person will eventually emerge.
Speak to any pimply-faced Parliament swot and theyll tell you that Wes Streeting is the man to watch.

Received wisdom  not least from young Wesley himself  is that the shadow health secretary is Labours leader-in-waiting.

In politics it rarely pays to appear too keen on the top job but one suspects he cant help it. Ambition courses through those boyish veins.

Yesterday, Streeting came to the Commons to hear his counterpart Sajid Javid deliver his statement on how the Government plans to tackle the staggering NHS backlog.

The slightly proprietorial air which has accompanied him since his promotion to Labours front bench was hard to miss.

There was a wink at a colleague, a knowing nod to one of the clerks.

One dreads to think of the toe-curling face-off which might have occurred had the similarly uppity Matt Hancock still been health secretary. It would have been like two rival head boys smarting for a punch-up.

Waiting for the off, Streeting sat cooly twirling one foot in the air and admiring his own prepared text, much as Keir Starmer is prone to do.

Actually, there is rather a lot about Streeting which reminds you of his dear leader: same sharply parted hair, same perturbed expression that worries it might have left the oven on at home.

When he did spring to his feet, Streeting could hardly hold back.

Sajid Javid speaking in the House of Commons on how the Government plans to tackle the staggering NHS backlog on Tuesday

Wes Streeting, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said the Government is sending the NHS into battle empty-handed

There was no Covid backlog he said, just a Tory backlog from years of underinvestment.

The Government hadnt fixed the roof while the sun was shining. Rather it was sending the NHS into battle empty-handed.

Not a speech fizzing with originality  or subtlety  but hey ho.

The Saj didnt appreciate his boisterous opponents tone. He spluttered and scoffed as if to say Who is this oily tick?

He accused Streeting of scaremongering and playing party politics with the NHS.

Instead of standing up for the British people hes just thinking of his own leadership prospects, Javid added  but rather clumsily and so failing to provoke the requisite cheer from his own side.

Hes a sweet soul, our Saj. The cut-and-thrust of the House doesnt come easily to him.

From Labours benches came hoots of mocking laughter: That all ya got? Like most Labour frontbenchers, Streeting makes a big show of wearing a face mask in the chamber yet takes it off to hurl insults  and doubtless spittle  across the despatch box.

His Labour colleagues, of course, had nothing positive to say. They never do when it comes to the NHS. However many billions are poured down its ever-hungry gullet they will always say its not enough.

Mind you, Tory MPs were hardly enthused by the lengthy waits patients must now endure either.

Sprawled in the corner like someone in the Lords Pavilion following a two-bottler lunch was Sir Edward Leigh (Con, Gainsborough).

Sir Edward was terrified at the prospect of having to wait two years for an operation, and suggested the Government reintroduce tax relief on private medical insurance.

And dont just say Ill speak to the Chancellor, he implored.

Javid non-committally agreed to meet with Leigh and discuss the idea with him at some point. Translation: Ill speak to the Chancellor.

Mark Harper (Con, Forest of Dean) wanted assurances that the 12billion a year raised by Aprils National Insurance hike would not be frittered away.

Saj assured Harper it remained his ambition the money be spent wisely and in the very best interests of taxpayers. One for the sizeable Whitehall drawer marked wishful thinking, I fear.

Earlier, the days proceedings began with Sir Lindsay Hoyle rebuking Boris Johnson for his attack on Starmer for failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

Words have consequences, he warned in an apparent reference to the mob that ambushed Starmer outside Parliament on Tuesday which some on the Left have claimed was a direct result of Johnsons remarks.

Some on the Conservative benches looked notably peeved at the Speaker slapping the PM down in this rather partial manner. I dare say the subject will resurface at PMQs today at some point.
Three women who fell victim to the 'Tinder Swindler' have made a fundraising page for people to contribute towards paying off their debts after receiving a flood of support from sharing their story in a Netflix documentary.

Cecilie Fjellhy, Ayleen Koeleman, and Pernilla Sjoholm, were fooled into thinking Shimon Heyada Hayut, 30, from Israel, was the son of a billionaire diamond merchant after meeting him on a dating app.

The convicted conman would use the money he acquired from other victims to impress single women with an expensive lifestyle and lavish gifts.

Shimon, who has been known to use pseudonyms, scammed Cecilie, Ayleen and Pernilla by claiming that he needed to borrow money because using his own funds could lead him to be traced by his enemies.

It is unclear how many other people fell for the scam but it is estimated that he conned his victims out of 7.4 million.

Having received messages of support following the hit Netflix documentary, Cecilie, Ayleen and Pernilla, have set up a GoFundMe page with the hopes of raising 600,000.

Cecilie Fjellhy (pictured, with Shimon Heyada Hayut) has teamed up with Ayleen Koeleman, and Pernilla Sjoholm, who featured in Netflix's The Tinder Swindler, to launch a fundraiser

The trio of victims were conned into giving Shimon Heyada Hayut money, while believing that he was hiding from his enemies. Pictured: Ayleen Koeleman

Israeli conman Simon Leviev, 31, whose real name is Shimon Hayut, is suspected of conning women out of 7.4million by operating a kind of Ponzi scheme

The trio raised more than 18,000 within 24 hours of launching the page and say that they are grateful for any help after being defrauded large sums.

The team fundraiser reads: 'You're probably here because you've heard about our story, and we appreciate you taking the time to search and find this page.

'The past few days have been a whirlwind, and we three (Ayleen, Pernilla and Cecilie) have been completely shocked and floored by the flood of compassion and support from everyone. The sheer love is more than we ever expected, and we appreciate you all so much.

'After careful consideration, and many chats, we have decided to start this GoFundMe fundraiser. So many people reached out to us asking if we had one, and it hadn't occurred to us to make one prior to this. However, we've spotted plenty of fakes, which makes us uneasy. We don't want more people getting defrauded.

'We realise there are a thousand other worthy causes to donate to, and remain forever grateful if you choose to donate to this one. All we want are our lives back.'

Shimon has never been charged for scamming Cecilie, Ayleen or Pernilla, who are now hoping to raise 600,000 using GoFundMe (pictured)

Cecilie Fjellhoy was a 29-year-old Norwegian graduate student living in London, when Shimon conned her out of more than 200,000.

She believed that she had finally met her Prince Charming, when she matched on Tinder with 'Simon Leviev' in 2019.

He claimed to be a billionaire playboy and even took her on a trip using his private plane during their first date.

Shimon has never been charged for scamming Cecilie, Ayleen or Pernilla, but was jailed in Israel for use of a fake passport in 2019.

He was released after five months on good behaviour.

The serial fraudster, who is no longer on Tinder, had 200,000 Instagram followers before deciding to close his account following backlash from the Netflix documentary.

Shimon's last message read: 'Thank you for all your support. I will share my side of the story in the next few days when I have sorted out the best and most respectful way to tell it, both to the involved parties and myself. Until then, please keep an open mind and heart.'

Shimon (pictured) has deleted his Instagram and is no longer on Tinder, following backlash from the Netflix documentary

A stream of initial responses to the Netflix documentary were supportive of raising funds for the victims.

One person wrote: 'Does Ayleen have a GoFundMe for that debt because I will happily add my coins for this MVP #TinderSwindler'

Another said: 'Someone should set up a GoFundMe for the Tinder Swindler women who are still paying off their debts while the Swindler is back on Tinder!'

However, others have been sceptical of fundraising, with one commenting: 'The GoFundMe from the victims of #TinderSwindler doesn't sit right with me? Don't they get paid for all the appearances they do?'

'Sorry how much debt is there please, did they all give 200k or? All that touring and Netflix etc didn't put a dent in the debt again all?,' another wrote.

A third added: 'No way I'd donate to this. I wouldn't trust them with any sort of money after watching that.'

Netflix viewers were quick to express their sympathy for Shimon's victims and suggested raising funds to pay off their debts
Celebrity makeup artist and niece of beauty icon Charlotte Tilbury, Sofia Schwarzkopf-Tilbury, has shared her secrets to mastering your foundation application and achieve glowing skin.

The British beauty guru gave her nod of approval for using your fingers to apply foundation and championed her aunt's mega-popular Beautiful Skin Foundation, which has taken the beauty world by storm with seven units sold every minute.

In a live tutorial with Mecca Beauty on Instagram, Sofia gave her best tips and tricks for using the much-hyped foundation that comes in 30 different shades to give your skin a flawless finish.

Sofia Schwarzkopf-Tilbury, celebrity makeup artist and the niece of beauty icon Charlotte Tilbury, has shared her tips for applying flawless foundation during your makeup routine

Before and after: In a live tutorial with Mecca Beauty on Instagram gave her best tips and tricks for achieving a flawless finish using Charlotte Tilbury's mega popular Beautiful Skin Foundation which has taken the beauty world by storm with seven sold every minute

In the how-to clip, the 28-year-old makeup artist prepped her skin with a serum, eye cream and moisturiser and dabbed the Beautiful Skin Foundation on her cheek, chin and forehead with her fingers before blending with a brush.

'With applying foundation, I think it's very personal, a lot of the time I like to use my fingers when first applying it,' she said.

'I know there's a lot of women out there that like to just apply it with their fingers which is totally fine, but I think you can get a really smooth finish when using a brush.'

She advised using a soft brush, nothing too stiff, to blend the foundation upwards in circular motions.

In the how-to clip, the 28-year-old makeup artist prepped her skin with a serum, eye cream and moisturiser and dabbed the Beautiful Skin Foundation on her cheek, chin and forehead with her fingers before blending with a brush upwards in circular motions

When it comes to concealer, Sofia said to use it sparingly and shared how to pick the right shade.

'I feel like makeup has changed recently and people really went for concealer and now I feel like you don't need as much to give that brightening, dewy glow effect,' she said.

'I tend to go two shades lighter to have a brightening effect.'

She places it under the inner corner of the eye and the outer corner and blends it out with her finger and a small brush.

When it comes to concealer, she places it under the inner corner of the eye and the outer corner and blends it out with her finger and a small brush

Sofia finishes the skin with a blush to the apple of her cheeks and bronzer which she applies liberally to her face and neck

Sofia then recommended a colour correcting powder for dark circles or under-eye pigmentation.

'I use the colour corrector on most celebrities just to kind of create more brightness underneath the eyes and even out skin tone,' she said.

'The way you can do it which I think is helpful for people who have never used them before is to use it underneath your concealer and build the concealer on top. I use the brush and then I also like to use my fingers.'

For blemishes and 'really big annoying red spots', Sofia suggested applying concealer to the area and setting with a powder so it 'doesn't move or budge'.

Sofia is one of beauty's biggest rising stars working with many A-list stars and supermodels including Salma Hayek, Minnie Driver, Irina Shayk and Candice Swanepoel and was backstage at the Paris Couture shows just last week

Sofia Schwarzkopf-Tilbury top five tips for perfect foundation 1. Use your fingers when you first apply the foundation 2. Then use a soft brush and blend upwards in circular motions 3. Always set your foundation with powder 4. Use concealer sparingly to brighten 5. Apply a colour corrector to get rid of dark circles or under eye pigmentation out even out skin tone Advertisement

Sofia swears by using powder to set her makeup and once again was a cheerleader for her aunt's airbrush flawless finish powder, one of which is sold every minute.

'The way I would use this is with a sculpting brush and I would use it down the T-Zone - this is where you don't want to be oily or too shiny because you can end up looking a little sweaty,' she said.

Sofia finishes the skin with a blush to the apple of her cheeks and bronzer which she applies liberally to her face and neck.

'There's different ways you can use bronzer but I kind of like to contour and then brush out, so, I'll use it underneath the cheekbone and then brush it outwards,' she said.

'To create a sun-kissed effect on the skin I like to bring it across the nose. I also like to use my neck to match it because you don't want to look too dark on the face and then have a really light neck.'

Sofia is one of beauty's biggest rising stars working with many A-list stars and supermodels including Salma Hayek, Minnie Driver, Irina Shayk and Candice Swanepoel and was backstage at the Paris Couture shows just last week.
An 81-year-old man was saved from drowning by his dog after his wheelchair slid down a grass embankment and into a lake.

Harry Smith, from Port St. Lucie, Florida, was walking his nine-year-old beagle mix, Sarah, in his neighborhood last week when his electric wheelchair lost traction and slid down a bank, causing him to flip into the water, according to the local police department's Facebook post.

'I tried to back around to get out of it and it went straight back instead and right down the embankment and dumped me right in the water,' he told WPTV of the moment his wheelchair got stuck.

Harry Smith, 81, from Port St. Lucie, Florida, was saved by his dog, Sarah, after his electric wheelchair slid down a grass embankment and flipped him into a lake

As Smith yelled for help, Sarah started barking and attracted the attention of Edward Suhling and Aby 'Jacob' Chacko

Smith, who can't swim, yelled for help as he struggled to stay afloat.

Sarah sensed something was wrong and started barking loudly, attracting the attention of Edward Suhling and Aby 'Jacob' Chacko.

'The dog was splashing in the water,' Suhling, 58, explained to the TCPalm, the local newspaper. 'So we both ran over here and I jumped in the water, and my buddy grabbed his arms and I grabbed his legs and we got him up on shore.'

Chacko, 49, said he was able to flag down Officer Adam Doty for help while they were running toward the scene.

Suhling (pictured) told WPTV that only Smith's head was above the water when they pulled him out with the help of Officer Adam Doty

Suhling added that Sarah was the 'the real hero that day,' explaining he hadn't heard Smith yelling, only the dog barking

Only Smith's head was above the water when the three men came to his rescue thanks to his dog.

'You could just see it in his face,' Suhling said. 'He thought he was dying.'

He added that Sarah was the 'the real hero that day,' explaining he hadn't heard Smith yelling, only the dog barking.

After receiving medical attention on the scene, Smith was deemed well enough to return home, but his electric wheelchair had been damaged by the water.

After receiving medical attention on the scene, Smith was deemed well enough to return home, but his electric wheelchair had been damaged by the water

Doty and a member of the St. Lucie County Fire District pushed Smith back to his house while his dog trotted next to them

'I love her, always have, always will,' Smith said of his four-legged rescuer

Doty and a member of the St. Lucie County Fire District pushed him back to his house while his dog trotted next to them.

Smith has had Sarah for seven years, and he couldn't help but gush about his furry rescuer.

'She's such a good dog. Everybody in this neighborhood loves her, they all look out for her,' he told WPTV, adding that Sarah was rewarded with a treat.

'I love her, always have, always will.'

It was undoubtedly an eventful week for Officer Doty, who welcomed a newborn with his wife a few days after he helped save Smith's life.
With Australia's borders officially set to reopen to international tourists on February 21, booking platform Skyscanner has seen a spike in overseas travellers searching for flights Down Under.

The borders were shut for almost two years to keep out Covid but after the announcement on February 7, Skyscanner saw an immediate 21 per cent increase in all global visitors to the site.

The highest volume of searches interested in booking flights were from the UK, followed by India, the US, South Korea and Ireland, with the top three most searched for Aussie destinations being Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Australia will reopen its international borders on February 21, and already Skyscanner has noticed a rapid spike in keen travellers on its website (stock image)

According to data collected by Skyscanner, UK travellers were the top international searchers for inbound Australian travel since March 2020.

To compare, American travellers also expressed interest with weekly search volumes increasing over 170 per cent this week compared to the previous week.

Even before this announcement, searches for flights from Germany to Australia have been steadily increasing, with searches reaching above 52 per cent in January 2022 compared to December 2021.



Skyscanner's Regional Director for Asia Pacific Paul Whiteway commented on what the reopening of international borders to visitors will mean for Australians.

'Australian travel is back on the global map after a long period of locked borders. The re-opening of Australia's border to international visitors is a huge milestone in the tourism industry and one that many travellers across the globe have been hoping for such a long time,' he said.

Mr Whiteway added how the company expects to see travellers start planning trips 'straight away' to reunite with family and friends overseas 'as soon as possible'.

'We've seen from global travel re-opening elsewhere that clear, consistent information about the latest changes and travel requirements are the key to unlocking traveller confidence, alongside increased flexibility and competitive pricing,' he continued.

'Skyscanner's on hand to give travellers clarity and confidence to travel again, with dedicated travel advice pages and tools like our interactive travel map.'

The borders were shut for almost two years to keep out Covid-19, but after the announcement February 7, Skyscanner saw an immediate 21 per cent increase in all global visitors to the site

Australia has opened its border in stages after only allowing Australian citizens and permanent residents from March 2020.

In November 2021 skilled migrants and students were also allowed to enter provided they were fully vaccinated.

Mr Morrison's decision to open up came after he faced pressure from executives in the travel and tourism including Qantas boss Alan Joyce who said keeping the border closed was illogical.

Former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth said the timing was right for the border reopening to expand to tourists.

'It's a really important sign for Australians that things are back on the path to normality,' he told the Nine Network.

'The fact that we're going to have people coming into the country, students and tourists who have been vaccinated, that's a safe policy and the right time to do it.'
Famed for her chic recycled ensembles, Queen Letizia today stepped out in leather culottes she has shown off before.

The Spanish Queen, 49, chose a red cropped tweed jacket from to attend Madrid's 'Breaking glass ceilings: The scientific woman, from the laboratory to entrepreneurship', by Women and Science group of the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM).

Not one to shy away from bold colours, the royal paired it with a bright red turtleneck jumper and a similarly eye-catching red leather clutch bag.

Her culottes, from Uterque, are a personal favourite having been worn by the monarch to public events a few times before.

Queen Letizia met with an official before starting the meeting for 'Breaking glass ceilings: The scientific woman, from the laboratory to entrepreneurship'

The fashion-foward Queen chose a pair of leather culottes from Uterque that she had worn to events before

Women in STEM! Letizia attended the event to chair the meeting that aimed to boost visibility of woman in science careers

The mother-of-two perfectly complimented the ensemble with some understated black court heels and wore a simple silver ring on her index finger that paired with her unique silver stud earrings.

She was wearing a face covering in line with Spanish coronavirus guidelines but Letizia still donned her usually glamourous makeup underneath.

The Queen opted for brown eyeliner to make her deep eyes pop.

To round off the outfit, Letizia wore her hair in sleek, loose waves that gently landed on her shoulders.

The mother-0f-two wore a face covering in line with Spanish coronavirus guidelines but Letizia still donned her usually glamourous makeup underneath

Letizia's bright red clutch went perfectly with the red tones from her tweed patterned blazer with silver buttons

Queen Letizia of Spain arrives at a meeting with Women scientists and entrepreneurs at Natural Science Museum

At the event, Letizia was leading the meeting between scientists and entrepreneurs that was organised ahead of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11.

The organisation, which involves the National Museum of Natural Sciences, the Spanish Association of Biocompanies, and the Spanish Association for Cancer Research, aims to give women in science, technology and business a boost in society in order to highlight their personal successes and involvement in wider projects.

It also aims to create an easier support system for young women hoping to embark into scientific careers.

Today's event was the first of the week for Letizia after a busy few days last week.

The royal paired her effortlessly chic look with classic black court heels that accentuated her legs

Styling her outfit with understated jewellery, the Queen opted for a silver cut-out ring and unique stud earrings

The royal was in Austria over the weekend for a state visit with Felipe Vi, and returned to Madrid on last monday.

On Wednesday, she attended a meeting at UNICEF Spain's headquarters in Madrid.

Armed with a folder overflowing with documents, the mother-of-two, who is the honourary president of the Spanish branch of UNICEF, looked ready for business.

Letizia was welcomed by President of the patronage of UNICEF Spain, Gustavo Suarez Pertierra ahead of their meeting.

The mother-of-two, who is the honourary president of the organisation's Spanish branch, looked eager to get started on their work.

The meeting aimed to look back at what UNICEF Spain achieved in 2021 as well as addressing the challenges disadvantaged children will face this year.
The Queen paid a discreet but touching tribute to her beloved Prince Philip as she celebrated a landmark 70 years on the throne this weekend.

While marking her Platinum Jubilee with a tea party at Sandringham, the monarch kept the Duke of Edinburgh close to her heart by carrying his favourite wooden walking stick.

Though she walked largely unaided, the Queen carried Philips trusty stick as she met estate workers, volunteers and members of the local Womens Institute in her first public engagement for more than three months.

Her Majesty's subtle nod to her late husband comes after the Queen's spate of ill-health since last autumn, with the monarch using a walking stick for the first time publicly in October last year.

The 95-year-old monarch is thought to have taken to using the stick during her stay at Wood Farm, the cottage on the Sandringham estate where the Duke spent his retirement.

While marking her Platinum Jubilee with a tea party at Sandringham, the Queen kept the Duke of Edinburgh close to her heart by carrying his favourite wooden walking stick

Philip - who died at the age of 99 last April- was last seen carrying the walking stick publically in 2013, as he returned to royal duties after undergoing abdominal surgery

Prince Philip's biographer Gyles Brandreth told The Telegraph: 'I recognised the stick instantly as it was always kept in a pot by the front door. It was the Duke's stick, and it is very touching that the Queen has started using it.'

Philip - who died at the age of 99 last April- was last seen carrying the walking stick publically in 2013, as he returned to royal duties after undergoing abdominal surgery.

The distinctive stick features curved handle carved from horn, and is reportedly longer than standard walking sticks.

The Queen is rarely seen with a walking stick, but she has previously been photographed using one on a few occasions, including at engagements in 2003 and 2004.

Though she walked largely unaided, the Queen carried Philips trusty stick as she met estate workers, volunteers and members of the local Womens Institute in her first public engagement for more than three months

On October 12th last year, Her Majesty was seen using stick for support in public for the first time as she marked the Royal British Legion centenary at Westminster Abbey

Two days later, the 95-year-old monarch carried a stick as she as she attended the sixth ceremonial opening of the Senedd at the Welsh Parliament building in Cardiff

On October 12th last year, Her Majesty was seen using stick for support in public for the first time in nearly 20 years as she marked the Royal British Legion centenary at Westminster Abbey.

Two days later, she carried a stick as she as she attended the sixth ceremonial opening of the Senedd at the Welsh Parliament building in Cardiff.

The monarch had stayed in Philips's beloved Wood Farm cottage for the 70th anniversary of her father's death, which also marked her Accession Day, on February 6th.

Her stay in the cottage was the first since Philip's death, having spent the festive period at Windsor Castle.

Fit for a Queen: Trusted walking stick Her Majesty has used for almost two decades The Queen used what experts described as a 'telescopic walking pole with trigger grip and wrist loop' rather than a traditional walking stick or cane. The monarch was previously seen using the same stick when visiting Southampton in January 2004 when she viewed the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship, so she appears to have had it for nearly two decades. One walking stick expert said the device is 'more of an outdoors sports stick than a traditional walking stick', while another said it was an 'old trekking pole with cork handle of unknown brand to me'. It was also suggested that the 'mechanism inside which holds the telescope sections in place is not suitable for use as a mobility aid' and that if she was to 'lean heavily on it, it would slowly sink into itself'. Advertisement

She returned to Windsor Castle on Monday, with crowds gathering to watch the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery fire their cannons 41 times to mark Her Majesty's milestone.

During her celebrations at Sandringham, the Queen paid another discreet tribute to her late husband by wearing two Nizam of Hyderabad rose brooches, which had been wedding presents.

Her Majesty 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.

There are no signs the Queen will be taking a step back from public engagements this year.

Palace officials are expected to announce a number of public outings for the Queen in the coming days, including a raft of hardy annuals such as the annual Commonwealth Day Service in March, signalling her slow return back to work.

Sources are at pains to stress that Her Majesty will continue to realistically pace herself in the run up to the main jubilee celebrations in June in view of her age - she will celebrate her 96th birthday in April.

It is about pacing her diary and ensuring there is flexibility. People are very mindful of the fact that at the age of 95, some days you wake up with aches and pains that you didnt have the day before, a source said.

The Queen will also play a large part in engagements around her four-day Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.

Aides are understood to be delighted with the Queen's energetic at a reception at Sandringham this weekend - providing confidence she can continue with outings this year.

It is understood aides intend for the monarch to begin travelling for engagements next month ahead of her 96th birthday.
Several dating apps have banned the fraudster known as the Tinder Swindler after a Netflix documentary showed he used their services to contact and to defraud women.

Shimon Heyada Hayut, 30, from Israel, who operated under several aliases, including Simon Leviev, fooled women he met on Tinder into thinking he was the son of a billionaire diamond merchant.

Once he had gained the women's trust, the fraudster would convince them to loan him money under false pretences and use it to reel in other victims by flaunting his expensive lifestyle and treting them to lavish gifts.

It is unclear how many other people fell for the scam but it is estimated that he conned his victims out of 7.4 million.

Following the release of the Tinder Swindler documentary on Netflix, Tinder has revealed Shimon is banned from creating profiles on the platform after violating its terms and conditions.

And now the Match group, which owns Tinder and several popular dating apps, has announced that the conman will be barred from creating a profile on all its platforms.

Several dating apps have banned the fraudster Shimon Heyada Hayut, 30, from Israel, known as the Tinder Swindler, after a documentary showed he used their services to contact women

A spokesperson for Match, who owns Ok Cupid, Hinge, PlentyofFish, OurTime, Meetic, Pairs, and Match, said the ban would be permanent.

The dating services company added that Hayut currently does not have an active account on any of its apps, and that if such an account is spotted, it will be deleted immediately.

Shimon Hayut had been on the run for years when he was finally arrested in 2019 while using a fake passport in Greece. He had been a fugitive from Israel since 2011, where he's wanted for fraud, theft and forgery, and skipping out on sentencing twice.

In the meantime, Hayut hopscotched around Europe, living lavishly off the savings of unsuspecting ladies he conned into trusting him.

The convicted conman would use the money he acquired from other victims to impress single women with an expensive lifestyle and lavish gifts. It is unclear how many other people fell for the scam but it is estimated that he conned his victims out of 7.4 million

In the Netflix documentary, Pernilla Sjoholm, right, revealed how Shimon defrauded her of thousands of dollars

The serial fraudster did a two year stint in a Finnish prison for swindling three women in 2015. When he was sent back to Israel in 2017 to face charges for his previous offences, Hayut fled the country again with a new assumed identity.

By the time he met Cecilie Fjellhoy in January 2018, Hayut was posing as 'Simon Leviev,' son of the billionaire Russian-Israeli diamond mogul, Lev Leviev. He claimed to be a high-powered CEO for LDD Diamonds who constantly traveled for work.

'He tells me that his dad is the 'King of Diamonds,' and that means I'm the prince,' one of his victims, Cecilie Fjellhoy, told the Netflix documentary.

To make his claims more believable, Hayut legally changed his last name to Leviev and hired a team of fake assistants, business partners and a bodyguard to make his story more credible.

In the Netflix documentary, three of his victims - Pernilla Sjoholm (left), Ayleen Charlotte (center), and Cecilie Fjellhy (right) - spoke out about how Shimon tricked them

Cecilie Fjellhy (pictured, with Shimon Heyada Hayut) has teamed up with Ayleen Koeleman, and Pernilla Sjoholm, who featured in Netflix's The Tinder Swindler, to launch a fundraiser

The fraudster first invited Fjellhoy to meet for coffee at the Four Seasons in London after the pair matched on Tinder.

Upon finishing their drink, he asked the blonde graduate student if she wanted to join him on his private jet for a business trip to Bulgaria, leaving that afternoon.

Fjellhoy told Norwegian news site Verdens Gang that she felt reassured by his 'team' of employees that were joining them.

What proceeded next was a whirlwind long distance romance that involved daily love notes over text, videos and voice messages exchanged on Whatsapp.

'This was the first time where I felt like: 'Oh my god I really like him. And it seems that he really likes me back as well,'' Fjellhoy said to Nightline on ABC in 2019.

Norwegian graduate student Cecilie claimed she gave Shimon more than $270,000 over the course of their relationship, after they connected via Tinder in January 2018

Among the excessive love overtures, Hayut sent clips of himself on private jets, driving Ferraris and closeups of his luxury watches.

'I never felt this way, if you had told me I wouldn't even imagine it or believe it,' he said in a voice note that Fjellhoy shared with Verdens Gang.

'I love you my future wife,' he said in another.

From early on, Hayut hinted at the inherent danger in being involved in the diamond industry, and claimed that he couldn't visit Fjellhoy in London because of threats he was receiving from enigmatic enemies.

He even went as far as sending photos of himself and his bodyguard in the hospital, after alleging they were 'attacked.'

Hayut hopscotched around Europe, living lavishly off the savings of unsuspecting ladies he conned into trusting him, flying first class and staying in expensive hotels

The fraudster called him the 'Prince of Diamond' and pretended he was the son of a billionaire diamond merchant after meeting women on Tinder

He was finally arrested in 2019 while using a fake passport in Greece, pictured. However, he only served five of his 15 months prison sentence

Fjellhoy fell for it, hook, line and sinker. Four weeks into their courtship, the conman asked her to take out a massive line of credit for him, explaining that it was a precautionary security measure to avoid leaving a paper trail in his name.

As per his instructions, she filled out an application for an American Express Platinum Card and he told her to file an income of $200,000, assuring her that nobody would check it.

'It felt good to be able to give it to him and say, 'Here's my credit card. I managed it,' said Fjellhoy to the Norwegian news outlet.

The fraudster spent the money on plane tickets, hotels and dinners that were booked under her name to throw off suspicious 'enemies'.

The conman, who had a taste for fancy cars and designer fahsion, used the money of the women he defrauded to live the high life

One of the swindler's victims admitted she gave him $270,000 after taking a huge line of credit at his demand. Meanwhile, he used it to fly first class around the world

'One of the main reasons why he needed it was protectionhe needed my name as a cover, he said,' Fjellhoy told Nightline in 2019. 'I know it sounds crazy...[but] why would he have this giant guy with him if he didn't need the protection?,' she said, apparently referring to a bodyguard.

Funding the jetset lifestyle for Hayut and his 'team' added up fast. In just 54 days, the handsome Israeli imposter spent two million Norwegian krone ($224,220) on Louboutins in Bangkok, on Gucci in Barcelona, at the Ritz Carlton in Berlin and the Conservatory in Amsterdam.

With her Amex maxed out, Fjellhoy opened ten more lines of credit to continue paying for her crook-boyfriend. She took out a loan to pay off her credit cards, but the money Hayut promised to repay wasn't coming in.

'My angel My love I just talked to the bank and they told me that the [transfer] of Amex will be there on Monday thousand percent,' read one text message Hayut sent her. He also added a bank letter from TD Bank attesting to a bank transfer in the amount of $500,000 to her account, but that document was forged.

After three months, the relationship was all but over. Fjellhoy said the moment she finally realized Hayut had stolen her money was 'such a shock'.

'I almost wanted to throw up, it was the first time in my life that I had gotten such a shock that my body physically was telling me that, 'OK your life is ruined,' everything came crashing down around me,' she told Nightline on ABC.

Shimon currently lives as a free man in Israel while his victims are still paying up the loans he made them take up

In the Netflix trailer Fjellhoy recalls: 'That's when police tell me, the man I love was never real, everything's a lie.'

By then, fake Russian oligarch had moved on to his next victim, a Swedish woman named Pernilla Sjoholm, whom he splurged over $10,000 on taking to the opera in a limousine.

They first met on Tinder in March 2018. 'He was smart and funny and very impulsive' Pernilla said in the documentary.

'This may sound strange,' Sjoholm told Verdens Gang, 'But he's very thoughtful.'

It wasn't until eight months into their relationship that Hyut asked to borrow $45,000. He repaid her with valuable watch that she later discovered was fake.

Shortly after loaning him the money, Pernilla discovered that she had been swindled when an investigative reporter for Verdens Gang, contacted her to explain that they were researching the case of a serial fraudster. Together, they set up a sting operation to stop Shimon Hayut from his continuing his scam.

'He's not your everyday swindler,' she says. 'This man is in a league of his own.'

When she finally confronted the man who she once called a 'friend,' he responded with little remorse: 'Pernilla if you double cross me, I can tell you right now that you will pay for it for the rest of your life.'

Via text message in May 2019, Shimon Hayut told ABC's Nightline that he was innocent and that the accusations against him were merely about 'a loan between friends that went south.' He added: 'They used me for my life they got expensive gifts and everything, in other words gold diggers.'

The fake billionaire fugitive was finally captured in June 2019 during a joint operation between Interpol and Israeli Police.

Shimon Hayut was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay his victims $43,289 in compensation in December 2019, but was released after only serving five months.

'How can you give trust to a man like that, who escaped from Israel twice?' responded Pernilla Sjoholm to the news. 'A man that deceived and swindled women in Europe for hundreds of thousands of euros. Where is the justice?' she said.

Turns out, she was right. Once a conman, always a conman, Hayut was accused of lying his way into receiving an early vaccine dose when they were only being administered to medical workers, those over the age of 60 and at-risk groups,

He told The Times of Israel: 'I am not someone who waits in line or at places. With all due respect, I will not sit and wait 3-4 hours. I am not someone who waits and no one can say a word about it.'
A woman who found an urn filled with ashes in a discarded storage unit has tracked down the family of the deceased grandmother in an attempt to return her remains to them - only for them to stop replying.

Megan Leigh, from Savannah, South Carolina, discovered the urn in October 2021 while looking for new items to sell at the thrift shop that she and her husband, Byron Argueta, own - which is called My Angels Attic.

It turns out, the remains were of a woman who had passed away in 2019. Her husband wanted to throw them away, but Megan was determined to reunite them with a living family member.

'I would never have expected to find someones ashes,' Megan told The State. 'It broke my heart.

'It was one of the first things my son found. My husband wanted to take them to the dump and I was like, "No, we cannot do that."'

A woman who found an urn filled with ashes in a discarded storage unit has tracked down the family of the deceased grandmother in an attempt to return her remains to them

Megan Leigh, from South Carolina, discovered the urn in October 2021 while looking for new items to sell at the thrift shop (pictured) that she and her husband, Byron Argueta, own

Her husband wanted to throw them away, but Megan was determined to reunite the remains with a living family member. Megan is pictured with her husband

Unfortunately, she had very little to go off of - with only a name, birthday, and death date printed on the pink marble urn.

Megan decided to turn to social media, making Facebook posts in various community pages asking if anyone had any info on the woman.

She also messaged people who had the same last name - and eventually, she stumbled across the woman's grandson.

The grandson was living in Oklahoma and seemed very interested in getting the urn from her - until suddenly he stopped replying to Megan's messages.

'He wanted her. They were originally going to cover the shipping cost, then he went MIA on me,' Megan explained.

After doing some more research, Megan then discovered that the deceased woman had a son who lived in the area, and she was able to get in contact with his wife.

However, once again, the family stopped answering her after a few days of communicating back and forth.

It turns out, the remains were of a woman who had passed away in 2019. After scouring social media, Megan was miraculously was able to find two of the woman's family members

However, both of them suddenly stopped replying after a few days of communicating back and forth, and now, she is looking for more family members

Megan told the outlet that she was especially taken with the urn since her own mother passed away two years prior, and that she would be 'devastated' if she lost her ashes.

However, after two failed attempts at reuniting the woman's remains with her descendants, she isn't sure what to do next.

They are now sitting in the back of her van, but she still hopes to return them and will continue to look for more family members.

'My heart is soft, I have to just try to [return them] but I cant hold onto her forever,' she said. 'Shes not my mom, shes not my family.'

Jasper County coroner Willie P. Aiken III told the outlet that unclaimed remains are a common occurrence in his line of work.

He has offered to take the remains off of Megan's hands and contact the dead woman's family himself.

And if there's no response, he said he will bury them, alongside other unclaimed remains.
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looks chic in camel today as she visited a fashion retailer to see for herself how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted business.

The 50-year-old mother-of-three looked elegant in a beige coat, skirt and polo neck, as she spoke to the team behind Dutch clothing brand By-Bar, in Breda, in the south of the Netherlands.

As a member of the Dutch Committee of Entrepreneurship, the Queen of the Netherlands also worked in marketing when she met her husband, King Willem-Alexander.

By-Bar is a Dutch fashion label which was created in Amsterdam by Barbara Brenninkmeijer, focusing on collections with natural colours in clean and effortless silhouettes.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands visited Dutch fashion retailer By-Bar in Breda, south of the Netherlands, to see face-on how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted their business

By-Bar is a Dutch fashion label which was created in Amsterdam by Barbara Brenninkmeijer, focusing on collections with natural colours in clean and effortless silhouettes (Queen Maxima speaking to a staff member at the brand headquarters)

The 50-year-old mother-of-three looked fantastic as she spoke to the team behind Dutch clothing brand By-Bar, wearing a neutral theme for her outfit of the day, donning a brown long-sleeved roll-neck top underneath a beige collared coat thrown over her shoulders

Queen Maxima went along with the neutral theme for her own outfit of the day, donning a brown long-sleeved roll-neck top underneath a beige collared coat thrown over her shoulders.

She paired this with a midi-length pin skirt, from the same colour palette, heeled knee-high boots, a black and cream handbag and a long pearl necklace.

Her makeup featured a smoky eye with gold on her eyelid as a pop of sparkle, put together with a berry pink lip colour.

This bronzed look perfectly matched her gold rings and shiny flower earrings.

As a member of the Dutch Committee of Entrepreneurship, the Queen of the Netherlands also worked in marketing when she met her husband, King Willem-Alexander, so enjoys creative projects and has a passion for getting immigrant women in the workforce

The Queen, who has three daughters, Amelia, Alexia and Ariane, is known for her love for accessories, wore beautiful gold bracelets, with one showcasing a gorgeous blue stone that stood out from the couple she had on (pictured being shown around their workspace)

She also spoke to other SME (small medium enterprises) entrepreneurs just like By-Bar to talk about the impact they have felt with the closures of society when cases have got high

With restrictions only having been lifted in the last few weeks, the fashion brand has had to spring back into action to help keep themselves on track (the Queen speaking to entrepreneurs)

Her eyebrows were sculpted and she wore her blonde locks in a straight and natural blow-dry.

The Queen, who has three daughters, Amelia, Alexia and Ariane, is known for her love for accessories, wore beautiful gold bracelets, with one showcasing a gorgeous blue stone that stood out from the couple she had on.

In the Netherlands, Covid restrictions state that people must wear face coverings when advised, so the Queen and all the staff members wore masks.

Her makeup featured a smoky eye with gold on her eyelid as a pop of sparkle, put together with a berry pink lip colour, perfectly matching her gold rings and shiny flower earrings

The Queen looked at material samples, drawn-out designs and brainstorm ideas from the Dutch brand, who has their headquarters in Breda, south of the Netherlands

The workspace had plenty of entrepreneurs and team members to talk the Queen through their future plans concerning their business and Covid, as well as how the recent lockdowns had an affect on them

The government lifted the final lockdown restrictions at the end of January, which have been in place since 19 December.

Before they were put in place, the Queen visited other businesses in Geertruidenberg on 15 December to lend a compassionate ear to coffee shops and catering business owners to find out how they were coping with the Covid-19 business.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Maxima met her husband Willem-Alexander 22 years ago in Seville, Spain, when the then-Prince only introduced himself as Alendander - she was not aware he was royalty.

In her role as a monarch, Maxima has been a member of a special parliamentary commission seeking to increase the number of female immigrants in the workforce.

In her role as a monarch, Maxima has been a member of a special parliamentary commission seeking to increase the number of female immigrants in the workforce

Queen Maxima paired the beige coat with a midi-length pin skirt, from the same colour palette, heeled knee-high boots, a black and cream handbag and a long pearl necklace

Maxima is a member of the Committee for Enterprise and Finance to help extend the reach of financing opportunities and focused her attention to small to the medium sized-business

She also is a member of the Committee for Enterprise and Finance to help extend the reach of financing opportunities, in particular to help provide credit for new and existing small businesses in the Netherlands.

And for today she focused her attention to the team at By-Bar, who showed their progress of future collections, material samples and brainstorm of ideas.

The workspace had plenty of people to talk the Queen through their plans, as well as how Covid-19 and the recent lockdowns had an affect on their business.

With restrictions only having been lifted in the last few weeks, the fashion brand has sprung back into action to help keep themselves on track.

She also spoke to other SME entrepreneurs, which mean small and medium sized enterprises, like By-Bar, to talk about the impact they have felt with the closures of society when cases have got high.
A Gucci employee has accused the company of pregnancy discrimination, alleging that she was met with 'derogatory remarks' when she returned from maternity leave and was soon demoted from a position she had held for five years.

Courtney Flint, Senior Media Director at Gucci America and a 17-year employee of the company, says that since she returned from maternity leave early last year, she has been accused of being less engaged with work, given an unfair performance review, demoted, and warned against seeking reasonable accommodations.

She also claims that her concerns dismissed by HR, who allegedly told her she was free to quit if she didn't like it.

This week, lawyers at Wigdor LLP filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Gucci on Flint's behalf, alleging pregnancy discrimination, retaliation, and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference and retaliation.

A Gucci employee has accused the company of pregnancy discrimination in an EEOC complaint filed by her lawyers this week

Courtney Flint (pictured in 2015) says that since she returned from maternity leave, she has been accused of being less engaged with work, given an unfair performance review, demoted, and warned against seeking reasonable accommodations

Flint has worked for Gucci since 2005, when she started as a Local Media Planner. She has been promoted several times, and in 2017 earned her current title of Senior Media Director of Brand Engagement.

In November 2020, she gave birth to her third child and went on maternity leave, from which she returned in March 2021.

According to her complaint, which was filed in New York, Gucci 'greeted Flint with derogatory remarks concerning her pregnancy' upon her return.

One such remark came from Gucci CEO Susan Chokachi, who allegedly asked Flint if she 'need[ed] time to build up her stamina after having [her] third child.'

Flint says Chokachi asked her the same thing again a month later, and claims Chokachi was accusing Flint of being less productive.

Flint (left) claims her new boss, Selena Kalvaria (right), took away most of her responsibilities and then advertised a new position with those responsibilities

At the time, all of Flint's colleagues were working from home most the time, about four or five days a week.

Flint asked to be allowed to work from home five days a week and maintain flexible hours until she could arrange for childcare.

But she claims her new boss, Selena Kalvaria, told her not to ask for anything else.

'Kalvaria ... warned Flint not to seek any further reasonable accommodations related to Flints newborn, or they would need to have a "larger discussion,"' reads the complaint.

Flint also alleges that during a September 2021 performance review, she received negative feedback she'd never received before.

In the review, Kalvaria described Flint as 'not completely engage[d]' and not 'proactive.'

'Flint was forced to defend against Kalvarias discriminatory attitude that Flint, as a working mother, was somehow less committed to her job, explaining that she had been working tirelessly to help transition Kalvaria into her new role while continuing to perform her existing job responsibilities,' reads the complaint.

Flint said Gucci 'greeted Flint with derogatory remarks concerning her pregnancy' upon her return. She said Gucci CEO Susan Chokachi (pictured) asked her if she 'need[ed] time to build up her stamina after having [her] third child'

But soon after receiving the criticism, in October 2021, Flint says Kalvaria 'promptly demoted' her, downgrading her responsibilities to about 25% of what she had been doing before.

Flint claims she also lost some of her direct reports.

Kalvaria then began the process of hiring for a new position, with Flint says took over most of her previous responsibilities.

When Flint tried to apply for it, she was told she was not 'qualified.'

When Flint complaint to Kalvaria, she alleges that Kalvaria 'did not deny her discriminatory intentions' and told her that 'things are hard very hard' for 'working moms' who 'have a lot of added burdens.'

Flint says she also complained to HR, who allegedly encouraged her to quit, telling her that she was an 'at will employee' and was 'free to leave.'

Flint (pictured in 2014 during a different pregnancy) complained to HR but was told she was encouraged to quit if she didn't like it

HR did perform an investigation, but found 'no evidence' of discrimination.

Flint's complaint asks the EEOC to investigate Gucci for discrimination and retaliation against Flint in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Gucci for comment.

Valdi Licul, a partner at Wigdor LLP, says the charges against Gucci are part of a wider problem of mothers being singled out by employers.

'More and more during the pandemic, we are seeing working mothers being singled out by their employers for requesting remote work or flexible schedules, even when their coworkers are allowed similar arrangements,' he said in a statement.

'This unlawful behavior is based on harmful, decades-old stereotypes that working mothers are somehow less committed to their jobs. We hope this complaint sends a loud message to Gucci and across corporate America that discrimination against women who take legally protected maternity leave has no place in todays workplace.'

Flint's complaint asks the EEOC to investigate Gucci for discrimination and retaliation against Flint in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Flint pictured right in 2017)

Flint's position at the company appears to have changed quite a bit since November 2015, when she was interviewed by Motherly for a piece titled 'How my work at Gucci makes me a better mother.'

At the time, she had just two children, sons Redding (then 3 1/2 years) and Ozzie (then 17 months).

'I love the Gucci brand and the fashion and publishing industries,' she said. 'My work has also made me a better mother.

'When I am with my kids I try to be totally engaged and conscious and I am totally focused on work when at my office.

'Becoming a mother has made me better at my job. I appreciate my work so much and I am much more efficient,' she said.

She also gave some insight into her childcare situation at the time, saying that she and her husband employed two part-time nannies.
A two-time Paralympic snowboarder who works as a realtor has detailed how a client refused to meet with her because she is an amputee.

Michelle Salt, 36, from Alberta, Canada, shared her disheartening experience in a Facebook post last month, explaining that the man had stood her up for a house showing after he saw her missing leg.

'My heart hurts today. Recently, I went to show a house and when the client who was a lead through my website (hadnt met yet), saw that I was an amputee, he drove away,' she wrote.

Michelle Salt, a realtor and two-time Paralympic snowboarder, revealed in a Facebook post last month that a client refused to work with her because she is an amputee

Salt explained she had scheduled a house showing for him, but he drove away when he saw her missing leg. He later told her he would prefer to work with someone 'without a disability'

'I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but when I asked why he left, he said he prefers to work with someone without a disability. Disability whaaa?! Half the time I forget Im missing a leg.'

Salt noted that she may struggle with walking well or taking the stairs at times, but she's still 'pretty darn able-bodied.'

'I didnt give up my career as a realtor after my accident because I knew I could still do my job just as well as I did before,' she concluded. 'So to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, capable, hardworking, and dedicated realtor in the Calgary area, feel free to give me a call!'

Salt's life changed forever on June 27, 2011, when she lost control of her motorcycle while going 75 miles per hour. Her body hit a guardrail, breaking 13 bones including her hips, pelvis, femurs, and clavicles.

She was on life support for several days and underwent five surgeries. Because she lost so much blood in her right leg, doctors had to amputate it.

Salt's life changed forever on June 27, 2011, when she lost control of her motorcycle and her body hit a guardrail. She broke 13 bones, including her hips, pelvis, femurs, and clavicles

Because she lost so much blood in her right leg, doctors had to amputate it

During the five months that she was in the hospital, Salt vowed that she would one day be a professional para-snowboarder.

Though doctors told her it would be two years before she could get back on a snowboard, she defied their expectations and was riding again seven months after her accident.

Then, at that two-year mark, she wasn't just riding  she was riding for the Canadian Para-Snowboard National Team.

She went on to compete in the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, before retiring.

After everything she has overcome, she was admittedly taken aback by her former client's reaction to her being an amputee.

Salt never let her amputation stop her from achieving her dreams. She is pictured before her amputation in 2011 (left) and after in 2014 (right)

Two years after her accident, she joined the Canadian Para-Snowboard National Team. She went on to compete in the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia (pictured)

Salt also competed in the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, (pictured) before retiring

'I was shocked as me being an amputee does not affect my ability to do my job whatsoever,' she told Fox News. 'I called my boyfriend right after and couldn't believe what had just happened.

'As a retired Paralympian, I'm used to my uniqueness being celebrated and appreciated. To have someone not give me a chance was disheartening.'

'I have never directly dealt with this kind of discrimination,' she added. 'The people around me know that I work hard and love what I do so this was tough.'

Salt grew up in a small town where she never met anyone who was in a wheelchair or had a prosthetic. She thought it was possible the man had a similar upbringing and was unaware that amputees can do whatever they put their minds to.

She told Fox News that this experience was a reminder that 'we still have work to do' when it comes to inclusion.

After everything she has overcome, she was admittedly 'shocked' by her former client's reaction to her being an amputee

'I have never directly dealt with this kind of discrimination,' she told Fox news. 'The people around me know that I work hard and love what I do so this was tough'

Salt's Facebook post has received hundreds of supportive comments, including messages from fellow amputees.

'As an amputee myself, I see this kind of behavior every now and again,' one person wrote. 'This can be a blessing in disguise as you probably wouldn't want to deal with that person anyway.'

'Im so sorry you experienced this. Breaks my heart cause I get it,' someone else added. 'I had someone recently tell me they could never date me because the fact that Im an amputee "freaks them out."'

'So sad that people miss out on the best of the best by judging His loss! If anything I feel bad for him,' another shared.

Salt later thanked everyone for their 'kinds words,' saying: 'Im not going to let one man defeat me. Im going to keep showing up and doing what I love... and like everyone has said, his loss!'
A wife and mother-of-two who arranged a threesome for her husband's birthday revealed it made her realize she was a lesbian - and prompted her to divorce him and start a relationship with a woman just three weeks later.

Theresa Rose, 36, from Portland, Oregon - who likes to go by her middle name, Rose - said she was always unhappy in her marriage but couldn't put her finger on why.

Then, after having a threesome with her husband and another woman in 2020, she discovered what she was missing.

Rose said it made her realize how 'emotionally shallow' her relationship was with her husband, compared to the instant 'connection' she felt with the woman.

A wife and mother-of-two who arranged a threesome for her husband's birthday revealed it made her realize she was a lesbian - and prompted her to divorce him and date a woman

Theresa Rose (pictured left with her new girlfriend), 36, said she was always unhappy in her marriage but couldn't put her finger on why

Rose (pictured left with her girlfriend and sons) said the threesome made her realize how 'emotionally shallow' her relationship was with her husband

She decided to divorce him, and three weeks later, she began dating a woman named Jacqui Mettle.

'Experiencing that intimate interaction with a woman for the first time, the physical and emotional depth was [so intense],' she told the New York Post during a recent interview.

'I was like, "Oh my God, this is whats been missing." After being with that woman, I said to myself, "This is why Ive been so unhappy in my marriage."

'My relationship with my husband, emotionally, felt so shallow and lonely compared to my connection with the woman.'

Rose was raised in a very Catholic family, and said she was told from a young age that 'all gays go to Hell.'

Her strict upbringing forced her to hide her feelings towards women, until she couldn't deny them any longer.

Unfortunately, Rose's husband - who has not been named for privacy reasons - was not supportive when she told him about her realization, and she said he 'got really nasty' and outed her to her 'very conservative' parents, as well as their mutual friends and Bible study group.

Rose decided to divorce him, and three weeks later, she began dating a woman named Jacqui Mettle. She and Jacqui are pictured together in December 2021

Rose (pictured right with her girlfriend, Jacqui) was raised in a very Catholic family, and she said her strict upbringing forced her to hide her feelings towards women

Rose and Jacqui have been together for more than a year now, and have since moved from California to Oregon to raise Rose's sons together - who are six and eight years old

Many of her loved ones did not take the news well, which led Rose down a very dark path - with the the mom-of-two admitting that she contemplated suicide.

However, she then met Jacqui - whom she credits with saving her life. They have been together for more than a year now, and have since moved from California to Oregon to raise Rose's sons together - who are six and eight years old.

Rose no longer speaks to either of her parents and now identifies as an atheist.

She often posts videos about her journey on TikTok under the username @Raising2Activists, where she has gained more than 100,000 followers.

'It feels so free to finally live authentically,' she concluded.
Princess Beatrice looked elegant in a navy coat as she joined celebrities and society beauties at a star-studded book launch on Tuesday night.

The royal, 33, stunned in a navy coat and dress paired with over-the-knee black boots at the event, which was held in honour of new book The Fendi Set, which was photographed by Kate Moss' boyfriend Nikolai von Bismarck.

Supermodel Kate, 48, cut a typically chic figure in all black while her partner of seven years, 35-year-old Nikolai, looked dapper in a patterned shirt teamed with a black jumper and trousers.

The model's daughter Lila, 19, was in high spirits as she joined her mother.

Other attendees included Lady Mary Charteris and Emma, Marchioness of Bath.

True blue! Princess Beatrice looked elegant in a navy coat for the book launch in London

Night out! Princess Beatrice appeared in good spirits as she arrived for the star-studded bash

Royal fan: Princess Beatrice joined celebs and socialites to celebrate the launch of the book

Beatrice wore her glossy locks down with a relaxed side-parting, while opting for minimal make-up.

She enhanced her natural features by darkening her lengthy eyelashes with a black mascara and covered her lips in a pink gloss.

The princess, who has a four-month-old daughter, Sienna, kept her accessories simple, finishing the ensemble with a black leather clutch bag.

Also stepping out in style were Poppy Delevingne, Daisy Lowe, Kim Jones, Nick Grimshaw and Tigerlily Taylor.

An ode to the Bloomsbury Set, The Fendi Set celebrates the early 20th century literary movement and features contributors including Naomi Campbell, Cara Delevingne and Bella Hadid.

Keeping things simple: Beatrice finished her look with a simple black croc effect clutch

Winter staples: Beatrice donned a navy coat with a dress and over-the-knee black boots

The artistic director of womenswear and couture at Fendi, Kim Jones, curated The Fendi Set book to celebrate his one-year anniversary at the luxury Italian fashion house and mark the centenary of Virginia Woolf's death.

Photography throughout the book has been captured by Nikolai von Bismarck, who spent nearly a year using cameras and techniques from the Bloomsbury Set for the project.

The luxury fashion tome celebrates the work of Fendi and the Bloomsbury Group, with a particular focus on Woolf's Orlando.

Wow: Lila Moss put on a typically stylish display when she stepped out in London with her mum Kate on Tuesday

Supportive: The Moss women marked the release of The Fendi Set, photographed by Kate's partner Nikolai von Bismarck (pictured)

Keeping warm: Stepping out in the name of fashion, Lady Mary Charteris kept warm beneath a cosy fur coat

Beaming: Poppy Delevingne beamed as she arrived at the star-studded bash in a floaty dress and heels

Stepping out: Emma, Marchioness of Bath, joined the line-up at the central London bash

Kim Jones penned words for the book, which also features contributions from stylist Jerry Stafford, actress Tilda Swinton and Bloomsbury scholar Dr. Mark Hussey.

Kim told Harper's Bazaar about his influences, saying: 'When I first started at Fendi and I was looking at what I was going to do the first collection on, I thought there was a really nice story between the strong women - the Fendis - and then celebrating the Bloomsbury Group.

'Nikolai portrays romance and there's a real timelessness to his work, which is what a lot of Virginia Woolf's work is about.'

Ultimate cool girl: Alexa Chung donned a frilly frock for Tuesday night's event

Typically trendy: Daisy Lowe put on a typically trendy display in clinging black trousers and a silk blazer top

Lady in white: Mary McCartney slipped into a cream-hued jumpsuit and showcased her trim waistline with a wraparound belt

Fashionistas: Fashionista Nick Grimshaw (left) and designer Kim Jones (right) cut stylish figures at the bash
E-cigarettes are no more effective at helping smokers quit than going cold turkey, a study suggests.

Just 10 per cent of smokers who relied on vapes to ditch their habit were successful in quitting for 12 months.

For comparison, the figure stood at around a fifth for smokers who shunned nicotine gums, patches or tablets and gave up without any extra help.

The findings, by US researchers, cast doubt on the wisdom that e-cigarettes are one of the best ways to help smokers quit.

Currently, the NHS advises that vaping can help smokers  though it is not available on prescription.

But England is set to become the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes to help smokers quit, if Government plans are given the go ahead.

University of California researchers used survey data from 3,000 smokers who had recently attempted to quit the habit, and over 1,000 recent former smokers.

A US study suggests those wanting to quit smoking may want to shy away from e-cigarettes after finding those who used the devices

Almost all children have tobacco on their hands, even in non-smoking homes Young children are picking up 'thirdhand smoke' by touching and ingesting the chemical residue smokers and vapers leave behind on everyday surfaces. Researchers from San Diego State University and the University of Cincinnati swabbed the hands of children 11-years-of-age and younger to measure the levels of nicotine present, an indicator of thirdhand smoke exposure. Over 97 per cent of the 504 children in the study had some level of nicotine present on their hands. Shockingly, this was even true for 95 per cent of children in non-smoking households. The researchers published their findings in the JAMA Open Network. Advertisement

The surveys  used for the study published in the journal Tobacco Control  were conducted between 2017 and 2019.

In their research, a successful quit attempt was defined as abstaining from tobacco products like cigarettes for 12 months or more.

Participants were asked what kind of product they were using to try to snuff out their habit.

The researchers looked at people trying to quit smoking cigarettes and those trying quit all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.

If they were using e-cigarettes, they were quizzed what nicotine strength product they used between 0-4 per cent or higher.

They were also asked about their level of tobacco dependency, such as how often they smoked, and how long they had been a smoker.

Most of the smokers trying to quit (64 per cent) had attempted going cold turkey, which the NHS recommends against.

The others either used e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) which can be prescribed to people trying to quit smoking in Britain.

By 2019, only 10 per cent of those who attempted to use e-cigarettes to quit in 2017 were successful.

This was compared to 19 per cent of those who used no products at all.

Scientists also calculated e-cigarettes were associated with seven fewer successful attempts per 100 would-be quitters, than other pharmaceutical aids.

Additionally, nearly 60 per of recent ex-smokers who vaped daily resumed traditional smoking by 2019.

Dr John Pierce, study author, said: 'This analysis didn't show a cessation benefit from using e-cigarettes either to help or as a substitute for cigarette smoking.'

However, he added that a further study is required to measure the impact on higher strength nicotine vapes, which have become more common since 2019, on smoking cessation rates.

But some British experts have criticised the study. Professor John Britton, from the University of Nottingham, said its conclusions were incorrect by looking at people who failed to quit smoking in the past.

'The findings...are fundamentally flawed by confounding by severity, whereby the heaviest (most addicted) smokers, having tried and failed to quit using NRT or other treatments in the past, or who have declined to try to quit in the past, then try e-cigarettes,' he said.

He said this why the findings conflict with other studies that show e-cigarettes are effective quitting aids.

The study was only observational, meaning it could not establish why people trying to quite smoking using e-cigarettes were less successful.

But the findings cast some doubt on UK Government plans to prescribe e-cigarettes on the NHS to smokers trying quit.

Regulators have published updated guidance that paves the way for medicinally licensed e-cigarette products to be prescribed for tobacco smokers who want to stop smoking and switch to vaping instead.

The move could see England become the first country in the world to prescribe medicinally licensed e-cigarettes, currently used by about 3.6million adults.

The controversial move comes despite the World Health Organization saying last year that the devices are 'undoubtedly harmful'.

While vaping is generally considered healthier than traditional smoking a plethora of studies have linked the habit to a number of health issues, from respiratory problems to erectile disfunction.

NHS bosses say the gadgets  which can cost between 20 and 30  are 'far less harmful' than traditional cigarettes.
One in three British children are consuming caffeinated energy drinks at least once a week, research suggests.

A Government-funded trial looked at the drinking habits of thousands of youngsters between 2013 and 2021.

Those who consumed the ultra-caffeinated drinks weekly were more likely to suffer headaches, stomach cramps and sleep problems. They were also more likely to use alcohol or smoke and were more prone to irritability and being excluded from school.

On average, caffeinated energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster Energy contain the same amount of caffeine as a double shot of espresso.

The latest review, by experts at the University of York and University College London, is the result of a 2018 Government consultation on banning the sale of energy drinks to children.

With only two UK studies on the topic available, further research was asked for.

While the authors of the new study said their findings should be treated with caution, they said the data supports the current policy of banning the sale of energy drinks to children under 16.

They added that better education on the drinks and more prominent warning labels could also help reduce consumption among young people.

However, the British Soft Drinks Association insists the industry is doing enough to discourage children from buying the drinks through current warning labels.

Energy drinks are a popular choice of beverage among young people, with the latest research indicating that up to a third of British children have at least one of these highly caffeinated beverages a week

In the new study, published in BMJ Open, the experts looked at dozens of child behavioural studies published between 2013 and July 2021.

They found that between 3 and 32 per cent of children consumed energy drinks on at least one day per week in the UK.

In one large UK study, about a quarter of teenagers aged 13 and 14 had one or more caffeinated drink per week, rising to between a quarter and a third of children aged 15 to 16.

Another study from Wales found children who had energy drinks once a week or more were significantly more likely to report physical symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, headaches and stomach problems, than those who drank none.

The NHS advises that that energy drinks should not be consumed by young children.

In comparison to the the UK, international studies indicated that between 13 to 67 per cent of children worldwide had consumed energy drinks in the past year.

The overall results also showed that having the drinks of five or more days per week was associated with low psychological, physical, educational, and overall wellbeing.

Evidence also suggested boys drank more than girls.

Lead author of the new review, York's Claire Khouja, said: 'While more research is needed to track the effects of energy drinks on children who drink them, our research has uncovered consistent evidence of links between the regular consumption of these drinks and harmful effects on children's overall wellbeing.

'These findings offer support for a government policy banning the sale of energy drinks to children.

'Our study also indicates that children who are better informed about the contents of energy drinks, drink less, suggesting that an education campaign and/or more prominent warnings on packaging could reduce consumption."

Energy drinks are marketed as a way of getting a boost and contain caffeine as well as other ingredients such as vitamins, sugar, guarana and ginseng root.

Last year, medics writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) warned of the dangers of energy drinks after a student who drank too many developed heart failure.

The 21-year-old university student spent 58 days in hospital after consuming four 500ml energy drinks every day for two years.

He was admitted to intensive care and was so ill that doctors were considering whether he needed an organ transplant.

In the latest study, the researchers said their findings rely on surveys and so cannot prove that energy drinks cause problems for children.

They said the overall evidence was weak, but it was consistent, and further studies could be needed.

The British Soft Drinks Association's director general, Gavin Partington, said: 'Our members do not market or promote energy drinks to under-16s, nor do they sample products with this age group.

'In addition, energy drinks carry an advisory note stating 'not recommended for children'.

'The BSDA Code of Practice on energy drinks was introduced by and for our members in 2010 and contains a number of stringent points on responsible marketing. We remain committed to supporting the responsible sale of energy drinks.'
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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When I first investigated the NHS nearly 20 years ago, never did I imagine I would still be highlighting the same problems today.

Why should I? It was 2003. Tony Blair was pouring money into the NHS  pledging 100 billion a year since 2000. He promised a new health service; well-funded, efficient, target-driven and more productive in every way.

Yet while waiting lists dropped, in general the NHS took taxpayers money, hired more managers and went on doing things its own sweet way. And despite the splurge, productivity in the NHS actually fell, as official figures revealed in 2004.

Fast forward to 2012, and the influential Kings Fund think tank praised the then-health secretary Jeremy Hunt for increasing patient safety and care.

Problems with basic patient care were in the past, I thought  a view cemented when I witnessed the outpouring of gratitude as we clapped for the NHS on our doorsteps during lockdown.

When I first investigated the NHS nearly 20 years ago, never did I imagine I would still be highlighting the same problems today [File photo]

Proof, I reasoned, that things had changed for the better.

Then, last month, the issues all became very real again in a most personal way. My 97-year-old father was rushed into hospital with septicaemia, caught Covid during the seven-hour wait in A&E and was then put into isolation.

It quickly became chillingly clear that despite all the reforms, money and promises, basic care on some NHS wards is once again poor and even dangerous.

My father complained of being hungry. Neglectful nursing meant he developed bedsores. Finally, his discharge was messed up and he was left lying in a freezing ambulance for an hour and a half, convinced he was going to die.

Thankfully, he has now recovered. But he refuses to ever return to hospital. Nor was his experience a one off. After I wrote about his horrifying experience, readers inundated the Daily Mail with stories of their own elderly and vulnerable relatives ordeals in hospital over the course of the pandemic.

And, depressingly, the issues they raised were identical to  if not worse than  those I highlighted all those years ago.

Its important to acknowledge that there are very many dedicated NHS nurses who do truly care  unfortunately there are too many who dont

Hospital is supposed to make you better. But those readers described how, even in this, it is failing our older relatives.

Take Mervyn Rosenberg, a retired surgeon and father of six from North Wales.

At the height of the pandemic, in May 2020, Mervyn, who had mobility problems due to Parkinsons, suffered a fall. His wife and son called an ambulance. When the paramedics checked him, they found that Mervyn, 86, had a slight fever  and they insisted on taking him to hospital.

As his daughter Beth Vaughan, 50, a senior auditor, says: Its a decision we will think about forever. We are convinced if he had not gone that night, he might still be with us.

Mervyn was admitted into Wrexham Maelor Hospital, where he had worked for 30 years. Five days later, the man who had arrived with a slight fever was dead, following a fall in the night.

Then theres Henry Allthrop who, before he went to hospital was, according to his son Mark, hale and hearty and very much looking forward to turning 90.

Next stop 100, he liked to say. Henry Allthrop is not his real name  like many who wrote in, the family begged anonymity, terrified of being at the mercy of vindictive staff on their next admission if they complain  itself a distressing reflection on our health service.

Last month, Henrys GP recommended a hospital stay of two or three days for a heart problem.

He walks into hospital unaided, Mark says, fully in control of both bowel and bladder. Three weeks later he is wheeled into our house, in a diaper, doubly incontinent.

His fathers decline was not caused by illness, insists Mark, but neglect on the ward.

Another person affected is Jeanette Parsons, 88, a retired social worker hospitalised in November 2020 with a kidney infection. Her daughter Emma Parsons-Reid, 54, says of her mothers experience: Although she recovered physically quite quickly, shes definitely suffering from PTSD, even now.

Emma recalls how her mother begged just get me out of here  the exact words uttered by my father due to appalling care from unkind nurses.

Its important to acknowledge that there are very many dedicated NHS nurses who do truly care  unfortunately there are too many who dont.

I believe theres a real lack of discipline with nurses right now, says Emma. Theyre using Covid as an excuse. It suits them very well to have no visitors to the wards because that means theyre not accountable to families.

And it seems hospitals are turning into a free-for-all where the elderly, confused and meek  unable to advocate for themselves  are the ones to suffer.

Henry Allthrops son Mark was perplexed when his father was fitted with a catheter, as he had no bladder issues before admission.

The result was predictable. People with catheters are vulnerable to infections and Henry duly developed a urinary tract infection. This often manifests in the elderly as delirium, a fact that eluded NHS staff on the geriatric ward until Mark pointed it out. Only then did they start antibiotics.

But the damage was already done. In a delirious state, Marks father launched himself off his bed and hit his head.

Given a brain scan, he was pronounced fine.

Yet just 24 hours later Mark received a distraught call from his mother, now at his fathers bedside; he was expected to die.

During this time, cracked ribs had caused blood to pool in Henrys chest. It transpires that the hospital didnt bother to check for injuries to his body from the fall, Mark says. Thanks entirely to the NHS, he was now virtually bleeding to death. He recovered but is a shadow of himself.

Sadly, in Mervyn Rosenbergs case, similar neglect had irreversible consequences. Four days after being admitted, Mervyn also fell in the night and suffered a brain injury. Its not known how long he lay on the floor until another patient found him.

His daughter, Beth, says it was at this point that her mother and brother were finally allowed in  to sit with him until he died.

As a former nurse herself, Mum was horrified by what she found, she says. He was dirty, his dressing had not been changed. No one seemed to have taken him to the lavatory or helped him wash. Mervyn died 22 hours after the fall.

His family are clear where the blame lies: We believe he died from a total lack of nursing care.

And Beth has no truck with the excuse of staff shortages, or an NHS overwhelmed by Covid.

When Mum arrived that night she said there were plenty of nurses on the ward, she says.

But everyone was standing around the nurses station. Yet they believe they are all angels.

Can one blame her for her anger? Those angels had deprived her of a beloved father.

The hospital has since admitted full liability and apologised to Mervyns family.

So why is nursing care such a lottery? Older sisters and matrons I spoke to for my original investigation laid the blame on the changes in nurse training. Nurses now learnt more about sociology than bed pans, they complained.

An Irish sister I shadowed castigated new nurses for wanting to sit on computers all day.

Beneath the angel halo, nurses are employees and  like employees everywhere  they need managing. It is this reluctance to manage, I believe, that explains the randomness of care in the NHS.

Where management is absent or ineffectual, it is pot luck if you get a true angel  or a nurse that makes your life a misery.

Mark recalls how a kind doctor arranged for his father to be wheeled into the corridor so he could finally greet his family after over two weeks in hospital.

He was super emotional to see us, recalls Mark. But the reunion was interrupted by the arrival of two nurses. Your father was very aggressive and violent, complained one. Another pulled out a pair of shattered spectacles and said: He broke my glasses and they cost me 268. Your father promised to pay.

My dad was mortified but I was seething, says Mark. My fathers behaviour was from a bladder infection due to their poor care.

The pandemic has, of course, put enormous pressure on the NHS. But that is no excuse for unaccountable nurses and neglected patients.

The NHS does not require more grandiose reforms. It needs a relentless focus on patient care and the attitude of staff towards their patients and a return to strong leadership at patient level.

Someone who will manage nurses so they give angelic care every hour of the day  not just when they are in the mood.

Otherwise, in 20 years time, I will still be writing about the NHS and its lack of care. Heaven forbid, I might even be a victim.

Additional reporting by Jill Foster.
Around 100,000 people in the UK experience lymphoedema  debilitating swelling of the tissues, often as a result of breast cancer surgery.

Nicole Song, 43, a full-time mother of one from Hampstead, North London, underwent a new technique to prevent it, as she tells Matthew Barbour.

The patient

When I felt the lump under my left armpit two years ago, I was extremely worried because my mother had breast cancer.

After a telephone consultation with my GP, I was referred to Charing Cross Hospital, where I had a mammogram and biopsy. My husband, Hans, waited in the corridor due to Covid rules.

The results showed I had a 2cm tumour in my left breast and a 3cm tumour in my underarm, as well as a few smaller masses in the same area. Surgeon Paul Thiruchelvam said the cancer had spread to lymph nodes in my armpit and I would need chemotherapy before surgery.

Nicole Song, 43, a full-time mother of one from Hampstead, North London, underwent a new technique to prevent it, as she tells Matthew Barbour

After high-strength chemotherapy, scans showed the tumour in my breast had gone, while the tumour in my armpit was half the size  a great result.

During chemo, I discussed surgical options with the doctors. As I was found to have the BRCA2 mutation [which raises the risk of breast cancer], I opted for a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction. In addition, the lymph nodes would be removed.

With a young daughter [Elise, now four] and so much of my life ahead of me, I wanted to take no risks of the cancer returning. However, I was worried about developing lymphoedema as a result. My mum had had all her lymph nodes removed a few years earlier and had experienced swelling and limited arm movement afterwards.

Mr Thiruchelvam told me about the new LYMPHA procedure which may help minimise the risk of lymphoedema. He explained it was a bit like a bypass, so fluid from the lymphatic system draining my arm would continue to flow, avoiding the symptoms my mother had.

What are the risks? Theres a small risk of a reaction to the green and the blue dye and, as with any surgery, a risk of infection. Kefah Mokbel, a consultant breast surgeon at The Princess Grace Hospital, London, says: There is a growing body of evidence that LYMPHA is a safe and effective technique in reducing the risk of lymphoedema. The procedure requires a highly skilled surgeon. This level of expertise (and equipment) is not easily available in every breast cancer centre. Advertisement

I said I would love to have this done, although I knew that Id be one of the first in the UK to do so. Six weeks after the end of chemotherapy, I underwent six-and-a-half-hours of surgery to have the lymph nodes removed, the double mastectomy and reconstruction, and LYMPHA at the same time.

Afterwards, there wasnt much pain and I was discharged two days later. I had three drains in place, one under the armpit and one into each breast, out of which fluid was expelled into a bag I carried around. These were removed about a week later in hospital.

Im glad to say that, nearly ten months later, I dont have any lymphoedema and scans show that Im cancer free. I feel so lucky to have had this incredible level of care to provide me and my family with a future, without the longer-term issues my mum had to deal with.

The surgeon

Paul Thiruchelvam is a consultant breast and reconstructive surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and King Edward VIIs Hospital in London.

Lymphoedema, which causes debilitating swelling, is due to a problem with the lymphatic system  a network of tiny vessels all over the body that drain fluid, called lymph, from surrounding tissues into the blood.

The lymphatic system plays a role in regulating body fluid levels, absorption of nutrients from the blood and fighting infection. Lymph fluid passes through lymph nodes, where potentially harmful matter, including bacteria and viruses, can be removed.

If the lymph fluid cannot return to the bloodstream at a rate of about three litres per day, it accumulates in tissue, resulting in swelling. This commonly occurs in the trunk, arms and legs, the parts of the body most affected by infection, surgery, radiotherapy or injury.

If not treated early, this swelling can result in lifelong symptoms including numbness, pain, limitation in movement, emotional distress and reduced quality of life.

You can be cured of cancer but be left with the lifelong symptoms of lymphoedema.

In the UK, around 20 per cent of women having surgery to remove all the lymph nodes under their arm (axillary clearance surgery) develop it.

Thankfully, in recent years theres been a significant reduction in such surgery due to improved targeted therapy and chemotherapy prior to surgery, and the replacement of surgery with radiotherapy.

However, some patients still require axillary clearance surgery. In addition, these patients will also have chemotherapy and radiotherapy following surgery, which further increases the risk of lymphoedema.

With new technology, including an infrared camera system which Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust was one of the first in the UK to use, were able accurately to identify the lymphatic vessels coming from the arm and reconnect them to the patients blood, bypassing the removed lymph nodes and enabling the lymph fluid to be drained.

This procedure is called lymphatic microsurgical preventative healing approach (LYMPHA).

Several studies in the U.S. and Europe have demonstrated that it can significantly reduce the risk of lymphoedema following breast cancer treatment, halving it from approximately 20 per cent to under 10 per cent.

First, during surgery, fluorescent green and blue dyes are injected into the upper arm to identify the lymphatic vessels measuring 150 microns (a micron is one-thousandth of a millimetre) to 1mm (by comparison, a human hair is between 17 and 180 microns). These can then be seen on a screen  theyre marked with a metal clip, causing them to swell and fill with lymph fluid, which facilitates identification by the surgeons.

Next, a magnetic tracer is injected into the breast around the tumour, helping to identify the lymphatic channels draining the breast. Using a magnetic sensing device, the surgeon is able to identify the lymphatic channels and nodes draining the breast.

The surgeon then performs an axillary lymph node clearance, removing the nodes in the underarm but preserving the lymph vessels and veins.

Using a microscope, a specialist surgeon connects these lymphatics to tiny veins in the underarm. This enables the lymph fluid to flow back to the bloodstream.

The surgical team at Imperial have now undertaken more than 30 LYMPHA procedures over the past three-and-a-half years, as part of an ongoing evaluation.

Our early study data are very encouraging, with no reported cases of lymphoedema as yet.

There is still much to learn about lymphoedema, and while the numbers in our study are small, our experience is growing.

Building on the success of LYMPHA in breast cancer, colleagues are starting to offer this surgery to those at risk of lymphoedema with other cancers, including some gynaecological cancers.

Lymphovenous bypass surgery can be used for treatment as well as prevention of lymphoedema.

The study is being funded by the Imperial Health Charity with support from the Churchill Fellowship.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is dropping the recommend time between third and fourth Covid shots for immunocompromised people to three months, from five.

The move has been made to shore up protection against the virus for the most vulnerable of Americans as the country plans to move to a post-Omicron - and potentially post-pandemic - world.

While the Omicron variant is more mild than other strains, it still can cause death and kills over 2,000 Americans every day.

Experts have voiced that public health officials should work to end the pandemic for a majority of people, and target immunocompromised people in virus mitigation efforts to continue to protect them as the world returns to normal.

The CDC has revised its recommendations for immunocompromised people to receive their fourth Covid jab three months after receiving their third, down from the previous recommendations of five months (file photo)

Since last fall, immunocompromised people have been eligible for one additional Covid shot when compared to the general population.

A third dose of the jab was offered to the immunocompromised to shore up protection last year when data was showing that protection from the original two-dose regimens was beginning to wear off.

The CDC estimates that around seven million Americans meet the guidelines to qualify, according to CNN.

Last month, a fourth dose was offered to the immunocompromised as well in an effort to shore up protection even further in the wake of the highly-infectious, vaccine-resistant, Omicron variant taking over the nation.

The fourth dose was not available until a person was five months removed from their third, though, meaning that people who waiting until Omicron arrived to get their third dose will not be eligible to receive the shot until spring.

This move by the CDC allows the stragglers to get the extra shot as soon as next month if they received the jab when Omicron was first detected in America in December.

'The rationale for this decision was out of an abundance of caution to help this population that may not be as well protected get their booster dose sooner, particularly with concerns about initial immune response, loss of protection over time and high community transmission due to the Omicron variant,' Elisha Hall, a CDC health education specialist, said Friday.

It also clarifies to vaccine providers to allow immunocompromised to receive the fourth shot, after their were reports that some people were being turned away when arriving to receive the additional shot.

Greater focus on people with specific vulnerabilities to Covid has been called for by health experts.

Not only would it allow for them to get the added protection they need to survive the last stages of the pandemic, but it would also allow for everyone else to return to normal life.

Dr Stefanos Kales, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical school, last month he published an article on LinkedIn calling for pandemic-related measures to be focused on the vulnerable instead the population as a whole.

'We badly need to allow the general public, particularly the young, to get back to normal life,' he wrote.

'... It is like trying to stop a snowstorm by catching each and every snowflake, rather than keeping the roads open by plowing.'

According to official CDC data, 64 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against Covid and just over one in every four have received a booster dose.

The agency does not include additional doses specifically distributed to the immunocompromised in its regular data reporting.
America's drug overdose problem is not only taking an immense human toll on the country but it is having largescale negative effects on the economy as well, a bipartisan congressional report finds.

The report estimates that around $1 trillion dollars in economic activity is being lost every year as a result of these overdoses, and the problem only seems to be worsening over time.

Between April 2020 to April 2021, the first full year of Covid-related lockdowns and mandates, drug overdose deaths reached a record of 100,000 in twelve months.

Early indicators show the figure will be even higher once it is compiled from the entirety of last year.

Opioids, both prescriptions and synthetic, have been the driving force behind the recent surge of deaths, accounting for around 75 percent the overdose deaths from the April report.

A bipartisan congressional report finds that drug overdose deaths in the U.S. are responsible for around $1 trillion of loss for the U.S. economy every year (file photo)

The commission that researched and wrote the report was led by Republican Sen Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, and Democratic Rep David Trone, of Maryland.

The one trillion figure is a result of people dying obviously not being able to work, produce or participate in the U.S. economy anymore, and the loss of their labor and consumption hurting the country as a whole.

Experts and law enforcement officials are warning that the problem may exacerbate even further as use of synthetic opioids in illicit drugs continues to grow.

'Whether measured in lives or in dollars, the United States' drug overdose epidemic should shock everyone ... It is unacceptable.' the authors of the report write.

Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are largely going undetected, the report writes.

Since the drugs are sold on black markets and not officially regulated in any capacity, the distribution and consumption of the synthetic opioids is totally flying under the radar.

Fake versions of drugs like oxycontin and Xanax are produced overseas and trafficked into the U.S..

It is believed that many of these drugs are produced by illicit dealers in China and trafficked over the southern border with Mexico.

The synthetic drugs are often much stronger than the regular, prescription, versions and the high potency can easily cause an overdose.

Many drugs, like cocaine, can be cut with drugs like fentanyl - a highly potent synthetic opioid - and a person may ingest it and overdose without even knowing.

The DEA has had a hard time tracking synthetic opioids, many of which enter the U.S. via the southern border then are sold on the black market. The agency recently announced an initiative to crack down on many illegal trafficking networks (file photo)

'The cartels are entrepreneurs and are phenomenally powerful with $100 billion-plus business and they have really shaped their drug to fit the American market,' Trone said, according to ABC.

'It's incomprehensible that our government's reaction has been so inadequate.'

The authors of the report note this in their report, and point out the enhanced tracking and data capacity needed to track, and potentially stop, illegal opioid use.

'The United States does not have the data infrastructure to adequately measure the amount of illegally manufactured synthetic opioids consumed in the United States or the number of people who use them,' the authors write.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced earlier this week that it has launched an initiative to close some of the trafficking networks for illicit drugs.

"DEA will bring all it has to bear to make our communities safer and healthier, and to reverse the devastating trends of drug-related violence and overdoses plaguing our Nation," DEA Chief Administrator Anne Milgram, said Monday.
Pfizer estimates that it will rake in record-breaking earnings of more than $100 billion this year due to sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral pill to treat the virus.

The rollout of the vaccine has already led to a substantial financial windfall for the New York City-based company, and the prospect on enhanced distribution of Paxlovid, the potential rollout of Omicron-tailored vaccines and more booster shots in the future will lead to an influx of even more cash.

On Tuesday, the company revealed its fourth quarter earnings and revenue projections for 2022 where it said it estimates it will earn up to $102 billion in sales next year, which would be a new record.

More than half of those earnings will be off of its two Covid products, with the vaccine expected to bring in $32 billion in sales, and Paxlovid expected to earn $22 billion.

But despite the record earnings estimates, the drugmaker posted mixed fourth-quarter results when it comes to actual revenue, with shares down 5.4 percent in early morning trading. Shares were down 2.84 percent by closing.

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine (pictured) is the most popular in the U.S., and sales of it caused the company's Q4 revenue to double in 2021 when compared to 2020. The company expects another $32 billion in vaccine sales in 2022

Pfizer's new oral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid (pictured) is expected to bring in $22 billion in revenue for the company this year

Despite Pfizer's record earnings estimates, the drugmaker posted mixed fourth-quarter results when it comes to actual revenue, with shares down 5.4 percent in early morning trading. Shares were down 2.84 percent by closing

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is the most commonly used jab in the U.S. and many other countries around the world.

According to official data from the the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the jab has been used 319 million times - more than half of the 540 million vaccines administered in the nation overall.

This includes the nearly 50 million Pfizer booster shots that have been administered to Americans.

The company doubled its Q4 sales this year when compared to last, to $23.84 billion over the last three months of last year.

More than half of that revenue, $12.5 billion, came from the Covid vaccines alone.

This revenue stream will remain intact for years to come, potentially even the next decade, if Pfizer has its way.

The company already reportedly plans to rollout a Omicron variant specific vaccine at some point this spring, bolstering protection against the vaccine resistant strain that took over the world last month.

By the time the shot does come out, the variant may already have burned out, though.

But while Pfizer's vaccine and antiviral pill will cause a surge in earnings, its mixed revenue forecast was driven by lackluster sales in internal medcine and hospital division sales.

In the fourth-quarter, internal medicine sales fell 3% to $2.24 billion while hospital sales remained flat at $1.88 billion.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla (pictured), said that Covid vaccines may be needed for up to the next decade in order to control the pandemic

Covid cases in the U.S. are plummeting, dropping 43 percent over the past week, with 17 states recording daily case drops of 70 percent or more over the last 14 days.

Pfizer expects Covid to be around for longer than just the Omicron surge and Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer has been a proponent of repeated Covid boosters.

Last month, he told CNBC's The Squawk Box that the virus will likely be around for the next decade, but frequent shots could help get in under control.

'We will have perfectly normal lives, with just injection maybe once a year,' he said.

The company has also gotten into hot water over allegedly using its power as the world's leading vaccine provider to take advantage of developing nations.

A Public Citizen report from October found the company worked to worked to silence governments, restricted nations' access to vaccine donations, forced governments to pay out lawsuits they may face for breaking intellectual property laws, and to seize public assets in case of missed payments such as foreign bank accounts.

The People's Vaccine Alliance finding also reported that Pfizer, BioNTech - its main partner in the production of the shot - and Moderna - producer of the second most popular vaccine - made a combined profit of over $1,000 every second last year.

Paxlovid, which received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December, opens another Covid-related revenue stream from the firm.

The company plans to sell the drug to governments around the world for $700 a course, Bourla said on an earnings call Tuesday.

He also added that the company could manufacture up to 120 million courses of the drug if needed, and that it is currently in talks with over 100 countries on discussing a sale.

This makes the $22 billion is estimated sales a potential understatement if the company can maximize its potential revenue this year.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now included the Omicron 'stealth' Covid variant, or BA.2 on its official public data tracking, and the variant does not seem to be making the expected impact so far.

Data from the CDC updated Tuesday shows that BA.2 made up four percent of sequenced cases in the U.S. during the week of February 5.

In the previous two weeks, the variant made up 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent of cases in previous weeks.

The data shows that, unlike European countries like the UK and Denmark, the stealth variant has not exploded in the U.S. and caused massive case surges around the nation.

The 'stealth' Omicron variant, or BA.2, only makes up around 4% of Covid cases in the U.S. (light purple) the CDC reports. The original BA.1 lineage (dark purple) makes up around 96% of sequenced Covid cases

BA.2 (light purple) is most prevalent in the Pacific northwest, west coast, northeast and mid-Atlantic, the CDC reports

BA.2 earned the 'stealth' moniker because of how hard it is to track, though health experts assure that it is not as worrying as its name makes it sound.

Unlike BA.1, the Omicron lineage responsible for 98.8 percent of U.S. cases, BA.2 lacks some indicators that allow it to be detected in less-specific sequencing practices, like spike gene target failure (SGTF).

'Unfortunately, [the lack of detection] has been leading to some people referring to this as a stealth variant, which sounds kind of a little bit scary, but really all it is is that it doesn't have that particular deletion that we were using as a signature or a marker for Omicron,' Dr Pavitra Roychoudhury, a bioinformatics expert and SGTF expert told DailyMail.com last month.

'When we interpret SGTF data, we just have to remember that if we see ... failure rates drop it could indicate that this it might be BA.2 or it might be delta or it might be something else.'

In order to detect the lineage, full genetic sequencing - a more arduous and time consuming process - must be performed on samples.

It is also believed to be more infectious that its predecessor, though there is no evidence to suggest it causes from severe symptoms than BA.1.

Because of this, health officials do not seem overly concerned about the new lineage in particular, and instead are treating it as just another part of the greater Omicron situation.

The lineage is most prevalent in the Pacific northwest, west coast, northeaster and mid-Atlantic regions of the country, the CDC reports.

The failure of the lineage to make a major dent into BA.1's dominance over the past two weeks is a major positive sign, though, and signals that it may not have much impact on how long the current Covid surge lasts for.

Covid cases are sharply declining in the U.S., and have been since late-January, a sign Omicron is starting to run its course in the country.

Daily infections are down 43 percent over the past seven days, from 469,770 last week to 267,765 as of Tuesday.

It is also a far fall from the peak of the Omicron surge, when the U.S. was averaging over 800,000 cases per day in mid-January.

When the stealth variant first emerged, some feared it would reverse this trend.

In the UK, cases peaked at around 180,000 per day, but then rapid plummeting of cases rates afterwards ended up stalling out at around 90,000 per day, as the new lineage managed to rip-through the remaining Covid-free population.

While it is believed to be the dominant strain in the UK, BA.2 fortunately did not cause Covid cases to start rising once again to the same extent as BA.1 did.

Some experts are still issuing warnings about the strain as well. Dr Dorit Nitzan, Asian regional director for the World Health Organization warned Tuesday that the strain would likely become dominant in much of Asia and Europe sometime soon.
Liverpool Victoria looks to have learnt very little from its chastening setback at the hand of its members in December.

The campaign by the top team to sell the historic friendly society to private equity barons Bain Capital failed.

Instead of the clean break with the existing bosses  necessary if confidence is to be restored  LV has appointed an interim chairman, Seamus Creedon from the existing board. Chief executive Mark Hartigan, meanwhile, architect of the failed plan, remains at the helm.

Instead of a clean break with the existing bosses, LV has appointed an interim chairman, Seamus Creedon from the existing board

LV members who refused to back the plan by chairman Alan Cook and Hartigan can breathe a sigh of relief that talks on a previously rejected merger with fellow mutual Royal London are still on.

Whether one can have full confidence in Creedon to conduct the negotiations with sufficient speed and independence is a matter of conjecture. Unlike Cook (tainted by his work at the Post Office), he has a credible CV.

This includes a role at respected Edinburgh fund managers Baillie Gifford. But there is no escaping the fact that he was one of the nodding dog directors who was willing to disregard the heritage of LV and allow it to fall into the hands of Bain, despite fierce criticism from MPs and this newspaper.

Members were to be betrayed for a feeble 100 mess of pottage. To put the meagre payout in context, that is just one-seventh of what households will have to pay in April when the cap on energy bills comes off.

What is most troubling is that Hartigan is still in charge in spite of extracting a salary and bonus of 1.2m in 2020. He had the potential to have earned many more millions should the Bain deal have completed.

During the course of his unsuccessful and expensive campaign to railroad members into private equity ownership, he accused potential partners Royal London of lobbing a grenade into the deal. Hartigans military background may have taught him to play hardball, but it is not an outburst which will make it any easier to reach a satisfactory deal with Royal London chief executive Barry ODwyer.

If they were bigger people, Cook and Hartigan would have recognised the reputational harm being done to the concept of mutuality and stood aside with immediate effect last year, making room for a City or insurance grandee to re-negotiate with Royal London. The delay shows a lack of humility and insensitivity to the best interest of 1m policyholders.

Building back better

Too often, corporate bullies are allowed to get their own way. So Irene Dorner, chairman of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, deserves credit for defying activists Elliott in the choice of Jennie Daly as chief executive.

Elliott wanted an outsider. Taylor Wimpey benchmarked Daly against outside candidates and defiantly chose the companys operations director.

The addition of another woman chief executive to the FTSE 100 is to be applauded, especially in the male bastion of construction.

It is further recognition that female bosses have the right problem-solving skills in difficult corporate jobs such as banking and in the troubled water industry.

Daly has big shoes to fill after the 15-year sojourn of Peter Redfern, who steered Taylor Wimpey back from the brink of collapse.

He shrewdly took the opportunity to strengthen the companys balance sheet during Covid with a 500million rights issue, used to add to its land holdings, while prices were off the boil.

The housebuilders need a new image. They have been scarred by fat cattery, the escalation of the leasehold scandal, shoddy construction and the cladding disaster.

There is a real opportunity to up governance standards. Over the longer haul that could be a rich legacy for Daly.

Accident prone

When will it all end? Credit Suisse seems to be permanently in the naughty corner.

Its financial errors range from the securitisation of Greensill supply finance to huge exposure to the collapsed Archegos Capital hedge fund.

On top of this, it has experienced extraordinary governance failings ranging from alleged espionage by former chief executive Tidjane Thiam to Covid rule breaking by displaced chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio.

In the latest imbroglio, it finds itself in a Zurich court fighting charges of laundering of cocaine cash for a former Bulgarian wrestler. More Ozark than Swiss.
Fresh questions have arisen over top BT shareholder Patrick Drahi amid claims he has sold Sotheby's pensioners down the river.

The French tycoon, who has amassed an 18 per cent stake in BT over the past seven months through his firm Altice, also owns Sotheby's and is looking to list the famous auction house in New York.

As part of the float plans, Drahi has closed Sotheby's 'defined benefit' pension plan, a move that has sent shivers down the spines of the thousands of workers and pensioners from BT.

Art of the deal: Sotheby's French tycoon owner Patrick Drahi (right) is looking to list the famous auction house in New York

The 1,200 members of the Sotheby's pension scheme were formally told at the end of last year that the defined plan would be wound up and sold on to two insurance firms.

Members were left aghast by the decision and are considering taking legal action, according to the Antiques Trade Gazette magazine.

In a recent trading update Sotheby's said: 'The UK Pension Plan will now go through the required process in order to proceed to a full buyout and ultimate wind-up of the plan in 2022.'

The members believe they were not kept properly informed of the changes to the plan and therefore made financial plans based on incorrect knowledge.

Eileen Goodway, a member of the Association of Sotheby's Pensioners (TASP), said: 'The salaries were never big at Sotheby's but the company promised to look after its workers in old age.

'The defined pension was delayed remuneration and it helped keep good staff. It is a hammer blow and says a lot about Drahi's attitude. He's taken hundreds of millions of pounds out of the business.'

The move comes as 58-year-old Drahi looks to streamline the 277-year-old auction house ahead of a potential float this year on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sotheby's has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and could achieve a valuation of near 10billion, according to analysts.

The auction house has thrived during the pandemic, achieving 5.4billion in sales last year after successfully moving the business online.

In November alone, Sotheby's raised 1billion through its so-called Marquee Sales, a series of prestige online and in-person auctions.

A float would result in a healthy profit for Drahi, who bought Sotheby's for 2.7billion in 2019 and took it private, ending its 31-year run as a publicly traded company.

The float has sent tongues wagging in the City, with many predicting that he could use proceeds from the float to help his 'creeping takeover' of telecoms giant BT.

Masterpiece: Sotheby's sold Picasso's Femme au Beret et a la Robe Quadrillee (pictured) for 650m

Drahi  known as the king of cost-cutting  is a notoriously private billionaire and prefers to operate under the radar.

In business circles he is renowned as a corporate swashbuckler and deal maker, having spearheaded debt-fuelled acquisitions in the US, Israel, France and Portugal.

He has also garnered a reputation for ruthlessness from French trade unions for cutting workforces and slashing salaries and spending. Last year he mortgaged the historic London home of Sotheby's.

Drahi has always maintained that he has no intention of making an offer for BT and is 'fully supportive' of its strategy.

But many in the City believe he is trying to take control by stealth and without ruffling the company's management.

He could take control by snapping up the 12 per cent stake held by BT's second-largest investor Deutsche Telekom. With his current 18 per cent stake, this would take him over the 30 per cent threshold at which a takeover offer must be made.

There are mounting fears that should he gain control of BT, its pension pot could also be vulnerable. BT has one of the biggest defined benefit pension pots in the UK, with some 275,000 members and 57billion of assets.

The scheme closed to new members in 2001.

So worried is the Government about Drahi, that Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is monitoring his movements closely.

Ministers are concerned that were BT to cut costs under him it could affect the ongoing broadband rollout.

Any future bid for BT will likely to be subject to the National Security and Investment Act, which came into force in January, allowing the Government to intervene in any takeovers that raise national security concerns.

Drahi could also face a public relations struggle from retail shareholders, who while only owning 10 per centof the shares number around 782,500 people.
LVs disgraced chairman is finally leaving after his controversial plans to sell the mutual to an American private equity giant collapsed.

Alan Cook will depart next month after a purge that cost half the eight-strong board their jobs  three non-other executive directors lost their roles as well.

Critics welcomed the departure of the 68-year-old, who was one of the main drivers of the proposed demutualisation and sale of LV to American private equity giants Bain Capital for 530million.

Failing pair: LV Chief executive Mark Hartigan, left, will hang on to his job after chairman Alan Cook's departure

But they questioned why LV chief executive Mark Hartigan was still in his job having worked with Cook to sell the 179-year-old insurer.

The shake-up came just eight days after the Mail on Sunday revealed Cook and Hartigan have netted 100,000 since the collapse of the deal and asked: Why is this failing pair still at LV?

Kevin Hollinrake, a member of the Treasury select committee, welcomed Cooks exit but said Hartigans position was untenable and he should resign.

The Tory MP said: He has been inexcusably poor. He decided on the move toward demutualisation and a sale to private equity without giving proper information to members.

Royal London eyes bid LV is still in talks with fellow mutual Royal London about a merger. The 179-year-old insurer said it shares a common interest with its larger rival and is exploring a deal. The announcement came after two months of limbo for LV members who voted in December to reject a 530million takeover by hedge fund Bain Capital. A merger would see LVs 1.2m members join 1.6m at Royal London and, crucially, retain its mutual status. This means the business is owned by its members and run for their benefit. A deal would also likely see LV chief executive Mark Hartigan lose his job. Royal London boss Barry ODwyer intervened in the proposed takeover by Bain, insisting he could offer LV members a deal that would protect their cherished mutual status. Hartigan accused ODwyer of lobbing a hand grenade into its deal. Incoming chairman Seamus Creedon said LV have had, and continue to have, discussions with Royal London. Royal London confirmed talks were ongoing but a deal was not certain.

To try to railroad through that demutualisation in various ways was simply wrong and unacceptable.

Labour MP Gareth Thomas, who is chairman of Parliaments all-party group for mutuals, said Hartigan could not be trusted to act in members best interests.

He said: LV members will be glad to see the back of Mr Cook but there are still serious questions about Mr Hartigans future.

He showed a clear lack of commitment to mutual values in trying to force through his deal and I cannot see how he can stay in charge and be the honest broker members need to stand up for their interests in talks about LVs future.

The boardroom shake-up will also see David Barral leave his post as the senior independent director along with non-executives Alison Hutchinson and Luke Savage.

Seamus Creedon, another non-executive director, will take over as interim chairman on April 1 following Cooks departure.

The purge came as LV revealed it is still in talks with larger rival Royal London about a merger. Peter Hunt, of mutuals lobby group Mutuo, said it was excellent news that Cook was leaving, but that it would make sense for Hartigan to resign while talks about LVs future are ongoing.

But LV said the board has high confidence in Hartigan in a sign that there are no plans in place to replace him.

Creedon, who will act as interim chairman while LV recruits Cooks full-time replacement, said Hartigan has been doing an excellent job. He could even receive a bonus of 740,000 for 2021, taking his total pay to 1.26million, despite spending much of the year advocating for the failed sale.

Cook, who is paid 205,000 a year, faced months of criticism from members and MPs for the lack of transparency around the proposed deal with Bain. When the deal collapsed, critics called for his resignation immediately. But Cook promised only to leave when a way forward is agreed.

His past dealings were also cast back into the spotlight, including his tenure at the Post Office, when it began prosecuting sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft.

He was managing director from 2006 to 2010, when 200 local postmasters were wrongly prosecuted.
Crypto stake: Electric car maker Tesla initially invested in bitcoin in the first quarter of 2021

Tesla owned nearly 1.5billion in bitcoin at the end of last year, making it one of the worlds biggest investors in the digital currency.

The electric car maker initially invested in bitcoin in the first quarter of 2021. At the time, Teslas boss Elon Musk, the worlds richest man, said the company would accept the crypto-currency as payment.

However, he later backtracked on the plans amid concerns about the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining, which consumes large amounts of electricity.

The revelation of its bitcoin holdings came as Tesla received a subpoena by US regulators to provide information on its governance processes.

It was issued after Musk in November asked Twitter users to vote on whether he should sell 10 per cent of his stake in Tesla.

Around 58 per cent of voters backed the plan, which was followed by several large share sales that made Musk billions.
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The shattered mother of alleged murder victim Arnima Hayat, who was found dead in an acid bath, collapsed by the graveside as she said her last goodbye to her beautiful daughter.

Mahafuza Akter, 39, was overcome by grief and had to be held up by relatives as she sobbed uncontrollably, rocking on the spot, in a gut-wrenching display of emotion on Tuesday.

Medical student Arnima, 19, was allegedly killed by her very first boyfriend Meraj Zafar, 20, who is accused of dumping her body in a bathtub of hydrochloric acid.

The daughter of migrant parents, Arnima Hayat was today warmly remembered by relatives who recalled how proud they were of her.

Her injuries were so bad and her remains allegedly so destroyed that the family could not give her a traditional Bangladeshi funeral.

The shattered mother of alleged acid bath murder victim Arnima Hayat was overcome by unbearable grief as Mahafuza Akter (pictured centre) said her last goodbye at her daughter's funeral on Tuesday.

Mahafuza Akter, 39, (pictured centre) had to be held up by relatives as she sobbed uncontrollably, rocking on the spot, in a gut-wrenching display of emotion by the graveside.

Arnima Hayat (above with her younger sister) was allegedly killed by her very first boyfriend Meraj Zafar who is accused of dumping her body in a bathtub of hydrochloric acid

Families would normally let mourners see the face of the dead before burial to allow them to say their farewells.

Instead, Arnima's remains were wrapped in blue cloth and a white shroud to be viewed and touched by her family members at the ritual on Tuesday morning.

The grief was too much to bear for her mother when she saw her daughter's remains removed from the green coffin - swathed in a black cloth embroidered in gold - and placed in the grave, according to Islamic tradition.

Mourners struggled to hold her up as she became hysterical with anguish when dirt was then poured back into the grave, covering her child's remains for the last time.

She collapsed to her knees in grief and had to be helped away.

The grief was too much to bear for her mother when she saw her daughter's remains removed from the green coffin - swathed in a black cloth embroidered in gold (pictured) - and placed in the grave, according to Islamic tradition

Mourners struggled to hold up heartbroken mother Mahafuza Akter (seen here on her knees, centre) as she became hysterical when dirt was then poured back into the grave, covering her child's remains for the last time

A cemetery worker had to warn distraught husband Abu Hayat, 41, (seen here being hugged by a well-wisher) and other mourners to keep Mahafuza away from the edge of the grave.

Meraj Zafar, 20, (pictured here with Arnima) is accused of killing her and dumping her body in a bathtub of acid

Arnima's uncle Abu Saleh told around 60 mourners: 'We farewell our beautiful daughter, forever to live in our hearts.

'I ask everyone to keep her in your prayers. I hope she can get some peace.'

Daily Mail Australia was invited by the teenager's family to join them as they made an emotional final farewell to Arnima, 19, at Sydney's Rockwood Cemetery.

The family said they wanted Daily Mail Australia to witness their grief and report it to the nation as part of their traditional way of honouring Arnima and her life.

Mourners arrived at the Lebanese Muslim Association funeral home next to Lakemba Mosque for prayers and the Islamic ritual purification of Arnima's remains.

The hearse carrying Arnima's green coffin arrived at Rookwood's Muslim section and eight pall bearers, including Arnima's father and uncle carried it to the graveside (pictured)

Around 60 members of Sydney's Bangladeshi community gathered to support the Hayat family (pictured, Mahafuza Akter, seated, centre)

As is the custom for burials in Bangladesh, only the men stood in rows near the coffin (pictured)

Daily Mail Australia was invited by the teenager's family to join them as they said an emotional-charged final farewell to Arnima, 19, at Sydney's Rockwood Cemetery (pictured, Arnima's father Abu Hayat, barefoot by the graveside)

Her grandmother in Bangladesh and uncles in the USA joined in the ceremony via video call.

When Arnima's grief-stricken mother arrived at freshly-dug grave for her daughter at a cemetery in Sydney's west, she was assisted to a seat.

A cemetery worker had to warn distraught husband Abu, 41, and other mourners to keep Mahafuza away from the edge of the grave for fear she may fall in.

Members of Sydney's Bangladeshi community who had gathered to support the Hayat family and farewell Arnima spoke glowingly of how proud they were of the young medical student and the bright future that had lain ahead of her.

Mourners struggled to hold Arnima's mother up as she became hysterical with anguish when dirt was then poured back into the grave, covering her child's remains for the last time (pictured, Arnima's father Au Hayat barefoot by the graveside)

Just before midday, the hearse carrying Arnima's green coffin arrived at Rookwood's Muslim section and eight pall bearers, including Arnima's father and uncle carried it to the graveside.

The coffin was inscribed with the words, in English and in Arabic, 'Every soul shall taste death'.

As is the custom for burials in Bangladesh, only the men stood in rows near the coffin as Mr Saleh delivered a touching eulogy for his niece and the men uttered a prayer in unison.

The black cloth draping her coffin was slipped off and Arnima was removed from the coffin.

After her remains were lowered into the grave, woman mourners came forward to farewell her but Arnima's mother was still too broken by her grief to to stand alone.

After her remains were lowered into the grave, woman mourners came forward to farewell her but Arnima's mother was still too broken by her grief to to stand alone (pictured)

The family was distraught that they were unable to give Arnoma a traditional Bangladeshi funeral as her remains were too disfigured to allow mourners to see her face as they said a final farewell.

Mr Saleh told Daily Mail Australia: 'Our family will miss Arnima always.'

He said the teenager's eight-year-old sister was still struggling to take in the horrific death and 'was not believing that Arnima is no more'.

Arnima's remains were found inside the unit she shared with partner Meraj Zafar in North Parramatta, in Sydney's west, on January 30.

Before the funeral, the Hayats told Daily Mail Australia they were struggling to cope with the horrific way their daughter died.

They said they would not be able to see their 'daughter's beautiful face' before laying her to rest - because the only part of the teenager's body not destroyed was one of her feet.

'I cannot see the last moment of my daughter's face because of what was done,' Mr Hayat said.

Arnima's mother Mahafuza said: 'My beautiful daughter ... my daughter, so pretty, I cannot see my daughter's face.'

Mahafuza (left) revealed the heartbreaking reason she will not be able to properly lay to rest the remains of her daughter Arnima's (right) whose body was discovered in a full bath of hydrochloric acid in the flat she shared with her accused boyfriend

The parents of Arnima (left) say after Meraj Zafar (right) began dating their daughter she withdrew from them and that a clearly 'upset' 19-year-old she made a phone call to US relatives two weeks before her death

Police allege Zafar, 20, murdered Arnima either on Saturday, January 29 or the next day.

Officers responded to a triple-0 call at about 4.30pm on Sunday to Pennant Hills Road and made the grisly discovery inside the ground floor unit bathroom.

Arnima's family said they have been informed that it was Zafar's mother who called emergency services to the flat.

Just two weeks ago Arnima, a studious but fun-loving 'Aussie girl' who took her parents out for weekly sushi and pies until she ceased contact with them six months ago, rang relatives in the US sounding upset.

Arnima's parents Mahafuza and Abu (above, outside their Lakemba home) said their daughter was 'an Aussie girl' who loved KFC, sushi and pies and took her family out every week until she met Zafar

Arnima scored more than 97 in her HSC at Tempe High School before going on to study medicine at the University of Western Sydney and told her parents (above with Arnima) she planned to become a surgeon

Arnima's parents Abu and Mahafuza (pictured together above) have revealed the incredible story of the talented teenager who arrvied as a 9-year-old migrant, blitzed her HSC and was training to be a surgeon

'She told her uncle that he (Zafar) drank alcohol, but she did not want to because she was studying medicine,' Mr Hayat said.

'She wanted to be a surgeon and save lives.'

Arnima's parents did not believe recent reports that their daughter had recently married Meraj Zafar.

The traumatised couple, who moved to Australia in 2009 when Arnima was nine years old, said Zafar had been Arnima's first boyfriend and had convinced her to distance herself from her family.

'And everyone, her girlfriends too she stopped seeing,' said Mr Hayat, who had an unpleasant confrontation with Zafar last year after the 'big man' began seeing his 'small, sweet, very pretty' daughter.

Arnima - who scored 97 in her HSC after arriving from Bangladesh as a nine-year-old - went from being a normal, sociable teenager who regularly told her family how much she loved them to being withdrawn.

Arnima's uncle (left), father Abu (centre) and mother Mahafuza (right) are devastated about her death and how they have been robbed of right to bury her in proper Bangladeshi manner

Arnima's shocked parents say police have told them their daughter's body was allegedly immersed in a full bath of hydrochloric acid which destroyed all but one foot

Mahafuza said her daughter 'loved movies, music, she liked driving and shopping and buying pretty clothes.'

'She loved make-up and she liked taking photos and selfies and videos,' she said.

Arnima had gone to primary school in Marrickville, and then went to Tempe High School where she excelled in maths and was popular among her peers.

Mr Hayat said his daughter quickly assimilated into Australia life after from Bangladesh and became an 'excellent' English speaker and wanted to eat 'mostly western food'.

Police use an ultra violet light in the bathroom of ground floor flat where the remains of Arnima Hayat, 19, were found in the bath allegedly filled with hydrochloric acid

Police search through the bins beneath the North Parramatta apartment block where they made the grisly discovery on Sunday of 19-year-old Arnima Hayat

Arnima's grieving parents can hardly contemplate the end their loving daughter came to in the bathroom of the ground floor flat she shared with Meraj Zafar for three months

'She would say if I was going out 'Babu buy some pies for me'. Babu is 'father' in our tradition,' he said.

After graduating from Tempe High School, Arnima was admitted to the faculty of medicine at the University of Western Sydney.

Mr Hayat paid university fees for his daughter, who got a part-time job working at Kmart in Marrickville Metro shopping centre as a salesperson, two days a week.

Each week Arnima would take her parents and her eight-year-old sister out to the shops and they would eat and shop together 'like a normal family'.

'Every week ... we go outside and have food and enjoy being a family. She loved KFC, iced coffee, ice-cream and Gong Cha tea,' he said.

Ms Akter said her daughter was 'a little religious', but did not wear a hijab and only wore a bright-coloured scarf or veil if she wore any head covering, because that was the style that Bangladeshi women adopted.

'She liked movies, she loved music, She was fluent in English, I am not,' Ms Akter said inside the family's Lakemba home.

'She was a very good girl. She was very good to her little sister. Her sister sees her on Tik Tok now and says 'I love you, I love you my sister'.'

The Hayat family decided to move for a better life in Australia after Bangladesh endured periods of political and religious unrest.

Mr Hayat came first in 2006 and was followed by his wife bringing a young Arnima, with their second daughter being born in Australia.

Since learning about the unimaginable alleged tragedy which had befallen Arnima, the Hayat family has been in a state of disbelief, anger and grief.

The family has been flooded with condolences from Bangladeshi relatives around the world, from Arnima's work and university friends and a Tempe High School teacher had called to say the school wants to be present to farewell her.

Abu and Mahafuzer said Sydney's Bangladeshi community would gather in forced to support them when they bury Arnima, but that they had not family in Australia other than themselves, their younger daughter and Abu's brother.

'We want her to be remembered as a kind and beautiful girl,' Mr Hayat said.

'I hope we will get justice.'
The governors of four states announced plans Monday to lift statewide mask requirements in schools by the end of February or March, citing the rapid easing of COVID-19s omicron surge.

The decisions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon were announced as state and local governments grapple with which virus restrictions to jettison and which ones to keep in place. The changes also come amid a growing sense that the virus is never going to go away and Americans need to find a way to coexist with it.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called the move 'a huge step back to normalcy for our kids' and said individual school districts will be free to continue requiring masks after the state mandate ends March 7.

Meanwhile, California announced plans to end its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people next week, but masks will still be the rule for schoolchildren in the nation's most populous state.

The four states are among a dozen with mask mandates in schools, according to the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy. New Jerseys requirement has been in place since classes resumed in person in September 2020.

Murphy cited the 'dramatic decline in our COVID numbers' in announcing the rollback. The omicron variant fueled a spike in infections over the holidays, but cases in the state are down 50% and hospitalizations dropped off by one-third since last week, he said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks to reporters during a briefing in Trenton, N.J., Monday, Feb. 7, 2022

The decisions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon were announced as state and local governments grapple with which virus restrictions to jettison and which ones to keep in place. Pictured is Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont

Governor of Delaware John C Carney Jr. said his state's school mask mandate will run through March

'We are not - and Ive said this many times - going to manage COVID to zero,' the governor said. 'We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus.'

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont recommended ending the statewide mandate in schools and child care centers on February 28.

Delaware Gov. John Carney said his state's school mask mandate will run through March.

Oregons mask requirements for schools will be lifted March 31. The statewide mask requirement for indoor public places will be lifted no later than the end of March, health officials announced.

Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state medical officer and epidemiologist, said education and health officials will meet in the coming weeks to revise guidance to 'ensure schools can continue operating safely and keep students in class' once the mask rule is lifted.

The March 31 deadline was selected using predictions by health scientists that COVID-19-related hospitalizations will decrease to 400 or fewer by that time - a level that Oregon experienced before the omicron variant surge.

In California, unvaccinated people will still be required to be masked indoors after February 15, and everyone will have to wear masks in higher-risk areas such as public transit and nursing homes and other congregate living facilities, state officials said. Local governments can continue their own indoor masking requirements.

State officials also announced that indoor 'mega events' with more than 1,000 people will have to require vaccinations or negative tests, and those who are unvaccinated will be required to wear masks. For outdoor events with more than 10,000 people, there is no vaccination requirement, but masks or negative tests will be recommended.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks to reporters during a briefing in Trenton, N.J., Monday, Feb. 7, 2022

Newsom tweeted that the mask requirement will not be renewed after the state's case rate dropped dramatically and hospitalizations have stabilized

The debate over masks in schools has been polarizing in much of the U.S., with parents protesting at school board meetings and slates of candidates - pro- and anti-mask - seeking school board seats in an attempt to shape policies.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that universal mask-wearing in schools 'still remains our recommendation,' but she did not fault states for dropping the requirement.

'Its always been up to school districts. Thats always been our point of view and always been our policy from here,' she said.

Eight Republican-led states, including Florida and Texas, have bans on school mask mandates, though some have been suspended amid legal fights with districts and parents who want to require masks, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.

In Illinois, where a judge last week struck down Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzkers statewide school mask mandate, the Democratic attorney general said Monday he will appeal the ruling. The Chicago school system, where teachers recently refused to hold in-person classes until an agreement was reached on safety measures, including providing KN95 masks to students and staff, said the ruling doesnt apply and the nations third-largest district will continue to require masks.

Murphy faced pressure from Republicans and some parents who have held rallies at the statehouse demanding an end to the mandate. But the governor has had support for the mask rule from the New Jersey Education Association, the states biggest teachers union.

In a statement, the union noted that trends show COVID-19 heading in the right direction, and added: 'It is appropriate for Gov. Murphy to allow local districts to continue to require masking in communities where that is prudent based on local conditions.'

Nationwide, new COVID-19 cases per day have plunged by more than a half-million since mid-January, when they hit a record-shattering peak of more than 800,000. Cases have been declining in 47 states over the past two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Also, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 has fallen 28% since mid-January to about 111,000.

Deaths are still running high at more than 2,400 per day on average, the most since last winter, reflecting a lag between when victims become infected and when they die.

In New Jersey, it is unclear how many and how soon the state's 600-plus school districts might end the wearing of masks.

In Paterson, the state's third-biggest city, the school system will take time to consult with administration officials, principals, parents and staff, said district spokesperson Paul Brubaker.

Melissa Alfieri-Collins, a mother of two who disagrees with mask mandates in schools, saying she prefers 'choice,' called the governor's decision good news. But she raised concern that districts might keep mask rules in place.

'For this reason, parents need an opt-out option for when and if districts do this,' she said.

Connecticut will also allow school districts to retain the mandate. It's unclear if Delaware will follow suit, but the governor said he wanted to give school districts time to consider a local mandate.

Stephen White, a 55-year-old father of a 14-year-old son, said that if the lifting of the mandate were to take effect immediately, he wouldn't be in favor of it. But four weeks from now is a different story.

'By that time period, if the rates are going down and they can say that `OK, kids are vaccinated - if they have a substantial amount of kids that are vaccinated - I dont have a problem with them not wearing a mask at school,' he said.

Francis Amegah, a 63-year-old with two children in the Newark school district, said the end of the mandate is 'well overdue.'

'They shouldn't be wearing masks. If something happens, we'll be able to handle that. The parents should be able to take care of that,' he said.

Republicans claimed responsibility for pushing the governor to end the mandate.

'Gov. Murphy will never admit that the pressure is getting to him, but it absolutely is,' GOP Senate Leader Steve Oroho said.
Jaxon Sales, 20, was found dead on March 2 in the home of an unnamed, 41-year-old white man, in San Francisco

Forty-thousand people are demanding a full investigation into the suspicious death of a young Asian gay man whose family fear may have been killed during a blind date hook-up in March 2020, but whose death was overlooked by the authorities.

Jaxon Sales, 20, was found dead on March 2 in the home of an unnamed, 41-year-old white man, in San Francisco.

Police have not publicly shared the exact location of where he was found but they have said it was in the 300 block of Fremont Street which is an upscale neighborhood of high-rise offices and apartment buildings, a stone's throw from Google's San Francisco office.

The pair had met up the previous night for a date. Jaxon's family say he texted them telling them he was coming home that night but never did.

The white man, who has never been named publicly, told police that Jaxon was snoring at 6.30am, when he woke up, but was dead by 7.30am, when he got out of the shower.

Jaxon's family say they had to wait until November 2020 to receive the medical examiner's report.

When they finally received it, they were stunned that the medical examiner ruled it was of no importance that Jaxon had the date rape drug GHB in his system.

They said the drug was 'commonly used in the gay community' so was no cause for suspicion and as a result of the medical examiner's finding, the police did not aggressively pursue any kind of investigation.

According to a Change.org petition set up by Jaxon's family, he was the second person to die from a drug overdose at the unnamed man's apartment.

They say they have also been told that there were other people in the apartment that night, and that the drugs found in Jaxon's system were the same as others found 'stowed' in a closet in the man's home.

The family also say that another report from the night of their son's death suggests a 'third party acquaintance' took Jaxon to the apartment and introduced him to the 41-year-old man.

The man's family has set up a Change.org petition demanding answers from the police and medical examiner's office

Jaxon is shown with his parents, who adopted him from Korea when he was a child, and brother

Jaxon died in an apartment in an upscale part of the city, right next to the San Francisco Bay where companies like Google keep offices

Jim and Angie Sales say their son's death may have been overlooked because he was gay and Asian

'We've spent the last two years devastated, paralyzed, and grieving Jaxon's death and repeatedly asking for answers to our unanswered questions.

'We want the truth to what happened to Jaxon that night and to understand why he never came home,' the family said.

'Our 20-year-old son's death deserves the same investigation given to any human being, regardless of gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

'Our goal is to have the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and SF Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (SF OCME) reopen and thoroughly investigate the circumstances of our son's sudden death,' the petition says.

In an interview with ABC News in Oakland this week, his mother Angie said: 'Jaxon is Asian, he is gay and so when I heard the medical examiner tell me 'the gay community uses ghb'...it was very dismissive.'

His father Jim added: 'I was just so proud to see him and the man he was growing in to being.

'Regardless of sexual orientation, he should have as equal an investigation as anyone else.'

In the Change.org petition, the family says: 'We also believe that if Jaxon was heterosexual, the SFPD and SF OCME would have fully and thoroughly investigated the circumstances of his death.'

The man also woke up to clean his apartment and shower before claiming to have found Jaxon dead. The family - and thousands of others - are now demanding answers. He has never been named

California State Senator Scott Weiner is among those demanding answers

They want to know the extent to which the man was questioned over Jaxon's death, and whether or not police knew Jaxon was the second person to have overdosed in the apartment.

California State Senator Scott Weiner said it was 'highly offensive' for the medical examiner not to investigate based on the fact Sales had GHB in his system.

'The family says they were told by the medical examiner that 'no investigation is needed as the gay community uses GHB.'

'If that statement was indeed made, it is highly offensive, inappropriate, and dismissive of a drug overdose from a substance at times used as a date rape drug.

According to Jaxon's family, they have been told there were other people at the apartment that night and that it was more of a party than a date.

They will not reveal who the white man is whose home Jaxon was at, or who the other people were.
The US Navy has relieved a triad command team of its duties, citing 'a loss of confidence' in the leaders' abilities but refusing to elaborate on the circumstances that led to the dismissals.

Commanding officer Captain Jeffrey Lengkeek - a Stanford-trained civil engineer who joined the Navy's civil engineer corps in 1996 - was among the unit leaders let go February 3.

Also fired were executive officer Commander Michael Jarosz, and Commander Master Chief Matthew Turner.

The men led the Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 in Little Creek, Virginia and played 'a major role in maritime prepositioning force operations,' according to a press release.

The shakeup will have no impact on the mission or schedule, the Navy said.

Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 commanding officer Captain Jeffrey Lengkeek led a triad that was fired February 3 by the US Navy due to 'a loss of confidence'

Also relieved of their leadership duties were executive officer Commander Michael Jarosz (left) and Commander Master Chief Matthew Turner (right)

Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Paul Newell said while it's unusual to relieve an entire triad at once, it's not unheard of.

'It's not unprecedented,' he told DailyMail.com. 'It's happened before. Obviously, it's not desirable but the Navy holds their leadership and triad members to the highest standards. That's not changed.'

The men will remain in the Navy, but have been reassigned Region Mid-Atlantic indefinitely at Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia.

The Navy began investigating the triad last December 15, but won't say what prompted the investigation.

'I'm not going to tell you what led [to this] other than the fact that there was a command investigation that took place,' Newell said. 'The tribe was relieved due to a lack of confidence.'

Thea men are not facing any criminal charges, he said.

Lengkeek (right) is pictured with Rear Admiral Robert Katz (left) the commanding officer of the Expeditionary Strike Group. Lengkeek joined the Navy's civil engineer corps in 1996 and has 'led large and diverse teams conquering challenging projects around the globe.'

The men led the Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 in Little Creek, Virginia and played 'a major role in maritime prepositioning force operations,' according to a statement

According to his LinkedIn profile, Lengkeek joined the Navy's civil engineer corps in 1996 and has 'led large and diverse teams conquering challenging projects around the globe.'

As commanding officer of the Seabees battalion, he led more than 1,100 subordinates. His work with the Navy has previously brought him to Japan, Spain, the Horn of Africa, and Diego Garcia.

Jarosz served as the unit's executive officer since July 2020 and previously spent seven years with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. He received a master's degree in ocean engineering from Texas A&M University in 2008, according to his LinkedIn.

Turner enlisted in the Navy in 1997 and has since been deployed to numerous locations, including Puerto Rico, Japan, Kuwait, Antarctica, Guam, Peru, Afghanistan, Rota Spain, and Burkina Faso and more.

He's designated as a Seabee combat warfare specialist, expeditionary warfare specialist, and a master training specialist, according to his online bio.

The trio is the latest to be relieved of leadership duties within the Navy.

Last month, USS Paul Ignatius Commander Jeffrey Servello was fired, also due to a 'loss of confidence in his ability to command.'

And last December 30, USS Montgomery commanding officer Richard J. Zamberlan and its executive officer Commander Phillip Lundberg were relieved for the same reason.
The Justice Department says it may be open to allowing safe injection sites - places where people can use heroin and other narcotics with protections against fatal overdoses - a year after winning a major court battle against their opening.

The department said it's 'evaluating' such facilities and talking to regulators about 'appropriate guardrails' in response to questions from the Associated Press.

The position is a drastic change from its stance in the Trump administration, when prosecutors fought vigorously against a plan to open a safe consumption site in Philadelphia.

The Justice Department won a lawsuit top stop a safe consumption facility from opening in Philadelphia last year. But the Supreme Court declined to take the case in October.

About six weeks later, the first officially authorized safe injection sites opened in New York City in November. The two facilities in East Harlem and Washington Heights - which the city calls 'overdose prevention centers' - have intervened in more than 125 overdoses among more than 640 users.

Meanwhile, photos from a new 'linkage center' aimed at connecting homeless street addicts with drug rehab facilities in San Francisco released last month show why many residents are opposed to having such facilities in their neighborhoods.

Addicts were pictured sitting on the ground among trash, empty food containers and dirty blankets, as they fumble in with drug paraphernalia in the cold weather.

The Justice Department is signaling that it may be open to allowing so-called safe injection sites. Above, supplies for a safe injection site

Trained staff at New York Harm Reduction in East Harlem and The Corner Project in Washington Heights monitor drug users and provide clean needles and naloxone to reverse overdoses

Workers at New York Harm Reduction after it was announced that the needle exchange center would become an overdose prevention center

An Overdose Prevention Center to address the opioid crisis in Washington Heights, Manhattan

A woman is slumped over in a wheelchair, preparing to inject a needle into her thigh, at a new 'linkage center' that opened in San Francisco last week, aimed at connecting homeless street addicts with drug rehab facilities

A group of women sit on the ground at a new linkage center in San Francisco where hundreds of people were seen using and dealing drugs, including the woman pictured seen with a needle to her neck

Drone images show people using drugs within the fence of San Francisco's new Linkage Center, which is an essential component of San Francisco's Tenderloin Emergency Initiative aimed to link addicts to services

A Philadelphia safe consumption project, called Safehouse, is still fighting for court approval to open after the Trump administration won a lawsuit to stop them last year

Such sites exist in Canada, Australia and Europe and have been discussed for years in New York and some other US cities and states. A few unofficial facilities have operated for some time.

Advocates have hailed them as a way to curb the scourge of overdose deaths. Drawing from the latest available death certificate data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses from May 2020 to April 2021.

Biden administration to fund programs that hand out crack pipes to prevent infection and promote 'racial equity' President Biden's Health and Human Services department (HHS) is finalizing funding to dole out crack pipes to drug addicts as part of its 'Harm Reduction Plan.' The $30 million grant program, which accepted applications until Monday and will begin doling out money in May, intends to provide funds to nonprofits and local governments to make drug use safer, to advance 'racial equity.' Included in the grant is money to purchase 'safe smoking kits/supplies.' A spokesperson for HHS told the Washington Free Beacon that included in these kits could be pipes for users to smoke substances like crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, or 'any illicit substance.' HHS said that the kits will serve to limit the risk of infection - typically users smoke out of glass pipes which can lead to cuts and sores that become infected with diseases like Hepatitis-C. Handing out pipes is also intended to prompt users to smoke rather than inject themselves with some substances, like meth, as injection is far riskier. Applicants for the program get priority if they serve 'underserved communities,' such as African Americans or Native Americans, or LGBTQ people. Advertisement

Critics, however, argue that safe injection sites encourage illegal drug use and burden neighborhoods.

In San Francisco, images taken by DailyMail.com late last month show a woman slumped over in a wheelchair, her pants down around her ankles, preparing to inject a needle into her thigh.

The woman sitting on the ground next to her has a needle to her neck.

The photos were taken at a new 'linkage center' that opened on January 18 at at 1172 Market Street in the United Nations Plaza.

Many others were sitting on the ground among trash, empty food containers and dirty blankets, as they fumble in with drug paraphernalia in the cold weather.

In December, Democratic Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin district and announced a sweeping crackdown on open air drug use and drug dealing in the downtown neighborhood - one of the city's poorest and most drug-infested areas.

The Tenderloin has long been an epicenter of homelessness and drug use, but city officials said the problem has worsened as the national opioid crisis escalated over the course of the pandemic.

Announcing a crime crackdown, Breed argued that San Francisco officers should get aggressive and 'less tolerant of all the bulls*** that has destroyed our city', as she went back on her plans to defund the police.

'It's time the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end,' she said. 'And it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies.'

For months after President Joe Biden took office last year, the Justice Department - under Attorney General Merrick Garland - had refused to take a public stance on safe consumption sites.

Last year, a federal appeals court in Pennsylvania ruled in favor of the Justice Department and said that opening such a facility would violate a 1980s-era drug law aimed at 'crackhouses,' which bans operating a place for taking illegal drugs.

But the Supreme Court declined to take the case in October.

Officials at the Justice Department, now under the helm of a Democratic administration, say they are weighing their use.

'Although we cannot comment on pending litigation, the Department is evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety,' the agency said in a statement Friday to the AP.

The New York City sites so far have intervened in more than 125 overdoses among more than 640 users, many of whom have made multiple visits, according to OnPoint NYC, the organization running them.

Executive Director Sam Rivera said he was excited and relieved by the Justice Department's statement. The group is eager to tell the agency about its work, he said.

'I believe they're going to land in the right place here and we'll be able to, together, really expand on this health initiative that's saving lives every day,' he said.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat whose administration allowed the centers to open, said the city's attorneys believed that the federal statute is 'aimed at drug trafficking, not at medical facilities,' as he characterized the consumption sites.

The DoJ - under Attorney General Merrick Garland (above) - has refused to take a public stance on safe consumption sites for months. Officials now say they are weighing their use

The San Francisco linkage center (in blue) is located at 1172 Market Street, in the United Nations Plaza in the Tenderloin district. The supervised drug consumption area is an outdoor fenced section of the linkage center

Trash litters the area at the linkage site which opened on January 18, is part of the San Francisco Mayor London Breed's Tenderloin Emergency Intervention plan introduced last year

A man sits on the ground next to a fence that surrounds the linkage site in San Francisco where witnesses have seen hundreds of people dealing and using drugs

The center is equipped to serve up to 100 people at a time who are suffering from drug use and mental health issues, connecting with long-term and short-term services like health care and housing

View of the injection room at Insite North America's first legal supervised injection site, operated by Vancouver Coastal Health in Canada. The 'overdose prevention centers' - commonly known as supervised injection sites - have been discussed for years in New York and some other US cities such as San Francisco, Boston and Seattle and already exist in Canada, Australia and Europe

But U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a New York City Republican, has urged Garland to work to shut them down, citing the appeals court ruling against the Philadelphia proposal last year. She told Garland in November that it is 'imperative that you enforce this legal precedent,' and she wasn't pleased to hear about the new Justice Department statement.

'Instead of stopping the deadly drugs streaming over our border, putting drug dealers behind bars and helping people receive the long-term treatment they need to overcome addiction, Democrat leadership is enabling illegal drug use,' Malliotakis said in a statement.

The Philadelphia project, called Safehouse, is still fighting for court approval to open.

The plan came in the midst of a local, state, and national debate over whether the city should open a 'supervised drug consumption' site as a tactic for reducing drug overdose deaths

A high percentage of an estimated 8,000 homeless people in San Francisco - many of whom pitch tents in the Tenderloin - are struggling with chronic addiction or severe mental illness, often both

Drone images show the site with dozens of people openly dealing, smoking and injecting drugs on the plaza. A San Francisco police cruiser rolled past but did nothing

Safehouse lawyers Ronda Goldfein and Ilana Eisenstein said they hoped the Justice Department's new statement 'signals the prospect of a positive resolution, not just for Philadelphia but for any place in America that seeks to provide overdose prevention services.'

Some other arms of the federal government also have signaled some willingness at least to explore safe injection facilities, if not yet embrace them.

Asked about the New York sites, White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta told CNN in December he was 'interested in looking at the science and data behind all of the emerging harm reduction practices.'

Later that month, the National Institutes of Health issued a call for harm reduction research that mentioned safe consumption sites, among other approaches.
A cleaning company has posted graphic photos of crime scenes splattered with blood after grisly murders and suicides online.

Crime Scene Cleaners NZ, which cleaned the Al Noor mosque after the 2019 Christchurch massacre, posted dozens of images on its Instagram page.

The page will often explain the violent backstory of each photo, which is a possible breach of New Zealand's Coroner's Act.

Crime Scene Cleaners NZ share photos from forensic scenes they clean to their controversial Instagram page

The page often explain what the cause of the forensic scene was such as the above which they said was caused from a brain haemorrhage

The business started posting the confronting images in April 2020 for 'public awareness' but co-owner and manager Carl Loader told RNZ he only posted the 'light' work.

'We just put the lighter work we do as to put anything really bad on there would be detrimental to everybody,' he said.

Mr Loader said about 75 per cent of his business came from publicly funded services and business and insurance claims.

Some of the service's clients include the Ministry of Justice, Ports of Auckland, KiwiRail, and the Auckland and Christchurch city councils.

The company doesn't only clean crime scenes but also cleans 'heavy duty' homes for landlords and hoarding scenes

Some of the service's previous clients include the Ministry of Justice, Ports of Auckland, KiwiRail, and the Auckland and Christchurch City Councils

The company also listed New Zealand Police and the Ministry of Social Development as previous clients.

The business had a Facebook page but it was recently taken down.

The page received a lot of criticism from people who were concerned triggering content would appear on the wrong person's feed.

To this Mr Loader simply said: 'if you don't like it, don't look'.

One woman said she had hired the company to clean her late father's hoarding home and later 'discovered' photos of the home had been shared on Facebook without permission

There were also allegations from previous private clients that images of their homes were posted on social media without the family's permission.

A woman told RNZ she discovered photos of her late father's home on the company's Facebook after seeking help.

The woman said she paid $10,000 for the company to clean her father's home as he had a hoarding problem when he died.

She said the home was easy to identify and featured photos of when she was a child in the background on the mantlepiece.

The company's Facebook page has recently been removed after netizens became increasingly concerned over the graphic content

Manager Mr Loader said most family members of their clients 'wouldn't know because they haven't been on the scene'

She said the company never asked her permission or mentioned marketing photos in its terms of trade.

The woman said her father's death was already 'incredibly stressful' and the company's public photos were 'devastating on another level'.

However, Mr Loader said most family members of their clients 'wouldn't know because they haven't been on the scene'.

The woman believes Mr Loader's argument is 'bulls**t'.

Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14
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A lawmaker from Justin Trudeau's own party resigned Tuesday after accusing the prime minister of dividing the people of Canada, saying the federal government's pandemic response has become 'politicized' and 'divisive.'

Liberal Quebec MP Joel Lightbound's announcement comes a day after the prime minister sparked outrage for branding anti-mandate protesters of the Freedom Convoy 'swastika wavers' after week-long demonstrations paralyzed the capital city of Ottawa.

It comes after a second border crossing this week became blocked by truckers in a protest that caused long backups and at one point stopped traffic in both directions.

The first blockade cut off traffic Monday at Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Canada. The bridge remains blocked Tuesday, on the road to Canada.

Later that same night, both lanes of the Coutts border crossing in southern Alberta were also blocked by truck protesters. By Tuesday morning, traffic was flowing again, although congestion remained, according to the Alberta RCMP.

Trudeau said Monday that the protesters are 'trying to blockade our economy, our democracy,' and it has to stop.

'This is a story of a country that got through this pandemic by being united, and a few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are,' Trudeau said Monday, speaking to the House of Commons in Ottawa, his first public appearance since testing positive for COVID-19 on January 31.

A flag incorporating the Nazi symbol was spotted in the initial days of the protests, and DailyMail.com's reporter, who's been there for a week, has not seen any.

A photo was posted by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Twitter, on January 30, with a statement that read: 'Twenty-four hours after International Holocaust Remembrance Day and on The National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia, there are Nazi flags being flown in public, in Canada, on Parliament Hill. This should be horrifying to all Canadians.'

The daily demonstrations staged by the Freedom Truck Convoy are centered in Ottawa, where demonstrators have used hundreds of parked trucks to paralyze parts of the capital for more than 10 days.

'Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens' daily lives,' Trudeau said Monday, while the protest continued outside. 'It has to stop. The people of Ottawa don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods.'

Protesters have said they will not leave until all vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. They also called for the removal of Trudeau's government, though it is responsible for few of the restrictive measures, most of which were put in place by provincial governments.

Canadian lawmakers, both with Trudeau's liberal party and of the opposition, expressed increasing worry about the economic effects of the disruptive demonstrations with some conservative leaders accusing the prime minister of inflicting further division across the country.

Lightbound, who was a lawmaker for Trudeau's Liberal Party, rebuked his leader Tuesday for dividing Canadians and said his government needs to create a road map for when coronavirus measures should be lifted.

He added that people who question existing policies should not be 'demonized' by their prime minister.

'I can't help but notice with regret that both the tone and the policies of my government have changed drastically since the last election campaign. It went from a more positive approach to one that stigmatizes and divides people,' Lightbound said.

'It's becoming harder and harder to know when public health stops and where politics begins,' he said. 'It's time to stop dividing Canadians and pitting one part of the population against another.'

After expressing his disagreement with government police, he resigned as chair of the Quebec Liberal caucus. But will remain a member of the Liberal caucus.

'Everyone is tired of COVID, but these protests are not the way to get through it,' Trudeau said Monday. 'We shouldn't be fighting one another, we should be united to fight the virus. It's a fight against the virus.'

But the protests continues Monday into Tuesday as the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Canada became partially blocked by truckers in a protest that caused long backups and at one point stopped traffic in both directions. The bridge remains blocked Tuesday, on the road to Canada.

Trucks and other vehicles block the route leading from the Ambassador Bridge, linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, on Tuesday, as truckers and their supporters continue to protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandate

One lane from Canada into the United States opened Tuesday morning, but the US side remains closed

Trucks blocked traffic on the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing to the United States. By Tuesday morning, Windsor Police said in a tweet that one lane of U.S.-bound traffic is open and can be accessed via Wyandotte Street West

The owner of the bridge, the Detroit International Bridge Co, said international commerce on the bridge needed to resume. Canada sends 75 percent of its goods exports to the United States, and the bridge usually handles around 8,000 trucks a day

Canada's Border Services Agency said on Tuesday that the bridge, which links to Detroit, Michigan, was closed, but police later tweeted that one U.S.-bound lane had opened.

The 'Freedom Convoy,' which shut down all lanes of the bridge between Canada to Detroit by 7 p.m. on Monday, showed how demonstrations could trickle into the United States.

The bridge, which is normally traveled by approximately 8,000 big rigs and 68,000 travelers daily, remained closed on the U.S. side Tuesday morning, according Michigan Department of Transportation.

The owner of the bridge, the Detroit International Bridge Co., said international commerce on the bridge needed to resume. Canada sends 75 percent of its goods exports to the United States, and the bridge usually handles around 8,000 trucks a day.

'We encourage the appropriate officials to take prompt action to alleviate the situation as quickly as possible in a manner that reflects mutual respect,' the company's chairman, Matt Moroun, said in a statement.

Police in Ottawa on Sunday said they have arrested seven people and opened 60 criminal investigations into 'Freedom Convoy' for hate crimes and mischief as they seized fuel and supplies for 1,000 vehicles.

The hate crimes included an individual who urinated on the National War Memorial. One danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There were reports of others who carried signs and flags with swastikas, police said.

Reporting from Windsor, Ontario. This is is the backup on the Canadian side trying to cross the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit. The truckers protest has everything at a standstill. @globalnewsto @GlobalNational pic.twitter.com/ZETZjtHMl1  a  Global News (@ConsumerSOS) February 8, 2022

Traffic into Canada shut down on the Ambassador Bridge, with a trickle of vehicles now making their way into the U.S. after one-way border crossing reopened here this Tuesday. Both directions were blocked since yesterday afternoon as part of the Canadian trucker Freedom Convoy pic.twitter.com/qWK2M16jAg  Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) February 8, 2022

Ambassador Bridge shutdown: Trucks backed up along the interstate & nearby roads in Detroit, Michigan, after Freedom Convoy protesters in Windsor, Ontario shut down the Ambassador Bridge overnight. Both highway on-ramps to the bridge are now closed on the U.S. side of the border pic.twitter.com/4uvVdGXRRd  Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) February 8, 2022

Trudeau added that he knows everyone is tired of COVID-19 but this is not the way. He said the restrictions won't last forever and noted that Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

Francois Laporte, the president of Teamsters Canada, which represents over 55,000 drivers, including 15,000 long-haul truck drivers, said the protests do not represent the industry in which 90% of drivers are vaccinated.

The Freedom Convoy 'and the despicable display of hate led by the political Right and shamefully encouraged by elected conservative politicians does not reflect the values of Teamsters Canada, nor the vast majority of our members, and in fact has served to de-legitimize the real concerns of most truck drivers today,' Laporte said in a statement.

Trudeau continues to take a hard line against the protesters. The prime minister said everyone is tired of COVID-19, and that the restrictions will not last forever. He noted that Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

'This government has been focused every step of the way on following the best science, the best public health advice, to keep as many people as safe as possible. Frankly, its worked,' Trudeau said Tuesday, noting the country's lower infection and death rates 'because Canadians stepped up and got vaccinated.'

'I can understand frustrations with mandates,' he added. 'But mandates are the way to avoid further restrictions.'

Meanwhile, the Canadian province of Saskatchewan became the first in the country to announce a plan to lift all COVID-19 restrictions. Saskatchewan officials said they will no longer require COVID-19 vaccine passports starting Monday. The province with a population of almost 1.2 million people is also ending its indoor mask mandate at the end of the month.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, a Conservative, said the benefits of providing proof of vaccination to enter businesses such as restaurants no longer outweigh the cost. He said the passport has created deep divisions.

In Alberta, another Conservative stronghold, the premier planned later Tuesday to announce a plan 'to lift damaging restrictions if pressure on our hospitals continues to decline.'

The Quebec government said most COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted across the province by March 14, except for mask mandates and the vaccine passport system.

Freedom Convoy demonstrations continued Monday evening into Tuesday as trucks blocked traffic on the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing to the United States, forcing police to close the bridge

Webcam footage shows the lack of traffic Tuesday morning on Windsor Plaza heading towards the U.S. at the Ambassador Bridge after it was closed following Monday's truck protests

Conservative leaders, who have repeatedly questioned the prime minister for his handling of the pandemic, slammed Trudeau's remarks from Monday, accusing him of stoking division during the protests.

'We are at a crisis point, not just outside the doors and across the country, but the country overall,' Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen said. 'And so much of it is because of the things he's said and done.'

Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed the demonstrators are being treated like terrorists.

'This is a peaceful, political protest. No one has shown any evidence to the contrary. It's not a drug trafficking or human trafficking operation. It's not Al Qaeda,' Carlson said on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight.

'These are Canadian citizens who drive trucks for a living, but they're being treated like a terror group.'

The truckers themselves have strongly denied that they have ties to ultra-right-wing groups, insisting they are just 'ordinary truckers,' he said.

Carlson added, 'GoFundMe announced it would redirect the $10 million raised by supporters of the truckers to charities of its choice, presumably BLM, which it has supported since the very beginning. In other words, GoFundMe planned to steal that money.'

But GoFundMe have said that all donations made to the Freedom Convoy fundraiser would be refunded automatically.

They had previously outlined a plan to distribute the funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers - not selected by GoFundMe as Carlson claimed - but the organization later decided to refund all donations to 'simplify' the process.

The truckers are protesting rules that say that any unvaccinated drivers have to quarantine for two weeks after crossing the US/Canada border in either direction.

Originally, both countries allowed an exemption for truckers to ease the supply chain crisis that has developed since COVID hit, but Canada ended that exemption on January 15 and the United States followed suit a week later.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: 'It has to stop,' he said. 'Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens daily lives'

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau responds to truck protests Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens' daily lives. It has to stop. People of Ottawa don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods, don't deserve to be confronted with the inherent violence of a swastika flying on a street corner, or a confederate flag, or the insults and jeers just because they're wearing a mask. That's not who Canadians are. That's not what Canadians demonstrated over the past two years of consistently, continually being there for each other. People of Ottawa, indeed people across the country, deserve to have their safety respected and deserve to get their lives back. From the beginning of this demonstration, our government has been in close contact with the mayor of Ottawa and municipal and provincial officials. So far, the RCMP has mobilized nearly 300 officers to support the Ottawa Police Services and is ready to do more. Yesterday, the city of Ottaway declared a state of emergency. We're convening a table to with the relevant federal and municipal partners to further strengthen our response. The federal government will be there with whatever resources the province and city need in this situation. This blockade, these protesters, they're not the story of this pandemic. They're not the story of Canadians in this pandemic. From the very beginning, Canadians stepped up to be there for one another. To support their neighbors. To support the elderly. To support frontline workers, by doing the right thing. By wearing masks, by getting vaccinated, by following public health restrictions. We're all tired by the pandemic. Frustrated, we're worn down. None more worn down than the frontline workers who have gone flat out for two years. But everyone is tired of wearing masks, of having to follow public health restrictions, nobody wants to do that. This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians. But Canadians know the way to get through it is to continue listening to science, continuing to lean on each other, continuing to be there for each other. Everyone is tired of COVID, but these protests are not the way to get through it. We shouldn't be fighting one another, we should be united to fight the virus. It's a fight against the virus. Advertisement

The convoy, which organizers claimed stretched up to 45 miles long, set out from Prince Rupert, on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, on January 22 and arrived in the nation's capital last week, blocking roads and disturbing the downtown area.

The protests have infuriated people who live around downtown, including neighborhoods near Parliament Hill, the seat of the federal government.

On Monday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean issued a 10-day injunction, effective as of yesterday, banning stationary trucks from honking their horns in the Freedom Convoy.

He said: 'Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought I'm aware of,' adding that the local residents' right to peace and quiet outweighed the truckers' right to protest. He said the restrictions won't last forever and noted that Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

At Monday's parliament meeting, Trudeau insisted that Canadians are united. He also praised the handful of Conservative lawmakers who have called for the protesters to leave Ottawa's streets, while imploring others to follow suit.

'I've seen members of the opposition call for an end to the blockades,' Trudeau said. 'I salute that. This is a time to put national interests ahead of partisan interests.'

Scenes at the Parliament Hill in Downtown Ottawa, where truckers are protesting against the Covid mandates with a clear message to the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau

Signs and flags are seen on the front of a truck in Ottawa on Monday

Canada's Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said that American officials should stay out of his country's domestic affairs, joining other Canadian leaders in pushing back against prominent Republicans who offered support for the protests of COVID-19 restrictions that have besieged downtown Ottawa for more than a week.

'We need to be vigilant about potential foreign interference ... Whatever statements may have been made by some foreign official are neither here nor there. Were Canadian. We have our own set of laws. We will follow them,' Mendicino said.

In a letter to Trudeau and the public safety minister, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said 'what was initially described as a peaceful protest has now turned into a siege of our downtown area' with 400 to 500 trucks.

On Sunday, the mayor declared a state of emergency, and pleaded for almost 2,000 extra police officers to help quell the raucous nightly demonstrations staged by the protesters.

Protests unfolded elsewhere, too.

On Tuesday, hundreds of people drove in convoy to New Zealand's capital and converged outside Parliament as lawmakers reconvened after a summer break.

The mostly unmasked protesters had driven from around the country, and their vehicles clogged the central Wellington streets for hours as they got out to meet and speak on Parliament's forecourt.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern elected not to meet with them as she delivered a speech to lawmakers outlining her priorities for the year.

Among the protesters' grievances is the requirement in New Zealand that certain workers get vaccinated against the coronavirus, including teachers, doctors, nurses, police and military personnel.

Many protesters also oppose mask mandates - such as those in stores and among children over about age 8 in school classrooms - and champion the ideal of more 'freedom.'

New Zealand was spared the worst of the pandemic after it closed its borders and implemented strict lockdowns, limiting the spread of the virus. The nation has reported just 53 virus deaths among its population of 5 million.

But some have grown weary of the restrictions. Ardern last week said the country would end its quarantine requirements for incoming travelers in stages as it reopened its borders.

With about 77 percent of New Zealanders fully vaccinated, Ardern has also promised she won't impose more lockdowns.

Health officials have been reporting about 200 new virus cases each day as an outbreak of the omicron variant grows. Fourteen people are currently hospitalized because of the virus.

Police said Tuesday afternoon they hadn't made any arrests and that protest organizers had asked protesters to move their cars and trucks by 5 p.m., ahead of the evening rush hour.

Wellington council officials had earlier indicated they were reluctant to issue tickets or order motorists to move, saying on social media, 'We must consider the safety of our staff and do not want to put them in harms way.'

In Alaska, more than 100 truck drivers rallied in support of their counterparts in Canada by driving the 10 miles from Anchorage to Eagle River.

Hundreds of supporters of the convoy also marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Monday in protest against the vaccine mandates. They showed their support by waving the Canada flag and carrying signs that echoed the sentiments of the 'Freedom Convoy' mission as they marched to protest their own mandates.

They marched from Downtown Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, to City Hall, chanting, 'No medical tyranny, no vaccine mandates' and 'My body, my choice. The vaccine you will not force.'

Many members of the GOP have made comments supporting the demonstrations, including former President Donald Trump, who called Trudeau a 'far left lunatic' who has 'destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.'

A convoy of vehicles block a road near New Zealand's Parliament in Wellington Tuesday, as hundreds of people protesting vaccine and mask mandates drove in convoy

Protesters hold placards as they support the convoy of vehicles blocking New Zealand's Parliament in Wellington, Tuesday. Among the protesters' grievances is the requirement in New Zealand that certain workers get vaccinated against the coronavirus, including teachers, doctors, nurses, police and military personnel

A man uses a fuel container to refuel a semi-trailer truck parked in front of an Ottawa Police officer in their vehicle along Wellington Street in Ottawa

Ontario Provincial Police officers, right, walk past a group of people arranging fuel containers along Wellington Street on Monday. A day earlier, Ottawa Police announced that anyone bringing material support to the protests, including gas, could be arrested

The truckers deny there is any extremist element to their protest, claiming officials are trying to paint them in a negative light

Canadian authorities have taken an increasingly hard line against the 'Freedom Convoy' protesters and have opened over 60 criminal investigations

Police in Ottawa arrested seven people and opened 60 criminal investigations into 'Freedom Convoy' for hate crimes and mischief as they seized fuel and supplies for 1,000 vehicles on Sunday

People carry fuel cans after police said they will be targeting the truckers' fuel supply as truckers and their supporters continue to protest vaccine mandates

Ottawa truckers fill their trucks with gas after a 10-day-long protest by drivers over Covid-19 restrictions that has gridlocked its city center

The Freedom Convoy was supposed to end on January 29 but as of February 8 truckers are still dominating the downtown area of Ottawa and Toronto

Ottawa's Mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency to help deal with an unprecedented 10-day occupation by protesting truckers (file photo)

Many members of the GOP have made comments supporting the demonstrations, including former President Donald Trump, who called Trudeau a 'far left lunatic' who has 'destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.'

Protesters have said they will not leave until all vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. They also called for the removal of Trudeau's government, though it is responsible for few of the restrictive measures, most of which were put in place by provincial governments.

Prominent Republicans including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton complained after crowdfunding site GoFundMe said it would refund the vast majority of the millions of dollars raised by demonstrators.

The site said it cut off funding for protest organizers after determining that their efforts violated the sites terms of service by engaging in unlawful activity. Ontario Provincial Premier Doug Ford has called the protest an occupation.

In response, Paxton tweeted: 'Patriotic Texans donated to Canadian truckers' worthy cause.' Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said on Fox News that 'government doesn't have the right to force you to comply to their arbitrary mandates.'

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino shot back: 'It is certainly not the concern of the Texas attorney general as to how we in Canada go about our daily lives in accordance with the rule of law.'

'We need to be vigilant about potential foreign interference... Whatever statements may have been made by some foreign official are neither here nor there. We're Canadian. We have our own set of laws. We will follow them,' Mendicino said.

Ottawa Police arrested seven people and opened 60 criminal investigations for hate crimes and mischief during another weekend of unrest in the country's capital city. A group of police officers walk past a Canadian flag near Parliament Hill, pictured on Monday

Police seized fuel and supplies for 1,000 vehicles Sunday as Ottawa mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency. Pictured: People carry fuel cans after cops said they would be targeting truckers' fuel supply, pictured on Monday

In a letter to Trudeau and the public safety minister, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said 'what was initially described as a peaceful protest has now turned into a siege of our downtown area' with 400 to 500 trucks.

He asked for 2,000 additional police officers. That would nearly double the existing resources of the entire Ottawa Police Service, which has 2,100 police and civilian members.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of intergovernmental affairs, blamed the GOP interference for inciting disorderly conduct and helping to fund entities that are not respecting Canadian law. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said Paxton was wrong for commenting on it.

Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said groups in the U.S. need to stop funding and interfering in the domestic affairs of America's neighbor.

On the street in front of Parliament Hill were thousands of signs ranging from 'no more mandates' and 'freedom of choice' to 'truck you Trudeau' and some compared vaccine mandates to fascism.

Trudeau has called the protesters a 'fringe,' but he faces calls by the opposition Conservative party to extend an 'olive branch' to them. Some Conservative lawmakers, including one running to lead the party, have met and posted for pictures with them.

The Freedom convoy truckers take up all three lanes of a street on Monday in a scene that is typical of downtown Ottawa in recent days

Protesters of the Freedom convoy gather near the parliament hill as truckers continue to protest in Ottawa, Canada on Monday

Truckers carry jerrycans to refuel as truckers continue to protest vaccine mandates against Covid-19, in Ottawa. The city has declared a state of emergency after the long protests by truck drivers over vaccine mandates and Covid-19 restrictions

Protesters of the Freedom convoy gather near the parliament hill as truckers continue to protest in Ottawa on Monday

Police take measures while protesters of the Freedom convoy gather near the parliament hill as truckers continue to protest on Monday

People carrying jerry cans are stopped by police on the streets of Ottawa. They had been told that they could face arrest

A barber cuts hair for trucker near the parliament hill as truckers continue to protest vaccine mandates on Monday morning

Members of the Freedom Convoy are seen with their flags and signs near the Canadian parliament on Monday

Hundreds of supporters of Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' and New York City workers who are facing termination if not vaccinated by the end of the week marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Monday

They marched from Downtown Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, to City Hall, chanting, 'No medical tyranny, no vaccine mandates' and 'My body, my choice. The vaccine you will not force'

One man wears a Trumpian style cap with the message 'Canada First' while holding an older flag of Canada used in the 1800s

A man is seen with a jerrycan near Parliament Hill as truckers continue to protest vaccine mandates on Monday

The Canadian parliament can be seen in the background rising above signs of freedom

There appear to be a carnival-type atmosphere on the ground with colorful flags being waved

Embattled Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly called the demonstration an 'unprecedented protest never seen in Canada' and acknowledged that authorities failed to plan for it to last more than three days.

Steve Bell, the city's deputy police chief, said a person from Ohio was arrested in connection with a threat against Ottawa police headquarters.

Meanwhile, Ottawa police were investigating a fire at an apartment building that was apparently set by protesters. Matias Munoz said residents of the building south of Parliament Hill were already at their wits' end Saturday night as the noise of the protest blared through their homes for the ninth night in a row.

When he came downstairs Sunday morning, Munoz said the carpet and floor were charred, and there were blackened fire-starter bricks strewn across the lobby.

Surveillance video showed two men light a package of the bricks in the lobby and tape or tie the front door handles together before leaving through a side door before dawn. The video also showed a different man entering the building and putting the fire out a short while later, Munoz said.

'Somebody trying to do something as insidious as taping the door shut so people can't leave if there's a fire in the main lobby - it's terror, is what it is,? Munoz said.

Ottawa police declined to release details, citing the ongoing investigation.

In other developments, Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean granted a 10-day injunction to prevent truckers parked on city streets in downtown Ottawa from honking their horns incessantly.

Protest organizer Tamara Lich said Monday that activists were willing to engage with the government to find a way out of the crisis, but insisted that pandemic restrictions be eased.

'What we're trying to do right now is reaching out to all of the federal parties so that we can arrange a sit down,' Lich said during a meeting streamed on YouTube.

'So that we can start these talks and see how we can move forward, have their mandates and the restrictions lifted, restore Canadians rights and freedoms and go home.'

A man holds a sign stating his intent to stay at Parliament Hill in Ottawa for the foreseeable future
Dr Nick Coatsworth has suggested there may be better options to manage coronavirus than half yearly booster injections.

The country's former deputy chief medical officer, who has been the face of Australia's vaccine rollout, retweeted an interview with Professor Sharon Lewin in which she said: 'Chasing variants and boosting people every six months is not a viable strategy for the world'.

Data shows effectiveness of Covid vaccines can wane over months and with new variants, with a study from the CDC finding over four months protection from hopitalisation with Pfizer's jab fell from 91 to 77 per cent, though Moderna's held steady.

'We won't be able to manufacture that amount [of boosters], and you'll never be able to keep up with the variance,' Professor Lewin, who leads the Doherty Institute, told the Australian Financial Review.

She said a better strategy would be to have what is called a 'pan-sarbecovirus' vaccine - a single vaccine that could prevent or weaken the effects of known and future variants of Covid, as well as any similar emergent virus.

Former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth (pictured) fronted the government's vaccine rollout campaign

While still in it's very early stages there is work being done on this by several laboratories around the world, with the World Health Organisation issuing a report outlining the state of current research on January 28.

'Structural similarity between sarbecoviruses should enable development of a pansarbecovirus vaccine ... Many approaches are highly promising and feasible,' Dr Phil Krause, chair of the WHO Covid vaccine research expert group, said.

Professor Lewin said this approach would be more sustainable than repeated mRNA vaccines.

'This is not wishful thinking. People are publishing capabilities to do this now. So, we might see them in clinical trials even as early as this year,' she said.

There is also a shift away from 'blunt, population based-blanket rules' to a strategy of managing disease, hospitalisation, and the specific features of variants, Professor Lewin said.

Booster vaccines for Covid every six months are not workable and there could be better solutions Professor Sharon Lewin (pictured) said

She added there is also the chance another strain could emerge that is more dangerous than highly infectious but mild Omicron variant, triggering a ramping up isolation and quarantine restrictions again.

But these could be more targeted because we now have tools for managing the disease than we did not two years ago, such as vaccines, anti-viral medications and better contact tracing procedures, she said.

Australia is cautiously reopening as Covid case numbers fall, with the federal government announcing this week the country's international border would open to tourists before March, students have also returned to classrooms, and Australians can freely travel across the country - with the exception of WA.

More than 90 per cent of the country is double-vaccinated and more than 8.8million boosters have been given.

Dr Coastsworth retweeted and interview with Professor Lewin in which she said repeated booster were not 'viable'

The nation seems to be following the lead of Britain and Denmark where almost all restrictions around coronavirus have been lifted, while the only country in the world appearing to be holding to a strict Covid-zero policy is China.

This shift requires Covid to be viewed as endemic - a permanent fixture much in the same way as influenza - manageable, though still dangerous.

As Denmark's domestic restrictions were entirely removed on February 1, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed her cautious optimism.

'We can start lowering our shoulders and find our smiles again. The pandemic is still here, but with what we know now, we dare to believe that we are through the critical phase,' she said.
A new documentary has revealed what everyday Australians really think of Prime Minister Scott Morrison as the federal election race heats up.

ABC's Four Corners spoke to Aussies from key electorates around the country - including south-east Melbourne, western Sydney, northern Perth - as a part of its in-depth series into the Liberal leader and his opponent Anthony Albanese.

The program spoke to men and women of different ages and sectors, including an IT consultant, engineer and retiree, about the key moments of Mr Morrison's stint as PM and the man behind his carefully crafted words.

The feedback ranged from calling him a proud 'family man' and 'hard worker' to a 'liar' who they 'wouldn't trust as far as I could throw him'.

'Scotty from marketing, always trying to get the best image out there. It's purely for the cameras,' Tarek Amyra, a pharmacist from the electorate of Chisholm in Victoria said.

'I don't see Australia as a better place to live because of his leadership.'

A new documentary from ABC's Four Corners has revealed what everyday Australians really think of Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Mr Morrison became prime minister by successfully executing a leadership spill over then-Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull, with infamous images in the days before the mutiny showing him pledging his support for Mr Turnbull.

'This is my leader, and I'm ambitious for him,' Mr Morrison said as he wrapped his arm around Mr Turnbull's shoulders, in response to a question about his ambitions to lead the party.

Mr Amyra told Four Corners it was a terrible start for the soon-to-be PM.

'When you say one thing and three days later you're doing something else, that tells me you're a career politician,' he said.

'How do you know a politician is lying? His lips are moving. I don't think any politician is without sin on that one. You need to be accountable for your words.'

'I don't see Australia as a better place to live because of his leadership,' Tarek Amyra, a pharmacist from the electorate of Chisholm in Victoria said

Mr Morrison's prime ministership started with a literal baptism of fire, as huge parts of Australia's east coast were destroyed amid the worst season of bushfires the country has ever seen.

Scenes from the horror infernos were compounded by the absence of Mr Morrison, who sensationally fled Australia for a family holiday in Hawaii.

'No one denies prime ministers are entitled to leave. Under other circumstances he would've trotted off and we wouldnt have known. It was just a really bad call that he didn't come back,' Robina Bamforth, a retiree from Corangamite, Victoria told Four Corners.

''I'm on holiday in Hawaii, having a wonderful time' - the east coast of Australia is burning to a cinder.'

Ms Bamworth said initially she supported Mr Morrison because he had 'strong views'.

'I respect people who have religious views, whatever they are, I don't care,' she said.

'He has strong views, that's a good thing. That's a tick in the box.'

'This is my leader, and I'm ambitious for him,' Mr Morrison said as he wrapped his arm around Mr Turnbull's shoulders, days before executing a leadership spill over the then-PM

Caleb Wu, an IT consultant from Parramatta in Sydney's west, said it was an indictment on Mr Morrison that he took a holiday while the country was 'struggling'.

'That was a bad move in terms of image, which is what politics is all about,' he told the program.

'A lot of people who were on the fence will jump on the negative side.'

Grahame Morris, former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard, said Mr Morrison 'obviously had to come back'.

'It's sad when you can't have a holiday at Christmas time, but be it as they may most Australians think he was in the wrong,' he told the ABC.

Mr Morrison further inflamed the situation in a car crash interview with 2GB, reacting defiantly to criticism of his poorly-timed trip.

'I'm sure Australians will be pleased I'm coming back but I don't hold a hose mate, I don't sit in the control room,' he infamously said.

Adam Wotherspoon, a sales rep from Gilmore in NSW, said Mr Morrison 'really redeemed himself' at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

A woman refuses to shake Mr Morrison's hand in 2019 after bushfires ravaged her area and she claimed there was a lack of federal support

The PM's initial handling of the pandemic was celebrated, banning all travel into Australia and placing strict measures on Aussies wishing to leave saw the country's case numbers and death rate the best in the world.

'The way he wasn't trying to shy away from it, he was front and centre,' Mr Wotherspoon said.

'He wasn't afraid to front the media. It was a great redeeming factor and that showed yes, he is a leader.'

Mr Gallagher said it was a 'dramatic move' but hailed Mr Morrison for sticking true to his word, while Ms Sattler, a British citizen, said his policies 'saved us' in the early stages through shutting borders.

Ms Bamworth said she lost faith in Mr Morrison after he fled to Hawaii for a family holiday while the 'east coast was burning to a cinder'

Other participants in ABC's documentary said after more than three years of Mr Morrison's leadership they still didn't know 'what he stands for'.

Pat Gallagher, a management consultant from NSW's Gilmore electorate, said 'integrity' was a key issue for him when voting for PM but said he knew very little about the man behind the title.

'I know he stands for his family, he's a man of faith. He loves the Cronulla Sharks. But I don't know where he'd draw a line in the sand,' he told Four Corners.

'I don't know what you stand for.'

Cath Sattler, from Conrangamite in Victoria, said he'd failed to establish himself as a 'strong leader' for the country.

'Too much time has passed. Can you suddenly switch on strong leadership?' the engineer said.

'I wish he could unite the coalition.'

Ms Sattler also said he badly needed to address the growing environmental crisis the world is facing.

'Do something about the enviorment, wake up to the environment and be strong,' she said.

Mr Morrison's climate record has been heavily scrutinised, with Four Corners participants accusing him of having no interest in addressing the environment

Retiree Robina Bamforth accused Mr Morrison of simply selling a 'glossy brochure' on addressing climate change.

'We're not going to do anything of substance, just pretend we are,' the Conrangamite voter said.

'Go to Glasgow, but not take any action.'

Ms Bamforth said his act was 'starting to wear thin', particularly with Victorian voters who have underdone the most difficult pandemic experience.

'We're the ones making all the hard yards. At the start of the pandemic people were more forgiving of Scott Morrison, but especially Victoria where we had such a hard lockdown for such a long time, it's starting to wear a bit thin,' she said.

Perhaps Mr Morrison's worst public saga was the nuclear submarine contract and whether he misled French President Emmanuel Macron over his intentions to sign with the European country.

Mr Morrison instead partnered with the US and UK, infuriating his French opposition, leading to a tense and awkward showdown at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference where Macron said 'I know he was' when asked by reporters if he thought the Australian PM was lying.

Four Corners asked the contributors whether they believed Mr Morrison was a 'liar', with all offering a resounding yes.

'Yes, he easily (lies),' Ms Sattler said. 'Look at the issue with the submarines, the way Mr Macron dealt with him.

Ms Sattler, an engineer from Victoria, said Mr Morrison 'easily lies' and said she had lost him with his weak leadership over the past few years

'Whatever side of politics you're on, there's no way he'd have taken the approach he did with Mr Morrison if he didn't lie.

'He lies very easily.'

Mr Wu, the IT consultant from western Sydney, said it was 'difficult to trust' Mr Morrison.

'If the French President calls him out like that he obviously is,' he said. Given his scandals, he definitely lies.

'It makes it very difficult to trust him.'

Niki Savva, columnist for Nine newspapers, said Mr Morrison faces an uphill battle to convince Australians to vote for him given the tribulations of the last few years.

'Campaigning is one of his great strengths, he's a master of it. So they'll be relying on him to show that,' she told the ABC.

'The daggy dad wont play again.'
A panellist on a ABC TV current affairs program has seemingly slammed Scott Morrison as out of touch with working Australians for eating plain white bread.

During a recent interview on The Drum, Nareen Young, a Professor for Indigenous Policy at the University of Technology, Sydney, called out the Prime Minister by alluding to a recent comment he made on breakfast television.

'I'm just normal white bread, white toast man. That's me,' Mr Morrison told Sunrise.

During a program that aired last week and has since resurfaced on social media, host Ellen Fanning asked Prof. Young a question about why politicians often think of tradies and miners as 'battlers', rather than aged care workers or casual hospitality workers.

Prof. Young said 'I don't know that all politicians have that lack of understanding of what workers look like in this country.

'I think the comment about bread, white bread this week was really interesting. Who eats white bread in this country? Anglo men.

'I come from a working class background. We had brown bread - because we were healthy.

ABC panellist and university professor Nareen Young (pictured left) recently declared white bread is typically only eaten by Anglo men in Australia

The bizarre comments followed Mr Morrison being caught out when he admitted he didn't know the price of bread - the PM was widely accused of being out of touch

'I think it shows a deep lack of understanding as to who works in this country. I think that there's a deep intersection of race and class.'

Prof. Young's comments come after the PM said earlier this month failed to name the price of bread and petrol.

Mr Morrison was left stumped when asked at the National Press Club to list the price of a loaf of bread, a litre of petrol and a rapid antigen test.

'I'm not going to pretend to you that I go out each day and I buy a loaf of bread and I buy a litre of milk,' he admitted.

Poll Is Scott Morrison out of touch with mainstream Australia for eating white bread? Yes, white bread is so '90s No, I eat white bread regularly His critics are out of touch Is Scott Morrison out of touch with mainstream Australia for eating white bread? Yes, white bread is so '90s 106 votes

No, I eat white bread regularly 869 votes

His critics are out of touch 1565 votes Now share your opinion





Morrison was panned in some sections after he was caught out, and later clarified on breakfast television that he had since done his research and now knew how much a loaf of bread would cost.

Prof. Young's comments resurfaced on social media this week with several right-leaning Twitter users hitting out.

Sandy Lanceley tweeted 'I can't believe these people are real' while sharing vision of Prof. Young addressing the situation.

A number of people sided with Lanceley, who felt Young's scathing criticism of the PM was excessive.

'Lord help us, if this is a serious comment,' wrote one.

Another questioned if Young's opinion was meant to be satirical, while a third felt Ms Young displayed 'a deep lack of understanding.'

Professor Young (pictured right) also revealed she knows Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese personally

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was left red-faced recently after admitting he didn't know how much a loaf of bread cost as his wife Jenny does the grocery shopping

Lanceley's post included video of Prof. Young admitting during a separate appearance on the show that she knows Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese personally. He was a guest at her wedding.

Prof Young has been dubbed 'one of the most respected and leading Australian workplace diversity practitioners and thinkers' and has also worked as a Director of Indigenous Consulting with finance firm Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Additionally, she was the chief executive of the Diversity Council of Australia.

Daily Mail Australia approached Prof. Young for comment.
The second member of the far-right Wolverine Watchmen militia group has agreed to plead guilty, and will testify against four co-conspirators who plotted to kidnap and harm Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the fall of 2020.

Kaleb Franks, 27, of Waterford Township, about 40 miles from Detroit, is scheduled on Wednesday to plead guilty to kidnapping conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Franks was one of six Wolverine Watchmen members arrested on October 8, 2020 for allegedly hatching the plot to snatch Whitmer because they were upset with Michigan's COVID-19 restrictions.

Others include Adam Fox of Potterville, 40 - the alleged ringleader - truck driver Barry Croft of Bear, Delaware, 44; Daniel Harris of Lake Orion, 24; Brandon Caserta of Canton, 33; and Ty Gerard Garbin of Hartland Township, 25.

Garbin was the first of the men to plead guilty to the plot in January of 2021, and has since been the 'star witness' in the trial against the holdout members of the group, which is scheduled to begin on March 8. All six remain in custody.

'The pressure is really on the defendants. Most likely, this is their last chance to see what the best deal is before trial,' Detroit defense attorney Michael Bullotta, a former federal prosecutor, told the Detroit Free Press.

'Deals generally get worse, not better, the longer you wait.'

Kaleb Franks, 27, of Waterford Township,pictured with an assault weapon outfitted with a silencer, is scheduled on Wednesday to plead guilty to kidnapping conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids

Franks (top left); accused ringleader Adam Fox, 40 (top right); Barry Croft, 44 (bottom center); Daniel Harris, 24 (top right); Brandon Caserta, 33 (top center); and Ty Gerard Garbin (bottom right), 25, were arrested on October 8, 2020 after allegedly hatched the plot to snatch Whitmer because they were upset with Michigan's COVID-19 restrictions

The six members of the 'Wolverine Watchmen,' a self-styled far-right militia, were arrested on October 30 for their alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, pictured on September 15, 2021

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker determined that jurors be told about Franks' previous conviction for second-degree home invasion, although it has since been expunged from his record, according to the Detroit Free Press.

At a bond hearing for Franks in October of 2020, Magistrate Judge Salley Bergen said that the now-27-year-old was a 'danger to the community' and was allegedly heard by FBI informants saying he was 'in for anything' as long as it was well-planned. He was denied bond.

Franks' attorney, Scott Graham, said at the hearing that Franks was a former addict who turned his life around after he went to jail for a period of months between 2013 and 2014. Before his arrest, he was a peer advocate in Pontiac, where he advised probationers.

Graham also argued that Franks had diabetes, and worried he would contract COVID-19 in jail.

In a 2016 Instagram post, Franks posted a picture of an AR-15 type gun with the caption 'Nothing relives [sic] stress like blowing stuff up with this beast @swagaholicsanonymous #AR-15.'

Prosecutors asked for permission to tell jurors of the other defendants' previous crimes.

In a 19-page plea agreement filed Monday and obtained by DailyMail.com, Franks said that neither he nor his co-defendants had been set up by the FBI, despite multiple requests by his lawyer to advance his entrapment defense.

Previously, the group's attorneys claimed in their December 25 filing that if it weren't for twelve FBI informants embedded with the group, two who were known only as 'Dan' and 'Steve' in court documents, who encouraged the plot and promised to fund it through a charity organization, the men would never have done it on their own.

'The government initiated this case, despite the fact that it knew there was no plan to kidnap, no operational plan, and no details about how a kidnapping would occur or what would happen afterward,' Graham wrote in his 20-page motion.

Five of the six men accused of plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer are pictured in a court sketch from October 13, 2020

'Three months after the government proposed kidnapping, and two months after the defendants strident repudiation of the idea, and a month after the defendants reiteration of their repudiation, the governments agents continued to push to shape a kidnapping plan, even trying to elevate it to murder,' the document read.

'With regard to inducement and persuasion, the governments emotional manipulation abounded. Its approach was persistent and emotional from the outset. Agents and informants used ties related to friendship, being role models, and acting as father figures to develop trust and reliance in the defendants.'

But in the plea agreement, Franks not only testified that he 'knowingly and voluntarily joined that agreement' to kidnap Whitmer, and that he 'understands the crime,' but that his co-conspirators weren't manipulated into the plan, either.

'[Franks] was not entrapped or induced to commit any crimes by these individuals. [He] also knows [his co-defendants] were not entrapped, based on personal observation and discussions,' the plea deal states.

Franks 'frequently heard Fox and Croft initiate conversations about fighting government authority and kidnapping the governor without prompting,' and heard 'Harris and Caserta express similar anti-government sentiments during his private discussions with then, when no government informant was present.'

'During all their months of training together, [Franks] never heard Fox, Corft, Harris or Caserta say they were doing anything because... Dan... Steve or any other informant had advocated it, the plea deal states.

The group allegedly built a 'mock-up' of Governor Whitmer's vacation home (pictured), called the 'shoot house,' and used it to practice breaching the residence

But in a December 25 court filing, attorneys for group argued that the Wolverine Watchmen members didn't have the finances to carry out the kidnapping, and that 'when the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure and continued to push its plan.'

The attorneys wrote that FBI informant 'Dan' egged them on to carry out the plot.

'Dan, while often claiming poverty, always had the resources to drive, feed, and house others whom he hoped to pull into the government plan,' according to court records.

Dan apparently not only drove the accused plotters to militia-style training weekends in Wisconsin and Michigan, he paid for gas, tolls, meals and lodging.

'So while the defendants had no interest in profit, a factor weighing in their favor here,' according to the motion to dismiss the case. 'The governments exploitation of its virtually unlimited resources, poured into its investigation, further underscores entrapment as a matter of law.'

Dan, on the other hand, made $50,000 for his work ratting out the men, according to the defense team.

In October of 2021, the US Attorney's Office released video and text messages which prosecutors say is evidence in their case against the six men who face federal conspiracy to kidnap charges against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Men were seen carrying out supposed tactical training exercise

Further complicating prosecutors case was the arrest of the lead FBI investigator on the case Richard Trask, 39, who was convicted of a misdemeanor after hitting his wife after they returned from a swingers party one night, according to The Detroit News.

The plea deal offers a more detailed picture of the months leading to the men's arrest.

In the spring of 2020, Franks met members of the Wolverine Watchmen through a local firearms group on Facebook. He met unspecified members in person at an unspecified protest in Lake Orion, where they showed him how to download encrypted messaging app Wire so that he could join the self-styled militia's chat group.

Franks went by the name 'Red Hot' in the encrypted chats.

After passing the group's 'vetting' process, Franks began attending the group's meetings. On June 28, according to the document, the six men met for 'tactical training' in Munith Michigan, where Franks met accused ringleader Fox, known derisively as 'Captain Autism' by the group, for the first time.

Then on July 7, Franks met Caserta, Harris, Garbin and other members of the group who were not named. A crib sheet of code words to conceal illegal activities, weapons and tactics was passed out in-person.

At that meeting, plans to 'black bag' politicians were discussed. Initially, Franks and Harris didn't think that it would be possible, according to the plea agreement, but later changed their minds.

The group allegedly agreed to maintain an 'open discussion' about when 'exactly it was appropriate to launch aggressive measures against the government.'

Three days later, Franks allegedly joined Caserta, Harris and Garbin on a trip through Chicago to Cambria, Wisconsin for a 'field training exercise.'

On the trip, according to the plea agreement, the group discussed how they would proceed if they were pulled over with their illegal weapons in the car. Franks recalled that Harris told them 'you're all in the car with an illegal SBR,' referring to his short-barreled rifle.

The men met up with Fox in Cambria, and Franks met Croft for the first time. They 'trained' on July 11th and July 12th, the agreement states.

Allegedly, Croft brought along bomb-making materials and a '300 blackout' AR-15-style semiautomatic assault rifle with a short barrel, a silencer and a 37-millimeter projectile launcher.

Using gunpowder and BB's as shrapnel, Croft and Harris unsuccessfully attempted to make two IED's, neither of which detonated, according to the plea.

At a meeting in Peebles, Ohio on July 18, Croft allegedly said that the group 'needed to do something,' and proposed planting explosives at Michigan State Police posts.

Fox proposed storming the state Capitol with 200 men wielding snipers and machine guns, according to court documents, but Franks and Garbin felt the idea wasn't feasible.

Then, Fox allegedly proposed kidnapping Governor Whitmer, waiting until the results of the presidential election, when 'law enforcement resources would be spread thin responding to civil unrest.'

Fox, the suspected ringleader, allegedly planned to storm the state Capitol and execute other politicians on live television

On July 23rd, Harris and Garbin told other members of the Wolverine Watchmen about Fox's decision to storm the capitol, according to documents - the rest of the group didn't bite. Then, they allegedly said they had an 'another plan,' and members who weren't 'down' for participating should leave the Lake Orion meeting.

'[Franks], Harris and Garbin knew the "other plan was to kidnap the Governor. [Franks] knowingly and voluntarily joined that plan,' reads the document.

But on August 23, the group reportedly feared they had been infiltrated. Members were asked to bring proof of their identities, and the group began using a new encrypted chat application that would allow them to delete their messages after they had been sent.

Six days later, Fox allegedly scoped out Governor Whitmer's vacation home in Western Michigan, posting pictures in the group's chat. The group would go on to case the home one more time.

Between September 12 and 13, Franks recalled building a firing range out of hundreds of used tires with another member of the Wolverine Watchmen on a property near Luther. The group allegedly built a 'mock-up' of Governor Whitmer's vacation home, called the 'shoot house,' and used it to practice breaching the residence.

The men further discussed the particulars of their plan on September 12, and traveled in three cars to Governor Whitmer's property, court documents said. Harris and Caserta were allegedly left behind because they had been drinking.

Fox allegedly brought along a semi-automatic pistol, and changed into street clothing out of his tactical gear to look less conspicuous.

On the way to the Governor's house, the men stopped at a hotel in Big Rapids, where one of the men had rented a room. As they left the parking lot of the hotel, Franks recalled Croft saying that he was 'going to get eyes on the bridge.'

The group planned to blow up a bridge near Whitmer's home, according to prosecutors, to slow down the response of law enforcement.

In a Walmart parking lot, Franks recalled getting into a car with Garbin and an unnamed driver from Wisconsin, who was given the Governor's address by Fox. The three vehicles then stopped at a VFW post in a town near the governor's home to has out their plan a final time.

Franks' group was to find Whitmer's home. A second group, which included Fox, would signal the first with lights from a boat ramp on the opposite shore of a nearby lake, and a third group would drive around to make sure that no one was following the militia, court documents alleged.

The group scoped out Governor Gretchen Whitmer's (pictured) vacation home twice during their planning period between June and October of 2020

Franks' group struggled to find Whitmer's house, he recalled - they later learned that Fox has reversed digits in its street address, the document said. In a heated exchange, Franks recalled telling Fox that he should have been in the vehicle of men searching for the Governor's vacation home, since he had been there during the day.

After they finally found the house, the men returned to Garbin's home that they used as a training site in Luther. The group debriefed those who had not gone on the reconnaissance mission about their findings the next morning.

Fox allegedly asked the group to pool together $4,000 to purchase explosives, saying that he and another member of the group had narrowed down the ideal spot to place them on the bridge near Whitmer's home.

Croft allegedly suggested using IEDs to take out vehicles in Whitmer's security detail so that blowing up the bridge wasn't necessary, or using the 37-millimeter projectile launcher on his assault rifle to ambush them.

Later that day, according to court documents, Croft produced the largest explosive device he had created thus far to the group and several human silhouette targets.

Franks recalled that Croft wanted to detonate the explosive and see what kind of 'damage' the shrapnel would cause. He saw Caserta, Harris and Croft walk off Garbin's property with the bomb, and heard it explode.

In a 2016 Instagram post, Franks posted a picture of an AR-15 type gun with the caption 'Nothing relives [sic] stress like blowing stuff up with this beast @swagaholicsanonymous #AR-15'

Fox allegedly told the group that they needed to be 'opportunistic' and prepared for when the asset arrived,' and that they would need to do more 'recon' before they kidnapped the governor.

But on October 30, at a warehouse in Ypsilanti, the men were all arrested by the FBI. According to prosecutors, the men thought they were going to make a down payment on more explosives.

After his arrest, according to the plea agreement, Franks realized that 'Dan' and 'Steve' had been paid FBI informants - but they never made him or his cohorts do or say anything, he stated in the plea agreement.

One section of the agreement appears to be aimed at proving that the men were predisposed to carry out their alleged plans, which would be needed to secure convictions for the co-defendants.

'The defendant also heard Harris and Caserta express similar antigovernment sentiments during his private discussions with them, when no government informant was present,' the plea deal reads.

'During all their months of training together, [Franks] never heard Fox, Croft, Harris or Caserta say they were doing anything because Dan, Steve or any other informant had advocated it,' read the agreement.

Franks agreed to 'fully cooperate with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office, the Michigan Attorney General's office' and other investigating agencies.

Although entering a plea agreement generally leads to a lighter sentence, as it did with Garbin, no specifics of Franks' sentence were detailed in the agreement.
Ben Fordham says most Australians have had enough of being told what to do by the government, and that it was finally time to end Covid restrictions across NSW.

'We've become obsessed with what we've been ordered to do.

'It's been two years of compliance, lockdowns, curfews  we've had enough!' Fordham says.

'We've been in this COVID daze and it's time to wake up.'

Fordham praised NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, who is reportedly considering relaxing indoor mask rules, including in workplaces, at the start of March to breathe life back into the state's economy.

'It's going to be good for human beings who just want to live their lives and get around without wearing a mask.

'Now this rule about workers going back into the office, it's not set in stone, it's a very strong recommendation, and yes it includes public servants - many of them never want to go back to the office.

Ben Fordham has commended NSW premier Dominic Perrottet over his plan to relax indoor mask rules

'And let us face it, masks are a massive reason why people aren't going into the office at the moment.

'I know a lot of people have enjoyed the change, but our productivity relies on the workforce being at work. They buy coffee in the morning, they grab a sandwich on the lunch break, or have a team dinner.

'Bringing them back will be a massive injection into the economy. This is more important than any government support package.

'We can hand out money all we want, but these businesses need bums on seats and people spending money. They are paying premium rent for foot traffic which is just not there.

He highlighted recent comments from Doherty Institute director Sharon Lewin, who predicted the focus would shift from trying to control the virus to instead just reducing the risk for vulnerable people.

'That would mean a much simpler messaging to the public to stay at home if sick,' she said.

That means testing and reporting of Covid cases would evolve to only be required for people entering hospitals, similar to what happens with flu. Isolation would only be focused on vulnerable groups, rather than society as a whole.

Fordham praised the plan, and said it amounted to 'common sense'.

'Stay at home if you are sick. Remember those days, a bit of common sense? Forget the isolation rules or close contacts, or QR codes, if you're sick, stay home. Once upon a time that is how the world worked.'
A young woman has landed herself in hospital after impaling her foot with a 7cm high heel while trying to flee a spider.

Alyssa Lambert, 25, was in the bedroom of her Sydney home on the evening of January 24 when she spotted a Huntsman loitering on the ceiling.

She quickly fetched some bug spray then stood on her bed to get as close as possible as she eradicated the pest.

But as she sprayed, the arachnid lunged towards her and she fearfully jumped off the mattress - landing straight on top of a stray heel laying on the floor.

'I freaked [out],' she told Daily Mail Australia.

Alyssa Lambert, 25, (pictured) underwent emergency surgery last month after impaling her foot with a high heel

Pictured: The spider Ms Lambert was trying to get rid of when the incident unfolded

'I yelled out to my housemate and she called an ambulance. I was in pure shock and shaking - and then the pain started to settle in.'

Ms Lambert said she initially asked her housemate to remove the 1.5cm wide heel from her foot, but 'obviously' she refused.

Once paramedics arrived, her foot was wrapped to hold the shoe in place while she was carried downstairs and loaded into the ambulance just before 10pm.

At the hospital, doctors conducted an x-ray and discovered 4.5cm of the heel was embedded in her left foot.

'Everyone at the hospital was just so amazed that I managed to puncture my foot with a heel that thick,' she said.

'They were like: "Well done. You've done a good job".'

An x-ray at the hospital revealed 4.5cm of the 7cm high heel had become embedded in her foot

Doctors were shocked and amazed by Ms Lambert's unusual injury (pictured)

Ms Lambert was put on morphine to cope with the pain and went into surgery later that night to have the heel removed.

Two weeks on, Ms Lambert is healing well and had her stitches removed during a hospital visit last Friday. She will go off her crutches later this week and will be able to start walking again.

'When I got the news about recovery and how quick it was, I was almost in tears from happiness,' she said.

'I thought it was going to be a long journey.'

After returning home, Ms Lambert was pleased to discover her efforts had not been in vain and the spider had succumbed to its injuries during their battle.

Despite her horror ordeal, Ms Lambert has been able to see the funny side of the unusual situation.

'The surgeon was hilarious,' she said. 'She was like "This is insane. Please tell me you took photos - you are going to want to remember this story.

'I am feeling better now and have been having a bit of a laugh.

'It was a Camilla and Marc shoe and I work for the company. When I told work, everyone thought it was classic.

'If youre going to go down, go down well.'
A man was busted with more than half a million dollars hidden in two suitcases after a sniffer dog led police to the wads of cash.

The man, now aged 42, was caught with $545,000 in bundles of cash while at Perth Airport in 2019.

Footage shows the dog bounding up to the man before standing on its hind legs to sniff the two suitcases.

Australian Federal Police officers alleged the man was planning to take the cash to the east coast and charged him with dealing in the suspected proceeds of crime in relation to the seized cash.

A man was busted with more than half a million dollars hidden in two suitcases at Perth Airport after a sniffer dog led police to the wads of cash

The man's arrest came amid three separate investigations by the AFP in Western Australia which saw officers seize a total of $2,745,000 and three luxury cars

His matter remains before the courts in Victoria while the large sum of money has been forfeited to the Commonwealth.

The man's arrest came amid three separate investigations by the AFP in Western Australia which saw officers seize a total of $2,745,000 and three luxury cars.

One man caught up in the huge sting was Lone Wolf bikie Dillan Mancuso, 37.

His white 2010 Bentley coupe and two 2016 Mercedes Benz sedans, along with $1million have been seized by the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce as part of investigations into drug trafficking and money laundering in November, 2020.

Mancuso will face Perth's District Court on Tuesday, the West Australian reported, having pleaded guilty to dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Former Lone Wolf bikie Dillan Mancuso, 37, (pictured) is seen in his underwear after being rescued by police after he was allegedly kidnapped last year

Mancuso's white 2010 Bentley coupe and two 2016 Mercedes Benz sedans, along with $1million have been seized by the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce as part of investigations into drug trafficking and money laundering in November, 2020

Pictured are the luxury cars seized by AFP officers

The luxury cars and money was seized after police raided homes in Mount Pleasant, South Perth, Waterford and Shelley

The luxury cars and money was seized after police raided homes in Mount Pleasant, South Perth, Waterford and Shelley.

Mancuso was famously pictured sitting on the back of a police vehicle wearing nothing but a pair of briefs in June last year after he was rescued from an alleged kidnapping.

The 37-year-old was rescued by police from a burning factory in Revesby, in Sydney's south west, where he was allegedly held for ransom for four hours.

Police set up a perimeter around the warehouse and negotiated with the alleged kidnappers to release Mancuso, who was allegedly being held for a $2million ransom.

NSW Police alleged the Revesby warehouse was then set on fire and 11 men were arrested.

In the most recent investigation from December last year, $1.2million in a bank account linked to a WA man was found during an investigation into suspected money laundering and tax fraud.

Pictured is countless wads of cash which have been forfeited to the Commonwealth

Police had found suspicious activity in the bank account and saw large funds had been transferred between accounts in WA and Thailand.

Money from several Australian bank accounts linked to the man and three properties were restrained, while the $1.2million has been forfeited.

No charges have been laid yet.

The huge piles of cash and the sale of the luxury cars, estimated to be worth $283,600, will be forfeited to the Confiscated Assets Account.

Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews will be able to distribute the funds to support crime prevention and law enforcement.

AFP Commander Western Command John Tanti said the money seized was a warning to those willing to break the law to fund their 'lavish lifestyles'.

'The more cash and assets we seize, the more pressure we place on criminal syndicates so they cannot pay their debts, they cannot fund future criminal ventures and they cannot enjoy lavish lifestyles,' he said.

'The matters should be a warning to people who live a lifestyle they cannot lawfully justify - the AFP and our partners will catch up with you and end the party.'
More Australian Defence Force personnel could be deployed to COVID-19 stricken aged care facilities if the crisis in the sector escalates, Defence Minister Peter Dutton says.

Up to 1,700 defence troops will be sent into facilities in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia this week to help the care homes deal with virus-related staff shortages.

The sector has been hit with large numbers of infections linked to the Omicron variant, while staff have been dealing with shortages and a lack of protective equipment and rapid antigen tests.

Up to 1,700 defence troops will be sent into facilities in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia this week to help the care homes deal with virus-related staff shortages

'We will do more if required, the prime minister's been very clear about us making sure that people are treated with dignity,' Mr Dutton told the Nine Network on Tuesday.

'If we need more we will do more, but we've sent planners to stabilise the situation.'

Mr Dutton defended the decision to wait to send in defence medical personnel, indicating planning was already in place in the sector.

There have been more than 500 deaths linked to COVID-19 in aged care since the start of the year.

'In aged care each year, there are about 1,000 people a week who die - that number hasn't increased over the course of COVID,' he said.

'They're dying with COVID not from COVID in many instances.'

More Australian Defence Force personnel could be deployed to COVID-19 stricken aged care facilities if the crisis in the sector escalates, Defence Minister Peter Dutton says

Leading Age Services Australia chief executive Sean Rooney said the sector was thankful for the ADF personnel.

'The big issue we've got is that these issues around staff numbers and staffing levels are not new,' he told the Nine Network.

'We thank the government for the ADF personnel right now, but we need to get back to fixing the fundamentals, ensuring that we have enough staff who are adequately skilled and qualified and appropriately paid.'

It comes as the federal government paves the way for international tourists to return to Australia from February 21, after nearly two years of closed borders.

Travellers will need to be double vaccinated to enter the country.

The decision announced on Monday has been welcomed by the tourism sector, which has been struggling due to COVID-19 lockdowns and border closures.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said operators needed support to get back up and running.

'One of the first parts of the puzzle is sending the message we are open,' she told the Nine Network.

'That is going to be the first part of that exercise, Tourism Australia will be working with the destination agencies at state levels to make that happen.'

Australia recorded more than 22,000 new COVID-19 cases and 46 deaths from the virus on Monday.

On Monday night the first shipment of Novavax vaccines arrived in Australia, ahead of the start of the rollout of the jabs on February 21.

More than three million doses of the protein-based vaccine landed in Sydney after being transported from Singapore.
Boris Johnson insists that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would backfire on Putin

Western allies are still to agree sanctions against Russia in the event it launches an invasion of Ukraine, Boris Johnson has today admitted.

With an estimated 130,000 Russian troops amassed near the Ukrainian border and tensions rising, the Prime Minister today urged the West to have measures ready to go 'the moment the first toecap' crosses.

His comments came as, in a sign of tension between Western powers at such a critical time, US President Joe Biden threatened to block completion of Mr Putins prized Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe if Russia launches a ground invasion.

Speaking at a White House press conference last night, Mr Biden pledged to bring an end to the project, despite its boost to Germany - to which it will supply 55billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas each year.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who met Mr Biden yesterday, repeatedly attempted to put on a unified front, insisting 'Nato is absolutely united'.

But he refused to publicly back President Biden in vowing to pull the plug on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Mr Putin invades Ukraine.

However in a sign Germany could back down if Russia does invade, he insisted the country 'will do the same steps' as Nato - though stopped short of naming Nord Stream 2 directly.

It comes as Mr Johnson, writing in The Times, called on the West to pull together to agree on sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin did push forward with an invasion.

Writing in the Times, he said: 'We want our friends to have sanctions ready to go the moment the first toecap of the first Russian soldier crosses further into Ukraines sovereign territory.

'We will continue to press for this  and we are heartened by the work of allies so far.

He also warned Putin that Britain 'will not flinch' and invading Ukraine would backfire by only serving to strengthen Nato.

Tanks move during the Belarusian and Russian joint military drills at Brestsky firing rang

Vladimir Putin claimed in his meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron yesterday that Russia would 'do everything to find compromises' over Ukraine - but again blamed the West for ongoing tensions

Ukrainian Special Forces posing with one of their Humvees after a shipment of US military cargo to prepare for a potential invasion

US intelligence officials have warned of Russia being '70 per cent ready' to invade Ukraine and an intelligence report indicates Russia would be able to overrun Ukraine in just two days. A satellite image shows troops and logistics material support units north-west of Yelsk, Belarus

A top retired Russian general has warned Vladimir Putin not to go to war with Ukraine, accusing the leader of whipping up an 'artificial' conflict to distract from his domestic problems. Pictured: Ukraine's live fire exercises

The Prime Minister said he is considering dispatching RAF Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect south-eastern Europe after sending 350 British troops to Poland.

Mr Johnson, writing in The Times, said the UK 'will not flinch now' and that Britain will remain 'unconditional and immovable' in supporting the Nato defence alliance.

With Russia having amassed an estimated 130,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, and in Belarus, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will head to Moscow for talks as diplomatic attempts to avert a war continue.

Mr Putin has claimed that the West is using Nato to undermine Russia. But Mr Johnson wrote: 'If he launches another invasion, he will force the West to bring about much of what he seeks to prevent. In fact this is already happening.

'Because of his build-up, America, France, Italy and other allies are deploying forces to Nato's south-eastern flank, just as the UK reinforces the northeast.

The Russian Government's aggression against Ukraine  is part of a decades-long campaign to destabilise European security.



The UK  will defend freedom & democracy wherever it is threatened, and that is why we and our allies #StandWithUkraine. pic.twitter.com/O1WQSAmLaS  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) February 6, 2022

The Foreign Secretary is expected to meet her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov later this week to discuss the stand-off in Eastern Europe

The Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced Britain is to send an additional 350 troops to Poland in a show of support at a joint press conference in London with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak, amid a stand-off with Moscow.

HMS Defenceless: None of Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers currently at sea All six of the Royal Navy's state-of-the-art Type 45 destroyers are currently docked in port, at a time of heightened tensions with Russia. The guided-missile destroyers have been plagued by engine issues since they were launched, with ships in the class now undergoing a Power Improvement Project (PIP). Announced in 2018, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it is intended to 'provide a robust solution to the power and propulsion issues observed in Type 45.' The Defence Select Committee warned in December 2021 that the 'low availability of the UK's Type 45 destroyers and recognised issues in their propulsion systems are a major cause for concern.' HMS Dragon was pictured entering Portsmouth on Monday morning, joining HMS Defender, Diamond, and Duncan alongside. HMS Dauntless and Daring are docked in Birkenhead, receiving modification as part of the PIP. It is understood that HMS Defender and Diamond are 'at notice to sail', but remain alongside. Advertisement

'Nor could there be a more compelling argument for the necessity of Nato than the sight of Russian tanks invading a European country once again.

'So I hope the Kremlin might yet realise how its objectives would not be served by inflicting still greater destruction and bloodshed on Ukraine.'

Earlier in the day, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the 350 British troops being dispatched to Poland will send a strong signal that the two countries 'stand side by side'.

Poland is also facing a crisis on its own border with Belarus, whose leader Alexander Lukashenko is an ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Mr Wallace said the extra troops will add to 100 Royal Engineers already in Poland.

He denied that Nato is trying to use 'divide and rule' tactics against Moscow.

'Nato is a defensive alliance. It poses no threat to Russia. It is a self-defence mechanism amongst our allies. That is what it is there for. No one wants to divide and rule Russia,' he said.

Ms Truss will travel to Moscow later this week for discussions with counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Putin remains a long way from agreeing a peace deal with western leaders over Ukraine  if the length of this Kremlin table is any indication.

Judging by the distance he kept French president Emmanuel Macron at yesterday, Russia and the West remain far apart over security issues on the edge of eastern Europe.

The leaders met in Moscow in an effort to de-escalate the crisis, with the two men sat at either end of the huge table due to the Kremlins Covid protocols.

Despite bullishly claiming ahead of the visit he was the man likely to prevent [a military operation] from happening, Mr Macron failed to persuade Mr Putin to pull back troops from the Ukraine border.

As the two-hour talks got under way, in London Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced the deployment of 350 Royal Marines to Poland to meet the Russian threat.

Russia would be able to overrun Ukraine in just two days in an invasion that could kill 50,000 civilians, according to US intelligence

The US suggested in letters that Russian inspectors can gain access to NATO bases in Romania and Poland (pictured above) to guarantee that no Tomahawk missiles are being stationed there. Comes as Pentagon announces 2,000 troops in the U.S. will deploy to Poland and Germany and another 1,000 will head to Romania from their base in Germany

Boris Johnson meanwhile promised Nato and Europe they would have Britains unconditional and immovable support in the face of the biggest military build-up in Europe since the Cold War.

Some 130,000 of Mr Putins troops remain poised to strike Ukraine and seize the capital Kiev. Further Russian deployments are expected in the coming days ahead of major military exercises in Belarus  which could be used to disguise preparations for an invasion.

Writing in The Times, the Prime Minister warned Mr Putin that invasion will force the West to bring about much of what he seeks to prevent and said de-escalation was needed for successful dialogue.

After his meeting with Mr Putin, Mr Macron said: Todays conversation can set us on the path that we need to take, which is de-escalation, an answer that is useful for both Russia and for all the rest of Europe.

Welcoming Mr Macron as dear Emmanuel, Mr Putin said Russia and France have shared concerns regarding security in Europe.

He also hailed how much effort the current French leadership is making to resolve these concerns. This was the third time in the last ten days that the leaders have spoken and there is some optimism that their relationship could produce a breakthrough.
Teachers are being trained to intervene when parents bicker too much over fears that it could damage children's mental health.

They will be told how to spot signs of 'parental conflict' and 'step in to support parents' to 'ensure children do not suffer'.

This could mean meeting parents of a troubled child and discussing issues they may be encountering at home. Parents can be directed to relationship counselling if necessary.

Teachers will be told how to spot signs of 'parental conflict' and 'step in to support parents' to 'ensure children do not suffer' (file photo used)

Teachers are being trained to intervene when parents bicker too much over fears that it could damage children's mental health (file photo used)

Rise of 'WFH' truants Children now think it is fine to skip school because they learnt remotely during the pandemic, Ofsted has warned. Pupils cannot understand why attendance 'matters so much now' and want to do their school work from home, a report revealed. It said parents are also keeping pupils at home if a relative or schoolmate has Covid, to prevent them getting Covid before an important event and, most commonly, due to anxiety. Absence is usually allowed for sickness or exceptional circumstances and parents can be fined 60 per child if neither of those apply. Last summer term a fifth of schools inspected had more unauthorised absences than normal. Advertisement

Others working closely with families in sectors such as policing, health and social care will also be given the training by councils in England.

It comes with the announcement of an extra 11million today for the Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) programme, backed by Baroness Stedman-Scott, minister with the Department for Work and Pensions.

She said: 'Arguments and occasional bickering might seem harmless but when this kind of conflict is continually aggressive and left unaddressed, it can cause real unhappiness and harm children's life chances.

'That's why we're investing millions into helping parents recognise and address potentially harmful conflict so more children can grow up in happier homes.'

The 'bespoke relationship support' scheme was launched in 2018, with 47million already allocated to it. The new cash will help the work to continue and enable 'innovative new projects'.

According to the DWP website, RPC is 'aimed at conflict below the threshold of domestic abuse'.

It says examples of such conflict can include 'aggression, silence, lack of respect, emotional control, lack of resolution'.

The announcement comes alongside a Department for Education 'state of the nation' report on the mental health of children.

It found while most children have a good relationship with their parents, those who do not are more likely to have a mental health problem.
Early morning starts, split shifts in the classroom and longer opening hours could become the new normal if NSW goes ahead with a major overhaul of the traditional school day, according to a top education expert.

Premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday said the time-honoured 9am to 3pm school day could soon be a thing of the past to give busy families more flexibility.

He said trials were underway in schools across the state as part of a government review and that officials would not be taking a 'one size fits all' approach.

'In my view, 9am until 3pm doesn't work,' he said. 'The world in the 1950s is very different from the world we live in today.'

The University of Technology Sydney's Dr Damian Maher told Daily Mail Australia a series of changes could be made to better fit the needs of students and their families.

The traditional school day could be on the verge of being overhauled in NSW - with early morning starts, split shifts in the classroom and longer opening hours becoming the new normal

Early starts

A school in Sydney's south-west has already shifted to earlier operating hours in an attempt to make students more focused in the classroom.

Merrylands East Public School changed its hours to 8am and 1.15pm with no lunch break a decade ago.

'Finishing at lunchtime had a lot of benefits for them,' Dr Maher, a Initial Teacher Education Senior Lecturer, said.

'They're now not having students hanging around for 50 minutes or so getting into mischief.'

WHAT THE SCHOOL DAY LOOKS LIKE AROUND THE WORLD France - School days go from 8am until 4pm on most days, but students get Wednesday afternoons off. Students must also go to school for a half-day on Saturday. Japan and Spain - Students get long lunch breaks so they can eat at home with their families. Brazil - Students can go to school either from 7am to 12pm or from 1pm to 6pm. They take about five classes a day, each lasting 50 minutes - and have a 30 minute break. Advertisement

Edmund Rice College near Wollongong has shifted to similar opening hours to give its students time in the afternoon for after-school activities and part-time work.

'For a lot of families it gives them the flexibility to come home together earlier,' Dr Maher said.

Split shifts

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell last June proposed staggering start times as an alternative to traditional opening hours.

Dr Maher said that plan was a good use of resources as schools are expensive to set up and run.

'You'll get better use out of your facilities,' he said. 'You could have younger children starting earlier and older students starting later in the day.'

But the teaching expert warned officials could face a logistical challenge if some schools adopt the new system and others do not.

'In NSW, we have interschool sport in both primary and secondary schools so they might have issues trying to match schedules,' he said.

'That'll take some thinking.'

In June last year the NSW government staggered the start and finish times of public schools as part of a push to modernise the traditional school day.

Alternatives include a 7am to 1pm day, or extended after-school care.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet hinted at the changes to school hours at a press conference on Monday. Pictured are Australian school students wearing masks

Trials are underway varying school opening hours in Australia's most populated state. Pictured are children at the school gates in NSW

Dr Maher said the government was hoping to ease congestion on the state's roads by breaking up start times, but that could be done in other ways without affecting students' mental health.

The cost of Sydney's traffic congestion to the state economy is estimated to reach $13.1billion by 2031, according to the NSW Productivity Commission.

'We have to think about what's most important for young people,' he said. 'If the intention is to reduce traffic on public transport, they can get people to work from home.'

After and pre-school activities

If a school decides to shift to early-morning start times, Dr Maher said students with parents who work late could be left hanging around for hours waiting to be picked up.

'The monetary cost has to be thought through,' he said.

'What happens to children if they finish earlier in the day and can't be picked up?

'Even if you finish at 3.30pm though you can have the same issue.'

NSW education officials have indicated both study and breakfast clubs could be introduced if schools have to extend their opening hours.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet hinted at the changes to school hours at a press conference on Monday

In June last year the NSW government staggered the start and finish times of public schools as part of a push to modernise the traditional school day. Pictured are students taking their first HSC exam at Sydney Secondary College in November

'We have already created an additional 10,000 before and after school care places,' Ms Mitchell said in June.

'Surveying parents and carers has provided us with a better understanding of the work requirements of families.'

The trial in NSW comes after a number of women's economic forums raised the issue of inflexible school hours.

The premier first raised the prospect of changing school hours last December.

'Education should be designed around our children, not simply around the schools themselves,' he said at the time.
Lawmakers gathered on the Capitol steps Monday evening to pay tribute to the more than 900,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sporting a face mask and holding a lantern, stood in the center of the bipartisan group of legislators for the event which included the singing of two songs by the United States Army Chorus and a moment of silence.

She was joined by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for the program which began with the hymn Shall We Gather at the River and then a singing of God Bless America.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led several dozen members of Congress in a moment of silence to mark 900,000 Americans perishing from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic

An aide carries an umbrella over the head of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she arrives to lead other lawmakers in a moment of silence Monday night

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wore a mask and held a lantern as Congress marked the grim milestone Monday

Members of the House of Representatives and senators participated in the event, which lasted just a few minutes

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bows her head during Monday night's moment of silence. The U.S. hit 900,000 COVID-19 deaths on Friday

The United States Army Chorus prepared two songs for the occasion: the hymn Shall We Gather at the River and God Bless America

The Capitol Dome is illuminated over the lawmakers who gathered on the Capitol steps Monday to pay their respects to Americans who've died during the coronavirus pandemic

The U.S. hit 900,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, less than two months after passing the grim milestone of 800,000 coronavirus deaths - propelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Only one member of Congress has died of COVID - Republican Rep. Ron Wright - while Rep.-elect Luke Letlow passed away before being sworn-in.

His widow, Rep. Julia Letlow, now represents that district.

However Congress has seen a spike in cases, despite most lawmakers being vaccinated.

Since the Omicron variant hit the U.S., dozens of lawmakers have tested positive for COVID-19, including Pelosi's two top lieutenants, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn.

Clyburn tested positive in December - and was forced to miss his granddaughter's wedding as he awaited the results of a PCR test to confirm his case.

Hoyer tested positive on Tuesday and said he would working from home and taking advantage of proxy voting.

Overall since December, 42 House members and 8 senators tested positive for the virus.

President Joe Biden sent out a statement Friday night marking the sorrowful milestone.

'After nearly two years, I know that the emotional, physical, and psychological weight of this pandemic has been incredibly difficult to bear,' he said.

He pleaded with Americans to get vaccinated and then get their booster shots.

'Two hundred and fifty million Americans have stepped up to protect themselves, their families, and their communities by getting at least one shot - and we have saved more than one million American lives as a result,' the president said.
An acknowledgement of the bullying and harassment experienced by parliamentary staff will be delivered when federal parliament resumes for the year on Tuesday.

The statement of acknowledgement will be delivered at the start of parliament by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Antony Albanese will also make an address following the statement.

However, the acknowledgement will not contain an apology to parliament staff for the treatment they received while at work.

The statement of acknowledgement will be delivered at the start of parliament by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate

The statement was the first of 28 recommendations of sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins' review into the toxic culture at Parliament House.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the statement would be a chance to acknowledge the 'terrible' events that had taken place in parliament.

'That began an important conversation in this country about how Australia can be better when it comes to the treatment of women in our workplaces, in our society and in our lives,' he told reporters in Canberra.

'I welcome that, it's been a difficult journey and an important one.'

The review was triggered after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public last year with allegations she had been raped in a minister's office in Parliament House.

The government had drawn criticism for not issuing an invitation to Ms Higgins to attend parliament in person for the statement of acknowledgement, due to COVID rules restricting visitors to Parliament House during sitting weeks.

Arrangements are now being made for staffers to be able to view the acknowledgement in person.

AAP understands Brittany Higgins wasn't formally invited by the government and feels insulted by being kept in the dark about the process.

Independent MP Zali Steggall has secured spots in public galleries for several former staffers to attend the acknowledgement in person

Those who will be in attendance include former Liberal staffer Rachelle Miller, who made allegations former Education Minister Alan Tudge was emotionally and physically abusive towards her during an extramarital affair - allegations the MP has denied.

She said while she was grateful the statement was taking place, it felt disingenuous.

'I think that a lot of the words that have come from the government have been words but we're not seeing a lot of it backed up in action,' she told ABC Radio..

'I want to hear an acknowledgement that people suffered really terrible consequences of their employment in Parliament House.'

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said those who had been participants in the review were informed about the statement taking place.

'I think, I hope, people will see it to be a very sincere acknowledgement and also a very sincere call to action,' Senator Birmingham told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

'Protocols were changed last night to enable (staffers) to come with special arrangements made through the offices of the presiding officers yesterday for people who expressed an interest in physically attending parliament for this.'

Labor frontbencher Tony Burke said the statement needed to be made as soon as possible, despite COVID restricting attendance levels.

'The statement needs to be made, but more work needs to be done, but with COVID restrictions it's not the moment it should have been,' he told ABC Radio.

'I wouldn't object to (an apology in the statement) - there is not a single culture in this building, it runs as more than 400 small businesses and there's a different culture in all.'

Ms Steggall said the statement was a critical first step in changing the workplace culture at Parliament House.

'I hope (staff) can feel heard and listened to,' she said.

'We really need to continually work to continue to improve this workplace.'
Manhunt continues for suspect in Washington grocery store shooting

Xinhua) 16:18, February 08, 2022

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The manhunt for a suspect in a grocery store shooting that left one person dead and one hurt continued Monday night in the U.S. state of Washington, authorities said.

Aaron Christopher Kelly, 39, has been identified as the suspect in the shooting at a Fred Meyer grocery store in the southeastern Washington city of Richland. The shooting was reported Monday morning, according to the Richland Police Department.

"This shooting resulted in the death of 38-year-old Justin Krumbah. Investigators are continuing the search for Kelly to bring him into custody," said the department in a statement Monday night, adding that the surviving victim is currently in critical condition and receiving continuing treatment at an area hospital.

The department said that a first-degree murder warrant has been issued for the suspect, who is believed to be driving a silver 2005 Honda Civic.

Authorities posted two photos of the suspect on social media and urged local residents with information to contact police.

"Kelly should be considered armed and dangerous. Please do not approach him. Call 911 for an immediate police response," the police department said in an update posted on Facebook.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)


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Websites that publish porn will be finally legally required to verify the age of their users under new online safety rules.

As part of a strengthening of the proposed Online Safety Bill, digital minister Chris Philp has said affected sites will need to put robust checks in place to ensure users are 18 or over.

Sites could use secure age verification technology to confirm a user possesses a credit card and is therefore at least 18, or use a third-party service to confirm someone's age against government data.

Ministers said that if sites fail to act, Ofcom, as the sector's regulator, will be able to fine them up to 10 per cent of their annual global turnover or block their site in the UK, while bosses of such sites could be held criminally liable if they fail to co-operate with Ofcom.

Prior to this announcement, only commercial porn sites that allow user-generated content were in the scope of the Bill  the update means all commercial porn sites are now within the scope of the proposed new rules.

The Government said the onus will be on the companies and sites themselves to decide on how best to comply with the new rules, adding that Ofcom may recommend the use of certain age verification technology, but said that the measures put in place should not process or store data that is irrelevant to the purpose of checking someones age.

The shake-up ends years of flip-flopping by the Government on how to control the pornography industry. Plans were first laid out in 2015 only to be mothballed four years later.

Campaigners warn that the vast amounts of porn readily available online are having a worrying impact on childrens attitudes to relationships.

Some have argued that the new rules would have a major impact on the revenue streams of porn sites. But others representing UK celebrities who use OnlyFans insisted that the site already has age verification systems in place. And cybersecurity experts have also warned that the Governments internet plans could pose a data security risk.

Mr Philp said: It is too easy for children to access pornography online. Parents deserve peace of mind that their children are protected online from seeing things no child should see.

Under draft internet laws, users will have to pass verification checks to prove they are at least 18 (file photo)

We are now strengthening the Online Safety Bill so it applies to all porn sites to ensure we achieve our aim of making the internet a safer place for children.

Half of parents fear web porn gives youngsters an unrealistic view of sex and more than half of mothers think it casts women in a poor light.

Under the Online Safety Bill, age verification checks were to apply only to websites hosting user-generated adult content. This included social media platforms or sites such as OnlyFans, where anyone can register and upload their own adult content.

Critics said that plan was too weak because websites could easily get around it by removing user-generated content.

The Government yesterday said it would strengthen the legislation to include all sites that feature adult content. Officials said the final version would be published within the coming weeks.

How children will be protected? Under the Online Safety Bill, users will have to pass age verification checks to view any adult content on websites. It is up to tech companies to choose how they do this, from ID checks to using the latest age verification technology. But if they fail to do so, Ofcom will have the power to fine them 10 per cent of their annual global turnover or block access in the UK. Senior bosses will also be liable for criminal sanctions. There are virtually no protections against children accessing online porn. Age verification is already in operation in France for users to access one of the biggest porn companies, with the technology provided by British firms. Advertisement

It is not yet clear what the checks will involve because the Government has said the onus would be on the websites.

Ofcom is expected to recommend a range of age verification technologies similar to those already used by gambling websites and alcohol sellers.

While many do not require a full identity check, users may need to prove they are over 18 by using documents such as a passport or credit card.

Experts said age estimation technology could also be used, in which users prove their age by uploading a selfie.

The Government said any technology used must be secure, effective and privacy-preserving.

If the websites fail to act, Ofcom will be able to fine them up to 10 per cent of their annual worldwide turnover or block them from being accessible in the UK.

Bosses of these websites could also be held criminally liable if they fail to cooperate with Ofcom.

A conservative estimate of the number of 11- to 13-year-olds who had watched porn was around 51 per cent, according to research by the British Board of Film Classification in 2020.

The Daily Mail has been campaigning since 2012 for stronger measures to protect children from finding adult material online. Pressure on the Government saw it pledge to introduce strict age verification checks in 2015  and came within months of achieving this four years later under the Digital Economy Act.

Andy Burrows, head of child safety online policy at the NSPCC, said: Its right the Government has listened to calls to fix one of the gaps in the Online Safety Bill and protect children from pornography wherever its hosted.

Crucially, they have also acted on our concerns and closed the Only Fans loophole that would have let some of the riskiest sites off the hook despite allowing children access to extremely damaging material.

But the legislation still falls short of giving children comprehensive protection from preventable abuse and harmful content and needs significant strengthening to match the Governments rhetoric and focus minds at the very top of tech companies on child safety.

Alex Davies-Jones, Labours shadow minister for tech, gambling and the digital economy, said: Labour has long called on the Government to offer security for young people online, and we're glad it has accepted our call for all pornography sites to stop children accessing them by using age-verification technology.

We need strict age protection rules, while tightly regulating age-verification tech to ensure they are not being used to collect unnecessary personal data and to protect peoples privacy online.

Ultimately the Tories persistent delays on online safety legislation means that another generation have grown up with access to harmful content online  they can and must do better.

Speaking to MailOnline, a source close to OnlyFans star Sarah Jayne Dunn said: It is already a part of OnlyFans policy and procedure that you have to prove you are 18+ in order to set up an account. It is a far more rigorous process in terms of meeting the platforms requirements than most social media sites, which is obviously a very positive thing for content creators.

But a spokesman for site King Savage Media added: It may bring a major decrease in revenue for adult websites, which will most likely the decrease their ability to offer the most of their collections. For example, for a pay website, they may decrease the amount of new scenes they offer per week, especially if their revenue decreases as a portion of UK porn viewership anonymity expires.

Cyber experts have warned that any extra steps which rely on the transfer of data could be appealing to cybercriminals.

Firms must decide how to vet their customers  potentially with credit card, passport or driving licence details (file image posed by models)

Jamie Akhtar, chief executive of cybersecurity firm CyberSmart, said: Despite the commitment to user privacy outlined in the Governments announcement, the process may pose security risks for adults.

Data is the lifeblood of cybercrime and adding an extra step that requires the transfer of personal data  for verification  could well make adult sites a key target for criminals.

Of course, this risk is far outweighed by the potential benefits, but its worth sounding a cautionary note and urging adults who use these sites to be as diligent as possible.

Yaniv Balmas, vice president of research at Salt Security, added: Yes, age verification services do exist today  and are in fact quite common in some online business sectors. However, we must remember that the most effective age verification methods require users to share their personal information, whether it is their photo, ID, phone number, credit card or anything else.

This is somewhat a double-edged sword; while it will certainly help reduce the exposure of these websites to the underaged, it also creates a privacy concern in which porn sites will now have the theoretical ability to identify their previously anonymised users, and protecting this data will now be shifted to their responsibility.

In late 2019, then culture secretary Nicky Morgan scrapped the plans, instead insisting they would be replaced by a duty of care in future legislation. This later became the Online Safety Bill, which was published in draft form last year.

The Age Verification Providers Association said it used artificial intelligence to estimate someones age to within two years with an enormous degree of certainty.

Iain Corby, executive director at the body, said: Adult websites were ready to implement age checks in 2019  and they remain ready today. Ofcoms main problem is making sure they can apply it to everyone all at once. No company will want to be the first to introduce it for fear of losing its audience.

The Online Safety Bill will impose a duty of care on tech giants to protect users against illegal or harmful content, with Ofcom acting as regulator.

Officials said it would be published in full in the coming weeks and will be put before Parliament.
Four men have been arrested over the alleged murder of a father-of-two who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting 13 years ago.

Omega Ruston, 32, was shot dead in a suspected road rage attack on the Gold Coast Highway on January 26, 2009.

Mr Ruston was travelling with two friends along the highway when he pulled over after an incident with another car.

Omega Ruston (above), 32, was shot dead in a suspected road rage incident on the Gold Coast Highway on January 26, 2009

Mr Ruston and one of his friends got out of the vehicle as a small maroon four-door sedan stopped behind them.

The sedan then drove away and allegedly fired two gunshots from the rear passenger window.

One of the bullets hit Mr Ruston in the stomach and killed him.

The maroon sedan was allegedly seen by witnesses travelling south on the highway after the shooting.

They described three men in the sedan as Middle Eastern in appearance and allegedly saw a man in the back seat holding a black semi-automatic pistol.

Police on Monday night and Tuesday morning made four arrests in a major breakthrough for the cold case.

Mr Ruston had pulled over on the highway after an incident with another car when a maroon sedan drove by and allegedly fired two shots out of the rear passenger window

Photo shows the moment a 37-year-old was arrested in Huntingwood in relation to the shooting

Haysam Hamdan was apprehended at Sydney Airport while allegedly trying to flee the country while former Nomad and Bandito bike Paul Younan was grabbed elsewhere.

Both men have been suspects since early in the investigation and were named in 2012 Queensland court documents.

A third unnamed man was arrested in NSW on Tuesday morning, along with a truck driver later that day who was taken to Brisbane Watchhouse.

Australian Federal Police and NSW anti-bikie cops said the first three men were aged 37, 39, and 43.

They were charged on Queensland warrants and extradition applications are expected to be made so they can face murder charges.

Mr Ruston had been standing outside the vehicle with a friend when he was shot in the stomach

Mr Ruston's father Phil said he only found out about the arrests second hand and was just as surprised as the rest of Australia.

'We really don't know anything but... it will be nice to see justice done,' he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Police are expected to allege Mr Ruston was leaving celebrations in North Burleigh when his ute was cut off in traffic.

He argued with the other group through his car window before he got out of the car to confront the other driver outside a McDonald's in Burleigh Heads.

That's when police allege he was shot by the third car and died at the scene despite efforts by two friends to save his life.

Last year, Inspector Chris Ahearn said police were investigating links to Gold Coast and Sydney organised crime syndicates and motorcycle gangs they believe helped the sedan passengers after the shooting.

The maroon sedan was reportedly seen by witnesses travelling south on the highway after the incident

A full review of the cases was ordered and a $250,000 reward offered for information leading to convictions.

'His children have had to grow up without their father being part of their lives and our family have had to carry on,' Mr Ruston's brother Nicholas said at the time.

In March of last year police conducted a search of Parramatta River, west Sydney, with metal detectors in the hopes of finding the gun used in the shooting.

Chris Ahearn from Queensland Police then announced the gun was an 'identical ballistic match to a firearm used in the west Sydney Ink Tattoo Parlour drive by shooting'.

Younan faced Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday, and Hamdan was expected in Sydney Central Court.

Police are expected to address the media on Tuesday afternoon.
Tasmania has recorded 601 new COVID-19 cases, an increase on daily numbers reported in recent days.

There are 10 people being treated in hospital for the virus, a rise from Monday's figure of eight. One of them is in intensive care.

Five people with the virus are in hospital for unrelated medical conditions, the state's health department says.

Tasmania has recorded 601 new COVID-19 cases, an increase on daily numbers reported in recent days (Pictured, Premier Peter Gutwein)

Tasmania recorded 570 new infections on February 4, with daily infections in the 400s in the following three days.

There are 3,302 documented active cases statewide, continuing a broad downward trend over several weeks.

Public school students are preparing to return to the classroom on Wednesday.

The Liberal state government has defended its back-to-school plan, which doesn't include surveillance COVID-19 testing of students or teachers.

Students have been advised to take a rapid antigen test when symptomatic.

The government is providing back-to-school packs to every student containing two RATs, with two more tests available from schools per week if needed.

'There's no better place than school for a child's education, or their wellbeing,' Premier Peter Gutwein said.

'I would encourage parents to ensure that their children attend school this week.'

Public health officials have said surveillance testing, which occurs in NSW and Victoria, is not needed because of Tasmania's lower transmission.

Tasmania has recorded 20 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, with seven of those occurring since borders reopened in mid-December.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is finally ending the state's indoor mask mandate - and New York's governor Kathy Hochul is expected to follow suit during her mandate announcement on Wednesday.

The Golden State is set to lift its indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people on February 15, though face coverings will still be required at school and other high-risk settings such as on public transit and in nursing homes, health officials said Monday.

Unvaccinated people will still be expected to wear masks indoors and health officials are currently working to reframe mask guidance for schoolchildren, state leaders said Monday.

California became the latest in a string of states to begin relaxing Covid guidance amid plunging infection rates.

In New York, people are eagerly waiting an announcement from Hochul on Wednesday who is set to provide an 'update' on the state's mask rules and proof-of-vaccine requirements.

The state announced the lifting of the mandate after observing a significant drop in infections since the peak of the omicron variant

California temporarily lifted its mask mandate last fall as vaccines became widely available, but reintroduced it in December as it braced for a new wave driven by the omicron varient. Shoppers are pictured wearing masks at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, California on November 21, 2021

New York on Sunday reported its lowest positivity rate since omicron was identified as a worrisome variant, Hochul tweeted.

'This is great news in our fight against the virus, but we need to stay vigilant,' she said. 'Mask up, get tested, and if you haven't yet, get vaccinated and boosted.'

The state reported 3,795 new cases and 5,069 hospitalizations Sunday. For reference, the state confirmed more than 85,000 cases on January 6 during the peak of the Omicron variant.

At least 95 per cent of adult New Yorkers have received at least one dose of the vaccine, CDC data shows.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to make an announcement on the state's mask mandates Wednesday. The state on Sunday reported its lowest positivity rate since omicron was identified as a worrisome variant

New York's current guidance for indoor businesses and schools is set to expire Thursday and she said

Hochul is facing heat to lift the mandate after leaders in other eastern states - including New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware - announced plans Monday to begin rescinding the requirement for schoolchildren.

She told reporters Monday that she'd like to see a increase in the number of children aged five through 11 inoculated before lifting the mandate for schools.

'I have a lot of metrics I'm using right now,' Hochul told reports during a visit to Ulster County. 'I'm not saying we won't get to that place, it's just premature to say.'

California Governor Gavin Newsom says the state's indoor mask mandate will expire on February 15 for those who are vaccinated

The state's vaccination rate for children aged 11 and under is 34 per cent.

Newsom is now under heat from parents to lift mask requirements for children.

'California lifting the mask mandate is great and all but what does this mean for schools?' Kevin Dalton tweeted. 'This is a hollow victory if kids still have to go to school with masks on.'

'Nice to read about parents in other states finally getting the option to send their kids to school without masks for the first time in two years,' added another Twitter user.

'California kids waiting for their turn to be treated equally.'

Others questioned the wisdom in letting schoolchildren roam mask free in a move that could prove premature.

'I have no idea if this is the right choice,' Ethan Hornstein tweeted. 'It might be too soon. Cases could rise again due to this.'

Newsom tweeted that the mask requirement will not be renewed after the state's case rate dropped dramatically and hospitalizations have stabalized

Newsom is under growing pressure to lift the mask mandate for school children as well. Some eastern US states have already announced plans to nix mask requirements in classrooms

California temporarily lifted its indoor mask mandate for inoculated residents last fall when vaccines became available to the vast majority of adults.

However, it reintroduced the guidance last December amid a surge of cases.

Newsom angered some earlier last month when he and fellow Democrats - including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcia and San Francisco Mayor London Breed -were spotted at an NFL game without masks in defiance of state and local ordinances.

Newsom later claimed that he was 'very judicious' and only took his face mask off during January 30's NFC Championship game for a photo op with basketball legend Earvin 'Magic' Johnson.

Newsom angered some Californians after he was spotted posing maskless with basketball great Magic Johnson during a January 30 football game

'You'll see in the photo I did take, where Magic was kind enough, generous enough to ask me for a photograph - in my left hand's the mask, and I took a photo,' Newsom told reporters during a press conference. 'The rest of the time I wore it, as we all should.'

He was nearly recalled after being spotted maskless at a high-end Napa Valley restaurant in November 2020 during a time when the rest of the state was under lockdown orders.

For the past eight weeks, California has averaged 43,532 cases and 402 deaths per day.

More than 82 percent of the state's population aged five and above are vaccinated.
Northern Ireland police were involved in 'collusive behaviours' over loyalist paramilitary murders during the Troubles, an investigation has found.

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Marie Anderson said she was 'deeply concerned' by the scale and scope of the failings she had uncovered in her probe.

She was looking into murders and attempted murders carried out by the Ulster Defence Association in south Belfast in the 1990s.

Eight loyalist attacks attributed to the UDA or its Ulster Freedom Fighters cover name were examined in the 344-page report published today.

Eleven people were murdered in the attacks, including five who lost their lives in the Sean Graham bookmakers atrocity on the Ormeau Road in February 1992.

Among her damning findings, Mrs Anderson said Royal Ulster Constabulary files relating to the bookmakers massacre had been deliberately destroyed.

She said 'collusive behaviours' identified in her report included:

Intelligence and surveillance failings which led to loyalist paramilitaries obtaining military grade weaponry in a 1987 arms importation;

A failure to warn two men of threats to their lives;

A failure to retain records and the deliberate destruction of files relating to the attack at Sean Graham bookmakers;

The failure to maintain records about the deactivation of weapons, 'indicating a desire to avoid accountability for these sensitive and contentious activities';

The failure of police to exploit all evidential opportunities;

Failures by Special Branch to disseminate intelligence to murder investigation teams;

An absence of control and oversight in the recruitment and management of informants;

Unjustifiable and continued use by RUC Special Branch of informants involved in serious criminality, including murder and 'turning a blind eye' to such activities.

Family of those killed during the Troubles by loyalist paramilitaries in south Belfast pose together

Five Catholics were killed in the attack on a Belfast betting shop including Peter Magee, 18, (right) and James Kennedy, 15, (left) who is thought to be the youngest of the murder victims

The massacre also claimed the lives of William McManus (left), Christy Doherty, 52, ( centre ) and Jack Duffin

The massacre at Sean Graham's bookmakers: Two masked Protestant paramilitary members marched into Sean Graham's bookmakers on Belfast's Ormeau Road at 2.20pm on February 5, 1992. The UDA gunmen blasted round after round from their automatic weapons and hit 12 of the 13 people inside. Five were slaughtered in the attack while seven were wounded. The area of Belfast is mostly nationalist, with all the victims being from Catholic backgrounds. Five Catholics including a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old boy died in the massacre. Pictured: Sean Graham's shop after the attack Jack Duffin, 66, Mr McManus, 54, Christy Doherty, 52, and Peter Magee, 18, were all killed outright in the betting shop raid. Fifteen-year-old school boy James Kennedy died in hospital after the attack. Their families have long believed that the security forces colluded in the attack. Settlements were reached in the High Court last week over claims of state collusion in the murders. Those affected had filed legal cases against the PSNI's chief constable, the government and the MoD. A memorial for the victims on Saturday, marking 30 years since the incident, was attended by hundreds of mourners. Advertisement

The ombudsman also described as 'totally unacceptable' the use by RUC Special Branch of informants who had themselves been involved in murders.

As well as raising concerns about the use of informants in relation to the cases under investigation in her report, the ombudsman commented on the wider Special Branch policy of employing informers that had been involved in murder.

She said the findings of the new probe, when combined with the conclusions of other reports published by her office in the past, had identified a total of eight UDA/UFF informants who were linked, through intelligence, to the murders and attempted murders of 27 people.

While she found no evidence police had received information that would have allowed them to prevent any of the attacks examined in the latest report, the ombudsman questioned why no such intelligence was received, given that Special Branch had such a network of informants within the UDA/UFF.

A senior PSNI officer said areas of the report made 'uncomfortable reading' and apologised to the families of those killed and injured for the failings identified.

A Court of Appeal judgment in 2020 has limited the scope of the ombudsman to accuse former officers of the criminal offence of collusion with paramilitaries.

Acknowledging this limitation, Mrs Anderson said she had identified conduct within the RUC that amounted to 'collusive behaviours'.

She said the long-held concerns of bereaved families and survivors about RUC conduct, including complaints of collusion with paramilitaries, were 'legitimate and justified'.

The murders and attempted murders were carried out between 1990 and 1998. All the victims were Catholic.

Christy Doherty, Jack Duffin, Peter Magee, Willie McManus and 15-year-old James Kennedy all died in the betting shop attack. Several others were badly injured.

The report also covered the murders of Harry Conlon and Aidan Wallace in 1991, Michael Gilbride in 1992, Martin Moran in 1993, Theresa Clinton in 1994 and Larry Brennan in 1998.

It also examined the attempted murder of Samuel Caskey in 1990.

PSNI Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said parts of the report made for uncomfortable reading

Brothers Thomas Duffin (left) and Paddy Duffin whose father Jack Duffin who was killed in the attack on the Sean Graham bookmakers

Brother of murdered police officer vows his memory will not be forgotten The brother of a police officer murdered by the IRA 50 years ago in Londonderry has said he will not allow his memory to be forgotten. Two RUC officers were killed in the 1972 gun attack on their vehicle and were remembered at a wreath-laying ceremony at the war memorial in the city on the anniversary of their deaths on Thursday. Sergeant Peter Gilgunn, 26, and constable David Montgomery, 20, were the first of 20 RUC casualties that year. Their deaths occurred just three days before Bloody Sunday, in which 13 civil rights marchers were shot dead by soldiers. Colin Montgomery, from Belfast, was 11 years old when his older brother was killed. He said: 'David was a very smart, bubbly fellow. He loved cars. He was in his prime and enjoying life. 'He was training for his sergeant exam when he was murdered.' Advertisement

The ombudsman said the RUC response to a significant escalation in UDA/UFF activity in the early 1990s led to it recruiting 'high-risk' informants suspected of involvement in previous murders.

She said Special Branch failed to consider the implications of this strategy or to properly manage the informers.

'This was totally unacceptable, and an illustration of how on occasion, the interests of obtaining information from informants was given precedence over the protection of the public from paramilitary crime and murder,' she said.

'I am of the view that the absence of controls, combined with the absence of records relating to these informants, constitutes collusive behaviour,' she said.

Mrs Anderson acknowledged that the RUC's use of informants yielded some success and potentially saved lives.

She said intelligence had also led to the arrest and conviction of a number of loyalists.

The ombudsman investigation found no evidence that police had actively sought to protect informants from arrest or prosecution.

She did however identify a 'pattern' of Special Branch failing to disseminate key intelligence to murder investigation teams.

She said the withholding of this information 'significantly impeded' the ability of police to bring perpetrators to justice.

The ombudsman raised specific concerns that intelligence on suspects was not shared with detectives investigating the murders of Mr Conlon, Mr Wallace and Mr Gilbride.

A memorial on Ormeau Road to those killed in the betting shop shooting in 1992

In relation to the bookmakers attack, photographs of a west Belfast loyalist meeting four men in a car linked to the UDA/UFF were not shared with detectives and are now no longer available.

The images were taken on the day the loyalist, who was suspected of a role in the Sean Graham atrocity, was believed to have been moving a 9mm pistol.

The ombudsman said there was also a failure to advise detectives about the use of covert investigatory measures shortly after the betting shop attack.

She said this resulted in a lost opportunity to recover items directly linked to the shooting, including firearms and clothing.

Mrs Anderson said she had also found no evidence that the murder team was advised that two suspects had met at a flat in the Annadale area before the attack.

The investigative errors identified in some of the RUC investigations included not checking CCTV or conducting background checks on cars; failure to search the house of a suspect; failure to conduct full forensic tests on blood found on a suspect's coat; failure to test a suspected getaway car for gunshot resin and 'utterly compromising' an identification parade involving a murder suspect.

In regard to the Sean Graham attack, the report said there was a delay in recovering and forensically examining the car; blood found on the coat of a suspect was not tested against the blood of the dead and injured; and a man suspected of having moved weapons was not arrested.

The ombudsman said there was also no evidence police took steps to test an aspect of a suspect's alibi.

The report also identified concerns about police returning of both 'deactivated' and live weapons to a loyalist informant.

Theresa Clintons daughters Roseann Murray (left) and Siobhan Kelly and her widow Jim Clinton read the Police Ombudsmans report

What is the timeline of the Northern Ireland Troubles and peace process? August 1969: British Government first send troops into Northern Ireland to restore order after three days of rioting in Catholic Londonderry 30 January 1972: On 'Bloody Sunday' 13 civilians are shot dead by the British Army during a civil rights march in Londonderry March 1972 The Stormont Government is dissolved and direct rule imposed by London 1970s: The IRA begin its bloody campaign of bombings and assassinations in Britain April 1981 Bobby Sands, a republicans on hunger strike in the Maze prison, is elected to Parliament. He dies a month later October 1984 An IRA bomb explodes at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, where Margaret Thatcher is staying during the Tory Party conference Early 1990s: Margaret Thatcher and then Sir John Major set up a secret back channel with the IRA to start peace talks. The communications was so secret most ministers did not know about it. April 1998 Tony Blair helps to broker the Good Friday Agreement, which is hailed as the end of the Troubles. It establishes the Northern Ireland Assembly with David Trimble as its first minister. 2000s: With some exceptions the peace process holds and republican and loyalist paramilitaries decommission their weapons May 2011 The Queen and Prince Philip make a state visit to Ireland, the first since the 1911 tour by George V. In a hugely symbolic moment, the Queen is pictured shaking hands with Martin McGuinness - a former IRA leader. Advertisement

This was despite police being aware of intelligence that loyalists had the ability to make deactivated weapons operational again.

One weapon  a deactivated Browning pistol  was subsequently reactivated and used in the murder of Mr Wallace and in the Sean Graham bookmakers shooting.

The ombudsman also criticised a failure by Special Branch to issue threat warnings to two men after intelligence indicated their lives were in danger.

The threats related to Mr Caskey prior to the murder attempt on him in 1990 and to Jim Clinton, whose wife Theresa was killed in the attack on their home in 1994.

Mrs Anderson said the failure to warn both men contravened police guidance for the issuing of threat warnings.

'I am of the view that this serious omission constitutes collusive behaviour,' she said.

The ombudsman also identified instances of weapons connected to murder inquiries being disposed of in 'inappropriate' ways, as well as evidence of records being routinely destroyed by the police.

She said a decision to donate the VZ58 rifle used in the bookmakers attack to the Imperial War Museum had caused 'understandable distress to the victims, survivors and their families'.

Mrs Anderson also criticised the fact that a Browning pistol used during the bookmakers attack and in the murder of Mr Wallace had been returned to the military. The gun had been stolen from the UDR by loyalists in January 1989.

She said the 'routine' destruction of records by the RUC's Tasking and Co-ordinating Group, including records of covert operations and the intelligence underpinning them, had 'obstructed examination of accountability'.

She referred in particular to the decision to destroy records relating to the bookmakers shooting.

'As a consequence, there are no records of the decision/decisions not to recover the weapons and other items likely to have been used in the attack, some of which were never recovered, or not recovered until months later,' she said.

'Similarly, there are no records of the decision not to make early arrests of those in possession of these items.

'The recovery of this material and these arrests could well have proven key to the detection of these crimes.'

The ombudsman also looked at a ninth loyalist attack  the murder of John O'Hara in 1991.

However, details of that investigation are not included in the published report due to ongoing criminal proceedings linked to that crime.

PSNI temporary assistant chief constable Jonathan Roberts said: 'Areas of the report make uncomfortable reading and I want to offer my sincere apologies to the families of those killed and injured for the failings identified in this report.

In this May 5, 1981 file photo British troops, in foreground, clash with demonstrators in a Catholic dominated area of Belfast, Northern Ireland

Photo dated December 7, 1982, showing the devastation caused by a time bomb exploded by the Irish National Liberation Army the evening before at the Droppin Well pub in Ballykelly

'We will never seek to excuse bad policing and where criticism is reasonably made the police service will acknowledge and address that.

'There is a willingness to consider and examine police actions openly, professionally and proportionately; where there has been wrongdoing, those responsible should be held to account for their actions.

'We have recognised the deficiencies and failings that have been previously highlighted by a number of inquiries regarding the handling and dissemination of intelligence by the RUC.

'These have been addressed by the restructuring of our intelligence systems and processes through the formation of Crime Department.

'This department is led by a single Assistant Chief Constable to ensure consistency and transparency by full and proper oversight of both the investigative and intelligence branches within a single department.

'Policing has developed enormously over the past 30 years and the Police Service of Northern Ireland now have greatly improved policies and procedures which guide our response to potential threats and how we approach criminal investigations.

'Intelligence handling, training and investigative standards for detectives, forensic opportunities and family liaison processes are today are unrecognisable from what was in place at the time of these attacks.'
The Post Office chairman has announced his plans to step down just days before an inquiry into the company's IT scandal begins.

Tim Parker, 66  said to be worth 247million before the pandemic  will quit in the autumn and a search for his successor is now under way.

From Monday a judge will begin hearing evidence from some of the 3,000 postmasters who were wrongly accused of stealing from their own tills, when computer glitches were to blame.

More than 700 were convicted between 2000 and 2015  some served prison terms and the scandal was linked to four suicides. Alongside then-chief executive Paula Vennells, Mr Parker  who became chairman in 2015  had signed off on an aggressive legal strategy to fight their own staff over the issue.

Tim Parker, 66 (pictured)  said to be worth 247million before the pandemic  will quit in the autumn and a search for his successor is now under way

However, the Post Office eventually capitulated and agreed to compensate victims, with the Government forced to put 1billion aside to cover these costs.

Mr Parker said he was 'sincerely sorry on behalf of the Post Office for historical failings' following the scandal. The Daily Mail has long campaigned for justice for the wrongly accused postmasters.

Mr Parker's decision to quit came a year after he was forced to step down as chairman of the National Trust after facing opposition from ministers over the charity's position on the UK's legacy of slavery.

He had previously earned the nickname 'the Prince of Darkness' for the gusto with which he embarked on job cuts in other corporate roles, often at the behest of private equity owners.

From Monday a judge will begin hearing evidence from some of the 3,000 postmasters who were wrongly accused of stealing from their own tills, when computer glitches were to blame (stock image)

After becoming chief executive of Clarks shoes in 1996, he oversaw restructuring which saw 20 factories closed. Eight years later he became boss of the AA, getting rid of 3,400 staff. He is the personal owner of the British Pathe film archive.

The father of four said he was attracted to the Post Office by its 'strong social purpose', but claimed he only needed to work a day and a half per week to turn around the loss-making outfit shortly after he joined.

He negotiated a 75,000 annual pay package but in recent years has donated his fees to charity. He saw them reduced to 19,200 in 2018 as he cut his hours further.

A Post Office spokesman said: 'Tim Parker's second term as chairman will conclude in the autumn with the Department of Business, as the shareholder of Post Office, conducting the search for his successor.'
The doll-obsessed man who kidnapped little Cleo Smith had delusions of 'protecting children', with pictures proudly posted from his play room showing unopened boxes of toy cars - similar to those police later found the four-year-old playing with.

Terence Darrell Kelly would post to online child safety forums before the abduction warning of the need to keep children safe from 'predatory people'.

Kelly pleaded guilty to one count of child stealing after four-year-old Cleo was found inside his Carnarvon home in Western Australia's Gascoyne region - 18 days after she vanished on October 16.

The 36-year-old kept her in a house brimming with Bratz dolls and Disney princesses, which he collected and played with in his spare time.

WA Police confirmed to Cleo's family that distressing pictures showing a bedroom full of Bratz memorabilia accurately reflected the state of the house at the time of Cleo's daring rescue.

Kelly also created a fantasy world in online doll forums, painting himself as a doting father and family man who was alert to the dangers of the internet.

'As a parent, it gives you goosebumps... very real knowing predatory people can strike,' Kelly said after flagging advice from the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.

The man who kidnapped little Cleo Smith had delusions of 'protecting children' and his imaginary family who he feared were exposed to 'predatory people'

Terence Darrell Kelly pleaded guilty to one count of child stealing after four-year-old Cleo was found inside his Carnarvon home 18 days after she vanished on October 16

Daily Mail Australia can also reveal haunting pictures in which Kelly boasted of his doll collection showcased boxes of unopened Hot Wheels toy cars. Cleo was playing with toy cars when found by police

'I feel the need to protect my kids more and their friends too, also other children around us we must look out for.'

Kelly has no known biological children.

Pictures of the kids he was passing off as his own in these forums were stolen from well-known bloggers and stock image servers.

He frequently engaged in dialogue about the importance of child safety and even communicated with fake social media accounts he made on behalf of his imaginary family.

When sharing pictures of his new doll purchases, he would occasionally thank his so-called children for gifting them to him, describing one as a 'Father's Day present' from his daughter.

A photo showing Kelly's doll collection (above) also included several packages of Hot Wheels cars, the same toy Cleo was playing with when she was rescued

Terry Kelly, 36, (pictured) pleaded guilty to kidnapping Cleo. Her mother, Ellie Smith, believes he wanted his very own doll to play with

The posts, which went viral after Kelly's arrest on November 3, helped Cleo's parents, Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon, formulate an opinion on the man who snatched their daughter from their tent at the Blowholes campground.

During an exclusive $2million interview with 60 Minutes, Ms Smith said she believed Kelly's doll obsession prompted him to steal Cleo.

'That's what he wanted, he wanted a little doll,' she said.

Kelly died Cleo's hair pink during her time in captivity and tried to give her a haircut - acts which horrified her parents.

'I was just angry that someone tried changing her to kind of fit what they wanted,' Ms Smith said.

Kelly died Cleo's hair pink during her time in captivity and tried to give her a haircut - acts which horrified her parents

The couple said Kelly had convinced Cleo he took her from the tent so her parents could tend to her baby sister who he said was sick (pictured, forensics at the crime scene)

'She said she got the pink put in her hair and then it washed out, she said it didn't work, and we had to then get her hair cut again because it was basically all cut into chunks.'

Cleo was found sitting inside a well-lit room playing with toy cars, Ms Smith confirmed.

Now, Daily Mail Australia can also reveal haunting pictures in which Kelly boasted of his doll collection showcased boxes of unopened Hot Wheels toy cars.

In the far right corner of his doll-inspired bedroom, Kelly stacked at least four boxes of Hot Wheels products on a white shelf.

It's unclear if this was the same room that Cleo was held captive in.

'We don't know exactly what room, we don't know if she was moved at all... the only thing we know if she washed pink dye out of her hair,' Ms Smith said.

Kelly created a fantasy world in online doll forums, painting himself as a doting father and family man who was alert to the dangers of the internet

Ms Smith (pictured with Cleo, left) noted Cleo had changed after her 18 day horror ordeal and now must sleep with lights on and doors open

Cleo is carried inside by her mother Ellie holding a pink balloon after Carnarvon decorated the town in support of the little girl

'I don't think we really know what his intentions were... from what we know, I don't know if he even knew what his intentions were going to be.'

While Kelly had been an avid social media user prior to Cleo's disappearance, he made a single post discussing his need for privacy just hours after kidnapping the four-year-old.

'I can't accept friend requests from strangers... I live a private life and I respect those who are on my friend list to ensure their privacy is respected too,' his Facebook status read.

'Us adults have to be careful online too.'

Bizarre details emerged about the accused's obsession with toys as numerous social media accounts linked to Kelly show a room full of children's dolls (pictured)

The post explained he would not become 'mates' with people just because they know his family or other friends.

The post was made about 5am. Cleo was taken from the tent she was sharing with her mum, stepdad and Isla between 1.30am and 6am, when her family woke to find her gone.

Kelly was also following Ms Smith's social media profiles, even interacting with posts made online calling for the four-year-old's safe return.

On a news article posted about missing Cleo, Kelly's account reacted with a 'sad' emoji.

Since Kelly's (pictured with a doll) arrest, multiple social media accounts emerged which allegedly belonged to him, where he boasts about his love for Bratz dolls
A dolphin has been rescued after getting stranded in shallow waters in Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay.

Water police were called to Greenwich Reserve, Williamstown, about 4pm on Monday by marine animal experts from Melbourne Zoo.

Two inflatable rescue boats carrying four officers were sent out and a sling was made to tow the marooned mammal into deeper water.

Animal experts assessed the dolphin before it was successfully released.

'Our members often see dolphins in the bay during patrols and it's great to see this one back where it belongs,' Leading Senior Constable Tony Christensen said.

'We hope to cross paths again - but this time well away from shore.'
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Large numbers of anti-vaccination protesters have gathered on the lawns of Parliament House ahead of mass demonstrations.

Police have warned Tuesday's protests, coinciding with the resumption of federal parliament, would be the largest yet since the Convoy to Canberra descended on the national capital last week.

Vocal anti-vaccination government senator Gerard Rennick is among those protesting outside Parliament House.

Large numbers of anti-vaccination protesters have gathered on the lawns of Parliament House ahead of mass demonstrations

Police have warned Tuesday's protests, coinciding with the resumption of federal parliament, would be the largest yet since the Convoy to Canberra descended on the national capital last week

Liberal Senator Gerard Rennick leaves after speaking with Convoy to Canberra protesters during a protest outside Parliament House in Canberra

Convoy to Canberra protesters wave flags and banners during a protest outside Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday

The senator was handed a list of demands by the protesters and told the crowd he would hand them directly to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The rogue Liberal said he was working to make sure children were not vaccinated against COVID-19.

United Australia Party MP Craig Kelly previously attempted to negotiate letting a number of protesters into Parliament House to present a list of demands to the prime minister.

The building has been closed off to the public during the sitting fortnight due to COVID-19 protocols.

There has been a large police presence around Parliament House, with protesters forced to stay inside large orange barricades set up on the front lawns

Anti-vaccine protesters are expected to reach peak numbers today, after a week of rallies, as Parliament resumes in Canberra

Vocal anti-vaccination government senator Gerard Rennick is among those protesting outside Parliament House

United Australia Party MP Craig Kelly previously attempted to negotiate letting a number of protesters into Parliament House to present a list of demands to the prime minister

Police officials said as many as 3,000 people could attend Tuesday's rally, with many roads around Parliament House blocked off

Police officials said as many as 3,000 people could attend Tuesday's rally, with many roads around Parliament House blocked off.

There has been a large police presence around Parliament House, with protesters forced to stay inside large orange barricades set up on the front lawns.

It comes after demonstrators targeted the governor-general's official Canberra residence, Government House, along with the ABC Canberra newsroom in the city's inner north on Monday.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe campaign that had raised more than $179,000 for the protests has been cancelled by the crowdfunding site.

The campaign was removed from the website for breaching GoFundMe's terms of service.
Prince Andrew is set to appear alongside the Queen to attend a remembrance service for his father the Duke of Edinburgh next month.

The monarch, 95, who has since returned to Windsor Castle to resume her duties, will appear alongside the Duke to attend a thanksgiving service for Prince Philip on March 29 at Westminster Abbey.

The Duke of Edinburgh  the nation's longest-serving consort  died aged 99 on April 9, just two months before he would have turned 100.

This news comes after it emerged last weekend that the Duke of York is set to meet lawyers representing Virginia Roberts in London on March 10 - nearly three weeks before the remembrance service - where he will testify under oath according to sources close to the royal.

Ms Roberts is suing Andrew in New York over claims she was trafficked by paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions when she was 17. Andrew vehemently denies the claims.

Prince Andrew (right) is set to appear alongside the Queen (left) to attend a remembrance service for Prince Philip next month - as she begins her Platinum Jubilee year with an even busier diary

The monarch, 95, who has since returned to Windsor Castle to resume her duties, is hoping to attend the thanksgiving service for the late Duke of Edinburgh (pictured) on March 29 at Westminster Abbey

Pictured: The Queen leaving Wood Farm in Sandringham, Norfolk, to board a helicopter to take Her Majesty back to Windsor on Monday morning

This news comes after it emerged last weekend that the Duke of York (pictured) is set to meet lawyers representing Ms Roberts in London on March 10 - nearly three weeks before the remembrance service - where he will testify under oath according to sources close to the royal

Ms Roberts (pictures middle) is suing Andrew in New York over claims she was trafficked by paedophile financier Epstein and forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions when she was 17. Andrew vehemently denies the claims

'We agreed to voluntarily produce the Duke for a deposition on March 10. Despite repeated requests, Ms. Giuffre (Roberts) still hasn't committed to a date or location for her deposition,' a source close to the Duke said on Saturday.

The Prince is being prepared by his UK-based legal team as he prepares to face a grilling over the span of two days by David Boies, 80, one of America's most renowned attorneys, and Sigrid McCawley.

Andrew, who was stripped of all his military titles and royal peerages last month after the case was confirmed as going to trial, will be questioned about three alleged assaults in 2001.

It has not been confirmed whether Prince Harry will be in attendance to join other members of the Royal Family at the remembrance ceremony for Prince Philip, according to The Sun Online.

Meanwhile, the Queen was pictured with her papers of state on a table in front of her and an image of her father King George VI poignantly nearby as she celebrated her 70-year reign on Sunday.

And there are no signs she will be taking a step back from public engagements this year.

Palace officials are expected to announce a number of public outings for the Queen in the coming days, including a raft of 'hardy annuals' such as the annual Commonwealth Day Service in March, signalling her slow return back to work.

The Queen is hoping to attend the thanksgiving service for the Duke of Edinburgh on March 29 alongside a diplomatic reception at Windsor on March 2.

It has not been confirmed whether Prince Harry (left) will be in attendance to join other members of the Royal Family. Pictured right: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

She will also appear at The Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14 - there are only three engagements that have been announced by palace officials so far.

They will no doubt come as a welcome relief to her millions of subjects who have been concerned by her spate of ill-health since last autumn.

Sources are at pains to stress that Her Majesty will continue to 'realistically pace herself' in the run up to the main jubilee celebrations in June in view of her age - she will celebrate her 96th birthday in April.

'It is about pacing her diary and ensuring there is flexibility. People are very mindful of the fact that at the age of 95, some days you wake up with aches and pains that you didn't have the day before,' a source said.

The Queen will also play a large part in engagements around her four-day Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.

The Queen has been photographed working from her red boxes in an image released on the day she passes the historic milestone of 70 years on the throne. The smiling 95-year-old monarch is pictured with her papers of state on a table in front of her and poignantly nearby is an image of her father King George VI

The Queen cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House on Saturday

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

Aides are understood to be delighted with the Queen's energetic at a reception at Sandringham this weekend - providing confidence she can continue with outings this year.

It is understood aides intend for the monarch to begin travelling for engagements next month ahead of her 96th birthday.

It follows a day of celebrations for the Queen, who was photographed working from her red boxes as she passed the historic milestone of 70 years on the throne.

Seventy years ago on February 6 the king died and his daughter, aged just 25, became Queen of a nation still recovering from the upheavals of the Second World War.

In a message released to mark her Platinum Jubilee the Queen said: '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.'
Six North Sea oil and gas fields are expected to be given the go-ahead this year, despite the Government's drive to cut fossil-fuel emissions.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pressed Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to fast-track the licences for their construction.

Boris Johnson has previously made clear he wants the UK to be a net-zero carbon emitter by 2050. But the Treasury reportedly fears for the economic impact of switching to greener forms of power too quickly.

It is the latest sign of friction between No 10 and No 11 after the Treasury held back plans for bringing down NHS backlogs.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pressed Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to fast-track the licences for their construction

The regulator  the Oil and Gas Authority  is prepared to give drilling in the six areas the green light. It could begin in the Rosebank field, to the west of Shetland, and at Jackdaw, Marigold, Brodick, Catcher and Tolmount East in the North Sea.

Their combined reserves are thought to be enough to power the UK for six months, with 62million tonnes of oil-equivalent fuel in the ground.

A Whitehall source told The Daily Telegraph: 'The Business Secretary is pushing for more investment into the North Sea while we transition... Kwasi is actively resisting insane calls from Labour and the eco-lobby to turn off UK production.

'Doing so would trash energy security, kill off 200,000 jobs, and we would only end up importing more from foreign countries with dubious records.'
A young English woman has hit out at Qantas after the airline made her ring a call centre to use her pandemic flight credit - then quoted her a much higher price than online deals.

Events manager Abi Carter, 31, had her holiday to Los Angeles in March 2020 cancelled as international borders slammed shut at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But when she tried to put the $1,250 credit from that flight towards a trip to surprise her family in the UK recently, she was given a much higher quote by the Qantas call centre.

Events manager Abi Carter, 31, (left) had her holiday to Los Angeles in March 2020 cancelled as international borders slammed shut at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

But when she tried to put the credit from that flight towards a flight to surprise her family in the United Kingdom, she was 'left 'fuming' at the quote the Qantas overseas call centre gave her

'I got a job and I realised I had a 12 day break, so instead of sitting around my lounge I thought, great, I'll use my credit and go see my family,' Ms Carter told Daily Mail Australia.

She hasn't seen her family in more than two years.

But she had to call the Qantas call centre because the website did not allow her to redeem the credit.

When she finally got through after two hours on hold, the Qantas call centre sales assistant told her she'd have to fork out $2,100 - after the $1,250 credit had been applied to the fare.

That meant the fare would cost her a total of $3,350 - almost double what was quoted online.

Exactly the same class of seat, on the same days, at the same times - leaving on March 3 and returning to Sydney nine days later - was listed for $1,700 on the official Qantas website.

'I was fuming,' Ms Carter said.

When Ms Carter finally got through after two hours on hold, the Qantas call centre sales assistant told her she'd have to fork out $2,100 - after the $1,250 credit had been applied to the fare

Ms Carter hasn't seen her English family for over two years and was keen to take a quick trip to see them before starting a new job

'I was like, 'this must be a joke?' I wanted to make sure, so I checked it back with her several times, just to be clear, I kept asking 'are you telling me I have to pay $2,100 even after the credit?'

'She'd go away and talk to someone then come back and she kept saying 'after you've used your voucher you owe use $2,100. This is what it says on my system'.'

Frustrated at the long call and the price offered, she hung up and bought the ticket online - saving herself $1,650.

But it meant she couldn't use the credit and is now unsure if it has any value at all.

'Some people might be 'oh don't complain it's only a grand, but it's not Monopoly money,' Ms Carter said.

'Last year I went down to part-time, I lost a lot of money, lots of hours... that money means something to me, that's my flight home to my family, it has value and it feels like they're saying my credit has no value.

'I love Qantas, I'm glad they're still around, but this is beyond a joke.'

Qantas told Daily Mail Australia its customer service agent 'provided incorrect advice' to Ms Carter and that the airline had contacted her to apologise and provide a refund.

'The customer should have been able to use their flight credit to book the sale fare over the phone, at the price they had seen on our website,' a Qantas spokesperson said in a statement.

'Since the start of the pandemic we have processed more than four million changes to customer bookings, including moving flights or providing refunds and flight vouchers.'
A Kill the Bill protester accused of leading an attack on a Bristol police station has been convicted of arson.

Jasmine York, 26, was filmed leading a crowd in chants of 'ACAB', which stands for 'all cops are b******s', and 'f*** the police', as violence erupted in the city on March 21 last year.

The protester had attended a vigil for Sarah Everard at 2pm, but later joined crowds marching to Bridewell Police Station to demonstrate against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

She live-streamed the protest from her phone and was also filmed helping to push an industrial bin towards a burning police car - acting as further fuel to the blaze.

Prosecutors alleged York was a 'leader and instigator' of the disorder as she stood trial at Bristol Crown Court accused of riot, and arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

A jury at Bristol Crown Court acquitted York of the two charges she faced, but convicted her of an alternative charge of arson.

York denied any wrongdoing, claiming she placed herself between the crowd and officers because she knew she would not retaliate in the face of police violence.

A vandalised police van explodes outside Bridewell Police Station after protesters set it on fire during a riot on March 21 last year

Demonstrators stand near a burning police vehicle during the protest in Bristol. Thirteen people have been sentenced in connection with the riot to date

Police are confronted by protesters demonstrating against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill on March 21

Riot police, backed by police vans, move down Bristol's Rupert Street during the protest last year

Jasmine York has been found guilty of arson after being filmed pushing a bin towards a burning police car

The court heard York suffered a dog bite and several baton strikes during the protest

She told a 101 call handler she believed her left hand was broken and asked who she can report an assault by police to.

However, in voice notes to a friend recovered from her phone, York could allegedly be heard saying she had 'destroyed loads of stuff' that related her to the protest.

During the trial, two officers present during the riot described being pelted with bricks and bottles as protesters tried to drag them from the police line.

Sergeant Lucy Williams told the court she was 'terrified' during the incident.

She added: 'I think it was hard to see at the point where it was going to end.'

Sergeant Nick Smart said: 'It felt like a mob mentality where there was a risk of the crowd surging forwards.'

Giving evidence in her own trial, York said she filmed the riot for the safety others and denied being violent.

She said: 'When you make a report of violence people don't always believe you, so filming is important for that reason.'

York continued: 'I've been taught not to respond to violence with violence so I am quite a good person to have around - especially as it was quite a young crowd there.'

A crowd launches fireworks at police officers during the protest, which police say brought shame on the city

Police horses had to be deployed to hold back groups of people outside Bridewell Police Station

A rioter smashes the windscreen of an already vandalised police van as violence erupted in the city

Jasmine York (pictured entering Bristol Crown Court on January 31) was accused of instigating the attack on the police station

'I just wanted to film for the safety of others.'

She admitted her chants describing the police as 'b******s' and 'f*** the f****** feds' were 'a bit rude'.

Following her conviction today, Russell Fraser, representing York, said she was prescribed medication for emotionally unstable personality disorder.

He asked for probation and psychiatric reports to the prepared.

Judge James Patrick ordered the reports and released York on unconditional bail to appear for sentencing on March 14.

He said: 'A custodial sentence remains a possibility.

'Please co-operate with probation and the psychiatrist. If there are no reports on March 14 and it is your fault, I will sentence you without.'

York will be the 14th person to be sentenced for taking part in the riot, police say.

Detective Superintendent James Riccio, the senior investigating officer, said: 'The ugly scenes which took place outside Bridewell Police Station brought shame on the city of Bristol.

'Images of burning police vehicles were broadcast around the world and they will continue to serve as a reminder of the disorder brave police officers were faced with.

'York played a role in these scenes and will now face justice for her actions.'
Serial killer Levi Bellfield's family say they are sure he murdered Lin and Megan Russell with a hammer.

His relatives think the 53-year-old killer has committed dozens of other unsolved crimes.

Michael Stone, 61, is currently serving three life sentences for the murders of Mrs Russell and her daughter Megan, who were found bludgeoned to death in the picturesque village of Chillenden, Kent, 26 years ago.

In a harrowing four-page statement, convicted serial killer Levi Bellfield (pictured) has formally confessed to the murders of Lin and Megan Russell, providing chilling details of the attack

Lin Russell, 45, her two daughters, six-year-old Megan (above with her mother) and nine-year-old Josie, were tied up and savagely beaten with a hammer in the brutal attack in 1996

A female relative close to Bellfield said she would give her DNA if it would help pin the crime to him.

Levi Bellfield admitted to murdering mother and daughter Lin and Megan Russell in 1996 in a harrowing four-page statement.

The serial killer has formally confessed to the murders, providing chilling details of the attack.

Lawyers for Michael Stone (pictured), who is serving three life sentences for the murders of Mrs Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan, claim he could be a victim of a miscarriage of justice

Levi Bellfield is currently serving life in prison for the murder of schoolgirl Milly Dowler (pictured)

Stone would be eligible for parole this year if he admitted killing the Russells.

Yet Bellfield's close female relative said she was 'convinced' the convicted serial killer was responsible for the Lin and Megan Russell's deaths.

'I've thought that for years,' she told The Sun. 'This confession is no shock to me. He's pure evil.

'This confession has got to be taken seriously. Bellfield is capable of anything. We all think Michael Stone is innocent.'

'Bellfield is the worst person in the world. The word monster doesn't do him justice.'

Killer Bellfield's solicitor says the serial killer's confession means Stone will 'finally' get his freedom.

The statement details how Bellfield says he killed Lin and Megan and left sister Josie for dead with appalling injuries. He also says he killed the family dog after it bit his wrist.

Bellfield is already serving life for the murders of Millie Dowler, 13, Amelie Delagrange, 22, and 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell.

He was also convicted of the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, 18.

As well as admitting to murdering and Lin and Megan in the 14-paragraph statement, Bellfield, also reportedly admits to the murder of a woman called Judith Gold in North London in 1990.

He has previously admitted being in the Chillenden area at the time of the killings.

But his new statement provides new details, and reveals how after the murders he stopped at services on the M25 in Surrey to wash off blood.

Lawyers for Michael Stone, who is serving three life sentences for the murders of Mrs Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan, claim he could be a victim of a miscarriage of justice

Bellfield then tells how he went home to Twickenham got changed and went to work as a nightclub bouncer.

He says the following day he threw the hammer into the Thames near Walton, Surrey.

He then went on holiday to Turkey, but claims he returned to have the beige Ford Sierra he was driving on the day of the murders cleaned, fearing it was full of DNA.

Solicitors for Michael Stone say Bellfield's confession to the murders of Lin and Megan Russell in Kent in 1996 is an 'astonishing breakthrough' that could free their client.

Stone has twice been found guilty of their murders and is serving three life sentences, but no scientific or identification evidence links him to the scene. Pictured: Police at scene in 2001

Solicitor Paul Bacon said: 'I can say I have received a four-page statement from Bellfield, which is a genuine confession, it's an absolutely astonishing breakthrough.

'I will now meet with colleagues following this remarkable development to finally, after many years, get freedom for Michael Stone. This is the evidence that will prove he is innocent.'

Stone was jailed in 1998 after being convicted of the murders of Ms Russell and her six-year-old daughter, who were found bludgeoned to death in Chillenden, Kent, in July 1996.

However, his police record dates back to 1971 when he was 12 years old and continued into his adult life, serving three prison sentences in the 1980s and 1990s.

Lin, 45, her two daughters, six-year-old Megan and nine-year-old Josie, as well as their dog Lucy, were tied up and savagely beaten with a hammer in the brutal attack. Only Josie survived. The deaths in the picturesque village of Chillenden, Kent in 1996 shocked the nation

Stone has previous convictions for crimes including ABH, robbery, burglary and GBH and was known to carry weapons.

He was sentenced to two years' in prison in 1981 for attacking a man with a hammer during a robbery.

He then received a four-and-a-half year sentence for stabbing a friend while he slept in 1983, an attack that penetrated the friend's lung and nearly killed him, and he tried to wound a police officer in the eye after this arrest.

Stone was jailed for a third time and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for two armed robberies in Maidstone and Brighton respectively during the same week in 1986.

He was released from prison in 1993, three years before the Russells were murdered.
Cops have identified a career criminal with a history of violent crimes as the gunman who went on a murderous rampage shooting dead his 21-year-old son, his ex-girlfriend's four-year-old son and his mother and his stepfather, before killing himself.

Kevin Milazzo, 41, told dispatchers that he had 'killed [his] family' in a 911 call shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Police found him about 10 miles east of Corsicana with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in his car, after a SWAT team had tracked him down using GPS and contacted the monitoring service to shut its engine off, then surrounded the car as it came to a halt.

Milazzo was treated the scene then brought via ambulance to a hospital, where he died.

Kevin Milazzo, 41, told dispatchers that he had 'killed [his] family' in a 911 call shortly after midnight on Saturday. He is pictured with his mom Connie (left) and stepdad William

Police found Milazzo's stepfather William Mimms, 68, and mother Connie Mimms, 61, dead in their Corsicana home, 50 miles south of Dallas. Two other family members suffered gunshot injuries, investigators said in a release.

At another home in Frost, about 20 miles away, Navarro County Sheriff's Deputies found the bodies of Milazzo's 21-year-old son, Joshua, and Hunter Freeman, the four-year-old son of Milazzo's ex-girlfriend, Pattie Freeman.

Freeman multiple gunshot wounds, and is currently in 'stable condition' at an area hospital.

Police are still investigating what may have led Milazzo to massacre his own family. He had an extensive criminal history, including previous incidents of assault causing bodily injury to a family member, aggravated assault, burglary, evading arrest and making a terroristic threat.

On September 30 of 2016, he was arrested for resisting arrest after police responded to a domestic incident the Extended Stay America hotel in the Texas town of Stemmons Corridor.

The incident involved a woman that he was dating - it is unclear whether that woman was Freeman. An employee at the hotel called police, telling them that she heard Milazzo and the woman fighting in the hotel's hallway and had seen Milazzo hit that woman, a police affidavit said.

The gunman's son, Joshua Milazzo, was also fatally shot although a motive for the killings remains unclear

Four-year-old Hunter Freeman (pictured), Milazzo's ex-girlfriend's son, was also found dead

The woman told police that she had been holding a pile of clothes when Milazzo poured hot coffee onto the pile, burning her chest. She refused to have photographs of her burnt chest taken or to give police a statement.

She repeatedly told police 'Look what yall have done, now that hes going to jail Im going to be dead when he gets out. Hes going to kill me and I will never see my baby,' according to the Dallas Morning News.

Milazzo was arrested in Dallas in August of 2013 for making a terroristic threat, the nature of which was unclear at press time. He pled guilty and served four months in jail.

In Navarro County, where the killings took place, Milazzo was convicted of assaulting a family member in 2015. This time he pled 'no contest' and was sentenced to 150 days in jail.

Neighbors to the two crime scenes were horrified and shocked by the gruesome mass-shooting.

'You don't expect it in a town like this,' a neighbor to Milazzo's parents told Local 12.

'I've been living here for 16 years and it's scary,' said neighbor Ethan Lusk. 'It's just traumatizing to hear about.'

'Theyre just really good people. They didnt deserve for this to happen to them,' said another neighbor, Kim Felix, of Connie and William Mimms.

Debbie and Lonnie Keele, pastors at Community Chapel in Corsicana, said that the Mimms', who had been married for 38 years, were 'closer than family' and 'loved their children [and] grandchildren.'

'This was not Gods doing. This was pure evil and this was someone with a sick mind,' Debbie said. 'Its just a big hole in our hearts.'

They remembered Connie as a kind, giving soul.

Five people died and three others were injured following the shooting outside Dallas, Texas on Saturday

Police found Milazzo about 10 miles east of Corsicana with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in his car, after a SWAT team had tracked him down using GPS and contacted the monitoring service to shut its engine off, then surrounded the car (pictured) as it came to a halt.

Police found two dead victims in Corsicana, Texas and two others in nearby Frost

Hunter is pictured with his mom, Pattie Freeman, who was told she could never have children. He was born early weighing just three pounds and eight ounces and had to 'fight to survive' from birth, a family friend said. Freeman is currently in stable condition after she was shot several times

'She would just pick up anybody on the side of the road,' Lonnie said. 'I would say to her, "Sister Connie, do you ever know them?" [She would say,] "No, I dont know them but they need help  and Im going to help them."'

In 2014, Connie wrote a heartfelt tribute for Milazzo on his birthday: '33 years ago I gave birth to my only son Kevin. Its been a ride to remember. Some up some down but I wouldnt give you u up for nothin [sic].'

On December 18 of 2020, she asked her Facebook friends to 'please pray for all of us!!! Especially Kevin... he is in a bad place.'

A family friend described four-year-old Hunter as a miracle child; his mom Pattie was told she could never have children but nevertheless became pregnant at age 38 after improving her health. Her boy was born premature the following year weighing just three pounds, eight ounces.

'Although he had a fight ahead of him to survive, this little boy surprised everyone and grew to be a healthy, beautiful, child,' Jerri Whitener wrote on Facebook.

'Hunter was also born with a cleft lip and would need surgery in the future. Pattie knew that she wanted to give Hunter a good life and him not suffer the hardships she had to endure throughout her life, so she decided to do everything she could to give him that chance.'

The single mom became a certified medical assistant and landed a job in the field before the shooting.

'Unfortunately, Hunter was only on this earth for 1,511 days,' Whitener said. 'On February 5, around midnight his light went out.

'Pattie struggled to make ends meet, but she did it, especially after becoming a mother. Now, she is fighting for her life. Due to her injuries, she will need years of medical care.'

On December 18 of 2020, Connie Mimms asked her Facebook friends to 'please pray for all of us!!! Especially Kevin... he is in a bad place'

Please share this post and if you cant donate, please continue to pray for comfort, peace, and healing for Pattie, her family, and all those affected by this senseless, horrific tragedy.

Marissa Milazzo called upon friends to share memories of the other victims she came to grips with the slayings.

'I'm asking that anyone who knew my grandparents or brothers and they impacted your life in any way you feel, please send me your stories,' she wrote on Facebook. 'Send me your pictures. They were some of the sweetest and most caring people and I know they impacted many many lives and I would like to hear everyones story and see all of the pictures.'

Rita Canales categorized her friends Connie and Bill as 'wonderful people'. Others recalled the couple's faith and devotion to each other. According to Connie's profile, she worked as a registered nurse.

Hunter was killed and his mother Pattie sustained numerous gunshots in the massacre
Cabinet minister Linda Reynolds has tested positive to COVID-19 and won't be attending the first parliamentary sitting of the year.

The West Australian senator was expected to attend Tuesday's formal statement of acknowledgement to parliamentary staffers impacted by abuse, trauma and bullying.

The alleged rape of her former staffer Brittany Higgins in her office triggered a major overhaul aimed at cleaning up the toxic culture in Parliament House, including the formal acknowledgement to be delivered by the Speaker and Senate President.

Cabinet minister Linda Reynolds has tested positive to COVID-19 and won't be attending the first parliamentary sitting of the year

Senator Reynolds is in Tasmania, where she has been on a work visit.

'Upon testing positive, minister Reynolds immediately commenced mandated self-isolation and notified the Tasmanian Department of Health as per local requirements,' a spokesperson told AAP.

'The minister will return to parliament as soon as possible and in accordance with relevant public health requirements.'
Better acne treatments may be on the horizon after researchers discovered genes that appear to increase the risk of the skin disorder.

The study from Brisbane's QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute has also confirmed a link between acne and the likes of breast and prostate cancer.

QIMR Berghofer researcher Miguel Renteria helped lead what was the world's largest genetic study of acne, uncovering 29 new genes they believe improve the chances of the skin disease developing.

Better acne treatments may be on the horizon after researchers discovered genes that appear to increase the risk of the skin disorder (stock image)

Dr Renteria - who headed the study with Professor Michael Simpson from King's College London - hoped it was a step toward improving treatments for acne, which is the world's most prevalent skin disorder.

'This is a big leap forward in our understanding of the genetic basis and biological causes of acne, a condition that is estimated to affect more than 85 per cent of young people to some degree, with up to eight per cent having severe disease,' he said.

'These findings open up some very exciting pathways for the development of new and much-needed treatments for people with severe acne.'

The study also identified shared genetic causes between acne and hormonal cancers.

The research was the first to confirm a 'causal link' after previous studies had indicated that people with severe acne were more likely to develop breast cancer.

'We need to investigate this relationship further, but it means severe acne could serve as an early sign to doctors that a patient should be checked or monitored, due to a higher risk of developing hormone-sensitive cancers,' QIMR Berghofer lead researcher Brittany Mitchell said.

The study has been published in the Nature Communications journal.

Dr Mitchell said their next step would be to examine why acne affected men and women differently and at what stages of their lives.
A 20-year-old man has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting his housemate at their property south of Perth.

Police say the 23-year-old victim, named in media reports as James Bradley Reynolds, was shot in the leg during an altercation at the home in Warnbro on Sunday.

He was later found by a friend who called an ambulance. He died in Royal Perth Hospital the following day.

Homicide detectives searched an address in Waikiki where the gun was allegedly found.

Duke Adam Lyndsay Edis has been charged with murder and will face Rockingham Magistrates Court from custody on Tuesday.

He was refused police bail.
An 'elevated mortality' event at a salmon farm in northern Tasmania is being blamed on higher water temperatures.

Aquaculture company Petuna says its farm at Rowella experienced a temperature spike in an unusually short time frame, followed by a prolonged period of long, hot days.

It is not known how many fish have died, but Environment Protection Authority (EPA) director Wes Ford says the number is in the thousands.

An 'elevated mortality' event at a salmon farm in northern Tasmania is being blamed on higher water temperatures (stock image)

He said higher temperatures started about a week ago and increased mortality 'progressed over the course of the last seven days'.

'At the moment they're having to take fish out on a daily basis and send them to disposal. It's not a small loss,' he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

Petuna says temperatures are now decreasing and disposal of fish will be managed in line with EPA regulations.

'For now, our immediate concern is to safeguard those fish that have not been affected by removing those that have perished,' CEO Ruben Alvarez said in a statement.

An EPA spokeswoman said the regulator was determining the extent of the fish deaths.

According to Petuna's website, the Tamar River produces around 2800 tonnes of salmon per year and employs 25 people.

Tasmania's salmon industry has received criticism in recent months from environmentalists who say it is not as clean and green as it claims (stock image)

'Strong river flows and tidal movements at Rowella lend themselves to a continual supply of well oxygenated water,' it reads.

'The site also benefits from its isolation from other marine farms, with particularly good biosecurity and environmental outcomes.'

Mr Ford said the EPA had received reports from other companies of minor increases in salmon mortality rates, something he said was pretty typical for this time of year.

Tasmania's salmon industry has received criticism in recent months from environmentalists who say it is not as clean and green as it claims.

The federal and state governments in September announced an agreement to support a framework to deliver aquaculture in deeper waters off Tasmania.
A woman was robbed at knifepoint as she waited for the train at an Uptown Manhattan subway stop during rush hour on Thursday as transit crime in New York City continues to rise.

The woman, 43, was talking on the phone and waiting for the C train at the West 163rd Street station in Washington Heights at around 6.10pm when a man approached her, according to the New York Police Department.

The unidentified attacker flashed a knife and tried to grab her phone as they struggled. The woman kept her phone, but he made off with her purse.

Surveillance video shows the woman chasing her assailant through a turnstile. She was uninjured and officers later found the purse emptied out.

This is the latest in a string of subway attacks that have led new Mayor Eric Adams to declare that he doesn't feel 'safe' in the city's transit system.

Crime in New York is up over 41 percent compared to last year, with transit incidents up 74 percent compared to this time in 2021.

Scroll down for video

Police are searching for a man who allegedly brandished a knife and tried to pry a woman's phone out of her hands before making off with her purse on Thursday, February 3

Surveillance video shows the woman chasing her assailant through a turnstile

The woman was uninjured, and officers later found the purse emptied out

Crime in New York is up over 41 percent compared to last year, with transit incidents up 74 percent compared to this time in 2021

Officers are still trying to identify the man from Thursday's robbery.

Police describe him as about 30 years old, 5 ft 7 in tall and 160 pounds with a dark complexion and medium build.

He wore a black winter coat, white cap, white face mask, black pants and white sneakers.

There have been 227 transit crime incidents in New York City since the beginning of the year, according to the latest figures from the New York Police Department.

That's up from 130 such incidents at this time last year.

The most notable incident involved Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, a senior manager at consulting conglomerate Deloitte.

She died on January 15 died after Simon Martial allegedly shoved her off the platform at West 42nd Street and Broadway at around 9:40am.

When Martial, who has a lengthy criminal history, was asked by a reporter if he had been the one to push Go, he seemingly admitted to killing the subway rider and said: 'Yes, because I'm God. Yes, I did it. I'm God. I can do it.'

Speaking to the New York Post last month, Martial's older sister, Josette Simon, from Georgia, argued that her brother belonged in a mental health facility and should have been kept off the streets.

Last month, police released surveillance footage of a suspect accused of shoving a 62-year-old man onto the subway tracks on Sunday, January 23, just weeks after Go's death.

The unidentified man allegedly approached a 62-year-old man from behind and pushed him onto the tracks as a train was entering the station

Police released footage and photos of the above suspect accused of shoving a 62-year-old man onto the subway tracks on Sunday, January 23

The assault came just weeks after Michelle Go (above) died on January 15 after she was shoved off the subway platform at West 42nd Street and Broadway

The family (pictured) of Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, described her as 'kind and intelligent' in a statement shared on social media today, three days after she was pushed to her death in New York

Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, admitted last month that he did not feel safe on the subway, despite having said before that there was merely the 'perception of fear'

The New York Police Departments Crime Stoppers unit released surveillance footage of a man in a black hoodie leaving a subway station shortly after the assault at the A/C platform at Fulton Street Station.

The unidentified man allegedly approached a 62-year-old man from behind on Sunday, January 23 and pushed him onto the tracks as a train was entering the station.

The victim luckily knew to hide in a space under the platform to avoid being hit, but wasn't quick enough and was slammed by part of the train.

He suffered a laceration and bruising to his left leg before he escaped the tracks and treated his wounds at New York Downtown Hospital.

It is unclear if the victim knew his aggressor, and what - if anything - prompted the attack.

In another violent incident that week, a woman was stabbed in the leg during an argument in a Harlem subway station on Tuesday, January 25, cops said.

Simon Martial, 61, was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder for allegedly pushing Go

An unidentified man slashed the 48-year-old victim on the southbound platform of the West 125th Street station, according to police.

Police are still searching for the suspect and have not released the details about the argument that led to the assault or whether the victim knew her attacker before the attack.

Last month, Adams said: 'New Yorkers are safe on the subway system. I think it's about 1.7 percent of the crimes in New York City that occur on the subway system.

'Think about that for a moment. What we must do is remove the perception of fear.'

Adams, a former NYPD officer, later acknowledged there was a problem a few days later - reversing his previous stance.

'Day One, January 1, when I took the train, I saw the homelessness, the yelling, the screaming early in the morning, crimes right outside the platform,' he said, during an in-person City Hall press briefing on Tuesday, January 18.

'We know we have a job to do  and we're going to do both.

'We're going to drive down crime, and we're going to make sure New Yorkers feel safe in our subway system.

'And they don't feel that way now. I don't feel that way when I take the train every day, or when I'm moving throughout our transportation system.'

The rise in crime in New York City appears to be stretching into the suburbs.

Disturbing video that began circulating on TikTok on Friday captured shoppers at a Louis Vuitton store in the New York suburbs try to prevent a crew of thieves from ransacking the luxury retailer - only for the brazen bandits to escape when mall security guards sat back and watched.

The theft at Louis Vuitton is the second time in recent weeks that thefts at high-end stores have been carried out at the Westchester Mall in White Plains, New York, with the other being grand larceny at the Burberry store

The other suspect was almost stopped by other people in the store, but managed to escape with stolen purses, right past the security guard

As the chaotic scene unfolds, an apparent mall security guard hangs back and watches, but does nothing as the thieves sprint from the store with the stolen merchandise

The Westchester Mall in White Plains, New York

In the video, the suspects are seen fleeing the store at the Westchester Mall in White Plains, as other people nearby attempted to stop them. But as the chaotic scene unfolds, an apparent mall security guard hangs back and watches, but does nothing.

This is the second time in recent weeks that thefts at high-end stores have been carried out at the mall just north of New York City, after robbers targeted a Burberry store.

During the Louis Vuitton store theft, which White Plains police say happened last month, one man is seen running from the store, stolen purses in hand.

The other suspect was almost stopped by other people in the store, but managed to escape with stolen purses, right past the security guard.
A young doctor has lashed out at Scott Morrison's 'privilege' after he admitted he had no idea what a loaf of bread cost.

The Australian prime minister was caught out after being asked to recall the price of bread, milk, petrol and a rapid antigen test after his address to the National Press Club last week.

'Im not going to pretend to you that I go out each day and I buy a loaf of bread and I buy a litre of milk,' Mr Morrison said.

TikTok personality @imi_imogen said Mr Morrison was fortunate enough to be in a position where he didn't need to know how much those items cost.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison pictured with his family. He was caught out after being asked to recall the price of bread, milk, petrol and a rapid antigen test after his address to the National Press Club last week

But she added Mr Morrison should know how much those items cost because he decides how much the poorest Australians can spend on their everyday groceries.

'I don't expect someone like me to know how much the basics cost,' she said in a video shared to the viral video platform.

'I do expect the person who is responsible for deciding what constitutes a living wage - and who decides how much people on welfare are given to meet their basic needs - to know how much those things cost.'

The doctor, who said she works in a rural town, said many Australians had to know how much bread and milk costs to avoid going over their budget each week.

Poll Should the PM know how much bread, milk and the cost of a RAT is? Yes No Should the PM know how much bread, milk and the cost of a RAT is? Yes 343 votes

No 316 votes Now share your opinion





'If you're someone living in poverty, like I did for the entirety of medical school, you knew how much every single little living expense cost,' she said.

'We call that "the mental load of poverty" - when you go to the shops you're not just putting things in your cart. You're mentally adding up the cost of every individual item.

'It is a privilege to not know the cost of basics.'

Her video drew mixed reaction from viewers, with some saying the prime minister was 'out of touch' with the average Australian.

'I can't afford to put more than $20 of petrol in my car at once, he's so out of touch it's alarming,' one commenter said.

'I'm not going to pretend to you that I go out each day and I buy a loaf of bread and I buy a litre of milk,' Mr Morrison said

Her video drew mixed reaction from viewers, with some saying the prime minister was 'out of touch' with the average Australian

'I don't understand how someone doesn't know the basic costs,' another said.

The young doctor said many Australians had to know how much bread and milk costs to avoid going over their budget each week

But others said asking him to know the price of bread was irrelevant when he had wider issues to focus on.

'I feel like he doesn't need to know these things, just like a doctor doesn't need to know the mechanics of every medication,' one said.

'I don't see a big issue with it, as long as his advisors are all over it,' another wrote.

I wouldn't expect him to know the cost of soldiers boots either.'

A Daily Mail Australia poll last week revealed 51 per cent of readers thought the prime minister should know much bread, milk and a rapid antigen test cost.

Mr Morrison has already declared himself the 'underdog' in this year's election, which is expected in May.

The Coalition hopes the federal budget on March 29 will boost support by proving the Government is competent at managing the economy.
Dan Andrews has warned overseas travellers arriving in Victoria that they must get their Covid booster if they want to go out during their stay.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will allow vaccinated tourists into Australia from February 21, needing only two doses to gain entry.

At the moment, Victorians must be double vaccinated to enter hospitality venues, some shops, and other 'high risk' locations.

However, in the coming weeks Victoria's definition of 'fully vaccinated' may change to three doses, pending advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations, and would apply to international arrivals.

That would mean double vaccinated tourists would be able to fly into Victoria but would be mostly locked out of public indoor venues.

Overseas travellers arriving into Victoria may need to be triple vaccinated in order to move freely around the state and attend venues, Premier Daniel Andrews has warned

Mr Andrews has already enforced booster mandates for workers in health and aged care, disability, emergency services, corrections, quarantine accommodation, food distribution, and education.

Mr Morrison made it clear on Monday that international travellers would not be required to have a third dose.

'It will be two [doses]. There are various arguments around the world for three doses. Two doses is what the chief medical officer says is sufficient,' he said.

But Mr Andrews said he expected the federal government to change its position if advised by ATAGI - if not for entry into the country then at least to shops and hospitality.

'They (ATAGI) must be getting very close to making that decision. We've got a national cabinet meeting on Thursday. Hopefully we can receive it before then or at that meeting,' he said.

Mr Andrews has warned that while international travellers with two doses may enter the state, they could be locked out of retail and hospitality venues unless they've received their booster shot

'All the international evidence, all the advice I get from our team is that three doses is what's required in order to be as safe as it can be.'

The Victorian premier has remained firm in his stance that if ATAGI changed its definition of a fully vaccinated person, the same would apply to those in his state.

'Im sure the Commonwealth Government will reserve the right to change the view based on advice that comes from experts,' Mr Andrews said.

'ATAGI must be getting very, very close to making that decision.'

Scott Morrison said international arrivals would not need to be triple vaccinated after touching down in Australia

Mr Morrison announced on Monday that from February 21 all tourists were allowed into the country given they had received two jabs.

'The condition is you must be double vaccinated to come to Australia. That's the rule. Everyone is expected to abide by it,' the prime minister said.

'But if you're double vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia and I know the tourism industry will be looking forward to that.'

While backpackers, international students and some visa holders have entered Australia in the past six months, from February 21, anyone with a valid visa (or visa waiver) and two doses of a Covid vaccine will be welcomed.

It will be up to individual states and territories to determine whether additional quarantine arrangements and arrival caps will apply to their visitors.

Travellers who are not vaccinated against Covid will subject to state-based restrictions and will have to apply proof of a medical exemption.
A female volunteer working on a historic tall ship docked at a Texas museum died after plummeted 35 feet from the mast when her safety harness somehow became unclipped as horrified tourists witnessed the tragedy.

The woman who fell from the ship's mast has been identified as Jill Hickman Victor, 58, of Nassau Bay, who was climbing the mast of the 145-year-old Elissa, which is berthed at Galveston's seaport museum on Pier 21, when she fell to her death around noon on Saturday.

'She was wearing her fall-protection harness and on those harnesses you're supposed to have two points of contact as you're moving from one place to the other,' Port of Galveston Police Chief Kenneth Brown said.

The clips are connected to the harness on one end and then climbers unhook the the buckles at the other ends. It's not clear why the woman was not tethered by at least one of the clips as she made her way up the mast.

'You always keep one connected. You disconnect one and then you connect it elsewhere before you unhook the other one so you can move,' Brown said.

'We're not sure exactly what happened that she wasn't double-clipped in,' he added. 'When she went to move from one location to another, she apparently slipped and fell.'

Pictured: Jill Hickman-Victor, 58, the woman who was killed over the weekend in a terrible accident on the historic tall ship Elissa in Galveston

A 58-year-old woman, who was working on the ship on Saturday, fell 35ft to her death from one of the ship's masts. She was wearing a fall protection safety harness at the time

'We believe she died doing what she loved the best - volunteering on the Elissa,' said a friend of Victor's, described as a Dallas woman named Susie told KHOU.

'She absolutely loved it and loved that crew. I know theyre going to miss her dearly.'

Victor's friend added that she had an adventurous spirit, and had been a part of an Elissa training class while looking forward to her first sail on the ship in April.

'We want to give a shout to the Elissa crew for teaching her and allowing her to climb and fulfil that dream,' Victor's friend said.

On the Sailing School Vessel website, the foundation states that all volunteers are 'trained extensively,' however authorities say Victor's tragic death is still under investigation by the Port of Galveston police and the Galveston Historical Foundation, which manages the historic ship.

The Galveston Historical Foundation holds weekly maintenance volunteering class to work on renovations on board of the Elissa. It remains unknown if the woman was part of Saturday's training class or a volunteer with previous experience working on the ship

A spokesman for the Galveston Historical Foundation, which operates the ship and the museum, confirmed the death but declined to provide further details.

No alcohol or drugs were suspected to be factors in the accident, police said.

The historical foundation brought the Elissa, which was built in 1877, from a scrapyard in Greece in 1978, according to the foundation. After restoration work, the ship opened as a floating museum and now has more than 40,000 visitors each year.

Among the tourists who witnessed the tragedy were Jeff Rickman, 59, and Jimmie Boyett, 50, a couple from Louisiana. They were staying in Galveston for a romantic weekend getaway with their 15-year-old son John, who is a huge fan of history, and wanted to visit the Elissa.

While the teen was touring the interior of the boat, his parents watched maintenance workers from outside.

The ship hires volunteers Workers were doing maintenance work on board the Elissa while tourists were visiting the ship, making them witnesses of the tragedy

Workers are obliged to wear harnesses and have two points of contact as they are moving from one place to the other. Pictured: A volunteer working on one of the Elissa's masts

'That's so high up, what if they fall?' Boyett recalled saying, while she was observing the workers on ropes.

'They're not going to fall. They have harnesses anyway,' Rickman told her.

They watched in disbelief as the woman fell and heard screams the entire way down, Boyett said.

'I had nightmares about it later that night,' Boyett told the Houston Chronicle.

Preliminary reports from Brown said the woman fell about 60 feet, but in a release sent out Sunday, the Port of Galveston corrected it to 35.

The Elissa was named a National Historic Landmark in 1990 and the official Tall Ship of Texas in 2005. The historical foundation is a tenant of the port, and leases space at Pier 21 to operate the ship and the museum.
A Republican candidate in the packed Republican Primary for Oregon Governor has been forced to admit he was a swinger after his posts on a private Facebook group were leaked ahead of the race.

Stan Pulliam, who is also the mayor of his hometown of Sandy, told his local paper that he and his wife of 12 years MacKensey 'ultimately decided' that the lifestyle 'wasn't for us,' but that he is 'not ashamed' of the decisions they 'made in the privacy of [their] own home.'

The 40-year-old told the Williamette Week that he and MacKensey, 'explored relationships, mutual relationships with other couples, for a brief period of time.'

'Several years ago, MacKensey and I, as a couple explored relationships with other couples for a brief period of time before we ultimately decided to focus solely on each other, our marriage and our family,' he expounded in a statement sent to DailyMail.com

'And ever since, day in and day out, weve worked as a team to strengthen our family and to create a better community and state for our girls, and the hundreds of thousands of kids just like them, so they can safely grow up, live, work and stay right here in Oregon.'

Pulliam was pushed to speak out about his unusual married life after Facebook posts and a photo from Portland's Erotic Ball in 2011 surfaced. In it, the couple talk about being excited to join the swinging community and he even comments on illicit photos of other members.

It is unclear what effect the uncovered posts will have on Oregon's Republican primary, set for May 17. However, Pulliam is a favorite to win the GOP nomination in the liberal state, and he has said he has no intentions of withdrawing from the race.

Stan Pulliam, 40 (right), currently the two-term mayor of his hometown of Sandy - about 30 miles from Portland - confessed that he and his wife of twelve years, MacKensey (left), 'explored relationships, mutual relationships with other couples, for a brief period of time'

Since they moved away from the lifestyle, Pulliam said, he and MacKensey have 'worked as a team to strengthen our family and to create a better community and state for our girls, and the hundreds of thousands of kids just like them, so they can safely grow up, live, work and stay right here in Oregon'

The revelations about the pro-life Republican's lifestyle choices came to light after a 2016 screenshot from a page entitled 'Swinger Facebook Group PDX' (pictured) was disseminated around local political circles

Pulliam has not yet returned DailyMail.com's requests for direct comment, although a member of his staff immediately returned a call and said he was currently at a Sandy town board meeting.

He told the outlet that his past sexual activity is consistent with the values around which he's built his campaign.

'In Oregon, we really cherish values of individuality and liberty,' he said.

'Were certainly not asking anybody to participate or practice or do any of the things that we have decided to do in the past. But were also certainly not ashamed of decisions that weve made in the past either, as theyve made us stronger.'

The revelations about the pro-life Republican's lifestyle choices came to light after a 2016 screenshot from a page entitled 'Swinger Facebook Group PDX' was disseminated around local political circles.

'Hi Everyone!,' the 2016 post, which includes pictures of Stan and MacKensey Pulliam, reads.

'MacKensey and I are excited to be added to your little community. Some of you we have already had the pleasure to meet and we look forward to getting to know the rest of you!'

At the time, the group had 536 members. A photo of Pulliam at Portland's Erotic Ball in 2011 also made the rounds, although the candidate said it was taken before he and his wife dove into the swinging community. The annual event features burlesque, aerial performers, circus acts and an 'entire floor of fetish demonstrations (where audience members can participate)' according to its website.

In a Zoom interview with the local news outlet on Thursday, with his wife at his side, Pulliam repeatedly refused to expound on when the 'mutual relationships' began or ended, although he clarified that they were swinging in 2016 and had stopped by the time he announced his gubernatorial run.

He added that the photo of him at the Portland Erotic Ball in 2011 was taken before he and MacKensey dove into the swinging lifestyle.

'I think people can relate from all different parts of the state who have been involved in marriages,' he told the outlet.

'There are different stages of marriage and different ebbs and flows. This is something that was for a brief period in our past and is in the past.'

Pulliam denied that he was bisexual, an allegation made in the September Reddit post where the screenshots of the swinger's group post first surfaced.

'Im a heterosexual male,' Pulliam says. 'And Ive only personally engaged in heterosexual activity.'

He also denies that he's aligned himself with anti-LGBTQ groups in his campaign.

After the article was published, Pulliam told Pamplin Media Group that he 'think[s] whenever you run for a position like governor, you go into it with eyes wide open.'

Pulliam, pictured with wife MacKensey, said that his past sexual activity is consistent with the values around which he's built his campaign. 'In Oregon, we really cherish values of individuality and liberty'

Pulliam (pictured left) is a leader in the GOP primary for Oregon's top seat, polling just behind frontrunner Bud Pierce. He has raised nearly $1 million in contributions

Pulliam, a father to two daughters, has painted himself as a true conservative in the race and bandied his small-town values

'[However], I continue to believe this is a private matter.'

The Reddit post also alleges that he and MacKensey were members of Kasidie.com, a personals site for swingers, under the username 'SandyDuo.' They have since deleted this profile, the poster alleges, and go by 'SandyCouple.'

A few days before posting on the page, an account by the name of Stan Pulliam commented on a woman's bare-chested addition to the group's newsfeed.

'When you just want to feel the breeze on your nipples but you have neighbors,' reads the text of the post.

'Wow!!' replied Pulliam.

On a video of an entwined, nude couple captioned 'House boat 2016,' the commenter wrote 'so fun!'

'We have property on the lake in three rivers at Billy Chinook! There ALL THE TIME! Btw video is incredibly sexy!'

He also commented on two couples' introductory posts to the group, welcoming them and calling one pair a 'very attractive couple!'

There are currently twelve candidate vying for Governor Kate Brown's seat, according to Ballotpedia. With nearly $1 million in contributions, he has outraised all of his competition with the exception of Republican state Representative Christine Drazen of Canby.

Poll results released by GOP opponent Bud Pierce, an oncologist from Salem who was the Republican nominee in 2016, show Pulliam trailing behind him in second place.

'Several years ago, MacKensey and I, as a couple explored relationships with other couples for a brief period of time before we ultimately decided to focus solely on each other, our marriage and our family,' he expounded in a statement sent to DailyMail.com

Pictured is a scene from one of Portland's Erotic Ball events

Pulliam has been a vocal dissident of Brown's COVID-19 policies, even suing her in federal court over executive orders shutting down businesses.

Pulliam is a steadfast supporter of former President Donald Trump, and questions the results of the 2020 election. Insiders predict that, if Trump were to endorse a candidate in the race, Pulliam would be his pick, according to the Williamette Week.

'I am the ONLY candidate who has the courage to say what needs to be said about the integrity of our elections,' Pulliam tweeted on February 1st. 'If you want an ACTUAL conservative as your next governor then we need your help!'

Comments on social media were mixed, and often cheeky.

'Sandy is now Randy, Oregon... apparently,' wrote one user.

'He's famous on local issues for saying "Keep Portland from coming to Sandy," so it's poetic that Sandy kept going to Portland for coming,' another user quipped.

'There's nothing wrong with him being a swinger. The hypocrisy is the problem,' wrote @DurhamFelia.

'Real family values you got going in GOP,' wrote another.

Oregon hasn't had a Republican governor since Victor Atiyeh, who entered office in 1979 and left in 1987.

Pacific University political science professor Jim Moore, who has watched Oregon politics for decades and is currently penning a biography on Atiyeh, said that while 'Donald Trump can get away with it... Stan Pulliam - I don't think he can.'

'He's raised nearly a million dollars - he needs to be spending a lot of it right now on pictures of flags and kittens and puppies,' the professor told the Oregon publication.

Pulliam, a father to two daughters, has painted himself as a true conservative in the race and bandied his small-town values.

Pulliam advocates himself as a 'proud pro-life, pro 2A (Second Amendment) pro medical freedom and pro private-property rights conservative'

'When I look around at Sandy, I can see the Oregon of my childhood,' Pulliam says in one of his campaign videos. 'Its time to restore our pioneer glory.'

He advocates himself as a 'proud pro-life, pro 2A (Second Amendment) pro medical freedom and pro private-property rights conservative.'

His religious status was unclear at press time.

Pulliam said that, since the screenshots were disseminated, he has received a windfall of calls from campaign supporters.

'They've all been very positive interactions,' he said. 'We have continually heard that people mainly care about MacKensey and I, and they just want to make sure that we're handling this okay.'
The NSW government has been slammed over a $252million fund the state's auditor claims gave 96 per cent of its grants to Coalition-held electorates.

The assessment and approval process for the Stronger Communities Fund in the build-up to the 2019 state election 'lacked integrity', the report by the NSW Auditor-General Margaret Crawford found.

Ms Crawford said ex-NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her deputy John Barilaro chose most of the projects which benefited from the fund.

The guidelines designed for the fund by the then-Office of Local Government were 'deficient' and the state's ministers generally ignored them, the auditor-general said.

Ex-NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian pictured with her Deputy Premier John Barilaro. She has been criticised by the state's auditor over her role in a $252million fund it claims gave 96 per cent of its grants to Coalition-held electorates

'For the 22 councils where funding allocations were determined by the former premier and deputy premier, the only record of their approval is a series of emails from their staff,' she wrote in the report.

In response to the findings, the NSW government said it agreed the guidelines were 'not best practice'.

'[The approval process] could have been improved in a number of respects  including by clearly identifying the decision-maker and setting out the process for the selection and assessment of projects against specified criteria,' Department of Planning and Environment secretary Mick Cassel said.

In November, Mr Perrottet tried to draw a line in the sand on the scandal, ordering a review into how government grant schemes were distributed, saying it was important there was public confidence to the expenditure of taxpayer funds.

NSW Labor has renewed calls for an overhaul of how government grants are distributed after the analysis was published.

Labor leader Chris Minns said the premier needs to commit to an overhaul of the way the government distributes funds to community projects.

'Again we have another example of this government using funds like it's their own piggy bank,' he said on Tuesday.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet last year ordered a review into how government grant schemes were distributed

'There would be thousands of deserving community projects that have missed out on funding, simply because they live in the wrong area.

'It's time to put public confidence back into the grants process in NSW.'

Greens MP David Shoebridge said the fund was an 'obscene abuse of public funds for partisan advantage'.

He is calling on the premier to fix the scheme when parliament returns next week.

'This cannot wait for another report and yet more delay while public money is showered on the coalition's political and corporate mates,' Mr Shoebridge said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian with John Barilaro in May 2021. The state auditor said Ms Berejiklian and Mr Barilaro chose most of the projects which benefited from the fund

In November, the NSW Upper House passed a Labor private member's bill designed to ensure more transparency around the distribution of government grants.

The bill would require ministers to spell out in writing their reasons for departing from bureaucrats' recommendations about how grant funds should be handed out and stipulates a minister wouldn't be able to issue a grant before they were given relevant information from their department.

It would also give the auditor-general stronger powers to monitor whether the government is adhering to guidelines that say how grants should be administered.

At the time, Mr Perrottet said he would not support the bill, dismissing it as a 'stunt'.
Malcolm Turnbull says the federal Liberals are still acting like 'terrorists' on climate policy and Labor lacks ambition but is being politically sensible.

The inability of the federal government to be more ambitious is a fundamental problem for Australia, the former prime minister told an industry forum on Tuesday.

'The obstacles to a clean energy transition in Australia are not physical, they're not economic, they're not technological, they're entirely political.'

Malcolm Turnbull said Morrison's federal Liberals are still acting like 'terrorists' on climate policy and Labor lacks ambition but is being politically sensible

He said the climate wars began when Tony Abbott became Liberal leader in 2009 and 'it's been crazy ever since'.

'The fundamental dysfunction in the Coalition now is that the right operate like terrorists, not using bombs and guns, but in the sense that their proposition is that unless you do what we want, we'll blow the joint up.'

'Your base is actually walking away,' he warned.

Turnbull said the climate wars began when Tony Abbott became Liberal leader in 2009 and 'it's been crazy ever since'

Representing energy minister Angus Taylor, Assistant Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Tim Wilson said Australia has moved on from 'wrong-headed' discussions around targets to supporting industry and investment.

Mr Wilson said federal Labor is now closer to the Liberal position on climate and energy policy than ever before.

'We're all broadly swimming in the same direction,' he told the Clean Energy Council webinar.

Energy and Emissions Reduction Tim Wilson said federal Labor is now closer to the Liberal position on climate and energy policy than ever before

'It's always been about what's the cost, what's the technology and who's going to pay.'

But the peak body is concerned the transition is too slow and on Tuesday released a policy road map aimed at driving immediate investment and forcing an election focus on energy.

Labor climate and energy spokesman Chris Bowen said climate change has been a key issue in every federal election since 2007 and will be again, despite wariness in some sectors of the community.

'There's a lot of cynicism and people willing to mislead,' he said.

Labor's election pledge is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels, while the Morrison government's target is a cut of 26-28 per cent

'We've had 20 years of stop-start and policy denial and inaction.'

If Labor is elected, state and territory energy ministers would become part of a national effort instead of filling a void, Mr Bowen said.

'They're crying out for a national framework, they're crying out for leadership.'

Labor's election pledge is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels, while the Morrison government's target is a cut of 26-28 per cent.

Mr Turnbull said Labor's policy lacks ambition but is 'politically sensible'.

Mr Turnbull said if Labor were to win the federal election, he expects to see a big shift in Liberal policy because voters feel a party dominated by the right no longer speaks for them

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said both major parties plan to expand coal and gas developments and have targets that won't help limit global warming to below two degrees.

But he gave a tick to Labor's plan to invest in the electricity grid to connect more renewable energy.

Independent MP Helen Haines announced she will introduce a bill next week to bring in federal subsidies for home energy storage batteries that can cost as much as $15,000.

Some 30 per cent of Australians have roof-top solar but only 1 per cent have batteries.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said both Morrison's and Turnbull's parties plan to expand coal and gas developments and have targets that won't help limit global warming to below two degrees

She said subsidised batteries would provide energy security for Australians who live on the edge of the grid, keep people connected after natural disasters, and lead to local manufacturing of the equipment.

Clean Energy Council head Kane Thornton said an electricity grid powered by 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030 would deliver emissions reductions just below the global average of 45 per cent.

'It's not an ambitious or difficult target  it's the low-hanging fruit.'

Mr Turnbull said if Labor were to win the federal election, he expects to see a big shift in Liberal policy because voters feel a party dominated by the right no longer speaks for them.
Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer has launched a scathing attack on 'nonsense' criminal fraud charges against him

Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer has launched a scathing attack on 'nonsense' criminal fraud charges against him, claiming they're a bid to 'do him slowly' with no real prospect of conviction.

Mr Palmer and his company Palmer Leisure Coolum have brought civil action in the Supreme Court in a bid to stay criminal proceedings being heard in Brisbane Magistrates Court.

The mining magnate addressed the court on Tuesday insisting he had been charged only because he was a billionaire and a public figure.

He faces two counts of dishonestly using his position as a director and two counts of dishonestly gaining a benefit or advantage.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges that in 2013, Mr Palmer dishonestly obtained a benefit or advantage for his company Cosmo Developments and the Palmer United Party - transferring $10 million from his business Mineralogy.

He's also accused of dishonestly obtaining a benefit or advantage for advertising company Media Circus Network, which ran his party's election marketing and advertising campaign injecting $2.1 million in funds.

The billionaire was jovial as he arrived at the Brisbane court, declining to comment to media as he joined his legal team.

The billionaire (pictured with wife Anna) was jovial as he arrived at the Brisbane court, declining to comment to media as he joined his legal team

Once at the bar table, the billionaire was all business as he claimed the prosecution brought the administration of justice into disrepute with no real prospect of success.

'The proceedings before the magistrate court is an abuse of process and their existence has brought and continues to bring the administration of justice into disrepute,' Mr Palmer told the court.

He dismissed the prosecution as 'nonsense' and 'embarrassing', saying it should be permanently stayed.

Mr Palmer argued that the matters had been partially dealt with by a superior court and the prosecution in the magistrates court was an abuse of process bringing 'unfairness and oppression' to the accused.

He submitted the prosecution had no 'real victims' and would cost taxpayers millions of dollars and it was his duty as a citizen to challenge the proceedings.

'Who are the victims? It can only be me,' Mr Palmer said.

The political renegade argued he was being 'unfairly targeted' and in the words of former Labor prime minister Paul Keating it was a calculated bid to 'do him slowly'.

'These types of prosecution only happen to happen to national political leaders,' Mr Palmer said.

'In my case, I have only ever been charged with a criminal offence after a superior court has found to the contrary, and after I became a billionaire and after I entered public office.

'Maybe this is a prerequisite for charges of this nature.'

The case continues.
A man allegedly used the promise of free vapes on Snapchat to convince a 15-year-old girl to meet him, then allegedly raped her.

NSW Police arrested the man, 37, on Tuesday morning and alleged he drove to Newcastle to rape the underage girl in early January.

The accused paedophile allegedly met the girl on Snapchat last month and offered to buy her vapes if she met up with him.

NSW Police arrested the Sydney, man, 37, on Tuesday morning and have alleged he drove to Newcastle to assault the underage girl in early January

Police allege the man met the 15-year-old girl on Snapchat and offered to her vaping devices

They allegedly exchanged photos of products as the man asked which colour and device she wanted.

He also allegedly sent her photos of condoms.

The man and young girl then allegedly exchanged photos and personal information before making plans to meet.

The man and young girl reportedly shared several images of his products and personal information before arranging to meet in early January when he allegedly assaulted her

Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad detectives arrested the man in his Campbelltown home around 7am on Tuesday

The man then travelled from his Campbelltown home to Newcastle where he allegedly raped the 15-year-old, then drove home.

The girl reported the alleged sexual assault to police soon after and police began an month-long investigation.

Child abuse and sex crimes squad detectives arrested the man in his home about 7am on Tuesday and seized a Nissan X-TRAIL vehicle and electronic items that will undergo forensic examination.

The man was taken to Campbelltown Police Station and charged with one count of sexual intercourse with a child aged 14 to 16.

Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad detectives seized a Nissan X-TRAIL vehicle and electronic items to undergo forensic examination

Detective Acting Superintendent Gordon Arbinja applauded the bravery of the child for reporting her alleged rape and encouraged parents to openly communicate with their children.

'You should be objective when you speak to your child in a non-judgmental way, so your child has the confidence to know that they can report the (alleged) matter to the parent or the adult,' he said.

The man was refused bail to appear in Campbelltown Local Court later on Tuesday.
A woman is fighting for life in hospital after a 7-Eleven customer poured hot coffee over her and assaulted her at a convenience store in Melbourne's south-east.

Police and paramedics were called to the Hawthorn Rd, Caulfield store on Tuesday morning about 10.15am.

Investigators were told another woman at the store poured scalding coffee over the 52-year-old victim and then assaulted her before she ran from the scene.

Police later on Tuesday said another woman has been arrested over the assault and is assisting police with their inquiries.

Emergency services were called to a 7-11 on Hawthord Rd (pictured) in Melbourne's southeast after a woman was attacked by another customer

The victim was treated at the scene by paramedics and rushed to hospital with life threatening injuries.

The exact details of the assault and what led up to it are not known with the police investigation ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
The mother of the Michigan school shooter accused of killing four students last year texted her boss begging to keep her job within 30 minutes of the massacre.

Jennifer Crumbley and James Crumbley are charged with involuntary manslaughter and are accused making a gun accessible to their son, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, and failing to intervene when he showed signs of mental distress.

Four students were killed and others were wounded in the November 30 attack at Oxford High School in the deadliest US school shooting of 2021. Ethan has already been charged with first-degree murder. All three have pleaded not guilty.

During a preliminary hearing on Tuesday to determine if Ethan's parents will go on trial, a Michigan court was shown frantic texts Jennifer sent to her boss less than 30 minutes after police say her son carried out a massacre at Oxford High School.

Two of Jennifer's former co-workers also testified that she spoke more about her horses than she did her own son, claiming that she talked more about when her horses were sick than Ethan's mental health.

In the messages to her boss Andrew Smith, the mother expressed concern for her job and begged him: 'I need my job. Please don't judge me for what my son did.'

She also texted Smith to say 'the gun is gone and so are the bullets' and other frantic texts followed, including: 'Omg Andy, he's going to kill himself. He must be the shooter'.

Jennifer also wrote to Smith, her former supervisor at the real estate company where she worked as a director of marketing, that 'Ethan did it' and said she was in need of a lawyer.

Smith was called to the stand on Tuesday, where he gave testimony about his interactions with the mother on the day of the school shooting.

He said of Jennifer's messages to him: 'I was surprised she was worried about her job at that time.'

In a day of revelations, the court heard:

James and Jennifer Crumbley are accused of buying the weapon as a Christmas present for their 15-year-old son Ethan;

The parents are accused of ignoring warning signs as late as the day of the November 30 shooting in Oxford, Michigan;

Authorities say school officials showed the Crumbleys drawings of violence Ethan had made, depicting a handgun, a bullet, and a bleeding figure;

The Crumbleys declined to take Ethan home when they were confronted with their son's drawings of violence and officials let him stay in school;

Less than 30 minutes after the shooting, Jennifer sent her boss frantic texts saying 'Ethan did it' and begged to keep her job;

Two of Jennifer's former co-workers testified that she spoke more about her horses when they were sick than she did her son's mental health;

An investigator testified that Jennifer sent her son a text message asking if he had showed teachers a 'pic of your new gun'.

James Crumbley and Jennifer Crumbley arrive in court on Tuesday. They are charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly making a gun accessible to their son

Jennifer Crumbley's text messages about her son, Ethan, to her supervisor are displayed in court during a preliminary examination in Michigan on Tuesday. The texts were sent on November 30, after police say Ethan Crumbley carried out a deadly school shooting

Smith also told the court that earlier in the day on November 30, Jennifer had told him that 'she felt as if she was failing' Ethan.

Smith claimed Jennifer had returned to work after she and her husband had a meeting at their son's school earlier that day.

He said he didn't know the specific reason for the meeting, but authorities say during that meeting, school officials showed the couple drawings of violence that their son had made, allegedly depicting a handgun, a bullet, and a bleeding figure.

It is claimed the Crumbleys declined to take Ethan home when they were confronted with their son's drawings of violence and officials allowed Ethan to stay in school, but told his parents to get him help.

Smith claimed that Jennifer had shared an image of the drawings with him, though he didn't immediately look at it.

'She had said her son needed to get some counseling,' Smith said of what Jennifer mentioned after returning to work that day.

'I think she mentioned a family pet had passed away. She felt as if she was failing him or a failure.

Smith also testified that he later heard Jennifer 'screaming down the hallway' after she learned of the shooting.

The Crumbleys stared straight ahead after being warned by the judge not to communicate with one another

Two of Jennifer's former co-workers also testified on Tuesday that she spoke more about her horses than she talked about her son, according to CNN.

Kathy Poliquin, an HR director at the company where Crumbley used to work, testified that they never spoke about her son getting medical attention, but claimed Jennifer had 'mentioned the horse was sick' a 'few times'.

But Jennifer's attorney Shannon Smith noted that her client mainly spoke with Poliquin about work-related matters.

Meanwhile, Amanda Holland, an administrative assistant at the company, also testified that Jennifer did not talk about her son very often.

Holland told the court that Jennifer spoke with her about her marital issues and a temporary separation from her husband, and said Jennifer told her she was going to the barn where her horses were 'almost every day'.

Ethan Crumbley is charged as an adult with four counts of murder and other crimes

Holland also claimed that Jennifer did, on one occasion, voice concerns about Ethan being lonely after his friend moved away.

'She was concerned that he would be lonely. It was his main friend. She was concerned that he would be alone,' she said.

Based on documents and witness testimony presented during Tuesday's preliminary hearing, Judge Julie Nicholson must decide whether there's enough evidence to send James and Jennifer to trial.

During the hearing, an investigator testified that Jennifer sent her son a text message asking if he had showed teachers a 'pic of your new gun'.

The text was one of several between Jennifer and Ethan on November 29, after school officials left a voicemail informing her that her son was looking up ammunition on his phone.

The school left a voicemail for Jennifer the day before the attack informing her that a teacher was concerned about Ethan's ammunition search on his phone.

In court, Ed Wagrowski, a computer crimes investigator in the Oakland County sheriff's office, read aloud a series of texts exchanged between mother and son.

'Seriously?? Looking up bullets in school??' Jennifer wrote.

Her son replied: 'Oh yeah. I already went to the office for that. All I did was look up a certain caliber at the end of class because I was curious. Completely harmless.'

'Did you at least show them a pic of your new gun?' Jennifer Crumbley asked.

'No I didn't show them a pic. My God,' he wrote back.

Attorney Shannon Smith wipes the eyes of Jennifer Crumbley, who is shackled during Tuesday's hearing

The court heard testimony from Kira Pennock (left), Jennifer's friend, and from Andrew Smith (right), her former employer

Wagrowski also read aloud text messages written by Ethan to his mother last March.

The teenager said their house was haunted and a demon was throwing bowls.

Jennifer Crumbley was riding a horse and didn't respond that day, the investigator claimed.

The Crumbleys' attorneys insist the couple didn't know their son might be planning an attack and didn't make the gun easy to find in their home.

But prosecutor Karen McDonald said she was trying to show that the couple committed gross negligence.

Her first witness was the manager of a stable where the Crumbleys kept two horses and visited three to four times a week.

McDonald's questions were intended to show that the parents seemed more concerned about the health of a horse that had a leg fungus than the 'disturbed' mental health of their son.

Meanwhile, Kira Pennock, the owner of a horse farm owner in Metamora, which housed the Crumbleys' two horses testified that Jennifer called her son Ethan 'weird' and did not consider him 'normal'.

She said the mother told her he only had one friend and spent most of his time online and playing video games.

'When she would talk about him it was 'oh, he doesn't do normal kid things,'' Pennock said.

After the shooting happened and it was revealed that Ethan was arrested on murder charges, Pennock texted Jennifer, saying that it appears her son 'is a troubled kid.'

Pennock testified that when she texted Jennifer after the shooting to ask if she was OK, she responded later that day saying: 'I need to sell my horses.'

'My son ruined so many lives today,' Crumbley wrote in another message.

Jennifer also wrote: 'I wish we had warnings. They made a terrible decision. He's a good kid.'

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, right, presented evidence, including documents and witness testimony, during the hearing, which will determine whether the couple will face trial

Jennifer and James Crumbley have been repeatedly admonished for mouthing 'I love you' and blowing kisses to one another in court (pictured)

During the preliminary hearing, James Crumbley's distressed voice filled the courtroom when prosecutors played a 911 call he made after the shooting.

Prosecutor Marc Keast played the 911 call, where James said: 'I have a missing gun at my house. I need an officer to come.

'I think my son took the gun. I don't know if it's him. I'm freaking out.'

Prosecutors have also alleged that Ethan accompanied his father to a gun shop, where James bought a 9mm handgun four days before the shooting.

The next day, his mother posted that the two of them were at a gun range 'testing out his new Christmas present', Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said.

Prosecutors detailed a number of other warning signs that they said the parents failed to address, including Ethan searching for ammunition on his phone.

Earlier in the day, Jennifer and James were barred from blowing each other kisses in court by a judge who called it 'disrespectful'.

Last week, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald's slammed the couple for mouthing 'I love you' and blowing kisses to each other as 'disrespectful' and 'traumatic for the families of the deceased victims.'

On Tuesday, prosecutors asked the judge to order the husband and wife to stop communicating with each other at the defense table.

Judge Nicholson warned the Crumbleys not to communicate with one another in court, telling them 'it's disrespectful and it's disruptive.'

Madisyn Baldwin, 17, (left) and Hana St Juliana, 14, (right) died in the shooting rampage at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit

FILE - This undated combination of photos provided by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office shows James Crumbley, left, and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, a teenager accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School, in Michigan. The couple face a key hearing to determine if they will face trial. Attorneys for the Crumbleys have asked a judge to consider a postponement so they can further prepare. But there was no decision from the judge ahead of the hearing Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. (Oakland County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Defense lawyers contended that the Crumbleys were not showing affection for one another with the intent of hurting the victims' families, but ultimately they agreed that the pair would stop communicating in court.

Defense attorney Shannon Smith dabbed Jennifer Crumbley's teary eyes with a tissue during the hearing. She couldn't do it herself because of restraints on her wrists.

Based on documents and witness testimony presented during Tuesday's preliminary hearing, Judge Julie Nicholson must decide whether there's enough evidence to send James and Jennifer Crumbley to trial.

The hearing opened with defense attorney Mariell Lehman asking for more time to review evidence against the Crumbleys. She also cited the difficulty of consulting with them in jail during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Judge Nicholson said the hearing would go forward.

Four students at Oxford High School were killed and more were injured on November 30.

Their attorneys insist the Crumbleys didn't know that a shooting was in the works and didn't make the gun easy to find at home.

Separately, Ethan Crumbley is charged as an adult with murder and other crimes. His lawyers filed a notice of an insanity defense, which will likely freeze his case while he is examined by experts.

The hearing will resume with more testimony on February 24.
The British Council opened their doors for us to come and meet some of the Chagossian women who recently completed courses with the British Council and WeEmpower. They wanted to share with us their stories and encourage more Chagossians to take up this great opportunity.

Building on the success of previous English Language Courses with the Chagossian community, and the Entrepreneurial courses with WeEmpower, we are delighted to announce that we are about to launch more courses in 2022!

These courses, funded through the support package announced by the UK Government in 2016, are aimed at improving confidence and boosting communication skills in English, and giving young Chagossian women entrepreneurial skills. Registration is now open!

The British Council and WeEmpower is pleased to announce it is having an Open Day for Chagossians who would be interested in coming along to learn more about what courses we have on offer, including English for adults, kids and teens, professional skills and entrepreneurial skills. More exciting internships and apprenticeships will be also coming later this year.

Eligibility Criteria for English Language Courses by British Council and Entrepreneurial Courses February 2022

You can demonstrate eligibility to apply to access free English Language Courses funded by the the Chagossian support package announced in November 2016 in two ways:

1. By being born in the Chagos Archipelago.

2. By claiming to be of Chagossian heritage, descended from a Chagossian born in the Chagos Archipelago, with a direct maternal or paternal line of descent.

If you believe you fit either of the criteria stated above you will need to provide the following evidence to support your claim:

If claiming through being born in the Chagos Archipelago/- documentary evidence in the form of a copy of your original birth certificate or copy of an original identification card confirming place of birth as the Chagos Archipelago

or

If claiming through Chagossian heritage  documentary evidence in the form of a copy of original birth certificate or copy of an original identification card, along with copies of all subsequent relevant original birth certificates tracing a direct maternal or paternal line of descent from a Chagossian born in the Chagos Archipelago.

As announced in November 2016, the UK Government is committed to providing assistance to Chagossians to help address pressing needs in identified areas through the support package. If you feel you meet the criteria to access Chagossian support package funds but are unable to provide all the documentation required, we are happy to consider alternatives.

If you would like to sign up for our free English courses, or come along to our Open Day on Wednesday 23rd February, please call 4030200.

Our Open Day will be from 1030am to 330pm Wednesday 23rd February. You will have the opportunity to find out more about the free English courses and free Entrepreneurial courses for the Chagossian Community. Come along and make 2022 count!

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Police have swarmed Mark McGowan's office after a mysterious white powder and a handwritten death threat were discovered at the building.

Emergency services arrived at the West Australian Premier's Rockingham office just after midday on Tuesday after a staffer reported the suspicious items.

Firefighters have cordoned off The Boardwalk office on Railway Terrace as a precaution with no person believed to have been injured.

Police have swarmed West Australian Premier Mark McGowan's office after a suspicious white powder and a handwritten death threat was discovered by a staffer

Mr McGowan said his Rockingham office had been a target of death and bomb threats after his government introduced Covid vaccine mandates for a large part of the country's workforce (pictured, people protest vaccine passports in Brisbane)

Police will investigate the suspicious white powder found at the electoral office, which was forced to close in November due to worrying security risks.

Mr McGowan said his Rockingham office had been a target of death and bomb threats after his government introduced Covid vaccine mandates for a large part of the country's workforce.

The premier said his staff had received threats of rape as well as constant 'threatening' and 'intimidating' messages.

He asked those responsible for the November incidents to 'just stop'.

Eight days later, police intercepted a man who had allegedly planned to dump a tank outside the state leader's office.

It allegedly took four officers to restrain James Tioro outside his Camden Way home and take him into custody before the alleged plan could be executed.

Pictured: A tank which a man allegedly attempted to have dumped at WA Premier Mark McGowan's office in Perth late last year

Just before the police intervened, Mr Tioro was standing on top of a former British Army tank known as a Ferret Scout Car allegedly swinging a pickaxe, police claim.

He was shouting threats, some of which were directed at Mr McGowan, and was reportedly angry at Mr McGowan over WA's mandatory vaccination policies, it is alleged.

Around five hours before his arrest, Mr Tioro allegedly organised for a tow truck to take the tank to the Premier's office.

Mr Tioro was subsequently charged with disorderly behaviour, being armed in a way to cause fear and making an unlawful threat.

After his employees got death threats in October, Mr McGowan declared intimidation would not change the state's mandatory vaccination policy.

'What I'm doing and what the government is doing is what is necessary to keep people and our state safe, and we're not going to be deterred from that,' he said.

'What I'm doing and what the government is doing is what is necessary to keep people safe and keep our state safe, and we're not going to be deterred from that,' the premier said in October

'People can make Facebook comments, they can say these sorts of things, but it's not going to change the approach to the government.

'We have to do what we have to do to keep the state safe. Getting people vaccinated is necessary.'

The premier's electorate office was previously evacuated last March after a suspicious package was thrown into the building.

WA recorded 13 new local and 52 travel-related cases on Tuesday as health authorities prepare for a spike in infections slated for the end of the month.

Elective surgeries have been paused for six to eight weeks to relieve pressure on the hospital system with no bookings taken past February 28 - when expects predict cases will start to skyrocket.
It would awkward for anyone to sit behind a co-worker you called a liar, even more so when he's the prime minister.

But it was unavoidable as parliament returned on Tuesday after the summer break, especially after a very eventful week - and eventually Scott Morrison and deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce had a laugh over something on his phone.

Their run-in came just four days after it emerged that the Nationals leader had called Mr Morrison 'a hypocrite and a liar' in a damning text message.

The text was forwarded to the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins by a third party when Mr Joyce was still on the backbench, before his June 2021 return to the leadership of the Nationals.

Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce seem to be doing their best to ignore each other in parliament on Tuesday

Friends again? But later a grinning Scott Morrison (pictured left) showed Barnaby Joyce (right) something on his phone

Ms Higgins is a former Liberal staffer who alleges she was sexually assaulted in parliament.

In the message, Mr Joyce said he did not 'get along' with Mr Morrison.

'He is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time,' Mr Joyce said in the message, dated March 2021.

'I have never trusted him, and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie.'

Mr Joyce apologised to Mr Morrison for what he said and offered his resignation.

The apology was accepted, but the resignation was not, so the prime minister and his deputy had an awkward public reunion beside each other in parliament.

In one picture Mr Morrison and Mr Joyce seem to be doing their best to ignore each other, each staring off into the distance, seemingly embarrassed to be there.

Barnaby Joyce (pictured right ) is seen sat behind Scott Morrison (left) when parliament reconvened on Tuesday

But in another, there seems to be a slight thaw as Mr Morrison turns around to his deputy, seeming to want to show him something on his phone.

Ms Higgins also made headlines again on Tuesday when Mr Morrison issued a historic apology to female staffers for sexual harassment and bullying in parliament.

But the former Australian of the Year Grace Tame said the apology - which followed a statement of acknowledgement - was a 'stunt' to win votes and wouldn't actually bring about change.

'How about some proactive, preventative measures and not just these performative, last-minute bandaid electioneering stunts,' she wrote on Twitter.

Ms Tame was pictured last month scowling at Mr Morrison when they met at his official Canberra residence, The Lodge.

She was raped by her 58-year-old maths teacher when she was 15 and became Australian of the Year 2021 after campaigning for women's safety.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured left) with Grace Tame (pictured right) at The Lodge in Canberra on January 25
New Zealanders have revealed their COVID-19 cautiousness, with more Kiwis saying they'd support a new lockdown to fight an Omicron outbreak than those who wouldn't.

A Newshub-Reid Research poll has revealed 47.9 per cent of Kiwis would back a return to lockdown if declared by Jacinda Ardern's government, even though the prime minister has ruled them out.

Of those surveyed, 45.8 per cent of New Zealanders said they wouldn't support a new lockdown, the last of which ended in December, when Auckland endured a 107-day under tough conditions.

A Newshub-Reid Research poll has revealed 47.9 per cent of Kiwis would back a return to lockdown if declared by Jacinda Ardern's government, even though the prime minister has ruled them out

Ms Ardern's recent border reopening plan is likely to worry many Kiwis according to the poll.

A slender majority - 57.8 per cent - said they would like to see the border closed for longer to keep Omicron under control, compared with 36.7 per cent who did not support that.

In any case, Ms Ardern is wedded to gradually reopening New Zealand to the world, beginning with fully vaccinated Kiwis in Australia from later this month.

All arrivals will still need to self-isolate for at least a week after landing, and test negative to COVID-19 twice before entering the community.
Scott Morrison's horror week has continued with the Prime Minister getting savaged by Twitter trolls and an Australian actress for releasing 'environmentally damaging' balloons at a memorial for four children killed by a drugged driver.

Logie hall-of-famer Noni Hazelhurst was among the voices blasting the embattled leader after he and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet supported Danny and Leila Abdallah on Sunday morning at an emotional community church service.

The couple lost their children Antony, Angelina, and Sienna Abdallah in February last year when a drugged-up driver ploughed into the trio as they walked to get ice cream. Their niece Veronique Sakr was also killed.

As part of the ceremony at the I4Give service, attendees including Mr Morrison released white balloons in a moving tribute, but the Prime Minister's detractors slammed the group for littering.

Make it stop! Loggie hall-of-famer Noni Hazelhurst was among the voices blasting the Scott Morrison as he supported Danny and Leila Abdallah on Sunday morning at an emotional community church service

Scott Morrison's horror week has continued with the Prime Minister getting savaged by Twitter trolls and an Australian actress, for releasing 'environmentally damaging' balloons at a memorial for four children killed by a drugged driver

'On Sunday, both NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Prime Minister Scott Morrison participated in a mass balloon release,' the organisation Oil Free Seas tweeted.

'Balloons are the biggest plastic killer of seabirds, and one of the most lethal plastics for ocean wildlife.'

Hazlehurst also joined the pile on by replying 'make it stop'.

It comes after Mr Morrison was also attacked by a panellist on an ABC TV current affairs program who called the Prime Minister out of touch for eating plain white bread.

During a recent interview on The Drum, Nareen Young, a Professor for Indigenous Policy at the University of Technology, Sydney, called out the Prime Minister by alluding to a recent comment he made on breakfast television.

'I'm just normal white bread, white toast man. That's me,' Mr Morrison told Sunrise.

Noni Hazelhurst joined the chorus of detractors slamming Scott Morrison this week

As part of the ceremony at the I4Give service, attendees including Mr Morrison released white balloons in a moving tribute, but the Prime Minister's detractors slammed the group for littering

Danny and Leila Abdallah (pictured with Scott Morrison and Dominic Perrottet) lost their children Antony, Angelina, and Sienna Abdallah in February last year when a drugged-up driver ploughed into the trio as they walked to get ice cream. Their niece Veronique Sakr was also killed

During a program that aired last week and has since resurfaced on social media, host Ellen Fanning asked Prof. Young a question about why politicians often think of tradies and miners as 'battlers', rather than aged care workers or casual hospitality workers.

Prof. Young said 'I don't know that all politicians have that lack of understanding of what workers look like in this country.

'I think the comment about bread, white bread this week was really interesting. Who eats white bread in this country? Anglo men.

'I come from a working class background. We had brown bread - because we were healthy.

'I think it shows a deep lack of understanding as to who works in this country. I think that there's a deep intersection of race and class.'

Prof. Young's comments come after the PM said earlier this month failed to name the price of bread and petrol.

Mr Morrison was left stumped when asked at the National Press Club to list the price of a loaf of bread, a litre of petrol and a rapid antigen test.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured left) with Grace Tame (pictured right) at The Lodge in Canberra on January 25

Barnaby Joyce (pictured right) is seen sat behind Scott Morrison (left) when parliament reconvened on Tuesday

'I'm not going to pretend to you that I go out each day and I buy a loaf of bread and I buy a litre of milk,' he admitted.

Morrison was panned in some sections after he was caught out, and later clarified on breakfast television that he had since done his research and now knew how much a loaf of bread would cost.

The disastrous media address last Tuesday kickstarted Mr Morrison's week from hell with Channel 10 political editor Peter van Oselen ambushing the Prime Minister with a leaked text message between an unnamed Liberal Party minister and former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Scott Morrison said he couldn't care less about the text messages describing him as a 'horrible, horrible person', and a 'complete psycho,' but the scandal has added to a slump in popularity ahead of the upcoming federal election - tipped to be in May.

His credibility problem was compounded even further when Deputy Leader Barnaby Joyce 48 hours later owned up to calling him a 'hypocrite' and a 'liar' in a another text message sent last year when he was on the back bench.
Some of CNN's most well-known anchors grilled WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar in a virtual meeting on Monday, just days after CNN president Jeff Zucker resigned after he admitted to failing to disclose a relationship with an executive at the network.

Richard Quest, host of the daily show Quest Means Business on CNN International, told Kilar: 'There was the possibility of a more imaginative result that wouldve allowed you to keep the captain, instead of throwing the captain overboard while the ship is about to go through icebergs.'

Erin Burnett, who hosts the network's 7pm hour, said she and her colleagues were 'grieving' and demanded more information about Zucker's departure.

'Moving on will require answers to these questions,' she said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Zucker, 56, left his $6 million-a-year post last week after admitting to employees that he violated the company's Standards of Business Conduct when he failed to disclose a 'consensual relationship' with Allison Gollust, marketing chief at the network.

Meanwhile, hosts Don Lemon and Oliver Darcy questioned Kilar, 50, on whether former host Chris Cuomo would get a severance package from CNN.

'Did you think about what message it sends to the journalists in the company and also to the larger public that someone can be found to break with those journalistic standards and then get paid handsomely for it,' Lemon reportedly asked Kilar.

The WarnerMedia CEO declined to answer questions about Cuomo's reported $9million severance package, though Zucker had previously said that Cuomo wouldn't get one.

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar was grilled by CNN's New York-based anchors during a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss the ouster of CNN president Jeff Zucker

Zucker resigned last week after the Chris Cuomo scandal, which brought to light his relationship with executive Allison Gollust (right in 2011), an 'open secret' at the network

Erin Burnett, who hosts the network's 7pm hour, said she and her colleagues were 'grieving' and demanded more information about Zucker's departure

Host Richard Quest said Zucker's ouster was akin to 'throwing the captain overboard while the ship is about to go through icebergs'

Zucker's indiscretion was revealed during an ongoing internal investigation into former CNN host Chris Cuomo, right, who was fired in December after it was revealed he helped coordinate the media strategy of his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, after he was accused fo sexual harassment by a report from New York's Attorney General

AT&T, CNN's parent company, is said to be in negotiations to reach a deal that would see the fired anchor receive half of the $18 million he had been vying for before Jeff Zucker's unexpected resignation, as first reported by the New York Post.

The fired CNN anchor, who was hoping to secure a lump sum payout following his departure last year, has reportedly been told to set his sights lower, with him unlikely to receive anything more than around $9million from the cable news network.

Zucker's affair came to light during an internal investigation into Cuomo, which is being overseen by the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Journalist Soledad O'Brien, who hosted the show Starting Point on CNN from 2012 to 2013, tweeted a response to reports of the virtual CNN meeting on Monday.

'Its hard to believe that these folks cover breaking news daily. It's just so pathetic,' O'Brien, 55, said.

The question over Cuomo's severance package was first posed by Darcy, the network's senior media reporter, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Cuomo hosted Cuomo Prime Time from 2017 until December, when he was fired after it was revealed that he helped his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with his media strategy after the state's attorney general released a report showing he sexually harassed 11 different women during his time as governor.

Journalist Soledad O'Brien, who hosted the show Starting Point on CNN from 2012 to 2013, tweeted the above response to reports of the virtual CNN meeting on Monday

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'

CNN host Don Lemon (above with Jeff Zucker in December 2016) questioned Kilar, 50, on whether former host Chris Cuomo would get a severance package from CNN

Some have commented that Cuomo's ouster led to Zucker's resignation last week.

During Monday's meeting, Kilar declined to say whether he had requested Zucker's 'resignation,' according to Washington Post reporter Jeremy Barr.

CNN's media correspondent, Brian Stelter, has said the departure of the network's boss, Jeff Zucker, has been the 'ugliest shakeup' in years.

Speaking on the the Reliable Sources podcast Stelter described how those remaining at the cable news network are said to be 'confused and angry' noting that Zucker's leaving was 'not what they wanted.'

During the podcast, he explained why he believed Zucker had been forced out, noting that the impending merger between Discovery and CNN's parent company WarnerMedia is likely behind it.

CNN media correspondent has spoken openly about Jeff Zucker's departure. Brian Stelter, pictured, described it as the 'ugliest shakeup' in years

Stelter explained that both parties want the merger to proceed smoothly, which required Zucker and any controversies surrounding him to be removed. He also noted that Zucker's leaving would not have happened without the firing last year of anchor Chris Cuomo.

'This is the ugliest shakeup at CNN since the days Ted Turner was walking the halls,' Stelter said, speaking of network's founder.

'Jeff Zucker's departure was shocking to the staff at CNN. CNN was not built by just one man, not by only by Ted Turner and it was not led only by Jeff Zucker,' Stelter said. 'CNN is so much bigger than any single individual. It is about teams and teams of people, thousands of individuals who make up CNN.

'We will always have flaws, we will always screw up, we will always have to run corrections, but the people who say we're lacking journalism, that we've become an all-talk channel, that we've run off and we're all opinions all the time, that Jeff Zucker led us astray, those people aren't watching CNN.'

HBO host Bill Maher has also defended Zucker, saying he doesn't care about consensual workplace relationships.

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.

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

'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.

'Americans spend all of their time at work, they're going to f*** each other. It's perfectly normal,' added panelist Johann Hari, a British-Swiss author.
The head of Ofcom has said there would be 'real value' in the media watchdog regulating Netflix after Jimmy Carr made a joke about the Holocaust.

Dame Melanie Dawes said she 'would welcome any chance to work on that' after the comedian was slammed for mocking murdered Gypsies.

She said she understands why people found it 'very offensive' but added there was not much she could do while the streaming service was under Dutch regulators.

It comes as theatres were urged to boycott Carr's Terribly Funny Tour, with attention turned on the Grove Theatre in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, tonight.

Meanwhile a petition, labelled 'The Genocide of Roma is Not a Laughing Matter', had been signed by more than 15,000 people.

Gypsy leaders also invited the stand up performer to Auschwitz to remember the genocide later this year.

The comedian and TV host sparked outrage with a joke about the Holocaust in his recent one-hour Netflix special, His Dark Material.

In a widely-shared clip from the show, Carr joked about the horror of the Second World War systematic killings and 'six million Jewish lives being lost'.

He then made a disparaging remark about the deaths of thousands of Gypsies who were also killed by the Nazis.

The Health Secretary also urged people to send streaming service Netflix a 'very strong message' by 'not watching or listening' to the stand-up star (pictured)

Meanwhile a petition, labelled 'The Genocide of Roma is Not a Laughing Matter' , had been signed by more than 15,000 people

Jimmy Carr's Terribly Funny Tour... where is he performing this month? February 8: Dunstable

February 10: Southend

February 11: Liverpool

February 12: Cheltenham

February 13: London

February 16: Cambridge

February 19: London

February 20: Southampton

February 25: Rhyl

February 26: Leicester

February 27: Bromley Advertisement

Chief Executive of Ofcom Dame Melanie told Channel 4 News: 'I can certainly see that there'll be real value in [regulating Netflix]. Yes. And so we would welcome any chance to work on that.'

She added: 'I can really understand why a lot of people found that very offensive and as you say, we don't regulate Netflix at the moment, they're underneath the Dutch regulator.

'And I think that is a concern because it means that for viewers, it's really confusing that they've got different standards applied, for example, to Channel 4 News than they have to YouTube and other services, including Netflix, that come streamed on to our TVs.'

Downing Street on Monday called Carr's comments 'deeply disturbing' but said it was a matter for Netflix whether the show should remain on its streaming service.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries previously suggested new laws via the Media Bill could hold to account streaming sites for airing jokes such as those made by Carr.

Ms Dorries also warned over the weekend that she was putting social media giants such as Facebook on notice with her Online Safety Bill.

She said Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg could get a jail sentence if the social media platform does not comply with new online safety laws.

Responding to these comments, Dame Melanie said: 'Fear isn't always what really makes a difference.

'I'd like to talk to Mark Zuckerberg, I haven't met him. It'd be good to hear from him about what he thinks about these issues.

'But you know, we'll have to see what sort of penalties the Government introduces in the Bill.

'I want to make them accountable, really for the first time, and to increase transparency across the industry.

'So that the public have got a much better sense of what's going on and how things are getting better.'

Dame Melanie Dawes said she 'would welcome any chance to work on' regulating Netflix after the comedian was slammed for mocking murdered Gypsies

Downing Street says Jimmy Carr's Holocaust joke is 'deeply disturbing' but matter for Netflix Downing Street has said Jimmy Carr's joke about the Holocaust was 'deeply disturbing' but it is a matter for Netflix whether the comedian's show should remain on its streaming service. The PM's spokesman said: 'Those comments are deeply disturbing and it's unacceptable to make light of genocide.' The Government is 'toughening measures for social media and streaming platforms who don't tackle harmful content'. Asked whether Netflix should pull the show, the spokesman said: 'That will be a matter for them. We are clear that mocking the atrocities of the Holocaust is unacceptable.' The Government was focused on 'making sure that streaming services are more accountable', he added. Advertisement

Carr sparked outrage with the comment, which was aired as a preview to his new Netflix show and tour.

The stand-up comedian, also known for his roles on shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats, made a disparaging remark about the deaths of thousands of Gypsies in the war.

He told a laughing audience: 'But they never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis.

'No one ever wants to talk about that, because no one ever wants to talk about the positives.'

Theatres set to host Carr's tour also saw the heat intensify last night from Traveller campaign groups.

The Grove Theatre in Dubstable, Bedfordshire, which is set to host him tonight, was under pressure to shelve the performance.

The Luton Roma Trust called for the venue to ensure the 'gross racial slur' would not be repeated.

It said: 'We appreciate that comedy is subjective but in our view when punchlines are indistinguishable from the genuinely held views of fascists and neo-Nazis, a line has very clearly been crossed.'

It also called for Carr to apologise and for Netflix to strip the segment out of the comedy special.

Local campaign groups are weighing up plans for a protest at theatres set to hosting the comedian.

Petition that tells Carr genocide 'is not a laughing matter' signed by more than 15,000 A petition, labelled 'The Genocide of Roma is Not a Laughing Matter', had been signed by more than 15,000 people. The petition states: 'In Netflix comedy special 'His Dark Material', Jimmy Carr 'jokes' that the Romani and Sinti genocide is ignored when people discuss the Holocaust because people don't want to 'focus on the positives'. This is nothing short of a celebration of genocide. 'We appreciate that comedy is subjective but in our view when punchlines are indistinguishable from the genuinely-held views of fascists and Neo-Nazis, a line has very clearly been crossed. 'We acknowledge that Jimmy Carr highlighted the widespread ignorance that exists with regard to non-Jewish victims of the holocaust, but it was nevertheless incredibly crass for him to claim his 'joke' therefore had an 'educational quality'. 'If this was the case he would have used his considerable platform to raise awareness of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day to his 6.7m followers. To our knowledge, that has never happened. That speaks volumes. 'There is no legitimate basis for this 'joke', and no positive to its inclusion which outweighs the profoundly negative impact it produces.' Advertisement

Sherrie Smith, from Gypsies and Travellers Essex, told the Times: 'We should be looking at Channel 4, all the theatres that endorse Jimmy Carr and everybody who he works next to. We need to look at why he did this.'

Gypsy leaders called on Carr to join them at Auschwitz when they visit to remember the Holocaust on August 2, the date in 1944 when 4,000 Roma were killed.

Spokesman for the UK's Roma Billy Welch said if the comedian and presenter went he may 'appreciate the hurt and fear he has stirred up'.

He told the Mirror: 'His so-called joke was so offensive because there are many still living who witnessed the brutality of what happened, and many more who lost families in barbarous murders.'

Meanwhile a petition, labelled 'The Genocide of Roma is Not a Laughing Matter', had been signed by more than 15,000 people.

The petition states: 'In Netflix comedy special 'His Dark Material', Jimmy Carr 'jokes' that the Romani and Sinti genocide is ignored when people discuss the Holocaust because people don't want to 'focus on the positives'. This is nothing short of a celebration of genocide.

'We appreciate that comedy is subjective but in our view when punchlines are indistinguishable from the genuinely-held views of fascists and Neo-Nazis, a line has very clearly been crossed.

'We acknowledge that Jimmy Carr highlighted the widespread ignorance that exists with regard to non-Jewish victims of the holocaust, but it was nevertheless incredibly crass for him to claim his 'joke' therefore had an 'educational quality'.

'If this was the case he would have used his considerable platform to raise awareness of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day to his 6.7m followers. To our knowledge, that has never happened. That speaks volumes.

'There is no legitimate basis for this 'joke', and no positive to its inclusion which outweighs the profoundly negative impact it produces.'

It is estimated between 200,000 and 500,000 Roma and Sinti people were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Boris Johnson's spokesman also said it was 'unacceptable to make light of genocide' and suggested the Government could push for a crack down on platforms.

He said in a statement: 'These comments are deeply disturbing and it is unacceptable to make light of genocide.

'Broadly we are looking at toughening measures for social media and streaming platforms who don't tackle harmful content on their platforms and that is what we are moving forward for.

'Obviously we are looking at regulatory changes for those streaming companies.'

Asked if Netflix should take down the Carr show, he added: 'That will be a matter for them, we are clear that mocking the atrocities of the holocaust is unacceptable.

'What we are focused on is making sure that the streaming services are more accountable and moving forward with our legislation.'

Sajid Javid also waded into the row - describing the comedian's joke as 'horrid' and urged people to send streaming service Netflix a 'very strong message'.

He said: 'I think we all have a right to react to that, and one of the best ways anyone can react to that is show these platforms what they think about Jimmy Carr by not watching or listening to him, and that will send him a very strong message.'

Meanwhile, comedian David Baddiel, a close friend of Carr, also criticised him over the joke, describing it as 'mean-spirited' and 'cruel'.

He said: 'You can obviously tell a Holocaust joke that is cruel and inhumane and mean-spirited and racist.

'Or you can tell one that targets the oppressors, or draws attention to the fundamental evil of it, or shines and light on the humanity of the victims.

'It's not the subject matter of the joke that counts, it's the specifics of the individual joke. Clearly, Jimmy Carr's was the former.'

Jewish comedian David Baddiel (pictured left) slammed Carr for joking about the Holocaust on stage. My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty (pictured right) has called for police to probe Carr's joke about gypsies killed in the Holocaust

Elsewhere, Irish traveller and bare-knuckle boxer Paddy Doherty said the 'disgusting' joke was an insult to the 1.5million gypsies exterminated in death camps.

He told the Sunday Mirror: 'He should be investigated by the police.

'That wasn't a joke. He's talking about mass murder being a positive  would he be allowed to say this about black people killed by the Ku Klux Klan?

'There's a level you don't go to. More than a million of my people were killed.'

The joke was condemned Labour MPs including Labour's Nadia Whittome and David Lammy who described it as 'despicable'.

Carr sparked outrage from various Traveller charities and anti-hate groups after a clip was shared on social media.

In a tweet referencing the joke, The Traveller Movement - a charity supporting the traveller community in the UK, said: 'This is truly disturbing and goes way beyond humour.'

It added: 'We need all your support in calling this out #StopTravellerHate @StopFundingHate.'

The charity have now launched a petition to Netflix calling for the 'removal of the segments of His Dark Material which celebrates the Romani genocide'.

Olivia Marks-Woldman OBE, Chief Executive of Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, added: 'We are absolutely appalled at Jimmy Carr's comment about persecution suffered by Roma and Sinti people under Nazi oppression, and horrified that gales of laughter followed his remarks.

'Hundreds of thousands of Roma and Sinti people suffered prejudice, slave labour, sterilisation and mass murder simply because of their identity  these are not experiences for mockery.

'The widespread ignorance of this recent history needs to be addressed and we urge everyone to learn more about the past and the experiences of Roma people today.

'Roma and Sinti people still face dreadful prejudice as this incident shows. Please show your support by learning more, challenging hateful comments like these, and following accounts such as Roma Support Group, The Traveller Movement, and Friends, Families and Travellers.'

Carr issued a 'trigger warning' to the audience at the beginning of the show, admitting his performance contained 'terrible things'.

Speaking during a recent gig in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, he told his audience 'the joke that ends my career is already out there'.

A woman in the audience heckled Carr by saying, 'Are we going to talk about the Holocaust?' the Mirror reported.

Carr replied: 'We are going to talk about cancel culture, the whole thing. We are going to talk about f***ing everything people. Relax.'

He later said: 'We are speaking my friends in the last chance saloon. What I am saying on stage this evening is barely acceptable now.

'In ten years f***ing forget about it. You are going to be able to tell your grandchildren about seeing this show tonight.'

Carr and Netflix have been contacted for comment.

What a joke! Jimmy Carr's crass attempt to challenge cancel culture with his Holocaust 'gag' will actually only strengthen it, writes CHRISTOPHER HART

Comedian Jimmy Carr has always displayed a distinct taste for the tasteless in his stand-up routines and on his hit Channel 4 panel show, 8 Out Of 10 Cats.

His deadpan humour is challenging to say the least, and not something that appeals to everyone.

But it was during his recent outing on Netflix, in a comedy special entitled His Dark Material, that Carr  deliberately  pushed the boundaries of his brand too far for many with a joke about the Holocaust and a disparaging remark about the thousands of Gypsies killed by the Nazis.

He even introduced the joke in an arrogant fashion by saying 'it could be a career ender'.

Comedian Jimmy Carr has always displayed a distinct taste for the tasteless in his stand-up routines and on his hit Channel 4 panel show, 8 Out Of 10 Cats

Fellow celebrities have queued up to criticise him, including his friend and fellow comedian David Baddiel and the author Sir Philip Pullman.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust said his comments were 'hateful'.

Boris Johnson's spokesman has weighed in, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries described Carr's comment as 'abhorrent', and Health Secretary Sajid Javid is urging people to send Netflix a 'very strong message' by 'not watching or listening' to Carr.

Others have gone further, demanding that viewers cancel their subscriptions.

Fellow celebrities have queued up to criticise him, including his friend and fellow comedian David Baddiel (pictured) and the author Sir Philip Pullman

The Traveller Movement, a charity supporting the traveller community in the UK, said the joke in question was 'truly disturbing and goes way beyond humour'.

It has also launched a petition demanding that the streaming service edit the segment of the show to remove the offending item. Last night, it had attracted more than 13,000 signatures and counting.

I do not want to defend Carr. He's a clever man, an experienced stand-up and TV professional. He knew exactly what he was doing, and why, in initiating outrage.

On stage in Whitley Bay at the weekend, after he was heckled about the Holocaust issue, he left the audience in no doubt that he had wanted to take on 'cancel culture'.

Carr said: '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.' Pictured: Survivors of Auschwitz

According to reports, he told them: 'What I am saying on stage this evening is barely acceptable now. In ten years, forget about it.

'You are going to be able to tell your grandchildren about seeing this show tonight. You will say: 'I saw a man and he stood on a stage and he made light of serious issues. We used to call them jokes and people would laugh.' '

He has a point, but I would argue that what Carr has done is to actively promote cancel culture, to fan the flames feeding it.

Taste aside, the joke that has caused the furore wasn't funny to with start with. It barely deserves repeating, but for the broader points I want to make it is necessary to do so.

Carr said: '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.'

Like I said, not funny.

But does it matter if a joke is funny or not, or in such appallingly bad taste that it will offend many reasonable people?

Doesn't a comedian have the freedom to tell whatever jokes he or she wants?

And is it really, as one campaign group claimed, 'a celebration of genocide'? No it isn't. This is an absurd exaggeration.

Many of those who identify broadly as 'conservative' feel deep in their bones that freedom of speech and expression are far more important than the right of any individual or group not to have their feelings hurt.

But nowadays, the massed forces of Correctness and Woke  the most censorious and intolerant forces of our time  have some powerful arguments on their side, however much we may dislike that fact.

They might argue in this instance, for example, that Carr was deliberately targeting an ethnic minority, the Roma, who have been persecuted, marginalised and finally murdered by the thousands, and within living memory, thanks to the vile ideology of 'racial purity' propounded by the Nazis.

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty has called for police to probe Carr's joke about gypsies killed in the Holocaust

And given that this is the case, no one should have the right to make jokes about something so terrible as genocide. In the sort of phraseology favoured by the Woke, Jimmy Carr's facile quip risks 'legitimising violence against ethnic minorities'.

Loyalists to the principle of free speech might regard this as nonsense. A joke is just a joke, whether you find it funny or not, and it places no one in danger of physical harm. Simple.

But the truth is rarely simple, and freedom of speech flourishes best when it comes with responsibility. Jimmy Carr's joke was irresponsible; a calculated way of provoking and annoying the forces of censorship. But it has backfired.

Carr has actually given those who want to censor us even more ammunition.

He's like a naughty boy who has deliberately stirred up a hornet's nest  to the delight of the morally indignant and perpetually outraged  and while he may well get stung himself, so too will many others in his wake.

Television bosses will, as a result of his joke, become yet more jittery and anxious, forever checking their Twitter feeds and social media to see if their stars or programmes have caused any offence.

The genuinely funny and imaginatively outrageous will have a harder time getting heard as a result, and our cultural experience will be the poorer for it.

Free speech has never been entirely free  and, indeed, a society where absolute free speech was practised would hardly be a society at all, but chaos.

Nor is the instinct that drives the Censorious Woke, determined to silence anyone who disagrees with them or sees things differently, an entirely new development. Before Political Correctness, there was Mary Whitehouse and Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.

Meanwhile, the BBC has been banning comedians since before many of us were born. Back in the 1950s, it banned the music-hall comedian Max Miller and his song Let's Have A Ride On Your Bicycle, due to its 'outrageous' lyrics:

After the ride I began to perspire

It wasn't the ride, I'd been pumping her tyre

Innocent days. Nowadays, in order to provoke a storm  and the cynic might say attract attention to a new show  saucy innuendo won't do.

A comedian like Jimmy Carr has to make jokes about one of the most atrocious episodes in human history, the Holocaust, and the sufferings of the Roma.

Arguably even worse was Carr's subsequent back-pedalling, when he tried to make out that his quip might be 'educational', raising awareness that many Roma were killed by the Nazis as well.

But none of this can come as a surprise for Netflix (market value $175 billion). With Carr, they can't pretend they didn't know what they might get. In the past, he has freely admitted, 'I do a lot of jokes about rape', and previous gags about amputee soldiers have disgusted many.

In his defence, Carr has protested that many servicemen loved his performances, and the black humour was typically 'squaddie'. From what I know of soldiers' sense of humour, I think he's probably right. After you've been through a tour of duty in Helmand, you're unlikely to get upset about a mere joke.

But by exploiting the Holocaust for comedy material and then almost begging for attention by prefacing his show with the warning (or boast?) that this will surely get him cancelled for ever, Carr may well find that it will be the outcome which, in his vanity, he thought he could avoid.

In wiser moments, the comedian has reflected on how the times we live in remind him of hysterical episodes of book-burning through history. Quite so.

So why did he give such a gift to the true enemies of free speech?
A mother and daughter have been dragged out of their own restaurant in handcuffs for allegedly failing to comply with Western Australia's Covid vaccination rules.

Topolinis Caffe co-owner Jodie Jardine, 51 and her daughter, 22, spent much of Monday night in lock-up after their Warwick eatery in Perth's north was stormed by about a dozen police officers.

The pair were charged under the Emergency Management Act for allegedly working at the family-run Italian restaurant despite not being vaccinated.

Ms Jardine's husband Phil, who she owns the restaurant with, complained the unvaxxed are 'being segregated like the Jews in Germany'.

Under WA's mandatory jab requirements introduced on January 31, all hospitality workers in the state must be double dosed or face harsh fines and even jail time. About 93 per cent of people aged 12 and over are fully-vaccinated in the state.

Ms Jardine bizarrely claimed that by not being vaccinated while on the job, she's 'standing up for the future of our children'.

Topolinis Caffe co-owner Jodie Jardine, 51 and her daughter, 22 (pictured with husband and co-owner Phil), spent much of Monday night in lock-up after being arrested and charged over alleged Covid breaches

The Warwick eatery in Perth 's north (pictured) was stormed by about a dozen police officers

A 'wall of police officers' descended on the restaurant which has been operating since 1998, at about 5:30pm as a 'standoff' between police and staff began.

Eventually, the un-jabbed duo were arrested and led outside away by officers into awaiting cars.

Later in the evening, the mother and daughter were eventually dropped off at the restaurant to the applause of an awaiting crowd.

'It's a mother and daughter and we were in the cell,' Ms Jardine said.

'We're going to have to tell my grandchild ... we were arrested for her or him because we're standing up for our children and my grandchildren, that's what I am doing. I am standing up for the future of our children and if we don't, we're not going to have a future.'

'[My daughter] was braver than me, but you know, it's for the kids, we're doing it for the kids, it's always been about the kids.

'I'm not sure what's going to happen with the restaurant and my staff, my 20 staff that I have rely on me for their pay, I don't know I am going to have to get a lawyer and see what our next step is.'

The mother and daughter were dragged out of their own Italian restaurant in handcuffs (pictured)

Under WA's mandatory jab requirements introduced on January 31, all hospitality workers in the state must be double dosed or face harsh fines and even jail time. Pictured: Jodie and Phil Jardine

Police had attended the venue earlier that day at about 1pm warning the business they could not stay open with unvaccinated staff.

'Police spoke with the owners and staff and advised them of their obligations under the Emergency Management Act,' she said.

'About 5.30pm, police re-attended and found the cafe open and trading for business. Staff were asked to leave the cafe and the cafe was closed by police.

'A 51-year-old woman and a 22-year-old woman were taken into custody.'

Police had attended the venue earlier that day at about 1pm warning the business they could not stay open with unvaccinated staff. Pictured: Jodie and Phil Jardine with their daughter

This message was placed on the door after the incident waring those who enter the business will be 'trespassing'

Three other people at the restaurant were hit with fines.

Premier Mark McGowan on Tuesday made no apologies for the tactics of police saying: 'Well that's the law and people need to comply with it'.

Ms Jardine's husband Phil told The West Australian unvaccinated West Australians are 'being segregated like the Jews in Germany'.

He also told Radio 6PR he has been let unvaccinated diners into his restaurant.

The maximum penalty for breaching the Emergency Management Act is 12 months behind bars and a fine of $50,000. For corporations the penalty can be up to $250,000.
A suspected gunman who shot up a Fred Meyer grocery store, killing an Instacart employee and critically injuring a store worker, has been arrested 130 miles away after a police manhunt.

Aaron Christopher Kelly, 39, has been taken into custody by Washington Police after he was detained on Interstate 90 between Sprague and Spokane following the killing of Justin Krumbah, 38.

Richland police said he will be booked on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder.

Authorities said Kelly was seen in surveillance footage in a heated discussion with Krumbah before he opened fire at around 11am Pacific Time at the supermarket in Richland.

He fled the scene in a 2005 Honda Civic after opening fire at around 11am on Monday.

Police had earlier said they had identified the suspect but would not release his name, only telling reporters that he has had previous 'contact with law enforcement', as they issued a $1million nationwide warrant for his arrest.

Aaron Christopher Kelly, 39, has been arrested after a manhunt

The accused gunman, dressed in a plaid shirt and a dark-colored vest, is seen pushing a shopping cart out the door of the grocery store

He is accused of opening fire inside a local Fred Meyer supermarket on Monday, leaving at least one person dead and another wounded

This grainy image from a surveillance camera shows the suspected gunman without a mask at the Fred Meyer store

Police and sheriff's deputies from around the area started receiving calls about possible shots being fired at the store at 11.03am and converged on the scene within a minute.

Dispatch officers reported at the time that the shooter was still in the building and at least one person was down.

The Tri-City Herald reported that a chaplain was also summoned.

Officers and members of the Richland Fire Department quickly began life-saving operations, but Krumbrah was pronounced dead on the scene.

An unnamed store employee was also wounded and transported to a local hospital for treatment. He remained in critical condition Monday afternoon as he underwent surgery.

Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in to assist. The ATF later announced it was sending agents from its Yakima field office to help with the investigation.

SWAT teams were also on the scene Monday morning, and confirmed that the suspect was no longer in the building.

Justin Krumbah, 38, was identified as the victim killed in a shooting at a Richland, Washington Fred Meyer grocery store Monday morning

The manhunt for Kelly continued throughout Monday night, and a helicopter from the Spokane County Sheriff's Office was on the scene to assist in the search for the suspect before his arrest.

At least a half-dozen schools in the vicinity of the store were placed on lockdown as a precaution. People were being asked to avoid the area as the local school district provided buses to reunite those who were stuck inside with their families.

One witness reported hearing at least 10 shots fired inside the store, the Herald reported.

Grocery store workers and customers reportedly huddled in stock rooms, restrooms and back offices, awaiting police to lead them to safety.

'The terror in the eyes of these people that came and took cover in my shop,' a nearby business owner, Robert Cronkite told KIRO Newsradio. 'I just, I mean, I had never seen terror in anyones eyes quite like what I saw there.'

'The guy that did it He literally walked out of there, casually pushing a shopping cart. And you can see the satchels, you know, the gurney bag, wherever hes got these guns when he walked out. He gets in his white Dodge pickup, and the guy drives off.'

In a statement, a spokesperson for the supermarket chain said: 'We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at our Fred Meyer store located on 101 Wellsian Way in Richland, Washington.

'The entire Fred Meyer family offers our thoughts, prayers and support to all affected individuals and families during this difficult time.'

The spokesperson added: 'We are cooperating with local law enforcement who have secured the store and parking lot. The store will remain closed while the police investigation continues, and we have initiated counseling services for our associates.'

Grocery store employees and customers were seen fleeing the Fred Meyer on Monday

SWAT Teams were called in to assist local law enforcement in the shooting

Ambulances and police vehicles are seen outside the supermarket on Wellsian Way

Store employees and customers were hiding in stock rooms, restrooms and back offices until police could come and lead them to safety

Following the shooting, friends and co-workers took to social media to remember Krumbah, who they said always wore a smile as he bought groceries for his clients.

A GoFundMe was also set up to raise money for his funeral expenses, and by 9pm local time, it had already raised $9,260, with many people sharing their condolences and remembering Krumbah for his outgoing personality.

'He always had a smile on his face an was an absolute joy to be around,' wrote Alexander Weeks, a store employee at the Richland Fred Meyer. 'He was far and away one of my favorite parts of coming in and made those extra hard days seem not so bad.'

Destiny Underwood, whose Facebook page identifies her as the deli manager at the Fred Meyer posted that she planned to start a credit union donation for Krumbah so donations could go directly to his family.

'He was an amazing guy,' she wrote. 'I always ha a bit of a better day when h was in.

'It's truly heartbreaking that he had to go to heaven today.'

In his most recent Facebook post, Krumbah sported an apron with the Seattle Seahawks logo, captioning it: 'Hi ho, hi ho, off to work I go'

Tributes had also poured into his Facebook page, where Krumbah often posted pictures of himself in different outfits as he began his Instacart shift every day.

His most recent post, on January 26, showed him donning an apron emblazoned with the Seattle Seahawks logo with the caption: 'Hi ho, hi ho, off to work I go.'

A friend at the time asked: 'You wear an apron now?' to which Krumbah responded: 'I take pride in my work no matter what I do! Always gotta be professional.'

Many more people commented on the photo following the news of the shooting, with one Richland woman saying she met him in the checkout line of the Fred Meyer last Saturday and spoke 'about how you enjoyed Instacart and how you approached it with an outstanding work ethic.

'My day was made by your positive, can-do attitude.'

A man immediately replied to the comment writing that he had the same experience working with Krumbah, calling him a 'very positive and outgoing man.'

And another woman wrote that Krumbah was her family's Instacart driver 'every time we shopped at Fred Meyer.

'You always sent a message when you accepted our order and said it was a pleasure to shop for us again,' she wrote. 'I never got to meet you, but your friendly messages made my day every time we used Instacart.

'The world lost a light today,' she added.
A baby boy has died after swallowing a button battery feared to be from his singing teddy.

Tragic Hughie McMahon, one, ate a button battery which turned his blood acidic and burned coin-sized hole in his heart.

His devastated parents Christine McDonald, 32, and Hugh McMahon, 29, say they later discovered a battery missing from his 16 VTech Swing & Sing monkey teddy.

VTech has not responded to a request for comment from MailOnline, but there is a screw on the battery compartment which is supposed to keep it closed and safe.

Hughie's parents said he went floppy after eating the LR44 alkaline battery which got stuck in his throat.

He was rushed to hospital on December 24 from their home in Motherwell to University Hospital Wishaw.

Hughie was put on oxygen but then transported to a specialist unit at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where it was discovered his blood and gone 'acidic' and would not clot.

They then discovered there had been a hole burned in his heart by the battery and would never recover.

Ms McDonald and Mr McMahon then had to make the agonising decision to let him go after being told machines were the only things keeping him alive.

His mother said last night: 'Nobody warned us about button batteries. I didn't even know what they were but they're in everything. I was more worried about bleach, falling down stairs and bumping heads.

Hughie McMahon, one, ate battery which turned his blood acidic and burned hole in his heart

Devastated parents Christine McDonald and Hugh McMahon want the batteries banned

The mother and father said it happened after he was playing with VTech Swing & Sing monkey

'It's a living hell. I felt my boy leaving. There's no words on this planet to describe so much pain.

'The doctor came in with two nurses. I could tell they had been crying. The surgeon told us Hughie had ingested a button battery. It had become lodged in his oesophagus and burned a hole right through his heart. They had only seen something like it once before.

'I pulled the surgeon aside and told him I was Hughie's mum and needed to be told the truth.

'He told me if my boy made it through, he would be just existing. Nothing more,' she told the Scottish Sun.

The VTech Swing & Sing monkey teddy is described as being 'specifically designed to promote sensory awareness'.

Instructions for the plush animal toy available online say the battery compartment has a screw which is supposed to keep the top in place unless undone by a screwdriver.

After the tragedy the battery compartment on the toy showed one of the batteries was missing

Vtech's instructions for the toy show the mechanism should have stopped it being opened

Hughie was laid to rest last month by his family at a ceremony featuring a guard of honour

They also feature the warning: 'This product contains a button or coin cell battery. A swallowed button or coin cell battery can cause internal chemical burns in as little as two hours and lead to death.

'Dispose of used batteries immediately. Keep new and used batteries away from children. If you think batteries might have been swallowed or placed inside any part of the body, seek immediate medical attention.'

Ms McDonald and Mr McMahon and their family laid Hughie to rest at Eastfield Cemetery in Cumbernauld in January.

The ceremony saw 300 bikers form a guard of honour for the tiny coffin.

Mr McMahon said: 'My uncle is a biker. They're amazing people and turned up in droves to support us.

'It was incredible to see these big tough bearded guys on Harleys weeping as Hughie was carried out.

'They made a hard day bearable and we'll be forever thankful.'

Hughie's parents now want the law to be changed to stop the tiny batteries from being sold.

Mr McMahon added: 'They've ruined our life and we want to make sure nobody else goes through what we have.'

Local SNP MSP Clare Adam has supported the couple and say she will be raising the issue in Parliament.
A Sydney hitman might be caught red handed after he set his left hand on fire while trying to torch his getaway car.

The bumbling criminal had just fired several shots into the house of Haysam Ayoubi, 24, in Karuah St, Greenacre in Sydney's south-west in the early hours of Monday morning.

Ayoubi, who is on a $1million bail for his alleged involvement in a kidnapping, was uninjured in the attack.

The same can not be said for his would-be assassin, though.

A would be hitman (pictured) is caught red handed on video after setting his left hand alight while trying to torch his getaway car

After firing several bullets into the Greenacre house, the gunman escaped in his getaway vehicle.

A few minutes later, video captured him pulling into a nearby street and trying destroy evidence by setting the car on fire.

'All I heard was like a massive boom and within five minutes police were there,' one witness told Channel 7.

'They're putting members of the public at harm here, the more risk they take,' Bankstown Police Area Command Acting Superintendent Darren Sly said of the shooting and the torching of the car.

Police have now released security video which they hope will help them identify the culprit and catch him red handed.

They suspect his failed arson attempt has left him with a burnt hand.

The gunman (pictured) fired several shots at a house in Sydney's south-west before fleeing

The would be assassin then tried to torch his getaway vehicle (pictured) but only succeeded in setting himself on fire

Some of the bullet holes are visible in the garage door of the Greenacre property in which alleged kidnapper Haysam Ayoubi lives

'It certainly was well alight. He would have suffered burns someone would have had to help him treat those burns so people are aware of what's going on,' said Mr Sly.

'There's people out there who know who these people are and can assist police.'

The Commodore was left on the scene for 24 hours.

Then at 1am on Tuesday morning, a man returned to finish the job, pouring fuel inside and setting it alight.

What's left of the getaway car is undergoing forensic tests along with a balaclava dropped nearby.

Police also looking for a white hatchback that arrived and left at the same time.

The man who set himself on fire was last spotted running off through a park towards Lakemba.
Cassava Technologies (CassavaTechnologies.com) is proud to announce that it has appointed Tesh Durvasula as the new Chief Executive Officer of Africa Data Centres (ADC) effective 7 February 2022. He will be responsible for driving growth, innovation and strategy of Cassava Technologies data centres to meet Africas accelerating demand for data and digital infrastructure.

Durvasula is an experienced technology and real estate industry executive with a 25-year track record of successful leadership and value generation in the digital infrastructure sector. He will lead the ADC team as the organisation rapidly expands its footprint of hyperscale data centres throughout Africa with a plan to add an additional ten data centres in the top ten economic centres in Africa.

Strive Masiyiwa, Cassava Technologies Executive Chairman and Founder, At Cassava Technologies our objective is to empower individuals and businesses with technology, based on our vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind. Through our digital infrastructure and services, we are empowering our customers to fully participate in the fast-growing digital economy in Africa. Expanding our data centres footprint and management capacity is key to our strategy.

Hardy Pemhiwa, President & CEO of Cassava Technologies, We are delighted to welcome Tesh into the Cassava Technologies family and look forward to leveraging on his extensive industry experience as he leads our data centres business into its next phase of rapid expansion to meet the increased demand for data centre capacity in Africa. Following the conclusion of our $300m funding with the US IDFC and the recent $90m equity investment by IFC, it was imperative that we scale up our management team.

Prior to joining ADC, Tesh served in a variety of executive roles at CyrusOne, culminating in his appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of the company. And, before that, he served as president of Europe operations for CyrusOne, overseeing CyrusOnes expansion into England, Ireland, France and Germany, helping grow CONE into one of the largest publicly traded REITs in the US.

The potential to grow digital infrastructure is bigger in Africa than anywhere else and this will provide a number of opportunities for economic transformation. I am extremely pleased to be joining Africa Data Centres and Cassava Technologies, especially now as Africa has become one of the fastest-growing data usage regions in the world. I feel we are well poised to make an invaluable contribution to Africas rapidly developing digital ecosystem, concluded Durvasula.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Cassava Technologies.

About Cassava Technologies:

Cassava Technologies is a pan-African technology leader providing a vertically integrated ecosystem of digital services and digital infrastructure that is enabling digital transformation across Africa continent. The Cassava Technologies portfolio of technology product brands, include Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa Data Centres, Distribute d Power Technologies, Liquid Cloud & Cybersecurity, Sasai Fintech, Vaya Technologies. These solutions drive the Companys vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind.

Africa Data Centres owns and operates Africas largest network of interconnected carrier neutral data centres serving global hyperscale customers and commercial & industrial enterprises.

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Russia has denied reports that Vladimir Putin agreed a deal on Ukraine with French President Emmanuel Macron during talks in Moscow yesterday despite Paris' claim he managed to exact concessions from the Kremlin.

The denial comes amid fiery warnings from Moscow that a nuclear war could break out if Ukraine joins NATO and after Putin accused the West of 'complete disregard for our concerns' following the six-hour-long talks yesterday.

Macron had said Putin told him that 'he won't be initiating an escalation' in Ukraine and that there will not be any Russian 'permanent [military] base' or 'deployment' in Belarus, where Russia had sent a large amount of troops ostensibly for major war games.

But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said today the reports were 'essentially wrong' because it was 'simply impossible' for Moscow and Paris to 'conclude any deals'.

'France is the EU presidency, France is a member of NATO, where Paris does not have leadership. In this bloc, the leadership belongs to a completely different country. What kind of deals can we talk about?', Peskov said.

He added Russia is not 'sensing any real ways towards a solution' and warned that 'de-escalation is really, really needed' because 'tensions are rising day by day'.

Putin and Macron yesterday held lengthy negotiations over the crisis in Ukraine, which the Russian strongman described as 'constructive' after using the familiar 'ty' form of 'you' to address the French President, seen as a sign of a good rapport between the leaders.

But there was no mention of a deal from either leader during yesterday's press conference, in which Putin said that he wanted to 'stress one more time' that 'if Ukraine joins NATO... the European countries will be automatically pulled into a war conflict with Russia'.

He said states would not 'even have time to blink' before invoking Article 5 of NATO which demands collective defense of members.

Macron, who will today hold talks in Kiev with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, later told journalists on a plane to Kiev that he and Putin had discussed the possible 'Finlandisation' of Ukraine - making the country neutral - so that 'NATO can coexist with Russia', according to Le Figaro.

That would be an advance on the current negotiating position of the US and NATO and could strain the already rocky transatlantic relationship.

Putin has spent months massing some 135,000 troops backed by tanks and artillery on Ukraine's borders, sparking repeated warnings from Washington that he is about to invade.

Vladimir Putin yesterday warned a nuclear war could break out if Ukraine joins NATO and accused the West of 'complete disregard for our concerns' in a press conference (pictured) hours after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kiev today for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (pictured together) over the crisis after Macron's negotiations with Russian President Putin yesterday

Putin's comments came after lengthy negotiations with Macron (pictured, on February 7) over the crisis in Ukraine, which were described as 'constructive'

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock visits a Ukrainian village in Shyrokyne, the last large city in eastern Ukraine controlled by Kiev, today

Putin claimed his Moscow talks with President Emmanuel Macron were constructive but said: 'I want to stress it one more time,

'I've been saying it, but I'd very much want you to finally hear me, and to deliver it to your audience in print, TV and online.

'Do you understand it or not, that if Ukraine joins NATO and attempts to bring Crimea back by military means, the European countries will be automatically pulled into a war conflict with Russia?'

Putin warned: 'Of course the [military] potential of NATO and Russia are incomparable. We understand it.

'But we also understand that Russia is one of the leading nuclear states, and by some modern components it even outperforms many.

'There will be no winners. And you will be pulled into this conflict against your will.

'You won't even have time to blink your eye when you execute Article 5 (collective defence of NATO members).

'Mr President Macron, of course, doesn't want this. And I don't want it. And I don't want it.which is why he is here, torturing me for six straight hours.'

Putin said that for 30 years Russia had tried to persuade the West against a NATO eastward move but there was 'just a complete disregard for our concerns, demands, and proposals'.

It comes after it emerged Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has 'no plans' to take part in the Munich Security Conference set to take place on February 18-20, Kommersant reported.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has already confirmed Putin will not attend the two day summit, an annual cross-Atlantic conference held in Munich since 1963 that focuses on international security issues.

Macron is the top Western leader to meet Putin since Moscow began massing troops near Ukraine. Western states say they fear Russia is preparing to invade; Moscow denies any such intention but says it could take unspecified military action unless a series of security demands are met.

Western leaders in recent weeks have engaged in multiple rounds of diplomacy in the hope of de-escalating the tensions and preventing an attack.

High-level talks have taken place against the backdrop of military drills in Russia and Belarus. On Tuesday, Russia's defence ministry said six large landing ships were moving from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea for exercises.

Macron said he did not expect Putin to make any 'gestures' on Monday, saying his objective was to 'prevent an escalation and open new perspectives... That objective is met.'

Macron said Putin 'set a collective trap' when he initiated the exchange of written documents with the US. Moscow submitted its demands to Washington in the form of draft agreements that were released to the public, and insisted on a written response, which was leaked to the press.

'In the history of diplomacy, there was never a crisis that has been settled by exchanges of letters which are to be made public afterwards,' he said, adding that is why he decided to travel to Moscow for direct talks.

Putin said after the meeting that the US and NATO ignored Moscow's demands, but signalled his readiness to continue talking.

NATO, US and European leaders flatly reject the demands that they say challenge NATO's core principles, such as shutting the door to Ukraine or other countries that might seek membership; but they have offered to talk about other Russian security concerns in Europe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and French President Emmanuel Macron today held talks in Kiev over rising tensions with Russia amid fears of an invasion

Moscow has for weeks been massing tens of thousands of troops, tanks and artillery pieces along its eastern flank, sparking fears of an invasion, though the Kremlin has insisted it is merely a defence force (pictured, Russian forces currently massed in border regions)

The threats came after new footage emerged appearing to show Russia's deployment of 'unstoppable' Kinzhal nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles in the country's westernmost territory Kaliningrad, fewer than 800 miles from Britain.

Other video purports to show one of two MiG-31K deployed in western exclave Kaliningrad wedged between NATO countries Poland and Lithuania with a Baltic Sea coast, within striking distance of Ukraine and less than 800 miles from the UK.

The warplane is reported to be deployed with the new ultra high speed Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles.

The 24-foot-long, one-ton Kinzhal - or Dagger - can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, and Russia boasts it has no match among Western defences.

The hypersonic Kinzhal has a range of 1,250 miles and could pummel Ukrainian troops and defences without flying close to the country.

It appears that the MiG-31Ks capable of carrying the thousand-pound warheads were redeployed from Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, to Chernyakhovsk air base in Kaliningrad region in recent days.

Russia is believed to have around 20 Kinzhal-compatible MiG-31Ks in total.

Ukrainian armed forces from the 14th Separate Mechanised Brigade carry out live fire exercises

US intelligence officials have warned of Russia being '70 per cent ready' to invade Ukraine and an intelligence report indicates Russia would be able to overrun Ukraine in just two days

A C-17 transport plane is prepared at Fort Bragg for deployment to Eastern Europe with members of the 82nd Airborne Division amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia

In the Black Sea, Russia's hi-tech Ivan Khurs intelligence ship was seen just 20 nautical miles from Ukrainian naval port Odessa amid fears that an invasion could include a maritime assault.

Russia has rejected the deployment of UN peacekeepers on the borders of rebel-held Donbas.

Senior diplomat Pyotr Ilyichev, head of the Russian foreign ministry's international organisations department, said: 'No, there is no need. Peacekeepers will not resolve anything in the intra-Ukrainian conflict.

'The Ukrainians need to talk to the LPR and DPR [the people's republics of Luhansk and Donetsk].'

Russia has said that upcoming trips to Moscow by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace are unlikely to improve relations.

Russian ambassador to London Andrei Klein said: 'So far I am not at all under the impression that this could be a step towards a better relationship, and I am basing this on the statements being made by both Liz Truss and Ben Wallace.'

German Chancellor FAILS to back Biden's vow to stop Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Putin invades Ukraine: President tells ALL Americans to leave Kiev

By Emily Goodin, Senior US Political Reporter

Biden made his remarks in a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Germany would be one of the biggest benefiters of the pipeline. The country relies on 50 percent of its natural gas supply from Russia.

'If Russia invades - that means tanks and troops crossing the border of Ukraine again - then there will no longer be Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it,' Biden said.

But when pressed as to how that would happen - the pipeline stretches 764 miles from Russia across the Baltic states and into Germany - Biden declined to give details.

'I promise you we'll be able to do it,' the president said.

Scholz was more measured in his response, declining to say the pipeline's name and only noting the two countries would 'work together.'

'We're acting together,' the German chancellor said. 'We're absolutely united and we will not take different steps. We will do the same steps.'

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been at the center of Putin's standoff with Ukraine and been a topic of furious political debate in both Europe and the United States.

Republicans have called for sanctions on the pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine and Poland, because they believe it will give Moscow more energy power over Europe.

Kiev is also concerned that turning on the pipeline will lead to them losing out $2billion in lucrative 'transit' fees that could help its ailing economy.

President Joe Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House

President Joe Biden, during his press confernece with Chancellor Scholz, confirmed there will be no Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia invades the Ukraine although he did not detail how that would be accomplished

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline stretches 764 miles from Russia across the Baltic states and into Germany

View of the Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG) receiving station, the Nord Stream 2 part of the landfall area in Lubmin on Germany's Baltic Sea coast

Scholz arrives in Washington as Russian President Vladimir Putin has assembled 70% of the military personnel and weapons on Ukraine's borders he would need for a full-scale invasion of the country, based on U.S. intelligence estimates.

Moscow has repeatedly denied it will invade but Putin's true intentions remain a mystery.

Meanwhile, the first of 3,000 American troops to deploy to Eastern Europe arrived in Poland and another 86 tons of U.S. weapons arrived in Ukraine.

Biden advised any American civilians in the Ukraine to exit the country.

'I think it would be wise to leave the country. I'm not talk about our diplomatic core. I'm talking about Americans who are there. I hate to see them get caught in the cross fire. There's no need for that. If I were they and there I'd say leave,' the president said.

The United States has said it doesn't have an exact number of Americans in the Ukraine - noting it doesn't require people to register with the Embassy in Kiev - but it has offered assistance in helping people get out.

Why gas and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are so significant in Putin's standoff with Ukraine Nord Stream 2, the 750-mile gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, has been a source of fierce political debate both in Europe and the United States. Republican Senator Ted Cruz has repeatedly called for sanctions on the operators because he feels it gives Moscow energy dominance in Europe, but Democrats have slapped down his attempts because they fear it would harm relations with Germany. President Biden has now said he will stop the pipeline, which has not yet been turned on, from going ahead if Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine, putting it's future in the balance. Here is why the $11billion Nord Stream 2 is at the center of the Ukraine standoff, that Republicans have described as the 'biggest threat to Europe since 1945'. Why has gas and Nord Stream 2 become an issue in the Ukraine standoff? Like in the United States, Europe is dealing with soaring gas prices. There are also splits over how to be more climate friendly and move off fossil fuel. Europe gets almost 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia and will become more reliant on that supply during the winter months. Nord Stream 2 would supply 26 million German homes when and if it is turned on. Building has been completed but it has not yet been certified by German's energy regulator. That has made it a hugely political topic in Germany. What is at stake if the pipeline doesn't come online, and how can it be used as leverage? Ukraine believes it is missing out on $2billion in lucrative 'transit' fees because the pipeline bypasses Kiev. The pipeline has been touted as one of the sanctions the West could threaten if Putin invades Ukraine and has been considered 'leverage' against Moscow. For Russia, Nord Stream 2 would cut the costs of pumping its gas supplies through Ukraine. Sanctions or leaving it shut off would reduce Russia's revenue. The EU needs unanimity among 27 member states to impose sanctions. Germany's voice would probably be decisive, but stopping Nord Stream 2 would need support from other member states, such as Austria and Bulgaria, who are highly dependent on Russian gas. Russia's natural gas exports to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline crossing the Baltic Sea totalled 59.2 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2021, its operator said on Monday, in line with record volumes a year earlier. Moscow hopes to double the route with the recently finished Nord Stream 2 pipeline which requires EU and German regulatory approval to begin operations. The current pipeline already accounts for around a third of Russia's gas exports to Europe. Volumes last year topped the pipeline's annual nameplate capacity of 55 bcm. Russian gas exporter Gazprom has said the pipeline is able to transport more thanks to some technological peculiarities. The West has accused Russia of withholding gas exports to Europe recently in order to drive up prices and pressure regulators to approve Nord Stream 2. Russia and Gazprom have denied this. Will Russia cut off gas supplies if it invades? No one knows for sure, but a complete shutoff is seen as unlikely, because it would be mutually destructive. Russian officials have not signaled they would consider cutting supplies in the case of new sanctions. Moscow relies on energy exports, and though it just signed a gas deal with China, Europe is a key source of revenue. Europe is likewise dependent on Russia, so any Western sanctions would likely avoid directly targeting Russian energy supplies. More likely, experts say, would be Russia withholding gas sent through pipelines crossing Ukraine. Russia pumped 175 billion cubic meters of gas into Europe last year, nearly a quarter of it through those pipelines, according to S&P Global Platts. That would leave pipelines under the Baltic Sea and through Poland still operating. 'I think in the event of even a less severe Russian attack against Ukraine, the Russians are almost certain to cut off gas transiting Ukraine on the way to Germany,' said former U.S. diplomat Dan Fried, who as State Department coordinator for sanctions policy helped craft 2014 measures against Russia when it invaded and annexed Ukraines Crimea peninsula. Russia could then offer to make up the lost gas if Germany approves the contentious new Nord Stream 2 pipeline, whose operators could face potential U.S. sanctions even though a recent vote to that effect failed. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press' that the Biden administration has coordinated with its allies and that 'if Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.' Interrupting gas supplies beyond the Ukrainian pipelines is less likely: 'If they push it too far, they're going to make a breach with Europe irreparable, and they have to sell the oil and gas someplace,' Fried said. Advertisement

Meanwhile, Scholz's visit comes as both Democrats and Republicans - along with American allies in Western Europe - have accused Germany of being 'missing in action' on Ukraine and expressed frustration Berlin hasn't done more to help its fellow NATO members in Eastern Europe as Russia builds up its military force on the Ukraine border.

Concerns have been raised about his government's refusal to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine, to increase Germany's troop presence in Eastern Europe or to clarify which sanctions it would support should Russia act.

His decision to send 5,000 helmets for Ukrainian troops to Kiev drew much mockery.

But Biden defended Germany on Monday, saying there was 'no need to win back trust.'

'There's no need to win back trust. He has the complete trust of the United States. Germany is one of our most important allies in the world. There's no doubt about Germany's partnership with the United States. None,' the president said.

'With regard to helping Ukraine, one of the largest contributors financially to Ukraine has been Germany. Germany has been in the forefront of making sure of providing economic assistance,' he said. 'Germany is completely reliable. Totally reliable. Have no doubt about Germany at all.'

Scholz repeated his message of unity.

'We are united. The trans atlantic partnership between Germany and the U.S. is one of the permanent pillars of German policy and will be relevant in the future as well, just as relevant. This will be one of our top priorities always,' he said.

Additionally Biden used the press conference to issue a warning to Putin - saying it would be a 'gigantic mistake' to invade the Ukraine.

'I don't know that he knows what he's going to do. I think he has to realize it would be a gigantic mistake to make a move on Ukraine ,' Biden said,adding of Putin: 'He would pay a heavy price.'

Biden also said the United States is 'ready to continue talks in good faith with Russia.'

US Army soldiers and military vehicles exit a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft at Jasionka Rzeszow Airport in Rzeszow, Poland

US Army General Christopher Donahue (L) and Polish Army General Wojciech Marchwica at Jasionka Rzeszow Airport in Rzeszow, Poland

The first of 2,000 U.S. troops to arrive in Poland following the Pentagon's announcement of additional forces moving from the United States to Europe in support of NATO allies

Service members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces drive a military vehicle during tactical drills at a training ground in the Kherson region, Ukraine

Nord Stream 2 was expected to be one of the main topics of conversation during Biden and Scholz's meeting.

Germany heavily relies on Russian gas supplies and is a strong backer of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that the United States opposes.

The pipeline is not operating yet but Germany has been reluctant to put it on the negotiating table - even as the United States has made clear before Monday's meeting the project is dead should Moscow launch an attack.

'One way or the other, if Russia invades Ukraine, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward,' Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told 'Fox News Sunday.'

The $11 billion pipeline is being built to serve as a conduit between Russia and German. Germany depends on 50% of its gas supply from Russia.

'We have made our position very clear, which is that: If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward,' a senior administration official told reporters on a briefing call on Sunday night.

This satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows troops and logistics material support units, near Yelsk, Belarus, as Russia has moved troops from Siberia and the Far East to Belarus for sweeping joint drills

Ukrainian tanks drive during tactical drills as tensions rise

2,000 troops from Fort Bragg, 1,000 in the Stryker squadron moving from Germany to Romania and thousands more ready: The U.S. troop plan for Eastern Europe Department of Defense Spokesperson John Kirby detailed on Wednesday the latest U.S. troop movements approved by President Joe Biden. He said that plan was laid out to the president in three parts: 1  1,000 U.S. troops part of the Germany-based infantry Stryker squadron will reposition to Romania 'in the coming days.' This mounted cavalry unit is designed to deploy in short order and move quickly once in place. The movement to Romania will add to the 900 U.S. forces already in that country to help deter aggression from Russia and enhance defensive capabilities in frontline NATO allied states. Kirby said Pentagon Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed reposition with Romania last week and the movement there is coming at the invitations of the Romanian government. France also intends to deploy to Romania under NATO command. 2  Approximately 2,000 troops stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina will deploy to Europe this week. The majority of those deployments, approximately 1,700, will comes from the 82nd Airborne Division's infantry brigade combat team, which will go to Poland. The 82nd specializes in parachute assault operations and is a rapid ready team prepared to response anywhere in the world within 18 hours. Another 300 or so are coming from the 18th Airborne Corps, which will create a joint task force capable headquarters in Germany. The corps provides mission command and is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world. Kirby said the Pentagon worked with Poland and Germany and have support for deployment. He assured: 'Again, these are not permanent moves. They respond to current conditions. We will adjust our posture as those conditions evolve.' 3  All of these troop movements and deployments are 'separate and in addition' to the 8,500 U.S. military personnel put on heightened alert posture last week. Kirby said: 'Those 8,500 are not currently being deployed but remain ready to move, if called, for the NATO Response Force (NRF) or as needed for other contingencies as directed by the Secretary of by President Biden.' Advertisement

Scholz, in a nod to the criticism he's received at home and abroad for a lack of leadership on the Ukraine issue, told a German television station that he was open to deploying more troops to Lithuania to bolster NATO's eastern flank.

'We are intensively engaged with all our allied partners in the European Union, with the question of Ukraine, hardly any question occupies us more,' Scholz told ARD television station.

'It's about preventing a war in Europe,' he said, adding that his first meeting as chancellor with Biden would involve 'hard, real political work.'

The two men have met before - in Rome in October during the G20 summit while Scholz was still serving as finance minister.

Scholz also will meet French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda in Berlin on Tuesday and then visit Russia and Ukraine next week. Macron will be in Russia on Monday as Biden and Scholz meet at the White House.

Biden on Sunday seemed to suggest Putin will not go with the diplomatic route as Moscow continues to demand concessions that U.S. and NATO will not make.

When asked what factors Putin is considering when making his decision whether to invade Ukraine or deescalate tensions in the region, Biden responded: 'I think things he cannot get.'

This likely references the demands the Kremlin has put forth, including that the NATO ban Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc countries from entering the military alliance.

As tensions rise in Easter Europe, the German-American relationship could become the pivotal U.S. partnership in the West as Macron is in a tough re-election campaign and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is struggling to hold onto his goverment amid a scandal over parties held during COVID lockdown.

In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal for eastern Ukraine in a bid to end the conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists that erupted the previous year following the Russian annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

The agreement signed in the Belarusian capital of Minsk helped stop large-scale fighting, but efforts at a political settlement have stalled and frequent skirmishes have continued along the tense line of contact in Ukraine's industrial heartland known as the Donbas.

A summit of French, German, Russian and Ukrainian leaders has been suggested. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed interest but Putin has not.

Scholz took over two months ago from Angela Merkel, the longtime German leader who had worked with four U.S. presidents. Biden and Merkel enjoyed a strong relationship.

Additionallly, Scholz and Biden will discuss Germany's agenda for its leadership of the G7 this year, their support for Western Balkan countries, and working to coordinate bilateral and multilateral responses to China's non-market economic practices and human rights abuses, U.S. officials said ahead of the meeting.

U.S. paratroopers landed near Poland's border with Ukraine on Sunday after Biden ordered last week the deployment of 1,700 soldiers to the country's southeastern region amid rising tensions with Russia.

Civilians participate in a Territorial Defence unit training session in Obukhiv, Ukraine

French soldiers take part in a major drill as part of the EFP NATO operation at the Tapa Estonian army camp near Rakvere; the 'Winter Camp' exercise in northeast Estonia, just 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Russian border, included some 1,300 British, Estonian and French troops operating in extreme conditions

An elite group of U.S. paratrooper disembark from a C-17 at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in Poland on Sunday, February 6, 2022

U.S. soldiers are seen next to their vehicles outside the G2A Arena after arriving at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in Jasionka, Poland, on Sunday

Another 86 tons of U.S. weapons arrived in Ukraine in response to more than 100,000 Russian troops amassed along the country's border

The US suggested in letters that Russian inspectors can gain access to NATO bases in Romania and Poland (pictured above) to guarantee that no Tomahawk missiles are being stationed there. Comes as Pentagon announces 2,000 troops in the U.S. will deploy to Poland and Germany and another 1,000 will head to Romania from their base in Germany

Another 1,000 troops already in Germany will be repositioned to Romania, which borders the Black Sea where one of Russia's biggest fleets is positioned.

'I'm not going to speculate,' Biden said Sunday when he was asked if he would consider sending more U.S. troops to NATO countries if Putin doesn't deescalate.

And the latest shipment of weapons from the U.S. arrived in Ukraine at the weekend, with the 86 tons worth of ammunition delivered.

It is the eighth part of a $200 million shipment of American military aid that is being sent to help its ally.

Ukraine's defense minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted: 'The 8th bird has arrived in Kyiv. The weight of today's cargo with ammunition for our Ukrainian armed forces is 86 tons. Since January 22, our partners from the US have sent more than 650 tons of defense ammunition to Ukraine. To be continued.'

And National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned Sunday that 'we are in the window' where Russia could invade 'any day now'.

'We're in the window where something could happen that is a military escalation and invasion of Ukraine can happen at any time,' Sullivan said on NBC's Meet the Press.

'We believe that the Russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into Ukraine and we have been working hard to prepare a response,' he continued.

'President Biden has rallied our allies, he's reinforced and reassured our partners on the eastern flank, he's provided material support to the Ukrainians and he's offered the Russians a diplomatic path if that's what they choose instead.'

Sullivan concluded: 'Either way, we are ready, our allies are ready and we're trying to help the Ukrainian people get ready as well.'
Italian food lovers in Sydney's west have been giving something to look forward to with the announcement on Tuesday that Criniti's restaurant is set to return by winter after a more than two year absence.

The beloved chain's Parramatta branch shut very abruptly in late 2019, when it went into administration with debts of more than $16.5million.

Seven of its 13 restaurants were forced to close at the time, including Parramatta in Sydney's west and the Manly branch on the city's northern beaches.

Frank Criniti and his then wife Rima opened the first branch on Church Street, Parramatta in 2003 and continued to expand from there before hitting tough economic conditions in November 2019.

Bachelor star Noni Janur pictured at a Criniti's restaurant. The chain is about to reopen in Parramatta in western Sydney

Criniti's is loved by its fans for its pizzas, pastas, gelatos and dessert pizzas, which are a favourite with children

Then, when it looked like there was a buyer who would keep it open, the Covid shutdown intervened and put it on hold.

The business' assets were later sold to the South Australian Brunelli Group, which kept six outlets open - but not Parramatta.

That will now be rectified and it will soon be back on Church St, albeit at a different address.

The chain, whose slogan is 'When you're here, you're family', is moving into the former El-Phoenician Lebanese restaurant, which has shut after 24 years in business.

Major renovations are being undertaken, including installing a woodfire pizza oven and trestle tables.

Australian actress Gemma Forsyth pictured having lunch at a Criniti's restaurant - which has been an Aussie institution for years

Criniti's Manly restaurant (pictured) was one of those closed when it went into administration

With a lot of work to be done, it will still be several months before Criniti's is back in business in Parramatta, but its legion of local fans are already looking forward to the pizzas, pastas, gelatos and its famous desert pizza, which is much loved by children.

The overhaul is expected to take several months but the money splashed on it has signalled a comeback for more Criniti's franchises across Sydney, where there are still six restaurants operating including Castle Hill, Wetherill Park and Darling Harbour.
Don Wells has been jailed for 11 months after a DUI arrest

The Tennessee father of missing Summer Wells has been jailed for 11 months after admitting to driving under the influence.

Don Wells, whose six-year-old daughter has been missing since June, appeared at Hawkins County General Sessions Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to the October DUI.

A toxicology screen from the night of his arrest showed no evidence of drugs but he registered a 0.13 blood alcohol percentage, above the 0.08 intoxication limit.

The state dropped all other charges from the October 30 arrest which was Wells' first DUI.

Wells said that on the night in question, he 'wanted to get away' after an argument with his wife Candus Bly.

General Sessions Judge Todd Ross told him: 'That's what feet are for.'

Shortly after the arrest, his family put out a statement saying: 'There are no words to what each day and night is like. We needed cigarettes. It was a stupid decision. Please keep us in prayer. Keep Don. This pain won't go away. Thank you.'

The mandatory minimum sentence is 48 hours in jail, 88 hours of community service, a $350 fine and a year with a revoked license.

But the arrest violated a previous probation order after he was arrested for possession of a handgun while intoxcicated.

Wells, whose six-year-old daughter has been missing since June, appeared at Hawkins County General Sessions Court Monday

Summer was last seen on June 15, 2021, outside of her family's home in Rogersville, Tennessee

Wells must now serve the rest of his 11-month and 29-day sentence at the Hawkins County Jail.

He will be eligible for probation after 180 days if he completes an alcohol rehabilitation program.

Wells said in a note passed to News Channel 11: 'Thanks to everyone for all positive support. It's been very difficult.'

He added that he and Bly are taking classes to regain custody of their three other children and he had been working a full-time job at the time of his arrest.

Summer was reported missing from her Rogersville home on June 15 around 5:30 p.m. after her parents said she went into the basement alone and then vanished.

It is believed she went missing when she was playing with toys in the basement. Her mother Bly went to check on her later that evening but found the basement empty and the door unlocked

Her disappearance had sparked a 13-day search in the area around the home with few leads, and Wells told podcast host Jennifer Youngblood that his daughter's disappearance has fueled rumors and theories, which had begun to affect him.

Summer's three brothers were then taken into protective custody after Don admitted that he had taken to drink amid rumors about the girl's disappearance.

Last week, Summer's family released an emotional video on her sixth birthday as the hunt to find her continues.

Summer was last seen on June 15, 2021, outside of her family's home in Rogersville, Tennessee.

It is believed she went missing when she was playing with toys in the basement. Her mother Bly went to check on her later that evening but found the basement empty and the door unlocked.

The video has been released to mark missing Summer's sixth birthday

In the emotional video, Summer's family appeal for help to find the little girl and 'restore our family'

Summer's family are seen releasing purple balloons

Her parents said: 'This is a tender day to us. We miss our Summer with all our hearts'

Her family posted a heartbreaking video on YouTube to mark her birthday featuring pictures of at least 31 other missing children, between the ages of five and 17, including Camden Lamont Thomas, Reagan Mack, Lina Sardir Kim, Kaitlyn Langford, Janiah Bradley, Camden Rayner, Deangelo Maclin, America Shell, Joshua Cortes Gordillo, Kenya Marable and Michael Vaughan.

An emotional prayer is read out during the video which shows birthday cupcakes with Summer's name in icing and cuddly toys.

Her parents said: 'This is a tender day to us. We miss our Summer with all our hearts.

'Thank You Everyone for helping us restore our Family and find our Daughter Summer Moon-Utah Wells.'

The video features details of 31 other missing children from across the U.S., including Michael Vaughan (left) and Kaitlyn Langford (right)

Her family posted a heartbreaking video on YouTube to mark her birthday featuring pictures of at least 31 other missing children, between the ages of five and 17

Summer was reportedly wearing grey trousers and a pink shirt with no shoes at the time of her disappearance

She was three feet tall when she went missing, weighed 40 pounds, and had blonde hair and blue eyes

An Amber Alert was issued on Wednesday, June 16 for the missing girl. Anyone with information about Summer's location is urged to call 1-800-TBI-FIND

The prayer includes the words: 'Every family is missing them and longing for them.

'Thank you for the heartbeat behind every person that's out here giving their time to try to bring these children home.'

The video ends with a close-up of an illustration of the Wells family.

Summer was reportedly wearing grey trousers and a pink shirt with no shoes at the time of her disappearance.

She was three feet tall when she went missing, weighed 40 pounds, and had blonde hair and blue eyes.

An Amber Alert was issued on Wednesday, June 16, for the missing girl.

Anyone with information about Summer's location is urged to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
An Iranian man this week carried the severed head of his wife through the streets after decapitating her in an 'honour killing' after she tried to flee the country.

The unnamed man beheaded his wife Mona Heydari, 17, in the southwestern city of Ahvaz on Saturday before carrying her severed head around the streets.

The young wife is understood to have fled to Turkey after her family discovered that she had an affair.

But she was tracked to the country and brought back to Iran by her father and her husband this week, according to local media reports.

The victim was just 12 when she was married to the man - who is also her cousin - and had a three-year-old son by the time she was killed.

Authorities have arrested the husband and his brother on charges of killing Mona in revenge for adultery and leaving him. Police did not release the men's names.

Gruesome footage showed the husband grinning as he held a knife in one hand and carrying what was said to be his wife's decapitated head in the another.

The incident has shocked many people in Iran where the legal age for marriage are 13 and women are compelled to wear a head covering in accordance with Islam.

Iranian newspapers and social media saw an outpouring of shock and rage over the killing, with many demanding social and legal reforms.

'A human being was decapitated, her head was displayed on the streets and the killer was proud,' said the reformist daily Sazandegi.

'How can we accept such a tragedy? We must act so that femicide does not happen again.'

Lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh, in the reformist paper Shargh, blamed 'legal loopholes' for 'paving the way for honour killings'.

Fellow member of parliament Elham Nadaf told the ILNA news agency: 'Unfortunately, we are witnessing such incidents because there are no concrete measures to ensure the implementation of laws to prevent violence against women.'

A man beheaded his 17-year-old wife Mona Heydari in the southwestern city of Ahvaz on Saturday before carrying her severed head around the streets, gruesome footage shows

Mona (pictured) was understood to have fled to Turkey before being brought back from the country by her father and her husband, according to local media reports

Semi-official news agency ILNA quoted police officer Col. Sohrab Hosseinnejad as saying the two 'defendants confessed to the murder during the police investigation and were introduced to the judicial authority'.

Local media said police did not elaborate further on the killing or who filmed the gruesome video of the husband carrying his wife's head.

Iran's media watchdog shut down news website Rokna for publishing the video footage, the state-run IRAN newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the report, a media supervisory board on Sunday closed the website because of its continuing to 'publish images and issues that violate public decency'.

Iran has a long history of closures of media outlets, with authorities shutting down Jahan-e Sanat newspaper in 2020 after it quoted a former member of the national Covid taskforce as saying the country's death toll from the pandemic could be 20 times higher than official figures.

Mona's killing was believed to have been an 'honour killing', according to local media, which refers to the killing of a relative who is perceived to have brought dishonour on the family.

Sharia law says that only 'blood owners' - immediate family members - are allowed to demand execution for the murder of a relative.

It means most honour killings go unpunished since families tend not to demand the death sentence for another family member.

In June 2020, Reyhaneh Ameri, from Kerman in south central Iran, was bludgeoned to death after being attacked with an iron bar by her father

Fatemeh Barahi was beheaded by her husband in 2020 after running away just two days into their forced marriage

Romina Ashrafi was killed with a sickle in her family home in Hovigh, Talesh county as a form of 'punishment', local media have reported

In April 2021, a 50-year-old man shot to death his nine-year-old son and seven of his in-laws in the city of Ahvaz.

In June 2020, Reyhaneh Ameri, from Kerman in south central Iran, was bludgeoned to death after being attacked with an iron bar by her father.

Local media reported that the 22-year-old survived for nearly 24 hours after the attack but bled to death from her injuries.

During the same week, 19-year-old Fatemeh Barahi was beheaded by her husband after running away just two days into their forced marriage.

The 23-year-old man, who was also his wife's cousin, handed himself into the Valiasr police station in Abadan, southwestern Iran, while holding a bloody knife.

He told officers that he had beheaded his wife due to her 'infidelity' and had left her decapitated body by the Bahar 56 area next to the Bahmanshir River, reported Iran International TV at the time.

At the end of May 2020, a 13-year-old Iranian girl was beheaded in an honour killing by her father while she was sleeping, local media claimed.

Iranian laws mean girls can marry after the age of 13, though the average age of marriage for Iranian women is 23.

While the exact number of honour killings in Iran is not known, a Tehran police official has previously said they account for around 20 per cent of Iran's murders.
A mother-of-two led a revenge attack against her ex-boyfriend after he accused her of supplying their children with clothes that were 'too small' for a sleepover.

Rhiannon Moss, 21, travelled 25 miles with her new lover and a teenage relative to collect the youngsters and beat up Liam Greenwood.

It followed a bizarre row over the phone between them about the tight fitting clothing.

Moss and two men kicked down the front door at a house where Mr Greenwood was staying with the children and attacked the three people inside.

Mr Greenwood's new girlfriend Charlene Kenny had her hair grabbed by Moss as Mr Greenwood was repeatedly punched and kicked.

Miss Kenny's brother Andy was also grabbed in a headlock and punched as he tried to fend off the invaders.

Rhiannon Moss (pictured), 21, travelled 25 miles with her new lover and a teenage relative to collect the youngsters and beat up Liam Greenwood

Mr Greenwood's (left) new girlfriend Charlene Kenny (right) had her hair grabbed by Moss as Mr Greenwood was repeatedly punched and kicked

The two men were treated for black eyes and other bruising, Mr Kenny also suffered bouts of dizziness for two weeks and Miss Kenny had a bruised leg.

Mr Kenny, whose young daughter and teenage brother were at the home at the time, said: 'I feel anxious leaving the house now and suffer occasional flashbacks.

'My daughter is also nervous whenever somebody comes to the door and has difficulty sleeping.'

Mr Greenwood told police: 'My eye was sore for a number of weeks and I don't feel safe anymore when I'm on my own.'

Moss, boyfriend John Whittaker, 22, and his cousin Ryan Hancock, 18, from Burnley, were charged with burglary with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.



But they were all spared jail at Manchester Crown Court after their guilty pleas to the lesser charges of assault were accepted by the prosecution.

Moss and Mr Greenwood had been in a two-year relationship.

Moss, boyfriend John Whittaker (pictured), 22, and his cousin Ryan Hancock, 18, from Burnley, were charged with burglary with intent to cause grievous bodily harm

But they split up in September 2020 and she began a fling with Whittaker while Mr Greenwood started dating Miss Kenny.

A row broke out on February 20 after the youngsters were invited for a sleepover at the Kenny family home in Radcliffe, near Bury.

Brian Berlyne prosecuting said: 'At 7.30am Moss made a video call to Charlene asking to see the children on camera and seemed unhappy to hear her son was not awake.

'At 9am Charlene rang back to show the boy had woken up - but Liam then joined the conversation saying he was unhappy with the clothing provided for the children. Whittaker then joined in the call and an argument ensued.

'Shortly afterwards when Moss asked if the children were going to be returned as planned, Liam said they would not and talked about their clothing being too small.

'Moss then phoned Charlene and said they would come to the house, kick the door down, beat them up and take the children.'

He continued: 'She then messaged her to say she was on her way and Charlene called the police.

'Moss was irate and saying if she had to get her grandfather to take her, she would not be responsible for her actions.

'The grandfather then agreed to drive her to the house with Whittaker and Hancock, who was brought along as force of numbers.

'At 10.30am Charlene heard the sound of banging and saw Moss outside the window. Charlene said she had already called police but Moss then went to the back door and asked to be let in.

'Fearing violence, Charlene ignored her request but Moss then went back to the front of the house and the three defendants kicked the door in.

'Whittaker and Hancock approached Andy Kenny who was punched on the nose three times and kicked in the head.

'Whittaker then put him in a headlock before Mr Kenny was punched a further three times.

Moss and Mr Greenwood (pictured together in happier times) had been in a two-year relationship during which they had a son aged two and daughter aged 18 months

'The defendants went upstairs where Liam was in the bedroom with Charlene and the children.

'Liam attempted to close the door but Moss reached round and pulled at Charlene's arm.

'The bedroom door was then kicked off its hinges and Liam was punched in the face and put in a headlock.

'He was kicked in the ribs causing him to fall to the floor where he was kicked and punched again.

'Moss approached Charlene and pulled her hair as Charlene tried to comfort one of the children.

'She told Charlene to hand over her daughter and when she refused Moss grabbed hold of hair again and pulled it.

'The three defendant then took the children out of the house but police had already arrived at the scene and they were arrested.'

Moss gave no comment in interview while Whittaker said he punched Mr Kenny to the face in self-defence.

He claimed he hit Mr Greenwood five times because the victim had swung a punch at him.

In mitigation for Moss, defence counsel Anna Bond said her client was 'remorseful' and the children had 'complex needs'.

For Whittaker, Peter Cruickshank said his client offered his 'deep seated' apologies for his behaviour.

Moss admitted two charges of common assault and was ordered to complete a two-year community order plus 40 Rehabilitation Requirement Days.

She will also be electronically tagged for three months as part of a 7pm-7am curfew.

Whittaker who admitted two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm was given a six-month jail term suspended for 18 months.

Hancock, who admitted ABH and common assault, was given a two-year community order. Both were ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work.

All three were banned from making direct contact with Mr Greenwood under the terms of a restraining order.

Sentencing Judge Alan Conrad QC said of Moss: 'She does herself no credit at all as a mother in behaving this way in front of her children.

'That's no example to set. This was joint assault on people within their own home. This was a disgraceful incident.

'You were all intent on gaining access to their property and forced your way in. Once inside the three of you embarked on violence towards the occupants.

'You not only entered the house as trespassers but this was group violence and violence committed in the presence of very young children.

'True it is there may have been a sense of grievance about the way the children were being kept there - but this was no way to go about resolving things.'
A wine tycoon has won a court battle against his multimillionaire neighbour who had sued him for not putting up curtains in his 3.2m flat.

Rollo Gabb, head of South African vineyard Journey's End, was hit with legal proceedings by businessman Meghdad Farrokhzad who claimed the wine importer breached rules governing what kind of curtains and floor coverings he could have in his Kensington flat.

When Mr Gabb, whose celebrated Stellenbosch region wines are carried by Waitrose, M&S and Sainsbury's, bought the property in 2007, he agreed to rules on how he could furnish it.

The rules stipulated that the 'high class' apartment had to be carpeted and 'properly curtained in a style appropriate to a high class private residence'.

But Mr Farrokhzad - who acquired the freehold of the building at the same time he bought an art gallery underneath Mr Gabb's flat in 2020 - complained that his new neighbour had broken the curtain rule by having shutters rather than fabric curtains on some of his windows, among other breaches of the rules.

He claimed Mr Gabb forfeited his right to the lease due to 'an absence of fabric curtains' having put up wooden shutters on some of his windows.

Mr Farrokhzad launched a bid to strip Mr Gabb, 50, of his lease on the flat by suing him in a tribunal, but lost his case in April last year.

Mr Gabb followed up by suing his neighbour in the High Court, claiming the curtain complaints were part of a 'campaign' to thwart his attempts to sell his apartment - either because Mr Farrokhzad wanted it himself or out of 'anger' following an earlier row between the pair.

He has now been handed victory by a judge, who found that Mr Farrokhzad was simply being 'difficult for the sake of it'.

The judge awarded Mr Gabb around 9,500 in costs and warned Mr Farrokhzad that if the flat now fails to sell for 3.2m or more he could be 'liable to pay to Mr Gabb the difference between the two prices, along with any further costs incurred'.

Rollo Gabb, 50, (left) drew the ire of businessman neighbour Meghdad Farrokhzad (right) who said the wine importer had breached rules on what kind of curtains and floor coverings he could have in his 'high class' Kensington flat

Mr Farrokhzad - who acquired the freehold of the building at the same time he bought an art gallery underneath Mr Gabb's flat in 2020 - complained that his new neighbour had broken the curtain rule, as well as others

Mr Gibb said Mr Farrokhzad, 41, had behaved 'unreasonably' in blocking his attempts to sell the flat, causing one multimillion pound sale to fall through and putting another at risk.

'Even in commercial contracts between sophisticated parties, it is by no means unknown for the human trait of being difficult for the sake of it to emerge...I am strongly of the view that that is the case here,' Judge Simon Gleeson said.

Mr Gabb, part of a family wine dynasty which founded high street booze brands including Kumala, bought his luxury flat, which comprises the first, second and third floors of the building and boasts its own roof terrace, in 2007.

Mr Farrokhzad bought the freehold and the gallery in 2020 and the friction between the pair first emerged when Mr Gabb objected to his new neighbour's application to turn the ground floor unit into a licensed sushi bar.

The bad blood increased when Mr Farrokhzad brought Mr Gabb before a tribunal judge and tried to strip him of his lease for breaching the covenants.

Among other things, he claimed his neighbour had forfeited his right to the lease due to 'an absence of fabric curtains' - the wine boss having put up wooden shutters on some of his windows instead.

The shutters were, the businessman claimed, in breach of a covenant stating that the leaseholder of the flat must 'keep the windows of the demised premises properly curtained in a style appropriate to a high class private residence'.

Mr Farrokhzad also claimed his neighbour had breached another covenant stating that the flat be fully fitted with carpets, except for the kitchen and bathroom, by having wood and stone flooring installed.

The tribunal eventually dismissed Mr Farrokhzad's case after hearing that Mr Gabb had obtained permission to put in the shutters and hard flooring from the previous freeholder, and had later put up curtains in the windows without shutters.

But the war between the two men continued, with Mr Gabb last month dragging his neighbour to the High Court and blaming his 'unreasonable' behaviour for a multimillion pound sale of the flat falling through.

Mr Gabb's barrister Joanne Wicks QC told Judge Simon Gleeson: 'The campaign against Mr Gabb commenced with a solicitors' letter sent on Christmas Eve 2020 received out of the blue, contending that (he) was in breach of the covenants of the lease by virtue of installing wood flooring (and) failing to 'properly curtain' windows.

Mr Gabb's family wine dynasty founded high street alcohol brands including Kumala

'Mr Gabb has been seeking to sell the flat since the autumn of 2020 but, apparently motivated by a desire to purchase the flat himself and/or anger at Mr Gabb's objections to the grant of a late-night alcohol licence, Mr Farrokhzad has been determined to do all he can to thwart a sale.'

Mr Gabb asked the judge to force the businessman to approve the sale of the flat, control over transfer of the lease having been handed to the freeholder under another restrictive covenant.

Consent to transfer the lease cannot be 'unreasonably' withheld and Mr Gabb claimed his neighbour was doing just that in a bid to make the flat 'unsellable' due to their falling-out.

Ms Wicks said that in a bid to make life difficult for his neighbour Mr Farrokhzad had insisted on informing prospective buyers that they would be liable for all or part of an impending 388,000 bill for repairs to the 'common parts' of the building, despite the flat sharing almost no 'common parts' with it's downstairs neighbour.

'He reasonably fears that Mr Farrokhzad's behaviour is rendering the flat completely unsellable,' she said.

Andrew Butler QC, for Mr Farrokhzad, denied that he had behaved unreasonably.

He specifically denied causing the loss of any offer to buy the flat through unreasonable behaviour and further insisted that Mr Gabb had not suffered any financial loss due to him.

'Mr Farrokhzad is quite content for an assignment to take place and indeed recognises that his relationship with Mr Gabb has become strained,' he added.

But handing victory to Mr Gabb, Judge Gleeson found Mr Farrokhzad had acted 'unreasonably' and had caused the previous sale to fall through.

Rollo Gabb, 50, owns the vineyards which produce Journey's End and Kumala wines

'Even in commercial contracts between sophisticated parties, it is by no means unknown for the human trait of being difficult for the sake of it to emerge. This is particularly the case where a party has no particular incentive to procure any particular result, but has a power to obstruct others.

'The repeated exercise of this power may be motivated by nothing more than an inchoate idea that eventually someone will offer something of value to make it stop. I am strongly of the view that that is the case here,' he said.

In relation to the tribunal fight over the curtains, he said: 'One of the minor mysteries of this case is the question of what Mr Farrokhzad hoped to achieve by these...proceedings.

'The tribunal found that the breaches complained of had been agreed with Mr Farrokhzad's predecessor in title on the basis of clear documentary evidence to this effect.

'Mr Gabb says that Mr Farrokhzad was fully aware of this before he commenced the proceedings... However, even if this was not the case, the breaches were minor and easily remedied.'

He went on to say that 'the purpose of the commencement of the (tribunal) proceedings...was to bring as much financial pressure to bear on Mr Gabb as was possible in the circumstances'.

The judge went on to find Mr Farrokhzad had taken unreasonable steps in relation to the massive repair bill which he had warned the flat's potential buyers of.

'That the work identified...would have a total cost of 388,237.61 may well be correct in respect of the work which it describes - I do not have the benefit of expert evidence on the point, and am therefore not a position to say. However, that work seems to be completely unrelated to any potential liability of the incoming tenant.

'I therefore consider that Mr Farrokhzad's conduct in having a document prepared on this basis and then representing it as a potential liability of the incoming tenant was unreasonable,' he said.

He went on to find that he had seen 'very material evidence of Mr Farrokhzad's state of mind, and in particular his desire to string the process of giving consent out for as long as possible...(he) had no intention of complying with his statutory duty to consent in a reasonable time without unreasonable preconditions,' the judge said.

The judge warned Mr Farrokhzad that if the flat now fails to sell for 3.2m or more he could be 'liable to pay to Mr Gabb the difference between the two prices, along with any further costs incurred'.

'This is an appropriate result for two reasons. One is that it ensures that any long term devaluation of the property resulting from Mr Farrokhzad's actions will come out of his own pocket. The other is that he is now very powerfully incentivised to ensure that the existing transaction completes as quickly as possible,' the judge concluded.
A woman who claimed her millionaire stepmother cut her out of her will after her 'imposter' nephew plotted with the cleaner to bag her fortune has been slapped with a 234,000 bill after losing a bitter court battle.

Anna St Clair, 72, claimed her 'eccentric' and at times 'unbearable' stepmother Jean Lech - who died aged 79 in 2012 - was the victim of an elaborate scheme after she left her 1.24m fortune to her nephew Nick King, 63, and her cleaning lady June Farrell, 61.

Ms St Clair accused Mrs Farrell of going through a phone book looking for someone with the same surname as Mrs Lech's brother who could play the role of the long-lost nephew.

She then accused the pair of 'poisoning' the millionairess' mind against her, leading her to be cut out of the will entirely when it was rewritten it in May 2009, just months after Mrs Lech had reconnected with her brother's son.

In the new will, Mr King was left the lion's share of Mrs Lech's fortune, which was mostly tied up in the share of her home in Streatham, south London, while Mrs Farrell received 10,000. The cleaner's two children also received cash gifts.

But at the High Court in London, Ms St Clair claimed her stepmother was not of sound mind to change her will, due to her being ill while 'suffering from an antisocial personality disorder' at the time.

Ms St Clair cited examples of her stepmother's behaviour, which she believed showed she had the mind of a 'petulant child' and that she would not have 'passed the test for testamentary capacity' - making the new will invalid.

She told the court that Mrs Lech once chucked a roast turkey through the kitchen window after Ms St Clair's father, Zbigniew Lech, made a comment about her using too much hot water.

Mrs Lech also stole a neighbour's cat after luring it to her 2million home with fish, Ms St Clair claimed, before telling the neighbour who came to retrieve the animal: 'I'm a f****ng b***h, now get out!'

Anna St Clair, 72, claimed her 'eccentric' and often 'unbearable' stepmother Jean Lech - who died aged 79 in 2012 - was the victim of an elaborate scheme after she left her 1.24m fortune to her nephew Nick King (pictured), 63, and her cleaning lady June Farrell, 61

However Ms St Clair's arguments failed to win over Judge Mark Cawson QC, who threw out her case after siding with Mr King and Mrs Farrell.

'Ms St Clair has continued to refuse to accept that Mr King is anything other than an impostor, unrelated to Mrs Lech,' he said.

'This is despite DNA tests having been carried out, the existence of a birth certificate, and the evidence of his mother, in addition to that of Mr King himself.'

Her telephone book 'theory' was 'pure fantasy', he said, and he had no doubt but that Mr King is the son of Mrs Lech's brother, Peter.

After roundly rejecting Ms St Clair's claims the case returned to court as lawyers for Mr King and Mrs Farrell urged Judge Cawson to hit Ms St Clair with paying the heavy costs of the week-long trial.

The judge ordered Ms St Clair to pick up the entire legal bill, which lawyers have estimated to be around 234,000 - of which he directed her to pay 160,000 up front.

And he said the costs of the actual trial should be assessed on a punitive 'indemnity' basis to reflect how Ms St Clair pursued her case.

The judge highlighted the fact that she had unjustly claimed undue influence and 'fraudulent calumny - which involved making serious allegations of dishonesty and impropriety against the defendants - particularly Mrs Farrell'.

And she had also rejected pre-trial offers to settle the dispute on the basis of her recovering a 55 per cent percent share of her stepmother's fortune.

But Ms St Clair - speaking via live video link from Australia - told the court there was no way she could pay the bill.

'It's really all a dream because I simply don't have the money to pay these costs,' she told the judge.

The court heard Mrs Lech left behind a 1.24m legacy when she died aged 79, mostly tied up in her half share of her 2m home in Telford Avenue, Streatham.

She had co-owned the house with her husband Zbigniew Lech, Ms St Clair's natural father, who died aged 101 in 2008.

He had left his half of the house ultimately to Ms St Clair and her daughter Carmen, with the stipulation that his widow could continue to live there until she herself died.

Ms St Clair, who now lives in Melbourne, Australia, was the main beneficiary of a will made by her stepmother in 2007, but was left nothing at all in the revised document made in May 2009.

Instead it left 10,000 to cleaning lady Mrs Farrell, plus similar gifts to each of Mrs Farrell's two children, and the rest to her nephew, with whom she had only recently established contact before she died.

The judge said Ms St Clair refused to accept Mr King was a genuine relative, but in his evidence Mr King said he had been contacted by his 'Aunty Jean' and visited her several times during her final couple of years, taking her out for meals.

Contesting the 2009 will, Ms St Clair told the court that her stepmother - who was her father's third wife - was notoriously bad-tempered and that she believes she had an antisocial personality disorder which, combined with her being ill when she made her last will, ought to see it invalidated.

She was not displaying 'the thinking style of a mature adult but rather that of a petulant child' by 2009 and wouldn't 'pass the test for testamentary capacity,' she claimed.

Giving examples of her unusual behaviour, Ms St Clair said: 'One Christmas Day, she was, unusually, doing the washing up. My father made a comment about her wasting the hot water.

'She turned and threw the roast turkey through the nearest window, causing glass to splinter everywhere. There was no festive dinner that day.'

She went on: 'Jean was in the habit of luring neighbourhood cats away from their owners by giving them fresh fish.

'On one occasion, one neighbour came for a visit seeking his cat. In order to inject some good humour when it seemed as though the cat would not be returned, he said 'well you better watch out because I am a big bad lawyer.'

Ms St Clair, who now lives in Melbourne, Australia, was the main beneficiary of a will made by her stepmother in 2007, but was left nothing at all in the revised document made in May 2009. Instead it left 10,000 to cleaning lady June Farrell (pictured), plus similar gifts to each of Mrs Farrell's two children, and the rest to her nephew, with whom she had only recently established contact before she died

'Jean instantly retorted: 'And I'm a f***ing b**ch, now get out'. The poor man never got his cat back.'

On another occasion, Ms St Clair said: 'She screamed that I was poisoning her plants when I was in fact just watering them. She made egregious and insane allegations.

'She was quite pleasant when she wasn't drunk but when drunk became unbearable.'

Ms St Clair also brought a claim of 'fraudulent calumny,' arguing that Mrs Farrell, Mrs Lech's cleaner, must have manipulated her stepmother into cutting her out of the will.

She claimed before the judge that Mrs Farrell had 'poisoned her mind' against her.

Furthermore, she claimed Mrs Farrell and Mr King were 'in a relationship' and had plotted together to inherit the money.

But rejecting all the allegations and Ms St Clair's claim as a whole, the judge said: 'Mrs Lech...was clearly a larger-than-life and strong-willed character, who was capable of being difficult if she wanted to be.

'The impression that I get...is that she required to be the centre of attention, and had a tendency to take it out on others if she was not.

'I am left with the clear impression that Ms St Clair is motivated in bringing the present proceedings by a genuinely held sense of grievance that Mr King, and also Mrs Farrell, stand to inherit under the terms of the 2009 will virtually the whole of Mrs Lech's estate, which largely comprises Mrs Lech's 50 percent beneficial interest in the house and premium bonds and shares inherited from Mr Lech.

'This sense of grievance stems from Ms St Clair's perception that her father, Mr Lech, paid for the house, without Mrs Lech having made any contribution thereto and without having made any other significant contribution to the marriage.

'She therefore sees it as quite wrong that assets, which she sees as derived from her father's efforts, should end up in the hands of people she regards as strangers, rather than in the hands of herself and her daughter as Mr Lech's closest relatives.

'The relationship between Mrs Lech and Ms St Clair was never particularly good.

'Mrs Lech knew her own mind, and was not somebody to be pushed around.

'I am unable to find, on the balance of probabilities, that any agreement in relation to the making of mutual wills was concluded between Mr Lech and Mrs Lech in respect of the wills that they made in 2007.

'Ms St Clair's case ultimately depends upon a theory that the alleged false representations uttered by Mrs Farrell were about poisoning Mrs Lech's mind against Ms St Clair so that Mrs Farrell could benefit, either by personally benefiting under Mrs Lech's will, or benefiting through Mr King.

'Whilst Mrs Farrell and her children did benefit under the 2009 will, the legacies given were comparatively modest having regard to the size of the estate and reflect the type of legacy that a testatrix such as Mrs Lech might well have left to a good friend who had helped out in the way that I have found that Mrs Farrell did. There is, I consider, nothing unusual or surprising about them.

'So far as Mr King is concerned, as considered above, I accept his evidence as to the circumstances in which he came to meet and maintain contact with Mrs Lech. I reject any suggestion that he was introduced in some way to Mrs Lech by Mrs Farrell.

'There is nothing to support the allegation that Mrs Farrell and Mr King were or are in any sort of personal relationship, which they both emphatically deny.

Mrs Lech also stole a neighbour's cat after luring it to her 2million London home (pictured), in Telford Avenue, Streatham, with fish, Ms St Clair claimed

'There is absolutely no evidence to support the suggestion that Mrs Farrell stands to benefit in any way through Mr King.

'In the circumstances, a motive for Mrs Farrell making false representations as alleged is simply not made out.

'The evidence of Mr King, which I accept, is that he developed, albeit in a relatively short period of time, a good relationship with Mrs Lech, having visited her on a number of occasions before she made the 2009 will, and thereafter until her death. Mr King's evidence was that they got on well, in contrast to the relationship between Mrs Lech and Ms St Clair and Carmen.

'Mr King was not known to Mrs Lech when she made her wills in 2006 and 2007.. By the time she came to decide that Mr King should benefit from the residue of her estate, Mr Lech was no longer around to influence her testamentary dispositions, and she had established a relationship with Mr King. In the circumstances, there was a certain rationale to not benefiting Ms St Clair and Carmen with whom she had had a fractious relationship, but benefiting Mr King instead.

'I do not consider that the evidence establishes a case of fraudulent calumny,' the judge said.

He also went on to reject Ms St Clair's argument that her stepmother lacked testamentary capacity.

'Ms St Clair has pulled together a number of facts that are said to go to Mrs Lech's testamentary capacity. However, I consider it plain that, in reality, these facts do not do so even if true.'

Referring to the allegations of eccentric and irrational behaviour, the judge said: 'These may demonstrate a degree of lack of judgment on Mrs Lech's part, if true, but not that Mrs Lech lacked testamentary capacity as at the time that she made the 2009 will.

'I do not consider that it can be assumed that Mrs Lech's conduct was in any sense irrational in leaving her residuary estate to Mr King and making the comparatively modest provision for Mrs Farrell that she did. Indeed, as I have already held, there was a certain rationality in what she did.

'In any event, it is entirely open to a testator to act unfairly, vindictively, perversely, or otherwise irrationally, although I recognise that, in appropriate circumstances, such conduct might point to the possibility least of a lack of testamentary capacity.

'I am satisfied on the evidence that the 2009 will was executed with Mrs Lech's knowledge and approval.

'It follows from the above that each of the challenges made by Ms St Clair to the validity of the 2009 will must fail, and therefore that her claim should be dismissed.

'In the circumstances, I have no hesitation in pronouncing in favour of the force and validity of Mrs Lech's will dated 20 May 2009.'
The EU will cut 12.6million from Poland's funding as a punishment for ignoring Brussels' orders to close one of its coal mines.

The European Commission today informed Poland of the unprecedented step, which will happen next week, to recoup the fine Warsaw has racked up for refusing to close the mine, spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said.

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU hit Poland with the 500,000-euro (420,845) a day fine last September for refusing to comply an order to shutter its Turow mine producing lignite, or brown coal, following a closure ruling by the court last May.

Poland's neighbours, the Czech Republic and Germany, had complained of environmental damage the mine caused, affecting groundwater levels and creating dust and noise.

Poland last week signed a deal with the Czech Republic to end the dispute over the mine, but that did not erase the court's fine, which Warsaw had steadfastly said it would not pay.

It is the latest in a long-running feud between Brussels and Warsaw over over Poland's perceived backsliding on EU democratic norms that has put the pair on a collision course in recent months.

In December, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the EU of 'attacking our sovereignty' and vowed to fight its 'bureaucracy' in remarks broadcast on national television after Brussels launched legal action against the country for over-ruling EU laws.

When countries join the EU, as Poland did in 2004, they must bring their laws into line with the bloc's regulations and accept the European Court of Justice as the supreme arbiter of those rules.

The EU will cut 12.6million from Poland's funding as a punishment for ignoring Brussels' orders to close one of its coal mines (pictured, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a press conference in Prague following talks to resolve the mine issue on February 3)

The European Commission (pictured, President Ursula von der Leyen on February 8) today informed Poland of the unprecedented step, which will happen next week, to recoup the fine Warsaw has racked up for refusing to close the mine

The Court of Justice of the EU hit Poland with the 500,000-euro (420,845) a day fine last September for refusing to comply an order to shutter its Turow mine (pictured) producing lignite, or brown coal, following a closure ruling by the court last May

EU spokesperson Ujvari said the levied amount covering the period September 20 to October 19 would be recovered from Poland's EU funding - that equates to 14.5 million euros (12.2million) plus interest, which takes it close to a total 15million euros (12.6million).

By tapping Poland's EU funding, 'the commission fulfils its legal obligation to collect financial penalties imposed by the court,' he said.

Poland has been hit with another CJEU fine, of one million euros per day, for refusing to suspend a national Supreme Court chamber contested by Brussels.

There, too, the commission has warned it will recover the fine amount - currently over 100 million euros (84million) - from Poland's EU funding if it goes unpaid.

Poland's president, Andrzej Duda, has proposed a law to scrap the Supreme Court chamber in hopes of drawing a line under the dispute with Brussels, which views the body as undermining judicial independence and rolling back democratic norms.

The pair have been at loggerheads in recent months after Poland Poland's constitutional court ruled in October Polish laws have supremacy over those of the EU in areas where they conflict.

In November, the same tribunal ruled the European rights pact was incompatible with its constitution.

Brussels retaliated in December by launching legal action against the country for over-ruling EU laws, saying that it sees the decisions as 'expressly challenging the primacy of EU law'.

EU economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said the infringement proceedings targeted Poland for breaching the primacy of EU law and for deciding that certain articles of EU treaties were incompatible with Polish laws.

The EU decision to launch legal action has escalated a long-running feud between Warsaw and Brussels over Poland's perceived backsliding on EU democratic norms (pictured, thousands attend a pro-EU rally in Krakow, Poland on October 10, 2021 after the first ruling against the EU)

The Court of Justice of the European Union said in May that it had not yet made a final decision on the case, but ordered Poland to cease mining at Turow until the final judgement was delivered.

'It appears sufficiently likely that the continuation of lignite mining activities at the Turow mine before the final judgment is delivered is likely to have negative effects on the level of groundwater in Czech territory,' the court said in a statement at the time.

Czech Environment Minister Richard Brabec said: '(Mining) activity not only has a negative effect on the rights of the citizens at the Czech-Polish border to water as mining affects the groundwater level, but also on the quality of the environment and property of the citizens.'

The Czech Republic filed a lawsuit in February calling for a halt to activities at the mine, located near the Czech and German borders, saying Warsaw had violated EU law by extending mining at Turow until 2026.

Nonetheless, the Polish government in April extended a concession to allow mining at Turow to continue until 2044 - prompting the European Commission to say the region will not receive money from the EU's flagship green transition fund.

Morawiecki complained at the time that the court ruling was unfair.

'No decision of any European institution may expose Polish citizens to risk, it cannot threaten the security of Polish citizens,' Morawiecki said.

'Therefore, we will not only counteract with all our strength this wrongful, unfair and unexpected decision taken in the CJEU, and I am convinced that we will be able to prove our point.'

Lignite and hard coal still dominate Poland's power mix, although the government is planning a large expansion of renewable energy to meet EU climate targets.

'PGE cannot agree to the closure of the mine in Turow. This would mean an automatic shutdown of the power plant that supplies electricity to 3.7 million Poles' homes,' PGE said in a statement in May.

It said the court's decision would force Poland to import lignite from the Czech Republic or Germany or import power, adding that if it shut down all the blocks in the power plant, it would not be able to restart them in the future.

'Therefore the temporary shutdown of the mine and power plants would be tantamount to their permanent closure many months before the case is settled,' PGE said.

Turow supplies lignite to a nearby electricity plant, which provides around 5 per cent of Poland's power. PGE had previously warned that Turow's sudden closure would shake the stability of Poland's power system.

Poland last week signed a deal with the Czech Republic (pictured left, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and right, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala sign the agreement) to end the dispute over the mine, but that did not erase the court's fine, which Warsaw had steadfastly said it would not pay

Environmental activists start protest march by the Turow lignite coal mine near the town of Bogatynia, Poland, in January to demonstrate against Warsaw's refusal to close the site, despite an order from the EU's top court to do so
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University Challenge's original host Bamber Gascoigne - dubbed the 'Friendly face of academia' - died of heart failure after he 'suddenly keeled over', his widow revealed today.

The TV presenter and author, who first coined the famous 'Your starter for 10' catchphrase, passed away aged 87 at 8.30am in the bathroom of his home overlooking the River Thames at Richmond, Surrey.

His widow Christina - who is now planning a funeral for her husband which will include a boat journey on the river he loved - told MailOnline: 'He just keeled over.'

It comes after Mr Gascoigne's health suffered a decline in recent months which left him unable to walk. He was rushed to hospital on January 16 where he took a turn for the worse after he was struck down with pneumonia.

He pulled through and was discharged at the weekend allowing him to spend his final three days at the Georgian property where he has lived for 55 years.

Christina said: 'We had three days at home. That was very nice for him that he died at home. Everybody wants to die at home.

'He was discharged from hospital with a carer who came in four times a day. He would arrive everyday on his bicycle which was wonderful.

'The carer came in this morning just as he wanted to get up which was lovely and just took him to the bathroom and he suddenly just keeled over.'

Mr Gascoigne will be buried in the grounds of the 14th century West Horsley Place estate which he inherited from his aunt and is home to the Grange Park Opera.

Christina added that they had never had a quarrel in their 62 years together: 'He was an incredibly generous man and everything he did was pointed towards sharing the gifts of his own life with others.'

She revealed how her husband's health had begun to deteriorate in recent weeks, explaining: 'He suddenly couldn't walk, that's why his sister and I called an ambulance on January 16.

Bamber Gascoigne sparked famous 'Fingers on buzzers' and 'Your starter for 10' catchphrases, which are still well-loved

Christina and Bamber Gascoigne 'Grange Park Opera: Theatre in The Woods' Opening Night, in West Horsley Place, Surrey

Former quiz host Bamber Gascoigne spotted out and about in South London in recent months in the last known picture

TV Presenter Bamber Gascoigne pictured at the stately home which he inherited from his late aunt back in May 2015

It was there he built the Grange Park Opera theatre after needing little convincing of its merits as a lifelong opera enthusiast

'The doctors were unable to tell us why but I think he probably had a stroke in the middle of the brain where it didn't show.

'He caught pneumonia in hospital. He survived that and was cured of pneumonia. He was in hospital for three weeks. I think they thought there was no further medical reason why he couldn't come home and probably that he was more likely to build up his strength again at his home.

'This was something waiting to happen. He was a developing invalid and worst of all his walking had gone. He couldn't walk and his speech was slurry.

'He's been ailing for some time but imperceptibly getting weaker. I could measure it though by the distance he was able to walk every day. We used to go for lovely walks of about two miles but the day he went into hospital he only got about 50 yards and said he wanted to go home.'

Christina said her husband had also sadly been losing his distinctive voice. She said': 'He had a very recognisable voice which sadly he lost at the end. It sort of went. That was what was very distressing because he did have a very sonorous, resonant voice and it all evaporated with the weakness of latter days.;

Mrs Gascoigne told how she had visited master boatbuilder Mark Edwards, whose boatyard is nearby, about featuring the river as part of his funeral.

Mr Edwards built the Gloriana rowbarge on which the Queen led the Diamond Jubilee river pageant in 2012. Mrs Gascoigne said of her husband: 'We didn't discuss his funeral but he always said he would like a boat.

'We went to a funeral on a boat many years ago and he said to the boatman 'I'm going to book in with you'. I remembered this and I went to talk with Mark Edwards today and he said 'I can fix that for you. We'll do it as a project'. It should be a good send off.

'He was totally in love with the river - it was our lives really. We were very involved with boats and boat building and school activity on the river which he facilitated.

'I have in mind a river journey followed by a funeral at the opera house that he was the landlord of.

'He can be buried there in the trees and the woods as opposed to the crematorium here which is very nice but I feel it should be down there.'

Many tributes online remarked on how Bamber Gascoigne seemed so intelligent that he knew all the answers hime;f

The original host of University Challenge Bamber Gascoigne has died aged 87 after a short illness at his home in Richmond

Famously his dedication to University Challenge was so strong he would fact-check all the questions  and even rewrite them if they read poorly - during his stint from 1962 to 1987.

When it was brought back to television in 1994 swapping from ITV to the BBC, he was so well-loved he was offered the role to host once more.

This time he turned it down due to his workload and other projects - and reportedly the thought of verifying all the questions again.

Fans today reminisced how he 'knew all the answers' but was 'unfailingly pleasant' to the students who did not.

He is survived by his potter wife Christina, who he was devoted to and married to for more than 50 years.

She said he was an 'incredibly generous man' who 'loved opera' and retained knowledge 'like a sponge'.

In a statement she said they had 'a fantastic 62 years together full of friends and adventures', and 'never had a quarrel'.

'He was an incredibly generous man and everything he did was pointed towards sharing the gifts of his own life with others,' she said.

'He loved opera and was thrilled that he could have an opera house in the garden he inherited from his aunt Mary Roxburghe.

'It was 50 years ago that he hosted University Challenge, but that is what everyone remembers,' Mrs Gascoigne added.

'That and his limitless thirst for knowledge, which he retained like a sponge.'

In recent years he inherited Grange Park Opera in Surrey from his aunt, the Duchess of Roxburghe, in 2014.

And confirming the sad news, a statement from the opera said: 'TV presenter and author Bamber Gascoigne has today died at his home in Richmond after a short illness.

'The 87-year-old - famous for being the original host of BBC's University Challenge - had been married to his wife Christina, a potter, for 50 years

Bamber Gascoigne seen here at his home in Richmond, which was said to have been full of books beloved by he and his wife

Bamber Gascoigne was made a CBE by Queen Elizabeth, during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London

Alistair Little, John Simpson, Bamber Gasoigne, Stephen Fry and Charles Moore, appearing on Celebrity University Challenge

Members of the public and famous names posted on social media how saddened they were by his death today

Gascoigne - known for his exuberant curly hair and glasses - was appointed CBE in June 2018, for services to the arts by the Queen.

Despite his age his death took many be surprise as they remembered his work.

Stephen Fry, who competed on University Challenge in 1980 on behalf of Queen's College, Cambridge, said Bamber Gascoigne was 'kind and warm' to the 'nervous' students on the show.

Fry tweeted: 'Oh no, not Bamber.

'He was so kind and warm to us students who sat nervously at those desks.

'Such an elegant, intelligent man. And he was charming about Griff's recreation of him as Bambi in The Young One's too.'

All Creatures Great and Small star Samuel West - who is the son of Timothy West and Prunella Scales - paid his respects with an anecdote on one of his plays.

He said: 'RIP Bamber Gascoigne. My parents were in a 1984 play of his at the Old Vic, BIG IN BRAZIL, directed by Mel Smith.

'The critics didn't care for it, but they had a great time. My mother, who was 52, particularly enjoyed playing a 36-year-old in Victorian underwear. As you would.'

The Chase quizzer Paul Sinha was also among immediate tributes made to the broadcasting legend.

He posted online: 'It seems that Bamber Gascoigne has passed away.

'His effortless erudition, making whole swathes of impenetrable knowledge seem cheerfully accessible, was totally inspiring to this kid of the 80s.

'Sadly we may never see his like on our screens again.'

Broadcaster and gardening writer Monty Don paid tribute to 'iconic' and 'charming' Bamber Gascoigne, who has died aged 87.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Don said: 'Sorry to hear the death of Bamber Gasgoine - for my generation an iconic TV figure.

'I sat next to him at dinner once - we were taught by the same wonderful man, Arthur Sale, at university - and he was charming.'

His University Challenge career saw him spark some of the show's most iconic phases.

Bamber Gascoigne and Stephen Fry at the National Television Awards at the O2 Arena in London on January 20, 2010

Presenter Bamber Gascoigne backstage at the National Television Awards held at O2 Arena on January 20, 2010

Comedian Griff Rhys Jones portrayed Bamber Gascoigne on an episode of The Young Ones, entitled Bambi after his surname

Gascoigne's 'Fingers on buzzers, 'Your starter for 10' and 'I'll have to hurry you' have entered common parlance and are used to this day.

He reached huge crossover appeal after one of the episodes of anarchic comedy show The Young Ones was named after him: Bambi.

And he was even portrayed on film in the 2006 movie Starter for Ten by Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss.

Gascoigne also wrote the satirical novel Murgatroyd's Empire, which was published in 1972, as well as writing and presenting the documentary series The Christians in 1977 which explored the history of Christianity.

Other presenting projects included the documentary series Victorian Values in 1987 and The Great Moghuls in 1992.

Paying tribute this morning one fan said: 'That's sad news. I hadn't realised he was 87 : I must be getting old myself. Condolences to Bamber's family.'

Another put: 'Sad to hear of the passing of Bamber Gascoigne, to Me always remembered his connection to the Masquerade Book, as a Child nearly every Sunday dragged out by My Dad to look for the buried Golden Hare.'

One man wrote: 'RIP Bamber Gascoigne Confused face legendary childhood University Challenge quizmaster.'

Sally Barton put: 'Sorry to hear of the death of #BamberGascoigne He always seemed a gentle & intelligent man. Does anyone else have 'Bamber' as a first name?'

A man said on Twitter: 'There goes another chunk of the landscape of my youth. Bamber Gascoigne has died.'

One TV producer said: 'The famous two-tier shot of both teams has always been achieved by a split-screen video effect... Apart from one year - 1985 - when a REAL two-tier set was built.

'The year after, they reverted back to the split-screen effect. RIP Bamber.'
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Boris Johnson carried out an underwhelming clear-out of Government dead wood today - but sacked no one.

The Prime Minister rewarded ministers most openly loyal to his leadership and avoiding creating more bitter backbench enemies as he conducted a limited reorganisation designed to placate rebellious MPs after months of calamity.

He created a new post for Jacob Rees-Mogg, - one of his most voluble backers - as Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency, which comes with a full Cabinet post.

The job comes with limited responsibilities, with much of the post-Brexit heavy lifting remaining with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. He will run the Cabinet's Brexit Opportunities Unit, No10 said.

His previous job of Commons Leader was handed to chief whip Mark Spencer, who was axed from that party discipline role after months of mutinies from MPs that he failed to see off.

But the decision to shunt the Sherwood MP, dubbed the 'Big Farmer' by Mr Johnson, into a ministerial post instead of sacking him is being seen as an attempt not to add to the ranks of well-informed critics on the backbenches.

However, the re-arrangement of middle-ranking roles was dubbed a 'he-shuffle' this afternoon because it was almost all men getting new sideways jobs and minor promotions rather than losing them.

Other moves for loyalists included Chris Heaton Harris replacing Mr Spencer as chief whip, while James Cleverly moved within the Foreign Office to become Europe Minister. Paymaster General Michael Ellis was rewarded for several appearances in the Commons defending the PM with a job as a Cabinet Office minister attending Cabinet.

The only women to move were Heather Wheeler and Wendy Morton. Wheeler becomes parliamentary secretary in the Cabinet Office, in addition to her current role as an assistant government whip, while Morton moves from parliamentary under-secretary to minister of state in the Foreign Office.

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted: 'Whopping more than 35k pay rise for Jacob Rees-Mogg who was up to his neck in the Owen Patterson scandal. Similar rise for Michael Ellis who is clearly being rewarded for answering tricky questions on behalf of others. Who said dull men don't fail upwards?'

A source said that Mr Rees-Mogg's new job would see him work on 'making the most of our new freedoms for deregulatory opportunities, making our constituents lives easier and improving their standard of living', as well as 'modernising and improving the operation of government'.

Mr Johnson gathered his senior ministers in Downing Street this morning as a new poll showed Labour opening up a 10-point lead as No10 remains bedded down in sleaze.

The poll by Redfield and Wilton Strategies, carried out yesterday, put Labour on 42 per cent, up 2 per cent, with the Tories down 1 per cent on 23 per cent.

It came as Mr Johnson found himself embroiled in a new row over comments he made about Sir Keir Starmer and the late child sex attacker Jimmy Savile.

The Prime Minister axed chief whip Mark Spencer after a month of mutinies and miscalculations. But the Sherwood MP, dubbed the 'Big Farmer' by Mr Johnson, was shunted into a ministerial post instead of being fired

Jacob Rees-Mogg moves sideways into a new Cabinet role as Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency. Other moves included Chris Heaton-Harris replacing Mr Spencer as chief whip

The Prime Minister gathered his senior ministers in Downing Street as a new poll shows Labour opening up a 10-point lead as No10 remains bedded down in sleaze.

The only women to move were Heather Wheeler and Wendy Morton. Wheeler becomes parliamentary secretary in the Cabinet Office, in addition to her current role as an assistant government whip, while Morton moves from parliamentary under-secretary to minister of state in the Foreign Office.

Sajid Javid finally unveils NHS backlog plan Ministers today promised to wipe out one-year waits for operations as the Government finally published its long-awaited blueprint to tackle record NHS backlogs caused by the pandemic. Unveiling the multi-billion pound National Recovery Plan in Parliament, the Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that '99 per cent' of patients in England will wait less than 12 months for elective treatment by March 2024. Latest figures show more than 300,000 people have been languishing in queues for routine operations for at least a year  an almost 200-fold rise compared to the 1,600 before Covid struck. Running to more than 50 pages, the recovery plan promises to scrap waits of over 18 months by April 2023 and waits over 65 weeks by the following year, with 'nobody' waiting longer than a year by 2025. However, the targets are predicated on 'maintaining low levels of Covid' and could be abandoned in the event of another serious outbreak. And there is no concrete recruitment targets over the next three years. Labour said it fell 'seriously short of the scale of the challenge facing the NHS and the misery affecting millions of people stuck on' waiting lists and criticised the lack of a plan to address staff shortages. The plan also drew criticism from Conservative former chief whip Mark Harper, who said the waiting times targets were not 'ambitious enough' for the recovery programme's price tag. The Society for Acute Medicine warned the programme 'will fail' unless the Government gets a grip on the crisis in A&Es, which is forcing the cancellation of planned operations and seeing record numbers of emergency patients take elective beds. Mr Javid also warned he expects elective waiting lists to get worse before they get better, with around 10million 'missing' appointments during the pandemic as people were told to stay away from hospitals to protect the NHS. Overall, there are already 6million people  the equivalent of one in nine  waiting for elective procedures like hip and knee operations or cataracts surgery, the highest figure since records began in August 2007. Mr Javid said the assumption was that waiting lists will start to come down in March 2024. The NHS will also carry out an extra 9million extra checks, tests and procedures a year by 2025, with the Government promising to make 'greater use' of the private sector like it did during Covid. Advertisement

The decision not to sack Mr Spencer raised some eyebrows. He is currently being investigated for allegedly telling Muslim former minister Nusrat Ghani she was being sacked because her faith made her colleagues uncomfortable. He denied the allegation. His new role includes responsibility for parliamentary standards.

This afternoon Ms Ghani retweeted her demand from last month that the allegations must be 'taken seriously'.

After Ms Ghani's social media action, Downing Street said the investigation into allegations of Islamophobia should not be pre-empted.

Mr Spencer previously confirmed he had spoken to Ms Ghani but strongly denied making the alleged comments, saying the claims were 'completely false' and 'defamatory'.

Asked about reported criticism from MPs over Mr Spencer's new appointment, given the ongoing investigation into the claims, the PM's official spokesman said: 'As you say, there is an investigation ongoing to establish the facts of what happened. And that's being carried out in a process... in line with a due process.

'It's right that we need to allow that investigation to conclude without... pre-empting it or drawing conclusions whilst that work is ongoing.'

Downing Street insisted the reshuffle would improve links between No 10 and Parliament.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'As the PM said last week, it is important that we both make immediate changes to improve both how the No 10 operation works and the work of the Cabinet Office, and further changes to strengthen Cabinet government and improve that vital connection between No 10 and Parliament.

'The changes being made today will strengthen that connection. We have changes to the whips' office, improving engagement with MPs and helping to drive the Government's ambitious agenda.

'We have a new Brexit opportunities minister, a role that's been created to drive forward the changes we are able to make now that we have left the EU, delivering on our post-Brexit agenda across Whitehall.'

But the changes did not appear to break the bleak relationship between Downing Street and the wider Conservative Party.

Mr Johnson was put on notice that he needs to produce a change of substance as well as style to win over unhappy Tories. Liaison Committee chairman Bernard Jenkin told Sky: 'He's got to sort this out, we are interested not in the optics, in some impression of a reset, we are looking for a change in the capability and the character of the government so we can have confidence nothing as clumsy and mortifying as this Partygate episode could ever happen again.'

And Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokeswoman Layla Moran MP said: 'This reshuffle is a pathetic attempt to distract from the Downing Street partygate scandal, putting Boris Johnson's political survival ahead of the national interest.

'The only real Brexit opportunity so far seems to be for Jacob Rees-Mogg, who will pocket a whopping pay rise after trying to get Owen Paterson off the hook for breaking the rules.

'This is a reward for failure while people around the country are punished with a crippling Tory tax hike.

'The Conservatives need to focus on tackling the big issues facing the country, instead of doling out top jobs to Boris Johnson's few remaining allies.'

Mr Rees-Mogg this afternoon said he did not recollect feeding the Prime Minister the debunked jibe about Sir Keir Starmer failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile while the Labour leader was director of public prosecutions.

Asked about a report in the Sunday Times that suggested he gave Boris Johnson the idea for using the controversial attack line in the Commons last week, the new Brexit opportunities minister told Conservative Home's The Moggcast: 'That isn't my recollection.

'What was going on at the time was a very noisy chamber and people were shouting things out.

'I think it came from behind us, but it seemed to me a perfectly fair point to use.'

Pressed on whether he was sure it did not come from him, the Cabinet minister replied: 'I certainly mentioned the point about journalists in the back and forth across the chamber, but I think it came from behind both of us.

'I wasn't sitting next to the Prime Minister, so I wasn't in a particularly good position to be feeding him lines.'

Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan arrives at Downing Street

Secretary of State for Justice Dominic Raab arrives at Downing Street

The reshuffle came after the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle delivered a fresh rebuke to Mr Johnson over his claim in the Commons last week that Sir Keir failed to prosecute Savile when he was director of public prosecutions.

Sir Lindsay said he had requested a situation report from the Metropolitan Police after the Labour leader was surrounded on Monday by a mob accusing him of being a 'paedophile protector'.

Sir Lindsay said: 'I know it has been reported that some abuse was directed at the leader of the Opposition yesterday, related to claims made by the Prime Minister in this chamber.

'But regardless of yesterday's incident, I made it clear last week that while the Prime Minister's words were not disorderly they were inappropriate.

'As I said then, these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the House and it is not acceptable. Our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of the fact.'

The PM is refusing to apologise following dramatic scenes of Sir Keir being surrounded and abused at as he walked in Westminster after leaving New Scotland Yard shortly before 5pm.

Police shielded him and led him to a marked car as the protesters continued to swarm around him him shouting about Savile, hurling baseless allegations about him 'protecting paedophiles' and also branding him a 'traitor'.

The protesters, who included anti-vaccine activist Piers Corbyn, had descended on London yesterday in support of Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' of truck drivers in Ottawa. Scotland Yard later said two arrests were made after Sir Keir was escorted to safety.

MailOnline understands the Parliamentary authorities are now urgently looking into how the situation was allowed to spiral - with questions over why Sir Keir was escorted through the mob rather than taken to safety, and why he had not been driven from inside the secure estate.

Revealed: How Starmer anti-vax mob also abused GOVE. Commons Speaker warns Boris 'words have consequences' as PM refuses to say sorry for Savile 'slur' after mob targeted Labour leader

The Commons Speaker warned Boris Johnson that 'words have consequences' today as the PM defied calls to withdraw his Jimmy Savile 'slur' at Keir Starmer after the Labour leader was mobbed by anti-vaccine protesters near Parliament.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle issued a rebuke in the chamber over words that 'inflame opinions', with the PM refusing to apologise following the dramatic scenes of Sir Keir being surrounded and abused at as he walked in Westminster after leaving New Scotland Yard shortly before 5pm.

Police shielded him and led him to a marked car as protesters continued to swarm around him him shouting a slew of seemingly random insults, including 'state police' and 'traitor' as well as baseless allegations about him 'protecting paedophiles'.

Demonstrators, who included Jeremy Corbyn's hard-Left anti-vaccine activist brother Piers Corbyn, had descended on London yesterday in support of Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' of truck drivers in Ottawa. Scotland Yard later said two arrests were made after Sir Keir was escorted to safety.

Cabinet minister MIchael Gove is among those subject to similar treatment before, and Sir Lindsay told MPs that the Metropolitan Police have been ordered to provide a report on how the situation was allowed to spiral. It is understood there are questions over why Sir Keir was escorted through the mob rather than taken to safety, and why he had not been driven from inside the secure estate.

There are also wider concerns about the lack of control on protests immediately outside the democratic hub. 'Something will go wrong,' one source warned. 'Yesterday was proof of that.'

Sir Lindsay held talks with Mr Johnson's new chief of staff Steve Barclay last night, urging No10 to help 'change Parliament' and use 'temperate language'.

The Speaker made clear today that the PM did not say anything disorderly. 'Regardless of yesterday's incident, I made it clear last week that while the Prime Minister's words were not disorderly they were inappropriate,' he said.

'As I said then, these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the House and it is not acceptable.

'Our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of the fact.'

Sir Lindsay Hoyle issued a rebuke in the chamber over words that 'inflame opinions', with the PM refusing to apologise following the dramatic scenes of Sir Keir being surrounded and abused at as he walked in Westminster

Dramatic footage showed the Labour leader being shouted at as he walked in Westminster after leaving New Scotland Yard while surrounded by police officers shortly before 5pm

Sir Keir was joined by Labour's shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who appeared to help police shield his boss from the protesters

Sir Lindsay said: 'While I do not comment in detail on security matters on the floor of the chamber, steps must be in place to keep passholders secure as they enter and leave the parliamentary estate.

'I have requested a situation report from the Metropolitan Police via our security team on how this incident occurred.'

The events have renewed the storm over Mr Johnson's swipe in the House of Commons last week that Sir Keir failed to prosecute paedophile Savile when he was the Director of Public Prosecutions - even though he had played no role in the case and the decision not to bring charges.

Former Cabinet minister Julian Smith was among senior Tories saying the the premier must withdraw the Savile slur for the sake of Sir Keir's security. Another senior MP, Steve Brine, said an apology is 'inevitable'.

Veteran Tory Sir Roger Gale said he feared the targeting of Sir Keir was the 'direct result' of Mr Johnson's 'deliberately careless' use of language in the Commons, whilst former minister Tobias Ellwood called on the PM to 'apologise please'. Both Sir Roger and Mr Ellwood revealed last week they had submitted letters of no confidence in the PM.

Lord Walney - a former Labour MP and now the PM's adviser on political violence - said: 'The footage of Sir Keir Starmer being hounded tonight is disturbing, as is the way some of his pursuers picked up on the Jimmy Savile slur.

'This is surely a moment for the PM and all those who have defended those words to reflect and withdraw.'

However, Downing Street dismissed calls for an apology or retraction. 'The Prime Minister clarified his remarks last week to make clear he was not suggesting Keir Starmer was individually responsible for the Savile decision,' the PM's spokesman said.

He added: 'I think the Prime Minister was making a political point about taking responsibility for organisations as a whole.'

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis insisted Mr Johnson's comments should not be used as an 'excuse' for abusive protests.

He told ITV that Mr Johnson made a 'fair and reasonable point' that 'somebody at the top of an organisation has responsibility for what happens in it', in relation to Sir Keir's former role as director of public prosecutions.

'That's no excuse for people to behave the way they did last night and we shouldn't give them that excuse either,' he added.
The 20th edition of Exercise Cutlass Express, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and conducted by U.S. Naval Forces Africa, was officially launched in Seychelles by Commander David Caffrey, the Executive Officer of Naval Reserve Component for NAVAF, and Lieutenant Colonel Jean Attala, the Commander of the Seychelles Coast Guard. This years exercise will last for 11 days.

Exercise Cutlass Express is AFRICOMs largest naval training exercise in the Indian Ocean, bringing together U.S. forces and regional partners to share their expertise and experience. The exercise is designed to improve regional cooperation in support of the Djibouti Code of Conduct, maritime domain awareness, information sharing between maritime operation centers, maritime interdiction, adherence to the rule of law, and counter-proliferation interdiction capabilities in order to disrupt illicit maritime activity and strengthen safety and security in the region.

The solution to transnational threats is multinational cooperation. And that is exactly what I see before me today, several nations and organizations gathered in a common cause. I am proud to be a part of this collaborative exercise. The effort and teamwork we will see on display the next two weeks is a testament to the professionalism and dedication of our forces, Commander David Caffrey said at the launch ceremony.

This year, Cutlass Express will be combined with U.S. Central Commands International Maritime Exercise (IMX) and will comprise 33 partner nations. We are extremely excited to be bringing together so many partner nations to practice operations that will contribute to the safeguarding of the waters of the Western Indian Ocean. Each participating nation has worked hard during the planning stages for this exercise, and now we get to see all this hard work pay off. The global maritime domains will be the direct beneficiaries of these efforts., said, Lieutenant commander Matthew Kohlmann, Office of Security Cooperation Chief at the U.S. Embassy.

In the East Africa region, Exercise Cutlass Express 2022 will involve 14 participating nations, including Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, United Kingdom, and the United States. Rwanda and Sudan are also participating in the training for the first time this year.

From Mauritius, more than 90 officers from the National Coast Guard, as well as VBBS (Visit Board Search and Seizure) teams, will be participating in this years training in Seychelles, Bahrain, and Kenya. Some of the Mauritian participants will travel to Seychelles next week aboard the MCGS Barracuda and NCG Dornier. The Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mauritius, Mr. M. Rassen, and the Commandant of the Mauritius National Coast Guard, Captain Vipin Gupta, will also be participating in the Senior Leadership Seminar in Bahrain.

As maritime threats affect all countries and in view of the vastness of the seas to be policed, Mauritius has always believed in a collaborative and cooperative approach. This multilateral exercise will enhance our endeavors towards maritime security through cooperation with friendly countries. The National Coast Guard, by deploying its sea and air assets during the exercise, will be able to further its efficiency and operational synergy, by sharing best naval practices and experiences with all participating countries, Inspector R. Cassy, Staff Officer from the National Coast Guard, said.

The years exercise will include an in-port training period, as well as at-sea scenarios and a senior leadership symposium. The exercises will test the ships abilities to conduct maritime interdiction operations by boarding teams against simulated suspect vessels, detecting illicit activity, and follow-on evidence collection procedures. The scenarios will test tactical proficiency of participating nations to counter illicit trafficking but are also meant to promote information sharing and overall cooperation that will lead to sustained and enhanced maritime security and stability.

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A volunteer coastguard died from a head injury after he fell onto a concrete path while cutting a disputed patch of grass while councils rowed over whose job it was to look after it.

Coastwatch volunteer Tony Rode, 74, suffered fatal brain injuries after falling three feet onto a path after he was forced to cut the grass as it was blocking his view of beachgoers in Caister, Norfolk.

Now, the county's most senior coroner has told councillors to settle their spat over who is responsible for the upkeep of the disputed patch of grass.

Jacqueline Lake warned that future deaths could occur if councillors don't reach a compromise.

Father-of-one Tony was keeping watch over beachgoers on July 24 last year when he decided to use a strimmer to cut back the grass as it was obscuring his view while he was sat in the National Coastwatch trailer for his duty that day.

But the retired retail manager fell from a three-foot sandbank onto the path below and suffered fatal head injuries.

Coastwatch volunteer Tony Rode (pictured with wife Sally) suffered fatal brain injuries after falling onto a path after he was forced to cut the grass as it was blocking his view of the sea

His widow Sally Rode, 70, said that Tony 'just wanted to help people' and has urged councillors to end their dispute.

Sally said: 'What really irks me now is there's an opportunity to do some work to prevent further deaths and yet councillors seem to be blaming each other.

'It doesn't do good to Tony's memory to have this going on.'

Caister Parish Council claims that the borough council is responsible for upkeep as the bank is part of sea defences.

But Great Yarmouth Borough Council says the land belongs to the parish council.

Senior coroner Ms Lake has given both councils until March 21 to agree on who will cut the disputed patch of grass.

Sally, who was married to Tony for 29 years, said: 'There's potential here to prevent a further accident. I want to see them sit at a table and work out a compromise.

'It would be a super memorial to him if they got their act together and got it sorted.'

Mr Rode (pictured) had been a volunteer for six years with the National Coastwatch Institution

Tony, from Mundford, Norfolk, had volunteered for six years at the National Coastwatch Institution - a charity that provides a visual watch along the UK's coasts.

He did a 100-mile trip to volunteer in Caister-on-Sea every Saturday as he had enjoyed childhood holidays there, Sally said.

Sally said: 'All he was concerned about when it happened was cutting the grass because it was impeding the view of the water.

'Tony didn't realise the potential danger I'm sure, he was just doing his job.

'He didn't know about the row. Tony wanted to do his job and help people.'

Fellow volunteers described Tony as a 'valued and proactive member of the team' in a tribute last year.

The Caister Coastwatch station - a small blue trailer - is located at the end of a car park around 50 metres from the sea, which is separated by sand dunes and the beach.

Linda Lawrence, a volunteer at the station, said the grass had been obstructing the view of the beach.

Pictured: The Coastwatch trailer (bottom right) with the grass bank Tony Rode fell from

She said: 'The grass was growing. It was obstructing the view of the beach.

'I didn't know there was a dispute about this. It was just so unfortunate that day Tony decided to trim the grass.

'No one asked him to do it but that's what he did.'

In a report dated January 25, coroner Ms Lake warned that the untended grass left Coastwatch volunteers 'unable to properly carry out their role'.

Ms Lake wrote: 'Neither organisation has taken responsibility for this section of coastline and the grass on the dunes has grown to such a height as to obscure the view of the Coastwatch volunteers along the beach.

'Accordingly, the Coastwatch volunteers are unable to properly carry out their role to provide the 'eyes and ears' along the coast and to assist in the protection and preservation of life at sea and along the coastline.

'In addition, in this case, it has resulted in a volunteer making the decision to cut the grass himself in circumstances when it was not safe to do so..'

A spokesperson for Great Yarmouth Borough Council said: 'We offer our condolences to Mr Rode's family, and we pay tribute to his dedication in helping watch over Caister beach.

'Coastal land ownership can be very complex as much of the land has never been formally registered.

'However, we take on board the coroner's comments and we will be carefully reviewing the situation so that, alongside Caister Parish Council, we can take appropriate steps to improve safety in this area.'

Elizabeth Dyble, clerk for Caister Parish Council, said that councillors are planning a meeting to discuss who should look after the patch of grass.

Ms Dyble said: 'Caister Parish Council are arranging to meet with representatives of GYBC [Great Yarmouth Borough Council] regarding ownership of land at North Caister, as documents received from theLand Registry state that the land is unregistered.

'The meeting will take place in the very near future.'
The former owner of Norton Motorcycles has admitted to illegally using roughly 11million from the firm's pension scheme and reinvesting it back into the business.

Stuart Garner, 53, was the sole trustee of the pension scheme but took cash from it to plough back into the Derby-based business, which he acquired in 2008 before it collapsed into administration in 2020, Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court was told.

The offences related to three defined contribution schemes - Dominator 2012, Commando 2012, and Donington MC, which had a combined total of 227 members.

The investments were made in return for preference shares between 2012 and 2013.

Garner's admission came after years of complaining from pension holders that he had repeatedly ignored their requests to return their retirement savings.

It is understood that pension holders are still waiting for their funds to be given back, The Guardian reports.

Garner, who had owned Norton Motorcycles until 2020 when it went into administration and was bought by an Indian company, yesterday pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching employer-related investment (ERI) rules.

Handing him unconditional bail, District Judge Jonathan Taaffe said the case 'clearly crosses the custodial threshold'.

Stuart Garner, pictured with wife Susie Garner in 2018, had owned Norton Motorcycles until 2020 when it went into administration

Stuart Garner, pictured with the Norton NRV588 at Bonneville Salt flats 2009, was the sole trustee of the pension scheme but took cash from it to plough back into the Derby-based business which he acquired in 2008, Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court was told

'I acknowledge this is a complex matter and it was clearly a conflict of interest involving substantial amounts,' the judge said.

Garner, of Castle Donington, now faces a maximum of two years in prison or an unlimited fine when he is sentenced at Derby Crown Court on February 28.

Nicola Parish, executive director of frontline regulation at The Pensions Regulator, said: 'As a trustee, Stuart Garner failed to comply with restrictions on investments which are designed to protect the funds of pension schemes.

'Trustees have a vital role in protecting the benefits of members and we will take action where that responsibility is abused. Trustees should be clear on when a pension scheme can invest in its sponsoring employer.'

In late 2008, Garner obtained the rights to Norton from some US concerns and relaunched Norton in its then new Midlands home at Donington Park where it was to develop the 961cc Norton Commando and a new range of Norton motorcycles.

Stuart Garner, pictured leaving Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court yesterday, was the sole trustee of the pension scheme but took cash from it to plough back into the Derby-based business

Garner, who had owned Norton Motorcycles until 2020 before it went into administration, yesterday pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching employer-related investment (ERI) rules

But in January, 2020, it was announced that the company had gone into administration.

The company had been in court over 300,000 of unpaid taxes due to HM Revenue and Customs.

In April 2020, it was reported that India's TVS Motor Company had acquired the business in a cash deal.

In late 2021, TVS announced the opening of a new manufacturing facility at Solihull to be staffed initially by 100+ workers to produce luxury hand-crafted motorcycles.[

As set out in Regulation 12(2) of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations 2005, subject to certain exceptions, it is a criminal offence to invest more than 5% of the current market value of scheme resources in ERIs.
Many female secondary school pupils are not back in classrooms in Afghanistan

But millions of girls in Afghanistan are still deprived of education under Taliban

Officials are sending their children to state schools and universities in Qatar

Taliban officials in Qatar have enrolled their daughters in schools, a report says

Taliban officials are sending their daughters to overseas schools despite the regime not allowing many female secondary students in classrooms, according to a report.

Senior officials are sending their children to schools and universities, including in Qatar, southwest Asia, while millions of female secondary school students in Afghanistan have been deprived of education since the Taliban seized power in August.

Many Qatar-based Taliban leaders have chosen to send their sons and daughters to school, with the majority in Doha enrolling their daughters in school, according to a report by Afghanistan Analysts Network.

Millions of female students are still unable to go to school in Afghanistan, as the Taliban government has so far only reopened high schools for boys and primary schools for all students.

But the Taliban have pledged that all women and girls can access schools at all levels when the remaining schools across the country reopen in March.

Meanwhile, half of the Afghan population are said to be facing famine in the coming months amid a humanitarian crisis in the country.

The report, conducted by the non-profit policy research group, interviewed 30 people, including nine senior Taliban officials and one Taliban sympathiser.

Senior Taliban officials are sending their children to overseas schools and universities, including in Qatar, report says. Pictured: Female students at school in Herat, Afghanistan, on September 14 as primary schools reopened following Taliban takeover

One Qatar-based Taliban official, who was a member of the Taliban's negotiating team, said his two daughters studied in a Qatari state school, with one finishing her education in 2020.

He said: 'We lived for three years not much bothered by education, but since everybody in the neighbourhood was going to school, our children demanded that they go to school too. So, in the fourth year, I had to send my three sons and two daughters to school.'

Other Taliban officials chose to send their children to private schools run by Pakistanis, based in Qatar, which follow a Pakistani curriculum but teach in English, according to the report.

Another Qatar-based Taliban official told AAN: 'Taliban members and their families who live here [in Qatar] have strong demands for modern education and no one opposes it for either boys or girls  of any age.'

A daughter of one current Taliban minister, who was previously a member of the Leadership Shura in Quetta, said she is studying medicine at a Qatari university.

Two members of the Taliban's Qatar office, who have since relocated to Kabul, said they didn't know whether to bring their families to Afghanistan or wait due to the 'interruption it would pose to the boys' and girls' schooling'.

One source told the report some officials are sending their daughters to schools in Pakistan that use Iqra teaching, which combines religious 'madrasa' learning with 'modern' schooling.

Describing the Iqra method, one official said: 'The Iqra system is very good for Taleban who are looking to educate their boys and girls. It's an Islamic educational system that teaches both modern school subjects and madrasa subjects.'

According to the report, Taliban officials have also secretly enrolled their daughters in schools and universities in Afghanistan, while some Taliban commanders have founded schools, private madrasas and universities in Pakistan that admit girls.

The hardline group ousted the US-backed government in August, promising a softer brand of rule than their repressive reign in the 1990s, when women were mostly banned from education and work.

Millions of female secondary school students are still unable to go to school in Afghanistan. Pictured: Afghan girls in Farah, Afghanistan, on October 12

But the Taliban government has so far only reopened high schools for boys in most parts of Afghanistan, while millions of girls are still unable to attend school.

Primary schools have reopened in the country, with boys and girls mostly attending separate classes, and some women teachers returning to work.

The Taliban has made public pledges that all women and girls will be able to access schools at all levels when schools across the country reopen in March.

On September 17, the ministry of education ordered all male teachers and male students back to the classroom, but excluded girls from returning to secondary school.

'All male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions,' a statement said ahead of classes resuming.

Some private universities have since reopened, but in many cases female students have not been able to return to class.

Last month, the Taliban acting higher education minister confirmed that Afghanistan's public universities, closed since the Taliban seized power in August, will reopen this month.

But Shaikh Abdul Baqi Haqqani failed to specify whether female students would be able to return to their studies under the plans.

Universities in warmer provinces reopened from February 2, while those in colder areas will reopen on February 26, the minister told a news conference in Kabul.

In the past, Taliban officials have suggested that women could be taught in separate classes.

The international community have been applying pressure to the hardline Taliban, who took over Afghanistan on August 15, to get them to commit to upholding women's rights.

Western governments have made education for female students a part of their demands as the Taliban seek more foreign aid and the unfreezing of overseas assets.

Since a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban in 2001, significant progress was made in girls' education, with the number of schools tripling and female literacy nearly doubling to 30 per cent - however, the change was largely limited to the cities.

Afghan women have fought for and gained basic rights in the past 20 years, becoming lawmakers, judges, pilots and police officers.

Hundreds of thousands entered the workforce - a necessity in some cases as many women were widowed or now support invalid husbands as a result of decades of conflict.

Meanwhile, the UN says 8.7 million Afghans are on the brink of starvation, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said over half the population faces 'extreme levels of hunger'.

'More than 80% of the population relies on contaminated drinking water, and some families are selling their babies to purchase food,' he said.

Meanwhile, half of the Afghan population are said to be facing famine in the coming months. Pictured: A nurse checks the weight of a child in the makeshift clinic near Herat, Afghanistan

Afghanistan's aid-dependent economy was already stumbling when the Taliban seized power last August amid the chaotic departure of US and NATO troops after 20 years.

The international community froze Afghanistan's assets abroad and halted economic support, unwilling to work with the Taliban, given the brutality during their 1996-2001 rule.

Guterres said the World Banks reconstruction trust fund for Afghanistan transferred $280 million last month to the U.N. children's agency UNICEF and the World Food Program.

He said the remaining $1.2 million should be released urgently to help Afghans survive the winter.

'Time is of the essence,' Guterres told the Security Council last month. 'Without action, lives will be lost, and despair and extremism will grow.'

Last month, a high-level Taliban delegation met with Afghan civil society representatives in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

Norway and its NATO allies do not formally recognise the Taliban-led administration that seized power last year, but see talks as a necessity, given the depth of the crisis.

The Taliban delegation, led by acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, was not granted meetings with cabinet-level ministers, but met a junior minister at Norway's foreign ministry.

Deborah Lyons noted that a joint communique from the talks highlighted that 'understanding and joint cooperation are the only solutions to all the problems of Afghanistan.' She said now the Taliban 'must act on it'.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre, whose country holds the Security Council presidency this month and chaired the meeting, said the Taliban delegation also held direct talks with representatives from Norway, the US, France and Britain, but he stressed that did not signify recognition of the Taliban government.

'We have to talk to them, engage them and present very clear expectations, because Afghanistan is today facing a dire humanitarian crisis and a million children may starve,' Stre said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He said there were no negotiations, no agreement signed, but the talks as far as he could see were 'the beginning of something that can lead to something'.
Kuwait will ban a new film adaptation of Agatha Christie's whodunnit Death on the Nile because it stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot.

According to Kuwait's Al-Qabas newspaper, the decision to ban the film was taken following demands on social media.

Official in the country said that it would not allow a film starring 'a former soldier in the Zionist occupying army'.

A former Miss Israel, Gadot did her mandatory two-year military service in Israel, before starting her acting career.

Social media users in Kuwait also slammed her praise of the IDF and her criticism of Hamas during the 2014 war in Gaza. The war left 2,251 dead on the Palestinian side, the majority civilians, and 74 on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.

Gadot praised Israel's military during the war, sending prayers to Israeli soldiers 'who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas'.

Kuwait is staunchly opposed to normalising ties with Israel - unlike its Gulf neighbours the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have signed peace deals with the Jewish state - and has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause.

Death on the Nile will be banned in Kuwait because it stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot (pictured)

Official in the country said that it would not allow a film starring 'a former soldier in the Zionist occupying army'

Gadot is best known for the lead role in the 2017 Hollywood blockbuster 'Wonder Woman' which was also banned in some Arab countries including Lebanon and Qatar.

She was also previously slammed on social media after she was cast to play Cleopatra in the upcoming historical epic about the iconic Egyptian queen.

The casting drew outrage from confused social media users who wrongly assumed Cleopatra was black and North African.

Critics argued it was inappropriate for Gadot, a white Israeli woman, to play such a role and suggested the part be given to an African or black actress instead.

However, other social media users were quick to point out the Egyptian ruler was actually ethnically Greek or Persian.

While she was born in Egypt, she was the daughter of Pharaoh Ptolemy XII, a member of the Macedonian Greek royal family that ruled Egypt for 275 years, meaning Cleopatra was most likely fair-skinned.

Death on the Nile, directed by and co-starring Kenneth Branagh, is due for release this month in the United States

Gadot is best known for the lead role in the 2017 Hollywood blockbuster 'Wonder Woman' which was also banned in some Arab countries including Lebanon and Qatar

Death on the Nile, directed by and co-starring Kenneth Branagh, is due for release this month in the United States.

The story is one of the most famous works of British author Christie, dubbed the 'Queen of Crime'.

The movie is already facing controversy because of its male lead Armie Hammer being accused of sexual assault by a number of women since filming took place in 2019.

No charges have been brought against him, though police in LA are investigating a rape allegations.

Disney previously said that reshooting scenes with Hammer in them would be impossible.
Teachers at a primary school have been accused of 'indoctrinating' 10-year-old pupils by getting them to write letters criticising Boris Johnson over 'Partygate'.

Staff at Welbeck Primary School in Nottingham were blasted for allegedly pushing the youngsters into penning the note attacking the PM and calling for him to resign.

Its Twitter account shared a picture of the children brandishing documents addressed to a local Labour MP, who supports the headmistresses.

Another showed a pupil scowling next to a whiteboard which said 'lies, mistrust and selfish' next to 'Boris Johnson' in an adult's handwriting.

And one zoomed in on a letter allegedly written by a year six student using the phrase 'PMQs' and breaking down the UK economy and pandemic response.

Meanwhile the headteacher has tweeted a series of left-wing messages and used the phrase 'Tory scum' online.

Nadhim Zahawi weighed into the row last night, saying teaching politics in the classroom 'this must not be done in a partisan way'.

He added: 'No school should be encouraging young people to pin their colours to a political mast.'

Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith for Bassetlaw called for the staff member responsible to be sacked and blasted them for 'putting words put into their mouths'.

The former teacher said schools were not for 'furthering people's personal political agendas' and added it 'falls below the basic standards that parents expect'.

Teachers at a primary school have been accused of 'indoctrinating' 10-year-old pupils by getting them to write letters criticising Boris Johnson over 'Partygate'

Staff at Welbeck Primary School in Nottingham were blasted for allegedly pushing the youngsters into penning the note attacking the PM and calling for him to resign

Its Twitter account shared a picture of the children brandished documents addressed to a local Labour MP, who supports the headmistress

Pictured: One of the letters allegedly written by a year six pupil to the local Labour MP hitting out at the PM

Meanwhile the headteacher has tweeted a series of left-wing messages as well as used the phrase 'Tory scum' online

The photos, which were later deleted, showed six pupils in year six supposedly writing letters attacking the PM over a series of parties in Downing Street.

Three of them, a girl and two boys, posed for a picture with stern faces showcasing the printed documents.

Another image showed two schoolchildren on laptops as they apparently wrote their notes.

A third photograph was of a young boy frowning while pointing to a whiteboard behind him full of phrases criticising Mr Johnson.

The adult's writing said: '16 parties. He threw a party during lockdown when no one else could.' It also said: '[He] fired people for using playgrounds.'

Letter criticising PM over the economy, politics and pandemic that was 'written by a TEN-YEAR-OLD' sent to Labour MP An A4 letter, allegedly written by one of the year six students, to Labour MP Lilian Greenwood, was posted online by the school. It went into detail about the UK economy, political situation in Westminster and the pandemic. It said: 'This week in Year Six we have been looking at our aspirations and role models for the future. 'We looked at famous leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, and we have also looked at teachers and headteachers who are doing their part in keeping us happy, healthy and safe. 'We also looked at people who we respect and disappointingly, our own Prime Minister has not made it onto this list. 'During this past week I watched a story on BBC Newsround that stated our PM is under investigation for 12 parties that have apparently occurred - a few of which had over 100 people at them when we weren't even allowed to meet more than two people. 'What makes this matter worse is that when he was questioned about it in Parliament he said the following, ''I have been reassured there was no party.'' This is a lie. MP Ian Blackford, attempted to challenge the PM on regarding this matter and was kicked out of parliament for merely stating the truth, that Boris Johnson ''has misled the house''. 'Boris Johnson has lied on multiple occasions and had not been told the withdraw any of these lies. 'This week at PMQs Boris Johnson stated: ''We have the fastest growing economy in the G7.'' We do not. 'We actually have the 5th fastest with an estimation of 2.5 million people unable to pay rent. 'He then also went on to say that ''there were more people in work now before the pandemic'', and again Boris Johnson lied to the UK, as there are another 600,000 people without work. 'This very same day, he said that crime had dropped by 14% since he had been PM. He lied - it has actually risen by 14%. Where is his resignation? 'People had faith that he could lead us through a pandemic, but he couldn't. His job was to keep us happy, healthy and safe but he failed that too, therefore he should resign and instead of fixing problems, he has left the UK with an even bigger problem and with a government I can't trust. 'This will now influence people to not listen to any new regulations and instead copy the footsteps of Boris Johnson. 'He is a hypocrite and can no longer be trusted as our leader and should resign as the country is not in the right hands. 'To sum it all up, I am enraged. Infuriated. I feel lied to and that we desperately need a new leader. 'I feel that there is no reason to trust our government and as a British citizen, the Prime Minister should resign. This letter is on behalf of my country.' Advertisement

Meanwhile an A4 letter, allegedly written by one of the year six students, to Labour MP Lilian Greenwood, was also posted online.

It went into detail about the UK economy, political situation in Westminster and the pandemic.

It said: 'This week in Year Six we have been looking at our aspirations and role models for the future.

'We looked at famous leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, and we have also looked at teachers and headteachers who are doing their part in keeping us happy, healthy and safe.

'We also looked at people who we respect and disappointingly, our own Prime Minister has not made it onto this list.

'During this past week I watched a story on BBC Newsround that stated our PM is under investigation for 12 parties that have apparently occurred - a few of which had over 100 people at them when we weren't even allowed to meet more than two people.

'What makes this matter worse is that when he was questioned about it in Parliament he said the following, ''I have been reassured there was no party.'' This is a lie.

MP Ian Blackford, attempted to challenge the PM on regarding this matter and was kicked out of parliament for merely stating the truth, that Boris Johnson ''has misled the house''.

'Boris Johnson has lied on multiple occasions and had not been told the withdraw any of these lies.

'This week at PMQs Boris Johnson stated: ''We have the fastest growing economy in the G7.'' We do not.

'We actually have the 5th fastest with an estimation of 2.5 million people unable to pay rent.

'He then also went on to say that ''there were more people in work now before the pandemic'', and again Boris Johnson lied to the UK, as there are another 600,000 people without work.

'This very same day, he said that crime had dropped by 14% since he had been PM. He lied - it has actually risen by 14%. Where is his resignation?

'People had faith that he could lead us through a pandemic, but he couldn't. His job was to keep us happy, healthy and safe but he failed that too, therefore he should resign and instead of fixing problems, he has left the UK with an even bigger problem and with a government I can't trust.

'This will now influence people to not listen to any new regulations and instead copy the footsteps of Boris Johnson.

'He is a hypocrite and can no longer be trusted as our leader and should resign as the country is not in the right hands.

'To sum it all up, I am enraged. Infuriated. I feel lied to and that we desperately need a new leader.

'I feel that there is no reason to trust our government and as a British citizen, the Prime Minister should resign. This letter is on behalf of my country.'

The school wrote next to the tweet: 'Year 6 pupils have written to Lilian Greenwood regarding how angry they are with the Prime Minister for the allegations he broke lockdown rules and his continued lying to Parliament. Their trust in politicians has been damaged.'

Ms Greenwood replied: 'I understand and share their anger and I will be writing to Boris Johnson asking him to respond to my young constituents' concerns.'

The PM has been subjected to weeks of claims of parties in Downing Street during the pandemic, in a scandal dubbed 'partygate'.

Mr Johnson has sought to move beyond the scandal by changing his top team, with several senior aides departing and a new chief of staff and communications chief.

He is awaiting the outcome of a Met Police probe into the numerous Downing Street gatherings and whether lockdown rules were breached.

The under-fire leader could face being fined by police - an outcome likely to prompt a flurry of no-confidence letters.

He is also heading into UK local elections in May with Labour enjoying a double-digit lead over the Tories on the back of the partygate scandal.

Welbeck Primary School (pictured, its staff) is an inner-city community school in Nottingham which claims to 'hold creativity and care at the heart of the curriculum'

The school (pictured) was graded outstanding by Ofsted in 2008 but has not been checked for over a decade

Welbeck Primary School is an inner-city community school in Nottingham which claims to 'hold creativity and care at the heart of the curriculum'.

It was graded outstanding by Ofsted in 2008 but has not been checked for over a decade.

Headteacher Rebecca Gittins has retweeted, shared and written multiple left-wing posts, including the hashtag 'Tory scum'.

She wrote last January: 'Where are the men? Presumably at work whilst the women stay home? This Government are taking us back decades #ToryScum.'

She retweeted posts from Labour MP for Nottingham South Ms Greenwood, who she supports and is followed by on Twitter, and Sir Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan.

Mrs Gittins also tweeted her support for a post from Labour's Wes Streeting showing the PM and Donald Trump, saying: 'One down, one to go.'

Another post from August 2020 said: 'Inspired and relieved that Andy Burnham is challenging this government's prejudices towards our wonderful city children.'

Last night, Education Secretary Mr Zahawi intervened as news of the incident spread.

He said: 'While there is a clear need for schools to address political issues in the classroom from time to time, this must not be done in a partisan way.

'No school should be encouraging young people to pin their colours to a political mast.'

It is understood the minister believes the situation at the school is completely unacceptable.

Tory MP Mr Clarke-Smith blasted the school for 'putting words in children's mouths' and called for heads to roll.

He told MailOnline: 'Children and the schools they attend do not exist for the purpose of furthering people's personal political agendas.

'Teachers work very hard to provide balanced, robust and challenging lessons and we must not allow the behaviour of individuals like this to give the profession a bad name by trying to indoctrinate our children.

'Children go to school to learn, not to have words put into their mouths.

'I was a teacher myself prior to entering parliament and I would always welcome healthy debate in the classroom.

'But this falls well below the basic standards that parents expect for their children's education.

'In fact, if I had done this and then brought my school into disrepute with the subsequent tweet then I would expect to be sacked.'

Ms Gittins, headteacher at Welbeck Primary School, said: 'As part of a Democracy topic, the Year Six class has been looking closely at national politics, our leaders and decision-makers, while discussing fact and opinion.

'There is no 'teaching' of politics. We explain processes and structure, with the children encouraged to express their thoughts.

'Year Six pupils watched recent coverage on Newsround about Downing Street and some of them asked to write to their local MP to share their views.

'This lesson was linked to the English curriculum where children constructed letters using their skills to form arguments, assess evidence and develop their critical thinking.

'A tweet displaying the work received five abusive responses, which was really disappointing. The decision was quickly taken to remove it before these were seen by the pupils.'

Councillor David Mellen, Leader of Nottingham City Council, said: 'Learning about democracy, our political leaders and the way the country is governed is a vital part of any pupil's knowledge, and has been taught, discussed and debated in schools across the country for decades.

'It remains a key part of the curriculum and, together with the councils' work through our Primary Parliament, helps to provide children with an appropriate understanding of the world they live in.

'We are supportive of Welbeck Primary's work in this area and would never discourage young people from engaging with local representatives and politicians.

'Learning to write in a variety of ways is also part of the curriculum and our schools strive to give children meaningful opportunities to exercise those styles.'

Labour MP Ms Greenwood has been approached for comment.
Patients are being left to die alone and scared in hospitals because of 'inhumane' policies, while stadiums and concerts are packed, grieving families say.

Families in NSW have been forced to apply for visitation exemptions that can take up to seven hours to approve to see their dying relatives - sometimes coming all too late.

Joanna La Macchia was not allowed to see her dying father Antonio Coluccio, 71, after he was admitted to Royal Prince Alfred with Covid-19 in early January.

She is fully vaccinated and begged to be allowed to see her dad in his final hours, but was not allowed.

Families have slammed the NSW government for keeping them away from dying loved ones in hospital (pictured, a patient in the ICU of St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney)

With case numbers easing and ICU rates low, restrictions have been dropped. But the came can't be said for hospital visits (pictured, New Year's Eve in Sydney)

'I was crying hysterically because I wasn't able to see him,' she told the 2GB radio station's Ben Fordham.

Ms La Macchia's mother was allowed to see her husband, but had to leave the room after an hour.

She was told she would have to reapply for another exemption the next day, but Antonio died before she could do so.

'They said she couldn't stay, it wasn't an option. We were told we would have to reapply for a visit again tomorrow.

'We didn't want to leave that night because we knew he didn't have much longer.'

Ms La Macchia, 43, said the process of getting approval for an exemption to visit took seven hours.

'He could've died in that time, it didn't feel like a priority at the time and we knew he was about to die,' she said.

'We are totally distraught. We have to live with the fact he died alone and scared. People should hang their heads in shame.'

Ms La Macchia said it's not right that the NSW government has opened sport stadiums and concert venues but is not allowing people to see their dying relatives.

Though people are being stopped from seeing their dying loved ones, events such as the Ashes series between Australia and England have had packed crowds (pictured on January 6)

Even people who are fully vaccinated are being stopped from seeing dying family members in hospital (pictured, a woman getting a Covid-19 vaccination shot)

'My father died with Covid so I understand it's so important everyone be safe and there be some sort of restrictions in place but not letting people see their loved ones, it's not right,' she said.

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard has asked for the regulations on visiting dying relatives to be reviewed.

Last week he was forced to apologise to a woman who was prevented from seeing her dying mother while paperwork was processed.

A woman called Gayle was made to leave her mother's palliative care room at Campbelltown Hospital, despite pleas to stay beyond visiting hours.

A nurse reportedly threatened to call security if the triple-vaccinated woman didn't leave.

When she got back the next morning to see her mother she was instead made to wait five hours in the hospital car park for her visiting exemption to be renewed.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured left), and Minister for Health Brad Hazzard (right) both apologised to the family of a woman who died alone while they waited for permission to see her

Her husband, Peter, contacted 2GB and said Gayle's mother had died by the time she was allowed into the hospital.

'On Saturday evening we got a call from Brad Hazzard  he was apologetic. Then Dominic Perrottet called on Sunday,' Peter said.

Mr Hazzard has told NSW Health new guidelines for hospitals should balance care and compassion with keeping patients and staff safe.

Another person who missed the last moments of a loved one's life is Kay Martin.

Her sister Judith Dally died at the Wolper Jewish Hospital in Woollahra on January 23, but Ms Martin was only allowed to visit for one hour a day, despite being fully vaccinated and testing negative to Covid.

An entrance to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney (pictured), where Antonio Coluccio died 'alone and scared', his daughter said

'I would love to have been with her when she passed,' she told the Daily Telegraph.

Ms Martin said the visitation rules should be scrapped given NSW's high vaccination rate.

'It's appalling and really inhumane. People who are really ill would love to have their friends around and would just hold their hand and say "I love you",' she said.

Peter Collignon, a Professor of Infectious Diseases at ANU, has called for a new approach because of the declining case numbers.

'If someone is in hospital dying and they have, say, a single visitor at a time, vaccinated and wearing a mask, their risk of giving Covid to anyone is very small and in my view we have to be willing to take that risk given the emotional and social impact of preventing people from seeing their loved one,' he said.
Tucker Carlson has slammed the response to truckers protesting against vaccine mandates by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and other officials, with the Fox News host claiming the demonstrators are being treated like terrorists.

Trudeau has accused the truckers of 'blockading' Canada's democracy after they paralyzed Ottawa's business district for over a week by blocking the roads.

And members of the Freedom Convoy protest have been arrested and charged with hate crimes, while Go Fund Me cut off funding for the protest organizers after determining that their efforts violated their terms of service.

Carlson has since hit out at this response, saying that the Canadian truckers are being treated like a 'terror group'.

Tucker Carlson has slammed the response to truckers protesting against vaccine mandates by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and other officials, with the Fox News host claiming the demonstrators are being treated like terrorists

Scenes at the Parliament Hill in Downtown Ottawa, where truckers are protesting against the Covid mandates on Monday

Police officers attempt to seize fuel that was being distributed to truckers at the Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday

Trudeau has accused the truckers of 'blockading' Canada's democracy after they paralyzed Ottawa's business district for over a week by blocking the roads

'This is a peaceful, political protest. No one has shown any evidence to the contrary. It's not a drug trafficking or human trafficking operation. It's not Al Qaeda,' Carlson said on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight.

'These are Canadian citizens who drive trucks for a living, but they're being treated like a terror group.'

The truckers themselves have strongly denied that they have ties to ultra-right-wing groups, insisting they are just 'ordinary truckers'.

Carlson added: 'GoFundMe announced it would redirect the $10 million raised by supporters of the truckers to charities of its choice, presumably BLM, which it has supported since the very beginning. In other words, GoFundMe planned to steal that money.'

But GoFundMe have said that all donations made to the Freedom Convoy fundraiser would be refunded automatically.

They had previously outlined a plan to distribute the funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers - not selected by GoFundMe as Carlson claimed - but the organisation later decided to refund all donations to 'simplify' the process.

Carlson has since hit out at this response, saying that the Canadian truckers are being treated like a 'terror group'

A protester affixes a flag to the top of a truck, parked beside another with a sign calling for the jailing of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, outside Parliament Hill, in Ottawa on Monday

The truckers are protesting rules that say that any unvaccinated drivers have to quarantine for two weeks after crossing the US/Canada border in either direction.

Originally, both countries allowed an exemption for truckers to ease the supply chain crisis that has developed since covid hit, but Canada ended that exemption on January 15 and the United States followed suit a week later.

The convoy, which organizers claimed stretched up to 45 miles long, set out from Prince Rupert, on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, on January 22 and arrived in the nation's capital last week.

Since then, Canadian authorities have taken an increasingly hard line, arresting seven people and opening 60 criminal investigations.

They also seized fuel and supplies for 1,000 vehicles Sunday and Ottawa mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency.

On Monday, Watson pleaded for almost 2,000 extra police officers to help quell the demonstrations.

'Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens' daily lives,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an emergency debate in Parliament, while the protest continued outside. 'It has to stop.'

Trudeau said everyone is tired of COVID-19 but this is not the way. He said the restrictions won't last forever and noted that Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. 'Canadians trust science,' Trudeau said.

'A few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are.'

A man drinks water from a jerry can near Parliament Hill as demonstrators continue to protest the vaccine mandates implemented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on February 7 in Ottowa

Scenes at the Parliament Hill in Downtown Ottawa, where truckers are protesting against the Covid mandates on Monday

Carlson slammed Trudeau for his response and said: 'Consider what's happening right now in Canada. Thousands of truck drivers have descended on Ottawa, the capital city, to protest the tyranny of Justin Trudeau's government.

Justin Trudeau does not like truck drivers. He thinks they're revolting. Justin Trudeau likes private equity barons and tech moguls, the only people who give him money.'

Carlson added: 'Trudeau is not in Ottawa right now. In fact, he and his family fled when the truck drivers arrived and they've been in hiding ever since. So when the revolution he has been calling for finally arrived, Justin Trudeau wasn't there to see it. He ran away in terror, kind of sad.'

Protests have occurred across Canada. A truck-convoy protest near the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between Canada and the U.S., caused long traffic backups along the span from the Detroit side of the Detroit River.

And in Alaska, more than 100 truck drivers rallied in support of their counterparts in Canada by driving the 10 miles from Anchorage to Eagle River, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Many members of the GOP have made comments supporting the demonstrations, including former President Donald Trump, who called Trudeau a 'far left lunatic' who has 'destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.'

Protesters have said they will not leave until all vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. They also called for the removal of Trudeau's government, though it is responsible for few of the restrictive measures, most of which were put in place by provincial governments.

Prominent Republicans including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton complained after crowdfunding site GoFundMe said it would refund the vast majority of the millions of dollars raised by demonstrators.

Scenes at the Parliament Hill in Downtown Ottawa as the night falls, where truckers are protesting against the Covid mandates on Sunday

The site said it cut off funding for protest organizers after determining that their efforts violated the site's terms of service by engaging in unlawful activity. Ontario Provincial Premier Doug Ford has called the protest an occupation.

In response, Paxton tweeted: 'Patriotic Texans donated to Canadian truckers' worthy cause.' Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said on Fox News that 'government doesn't have the right to force you to comply to their arbitrary mandates.'

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino shot back: 'It is certainly not the concern of the Texas attorney general as to how we in Canada go about our daily lives in accordance with the rule of law.'

'We need to be vigilant about potential foreign interference... Whatever statements may have been made by some foreign official are neither here nor there. We're Canadian. We have our own set of laws. We will follow them,' Mendicino said.

In a letter to Trudeau and the public safety minister, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said 'what was initially described as a peaceful protest has now turned into a siege of our downtown area' with 400 to 500 trucks.

He asked for 1,800 additional police officers. That would nearly double the existing resources of the entire Ottawa Police Service, which has 2,100 police and civilian members.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of intergovernmental affairs, blamed the GOP interference for inciting disorderly conduct and helping to fund entities that are not respecting Canadian law. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said Paxton was wrong for commenting on it.

Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said groups in the U.S. need to stop funding and interfering in the domestic affairs of America's neighbor.

On the street in front of Parliament Hill were thousands of signs ranging from 'no more mandates' and 'freedom of choice' to 'truck you Trudeau' and some compared vaccine mandates to fascism.

Trudeau has called the protesters a 'fringe,' but he faces calls by the opposition Conservative party to extend an 'olive branch' to them. Some Conservative lawmakers, including one running to lead the party, have met and posted for pictures with them.

A trucker fist bumping a supporter during the protest at Queens Park to support the truckers and denounce the government policy of mandatory vaccination in Toronto, Canada

A trucker receives a drawing from a supporter on February 5, 2022 in Ottawa, Canada

Embattled Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly called the demonstration an 'unprecedented protest never seen in Canada' and acknowledged that authorities failed to plan for it to last more than three days.

Steve Bell, the city's deputy police chief, said a person from Ohio was arrested in connection with a threat against Ottawa police headquarters.

Meanwhile, Ottawa police were investigating a fire at an apartment building that was apparently set by protesters. Matias Munoz said residents of the building south of Parliament Hill were already at their wits' end Saturday night as the noise of the protest blared through their homes for the ninth night in a row.

When he came downstairs Sunday morning, Munoz said the carpet and floor were charred, and there were blackened fire-starter bricks strewn across the lobby.

Surveillance video showed two men light a package of the bricks in the lobby and tape or tie the front door handles together before leaving through a side door before dawn. The video also showed a different man entering the building and putting the fire out a short while later, Munoz said.

'Somebody trying to do something as insidious as taping the door shut so people can't leave if there's a fire in the main lobby - it's terror, is what it is,? Munoz said.

Ottawa police declined to release details, citing the ongoing investigation.

In other developments, Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean granted a 10-day injunction to prevent truckers parked on city streets in downtown Ottawa from honking their horns incessantly.

Protest organizer Tamara Lich said Monday that activists were willing to engage with the government to find a way out of the crisis, but insisted that pandemic restrictions be eased.

'What we're trying to do right now is reaching out to all of the federal parties so that we can arrange a sit down,' Lich said during a meeting streamed on YouTube.

'So that we can start these talks and see how we can move forward, have their mandates and the restrictions lifted, restore Canadians rights and freedoms and go home.'
Sun-starved residents on the east coast can finally look forward to some warm weather after battling through eight days of persistent rainfall.

Some much-needed sunshine is due to hit the eastern states after more than a week of wild deluges and storms, however forecasters warn it could be short-lived.

Stormy conditions in Sydney, Brisbane and Victoria will ease from Wednesday for the start of two sunny days, with some showers cropping up on Friday, before the clouds again clear for a hot weekend all round.

Sun-starved residents on the east coast can finally look forward to some warm weather after battling through eight days of persistent rain (pictured, beachgoers at Coogee)

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) on Tuesday announced temperatures were expected to increase for most parts of NSW in the coming days (pictured, temperatures in NSW)

The Bureau of Meteorology on Tuesday announced temperatures were expected to increase for most parts of NSW in the coming days.

'Some parts set to reach the high 30s, temperatures forecast in low 40s over the weekend inland,' the bureau said.

Sydneysiders can expect milder temperatures mid-week with Wednesday forecast to hit 30C and Thursday to reach 31C, with lows of 18-20C.

On the NSW Coast conditions will also be dry however some coastal towns such as Armidale, Dubbo and Bathurst may experience some downpours.

Melburnians are due some warmth this weekend as temperatures soar to 36C on Sunday and 30C on Saturday after a milder week of mid to high 20s.

Sydneysiders can expect milder temperatures mid-week with Wednesday forecast to hit 30C and Thursday to reach 31C, with minimums of 18-20C (pictured, beach-goers in Sydney)

Some much-needed sunshine is due to hit the eastern states however forecasters warn it could be short-lived (pictured, a woman shields herself from rain in Brisbane)

Canberra will also receive some eagerly-anticipated sun with the odd shower at the end of the week with temperatures due to hit a balmy 30C on Thursday.

Temperatures are also heating up in Queensland after dry conditions arrived on Tuesday expected to continue for the rest of the week.

Far North Queensland can expect the odd shower however BOM forecast a ridge of high pressure will bring mostly cool, dry air to the Sunshine State.

Brisbane will also be showered with rain over the weekend with highs of 30C and lows of 20C, with Townsville in the Far North hitting a maximum of 32C.

In Western Australia a severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for parts of Pilbara and the interior as bushfires continue to rage in the south near Albany.

Sydneysiders are soon to be hit with some much-needed sunshine after eight days of consistent rain (pictured, people shelter under umbrellas at Circular Quay)

Melburnians will receive some warmth over the weekend as temperatures soar to 36C on Sunday and 30C on Saturday (pictured, a weather map of Victoria)

BOM has warned the thunderstorms have the potential to trigger flash flooding.

Catastrophic fire danger remains in the Eucla region near the South Australian border, with high to severe fire danger in inland areas near Kalgoorlie.

These fire dangers are expected to rise mid-week to coincide with rising temperatures particularly in the central west and inland regions.

Temperatures are expected to remain around the mid to low 20's during the week with Perth to hit 30C on Wednesday and a sweltering 36C on Thursday.

In South Australia, showers and thunderstorms are expected to spread eastward throughout the week bringing severe weather conditions to some parts.

The bureau issued a severe fire danger for the Mount Lofty Ranges and and Lower South East ahead of the change due to move across southern and western SA.

In South Australia, showers and thunderstorms are expected to spread eastward bringing severe weather conditions to some parts (pictured, a woman is rained on in Melbourne)

Temperatures are expected to remain around the mid to low 20's during the week with Perth (pictured) to hit 30C on Wednesday and 36C on Thursday

On the NSW Coast conditions will also be dry however some coastal towns may experience some downpours including Armidale, Dubbo and Bathurst (pictured, Coogee beach-goers)

Adelaide experienced a balmy start to the week with temperatures of 33C on Monday with the weekend to build to a scorching 36C.

Southwards in Tasmania, the island state is looking to enjoy milder conditions than previous weeks with a handful of showers forecast for the west coast.

Temperatures will hit 29C on Sunday but plummet to 24C the following day with a cooler week to follow a week of warmth.

In the Northern Territory, wet and wild conditions will prevail in stark contrast to the east coast with rain forecast until next week.

Temperatures will remain high with Sunday to hit a balmy 33C with minimums to remain in the mid 20's for most of the week.
Captain Mike Lawson has won a 90,000 payout after he was sacked over unfounded rumours he fell asleep during a long haul flight to Hong Kong while other air crew were sick

A Virgin Atlantic pilot who was sacked over unfounded rumours he fell asleep during a long haul flight to Hong Kong while other air crew were sick has won a 90,000 payout.

Captain Mike Lawson was fired in May 2017 almost two years after the Hong Kong flight, with the airline citing his failure to pass two flight simulator tests in 2016 as the reason.

Cpt Lawson sued Virgin Atlantic for 1.7m over his dismissal, claiming the test assessor was 'unnecessarily aggressive' towards him because of the airline's hostile stance following the Hong Kong flight.

With eight hours still to go on that flight, Cpt Lawson decided against aborting and instead flew on alone, landing safely after one of his colleagues recovered.

At an employment tribunal in Croydon, where Cpt Lawson claimed unfair dismissal, the panel ruled in his favour and awarded him 89,000 in compensation.

Despite the finding, the panel said the pilot would not be reinstated in his previous job.

The employment tribunal hearing was told at the heart of the claim was the Hong Kong incident in September 2015 when two co-pilots had upset stomachs after recent trips to Delhi - but were fit to operate.

Cpt Lawson had flown the 11-hour route many times, at least once a month, and was familiar with it.

On long haul flights like that one, the three pilots take it in turns to have periods of rest - with two pilots usually remaining on the deck.

Three hours into the flight, one co-pilot with Delhi belly went to the toilet and briefly fainted while returning to the flight deck and later asked to take a rest.

After four and a half hours into the flight the other co-pilot needed the toilet but did not quite make it in time and crew found him on a seat next to the toilet so he could manage his symptoms.

The plane was over central Russia at the time and Cpt Lawson said to land at a remote Russian airfield would only be attempted in an absolute emergency.

He decided the safest course would be for him to continue in charge alone to Hong Kong where they had an uneventful landing.

The tribunal heard that negative rumours about the flight began, including that he had taken '40 winks' while his colleagues were indisposed and away from the flight deck, and other colleagues saying the flight was one big f*** up and that Cpt Lawson will probably get the sack.

His employers mounted an investigation into the events during the flight and Cpt Lawson said he began suffering from stress and anxiety soon after, a previous hearing was told.

On October 13, he was called into a meeting with the Flight Safety Manager and Head of Aircraft Operations who asked if he had had '40 winks' on the flight.

He was 'stood down' from flying duties between October and November 2015, but 'he was not told that he had done anything wrong and was not placed under any restrictions'.

Cpt Lawson said the airlines failure to publish a report into the incident meant he could not defend himself against the rumours.

Virgin Atlantic fired Cpt Lawsn in May 2017 almost two years after the Hong Kong flight, with the airline citing his failure to pass two flight simulator tests in 2016 as the reason (stock image)

In April and May 2016, Cpt Lawson underwent two flight simulation tests which he failed. The hearing was told he had never failed such an exercise before and he claimed the process had been designed for him to perform poorly.

The following March he went off sick and in May 2017 he was dismissed by the airline. Cpt Lawson then sued Virgin for unfair dismissal.

At the tribunal the airline argued it had held long-standing concerns about the captain's performance.

But the panel - headed by employment judge Brian Doyle - concluded these were 'undocumented and unsubstantiated'.

The employment tribunal heard Cpt Lawson started his long haul career on its Airbus 340 fleet having joined Virgin Atlantic in 1998.

Since his dismissal Cpt Lawson has struggled to find work as a pilot, the tribunal was told, and has been forced to sell his house in the UK and flat in France to support his family including his two year old son and seven month old daughter.
A hatmaker beloved by the Royal Family has won a two-year legal battle to stop a 65 foot phone mast being erected in the heart of a historic village.

Milliner to the stars Vivien Sheriff - whose designs have been worn by the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Eugenie - was left appalled by the 'aggressive' tactics of the mobile companies trying to get the 5G tower put up near her home in Hampshire's New Forest.

Ms Sheriff, in her 50s, and her husband Ian spent tens of thousands of pounds of their own money to stop planning bids for the mast.

The proposal was rejected by national park authorities thanks to her efforts, but she says she feels like she has been through 'hell'.

'It is just unbelievable the lengths these companies go to,' she said. 'It's been the most unbelievably difficult time, so stressful.

Vivien Sheriff has won a gruelling two year legal battle to stop a 65 foot phone mast being erected in the heart of a historic village. Pictured: Vivien Sheriff in her workshop in New Forest where she produces different kinds of headpieces

Pictured: Where the proposed location of the 5G mast would be. Ms Sheriff was left appalled by the 'aggressive' tactics of the mobile companies trying to get the 5G tower put up near her home in Hampshire's New Forest

'I don't know how to put it any other way than harassment. The calls we received became more and more frequent and persistent. It's something that has dominated our lives. It's been absolutely horrendous.

Ms Sheriff was first approached by Mobile Broadband Networks Ltd (MBNL), a joint venture company between EE and Three, in 2020.

The firm wanted to build the mast on a one and a half acre plot of land she owns in Frogham, where the average house price is 650,000.

The land is known locally as Harry's Field and is home to the annual village fete - famous for its uphill wheelbarrow race - and Ms Sheriff's family-run campsite business.

Under the plan, the 20 metre high mast would have towered above the treeline at the site, which locals say functions much like the village green.

When they made their first approach, MBNL asked to take a survey of her land, which Ms Sheriff refused.

'We have lived here all our lives and we have a great respect for the area,' she said. 'We've got the interest of the village at heart.

'[Our objection] genuinely wasn't only because it would destroy our business. It goes against everything aesthetically - it would have been right in the centre of the village.

'The pub next door would also be under threat as it relies on the trade from the campsite.'

Her defiance prompted what she describes as 'continued threats and harassment' including a warning that she could be taken to court and forced to pay huge legal fees.

'They got increasingly more aggressive,' she said. 'They were trying to set out their rights that if we don't give permission. They said they would take us to a tribunal.

'It would have cost upwards of 100,000 in order to defend ourselves - they have such extraordinary rights.'

Miliner Vivien Sheriff's designs have been worn by Kate Middleton. At least 50 guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding were wearing Ms Sheriff's hats and fascinators

Princess Eugenie, among several other royals, is also a fan of the designs of Ms Sheriff

Ms Sheriff said MBNL were trying to use emergency permitted development rights but that the criteria did not apply in this case.

She was told if MBNL's application was refused, it could lead to the loss of communication for emergency services but she said she found they use an entirely separate network.

But such was their persistence, Ms Sheriff reluctantly agreed to allow the company access to the campsite to do a survey.

As she felt so 'scared', she 'unwillingly' let them on her land before she received a proposal for a temporary mast. But the 'intimidation' did not end there.

She was then told statutory notices under the Electronic Communications Code for both temporary and permanent installations had been made.

The plan also included an access route running diagonally from the field entrance which she was told would have to be constantly kept clear.

Ms Sheriff said the mobile companies would also have had the right to lop trees and install generators in the field which would be audible within a tent.

But the local community rallied around against the plan.

The Parish Council thought 'strongly' that the siting of the proposal was 'unacceptable'. And when the New Forest National Park Authority came to consider the application in August last year, 130 objections had been received with just two submissions in support.

The NFPA rejected the proposal in November, ruling it would have a 'detrimental impact on the character and appearance' of the area.

However, although the phone companies are now examining other sites, there are fears locally they could appeal.

'The mast would devalue our land and the local properties and the sensitive New Forest environment,' Ms Sheriff said. 'The New Forest planning authority sent them away to do their due diligence.

'We have only been able to fight it because of our determination and the help of our consultant who is an expert on this complex law.'

While Ms Sheriff agrees connectivity is relied on by everyone, she believes MBNL's installations should be appropriately sited and designed, especially in a National Park, and avoid impacting local businesses that provide services and employment to the local area.

To try to ward off any further approaches Ms Sheriff has enlisted the help of New Forest West MP Sir Desmond Swayne, who mentioned her case in the House of Commons in January during a debate.

Sir Desmond wants the law changed to check the power of telecommunication firms.

He told MPs: 'I have a constituent who refused a survey-she did not want a mast, because it would compromise her existing enterprise-but caved in when she was threatened with court action.

'Then, when she refused the terms of the mast, she was presented with statutory orders requiring access for both a temporary and a permanent mast.

'Of course, getting legal advice comes at an enormous cost. Happily, New Forest National Park Authority has thrown out (the application)... but the battle, the uncertainty and the cost continue.'

Since the decision, MBNL have promised to review their conduct.

Will Osborne, MBNL national planning manager, said in a statement: '[We seek] to conduct all negotiations with existing or potential site providers in the right manner, recognising the importance of the relationship with them.

'We will be reviewing our communications to check that these standards continue to be met.

'Maintaining coverage for customers in this area of the New Forest is extremely important for local residents and businesses, as high quality telecoms coverage is a necessary requirement for modern day living.

'Since being advised of the need to find a replacement location, we have worked tirelessly to do so, including asking the local council for alternative sites.

'We remain committed to working with the local community and land owners to find a solution, and have already arranged for a representative from MBNL to meet with parish councillors and local planning authority representatives later this month to discuss where may be suitable to locate a telecoms mast.'

For the past 20 years, Ms Sheriff has run Vivien Sheriff Ltd, a millinery business.

Ms Sheriff creates 'exceptionally original, undeniably British, luxury headwear' which has been worn by the Duchess of Cambridge - including for her first Royal engagement in 2011 - as well as her sister Pippa Middleton.

And at least 50 guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding were wearing her hats and fascinators, all of which are handmade from a converted farmhouses in Downton, Wiltshire.

Ms Sheriff set up Harry's Field campsite in 2015 next door to the home her family have lived in since 1978.
Pennsylvania State Police on Thursday will announce they have solved one of the most vile murders in Hazleton areas history.

Sources said police have identified the killer of 9-year-old Marise Chiverella, who was abducted during her walk to school on March 18, 1964, beaten, strangled and raped.

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The accused, however, wont be prosecuted. He since died and took the motive for the slaying to his grave, according to state police sources.

Marise Chiverella (HAZLETON STANDARD-SPEAKER)

Nonetheless, his name will be announced during a Thursday press conference, bringing closure to the case after nearly 58 years.

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What is known is that he was a lifelong Hazleton resident. He had different addresses over the years, but he lived within six blocks of where Chiverella was last seen the day she was killed, sources divulged.

Also, he was charged with another violent assault against a woman years after Chiverellas death, sources said. That victim survived.

Vanished on the way to school

Chiverella normally walked to the former St. Josephs School (now Holy Family Academy) on North Laurel Street with her siblings; it was only a 0.4-mile walk from their home at 533 Alter St.

That morning, however, she decided to leave early by herself. She wanted to drop off a gift of canned fruit to a nun celebrating her feast day ahead of daily Mass and school.

She never made it.

Chiverella was one block west of a busy North Church Street (Route 309) when she was last seen alive at 8:10 a.m.

She was reported absent from school and never made it home for lunch. The search began.

It ended around 1 p.m. in Hazle Twp. when her lifeless body was found amid household refuse in a coal stripping pit. The area, which has since been reclaimed, is between Old Airport Road and the Airport Beltway, a few hundred yards east of the Franklin Corporate Center.

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An autopsy revealed evidence that she was hit on top of her head twice and once on the right temple. She had strangulation marks around her neck and the scarf she wore that cold morning was stuffed into her mouth. Her wrists and ankles were bound with her own shoelaces.

Its unclear where the assault took place and how she was transported to the location where her body was found.

Probe revived

Hundreds of people were interviewed by officers and, while their work was unsuccessful at the time, it laid the foundation for investigators in the years to come.

Troopers work on the case gained new attention after state police developed a criminal investigation assessment unit at each barracks to focuses on major crime and cold cases.

In the Chiverella case, troopers combined traditional police work with advancements in DNA research and genealogy. They had more than 4,600 pages of investigative material that accumulated over the years.

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In 2019 they submitted DNA to an independent laboratory used to predict what Chiverellas assailant could have looked like. Composite photographs of that person were disseminated to the public.

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Chiverellas surviving siblings told the Standard-Speaker at the time that they never sought punishment or revenge, but did want justice.

They described their sister as a gentle soul with bright blue eyes and dark hair who cared more for others than herself. Devoutly religious at her young age, Marise talked about becoming a nun.

Her mother, Mary, worked at a knitting mill in downtown Hazleton and her father, Carmen, owned a neighborhood grocery store, The Little Market, next to their home.

Investigative advancements and opportunities continued in the next three years and troopers used them to develop their case.

Sources said buccal swabs of the assailants living relatives were part of the investigation, which brought troopers to other parts of the country before they found their assailant back in Hazleton. He was one of 17 persons of interest on their most current list, according to sources.

According to another source involved in the investigation, the Chiverella case is the oldest in Pennsylvania history to be solved with DNA and genealogy, and possibly one of the top four oldest solved cold cases in the country using those investigative mediums.
A PhD student is today suing 'Britain's wokest university' over claims they colluded with trans activists who wanted to 'cancel her' after she said only biological women can give birth.

Raquel Rosario-Sanchez made the comment in response to a row over the word 'maternity' which diversity chiefs had branded 'problematic'.

Ms Rosario-Sanchez says bosses at Bristol University, called the country's 'wokest' by a women's rights group, didn't tackle the transgender activists who subjected her to a two-year 'hate campaign'.

As the hearing got underway today, Judge Ralton told the court that he would assess whether the university handled the conflict between Ms Rosario Sanchez and trans activists correctly, and would not be making a judgment about gender rights.

The university lived up to its reputation recently when it issued guidance to its staff on gender identity, pronouns and neopronouns which included instructions on how to address people who identify as cats.

It outlines a definition of catgender and says they should be addressed as nya/nyan.

The university also decided the word 'maternity' was exclusionary and 'problematic' which, Ms Rosario-Sanchez says, lead to her being labelled 'transphobic' when she sought to clarify the issue.

As part of her civil action, Ms Rosario-Sanchez claims when she pointed out that only a biological woman can give birth, she was reported to human resources bosses, investigated by the university and ordered to apologise.

The women's studies student said she was also targeted for attending feminist meetings that opposed allowing men who identify as women into female-only spaces such as toilets and domestic violence refuges.

Rosario-Sanchez, who told the hearing today the university 'colluded' with the trans activists to 'cancel her', says she was also harassed over her involvement with the campaigning group Woman's Place UK.

Raquel Rosario-Sanchez (pictured) is suing Bristol University over claims of sex discrimination and negligence after she says they failed to protect her from trans activists' harassment

She also claims Bristol University dismissed a complaint about men being allowed in the female changing rooms at the pool.

A female lecturer contacted Ms Rosario-Sanchez and said she had written to the university's director of sport to say that she and her eight-year-old daughter had come across men who were male-bodied and 'wearing men's clothes' in the changing area.

She claimed that when she spoke to the pool staff, she was told that 'people could use the changing room they were comfortable in, whatever their sex'. The director of sport, she said, backed this approach.

Ms Rosario-Sanchez has today started her sex discrimination and negligence case against the institution at a court in Bristol.

During the hearing, she expressed her sadness over allegedly facing 'intimidation' from trans rights activists at her university.

Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre heard the student notified the Russell Group university on February 1, 2018, that she wanted to make a complaint about 'malicious rumours' she said were being spread about her.

The court heard the activists had protested against a talk by Ms Rosario Sanchez ahead of her hosting a Women's Place UK event, labelling her a 'terf' (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) and claiming she was 'spreading hate about trans people'.

Ms Rosario Sanchez said: 'I just felt very sad because I just want to live my life, go to campus and go to my centre and not have to face intimidation.

PhD student Ms Rosario Sanchez (pictured) claims she was labelled transphobic in a row over the word 'maternity' when she reminded her colleagues only biological women can give birth

'In March 2018, I thought I was going to get that, but now knowing how long this has taken is making me sad.'

Judge Ralton told the court that he would assess whether the University of Bristol handled the conflict between Ms Rosario Sanchez and the activists correctly, and would not be making a judgment about gender rights.

He said: 'Some might regard proceedings as about trans rights and feminist rights, but the proceedings are not about that. This case is about Bristol University's handling of conflict.

'I am sure counsel would say it's a lot more complicated than that, and indeed it is, but this is the heart of the matter.'

Earlier in the hearing, Ms Rosario Sanchez told the court the university failed to take her fears of harassment and unacceptable behaviour against her seriously.

Questioned by Bristol University's defence team, Ms Rosario-Sanchez repeated a claim that university staff cooperated with advocates of a campaign to 'cancel' her.

She said: 'I just feel very sad. I just want to live my life, go to campus, not face humiliation and until that point I was so hopeful I was going to get that.

'I'm referring as collusion to this email chain demonstrating that staff members were in direct communication with trans activists trying to cancel the meeting.

'Staff members at the University of Bristol were themselves seeking to cancel the meeting'.

When asked to confirm what specific communications she was referring to, she explained that according to the emails Suzanne Doyle, co-chair of the UoB's LGBT+ Staff Network, had been in contact with Trans Students' Officer, Spencer Blackwell, in the Student Union.

The University of Bristol is is facing claims that its staff objected to the use of the word 'maternity' and allowed men identifying as women to use its campus swimming pool

The email was requesting that Suzanne Doyle share the petition advocating for the prohibition, or 'cancelling' of Ms Rosario-Sanchez and Woman's Place UK's proposed meeting on campus.

Ms Rosario-Sanchez said: 'The purpose of the open letter was to cancel me, and the way that they were going about it was by intimidating me and other women.

'So when I say they were colluding, they were not just sharing a piece of paper - they were sharing an open letter about targeting and cancelling our meeting'.

Questioning Ms Rosario-Sanchez further about support she received from the university, she was asked whether she had received an email listing options for support from the university.

Ms Rosario-Sanchez said she had received this email, and that she understood the limitations of what support the university could offer as the event was not on or related to university premises.

Ms Rosario-Sanchez accepted that the Student's Union was not the same as the university, but explained that the motion proposed to the Students Union was seeking to ban women such as her from speaking on the university campus.

Reading out emails regarding the proposal of the motion to ban her from speaking, Ms Rosario-Sanchez explained that she felt efforts to target her were 'escalating'.

The university had previously offered to post on social media a condemnation of efforts to limit freedom of speech.

Raquel Rosario-Sanchez claims uni bosses failed to tackle transgender activists who subjected her to a two-year hate campaign for attending feminist meetings that opposed allowing men who identify as women into female-only spaces such as toilets and domestic violence refuges

This statement was issued prior to the meeting.

The university rejected Ms Rosario-Sanchez concerns that the campaign against her was escalating, suggesting she failed to provide evidence of this escalation.

Ms Rosario-Sanchez describes herself as a feminist writer, campaigner and researcher from the Dominican Republic.

She was was accepted on a PhD course at the University of Bristol in January 2018.

Rosario-Sanchez lists her academic specialism as 'ending violence against girls and women'.

Ms Rosario-Sanchez says her ordeal began when she agreed to chair a meeting for the feminist organisation Woman's Place UK (WPUK) in February 2018.

Trans activists have branded WPUK a 'hate group' for opposing Government proposals to allow people to 'self-identify' as the opposite sex.

After she filed a bullying complaint, the university launched a disciplinary hearing against one of the trans activists, but dropped the proceedings, prompting Ms Rosario-Sanchez to start legal action.

Group 'Fair Play For Women' described Bristol as 'surely the wokest university in Britain'.

A university spokesman said: 'Ms Rosario-Sanchez has chosen to take legal action. Given this, we will not comment further.'

The case continues tomorrow.
A neo-Nazi gang who set the Aboriginal flag on fire and made a racist slur against an Indigenous Australian Senator has vowed to carry out more stunts despite attention from intelligence agencies and Victoria Police.

The black balaclava-wearing group, who call themselves the 'Warriors of Convict Resistance,' posted a disturbing video of themselves burning an Indigenous flag while spouting racist propaganda before performing a Nazi salute.

Two men can be seen in the shadowy clip - one holding a British flag - standing by while another reads from a sheet of paper proclaiming Aboriginal people as 'the enemy' and welcoming the 'conquering' of their land.

In the background, posted to a fence, is a sign calling Indigenous Senator Linda Thorpe a racial slur as well as a sign that says 'small pox' - a disease brought by European settlers which killed large numbers of Indigenous populations.

The video was even accompanied with the caption: 'It was an invasion, we won'.

A neo-Nazi gang have set an Aboriginal flag on fire (pictured) and made threats against Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe

The racist gang wrote a vile slur against Greens senator Lidia Thorpe (pictured) and posted it to a fence

'Our forefathers did invade this land, in fact, they conquered it. The prize is the big red country, and our enemy is the Aboriginal,' the reader said.

'We will restate our claim as the rightful owners of this land, fuelled by our inevitable and eternal victory.

'When we burn the Aboriginal flag we aim to offend the cultural sensitivity of the Aboriginals and their supporters in order to make you feel the same pain and anger we feel when we see our flag being burnt.

'Understand this land belongs to and is a part of white Australia.'

The men then torch the flag and pose for the camera in a Nazi salute, after

The leader of the group, who goes by the online pseudonym John Dixon, spoke about the incident filmed in a suburban backyard, which has been circulating on social media.

Dixon's poorly punctuated tweet vowed similar attacks would soon follow, despite unwanted attention from authorities.

After the men torch the flag they posed for the camera in a Nazi salute (pictured) with a slur against Lidia Thorpe seen in the background

Pictured: Two men can be seen in the shadowy clip standing by while another reads from a sheet of paper proclaiming Aboriginals as 'the enemy' and welcoming the 'conquering' of their land

'Dear vicpol asio and traitors. You burnt our flag we burn yours. Yet when we do it we are being investigated,' the Neo Nazi leader wrote.

'We never made threats to any senator we just racially abused her which she deserved. We look forward to being (burning) more flags of our enemies. Branches of WACR are spreading.'

Senator Thorpe's office told the Herald Sun said the video has been passed on to the 'relevant law-enforcement agencies'.

'We are aware that there is a very violent and distressing video circulating online,' the statement said.

In the background posted to a fence is a sign calling Indigenous Senator Linda Thorpe a racial slur as well as a sign that says 'small pox' - a disease brought by European settlers which killed large numbers of Indigenous populations

The neo Nazi gang have vowed to carry out more vile attacks . Pictured: The remains of the burnt flag

'The rise of white supremacists and their ongoing threats to parliamentarians must be taken seriously.'

The concerning incident comes as the Victoria's Parliament are attempting to pass legislation that would make it illegal to display Nazi symbols.

Last year, ASIO chief Mike Burgess told a Senate estimates hearing in May that far-right extremism was now 'approaching 50 per cent of our priority counter-terrorism onshore caseload'.

'This reflects a growing international trend, as well as ASIO's decision to allocate more resources to the threat,' he said.
Frustrated parents and students are rallying against school mask mandates after nearly two years of abiding by pandemic restrictions that they allege haven't protected them from the virus.

A group of Chicago-area students walked out of school on Monday after being told they were required to wear masks to attend class, despite an Illinois judge having issued a temporary restraining order against the governor's statewide school mask mandate.

'I am tired of seeing my kids wearing masks. We abide by the rules, we wear the masks all day at school and work and we still got COVID - including my infant,' Ari Moore, an Oregon mother of three school-aged children, told DailyMail.com.

Moore - who has followed mandates since the pandemic first broke out - said she takes COVID 'very seriously' and feels 'horrible for families who have lost loved ones' to the virus, but is also concerned about the impact masking has on her kids.

'My son says he cant breathe well with them on and gets told to pull them up when he pulls it down to breathe,' she said. 'And that is not okay!'

The push to end mask restrictions comes as COVID cases continue to fall in the U.S., with the country recording a 43 percent drop in daily infections over the past week, down from 469,770 daily cases a week ago to 267,765 as of Tuesday morning and is expected to fall even further.

The swell of frustration comes as York University in the U.K. published a new study showing that masks make it difficult for children to recognize faces and, in turn, could affect their ability to socialize and make friends, a fear that is echoed by parents worldwide.

'Angry COVID moms' are fighting restrictions and the lawmakers who 'abandoned their responsibility' to protect America's children by running for Congress.

'When you shut down my kids' schools and impose devastating mental health effects on them - I dont forgive anyone who did that,' Maud Maron, who plans to run for office in New York, told Bari Weiss in her Common Sense Substack. 'This is the year that parents say, "You're either with us or against us."'

Emily Burns, who is running for office in Massachusetts, believes the school boards, teachers' unions, politicians, medical experts and officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and World Health Organization (WHO) have failed the nation's children by implementing lockdowns and advisories.

'I'm determined to talk about what we've done these past two years, and the criminally bad public policy,' she said. 'I don't want this to get swept under the rug.'

Frustrated Vernon Hills High School students walked out of their Chicago-area school Monday after being told they were required to wear masks to attend class

The maskless students at Libertyville High School (pictured) - which is in the same school district - were also denied entry into classrooms Monday and told to sit in the gymnasium

The maskless students Vernon Hills High School, located near Chicago, say they were denied entry into classrooms Monday and escorted into the gymnasium, where they were instructed to either mask up, leave school and have a parent report the absence, or work on classwork isolated in the gym.

Video of the protest shows a throng of students exiting the school's front doors where they are met with applause and positive remarks including: 'Good job, way to stand up for yourselves.'

The students, who were given a mental health day, are angered by the treatment, with one telling The Kerr Report: 'I've been denied access to education.'

At least two other Chicago area schools, Libertyville High School and St. Viator High School, also isolated maskless students.

Illinois gubernatorial candidate and state Senator Darren Bailey - a Republican running against incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker, who issued the school mask mandate - applauded the students for standing up to their school leaders.

For these students, who are standing up. I commend them,' he told DailyMail.com on Tuesday. 'People have been lulled into complacency. I commend any one you stands up and pushes back against nonsense - peacefully and respectively.'

Video of the protest shows a throng of students exiting Vernon Hills' (left) front doors where they are met with applause and positive remarks including: 'Good job, way to stand up for yourselves.' At least two other Chicago area schools, Libertyville High School and St. Viator High School (right), also isolated maskless students

Illinois Sen. Darren Bailey (pictured), a Republican running against incumbent Gov. J.B. Prtizker - who issued the school mask mandate, applauded the student's for standing up to their school leaders

Bailey slammed Pritzker for the mandate, alleging it was not only 'terribly wrong' but also unconstitutional. According to the politician, Illinois law states that anyone who interferes with any such childs attendance at school should be faced with a misdemeanor.

'For a school to allow this is wrong and illegal,' he said. 'It is terribly wrong for a governor to stand up and do this. And for state legislature not to combat this - is wrong.'

The walkout comes Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey made the shift to end statewide school mask mandates as COVID-19 positivity rates continue to decline.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, also announced Monday that his statewide mask mandate will end on February 28, which is earlier than both New Jersey and Delaware.

Alexis Telep, 36, of Bethel, Lamont's mandate has had a lasting impact on her son Michael, six, and daughter Lyla, three.

'Its heartbreaking,' Telep told Fox News Tuesday. 'I have seen tons of rising anxiety in both my children due to constant masking.'

She claims Michael - who has been diagnosed with autism, sensory processing disorder, claustrophobia, anxiety and ADHD - comes home from kindergarten and 'hes upset, and he just shuts down'.

The mother claims he has become more 'closed off' since masking and doesn't socialize as much anymore. He also 'basically tries to bolt away from the mask'.

'He was lost in his own world,' Telep alleged. '[He was] trapped in his own mind, because he was so sad and anxious.'

A New Jersey mom, who has actively petitioned her local and state government to end masks mandates, said she is happy about Gov. Phil Murphy's move, but argues that there is still work to be done.

Once you take the masks off, the quarantine measurement goes from three feet to six feet. So, there's a massive potential for closing and remote school if you dont pass a policy saying healthy kids can stay in school,' attorney Kristen Sinclair - who has two sons, aged seven and four - told DailyMail.com.

Alexis Telep, of Connecticut, (pictured on left with her family) claims the pandemic has caused 'tons of rising anxiety in both my children due to constant masking'. Kristen Sinclair of New Jersey (pictured on right with her family) has actively petitioned her local and state government to end masks mandates. She said she is very happy about Gov. Murphy ending his school mask policy, but believes more legislation is needed to help schools navigate the upcoming change

She argues that without legislation directing the schools on how to proceed in maskless territory, education institutions could shut down again. She also stated that she is mistrustful of Murphy.

Those of us who have been in this a long time are very mistrustful. Hes done this before, he could do this again,' she explained. Lifting it a month from now should really be a headline that says "I extend my emergency powers for another 30 days."'

She also notes that the governor is allowing school districts to make masking decisions at the local level, which will leave some kids still masked.

'I am very happy I can tell my kid, you know 30 more days. I know my town is going to follow through but others wont,' she explained, adding that she and her fellow activists are 'going to push them' to unmask students.

She also cited the psychological and social impacts that masking has had on her seven-year-old son.

I told my son this morning - and weve talked about since the beginning - and he knew I didnt think the mask was saving him. I didnt think it offered him protection, but instead that it was required,' Sinclair said.

'But, there are children who were terrified of their masks coming off. I feel bad for them, but its been two years. Its time to take it off.'

Sinclair also said her son was concerned about social norms and whether his friends would be unmasking. He didn't want to be the off one out.

'He was worried about what his friends were doing, but at least I know hes not afraid,' she added.

Despite the moves of neighboring states, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is planning to expand the statewide mandate ahead of its scheduled expiration later this month.

New York Department of Health spokeswoman Jill Montag confirmed to the Albany Times Union on Monday that the mask mandate, set to expire on February 21, is 'expected to be renewed.'

The initial regulation was issued under a 90-day window. The health department official did not indicate whether the renewal would also be continued for 90 days.

News of renewal comes as the State Council of Superintendents issued a letter to New York Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett alleging mandatory universal masking was a 'major outstanding concern.'

Council President Phyllis S. Harrington and Charles S. Dedrick, council executive officer, also commended Hochul's administration for their 'straightforward communication' about mask mandates.

Despite a decline in COVID positivity rates, the White House and CDC are still recommending that children remain masked while at school

How school mask mandates vary state-by-state School mask mandates, like other pandemic restrictions, vary by state. School mask mandates are in effect in California, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Washington. Last month, Massachusetts extended its mandate through February. It remains unclear if the mandate will be extended again. New York Gov. Hochul announced February 9 that she will reevaluate the school mask mandate in March. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced February 7 that his state's mandate will be lifted on March 7. Delaware Gov. John Carney made a similar announcement February 7, saying the states school mask mandate will lift March 31. He also said the general statewide indoor masks order will end on February 11. Connecticut is set to end its statewide mask mandate on February 28. Oregon will lift its statewide mask mandate on March 31. Maryland, which still has a school mask mandate in effect, now allows local districts to remove masks if 80 percent of students and staff at a single school are fully vaccinated or 80 percent of the districts community population is fully vaccinated. If neither of the vaccination thresholds are met, a local district can also choose to lift universal masking when the county or jurisdiction has reached 14 days of moderate or low transmission of COVID-19. Louisiana and Pennsylvania have lifted their statewide school mandates. Seven states - Arizona, Florida, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah - currently has legislation in effect banning school mask mandates. Updated: Feb. 9, 2022 Advertisement

'The critical issue with mandatory masking in schools at this moment is the urgent need for school leaders and parents to know the plan moving forward with concrete assurances from the state,' Harrington and Dedrick penned in the letter, which was made public Monday.

'School leaders, students, teachers, and caregivers have been put through a whirlwind of uncertainty when it comes to masking.'

The council argued that parents are concerned mask mandates will 'continue in perpetuity' because state leadership has failed to 'provide reasonable, understandable and achievable metrics based on recommendations from medical professionals for when masking rules will eventually be changed.'

Meanwhile, the statewide order forcing New York businesses without vaccination mandates to require mask-wearing for workers, customers and visitors is set to expire on Thursday and will not be extended, according to the newspaper.

Hochul will make a formal announcement about the state's mask mandates on Wednesday.

Maud Maron, an Independent running against Democrat Carolyn Maloney in New York's 12th Congressional District, launched her bid because she believes Hochul's actions are hypocritical and not in the best interest of her children.

'When Kathy Hochul gets on the screen, talking about how she wants to protect us and keep the masks in schools, she doesnt have a f*****g mask on her face, and Im so sick of politicians who take the mask off their face to tell me to put the mask on my children - like how dare you?' she told Weiss.

'You have to fight for the things that people are taking away from you.'

Emily Burns, a Massachusetts mother running as a Republican, is vying for Congress because she doesn't want the impacts of 'bad public policies' that have been in effect during the pandemic to get 'swept under the rug'.

Although she is running as a conservative and likens herself to politicians like Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, also a Republican, who held support of parents angered by the status quo, Burns said she belongs to the 'Kids Tribe.'

The mother is encouraging all parents, and specially calling on Republicans, to take charge against the progressives whose policies she believes are harmful to children.

'Every Republican who misses that message of the betrayal of our kids - and there are a lot who are not fully engaged on this - is leaving votes on the table,' she said.

Another mom, Ditto Vanessa Steinkamp, 45, who lives in Texas, is also considering a bid for office. The teacher, mom-of-three and 'never-Trump Republican' claims that when the pandemic struck, it felt as if everyone in power forgot about the children.

'I can't tell you how many emails I've written to the superintendent,' she told Weiss. 'Those on the left keep ignoring parental concerns and diminishing them.'

'Hell hath no fury like an angry mom,' she added.

Steinkamp, who is one of Burns' biggest online allies, unsuccessfully ran for city council in 2019, but the pandemic has fueled her desire to try again. She has not yet decided if she will be entering the race.

Maud Maron (pictured with her family) is running against Democrat Carolyn Maloney in New York's 12th congressional district and is frustrated with Gov. Kathy Hochul's policies. 'When you shut down my kids' schools and impose devastating mental health effects on them - I dont forgive anyone who did that,' she said

Emily Burns, a Massachusetts mother running as a Republican, is bidding for Congress because she doesn't want the impacts of 'bad public policies' that have been in effect during the pandemic to get 'swept under the rug'

Ditto Vanessa Steinkamp, (pictured with her family) lives in Texas is also considering a bid for City Council, despite having unsuccessfully run before. She is frustrated over the pandemic era mandates and said: 'Hell hath no fury like an angry mom'

California, like New York, will continue its school mask mandate, although the state did announce Monday it will end its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people February 15.

Governor Gavin Newsom's order still requires unvaccinated people to be masked indoors.

The modification also specifies that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, will have to wear masks in higher-risk areas like public transit and nursing homes and other congregate living facilities.

Local governments are allowed to continue their own indoor masking requirements, if they choose.

Meantime, in Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, has asked the State Attorney General's office to appeal the temporary restraining order issued by Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow last Friday that restricts his mask mandate.

Pritzker, in a press release, called the decision 'misguided' and threatened that schools may be forced to go remote if they don't have the proper tools to keep students and staff safe.

Parents, however, have issued support for the judge's order and are encouraging their children to exercise their right to unmask.

Theresa Miller, of New Berlin, Illinois, transferred two of her three children to private school this academic year because she wanted them to have in person-learning.

She said she consulted with her two daughters about the unmasking ruling before they went to school on Monday.

'I told the girls, '"Don't wear your masks in. If someone asks you if you have a mask, tell them no, that your mom told you you aren't allowed to wear a mask today,'" Miller told WICS, adding that her son's school 'went mask optional' which was 'perfectly great for him.'

'I hope the governor learns his lesson, and if he wants to put forth a rule for our community, that he goes to the legislature who is designed to make our laws,' she said, of Pritzker's imposed mandate. 'It's not his place.'

'My youngest is now in first grade, and he has never set foot inside a school without wearing a mask,' echoed Robert Huck, of Springfield, Illinois. He said Judge Grischow's ruling gives him hope that mandates will end soon.

COVID cases are continuing to fall in the US as the country starts to move past the Omicron surge, recording a 43 percent drop in daily infections over the past week

President Joe Biden's COVID tsar, Dr. Anthony Fauci, argued just last week that 'Illinois is actually doing well.'

'The upper Northeast and the Midwest, represented by Chicago and Illinois, are doing better in general than the rest of the country,' Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told NBC Chicago on Friday.

He claimed the state, and nation as a whole, has been through the worst of the pandemic.

'To the Illinoisans who feel that way, you are correct - but also, Illinois has been through multiple surges, as we all have,' Fauci said.

He also applauded the state's school mask mandate because it, combined with vaccinations, are all part of a 'layered approach' to keep schools open.

'You provide a safe environment for children by surrounding them with people who themselves are protected, number one. Number two, vaccinate as many of the children as you can,' Fauci said.

'Next you provide an environment in schools hopefully with things like good ventilation but also masking. When you put all of those things together, the school system has been really quite safe for children, with few exceptions.'

He added: 'So before we start talking about pulling back on them, let's get the dynamic of the virus in the community low enough so that we can feel safe in pulling back on the requirement for children to wear masks.'

Echoing Fauci's applause for school mask mandates, press secretary Jen Psaki signaled Monday that the White House does not approve of the liberal New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut governors' decision to end mask mandates for school children in their own states.

'We recommend masking in schools. That is the recommendation from the CDC,' the press secretary said in her daily briefing, asked about the decision from Govs. Phil Murphy and John Carney. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced he would be lifting his state's school mask mandate later in the day. Still, Psaki insisted that it is 'up to schools' whether or not they implement a mask requirement.

COVID cases have fallen week-over-week for the past three weeks. Seventeen US states are recording a case decline of 70 percent or more over the past two weeks, only a month after nearly every state was seeing cases double over a 14-day span. The only state still recording increasing cases in Maine, the state with one of the lowest infection rates in America.

Daily death totals often lag behind cases by a few weeks. The mortality rate from the virus is starting to stabilize and has likely peaked as well. The country is averaging 2,529 cases per day, around even to the 2,452 average last week. Falling cases means that a sharp drop in deaths could occur in the near future as well.

Deaths from COVID among children is also rare. CDC data show that around 8.3 million children have contracted Covid and 841 have died since the pandemic began in March 2020.

This means that children make up around 12 percent of cases and less than 0.1 percent of deaths in the US. The Census estimates that 22 percent of Americans are under the age of 18.
A repentant New Mexico burglar left a couple $200 and apologized after he was caught eating and bathing inside their home in Santa Fe.

After breaking in through a window January 30, Teral Christesson - who was armed with an AR-15 during the brazen burglary - ate shrimp, drank beer, and bathed at the residence before the couple came home to catch him in the act, police say.

Noticing the firearm in a duffle bag at the man's side, the couple promptly called the cops, spurring Christesson, 34, to apologize and leave the pair $200 for the hassle, saying it was 'reimbursement for the window he broke,' before fleeing the scene, cops add.

According to police, the intruder told the homeowners that he had broke in needing a warm place to sleep and was apologetic for the transgression.

'The male was extremely embarrassed and apologetic about the situation,' one of the owners said, a police report chronicling the incident reveals.

What's more, the report noted that the larceny to the homeowner's property totaled just $15 - with jewelry left on a counter by the pair left untouched.

After breaking in through a window January 30, Teral Christesson - who was armed with an AR-15 during the brazen burglary - ate shrimp, drank beer, and bathed at the residence before the couple came home to catch him in the act, police say

The couple added that Christesson, while armed, did not threaten them during the encounter, and was even in the process of washing dishes he had used when they arrived home after spending a few days away from the residence.

When asked why he was in the home, the man answered that 'his family was killed in east Texas and he was running from somebody,' the report says.

The suspect, from the village of Melrose nearly 200 miles away, explained that he had been driving and that his vehicle broke down 100 miles outside of town.

After issuing an apology the the pair, Christesson grabbed his bag with the firearm and left, the homeowners said.

The incident took place at a home on Vereda Serena road in Santa Fe, pictured here

Police soon arrived on the scene, but were initially unable to locate the suspect, who managed to evade teams performing a thorough search of the area.

However, the next day, Santa Fe police received a call from a Santa Fe woman who claimed a man had attempted to steal her vehicle while holding her at gunpoint at a local Churchs Chicken restaurant, another criminal complaint reveals.

The woman told police she had been waiting in the restaurants drive-thru when a man holding a green duffel bag and a rifle approached her door and told her to get out of her car, the complaint said.

The woman was able to diffuse the situation by honking her horn, police say, which prompted Christesson to flee.

Police soon arrived on the scene, but were initially unable to locate the suspect, who managed to evade teams performing a thorough search of the area. He was eventually tracked down and arrested the following day

Based on the woman's description of the would-be carjacker, cops immediately suspected Christesson, who was still at large.

Responding officers arrived at the scene after Christesson had fled, but soon began to close in on the contrite burglar.

After searching the area, officers soon came across Christesson walking on a nearby road, and he was taken into custody.

Once apprehended, Christesson told investigators he had been 'caught in a blizzard' Sunday before the break-in and was afraid he would freeze, spurring him to commit the crime, a statement of probable cause for the arrest reveals.

He added that he 'felt bad' about breaking the window of the home, and reiterated that he had left money for the owners. Christesson refused to speak about the incident at Church's Chicken, the statement said.

Christesson was subsequently booked into the Santa Fe County jail January 31 on charges of aggravated burglary, larceny and criminal damage to property tied to the Sunday break-in. He also faces an additional count of aggravated assault from the incident Monday.
Arizona's Republican attorney general issued a legal opinion Monday giving his state more power to take action against illegal immigration by deeming the southern border crisis an 'invasion' under the U.S. Constitution.

Mark Brnovich wrote in his opinion: 'The violence and lawlessness at the border caused by transnational cartels and gangs satisfies the definition of an 'invasion' under the U.S. Constitution, and Arizona therefore has the power to defend itself from this invasion under the Governor's authority as Commander-in-Chief.'

'An actual invasion permits the State to engage in defensive actions within its own territory at or near its border,' he added.

The language Brnovich points to in Article I of the Constitution would in theory allow the Arizona police or National Guard to remove illegal immigrants back to Mexico  rather than relying on immigration enforcement agencies currently run by the Democrat administration.

In fiscal year 2021 alone, 1.7 million migrant were apprehended by immigration enforcement. The numbers continued to spike in December with 178,840 encounters at the southern border.

Arizona's Yuma Sector of the border has been particularly overwhelmed by the migration surge.

The U.S. Constitution allows states to 'engage in War' when it has been 'actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay' without congressional approval. Usually only Congress can declare war.

Article IV also states the U.S. 'shall protest each [state] against invasion.'

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich released a legal opinion Monday calling the southern border crisis an 'invasion,' and claiming the U.S. Constitution gives states the power to defend and take action against such invasions

Using this provision in Article I of the Constitution would in theory allow the Arizona police or National Guard to remove illegal immigrants to Mexico. Pictured: An aerial view taken December 10, 2021 shows immigrants gathered along the U.S. border wall after crossing illegally through a gap in Yuma, Arizona

Brnovich notes the definition of 'invasion' in the Constitution includes 'hostile non-state actors', and not just hostile foreign states.

GOP state lawmakers in Arizona and Trump-era Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and the former president's acting deputy DHS Secretary Ken Cuccinelli have all urged Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey to use war powers to quell the massive migration numbers over the last year.

Subsequently, AG Brnovich released his opinion on the matter.

Disturbing images emerged last month showing dire conditions at Arizona border patrol facilities with tens of thousands of migrants packed together in overcrowded trailers and makeshift mylar tents.

Rafa Rivera, regional president of the National Border Patrol Council, said that more than 1,500 migrants were in custody in Yuma at one point, according to a Washington Examiner report.

'Usually around this time through the holidays, it slows down, but here in Yuma, it was constant,' Rivera noted.

Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls declared a state of emergency on December 9 after 6,000 people were taken into custody by Border Patrol in the course of five days. The behemoth figure equates to the number of migrants intercepted in an average month over the past two decades.

The surge and revelation of overcrowding came in the midst of a massive surge in infection rates for COVID-19 with the highly-contagious Omicron variant  leading to further questions on the holding conditions in the middle of the pandemic.

In fiscal year 2021, 1.7 million migrant were apprehended by immigration enforcement, the numbers continued to spike in December with 178,840 encounters at the southern border

More than 65,000 non-citizens were caught illegally crossing into Yuma from Mexico between September and November 2021. A Border Patrol agent speaks with mothers from Haiti who crossed into Yuma from Mexico on December 10, 2021

Migrant facilities in Yuma have become so overwhelmed, the asylum-seekers and illegal border jumper are forced outside into makeshift tents of mylar blankets, caution tape and sand bags

Vice President Kamala Harris had a phone call last month with Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei after a barrage of criticism continues to hit the administration over its handling of the southern border crisis.

During the call, Harris 'reaffirmed the administration's commitment to working together with Guatemala on a broad agenda that includes the root causes of migration, trafficking, economic development, and anti-corruption,' according to a statement from her office.

The call came after Giammattei went public with his dissatisfaction regarding communication over the last several months with the vice president, who was named border czar shortly after inauguration.

More than 65,000 non-citizens were caught illegally crossing into Yuma from Mexico between September and November 2021, which is higher than the total encounters in a typical year.

In December, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered 178,840 migrants at the southern border, up slightly from the 173,620 encountered in November and 164,753 in October.

January figures have not yet been released.
Embattled GOP Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger shared a chilling warning on Monday night, claiming he believes the United States could be on the brink of civil war.

The Air Force veteran added that it would be 'naive to think it's not possible' after his own national party rebuked him and Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel branded the violent events of January 6 last year as 'legitimate political discourse.'

Kinzinger, who is not running for re-election in 2022, joined CNN's Situation Room after he was formally censured Friday by the Republican National Committee along with Rep. Liz Cheney over their work on the Democrat-led House select committee Capitol riot probe.

Despite being one of few Republicans to call January 6 an 'insurrection,' the Illinois lawmaker suggested he understood the anger coming from people who genuinely believed the 2020 election was rigged -- but that the tension could conceivably spill into violence.

Kinzinger explained the rioters -- specifically one man captured on video wishing to drag lawmakers 'through the streets' and 'cut their head off' because he believed they were certifying a false electoral victory -- probably 'really believes what he's saying' about election fraud.

'And you could multiply him by hundreds of thousands, or millions of people, because their leaders tell them the election was stolen. Look, if it was legitimately stolen, I would be ticked off too. That violates everything I swore to defend,' Kinzinger said.

Kinzinger claimed he did not think another civil war was possible in the United States until the Capitol riot and ensuing Republican downplaying of the event

If Donald Trump and his allies convince enough people 2020 was stolen from him, the Republican legislator claimed, it's not a 'far off thought' that 'some day, some militia shows up somewhere to do something, and then some counter militia shows up and, truly, at that point, that is how you end up in a civil war.'

'I never would say that we would ever have ended in that position, but I now believe it is a real possibility that we have to be wide-eyed as we walk into so we don't have that happen again.'

Kinzinger took a more personal swing at Trump fans like those who broke into the US Capitol.

He appeared to mock their health, telling them if it 'sounds cool' to participate in a violent civil uprising, they should think about 'the four or five heart medicines you're on, Walgreens isn't going to have them available.'

The military veteran only dug deeper into his fears of a real war when asked by host Wolf Blitzer.

'A year ago I would have said no, not a chance,' Kinzinger began.

'But I have come to realize that when we don't see each other as fellow Americans, when we begin to separate into cultural identities, when we begin to basically give up everything that we believe so we could be part of a group, and then when you have leaders that come and abuse that faithfulness of that group to violent ends as we saw on January 6, we would be naive to think it is not possible here.'

The Illinois Republican seemed to suggest he understood where the rioters were coming from, and blamed elected leaders for making these people believe the election was stolen

Earlier in the day Kinzinger appeared on the same network where he pledged to teach his newborn son Christian about the events of January 6 when he is old enough.

'That's going to be something I think in 5 or 10 years is going to be hard to explain, if you're not on the side of truth,' he said.

When asked what he'd say about Trump, Kinzinger replied: 'I'm going to tell him he was the worst president the United States of America ever had.'

'He was a liar. He was a charlatan.'

In his Monday night interview Kinzinger also suggested that McDaniel's downplaying of last year's violence as 'legitimate' discourse had a role to play in fomenting today's tensions, looking for 'a word even more intense than dangerous' to describe her comments.

He also claimed RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel's statement on the committee censure, in which she called the riot 'legitimate political discourse,' was 'dangerous'

She made the statement after the Republican National Committee voted to censure the lone Republicans on the Capitol riot committee -- who also voted to impeach Trump for the attack along -- at the group's winter meeting in Salt Lake City.

After it, McDaniel came out with a statement saying, 'Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.'

Some prominent Republicans, like McDaniel's uncle Senator Mitt Romney, Senator Lisa Murkowski and GOP Leader Mitch McConnell's top deputy, Senator John Thune, rebuked the party for looking back at 2020 and punishing its own members.

It also forced Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to make a rare comment about the GOP's inter-party business on the chamber floor on Monday night.

'Their statement didnt even make mention of the violence that day,' he said.

'Last week they crossed a line, issuing a statement that censured two Republicans who stood up to the Big Lie while also describing the insurrection of January 6th as quote, "legitimate political discourse." Their statement didnt even make mention of the violence that day.'

The New York Democrat said the committee gave its 'blessing' to the insurrection by punishing Cheney and Kinzinger.

'There's no debate to be had here: January 6th was an armed insurrection. It was an attempt to reverse, through violent means, the outcome of a free and fair election,' Schumer said.

'And it was fundamentally rooted in Donald Trumps Big Lie that the election of 2020 was illegitimate, which now the RNC seems to be giving its blessing officially.'

He said the Republican Party was completely under Trump and his cronies' control, the day after one of his staunched supporters in Congress suggested the GOP needed its own 'civil war' as Kinzinger and Cheney's censure brought stark inter-party divisions to the surface.

'If we are truly going to stop the assault on our freedoms and stop what's happening to our country, where America is just being able to be sold out to the rest of the world, we have to lean into this civil war in the GOP,' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told the Washington Times on Sunday.

Amid the myriad of divisions, American voters can agree on the fact that they are only getting worse.

A recent poll of 1,000 people by the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service Battleground Civility found that a 67 percent majority believe the political landscape has only gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

Just 15 percent thought the opposite.

More people also believe it's gotten worse since President Joe Biden took office, despite the 79-year-old Democrat running and beating Trump on a promise to unify the country.

Forty-three percent of respondents say political discourse has gotten worse since Biden took office, compared to 29 percent who said it's gotten better.
A young swimmer is lucky to be alive after she was attacked by a great white shark while relaxing in an inflatable pool ring at a popular beach.

Jacquelin Morley, 20, was enjoying an afternoon dip with friends at Kelp Beds Beach in Wylie Bay near Esperance, on Western Australia's south coast, on Sunday.

She was about 200m out to sea when the shark bit into her torso just after midday, with the young woman forced to frantically swim for her life to shore.

Jacquelin Morley, 20, (pictured) was enjoying an afternoon dip with friends at Kelp Beds Beach in Wylie Bay near Esperance, on Western Australia's south coast, on Sunday afternoon

As she neared the final stretch bystanders watched as her friends ran to greet her, dragging her out of the ocean and wrapping her in towels (pictured)

As she neared the final stretch bystanders watched as her friends ran to greet her, dragging her out of the ocean and wrapping her in towels.

Ms Morley was airlifted from Esperance to the Royal Perth Hospital on Sunday night where she miraculously remains in a serious but stable condition.

The pool ring the young woman had been relaxing on when she was attacked will be DNA tested to determine the species of the shark.

Spine-tingling aerial images of a gigantic great white shark circling mere metres from the shore came just hours after Ms Morley was bitten.

A Nine News Perth shot of the shark believed to be responsible for the attack in the waters of Wylie Bay near Esperance, Western Australia

Darren Patten told the West Australian he had watched the entire ordeal play out and had been swimming close to the group just seconds before the attack.

'It sort of makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up,' he said.

Surf Life Saving WA confirmed a 3.3m white shark had been sighted at the beach around 12.26pm and also received another report of a 3m shark 100m offshore.

The beach was closed as a result of the attack.

The coastal town of Esperance on WA's south coast has reported two fatal shark attacks in five years with great whites commonplace in the waters.

Kelps Bed beach at Wylie Bay east of Esperance, WA, has been the scene of two tragedies involving shark attacks in recent years

Locals have called for additional measures to curtail attacks in the area, with a new shark barrier and safe swimming area installed at the towns foreshore in December.

The facilities have proven popular however locals and surfers have become increasingly concerned with the amount of sharks in the water.

Premier Mark McGowan has introduced non-lethal measures in managing sharks like drum-lines, shark deterrent devices and warning systems.

Shark-tagging has proved successful with 41 sharks tagged off the Esperance coast in the past four years, more than half of the total tagged across the state.

Kelps Bed has been the scene of two tragedies involving shark attacks in recent years with 17-year-old Laeticia Brouwer dying after being mauled by a great white shark while surfing with her father, Leon, in 2017.

Friends of Andrew Sharpe paddled out and formed a massive circle in his honour after he was taken by a shark at Kelps Bed in October 2020

In October 2020, father-of-two Andrew Sharpe went missing at Kelp Beds after witnesses saw him 'flung' from his surfboard by a huge four-metre-long shark.

Mr Sharp had been surfing with friends at the Kelp Beds break on October 9 when he was knocked from his board and flung into the air by a shark.

Police called off the search for Mr Sharpe after two days.

The local community was particularly rattled by the death of diver Gary Johnson who was attacked by a giant shark just south of West Beach in January 2020.

There were six shark attacks recorded in WA in 2021, including one fatality. The previous year there were seven attacks, with three people losing their lives.
A grandmother claims 30,000 has been wiped off the value of her 480,000 home after BT erected a 'monstrous' 30ft broadband pole yards from her door.

Linda Calvey, 63, was shocked when workmen started tearing up the path outside her home in Duston, Northamptonshire, without warning last month.

A 30ft wooden pole was put in place at the end of her driveway, which she says looks like medieval gallows or a stake.

She has also likened the 'eyesore' that towers above the house to a giant totem pole, which left her feeling 'devastated, crushed and depressed'.

The English tutor, who has lived in the 1950s three-bedroom detached house for almost 30 years, believes her property has been devalued by around 30,000.

She also says her attempts to resolve the situation has left her stuck in a system of 'Kafkaesque bureaucracy'.

Linda Calvey (pictured), 63, was shocked when workmen started tearing up the path outside her home in Duston, Northamptonshire, without warning last month

A 30ft wooden pole was put in place at the end of her driveway, which she says looks like medieval gallows or a stake

The pole was erected by the telecoms giant on January 20 as they worked on upgrading internet speeds in the area.

Mother-of-one Ms Calvey said: 'It's just horrific, we can't believe it. I've noticed people walking past looking up in horror.

'It's just an ongoing stress of opening the front door and having this thing in your face all the time.

'We've always had a reputation for having the prettiest house in the area but now I feel embarrassed.

'I am crushed and depressed. The pole is like a stake or a gallows outside our front door.

She has also likened the 'eyesore' that towers above the house to a giant totem pole, which left her feeling 'devastated, crushed and depressed'

'Moving it to the other side of the drive would at least have assuaged the brutal effect.

'How can this company ride roughshod over the aesthetics of a house and the feelings of those who have a monstrous structure thrust upon the daily interaction they have with their home?

'The sense that we, as individuals and taxpayers, have no rights whatsoever is overwhelming.

'This house is an arts and craft-style house. It is probably valued around 480,000 but now, after this, it would struggle to realise that price.

'We are probably looking at around 30,000 being wiped of the value of our property.'

She added: We were looking to downsize eventually. This is massively going to put viewers off.'

BT Openreach had placed a small letter of notice half-a-mile away from the house, which she never saw due to knee problems which prevent her from walking too far.

Ms Calvey slammed BT for not personally giving her any notice of the pole which has left the view from her house 'cut in two'.

The tutor, who moved into her home with husband Michael, 65, in 1996, said: 'The first we knew of it was when he woke up to a racket outside our home.

'I rushed out to question them and they said it was a permitted development.

'Prior to this, there had been a notice put up half-a-mile down the road but we never go down there; we couldn't have seen it, so we couldn't object.

The English tutor, who has lived in the 1950s three-bedroom detached house for almost 30 years, believes her property has been devalued by around 30,000

'There was no pre-warning, no letter to us, nothing. Apparently, they don't have to warn you as a household. It is common courtesy, they should have let us know.

'I told the workers we haven't seen the sign for the planned pole erection and they just said: ''No. The pole is going up''.

'Then last Friday morning, two BT engineers turned up and admitted, quite sheepishly, that they are doing the work.

'It seemed they were trying to get ahead of their rivals in getting broadband here first. I got the impression that even they thought it was unacceptable.

'We have been left devastated by this monstrosity outside our home - it was twice the size of the house.

'It its horrible and medieval. Why can't they use cables instead this unsightly pole?

'It seems they just plucked a random house on the street. It has completely cut our view in half. The other poles in the street are not in such obtrusive positions.'

After emails to BT, her local MP, Northamptonshire County Council and a BT Pole Objection Team in Liverpool, Ms Calvey claims she has been 'totally overlooked'.

The grandmother-of-two added: 'I immediately got hold of a team based in Liverpool called the Pole Objection Team and told them.

'I retrospectively wrote them a complaint but heard nothing from them.

After emails to BT, her local MP, Northamptonshire County Council and a BT Pole Objection Team in Liverpool, Ms Calvey claims she has been 'totally overlooked'

'We have contacted Northamptonshire County Council and they said it was a permitted development and to contact BT. They have wiped their hands of it.

'We even contacted our local MP's and they said they have had many similar complaints but said it is unactable.

'We have been totally overlooked. BT, being a big corporation, has just made me feel completely helpless as an individual.'

A spokesman for BT Openreach said: 'We're building a new, full fibre network to give residents access to gigabit capable broadband.

'Our full fibre build in Northamptonshire has already passed more than 70,000 local homes and businesses, who can now order some of the UK's fastest, most reliable broadband from their chosen provider, and work continues on the ground.

'Wherever we can, we use our existing duct-and-pole network to avoid digging and disruption.

'But in order to include some properties in the upgrade, we may need to put up new poles.

'We strive to select and site our infrastructure sensitively, balancing this with the need to meet local broadband demand.

'Poles need to be in the right place to provide internet, TV and other services to properties, must avoid other underground services like gas and water pipes and drainage, and meet regulations on space left on the pavement for pedestrians, cyclists and prams.

'We follow the same statutory process as other network providers to install telecoms infrastructure on public land. We've asked our teams to take a look at this.'
Tesla faces a potential civil rights lawsuit from the state of California over allegations of racial discrimination in its factories, which a former contractor alleges are 'reminiscent of the Jim Crow era.'

In a regulatory filing on Monday, Tesla said the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing investigated allegations of race discrimination and harassment in its workplaces, and gave notice that it has grounds to file a civil complaint against the electric-car maker.

It comes just a week after former Tesla contractor Kaylen Barker, who is black and a lesbian, filed a lawsuit alleging that the company ignored her complaints about shocking discrimination and abuse while she worked at an assembly plant in Lathrop, California.

'I feel like I have been tortured and sent back in time before African Americans had civil rights,' Barker said in a statement, adding that 'being a black worker at a Tesla's renowned California factory, is to be forced to step back in time and suffer painful abuses reminiscent of the Jim Crow Era.'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seen above. The company warned in a filing on Monday that the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing investigated allegations of race discrimination in its workplaces, and gave notice that it has grounds to file a civil complaint

Barker, 25, said she was 'violated physically, mentally and emotionally' while working for Tesla because she's 'an African American lesbian.'

The suit, filed on February 1 in California Superior Court in Alameda County, alleges that a white coworker struck Barker with a hot grinding tool while calling her the N-word, 'stupid,' 'dumb' and 'a b***c.'

Although the white coworker was fired after then incident, Barker alleges that the person was 'shockingly rehired' about two weeks later.

Tesla, which has abolished its press relations department and refuses to speak to the media, did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com on Tuesday morning.

Last year, a California jury awarded former Tesla contractor Owen Diaz a staggering $137 million verdict after he sued alleging racial harassment at the Fremont factory.

Diaz's lawsuit described the Fremont, California, plant, as a 'hotbed of racist behavior' where he was subjected to daily racist abuse including the N-word over a course of 11 months from 2015 to 2016.

Tesla contractor Owen Diaz sued alleging racial harassment and won a $137M verdict

The 52-year-old contracted elevator operator claimed fellow employees drew swastikas and left racist graffiti around the plant, while he said one of his supervisors drew a person with a black face and a bone in his hair and wrote 'booo,' short for 'jigaboo.'

The supervisor then allegedly told him 'he couldn't take a joke' when Diaz confronted him. Diaz contended that none of his supervisors stepped in to stop the abuse.

Tesla's head of human resources Valerie Capers Workman responded to the Diaz verdict in a blog post saying the facts in that case 'don't justify the verdict.'

Tesla has filed post-trial motions seeking a new trial or reduction of the jury's damages.

But following the hefty verdict, other lawsuits have quickly followed.

A worker enters a Tesla factory in Lathrop, California in a file photo. Former contractor Kaylen Barker said in a lawsuit she suffered abuse and harassment at the facility

In November, a female worker sued the company for 'rampant sexual harassment', claiming co-workers at its California factory commented on her body and groped her, and supervisors did nothing when she complained.

Jessica Barraza, 38, filed the lawsuit in California Superior Court in Alameda County, describing 'nightmarish conditions' at the company's factory in Fremont.

Barraza said in an interview with The Washington Post that she was just months in to her job as a production associate on the Tesla Model 3 when she began to experience near daily harassment, with colleagues making crude remarks about her body.

She claimed the CEO Elon Musk 'doesn't set a good example for the factory' by his sexually suggestive tweets, citing a recent one in which he joked that he was 'thinking of starting new university' dubbed the Texas Institute of Technology & Science.

Leaving it to readers to deduce the childish joke, the tweet does not state the acronym for this purported new university, which resembles a crude reference to part of the female anatomy.

New York State Common Retirement Fund said on Monday that it has filed shareholder proposals with Tesla, Activision Blizzard and Starbucks, requesting they report on their efforts to prevent harassment and discrimination against employees.

The proposals ask the companies to disclose, among other things, the total number and aggregate dollar amount of disputes settled related to sexual abuse or harassment or discrimination.
A former landlord of the Washington state man accused of opening fire inside a Fred Meyer supermarket on Monday, killing an Instacart shopper and critically injuring a store worker, says that he had begged a judge to take the suspect's gun away when his tenant refused to move out and allegedly tried to poison his dogs, but the landlord's pleas were ignored.

Aaron Christopher Kelly, 39, was arrested by Washington police after an intense, hourslong manhunt following the killing of Justin Krumbah, 38.

He was booked into the Benton County jail just after 2am on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder.

Authorities said Kelly was seen in surveillance footage in a heated discussion with Krumbah before he opened fire at around 11am Pacific Time at the Fred Meyer grocery store supermarket in Richland. No motive has been released as of early Tuesday.

In the wake of Kelly's arrest, his former landlord, Bryant Scott, a retired US Marine, penned a lengthy post on his Facebook page, detailing Kelly's alleged campaign of harassment against him and his friends, including unverified claims that the suspect had attempted to poison Scott's two dogs and possessed child pornography.

Bryant Scott (left), a former landlord of Washington state murder suspect Aaron Kelly (right), said the 39-year-old previously tried to poison his dogs and refused to leave his home

Kelly, 39, was arrested on Monday night following an intense manhunt

He is accused of opening fire inside a Richland, Washington, Fred Meyer supermarket on Monday morning, leaving at least one person dead and another wounded

Justin Krumbah, 38, was identified as the victim killed in a shooting at a Richland, Washington Fred Meyer grocery store Monday morning

This map shows the location of the Fred Meyer store in Richland, where the fatal shooting took place, and Interstate 90 between Sprague and Spokane, where Kelly was arrested

Scott wrote in the now-deleted status update that for a year and a half during the pandemic, he tried in vain to evict Kelly, but the man would not leave, deliberately being a nuisance, refusing to talk to police, and doing everything in his power to get under our skin, especially mine, he claimed.

Scott added: the culminating result, was me having to sell my home to get away from him because he refused to leave.

Franklin County Superior Court records indicate that in October 2020, Scott made a complaint against Kelly, accusing him of unlawful harassment.

Scott alleged that during his arguments with Kelly, the 39-year-old displayed what he called 'the dark triad... of psychopathy,' including selfishness, antisocial behavior and 'remorselessness.'

According to the retired Marine, when he tried to raise the alarm about Kellys mental instability, he said an unnamed judge ignored his warnings and openly scoffed at him.

I attempted to get a restraining order when he was harassing my friends as well as due to him repeatedly attempting to murder my dogs, Scott claimed. I will not name the judge who ignored my warning but I can tell you he seemed to be more proud of being on the bench, rather than being mindful of the unique responsibility he had been entrusted. My stomach was in knots when I was told there is nothing they would do.

Scott said he also asked the judge to have Kellys pistol taken away, but that request was also rejected.

The judge chose not to take any action on account he didnt think the poison Aaron repeatedly tried to feed to my dogs could have killed them, the landlord wrote.

During the hourslong search for Kelly, Scott shared photos of his former tenant on social media, asking anyone who comes across him to call the police

Even after Kelly finally left Scotts home, the landlord said he was told by another judge and the police that their hands were tied and there was nothing they could do to take away his means of violence, or provide him with the obvious help he needed,' ultimately resulting in Mondays cold-blooded killing.

Scott expressed relief that Kelly has been arrested.

He wont have the satisfaction of manipulating any more people, giving that smug smirk to the police, or doing the run around with the courts with his superficial innocence, the landlord stated. The nightmare has finally ended.

Police had earlier said they had identified the shooting suspect but would not release his name, only telling reporters that he has had previous 'contact with law enforcement', as they issued a $1million nationwide warrant for his arrest.

The accused gunman, dressed in a plaid shirt and a dark-colored vest, is seen pushing a shopping cart out the door of the grocery store

This grainy image from a surveillance camera shows the suspected gunman without a mask at the Fred Meyer store

Police and sheriff's deputies from around the area started receiving calls about possible shots being fired at the store at 11.03am and converged on the scene within a minute.

Dispatch officers reported at the time that the shooter was still in the building and at least one person was down.

The Tri-City Herald reported that a chaplain was also summoned.

Officers and members of the Richland Fire Department quickly began life-saving operations, but Krumbrah was pronounced dead on the scene.

An unnamed store employee was also wounded and transported to a local hospital for treatment. He remained in critical condition Monday afternoon as he underwent surgery.

Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in to assist. The ATF later announced it was sending agents from its Yakima field office to help with the investigation.

SWAT teams were also on the scene Monday morning, and confirmed that the suspect was no longer in the building.

The manhunt for Kelly continued throughout Monday night, and a helicopter from the Spokane County Sheriff's Office was on the scene to assist in the search for the suspect before his arrest.

At least a half-dozen schools in the vicinity of the store were placed on lockdown as a precaution. People were being asked to avoid the area as the local school district provided buses to reunite those who were stuck inside with their families.

One witness reported hearing at least 10 shots fired inside the store, the Herald reported.

Grocery store workers and customers reportedly huddled in stock rooms, restrooms and back offices, awaiting police to lead them to safety.

'The terror in the eyes of these people that came and took cover in my shop,' a nearby business owner, Robert Cronkite told KIRO Newsradio. 'I just, I mean, I had never seen terror in anyones eyes quite like what I saw there.'

'The guy that did it He literally walked out of there, casually pushing a shopping cart. And you can see the satchels, you know, the gurney bag, wherever hes got these guns when he walked out. He gets in his white Dodge pickup, and the guy drives off.'

In a statement, a spokesperson for the supermarket chain said: 'We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at our Fred Meyer store located on 101 Wellsian Way in Richland, Washington.

'The entire Fred Meyer family offers our thoughts, prayers and support to all affected individuals and families during this difficult time.'

The spokesperson added: 'We are cooperating with local law enforcement who have secured the store and parking lot. The store will remain closed while the police investigation continues, and we have initiated counseling services for our associates.'

Grocery store employees and customers were seen fleeing the Fred Meyer on Monday

SWAT Teams were called in to assist local law enforcement in the shooting

Ambulances and police vehicles are seen outside the supermarket on Wellsian Way

Store employees and customers were hiding in stock rooms, restrooms and back offices until police could come and lead them to safety

Following the shooting, friends and co-workers took to social media to remember Krumbah, who they said always wore a smile as he bought groceries for his clients.

A GoFundMe was also set up to raise money for his funeral expenses, and by 9pm local time, it had already raised more than $14,000, with many people sharing their condolences and remembering Krumbah for his outgoing personality.

'He always had a smile on his face an was an absolute joy to be around,' wrote Alexander Weeks, a store employee at the Richland Fred Meyer. 'He was far and away one of my favorite parts of coming in and made those extra hard days seem not so bad.'

Destiny Underwood, whose Facebook page identifies her as the deli manager at the Fred Meyer posted that she planned to start a credit union donation for Krumbah so donations could go directly to his family.

'He was an amazing guy,' she wrote. 'I always ha a bit of a better day when h was in.

'It's truly heartbreaking that he had to go to heaven today.'

In his most recent Facebook post, Krumbah sported an apron with the Seattle Seahawks logo, captioning it: 'Hi ho, hi ho, off to work I go'

Tributes had also poured into his Facebook page, where Krumbah often posted pictures of himself in different outfits as he began his Instacart shift every day.

His most recent post, on January 26, showed him donning an apron emblazoned with the Seattle Seahawks logo with the caption: 'Hi ho, hi ho, off to work I go.'

A friend at the time asked: 'You wear an apron now?' to which Krumbah responded: 'I take pride in my work no matter what I do! Always gotta be professional.'

Many more people commented on the photo following the news of the shooting, with one Richland woman saying she met him in the checkout line of the Fred Meyer last Saturday and spoke 'about how you enjoyed Instacart and how you approached it with an outstanding work ethic.

'My day was made by your positive, can-do attitude.'

A man immediately replied to the comment writing that he had the same experience working with Krumbah, calling him a 'very positive and outgoing man.'

And another woman wrote that Krumbah was her family's Instacart driver 'every time we shopped at Fred Meyer.

'You always sent a message when you accepted our order and said it was a pleasure to shop for us again,' she wrote. 'I never got to meet you, but your friendly messages made my day every time we used Instacart.

'The world lost a light today,' she added.
State officials frequently pledge to be transparent and allow the public to see information about government spending and decision making.

They dont always follow through.

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Sometimes, they even go to great lengths to keep information secret. Sadly, they recently went further than Ive seen them go before.

Last summer, during one of the Legislatures busiest days of the year, legislators passed a bill to prohibit disclosure of some data about taxes collected in Allentowns Neighborhood Improvement Zone.

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The change occurred only after a court ruled the public had a right to see that data. And the change was made to apply retroactively, to seal the data that previously was ordered to be released.

Thats a big slap across the face of transparency.

The Morning Calls Ford Turner exposed the shenanigans in an article on Sunday.

Allentowns one-of-a-kind NIZ was created by the Legislature in 2009 to allow for construction of PPL Center and other Center City redevelopment. Instead of being paid to the government, most state taxes generated in the district stay there and are used to pay for the development.

That includes employer withholding; sales and use; unemployment compensation; personal income; corporate net income; bank shares; realty transfer; cigarette and liquor taxes.

School and city taxes are not affected. They are collected as usual. Some state taxes also are paid to the state, representing roughly the amount that was collected in the NIZ before the 2009 law.

The state annually reports the total amount of taxes generated by businesses in the NIZ. What the public doesnt get to see is how much of each type of tax is being redirected.

Many types of taxes, including bank shares; cigarette/other tobacco; realty transfer; liquor/malt beverages; and vehicle rental/public transportation assistance, are lumped into one total, labeled other taxes.

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[ Allentowns NIZ board needs to rework flawed system for appointing members ]

In 2019, The Morning Call used the state Right-to-Know Law to ask the state Department of Revenue for the total of each tax in that category.

The department refused to provide it, saying the data was confidential.

The Morning Call appealed to the Office of Open Records. It ruled that totals for each tax category were public information and must be released, if there were at least three businesses paying the tax.

If only one or two taxpayers were contributing, those totals could be withheld because their release could reveal how much an individual business was paying; that information is confidential under state law.

The state wasnt satisfied with that answer. It appealed to Commonwealth Court, which again sided with The Morning Call.

Still not satisfied, the state asked the court to rehear the case. That gave lawmakers time to change the law.

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In December, Commonwealth Court said the information it previously ruled was public is now off-limits.

So much for transparency.

The public deserves to know how much of each tax is being collected, because taxpayers are footing the bill for development in the district. Taxes are being deferred that otherwise could be used for public education, economic development, public health, public safety and other services.

The change in the law was suggested by Sen. Pat Browne, R-Allentown. The NIZ is his baby. It was his legislation that created it.

Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh (Harry Fisher, The Morning Call)

He told The Morning Call the change was necessary to close a legal loophole that jeopardized the confidentiality of information about individual taxpayers. Otherwise, he said, the previous law could have been interpreted to allow public access to every state corporate tax return in Pennsylvania.

That never would have happened.

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State law is clear that Pennsylvania tax returns are confidential. They may be released only to the taxpayer, or to someone designated by the taxpayer through a signed release, according to the Department of Revenue.

There is no harm in releasing aggregate tax generation figures for three or more businesses.

Businesses may not like that, but they need to remember they are benefiting from being located in the NIZ. Rents can be less expensive than in other areas, as the development is subsidized by the redirected tax dollars.

If they want the public benefits, they must put up with the public scrutiny.

Browne told The Morning Call that the Legislature and Gov. Tom Wolf both endorsed the change in law.

Thats only because it was part of the massive 114-page fiscal code, a law passed annually to implement the state budget.

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The fiscal code and other necessary financial legislation sometimes are used to pass unrelated, potentially controversial items. Those items may not have enough support to otherwise be approved, but they get approved after being rolled into broad legislation that has to be passed.

Thats how consumer fireworks were legalized in 2017. It was part of a tax reform bill.

The NIZ has helped Allentown. It has enabled redevelopment in the central business district. Its also spurring riverfront redevelopment. I wish it were having more of an impact elsewhere in the city, including adjacent neighborhoods. Im hopeful that eventually will happen.

But lets not forget whats behind Allentowns comeback  the diversion of tax dollars.

The public deserves to know all about that.

Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com

[ 4 ways new mayor Matt Tuerk can help Allentown turn things around ]
GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty led a group of Republicans in introducing a bill Tuesday that would block a provision of President Biden's American Rescue Plan that requires third-party payment processors to report business transactions over $600.

Part of the American Rescue Plan, which passed last spring with no Republican votes, stipulated that beginning in the 2022 tax season platforms like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App had to report business transactions if they exceeded $600, to ensure small businesses were paying their fair share in taxes.

This forces thousands of small businesses to file a 1099 and provide personal information to the IRS, 'despite the IRS' poor history of safeguarding Americans' personal data,' the Tennessee senator and member of the Banking Committee said in a press release.

The 'Stop the Nosy Obsession with Online Payments' Act, or SNOOP Act, would block the new provision that Republicans say amounts to a tax increase.

Hagerty is leading a group of Republican senators in introducing the 'Stop the Nosy Obsession with Online Payments' Act, or SNOOP Act, to block the new provision that they say amounts to a tax increase

Biden's plan to have the IRS 'snoop' on your payments over $600 President Biden's IRS is cracking down on payments made through third-party apps, requiring platforms like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App to report transactions if they exceed $600 in one year. The cash apps will now be required to send the 1099-K form to businesses with electronic transactions greater than $600. The new change will apply for the 2022 tax season. The new reporting requirement will ensure that small businesses that receive payments through those apps are paying their fair share in taxes on them. Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, third-party payment processors were required to report such transactions. Though businesses were always required to self-report such incomes to the IRS, many often did not keep record of their smaller transactions. The new rule is only for goods and services transactions, not personal, such as paying a roommate for rent or reimbursing a friend. It also excludes anyone selling a personal item at a loss, such as a couch bought for $700 and sold for $650. Advertisement

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, called the new reporting requirements a 'big government scheme to pry into law-abiding small businesses financial accounts.'

Though businesses were always required to self-report such incomes to the IRS, many often did not keep record of their smaller transactions.

The payment apps were previously required to send users 1099-K forms if their gross income exceeded $20,000 or they had more than 200 transactions per year.

The new rule is only for goods and services transactions, not personal, such as paying a roommate for rent or reimbursing a friend. It also excludes anyone selling a personal item at a loss, such as a couch bought for $700 and sold for $650.

'President Biden claims he isn't going to raise taxes on those making less than $400,000, but by increasing reporting requirements for small businesses and independent contractors the cost of doing business just keeps going up,' said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

'Along with trillions in unnecessary and unrelated in spending in their so-called 'COVID' spending package, Biden and the Democrats snuck in a tax increase on gig workers, like hardworking Americans that drive for Uber, Lyft or DoorDash.'

'The IRS spent much of last year trying to get access to more information about taxpayers' bank accounts,' said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. 'When we protested, they switched tactics: Now they are forcing PayPal and Venmo to put even more burdens on small businesses who use these platforms as a cost-effective way of doing business.'

Tucked into the Build Back Better bill, which stalled in the Senate , was another IRS provision that drew Republican ire - a plan that would have required banks to turn over gross input and output data on all bank accounts that had more than $600 in cash flow. GOP senators fiercely protested, and the provision was bumped up to $10,000.

Part of Biden's American Rescue Plan, which passed last spring with no Republican votes, stipulated that beginning in the 2022 tax season platforms like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App had to report business transactions if they exceeded $600, to ensure small businesses were paying their fair share in taxes

'The Biden Administration's total disregard for privacy has to be stopped,' said Sen. Marco Rubio. 'There is no reason that the IRS should be putting Americans' confidential transactions under a microscope.'

The Build Back Better plan would have also injected another $80 billion into the IRS to hire more staff and bring on better technology to bolster tax enforcement. Without the bill, the IRS is warning customers this tax season to be prepared for slower service than usual.

The service is still making its way through six million backlogged 2020 returns due to errors and 'special handling.'

Usually by the time a filing season comes around, that backlog is well below a million.

On Monday the IRS backed off a controversial partnership with facial recognition software company ID.me, just as the company began transitioning to using the new technology for new user verification.

The agency's use of the controversial tech invoked bipartisan alarm in Congress, with lawmakers criticizing both the IRS and ID.me for a lack of transparency and fueling concerns it could leave millions of Americans vulnerable to cyberattacks and other security issues.

'The IRS announced it will transition away from using a third-party service for facial recognition to help authenticate people creating new online accounts. The transition will occur over the coming weeks in order to prevent larger disruptions to taxpayers during filing season,' the federal agency said.

It added that in the interim, IRS users would go through 'an additional authentication process that does not involve facial recognition.'

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said in a statement, 'The IRS takes taxpayer privacy and security seriously, and we understand the concerns that have been raised.'

'Everyone should feel comfortable with how their personal information is secured, and we are quickly pursuing short-term options that do not involve facial recognition,' Rettig concluded.
An Army report details how senior White House and State Department officials failed to understand the rapid advance of the Taliban on Kabul and lays out frustration among senior military officers that troops were put in greater danger because of political decisions.

Initial plans included using both Kabul's international airport and Bagram airbase for the operation, but the latter had to be abandoned because there were too few troops to protect it.

After refusing to heed warnings about the Taliban advance, an officer described finding the embassy in meltdown in mid-August after militants had seized the capital, with some staff 'intoxicated and cowering in rooms.'

And the 2000-page report repeatedly says planners were unable to react to conditions on the ground, but instead had to do what they could with 3000 troops.

Marine Gen. Kenneth 'Frank' McKenzie, chief of U.S. Central Command, said he was 'not surprised' commanders had different opinions about how the evacuation could have gone better.

There 'might have been other plans that we would have preferred,' he told the Washington Post on Tuesday, 'but when the president makes a decision, its time for us to execute the presidents decision.'

U.S. Marines provide security and check evacuees at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, on Aug 21 during the evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies

Responding to a 2000-Army report into the Kabul evacuation, U.S. Marine General Frank McKenzie said there might have been preferred plans 'but when the president makes a decision, its time for us to execute the presidents decision'

The Afghan withdrawal, during which 13 U.S. personnel were killed in a suicide attack, has cast a long shadow over the presidency of Joe Biden, after his decision to withdraw ended in chaos

His comments lay bare the frustration of commanders who felt their hands were tied by a White House that had already made up its mind on how to depart.

'There are profound frustrations; commanders, particularly subordinate commanders, they see very clearly the advantages of other courses of action,' he said.

'However, we had a decision, and we had an allocation of forces. You proceed based on that.'

White House officials insisted they had planned for all possible outcomes, but that no one had expected the Afghan armed forces to collapse so fast.

The internal report was obtained by the Washington Post through a freedom of information request.

It was launched in the aftermath of the Aug. 26 suicide attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 American service personnel and more than 170 Afghans.

As well as outlining the critical decisions taken to secure the airport, it also reveals violence experienced by US forces during the operation.

And it lays out military frustration at what officers said was resistance from the State Department and White House to prepare the evacuation of embassy personnel and Afghan allies weeks before Kabuls fall.

Navy Rear Adm. Peter Vasely, the most senior commander on the ground during the operation, told investigators that personnel would have been 'much better prepared to conduct a more orderly' if 'policymakers had paid attention to the indicators of what was happening on the ground.'

Failing to spot the Taliban's intention to complete a rapid military takeover, he said, undermined proper preparations.

Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, prepares to board a C-17 cargo plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, on Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, as the final American service member to depart

During the second half of August 2021, more than 120,000 people were flown from Kabul

Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, said McKenzie's response on the advantages of Bagram - and why it was not used - was revealing

Officials told investigators that planning within the Pentagon had begun by presuming that Bagram, about 30 miles north of Kabul, would be part of the operation, secured with the help of Afghan government forces.

But that idea was then dropped to using just the capital's Hamid Karzai International Airport.

'Everyone clearly saw some of the advantage of holding Bagram,' McKenzie told the newspaper, 'but you cannot hold Bagram with the force level that was decided.'

Military analysts said his comment was revealing.

Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, said: 'Translation: the number of troops in Afghanistan dictated strategy and tactics, not the actual situation on the ground.'

Republicans also seized on the report to accuse Biden of dereliction of duty.

'A secret Army report shows Joe Biden & the White House utterly unprepared for and derelict in the withdrawal from Afghanistan - but Senate Democrats still refuse to hold oversight hearings,' said Sen. Josh Hawley on Twitter.

'Only closed door briefings, away from the public. Its pathetic.'

At the same time, military officials faced pushback from diplomats about preparing for an evacuation, said the report.

Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, wanted to maintain a diplomatic presence and said the U.S. could not preserve influence without an embassy, according to Vasely.

The Taliban was making rapid gains - taking as many as 10 districts a day, according to an unnamed official, who said: 'The embassy needed to position for withdrawal, and the ambassador didnt get it.'

Administration officials also expressed concerns that sounding the alarm would trigger panic, the rapid departure of other nations and the collapse of the government in Kabul.

Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Farrell J. Sullivan said dealing with the embassy was 'like pulling teeth' until early August, when the reality hit home.

And a meeting with a National Security Council official on Aug. 6 prompted him to say that, 'the NSC was not seriously planning for an evacuation.'

Once the Taliban took control of the city, U.S. troops reportedly went room to room in the embassy on Aug. 15 telling people to get ready to leave.

An investigation into the attack on Kabul airport found that the US dead and wounded were close to the canal where the bomber detonated his explosives, and had clustered together to search potential evacuees. The worst hit were standing on a wall overlooking the canal

An Army officer from the 10th Mountain Division told investigators that some diplomatic personnel were 'intoxicated and cowering in rooms,' and others were 'operating like it was day-to-day operations with absolutely no sense of urgency or recognition of the situation.'

That allegation was denied by an administration official. 'Were there any truth to it, we presumably would not be learning of it six months after the fact,' the official said.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the airlift was a 'historic achievement' but admitted that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had said it was 'not perfect.'

'We are committed to, and are intensely engaged in, an ongoing review of our efforts during the evacuation, the assessments and strategy during the conflict, and the planning in the months before the end of the war,' he told the Washington Post.

'We will take those lessons learned, and apply them, as we always do, clearly and professionally.'

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki insisted that officials had planned for every eventuality.

'No one predicted, as we know, and as we talked about a lot during the period of August and September, that the Afghan national security forces would fall at the pace they fell,' she said.

'But if you look back at the history of what we actually did, and what planning was done, there was a range of planning, including positioning military forces, including ensuring that we had a plan for a [noncombatant evacuation] operation for evacuation at the time, should that be needed.'

Last week the Pentagon revealed the results of its investigation into the airport suicide bombing. It said the attack was carried out by a lone suicide bomber, and was not a complex attack - with gunmen and a bomb - as previously thought.

The attack brought a tragic conclusion to the hurried U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and has cast a long shadow over the Biden administration ever since.

Briefing reporters on their findings, investigators said the explosion sent 5mm ball bearings through a packed crowd and that the attack could not have been prevented.

But they also said British, American and Taliban representatives had discussed closing the Abbey Gate - where the blast happened - just 36 minutes before the attack.

They kept it open because there were still evacuees trying to get to the airport.

And the investigators released never before seen footage of the moment the bomb exploded and drone video of the immediate aftermath.
State Department spokesman Ned Price got into another heated exchange with a senior reporter from the Associated Press Monday  this time over a Biden administration waiver of Iran sanctions dealing with civilian nuclear technology.

'Matt, you don't need to raise your voice,' Price told his questioner, AP reporter Matt Lee, who pressed him repeatedly on what was in the arrangement for Iran  the subject of an array of sanctions over its nuclear program.

The clash came days after the reporter demanded Price show evidence to back up the U.S. government assertion that Russia was planning to produce a fake video of an attack as part of a 'false flag' operation to serve as the trigger for an invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, Price was forced to defend an administration waiver that allowed foreign companies to take part in civilian nuclear and safety programs inside Iran without being subject to sanction. The waiver is part of a Biden administration effort to bring back the 2015 Iran nuclear deal scrapped during the Trump administration.

It restored a Trump administration 2018 waiver that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stripped away amid the Trump administration's 'maximum pressure' campaign on Iran.

'Matt, you don't need to raise your voice,' State Department spokesman Ned Price told AP reporter Matt Lee during repeated questioning about a new administration waiver for civilian nuclear safety activities in Iran

'Ned, are you saying that that long list of things that you said that these waivers give. You're saying that there's no benefit to Iran in any of that?' the reporter asked Price, a former White House National Security Council spokesman and former CIA intelligence officer.

Price avoided a direct answer, saying: 'I am saying that the net benefit of this is a nonproliferation goal for us,' he said.

'If Iran really gets no benefit at all out of this, then why even bother,' Lee asked him. 'Tell me why Iran doesn't benefit from this,' he told him.

'In this case it will allow Iran to undertake nuclear nonproliferation and safety activities that would otherwise be proscribed,' Price responded, prompting Lee to again demand that he say whether Iran got a benefit.

'The fact is, Matt, that what is in our nonproliferation interest can also be in some ways also be in Iran's interest,' Price said, in an exchange reported by Fox News.

This 2006 file photo shows a general view of a heavy water plant in Arak, south of Tehran, 26 August 2006. A Biden administration waiver would allow companies to take part in civilian nonproliferation activities inside Iran

Price clashed with longtime AP reporter Matt Lee over the waiver

'Some of these steps redound to their interest,' Price said, quoting Pompeo in 2018 saying it would reduce proliferation. 'We know this is a benefit to us,' he exclaimed  prompting the reporter to say the people benefitting were Russian and Chinese and European companies.

Last week, Price faced a series of question when he read intelligence information about the 'false flag' operation.

'You say that they have taken but you have shown no evidence to confirm that and I'm going to get to the next question here, which is, what is the evidence that they plan ... I mean, this is like crisis actors? Really?' Lee asked him.

'This is like Alex Jones territory you're getting into there,' he said, bringing up the noted conspiracy theorist, and asked: 'What evidence do you have to support the idea that there is some propaganda film in the making?'

Price cited the declassified intelligence information.

'I just delivered it,' Price said.

'No, you made a series of allegations,' Lee told him.

At one point, Price lectured: ''I'm sorry, you don't like the content,' Price responded. 'I'm sorry you are doubting the information that is in the possession of the U.S. government.'

His tussles with the AP come after a long career dealing with reporters. Before serving as an NSC spokesman under President Barack Obama, Price was a spokesman at the CIA. According to the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, where he lectured, Price also became a briefer of the President's Daily Brief, as well as a senior analyst 'covering a range of strategic and tactical issues.'

He worked at the Cohen Group with former Defense Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and on political campaigns. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Service, and earned his master's at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a stop for many top D.C. opinion-shapers.

He penned an op-ed in the Washington Post early in the Trump Administration where he announced his reasons for quitting the agency due to Trump. He wrote that the 'last straw' was a new NSC directive that removed the CIA director and the Director of National Intelligence and included former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon.

'Despite working proudly for Republican and Democratic presidents, I reluctantly concluded that I cannot in good faith serve this administration as an intelligence professional,' he wrote.
A Texas father of two who has traveled the globe in search adventures was killed in a hang gliding accident in central Mexico just before he was set to return home.

Sean Marmion, 53, of Houston, died Sunday after he had taken off for a solo flight from El Penon, a renowned world-class hang gliding venue in Temascaltepec, State of Mexico.

Police sources told local Mexican news outlet Reforma that Marmion was reportedly taking lessons and was unable to properly elevate the glider before he crashed.

'According to what some witnesses mentioned, the pilot's aircraft fell to the ground after making a 180-degree turn,' the law enforcement sources said.

'I think these things work by colliding cold air with hot air, and apparently at the time it went down there wasn't enough hot air and the hang glider couldn't get up anymore.'

Sean Marmion, a resident of Houston, Texas, was killed in a hang gliding accident in Temascaltepec, Mexico on Sunday. Witnesses told authorities he had made a '180-degree turn' after he took off from El Penon, a renowned hang-gliding venue, before he crashed

Authorities investigate the accident site where Texas resident Sean Marmion crashed while hang gliding in Temascaltepec, Mexico, on Sunday

Red Cross and Temascaltepec paramedics arrived at the crash site and requested a helicopter to airlift Marmion to a nearby hospital before they noticed that he did not have any vital signs and declared dead on the scene.

On January 30, he posted a video on Facebook of him completing a successful solo hang-gliding flight from the Mexican site, with the message: 'A great day flying in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.'

He also posted a still image on Saturday, the day before his death, from a camera mounted to the glider during a solo flight.

The site of the crash in Valle de Bravo draws hang-gliding enthusiasts and experts from all over the world for the annual El Penon Classic, which is scheduled for the end of this month.

Marmion, who was born in the US, attended secondary school on the Isle of Portland in England and graduated college from San Francisco State University.

He worked as an independent sales rep for outdoor sporting goods companies and had traveled to all corners of the globe.

In the past two years, Marmion visited Turkey, Tanzania, India, Argentina, Uruguay, Columbia, Chile, Ecuador and Easter Island.

Sean Marmion shared a photo of a hang gliding flight Saturday, the day before he died in tragic accident while taking a lesson, according to police sources in Mexico

Still image of a video shared by Sean Marmion's hang gliding flight in Mexico a week before he died

Sean Marmion flashed a smile after getting up and close with white sharks (below) while scuba diving in Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, in October 2021

He also posted thrill-seeking images of him scuba-diving with white sharks in Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, last October, and hiking in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state last May.

Suzanne Marmion confirmed on Facebook on Monday that her brother's hang gliding outing was supposed to be his last before he was scheduled to go back home.

'It is with a breaking heart that I share with all who knew and loved him that my brother Sean Marmion died Sunday in a hang gliding accident in Valle de Bravo, Mexico,' she wrote.

'It was his last morning flying before coming home. Details to come on the celebration of life we know he would want.'
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The mob who surrounded Sir Keir Starmer was dominated by the left-wing acolytes of Jeremy Corbyn's brother Piers, who spend most of their time urging Britons to 'resist' masks, vaccines and any Covid restrictions, MailOnline can reveal today.

Mr Corbyn had addressed the crowd outside New Scotland Yard last night before they chased the Labour leader down the street in Westminster.

The rag-tag bunch of professional protesters include one of his right-hand men, David Burridge, a dreadlocked anti-vaxxer who was arrested and charged for raiding the vaccination centre at Guy's Hospital in London last month.

Also barracking Sir Keir was Edward 'Remeece' Freeman, who has taken to turning up outside schools to urge children not to get the Covid jab, even crying and hugging them as part of his campaign, which saw him banned from Facebook and Instagram.

The amateur rapper has also written a song called 'Don't Tek the Vaccine', a phrase he yelled at Sir Keir and David Lammy in Westminster last night.

Another of the protesters identified is Will Coleshill, who is editor of the 'Resistance GB' group of largely left-wing agitators.

He can be heard yelling at the Labour leader: 'You are the leader of the opposition - why aren't you standing up for our constitution? For the working classes of this country. What about the working people of this country? Aren't you meant to be the opposition?'

The anti-lockdown champion has previously chased Michael Gove and BBC reporter Nick Watt through the streets of Westminster.

The man who accused Sir Keir of protecting Jimmy Savile is yet to be identified.

The protesters have been identified after Boris Johnson was warned by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle that 'words have consequences' as the PM defied calls to withdraw his Jimmy Savile 'slur' at Sir Keir.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle issued a rebuke in the chamber over words that 'inflame opinions', with the PM refusing to apologise.

But the BBC was today accused of falsely blaming Boris Johnson for the protesters' decision to target Sir Keir.

Viewers slammed the corporation's 'ridiculous' and 'hysterical' coverage of the ugly incident, claiming they have incorrectly blamed it on the Prime Minister's criticism of Sir Keir Starmer's failure to put Jimmy Savile in the dock - and allowed false comparisons to Donald Trump egging on the Capitol Hill riots.

These are the protestors identified so far:

David Burridge

Burridge is a dread-locked acolyte of Piers Corbyn, who has also been involved in shutting down vaccine centres.

He has recently been charged after attempting to shut down a vaccination centre at Guy's hospital last month.

He is a member of the Stop New Normal group, which says the vaccines were approved based on fraudulent trials and are deadly.

The group also offers free legal advice for anyone arrested while on anti-lockdown or anti-vaccine protests.

Edward 'Remeece' Freeman

A well known protester who has been filmed confronting people wearing masks on the London Underground, Edward 'Remeece' Freeman goes around schools and vax centres singing a song he wrote called: 'Dont Tek the Vaccine'.

He has been banned from Instagram and Facebook after urging children not to take the vaccine.

He told Twitter followers that there is a conspiracy to shut him down - 'but they can't censor me on the streets'.

He claims that 'children love me' because of his anti-vaccine stance, and that he has 2,000 students who regularly contact him.

Freeman (right) can be heard yelling the same phrase while stood next to Sir Keir and David Lammy.

William Coleshill

Free Assange campaigner William Coleshill can be seen in yesterday's footage approaching the politician and shouting 'why did you go after a journalist Mr Starmer'

He is editor of the Resistance GB movement, which claims to 'cover news which the mainstream won't show you'

A protester seen shouting at Sir Keir Starmer is the head of a YouTube anti-lockdown 'news' site and has previously mobbed Tory minister Michael Gove.

He is editor in chief of the Resistance UK group who claim to be 'defending natural rights and civil liberties against police abuses and state criminality'.

Coleshill, a former Tory Bush Hill Park councillor, can be seen in yesterday's footage approaching the politician and shouting 'why did you go after a journalist Mr Starmer' and 'Why did you go after Julian Assange'.

Coleshill, while with Resistance GB, has previously targeted other politicians such as Michael Gove.

Coleshill shoved a camera in his face and demanded: 'How do you justify the illegal lockdowns that have been pushed on this country?'. He also reportedly followed BBC editor Nick Watt down the street on a previous occasion.

In another video, posted on the Resistance GB Facebook page, he was once said: 'All men carry knives'. He also said: 'Having arms is the ultimate check on government because people should not fear their governments, governments should fear their people.'

Piers Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn's older brother Piers has spent the pandemic urging people to 'resist' the vaccine and any lockdown rules.

He addressed the protesters who would later mob Sir Keir Starmer outside New Scotland Yard last night.

As well as decrying masks, he and his crew have been shutting covid testing and vaccination centres.

They stormed one in Milton Keynes in December, to cries of 'You murdering b****rds' and 'The wind is changing' are heard as the crowd marches into the site, and one of the demonstrators appears to pick up testing equipment before carrying it out of one of the site's tents. In January they did the same at Guys and St Thomas' Hospital in London.

Last month he was told he will face trial in May charged with breaching Covid rules during a series of anti-lockdown protests in central London.

The 74-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with five counts of holding a gathering and five counts of participating in a gathering of more people than restrictions allowed at the time, all around Westminster.

What is the TRUTH behind PM's Jimmy Savile 'smear' on Keir Starmer? A fresh faced Keir Starmer when he was appointed DPP in 2008. An inquiry would later clear him of any involvement in the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile Boris Johnson has accused former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer of having 'used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile'. But the Labour leader has said Mr Johnson is 'debasing himself by going so low' by repeating 'a ridiculous slur peddled by right wing trolls'. In 2012 a QC-led inquiry exonerated Sir Keir, finding he was not involved in the decision not to put Savile in the dock two years before he died, blaming it on hapless starstruck police officers and an incurious local prosecutor. During Sir Keir's tenure as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, detectives had 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. Savile, who abused 500 women and children, died in 2011 without facing justice. In 2012, after it became clear the Top of the Pops host had attacked and abused hundreds of children and women in hospitals, schools and while filming his BBC shows, an inquiry was carried out by Alison Levitt QC, on Mr Starmer's own orders. In 2013 her report found that the decision was made by police and prosecutors locally, not Sir Keir, who was unaware of it. The CPS would also say there was 'no reference to any involvement from the DPP in the decision-making within a report examining the case.' Alison Levitt QC found that police treated the victims and the accounts they gave 'with a degree of caution which was neither justified nor required'. Savile also made veiled threats against officers if sexual abuse allegations against him did not 'disappear'. Detectives looking at allegations advised the CPS not to prosecute Savile, believing his explanation that it was all made up and the price of being famous. Ms Levitt was also critical of the approach taken by the CPS' reviewing lawyer, but did not suggest that Mr Starmer was personally involved in the decisions made. The lawyer was also criticised for failing to properly build a case with the police or spot inconsistencies in their reports after interviewing Savile under caution and four of his victims. As head of the CPS, Sir Keir later apologised, admitting the failure to prosecute Savile was a 'watershed moment' for the organisation. But avoided any admonishment in Ms Levitt's report. He said: 'I would like to take the opportunity to apologise for the shortcomings in the part played by the CPS in these cases. 'These were errors of judgement by experienced and committed police officers and a prosecuting lawyer acting in good faith and attempting to apply the correct principles. That makes the findings of Ms Levitt's report more profound and calls for a more robust response.' Lawyer turned Labour leader Sir Keir then left in 2013 to pursue a career in politics. Advertisement

Sir Lindsay told MPs today that the Metropolitan Police have been ordered to provide a report on how the situation was allowed to spiral.

It is understood there are questions over why Sir Keir was escorted through the mob rather than taken to safety, and why he had not been driven from inside the secure estate.

There are also wider concerns about the lack of control on protests immediately outside the democratic hub. 'Something will go wrong,' one source warned. 'Yesterday was proof of that.'

Sir Lindsay held talks with Mr Johnson's new chief of staff Steve Barclay last night, urging No10 to help 'change Parliament' and use 'temperate language'.

The Speaker made clear today that the PM did not say anything disorderly. 'Regardless of yesterday's incident, I made it clear last week that while the Prime Minister's words were not disorderly they were inappropriate,' he said.

'As I said then, these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the House and it is not acceptable.

'Our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of the fact.'

Sir Lindsay said: 'While I do not comment in detail on security matters on the floor of the chamber, steps must be in place to keep passholders secure as they enter and leave the parliamentary estate.

'I have requested a situation report from the Metropolitan Police via our security team on how this incident occurred.'

The events have renewed the storm over Mr Johnson's swipe in the House of Commons last week that Sir Keir failed to prosecute paedophile Savile when he was the Director of Public Prosecutions - even though he had played no role in the case and the decision not to bring charges.

Former Cabinet minister Julian Smith was among senior Tories saying the the premier must withdraw the Savile slur for the sake of Sir Keir's security. Another senior MP, Steve Brine, said an apology is 'inevitable'.

Veteran Tory Sir Roger Gale said he feared the targeting of Sir Keir was the 'direct result' of Mr Johnson's 'deliberately careless' use of language in the Commons, whilst former minister Tobias Ellwood called on the PM to 'apologise please'. Both Sir Roger and Mr Ellwood revealed last week they had submitted letters of no confidence in the PM.

Lord Walney - a former Labour MP and now the PM's adviser on political violence - said: 'The footage of Sir Keir Starmer being hounded tonight is disturbing, as is the way some of his pursuers picked up on the Jimmy Savile slur.

'This is surely a moment for the PM and all those who have defended those words to reflect and withdraw.'

However, Downing Street dismissed calls for an apology or retraction. 'The Prime Minister clarified his remarks last week to make clear he was not suggesting Keir Starmer was individually responsible for the Savile decision,' the PM's spokesman said.

He added: 'I think the Prime Minister was making a political point about taking responsibility for organisations as a whole.'

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis insisted Mr Johnson's comments should not be used as an 'excuse' for abusive protests.

He told ITV that Mr Johnson made a 'fair and reasonable point' that 'somebody at the top of an organisation has responsibility for what happens in it', in relation to Sir Keir's former role as director of public prosecutions.

'That's no excuse for people to behave the way they did last night and we shouldn't give them that excuse either,' he added.

Labour MP Chris Bryant said the targeting of Sir Keir showed that 'political poison has an effect' and added that the PM has 'no moral compass'. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called on the PM to 'apologise unreservedly'.

Brendan Cox, the widow of Labour MP Jo Cox - who was murdered in 2016 - said the intimidation of Sir Keir was 'absolutely vile' and said politicians have a 'responsibility' not to encourage what he called 'thuggery' with 'lazy lies'.

Sir Keir was walking near Parliament with shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, who appeared to help police shield his boss from the protesters.

Nick Robinson's questioning of Tory minister Chris Phil on the Today programme was also criticised today

The BBC's coverage has been criticised by viewers who say Boris is being falsely compared to Trump

Mr Lammy said on Twitter after the ordeal: 'No surprise the conspiracy theorist thugs who harassed @Keir_Starmer & I repeated slurs we heard from @BorisJohnson last week at the despatch box. Intimidation, harassment and lies have no place in our democracy. And they won't ever stop me doing my job.'

Boris refuses to say sorry for Savile 'slur' after hate mob targets Starmer Boris Johnson is today defying calls from Tories and his own adviser on political violence to withdraw his Jimmy Savile 'slur' at Keir Starmer - after the Labour leader was mobbed by protesters near Parliament. The PM is refusing to apologise following the dramatic scenes of Sir Keir being surrounded and abused at as he walked in Westminster after leaving New Scotland Yard shortly before 5pm. Police shielded him and led him to a marked car as the protesters continued to swarm around him, some shouting about Savile, hurling baseless allegations about him 'protecting paedophiles' and also branding him a 'traitor'. The protesters, who included anti-vaccine activist Piers Corbyn, had descended on London yesterday in support of Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' of truck drivers in Ottawa. Scotland Yard later said two arrests were made after Sir Keir was escorted to safety. MailOnline understands the Parliamentary authorities are now urgently looking into how the situation was allowed to spiral - with questions over why Sir Keir was escorted through the mob rather than taken to safety, and why he had not been driven from inside the secure estate. There are also wider concerns about the lack of control on protests immediately outside the democratic hub. 'Something will go wrong,' one source warned. 'Yesterday was proof of that.' Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle held talks with Mr Johnson's new chief of staff Steve Barclay last night, urging No10 to help 'change Parliament' and use 'temperate language'. But officials insist the Speaker cannot take any action because the PM did not say anything disorderly. Advertisement

Although Mr Johnson branded the targeting of Sir Keir 'absolutely disgraceful' and said the harassment of politicians is 'completely unacceptable', he did not address the nature of the abuse directed at his counterpart.

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said on his GB News show that the clashes represented 'a side of politics that seems to get uglier by the month'.

In broadcast interviews this morning, technology minister Chris Philp made clear that Mr Johnson would not go further than his limited 'clarification' that Sir Keir was not personally involved in the Savile case.

'The first comments in the House on the previous Monday were capable of being misconstrued and that is why it is important and right that a couple of days later that Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, did clarify that he was not suggesting at any time that Keir Starmer had personal responsibility for the case. But he obviously did have responsibility for the conduct of the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service),' Mr Philp said.

'I don't think there is any way you can reasonably suggest that the comments on Keir Starmer's overall responsibility for the CPS in any way provoked the very unseemly and totally unacceptable harassment we saw last night.'

However, the BBC came under fire for its coverage of the incident, with some critics claiming it had wrongly blamed Mr Johnson for inciting the mob.

On BBC Breakfast this morning political correspondent Chris Mason said the incident had meant the 'row is burning again'. He said there was now more pressure on the PM to 'say sorry or withdraw his original false allegation'.

He added: 'It all falls into the pot marked 'Boris Johnson's future'. That is a bubbling pot and has been for some time and will continue to be as a result of what happened last night'.

Nick Robinson's questioning of Tory minister Chris Phil on the Today programme was also criticised. The broadcaster later tweeted a clip from the show and said: 'What first attracted a Prime Minister fighting to save his political skin to the idea of linking his opponent to a serial paedophile? A question I asked today's minister for defending Boris Johnson'.

Tory MP Michael Fabricant told MailOnline that while the abuse Sir Keir suffered was 'unacceptable' - he claimed the BBC had zeroed in on 'one person' yelling about Jimmy Savile when the vast majority were angry about his leadership of the Labour party and the Government's handling of the pandemic.

Dramatic footage showed the Labour leader being shouted at as he walked in Westminster after leaving New Scotland Yard while surrounded by police officers shortly before 5pm

Boris Johnson (left this morning) is refusing to apologise following the dramatic scenes of Keir Starmer (right) being surrounded and abused at as he walked in Westminster after leaving New Scotland Yard shortly before 5pm

He said: 'I think the BBC has to ask itself some serious questions about its standard of reporting regarding the Keir Starmer incident yesterday. Clear evidence emerging shows that he walked into an anti-vaccination demonstration calling for the overthrow over the government and the release of Julian Assange.

'One person referred to Jimmy Savile. This was not why he was bundled into a police car for his protection. It is the obligation of the BBC to report the facts, not what is politically convenient for some of their journalists.'

One viewer who watched the BBC's coverage this morning said on social media : 'These were Corbyn supporters, a rentamob. Truth is that our media, especially the BBC, have carried out a vendetta against Boris and made everyone angry. Same as happened in the States to Trump and just as dishonest'.

Another said: 'BBC again this morning, blaming a Piers Corbyn protest on Boris. It's ridiculous'. While one angry Radio 4 listener said: 'The BBC doesn't really care if the 'mob' was right-wing, left-wing or no wing at all. Just as long as they can use it as another brickbat to throw at the hated Boris Johnson - and bait their largely anti-Boris, anti-Brexit listeners'.

Responding to the criticism a BBC spokesman said: 'The BBC has reported on all aspects of this story  including the reaction of Boris Johnson to the treatment of Sir Keir Starmer by protesters, and criticism from some Conservative MPs and others linking what happened to remarks made by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons'.
A former head of the KGB has publicly warned Vladimir Putin not to invade Ukraine, becoming the second prominent figure to do so in two days.

It comes as a key flotilla of six Russian landing ships capable of an amphibious assault on Ukraine were storming from the Mediterranean towards the Black Sea yesterday.

Yevgeny Savostyanov, 69, has announced he backs a letter penned by Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, 78, which warns Putin against an attack on Ukraine and accuses him of whipping up an 'artificial' conflict to distract from his domestic problems.

Savostyanov applauded Ivashov's letter for proving that 'Russian patriots are not saliva-spraying people who beat the drum of war' but 'those who care about the peaceful and prosperous development of cities, towns and villages of our country'.

He denounced the 'imperial lust of Russia's leaders' and said he backed Ivashov's demand for Putin's immediate resignation.

The six ships, each capable of carrying ten main battle tanks and 300 troops, represent a dramatic shift in capability for Valdimir Putin's potential invasion force ringing Ukraine.

The vessels and their deadly cargo would open up yet another line of attack along the Black Sea coast for the Russians alongside their massive troop build-ups already in place on Ukraine's eastern and northern borders.

A key flotilla of six Russian landing ships (pictured, the Korolev) capable of an amphibious assault on Ukraine were storming from the Mediterranean towards the Black Sea yesterday

Former KGB head Yevgeny Savostyanov, 69, (left) has announced he backs a letter penned by Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, 78, (right) which warns Putin against an attack on Ukraine and accuses him of whipping up an 'artificial' conflict to distract from his domestic problems

Putin has spent months massing some 135,000 troops backed by tanks and artillery on Ukraine's borders, sparking repeated warnings from Washington that he is about to invade

Savostyanov, who was head of the FSB in Moscow and Moscow region between 1991 and 1994, when the counter-intelligence service was known as the KGB and FSK, said Ivashov deserved 'all round support' for his anti-war plea as chairman of the independent All-Russian Officers' Assembly.

'It proves that Russian patriots are not saliva-spraying people who beat the drum of war and pump up a military threat by massing troops and using threatening rhetoric, but those who care about the peaceful and prosperous development of cities, towns and villages of our country,' he said.

'Peace and prosperity to the people of Russia, not the satisfaction of the imperial lust of its leaders. This is a truly patriotic demand that unites honest and responsible people, albeit with different views.'

Savostyanov, who served in the Kremlin as deputy head of Boris Yeltsin's presidential administration from 1996 to 1998, holding a more senior position to Putin at the time, also said he backed Ivashov's demand for Putin's resignation.

The former chief sought the Russian presidency in 2000 when Putin - a previous head of the FSB - was first elected.

Ivashov published the open letter on the website of the All-Russian Officers' Assembly, calling on Putin to stop the invasion

Moscow has for weeks been massing tens of thousands of troops, tanks and artillery pieces along its eastern flank, sparking fears of an invasion, though the Kremlin has insisted it is merely a defence force (pictured, Russian forces currently massed in border regions)

A flotilla of six Russian landing ships, all part of Russia's Northern and Baltic Fleets, have made the tortuous journey around western Europe, through the Strait of Gibraltar and right across the Mediterranean.

They resupplied in Tartus, Syria and today have begun moving through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, reported by Interfax.

'The ships are making a planned transition from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, where they will take part in naval exercises,' it was reported.

'Currently, the crews of the large landing ships Korolev, Minsk and Kaliningrad are in the Dardanelles.

'The landing ships Pyotr Morgunov, Georgy Pobedonosets and Olenegorsky Miner will pass through the Black Sea straits over the next day,' the defence ministry statement said.

Yesterday it was announced that three more major warships of the Northern Fleet, the Marshal Ustinov missile cruiser, the Admiral Kasatonov frigate and a large anti-submarine ship, entered the Mediterranean Sea, were also passing Gibraltar.

Meanwhile, a detachment of ships from the Russian Pacific Fleet was also steaming through the Suez Canal en route to the Black Sea.

They included the flagship, missile cruiser Varyag, a large anti-submarine ship 'Admiral Tributs' and a large sea tanker 'Boris Butoma'.

They went on a long trip from Vladivostok in December 2021. The massive so-called Russian 'naval manoeuvres' will involve more than 140 ships and vessels, and over 10,000 military personnel.

A flotilla of six Russian landing ships, all part of Russia's Northern and Baltic Fleets, have made the tortuous journey around western Europe, through the Strait of Gibraltar and right across the Mediterranean

The ships (pictured the Korolev) resupplied in Tartus, Syria and today have begun moving through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, reported by Interfax

Three more major warships of the Northern Fleet, the Marshal Ustinov missile cruiser, the Admiral Kasatonov frigate and a large anti-submarine ship, entered the Mediterranean Sea, were also passing Gibraltar

The six ships, each capable of carrying ten main battle tanks and 300 troops, represent a dramatic shift in capability for Valdimir Putin's potential invasion force ringing Ukraine

The news came as Vladimir Putin began issuing veiled threats of nuclear war if Ukraine joined NATO and made a mockery of claims by French President Emmanuel Macron to have won concessions from the Russian leader.

French officials touted the talks as a success, claiming that Putin had promised not to 'escalate' his troop build-up.

But Putin was talking tough at a press conference, telling journalists that he wanted to 'stress one more time' that 'if Ukraine joins NATO... the European countries will be automatically pulled into a war conflict with Russia'.

Having met Macron across a ludicrously large table, Putin also joked that the Frenchman had been 'torturing me for six straight hours'.

He added: 'Do you understand it or not, that if Ukraine joins NATO and attempts to bring Crimea back by military means, the European countries will be automatically pulled into a war conflict with Russia?'

Putin warned: 'Of course the [military] potential of NATO and Russia are incomparable. We understand it.

'But we also understand that Russia is one of the leading nuclear states, and by some modern components it even outperforms many.

'There will be no winners. And you will be pulled into this conflict against your will.

'You won't even have time to blink your eye when you execute Article 5 (collective defence of NATO members).

'Mr President Macron, of course, doesn't want this. And I don't want it. And I don't want it.which is why he is here, torturing me for six straight hours.

Putin's comments came after lengthy negotiations with Macron (pictured, on February 7) over the crisis in Ukraine, which were described as 'constructive'
Europe should not be 'dragged' into following Washington and blocking the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine, France's finance minister has said.

Bruno Le Maire, speaking a day after Emmanuel Macron went to Moscow for talks with Putin, pointed out that Europe - which relies on Russia for gas and is in the midst of an energy crisis - will have to pay a much higher price than the US for opposing it.

Mr Maire's comments expose yet another split in the Western alliance trying to put on a united front against Russia, coming just a day after Joe Biden vowed to 'bring and end' to the pipe after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Bruno Le Maire, French finance minister, has said Europe should not be 'dragged' into sanctioning the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russian invades Ukraine

Putin has massed some 135,000 troops on Ukraine's border and issued a list of demands, amid warnings from Washington that he will attack (Ukrainian tanks, pictured)

Until Maire spoke up, it had largely been Scholz dragging his feet over whether or not the pipeline should be targeted.

Germany is hugely reliant on fossil fuels for energy and stands to be one of the main beneficiaries of the pipe, which runs direct from Russia to its soil.

Scholz, speaking in Washington yesterday, again refused to specifically state the pipe would be hit in the event of an attack - instead vowed 'unity' with America.

Despite Biden's insistence to the contrary, it is unclear what - if any - power he would have to stop the pipe if Germany refuses to play ball, since it is only waiting for Scholz's go-ahead to start pumping.

France, which gets most of its energy from nuclear power, has previously backed sanctions on the pipe - but Le Maire appeared to soften that stance today and align himself more closely with Scholz.

'The Americans will not have to bear the same consequences of a conflict in Ukraine as the Europeans, especially in terms of energy prices,' Le Maire told France Inter.

'Let us not be dragged by the Americans to a position that is not that of the Europeans.'

Le Maire also hailed Macron's decision to go to Russia and speak with Putin, despite little concrete progress being made.

'Thanks to [Macron], Europeans have an independent position in this Ukrainian crisis, with interests that are different from those of the Americans,' he said.

'We must be able to say this to our American allies in the clearest possible way: we have different interests from those of the United States.'

Macron, who is now in Kiev for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, has claimed that Putin pledged during their meeting not to escalate the situation around Ukraine any further.

But Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's chief spokesman, denied that account - saying no firm agreements had been made.

It echoes comments Putin himself made during a joint press conference the day before. While Macron was keen to hail renewed dialogue, the Russian strongman again accused the West of ignoring his demands.

The US has been sending military aid to Europe in an attempt to dissuade Putin from attacking, with a detachment of US troops pictured arriving in Poland today

One of Russia's largest landing ships is pictured sailing via Turkey to the Black Sea, amid fears it could be used in an invasion of southern Ukraine

Joe Biden has pledged 'we will stop' the Nord Stream 2 pipe if Russian attacks Ukraine, but has not said how he will make good on the threat

Putin has massed some 135,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, sparking warnings from Washington that an invasion could be imminent.

He has issued a list of demands - including that Ukraine be banned from joining NATO and that the alliance withdraw forces from ex-Soviet states - which have been dismissed as non-starters.

Talks are ongoing on other security issues, but Putin's inner circle have made it clear that progress will be limited if his main concerns are not addressed.

Macron said both Putin and Zelenskyy confirmed to him that they were willing to implement the so-called Minsk agreements aimed at ending the separatist conflict in the eastern Ukraine.

The 2015 peace deal is 'the only path allowing to build peace ... and find a sustainable political solution.'

Macron said the presidential advisers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine will meet Thursday in Berlin to discuss the next steps. Dialogue is the only way to ease tensions, yet 'It will take time to get results,' he said.

Western leaders in recent weeks have engaged in multiple rounds of diplomacy in the hope of de-escalating the tensions and preventing an attack.

High-level talks have taken place against the backdrop of military drills in Russia and Belarus. On Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said six large landing ships were moving from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea for exercises.

Macron said he did not expect Putin to make any 'gestures' on Monday, saying his objective was to 'prevent an escalation and open new perspectives. ... That objective is met.'

Macron said Putin 'set a collective trap' when he initiated the exchange of written documents with the U.S. Moscow submitted its demands to Washington in the form of draft agreements that were released to the public, and insisted on a written response, which was leaked to the press.

'In the history of diplomacy, there was never a crisis that has been settled by exchanges of letters which are to be made public afterward,' he said, adding that is why he decided to travel to Moscow for direct talks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Russia that an invasion of Ukraine will only make NATO stronger, but said he still believes 'principled and determined diplomacy' could defuse the crisis.

Le Maire spoke out a day after Macron travelled to Moscow for talks with Putin, though the French President's attempt at diplomacy was largely snubbed by the Russian strongman

Nord Stream 2 is a multi-billion dollar pipe designed to bring natural gas from Russia to Europe, which relies on imports for around 40 per cent of its needs

Writing in The Times, Johnson urged allies to finalize plans for heavy economic sanctions that would come into effect if Russia crosses the border into Ukraine.

He said the U.K. is ready to bolster NATO forces in Latvia and Estonia as he prepared to meet the Lithuanian prime minister in London on Tuesday to show support for the Baltic nations.

Johnson said he was considering dispatching RAF Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to southeastern Europe. Britain said Monday it is sending 350 troops to Poland to bolster NATO's eastern flank. It already has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.

More than 100 U.S. military personnel have arrived in Romania ahead of a deployment of about 1,000 NATO troops expected in the country in the coming days, Romania's Defense Minister Vasile Dincu said, adding that 'it won't be long before the rest of the troops arrive.'

U.S. officials have said that about 1,000 alliance troops will be sent from Germany to Romania, a NATO member since 2004. Romania borders Ukraine to the north. About 1,700 U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne are also going to Poland.

U.S. officials have portrayed the threat of an invasion of Ukraine as imminent - warnings Moscow has scoffed at, accusing Washington of fueling tensions.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east of the country.

The fighting between Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed over 14,000 people.

In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.

The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kyiv of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it would hurt Ukraine.

After meeting Macron, Putin said without elaboration that some of the French president's proposals could serve as a basis for a settlement of the separatist conflict, adding that they agreed to speak by phone after Macron's visit to Kyiv.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv was 'open to dialogue,' but would not cross its own 'red lines.'
A successful artist is seeking 33.6million in damages claiming he now paints too slowly after being run over by a stolen moped in central London - preventing him from creating 14 extra masterpieces per year.

Canadian Manuel Mathieu, 35, is bringing one of the biggest ever personal injury claims to the UK courts after he was hit by the vehicle, driven by Briton Tony Hinds, while studying for an art masters at Goldsmith College in November 2015.

Montreal-based Mr Mathieu, whose pieces have drawn comparisons with the legendary Francis Bacon, was left brain-damaged after the accident but recovered to forge a successful career in contemporary art.

But he is now suing Mr Hinds and insurers Aviva for lost earnings, claiming his injuries left him with chronic fatigue and headaches, arguing that had he not been struck, he would have been able to paint more quickly and would have made millions more by producing an extra 14 paintings per year.

The painter also claims his head injuries could lead to dementia in the long-term, hampering his ability to work into his latter years.

However lawyers for Aviva at the High Court in London today branded the claim 'extraordinary' and 'overstated', and suggested the collision had actually helped Mr Mathieu's career, citing interviews in which the artist discussed the 'positive impact of the accident' which 'influenced his subject matter.'

Canadian Manuel Mathieu (pictured), 35, is bringing one of the biggest ever personal injury claims to the UK courts after he was hit by the vehicle, driven by Briton Tony Hinds, while studying for an art masters at Goldsmith College in November 2015

They also argued that he often fails to sell a 'sizeable portion' of his work at events, undermining his claim that he could sell more works every year.

And while not disputing some liability, they are challenging the amount of the payout demanded, arguing the claim is 'inflated' and 'based on hypothetical guess work'.

Mr Mathieu's abstract figurative works have been exhibited in Canada and internationally, as well as at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Opening the case today, Theo Huckel QC, for Mr Mathieu, said Mathieu's stellar career had been badly impacted by his head injury, which has slowed down his work rate and his ability to turn out a steady volume of paintings.

Although still a successful artist, the accident caused problems with chronic fatigue and loss of concentration, making him far less prolific than he would have been, the QC said.

Mr Huckle told the court Mr Matthieu is suing 'on the basis that his productivity as an artist has been reduced due to chronic cognitive fatigue and headache caused by his agreed severe brain injury'.

Lawyers for Aviva at the High Court in London today suggested the collision had actually helped Mr Mathieu's career, citing interviews in which the artist discussed the 'positive impact of the accident' which 'influenced his subject matter.' (Pictured: Artwork by Manuel Mathieu)

Marcus Dignum - QC for insurers Aviva Plc - countered by labelling Mr Mathieu's compensation claim 'inflated' and out of proportion to the impact of the crash - even claiming that the accident had helped his career. (Pictured: Artwork by Mathieu)

He would have been churning out 14 more works a year had it not been for the accident, he said.

But Marcus Dignum - QC for insurers Aviva Plc - countered by labelling Mr Mathieu's compensation claim 'inflated' and out of proportion to the impact of the crash - even claiming that the accident had helped his career.

'This is an extraordinary claim for more than 33 million in respect of an alleged shortfall in the production of paintings,' he told the court.

'It is based on hypothetical guess work and has no sound evidential basis.

'Indeed, in all the disclosure to which it has given rise, the vast amount of which was opposed by Mr Mathieu, there is not one document that evidences any such shortfall.

'Never has Mr Mathieu been unable to produce that which he was required to by his gallerists or clients and a sizeable proportion of his work goes unsold in any event.

'Indeed, his evidence is that he has always met deadlines and produced sufficient work for exhibitions.'

The barrister accepted that Mr Mathieu's accident caused a brain injury resulting in 'some permanent deficits'.

But the artist had made an 'impressive recovery' which allowed him to claw back his career, said Mr Dignum.

Mr Mathieu's abstract figurative works have been exhibited in Canada and internationally, as well as at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts. (Pictured: Artwork by Manuel Mathieu)

There was no question of him being 'disabled', and the true value of his case was 'at best, a fraction of what has been claimed', he argued.

Nor did Mr Mathieu claim that his 'star shines less bright' due to the catastrophe, argued Mr Dignum - having even mentioned during interviews that the trauma of the accident had helped his creative spark.

'Mr Mathieu has given several interviews in which he speaks of the positive impact of the accident on his development as an artist and how it influenced his subject matter, which was then greeted with acclaim,' he said.

Mr Mathieu's claim for future loss of earnings based on the impact of the accident was too speculative, he argued.

'History is littered with artists who burned brightly for a period before fading into relative obscurity and successful as Mr Mathieu is, he still falls well short of the elite,' he told the judge, Mrs Justice Hill.

The insurers also argued that Mr Mathieu's fatigue was caused by 'lifestyle factors rather than the brain injury' and his headaches by a failure to 'seek appropriate prescribed medication'.

The case is one of the biggest personal injury claims in UK legal history - with the largest payout thought to be 37m won by a six-year-old boy who had been left severely disabled from birth.

Mrs Justice Hill is considering arguments at a High Court trial in London due to last about two weeks.

The trial continues.
Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as both Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama's White House physician, broke up furniture in an effort to defend the House chamber on January 6.

Jackson and his fellow GOP Reps. Tony Gonzales and Pat Fallon 'broke legs off chairs to use as clubs and ripped the base off a hand sanitizer dispenser stand to wield as a baton,' according to Jeremy Peters' new book, Insurgency.

'They picked up whatever furniture that wasn't bolted down - desks, cabinets, chairs - and piled it up in front of the doors,' Peters wrote.

Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as both Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama's White House physician, broke up furniture in an effort to defend the House chamber on January 6

In Jeremy Peters' new book, Insurgency, he writes that Jackson and two other GOP lawmakers 'broke legs off chairs to use as clubs and ripped the base off a hand sanitizer dispenser stand to wield as a baton,' to defend the Houes chamber on January 6 (pictured)

Lawmakers used furniture to barricade the doors of the House Chamber as the MAGA mob approached on January 6

Capitol Police drew their guns after the MAGA mob smashed a window of a door that led into the House Chamber

The lawmakers recalled hearing a man yell, 'This is our house!' from outside the chamber.

Another member of the MAGA mob smashed a window, sending shards of glass flying.

Capitol Police officers drew their guns, as the doors started buckling, Peters, a reporter for The New York Times, wrote.

'Jackson took off his necktie,' Peters wrote. 'If the mob did get inside, he told himself, it was best not to give them something to strangle you with.'

Jackson, Fallon and Gonzales had all served in the military.

Jackson's 'mind flashed to a war zone in the Middle East,' Peters said. 'This should not be happening in Washington, D.C., he thought.'

Earlier that day, Rep. Ronny Jackson had attended former President Donald Trump's 'stop the steal' rally on the Ellipse and said he was out there 'FIGHTING FOR TRUMP'

Rep. Ronny Jackson smiles for a photo taken at former President Donald Trump's rally on the Ellipse that happened in the run-up to the Capitol attack on January 6

'Gonzales had a similar disturbing thought: Wouldn't this be something? I fight in Iraq and Afghanistan just to be killed in the House of Representatives,' Peters wrote.

Earlier that day, Jackson - who launched a political career after having to pull out of the nomination process when Trump appointed him to head the Veterans Affairs department - attended the then-president's 'stop the steal' rally on the Ellipse.

'We're out here FIGHTING FOR TRUMP and for our election integrity! American Patriots have your BACK Mr. President! We will FIGHT for YOU and we will fight for OUR country!!' Jackson had tweeted that morning.

Even after the horrifying experience, Jackson and Fallon both cast yes votes after seven Republican senators objected to the election results in Pennsylvania, extending the joint session that had been interrupted by the Capitol attack into the early hours of January 7.

They were among the 138 Republican House members who voted in favor of Trump's version of events - that the election had been stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud - of which there's no evidence.
Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar ripped his colleague Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for campaigning for his primary challenger, calling her a 'far-left celebrity' who should take care of her own district.

Ocasio-Cortez, N.Y., is headed to Texas Saturday to campaign for two progressive House candidates - Jessica Cisneros, a Laredo immigration attorney is challenging Cuellar, and Greg Casar, who is running for the seat occupied by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. Doggett is running for another district.

'This election is taking place in the 28th Congressional District of Texas- not New York City,' Cuellar said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

'The voters will decide this election not far left celebrities who stand for defunding the police, open borders, eliminating oil & gas jobs, and raising taxes on hard working Texans,' he continued.

'Members should take care of their own district before taking failed ideas to South Texas.'

Cuellar, a moderate Democrat from Texas who has come after President Biden's immigration policies, is a favorite primary target of progressives

The primary is set for March 1.

Ocasio-Cortez's campaign called Cuellar an 'anti-choice Democrat' and tied him to Donald Trump in a campaign email last month.

Cuellar was the only Democrat to buck his party and vote against a reproductive rights bill that passed the House in September. The bill, which stalled in the Senate, would have banned a wide range of restrictions commonly used in red states.

'Its called conscience, ' he said. 'I am a Catholic, and I do believe in rights, right to life, and its just a conscious, sometimes people vote because of political, they think just because Democratic or Republican issue, for me its just a matter of conscience.'

Cuellar, the last anti-choice 'Democrat' in the House... had a 70% voting record of siding with Donald Trump" before Cisneros challenged him for the first time in 2020, Ocasio-Cortez's campaign team noted last month.

The Texas Democrat has also been a vociferous critic of President Biden's immigration policies.

Cuellar voted with President Trump's position 68.8% of the time in the 115th Congress (2018-2019), but only 11.4% of the time in the 116th Congress (2019-2020).

Ocasio-Cortez, N.Y., is headed to Texas Saturday to campaign for two progressive House candidates

Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration attorney, came within three percentage points of beating Cuellar in the 2020 primary, in one of the closest of that year

Cisneros, 28, came within three percentage points of beating Cuellar in the 2020 primary, in one of the closest of that year. Cuellar beat out his Republican opponent to win the general election with 58.3% of the vote.

And in a matter of unfortunate timing for Cuellar, the FBI conducted a raid on his home last month tied to a criminal investigation with business people from the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan.

It's still not clear whether Cuellar himself is a subject or target of the probe, and he has vowed to cooperate with any investigation.

The nine-term Democrat is co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, an obscure group dedicated to furthering relations with the oil-rich nation on the Caspian Sea.

In that role, Cuellar is known to have met repeatedly with Azerbaijan officials, including the country's ambassador to the US, Elin Suleymanov.

Azerbaijan has been harshly criticized in the past for bribing foreign officials and diplomats to secure its foreign policy aims and legitimize dubious election results.

The practice is so common in the country that it is known there as 'caviar diplomacy,' but it is unclear whether the FBI is investigating any similar allegations in relation to Cuellar.

FBI agents have been spotted conducting a 'court-authorized' investigation at the Texas home of United States Representative Henry Cuellar, who has vowed to cooperate fully

FBI agents load items including a computer from the home of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, into their vehicles on Wednesday

FBI agents load boxes, bins, bags and a computer from the home of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar into their vehicles in Laredo, Texas, on Wednesday

Federal agents were seen inside and around Cuellar's mansion in Laredo (above in a file photo) on Wednesday, where they took photos of trucks parked in the circular drive out front

Despite the ongoing investigation, Cuellar said he expects to win his primary.

'There is an ongoing investigation that will show there was no wrongdoing on my part,' he said in a video posted to Twitter. 'I am fully cooperating with law enforcement and committed to ensuring that justice and the law is upheld.'

'As an attorney, I know firsthand that the legal system is a pillar of our democracy.'

'Let me be clear: I'm running for re-election and I intend to win,' Cuellar added.

'I pride myself on being your congressman and always doing things honestly ethically and in the right way,' the congressman said. 'Nothing can distract me from being laser-focused on getting the job done for you and south Texas the way I always have.'
The famous 'magnificent five' cheetah pack's dominance has come to a deadly end in Kenya after they killed their leader.

The Tano Bora all-male pack moved ruthlessly against their kingpin Olpadan, ending one of the most extraordinary coalitions in the Masai Mara nature reserve.

The body of former leader Olpadan was discovered by a wildlife photographer last month, who said the cheetah's four former mates were seen fleeing the site.

Olpadan's death came after he formed a new coalition with a younger cheetah, becoming the 'competitor' of his former pack, the photographer said.

The Tano Bora all-male pack (pictured) moved ruthlessly against their kingpin Olpadan, ending one of the most extraordinary partnerships in the Masai Mara nature reserve

The Great Swim, a magnificent photograph taken by Buddhilini de Soyza, shows the group swimming through the raging Talek River

The 'magnificent five' was made up of two brothers from one family and three from another, who are believed to be around six years old.

The pack of the fastest land mammals left observers fascinated with their unusual behaviour, according to The Australian.

The rare partnership challenged established assumptions about behaviour and relationships of the large African cats, which are typically seen alone, or at the most in a pair.

The five-strong pack's dominance over territory and rivals across the national park, which is situated along Kenya's Tanzanian border, attracted photographers to the area and snaps of the animals in action have won awards.

The Great Swim, a magnificent photograph taken by Buddhilini de Soyza, shows the group battling their way through the raging Talek River. The picture was highly commended in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.

A photographer said the leader's death came after he broke off from the group and formed a new coalition with a younger cheetah, becoming the 'competitor' of his former mates

The 'magnificent five' was made up of two brothers from one family and three from another, who are believed to be around six years old

Their rare partnership (pictured) challenged established assumptions about behaviour and relationships of the large African cats, which are typically seen alone, or at the most in a pair

Wildlife photographer Jeffrey Wu discovered Olpadan's carcass near to the Talek River and said he found his former mates running away with 'bloody paws'.

Sharing the news on Instagram, he said: 'We found Olpadan's body near Talek river on Olkiombo sid, multiple wounds were all over its body, sadly he was attacked and killed by four former mates of Tano Bora.

'We found four remaining cheetahs distressed, running from the site of the body, jumped over Talek back to the reserve side, with bloody paws.'

Wu said the attack came after the leader broke off from the group and formed a new coalition with a younger cheetah, becoming the 'competitor' of his four former mates.

Wu added that male cheetahs will not tolerate other men in their area, even if it is a 'former mate of the group'.

Rangers at the 60-year-old park are said to be monitoring the dynamics of the renamed Nne Bora, or magnificent four, which remains the largest known cheetah coalition, chief warden James Sindiyo said.
A juror who helped seal Scott Peterson's fate during his 2004 murder trial will be granted immunity in exchange for testifying that she'd previously been assaulted by a boyfriend while pregnant.

Immunity will be offered to juror number seven, Richelle Nice, ahead of a February 27 evidentiary hearing, Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager announced Monday. Her testimony could determine whether Peterson, 49, is granted a new trial.

Peterson's defense attorneys have argued that Nice - known as Strawberry Shortcake due to her bright red hair - conducted juror misconduct by failing to disclose that she was a domestic abuse victim in 2001.

'I dont think you can make a cogent argument that somebody who is pregnant and has been the victim of violence can go into a trial and at the very least not feel some bias towards a circumstance where a victim is a pregnant woman who basically had violence occur,' Petersons lawyer Pat Harris told KTLA.

Nice also allegedly wrote letters to Peterson while he was in jail, asking him to confess to the murder of his pregnant wife.

She has denied intentionally misleading the court, and told a local media outlet in 2007: ''I did not lie to get on this trial to fry Scott.'

Richelle Nice, a juror in Scott Peterson's original trial, did not disclose the fact she was beaten while pregnant by a boyfriend in 2001, and Peterson's lawyers believe that omission might have compromised the verdict. She's pictured in the Old San Mateo County Courthouse in Redwood, California on December 13, 2004

Peterson was convicted in 2004 for the 2002 murder of his wife, Laci, and their unborn soon Conner. He was resentenced to life in prison last December. He's pictured in Stanislaus Superior Court on May 5, 2003

Peterson was sentenced to death in 2005 for the 2002 murder of his wife, Laci, and unborn son, Connor. He was last December re-sentenced to life without parole.

Laci vanished from their home in Modesto, California while pregnant on Christmas Eve 2002.

The 27-year-old's corpse was found floating in San Francisco Bay in April 2003, with Connor's fetus found to have been mutilated.

Investigators said Peterson took the bodies from their home and dumped them from his fishing boat.

Connor would have been 18-years-old today.

Jurors in his high-profile trial heard how he had a masseuse mistress named Aber Frey, who did not realize he was married when they initially began dating. She testified against him during the trial.

He is also said to have dreaded becoming a father.

Peterson maintains his innocence, and claims Laci was killed after disturbing a burglary.

'He's innocent,' his defense attorney Harris previously said. 'It's time to get him out.'

Peterson's pregnant wife Laci (pictured) vanished on Christmas Eve 2002 and was discovered months later floating in the San Francisco Bay. The mutilated corpse of their unborn son was also recovered

The jury heard how Peterson was having an affair with masseuse Amber Frey (pictured), who initially wasn't aware that he was married. She took the stand to testify against him during the high-profile trial

Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo in December re-sentenced Peterson to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Laci's murder, and 15 years to life to be served concurrently to his other sentence. He had been denied bail ahead of the re-sentencing trial at the San Mateo County Courthouse.

Laci's mother Sharon Rocha, half-sister Amy Rocha and brother Brent Rocha spoke in court on Wednesday addressing Peterson directly in their emotional testimonies.

'You betrayed her, your son and everyone else,' Sharon said.

The family made it clear that while they believe Peterson deserves to be put to death, they decided not to seek the death penalty again to refrain from putting themselves through another grueling trial.

Amy broke down in tears as she questioned how Peterson continues to live after his heartbreaking crime. Brent shed tears as he insisted the family has been 'devastated and traumatized' by his crimes and wishes he receives the 'most severe sentence possible.'

A Superior Court judge in December re-sentenced Peterson to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Laci's murder, and 15 years to life to be served concurrently to his other sentence. He's pictured at San Mateo County Superior Court on December 8, 2021

Juror Nice also allegedly wrote letters to Peterson while he was in jail, asking him to confess to the murder of his pregnant wife. She's pictured February 25, 2005

Peterson, his hair visibly greying, sat in a red jumpsuit never appearing to express any reaction or emotion as the hearing and testimonies proceeded. He wore a white face mask.

'No matter what happens, no matter what transpires in the future, there were two things that will never change: Laci and Conner will always be dead and you will always be their murderer,' Sharon said through tears as she addressed Peterson in court on Wednesday.

In a press conference after the hearing, Peterson's attorney Pat Harris claimed that the District Attorney's Office and others have been working to 'demonize' his client ahead of a potential re-trial.

His sister-in-law Janey Peterson also spoke at the press conference saying: 'Our family is in this for the long haul, we will be here in two months, we look forward to Scott being granted a new trial and when he is, we're going to show that he is innocent.'
Nicholas Pagano, 31, was wanted on charges of attempted murder, aggravated arson, assault, and unlawful weapons possession, before being found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot on Tuesday

A male contract nurse at a New Jersey hospital was found dead by apparent suicide after he set a female staffer on fire and hit her in the head with a wrench in a break room on Monday following an argument, police said.

Nicholas Pagano, 31, is believed to have stolen a gun from his brother before shooting himself in Winslow Township, law enforcement sources said. His body was found on Tuesday morning in Winslow.

Pagano, a travel nurse who was hired after being recruited through a staffing company, had worked at Hackensack University Medical Center on a contractual basis since November of last year. He had been registered as a nurse since 2016.

Just after 5 a.m. Monday, police said, he allegedly went into one of the hospital's breakrooms and attacked a 54-year-old female employee with a plumber's wrench before setting her ablaze, apparently with a culinary torch, according to NBC New York.

His unidentified victim - a patient care technician (PCT) - suffered third-degree burns to her upper body and lower face, as well as lacerations to her head that required stitches, hospital officials said.

She is critical but stable after being brought to St Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.

After the incident, Pagano fled from the hospital in a 1998 white Jeep Cherokee, and was at large until he was found dead this morning. He was wanted on charges of attempted murder, aggravated arson, aggravated assault and unlawful weapons possession.

Police still do not know the motive for the attack.

Pagano fled from the hospital in a 1998 white Jeep Cherokee after setting a 54-year-old patient care technician on fire with a culinary torch and beating her with a wrench on Monday morning

The suspect was working at Hackensack University Medical Center since November. Police still do not know what the motive was for the attack

Dailymail.com contacted the Hackensack Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Both offices are still investigating, and did not want to provide additional information on the victim.

'Violence will not be tolerated in our network,' a hospital spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

'Our doctors, nurses and teams are true heroes and deserve our respect. The safety of our patients and our team members is Hackensack Meridian Health's highest priority.'

Travel nurses typically work shifts at different hospitals, and are not considered full-time employees. They go through an extensive background and reference check. A PCT usually works alongside a registered nurse.

Pagano was hired as the state's hospital workers were infected with the Delta and Omicron COVID variants.

Statewide, a record 586 health-care workers reported infections between Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to NorthJersey.com.

Additional security has been added at the HUMC campus. Hospital employees were informed of the attack Monday.
Authorities have arrested Amir Locke's 17-year-old cousin in connection with the homicide investigation that led police to the Minneapolis apartment where a SWAT team officer fatally shot Locke while conducting a no-knock search warrant.

Mehki Camden Speed was charged Tuesday with two counts of second-degree murder in the January 10 killing of Otis Elder and was expected to make his initial court appearance in juvenile court, police said.

When authorities arrested Speed in Winona on Monday, he attempted to run away, but was stopped when an officer grabbed his jacket. According to the charging document, he had a loaded gun in his jacket and has refused to talk to investigators.

Prosecutors have filed a motion to have Speed tried as an adult, which would be up to a judge. Under Minnesota law, it's presumed a child will face trial as an adult if they are 16 or older and the alleged crime would result in a prison sentence or was a felony involving a firearm.

It was not immediately clear if Speed had an attorney. His mother did not immediately reply to a message sent over social media, and a message left at a phone number believed to be hers was not returned.

Mehki Camden Speed is accused of fatally shooting Otis Elder, 38, (pictured) while riding around downtown Minneapolis in a stolen car on January 10

Graphic bodycam footage shows Minneapolis police enter 22-year-old Amir Locke's (pictured) apartment while executing a search warrant for his cousin in a homicide investigation

Speed, the cousin of Amir Locke, was arrested and charged Tuesday with two counts of second-degree murder (Pictured: A protester holds a sign demanding justice for Amir Locke at a student walkout at St. Paul Central high school on Tuesday)

Minneapolis police did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com.

Elder, a 38-year-old father of two, was found shot and laying in the street on January 10. Paramedics gave him medical aid and took him to Regions Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A motive for his killing was not immediately known.

Elder's best friend was at the scene when he heard the shooting. He claims she does not know who would have shot him saying Elder 'did not have a problem with anyone,' according to the Star Tribune.

Another man who told police he was on the phone with Elder at the time of the shooting said 'it sounded like Elder was conducting a drug transaction [and] the phone call then abruptly ended.'

Three weeks after Edler's death, Locke was shot dead by police early Wednesday morning when police used a no-knock warrant to enter the apartment where he was sleeping as the SWAT team searched for Speed.

Locke's death has sparked protests, with hundreds of people turning out for a rally Saturday in downtown Minneapolis and students in area high schools planning a walkout Tuesday, and an immediate reexamination of no-knock arrest warrants.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey last week announced a moratorium on such warrants while the city brings in outside experts to study its policy. Some state lawmakers are pushing for a statewide ban except in rare circumstances.

St. Paul police had obtained search warrants as part of their investigation into Elder's death, including a warrant for the downtown Minneapolis apartment where Locke's family said he had been staying.

Minneapolis Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman has said her department had both warrants that would have required authorities to knock and not knock. Huffman has said that Locke was not named in the search warrants.

A Minneapolis SWAT team entered the unit without knocking on February 2. Body camera video shows an officer using a key to unlock the door and enter, followed by at least four officers in uniform and protective vests, around 6:48 am.

As they enter, they repeatedly shout, 'Police, search warrant!' They also shout 'Hands!' and 'Get on the ground!'

Locke was shot and killed by police on February 2 after Minneapolis police entered an apartment with a no-knock warrant

Minneapolis Police Department bodycam footage shows, 22-year-old Amir Locke wrapped in a blanket on a couch holding a gun moments before he was fatally shot by police

The video shows an officer kick a sectional sofa, and Locke is seen wrapped in a comforter, holding a pistol. Three shots are heard, and the video ends.

The city also released a still image from the video showing Locke holding the gun, his trigger finger along the side of the barrel.

Minneapolis police have said that Locke was shot after he pointed his gun in the direction of officers, but Locke's family has questioned that.

The Locke family's attorney, Ben Crump, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the charges against Locke's cousin.

A charging document filed Tuesday against Speed says police used surveillance videos to connect him to Elder's shooting near Prior Avenue North and Oakley Avenue after a witness told police that a silver Mercedes-Benz had fled the scene.

Investigators shared the security footage with a Hennepin County official who recognized Speed because he was on probation, according to the charges.

The document said video showed the Mercedes parked near Elder's vehicle, with two males getting out and approaching - one entering the passenger side and the other standing outside the driver's door.

'This male stepped back and a loud gunshot was heard,' the document says.

Surveillance video allowed police to track the Mercedes, which had been stolen, to the Bolero Flats apartment building, where three males - including two who were believed to be at the scene of Elder's shooting - were seen getting out. Speed was identified as being on the video.

Witnesses said he lived with his mother in Apartment 1402, and also has a key to 701 - where his brother lives and where Locke was shot by police, according to the document. Another person who was identified on the surveillance video was associated with apartment 1403, prosecutors said.

Additional surveillance video shows four males, including Speed, leaving the Mercedes at a nearby downtown parking ramp early on January 11 - just hours after Elder was killed, the charging document says. The Mercedes was not found until 10 days later.

Police had search warrants for apartment 701, 1402 and 1403, the charging petition said. They also had 'probable cause pick up and holds' to arrest Speed and two others for murder and for aiding an offender afterward.

Police were searching for Speed when they shot and killed Locke while sleeping (Pictured: People march at a rally for Amir Locke on Saturday)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey last week announced a moratorium on no-knock warrants (Pictured: Andre Locke, the father of Amir Locke, speaks at a rally for his son on Saturday)

St. Paul police said the warrants that led to the search of the downtown Minneapolis apartment will likely be unsealed after charges are filed.

An incident detail report from the Minneapolis Police Department shows officers considered this a 'high risk warrant entry,' but it doesn't detail why. Speed's brother, Marlon Cornelius Speed, lives in apartment 701 and was there on the night Locke was killed, the charging document says.

Marlon Speed pleaded guilty in 2019 to one misdemeanor count of obstructing the legal process and interfering with an officer in connection with a 2018 traffic stop in which he allegedly threatened to spit on and beat up an officer.

The officer's hand was injured in a struggle. Last November, Marlon Speed was charged with domestic assault by strangulation for an incident in which he allegedly choked his sister after she tried to intervene when he hit his girlfriend with a belt. That case against Marlon Speed is pending.

The Associated Press could not find a contact number for Marlon Speed, and it was not clear if he has an attorney representing him in connection with the SWAT search.
Farmers have slammed changes to the Countryside Code telling them to make rights of way more accessible, use clearer signage and swap stiles for self-closing gates.

New guidance, published today by Natural England, aims to ensure 'visitors to the countryside can enjoy it in a responsible way'.

It includes advice for farmers on making rights of way more accessible for ramblers amid a recent increase in the numbers of visitors to rural areas, as well as guidance on reporting antisocial behaviour and livestock worrying.

Landowners have also been recommended to add self-closing gates instead of stiles, a step to help scale a fence, in order to assist visitors.

The code was updated for the first time in a decade in April last year in response to an increase in litter and dogs worrying livestock as the number of people visiting the countryside soared over lockdown.

Today's changes aim to help 'avoid damage to property, livestock and wider anti-social behaviour'.

However, the new guidance has instead stoked fears of the countryside turning into 'a free-for-all for ramblers'.

Farmers have also said it should be 'up to them what works best for their farm'.

Sarah Lee, Director of Policy at the Countryside Alliance, said the updated code has 'put an onus on landowners', rather than ramblers, and pointed to concerns over the cost for farmers.

She added: 'The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns lead to more people getting out and enjoying the countryside which was welcome.

'However, sadly, there were numerous reports of littering in beauty spots and livestock being spooked by dogs off the lead which in turn, could have heightened anxiety among some living and working in the countryside. Reminders of responsible access are, therefore, always welcome.

Updated guidance to the Countryside Code aims to ensure 'visitors to the countryside can enjoy it in a responsible way'

Littering increased during the pandemic as visitors flocked to rural areas to enjoy the countryside in lockdown. Pictured: Litter at Highcliffe Beach

Litter on the Formby Beach sand dunes in Liverpool during lockdown as ramblers flocked to the countryside

National Trust rangers and volunteers clear a mountain of rubbish dumped in a stream on Marsden Moore

A huge amount of litter dumped in the historic Welsh countryside of Gelligaer Common

The key changes to the Countryside Code announced today New guidance has been issued for land managers 'to help the public enjoy the countryside responsibly'. It includes: New guidance on keeping rights of way usable, with recommendations on cutting back vegetation and keeping public waterways clear Instructions on where visitors can walk freely Guidance on reporting anti-social behaviour, fly tipping and noise disturbances Guidance on managing and protecting livestock Advertisement

'This new guidance for landowners provides many welcome additions, such as advice on reporting anti-social behaviour and how to report fly-tipping, however, it also puts an onus on landowners to replace stiles with gates.

'Stiles have multiple uses from providing a stock proof barrier while allowing people to move freely and it should be up to individual farmers what works best for their farm while welcoming visitors.

'We would also be concerned over the cost to the farmer of changing field access points. It might be the case that money will be available through the new farming schemes to make land more accessible, but that is not clear at this stage.

'It is important to remind visitors that each of us have a personal responsibility to abide by rights of way and respect that the countryside is a full time place of work for many.

Stuart Roberts, deputy president of of the National Farmers' Union, also said the refresh was needed to address issues over visitors 'ensuring dogs are under control and dog waste is binned'.

He said: 'Its important to ensure everyone who visits the countryside is provided with greater awareness of the need to keep safe and responsible as well as the role farming plays in shaping our much-loved working farmed landscapes.

'The NFU has been working closely with Defra and Natural England on a refresh of the guidance for farmers and land managers to bring the Code up to date and help address an increase in access-related issues such as keeping to public rights of way, ensuring dogs are under control and dog waste is binned.

'The new guidance will help to ensure that the modern-day rights of way network benefits both farmers and the public.'

It comes as one landowner was hauled before a court last week after using razor wire and chains to stop walkers using a public footpath near her home.

Frances Payne, 56, became embroiled in the bizarre row with ramblers whom she accused of causing 'constant' problems such as taking drugs, assaults, thefts and vandalism on a beauty spot in Evesham, Worcestershire.

Under the new guidance, landowners have now been given recommendations on making rights of way more accessible for ramblers, including adding self-closing gates instead of stiles.

Marian Spain, chief executive of Natural England, said: 'This refreshed advice for land managers has never been more important in helping to ensure we work together to protect our outdoor spaces.

'I urge all land managers to follow this new advice and continue to help make nature accessible to everyone.'
Republican House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik hinted Tuesday that Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger won't be officially kicked out of the House GOP caucus after they were censured by the Republican National Committee.

'The RNC has every right to take any action and the position that I have is that you're ultimately held accountable to voters in your district, voters who you represent,' Stefanik said at a press conference Tuesday morning. 'And we're going to hear the feedback and the views of voters pretty quickly this year.'

The RNC censured Cheney and Kinzinger on Friday over their work with the Democrat-led House January 6 committee.

That censure by the national political party has no weight on Capitol Hill unless House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other House GOP leaders decide to take action to push Cheney and Kinzinger out of the caucus.

Asked if further punishment had been discussed at a Tuesday morning gathering, Stefanik said, 'It did not come up today in our conference meeting.'

Cheney previously was penalized by House Republicans for anti-Trump statements by getting pushed from her No. 3 leadership position, with Stefanik taking her place.

She's attracted a pro-Trump primary opponent, while Kinzinger has already announced he won't run for another term.

Republican House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik hinted Tuesday that Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger won't be officially kicked out of the House GOP caucus after they were censured by the Republican National Committee

The Republican National Committee passed a resolution Friday to censure GOP Reps. Liz Cheney (left) and Adam Kinzinger (right) for their involvement in the January 6 select committee

On Friday, the RNC membership adopted by voice vote a censure resolution at the RNC's winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utha. Several RNC members voted nay, but they were in the minority.

'Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol. That's why Republican National Committee members and myself overwhelmingly support this resolution,' RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement Friday.

The 'legitimate political discourse' line in the censure document received widespread condemnation, despite McDaniel's effort to clarify it.

Cheney tweeted shortly after the vote: 'This was January 6th. This is not "legitimate political discourse,"' she said, sharing video of members of the MAGA mob attacking the U.S. Capitol.

Asked about that phrasing Tuesday, Stefanik said Republicans condemned the violence and then tried to draw a distinction with Democrats.

'As Republicans have been very clear, we condemn the violence on January 6 - we also condemn the violence on 2020 as violent criminals attacked federal buildings, including parts of Washington, D.C.,' Stefanik said, referring to damage from the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day of 2020.

'So we have been clear in that condemnation, House Democrats did not condemn the violence that happened all of 2020,' she said.

Stefanik also said the January 6 committee was 'political theater' with the aim of 'punishing partisan opponents,' and not getting to the root of the problem, which she said was ensureing the 'Capitol complex is safe.'

When asked if the 'legitimate political discourse' phrasing could spell political trouble for the Republicans - who look poised to take back control of at least the House - Stefanik merely repeated her line about the Democrats not condemning BLM violence, but the Republicans already condemning January 6.

A copy of the resolution passed Friday by the Republican National Committee to censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and pull their party support

RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel sent out a statement saying she supported the membership's decision. She's pictured addressing the winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the vote took place

The censure resolution claimed that Cheney and Kinzinger are helping the Democrats maintain their Congressional majority by working with the House select committee.

'The Conference must not be sabotaged by Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who have demonstrated, with actions and words, that they support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022,' the resolution said.

It said the RNC will 'immediately cease any and all support' of Cheney and Kinzinger, adding that the party denounces 'those who deliberately jeopardize victory in November.' Kinzinger isn't running for re-election, but Cheney has attracted a pro-Trump challenger.

The initial draft, obtained by the AP, accused Cheney and Kinzinger of serving as 'pawns to parrot Democrat talking points' on the House select committee.

It also chided them for 'pursuing what amounts to a third political impeachment of President Trump.'

The RNC, the political arm of the Republican Party, can't compel the House GOP, under the leadership of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, to punish Cheney and Kinzinger.

On Thursday, the defiant duo vowed to fight former President Donald Trump's lies after the resolution passed out of committee.

'The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of whome have been charged with seditious conspiracy,' Cheney said.

In a series of tweets, Rep. Liz Cheney said the leaders of the Republican Party 'have made themselves willing hostages' to former President Donald Trump

Rep. Adam Kinzinger sang a similar tune saying members of the GOP 'allowed conspiracies and toxic tribalism hinder their ability to see clear-eyed'

'I'm a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump,' the Wyoming lawmaker added. 'History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.'

Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who will retire at the end of this term in lieu of facing a MAGA-backed primary opponent, echoed the sentiment.

'I've been a member of the Repubilcan Party long before Donald Trump entered the field,' he said, adding that his 'core beliefs' have not changed.

'Rather than focus their efforts on how to help the American people, my fellow Republicans have chosen to censure to lifelong Members of their party for simply upholding their oaths of office,' Kinzinger continued. 'They've allowed conspiracies and toxic tribalism hinder their ability to see clear-eyed.'

'My efforts will continue to be focused on standing up for truth and working to fight the political matrix that's led us to this point,' Kinzinger added.

The resolution that passed Thursday through an RNC subcommittee is a watered-down version, according to the Associated Press.

The original version would have called on the House Republican Conference to oust Cheney and Kinzinger, the only two Republicans serving on the January 6 House select committee, which was formed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat, after the Senate Republican Leader MitchMcConnell tanked a bill that formed a 9/11-style bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol attack.

The subcommittee debated the censure motion for hours.

'We want to send a message that we're disapproving of their conduct. Its a middle ground,' RNC member Harmeet Dhillon told the Associated Press, 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.

Sen. Mitt Romney, one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial, suggested the RNC's actions were shameful in a Friday tweet

Sen. Bill Cassidy, who also voted to convict Trump, was dismayed at the RNC's decision to censure the two Republican lawmakers

Two Republicans who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment, over inciting the January 6 insurrection, lambasted the party for making the move.

Sen. Mitt Romney tweeted, '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,' the Utah Republican said.

Romney's niece is Chairwoman McDaniel.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy indicated he was perplexed by the committee's decision.

'The RNC is censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because they are trying to find out what happened on January 6th - HUH?' Cassidy tweeted.

Additionally, Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw told The New York Times he thought the censure was 'dumb stuff.'

The phrase 'legitimate political discourse' rattled Republican Sen. Ben Sasse.

'January 6th was not "legitimate political discourse" and I'll say it again: It was shameful mob violence to disrupt a constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress to affirm the peaceful transfer of power,' he said, according to the National Review.

McCarthy, the House's GOP leader, was asked about the decision Friday afternoon on Fox.

'Look, there is a reason why Adam is quitting. There's a reason why Liz Cheney is no longer in leadership and has very low poll rating in Wyoming,' McCarthy replied.

He said the January 6 panel was a 'pure political committee,' bringing up how several Congressional Democrats who served on the committee were upset Jeff Zucker resigned from CNN.

'I think those two individuals would have a hard time ever coming back to Congress,' McCarthy again said of Kinzinger and Cheney.
Iran's supreme leader on Tuesday accused Presidents Biden and Trump of tarnishing the image of the United States as talks resumed in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.

'These days, the U.S. is being hit in ways it never computed,' said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.

'The two American presidents - the current and former heads of state - have joined hands to tarnish the image of the United States.'

He offered no further explanation but it marked an unusually direct criticism of U.S. president.

Iranian figures have repeatedly accused the U.S. of being untrustworthy after Trump in 2018 withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 agreement that lifted sanctions in return for limits on Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Joe Biden and Donald Trump of damaging the reputation of the United States in a rare direct criticism of U.S. presidents

Khamanei took a swipe at Presidents Biden and Trump even as nuclear talks resumed in Vienna. Trump withdrew the U.S. From the 2015 nuclear deal but Biden has signaled a return

Barbara Slavin, director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council, pointed out that Khamenei was speaking during the anniversary of the country's Islamic revolution.

'It's a case of wanting to look tough and say that nothing has changed,' she said, even as all the signs suggested Iran was moving towards doing a deal with the U.S. - or 'the Great Satan.'

Meanwhile negotiators from Iran and the remaining parties to the agreement - Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - resumed talks after a week's pause for consultations in their home capitals.

American negotiators have taken part indirectly, with messages carried back and forth to their meeting room.

Iran and the U.S. have moved closer since the eighth round of talks began in November but roadblocks remain, including what sanctions Washington must lift.

Officials believe talks are entering a crucial final phase but have offered no timeline for how long they might last.

Analysts say Iranian officials are signaling they are ready to begin direct talks and have started to move domestic public opinion towards the idea of a deal.

For his part, Biden has indicated he wants to rejoin the deal but his negotiating team was hit by the recent departure of a senior figure who believed a tougher stance was needed.

Talks resumed at the Hotel Paris Coburg, in Vienna, on Tuesday. Negotiators retuned after a week's break to allow them to return home to confer with their governments

A State Department official confirmed to DailyMail.com that Richard Nephew had left his role as deputy special envoy for Iran. He reportedly quit because he disagreed with Washington's policy of seeking a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran

Richard Nephew stepped down as deputy special envoy for Iran, after reportedly wanting to pursue a new deal rather than returning to the 2015 agreement.

Under the terms of the 2015 J.C.P.O.A, sanctions were lifted in return for limits on Iran's nuclear program.

However, American conservatives frequently expressed their opposition to the deal. They said Iran frequently breached the spirit of the agreement, sowing unrest in the Middle East and continuing to develop rocket technology.

They also expressed concerns about sunset clauses, which meant some nuclear restrictions expired after eight, 10 and 15 years.

It meant Iran would eventually be able to build up its uranium enrichment capability and reduce the time needed to build nuclear weapons.

As a result, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, reimposing sanctions and freeing Iran to begin enhancing uranium production.
Awkward video footage shows the moment Lithuania's Prime Minister almost met with Rishi Sunak rather than Boris Johnson after accidentally stepping past the iconic door to 10 Downing Street.

Ingrida Simonyte, 47, was warmly welcomed by the media as she arrived in London on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

But she was forced to double take after missing the front door to the Prime Minister's office at No 10 as she marched briskly down Downing Street.

As she shuffles backwards, a clearly jovial Mr Johnson emerges from the front door and greets the Lithuanian premier, who shares a smile too.

The PM kept smiling despite being met with a barrage of hecklers, one of whom asked him: 'Your words have consequences Prime Minister, is it time to apologise?'

That barb was a reference to Mr Johnson's comments about Sir Keir Starmer, which some critics claimed led to the Labour leader being targeted by protestors outside Parliament yesterday.

Lithuania's leader Ingrida Simonyte, 47, was forced to double take after missing the iconic front door to 10 Downing Street as she marched briskly on Tuesday morning

Ms Simonyte can be seen smiling as she strolls towards No 11 Downing Street, rather than her scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson at No 10

But she pauses and awkwardly shuffles backwards after realising her mistake, as Mr Johnson emerges from the door

Dramatic footage showed Starmer being shouted at as he walked in Westminster after leaving New Scotland Yard while surrounded by police officers shortly before 5pm.

He was then led into the back of a car as the protesters continued to swarm around him whilst shouting about Jimmy Savile, hurling baseless allegations about him 'protecting paedophiles' and also branding him a 'traitor'.

The protesters included anti-vaccine activist Piers Corbyn, who was earlier seen whipping up the crowds after they descended on London on Monday in support of a variety of causes - including Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' of truck drivers in Ottawa.

The Lithuanian premier arrived in London on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia with Mr Johnson

In her meeting with Mr Johnson, the two leaders discussed their shared history, strengthening trade between the two nations and the condemned the impact a Russian invasion would have on Eastern Europe

Ms Simonyte, who has been Lithuania's leader since December 2020, was also given a brief tour of 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning.

In her meeting with Mr Johnson, the pair discussed their countries' shared history, strengthening trade between the two nations and condemned the impact any Russian invasion would have on Eastern Europe.

Mr Johnson stated the UK would stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with Lithuania and its other Nato allies amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

'We are closer than ever before, I think it's fair to say. We see eye to eye on a lot of very important matters,' he said.

Ms Simonyte said this is 'crucial' because 'the times are, so to say, not the calmest', to which Mr Johnson agreed: 'They're not calm.'

The Lithuanian PM added: 'It's very to good to know that, you know, we have a very strong partner and friend and at least that we are together, like Nato and others, and I think it's extremely good what you are doing on Ukraine.'

Mr Johnson responded: 'We're shoulder to shoulder with you and all our Nato allies and we want to make clear that we support you we support you when it comes to the immigration issues in Belarus and all the questions that we're now facing.

Western intelligence assessments also believe Kyiv's government would fall within days and lead to a humanitarian crisis involving around 5million refugees. (Pictured: Military helicopters take part in the Belarusian and Russian joint military drills at Brestsky firing range on Friday)

US military and intelligence officials believe Russia is set to run a major nuclear weapons exercise in the coming weeks as a warning to Nato not to intervene in the event of Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine

The meeting comes as US intelligence officials warned Russia was likely '70 per cent ready' to invade Ukraine.

New reports say Moscow has assembled almost three quarters of the necessary military firepower it would need for a full-scale February invasion of Ukraine.

Western intelligence assessments believe Kyiv's government could fall within two days of an invasion and lead to a humanitarian crisis involving around 5million refugees and more than 50,000 civilian casualties

An estimated 100,000 troops have amassed near Ukraine in recent months, but despite repeated calls to pull back, the Kremlin has responded by saying it will station troops wherever it needs to on the Russian territory. in recent months.

Putin has continued to deny 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.

He also wants them to roll back the alliance deployments to Eastern Europe - all demands which have been flatly rejected by the international community.
A wild crocodile that had a tyre stuck around its neck for six years has finally been free by a heroic Indonesian villager who lured it into a trap.

Officials and local residents confirmed on Tuesday the beast had been freed from its rubber vice and released back into the wild.

Conservation workers have been trying to lure the stricken saltwater crocodile from a river since 2016 after residents of Palu city on Sulawesi island spotted the animal with a motorbike tyre wrapped around its neck.

But it was a local resident who snared the 17 foot long reptile, who was regularly seen sunbathing in the Palu river in Central Sulawesi, from its tight squeeze late on Monday, with pictures capturing the daring rescue.

Tili, a 34-year-old bird-seller, used chicken as bait and ropes to catch the animal at the end of what he said was a three-week rescue effort, before dozens of locals helped to drag the crocodile to shore and cut the tyre around its neck.

Pictured: Locals prepare to release a wild crocodile back to the river after removing a tyre from its neck, in Palu, Central Sulawesi province, Indonesia, February 7, 2022

'I just wanted to help, I hate seeing animals trapped and suffering,' Tili, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, told AFP news agency in Tuesday.

His first two attempts to rescue the croc failed because the ropes were not strong enough to contend with its weight, he said, before turning to nylon ropes used for tugging boats.

'I was already exhausted so I let them finish the rescue, the crocodile was unbelievably heavy, everybody was sweating and getting very tired.'

The crocodile was released back into the water immediately after the rescue to relieved cheers from locals.

Conservationists believe someone may have deliberately placed the tyre around the croc's neck in a failed attempt to trap it as a pet in the archipelago nation that is home to several species of the animal.

Tili beat the authorities to the capture because they lacked the proper equipment for a rescue in the river that houses more than 30 other crocodiles.

Pictured: A man catches a crocodile while people watch him at South Palu River, in Palu Province, Indonesia on February 7, 2022

Officials and local residents confirmed on Tuesday the beast had been freed from its rubber vice and released back into the wild

Firefighters along with people evacuate a crocodile wearing a tire collar at South Palu River, in Palu Province, Indonesia on February 7, 2022

'Yesterday was a historical day for us, we are grateful the crocodile was finally rescued and we appreciate the locals who showed concern for the wildlife,' Hasmuni Hasmar, head of the local conservation agency, told AFP.

In February 2020, the local government promised a reward to anyone who caught the croc and removed the tyre from the beast.

However, they later called off the contest over fears it could endanger its safety, and after they were unable to find a would-be crocodile wrangler take up the challenge of removing the tyre.

The country's 'pluck a tyre off the croc' contest was rolled out in January 2020, and made headlines when an unspecified reward was offered.

The local conservation agency offered few details about the reward - or how outsiders might pull off the dangerous task - but its chief said at the time the money would come out of his own pocket

The local conservation agency said Tili is in line for a prize after his daring plan paid off. 'We will award Tili for his effort in rescuing the wildlife,' Hasmar said.

Wildlife officials and conservationists were especially concerned that the tyre could strangle the crocodile if it was not removed urgently, and have been trying - and failing - for years to find a way to untangle the animal.

Fears for its safety intensified when a video showed the creature apparently gasping for air in 2018. Despite fears for its safety at the time, the crocodile was able to survive for another four years.
President Joe Biden is considering a 'wealth of accomplished and inspiring Black women' for his Supreme Court nominee, White House officials have reassured members of Congress.

'It's long overdue that a Black woman serve on the Supreme Court, and there is bipartisan tradition for ensuring that the richness of our country is represented in its leadership and on the highest Court,' the administration said.

Biden vowed during the presidential campaign to name a black woman to the high court and senators - who must confirm the president's nominee - said they want him to make a qualified pick.

In an update sent to Capitol Hill, and obtained by Axios, Biden said his nominee will have 'the strongest record, credentials, and abilities anyone could have for the highest court in our nation.'

President Joe Biden is considering a 'wealth of accomplished and inspiring Black women' for his Supreme Court nominee

Biden has said he will keep his campaign pledge to name the first black woman to the Supreme Court and said he will name his nominee by the end of the month

The White House has given no time table on when the president will begin to meet with possible picks. Biden has said he hopes to name his nominee by the end of February.

'We havent set a deadline for when a vote should be. We have said we want it to happen as expeditiously as possible,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at her briefing on Monday.

But she declined to give any details on when the president may start meeting with black women and where he would be meeting with them.

Biden is scheduled to go to Camp David this weekend and was at his home in Wilmington, Del., last weekend - two places that don't keep visitor logs and where there is no media presence, which would allow him to meet in private.

The White House has been careful not to name any names Biden is considering.

Justice Stephen Breyer, above with President Biden at the White House, said at the end of January he will step down from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term

Some senators are encouraging him to name someone who could get bipartisan support.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has urged Biden to do just that - saying it would help unify the country.

'How are we going to unify? What is it that we need to do? Well, one of the signals that he can send is putting forth a nominee for the Supreme Court that will -- will gain a level of bipartisan support," Murkowski said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.

Biden only needs 51 votes to get his nominee confirmed. If all Democrats vote with him in the 50-50 Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris could be the tie breaker. Complicating matters slightly is the fact that Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujan is out after suffering from a stroke. He's at home recovering in New Mexico and his office said he's expected back to Washington in about six weeks.

Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, whose support in that state's primary in the 2020 presidential election saved Biden's struggling campaign, has pushed Biden to choose Michelle Childs, a U.S district court judge in that state.

Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina has said Childs has his support. 'I think shes qualified by every measure,' he said of her.

In January, Justice Stephen Breyer announced he would retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term, which is usually around the end of June.

His replacement would be Biden's first nominee to the high court.
Outgoing Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., called Democrats 'self-righteous' who are 'not alert to future dangers,' while he said Republicans were trying to 'ghettoize' his state party.

Cooper, who is retiring after a once-in-a-decade redistricting that favors Republicans in his district, tore into the new plan for his state, calling it the 'grossest legislative overreach in terms of redistricting probably in Tennessee history.'

'Weve been crippled politically. Im fine. I was alert to the danger. I tried to warn everyone I could. Very few people wanted to listen, and now the worst has happened. I feel terrible for the city, and I hope Im wrong.'

Tennessee's fifth district, which covers Nashville, was a longtime Democratic stronghold. This year, it's up for grabs after the redistricting plan carved up Nashville among multiple districts.

'As usual, Democrats are not alert to future dangers,' Cooper continued in an interview with the Nashville Scene.

However, Cooper said the 'biggest danger' Democrats face is a historical trend of Republicans seeing big gains in an off-year election after Democrats win the White House, and vice-versa.

'The biggest danger we face in an off-year election after we won the White House is the 100-year trend toward the other party. Redistricting is small potatoes compared to that historical trend,' he said.

'Our party needs to improve its management capabilities. We do not anticipate and organize and plan.'

Cooper said the 'biggest danger' Democrats face is a historical trend of Republicans seeing big gains in an off-year election after Democrats win the White House, and vice-versa

He said Democrats need a 'strategy to win' in Tennessee. 'We're addicted to telling other people what to think. You can't really win many elections if you're that self-righteous.'

Cooper, whose brother John is the mayor Nashville, decried that members of his own party don't have a winning strategy to reach out to rural voters who could be won over.

'People in Nashville dont realize how many kindred spirits there are in these rural counties who feel trapped by the Republican representation,' he said. 'People in Nashville dont realize how many kindred spirits there are in these rural counties who feel trapped by the Republican representation.'

And amid the new redistricting, Cooper predicted: 'The Democratic Party in Tennessee is basically facing extinction.'

Tennessee is a solidly red state - former President Trump beat President Biden there in 2020 by 23 points - but its largest city Nashville is run by Democrats.

'Tennessee has fewer statewide elected offices than I think any other state, and now the only path upward will be through Memphis, which is not nearly as successful as Nashville. That fits Republican strategy very well. Their intent is to ghettoize the state Democratic Party.'

Cooper was the 29th Democrat to announce he would retire last month after the Republican-controlled state assembly in Tennessee split his Nashville district into three other congressional districts.

Cooper will have served 32 years in Congress when he retires next January.

Republicans said his retirement is the latest sign Democrats are uncertain about their party's prospects in November.

'Democrats' retirement crisis shows no signs of slowing down,' National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Camille Gallo said in a statement.

Former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus threw her name into the mix for the fifth district on the Republican side on Tuesday, officially announcing her candidacy after former President Trump endorsed her.
A newly wed groom flying home from his Hawaii honeymoon slipped his hand beneath a blanket to grope the thigh of a dozing young student sitting next to him for two hours, a court has heard.

Robert Jan Van Den Bergh, 37, of Forest Road in Hackney, was returning home to London when he allegedly started touching the economics student after she took two sleeping pills.

The student asked the United Airlines cabin crew for help and she was offered a middle row seat in economy because she refused to pay the 220 upgrade fee to move to another class, Isleworth Crown Court was told earlier today.

The father-of-one 'engaged in small talk with the student and noticed her taking the pills and remarked that it could lead to unconsciousness', a court was told.

Van Den Bergh's lawyer wife was on a different flight back to London - they were due to land at Heathrow within an hour of each other.

He has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault on the United Airlines Heathrow-bound flight between December 31, 2019 and January 1, 2020.

Robert Jan Van Den Bergh, 37, (pictured) of Forest Road in Hackney, was returning home to London when he allegedly started touching the economics student after she took two sleeping pills

A newly wed groom flying home from his Hawaii honeymoon slipped his hand beneath a blanket to grope the thigh of a dozing young student sitting next to him for two hours, a court has heard. Pictured: United Airlines plane

'I realised two hours in it was probably on purpose what he was doing and put an airline pillow between us,' the woman told the jury.

'The pressure would increase over time and move around up to where my underwear was. It would stop for a few seconds and start again.'

She was wearing a skirt and had a blanket over her. 'It was under the blanket. It was the man sitting next to me.

'It started in the middle of my thigh, but moved around for the one and a half to two hours it was. I was too scared to look and sort of trapped in the seat and not sure what to do.'

Prosecutor Sophia Kerridge told the jury the flight took off from Los Angeles a few hours before midnight on New Year's Eve and the complainant was in the window seat.

'On her left was this defendant, who was flying back from his honeymoon and next to him was another woman in the isle seat.

'At the beginning of the flight he engaged in small talk with the complainant and observed her taking a couple of sleeping pills and remarked that could lead to unconsciousness.

'She woke up four to five hours before the flight was due to land and she noticed something lightly touching her thigh.

'She pretended to be asleep, but saw it as the defendant stroking her and the stroking became stronger and more deliberate.

'She put a pillow between the seats in the hope it would stop things.

Van Den Bergh's (pictured) lawyer wife was on a different flight back to London - they were due to land at Heathrow within an hour of each other

The student asked the United Airlines cabin crew for help and she was offered a middle row seat in economy because she refused to pay the 220 upgrade fee to move to another class, Isleworth Crown Court (pictured) was told earlier today

'He put his hand under the pillow and continued touching her left thigh and continued up towards her buttock.

'She asked to get up and spoke to the cabin crew and asked to be moved because she was uncomfortable sitting next to the defendant as he was touching her.'

A member of cabin crew told the jury the young woman was offered a middle row seat in economy and asked: 'Don't you have something in another class?'

She refused to pay the $300 upgrade fee and was seated elsewhere in economy.

Van Den Bergh complains two armed officers boarded the plane and escorted him off in front of all the other passengers and held him on the airbridge as they disembarked past him.

When questioned by police he insisted he only slept and watched movies during the flight.

The trial continues.
Spelman College shut down campus and issued students a shelter-in-place alert Tuesday, after officials at the historically black university received yet another bomb threat - the third such threat this year, and the second in a week.

In a text alert sent to students Tuesday morning, officials at the Atlanta university revealed the school's Department of Public Safety had received the threat, with no information about a location or time of detonation.

'Spelman alert: Bomb threat reported. Classes suspended and campus closed. Return to residence halls and shelter in place. More information soon,' the message sent to faculty and staff just before 11 am read.

Historically black Spelman College shut down campus and issued students a shelter-in-place alert Tuesday, after officials at the university received yet another bomb threat - the third such threat this year, and the second in a week

In a text alert sent to students Tuesday morning, officials at the Atlanta university revealed the school's Department of Public Safety had received the threat, with no information about a location or time of detonation

According to officials, the school received the threat roughly an hour earlier, at 9:53 am, spurring police to perform a sweep of the campus, located near downtown Atlanta, while students take shelter in their respective dorms.

Police are currently searching the area to discern whether or not the threat is legitimate, a spokesperson for the school said Tuesday, with no device being found thus far.

Nonetheless, the campus has been closed and classes suspended while officials and the Atlanta Police Department investigate the threat, until officials give the go-ahead that the area is safe.

The threat is the third of its kind Spellman has seen this year, and comes just a week after the most recent one. In that case, Atlanta police worked with Spelman Public Safety to conduct a sweep of campus buildings and found no explosives.

Fourteen historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) were threatened on February 1 - the first day of Black History Month - including Howard, the University of DC, Kentucky State, and Edward Waters University

The same proved true for a similar threat received by the university earlier this year, on January 5.

The threats serve as the latest in a series of similar transgressions toward historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), with about two dozen such institutions reporting bomb threats - all bogus - since the start of the year.

The influx of threats has since spurred a federal investigation, with the FBI now investigating the 'violent extremism and hate crimes' being exhibited to HBCUs.

'These threats are despicable,' Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell said of the sudden barrage of bomb threats. 'They are designed to make us feel fearful and vulnerable.'

The FBI called the bomb threats 'racially and ethnically motivated' and said it had more than 20 field offices working together to investigate. In addition, the FBI is investigating six 'tech savvy' juveniles believed to be behind the bogus threats

More than a dozen HBCUs - including Howard University, Kentucky State University, Morgan State, and Spelman - received threats last Tuesday, at the start of Black History Month.

The threats spurred Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to arrange for additional police patrols around multiple black-owned schools in the city including Spelman, as well as the nearby Clark Atlanta University and both Morehouse College and the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating threats against at least 17 historically black colleges and universities across the country, with officials saying they are now looking into six 'tech savvy' juveniles, whose identities were not released, who are believed to have made the racially motivated threats.

'These threats are being investigated as racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism and hate crimes,' the federal agency wrote in a press release on Wednesday.

'This investigation is of the highest priority for the Bureau and involves more than 20 FBI field offices across the country.'

Although 'no explosive devices were been found at any of the locations', the FBI said it was 'committed to thoroughly and aggressively investigating these threats.'

The investigators add that they suspect a manufactured, fake phone number was used to make the threats.

No charges have been pressed yet as a result of the FBI's probe.

Spelman officials are asking students not to contact Public Safety unless they have specific details about the threat.

'We appreciate the active involvement of our local and federal officials,' Spelman president Campbell said in a statement Tuesday, after the latest bomb threat.

The 14 HBCUs that received bomb threats on the first day of Black History Month Howard University - DC University of the District of Columbia, - DC Morgan State University - Baltimore Coppin State University - Baltimore Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley - Georgia Kentucky State University Xavier University of Louisiana Edward Waters University - Florida Alcorn State University - Mississippi Mississippi Valley State University Rust College - Mississippi Spelman College - Georgia Jackson State University - Mississippi Tougaloo College - Mississippi Source: NBC News Advertisement

'We continue to count on them to work with us to add additional protective resources and to step up their investigations into these threats.'

'The students, faculty and staff of Spelman deserve the ability to conduct the colleges mission with calm, confidence, and security.'

Hate crimes have largely increased on college campuses during the last decade, according to the FBI, with more than 40 percent of hate crimes on college campuses being racially motivated, according to federal education data.

Raymond C. Pierce, president and CEO of the Atlanta-based Southern Education Foundation and former dean of North Carolina Central Universitys law school, an HBCU, says the threats are traumatizing for many African-Americans - serving as an ugly reminder of other, past instances of racial discrimination.

Howard University in Washington, DC, which also received three threats, closed Friday, declaring it a mental health day 'in recognition of the additional challenges that have been heaped upon our shoulders.'

Pierce, a former U.S. Department of Education civil rights office administrator, said some whites resent the existence of HBCUs, which, in most cases, were founded at a time when colleges would turn away Black students. He recalled seeing threatening emails and letters when he was at North Carolina Central.

'Attacks upon HBCUs - which are the pillars and incubators of Black intellectualism, leadership, and culture,' Pierce says, 'are deeply racist and must be quickly and vigorously investigated.'

Spelman freshman Lindsey Fiesta was in her dorm on campus when she received the alert for last week's threat on February 1. Upon receiving the notice, she recalled to the the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she fearfully rushed to a friend's room to not be alone.

Speaking to the outlet Friday, she aired her concerns that the string of threats may deter some students from applying to HBCUs.

'HBCUs are a symbol of Black people being educated and breaking stereotypes,' the psychology major from Boynton Beach, Florida, said.

She added: 'A lot of people want to tear that down, and that really scares me.'
Russia's president Vladimir Putin has been accused of making a rape joke about Ukraine by calling the country his 'beauty' amid fears he will order an invasion.

In a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Moscow today, Putin criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who recently said he does not like the 2015 Minsk peace agreements on the country's separatist conflict.

'Like it or not, my beauty, you have to put up with it,' Putin said, using an expression that rhymes in Russian.

The remark sparked heated online debate, with many accusing Putin of using the kind of language that attempts to justify rape.

In Kyiv, Zelensky sought to take the high ground, and brushed aside the remark from his Russian counterpart which came amid tensions over Moscow's buildup of troops on the border.

Russia's president Vladimir Putin has been accused of making a rape joke about Ukraine by calling the country his 'beauty' amid fears he will order an invasion. 'Like it or not, my beauty, you have to put up with it,' Putin said, after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said he does not like the 2015 Minsk peace agreements on the country's separatist conflict

'Of course, there are things that you can't argue about with the Russian president: Ukraine is indeed a beauty,' Zelensky, who is a former comedian and actor, said after talks with Macron.

However, the 44-year-old leader added during a joint news conference, 'when he calls Ukraine 'mine' I believe that's already too much.'

Zelensky also said that Ukraine was wise to be 'very patient' in its dealings with Russia.

'I think that this is important not only for Ukraine, but for the whole of Europe,' Zelensky said.

Asked about the remark in a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no offence was intended.

'The president meant that if a state has taken on obligations... then it needs to fulfil them,' Peskov said.

He also said he was 'convinced' that Putin was not familiar with the work of a Russian nineties rock band that had an almost identical line in the lyrics of a song with references to necrophilia.

'But I think that this band in its time borrowed this expression from Russian folklore,' Peskov said.

Putin is known for making controversial and sometimes coarse remarks, such as saying that if Russia wanted to kill Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny it would have 'finished the job'.

He also told Joe Biden that it 'takes one to know one' after the US president agreed with comments that Putin was a 'killer'.

Meanwhile, Macron said on Tuesday that Putin had told him that Moscow would not further escalate the Ukraine crisis.

French President Emmanuel Macron (left) speaks to the media while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky watches on during a joint press conference after their meeting on February 08, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron talk to each other during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, center, listens to Polish President Andrzej Duda during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, right, Feb. 8, 2022 in Berlin

NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) battle groups from Estonia and United Kingdom during military training at Central Training Area on February 8, 2022 in Lasna, Estonia

Macron also said it would take time to find a diplomatic solution to the rising tensions, which represent the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

His remarks on a visit to Kyiv came as the Kremlin denied reports that he and Putin struck a deal on de-escalating the crisis. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that 'in the current situation, Moscow and Paris can't be reaching any deals.'

Macron also met with Zelensky amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion. Moscow has massed over 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, but insists it has no plans to attack.

The EU's diplomatic chief said Tuesday that Macron's visit to Russia brought 'an element of detente' to the crisis between the West and Moscow over Ukraine, but did not amount to a 'miracle.'

'As far as people are willing to sit at the table and talk I think that there is a hope for not going into military confrontation,' Josep Borrell told reporters at the end of a visit to Washington.

As such, Macron's visit Monday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was 'a positive signal' and 'a good initiative,' Borrell added. 'I think it represents an element of detente.'

The Kremlin wants guarantees from the West that NATO will not accept Ukraine and other former Soviet nations as members, that it halt weapon deployments there and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe - demands the U.S. and NATO reject as nonstarters.

At a news conference after meeting Zelensky, Macron said Putin told him during their more than five-hour session Monday that 'he won't be initiating an escalation. I think it is important.'

According to the French president, Putin also said there won't be any Russian 'permanent (military) base' or 'deployment' in Belarus, where Russia had sent a large number of troops for war games.

Peskov said withdrawing Russian troops from Belarus after the maneuvers was the plan all along.

Zelensky said he would welcome concrete steps from Putin for de-escalation, adding he didn't 'trust words in general.'

Macron also sought to temper expectations.

Russia President Vladimir Putin (left) meets visiting France President Emmanuel Macron at Kremlin, Moscow, Russia on Monday. The French president meets with his Russian counterpart ahead of his visits to Ukraine in an attempt to calm tensions in the region Russia France Leaders Meeting, Moscow, Russia

Service members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces drive a military vehicle during tactical drills at a training ground in the Kherson region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released February 7

'Let's not be naive,' he said. 'Since the beginning of the crisis, France hasn't been inclined to exaggerate, but at the same time, I don't believe this crisis can be settled in a few hours, through discussions'

Zelensky called his talks with Macron 'very fruitful.'

'We have a common view with President Macron on threats and challenges to the security of Ukraine, of the whole of Europe, of the world in general,' Zelensky said.

He said France was giving 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in financial aid to Ukraine and helping restore infrastructure in the war-ravaged east of the country.

Western leaders in recent weeks have engaged in high-level talks, and more are planned amid the backdrop of military drills in Russia and Belarus.

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that six amphibious landing ships were moving from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea for exercises and two Tu-22M3 long-range nuclear capable bombers flew another patrol over Belarus.

Macron said he had not expected Putin to make any 'gestures' Monday, saying his objective was to 'prevent an escalation and open new perspectives. ... That objective is met.'

Macron said Putin 'set a collective trap' by initiating the exchange of documents with the U.S. Moscow submitted its demands to Washington in the form of draft agreements that were made public, and insisted on a written response, which was then leaked.

'In the history of diplomacy, there was never a crisis that has been settled by exchanges of letters which are to be made public afterward,' he said, adding that's why he decided to go to Moscow for direct talks.

Macron later flew to Berlin, where he briefed Polish President Andrzej Duda and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said their stance was unified, with a joint goal 'to prevent a war in Europe.'

In a joint statement, the trio said Germany, France and Poland are 'united' in working to keep the peace in Europe in the face of the Ukraine crisis.

'We are united by the goal of maintaining peace in Europe through diplomacy and clear messages and the shared will to act in unison,' Scholz told reporters flanked by French President Emmanuel Macron and Poland's Andrzej Duda.

Putin said after Monday's meeting that the U.S. and NATO ignored Moscow's demands, but signaled readiness to continue talking.

U.S. soldiers walk at the tarmac after arriving by a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, Poland February 8, 2022

He also reiterated a warning that NATO membership for Ukraine could trigger a war between Russia and the alliance should Kyiv try to retake the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

NATO, U.S. and European leaders reject the demands that they say challenge NATO's core principles, like shutting the door to Ukraine or other countries that might seek membership; but they have offered to discuss other Russian security concerns in Europe.

Biden has said any prospect of Ukraine entering NATO 'in the near term is not very likely,' but he and other alliance members and NATO itself refuse to rule out Ukraine's future entry.

Biden met Monday with Scholz, who also will travel to Kyiv and Moscow on Feb. 14-15. They threatened Russia with grave consequences if it invaded, and Biden vowed that the Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline, which has been completed but is not yet operating, will be blocked. Such a move would hurt Russia economically but also cause energy supply problems for Germany.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in an article in The Times, also urged allies to finalise heavy economic sanctions that would take effect if Russia crosses into Ukraine.

He said the U.K. is ready to bolster NATO forces in Latvia and Estonia as he prepared to meet the Lithuanian prime minister in London to show support for the Baltic nations.

Johnson said he was considering dispatching RAF Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to southeastern Europe. Britain said Monday it is sending 350 troops to Poland to bolster NATO's eastern flank. It already has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.

More than 100 U.S. military personnel arrived in Romania ahead of a deployment of about 1,000 NATO troops expected in the country in the coming days, Romania's Defense Minister Vasile Dincu said.

U.S. officials have said that about 1,000 alliance troops will be sent from Germany to Romania, a NATO member since 2004. Romania borders Ukraine to the north. About 1,700 U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne are also going to Poland.

Russia frigate 'Minsk' passes through Dardanelles Strait in Canakkale, Turkiye on Tuesday

U.S. officials have portrayed the threat of an invasion of Ukraine as imminent - warnings Moscow has scoffed at, accusing Washington of fueling tensions.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east of the country. The fighting between Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed over 14,000 people.

In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.

The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kyiv of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it would hurt Ukraine.

After meeting Macron, Putin said without elaboration that some of the French president's proposals could serve as a basis for a settlement of the separatist conflict, adding that they agreed to speak by phone after Macron's visit to Kyiv.

Peskov said such a call would take place 'in the nearest future.'

Macron said both Putin and Zelensky confirmed they were willing to implement the Minsk agreements - 'the only path allowing to build peace ... and find a sustainable political solution.'

Macron also said the presidential advisers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine will meet Thursday in Berlin on the next steps. 'It will take time to get results,' he said.

Zelensky was mum on where Ukraine stands on implementing the Minsk agreements and whether he assured Macron that Kyiv is committed to do so, saying only that his country views Thursday's meeting 'very positively' and hoped for a subsequent meeting by the four leaders.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, visiting the front line in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, said she wanted 'to get an impression of what it means that we still have war in the middle of Europe.'

Germany has given Ukraine about 1.8 billion euros in aid since 2014, part of which is helping those displaced by fighting.
Families of the 17 New Yorkers who died in last month's horrific Bronx apartment fire sued the building's owners Tuesday, claiming safety violations led to the wrongful deaths of their loved ones.

The wrongful death suits, of which there are five, were filed Tuesday afternoon on behalf of the families by Benjamin Crump, a prominent civil rights who previously represented George Floyd, and the New York law firm Weitz & Luxenberg.

The filings name building owners Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC and Bronx Phase III Housing Co. as defendants, and allege that safety violations - as well as the owners' negligence - led to the tragedy.

'We have a lot of the families who paid such a tragic loss in the apartment fire,' Crump said during a news conference outside the building, saying violations of city safety rules 'caused unspeakable loss of life and injury to these families, mostly from Africa.'

The wrongful death suits, of which there are five, were filed Tuesday afternoon on behalf of the families by Benjamin Crump (left), a prominent civil rights who previously represented George Floyd. Here Crump is pictured with Fatiah Touray, who had family killed in the fire

A malfunctioning electric space heater in a tenant's apartment started the blaze the morning of January 9, according to fire officials, leading to the deaths of eight children inside, as well as nine adults.

The fire subsequently spread after the apartment's entry door failed to automatically close, as it should have, when tenants occupying the apartment fled the fire in fear - likely a crucial element of the families' case.

While the fire damaged only a small portion of the building, it produced caustic smoke that quickly engulfed the colossal 19-story complex. The suffocating smoke rose through a stairwell and killed people as they tried to escape.

After the tragedy, fire investigators tested doors in the building and found a handful of other units had doors that did not close automatically, as designed.

Firefighters struggled to contain the January 9 blaze - the deadliest fire in three decades - which resulted in the deaths of eight children inside, as well as nine adults

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fatal fire, which was exacerbated by a stairway door's failure to close, leading to the fire to spread

FDNY brass also claimed that a door in the stairwell - which was meant to be used as an emergency exit - also failed to close, furthering the problem.

'These Black families who lost so much that seem to be marginalized not only before the tragic fire broke out, but even in the aftermath,' said Crump, who currently represents families that saw their loved ones live snuffed out in several other high-profile cases, including those surrounding the shooting deaths of 22-year-old Minneapolis man Amir Locke and 37-year-old North Carolina man Jason Walker, both at the hands of police.

In addition to the building company, the suits also list three investment groups as defendants: The Camber Property Group, Belveron Partners and the LIHC Group.

They were all filed in Superior Court in the Bronx Tuesday.

The specifics of the suits - which as of now do not detail monetary damages or specific safety violations - will be identified in the coming weeks, another attorney for the families, Larry Goldhirsch, said Tuesday.

Parents Haja Dukureh, 37, and Haji Dukuray, 49 and their children were killed in the fire

Mariam Dukureh, 11, Mustapha Dukyhreh, 12 and Mariam Dukureh, 5, also died in the fire

Fatoumata Drammeh (pictured), 50, was killed in the fire, her sister Koumba told DailyMail.com, who said that she and her family were 'such lovely people'. Her daughter Fatoumata, 21, pictured on the right, also died

Fatoumata's 12-year-old son Muhammad was the youngest member of the family to lose his life in the Bronx apartment building fire. Her daughter Aisha, 19, (pictured right) also died

Their arguments will likely focus on the doors' failure to close due to malfunctioning spring mechanisms, as well as building windows' failure to open.

A spokesperson for the building's owners denied responsibility for the deaths Tuesday, following the suits' filing.

'The complaints filed today allege that last month's tragic fire was caused by the negligence of the buildings owners and their agents,' spokesperson James Yolles said. 'We believe the facts will show that allegation to be false.'

Several relatives of the fire victims spoke at the news conference to express frustration over the uncertainties spawned by the fire as they look for new places to live. Some remain in hotel rooms.

'What happened on Jan. 9 was very devastating and tragic, and very unexpected, and could have been avoided. I lost my sister in the fire. She was trying to come down to save my family,' said Fatima Janneh, whose sister Sera, 27, was among those killed.

Isatou Jabbie, 31, and husband Hagi Jawara, 41, were confirmed dead after the Bronx apartment building fire January 9 by Jawara's brother Yusupha

Toure Seydou, 12, (left) and Mustafa Dukureh, 12, (right) also died in the fire

Forty-three year old Fatoumata Tunkara(left) and her son Omar Jambang, 6, (not pictured) were killed, as well as Sarah Janneh, 27 (right)

'We need justice for the families that lost people, as well as the other tenants in the building. Were all victims to what happened here,' Janneh said.

The plaintiffs include the mother of a 2-year-old boy who died and parents who lost their 12-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. They also include a 20-year-old mother whose 3-month old son was hospitalized.

Many residents were immigrants from Gambia. Their shared origins, with some of them hailing from the same village, fostered a close-knit community.

While Tuesdays lawsuit - among several already filed on behalf of the victims and their families - did not allege civil right violations, some families say they have felt forgotten and marginalized.

'We may be Black and brown and African and immigrant, but were working class people, and were not fungible. Were not disposable. You cant just throw us away just because, you know, we have a certain socioeconomic status,' said Fatiah Touray, who moved away from the building after spending 23 years there.

Some residents have bemoaned living conditions that led to the need for space heaters in some apartments.

Some residents have agreed to move into another development near the damaged building, Twin Parks North West, Yolles said.

Crump speaks to surviving residents of the building on Tuesday after announcing the lawsuits

Surrounded by victims of a building fire and their families, attorney Crump, second from left, speaks to reporters at a news conference in the Bronx Tuesday

'We continue to work around the clock with our property management, social service and relocation assistance teams to support and assist Twin Parks North West residents following last months tragic fire, including providing them with multiple high-quality options for relocation in the Bronx,' Yolles said.

In their haste to escape, the occupants of the apartment where the fire started left their front door open behind them.

Spring-loaded hinges that were supposed to shut the door automatically did not work. A second door left open in a stairwell on the 15th floor acted as a flue, sucking smoke upward.

Crump, who currently represents families that saw their loved ones live snuffed out in several other high-profile cases, including those surrounding the shooting deaths of Minneapolis man Amir Locke, 22, and North Carolina man Jason Walker, 37, both at the hands of police

Attorney Ben Crump, left, looks on as Fatima Janneh, who lost a sister in a building fire, speaks to reporters at a news conference in the Bronx Tuesday

Fire investigators said both doors should have been self-closing to help contain the spreading smoke, but that the doors stayed fully open. It was not clear if the doors failed mechanically or if they had been manually disabled.
Six migrant children were rescued from drowning in the Rio Grande by Mexican security forces as they tried to reach the United States.

The minors, all natives of Honduras, were with their families when they attempted to cross the raging river by themselves on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Their families watched from the shoreline as Mexican officials raced into the water to save the children, aged 5, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, and bring them back to Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila.

Video footage showed the boys and girls wrapped in blankets while another was carried by a Mexican officer before they were loaded into a vehicle and taken to a local hospital.

A Mexican agent carries a child after six migrant minors from Honduras were rescued Monday in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, after the group tried walking across the Rio Grande to reach the U.S. border and nearly drowned

Children are tended to by Mexican security forces in the border town of Ciudad Acuna on Monday after they were rescued from drowning in the Rio Grande

A child (center) is surrounded by her family at a medical facility in Coahuila, Mexico, after the she was rescued from drowning in the Rio Grande. The girl was with a group of six minors who were trying to reach the U.S. border in Texas

None of the children were injured and were released to the custody of their parents, Mexican officials said.

Both the minors and their parents had been previously awarded humanitarian visas to remain in Mexico.

A male migrant, whose name and nationality is unknown, did make it across the river and was seen walking along the US side of the shore in the video.

However, he was surprised by a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was standing behind a barbed wire fence in Texas. The man then proceeded to walk down the shore in search of an area where he could slip possibly through.

The children rescued from drowning in the Rio Grande were taken to a Mexican hospital were they were put under observation and later reunited with their parents

The Rio Grande has been the site of many drownings as migrants risk their lives to reach the U.S. via the waterway that serves as border with Mexico

A male migrant took advantage when he saw six Honduran migrants rescued from drowning in the Rio Grande on Monday afternoon in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, and trekked across the river before he was met by a U.S. Border Patrol agent

A spokesperson with U.S. Customs and Border Protection told DailyMail.com that the agency was unaware of the incident.

The rescue comes four weeks after Venezuelan seven-year-old Victoria Lugo drowned in the Rio Grande after a rip current separated her from her mother, Mayerling Mayor, 36.

Lugo and her mother were part of a large group of migrants from Venezuela who were crossing the waterway on January 17 when Mayor lost her daughter's hand.

The child's body was found by Mexican immigration agents near the Rio Grande shore in Ciudad Acuna.

CBP reported 2,035,010 encounters with undocumented migrants who were stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents for unlawful crossing of the United States-Mexico border between January 2021 and December 2021

Mayerling Mayor with her daughter Victoria Lugo, who drowned in the Rio Grande in January

According to CBP figures, encounters with migrants at the southwestern border in fiscal year 2022 are on pace to eclipse the totals for the previous 12-month period, which has been largely attributed to Democratic President Joe Biden relaxing the stringent immigration policy of Donald Trump.

At least 519,360 interdictions of migrants have been reported by U.S. Border Patrol agents between October 2021 and December 2022. Figures for January have not been released yet.

There were 1,732,686 migrant encounters registered for fiscal year 2021 - after 458,088 were documented in fiscal year 2020.

While most of the migrants caught for unlawful border crossing are sent back to Mexico, under a COVID-related health order known as Title 42, thousands have been allowed into the country.

The high number of detentions has caused a shift in immigration policy for the Biden administration, which announced it will launch a 120-day pilot migrant to place single adult migrants under house arrest at locations in the US as a cheaper alternatives to immigration detention.

The plan revealed Tuesday indicated that 100-200 single adults will be sent to sites in Baltimore and Houston.

The so-called 'home curfew' pilot will cost $6-8 per day for each enrollee, far less than the $142 daily cost of immigration detention.

The enrollees will generally be required to remain at home from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m., with exceptions for job schedules for those with work authorization or extraordinary circumstances.

Current alternatives to detention, such as ankle bracelets and phone monitoring, require enrollees to notify case managers if they are leaving the state or traveling, but do not mandate home confinement, the DHS official said.
A married couple has been arrested and charged with laundering billions in Bitcoin stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex hack, as the Justice Department announced its largest financial seizure ever.

Ilya 'Dutch' Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, 31, who raps under the name Razzlekhan, were arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan on federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Federal law enforcement officials said they recovered roughly $3.6 billon in cryptocurrency linked to the hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange whose systems were breached nearly six years ago.

Lichtenstein and Morgan live on Wall Street in lower Manhattan. He is a citizen of both Russia and the United States and the co-founder of an online marketing firm.

Morgan, a rapper and former Forbes contributor, describes herself as 'an expert in persuasion, social engineering, and game theory' and in one of her songs, declared herself the 'Crocodile of Wall Street.'

Ilya 'Dutch' Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, 31, who raps under the name Razzlekhan, were arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan on money laundering charges

Morgan (seen in front of Federal Hall on Wall Street in a music video) declared herself the 'Crocodile of Wall Street' in one of her rap songs

In this courtroom sketch, attorney Sam Enzer, center, sits between Heather Morgan, left, and her husband, Ilya 'Dutch' Lichtenstein, in federal court on Tuesday

'I'm many things, a rapper, an economist, a journalist, a writer, a CEO, and a dirty, dirty, dirty dirty h*,' she raps in her 2019 single, Versace Bedouin.

'When she's not reverse-engineering black markets to think of better ways to combat fraud and cybercrime, she enjoys rapping and designing streetwear fashion,' her Forbes bio reads.

The August 2016 Bitfinex hack itself was one of the largest crypto heists ever recorded - so massive that news of the theft knocked 20 percent off Bitcoin's value at the time.

Lichtenstein and Morgan are thus far not charged directly with perpetrating the hack, but rather with receiving and laundering the stolen funds. The case was filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C.

It was unclear who will be representing the couple in the criminal case and whether they had an attorney to speak on their behalf.

They were due to appear in federal court in Manhattan at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

The couple is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin that was stolen, after a hacker attacked Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions.

Morgan, a rapper and former Forbes contributor, describes herself as 'an expert in persuasion, social engineering, and game theory'

The couple is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin that was stolen, after a hacker attacked Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions

Justice Department officials said the transactions at the time were valued at $71 million in Bitcoin, but with the rise in the currency's value, it is now valued at over $4.5 billion.

'As the complaint alleges, the FBI and federal prosecutors were able to trace the movement of Bitcoin from this hack,' said Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

He added that the money moved through a major darknet exchange tied to a host of crimes, as well as cryptocurrency addresses tied to child sexual abuse materials.

Lichtenstein and Morgan are facing charges of conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as to defraud the United States.

Prosecutors said on Tuesday the illegal proceeds were spent on a variety of things, from gold and non-fungible tokens to 'absolutely mundane things such as purchasing a Walmart gift card for $500.'

Bitfinex said in a statement that it was to working with the Department of Justice to 'establish our rights to a return of the stolen bitcoin.'

'We have been cooperating extensively with the DOJ since its investigation began and will continue to do so,' the company said.

Bitfinex said it intends to provide further updates on its efforts to obtain a return of the stolen bitcoin as and when those updates are available.

Tuesday's criminal complaint came more than four months after Monaco announced the department was launching a new National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which is comprised of a mix of anti-money laundering and cybersecurity experts.

The August 2016 Bitfinex hack itself was one of the largest crypto heists ever recorded - so massive that news of the theft knocked 20 percent off Bitcoin's value

Lichtenstein and Morgan are facing charges of conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as to defraud the United States

Morgan is seen rapping with the New York Stock Exchange behind her to the right

Cyber criminals who attack companies, municipalities and individuals with ransomware often demand payment in the form of cryptocurrency.

In one high-profile example last year, hackers caused a widespread gas shortage on the U.S. East Coast when by using encryption software called DarkSide to launch a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline.

The Justice Department later recovered some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom that Colonial paid to the hackers.

Cases like these demonstrate that the Justice Department 'can follow money across the blockchain, just as we have always followed it within the traditional financial system,' said Kenneth Polite, assistant attorney general of the department's Criminal Division.

Justice Department officials say that though the proliferation of cryptocurrency and virtual currency exchanges represent innovation, the trend has also been accompanied by money laundering, ransomware and other crimes

'Todays arrests, and the Departments largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,' Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

'In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter the form it takes.'
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell ridiculed President Joe Biden on Tuesday, asking how he could square his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center with the mission last week to capture ISIS chief Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

'Where were they planning to house this killer,' he asked. 'A Holiday Inn?'

In the event, al-Qurayshi made it a moot point. He died during the raid when he detonated a suicide bomb, according to U.S. officials.

Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell congratulated the president for making the 'tough call' to send American special forces on the mission.

But he used the raid as an example of why Guantanamo Bay should stay open.

'This terrorist could have been a source of valuable information for destroying ISIS,' he said.

'But this aspect of last week's mission also raises a question for our commander in chief.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell used the example of , the target of a US raid last week, to argue that the detention center at Guantanamo Bay should stay open for terrorist prisoners like the ISIS chief

ISIS emir Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi killed himself as US troops moved in on his hideout in Syria, close to the border with Turkey

Al-Qurayshi died in the raid last Thursday, but Biden said the aim had been to capture him alive

'If President Biden recognises the value of detaining top terrorists then why are his staff still caught up in the long standing liberal obsession with shutting down our detention centre at Guantanamo Bay.

'The White House said last year that closing Gitmo was quote, "certainly our goal and our intention."

'But last week, US forces undertook this mission that was designed to take this terrorist murderer alive for detention and questioning.

'So how exactly was the Biden administration planning to square their political quest to close Guantanamo with their stated intention to capture the terrorists alive.'

American intelligence officers pinpointed the ISIS chief to the top of a three-story house among the olive groves just outside Atmeh, a Syrian town near the border with Turkey.

U.S. helicopters arrived in the early hours of last Thursday morning.

About 24 special forces troops closed in on the building, issuing warnings for the occupants to come out peacefully.

A civilian family on the first floor gave themselves up, but as the forces moved to enter the building they heard an explosion from the top floor.

After a firefight with an ISIS lieutenant holed up on the second floor, the troops were able to use fingerprints to confirm that al-Qurayshi was dead.

'United States military forces successfully removed a major terrorist threat to the world,' Biden said later that morning at the White House.

American helicopters carrying 24 commandos arrived just after 1am. When they left two hours later ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was dead

Biden made clear on the campaign trail that he wanted to shut down Guantanamo, but like President Obama before him he has struggled to find alternatives

About 800 prisoners, each of whose care and detention costs tens of millions per year, have passed through Guantanamo, many without ever being charged with a crime

McConnell asked what would have happened if the raid had not ended with a suicide blast and suggested the only workable solution would have been to send him to Guantanamo.

'Did they intend to turn this guy over to a non-state third party partner like the Syrian defence forces that would have created new risk of another major ISIS prison break?

'And would his jailors have obeyed the Geneva Conventions?

'And what if the Syrian regime, itself a state sponsor of terror, retakes that part of Syria?

'Or was the administration planning on bringing him before US courts under Article Three of our Constitution?

'Did the FBI come along on the raid to read this foreign terrorist his Miranda rights?

'Was their plan to eventually give a sworn killer the same rights as US citizens and risking the possibility of a jail break attack on our own American soil?

'Or perhaps the correct answer: Guantanamo Bay was their plan all along. Maybe the Democrats virtue signalling by closing this important facility has finally given way to reality.

'Guantanamo is a highly secure, humane entirely legal place to detain terrorists. It would have been the safest place to interrogate this terrorist, well within the bounds of the laws of war.'

A U.S. government review panel last month authorized the release of five men detained at Guantanamo Bay, as the prison marked 20 years in operation.

Half of the prison's 39 detainees have been approved for transfer so far, 12 have been charged with war crimes and two have been convicted.

But only one detainee has officially been transferred - a Moroccan man whose repatriation negotiations began under Obama and were not completed until last July.

Among those still awaiting trial is alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Victims of the attack have spent two decades waiting for his death penalty trial.

Pre-trial hearings were scheduled for this week but put off again due to coronavirus.

Biden made clear on the campaign trail that he wanted to shut down Guantanamo, but weeks ago instead approved millions in upgrades to the facility. A new 'secret' courtroom at Guantanamo should cost taxpayers about $4 million.
The Biden administration is looking to place hundreds of migrants under part-time house arrest, as a cheaper alternative to holding them at detention facilities amid record-high crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The 120-day pilot program will begin in Houston and Baltimore, where 100 to 200 single adults placed under house arrest in each location, according to a notice sent by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and reviewed by Reuters.

The so-called 'home curfew' pilot would cost just $6-8 per day, far less than the $142 daily cost of immigration detention.

Border Patrol agents arrested a record 1.9 million in 2021

A nationwide program is expected to roll out later this year.

Detainees would be required to be in their home from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., with exceptions for job schedules, for those with work authorization or extraordinary circumstances.

Alternatives to detention that are currently in use, such as ankle bracelets or phone monitoring, require enrollees to notify their case managers if they plan to leave the state, but do not mandate home confinement.

Nearly 180,000 undocumented immigrants are already being monitored with ankle bracelets and other traceable devices.

The new program is aimed at curbing the use of for-profit detention facilities, which President Biden promised to do away with during the campaign.

The Biden administration has already stopped holding migrant families in detention centers, turning instead to the remote tracking technology

The program is being used to steer migrants away from private prisons, like the Houston Processing Center pictured above. Biden campaigned on ending for-profit detention centers

The Biden administration has already stopped holding migrant families in detention centers, turning instead to the remote tracking technology. And during the last three weeks, at least half of the single adults who attempted to cross the U.S.-Mexico border were released with ankle bracelets or other methods of tracking, a DHS official told Axios.

Use of alternative-to-detention (ATD) programs has grown significantly under the Biden administration. When the president took office, only 35,000 were enrolled in such programs. Now there are roughly 180,000, according to Axios, but that number only applies to heads of household - there are likely thousands more migrants and kids accompanying enrollees.

The Biden administration plans to ask Congress for funding to place as many as 400,000 migrants this year in alternatives to detention, which could include the home curfew initiative as well as existing programs, the DHS official said.

Border agents saw a record 1.9 million encounters at the southern border in 2021, reflecting a surge since the Biden administration took office.

About 20% of the migrants arrested for entering the country illegally, according to data released in court filings related to a case about the Remain in Mexico policy, though most migrants were still expelled under Title 42, a coronavirus public health order.

President Biden tried to do away with the Migrant Protection Protocols, the Remain in Mexico policy, last year, but Texas and Missouri filed suit to keep it in place. The policy requires migrants to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are being heard.

A federal judge then ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the policy while the case makes its way through court.

Critics on the right may say that the alternatives to detention are not harsh enough to deter illegal migration. But a DHS official said that the US simply does not have the space to detain everyone who makes their way through to the U.S.

'We just don't have the capacity,' the DHS official said. 'We're not going to detain our way out of the border crisis.'

However pro-immigrant advocates are sure to say the new home confinement policy is stricter than other alternatives to detention. One immigrant advocate on Twitter called the plan 'mass e-carceration' after Axios first reported details of the pilot.
A Virginia man has been found guilty of murdering his 18-year-old stepdaughter by injecting her with a lethal dose of heroin and then leaving her body to rot in a ditch for a month.

On Monday, it took a Franklin County jury just 45 minutes to convict Wesley Hadsell, 45, of first-degree murder and concealment of a body in the death of Angelica 'AJ' Hadsell in 2015.

A charge of second-degree murder had been dismissed last week due to insufficient evidence.

Wesley Hadsell, 45 (far right), on Monday was found guilty of first-degree murder and concealment of a body in the heroin overdose death of stepdaughter Angelica 'AJ' Hadsell

Prosecutors said in March 2015, Hadsell pinned down the 18-year-old college student and injected her with three times the lethal dose of heroin

Hadsell shook his head as the guilty verdicts were read. AJ's sisters, who were present in court, broke down in sobs, reported WAVY.

Wesley Hadsell's first trial in 2020 ended in a mistrial. His second trial began in January and lasted three weeks.

AJ Hadsell, a freshman at Longwood University in Farmville, vanished on March 2, 2015, while spending her Spring Break at home in Norfolk.

A month later, her lifeless body was discovered partially concealed by a piece of plywood in a ditch next to an abandoned home in Franklin, located 40 miles away from Norfolk.

A medical examiner determined that the college student died from homicidal violence and acute heroin poisoning after being pinned down and injected with three times the lethal dose of the opioid.

AJ's body was found under a piece of plywood in a ditch outside an abandoned home in Franklin, Virginia, in April 2015

An analysis of the victim's hair follicles revealed that she had no prior history of drug use, to which those who knew her had testified.

AJ's stepfather was arrested two weeks after her disappearance on unrelated charges for breaking into a home, which he claimed he had done while frantically searching for his stepdaughter.

'I couldn't sit a minute away from where my daughter may have been,' Hadsell told WAVY.com at the time.

It was not until November 2018 that Hadsell, who had a lengthy criminal record, was charged in connection with his stepdaughter's death.

During his second murder trial, a prosecutor said that Wesley Hadsell treated his stepdaughter 'like trash,' reported The Virginian-Pilot.

Hadsell claimed he had nothing to do with AJ's killing. He was charged with her murder in 2018 and put on trial for the first time in 2020

The defense argued that the 18-year-old college freshman was depressed and suicidal after a breakup, as evidenced by sad memes on her social media pages, and that she took her own life by overdosing on a migraine medication. The medical examiner never tested for the prescription drug, Nortriptyline, in her system, Hadsell's lawyer said.

Prosecutors dismissed the defense's suicide theory as 'absurd.'

The case against Hadsell hinged on his and AJ's phones tracking together via satellite on the day she went missing, and on GPS data from Hadsell's work van, which led police to his stepdaughter's body.

'We may never truly understand why this happened,' a prosecutor told the jury of the teenager's murder.

Hadsell could face life in prison when he is sentenced on April 4.
World in a dire need of cooperation in order to come out of the COVID abyss

16:31, February 08, 2022 By Mahendra Subedi ( People's Daily Online

Amid the serious blows and damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the world now has some key development challenges including meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and tackling emerging global issues. At the same time, the coronavirus infection has wreaked havoc in the developmental efforts of many small and developing economies while pushing millions into poverty. The World Bank estimated that 97 million people fell into poverty worldwide due to the spread of coronavirus in 2020 alone. The numbers could go increase as the situation has gone from bad to worse in many countries, including in South Asia and Africa, after the second and third waves of the pandemic.

As small and developing countries are longing for basic health services and COVID-19 vaccines, the worlds developed nations are still being blamed for hoarding more than their required quantity of vaccines despite the pleas of the worlds most desperate populations for vaccines and anti-epidemic supplies. . Under such circumstances, poor nations are doubly troubled because neither had they succeeded in vaccinating their citizens, nor are they able to focus on other challenges including issues of food insecurity, climate change, poverty reduction and other pressing matters.

Worse still, the domestic and international supply chains have been disrupted in many of countries because of border closures, trade restrictions and confinement measures, forcing enterprises to be more resilient. In late 2020, key UN agencies including International Labor Organization and World Health Organization expressed their serious concerns, stating that The pandemic has decimated jobs and placed millions of livelihoods at risk. As breadwinners lose jobs, fall ill and die, food security and nutrition of millions of women and men are under threat, with those in low-income countries, particularly the most marginalized populations, which include small-scale farmers and indigenous peoples, being hardest hit. People in many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and developing countries are in a dire need of cooperation to come out of the abyss, and to tackle the challenges of economic woes and stalled growth in recent months.

Advanced health care, disaster relief, pandemic management and technology have gained the highest levels of attention in the ongoing tumultuous period caused by the pandemic. It is in these areas that more cooperation and integration is vital.. This is because the COVID-19 pandemic impacted emerging economies, especially those are dependent on tourism revenue, foreign investment and remittance from migrant workers.

Against this backdrop, regional and global cooperation and coordination is imperative to tackle the emerging challenges, and those of the past,, and to share the benefits of innovation in a win-win manner on the basis of sincerity, mutual trust and equality.

Amid hardships, China has demonstrated a glimmer of hope for the developing world to overcome global challenges due to the fact that China has always advocated for global unity and cooperation. China has provided huge quantity of supplies to the rest of the world. It has assisted other countries, especially other developing countries in their vaccination drives as statistics show that every one out of two doses of vaccines administered in the whole world comes from China.

In addition, other key global players should also help in shifting overall policies and promote more investment in technology in changing contexts in order to return to a normal situation. Likewise, rich countries, as well as giant multinational companies should extend their best possible support and express solidarity for the cause of humanity. Many underlying problems have posed serious threats to humanity across the globe, in countries from Afghanistan to Yemen, from Sri Lanka to Sudan, to name just a few. This is the time to forget polarization and division, and a time to embrace collective action and joints efforts in addressing the immense we all face.

Mahendra Subedi is a Nepali journalist and social researcher specializing in the area of migration. Subedi was a CAPPC Fellow in 2019.

The opinions expressed in this article reflect those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of People's Daily Online.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
University students will be brought into classrooms to help teach as the Covid pandemic leaves many schools facing drastic staff shortages.

Those studying their final year of teaching degrees from the Australian Catholic University will be hired to work across 1,700 schools in the form of casual or part-time teacher's aides.

The plan which has been set up by the National Catholic Education Commission will see many undergraduate students work up to four days per week, while still finishing their studies.

They will be paid the same as teacher's aides and will carry out work done by full time teachers unable to be in the classroom due to being struck down with the virus.

University students will be brought into classrooms to help teach as the Covid pandemic leaves many schools facing drastic staff shortages

Trainees will mark tests, patrol playgrounds, supervise lessons and give feedback to students.

The executive director of the NCEC, Jacinta Collins, said the move would allow full time staff to focus on teaching while knowing students were being supported in the classroom.

'This is a no-brainer  it's an opportunity too good to waste,' she told The Australian.

Those studying their final year of teaching degrees from the Australian Catholic University (pictured ACU in Canberra) will be hired to work across 1,700 schools in the form of casual or part-time teacher's aides

'At the start of the year, the shortage of staff has required us to think of innovative ways to ensure we have sufficient staff.

'This is about providing paid employment (to students) and better supporting our teachers.'

The ACU's vice-chancellor Zlatko Skrbis said the trainee students had already spent significant times in schools being mentored by teachers throughout their degrees.

This week saw the first batch of five trainees start work at St Clare's Catholic High School in Sydney's west.
A brazen thief stole hundreds of dollars worth of clothing from a discount store in California before elegantly hauling the goods away in a trash bag.

A thief in California casually strolled out of a Ross store pushing a cart overflowing with goodies Saturday night, according to a video posted on Instagram by Gautam Chitnis, who claims it was shot by a store employee. It is unclear where the incident was filmed.

In the video, the man, dressed in a brown jacket and pants, and a blue surgical mask, takes only a quick glance behind him before confidently strolling out the sliding doors.

A pole on the cart - which is there to prevent cart theft - catches on the door, but that doesn't stop the thief who tugs vigorously until the pole breaks.

The cart begins tipping sideways but, unbothered by the obstacles, the thief manages to grab a trash bag from a nearby garbage, and shove the clothes and shoes into it. In the meantime, customers are seen entering and exiting the store without sparing him a second glance.

When he tries to lift the bulging bag, shoes tumble out - and he resorts to Plan B: taking the whole garbage can with him. He shoves everything into the bin and drags it through the parking lot.

Big cities have seen an influx in crime with thieves becoming more emboldened to steal right in front of customers and staff - most of the time without security blinking an eye - and woke district attorneys refusing to prosecute shoplifters.

A brazen thief stole a bunch of clothing items from a Ross store in California on Saturday as an employee filmed, customers didn't bat an eyelash, and security did nothing

A pole on the cart catches on the door, but the thief tugs vigorously until the pole breaks.

The cart begins tipping sideways but the thief manages to grab a trash bag from a nearby garbage, and shove the clothes into it.

When he tries to lift the bulging bag, shoes tumble out - and he takes the whole garbage can with him and drags it through the parking lot

He even stole the store's trash can to haul his goodies away. Theft has been on the rise across California's major cities as many politicians implement woke policies that lower crimes like theft from a felony to a misdemeanor

Last month, a group of robbers shoplifted from an Ulta Beauty store in Los Angeles. Some of the thieves didn't bother covering their faces as they filled trash bags with expensive beauty products.

'When are people gonna say enough?' an exasperated bystander was caught on video asking as the group of at least six shoplifters flees the store and piles into a white Dodge Challenger at the Azalea shopping center parking lot in South Gate, which is in Los Angeles County.

A witness to the robbery said the thieves 'knew exactly what they were doing.' 'They went straight for the perfume and cologne. Small, easy to grab and worth about $100 each,' she said.

South Gate police said $4,000 to $5,000 worth of merchandise was taken.

A group of thieves were caught filling trash bags with cosmetics from Ulta Beauty in January in Los Angeles County, shoving thousands of dollars worth of beauty products into trash bags

Car owners in San Francisco seeking to avoid having their windows smashed by thieves have resorted to keeping their trunks open

California's Proposition 47 - lighter sentences for thieves Proposition 47 was passed by California voters on November 5, 2014. It made some 'non-violent' property crimes, where the value of the stolen goods does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. It also made some 'simple' drug possession offenses into misdemeanors, and allows past convictions for these charges to be reduced to a misdemeanor by a court. Under California law, though, if two or more persons conspire to 'cheat and defraud any person or any property, by any means which are in themselves criminal' they can face no more than one year in county prison, a fine of $10,000 or a combination of the two. Advertisement

No one was hurt in the Ulta theft, and no arrests have been made. The location has been targeted by robbers multiple times, South Gate police said.

The Los Angeles area has been plagued by smash-and-grab looters during the past year, with many blaming the soft-on-crime policies of progressive Los Angeles County DA George Gascon.

The passage of Proposition 47 in 2014 also downgraded charges of property theft of less than $950 in value from a felony to a misdemeanor.

In addition, two or more people conspiring to 'cheat and defraud any person or any property, by any means which are in themselves criminal' face no more than one year in county prison, a fine of $10,000 or a combination of the two.

But California Governor Gavin Newsom announced new initiatives last week to combat the rising crime rate after packages discarded by thieves near the Union Pacific tracks in downtown Los Angeles made the site look 'like a third-world country.'

Late last year, San Francisco and Oakland residents were attempting to prevent burglars from breaking their car windows by just allowing full access and leaving their trunks open at night.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed slashed $120million from the budgets of the city's police and sheriff's departments in response to demands from Defund the Police activists in July 2020. But, she announced on December 14, that she was asking the city's Board of Supervisors for more money for police to stamp out drug dealing, car break-ins and theft.

Breed argued that San Francisco officers should get aggressive and 'less tolerant of all the bulls*** that has destroyed our city'.

'It's time the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end,' she said. 'And it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies.'

Chesa Boudin, San Francisco's progressive district attorney who ran on a platform of criminal justice reform and accepted $2million from left-wing philanthropist George Soros, has been blamed by many for spiking crime rates in his city.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on December 15 slammed the 'attitude of lawlessness' sweeping the nation, citing the mobs of robbers who have targeted luxury boutiques in her hometown of San Francisco and stores in other cities. But she stopped short of endorsing Breed's plan to step up policing.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell became the highest-ranking GOP lawmaker to break from the Republican National Committee on Tuesday after the party censured Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for working with Democrats to investigate the Capitol riot.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has been criticized for characterizing the January 6 attack as 'legitimate political discourse' in a statement after rebuking the conservative members of Congress.

McConnell maintained during a Senate GOP press conference that he still had confidence in McDaniel's leadership of the national party but implied her organization overstepped its authority in rebuking two sitting members of Congress.

He also denounced the riot as a 'violent insurrection.'

Without naming Cheney or Kinzinger, McConnell defended them by insisting the RNC's place is not to 'single out' members who do not toe the party line.

Speaking to reporters after the Senate GOP caucus lunch, McConnell was asked whether he thought the pair's censure was 'appropriate' and his opinion of McDaniel's statement.

'Let me give him my view of what happened January the 6th, and we all were here. We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election,' the longtime GOP Senate leader said.

McConnell became the highest profile Republican to break from the RNC on Tuesday when he told reporters after the Senate GOP's lunch that it's not the national party's place to weigh in on members' opinions

'With regard to the suggestion that the RNC should be in the business of picking and choosing Republicans who ought to be supported -- traditionally, the view of the national party committees is that we support all members of our party, regardless of their positions on some issues.'

He expressed support for McDaniel but added: 'The issue is, whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views than the majority.'

'That's not the job of the RNC,' McConnell declared.

He ignored a question at the end of the press conference on whether he thought inter-party divisions brought to the forefront by the RNC censure would serve to hold Republicans back in the 2022 midterm elections in November.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also condemned the censure and the RNC's interpretation of the riot from her podium at the daily briefing on Tuesday.

'I think it's clear to Americans that what happened on January 6 was not legitimate political discourse, storming the Capitol and an attempt to halt the peaceful transition of power is not legitimate political discourse,' Psaki said.

'Neither is attacking and injuring over 140 police officers, smashing windows and defiling offices.'

She continued, It's telling to all of us that some leading Republicans have rejected that characterization, including the former president's national security adviser and the Chief of Staff to the former vice president, who as he put it, had a front row seat that day, including as rioters chanted for the former vice president to be hanged.'

The Biden official was referring to condemnations of the insurrection issued by Donald Trump's former national security adviser HR McMaster and Mike Pence's former Chief of Staff Marc Short, who recently appeared before the House select committee investigating January 6.

The RNC voted to formally rebuke Cheney and Kinzinger on Friday at their annual winter meeting in Salt Lake City.

After it, McDaniel came out with a statement saying, 'Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.'

Kinzinger called McDaniel's statement 'dangerous' during a CNN television interview on Monday when describing his fears the US is headed toward a civil war.

On Friday the RNC passed a censure resolution against Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger at their winter meeting in Salt Lake City

Some prominent Republicans, like McDaniel's uncle Senator Mitt Romney, Senator Lisa Murkowski and McConnell's top deputy Senator John Thune, rebuked the party for looking back at 2020 and punishing its own members.

Many have still stayed silent, though reports indicate the vote was not very well received on Capitol Hill.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, Cheney's fellow federal lawmaker from Wyoming, told CNN she had 'no' comment when asked about the censure.

House GOP Rep. Tom Rice told the outlet that the topic did not even come up during members' Tuesday conference meeting.

'It was pretty damn embarrassing,' he said of the RNC's move.

Rice is one of 10 House Republicans including Cheney and Kinzinger who voted to impeach Trump after the Capitol riot.

McConnell also called the riot a 'violent insurrection' in a direct contrast to the RNC characterizing it as 'legitimate political discourse'

McConnell's rebuke of the RNC on Tuesday also separates him from fellow GOP Congressional leadership.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy signaled that he supported the censure resolution hours earlier.

He also attempted to explain away the controversial phrasing by claiming the 'legitimate political discourse' was in reference to RNC members 'who were in Florida' on January 6, 2021 but were subpoenaed by the Democrat-led Capitol riot panel.

'Everybody knows, anybody who broke in and caused damage, that was not called for,' McCarthy said. 'Those people, I've said from the very beginning, should be in jail.'

He dismissed the committee as a 'Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.'
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was rushed out a Washington D.C. high school Tuesday afternoon by his Secret Service detail because of a bomb threat.

Emhoff was at Dunbar High School in Washington D.C. for a Black History Month event when agents pulled him from the room at 2:18 pm.

The agent said something like 'We have to go' and led Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, from the room.

He had been in the school's museum for about five minutes when he was pulled. He was taken to his motorcade outside and rushed away.

His office said he is safe.

'U.S. Secret Service was made aware of a security threat at a school where the @SecondGentleman was meeting with students and faculty. Mr. Emhoff is safe and the school has been evacuated. We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work,' Emhoff spokesperson Katie Peters tweeted after the evacuation.

Students and teachers were also evacuated from the high school with an overhead announcement saying, 'evacuate the building.'

Washington D.C. public school spokesperson Enrique Gutierrez said there was a bomb threat. It's unclear if the threat was tied to Emhoff or the Black History Month event.

A week ago, at least 17 historically Black colleges and universities received bomb threats, prompting an FBI investigation. HBCU Spelman College in Atlanta also shut down on Tuesday because of the third bomb threat in a month.

Washington D.C. police said Thursday evening that no bomb was detected and the school was reopened. The threat was being investigated but there were no immediate indications it was tied to bomb threats to other historically-black institutions, police said.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was rushed out a Washington D.C. high school Tuesday afternoon by his Secret Service detail because of a bomb threat - on the far right is Dunbar's principal Nadine Smith

The agent said something like 'We have to go' and led Doug Emhoff from the room

Doug Emhoff was pulled from the school and all adults/students were evacuated

Doug Emhoff's office said the second gentleman is safe

Gutierrez said precautions were taken to ensure students' safety.

'We had a threat today to the facility so we did  basically we took the precaution of evacuating everybody, as you saw. I think everyone is safe. The building is clear. But I don't have any specific details at this moment,' Gutierrez said.

'It was a bomb threat.'

Dunbar Principal Nadine Smith said the school followed safety protocols. The children were sent home for the day.

'Our protocol is to clear the building and move the kids away. DCPS just gave us directions to make sure, to go ahead and send the kids home. We won't be able to clear the building for probably another hour or two,' she said.

Police dogs searched the building.

The school was safe and no bomb was found, Washington D.C. Executive Chief of Police Ashan Benedict said Thursday afternoon, adding they would be investigating the threat.

'I can't say any certainty is not related to the recent residence historically black colleges, but our partners at the FBI Washington Field Office will work with us to kind of decipher what we have here and make those links if any, but this time doesn't appear to be related,' Benedict said.

He said he spoke to the Secret Service who did not believe the threat was tied to Emhoff.

Emhoff's wife, Kamala Harris, is the nation's first African American and South Asian vice president.

People leave Dunbar High School on Tuesday after a bomb threat

Students at Dunbar High School were sent home for the day

Emhoff was at Dunbar High School in Washington D.C. for a Black History Month event - it is the nation's oldest black high school

Emhoff was at the school to meet with students who are participating in a program that helps them relate to history on a personal level.

The program is for students grades 8-12 and is conducted with a partnership with the National Park Service.

The students in the program are finalizing an oral history project designed to help them connect their family histories to overall African American history. The students are producing videos about the importance of National Park Service sites to African American history.

Dunbar High School is the nation's oldest black high school and opened in 1870.
The Foreign Office has been a 'target of a serious cyber security incident', according to a document published apparently by mistake.

The public tender document, which was put on the Foreign Office's website on Friday, did not outline what happened or who carried it out but stated there was 'urgent support' required to 'support remediation and investigation'.

It added that cyber-security firm BAE Systems Applied Intelligence was called to deal with the hacking attack and received more than 467,000 for its work.

The document said the work required involved 'business analyst and technical architect support to analyse an authority cyber security incident'.

The firm's contract was concluded on January 12 this year, although it has not been confirmed when the incident took place or how much damage was caused.

It is not believed that any secret information was obtained by the hackers.

The document revealing the hacking attempt is believed to have been published online by accident, the BBC reported. It has since been removed.

The Foreign Office has been a 'target of a serious cyber security incident', according to a document published apparently by mistake

It is understood that all parts of the Government implement cyber security defences to identify and prevent potential attempts by cyber criminals to gain access to networks.

The tender document, which was published on Friday, said: 'The Authority was the target of a serious cyber security incident, details of which cannot be disclosed.

'In response to this incident, urgent support was required to support remediation and investigation.'

A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said: 'We do not comment on security but have systems in place to detect and defend against potential cyber incidents.'

The public tender document, which was put on the Foreign Office's website on Friday, did not outline what happened or who carried it out but stated there was 'urgent support' required to 'support remediation and investigation'

The hacking attempt, which was first reported by the publication The Stack, comes a year after it emerged that the Foreign Office's Wilton Park agency was besieged by a cyber attack.

Sources said that the National Cyber Security Centre was called in to help investigate following the breach.

States including Russia and China have been accused of major espionage campaigns in the past.

Foreign governments are often targeted by hackers directed by other states trying to obtain secret information related to politics, diplomacy and current events.

However, both the US and the UK have also been accused of carrying out similar activity around the world.

Last year, Russia's major Solar Winds espionage campaign was unearthed.

US officials said hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department's cybersecurity staff.
The Island Boys, whose real names are Franky Venegas and Alex Venegas, became TikTok sensations after their hit song 'Island Boy' went viral

The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office has not included the Island Boys as part of its investigation regarding Atkins' murder

The two rappers' home was raided on Monday, where police arrested Thomas

Thomas went on the run from police after the incident and sought refuge at the home of the Island Boys, where he was staying on the duo's couch

He allegedly shot Atkins by mistake, intending to aim for another target, when he pulled up to the family's home in a drive-by shooting

Andrew Thomas, 20, of West Palm Beach, was arrested on Monday for the death of Ronziyah Atkins, eight, on February 4

Andrew Thomas, 20, was arrested on Monday accused of shooting eight-year-old Ronziyah Atkins on February 4 while she was playing outside in Belle Glade, Florida. He was staying at the rented property of the Island Boys, two Tiktok stars, at the time of his arrest

A man accused of killing an eight-year-old girl in a stray-bullet shooting in Florida was arrested after a raid on a home rented by the Island Boys, two Tik Tok sensations, authorities said.

Andrew Thomas, 20, of West Palm Beach, was at the home of the two Florida-based rappers, when he was caught three days after the February 4 murder of Ronziyah 'Ziyah' Atkins, eight.

Ziyah was playing around 7 p.m. in the front yard of a home in the 500 block of Southeast First Street in Belle Glade, an hour west of Palm Springs, with her cousins and siblings. Police said Thomas pulled up in a car and opened fire, reportedly seeking another target, authorities said.

It is unclear who his intended victim was, as the investigation is ongoing.

Ziyah was rushed to a Palm Beach County hospital where she later died, and Thomas went on the run. The Palm Beach Sheriff's office managed to identify Thomas as the drive-by gunman with the help of 'cooperating witnesses'.

They tracked the suspect in Heron Bay in Coral Springs, which is about 70 miles from where the shooting happened, according to a press release issued by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The exact location of the Island Boys' rented home, where Thomas was captured, was not revealed.

'This investigation has been tirelessly investigated by PBSO Violent Crimes Division detectives and Gang Unit detectives for the last three days,' the statement from the Palm Beach Sheriff Office reads.

'With the assistance of cooperating witnesses, a suspect was identifiedWith the assistance of Coral Springs Police Department, a search warrant was executedCoral Springs PD currently had charges on the suspect and affected an arrest. PBSO was able to locate significant evidence to get an arrest warrant signed by a judge.'

Ronziyah Atkins, eight, was playing in the front yard of the 500 block of Southeast First Street in Belle Glade, an hour west of Palm Springs, with her cousins and siblings when police said Thomas showed up and opened fire

The rented Florida property of the Island Boys (pictured) was raided by police after they found out that Thomas had been staying there while on the run

Atkins was brought to a hospital in Palm Springs shortly after she was shot, but did not survive

Thomas was being sought after for first-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, and probation violation. The last charge refers to a previous, unrelated robbery case, according to records from Coral Springs Police.

Thomas is being held at the Broward Main Jail without bond. A court hearing has not been scheduled.

Coral Springs police said in a Facebook post, 'The little 8-year old victim deserves justice. The Coral Springs Police send condolences to the victim's family.'

The Island Boys, whose real names are Franky Venegas and Alex Venegas, have not been involved in the investigation regarding Atkins' murder. The rap duo's manager, Dovi Bezner, told WBPF that Thomas and the Island Boys are childhood friends who grew up Florida.

Thomas showed up at the home a few nights before the raid, and had been sleeping on the Tiktok stars' couch before his arrest Monday.

'We had no idea any of this was going on, really,' Bezner said. 'We just knew him as a quiet kid, and he would come and hang out and do his thing and go back to whatever he got going on, but we had no clue about any of these allegations toward him. We just knew him as a good person, someone who grew up with the Island Boys.'

Thomas was sleeping on the couch of the Island Boys rap duo (pictured) for three days before his arrest on Monday

The Island Boys are 20-year-old twin brothers who became stars on TikTok after recording the song 'Island Boy' from a hot tub. It became an overnight sensation on the video-sharing platform

The Island Boys are 20-year-old identical twins, and became internet sensations with their freestyle rap song 'Island Boy,' which is recorded in a pool and got millions of views and likes on Tiktok.

Frank goes by his stage name, Kodiyakredd, while Alex is known as Flyysoulja. Fans have used the #islandboy hashtag on different platforms and also created their versions of the song, which has increased its popularity.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Akins' homicide is ongoing, PBSO officials said.

The sheriff's office previously announced a $25,000 reward for information regarding the murderer's location.
Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and child sexual abuse survivor Grace Tame will respond to Scott Morrison's apology to women harassed and assaulted in federal parliament.

Ms Higgins, who went public a year ago about her alleged 2019 rape in a minister's office, will address the National Press Club with the former Australian of the Year on Wednesday.

Legislation to enact reforms called for by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins is also due to be introduced into parliament.

It follows the prime minister's apology to Ms Higgins and other women who suffered under a parliamentary culture that normalised bullying, abuse, harassment and violence.

Brittany Higgins and 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame will address the National Press Club.

'I am sorry. We are sorry. I'm sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here,' Mr Morrison said on Tuesday.

'The place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare ... but she had the courage to stand, and so here we are.'

Ms Higgins and Rachelle Miller, a former staffer to Liberal minister Alan Tudge who alleged he was emotionally and physically abusive, were among women belatedly invited to watch the apology.

It was among 28 recommendations from Ms Jenkins who found one-third of staff surveyed across Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces had been sexually harassed.

'That exploitation, abuse, bullying and harassment has played itself out through terrible, traumatic and harrowing experiences, harassment of staff, particularly female staff, as well as harassment of female members and senators,' the prime minister said.

'It is clear that practical and cultural changes are necessary to make our parliamentary workplaces safer.'

Ms Tame tweeted 'proactive, preventative measures' were needed instead of 'performative, last-minute bandaid electioneering stunts'.
Australians risk copping fines of up to $21,720 or a six-month prison term if they are caught swearing in public thanks to tough public nuisance laws.

While completely legal in your own home, dropping a casual f-bomb at the park, beach or local cafe is considered a crime in states and territories across the country.

The NSW Summary Offenses Act 1988 says offensive language must not be used 'near a public place or a school.'

It is considered illegal to swear in public places including parks, beaches and restaurants ( file image)

Anyone caught can be fined up to $660.

They might even be required to complete up to 100 hours of community service if they swear near a school.

Over in South Australia, the maximum penalty is $1250 or three months' imprisonment.

Queensland and Victoria also come down hard on their foul-mouthed residents and often class swearing as 'disorderly and violent' behaviour.

At worst, anyone caught swearing in those two states could face a public nuisance charge.

That offence can be punished with a jail sentence of up to six months or fines of $3,325 in Queensland. In Victoria, the penalty is five months in prison or a $21,720 fine.

Anyone caught swearing in New South Wales can be fined up to $660 or be required to complete up to 100 hours of community service (file image)

Users of 'indecent' language in Tasmania risk copping a three-month prison sentence or a $519 fine.

In the Northern Territory, potty-mouths who say 'objectionable words in a public place' face being hit with a fine of between $100 and $500.

Australians hit with an offensive language charge can defend themselves in court by arguing the use of swear words was a necessity, in self-defence or made under duress.
The man who allegedly shot and killed an Instacart worker and critically injured a Fred Meyer employee appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday following an 11-hour manhunt.

Aaron Christopher Kelly, 39, was brought into the Benton County Superior Courthouse for a preliminary hearing wearing a green jumpsuit and a white face mask below his nose just one day after he allegedly opened fire at the Richland Fred Meyer grocery store and fled the scene.

Justin Krumbah, 38, was killed in the shooting after having a 'quick conversation' with Kelly, and Mark A. Hill, 66, a Fred Meyer employee working near the customer service desk was critically injured.

After a nearly 11 hour search for Kelly, he was ultimately arrested by police on Monday night on Interstate 90 between Sprague and Spokane, more than 130 miles from the crime scene.

He was booked into the Benton County jail just after 2am on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. He is now being held on a $1 million bail.

Aaron Kelly, 39, was arrested on Monday night following an intense manhunt in Washington following a deadly shooting at a Fred Meyer grocery store

In court on Tuesday, attorney Katherine Bohnet requested moving Kelly's arraignment out two weeks to February 23, according to the Tri-City Herald.

She added that her colleague, Michael Vander Sys with the Benton County Office of Public Defense, asked to be appointed to the case.

Prosecutor Andy Miller did not object to Bohnet's request to move the arraignment, at which Kelly will be officially charged, but said Kelly needed to be the one to make the request to waive his right to a speedy arraignment.

Kelly then confirmed for Judge Joe Burrowes that he wanted to postpone the hearing, when it is likely defense attorneys may ask for a lower bail.

This grainy image from a surveillance camera shows the suspected gunman without a mask at the Fred Meyer store. Staff said he had shoplifted from there before, most recently last Thursday

He is accused of opening fire on an Instacart shopper, killing him, and injuring a 66-year-old store worker, before wandering out of the supermarket

Kelly, 39, was brought into the Benton County Superior Courthouse for a preliminary hearing wearing a green jumpsuit and a white face mask

Kelly was identified as the alleged shooter by a tipster who recognized his picture in social media posts as local law enforcement tried to identify the suspect in the shooting at around 11am on Monday.

A Kennewick Fred Meyer employee also identified Kelly as the suspect, reportedly telling officers that Kelly is a frequent shoplifter and was at the store as recently as last Thursday, wearing the same clothing he was pictured in before the shooting.

He is said to have had a 'quick conversation' with Krumbah, a local Instacart shopper, as he entered aisle 14 of the grocery store, according to a probable cause document.

Surveillance footage shows Kelly entering the store just after 11am with a shopping cart, but he does not appear to select anything from the store.

When he passed Krumbah, the document states 'There appears to be a quick conversation between the two, then the victim goes back about his business.

'Mr. Kelly then shoots the victim with a handgun. Mr. Kelly then shoots the victim several more times while [Krumbah] is on the ground.'

After leaving aisle 14, Kelly approached costumer service, where he allegedly shot Hill, leaving him critically injured. He was later taken to a hospital, where he underwent surgery. He remained in critical condition Tuesday, and was in need of O+ blood, KHQ reports.

Witnesses said they heard as many as 10 gunshots during the incident, which lasted less than 5 minutes, and according to the probable cause document, 'There were numerous spent 9mm handgun casings around both victims.'

No motive has been released as of Tuesday.

This map shows the location of the Fred Meyer store in Richland, where the fatal shooting took place, and Interstate 90 between Sprague and Spokane, where Kelly was arrested

Grocery store employees and customers were seen fleeing the Fred Meyer on Monday

Ambulances and police vehicles are seen outside the supermarket on Wellsian Way

SWAT Teams were called in to assist local law enforcement in the shooting

Police and sheriff's deputies from around the area said they started receiving calls about possible shots being fired at the store at 11.03am and converged on the scene within a minute.

Dispatch officers reported at the time that the shooter was still in the building and at least one person was down.

The Tri-City Herald reported that a chaplain was also summoned.

Officers and members of the Richland Fire Department quickly began life-saving operations, but Krumbrah was pronounced dead on the scene.

An unnamed store employee was also wounded and transported to a local hospital for treatment. He remained in critical condition Monday afternoon as he underwent surgery.

Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in to assist. The ATF later announced it was sending agents from its Yakima field office to help with the investigation.

SWAT teams were also on the scene Monday morning, and confirmed that the suspect was no longer in the building.

Police said Kelly left the store and fled the scene in his 2005 Honda Civic, as a $1million nationwide warrant was issued for his arrest.

During the hourslong search for Kelly, police contacted his former landlord, Bryant Scott, who told them that the 39-year-old 'had been spiraling mentally and is very paranoid,' according to the probable cause statement.

Scott, a retired US Marine and Kelly's former landlord and roommate, said that in 2020, he had begged a judge to take his tenant's gun away when he refused to move out of his home and allegedly tried to poison his dogs, but no action was taken.

After Monday's shooting, Scott told police that he had seen Kelly with a 9mm handgun and identified him as the man seen on store surveillance video during the rampage.

One witness reported hearing at least 10 shots fired inside the store, the Herald reported.

Grocery store workers and customers reportedly huddled in stock rooms, restrooms and back offices, awaiting police to lead them to safety.

'The terror in the eyes of these people that came and took cover in my shop,' a nearby business owner, Robert Cronkite told KIRO Newsradio. 'I just, I mean, I had never seen terror in anyones eyes quite like what I saw there.'

'The guy that did it He literally walked out of there, casually pushing a shopping cart. And you can see the satchels, you know, the gurney bag, wherever hes got these guns when he walked out. He gets in his white Dodge pickup, and the guy drives off.'

In a statement, a spokesperson for the supermarket chain said: 'We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at our Fred Meyer store located on 101 Wellsian Way in Richland, Washington.

'The entire Fred Meyer family offers our thoughts, prayers and support to all affected individuals and families during this difficult time.'

The spokesperson added: 'We are cooperating with local law enforcement who have secured the store and parking lot. The store will remain closed while the police investigation continues, and we have initiated counseling services for our associates.'

Former landlord of Fred Meyer gunman, 39, 'who shot dead Instacart shopper, 38,' reveals judge refused to take accused murderer's gun away and turned down restraining order During the hourslong search for Aaron Kelly, Bryant Scott shared photos of his former tenant on social media, asking anyone who comes across him to call the police The former landlord and roommate of accused Fred Meyer gunman Aaron Christopher Kelly, 39, penned a lengthy post on his Facebook page, detailing Kelly's alleged campaign of harassment against him and his friends, including unverified claims that the suspect had attempted to poison Scott's two dogs and possessed child pornography. Bryant Scott wrote in the now-deleted status update that for a year and a half during the pandemic, he tried in vain to evict Kelly, but the man would not leave, deliberately being a nuisance, refusing to talk to police, and doing everything in his power to get under our skin, especially mine, he claimed. Scott added: the culminating result, was me having to sell my home to get away from him because he refused to leave. Franklin County Superior Court records indicate that in October 2020, Scott made a complaint against Kelly, accusing him of unlawful harassment. Scott alleged that during his arguments with Kelly, the 39-year-old displayed what he called 'the dark triad... of psychopathy,' including selfishness, antisocial behavior and 'remorselessness.' According to the retired Marine, when he tried to raise the alarm about Kellys mental instability, he said an unnamed judge ignored his warnings and openly scoffed at him. I attempted to get a restraining order when he was harassing my friends as well as due to him repeatedly attempting to murder my dogs, Scott claimed. I will not name the judge who ignored my warning but I can tell you he seemed to be more proud of being on the bench, rather than being mindful of the unique responsibility he had been entrusted. My stomach was in knots when I was told there is nothing they would do. Scott said he also asked the judge to have Kellys pistol taken away, but that request was also rejected. The judge chose not to take any action on account he didnt think the poison Aaron repeatedly tried to feed to my dogs could have killed them, the landlord wrote. Even after Kelly finally left Scotts home, the landlord said he was told by another judge and the police that their hands were tied and there was nothing they could do to take away his means of violence, or provide him with the obvious help he needed,' ultimately resulting in Mondays cold-blooded killing. Scott expressed relief that Kelly has been arrested. He wont have the satisfaction of manipulating any more people, giving that smug smirk to the police, or doing the run around with the courts with his superficial innocence, the landlord stated. The nightmare has finally ended. Advertisement

Justin Krumbah, 38, was identified as the victim killed in a shooting at a Richland, Washington Fred Meyer grocery store Monday morning

Following the shooting, friends and co-workers took to social media to remember Krumbah, who they said always wore a smile as he bought groceries for his clients.

A GoFundMe was also set up to raise money for his funeral expenses, and by 9pm local time, it had already raised more than $14,000, with many people sharing their condolences and remembering Krumbah for his outgoing personality.

'He always had a smile on his face an was an absolute joy to be around,' wrote Alexander Weeks, a store employee at the Richland Fred Meyer. 'He was far and away one of my favorite parts of coming in and made those extra hard days seem not so bad.'

Destiny Underwood, whose Facebook page identifies her as the deli manager at the Fred Meyer posted that she planned to start a credit union donation for Krumbah so donations could go directly to his family.

'He was an amazing guy,' she wrote. 'I always ha a bit of a better day when h was in.

'It's truly heartbreaking that he had to go to heaven today.'

Tributes had also poured into his Facebook page, where Krumbah often posted pictures of himself in different outfits as he began his Instacart shift every day.

His most recent post, on January 26, showed him donning an apron emblazoned with the Seattle Seahawks logo with the caption: 'Hi ho, hi ho, off to work I go.'

A friend at the time asked: 'You wear an apron now?' to which Krumbah responded: 'I take pride in my work no matter what I do! Always gotta be professional.'

Many more people commented on the photo following the news of the shooting, with one Richland woman saying she met him in the checkout line of the Fred Meyer last Saturday and spoke 'about how you enjoyed Instacart and how you approached it with an outstanding work ethic.

'My day was made by your positive, can-do attitude.'

A man immediately replied to the comment writing that he had the same experience working with Krumbah, calling him a 'very positive and outgoing man.'

And another woman wrote that Krumbah was her family's Instacart driver 'every time we shopped at Fred Meyer.

'You always sent a message when you accepted our order and said it was a pleasure to shop for us again,' she wrote. 'I never got to meet you, but your friendly messages made my day every time we used Instacart.

'The world lost a light today,' she added.
A drug trafficker accused of paying off the president of Honduras and other high-ranking government officials to flood the US with tons of cocaine will be spending the rest of his life inside a United States prison.

Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez was sentenced to life in prison by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, the Department of Justice said in a press release.

He was also instructed to turn over $151.7 million in illicit profits.

Fuentes Ramirez was arrested in Miami in March 2020 and was convicted in March 2021 on three counts, including cocaine trafficking and weapons charges.

'Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez was convicted of importing tons of cocaine into the United States and protecting his illicit drug business with machine guns,' U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez was sentenced to life in prison by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday

Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras, reportedly took kickback payments from drug traffickers up until 2019

Williams added that the drug lord also 'bribed high-ranking Honduran officials and was responsible for brutal acts of violence and murder.'

'Fuentes Ramirez's path of destruction, both in violence and flooding the United States with cocaine, has finally come to an end, and he will now spend his life in federal prison,' Williams said.

Fuentes Ramirez got his transnational cocaine shipping business running in or around 2009 in the the Honduran city of Cortes, according to the Department of Justice.

Federal U.S. law enforcement investigators said he started a cocaine lab that pumped out hundreds of kilos of cocaine each month. The cocaine was then shipped off on private planes that departed from secret landing strips in Cortes.

Fuentes Ramirez also allegedly murdered a Honduran law enforcement agent who reportedly participated in a 2012 raid at the lab.

During the drug kingpin's two-week trial in March 2021, Devis Rivera, the former leader of the Cachiros Cartel, told the New York jury that Fuentes Ramirez and other drug traffickers had provided kickback payments to former President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

He testified that he had sent $250,000 to Hernandez in 2012 through his sister in exchange for protection of his smuggling business and to avoid extradition.

Jose Sanchez, an accountant whose rice business was used by Fuentes Ramirez to launder money, testified that he twice witnessed Hernandez receiving bribes from Fuentes Ramirez in 2013.

Federal prosecutors said the alleged payments were received by Hernandez while he was a president through at least 2019. Hernandez became president in 2014 and led the impoverished Central American nation until last month, when he lost the election to anti-corruption candidate Xiomara Castro.

Hernandez has not been charged in the US, but his brother, Juan Antonio 'Tony' Hernandez Alvarado, was found guilty of trafficking drugs and lying to the Drug Enforcement Administration in October 2019. He was sentenced to life in prison in March 2021.

Castro did not comment after Fuentes Ramirez's conviction on Tuesday.

The US Department of Justice contended that then-President Hernandez 'expressed interest in access to Fuentes Ramirez's cocaine laboratory because of its proximity to a major commercial shipping port, agreed to facilitate the use of Honduran armed forces personnel as security for Fuentes Ramirez's drug trafficking activities, and instructed Fuentes Ramirez to report directly to Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado for subsequent drug trafficking activities.'

Following the conviction, U.S. Attorney Audrey Strass said that Fuentes Ramirez 'facilitated the shipment of large loads of cocaine by bribing Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado, then president of the Honduran National Congress and now the Honduran president. Hernandez Alvarado instructed Fuentes Ramirez to report directly to convicted co-conspirator and former Honduran congressman Tony Hernandez, the president's brother.'

Fuentes Ramirez's conviction came one day after the administration of President Joe Biden declassified a report that showed that President Hernandez has been placed on a blacklist last year.

Juan Antonio 'Tony' Hernandez (pictured in 2017) - the brother of Honduras' former President Juan Orlando Hernandez - was convicted in a massive drug conspiracy case in a New York City federal court in October 2019. He was sentenced to life in prison last year.

Xiomara Castro, who was sworn is as the Honduran President on January 27, has in the past stressed her commitment to driving out drug cartels from the Central American nation

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that there were 'credible' reports that Hernandez 'has engaged in significant corruption by committing or facilitating acts of corruption and narco-trafficking, and using the proceeds of illicit activity to facilitate political campaigns.'

Hernandez, whose eight-year term ended January 27, has denied such allegations.

The State Department included Hernandez on the Corrupt and Undemocratic Actors List effective July 1, 2021, but was now declassifying and publicizing the decision, Blinken said.

Inclusion on the list 'generally makes the listed individuals ineligible for visas and admission to the United States,' Blinken said.

President Xiomara Castro said on election night that she was committed to rooting out 'corruption,' 'drug trafficking,' and 'organized crime.'

Hernandez, in a response published as an open letter, touted his achievements in reducing street crime and curbing the trafficking of narcotics bound for the United States.

'It is surprising that this decision ... is made based on 'media reports' and also on statements from drug traffickers and confessed murderers who were extradited by my government, or who had to flee and surrender to the United States authorities for fear of being extradited,' Hernandez said.

The former leader lauded his government's efforts against cartels by stating that 28 criminal organization leaders were extradited and 31 others voluntarily turned themselves in to U.S. federal authorities.

He said that during his term, his administration reduced the flow of narcotics from Honduras to the United States by 83 percent.

In addition, he credited binational efforts to the 41,240 kilos of cocaine that were seized between 2014 and 2021. Hernandez indicated that law enforcement agencies helped destroy 327 secret landing strips and apprehended more than 7,000 people linked to drug trafficking.
SANAA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Fighter jets of the Saudi-led coalition killed 30 Houthi militants and destroyed 15 vehicles of the militia in the city of Harad in Yemen's northern province of Hajjah on Tuesday morning, a Yemeni military officer told Xinhua.

"The airstrikes paved the way for the Yemeni government army to further advance inside the strategic city, which borders Saudi Arabia, seizing control of the southern and western parts of the city," the officer said from the frontline on condition of anonymity.

"The army entered the city from four directions, using tanks and armored vehicles," the officer said, adding that "demining teams are clearing landmines in the streets and farms."

Meanwhile, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported multiple airstrikes by the coalition on Harad without providing further details.

Last week, the Yemeni army backed by the coalition recaptured the al-Mihsam military camp, a village, and strategic mountains overlooking Harad.

The operation came simultaneously with another offensive launched by the Yemeni army to recapture districts in the oil-rich province of Marib in central Yemen.

Last month, the Yemeni army recaptured three districts in the southeastern province of Shabwa from the Houthi militia after a 10-day battle, taking the whole province of Shabwa from the militia. 
A majority of Australians back a huge wage rise for aged care workers and say federal government funding for the sector should be increased.

The polling conducted for the Health Services Union found 71 per cent of voters backed a 25 per cent increase in the average pay rate to $29 per cent hour, from around $22.

Some 62 per cent want federal funding for the sector to be increased, the poll conducted by JSW Research found.

A majority of Australians back a huge wage rise for aged care workers and say federal government funding for the sector should be increased (pictured, workers leaving Arcare Aged Care facility in Maidstone, Melbourne)

The findings come after a tough few months for the aged care sector as the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 took its toll on residents and workers.

HSU National president Gerard Hayes said it was a wake-up call for the government.

'It's simply inexplicable that Scott Morrison and the Liberals are yet to back the HSU case for a decent wage aged care rise,' he said on Wednesday.

'We will be reminding the public of this every day until the federal election.'

Mr Hayes said the poll was also a warning for the Labor opposition.

'Labor needs to be clear on its commitment to aged care or it will risk losing support to those independents and minor parties who do,' he added.

Mr Hayes said at least 600 aged care residents had lost their lives during the Omicron outbreak.

'This workforce is mostly casual or underemployed women. Their work is physically and emotionally exhausting and they are at their wits' end,' he said.

The national poll of 1600 voters was conducted online between January 10-19.
A leaking toilet pipe in a southwest Sydney unit led to the discovery of 220 kilograms of the drug ice worth $44million - as well as $1.1million in cash.

NSW Police were called to the Canterbury unit, in the city's south-west, on July 9 last year, after workers fixing the pipe found bags of cash and a crystal substance in an open cupboard.

After searching the unit and a garage beneath the complex police seized 15 cardboard boxes containing almost 220kg of crystal methamphetamine (ice), with an estimated street value of $44million.

NSW Police found 220 kilograms of ice in a Sydney unit in July last year

Police also found $1.1million in cash at the unit, with some stashed in a grocery bag

NSW Police were called to the Canterbury unit, in the city's south-west, on July 9 last year, after workers fixing the pipe found bags of cash and a crystal substance in an open cupboard

They also found 95 grams of MDMA and 35g of cocaine, along with chemicals consistent with the manufacture of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GBH), gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) and ice.

Almost $1.15million in cash was also found in the unit and garage - some of it stashed in a grocery bag.

Police are now appealing for information and have released images of the cash and drugs as well as CCTV footage of a man they want to interview about the matter.

Police are seen investigating the unit where the large amounts of drugs were found last July

Police are now appealing for information and have released images of the cash and drugs as well as CCTV footage of a man they want to interview about the matter

The man is seen walking along Minter Street, Canterbury about 8.10pm on July 9, 2021.

He is described as being of Asian appearance, about 170cm tall, of thin build, aged between 25-30, with short black hair.

Pictured is some of the stacks of cash found by police at the south-west Sydney unit
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that President Joe Biden supports an effort on Capitol Hill for staffers to unionize.

'He does,' Psaki said at the press briefing. 'He supports the right of any individual to seek to join a union to collective bargain and, of course, Capitol Hill staffers are certainly individuals who are pursuing that.'

Capitol Hill staffers have been anonymously airing their frustrations about pay so low they sometimes qualify for public aid and toxic working conditions on the account 'Dear White Staffers.'

The account, which brands itself as 'Congressional BIPOC s**tposters on Capitol Hill,' shares salacious stories of members who mistreat their staff, amid a campaign to unionize that has attracted the approval of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Psaki referred a reporter to Congressional leadership when asked if White House staff had been in touch with Hill aides organizing the effort, pointing to comments Pelosi made.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that President Joe Biden supports an effort on Capitol Hill for staffers to unionize

Asked about the account in her weekly news conference Thursday, Pelosi initially declined.

Later asked again about staffers' push to unionize, the speaker said: 'Well, we just unionized at the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee], and I supported that.'

The Instagram users who work on Capitol Hill submitted stories of long hour, salaries starting below $30,000 that prompt them to apply for food stamps, toxic environments and requests for personal favors from their bosses.

Latino Rebels' Pablo Manriquez reported that members' offices are conducting meetings sternly warning their staff against submitting content to the account.

One submission described Sen. Joe Manchin's office as notoriously 'toxic' and claimed that the West Virginia Democrat calls his female staffers 'babe' all the time.

Another Instagram user went after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, writing that a friend had worked for Sinema when she was in the House as a scheduler, and the Arizona Democrat would make her drive her to the grocery store after-hours, wait in the car while Sinema shopped and then drive her home.

One user said that Van Hollen's wife Katherine sat in on their interview for the job, another confirmed that Katherine was 'toxic' and said they'd been 'screamed at' by he

The scheduler allegedly had to get her car professionally cleaned out of her own pocket because she had a dog and Sinema did not want to get dog hair on her belongings.

Another told a story of when Sinema's staffers returned home to Arizona at the start of the pandemic, in April 2020, she was furious.

She threatened to fire them if they did not return to D.C. However, she she didn't want them to fly and risk infecting her with COVID-19 and forced them to make the 33+ hour drive. Another user confirmed the story and added that Sinema at the same time was flying back and forth constantly for votes.

One submission claimed that as a low-level staffer Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand would have them by her $5-6 lattes every single day on her own dime.

Another submission said that Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, 'doesn't care about staff' and 'can't be bothered' to remember her own staffers' names unless they are senior-level.

Another story told of Rep. Nancy Mace asking an unpaid intern to use his own personal vehicle after hours to go pick up alcohol for a party the South Carolina Republican was having that evening.

The account has been posting a series of 'vibe checks' where users request reviews on the leadership of members from across the aisle.

Multiple submissions confirmed that Rep. Kay Granger, a Texas Republican, is 'abusive, volatile and corrupt' and multiple others agreed that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, was the 'worst member to work for.'

Rep. Pramila Jayapal was a frequent target of criticism.

One submission called the Washington Democrat's office 'famously a nightmare.' 'You couldn't pay me to work there!' the user added.

'Jayapal is notoriously one of the 5 worst offices on the dem side on the hill. She is a toxic terrible person who treats people like s**t,' wrote another user.

There are a number of positive submissions as well - some described Rep. Dean Phillips D-Minn., as 'the man,' and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., as 'a saint.'

One person who submitted to the account described Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., as 'literally the best boss I have ever had.'

Multiple users complained about the heavy hand Sen. Chris Van Hollen's wife plays in his office. One user said that the Maryland Democrat's wife Katherine sat in on their interview for the job, another confirmed that Katherine was 'toxic' and said they'd been 'screamed at' by her.

'Chris Van Hollen's wife is overly involved in his office and is volatile and abusive. Has a desk, weighs in on staffing, joins calls. Chris is nice, but knows full well how she treats people, so is complicit. There are absolutely no boundaries. Seems like he's content letting her get all her poison out at his staff rather than him. I've seen staff quit and seek therapy over the way she treats them. Everyone on the hill knows,' one user wrote.

The allegations made on the account could not be independently verified as submissions are anonymous.

Others simply told stories of how they got by on the meager salary.

'I lived in Section 8 housing all three years of working on the Hill for the same member,' one anonymous user wrote. 'I've lived in D.C.'s affordable housing for a year and a half,' wrote another.

But the account also calls out Congress' lack of diversity within its staffing ranks, and posts memes about the 'trauma bonding' that comes with working in the 'toxic workplaces' of the Hill.

While discrimination is illegal under the Congressional Accountability Act, many users say they face day-to-day micro-agressions from both colleagues and bosses, and don't feel that filing a formal complaint would change anything.

And given the decentralized way the Capitol is run, lawmakers each have different hiring practices, paid leave and sick time, salary structures and human resources departments.

Their processes are not compelled necessarily to be 'fair' by any uniform definition of the word.

The work of the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress has focused on hearing the frustrations of these staffers, who despite working in the background have a major say in shaping U.S. policy.

The committee has implemented a centralized HR hub, a House Office of Diversity and Inclusion and professional development training where top staffers have focused lessons on what they wish they knew when starting out.

And now, at least a handful of Democrats have voiced support for staff unionizing, Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. Marie Newman, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Pelosi.

'Like all Americans, our tireless Congressional staff have the right to organize their workplace and join together in a union. If and when staffers choose to exercise that right, they would have Speaker Pelosi's full support,' Pelosi's deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, said, addressing the matter head-on in a statement.

'Congressional staff need unions now! Congress couldn't run without them and I'm committed to supporting their voice at work,' Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., wrote on Twitter Thursday night.

Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., seconded the proposal.

'On Capitol Hill, interns are often unpaid, many staffers don't make a living wage, and lack of work protections can pave the way for unhealthy environments. @RepAndyLevin is right - sounds like a perfect place for a union.'

On Friday, leaders of the movement unveiled the Congressional Workers' Union, which will continue its efforts to unionize offices and committees.

'After more than a year of organizing as a volunteer group of congressional staff, we are proud to publicly announce our efforts to unionize the personal offices and committees of Congress.

'While not all offices and staff face the same working conditions, we strongly believe that to better serve our constituents will require meaningful changes to improve retention, equity, diversity and inclusion on Capitol Hill,' the group wrote in a statement.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said Monday that he didn't support the effort.

'No. I don't think it would be productive for the government,' the top House Republican told Punchbowl News.
A Sydney high school teacher has been accused of supplying drugs to teenagers in Sydney's south.

NSW Police began investigating last week after receiving a tip-off about a woman supplying drugs to students in the Sutherland area.

A 42-year-old woman was arrested at a Beverly Hills home on Friday and later charged with supplying a prohibited drug.

She was granted conditional bail to appear at Sutherland Local Court on Wednesday.

Police will allege in court the teacher contacted and subsequently supplied prohibited drugs to students outside of school hours.
The Army general selected to take command of U.S. troops in the Middle East warned on Tuesday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could spill over into Syria, where Moscow might try to act as a 'spoiler.'

But Lt. Gen. Erik Kurilla told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Iran remains the biggest threat to U.S. interests in the region.

And he said China was expanding its reach across the Central Command region, including countries that the U.S. was reliant on for gathering intelligence on terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

In his opening statement, he described a changing world where the U.S. faced the expanding reach of competitors.

'The United States faces a new era of strategic competition with China and Russia that is not confined to one geographical region and extends into the (Central Command) area of responsibility,' he said

'As the United States rightfully prioritizes competition with China, we must remain engaged in the Middle East and Central and South Asia.'

He appeared before the committee as the world waits for President Vladimir Putin's next move.

Lt. Gen. Erik Kurilla told the Senate Armed Services Committee that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could spill over into actions in Syria. He added that he was about to deploy to Europe as part of Biden's plan to send forces to NATO allies in the region

Ukrainian soldiers are watching for Russia's next move, with 100,000 Russian troops camped on their border

Russian troops arrived in Belarus for drills last month. Moscow says they will return when the drills are complete, but their presence has further raised fears of an attack on Ukraine

Moscow has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine but denies it is planning to invade its neighbor.

Kurilla said any move on Ukraine, might trigger moves in Syria - where Russia has acted prop up President Bashar al-Assad and thwart the spread of democracy.

'I believe if Russia does invade Ukraine, they would not hesitate to be able to act as a spoiler in, in Syria as well,' he said, before referring to Russia's activity in electronic warfare.

'Already, we see it as one of the most contested electromagnetic spectrum environments that we're currently operating in.'

Kurilla, a combat-hardened officer with extensive experience in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, got a friendly reception from the panel and was told he would probably be confirmed.

If he gets the job, Kurilla would take over as the Pentagon shifts its focus to the Indo-Pacific and tries to counter a rising China, and to bolster defenses against Russia in Europe.

But Iran and Tehran-backed proxies have kept up a steady drumbeat of attacks on U.S. and allied forces across the Middle East, often hindering plans to shift more troops out of the region.

If confirmed, Kurilla would replace U.S. Marine General Frank McKenzie, who endured a difficult time as head of Central Command, overseeing the withdrawal from Afghanistan

Last week, a U.S. raid in Syria killed ISIS chief Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. He died in a suicide blast, destroyed the top floor of his hideaway close to the border with Turkey

Kurilla would replace Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who is retiring after three years leading the command.

McKenzie has overseen a tumultuous time in the region, with America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the dismantling of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and escalating threats from Iran and its proxies as they launch more attacks against Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and ships at sea.

Kurilla, who is currently the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps, told the committee that after the hearing he was deploying to Germany as part of the U.S. effort to reassure allies concerned about Russia's military build-up along Ukraine's borders.

On China, Kurilla said 18 of the 21 countries in the Central Command region have signed strategic agreements with Beijing, which has increased its development in the Middle East. The U.S., he said, has to be able to counter China there.

'China has increased their spending 360% in the Middle East,' he said.

'So I believe it is of great concern, and what we have to do is expose their predatory practices where they treat every country as a client or a customer, where we deal in relationships and we are partners and allies.'

Senators also questioned Kurilla on efforts to monitor al-Qaeda and Islamic State extremists in Afghanistan, now that there are no longer U.S. forces in the country.

He said efforts continue to work with surrounding nations to set up 'over-the-horizon' capabilities.

The U.S., which left Afghanistan at the end of August, has been struggling to negotiate with a number of countries in the region to allow overflights, basing or other intelligence gathering from within their borders.

Military leaders say it is difficult to monitor extremist groups from afar because doing so requires long drone flights that allow limited surveillance time.

Asked about working with the Taliban, Kurilla said the U.S. should take a pragmatic approach.

He said the Taliban also views the Islamic State group as an enemy, so that may be a potential area of agreement. He also said the U.S. must find ways to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and that may involve Taliban help with food deliveries.

Kurilla graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1988, and has served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, commanding conventional and special operations forces. He commanded a Stryker battalion in Iraq in 2004, and was shot and wounded.
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Jimmy Carr is facing further criticism after it emerged that he joked about the deaths of six millions Jews in the Holocaust.

The comedian has faced a barrage of uproar in recent days over a clip from his Netflix special which saw him joke that the 'thousands of gypsies killed by the Nazis' was a 'positive' consequence of the Holocaust.

On Tuesday, he was pictured for the first time since the row broke out. He was seen leaving his London home for a gig at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.

It has now emerged that months before his Netflix show was broadcast, Carr, 49, insisted in his bestselling book that, as 'an act of defiance', it was acceptable to laugh at the mass murder perpetrated by the Nazis.

He wrote in Before & Laughter, which was released in September last year: 'People will laugh in the most stressful and hopeless situations.

'During the Holocaust, prisoners held in concentration camps found ways to secretly tell jokes and share stories.

'And they laughed. Laughing gave them some control and reminded them of their humanity. It helped them cope.'

Later in the book, he referenced the 1997 Oscar-winning film Life is Beautiful, which is about an Italian father and son who are sent to a Nazi concentration camp.

Carr said: 'How could they make a Holocaust movie that was funny? Well, because that s*** happened. And I think it's okay to joke about the Holocaust.'

He added: 'They say there's safety in numbers. Tell that to six million Jews.'

Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, told the Evening Standard in response to the words in the book that the comedian's jokes 'dehumanise people'.

'Jimmy Carr is right that people in the Holocaust concentration camps tried to assert their humanity in a variety of ways, in the face of propaganda and policies that deliberately sought to dehumanise them,' she said.

'But Carr's "jokes" certainly do not humanise, nor are they funny or joyful, as he has claimed. They dehumanise people and perpetuate prejudice.'

Protesters outside the Grove Theatre on Tuesday delayed Carr's show by nearly an hour after campaigners demanded that venues hosting the comic on his Terribly Funny Tour de-platform him.

In the Netflix footage, the 8 Out of 10 Cats presenter said: '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.'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman yesterday branded the joke 'unacceptable', while Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged people to boycott the one-hour special.

'Obviously, those comments are deeply disturbing and it is unacceptable to make light of genocide,' Mr Johnson's spokesman said. They said 'mocking the atrocities of the Holocaust is unacceptable' but that it is a matter for Netflix when it comes to whether or not the special should be removed.

The spokesman added: 'We are looking at toughening measures for social media and streaming platforms which don't tackle harmful content on their platforms. We are looking at regulatory changes for streaming companies. We are clear that any change in legislation needs to be proportionate, to ensure freedom of speech within the law is not stifled.'

Meanwhile a petition called 'The Genocide of Roma is Not a Laughing Matter' has been signed by more than 15,000 people. Gypsy leaders also invited the stand up performer to Auschwitz to remember the genocide later this year.

It comes as Dame Melanie Dawes, head of media watchdog Ofcom, said she would 'welcome' the chance to regulate Netflix and other streaming services.

Jimmy Carr has been pictured for the first time since a furious row broke out over his Holocaust joke about gypsies

Carr, 49, was seen leaving his London home this evening amid a storm over a clip from his Netflix special, His Dark Material, which saw him joke that the 'thousands of gypsies killed by the Nazis' was a 'positive' consequence of the Holocaust

Carr has been pictured for the first time since a furious row broke out over his 'disturbing' Holocaust joke about gypsies

Protesters outside the theatre managed to delay Carr's show by nearly an hour after campaigners demanded that venues hosting the comic on his Terribly Funny Tour de-platform him

Police were called to the venue following a small protest against Carr over his Holocaust joke

In the footage, the 8 Out of 10 Cats presenter says: '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'

A petition, labelled 'The Genocide of Roma is Not a Laughing Matter', has been signed by more than 15,000 people

Jimmy Carr's Terribly Funny Tour... where is he performing this month? February 8: Dunstable

February 10: Southend

February 11: Liverpool

February 12: Cheltenham

February 13: London

February 16: Cambridge

February 19: London

February 20: Southampton

February 25: Rhyl

February 26: Leicester

February 27: Bromley Advertisement

She said: 'It's really confusing that they've got different standards applied, for example, to Channel 4 News than they have to YouTube and other services, including Netflix, that come streamed on to our TVs.'

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries previously suggested new laws via the Media Bill could hold to account streaming sites for airing jokes such as those made by Carr.

Anti-hate groups such as the not-for-profit organisation Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and The Auschwitz Memorial have condemned the comedian for the joke.

The Traveller Movement, a charity supporting the traveller community in the UK, has also launched a petition calling for Netflix to remove the segment of the programme 'which celebrates the Romani genocide'. It said the joke in question was 'truly disturbing and goes way beyond humour'.

On Monday morning, Mr Javid told Times Radio the joke was 'horrid'. He added: 'I think we all have a right to react to that, and one of the best ways anyone can react to that is show these platforms what they think about Jimmy Carr by not watching or listening to him, and that will send him a very strong message.'

Martin Docherty-Hughes, SNP MP for West Dunbartonshire, said he was 'utterly dumbfounded' by Carr using the Holocaust to 'poke fun at one of the most marginalised groups in these islands, the Roma and Gypsy community'.

He suggested the House of Commons should have an opportunity to hold a debate to recognise the 'value and worth' of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community across the UK and to 'raise them up, not to put them down'.

Carr issued a 'trigger warning' to the audience at the beginning of his Netflix special and told viewers it contained 'terrible things'.

According to The Mirror, he appeared to address the controversy during a performance at the Whitley Bay Playhouse on Saturday night. Discussing so-called cancel culture, he told the audience: 'The joke that ends my career is already out there.'

Theatres set to host Carr's tour also saw the heat intensify last night from Traveller campaign groups.

The Luton Roma Trust called for The Grove Theatre to ensure the 'gross racial slur' would not be repeated.

It said: 'We appreciate that comedy is subjective but in our view when punchlines are indistinguishable from the genuinely held views of fascists and neo-Nazis, a line has very clearly been crossed.' It also called for Carr to apologise and for Netflix to strip the segment out of the comedy special.

Carr, 49, was seen leaving his London home this evening for a gig at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, amid a storm over a clip from his Netflix special which saw him joke that the 'thousands of gypsies killed by the Nazis' was a 'positive' consequence of the Holocaust

Anti-hate groups such as the not-for-profit organisation Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and The Auschwitz Memorial have condemned the comedian for the joke

Local campaign groups are weighing up plans for a protest at theatres set to hosting the comedian. Sherrie Smith, from Gypsies and Travellers Essex, told the Times: 'We should be looking at Channel 4, all the theatres that endorse Jimmy Carr and everybody who he works next to. We need to look at why he did this.'

Gypsy leaders called on Carr to join them at Auschwitz when they visit to remember the Holocaust on August 2, the date in 1944 when 4,000 Roma were killed.

Spokesman for the UK's Roma Billy Welch said if the comedian and presenter went he may 'appreciate the hurt and fear he has stirred up'.

He told the Mirror: 'His so-called joke was so offensive because there are many still living who witnessed the brutality of what happened, and many more who lost families in barbarous murders.'

The petition states: 'In Netflix comedy special 'His Dark Material', Jimmy Carr 'jokes' that the Romani and Sinti genocide is ignored when people discuss the Holocaust because people don't want to 'focus on the positives'. This is nothing short of a celebration of genocide.

'We appreciate that comedy is subjective but in our view when punchlines are indistinguishable from the genuinely-held views of fascists and Neo-Nazis, a line has very clearly been crossed.

'We acknowledge that Jimmy Carr highlighted the widespread ignorance that exists with regard to non-Jewish victims of the holocaust, but it was nevertheless incredibly crass for him to claim his 'joke' therefore had an 'educational quality'.

'If this was the case he would have used his considerable platform to raise awareness of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day to his 6.7m followers. To our knowledge, that has never happened. That speaks volumes.

'There is no legitimate basis for this 'joke', and no positive to its inclusion which outweighs the profoundly negative impact it produces.'

It is estimated between 200,000 and 500,000 Roma and Sinti people were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Comedian David Baddiel, a close friend of Carr, also criticised him over the joke, describing it as 'mean-spirited' and 'cruel'.

He said: 'You can obviously tell a Holocaust joke that is cruel and inhumane and mean-spirited and racist. Or you can tell one that targets the oppressors, or draws attention to the fundamental evil of it, or shines and light on the humanity of the victims.

'It's not the subject matter of the joke that counts, it's the specifics of the individual joke. Clearly, Jimmy Carr's was the former.'
Coalition MPs remain confident of passing long-awaited religious discrimination laws, despite opposition to the laws from within the government.

The coalition partyroom agreed to amendments to the bill on Monday, which would include a clause in the Sex Discrimination Act banning religious schools from expelling students based on their sexuality.

However, schools would still be able to expel transgender students in order 'to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents of that religion or creed'.

Coalition MPs remain confident of passing long-awaited religious discrimination laws, despite opposition to the laws from within the government (pictured, protests over Brisbane Christian school which attempted to make parents sign anti-gay contract)

Multiple moderate MPs within the coalition have expressed concern with the amendments, including Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer who said she would cross the floor on the issue.

Coalition MP Angie Bell, who previously indicated concerns with the bill, said she would now support the discrimination laws, calling the amendments a 'net gain for gay rights'.

'What I'm prepared to do is move the dial forward through that change to the Sex Discrimination Act,' she told the ABC.

'I will continue to advocate for all Australians, including transgender kids and transgender adults and teachers, to make sure that ultimately no Australia is discriminated against.'

It comes after Labor MP Stephen Jones gave an emotional speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on Monday, and said the bill should not be rushed through.

He paid tribute in the speech to his 15-year-old nephew Ollie, who took his own life earlier this year.

Despite the division in his own party about the religious discrimination laws, Prime Minister Scott Morrison appealed to the partyroom to 'think about our team', and support the bills that would shield people from expressing their beliefs

'He was gay, he was uncertain about his gender ... but now he's gone and we're no longer able to love and support him on his journey through life,' he said.

'It's about all of our kids, about the families of those kids, every child who's had the courage to swim against the tide, just to be who they are.'

Labor's shadow cabinet will meet later on Wednesday to decide its position on the proposed laws.

Despite the division in his own party about the religious discrimination laws, Prime Minister Scott Morrison appealed to the partyroom to 'think about our team', and support the bills that would shield people from expressing their beliefs.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said the government would try to muster the bill through parliament and honour an election commitment,.

However, he told Sky News religious schools should be able to make decisions about their students.

'It's an issue for the schools, and the rights of schools to make the decisions,' he said.

The coalition partyroom ultimately agreed to leave the question of broader changes to the Sex Discrimination Act to the Australian Law Reform Commission.

Parliamentary debate on the contentious legislation, promised before the 2019 election, is ongoing.
Boris Johnson has given his new communications chief 'both barrels' over a disastrous interview in which he declared the Prime Minister was 'not a total clown'.

While speaking to a news website, Guto Harri had revealed that Mr Johnson sang the disco classic I Will Survive as they discussed his strategy to cling to power.

The interview  which appeared on Mr Harri's first day as Downing Street director of communications on Monday  was widely mocked.

Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson with his new director of communications Guto Harri, seen together in 2014 for Johnson's book launch 'The Churchill Factor'

A Whitehall source said the Prime Minister had read the riot act to Mr Harri, and ordered him not to conduct further interviews. 'This is not bloody rocket science,' the source said. 'What he did yesterday was not helpful in the slightest.

'The PM gave it to him with both barrels on Monday afternoon, and Guto has now said he will not be talking on the record again. It's fair to say the PM was not the only person he got it in the neck from.'

A Downing Street source last night denied the Prime Minister had reprimanded Mr Harri over the interview with Welsh language news website Golwg360.

But it is understood that he has agreed not to give further on-the-record media interviews while in post.

Mr Harri is a former BBC journalist who worked as Mr Johnson's communications chief during his first term as London Mayor.

He was appointed as part of a Government 'reset' designed to show that the Prime Minister is taking a renewed grip on No 10 in the wake of the Partygate row.

Journalists were briefed that Mr Johnson was 'bringing in capable, grown-up people who will make sure the machine works better'. Mr Harri made a combative start, taking on the leader's nemesis Dominic Cummings on social media.

Pictured: British Director of Communications Guto Harri walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain February 8, 2022

Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives back from jogging at the back of Downing Street this morning, ahead of carrying out a mini-reshuffle

But he raised eyebrows on his first day by telling reporters as he arrived at No 10 that he had brought staff a gift of mineral water and healthy snacks  an apparent jibe at the alleged party culture in No 10.

His interview, in which he discussed his appointment, raised further questions.

Mr Harri revealed he had asked Mr Johnson whether he would survive the current controversy, adding: 'Slowly and purposefully, while singing slightly, he finished his sentence by saying, 'I will survive'.

'He inevitably invited me to say, 'You've got all your life to live', and he replied, 'I've got all my love to give', and so we had a little blast of Gloria Gaynor.'

Mr Harri insisted the Government could recover, saying that although the Partygate revelations had caused 'a great deal of hurt' they had 'nothing to do with the way people voted two years ago'. He added: 'He is not a total clown, but he is a very likeable character.'

Some ministers are also concerned about comments made by Mr Harri during recent years when he was a frequent media pundit.

The anti-Brexit New European newspaper yesterday claimed that Mr Harri said the Prime Minister now regretted the decision to leave the EU  a claim denied by No 10.

Last week, he told BBC Radio Four's PM programme that Mr Johnson's attack on Sir Keir Starmer's record on Jimmy Savile was a 'low blow'.

But one Tory source said the arrival of Mr Harri was 'good news'. The source said: 'The interview was a misjudgment but Guto is a serious figure who knows the PM well and won't be afraid to tell him the unvarnished truth.

'They go back a long way and Boris trusts him  he is someone who can say no to the PM, and that is what he needs.'

Harri's lobbying for Huawei did not break the rules, No10 insists

By John Stevens Deputy Political Editor for the Daily Mail

Lobbying by Boris Johnson's new spin doctor when he was working on behalf of controversial Chinese telecoms giant Huawei did not break any rules, Downing Street insisted yesterday.

Guto Harri requested help from the Prime Minister's former chief of staff Lord Lister as Huawei tried to stop its equipment being banned from the UK's 5G mobile phone network.

According to minutes of a 25-minute video call in June 2020, which was also attended by Huawei executives, Mr Harri asked Lord Lister which ministers could be given a 'nudge'.

The following month, telecoms firms were ordered by the Government to strip Huawei equipment from 5G networks by 2027 over security fears.

Lobbying by Guto Harri - Boris Johnson's new spin doctor - when he was working on behalf of controversial Chinese telecoms giant Huawei did not break any rules, No. 10 insisted yesterday

The Prime Minister's spokesman said yesterday the meeting was 'within the rules' and 'we met with a number of interested parties at that time while that discussion was taking place'.

Lord Lister reportedly told the executives that Mr Johnson was not 'anti-China' and did not want to ban the firm but was 'caught' between that instinct and US and Tory pressure.

According to minutes obtained by The Sun, he said 'We want the technology, we want it rolled out. There's an American concern and a parliamentary concern.

'There are a large number of MPs across the political divide who have a problem with China. Some are Atlanticists, some over Covid, some over Hong Kong, some over human rights.'

In response to the leak, Downing Street said Mr Johnson had described himself as a 'Sinophile' but the Government had a 'clear-eyed' approach to Beijing. His spokesman said: 'It's in the UK's interest to have an effective relationship with China.'
A 10-year-old boy has been sexually assaulted by a stranger as he walked home from primary school on a busy shopping street.

The boy was walking along Carlisle Street in Balaclava in Melbourne's inner-city when he was sexually assaulted by a man about 3.45pm on Friday, police said.

The St Kilda Primary School student, who was uninjured, then reported the assault to his parents.

The school said the family was working with police and 'the child is okay'.

A 10-year-old boy has been sexually assaulted by a stranger as he walked home from primary school (file image)

The boy was walking along Carlisle Street in Balaclava in Melbourne's inner-city when he was sexually assaulted by a man about 3.45pm on Friday, police said (file image)

'Unfortunately, there has been an incident involving one of our students as they made their way home from school on Friday,' principal Susan Higgins said in an email to parents seen by The Herald-Sun.

'Our children are the most precious little creatures in the world to us and we want to protect them at every cost, whether as a parent or staff member.'

The principal said the incident was a reminder of how important it is to discuss 'stranger danger' with young children.

'With the commencement of the new school year, please take the time to discuss this important issue with your children,' Ms Higgins said.

'The greater knowledge your children have, the safer they will feel.'

The school said the boy's family is working with police.
Ms Albrechtsen said Mr Morrison's government has failed to identify what 'good governments do', encouraging democracy and defending its basic principles

Scott Morrison has lost a third influential conservative columnist in a week with Australia's premier opinion writer Janet Albrechtsen unleashing a withering takedown of the Prime Minister in which she declared he was 'the Liberal Party's Kevin Rudd'.

Albrechtsen declared Mr Morrison 'wasn't up to the job' in an piece published in The Australian newspaper on Wednesday - even urging the Liberal Party to find a new leader before the next election.

The columnist described the PM's government as a 'failure' and labelled Mr Morrison personally as a 'Hallmark Card' who is a mix of 'middle management and marketing'.

Her scathing attack comes after her News Corp stablemates Andrew Bolt and Chris Kenny similarly hammered the PM over the past week.

Bolt claimed the PM was 'finished' and that Defence Minister Peter Dutton should be installed as leader. Meanwhile, Kenny slammed Mr Morrison for backing Mark McGowan's WA border closure.

The triple whammy comes as the PM's party has seen his party's approval ratings plummet, according to Newspoll - although a separate Essential Media poll put his party at just one point behind Labor this week.

Last week political commentator Andrew Bolt declared Prime Minister Scott Morrison was 'finished'. He was also slammed by Chris Kenny over his backlip on the WA border

In her scathing piece, Albrechtsen wrote: 'I'd rather a Liberal prime minister who cuts to the chase to defend basic freedom and who can manage the daily housekeeping too.

She argued that Mr Morrison's government has failed to identify what 'good governments do' by encouraging democracy and defending its basic principles.

She accused him of failing to leave a healthy platform for the next generation of Liberal leaders, saying the next election is proving to be a 'race to the bottom'.

'I can't recall the last time a Labor politician spoke about freedom of speech, religion or movement and meant it.

'I can't recall a senior Liberal doing this either.

'And that is why the Morrison government has been a failure as a Liberal government. It is true Labor may be worse.

'But it will be a fast race to the bottom if we stop expecting Liberals to defend the soul of democracy.'

Conservative columnist Janet Albrechtsen (pictured with former PM Tony Abbott) says Scott Morrison is no longer 'up to the job'

She also said Mr Morrison's spending has been 'wasteful, thoughtless and political', suggesting the former Treasurer was failing at his economical bread and butter.

'There is no point bragging about the lowest unemployment rate in years when the country's borders have been closed for nearly two years,' Ms Albrechtsen said.

The conservative columnist said in four years of leadership Mr Morrison had failed to cement himself as the country's leader and had no defining policies.

'Though his colleagues may describe him as 'horrible' and a 'psycho' and a 'liar', my disappointment with him is less gaudy but no less real,' she wrote.

'I can't put my finger on a single important policy Morrison has made his own, where he has chanced his arm in the political marketplace of ideas because he believes it is important to carry people with him.

'The gold standard is John Howard and guns, taking on his opponents in the Coalition barely six weeks into his first term as prime minister. Three years into the job, Morrison hasnt met the bronze level of conviction.'

She also compared him to a vastly unpopular former Labor leader who too was at the centre of a leadership spill.

'In some ways hes the Liberal Partys Kevin Rudd, only less annoying,' Ms Albrechtsen said.

Andrew Bolt said last week Scott Morrison was 'finished' and urged Peter Dutton to 'get ready to lead'

Last week staunch ally and political commentator Bolt removed his support for the PM in a scatching review of his recent PR efforts.

The Sky News host, who has been critical of Mr Morrison in the past, described the PM's visit to a salon in south-east Melbourne where he massaged an apprentice's head as a 'sad stunt'.

He urged Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who is favoured by conservatives, to 'get ready to lead,' writing in his Herald Sun column: 'Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks finished, and is now making a fool of himself to get some love.'

Bolt (left) described the PM's visit to a salon in south-east Melbourne where he massaged an apprentice's head as a 'sad stunt'. Former Liberal advisor turned Sky News commentator Chris Kenny (right) blasted the Prime Minister for backing Mark McGowan's hard border

'This bizarre photo-op showed not just that Morrison is desperate but out of ideas. It showed he has a dangerously thin skin, and is bleeding.'

Mr Morrison's visit to the salon came after a horror week which started with a Newspoll which showed the Government trailing the Labor Opposition by a massive 12 points, which if replicated on election day would wipe out 25 seats.

He was then roasted by journalists at the National Press Club where he admitted making several errors during the pandemic but refused to apologise and failed to name the price of bread, petrol and rapid tests.

The PM was later quizzed about unearthed texts from 2019 in which Gladys Berejiklian allegedly called him a 'horrible, horrible person' and a mystery Cabinet minister branded him a 'complete psycho'.

And on Thursday he was slammed for backflipping to support Western Australia's hard border, with critics saying it proved he has no principles and can't be trusted.

Scott Morrison washed a woman's head on a visit to Coco's salon in Melbourne last week

The about-face brought friendly fire from Sky News host and former Liberal advisor Chris Kenny who blasted the Prime Minister for not standing up to Mr McGowan.

'Mark McGowan's wrong and the Prime Minister didn't call him out on it,' Kenny said.

'(The PM) needs to call out Mark McGowan on this. He's the Prime Minister of Australia! He should support no internal hard borders.

'We need politicians who'll make the right call for the country, not try and second-guess the politics.'

Bolt joined Kenny in savaging the PM, arguing he has failed to land a blow on Labor for months and is haemorrhaging support.

'Morrison is not just despised by the Left, but disrespected by the Right,' he wrote.

'Time's running out for Morrison. Getting into voters' hair won't save him. Only fighting may yet do that, but right now he seems a man with the fight beaten out of him.'
MANAMA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Bahrain on Monday announced a 10-year Golden Residency Visa to boost investments and attract global talents.

The announcement comes amid a series of economic reforms and initiatives the Bahraini government has implemented, such as the Economic Recovery Plan, to enhance the kingdom's long-term competitiveness.

"The new Golden Residency Visa will help foreign investors and long-term residents, and further contribute to the national economy," said Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs Undersecretary Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa.

Qualified applicants must have resided in Bahrain continuously for at least five years with a basic average salary of no fewer than 2,000 Bahraini Dinars (5,306 U.S. dollars) per month throughout the five-year period.

Other criteria include: owning one or more properties in Bahrain valued no less than 200,000 Bahraini Dinars, or an income of 4,000 Bahraini Dinars per month as a retiree, or being certified as "highly-talented."

The applicants must be present in Bahrain for 90 days per year to ensure the validity of their visas. 
Britons enthusiastically back Queen Camilla  by a margin of two to one, a poll found yesterday.

The first test of public opinion since the change to the coronation vows was announced reveals overwhelming support.

The Queen proclaimed at the weekend that the Duchess of Cornwall will become Queen Consort when Prince Charles accedes to the throne.

And a survey conducted yesterday found 55 per cent of Britons back the move, almost double the 28 per cent opposed.

However, the public still believe Princess Diana would have made the better Queen.

The warm show of support in Camilla, 74, came as she made her first public appearance since the historic announcement  visiting a primary school in Bath.

The Queen assured the Duchess of Cornwall (pictured) will be made Queen Consort when Charles becomes King in an historic Platinum Jubilee statement, ending years of uncertainty over the issue

The first test of public opinion since the change to the coronation vows was announced reveals overwhelming support

Britons enthusiastically back Queen Camilla  by a margin of two to one, a poll found yesterday after the Queen assured the Duchess of Cornwall's future status in an historic Platinum Jubilee statement

Overall, most of the Royal Family have seen big increases in their personal ratings since last year, with the exceptions of Prince Harry, his wife Meghan and Prince Andrew, whose popularities have all plummeted.

The Daily Mail revealed on Monday that Her Majesty gave her blessing to crown Camilla as Queen Consort  as opposed to Princess Consort  years ago and that Charles came close to announcing it in 2019.

The Queen chose her Jubilee weekend  the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne  to make the highly significant announcement and express her desire for her daughter-in-law to be fully acknowledged when Charles succeeds her.

She told the nation: 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 the time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.

Now her decision has been endorsed by the public, in a survey for the Mail of more than 1,000 adults conducted yesterday by pollsters JL Partners.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs popularity has also plunged in the past year, with Harry dropping into the red for the first time, meaning more people gave him the thumbs down than the thumbs up. And his wifes popularity has sunk even lower

Prince Andrew's popularity has also plummeted - earlier this year his military titles and royal patronages were returned to the Queen

It shows people feel their views of Camilla have become more positive over the last ten years and since Dianas death in 1997. A clear majority of all age groups backed Camilla getting the new title, and about half said they had a great deal or a fair amount of respect for her.

More than not thought Camilla would make a good Queen, and that Charles and Camilla would be an asset to Britain as monarchs.

But there was an age split, with the younger generation of 18-44 year olds narrowly believing that Camilla would not make a good Queen, and that she and Charles would not be an asset to Britain during their reign. Overall, the majority agreed the crown should not jump a generation to Prince William, when the Queen dies, by 51 per cent to 35 per cent.

And despite the Duchess of Cornwall winning the affections of the public, they remain united in believing Princess Diana would have made a better Queen, with 58 per cent saying so, compared with only 16 per cent choosing Camilla.

Charles and Camilla also lose out heavily to William and Kate, with 68 per cent saying the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would be the better king and queen.

The warm show of support in Camilla, 74, came as she made her first public appearance since the historic announcement  visiting a primary school in Bath

Charles and Camilla also lose out heavily to William and Kate, with 68 per cent saying the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would be the better king and queen

Asked to rate the personal attributes of Diana and Camilla, the Princess of Wales won on beauty, compassion, dignity, duty, diplomacy and sense of humour  but lost out to Charless second wife on brains.

By a huge factor, many more people blame Charles for the royal divorce than either Diana or Camilla. The popularity of the Royal Family as a whole has soared in the Queens jubilee year.

The monarch herself enjoys a bumper personal rating of plus 75, up 11 points since the question was last asked in March last year.

Charles and Camilla are both up by 16 points. Most strikingly, the duchess was given a positive rating by 55 per cent of respondents, and a negative rating by 34 per cent, meaning her net rating is plus 21 points, well up on her score of minus 4 in 2020 when more people disliked her than liked her.

William, Kate, and Princess Annes personal scores have also risen. But Prince Andrew  who is embroiled in sexual assault claims, which he denies, in an American court  is now at his all-time lowest score of minus 82 making him by far the least popular royal.

The poll shows that people feel their views of Camilla have become more positive over the last ten years and since Dianas death in 1997

The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs popularity has also plunged in the past year, with Harry dropping into the red for the first time, meaning more people gave him the thumbs down than the thumbs up. And his wifes popularity has sunk even lower.

By three to one, people said Harry and Meghan had not given the Queen enough support over the last year (59 per cent, compared with 20 per cent).

Most people (62 per cent) back the monarchy, with only 26 per cent saying it should be abolished. Support for doing away with the institution is highest in Scotland and among the younger generation, but even in these groups most people want to keep the royals.

Yesterday Camilla attended her first public engagement since the big announcement. She visited Roundhill Primary School in Southdown, Bath on behalf of the St Johns Foundation, a charity which supports disadvantaged children.

The duchess has been its patron since 2009. And the trip ticked all the royal boxes including flag waving school children, tea and cakes, a tree planting, plaque unveiling and even a posy.

As she arrived she was greeted by dozens of excited youngsters waving Union flags and shouting her name. She wore a favourite tartan skirt and jacket trimmed with velvet by Edina Ronay.

Yesterday Camilla attended her first public engagement since the big announcement. She visited Roundhill Primary School in Southdown, Bath on behalf of the St Johns Foundation, a charity which supports disadvantaged children

Outside, she took part in a tree planting ceremony with the schools eco team, placing mounds of earth on a silver birch. The tree was being planted as part of the Queens Green Canopy, a Platinum Jubilee project to create a lasting legacy for the monarch.

Elsewhere, she made an unscheduled stop to speak with some pupils who were playing with pretend tea and cakes.

Literacy is one of the duchesss great passions and she also stopped to chat with pupils in the school library who were creating their own books. Camilla asked if it was all go. Well it is today, joked headteacher Sue Adams.

Before she left, she was invited into the school hall to listen to a cheery song specially composed for the occasion called We Are Proud of Our School and unveil a plaque before receiving a posy.
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The unrepentant anti-vaxx mob that hurled abuse at Sir Keir Starmer outside Parliament has warned all MPs that they are no longer safe to walk the streets.

Some of those involved who accosted the Labour leader in Westminster on Monday evening are members of militant group Alpha Men Assemble, whose activists have run military-style training sessions in preparation for a war on the State.

Others who targeted Sir Keir have previously targeted Tory minister Michael Gove and BBC journalist Nicholas Watt, while calling on followers to arm themselves against the Government.

A video posted to the messaging app Telegram after the clash shows notorious anti-vaxxer Michael Chaves, a former paramedic, talking to a woman named Nina, who claims she was arrested after a traffic cone was thrown at police.

Chaves, who has targeted hospitals and gained notoriety after doorstepping presenter Jeremy Vine, introduces Nina as a member of Alpha Team Assemble, previously known as Alpha Men Assemble. They include army veterans and have called on activists to target vaccine centres and schools.

The 55-year-old, who has more than 15,000 subscribers to his Telegram channel Mad Mix Conspiracies, said he was not at the protest but had come to collect his friend from the police station. Nina, who said she had been released on bail, boasted that a clear message had been sent to politicians that they cant walk the streets alone anymore.

Chaves, from Camden, north London, has recently called on activists to protest inside hospitals, where he falsely claims families are being murdered by the NHS.

It comes as Conservatives rallied round Boris Johnson, accusing his critics of hijacking Mondays angry mobbing of Sir Keir to take aim at the Prime Minister.

A video posted to the messaging app Telegram after the clash shows notorious anti-vaxxer Michael Chaves talking to a woman named Nina, who claims she was arrested after a traffic cone was thrown at police

Some of those involved who accosted Sir Keir in Westminster on Monday are members of militant group Alpha Men Assemble, whose activists have run military-style training sessions in preparation for a war on the State

Boris Johnson is refusing to apologise following the dramatic scenes of Keir Starmer being surrounded and abused at as he walked in Westminster after leaving New Scotland Yard shortly before 5pm

Sir Lindsay Hoyle issued a rebuke in the chamber over words that 'inflame opinions', with the PM refusing to apologise following the dramatic scenes of Sir Keir being surrounded and abused at as he walked in Westminster

Revealed: The hard-Left anti-vax aggressors who hurled abuse at Keir Starmer for 'forgetting the working man' were whipped into a frenzy by Jeremy Corbyn's conspiracy theorist brother Piers - amid fury at the BBC for blaming it all on Boris The mob who surrounded Sir Keir Starmer was dominated by the left-wing acolytes of Jeremy Corbyn's brother Piers, who spend most of their time urging Britons to 'resist' masks, vaccines and any Covid restrictions, MailOnline can reveal today. Mr Corbyn had addressed the crowd outside New Scotland Yard last night before they chased the Labour leader down the street in Westminster. The rag-tag bunch of professional protesters include one of his right-hand men, David Burridge, a dreadlocked anti-vaxxer who was arrested and charged for raiding the vaccination centre at Guy's Hospital in London last month. Also barracking Sir Keir was Edward 'Remeece' Freeman, who has taken to turning up outside schools to urge children not to get the Covid jab, even crying and hugging them as part of his campaign, which saw him banned from Facebook and Instagram. The amateur rapper has also written a song called 'Don't Tek the Vaccine', a phrase he yelled at Sir Keir and David Lammy in Westminster last night. Another of the protesters identified is Will Coleshill, who is editor of the 'Resistance GB' group of largely left-wing agitators. He can be heard yelling at the Labour leader: 'You are the leader of the opposition - why aren't you standing up for our constitution? For the working classes of this country. What about the working people of this country? Aren't you meant to be the opposition?' The anti-lockdown champion has previously chased Michael Gove and BBC reporter Nick Watt through the streets of Westminster. The man who accused Sir Keir of protecting Jimmy Savile is yet to be identified. These are the protestors identified so far: David Burridge Burridge is a dread-locked acolyte of Piers Corbyn, who has also been involved in shutting down vaccine centres. He has recently been charged after attempting to shut down a vaccination centre at Guy's hospital last month. He is a member of the Stop New Normal group, which says the vaccines were approved based on fraudulent trials and are deadly. The group also offers free legal advice for anyone arrested while on anti-lockdown or anti-vaccine protests. Edward 'Remeece' Freeman A well known protester who has been filmed confronting people wearing masks on the London Underground, Edward 'Remeece' Freeman goes around schools and vax centres singing a song he wrote called: 'Dont Tek the Vaccine'. He has been banned from Instagram and Facebook after urging children not to take the vaccine. He told Twitter followers that there is a conspiracy to shut him down - 'but they can't censor me on the streets'. He claims that 'children love me' because of his anti-vaccine stance, and that he has 2,000 students who regularly contact him. Freeman (right) can be heard yelling the same phrase while stood next to Sir Keir and David Lammy. William Coleshill Free Assange campaigner William Coleshill can be seen in yesterday's footage approaching the politician and shouting 'why did you go after a journalist Mr Starmer' He is editor of the Resistance GB movement, which claims to 'cover news which the mainstream won't show you' A protester seen shouting at Sir Keir Starmer is the head of a YouTube anti-lockdown 'news' site and has previously mobbed Tory minister Michael Gove. He is editor in chief of the Resistance UK group who claim to be 'defending natural rights and civil liberties against police abuses and state criminality'. Coleshill, a former Tory Bush Hill Park councillor, can be seen in yesterday's footage approaching the politician and shouting 'why did you go after a journalist Mr Starmer' and 'Why did you go after Julian Assange'. Coleshill, while with Resistance GB, has previously targeted other politicians such as Michael Gove. Coleshill shoved a camera in his face and demanded: 'How do you justify the illegal lockdowns that have been pushed on this country?'. He also reportedly followed BBC editor Nick Watt down the street on a previous occasion. In another video, posted on the Resistance GB Facebook page, he was once said: 'All men carry knives'. He also said: 'Having arms is the ultimate check on government because people should not fear their governments, governments should fear their people.' Piers Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn's older brother Piers has spent the pandemic urging people to 'resist' the vaccine and any lockdown rules. He addressed the protesters who would later mob Sir Keir Starmer outside New Scotland Yard last night. As well as decrying masks, he and his crew have been shutting covid testing and vaccination centres. They stormed one in Milton Keynes in December, to cries of 'You murdering b****rds' and 'The wind is changing' are heard as the crowd marches into the site, and one of the demonstrators appears to pick up testing equipment before carrying it out of one of the site's tents. In January they did the same at Guys and St Thomas' Hospital in London. Last month he was told he will face trial in May charged with breaching Covid rules during a series of anti-lockdown protests in central London. The 74-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with five counts of holding a gathering and five counts of participating in a gathering of more people than restrictions allowed at the time, all around Westminster. Advertisement

Nina, who said she had been released on bail, boasted that a clear message had been sent to politicians that they cant walk the streets alone anymore.

She said she would seek a jury trial so she could bring up some stuff about Starmer, adding: There were people there that were very angry with him because he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service that decided there wasnt enough evidence against Jimmy Savile.

The incident has sparked a fresh row over Mr Johnsons controversial attack on Sir Keir last week in which the PM accused the Labour leader of failing to prosecute Savile while director of public prosecutions.

Mr Johnson has since clarified that he hadnt meant Sir Keir was personally responsible for the decision not to prosecute, but yesterday refused to apologise for his comments.

It came as the PMs allies pointed out some of those involved who had targeted the Labour leader had also targeted Housing Secretary Mr Gove.

William Coleshill, an ex-Tory councillor who was seen approaching Mr Starmer as he walked along Embankment in central London, was also filmed chasing Mr Gove in Westminster in October. Mr Coleshill, who was suspended from the party for making racist remarks, is co-editor-in-chief of anti-lockdown protesters Resistance GB.

The group has a website and styles itself as an alternative news source to the mainstream media. Resistance GB is not anti-vax and is separate to Alpha Men. It often ambushes MPs or prominent figures.

Mr Coleshill has previously called on all men to carry knives and has spoken of a previous arrest for his involvement in an anti-lockdown last year.

In a Resistance GB video, he said: Having arms is the ultimate check on government because people should not fear their governments, governments should fear their people.

Chaves has recently called on activists to protest inside hospitals, where he falsely claims families are being murdered by the NHS. He has previously served staff at Colchester Hospital with bogus legal notices about the Nuremberg code and claiming Covid is an absolute pandemic hoax.

The former paramedic was sacked by the London Ambulance Service in 2005 after a patient accused him of stealing 800. He was later acquitted of theft by a jury.

Scotland Yard later said two arrests were made after Sir Keir was escorted to safety. Above: Sir Keir gets into a Police car

The protesters, who included anti-vaccine activist Piers Corbyn, descended on London today in support of Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' of truck drivers in Ottawa

What is the TRUTH behind PM's Jimmy Savile 'smear' on Keir Starmer? A fresh faced Keir Starmer when he was appointed DPP in 2008. An inquiry would later clear him of any involvement in the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile Boris Johnson has accused former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer of having 'used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile'. But the Labour leader has said Mr Johnson is 'debasing himself by going so low' by repeating 'a ridiculous slur peddled by right wing trolls'. In 2012 a QC-led inquiry exonerated Sir Keir, finding he was not involved in the decision not to put Savile in the dock two years before he died, blaming it on hapless starstruck police officers and an incurious local prosecutor. During Sir Keir's tenure as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, detectives had 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. Savile, who abused 500 women and children, died in 2011 without facing justice. In 2012, after it became clear the Top of the Pops host had attacked and abused hundreds of children and women in hospitals, schools and while filming his BBC shows, an inquiry was carried out by Alison Levitt QC, on Mr Starmer's own orders. In 2013 her report found that the decision was made by police and prosecutors locally, not Sir Keir, who was unaware of it. The CPS would also say there was 'no reference to any involvement from the DPP in the decision-making within a report examining the case.' Alison Levitt QC found that police treated the victims and the accounts they gave 'with a degree of caution which was neither justified nor required'. Detectives looking at allegations advised the CPS not to prosecute Savile, believing his explanation that it was all made up and the price of being famous. Ms Levitt was also critical of the approach taken by the CPS' reviewing lawyer, but did not suggest that Mr Starmer was personally involved in the decisions made. The lawyer was also criticised for failing to properly build a case with the police or spot inconsistencies in their reports after interviewing Savile under caution and four of his victims. As head of the CPS, Sir Keir later apologised, admitting the failure to prosecute Savile was a 'watershed moment' for the organisation. But avoided any admonishment in Ms Levitt's report. Advertisement

The initial protest on Monday appeared to begin outside Scotland Yard and included speeches by Piers Corbyn, who was later seen amid the crowd as Sir Keir attempted to walk past. Mr Corbyn is the brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Others involved labelled themselves as part of the UK freedom convoy, echoing protests in Canada against mandatory jabs that have led to major traffic jams and declarations of a state of emergency.

One activist seen shouting at Sir Keir was draped in a Canadian flag, while Mr Coleshill has featured in several video discussions with anti-lockdown ringleaders in Canada.

Technology minister Chris Philp insisted the PM could not be held responsible for the unacceptable actions. Tory MP Michael Fabricant also hit out at the BBC, accusing it of blaming the Prime Minister for inciting the protesters.

BBC viewers and listeners also complained that the incident was used as an excuse to criticise Mr Johnson.

Downing Street made it clear the PM would be holding firm in the face of demands to apologise for his Jimmy Savile jibe against the Labour leader in the Commons last week.

Mr Philp pointed out that some of those taking part in Mondays demonstration had already been involved in similar incidents targeting Communities Secretary Michael Gove and the BBC journalist Nick Watt.

He told Sky News: They did mention Jimmy Savile. They also mentioned Julian Assange repeatedly. They mentioned Covid. They also mentioned the opposition more generally. I dont think you can point to what the Prime Minister said as the cause of that. You certainly cant blame him for the fact that that mob were clearly behaving in a totally unacceptable way.

You certainly cant say that what he said in any way prompted, provoked or justified the harassment and intimidation we saw.

Mr Fabricant said: I think the BBC has to ask itself some serious questions about its standard of reporting regarding the Keir Starmer incident.

Clear evidence emerging shows that he walked into an anti-vaccination demonstration calling for the overthrow of the Government and the release of Julian Assange. One person referred to Jimmy Savile  this was not why [Sir Keir] was bundled into a police car for his protection.

One angry Radio 4 listener said: The BBC doesnt really care if the mob was Right-wing, Left-wing or no wing at all. Just as long as they can use it as another brickbat to throw at the hated Boris Johnson  and bait their largely anti-Boris, anti-Brexit listeners.

Sir Keir was head of the Crown Prosecution Service in 2009 when a decision was taken not to prosecute Savile and later apologised for the failure to do so. But the Labour leader had no personal involvement in the case.

Supporters of the Prime Minister argue they are entitled to hold the Labour leader to account for the failings of the organisation he ran. They believe it is the same as Mr Johnson being held accountable for lockdown parties.

The PMs official spokesman yesterday acknowledged Mr Johnsons initial statement was capable of being misconstrued, and that was why he subsequently issued a clarification.

The spokesman said: The Prime Minister clarified his remarks last week to make clear he was not suggesting Keir Starmer was individually responsible for the Savile decision. I think the Prime Minister was making a political point about taking responsibility for organisations as a whole.

Sir Keir and his foreign affairs spokesman, David Lammy, were confronted as they walked along the Embankment in central London on Monday. The leader was bundled into a police car near Parliament as the mob yelled allegations of protecting paedophiles.

The Prime Minister tweeted on Monday evening that the behaviour directed at the Labour leader was absolutely disgraceful.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he had requested a report from the Met Police. He added: Regardless of yesterdays incident, I made it clear last week that while the Prime Ministers words were not disorderly, they were inappropriate.

As I said then, these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the House and it is not acceptable. Our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of the fact.

Among those using the demonstrations to criticise Mr Johnson was Nicola Sturgeon, Scotlands First Minister. She said: It is a reflection of the toxic cocktail of smears and lies that swirl around our politics now.

She accused the Prime Minister of using conspiracy theories to attack political opponents and said he knew what he was doing.

Mr Lammy said it was no surprise the conspiracy theorist thugs who harassed Sir Keir and himself had repeated Mr Johnsons slurs.

Labour front bencher Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said if Mr Johnson was genuinely sorry, he should come to Parliament and apologise.

Ten Tory MPs  including one former Cabinet minister, David Davis, also called on Mr Johnson to apologise. The Prime Ministers long-standing aide Munira Mirza quit last week in protest at his refusal to withdraw the comments.
An out-of-control SpaceX rocket has been caught on camera tumbling towards the moon ahead of its impact with the lunar surface next month.

The spent Falcon 9 booster has been floating around in a somewhat chaotic orbit ever since Elon Musk's company launched a space weather satellite on a million-mile trek seven years ago.

It is expected to smash into the moon and explode on March 4  in what will be the first known uncontrolled rocket collision with Earth's only natural satellite  but astronomers say the effects will be minor.

The rocket was launched in 2015 but after completing its mission to blast the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) to a sun-Earth LaGrange point, it did not have enough fuel to return to Earth and instead remained in space.

For the past seven years the booster has been pulled by different gravitational forces of the Earth, moon and sun, making its path somewhat 'chaotic', before it was revealed last month that it is set to hit the moon at the beginning of March.

Good spot: An out-of-control SpaceX rocket has been caught on camera (pictured) tumbling towards the moon ahead of its impact with the lunar surface next month

The rocket's upper stage was spotted by Virtual Telescope Project founder Gianluca Masi, who used a single 60-second exposure remotely taken with a 17 inch PlaneWave telescope in Rome

WHAT IS THE DEEP SPACE CLIMATE OBSERVATORY DOING? The Deep Space Climate Observatory, or DSCOVR (pronounced discover), is designed to provide advance warnings of solar outbursts that could disrupt life here on Earth. In 2015, DSCOVR spent nearly four months travelling one million miles, four times farther than the moon, to the so-called Lagrange point, a gravity-neutral position in direct line with the sun. At this lookout location, 92 million miles from the sun, it provides advance warnings of incoming geomagnetic storms that could disrupt power and communications on Earth, beginning around midsummer. Advertisement

Ahead of the impact, the rocket's upper stage was spotted by Virtual Telescope Project founder Gianluca Masi, who used a single 60-second exposure remotely taken with a 17 inch (43 cm) PlaneWave telescope in Rome.

The rocket can be seen amid a few 'star streaks' induced from the telescope tracking the stage in the sky.

'There was a very strong light and moon interference, and grabbing DSCOVR was quite hard,' Masi said.

'We also noticed the booster is spinning fast (period on the order of 10 seconds), showing very [noticeable] brightness fluctuations.'

The rocket is expected to crash into the far side of the moon at 07:25 ET (12:25 GMT).

For this reason it won't be visible from Earth, but the Virtual Telescope Project is planning to offer a live webcast to discuss the mission.

It is free and set to take place online today from 13:00 ET (18:00 GMT).

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, from the US-based Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the 'dead' rocket had been 'following the laws of gravity' up to this point.

He added that it had joined millions of other pieces of space junk abandoned in a high orbit without enough energy to return to Earth.

Last month data analyst Bill Gray, who writes the widely used Project Pluto software to track near-Earth objects, asteroids and comets, calculated that the Falcon 9's upper stage will likely collide with the far side of the moon, near the equator.

However, he said it was difficult to precisely predict the effect of sunlight 'pushing' on the rocket and slightly altering its orbit.

If the prediction is correct, it will allow satellites currently orbiting the moon, including NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India's Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, to collect observations about the impact crater.

In 2009, NASA intentionally crashed a spent rocket stage into the moon for this very purpose.

But on this latest occasion it is believed it will be the first time a piece of space hardware has unintentionally struck the lunar surface.

The rocket was launched in 2015 but after completing its mission to blast the Deep Space Climate Observatory (pictured) into space, it did not have enough fuel to return towards Earth

Experts say the spent second stage's orbit is on course to intersect with the moon on March 4

The rocket launched the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in February 2015 as part of a $340 million (252 million) mission

During interplanetary missions a rocket's upper stage is typically sent into a heliocentric orbit to keep it away from the Earth and moon, while for launches of near-Earth spacecraft, it is normally returned to the atmosphere to burn up.

Falcon 9's second stage, which has a mass of about 4 tonnes, is expected to career into the moon at about 5,700mph (2.58 km/s).

It launched the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in February 2015 as part of a $340 million (252 million) mission.

DSCOVR replaced a 17-year-old satellite monitoring for potentially dangerous solar storms, which can disrupt GPS signals, block radio communications and impact power grids on Earth.

It also has two sensors to monitor Earth to track volcanic plumes, measure ozone and monitor droughts, flooding and fires.
A Tesla Model 3 car in 'Full Self-Driving' mode has been captured colliding with a bike lane barrier post, in a potential setback for Elon Musk's firm.

The footage was captured during a drive in downtown San Jose, California, by a YouTuber who goes by the name AI Addict, and provides the first recorded evidence that Full Self-Driving, or FSD, has been directly responsible for an accident.

The latest version of the Tesla's self-driving software, FSD Beta version 10.10, can be seen veering the Model 3 into the bollard separating a bike lane from the road.

Even though the driver is hitting the brakes and furiously spins the steering wheel away from the obstacle, the AI-powered FSD system hits the bollard with a big thud.

Worryingly, at other points in the video the Model 3 appears to run a red light and attempts to go down a railroad track and later a tram lane because of the software.

The video comes shortly after Tesla was forced to recall nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs this month because their full self-driving software was letting them pass stop signs.

WHAT IS FULL SELF DRIVING (FSD)? Full Self-Driving is the advanced driver assistance software powering Tesla vehicles. It's Level 2, meaning the system can control the speed and direction of the car allowing the driver to take their hands off temporarily, but they have to monitor the road at all times and be ready to take over. The technology, which is optional, includes several autonomous driving features, but still requires driver supervision. As of February 8, the latest version of FDS Beta is version 10.10. Advertisement

AI Addict posted the nine-minute video of the drive to YouTube on February 5. The crash takes place at around the three-and-a-half minutes mark.

The YouTuber appears to be in the front seat behind the wheel, accompanied by a passenger in the back seat.

'S**t, we hit that!' AI Addict can be heard saying. 'I hit the brakes to the floor!'

The passenger says: 'I can't believe the car didn't stop'.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed only last month that the FSD Beta system had never had an accident, but the new footage offers proof that this is no longer the case.

In most of AI Addict's video, the driver can be seen merely touching the wheel rather than holding it, allowing the autonomous technology to control the wheel's movements to follow a pre-defined route on a map.

FSD is capable of level 2 autonomy. This means the system can control the speed and direction of the car, allowing the driver to take their hands off temporarily, but they have to monitor the road at all times and be ready to take over.

Moments prior to the crash, the driver can be seen letting the wheel rotate through his hands too far to the right before noticing the post and turning it quickly to the left  but it's too late.

Although the crash wasn't serious, the bollard, which was nearly knocked cleanly to the ground, left paint on the front bumper.

The collision takes place during a drive around downtown San Jose in order to test the latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta version, 10.10

TESLA RECALLS 54,000 CARS AS SOFTWARE LETS THEM RUN RED LIGHTS Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their full self-driving software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt. The firm has disabled the feature with an over-the-internet software update, documents posted on February 1 by US safety regulators revealed. The documents say Tesla agreed to the recall after two meetings with officials from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The feature, that was being tested by a number of drivers, lets vehicles go through junctions with a stop sign at up to 5.6 miles per hour. Read more: Feature allowed vehicles to go through junctions with stop signs at up to 5.6mph Advertisement

It's possible the system was not aware that a section was cordoned off for the bike lane. MailOnline has contacted Tesla for comment.

The Model 3 seems to have a problem detecting the green bike lane barrier posts, which are dotted all over downtown San Jose, throughout much of the video, often driving towards them at several points.

The video appears to highlight other deficiencies in FSD, which is in beta and therefore set to improve reported faults before a wide rollout.

At another point in the video, the car's AI is trying to turn left onto a busy main road even though a truck is oncoming.

AI Addict can be heard saying: 'Here comes a truck and it's creeping forward and I don't like this. Holy f.... OK.'

At other points, FSD seems to do a good job of 'patiently' waiting for pedestrians to cross the road and keeping clear of other cars.

Tesla has been releasing new software updates to its FSD Beta program  the latest being version 10.10, released earlier this month.

Towards the end of last year, Tesla said that it almost had 60,000 owners in the FSD Beta program, which is only available to select Tesla owners picked by the company and drivers with high safety scores of 100 out of 100.

However, one investor revealed to Electrek last October that he had only a safety score of 37 out of 100 and was still using FSD Beta.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed only in January that the FSD Beta system had never had an accident, but the new footage offers proof that this is no longer the case

A Tesla Inc Model 3 electric vehicle, like the one in the video, is seen here displayed inside a showroom in Tokyo, Japan

These safety score are decided by drivers giving the firm permission to monitor their driving using in-car software.

Tesla warns that drivers using the systems must be ready to intervene at all times, as per any Level 2 autonomous driving system.

FSD is an upgrade package to Autopilot, the company's suite of of advanced driver-assistance system features, which has had a controversial and often fatal history.

So far 12 fatalities involving Tesla's Autopilot have been verified, along with a load of non-fatal crashes.

Despite Musk's assertion in January of FSD Beta's impeccable record, the US government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received its first complaint in November 2021 that FSD caused a crash from a Tesla driver.

The incident in Brea, California involved a Tesla Model Y forcing itself into the incorrect lane and being hit by another vehicle, according to AP.
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In less than a decade the ISS will be sent hurtling through the Earth's atmosphere, to plummet into an area of the ocean known as the 'space graveyard'.

Known as Point Nemo, it is the most remote place on Earth, miles from any landmass, and the perfect spot for space agencies to bury spacecraft that are no longer useful.

While the area isn't particularly deep, at roughly two and a half miles, or overly remarkable, it is incredibly remote, with the nearest landmass 1,677 miles away.

This remoteness is what makes it the perfect spot, as it reduces the risk of any satellite, or part of a satellite, coming down over an inhabited area.

When the ISS comes down in Point Nemo, it will be nearly seven times farther from any human settlement than it was when it was 250 miles above the Earth in space.

In less than a decade the ISS will be sent hurtling through the Earth's atmosphere, to plummet in an area of the ocean known as the 'space graveyard'

This European Space Agency simulation shows the number of spacecraft currently orbiting the Earth, with many expected to either burn up in the atmosphere, or move to a distant 'graveyard orbit' when they reach end of life

It was named after Captain Nemo from Jules Verne's novel 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea,' and has been used as a dumping ground since 1971.

Also known as the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, it sits in the South Pacific Ocean, surrounded by New Zealand, Antarctica and Argentina - with a few small islands each over 1,600 miles away.

Even spacecraft 'seemingly out of control' seem to come down in the general area, including the Tiangong-1 Chinese orbital laboratory, which came down just shy of Point Nemo in 2018, despite nobody knowing exactly where it would land.

The graveyard has amassed the remains of at least 260 craft since it was first used, and helps to stop Earth from amassing too much dangerous orbiting space junk.

NASA announced that Point Nemo would be the final resting place for the parts of the International Space Station that can't be re-used, and didn't burn up in the atmosphere during an update last week.

This is expected to happen in January 2031, beginning with a gradual 'de-orbit' of the massive 930,000lbs facility using a combination of Russian and US spacecraft.

The station, which launched in 1998, was designed to last for 15 years, will have been operational for over 30 by the time it is sent plunging into the ocean.

Known as Point Nemo, it is the most remote place on Earth, miles from any landmass, and the perfect spot for space agencies to bury spacecraft that are no longer useful

While the area isn't particularly deep, at roughly two and a half miles, or overly remarkable, it is incredibly remote, with the nearest landmass 1,677 miles away

POINT NEMO: THE MOST REMOTE LOCATION ON EARTH 'Point Nemo,' named after the famous submarine sailor from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, is the most remote place on Earth. This remote oceanic location is located at coordinates 4852.6S 12323.6W. This puts it about 1,670 miles from the nearest landmass - Ducie Island. Nemo has the Pitcairn Islands to the north, Easter Islands to the northeast, and Maher Islands to the south. Its remote position has made it a popular spot for space agencies. They use it as a graveyard for rocket stages and satellites, as it allows for them to return to Earth reducing risk. Advertisement

The end-of-life plan followed a commitment by President Joe Biden to support the station to 2030, by which time commercial alternatives should be operational.

'The ISS is a unique laboratory that is returning enormous scientific, educational, and technological developments to benefit people on Earth and is enabling our ability to travel into deep space,' NASA wrote, when announcing the new plan.

When the station reaches the end of its life, which is determined by the main structure, not the individual modules, a series of events will happen.

First, all of the commercial modules, and some of the more reliable older modules - potentially including newer Russian facilities - will separate from the structure.

Then, in a perfect scenario, its orbital altitude - currently about 253 miles - will be lowered until it hits the atmosphere.

A number of spacecraft will be sent, uncrewed, to the ISS in its final days before de-orbit, to help push it towards the Earth. NASA suspects this can be accomplished by three Russian Progress spacecraft, and a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft.

As it drops through the layers of Earth's atmosphere it will be dragged and pulled ever lower, travelling so fast debris will be cast off behind it.

A large portion of this will burn up due to the friction of the atmosphere, but some will remain - following the main bulk as it heads to its final resting place.

This is expected to happen in January 2031, beginning with a gradual 'de-orbit' of the massive 930,000lbs facility, with the parts that don't burn up in the atmosphere coming down in an uninhabited area of the south Pacific Ocean, called Point Nemo

COMMERCIAL FIRMS EXPECTED TO TAKE OVER THE LOW EARTH ORBIT ECONOMY In the coming decades humans will be visiting space more frequently, and will be doing so in luxury, thanks to a number of new space station concepts, including a 'business park' by Blue Origin and a Voyager space hotel. More than 600 people have been into space since Yuri Gagarin made the first solo orbit of the planet on April 12, 1961, with more than 250 of them visiting the International Space Station (ISS). Unfortunately, the ISS is starting to show its age, and so both the US and Russia are keen to see it replaced, with NASA looking to the private sector to take on the responsibility of keeping humans in low Earth orbit. A number of concepts for future commercial space stations have been proposed, including a massive 'space business park' called Orbital Reef, developed by a consortium led by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. This 'address in orbit' could be operational by 2027, and would be capable of housing up to ten people at a time, and be for both commercial and government use, including experiments, tourism and even cinema. However, a major driver of commercial space is expected to be tourism, and with that in mind the Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) proposed the rotating Voyager Station. This would be a luxury space hotel, capable of housing up to 400 people, also providing 'pods' for researchers, governments and scientists - and doing so while generating artificial gravity. Other ideas suggested for future space stations include floating labs, connected by hatches, through to versions of various existing spacecraft, such as Northrup Grumman's Cygnus, that could be connected together. Many of the proposals could be launched by the end of this decade, when the ISS is expected to reach the end of its 'safe lifespan' - bringing an end to the government-led monopoly in low Earth orbit. Advertisement

Due to oceanic currents, the region is not fished by humans, and studies suggest few nutrients are brought to the area, meaning marine life is scarce.

Very little is actually known about the ocean environment in this area, but it is thought to not be particularly biologically diverse, potentially inhabited by sea cucumbers, seabed octopus and a few fish.

'There is generally a low reign of food, as it is in the middle of the Pacific Gyre, a low productivity area with little upwelling nutrient rich waters,' German Oceanographer Autun Purser told CNN.

'So though there will be seafloor animals, there will not be a high biomass down there probably.'

Agencies time their craft to a controlled entry above the region to make sure they land in the remote zone.

The spacecraft 'buried' there, which include a SpaceX rocket, several European Space Agency cargo ships, more than 140 Russian resupply craft, and the Soviet-era MIR space station, never reach the site in one piece.

This is because the objects coming from space degrade and break-up in the atmosphere, producing a thousand mile-long train of debris - with maybe a few pieces coming down into the ocean over an area covering hundreds of miles.

Larger objects like space stations can break up into an oval-shaped footprint of debris that spreads dozens of miles wide and a thousand miles long.

'This is the largest ocean area without any islands. It is just the safest area where the long fall-out zone of debris after a re-entry fits into,' explained Holger Krag, who is the Head of the Space Safety Programme Office at the European Space Agency.

Point Nemo is also outside the jurisdiction of any nation. It isn't completely free of humans though, as a 2018 Volvo Ocean Race, the passed through the region in 2018, detected microplastic particles.

By bringing pieces of space junk, including old satellites that no longer work and stages of rockets, back down to Point Nemo, it reduces risk to life on Earth, and keeps orbit clear of debris, according to the European Space Agency.

The European Space Agency explained that most objects entering the ocean from space were made from non-toxic materials, including titanium and aluminum and they do not float, so present no risk to ship traffic.

'Compared to the many lost containers and sunk ships, the amount of space hardware is vanishingly small,' said Krag.

However, they are working on 'designed-for-demise' technologies to replace those metals, so more of the spacecraft burns up on re-entry, and less enters the ocean.

The spacecraft 'buried' there, which include a SpaceX rocket, several European Space Agency cargo ships, more than 140 Russian resupply craft, and the Soviet-era MIR space station, never reach the site in one piece

WHAT IS BURIED AT POINT NEMO? The graveyard has amassed the remains of at least 260 craft - mostly Russian - since it was first used in 1971. Spacecraft 'buried' there include: A SpaceX rocket

Tiangong-1 Chinese orbital laboratory

Five European Space Agency cargo ships, including the Automated Transfer Vehicle Jules Verne

Six Japanese HTV cargo craft

More than 140 Russian resupply craft

Six Russian Salyut space stations

The Soviet-era MIR space station Advertisement

There are also commercial operators considering systems that would allow for defunct satellites to be re-cycled or re-purposed in orbit, rather than left to rot int he ocean, or abandoned thousands of miles from the Earth.

This would also reduce the number of launches require from the planet, and reduce demand for raw materials to be mined on Earth, experts explained.

Scientists previously warned that this space junk could get in the way of future rocket launches - and in a worst case scenario make it impossible to leave the Earth.

This is known as Kessler syndrome, caused by a collisional cascade - where one satellite crashes into another, producing hundreds of pieces of debris, each of which hurtles around the planet at thousands of miles per hour.

Oven time, the collision risk continues to increase, and each one produces yet more debris that poses further risk to anything leaving the planet.

There are an estimated 170 million pieces of so-called 'space junk' - left behind after missions that can be as big as spent rocket stages or as small as paint flakes - in orbit alongside some 920 billion ($700 billion) of space infrastructure.

Some of these objects are lifted to a 'graveyard orbit', more than 22,000 miles from the surface of the Earth, but that is mainly for objects already thousands of miles away - with those closer to the surface sent to burn up in the atmosphere.
Present day Europeans owe their blue eyes to hunter gatherers, their height to Asian nomads and their blonde hair to Anatolian Neolithic farmers, a new study suggests.

Scientists looked at how the ancient mixing of ancestries has helped shape our bodies today, including which historical groups have contributed to higher or lower heart rates, cholesterol and body mass index (BMI).

Most of the contemporary European genetic makeup was shaped by movements that occurred in the last 10,000 years when local hunter gatherers mixed with incoming Anatolian farmers  from present-day Turkey  and Asian nomads, or Pontic Steppe pastoralists.

The latter originated from what is now parts of Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan.

European hunter gatherers, Anatolian farmers, Steppe pastoralists and Siberian populations of ancient humans were all separated for thousands of years and evolved in different directions.

But when they finally came together, their DNA, or genome, came in contact and genetic variants characterising each of them intermixed, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Tartu in Estonia, and the University of Turin.

European make-up: Present day Europeans owe their blue eyes to hunter gatherers and their blonde hair to Anatolian Neolithic farmers, a new study suggests. Scientists looked at how the ancient mixing of ancestries has helped shape our bodies today (pictured)

Most of the contemporary European genetic makeup was shaped by movements that occurred in the last 10,000 years when local hunter gatherers mixed with incoming Anatolian farmers  from present-day Turkey  and Asian nomads, or Pontic Steppe pastoralists

HOW DID THE ANCIENT MIXING OF HUMANS SHAPE OUR BODIES? Hair colour Black  Siberian populations and Steppe Pastoralists Brunette  European hunter gatherers Blonde  Anatolian farmers Eye colour Blue  European hunter gatherers and Anatolian farmers Green - Siberian populations Height Tall  Steppe Pastoralists Heart rate Higher  European hunter gatherers and Siberian populations Lower  Anatolian farmers Cholesterol Higher  Steppe Pastoralists Lower  European hunter gatherers Body mass index Higher  European hunter gatherers Lower  Anatolian farmers Advertisement

Traits mostly associated with European hunter gatherers include brown or brunette hair, blue eyes, a higher heart rate, lower cholesterol and a higher BMI.

Those linked to Anatolian Neolithic farmers include blonde hair, blue eyes, lower heart rate, and lower BMI.

When it comes to height, researchers found that Europeans have Steppe Pastoralists to thank, although their genes are also to blame for higher cholesterol.

Traits mostly associated with Siberian populations include black hair, green eyes and a higher heart rate.

That doesn't mean that all hunter gathers had brown hair and blue eyes, all Anatolian farmers had blonde hair, and every Steppe Pastoralist was tall, however.

The researchers stressed that the links between a trait and a given ancestry was not an indication that it was predominant in a particular ancient population or absent in all other groups.

Environment and other evolutionary forces have to be considered too, they said.

Previous studies, which relied on information contained in ancient genomes, found some biological traits of these source populations helped to explain the origins of height, as well as skin, eye or hair pigmentation.

'With our study, instead, we asked how the physiology and appearance of contemporary Europeans are influenced by these ancient footprints that are still embedded in their genomes,' said Dr Davide Marnetto, from the Institute of Genomics of the University of Tartu and University of Turin, who led the research.

'As a case study, we used the Estonian population, which also displays some genetic components frequent in present-day Siberian populations, because of the rich data provided by the Estonian Biobank, where we could find the genome and trait characterisation for more than 50,000 samples.

'We specifically measured whether having a certain feature, e.g. high cholesterol, is coupled with having inherited more variants from a specific ancestry, exactly in those DNA regions influencing cholesterol levels.'

In 2017, archaeologists found DNA evidence in Romania which suggested hunter gatherers and farmers lived side-by-side, intermixing with each other, and even having children

WHO WERE THE STEPPE PASTORALISTS? In addition to the original European hunter-gatherers and Anatolian farmers, a third major population  steppe pastoralists  shaped Europe. These nomads appear to have 'invaded' central Europe in a previously unknown wave during the early Bronze Age, about 4,500 years ago. They introduced two very significant new technologies to Western Europe: domestic horses and the wheel. They originated from the Yamnaya culture from the Russian/Ukrainian grasslands north of the Black Sea, genome testing revealed. The pastoralists were responsible for up to 75 per cent of the genomic DNA seen in central European cultures 4,500 years ago, known as the Corded Ware Culture. This must have represented a major wave of people, along with all their cultural and technological baggage. It's thought that the Yamnaya were the first to introduce Indo-European language to Europe. This is because of the size of the genetic input, which suggests that it brought at least major parts, if not the whole thing. Advertisement

'Our results show that the ancient populations that formed contemporary Europeans were differentiated enough to contribute their own signature to the physiology and appearance of contemporary individuals,' said fellow study author Professor Luca Pagani, from the University of Padova in Italy.

For example, Steppe ancestry seems to have contributed to a strong build, with tall stature and increased hip and waist circumferences.

The researchers also found substantial differences in ancestry or evidence for recent natural selection in eye and hair pigmentation, body caffeine intake, age at the first occurrence of menstruation, and sleep patterns.

Higher caffeine intake is linked to European hunter gatherers and lower to Siberian populations, while age at first menstruation was lower in Siberian ancestry and higher in Anatolian farmers.

The experts said they drew their conclusions by relying on specific parts of the genome, while using the rest of the genome as control, to observe subtle effects by contrast.

'This means that it is misleading and naive at best to use any given trait to guess the dominant ancestry across one's genome,' said Professor Mait Metspalu, a co-author of the study.

He added that to give a biological outcome, it does not just matter how much of a certain ancestry one has in their genome, rather where and which genes this ancestry contributed, even for complex traits encoded by many genes.

Metspalu also said that for the same reason it is simplistic to interpret trait patterns across Europe only as the abundance of one ancestry or the other without considering environment and other evolutionary forces.

'Furthermore, it is important to remark that the link we made between a given trait and a given ancestry does not imply that such a trait was predominant in a particular ancient population or absent in all other groups,' he added.

The researchers pointed out that their focus on the Estonian and ultimately European population was because of the sheer amount of data available, in contrast with the dramatic underrepresentation of other ethnicities in genetic studies.

'There is absolutely no evidence indicating that Europe encompasses higher genetic diversity and more complex heritage than other continents: an increased coverage of samples from across the world is crucial to enhance our understanding on how past human history shaped the trait variability displayed by contemporary individuals,' said Marnetto.

The study has been published in the journal Current Biology.
In 2028, a NASA rocket will lift off, taking a payload of rocks into orbit and sending them on a 40 million-mile journey - from Mars to Earth.

It will be the first time a rocket has lifted off from a planet other than Earth. The rocket will return samples of the Red Planet currently being collected by Perseverance - a process revealed in a NASA animation released Tuesday.

The Mars Sample Return mission is a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), which is building a small 'fetch' rover to gather the collected samples.

This would be the first robotic round-trip to bring samples safely to Earth, and a step toward humans landing on the Red Planet in the 2030s, according to the US space agency.

In the new animation, the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a $194 million lightweight launcher, takes off from a lander on the surface of Mars, and docks with a spaceship in Martian orbit for return to Earth.

NASA called it a major milestone in the goal of sending humans to Mars and returning them back to the Earth.

In 2028 a NASA rocket will lift off, taking a payload of rocks into orbit, and send them on a 40 million mile journey to a distant world - from Mars to the Earth

Since it arrived on Mars in February 2021, the NASA Perseverance rover has been trundling through the Jezero Crater taking samples of various rocks.

Each sample is stored in a titanium tube, and in the coming decade, these will be gathered up by a new rover, set to land in 2028, known as Fetch.

Fetch is being built by the European Space Agency (ESA), assembled in Stevenage, Hertfordshire by Airbus, and will launch along with a lander and the MAV.

NASA awarded the contract to build the $194 million Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) to Lockheed Martin Space, of Littleton, Colorado.

The agency tweeted: 'NASA's first rocket launch from another planet is now one step closer. @LockheedMartin has been tapped to build the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), part of a multi-mission campaign to return samples of the Red Planet to Earth.'

It's not an easy process, though. NASA said bringing samples of rock back from Mars will require multi-agency and multi-national cooperation.

There are also a number of devices and vehicles involved in the process, including the Sample Retrieval Lander, which will carry the MAV to the surface of Mars.

The Mars Sample Return mission is a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), which is building a small 'fetch' rover to gather the collected samples

It will be the first time a rocket has lifted off from a planet other than Earth, and will return samples of the Red Planet currently being collected by Perseverance

MARS: THE BASICS Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, with a 'near-dead' dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. Mars is also a dynamic planet with seasons, polar ice caps, canyons, extinct volcanoes, and evidence that it was even more active in the past. It is one of the most explored planets in the solar system and the only planet humans have sent rovers to explore. One day on Mars takes a little over 24 hours and a year is 687 Earth days. Facts and Figures Orbital period: 687 days Surface area: 144.8 million km Distance from Sun: 227.9 million km Gravity: 3.721 m/s Radius: 3,389.5 km Moons: Phobos, Deimos Advertisement

This platform will land near or in the Jezero Crater, a dried up river delta where Perseverance is based.

Fetch rover, built by ESA, will then collect the rocks. It will return to the lander platform and load them into a single large canister on the MAV, which will then perform the first liftoff from Mars to enter Mars' orbit.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said this would also be 'a significant step that will ultimately help send the first astronauts to Mars' in the coming decades.

'America's investment in our Mars Sample Return program will fulfill a top priority planetary science goal and demonstrate our commitment to global partnerships, ensuring NASA remains a leader in exploration and discovery,' Nelson added.

Once it reaches Mars orbit, the container would be captured by an ESA Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft with NASA's Capture, Containment, and Return System payload.

The spacecraft would bring the samples to Earth safely and securely in the early- to mid-2030s - shortly before a human crew is predicted to launch for Mars.

'Committing to the Mars Ascent Vehicle represents an early and concrete step to hammer out the details of this ambitious project not just to land on Mars, but to take off from it,' said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for science at NASA.

The US space agency says this would be the first robotic round-trip to bring samples safety to Earth, and a step towards humans landing on the Red Planet in the 2030s

IN FIGURES: MARS SAMPLE RETURN Mission: Mars Sample Return Campaign Main Job: Return samples collected by the Mars Perseverance rover to Earth Launch: Opportunities in the mid to late 2020s Projects: Sample Retrieval Lander, Earth Return Orbiter Landing: As early as 2028 Landing Location: Jezero Crater Length of Missions: Return to Earth planned for early 2030s SOURCE: NASA Advertisement

'We are nearing the end of the conceptual phase for this Mars Sample Return mission, and the pieces are coming together to bring home the first samples from another planet.

'Once on Earth, they can be studied by state-of-the-art tools too complex to transport into space.'

The MAV won't be an easy project for Lockheed Martin. It must withstand the harsh Martian environment, be adaptable enough to work with different spacecraft, and be small enough to fit inside the Sample Retrieval Lander.

The firm has to design, develop, test and evaluate the MAV system, as well as develop the equipment to operate it from Earth.

'NASA's Mars Sample Return Campaign promises to revolutionize our understanding of Mars by bringing scientifically selected samples for study using the most sophisticated instruments around the world,' said NASA.

'The campaign would fulfill a solar system exploration goal, a high priority since the 1970s and in the last two National Academy of Sciences Planetary Decadal Surveys.'

This lander is expected to launch no earlier than 2026 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, complete with the MAV and Fetch rover.
Instead of our memories decaying with time, forgetting is actually an active form of learning that helps our brain to access more important information.

This is the conclusion of experts from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Toronto, who said that 'lost' memories are not really gone, just made inaccessible.

Memories, they explained, are stored permanently in sets of neurons, with our brains deciding which ones we keep access to and which irrelevant ones are locked away.

These choices, they said, are based on environmental feedback, theoretically allowing us flexibility in the face of change and better decision-making as a result.

If correct, the findings could lead to new ways to understand and treat memory loss associated with disease  such as is seen, for example, in patients with Alzheimer's.

Instead of our memories decaying with time, forgetting is actually an active form of learning that helps our brain to access more important information. Pictured: forgetfulness (stock)

The study was undertaken by neuroscientists Tomas Ryan of Trinity College Dublin and Paul Frankland of the University of Toronto.

'Memories are stored in ensembles of neurons called 'engram cells' and successful recall of these memories involves the reactivation of these ensembles,' said Dr Ryan.

'The logical extension of this is that forgetting occurs when engram cells cannot be reactivated,' he explained.

'The memories themselves are still there, but if the specific ensembles cannot be activated they can't be recalled. It's as if the memories are stored in a safe but you can't remember the code to unlock it.'

Forgetting, the team have proposed, occurs when engram cells are switched from an accessible to an inaccessible state  locking away the memories.

'Because the rate of forgetting is impacted by environmental conditions, we propose that forgetting is actually a form of learning that alters memory accessibility in line with the environment and how predictable it is,' Dr Ryan continued.

Dr Frankland agreed, adding: 'There are multiple ways in which our brains forget, but all of them act to make the engram  the physical embodiment of a memory  harder to access.'

When we forget, said paper author and neuroscientist Tomas Ryan, 'the memories themselves are still there, but if the specific ensembles cannot be activated they can't be recalled. It's as if the memories are stored in a safe but you can't remember the code to unlock it'

The findings could help lead to new treatments for pathological forgetting.

'Importantly, we believe that this "natural forgetting" is reversible in certain circumstances,' the researchers said.

'In disease states  such as in people living with Alzheimer's disease for example  these natural forgetting mechanisms are hijacked.'

This, they explained, 'results in greatly reduced engram cell accessibility and pathological memory loss.'

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Kylian Mbappe insists his full focus is on helping PSG beat Real Madrid in the Champions League, amid strong speculation linking him with a move to the Bernabeu.

The 23-year-old has been touted to join the Spanish side on a free transfer when his contract expires this summer after a move fell through last year.

According to German outlet BILD, Mbappe will sign a five-year deal with a 40million-a-year salary in Madrid.

Kylian Mbappe has been been tipped to move to Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer

However, the French international is remaining tight-lipped about what his future holds ahead of his current club's Champions League tie against Los Blancos.

'If I have made a decision over my future? No,' Mbappe told Amazon Prime Video (via The Mirror).

'Playing against Real Madrid changes a lot of things. Although I have the freedom to do what I want in this moment, I am not going to speak with a rival or do that type of thing.

'I am concentrated on winning against Real Madrid. And then we will see what happens.'

The forward says he is fully focused on helping PSG beat Real Madrid in the Champions League

Florentino Perez had a 170million bid for Mbappe turned down on deadline day last summer

Real Madrid will travel to the Parc de Princes on February 15 for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie, before PSG go to the Bernabeu three weeks later.

The two games could certainly be interesting for Mbappe if he knows he will be wearing the white of Madrid next season.

PSG continue to try to persuade the forward to stay in the French capital, having turned down Florentino Perez's 170million bid for him on transfer deadline day last summer.
Liverpool are reportedly weighing up a sensational swoop for Barcelona starlet Gavi by taking advantage of the Spanish side's financial woes.

The 17-year-old midfielder's current deal expires in the summer of 2023 and the Nou Camp outfit are desperate to tie him down to an extended deal.

Xavi is keen to build a new Barca side around the midfielder, but may now face a struggle to keep him away from Europe's bigger clubs.

Liverpool are reportedly in the hunt to land the Barcelona wonderkid Gavi (right)

According to El Nacional, Liverpool are ready to offer Gavi a deal worth 3m per year - double what Barcelona can afford - while also dangling the incentive of an 8m signing on fee.

Cash strapped Barca cannot compete financially with the Reds and may face further frustration in being unable to extend the deal.

The report adds that Gavi has a release clause of around 42m, one that Barca would be desperate to increase substantially should they agree a new contract with the youngster.

With just 18 months left on his current deal, that move could come this summer, as by the time of the next January transfer window, Jurgen Klopp's side will be able to negotiate a free transfer with Gavi.

Jurgen Klopp (left) could be keen to swipe Gavi from under Barcelona boss Xavi (right)

Gavi blew kisses to the crowd after scoring for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid on Sunday

The report also adds that Barca do hold hope they can still convince Gavi to stay. But even with the player holding the club close to him, they could still face a losing battle to prevent Liverpool's attractive offer tempting in him into a move away.

For now Barca's priority is to tie him down to a new deal now the January transfer market is closed.

Gavi has made 26 appearances this season and scored at the weekend in the 4-2 victory over Atletico Madrid where he blew kisses to the home fans at the Nou Camp.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Mohamed Salah could feature for the club in Thursday night's Premier League visit of Leicester.

The Egyptian was on the losing side in the penalty shootout in Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final and did not take a spot kick as his side missed out on an eighth title in Yaounde.

Reds team-mate Sadio Mane was on the winning side though as Senegal claimed their first ever AFCON title thanks to his spot kick in the shootout, having missed one in normal time.

Mohamed Salah is in contention to play for Liverpool against Leicester on Thursday

The Egyptian suffered AFCON heartbreak after his side lost Sunday's final on penalties

And Klopp has confirmed Salah - who was seen out on the training pitches at Kirkby - could make his first Liverpool appearance since January 2 against the Foxes, but that Mane will not be available for selection at Anfield.

Asked specifically if Salah - who will be assessed by Reds medical staff this week - could be involved against Leicester, Klopp replied: 'Yes, yes. Sadio no chance as he's not even here, but Mo yes.

'Mo is now back, I spoke already to him. He is very disappointed of course, but looking forward to all the things coming up here now.

'I spoke to him and pretty much the first thing Mo told me was: ''I'm ready.'' Haha!

Mane (centre) meanwhile scored the spot kick that secured Senegal's first ever title

'He is an experienced player, he is a physical monster, to be honest, so we have to see. He will obviously have a little recovery session today and we will see how he feels tomorrow and from there we go.

'The proper plan we don't have, play him as often and as long as possible is probably the plan, but we will not rush it. But if he is fine we will not leave him out for the wrong reasons as well, so let's see.'

On Mane, Klopp added: 'Sadio flies out if it's possible on Wednesday night, so will arrive here on Thursday but he is, of course, then not involved in the Leicester game.

'It means the world to him, it means the world to his people, it means the world to Senegal and we respect that a lot and we would never consider to have called back him from there or whatever  let them do what they do in the moment because they deserve it.

'They've had an incredibly intense time, so when he is back we will talk to him and we will see how we can use him.'

Jurgen Klopp confirmed Salah could play on Thursday but that Mane has no chance of playing

Salah received criticism from the likes of Jamie Carragher and Danny Murphy for the decision to take the fifth penalty in the shootout defeat by Senegal.

But after a rousing dressing room speech, he will now aim to pick up where he left off in Liverpool colours.

He will undergo some light training at Liverpool's base in Kirkby on Tuesday afternoon and have some routine tests but providing no issues come to light, Salah will want to be included in the starting line-up on Thursday.

Virgil van Dijk appeared particularly excited by his return, repeating the words 'he's back' in a social media post released by the club on Tuesday morning.

Salah has scored 23 goals in 26 matches across all competitions so far this season, with his latest goal coming in the 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Mane meanwhile has netted 10 goals in the same number of games, netting the other goal against Thomas Tuchel's men before jetting off for international duty last month.
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In the photography competition calendar, the Sony World Photography Awards is a biggie.

It always attracts a gargantuan number of entries, for starters, and this year is no different.

Over 340,000 images from 211 territories were submitted to the 2022 contest and over 170,000 were entered into the Open competition.

From this batch, the judges have now selected - and revealed - the national award winners.

The National Awards program is an initiative set up by the World Photography Organisation and Sony to support local photographic communities around the world, with 61 countries taking part this year.

Scroll down to see our pick of the bunch from this year's gong-luring entries, from a stunning image of Le Mont Saint-Michel at sunset to a mesmerising photo of an otherworldly lava field in Iceland...

Photographer Cigdem Ayyildiz, who claimed the national award for Turkey, was behind the lens for this enchanting shot, which shows the French commune of Le Mont Saint-Michel at sunset. Ayyildiz says: 'For me, this piece of art on the shores of Normandy is a candidate for Eighth Wonder of the World - providing a legendary view and atmosphere especially at sunset and when the tide is low'

This transfixing picture shows a tusker elephant (a type of male elephant) named 'Craig' standing in front of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Photographer Mohammed Mirza, who nabbed the national award for Kuwait, says: 'Photographing a giant tusker like Craig was a big challenge for me. Getting so close, within a few metres from this big bull, and shooting from a very low angle with a wide lens, requires some courage! After five days with several attempts at photographing Craig in an open space, I managed to get this shot face to face'

'I love the combination of the Milky Way and these unique mountain rocks.' So says photographer Gonzalo Javier Santile of this striking shot of the sky over the Argentinean town of Cafayate. Santile took the silver medal in the Latin America national award. According to the photographer, a 'strong, hot wind known as Los Colorados was blowing' when he went out shooting. 'I buried my tripod the best I could, using rocks to stabilise it,' he says. The photographer notes that the final image consists of 20 shots  six of the sky and six of the foreground

First place in the national award for Russia went to Marianna Smolina for this charming shot. Describing the picture, Smolina says that it shows 'the frozen flight of an adult ballerina under the gaze of these little girls, dreaming of being able to do this too'

Feast your eyes on the photo that made Yawar Abbas the winner of the national award for Pakistan. It shows the sun setting over Katpana Desert, also known as the Cold Desert, near the Pakistani city of Skardu. Abbas notes that the desert 'looks like a golden snake' in the 'light from this spectacular sunset'

The top prize in the national award for Thailand went to photographer Kunuch Chutmongkolporn, for this beautiful image taken in Bangkok last October. In the background, the Buddha statue from the city's Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen temple can be seen. Chutmongkolporn says: 'Around the fourth week of October, the sun sets behind the statue. To get a high-impact shot, I used a super-telephoto zoom lens to compress the sun with a bird, the statue, and the city in the foreground'

This stunning shot was captured by photographer Chihao Wang, the winner of the national award for Taiwan. Wang says: 'Many bats inhabited this cave in ancient times. Theyve vanished due to todays environmental changes'

LEFT: This spectacular shot, taken by Sonja Ivancsics, shows the Milky Way over Gosausee Lake in the Austrian region of Salzkammergut. Ivancsics, who won the national award for Austria, reveals: 'I planned this photo for about a year, and on that night in June 2021 the conditions were just perfect.' According to the photographer, the lake 'reflects its surrounding mountains beautifully, especially the mountain Dachstein with its glacier'. She adds: 'The picture blends two images, one taken in the blue hour, and one taken at about midnight.' RIGHT: Jenny Zhao - the winner of the national award for the U.S - took this spellbinding shot of a polar bear cub 'staring wistfully into the distance' in Canada last November

The national award for Slovakia went to photographer Filip Hrebenda for this powerful image, titled 'Born of Fire'. It was the first picture that Hrebenda captured during an expedition to the volcanic area of Fagradalsfjall in southwestern Iceland. He says: 'Volcanoes are a rare opportunity to observe the complete transformation of a landscape. Places that were only recently valleys and meadows became hills, craters and lava fields. Being there was a great experience'

LEFT: Hans Kristian Strand snared this magical shot of Bondhusvatnet Glacier in Kvinnherad, Norway. Impressing the judges, Strand landed the top spot in the national award for Norway. Strand says: 'I love this peaceful place. I visit the Bondhusvatnet Glacier every year hoping to get the perfect picture, and this year I finally got it.' RIGHT: Thanks to this breathtaking image, Juan Pablo Mendez Garzona was shortlisted for the Latin America national award. The Guatemalan photographer reveals that the picture 'combines two photos' that were taken during a trip to Iceland. He says: 'The first one was taken at the Arctic Henge, a group of structures located in Raufarhofn on the northeastern tip of the Melrakkasletta peninsula. The second one is the sky full of Northern Lights, which I captured a few days later. For me, this composition represents an open door full of possibilities for those who dare to walk into the unknown'

Here you'll see 'two sumo wrestlers attempting to trip each other out of the ring in a split-second finish'. The moment was captured by Chin Leong Teo, who scooped the national award title for Singapore

LEFT: The judges awarded photographer Damon Beckford the national award for Finland in recognition of this entry. Sharing the story behind the picture, the photographer says: 'In January 2021 the temperature went down to minus 25 degrees Celsius on the south coast of Finland. I went to Emasalo in the city of Porvoo to capture the freezing of the Baltic Sea. As the sea starts to freeze, it creates beautiful ice sculptures on the rocks, and a few days later the sea is frozen.' He adds that the picture 'was shot at night with a slow shutter speed on extremely slippery ice.' RIGHT: Photographer Raido Nurk captured this dynamic image at a surfing festival in The Hague, Netherlands. Nurk, who won the national award for Estonia, recalls: 'The waves were the biggest Ive ever seen in the evening when I took this photo.' He adds: 'The waves and the pouring rain created quite a unique atmosphere'

This high-octane picture shows the Swiss snowboarder Gian Simmen 'in his natural habitat' on Switzerland's Grindelwald First. Photographer Tinu Muller, who took the gold medal in the national award for Switzerland, says it was a 'perfect day in the Swiss Alps' when he clicked the shutter on this shot
Here's an airline that wine lovers will want to toast.

Invivo, the New Zealand wine company thats backed by A-list celebrities Sarah Jessica Parker and Graham Norton, is launching an airline this year.

Invivo Air, which promises to be like other airlines, only with better wine, will fly a set route from Auckland to Queenstown.

Invivo, the New Zealand wine company thats backed by Sarah Jessica Parker (pictured) and Graham Norton, is launching an airline this year

Invivo Air promises to be like other airlines, only with better wine. Pictured are company founders Rob Cameron (left) and Tim Lightbourne (right)

'Welcome to Invivo Air, where its business class in every glass,' reads the airlines motto.

Passengers will board a chartered 34-seater Swedish-built Saab plane in Auckland for the airline's inaugural flight in early 2022.

Priority for seats on the maiden voyage will be given to Auckland hospitality and tourism staff who were affected by the lockdown and members of the public who havent seen their family or friends due to New Zealand's Covid restrictions, as well as shareholders.

The flight itself will last just two hours, but passengers can look forward to 24 hours of special experiences in Queenstown.

Invivo first worked with chat show host Graham, pictured, in 2014, producing a sauvignon blanc with him

The TV personality's collection of wines have been awarded over 200 accolades

Guests will board a chartered 34-seater Swedish-built Saab plane in Auckland, pictured, for Invivo Air's inaugural flight in early 2022

A stay at The Hilton Queenstown and a trip to Invivos winegrowers in the countrys Central Otago region will be part of the wine-fuelled itinerary.

Invivo was founded by Tim Lightbourne and Rob Cameron in 2008, and has since become one of New Zealands leading producers.

Ahead of the launch of the new airline, Tim said: Its been a tough period of time, particularly for our bars and restaurant customers in both the North and South Island heavily reliant on local tourism. Running a flight to the South Island is a way that we can show the public the country is open again for domestic tourism, and at the same time support some of those who have had a particularly tough time of it.

We are not ruling out further flights to other New Zealand destinations as well.

He added in an interview with CNN that Parker and Norton might appear on one of the flights at some point.

The flight will last just two hours, but passengers can look forward to 24 hours of special experiences in Queenstown (pictured)

The brand's collaboration with chat-show host Norton began in 2014, when it worked with him to produce a sauvignon blanc.

His collection of Invivo wines has since expanded to include South Australian shiraz, New Zealand rose, Italian prosecco, and rose prosecco. Plus, it's been awarded over 200 accolades and is served in Qantas business class cabins.

He makes two types of gin with Invivo, too.

In 2019, Invivo teamed up with Sex and the City star Parker to launch Invivo X sauvignon blanc and rose, which have now garnered more than 50 awards.

Parker is on the board of Invivo USA, and the 'X' on the wine label represents her signature Instagram sign-off, 'X, SJ' . The label's 'X' was hand-painted by Parker.

In 2019, Invivo collaborated with Sex and the City star Parker to launch Invivo X

Parker is on the board of Invivo USA, and the 'X' on the wine label represents her signature Instagram sign-off, 'X, SJ'

After unveiling her third vintage of sauvignon blanc with the brand last September, the actress told Dailymail.com: 'We always like to try new things, but with this vintage, we decided to blend multiple samples together into one and ended up with a creation that is incredibly unique, but still very much a sauvignon blanc at heart.'

Parker added: 'I've been proud of all of our creations, but the notes in this one are spectacular. I'm proud of our Invivo family and excited to bring this vintage to life and share it with our fans.'

Both celebrities are involved in the wine blending, which is the last stage of the winemaking process that sees winemakers combine different wines from various estates to create one ultimate blend that brings out the best characteristics of the grape.

For more information visit invivoair.com.
The 30 UK beauty spots that every Briton should visit during their lifetime have been revealed  and ranked - with the world-famous prehistoric monument Stonehenge in Wiltshire and the iconic White Cliffs of Dover voted joint first (40 per cent).

Stonehenge has a history of 4,500 years and stands at the centre of the Avebury World Heritage Site. The purpose of Stonehenge still remains a mystery, but it's believed it was created as a spiritual home by Neolithic and Bronze Age people, with the sarsen stones carefully aligned with the movement of the sun.

The White Cliffs of Dover are located in Kent along the English coastline and look out to the Strait of Dover and France. One of the country's most spectacular natural features, the cliffs are an official icon of Britain and have been a sign of hope and freedom for centuries.

The 30 UK beauty spots that every Briton should visit during their lifetime have been revealed  and ranked - and the White Cliffs of Dover, pictured, is joint top

Wiltshire's Stone Henge joins the White Cliffs of Dover in first place with 40 per cent of the votes. The mysterious monument is believed to have been a spiritual home to Neolithic and Bronze Age people

The study, commissioned by Vision Express as part of its 'Discover More' campaign, found that Snowdonia in Wales (2nd, 38 per cent), Ben Nevis in Scotland (3rd, 37 per cent) and Lake Windermere (4th, 36 per cent) are also key sights for Britons.

Other bucket-list beauty spots on the list include Cornwall's St Ives Harbour (5th, 34 per cent), Cheddar Gorge in Somerset (joint 6th, 32 per cent), breathtaking city views from the London Eye (joint 6th, 32 per cent) and historic Hadrian's Wall (7th, 31 per cent), which is 73 miles long and was built as a border point for the wild north-west frontier of the Roman Empire.

The Giant's Causeway (8th, 29 per cent), Northern Ireland's only World Heritage site and part of the popular Game of Thrones Tour, is also a 'must see' for Brits, followed by Arthur's Seat (joint 9th, 25 per cent), with its views of Edinburgh, St Michael's Mount (joint 9th, 25 per cent) in Cornwall and the Needles (joint 9th, 25 per cent), situated on the Isle of Wight.

Snowdonia in Wales was awarded second place, with 38 per cent of the votes. Pictured is the historic steam train that runs from the town of LLanberis to the summit of Mount Snowdon

The research found that three in five Brits (60 per cent) admit that there are plenty of world-famous British sights they have yet to experience. Pictured is Ben Nevis, which came in third with 37 per cent of the votes

The ranking, produced by a poll of 1,500 Britons, also revealed that no one should miss seeing Canterbury Cathedral (10th, 23 per cent) and Durdle Door (11th, 21 per cent) in Dorset.

Brighton's Royal Pavilion (20 per cent), Portmeirion in Wales (20 per cent) and the Welsh Brecon Beacons were all voted joint 12th (20 per cent), while the Whitby Abbey ruins in Yorkshire (19 per cent), the Seven Sisters White Cliffs in Sussex (19 per cent), and Chatsworth House, Bakewell (19 per cent), came in at joint 13th.

Dan McGhee, Director of Optical Services at Vision Express, said: 'We know there is so much joy to be had through vision and discovering more through a new lens. Our research shows that there are some amazing places right here in the UK to enjoy with your loved ones.'

A stunning limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, Cheddar Gorge in Somerset comes in joint sixth place (32 per cent), alongside St Ives Harbour and the London Eye

The research also found that three in five Brits (60 per cent) admit that there are plenty of world-famous British sights they have yet to experience.

And it's no surprise, an accompanying statement said, that almost two thirds (65 per cent) have vowed to see more of Britain this year than they have done in the past 12 months.

Forty-three per cent of the Britons polled admit that they can sometimes forget just how breathtaking the UK can be, with 48 per cent claiming that the UK is one of the most beautiful places to live in the world.

When it comes to experiencing the UK's most beautiful sights, 38 per cent would like to see them with their children, while 71 per cent would like to make it a romantic moment with their partner.

Seventy-six per cent claim that seeing a UK beauty spot is all the more special if you've shared it with a loved one.
She's the glamorous breakout star of this year's season of Married At First Sight.

But it turns out Tamara Djordjevic isn't the only good-looking member of her family.

The 29-year-old has a younger brother called Matt who is a professional model, but MAFS producers couldn't convince him to make an appearance on the show.

Who knew? She's the glamorous breakout star of this year's season of Married At First Sight, but it turns out Tamara Djordjevic (pictured) isn't the only good-looking member of her family

Endemol Shine, the production company behind MAFS, asked Tamara if her 'hot' brother would like to be involved, but he politely declined.

'While Matt approved of his sister's decision to go on Married At First Sight, he wanted nothing to do with it,' a source told Daily Mail Australia.

According to the insider, Matt was asked to attend Tamara's wedding to on-screen husband Brent Vitiello.

Handsome: The 29-year-old has a younger brother called Matt (pictured) who is a professional model, but MAFS producers couldn't convince him to make an appearance on the show

Family: 'While Matt approved of his sister's decision to go on MAFS, he wanted nothing to do with it,' a source told Daily Mail Australia. Matt and Tamara are pictured in September 2011

Matt was scouted as a model while attending a music festival at just 19 years of age.

He went on to work for major brands in Australia and around the world before setting his sights on New York City, where he was picked up by Ford Models.

He lived in NYC for four years, modelling for the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch and Ralph Lauren, before the Covid pandemic brought him home to Ballarat, Victoria.

Career: Matt was scouted as a model at 19. He went on to work for major brands in Australia and around the world before setting his sights on New York City, where he lived for four years

He has continued to work as a model since returning to Australia, and is represented by Sydney-based agency FiveTwenty Model Management.

Matt, who has 28,700 followers on Instagram, has also started studying finance.

Speaking about their tough upbringing after their parents split up, Tamara said on MAFS: 'I did have to look after my brother.

'Because I was understanding everything that was happening. And my brother was younger than me. So I wanted to protect him.'
Jessica Alves has revealed she's been subjected to appalling discriminatory behaviour and has lost all her TV and brand endorsement deals since undergoing gender reassignment surgery last year.

The TV personality, 38, confessed that despite feeling 'cured from something that was making her feel unwell', she's shockingly lost friends and finds herself getting blocked on dating apps after coming out to her matches as a transgender woman.

In her most personal interview yet, while debuting photos from a recent shoot, she told MailOnline that she's made to feel unsafe due to unwanted attention from men and is determined to raise awareness about the trans community's struggles.

'I don't feel safe when men follow me': Jessica Alves has revealed she's experienced appalling discriminatory behaviour and lost ALL her TV deals since her gender reassignment surgery

One recent distressing encounter saw an Uber driver ask if he could 'come in for a cup of tea' after dropping her off at her London apartment, she claimed.

The Brazil native insisted that despite her horrendous tales, she's happier than ever as she celebrates the one year anniversary of her life-changing operation.

She gushed: 'Life never felt so good after one year of my sex change surgery. I feel like I've won a battle and am cured from something that was making me feel unwell.

'Changing my gender and my name hasn't being an easy journey, though. I have lost friends and a lot of jobs. For the past one year living as a 100 percent woman, I have been rediscovering myself. Everything has been a new experience.

Oh no! The TV personality, 38, confessed that she's shockingly lost friends and finds herself getting blocked on dating apps after coming out to her matches as a transgender woman

'I have been figuring out what type of woman I am. What is my style? I love big eyelashes and big hair and most of my outfits are sent from the USA.

'I turned out to be a voluptuous curvy woman and rather glamorous also, which intimidates a lot of men. As part of being a woman, I had to learn how to talk to men and handle their attention.

'As flattering as it may sound, I don't feel safe when men follow me around the supermarket aisle while I'm getting my groceries, or when an Uber driver asks if he can come in for a cup of tea.

'Using a dating app is a good exercise so I can get to chat to my supposed matches but when it comes down to meeting and I mention that I am a post-op trans woman, I end up getting blocked.'

Frustrating: In her most personal interview yet, she told MailOnline that she's made to feel unsafe due to unwanted attention from men

The upsetting pattern in Jessica's love life has caused her to question whether she should continue being honest with potential suitors, she admitted.

'I question myself all the time, if I really must tell that I am a post-op trans woman. Or shall I just say nothing and let the man figure it out by himself?'

Surrounded by a group of supportive friends and family members, Jessica counts herself lucky while realising she must use her platform to stand up for those who are quietly suffering.

She said: 'I don't see any difference at all between me and a biological female except the fact that I can't give birth. Other than that, I am really feminine and functional as a woman.

Pioneer: She's determined to raise awareness about the trans community's struggles

'We don't live in a perfect world and often I find myself being discriminated against for being trans. I am lucky that I have a wonderful family and a few good friends around me.

'We must see more trans people on TV, in the media and out in public to normalise it and to show to the world that it is okay to change the gender that you were born with in order to be happy.

'I have lost all my jobs in TV and brand endorsements but on the other hand I feel happier than before.

'I speak six languages. Also I have a degree in Public Relations and Communications from London, and I'm aware that no one would ever employ me based on my looks and the fact that I am trans.

Uncomfortable: One recent distressing encounter saw an Uber driver ask if he could 'come in for a cup of tea' after dropping her off at her London apartment, she claimed

'That is an issue that most trans people suffer and someone must do something about it.'

It comes after the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant claimed a TOWIE star sent her flirty messages but then ghosted her after finding out she is transgender.

The model alleged she was contacted by the man who called her 'beautiful' after seeing her racy online snaps - before cutting off contact when she revealed she was transgender.

Jessica said the pair messaged for two weeks, had a video call and planned to meet for a date in London.

Hooray! The Brazil native insisted that despite her horrendous tales, she's happier than ever as she celebrates the one year anniversary of her life-changing operation

The man is said to be have responded, 'What?' and, 'What do you mean?' when Jessica told him she was transgender, according to The Sun.

She told the publication: 'I was really upset and really wanted to cry, he was speaking to me for two weeks but now I have no interest in meeting him.

'He was very excited to meet me and sent me messages calling me beautiful and stunning and we even had a video call.

'When I told him, you actually know Im transgender right? He was like whats that and what do you mean?'

Candid: The upsetting pattern in Jessica's love life has caused her to question whether she should continue being honest with potential suitors, she admitted

She said she told him that it meant she could not have children but reassured him that she is '100 per cent woman' - before claiming he ghosted her.

The OnlyFans star recently revealed she is considering having voice feminisation surgery, after undergoing sex reassignment surgery at the start of 2021, having come out publicly as transgender in 2020.

She told MailOnline in a previous interview: 'I think that it is the only thing that gives away the fact that I am a transgender.

'My body and looks are very feminine but when a guy chats to me at a bar, or gym the third question is "are you trans?".

'I say, "Yes I am," then the guy walks away. It is very frustrating.

'Also, when I answer the phone people refer to me using male pronouns and that feels like a knife in my heart.'

The reality star said she is dealing with her feelings by going to therapy.

She explained: 'When I dream sometimes I see my former self and my former image causes me discomfort and distress, I am unable to see images of my former self or watch a video of my former self without getting angry and agitated.

'The therapy helps to erase the image but not the experiences and the moments that I lived as Rodrigo Alves.'
Married at First Sight bride Selin Mengu has revealed why her relationship with Anthony Cincotta fell apart so soon after their fairytale wedding.

The mother of one, 32, spoke about her TV marriage in an interview with 2Day FM's The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed and Erin on Tuesday.

She said viewers were rushing to vilify her for 'rejecting' Anthony when there was a lot more going on that they didn't see.

Bitter split: Married At First Sight bride Selin Mengu has revealed why her relationship with Anthony Cincotta fell apart so soon after their fairytale wedding

She alleged that Anthony dropped his gentlemanly act when the cameras stopped rolling, and that her hostility towards him was just her 'sticking up for myself'.

'A lot of women... are taking digs at me, but it's like, I'm sticking up for myself where I guess people aren't seeing this,' the executive assistant said.

Selin also spoke about her behaviour on Nova's Fitzy & Wippa, insisting she was a 'bottle of wine in' during her dinner-party clash with Anthony.

Claims: She alleged that Anthony (pictured) dropped his gentlemanly act when the cameras stopped rolling, and that her hostility towards him was just her 'sticking up for myself'

The awkward interaction happened at the end of the episode when Anthony pulled his wife aside to explain why he had ditched her on their honeymoon.

While Anthony admitted he regretted his actions and hoped to put their troubles behind them, Selin refused to accept his apology.

'I just think the viewers have got to understand they see one per cent of everything that has happened. That's one per cent of everything,' she told Fitzy & Wippa.

Edited out: Selin said viewers were rushing to vilify her for 'rejecting' Anthony when there was a lot more going on that they didn't see

Selin claimed she'd actually tried to discuss her feelings with Anthony before the dinner party, and even sat next to him in the hope of patching things up.

But when she tried to talk to him, she claims she was 'brushed off'.

'I don't know if you've seen, but I sit next to him at the dinner party before we go on to the table, and I tried to talk to him and I got brushed off,' she said.

Fake: A production insider told Daily Mail Australia things took a turn for the worse just minutes after the couple checked into their honeymoon suite

'So when it comes to the end of the night and I was, you know, maybe a bottle of wine in unfortunately at that point, I didn't want to listen. And yes, I could have drawn a line in the sand.'

Meanwhile, a production insider told Daily Mail Australia things took a turn for the worse just minutes after the couple checked into their honeymoon suite.

They apparently argued straight off the bat when Selin told him to sleep on the couch, saying: 'I don't know you, but I want to get to know you.'

Hmm: They apparently argued straight off the bat when Selin told him to sleep on the couch, saying: 'I don't know you, but I want to get to know you'

The source also alleged Anthony's gentlemanly behaviour that was on display at their wedding did not continue during their honeymoon.

'The minute cameras stopped rolling, he completely turned off this "let me open the door for you, let me do this for you" and this is still the first day,' they claimed.

Selin apparently struggled to connect with Anthony when she saw this shift.

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine and 9Now
He has been in Europe for the past few months filming his new Netflix film, Extraction 2.

And on Monday, Chris Hemsworth shared some behind-the-scenes footage from the set of the upcoming movie.

The 38-year-old Australian actor showed how he can pull off the 'greatest and most difficult stunt ever captured on film'.

Hilarious stunt: Chris Hemsworth shared a clip of himself pulling off the 'greatest and most difficult stunts ever captured on film' on the set of his new film Extraction 2 on Monday

In the video, Chris is seen warming up with a few jumps, shaking his hands and loosening up his shoulders.

He then undertakes his so-called 'stunt', which ended up being more of a party trick.

The Thor star ran to a wardrobe assistant and launch himself into a jacket.

'Probably the greatest and most difficult stunt ever captured on film Extraction2 @netflix @samhargrave @agbofilms,' he jokingly captioned his video.

Extraction 2 is the sequel to the 2020 film of the same name - which followed Chris' character Tyler Rake, who is hired to rescue the kidnapped son of a crime lord.

In December, Hemsworth, said he wished he was still filming the movie Down Under, amid a surge in COVID 19 numbers in the Czech Republic.

Gotcha! In the video, Chris is seen warming up with a few jumps, shaking his hands and loosening up his shoulders. He then undertakes his so-called 'stunt', which ended up being more of a party trick

That's it? The Thor star ran to a wardrobe assistant and launch himself into a jacket

The highly anticipated sequel - which became Netflix's most-streamed original movie upon its release - was supposed to be filmed in the Harbour City, but producers decided in August to relocate to the Czech Republic.

There were apparently concerns at the time about the Covid-19 lockdowns in New South Wales and the possibility of the set being shut down due to a virus outbreak.

Fears: Chris has been in Europe for the past few months filming his new Netflix film, Extraction 2. In December, Hemsworth, said he wished he was still filming the movie Down Under, amid a surge in COVID 19 numbers in the Czech Republic

At the time, Hemsworth said it was a bad idea in hindsight, after the Czech Republic saw a surge in Covid cases that continue to put a strain on the hospital system.

The country reported 20,315 new Covid cases on November 27, which was actually a drop in daily cases. On the same day the previous week, the nation of 10.7 million people - only 58 per cent of whom are vaccinated - reported 22,957 new cases.

By contrast, NSW recorded 208 new cases of Covid and no deaths on in the same week, with the low death rate most likely the result of a very high vaccination uptake.

Coming soon: Extraction 2 is the sequel to the 2020 film of the same name - which followed Chris' character Tyler Rake, who is hired to rescue the kidnapped son of a crime lord

During his interview, Hemsworth said on the Today show: 'Initially this film was supposed to shoot in Sydney, but it was tricky with the lockdowns and so on, and then so we made the move to Prague.

'But yeah, Covid cases are pretty rampant here and so it's... we're now thinking, you know, maybe it was better to stay [in Australia] but it wasn't my choice.'
Jimmy Barnes was short-changed $20,000 for a private 50th birthday performance on Hamilton Island in a mismanaged blunder that has taken years to fix.

The rock legend was underpaid in a 'discrepancy' involving Sydney-based live music booking company The Harbour Agency, reports The Australian.

The discrepancy in Barnes' payment was only discovered during an investigation at the firm into workplace culture years later, which resulted in flagship music company Mushroom Records splitting with The Harbour Agency.

Big error: Jimmy Barnes was underpaid $20,000 for a private 50th birthday performance on Hamilton Island, but he didnt notice the 'discrepancy' until years later

The pay issue began in August 2017 when Barnes, 65, was hired to perform with his band at the luxury, six-star Qualia Resort on Hamilton Island for businessman Jamie Pherous' 50th birthday party.

Pherous, who is the managing director of Corporate Travel Management, had the hour-long gig scheduled for early November 2018 with 100 guests in attendance.

The deal was locked in for $150,000 and included on site accommodation for Barnes and his band at Qualia Resort.

Context: The pay issue began in August 2017 when Barnes, 65, was hired to perform with his band at the luxury, six-star Qualia Resort on Hamilton Island for businessman Jamie Pherous' 50th birthday party

However, a chain of emails in 2017 revealed employees at The Harbour Agency told Barnes' booking agent Frank Stivala - the managing director of Melbourne-based agency Premier Artists - the fee was in fact $130,000 excluding GST.

A spokesperson for Barnes confirmed the discrepancy, saying: 'Last year a mistaken underpayment on a one-off 2018 booking was reported to Jimmy by his booking agent, Premier Artists. The matter was resolved quickly and amicably.'

Stivala said there was no 'malice' in the error and believes it was in fact an honest mistake made by Harbour.

'There are honest mistakes, and theres always the possibility of dishonest mistakes. But in this case, I firmly believe its an honest mistake,' he told The Australian.

'Did Jimmy get ripped off? I firmly believe he didnt. Ive been dealing with Jimmy for 35 or 40 years; were almost like family. I trust him, he trusts me, and if I thought he was being abused, I wouldnt stand for it,' he added.

Accident: A spokesperson for Barnes confirmed the discrepancy, but Jimmy's booking agent Frank Stivala believes the error was a mistake. Pictured: Jimmy with his son David Campbell

The change in payment was left unexplained until years later when Mushroom Records cut ties with Harbour following an investigation into the firm.

The investigation came about when complaints were made by former employees alleging poor management behaviour and workplace culture at the company.

Harbour Agencys senior booking agent Tony Grace Guarrera said he was made aware of Barnes' pay issue by Stivala in 2021 but claims, like Stivala, the discrepancy was an honest mistake.

'Please understand the contributing circumstances; there were several changes in the agency accounts personnel and then two years of dealing with the Covid-19 crisis, which has done nothing but cause havoc for our normal routines,' he said.

Guarrera revealed The Harbour Agency has since undergone a 'full internal review' in its accounting systems following the error.
She married her long-term boyfriend Justin McKeone in a classic lace ballgown on Saturday.

And as the festivities continued into the night, former Miss Universe Australia Olivia Rogers swapped her demure look for a much racier ensemble.

The 29-year-old stunned at her reception as she went underwear free in a skimpy party dress by Melbourne couturier Oglia Loro.

And the bride wore... no underwear! Former Miss Universe Australia Olivia Rogers slipped into a racy party dress for her wedding reception on the Bellarine Peninsula on Saturday

Olivia's custom-made frock revealed plenty of skin thanks to its sheer panels and daring thigh split.

Covering her modesty was a smattering of strategically placed lace panels and semi-sheer, glittery fabric.

The bronzed blonde completed her sexy look with a pair of rhinestone-encrusted heels, drop earrings and a slick of red lipstick.

Daring display: Olivia's custom-made frock revealed plenty of skin thanks to its sheer panels and daring thigh split

Don't move an inch! Covering her modesty was a smattering of strategically placed lace panels and semi-sheer, glittery fabric

Olivia and Justin wed at Terindah Estate on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula on Saturday, after the pair were forced to cancel their nuptials twice due to the Covid pandemic.

The model, who announced her engagement last year, confirmed they'd tied the knot in an Instagram post on Sunday.

'Mr & Mrs McKeone 05.02.2022,' she captioned a photo of the newlyweds on their wedding day.

Party on: Olivia and Justin wed at Terindah Estate on the Bellarine Peninsula on Saturday, after the pair were forced to cancel their nuptials twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic

I do: The model, who announced her engagement last year, confirmed they'd tied the knot in an Instagram post on Sunday

Here comes the bride! Olivia looked radiant in her white, long-sleeved wedding gown by Marquise Bridal

Olivia looked radiant in her white, long-sleeved wedding gown by Marquise Bridal.

Social media posts from guests at the wedding showed the ecstatic couple hoisted on friends' shoulders as they partied into the night.

It was a case of third time's the charm for the former beauty queen.

'I'm getting married next year. It's my third wedding date, so hopefully this one goes ahead without any issues,' she told Daily Mail Australia in December.

Big day: 'Mr & Mrs McKeone 05.02.2022,' she captioned a photo of the newlyweds on their wedding day

Significance: The date holds special meaning for the model, as it's the same day her grandparents wed in 1959

'Everything's sorted so far, except my dress. So hopefully that comes together in the next seven weeks,' she said.

Olivia explained that while she had picked out her dress two years ago, she was excited to see it all come together.

The Melbourne-based couple had set a February wedding date so her fiance's Perth-based family could attend.
HAIKOU, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's southern island province of Hainan saw robust tourism during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, which ran from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6.

The province handled more than 5.4 million domestic tourist trips during the holiday and raked in 7.53 billion yuan (about 1.18 billion U.S. dollars), according to the provincial tourism authority.

Duty-free shopping with various promotional activities has been a highlight of the tourism boom.

"Duty-free shopping has become an integral part of traveling in Hainan," said Huang Ruijie, a tourist from southwest China's Guizhou Province who made some purchases at a duty-free shopping mall.

She added that it was pretty worthwhile shopping, as there were promotional activities and discounts for the festive season.

Ten offshore duty-free shops in Hainan sold goods worth about 2.1 billion yuan during the Spring Festival, an increase of 151 percent year on year, according to the provincial department of commerce.

While tourists from all over the country enjoyed duty-free shopping, many visitors from around the island preferred to enjoy the rural villages in the mountainous areas of central Hainan, home to the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park.

Wang Yiqin, owner of a rural homestay at the foothills of Bawangling Mountain in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, had a busy time welcoming guests during the holiday.

An increasing number of urban residents nowadays favor the rural landscape, especially during the blooming season of ceiba, Wang said, adding that he plans to further expand and upgrade his homestay. "I believe the prospects of rural tourism will continue to improve."

Wangxia, a remote village tucked away in the mountains of Changjiang, received a large number of tourists. Liu Guifang, a local villager, opened a restaurant with her husband in 2020 and during the holiday this year, the restaurant hosted hundreds of guests.

"The number of visitors saw a boom, and luckily I had made full preparations before the Spring Festival," said Liu, noting that she plans to brew more wine, so visitors can savor the specialty.

According to official data, the rural scenic spots around the island received about 540,000 tourists during the holiday, and they were mainly Hainan residents. Besides, the average occupancy rate of hotels in Hainan reached approximately 72 percent, up 16.5 percentage points compared to last Spring Festival.

China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035. 
Cara Delevingne was the epitome of style as she stepped out in New York City with her pet dog Alfie on Monday.

The model, 29, looked stunning in a hooded green plaid jacket which she wore over a grey top.

Adding to her outfit with black wide leg trousers, Cara also sported a pair of matching boots.

On trend: Cara Delevingne was the epitome of style as she stepped out in New York City with her pet dog Alfie on Monday

Cara's long blonde locks were styled in an elegant plait, which she later took out to let her curls tumble around her shoulders.

Abiding by coronavirus rules, Cara wore a blue and white patterned face mask over her face as she cradled Alfie in her arms.

She wore the same outfit while installing a Wallbox EV Charger on Monday at her home in New York.

It comes after Cara revealed that she buys clothes for her non-existent child as she firmly believes she will have kids in the future.

Stunning: Her long blonde locks were styled in an elegant plait, which she later took out to let her curls tumble around her shoulders

She said she is 'manifesting' having a child of her own, but doesn't want to start a family for a little while yet despite already mentally preparing.

Speaking to Harper's Bazaar UK, Cara said: I want to have babies. But not yet. I buy childrens clothes for my future child who doesnt exist. Baby shoes really get me  they break my heart.

'I went shopping the other day and I bought these tiny Air Jordans, which are purple and they have a lion on them. Im manifesting...

Safety first: Abiding by coronavirus rules, Cara wore a blue and white patterned face mask over her face as she cradled Alfie in her arms

Vehicle charger: Cara also installed a Wallbox EV Charger on Monday at her home in New York

Glasses off: The actress took off her glasses while charging her vehicle with a charger from Wallbox

The star - who identifies as pansexual - also spoke about the lack of LGBTQ+ role models she'd growing up and how it inspires her to be more open as an adult.

She said: 'I do think I would have hated myself less, I would have not been so ashamed, if Id had someone.

'The one thing Im happy about growing up queer and fighting it and hiding it is it gives me so much fire and drive to try to make peoples lives easier in some way by talking about it.

It comes after Cara said that her sisters 'did their best to be there' for her as she admitted 'growing up as a queer child was isolating and hard to navigate at times'.

She said she saw her sisters Chloe, 37, and Poppy, 35, as the 'epitome of the woman I wanted to be'.

Aww! Delevingne cuddled her pooch as she returned to her hotel in NYC on Tuesday

Cara, who has dated stars including St Vincent and Ashley Benson, also said it was something she 'had to go through' herself and is a journey she will be on 'for the rest of my life'.

'I saw my sisters as the epitome of the woman I wanted to be. I soon realised that I couldn't be the same - all of us have different paths - but they showed me the most fundamental things that I had to learn in life,' Cara told The Sunday Times.

'Growing up as a queer child was isolating and hard to navigate at times. My sisters did their best to be there for me but it was something I had to go through myself to truly know who I was.

'I'm still on that journey and will continue to be for the rest of my life.'
Long-running Aussie soap Neighbours is facing the axe after British television network Channel 5 announced on Sunday it would no longer be funding the series.

And while fans of the show were left shocked by the news, a new report by industry website TV Tonight suggests the cast and crew knew it was coming a year ago.

Staffers suspected the end was near when Channel 5, which foots most of the production bill, only asked for a one-year contract extension in 2021.

Revealed: How the cast of Neighbours (pictured) knew the soap was doomed a year ago after Britain's Channel 5 only asked for a 12-month contract extension

Meanwhile, the last year has seen some unusual scheduling decisions regarding Neighbours in both Australia and the UK.

Network 10's Peach multichannel airs four episodes a week, while Channel 5 has continued screening five.

This has resulted in new Neighbours episodes running in the UK before Australia for the first time in the show's 37-year history.

Reasons: Staffers suspected the end was near when Channel 5, which foots most of the show's production bill, only asked for a one-year contract extension in 2021. Pictured: Margot Robbie and Jackie Woodburne in an episode of Neighbours from 2009

Fremantle Media, the production company behind Neighbours, will either have to make a new deal with Channel 5 that is more financially beneficial for the British network or find a new broadcaster before the soap is dropped.

Channel 10 has expressed its wish to continue airing the series in Australia.

However, Channel 5 has made it clear the show is no longer profitable and network bosses are no longer willing to fund it.

The Neighbours production team is still on set and will be filming new episodes until June of this year.

Producers on Neighbours have told the cast that 'for now, this chapter is closing and we want to work together to give Neighbours the amazing send off it deserves'.

Torn: Channel 10 has expressed its wish to continue airing the show in Australia, but Channel 5 has made it clear the series is not profitable and network bosses are no longer willing to fund it

Not goodbye just yet: The Neighbours production team is still on set and will be filming new episodes until June of this year. Pictured: characters from a 2019 Neighbours storyline

A series of petitions have been launched to stop Neighbours from being axed.

Actor Rob Mills, who played schoolteacher Finn Kelly for four years from 2017 to 2021, has even called on the Australian government to step in and save the show.

Discussing the situation on A Current Affair on Monday, Mills, 39, suggested the Aussie taxpayer could fund the series instead.

'We're looking at thousands of jobs in the arts that have been created through something like Neighbours. I think the government could possibly step in. Screen Victoria [a government arts funding agency] could also possibly step in,' he said.

'Neighbours has created thousands of jobs throughout the decades, yet it's not really seen as important. Let's hope when the election comes around, we get a Prime Minister who works towards funding the arts,' he added.
With just four days until it hits theaters, the first wave of reviews have come in for 20th Century Studios' Death on the Nile, an adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1937 novel of the same name.

Kenneth Branagh returns both as a director and as Detective Hercule Poirot, a role he reprises from 2017's Murder on the Orient Express, which he also directed.

The first 52 reviews were posted on Rotten Tomatoes on Monday, earning a 'Fresh' 69% rating, as critics praised Branagh's acting and directing, though had issues with the pacing.

First wave: With just four days until it hits theaters, the first wave of reviews have come in for 20th Century Studios' Death on the Nile, an adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1937 novel of the same name

Reviews: The first 52 reviews were posted on Rotten Tomatoes on Monday, earning a 'Fresh' 69% rating, as critics praised Branagh's acting and directing, though had issues with the pacing

The adaptation follows Poirot, who, while on vacation on the Nile River in Africa, is tasked with solving the murder of an heiress.

Variety's Owen Gleiberman praised Branagh's work as a director, calling the film, 'crisper and craftier' than his Murder on the Orient Express adaptation.

He also praised Gal Gadot as Linnet Ridgeway, who has, 'a vivacious spark she hasnt always shown outside the Wonder Woman films.'

Detective: The adaptation follows Poirot, who, while on vacation on the Nile River in Africa, is tasked with solving the murder of an heiress

Gal praise: He also praised Gal Gadot as Linnet Ridgeway, who has, 'a vivacious spark she hasnt always shown outside the Wonder Woman films'

He also addressed the controversial presence of Armie Hammer, who many fans called for his removal from the film after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.

'The actors presence in the film, after accusations of abuse were leveled against him, has been considered problematic, but it must be said that he pops onscreen more than most of the other actors,' Gleiberman admits.

The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney also mentions that Hammer's character Simon is, 'suitably dashing though clearly outclassed in intelligence by the two rivals for his love.'

Armie: He also addressed the controversial presence of Armie Hammer, who many fans called for his removal from the film after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced

He also mentions that, while Hammer has been, 'almost invisible in the trailer, theres no sign of his role being downsized in the final cut.'

One of the most common criticisms among the first wave of reviews was for the film's slow pace, with Den of Geek's Don Kaye calling it, 'a slow boat to nowhere,' though he adds it's ultimately worthwhile.

'The bigger issue, however, is that Death on the Nile simply takes too long to get to the good stuff. But once it does, youll be hooked for the films second half,' Kaye said.

Slow boat: One of the most common criticisms among the first wave of reviews was for the film's slow pace, with Den of Geek's Don Kaye calling it, 'a slow boat to nowhere,' though he adds it's ultimately worthwhile

UPI's Fred Topel said the film is better than Murder on the Orient Express, stating, 'The film presents a more engaging mystery, with some extra fun twists along the way.'

Not all of the reviews were positive, though, with Screen Daily's Fionnuala Halligan stating, 'As the narrative gears grind through like the slow and steady paddle boat, theres a sense that Branagh has lost a lot of the fun of Agatha Christie along with his passport.'

AV Club's A.A. Dowd added, 'If a viewer didnt know better, they might assume they were seeing the fourth or fifth entry in a sputtering franchise, not the direct follow-up to a global box-office hit,' referring to the $352.7 million Murder on the Orient Express pulled in, from just a $55 million budget.

Twists: UPI's Fred Topel said the film is better than Murder on the Orient Express, stating, 'The film presents a more engaging mystery, with some extra fun twists along the way'

USA Today's Brian Truitt added, 'The action happens on a steam ship rather than a train this time, though still finds itself veering off the rails as it drags out the setup and rushes the reveals.'

London Evening Standard's Charlotte O'Sullivan opined, 'Whatever way you spin it, this is the Belgian detective as weve never seen him before. And, frankly, as I have no wish to see him again.'

Death on the Nile hits theaters nationwide on February 11, after several delays.

Action: USA Today's Brian Truitt added, 'The action happens on a steam ship rather than a train this time, though still finds itself veering off the rails as it drags out the setup and rushes the reveals'
Steph Claire Smith shows off her incredible physique on the cover of the March issue of Australian Women's Health.

The fitness influencer, 26, flaunts her lean legs, toned arms and famous abs in a series of images for the glossy publication.

She is also joined by her son Harvey in his first-ever magazine appearance.

Cover girl: Steph Claire Smith shows off her incredible physique on the cover of the March issue of Australian Women's Health

Steph said in the accompanying interview that it was a challenge to get back into shape after having a baby in May last year.

'I felt so different when I was working out, but it was almost like I got to start from scratch again,' she said.

'I had this motivation to build up my strength, and that was really exciting. I thought I might feel frustrated when I couldnt do something that I used to do, but Ive just been really motivated and accepting that my bodys gone through a lot.'

She enlisted in the help of a physiotherapist and focused on building back up her pelvic floor muscles following her firstborn's birth.

Mum life: Steph said in the accompanying interview that it was a challenge to get back into shape after having a baby in May last year. She is pictured here with her son Harvey

Starting from scratch: She enlisted in the help of a physiotherapist and focused on building back up her pelvic floor muscles following her firstborn's birth

Looking good! The fitness influencer, 26, flaunts her lean legs, toned arms and famous abs in a series of images for the glossy publication

Steph credited her husband Josh Miller with supporting her during their first year as parents.

'[Parenthood] is a whole new thing for your relationship for sure, and it is a challenge,' she said.

The Keep It Cleaner co-founder says the key to their long-lasting relationship is ensuring there is open communication at all times.

'Im very grateful were a team, especially going back to work and trying to balance that into it as well. Its a beautiful thing [seeing] the love of your life connect with your baby,' she added.

Young family: Steph and her husband Josh Miller welcomed baby Harvey in May 2021

Steph and Josh welcomed baby Harvey in May 2021.

They had earlier confirmed they were having a baby boy by throwing a lavish gender-reveal party.

The couple married in a festival-themed ceremony along the Murray River on November 23, 2019.
Lawrence Mooney made a surprise return to TV screens this week as he prepares for a legal stoush with Triple M over his unceremonious departure from breakfast radio.

The 56-year-old is suing the station's parent company Southern Cross Austereo for over $1million in unpaid wages, after being dumped from his Moonman in the Morning show on November 15 with more than a year left on his contract.

While he did not discuss his ongoing legal matter, Mooney did return to screens as a commentator on Monday's Today Extra to share his opinion on the leaked texts scandal that has rocked parliament in recent weeks.

Return: Lawrence Mooney made a surprise return to TV screens this week as he prepares for a legal stoush with Triple M over his unceremonious departure from breakfast radio

After being introduced by David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys, Mooney raised his hands in the air as he cheered: 'It's great to be back.'

He then offered his opinion on the texting scandal, which has seen Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce issue a grovelling apology to Prime Minister Scott Morrison after calling him a 'hypocrite and a liar' in a leaked message.

Joyce's apology came days after it was alleged former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian had described the PM as a 'horrible, horrible person' in texts, while an unnamed Liberal minister also branded him a 'complete psycho'.

'It is very interesting that everyone is lining up to say, "I didn't call him a complete psycho,"' Mooney said on Monday's show.

Commentator: After being introduced by Today Extra hosts David Campbell (left) and Sylvia Jeffreys (centre), Mooney raised his hands in the air as he cheered: 'It's great to be back'

'This has got more twists and turns than a Winter Olympic snowboarder, but not as clean a landing as our bronze medallist in Beijing.

'It's incredible that all of a sudden everyone is leaking these texts - the question is, are they going to behead the Prime Minister before the election and try somebody else? He's got a lot of enemies in his camp.'

The next question Mooney was asked regarded social media use among colleagues.

Campbell read out a statistic which claimed 42 per cent of people have rejected colleagues' request to connect online.

When asked for his advice, Mooney bluntly said: 'Do not add a colleague on social media.

'There's always a chance that something is going to slip up from your private life or your personal life to that little cohort of followers that you've got, and you don't want it to go public and be spread around your workplace.'

Gone: The comedian joined Triple M Sydney in 2019 to host the Moonman in the Morning program with co-anchors Jess Eva (left) and Chris Page (right)

He then laughed: 'There's always something lying around in the background in those selfies - be very careful and check once, check twice.'

Mooney didn't mention a word about his exit from Moonman in the Morning during his brief TV appearance.

The comedian joined Triple M Sydney in 2019 to host the Moonman in the Morning breakfast program with co-anchors Jess Eva and Chris Page.

Exit: Mooney was dumped from his coveted breakfast radio gig in November, and is suing the station's parent company Southern Cross Austereo for more than $1million unpaid wages

But he was abruptly axed less than a year into a new two-year contract on November 15, with little explanation after a wild few days of speculation.

Mooney's exit came two weeks after he suddenly vanished from the airwaves amid rumours of a major falling out with co-host Eva.

'SCA thanks Mooney for his contribution to the Triple M Network over the past five years,' SCA said in a terse statement at the time.

The program later changed its name to Triple M Breakfast with MG, Jess & Pagey, with new lead host Mark 'MG' Geyer.

When contacted by Daily Mail Australia on the day of his sacking, Mooney said, 'Please don't call again,' then hung up the phone.

Silent: When contacted by Daily Mail Australia on the day of his sacking, Mooney said, 'Please don't call again,' then hung up the phone

Court documents state Mooney had a two-year contract to run from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2022, and his pay was a base fee of $1million plus GST per annum, which is $83,333 plus GST a month.

Mooney was also eligible to bonus fees of up to $540,000 plus GST annually if the show got an audience share in the radio ratings of six percentage points or above, or was number one in the male 25-54 category.

Mooney took Southern Cross Austereo to the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, February 4, where lawyers representing both sides made a brief appearance.

Employment specialist John Laxon, representing Mooney, described the case as a 'very straightforward breach of contract claim'.

Change: The program later changed its name to Triple M Breakfast with MG, Jess & Pagey, with new lead host Mark 'MG' Geyer. Pictured: the old Moonman in the Morning logo

Both sides had agreed to enter mediation but Mr Laxon said Southern Cross Austereo had been 44 days late filing a defence.

'We are somewhat in the dark because we don't have their defence,' Mr Laxon said.

'In anticipation of what that defence might be and the allegations that might be forthcoming from the defendant [in the absence of] any evidence to back up those allegations then what we might be left with is smear.'

Mr Laxon has previously said he was waiting with 'bated breath' for Southern Cross Austereo's defence, which was due by December 20.

In the last radio ratings survey of 2021 Mooney's show had an audience share of 4.6.

There were eight surveys in 2021 and in two of them the program recorded an audience share above six - 6.4 in the first survey of the year and 6.7 in the second.

The court documents claim SCA chief executive Grant Blackley advised Mooney in a letter dated November 12, 2021, that the company would only pay Mooney's base salary up to and including that day.

'At no time during the term of the contract did Mooney commit any act that would entitle SCA to terminate and/or that could be relied upon by SCA as at the date of the purported termination to terminate,' Mooney's lawyers claimed.

The documents also claimed there was 'loss of goodwill by reason of Mooney no longer providing the on-air radio performing and announcing services'.
Rashida Jones is heading back to the small screen, signing on to star in the new Apple TV Plus series Sunny.

The streaming service handed out a 10-episode series order for the show, based on the 2018 novel The Dark Manual by Colin O'Sullivan, via Deadline.

Jones will also serve as an executive producer on the series, with A24 coming aboard to produce the series as well.

New show: Rashida Jones is heading back to the small screen, signing on to star in the new Apple TV Plus series Sunny

Streaming: The streaming service handed out a 10-episode series order for the show, based on the 2018 novel The Dark Manual by Colin O'Sullivan, via Deadline

The book follows Suzie (Jones), an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash.

As a bizarre 'consolation,' Suzie is given an advanced new robot dubbed Sunny, part of a line of new domestic robots her husband's company is making.

While Suzie first resents Sunny for trying to console her, they ultimately form a unique bond and slowly start to uncover what really happened to her family.

Book: The book follows Suzie (Jones), an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash

Katie Robbins (The Affair, The Last Tycoon) wrote the pilot script and will executive produce the series alongside Jones and Lucy Tcherniak (Station Eleven), who is attached to direct.

Ravi Nandan and Jess Lubben will also serve as executive producers for A24, with the show expected to film in Japan.

The show comes on the heels of Jones' first collaboration with both Apple and A24, the 2020 Sofia Coppola film On the Rocks.

Executive producer: Katie Robbins (The Affair, The Last Tycoon) wrote the pilot script and will executive produce the series alongside Jones and Lucy Tcherniak (Station Eleven), who is attached to direct

She's also currently filming another Apple TV Plus series, Wool, based on Hugh Howey's trilogy novels.

She's also featured in the series Toast of Tinseltown and recently voiced Mia on Duncanville.

The actress also voiced Adult Santamonica on the Black-ish spin-off Mixed-Ish in a 2021 episode.

More Apple: She's also currently filming another Apple TV Plus series, Wool, based on Hugh Howey's trilogy novels

She also voiced Cheryl in an episode of the Netflix animated series Waffles + Mocchi.

Robbins was a staff writer on The Last Tycoon and The Affair, while also serving as a consulting producer on the Party of Five reboot.

Tcherniak has directed episodes of The End of the F***ing World, Wanderlust, Chambers, Station Eleven and four of the six episodes of Peacock's Angelyne mini-series, debuting later this year.
Radio presenter Kyle Sandilands has weighed in on Whoopi Goldberg's suspension from talk show The View over her recent comments about the Holocaust.

The Hollywood star, 66, was suspended for two weeks for saying 'the Holocaust was not about race, but man's inhumanity to man'.

Goldberg, who is black, has since apologised after facing severe backlash from viewers and being reprimanded by U.S. television network ABC.

'That's the only reason that she's not fired': Radio presenter Kyle Sandilands (left) has weighed in on Whoopi Goldberg's (right) suspension from talk show The View over her recent comments about the Holocaust

Discussing the saga on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Tuesday, Sandilands, 50, argued the reason why Goldberg wasn't fired altogether was because of her race.

'Cancel culture is now over. It's finished. Now no one's going to get cancelled. If Whoopi Goldberg didn't get cancelled, then that's the end of cancel culture,' he said.

'And they can't cancel her, because she's a black woman. And that is racist in itself.'

Suspended: Goldberg, 66, was suspended for two weeks for saying the 'Holocaust was not about race, but man's inhumanity to man'

His view: Discussing the saga on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Tuesday, Sandilands, 50, argued the reason why Goldberg wasn't fired altogether was because of her race

Sandilands, who is one of Australia's most outspoken radio presenters, added: 'Why didn't Whoopi Goldberg get cancelled for saying that s**t about the Holocaust?

'Why? Because she's a black woman.

'That's the only reason she's not fired. Because they were like, "Oh, she's not a fat, rich white person! What are we going to do with an actual black woman? Nothing!"'

Sandilands insisted he never wanted Goldberg to lose her job, but felt strongly that she received favourable treatment from ABC execs because of the colour of her skin.

Privilege: Sandilands insisted he never wanted Goldberg to lose her job, but felt strongly that she received favourable treatment from ABC execs because of the colour of her skin. (He is pictured with his radio co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson)

WHOOPI'S HOLOCAUST COMMENTS The saga began when the panel discussed a Tennessee school removing the comic Maus from its curriculum because it contained nudity. Critics are now demanding that Goldberg be fired from the show. They pointed to other talk show hosts and TV personalities like Sharon Osborne and Roseanne Barr who were fired over making controversial remarks. Goldberg started off by saying: 'Personally I am shocked because given the story of Maus I am surprised that that's what made you uncomfortable. 'It's about the Holocaust, the killing of 6million people, but that didn't bother you. This is white people doing it to white people so y'all go fight amongst yourselves but...' Later, she carried on: 'Let's be truthful about it. The Holocaust isn't about race. It's not about race. It's not about race. It's not about race. It's about man's inhumanity to man. That's what it's about.' Co-hosts Ana Navarro, Joy Behar and Sarah Haines all argued back but she continued: 'But these are two white groups of people? You are missing the point. 'The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley. 'Let's talk about it for what it is, it's how people treat each other.' Advertisement

'I don't think anyone should get fired for having an opinion. But if everyone gets fired for even thinking something nowadays... then why didn't she get fired? She only got suspended for two weeks,' he said.

Goldberg left viewers gobsmacked with her controversial comments saying she didn't believe the Holocaust was about race.

The left-leaning commentator instead believed it was simply a matter of white people killing each other, leading it to be an example of 'man's inhumanity to man'.

The Ghost actress posted an apology on Twitter last Monday amid the backlash, with many believing she should be fired from the popular morning show.

'On today's show, I said the Holocaust "is not about race, but about man's inhumanity to man." I should have said it is about both. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, "The Holocaust was about the Nazi's systematic annihilation of the Jewish people - who they deemed to be an inferior race." I stand corrected,' Goldberg said.

'The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I'm sorry for the hurt I have caused. Written with my sincerest apologies, Whoopi Goldberg,' she added.

Many compared the blunder to Roseanne Barr and Megyn Kelly, who were both cancelled and fired after controversial comments on race and blackface.

Commentators even went further and pointed out Goldberg, whose real name is Caryn Johnson, appropriated a Jewish surname for her stage name.

Last Tuesday, Goldberg returned to The View and kicked off the show with an on-air apology.

'Yesterday on our show I misspoke. I tweeted about it last night but I kind of want you to hear it from me directly. I feel a responsibility.

'My words upset so many people which was never my intention. I understand why. The information I got was really helpful.

'I said the Holocaust wasn't about race and was instead about man's inhumanity to man.

'It is indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be the inferior race.

Apology: Goldberg apologised on Twitter last Monday, acknowledging the Holocaust was about 'both' race and inhumanity. She has been suspended from The View for two weeks

'Words matter and mine are no exception. I regret my comments and I stand corrected,' she said.

She went on to interview Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, who spoke generally about antisemitism and why it is still a threat.

She has been suspended from The View for two weeks, with ABC News president Kim Godwin saying: 'While Whoopi has apologised, Ive asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.'
Madeleine West has revealed watching pornography gave her a warped view on sex after her split from long-term partner Shannon Bennett.

The mother of six, 41, spoke about her relationship with porn in her latest column for Mamamia on Tuesday, which accompanies her Restart podcast.

Madeleine wrote: 'When I first re-entered the fray [dating after separation], I admit I made the rookie mistake of confusing sexy with porn.'

Confused: Madeleine West has revealed watching pornography gave her a warped view on sex after her split from long-term partner Shannon Bennett

The former Neighbours star said she kept comparing her physique and sexual technique to younger women, which didn't do much for her confidence.

'I immediately started comparing my body to those of women half my age, and considering how they would "do it",' she wrote.

The actress said she'd done her fair share of intimate scenes for film and television in the past, but had come to realise she was sexiest when she was herself.

Candid: The mother of six, 41, spoke about her relationship with porn in her latest column for Mamamia on Tuesday, which accompanies her Restart podcast

'Simple fact is, through trial, error, and a few belly laughs, I've discovered I am at my sexiest when I'm just being me,' she wrote.

'I've learnt to like my skin, I live in it; it's only job is to fit the big life I live.'

Madeleine went on to say she was proud of her body for bringing her six children to the world.

Her view: Madeleine (pictured with ex Shannon Bennett) wrote, 'When I first re-entered the fray [dating after separation], I admit I made the rookie mistake of confusing sexy with porn'

'I love this body, it's brought six exceptional little human beings into the world yet still manages to jump off waterfalls, plant forests and deliver outstanding hugs,' she said.

'The way I see it, my body is a prize, a gift, so unwrap it tenderly, marvel at its capabilities and treasure it.'

Madeleine announced her split from chef Shannon in 2018 after 13 years of dating.

The former couple, who never married, share six children, Phoenix, Hendrix, Xascha, Xanthe, Xahlia and Margaux.

Comparisons: The former Neighbours star said she kept comparing her body and sexual technique to women 'half her age', which didn't do much for her confidence

Large family: Madeleine and Shannon, who never married despite being together for 13 years, share six children, Phoenix, Hendrix, Xascha, Xanthe, Xahlia and Margaux. They split in 2018

Madeleine, who is now dating Byron Bay environmentalist Maximo Bottaro, said a year after the split she was unlikely to ever get back together with Shannon.

'I'm a big believer that everything in life has a season. We change. We evolve,' she told The Kyle and Jackie O Show in 2019.

'At some point we go, "Well, I have certain needs I want to have met and you've got certain needs and if the two don't combine and cross in the middle, why fight it and be miserable?"

Moving on: Madeleine, who is now dating Byron Bay environmentalist Maximo Bottaro (right), said a year after the split she was unlikely to ever get back together with Shannon

'I don't think that's fair to the children either to see two parents that are constantly across purposes.'

She brushed off questions about a potential 'love interest' at the time and joked she was living 'like a monk'.

Madeleine previously told Stellar magazine in 2018 she and Shannon were 'striving to reconnect as friends and parents'.
Adriana de Moura claimed she has seen Kanye West's genitals.

The Real Housewives of Miami star, 56, spoke about her experience with the musical artist, 44, speaking with Larsa Pippen, 47, in a preview for the show's upcoming episode.

In the exchange, Pippen told de Moura that she has an interest toward 'tall, dark and handsome' men, at which point de Moura asked her, 'Do you like Kanye West?'

The latest: The Real Housewives of Miami star Adriana de Moura, 56, claimed in a preview for the show that she has seen Kanye West's genitals, while speaking with Larsa Pippen, 47

De Moura claimed she had seen West's genitalia, claiming, 'Its big and its thick.'

Pippen, the one-time best friend of West's estranged wife Kim Kardashian, was put off by the remarks, citing her past relationship with Kardashian.

'Im not bringing up your friends, so maybe you shouldnt bring up my friends,' Pippen told de Moura, who countered that West is 'a public figure.'

Pippen said that everyone in her life 'is a public figure,' before telling de Moura to 'shut the f*** up.'

In the exchange, Pippen told de Moura that she has an interest toward 'tall, dark and handsome' men, at which point de Moura asked her, 'Do you like Kanye West?'

After Pippen and Kardashian had a falling out, the friends apparently mended fences, as Pippen opened up to Us Weekly last month declaring that she and Kardashian were 'in a really good place' to begin 2022.

Pippen said 'there was a lot [of] miscommunication at the time' of their falling out, which included Kardashian and Pippen unfollowing one another on social media.

'Weve all apologized to each other,' Pippen said. 'People have disagreements with their friends all the time, but because of who we are, its just so magnified. In reality, its like, you know, maybe I could have navigated it different. Someone else could have navigated [it] different.'

Pippen, the one-time best friend of West's estranged wife Kim Kardashian, was put off by the remarks, citing her past relationship with Kardashian

de Moura defended her statement in saying that West is 'a public figure'

After Pippen and Kim Kardashian had a falling out, the friends apparently mended fences, as Pippen said last month that she and Kardashian were 'in a really good place' to begin 2022

Pippen said in a November 2020 edition of the Hollywood Raw podcast that West had a destructive impact on her friendship with Kardashian and her siblings, and had 'brainwashed' them against her.

'If Kanye feels like him and Kim are better without me, then let them be without me,' she said. 'Im OK with that  I will survive.'

West has made headlines as of late in a public spat with Kardashian, criticizing her parenting on social media before scrubbing his social media pages of the posts.

The Real Housewives of Miami can be seen on Peacock.
Donnie Wahlberg and Vanessa Ray were seen goofing around on the set of their series Blue Bloods in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan on Monday.

As the stars took a break from filming their hit cop drama, the dad-of-two, 52, was seen laughing as he spoke with his 40-year-old costar.

He was dressed in character as Detective Daniel 'Danny' Fitzgerald Reagan in a charcoal overcoat, a navy suit with a striped button-down shirt and matching tie.

Filming: Donnie Wahlberg and Vanessa Ray were seen sharing a chuckle while on the set of their hit CBS series Blue Bloods in NYC on Sunday

Meanwhile, Ray was dressed in a police uniform with a cross belt to portray Eddie Janko-Reagan, an officer working for the New York City Police Department.

Her blonde hair was pulled back in a sleek bun, and she sported a natural makeup look, consisting of a nude lipstick and blush for a youthful glow.

As she chatted to Wahlberg, the Pretty Little Liars actress leaned back on a grey sedan while the rain poured on them.

Giggling: As the stars took a break from filming their cop drama, the dad-of-two, 52, was seen laughing hysterically as he spoke with his 40-year-old costar

Handsome: He was dressed in character as Detective Daniel 'Danny' Fitzgerald Reagan in a charcoal overcoat, a navy suit with a striped button-down shirt and matching tie

Costumes: Meanwhile, Ray was dressed in a police uniform with a cross belt to portray Eddie Janko, an officer working for the New York City Police Department

To stay warm in the frigid 38-degree weather, the longtime husband of Jenny McCarthy put on a pair of black gloves at one point.

The show, which also stars Tom Selleck, Bridget Moynahan and Will Estes, follows the inner workings of a family and their lives in the New York Police Department.

The beloved show has captured a loyal fan base due to its focus on realism, as the show has a former NYPD detective review the scripts for accuracy.

Natural beauty: Her blonde hair was pulled back in a sleek bun and she sported a natural makeup look, consisting of a nude lipstick and blush for a youthful glow

In an interview with PopCulture.com in 2020, Wahlberg spoke about never wanting the show to end while championing its success.

'I just know that we're having more fun than we've ever had on the show. It's still the number one show on Friday night for 10 years and it's been a great run and I don't see it stopping anytime soon,' he said.

And Selleck, 75, told People he thinks the show is boundless. 'I don't think there is an endpoint. I think there is a lot of life in the show, as long as you let your characters grow and get older.'

Braving the cold: As she chatted to Wahlberg, the Pretty Little Liars actress leaned back on a grey sedan as the rain poured on them

It was reported that the Magnum P.I. star was suffering from health issues due to weight gain, but his rep fired back that nothing of the sorts was true.

Since the eleventh season began filming they have been following strict COVID-19 related protocol to ensure safety. Typically one episode can take up to two weeks to be filmed, and family dinner scenes  which have become an episodic ritual  can take up to eight hours.

Though many shows filming amid the pandemic have chosen to tackle those issues in their plot lines, the program has taken a more nuanced approach.
BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Right after moving into her new apartment, Li Yuanyuan, a designer living in Shanghai, set up an online group chat and started sending invites to all her neighbors.

She wanted to buy some second-hand stuff, and setting up an online group in a residential community is a popular and convenient way to achieve that.

The demand is solid. It did not take long for residents from other communities to find their way into the chat group.

The merchandise volume of China's second-hand market has grown from 300 billion yuan (about 47 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015 to over 1 trillion yuan in 2020, with products covering almost all consumption categories, according to a 2021 report on resale industry by Institute of Energy, Environment and Ecology, Tsinghua University.

The surge reflects Chinese people's changing demands and views on consumption, said Zhang Li, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC).

Traditionally, the purchase of pre-owned items is often seen as a sign of financial struggle that can lead to social shame. Today, Chinese people, especially young people, view it in a more pragmatic fashion.

"More consumers focus on the actual value of the product instead of whether it is the newest," Zhang said.

According to big data company Analysys, people aged under 35 are the major user base of second-hand online platforms.

In Li's online chat group, people mainly trade unused gifts, furniture and baby products. "Many young mothers sell used strollers or cribs and transactions are quite active there," she said.

Chinese online resale platforms that grew rapidly in recent years have facilitated such transactions.

The merchandise volume of China's online re-commerce has grown from 250 billion yuan in 2019 to over 370 billion yuan in 2020, accounting for 36 percent that of the total second-hand market, according to consultancy iiMedia Research.

"The 'second-hand economy' helps tap into the consumption potential and diversify the e-commerce market," said Bai Ming, another CAITEC researcher, adding that it can serve as a new drive for economic growth.

"It also has green benefits as it helps cut the waste of resources and achieves recycled use," Bai added. 
They recently enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Europe with the rest of the Hemsworth clan.

And on Monday, Liam Hemsworth and his model girlfriend Gabriella Brooks were spotted back on home soil in their hometown of Byron Bay.

The shirtless actor, 32, looked every inch the buff movie star as he showed off his fit physique and washboard abs at their local dog beach.

Giving Chris a run for his money! Shirtless Liam Hemsworth showed off his buff body as he hit the beach with model girlfriend Gabriella Brooks and their pet pooches in Byron Bay on Monday

Liam gave his Thor star brother Chris a run for his money as he flaunted his muscular build in a pair of camouflage print shorts.

He teamed the look with a beige hat and dark sunglasses, and sported a bushy beard.

Meanwhile, Gabriella looked chic in a yellow bandeau skirt and a crisp white shirt.

Home soil: The couple recently enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Europe with the rest of the Hemsworth clan, but are now back on home soil

Hollywood hunk: Liam flaunted his muscular build in a pair of camouflage print shorts

Furry friends: The couple doted on Liam's dogs after taking them to a local dog beach

Casual chic: Gabriella looked chic in a yellow bandeau skirt and a crisp white shirt

The blonde, who stars in a new campaign for Seafolly, pulled her long locks back and off her face into a high ponytail and wore a pair of dark sunglasses.

The couple doted on Liam's dogs after taking them to a local dog beach.

Liam and ex-wife Miley Cyrus reportedly owned 15 pets together during their marriage and had to sort out custody of the animals following their split.

Animal lover: Liam and ex-wife Miley Cyrus reportedly owned 15 pets together during their marriage and had to sort out custody of the animals following their split

Jetsetters: Liam and Gabriella's enjoyed a short break in Europe while his brother Chris, 38, is in Prague filming Extraction 2 for Netflix and the shoot is set to last until at least March

Living the life! The Hemsworth clan enjoyed a white Christmas this year in Austria before spending the New Year in Ibiza

The outing comes after the pair enjoyed a short break in Europe with Liam's family.

Liam's brother Chris, 38, is in Prague filming Extraction 2 for Netflix and the shoot is set to last until at least March.

The Hemsworth family enjoyed a white Christmas this year in Austria, hitting the ski slopes.

They then spent the New Year in Ibiza.

Happy: Gabriella, 25, recently spoke candidly for the first time about her relationship with the Hollywood star

Sweet: She told Stellar the past 12 months had been 'one of the greatest years of my life'

Meanwhile, Gabriella, 25, recently spoke candidly for the first time about her relationship with the Hollywood star.

She told Stellar the past 12 months had been 'one of the greatest years of my life'.

'My personal relationship is very, very important and very sacred to me,' she said.

'My personal relationship is very, very important and very sacred to me,' she said

'I completely understand [the interest in her relationship]. But at the end of the day, I guess I just like having that for me,' she explained

'And I feel like in an industry where so much is put out on show, there are some things you just want to keep to yourself,' she added.

'I completely understand [the interest in her relationship]. But at the end of the day, I guess I just like having that for me.

'But he's great. They [the Hemsworths] are great. They are the most beautiful people and I'm very lucky to know them.'
Abbie Chatfield has rubbished rumours she has split from boyfriend, Konrad Bien-Stephen.

Abbie took to Instagram on Tuesday to hit out at speculation she has split from The Bachelorette star.

'Not liking your partners photos means you're breaking up,' Abbie said, clearly in a sarcastic manner, with her green-screening a request for comment.

Split? Abbie Chatfield (pictured) has set the record straight on rumours she has split from boyfriend Konrad Bien-Stephen in an Instagram rant on Tuesday

'Doesn't matter if you post saying that you hate long distance,' she added.

Abbie went on to joke about how she 'can't double tap anymore' due to her 'thumb being sore' in the video clip.

Abbie then went on to joke she would 'call Konrad to discuss the fact she didn't like all of his photos'.

Only a day earlier Abbie spoke about how she missed her boyfriend after the pair decided to go long distance.

Slammed: 'Not liking your partners photos means you're breaking up,' Abbie said, clearly sarcastically, with her green-screening a request for comment

'I miss my boyfriend so much lol fml long distance sucks,' she captioned the image, additionally revealing she was wearing Konrad's shirt.

Last week, Abbie addressed rumours the pair had split, confirming she and the hunk are still very much together in an Instagram post.

'For everyone who is concerned that I haven't posted with Konrad for seven or eight days - don't worry, we haven't broken up, we're just simply long distance,' she said.

Sore thumb: Abbie went on to joke about how she 'can't double tap anymore' due to her 'thumb being sore' in the video clip

'Don't panic. We're still together. Also we don't have to post every day together, it's fine. We're still together.'

She also hit back at critics who questioned her friendships with other males, defiantly responding: 'I'm also allowed to have male friends.

'I am queer, so if I wasn't allowed to have friends that were the gender that I am going to f**k, I was have to sit in my room and just think about him all day every day.

'I miss my boyfriend so much lol fml long distance sucks,' she captioned an image shared to Instagram a day earlier, additionally revealing she was wearing Konrad's shirt

'So don't stress, he's coming on the radio show tonight. You can hear us talk then. Good plug!'

Abbie confirmed she was dating Konrad - who appeared in Brooke Blurton's season of The Bachelorette - in November last year.

Konrad sparked rumours he didn't find love with Brooke after he was spotted sharing a steamy kiss with Abbie at the Beach Hotel in Byron Bay at the start of the month.

They went Instagram official days later on November 24.
He was dumped from the new season of Married at First Sight last year after producers discovered his misogynistic, racist and homophobic TikTok videos.

But on Monday, Simon Blackburn didn't appear to have a care in the world as he sat shirtless in the garage of his Melbourne home smoking a cigarette.

The disgraced groom showed off his extensive tattoo collection while relaxing in a camping chair wearing nothing but a pair of baggy grey shorts.

Taking it easy: Disgraced Married at First Sight groom Simon Blackburn didn't appear to have a care in the world as he sat shirtless in the garage of his Melbourne home on Monday smoking a cigarette after he was dumped from the show for his misogynistic, racist and homophobic TikTok videos

His collection of tattoos includes a roulette wheel on his left leg, a clock face and three large portraits of female faces on his right leg, arm and torso.

Simon's face remained expressionless, only raising a smile once as he FaceTimed a friend.

At one stage, he stood up and walked barefoot around the garage while staring blankly ahead of him.

Inked: The disgraced groom showed off his extensive tattoo collection as he sat in camping chair wearing nothing but a pair of grey shorts

Tattoo collection: His tattoo collection includes a roulette wheel on his left leg, and three large portraits of women's faces on his right leg, arm and torso

Bored: At one stage, he stood up and walked barefoot around the garage while staring blankly ahead of him

It comes just days after Blackburn made astonishing claims that it was his on-screen Married At First Sight wife Jessica Seracino who was a 'nightmare' on set, saying: 'She completely lost it, and should never have been on the show.'

Blackburn, who is in his thirties, had already filmed his wedding and honeymoon with Seracino when she discovered his offensive videos in October, after noticing 'red flags' about him within just 24 hours of tying the knot.

'Jessica was extremely uncomfortable with him,' an insider previously told Daily Mail Australia.

After waking up on their honeymoon, Seracino asked her friends to do some research on Blackburn, and a quick Google search revealed his unsavoury online footprint, including hateful videos and tweets.

'There were a series of homophobic and misogynistic tweets and TikTok videos. Something was not right,' the source added.

Giddy: He did, however, raise a smile when he FaceTimed someone on his phone

Gone: Simon was dumped from the new season of Married At First Sight last year after producers discovered his misogynistic, racist and homophobic TikTok videos

Love: Daily Mail Australia revealed on Monday that Simon is now dating Melbourne socialite Kate Rutherford

'Jessica was in disbelief and that's when she alerted producers, who were just as surprised.'

Blackburn was then 'immediately asked to leave' and Seracino was sent to another hotel until producers matched her with a new groom. 3

'When unacceptable social media content was discovered in relation to Simon Blackburn we immediately took steps to remove him from the program,' a Nine representative told Daily Mail Australia.

'Simmo is happy in love for the first time in a long time. Kate ticks all his boxes and more importantly she gets along with his son,' a source told Daily Mail Australia

Who needs Kate Rutherford (pictured) and Simon made their romance official by filming TikTok videos together just weeks after they started dating

'We won't be making further comment.'

One shameful TikTok video showed Blackburn making misogynistic comments about a woman he previously dated.

He claimed she would 'sit on YouTube all day' instead of making money and called her the C-word repeatedly.

One video, which has since been deleted, sees Simon and Kate lying in bed facing each other as they lip-sync the lyrics to a song before sharing a kiss

Wild claims: Blackburn made astonishing claims that it was his on-screen Married At First Sight wife Jessica Seracino who was a 'nightmare' on set, saying: 'She completely lost it, and should never have been on the show

Another video saw him discussing how he matched with a woman on dating app Hinge, who later texted him to say she didn't think she was his type.

He then boasted of not dating women 'over 60 kilos'.

Blackburn did not respond to Daily Mail Australia's request for comment at the time, but appeared to address his exit from the show by sharing a post on his private Instagram profile that was captioned: 'Leave the past in the past.'

He also asked people to stop messaging him about the videos because he was suffering from Covid-19.

Red flags: Blackburn had already filmed his wedding and honeymoon with Seracino (pictured) when she discovered his offensive videos in October, after noticing 'red flags' about him

Meanwhile, Daily Mail Australia revealed on Monday that Simon is now dating Melbourne socialite Kate Rutherford.

The couple made their romance official by filming TikTok videos together just weeks after they started dating.

One video, which has since been deleted, saw Simon and Kate lying in bed facing each other as they lip-synced the lyrics to a song before sharing a kiss.

'Simmo is happy in love for the first time in a long time. Kate ticks all his boxes and more importantly she gets along with his son,' a source told Daily Mail Australia.
Brie Larson and Jeremy Renner may be used to playing superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but soon they'll be appearing in Disney shows as themselves.

The Captain Marvel actress, 32, and the Hawkeye star, 51, will each be the focus of a new docuseries coming soon to Disney+, Deadline reported.

Larson will headline a show called Growing Up, an examination of real life coming of age stories.

No character work: Brie Larson and Jeremy Renner may be used to playing superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but soon they'll be appearing in Disney shows as themselves

As the publication explained, it 'uses narrative, experimental, and documentary filmmaking to follow one casted individual, ages 18-22, as they tell their story. They represent a wide range of lived experiences with narratives that offer a look at teenage-hood and the diverse social, familial, and internal obstacles young people face on their path to self-discovery and acceptance.'

The series will have a 10-episode run in its first season with each episode running for about 30 minutes.

Renner's new series is titled Rennervations and will be a four-part series centered around Renner's 'passion for giving back to communities around the world by reimagining unique purpose-built vehicles to meet a communitys needs.'

Telling stories of growing up: Larson will headline a show called Growing Up, an examination of real life coming of age stories

Touching on passions: Rennervations will center around his 'passion for giving back to communities around the world' (pictured 2021)

While the two are taking on the new challenge of appearing on camera as themselves, they will continue performing in more traditional film roles as well.

Renner is currently playing a lead role in the show Mayor of Kingstown which premiered last year.

The show centers around a family who tries to take on corruption, systemic racism and other issues in their small town of Kingstown, Michigan.

Playing a big part: Renner is currently playing a lead role in the show Mayor of Kingstown which premiered last year

Bringing the book to the big screen: Lessons in Chemistry will center around a woman named Elizabeth Zott in the 1960s who must put her dreams of being a scientist on hold

Larson, on the other hand, is currently filming her part in The Marvels, an upcoming Marvel film where she will reprise her role of Captain Marvel.

She has two other projects, both television shows, also on the way. One is an untitled project about the Central Intelligence Agency.

The other show that has been announced is titled Lessons in Chemistry, based on the novel of the same name.

It will center around a woman named Elizabeth Zott in the 1960s who must put her dreams of being a scientist on hold when she receives major push back from society.
He revealed earlier this month that his New Year's resolution was to learn to swim before hopelessly trying his hand at lessons last week.

But Tommy Little has now set his sights higher - with plans to join a team and swim the world first England to Belgium relay in July with swimmer and English Channel Queen, Chloe McCardel.

The Project host spoke about his commitment to the relay with his co-host Carrie Bickmore on their Hit Network radio show Carrie & Tommy on Tuesday.

Brave or foolish? The Project's Tommy Little will attempt the world's first swim relay event from England to Belgium - even though he can't swim

Little, 36 had invited McCardel on the show last week, with the open water swimmer telling Tommy at the time that she believes she could 'train him' so he could 'swim in a relay from England to Belgium in 12 months'.

'That swim that Chloe was talking about has never been done before,' Tommy told Bickmore as the radio show cut back to the duo.

'It's about three-and-a-half months away, and there was one spot left on the team,' he continued.

'It's about three-and-a-half months away, and there was one spot left on the team': The TV host spoke about his commitment to the relay with his co-host Carrie Bickmore on their Hit Network radio show Carrie & Tommy on Tuesday

Carrie is then heard on the air snorting and trying to suppress her laughter as Tommy temporarily pauses to see her reaction.

'It was only fitting, I thought. I spoke to Chloe and I've signed up and committed to it.'

'So we're going to swim from England to Belgium, and I just think it's fun,' he added.

Determined: 'So we're going to swim from England to Belgium, and I just think it's fun,' Tommy explained on air

Carrie proceeded to laugh about the announcement before applauding her co-host for his commitment to the special event.

'That's escalated quickly, hasn't it?' she said. 'From the kiddie pool to the Channel.'

Tommy explained that the swim will take 'anywhere between 35 and 45 hours,' which prompted Carrie to laugh once again.

A big step up: Tommy explained to Carrie that the swim will take 'anywhere between 35 and 45 hours,' which prompted his co-host to laugh

The England to Belgium relay takes place in July and is 95 kilometres in length.

There will be teams of 10 at the event, with each team member required to swim in 30-minute blocks.

It means Tommy will need to swim for an estimated three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hours across the Channel depending on the speed of his team and the team order.

The England to Belgium swim has never been done before.
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Kanye West was again seen with Instagram model Chaney Jones in Malibu for a party at Nobu on Monday.

The rapper, 44, was hosting a listening party for Donda 2, his upcoming eleventh studio album, with Khloe Kardashian's ex French Montana and Kylie Jenner's boyfriend Travis Scott, who welcomed his second child with Kim Kardashian's sister last week, also in attendance. Later, the group headed to Nice Guy, where Kendall Jenner was also partying.

The outing with his ex wife's family members came as Kanye removed all his posts about Kim and their children from his Instagram account after days of feuding with his ex.

Kim lookalike: Kanye West was again seen with Instagram model Chaney Jones in Malibu for a party at Nobu on Monday

Chaney, who bears a strong resemblance to West's estranged wife, 41, donned a form-fitting black full bodysuit that accentuated her curvy figure for Kanye's Donda 2 listening party.

The model, who was also spotted with Kanye at the Malibu venue Soho House last week, donned gloves and pointed black heeled boots and had her dark wavy locks parted with blue designer glasses.

The ensemble was a close match to what Kardashian wore to the People's Choice Awards in December of 2021.

Little is known about Kanye's new friend Chaney, aside from she is a model who boasts nearly 100k followers on Instagram.

Lookalike: Jones's dark ensemble looked to be a close match to what Kanye's ex wife Kim Kardashian (right) wore to the People's Choice Awards in December of 2021

What feud? The rapper, 44, was hosting a listening party for Donda 2, his upcoming eleventh studio album, with Kylie Jenner's boyfriend Travis Scott, who welcomed his second child with Kim Kardashian's sister last week, also in attendance

Another sister: Later, the group headed to Nice Guy, where Kim's sister Kendall Jenner was also seen partying at an event thrown by Sunny Vodka

Late last year the Instagram star also announced the opening of her mental health practice in Atlanta, Georgia, after telling her followers in 2020 that she was excited to go back to college to get her Master's degree.

Meanwhile Kanye took a break from publicly feuding with his ex Kim on Monday, instead using his Instagram to express interest for Drake to narrate his upcoming Netflix documentary Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.

In a screengrab responding to a text message, the Famous artist wrote, 'I need Drake to do the narration.'

The doc chronicles the story as 'the lives of an emerging superstar and a filmmaker intertwine in this intense, intimate docuseries charting Kanye West's career, filmed over two decades,' Netflix said. The first installment of the three-part documentary is set to debut February 16.

Dad: Travis Scott, who welcomed his second child with Kim's little sister Kylie Jenner last week, was also at the listening party with Kanye, who he has remained close to amid the family drama. Khloe Kardashian's ex French Montana was also invited

Rare outing: Travis stepped out for a rare night out, spotted out for the first time since the birth of his newborn son with Kylie Jenner on February 2

Friendly: Kanye, who previously thanked Travis for sharing the location of his daughter Chicago's birthday party so he could attend, was seen leaving Nobu after the listening party with the rapper

Meanwhile Kanye has removed all his posts about Kim Kardashian West and their children from his Instagram account after days of feuding with his ex over their kids.

The 'Flashing Lights' hitmaker has been locked in a public row with his estranged wife for the last few weeks, criticising the Skims founder for letting their daughter North, eight, use TikTok without his permission, alleging she had kidnapped their daughter Chicago, four, and even claiming she accused him of putting a hit on her, while she hit back in a lengthy statement insisting she is the 'main provider and caregiver' for their children.

But on Monday, a day after videos were shared online of Kanye spending time with his children, all traces of the rapper's family - which also includes sons Saint, six, and two-year-old Psalm - were removed from his Instagram account, leaving only posts about his career and other ventures.

Getting friendly: The 44-year-old musical artist last week was seen with Jones, 24, at the Malibu venue Soho House

Looking chic: Kanye's new friend Chaney Jones donned gloves and pointed black heeled boots and had her dark wavy locks parted with blue designer glasses

Hair down: Chaney's hair cascaded in loose, glossy curls over her shoulders

Uncanny: The similarities between Chaney's get-up and the bodysuits favoured by Kim were uncanny

Hard to miss! Chaney displayed every inch of her jaw-dropping curves in the skintight black bodysuit and matching boots as she arrived for Kanye's listening party

MIA: Meanwhile Kanye's love interest Julia Fox (left) was partying with friends in New York while her rapper beau headed for dinner with Chaney but gave a nod to her beau by wearing a Yeezy x Gap padded jacket

Feeling her look: Chaney posted a photo of her look to her Instagram account, which boasts nearly 100k on followers, before her dinner date on Monday

Getting ready: The IG model also shared a snap of herself in her underwear as she pulled on her boots

Kim, 41, previously sparked Kanye's ire when she claimed she's the 'main provider and caregiver' for their children.

The brunette beauty - who filed for a divorce in early 2021 and is now dating comedian Pete Davidson - said 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 supervision - because it brings her happiness.

'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.

Nobu fan: West was seen emerging from a black vehicle at the seaside venue

Feeling good: The Bound 2 artist flashed a peace sign at photographers on the outing, looking in good spirits despite his very public war of words with ex Kim in recent days

'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.'

Her estranged husband commented: 'What do you mean by main provider ? America saw you try to kid nap my daughter on her birthday by not providing the address. (sic)'

The couple called it quits last February although West refused to let go of the relationship, claiming God would bring them back together after his curvaceous reality star ex moved on last November with comedian Pete Davidson.

West in a track released last month rapped about beating the funny guy's 'a**'.

Feud: West made headlines over the weekend as he criticized Kardashian's parenting on numerous fronts, only to later scrub the posts from his account

Keeping things professional: West took to Instagram Monday to express interest for Drake to narrate his upcoming documentary. He also removed all his posts about Kim Kardashian West and their children from his account

Although their split initially appeared publicly amicable - with Kardashian supporting West's record release and new shoe line - it recently turned acrimonious as West began publicly dragging her parenting.

He last week shared a picture of North on Instagram asking in the caption, 'Since this is my first divorce I need to know what should I do about my daughter being put on TikTok against my will?'

In an apparent effort to legitimize his stance, he on Sunday shared a text exchange he had with Kardashians' cousin.

'Afterwards her other cousin Kara called me saying she agreed with me then said she would speak out publicly which she never did,' West said on Instagram. 'Then she suggested I take medication.'

West revealed in 2020 that he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which can cause sufferers to experience episodes shifting between manic highs and dark depressions.

Good night? Kanye was seen laughing as he left the late night dinner with his friends

West's frustration over his failed marriage has previously channeled into violence. He last month admitted to punching a fan who was allegedly harassing him outside the Soho Warehouse where he was recording new songs.

He told Entertainment Tonight that he was upset at the time with Kardashian, and at a cousin who failed to tell her that he wanted to visit one of their children at school.

'Security aint gonna get in between me and my children. And my children arent gonna be on TikTok without my permission,' Kanye said as he reiterated his message to Kardashian.

He also conceded that he was troubled by her budding romance with Davidson.

'How are you going to blame me for acting out and kiss the dude you're dating right in front of me. Everyones like, "thats cool," and Im hearing that the new boyfriend is in the house that I cant even go to."'

Ex: Although their split initially appeared publicly amicable Kim and Kanye's break up recently turned acrimonious as West began publicly dragging her parenting

Drama: West said Kardashian accused him of 'putting a hit out on her' in a recent scathing Instagram post

West is now dating actress Julia Fox, and he has been trotting their relationship out for the cameras since January.

West claimed he was not invited to Chicago's birthday party last month and embarked on a mission to find the address, which he received from Kyle Jenner's boyfriend Travis Scott - who was also at Monday night's Nobu dinner.

It appeared Kardashian changed her phone number as a result of her ex's tangents; West also shared a text Sunday of him obtaining her new contact information from Larry Jackson, the boyfriend of Kardashian's former assistant Steph Shepherd.

West had been on a self-imposed social media break leading up to the release of his 11th studio album on February 22, Donda 2, but broke his own posting rules after catching his oldest daughter, North West, on TikTok earlier this week.
Imogen Anthony was pushing the envelope with a new set of nude photos shared to Instagram on Tuesday.

The Big Brother VIP star posted a series of images which showed her completely naked but for a pair of high fashion arm bows in pale blue satin.

The social media star, who just turned 31, cavorted on a beach and posed unclothed outside a bungalow, as well as on a balcony.

Wow! Imogen Anthony (pictured) was pushing the envelope with a new set of nude photos shared to Instagram on Tuesday

In her caption however Imogen claimed she had earlier been censored by Instagram over the racy photos.

'So I find it extremely backwards of @instagram to say that i am 'soliciting' because I post photos of myself like this,' she wrote in her caption,

'So in a nutshell, me being naked here tells YOU that I'm asking for it?? Wow,' the model added.

Fun-day: The social media star, who just turned 31, cavorted on a beach and posed unclothed

Earlier this week, Imogen donned a racy beaded bodysuit to celebrate her birthday at Sydney's Palm Beach.

Imogen returned to the spotlight last year as a contestant on Big Brother VIP, after soaring to headlines as the ex-girlfriend of radio titan Kyle Sandilands.

She recently spoke out after Kyle announced his engagement to new partner Tegan Kynaston weeks ago.

Racy: The images which showed her completely naked but for a pair of high fashion arm bows in pale blue satin

Reacting to the news on the Good B***h podcast, Imogen spoke about their 2019 break-up and what led to the end of their eight-year relationship.

The model, who is said to have received a substantial financial settlement after her split from Kyle, acknowledged he was going through a hard time when they split.

'It was self-destructive. We've spoken about that since,' she told hosts Jules Rangiheuea and Jodie Clarke.

Claims: In her caption however Imogen claimed she had earlier been censored by Instagram over the racy photos

'He was going through a lot of s**t. He had people he'd worked with for years he was falling out with, he lost his dad [Peter Sandilands] a couple of years earlier and was still dealing with that. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes.'

Kyle and Imogen were together for eight years, but he never popped the question.

The shock jock, 50, announced the pair's split on The Kyle and Jackie O Show in November 2019.
Anthea Turner has revealed she was 'moments away from going blind' after injuring her eye following an accident at a hotel.

The presenter, 61, admitted she suffered the nasty injury when she accidentally hit her eye with a curtain cord, and was warned she could have lost her vision if she'd left it any longer before seeking medical attention.

Speaking to The Mirror, Anthea, who was pictured stepping out in London on Monday with her eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses, confessed: 'The specialist told me I was moments away from going blind and that was really scary.'

On the mend! Anthea Turner stepped out in London on Monday after revealing she was 'moments away from going blind' after injuring her eye following an accident at a hotel.

Anthea explained she was staying in a large country hotel during filming for a TV series, and after opening her curtains, accidentally hit herself in the eye with a toggle at the end of the cord.

She said: 'I recoiled in pain for a moment. Instantly, there was a dull ache in my eyeball and because I was filming that day, my first thought was to check for visible damage to my face.

'My eyeball was aching, so when I looked in the mirror I was expecting to see it was bloodshot, or some redness but my eye looked totally fine.'

Close call: The presenter admitted she suffered the nasty injury when she accidentally hit her eye with a curtain cord (pictured after she suffered another accident involving her eye)

While she originally thought her eye seemed 'fine' following the injury, several hours later she noted red spots appearing in her vision.

After two days, Anthea realised her eyes hadn't improved, and sought help from eye surgeon Dr Ali Mearza, who had performed laser surgery on her several months earlier.

Following several scans, it was revealed that she had sustained a tear to her left retina  the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye.

The retina, had come dangerously close to detaching, which can cause blindness.

Scary: Anthea explained she was told she'd sustained a tear to her left retina, which if left untreated could have left her blind

After undergoing surgery on her left eye, Anthea used steroid drops and daily eye washes to help the healing process, and believes they are 'improving.'

Following the revelations about her injury, Anthea sheilded her eyes with oversized sunglasses as she stepped out for a stroll in London.

The former GMTV host cut a chic figure in a white jumper and blue flared jeans, with her velvet jacket tossed over her shoulder.

Anthea is currently engaged to her fiance Mark Armstrong, and in 2020, the couple spoke to HELLO! about their engagement and impending wedding.

Out and about: Following the revelations about her injury, Anthea sheilded her eyes with oversized sunglasses as she stepped out for a stroll in London

Stylish: The former GMTV host cut a chic figure in a white jumper and blue flared jeans by Donna Ida, teamed with a fun black velvet coat

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Describing her partner as 'the love of her life', Anthea said 'we adore each other he makes me smile every day and we are excited about our life together'.

Mark proposed to his fiancee at whirlwind speed just two months after their first date.

Although she is ready to tie the knot for the third time, Anthea has remained close to her ex husband Grant Bovey and his children.

Meanwhile Anthea detailed the secrets behind her youthful looks as she said she's 'had the boobies done and swears' by Botox during a TV appearance in November.

The TV presenter appeared on Lorraine to talk about how she is dealing with the ageing process and what people should do to stay healthy as you age.

But admitting she is now in the 'danger zone' of life, with a predicted 20 years left to live, she said: 'Sixty is not the 50, if we are truthful to ourselves.'
On Tuesday's episode of Married at First Sight, Andrew Davis revealed the one sex act he won't do in the bedroom.

The Texas-based fitness trainer, 38, made the confession after admitting to his 'wife' Holly Greenstein, 36, he's had 350 sexual partners.

He then confessed that while the NSW cinema manager could 'benefit' from his experience, there is one thing he won't do - pegging.

Limits: On Tuesday's episode of Married At First Sight, Andrew Davis (pictured) revealed the one sex act that he won't do in the bedroom. The Texas-based fitness trainer, 38, made the confession after admitting to his 'wife' Holly Greenstein, 36, he's had 350 sexual partners

'There are some things off limits. Like, no pegging. There's no going down that road with you,' he said.

Visibly confused, Holly replied, 'I don't know what that is. I have to google it.'

She wasn't the only one, as scores of viewers posted to social media, revealing they have no idea what the act is either.

Safe word: He then confessed that while the NSW cinema manager could 'benefit' from his experience, there is one thing he won't do - pegging

What? Visibly confused, Holly (pictured) replied, 'I don't know what that is. I have to google it'

For those not in the know, pegging is a sexual activity involving a sex toy.

'I'm old so I had to google pegging. Husband said no,' one viewer joked on Twitter.

'Google number one search in Australia tonight - "what is pegging",' someone else wrote.

Another agreed: 'I'm so sorry to everyone out there that has just googled 'pegging' and is now shamefully clearing their browser history'.

Say what? She wasn't the only one, as scores of viewers posted to social media, revealing they had no idea what the act is either

'HAHA just found out what pegging means - I made Hubs look it up and he went straight to videos,' one more wrote.

'Right now around the country: "Mummy, what's pegging?" I want to see Holly's reaction when the camera person fills her in,' someone else said.

Others were still struggling after looking up the meaning, with one person tweeting: 'Ok #MAFS what's pegging? I asked the BF and he laughed, I googled pegging but I'm still confused'.

Married At First Sight continues Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine
Charlotte Dawson went topless for a sizzling Instagram snap to celebrate 'the month of lurrrrve' on Monday.

The daughter of late comedy legend Les Dawson looked incredible as she held a large bunch of roses to protect her modesty.

The beauty, 29, showed off her slimmer physique after losing more than three stone in weight.

Stunning: Charlotte Dawson went topless for a sizzling Instagram snap to celebrate 'the month of lurrrrve' on Monday

Charlotte oozed confidence as she posed for the stunning snap from her bedroom.

She wowed in black lace underwear and she accessorised with an elegant gold watch.

She captioned the post: 'The month of lurrrrve . & I love you all too much  so thats why Ive put together the sexehhhh bundle for my darlings.. with my fabulous brand @dawsylicioustanning.'

Looking good: The beauty, 29, showed off her slimmer physique after losing more than three stone in weight (pictured in July 2021)

She captioned the post: 'The month of lurrrrve . & I love you all too much  so thats why Ive put together the sexehhhh bundle for my darlings.. with my fabulous brand @dawsylicioustanning'

'Whether this month is valentines or galentines for you, soft, sexehh, sweet smelling skin is this months must have. Spritz yourself in my hydration mist, smother yourself in dawsylicious shimmer cream shine bright & glowy  & tan up for that confidence boost.. and feel like you can take on the world too tanned to give a damn @dawsylicioustanning style.'

Charlotte recently admitted she's in the shape of her life as she showed off her slimmer physique in a social media post.

The beauty looked trim in a bold orange bikini while posing for a selfie ahead of her first overseas holiday since giving birth to son Noah in January.

Captioning the post, Charlotte gave followers advance warning that even more bikini snaps will follow when she arrives in Dubai with Noah and fiance Matt Sarsfield.

Looking good: Charlotte revealed she's in the shape of her life as she showed off her slimmer physique in a new social media post

She wrote: 'Feeling in the best shape everrrr so watch out for more bikini chuffin spam cos were goin on our oliiiidays. [sic]

'Did a bit more belleh blastin this week to get ready for my first hols as a mama engaged.' [sic]

She added: 'Canny wait for sunshine & to get on that beach with my boyos!! Ive never needed a break so much in my life... we havent been away since 2k20 so its much needed..

Hot mama! Charlotte recently shared images from before and after in weight loss to Instagram, as she encouraged people to show off their bodies no matter what size they are

Empowering: Captioning the images, Charlotte insisted women should not feel self-conscious about their bodies

'And to take Noah on his first ever abroad holiday.. going to be so special. Ive never been to Dubai before either so Im excited!!'

Charlotte recently shared images from before and after shots that appeared to document her weight loss journey as she encouraged her followers to show off their bodies no matter what size they are.

In before image, the reality star who shared two different swimwear looks, looked fantastic as she showcased her curves in a bikini with a strappy top and matching bottoms.

A subsequent photo taken after her dramatic weight loss showed Charlotte wearing a cut-out swimsuit while confidently posing with her hand on her hip.

Captioning the images, she wrote: 'Who says you have to cover up when you're bigger? And hide your body away when you're on holiday?

Valentine's ready: She showed off her bronzed body in a strapless bra and briefs as she posed for a Valentine's Day shoot

'I'm gonna be packing for a holiday soon and I'll be taking swimsuits and bikinis - just like I did when I was 3st heavier.

'As you know I never had a problem shaky shakin my chunkeh but funkeh belleh- even when it was a lot more chunkeh than it is now. [sic]

'Life's too short to care what other people think - nobody cares anyway. I only decided to get into shape cos of my health and doin it for my little cherub.

'So the time has got to be right for you if you want to do that and in the meantime don't put your life on hold waiting to look right for someone else.

'If you so feel you want to make changes then go for it my darlins and I will definitely be here for you.'
by Dames Alexander Sinaga

JAKARTA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Balinese tourism entrepreneur I Putu Winastra has been energized recently as his travel agency has received more bookings since the reopening of Indonesia's resort island of Bali for all international travelers starting from last Friday.

For the first time after a nearly two-year pause, the government has permitted international direct flights to land on the holiday island, a move aimed at reviving the tourism sector that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, the country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia initiated the reopening by resuming its weekly flights from Japan's Narita International Airport to Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Some airlines, including Singapore Airlines and Australian airline Jetstar, are reportedly planning to resume international direct flights to Bali.

That is highly praised by local tourism entrepreneurs, including Winastra, whose travel agency sees a growing increase in holiday bookings from abroad.

"We've already received a number of bookings from customers in Europe. This is exciting," said Winastra, who is also the head of the Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies in Bali, in an interview with Xinhua.

However, he still hoped that the government would soon remove a mandatory five-day quarantine period for fully-vaccinated international travelers to Indonesia, which he considered as an obstacle in the drive to revive tourism in Bali.

"Bali is not the only tourist destination in Asia. Some nations are already simplifying entry procedures for foreign travelers," Winastra said, adding that he believed removing the protocol would attract more international tourists to visit Bali.

At present, the government is implementing a bubble system under a program called "Warm-Up Vacation" designated to all foreign tourists visiting Bali.

For the first five days after arriving on the island, tourists are required to only have their activities and enjoy the facilities at some safe hotels recommended by the government.

Bali, which has a population of approximately 4.36 million, continues to accelerate vaccinations for the public.

More than 3.5 million people have so far received their first doses of vaccines, while over 3.1 million have taken the second doses. At least 330,000 people on the island have received their third doses, according to official figures provided by Bali's Health Agency.

All eyes are on Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, as this year Bali hosts the G20 summit.

In an interview with Xinhua, Bali's tourism agency head Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun said that the surge of COVID-19 cases worldwide due to the Omicron variant has made tourists reluctant to travel to Bali.

"Bali authorities are considering to make it easier for tourists to enter, so that Bali can accelerate its tourism and economic recovery," Pemayun said. 
Delilah Belle Hamlin looked typically stunning in a series of sizzling snaps on Monday.

The model, 23, showcased her cleavage in a black cut-out top as she posed up a storm for her 1.6 million Instagram followers.

The daughter of Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin revealed she was rocking her late grandmother Lois' earrings.

Wow! Delilah Belle Hamlin showcased her cleavage in a black cut-out top in a series of sizzling snaps on Monday

The beauty pulled back her blonde locks to show off the large diamond earrings.

She donned a slick of black eyeliner to enhance her flawless palette of makeup.

Delilah oozed confidence as she smouldered at the camera and showcased her best angles.

Her grandmother passed away in November at age 93 just days after suffering a stroke.

Pose: The daughter of Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin revealed she was rocking her late grandmother Lois' earrings

Glam: The beauty pulled back her blonde locks to show off the large diamond earrings

Happy family: Delilah pictured with her mother Lisa Rinna and father Harry Hamlin in 2019

So sad; Her grandmother Lois passed away in November at age 93 just days after suffering a stroke

The beauty had a hard start to 2022 after she also split from her boyfriend of two years, Love Island's Eyal Booker.

The socialite, who started dating Eyal in 2019, called time on their relationship before New Year's Eve so she could begin the year with a fresh start.

A source told MailOnline the couple's shock breakup was amicable, and Delilah is in a 'happy and good place.'

'Last year, she experienced some difficult times, but she's come out the other side stronger than ever and is happy, enjoying time with friends and family, as well as looking positivity to the future.'

During their two-year relationship, Delilah and Eyal, who rose to fame on UK's Love Island in 2018, split their time between London and Los Angeles.

Old flame: The beauty had a hard start to 2022 after she split from her boyfriend of two years, Love Island's Eyal Booker

Delilah hoped to start 2022 with a fresh outlook after revealing in November that she had been hospitalised following an accidental drugs overdose.

After having her second Covid vaccination, Delilah suffered a panic attack, and she became unwell when the jab prompted an autoimmune disease reaction in her body.

As a result of the trauma, she started to struggle with panic attacks, OCD, and anxiety, which was made worse by her phobia of vomit that stems from childhood.

She was then diagnosed with several illnesses including Lyme disease, causing her to be on multiple antibiotics and supplements but her panic attacks became so worrying that she needed the help of a psychiatrist.
Holliday Grainger was joined by Tom Burke on Saturday evening as she returned to work little more than eight months after giving birth to twins.

The actress filmed early scenes for Troubled Blood, the third in a series of TV adaptations based on the popular Strike book franchise from Robert Galbraith - the literary pseudonym used by Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

Preparing for an after-dark location shoot in Buckinghamshire village Fulmer, Holliday, 33, was accompanied by leading man Tom, 40, and a small crew as they waited on a residential street.

Back at work: Holliday Grainger appeared on the set of new Strike drama Troubled Blood on Saturday evening, little more than eight months after giving birth to twins

The actress will return as crime-solving secretary Robin Ellacott in the new series, which is expected to air later this year, while Tom reprises his role as jaded detective Cormorant Blue Strike.

With cameras rolling, they were seen exchanging words with an elderly woman after climbing from the front seats of a parked Land Rover Defender.

Principal photography for the new series began in London at the turn of the year, with work expected to run for a maximum of 11-weeks.

Troubled Blood is the fifth book in Galbraith's noir-inspired Cormorant series and the third to be adapted for the screen.

New arrivals: Holliday and her actor boyfriend Harry Treadaway welcomed twins in May 2021. The couple have been dating since 2015

Main man: She was joined by co-star Tom Burke, who reprises his role as jaded detective Cormorant Blue Strike in the forthcoming series

Here we go: Preparing for an after-dark location shoot in Buckinghamshire village Fulmer, Holliday was accompanied by leading man Tom and a small crew

Quiet on set: With cameras rolling, they were seen exchanging words with an elderly woman after climbing from the front seats of a parked Land Rover Defender

Holliday and her actor boyfriend Harry Treadaway welcomed twins in May 2021. The couple have been dating since 2015.

The doting parents were spotted enjoying a stroll with their newborns in Devon, where they moved soon after Holliday learned that she was expecting, shortly after their birth.

The couple cradled the babies in papooses to protect them from the weather as they went window-shopping before having lunch at a small cafe.

All set: A member of the production team was seen assisting Holliday as she prepared for her latest scene

Let's go: Tom led the way as the co-stars exited a property in rural Buckinghamshire

Chilly: Holliday wrapped up in a thick winter coat during the after-dark location shoot

Last September, The Mail on Sunday revealed that work on the second series of her hit BBC drama The Capture had been put on hold due to her pregnancy.

However, it was not known until May that the actress was expecting twins.

For boyfriend Harry, who played Princess Margaret's toyboy Roddy Llewellyn in The Crown, the new arrivals were an extra-special occasion as he is a twin himself.

His identical twin Luke is also an actor, last seen in the ITV drama The Singapore Grip.

Side by sid4e: The two stars filmed further scenes while occupying the front seats of a parked Land Rover Discovery

Busy: Holliday is back at work after confirming the birth of twins last May

Coming soon: Troubled Blood, the fifth book in Galbraith's Strike series and third to be adapted for the screen, is expected to air later this year
Rob Mills has called on Scott Morrison to save Channel Ten's long-running soap Neighbours amid reports the show may be axed.

The Channel Ten series could be axed after UK broadcaster Channel 5 announced it will not be renewing its contract with the show.

The actor, 39, shared a post to Instagram, asking the Prime Minister to save the iconic series from being axed.

Plea: Rob Mills (pictured) has called on Scott Morrison to save Neighbours amid reports the soap will be axed after 37 years

'I'm deeply saddened to hear the news about the possibility of Neighbours finishing up in June,' he wrote.

'It's an institution. A living, breathing, creative machine that has employed 1000s of people over the 37 plus years it's been bringing Australian stories to life. It gave a job and training to so many [people].'

Rob went on to ask Mr Morrison to save the iconic show and the arts industry.

'Throw us a bone #Scomo @scottmorrisonmp. As artists we will always find the light. But geez its getting dark in this country,' he said.

'Would love to have a leader who valued #TheArts more in this country. Considering how much everyone has relied on them the last two years. I loved my time on this show. I met and worked with some incredibly talented and warm and generous people. Fingers crossed there's a solution.'

'I'm deeply saddened to hear the news about the possibility of Neighbours finishing up in June,' he wrote on Instagram

In a statement released on Sunday, UK broadcaster Channel 5 confirmed its decision not to renew their contract to air the Australian soap with producers Fremantle Australia.

Fremantle later emailed staff saying filming would end on June 10, and absent any new broadcaster emerging to provide the funds to resume production, the show looked to be at an end.

Channel 5's statement read: 'It's been a much-loved part of our schedule for more than a decade, and we'd like to thank the cast, Fremantle and all of the production team for their fantastic work on this iconic series.

'We'd also of course like to thank the fans for their loyal support of Neighbours across the years.

'Would love to have a leader who valued #TheArts more in this country. Considering how much everyone has relied on them the last two years,' Rob added. Pictured Prime Minister Scott Morrison

'We recognise that there will be disappointment about this decision, however our current focus is on increasing our investment in original UK drama, which has strong appeal for our viewers.'

According to industry site TV Blackbox, 'it's unlikely [Channel] 10 can keep producing [the show]' without financial backing from an international broadcaster.

If the show doesn't find another backer soon, it could spell the end of the 37-year-old television institution.

In an email to cast seen by The Herald Sun, the show's executive producer Jason Herbison confirmed the soap's run as an institution of Australian and British television was all but over.

Gone: In a statement released on Sunday, UK broadcaster Channel 5 confirmed its decision not to renew their contract to air the Australian soap with producers Fremantle Australia

'As you know the future of the show has been uncertain for some time,' it read. 'Our audience remains steady and Channel 10 would love the show to continue if we could find another broadcast partner to replace C5.

'These discussions are ongoing however there is no new broadcaster at the moment and production must end, effectively resting the show.

'We are so proud of the show, you all and everything that you've achieved. But for now, this chapter is closing and we want to work together to give Neighbours the amazing send-off it deserves.'

The publication reported that the show would not film on Monday, and cast and crew had been called to an all-staff meeting at 11am that morning.

Channel 10 released a statement to TV Tonight on Sunday, confirming it had every intention of finding a new broadcast partner.
She's been hard at work filming for the 17th season of Germany's Next Top Model.

Yet Heidi Klum took her talents elsewhere as she joined TikTok stars The Elevator Boys for a steamy dance routine in Santa Monica on Tuesday.

The 48-year-old supermodel flicked her blonde locks as she seductively dropped to the floor with group before exiting the lift.

'Is it hot in here or is it just me?': Heidi Klum performed a steamy dance routine with TikTok models The Elevator Boys for a sultry video on Monday

The Berlin based group who are well known for their comedic viral videos on TikTok, consists of models Jacob Brott, Julien Brown, Bene Schulz, Tim Schaeker and Luis Freitag.

Leading the boys she stuck her tongue out at the camera as they followed behind blowing kisses.

Alongside the Instagram video, she teased: 'Is it hot in this elevator or is it just me?'

Raunchy: The 48-year-old supermodel flicked her blonde locks as she seductively dropped to the floor with group before exiting the lift

Handsome: The Berlin based group, well known for their comedic viral videos on TikTok, consists of models Jacob Brott, Julien Brown, Bene Schulz, Tim Schaeker and Luis Freitag

Casual but cool: Heidi put on a casual display as she donned jeans and a white t-shirt with a chequered shirt layered over the top

Heidi put on a casual display as she donned jeans and a white t-shirt with a chequered shirt layered over the top.

Her long blonde hair was worn in a straight style with with shaggy layers and a full fringe.

Taking to their Story, The Elevator Boy's teased at what's to come as they penned: 'We're filming with Heidi Klum today. Stay tuned for the videos!'

Pucker up: Leading the boys she stuck her tongue out at the camera as they followed behind blowing kisses

Coming soon: Taking to their Story, The Elevator Boy's teased at what's to come as they penned: 'We're filming with Heidi Klum today. Stay tuned for the videos!'

Heidi has filming for the latest installment of Germany's Next Top Model in California this week, having hosted the show since its inception in 2006.

She has also served as the only permanent judge since the 14th season in 2019, with the remainder of the panel rounded out by a variety of guest judges.

While it is still being filmed, the 17th season debuted on February 3 in Germany.
Kylie Gillies dressed in an all-white outfit on Tuesday's episode of The Morning Show.

Sharing two images of the look to Instagram, the breakfast TV veteran posed in the chic Zara suit and revealed her inspiration for the look.

Kylie, 54, looked to the 1996 comedy The First Wives Club for fashion tips.

Glowing: Kylie Gillies dressed in an all-white outfit on Tuesday's episode of The Morning Show

In that film, the 'first wives' Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler and Diane Keaton famously don all-white outfits.

She wrote in the caption: 'So this is how it went down on the @morningshowon7 today.

'Producer Bree: 'Wearing that suit you look like the 4th cast member of 'The First Wives Club'. '

Matchy matchy: In the film, the 'first wives' (left to right) Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn famously don all-white outfits for the show-stopping finale

'Me: 'You know all that nice stuff I said at the Christmas party about loving my work family? Yeah. I take that back!'

The mother-of-two added: 'But for the record very proud Tony and I have been a part of the 'First and Only Wife/Husband Club' for more than 32 years. And I still love Producer Bree'.

Kylie and her husband Tony Gillies share two sons Archie, 17, and Gus, 19.

Backhander: 'Wearing that suit you look like the 4th cast member of 'The First Wives Club', quipped Morning Show producer Bree to Kylie

Happy family: Kylie married Tony Gillies (back), Editor in Chief of Australian Associated Press, in 1989. The loved-up pair share two sons, Gus, 19, (bottom right) and Archie, 17 (bottom left)

She married Tony, Editor in Chief of Australian Associated Press, in 1989, and they recently celebrated their 32nd anniversary.

Kylie is set to compete on the new season of Dancing With The Stars: All Stars for 2022.

'My heart wants to do it, I just hope my body can keep up,' she said on breakfast show Sunrise.
Neil Jones has fuelled romance rumours by liking a string of actress Sienna Hollen's sexy Instagram photos.

The Strictly star, 39, has made it clear he likes what he sees when it comes to Sienna's often scantily-clad snaps, with the bombshell even returning the favour by liking Neil's photos.

It comes just days after Neil split from his underwear model girlfriend Sophie Lily Kerr.

New romance? Neil Jones has fuelled romance rumours by liking a string of actress Sienna Hollen's sexy Instagram photos

Cheeky: Neil has made it clear he likes what he sees when it comes to Sienna's often scantily-clad snaps

According to The Sun, the pair started following each other 'last month' and have been 'liking each other's posts ever since'.

Neil most recently liked one of Sienna's posts on Saturday, when the model slipped into a clinging dress.

Last month, he 'hearted' a sizzling photo of Sienna wearing a bikini while lapping up the sunshine in Dubai.

MailOnline has reached out to Neil's representatives for comment.

Sizzling: Last month, he 'hearted' a sizzling photo of Sienna wearing a bikini while lapping up the sunshine in Dubai

Meanwhile, news broke on Friday that Neil and Sophie had called it quits.

The pair hit the headlines when she moved into his London home in October just weeks after they started dating but their romance is said to have has come to an end after three months together.

A source told The Sun: 'Neil and Lily's romance started as a whirlwind and it ended just as quickly.

Reports: According to The Sun , the pair started following each other 'last month' and have been 'liking each other's posts ever since'

'They made a lovely couple but their schedules made it difficult for them to look to the future.

'Neil became so busy with Strictly Come Dancing before Christmas and now he is out on a nationwide tour.'

Last year, Neil was said to be 'head over heels' with Sophie following his split from his ex Luisa Eusse, 23, in October 2020 after she cheated on him with a woman.

Singleton: Neil split from his underwear model girlfriend Sophie Lily Kerr after three months together

Whirlwind romance: The pair hit the headlines when she moved into his London home in October just weeks after they started dating

A friend of Neil and Sophie told The Sun last year: 'The speed with which this has all happened mirrors Neil's lightning-quick feet across the Strictly dance floor.

'They are moving very quickly.'

Neil was previously married to fellow Strictly professional Katya Jones, 32, for 11 years but they split in 2019 after Katya was seen kissing her celebrity partner on the BBC ballroom show, Seann Walsh, while out in London in October 2018.

The exes have remained close friends since announcing their break-up in August 2019 and often dance together as part of the professional group on Strictly.
Hailey Bieber set pulses racing in a revealing black leather bustier as she joined Kendall Jenner for a night out at The Nice Guy in Malibu on Monday.

The model, 25, wowed in the racy one-piece which she teamed with a contrasting embroidered coat as she arrived at the swanky celebrity hotspot.

Hailey was seen joining Kendall for the night out, which saw the unlikely reunion of Kylie Jenner's beau Travis Scott with Kanye West proving there are no hard feelings between the pair despite his feud with ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

Revealing: Hailey Bieber, 25, set pulses racing in a revealing black leather bustier as she joined Kendall Jenner for a night out at The Nice Guy in Malibu on Monday

Hailey showcased her famous physique in the revealing leather Miaou corset top with a plunging front, perfectly accentuating her toned abs.

The wife of pop superstar Justin Bieber teamed the top with loose-fitting patchwork jeans, and a bold black coat with tan embroidery.

She headed into The Nice Guy soon after her pal Kendall, who displayed her own toned abs in a grey graphic crop top and bold brown leather flares, teamed with pointed-toe heels.

Bold: The model wowed in the racy one-piece which she teamed with a contrasting embroidered coat as she arrived at the swanky celebrity hotspot

Standing out: She was joined by model Kendall who flashed her abs in a grey crop top and bold brown leather trousers

Edgy: Hailey showed off her famous physique in the plunging black corset top that accentuated her ample cleavage, teamed with light-wash patchwork jeans

The evening saw the surprise arrival of Travis and Kanye, who had both just attended a listening party for the latter's new album Donda 2, at the swanky Nobu in Malibu.

Having opted against taking sides in the rapper's ongoing spat, Travis, 30, who previously alerted Kanye to the location of his daughter Chicago's birthday party, headed to the eatery, a day after Kylie announced the birth of their second child.

Kanye, who has now deleted any images of Kim and his children from Instagram after feuding with his ex, appeared to be on good terms with several members of the Kardashian-Jenner clan.

Kendall joined him at Nice Guy in West Hollywood, despite unfollowing him on Instagram a day earlier.

Standing out: Kendall was seen joining Travis Scott and Kanye West at Nice Guy in West Hollywood, an unlikely reunion given the rapper's ongoing feud with Kim Kardashian

Arriving: Despite Kanye's supposed estrangement from the Kardashian clan, Kendall was seen partying at The Nice Guy after the rapper was seen heading into the swanky venue with Travis

Revealing: Kendall highlighted her famous model physique in the revealing black crop top teamed with tie-dye brown trousers and kitten heels as she headed to the party

Revealing: Kendall was seen making her way into the party

What feud? Travis (pictured far right) proved that there were no hard feelings with Kim Kardashian's ex Kanye (far left), as he attended the rapper's Donda 2 listening party

After celebrating the completion of Kanye's album, Travis was spotted leaving the eatery with Kanye, despite the rapper's supposed estrangement from the Kardashian clan in the wake of his split from wife Kim last year.

Travis and Kanye collaborated on one of the tracks from his much-anticipated album Donda 2, which is set for release on February 22.

His sighting is also the first since mid-January when he was spotted at LAX's private terminal after returning home from a trip to Cabo San Lucas.

Dad: Travis, who Kanye previously praised for sharing the location of his daughter Chicago's birthday party after claiming it was kept from him, was at the dinner with hitmaker

Rare outing: Travis's sighting was the first since Kylie announced on Monday she'd given birth to their second child, a son

Friendly: Kanye, who previously thanked Travis for sharing the location of his daughter Chicago's birthday party so he could attend, was seen leaving Nobu after the listening party with the rapper

On Monday, a day after videos were shared online of Kanye spending time with his children, all traces of his family - which also includes sons Saint, six, and two-year-old Psalm - were removed from his Instagram account, leaving only posts about his career and other ventures.

Kanye previously claimed that Travis was responsible for sharing the address to his daughter Chicago's birthday party, adding that Kylie let him in after he was spotted by security.

In a video acquired by TMZ, he said: 'I just gotta shout out to Travis Scott for sending me the address and the time and making sure that I was able to spend that birthday memory with my daughter and to be there with the rest of the family.

There he is! Travis was quickly mobbed by fans as he headed outside with Kanye, after the rapper deleted all images about Kim and their children from his Instagram

Hard to miss! Joining Kanye at his listening part was his muse Chaney Jones, who was a dead ringer for the rapper's ex-wife Kim in a full black bodysuit

'I saw everybody, it was you know, Kris, Corey and Kylie... Kylie let me in right when I got to the spot because the security stopped me once again when I got there,' he said.

'And you know, it's just a matter of having a conversation, open dialogue, and everyone just had a great time.

'I'm just really happy that I could be there for my children and I just want to thank everyone for their support in the situation. Letting me just calmly and legally take control of my narrative.'

Birth reveal: On Monday Kylie revealed she'd given birth to her second child with a simple snap on Instagram of the reality star and makeup mogul holding the newborn's hand, while revealing the date of birth as 2/2/22

Though there reportedly was no 'scene' between the divorcing couple, a source told The Sun on Sunday that they kept their distance throughout the party.

Kanye previously alleged on social media that he was not 'allowed to know' where the party was taking place, though it was later claimed that there were supposed to be two parties for Chicago.

The outing with his ex wife's family members comes as Kanye removed all his posts about Kim and their children from his Instagram account after days of feuding with his ex.

The 'Flashing Lights' hitmaker has been locked in a public row with his estranged wife for the last few weeks, criticising the Skims founder for letting their daughter North, eight, use TikTok without his permission, alleging she had kidnapped their daughter Chicago, four, and even claiming she accused him of putting a hit on her, while she hit back in a lengthy statement insisting she is the 'main provider and caregiver' for their children.

Response: Scott reacted to the news with a blue heart emoji and six brown heart emojis in the comments of Kylie's post

No involvement! Travis has opted against taking sides in Kanye's ongoing feud with his ex-wife Kim, who he has accused of kidnapping their daughter Chicago, and even claiming she accused him of putting a hit on her

But on Monday, a day after videos were shared online of Kanye spending time with his children, all traces of the rapper's family - which also includes sons Saint, six, and two-year-old Psalm - were removed from his Instagram account, leaving only posts about his career and other ventures.

Kim previously sparked Kanye's ire when she claimed she's the 'main provider and caregiver' for their children, with the brunette beauty - who filed for a divorce in early 2021 and is now dating comedian Pete Davidson - saying 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 supervision - because it brings her happiness.

'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.

'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.'

Her estranged husband commented: 'What do you mean by main provider ? America saw you try to kid nap my daughter on her birthday by not providing the address. (sic)'

Parents: Scott and Jenner (pictured in June 2021) also share daughter Stormi, who celebrated her fourth birthday on February 1, just one day before their second child was born

The couple called it quits last February although West refused to let go of the relationship, claiming God would bring them back together after his curvaceous reality star ex moved on last November with comedian Pete Davidson.

The outing came just a day after Kylie Jenner first revealed the birth of their second child together, a son born on February 2.

Jenner revealed the news with a simple snap on Instagram of the reality star and makeup mogul holding the newborn's hand, while revealing the date of birth as 2/2/22.

Travis and Jenner also share daughter Stormi, who celebrated her fourth birthday on February 1, just one day before their second child was born. The couple have not revealed the name of their son at this time.
Aidan Turner was joined by the family dog as he ventured out for a walk on Tuesday, shortly after wife Caitlin Fitzgerald was been spotted pushing a pram in London.

The Poldark star kept his dog on a short lead while out close to the home he shares with American actress Caitlyn, 38, best known for her roles in Masters Of Sex and hit HBO drama Succession.

Bearded Aidan, also 38, looked relaxed in a plaid over-shirt and slim-fitting jeans as he made the most of London's steadily rising temperatures.

Stepping out: Aidan Turner was joined by the family dog as he ventured out for a walk on Tuesday, shortly after wife Caitlin Fitzgerald was been spotted pushing a pram in London

The Irish actor added to his look with a loose fitting grey T-shirt, while a vibrant orange beanie hat rounded things off.

On Saturday Caitlyn wrapped up in camel padded coat as she pushed a pram while out in London with mother Pam Allen, 73.

Notoriously private Aidan and Caitlin married in a secret Italian wedding in August 2020, but the ceremony didn't come to light until March 2021.

Sources claimed they decided to wed because they 'didn't want to wait' during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the actor's parents were the only family members in attendance.

Surprise: Caitlyn wrapped up in camel padded coat as she pushed a pram while out in London on Saturday

Pictures taken on August 8 showed the newlyweds days after tying the knot as they wore their wedding rings while enjoying a romantic alfresco dinner date at Pierluigi's restaurant in Rome.

Aidan's parents did not join the couple for their dinner date, despite flying out from their home in Dublin to watch the couple exchange their vows.

An insider revealed that although the couple wanted an intimate ceremony, Aidan insisted on his beloved mother Eileen and father Pearse being present.

'Aidan wouldn't have got married without them,' they said. 'The rest of the family heard about the wedding afterwards. Of course, everyone is delighted for him.'

The couple had flown to Ireland prior to the pandemic so that Caitlin could meet his relatives, and it seems she made quite the impression on his family.

'She's lovely and they're very happy,' the source said. 'And of course, she had Irish roots, so that helps as well.

'They're no different to any young couple in love. They didn't want to wait until after Covid to get married, so they just went ahead. Good luck to them.'

Low key: Bearded Turner, also 38, looked relaxed in a plaid over-shirt and slim-fitting jeans as he made the most of London's steadily rising temperatures

It was claimed the couple were eager to wed as soon as their schedules cleared, but kept their nuptials quiet due to their private lifestyles.

A source told The Sun: 'The couple are both madly in love and couldn't wait to get hitched when their schedules allowed. They're both very private and have kept the ceremony very much under wraps, but he has been seen taking lockdown walks with his wedding ring on show.

'Aidan hasn't been in a rush to get wed and has very much been waiting for 'The One' to come along  and anyone who sees them knows they're the perfect match.'

Happy couple: n March 2021 it was revealed that Aidan and Caitlin (pictured in August 2018) had secretly tied the knot in August the previous year in a secret ceremony in Rome

Caitlin, whose dad Des FitzGerald is the former CEO of ContiGroup's ContiSea unit, was born and raised in Maine, before relocating to Massachusetts and New York City for her education.

Dublin native Aidan was rumoured to be engaged to a secret girlfriend in April 2018, shortly before he started dating Caitlin.

While little was known about his rumoured fiancee, she was believed to be ten-years his junior and based in the south-west of England.
Dr Alex George has reportedly split from his girlfriend Ellie Hetch after a year of dating.

The Love Island star, 30, has been in a relationship with barrister clerk, Ellie, since January 2021 and went public with their relationship in June.

The couple recently adopted a new Cavapoo puppy Freddie, and Ellie is said to be keeping the dog following their break-up.

Shock! Dr Alex George, 30, has reportedly split from his girlfriend Ellie Hetch after a year and she will be keeping their new pet pooch, Paddington

A source said to The Sun: 'Alex and Ellie tried everything to make it work but sometimes it's just not meant to be.

'They have now gone their separate ways after a very emotional phone conversation.

'Ellie will be keeping Freddie and has moved her stuff out of Alex's new flat. It's heartbreaking for everyone and Alex is determined they stay friends.'

MailOnline has contacted Alex's representatives for comment.

Break-up: The couple, who lived together in Alex's 1.6 million London apartment, recently adopted a new Cavapoo puppy, Freddie, but Ellie is said to be keeping the dog after their split

The pair were living together in Alex's 1.6 million London apartment after they went Instagram official last June when they headed off to Cornwall for a romantic holiday.

A source close to the couple told MailOnline Ellie had been a pillar of support to Alex as he continues to mourn the devastating loss of his brother Llyr, who tragically took his own life aged 19 last July.

'Alex and Ellie have been dating for six months now, and it's beginning to get serious between them,' an insider revealed at the time.

Alex has had a difficult year, with the passing of his brother, and working nonstop on the frontline. His family are so pleased to see him happy in a new relationship.'

'The apple of my eye': Alex and Ellie went Instagram official last June when they headed off to Cornwall for a romantic holiday (pictured)

Ellie also took to Instagram to post the same adorable picture with Alex, simply captioning the image: 'My love.'

Prior to his relationship with Ellie, Dr Alex dated Amelia Bath but parted ways in July 2019.

The medic starred on the 2018 series of Love Island but after failed to find love after several couplings.

Back then: The medic starred on the 2018 series of Love Island but after failed to find love after several couplings

He went on to carve a career as a TV doctor and spoke last week on Lorraine about 'fat shaming' trolls and his mental health.

'Sadly, its not even just me, its people being shamed for how they look and a lot of people have said to me they feel uncomfortable going to the gym because people might judge them - movement is for everyone,' he told host Lorraine, 62.

'Its about how you feel - your health, your happiness, its not about having a six pack.

'I dont care that I don't have a six pack quite frankly and I dont think other young people should either.'

Body positivity: Dr Alex George, 30, once again opened up about how hes dealing with trolls on Monday's episode of Lorraine

Commenting on the suggestion that he shouldnt be practising medicine due to past mental health issues, Dr Alex, who has spoken openly about taking anxiety medication, said: 'Its not the first time Ive had it to be honest. "If youve got mental health issues, should you be looking after. Shouldnt the medical council stop you".'

He continued: 'If you have an understanding of what it's like to suffer or need help, I think you can relate to that person.

'Most of the time its about what you cant see and that is why having an understanding and true empathy I think is so important.

'Ive got no shame, and if people want to say that about me then fine. But Im not going to stop and I dont think Im a worse doctor for it.'
Alec Baldwin said goodbye to rural Hampshire on Tuesday after spending three days in the English countryside for a location shoot on behalf of his latest film.

The beleaguered actor is rebuilding his reputation in unlikely surroundings, with quaint market town Alton playing host to Baldwin while he shoots forthcoming feature 97 Minutes.

The thriller is his first foray back into acting since a prop gun he was holding went off on the set of his now abandoned western Rust in October, killing 42-year old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Farewell: Alec Baldwin said goodbye to rural Hampshire on Tuesday after spending three days in the English countryside for a location shoot on behalf of his latest film

But after landing at London's Heathrow Airport on Friday, working on Saturday and ending his weekend at a local curry house with disgraced journalist Martin Bashir on Sunday, the actor appeared to be moving on as the new week got underway.

With his belongings loaded into the rear of a waiting car, Baldwin was seen leaving his temporary home at Hampshire's Alton Hotel, where double rooms cost up to 95 per night.

Baldwin's UK trip got off to an inauspicious start, with the actor admitting his vehicle had been stolen in a rambling video shared to Instagram on Saturday - little more than a day after arriving.

Lovely: The actor enjoyed a brief stay at Alton Hotel (pictured), where rooms can cost up to 95 per night

He's off: The beleaguered actor is rebuilding his reputation in unlikely surroundings, with market town Alton playing host to Baldwin while he shoots forthcoming feature 97 Minutes

farewell: Baldwin was seen loading his belongings into the rear of a car while leaving Alton Hotel in east Hampshire on Tuesday

He told followers: 'I'm gonna go ahead and record this because I think it's funny

'I get to the airport. I fly on a sleeper flight, and I get to the airport and I get through the immigration. I get my bags I'm heading to the car that's gonna drive me to where I'm going.

In his self-confessed 'bad' British accent, he continued: 'And the driver says, "Yeah, we're gonna go to the car park."

Let's go: The actor nursed a takeaway coffee as he climbed into the passenger seat of his car

'I do my bad accent and there's a give away as to where I am. "We're gonna go to the car park. You wait right here and I'll be back straight away."

'And there he goes. I don't see him for twenty minutes, he's gone. And I'm like, "Wow." On my itinerary, there's a number for the car service.

'I call and the guy and he says, "I'm not your driver, I'm the owner of the company and your driver, I've been on the phone with him the past few minutes and he tells me your car has been stolen from the car park."

Jetting off: Baldwin arrived at London's Heathrow airport on Friday as he prepared for work on his latest film

'Oh s**t. What else? "Your driver, its gone." Then the guy comes walking up. "It's gone." I'm walking around clicking my keychain, the door opener to find out where it is. I wrote down where it was. "Anyway, I hope you found your car."

The following day the actor was spotted with shamed reporter Martin Bashir at Mifta's Indian restaurant in Alton.

Bashir, who lives half an hour away in a 1.7million mansion, then gave Baldwin a lift to his hotel.

Night out: On Sunday the actor was spotted with shamed reporter Martin Bashir at Mifta's Indian restaurant in Alton

Baldwin is currently under investigation after shooting and killing the crew member on the set of his now abandoned film Rust in October.

It comes after his lawyer Aaron Dyer confirmed last month that his cell phone had been handed over to authorities in Suffolk County, New York, close to where he lives.

It is being sought by Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and his investigators probing the death of Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the set of Baldwin's western Rust in Bonanza City, New Mexico, on October 21 last year.

Tragedy: Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, pictured, was accidentally shot and killed by Baldwin on the set of the movie. Director Joel Souza was also struck, but survived

Suffolk County cops have been coordinating with their colleagues in Santa Fe, with the device now set to be passed to them imminently.

Baldwin has not been charged with any crime, and denies wrongdoing. Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department first issued a warrant for the phone on December 16.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said investigators probing the tragedy wanted to 'obtain any materials' from Baldwin's phone that could uncover what led to the shooting.

Hutchins was a married mother of one. Director Joel Souza, 48, was also shot during the accident, but recovered from his injuries.
POLICE Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga has said his department should not be held responsible for the unregistered vehicles which were impounded recently, as they were simply implementing a directive from the Transport ministry.

This was after police on January 15, 2022 launched a blitz to impound vehicles without standard registration plates following public concerns that most of those vehicles were being used in criminal activities.

In a letter dated February 2, 2022, Matanga said: If there are any issues regarding motorists who paid for registration plates and can show proof of payment, I advise you to direct those issues to the Transport and Infrastructural Development minister for redress.

May I advise you that the police service is a creature of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and draws its functions from the Constitution. The Transport and Infrastructural Development minister is the one responsible for the administration of the Vehicle Registration and Licensing Act [Chapter 13:14], the letter read.

Transport minister Felix Mhona last month said the country had enough number plates for vehicles.

It is very pathetic that in some areas, we are having zero sales, whereby people are not going to buy number plates, Mhona said.

In a statement yesterday, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said it would not hesitate to approach the courts if the public complained that it was not being issued with vehicle number plates.

Since the operation of impounding plateless and uninsured vehicles began, more than 25 291 motorists have been nabbed. Newsday
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has named her daughter Isabella James Statham, after welcoming her second child last week.

The model, 34, took to Instagram to confirm she'd welcomed a baby girl with her fiance Jason Statham, after MailOnline exclusively revealed the news last week.

Rosie shared her first snap of her baby daughter nestled in a Moses basket with her little hand poking out, along with her bundle of joy's name in the caption.

Sweet: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has revealed she's named her daughter Isabella James Statham as she shared her first snap of the newborn on Instagram on Tuesday

In the post, Rosie also revealed she and Jason welcomed their daughter on February 2, writing the caption: 'Isabella James Statham. 2.2.22.'

Last week MailOnline revealed Rosie and Jason had welcomed their second child in London, after she previously announced she was expecting a new addition in an August Instagram post.

Rosie's representatives were contacted for comment by MailOnline at the time.

Congratulations! The model (pictured on January 23) also revealed she gave birth to her daughter last week on February 2, after revealing her second pregnancy in August

Late last month, Rosie hinted she was nearing her due date as she took to Instagram to show off her baby bump.

The model stunned in the skintight brown maxi dress from Bumpsuit, which clung to her curves and perfectly accentuated her growing bump, and captioned the shot with a sand timer and baby emoji.

The actress previously revealed her growing baby bump while wearing a form-fitting white midi dress, alongside the caption: 'Taaa daahhh !! #round2'.

Parents: Rosie revealed her daughter's name in the Instagram post. She and fiance Jason (pictured in 2020) are already parents to son Jack

Close: Late last month, Rosie hinted she was nearing her due date as she took to Instagram to show off her baby bump

Rosie affectionately cradled her growing stomach in the sweet picture, while smiling as she snapped the photograph in her bathroom mirror.

Congratulatory messages from Rosie and Jason's celebrity pals were left in the comments section below the happy post.

Fellow model Neelam Gill expressed her delight as she wrote: 'Omg! Congratulations beautiful.' While presenter Stacey Dooley wrote: 'Congrats to you all!' Dev Windsor, who is also expecting, wrote: 'Congrats [heart emojis].

Bumping along: The actress previously revealed her growing baby bump in August while wearing a form-fitting white midi dress, alongside the caption: 'Taaa daahhh !! #round2'

Model Daisy Lowe added: 'Awww congratulations super mumma.'

Rosie and Jason, who have been together since 2010 and got engaged in 2016, are already parents to son Jack, four.

They welcomed their son a year after getting engaged. Of their decision to not rush into marriage she had told ET in 2018 that it wasn't a 'huge priority.'

She said: 'We're looking forward to that time. It's also not a huge priority for us; we're so happy. I think it will be fun to do it when the baby's grown up a bit and he can be involved in the wedding.'

Rosie later echoed: 'Weve been so focused on our work for so long and Jack came along. We definitely talk about it, were looking forward to that time. Its also not a huge priority for us, were so happy.'

Last year, Rosie stated that she and Jason would 'love' more children, and that their 20-year age gap as a couple isn't a problem, stating: 'Nope! Never been an issue! Age is nothing but a number!'

In a Q&A at the time, her followers asked everything from her 'favourite thing about being a mother,' to whether or not she would consider making a cameo in Jason's films after acting as Splendid in Mad Max Fury Road.

Happy: Last year, Rosie stated that she and Jason would 'love' more children, and that their 20-year age gap as a couple isn't a problem, stating: 'Nope! Never been an issue!'

She revealed that she adores when Jack hugs her and says 'I love you mama,' and that although she has no plans to appear in the Fast & Furious franchise maybe their 'little guy might!'

When asked her favourite thing about her fiance she gushed: 'He's an amazing hands on Daddy. A supportive and protective partner and he's pretty funny too,' but she did later add that she thinks she has him beat in the humour department.

When asked about she and Jason's height difference she replied: 'I am definitely longer than him with heels on..it's been 11 years so I'm pretty sure he feels good about it.'

Speaking about when they first met, she divulged: 'We met at a party in London in 2009! It was instant chemistry'.

Asked if Jack has an American accent, Rosie replied: 'I'm really proud to say he has a proper English accent and he does have the same booming loud voice as Jason, the pair of them are sooo noisy!'

Rosie said of her son: 'He looks very much like me when I was young but with Jason's eye colour.'
The 94th Academy Award nominations were announced on Tuesday morning and it did not take long for the nominees to react.

Nicole Kidman was one of the first to share her happiness after being singled out for Best Actress for playing Lucille Ball in Being The Ricardos.

'WOW! I'm so overwhelmed! Just having breakfast with my family when the nominations came in. What a beautiful way to find out! I share this with them, Javier, JK, Nina and with ALL the cast and Aaron Sorkin, as this is ours together,' began the 54-year-old actress from Australia.

Scroll down for list of nominations...

Tops: Nicole Kidman was one of the first to share her happiness after being singled out for playing Lucille Ball in Being The Ricardos. Seen in December

Happy lady: 'WOW! I'm so overwhelmed! Just having breakfast with my family when the nominations came in. What a beautiful way to find out! I share this with them, Javier, JK, Nina and with ALL the cast and Aaron Sorkin, as this is ours together,' began the 54-year-old actress from Australia

In the role she wore her hair short and red as she showed off a tougher side while battling criticism and her philandering husband Desi Arnaz, played by Javier Bardem, who was also nominated on Tuesday.

Kidman added, 'This was the hardest role I've ever done and to be honored this way is deeply appreciated. And to Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr, thank you for trusting me with the opportunity to inhabit your mother.'

Lucie and Desi Jr are the children of Lucille and Desi who were wed from 1940 until 1960.

Team effort: In the role she wore her hair short and red as she showed off a tougher side while battling criticism and her philandering husband Desi Arnaz, played by Javier Bardem, who was also nominated on Tuesday.

A nod: Kidman added, 'This was the hardest role I've ever done and to be honored this way is deeply appreciated. And to Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr, thank you for trusting me with the opportunity to inhabit your mother.' Lucie and Desi Jr are the children of Lucille and Desi who were wed from 1940 until 1960

The beauty then said: 'Lucille Ball is one of Hollywood's greatest icons. She was ahead of her time. From actress to producer to studio head, mother and wife, she's an extraordinary inspiration! Thank you Lucille Ball.

'And to everyone who worked on this film both in front of and behind the camera during, our passionate and hardworking crew, Amazon, Todd Black, Aaron Sorkin, this nomination is ours to share!'

Sorkin was not nominated for his screenplay.

A triumph: Kirsten Dunst also reacted to being nominated for a Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Power Of The Dog, which is about a domineering rancher who gives his brother a hard time for bring home his wife

He too: Her partner Jesse Plemons was also given an acting nod for his work in the film. 'To be honored by the Academy is a truly humbling experience,' began the former teen star. 'For both Jesse and I to get our first nominations together is beyond our wildest dreams'

Proud: She then thanked some of her coworkers: 'Congratulations to Jane, Benedict, Kodi and Jesse on their nominations and the entire cast and crew of The Power of the Dog.' And she said working on the movie was a 'once-in-a-lifetime experience.' Dunst added, 'I'm forever grateful for Jane trusting me to bring Rose's story to life'

Kirsten Dunst also reacted to being nominated for a Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Power Of The Dog, which is about a domineering rancher who gives his brother a hard time for bring home his wife.

Her partner Jesse Plemons was also given an acting nod for his work in the film.

'To be honored by the Academy is a truly humbling experience,' began the former teen star.

'For both Jesse and I to get our first nominations together is beyond our wildest dreams.'

She then thanked some of her coworkers: 'Congratulations to Jane, Benedict, Kodi and Jesse on their nominations and the entire cast and crew of The Power of the Dog.'

Still going strong: Denzel Washington seemed thrilled to get the Best Actor nod for his work in The Tragedy Of Macbeth

Top dog: The icon started by saying the movie was one of the best experiences of his career. 'Joel Coen is a genius and I hope the nominations for the film will allow for more people to enjoy a terrific cinematic experience'

Powerful: He ended with, 'Thank you to the members of the Academy for the recognition and to A24 and Apple for their ongoing support'; seen with costar Frances McDormand in December

And she said working on the movie was a 'once-in-a-lifetime experience.'

Dunst added, 'I'm forever grateful for Jane trusting me to bring Rose's story to life. Thank you to the Academy for recognizing our work and for putting me amongst such a remarkable group of actresses.'

Jessica Chastain was nominated for Best Actress for her work in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, which is about the rise of religious broadcaster Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband Jim Bakker.

She nailed it: Jessica Chastain was nominated for Best Actress for her work in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye

The movie queen: She said on Twitter: 'This morning felt like a dream. As Tammy Faye would say, WERE BLEST!!! To be acknowledged by The Academy amongst all of the other incredible actresses that were nominated this year feels surreal'; seen in October

She said on Twitter: 'This morning felt like a dream.

'As Tammy Faye would say, WERE BLEST!!! To be acknowledged by The Academy amongst all of the other incredible actresses that were nominated this year feels surreal.'

Denzel Washington seemed thrilled to get the Best Actor nod for his work in The Tragedy Of Macbeth.

The icon started by saying the movie was one of the best experiences of his career.

An honor: Olivia Colman kept it short after she was given a nod for her work in The Lost Daughter opposite Dakota Johnson. 'Oh my god yes. I'm SO EXCITED!!! And with Maggie and Jessie, and our fellow nominees, this feeling right now is bloody brilliant'

'Joel Coen is a genius and I hope the nominations for the film will allow for more people to enjoy a terrific cinematic experience,' he stated.

The Training Day actor then added: 'Thank you to the members of the Academy for the recognition and to A24 and Apple for their ongoing support.'

Will Smith took to Instagram to share his happiness over being nominated for his work in King Richard.

Happy to be named: Will Smith took to Instagram to share his happiness over being nominated for his work in King Richard. 'WOW!! 6 Oscar noms for #kingrichard.. thats CRAZY,' began the movie star

Props for my pals: 'Honored to see this outpouring of love for our film :-) Proud of you Aunjanue, Zach, Pamela, Dixson, Beyonce and our fantastic cast and crew. Great work all!' he added

'WOW!! 6 Oscar noms for #kingrichard.. thats CRAZY,' began the movie star.

'Honored to see this outpouring of love for our film :-) Proud of you Aunjanue, Zach, Pamela, Dixson, Beyonce and our fantastic cast and crew. Great work all!'

Olivia Colman kept it short and sweet after she was given a nod for her work in The Lost Daughter opposite Dakota Johnson. The director was Maggie Gyllenhaal.

'Oh my god yes. I'm SO EXCITED!!! And with Maggie and Jessie, and our fellow nominees, this feeling right now is bloody brilliant. Thank you thank you thank thank you xxxxxx,' she shared.

A legend: Songwriter Diane Warren received her 13th Oscar nomination for her song Somehow You Do that Reba McEntire sang in Four Good Days. She told DailyMail.com exclusively she was thrilled to be on the list. 'I am still in shock and am extremely excited.' Seen in December

Songwriter Diane Warren received her 13th Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for Somehow You Do that Reba McEntire sang in Four Good Days.

She told DailyMail.com exclusively she was thrilled to be on the list.

'I am still in shock and am extremely excited. This was a tough year and there are hundreds of songs to choose from. The Oscars pick the best of the best, so whether I win or not, just to get nominated is a win.'

Standout: Ariana DeBose got a nod for her acting in West Side Story. Seen in December

Glowing: 'My morning walk along the river was extra special today,' said the star. 'I am absolutely overjoyed by this morning's news. To be recognized alongside such incredible women for their inspiring performances is surreal enough, but to share this celebration with Steven, Kristie, and the entire team that made our beautiful movie is a dream come true'

Siren: She also said, 'I'm so thankful to the Academy for this acknowledgement and am beyond grateful to Steven, Kristie, and everyone at Amblin and Disney. What a moment'

She went on to say that she was thrilled to be nominated 13 times, the most any woman has ever been nominated in any category. She has yet to win.

'I am going to celebrate by going to work and write another song!' she told DailyMail.com.

Four Good Days follows a mother (Glenn Close) who 'helps her daughter (Mila Kunis) work through four crucial days of recovery from substance abuse.'

Somehow You Do was performed by Reba McEntire and written by Warren at the beginning of the pandemic.

'It's a very competitive year, but the song resonates with people,' Warren said.

Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas were nominated for Best Original Song for No Time to Die.

'Words cannot describe how honored and excited we are to have been nominated for an Academy Award for our song No Time To Die,' she began.

'It was a lifelong dream of ours to write a Bond theme, and one we never thought would ever come true. It's completely unbelievable that we are here being recognized for this song, and this is a peak life experience for us as songwriters and artists.

'To be recognized today among these other incredible nominees is something we most certainly do not take for granted. Thank you to the Academy, from the bottom of our hearts.

007 time: Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas were nominated for Best Original Song for No Time to Die. 'Words cannot describe how honored and excited we are to have been nominated for an Academy Award for our song No Time To Die,' she began

In the music video: The songbird was seen in close up as she belted out the song

Not again: No Time To Die saw Daniel Craig in his last performance as James Bond

'Thank you to Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for allowing us this incredible opportunity, and to be part of Daniel Craig's unparalleled legacy as James Bond. Thank you to Cary Joji Fukunaga, and last but not least, thank you to Hans Zimmer, Stephen Lipson and Johnny Marr for being an absolute joy to work with on this song.'

Ariana DeBose got a nod for her acting in West Side Story.

'My morning walk along the river was extra special today,' said the star.

'I am absolutely overjoyed by this morning's news. To be recognized alongside such incredible women for their inspiring performances is surreal enough, but to share this celebration with Steven, Kristie, and the entire team that made our beautiful movie is a dream come true.

'I'm so thankful to the Academy for this acknowledgement and am beyond grateful to Steven, Kristie, and everyone at Amblin and Disney. What a moment.'
Katharine McPhee's beloved rescue dog Wilma has passed away.

On Tuesday, the 37-year-old actress shared the sad news on her Instagram Story and posted a touching tribute to the Chihuahua that she adopted as a senior dog.

'Here's a little tribute to my girl Wilma,' Katherine wrote on the first of several throwback photos and videos featuring the adorable pooch.

Sad: Katharine McPhee's beloved rescue dog Wilma has passed away.

In the photo, the light brown and white Chihuahua was seen walking through a field of clovers.

The Smash star next added a snap of Wilma sitting in her dog carrier while on a ride in the car.

'Also known as WIlly...My husband called her that. And then I started calling her Willy Pie,' Katharine wrote, referencing her spouse David Foster, 72, whom she wed in 2019.

Remembering her: On Tuesday, the 37-year-old actress shared the sad news on her Instagram Story and posted a touching tribute to the Chihuahua that she adopted as a senior dog

The Country Comfort actress posted a sweet shot of Wilma taking a nap with her other senior Chihuahua, Larry. Wilma was cuddled on top of Larry's back with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

She went to share the story of how she came to adopt Wilma, writing, 'I adopted Willy when she was 12. I thought I'd do a nice thing and give her maybe a year or 2 of a good life but this girl kept on going.'

The Los Angeles native continued, 'And wherever she went her tongue was hanging out without fail.'

Katharine: 'Here's a little tribute to my girl Wilma'

In July 2016, Katharine adopted Wilma at a Clear The Shelters event at Los Angeles' The Grove.

She included several videos in which Wilma was seen joining her as she rehearsed for her starring role in the Broadway play Waitress.

'She traveled the world with me,' Katharine wrote on the first of series of clips in which she was seen singing as Wilma trotted over to her.

Backstage: She included several videos in which Wilma was seen joining her as she rehearsed for her starring role in the Broadway play Waitress

'Was at every rehearsal for my first Broadway show...outlived even Larry who was my pride and joy but still managed to steal my heart.'

Katharine played the leading role of Jenna Hunterson in Waitress the Musical, which was an adaptation of the 2007 film starring Keri Russell.

In 2019, the star reprised the role on London's West End after playing Jenna for five months on Broadway in 2018.

The American Idol alum continued in her tribute, 'Kept me company always.

'Thank you Willy for all the great years.'

Performer: Katharine played the leading role of Jenna Hunterson in Waitress the Musical, which was an adaptation of the 2007 film starring Keri Russell

International: In 2019, the star reprised the role on London's West End after playing Jenna for five months on Broadway in 2018

'Thank you Willy for all the great years': Katharine was seen picking up Wilma who trotted over to her as she rehearsed

She included a photo in which she was seen holding Wilma up to her cheek as the canine's tongue hung out her mouth.

Katharine added three heartbroken emojis on top of the image.

In the next cute snap, Wilma was seen sleeping on the couch with Larry and her other rescue Chihuahua Nena.

'Oh Wilma...You sweet sweet girl. You fit in right from the beginning. It's as if you were here all along,' she wrote.'

Sweet: She included a photo in which she was seen holding Wilma up to her cheek as the canine's tongue hung out her mouth

Snoozing: In the next cute snap, Wilma was seen sleeping on the couch with Larry and her other rescue Chihuahua Nena

On set: In the next image, Wilma, Larry and Nena were seen sitting in a stroller on the set of one of Katharine's projects

In the next image, Wilma, Larry and Nena were seen sitting in a stroller on the set of one of Katharine's projects

'I can't believe that I used to have 3 dogs!!' she wrote, adding three crying laughing face emojis.

'You were made for set life.'

Katharine included a photo of Wilma sitting in the backseat with her tongue characteristically hanging out and wrote, 'You will be greatly missed.

Touching: Katharine included a photo of Wilma sitting in the backseat with her tongue characteristically hanging out and wrote, 'You will be greatly missed

Puppy love: She was seen holding Wilma's little paw and gazing down lovingly at her pet in the next photo

'Work cuddles': The Scorpion performer concluded her post with a black and white snap as she held Wilma who was snuggled in a blanket

She was seen holding Wilma's little paw and gazing down lovingly at her pet in the next photo.

'RIP Wilma...' Katharine wrote, adding a large broken heart emoji.

The Scorpion performer concluded her post with a black and white snap as she held Wilma who was snuggled in a blanket.

Katharine wrote, 'Work cuddles,' including a smiling face with three hearts emoji.
The first teaser trailer for Hulu and BBC's television adaption of Sally Rooney's 2017 book Conversations With Friends has been released.

Sex Education star Jemima Kirke and The Favourite's Joe Alwyn feature in the promo as a married couple Melissa and Nick Conway who become involved with a pair of students who were also a former couple.

The story follows the two young student women, Frances (Alison Oliver) and Bobbi (Sasha Lane), as they navigate their unusual attraction to the mysterious and sexy married couple Nick and Melissa after they meet at a poetry night in Ireland, with all four characters appearing in the promo.

Gripping: The first teaser trailer for Hulu and BBC's television adaption of Sally Rooney's 2017 book Conversations With Friends has been released

The novel and trailer alike are packed full of racy moments which will set viewers hearts thumping and will likely follow in the footsteps of Rooney's 2020 series Normal People, which wowed viewers with its intimate, realistic sex scenes.

Like author Rooney's 2018 smash book, Conversations With Friends is also set in Trinity College Dublin.

Bobbi immediately becomes infatuated with Melissa and openly begins a flirtation with the older woman, who appears flattered by the attention.

Setting the scene: Sex Education star star Jemima Kirke and The Favourite's Joe Alwyn feature in the promo as a married couple Melissa and Nick Conway

Entanglement: Nick and Melissa become involved with a pair of students who were also a former couple

Telling the tale: Two young student women, Frances (Alison Oliver) and Bobbi (Sasha Lane), navigate their unusual attraction to the mysterious and sexy married couple Nick and Melissa

Meanwhile Frances and Nick embark on an elicit affair, with the foursome become more and more entangled with one another.

Nick ultimately reveals the affair to his wife, who accepts the relationship having had her own affairs, and Nick begins to date Frances openly within the group.

Eventually Frances rekindles her romantic relationship with both Bobbi and Nick, with the four continuing their elicit attraction to one another despite the complexities.

Compulsive viewing: The novel and trailer alike are packed full of racy moments which will set viewers hearts thumping

Success: The new series comes after the success of Rooney's 2018 novel Normal People which was adapted into a ratings smash hit TV series in 2020

Unlike the rest of the cast, little is known about the show's lead role of Frances, who will be played by emerging talent Alison.

She will make her debut in the series having graduated from drama school Lir Academy in Dublin, Ireland.

The new series comes after the success of Rooney's 2018 novel Normal People which was adapted into a ratings smash hit TV series in 2020.

It saw show leads Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones, who took on Connell and Marianne's love story, soar to fame after it aired during the first lockdown.

Normal People has been the most watched show on BBC Three ever with more than 23 million downloads globally and over 6.75 million devices watching the first episode. This makes it the most popular programme on the channel ever.

Conversations with Friends will premiere in May 2022, airing on BBC Three in the UK and Hulu in the US.

Watch Normal People the series only on Stan in Australia.
She's set to portray a sophisticated art world insider named Alice in the second season of Hulu's hit series Only Murders in the Building.

And Cara Delevingne sported a cozy pink sweat suit as she headed to the New York set to film scenes of the popular show which follows a group of amateur detectives who uncover crimes for their podcast.

The 29-year-old model rocked a blush-colored Chrome Hearts set while hurrying through the streets of Manhattan on Tuesday morning.

Hard at work: Cara Delevingne sported a cozy pink sweat suit as she headed to the New York set to film scenes of the popular show which follows a group of amateur detectives who uncover crimes for their podcast

Cara's over-sized sweatshirt featured the brand's signature white scrawling across the back and down the sides of her pants.

She rocked a pair of black leather combat boots and wore a bright blue bandana across her face.

Delevingne joins an already star-studded cast, which includes Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short who play podcast enthusiasts turned amateur detectives as they uncover a murder in their apartment complex.

The unlikely-trio documents the wild twists and turns of hunting down a murderer in an investigation taped for their own crime podcast.

Fashion: Cara's over-sized sweatshirt featured the brand's signature white scrawling across the back and down the sides of her pants

Stepping out: She rocked a pair of black leather combat boots and wore a bright blue bandana across her face

Adding another star: Delevingne joins an already star-studded cast, which includes Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short

Amy Schumer and Shirley MacLaine also recently signed on to star in the second season of the show.

Short was 'thrilled and honored' to be recognized after receiving word he was nominated last month for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, his first SAG nomination.

'Steve and I have a long history and Selena is a brilliant addition to the show, but then what fuels it is this compelling whodunit,' he said.

Holding tightly: The star held a pillow close to her body as she made her way to the set of the hit television show

Ruff day: Cara was later spotted wearing a plaid coat and cradling a dog in her arms as she left work for the day

On a mission: Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short play podcast enthusiasts turned amateur detectives as they uncover a murder in their apartment complex

'You have the two going on at the same time and then you add the obsession with podcasts.

Not only did Martin earn a nomination, he'll also compete against Steve in the same category, and the show picked up a nom for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

'I think all the stars lined up in the right direction to make this something that people wanted to see, and enjoyed seeing, and kept wanting to see, for the comedy and also the mystery of it,' he said.

Nathan Lane will portray character Teddy Dimas once again while Tina Fey has also signed to star as Cinda Canning, the beloved host of All is Not OK in Oklahoma.
Jonah Hill went shirtless when he was spotted frolicking across a Hawaiian beach on Monday during a trip with his girlfriend Sarah Brady.

The 38-year-old elder brother of Beanie Feldstein has lately been sporting platinum blonde locks, which flew free in the sea breeze.

At one point he sank to his hands and knees beside Sarah, who playfully grabbed his behind while relaxing on the sand.

Trip to paradise: Jonah Hill went shirtless when he was spotted frolicking across a Hawaiian beach during a trip with his girlfriend Sarah Brady

A week earlier he posted a heartwarming picture of himself kissing Sarah by the sea and wrote: 'Lifes a beach with you.'

In a previous post he gushed that his girlfriend, whom he went Instagram official with in September, is the 'happiest best human of them all.'

Jonah's latest sighting came the day before his new film Don't Look Up landed a string of surprise Oscar nominations including best picture.

The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as scientists struggling to warn the public a meteor is about to obliterate life on Earth.

Having a ball: At one point he sank to his hands and knees beside Sarah, who playfully grabbed his behind while relaxing on the sand

Meryl Streep plays a US President inspired by Donald Trump who ignores the scientists' pleas for help, and Jonah is a scene-stealer as her boneheaded son.

Although the critics were sharply divided by Don't Look Up, their opinions did not stand in the way of its popularity, as Deadline reported last month it was the second most successful Netflix movie ever released.

This sighting comes after Jonah dealt with online shaming.

Jonah, who has been trolled in the past for his fluctuating weight, recently hit back at a jab he received about how often he is seen surfing.

He posted an Insta Stories picture late last year showing a sticker apparently somewhere outdoors that read: 'Jonah Hill ruined surfing.'

Hollywood blond: The 38-year-old older brother of Beanie Feldstein has lately been sporting platinum blonde locks, which fluttered in the sea breeze

'I will never stop doing things that make me happy no matter how insecure my happiness makes you,' he wrote in response to the dig.

Sarah, an environmental activist, posted a picture of the sticker to her own Insta Stories and wrote: 'Only kooks do s*** like this.'

She added: 'I know this aint it. Respect your beach by respecting others,' and instructed her followers: 'If you feel the need to rain on someone elses parade, ask yourself why and consider getting yourself a life.'

The look of love: A week earlier he posted a heartwarming picture of himself kissing Sarah by the sea and wrote: 'Lifes a beach with you'

Sarah wrapped up her message: 'I love my man @jonahhill and am proud of him for getting into surfing for the pure joy it brings.'

Jonah wrote on Instagram last October: 'I know you mean well but I kindly ask that you not comment on my body. Good or bad I want to politely let you know it's not helpful and doesn't feel good. Much respect.'

Sharon Stone then wrote in the comments: 'Can I say u look good cuz you do,' only to be roundly slammed for disregarding Jonah's request.

Wow: Jonah's latest sighting came the day before his new film Don't Look Up landed a string of surprise Oscar nominations including best picture
Laura Anderson has shown off her new hair transformation in a scorching new lingerie photo on Tuesday.

The Love Island star, 32, took to Instagram to share a mirror selfie of her in a floral white and pink corset bra that emphasized her ample assets.

She paired it with the matching underwear, which put her tanned legs and toned midriff on full display.

Hot stuff: Laura Anderson has shown off her new hair transformation in a scorching new lingerie photo on Tuesday

Her blonde tresses were styled straight, and she showed off her brand new wispy fringe in the image.

She completed the sizzling look with a full face of glamorous makeup that highlighted her pretty features.

Captioning the stunning shot, she quipped: 'New undies who dis?'

Jokester: Captioning the stunning shot, she quipped: 'New undies who dis?'

It comes after Laura explained why she forgave her boyfriend Dane Bowers and took him back three years after he cheated on her.

The TV personality met Dane at a party in November 2017 where they had instant chemistry, despite their 10 year age gap and began dating.

However, Laura was rocked when she discovered that Dane was seeing someone else six months in.

She explained to The Sun: 'We weren't in a relationship at that point, and we never said we were exclusive, but I was disappointed, so I confronted him and ended it.'

She then signed up to join Love Island, where she met Paul Knops but that relationship ended after she heard reports he had a secret girlfriend.

After a string of failed relationships, Laura turned to Dane for comfort and her feelings for him soon turned romantic earlier this year.

She added that she made him work for it, but didn't want shut herself off to him after their past together and soon they got back together.

Laura said: 'I never thought I'd be able to trust Dane again, but I trust him more than anyone I've ever been with  even people who haven't cheated.'
Jenna Jameson has revealed she is 'doing okay' and plans on leaving the hospital 'soon' in a video updating fans on her battle with a mysterious ailment.

'Hey guys, so I am still in the hospital, I'm doing okay and I'll be out soon,' Jenna, 47, said in a brief clip posted to her Instagram Stories on Monday. She appeared to be addressing her many followers from her hospital bed.

Jenna was taken to the hospital over a month ago by her partner Lior Bitton after she spent two weeks 'throwing up' and stopped being able to walk.

'I'm doing okay': Jenna Jameson has revealed she is 'doing okay' and plans on leaving the hospital 'soon' in a video updating fans on the latest in her ongoing health battle

Doctors suspected Jenna may have had Guillain-Barre syndrome, but tests later determined she was not suffering from the disease.

'Just a little update, Jenna is still in the hospital,' Bitton said in a clip on Jameson's page on the social media site last month.

Bitton said Jameson's doctor confirmed that she didn't 'have the Guillain-Barre syndrome' after she was tested a second time and underwent five rounds of IVIG, a therapeutic procedure for people with antibody deficiencies.

Bitton thanked followers 'for all the prayers' and urged them to 'keep praying for Jenna' amid the troubled times.

'I'll be out soon': Jenna appeared to be laying in her hospital bed as she addressed her many followers on Instagram

Health battle: Doctors suspected Jenna may have had Guillain-Barre syndrome, but tests later determined she was not suffering from the disease

Bitton, an Israeli businessman, who shares daughter Batel, four, with the model, has been keeping Jameson's followers updated on her health struggles on her social media.

He said earlier this month that he took the the ex-adult film actress to a nearby hospital after she was 'throwing up' constantly for two weeks and wasn't able to walk.

Bitton said on the social media site that Jameson's 'legs [are] thinning down' and that she was unable to walk or stand up.

Bitton said Jameson's doctor confirmed that she didn't 'have the Guillain-Barre syndrome' after she was tested a second time and underwent five rounds of IVIG, a therapeutic procedure for people with antibody deficiencies

'She came back home and she couldn't carry herself,' Bitton said. 'Her muscles in her legs were very weak. So she wasn't able to walk to the bathroom. She was falling on the way back or to the bathroom, I would have to pick her up and carry her to bed.

'And then within two days it got really not so good, her legs started to not hold her, she wasn't able to walk.'

Jameson said in a clip on her account after the initial diagnosis that she was 'working through' a 'little syndrome called Guillain-Barre syndrome,' and that she appreciated the support she was receiving from fans.

Jameson, seen last June in an Instagram post, has been hospitalized this month with a serious illness

The Las Vegas native noted that her health troubles were 'NOT a reaction to the' COVID-19 vaccine, as she 'did NOT get the jab or any jab.'

Guillain-Barre syndrome, according to the CDC, 'is a rare, autoimmune disorder in which a persons own immune system damages the nerves, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.'

The ailment's symptoms can 'last for a few weeks to several years,' the CDC said, and while 'most people recover fully ... some have permanent nerve damage,' with a small number of cases being fatal.
Helen Mirren looked radiant alongside her co-star Jim Broadbent at a special screening of their film The Duke in London on Tuesday.

Donning a sparkly red dress for the occasion at The National Gallery, the actress, 76, beamed with joy as she enjoyed an impromptu dance with Jim, 72 - who plays Kempton Bunton opposite her cleaner Dorothy Bunton in the acclaimed flick.

Jim cut a dapper figure in a smart suit and was sporting a playful grin as he held Helen in his arms while showing off his best moves.

Playful: On Tuesday, Helen Mirren, 76, beamed with joy as she enjoyed an impromptu dance with Jim Broadnet, 72, at a special screening of their film The Duke at The National Gallery

Helen wore her grey hair swept from her face and teamed her show-stopping gown with statement-making drop earrings.

She made her flawless look pop with a swipe of blush lipstick.

The Duke - produced by Nicky Bentham - is a moving true story that celebrates a man who was determined to live a meaningful life.

Co-stars: Jim cut a dapper figure in a smart suit and was sporting a playful grin as he danced with Helen - who plays cleaner Dorothy Bunton opposite his Kempton Bunton in the flick

Strutting their stuff: The co-stars hilariously performed a dance routine while posing for photographers

Wow: Helen looked radiant while she posed next to Jim

Story behind the film: The film follows the story of Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, who stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London

Plot: The Duke is a moving true story that celebrates a man who was determined to live a meaningful life

Set in 1961, it follows the story of Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, who stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first, and remains the only, theft in the Gallery's history.

Kempton proceeded to send ransom notes declaring that he would only return the painting on the condition that the government invest more in care for the elderly, specifically bringing attention to his long running campaign for pensioners to receive free television.

What happened next is the stuff of legends. Only 50 years later did the full story emerge and it was revealed that Kempton had spun a web of lies.

Pictured L-R: Charlotte Spencer, Aimee Kelly, Fionn Whitehead, Helen, Jim, Anna Maxwell Martin and Matthew Goode

Posing with the producer: The film stars also posed with The Duke's producer Nicky Bentham

Ransom notes: Kempton proceeded to send ransom notes declaring that he would only return the painting on the condition that the government invest more in care for the elderly

Impressive: The Duke has been directed by Bafta winner Roger Michell (of Notting Hill fame) from a screenplay by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman

Popular: The uplifting dramatic comedy had its World Premiere at last year's Venice Film Festival where it was received to critical acclaim

The only truth was that he was a good man, determined to change the world and save his marriage - how and why he used the Duke to achieve this, is a wonderfully uplifting tale that will be seen on film for the first time.

Starring Academy Award winners Jim and Helen, The Duke has been directed by Bafta winner Roger Michell (of Notting Hill fame) from a screenplay by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman.

The uplifting dramatic comedy had its World Premiere at last year's Venice Film Festival where it was received to critical acclaim.

The Duke is a Pathe, Ingenious Media and Screen Yorkshire presentation of a Neon Films Production.

Nicky Bentham is the Producer and the Executive Producers are Cameron McCracken and Jenny Borgars for Pathe, Andrea Scarso for Ingenious Media, Hugo Heppell for Screen Yorkshire, Peter Scarf and Christopher Bunton.
Jodie Comer showed off her chic style as she posed alongside Sandra Oh at a photo call for the fourth season of Killing Eve at The Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel in California on Tuesday.

The British actress, 28, who plays assassin Villanelle in the BBC show, wore an elegant black lace top with cut out detail to give a glimpse at her midriff.

She posed alongside Canadian-American Sandra, 50, who portrays Eve Polastri, with the star catching the eye in a bright red trouser suit with a large rosette which covered her left lapel and shoulder.

Star power: Jodie Comer, 28, looked chic as she posed alongside Sandra Oh, 50, at a photo call for the fourth season of Killing Eve at The Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel in California on Tuesday

Sandra stood arm-in-arm with Jodie and struck a casual pose as she placed her hand in her pocket.

She wore a pair of black heels to add a few inches to her stature and accessorised with a pair of gold earrings.

Jodie completed her look with a pair of black trousers and matching heels and went for a subtle look with her make-up to show off her natural beauty.

In style: The British actress, who plays assassin Villanelle in the BBC show, wore an elegant black lace top with cut out detail to give a glimpse at her midriff

Famous friends: She posed alongside Canadian-American Sandra, who portrays Eve Polastri, with the star catching the eye in a bright red trouser suit with a large rosette

Killing Eve will be making its fourth and final run later this month - and the trailer promises tense moments in abundance.

Eve and Villanelle will be engulfed in their usual game of cat and mouse, while Eve's boss Carolyn, played by Fiona Shaw, is setting her sights on hunting down the international organization that employs assassins, The Twelve.

Ahead of the February 27 series premiere on BBC America and AMC, the trailer shows Villanelle, in her classic style, divulging: 'I killed two people last night after I tried really hard not to,' to which a man replies, 'Okay, well, that's not ideal.'

Close pals: Sandra stood arm-in-arm with Jodie and struck a casual pose as she placed her hand in her pocket

In style: Jodie completed her look with a pair of black trousers and matching heels and went for a subtle look with her make-up to show off her natural beauty

The next scene tells a similar story, where Eve confesses to shooting someone in the hand.

When asked how it felt, she says to the man in the scene: ' Like you said it would feel. Want to have sex?'

In other trailer snippets, Carolyn asks Eve to take over The Twelve investigation after members of the organisation were killed.

Screen star: Killing Eve will be making its fourth and final run later this month - and the trailer, which was released this month, promises tense moments in abundance

Telling the tale: Eve and Villanelle will be engulfed in their usual game of cat and mouse, while Eve's boss Carolyn, played by Fiona Shaw, is setting her sights on hunting down the international organisation that employs assassins, The Twelve

When Eve and Villanelle eventually come face-to-face, the blonde thrill-seeker tries to convince her former foe that she has changed.

Eve retorts: 'If you'd really changed, you wouldn't have come here.'

Villanelle, donning a cross necklace while on her knees, replies: 'If you'd really changed, you wouldn't have let me.'

Killing Eve Season Four TRAILER: Jodie and Sandra return for the final chapter with their classic game of cat and mouse - as the trailer teases a plethora of tense moments

New scenes: Killing Eve will be making its fourth and final run later on this month and will premiere on BBC America and AMC on February 27

Speaking on This Morning last year, Jodie told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield how she was about to shoot the last two episodes of the fourth and final season.

Jodie said that she hopes the show will end on a 'good and satisfying' note for viewers while not completely ruling out doing a film based on the series.

She said: 'It's very surreal, we are just about to start filming the last 2 episodes. We want to end on a good note and on a satisfying note for the audience. It's been a huge part of all our lives.

'I feel emotional even thinking about it. I want to take a clapper board with me when we wrap up!'

'It will be great to end in a way as if you go on and on with a series the quality can fade, but it will be hard to not see those people every day.'
THOUSANDS of cancer patients have been left stranded after Parirenyatwa Hospitals three radiotherapy machines broke down.

Radiation is used to treat at least 50% of all cancer cases. It can be either curative or palliative, depending on the stage and prognosis of the disease.

The radiotherapy machines at Parirenyatwa are said to have been down for the past 18 days, with authorities frantically trying to bring in foreign engineers and the required spares to repair them.

Stranded patients who require the services are now vulnerable to further spread of the cancerous cells, as well as suffering immense pain.

Lovemore Makurirofa from the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe said interruption of cancer treatment was a major drawback in the recovery of patients.

It is critical that when radiotherapy is commenced, it should not be interrupted. The breaking down of the machines means that there may be certain cancer patients who were on treatment, but of which treatment will be now interrupted. The results are that it will give an opportunity for the cancer to spread, Makurirofa said.

Radiotherapy relieves pain by shrinking the cancer cells, and so without the machines, it means many patients are experiencing a lot of pain, especially those on palliative care, he further explained that patients would face a lot of emotional challenges.

They require a lot of counselling in order to understand this predicament.

This is not the first time that the machines have broken down. Over the years, this critical service has been interrupted despite the fact that Parirenyatwa is one of the countrys two major referral centres for cancer patients.

Mpilo Hospital is the other centre, but its machines also face similar challenges and patients often travel to Harare for radiotherapy.

Parirenyatwa Hospital spokesperson Lenos Dhire said: We had an interruption in the provision of radiotherapy services from January 17, 2022 due to breakdown of equipment.

He said provision of radiotherapy was key to holistic cancer management, thus the hospital and the parent ministry were seized with the matter.

Concerted efforts are underway to ensure that the required spares and the foreign engineers are urgently brought in to fix the problem. The spares and engineers to fix the machines are not available locally Dhire said.

For years, health stakeholders have implored authorities to ensure there is a local technician to repair the machines instead of depending on foreign skills.

We hope to restore the services as soon as possible. The hospital is, however, still providing all other services with regards to cancer treatment as guided by our specialist oncologists, Dhire said.

Radiotherapy may be used in the early stages of cancer or after it has started to spread, and is considered as the most effective cancer treatment after surgery. Newsday
With his elegant, rapid drawl and mercurial mind, Bamber Gascoigne was regarded by ten million avid University Challenge viewers as the cleverest man on television.

This, in fact, seriously underestimated his intellectual powers. Gascoigne, who has died aged 87 after a short illness, treated TV as his rich godfather and his private income, enabling him to put his formidable brain to other tasks.

A playwright, novelist, documentary presenter, publisher, connoisseur of Victorian prints and theatre critic, he embarked on two of his most ambitious challenges after turning 60  creating a sprawling website charting all of world history, and building an opera house in the grounds of his Surrey mansion.

But it is as the original quizmaster of University Challenge, for 25 years, that he was most celebrated. His brisk announcement of new rounds with your starter for ten, no conferring and fingers on buzzers, as well as the gentle admonishing Ill have to hurry you, became national catchphrases.

With his elegant, rapid drawl and mercurial mind, Bamber Gascoigne (pictured with wife Christina in 2003) was regarded by ten million avid University Challenge viewers as the cleverest man on television

Every impressionist did Bamber Gascoigne  most famously Griff Rhys Jones played him in an episode of The Young Ones, where Rik Mayall and pals took on a team of toffs including Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry.

His image as Britains biggest clever-clogs was so pervasive that when, in the early 1970s, Liverpool FC fielded two players with degrees (even more rare then than now), fans dubbed the graduate duo Big Bamber and Little Bamber.

He made his debut on the quiz show aged 26 in 1962, though by then he had already demonstrated his remarkable breadth of talent.

He had won a scholarship to Eton as a teenager, where he felt he was treated with disdain for being there on academic merit.

His first ambition was to go into theatre, a passion fuelled when the school magazine declared him a born actor after a single performance. But at 18 he followed family tradition, becoming an officer in the Grenadier Guards for his National Service. His duties, he said, alternated between guarding Buckingham Palace and escorting debutantes to society balls.

Two years later, studying English literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge, he revived his interest in acting and was horrified to realise how dull it was to perform the same play more than once.

Instead, he turned to writing skits for the Cambridge comedy revue, Footlights. The producer Michael Codron, then 26, saw one and urged Gascoigne to write a whole show. In a term, while completing his degree (he was awarded a first), Gascoigne dashed off 18 songs and sketches, full of wordplay and erudite references.

His image as Britains biggest clever-clogs was so pervasive that when, in the early 1970s, Liverpool FC fielded two players with degrees (even more rare then than now), fans dubbed the graduate duo Big Bamber and Little Bamber (Pictured in 1982)

The show was called Share My Lettuce, and it ended with a magic trick where a white rabbit hopped from a box to tuck into a salad.Codron hired Kenneth Williams, then a rising star, and an unknown actress named Maggie Smith. It opened in Hammersmith to rave reviews: Williams effortlessly proves himself the funniest unknown actor on the English stage, declared the Mail.

In 1959 he won a scholarship to Yale where he studied writing for theatre, only to realise this was not a skill he could learn in the classroom. To support himself, he became a theatre critic, for the Spectator and the Observer.

When a TV producer invited him to audition for a quiz game pilot, he leapt at the chance of some easy money: The letter virtually said, If you want to be on TV, ring this number. 

Based on a U.S. show called College Bowl, University Challenge was originally expected to run for one series on ITV. It took eight weeks to film, for which Gascoigne was paid 40 a week  enabling him to return to writing plays.

At first, the show was regarded with withering contempt by Oxbridge students  until Oxford and Cambridge discovered the rules allowed them to field teams from different colleges. Soon, Oxbridge dominated the schedules.

This led to a backlash, with the show decried as elitist. Manchester students staged a protest, fielding a team of would-be revolutionaries who answered every question, on any subject, with the name of a communist hero.

By the time one of them had said Che Guevara or Karl Marx for the umpteenth time, a faintly testy Gascoigne remarked: Highly unpopular in the studio and tends to lead to ejection, so lets stop. Manchester University was subsequently banned from the show for several years.

As a playwright, in the mid-1960s Gascoigne poured his energy into a modern treatment of a Greek myth, Leda Had A Little Swan.

His version imagined a little boy who was sexually obsessed with his toy duck. It was banned by the Lord Chamberlain. Undeterred, Gascoigne took it to New York where it opened off Broadway  and closed within days.

In 1971 Gascoigne collaborated with his wife Christina on The Great Moghuls, a book of history and sumptuous photographs.

The success of this led to a second book, on China, and then a 13-part documentary, The Christians, tracing religious history across 2,000 years. Filming took him to 30 countries.

He continued to present University Challenge until 1987, hosting 913 episodes. Educational standards never slipped, he insisted: Bright students are bright students  they havent changed very much, except I was once their age.

When the show was revived in 1994 on the BBC, Jeremy Paxman replaced him. Gascoigne professed not to mind, though he admitted he didnt watch it. By now, he had other obsessions.

Fascinated by rare colour prints from the 19th century, especially those depicting the country around his home in Richmond, Surrey, he set up a publishing house, the Saint Helena Press.

Intellectual puzzles and games delighted him. When he appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1987, he asked his wife to choose eight pieces of music for him  and had interviewer Michael Parkinson set him clues, so that he had to guess what they were

Its first volume of prints was priced at an extravagant 47. A tiny number of people wont be able to do without it, he predicted  and he was right: it rapidly sold out.

Intellectual puzzles and games delighted him. When he appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1987, he asked his wife to choose eight pieces of music for him  and had interviewer Michael Parkinson set him clues, so that he had to guess what they were.

In 1994, he embarked on an online interactive global history, with all the turning points in human civilisation plotted along a timeline. The project became a sprawling website, historyworld.net, with 300 essays describing 10,000 events.

He was amused to see Mark Gatiss play him, in the 2006 British comedy movie Starter For 10, which starred James McAvoy as a student who appears on University Challenge to impress a girl.

But the most dramatic venture of his later life came after he inherited a tumbledown, 50-room mansion from his great-aunt, Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe. The 15th-century West Horsley Place, once owned by Henry VIII, came with 380 acres  and a scandal attached.

His great-aunt moved there after her marriage to the duke broke down  but not before she had barricaded herself into a wing of the dukes stately home, Floors Castle in Scotland.

She stayed there for six weeks before eventually being coaxed out by the Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home.

For the next half-century, the duchess refused to admit visitors to West Horsley Place. Journalists compared her to Miss Havisham, the character in Dickens Great Expectations who lived as a recluse.

My aunt didnt let anyone in to most of the house, Gascoigne said, after her death aged 99 in 2014. She felt it was intrusive.

Rather than spending money to have someone fix the roof, shed just put a new bucket under it. The house needed a great deal of repair.

That bill ran into millions  your starter for 10 million, quipped one wag. The funds came from selling off the contents, which included famous artworks, and numerous uniforms and costumes.The mansion was also hired out for filming.

But Gascoigne and his wife, keen opera buffs, didnt want merely to restore the stately home. In the orchard, they built an opera house, modelled on La Scala in Milan.

As a tribute to the late duchess, her ashes are buried under the orchestra pit.

The site is now the permanent home of Grange Park Opera, which opened in 2017, and Gascoigne was appointed a CBE the following year. With the English understatement that defined his charm, he said: We both felt it was a bit feeble not to give it a shot.

A place that for several centuries has been entirely private can look forward to many centuries of people enjoying it. I think thats a wonderful thing.

Many will think it wonderful, too, that a man with so many brilliant careers behind him could wait until his 80s before creating his greatest legacy.
She's one of Hollywood's most in-demand models and has a sense of style unmatched to any it girl.

And Hailey Bieber played it cool with a casual ensemble as she ran a few errands in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.

The 25-year-old stunner even managed to look top notch wearing a slouchy striped sweater with a pair of baggy jeans as she headed into appointments while tending to another busy day on her calendar.

Chic in the city: Hailey Bieber played it cool with a casual ensemble as she ran a few errands in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning

Hailey's long-sleeved sweater featured a V-neck, ribbed collar with a dropped shoulder hem and long sleeves reaching down past her hands.

Her long legs were hidden underneath a pair of classic, wide-leg cargo jeans, which she paired with white-and-maroon Nike kicks.

Mrs. Justin Bieber carried an iced coffee in one hand while juggling her iPhone and a set of keys as she made her way through a parking lot.

She wears it well: The 25-year-old stunner even managed to look top notch wearing a slouchy striped sweater with a pair of baggy jeans as she headed into appointments while tending to another busy day on her calendar

Fashion forward: Hailey's long-sleeved sweater featured a V-neck, ribbed collar with a dropped shoulder hem and long sleeves reaching down past her hands

Her honey-hued hair was slicked back into a tight bun and she shielded her eyes from the bright sun with a pair of rectangular frames.

Hailey reminisced on the evening before with snaps shared to Instagram where she stepped out with bff Kendall Jenner for a girls' night at The Nice Guy.

The daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin showed off her incredible figure wearing a black leather vest with a plunging neckline in a series of snaps simply captioned 'cheers.'

Wow! Hailey reminisced on the evening before with snaps shared to Instagram where she stepped out with bff Kendall Jenner for a girls' night at The Nice Guy

Model behavior: The daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin showed off her incredible figure wearing a black leather vest with a plunging neckline in a series of snaps simply captioned 'cheers'

Kendall and Hailey weren't alone though as they reportedly ran into Kanye West and Travis Scott at the Hollywood hot spot.

West, who has been on a very public social media tirade against estranged wife Kim Kardashian in the last few weeks, was spotted earlier in the night with Scott, Kylie Jenner's boyfriend, at Nobu Malibu for a Donda 2 listening party.

Scott, who welcomed his second child with Kylie on Feb. 2, has largely stayed out of the spotlight since the tragic Astroworld disaster where 11 people were killed, but is set to return to the spotlight with a track on Kanye's 11th album, which has a Feb. 22 release date.
Sharon Stone revealed her harsh childhood in rural Pennsylvania where she was hit with a belt by her father and sexually assaulted by her grandfather in her bestselling book The Beauty Of Living Twice.

And in the new issue of Rake Magazine the blonde Hollywood bombshell explained more to writer Tom Chamberlin.

The Basic Instinct vet shared that she was asked to be silent and be a good little girl even when things were terrible, and she felt that was far from healthy.

Looking back: Sharon Stone revealed her harsh childhood in rural Pennsylvania in her book The Beauty Of Living Twice. And in the new issue of Rake Magazine the blonde Hollywood bombshell explained more to writer Tom Chamberlin

She tried to be a good kid: The star had a tough time as a child as her family struggled

'To be expected to be the perfect one, the one that doesn't complain, the one that does everything exactly right all the time, and the one that will do it without any acknowledgement, is really boring,' she shared.

'To be the silent co-dependent shut-the-f**k-up girl is not a healthy role.'

She was smart and there was pressure on her to get a brainy job.

Her parents wanted her to be obedient: 'To be expected to be the perfect one, the one that doesn't complain, the one that does everything exactly right all the time, and the one that will do it without any acknowledgement, is really boring,' she shared

She has survived a lot: The Basic Instinct vet shared that she was asked to be silent and do good

'All these I.Q. tests and all the stuff that I have done led [my father] to believe that I should be an architectural engineer. For him, for me to do something that relied on the way I looked or the way I presented myself was just appalling,' she noted.

In her book she noted that her father was crestfallen when she decided to become a model then actress, even though she was making far more money than her parents ever could.

The Pennsylvania native looked stunning for the cover of Rake in a white tank top with a deep California tan as she wore her hair up.

Hard to please: Her father beat her with a belt, she said in her book. And she told Rake that he wanted her to use her brains not her looks for her career; seen in 2006

With her folks: Stone (R) smiles next to her parents Joseph (C) and Dorothy at The Billies charity gala in Beverly Hills in 2007

Her makeup was light pink and made her look much younger than her years.

Stone has been working in movies since Woody Allen cast her in Stardust in 1980.

And the 63-year-old blonde bombshell does not seem to be slowing down at all as she now starring as Kaley Cuoco's mother in the second season of the hit series The Flight Attendant.

Sharon has been cast as Lisa Bowden - who wishes to remain distant to her daughter after spending a lifetime dealing with Cassie's alcoholism.

Still hanging with mom: The Total Recall actress has moved her mom into her house; here they are looking at her book

The character briefly appears during a flashback scene in the first season but will take on a more prominent role in the latest series, which is set to air later this year.

The new season sees Cassie living a sober life in Los Angeles before an overseas assignment leads her to inadvertently witness a murder, meaning she becomes involved in another international intrigue.

'The Flight Attendant' has proved to be a hit with audiences as season one was nominated for nine Emmy awards but Kaley was worried that her fans would 'hate' the show.

Taking off: The 63-year-old blonde bombshell does not seem to be slowing down at all as she now starring as Kaley Cuoco's mother in the second season of the hit series The Flight Attendant. Sharon has been cast as Lisa Bowden

The 36-year-old star said: 'All that went through my mind for the past three-and-a-half years since I optioned this book is, 'Oh my God, am I making a mistake?'

''Are people going to hate this? Are they going to love it? Oh God, this is so bad, what am I doing? Why am I doing this?''

The 'Big Bang Theory' actress also revealed how she witnessed how the programme was put together as an executive producer and says it makes the end result 'even sweeter'.

Kaley said: 'Being an executive producer now, you just know way too much, you see all the struggle. As an actor, I get to wake up and walk in, you do your job and then you leave, and you see the end project.

'But learning the road to the end project, it actually makes this even sweeter, because you know how hard to work is, and how much of a huge team effort it takes.'
Darul Uloom Deoband, the most influential Islamic seminary in the world after Al Azhar in Egypt, is in the middle of a new controversy over publishing of online fatwas (Islamic opinion) on the wesbite. The website of the seminary has been ordered shut for the time being on orders of the Saharanpur District Magistrate, as the investigation against the content on its website continues.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had asked the Saharanpur DM to probe the statements made by the seminary on its website.

But this is hardly the first time that Darul Uloom Deoband is making news.

Students at Darul Uloom Deoband. Photo: Getty Images

The last time when Saharanpur was in the news was in August 2021, when the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government had announced setting up an Anti-Terrosim Squad unit in the communally sensitive region of western UP, Deoband, to keep an eye on the terrorism activities.

This was the after-effect of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and Taliban taking over power in the country. The foundation stone of the ATS unit was laid on January 2, 2022 by UP CM Yogi Adityanath. The ATS unit has 100 commandos' training facilities, with around 15 IPS officers deputed.

Now, the Darul Ulooms website is in fresh controversy over its content on the website. While the seminary said that the fatwas were just online piece of advice given to people, the NCPCR flagged the content for violating rights of children.

Here is what you need to know about the entire controversy on the Darul Uloom Deoband website.

WHAT DID THE NCPCR SAY?

NCPCR wrote to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary on January 15, 2022, asking to investigate the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband in relation to passing online fatwas or legal opinion which the commission said were misleading and unlawful.

The commission also asked the Saharanpur DM Akhilesh Singh to probe the Islamic seminary's online fatwas which it published on the website. It alleged in its complaint that the seminary has made misleading statements while answering queries of people on the website.

The DM passed the interim order on Monday to ban the website as the inquiry continues.

WHAT ARE THE ALLEGATIONS?

There are several complaints made by the NCPCR in its complaint against the Deoband seminary. According to the commission, Darul Ulooms website, while answering one of the queries, said that the adopted child in Islam does not become the legal heir of the property of his parents. The Commission called this violation of child rights, saying that the Indian constitution gives the adopted child right to his parents' property just like the biological child.

Second, the Commission registered its complaint against Deoband for advising parents to not send their daughters to co-educational schools, saying that girl students should be taught by women teachers only. The Commission said that the seminary asked parents to ask their daughters not to participate in extra-curricular programmes in school, not to wear costumes in school functions, and not even wear a tie as that is un-Islamic.

NCPCR Chief Priyank Kanoongo spoke to Economic Times and said that the Commission had given 10 days to the DM to look into the issue and get all the objectionable content removed.

WHAT DARUL ULOOM DEOBAND SAYS

Darul Uloom Deoband. Photo: Getty Images

Darul Uloom spokesperson Ashraf Usmani said that the disputed fatwas were just piece of advice and that it was not binding on people to follow them, Economic Times reported. He said that the advice was given only when people asked for it. Usmani added that content was removed after the DM ordered for its removal. He further said that parents were free to follow their own choice and that they followed the laws of the land.

Darul Uloom cleric Mufti Abul Kasim Nomani also said that the content has been removed from the website on the DM's order, Jagran reported.

WHAT IS A FATWA?

A fatwa is technically a legal opinion in Islamic law, practice or convention. To give a fatwa, one has to be of considerable knowledge in the Quran and Islamic laws. In India, there is Aalim, who can advise people on the understanding of certain things in the light of Islamic law. The role of Aalim is just to interprete Quranic teachings appropriately to the followers of Islam. An Aalim or Ulema (group of Aalims) cannot themselves frame a law that is binding on the people. They have to go as per the teachings in the Quran.

However, there is no clergy in Islam. The religion is entirely personal.

Darul Uloom Deoband issues online fatwas which are basically answers to the queries of the people. Questions relating to personal affairs, divorce laws, marriage, food, etc., are asked by the people; and the seminary chooses to answer or not answer these questions.

Darul Uloom website homepage. Photo: Darul Uloom website

Online Fatwa page of the darul uloom's website. Photo: Darul Uloom website

As of now, the Darool Uloom Deoband website has not been banned.
ZIMBABWES population is projected to be nearly 17 million, growing by nearly four million in the last 10 years from 13 million recorded during the 2012 national census, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) has said.

Last year, ZimStat conducted a census mapping exercise which projected the population to be now at 16,9 million.

These include 8,8 million females and 8,1 million males.

The 2012 census put the countrys population at 13 061 239; 6 780 700 females and 6 280 539 males.

ZimStat is expected to conduct another census this year.

It will use the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technique in capturing data from members of the public.

There will be 50 000 enumerators each with a tablet to capture information digitally while about 300 motorcycles will be procured for data collection in remote areas.

Results will inform policymakers on how to make projections for the country.

ZimStat public relations and communication manager Ms Mercy Chidemo said the pre-census mapping exercise which ended last week projected that the country now has nearly 17 million people.

The projected 2022 Population number is 16 980 513 with 8 810 090 females and 8 170 423 males, she said.

Ms Chidemo said the agency has completed its pre-census mapping exercise and is now recruiting census field workers.

We now have the enumeration areas and we are now moving into training for the level one teams.

Starting this month, we will be training national supervisors and trainers who will train the enumerators.

Most of the recruitment is being done from the public service.

And all the recruitment is being done this month for the enumerators, the supervisors and information communication technology experts, said Ms Chidemo.

ZimStat is targeting to recruit 50 000 enumerators who will conduct the census exercise from April 21 to April 30 this year.

Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary Mr Paul Nyoni said the census is important as it will inform the countrys policy direction.

We cant plan without measuring. Census is what tells us what we are planning for, what we need to provide and what the future looks like.

Remember census does not just add up people, it looks at growth and other things.

So, you can then project and say we need x number of schools in the future and x number of hospitals.

It determines the demands of resources that are allocated in accordance to the growing number of the population, said Mr Nyoni.

He said at a political level, the census will determine the level of representation that a community will have.

In other words, it will determine the number of wards and the number of constituencies that an area will have.

It is crucial that everyone is counted.

It is not childs play or any kind of projection but we all need to be counted for communities to get resources, he said.

Presenting the 2022 national budget last year, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the Covid-19 pandemic had affected the census preparatory exercise.

The budget is therefore setting aside $3 billion towards the preparation and conduct of the 2022 Population and Housing Census. Chronicle
American rapper Kevin Gates was spotted celebrating in Jamaica over the weekend. The 2 Phones rapper, who turned thirty-six years old on Friday (February 5), arrived on the island to celebrate the milestone.

On Sunday, Gates showed off a photo of his ripped body, announcing his arrival on the island, tagging his location as Jamaica.

In the Instagram caption, he wrote 36 of em -you kno im a whole Thang #DaBiggestEagle.

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He later took to his Instagram stories, where he showed a snap of himself at what appeared to be a street party at an undisclosed location in Kingston, Jamaica.

Gates in a follow-up story snap thanked fans for the birthday wishes saying, Everybody that wished me a happy birthright, happy anniversary, my journey around the sun, I thank you, I love you all.

Early in his career, during an interview with Complex Magazine in 2013, Gates said he had always been interested in Jamaica and Jamaican culture, noting that there was a period in which all he listened to was Jamaican music.

I was always interested in [Jamaican] culture, and I know some Jamaicans. So, how that happened, they taught me about the culture and I really observed them a lot, and ate with them and all that. They taught me about Rastafarianism and they always had Reggae music playing. Im not just saying I gravitated towards [Jamaican music] from that, but i went through a stage where that was all I listening to at one time,  Gates said.

Gates further told Complex that he was a fan of Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Capleton, Sizzla, Frisco Kid, Buju Banton, and Lady Saw.

Gates is best known for the 2016 hit 2 Phones, which peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, and I Dont Get Tired with August Alsina.

In December, he released Move, in which HotNewHipHop noted that Kevin brought powerful melodies to a dancehall-influenced production for a feel-good anthem.
Becky Lattanzi, an outspoken Milford parent, did not rejoice Monday when Gov. Ned Lamont threw the school mask mandate back into the hands of local school boards as of March 1.

We are one step closer to getting masks removed in all schools, but I am interested to see what Milford will do, she told me.

She opposes the mask rules so much that she and her husband moved their fourth grade daughter to a parochial school in October over the issue. Her eighth grader, still in the public schools, spoke against mask mandates last fall at a Milford Board of Education meeting.

If I was in Orange, I would be ecstatic, Lattanzi said, explaining that shes pretty sure the school board in that neighboring town would not institute its own mandate.

Lattanzi said shes not anti-science. She and her husband are both vaccinated, though the kids are not. The mask rule makes no sense in schools, she argues, because the kids arent wearing masks or taking other precautions in the rest of their lives  or even in school sports.

Everybody is asking us to follow the science and I dont see that the masking in the schools is very scientifically based.

Lattanzis view illustrates the high wire act Lamont has performed in 23 months of the pandemic. In two years of this balancing routine, other urgent coronavirus issues have come and mostly gone: Stay-at-home orders, business shutdowns, restaurant limits, statewide mask orders, vaccine access, vaccine mandates, test availability and a lot more.

Suddenly, for parents and teachers at least, all the anger and frustration of nearly two years of death, sickness and disruption comes down to this one politically charged decision: Should the government order students and school staff to keep wearing masks on school grounds? And if so, which government?

Lamont said Monday the power should move to local school boards and towns. Any way you look at it, the question is medically electric and politically toxic.

Lattanzi isnt wrong when she says what we have in place now defies logic. Besides, she said, if the mask mandate in schools worked, why were Milford and other cities and towns reporting dozens of new cases a day at the omicron peak?

And, she points out, the rule focuses on avoiding the spread of COVID-19. What about mental health and social development of children? Its a circle, its not one-sided.

Community rules

Obviously, a lot of smart people who have spent their lives studying infectious diseases  one of whom is Dr. Manisha Juthani, Lamonts public health commissioner and also a Yale medical professor  hold to the idea that masking does work and that masking in schools does help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Teachers just a few days ago asked for a little more time, a little more leeway with mask rules in place until the omicrom variant subsides further.

The current mask mandates have allowed our schools to remain open. We urge you to continue this policy, Jan Hochadel, president of AFT Connecticut, the teachers union, wrote to the state Board of Education.

Those medical experts, those teachers, are not wrong either. The question is, whats the right balance? Lamont struck that today with a decision that eases the rules statewide but doesnt go as far as Lattanzi would like to see  leaving the decision entirely in the hands of parents, not the state, not the cities and towns, not school boards as Lamont did.

As weve learned over and over, community rules are the only things that work when the entire point is to protect the community as a whole, not each family for itself. There is a time for community health mandates.

And theres nothing wrong with politics playing a role in that decision. Thats how representative democracy works.

A shrewd political move

The governors likely Republican opponent in the November election, Bob Stefanowski, woke up Monday morning and issued a statement at 8:02 a.m., calling on the Governor to lift the mask mandate in Connecticut schools in advance of the opening of the legislative session on February 9th.

Before you credit Stefanowski for what Lamont is doing, recall that Lamont told us six days ago, on Feb. 1, that lifting the statewide mandate was a real possibility  in six days. As in Monday. And New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy made a similar move Monday.

It was smart politics by Stefanowski, whos in a no-lose position. Hes not the one who had to manage the crisis with hard decisions that made people livid for two years, and now he will claim credit for a decision thats politically popular.

Lamont, by contrast, sits in a no-win position as we see with Lattanzi, who certainly isnt happy even with the governor recommending an end to the statewide mandate.

And all of this comes one day before a public hearing set for Tuesday before lawmakers on this very school mandate. Republicans such as state Rep. Harry Arora, R-Greenwich, are saying Lamont wants the General Assembly to extend his executive powers  which is not exactly correct.

Even if they extended the 11 orders he wants extended, he would would lose his authority to issue new orders. And of course he wants the most controversial order  the school mandate  to fall to local officials.

In short, its a politically impossible situation for the governor because many want him to remain in charge. Democrats in the General Assembly dont seem to want full powers to make decisions and Republicans are fortunate to be the opposition, where no responsibility falls to them.

Time to ease the rules

Lets not forget science in this. Twenty-seven short days ago, the number of people in hospitals in Connecticut with COVID-19 was at 1,939, near the April 2020 peak. Monday it fell by a whopping 154, to 631 inpatients  and its headed straight down.

So its time for the easing. But Lamont might have been wrong to do it much sooner.

One of those people hospitalized with COVID-19 over the holidays was Lattanzis mother, who lives with her and her husband and children. All five had the disease Christmas week: her mother with the worst case, her husband out of work for more than two weeks, herself out for a week from her job at a manufacturing company  it felt like a really severe a headache like Ive never felt before  and the kids with basically cold symptoms.

Thankfully, Lattanzis mother recovered. What if that outbreak had come from the schools, and the outcome were tragic? Families are responsible for their own precautions, Lattanzi said  and her mother was fully vaccinated, boosted and very careful.

Everybody at this point has had pandemic fatigue and hit a wall, Lattanzi said. I know the kids and the teachers are equally as frustrated with whats going on.

That is true on both sides of the school mask issue, one that Lamont cant win politically. And hes fighting for the right to do this four more years.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
President Xi Jinping has sent a message to Queen Elizabeth II congratulating her on the 70th anniversary of her accession to the British throne.

In the message sent on Sunday, Xi said Queen Elizabeth II has long cared about and supported China-Britain friendship, and is a witness to and promoter of the development of bilateral ties.

Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties at the ambassadorial level, Xi said he hoped the two countries would take this opportunity to deepen friendship and mutual trust, expand exchanges and cooperation, and work together to promote international solidarity in order to benefit both countries and their peoples.

Xi said he also hoped that the two nations could make new contributions to helping the international community jointly tackle global challenges and promote world peace, stability, prosperity and development.

Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, ascended to the throne in 1952 when she was 25 years old.

The queen held a reception on Saturday to mark the anniversary at Sandringham House in Norfolk. She wrote a message thanking the public and her family for their support, and said she was looking forward to the celebrations over the coming year, which would culminate in four days of festivities in June.

The queen paid a weeklong state visit to China in 1986, becoming the first British monarch to visit China. She visited the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, as well as the Great Wall in Beijing.

When Xi visited London in 2015, he was warmly received by the queen with the highest level of protocol and etiquette of the British royal family.




A Chicago banker who tried to buy his way into a cushy gig in the Trump administration with a $16 million bribe to Donald Trumps former campaign chief was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in prison.

The founder and ex-CEO of Chicagos Federal Savings Bank, Stephen Calk, 57, was found guilty of conspiracy and financial institution bribery in July 2021 for trying to weasel his way into the White House by bribing Paul Manafort, a former lobbyist who became Trumps campaign manager.

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We sadly send many poor and disadvantaged people to jail for crimes they committed because they had no good means to earn a decent wage to support themselves, to support their families, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lorna Schofield told Calk.

Suffice it to say, you are extremely wealthy and did not need to commit this crime.

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Schofield also slapped Calk with two years of supervised release, 800 hours of community service, and a $1 million fine. The year-and-a-day prison stint means Calk could be released early on good behavior.

Stephen Calk, founder and former CEO of The Federal Savings Bank headquartered in Chicago is pictured arriving at Manhattan Federal Court in Manhattan. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)

In a statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Calk abused his position to try to buy himself prestige and power by trading millions of dollars in high-risk loans for influence with a presidential campaign and consideration for positions at the highest levels of the Defense Department.

But in his own statement, Calk, a divorcee and father of three, who is appealing his conviction, took no responsibility for his crimes.

Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. >

I stand here, or sit here rather, deeply, deeply humbled. As you can imagine, my life is in shambles, said Calk. I deeply, deeply regret that the banks reputation has been tarnished as a result of my indictment and my conviction.

Trial evidence revealed Calk green-lit millions of dollars in loans to a debt-laden Manafort on the night of the 2016 election. And in the weeks after Trumps win, Calk sent Manafort a ranked list of his preferred job titles in the Trump administration.

At the top of the list was Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, and Secretary of Defense.

But Calk also was eager to take any one of 19 ambassadorship roles if he lost out on the high-level gigs, beginning with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy, evidence showed.

In this file photo, Paul Manafort arrives in court in New York to be arraigned on state mortgage fraud charges. (Seth Wenig/AP)

Manafort ultimately offered Calk a Pentagon post as undersecretary of the Army. But the banker blew it in a job interview at Trump Tower, according to short-term White House Director of Communications Anthony The Mooch Scaramucci, who testified at Calks trial.

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Manafort was tried and convicted of bank and tax fraud in northern Virginia in 2019 and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Trump pardoned him before leaving office in 2020.

Calks case emerged from special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
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Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is all set to address a dozen public meetings in the districts in a month starting February 11.

According to party sources, the draft itinerary of his visits to districts has already been submitted to the Chief Minister which has been approved with minor changes.

Sources said the main purpose of the Chief Ministers public meetings was to highlight the BJP-led Central government's 'discrimination' towards Telangana in allocation of funds and projects besides the achievements of the TRS government in the past eight years. The Chief Minister will address public meetings after launching development programmes in districts in addition to inauguration of the newly constructed Integrated district collectorate complexes and TRS district party offices. The Chief Minister wants to strengthen both the government and the party with his visits and also to take the party and the government closer to the people in the run up to the Assembly polls in December 2023, according to sources.

The draft itinerary proposed Chief Ministers tours to districts for 10 days in a row without any break from February 11. However, the Chief Minister wants to take a break on February 13 and 14 for President Ramnath Kovind's visit to the state to take part in "Ramanujacharya Sahasrabdi Samaroham" at Chinna Jeeyar Swamy ashram in Muchintal on the city outskirts.

The Chief Minister who stayed away from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit on February 5 to take part in the same celebrations citing fever, wants to receive the President at the airport on February 13 and take part in celebrations at Muchintal along with him on the same day and see off him at the airport on February 14.

The Chief Minister wants to resume his public meetings from February 15 with the inauguration of the iconic Police Command and Control Centre in Banjara Hills, it is learnt.

The Chief Minister will address his first public meeting in Jangaon on February 11

followed by Bhongir on February 12. He will later visit Wanaparthy, Nizamabad, Jagtial, Vikarabad, Peddapalli and Mahbubnagar districts and an official schedule is expected to be released very soon.

The TRS has constructed district party offices in all the district headquarters barring Hyderabad and the Chief Minister will inaugurate all these offices in a phased manner.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with Karnataka CM Basavaraj S Bommai during a meeting in New Delhi. (PTI)

New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday called on Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh here and discussed issues of the state.

Karnataka Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol, state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel as well as Members of Parliament Shivakumar Udasi and Umesha Jadhav were also present in the meeting.

Met our Hon'ble Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh ji in New Delhi today and presented a copy of a compilation of our govt's achievements in the last six months as well as an ISEC study report on the impact of various policy decisions, Bommai tweeted.

Before meeting the Defence minister, Bommai held a meeting with legal experts in the national capital on inter-state water disputes.

Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Ravikumara and state government Advocate General Prabhulinga Navadagi were present.

Bommai, who is on a two-day visit, plans to meet BJP chief J P Nadda during the day to discuss cabinet reshuffle in the state.
Swapna Suresh was released from jail in November last year. (Photo: ANI/File)

Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the Kerala Gold Smuggling Case, and asked her to appear before its Kochi office on Wednesday at 11 am.

She has been directed to either appear in person or through an authorized representative.

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.

Recently, Swapna Suresh had 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.

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.
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld the Centre's decision to bar telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne.

Justice N Nagaresh dismissed the plea of Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd -- which operates MediaOne -- challenging the central government's January 31 decision.

The court said that the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs to deny security clearance was based on the intelligence inputs received from various agencies.

The Centre, during the arguments on Monday, had contended that a security clearance once issued cannot continue forever.

The central government had previously told the court that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) denied security clearance to MediaOne over national security concerns based on intelligence inputs.

The channel, on the other hand, contended that MHA clearance was only required at the time for fresh permission/license and not at the time of renewal.

It had also contended that, according to the uplinking and downlinking guidelines, security clearance was only required at the time of application for fresh permission and not at the time of renewal of licence.

This was not the first time the channel has faced such a bar on its operation.

MediaOne, along with another Malayalam News channel, Asianet, was briefly suspended for 48 hours over their coverage of communal violence in Delhi in 2020, with the official orders saying they covered the violence in a manner that "highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular community".
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan apprised Khan of the circumstances that led to an ordinance to amend the Lok Ayukta Act. (PTI)

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022, signed by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, has stated that the state government can now either accept or reject the declaration by the anti-corruption agency in the cases, finding those holding public office as guilty.

The Governor, Chief Minister or the state government would be the competent authority and he or it may either accept or reject the declaration, after giving an opportunity of being heard, according to the ordinance notified in the gazette late evening.

Where the competent authority is the Governor, or the Chief Minister or the Government of Kerala, he or it may either accept or reject the declaration, after giving an opportunity of being heard," the Ordinance said.

In other cases, the competent authority shall send a copy of such report to the Government which may either accept or reject the declaration after giving an opportunity of being heard, it said.

"If it is not rejected within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the report or the copy of the report, as the case may be, it shall be deemed to have been accepted on the date of expiry of the said period of three months," it said.

If a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a chief justice of High Court had been appointed as Lok Ayukta in the state so far, the Ordinance made it clear that a judge of high court can be nominated in the top post now on wards.

"When the Lok Ayukta is unable to discharge his functions owing to absence on leave or otherwise, the Governor may, by notification, authorise in this behalf, the senior most Upa-Lok Ayukta available to discharge the functions of the Lok Ayukta until the date on which the Lok Ayukta resumes his duties," the ordinance further said.

The notification also made it clear that the ordinance was accorded sanction as the state Assembly was not in session and the Governor was satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action.

After days-long controversies triggered by stiff protests by the opposition, Governor Khan on Monday gave his assent to the ordinance promulgated by the Left government of the State to curb the powers of Lokayukta.

The decision of the Governor was criticised by the Congress, the main opposition party, which alleged that there was a deal between the ruling Left and the BJP and that they would legally fight against it.

However, the BJP also came out against the amendment as Union Minister V Muraleedharan said introducing the ordinance was a 'selfish' and 'shameless' move and an attempt to protect Vijayan and Ministers of the State Cabinet.

"The ordinance is a blot on democracy...," Muraleedharan said in a series of tweets. He added that the ordinance was a precursor to further erosion of rule of law in Kerala.

The CPI, an ally of the ruling Left, also expressed displeasure over it while the Assembly session is scheduled a week away.

The Governor signed the ordinance a day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan apprised Khan of the circumstances that led to an ordinance to amend the Lok Ayukta Act.
A prominent real estate developer was the driver who fatally struck a 99-year-old Holocaust survivor as he crossed a Brooklyn street in his wheelchair on his way to synagogue, police sources said Monday.

Pyotr Yadgarov, 52, drove his 2020 BMW X5 luxury SUV west along Oriental Boulevard in Manhattan Beach around 4:45 p.m. Saturday when he ran into Jack Mikulincer, who was crossing north on Coleridge St. next to his home as he made his way to a Sabbath service.

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Yadgarov has not been charged. Police do not know how fast the car was moving when Mikulincer was killed, the sources said.

Officers examine the crash site at the corner of Oriental Blvd. and Coleridge St. in Brooklyn where Jack Mikulincer, 99, was fatally struck by a BMW SUV on Saturday. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)

The license plate on the BMW shows the car has six tickets for speeding in school zones last year. The plate has 10 speed camera tickets and four for failing to stop at a red light since June 2016, public records show.

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Yadgarov runs PYE Properties, a property development firm based in Coney Island that acquires distressed, vacant properties and development sites with an upside in value, according to the companys website.

The developer lives in a mansion-style house on Ocean Ave. four blocks from where Mikulincer was killed. Yadgarov was not home Monday evening and his BMW was not in his driveway.

Jack Mikulincer, 99, was riding a motorized wheelchair when he was fatally struck by a BMW SUV at the corner of Oriental Blvd. and Coleridge St. on Saturday. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)

The intersection Mikulincer crossed when he was killed has no stoplight or crosswalk. Family and friends of the victim  a Hungarian native who survived Holocaust-era concentration camps  said he regularly crossed the street on his way to synagogue.

Jack Mikulincer survived concentration camps during the Holocaust, said John Berman, a member of the advocacy group Families for Safe Streets. On Saturday, he could not survive simply trying to cross the street to get to his synagogue.

Mikulincers late wife was also a victim of traffic violence, his daughter said Sunday. She had suffered injuries from a car crash 30 years ago on her way to a Chanukah celebration in Queens when the car she was a passenger in was T-boned, the couples daughter told the Daily News. She died in 2011.

At least 24 people have been killed in crashes on city streets this year as of Sunday, up from 16 fatal crashes during the same period of 2020. That follows a troubling trend in 2021, which saw the highest number of fatal crashes in a calendar year since 2013, the year before former Mayor Bill de Blasio took office.
Students wearing hijab sit outside their school as the school authorities denied entry for wearing a hijab or scarf, in Kundapura of Udupi district. (Photo: PTI/File)

Mangaluru: Even as the Karnataka High Court is expected to hear on Tuesday the petition of a student of the government pre-university college in Udupi district seeking permission to wear hijab, two students of a private college at Kundapur here have also approached it with the same plea.

The two students of Bhandarkar's arts and science college, in their petition, have named the college principal, Mangalore university registrar and Kundapur MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty as the defendants.

In the petition, the students allege that the college has restricted their entry with 'hijabs' (headscarf) in the college premises at the instance of the MLA.

The petition has been filed by Suha Maulana and Aisha Aleefa, both pursuing BBA.

The girls pointed out in their petition that there was no dispute on hijabs when they got admission to the college. The principal introduced the restriction all of a sudden on February 3, saying they have a government order restricting hijabs inside classes.

When the parents of the girls met the principal and questioned the decision, the latter told them that the step has been taken as per the direction of the MLA, who is the president of the college development committee, the students said in the petition.
VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has expressed deep concern over the protests against the government by the teachers' unions. They are carrying with the agenda of the opposition parties, he said.

Jagan said the opposition parties could not digest the good things his government did for the employees in ways that no other government in the country did so far.

Taking a dig at the previous government during the Jagananna Thodu programme here on Tuesday, chief minister Jagan said the previous government had diluted the fee-reimbursement scheme that benefited poor students from the backward classes (BCs). The YSRC government instead turned the BCs from Backward Classes to the states Backbone Classes by empowering the weaker sections socially, economically, and politically, he said.

Andhra Pradesh is the first to bring the BC Commission and has made laws in implementing 50 per cent reservation for BCs, SCs, STs, Minorities and women in all nominated posts and contracts. Standing by this, during the composition of the state cabinet, 60 per cent posts were given to BC, SC, ST, and minority leaders, and two BC leaders were sent to Rajya Sabha.

Chief Minister Jagan criticised the left parties for carrying the TDPs agenda of supporting Chandrababu even though Naidu was objecting to the grant of free houses for the poor in Amaravati. The TD is citing demographic imbalance to scuttle the housing project and this party is currently instigating employees against the government.

Jagan said, No one wants state government employees to go on strike; neither the people, nor the government, other than those who were adamant in making Chandrababu the chief minister again.

Jagan said vested interests have been instigating teachers to go on strike, even during these testing times of Covid pandemic. For the last two years, all the students were being passed without examinations. In this third year, it was sad to see teachers going on strike, leaving students in the lurch. We are trying to do good for the employees despite the financial situation of the state being bad due to the coronavirus outbreak, he said.
Religion should be kept a private affair of individual citizens, but that is an ideal case scenario. Whether we like it or not, elements of religious practices have become part of the culture of believers, and the harmonious co-existence of such customs with the ones of those who practise no religion is a pre-condition for a societys progress.

India is a secular democracy founded on a Constitution that assures every citizen the right to practise their religion, subject to conditions. Religion being a general term, the courts have elaborated on this constitutional proviso and brought essential religious practices under its protection.

It is in this background that one should view the controversy raging in Karnataka about Muslim girl students wearing the hijab (headscarf). Some colleges objected to the habit and asked the girls to stop attending lessons with headscarves on, which they protested. The issue soon took a communal turn with a section of students parading saffron shawls, saying they, too, have the right to do so. Dalit students chipped in, wearing blue dress in support of the Muslim girls. Islamists did not waste the chance, introducing the niqab, or dress that conceals even the face, seeking the cover of fundamental rights.

As the Karnataka high court rightly observed while hearing the petition of the girl students, every citizen of this country should go by reason, the law, and the Constitution; not passion and emotion. This is an advice to all those who have taken to violent protests and also to those who come up with whatabouteries to argue their points. They must realise that the Constitution does not mandate banishing of religion; instead, it affords people the right to practise it. The question is how to make it least obtrusive in a secular system.

The situation as of today is that while sane persons would be busy seeking to address the question as suggested by the high court, vested interests and extremists have almost hijacked the issue. Protests against the hijab are taking place all across Karnataka now, and it is highly likely that it shall spread to other states, too. Political parties who have religion as their sole agenda to seek power and retain it have a lot to gain from this but rational people have every reason to worry about the future of this nation when people tend to view everything through the lens of religion and nothing but.

The Constitution and the law are made with a view to address issues as citizens of a nation, and not as enemies. It must not be done in a mechanical way in all situations; how a decision would impact the lives of law-abiding people must be a consideration the court should keep in mind. A total ban on the hijab, which Muslims claim to be an essential religious practice, will result in Muslim women either avoiding multi-religious and secular institutions or, worse, becoming dropouts. At the same time, the court cannot give in to the pressure of identity politics and communalists and allow each one to wear the dress of their choice. It will thus be called upon to come out with a solution that protects the right to practise religion and the right to education while refusing to yield to the demands of religious obscurantists of all hues. It should ensure that better sense prevails.
It is not just a truckers rally named Freedom Convoy against a Covid vaccine mandate that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is grappling with. The protests against government overreach in tackling the pandemic appear to be an early manifestation of a larger social movement reflecting a clash between two Canadas  on one side, the urban, liberal metropolises and, on the other, the vast rural swath whose people feel hardly connected with the federal government in Ottawa.

The irony is not lost as Mr Trudeau, a minority PM whose Liberal Party could win the popular vote only in urban pockets  109 of 150 seats in the most urban of constituencies and only 34 seats of 150 of the most rural and Conservative parts  has been forced to stay in a secret location. The protests have paralysed the capital where the mayor has declared a state of emergency, the police are arresting demonstrators and the national war memorial has been fenced off after it was desecrated by urinating protesters.

Those in India mocking Mr Trudeau now after pillorying him for his earlier comments supporting Indian farmers' protests while addressing his sizeable Canadian-Punjabi constituents on Guruparab last year might be missing the wood for the trees. It is clear as crystal that the Canadian PM has become a deeply polarising figure even as those with an anti-establishment bias are waging a battle on the streets against a mandate that affects most those truckers who have to shuttle between Canada and the United States.

The issues coming to a head in Canada could become stereotypical across democracies as they are emblematic of the larger divide between urban and rural, liberal and conservative, and the left and the right even more than the most modern phenomenon of the rich-poor divide. Much as the farmers of India chose the capital New Delhi as the focal point of their protests, Canadian truckers have descended on Ottawa. And one of two prominent figures who set off this cycle of massive protests by raising funds online or campaigning on TikTok has even apologised to Ottawans for choosing their city for the protests while a judge has asked the truckers to stop tooting their horns.
As bitcoin drifts towards mainstream maturity in 2022, daring crypto investors are eyeing up new sources of explosive action: "altcoins" that power online games and worlds.

But, be warned, the foothills of the unformed metaverse are no place for the faint-hearted.

Bitcoin, which like the rest of the market had been largely sinking since late 2021, has risen about 16 per cent over the past two weeks to push above $41,000, prompting many market players to declare an end to the "crypto winter".

Yet newer and smaller coins linked to virtual platforms have enjoyed stronger rallies amid the buzz around the metaverse.

Also Read | Bitcoin rallies to four-week high, ether hits three-week peak

Those used on gaming platform Axie Infinity and 3D virtual environment Decentraland, for example - the Axie and Mana - have gained 35 per cent and 57 per cent respectively in the same period since Jan. 24. The token of the Gala gaming platform has jumped 125 per cent, according to CoinMarketCap.

"When people think of crypto they tend to think of bitcoin," said Ed Hindi, chief investment officer of Swiss-based cryptocurrency hedge fund Tyr Capital. "But this ignores the fact that crypto is not a one-risk asset class."

To give an idea of scale, though, the combined market cap of Axie, Gala and Mana is about $12.7 billion, a fraction of the $800 billion-plus for bitcoin, which commands 40 per cent of the market.

Also Read | India has second-highest cryptocurrency users in world: Report

Some investors are looking to altcoins to diversify their holdings as 13-year-old bitcoin and No. 2 player ether increasingly move in step with traditional stock markets and become more sensitive to macroeconomic developments.

In a possible sign of this drive, multi-asset funds managing a combination of coins saw inflows totalling $32 million in the week ending on Jan. 28, the largest since June 2021, according to data from CoinShares.

Yet the sheer novelty of many of these coins and the consequent lack of track records significantly ups the danger stakes for investors in an already risky and nebulous crypto world. Furthermore the fortunes of the likes of Axie and Gala are tied to the success of their gaming platforms, as well as the wider virtual economy.

Bottom of the blockchain

Nonetheless, delving deeper into the virtual plumbing, some market watchers say the growing interest in the metaverse is also benefiting altcoins that are on the "Layer 1" protocol of the blockchain - the base level on which smart contracts between buyers and sellers are written in code, and upon which virtual games and worlds are built.

They include ether of the Ethereum blockchain, and its challengers Solana and Polkadot, which have risen 27 per cent, 28 per cent and 23 per cent over the past two weeks.

Also Read | Luna, Solana, Polygon and more: Cryptos boom beyond Bitcoin

"A lot of people are sensing this as a buying opportunity and what they are purchasing is overwhelmingly high-quality blue chip alts over bitcoin right now," said Hany Rashwan, chief executive officer and co-founder of crypto fund manager 21Shares based in New York and Zurich, referring to coins on the Layer 1 blockchain, also including, Avalanche, Polygon and Terra.

"If you've developed a thesis around smart contracts, it's a wonderful buying opportunity right now."

Where's bitcoin heading

Back with bitcoin - even though the dominant cryptocurrency is rallying after nearly halving in value between early December and Jan. 24, its upward trajectory is far from assured, according to indications from hedging and other data.

Will Hamilton, head of trading and research at Trovio Capital Management, cites futures funding rates, which have remained negative since early December and suggest people are paying to be short. And he also points to options data showing options to sell bitcoin versus buying, the put/call ratio, has hit 58 per cent, a level last seen in the May-July 2021 selloff.

"Throughout this period of consolidation, changes in the derivatives market indicate traders continuing to bet on further downside," he said.

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Amazon has told its corporate employees that it is raising its cap on base cash compensation to $350,000, more than double the previous amount, citing a particularly competitive labour market, according to an internal announcement viewed by The New York Times.

Amazon previously capped its pay for tech and corporate employees at $160,000 in most parts of the United States, favouring stock compensation that vests over several years for the rest of an employees pay package. Despite strong earnings announced last week, Amazons stock is down more than 4 per cent over the past year.

The company did not say if the increased cash compensation would be paired with lower stock awards. It told employees that it was increasing the overall compensation ranges for most jobs globally, and the increases are much more considerable than we have done in the past.

Also Read | Amazon surges with record $190 billion gain in value

The compensation increases were only for salaried corporate and tech workers, not the hourly workers who power Amazons operations. Those employees earn an average of about $18 an hour.

Amazon confirmed the note but declined to comment further.

Amazon has seen a rash of departures at its senior levels, in which compensation is heavily weighted in stock. Its cash salary cap was far lower than that of other major technology employees and a source of frustration for its workers.

The changes to compensation come during the first annual pay review cycle since Andy Jassy became CEO in the summer. He previously led Amazons cloud computing division, which competed fiercely with other tech companies for talent.

The announcement was first reported by GeekWire, a Seattle technology news site.

Amazon increased its workforce by more than 300,000 people over the past year and now has more than 1.6 million employees.

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Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc said on Monday that billionaire investor Peter Thiel, an early investor who has been on the company's board since 2005, has decided to retire.

Thiel aims to spend time helping elect candidates who he believes will advance former President Donald Trumps agenda in the US midterms, the Congressional elections this year, a person familiar with the situation said.

Thiel, a co-founder of online payments system PayPal and a rare voice of conservative politics in Silicon Valley, became a Facebook investor in 2004, when he provided $500,000 in capital at a $5 million valuation for a 10% stake in the company and a seat on its board of directors.

Thiel will serve as a director until Meta's annual shareholder meeting but will not to stand for re-election, the social media giant said.

"Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions," Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said, thanking Thiel for his service.

The announcement comes as Meta's shares have fallen sharply over concerns that privacy changes to Apple products was making it harder for advertisers to see how their ads work on Facebook. The stock fell 5.1% on Monday, and has lost a third of its value this year, but is still worth more than $600 billion.

Thiel left with kind words for Zuckerberg. "His talents will serve Meta well as he leads the company into a new era," Thiel said in the statement announcing his departure from the board.

He did not respond to a request seeking further comment.

Thiel plans in particular to help Blake Masters, a Republican candidate hoping to unseat Democratic US Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, the person familiar with the situation said. He was also backing J.D. Vance, author of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy and a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, the person said.

In recent years, Thiel's position on the board has been in the spotlight, given his conservative views, as the company has been caught up in political controversies and backlash.

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By Anurag Kotoky,

Several large multinational brands, including Pizza Hut Inc., Dominos Pizza Inc. and Yum Brands Inc.s KFC, trended on social media in India on Tuesday, with calls for boycotts after some of their affiliates in Pakistan posted support for people in the region of Kashmir.

Other brands that were targeted on Twitter included South Koreas Hyundai Motor Co. and Atlas Honda Ltd., after accounts linked with the brands tweeted on the Kashmir Solidarity Day over the weekend, a holiday observed in Pakistan to show support for people in the India-administered part of the region.

Kashmir is a highly sensitive issue for both the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours, which have fought multiple wars over the region since their independence from the British in 1947. The picturesque mountainous province, home to ski resorts and some of the largest military deployments, is ruled in part by India and Pakistan, but claimed in full by both.

The Ministry of External Affairs expressed strong displeasure to Hyundais post. It is also expected that such companies or their affiliates will refrain from false and misleading comments on matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry summoned the South Korean ambassador over the issue on Monday and informed him the matter concerned Indias territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise. South Korean foreign minister also called his Indian counterpart and regretted the offence, the ministry added.

KFC India and Dominos in India apologised for the post on Monday. Hyundai India said it took steps to remove the posts made by an independently-owned distributor in Pakistan.

Atlas Honda could not be reached for a comment despite multiple calls. Pizza Hut in India didnt immediately respond to requests for comments.

We deeply apologize for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride.

We deeply apologize for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride.  KFC India (@KFC_India) February 7, 2022

Many of the tweets were unavailable by Tuesday, even though Twitter users continued to post screen shots, keeping the issue as the main trending topic in India over two days this week.

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By Alex Sazonov and Nupur Acharya

Gautam Adani, the Indian billionaire who turned a small commodities trading business into a conglomerate spanning ports, mines and green energy, is now Asias richest person.

The 59-year-old moguls net worth reached $88.5 billion on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, eclipsing fellow countryman Mukesh Ambanis $87.9 billion. With an almost $12 billion jump in his personal fortune, Adani is the worlds biggest wealth-gainer this year.

The coal magnate -- whose controversial Australian mine project drew flak from climate activists including Greta Thunberg -- has increasingly looked beyond the fossil fuel for expansion. Hes moving into renewable energy, airports, data centers and defense contracting -- priorities Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also considers crucial to nation-building and meeting the countrys long-term economic goals.

The Adani Group has spotted and entered all the happening sectors at the right time, which has appealed to a select band of foreign portfolio investors, said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at Mumbai-based brokerage HDFC Securities Ltd. The sectors are capital-intensive and the company has faced little difficulty in raising funds to expand.

Also Read  Union Budget 2022: This policy change offers big boost for Ambani, Adani

Some of Adani Groups listed stocks have soared more than 600 per cent in the past two years on bets his push into green energy and infrastructure will pay off as Modi looks to revive the $2.9 trillion economy and meet the Indias carbon net-zero target by 2070. MSCI Incs decision to include more Adani companies in its Indian benchmark index has also meant any fund tracking the gauge will have to buy the shares.







While 2020 was Ambanis year -- his oil-to-petrochemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. created billions of dollars in wealth through a technology pivot that brought in Facebook and Google Inc as investors -- the pendulum has since swung toward Adani.

Green pledges

Both Indian billionaires -- who have built their empires on fossil fuels or coal -- are now pushing ahead with green energy projects. Ambani has committed $10 billion over the next three years as part of a larger $76 billion spend plan in renewables. Adani has pledged to invest a total of $70 billion by 2030 to help his group become the worlds largest renewable-energy producer.

Also Read  A climate clash between Ambani and Adani over hydrogen

Firms including Total SE and Warburg Pincus LLC have invested in Adanis companies in 2021. The French oil giant agreed in January 2021 to buy 20 per cent of Adani Green Energy Ltd. and a 50 per cent stake in the Indian partners portfolio of operating solar assets, though at a steep discount. The deal value was just $2.5 billion, compared with Adani Greens market capitalisation of $20 billion at the time.

In March of 2021, Warburg said it would invest $110 million in exchange for about half-a-percent of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.

As part of his green push, Adani has unveiled plans to boost his renewable-energy capacity almost eightfold by 2025. In May, Adani Green agreed to buy SoftBank Group Corps local renewable-power business in a deal that gave SB Energy India an enterprise value of $3.5 billion.

Scaling up

In barely three years, Adani has gained control of seven airports and almost a quarter of Indias air traffic. His group now owns the countrys largest airport operator, power generator and city gas retailer in the non-state sector.

Shares of Adani Green and Adani Total Gas Ltd, a Mumbai-listed joint venture with the French firm, have rallied more than 1,000 per cent since the beginning of 2020. Flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd has advanced more than 730 per cent, Adani Transmission Ltd. more than 500 per cent and Adani Ports 95 per cent over this period. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex Index has gained 40 per cent by comparison.

Scant analyst coverage hasnt deterred MSCI from adding some of the Adani stocks to its India gauge. Three of the tycoons listed companies were included in May, taking the groups total footprint to five. The addition has led to a more mandated buying by investors who track the gauge, HDFCs Jasani said.

A college dropout, Adani first tried his luck in Mumbais diamond industry in the early 1980s before returning to his home state of Gujarat to help run his brothers plastics business. In 1988, he set up Adani Enterprises.

Ransom demand

The businessman is a survivor of crises. More than two decades ago, he was kidnapped and held for ransom. In 2008, he was among the hostages at Mumbais Taj Mahal Palace hotel during the terror attacks that killed at least 166 people.

Adanis sustainability claims and green ambitions are criticised by climate campaigners who point to the groups Carmichael coal mining project in Australia, which will expand supplies of the highly-polluting fossil fuel. The Adani Group opted to use its own money after having trouble in securing external funding and said in December that it was ready to begin the first coal exports from the Australian mine.

The billionaire has also come under attack from Modis political opponents for his proximity to the powerful leader, with some even calling it cronyism. Adani has dismissed such criticism as baseless, and thrived with his successful strategy of dovetailing his investments with Modis priorities.

Some of the big Adani Group businesses such as ports are almost monopolies, said Sanjiv Bhasin, director at local brokerage IIFL Securities Ltd. With many Adani companies being closely linked to Indias industrialisation and infrastructure push, they are in a sweet spot and they have capitalised on it, Bhasin said.

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TikTok is working on ways to rate and restrict content by age in order to prevent adult content from reaching teenage users of its short video app, the company said at a news briefing.

TikTok, which has exploded in popularity among teens in recent years, said it was running a small test for how adult-rated content could be restricted from accounts belonging to younger users, either by the user or their parents and guardians.

The company, owned by Chinese tech titan ByteDance, said it was drawing on the types of content-rating standards already used for movies and gaming. It said it would test a way for creators on the app to specify if they want their content to only be viewed by older audiences.

Social media platforms have been under scrutiny over their approaches to the wellbeing and safety of younger users. Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has been blasted by US lawmakers over its plan to introduce a version of Instagram for kids.

Last year, a coalition of state attorneys general opened a probe into Meta for promoting Instagram to children despite potential harms, after leaked internal documents raised questions about company research into Instagram's effects on the mental health of teen users.

TikTok, which has been criticized for posts promoting eating disorders and maintains it bans such content, said in a blog post on Tuesday it would start to remove posts promoting broader disordered-eating content as well.

"We understand that people can struggle with unhealthy eating patterns and behavior without having an eating disorder diagnosis," it said in the post.

"Our aim is to acknowledge more symptoms, such as overexercise or short-term fasting, that are frequently under-recognized signs of a potential problem."

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The NYPD detectives union has filed an ethics complaint against a state Assembly member who blasted cops for going mask-less after the funeral of slain Officer Jason Rivera  and for liking a tweet that compared cops with Nazis.

The Detectives Endowment Association said Monday its seeking an official sanction of Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou for her Twitter tirade, accusing her of lying about members of the NYPD.

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Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

Last week, Niou quote-tweeted a video posted by lawyer Scott Hechinger that depicted NYPD officers waiting for the subway without wearing masks and accusing them of steal(ing) subway fare by walking through subway exit gates.

It honestly takes a lot to take a heartbreaking tragedy and a familys moment of mourning and turn it into a frightening show of intimidation for the whole city and be a massive health risk to every New Yorker. But they somehow did it, Niou wrote.

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It honestly takes a lot to take a heartbreaking tragedy and a familys moment of mourning and turn it into a frightening show of intimidation for the whole city and be a massive health risk to every New Yorker. But they somehow did it. https://t.co/htWRjohj7o  Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) January 31, 2022

She also liked a social media poster with the handle AT-AT Stampede who apparently described the funeral procession as their fascism rally on the streets above, alongside photos depicting a Nazi march and NYPD officers lining Fifth Ave.

Front page for Feb. 2, 2022: Lower East Side pol "likes" tweet comparing Finest at hero's funeral to Nazi scum. Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou was ripped by NYPD union bigs for "liking" a tweet that compared cops at a hero's funeral to Nazis. She "unliked" it after being contacted by The News. (New York Daily News)

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The union called Nious Twitter activity a clear violation of ethical behavior and said she was making police into pawns in her quest for social media popularity.

It is grossly irresponsible for her to compare heartbroken, New York City public servants attending line-of-duty funerals for their colleagues to Nazi soldiers during WWII, DEA President Paul DiGiacomo wrote in a letter to Assembly member JoAnne Simon, who chairs the Assembly ethics committee.

DiGiacomo told the Daily News the remark that police officers steal subway fares is a lie.

While on and off duty, members of the NYPD are permitted to ride the subway for free, because they are serving and protecting the public while doing so, DiGiacomo wrote in the complaint.

New York State Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou came under fire after she retweeted a video showing cops filing into the subway system following NYPD Officer Riveras funeral. (Twitter)

Niou told The News last week she didnt intend to like the tweet comparing cops to Nazis, but she didnt regret criticizing the NYPD for not wearing masks in the subway system.

Sometimes you just accidentally press stuff, she said. Ill unlike it ... I wouldnt have liked it.

She did not immediately return a message seeking comment about the ethics complaint.
Amidst a raging controversy over dress code in schools and colleges, the BBMP began distributing uniforms at schools across Bengaluru.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials maintained that the move has no connection to the snowballing controversy, though they admitted that distribution of uniforms has been pending since August when schools reopened for offline classes. Students, it said, had no clue about the uniform.

The possible third wave created uncertainties over continuing offline classes, a senior Palike official said. We awaited directions from the state government and were working on changes in the colours of the uniform. This has nothing to do with the hijab issue.

Also Read | Row over Hijab, saffron shawls continues in Udupi colleges

The civic body issued a work order in December, but could not distribute the uniforms due to the Omicron threat, the official added.

With plans to distribute the uniform throughout the month, the BBMP has already given uniforms to about 250 girl students at the PU College in Austin Town on Friday. About 17,500 students of primary, high schools, and PUC institutions will get the uniforms by the end of February, the official said.

Track pants, tees

Unlike the regular white uniform, the civic body has decided to give them track pants and t-shirts to be worn on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

We have also changed the colour of the uniforms to differentiate between school and college students. School-goers will wear a brown uniform with a matching white shirt, while PU students will wear a navy blue uniform with a white shirt, explained the official.

The Palike is procuring uniforms from the Karnataka Handloom Development Corporation spending over Rs 2 crore.

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For the first time in India, a section of voters including senior citizens, Covid-19 affected individuals, and persons with disabilities would be allowed to cast their vote through the postal ballot at the homes for the two-phased elections to the Manipur assembly, on February 27 and March 3, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra said on Tuesday.

The CEC said that senior citizens, Covid-19 suspects or affected individuals, and persons with disabilities would cast their vote through the Postal ballot at their homes in presence of the representative of the concerned candidate, micro observers, booth level officials (BLO).

"This new initiative at the door step of the voters would be done by following the total secrecy and transparency. Entire process would be video-graphed," Chandra told the media.

The CEC said that the postal ballot facility is an optional service and it would ensure total secrecy.

Regarding service voters, the CEC said that an Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System had been instituted and 21,935 service voters, who are associated with the election process, have been mapped in Manipur and they can avail the scope.

The CEC expressed pleasure that Manipur has 749 centenarian voters with Senapati district having the maximum number of 110 centenarian electors and directed the Chief Electoral Officer and District Election Officers to felicitate such centenarian voters who can act as role models for the youngsters.

Stressing on measures taken to make the elections truly accessible, Chandra said that appropriate facilitation including pick up and drop, wheel-chairs, volunteers support and postal ballot facility would be provided to all the mapped otherwise abled and 80 plus senior citizen voters in the state.

To improve the voter turnout in the forthcoming election, the CEC said that 300 low voter turnout polling booths have been identified under Mission 300 Programme by CEO Manipur and Focussed Booth Level Action Plan had been prepared by engaging BLO, local clubs, women organisations and elderly voters.

The CEC accompanied by Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar, Anup Chandra Pandey and senior officials of the Commission arrived in the poll-bound Manipur on Monday on a two day visit and held a series of meetings with the political parties and senior officials to review the assembly election preparation.

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The Samajwadi Party (SP) has demanded removal of Inspector General of Police, Lucknow Range, Laxmi Singh as her husband, Rajeshwar Singh, is contesting as a BJP candidate from the Sarojini Nagar constituency in the state capital.

In a letter to the Election Commission of India, SP state chief Naresh Uttam accused the IPS officer of taking undue advantage of her position in trying to influence voters and demanded her immediate transfer.

Polling in Lucknow is scheduled for February 23.

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The war of words between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal has intensified with the two leaders sharpening their claws on Twitter.

While Kejriwal said that his Uttar Pradesh counterpart a "harsh and cruel ruler", Yogi called the Delhi Chief Minister a "liar".

The Twitter war on Monday night started after Kejriwal's rebuttal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement in Parliament that Delhi and Maharashtra contributed to the spread of Covid by enabling the migrant labourers to go home after lockdown was declared in 2020.

Also Read  PM Modi quotes Nehru to blunt Congress attack

"This statement of Prime Minister is a blatant lie. The country hopes that the Prime Minister will be sensitive to those who have suffered the pain in the Corona period, those who have lost their loved ones. It does not suit the Prime Minister to do politics on the sufferings of the people," the Delhi Chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.

His Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also tweeted to say the Prime Minister's statement was "false".

Responding to the claim, Yogi said: "Today's statement of Arvind Kejriwal about respected Prime Minister is highly condemnable. Arvind Kejriwal should apologise to the entire nation."

He quoted a couplet from Goswami Tulsidas, the author of "Ram Charitmanas", to elucidate his point.

"Kejriwal has a knack of telling lies. When the whole country was battling a global pandemic like Corona under the leadership of the respected Prime Minister, Kejriwal showed the migrant labourers the way out of Delhi."

He then went on to accuse the Delhi Chief Minister of "cutting electricity and water" for migrant labourers and forcing them to leave the city.

"The electricity-water connection was cut and the sleeping people were picked up and sent to the UP border by buses. Announcement was made that in Anand Vihar, buses will be available for UP-Bihar. The UP government arranged buses for the migrant labourers and brought them back safely," Yogi further tweeted.

In a direct post, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said: "Listen Kejriwal, You forced the workers of UP to leave Delhi when the entire humanity was groaning due to the pain of Corona. Your government did an undemocratic and inhuman act like leaving even small children and women helpless on the UP border in the middle of the night. Call you a traitor or..."

Kejriwal reacted with: "You should not say anything. When bodies were floating in the rivers, you were spending crores on appreciating yourself through advertisements in the Time magazine. Have not seen a harsh and cruel ruler like you."

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China said on Tuesday that it was considering a "coordinated" arrangement for the return of foreign students, but remained non-committal on a definite timeline to allow them, including over 23,000 Indians, who are stuck at home for the past two years due to Beijings Covid-19 visa bans.

Asked at a media briefing here on Tuesday when China will permit stranded Indian students and what is hindering Beijing to allow them, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian merely retreated what his ministry has been saying for over a year that Beijing wants an orderly return of the students as per the safety protocols of Covid-19. "I can tell you that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the issue of foreign students returning to China for their studies," Zhao said.

"We are considering in a coordinated manner the arrangement for allowing foreign students to return to China for their studies. We stand ready to work actively toward the healthy, safe and orderly cross-border flow of people on the basis of sound anti-epidemic protocols, he said.

Also Read  In China, Covid-era controls may outlast the virus

Last week, China promised during the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan here to "arrange" for the return of about 28,000 Pakistani students. A joint statement issued at the end of Khan's four-day visit to China on Sunday said, while ensuring safety against Covid-19, China will arrange for Pakistani students to return to China and resume classes in a prudent manner.

China reportedly made similar assurances to Mongolia and Singapore whose leaders also visited Beijing to take part in the opening ceremony of the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics.

Recently, the Sri Lankan government urged Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit to Colombo to permit its medical students studying in Chinese universities to return as their future was at stake.

While making these promises, Beijing has not given any definite timeline to those counties to permit the students to return.

Also Read  How China is keeping to its strict 'zero Covid' strategy

Since 2020, China has stopped issuing visas for Indians and currently, there were no flights in operation between the two countries. The extension of Chinas strict zero case policy of Covid-19 to thousands of foreign students, mostly studying in Chinese medical colleges, has virtually ruined nearly two years of their education.

The online classes that their colleges claim to conduct made little difference to the medical students who were deprived of valuable laboratory classes.

Into the second month of this year, Beijing is yet to commit to a definite timeline for the return of the Indian students and their South Asian counterparts besides hundreds of Indian employees and businessmen who are either stuck at home or separated from their families.

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White-tailed deer on Staten Island have been found carrying the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, marking the first time the variant has been reported in wild animals.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence that white-tailed deer are easily infected by the virus. The results are likely to intensify concerns that deer, which are widely distributed across the United States and live near humans, could become a reservoir for the virus and a potential source of new variants.

Researchers have previously reported that the virus was widespread in deer in Iowa in late 2020 and parts of Ohio in early 2021.

The US Department of Agriculture has confirmed infections in deer in 13 additional states  Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia  Lyndsay Cole, a spokesperson for the agencys Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said Thursday. Those animals were infected with earlier variants of the virus.

Research suggests that deer are catching the virus from humans and then spreading it to other deer, and there is no evidence that the animals are transmitting it back to people. But longer term, widespread circulation of the virus in deer would give the virus more opportunity to mutate, potentially giving rise to new variants that could spill over into people or other animal species.

The circulation of the virus in deer provides opportunities for it to adapt and evolve, said Vivek Kapur, a veterinary microbiologist at Penn State University, who is part of the Staten Island research team. And its likely to come back and haunt us in the future.

The researchers also found that one deer with Omicron already had a high level of antibodies to the virus, suggesting that it may have been previously infected. Omicron has proved able to evade some of the immune systems defenses in humans. If it is similarly immune-evasive in deer, animals infected during earlier outbreaks may be vulnerable to reinfection.

The news that Omicron had breached white-tailed deer populations was not unexpected, experts said.

Its disappointing, but its not surprising, said Dr Scott Weese, an infectious diseases veterinarian at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Omicron is quite ubiquitous, said Dr Samira Mubareka, a virus expert at Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto

The new research, which has not yet been published in a scientific journal, is a partnership among the Penn State researchers, conservation nonprofit White Buffalo, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and other institutions.

As part of a deer population-control study, White Buffalo has been working with the city to capture local deer and sterilize some of the young males.

Between mid-December and the end of January, the field workers collected blood samples from 131 captured deer, as well as nasal and tonsillar swabs from a smaller subset of animals.

Nearly 15 per cent of the deer had antibodies to the virus in their blood, the researchers found, suggesting that the animals had previously been infected with it.

Polymerase chain reaction testing of the swabs from 68 deer also revealed that seven of the animals were actively infected with the virus at the time of sampling.

The PCR tests also revealed that viral samples from all seven deer had a pattern of mutations that was suggestive of the omicron variant.

The researchers have now sequenced four of those samples and confirmed that at least four deer were infected by omicron, which spread rapidly through New York Citys human population in December.

The recent wave is spilling over, Kapur said.

The researchers cautioned that it was impossible to make sweeping conclusions based on the single deer that tested positive for the virus and also had high levels of antibodies in its blood. They could not rule out the possibility that the animal had developed those antibodies during the course of its current infection. But if the findings hold up, and deer can be repeatedly reinfected by new variants, it raises the risk that the animals could become a reservoir for the virus, the scientists said.

You can imagine this could be a never-ending, perpetual cycle of deer constantly circulating the virus among themselves and picking up the new variants, said Suresh Kuchipudi, a veterinary microbiologist at Penn State who led the research team.

How humans are spreading the virus to deer remains unknown. People could spread the virus to the animals directly  perhaps by hand-feeding deer in parks or yards, the researchers noted  or indirectly, through wastewater or contaminated trash.

Mubareka emphasised the need for longitudinal surveillance of the Staten Island deer to determine how the variant evolves, whether it spills over into other wildlife, and what level of illness it causes. Deer have appeared asymptomatic when infected with earlier variants.

The researchers are hoping to conduct laboratory studies of the antibodies they detected in the Staten Island deer to try to determine which version of the virus each animal was infected by  and how much those antibodies might protect against other variants.

Does a Delta infection protect deer from being reinfected by Delta? Does it protect against Omicron? Does an Omicron infection protect against a future Delta infection?

These are all open questions, said Kurt Vandegrift, a disease ecologist at Penn State and a member of the research team. Were brand-new in finding these infections in the wild. And so thats why were taking data, and thats why we need to do more surveillance.

In the meantime, the researchers said, New Yorkers should not fear their local deer, but keeping a safe distance away from wildlife is always a good practice.

Several states, including New Jersey and Massachusetts, have recommended additional measures for hunters butchering animals in the field, such as avoiding the head, lungs and digestive tract, in addition to general hygiene practices. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, gloves, wash your hands, but assume that you could be exposed, Mubareka said.

The best way to prevent deer from becoming a reservoir for the virus is to curb its spread in humans, the scientists emphasised.

The discovery of Omicron in deer, Kuchipudi said, is a reminder and probably call for action that the pandemics not over yet.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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A total of 2,439 women were raped and 90 killed over "family honour" in the past six months in the Punjab province of Pakistan, according to the data provided by the Punjab Information Commission. In Lahore, the capital of the Punjab province with a population of 110 million, 400 women were raped and over 2,300 kidnapped during this period, the data said.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)'s recent report, in Pakistan, at least 11 rape cases are reported daily, with over 22,000 such incidents reported to police in the past six years (2015-21).

The report states that society gives undue advantage to perpetrators by blaming victims. Instead of having a drop in the number of cases, there has been a sharp rise with an overall less than 1 per cent conviction rate. "Only 77 accused of the 22,000 cases were found to be convicted and the conviction rate is around 0.3 per cent," the report said.

Also Read  Transgender activist who helped organise climate march abducted, raped in Pakistan

"Sadly, rape culture is predominant in Pakistan -- one that blames the victims of sexual assault and frames all men as naturally violent. Many are working to try to change this discourse, but it is an uphill battle," Nida Kirmani, a professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), was quoted as saying in the report.

Last week, a man killed his married sister who was gang-raped in the Sargodha district, some 200 kilometres from Lahore.

The 28-year-old victim, a mother of five children, was raped by four suspects in a neighbourhood where she worked as domestic help. The alleged killer told the police that he shot dead her sister over family honour.

Pakistan has one of the highest numbers of documented and estimated honour killings per capita in the world.

Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch was strangled to death in 2016 by her brother, who was upset by pictures she had uploaded to social media. Often dubbed the Kim Kardashian of Pakistan, Baloch, 26, had hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. She posted images and videos of herself twerking and singing, breaking strict taboos in socially conservative Pakistan.

Also Read  Honour killing: 9-year-old boy kills aunt in Pakistan's Punjab province

The shocking murder of Baloch by her brother had turned the spotlight on the epidemic of so-called honour killings and sparked a fresh push to close loopholes allowing the killers to walk free.

The long-awaited legislation was finally passed three months later in a move cautiously hailed by women's rights activists. But years on, activists say honour killings are still occurring at an alarming pace in Pakistan.

According to the World Economic Forum, Pakistan is one of the worst countries in the world in terms of gender parity. Women hold fewer than 7 per cent of managerial positions.

Early marriage remains a serious issue in Pakistan, with 21 per cent of girls in the country marrying before the age of 18, and 3 per cent marrying before 15. More than five million primary school-age children in Pakistan are not in school, most of them are girls, according to Human Rights Watch.

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President Vladimir Putin said he was prepared to keep negotiating over Russias security demands in Eastern Europe but offered a stark warning over the possibility of a full-scale war between Russia and the West  using a five-hour meeting with his French counterpart on Monday to keep the world guessing about his intentions.

Putin said that proposals made by President Emmanuel Macron of France in their one-on-one meeting at the Kremlin were too early to speak about but could create a foundation for our further steps. Macron, in a joint news conference with Putin after their hastily scheduled meeting, described the coming days as potentially decisive in heading off what the West fears could be a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We are in a situation of extreme tension, a degree of incandescence that Europe has rarely known in the past decades, Macron said.

Also Read  Europe in 'most dangerous' moment since Cold War: EU top diplomat

The meeting came as President Joe Biden hosted Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany at the White House to coordinate a trans-Atlantic response to a potential attack on Ukraine, underscoring the intense unease in the West touched off by Putins enormous troop buildup around Ukraines borders.

Biden said Monday that Western countries would take a united approach to rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and he vowed that a controversial gas pipeline project designed to send gas from Russia to Germany would not go forward in the event of a military invasion.

Putin appeared to relish the attention  and signaled he was prepared to draw out the mystery around his next moves that has turned the Russian troop buildup into the Wests most urgent crisis. The Russian leader is an avid geopolitical tactician, and Mondays concurrent talks in Moscow and in Washington showcased his ability to force the West to pay attention to the Kremlins long-standing grievances over NATOs expansion to Russias borders.

He told reporters at the Kremlin that if Ukraine were to join NATO  a scenario Western officials characterise as a far-off possibility  a wider war would follow.

Macron was scheduled to fly to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, on Tuesday to continue his shuttle diplomacy in a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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Reverends, rabbis and other religious leaders urged Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to permanently stop the company's plan for an Instagram version aimed at young users on Tuesday, in a letter sent by advocacy group Fairplay and their Children's Screen Time Action Network.

Since last September, Instagram has paused its plans to introduce a version of the photo-sharing app for kids, as opposed to the project growing.

"After much meditation and prayer, we assert that social media platforms that target immature brains, practice unethical data mining, and are inspired by profit motives are not a tool for the greater good of children," said the letter, which was signed by more than 70 religious leaders.

Also Read | Blackmailed on Instagram, man kills self in Bengaluru

Instagram and its parent company, Meta Platforms formerly Facebook, have come under intense scrutiny over the potential impact of their services on the mental health, body image and safety of young users, including after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents about the company's approach to younger users.

In December, Instagram head Adam Mosseri was grilled about children's online safety by a Senate panel. A coalition of state attorneys general has also opened a probe into Meta for promoting Instagram to children despite potential harms.

Meta has said the leaked documents have been used to paint a false picture of the company's work. It has also been saying the idea of Instagram for kids was to give a safer, dedicated place for younger users to engage with the service.

Also Read | Instagram brings new subscriptions feature to help creators earn more

Instagram, like other social media sites, has rules against children under 13 joining the platform but said it knows it has users under this age.

The letter from the faith groups, which quoted the Bible, Qur'an, Pope Francis and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, called on Zuckerberg, as someone who has in the past said religion is "very important," to recognize spiritual as well as secular concerns about the project.

Instagram declined to comment on the letter.

Reuters reported last year on Meta's concerted outreach to the religious community in its efforts to drive engagement on its platforms. The company, which has a dedicated faith partnerships team, launched a new feature to request and send prayers on the site, sent out mini equipment kits for streaming worship during the Covid-19 pandemic, and last year held its first virtual faith summit.

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Spain is scrapping a mandate to wear masks outdoors, as Covid-19 infection rates drop and hospitals report fewer admissions. Mask-wearing will not be necessary outside beginning Thursday, government spokeswoman Isabel Rodriguez said Tuesday after a weekly Cabinet meeting.

The rule change includes children at school during their breaks outside between classes.

However, masks remain mandatory in indoor public spaces, including public transportation, and when people are unable to keep a safe distance of 1.5 metres between one another. The measure reverses a step taken last December amid an unprecedented surge in infections, fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Also Read  New York deer infected with Omicron, finds study

Official health ministry data showed how the spread of the virus gathered speed in November and peaked on January 21 at 3,418 new infections per 100,000 residents over two weeks, a pandemic record. Contagion has since slowed down, with the 14-day figure dropping to just under 2,000.

Authorities credit a strong vaccination rate of nearly 81 per cent of Spain's 47 million people for a lower hospital admission rate of Covid-19 patients than in previous infection surges.

Spain has officially recorded more than 94,000 deaths linked to Covid-19.

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A hardworking restaurant deliveryman was fatally shot on a Bronx street, and a close friend said Tuesday he cant comprehend why cops say the victim had crack cocaine on him when he was killed.

Christian Bueno, 39, was shot in the chest on Sedgwick Ave. near W. Kingsbridge Road in Kingsbridge Heights about 10 p.m. Monday, cops said.

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He never complained about anything, he didnt have any trouble, nothing with the police, no problems with them, said his grieving friend and co-worker, Miguel Bautista. The only thing he would ever do was smoke hookah.

Police investigate scene of shooting along Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx on Monday. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)

He had no criminal history, police said, but first responders found a small bag of crack on him.

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Medics rushed Bueno, who lived nearby, to St. Barnabas Hospital but he could not be saved.

His killer, a man believed to be wearing sweatpants and a red jacket, ran off and has not been caught.

Christian Bueno (Obtained by Daily News)

Bautista wondered if the killer may have meant to rob him.

He had a big chain he just got for himself, it was beautiful, beautiful, Bautista said.

Bueno, who was born in the Dominican Republic, moved to New York when he was in his 20s, said Bautista, who rented a room to Bueno in Kingsbridge, less than a half-mile from where he was killed.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

He was like my brother, said a heartbroken Bautista, 49. I knew him over for over 10 years.

The two worked together at El Campasino Dominicano on University Ave. in Fordham.

He was very quiet, he was a hard worker. He worked seven days a week, Bautista said. Everyone at the restaurant is very sad.

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The two had been coworkers at another restaurant before their current job; Bautista worked as a chef, while Bueno made deliveries.

Bueno kept his room pristine, and his 12-year-old daughter would visit every weekend, Bautista said.

After the killing, Bautista said hes considering leaving New York City.

Problems in the schools, problems in the street, problems in the restaurant, he said. Gun, gun, gun. Gun for everything.
Mali has accused France's military of deliberately dividing the West African country and of committing espionage during its fight against Islamist militants, in the latest verbal volley that has seen relations spiral in recent weeks.

Choguel Maiga, appointed interim Prime Minister following a coup last year, did not provide evidence for his claims, made during a meeting with global diplomats on Monday evening to which the media was also invited. French officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Maiga's remarks will further fray tensions between Mali and its former colonial ruler France, whose 9-year counter-insurgency strategy in the Sahel region is unravelling as popular opposition to its military presence grows.

Also Read | Mali publishes bill to shore up junta leader's powers

Maiga said the arrival of French troops in 2013 divided the country and allowed jihadists linked to al Qaeda to regroup and continue carrying out attacks.

"The intervention turned into a de-facto partition of Mali, which contributed to the actualisation of our territories for the terrorists who had time to take refuge and reorganise themselves in order to come back in force," Maiga said.

Without providing evidence, Maiga also alleged that France had directed a United Nations peacekeeping plane to spy on the construction of Malian army bases on its behalf. The U.N. mission declined to comment.

Mali on Monday expelled a journalist from the French magazine Jeune Afrique less than 24 hours after his arrival. Authorities said he hadn't obtained the appropriate accreditations.

Tensions between Europe and Mali are nearing boiling point. Paris has suspended air travel and the European Union has sanctioned its leaders for delaying planned elections. Mali expelled the French ambassador last week and demanded Danish troops from a European special forces mission leave the country.

The spat has isolated the military-led government in Mali, which is also under sanctions from West African nations after it said it would not hold elections until Dec. 2025 - nearly four years later than planned.

France maintains a significant military force in Mali's desert north as part of a mission to combat violence by Islamist militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, but is drawing down troops.

Meanwhile Russian military contractors and trainers have begun arriving in Mali at the bequest of officials and have been well received by some.

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Europe is facing its most serious security threat since the Cold War, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Monday, though he stressed a diplomatic solution with Russia over Ukraine remains "possible."

"We are living, to my understanding, the most dangerous moment for security in Europe after the end of the Cold War," Borrell told a joint news conference in Washington with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Questioned about US warnings of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, Blinken denied Washington's stance was alarmist, saying: "This is not alarmism. This is simply the facts."

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France will soon drop its requirement of a negative Covid test for vaccinated travellers from outside the European Union, as daily infection numbers continue to fall, Europe Minister Clement Beaune said Tuesday.

"We again required tests in December over the Omicron variant. In the coming days we will announce that tests are no longer needed for vaccinated people," Beaune told France 2 television.

Currently, anyone coming from outside the EU, including Britain, has to show a negative test result from the previous 48 hours, regardless of vaccination status.

Also Read | What's more effective against Omicron? Two Covid vaccine doses or three?

"This week there will probably be a new European protocol for vaccinated people arriving from outside the EU, with eased measures," he added.

EU members agreed on January 25 to better coordinate their travel rules, in particular for people crossing borders within the bloc.

The Omicron surge prompted Italy and Denmark, for example, to impose recent negative test requirements for entry by fellow EU residents as well as vaccination proof, a tightening of the rules that irritated officials in Brussels.

French authorities began lifting a series of Covid restrictions this month, with nightclubs set to reopen from February 16 and standing areas once again authorised for concerts and sporting events as well as bars.

The country recorded 46,001 Covid cases on Monday, a sharp drop from the record of just under 465,000 infections in mid-January.

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US President Joe Biden on Monday warned that if Russia invades Ukraine, there would be no Nord Stream 2, but did not specify how he would go about ensuring the controversial pipeline would not be used.

Speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Biden said, "If Russia invades... again, then there will be longer Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it."

When asked how he would do that, he responded, "I promise you we will be able to do it."

Europe's most divisive energy project, Nord Stream 2 is designed by Russian energy giant Gazprom to double the amount of gas flowing from Russia straight to Germany, bypassing traditional transit nation Ukraine.

The United States and Germany have sought to present a united front against potential Russian military aggression in Ukraine, with Biden declaring the two in "lockstep" despite questions over Berlin's commitment to scuttle the important energy pipeline.

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North Korea boasted on Tuesday that it is one of only a handful of countries in the world to field nuclear weapons and advanced missiles and the only one standing up to the United States by "shaking the world" with missile tests.

International tension has been rising over a recent series of North Korean ballistic missile tests, actions long banned by the UN Security Council. January was a record month of such tests, with at least seven launches of nine missiles including a new type of "hypersonic missile" able to manoeuvre at high speed.

Also among the tests was the first firing since 2017 of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, capable of striking US territories in the Pacific Ocean.

Also Read | North Korea calls for economic growth, improved lives despite 'persevering struggle'

"In today's world where many countries waste time dealing with the United States with submission and blind obedience, theres only our country on this planet that can shake the world by firing a missile with the US mainland in its range," North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The series of tests since New Year represented "remarkable achievements" that strengthened North Korea's "war deterrence," the statement on the ministry's website said.

"There are more than 200 countries in the world, but only a few have hydrogen bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and hypersonic missiles," it said.

The statement cited the Hwasong-15, the longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ever tested by North Korea, which was test-fired once in 2017 and is believed to have the range to deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in the United States, as well as the Hwasong-12, which North Korea once threatened to use on Guam.

Also Read | North Korea presses ahead with weapons development despite sanctions: UN report

Talks to persuade Pyongyang to give up or limit its arsenal in return for sanctions relief have been stalled since 2019.

The United States called on North Korea on Monday to defund its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and prioritise the needs of its own people.

US and South Korean officials say they fear the launch of the Hwasong-12 on Jan. 30 could be a step toward fully resuming tests of North Korea's ICBMs or nuclear weapons. North Korea has not conducted a nuclear test or fired an ICBM since 2017.

A Washington think tank said on Monday it has identified a military base close to North Korea's border with China that is likely intended for stationing ICBMs.

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US President Joe Biden said Monday at a meeting with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz that the two countries are "in lockstep" on confronting Russia over Ukraine.

"We're working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe," as well as in meeting "challenges posed by China," Biden said in the White House's Oval Office.

Scholz, on his first trip to the White House since taking over from longtime German leader Angela Merkel, said their countries were the "closest allies and working intensely together."

The German chancellor said he and Biden's tasks included "fighting against Russian aggression against Ukraine. So it's an important meeting at a very, very important time."

Germany's new government has come under criticism from Ukraine and some in the United States over accusations that it is not fully engaging with US-led efforts to push back against Russian military pressure on pro-Western Ukraine.

At issue is Germany's decision not to join the United States and other NATO allies in Europe in sending weapons to help Ukraine's military and questions over whether Germany is willing to shelve a major pipeline due to start shipping natural gas from Russia as part of severe Western sanctions.

However, Scholz is using his Washington visit to smooth over differences.

"We are close allies and we act in a coordinated and united way, when it comes to responding to the current crises," Scholz told reporters earlier Monday, saying Russia would pay "a very high price" if it attacks Ukraine.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Germany is of "huge strategic value to the United States" and "today is an opportunity for the president to build on the relationship."

Asked about the pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2, Psaki said the US position was clear -- that it "should not move forward if Russia invades."

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The United States said on Monday it was offering a reward of up to $10 million each for information leading to the identification or location of ISIS-K leader Sanaullah Ghafari and for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for a deadly August 2021 attack at Kabul airport.

The Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, is the regional Islamic State affiliate, which first appeared in 2014 and is named after an old term for the region. It has previously fought both the Western-backed government that fell in August and the Taliban.

In June 2020, Ghafari was appointed by the extremist group to lead ISIS-K. Ghafari was responsible for approving all ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations, the US State Department said.

In November, the State Department designated Ghafari as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist".

The US military said on Friday that a single Islamic State bomber killed 13 US troops and at least 170 Afghans at Kabul airport last August.

The bombing occurred on Aug. 26 as US troops were trying to help both Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban's takeover, and compounded America's sense of defeat after 20 years of war.

It also left President Joe Biden's administration struggling to answer accusations that the State Department could have evacuated Americans sooner instead of putting US troops at risk.

US officials said in November they believed ISIS-K could develop the ability to strike outside of Afghanistan within six to 12 months.

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The police officer arrived at the Hindu temple in Haridwar with a warning to the monks: Dont repeat your hate speech.

Ten days earlier, before a packed audience and thousands watching online, the monks had called for violence against the countrys minority Muslims. The monks speeches, in one of Indias holiest cities, promoted a genocidal campaign to kill 2 million of them and urged an ethnic cleansing of the kind that targeted Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

When videos of the event provoked national outrage, police came. The saffron-clad preachers questioned whether the officer could be objective.

Yati Narsinghanand, the events firebrand organiser known for his violent rhetoric, assuaged their concerns.

Also Read | Anyone making hate speech must be punished, Haridwar Dharma Sansad no exception, says RSS leader

Biased? Narsinghanand said, according to a video of the interaction. He will be on our side, he added, as the monks and the officer broke into laughter.

Once considered fringe, extremist elements are increasingly taking their militant message into the mainstream, stirring up communal hate in a push to reshape Indias constitutionally protected secular republic into a Hindu state. Activists and analysts say their agenda is being enabled, even normalized, by political leaders and law enforcement officials who offer tacit endorsements by not directly addressing such divisive issues.

After the monks call to arms went viral, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his top leaders remained silent, except for a vice president with a largely ceremonial role who warned that inciting people against each other is a crime against the nation without making a specific reference to Haridwar. Junior members of Modis party attended the event, and the monks have often posted pictures with senior leaders.

You have persons giving hate speech, actually calling for the genocide of an entire group, and we find reluctance of the authorities to book these people, Rohinton Fali Nariman, a recently retired Indian Supreme Court judge, said in a public lecture. Unfortunately, the other higher echelons of the ruling party are not only being silent on hate speech but almost endorsing it.

Also read: Rising hate speeches behind Muslim teen's lynching in Nargund, say activists

Narsinghanand was later arrested after he ignored the police warning and repeated calls for violence. His lawyer, Uttam Singh Chauhan, said his speeches may have been a reaction to anti-Hindu comments by Muslim clerics.

Modis governing Bharatiya Janata Party did not respond to requests for comment.

Does the prime minister or home minister need to address every small, trivial issue? said Vinod Bansal, a spokesperson for the World Hindu Council, a party affiliate. The accused have already been arrested. The secular groups will always highlight such incidents, but not when Hindus, Hindu gods and goddesses are under attack.

The hate speech is stoking communal tensions in a country where small triggers have incited mass-death tragedies. The monks agenda already resonates with increasingly emboldened vigilante groups.

Also Read | Now, Uttar Pradesh 'Dharm Sansad' calls for 'Hindu Rashtra', Seers say Gandhi not Father of the Nation, Nehru not 'first' PM

Vigilantes have beaten people accused of disrespecting cows, considered holy by some Hindus; dragged couples out of trains, cafes and homes on suspicion that Hindu women might be seduced by Muslim men; and barged into religious gatherings where they suspect people are being converted.

In recent weeks, global human rights organizations and local activists, as well as Indias retired security chiefs, have warned that the violent rhetoric has reached a dangerous new pitch. With right-wing messages spreading rapidly through social media and the government hesitant to take action, they are concerned that a singular event  a local dispute, or an attack by international terrorist groups such as al-Qaida or the Islamic State group  could lead to widespread violence that would be difficult to contain.

Gregory Stanton, the founder of Genocide Watch, a nonprofit group, who raised similar warnings before the massacres in Rwanda in the 1990s, told a U.S. congressional briefing that the demonising and discriminatory processes that lead to genocide have been well underway in India.

In an interview, he said Myanmar was an example of how the easy dissemination of misinformation and hate speech on social media prepares the ground for violence. The difference in India, he said, is that it would be the mobs taking action instead of the military.

Also read: 2 Hindu bodies seek to intervene as parties in SC in PIL alleging hate speeches against Muslims

You have to stop it now, he said, because once the mobs take over it could really turn deadly.

A Sense of Victimhood

The Dasna Devi temple in Uttar Pradesh state, where Narsinghanand is the chief priest, is peppered with signs that call to prepare for a dharm yudh, or religious war. One calls on Hindus, my lions to value their weapons just the way dedicated wives value their husbands.

The temples main sign prohibits Muslims from entering.

The monks anger is rooted in a sense of internalized victimhood that dates to the founding of Indias republic after independence from British rule in 1947. When Pakistan was carved out of India in a bloody partition that left hundreds of thousands dead, the Hindu right was incensed that the founding fathers turned what remained of India into a secular republic.

They celebrate a Hindu hard-liners assassination of Mohandas Gandhi  a renowned symbol of nonviolent struggle, but to them a Muslim appeaser. Pooja Shakun Pandey, a monk at the Haridwar event, has held reenactments of Gandhis assassination, firing a bullet into his effigy as blood runs down.

Also Read | Rising hate speeches behind Muslim teen's lynching in Nargund, say activists

The forces that shaped the ideology of Gandhis assassin, Nathuram Godse, have slowly risen from the fringes to dominate Indias politics.

Modi, the prime minister, spent decades as a mobilizer for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the century-old right-wing organization to which Godse belonged. Modis party sees the group as the fountainhead of its political ideology and has relied heavily on its vast network of volunteers to mobilize voters and secure victories.

When he was chief minister of Gujarat, Modi saw firsthand how unchecked communal tensions could turn into bloodletting.

In 2002, a train fire killed 59 Hindu pilgrims. Although the cause was disputed, violent mobs, in response, targeted the Muslim community, leaving more than 1,000 people dead, many burned alive.

Rights organisations and opposition leaders accused Modi of looking the other way. He rejected the allegations as political attacks.

Also Read | Yati Narsinghanand, organiser of Dharma Sansad, sent to 14-day judicial custody

After he rose to the countrys highest office in 2014 on a message of economic growth, there was hope that Modi could rein in the fury. Instead, he has often reverted to a Hindu-first agenda that inflames communal divides.

In 2017, Modi picked Yogi Adityanath, a monk who had started a youth group accused of vigilante violence, to lead Uttar Pradesh, Indias largest state, with more than 200 million people.

In his saffron robe, Adityanath has legislated a ban on religious conversion by marriage, an idea that he calls love jihad, in which Muslim men lure Hindu women to convert them. His group has served as moral police, hounding interfaith couples and punishing anyone suspected of disrespecting cows.

As Adityanath campaigned for reelection, the group held a meeting in New Delhi around the same time as the monks event. With a picture of Adityanath behind them, attendees took an oath to turn India into a Hindu state, even if it meant killing for it.

Also Read | Army veterans move Supreme Court in Haridwar hate speech case

Adityanaths office would not address his current relations with the group but said the chief minister had nothing to do with the meeting.

Dhirendra K. Jha, a writer who has studied the rise of Hindu nationalism, said he worried that extremists now dominate Indias politics in such a way that those who call for violence feel protected.

Unless this is dealt with, the kind of consequences that may happen  I cant even imagine, I dont dare to imagine, Jha said.

Finish Them Off

The choice of Haridwar as the site for a bold call to violence was strategic: The city attracts millions of visitors annually, often for religious festivals and pilgrimages.

The riverbank was recently busy with seers and worshippers. Families picnicked and took dips in the chilly water. Even as some religious authorities appeared troubled by the calls for violence, they were reluctant to condemn them.

Pradeep Jha, the main organizer of the citys largest pilgrimage festival, said he shared the vision of a Hindu state, not through violence but by urging Indias Muslims to convert back; in such a view, everyone in India was Hindu at one point.

I believe we need to pursue our goals with patience, with peace, he said. Otherwise, what is our difference with others?

Narsinghanand has made a name for himself doing the exact opposite.

As he sees it, Indias Muslims  who account for 15% of the population  will turn the country into a Muslim state within a decade. To prevent such an outcome, he has told followers that they must be willing to die, pointing to the Taliban and Islamic State group as a role model.

In 2020, Narsinghanand was among the hard-liners stoking tensions during monthslong protests over a citizenship amendment seen as discriminatory toward Muslims. He called for violence, using the language of a final battle. They are jihadis, and we will have to finish them off, he said.

Riots followed in New Delhi, with 50 people killed, most of them Muslims.

Narsinghanand was always observant, but not an extremist, according to his 82-year-old father, Rajeshwar Dayal Tyagi.

He was a top college student, earning a scholarship to study food technology in Moscow. There, he helped open a vegetarian restaurant for Indian students that still operates.

Returning to India in 1996, he started a computer training institute with money from Tyagis pension. He soon dedicated his life to being a monk, leaving behind his wife and young daughter, said his father.

I feel pained, I feel angry, it gives me stress, his father said. Its not a good idea to use harsh words against anybody.

Despite the police warning, Narsinghanand and his fellow monks repeated their messages of hate, including on national television and social media.

This constitution will be the end of the Hindus, all 1 billion Hindus, Narsinghanand said at a virtual event. Whoever believes in this system, in this Supreme Court, in these politicians, in this constitution, in this army and police  they will die a dogs death.

When the police came to arrest an associate, he threatened the officers, who politely urged him to calm down. You will all die, Narsinghanand is seen in a video telling them.

The police arrested Narsinghanand on Jan. 15, and he was charged in court with hate speech.

He said nothing wrong, said Swami Amritanand, an organizer of the Haridwar event. We are doing what America is doing; we are doing what Britain is doing.

Amritanand said the call for arms was justified because within the next 10 to 12 years there will be a horrible war that will play out in India.

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The Congress on Tuesday saw irreconcilable differences between the BJP and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars JD(U), and predicted a major upheaval in the state after the all-important assembly elections in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh were over.

AICC media panellist and MLC Prem Chandra Mishra made the claim, citing recent attacks on Kumar by some leaders of the BJP, which was mortified over not having its own chief minister despite being numerically stronger.

Just look at the statement of Chhedi Paswan, who calls the chief minister so hungry for power that he would not hesitate from joining hands with Dawood Ibrahim if the need arose, said Mishra, referring to the controversial statement of the BJP MP from Sasaram.

Paswan, who is serving his second term as BJP MP, had made the remarks in the national capital in reply to questions from journalists about the spat between the partys state president Sanjay Jaiswal and the JD(U).

Also Read  Rift between BJP and JD(U) in Bihar widens

The Sasaram MP, a veteran party-hopper who had joined BJP just ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, had also said his party had committed a bhool (mistake) by helping Kumar, his former boss, return as chief minister despite the JD(U)s dismal show in the assembly polls.

Paswan was formerly with the JD(U) and a minister in Nitish Kumars cabinet before resigning in protest against not being considered for a party ticket in the Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress leader also cited Jaiswals allegation in a Facebook post on the previous day that state ministers from the party like Shahnawaz Hussain were not able to perform to their potential for want of cooperation from the entire cabinet, a veiled reference to the chief minister and the JD(U).

Jaiswal had also rubbished the contention of the JD(U) that the state was in need of greater assistance from the Centre, including the grant of special category status, and sought to underscore that Bihar was already getting more central help than Maharashtra and West Bengal, which were roughly of the same size in terms of population.

The tirade against the chief minister is not from the opposition but from his allies in power. It is a poor reflection on the opportunism and lust for power of both partners. But, it also indicates that nothing is okay with the ruling coalition, said Mishra.

Also Read  JD(U) demands special category status for Bihar

We are definitely staring at political instability in Bihar. This government will not complete its tenure. There may even be mid-term polls. The picture will become more clear after the UP elections, the Congress leader said.

In the 2020 assembly elections, the BJP returned with a tally of 74 seats, about 30 more than that of the JD(U), which put up its worst-ever performance, blamed primarily on the rebellion of the then Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan.

Chirag, who eventually got cornered in his own party and was disowned by the BJP despite his repeated avowals of loyalty towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been accused by the JD(U) of having acted with the tacit approval of the saffron party.

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Dynastic parties are the biggest threat to India's democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he launched an all-out attack on the Congress and held it responsible for a host of issues, including the Emergency, the anti-Sikh riots, caste politics and the exodus of Pandits from Kashmir.

Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the president's address in the Rajya Sabha, the prime minister, who highlighted his governments achievements in various sectors, said the Congress is creating hurdles in the country's development as an opposition party too.

Modi claimed urban Naxals are today controlling the Congress thought and ideology. "The Congress in a way is in the grip of urban Naxals. That is why its thought has become negative."

Also Read: As officials look away, hate speech in India nears dangerous levels

The Rajya Sabha adopted the motion of thanks after negating all amendments moved by opposition members.

The Congress staged a walkout from the House during the prime minister's address, prompting Modi to say that one needs to listen too in a democracy and alleging that the party was used to only preaching to others till now.

Modi suggested that the opposition party change its name from Indian National Congress to 'Federation of Congress' and urged it to not impose its frustration and despair on the people of the country as loss and victory happen in politics.

"The biggest threat to our democracy is dynastic parties. When one family gets too prevalent in a political party, then talent is the first casualty. I suggest all political parties should establish democracy in their own parties and the Congress being the oldest party of the country has more responsibility to do so," he said in the House.

"Some members asked, if there was no Congress, what would happen...I would like to say, if there was no Congress there would be no Emergency, there would be no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened," Modi added.

Whenever someone within the Congress has spoken against a particular family, the results have been there for all to see, the prime minister said, naming the late leader Sitaram Kesri.

Kesri,who spoke out against the Gandhi family, was removed as party president.

Also Read: If you have a problem with nation, why not change your name? Modi asks Congress

He also took on the Congress for preaching about freedom of expression and cited the example of Lata Mangeshkar's musician brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar who was sacked from All India Radio for presenting a poetry on Veer Savarkar. Lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri was jailed criticising Jawaharlal Nehru.

The prime minister noted that India is known as the 'mother of democracy', and democracy and debate have been carrying on for centuries here.

He alleged that the Congress thinks the country was born only in 1947. This mindset is harmful for the country as its policies have affected the country's progress in the last 75 years.

"We will never learn lessons in democracy from those who trampled over democracy in 1975," Modi said.

He attacked the Congress for sacking over 50 state governments of several parties during its over 50-year rule at the Centre.

The Congress, the prime minister said, has been suppressing state governments and the policy of the Congress high command has been "to first discredit, then destabilise and then dismiss" governments.

The prime minister urged the opposition to be constructive and take the country to greater heights when it completes 100 years of independence.

"Have faith in the capability of 130 crore people of India, who will take the country forward with their talent," he said, adding that the nation was now entering the golden period.

Modi also criticised some parties that created negativity during Covid times and said they even boycotted an all-party meeting on the issue

Highlighting the achievements of his government during the pandemic, Modi said it was able to control inflation despite high international prices and amid the pandemic. He claimed that while the United States has faced highest inflation in 40 years and the United Kingdom in the last 30 years, India has controlled price rise.

He said inflation has remained between 4-5 percent during the last six years, while it was in double digits during the UPA rule.

Though other countries are facing high inflation and slow growth, India is witnessing high growth and medium inflation and has become the fastest growing economies among developing countries, Modi said.

The GST Council and Covid management, he said, were perfect examples of federalism as all decisions taken in the Council were unanimous. Modi added that he held 23 meetings with chief ministers during the Covid pandemic. He also claimed that the country was among the top three in the setting of unicorns and credited the youth for the achievement. He listed various steps taken by the government, including provision of free foodgrains to over 80 crore people.

He stressed that the infrastructure sector, besides MSME and agriculture were accorded top priority to help generate employment opportunities

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A teen driver has been charged with vehicular manslaughter for a crash that killed his passenger after he fled a Brooklyn car stop, police said Tuesday.

Ackeem Chambers, 18, was still recovering at Kings County Hospital on Monday when cops charged him with vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and failure to obey a traffic signal.

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Chambers had just fled a car stop in his 2015 Hyundai Sonata when he T-boned a 2007 Toyota Solara at the intersection at Eastern Parkway and Rogers Ave. in Crown Heights about 2:05 a.m. on Sunday, according to cops.

Ackeem Chambers had just fled a car stop in his 2015 Hyundai Sonata when he T-boned a 2007 Toyota Solara in the intersection at Eastern Parkway and Rogers Ave. in Crown Heights about 2:05 a.m. Sunday, according to cops. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

Cops tried to pull Chambers over for blowing through a traffic signal, but the teen hit the gas and sped off before striking the Solara. Cops did not pursue the teen when he pulled away from them, an NYPD spokesman said.

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Ackeem Chambers had just fled a car stop in his 2015 Hyundai Sonata when he T-boned a 2007 Toyota Solara in the intersection at Eastern Parkway and Rogers Ave. in Crown Heights about 2:05 a.m. Sunday, according to cops. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

Jada Rollins, who was in the back seat of the Sonata, died at Kings County Hospital.

Rollins and Chambers were friends, her devastated mother, Toshana Williams told the Daily News Tuesday.

They grew up in the neighborhood together, she said. I dont have anything to say about him. You know, hes gonna get whats coming to him.

Chambers and his other two passengers, both 19-year-old men, were taken to the same hospital, where Chambers was listed in critical condition. The two 19-year-old victims were in stable condition.

The 61-year-old woman driving the Solara was also taken to Kings County Hospital in stable condition.

Williams said her family was barely holding up after Rollins death.

She was a great kid. She was very artistic. She used to do coding, computer coding. She was to graduate from high school this year., she said. You know, she was just a regular teenage kid. She was my girl.

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Rollins, 18, lived less than two blocks from the scene of the crash and was on her way home from a friends birthday party, her mother told the News on Sunday. Rollins mother had texted her just minutes before the crash to remind her of a quickly approaching curfew.

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Her curfew was 2 a.m., Williams said. She said, Im 10 minutes away. 

Ackeem Chambers had just fled a car stop in his 2015 Hyundai Sonata when he T-boned a 2007 Toyota Solara in the intersection at Eastern Parkway and Rogers Ave. in Crown Heights about 2:05 a.m. Sunday, according to cops. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

Minutes later, Williams received a phone call from one of her daughters friends who was in the crash. Williams hung up and raced to the scene of the crash.

There was like three or four ambulances and I was running to each one to see which one she was in and then I found her, Williams said. When I came upon her they were doing chest compressions. They wouldnt let me ride with them [to the hospital] and I think thats when I knew.

[Its] surreal, but you know, from what we understand it was almost instantaneous so she didnt suffer, Rollins stepfather, Santos Souffront, told The News on Sunday. It seemed like they tried to revive her. And I think they mightve even known that she was gone, but they tried.

Chambers arraignment was pending in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Tuesday. He has a prior arrest for drug possession from September, cops said.

Chambers lives in Bath Beach.
Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chain KFC on Monday apologised following an outrage on social media over a post from its Pakistan-based franchise supporting separatists in Kashmir.

"We deeply apologize for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride," according to a message on KFC India official account on Twitter.

We deeply apologize for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride.  KFC India (@KFC_India) February 7, 2022

Earlier, in a social media post, a verified account of KFC had supported the separatists in Kashmir and posted "Kashmir belong to Kashmiris."

Also Read | Hyundai suffers backlash in India after Pakistani partner tweets on Kashmir

The incident follows the backlash that Hyundai Motors faced on Sunday on social media after a dealer in Pakistan posted a message supporting separatists in Kashmir.

A Twitter account of a Hyundai dealer in Pakistan with handle @hyundaiPakistanOfficial had posted a message supporting Kashmir Solidarity day, supporting what it called as "struggle for freedom".

Following the post, #BoycottHyundai trended on Twitter in India with many people asking to stop buying the company's products in the country.

On Sunday, Hyundai Motors India put out a message on social media reiterating its commitment to the Indian market.

KFC is a subsidiary of US-based Yum! Brands that also owns popular QSR brands such as Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

KFC had officially entered the Indian market in June 1995 by opening a restaurant in Bangalore.

Now, it operates over 450 stores in India through its franchise partners, which includes RJ Corp-owned Devyani International and Sapphire Foods.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted Congress during the reply to the Motion of Thanks in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress accused the Prime Minister of making election speech and scuttling real issues.

Addressing a press conference, leader of the opposition in the upper house, Mallikarjun Kharge along with Gaurav Gogoi and Shakti Singh Gohil, said the Prime Minister did not respond to the issues raised by the Opposition instead made an election speech.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said, "where are two crore jobs, why are you not talking about it." Jairam Ramesh said, "Some elevate debates in the Parliament, but even by his pathetic standards of decency, dignity, sobriety of language and fidelity to facts, the PM plumbed new depths in the Rajya Sabha today, forcing an Opposition walkout."

Read more: PM Modi tears into Congress in Lok Sabha, calls party leader of 'tukde tukde' gang

The Congress is furious since the Prime Minister has been targeting the party and its ;dynastic politics' while blaming First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for delay in the liberation of Goa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress saying that it could never think beyond its "dynasty", while praising NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress for attending the all-party meeting on Covid-19.

PM Modi said that during the all-party meet convened to review the Covid pandemic situation, the NCP and TMC turned up but not the Congress.

Modi went on to say that he wants to express his "gratitude" to Sharad Pawar who attended the meeting despite the Congress boycotting it.

While praising the NCP supremo, the Prime Minister tried to divide the Opposition and isolate the Congress as the former is part of the government in Maharashtra.

Without taking names, he said that some people need introspection for doing politics during the pandemic and trying to convince others to skip the meeting is incorrect.

He said that the problem with the Congress is they cannot think beyond the dynasty.

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With the elections set to start on February 10, campaigners are hitting the political notes hard in the five states of Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Come back tomorrow for continued coverage.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday tore into the latest Union Budget of the 'No Data Available or the NDA government', saying the Narendra Modi dispensation has forgotten the poor as it is not creating jobs and throwing welfare to the winds while creating wealth for crony capitalists.

Initiating the debate on the Budget in Rajya Sabha, the senior Congress MP asked the government if the wealth created is for 142 billionaires, and if it is not shared, what was the purpose of creating the wealth.

The word poor occurs twice in the budget. The word job appears thrice. One name appears six times and I compliment the Finance Minister for being loyal to her Prime Minister. You have forgotten the poorPoor will not forget you. The poor have a long memory, he said in his 20-minute speech as he referred to lower allocation for subsidies and MGNREGA.

Read more: If you have a problem with nation, why not change your name? Modi asks Congress

On the job front, he said of the 139 crore people, 94 crore form the workforce and of this, only 52 crore have some kind of jobs. Those below 28.43 years  the median age of the Indian population  are looking for jobs even as the Modi government has promised two crore jobs every year while the CMIE report this morning says that urban unemployment is 7.4% and rural employment is 6.54%.

There is just one statement in the Budget that 60 lakh jobs will be created in five years under the PM-Gati Shakti scheme, which is just 12 lakh per year. Annually, 47.5 lakh people are coming into the workforce and you are creating 12 lakh jobs only. What will the rest do? Answer is simple. They will fry and sell pakoras, he said.

He said the GDP grew by 8.3% in 2016-17 but fell to 3.7% in 2019-20 before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. In constant terms, it was Rs 145 lakh crore and in 2020-21 it came down to 135 lakh crore due to the pandemic, he said.

Emphasising that one can say we are growing only when we grow beyond Rs 145 lakh, he said, we havent reached that stage. The government claims we are running fast. But we are running fast to stay in the same place. You have to run fast to go ahead. You cannot run fast in the same place. This is not a treadmill, he said.

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modis barb that the Congress was a tukde, tukde gang, he said disruption in business, science and technology among others bring about change and innovation and that he was not concerned about being described as a member of the gang as the translation could mean disruption.

But when a question was posed, the Minister has said in Parliament that there is no data available with them.There is no data deaths due to oxygen shortage, there is no data on bodies flowing in the river, no data on migrants who walked home and no data on doubling of farmers income which has to happen in 2022, he said.

However, he said, he has some data  the fiscal deficit was fixed at 6.8% last year and that he had cautioned against it but it ended up at 6.9%.

On disinvestment, the target was set at Rs 1.75 lakh crore, which Chidambaram said he had cautioned that it could be achieved only through mindless disinvestment. However, he said, he was grateful that the government could collect only Rs 78,000 crore.

He said the capital expenditure for 2021-22 was set at 5.54 lakh crore and the revised estimate was over Rs 6 lakh crore. Actually, he said, the fine print showed that the paying off loans of Air India has shown as capital expenditure and the actual was less at Rs 5.52 lakh crore, less than the Budget estimates.

The previous Budget has spoken about disinvestment of BPCL among others, privatisation of two banks and an insurance company, National Monetisation Pipeline and privatisation of 151 rail routes for which not a single bid was received, he said. Why do you make such announcements if you do not have the capacity to implement it, he said.

Noting that the Budget had shown that the nominal growth would be 11.1% but the new Chief Economic Advisor said the real growth would be 8%, Chidambaram said the Finance Minister should clarify which figure is correct as only one would be correct.
Claiming that "urban naxals" were dominating a weakened Congress's thinking, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attacked the main Opposition party, asking it to change its name from Indian National Congress to Federation of Congress if the concept of India as a nation is unconstitutional to them.

Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Rajya Sabha, Modi went on to say that if the Congress was disbanded as per Mahatma Gandhis wish, the countrys democracy could have been free of dynasty and it would have taken a 'swadeshi' path rather than falling for "foreign ideals".

With elections in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur -- in mind, a combative Modi devoted a substantial part of his 100-minute speech to turn the tables on the Congress.

He referred to the 15 year "delay" in the independence of Goa, Emergency, anti-Sikh riots and Khalistani terrorism in Punjab, actions against Lata Mangeshkars brother for airing V D Savarkars song in All India Radio and Kishore Kumar during Emergency among others, amid protests by the main Opposition party, which eventuallywalked out.

Read more | Dynastic politics biggest threat to India: PM's jibe at Congress

Without taking Rahul Gandhis name, Modi referred to his remarks in Lok Sabha that the Constitution describes India as a Union of States and not a nation. "Now they have objections to the word 'nation'. If the idea of 'nation' is unconstitutional, then why is your party called Indian National Congress? If this is your new thinking, change your name. Change it to Federation of Congress. Correct the mistakes done by your predecessors,"

Modi said it has been remarked in the House that the Congress laid India's foundation and BJP just hoisted a flag. Some people believe that India was born in 1947, he said. The countrys democracy was not due to your generosity and those who strangled democracy in 1975 (Emergency) should not speak on it, he said.

Accusing the Congress of never thinking of anything else beyond the dynasty, Modi said one has to accept that the "biggest threat" to democracy was dynastic parties, as the "first casualty" will be that of talent when a family is supreme in a party.

Turning his attention to 'Congress na hoti, toh kya hota' (if there was no Congress, what would have happened) remarks, Modi alleged that it was an extension of the 'India is Indira, Indira is India' slogan.

Had Congress ceased to be, as per the wish of Mahatma Gandhi, democracy would have been free from dynasty. India would have walked on the path of 'swadeshi' resolutions, instead of taking to foreign ideals. Had Congress not been there, there would have been no blot of Emergency.

Had Congress not been there, there would have been no massacre of Sikhs, Punjab wouldn't have burnt in flames of terrorism for years, Kashmiri Pandits need not have left Kashmir. Had Congress not been there, there would've been no incident of daughters being thrown in 'tandoor'," Modi said.

He alleged that Congress did not allow development in the country when they were in power and now in Opposition, they are obstructing the development of the country. "Now they have objections to 'nation'. If the idea of 'nation' is unconstitutional, then why is your party called Indian National Congress? If this is your new thinking, change your name," Modi said.

On accusations that his government was putting federalism in danger, Modi said that Presidents Rule was imposed over 100 times during Congress governments and even did not spare Congress Chief Ministers who fell out of favour of the High Command, referring to several leaders, including Karnatakas Veerendra Patil.

The Congress High Command employs three strategies  discredit, destabilise and dismiss, he said, adding that several state governments led by Farooq Abdullah, Devil lala, Parkash Singh Badal, Ramakrishna Hegde, S R Bommai, M Karunanidhi and NT Rama Rao were troubled by the Congress-led Centre.

On Goa, he said, the south Indian state would not have waited for 15 years for independence if the Congress government followed Sardar Vallabhai Patels policies.

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Reviving the "tukde tukde gang" jibe against the Congress and reading from the 'Puranas' to justify his governance model, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a blistering attack on the Congress in Lok Sabha saying the Opposition party has "made up its mind not to come to power for 100 years" but "does not desist from sowing seeds of division".

Ridiculing the Congress leaders for giving 'long sermons (updesh)', Modi reminded them when their party was last in power.

Also Read | You haven't lost arrogance despite election losses: PM Modi's jibe at Congress in Parliament

"People of Nagaland voted for Congress for the last time in 1998. Nearly 24 years have passed since then. Odisha had voted for it in 1995. Twenty-seven years have passed since then but you did not get a re-entry there. In Goa, you had a clear majority in 1994. Twenty-eight years have passed since then but Goa has not accepted you. In Tripura people had voted for you in 1988. That was 34 years ago. The Congress' plight in UP, Bihar and Gujarat is that it was voted to power there 37 years back in 1985. In West Bengal, people had liked you last in 1972, almost 50 years ago. Congress was given an opportunity in Tamil Nadu in 1962 and they did not get entry since then," Modi said amid cheers from the treasury benches and noisy protests from Opposition members, particularly those from the Congress.

He was replying during a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in the Lower House.

The Prime Minister went to the extent of saying that sometimes it occurs to him through their speeches, their programmes and actions, the way they talk, the kind of issues they associate with it that they "have made up your mind not to come to power for the next 100 years".

Congress communication chief Randeep Surjewala hit back, reviving the "Raja of 21st century" jibe of Rahul Gandhi to target Modi and said, "The arrogance is awaiting defeat in elections," and rejected his claims on development during his regime as "propaganda".

"There is a clear message from Parliament today. Even if we lose one election, the entire echo system works. The meaning is clear. If you want freedom from price rise, unemployment, depleting income and massive poverty, the BJP has to be defeated in the elections," Surjewala said.

Modi said that while the Congress no longer has the will to come to power, it is now trying to "ruin something at least" when it is not getting anything as "politics of divide and rule has got embedded in the DNA of Congress" like the Britishers. "Congress has become the leader of the "tukde tukde gang," he said.

While BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra voiced glee, saying Modi is "showing a real picture to Congress", the Congress latched on to his "Andolanjeevi' (those living off agitations) saying he was insulting agitating farmers.

The Prime Minister also played to the hilt his government's small farmers versus big farmers pitch.

Without directly referring to this, the Prime Minister repeatedly accused the Opposition, particularly Rahul Gandhi, who had backed the farmer agitation of "hating small farmers".

In a no holds-barred attack, the Prime Minister mocked late Indira Gandhi's 'Garibi Hatao' slogan. Modi said the Congress could not remove poverty in 40 years but the poor removed the Congress. He also said that earlier, some Congress leaders themselves used to call the governments of Nehru and India Gandhi, the governments of Tata and Birla.

"Your punching bag has changed but the habit has not changed. Opposition can't live for a moment without uttering Modi. Modi is your life energy," Modi said. Congress, however, said the Prime Minister, did not reply to the issues raised with regard to people.

"Those making fun of 'Make in India' have become a joke themselves. If we are talking about being 'vocal for local', are we not fulfilling the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi? Then, why was it being mocked at by the Opposition? We talked about yoga and Fit India but that was mocked by the Opposition too. During the first wave, when people were following lockdowns, guidelines were suggesting that people stay where they are, the Congress was standing at Mumbai station and scaring innocent people," Modi alleged.

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The NIA arrested an al-Qaeda operative for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to carry out an IED blast in Lucknow, an official said on Tuesday.

Tawheed Ahmad Shah, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district, was arrested on Monday, an official of the premier investigation agency said.

A case was registered by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in July last year in Gomtinagar police station against the accused, who had conspired to recruit members for the global terrorist organisation al-Qaeda's affiliate Ansaar Gajwatul Hind (AGH) and for committing terrorist acts in Lucknow, the NIA official said.

Also Read  MHA sanctioned 6 more NIA branches in January

Earlier, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested five accused in the case against whom a charges sheet was filed last month.

Tawheed was the mastermind of the conspiracy for recruitment and to commit terrorist acts in the name of AGH, including procurement of arms, ammunition and explosive materials to be used for attacks in Uttar Pradesh, the NIA official said, adding that further investigation in the case continues.

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The Enforcement Directorate is likely to seek an extension of remand of Bhupinder Singh Honey, the nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.

Honey will be produced before the court on Tuesday after the expiry of his custody in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to the illegal mining in Punjab.

Also Read: Congress's Channi gamble may alienate Jat Sikhs

Sources claimed that the ED is mulling to seek more custody as Honey was reportedly evasive during the interrogation and was not cooperating with the probe agency. ED sources said that he needs to be confronted with other accused and a few more documents.

Honey was arrested during the intervening night of February 3 and 4, and remanded to ED custody till February 8.

Honey was interrogated by a team of elite officials of the central probe agency. His family had been allowed by the court to meet him once for an hour everyday.

The ED document accessed by the IANS reads that Honey allegedly used to take money from officials in lieu of their choice of transfer and posting.

"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 crore), Sandeep Kumar's premises at Ludhiana (Rs 1.99 crore) and from the Homeland House Premises at Mohali (Rs 3.89 crore) actually pertained to him. He admitted to having generated such proceeds of crime through mining related activities, including clearance of mining files and transfer of officials," read the ED document.

Also Read: With Channi, Congress eyes Dalit votes in other states too

Sources have claimed since Honey was close to Channi, he was using the political connection to earn huge profits.

According to ED documents, Honey has confessed that it was his Rs ten crore which were recovered during raids.

ED has alleged that he was getting money from illegal mining too.

On January 18, ED had conducted raids at ten different locations, including Homeland Heights which is the residence of Honey.

The ED continued raiding at different places for two days and recovered incriminating documents.

Honey was asked to appear before 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 official had said that they seized incriminating documents pertaining to illegal sand mining, property transactions, cell phones, gold worth above Rs 21 lakh, a watch worth Rs 12 lakh and cash of Rs 10 crore during the raids.

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 per cent equal shares.

The ED case is on the basis of a two year old FIR.

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 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 involved in the case and they started probing the matter.

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The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) - a conglomerate of five mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir - will meet on February 23 to discuss the situation in the wake of the draft report of the Delimitation Commission, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday.

The meeting was earlier scheduled for February 13.

"We are not surprised at the draft recommendation of Delimitation Commission. The PDP has from the outset expressed apprehensions that this Commission is set up to advance the BJP agenda," she told reporters here.

"'Constituencies have been redrawn in such a way that it would not matter whether they (Muslims in Jammu division) vote or not,"' she alleged.

Mufti said the PAGD will meet on February 23 to discuss the situation.

The draft report has proposed an overhaul of assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir and has been criticised by most parties including the National Conference, PDP, Congress, Peoples Conference led by Sajad Lone, the CPI(M) and JK Awami National Conference (ANC).

On Monday, hundreds of BJP activists tendered resignation to protest the proposed merger of Suchetgarh assembly constituency in Jammu district.

"They want to convert Gandhi's India into Godse's India. Jammu and Kashmir has become a laboratory for that. Just like they have created a mess by the Delimitation Commission here, same will be done soon elsewhere in the country," the former chief minister alleged.

On the hijab controversy in Karnataka, Mehbooba Mufti alleged that it was an "excuse to keep Muslim girls away from education"'.

She also condemned the recent arrest of journalists.
The Haryana Chief Minister's Flying Squad has raided a diagnostic lab accused of preparing fake coronavirus reports, officials said on Tuesday.

The team nabbed a lab assistant while the operator managed to flee.

The lab allegedly charged Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 to issue Covid-19 positive or negative reports.

They also charged Rs 900 for Covid test even as the rate of the test is capped at Rs 299 when a person opts to get it done at a lab.

An FIR in this regard has been registered at DLF Phase-3 police station.

According to DSP Inderjeet Yadav of the Chief Minister's Flying Squad, they were tipped-off that Good Health Diagnostic, located at Nathupur Road in DLF Phase-3, was issuing Covid test reports fraudulently.

The lab was a franchise of SRL lab and was started around five months ago.

"We informed the Health Department and drug controller and a joint team was formed which conducted raid at the lab. A decoy customer was sent to the lab seeking fake Covid report and the lab assistant promised him the same after taking money. When the decoy customer signalled, our team nabbed the lab assistant Sanjeev (22), resident of Mahipalpur in Delhi," the DSP said.

"Lab operator Anuj Sharma, who originally hails from Uttar Pradesh, was not available at the lab and our team during the search found that they were giving Covid positive report after taking money. The reports were being issued on the behalf of SRL lab. An FIR has been registered under various sections at DLF phase-3 police station", Yadav said.

According to the investigating officer, a fake report of Covid-19, a laptop, a printer, one phone, a rubber stamp and Rs 12,500 cash were seized from the lab.
A young Florida felon has been arrested for the fatal drive-by shooting of an 8-year-old girl who was playing in her front yard at the time of her death.

Andrew Thomas, who will be 21 in three weeks, was arrested in Broward County Monday on charges unrelated to the slaying of Ronziyah Atkins, though the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office simultaneously got an arrest warrant for him in relation to the slaying, the Miami Herald reports.

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Thomas of Belle Glade, about 44 miles west of West Palm Beach, was on probation at the time of Fridays shooting and has also been arrested on first-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, and felon in possession of a firearm, according to the paper.

Ronziyah was shot outside her home at about 7:15 p.m. Friday outside of her home, relatives told WESH 2 News. Witnesses told the outlet the little girl, who was also called Biggs and Ziyah, was playing with siblings and cousins at the time.

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She was telling her niece to go inside and dont worry about her, just go inside, Deante Crawford, Ronziyahs godbrother, told WESH. She was a very good person to tell her niece just to go inside.

Its just a shame. Its a tragedy, Melissa McGee, Ronziyahs grandmother, told WESHs sister station. She just was a sweet baby.

Thomas was on probation until June 2026 following a conviction for a 2019 armed robbery, according to Florida Department of Corrections records viewed by the Miami Herald.
A man and two minor boys allegedly raped a 17-year-old tribal girl and bit her face after abducting her at a village in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Sunday night under Hanumana police station area, about 80 km from the district headquarters, but it was reported to police on Monday, Additional Superintendent of Police Shivkumar Verma told reporters.

The girl was returning home from a fair with her cousin when the three accused allegedly abducted her and took her to a deserted forest where they raped her, the official said. The accused also bit the girl's face and threatened to kill her if she informed about the incident to anyone, he said.

Later, the victim somehow managed to escape from the clutches of the accused and reached the place of a relative around Sunday midnight. On Monday, her family members reached the Hanumana police station and registered a complaint, the official said.

The police subsequently arrested the three persons - a 22-year-old man, who is the main accused, and two boys aged 16 and 17 years, he said. The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for gang-rape, abduction, hurting and threatening the victim, as well as provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), he said.

The girl's medical report confirmed the crime, the official said. The three accused and the victim belong to the same tribal community. After the incident, the girl's family asked the main accused to marry the victim, but he refused, following they filed the police complaint, the official said.

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With the share of women voters in Uttar Pradesh gradually increasing, there has been a subtle shift in how the parties are viewing the role of this segment in the Hindi heartland this poll season.

Struggling long to regain lost ground in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is experimenting with evolving women as its vote bank and has taken the lead by announcing that it will give 40 per cent tickets to them.

Priyanka Gandhi, whose electioneering is centred around women's issues, recently recalled the iconic dialogue from Bollywood movie Deewar to counter critics that her party had lost base in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, saying, "Mere Paas Behen Hai" (I have my sister).

The Congress' list of women candidates includes the names of actor-activist Sadaf Jafar, who was arrested during the anti-citizenship law protests in Lucknow in December 2019, and the mother of Unnao rape victim, whose family has long fought against the alleged harassment of then BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

Others figuring in the Congress list of women nominees are Poonam Pandey, an Asha worker from Shahjahanpur who was allegedly roughed up while demanding an increase in honorarium, and Ritu Singh from Muhammadi seat in Lakhimpur Kheri, a former SP worker who was manhandled in broad daylight to stop her from filing nomination for panchayat elections.

Also Read  UP Elections: Will Priyanka's 'women card' fetch votes?

Reaching out to this segment of voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 21 had transferred Rs 1,000 crore to bank accounts of self-help groups to benefit around 16 lakh women. The programme in Prayagraj had seen the participation of over two lakh women.

The BJP has given a ticket to Aditi Singh, the Congress turncoat from Rae Bareli Sadar seat.

The Samajwadi Party, which has adopted the new tag line "Nai hawa hai, Nai SaPa hai', has recently sought to give new meaning to its M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) formula, which had catapulted it to power in Uttar Pradesh. "In the new SP, M-Y stands for Mahila (women) and youth. We are addressing issues in a larger perspective now and are not shackled by casteism," SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had stated in an informal interaction with reporters recently.

The Samajwadi Party has fielded former minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati's wife Maharaji Devi from Amethi, and Pooja Shukla, the student activist who had shown a black flag to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, from Lucknow (north) assembly seat.

Prajapati and two others were sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2017 rape case.

Though led by a woman leader, the BSP has never stressed a separate campaign for mobilising women voters, but has lately been concentrating on its social engineering formula which had brought it to power on its own in 2007.

Also Read  A brief history of women in UP polls

According to the Election Commission office, enrolment of women in large numbers during the revision of electoral rolls has led to an improvement in the gender ratio by 11 points from 857 against 1000 male voters on November 1, 2021, to 868 on December 5.

The Commission has released the voter's list of Uttar Pradesh, which has over 8.04 crore male voters (8,04,52,736) and over 6.98 crore women voters (6,98,22,416). The Commission has also launched a programme to increase the participation of women in voting for increasing the voting percentage in the state.

In the previous elections, a record 40 women candidates had made it to the Uttar Pradesh assembly, the highest ever proportion of women members in the 403-member House.

All the major political parties together had fielded 96 women of which BJP and its junior partner Apna Dal, which swept the polls, got the highest number of 35 women representatives elected followed by two winners each in the BSP and Congress and one woman candidate from the Samajwadi Party

In 2012, 35 women were elected, which was the earlier record.

According to the Election Commission data, in the first UP assembly election after Independence in 1952, 20 women were elected. Even after that their presence in the House has remained insignificant.

In 1985, 31 women were elected but the number fell to 18 in 1989, and further nosedived to 10 in 1991. In 1993, 14 women were elected, a number which increased to 20 in 1996 and 26 in 2002. In 2007, however, their number fell to three.

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The PM CARES Fund, set up to deal with emergencies such as the Covid pandemic, saw its corpus grow nearly three-fold to Rs 10,990 crore in the 2020-21 fiscal, while the disbursal rose to Rs 3,976 crore, according to the latest audited statement.

The disbursal included Rs 1,000 crore for migrant welfare and over Rs 1,392 crore for procurement of Covid vaccine doses.

The fund recorded nearly Rs 494.91 crore as foreign contributions and over Rs 7,183 crore as voluntary contributions during the fiscal.

The overall contributions to the fund received in 2019-20 was Rs 3,076.62 crore which was collected in just five days of its formation on March 27, 2020, with an initial corpus of Rs 2.25 lakh.

According to details posted on the website of the 'Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund)', it consists "entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organisations and does not get any budgetary support".

The government has used a part of the money to buy medical equipment, including ventilators, to boost the battle against the Covid-19 and has also provided relief to migrants.

Opposition parties have, however, criticised the PM CARES fund, claiming its contributions and expenses are not transparent, a charge denied by the government.

According to the latest audited statement, it disbursed Rs 1,311 crore for 50,000 made-in-India ventilators to government hospitals, Rs 50 crore for the establishment of two 500-beds Covid hospitals in Muzaffarpur and Patna, and 16 RT-PCR testing labs in nine states.

Further, Rs 201.58 crore was spent on oxygen plants at public health facilities, while Rs 20.4 crore was disbursed for the upgradation of labs working on Covid vaccines.

While Rs 1,000 crore was allotted to states and Union territories for the welfare of migrants, Rs 1,392.82 crore was spent on the procurement of 6.6 crore doses of Covid vaccines.

The fund also spent Rs 1.01 lakh as bank charges.

The fund's closing balance as of March 31, 2021, stood at Rs 7,013.99 crore, more than double of Rs 3,076.62 crore a year ago.

A total of Rs 10,990.17 crore was received during the 2020-21 fiscal, including through interest income and refund of unspent balance from NDMA, while Rs 3,976.17 crore was dispersed during the period, according to the audited statement prepared by Chartered Accountants SARC and associates.

The fund was set up as a public charitable trust "keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected".

PM CARES FUND had generated a lot of interest immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced its formation after the Covid-19 outbreak and appealed for donations, prompting several private firms, government bodies and individuals, including celebrities to donate money.

The fund's objectives include undertaking and supporting relief or assistance of any kind relating to a public health emergency or any other kind of emergency, calamity or distress, either man-made or natural, including the creation or upgradation of healthcare or pharmaceutical facilities, other necessary infrastructure, funding relevant research or any other type of support, according to its website.

While prime minister is the ex-officio chairman of the PM CARES Fund, the ministers of defence, home affairs and Finance are its ex-officio trustees.

The chairperson of the fund has the power to nominate three trustees to the board of trustees, who can be eminent persons in the field of research, health, science, social work, law, public administration and philanthropy.

Also, any person appointed as a trustee will act in a pro bono capacity.

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A day after Seouls envoy to New Delhi was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs, the South Korean government joined the Hyundai Motor Company to regret for a tweet by its distributor in Pakistan praying for liberation of Kashmir from India.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar received a phone-call from his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong, who expressed regret for the offence caused to the people and the government of India for the tweet by its distributor in Pakistan, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated in New Delhi.

Jaishankar and Chung talked over the phone a day after South Koreas envoy to India, Chang Jae-bok, was summoned to the MEA headquarters, where senior diplomats conveyed to him New Delhis strong displeasure over the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan.

Also Read  Hyundai suffers backlash in India after Pakistani partner tweets on Kashmir

It was highlighted that this matter concerned Indias territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise. We expected the company to take appropriate action to properly address these issues, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the MEA, said.

India welcomes investments by foreign companies in various sectors. But, it is also expected that such companies or their affiliates will refrain from false and misleading comments on matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Bagchi.

The Nishat Motor Limited, the Hyundai Motor Companys distributor in Pakistan, on February 5 used its official @PakistanHyundai to tweet: Praying for the liberation of our eternally beautiful Kashmir today and always. Let us remember the sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and stand in support as they continue to struggle for freedom #HyundaiPakistan #KashmirSolidarityDay.

Pakistan observes February 5 every year as Kashmir Solidarity Day to question the sovereignty of India over Jammu and Kashmir and to extend support to the separatists demanding liberation of the valley from the control of the Government of India.

Also Read  India summons South Korea envoy over Hyundai's Kashmir tweet

Not only Hyundai Motor Companys distributor in Pakistan, the units of several other multinational brands  like KFC, PizzaHut, Kia Motors Crossroad, Bosch Pharmaceuticals and Osaka Battery  in the neighbouring country too tweeted on the occasion of the Kashmir Solidarity Day.

The tweets, apparently sent out at the behest of Pakistani government, not only irked New Delhi, but also drew flak from a large number of netizens in India. The Hyundai Pakistan later deleted the tweet.

The Hyundai India issued a statement stating that the unsolicited social media post was offending the companys unparalleled commitment and service to the great country of India. "As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region. We deeply regret any offence caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity," Hyundai Motor Company headquartered in Seoul tweeted on Tuesday.

The units of the KFC and PizzaHut and some other brands in India also apologised to the people and the Government of India for the tweets on Kashmir by their units in Pakistan.

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A youth who went on a trekking expedition on Monday morning at Malampuzha in Palakkad district in Kerala is held up in a hill cleft for the past 24 hours. With efforts by local forces to rescue him becoming unsuccessful, services of army personnel and mountaineers were sought by the district administration.

Twenty-three-year-old Babu R of Malampuzha is caught in the hill cleft, which is roughly estimated to the around 500 metres high from ground level. He has shared his picture sitting on the cleft through his mobile phone.

Though a Coast Guard helicopter made a rescue bid during the day, the operation had to be withdrawn as the helicopter could not descend to the narrow cleft. Subsequently, the district administration sought the help of the army and mountaineers. They were expected to reach the spot by late night. But owing to lack of light rescue might resume only by Wednesday evening.

Also Read  Trekking group to Leh brings back memories for a lifetime

Efforts to deliver food to him using an unmanned aerial vehicle was also being made. His health condition was also reported to be safe till the afternoon. His mobile phone turned off by afternoon possibly due to a lack of battery charge.

According to the local police, Babu along with three of his friends trekked the mountain at Cherad region of Malampuzha on Monday morning. While descending, Babu slipped and fell into the cleft, which is around 400 metres from the mountain top. He also suffered leg injuries. His friends could hardly do anything.

They later alerted the police and the Fire and Rescue Services. The Coast Guard and the NDRF personnel also joined the operation. A combined team was also trekking the mountains in a bid to supply food and water to him.

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Eight days after Governor R N Ravi returned the NEET Bill, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday passed once again the legislation that seeks exemption from the exam for students from the state, even as Chief Minister M K Stalin asserted that he will not give up the fight against NEET till we win.

This is the first time that the Assembly readopted a Bill returned by the Governor, scripting history at the Special Session on Tuesday. Barring members from BJP, which staged a walkout, legislators of other parties supported the Bill.

The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Act, 2021, which was passed by the Assembly on September 13, 2021, was returned to Speaker M Appavu by the Governor on February 1. Refusing to endorse the Governors decision, Stalin convened an all-party meeting during which the decision to convene a special sitting was taken.

After a three-hour discussion initiated by Health Minister Ma Subramanian, the House adopted the Bill once again following Stalins speech in which harped on to federalism and state autonomy. Speaker Appavu read the Tamil translation of the contents of the Governors letter which was e-mailed to them on February 5.

While principal opposition party, AIADMK, raised questions on the ruling DMKs stand on NEET over the year, members belonging to the outfit supported the legislation. Members belonging to DMKs alliance partner tore into the Governor for disrespecting the people of Tamil Nadu by returning the Bill with a few demanding that the Assembly pass a resolution seeking the recall of Ravi from Tamil Nadu.

Utilising the opportunity to stress on state autonomy and federalism, Stalin said Governor returning the Bill was an attack on federalism and said the session was convened not just to pass the legislation again but to reinforce cooperative federalism and preserve Tamil Nadu's sovereignty.

We will not give up the fight against NEET till we win. The Governor failed in his constitutional duty by returning the Bill and not sending it to President for his consideration. Now that the Bill has been passed again, I hope the Governor will do his duty by sending it to the President, Stalin said.

Terming NEET as flawed, Stalin referred to arrests of aspirants and the discrepancies in the exam to drive home the point why Tamil Nadu opposes it.

NEET has sent some students to the grave and some to jail, Stalin added

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Amid Prime Minister Narendra Modis charge on Maharashtra vis-a-vis the exodus of migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has taken an aggressive stance, vociferously condemning the statement. The MVA partners also targeted the BJP in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole said that if BJP leaders in the state have any respect for Maharashtra, they should also protest against the Prime Minister's statement. Otherwise, they will be recorded as traitors in the history of the state, Patole told reporters a day after Modi lashed out at the Congress in the Lok Sabha.

Patole said that since the people of Maharashtra ousted the BJP from power, all BJP leaders from the state to Delhi are taking out their hatred against the state by hatching false conspiracies to discredit the state.

But, the Prime Minister has crossed all the boundaries to show his hatred towards the state as speaking on the President's address, he has insulted Maharashtra. He has forgotten that he is the Prime Minister for the whole country. By making such statements, he has done away with the dignity of the Prime Ministers post and has reduced the post to that of a BJP campaigner, Patole said.

Also Read  MVA government's 2 years amid hawk-eyed vigil of Opposition BJP

According to him, the Congress party and the MVA government in the state took the initiative to help everyone in distress. "Arrangements were made to provide meals and tickets to the workers and labourers to ensure that they were escorted safely and with full dignity to their homes. When the workers were suffering, rather than easing their woes, the Prime Minister was appealing to the public to light lamps and beat plates. He himself was busy feeding the peacocks inside his residence. He had left the common man to fend for himself during the pandemic and was more concerned about his industrialist friends, he said.

NCP chief spokesperson and Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said that the Namaste Trump event was responsible for the spread of coronavirus. When the Maharashtra government was asking for a ban on international flights, your own (the then) health minister (Dr Harsh Vardhan) was stressing that the coronavirus infection will not spread, he said.
To say that Union budget announcement has far too little to offer to the children and the youth of the country would be a rather blunt, yet unfortunately, true statement. Short-changed at the hands of ensuring better digital inclusion across all levels of society, the share in Budget 2022-23 for children has steadily decreased to 2.35% from 2.46% last year.

At a time when 80% of our children have been through over 15 months of Covid-enforced school closures, no access to digital devices and grave nutritional gaps, the decrease in allocation, lowest in 11 years, means we have failed our children, yet again.

A cursory search shows that the Finance Ministers speech mentioned children only three times, while youth, although mentioned six times, is referred notionally in only those references that speak about potential welfare schemes. While the Budget mentioned the upgradation of two lakh new generation Saksham anganwadis with better infrastructure and audio-visual aids, powered by clean energy to ensure better environment for early child development, the allocation on the ground reads vastly different. The actual hike towards the Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 Scheme amounts to a slight hike of 0.7% without any mention of separate allocation towards nutrition requirements or the minimum wage demands of anganwadi workers.

Also, reduction in the allocation to NREGS means that parents in rural areas are going to find it much more difficult to send their children back to school. In 2022-23, child protection has received only 0.04% of the total Union Budget even in the wake of increased child protection concerns arising from the pandemic.

Although, the education budget saw a small increase of over 10% from Rs 93,224 crore in FY 21-22 to Rs 104,278 crore this year, one must remember that the education budget continues to remain below the recommended 6% of the GDP. Digital learning finds a big space in this years budget along with setting up of the One class-one TV channel programme of PM eVIDYA and will expand to 200 channels with content available in regional languages.

The Budget mentions the setting up of a digital university with a hub and spoke model and includes the creation of a high-quality digital content library, 750 e-labs in science and mathematics and 75 e-labs for skilling.

These new announcements while laudable, do little to appease our young people who are still reeling from the devastation caused by the pandemic. The focus on digital education does little to hide the fact that more than half our children were not able to use smartphones for educational purposes as per the Annual Status of Education Report 2021.

While the Budget has accounted for different child-centered allocations across various departments, it has not actually ensured that key interventions for children are being catered to in the wake of the pandemic. Isnt it time for the government to address the needs of over 40% of the countrys population, that is our children, instead of looking at it only through the lens of the various department heads?

Ministries that concern young people and children are spread across and include the ministry of education, women and child, youth affairs among others. But where is the ministry that is truly seeking the welfare of our young people? Where is the ministry that is keeping track of the needs of our vulnerable children who have lost their childhood in the last two years?

The present budgetary allocations seem far removed from the realities around us. As a country, we look at economic indicators of success, and failing at them, instead of a people-focused approach. Children are not merely tools that make a 5 trillion-dollar GDP possible. Our budgets must be driven by the needs and development of its people, the outcome of which leads to better GDP. Only then can we be a truly inclusive and thriving economy and country.

(The writer is the CEO, Dream a Dream, an NGO working towards empowering youngsters from vulnerable backgrounds)
The row in Karnataka over wearing the hijab or headscarf by some Muslim girl students, which began in a college in Udupi district, is a whipped-up controversy. Most colleges do not usually have a dress code, except rules against skimpy wear, and many Muslim girls have been going to college with their heads covered. To suddenly stop them from entering institutions that they should consider their own, having enrolled and begun their college life there, is unwarranted and detrimental not only to the students in question but also the State and its goal to educate more girl children, treat them with respect and enable them to find their place in a complex and changing world.

The sudden decision to lock gates on these students harms congenial relations on campus, force-creates a religious divide, and sends exactly the wrong message to the other students, who are all at an impressionable age and may well begin to buy into narrower approaches rather than an appreciation and celebration of the ethos of democracy, plurality and diversity  the bedrock on which education curricula ought to be built. This is exactly what has happened with the throwback coming from those who want to wear saffron scarfs and shawls, an ugly, whipped-up reaction in a place where minds should open, love can blossom, and friends are created for life.

Instead of stretching to make it easy for more girls, particularly from the minority communities, to stay enrolled in college and go on to become graduates in an India that should and seeks to offer more opportunities to girls, what is being done is the exact opposite. Videos on social media show girl students stalled at the gate, arguing with the college authorities, pleading to be let in while the college principal and others look on unfazed. This cannot be a good picture of Karnataka, the state that has led Indias IT boom, has a strong ecosystem for entrepreneurship, and is known for an ethos that has made its capital city, Bengaluru, the magnet of a diverse set of young Indians. Youngsters who work hard and party harder in the many pubs, bars and discos that have mushroomed in whats known as Indias Silicon Valley.

This is a case that may well be decided by the courts but the clarifications obtained in judicial orders can do little to repair a deep damage that is being caused to students enrolled now and in the midst of catching up after the disruptions caused by the pandemic. It tells us that colleges that are meant to be beacons of leadership and must guide society have themselves fallen victim to an agenda that is about anything but learning and growth.

Contrast what is happening in Karnataka with the case of the Sophia College for Women in South Mumbai, where this writer has taught final year students studying journalism, many of whom are now working journalists and have made their mark in their own way. Sophia College is the place of choice for a lot of girls from Muslim-dominated areas of South Mumbai, and in fact opens opportunities for young women to break free and experience college life in all its facets, including being on a campus that is famous because many Bollywood movies have been shot there.

Consider that many of these young girls might not have been sent to college if it was not for institutions like this being only for women. Also consider that many of the Muslim students used to then come covered in a black robe, following what was either required or regarded as customary in the families and the areas that they came from. The college had several coat-hangers in the foyers and the hallways. Girls would quickly discard the hijab on these and get about their studies, mixing seamlessly with the rest of the class. The college further spoke with parents and students to highlight issues and concerns so that girls continued to stay enrolled and graduated in the face of common family pressures for marriage.

Despite these efforts by the South Mumbai college for women, in a city considered the financial capital of India, many girls would drop out. Some years ago, the then college principal, Anila Verghese, spoke at a meeting convened by the states minorities department to make the point that the dropout rate among Muslim girls was alarming at her college. There is clearly a lot of work remaining to be done in the area of higher education for the girl child. Karnataka, as a state, has told the nation that it is not particularly concerned about this, and in that sense, have in effect offered a writing down of a key ingredient of development  the education of girls.

It is alarming to hear the Karnataka Education Minister B C Nagesh compare rules in a military institution to the way a college ought to function. The military is an institution driven by high ideals but they are anchored in the idea of compliance to authority and discipline. They must execute, often with no questions asked. Hierarchy is important. The education system, on the other hand, must encourage students to ask, question, challenge and stand up.

The minister is wrong in presuming that the hijab is a sign of oppression or fundamentalism. Attitudes toward wearing the hijab will have to be studied more closely. Given what is happening in Karnataka, the hijab becomes a tool to stand up and rebel against an authoritarian system that does not respect the individuals right to dress. Girls who can and might wish to discard the hijab may well choose to wear it with a vengeance. The hijab can go on to become a symbol of protest against an overbearing, authoritarian and unfair education order. It moves from becoming a dress to a political statement.

In all this, the time and opportunity to learn and grow are lost. The girls at the centre of the protest have lost in the near term, but their classmates have also lost. And the longer-term loser is the state of Karnataka and India as a plural society and nation.

(The writer is a journalist and faculty member at SPJIMR. Views are personal)

(Syndicate: The Billion Press)
Shes paying for her Sin City sins.

An 80-year-old nun who stole more than $800,000 from a school in Southern California to pay for personal expenses, including gambling trips to Las Vegas, was sentenced to one year in federal prison, authorities said Monday.

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Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance for 28 years.

As the schools principal, she was responsible for managing money received by the school, including a savings account and one account that had been established to pay the living expenses of the nuns employed by the school.

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But according to authorities, for 10 years, until September 2018, Kreuper embezzled money from the school, using the diverted funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, including large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges, court documents say.

Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper said she's "profoundly sorry." (St. James Catholic Church)

Kreuper, who had taken a vow of poverty when she became a nun, falsified financial documents and lulled St. James School and the Administration into believing that the schools finances were being properly accounted for and its financial assets properly safeguarded, which, in turn, allowed defendant Kreuper to maintain her access and control of the schools finances and accounts and, thus, continue operating the fraudulent scheme, according to court papers.

Authorities say that once during an audit she also instructed some school employees to alter and destroy financial records.

Overall, her actions led the school to lose a total of $835,339, the Justice Department said in a news release or the equivalent of the tuition of 14 students per year.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

In July 2021, after an investigation conducted by the Torrance Police Department, with the help of the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation, Kreuper pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II sentenced her to 12 months and one day in federal prison.

She also ordered her to pay $825,338 in restitution.

So far, Kreuper has paid $10,000 back, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

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Speaking via teleconference on Monday, the disgraced nun expressed remorse for what she did and apologized for the pain she caused.

I have sinned, Ive broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper said.

My actions were in violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me. I was wrong and Im profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering Ive caused so many people, she added.
A year has passed since the Myanmar military staged a coup and overthrew the elected government. The junta not only imprisoned the countrys democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and many other political leaders and activists but also unleashed a brutal crackdown on protesters, who launched a nationwide agitation against the coup. The National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration set up by the deposed lawmakers, is unhappy with Indias very cautious reaction to the coup and the juntas atrocities on the people, Zin Mar Aung, the Foreign Minister of the NUG, tells DHs Anirban Bhaumik.

How could the Myanmar army reverse the democratic process that was on in your country since 2012?

When the National League of Democracy decided to run in the 2012 by-elections and the 2015 general elections, there were no significant guarantees of political dialogue, except for amendments to certain sections of the political party registration law. Likewise, there wasnt transitional justice. The 2008 Constitution itself did not guarantee a democratic transition, it gave a veto to the military. The coup detat of February 1, 2021 was a result of the military leader Gen Min Aung Hlaings greed for power, and it has been a total catastrophe for the country.

Do the widespread protests against the junta signal that democracy had indeed taken root in Myanmar?

Yes, indeed. People of Myanmar enjoyed democratic practices, individual freedom, economic and educational opportunities and freedom to use the internet under the elected civilian government, albeit for a short period of time. It is incredible to see that even that short exposure to democracy had given rise to democratic aspirations among our youth and inspired them to stand up against the authoritarian rule now. The administrative officers are resigning and the self-styled State Administration Council (SAC) of the junta has not been able to take control. The people of Myanmar have no other desire but to take down the junta. The cooperation between the National Unity Government and federal and democratic forces has been strongest since the countrys independence. The terrorist junta is the common enemy of the whole country.

Can you give us an update on the situation in Myanmar today?

Yes, the brutalities and grave violations of human rights have clearly shown that Myanmar military is no longer an army but has turned into a terrorist organisation, which has been looting properties, burning down villages and bullying and killing people, apart from trying to control the countrys legislative, executive, and judiciary. It is illegal for the junta to arrest and imprison political leaders and activists, including State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta is committing treason.

How do you view the response of the international community to all this?

The response from the international community has been too slow. The current political crisis and the atrocities of the junta cannot be solved by word of mouth. The military junta brutally cracked down on the civil disobedience movement, and has beaten, tortured and even killed the peaceful protesters. They cracked down on the protesters as if they were fighting in a conventional war, and they even intentionally shot the protesters in their heads. They killed children and pregnant women. The junta arrests a person at night and informs the family of the person arrested to remove the persons dead body in the morning. These are a few examples of what the people of Myanmar are facing today, and thats why they have no choice left but to take up arms to defend themselves.

For more than 10 months now, nothing has been implemented from ASEANs five-point agreement. The leader of the junta, Min Aung Hlaing, has not kept his word, and the international community has not found a way to make him do so. There hasnt been enough pressure from the international community. Even when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the current ASEAN chair, visited Myanmar recently, the junta leader made empty promises. The junta, in fact, carried out airstrikes on refugee camps in Karen and Karenni states during his visit.

What do you want the international community to do?

It is important to systematically and strategically target and block the junta and its allies ability to buy weapons and to cut off aviation support, particularly to prevent airstrikes on civilians and indiscriminate attacks. It is also important to constantly monitor and press for some other effective measures, such as a travel ban on the juntas members.

How do you view Indias reaction to the happenings in Myanmar?

Every country has its own national and strategic interests, but the right choice must be made. Frankly speaking, Indias government must support our struggle for democracy even more. I would just like to say that looking ahead in time, friendship and the ties between our two countries will not be the same as the people of Myanmar will not forget where the Government of India stood in their trying times. The governments of some states in India have reacted differently. The Mizoram government, for example, provides protection and humanitarian assistance to the refugees. The Union government in Delhi needs to take the leading role in providing effective humanitarian and cross-border assistance in coordination with UN agencies and other international aid organisations.

How hopeful are you about your nations early return to democracy?

The military used to think it could easily seize power, but it has so far failed to seize power, let alone control the country. They are facing unprecedented resistance from the people of Myanmar, for the first time in the annals of coups since the countrys independence. There is no turning back for the people of Myanmar. The junta is facing losses on all fronts, including domestic and foreign legitimacy. It is believed that the victory of the people and the victory of democracy will come sooner or later.

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Generational transition in family-based parties has always been a tricky issue. It infuses new blood at many levels of the party hierarchy, for which a large section of the old guard is sacrificed. At the top, the process swings between two extremes: from forcing a change by a coup to a smooth transition.

A classic example of a tumultuous transition is the current Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu's rise to power, after which NT Rama Rao, the dethroned chief minister and Naidu's father-in-law, compared himself with Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. On the other hand, MK Karunanidhi to MK Stalin and Lalu Prasad to Tejashwi Yadav are examples of smooth transitions. The transition from Mulayam Singh Yadav to his son Akhilesh Yadav presents an in-between case.

Which way would then the transition in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) go? It is an interesting question now in light of the recent developments centring around the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC).

The transition in the TMC needs to be concluded in the next decade or so since its founder, Mamata Banerjee, is now 67. She has been nurturing her nephew Abhishek Banerjee as heir apparent for some years now. The process gathered momentum since the Assembly polls last year when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeted Abhishek Banerjee to dent the TMC's support base but failed.

After the elections, Mamata Banerjee elevated her nephew, then the head of the TMC's youth wing, to the party's national general secretary. But is Abhishek Banerjee moving up too quickly?

Abhishek Banerjee brought the I-PAC to Bengal after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which saw the BJP, almost out of the blue, bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Election strategist Prashant Kishor suggested programmes like 'Didi ke Bolo' (tell didi) that targeted corruption and administrative failures at the lower levels and suggested names of the candidates.

The TMC scored a famous win in the Assembly polls. However, in the process, the I-PAC earned enemies. Several TMC leaders, including senior MLAs and MPs, became unhappy with an external outfit scrutinising their performance, allegiance and even moral character. But they could not get rid of this annoying process as the I-PAC had the strong backing of Abhishek Banerjee.

However, during the current phase of civic polls in Bengal, which started with elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the suggestions of the I-PAC are being ignored in some instances with the blessings of Mamata Banerjee. The situation has worsened for the next round of the civic polls for 108 municipalities on February 27. Two lists of candidates have come out in the open, and of the 2,272 candidates announced, the lists differed on names of nearly 120 candidates.

Mamata Banerjee has ratified the list given by the party leaders. But Abhishek Banerjee has insisted that the party is still discussing the 120-odd cases. In the meantime, news surfaced that Mamata Banerjee has decided to sever relations with the I-PAC. It was also reported that Kishor had suggested this break-up to the Bengal chief minister. But there is little clarity on this as yet.

However, in a recent TV interview, Abhishek Banerjee threw his weight behind the I-PAC, emphasising that the party will have to change and adopt new-age requirements. In that interview, Abhishek Banerjee also accepted he has a different style of functioning, stating that he is not "magnanimous like Mamata Banerjee" (who has allowed re-inducting in the party of some who had joined the BJP, such as Mukul Roy and Sabyasachi Dutta).

In fact, Abhishek Banerjee has prevented the return of many of the deserters he calls "traitors", and his aunt is unhappy with this approach. The chief minister was not pleased either when, during the Omicron wave, Abhishek Banerjee expressed his "personal opinion" for postponing the civic polls of Bidhannagar, Chandannagar, Asansol and Siliguri by two months. But the party accepted the suggestion partially and advocated delaying the election for three weeks.

At that point, party MP Kalyan Bannerjee, increasingly being sidelined in the party by Abhishek Banerjee, openly criticised the young leader. But, none from the party came forward to stand by him. Recently, Partha Chatterjee, a minister and general secretary of the party's Bengal unit, said that the "only family Mamata Banerjee has is that of the people". Incidentally, Abhishek Banerjee is now working overtime to implement 'one man, one post' in the party, which will require Chatterjee to relinquish one of his dual responsibilities.

So, the putative transition has met foul weather for the time being. But, beyond doubt, it will continue. Abhishek Banerjee has already taken control of the party, and the old guard cannot succeed in making the young leader lose his grip on it. The tussle may continue for some time, but ultimately Mamata Banerjee will have to give in to the wishes of the Young Turk if she favours a smooth transition. After all, to the party women and men, particularly those below 50, she is the 'present', but Abhishek Banerjee is the 'future'.

(Diptendra Raychaudhuri is a Kolkata-based journalist and author)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

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By Sarah L Caddy for The Conversation,

The rise of the omicron variant has caused havoc around the world, just as the emergence of the delta and alpha variants did before. A pattern has emerged, with the world scrambling to respond to a new form of the coronavirus every six or so months. How can we reduce the risk of new variants appearing again and again?

Firstly, lets consider how they emerge. A virus reproduces by making copies of itself. Every time it replicates, theres a tiny chance that an error occurs in the copying of the viruss genetic sequence.

This causes a mutation to the new copy of the virus, which has three possible outcomes: the mutation may do nothing, it may weaken the virus, or it may fortuitously give the virus some kind of survival advantage. A rare mutation that better enables survival will over time become more common, as copies of the virus with that mutation will end up being copied more.

Also Read | Current Covid vaccines induce robust protection against severe disease from Omicron

Because theres a risk of the virus mutating every time it reproduces, the more the virus replicates, the greater the risk of new variants appearing. And because the virus reproduces inside us when were infected, this means the more Covid cases there are in the population, the greater the risk of producing new variants.

Countering the virus are Covid vaccines. Their most critical goal has been to reduce severe disease and death, and its been well proven that theyve done this. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved.

Its also commonly said that increasing global Covid vaccine coverage will lower the risk of new variants emerging by limiting viral replication. However, this is a bit less straightforward to judge.

Breakthrough infections

An effective vaccine should also reduce the chance of a vaccinated person catching and spreading the virus. Unfortunately, its clear that Covid vaccines cannot produce immunity that completely blocks infection and transmission.

That said, the vaccines did appear to reduce the risk of transmitting earlier variants of the coronavirus  such as the original and alpha variants  both by lowering the risk of a vaccinated person catching the virus as well as their capability of passing it on if infected. (Note that some of this research is still in preprint, meaning its awaiting review by other scientists.) This would have helped to lower rates of viral replication and the risk of mutations appearing.

However, the newer variants  delta and omicron  fare better in the face of vaccines, increasing the risk of the virus spreading to the vaccinated and so maintaining the risk of mutation. Delta was more effective at infecting vaccinated people than earlier forms of the virus, and omicron is even more effective.

And analysis of UK data from last year shows that peak viral loads  that is, the amount of virus inside someone at the high point of their infection  in vaccinated and unvaccinated people with Covid has become quite similar since the emergence of delta. This suggests vaccinated Covid patients may be just as likely to spread the virus as unvaccinated people.

But these measurements are complex

However, there are few reasons why this isnt necessarily the case. A key thing to consider is the timing of viral load measurement. Viral load is usually only measured at a single point in time in most people  often shortly after symptoms appear, when the infection is in full swing. But if the virus is cleared much more quickly in vaccinated people, this would be missed by most reports. The window of time when a vaccinated person is infectious  and the amount of viral replication going on in their body  could be much lower than anticipated.

Another reason why viral replication may apparently be similar in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people is the way that peak viral load is typically measured. Its most often determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR), which measures how many copies of the viruss genetic material are present, not the number of actual infectious viral particles.

Whether there are infectious copies of the virus in someone can only be accurately assessed by extracting the virus, adding it to cells in a lab and seeing if more viral particles are created. Studies have shown that detecting the viruss genetic material doesnt always mean infectious virus is present.

Indeed, a recent Swiss preprint suggests that measuring viral load by qPCR at a single time point doesnt tell the whole story. This study measured the amount of virus in samples from 384 infected people for five consecutive days after their symptoms started.

Results showed people had comparable levels of the viruss genetic material in their system on each day of testing, regardless of vaccination status. However, if virus infectivity was measured using replication in cells, viral load was much lower in vaccinated people overall and fell faster over the five days.

Vaccines still make a difference

Ultimately, even if viral load is comparable between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, the most important factor is the overall number of people infected. How many vaccinated people have breakthrough infections compared to infections in the unvaccinated?

A UK study closely followed households where a single delta positive case occurred, monitoring to see whether other members of the household were subsequently infected. Whereas 38 per cent unvaccinated contacts subsequently caught the virus, only 25 per cent of vaccinated contacts did.

Clearly vaccination is not perfect at stopping transmission, but critically, less viral replication was occurring in vaccinated people as a whole group. Emerging evidence from Denmark, still in preprint, suggests that the same may also be true with omicron.

Despite the virus now appearing to evade vaccines more than it used to, ongoing commitment to global Covid vaccination is definitely still key. The number of times the virus gets to replicate overall will be reduced by a tiny fraction for every single person that is vaccinated, and this has to be our best option for managing the threat of future variants.

(The author is a clinical research fellow in Viral Immunology and Veterinary Surgeon, University of Cambridge)

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Researchers in Nepal on Tuesday warned that the highest glacier on the top of Mount Everest could disappear by the middle of this century as the 2,000-year-old ice cap on the worlds tallest mountain is thinning at an alarming rate.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) here said that Everest has been losing ice significantly since the late 1990s, citing a latest research report issued here.

The Everest Expedition, the single most comprehensive Scientific Expedition to Everest, conducted trailblazing research on glaciers and the alpine environment, the ICIMOD said.

A recent article published in the Nature Portfolio journal reported that the ice on Everest has been thinning at an alarming rate.

The multidisciplinary team comprised scientists from eight countries, including 17 from Nepal. Three of the co-authors of the study were affiliated with the ICIMOD.

It has been estimated that the ice in the South Col glacier located at an elevation of 8,020 metres is thinning at a rate of nearly two-metre per year, the report said.

The findings were based on data from a 10-metre-long ice core obtained from South Col Glacier (in the Nepalese side of the Everest) at an elevation of 8,020 metre and meteorological observations from the two highest automatic weather stations in the world located on the southern slopes of Everest at 7,945 and 8,430 metre.

The researchers, on the basis of radiocarbon dating, estimated the age of ice in the glacier to be 2,000-year-old.

They warned that the highest glacier could disappear by the middle of this century.

The rate of ice loss measured is more than 80 times faster than the 2,000 years it took to form this thickness of ice.

"The long-term effect on the availability and stability of these water towers which will impact downstream communities is of major concern," the ICIMOD said in the statement.

Glaciers in the Himalayas make a significant contribution to water resources for millions of people.

The research finding states that the change in ice cover in the Everest could have been triggered by climate change.

In December 2002, China and Nepal announced that the world's highest peak is now taller by 86 centimetres after they remeasured Mt Everest at 8,848.86 metres, over six decades after India conducted the previous measurement in 1954.

The revised height of Mt Everest put an end to the decades-long dispute between the two neighbours on the height of the world's tallest mountain that straddles their shared border.

The exact height of Mt Everest had been contested ever since a group of British surveyors in India declared the height of Peak XV, as it was initially called, to be 8,778 metres in 1847.

Mt Everest stands on the border between China and Nepal and mountaineers climb it from both the sides.

Mt Everest is known as Sagarmatha in Nepal while in China it is called Mt Qomolangma, the Tibetan name for the world's highest peak.

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As the hijab-saffron shawl row turned violent in various parts of the city, prohibitory orders have been enforced under Section 144 of CrPC in Shivamogga for two days on Tuesday.

According to police, some students hurled stones at government first grade college at Bapujinagar in the city in which some students were injured. They were staging protest in the premises of the college demanding the authorities concerned either to permit them to attend classes wearing saffron shawl or ban hijab. Some agitators hurled stones at the college in which some of them sustained minor injuries. They were admitted to district McGann teaching hospital in the city.

Police stated that prohibitory orders will remain in force in Shivamogga city till February 9. Assembly of five or more people in public places has been banned.

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Fresh protests erupted at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi on Tuesday after a large group of students wearing saffron stoles and headgears raised slogans in the college campus against the hijab as female Muslim students arrived at the college wearing headscarves.

#WATCH | Protests erupt at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi as students wearing hijab & another group of students wearing saffron stoles-headgears raise slogans on college campus. Karnataka HC to hear a plea today against hijab ban in several junior colleges of state. pic.twitter.com/f65loUWFLP  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

Confusion and tension prevailed at the college and the college authorities closed the gate to prevent students wearing shawls to enter.

Both groups of students shouted slogans. The college authorities and police were seen trying to pacify the students. Police have strengthened security near the college.

The Karnataka High Court is scheduled to take up the hearing of petitions, filed by students of the Government Pre-University College for Girls, Udupi, demanding permission to attend classes wearing hijab. The bench headed by Justice Krishna S Dixith is expected to give its ruling on the issue by noon.

The hijab row started after a few students in Udupi Government Pre-University College were turned out of classrooms for wearing headscarves. The students refused to attend classes without the hijab and the college administration, on the other hand, took a firm stand to allow them only if they shunned it citing its policy on uniforms.

More details awaited.

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Hijab Row Highlights: Some fanatics making it an issue, says Joshi on the hijab issue
Amid demands from a section of BJP leaders to total reshuffle of the Karnataka cabinet, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said he couldn't speak on the issue with BJP National president J P Nadda.

"I spoke to Naddaji over phone. Naddaji said he will again call back after two days since he was busy with election campaign," Bommai told reporters here before returning to Bengaluru after ending his two-day tour.

"I could not discuss cabinet cabinet rejig issue with national president," the CM said.

Sources close to the CM said after the election in five states, he will come to Delhi to meet the party top brass to discuss the issue. The election results will be announced on March 10.

The CM on Monday night met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed about cabinet rejig. Shah, while suggesting the CM to conduct the rejig only after the elections, also asked him to meet Nadda and discuss the issue.

The Bommai cabinet currently has four vacancies against a full strength of 34 ministers.

Citing Karnataka assembly polls in 2023, several legislators, including Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and M P Renukacharya, have openly said that if the cabinet exercise is delayed and carried out after the elections, it will be too late for new ministers to make a mark, even in their own constituencies.

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The state government on Tuesday declared a three-day holiday for all high schools, colleges and universities as the hijab controversy turned into a law and order issue at several places.

Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai announced this in New Delhi and the state department of higher education and primary and secondary education have issued separate orders declaring holiday.

The Chief Minister has appealed to the students, parents, teachers, educational institutions and public to maintain peace and harmony.

I appeal to all the students, teachers and management of schools and colleges as well as people of karnataka to maintain peace and harmony. I have ordered closure of all high schools and colleges for next three days. All concerned are requested to cooperate.  Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) February 8, 2022

With this order all schools for grades above 8 (high schools), pre university colleges, degree colleges, universities which includes private and deemed to be will remain closed starting from Wednesday.

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As protests for and against the 'hijab' intensified at colleges in different parts of Karnataka, state's Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Tuesday while appealing for peace said no one should give an opportunity to use the police force.

The Home Minister's warning came as tension prevailed at some educational institutions in Udupi, Shivamogga, Bagalkote and other parts, forcing the police and authorities to intervene.

The Karnataka High Court is today hearing the petitions filed by five girls studying in a Government Pre-university College in Udupi, questioning hijab restriction in college. "You (students) are all educated, you have to think about your future. After two years of Covid-19, this year classes have been conducted in a good way. This is the time for you to prepare for your exams that are coming up in a couple of months," Jnanendra said.

Read | Hijab row spirals: Stones pelted, Sec 144 in Shivamogga

Noting that religious forces behind such incidents have to be quelled and everyone should think about the country, the Minister in a video statement said, "we should all stand together as brothers, as the children of this country. Uniform is a sign of equality. Educational institutions are not the place for practicing our religion or to showcase our costumes. Everyone should maintain peace. Don't give an opportunity to use the police force. I appeal to parents to guide their children and let's all work towards colleges functioning in a peaceful manner".

Protests erupted at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi today after a large group of students wearing saffron stoles and headgears raised slogans in the college campus as hijab clad Muslim girls were staging a protest demanding justice, forcing the police and college authorities to intervene. Some colleges have declared holidays in the district.

A minor stone petting incident has been reported near a college in Bagalkote and few students even tried to barge into the campus, whom police dispersed using a mild force. Similar incident has also been reported at a college in Shivamogga district, and police had to intervene to bring the tense situation under control. According to sources, some students even tried to hoist the saffron flag at the college premises.

Similar protests have been reported at colleges in Mandya, Vijayapura and Gadag districts. Last week, the state government had issued an order making uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students at schools and pre-university colleges across the state.

The issue that initially began in January at a government PU College in Udupi where six students, who attended classes wearing head-scarf in violation of the stipulated dress code were asked to leave the campus, has spread to different parts of the state, with Hindu students too responding with saffron shawls. Hindu students coming with saffron shawls are also being barred from classes.

The row has also taken a political colour, as the ruling has BJP stood strongly in support of uniform related rules being enforced by educational institutions, calling the headscarf, a religious symbol, while the opposition Congress has come out in support of Muslim girls.

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The suspect accused of unleashing gunfire inside a Washington state grocery store Monday, fatally striking one person and wounding another, has been arrested.

Aaron Christopher Kelly was taken into custody without incident Monday night on Interstate 90 between Sprague and the city of Spokane, according to a press release from Richland police. He was being held Tuesday morning in the Benton County Jail on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder.

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Kelly had been wanted in connection with a deadly shooting that unfolded inside a Fred Meyer store in Richland around 11 a.m. local time. Hes accused of killing customer Justin Krumbah, 38, and critically wounding an unidentified employee before fleeing the scene.

Officers arrived at the Fred Meyer store within minutes of the shooting and discovered one victim already dead and another person critically injured nearby.

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Aaron Christopher Kelly seen in a photo and a still from surveillance footage, authorities said. (Richland WA Police Dept.)

The wounded worker was transported to the hospital for emergency surgery and was listed in critical condition.

Authorities said Krumbah spoke with Kelly just before the gunfire, though its not clear what they discussed. Richland Police Cmdr. Chris Lee told CNN investigators are still working to determine their relationship.

Authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of 39-year-old Kelly, who they described as armed and dangerous at the time.

The FBI, ATF and the state patrol are also involved in the investigation.

Fred Meyer said in a statement shared on social media said the store was deeply saddened by the incident.

The entire Fred Meyer Family offers our thoughts, prayers, and support to all affected individuals and families during this difficult time, and we have initiated counseling services for our associates, it read.

We are cooperating with local law enforcement, and the store will remain closed while the police investigation continues.
Despite the state governments order directing students to adhere to uniforms, protests for and against the hijab continued on Monday across the state.

Even as Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in Delhi appealed to students and colleges to adhere to the government order on uniforms, the row over the attire spread to more parts of the state.

In the Udupi Government PU College, students continued wearing the hijab, even as the high court is expected hear a petition in this regard on Tuesday. The girls sat outside the classrooms with the hijab and said they would wait for the court verdict.

Also Read | Karnataka Home minister suspects conspiracy behind hijab row

A section of the students from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi demanded that the college either allow them to wear saffron shawls or ask Muslim girls to remove their headscarves. The students were supported by Hindu Jagarana Vedike. Later, the principal instructed the Muslim girl students to stop wearing the hijab inside the classrooms.

Stoking further controversy, in some places, students wearing the hijab were made to sit in separate classrooms. This was seen in Kundapura Government PU College, Sharada College in Basrur and even in Government Junior College, Byndoor. While protests continued in Kundapura, the R N Shetty PU College was shut.

Protests erupted in other parts of the state too. More than 50 students of Mandya University wore saffron shawls and raised slogans. Claiming that a few students were wearing the hijab for the past one week, they said they would not relent until the girls shunned the hijab. The police intervened to defuse the tense situation. Students made similar demands in Vijayanagar, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura and Gadag districts.

Adding another dimension to the controversy, students allied to Bahujan Vidyarthi Sangha wore blue shawls in IDSG Government First Grade College Chikkamagaluru, supporting students right to wear the hijab.

Protests were held seeking the right to wear the hijab in Bengaluru and Bhadravathi. Several organisations expressed solidarity with Muslim students. In Mysuru, members of Karnataka Rajya Mahila Okkutta protested in support of the hijab.

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You'll have never seen an acting performance like this in your life, exclaims playwright Martin Lynch. This man blows his audience away.

Martin, whose plays  which include Dockers, The Interrogation of Ambrose Fogerty and Minstrel Boys  have received widespread acclaim throughout Ireland, Britain, Europe and America, is referring to actor Shaun Blaney who stars in his latest work, In The Name Of The Son.

This play will be shown at Derry's Millennium Forum on July 23 of this year. And while that might seem some time away, theatre goers are advised to get their tickets now giving the roaring success it had last Autumn at Belfast's Lyric Theatre.

Lynch co-wrote the production with Richard O'Rawe based on the latter's book, In The Name Of The Son, based on how life was for one of the Guildford Four, Gerry Conlon, after he was set free from his wrongful incarceration in prison.

Blaney stars in a one-man show that has garnered rave reviews and now Derry will see first-hand how this actor portrays Conlon's descent into a post-prison abyss of drug abuse, the guilt over his father Giuseppe's death and his eventual redemption as he finds a new purpose for his life.

Lynch said: I had read Richard's book which he wrote about Gerry (also titled 'In The Name Of The Son'). Richard had been born in the same street (Peel Street near the Falls Road, Belfast) as Gerry and they were life-long childhood friends.

Richard wrote the book looking at Gerry's life after prison. When I read that I thought, 'wow  this would make a good stage play'. It had all the ingredients you need for a strong story.

I had known Richard from years ago. We were two former dockers who had worked at the dock back in the early seventies. We met for lunch to discuss doing his book as a stage play and he loved the idea.

With the casting of Shaun, you'll have never seen an acting performance like this in your life. I've been going to the theatre for forty-five years in venues all over the world. This man Shaun Blaney, blows his audience away.

Before I even met Richard, I had it in my head that this should be a one-man show. I also had Shaun Blaney's name in my head because he had been in a play we had done at the Waterfront (in Belfast) called, 'Three's A Shroud', a comedy about rival Protestant and Catholic funeral directors.

Shaun played the Protestant funeral director. During rehearsals, he would start throwing in voices like Marlon Brando or Al Pacino and start singing and acting the acrobat.

I used to shout at him, 'Shaun keep that in  that's good' as I was the director. I remember afterwards. 'Shaun...if I come across a good one-man show, I'm going to come looking for you'.

So that's what happened. Richard said to me, 'you can't give us a one-man show  there's twenty or thirty people he'll have to act in the play'. I just said, 'Richard... you'll have to trust me as this will be an amazing one-man show'.

I have had a lot of brilliant reactions to my plays over the years but I've had amazing reactions to this one  standing ovations every night. We had a run of fifteen shows (at Belfast's Lyric Theatre)  all sold out. Once word had got round, you just could not get a ticket.

Tony Devlin has done a brilliant job as director, the music is fantastic and the writing's not bad either.

Playwright, Martin Lynch (left) with Richard O'Rawe who co-wrote the script for "In The Name Of The Son" which portrays life for Gerry Conlon after he was released from prison after being wrongfully convicted for the 1974 Guildford pub bombing.

Much is known about Gerry Conlon and the miscarriage of justice that befell the Guildford Four.

Following a pub-bombing by the IRA in Guildford that killed five people, Gerry along with Paul Hill, Patrick Armstrong and Carole Richardson were arrested and imprisoned for life.

Seven others, including Gerry's father Giuseppe, were also jailed for handling explosives connected with the bombing. They became known as the Maguire Seven.

All 11 would have their convictions quashed after more than a decade in jail  although it came too late for Giuseppe who had died in prison years earlier.

The film, In The Name Of The Father - starring Daniel Day Lewis as Gerry Conlon documents this miscarriage of justice. However, what happened to Gerry after his release is not well known.

Martin Lynch picks up the story. People have no idea of this man's life after he got out of jail  it's incredible, he said.

He lived ten lifetimes in the one life. He got out of jail and over the period of the next three years he received 1.1million in compensation from the Government, the rights to the film, the rights to his own book and a claim he won against The Sun newspaper for defamation of character.

He proceeded to spend that money in double-quick time and, in the process, got hooked on crack-cocaine. His life became a mad world of drink, alcoholism, crack-cocaine and women  he was adored by women. He was a good-looking fella and had the chat, the talk and the charm of ten charming men.

He had a couple of girlfriends who were more longer-term  particularly the last one and that's featured in the story because she was a crack-cocaine addict as well.

Some of the story charts their journey to get off it. He owed the crack-cocaine dealers in London money and they were hiding from them while still looking for more crack-cocaine.

His whole life and ended up so bad that he was rummaging through bins of West End London restaurants looking for food. That's how low he dropped.

At that point, he decided he wanted to do something about it. They moved to Plymouth to get away from the whole scene in London.

In London, he was knocking about with all these famous people. He knocked about with Shane McGowan of The Pogues, Bananarama and all that Camden Town set.

Because he was a 'cause celebre there, they were all Irish and they loved him. So he was right in the heart of all that drugs and drink.

Him and his girlfriend get out and move to Plymouth. When there, he went to counselling and that was the beginning of the change of his life. His counsellor spent the best part of two or three years with him and turned his life right round.

There was absolutely zero in terms of receiving rehabilitation back into society when he got out. He got money from the Government but nothing else. Same with the Prison Service. He had to make his own way.

He did come out of jail with a huge guilt factor in that he was the cause of his father (Giuseppe) dying. When Gerry got arrested, his father went over to get him a solicitor and then he got arrested. When in jail, his father got cancer, couldn't get treatment properly and he died.

I believe that that single guilt factor caused that whole downward spiral. Gerry had nightmares  some of them you would not believe. One of them was that he was in the dock (at court) and all of a sudden, a hangman's noose comes down right in front of him and hangs on his head. He then hears this chanting from the gallery shouting 'Do it, do it'. Gerry looks over and his father is leading the chant.

He had that nightmare every other night along with three or four other incredible nightmares. He had trouble sleeping unless he took drink or crack-cocaine.

However, beneath all of this, there was a good, nice man whose heart was beating away and wanted to do good. Even during his drug addiction, he used to bring homeless people home. He'd put them up for the night and take them down to McDonald's the next day, buy them their breakfast and hand them a hundred quid.

During the last fifteen years of his life, he had conquered his addiction to crack-cocaine. He turned his life right round and became a major campaigner against human rights violations  mostly prison rights violations  all over the world.

One instance was when he went to Florida to speak against the death penalty where he told people that 'had the death penalty still been around in England when I was sentenced, I would be dead  instead I'm here speaking to you'.

Remember the judge at his trial (John Donaldson) said, 'Unfortunately Mr Conlon...I can't sentence you to death, much as I would like to'.

Gerry, along with (Birmingham Six member) Paddy Hill, ran an organisation called 'MOJO'  Miscarriages Of Justice Organisation.

When he got back to Belfast to look after his mother, he found out that he had an 18-year-old daughter from a previous relationship that he had known nothing about.

That just fulfilled him big time. He said 'she called me daddy'  and I've got a great scene in the play where he talks about that  'imagine somebody calling me daddy'. He at last had the family he always wanted.

In The Name Of The Son is on at the Millennium Forum on July 23, 2022. Tickets are on sale now and can be bought online at: https://www.millenniumforum.co.uk/shows/in-the-name-of-the-son/
A rally has been organised by new group, Derry Against Fuel Poverty, in Derry's Guildhall Square this Saturday (February 12) at 1pm.

Campaigner and founder of the group's page, Sinead Quinn, is urging people to support the rally to stand against the surge in fuel and living costs.

Sinead said: "People in Derry, and further afield, have been really struggling to get to grips with the cost of living increases now for well over a year.

"We were forced to absorb three gas price increases by Firmus in 2021 with a fiercely unwelcome fourth slated for February 24.

"Cumulatively, by the time the February 24 price increase kicks in, Firmus Gas customers in Derry will have been confronted with a 194 per cent price hike inside twelve months.

"This means that, on average, people will have had to find an additional 70 a month to heat their homes from one winter until the next.

"That is, on average, an extra 800 per year to heat their homes. It is absolutely scandalous and an impossible task for many.

"Electricity providers too have jumped on the price increase bandwagon during the past year.

"Customers of local company Click Energy saw a rise per month for three months back-to-back last Autumn meaning their electricity increased by 43 per cent for those customers.

"Although local customers can switch electricity suppliers, unlike gas customers, it can be hard to keep up with which offer is most beneficial long-term in spite of the existence of comparison websites.

"Lets not forget that petrol and diesel prices too have soared and the cost of food and household groceries have also seen seemingly arbitrary price hikes.

"Own brand products are being taken off the shelves by large multinational supermarkets meaning that people on a low income have little option but to buy more expensive products."

Jack Monroe, the popular anti-poverty campaigner, recently announced that, This time last year, the cheapest rice at the same supermarket was 45p for a kilogram bag. Today, its 1 for 500g."

That is a 344 per cent price increase as it hits the poorest and most vulnerable.

Sinead continued: "The bills are figuratively piling up and people, in work and out of work, have nowhere to turn for support. The most frightening thing is that we are being told this will continue well into 2023.

"It should be said that in stark comparison to household bills skyrocketing, wages in the Derry area remain consistently low and significantly lower than in other areas of the North.

"The Northern Ireland Statistics Agency Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings showed that, in 2021, the weekly gross wages of people working in the Derry City and Strabane District were almost 12 per cent lower than the NI median and a shocking 25 per cent lower than their Belfast counterparts.

"In a recent Derry Trade Union Council survey it was found that 73 per cent of local workers struggled to pay their bills.

"The people of Derry are worth so much more than this. The notably low wages paid by local employers is exceedingly unacceptable at a time when, for example, according to the Utilities Regulator Market Overview, gas customers in Derry have been paying 35 per cent more than than the Greater Belfast area on average per year to heat their homes.

"Gas customers in the Greater Belfast area have a choice of two suppliers, Derry do not.

"Gas prices in Derry are currently 54.58 per cent above the GB default tariff cap as it stands today and 6.68 per cent higher than the Bord Gais standard gas tariff in the south of Ireland.

"Whilst we realise that people all over are struggling to cope, and stand in solidarity with anyone suffering as a result of the cost of living crisis, what have poor Derry people done to deserve this extra burden?

"The entire NI Executive are well aware of the historically low wages paid in this city and have known for several months that people, in work and out of work, would not be able to budget their way through such massive hikes in household necessities.

"Even though the First and Deputy First Minister have resigned, the Assembly is still in place. Novel solutions need to be found to protect the people from the worst of the cost of living crisis and quickly.

"Countries like France, Spain, Germany and Italy have already shown a plethora of ways in which positive action can be taken in the interests of the people.

"We are calling for people to come along, bring their kids and make lots of noise.

"This is the first in a series of rallies that Derry Against Fuel Poverty intend to hold in Derry in the coming week.

"We are a group that came together organically as we are disturbed by the cost of living crisis and the lack of real political will to do anything concrete and sufficient.

"We ask that people put political allegiances aside and do right by the people of Derry by putting the issue first. It is about time the people of Derry were put first."

For more information on the group and upcoming rallies, the group can be found on Facebook by searching for Derry Against Fuel Poverty.
100k available to community and voluntary organizations to promote dialogue

Press release

100k available to community and voluntary organizations to promote dialogue on Irelands relationship with Europe  Minister Byrne

The Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr Thomas Byrne, TD, has today invited voluntary organisations, educational bodies and civil society groups to apply for funding under the Department of Foreign Affairs Communicating Europe Initiative.

The Communicating Europe Initiative is aimed at deepening public awareness of the role the EU plays in our daily lives and at improving the quality and accessibility of public information on European issues, particularly at regional or national level.

Projects should seek to communicate European issues, the role of the European Union and Irelands place in Europe. Projects in 2022 that are aligned with out EU50 programme and which encourage reflection or celebration on our 50 years as members of the EU will be particularly welcome.

Funding of 100,000 has been made available under the scheme this year.

Announcing the launch of the scheme, the Minister said that 

As Minister of State for European Affairs my priority is to promote a national debate around Irelands place in Europe and the impact our EU membership continues to play on our daily lives. The type of programmes awarded funding  from school events, to podcast and radio programmes - is really varied and its always exciting to see the creativity and energy that are put into these projects.

Previous projects funded have included local media projects and competitions, school initiatives and interactions, employment opportunities in EU Institutions and EU-related Citizens Dialogues. Projects have promoted themes on the role of women and young people in the EU, climate action and the importance of diversity in Ireland to our relationship with the EU. Along with EU50, the themes of the Conference on the Future of Europe and Youth will also be welcomed.

Further details including application forms are now available from www.dfa.ie and EU50 materials can be found on EU50 - this is Ireland. The closing date is Tuesday March 1st 2022.

ENDS

Press Office

8 February 2022

Notes to editors The Communicating Europe Initiative (CEI) was established in 1995 to raise awareness about the European Union and to improve the quality and accessibility of public information on European issues.

was established in 1995 to raise awareness about the European Union and to improve the quality and accessibility of public information on European issues. The programme is administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs. 100,000 will be available this year for Communicating Europe Initiative funded projects.

EU50 is a series of events beginning in January 2022, which marks the key milestones of Irelands entry into the European Union. Beginning with the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Accession in January 2022, this will include events on the anniversary of the referendum on that treaty as well as formal accession on January 1st 2023.

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2021 marks 60 years of the first manned mission to space. Humankind embarked on its journey to the stars and what is beyond for the first time in 1961. Since then the purposes of each mission, their outcomes, historical as well as scientific implications, as well as the equipment which made it possible, have captured our imagination.

However, none of them has captured popular imagination over the years as much as the humble wristwatch has. Yes, you heard that right! Why, you ask? It may be because wristwatches are so familiar to the rest of us, whether or not one may be interested in space travel. Watches that can withstand gravitational forces in excess of 6 Gs, temperature fluctuations of between -160 to +120 degrees, as well as severe changes in external pressure in space are a constant source of marvel, a fascination as old as the one with space exploration itself.

So here, we bring you a selection of five watches worn in space-

1. Sturmanskie Watch

The Soviet Union, in addition to having the distinction of being the first nation to put a man in space, also holds the distinction of having made the first watch to ever be worn in space. Yes, thats right! The Moscow Watch Factory, since 1954 manufactured the Sturmanskie as a special issue watch for Soviet Air Force pilots. It was known for its easy to read watch face, with big, bold numbers arranged in a twelve-hour format, with a red seconds hand, and sword style minute and hour hands. Each Stumanskie, in addition, also had wings signifying flight, with the Red Soviet star in the centre.

2. Omega Speedmaster Professional

Arguably the most famous amongst the crop of watches worn in space, the Omega Speedmaster became the first watch to be worn on the moon on July 21st, 1969, when Buzz Aldrin wore it on his moonwalk. The watch Aldrin wore in particular, however, now remains as a lost piece of history, since Astronauts were required to return their watches to NASA post completion of their mission, and Aldrins watch mysteriously disappeared when it was being transported to the Smithsonian Museum to be preserved.

Contrary to popular belief, this wasnt Omegas first spaceflight. The Speedmaster was first worn in space by military pilot Walter Schirra, which he bought a few months before the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission, perhaps to mark the occasion, which was carried out on October 3rd, 1962. It was in the aftermath of this mission, that NASA Program Manager and Aerospace Engineer, Jim Ragan was appointed to find mechanical watches which could be used as back-ups to digital timers used on missions. For the same, Omega, Longines, and Rolex sent in the Speedmaster, the 235T, and the 6328 pre-Daytona Chronograph respectively. Each watch was subjected to a series of gruelling tests which included exposing them to temperatures varying from -18 degrees celsius to 93 degrees celsius, being placed in pressure chambers of between 10-6 atm, being exposed to steam with a humidity of at least 95%, in an environment of 100% oxygen for at least 48 hours, exposing the watches to shocks of 40 Gs each, and acceleration from one to 7.25 Gs in 333 seconds, amongst others. Out of the three, only the Omega Speedmaster withstood the tests, with the other two having failed in the first test itself. It was therefore certified for use during Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), or in common parlance, spacewalks, and remains the only watch to have done so to date.

3. Poljot Strela

Poljots Caliber 3017 Strela was a standard-issue watch for all Soviet Air Force pilots as well as cosmonauts between 1959 and 1979. On March 18th, 1965, the Strela became the first watch to be worn in outer space as Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, the first man to walk in space, stepped out of the Voskhod 2 wearing the watch. The model Leonov wore had a white dial with applied gold numerals at 12 and 6 oclock, while 1,2,4,5,7,8,10 and 11o clock were marked by narrow gold wedges. Three and nine, on the other hand, were not marked, since the chronograph functions, namely the 45-minute counter and the running seconds counter were placed in their positions respectively. Strelas remain in production to date, and are available for purchase in the market, for those looking to own a little piece of space, as well as horology history!

4. Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute

Lieutenant Commander Scott Carpenter was the first person to wear a Breitling in space. Each of the seven Mercury programme astronauts was given one special responsibility for the spacecraft, and Scott was given the responsibility for the development of onboard navigational equipment.

Having worn a Breitling Navitimer for much of the 1950s, it was the obvious choice for Scott, for his trip to space. However, Scott recommended Breitling make three major changes to the watch so as to make it more usable in space. The first modification was widening the standard watchs bezel from 40.5 to 42.5 millimetres, such that it could be used by astronauts wearing thick gloves and protective gear. The second modification he recommended was the removal of the third scale, to make the dial less busy, and the third, changing the watch to a 24-hour format, so as to make it easier for astronauts to tell the time, whether it was in AM or PM.

The Navitimer was a watch designed for pilots developed jointly by Breitling and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Since its introduction in 1954, the Navitimer had three scales- two printed within the dial and one in the rotating bezel. The two standard outer scales can be used for multiplication as well as division, whereas the third dial can be used for making calculations pertaining to speed and time. The third scale also translates minutes to hours, shown in an HH: MM format. The numerals on the watch followed a 12-hour format.

This new watch developed by Breitling as per Scotts specifications was referred to as the Cosmonaute, commonly identified by the reference number 806 given to it in 1961, a year before Scotts trip to space.

Scotts own Cosmonaute however, which he received in 1962 just three days prior to his mission, remains lost. Upon his return to earth, his craft landed 250 miles further away from its intended splash point in the Caribbean sea. Since his arm was submerged in the water as he waited to be reduced by U.S naval vessels, his Breitling, which unfortunately was not waterproof, suffered great damage. As per sources, his watch was never seen after being sent to Breitling for repairs, and its current whereabouts remain unknown.

5. Heuer 2915A

This one holds the distinction of the first Swiss watch to be worn in space, worn by American astronaut John Glenn using rubber bands over his spacesuit on the four-and-a-half hour-long Mercury-Atlas 6 mission in 1962. Furthermore, besides the aforementioned Shturmanskie, the Heuer remains the only other watch worn in space that wasnt custom-built for the purposes of a backup timer for a mission. It was noted for its simple two-register dial, with a 12-hour and a 60-minute subdial. In addition to the small dials on the two registers, the rest of the dial consists of a single, long, leaf-style hand, and markers as accurate as 1/5ths of a second. Since it was never produced in large numbers, the 2915A remains an elusive watch for horologists the world over. However, Tag Heuer, to commemorate 50 years of Hueuers achievement, released a limited edition Carrera 1887 SpaceX in 2012, limited to just 2,012 pieces, priced at approximately $6,000.

This article was first featured in the January 2022 issue of the Digit magazine. To subscribe to the magazine, head to this link. To get the digital subscription, head over to Geek.Digit.in
The Samsung event, scheduled for 8:30 PM IST on Wednesday, the 9th of February 2022, is a highly anticipated one

South Korean technology giant Samsung announced that its upcoming UNPACKED 2022 event will be hosted in both the real world as well as in the Metaverse.

Samsung fans can watch the event at 837X, a virtual recreation of Samsungs flagship store in New York City made with the virtual reality (VR) platform, Decentraland, which can be accessed via their desktops.

How to access the Samsung event?

To visit 837X, users will first need to connect to Decentraland. Once online, their avatars will spawn right outside the store, from where they can enter the building and watch the event as it unfolds in real-time. The event will feature several quests, NFT prizes, product reveals, keynote addresses, as well as live performances.

However, while users can log in either as registered users or guests, the latter will be unable to enjoy the event fully, as they will not be able to collect NFTs or wearables.

Why is it significant?

Samsungs foray into the metaverse comes as a surprise since the company has paid little attention to VR in recent years, even though it was one of the first companies globally to venture into the world of Augmented as well as Virtual Reality when it released its Gear VR headset, a smartphone-based VR platform.

One of the more budget-friendly and therefore popular options for a VR headset, the company announced in December 2021 that it was planning to retire the same, and had no plans for a replacement.

When is it scheduled and what to expect?

The event, scheduled for 8:30 PM IST on Wednesday, the 9th of February 2022, is a highly anticipated one. Samsung is expected to unveil the latest iteration of its flagship line of smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S22 series. The lineup is expected to include three devices  the Samsung Galaxy S22, the Galaxy S22 Plus and the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Furthermore, Samsung is also expected to unveil its flagship line of tablets  the S8 series. The S8 series is expected to include two tablets  the Samsung Galaxy S8 Tab and the Galaxy S8 Tab Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy flagships for the Indian market, amongst many others would get the Exynos treatment while Snapdragon was mostly exclusive to the US and China. It looks like that's about to change.

Samsung Galaxy S22 series will be powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 instead of Exynos 2200, says a new report. Well, this isn't exactly new as we had already reported something like this before. Anyways, this new bit of information comes from the oft-accurate Ishan Agarwal through Pricebaba.com. And this might surprise those who know that historically, the opposite was the case. As in the Galaxy flagships for the Indian market, amongst many others would get the Exynos treatment while Snapdragon was mostly exclusive to the US and China. Now even though we havent come across any other report verifying this, we may get some hint at the Galaxy S22 lineup launch event scheduled for Feb 9, 2022at 8:30 pm IST.

Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 vs Exynos 2200

Both Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Exynos 2200 have the ARMs 4nm manufacturing process-based v9-A architecture including a tri-cluster setup with a Cortex X2, three Cortex A710, and four Cortex A510. Now we know that the prime core on the Snapdragon chip is clocked at 3.0GHz, whereas Samsung is yet to reveal the max clock speed of its chip.

On the graphics front, the Snapdragon employs its proprietary Adreno 730 chip running at 818MHz. However, it is Samsung thats bringing the fruits of its collaboration with AMD in the form of Xclipse 920 GPU (based on the RDNA2 architecture) clocked at 1300MHz.

As for memory configuration, both Qualcomm and Samsung have offered support for LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1 storage. Other components are also mostly comparable like the supported multimedia and connectivity features with Samsung having some lead in the claimed download and upload speeds.

However, all that said and done, the key concern the Samsung Galaxy S22-series buyers will be having is with respect to how sustained and cool the performance would be between the Exynos and Snapdragon variants. In the past many years, Exynos had been lagging behind its arch-rival. Folks who are investing in a premium handset would want the best of performance in all aspects, be it for digital drudgery, camera output, or gaming. Over the years, the Qualcomm chipset is known to drive better-optimized gameplay. However, things might see a change with this new AMD-backed Exynos. Well know for sure once the benchmarks and gaming reviews of the two variants are out. So lets reserve our judgments until then.

Stay tuned to Digit.in for more news, reviews, buying guides, feature stories, as well as anything and everything tech-related.
NEWS RELEASE Release Number: 2022-13 Date: February 7, 2022

Cal/OSHA Announces Advisory Committee for Domestic Workers

OaklandCal/OSHA is announcing the creation of an advisory committee that will develop occupational safety and health guidance for domestic workers. Qualifying domestic workers with experience inside or outside the home, and employers of domestic workers are encouraged to apply to become committee members. The deadline to submit an application is February 18.

Last September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 321. This law mandates the creation of an advisory committee comprised of members of the public and experts to discuss and develop recommendations on protecting the occupational health and safety of domestic workers.

Cal/OSHA is responsible for convening the advisory committee, which will meet regularly throughout 2022. The advisory committee will work collaboratively to develop industry-specific safety and health guidance to educate domestic workers and their employers, and make recommendations for policies to protect domestic workers.

Additional information on the committee including the criteria to apply is posted online. For questions, email SB321@dir.ca.gov.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, is the division within the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) that helps protect Californias workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost every workplace.

Employers who have questions or need assistance with workplace health and safety programs can call Cal/OSHAs Consultation Services Branch at 800-963-9424. Workers who have questions about COVID-19, heat illness prevention or wildfire smoke protections can call 833-579-0927 to speak with a Cal/OSHA representative during normal business hours. Complaints about workplace safety and health hazards can be filed confidentially with Cal/OSHA district offices.

Media Contact: Communications@dir.ca.gov, (510) 286-1161
The U.S. Air Force has to pay more than $230 million in damages for its failure to flag a conviction that couldve blocked an ex-airman from legally obtaining the firearm he used to gun down worshipers at a Texas church in 2017.

Dozens of people had gathered together for a Sunday service the morning of Nov. 5, 2017, when Devin Kelley, sporting a skull mask and wearing all black, unleashed a hail of gunfire inside the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, located about 30 miles outside of San Antonio. Authorities said Kelley killed a total of 26 people  including an unborn child  and wounded 22 others before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound not far from the church.

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FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows Devin Patrick Kelley, the suspect in the shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. (Texas Department of Public Safet / via AP)

In wake of the tragedy, the Air Force confirmed Kelley was court-martialed in 2012 and sentenced to one-year confinement for assaulting his wife and stepson. According to Air Force records, he pleaded guilty to multiple specifications of assault, including striking and choking his wife, as well as kicking her. He also was convicted of striking his stepson on the head and body with a force likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm.

Overall, Kelley spent a total of five years in the Air Force, based primarily in New Mexico, before his rank was reduced and he was dishonorably discharged in 2014.

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U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in July concluded the Air Force was 60% responsible for the violent attack because it did not submit the assault conviction to a national database. If they had, it would have triggered a red flag during a review of Kelleys background, which could have blocked him for legally obtaining the firearm he used in the shooting.

A rose is left in the fence surrounding the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on November 12, 2017 in Sutherland Springs, Texas. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Under federal law, dangerous crimes committed by military personnel must be submitted to the FBIs Criminal Justice Investigation Services Division for inclusion in the National Criminal Information Center database.

On Monday, Rodriguez ordered the Air Force pay millions in damages to the survivors and victims family members for its role in the attack.

Jamal Alsaffar, the Austin lawyer who led the plaintiffs legal team, was pleased with the judges award.

These families are the heroes here, he said.

While no amount can bring back the many lives lost or destroyed at the hands of the governments negligence, their bravery in obtaining this verdict will make this country safer by helping ensure that this type of governmental failure does not happen in our country again.

With News Wire Services
PRR Communications Agency

PRR, a women- and employee-owned integrated communications agency, announced that Kristen Bishop will serve as director of PRR Portland. Bishop has more than 20 years of experience in communications, community outreach, and urban planning. She has extensive experience working with public agencies at the local, regional and national levels, including port authorities, electric utilities, community-based organizations, and state and local governments. Prior to joining PRR, Bishop served as executive director for Lois D. Cohen Associates, a Portland-based community engagement firm, where she led community engagement work for several local and state agencies. The firm recently closed due to the passing of its founder, Lois Cohen. Bishop, a member of WTS and IAP2, will work with PRR's current clients in Oregon, including the city of Portland and the Oregon Department of Transportation. Celebrating its 40th year of service, PRR brings multi-disciplinary expertise in communications and outreach for environment, healthcare, and transportation industries, prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all work the agency does. PRR has offices in Seattle, Washington D.C., Norfolk, Portland, and Baltimore.




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IDAHO FALLS, Idaho  The federal Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management last week awarded a cleanup contract worth up to $614 million to North Wind Portage of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract covers completion of environmental remediation work in Moab, Utah.

The job, expected to last 10 years, involves excavation and disposal of all residual radioactive material, including relocation of a 16 million-ton pile of uranium mill tailings and other contaminated material near the Colorado River to an engineered disposal cell constructed 30 miles north near Crescent Junction.





. . .
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Rendering by SMR Architects [enlarge] Looking east from 38th Avenue South, the childcare centers play area will face Angeline from the inset courtyard.





El Centro de la Raza is assembling a site in Columbia City that includes the old Bethlehem Lutheran Church, which is bound for demolition. But in its place will rise a new affordable housing project, also to provide community services.





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A teenage suspect has been arrested for a slaying connected to the police-killing of Amir Locke in Minnesota.

Mekhi Speed, 17, was arrested Sunday in connection to the death of 38-year-old Otis Elder, who was shot on Jan. 10 in St. Paul. According to KTSP, Speed was taken into custody in Winona, about 105 miles southeast of St. Paul.

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Amir Locke, Speeds cousin, was killed by Minneapolis police last Wednesday after executing a no-knock warrant on behalf of St. Paul police. Speed was not named on the warrant but is believed to have been the target.

In this image taken from Minneapolis Police Department body camera video and released by the city of Minneapolis, 22-year-old Amir Locke wrapped in a blanket on a couch holding a gun moments before he was fatally shot by Minneapolis police. (AP)

According to investigators, traffic videos tracked a Mercedes-Benz which drove away from the scene of Elders death to a Minneapolis apartment building. Police got warrants for three apartments in the building on Feb. 2.

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Body camera footage shows officers using a key to silently enter an apartment before loudly announcing their presence and telling a man to get on the f------ ground. A man on a couch holding a hand gun thats pointed at the ground  and without a finger on the trigger  slowly begins to rise from the couch when he is shot three times and falls to the floor.

The entire sequence lasts nine seconds.

Interim Minneapolis police chief Amelia Huffman, who stepped into the role after Medaria Arradondo, the citys first Black police chief, retired in January, said the body camera footage did not tell the whole story and that it would be up to county prosecutors to review the case.

Police said personal items belonging to Speed were found in the other apartments.
Homeowners will be able to apply for grants to cover up to half of the cost for deep retrofit of their homes under plans rubberstamped by the Government.

The Cabinet signed off on plans for the home insulation scheme on Tuesday.

The National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme aims to retrofit 500,000 homes to B2 Building Energy Rating (BER) standard by 2030, representing almost a third of the countrys housing stock.

The scheme also has a target of installing 400,000 heat pumps.

Government officials have described it as one of the biggest and most challenging capital infrastructure projects in the state.

Under Government plans, householders can apply for grants over more than 25,000 to help pay towards increasing their homes energy efficiency.

The scheme will cover almost half the cost  of around 45 to 51%  to complete a deep retrofit of a house to bring it to a B2 rating.

The Government hopes the package of supports will make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to upgrade their homes.

The measures are also aimed to address barriers to undertake energy upgrades.

The scheme is being delivered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

Under the plans, there will be an increase in the number of free energy upgrades for those at risk of energy poverty, up to 400 per month from an average of 177 per month.

There are also plans to create one stop shops, which allow people to upgrade their homes all in one go.

Government officials say it is a simplified process for homeowners.

Other homeowners can opt to have individual measures carried out. In these cases, people pay the contractor the full amount for the works and claim the grant back from SEAI.

It is expected that the grants would be paid out a couple of weeks after the works are completed.

There are also grants of up to 80% for those who want minor works completed, including insulating attics.

The retrofit scheme is part of the Government plans to cut emissions from the sector in half.

However, there are concerns supply chain skills will not be sufficient to deliver on the level of activity needed.

The Government has acknowledged there needs to be a rapid increase in the number of firms that can carry out the retrofits, as well as an increase in skilled workers, contractors and trades people.

The individual measures will available via the SEAI website on Tuesday evening.

Applications are expected to go live by the end of the week.
Douglasville, GA (30134)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Dundalk councillors are to establish a working group to to promote Faughart and north Louth as the birth place of St Brigid, with suggestions also being put forward to hold a St Brigid's Day parade in 2023.

Councillors agreed at the Dundalk Municipal District February meeting to form a working group to help promote Faughart as the birthplace of St Brigid, as well as her heritage and help promote the area as a tourist attraction.

Cllr Edel Corrigan raised the issue at the meeting, saying that she visited the St Brigid's Shrine and the Hill of Faughart on St Brigid's Day and while the clean up work carried out in the area by the Council in preparation for St Brigid's Day, was very much appreciated, she lamented the lack of proper signage to let people know of the different historical sites in the area.

Cllr Corrigan said that she saw cars from all over the country, and that she saw hundreds of people in Faughart on St Brigid's Day, but no adequate signage to inform them of what was in the area.

We cannot go into next year having the same again, she added, because its such a missed opportunity to showcase what we have here in north Louth.

Cllr John Reilly, echoed Cllr Corrigan's comments, and added that there is another hidden gem in the Faughart area, the Urnai Graveyard, the burial place of the poet Peadar O Doirnin.

If we're interested in our heritage, we've got great history, we've got Roche Castle, Urnai Graveyard, Faughart Shrine, the burial place of King Edward the Bruce, he told the meeting.

Cllr Reilly added that after working with Kilcurry Tidy Towns, and with the help of sponsors, there is now some signage in Louth indicating Urnai graveyard, resulting in more daytrippers to the area.

Cllr Sean Kelly put forward the idea of setting up a working group to help promote the work of St Brigid, and highlighted the comments made by Taoiseach Micheal Martin on social media last week, where he wished everybody a Happy St Brigids Day and specifically mentioned the people of Kildare but forgot to mention the people of Louth. That's a disappointment in itself, that the Taoiseach hasn't even realised that St Brigid was born here in Louth.

The idea of a working group received broad support at the meeting.

Cllr Conor Keelan told the meeting that when in college in Kildare, he had many arguments with people who believed St Brigid was from Kildare. He added that he supported the idea of a working group which would work towards promoting St Brigid's citizenry, the local heritage and to help tourism.

The members also agreed to send an informative letter to An Taoiseach explaining that St Brigid was born in Faughart in county Louth.

The suggestion of a St Brigid's Day parade was put forward by Dundalk Municipal District Cathaoirleach, Cllr Maria Doyle, similar to the St Patrick's Day parades held nationwide.

Following the meeting, Cllr Edel Corrigan spoke to the Dundalk Democrat about the signage at St Brigid's Shrine, saying that it is an issue that she has been raising for some time.

There was a programme of works that were to have taken place in 2021 following on from the 2020 Leader Heritage report identifying the Hill of Faughart as a key heritage site in Louth that requires development', she commented.

Cllr Corrigan said that the report included recommendations that security cameras be installed in the car park at Faughart, additional road signage for the Hill, a survey of the historic graveyard with the local community and protection of the motte at the site. The report also suggested, she said, that consideration be given to a possible re-enactment event or a festival to mark the significant Battle of Faughart.

Cllr Corrigan continued, On St Brigids Day 2022 I was saddened to see that two such significant interconnected sites such as St Brigids Shrine and the Hill of Faughart had such insufficient signage in place. I only saw one direct sign on the day to the shrine, which was located a few metres from the shrine car park. We need to be show-casing what the area has to offer, the beauty and historical significance of the area.

At the last Council meeting I requested a progress report from the Heritage Department to be brought back to the next meeting to get clarity on the issue as the last update I had received was that finger post signage was to be in place before Feb 1st this year. Obviously that did not happen.

It is a fitting tribute to see the introduction of a new bank holiday next year in the name of Saint Brigid, the patroness saint of Ireland. I support the establishment of a working group as suggested, to include relevant council parties/ departments to oversee works and improvements in the area.

Clarity and progress are needed on many issues regarding all historical sites but especially for this one in particular.
Renovation works on Ardee Castle are due to begin in late 2022 or early 2023 last week's monthly meeting of Ardee Municipal district heard.

The works are part of the Ardee section of the Ireland 2040 programme of works with funding coming from the Rural Regeneration Development Fund.

Works will take place on the Judge's Chamber area to the side of the castle with the door and window sashes refurbished and improvements made to the roof.

The meeting heard that particular attention will be given to making the castle disability accessible and easier to exit in an emergency and that a lift will be installed to reach all floors and the cafe area by extending the area to the rear of the Judges Chambers.

Local Fine Gael councillor, Dolores Minogue welcomed the news saying:

The town has been waiting for this to happen, its going to be fantastic for Ardee tourism and for the people of Ardee and mid-Louth to be proud of this castle.

Weve fought tooth and nail for this, I know Councillor Mcgeough and Councillor Tenanty were here fighting for this before me and before I picked up the mantle with them.

This castle really needs to open up for all reasons, it is a fantastic facility to have in our town and I think the plans are brilliant the soft new bricks that are going up look fantastic.

Id like to thank everyone who has worked hard to make this happen.

Councillors Pearse McGeough and Jim Tenanty also welcomed the news that the plans were moving forward.

The final decision on planning will come before the council's April meeting.
The strong tradition of achievement in STEM subjects in St Vincents Secondary School in Dundalk continues, with the news that 5th year student Sarah McGovern has been awarded a Round 2 bronze medal in the Biology section of the Irish European Olympiad of Experimental Science.

Sarah was one of 230 students from across Ireland who took part in Round 1 and one of forty to qualify for Round 2. Round 2 consisted of a three hour test and Sarah came in the top 6 and was awarded a bronze medal. Sarah has now been invited to take part in a practical training and assessment session in DCU during February midterm.

"This is a fantastic achievement in such a prestigious competition", say staff at St Vincent's. The entire school community and her science teacher, Ms. Clodagh Cassin, they say, congratulates Sarah on this "amazing achievement".

The European Olympiad of Experimental Science (EOES) is an annual science Olympiad for young people from the European Union. In bringing together gifted students, the EOES competition challenges and stimulates these students to expand their talents and to promote their future careers as scientists.

St Vincent's Secondary School say they wish Sarah well as she competes to be selected for the three-student team who will represent Ireland in the EOES.
By Long Yue and Hu Jie

The 20th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Lebanon donates humanitarian aid supplies to the Lebanese NGO Amel Association International on February 7, local time.

BEIJING, Feb. 8 -- The 20th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Lebanon donated humanitarian aid supplies in 21 categories, including groceries, food, disinfectant and masks, to the Lebanese NGO Amel Association International in southern Lebanon, on February 7, local time.

The 20th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Lebanon donates humanitarian aid supplies to the Lebanese NGO Amel Association International on February 7, local time.

The 20th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Lebanon donates humanitarian aid supplies to the Lebanese NGO Amel Association International on February 7, local time.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday that agents were responding to an active shooter report at a Fred Meyer supermarket in Washington state.

Richland Police Cmdr. Chris Lee told CNN Monday afternoon that the suspect opened fire inside the store around 11 a.m. local time before fleeing the scene.

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Field agents from ATF Seattle were called in to the scene at the store in Richland, about 200 miles southeast of Seattle.

According to CNN, the Benton County coroners office was notified of at least one death at the scene. The number of victims is not known.

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On social media, the Richland Police department asked for the publics help in identifying a possible suspect.

UPDATE: If you recognize this individual or have any information on his whereabouts, please call Non- Emergency dispatch at 509-628-0333. pic.twitter.com/AYFSKAJxE5  Richland PD, WA (@RichlandPolice) February 7, 2022

The man was seen wearing a dark-colored vest, gray pants and a long-sleeve checkered shirt. He has short, dark hair and facial hair.

The Kennewick Police Department posted additional images showing the man with a face covering, leaving the store.

The Richland Police Department is seeking information on the identity and location of the pictured suspect and suspect vehicle in relation to a shooting at the Richland Fred Meyer. The suspect should be considered armed and dangerous. Please avoid the area due to police activity. pic.twitter.com/yy2oyABqkB  Kennewick Police (@KennewickPolice) February 7, 2022

A second tweet indicated that the truck pictured was not involved in the incident.

Police said the man is believed to be armed and dangerous and shouldnt be approached.

Multiple schools near the store went into lockdown after the shooting was reported.
A garda jeep and a patrol car were allegedly rammed during an almost 25 minute pursuit when a car failed to stop for gardai in Dundalk town centre, a contested bail hearing for a 20 year old south Armagh man charged with five counts of dangerous driving, was told yesterday (Monday)

At Drogheda district court sitting in Dundalk, Judge Eirinn McKiernan heard that two gardai in the patrol car were injured and three passengers in the car allegedly driven by Cormac Murphy of St. Killians Park, Whitecross, were also taken to hospital as a precaution following the second collision on Sunday.

Garda Daniel OConnor gave evidence of arresting the accused at 6.19am Sunday and later charging him at 7pm with five counts of dangerous driving.

The locations of the alleged offences are Crowe Street, Jocelyn Street, the Point Road, Barrack Street and Red Cow, Dundalk.

The accused made no reply when the charges were put to him after caution and the court heard that there is a likelihood of more serious charges being brought.

Garda OConnor outlined a number of garda objections to bail being granted.

The defendants mother Charlotte Morgan Murphy - who said she was willing to stand as surety, told Judge McKiernan her son hasnt been himself for a while having fallen 25 feet at work in September.

She added that her nephew  who she said was like a brother to the accused, had taken his own life in February 2019 and his anniversary mass was on Sunday morning.

The Defence barrister Stephen Faulkner BL argued that the maximum sentence on conviction for dangerous driving is six months and his client - who had never come to Garda attention before, is willing to comply with strict bail conditions.

Judge McKiernan remanded him on his own bond of 200 with an independent surety of 7,000  with 5,000 cash to be lodged, to March 23rd for the directions of the DPP.

As part of the bail-terms he must sign-on daily at Dundalk Garda Station, remain intoxicant free, give an undertaking not to apply for any travel documents, provide a mobile phone number to gardai on which he can be contacted at all times and attend his GP for medical attention.
Claremont, NH (03743)

Today

Periods of rain. High 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

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Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
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North Andover, MA (01845)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low around 45F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

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Cloudy with periods of rain. Low around 45F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
A National Guardsman stationed near the Texas border died after his personal firearm was accidentally discharged as he passed it to another soldier.

Both soldiers, neither of who have been identified, were seated in a vehicle at Fort Clark Springs near Brackettville on Monday while the unit was undergoing swim training. According to documents obtained by the Army Times, the soldier was handing his personal firearm to another soldier seated in the backseat of the car.

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When the second soldier took the weapon, it fired, sending a round into the front seat. The wounded National Guardsman was airlifted to a hospital in San Antonio and pronounced dead a short time later.

We are deeply saddened by this loss, Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, Adjutant General for Texas Military Service said. We are focused on supporting the Soldiers family and providing all available resources.

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The soldiers death remains under investigation. The Texas Military Department described it as a non-mission-related incident but did not provide further details.

He was the second soldier to die in an accidental shooting since January, when a soldier mistakenly shot himself on New Years Day. He is also the sixth soldier assigned to Operation Lone Star to die since October, which includes four suicides, the Army Times reported.

Our hearts are heavy at the news of the tragic death of a Texas Guardsman stationed at the border as part of Operation Lone Star, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement Monday.

The Texas National Guard plays an important role in our efforts to keep communities safe and we are grateful for their courage and commitment.
CORK County Council has announced plans to carry out essential works to the Dursey Cable Car this spring, which will result in the temporary closure of the service for a number of months.

In a statement, the council said a recent structural review of the infrastructure of the cable car has highlighted some essential works that must be carried out in the short term.

These works, the council said, are deemed essential for the cable car to continue in service.

The works relate to the towers which suffered during recent adverse weather events including Storm Barra in December 2021, the council stated.

Cork County Council has been informed that considering their age, condition, and likely future exposure to strong winds, these towers must now be reinforced or replaced.

Regrettably, it will not be possible for the cable car to continue in service while these structural works are carried out.

As a result, it will be necessary to pause the cable car service from April 1, 2022, in order to facilitate the essential works.

The local authority said that the cable car service is expected to resume in November 2022 following completion of the works and the renewal of consents from the Commission for Railways Regulation to operate the cable car.

Cork County Council stated that it will be contacting residents and land users on Dursey Island, and that it is committed to keeping both residents and visitors updated on the progress of the essential works.

Separately, An Bord Pleanalas decision to approve planning for a 10m visitors centre and new cable car for Dursey Island will face a judicial review after Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) were granted permission to bring the review.
City officials pledged Tuesday to step up enforcement of the Big Apples outdoor dining program after admitting that less than two dozen fines have been issued for violations since the al fresco initiative first hit the streets nearly two years ago.

The officials from the Department of Transportation made the push for more aggressive enforcement while testifying before the City Council, which is considering legislation to permanentize the pandemic-era program.

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Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, whose agency would oversee the proposed permanent version, said the outdoor dining program has been overwhelmingly successful and cited statistics showing that more than 100,000 hospitality jobs were saved.

People dine at an outdoor dining patio set up at a restaurant on March 18, 2021 in New York City. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

On the flipside, Julie Schipper, the DOTs director of open restaurants, admitted some bad actors have been part of the program.

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The city has issued 4,292 cease-and-desist warnings for shoddy outdoor dining structures, noise and other transgressions  but that only resulted in 22 monetary fines, Schipper said.

Schipper said the city has been purposefully lenient in dealing with non-compliant restaurants during the pandemic out of concern for their precarious economic situations.

She said that will change if the program becomes permanent, though.

We will increase our enforcement, she said.

New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News)

In addition to fines, the DOT officials said the city had razed about 40 abandoned outdoor dining sheds since the program launched in June 2020 as a temporary lifeline for restaurants to stay afloat at a time when COVID-19 shuttered indoor service. According to city data, about 12,000 eateries are participating in the current iteration of the program.

Under the proposed permanent program under consideration by the Council, eateries must dish out $1,050 for an outdoor dining license. The program, which would launch in 2023, would also come with various oversight guardrails and restrictions for how many sidewalk and parking spaces restaurants can use.

Tuesdays hearing, held remotely, marked the first step in the Councils consideration process. Its unclear when a final vote could take place on the permanent outdoor dining proposal, but a Council aide said the end of February appears to be the earliest option.

Though al fresco eating proved widely popular during the pandemic, some lawmakers and local residents have raised concerns about making the program permanent, citing concerns about noise and dining sheds attracting rodents while limiting parking and sidewalk access.

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A woman walks by an American Express and Resy-sponsored outdoor dining area at Sadelle's in SoHo on November 29, 2020 in Manhattan, New York. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

City Councilman Kalman Yeger, a Democrat representing a section of southern Brooklyn that includes Bensonhurst, disputed the idea that theres a need for making the program permanent and suggested it has only been a success for restaurateurs.

But it hasnt been a success for the people who need to use the sidewalks and the streets, Yeger said after comparing some outdoor dining structures to shanty town shacks.

Jeffrey Garcia, owner of Mon Amour Coffee & Wine in the Bronx and president of the New York State Latino Restaurant, Bar and Lounge Association, countered that an overwhelming majority of hospitality owners have complied with the program.

With many restaurants still in dire financial straits due to the pandemic, Garcia also said extending the program is a matter of survival for many establishments.

It is imperative that we allow this program to continue, he said.
President Biden has extended Trump-era tariffs on imported solar panels with some exceptions, including bifacial solar panels that are used in large-scale solar projects. Two important factors in the decision to extend the tariffs were supporting the domestic manufacturing of solar panels and bolstering the transition to clean energy.

Tariffs on imported solar cells and panels would be extended for another four years, Biden said, but bifacial solar panels  those that are able to generate electricity on both sides  would be exempt.

Some U.S. manufacturers and labor leaders were not pleased by the exemptions. They argued that the Biden administration should be doing more to protect American solar manufacturers from less expensive Chinese products.

First Solar CEO Mark Widmar said that, as China is the dominant producer of bifacial panels, this decision effectively allows China to outflank American efforts to grow self-reliant solar supply chains, reported The Associated Press.

Todays decision places at risk billions of dollars in existing investment, thousands of jobs, our countrys energy security and a climate-critical transition to net-zero emissions, Widmar said, as The New York Times reported.

Most of the solar panels imported by the U.S. are from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which includes those made in factories owned by companies in China, Bloomberg reported.

Bidens decision to extend the tariffs was criticized by China.

The U.S. government insisted on the extension regardless of the strong opposition domestically and internationally, said the Ministry of Commerce in a statement, as Bloomberg reported. The act wont contribute to the healthy development of Americas solar industry and distorts the international trade order of solar as a new energy product.

A 14 to 15 percent tariff will be imposed on the imports of solar products made with crystalline silicon, reported The New York Times. However, twice the number of solar cells exempt from tariffs will be allowed into the country.

The Biden administration also said it would start talks with Mexico and Canada to allow their solar products to be able to be exported to the U.S. without facing levies.

By the end of the decade, President Biden has promised to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by a minimum of 52 percent below 2005 levels, The New York Times reported. A recent report from the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that solar power could make up as much as 40 percent of the electricity in the U.S. by 2035. Currently solar stands at four percent.

Although the demand for solar power has grown in the U.S., the countrys solar manufacturers have had a hard time competing with the less expensive Chinese products. And American solar manufacturers production capacity last year was only enough to provide a fifth of solar installations in the U.S.

The amount of market that is met by domestic manufacturing is pretty small, said Xiaojing Sun, head of global solar research at research and consultancy firm Wood MacKenzie, reported The New York Times.

On Friday, the House of Representatives approved a bill devoting billions to scientific research that includes $600 million worth of grants and loans for solar manufacturing.

Chinas reliance on solar parts that come from the Xinjiang region, where China has conducted mass detentions of ethnic minority groups, has put a black mark on its solar industry.

Last year, industry groups said that the Biden administrations ban on silica-based products, including goods made with those products, made by Chinas Hoshine Silicon Industry Company  a company that had been accused of forced labor in the Xinjiang region  stopped tens of billions of dollars worth of solar installations in the U.S., as The New York Times reported both currently and at the time.

A new law effective in June will make prohibitions on goods imported from Xinjiang even stronger.

China has a long history of heavily subsidizing its solar enterprises and dumping solar panels made with exploited workers into other markets. These kinds of products should not enter the United States duty free, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and Democratic Representatives Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan, along with Republican Senator Rob Portman, said in a joint statement, The Associated Press reported.
Well admit it  the solar energy industry is an imperfect one. Though it has enjoyed considerable expansion as we transition into the era of clean energy, challenges and growing pains will persist as solar matures. For an industry that champions equity, independence and social and environmental responsibility, solar still has room to improve  especially in the areas of inclusion and the effort to elevate minorities in a field made up mostly of white men.

According to Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, the $30 billion solar and storage industry is filled with tremendous opportunities, but our future success depends on our ability to expand our reach and welcome more diverse businesses to the industry. The SEIA backed this statement with a 2019 study, showing that only 7.6% of the solar workforce is Black or African American.

As we enter Black History Month  a time dedicated to honoring the triumphs, struggles and contributions of Black people throughout U.S. history  were reflecting on ways that we can enrich our industry by elevating and empowering Black-owned businesses in our communities.

Supporting Black-owned businesses in solar is not only a means of combating racial injustice, but environmental injustices as well. As we all know, environmental injustice has a greater impact on low-income communities and communities of color. Lets take a look at some of the leading Black-owned solar companies you can support.

Black-Owned Solar and Energy Businesses to Support

Here are some of the top Black-owned businesses in the solar industry today:

Aurora Solar

Aurora Solar is one of the biggest names in solar that most of our readers have never heard of. Whys that? Aurora Solar specializes in solar engineering software that is a staple of nearly every solar company these days. If youve gotten a proposal from a solar company, chances are it was drawn up using Aurora. The design software is used and trusted by some of the great solar companies out there including, the likes of SunPower, Momentum Solar, Sunpro, Blue Raven Solar and more.

Co-founded by Samuel Adeyemo, we anticipate that Aurora will be a fixture in the design of solar systems for decades to come.

WeSolar

WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced communities affordable access to local community solar and to assist commercial properties with energy efficiency. We chose to highlight WeSolar for its understanding of the importance of community solar in a more equitable energy future.

Community solar programs, also known as shared solar, help to address both physical and financial barriers to the benefits of going solar. For example, many low-income homeowners will not be able to afford the upfront cost of a residential solar panel system, and due to credit barriers or other challenges may not even be eligible to get a loan to finance a system. Others may not have homes large enough to warrant installing rooftop solar.

In most cases, community solar involves multiple customers, individuals, businesses or nonprofits sharing the investment in an off-site solar array through a subscription model. The energy generated by this off-site array is shared by the community subscribers.

Community solar helps more families gain access to affordable clean energy, increasing community resilience and lowering the strain placed on outdated infrastructure struggling to provide for a growing population. WeSolar, founded by Kristal Hansley, is helping lead the charge toward community solar in Baltimore and elsewhere.

Uncharted Power

Not quite a solar provider like some other names on this list, Uncharted Power is a power access company, meaning it specializes in smart and sustainable infrastructure development. Essentially, Uncharted Power connects already existing power sources with applications like sensors and information communication technology (ITC) throughout cities.

Uncharteds founder and CEO, Jessica Matthews, explains that challenges to affordable energy access dont result from how much energy exists within cities, but instead how that energy is wired and distributed. Matthews believes that energy industries currently focus too much on products and not enough on improving existing infrastructure to be more efficient, sensible and well-planned.

Uncharted Powers business model is designed for cities and municipalities looking to modernize their electrical grids. In smaller cities, Uncharted Power takes the lead on decentralizing the energy grid, lessening the burden required by public infrastructure to distribute power throughout the nation.

Red Dipper

Founded in 2009 by Doug Parish, Red Dipper Inc. specializes in electrical contracting focusing on smart city assets. Similar to Uncharted Power, Red Dipper understands that issues of energy equity are not solved simply by making and selling more solar panels. Rather, Red Dipper incorporates solar into its holistic approach to provide clean energy supplies and solutions to its clients.

A few project highlights include providing power to the Golden State Warriors Chase Arena, the 19th Street BART Station in Oakland, and the San Francisco Unified School District. If youre reading this from the Bay Area, chances are Red Dipper can help you clean up your energy sources while streamlining your efficiency.

Earth Wind and Solar Energy

Illinois-based Earth Wind and Solar Energy (EWSE) carries the mission of advocating for sustainability in all peoples lives and making renewable energy affordable for everyone. In a world where low-income groups are priced out of the biggest benefits of solar energy (which come with system ownership), EWSE understands that reducing environmental degradation and energy inequity begins with education and outreach within its community.

Co-founded by Riana Caravette, an African-American woman, choosing EWSE means supporting an installer that prioritizes community health over making sales. With over 14 years of experience, EWSE provides experience, knowledge and expertise in solar and renewable energy throughout Northern Illinois.

And Many, Many More

Though weve chosen to highlight five of our favorite black-owned businesses in solar and the energy space, there is a growing number of impressive companies to support. We encourage you to explore SEIAs Diverse Suppliers Database to find more.

Why Supporting Black-Owned Businesses in Solar Matters

Despite the encouraging growth of solar energy, Black families and business owners still face disproportionate numbers of challenges in cleaning up the energy sources in their communities. Here are a few of the biggest hurdles many minority communities face:

Lack of access to the necessary capital: Solar energy systems require a large upfront investment to maximize long-term value. For most lower-income households, purchasing a solar energy system upfront is out of the question.

Solar energy systems require a large upfront investment to maximize long-term value. For most lower-income households, purchasing a solar energy system upfront is out of the question. Poor existing infrastructure: The existing infrastructure in low-income communities is far more fragile, costly and impactful. For example, in southern Louisiana, lower-income areas are far more vulnerable to the impacts of oil spills, prolonged power outages (priority restorations go to higher-income areas) and extreme weather, which drives up energy costs due to constant restoration efforts.

The existing infrastructure in low-income communities is far more fragile, costly and impactful. For example, in southern Louisiana, lower-income areas are far more vulnerable to the impacts of oil spills, prolonged power outages (priority restorations go to higher-income areas) and extreme weather, which drives up energy costs due to constant restoration efforts. Climate change will have a disproportionate impact on low-income communities: The worst effects of climate change will be felt by low-income communities, primarily those of color. Some impacts were already seeing include areas being more vulnerable to flooding or fires, extreme heat or poor air and water quality.

By choosing a Black-owned solar company, youre helping to support the demographic that needs the benefits of clean energy most. Lower costs of electricity, access to clean energy and energy independence should not be limited by income bracket, credit score or race. With both public and private support, proactive policy, and improved education, the solar industry can provide a more equitable energy future for all.
After more than five years, an Indonesian crocodile is finally free.

The crocodile was first spotted in 2016 in Palu city on Indonesias Sulawesi island with its neck stuck in a motorcycle tire, as AFP reported. Every attempt to rescue it failed, until a local resident finally managed to trap it on Monday.

I just wanted to help, I hate seeing animals trapped and suffering, its savior Tili, a 34-year-old bird seller, said, as AFP reported.

The crocodile had come to be called buaya kalung ban, or crocodile with a tire necklace, Reuters reported. The reptile was around 17 feet long according to AFP and around 13.12 feet according to Reuters, and is one of the more than 30 crocodiles that makes its home in the Palu River. Tili used chicken bait and ropes to catch the crocodile, then local residents helped drag it to shore and free it from the tire, AFP reported.

The animals trials may have begun because someone attempted to use the tire to capture it as a pet, conservationists believe. Residents were concerned the crocodile would be choked by the tire if it continued to grow, according to Reuters, but for many years there didnt seem to be much hope.

In 2018, conservationist and animal whisperer Muhammad Panji tried and failed to free the reptile, as CNN reported. The same year, Central Sulawesis Natural Resources Conservation Office attempted to bait it with meat, but that attempt did not succeed either. Both an earthquake and a tsunami that same year failed to dislodge the tire.

In 2020, the conservation office offered a reward to anyone who could free the crocodile. Australian crocodile wrangler Matt Wright and his friend Chris Wilson attempted to free the animal in February of that year, as Australias ABC News reported at the time. They worked for 10 days and used everything from steel traps to drones to harpoons, but could not catch the animal to free it.

It definitely is one of the most difficult crocodiles Ive had to catch in my career, Wright said, as ABC News reported.

Eventually, the conservation office rescinded the offer over concerns the competition would actually put the animal at greater risk, according to AFP. However, it said that Tili would still receive a reward for his efforts.

Tilis final rescue was not smooth sailing either. It took him three weeks and two failed attempts, as the first ropes he used were not strong enough.

Many people were sceptical about me and thought I was not serious, he said, as Reuters reported.

Finally free, the crocodile was released back into its river home Monday.

Yesterday was a historic day for us, we are grateful the crocodile was finally rescued and we appreciate the locals who showed concern for the wildlife, local conservation office head Hasmuni Hasmar said, as AFP reported.
Across more than 1,700 public schools in New York City, a new initiative aims to give children more plant-based meals with the launch of Vegan Fridays. Over 1 million students in grades K-12 will have plant-based lunch options at school on Fridays.

The initiative was started by newly elected NYC Mayor Eric Adams, the citys first vegan mayor. Adams, vegan since 2016, says the initiative will improve the overall health for the citys students.

Vegan Fridays introduced students to plant-based options that will eventually improve the quality of life for thousands of New York City students, according to a spokesperson for the mayors office, as reported by Eater. Parents, students and principals across the city have given positive feedback on todays launch and we are excited to continue the conversation of healthier options in schools.

But with the first Vegan Friday, many students arent quite as enthusiastic about the change as the mayor says they are. The vegan school lunches have proven to still be school lunches, in that they arent the most appetizing of meals.

Students and parents posted photos of the meals on Twitter, showing dry black beans or limp burritos and bags of chips, cookies and apples.

I was thinking  oh, well its a burrito, Katie Wilkins, a 6th grader in Manhattan, told ABC 7. It was a very interesting burrito that was smooshed down kinda compressed a little.

Wilkins also noticed something else off about the meal: it wasnt even vegan.

It said cheese on it, so I was thinking vegan cheese, right? So I was looking at the ingredients on the back  wheat, soy, and milk. Not soy milk, but soy comma milk, which makes me think there was lactose in it, therefore it is not vegan because its milk, Wilkins said.

The new program rollout comes as the USDA recently announced updated nutrition standards for schools that will go into effect in July 2022. The updated guidelines say schools must offer low-fat, flavored milks, at least 80% of grains served each week must be whole grain-rich, and in the 2023-34 school year, sodium levels must decrease by 10%. As such, the schools will still offer milk to drink as well as some lighter dairy options for a transitional period of time.

NYCs public schools were already serving meatless meals twice a week before beginning Vegan Fridays. With the lackluster meals showcased on social media, critics are concerned that the meals wont be enough for some students whose main source of food is breakfasts and lunches at school.

We want to make sure our kids are getting the protein they need for their brain development at such a critical age, said State Senator Jessica Ramos.

The senator also posted a photo of a school lunch and tweeted, @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.

The Vegan Fridays initiative will also offer vegetarian options upon request, and a spokesperson told ABC 7 that they are open to feedback to improve the program.
As protests are taking place across our nation in response to the killing of George Floyd, we want to acknowledge the importance of this protest and the Black Lives Matter movement. Over the years, weve aimed to be sensitive and prioritize stories that highlight the intersection between racial and environmental injustice. From our years of covering the environment, we know that too often marginalized communities around the world are disproportionately affected by environmental crises.

Now seems like a critical time to reshare a selection of these stories from our writers and our media partners. We know that if we want a healthier planet and life, environmental racism needs to be addressed. Here are 15 stories that highlight racial and environmental injustice and are worth reading during this time. There is no environmental justice without racial justice.

Black and Hispanic Americans Suffer Disproportionate Coronavirus Infections

Published April 9, 2020, Author Jordan Davidson

Excerpt:

Across the country, the novel coronavirus is severely affecting black people at much higher rates than whites, according to data released by several states, as The New York Times reported. In New York, which has seen the most COVID-19 related deaths, the virus has disproportionately affected both the black and Hispanic population. In New York City, Hispanics make up 29 percent of the population, but 34 percent of the citys COVID-19 deaths, while African Americans are 22 percent of the citys population and 28 percent of the fatalities, according to new statistics from the city and US News and World Report. Environmental Racism at EPA: First Policy, Now Racist Messages Written at Headquarters Published Nov. 6, 2018, Author Olivia Rosane

Excerpt:

When it comes to the EPAs internal culture, EPA union AFGE 3331 President Nate James implied more education was needed about the impacts of racist messages like the ones that have popped up since August. We have diversity training but nothing that addresses, for lack of better words, when hateful language is being used it creates a threatening atmosphere, a hostile environment, where employees are concerned about their safety, James told ABC News. James said that, earlier in the summer, another incident occurred where a note was left on an African American employees desk reading BACK TO THE JUNGLE U GO. The union said that EPA managements response to that incident showed callous disregard and inattentiveness and demoralized the employee. Lead Poisoning Reveals Environmental Racism in the U.S. Published May 7, 2020, Author Ben Knight / Deutsche Welle

Excerpt:

Statistically, the increased risk of lead poisoning associated with being black persists even when you correct for all other factors, from poverty to education levels to the presence of smokers in the home, to quality of housing. A lot of people had been saying: Oh black children are just more at risk because theyre more likely to be poor,' said study co-author Deniz Dersim Yeter, an independent academic and undergraduate nursing student in Kansas. Yeah, povertys a problem, but its nothing compared to being a black child in America. Yeter was astounded by the results of their three-year analysis. I knew it was bad, but I was expecting something like a marginal increase, something statistically significant, but  not two to six times higher, they told DW. That is obscene.

First-of-Its-Kind Study Finds Racial Gap Between Who Causes Air Pollution and Who Breathes It Published March 12, 2019, Author Olivia Rosane

Excerpt:

The first-of-its-kind study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that black and Hispanic Americans breathe in large amounts of dangerous air pollution that is mainly caused by the actions of non-Hispanic whites. Even though minorities are contributing less to the overall problem of air pollution, they are affected by it more, study co-author and University of Minnesota engineering professor Jason Hill, who is white, told USA Today. Is it fair (that) I create more pollution and somebody else is disproportionately affected by it? Coronavirus Comes for Louisianas Cancer Alley Published April 8, 2020, Author Climate Nexus

Excerpt:

An area in Louisiana whose predominantly black and brown residents are hard-hit by health problems from industry overdevelopment is experiencing one of the highest death rates from coronavirus of any county in the United States. St. John the Baptist parish, which sits along the Gulf Coast region known as Cancer Alley, has seen 30 of its 43,000 residents die of COVID-19 since the outbreak began  a death rate of 68.7 per 100,000 people, compared to New York Citys rate of 29. We were getting calls almost every hour, parish coroner Christy Montegut told The Guardian. They all died in the same way. They got to a hospital, were on a ventilator, but the body just couldnt keep going. They died in spite of full treatment. The virus is overwhelming. Environmental Negligence vs. Civil Rights: Black and Hispanic Communities Get More Pollution, Fewer Jobs Published Oct. 2, 2018, Author Olivia Rosane

Excerpt:

By the numbers, black Americans hold 10.8 percent of the jobs at industrial facilities, but suffer 17.4 percent of the exposure to air pollution. Hispanics hold 9.8 percent of the jobs, but suffer 15 percent of the pollution exposure. Both populations have less than seven percent of the high-paying jobs offered at industrial sites, U.S. News & World Report reported. The fossil fuel industry was the worst offender. At petroleum industry and coal-product facilities, blacks and Hispanics suffered 48 percent of the pollution exposure and only received around a fifth of the jobs.

African Americans Are Disproportionately Exposed to Extreme Heat Published July 23, 2019, Author Adrienne Hollis / Union of Concerned Scientists

Excerpt:

The extreme heat is almost three additional weeks worth of extreme heat days for places that are more than 25% African American as opposed to those that are less than 25% African American. The reasons why African American communities are and will continue to experience more extreme heat days are likely complex, but its probable that the root of the problem can be traced back to centuries of systemic mistreatment of people of color. Why Climate Change Hurts the Poor the Most Published July 11, 2019, Author Mallika Khanna / Common Dreams

Excerpt:

The idea that environmentalism is an elite concern is a lie. Those who stand to gain the most from sweeping environmental protections are the marginalized people corporations assume can be put in toxic environments without fear of backlash. Thats the best reason yet to support a Green New Deal, which would not only curb climate change, but also revitalize the U.S. economy, create millions of jobs, and create alternatives to harmful, unsustainable industries like the petrochemical industry in Cancer Alley that have harmed people for years. That could make poor communities a lot less poor  and a lot more resilient. African Americans Disproportionately Suffer Health Effects of Oil and Gas Facilities Published Nov. 15, 2017, Author David Leestma

Excerpt:

The study found oil and natural gas facilities were built or currently exist within a half-mile of more than one million African Americans, exposing these communities to higher risks of cancer due to toxic emissions. African-Americans are exposed to 38 percent more polluted air than Caucasian Americans, and they are 75 percent more likely to live in fence-line communities than the average American, the report said, referring to neighborhoods near to gas and oil facilities. Counties located in the Gulf Coast Basin are home to the most counties with oil refineries and higher percentages of African Americans. Michigan, Louisiana and Tennessee, the report found, have the highest percentage of African American residents living in oil refinery counties. Texas and Louisiana, both in the Gulf Coast Basin, were home to the largest African American individuals at risk for cancer, with nearly 900,000 living in areas above the EPAs level of concern. The effects of oil and gas pollution are disproportionately afflicting African Americans, particularly cancer and respiratory issues, and the trend is only increasing, said Dr. Doris Browne, the National Medical Association president.




China suspends chicken imports from two meatpacking plants in Brazil

According to a statement on China's General Administration of Customs website, chicken imports have been suspended from two meatpacking plants in Brazil, The Rio Times reported.

The two plants are a unit of Bello Alimentos (brand name Frango Bello) from Itaquirai municipality, Mato Grosso do Sul state, and a plant of Sao Salvador Alimentos (brand name Super Frango), in Itaberai municipality, central Goias state.

The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed the suspensions.

China has suspended meat imports from several countries since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

- The Rio Times




Moba USA moves to new facility in Michigan, US



Moba announced this month that Moba USA has moved to a new facility in Wixom, Michigan, the United States.

This new building offers all the space needed to support customers in North America, the company said.

Previously, Moba's USA office was located in Farmington Hills. This office focused on providing parts and service for Moba, Pelbo and Diamond equipment. It also manufactured the Diamond series of Moba Farmpackers and updated Diamond grading equipment.

Over the years, the Farmington Hills office had expanded to a team of 70 employees, supporting over 500 customers in North America.

At the new office, there are a dedicated classroom space and an expanded technical training center where customers taking part in training courses can use it to familiarise themselves with Moba equipment.

There is also a new customer care center with a fully staffed helpdesk and a team of employees who can help with ordering parts. The facility also boasts a modern parts warehousing system, including a fully automated parts storage and retrieval system with barcode redundancy to ensure parts accuracy and the highest inventory levels in the industry.

Craig England, president of Moba's US operations, said: "Moba USA has a history of developing a strong support team to ensure that our customers extract maximum value from the equipment they entrust us to supply for them. This is evident in all aspects of the operation today and will be what we continue to invest in for our future.

"We are looking forward to a seamless and uninterrupted transition to our new facility and continuing to bring innovation to our industry and offering the best support possible to our customers."

- Moba
Effingham, IL (62401)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by increasing clouds with showers developing this afternoon. High near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

A steady rain this evening. Showers with perhaps a rumble of thunder developing overnight. Low around 60F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
If last week the prophets of Catalonia's economic decline of crashed head-on into the latest data on the growth in the Catalan GDP and the comparison with those of Spain and the EU, then this Monday they may have found themselves face to face with the study published by Startup Heatmap Europe which places Catalonia and Barcelona as the largest hub for emerging companies in southern Europe, ahead of the large metropolitan poles of cities like Paris, London, Madrid and Amsterdam, and only surpassed by Berlin. All this, in an environment of sustained growth in startup numbers that has passed the test of the pandemic period with distinction, registering an increase of over 25% in firms during this time, to achieve the promising total of 1,902 emerging companies in Catalonia.

Both the good health of Catalonia's GDP and the evolution of its startups are positive announcements, which, if the pro-independence politicians were smarter, they would go round repeating over and over again. But stubborn as they are about showing off their miseries to counteract the adversary, they forget to spread the good news, and thus sow doubts as to whether what really interests them is to propel the country forward, the supposed reason for which they decided to form a government. There is a time for everything and a moment for every battle, say those who see politics beyond their own interests, trying to take into account how the citizens will benefit. Too often in Catalonia there is the feeling that there is only time for short-term scrapping, and it gets forgotten that those on the other side are lapping up the playground fight between ERC, Junts and the CUP.

If the startup statistics are good, the record for annual investments secured has also been broken, to reach 1,479 million euros, 246% higher than the volume of investment raised in 2020. In an increasingly global world, 25% of the workers in these types of Catalan companies are foreigners and 20% of the founders are too. All this reinforces the idea of an increasingly global emerging pole that is reflected in the fact that 47% of the sector's total turnover is from international customers. If we add these data to last week's GDP news, which placed growth in 2021 at 5.9%, while Spain stood at 5.0% and the European Union at 5.2%, they are numbers that, while requiring prudence, should be valued very positively. Also as an incentive to persevere in the current direction.

The so often repeated "Catalan decadence" is nothing other than a discursive reiteration by those who, from the absolute control of the Spanish state, also from the Catalan propagandists who are always aligned, first turn off the tap and then repeat that there's no water coming out. In a political environment in which the goal is to choke Catalan growth by any means possible so that Madrid can be the only Spanish business pole, the thing that is really essential is to reverse their dependence on the Spanish governments of the day. If not, how can one explain that Catalonia's deficit of infrastructure investment by the Spanish state over the last 12 years is 35 billion euros, according to employers' association Foment del Treball?

This is the real problem facing the Catalan economy and Catalonia in general. Just as in the political sphere, the real problem is the decision by the Central Electoral Commission to remove the CUP deputy Pau Juvilla from his seat, taking upon itself competencies that it does not have as an administrative body, which are specific to the law courts. Until this is understood, Catalonia will continue being mutilated and its potential to take flight will be that of a chicken. Because there are shortcuts, and bridges of dialogue are not only not being built, they are being blown up.
Pau Juvilla has made his first public statements now that he is no longer a deputy of the Catalan Parliament, putting the emphasis on the need for the pro-independence parties to stop their infighting, as well as the need to confront the repression of the Spanish state, even if on this occasion it has been unsuccessful. After being convicted of disobedience and then targeted by Spain's Central Electorial Commission despite his appeal being still unheard, the CUP deputy's seat was withdrawn on February 4th, taking retroactive effect from the 28th, as explained yesterday by the Parliament's secretary in a letter, in explanations that were very late in being made public, leading to heavy criticism among the pro-independence parties in the wake of a divisive week. Just yesterday, the speaker of parliament, Laura Borras, said that the blame for the unfortunate outcome of the affair belongs to pro-independence parties ERC and the CUP, due to their refusal to accept a proposal that the speaker says she presented to them, but which ERC asserts was ever spelt out. The far-left CUP party was silent yesterday and today Juvilla asked all parties to stop their mutual reproaches, because they were not helping Catalonia: "If someone has to shoulder the blame, I will. No problem."

In an interview with Catalunya Radio, Juvilla emphasized that while the pro-independence parties are divided, they made the effort to meet and talk over the issue. In this regard, he claimed that the three parties had held weekly and even daily meetings, and that reaching agreement was not easy, but that the path up till now has been positive, because very soon it will be necessary to address new cases of repression such as those of his CUP parliamentary colleague Eulalia Reguant and the ERC politicians Lluis Salvado and Josep Jove. For Juvilla, it is key to avoid giving an image of anger, but rather, one of hope, and to emphasize that unity in the face of repression is the "least common denominator".

The former MP believes that the path taken so far has gone well to a certain extent, and that now it must be possible to do better: "The hope is that we are all together in this fight against repression." Asked specifically about the proposal that Borras says she proposed to the other political groups, he said that they do not know which proposal she was referring to, and explained that in the meetings all groups made proposals and that in no case were they opposed by the CUP: "I assure you that the CUP always gave its support to all the proposals", thus denying Borras's statements in which she asserted that the other two parties had left her alone in the strategy: "We don't want to leave the speaker exposed at all," he said, after Junts asserted that the CUP wanted to throw Borras into the "rubbish bin of history". And as well as words of support for Borras, he also had words for other members of the Bureau, such as ERC's Alba Verges and Ruben Wagensberg, and Aurora Madaula of Junts.

The incognito that is still hanging in the air is over when Juvilla stopped being a deputy. Although the secretary general of Parliament said yesterday that she gave the order for the withdrawal of the seat on Thursday evening with retroactive effects, Juvilla explained that he sensed that he had lost his status at the moment of being unable to vote in the last plenary session, which Borras had justified as being due to a "conflict of interest", as the only item on the agenda was to approve the committee opinion asserting that Juvilla still held his seat.

The former MP stated that he has had no communication from Parliament to declare that he is no longer a member of the house, and that the only information he has had is a message on his mobile from Social Security saying that he has lost his labour status. However, while Juvilla was making these statements at the radio studio, a communication arrived from Parliament, which was posted on Twitter by his colleague Reguant. Asked what will happen now with his seat - whether he will be replaced by the next on the CUP candidature list or not - he replied that the CUP claimed that until the sentence is final they will not move, which means that for the moment no one will replace Juvilla.

Avui mentre el @pjuvilla era entrevistat al @maticatradio al grup parlamentari hem rebut la notificacio del @parlamentcat que ja no el considera diputat en data 4 de febrer.

El @parlamentcat perd un gran diputat, a la @cupnacional continuem tenint un militant d pedra picada. pic.twitter.com/TiWeXkTlbi  Eulalia Reguant Cura (@aramateix) February 8, 2022

Juvilla was also clear on the fact that the ultimate cause of all the controversy in the Catalan Parliament last week was the repression of the Spanish state, which "tries to arrive judicially where it cannot reach politically", and he regretted that the current context is one in which the Spanish state is constantly attacking the Catalan independence movement. Despite this, he assured that things have been done in Parliament that had not been done so far to attempt to combat this interference: "This struggle is collective, plural and public," he concluded, adding that he would once again put yellow ribbons in his office in the Paeria de Lleida, because that was a collective decision to disobey an instruction to make a cause visible. A decision that led him, individually, to receive a six month ban on holding public office.
Veteran New York state Assemblyman Nick Perry (D-Brooklyn) made his case before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill to be confirmed as the first Jamaican-born person to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Caribbean island nation.

Speaking in his trademark lilting West Indian accent, Perry portrayed himself as the product of two worlds: raised in Jamaica but also a proud son of Brooklyn.

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This continuation of my lifelong journey of public service is deeply personal, Perry said on Tuesday. I believe my experience and perspective, complemented by my background as an American who was born and raised in Jamaica, could contribute positively to strengthening our partnership with Jamaica.

[ Biden nominates Brooklyn Assemblyman Nick Perry for ambassador to Jamaica ]

If the Brooklyn lawmaker is backed by the committee as expected, his nomination will go to the full Senate for approval.

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Perry, 71, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he came to Brooklyn in 1971 as a teenager, joined the military, and graduated from Brooklyn College.

He started his public service as a chair of his local community board before winning an election for the first of 15 terms in the Assembly in 1992.

New York State Assemblyman Nick Perry (D-Brooklyn) (Angus Mordant/for New York Daily News)

I have dedicated my career in public service, working across diverse communities to build consensus, he said.

Along with bolstering the historically close ties between Jamaica and the U.S., Perry said he would expand security ties, particularly in countering illegal drug trafficking.

He also vowed to help protect the safety of American citizens living in Jamaica, which has a reputation for isolated gang violence and tourists visiting the island.

Perry now serves as the assistant speaker pro tempore of the Assembly and a regional vice chairman of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.

He previously served as chairman of the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) lavished praise on Perry, calling him an ideal candidate to be the next envoy to Jamaica.

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Nick is an immigrant, a veteran, and a longtime public servant, Schumer said. He represents the best of what America is all about.

Schumer called it a milestone that is long overdue to name a Jamaican-born person as ambassador to the island nation, given the many Jamaican immigrants living in the U.S.

The senator boasted of a friendship with Perry that has spanned three decades and praised Perry for his shoe-leather approach to politics in his Flatbush neighborhood.

He has a knack for doing politics the old-fashioned way: shaking hands, showing up at every event, and just listening to people from everyday life.

He also praised Perrys beautiful tenor voice, which he has used to belt out the Star-Spangled Banner countless times around Brooklyn.
Chief Minister congratulates Her Majesty The Queen on historic Accession Day

The Chief Minister Hon Alfred Cannan MHK has sent a letter of congratulations to Her Majesty The Queen on the seventieth anniversary of her accession to the throne.

The Chief Minister said: It is a remarkable achievement to reach a Platinum Jubilee and I have had the pleasure of extending to Her Majesty the congratulations and warm wishes of the government and the people of the Isle of Man on this historic occasion.

The Queen has been a constant example of integrity and duty over a period of tremendous political and social change. Her Majesty is a unifying figure who brings a sense of dependability and comfort, both at home and abroad, as we have witnessed most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I very much look forward to the Isle of Man playing its part in celebrations to mark this Platinum Jubilee year.

The Isle of Man will mark the Platinum Jubilee with an additional public holiday on Friday 3 June which will create a four-day weekend. Details of other Jubilee events will be announced in the coming weeks.
Changes to home screening tests for Bowel Cancer

The process of Bowel Cancer screening using a home testing kit is changing.

From next week, Manx Cares screening programme will use a different type of test which will simplify the process, require fewer samples to be provided and provide more reliable detection.

Until now, gFOBt tests (guaiac faecal occult blood tests) have been used, but this will change to FIT tests (faecal immunochemical tests) from Monday. For people whove been sent a screening kit in the post, in reality this will mean it should be simpler for them to provide a sample and return this for screening because the new FIT tests require just one sample, instead of multiple samples. They are sensitive to a much smaller amount of blood, meaning they can detect signs of cancer more reliably and at an earlier stage, as well as being able to detect pre-cancerous lesions. The new FIT test kits can also be measured more reliably by a machine than by the human eye.

The new FIT tests are already being used across many UK NHS Trusts. Bowel screening is offered to all individuals in the UK and the Isle of Man aged between 60 and 74 years old. However, anyone who has a concern about changes in their bowel movements or stools should contact their GP in the first instance to seek medical advice and reassurance, whether they fit into this age bracket or not.
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Amazon's budget-friendly alternative to Google's Nest thermostats has returned to its all-time-low price for the first time since December. The company's smart thermostat, which it debuted last year, is 20 percent off and down to $48. As indicated by its low price tag, you won't get as many features with Amazon's gadget as you would with something like a Nest thermostat, but it's a good place to start if you're building up a smart home on a budget.

The smart thermostat is a sleek square with rounded corners and its minimalist design should help it fit nicely into any home. It's built with Honeywell Home Thermostat Technology and it's Energy Star-certified, so it could save you up to $50 per year on energy costs.

As with most Amazon devices, the smart thermostat works with Alexa  but it doesn't have a speaker or a microphone. You'll have to use an Alexa device like an Echo speaker or an Echo Show display to control it using voice commands. The Alexa mobile app is another option, and that's where you'll go to set schedules and change settings while you're out, too, so you come back to a home with the precise temperature you want.

That's all there is to Amazon's smart thermostat. Google's Nest Thermostat has advanced features like automatically turning the temperature down while you're away, but that device will set you back at least $130. Overall, Amazon's gadget is a good option for those that only want the basics and have tighter budgets. Just make sure to check out the device's compatibility information to ensure that it works with your system before you buy, and to know if you need an additional C-wire or power adapter kit to hook the thing up.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Google's decision to enable two-factor authentication by default appears to have borne fruit. The search firm has revealed that account breaches dropped by 50 percent among those users where 2FA (two-step verification in Google-speak) was auto-enabled. The plunge was proof the extra factor is "effective" in safeguarding your data, Google said, although it didn't disclose the exact number of compromised accounts.

The company didn't say how rapidly it expected 2FA to spread, but promised to continue the rollout through 2022. More than 150 million people have been auto-enrolled so far, including more than 2 million YouTube creators.

The company also promised more security upgrades to help mark Safer Internet Day. As of March, Google will let you opt-in to an account-level safe browsing option that keeps you from visiting known harmful sites. Google is also expanding Assistant's privacy-minded Guest Mode to nine new languages in the months ahead, and has promised to ramp up safeguards for politicians ahead of the US midterm elections.

The reduced volume of account breaches isn't a shock  requiring more effort to crack an account is bound to deter some would-be intruders. It hasn't always been easy to show the tangible impact of 2FA on security, though, and the sheer scale of Google's user base gives it a representative sample others can't easily match.
Just as many of the ugliest online fights begin these days, Brian "Box" Brown, an Eisner-winning illustrator and comic artist, sent a seemingly innocuous tweet. It read, in part, "my former regular freelance employer has let me know they'll be...Embracing NFTs  so...we had to part ways." The then unnamed business, Gumroad, shot back the next day with a now-pinned response denying it had plans to enter the controversial crypto-collecting space, and has since attacked detractors from its corporate account, provided conflicting information and alienated a growing portion of the artist community it serves. How did it get so bad?

Gumroad, for the unfamiliar, is a digital goods sales platform, which hosts anything from art to ebooks to self-help courses. It was built in 2011 by then-19-year-old CEO Sahil Lavingia, who is perhaps the only consistent figure within the company. Following a period of growth Lavingia had to lay off staff in 2016 after failing to raise more money. The company survived, but as it is presently structured, Gumroad is something of an anomaly. The number of full-time employees, according to one the CEO's blog posts is "none. Not even me," preferring to maintain a contractor workforce. It also espouses a version of radical transparency, choosing to make its product roadmap and board meetings public.

The image of an all-remote workplace free from deadlines or meetings belies a somewhat haphazard business. Some former workers seemingly signed no contracts beyond basic tax forms. Some contract work was compensated through Venmo. At least one of the contracts signed by Brown related to royalties and IP rights for book illustrations listed one Kun Wu Yu as the primary party, and the address as what appears to be a cancer research center in Taiwan. (When asked about this he first glibly replied that "cancer research is an important cause" and later stated he didn't recall the contract.) To say Lavingia is not an especially careful founder might be an understatement. According to a former contractor, who we granted anonymity for fear of retaliation, "it's not the ideal work culture it appears to be."

Brown by all indications was among the permalancers filling out the ranks of Gumroad, and a busy one at that. "There was never a time in the last two years where it even slowed down" he told Engadget from the "20 plus hours per week" he billed, which he estimates became a "large portion of my daily work" and contributed around $2000 to his monthly income. Then in January, he alleges, Lavingia ceased communication. In 15 years of freelancing, he said "I never experienced a situation where a regular gig for that long suddenly just disappeared without even an email being like, 'we're gonna let you go,' you know what I mean?" He believes he was no longer assigned work because of his refusal to get involved with the company's seeming NFT ambitions.

Once the differences in opinion between Lavingia and Brown became open hostilities, that penchant for transparency turned into a cudgel. Both parties began posting screenshots from the company Slack (something which Brown claims to have since been removed from) which reflect uncharitably  though Gumroad has since deleted many of these tweets.

Not true. Just that its something we are exploring (as all tech companies should with new technologies). This is the entirety of the conversation. pic.twitter.com/oXnhFhGyHo  Sahil Lavingia (@shl) February 5, 2022

In one, after Gumroad had ghosted him, Brown asks if there's any available illustration work, to which Lavingia states "the one idea I have is an NFT project, unfortunately "  a possible commission to help make 7,777 generative art characters. "It sounds like you need someone who is into [NFTs] from here on out," Brown says. "Yep, probably," Lavingia responds.

Lacking here is the context that the subject of NFTs had, according to Brown, come up repeatedly for the past six months. Each time Brown refused, though some more tactfully than others. (In another tweeted screenshot dating to September, Lavingia pitches NFTs as an options, and Brown demurs by claimed involvement in such a scheme would cause his readership to "cancel" him.)

The aforementioned anonymous former contractor told Engadget that "my understanding is that Gumroad was going to get into NFTs at some point in 2022/2023." Gumroad has been in the midst of a site redesign, for which it appears to have retained the services of high-powered brand manager and former Google design director Karin Soukup; in an email introducing Soukup to Brown, Lavingia sent an email last October with the subject "Illustrations for Gumroad rebrand (+ NFTs...?)." (When asked via Twitter DM, Lavingia wrote "Yeah, dont recall. But the parens and ? seem pretty clear ."

In his personal capacity, Lavingia has been a minor booster for NFTs and crypto generally. He minted an NFT of his Twitter avatar and sold it on OpenSea, seemingly to Unacademy founder Guarav Munjal for the equivalent of around $3,000 USD  and pledging to split the proceeds 50/50 between himself and the artist (his own wife.) "NFT ownership is much more accessible than equity ownership," he tweeted last September, a statement only made stranger by the knowledge that Gumroad is itself financed in part by equity crowdfunding.

It's unclear how any of these screenshots lend credence to Lavingia's position that the company is not pursuing NFTs; conversely it seems evident that had Brown agreed to the project Gumroad most likely would be entering the crypto space. On his personal account he attempted to make a distinction between "doing an NFT collection" and "pivoting to NFTs"  later stating "we may do an NFT collection in the future, but no plans."

While an abundance of evidence suggests Gumroad is not being entirely transparent about the degree to which it's investing in some sort of NFT play, it's also not entirely clear digital tulip mania is to blame for Brown's loss of a steady gig. According to the same anonymous former contractor, there have been several similar cases in recent months. "Most of the marketing team got let go recently and it came as a surprise to all of us," they wrote. Others confirmed they were no longer working for Gumroad but declined to go into detail as to the nature of their departures. It's unclear why the company many be thinning its ranks yet again, and Lavingia declined to comment on the matter. Gumroad's jobs page states that the company is in a hiring freeze until April.

Employees aren't the only ones leaving Gumroad  or at least trying to. Some of those who abhor NFTs, as well as bystanders who felt the company's public spat with Brown was inappropriate, have pledged to leave the platform. However, a number of them  including Brown  found themselves unable to delete their accounts. "We found the bug around deletion, and are working to fix it now. The issue is that these users all have made money with Gumroad but havent been paid out yet (due to not connecting a bank account for example)," Lavingia told Engadget, "working to allow them to delete if they wish to anyway." The bug seems to be impacting at least one creator with no outstanding monetary balance on the platform.

Lavingia has been about as tactful with irate users of his site as he has with his former illustrator  at one point, and in apparent contravention of California privacy laws, he cross-referenced an account's email address against the site's user information. "Never used Gumroad, never going to," Jacob van Loon tweeted. Gumroad replied "According to your bio's email address, you already have." The response was hastily deleted. Van Loon maintains that no such account was ever created.

Backlash against crypto has been a recent source of strife for a number of companies. Creators of various stripes were incensed to learn Kickstarter was a drifting into blockchain technologies; comic artist Spike Trotman to recently launched her own crowdfunding initiative in order to avoid involvement in the crypto space. Chat app Discord walked back plans to NFT and crypto integration plans last November following user backlash while Electronic Arts softened its own bullish outlook on the technology for similar reasons. A growing number of artists have voiced concerns about NFTs, in general, as a vector for theft, while the entire market for these digital goods seems, at best, wildly inflated and riddled with bad actors. These incidents have also been an opportunity for some firms to win over to skeptical creators, such as unabashed indie game marketplace Itch.io:

A few have asked about our stance on NFTs:



NFTs are a scam. If you think they are legitimately useful for anything other than the exploitation of creators, financial scams, and the destruction of the planet the we ask that please reevaluate your life choices.



Peace   itch.io (@itchio) February 6, 2022

But it's not just customers who companies stand to lose by stepping into this space. While Brown maintains that working for Gumroad, until recently, was an excellent gig that paid well and afforded him plenty of freedom, when asked if he'd consider working for the company again in a non-NFT context he responded with an emphatic "hell no." He considers the whole affair a breach of trust. "I'm married, I have two children, I have a mortgage, I have all kinds of bills [...] and so I need to plan for that. I can't just suddenly lose my regular gig and they don't tell me. They lost all my trust there," he said "And then when they lied online from their account on Twitter, you know, I would never work for them again, at this point. I just have no trust at all, with them. It's irrelevant whether they actually make NFTs or not, because they already made an action on NFTs by making me leave the company because I didn't want to work on that."

Have you worked in some capacity for Gumroad? I'd like to hear from you. Download Signal messenger for iOS or Android and text me confidentially at 646 983 9846.
TOKYO  Japan's Honda and Isuzu on Wednesday said they would jointly research the use of hydrogen fuel cells to power heavy-duty trucks, looking to expand fuel cell use by applying the zero-emission technology to larger vehicles.

As part of a two-year deal, Isuzu will test Honda's fuel cell powertrain, which was designed for passenger cars, in Isuzu's commercial trucks, the companies said, which could pave the way for using the technology in a wider range of vehicles.

Automakers are looking to develop more electric vehicles (EVs) to comply with tightening global emissions regulations.

Many see battery-powered EVs as a solution for passenger cars in urban settings, but a growing number see hydrogen fuel cells as an effective way to power trucks, buses and other big vehicles.

"Although we have done extensive R&D into passenger FCVs (fuel cell vehicles), we have not been able to study how best to apply the technology to commercial vehicles," a Honda spokesman told reporters at a briefing.

"This partnership will allow us to do that."

Fuel cell vehicles generate their own electricity using hydrogen stored in onboard tanks.

This enables them to travel longer distances and refuel more quickly than battery EVs, while using less costly energy storage systems.

"We think that FCV technology is well suited for heavier trucks which travel longer distances, and this partnership will enable us to examine this further," an Isuzu spokeswoman said, adding that the truck maker was also developing various lower-carbon powertrains including battery-electric technology for shorter-distance vehicles.

With its Clarity Fuel Cell sedan, Honda is one of a handful of automakers which have developed and marketed fuel cell-powered passenger cars.

Light- and medium-sized truck specialist Isuzu has for years has focused on diesel engine technology and has yet to market fully electric vehicles.

But a price tag starting around $70,000 for the Clarity and scant hydrogen fueling infrastructure globally, Honda has seen limited take-up of that model and other FCVs since they began marketing them around 2015.

In 2018 Honda sold just 654 Clarity FCVs, which are available only in Japan and the United States through leasing programs, compared with Honda's total annual global sales of 5.23 million cars.

The partnership is the latest in a growing trend among vehicle makers joining forces to better compete in an industry upended by the rise of electric vehicles, self-driving cars and other new technologies.

Honda and Isuzu are reviving their vehicle partnership following an agreement in the early 1990s under which Isuzu manufactured sport utility vehicles for Honda in the North American market.

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Meta has absolutely no desire to withdraw from Europe. The company issued the statement in a blog post it published on Tuesday after some media outlets published reports claiming it had threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from the continent amid uncertainty over whether the US and European Union would agree to replace a scrapped transatlantic privacy agreement.

The threat Meta made came in the form of a disclosure the company made in its latest earnings report . Published last week , the document said the company would likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe if the US and European Union failed to ratify a new data transfer agreement and the company couldnt depend on other existing mechanisms. Meta has issued similar warnings in the past, but it did so without naming Facebook and Instagram specifically.

At the center of Metas fears over its future on the European continent are the Safe Harbour Agreement and Privacy Shield, both of which were struck down by the European Court of Justice in recent years over fears of what happens to the data of EU citizens once its on servers in the US. As the company points out, its not the only business facing uncertainty over whether officials can agree to a substitute. It notes at least 70 other companies have voiced similar concerns.

"We want to see the fundamental rights of EU users protected, and we want the internet to continue to operate as it was intended: without friction, in compliance with applicable laws  but not confined by national borders, the company said.
NVIDIA's has abandoned its plans to purchase ARM, the UK-based business that licenses chip technology used in most smartphones, NVIDIA and Softbank announced. The deal collapsed on Monday, a year and a half after NVIDIA revealed that it was purchasing the Softbank-owned chip business for cash and stock then valued at $40 billion. Based on NVIDIA's current stock prices, the deal would've been worth over $60 billion if it had gone through today.

"ARM has a bright future, and well continue to support them as a proud licensee for decades to come, said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. "Though we wont be one company, we will partner closely with ARM. I expect ARM to be the most important CPU architecture of the next decade."

The planned takeover was met with opposition from the start. ARM customers Qualcomm and Microsoft objected to the deal, raising concerns that NVIDIA might prevent ARM from licensing its chip designs. The massive acquisition, which would've been the largest in the chip sector, was also intensely scrutinized by regulators. UK's Competition & Markets Authority investigated it twice over its impact product prices and quality, as well as on its implications on national security.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the purchase over concerns that it would stifle competition for multiple technologies. Previous reports said NVIDIA has been preparing to walk away from the deal since early January, seeing as it has made little progress on convincing regulators to approve the purchase.

As The New York Times notes, NVIDIA repeatedly told authorities that it will keep ARM's business model and even proposed to set up a separate licensing entity for its chip designs. It also said that it will license any ARM-based IP that it develops to all companies without discrimination. "There is no evidence that a combined NVIDIA and ARM would have either the ability or the incentive to harm competition," its lawyers said in a response to FTC's lawsuit.

ARM-owner Softbank will get a break fee of up to $1.25 billion as a result of the failed purchase, the sources said. SoftBank confirmed that it would take ARM public, though it didn't provide any further details.

"ARM is becoming a center of innovation not only in the mobile phone revolution, but also in cloud computing, automotive, the Internet of Things and the metaverse, and has entered its second growth phase, said SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. "We will take this opportunity and start preparing to take ARM public, and to make even further progress."

Update February 8, 2022 2:46 AM ET: The post has been updated with NVIDIA and SoftBank's official announcement that NVIDIA has ended its plans to acquire ARM.

Steve Dent contributed to this post.
Just ahead of Samsung's Unpacked event set for tomorrow, a press release for Samsung's Galaxy Tab S8 lineup has been revealed by leakmeister Evan Blass, The Verge has reported. It confirms many key specs from earlier leaks, including the existence of an "Ultra model," the screen sizes, charging capacity and more.

Samsung will have three models in the lineup, including the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S8, 12.4-inch S8 Plus and big 14.6-inch S8 Ultra. The latter will feature 2,960 x 1,848 resolution with a notch to accommodate the front-facing camera. The other two models will come with 2,560 x 1,600 and 2,800 x 1,752 screens, respectively.

Other features include support for fast WiFi 6E (with optional 5G), 45-watt fast charging, and a new S Pen Stylus. All models offer a 13-megapixel + 6-megapixel ultrawide rear camera setup, with a 12-megapixel ultra front camera. The Ultra model, however, has a second front-facing 12-megapixel wide camera, hence the aforementioned notch. Samsung may also offer an optional keyboard cover.

The Galaxy Tab S8 lineup will arrive on February 25th in select markets including the US, Europe and Korea, according to the press release. Pre-orders will open in those markets on February 9th at 10AM ET.
From musicians pulling their music to a high-profile podcaster pausing their exclusive show, Spotify is under attack from all sides. Furore over Joe Rogans podcast and Spotifys subsequent misinformation policies and actions has come both internally and externally. Much of the backlash is warranted as Spotify hasnt been up front about the content of Rogans podcast, or misinformation in general. And the lack of transparency is why the companys current issues are much bigger than one massively popular creator.

By now, youve likely heard something about the Joe Rogan saga. The popular podcast host has been controversial for years, but criticism ramped up after a December 31 episode featuring physician and biochemist Dr. Robert Malone. While speaking to Rogan, Dr. Malone made a number of unfounded claims about COVID-19 vaccines, including that mass formation psychosis led many in the US to take the jab. After the episode was posted, hundreds of doctors, nurses, scientists and educators sent a letter to Spotify urging it to create a clear misinformation policy and take "responsibility to mitigate the spread of such content.

When the group posted the letter online, Engadget reached out to Spotify to ask if the company already had a misinformation policy, how it takes action against misinformation and if it was considering any action against the Malone episode of JRE. The company didnt respond. Two weeks later, CEO Daniel Ek penned a statement on the matter and posted the companys platform rules on a Sunday afternoon. Its unclear if Ek was already planning to publish the platform-wide policy or if it was in response to a report two days earlier of internal explanations to employees as to why certain episodes of Rogans podcast hadnt been removed.

During the companys Q4 2021 earnings call last week, Ek took responsibility for not publishing the content policy sooner. "We should've done it earlier and that's on me," he admitted. To employees during a company meeting the same day, the CEO explained that Spotify is not a publisher, so it doesnt have creative control over Rogans show in advance. He said that since JRE is licensed content, it doesnt have oversight like it does for podcasts from The Ringer or Gimlet  production companies Spotify owns. We dont approve his guests in advance, and just like any other creator, we get his content when he publishes, and then we review it, and if it violates our policies, we take the appropriate enforcement actions, Ek said.

A control room at Spotify's "Pod City." Genaro Molina via Getty Images

Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote this weekend that Spotifys failure to take any meaningful responsibility, other than adding a few disclaimers, is all too reminiscent of the way Facebook, for years, has dodged accountability for spreading so many harmful lies. And part of shirking responsibility comes in the form of Spotifys argument of a platform versus a publisher.

Spotify is a publisher, no matter what it says to the contrary. Paying a reported $100 million to lock down JRE as an exclusive brings more responsibility for its content than a show from "any other creator. Ek argued during that same speech to employees that exclusivity does not equal endorsement and that the solution is to secure an even broader set of exclusives that represent even more voices. These two statements point to Spotify trying to build a foundation when the house is nearly finished.

A treasure trove of exclusives has helped make Spotify the number one podcast app in the US, according to Ek. Over the last few years, the company has purchased podcast production studios like Gimlet, Parcast and The Ringer, making shows exclusive to its service along the way. It has amassed a wealth of talent, including the most popular podcast globally on Spotify in Joe Rogans show. Sure sounds like the behavior of a publisher.

One of Spotifys most important podcast acquisitions was Anchor, an all-in-one production suite that made creating and publishing shows a breeze. The company has since leveraged its powerful ad setup for shows on the service and Anchor has regularly introduced new features to make recording even easier. Its literally a place where anyone can publish a podcast and it has helped Spotify add over a million shows to its library. In late 2020, Spotify said Anchor accounted for 70 percent of its podcasts, around 1.3 million at the time.

Billy Steele/Engadget

However, Anchors own platform policy hasnt been updated since July 2021. Theres no mention of COVID-19 misinformation, except for one item that bans any content that conflicts with the Terms, as determined by Spotify, collectively (Objectionable Content). Right now, that would include Spotifys recently published policy. However, until recently, those guidelines werent public, and Anchor wasnt clearly displaying Spotifys policy. Now its doing so via a clickable pop-up when you upload a show.

Spotify's Platform Rules apply to all content on Spotify, including Anchor, a Spotify spokesperson told Engadget. We began highlighting our Platform Rules in our creator and publisher tools on February 2nd to raise awareness around whats acceptable and help creators understand their accountability for the content they post on our platform.

The lack of transparent guidelines is Spotifys biggest problem. The issue goes beyond Joe Rogan and covers the entire platform. When asked for comment about removing Neil Youngs music from the service (at his request), the company said it had detailed content policies in place and weve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Those policies were not made public until four days later. Whats more, when Engadget asked for information about the over 20,000 podcasts that had been pulled, Spotify didnt respond.

Right now, we only know about a few specific instances of content actions. So what happens when a creator whos not being paid a vault of money espouses similar opinions to the ones Joe Rogan or his guests share on JRE? You know, the ones the company has already said didnt meet the threshold for removal. On last weeks earnings call, Ek was adamant that Spotify doesnt change our policies based on one creator nor do we change it based on any media cycle, or calls from anyone else. However, a Media Matters analysis of Rogans show going back to July 2020 highlights numerous times the podcast host has run afoul of the long-standing rules on violence or hatred toward marginalized communities and COVID-19 misinformation.

Spotify is saying more about the situation to employees than it is to the public, and none of it is sensitive info or trade secrets. By addressing a major controversy in private, which is ultimately reported by the media, the company further erodes what trust it has left. The company hasnt publicly confirmed that it removed over 70 pre-Spotify-deal episodes of Joe Rogans podcast for racist language, including use of the n-word, late last week at Rogans request. But, again, Ek acknowledged the move to employees internally. Why not just let an unnamed spokesperson confirm the details when asked? Especially given Rogan himself addressed the content of those episodes in an apology video. The company also needs to open up about podcast removals and disclose what its review procedure is.

A studio inside Spotify's "Pod City" Genaro Molina via Getty Images

Spotify created a content policy, so its clearly considering how to police its platform. But whats in place now is only a partial solution in need of immediate expansion, explanation and revision before more damage is done. Its vague at a time where some specifics would go a long way. This is not about advocating for the company to silence Joe Rogan over his COVID views or anyone else who has been wrong on a podcast. Its clear the company isnt going to do so under the terms of its current deal with the host anyway. But a blanket warning label and mostly rationalizing its actions in private isnt enough.

Of course, Spotify isnt the first big tech company to hide behind the platform label, especially when it comes to taking responsibility for content. Facebook is perhaps the biggest example, as it has argued its a technology platform rather than a publisher. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the company does bear some responsibility for whats on the site but its actions have been tepid at best. Facebook has also argued that its a publisher when taking such a stance is beneficial in court. Twitter has made the same case, most notably when questioned on how it enforced a hacked materials policy regarding a story about Hunter Bidens laptop. Is Twitter a publisher? No, we are not. We distribute information, then-CEO Jack Dorsey told Congress. Section 230, the law that currently protects platforms from legal action for things users post, enables companies to make the argument. And thats a big reason why Congress is looking to reform it.

Ek wrote in his most recent message to staff that canceling voices is a slippery slope, and that's true. The issue is the chief executives mission to find a balance, whether thats with a wider variety of viewpoints or by equally weighting creator expression with user safety. Unless that balance comes with more transparency and oversight, more volume isnt going to solve anything.
Popular YouTuber and skateboarder Josh Neuman was among four people killed in a plane crash in Iceland, authorities said on Monday. He was 22.

Neuman, who had 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, was known for his wildly popular skateboarding videos, in which he was seen performing dangerous maneuvres longboarding downhill at incredible speeds. One of his videos, from 2019, has been viewed more than 106 million times.

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According to The Associated Press, Neuman wan on a flight to create content for the Belgian fashion brand Suspicious Antwerp.

Three other people were also in the small sightseeing plane, which disappeared from radars on Thursday: the companys sponsorship manager, 27-year-old Tim Alings; a 32-year-old skydiver from Belgium named Nicola Bellavia; and the pilot, 49-year-old Haraldur Diego.

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Josh Neuman (Instagram)

On Sunday, authorities said that the remains of four individuals had been located at the bottom of Lake Thingvallavatn, Icelands second-largest lake.

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The bodies, which were found at depths of up to 157 feet were located with the help of sonar technology and a submarine.

Search operations had to temporarily stop due to poor weather, however. Rescuers were prepared to dive to retrieve the bodies, but as the weather is deteriorating rapidly, it was decided to stop operations as it is not possible to ensure the safety of the divers in the current conditions, Southern Iceland police said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Suspicious Antwerp, Bram Boriau, told the AP that the purpose of the flight was to capture footage of Icelands scenery.

All persons present were hugely passionate about travel and content creation, hence these themes were the main focus of the trip, he said.

In a statement published on its website, the company said that the loss of our close friends has left all of us at Suspicious Antwerp in a state of mourning.

It also expressed gratitude to everyone for their support, condolences and love, and to emergency services, volunteers and many others that have been and are still working selflessly day and night to help the loved ones find closure.

Neuman, who began filming his longboarding videos at the age of 12, was based in Los Angeles.
Editor's Note EDITOR'S NOTE: The following video was obtained from the Daniel Holtzclaw YouTube page.

OKLAHOMA CITY  A former Oklahoma City police officer from Enid who was convicted of numerous sex crimes was denied parole for one of the counts on Monday.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board declined to reduce Daniel Holtzclaws sentence by five years, denying paroling him on the felony count of procuring lewd exhibition. It was Holtzclaws first time appearing before the board.

Holtzclaw, a 35-year-old graduate of Enid High School, was convicted in December 2015 on half of the 36 presented counts of multiple sexual offenses involving eight victims, including four counts of first-degree rape and five counts of sexual battery. He was sentenced to a total 263 years in prison.

Prosecutors had accused him of targeting Black women he encountered while on duty and sexually assaulting 12 women and one 17-year-old girl while working as an OKCPD officer in 2013 and 2014.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Holtzclaws convictions in August 2019, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the ruling against him the following March.

On Monday, Holtzclaws family and team of supporters released support letters and never-before-seen video footage, which they say refutes the testimony of one victim during a 2018 civil suit deposition.

Supporters also have called into question decisions made by Tim Henderson, the former Oklahoma County district judge who presided over Holtzclaws criminal trial. Henderson resigned amid accusations of sexual misconduct in March 2021.

In a statement Monday, Holtzclaw, who is incarcerated at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, cited both issues as reasons to reopen his case.

I hope and pray more people finally see I truly was railroaded and wrongfully convicted, he said in the statement. I upheld my oath of office by protecting and serving my community, while Judge Henderson was allegedly abusing women and violating his oath. Its time to reopen every one of Hendersons cases, including mine, that was impacted by his sexual misconduct.

Holtzclaws sister, Jennifer Holtzclaw, called attention to errors she said OKCPD had made in the investigation.

We are going to continue to fight for Daniels freedom because he is innocent, she said in a statement. We believe that justice will prevail because the truth sets the innocent free.

The parole board will again consider the exhibition count in February 2023.
Enid, OK (73701)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. High near 80F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Gusty winds diminishing after midnight. Low 41F. Winds NNW at 25 to 35 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
On the path forward 2022: Building a resilient community: ALL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STORIES On the path forward 2022: Building a resilient community is a special section that will publish in the Enid News & Eagle for eight Sundays

ENID, Okla.  Retail development in Enid has had its highs and lows in the past few years, but city leaders say confidence in the local economy is evidenced by an uptick in revenue.

We are showing things are up, Gilbert said. I think there is confidence in the economy here in Enid, Oklahoma. It also helps that there has been a lot of government payments that have been distributed, that is maybe putting more disposable income into peoples pockets.

Lisa Powell, executive director of the Enid Regional Development Alliance, said she is impressed the numbers have continued to increase through 2020 and into 2021.

She expects Enid will continue to see that same outcome as the city continues to add retailers and restaurants.

Powell quote We are a lot more than the 55,000 people who live here. We support a large trade area west and north of here, for people who come to shop and go to our hospitals. Thats what makes Enid the regional hub for northwest Oklahoma. Lisa Powell, executive director of the Enid Regional Development Alliance

The strength of our retail sales speaks to the strength and size of our economy, Powell said. We are a lot more than the 55,000 people who live here. We support a large trade area west and north of here, for people who come to shop and go to our hospitals. Thats what makes Enid the regional hub for northwest Oklahoma.

In 2021, many areas of Enid saw growth as new and existing businesses expanded.

We had several new retailers and restaurants open with the new Jiffy Trip, Bricktown Brewery, Five Below, Tommys, DaVincis Central, Cherokee Ranch Land & Cattle Co. and others, said Gilbert. Also Christmas sales were strong compared to 2020 and The One events downtown with the Enid Lights Up the Plains, all clearly helped boost sales tax for the city.

In the last few years, The District at Cleveland and Garriott has been developed to include a bank under construction, a gas station and two restaurants  Coltons Steak House and Hideway Pizza, which recently opened.

The latest figures from the Oklahoma Tax Commission released in January, which reflect revenue totals from November, show Enids sales tax revenue was $3,244,717.09. That compares to $2,921,850.38 at the same time last year.

In Garfield County, net sales tax revenue is up as well. In January 2021, revenue from Novembers county sales tax, alone, was reported at $294,565.39 in January 2022, compared to $262,596.39 in January 2021.

Sales tax numbers that will be released later in February are expected to trend upward, reflecting holiday spending activities in December, officials said. Enids sales tax rate remains at 9.1%, with 4.5% going to the state of Oklahoma, 4.25% to the city and .35% to the county, according city of Enid officials.
Will Arnett is has returned to being his goofy, off-the-wall self in his new Netflix show Murderville - which, after years of watching his comedy skew melancholic on BoJack Horseman, is quite a refreshing thing to behold. His character, Detective Terry Seattle, is a callback to his older characters, like Gob in Arrested Development: Loud, proud, overconfident for all the wrong reasons, and honestly barely keeping it together.

Arnett has just been through what he himself dubbed a "weird period" in a conversation with The Guardian - when his real life was falling apart, he couldn't quite bear to do comedy that poked fun at other people going through the same thing. Not without a layer of sympathy. After all, this is a man who once cried for an hour on the way to an Arrested Development shoot.

On paper, everything was going right in the actor's career: It was 2013, and his first big break show was coming back after seven years off the air. He'd get to play a character he knew again on a fun show with all his friends, but amid the divorce from Amy Poehler, Arnett said this experience was "excruciating."

"Just brutal, brutal, brutal. I was driving to the set one day and I pulled over to the side of the road and cried for an hour."

Most fans agree that the later seasons of Arrested Development don't feel the same, and Arnett being at this point in his life definitely had a hand in that - though certainly not the only hand. But, he said, he wouldn't undo it.

"There were moments when we were together and I was crying with laughter, and it was worth it for that. Maybe it was like a very expensive reunion for all of us."

It's at least nice that Arnett had people he was close with around at that time in his life. And he funneled all of that pain into making BoJack Horseman, which is, inarguably, an amazing show.

You can see Will Arnett back in his former goofball glory - with a new confused guest star every time - in Netflix's new six-episode improv show Murderville, which just dropped last weekend. (Hot tip: Marshawn Lynch's episode is the best one.)
Claire Walsh, a bioimaging scientist at University College London (UCL), has been awarded the ESRF Young Scientist Award 2022 during the ESRF User meeting. She received the award for her outstanding contribution to the study of human organs by hierarchical phase contrast tomography, and her contributions to understanding the microvascular architecture of lungs in severe COVID-19 cases.

Two years ago, right at the beginning of the pandemic, in a meeting of Walshs group at UCL, her former boss asked whether someone would be interested in analysing the images that were coming out of a new technique that was being developed to look into organs affected by Covid-19 using synchrotron radiation. The request was initiated by Peter Lee, who had joined forces with medics in Germany and Paul Tafforeau at the ESRF, to try to visualize soft tissues like human organs with unprecedented resolution.

Claire had been working on image analysis during her post-doctoral fellowship but had never set a foot in a synchrotron source. She quickly jumped on the opportunity: It was an exciting project, something completely new, she says.

So she spent the first six months of the pandemic learning as much as she could about synchrotrons, having endless zoom calls with Paul Tafforeau, re-analysing images as the technique developed and writing proposals for external funding of the project under the guidance of Peter Lee. In parallel, Paul Tafforeau continued carrying out experiments at ESRF to refine the new Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography (HiP-CT) technique, albeit with lots of difficulties due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Today, her role in the team is to create an image analysis pipeline, i.e. to be the interface between the medics and beamline scientists to find the best way of processing the images and interpreting the results for the benefit of the medical and biological community.

Winning the ESRF Young scientist award is a big accomplishment for Walsh: Before Covid-19, I had never used a synchrotron but in less than two years we have achieved so much, that getting this recognition now means that all the work is worth it.

The jury of the ESRF Young Scientist Award stated of her work: It is novel and exploits the imaging capabilities at the ESRF, bringing together a very diverse and multidisciplinary team of medics, biologists and X-ray imaging experts, as well as leveraging the power of AI methods, to give new insights into complex hierarchical problems in biomedicine. She adds: I love the fact that the work in this project is really collaborative, everyone brings his/her expertise and we make it work.

Almost two years after beginning to work on the project, Walsh finally managed to come to the ESRF at the end of 2021: My first beamtime onsite was three months ago, although we already had our Nature Methods paper, based on our first experiments, practically published.

Two high-impact factor publications in Nature Methods and the Blue Journal (a reference in the medical field) confirmed that the work was very scientifically relevant. More good news awaited: their proposal to get funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation, run by the Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, was successful. This grant, of 2.75 million dollars, will take the project to a new level, with the aim of completing a human organ atlas. It will also enable the team to expand the team hiring additional post-doctoral researchers and PhD students.

Text by Montserrat Capellas Espuny.
Five U.S. military planes landed at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, Poland, bringing the bulk of the extra troops that President Joe Biden ordered to Europe last week over the Ukraine crisis.
Author: Gary D. McGugan

ISBN: 978-1-9995656-7-1

Gary D. McGugan has set his riveting thriller, A Web of Deceit, in the early days of COVID-19.

As the narrative evolves, one of the protagonists, Suzanne Simpson, CEO of Multima Corporation, a multi-national company, is apprehended by the FBI and charged with money laundering.

The charges are thereafter mysteriously abandoned. And as we slowly discover, someone in or around the White House had been influential in her arrest.

This is not the sole issue that Suzanne and Multima will encounter. Multima becomes the victim of fraudulent supplier invoices, culminating in substantial monetary losses.

Europe's central bank withholds approval from Multima from doing business in Europe, reasoning that these billings were designed to unjustifiably launder the firm's money offshore.

The company further runs into complications with the Toronto Stock Exchange. It is pursuing a listing that would establish it the third-largest traded company in Canada.

And if that is not abundant to worry about, a couple of employees of the company meet disastrous endings costing them their lives.

While this part of the yarn develops, McGugan's second protagonist, Fidelia Morales, seizes control of a villainous criminal entity known as The Organization after brutally slaying its chief honcho, Giancarlo Moreno.

Witnessing the murder is a criminal, Howard Knight, who had been snatched in Austria by Moreno's goons.

They whipped him to a pulp and transported him back to Moreno's estate in Martinique, where the homicide unfolded.

Howard was on the run from The Organization after turning into an informant against them. He also looted a sizable sum of money from them. Moreover, he is the target of an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest.





After murdering Moreno, Fidelia asks Howard to join her in The Organization, but he rejects the offer and takes his chances. He chooses to live free of The Organization.

With the onset of the coronavirus spreading, Howard frustrates his pursuers and heads directly towards Cambodia, a county the developing virus had already infected.

Even though she does not trust Howard, Fidelia doesn't press the issue and informs him he is free at last of The Organization. In the back of her mind, she aims to employ his services in the future, which, as we learn, develops into part of a convoluted plot.

After reinforcing her grip on The Organization, Fidelia recognizes that diverse criminal activities than the traditional kinds must be pursued to flourish during the pandemic.

This would encompass cyber technology. She sees an opportunity to siphon off billions of dollars from companies' weak surveillance structures. Her new revenues base would involve banks, governments, and corporations such as Multima. To achieve her objective, she brings together a brilliant squad of technological experts.

After meticulous planning, Fidelia is in for quite a jolt when her project is in peril when she discovers that someone is stealing money from The Organization. It is a "no-no" when you have gangsters embezzling other gangsters!

You can well imagine what kind of retribution is exacted if the offenders are captured.

During the tale, McGugan fills his readers in on the broad and diverging landscapes of the lives of the two protagonists, and how their paths cross.

The above is the periphery of the narrative and is merely an inkling of the plot twists and dizzying journey. Believe me, there is plenty here to chomp on.

Once again, McGugan has crafted a bold, intriguing, and ultimately terrifying cerebral convoluted plot. And with an unfaltering hand, he effectively steers his readers to an unforeseen grand finale. He pulls out all the stops, repeatedly blindsiding his readers with shifts in the narrative and surprising turns of events.

Readers will become enmeshed in this carefully calibrated spine-chiller. And to keep score as to who's who in the novel, there is a list of the principal characters in Multima Corporation, Law Enforcement and The Organization on the first page

Follow Here To Read Norm's Interview With Gary D. McGugan




Oil prices hit their highest level in more than seven years last week, but that didn't prevent a San Antonio oil and gas company from seeking bankruptcy protection.

Activa Resources, formed in 2003, on Thursday filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition that listed assets and liabilities each in the range of $10 million to $50 million. A related company, Tiva Resources, also filed. The skeletal petitions didnt include detailed financial information.

Activa President John Hayes blamed 2020s record-low oil prices for creating major challenges that hamstrung the company last year. Crude oil prices, now around $90 a barrel, fell below zero for the first time in history in the spring of 2020.

The low prices, along with tightened credit standards, resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of money Texas Capital Bank would loan Activa, Hayes said in a court filing Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Antonio.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonios NuStar Energy bounced back in 2021

Activa owes Texas Capital Bank $10.2 million.

On March 31 last year, Activa and the bank amended a credit agreement that required the company to enter into hedging contracts for the majority of its oil production. At the time, Hayes said, oil was trading at $50 a barrel but many industry experts were forecasting that it would climb to $70 or more.

U.S. shale producers have typically been highly active in hedging production to cover capital spending and debt repayments, Bloomberg reported last year. But theres been less of a need to use hedging for downside protection as cash flows have increased with oil prices on the upswing.

Activa protested the banks requirement that it enter into the hedges, but was unable to sway the lender, Hayes said.

Activa entered into hedges with Minneapolis-based Cargill, which specializes in commodity hedging, at prices ranging from $58 a barrel in May to $54.35 to $56.17 a barrel in August.

As part of the amended credit agreement, Activa had to make monthly capital reduction payments of $150,000 and interest payments of about $50,000 a month.

The hedges with Cargill quickly went negative, Hayes said. The hedge cost Activa more than $70,000 in June 2021 and more than $120,000 per month in both October 2021 and January 2022.

The combination of the hedges, monthly capital reduction payments and interest payments exceeded Activas net cash flow, he said. Its management and board determined in August that it was at risk of not paying its operating expenses. That could have resulted in liens placed on Activas properties, which serve as collateral on bank loan.

Activa continued to makes its payments, but at the end of last month, the bank swept Activas operating accounts and put a hold on the joint interest account, Hayes said. This action severely limited the debtors ability to continue the normal course of business.

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At the same time, he said the companies received billings from one of its operators that were more than $200,000 greater than budgeted.

The two events created a liquidity crisis for the two companies, resulting in the bankruptcies to protect their business as a going concern, he added.

A partnership affiliated with CIC Partners, a Dallas-based investment firm, holds a roughly 82 percent stake in Activa. The balance is held by Activa Holdings Corp.

Activa owns oil and natural gas assets in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas that have solid production and reserve profiles, Hayes said. It has six employees.

Its main asset is a working interest in the 16,400-acre OSR-Halliday unit in Leon and Madison counties in East Texas. It has the potential for more than 30 million barrels remaining from primary production to full development, he said.

As part of its reorganization, Activa is considering the sale of assets. It also intends to restructure and/or relieve all or part of the $10.2 million bank debt and to resolve the obligations under the hedging agreement.

The debtors have asked the court to consolidate the bankruptcy cases. A hearing on the request and other motions is scheduled for Wednesday before Judge Michael M. Parker.

pdanner@express-news.net
An bed-bound woman was killed Tuesday morning after a blaze broke out inside her North Side home.

When fire crews arrived to the single-family residence in the 9500 block of Mider Drive just before 5 a.m., they found heavy fire and smoke ripping through the inside of the home, said Matt Jimenez, San Antonio Fire Assistant Chief.

On ExpressNews.com: Southtown-area home with 'Not On Fire' sign posted out front destroyed in blaze early Monday morning

When firefighters were able to get inside, they found the 67-year-old woman dead in the back bedroom.

Her husband made it out of the home safely and was transported to the hospital as a precaution for minor smoke inhalation, officials said..

Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire.

Taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway
Run, Andrew, run. Thats my advice to the former New York governor who may be considering rehabilitating his ruined political career by running for either governor (again) or attorney general (again). In a jaw-dropping interview with Laura Nahmias of Bloomberg News, Andrew Cuomo channeled Humphrey Bogart as Capt. Queeg, complete with the click-clack of balls, as he painted himself a victim of conspiracies by a cabal of powerful rivals intent on mounting a coup to bring him down. Cuomo boldly announced that the 11 women whose accusations formed the basis of findings by state Attorney General Tish James that Cuomo had violated multiple federal and state harassment laws are now zero. Cuomo claims vindication.

Vindicated by whom exactly? Well, by himself, of course, and his attorneys, paid with taxpayer and campaign funds. Cuomo derided the Joon Kim-Anne Clark report, issued by the attorney general, as a brand of ugly politics like I had never seen before, sounding very similar to the two young brothers who murdered their parents, throwing themselves on the mercy of the court because they had become orphans. In other words, no one had an uglier brand of politics than Cuomo. He likely recognizes that the true reparation of his shattered image can only come from the voters, not self-proclamations by him or his minions or even New York district attorneys, claiming they will lose in court even with credible victims.

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But Cuomo also must know that if you put all the chips on the table, and lose, there is no coming back; his reputation as an offender will be written in stone by millions of New Yorkers if he is rejected at the polls.

I say go for it, governor. The district attorneys who decided not to press criminal charges deprived Cuomo of his day in court, so he should submit himself to adjudication by the voters.

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Put it all out there and let the electorate judge you. Yet remember this path has not worked well for New Yorks array of scandal-tarred leaders. Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner, both skilled politicians, sought paths back to public office that ended by cementing their disgraces when their campaigns imploded.

Cuomo thinks he is different, no doubt. He has a war chest of millions. He has an uncanny knack for using other powerful people to advance his own interests, as he apparently did by getting Mayor Adams to join him for a strategically leaked tete-a-tete over dinner (which may or may not have included non-plant-based aquatic delicacies). Cuomo seems to assume Adams supporters will embrace him given that their new mayor must surely need and welcome advice from the smartest and most powerful man in New York, Andrew Cuomo himself.

The thought that Cuomo just might win is sure to strike fear into New Yorks notoriously cautious political establishment, the members of which already bear the scars of many Cuomo-inflicted wounds and will look to hedge their bets again. Cuomo likely thinks they will seek forgiveness for their sins against him.

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And yet if there is one thing Andrew cannot abide, it is losing. He understands power as well as anyone in public life since LBJ and he knows that losers are left powerless. A campaign exposes him to further risk of more women coming forward with new stories, more unsavory revelations and more damage to the Cuomo family name.

Cuomo acolytes already complain that the former governor hasnt gotten his due for his accomplishments like LaGuardias new Terminal B and the Penn Station upgrade. Any chance of salvaging the positive aspects of his legacy would likely be another victim of a losing campaign.

Fear of being branded a loser  hes almost as allergic to the term as Donald Trump  is surely what is giving Andrew pause as he considers his next move. What if he loses to the woman he picked to be lieutenant governor? To the woman who stands by the report that brought him down? Could this mans man take it?

Im confident in the attorney generals report. Im in awe of the brave women who stood up to the most powerful man in New York to tell and share their truths. I myself had an unpleasant brush with Cuomos sexually harassing style of masculinity.

I think New Yorkers are smart enough to see Andrew Cuomo for who he is in a campaign. So, even though the evidence  and the experience of many women  says hes a serial sexual harasser, we should welcome his submitting himself to the will of the voters.

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Cmon Andrew, in the words of your brother, Chris, lets get after it.

Hinton is the author of Penis Politics: A Memoir of Women, Men and Power. She served as press secretary for Andrew Cuomo when he was housing secretary during the Clinton administration.
At just 10-years-old, Devarjaye Daniel is now an honorary officer, deputy and trooper as part of more than 180 law enforcement agencies in Texas.

Its a milestone that far surpasses his original wish in his journey to join as many law enforcement agencies as he can while he battles terminal brain and spine cancer.

Initially, Devarjaye set a goal of joining 100 agencies. And on Monday, he had already exceeded that number as he was sworn into 40 more agencies by San Antonio Police Chief William McManus at Community Bible Church.

This fuel right here is just nitrous oxide that you get to continue to fight, said Devarjayes father, Theodis Daniel, who is a San Antonio native and U.S. Navy veteran, born here while his father was stationed at what is now Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, before he moved to Houston.

Every day theyre (law enforcement) on the street. They gotta they gotta fight for peace and quality of life for everyone, Daniels said, sharing wisdom he has imparted on Devarjaye and his two brothers. Its not brain cancer, but its the same kind of fight. They get up every day and be happy about what they got to go through and come back home.

During the ceremony, Devarjaye stood wearing the signature beige Texas State Trooper uniform, his right hand raised as he listened to McManus.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

On ExpressNews.com: Mateo put on a show: Cibolo childs cancer battle inspired hope and thousands on social media

Chiefs, sheriffs and command staff members from many other agencies were also present, shaking hands and sharing hugs with Devarjaye in a line on the center stage.

The bright, confident young boy delighted the audience and law enforcement in return with his energetic handshakes, and an impromptu comedy session of child-friendly jokes.

No one here is a stranger, I know thats right, Devarjaye said, addressing the audience.

Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Todd Snyder even presented Devarjaye with a custom pair of DPS boots, which he quickly donned.

Authorities then stood at attention outside the church as he was escorted for a ride in the sky onboard Eagle, the San Antonio Police Departments helicopter.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

Officer Douglas Greene, a San Antonio police spokesman, said law enforcement agencies came from as far as Dallas and El Paso.

Greene spent some time with Devarjaye during his visit to San Antonio since his arrival Thursday.

He could choose to be depressed, to be sad, to take his anger out on others, Greene said. But, no. Hes choosing to choose love, and specifically first responders.

Devarjaye enjoyed a Spurs game, a trip to SeaWorld San Antonio and a visit to the Alamo.

On ExpressNews.com: I know its cancer: San Antonio teen supports best friend fighting for her life

He is also continuing a journey that began with another cancer patient, Abigail Arias, 7, who was sworn in as an honorary Freeport officer in February 2019.

Abigail died of cancer in November 2019.

Prior she died, Freeport Police Chief Ray Garivey invited any other child facing terminal cancer to be an honorary officer like Abigail, Greene said.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

Standing on stage Monday, Devarjaye struck the same pose, arms open and a wide stance, that Abigail once made.

Devarjaye has undergone 11 brain surgeries and has cataracts, his father said, naming some of the struggles that his son has endured over the past three years while addressing the audience. The cancer could take Devarjayes life at any time, according to the family.

When Chief Garivey calls, he jumps out of that bed, Daniels said, adding that Devarjaye keeps any struggles to himself. He doesnt put that energy on anyone else. He just wants everyone to have positivity.

Devarjaye hopes to continue joining other agencies, his family said, adding that agencies from New Jersey and other states have reached out. His next stop is with police agencies in the Austin area in Round Rock later this month.

jbeltran@express-news.net
Residents across the city took to social media to condemn whoever drove through Alamo Heights and nearby neighborhoods over the weekend distributing an antisemitic flyer linking Jews with every aspect of the Covid agenda.

The flyers, thrown onto lawns and decorated with a star of David and a red pentagram (a reference to Satanism), appeared identical to those left in North Side neighborhoods in October, in Austin and Hays County in November and in Florida, California, Alabama, Colorado and other states.

This is disgusting, a woman in Olmos Park wrote on the social media platform, nextdoor.

A Terrell Hills resident said, Divisive propaganda across any aisle, political or otherwise, just needs to stop.

Other online posters variously described the people behind the incident as lowlifes, bigoted morons and sick people, while others cautioned not to give this hate any oxygen by publicizing it or clicking on a website from the group behind it.

That apparently is a California-based group called the Goyim Defense League, which the Anti-Defamation League describes as a small network of virulently anti-Semitic provocateurs trafficking in white supremacy, anti-science propaganda, conspiracy theories and hatred of Jews. Goyim is a disparaging Yiddish word for non-Jews.

The letters are part of a noticeable wave of recent antisemitic incidents in Texas  four of them in Austin since Oct. 22, including a fire set at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

The ADL says the GDL, which mimics the Jewish groups website, is run by a relatively small number of men in California, Colorado, Florida and New York who work alone and in small cliques and occasionally stage antisemitic events across the country that they refer to as `Name the Nose tours.

The ADL says GDL members have hung anti-Semitic banners off freeway overpasses in Los Angeles, Austin and Denver with messages such as Vax the Jews and Covid -19 is a lie. Its not about health. Its about control, and have shouted at people in Santa Monica and Venice, California, who were wearing masks during the pandemic.

The flyers found around San Antonio were printed on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper and purported to list Jewish officials and scientists from the Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, major vaccine makers and two Wall Street firms that invest in them. Several on the list were not, in fact, Jewish, according to the previous media reports.

They were placed in sealed plastic baggies and weighted with beans, presumably to make them easier to hurl from moving cars.

Alamo Heights Deputy Chief of Police Cindy Pruitt said Monday her office received calls from residents in the 100 blocks of Routt and Hubbard streets reporting the bags on front lawns starting Sunday. A woman on nextdoor posted a photo of about a dozen she had gathered in Alamo Heights.

Pruitt said the incident did not rise to the level of a crime because there were no threats or intimidation involved and the flyers contained constitutionally protected speech. She could not recall any similar incidents in Alamo Heights during her 22 years with the small department.

Neither Pruitt nor the Alamo Heights residents seemed to think Jewish residents were the specific targets of the flyers. Alamo Heights investigators will be doing further work on the case, Pruitt said.

Saul Levenshus, CEO of the Barshop Jewish Community Center of San Antonio, said the San Antonio Police Department had contacted him about the flyers. The FBI did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The San Antonio chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement: The distribution of antisemitic flyers, filled with hate speech and anti-science conspiracy theories, is alarming and disgusting and we condemn it in the strongest terms. Our vision is centered around a desire for justice, at home and abroad. We believe that the best way to counter the hate speech of antisemitic groups is to redouble our commitment to human rights.

bselcraig@express-news.net
Bexar County commissioners agreed to purchase new Tasers and body camera technology Tuesday with assurances from Sheriff Javier Salazar that law enforcement videos would be released quickly.

Commissioners also ratified a collective bargaining agreement that addresses pay and discipline of deputies.

Salazar vowed to implement a policy requiring body camera footage be released within 10 days of an officer-involved shooting and other critical incidents. In exchange, commissioners agreed to a two-year contract extension that includes the purchase of Tasers and body camera editing technology.

Salazar said hed try to have the video-release policy in place by early April.

I am committed to that, Salazar told commissioners.

On ExpressNews.com: Deputies to have pay raise, civilian oversight under bargaining agreement

The approval followed at least two months of back-and-forth between the sheriff and commissioners. The Commissioners Court approved a policy in December that encourages releasing video involving fatal officer-involved shootings, use-of-force cases that result in a death or serious injury and deaths of individuals while in the custody of law enforcement or jail personnel within 10 days .

The county is in the fourth year of a five-year, $6.4 million contract with Axon Enterprise Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona, which provides 619 body cameras  550 to the sheriffs office and 69 to the constables offices.

Axon also provides 720 Tasers under the contract. But nearly 80 percent of them are near the end of their life span and at risk of malfunctioning. Commissioners approved an extension of the contract with Axon through 2025 for new Tasers and automatic body camera video editing capability to meet legal requirements for redaction.

County officials said the changes would add about $3 million to the overall cost of the contract. But Commissioner Tommy Calvert objected to the higher costs and felt the technology upgrades were part of the initial services offered when the contract was approved in 2019.

A few residents also spoke against the contract change, saying taxpayer funds could better be spent on mental health treatment and community social services.

The contract extension was approved in a 4-1 vote with Calvert opposed.

The issue of releasing body camera video has been spotlighted in the wake of the Aug. 25, 2020, death of Damian Daniels, who was fatally shot by a deputy while suffering from a mental health episode. The sheriffs office publicly released the video of Daniels death in late December.

On ExpressNews.com: Policy on release of body camera videos approved by commissioners

Collective bargaining

The new collective bargaining agreement between the county and the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Bexar County provides a cumulative 15 percent pay increase to deputies during their first four years of service. It also establishes a Citizens Advisory Board to provide an administrative review of complaints against deputies. Commissioners will appoint the 10-member board, with members serving two-year terms.

The agreement also eliminates arbitration as a process for appealing disciplinary decisions regarding deputies, replacing it with a seven-member Civil Service Commission. One member will be appointed by the sheriff, one by the district attorney, one appointed by the county judge and one by each county commissioner.

Under the new system, local residents will vote on whether to overrule discipline handed down by the sheriff rather than an arbitrator. The county and deputies union had been meeting since June 2020 to negotiate the agreement. It runs through Sept. 30, 2025.

shuddleston@express-news.net
Hill Country Headlines: Top stories from the booming region, delivered to your inbox

In recent years, millionaires have flocked to the Hill Country city of Wimberley, buying up multi-million dollar homes in the area.

Sharing the city with these new luxury listings are three historic homes that are reminders of Wimberley's humble beginnings. The homes have way fewer bedrooms and bathrooms than their big-priced counterparts, but they are unique enough to be included on the National Register of Historic Places.

The inclusion on this list signifies their importance within the community.

On ExpressNews.com: These are the best places to cry in San Antonio

Below are are the houses in Wimberley that are on the National Register of Historic Places:

Winters-Wimberley House

Address: 14070 Ranch Road 12

National Register: 2002

Architect: William Winters

Built: Circa 1856

Why its significant: Built in about 1856 or shortly thereafter, the Winters-Wimberley House is one of the oldest pioneer dwellings in Hays County and the earliest surviving stone house in the town of Wimberley, which was then a frontier trading post of ramshackle shelters.

William Carvin Winters, who fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, and his family were among the areas first permanent settlers. Winters honed his craftsmanship after the war and built the limestone structure for his family.

National Register of Historic Places.

The house Winters built for his wife and children was later enlarged by succeeding generations.

On ExpressNews.com: After San Marcos policeman fired, fatal wreck survivor says shell keep pushing for justice for her late partner

Architecturally, the Winters-Wimberley House is an important vernacular resource associated with Central Texass frontier and early settlement periods, according to the National Register of Historic Places application.

Following a recent restoration effort, the original two-room house built of hand-cut limestone retains its historic architectural features. Historic additions to the rear of the original two-room house reflect the growing size and circumstances of the successive mill owning families and their descendants who occupied the house until it was sold to the Wimberley Senior citizens Activities Inc. in 1997.

The Winters Wimberley House is considered by the federal government as one of the region's best examples of an early frontier stone house.

It also has historic associations with the initial settlement of Wimberley, once a fairly isolated Hill Country hamlet of ranchers, millers, and cedar choppers, now a rapidly growing artist's haven, tourist spot and upscale retreat for high-tech industry workers.

James C. Lane House

Address: 306 Wimberley Square

National Register: 2010

Classification: Late 19th and 20th century craftsman movement

Architect: James C. Lane

Built: 1935

Why its significant: Situated in the heart of Wimberley, the James C. Lane house stands as a testament to the ingenuity and building skill of its builder and owner, and an example of a unique construction method of the early 20th Century, according to the National Register of Historic Places.

National Register of Historic Places.

The craftsman style native rock and petrified wood home was the first of its style in Wimberley, followed by two other "giraffe rock" buildings, also constructed by Lane.

On ExpressNews.com: These 7 endangered species call the San Marcos River home

The house has had two additions since its construction: a rear screened porch added in 1942, which was later enclosed; and a second screened porch was added to the rear elevation in the late 1940s, later enclosed in 1983.

Lane was a well-known resident of Wimberley who contributed to the growth of the town through his work as a builder. He built three prominent buildings in Wimberley using similar masonry methods and made an indelible mark on the built environment of the town center, according to the National Register of Historic Places.

For several years, the Lane house was used as a gift shop for European crystal and carved wooden figurines.

The Dobie House

Address: 282 Old Kyle Road

National Register: 1992

Built: 1892

Why its significant: The home is a rectangular, one-story vernacular dwelling of box frame construction with a center passage plan and a side gable roof. The house and its three outbuildings are set back from the road and occupy two large, irregularly shaped lots.

National Register of Historic Places

John R. Dobie was a rancher and farmer and raised mules and horses. He served as a Hays County Commissioner from 1897 to 1898. He sold the property to Dr. W.J. Pyland, a merchant and physician in 1903, who was the first owner known to have lived in the house. The Dobie house served as the communitys post office.

Now the old house is used for a professional health services organization.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS  More than four years after the worst mass shooting in Texas, this town southeast of San Antonio presses on after learning that a judge had awarded victims and their families $230 million for the Air Force's failures in preventing the tragedy.

Most families or survivors were not ready or declined to comment Tuesday about the verdict of U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, which is meant to compensate more than 80 plaintiffs. But one of the plaintiffs and others in or near Sutherland Springs said the ruling may bring some closure for the Nov. 5, 2017, mass shooting.

They cautioned that the wounds, scars and feelings of emptiness will remain.

Joe Holcombe, who lost nine extended family members and was among the first to sue the government, said he and his wife, Claryce, feel like the verdict brought them justice, though they know others might not feel the same.

Joe and Claryce were each awarded $600,000 in damages for mental pain and anguish and loss of companionship for wrongful death claims they brought on behalf of their son, John Bryan Holcombe.

It's over. It's done, Joe Holcombe said Tuesday. We're pleased with (the verdict), but we hope this never happens again.

They weren't after money, Holcombe added.

It doesn't bring back family, Holcombe, 91, said.

John Holcombe lived on the family farm with the elderly couple, and built his business, American Canvas Works, there. The couple miss their son and other relatives, and Claryce is depressed and frequently stays in bed. Joe Holcombe said they look forward to when they can be reunited with their loved ones.

It wont be long before were up there with them, Joe Holcombe said. We will be resurrected.

Terrie Smith, who runs a convenience store across the street from the site of the massacre, said the tragedy revealed poor government decisions that ended up costing many of her friends their lives.

Disgraced former airman Devin Kelley opened fire at the church with an AR-556 rifle, killing 26 people and wounding more than 20 others. His wife attended the church, but Kelley had tied her up at their New Braunfels home before going on the rampage in Sutherland Springs, about 35 miles to the south.

Kelley was booted from the Air Force in 2014 because of his propensity for violence. Before his discharge, he was convicted of domestic violence for seriously injuring his infant stepson and was sent to jail for a year. He had been barred from Holloman AFB in New Mexico because of a pattern that included threats to superiors and bringing firearms onto the base.

After a trial last spring, Rodriguez ruled in July that the Air Force was 60 percent responsible for the shooting and Kelley was 40 percent responsible.

The judge found the Air Force failed to report Kelleys record to the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System. That system is designed to prevent convicted criminals from purchasing or possessing firearms. Without that flag, Kelley was able to buy guns from licensed dealers.

Photos of three of the victims, JoAnn Ward and her young daughters, Emily and Brooke, hang on a wall at Smiths store. Ward worked at the store; Smith considers her family.

Smith choked back tears Tuesday when she thought about the fateful day, when survivors and onlookers rushed into her store for shelter. The store became a staging point after the mass shooting.

We lost a lot of friends, Smith said. JoAnn was like a daughter to us. She was a big part of our lives. She still is a big part of our lives.

Smith said what the families got in the judges ruling might bring them closure, but their wounds will likely never heal and those injured will have daily reminders of what occurred.

No dollar amount will bring them back; No dollar amount will ease anybody's pain, Smith said. I feel that...we are from the United States and our government failed us, it failed everybody. I don't see how they go to other countries and try to fix things there when they can't fix things in our own armed forces.

Willie Walpole of LaVernia, during a stop in the westward ride Tuesday of the Old ChisholmTrail Drivers, said he has known Kip Workman, one of the plaintiffs, and his family for years. Workmans son Kris was among the survivors, but was left paralyzed.

Walpole empathized with all who lost their lives or who were wounded in the shooting, and said he believes the money wont make them whole. He sees the award as holding the Air Force accountable.

You cant replace a child  his legs, their mobility, Walpole said. How do you replace a son, daughter, a father, a mother, a grandparent? To me, (an award of money) would make me remember (the tragedy) more.

guillermo.contreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland
A Texas man pleaded guilty on Monday to threatening a Maryland doctor over her public advocacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Department of Justice said.

Scott Eli Harris, from Aubrey, was charged with threats transmitted by interstate communication.

Officials said the 51-year-old sent a message from his phone to the doctor, identified in a federal complaint as Dr. L.W., with racist threats. According to the complaint, the message said Harris was never going to take your wonder drug. My 12 gauge promises that I wont.

On ExpressNews.com: Texas man pleads not guilty to posting threats against Georgia election officials on Craigslist

He told the doctor that he couldnt wait for the shooting to start, mentioning that he is a fifth-generation Army veteran and a sniper.

The message also referenced the doctors national origin as an Asian-American.

While the criminal complaint did not state the doctors full name, the initials given match those of Dr. Leana Wen, who is Asian-American, a former health commissioner of Baltimore, and a vocal proponent of the COVID-19 vaccine. She has written opinion columns for publications such as The Washington Post and appeared on news channels such as CNN.

Officials said that threats like these shouldnt be tolerated as the country continues to see an increase in threats of violence against doctors and public health advocates regarding the vaccine. They warn that making a threat, even if there is no follow-through, is still a crime.

On ExpressNews.com: One year after Jan. 6 Capitol riot, here's what's happened to the 64 Texans charged with crimes

Public health officials and doctors deserve our respect for their tireless efforts during the ongoing pandemic, and individuals who seek to use threats of violence to intimidate and silence them will be held accountable, said Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division.

Harris faces a maximum of five years in federal prison. He is scheduled for sentencing on April 21.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @Taylor Pettaway
A Texas rancher has sued a national oil and gas company that he accuses of harming the habitat of an endangered species of wildcat on his property in DeWitt County.

Mike Hamilton, co-owner of his familys ranch near Cuero, filed a lawsuit in late January against Burlington Resources Oil and Gas Co. LP and its parent company, ConocoPhillips, saying the defendants intend to drill in a pasture where the jaguarundi, an endangered cat, has reportedly been sighted multiple times.

The landowner said he isnt seeking to stop all oil and gas production on his property. Rather, Hamilton is asking the company to refrain from drilling in an area that he says is ideal habitat for the jaguarundi. Hes asking for a halt to all proposed activities that could modify or destroy the habitat, or disturb the jaguarundis with sound, light or construction, according to the lawsuit filed Jan. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Victoria Division.

Also, Hamilton is asking that ConocoPhillips be required to pay about $54,000 to the U.S. government for what he said are past violations of the Endangered Species Act related to initial construction on the jaguarundis habitat.

Ive been given the responsibility of the familys property, Hamilton said. My father and grandfather protected this pasture where the jaguarundis are as basically a wildlife sanctuary, and its been treated that way for 50 years. You cant protect a species if you destroy its habitat.

On ExpressNews.com: Over 600 acres of Honey Creek now shielded from development

ConocoPhillips has 30 days from the lawsuits date of filing to respond. It has yet to do so.

In a statement, ConocoPhillips said it received information in 2020 of an unconfirmed past sighting of a jaguarundi near the future drilling pad site, and that out of an abundance of caution, it hired a consultant to conduct a threatened and endangered species survey, which did not yield evidence that jaguarundis were present.

The oil and gas company also said that it followed many voluntary best practices outlined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and that it remains open to communication and collaboration with Hamilton and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The jaguarundi  sometimes mistaken for a panther or a cougar  is a midsize wildcat, normally gray or red. The animal can be found from Argentina to southern Texas, and it was placed on the endangered species list in 1975 due to a loss of habitat, such as dense brush that has been cleared for farming or development.

Some believe that the cat no longer exists in the United States, but there have been several sightings in recent years. Hamiltons lawsuit alleges that at least 10 people claim to have seen the jaguarundi on his property in the past decade. The sightings have been confirmed as credible, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

These sightings, Hamilton said, have been primarily on the north side of the ranch, an area that the rancher told ConocoPhillips to leave alone when he agreed to a lease with the company in 2007. Hamilton said the oil and gas company did not touch this pasture for several years. But he said that in 2020, the company planned to build a 6- to 12-acre drilling pad and a drilling rig near the optimal jaguarundi habitat.

One pad could involve drilling for a year and a half to two years, with a 6 to 12 wells on the spot, the lawsuit alleges.

On ExpressNews.com: A fish without gills? Interesting choice. These 7 endangered species call the San Marcos River home

Initially, ConocoPhillips planned to build the drilling pad directly on the jaguarundis habitat, but because of the areas vulnerability, the Fish and Wildlife Service issued a notice saying that ConocoPhillips should move the proposed location. ConocoPhillips then moved it 100 yards from the habitat, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. In response, federal agency said the new location was not far enough to avoid potential harm from well construction and subsequent drilling and fracking noise, lights, traffic and human disturbance, according to a second notice that the Fish and Wildlife Service sent to ConocoPhillips in September 2020.

Still, ConocoPhillips began construction in that location, according to Hamiltons lawsuit.

Were not trying to stop all the work that Conoco is doing, said Jeff Mundy, Hamiltons attorney on the case. Before they set up the pad, they were drilling up under the spot from further south, so as not to disrupt the pasture. Wed just prefer for them to do that instead.

Hamilton also filed a lawsuit in state court in 2020, accusing the company of breaching certain conditions of the lease that require the company to drill only where it is reasonably necessary. Construction was halted while the litigation was pending and resumed in 2021 after a jury found in ConocoPhillips favor. The case has been appealed.

Rare animals are a resource that belongs to all of us, not just Conoco, Hamilton said. Thats why Im trying to protect that pasture

Elena Bruess writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. elena.bruess@express-news.net
Policing in New York City has often been an exercise in extremes. Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg were overly aggressive crimefighters, while Mayor de Blasio, elected on a platform of police reform, overreacted to the errors of the previous era and handcuffed the police. In de Blasios last years in office violent crime and shootings skyrocketed. The recent funerals of two brave police officers serve to highlight the challenges confronting Mayor Adams.

Adams proposals strive to thread the needle between two poles that have waxed and waned throughout the NYPDs history  public safety and citizens basic rights. In our view, the questions are how well conceived are his plans objectives and implementation strategies.

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When crime peaked in the 1980s and early 1990s, a new regimen of aggressive policing emerged which insisted that minor offenses were merely preludes to major crimes and thus demanded stricter enforcement, backed by increased police strength and better coordination among all units. Under Giuliani and Bloomberg, crime significantly declined as its performance management system (CompStat) coordinated disparate NYPD units. Precinct commanders were granted increased authority.

While this approach reduced overall crime, it alienated a significant number of Black and Brown New Yorkers. The NYPD became embroiled in numerous controversies that ultimately led to a federal monitor, civilian complaints and lawsuits involving police brutality.

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Mayor Eric Adams (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

All New Yorkers should take heed of this history. Poignant examples of this are the stop-and-frisk episodes in which the NYPD became so aggressive that their enforcement measures were described by a federal judge as indirect racial profiling.

Excessive force was manifested in the firing of 41 police bullets, some of which killed Amadou Diallo in 1999. Another example was the in-custody death of Eric Garner in 2014 due to the unauthorized chokehold of a Black male merely selling loosie cigarettes.

Unfortunately, the controversies did not end there. Commanders were under such tremendous pressures to reduce crime that they would manipulate crime reports to diminish and distort the appearance of crime. This prevented proper accounting of crime numbers and, even worse, prevented detectives from properly identifying criminal patterns.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

Further, complainants were often victimized again by an NYPD unable to discern the truth about what was happening due to its overly aggressive crime-control policies. As the department browbeat its commanders and officers, morale deteriorated and officers ultimately did the minimum amount of work. This translated to some officers simply patrolling the streets, securing their numbers and then hiding for the remainder of their tours unless a serious emergency occurred. At the same time, more effective tactics to get guns off the streets were soon ignored.

As de Blasio entered the picture, the already demoralized officers sank to the bottom. With many voices seeking police defunding and the city claiming a reduction of $1 billion from the NYPD budget, it became clear that officers were not supported by their superiors, many politicians or much of the public.

With our new mayor, there is hope that a proper balance between crime control and due process can finally be secured. His Blueprint to End Gun Violence is promising  but has major gaps. He doesnt explain how money is to be spent or what targets are to be reached. This plan confers no personal accountability to any individuals. Even a blueprint should reference data and a basic understanding of how it is to be accomplished. In the past, such altruistic plans look wonderful on paper but fail to attain results.

Adams has also advised that he will bring plainclothes units back. He notes that body cameras must be turned on and that additional training will occur. While this is needed, accountability is far more complicated. Questions remain: What officers are being chosen for this? Plainclothes officers need specific training to balance crime-fighting with rights. What about supervision? How many sergeants per officer? What data will be collected to hold them accountable and determine success? Will any outside monitoring be done?

Understandably, we already see signs of pushback from those who fear the same old aggressive NYPD. Public defenders have already expressed concern over added surveillance and technology. Manhattan District Attorney Bragg has advised he will not prosecute lower-level offenses. While Adams has a plan, few understand the difficulty of overcoming the fear of overly aggressive policing of the past.

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Mayor Adams must convince a skeptical public especially in minority communities that he can do this within the confines of legal boundaries. He must persuade politicians, researchers and especially minority communities that he can end the violence but, at the same time, respect basic rights. The burden of proof is on him.

Eterno is a professor at Molloy College, and a retired NYPD captain. Silverman is professor emeritus John Jay College. They are co-authors of The Crime Numbers Game.
Billy Calzada /Staff file photo

A South Texas school official pleaded guilty Monday to taking nearly $30,000 in bribes in exchange for his recommendation to the district concerning contracts to be awarded, the Department of Justice said.

Jose Luis Morin, 41, is a former assistant superintendent of student services at La Joya Independent School District.
One late Saturday in September 1985, four skydivers sneaked onto the observation deck of the 750-foot-tall Tower of the Americas, climbed over the metal-spiked guard rail, dropped over the edge and parachuted to the ground.

On ExpressNews.com: This is how they built the Tower of the Americas

It was the first time someone had parachuted from what was then Americas tallest observation tower. And it wouldn't be the last time.

Two other jumpers  one from Boerne and the other from Houston  would be charged a month later with reckless conduct after one leaped from the tower with a parachute. The other was preparing to jump when he was caught.

The charges were later rejected by the district attorneys office because they hadn't actually committed a crime. At the time, there was no law against parachuting off the tower.

Express-News archives

San Antonios City Hall was furious and quickly moved to ban BASE jumping  a popular sport that began in the late 1970s and involved leaping from buildings, bridges and earth formations  from the Alamo Citys tallest structure.

A 1985 city ordinance makes it unlawful to bring parachute equipment anywhere within the tower. Its also illegal to parachute, or attempt to parachute, from anywhere on the Tower of the Americas. Violators are subject to a $200 fine.

albb3ta/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Some daredevils werent deterred by San Antonios anti-parachuting law until certain renovations were made in recent years. At least two parachuters floated down from the Tower of the Americas and escaped without arrest.

One of those jumpers was Dan Conables, an unemployed Hollywood stuntman. According to a 1987 Express-News story, Conables gestured for quiet as startled onlookers watched him strap on his parachute and climb over the security bars at the Tower of the Americas.

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Conables waited 3 seconds  about half the distance to the ground  before opening his parachute. He drifted for another 15 seconds, about 200 to 250 feet, to the bottom. He landed on a parking lot fence, tearing his hand and parachute.

Police swarmed the property as Conables stuffed his parachute into a garbage bag and approached a couple walking to their car.

Craig Chandler

Dont be alarmed, but I just jumped from the tower with a parachute. Can I walk with you?, he later told an Express-News reporter in 1987.

Conable walked with them to a parking lot, got in his pickup truck and drove past the police search.

In February 1988, another jumper, John Pety, leaped from the Tower of the Americas with his parachute.

After floating to the ground, he quickly packed up his parachute and climbed into a waiting car and roared off into the foggy night.

Craig Chandler/San Antonio Express-News

This was reportedly Petys second jump from the Tower of the Americas. Pety, who would go on to make the Guinness Book of World Records for illegally jumping from the Houston Astrodome, later told the Express-News that he was one of the original four to parachute from the structure in 1985.

According to Hearst newspaper archives, which includes Express-News and San Antonio Light stories, Pety was among the last to make the jump without getting caught.

"Due to fencing surrounding the Tower observation deck, it is not physically possible to parachute from the observation deck of the Tower of the Americas," said Jennifer Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio Police Department.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio once tried to ban Pac-Man in an effort to protect the morals of children

Laura Mayes, a spokeswoman for the city of San Antonio, said the last known incident of someone leaping from the Tower of the Americas was in 1999.

A 27-year-old Florida man named Christopher Stokely was charged with jumping from the tower and attempting to evade arrest for the 1999 incident, the Express-News reported. An Ohio man named Erik Santee, also 27 at the time, was with Stokely and charged with driving without a license or insurance.

A park ranger told the Express-News that he spotted a parachute floating down from the tower late that evening. The official watched the man land, ditch his parachute near the Federal Building in HemisFair, run to a car parked in the towers parking lot and join a man already in the car.

After authorities apprehended the men on Bowie Street, they discovered a parachute in the back of the car.

Stokely told reporters at the time: Its the biggest rush you can get. Nothing compares to it.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
In a federal lawsuit, the state of Texas is challenging the Pentagons authority to force Texas National Guardsmen to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the latest maneuver in a months-long standoff between Gov. Greg Abbott and the U.S. military.

Its immediate effect might be to protect the pay and training of about 2 percent of Air National Guardsmen in the state, the ones who defied a Dec. 2 deadline set by the Air Force and refused to get the shots. The guard said about 9 out of 10 of its airmen have been vaccinated and most of the others are seeking exemptions.

The Armys deadline for most guardsmen to comply with the policy isnt until June 30. So far, around 60 percent of Texas Guard soldiers have received their shots.

Abbotts office said the state asked a federal judge in Tyler for a preliminary injunction to protect nonfederalized members of the Texas National Guard from the vaccine mandate, calling the requirement an unconstitutional attempt to commandeer Gov. Abbotts commander in chief power that threatens to undermine his chain of command, blur the lines of accountability and endanger millions of Texans.

Abbott and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy are plaintiffs in the suit, whose defendants include Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III and Christine Wormuth, the Army secretary. The suit argues that President Joe Biden is not the commander in chief of Texas guardsmen because he has not federalized the Texas Guard.

As long as President Biden is not willing (or able) to take that formal step, he and his subordinates have no constitutional or statutory authority to control, punish or discharge nonfederalized guardsmen, Abbotts office said.

U.S. presidents have repeatedly called up the Texas Guard for national defense roles overseas since 2000, including in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, in some cases on relatively short notice. The active-duty U.S. military in those years has relied heavily on citizen-soldiers from Texas. The guards 36th Infantry Division was sent to the Middle East as recently as 2020, and more deployments are in the works.

The Pentagon has long required troops to be vaccinated, and court precedents have long allowed it. Abbott has recommended that Texans get their shots on a voluntary basis but has said the Texas Guard doesnt have to follow the U.S. militarys requirements unless the troops are in federal service.

Asked to explain why it was not a violation of good order and discipline for the governor and guard commanders to tell their troops they had a choice in taking the vaccine, a Texas Guard spokeswoman, Col. Rita Holton, replied in an email, Governor Greg Abbott is the commander in chief of the Texas Military Department. In accordance with his Executive Order GA-39, no governmental entity can compel any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

Holton said the federal government had not withheld paychecks as of Friday from noncompliant airmen who are attending drill weekends. She provided vaccination percentages but no specific numbers, including the number of airmen who have refused vaccination.

Austin has repeatedly said guardsmen refusing to take the vaccine will not be paid. The action raised the possibility that even if vaccine holdouts remained on state duty, called Title 32, their careers would be ended.

On ExpressNews.com: Texas National Guard has thousands of troops still not vaccinated  and doesnt want to talk about it

Guardsmen who are not paid for attending weekend drills also would not get federal credit for training, a Defense Department official said Monday. Technically, they no longer would be members of the National Guard  forbidden from attending career development schools, deploying overseas or having promotions recognized by the Pentagon, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Air Force guidance on how to deal with unvaccinated personnel, released Dec. 8, said they would be discharged if they do not have an exemption.

The Army last Wednesday said it will immediately begin separating soldiers who refused to be vaccinated as well, but that order does not apply to Title 32 guardsmen. It covers those whose deadline to get vaccinated expired Dec. 15: the active-duty force, reserve-component soldiers serving on Title 10 or federal duty, and cadets in ROTC programs and the service academies.

Unvaccinated soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness, Wormuth, the Army secretary, said in a statement. We will begin involuntary separation proceedings for soldiers who refuse the vaccine order and are not pending a final decision on an exemption.

The directive places limits on how the military service of soldiers who are kicked out for vaccination refusal is characterized. The least favorable will be a general discharge under honorable conditions. That would change if additional misconduct warrants separations under other than honorable conditions.

Unless the courts decide otherwise, the same policy will apply to Article 32 soldiers after June 30. Austin, the U.S. militarys top uniformed officer, said in a Jan. 27 letter to Abbott and six other governors that all members of the Texas Army and Air National Guard, regardless of duty status, must follow the directions of the secretaries of the Army and the Air Force, respectively, regarding specific COVID-19 vaccine compliance deadlines and requirements.

Failure by a member to do so will lead to a prohibition on participation in drills, training and other duty conducted under Title 32 and will jeopardize the members status in the National Guard.

On ExpressNews.com: Texan soldiers bid farewell to families, again

A judge might support Biden against the governors suit by citing a section of federal law that states it is essential that the strength and organization of the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard as an integral part of the first-line defenses be maintained and assured at all times, South Texas College of Law professor Geoffrey Corn said.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

Yet courts also could decide the president cannot compel compliance with readiness requirements, even while recognizing the potential consequences if states fail to meet those standards, he said.

As an issue of first impression, it is not clear how the court will decide, but if Texas wins, it means the governor has just nullified the capability of the Texas National Guard to respond to the call of the nation to act in response to a national emergency, said Corn, a retired lieutenant colonel and Army lawyer. Is that really something to be proud of?

Guardsmen on Title 32 duty report to their states adjutant general and, ultimately, to their governor.

Other politically charged issues have followed Abbott and his adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris. The governors use of the Texas Guard to deter immigration in border areas, and the resulting problems that soldiers say theyve had with pay, living conditions and the open-ended length of their duty tours, have prompted harsh criticism from Abbotts gubernatorial challengers in the Republican and Democratic parties.

This week, the Texas Guard said a soldier assigned to the border mission, Operation Lone Star, died after an accidental firearm discharge in Brackettville and stressed it was not a suicide. The Texas Rangers will investigate the death.

On ExpressNews.com: On the border, chasing delays in pay and fewer migrants, some Texas guardsmen are losing faith

Holton has said most of the pay problems have been resolved and that the border mission would last as long as necessary.

Days before Abbotts lawsuit was filed, she conceded that the Pentagon could withhold the pay of unvaccinated guardsmen who attend drill because the Texas Guard is federally funded for drill pay and annual training.

Commanders, she said, would provide all information and resources available in order to assist members in making an informed (vaccination) decision about themselves, their families and careers, but it will remain a personal choice in accordance with the directive from our commander in chief.

That was a reference to Abbott, not Biden.

sigc@express-news.net
It took former Vice President Mike Pence 13 months to utter the obvious, to summon the courage to defy his former boss and his delusional supporters.

President Trump is wrong, he said Friday. I had no right to overturn the election.

Al fin, he acknowledged hes not operating outside reality.

Pences words came long after his life was threatened because he wouldnt circumvent the electoral process; didnt participate in a coup attempt; and couldnt declare his boss the worlds worst loser.

Donald Trump lost re-election, which is what the former president knew months leading up to the 2020 election. Polls predicted hed lose. Thats when he began promoting the big lie that rampant fraud would steal the election from him.

It bears repeating. Pence said Trump lost.

We will always keep our oath to the Constitution, Pence said Friday to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, even when it would be politically expedient to do otherwise.

Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has no role in state elections. 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, Pence said.

Vice presidents, no matter their political affiliation, have a narrow role in the certification of votes. Its ceremonial. They have no real authority over the count.

None of that mattered on Jan. 6, 2021, when the then-president, along with members of his closest allies and advisers, including his family, spoke to a group of violent, armed insurrectionists and rallied them to march on the U.S. Capitol to stop the count.

Among them were avowed white supremacists, neoNazis, anti-government nuts, psycho militia groups and other far-right extremists. Some are already behind bars.

On the way to the Capitol, they vowed to hunt down Pence and other officials whod aligned themselves with democracy, decency and the Constitution.

But most of them already considered Pence a traitor. They erected gallows outside the capital and chanted, Hang Mike Pence. Some in the mob vowed to drag Pence and others through the streets.

For 13 months, Pence was more afraid of his former boss than he was of the mob.

He found a moment of levity Friday, saying he knows Trump lost because he was on the ticket, too.

Pences motivation for stating the truth wasnt about correcting the record or his place in history. Sadly, his words reflected only his presidential ambitious for 2024.

Trump has made it clear hell run. He has made it clear hed undermine democracy and the Constitution. Again.

Another calculated announcement Friday underscored why the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 is so important.

On the same day that Pence spoke in Florida, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel announced the groups censure of U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who are serving on the House committee investigating the insurrection.

Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line, said McDaniel, niece of U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, describing a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.

Bringing weapons to the Capitol doesnt constitute legitimate political discourse, nor does breaking through police barricades, smashing windows, knocking down doors and trashing the building, including spreading feces on walls.

Legitimate political discourse doesnt result in nine deaths and 150 officers injured. Some officers suffered concussions, fractures and burns. Many have post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some fought insurrectionists for four to five hours.

Pences honesty, however tardy, and the RNCs statement came days after Trump promised to pardon insurrectionists found guilty of crimes.

Both came as we learned from news reports that Trump removed and routinely destroyed White House documents protected by law.

For those tuned to Trump propaganda, Pences words will be dismissed along with others about the big lie. It makes no matter that more than 60 lawsuits promoting the big lie were rejected by courts.

It makes no matter that evidence has surfaced that the Trump White House drafted executive orders for the Defense and Homeland Security departments to seize voting machines in states in which Trump lost.

For those who embrace that world view, the big lie is truth and Mike Pence is a traitor.

eayala@express-news.net
Democratic and Republican voters will be weighing in on a handful of primary races for candidates seeking to serve in the Texas House of Representatives. Just a reminder: If a candidate is unopposed, we do not make a recommendation.

The Democratic primary in House District 121 has two equally talented and qualified candidates in Becca Moyer DeFelice and Gabrien Gregory.

DeFelice is a project manager for Opt In Experts, a consulting firm, and has been a gun violence prevention advocate as a volunteer for Moms Demand Action. Gregory, a St. Marys University graduate, is an Army Reserve officer and substitute teacher. Both have been active in their community and possess an impressive command of state issues.

We recommend Becca DeFelice but believe Democratic voters cant go wrong with either candidate.

On ExpressNews.com: Editorial: Campbell fits bill in GOP Senate race

On the Republican side in House District 121, we recommend state Rep. Steve Allison, who is seeking a third term. An attorney and former Alamo Heights school board president, Allison has a solid conservative voting record and also is one of a growing number of Republicans who support Medicaid expansion.

He faces Michael Champion, a physician assistant, who only had nice things to say about Allison.

The retirement of six-term state Rep. Lyle Larson opens the door for a new conservative voice in House District 122. In the Republican primary, we recommend Adam Blanchard, a trucking industry executive. His ability to speak to business and transportation concerns in Austin would be huge for the Bexar County region.

Mark Cuthbert, a combat veteran and businessman, like Blanchard, is knowledgeable and fluent on policy. Former District 9 City Councilwoman Elisa Chan and construction business owner Mark Dorazio did not accept our meeting invitation.

In the House District 124 Democratic primary, we recommend Josey Garcia, a retired U.S. Air Force combat veteran and co-founder of a nonprofit that conducts humanitarian missions to aid migrants at the border. A former foster child, we believe Garcia would bring a fresh and compelling voice to the Legislature.

On ExpressNews.com: Editorial: Chacon best qualified in Republican DA primary

Her opponents are Gerald Lopez, a Northside Independent School District board member and Steven Gilmore, a criminal defense attorney.

In the House District 125 Democratic primary, we recommend state Rep. Ray Lopez. A former AT&T executive, NISD board president and four-term councilman, Lopez is a solid, engaged and hardworking legislator. His challenger, civil litigator Eric Michael Garza, has a promising political future. But there is no reason for a change.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar had his home and campaign headquarters raided by the FBI three weeks ago.

This stunning story is by far the biggest development in the Democratic primary race between the nine-term Laredo congressman and progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros. But its a story thats short on details  apart from the fact that its part of a grand jury probe into Americans with ties to Azerbaijan  and nowhere close to reaching a resolution.

That raises a couple of obvious questions for Cisneros: How do you talk about this issue and how do you expect voters to assess it?

Cisneros was a guest on this weeks edition of the Express-News Puro Politics podcast, and she talked about how the FBI raid has become a major topic for voters in U.S. District 28, which is anchored in Laredo and runs from McAllen up to San Antonio.

VOTER GUIDE: What to know for the March Texas primary

The immigration attorney said she learned during her 2020 campaign against Cuellar that voters generally dont start paying close attention to election races until a week before early voting starts. In this case, however, her campaign team is finding that voters are eager to discuss Cuellar and the FBI investigation.

I think it was just shocking to so many people in the district and people outside of the district, because I dont think its every day that your sitting member of Congress gets raided by the FBI, Cisneros said.

On ExpressNews.com: FBI searches of Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar energize GOP candidates in South Texas race

Cisneros said District 28 voters are generally approaching it the same way that we are, where this is more of a symptom of the track record that Cuellar has had during his years in office.

I mean, the fact that part of the investigation is maybe him being too cozy with a foreign government or foreign oil, in this case. How are these kinds of dealings supposed to benefit people in the district?

Hear more from Cisneros on the latest episode of Puro Politics.

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
WASHINGTON  Fort Bend Republican Troy Nehls says U.S. Capitol Police went into his congressional office and took pictures inside in retaliation for his criticism of the forces lack of preparedness for the Jan. 6, 2021 riots.

A police report filed at the time said the officer entered around 3:30 p.m. Nov. 20 after finding the door wide open. Inside, the report said, the officer noticed a white board with suspicious writings mentioning body armor. The report said the white board also had a map of the office building next to Nehls with an X marked at the entrance.

Nehls, a former Fort Bend sheriff completing his first term in Congress, now says the inspector general is investigating the November incident. He says the suspicious writings were legislation he was drafting on body armor standards. As for the map with the X, Nehls says it was drawn to show one of our interns where the damn ice machine was.

Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger denied that Nehls was ever under investigation and said in a statement that the officers entered his office in order to secure it.

If a Members office is left open and unsecured, without anyone inside the office, USCP officers are directed to document that and secure the office to ensure nobody can wander in and steal or do anything else nefarious, Manger said in the statement.

Nehls told Hearst Newspapers on Tuesday that he doesnt buy it: Theres no way in hell youre going to get me to believe that they were there to protect me.

JAN. 6 FALLOUT: Conservatives attacks on Sen. Ted Cruz underscore GOP infighting over riot

I find it more than just mere coincidence that the Capitol Police would find my door wide open, Nehls said. I find it more than just mere coincidence  why are they taking pictures in my office of my legislative priorities?

Nehls has emerged as an important figure for the GOP in its handling of the Capitol riots, especially as Republicans have sought to keep the heat on the police response and congressional leadership for failing to secure the building, rather than on former President Donald Trump, who urged supporters before the riot to march on the Capitol and fight like hell, or his supporters who attacked officers and broke into the building by force.

Nehls was one of 17 Texas Republicans who objected to counting Electoral College votes for Biden, even after the Capitol attack.

He was one of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthys picks to serve on the Jan. 6 commission before Republicans pulled support for the independent investigation

The freshman congressman drew national attention as he helped Capitol Police fend off rioters from the House Chamber on Jan. 6.

On Jan. 7, 2021, Nehls recalled telling the rioters through the broken glass at the door to the House: This is un-American, and this isnt the way we should conduct ourselves. The riots left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer, and 150 officers injured. Four law enforcement officers who responded later committed suicide.

Nehls has since said the majority of people in the building that day did little wrong.

They werent touching anybody, they werent assaulting anybody, Nehls said in an interview with PBS NewsHour last month. They were walking around inside that Capitol building  many of them were grandmas, many of them almost appeared to be ushered in.

Nehls has been a vocal critic of Capitol Police leadership since the attack, saying they failed to act on ample evidence in the days leading up to it.

We had it all laying right in front of us, and they did nothing with it, Nehls said. Jan. 6 should have never happened  should have never happened.

The former sheriff said he fully supports the rank and file of the Capitol Police.

Theyre up here each and every day doing everything they can to protect the Capitol grounds, to protect this institution, to protect members of Congress, he said. Its the leadership that Im concerned about.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

And thats why Nehls believes police entered his office in November.

Manger, the police chief, said in a statement that despite the line in the report about suspicious writings, Nehls was never under investigation, and that officers personally followed up with the Congressmans staff and determined no investigation or further action of any kind was needed.

No case investigation was ever initiated or conducted into the representative or his staff, Manger said.

Nehls said the writing that the officer found suspicious was a piece of legislation he was drafting to establish new safety standards on body armor aimed at limiting armor imports from China.

Nehls said he has asked colleagues if any others have had a similar incident, and none have. He pointed to a POLITICO report from last month that said Capitol Police has been scrutinizing Hill staff and other people who meet with lawmakers, including examining their social media feeds. Capitol Police have denied the report.

I find the timing of this very, very interesting, Nehls said. They werent investigating whether I was being a target of a threat, they were investigating me.

ben.wermund@chron.com
The Lynd Co. and San Antonio Housing Authority are partnering to build an apartment complex a few blocks from the Pearl, a project that will receive a property tax exemption in exchange for including units at below-market rates.

The six-story development at 120 W. Josephine St. will include units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms, 377 parking spaces and amenities such as a yoga and spin studio, fitness center, rooftop pool and bicycle storage, according to a news release.

That submarket is probably the most vibrant, action-packed submarket in San Antonio for whats been delivered there with the live, work, play environment, said Lynd Co. CEO David Lynd.

Earlier plans included retail space in the project but that component was removed because of the coronavirus pandemics effects on the sector, he said.

The housing authority acquired the 2.3-acre property through a public facility corporation and is leasing it back to Shavano Park-based Lynd, exempting it from property taxes under state law.

The company also will avoid paying sales taxes on construction purchases for the project, dubbed The Josephine. Lynd said the complex will include 261 units but SAHA said plans call for 259.

Half of the apartments will be rented at market rates and 104 will be for families earning up to 80 percent of the area median income, or $58,000 a year for a family of four, said housing authority spokesperson Marivel Resendiz.

Twenty-six units will be for residents making up to 60 percent of the area median income, which is $43,000 annually for a family of four. The complex will also be required to accept Section 8 vouchers.

Lynd recently secured a $53 million loan for the project from New York-based private equity firm Madison Realty Capital.

Construction was delayed about four months because of the pandemic, but The Josephine is on track to open in 2023, Lynd said. Buildings at the site previously occupied by Materials Marketing have been demolished to make way for the apartments.

The real estate firm has developed about a half-dozen complexes in the San Antonio area and has managed more than 30,000 units since it was founded in 1980, Lynd said.

Other housing is also in the works near the Pearl. Houston-based developer Urban Genesis recently demolished the former ACI bathhouse building at Elmira and St. Marys streets and plans to replace it with about 60 apartments.

The company also plans to build about 58 rental townhomes on a site between Locust and Grayson streets near the Lonesome Rose bar, founder Matt Shafiezadeh said in an August interview.

Sabot Development, an Austin-area firm, plans to construct a 10-story mixed-use development on a block bounded by Myrtle, Elmira and Locust streets and Euclid Avenue. It will include more than 200 residential units, parking and retail, according to plans approved last summer by the citys Historic and Design Review Commission.

Built-to-rent boom

Built-to-rent homes are proliferating across the U.S. and construction of single-family rentals is expected to keep surging in 2022.

San Antonio ranked seventh among the 20 cities with the most single-family rentals in built-to-rent communities, with 960 such homes in the area, according to apartment-search website RentCafe.

Around 6,740 rental homes were completed last year, a record level, and nearly 14,000 are under construction.

Surging home prices and tight inventory are preventing some families from buying so they are opting to continue renting instead. Others appreciate the flexibility, or dont want to take on the maintenance costs that come with owning a home.

On RentCafes website, searches for homes for rent tripled in 2021 compared with 2020. In a survey of 3,300 renters, 29 percent said they chose a single-family rental instead of an apartment because it provided more space and 25 percent said it afforded more privacy.

For the analysis, RentCafe used data from its sister company Yardi Matrix and evaluated built-to-rent communities with at least 50 single-family rental units that had received a certificate of occupancy as of December.

madison.iszler@express-news.net
NEWS FLASH





Air Serbia has temporarily suspended flights on three routes due to reduced demand resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. During February, the airline will not maintain operations from Belgrade to Brussels, Sofia and Thessaloniki. The carrier currently plans to restore flights to the Belgian capital on March 1, to Sofia on March 3 and to Greeces second largest city on March 4. No other carrier maintains flights from Belgrade to the three destinations.
Businessman and aspiring politician Andrew Yang deleted a tweet defending embattled podcast host Joe Rogan and called his own sentiments wrong-headed.

I deleted the tweet because it was wrong-headed. It also hurt people, which is never my intent. Im sorry, tweeted Yang. Im learning and appreciate those who reached out to express their feelings.

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Andrew Yang (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)

Rogan drew condemnation Saturday after video of him repeatedly using the N-word in various broadcasts went viral. While Rogan insists that the collection of old clips lacks context  and that he was not using that word to denigrate anyone  he also said his latest controversy is one hes ashamed of and regrets.

[ Joe Rogan addresses his shameful use of the N-word after viral video ]

Yang, who appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience on Spotify in 2019, rushed to Rogans defense Sunday.

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I dont think Joe Rogan is a racist, Yang, who ran for president in 2020 and mayor of New York City in 2021, tweeted. The man interacts with and works with black people literally all of the time.

Twitter users then lashed out at Yang, arguing that working with Black people doesnt exempt anyone from bigotry. According to NBC News, Yang added in his now-deleted tweet that he knows Black friends of Rogans who would defend the 54-year-old Newark, N.J., native. But early Monday morning, Yang confessed he missed the larger point.

Racism is real, deep, corrosive and even lethal. I know that, he added in his apology. I made a mistake in an earlier tweet tonight that downplayed these realities.

I deleted the tweet because it was wrong-headed. It also hurt people, which is never my intent. Im sorry. Im learning and appreciate those who reached out to express their feelings.  Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) February 7, 2022

[ Andrew Yang accuses Daily News of racism; NAACPs Hazel Dukes disagrees ]

Also on Monday, Yang tweeted I think we should have the capacity to forgive people  whether a podcaster or a mayor  if they mess up.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

His reasoning?

Maybe its because I mess up too, he wrote.

I like to believe the best of people - especially if Ive met and spent time with that person. Sometimes it makes me miss something. I think we should have the capacity to forgive people - whether a podcaster or a mayor - if they mess up. Maybe its because I mess up too.  Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) February 7, 2022

Prior to being accused of racism, Rogan was blamed in recent weeks for artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell leaving the streaming platform Spotify on account of COVID disinformation spread on his show, The Joe Rogan Experience.

Movie star Dwayne The Rock Johnson came to Rogans defense last week after the podcast giant explained that while he tries to get things right on his heavily listened to program, he sometimes comes up short. But after author Don Winslow alerted Johnson to Rogans latest controversy, the Walking Tall star claimed he was unaware of that development.

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I was not aware of his N-word use prior to my comments, but now Ive become educated to his complete narrative, Johnson tweeted. Learning moment for me.

In his video apology, which was posted to Instagram, Rogan called racism stupid and insisted he would never use that kind of ideology as a way of entertaining listeners. But he also acknowledged he was in the wrong.

Whenever youre in a situation where you have to say, Im not racist, you f--ked up, and I clearly have f--ked up, Rogan said.


The Slovenian Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has said it turned down several proposals from airlines to open a base in Ljubljana as none would have sufficiently improved the countrys connectivity. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, it said, The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology had several meetings and communications with various airlines or air transport suppliers. The fact was that the majority of the proposals were relatively short-term oriented, mostly to cover the needs of Slovenias Presidency of the Council of the European Union. On the other hand, there was actually no appropriate proposal which would have enabled passengers travelling from or to Slovenia to benefit from high quality service, based on the proposed destinations, the timing and flight schedules, as well as the opportunities for connecting onto flights at Europes most important hubs. The Slovenian Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has said it turned down several proposals from airlines to open a base in Ljubljana as none would have sufficiently improved the countrys connectivity. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, it said, The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology had several meetings and communications with various airlines or air transport suppliers. The fact was that the majority of the proposals were relatively short-term oriented, mostly to cover the needs of Slovenias Presidency of the Council of the European Union. On the other hand, there was actually no appropriate proposal which would have enabled passengers travelling from or to Slovenia to benefit from high quality service, based on the proposed destinations, the timing and flight schedules, as well as the opportunities for connecting onto flights at Europes most important hubs.





Based on previous reports, the Ministry held talks with the Lufthansa-owned Air Dolomiti, low cost carrier Wizz Air, Slovenian cargo airline Solinair and the French Valljet, while a carrier from the Middle East also expressed interest in establishing a new Slovenian operation. The Ministry also conducted discussions with Croatia Airlines, Air Serbia, LOT Polish Airlines and former Etihad Airways President and CEO turned consultant James Hogan. Air Dolomiti noted, In the past we had contacts to see if cooperation was possible. Air Dolomiti is always seeking new partners and is open to assessing new possibilities. However, we made no concrete plans nor signed any agreements. We had a meeting to see and assess opportunities for both parties.





The Ministry noted it has not received any new proposals since Slovenias Presidency of the Council of the EU concluded at the end of December 2021. The proposals were mostly provided before and during the period of the Presidency. Following its completion, we have not received any additional proposals. We are planning to renew the subsidy program for foreign airlines operating at Ljubljana Airport, and to support the continuity of flight operations in 2022 to the amount of two million euros, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology concluded. Its head, Zdravko Pocivalsek, recently said the government was still looking into ways to fill the void left by the collapse of Adria Airways in September 2019. If we want to have better air connectivity in Slovenia, we will have to do something in this sector and find a way forward to enable progress, in cooperation with a private stakeholder. Currently, we do not have a national carrier, and air traffic is severely affected by the pandemic, Mr Pocivalsek said.




1,734 days of unbearable grief ended this day February 2, 2022, for Charles Steven Steve Forseth (76) who died of a broken heart.

Steve's wife Karen preceded him in death on May 5, 2017, and each day thereafter Steve dealt with a sorrow that few know and now that loneliness has given way to the peace of God and that well deserved final rest is his.

Many friends and family where they lived on the Fairfield bench remember Steve's generosity, creativity, gentleness, and perseverance to the task at hand. His love of country was evidenced in his service in the Air National Guard.

His sisters, Clairice Brady and Judy Loss remember Steve's selflessness and uncommon tenderness of heart. Steve's brother Orville is married to Karen's sister Caroline and thus the children are double cousins with a reverence to Steve and childhood memories of adventures, misadventures and yes, a little mischief in the mix.

Karen was a twin sister to Kathy Hammer (Bob) of Seattle and the two families spent many years of outings together.

Growing up on a farm and ranch, Steve went on to pursue the same. Steve purchased acreage alongside the farm of his father to raise his family along with crops, cattle, and sheep. In the early 80s, his son brought home five sheep from the Columbia Show and Sale in Lewistown, MT that he had attended with his Uncle Orville. Steve was less than impressed as the sheep were unloaded from a trailer into the corrals. This however started his sheep business where he went on to have a herd of around 200 head.

Steve had a level of common sense very uncommon today. He could build and repair anything and his shop always had a project in progress. He would help neighbors repair equipment and took on major build projects like the trailered big-time BBQ he took all over Montana. The BBQ was modeled after a steam locomotive, and he named it Number 9 Chow Line. He and Karen, often with kids and cousins in tow, provided a full catering service and would feed up to 1,000 people. Steve and Karen also built a lemonade stand to accompany his catering at the annual Augusta Rodeo where his granddaughter Treyann, grandniece Arielle, and later his granddaughter Samantha sold lemonade. It was a great entrepreneurial experience for all three kids which made Steve beam with pride. He also built a wood splitter and attached wood elevator that could spit out a mountain of firewood and the elevator part of the machine could even feed the split wood into a truck for transport. His son-in-law Rob and Steve decided they needed to roll up a bunch of old barbed wire, so they built a roller for the front of their skid steer and tackled the job. They also rebuilt an old logging truck into a hay hauler.

He drove the school bus for Golden Ridge School, located west of Fairfield, for 30 years. As the bus driver, there were occasions where Steve had to correct the behavior of children who rode the bus. A former student told a story where she was having a disagreement of sorts with another student. The result was a moment of revenge that left the second child howling as though she was dying and the first student receiving a very stern scolding and then having to write 100 sentences as to why hocking a loogie at people was not allowed. She wrote the sentences and handed them into Steve. Years later, the nephew of that same girl was a student at the same school. Steve still had the sentences pinned to a small corkboard at the front of the bus."

Steve loved music, and the music of Johnny Horton was a favorite... Comanche the Brave Horse, North to Alaska, Battle of New Orleans, etc., and he would spin records for the kids all afternoon. Afterward, he would ask about the meaning of the lyrics.

Steve is survived by his son, Stacey (Barbie) Forseth of Great Falls and daughter Amie (Rob) Wieder of Augusta, his siblings, Clairice Brady of Hamilton, Orville (Caroline) Forseth of Fairfield, Judy Loss of Great Falls, Jim (Cindy) Forseth of Fairfield, grandchildren Taylor Talkington of Great Falls, Samantha Talkington of Casa Grande, AZ; Riley, Wyatt, Justin and Korey Wieder of Augusta, and Treyann (Robert) Lowry of Great Falls, who blessed Steve with a great grandson, Colt, who he dearly loved, as well as many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren. He is preceded in death by the love of his life Karen, his parents Oliver and Lucille Forseth as well as brothers-in-law Keith Loss and Dale Brady.

Funeral services will be held Saturday February 19th at the Fairfield Community Hall at 11:00 a.m.

In Lieu of flowers donations in Steves name can be made to the FFA or 4-H.

Condolences may be left on-line at www.gorderjensenfuneralhome.com
A farming business situated on the Cornwall and Devon border has been successful in applying to be a new AHDB Monitor Farm for four years.

Rob and Liz Priest, of Kingsford Farm in Holsworthy and Scadghill Farm in Bude, are seeking to increase profitability against the backdrop of numerous challenges facing the sector.

The husband and wife duo farm in partnership across the 290 acres of their Devonshire home farm and 220 acres over the border in Cornwall.

Having farmed organically for 15 years at home, they are now in the process of organic conversion of the farm in Cornwall, where it had previously been conventionally managed before they purchased it in autumn 2021.

A suckler herd of 80 stabiliser cows share the farm with 630 ewes; made up of 130 mule crossbreds, 270 Highlanders and 230 Aberfields.

AHDB's network of four Monitor Farms, which is part of the levy board's Farm Excellence programme, opens up farm businesses to share best practice and advice to others.

Responding to their new Monitor Farm status, Liz and Rob said: We are driven by the facts and figures, and we like to be honest and open with people. Were quite happy to share our information  good and bad.

"We would like to increase profitability within the farm business, be better at selecting stock either for sale or as breeding replacements and continue to improve our pastures.

"As we take on our new farm, were open to new ideas and adapting our approach to improve the percentage of lambs and calves that we can rear and finish.

Three other beef and lamb farms have joined the Priests as part of AHDB's programme, including Harry Sordy, Northumberland - 240 suckler cows, 3000 ewes and arable; Ian Farrant, Herefordshire - 750 dairy beef finishers and arable; and David Cross, Norfolk  900 ewes and arable.

Samantha Charlton, head of beef and lamb knowledge exchange at AHDB, welcomed the new farms to the Farm Excellence programme.

"We had a large number of applicants, and it was really difficult to choose only four to participate in the four-year project," she said.

We began the project in 2017... who have all had success in implementing best practice, resulting in improved financial performance.

"As part of the programme, we also engaged directly with thousands of levy payers through the on-farm events and online webinars.

Farmers wanting to learn about Rob and Liz Priest's business can register online to attend their launch event at Scadghill Farm on 15 February.
A Lancashire farmer has received a prison sentence for safety breaches after an 83-year-old man was fatally attacked by cattle in 2020.

The tragedy occurred when David Tinniswood and his wife followed a public right of way across Ivescar Farm at Chapel-LeDale in Carnforth, in May 2020.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the couple were walking on a footpath that passed through the yard at Ivescar Farm, following a right of way that runs from the farm down to the road.

The couple, who were accompanied by two border terriers, were attacked by cattle that were grazing in the field with calves at foot.

Leeds Magistrates Court heard this week how Mr Tinniswood, 83, was trampled and pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife sustained serious injuries.

Christopher Paul Sharpe, partner at J H Sharp and Son, of Ivescar Farm, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (2) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

He received a prison sentence of 12 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and was fined a total of 878 and was ordered to pay 7820 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Julian Franklin explained that a number of measures could have been taken to safeguard walkers using the path.

Firstly, not using that field for cattle and calves," he said, "Most farmers will have other groups of stock that can graze fields containing rights of way.

"[They] can reduce the risk of incidents by putting sheep in them, or they could take fodder crops from them.

"Cattle with calves can be put in fields without rights of way, away from members of the public, or can be segregated from walkers."

He added: Farmers should ensure they take all reasonably practicable precautions to protect walkers on public rights of way, especially when they are grazing cows and calves together, or bulls are present.
A campaign has been launched urging farming businesses to donate edible food waste to a redistribution charity.

The campaign, announced today by NFU Mutual and FareShare, aims to increase surplus food donations by introducing new farmers to the scheme.

In the UK, around 8.4 million people struggle to afford to eat, figures by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation show.

At the same time, the UK produces a yearly food surplus equivalent to 1.3 billion meals, according to food charity WRAP.

FareShare works with UK food businesses to take as much of that surplus as possible and redirect it to the people who need it most.

Its Surplus with Purpose fund also offers eligible businesses a contribution towards harvesting and transport to help them cover the cost of donating.

Dan Byrd, from Worcestershire-based B&G Nurseries, has been working with FareShare for three years now, calling it a 'really worthwhile' initiative.

"They take most of our surplus crop, that would otherwise go unharvested, and direct it to those who need it most. Nobody should go hungry.

Since 2021, NFU Mutual has donated 150,000 in support of FareShare's scheme.

Jo Lumani, from NFU Mutual, said the rural insurer was 'perfectly placed' to introduce businesses to the surplus initiative.

Our network of farmers, retailers, wholesalers and hospitality venues could make a huge difference in the fight against food poverty.

"Thats why were urging business owners to speak to FareShare about how they can lessen their food waste and help feed those in need.

Currently, FareShare works with over 500 farming and food businesses who play a role in the charity's support for vulnerable people across the UK.

In the last 5 years, the charity has quadrupled the amount of surplus food it redistributes.
Piano Man, youve got us feelin alright.

Billy Joels foundation has made another hefty donation to a high school in Long Island.

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A $1.5 million donation pledge was confirmed to Long island High School for the Arts (LIHSA) in Syosset, N.Y., on Monday.

US musician Billy Joel performs during a concert at the Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on October 23, 2021. (SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

We are incredibly proud of LIHSAs momentum and positive impact on the next generation of artists from Long Island, Billy and Alexis Joel said in a statement to the Daily News. The vision of Nassau BOCES and the LIHSA team to develop a creative [Career and Technical Education] curriculum inspired us to continue our support.

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Its not the first time the five-time Grammy Award-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Famer rescued the school from closure  six years ago, he gifted them a $1.5 million donation.

In December 2017, the building that houses the schools music and theatre programs was renamed in honor of Rosalind Joel, his mother. Rosalind Nyman Joel died July 13, 2014, at the age of 92.

Earlier that year, Joel gave a scholarship of $20,000 to a pianist who recently graduated from the specialized school to attend Berklee College of Music.

He also previously taught a master class for students and has visited them in their classrooms on the Syossett campus.

Though born in the Bronx, the New York State of Mind crooner spent his formative childhood and young adult years in the Levittown section of Hicksville on Long Island.

Reps for the Long Island High School for the Arts, which trains future performers and behid-the-scenes professionals as part of Nassau County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, did not respond to request for comment from The News.
Farmers seeking to retire from the industry will soon be able to apply for funds to help them leave, with the potential to receive up to 100,000.

The lump sum exit scheme is due to open in April and the application period will run until the end of September, Defra has announced today.

The payment will be based on the average direct payments made to the farmer for the 2019 to 2021 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) years.

This reference figure will be capped at 42,500 and multiplied by 2.35 to calculate the lump sum, Defra says, meaning that farmers could receive up to 100,000.

In return for their exit payment, farmers will surrender their entitlements and be expected to either rent or sell their land or surrender their tenancy.

This will be in order to create opportunities for new entrants and farmers wishing to expand their businesses, Defra explains.

The government says it has been working with industry leaders and landowners to design a new entrants scheme to create further opportunities.

The exit scheme follows a public consultation carried out last year where the majority of respondents supported the initiative.

It builds on evidence that some farmers would like to retire or leave the industry but have found it difficult to do so for financial reasons.

The scheme is part of reforms set out in the UK's post-Brexit agricultural transition plan, which outlines plans for a new system of support with an emphasis on the environment and 'public goods'.

Defra Secretary George Eustice said the lump sum exit scheme would assist farmers who want to exit the industry to do so in a planned way.

Those of us who grew up with farming know the emotional connection farmers have with their land and the decision to retire or to exit the industry can be extremely difficult and is frequently postponed.

The scheme will also free up land for new entrants to farming and those who want to expand their businesses.

The government says it intends to introduce new legislation to provide clarity that the exit scheme payments are capital in nature, adding that it will provide further details in due course.

What is the lump sum exit scheme?

The government has today announced new information of its new lump sum exit scheme, including:

 Farmers will surrender their BPS entitlements before they receive the lump sum payment  and, once they have received the lump sum, they wont be able to claim further direct payments

 Farmers will transfer out their agricultural land in England - but they are allowed to keep up to 5 hectares and any agricultural land they plant with tress under certain woodland creation schemes

 It will allow farmers to keep their farmhouse, commercial buildings and non-agricultural land

 The scheme will have more flexible rules for partnerships and limited companies than was proposed in Defra's consultation

 The lump sum payment will be based on the average direct payments made to the farmer for the 2019 to 2021 BPS scheme years capped at 42,500 and multiplied by 2.35 to calculate the sum
Thirteen young sheep farmers from across the UK have been selected to be part of the sector's Next Generation Ambassador programme.

The programme, now in its seventh year, offers farmers aged between 18-34 a series of technical and personal development sessions.

The sessions are run by the National Sheep Association (NSA), with an aim to further the chosen farmers' experience and understanding of the sector.

Having undergone a thorough interview process, this year's new cohort of ambassadors will now begin the personal and career technical development sessions.

The sheep enthusiasts selected to take part this year come from all corners of the UK, the NSA says, and have taken a variety of different routes into the sheep sector.

As ambassadors, the new cohort will also begin a close working relationship with the NSA both regionally and nationally.

And as well as providing the chance to visit varied sheep farming systems and parts of the supply chain, the programme will deliver networking opportunities.

The chosen farmers will have the chance to meet with industry experts and leaders, with the scheme opening doors to new opportunities.

Thirteen young sheep farmers have been chosen to become Next Generation Ambassadors

Katie James, NSA communications officer, who coordinates the programme, said this years selection process had been one of the group's most competitive yet.

"It is a real credit to the industry to see such passion and enthusiasm shine through from the young individuals who apply, something we should be very proud of.

The programme, like so many activities, has been adversely affected during the past two years due to Covid-19 so we are hopeful this year will allow the programme to return with a renewed focus."

Jacob Anthony, a sheep farmer from South Wales who was an ambassador in 2016, called his time on the programme 'invaluable'.

"I learnt an awful lot that I was able to implement back at home on our family farm in South Wales," he added.

"Not only did I learn a lot I met l made some lifelong friends and like-minded individuals from the length and breadth of the UK.

"Another thing I valued about my time was the fact I learnt what NSA does for us as sheep farmers by engaging with decision-makers and the public on our behalf."

The first of four delivery sessions will take place in Gloucestershire next week, when the group will be joined by some leading names from the sheep sector.
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Laxmi Joshi was among those several pilots who volunteered for the Vande Bharat Mission in May 2020. Following the coronavirus-related restrictions imposed by different nations to curtail the virus, the mission was established to evacuate Indians stuck abroad.

Joshi traveled by plane for the first time when she was eight years old. She aspired to be a pilot on that flight and since then has worked hard to turn her dream into reality. Her father took out a loan so that she could train and prove herself one day, the young pilot says. Whenever a relative inquired about Joshi and her dream, her father would proudly state that his daughter was born to fly. After two years of hard work and commitment towards training, Joshi received her pilots license and went to work with Air India shortly after.

Image: Instagram

When her parents heard of Joshi being chosen for this mission, they were initially concerned, but after realising its importance, they eventually came around. Her maiden flight was to Shanghai, China, as part of the rescue mission.

The rescued passengers gave the crew a standing ovation as soon as the plane landed in India. Joshi was approached by a young girl who expressed her desire to be like her. The skys the limit, she subsequently told her parents about this experience.

Joshi flew three rescue flights a month after her maiden mission flight. Every time they flew, it became more difficult, but the prospect of assisting the Indians kept her mind and body going.

Once, I even flew to bring medical aid to India. That was the strangest flight  instead of passengers, we traveled with hundreds of carton boxes, she said.

Joshi added that the Vande Bharat Mission is still alive now that the virus is in its third phase. Joshi will journey to Newark, New Jersey, in the following weeks to bring the Indians home.

Papa tells me that he is proud of me. I used to tell you the skys the limit, but youve surpassed that! Never stop soaring! he told me. And that is exactly what I intend to accomplish... Continue to soar! Joshi remarks.

Also read: Indian Air Force Set To Have More Women Fighter Pilots
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Flee is so nice the Academy wanted it thrice.

The Riz Ahmed- and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau-produced movie made strange Oscars history Tuesday when it became the first film to be nominated for the three categories of best animated feature, best documentary feature and best international feature.

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Flee tells the true story of Amin Nawabi, a gay Afghan refugee in Copenhagen, through animated scenes and a voiceover narration by Nawabi himself.

Filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen met Nawabi as a teenager in Denmark in 1995 and spent decades learning his friends stories.

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"Flee" (Neon)

Being a refugee, its not an identity, Rasmussen previously told Deadline.

Its something you live through, its a life situation, life circumstance. And, yes, Amin is a refugee, but hes so much more and I was hoping that I could show that with this film.

The other documentaries nominated Tuesday were Ascension, Attica, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) and Writing With Fire.

Encanto, Luca, The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Raya and the Last Dragon were also nominated for best animated feature.
- Asia Pacific superconducting power cables market presents sizable revenue streams during the forecast period (2021-2031), China witnessing lucrative opportunities from massive demand for these in renewable energy power generation plants

- Adoption of advanced simulation methods boosting performance of high-temperature superconductor (HTS) power cables

ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Advancements in designs of high-power and medium voltage cable technologies have enabled companies in the superconducting power cables market to meet the requirements of various end-user requirements. Key end users expected to propel the revenue gains are renewable energy and utility. The global valuation is projected to surpass US$ 2.6 Bn by 2031.

The modernization of electric grids particularly of energy infrastructure in developing economies has propelled demand for high-temperature superconductor (HTS) power cables. In recent decades, developed nations have undertaken massive electric grid projects wherein the installation of HTS cables has led to considerable savings on transmission losses. North America for instance is at the forefront of such developments, notes a TMR study analyzing the sales prospects of products in the superconducting power cables market.

Novel methods and techniques to reduce alternating current losses in HTS power cables are likely to set the tone for product innovation in the near future, thus underpinning new revenue sales in the superconducting power cables market. REG superconducting cables are becoming crucial in preventing power outages and blackouts.

Key advantages of superconducting power cables include the ease of and reduced time in installation and high-power carrying capacity have expanded the horizon of applications in utility and renewable energy.

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Key Findings of Superconducting Power Cables Market Study

Focus on Improving Resiliency of Electric Grids to Boost Critical Energy Infrastructure of Cities : Enormous efforts have been made in preventing power outages and blackouts. Innovative technologies notably Resilient Electric Grids (REGs) superconducting cable systems have gained noticeable traction in electric grid projects in some developed nations. Companies are collaborating to install and commission high-power medium voltage cable technology. The trend will expand the commercialization of products in the superconducting power cables market.

: Enormous efforts have been made in preventing power outages and blackouts. Innovative technologies notably Resilient Electric Grids (REGs) superconducting cable systems have gained noticeable traction in electric grid projects in some developed nations. Companies are collaborating to install and commission high-power medium voltage cable technology. The trend will expand the commercialization of products in the superconducting power cables market. New Designs in Three-phase Concentric HTS Cable Spur Revenue Prospects: Manufacturers are keenly leaning on overcoming the technical limitations of three-phased concentric HTS cables when they are used in varied power systems. In particular, the problem of significant AC losses have concerned the manufacturers as well as customers. To circumvent these, novel circuit-based techniques and simulation techniques are expected to have game-changing potential, thereby influencing the sales opportunities in the superconducting power cables market.

Manufacturers are keenly leaning on overcoming the technical limitations of three-phased concentric HTS cables when they are used in varied power systems. In particular, the problem of significant AC losses have concerned the manufacturers as well as customers. To circumvent these, novel circuit-based techniques and simulation techniques are expected to have game-changing potential, thereby influencing the sales opportunities in the superconducting power cables market. Installation in Modern Electric Grids Propel Revenue Growth: The expansion of installed offshore wind capacities has spurred the demand for superconducting power cables for installed offshore wind capacity. Such projects are growing in number worldwide especially in Oceania and North America , and have underpinned the growth avenues for players in the superconducting power cables market.

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Superconducting Power Cables Market: Drivers

Over the years, the resiliency of electric grids is crucial for protecting them against catastrophic events. This has spurred the commissioning of HTS cable for grid systems in several economies around the world, observe analysts at TMR.

The ever-rising need for energy in urban areas is propelling the demand for new technologies in power distribution. The trend has extended the commercialization avenue for new technologies in superconducting power cables market.

Installed wind power capacity is anticipated to rise significantly over the next three decades, with China , the Netherlands , and Belgium being the hubs of addition of new capacities. The rapid expansion of offshore wind farms to meet the growing appetite for renewable power generation has spurred the demand in the superconducting power cables market.

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Superconducting Power Cables Market: Lucrative Regions

Asia Pacific held a major share of the global superconducting power cables market in 2020. Enormous expansion of electric grid networks in economies such as Taiwan and China have spurred the revenue generation potential of the regional market. The rising demand for electricity in South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and India has bolstered revenue generation in the Asia Pacific superconducting power cables market

Superconducting Power Cables Market: Key Players

Some of the prominent players in the market are NKT A/S, NEXANS, Advanced Conductor Technologies LLC, LS Cable & System Ltd., PJSC FGC UES, LUVATA, American Superconductor, and MetOx Technologies, Inc.

Global Superconducting Power Cables Market: Segmentation

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by Type

YBCO Cables

BSCCO Cables

Others (Superconducting Cables Derived from Conventional Superconductors such as Niobium-titanium)

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by Type of Design

Warm Dielectric

Cold Dielectric

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by Capacity

0-2 KA

2-4 KA

Above 4 KA

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by End-user

Utility

Renewable Energy

Industry

Others (includes Telecom Industry)

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by Region

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



France



U.K.



Italy



Russia & CIS

& CIS

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China



Japan



India



ASEAN



Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

GCC Countries



South Africa



Rest of Middle East & Africa

& Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Rest of Latin America

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Chemicals & Materials Industry battles Tangible Impact of Economic and Cultural changes, Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Chemicals & Materials Market:

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BURBANK (dpa-AFX) - Walt Disney Co. (DIS) late Monday said it recommends shareholders reject the unsolicited mini-tender offer by Tutanota LLC to purchase up to 240,000 shares of Disney common stock at a price of $143 per share in cash. According to the company, the offer is conditioned on the closing price per share of Disney's common stock exceeding $143 per share on the last trading day before the offer expires. This means that unless this condition is waived by Tutanota, Disney shareholders who tender their shares in the offer will receive a below-market price. Tutanota has stated it expects to extend the offer for successive periods of 45 to 180 days until the market price of the shares exceeds the offer price, in which case payment could be delayed beyond the scheduled expiration date of Friday, February 25. Disney urged shareholders to not take any action on Tutanota's offer. Shareholders who have already tendered their shares may withdraw them in accordance with the terms included in Tutanota's offering documents. The offer is scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m. New York City time on February 25, unless extended. Disney added that it is not affiliated or associated in any way with Tutanota, its mini-tender offer or the offer documentation. Tutanota has made similar mini-tender offers for shares of other companies. Mini-tender offers seek to acquire not more than 5 percent of a company's shares outstanding, thereby avoiding many disclosure and procedural requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that are designed to protect investors. Disney urged investors to obtain current market quotations for their shares, consult with their broker or financial advisor and exercise caution with respect to Tutanota's offer. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Offering Special Rates and Unbeatable Vacations in Several Holiday Destinations

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Archipelago, Southeast Asia's largest private and independent hotel management group, invites international travelers to take their long-awaited holidays in Cuba, the perfect place to start an adventurous journey after almost two years of reduced travel.

To support the growth of the tourism industry in Cuba and introduce their upcoming hotels to the public, Archipelago recently published their travel agent rates for 4 hotels in Cuba. GRAND ASTON Cayo Las Brujas will apply USD$50 per person per night all-inclusive for all travel agents. GRAND ASTON La Habana, which will open on 15 March, will apply USD$50 per person per night with a bed and breakfast concept. The other 2 ASTON Hotels will apply USD$40 per room per night. The price difference is due to ASTON Costa Verde Beach Resort located in Holguin having an all-inclusive rate, while ASTON Panorama, located in the heart of Havana, will apply the bed and breakfast concept. The rates will be available for stay until November 30th, 2022.

"Our Cuba hotels are located in famous tourist sites, have stunning views, professional staffs and implemented strict health protocols. We also received a Safe Travels recognition and stamp from the World Travel & Tourism Council so as to provide a sense of security and comfort. We definitely look forward to meeting all guests at our Cuba hotels," says John Flood, President & CEO of Archipelago.

For reservations, please email LasBrujasFDKR1@astonhotels.co.cu for GRAND ASTON Cayo Las Brujas Beach Resort and Spa, lahabanainfo@astonhotels.co.cu for GRAND ASTON La Habana, jefe.reservas@astoncostaverde.co.cu for ASTON Costa Verde Beach Resort and reservas@panorama.co.cu for ASTON Panorama. For more information regarding our special travel agent rates, please contact our BDM in Canada: info@surep.ca .

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About Archipelago

Southeast Asia's largest privately owned and independent hotel management group, operating over 150 hotels with a further 50+ under development across Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Trusted hotels with a long track record and 20,000 rooms in more than 60 destinations with brands including ASTON, Collection by ASTON, The Alana, Huxley, Kamuela, Harper, Quest, NEO, favehotels, and Nordic. archipelagointernational.com.

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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Vimian Group (STO:VIMIAN)

Vimian Group has acquired Vet-Allergy, a veterinary allergy company in Denmark, to strengthen its position as a leading provider of veterinary allergy diagnostics and treatment in Scandinavia. Vet-Allergy has revenues of around EUR 1.3 million on an annual basis.

Vimian Group's Specialty Pharma segment Nextmune has acquired Vet-Allergy. Founded in 2007 by Dr. Kristian Pedersen, Vet-Allergy offers allergy diagnostics and treatment for companion animals to veterinary clinics across Denmark. Today, the company is the leading provider of veterinary allergy solutions in Denmark with a full-service offering. The business enjoys deep customer relationships in Denmark serving over 300 veterinary clinics.

"Vet-Allergy is the only veterinary laboratory in Denmark that performs allergy testing and treatment of scale, and the acquisition offers an attractive opportunity for Nextmune to strengthen our position as a leading provider of allergy solutions for companion animals in Scandinavia. We can leverage Vet-Allergy's strong relationships with veterinary clinics to accelerate sales of our allergy offering as well as our entire dermatology and specialty nutrition portfolio", says Magnus Kjellberg, CEO of Vimian's Specialty Pharma segment Nextmune.

"I am delighted to have found a sustainable home for my business in Nextmune. Their commitment to science and innovation represents an attractive fundamental for taking Vet-Allergy to the next level", says Dr. Kristian Pedersen.

Vet Allergy was consolidated into Vimian's Specialty Pharma segment on 31 January, 2022.

For further information, please contact:

Maria Dahllof Tullberg

Head of IR & Communications

maria.tullberg@vimian.com

+46 736 26 88 86

About Vimian

Vimian is a global, fast-growing group of innovation-driven companies with a shared passion for making a positive impact through improving animal health. Together, we put science, technology and our customers' needs at the centre of everything we do to deliver effective solutions to veterinary professionals, labs and pet parents around the world. We bring together pioneering and entrepreneurial businesses in animal health, with an aim to create a uniquely diversified proposition of products and services of the highest standard. Our group covers four essential and rapidly evolving areas within animal health: Specialty Pharma, Diagnostics, Veterinary Services and MedTech. Vimian provides individual businesses with access to our networks, expertise, infrastructure and capital to accelerate innovation and growth. We are as passionate about supporting leadership within our existing businesses, as we are about welcoming new partners to the Vimian family - together helping us make an even greater impact by improving animal health. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Vimian and our family of companies reach over 15,000 customers in +150 markets, employ more than 450 people and have a combined annual turnover of approximately EUR 140 million. FNCA Sweden AB is appointed the Company's Certified Adviser, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8-528 00 399. For more information, please visit: www.vimian.com.

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Vimian Group acquires veterinary allergy company in Denmark

SOURCE: Vimian Group

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687770/Vimian-Group-Acquires-Veterinary-Allergy-Company-in-Denmark
PRESS RELEASE: SSH signs strategic partner agreement with Europe's leading Cloud Service Provider Nordcloud

Helsinki,Finland

SSH today announced the signing of a strategic partner agreement with Nordcloud, Europe's leading cloud-native Cloud Service Provider (CSP). Nordcloud will use SSH PrivX as their Zero Trust PAMaaS (Privileged Access Management as a Service) solution for customers running cloud and hybrid deployments.

A Visionary in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud IT Transformation Services, Nordcloud provides customers with cloud strategy, migration and modernisation, application design and development, and managed services for cloud and hybrid environments.

"We are excited to strengthen our Privileged Access Management Services offering with SSH's PrivX. As we strive to supercharge our customers' cloud journeys, this agreement enhances our capabilities with the world's best technology platforms. With PrivX we can provide an extra layer of security and governance for our customers with hybrid or cloud-native environments. PrivX also integrates with our IAM offering." Ilja Summala, Nordcloud CTO.

"We are delighted to have signed this major strategic partnership. This win highlights the strength of SSH PrivX and our unique Cloud Native approach to Privileged Access Management" said Dr. Teemu Tunkelo, CEO of SSH.

About PrivX

PrivX is a lean, quick-to-implement, and easy-to-use access management solution for privileged access in on-premise, hybrid, and cloud environments. PrivX helps clients to flexibly enable, monitor, and control access to critical data according to predefined user group roles and privileges. Companies worldwide are using PrivX for various use cases, including securing privileged access in their cloud and hybrid environments, securing DevOps processes and pipelines, provisioning access in IT/OT convergence between the production site and the cloud, protecting code repository access, and improving 3rd party access security both in interactive and application to application solutions.

For more PrivX information, please visit: SSH PrivX

About Nordcloud

Nordcloud, an IBM company, is a European leader in cloud implementation, application development, managed services, and training. It's a recognised cloud-native pioneer with a proven track record helping organisations leverage public cloud in a way that balances quick wins, immediate savings and sustainable value. Nordcloud is triple-certified across Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services - and is a Visionary in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud IT Transformation Services. Nordcloud has 10 European hubs, over 900 employees and has delivered over 1,000 successful cloud projects.

Learn more at nordcloud.com .

AboutSSH

SSH helps organizations safeguard their mission-critical digital assets at rest, in transit, and in use. We have 5,000+ customers worldwide, including 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and major organizations in Finance, Government, Retail, and Industrial segments.

We are committed to helping our customers secure their business in the age of hybrid cloud and distributed IT and OT solutions. Our Zero Trust solutions offer safe electronic communications, secure access to servers and between servers. Our teams in North America, Europe, Asia along with a global network of certified partners ensure customer success. The company's shares.

Formoreinformation:



Kristian Nieminen

SSH Communications Security PLC

+358 50 3777970

kristian.nieminen@ssh.com

Janne Kuparinen

Nordcloud

janne.kuparinen@nordcloud.com

###
Transatlantic Deals Veteran Goold Joins Wilson Sonsini's London Office From EY

Wilson Sonsini's London Office Has Grown to More Than 30, Including 24 Attorneys

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Richard Goold has joined the firm's corporate practice as a partner in the London office. The addition signals that Wilson Sonsini's London office has grown to more than 30 employees, including 24 attorneys.

Goold's forte is transatlantic and global transactions, and representing innovative start-ups and scale-ups at all stages of the business lifecycle. He supports high-growth technology and life sciences companies on international mergers and acquisitions as well as fundraising transactions, including buyouts, growth, and venture capital financing rounds. Goold works with UK- and European-based companies in key technology industries, including the fintech, adtech, digital media, and enterprise software sectors. He also regularly represents U.S. companies and investors in cross-border corporate matters and international projects.

"Since opening in London, we've scaled rapidly and we continue to add talented practitioners like Richard to align with the needs of the many fast-growing companies and sophisticated investors we work with throughout the UK and Europe," said Doug Clark, managing partner at Wilson Sonsini. "Our active and expanding corporate team in London remains focused on transatlantic work, so Richard's industry experience and understanding of what growth-minded start-ups need makes him a great fit. We're excited to welcome him to our firm."

In June 2018, Wilson Sonsini announced that the firm was opening an office in London, extending the firm's practice into one of the world's top technology markets. When the office officially opened its doors on August 1, 2018, it was staffed by Daniel Glazer-founding and managing partner of the firm's London office-and a handful of staff personnel. Since then, the office has grown to 31 employees, including 24 attorneys and seven professional staff.

Including Goold and Glazer, Wilson Sonsini has seven partners in its London office. In October 2021, Michael Casey joined the London office as a partner in the firm's national security practice. Beau Buffier, who joined Wilson Sonsini's antitrust and competition practice as a partner in November 2020, recently relocated to the London office. Corporate partner Michael Labriola relocated to the office in June 2020. In October 2020, former Checkout.com COO Joshua Kaplan joined the London office as a corporate partner. Stacy Kim, who joined Wilson Sonsini's corporate practice in September 2019, was the firm's first lateral partner hired in London.

During the past year, the firm's London corporate team has been involved in a series of significant transatlantic transactions for iconic high-growth UK- and European-based companies, including Babylon, Checkout.com, Current Health, Multiverse, Peakon, TrueLayer, and WaveOptics. During the same timeframe, the firm's London-led U.S. expansion team also advised approximately 200 UK and other European start-ups on establishing their initial U.S. operations as they ventured toward entering the U.S. commercial market.

Prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Goold was a partner at Ernst Young for nearly six years, leading the firm's global tech law efforts and all UK and Ireland service lines for fast growth. Before EY, Goold worked at Gowling WLG, where he became partner in 2012 after joining as an associate in 2001.

"Richard's addition to our London office further demonstrates Wilson Sonsini's commitment to helping UK and European technology companies and investors compete and win in America and globally," said Daniel Glazer, managing partner of Wilson Sonsini's London office and head of its U.S. expansion practice. "Richard's transatlantic experience and industry expertise will provide significant added value to the high-growth companies and investors we represent."

The Wall Street Journal's Financial News named Goold to its inaugural "Fintech 40," the 40 leading innovators shaping the future of finance in Europe. In 2012, he received an award from the Law Society based on his international transaction experience.

"Having worked for so long with bold and innovative start-ups, investors, and other ventures, I've had many occasions to work with the impressive team at Wilson Sonsini, and that fueled my interest in joining the firm because it has an impressive legacy of working with iconic technology and life sciences clients," said Goold. "Also compelling to me was Wilson Sonsini's stature in start-up markets in London and more broadly in other technology markets in Europe, the U.S., and other active global regions. The firm continues to expand its unique brand, which is anchored in representing elite innovators, entrepreneurs, and disruptors. And yet that is only one of many strengths the firm has."

Goold earned his post-graduate Diploma in Law from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2000. He completed a Legal Practice Course at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2001. He received his Bsc in mathematics with business and management from the University of Manchester in 1999. He is admitted to practice as a Solicitor of England and Wales.

About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich Rosati

For more than 60 years, Wilson Sonsini's services and legal disciplines have focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leading provider to growing and established clients seeking legal counsel to complete sophisticated corporate and technology transactions; manage governance and enterprise-scale matters; assist with intellectual property development, protection, and IP-driven transactions; represent them in contested disputes; and/or advise them on antitrust or other regulatory matters. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Boulder; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; Salt Lake City; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005354/en/

Contacts:

Kelsey Dellovo

Baretz+Brunelle

339.223.0961 Mobile

kdellovo@baretzbrunelle.com
South Africa: Road closures to be implemented ahead of SONA

Due to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday, Parliament has advised Cape Town motorists and pedestrians to expect parking restrictions and temporary road closures in and around the Cape Town City Hall until 16 February.

There will also be full closure around the City Hall on the day of the ceremony.

The 2022 SONA, which will be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa at 19:00, will be held outside of the usual seat of Parliament for the first time after the fire that ravaged the Parliamentary precinct last month.

Road closures that are in place from 1-16 February are:

Corporation Street between Darling and Longmarket Streets will be completely closed to motorists. However, a walking path is available for pedestrians.

The closure is effective from 05:00 to 23:59.

Curbside fencing around the perimeter of the Cape Town City Hall has also been affected from 1 up until 16 February. The affected streets are:

Darling Street

Corporation Street

Parade Street

Longmarket Street

Road closures as a result of rehearsals have been implemented from Monday, 7 February and will continue until Wednesday, 9 February between 17:00 and 23:59. These closures apply to:

Darling Street: between Plein and Buitenkant Streets

Darling Street: between Buitenkant Street and the Castle of Good Hope (Traffic Control)

On the day of the SONA, Roeland Street between Buitenkant and Brandweer Streets as well as Buitenkant Street between Roeland and Darling Streets will be closed from 17:45 to 19:30.

There will also be temporary closures Thursday on the following routes:

Klipper Road, Newlands: from Main Road (M4) to Newlands Avenue

Princess Anne Avenue, Newlands: from Newlands Avenue to Union Avenue

Newlands Avenue, Newlands: from Dean Street to Princess Anne Avenue

Dean Street, Newlands, westbound: from Main Road (M4) to Newlands Avenue

M3, Union Avenue, Rhodes Drive, Philip Kgosana Drive (De Waal Drive), Roeland Street, City-bound carriageway: from Newlands Avenue to city centre

Woolsack Drive, Rondebosch, westbound: between Main Road (M4) and Rhodes Drive (M3)

Anzio Road, Observatory: from Main Road (M4) to Philip Kgosana Drive (De Waal Drive) (M3)

N2, Settlers Way City-bound carriageway: from Main Road (M4) to city centre

Buitenkant Street: from Glynn to Strand Streets

Darling Street, Sir Lowry Road: from Buitenkant to Tennant Streets (this will include a closure of Hanover Street and Tennant Street)

The closures will be from 17:45 to 19:00.

Road closures will also be imposed from 04:00 to 23:45 on Commercial Street between Plein and Buitenkant Streets - becoming bi-directional as well as Plein Street between Roeland and Barrack Streets

There will also be contingency closures on Thursday in case of an emergency from 08:00 to 23:45, that will apply to roads contained in parking restrictions.

Parking restrictions along the following areas will apply as of midnight, 9 February to 10 February:

Parade, Cape Town

Roeland Street: outgoing lane between Plein Street and 37 Plein Street (Bld. Next to Nieuwmeester parking)

Buitenkant Street from Glynn to Darling Streets (all 3 days 16:00  20:00 and on 9 Feb. from 23:59 to completion)

Plein Street: between Roeland and Darling Streets

Spin Street: between Parliament and Plein Streets

Commercial Street: between Buitenkant and Plein Streets

Parade Street: between Caledon and Darling Streets

Corporation Street: between Darling and Caledon Streets

Caledon Street: between Corporation and Parade Streets

This includes 14 to 16 February.

Road closures included in parking restrictions:

Darling Street: between Plein and Buitenkant Streets

Longmarket Street: between Plein and Buitenkant Streets

Corporation Street: between Caledon and Darling Streets

Parade Street: between Caledon and Darling Streets

Plein Street: between Roeland and Barrack Streets

Commercial Street: between Nieuwmeester Parking and Plein Street.

The SONA debate and replies will take place from 14 to 16 February 2022.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-02-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BEIJING, Feb. 8 -- Crew members onboard China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning celebrate the Spring Festival for the year of the Tiger through various activities, such as hanging lanterns, making dumplings, and having tug-of-war games on the deck.
There have been some off-screen thrills for Jason Statham and his family.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley took to Instagram Tuesday to reveal that she and fiance Statham, 54, welcomed their second child, a daughter, last week.

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The model, 34, shared an image of a bassinet, with one of the infants hands visible.

Jason Statham (L) and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley attend the premiere of Universal Pictures' "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" at Dolby Theatre on July 13, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Rich Fury/Getty Images)

The image, in which the Expendables star was tagged, was captioned: Isabella James Statham  2.2.22.

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Models Martha Hunt and Daisy Lowe as well as Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Dorit Kemsley were among those congratulating the couple on their new arrival.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

Congratulations , Hunt wrote in the comments section of the post.

Congratulations to you and your gorgeous growing family, said Lowe.

Congrats love!  Kemsley wrote.

Together, Brits Statham and Huntington-Whiteley also share son Jack Oscar, 4.

Motherhood is just a wonderful journey of many ups and downs, Huntington-Whiteley told People in November 2019. Every day there is a new set of challenges and a new set of triumphs.

The couple in 2016 announced they were planning to marry, about nine years after first getting together, according to the outlet.

Huntington-Whiteley in August took to Instagram to share several photos of her growing bump to announce the familys then-forthcoming newest addition.
STOCKHOLM, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quant Finland Oy and Quant Estonia OU (together "Quant") have renewed an existing Total Maintenance Partnership agreement with Metsaliitto Cooperative, Metsa Wood ("Metsa Wood"), a leading producer for premium-quality wood products. The agreement renewal contains scope changes beneficial to both parties. In its quarterly report for the first quarter of 2022, Quant will increase its contract portfolio value with EUR 2 million.

Metsa Wood and Quant has signed a renewal of a Total Maintenance Partnership agreement, originally entered into in 2017, into an evergreen contract which cover industrial maintenance on five production sites in Finland and Estonia. Quant will focus on areas of safety and provide a cost-effective and flexible service, supporting Metsa Wood in both daily operations and investments. The agreement renewal contains scope changes beneficial to both parties which increases Quant's contract revenue by EUR 2 million.

"We have built a good foundation for the development of maintenance in the future, and now we are able to take the development of proactive and predictive maintenance to the next level together with the customer," says Janne Toivanen, Account Director, Quant Finland.

Stockholm, 8 February 2022

Quant AB (publ)

For further information, please contact:

Sebastian Storbacka, SVP Region Manager Finland & Baltics: +358 503 545 564

Andre Stromgren, CFO: +46 708 410 796

E-mail: ir@quantservice.com

Quant AB (publ) is a global leader in industrial maintenance. For over 30 years, we have been realizing the full potential of maintenance for our customers. From embedding superior safety practices and building a true maintenance culture, to optimizing maintenance cost and improving plant performance, our people make the difference. We are passionate about maintenance and proud of ensuring we achieve our customers' goals in the most professional way. The group operates internationally in close to 20 countries world-wide, employing more than 2,300 people. The parent company is located in Stockholm, Sweden.

Quant AB (publ) is privately held by Nordic Capital since 2014. For additional information about the group, please visit www.quantservice.com.

This information is information that Quant is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 09:00 CET on 8 February 2022.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/quant-ab/r/quant-signs-renewal-with-metsa-wood-in-finland,c3499208
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Foremost Lithium Resource & Technology Ltd. (CSE: FAT) (OTC Pink: FRRSF) (FSE: F0R0) ("FAT" or the "Company") (www.foremostlithium.com), is pleased to announce an upcoming ten (10) diamond drill hole ("DDH") 1,500 meter program scheduled to commence in February 2022 on its 100% percent owned Zoro Lithium Project in Snow Lake, Manitoba. The Company has secured a drilling contractor, and Gogal Air Services to provide air support, core storage, and preparation facilities for this upcoming program. Figure 1 illustrates the specific drill targets that will be tested for Lithium (Li 2 O%) concentration hosted in spodumene bearing pegmatite dykes. The locations of the drill holes are indicated by the red stars on Figure 1.







Figure 1 - Map of the ZORO Lithium Project, Snow Lake area, Manitoba. Red stars indicate new 2022 drill targets identified with Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) Technology, a proven advanced soil geochemical exploration technique. Solid black lines are lithium-bearing pegmatites on the property.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4689/113114_18d85e5984a11b63_001full.jpg

Prior to this upcoming 2022 drill program, a total of fifty-eight (58) diamond drill holes have been drilled historically on Zoro. On the previous 2018 drilling campaign, 7 dykes were documented on the property. Of these Dyke 1 is the most prominent with an inferred resource of 1,074,567 tonnes at 0.91% Li 2 O, 182 ppm Be, 198 ppm Cs, 51 ppm Ga, 1212 Rb, and 43 ppm Ta to a depth of 305 m (1000 ft.).

Recent exploration on the property has consisted of prospecting, outcrop mapping and sampling, Mobile Metal Ions (MMI) soil geochemical surveys and diamond drilling to develop a geological database and confirm historic resource estimates. Drilling of Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) Technology targets on the property in 2018 yielded (8) eight additional pegmatites of which (5) contained lithium assays of 0.31% to 1.85% Li 2 O over intervals of up to 9 meters. Specifically, DDH FAR18-035, intersected Dyke 8 while testing a two-sample MMI lithium anomaly (Figure 2). Assay results include three separate intercepts of high-grade lithium including 12.3 metres of 1.1% Li 2 O, 4.4 metres of 1.2 % Li 2 O and 2.2 metres of 1.5% Li 2 O.







Figure 2 - Drill section, DYKE 8 -DDH FAR18-034 and -035, Zoro lithium property, Snow Lake, Manitoba. Dyke 8 remains open at depth and along strike indicating the potential to expand the lithium (Li 2 0) resource in this dyke.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4689/113114_18d85e5984a11b63_002full.jpg

Scott Taylor, President and CEO of Foremost Lithium, states: "I'm overjoyed that we are drilling our properties for the first time since 2018. The Company is anxious to test these 10 new high-quality targets for high grade lithium (Li 2 0) based upon data interpretation by our technical team headed up by Dr. Mark Fedikow. We seek to replicate this proven exploration approach and develop more drill targets for further extensive drilling in 2022. I will be flying to Snow Lake for the commencement of Phase 1 drilling with a view to immediately plan and schedule a Phase 2 drill program at Zoro with a sense of urgency to catch the tail end of the Spring 2022 drill season."

The February 2022 ten-hole 1,500 metre drill program on the Zoro Lithium Property is being supported by 2/3 of the $300,000 grant awarded in September to Foremost Lithium from the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund ("MMDF"). The MMDF was launched by the Government of Manitoba in August 2020 with the specific goal of jump-starting mineral and economic development initiatives throughout the province. The MMDF is administered through the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and aims to support new economic development opportunities that capitalize on existing assets and infrastructure across Manitoba.

Technical information contained in the press release has been approved by the Company's VP of Exploration, Dr. Mark Fedikow, P.Geo, who is a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Foremost Lithium Resource & Technology Ltd.

Foremost Lithium is an energy tech company driven to become one of the first North American Companies committed to produce high quality battery-grade lithium hydroxide domestically to fuel the electric vehicle and battery storage market. Given the importance and global focus on increasing energy decarbonization, especially when it comes to vehicles, The Company is hyper-focused in continued exploration and growth on its four (4) lithium properties, Jean Lake, Grass River, and Zoro located in Snow Lake, Manitoba, and Hidden Lake in the Northwest Territories. Foremost Lithium also holds assets in precious commodities with its Winston Gold/Silver Project in New Mexico, USA.

For further information please contact:

Scott Taylor

President and CEO

Foremost Lithium Resource &Technology

scott.taylor@foremostlithium.com

1 604 330-8067

Twitter: @foremostlithium

Forward Looking Statements

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to Foremost within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Foremost provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to market conditions, exploration findings, results and recommendations, as well as those risks and uncertainties identified and reported in Foremost's public filings under Foremost's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although Foremost has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Foremost disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113114
Major airport security market players include IBM Corporation, Leidos, Axis Communications AB, C.E.I.A. S.p.A., Biosensor Applications AB, FLIR Systems, Hitachi Ltd., Smiths Detection Group Ltd., Westminster Group PLC, Honeywell International, Inc., OSI Systems, Thales Group, Collins Aerospace (Raytheon Technologies), Siemens AG, Auto Clear LLC, and Bosch Sicherheitssysteme GmbH.

SELBYVILLE, Del., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The airport security market size is anticipated to record a valuation of USD 25 billion by 2028, according to the most recent study by Global Market Insights Inc. The market growth can be attributed to an increase in the volume of air passengers across the globe.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/367

The Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) segment in the airport security market will witness growth during the forecast timeline, which is credited to the rising focus on improving passenger flow across the site. To improve operational efficiency, reduce maintenance costs & track passengers traffic, airport authorities are investing in RTLS systems at different checkpoints. For instance, in December 2021, Xovis AG received a contract from the Airports of Thailand (AoT) for the supply & installation of passenger tracking systems at three airports including Phuket International, Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok) Airport, and Don Mueang International. The agreement includes the deployment of solutions for monitoring, analyzing, and presenting real-time data of travelers.

The system will collect data from operational data, such as a number of passengers in the arrival, departure & transit areas, and from visual information, to derive data-driven insights. Through this, the organization is focusing on reducing the waiting time during security checks, check-in lines, and passport controls, thus improving the overall customer travel experience. The collected data can also be used to forecast passenger traffic on a day-to-day basis and allocate resources & assets accordingly.

The increasing demand for modernization of the existing infrastructures will propel the airport security market expansion in North America. Organizations and government administrations are emphasizing on developing their facilities with the installation of advanced technologies such as automated lanes, biometric access control systems, video analytics, AI-based surveillance cameras, and explosive detection solutions. Through this, they are improving the performance, productivity & safety of airport assets and passengers.

For instance, in May 2021, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) awarded a contract worth USD 318 million to Raytheon Technologies for deploying checked baggage screening machines across all federally managed airports. The five-year nationwide contract includes equipment expansion to around 430 federal airports. It will also improve the security aspects of the terminals and reduce any danger to various stakeholders on-site. The growing implementation of safety solutions will support industry demand during the forecast period.

Request for customization of this research report @

https://www.gminsights.com/roc/367

Some major findings of the airport security market report are:

The integration of advanced technologies, such as AI, data analytics, cloud computing & IoT, will boost the industry revenue. Furthermore, companies are developing security management software with features such as configurable API user restrictions, facial recognition, recorded footage smart search, map navigations, and video alarm processing.

The introduction of new & stringent government regulations associated with the security parameters of airports will foster the market progression. Airway transportation authorities across various countries are launching guidelines to maintain a minimum standard of operational activities. Through this, they are focusing on monitoring unlawful practices to prevent major incidents in the coming years.

The airport security market will showcase growth owing to growing investments in infrastructural extension of the facilities. To accommodate the increasing daily traffic in airports, administrations are planning new projects to add new flights paths, terminals, lounges, and parking spaces. The expansion of airport terminals will increase the requirement for safety solutions.

The growing risk of terrorist attacks will support the airport security market value. Organizations are installing advanced X-rays scanners at the checkpoints to prevent illegal smuggling of dangerous explosives, weapons, chemicals & firearms. The aim of this deployment is to reduce harm & danger to passengers, sitting inside the airport & in the airplane.

Table of Contents (ToC) of the report:

Chapter 3 Airport Security Market Insights

3.1 Industry segmentation

3.2 Impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

3.2.1 Global outlook

3.2.2 Regional outlook

3.2.3 Industry value chain

3.2.3.1 Manufacturers

3.2.3.2 Software/technology providers

3.2.3.3 System integrators

3.2.4 Competitive landscape

3.2.4.1 Strategy

3.2.4.2 Marketing

3.2.4.3 Business growth

3.3 Industry ecosystem analysis

3.3.1 Raw material suppliers

3.3.2 Component suppliers

3.3.3 Manufacturers

3.3.4 Technology/software providers

3.3.5 System integrators

3.3.6 Distributors

3.3.7 Vendor matrix

3.3.7.1 Raw material suppliers

3.3.7.2 Component suppliers

3.3.7.3 Manufacturers

3.3.7.4 Technology/software providers

3.3.7.5 System integrators

3.3.7.6 Distributors

3.4 Technology & innovation landscape

3.4.1 AI & Cloud

3.4.2 Data analytics and Machine Learning

3.4.3 Automated Screening Lanes (ASL)

3.4.4 Biometrics

3.5 Regulatory landscape

3.6 Industry impact forces

3.6.1 Growth drivers

3.6.2 Industry pitfalls & challenges

3.7 Growth potential analysis

3.8 Porter's analysis

3.9 PESTEL analysis

Browse Complete Table of Contents (ToC) @

https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/airport-security-market-report

About Global Market Insights Inc.

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy, and biotechnology.

Contact Us:

Arun Hegde

Corporate Sales, USA

Global Market Insights Inc.

Phone: 1-302-846-7766

Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688

Email: sales@gminsights.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1742133/Airport_Security_Market.jpg

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NOTTINGHAM, England, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Impero, the safeguarding software provider, is delighted to announce it is now a recognised Microsoft Global ISV Partner, a move that will accelerate innovation and increase value for its global customers. Impero is the only classroom management and student wellbeing provider that has earned Global ISV status, and one of only eight Microsoft partners to earn Global ISV status.

Becoming a Microsoft Global ISV Partner unlocks exclusive technical, marketing and sales enablement resources for Impero, enabling the organisation to enhance the development and promotion of its cutting-edge classroom management, remote access, and safeguarding software. Impero is also the only supplier in the classroom management market that is fully embedded with Microsoft Teams.

"Educators all around the world are contending with the biggest shift in teaching that we have ever seen, rapidly moving to remote and hybrid models. This has put an enormous amount of pressure on teachers to maintain high teaching and safeguarding standards from afar," said Justin Reilly, CEO, Impero.

"Combining Microsoft's technology and global foothold with Impero's specialist education expertise creates the perfect solution to support teachers with this new hybrid classroom model. With this latest step in our journey, we will continue to leverage Microsoft's vast investment in expanding into new regions, including Latin America and Australia."

The newly announced Global ISV support will help Impero reach more customers globally and deliver strategic digital transformation programs for even more schools worldwide.

"Partners like Impero provide unique solutions for students and educators, and built with Microsoft technologies, like Teams and M365, they represent the strength and depth of partnerships in our Global Partner Solutions organization for Education. We look forward to celebrating continued success with Impero as they provide classroom and learner safeguarding solutions to our global education customers," said Anthony Egbuniwe, Director of Global Partnerships, Public Sector & Education, Microsoft.

"We appreciate their commitment and support of Microsoft's mission, to empower every learner and every education organisation on the planet to achieve more. Impero enables school leaders to better serve their students by providing the tools for a hybrid learning environment, with classroom management and safeguarding software."

Impero's technology has the power to help people learn, work and connect safely online. It increases communication and collaboration, engagement and productivity, in the classroom, office, hospital, or any remote environment.

Since 2002, Impero has worked with schools and organisations across the globe. In 2021, Impero acquired Netop, a market-leading classroom management and remote access software company. Today, Impero works directly with technical teams, school districts/MATs, and Fortune 500 companies in more than 90 countries.

About Impero

At Impero, we're more than just a software company. Our technology has the power to help people learn, work and connect productively online. It has the power to increase communication and collaboration, reduce distractions and troubleshoot problems - whether that be in the classroom, in an office, in a hospital or in any remote environment. Since 2002, Impero has worked with schools and organizations across the globe. In 2021, Impero acquired Netop, a market-leading classroom management and remote access software company. Today we work directly with technical teams, school districts/MATs, and Fortune 500 companies in more than 90 countries.
Companies eager to improve people practices and build a culture of success are turning to Lattice to help engage and grow employees and drive overall business performance.

LONDON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lattice , the leading people management platform for businesses with people-first cultures, today reported record growth in its 2021 summary report. This continued company momentum speaks to the significant market opportunity and demand for software that enables companies to build engaged, high-performing teams while providing people leaders with strategic, data-driven insights.

In today's rapidly changing world of work, identifying the tools and processes that will enable organizations to build, manage, and grow high-performing teams needs to be an intentional part of any company's overall people strategy.

"Over the past year, we have invested heavily in building a people management platform that is not only critical for companies focused on attracting and retaining top talent, but also gives every people leader visibility into their teams to maximize employee insight, support, and growth," said Jack Altman, Lattice CEO and co-founder. "As a result, Lattice has emerged as the essential tool for people-first organizations."

As part of its record growth, Lattice has achieved a number of major milestones, including:

Business Growth: In September 2021, Lattice officially expanded its focus internationally with a European headquarters in London, UK to support customers in over 39 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Exiting 2021, Lattice reported over 110% global year-over-year ARR growth. Further, the company increased its customer base by more than 40%. Additionally, in January 2022, Lattice closed its Series F fundraising round at $175 million , bringing the company valuation to more than $3 billion.

Employee Activity: From January 2021, Lattice grew headcount to more than 480 employees, including over 30 in London, which represents 150% year-over-year company growth since January 2021. Lattice also strengthened its leadership with senior hires across all departments as well as a new board member . In January 2022, Lattice received the Great Place to Work Certification .

Product Innovation: Over the course of 2021, Lattice announced several products including a new OKR and Goals solution and a new Compensation Management solution. Most recently, Lattice launched a host of new integrations with HRIS systems focused on EMEA partnerships. To end 2021, Lattice also ranked as the top Momentum Leader on G2's Winter Momentum Grid reports for Performance Management, Employee Engagement, OKRs, and Career Management. Lattice was also recognized on Fosway's Talent and People Success 9-Grid.

About Lattice

Lattice is the people management platform that enables people leaders to develop engaged, high-performing teams. By combining continuous performance management, employee engagement, development, and growth in one solution, HR and People teams get powerful, real-time analytics that leads to actionable insights turning managers into leaders, employees into high-performers, and companies into the best places to work. Based in San Francisco, Lattice serves over 3,700 customers including Slack, Monzo, and Tide. Learn more at: www.lattice.com .

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Report finds companies can gain $357 billion in annual profits globally through people-focused transformation efforts and a commitment to ESG

BENGALURU, India, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital adoption alone is no longer enough to meet business objectives and drive profits, according to new research from Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY). The study reveals that companies must now use digital to differentiate beyond traditional IT metrics, reaffirming the importance of people-focused transformation and ESG in achieving business success. While businesses once faced a 'digital ceiling', unable to reach the most advanced levels of tech adoption, these adoption thresholds have become the minimum standard.

Infosys Digital Radar 2022 assessed the digital transformation efforts of companies on a Digital Maturity Index and found that companies have progressively adopted technology year-over-year. The report, which surveyed nearly 2,700 digital transformation leaders from the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia, ranked the most digitally advanced companies as 'Visionaries', followed by 'Explorers' and then 'Watchers'. From 2018 to 2020, a meaningful portion of businesses lagged far behind, watching the technology journeys of others before starting their own. This year's findings, however, show that all respondents have graduated from the 'Watchers' category and are now all either 'Visionaries' or 'Explorers'. Infosys has found that each industry has reached an age of digital maturity never seen before. The percentage of companies achieving moderate transformation success, the 'Explorer' tier, rose minimally. However, the 'Visionary' cluster grew from 22% in 2020 to 30% in 2021, the largest year-over-year increase for this cohort in the survey's history, indicating that companies have broken through the 'digital ceiling' and being a top adopter is no longer an operational or financial differentiator.

Companies across all industries have rushed to broadly implement technology

Companies are significantly increasing adoption of emerging technologies. More respondents reported implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain (73% and 71%, respectively) than mature and foundational cloud and legacy modernization (69% and 68%, respectively), suggesting that once emerging technologies (like AI) now show real promise, and enterprises are moving quickly and aggressively to implement them than in earlier times.

More than 90% of companies indicated they had at least started to adopt the 19 digital initiatives surveyed. Technology adoption in the healthcare industry, for example, increased from 60% to 98% since 2019. The adoption rate for the manufacturing sector increased from 81% to 97%, and the rate for the financial services sector grew from 59% to 94% in the same period.

As adoption rates soared during the pandemic, the study also indicated a point of diminishing returns for companies with high levels of adoption. Companies with above-average adoption rates, in fact, generated slightly less profit growth than those with lower adoption, while those with average rates generated the most. The study data suggests that mere adoption is not enough, what matters most is the effectiveness with which companies use their technology.

Previous surveys found adopting Agile, cloud, and other technologies led to better operational and financial benefits, but that was no longer the case in 2021, as more companies approached digital maturity. Further, the survey found companies are more effective when they use digital to positively impact stakeholders, including through environmental and social responsibility and initiatives like career paths for women and minorities, data privacy, and AI ethics.

Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys, commented: "Enterprises are at an inflection point post-pandemic. COVID-19's widespread disruption and the subsequent digital acceleration have permanently altered how the world views technology. While some enterprises have seen this as an opportunity to move beyond the questions of whether and how far to digitize, some still haven't realized the need to use these digital tools to engage their stakeholders more purposefully and respond to calls to serve people, planet, and community."

ESG provides direction, clarity - and profits

When companies have high levels of tech adoption and strong ESG commitment, four out of five times (81%), they also use technology most effectively. ESG and technology effectiveness are connected because ESG informs company culture, shapes mindset, and provides a purpose that guides decision-making up and down the line. Improving ESG leads to higher effectiveness than simply adopting more technology. While adoption is necessary and positive, ESG focus further doubled tech effectiveness, indicating that ESG commitment now drives value in its own right.

"Focused initiatives in sustainability almost unfailingly reflect in a marked increase in revenue growth, accelerated transformation effectiveness, boosts in profits and shareholder value. ESG measures will increasingly grow to influence and eventually change the metrics that measure transformation success, especially when consistently demonstrated through engagements with stakeholders across the board," said R "Ray" Wang, Principal Analyst & Founder, Constellation Research.

As the world demands more sustainable business practices, this research signals that companies who capitalize on the link between tech effectiveness and ESG are best placed to succeed in the decade ahead. They are more likely to realize business value and proactively anticipate regulatory requirements and societal pressures.

Unify ESG with digital transformation

Improving average transformation effectiveness has the potential to unlock $357 billion in incremental profits globally, based on data from the top survey respondents. While digital adoption and ESG orientation individually drive profits, they are more effective together. The research identified four approaches to amplify purpose and increase transformation effectiveness:

Integrate experience into the operating model. Digital Radar 2022 found that people-focused experience goals such as improved customer engagement, building a data-driven culture and increasing employee engagement are distinguishing top performers than tech-driven efficiency. Elevate the human element across the life cycle. Companies can emphasize the human element by utilizing Agile to coordinate small behavioral nudges and include a diverse ecosystem to better manage project delivery. Companies that rapidly implemented Agile, and in more than half (60%) their teams, were more likely to grow faster than peers (64% vs. 54% average). Build diverse, dedicated teams so that tech solutions meet the needs of all. Purpose-driven culture is created through teams that are intellectually diverse and have a shared, dedicated purpose. Digital Radar 2022 concluded companies with greater diversity use technology more effectively. Measure initiatives using ESG target. Human-centered approach to solutions and ESG are becoming more quantitative and metrics-driven. Companies today can chase loftier goals practically, armed with technologies to help them set and meet important climate and people goals.

Jeff Kavanaugh, VP and Global Head at Infosys Knowledge Institute, commented: "This year's Digital Radar research revealed a significant shift - no longer are enterprises sitting, waiting, and watching from the outside as others embrace digital. The most successful businesses are no longer early digital adopters, nor those that invested the most in AI, blockchain, and IoT. Those most successful firms now see value in the relationship between digital technologies and the people they serve. The companies best prepared to enter the post-pandemic era have already realized that technology itself isn't a differentiator, but a commitment to people and purpose."

For a full copy of the Infosys Digital Radar 2022, please visit: https://www.infosys.com/navigate-your-next/research/digital-radar-report.html

Note to Editor:

Methodology

In the latter half of 2021, Infosys used a blind format to conduct an online survey that attracted responses from nearly 2,700 CXO, senior-level, and mid-level respondents from companies with revenues upwards of US$1 Billion. Respondents represented multiple industries and hailed from Australia, China, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, U.K., and the U.S. To gain additional qualitative insights, phone interviews were also conducted with a few practitioners and subject matter experts.

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in more than 50 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

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-- A significant expansion of EV battery build capabilities

Enevate, a pioneering battery innovation company featuring extreme fast charge and high energy density battery technologies for electric vehicles (EVs) and other markets, announced that it has signed a lease for over 125,000 square feet in Irvine, California, providing room for expansion for its Electric Vehicle (EV) battery pre-production line and corporate offices.

The new facility represents a substantial growth in space from the company's existing space of 20,000 square feet at UCI Research Park.

"With Enevate's expanding customer base, increased number of projects, and more employees we simply ran out of room at our current facility," said Enevate CEO Robert A. Rango. "This is a major milestone for the company during a very exciting time in mobility as the world transitions to electric vehicles."

Enevate will utilize the new facility to greatly increase its battery pre-production line, which will serve as a demonstration facility for automakers and battery manufacturers seeking to produce batteries in industrial-scale battery factories, including large gigafactories. The expanded pre-production line will enable the manufacture of industry-standard size 21700 cylindrical cells, as well as large EV pouch cells for research and customer sampling.

The expanded facility at 34 Parker Drive in Irvine is in the heart of the Southern California EV hub. This facility expansion will also accommodate Enevate's growing staff as the company continues to hire, especially scientists and engineers.

The company expects to complete its move into the new facility before the end of this year.

ABOUT ENEVATE (www.enevate.com)

Enevate develops and licenses advanced battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs), with a vision of EVs charging as fast as refueling gas cars, accessible and affordable to everyone, and accelerating EVs' mass adoption. With a portfolio of more than 500 patents issued and in process, Enevate's pioneering advancements (leveraging accelerated battery testing and machine learning) in silicon-dominant anodes and cells have resulted in battery technology that features five-minute extreme fast charging with high energy density, low-temperature operation for cold climates, low cost and safety advantages over conventional batteries.

Enevate's vision is to develop and propagate EV battery technology that contributes to a clean and sustainable environment. The Irvine, California-based company's investors include Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi (Alliance Ventures), LG Chem, Samsung Venture Investment Corp, Fidelity Management Research Company, Mission Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tsing Capital, Infinite Potential Technologies, Presidio Ventures a Sumitomo Corporation company, Lenovo, CEC Capital, and Bangchak. Enevate, the Enevate logo, HD-Energy, and eBoost are registered trademarks of Enevate Corporation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005417/en/

Contacts:

Bill Blanning

bblanning@enevate.com

+1 (714) 916-4309
BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT (dpa-AFX) - French automaker Groupe Renault (RNT.L), said on Tuesday that Japanese automotive firm Nissan's third quarter earnings will have a positive impact on its final quarter net income. Accordingly, Nissan's earnings will have a contribution of 124 million euros for Renault's fourth-quarter earnings. In a separate communique, on TSE and China equity basis, Nissan posted net income attributable to owners of the parent of 32.7 billion yen for the third quarter, compared with a loss of 37.8 billion yen, on year over year basis. Nissan's quarterly net revenue slid by 17.8 percent to 2.22 trillion yen. On the same basis, Nissan now foresees attributable net income of 205.0 billion yen, on net revenue of 8.71 trillion yen, for the fiscal year 2022. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (OTCQB:CLSH)(CSE:CLSH), the 'Company' or 'CLS', a diversified cannabis company operating as Cannabis Life Sciences, proudly reviews the financial and operational highlights that made 2021 the most successful and transformational year to date, and releases its initial 2022 outlook.

2021 Highlights and 2022 Outlook

Despite the Nevada cannabis market decelerating in 2021, CLS saw net revenues increase 44% year over year

CLS entered into two important joint ventures, which should transform the Company and add substantial revenue at attractive margins

City Trees achieved a 6.5% brand market share, according to BDS Analytics, with leading market share positions across key categories

For calendar year 2022, we are projecting substantial net revenue growth while maintaining current gross margins and increasing EBITDA

Year-in-Review

2021 was a year to remember. We set out to accomplish some lofty goals and shake things up in the cannabis industry. We knew that if we were disciplined and executed on what we could control, we had the potential to achieve our best year ever. While the legal cannabis market in Nevada saw a deceleration of growth in 2021, our small but mighty company strongly grew YOY for the 3rd year in a row. This has everything to do with the teams we have in place on the ground working tirelessly to achieve a common goal, simply put, to be the best version of ourselves. We also entered into several key joint ventures, which we strongly believe will strategically transform the CLS story. The significant benefits of these partnerships will be increasingly visible to our investors and our customers as we progress through 2022. The Company's primary wholesale brand, City Trees, further established itself as one of the leading brands in Nevada, achieving a top market share position across its categories and winning numerous industry awards for product quality and innovation. We take great pride in contributing to the cannabis industry as a whole and fostering change within our community. We would like to thank all of those who have contributed to our successes in 2021.

Rolling into the Future

The Company announced a joint venture to manufacture pre-rolls, a category that represented approximately 11% of overall cannabis sales in Nevada, in 2021. This collaborative venture will allow for the rapid production of high quality pre-rolls. We are excited about this opportunity as the joint venture should yield a structural cost advantage, which we believe will enable it to be one of the lowest cost providers of pre-rolls. While we will be manufacturing pre-rolls for other brands under exclusive licensing agreements, we will also be creating our own line of branded pre-rolls under the Naked City Pre-Roll moniker, an extension of our award-winning City Trees brand. We also look forward to creating additional jobs and opportunities that will benefit the community around us. The joint venture has begun ramping up for production and the initial wholesale demand we have seen for the pre-rolls has exceeded our expectations.

Going to the Flower Market

For the first time in the Company's history, we will be entering the flower market. In October 2021, we announced a landmark joint venture with the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe in Northern Nevada, creating a premier cultivator of low-cost, high-quality flower in the state. Unlike the rest of Nevada, the Tribe's land near the Oregon border is an ideal location for growth, boasting an optimal climate for cultivation. We are excited about the possibilities of this partnership and the exposure it will give our investors to this unique opportunity to become a key player in the Nevada flower market, with premier product to be grown on our partner's tribal lands. The joint venture anticipates harvesting 25,000 pounds of premium outdoor flower in 2022. Similar to the pre-roll partnership, we believe this joint venture will add material revenue to CLS through the joint-venture at attractive margins over time.

Strength in Numbers

Our 2021 numbers surpassed expectations. With the hard work and dedication of our team, the Company achieved the milestone of greater than $20 million in net revenue for the first time in Company history, which was an increase of 44% from the year prior. City Trees, the Company's branded product division, achieved a YOY net revenue increase of 112% while maintaining a gross profit margin in excess of 50%. Oasis Cannabis Dispensary, the Company's retail division, saw a 26% increase in net revenue compared to 2020. Further, Oasis saw YOY growth of 15% with respect to average number of transactions and a 7% increase on the average ticket spend totaling $57 per transaction. Oasis proudly filled over 260,000 orders in 2021, which was a 14.6% increase from 2020, and had its largest individual net sales day ever on 4/20.

Small but Mighty

We take great pride in being a local company that understands our customers and brings them the highest quality product at the best price. We believe that is why City Trees continued to outpace the market despite competing against large multi-state operators. According to BDS Analytics, from January 2021 to November 2021, City Trees maintained a 6.5% brand market share across all categories (vapes, concentrates, tinctures) in Nevada. During the same time period, City Trees had a dominant position in all of its individual categories in Nevada, as follows:

#1 brand for the entire concentrate category in units sold and #2 in dollars sold for the months of September, October and November

#1 brand in the dabbable concentrates subcategory in both dollars and units sold

#2 brand in the entire concentrate category for units sold and the #3 brand in dollars sold for the entire year

#1 brand in tincture category in units and dollars sold

Due to its success, the brand grew its team from 19 to 44 by the end of 2021, adding more jobs to the market, an accomplishment that the Company values tremendously.

With Hard Work Comes Great Reward

During 2021, City Trees was awarded 3 different awards by LeafLink, the cannabis industry's wholesale marketplace, which considers data and analytics across a multitude of categories, states, and markets. The LeafLink List recognizes outstanding businesses in the LeafLink community that are advancing the cannabis industry through their quality and ingenuity. This year LeafLink named City Trees a top performing brand in Nevada as well as the winner in two concentrate categories: the fastest growing THC Distillate and top selling THC Distillate.

City Trees also won two first place awards at the 2021 High Times Cannabis Cup: People's Choice Edition. The largest pool of judges in history selected City Trees as the winner in two categories: Sativa Concentrates (awarded to Apricot Crumble Sativa Live Resin Sauce) and Sativa Vape Pens (Apricot Crumble Sativa Live Resin Vape).

These wins are a testament to the quality of product the City Trees' team is producing as well as to the team's hard work and dedication to the craft of cannabis as a whole.

What to expect in 2022

CLS recognizes the key to success is to focus on what it can control. Once the new joint ventures commence operations, the Company will have direct control over its large expansion into the flower and pre-roll categories while continuing to capitalize on the current successes of City Trees and Oasis. This next year has a lot in store, full of new products and stories to tell. We are excited about growing into other markets while giving back to the communities around us and continuing to invest in our people. After experiencing strong performance in calendar year 2021, the Company expects 2022 to be even better. CLS anticipates YOY revenue growth to accelerate while maintaining gross margins with continued EBITDA improvement.

About CLS Holdings USA, Inc.

CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (CLSH) is a diversified cannabis company that acts as an integrated cannabis producer and retailer through its Oasis Cannabis subsidiaries in Nevada and plans to expand to other states. CLS stands for "Cannabis Life Sciences," in recognition of the Company's patented proprietary method of extracting various cannabinoids from the marijuana plant and converting them into products with a higher level of quality and consistency. The Company's business model includes licensing operations, processing operations, processing facilities, sale of products, brand creation and consulting services.

https://www.clsholdingsinc.com/

Twitter: @CLSHoldingsUSA

Oasis Cannabis has operated a cannabis dispensary in the Las Vegas market since dispensaries first opened in Nevada in 2015 and has been recognized as one of the top marijuana retailers in the state. Its location within walking distance to the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas in combination with its delivery service to residents allows it to efficiently serve both locals and tourists in the Las Vegas area. In February 2019, it was named "Best Dispensary for Pot Pros" by Desert Companion Magazine. In August 2017, the company commenced wholesale offerings of cannabis in Nevada with the launch of its City Trees brand of cannabis concentrates and cannabis-infused products.

http://oasiscannabis.com

Founded in 2017, City Trees is a Nevada-based cannabis cultivation, production and distribution company. Offering a wide variety of products with consistent results, City Trees products are available in numerous dispensaries throughout the state of Nevada. https://citytrees.com

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain 'forward-looking information' within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and 'forward-looking statements' as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, the 'forward-looking statements'). These statements relate to, among other things, our estimates of future revenue, gross margin, number of transactions at our dispensary and average order size, the anticipated receipt of regulatory approvals for the pre-roll venture, which have not yet been obtained, the timing of the commencement of manufacturing operations for our pre-roll joint venture, the number of products expected to be produced each month and how long it will take the pre-roll joint venture to achieve expected monthly sales, the timing and size of the first harvest from our cultivation joint venture, the acceptance of our joint venture products by customers, whether other companies will enter into license agreements to have our pre-roll joint venture produce pre-rolls for them, whether the cost of raw cannabis remains at current levels, whether our New Mexico venture and other licensing opportunities will lead to expansion In other states, and other factors and issues typically related to and encountered by a growth stage venture. These statements will also be Impacted by the impact of the COVID-19 virus on our business, the results of our initiatives to retain our employees and strengthen our relationships with our customers and community during the pandemic, the effect of our initiatives to expand market share and achieve growth during and following the pandemic, results of operations and financial performance, anticipated future events, and the effectiveness of our business practices during the pandemic. The continued spread of COVID-19 could have, and in some cases already has had, an adverse impact on our business, operations and financial results, including through disruptions in our cultivation and processing activities, supply chains and sales channels, and retail dispensary operations as well as a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession. Due to the uncertainties associated with the continued spread of COVID-19 and the timing of vaccinations, it is not possible to estimate its impact on our business, operations or financial results; however, the impact could be material. In some cases, you can identify forward looking statements by terminology such as 'may,' 'might,' 'will,' 'should,' 'intends,' 'expects,' 'plans,' 'goals,' 'projects,' 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'predicts,' 'potential,' or 'continue' or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are only predictions, are uncertain and involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, levels of activity or performance to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity or performance expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity or performance. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered together with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect actual results, later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. See CLS Holdings USA filings with the SEC and on its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com for additional details.

Contact Information:

Corporate:

Chairman and CEO

Jeff Binder

President and COO

Andrew Glashow

888-438-9132

Investor Relations:

investors@clsholdingsinc.com

SOURCE: CLS Holdings USA, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687651/CLS-Holdings-USA-Inc-Reviews-Record-Breaking-and-Transformational-2021-and-Releases-2022-Outlook
STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERIC) Tuesday said it is reviewing its investigation related to compliance concerns about the company's business in Iraq following the latest media inquiries. The company will compare with information presented by media, and will take further action if new information emerges. The decision was taken after receiving questions from media regarding past compliance related matters in Iraq. For the company, it appears media will focus on the conduct of business in unstable regions where terrorist organizations and corruption are present and employees' safety may be at risk. In 2019, Ericsson conducted an internal investigation, under its own initiative, together with external counsel, related to compliance concerns in Iraq. The investigation focused on the conduct of Ericsson employees, vendors and suppliers, and sought to determine whether breaches of the Company's Code of Business Ethics had occurred. The investigation concluded in late 2019. In response to identified issues, the Company undertook personnel and process remediation. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The 2022 Oscar nominations didnt go according to script for some of Hollywoods top stars  including Lady Gaga.

The Manhattan-born actress received nominations at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards for her portrayal of socialite-turned-convict Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci, but was among the most surprising omissions when the Academy Award finalists were unveiled Tuesday.

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Gaga, 35, was left out of a best actress category where three nominees also played real-life figures: Kristen Stewart for the Princess Diana movie Spencer; Jessica Chastain for the televangelist biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye; and Nicole Kidman for her performance as Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos.

The other nominees in the category are Olivia Colman for the psychological thriller The Lost Daughter and Penelope Cruz for the twist-filled Spanish drama Parallel Mothers.

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The Paparazzi singer took it in her stride, posting on Instagram Tuesday afternoon to congratulate her longtime hairstylist Frederic Aspiras nomination.

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I could not be happier for a man I call my brother, who Ive worked with for the last 15 years, @fredericaspiras, for his nomination in Makeup & Hairstyling for House of Gucci, she said.

Gaga lost out to Kidman at the Golden Globes for best actress in a drama, but was named best actress by the New York Film Critics Circle.

Other notable stars who didnt get Oscar nominations for best actress Tuesday include Jennifer Hudson, who played Aretha Franklin in Respect, and Rachel Zegler, who won the Golden Globe for best actress in a musical for her performance as Maria in West Side Story.

Lady Gaga stars as Patrizia Reggiani in "House of Gucci." (Courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Inc.)

Additional surprises Tuesday included Being the Ricardos being left out in the best picture race, despite three of its stars being nominated for acting honors. The critically acclaimed musical Tick, Tick... Boom! also wasnt nominated in the category, but star Andrew Garfield received a best actor nod for his portrayal of Rent writer Jonathan Larson.

No one from the star-studded cast of Dont Look Up received acting nominations for the environmental satire, but the film was nominated for best picture. The movie, which is led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence and also features Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett, earned an ensemble cast nomination for the SAG Awards last month.

Likewise, Bradley Cooper wasnt nominated for either of his buzzworthy performances in the carnival-set thriller Nightmare Alley, directed by Guillermo del Toro, or the coming-of-age story Licorice Pizza, helmed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

The 94th edition of the Academy Awards take place March 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
SPOKANE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Goldrich Mining Company (OTCQB:GRMC) ("Goldrich" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has received a drill permit on the Company's hard-rock (lode) gold target from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources ("DNR") to carry out a multi-year, 25,000-foot diamond core drill program at the Company's Chandalar Property. Subject to financing, Goldrich will commence an initial 13,000-foot program in May 2022.

William Schara, CEO and President of Goldrich, notes "Our primary focus is the hard-rock portion of Goldrich's claims. The Initial Assessment Report on the placer deposit (see "Goldrich Mining Releases Initial Assessment Report; Results Indicate Robust Project Economics of US$64 Million After-tax NPV" news release dated June 11, 2021) shows an after-tax cash flow that is approximately six times our market cap at current gold prices - however we believe the potential value of the hard-rock portion, the source of the placer deposit, dwarfs the value of the placer. We are very excited for this drill program."

The target zone of the 2022 drill program, located on the Little Squaw Creek ("LSC") drainage, is immediately above and partially overlapping the LSC placer deposit and mine - historically among the largest placer deposits and producing placer mines in North America. The target zone sits at the heart of a zone surrounded by historic placer workings in every creek drainage and four historic hard-rock gold mines. The angularity of the placer gold nuggets in the placer deposits indicates their close proximity to a hard-rock source.

Figure 1 - Proposed 2022 Drill Pad Sites in Center of Historic Mining District

Proposed Drill Pad Sites and Drill Holes

The proposed diamond core drilling application involves six drill pads from which multiple holes may be completed. There is road access to the drill sites which are in mountainous terrain with elevations ranging from about 2,600 to 4,650 feet. The drill pads are shown in Figures #1 and the geographic coordinates of the drill pads are listed in the table of proposed drill pad sites (Fig. #2).

Most of the proposed drill pads are currently situated at either mine sites, wide spots in existing roads, or former drill sites. Tentatively, the drilling campaign will start on proposed drill pad site #3 (Fig. 1). Thereafter, drill hole placements and sequencing will be contingent on the geological findings of prior drill holes. A combination of angle and vertical HQ-size drill holes could be used on any site, probably with reductions to NQ size holes for the longer holes. Drill hole penetration could reach up to 3,000 feet vertically below surface. The sum total footage of some combination of vertical and angle drill holes is expected to reach approximately 25,000 feet. The drill program is a multi-year program. Each drilling campaign will be confined to summer seasons between approximately May 1st and September 30th of each year, subject to weather conditions.

Because the Chandalar mining district is well-served by a system of developed and well-used access roads and pathways connecting all the historic mines and most prospect diggings, there is no need for a helicopter-supported drill program. The existing network of old roads and track trails can be used for accessing all of the proposed drill pad sites. At this time, no new accesses are anticipated to be constructed. (For further details concerning the 2022 drill program, see "Goldrich Mining Applies for Drill Permits on High Priority Lode Gold Target at Chandalar Property" news release dated December 8, 2021).

Figure 2 - Table of Proposed 2022 Drill Pad Sites:

Pad Site # Multiple Holes Latitude degrees Longitude degrees Collar Elevation feet Collar Elevation meters Azimuth degrees Inclined degrees Hole TD feet 1 67.539625 -148.1914 4,658 1,420 209 -75 1,415 2 67.543877 -148.1901 4,049 1,234 209 -55 2,632 3 -1 67.543885 -148.1878 3,983 1,214 196 -65 1,429 3 - 2 67.543885 -148.1878 3,968 1,209 17 -55 1,889 3 - 3 67.543885 -148.1878 3,968 1,209 - -90 2,000 4 - 1 67.548160 -148.1822 3,468 1,057 196 -55 1,754 4 - 2 67.548160 -148.1822 3,468 1,057 0 -55 1,754 4 - 3 67.548160 -148.1822 3,468 1,057 - -90 2,000 5 - 1 67.550618 -148.1822 3,328 1,014 20 -55 3,684 5 - 2 67.550618 -148.1822 3,328 1,014 - -90 3,000 6 - 1 67.569126 -148.1598 2,596 791 2 -45 1,718 6 - 2 67.569126 -148.1598 2,596 791 50 -55 2,105 12 Holes Total Drilling Length = 25,380

About Goldrich Mining

Goldrich Mining (OTCQB:GRMC) is a U.S. based resource company focused on developing the Chandalar gold district in Alaska, USA. The Company controls a land package spanning 23,000 acres of highly prospective gold targets and historic mines. Goldrich's primary focus is the exploration and discovery of the hard-rock (lode) targets, which are the source of the placer deposit, while working to also build shareholder value by monetizing the placer assets.

For additional information regarding Goldrich Mining Company or this news release, contact Mr. William Schara via telephone at (509) 768-4468 or info@goldrichmining.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward looking statements concern use of proceeds and potential exercise of the warrants. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, budgets, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "should" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement and should consider the uncertainties and risks discussed in in the Company's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q under the heading "Risk Factors", filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available on the SEC website or www.goldrichmining.com, as well as the Company's other SEC filings. We disclaim any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Goldrich Mining Company

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687674/Goldrich-Mining-Receives-Drill-Permit-for-High-Priority-Hard-Rock-Lode-Gold-Target-at-Chandalar-Property
Rapid response to humanitarian emergency in the wake of Cyclone Batsirai

Showcasing relevance of satellite as a substitute for land-based networks disrupted by natural disasters

Regulatory News:

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005722/en/

In the wake of Cyclone Batsirai which hit Madagascar late on Saturday 5 February, Eutelsat Communications (Paris:ETL) (Euronext Paris: ETL) stepped in to provide satellite equipment and in-orbit resources on its EUTELSAT KONNECT satellite to Gulfsat Madagascar in support of the World Food Programme's (WFP) disaster relief coordination efforts.

The cyclone brought massive flooding across the country with widespread damage to infrastructure. Under the auspices of the WFP, in-orbit capacity provided by Eutelsat's satellite coupled with Gulfsat Madagascar's ground-breaking telecom expertise was assured vital support to early relief operations by deploying telecommunications resources in zones where terrestrial networks had been damaged, saturated or destroyed by the cyclone.

Philippe Oliva, Eutelsat's Chief Commercial Officer, commented: "We are proud to deliver equipment and resources to the World Food Programme, which we have supported since 2015, in the face of this humanitarian disaster. Eutelsat strives to establish satellite technology as the go-to infrastructure for digital inclusion in hard-to-reach areas. Our Group plays an active role in disaster relief around the World, with satellites providing an indispensable solution for humanitarian aid operations to restore communications wherever they are most needed."

About Eutelsat Communications

Founded in 1977, Eutelsat Communications is one of the world's leading satellite operators. With a global fleet of satellites and associated ground infrastructure, Eutelsat enables clients across Video, Data, Government, Fixed and Mobile Broadband markets to communicate effectively to their customers, irrespective of their location. Around 7,000 television channels operated by leading media groups are broadcast by Eutelsat to one billion viewers equipped for DTH reception or connected to terrestrial networks. Committed to promoting all facets of sustainable development across its business activities, Eutelsat leverages its in-orbit resources to help bridge the digital divide while maintaining a safe and uncluttered space environment. As an attractive and socially responsible employer, Eutelsat assembles 1,200 men and women from 50 countries who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service.

For more about Eutelsat go to www.eutelsat.com

www.eutelsat.com Follow us on Twitter @Eutelsat_SA

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005722/en/

Contacts:

Media

Joanna Darlington

Tel.: +33 1 53 98 31 07

jdarlington@eutelsat.com

Marie Sophie Ecuer

Tel.: +33 1 53 98 32 45

mecuer@eutelsat.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Legend Power Systems Inc. (TSX.V:LPS)(OTCQB:LPSIF) ("Legend Power" or the "Company") a global leader in commercial electrical system solutions, is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Moffat as Chief Operating Officer effective February 14, 2022.

Mr. Moffat is a seasoned executive with a strong background in customer relations, manufacturing, operations, supply chain, finance, procurement and engineering supported by over 20 years of experience in the manufacturing, telecommunications, telematics, semiconductor and banking industries. Mr. Moffat has previously held senior management roles with Cadex Electronics, Celestica, Shaw Communications, and Blackberry. Mr. Moffat holds a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Management Sciences from the University of Waterloo.

Randy Buchamer, CEO and President said, "after a thorough search process, I am very pleased to welcome Paul to the Company. His success in leading teams in the achievement of results focused in business profitability provides a key element for Legend Power to achieve its growth objectives. I have no doubt, Paul's innovative, energetic and proven ability to develop, implement and grow young organizations will positively impact all areas of the Company and members of our team."

About Legend Power Systems Inc.

Legend Power Systems Inc. (www.legendpower.com) provides an intelligent energy management platform that analyzes and improves building energy challenges, significantly impacting asset management and corporate performance. Legend Power's proven solutions support proactive executive decision-making in a complex and volatile business and energy environment. The proprietary and patented system reduces total energy consumption and power costs, while also maximizing the life of electrical equipment. Legend Power's unique solution is also a key contributor to both corporate sustainability efforts and the meeting of utility energy efficiency targets.

For further information, please contact:

Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations

+ 1 647 503 1054

sean@sophiccapital.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Press Release may contain statements which constitute "forward-looking information", including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities or performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such risks, uncertainties and factors are described in the periodic filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the Company's quarterly and annual Management's Discussion & Analysis, which may be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results to not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements other than as may be required by applicable law.

SOURCE: Legend Power Systems Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687554/Legend-PowerR-Appoints-Paul-Moffat-as-Chief-Operating-Officer
TROY, MI / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / After much research and collaboration, BNP Media is pleased to debut its newly certified Digital Audience Profile (DAP). BNP Media partnered with BPA Worldwide's iCompli Tech Assurance to certify the technology and processes behind the DAP.

The first of its kind, the DAP reports audience count, engagement metrics, and demographics for the core products of each BNP Media brand, originating from BPA audited and non-audited sources. These core products include magazines (print & digital), email marketing, websites, webinars, events and continuing education.

One of BNP Media's top priorities is a focus on the quality of audience data and transparently reporting that data. As a trusted B-to-B media leader in an increasingly digital landscape, BNP's goal was to create a Digital Audience Profile (DAP) that provides advertisers an expanded view of audiences' engagement with BNP Media products.

"Our Digital Audience Profile provides our advertisers with a deep understanding of how our audiences engage with our content across all of our platforms," Tagg Henderson, Owner & Co-CEO of BNP Media said. "The DAP also gives an unmatched level of reporting transparency in the B-to-B media world. We look forward to leading the way with BPA in this endeavor."

Using advanced data processing tools, the DAP merges data on all BNP Media customers across BNP's portfolio of products. Displaying user demographics across each product for any known audience member helps advertisers and prospects see how utilizing the full suite of BNP Media products allows them to not only reach unique audiences in each product, but also gives them multiple touchpoints for like audiences to expand, reinforce their brand message, and re-engage audiences in different ways.

"BPA iCompli conducted a rigorous review and has certified BNP Media's policies, processes and technology used to create the DAP platform," explained Rich Murphy, BPA's Executive Vice President. "We applaud BNP Media's commitment to transparency, accountability and innovation."

All Digital Audience Profiles can be found on any of BNP Media brand's Advertiser Resources page. To start gaining valuable information for your business, visit www.bnpmedia.com to contact a sales representative.

* Note: For a full list of BPA-audited brands, visit the Reports Library at www.bpaww.com

For further information, contact:

Annie Kisabeth, Sr. Marketing Manager, Brand and Event Marketing

248-229-5967

kisabetha@bnpmedia.com

About BNP Media

Founded in 1926, BNP Media is a fourth-generation, family-run media enterprise headquartered in Troy, Michigan. Millions of B2B professionals worldwide rely on BNP Media for superior information in a variety of trusted formats. Their magazines, websites, events, custom media, webinars, continuing education coursework, and market research insights are known for helping industry professionals succeed in business and get closer to their customers.

About BPA Worldwide

BPA Worldwide is in the business of providing assurance. For 80+ years as a not-for-profit assurance service provider, BPA was originally created by advertisers, advertising agencies and the media industry to audit audience claims used in the buying and selling of advertising. Performing nearly 2,100 verification engagements in more than 20 countries, BPA is a trusted resource for transparency, compliance and assurance services.

SOURCE: BNP Media

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/686622/BNP-Media-Partnership-with-BPA-Worldwide-Provides-a-Turning-Point-in-Analytics
HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Silver Tiger Metals Inc. (TSXV:SLVR)(OTCQX:SLVTF) ("Silver Tiger" or the "Corporation") has intersected 1,707.8 g/t AgEq over 0.9 meters within a broader interval of 7.4 meters grading 314.5 g/t AgEq in the Seitz Kelly Vein.

Highlights from the on-going drilling program include the following:

Hole ET-21-293: 0.9 meters grading 1,707.8 g/t silver equivalent from 273.1 meters to 274.0 meters consisting of 1,582.0 g/t silver, 0.17 g/t gold, 0.52% copper, 0.87% lead and 1.28% zinc within 7.4 meters grading 314.5 g/t silver equivalent from 271.2 meters to 278.6 meters, consisting of 289.8 g/t silver, 0.05 g/t gold, 0.10% copper, 0.16% lead and 0.24% zinc.

Hole ET-21-293 (Seitz Kelly HW): 0.5 meters grading 1,757.6 g/t silver equivalent from 250.0 meters to 250.5 meters consisting of 1,664.0 g/t silver, 0.09 g/t gold, 0.63% copper, 0.84% lead and 0.19% zinc within 6.3 meters grading 175.5 g/t silver equivalent from 250.0 meters to 256.3 meters, consisting of 148.9 g/t silver, 0.03 g/t gold, 0.06% copper, 0.12% lead and 0.47% zinc.

Additional results are presented in the Drill Hole Results table below along with the details for the calculation of the silver equivalent grades.

Attached is El Tigre Cross Section 5100N detailing Drill Hole ET-21-293. Also attached is a Plan Map of the El Tigre Veins and Drill Holes. A Plan Map of the 600 meter central portion of the Seitz Kelly and Sooy Veins is also attached.

Silver Tiger's CEO, Glenn Jessome, stated, "Down dip drill hole 293 which is 50 meters north of drill hole 264, where we intersected 82 kg per ton silver equivalent, has delivered two multi-kilo silver intercepts. Of significance is that Hole 293 was drilled underneath the last of the deeper workings at the north end of the Seitz Kelly Vein. We now have 400 meters of the Seitz Kelly vein going north to test where mining was only conducted on two levels close to surface." Mr. Jessome continued, "The wide intercept in Hole 288 in the black shale continues to strengthen our hypothesis that the evolving shale horizon is mineralized where the high-grade quartz veins pass through it."

Seitz Kelly Vein

The Seitz Kelly Vein was the eastern most of the 3 high grade silver veins at the Historic El Tigre Mine which is reported to have produced a total of 353,000 ounces of gold and 67,400,000 ounces of silver from 1.87 million tonnes (Craig, 2012) at an average grade of approximately 2 kg of silver equivalent per tonne between 1908 and 1930. The development of the Seitz Kelly Vein began in the later period of the El Tigre mine life. The mine ceased operations in 1930 only due to economic factors caused by the onset of the Great Depression when the price of silver declined to less than 20 per ounce.

The historical underground workings on the Seitz Kelly vein extended over a strike length of 1,000 meters on 11 working levels. Geological and assay plan maps from the original operations were recovered from the Anaconda Collection archives at the University of Wyoming. A total of 5,301 underground channel samples with gold and silver assays in the Seitz Kelly workings (levels, raises, winzes, crosscuts) were digitized and plotted.

Mining on the upper levels of the Seitz Kelly vein was advanced to Section 5500N but only to 5100N on Level 6 and 5000N on Level 7 below the Espuelas Canyon (see Sooy and Seitz Kelly Vein Plan Map) when the mine shut down in 1930. Both drifts were advancing to the north in high grade ore. The drill holes were spotted to test below the Level 6 and 7 workings in this area. Drilling started in June 2021 on Section 4975, with 15 holes totaling 3,422.5 meters completed to date. Two drill rigs are working on Sections spaced at 25m intervals along strike.

Longitudinal Section of the Seitz Kelly Vein Workings and Hole ET-21-264 (view looking to NE)

Drill Hole Results Table

Hole ID Comment From To Length(1) Gold Silver Copper Lead Zinc AgEq Total(2) m m m g/t g/t % % % g/t ET-21-282 Seitz Kelly Zone 266.5 285.0 18.5 0.56 50.4 0.01 0.04 0.13 98.3 including 266.5 268.0 1.5 2.44 185.4 0.00 0.00 0.00 369.0 ET-21-288 Seitz Kelly Zone 233.9 259.9 26.0 0.16 44.7 0.03 0.31 0.59 86.9 including 245.0 248.9 3.9 0.15 120.3 0.06 0.76 1.73 212.5 including 245.0 246.0 1.0 0.15 241.0 0.11 1.02 2.53 370.4 ET-21-293 Seitz Kelly HW 250.0 256.3 6.3 0.03 148.9 0.06 0.12 0.47 175.5 including 250.0 250.5 0.5 0.09 1,664.0 0.63 0.84 0.19 1,757.6 Seitz Kelly 271.2 278.6 7.4 0.05 289.8 0.10 0.16 0.24 314.5 including 273.1 274.0 0.9 0.17 1,582.0 0.52 0.87 1.28 1,707.8 ET-21-294 Seitz Kelly HW 203.5 214.0 10.5 0.29 1.0 0.00 0.00 0.01 23.4 including 203.5 211.0 7.5 0.36 0.3 0.00 0.00 0.01 27.6 ET-21-295 Seitz Kelly Vein 271.5 275.4 3.9 0.48 51.4 0.04 0.37 1.40 146.0 including 273.8 274.5 0.6 0.20 295.0 0.21 2.15 8.24 654.0 ET-21-297 Seitz Kelly 237.5 243.8 6.3 0.16 21.1 0.01 0.79 1.16 91.9 including 241.7 243.2 1.5 0.28 66.2 0.03 3.06 4.59 315.2

Notes:

1. Not true width.

2. Silver Equivalent ("EqAg") ratios are based on a silver to gold price ratio of 75:1 (Au:Ag). Copper, lead and zinc are converted using $3.66/lb copper, $0.90/lb lead, $1.26/lb zinc at 100% metal recoveries based on a silver price of $26.00/oz.

3. HW = Hanging Wall

Drill Hole Location Table

Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation Az Dip Length ET-21-282 670937 3384920 1851 105 -40 369.1 ET-21-288 671006 3385074 1876 81 -34 326.4 ET-21-293 671005 3385074 1876 80 -42 317.2 ET-21-294 670971 3384781 1953 90 -30 227.2 ET-21-295 670938 3384920 1851 90 -40 384.3 ET-21-297 671059 3385138 1928 90 -50 332.5

El Tigre Cross Section 5100N (Drill Holes ET-21- 288 and ET-21-293)

Plan Map of the El Tigre Veins and Drill Holes

Plan Map of the Sooy and Keitz Kelly Veins

El Tigre Resource Estimate

After acquiring El Tigre, Silver Tiger drilled 12,500 meters to define the wide halo of near surface gold mineralization around the mined high-grade veins of the historic El Tigre Mine. This allowed Silver Tiger to deliver a maiden resource estimate for the El Tigre Property to a depth of 150 meters containing indicated resources of 661,000 gold equivalent ounces at 0.77 g/t (21 g/t silver and 0.51 g/t gold) and inferred resources of 341,000 gold equivalent ounces at 1.59 g/t (88 g/t silver and 0.52 g/t gold). The National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate on the El Tigre Project, Sonora, Mexico" effective as of September 7, 2017 and dated October 26, 2017 prepared by David Burga, P.Geo., Yungang Wu, P.Geo., Fred Brown, P.Geo., Jarita Barry, P.Geo., Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET, Alfred Hayden, P.Eng. and Richard H. Sutcliffe, Ph.D., P.Geo. of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. is available on the Corporation's website at www.silvertigermetals.com and on www.sedar.com under the Corporation's profile.

About the El Tigre Historic Mine District

Silver Tiger Metals Inc. is a Canadian company whose management has more than 25 years' experience discovering, financing and building large hydrothermal silver projects in Mexico. Silver Tiger's 100% owned 28,414 hectare Historic El Tigre Mining District is located in Sonora, Mexico. Principled environmental, social and governance practices are core priorities at Silver Tiger.

The El Tigre historic mine district is located in Sonora, Mexico and lies at the northern end of the Sierra Madre silver and gold belt which hosts many epithermal silver and gold deposits, including Dolores, Santa Elena and Las Chispas at the northern end. In 1896, gold was first discovered on the property in the Gold Hill area and mining started with the Brown Shaft in 1903. The focus soon changed to mining high-grade silver veins in the area with production coming from 3 parallel veins the El Tigre Vein, the Seitz Kelley Vein and the Sooy Vein. Underground mining on the middle El Tigre vein extended 1,450 meters along strike and was mined on 14 levels to a depth of approximately 450 meters. The Seitz Kelley Vein was mined along strike for 1 kilometer to a depth of approximately 200 meters. The Sooy Vein was only mined along strike for 250 meters to a depth of approximately 150 meters. Mining abruptly stopped on all 3 of these veins when the price of silver collapsed to less than 20 per ounce with the onset of the Great Depression. By the time the mine closed in 1930, it is reported to have produced a total of 353,000 ounces of gold and 67.4 million ounces of silver from 1.87 million tons (Craig, 2012). The average grade mined during this period was over 2 kilograms silver equivalent per ton.

The El Tigre silver and gold deposit is related to a series of high-grade epithermal veins controlled by a north-south trending structure cutting across the andesitic and rhyolitic tuffs of the Sierra Madre Volcanic Complex within a broad silver and gold mineralized prophylitic alteration zone developed in the El Tigre Formation that can be up to 150 meters wide. The veins dip steeply to the west and are typically 0.5 meter wide but locally can be up to 5 meters in width. The veins, structures and mineralized zones outcrop on surface and have been traced for 5.3 kilometers along strike in our brownfield exploration area. Historical mining and exploration activities focused on a 1.6 kilometer portion of the southern end of the deposits, principally on the El Tigre, Seitz Kelly and Sooy veins. The under explored Caleigh, Benjamin, Protectora and the Fundadora exposed veins continue north for more than 3 kilometers. Silver Tiger has delivered its maiden 43-101 compliant resource estimate and is currently drilling to update its resource estimate and publish a PEA.

VRIFY Slide Deck and 3D Presentation - Silver Tiger's El Tigre Project

VRIFY is a platform being used by companies to communicate with investors using 360 virtual tours of remote mining assets, 3D models and interactive presentations. VRIFY can be accessed by website and with the VRIFY iOS and Android apps.

Access the Silver Tiger Metals Inc. Company Profile on VRIFY at: https://vrify.com

The VRIFY Slide Deck and 3D Presentation for Silver Tiger Metals Inc. can be viewed at: https://vrify.com/explore/decks/492 and on the Corporation's website at: www.silvertigermetals.com.

Procedure, Quality Assurance / Quality Control and Data Verification

The diamond drill core (HQ size) is geologically logged, photographed and marked for sampling. When the sample lengths are determined, the full core is sawn with a diamond blade core saw with one half of the core being bagged and tagged for assay. The remaining half portion is returned to the core trays for storage and/or for metallurgical test work.

The sealed and tagged sample bags are transported to the Bureau Veritas facility in Hermosillo, Mexico. Bureau Veritas crushes the samples (Code PRP70-250) and prepares 200-300 gram pulp samples with ninety percent passing Tyler 200 mesh (Code PUL85). The pulps are assayed for gold using a 30-gram charge by fire assay (Code FA630) and over limits greater than 10 grams per tonne are re-assayed using a gravimetric finish (Code FA530). Silver and multi-element analysis is completed using total digestion (Code MA200 Total Digestion ICP). Over limits greater than 100 grams per tonne silver are re-assayed using a gravimetric finish (Code FA530).

Quality assurance and quality control ("QA/QC") procedures monitor the chain-of-custody of the samples and includes the systematic insertion and monitoring of appropriate reference materials (certified standards, blanks and duplicates) into the sample strings. The results of the assaying of the QA/QC material included in each batch are tracked to ensure the integrity of the assay data. All results stated in this announcement have passed Silver Tiger's QA/QC protocols.

Qualified Person

David R. Duncan, P. Geo., V.P. Exploration of the Corporation, is the Qualified Person for Silver Tiger as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Duncan has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

For further information, please contact:

Glenn Jessome

President and CEO

902 492 0298

jessome@silvertigermetals.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT:

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, resources and reserves, the ability to convert inferred resources to indicated resources, the ability to complete future drilling programs and infill sampling, the ability to extend resource blocks, the similarity of mineralization at El Tigre to Delores, Santa Elena and Chispas, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of Silver Tiger, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "may", "is expected to", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans", "projection", "could", "vision", "goals", "objective" and "outlook" and other similar words. Although Silver Tiger believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Silver Tiger's expectations include risks and uncertainties related to exploration, development, operations, commodity prices and global financial volatility, risk and uncertainties of operating in a foreign jurisdiction as well as additional risks described from time to time in the filings made by Silver Tiger with securities regulators.

SOURCE: Silver Tiger Metals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687691/Silver-Tiger-Intersects-17078-gt-AgEq-over-09-meters-Within-a-Broader-Interval-of-74-meters-Grading-3145-gt-AgEq-in-the-Seitz-Kelly-Vein
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Vox Royalty Corp. (TSXV:VOX)(OTCQX:VOXCF) ("Vox" or the "Company"), a high growth precious metals focused royalty company, is pleased to provide recent development and exploration updates from royalty operating partners Black Cat Syndicate Limited (ASX:BC8) ("Black Cat"), Gold Standard Ventures Corp. (TSX:GSV) ("Gold Standard Ventures"), Silver Mines Limited (ASX:SVL) ("Silver Mines"), ValOre Metals Corp. (TSXV:VO) ("ValOre"), and Kalamazoo Resources Limited (ASX:KZR) ("Kalamazoo").

Spencer Cole, Chief Investment Officer stated: "The past month's developments on key royalty properties continue to support Vox management expectations that 2022 will be a record year for royalty-linked drilling, engineering studies and first production milestones. Based on operator guidance, Bulong continues to trend towards commencement of mining in late-2022, South Railroad's feasibility is expected within the coming months, the Bowdens' underground expansion scoping study is on-track for H1 2022 delivery, and multiple resource upgrades are expected for Pedra Branca, Ashburton and other key properties later in 2022."

Key Development Updates

Release of maiden reserves planned for the March 2022 quarter and key work approval permit granted for the construction of the processing facility at Majestic, part of the Bulong gold project operated by Black Cat;

Positive drill results and upcoming feasibility study release for the South Railroad gold project in Nevada by Gold Standard Ventures;

Continued drilling success and upcoming underground scoping study at the Bowdens project by Silver Mines;

Resource expansion drilling success at the Pedra Branca platinum group elements (" PGE ") project by ValOre; and

") project by ValOre; and Strong drilling results and extensive fieldwork, studies and permitting planned for 2022 at the Ashburton gold project by Kalamazoo.

Figure 1: 3D Model of Black Cat's approved 800ktpa processing facility

Bulong (Pre-Construction) - Maiden Reserves and Work Approval Permit Granted

Vox holds a 1% net smelter royalty over part of the Bulong gold project;

On January 25, 2022, Black Cat announced: Drilling at Majestic in H2 2021 was focussed on upgrading the underground resource from Inferred to Indicated categories ahead of planned maiden ore reserves to be released in the March 2022 quarter; and It was recently granted the Work Approval Permit for the construction of the planned 800ktpa processing facility at Majestic. The only outstanding permit required for mine development and mill construction is the Tailings Storage Facility (" TSF ") mining proposal, which is anticipated in Q1 2022.

Vox Management Summary: The Bulong gold project in Western Australia continues to be derisked towards construction and production with this key permitting milestone. Following the release of maiden reserves and the final TSF permit, Vox management expects the Bulong project to progress into construction over the coming months.

South Railroad (Pre-Feasibility) - Positive Drilling Results and Q1 2022 Feasibility Study

Vox holds a 0.633% net smelter royalty with advance minimum royalty payments over portions of the South Railroad gold project, which is located in the prolific Carlin Trend of Nevada;

Vox has been receiving advance minimum royalty payments from Gold Standard Ventures since October 2021;

On January 18, 2022, Gold Standard Ventures announced: Positive drill results from eight reverse circulation drill holes at the Pinion SB Zone (" SB Zone ") as part of its 2021 exploration and development program; Jason Attew, President and CEO stated: "We are very encouraged by the 2021 drilling results at the SB Zone. We are intersecting mineralization closer to surface than previously estimated and the target remains open to the south and east. We look forward to continuing to explore this target in 2022 with the goal of adding to the existing Pinion mineral resource by year-end"; and According to Gold Standard Ventures management guidance, the SB Zone represents the best mine life extension opportunity at the South Railroad project, with potential production from this zone being additive to the life of mine plan contemplated in the upcoming Feasibility Study that is planned to be completed in Q1 2022, as announced on November 10, 2021 .

Vox Management Summary: The impending release of the South Railroad feasibility study in Q1 2022 and an upgrade of royalty-linked resources at the SB Zone are key catalysts that have strong potential to increase the value of Vox's South Railroad gold royalty. This exciting Nevada-based gold project is rapidly approaching a near-term construction decision.

Bowdens (Feasibility) - Continued Drilling Success and H1 2022 Underground Scoping Study

Vox holds a 0.85% gross revenue royalty on the Bowdens silver-lead-zinc project and a 1% gross revenue royalty over surrounding regional exploration tenure;

On January 18, 2022, Silver Mines announced: The company currently has four drill rigs on site continuing a 30,000m diamond drilling program. The results from this drilling program will form the basis for a Mineral Resource estimate as part of a Scoping Study of underground mining scenarios; The underground Scoping Study is now advanced and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022; Continued success in drilling extends the Bundarra Zone mineralisation. Results include quartz sulphide vein style mineralisation at depth, with significant copper intersected for the first time at Bowdens; BD21042: 2.4m @ 1,520 g/t silver equivalent (269 g/t silver, 15.80% zinc, 10.33% lead, 0.78% copper and 0.42 g/t gold) from 297.3m, including: 1m @ 2,282 g/t silver equivalent (398 g/t silver, 22.90% zinc, 16.80% lead, 1.06% copper and 0.82 g/t gold) from 298m; 1.5m @ 869 g/t silver equivalent (98 g/t silver, 14.49% zinc, 0.20% lead, 0.30% copper and 0.14 g/t gold) from 327.1m; BD21039: 4.6m @ 338 g/t silver equivalent (24 g/t silver, 3.67% zinc, 1.47% lead and 0.98 g/t gold) from 406m; 8.1m @ 193 g/t silver equivalent (18 g/t silver, 1.82% zinc, 1.45% lead and 0.41 g/t gold) from 416.9m; BD21038: 1m @ 740 g/t silver equivalent (343 g/t silver, 5.29% zinc and 3.74% lead) from 107m; and 6m @ 244 g/t silver equivalent (26 g/t silver, 2.43% zinc, 2.50% lead and 0.12 g/t gold) from 374m, including: 1m @ 478 g/t silver equivalent (59 g/t silver, 3.78% zinc, 6.0% lead and 0.38 g/t gold).

Vox Management Summary: These high-grade drilling results continue to support the potential feasibility of the underground expansion case at Bowdens, which is already Australia's largest primary silver deposit. The proposed underground production case is incremental to the feasibility-stage open pit mine plan which is in the final stages of permitting.

Pedra Branca (Preliminary Economic Assessment) - Resource Expansion Drilling Success

Vox holds a 1% net smelter return royalty on the Pedra Branca PGE project;

On December 20, 2021, ValOre announced: At the Massape Zone, 2021 drilling highlights included: 11 core holes drilled totalling 1,510m, with all 11 intercepting the target PGE-bearing ultramafic intrusion; PGE intervals returned in 10 of 11 core holes, with highlights including: DD21MS09: 21m at 1.82 grams per tonne palladium + platinum + gold (" g/t 2PGE+Au ") from 73m, including 9.1m at 3.0 g/t 2PGE+Au from 84m; DD21MS13: 21m at 1.67 g/t 2PGE+Au from 27m, including 6.6m at 3.22 g/t 2PGE+Au from 29m; DD21MS12: 23m at 1.19 g/t 2PGE+Au from 101m, and 14m at 0.99 g/t 2PGE+Au from 137m including 5.4m at 2.26 g/t 2PGE+Au from 136.6m; At the Santo Amaro South Zone, drilling highlights included: 4 holes drilled totalling 300m, with all 4 intercepting the target PGE-bearing ultramafic intrusion, including the following highlights: DD21SAS05: 22m at 1.40 g/t 2PGE+Au from 13m; DD21SAS04: 18m at 1.46 g/t 2PGE+Au from 51m, including 9.8m at 2.42 g/t 2PGE+Au from 58m; and DD21SAS07: 13m at 1.29 g/t 2PGE+Au from 69m.

On January 18, 2022, ValOre announced: At the Cedro deposit 4 drill holes totalling 332m confirmed the historically reported geology and returned broad, consistently mineralized PGE intercepts including: DD21CD24A: 53m at 1.18 g/t 2PGE+Au from surface, including 7.0m at 2.64 g/t 2PGE+Au from 44m; DD21CD05A: 62m at 0.90 g/t 2PGE+Au from 58m, including 31m at 1.40 g/t 2PGE+Au from 82m; DD21CD89A: 52m at 1.03 g/t 2PGE+Au from 19m; and DD21CD42A: 70m at 0.71 g/t 2PGE+Au from surface, including 29m at 1.12 g/t 2PGE+Au.

Vox Management Summary: ValOre's exploration results are demonstrating a level of consistency in the proportion of drillholes hitting economic-width PGE mineralisation, which is very rare in the mining industry. We remain excited about the potential increase of the Pedra Branca resource estimate later in 2022.

Ashburton (Exploration) - Strong Drilling Results

Vox holds a 1.75% gross revenue royalty (>250koz cumulative production) on the Ashburton gold project;

On January 20, 2022, Kalamazoo announced the following results: At the West Olympus Deposit, drilling has identified two additional thick mineralised lodes that remain open down plunge with best intercepts including: KARC0092A: 6m @ 2.84g/t Au from 136m and 19m @ 1.26g/t Au from 196m; KARC0091: 10m @ 2.26g/t Au from 123m including 2m @ 4.16g/t Au from 128m; KARC0093: 5m @ 3.62g/t Au from 100m and 9m @ 2.26g/t Au from 146m; and KARC0090A: 7m @ 2.17g/t Au from 143m; The recently completed Phase II drilling has extended shallow gold intercepts 100m to the west of the West Olympus Deposit with best intercepts including: KARC0089: 6m @ 1.32g/t Au from 23m; KARC0084: 4m @ 1.16g/t Au from 24m including 1m @ 3.17g/t Au from 26m; and KARC0083: 3m @ 1.26g/t Au from 15m; At the Peake Deposit, shallow gold intercepts have extended the main lode 200m west beyond the current resource and identified new sources of oxide gold with best intercepts including: KADD0001: 1.2m @ 15.15g/t Au from 79m; KARC0041: 6m @ 1.43g/t Au from 45m; KARC0044: 4m @ 2.01g/t Au from 34m; KARC0073: 4m @ 3.14g/t Au from 15m - footwall; and KARC0107: 1m @ 11.7g/t Au from 48m - footwall; At the Zeus Deposit, extensional exploration drilling has confirmed gold mineralised lodes further southwest beyond the current resource with best intercepts including: KARC0121: 9m @ 1.08g/t Au from 177m; and KARC0120A: 5m @ 1.69g/t Au from 118m; Planning is underway for extensive Phase III drilling and exploration program to commence in early 2022, which will include: Release of the remaining regional drilling results of the 2021 Phase II drilling program; Assess awaited results for surface soil and rockchip sampling completed during the fieldwork program across the northern Diligence Dome; Completion of a new Mt Olympus Deposit Metallurgical Scoping Study; Ongoing geological interpretation, modelling and drill hole targeting exercises; Planning and design of proposed 2022 ground and airborne geophysical surveys; Field reconnaissance/mapping campaigns; and Cultural heritage clearances and regulatory permitting.

On January 24, 2022, Kalamazoo announced the following assay results over five regional "greenfields" prospects: At the Annie Oakley Prospect: highly encouraging moderate grade gold intercepts contained within broad zones of gold anomalism were returned with best results including: 4m @ 2.67 g/t Au from 17m (KARC0124); 2m @ 4.09 g/t Au from 57m (KARC0133); and 3m @ 1.63g/t Au from 37m (KARC0126); The Annie Oakley drilling results support its exploration potential to discover additional shallow high-grade oxide gold resources; At the largely untested Petra Prospect: AC drilling discovered a >500m wide +10ppb Au anomaly within the major northwest striking fault corridor that hosts the Mt Olympus and Zeus deposits; Kalamazoo considers the Petra Prospect to be a high priority target with the hallmarks of being a significant 'Carlin Type' gold deposit discovery and will be followed up in 2022; and At the St Helens Prospect, AC drilling intersected encouraging gold anomalism proximal to the West Olympus Deposit with best results including: 6m @ 2.2g/t Au from 93m including 1m @ 4.22g/t Au from 96m (KAAC0067); and 4m @ 1.46g/t Au from 76m (KAAC0070).

Vox Management Summary: Kalamazoo management have previously disclosed an exploration target for Ashburton of 2Moz - 3Moz and this drilling success continues to support the likelihood of this target. The substantial 2022 work program spanning drilling, resource estimation, metallurgical studies and permitting confirms Vox management confidence that this large-scale gold project is rapidly advancing towards development.

Qualified Person

Timothy J. Strong, MIMMM, of Kangari Consulting LLC and a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this press release.

About Vox

Vox is a high growth precious metals royalty and streaming company with a portfolio of over 50 royalties and streams spanning eight jurisdictions. The Company was established in 2014 and has since built unique intellectual property, a technically focused transactional team and a global sourcing network which has allowed Vox to become the fastest growing company in the royalty sector. Since the beginning of 2019, Vox has announced over 20 separate transactions to acquire over 45 royalties.

Further information on Vox can be found at www.voxroyalty.com.

For further information contact:

Spencer Cole Kyle Floyd Chief Investment Officer Chief Executive Officer spencer@voxroyalty.com info@voxroyalty.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results " may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements".

The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include, but are not limited to, summaries of operator updates provided by management and the potential impact on the Company of such operator updates, statements regarding expectations for the timing of commencement of development, construction at and/or resource production from various mining projects, expectations regarding the size, quality and exploitability of the resources at various mining projects, future operations and work programs of Vox's mining operator partners, the receipt of future royalty payments derived from various royalty assets of Vox, anticipated future cash flows and future financial reporting by Vox, and requirements for and operator ability to receive regulatory approvals.

Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Vox to control or predict, that may cause Vox's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to: the requirement for regulatory approvals and third party consents, the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over the mining operations from which Vox will receive royalties, including risks related to international operations, government relations and environmental regulation, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties; the uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration data; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with Vox's expectations; accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions in operations; fluctuating metal prices; unanticipated costs and expenses; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations; currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions; liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties.

Vox has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of Vox as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While Vox may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Technical and Third-Party Information

Except where otherwise stated, the disclosure in this press release is based on information publicly disclosed by project operators based on the information/data available in the public domain as at the date hereof and none of this information has been independently verified by Vox. Specifically, as a royalty investor, Vox has limited, if any, access to the royalty operations. Although Vox does not have any knowledge that such information may not be accurate, there can be no assurance that such information from the project operators is complete or accurate. Some information publicly reported by the project operators may relate to a larger property than the area covered by Vox's royalty interests. Vox's royalty interests often cover less than 100% and sometimes only a portion of the publicly reported mineral reserves, mineral resources and production of a property.

SOURCE: Vox Royalty Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687614/Vox-Provides-Development-Exploration-Updates


TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The United States has reduced the 25 percent extra tariff on steel imports from Japan that was imposed by the Trump administration.



Under the new 232 tariff agreement reached with Japan on Monday, around 1.25 million metric tonnes of Japanese steel products will be allowed to enter the U.S. market a year without the application of Section 232 tariffs.



Announcing the deal, Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said it will strengthen the United State's steel industry and ensure its workforce stays competitive, while also providing more access to cheaper steel and addressing a major irritant between the U.S. and Japan, one of its most important allies.



'Today's announcement builds on the deal we struck with the EU and will further help us rebuild relationships with our allies around the world as we work to fight against China's unfair trade practices,' she added.



'This agreement, combined with last year's resolution with the European Union, will help us combat China's anti-competitive, non-market trade actions in the steel sector, while helping us reach President Biden's ambitious global climate agenda,' United States Trade Representative Katherine C. Tai said in a statement.



The agreement will come into effect on April 1.



The two sides will review the agreement on an annual basis, including in light of changes in the global steel and aluminum markets, U.S. demand, and imports.



The 10 percent additional aluminum tariff on imports from Japan, which the Trump administration introduced along with the steel tariff in 2018, will remain in place.



The amount of steel that Japan exports to the United States has fallen considerably after the Trump-era additional tariff.







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Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Vaughan, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Delota Corp. (TSXV: LOTA) ("Delota" or the "Company") (formerly, Spyder Cannabis Inc.), an established Canadian cannabis and vape retailer, is excited to announce the opening of its first Offside Cannabis dispensary.

"This first Offside Cannabis opening in Niagara Falls' Clifton Hill district is part of our strategy to identify and capitalize on lease opportunities within our 180 Smoke Vape Store portfolio," says Dan Pelchovitz, Chief Executive Officer of Delota's Cannabis Division.

According to Pelchovitz, Delota is expected to organically increase its dispensary footprint to a total of 10 locations in Ontario by fiscal year-end. "We expect to apply for additional Retail Store Authorizations to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) for premises in Hamilton, Ottawa and The Blue Mountains within our existing lease portfolio. Additionally, we are also exploring strategic acquisitions to further increase our retail footprint," Pelchovitz says.

"The new Offside Cannabis branding reinforces our overall vision: to build the most popular cannabis retail brands," says Cameron Wickham, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of Delota. "The Offside Cannabis brand is well positioned to serve the highly-involved and value-conscious cannabis consumer. With this in mind, we are also developing another more experiential and high-variety-focused cannabis retail banner brand catering to the low-involvement target segment, which should be announced in the coming months."

The first Offside Cannabis dispensary is located at 5719 Victoria Avenue, Niagara Falls, Ontario, L2G 3L5.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3742/113058_2854b650c495882e_001full.jpg

The first Offside Cannabis location officially opened its doors on Friday, February 4, 2022, and is following provincial COVID-19 public health measures around retail re-opening. Consumers can also order online for curbside and in-store pickup.

Interior shots of the new Offside Cannabis in Niagara Falls.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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The Offside Cannabis brand serves the value-conscious cannabis consumer.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3742/113058_2854b650c495882e_003full.jpg

To learn more about Offside Cannabis and to be notified when new dispensaries open, sign up for our newsletter.

About Delota Corp.

Delota is an established cannabis and vape retailer that owns and operates a portfolio of Canadian retail brands well-positioned to capitalize on the evolving cannabis and nicotine retail sectors. Delota's goal is to build the most popular retail cannabis and nicotine brands in Canada by aggressively growing its retail footprint and developing retail banners that resonate with a loyal and growing cannabis and nicotine customer base. Delota's current retail banners include Offside Cannabis, SPDR Cannabis and 180 Smoke.

Cautionary Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance of the Company. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "may", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions, and negatives thereto, and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the parties. Forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Delota Corp.

Cameron Wickham

Executive Vice Chairman & CEO

T: (905) 330-1602

E: info@delota.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113058
Lack of regulatory standardization delays meaningful action, according to new data from RegTech, CUBE

A lack of global standardization for climate-related financial regulation has created a confusing, disconnected and easy to ignore cross-border compliance landscape.

New analysis and research from CUBE, a global RegTech providing Automated Regulatory Intelligence for some of the world's leading financial institutions, shows that this is hampering financial services companies from implementing crucial climate change mitigation measures.

Despite the prominence of cross-border industry groups there is currently minimal collaboration between regulators. CUBE's analysis suggests that there is little evidence that North American regulators are using the EU-based Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation as a framework for their own disclosure rules, and while there have been attempts at a global approach, such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, their adoption has also been limited.

The lack of standardization globally highlights the chasm between what regulators are saying and what they are enacting in the form of rules, regulations and legislation. Regulatory bodies across regions are publishing tens of thousands of climate-related issuances and guidance but just a tiny fraction of them have become enforceable regulations. In Europe, just 4% of the more than 50,000 climate-related issuances made in the last 10 years exist within in-force regulations. Meanwhile, in North America, 16% of total issuances are in force, although they are publishing far less climate-related content overall, and in Asia, just 0.007% of issuances have been codified. Of the issuances CUBE analyzed that are not currently in force, 11% are in progress towards becoming law.

Exacerbating the problem is the notable silence from some of the world's most prominent and powerful regulatory authorities. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority only accounted for 0.004% of all regulatory instances within the data analyzed, and the US's Securities and Exchange Commission represented even less at 0.0004%.

As a result, financial services firms are left with little clear guidance on what measures they should be taking to curb climate change risks and little incentive, as well. The cost of compliance can be high, and with significant uncertainty clouding the future of climate-related regulations, firms may be reticent to make the necessary investments until the landscape is clearer. The outcome, then, is a lack of urgently needed action not just from regulators, but from the firms themselves.

CUBE Founder and CEO, Ben Richmond, said: "Without a global regulatory standard, a lack of cross-border collaboration has emerged, resulting in meaningful discussion but limited action and guidance from regulators. This has inadvertently left gray areas around how firms can navigate and implement regulatory change. It has also left gaps in how these firms can effectively curb climate change risks.

Ultimately, ESG-related regulation is one of the most important regulatory movements we have seen in our time, so much so that over 2020 and 2021, in the face of a global pandemic, regulatory bodies continued to publish climate-related content in the tens of thousands.

Firms who find climate-related risk slipping down their agenda should not overlook the sheer quantity of issuances in the progress of becoming law over the next two years. More than 8,000 global regulatory insights currently exist as 'Bills' which suggests that legislation will be implemented and imminently.

This release includes data from Climate Change Risk: The Race to Regulation. The report harnesses CUBE's AI-powered, golden source of regulatory data, and collects and analyzes more than 100,000 data points on climate risk across global financial regulators with a view to better understand the regulatory focus. You can read the full report here.

About CUBE

CUBE is a global RegTech boasting the world's most comprehensive source of classified, meaningful regulatory intelligence. Born of the 2008 financial crisis, CUBE combines industry-leading technology and automation with expert-validated insights to enable global financial institutions to streamline their complex regulatory change management processes with Automated Regulatory Intelligence (ARI).

Using leading techniques in artificial intelligence, including machine learning and natural language processing, CUBE captures and classifies all regulatory content across 180 countries in 60 languages and maps it to customers' compliance frameworks, from financial crime to cyber, privacy, tech risk and more.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005169/en/

Contacts:

Jennifer Clarke

Senior Editorial Manager, CUBE

Jennifer.clarke@cube.global
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Strategy's assets under management have more than doubled since the team joined in March 2021

Team has maintained top decile investment performance since inception 5 years ago

Completion of UCITS fund merger finalizes the acquisition from AMP Capital

MONTREAL, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fiera Capital Corporation ("Fiera Capital" or the "Company") (TSX: FSZ), a leading independent asset management firm, is pleased to announce that its Fiera Atlas Global Companies ("Fiera Atlas") team, which the Company onboarded in March 2021, reported total assets under management ("AUM") of C$1.5 billion globally as of December 31, 2021, of which C$1.2 billion is invested in the team's UCITS vehicle.

The Fiera Atlas team, which was rated AA by Citywire for January 2022, has more than doubled its AUM since joining Fiera Capital less than a year ago, in March 2021, and has delivered strong absolute and relative performance through a highly differentiated and proprietary approach. Since its inception on March 31, 2017, the Fiera Atlas strategy has generated an annualized return of 26.2%, adding value of 13.9% per year relative to its benchmark1.

"The team's philosophical alignment to the Company's culture and values makes them an excellent fit within our organization," said Jean-Philippe Lemay, Global President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our clients are showing strong interest for this investment strategy, evidenced by the substantial growth of the AUM in the last months and we are extremely excited to report the successful integration of the team within Fiera Capital's investment platform. More so, their complementarity to our existing offering further reinforces our presence in the global equities space in markets where we see opportunities for growth, as well as the competitiveness of our investment platform."

Furthermore, the Company announced the successful completion of the merger of the associated AMP Capital fund into one of Fiera Capital's funds. This merger is the final step of the integration announced in March 2021 and of Fiera Capital's onboarding of the entire portfolio management team of the associated AMP Capital fund, comprised of four highly experienced investment professionals: Simon Steele, Lead Portfolio Manager and portfolio managers Neil Mitchell, David Naughtin and Andy Gardner. Harald Karlsson has recently joined the organization as an Associate Investment Analyst, and the team is supported by dedicated Distribution resources, including Marcia Irwin, Senior Vice President, Capability Specialist, Global Equities.

"Just a few weeks shy of the strategy's 5-year track record, we are excited to finalize this merger," says Simon Steele, Lead Portfolio Manager of the Fiera Atlas team. "The Company shares our long-term perspective and has the reputation and infrastructure to help us build on the continued momentum in the asset base and to support the strategy's growth ambitions in and outside of North America. I am also very thankful for the support and commitment of our clients throughout this year-long transition - all of whom have remained invested."

_________________________ 1 Source: MSCI ACWI Index (net returns, in CAD) - Figures are shown in Canadian dollars as of December 31, 2021.

Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Investments in the strategy are subject to risks. The value of investments may go down as well as up and investors may not recoup the amount invested. Returns are shown gross of fees and costs.

The team's investment approach is fundamentally driven and anchored around a four-pillared shareholder wealth creation framework founded on identifying companies that demonstrate a competitive advantage, strong capital allocation, runway for growth and cashflow predictability. This approach aims to yield a focused portfolio of 25 to 35 best-in-class global companies, which is expected to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns over a full market cycle. Their investment process seeks to generate highly concentrated, quality style, low turnover portfolios, and derives its primary source of added return from security selection. The associated fund recently earned a 5-star rating by Morningstar UK.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations are inextricably linked into the Fiera Atlas team's process, with their stated investment objectives of stable, long-term wealth creation. The UCITS fund is now classified as Article 8 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) , as are all other Fiera Capital Irish UCITS funds.

About Fiera Capital Corporation

Fiera Capital is a leading independent asset management firm with a growing global presence and approximately C$188.3 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2021. The Company delivers customized and multi-asset solutions across public and private market asset classes to institutional, financial intermediary and private wealth clients across North America, Europe and key markets in Asia. Fiera Capital's depth of expertise, diversified investment platform and commitment to delivering outstanding service are core to our mission of being at the forefront of investment management science to create sustainable wealth for clients. Fiera Capital trades under the ticker FSZ on the Toronto Stock Exchange. www.fieracapital.com

Headquartered in Montreal, Fiera Capital, with its affiliates in various jurisdictions, has offices in over a dozen cities around the world, including New York (U.S.), London (UK), and Hong Kong (SAR).

Fiera Capital Corporation does not provide investment advisory services, or offer investment funds, in the United States or to U.S. persons. Investment advisory services for U.S. persons are provided by Fiera Capital Inc., a Delaware corporation registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In connection with providing services to certain U.S. clients, Fiera Capital Inc. uses the resources of Fiera Capital Corporation acting in its capacity as Fiera Capital Inc.'s participating affiliate. Please refer to Important Disclosures for information regarding the participating affiliate arrangement. For details on the particular registration of, or exemptions therefrom relied upon by, any Fiera Capital entity, please consult this webpage.

Additional information about Fiera Capital Corporation, including the Company's annual information form, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For More Information: Analysts and investors: Marie-France Guay, Senior Vice President, Treasury and Investor Relations, Fiera Capital Corporation, 514 294-5878, mguay@fieracapital.com; Mariem Elsayed, Director, Investor Relations, Fiera Capital Corporation, 514 954-6619, melsayed@fieracapital.com; Media inquiries - Global: Alex-Anne Carrier, Senior Advisor, External Communications, Fiera Capital Corporation, 514 262-5668, acarrier@fieracapital.com
You have about six weeks to catch up on the best movies of the year before the Oscars.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX:SKE, NYSE:SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") responds to the decision made by the Chief Gold Commissioner on the materials in the Albino Lake Storage Facility at the past-producing Eskay Creek gold-silver project ("Eskay Creek").

An individual holding a mineral claim on the lands that underlie Skeena's Albino Lake Storage Facility, applied to the Chief Gold Commissioner on August 27, 2021, for a determination as to the ownership of the "minerals" in the materials deposited in the Albino Lake Storage Facility by the previous operators of the Eskay Creek Mine. The materials in question consist of tailings and minerals, containing sulfides and certain deleterious elements from the Eskay Creek Mine and are managed by Skeena under a Lands Act surface lease, and authorizations under the Mines Act and Environmental Management Act.

Notwithstanding Skeena's ongoing environmental obligations in respect of these materials, on February 7, 2022, the Chief Gold Commissioner handed down a decision, determining that the individual, Richard Mills, owns all the materials in the Albino Lake Storage Facility.

Skeena believes that the Chief Gold Commissioner's decision is in error and intends to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of British Columbia in accordance with the appeal provisions in the BC Mineral Tenure Act.

Walter Coles, President & CEO, commented, "It is incomprehensible to us that the Chief Gold Commissioner of British Columbia would transfer ownership of materials that Skeena and, prior to that, Barrick, have actively managed and environmentally monitored for decades in the Albino Lake Storage Facility to an individual who staked barren mineral claims below the facility. We feel this sets a grave precedent for mineral exploration, development, and environmental liability management in British Columbia. Skeena will utilize all legal avenues to remedy this situation within the BC court system and we have already begun the appeal process."

About Skeena

Skeena Resources Limited is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on revitalizing the past-producing Eskay Creek gold-silver mine located in Tahltan Territory in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company released a Prefeasibility Study for Eskay Creek in July 2021 which highlights an open-pit average grade of 4.57 g/t AuEq, an after-tax NPV5% of C$1.4B, 56% IRR, and a 1.4-year payback at US$1,550/oz Au. Skeena is currently completing both infill and exploration drilling to advance Eskay Creek to a full Feasibility Study in 2022.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited,

Walter Coles Jr.

President & CEO

Contact Information

Investor Inquiries: info@skeenaresources.com

Office Phone: +1 604 684 8725

Company Website: www.skeenaresources.com

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

Certain statements and information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These statements relate to future events or our future performance. The use of words such as "anticipates", "believes", "proposes", "contemplates", "generates", "targets", "is projected", "is planned", "considers", "estimates", "expects", "is expected", "potential" and similar expressions, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "might", "will", "could", or "would" be taken, achieved, or occur, may identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Specific forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the results of the PFS, completion of a feasibility study, processing capacity of the mine, anticipated mine life, probable reserves, estimated project capital and operating costs, sustaining costs, results of test work and studies, planned environmental assessments, the future price of metals, metal concentrate, and future exploration and development. Such forward-looking statements are based on material factors and/or assumptions which include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and the assumptions set forth herein and in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the year ended December 31, 2020, and the Company's Annual Information Form ("AIF") dated March 25, 2021. Such forward-looking statements represent the Company's management expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances on the date the statements are made, and are necessarily based on several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date hereof, are not guarantees of future performance. Actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein, and are subject to significant operational, business, economic, and regulatory risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others: the inherent risks involved in exploration and development of mineral properties, including permitting and other government approvals; changes in economic conditions, including changes in the price of gold and other key variables; changes in mine plans and other factors, including accidents, equipment breakdown, bad weather and other project execution delays, many of which are beyond the control of the Company; environmental risks and unanticipated reclamation expenses; and other risk factors identified in the Company's 2020 MD&A and AIF, and in the Company's other periodic filings with securities and regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States that are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligations to update and/or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Skeena Resources Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687763/Skeena-Responds-to-Chief-Gold-Commissioners-Decision-on-Material-in-Eskay-Creek-Albino-Lake-Storage-Facility
-Construction of a multipurpose state-of-the-art Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) manufacturing and aseptic fill/finish facility in Grangemouth, Scotland and enhancement of existing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturing in Morpeth, England

-Expansion is driven by several pipeline products moving to commercial scale, coupled with increased customer demand for ADCs and APIs

-The two expansions represent a total investment of 55 million; each will generate local employment opportunities for skilled workers

MUMBAI, India, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Piramal Pharma Limited's Pharma Solutions business, a leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), today announced the expansion of its Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) capabilities at the Grangemouth facility in Scotland and the investment in new Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) infrastructure at the Morpeth facility in England. Together, these expansions and upgrades represent a total investment of approximately 55 million in the company's UK-based drug development and manufacturing capabilities as well as new employment opportunities for technical and operational staff.

Grangemouth Site ADC Expansion

In the first phase of the Grangemouth site expansion, two new ADC manufacturing suites, operational by Q3 2023, will be added to the existing three. The building has been designed to accommodate further expansion, with planned future phases that include a new sterile fill/finish suite dedicated to ADCs and two additional large-scale manufacturing suites capable of handling increased batch sizes. A new customer experience center is also being constructed for clients who are visiting the site during development and/or manufacturing activities. Ground preparation and piling works are well under way, with an official groundbreaking ceremony taking place yesterday, February 7th.

Piramal Pharma Solutions is a global leader in ADC development and manufacturing, with hundreds of payloads developed and more than a thousand ADC batches manufactured. When complete, the expansion will enhance PPS' standing significantly by increasing ADC capacity at the Grangemouth site. The new facility will be fully supported by analytical laboratories (Quality Control, Cell-based Assay and Enzyme-Linked Immune Sorbent Assay [ELISA], Good Manufacturing Practice [GMP]), warehousing, and administrative offices, all housed in a purpose-built facility.

PPS's Grangemouth facility boasts two significant ADC capabilities: fit-for-purpose rapid development for early clinical materials and robust, scalable late phase development to support pivotal trials and commercial launch. By combining these skills with offerings from our other thirteen global facilities, including fill/finish, payloads, and peptides, we can provide integrated ADC services to customers looking for fast, simplified solutions.

Peter DeYoung, Chief Executive Officer, Piramal Pharma Solutions said, "We are delighted to announce the capacity expansion of our Grangemouth facility in the UK. This new development will more than double our ADC production capacity, strengthening our ability to service customers throughout the entire drug lifecycle. The primary driver behind this investment is the demand for commercial ADCs, coupled with a strong pipeline for clinical materials. This growth is a validation of Piramal Pharma Solutions' strong focus on Patient Centricity, its proven track record of service delivery, and the strategic initiatives and deep customer relationships."

This expansion represents an investment of 45 million pounds sterling, including a grant of 2.4 million from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland's national economic development agency.

Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, commented, "Piramal's investment is tremendous news for Scotland's life sciences sector, one of the largest life sciences clusters in Europe, and is creating new, high-quality jobs that are crucial to our economic recovery. With Scottish Enterprise support, the company's Grangemouth site expansion proposals will deliver more R&D and production capacity for the development, scale up and commercial manufacture of drugs in the global fight against cancer."

The Grangemouth expansion, which is also client co-funded, is designed to facilitate the continued evolution of the business through the commercialization of customer products, together with satisfying the strong pipeline of early phase clinical demand. The new facility is being built on a 5-acre brownfield plot less than 100 meters from the existing site and is designed to meet the highest standards of global compliance. It is expected that this expansion will create approximately 40-50 new jobs, bringing the total number of employees at the site to more than 250. The new hires will join a highly qualified scientific, technical, and professional staff that has already grown almost 4-fold in recent years.

Scottish Government Investment Minister Ivan McKeeadded, "This will be an important new development which could aid the treatment of life-threatening cancer, with Scottish Enterprise funding supporting the creation of 40 new jobs and safeguarding 170 more in Grangemouth."

"We are working with agencies like Scottish Enterprise to deliver support for manufacturing across Scotland. Investments like this are helping us build a strong industry which will boost our economic recovery and deliver future prosperity."

Morpeth Site API Investment

The investment in API capabilities at the Morpeth site, which is valued at approximately 10 million, includes new equipment, infrastructure, and utility systems. It is intended to meet increased market demand from global API customers while also improving PPS' carbon footprint by replacing obsolete equipment with new, energy-efficient alternatives. More than 400 people are employed at Morpeth, with ~160 directly in API Operations, and this investment helps safeguard their future while also improving the site's environmental impact. PPS is investing 8 million directly, while the UK government is contributing 2 million to the project.

Mr. DeYoung concluded, "PPS is firmly committed to keeping pace with the market through expansions and investments, but we are working hard to do so with a focus on sustainable and environmentally-responsible practices. As we enhance our capabilities at sites in North America and India, similar plans are in place."

About Piramal Pharma Solutions:

Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS) is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) offering end-to-end development and manufacturing solutions across the drug life cycle. We serve our customers through a globally integrated network of facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia. This enables us to offer a comprehensive range of services including drug discovery solutions, process & pharmaceutical development services, clinical trial supplies, commercial supply of APIs, and finished dosage forms. We also offer specialized services such as the development and manufacture of highly potent APIs, antibody-drug conjugations, sterile fill/finish, peptide products & services, and potent solid oral drug product. Our track record as a trusted service provider with experience across varied technologies makes us a partner of choice for innovator and generic companies worldwide.

For more information please visit: www.piramalpharmasolutions.com | Twitter | LinkedIn

About Piramal Pharma Ltd.

Piramal Pharma Limited (PPL) offers a portfolio of differentiated products and services through end-to-end manufacturing capabilities across 15 global facilities and a global distribution network over 100 countries. PPL includes: Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS), an integrated Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization; Piramal Critical Care (PCC), a Complex Hospital Generics business, and the India Consumer Healthcare business, selling over-the counter products. PPS offers end-to-end development and manufacturing solutions through a globally integrated network of facilities across the drug life cycle to innovator and generic companies. PCC's complex hospital product portfolio includes inhalation anaesthetics, intrathecal therapies for spasticity and pain management, injectable pain and anaesthetics, injectable anti-infectives, and other therapies. The Indian Consumer Healthcare business is among the leading players in India in the self-care space, with established brands in the Indian consumer healthcare market. In addition, PPL has a joint venture with Allergan, a leader in ophthalmology in the Indian formulations market. In October 2020, the company received growth equity investment from the Carlyle Group.

For more information visit: www.piramal.com | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

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Dieppe, New Brunswick--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Colibri Resource Corporation (TSXV: CBI) ("Colibri" or the "Company") is pleased to report assays received from the Evelyn Gold Project drilling program completed in December 2021. Highlights of results include an intersection of 12.19 grams per tonne ("g/t") Au over an intersection length of 3 metres ("m") in hole EVE21-027 and 33.7 g/t Au over and intersection length of 1 m in hole EVE21-019.

Colibri is currently completing a fully funded 2-phase, 10,000 m reverse circulation ("RC") drill program at the Evelyn Gold project, located in the Caborca Gold Belt, northern Sonora. Assays have been received from all 22 holes (3,122 m) completed during the period November 8 to December 18, 2021. The results include higher grade intercepts of 12.19 g/t Au over an intersection length of 3 m and 33.7 g/t Au over an intersection length of 1 m as well as widespread lower grade (< 1 g/t Au) assays. Significant assays (based on a 0.2 g/t Au cutoff grade) and intercepts are contained in the attached table and illustrated on the drill traces on the attached map.

Ron Goguen, President & CEO of Colibri commented, "We are very encouraged by the widespread anomalous gold assays, the longer intercepts of moderate to low grade mineralization, and the local occurrence of high-grade gold. The drill program has very successfully built upon the surface exploration programs completed since 2019 and will provide an invaluable basis as we continue to explore the property and plan for further drilling."

Based on comprehensive exploration completed on the property since 2019 the Company has prioritized 4 target areas on the property referred to as Cerro Rojo, El Sahuaro, West Evelyn, and Central Evelyn. Phase 1 drilling of the 10,000 meters RC drill program has been planned as a preliminary test of these target areas. The drilling completed to date has been completed on the Cerro Rojo and El Sahuaro targets.

Figure 1: Drill Samples on Magnetics - Evelyn Gold Project

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4269/113132_796270656454e892_001full.jpg

Highlighted Sample Results

Hole ID From To Length Au (g/t Cutoff EVE21-007 51 53 2 1.272 .2 g/t Au includes 51 52 1 2.150 2 g/t Au EVE21-012 147 149 2 0.208 .1 g/t Au EVE21-013 151 152 1 0.243 .2 g/t Au EVE21-014 29 30 1 0.749 .2 g/t Au EVE21-014 39 41 2 0.574 .2 g/t Au EVE21-014 44 45 1 0.200 .2 g/t Au EVE21-014 74 76 2 0.318 .2 g/t Au EVE21-014 140 141 1 0.227 .2 g/t Au EVE21-015 46 47 1 0.527 .2 g/t Au EVE21-015 56 78 22 0.172 .1 g/t Au includes 60 64 4 0.220 .2 g/t Au includes 72 73 1 1.160 .2 g/t Au includes 77 78 1 0.254 .2 g/t Au EVE21-016 17 20 3 0.210 .1 g/t Au EVE21-016 38 39 1 0.264 .2 g/t Au EVE21-016 75 77 2 0.344 .2 g/t Au EVE21-016 101 102 1 0.207 .2 g/t Au EVE21-017 16 18 2 0.289 .2 g/t Au EVE21-017 24 25 1 0.817 .2 g/t Au EVE21-017 151 152 1 0.328 .2 g/t Au EVE21-018 5 9 4 0.143 .1 g/t Au includes 8 9 1 0.277 .2 g/t Au EVE21-018 40 41 1 0.320 .2 g/t Au EVE21-018 69 70 1 0.274 .2 g/t Au EVE21-018 77 102 25 0.103 .1 g/t Au includes 101 102 1 0.706 .2 g/t Au EVE21-018 143 144 1 0.246 .2 g/t Au EVE21-019 8 9 1 0.283 .2 g/t Au EVE21-019 28 43 15 2.360 .1 g/t Au includes 28 29 1 33.700 5 g/t Au includes 33 34 1 0.477 .2 g/t Au includes 40 41 1 0.218 .2 g/t Au EVE21-019 77 80 3 0.199 .2 g/t Au EVE21-019 118 122 4 0.229 .2 g/t Au EVE21-019 125 126 1 0.228 .2 g/t Au EVE21-020 7 11 4 0.302 .1 g/t Au includes 7 8 1 0.805 .2 g/t Au EVE21-020 110 114 4 0.825 .1 g/t Au includes 111 114 3 1.058 .2 g/t Au EVE21-020 127 128 1 0.357 .2 g/t Au EVE21-020 138 139 1 0.792 .2 g/t Au EVE21-020 197 198 1 0.882 .2 g/t Au EVE21-021 11 17 6 0.198 .1 g/t Au includes 13 15 2 0.270 .2 g/t Au EVE21-021 69 70 1 0.335 .2 g/t Au EVE21-021 145 146 1 0.284 .2 g/t Au EVE21-021 151 152 1 0.204 .2 g/t Au EVE21-022 8 11 3 0.157 .1 g/t Au EVE21-022 23 24 1 0.223 .2 g/t Au EVE21-022 46 47 1 0.549 .2 g/t Au EVE21-022 66 69 3 0.428 .1 g/t Au includes 66 67 1 0.985 .2 g/t Au EVE21-022 78 79 1 0.276 .2 g/t Au EVE21-022 144 147 3 0.208 .2 g/t Au EVE21-023 5 6 1 0.283 .2 g/t Au EVE21-023 9 10 1 0.571 .2 g/t Au EVE21-023 39 40 1 0.214 .2 g/t Au EVE21-024 38 39 1 0.624 .2 g/t Au EVE21-025 54 64 10 0.096 .1 g/t Au EVE21-026 3 7 4 0.257 .1 g/t Au includes 3 4 1 0.446 .2 g/t Au EVE21-026 65 66 1 0.237 .2 g/t Au EVE21-026 64 79 15 0.196 .1 g/t Au includes 72 77 5 0.412 .2 g/t Au EVE21-027 12 13 1 0.322 .2 g/t Au EVE21-027 32 46 14 2.818 .1 g/t Au includes 38 46 8 4.823 .2 g/t Au includes 41 44 3 12.190 3 g/t Au includes 42 43 1 30.000 5 g/t Au EVE21-027 55 56 1 0.287 .2 g/t Au EVE21-027 99 100 1 0.204 .2 g/t Au EVE21-027 104 113 9 0.185 .1 g/t Au includes 104 105 1 0.759 .2 g/t Au includes 108 109 1 0.366 .2 g/t Au EVE21-027 120 123 3 0.264 .2 g/t Au EVE21-027 159 165 6 0.121 .1 g/t Au EVE21-027 186 187 1 0.221 .2 g/t Au

Note: Reported lengths for all holes are intersection lengths. True widths are not known. True widths for holes EVE21-026 and EVE21-027 are estimated to be approximately 75% and 70% of intersection lengths respectively.

Table 1: Highlighted Assay Results - Phase 1 - Drilling November & December 2021

Cerro Rojo

The Company completed 9 holes totalling 962 meters in the Cerro Rojo area. Two targets were tested, which are the Main Zone and Cerro Rojo West. Main Zone mineralization consists of a quartz vein located in a fault zone hosted by greywacke and located at the contact with a fragmental andesite unit. The Main Zone is discontinuously exposed over a strike length of approximately 120 m and has been the object of historical small-scale mining. The quartz vein pinches and swells along the strike length on surface reaching a maximum thickness of approximately 1.5 m. Grab samples from surface exposures of the vein have returned assay values of 43.9 g/t Au and 40.1 g/t Au. Hole EVE21-027 intersected similarly high-grade mineralization consisting of 12.19 g/t Au over an intersection length of 3 m (calculated at a 3 g/t Au cut-off grade) which includes an assay of 30 g/t Au over 1 m. The wall rock adjacent to the vein is consistently mineralized extending for an intersection length of 8 m incorporating wall rock at a cut-off of 0.2 g/t Au and for 14 m incorporating wall rock at a 0.1 g/t Au cut-off grade. Both holes drilled on the Main Zone vein intersected multiple zones of mineralization.

Ian McGavney, COO of Colibri commented, "This is the first systematic attempt to explore and potentially delineate the Main Zone vein. The intersection of high-grade mineralization in hole EVE21-027 is certainly consistent with the surface sampling. We are also particularly encouraged by the altered and mineralized wall rock adjacent to the high-grade intercept and the multiple zones of mineralization intercepted in both holes EVE21-026 and EVE21-027. These results expand the scope of the Main Zone from a single vein exposed on surface."

Drilling at the Cerro Rojo West target returned a single intercept of 1.27 g/t Au over an intersection length of 2 m which included an assay of 2.15 g/t Au over 1 m. Continued stripping and mapping in the area of the Cerro Rojo West showing indicates that the structure hosting the surface showing has been subjected to post-mineralization faulting resulting in boudinage of the mineralized vein. Hole EVE21-012 was drilled in a southwest direction away from the Cerro Rojo West showing to test an interpreted northwest trending magnetic lineament. Hole EVE21-012 intersected .208 g/t Au over an intersection length of 2 m near the end of the hole.

Figure 2: Drill Samples on Magnetics - Cerro Rojo Area

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4269/113132_796270656454e892_002full.jpg

El Sahuaro

The Company completed 13 holes totaling 2,160 metres at the El Sahuaro target area during November and December 2021. The focus for drilling was an area of higher-grade surface grab samples coincident with northerly trending magnetic anomalies which are apparently overprinted by northwest trending structures. The target area is underlain dominantly by Jurassic andesite and rhyolite, however the Company has recognized and mapped a unit of Proterozoic (?) metamorphic rock. The drill plan included testing the metamorphic unit and its contacts with the volcanic rocks in addition to evaluating potential structural orientations indicated by geological mapping and magnetics. All holes drilled at the El Sahuaro target intersected low grade mineralization including longer intercepts of 22 m with an average grade of 0.172 g/t Au in hole EVE21-015, 25 m with an average grade of 0.103 g.t Au in hole EVE018, 15 m with an average grade of 2.360 g/t Au (includes an assay of 33.7 g/t) in hole EVE21-019, and 10 m with an average grade of .096 g/t Au in hole EVE21-025

Ian McGavney, COO of Colibri commented, "We are very encouraged by the occurrence and distribution of anomalous and lower grade Au mineralization and by the local occurrence of high-grade assays at El Sahuaro. Integration of the drill data with our surface exploration and geophysical datasets will be the basis for continued exploration at El Sahuaro directed at discovering the primary structures controlling the distribution of mineralization recognized to date."

Figure 3: Drill Samples on Magnetics - El Sahuaro Area

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4269/113132_796270656454e892_003full.jpg

Continued Exploration at Evelyn

Colibri is in the process of executing a fully funded 10,000 metre RC drill program on the Evelyn Gold Project. On January 27, 2022, the Company announced the re-start of drilling on the project after the holiday season break. The Company is planning on completing the 10,000 metres of RC drilling on the Evelyn property in two phases. Phase 1, which has now resumed, is aimed at a preliminary evaluation of the prioritized target areas on the property and will focus on the West Evelyn target area and selected targets in the El Sahuaro area. Phase 2 drilling will be planned to follow up positive results from Phase 1 as well as test numerous targets including chargeability anomalies derived from the Induced Polarization ("IP") survey completed in 2021, targets derived from interpretation of the drone-borne magnetic survey completed in 2020, and targets derived from the on-going property wide geological/structural interpretation. To support on-going interpretation and targeting, the Company will continue geological mapping, will complete televiewer logging on selected holes with emphasis on structural geology, and will be completing trace element geochemical analyses on selected RC drill holes and archived surface samples.

Evelyn Geology and Exploration Model

The Evelyn Gold Project is an Orogenic-type gold target located in the Caborca Gold Belt of northwestern Sonora. The property is located approximately 25 kilometres ("km") east of La Herradura, one of Mexico's largest open pit gold mines, which produced 425,288 ounces of gold in 2020 at an average grade of 0.77 grams per tonnes ("g/t") Au and is also approximately 9 km northeast of the Noche Buena mine which produced 87,988 ounces Au at an average grade of 0.52 g/t Au in 2020. The setting and style of mineralization at Evelyn is similar to that reported from La Herradura and Noche Buena. Higher grade mineralization on the Evelyn property consists of quartz veins and veinlets, ranging from 2 - 3 centimeters up to 1.5 m hosted by fault and fracture zones with minor oxidized pyrite, iron oxide, copper bearing oxide and carbonate minerals, and locally minor to trace amounts of galena, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite. Alteration of the host rocks includes iron bearing carbonate minerals, quartz, sericite, and chlorite. Lower grade mineralization is associated with altered volcanic rocks containing minor amounts of oxidized sulfide. Mineralization is hosted dominantly by Jurassic volcanic rocks consisting of andesite and rhyolite.

The exploration model developed by the Company to-date relates the mineralization consisting of higher-grade veins and veinlets hosted by altered and sulphide bearing lower grade volcanic rocks, to north-northeast trending stratigraphy and layer-parallel fault zones and southeast striking, moderately southwest dipping fault zones.

QAQC

Assays for the Evelyn Phase 1 drilling program have been completed at ALS Laboratories (ALS) with sample preparation completed in Hermosillo, Sonora and Atomic Absorption and Fire Assay analyses completed in Vancouver, Canada. Colibri employs industry standard QAQC protocol including the use of control samples (Certified Standards and Blanks) and check assays. Jamie Lavigne, P. Geo has supervised the drilling program at Evelyn.

Qualified Person

Jamie Lavigne, P. Geo and a Director for Colibri is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

Colibri is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V (CBI) and is focused on acquiring and exploring prospective gold & silver properties in Mexico. The Company has six exploration projects of which five have exploration programs being executed in 2022. (1) The flagship Evelyn Gold Project is 100% owned and explored by Colibri, (2) the Pilar Gold & Silver Project (optioned to Tocvan Ventures- (CSE: TOC), (3) the El Mezquite Gold & Silver Project , (4) the Jackie Gold & Silver Project, and (5) the Diamante Gold & Silver Project. 3,4, and 5 are subject to earn-in agreements by Silver Spruce Resources - (TSXV: SSE).

For more information about all Company projects please visit: www.colibriresource.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking statements". Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be accurate.

For information contact: Ronald J. Goguen, President, Chairperson and Director, Tel: (506) 383-4274, rongoguen@colibriresource.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113132
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Galleon Gold Corp. (TSXV: GGO) (the "Company" or "Galleon Gold") is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire 91 mineral claims and 12 patent claims totaling 1,470 hectares (the "Mineral Claims") contiguous to the Company's existing property position at its West Cache Gold Project in Timmins Ontario.

The addition of the Mineral Claims consolidates the Company's land position 13 kilometers West of Timmins and expands the total claim package to 7,540 hectares. Figure 1 provides the location of the new ground in relation to the West Cache Gold Project and adjacent mining claims that comprise the Company's Ogden Property. The West Cache Property has recently been approved for land lease status.

Figure 1 - Galleon Gold's Land Position in the Timmins Gold Camp



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1014/113041_063934531400782f_001full.jpg

Comments from the CEO

R. David Russell, President and CEO of Galleon Gold, commented, "One of the facets of the West Cache project that has always been exciting for us is its blue-sky potential. We have demonstrated our ability to increase the known resource area as well as discover new mineable mineralization - and we have only explored 8% of the property package. By adding to our land position, we reinforce that we are planting our flag in the Timmins Camp, and believe we are in the early stages of developing the next significant mine complex in the area. Following our recent announcement of the Project's maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment, we will continue to plan for the initial mine development, at the same time the team has been identifying new targets near the current resource with inexpensive surface exploration techniques. A multi-stage exploration program is being developed for the 2022-2023 field season to identify targets at a regional scale within the consolidated land package."

Terms of the Agreement

Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement with 2205730 Ontario Inc. ("PrivateCo"), the Company will issue PrivateCo 2,000,000 common shares of Galleon Gold (the "Galleon Shares") to obtain a 100% interest in the Mineral Claims. The transaction is expected to close by the end of February and is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Galleon Shares will be subject to a hold period of four months and a day under applicable Canadian securities laws.

About the Ogden Property

Southeastern Ogden Township, historically known as the Racetrack Property, has seen far less exploration than the northern part of Ogden Township. Historic geophysical and geochemical surveys have been completed over portions of the Property beginning in the early 1980s, with only five drill holes testing multiple soil anomalies over the 1,470-hectare property. The Property is underlain with andesites and rhyolites of the Deloro Metavolcanic Assemblage with associated iron formations and tuffaceous units. Porphyritic granodiorite and syenite intrusions have been identified in the western and northeastern portions of the Property as well as N-S and NE-SW trending diabase dikes. Regional structures, including the Mountjoy River Fault and Paradis Creek Fault trend across the eastern claim block.

Galleon Gold intends to follow-up on historic gold and base metal targets identified in quartz veins and sulphide-rich porphyritic intrusions from previous exploration programs. The potential for gold-mineralized iron formations exists in the northern part of the claim group, which borders Metals Creek's Ogden Property to the north. The Property is accessed from Timmins by secondary roads off Dalton Road / Wawiatin Road to the west and Pine Street South from the east.

About the West Cache Gold Property

The Property is situated in the Western Porcupine Gold Camp along the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone ("DPFZ") in the Abitibi greenstone belt. The Property is predominantly underlain with Archean rocks of the Tisdale and Deloro Assemblages (metavolcanics), Porcupine Assemblage (metasediments) and quartz feldspar porphyry of the Porcupine Intrusive Suite. Paleoproterozoic Matachewan diabase dikes trend north-south to northwest-southeast across the Property. The main break of the DPFZ trends east-west through the eastern part of the Property and is offset to the south in the western portion of the Property by the Mattagami River Fault. Gold mineralization is characterized by roughly east-west trending "shear" zones, dipping 60 to 80 to the north, and is associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite. To-date, the quartz feldspar porphyry unit and associated contacts with the metasedimentary units have been the focus of exploration activities, with large areas of Tisdale and Deloro metavolcanics yet to be explored, including the Rusk contact zone, which is associated with gold mineralization at the Timmins West Complex, approximately 7 km southwest of the Property.

Technical Content and Qualified Persons

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by West Cache Gold Project Manager Leah Page, P. Geo. (APGNS #217) and West Cache Gold Resource Geologist, Rochelle Collins, P. Geo (PGO #1412), both "Qualified Persons" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Galleon Gold

Galleon Gold is an exploration and development company focused on advancing the West Cache Gold Project in Timmins, Ontario. The project is situated along the Porcupine-Destor gold belt, approximately 7 km northeast of Pan American Silver's Timmins West Mine and 14 km southwest of Newmont's Hollinger Mine. Since acquiring the project the Company has demonstrated significant resource growth while providing a strong valuation in its maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment. Permitting and baseline studies in support of a bulk sample are currently underway. Eric Sprott holds approximately 23% of the Company's outstanding common shares.

For further information:

Galleon Gold

R. David Russell

Chairman and CEO

T. (416) 644-0066

info@galleongold.com

www.galleongold.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of Galleon Gold with respect to its long-term strategy, proposed work, plans and other reports including the PEA for its projects. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the markets in which Galleon Gold operates. Some of the statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, expectations, plans, and objectives of Galleon Gold are forward-looking statements that involve various risks. The following are important factors that could cause Galleon Gold's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of mineral commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risks associated with development, construction and mining operations, risks related to infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and the uncertainty of future exploration activities and cash flows, and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events may differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Galleon Gold undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113041
Grass Valley, California--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Rise Gold Corp. (CSE: RISE) (OTCQX: RYES) (the "Company") announces that Nevada County has received an initial batch of return cards from hundreds of Nevada County residents indicating support for the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project, citing the project's employment and economic benefits.

The Nevada County Board of Supervisors received 527 return cards representing 621 local individuals or businesses in support of reopening the Idaho-Maryland Mine. This followed the Company mailing a portion of Nevada County residents information that highlighted the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project and its benefits to the community. The mailing included a postage-paid return card that residents or businesses could complete and return to the Company for submission to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors on their behalf.

The number of initial supporters is unprecedented in the context of the four recent DEIR's processed by Nevada County following which all four projects were approved1.

Dave Brown, President of Benchmark Resources2, who prepared the EIR application submittal with Rise Gold, stated: "I have been involved with scores of projects and never seen anywhere near this level of public support. It's expected that opponents will participate and be vocal, but project supporters don't normally see the need to weigh-in. The level of support given to the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project is an order of magnitude above anything I've seen in my career."

Return card text is as follows:

I support re-opening the Idaho-Maryland Mine

Nevada County is in tremendous need of new, well-paying jobs that can help provide a strong economic future for today and for decades to come. Rise Grass Valley's plan to build a modern and environmentally sensitive mine that respects neighbors and our natural environment while creating over 600 new local jobs is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalize our local economy.

Re-opening the mine means over 300 new jobs in safe and satisfying careers with an average expected annual salary of more than $90,000 plus benefits. The mine will also spur an additional 300 jobs through related new business in the area. This project will enhance the pride and confidence of Nevada County workers and their families and help build stable and prosperous lives.

Opportunities like this come along rarely. Rise Grass Valley has a responsive, innovative project for Nevada County. I urge the Board of Supervisors and other county officials to jump start our local economy by strongly supporting the re-opening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine.

Update on DEIR Process

The public comment period is currently underway for the Draft Environmental Impact Report (the "DEIR") for the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project. The report's release on January 4th represented a major milestone toward the approval of the Company's Use Permit application to reopen the historic past-producing Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine.

Nevada County officials announced an extension of the public comment period for an additional 30 days to accommodate residents affected by a damaging winter storm that began on December 27 and was eventually deemed a California State Emergency. The public comment period will now end on April 4th. The storm resulted in fallen trees and loss of power to approximately 33,000 Nevada County area homes. Electricity was fully restored on January 11th. The comment period extension is to help ensure greater public participation in the DEIR review process. The county plans to process comments during the public comment period, which may mitigate the impact on the timeline for completion of the Use Permit process.

Grant of Stock Options

The Company announces it has granted a total of 805,000 stock options to employees, officers, and directors of the Company pursuant to the terms of the Company's Stock Option Plan. The stock options are exercisable at a price of US$0.65 per share until February 7, 2027.

About Rise Gold Corp.

Rise Gold is an exploration-stage mining company incorporated in Nevada, USA. The Company's principal asset is the historic past-producing Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine located in Nevada County, California, USA. To learn more about the company, visit www.risegoldcorp.com.

About Rise Grass Valley Inc.

Rise Grass Valley, a subsidiary of Rise Gold Corp., proposes to reinitiate underground mining and gold mineralization processing at the Idaho-Maryland Mine in unincorporated Nevada County. State-of-the-art facilities utilizing environmentally friendly technology will be located on the Brunswick Industrial Site. To learn more about the project and community, visit www.risegrassvalley.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Benjamin Mossman

President, CEO and Director

Rise Gold Corp.

For further information, please contact:

RISE GOLD CORP.

Suite 215, 333 Crown Point Circle

Grass Valley, CA 95945

T: 530.433.0188

info@risegoldcorp.com

www.risegoldcorp.com

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur.

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to certain factors including, without limitation, obtaining all necessary approvals, meeting expenditure and financing requirements, compliance with environmental regulations, title matters, operating hazards, metal prices, political and economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices, and one-time events that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information contained in this release. Rise undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law.

1 Boca Quarry (2019), Commercial Cannabis Cultivation (2019), Van Norden Spillway (2019), and 2 of 3 Dollar General Stores (2018) approved by Nevada County Board of Supervisors. Total combined comments received on these four projects was approximately 342 of which approximately 25 expressed support for the proposed projects.

2 Dave Brown has conducted environmental evaluations on mining projects for nearly 40 years and is the president of Benchmark Resources, a California based planning and environmental consulting firm with substantial experience in the permitting of mining projects. Benchmark's track record of success has resulted in the development of numerous environmentally sensitive and socially accepted mining projects across the state.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113090
Broad Gold Zones - 1.27 g/t gold over 17.3 metres within a zone grading 0.72 g/t gold over 128.5 metres (61.5 to 190.0 metres; True Thickness 45 metres)

Drilling confirms gold-bearing fault zones with several targets to be drilled in 2022

Surface sampling includes assays up to 14.7 g/t gold

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Magna Terra Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Magna Terra") (TSXV:MTT) is pleased to announce that it has received assay results from its recently completed drilling program at the Rattling Brook Deposit (the "Deposit") on its 100% owned Great Northern Project ("Great Northern"), located in western Newfoundland (see news release dated November 22, 2021). Drilling consisted of 10 drill holes (JA-21-124 to 133) totalling 1,253 metres (the "Drill Program") and was designed to test potential geological controls on gold mineralization by northwesterly trending faults (Exhibit A and B). The Company has also received assays from a mapping and 79-sample prospecting program ("Surface Sampling Program") conducted along the same northwesterly striking fault zone referred to as the Apsy Feeder Zone.

The Drill Program resulted in the discovery of a new zone of gold mineralization, confirming that northwesterly trending faults form favourable hosts to gold deposits. Specifically, gold mineralization was intersected 150 metres northwest of the Rattling Brook Deposit within the Apsy Feeder Zone, both expanding the deposit and confirming the presence of gold mineralization within the fault structures (Exhibit C and D). Further, the Surface Sampling Program resulted in 32% of rock grab samples** being anomalous in gold, including assays up to 14.7 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold and demonstrates along with previous sampling that gold mineralization within the Apsy Feeder Zone continues at surface over 800 metres of strike length (Exhibit A).

Highlight gold intersections (see Table 1 below) from the Drill Program include:

1.30 g/t gold over 16.5 metres (151.0 to 167.5 metres; Estimated True Thickness "TT" 7 metres) in drill hole JA-21-131;

(151.0 to 167.5 metres; Estimated True Thickness "TT" 7 metres) in drill hole JA-21-131; 1.64 g/t gold over 9.7 metres (9.0 to 18.7 metres; TT 9 metres), including 16.60 g/t gold over 0.5 metres in drill hole JA-21-127;

(9.0 to 18.7 metres; TT 9 metres), in drill hole JA-21-127; 0.72 g/t gold over 128.5 metres (61.5 to 190.0 metres; TT 45 metres), including 1.27 g/t gold over 17.3 metres and 1.47 g/t gold over 7.0 metres in drill hole JA-21-129;

(61.5 to 190.0 metres; TT 45 metres), in drill hole JA-21-129; 0.47 g/t gold over 103.0 metres (2.0 to 105.0 metres; TT 95 metres), including 0.98 g/t gold over 33.0 metres in drill hole JA-21-133;

in drill hole JA-21-133; 0.79 g/t gold over 26.4 metres (121.0 to 147.4 metres; TT 25 metres), including 1.27 g/t gold over 8.4 metres in drill hole JA-21-133;

in drill hole JA-21-133; 0.49 g/t gold over 65.2 metres (1.8 to 67.0 metres; TT 60 metres) in drill hole JA-21-124; and

0.61 g/t gold over 37.4 metres (12.0 to 49.4 metres; TT 35 metres) in drill hole JA-21-132.

"We are extremely pleased with the assay results from this drill program. We have discovered a new gold zone and confirmed a key geological control on mineralization demonstrated by intersecting thick zones of gold mineralization hosted within late faults, such as the Apsy Feeder Zone. The western most drill intercept within the Apsy Feeder Zone also demonstrates that the Rattling Brook Deposit likely extends at least 150 metres west of the current resource. Further, surface rock grab samples** with assays up to 14.7 g/t gold, together with previous sampling, indicate there is significant potential for resource expansion up to 800 metres along strike from the Rattling Brook Deposit with further drilling. Importantly, similar faults to the Apsy Feeder Zone are prevalent throughout the Great Northern Property and are coincident with similar geophysical characteristics, providing numerous additional opportunities for further discovery and resource expansion. Several of these are priority targets for follow-up drilling in 2022 and, in addition to the Apsy Feeder Zone, include targets such as the Incinerator and Furnace Trends as well as others on the district-scale Great Northern Project. The Drill Program and Surface Sampling Program have significantly impacted the prospectivity of the Great Northern Project and set the stage for further discovery and value creation throughout 2022."

~ Lew Lawrick, President and CEO, Magna Terra Minerals Inc.

The Rattling Brook Deposit contains a NI 43-101 Inferred Mineral Resource^ comprising 255,000 ounces at 1.45 g/t gold (5,460,000 tonnes) and is hosted along a 5-kilometre section of the larger Doucers Valley Fault. The Deposit is hosted within three zones, the Apsy, Road, and Beaver Dam Zones, that are open for expansion at depth and along strike. A key controlling feature that has been identified are northwest and east-west striking fault zones that are thought to be potentially higher-grade feeder zones to the Rattling Brook Deposit. Several of these fault zones are not tested and drilling outside of the immediate resource area is sparse.

Drill Program Details

The Drill Program comprised a total of 1,253 metres in 10 diamond drill holes (JA-21-124 to 133) that were designed to test for the northwest expansion of the Apsy Zone Mineral Resource along a 250-metre strike of the Apsy Feeder Zone (Exhibit A and Exhibit B). Drilling was also designed to verify the tenor and geometry of mineralization within the Apsy Zone Mineral Resource by drilling key infill holes on the mineral resource (JA-21-124 and 133).

Drilling in holes JA-21-124 and 133 has successfully reproduced the thickness and tenor of sulphide mineralization and accompanying alteration compared with previous drilling in the area (e.g. JA-05-35 and 36). Drilling has also served to confirm the moderate southwest dip of the Apsy Zone.

Drilling in drill holes JA-21-125 to 129 and 131, served to discover sulphide mineralization and alteration along the Apsy Feeder Zone, effectively expanding the footprint of the Apsy Zone 150 metres towards the northwest. Importantly, drilling in holes JA-21-131 and 129, which were drilled down-dip due to access issues, successfully intersected the Apsy Feeder Zone to a depth of 160 metres (~100 vertical metres).

Drill holes JA-21-130 and 132 tested the up-dip extension to the north of the Apsy Zone Mineral Resource.

Mineralization at the Apsy Zone comprises overall 1 to 3% (locally up to 10%) disseminated and stringer pyrite and arsenopyrite that is closely associated with pervasive sericite alteration. Alteration increases towards the lower contact of the moderately southwest dipping Apsy Zone, where it is marked by near complete replacement of the host granodiorite by sericite and silica often with hydrothermal brecciation of the host rock and a zone of intense shearing and faulting. These zones of more intense alteration are often associated with higher gold grades (> 2.0 g/t gold) in the Apsy Zone.

Table 1: Highlight assay composites from the Apsy Drill Program

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Au g/t JA-21-124 1.8 67.0 65.2 0.49 and 73.0 74.0 1.0 1.27 and 83.0 85.0 2.0 0.74 and 89.0 93.0 4.0 0.52 JA-21-127 9.0 18.7 9.7 1.64 including 16.2 18.7 2.5 4.42 and 18.2 18.7 0.5 16.60 JA-21-128 10.0 10.5 0.5 0.72 JA-21-129 39.5 43.0 3.5 0.44 and 61.5 190.0 128.5 0.72 including 151.7 169.0 17.3 1.27 and 183.0 190.0 7.0 1.47 JA-21-131 47.0 49.6 2.6 0.27 and 69.2 69.9 0.7 0.53 and 79.3 79.8 0.5 0.55 and 87.3 92.1 4.8 0.42 and 103.3 104.3 1.0 0.53 and 151.0 167.5 16.5 1.30 JA-21-132 3.6 8.0 4.4 0.45 and 12.0 49.4 37.4 0.61 JA-21-133 2.0 105.0 103.0 0.47 including 72.0 105.0 33.0 0.98 including 92.0 105.0 13.0 1.55 and 110.0 113.5 3.5 0.50 and 121.0 147.4 26.4 0.79 including 127.6 136.0 8.4 1.27

Notes:

*Interval presented as core length only, please see TT in highlights above

No significant assays in drill holes JA-21-125, 126 and 130

Previous (1986 to 2007) select drill intercepts that partly define the Apsy Zone adjacent to the area of the Drill Program include:

1.77 g/t gold over 74.4 metres (2.3 to 76.7 metres; TT 60 metres), including 3.25 g/t gold over 22.7 metres in drill hole JA-05-35;

1.13 g/t gold over 115.7 metres (45.0 to 160.7 metres; TT 70 metres) in drill hole JA-05-36;

1.40 g/t gold over 84.6 metres (10.5 to 95.1 metres; TT 80 metres), including 8.62 g/t gold over 2.5 metres in drill hole JA-06-46;

1.28 g/t gold over 75.6 metres (1.0 to 76.6 metres; TT 70 metres) in drill hole JA-06-53;

1.22 g/t gold over 56.5 metres (61.0 to 117.5 metres; TT 50 metres) in drill hole RB-30; and

1.07 g/t gold over 68.0 metres (115.6 to 183.6 metres; TT 60 metres), including 8.84 g/t gold over 1.0 metres in drill hole RB-40.

Surface Sampling Program Details

A program of prospecting was completed to the immediate west and northwest of the Apsy Zone, and along the Apsy Feeder Zone outside of the area tested by the Drill Program. A total of 79 rock grab and float samples** were collected over a strike length of 900 metres along the Apsy Feeder Zone (Exhibit A). Sampling was completed as a follow-up to anomalous rock samples identified during initial prospecting completed during summer 2021 on the Apsy Feeder Zone that identified gold-bearing rock samples assaying up to 3.2 g/t gold (see Press Release dated September 7, 2021). Samples comprised pervasively sericite and sulfide-bearing granodiorite and associated sulfide bearing quartz veins that are coincident with topographic linear features from LiDAR imagery and gold-bearing B-horizon soil samples (assaying up to 1,500 ppb gold).

The rock grab and float samples** assayed up to 14.7 g/t gold with 13 of the 79 rock samples assayed greater than 1.0 g/t gold and 19 rocks samples assaying greater than 0.5 g/t gold. The results of this prospecting program, together with historic soil sampling, support the potential for gold mineralization to continue to the northwest for 800 metres along the Apsy Feeder Zone where it has not been previously tested by drilling.

**Grab and float samples are selected samples and are not necessarily indicative of mineralization that may be hosted on the property.

Exploration Target Details

Several drill targets and specific opportunities for mineral resource expansion and discovery have been identified by the Company based on recent field programs and a comprehensive review of historic and current exploration data (Exhibit C and Exhibit D). This work, in conjunction with that of previous operators on the Property, has identified the importance of fault control on gold mineralization. These major target areas for near-term drill testing are:

The Apsy Feeder Zone - 800 metre northwest striking fault zone adjacent to and northwest of the Apsy Zone mineral resource;

Apsy Zone - 1.0-kilometre strike length - potential up-dip extension to the Apsy Zone;

Incinerator Trend - 1.8-kilometre long gold-bearing east-west fault;

Furnace Trend - 1.5-kilometre long trend with rock grab samples** assaying up to 5.60 g/t gold along east-west fault zone; and

Jacksons Arm Trend - 2.4-kilometre long gold zone cross-cut by numerous north and northeast trending fault zones.

Apsy Feeder Zone and Apsy Zone (Rattling Brook Deposit)

The Apsy Feeder Zone is hosted along a northwest oriented fault splay extending from the Apsy Zone that has a moderate south dip and has been identified by the Company and previous operators, to have a significant control on gold mineralization within the host Proterozoic Main River granites and the overlying Cambrian quartzites and phyllites. This fault is potentially associated with higher grades within the Apsy Zone.

The Apsy Feeder Zone and associated fault, gold-bearing rock grab samples (assaying up to 14.7 g/t gold), and anomalous soils extends for 800 metres northwest of the Apsy Zone mineral resource. Recent drilling has extended the Apsy Zone 150 metres to the northwest along the Apsy Feeder Zone.

Recent drill results from the Apsy Feeder Zone include 1.30 g/t gold over 16.5 metres (TT 7 metres) in drill hole JA-21-131; 1.64 g/t gold over 9.7 metres including (TT 9 metres), including 16.60 g/t gold over 0.5 metres in drill hole JA-21-127; and 0.72 g/t gold over 128.5 metres (TT 45 metres), including 1.27 g/t gold over 17.3 metres and 1.47 g/t gold over 7.0 metres in drill hole JA-21-129. These results correspond well with historic drilling at the Apsy Zone that includes 1.13 g/t gold over a core length of 115.7 metres (TT 70 metres) in drill hole JA-05-36 (Exhibit C and Exhibit D).

Recently re-processed historic IP geophysical data outlines a high chargeability anomaly that corresponds with the known Apsy Zone Resource as well as the Apsy Feeder Zone. The IP chargeability target coincident with the Apsy Feeder Zone has not been tested by diamond drilling and represents an opportunity to further discover sulfide and gold mineralization along this Trend.

Incinerator Trend

The Incinerator Trend comprises a 1.8-kilometre long alteration zone with numerous anomalous soils (up to 700 ppb gold) that has been successfully tested by four broad-spaced (100 to 500 metres) diamond drill holes from 1987 (true thickness unknown) that returned assays of:

2.32 g/t gold over 4.1 metres (33.1 to 37.2 metres) in drill hole RB-41;

1.06 g/t gold over 15.6 metres (66.8 to 82.4 metres) in drill hole RB-39;

1.00 g/t gold over 9.7 metres (32.1 to 41.8 metres) in drill hole RB-37; and

1.78 g/t gold over 4.0 metres (47.2 to 51.2 metres) in drill hole RB-35.

The altered and mineralized zone is hosted along an east-west oriented (070o) fault zone and associated topographic low (Exhibit A and Exhibit B). The fault zone, along with gold intersected in the four broad-spaced drill holes and gold-bearing soil samples, corresponds to a 1.0-kilometre long IP chargeability anomaly that forms a compelling target for follow-up drilling in the winter 2022.

Furnace Trend

The Furnace Trend comprises a 1.5-kilometre long zone of gold-bearing rock grab samples** with assays up to 5.60 g/t gold and soil samples (assays up to 66 ppb gold) that has not been tested with previous drilling. The altered and mineralized zone sub-parallel with and located 1.1 kilometres to the south of the Incinerator Trend, is hosted within a similar east-west trending fault zone (Exhibit C).

Jacksons Arm Trend

Jacksons Arm Trend is host to a 2.4-kilometre long by 40- to 400-metre-wide continuous alteration zone that is controlled by a north-south striking fault. The fault extends immediately to the north along strike with similar repeating fault zones to the east outlining a potential strike extent of an additional 4 kilometres (Exhibit C). A recent phase 1 drilling program (see news release dated February 18, 2021) by the Company at the Jacksons Arm Trend intersected broad zones of alteration and gold mineralization in each drill hole outlining a large fertile gold-bearing alteration system along at least a 300-metre section of the larger Jacksons Arm Trend with assays including:

4.67 g/t gold over 0.5 metres (73.5 to 74.0 metres) in drill hole JA-20-01;

3.84 g/t gold over 0.5 metres (46.5 to 47.0 metres) in drill hole JA-20-07; and

2.01 g/t gold over 1.0 metre (22.5 to 23.5 metres) in drill hole JA-20-08.

Highlights of surface grab samples** include:

Assays up to 20.20 g/t gold and 1,232 g/t silver at the Boot N' Hammer Prospect;

Assays up to 56.70 g/t gold and 2.75 ounce per tonne silver at the Stocker Prospect;

Assays up to 7.20 g/t gold at the Shrik Prospect; and

Assays up to 13.60 g/t gold at the 954 Prospect. An Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate^ of 5,460,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.45 g/t gold containing 255,000 contained ounces at a cut-off grade of 1.0 g/t gold at the Rattling Brook Deposit; and



Several north and northeast oriented fault zones truncate the main thrust fault at Jacksons Arm in the area of multiple rock and soil gold occurrences and future work will focus on testing these fault zones for control on gold mineralization.

**Grab samples are selected samples and are not necessarily indicative of mineralization that may be hosted on the property.

About the Great Northern and Viking Projects

The Great Northern and Viking Projects comprise two separate claim blocks (13,775 hectares) that are located near the communities of Sops Arm, Pollard's Point and Jackson's Arm, NL.

The Projects are centered along a 20-kilometre section of the Doucer's Valley Fault, a significant geological control on, and host to, several gold deposits and untested prospects, including the Rattling Brook and Thor Deposits, Jacksons Arm, Little Davis Pond, Viking, and Incinerator Trends. Gold mineralization is hosted within a variety of rock types that include Precambrian or Ordovician granite and granodiorite, or younger volcanic and sedimentary rocks, typically along splays off the Doucer's Valley Fault. Alteration consists of mesothermal style sericite, quartz  iron carbonate  sulfide veins and stockworks with 2 to 5% total sulfides consisting of pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite, and locally show trace amounts of visible gold.

The Great Northern and Viking Projects are host to significant Current and Historic Mineral Resources, including:

An Historical Indicated Mineral Resource^^ of 937,000 tonnes at an average grade of 2.09 g/t gold containing 63,000 ounces of gold plus an Historical Inferred Mineral Resource of 350,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.79 g/t gold containing 20,000 ounces of gold at a cut-off grade of 1.0 g/t gold at the Thor Deposit.

Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. All Mineral Resource Estimates were prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards (2014). Please refer to the NI 43-101 Technical Report with effective date January 23, 2019 by Harrington and Cullen (2019) as detailed below for the Great Northern Project and the NI 43-101 Technical Report with effective date August 29, 2016 by Copeland et al. (2016). An Independent Qualified Person has not carried out sufficient work to classify the Thor Historical Mineral Resource Estimate as current and Magna Terra is not considering this Mineral Resource Estimate to be current. Magna Terra considers the Thor Deposit to have potential for expansion that will be addressed by the Company in future exploration programs. See further details on Technical Reports below.

Pandemic Considerations

The Company has critically considered logistical matters given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that this Exploration Program and all future programs are executed in a way that ensures the absolute health and safety of our personnel, contractors, and the communities where we operate.

Junior Exploration Assistance Grant

The Company would like to thank the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for partial funding of the exploration program under the Junior Exploration Assistance Program.

Qualified Person and Technical Reports

This news release has been reviewed and approved by David A. Copeland, P. Geo., Chief Geologist with Anaconda Mining Inc., a "Qualified Person", under National Instrument 43-101 - Standard for Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

All NQ-sized drill core samples collected as part of this drilling program were collected using QA/QC protocols including the regular insertion of certified standards and blanks within each sample batch sent for analysis. Drill core and rock grab samples were sent to Eastern Analytical Limited in Springdale, NL and analysed for Au by fire assay (30 g) with an AA finish.

^The Mineral Resource Estimate quoted in this press release regarding the Great Northern Project refers to the technical report: "NI 43-101 Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate on the Rattling Brook Gold Deposit, Great Northern Project, White Bay Area, Newfoundland, Canada", (the "Great Northern Report") with an effective date of January 23, 2019, and authored by Matthew Harrington, P.Geo. (Independent Qualified Person) and Michael Cullen, P.Geo. (Independent Qualified Person).

^^The Historical Mineral Resource Estimate quoted in this press release regarding the Viking Project (Thor Deposit) is taken from the technical report: "NI 43-101 Technical Report And Mineral Resource Estimate For The Thor Deposit, Viking Project, White Bay Area, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, Latitude 49o 42 N Longitude 57o 00 W" prepared for Anaconda Mining Inc. by David A. Copeland, P.Geo., Dr. Shane Ebert, P. Geo. and Gary Giroux, P. Eng. M.ASc., August 29, 2016. An Independent Qualified Person has not carried out sufficient work to classify the Thor Historical Mineral Resource Estimate as current and Magna Terra is not considering this Mineral Resource Estimate to be current. Magna Terra considers the Thor Deposit to have potential for expansion that will be addressed by the Company in future exploration programs.

About Magna Terra

Magna Terra Minerals Inc. is a precious metals focused exploration company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Magna Terra owns three district-scale, advanced gold exploration projects in the world class mining jurisdictions of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. Further, the Company maintains a significant exploration portfolio in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina which includes its precious metals discovery on its Luna Roja Project, as well as an extensive portfolio of district scale drill ready projects available for option or joint venture.

Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, failure to establish estimated mineral resources, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, changes in world gold markets or markets for other commodities, and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Magna Terra Minerals Inc.

Lewis Lawrick

President and CEO, Director

647-478-5307

Email: info@magnaterraminerals.com

Website: www.magnaterraminerals.com

Exhibit A: Drill Plan Map of the Apsy Feeder Zone and Apsy Zone, Rattling Brook Deposit Area, Great Northern Project.

Exhibit B: Schematic Longitudinal Section (Looking North) through the Apsy Feeder Zone and Apsy Zone, Rattling Brook Deposit Area, Great Northern Project.

Exhibit C: Significant Gold Exploration Targets at the Rattling Brook Deposit and Jacksons Arm Trend.

Exhibit D: Plan Map of Select Drill Intercepts (core length), Mineral Resource Areas and Exploration Targets, Rattling Brook Deposit Area, Great Northern Project.

SOURCE: Magna Terra Minerals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687716/Magna-Terra-Discovers-New-Gold-Zone-Over-800-Metre-Strike-and-Expands-the-Rattling-Brook-Deposit--Intersects-130-gt-Gold-Over-165-Metres--Great-Northern-Project-Newfoundland
Industry Certification Demonstrates Quality and Customer Satisfaction; Positions Company as Preferred Supplier

AUBURN HILLS, MI / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Unique Fabricating, Inc. (NYSE American:UFAB), a leader in engineering and manufacturing multi-material foam, rubber, and plastic components utilized in noise, vibration, and harshness management and air/water sealing applications for the transportation, appliance, medical, and consumer markets, today announced that its Auburn Hills, Michigan facility has met the requirements of Q1 certification, effective January 26, 2022. This certification is a validation of Unique Fabricating's high-levels of service, quality, and customer satisfaction scores, and positions this facility to be awarded business as a preferred vendor when bidding against uncertified competitors.

To qualify, companies must simultaneously achieve the following:

Zero customer quality complaints/notifications and no open corrective actions

Best in class PPM measures

Written endorsements from: Ford Customer Service Division, Ford Supplier Technical Assistance, and Ford Material Planning & Logistics

Third-party Certification to IATF 16949 and ISO 14001 and compliance to MMOG/LE achieving level A

Approved Manufacturing Site Assessment

An excellent shipping history with no stop shipments or field actions

PPM less than 150% of Commodity Average for both production and service

Maintain delivery performance above an 81 score for both production and service each month

"As Unique Fabricating has always been committed to the highest customer service levels including quality and on-time delivery especially in these very challenging times, receiving Ford's Q1 certification validates our efforts," commented Doug Cain, President and Chief Executive Officer of Unique Fabricating. "The team at our Auburn Hills facility worked tirelessly over many months to meet these stringent requirements. We are in the process of securing Q1 certification at our facilities in Queretaro, Mexico and then LaFayette, Georgia, to further bolster our relationship with Ford and strengthen our ability to win business with various automakers."

About Unique Fabricating, Inc.

Unique Fabricating, Inc. (NYSE American:UFAB) engineers and manufactures components for customers in the transportation, appliance, medical, and consumer markets. The Company's solutions are comprised of multi-material foam, rubber, and plastic components and utilized in noise, vibration and harshness ("NVH") management, acoustical management, water and air sealing, decorative and other functional applications. Unique leverages proprietary manufacturing processes, including die cutting, thermoforming, compression molding, fusion molding, and reaction injection molding to manufacture a wide range of products including air management products, heating ventilating and air conditioning ("HVAC"), seals, engine covers, fender stuffers, air ducts, acoustical insulation, door water shields, gas tank pads, light gaskets, topper pads, mirror gaskets, glove box liners, personal protection equipment, and packaging. The Company is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. For more information, visit http://www.uniquefab.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or to future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the Company's or the Company's industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by this press release. Words such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "outlook," and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are based on management's present expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in particular the Section entitled "Risk Factors", as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our periodic and current reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Unique Fabricating does not intend to update this information, unless required by law. Reference to the Company's website above does not constitute incorporation of any of the information thereon into this press release.

Investor Inquiries:

Rob Fink, FNK IR

(646) 809-0408

rob@fnkir.com

SOURCE: Unique Fabricating, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687739/Unique-Fabricatings-Auburn-Hills-Facility-Secures-Prestigious-Q1-Certification-from-Ford
Company empowers enterprise architects of the future by providing its industry-leading and ready-to-use Enterprise Architecture Management tool to universities and teaching institutions

BONN, Germany and BOSTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LeanIX , the platform to plan and manage continuous transformation across the enterprise, has launched LeanIX Academic Edition, which provides universities and teaching institutions free access to the company's Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) tool. The LeanIX Academic Edition makes it possible for students to learn enterprise architecture fundamentals using the EAM tool's core Application Portfolio Management and Technology and Risk Management modules.

With the release of the Academic Edition, LeanIX aims to support the growing enterprise architecture field by introducing students to the discipline through intuitive, cutting-edge software.

To register for LeanIX Academic Edition or to learn more about the program, please visit: https://www.leanix.net/en/products/enterprise-architecture-management/academic-edition

With the Academic Edition, teachers and students can:

Put academic theories to practice using an industry-leading EAM tool.

Explore best practices with a data model trusted by IT architects at some of the biggest brands in the world.

Leverage LeanIX collaboration-based features and explore the many possibilities of the tool.

Get students ready to communicate with business leaders and bridge the gap between business and IT.

"Every future digital leader should understand the fundamentals of enterprise architecture," said LeanIX CEO and co-founder, Andre Christ. "We are thrilled to offer LeanIX EAM tools for free to those teaching these leaders of the future and I'm proud of the amazing program the LeanIX team has put together."

To learn more about the LeanIX EAM product and review its extensive product documentation, please visit: https://www.leanix.net/en/products/enterprise-architecture-management .

About LeanIX

LeanIX's Continuous Transformation Platform is trusted by Corporate IT and Product IT to achieve comprehensive visibility and superior governance. Global customers organize, plan and manage IT landscapes with LeanIX's automated and data-driven approach. Offering Enterprise Architecture, SaaS, and DevOps Management, LeanIX helps organizations make sound decisions and accelerate transformation journeys. LeanIX has hundreds of customers globally, including Adidas, Atlassian, Bosch, Dropbox, Santander or Workday. The company is headquartered in Bonn, Germany, with offices in Boston, San Francisco and around the world.

Contact:

Jeremy Douglas

Catapult PR-IR

303-589-1941

jdouglas@catapultpr-ir.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1450225/LeanIX_Logo.jpg
The "Debt Collectors (Nordic) Industry Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Debt Collectors (Nordic) Analysis provides a detailed overview of the Debt Collectors (Nordic) market and delivers a comprehensive individual analysis on the top 150 companies, including AB Syna, Asker Og Baerum Boligbyggelag Ba and Bisnode Kredit AB.

This report covers areas such as debt, finance, collection, collect, repayment and includes a wealth of information on the financial trends over the past four years.

The publisher's latest Debt Collectors (Nordic) analysis is ideal for anyone wanting to:

See the market leaders

Identify companies heading for failure

Seek out the most attractive acquisition

Analyse industry trends

Benchmark their own financial performance

Using the publisher's exclusive methodology, a quick glance of this Debt Collectors (Nordic) report will tell you that 22 companies have a declining financial rating, while 38 have shown good sales growth.

Each of the largest 150 companies is meticulously scrutinised in an individual assessment and analysed using the most up-to-date and current financial data.

Every business is examined on the following features:

The Publisher's Chart: A graphical assessment of a company's financial performance

Four year assessment of the profit/loss and balance sheet

A written summary highlighting key performance issues

Subsequently, you will receive a thorough 100-page market analysis highlighting the latest changes in the Debt Collectors (Nordic) market.

This section includes:

Best Trading Partners

Sales Growth Analysis

Profit Analysis

Market Size

Rankings

The publisher provides busy managers with a set of tools to monitor the financial welfare of their company, their rivals, or those they wish to acquire. The reports are used to assess the attractiveness of potential acquisitions, gain better understanding of a market and identify sound companies with whom to trade.

Key Topics Covered:

The Debt Collectors (Nordic) analysis is the most definitive and accurate study of the Debt Collectors (Nordic) sector in 2021.

The report is split into two sections and uses both a written and graphical analysis analysing the 150 largest Debt Collectors (Nordic) companies.

The Debt Collectors (Nordic) report contains the most-up-to-date financial data and the publisher applies these figures to create their unique and authoritative analysis.

Indeed, the first section thoroughly scrutinises the market and this section includes the following:

Best Trading Partners: These are companies that are winning in both sales and financial strength for example Gothia As has been ranked as a best trading partner in the industry.

Sales Growth Analysis: This section reviews the fastest growing and fastest shrinking company for example Kravia As is among the fastest growing.

Profit Analysis Analysis of gross profit and pre-tax profit over the last ten years and a profitability summary comparing profits in the industry against small, medium and large companies.

Market Size: Based on the largest 150 companies, this is a comparison between last year's market size and the most current figure.

Rankings: The top 50 companies ranked by: Market Share, Sales Growth, Gross Profit and Pre-tax Profit.

The next section focuses on company analysis and provides an in-depth analysis of the largest companies within the Debt Collectors (Nordic) industry.

Each business is analysed using the publisher's unequivocal model and culminates in the production of The Publisher's Chart. The Publisher's Model uses a series of charts to graphically analyse an individual company and measure its ability to achieve sales growth while maintaining financial strength.

The Publisher's Chart is a quick and dependable method of analysing a company's financial well-being. It's simple to understand: a rising line is good news and a falling line is bad news.

Therefore, this company analysis will tell you if a company is:

Strong or heading for failure

Utilising their investments

Becoming burdened by debt

Getting the most from their resources

The Debt Collectors (Nordic) analysis also provides you with full business name and address, name and ages of directors and registration address.

Companies Mentioned

AB Syna

Asker Og Baerum Boligbyggelag Ba

Bisnode Kredit AB

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xgj02e

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005805/en/

Contacts:

ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

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LUDWIGSHAFEN (dpa-AFX) - Industrial gases company Linde Plc (LIN) announced Tuesday that it has signed a long-term agreement with BASF Group (BFA.L, BASFY.PK), one of the world's largest chemical companies, for the supply of hydrogen and steam. Under the agreement, Linde will design, build, own and operate a new hydrogen production facility at Chalampe in France, effectively doubling Linde's current capacity in the Chalampe chemical park where it already has one production facility. This second plant will supply BASF's new hexamethylenediamine (HMD) manufacturing facility and will also help meet the increasing demand from Linde's local merchant customers for hydrogen. The plant is expected onstream in the first half of 2024. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Love is in the air at the Academy Awards.

Married stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem and engaged actors Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons were each nominated for Oscars on Tuesday.

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Cruz and Bardem, who wed in 2010, join an exclusive list featuring just five other married couples who received nominations in acting categories in the same year, according to CNN.

The others include Frank Sinatra, who won best supporting actor for From Here to Eternity, and Ava Gardner, who was nominated for best actress for Mogambo, in 1954. Elizabeth Taylor, meanwhile, won best actress for Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1967, while husband Richard Burton was nominated for best actor for his performance in the film.

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The 47-year-old Cruzs best actress nomination on Tuesday came for the Spanish thriller Parallel Mothers, in which she plays a single mom grappling with a major secret.

Bardem, 52, earned a best actor nod for his Being the Ricardos portrayal of bandleader and sitcom star Desi Arnaz.

Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (Domenico Stinellis/AP)

Plemons and Dunst, who got engaged in 2017, are nominated in the supporting acting categories for their co-starring roles in The Power of the Dog, a Montana-set Western about a callous cattle rancher.

The 33-year-old Plemons and 39-year-old Dunst play a couple in the film.

To be honored by the Academy is a truly humbling experience, Dunst said Tuesday following her nomination. For both Jesse and I to get our first nominations together is beyond our wildest dreams.

Directed by Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog leads all films with 12 nominations at next months Oscars ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Otologie is proud to sponsor BTA Tinnitus Week

DUBLIN, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Specialist tinnitus service, Otologie Tinnitus Care is offering free assessments to people living with tinnitus to mark its sponsorship of the British Tinnitus Association's Tinnitus Week, which runs from 7th - 13thFebruary 2022.

Anyone who books a tinnitus assessment with Otologie, from 7th - 13th February, will get the assessment, which normally costs 85, free of charge.

Owned by medical devices company, Neuromod Devices Ltd, Otologie is a specialist healthcare service for people living with tinnitus, in the UK and throughout Europe, to avoid waiting lists and give them immediate access to treatment for their tinnitus.

Tinnitus, commonly known as "ringing in the ears" affects between 10 and 15% of the global adult population[i] and the BTA estimates that more than seven million people suffer from this condition in the UK alone[ii].

A recent poll by Neuromod found that more than three quarters of people living from tinnitus in the UK have never received any treatment for their condition.

The research, which polled 251 people with tinnitus across the UK, found that 76.1% of respondents have never used any form of tinnitus treatment. It also revealed that 67.7% of those polled don't feel adequately informed about tinnitus.

For those who have sought treatment for their tinnitus, a consultation with an ENT is commonplace. However, COVID-19 continues to impact the health service's ability to provide care to people with tinnitus. As of November 2021, the most recently available statistics from the NHS, 45% of people on referral to treatment waiting lists for ENTs had been waiting for more than 18 weeks[iii].

A dedicated tinnitus assessment includes more than a hearing test, as this condition affects the auditory, attentional, and emotional areas of a patient's brain. The free assessment is conducted by one of Otologie's audiologists and includes an evaluation of tinnitus using clinical standards designed specifically for the condition, a full medical evaluation, a hearing test and, based on the results of all these diagnostics, a treatment recommendation.

This allows the audiologist to fully understand how the tinnitus is affecting every individual patient's life.

Speaking on this initiative, Ms. Lia Bresnihan, Managing Director at Otologie said: "The tinnitus experience varies greatly from person-to-person. The condition affects the auditory, attentional, and emotional areas of your brain. That's why it is so important to have an assessment from a qualified audiologist if you have been suffering from tinnitus for more than three months. People who struggle with tinnitus often suffer in silence as they may think that because there is no cure for tinnitus, that there is no treatment that will help them. By offering free assessments, we are hoping to inform patients as best we can about their condition and to empower them to do something about that annoying ringing in their ears."

To avail of a free tinnitus assessment visit www.otologie.com/bta, book a call and use the promotional code BTAWEEK. Tinnitus assessments normally cost a patient 85. The assessment, which a patient can choose at a day and time that suits them, will be done via a video call.

Furthermore, to mark Tinnitus Week, Otologie is also hosting a free webinar, 'Living with tinnitus: What are the treatment options?', which will take place on Thursday 10th February at 1pm.

This session, which will be delivered by Otologie's specialist audiologists Helen MacMahon and Clodagh Kelly, will help attendees to better understand their tinnitus; provide practical advice for how to best manage tinnitus; and detail the various treatment options available to patients.

The webinar is free of charge and limited spaces can be booked at www.otologie.com/webinar-living-with-tinnitus/.

Ms. Bresnihan added, "We are delighted to partner with the British Tinnitus Association as a sponsor of their Tinnitus Week. The BTA's mission is to drive progress towards a cure and to deliver excellent support to help people living with tinnitus. This aligns with our mission at Otologie to provide groundbreaking tinnitus care that improves the lives of many. Also, I would encourage anyone who is looking to learn more about their tinnitus, or if they have a loved one or friend with tinnitus and they just want to learn more about the condition, to sign up for our free webinar on Thursday 10th February."

About Otologie

Otologie is an effective, patient-centred service that provides ground-breaking tinnitus care to improve the lives of people living with this condition every day and it has been established to address the growing healthcare need for people with tinnitus.

Its specialist audiologists and psychotherapists, have extensive experience treating tinnitus patients with the latest evidence-based treatments. They follow clinical best practices to assess each patient and recommend a personalised treatment plan from treatment options such as of Lenire, tinnitus therapy (CBT), or hearing aids for tinnitus. Combining these treatment options and the company's technology-led platform, which offers next day appointments.

In 2021, Neuromod piloted a telehealth service to treat tinnitus patients in Ireland and throughout Europe. Due to the success of the pilot, which allowed patients to progress to treatment within days of contacting the service and avoid waiting lists for public ENT appointments, Neuromod established Otologie, early in 2022, to provide quick access to tinnitus care from qualified healthcare professionals.

Otologie streamlines the typical healthcare journey for tinnitus patients, offering them next day appointments which they can attend online or in-clinic. Its team of audiologists and therapists, specifically trained in treating tinnitus, have extensive experience treating patients with evidence-based treatments.

For more information please contact:

Robert Magee

Senior Communications Manager,

Neuromod Devices

robert.magee@neuromoddevices.com / +353 87 670 6826

Notes to Editor:

Otologie's treatment options for tinnitus

Lenire - Lenire, a non-invasive bimodal neuromodulation device, has been proven in large-scale clinical trials to soothe the symptoms of tinnitus. Lenire delivers mild electrical pulses to the tongue combined with sound played through headphones to drive long-term changes, or neuroplasticity, in the brain to treat tinnitus.





Lenire, a non-invasive bimodal neuromodulation device, has been proven in large-scale clinical trials to soothe the symptoms of tinnitus. Lenire delivers mild electrical pulses to the tongue combined with sound played through headphones to drive long-term changes, or neuroplasticity, in the brain to treat tinnitus. Tinnitus Therapy - Tinnitus Therapy is a form of psychotherapy which aims to change a patient's perception of their tinnitus and minimise its impact on their life.





Tinnitus Therapy is a form of psychotherapy which aims to change a patient's perception of their tinnitus and minimise its impact on their life. Hearing Aids for Tinnitus - Hearing loss is one of the most common causes of tinnitus and improving a patients hearing can improve their symptoms. Otologie offers a range of hearing aids, and ongoing support.

About Neuromod Devices Limited

Founded in 2010, Neuromod Devices Ltd is a medical technology company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Neuromod specialises in the design and development of neuromodulation technologies to address the clinical needs of underserved patient populations who live with chronic and debilitating conditions. The lead application of Neuromod's technology is in the field of tinnitus, where Neuromod has completed extensive clinical trials to confirm the efficacy of its non-invasive neuromodulation platform in this common disorder. Neuromod's tinnitus treatment device, Lenire is currently available in Ireland and throughout Europe. For more information visit www.neuromoddevices.com.

About Fountain Healthcare Partners

Fountain Healthcare Partners is a life science venture capital fund with offices in Dublin and New York. Founded in 2008, Fountain is Ireland's largest dedicated life science venture capital fund with more than 300 million under management. Fountain invests in entrepreneurs and companies with disruptive technologies or products that have a clear pharmacoeconomic benefit and a defined pathway to commercialisation, value enhancement and exit. Fountain typically leads or co-leads its investments and has sourced private and public deals from start-ups, corporate spin-outs and turnaround situations.

References:

[i] Baguley D, McFerran D, Hall D. Tinnitus. Lancet 2013:382 (9904):1600-7

[ii] British Tinnitus Association - https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/blog/more-people-living-with-tinnitus-than-previously-thought

[iii] NHS - https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Nov21-RTT-SPN-publication.pdf
The company expands global presence with opening of new European headquarters in London

DemandScience, a leader in B2B pipeline generation solutions, today announced the opening of its new European headquarters in London, and the acquisition of Finity SA, a Swiss-based provider of AI-driven content creation and aggregation.

"Europe is playing a significant role in our global business acceleration," explained DemandScience Chair and CEO Peter Cannone. "The opening of our new European headquarters and the acquisition of Finity align with our expansion strategy this is our seventh acquisition in eighteen months, and the fourth European company we've integrated into our worldwide business in the past ten months."

DemandScience's European-based workforce now exceeds 125, and the company is actively recruiting new team members to meet demand.

"We are excited to be part of DemandScience and to leverage our IP and technology to further extend the company's offerings. Our worldwide data analysis of industry and location content will enhance DemandScience's intent and first-party buyer engagement insights," said Finity Chief Product Officer, Nicolas Dengler. "We look forward to continuing our innovation for existing customers and expanding to many more as a global company."

Highlights of Finity SA, DemandScience's latest European acquisition:

Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, Finity analyzes 500 million social media posts, 20 million news articles and monitors 50 million news sites and blogs daily

Leverages worldwide data to analyze what is happening in any industry, topic, or location and turn this data into content, including live visualizations and infographics

Capabilities include the ability to automatically identify buying signals, key events, and other important triggers embedded within media analyzed

"Our acquisitions in the UK, Ireland, France and now Switzerland have strengthened our global first-party data strategy, deepened our intent aggregation and behavioral insights, and leveraged global content across a wider set of B2B verticals," said Cannone. "This is enabling our worldwide customers across North America, EMEA and APAC to grow their businesses, and fuel our success."

The company's new London offices are located on the 26th floor of the former Stock Exchange Tower at 125 Old Broad Street in the city's financial district.

About DemandScience

DemandScience is a global B2B data company that partners with customers to upgrade their pipelines. DemandScience's accurate data and predictive insights enable sales and marketing professionals to identify, activate and convert the right buyers at the right time to achieve their growth goals.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005162/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Rich Gallagher (347) 229-2482 pr@demandscience.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - WonderFi Technologies Inc. (NEO: WNDR) (OTC: WONDF) (WKN: A3C166) (FTX: WNDR) (the "Company" or "WonderFi") today announced that, in connection with the acquisition by Bitbuy Technologies Inc. ("Bitbuy") that Kogan.com Limited (ASX: KGN) ("Kogan.com"), one of Australia and New Zealand's largest and most popular online retailers, will provide marketing support to WonderFi and Bitbuy as a key step towards international expansion and user growth.

Kogan.com previously agreed to provide marketing support to Bitbuy's future launch into the Australian market (here), and today has confirmed it will support the combined company, providing WonderFi with reach to Kogan.com's more than 3.3 million active customers in Australia.

David Shafer, Executive Director of Kogan.com commented: "We were pleased to learn of the pending acquisition of Bitbuy by WonderFi, and look forward to becoming shareholders of WonderFi. Kogan.com's commitment to provide marketing support to the combined company will now include WonderFi, expanding the potential offerings to Australians."

Ben Samaroo, Chief Executive Officer of WonderFi commented: "The recent successful launch of the WonderFi App through wonder.fi, the historic success of Bitbuy's centralized crypto trading platform, and the support of Kogan.com offers a tremendous opportunity for global Australian expansion."

The acquisition of Bitbuy by WonderFi for approximately $206 million was announced on January 4, 2022, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to approval by WonderFi and Bitbuy shareholders, as well as certain related matters and other acquisition-related closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Additional Information

For additional information, please contact:

WonderFi Technologies Inc.

Ben Samaroo, CEO

ben@wonder.fi

(778) 843-9637

Investor Relations Contact: invest@wonder.fi

Media Contact: press@wonder.fi

Bitbuy Technologies Inc.

Dean Skurka, President

dean@bitbuy.ca

Media Contact: binu.koshy@bitbuy.ca

ABOUT WONDERFI

WonderFi is a leading technology company with the mission of creating better access to digital assets through compliant centralized and decentralized platforms. WonderFi has a multi-pronged business strategy which includes a high-growth consumer finance app which will serve as a trusted gateway to the new financial system, and a digital asset portfolio which consists of leading crypto and DeFi assets. WonderFi's executive team and Board of Directors have an established track record in finance and crypto, with previous experience at Amazon, Shopify, PayPal, Galaxy Digital and Hut 8. WonderFi's core team of engineers and technologists believe that everyone should have equal access to finance, and are aligned in the mission to empower people around the world to access DeFi in a simple, smart and secure way. For more information, visit www.wonder.fi.

ABOUT KOGAN

Kogan.com is a portfolio of retail and services businesses that includes Kogan Retail, Kogan Marketplace, Kogan Mobile, Kogan Internet, Kogan Insurance, Kogan Travel, Kogan Money, Kogan Cars, Kogan Energy, Dick Smith, Matt Blatt and Mighty Ape. Kogan.com is a leading Australian consumer brand renowned for price leadership through digital efficiency. The Company is focused on making in-demand products and services more affordable and accessible.

ABOUT BITBUY

Bitbuy is a Canadian owned and operated digital asset marketplace and restricted dealer. Bitbuy's mission is to provide its clients the best global prices, the deepest liquidity, and the most digital asset products in Canada with a convenient, dependable, and secure platform. Bitbuy is proudly registered as a restricted dealer and is Canada's first registered digital asset marketplace in Canada. Bitbuy's head office is in downtown Toronto, with over 90 employees. In addition to its registration as a Marketplace and Restricted Dealer, Bitbuy is also registered with FINTRAC as a Money Services Business under the Virtual Asset Service Provider category. Bitbuy was founded in 2016 and is currently one of Canada's largest cryptocurrency platforms by trading volume. Bitbuy offers crypto trading services to beginners, advanced traders, and corporations making it The crypto destination of investors.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", or variations of such words, and includes the anticipated benefits of the transaction, the ability of the Company and Bitbuy to obtain all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals, and the ability of the Company and Bitbuy to close the transaction on the terms and timing described herein, or at all.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: the inability of the Company and Bitbuy to integrate successfully such that the anticipated benefits of the transaction are realized, the inability of the Company and Bitbuy to obtain the necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals for the transaction, the inability of the Company and Bitbuy to close the transaction on the terms and timing described herein, or at all, the inability of the Company to work effectively with strategic investors; and material adverse changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets, changes in applicable laws, and compliance with extensive government regulation. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward- looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

Neither NEO Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the NEO Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113119
International Zeolite signs Agreement with the University of Havana for the Exclusive Development and Commercialization of NEREA(R) - a Revolutionary Breakthrough in Agricultural Technology and Crop Science

Highlights:

Technology transfer completes vertical integration strategy, allowing the Company to mine, process, market, and distribute multiple zeolite products to a growing global agribusiness market

NEREA  proprietary zeoponic technology has proven to increase crop yields, produce higher quality agricultural products, reduce fertilizer waste, and lower water use

Environmentally friendly NEREA simplifies, improves and accelerates crop production

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - International Zeolite Corp. (TSXV: IZ) (OTC Pink: IZCFF) (FSE: ZEON) (the "Company"), an international producer and marketer of zeolite products that provide green solutions for key environmental issues, is very pleased to announce the signing of a Technology Transfer Agreement between the University of Havana Foundation (UH) and International Zeolite Corp (IZ) for exclusive development and commercialization of NEREA - a revolutionary breakthrough in agricultural technology and crop science.

"With the large availability of top-quality zeolite from our deposits, and a complete vertical integration in place to process zeolite into NEREA, package the various products, and distribute it through our value chain, we are positioned extremely well to bring to market a breakthrough technology that benefits commercial growers, and reduces environmental impacts," stated Mark Pearlman, President and COO of IZ. "Ultimately this means we can help provide more - and healthier - food, less expensively, with less water, time, space, and resources - to feed the world. With this groundbreaking agreement, IZ continues to be well-positioned to deliver on its mission: delivering solutions for pressing environmental issues using natural zeolite products."

NEREA is a proprietary "zeoponic" technology for modern agriculture that embeds the entire suite of plant-required nutrients directly into zeolite, a naturally occurring nano-structured mineral with a broad array of beneficial properties. NEREA used as a drop-in substrate or soil amendment in field or controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) not only reduces fertilizer waste and runoff by up to 90% but has proven to produce higher yields of crops by 20-30% as well as a higher quality of agricultural product, sooner; lowers water use by up to 30% or more; and inhibits plant infection by fungi, viruses and other pathogens. NEREA substrates are environmentally friendly and do not produce wastes that damage the environment.

IZ has validated NEREA in independent A/B trials at two prominent independent research institutions, with impressive results. "NEREA performs remarkably well - lettuce and basil both grew to market-ready without any additional nutrient applications. Our crops matured more quickly, likely owing to the fact that NEREA stores nutrients in a freely accessible format plants pull from on demand, resulting in an optimal growth rate -- we effectively reduced the total crop time by at least 1-2 weeks. This would represent a substantial improvement for a commercial producer looking to produce more crops per year," said Derek Schulze, at the Agricultural and Environmental Technologies Innovation Centre (AETIC) of Niagara College. "NEREA has the potential to both simplify and accelerate crop production for food and ornamental plant producers and would also make an excellent addition to long term crops such as nursery and perennial stock."

Following a separate independent trial of four commercial crops, Qinglu Ying, PhD, of Vineland Research & Innovation Centre, said, "NEREA demonstrated multiple advantages during our greenhouse trials including promoting germination rate and time, promoting flowering, shortening crop cycle, and increasing yield, and provided all the essential nutrients required for the growth of various potted plants throughout the growth period. The recharge/reuse capability after the crop cycle could improve input use efficiency and decrease energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in horticulture. NEREA is a great candidate for soil amendments, green roof substrates or other low impact development settings, due to its capability of holding water and nutrients in the root zone until plants are ready to utilize them, reducing nutrient leaching and environmental impacts."

The landmark Technology Transfer Agreement is the culmination of many months of planning and negotiation and lays a strategic and operational foundation that puts the Company in a strong position to expand into new markets, introduce innovative products to new customers, and establish International Zeolite's presence in the global agricultural sector.

On Behalf of the Board

"Ray Paquette"

CEO

+1 604.684.3301

For Investor Inquiries:

Bill Mitoulas

Investor Relations

info@internationalzeolite.com

+ 1 416.479.9547

For further information, please visit www.internationalzeolite.com

Forward Looking Statements

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, the ability to complete contemplated work programs and the timing and amount of expenditures. International Zeolite does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113097
Platform will include non-invasive, continuous measurement of extensive range of biomarkers, custom cloud analytics, AI, and first-of-its-kind biosensing wristband

Bioptx engineering samples shipped to customers two years earlier than previously scheduled to meet increasing demand

Early introduction accelerates development of non-invasive remote monitoring solutions for professional healthcare

Rockley Photonics Holdings Limited (NYSE: RKLY) ("Rockley"), a global leader in photonics-based health monitoring and communications solutions, today announced the Bioptx platform of biomarker sensing products and solutions for the medical and healthcare market. The Bioptx healthcare sensing platform is expected to provide medical institutions, such as hospitals, research clinics, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and other healthcare providers, with the ability to monitor the general wellness of individuals.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005453/en/

Sample Use of Rockley Bioptx Biosensing Wristband (Photo: Business Wire)

The Bioptx sensing platform will integrate various sensing capabilities, including Rockley's patented silicon-photonics-based laser technology. Rockley's technology has the potential to significantly enhance the range of biomarkers that can be detected and measured by current sensors. The expanded range of biomarkers will include core body temperature, blood pressure, body hydration, alcohol, lactate, and glucose trends, among others. These new measurement capabilities have the potential to transform healthcare by providing real-time insights into a variety of health conditions and by enabling early detection of multiple disease states.

The cloud analytics and AI capabilities of the Bioptx sensing platform will allow medical institutions to analyze biomarker information, monitor general health conditions, and track population health metrics. These insights have the potential to support and improve a variety of healthcare treatments, including remote patient monitoring, medical therapies, management of chronic conditions, and drug development.

The Bioptx sensing platform will include a range of hardware and software solutions that enable non-invasive, continuous, and real-time monitoring of multiple biomarkers, from a wearable biosensing wristband to cloud analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). Rockley also plans to offer additional cloud-based subscription services that enhance the capabilities of the biosensing platform.

The Bioptx line of sensing products, which will address specific needs of the professional healthcare market, is the second product line to leverage Rockley's silicon-photonics-based biosensing platform. The company's VitalSpex product line will address the consumer wearable market. Both product lines incorporate Rockley's highly disruptive silicon photonics technology and clinic-on-the-wrist miniaturizing technology.

Rockley had previously projected that it would introduce commercial products into the professional healthcare market in 2024. The announcement of the Bioptx product line and shipping of engineering samples come two years earlier than projected to meet the demand from our customers and partners. The company shipped the first of its engineering samples to multiple customers in January of 2022. The first commercial products in the Bioptx line are expected to be available as early as the second half of 2022.

"Launching the Bioptx product line two years earlier than planned represents a significant step forward in the deployment and commercialization of our biomarker sensing platform and will allow us to develop and refine our algorithms and analytics for the healthcare market more quickly," said Dr. Andrew Rickman, chairman and chief executive officer of Rockley. "People are interested in taking a more proactive role in managing their health, and professional healthcare providers are looking for a holistic approach to outcome-based programs. I believe our Bioptx biosensing platform has the potential to significantly advance this new approach by providing non-invasive, continuous remote patient monitoring that's much more accurate and tracks a broader range of health conditions."

"With the potential for additional revenue that could begin as early as 2023, the new Bioptx platform also gives Rockley the opportunity to offer new software and cloud services in addition to the wristband," added Mahesh Karanth, Rockley's chief financial officer. "These new opportunities build on our already strong customer base of two of the world's top ten medical equipment and device manufacturers and twelve leading global consumer electronics companies, potentially increasing Rockley's market opportunity by as much as $15 billion."

Rockley intends to use the data and learnings gathered from the Bioptx line to further refine the sensing algorithms, cloud analytics, and AI of its sensing platform. The launch of a healthcare-specific biosensing product line is expected to accelerate Rockley's access to data and the refinement and expansion of its platform functionality. Rockley expects that these refinements will allow it to expand the intended uses of the Bioptx product line and move forward with plans to seek certification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that products in the Bioptx line meet the FDA's definition of a medical device, per Section 201(h) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Rockley expects that customers will initially use its Bioptx platform to monitor the general wellness of individuals under care or in studies. After products in the Bioptx line receive approval from the FDA or other regulatory agencies, Rockley anticipates that customers will expand product use into preventive and diagnostic care, such as remote patient monitoring and diagnosis.

More information about Rockley's digital health monitoring solution is available here: https://rockleyphotonics.com/healthcare-sensing.

About Rockley Photonics

A global leader in photonics-based health monitoring and communications solutions, Rockley Photonics is developing a comprehensive range of photonic integrated circuits and associated modules, sensors, and full-stack solutions. From next-generation sensing platforms specifically designed for mobile health monitoring and machine vision to high-speed, high-volume solutions for data communications, Rockley is laying the foundation for a new generation of applications across multiple industries. Rockley believes that photonics will eventually become as pervasive as micro-electronics, and it has developed a platform with the power and flexibility needed to address both mass markets and a wide variety of vertical applications.

Formed in 2013, Rockley is uniquely positioned to support hyper-scale manufacturing and address a multitude of high-volume markets. Rockley has partnered with numerous tier-1 customers across a diverse range of industries to deliver the complex optical systems required to bring transformational products to market.

To learn more about Rockley, visit rockleyphotonics.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding Rockley's future expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, and assumptions regarding future events or performance. The words "accelerate," "advance," "allow," "anticipate," "believe," "can," "capability," "continue," "could," "develop," "enable," "estimate," "eventual," "expand, "expect," "focus," "forward," "future," "goal," "intend," "may," "might," "opportunity," "outlook," "plan," "possible," "position," "potential," "predict," "project," "revolutionize," "seem," "should," "trend," "vision," "will," "would" or other terms that predict or indicate future events, trends, or expectations, and similar expressions or the negative of such expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words or terms does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the following: (a) the anticipated and potential features, scope, goals, and benefits of the Company's platform, products, and technology, including its first-of-its-kind biosensing wristband, cloud analytics and AI; (b) Rockley's continued focus on the commercialization of its platform in the health monitoring space and timing for the development thereof; (c) Rockley's strategy for monetizing the data collected from its biomarking sensing products; (d) the potential for continuous measurement of key biomarkers to transform healthcare by providing real-time insights into a variety of health conditions and enable early detection of multiple disease states; (e) the potential to leverage data collected from Rockley's biomarking sensing products to improve a variety of healthcare treatments, including remote patient monitoring, medical therapies, management of chronic conditions, and drug development; (f) the timing for the commercial availability of Rockley's products; (g) the potential effectiveness of the wearable sensing platform for determining key biomarkers; (h) the expectation that the cloud-based analytics and AI capabilities of Rockley's platform can help develop a more holistic assessment of a person's health and well-being; (i) Rockley's belief that its cloud and AI infrastructure can enable additional capabilities for the fast-growing digital health domain and help individuals make more informed decisions about their health and well-being; and (j)

Forward-looking statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties (many of which are beyond Rockley's control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) Rockley's ability to achieve customer acceptance and commercial production of its products and technology, including in a timely and cost-effective manner; (ii) Rockley's ability to achieve customer design wins and convert memoranda of understanding and development contracts into production contracts; (iii) risks related to purchase orders, including the lack of long-term purchase commitments, the cancellation, reduction, delay, or other changes in customer purchase orders, and if and to the extent customers seek to enter into licensing arrangements in lieu of purchases; (iv) Rockley's history of losses and need for additional capital and its ability to access additional financing to support its operations and execute on its business plan, as well as the risks associated therewith; (v) legal and regulatory risks; (vi) risks associated with its fabless manufacturing model and dependency on third-party suppliers; (vii) Rockley's reliance on a few significant customers for a majority of its revenue and its ability to expand and diversify its customer base; (viii) Rockley's financial performance; (ix) the impacts of COVID-19 on Rockley, its customers and suppliers, its target markets, and the global economy; (x) Rockley's ability to successfully manage growth and its operations as a public company; (xi) fluctuations in Rockley's stock price and Rockley's ability to maintain the listing of its ordinary shares on the NYSE; (xii) Rockley's ability to anticipate and respond to industry trends and customer requirements; (xiii) changes in the current and future markets in which Rockley is or may be engaged; (xiv) risks related to competition and intellectual property; (xv) market opportunity and demand for Rockley's products and technology, as well as the customer products into which Rockley's products and technology are incorporated; (xvi) risks related to international operations; (xvii) risks related to cybersecurity, privacy, and infrastructure; (xviii) risks related to financial and accounting matters; (xix) general economic, financial, political, and business conditions, both domestic and foreign; (xx) Rockley's ability to realize the anticipated benefits of its recently completed business combination with SC Health Corporation; and (xxi) Rockley's ability to realize the anticipated benefits of strategic partnerships, as well as other factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in Rockley's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, and in other documents Rockley files with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on Rockley's current expectations, beliefs, and assumptions and are not predictions of actual performance. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of these assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those discussed in or implied by these forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting Rockley will be those that have been anticipated. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and Rockley does not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005453/en/

Contacts:

Media

Debra Raine

Rainemakers

Telephone: +1 415-349-7432

Email: rockley-pr@rainemakers.com

Investors

Gwyn Lauber

Rockley Photonics

Telephone: +1 626-995-0001

Email: investors@rockleyphotonics.com
Targets Highlighted for Drilling Greenwood BC

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Golden Dawn Minerals Inc., (TSX-V:GOM | FRANKFURT:3G8C | OTC PINK:GDMRD), ("Golden Dawn" or the "Company"), announces that it has completed an initial review and target selection based on the VTEM geophysical survey of the Phoenix and Golden Crown Properties at the Greenwood Precious Metals project in southeastern BC.

Perspective view of the VTEM anomalies around the historic Phoenix open pit

"The Phoenix Mine is one of the largest historic copper/gold producers in southern BC. It has never had VTEM modern technology deployed on it before. In similar situations in southern BC, this technology has led to major new discoveries. The question has always been where is the feeder source of the Phoenix Copper Gold Mine that historically produced a million Oz of Gold and 5.9 million Oz of Silver and over 235,000 tonnes of copper. It is now permitted for drilling we are going to try and answer that question", states Anderson CEO

Golden Dawn recently completed a review of the results from the helicopter-borne VTEM survey flown over the Phoenix and adjacent Golden Crown properties, located east of Greenwood in southeastern BC. The main purpose of the survey was to identify conductive areas to target a major copper-gold skarn deposit and/or a porphyry-type copper-gold deposit.

Total Magnetic Intensity map from Geotech survey showing known clusters of mineral deposits.

In addition to the Phoenix and Golden Crown mines, these properties are extensively mineralized and cover 29 past producing mines and more than 70 mineral showings. The Phoenix camp also lies within the northern extension of the Republic graben in northern Washington state, where several epithermal gold deposits and gold-skarn deposits have been developed. The Buckhorn mine (Kinross) was the last to close in 2017 after producing approximately 1.3 million ounces of gold at an average grade of about 12 g/t gold between 2008 and 2017.

SURVEY RESULTS

The magnetic and electromagnetic survey results were investigated considering the bedrock geology and distribution and styles of known mineral occurrences.

Magnetic results (above image) show strongly magnetic areas corresponding to extensions of outcropping intrusive rocks of the Nelson plutonic suite and ultramafic rocks of the Knob Hill complex. Clusters of mineral deposits are recognized that appear to be related to interpreted margins of the Nelson plutonic suite (Northeast and Greenwood clusters) and a structural zone extending northwest from gabbro and ultramafic rocks of the Knob Hill complex (Golden Crown cluster). The Phoenix cluster surrounds the Phoenix mine open pit and is not clearly related to any strongly magnetic body. Extending west of Phoenix is an east-west trending zone of moderate to highly magnetic rocks that might signify intrusive rocks at depth. A highly magnetic area located east of the Phoenix correlates with ultramafic rocks.

The VTEM electromagnetic results show a series of conductive anomalies trending approximately East-West in the central portion of the block, as shown in the map below.

Map of target areas based on VTEM electromagnetic survey.

Target areas were defined based on conductive high areas. Target areas 1, 2, 3 and 4 define an easterly trending arc with a center that lies just north of the Phoenix open pit. These areas may represent bedrock mineralization related to blind intrusions and are selected as highest priority for follow-up exploration. Follow-up work will include field examinations and permitting new sites, followed by ground EM and / or IP geophysics, possible trenching, and diamond drilling.

Target area 5 on the Golden Crown property and will also require follow-up ground investigation.

The exploration program is focussed on extensions of the Phoenix copper-gold skarn deposit. The historic Phoenix mine was the largest producer in the Greenwood mining camp, with total production of 26,956,525 tonnes of ore containing 1.08 million ounces of gold, 6.77 million ounces of silver and 930,050 tonnes of copper (BC MEMPR Paper 1986-2). The nearby Golden Crown mine consists of a series of gold-copper veins, where drilling to date has outlined mineral resources as defined in the Company's PEA Technical Report dated June 2, 2017 and filed on SEDAR.

An exploration permit is currently in place for the Phoenix area that includes trenching and drilling from a total of 25 drill sites. An exploration permit is also in place for the Golden Crown property for a total of 35 drill sites. Multiple holes can be drilled from each of the sites, so the current permits allow for a total of up to approximately 21,000 metres.

Readers are cautioned that historical records referred to in this News Release have been examined but not verified by a Qualified Person. Further work is required to verify that historical records referred to in this News Release are accurate.

Technical disclosure in this news release has been approved by Dr. Mathew Ball, P.Geo., President of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101,

For more details, please see the most recent National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Company's website at www.goldendawnminerals.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

GOLDEN DAWN MINERALS INC.

Per: "Christopher R. Anderson"

Christopher R. Anderson CEO

For further information, please contact:

Golden Dawn Minerals Inc. - Corporate Communications: Tel: 604-488-3900

Email: Office@goldendawnminerals.com

Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to, among other things, preliminary plans for a consolidation of the Company's Shares. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange will not approve the proposed share consolidation, and that the Company may not be able to raise sufficient additional capital to continue its business. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The Company's securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL, OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF SECURITIES OF THE COMPANY IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL PRIOR TO REGISTRATION OR QUALIFICATION UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY SUCH JURISDICTION.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Golden Dawn Minerals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687785/Airborne-Survey-Highlights-Golden-Dawn-Phoenix-Copper-Gold-Mine
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM)(FSE:FIRA)(OTCQX:PMMCF) is pleased to provide an update and status report for its high-quality portfolio of copper and gold exploration projects located in northern Chile.

Pampa Metals continues to progress prioritised exploration activities on its eight (8) wholly owned projects, covering a series of greenfield copper and gold targets along the highly productive, world-class mineral belts of northern Chile. Current highlights include:

Pampa Metals' joint venture partner, Austral Gold Ltd., is drill testing the Rosario del Alto target at Pampa Metals' Morros Blanco project with up to 2,000m of diamond core drilling in five holes, with results expected to be reported by early Q2;

Pampa Metals is in the process of completing a detailed induced polarisation (IP) survey over the Cerro Chiquitin drill target at its Cerro Buenos Aires project, with results expected next month; and

The Company has recently completed a trenching program over the quartz veinlet stockwork and porphyry zone at its Block 4 project, with assay results pending and expected shortly.

Paul Gill, Pampa Metals' President and CEO, commented: "After completing extensive geological mapping and geophysical campaigns, Pampa Metals has drill tested four porphyry copper targets distributed between two separate projects in its first year of existence, with three of those targets slated for possible further drill follow-up. The Company is currently acquiring detailed geophysical data over one of those drill targets at the Cerro Buenos Aires project, and is progressing well on the delineation of a potentially new porphyry drill target with a trenching program at its Block 4 project.

In addition, the Company signed an Option and Joint Venture Agreement ("JV") with Austral Gold Ltd. ("Austral") in the second half of 2021, allowing Austral to earn in to two of the Company's projects at Morros Blancos and Cerro Blanco, with a focus on gold exploration. Austral has already progressed surface exploration activities at both projects, and has started its first drill test of a key target on the Morros Blancos property.

More recently, Pampa Metals has signed an agreement with VerAI Discoveries Inc. ("VerAI"), giving the Company access to the latest in artificial intelligence technology as applied to mineral exploration, together with access to exciting new prospects in a highly prospective part of northern Chile.

Pampa Metals' activities and advances, together with those of its partners, is giving the Company maximum leverage towards its value-accreting discovery objective from greenfield projects in one of the world's leading mining jurisdictions."

Project Summaries and Updates

Morros Blancos: The Company's JV partner, Austral, has initiated drill testing of the Rosario del Alto high-sulphidation gold-silver target located in the north of the 7,300-hectare Morros Blancos project (see news release dated January 11, 2022). Five diamond core holes totaling around 2,000m are planned. Highlights to date include: Three prospective areas have been identified within the property boundary along a 15 km x 3 km NE-oriented favorable hydrothermal alteration corridor. Four maar-diatreme structures, a multiplicity of phreatomagmatic breccias extending over an area of ~2 km x 1 km, and a shallow level of preservation of volcanic features together with high-level hydrothermal alteration are identified at the Rosario del Alto target in the north. Systematic surface geochemical sampling revealed a high sulphidation epithermal pathfinder anomaly concentrated on the central zone at Rosario del Alto, with relationships to geological features of interest and demagnetised zones from detailed geophysical surveying. Drilling is focused on the geological, geochemical, and geophysical features of interest.

The Company's JV partner, Austral, has initiated drill testing of the Rosario del Alto high-sulphidation gold-silver target located in the north of the 7,300-hectare Morros Blancos project (see news release dated January 11, 2022). Five diamond core holes totaling around 2,000m are planned. Highlights to date include: Cerro Blanco: Austral has announced that it has completed geological mapping, geochemical rock sampling, and ground magnetometry at Pampa Metals' Cerro Blanco project (6,500 hectares), which is part of the JV agreement between the Company and Austral (see Austral Q4 2021 Activity Report).

Austral has announced that it has completed geological mapping, geochemical rock sampling, and ground magnetometry at Pampa Metals' Cerro Blanco project (6,500 hectares), which is part of the JV agreement between the Company and Austral (see Austral Q4 2021 Activity Report). Cerro Buenos Aires: Wide-spaced reverse circulation ("RC") drilling completed by the Company in 2021 (see news release dated December 7, 2021) around the porphyry and tourmaline breccia outcrops at Cerro Chiquitin in the north of the 7,400-hectare Cerro Buenos Aires project, resulted in geological, hydrothermal alteration, and geochemical anomalies and zonation patterns indicating a potential porphyry copper target to the southeast of the Cerro Chiquitin outcrops. A detailed pole-dipole IP survey (20 line km total) is currently underway over the post-mineral gravel covered target area to the southeast of Cerro Chiquitin, with results pending. Follow-up diamond drill testing is being considered.

Wide-spaced reverse circulation ("RC") drilling completed by the Company in 2021 (see news release dated December 7, 2021) around the porphyry and tourmaline breccia outcrops at Cerro Chiquitin in the north of the 7,400-hectare Cerro Buenos Aires project, resulted in geological, hydrothermal alteration, and geochemical anomalies and zonation patterns indicating a potential porphyry copper target to the southeast of the Cerro Chiquitin outcrops. Block 4: Detailed geological mapping, combined with high-resolution ground magnetic surveying, discovered an intense quartz-veinlet stockwork hosted within a hydrothermally altered dacitic porphyry intrusion that is spatially coincident with a discrete magnetic high at the Company's 6,800-hectare Block 4 project. The area of interest is approximately 1 km in diameter and is poorly outcropping, being mostly obscured by post-mineral gravel cover (see news releases dated November 2, and October 18, 2021). Six back-hoe excavated trenches totaling 2.3 km were recently completed over the area of interest. 202 field samples (with additional control samples) were collected from 5 trenches, with one of the 6 trenches failing to reach bedrock due to the thickness of gravel cover. Geochemical results are pending. Follow-up IP surveying and/or drill testing are being evaluated pending results from the trenching.

Detailed geological mapping, combined with high-resolution ground magnetic surveying, discovered an intense quartz-veinlet stockwork hosted within a hydrothermally altered dacitic porphyry intrusion that is spatially coincident with a discrete magnetic high at the Company's 6,800-hectare Block 4 project. The area of interest is approximately 1 km in diameter and is poorly outcropping, being mostly obscured by post-mineral gravel cover (see news releases dated November 2, and October 18, 2021). Other Projects: Wide-spaced RC drilling on three targets at the 6,600-hectare Redondo-Veronica project in 2021 (see news release dated September 28, 2021) revealed deep porphyry potential at two of the targets, with vectors derived from surface geological mapping, hydrothermal alteration and geochemical anomalies found in drill holes, and deep geophysical anomalies. Follow-up diamond drilling is being contemplated. Geological field work and geophysical surveying at the 10,100-hectare Block 3 project has revealed multiple magnetic features of potential interest in post-mineral covered areas, with geological mapping around the periphery of the covered areas confirming the prospective nature of the area. Further electrical (IP) geophysical surveying is being considered to define possible drill targets.

VerAI Agreement: The Company has recently signed an agreement with VerAI Discoveries Inc. ("VerAI"), a Boston-based private corporation, allowing Pampa Metals to evaluate, explore, and earn an interest in a series of copper and precious metals targets that have been generated by VerAI using proprietary artificial intelligence methodologies (see news release dated February 1, 2022). The targets are distributed within eight (8) property blocks, wholly owned by VerAI, totaling about 18,700 hectares located in parts of central northern Chile. The eight property blocks all lie within similar geographic and geologic areas to Pampa Metals' wholly owned portfolio of projects that totals an additional 62,000 hectares. The Company will progress its evaluation of the VerAI projects and targets in the coming period.

ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a Canadian company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM) as well as the Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA) and OTC (OTCQX:PMMCF) exchanges. Pampa Metals owns a highly prospective, wholly owned, 62,000-hectare portfolio of eight projects for copper and gold located along proven mineral belts in Chile, one of the world's top mining jurisdictions. The Company is actively progressing four of its projects, including completed and planned drill tests, and has two additional projects optioned to Austral Gold Ltd., with Austral already drill testing its first target on Pampa Metals' ground. The Company has also recently signed an agreement with VerAI Discoveries Inc. giving Pampa Metals access to the latest in artificial intelligence technology in relation to mineral exploration, as well as a further 18,700 hectares of highly prospective terrain in the core of the highly productive mineral belts of northern Chile.

The Company has a vision to create value for shareholders and all other stakeholders by making a major copper or gold discovery along the prime mineral belts of Chile, using the best geological and technological methods. For more information, please visit Pampa Metals' website www.pampametals.com.

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G, Geologist and a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego is a consultant to the Company.

Note: The reader is cautioned that Pampa Metals' and VerAI's projects are early-stage exploration projects, and reference to existing mines and deposits, or mineralization hosted on adjacent or nearby properties, is not necessarily indicative of any mineralization on Pampa Metals' or VerAI's properties.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Paul Gill | CEO & Director

www.pampametals.com

INVESTOR CONTACT

Ioannis (Yannis) Tsitos | Director

investors@pampametals.com

The CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

Pampa Metals - Project Locations & Major Mines of Northern Chile

SOURCE: Pampa Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687695/Pampa-Metals-Active-on-Four-Copper-Gold-Projects-in-Chile-With-Drilling-Geophysical-Trenching-Programs-Underway
Stonebranch posts unprecedented expansion and earnings driven by new enterprise customers, major product enhancements, and their new Integration Hub

ALPHARETTA, Ga., Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stonebranch, a leading provider of service orchestration and automation solutions, announced its best year of growth and revenues in 2021, stimulated by new customer relationships, the launch of an enhanced Integration Hub, and the v7.0 release of the Stonebranch Universal Automation Center (UAC).



In 2021, Stonebranch added more new customers than ever before, fueling the company's highest revenues since it was founded in 1999. These companies represent a large cross-section of industries - including finance, consumer packaged goods, and energy - yet many share a similar motivation to improve control, connectivity, and observability of automated workloads across increasingly complex hybrid IT environments.

"2021 was another great year for Stonebranch, and 2022 is poised to be even better," said Giuseppe Damiani, CEO at Stonebranch. "More new enterprises added Stonebranch to their IT automation and orchestration tech stack than any other year in the history of the company. In addition, we continued to strengthen our existing client relationships, steadily maintaining a retention rate of over 99 percent. 2021's strong performance is a testament to the expertise and dedication of our team. We've built a culture that's focused on helping IT teams achieve what they require today, and what they'll need for the future."

The UAC enables enterprises to orchestrate automated IT processes and workloads in real-time across on-premises, cloud, and containerized environments. Stonebranch offers advanced solutions in cloud automation and data pipeline orchestration, which are further supported by new and enhanced third-party integrations available in the newly launched Integration Hub. This industry-leading marketplace offers downloadable extensions that connect the UAC with popular technologies, including:

Cloud service providers - Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure

Data pipeline tools - Databricks, Informatica, Kafka, Snowflake

Developer platforms - Ansible, Docker, GitHub, Jenkins, Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift

Business applications - Microsoft Power BI and Teams, Oracle Peoplesoft, SAP, Slack

In 2021, Stonebranch was recognized by leading analysts and technology review platforms. Gartner named Stonebranch a representative vendor in two reports - Hype Cycle for I&O Automation and Market Guide for Service Orchestration and Automation Platforms (https://www.stonebranch.com/resources/gartner-2021-market-guide-soap). EMA recognized Stonebranch as a value leader in its biannual Radar Report for Workload Automation. Additionally, Stonebranch was a 2021 peer award winner by PeerSpot (previously IT Central Station) and a leader in the G2 Workload Automation Grid.

Damiani continued, "Stonebranch is a trusted provider of IT automation solutions. Working side-by-side with I&O, data, development, and cloud teams, we've developed a platform that our users leverage to break down automation silos while driving collaboration in a way that connects strategic initiatives."

Stonebranch grew its employee base in 2021, expanding the size of its offices in the United States, Germany, Greece, Macedonia, and Malaysia. In March, Stonebranch strengthened its leadership team by appointing Peter Baljet as Chief Technology Officer. Baljet brings extensive experience in developing cloud-based technology, and planning and executing cloud-transformation strategies.

Under Baljet's leadership, Stonebranch made significant year-over-year enhancements to the Universal Automation Center. These improvements help enterprises bridge the gap between their on-premises and cloud environments, enabling organizations to drive customer-focused agility as part of their CloudOps, DataOps, and DevOps initiatives, among others.

"We're confident that 2022 will bring another strong year of upgrades to UAC users. Upcoming releases of the UAC will include user experience modernization improvements, enhanced data visualization capabilities, and continued integration development with third-party tools," concluded Damiani.

About Stonebranch

Stonebranch builds IT orchestration and automation solutions that transform business IT environments from simple IT task automation into sophisticated, real-time business service automation. No matter the degree of automation, the Stonebranch platform is simple, modern, and secure. Using the Stonebranch Universal Automation Platform, enterprises can seamlessly orchestrate workloads and data across technology ecosystems and silos. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with points of contact and support throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia, Stonebranch serves some of the world's largest financial, manufacturing, healthcare, travel, transportation, energy, and technology institutions.

Contact

Scott Davis

Vice President of Global Marketing, Stonebranch

scott.davis@stonebranch.com (mailto:scott.davis@stonebranch.com)
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed StrikeForce Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: SFOR) ("the Company"), a company that helps to prevent cyber theft and data security breaches for consumers, corporations, and government agencies. CEO of the Company, Mark Kay, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by commenting on a recent press release announcing that a new crypto company had licensed the Company's mobile and authentication software, where StrikeForce Technologies will receive 50% of net proceeds on all transaction fees. "It is a partnership agreement that is fully signed by both parties," explained Kay. "Right now they are building a website, but after that I will be able to reveal their name and some additional details."

Revenues are expected to grow each year. "We are also looking to do another project with them," shared Kay.

The conversation then turned to the Company's addition of new features for their technologies, including the introduction of a 4-level classification foundation. "It is something very unique within the marketplace," said Kay. "We are looking to become the number one secure video conferencing company," he shared, before elaborating on the numerous features of this technology, which will now include chat and recording. "We feel very strongly about SafeVchat's promise of going forward as the only secure video conferencing product out there."

Jolly then asked about the Company's revenue potential moving forward. "SafeVchat revenues are already growing this quarter," said Kay, adding that the Company's new licensing deal will also add to these numbers. "We're dealing with about one to two clients a day, and we feel great about where it is going to go," said Kay. "We also have a new SafeVchat that is being sold through the API client that we have onboard," he added. "We should be doing some good revenue numbers this year."

"How is the company doing in terms of hiring?", asked Jolly. "We have hired a company to help with hiring some new people," shared Kay, adding that the Company has already begun interviewing candidates, including those with strong sales and video conferencing backgrounds, and has already hired one new employee. "We may even hire more individuals on the technology side to build out more of our products further."

"Collaboration is the main feature we will be adding to SafeVchat," continued Kay. "It will take some time," he added. "We have already improved SafeVchat greatly; people are using it and not having the problems they had before," said Kay. "It is becoming a fantastic program."

To close the interview, Kay shared that the Company remains undervalued despite their significant potential and upcoming projects. He also encouraged listeners and shareholders to keep up-to-date on the Company's announcements as they expect to grow in revenues throughout 2022.

To hear Mark Kay's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/8027616-strikeforce-technologies-inc-discusses-2022-revenue-potential-with-the-stock-day-podcast.

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/.

About StrikeForce Technologies Inc.

StrikeForce Technologies helps to prevent Cyber theft and data security breaches for consumers, corporations, and government agencies. It provides powerful two-factor, "Out-of-Band" authentication, keystroke encryption along with mobile solutions and secure video conferencing and collaboration. StrikeForce Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: SFOR) is headquartered in Edison, N.J., and can be reached at www.strikeforcetech.com or by phone at (732) 661-9641 or toll-free at (866) 787-4542.

Safe Harbor Statement:

Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: the sales of the company's identity protection software products into various channels and market sectors, the issuance of the Company's pending patent applications, COVID-19, and the impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the Company and its operations, markets, product, and distributor performance, the impact on the national and local economies resulting from terrorist actions, and U.S. actions subsequently; and other factors detailed in reports filed by the company.

StrikeForce contact:

Mark Kay, CEO

Marklkay@strikeforcetech.com

(732) 661-9641

About The "Stock Day" Podcast

Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America.

SOURCE:

Stock Day Media

(602) 821-1102

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113138
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Giga Metals Corp. (TSXV: GIGA) (OTCQX: HNCKF) ("Giga Metals" or the "Company") announces today that the Company has closed its previously announced overnight marketed public offering of 12,075,700 common share units (the "Units") of the Company, including 1,175,700 Units issued pursuant to the over-allotment option, which was exercised in part, for gross proceeds of $4,105,738 (the "Offering").

The Units were priced at $0.34 per Unit (the "Unit Price"), comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one common share at a price of $0.45 at any time until February 8, 2025.

The Offering was completed pursuant to an underwriting agreement dated February 3, 2022, among the Company and Cantor Fitzgerald Canada Corporation, as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner, and a syndicate of underwriters including Canaccord Genuity Corp., Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. and Haywood Securities Inc (collectively, the "Underwriters").

In connection with the Offering, the Company has paid to the Underwriters a cash commission equal to 6% of the gross proceeds from the Offering and issued to the Underwriters compensation warrants (each, a "Compensation Warrant") equal to 6% of the Units sold under the Offering. Each Compensation Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one unit having the same terms as a Unit at the exercise price of $0.34 until February 8, 2025.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for development and exploration expenses at the Turnagain Project in British Columbia including undertaking a Pre-Feasibility Study, as well as for general corporate expenses, as further set out in the Company's prospectus supplement to the final short form prospectus dated January 31, 2022 (the "Prospectus"). A copy of the Prospectus is available under the Company profile at www.sedar.com.

The Offering was completed pursuant to the Prospectus in the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor will there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

The Warrants are governed by the terms of a Warrant Indenture (the "Warrant Indenture") dated February 8, 2022 between the Company and Computershare Trust Company of Canada as warrant agent, a copy of which will be available under the Company profile at www.sedar.com. For further details regarding the Warrants, please refer to the Warrant Indenture.

About Giga Metals Corporation

Giga Metals Corporation is focused on metals critical to modern batteries, especially those used in Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage. The Company's core asset is the Turnagain Project, located in northern British Columbia, which contains one of the few significant undeveloped sulphide nickel and cobalt resources in the world. The Company is also exploring for sediment hosted copper deposits in Brazil.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the control of Giga Metals. Forward looking statements include the intended use of proceeds of the Offering. Factors which could cause actual results to differ include that certain of the proceeds of the Offering may need to be used other than as set out in this news release. Although Giga Metals believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Giga Metals disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Mark Jarvis"



Mark Jarvis, CEO

GIGA METALS CORPORATION



Tel - 604 681 2300

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.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113141
The Rust medic who assisted director of photography Halyna Hutchins after she was shot on the New Mexico film set in October has filed a negligence lawsuit against multiple crew members.

Cheryln Schaefer gave 42-year-old Hutchins oxygen and applied pressure to her wound that was sustained when she was shot by star and producer Alec Baldwin on Oct. 21 at Bonanza Creek Ranch, Variety reports. Director Joel Souza was also shot in the incident.

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Schaefer said in her lawsuit that she has, as a result of the tragedy, endured tremendous shock, trauma and severe emotional distress, according to the outlet.

Halyna Hutchins (Sonia Recchia/Getty Images)

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, first assistant director Dave Halls, ammunition supplier Seth Kenney and prop master Sarah Zachry are among those named in the suit, in which Schaefer claims shes been medically unable to return to work, Variety reports.

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Though none of the producers, including Baldwin, are named individually, both Bonanza Creek Ranch and Rust Movie Productions LLC are also defendants in the suit, according to Variety.

This suit marks the fourth filed by a Rust crew member in the wake of Hutchins death, after gaffer Serge Svetnoy, script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, and Gutierrez Reed.

In late October, past safety complaints against Halls surfaced, in relation to his work on Hulus 2019 series, Into the Dark. By December, Halls was subpoenaed to speak with the Occupational Health and Safety Bureau of New Mexicos Environment Department in relation to the shooting.

Svetnoy, who held the dying Hutchins after being in the room as the gun went off, filed suit in November against producers including Baldwin, claiming negligence, as well as Gutierrez Reed, who Svetnoy claimed was unprofessional and overwhelmed as sole armorer.

Within days, Mitchell  who first called 911 after the shooting  also named producers, including Baldwin, in her suit, for which she sought damages for assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and deliberate infliction of harm.

Gutierrez Reed last month sued Kenney, claiming he sent a falsely labeled box of dummy rounds, in which live bullets were also present  claims Kenney previously dismissed as an impossibility.
Vibe receives provisional approval to open its sixth dispensary location in Salinas, California

Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Vibe Growth Corporation (CSE: VIBE) (OTCQX: VIBEF) (FSE: A061) (the "Company" or "Vibe"), a vertically integrated California cannabis enterprise, is pleased to announce it has received provisional approval from the California Department of Cannabis Control (the "DCC") to commence adult-use retail sales at its newest dispensary location in Salinas, California.

Vibe received a provisional retail license from the DCC under its subsidiary, Vibe Salinas LLC, for adult-use sales at its dispensary located at El Camino Real, Salinas, CA. This new Vibe By California branded Salinas dispensary offers exceptional direct access and visibility on US Route 101, and will provide consumers with a wide selection of leading cannabis brands and products. Vibe will offer the area's largest assortment of curated products featuring top-tier California brands and the Company's Hype Cannabis Co. marijuana product lineup. This retail license also provides the ability to deliver cannabis products directly to consumers throughout Monterey County and the Salinas Valley via Vibe By California's online ordering and same-day delivery service.

Vibe expects to increase gross margins at its Salinas location by stocking up to twenty percent of Vibe By California shelf space with Vibe branded products. The additional online delivery service will expand Vibe's overall market share.

"Monterey County was a primary expansion target of ours, and we are thrilled to have received DCC approval to commence sales in Salinas," stated Mark Waldron, CEO of Vibe. "We are excited to expand Vibe's customer base and provide the Salinas region with the best-in-class service and unbeatable product selection for which Vibe and Hype are known. We look forward to embracing the local community and providing our customers with the largest selection of premium cannabis products grown right in the Salinas Valley."

Vibe Retail Expansion Strategy

Vibe's management team continues to actively explore expansion opportunities as it looks to add new dispensaries to its portfolio to meet the growing demand for its Vibe By California and Hype Cannabis Co. products.

The new Vibe Salinas dispensary will join the Company's existing California locations in Sacramento, Stockton, Redding, Palm Springs, Ukiah, plus Portland, Oregon. Vibe is positioned to further execute upon its growth strategy of expanding its retail dispensary portfolio and scaling its cultivation business in California, and anticipates receiving approval for its Ukiah location in the first quarter of 2022.

About Vibe Growth Corporation

Vibe Growth Corporation and its cannabis retail brand, Vibe By California, is a trusted, vertically integrated California cannabis enterprise with retail dispensaries; cannabis greenhouse cultivation; premium indoor cultivation; commercial cannabis distribution; brand sales and marketing; e-commerce platform; home delivery; and Hype Cannabis Co. marijuana and Vibe CBD products. In California, Vibe is maximizing shareholder value through organic growth, opportunistic acquisitions, distressed workouts, and new license applications. The Company operates retail and e-commerce under its iconic Vibe By California brand.

To learn more about Vibe, please visit: www.vibebycalifornia.com

Company Contact

Bill Mitoulas

Phone: +1 416.479.9547

Email: ir@vibebycalifornia.com

Website: www.vibebycalifornia.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Product & Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the parties' current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events, and may be impacted as a result of general economic conditions or the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, the Company's expectations of revenue, EBITDA profitability and adjusted funds flow, higher sales volumes, and the company's retail operations. Actual future results may differ materially.

The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Risk factors related to the Company are described in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any State securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. securities laws.

Unlike in Canada which has Federal legislation uniformly governing the cultivation, distribution, sale, and possession of medical cannabis under the Cannabis Act (Federal), readers are cautioned that in the U.S., cannabis is largely regulated at the State level. To the knowledge of Vibe Growth Corporation, there are to date a total of 33 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized cannabis in some form. Notwithstanding the permissive regulatory environment of medical cannabis at the State level, cannabis continues to be categorized as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S. and as such, cannabis-related practices or activities, including without limitation, the manufacture, importation, possession, use or distribution of cannabis are illegal under U.S. federal law. Strict compliance with state laws concerning cannabis will neither absolve Vibe of liability under the U.S. Federal law nor will it provide a defense to any Federal proceeding, which may be brought against Vibe Growth Corporation. Any such proceedings brought against Vibe may adversely affect its operations and financial performance.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113140
CHICAGO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a research report "RegTech Market with Covid-19 Impact by Component (Solution & Services), Application (Risk and Compliance Management, Identity Management, & Regulatory Reporting), Vertical, Deployment Type, Organization Size and Region - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global RegTech Market size is expected to grow USD 7.6 billion in 2021 to USD 19.5 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20.8% during the forecast period.

Browse in-depth TOC on "RegTech Market"

321 - Tables

47 - Figures

232 - Pages

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=63447434

Insurance segment to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The insurance industry is rapidly transforming with notable technological advancements. The adoption of RegTech solution is further gaining traction as these organizations have started utilizing RegTech solution to monitor regulatory compliance and automate reporting, as well as enhance their data management capabilities and mitigate risks. Insurance depicts risk management wherein the equitable transfer of risk of loss from one entity to another in exchange for payment is done. The insurance vertical is rapidly adopting RegTech, as there have been tremendous digital transformation initiatives. Some major problems faced by the insurance industry are investment and solvency regulations, claim settlements, distribution channel issues, and data clarity issues. RegTech solution help insurers improve their data management capabilities by offering insurers augmented automation and data-driven insights in areas, including reporting, regulatory compliance, and financial risk management. Insurers are gaining significant benefits from RegTech that are expected to trigger an increase in the number of partnerships.

Regulatory Intelligence segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

Regulatory intelligence is the process of continuously monitoring and tracking various regulations and compliances. RegTech providers offer several tools for identifying and interpreting regulatory changes by providing a real-time catalog of various regulatory requirements. RegTech solution process targeted information and data from multiple sources, analyze these data and generate an output that outlines the risks and opportunities for formulating the most appropriate regulatory strategy. The adoption of RegTech solution by financial institutions enables easy management of the changing regulatory environments and minimizes the risks related to non-compliance. The providers of RegTech solution are incorporating AI and ML to automate the tracking of global regulatory data.

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Asia Pacific (APAC) region to record the highest growing region in the RegTech Market

The Asia Pacific is home to many developing economies, and many countries in this region are adopting new technologies to comply with procedures for increasing the efficiency of financial systems. The key countries include Australia, Japan, Singapore, India, China, and New Zealand. The region is expected to witness the fast-paced adoption of RegTech software. The Asia Pacific is estimated to be the fastest-growing RegTech Market owing to the rise in the adoption of new technologies, high investments for digital transformation, the rapid expansion of domestic enterprises, extensive development of infrastructures, and increasing GDP of various countries. Rapidly growing economies, such as China, Japan, Singapore, and India, are implementing FinTech solutions across multiple business processes to provide effective solutions.

Key and innovative vendors in the RegTech Market are ACTICO GmbH (Germany), Ascent Technologies Inc. (US), Ayasdi AI LLC (US), Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (US), Chainalysis Inc. (US), IVXS UK Limited (UK), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (US), Fenergo, London Stock Exchange Group plc (UK), IdentityMind (US), International Business Machines Corporation (US), Jumio Corporation (US), MetricStream Inc. (US), Actimize Inc. (US), Pole Star Space Applications (UK), PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited (UK), Thomson Reuters, Trulioo (Canada), Wolters Kluwer NV (Netherlands), CLAUSEMATC, H LIMITED (UK), REGnosys Limited (UK), CEPTINEL RegTech (Chile), MindBridge (Canada), Tessian (UK), Hummingbird RegTech, Inc. (US), Coryltics (Ireland), and CyberGRX (US).

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DUBLIN, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FlowForma, the leading provider of Process Automation tools for Microsoft Office 365, has been recognized by MYTECHMAG as one of the 'Top 10 Construction Tech Solution Providers 2021' in its latest construction focused edition, December 2021 - January 2022. FlowForma's 100% no code process automation tool has been selected due to its ability to empower citizen developers to digitize processes 5 times faster than alternative tools, gain rapid adoption, and deliver proven ROI within 12 weeks.

The demand for Digital Process Automation solutions among construction companies continues to soar, as organizations look to new technologies to operate as efficiently as possible, keep overheads low and stay ultra-competitive. Process automation is now a strategic imperative, with construction firms racing to digitize at scale. Agile automation is the new norm, and businesspeople are the superpower to ensure rapid and agile automation.

FlowForma is leading the way, serving construction firms and multi-million infrastructure projects across the globe. Its 100% no code, 3-in-1 solution of forms, workflow, and document generation is revolutionizing the construction industry. The highly intuitive tool is empowering organizations across the sector to get their back office in shape, reduce administration, and use on-site resources more effectively.

With only a few days of training required, businesspeople can automate processes, in an environment safely governed by IT. The use cases are limitless, from onboarding and material requisitions to contractor management, and risk assessments.

The flexibility of FlowForma Process Automation allows both simple and complex construction processes to be seamlessly automated, involving sequential or parallel steps. Connected processes can run on multiple sites, serving numerous resource pools. Once a process template is defined, the process can be executed repeatedly. Its mobile app further facilitates users to complete tasks and input process data on the go, even without mobile connectivity.

"Our customers are focused on digitizing for outcomes, most automate over 50 processes per year and they're saving at least 700 hours on repetitive tasks alone. Remote sites, joint ventures and multiple suppliers are a breeding ground for fractured processes that make it hard to be efficient and compliant with regulatory requirements," commented Olivia Bushe, Chief Executive Officer, FlowForma.

Furthermore, FlowForma has recently been listed as a corporate partner with the Construction Industry Federation of Ireland (CIF), to continue its support of construction companies across Ireland with transforming their business processes. The strategic partnership allows CIF members, the largest construction membership in Ireland, to easily procure the FlowForma Process Automation tool and receive up to date information on all things digital process automation and digital transformation for future growth and development.

FlowForma has also launched an exciting Construction Accelerator which offers users a variety of ready-to-use, fully editable, process templates for digitizing common construction processes such as Field Change Request, Concrete Pre-Pour Check Sheet, Labour Requisition, Materials Requisition, Hot Work Permit, Safety Observation, and more.

Construction companies are encouraged to 'see for themselves' and explore the FlowForma Construction Accelerator via their free trial at www.flowforma.com/trial.

Supporting Resources:

To find out how the FlowForma Process Automation tool works visit:

www.flowforma.com/how-it-works

Learn how FlowForma Process Automation accelerates process digitization in construction: www.flowforma.com/construction-infographic

T o download a free 14-day trial of FlowForma Process Automation visit:

www.flowforma.com/trial

To find out how FlowForma construction customers are successfully digitizing visit: www.flowforma.com/building-better-processes-ebook-form-submission

To learn more about FlowForma Process Automation, book a demo with one of our experts:

www.flowforma.com/book-a-demo

To find out how FlowForma Process Automation compares against its peers visit:

www.g2.com/products/flowforma-process-automation/reviews

About FlowForma

FlowForma is the leading provider of enterprise-class, no code business process management and automation tools that empower businesspeople to rapidly digitise a wide range of processes.

The company empowers businesspeople in construction, engineering, healthcare, financial services and more, to digitise complex business processes in-house, without writing any software code.

Customers are live with digital processes, empowered and self-sufficient within 4 weeks of onboarding. Users rapidly reap ROI, resilience, and innovation. FlowForma Process Automation is making waves in the automation space with its process accelerators, external stakeholder engagement and offline capability.

FlowForma is a Microsoft Gold Partner, with over 200,000 global users. The company is headquartered in Ireland with offices in Boston and London, and is motivated by its values to innovate, evolve, and achieve with employees, customers, and partners.

For further information or a 14-day free trial, visit www.flowforma.com

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The German Chamber of Commerce in China Hosts a Virtual Networking Night in Celebration of the New Lunar Year at oVice: a 2D Virtual Spatial Platform

ZHUANGXING, China, Feb. 08, 2022), which develops and provides virtual spaces where people can meet up, move freely, and interact with each other, sponsors the virtual networking night that is hosted by the German Chamber of Commerce in China and welcomes participants from all across the globe.

Professional Networking Night at a Spring-Festival-Themed Space

The German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai chooses to organize its very first AHK Virtual Networking Night using oVice virtual space. The Spring Festival-themed event attracted guests from all over China, Germany, and around the world, who joined for two hours of professional networking with the Sino-German business community. Participants entered the virtual interactive platform "oVice" to make new business contacts and friends, expand their network, and raise the visibility of their company or organization.

Dr. Sigrid Winkler, Executive Chamber Manager at the German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai, kicked off the Virtual Networking Night with a warm welcome and a short introduction to the platform's functions. Participants met in individual discussion rounds via voice and video chat.

To break the ice, participants were invited to join the interactive Spring Festival-themed Networking Games.

After two hours of vivid exchange, participants left the event making new connections with professionals from the worldwide Sino-German business community.

oVice, Inc. overview

The company develops and provides a virtual space, "oVice," that helps people to gather in one space, move freely, and interact in a similar way to real-life interactions for the purpose of enhancing remote communication. Since its release in August 2020, oVice has exceeded 10,000 virtual spaces created.

oVice is not only being used as a virtual space for companies of various industries and sizes but also for online exhibitions, social events, and academic activities.

Go for a quick demo:https://tour-en.ovice.in

Public Relations: media@ovice.co

Start for FREE:submit a free trial

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Image 1: GCC Virtual Networking Night





Virtual Networking Night kickoff presentation by Dr. Sigrid Winkler









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SCOR Investment Partners surpasses USD 3billion of ILS assets under management,

reinforcing its position as a leading player











SCOR Investment Partners, the asset management company of the SCOR group, announces today that it has surpassed the milestone of USD 3 billion of Insurance linked Securities ("ILS") assets under management as of December 31, 2021.







This success is largely driven by the strong inflows into its two flagship funds: Atropos and Atropos Catbond, launched in 2011 and 2013 respectively. Atropos' assets under management grew by 27% in 2021, reaching USD 1,400 million, while the Atropos Catbond fund grew by 92% in the same year, reaching USD 831 million at year-end.







SCOR Investment Partners' ILS platform, which is under the leadership of Sidney Rostan and is operational in Paris and London, manages and advises funds domiciled in Luxembourg and in Jersey and offers a range of risk-return and liquidity profiles. SCOR Investment Partners also designs tailored solutions for its institutional investor clients to address their specific needs.







Fabrice Rossary, CEO of SCOR Investment Partners, commented: "The last few challenging years in the ILS market have enabled investors to differentiate the investment strategies offered on the market. Our management approach, which is based on the firm principles of transparency and resilience, has clearly proved its relevance, driving SCOR Investment Partners to be ranked among the top 15 ILS managers in the market."











- End -











For more information, please contact Lauren Burns Carraud, Head of Marketing and Communications,

+33 1 58 44 76 62, lburns@scor.com (mailto:lburns@scor.com)







About SCOR Investment Partners







SCOR Investment Partners: financing the sustainable development of societies, together.







SCOR Investment Partners is the asset management company of the SCOR Group. Created in 2008 and accredited by the Autorite des marches financiers, the French financial market regulatory body, in May 2009 (no. GP09000006), SCOR Investment Partners has more than 80 employees and is structured around six management desks: Fixed Income, Corporate Loans, Infrastructure Loans, Real Estate, Insurance-Linked Securities and Fund Selection. Since 2012, SCOR Investment Partners has given institutional investors access to some of the investment strategies developed for the SCOR Group. Assets managed for outside investors totaled EUR 5.5 billion as of December 31, 2021. As of that same date, SCOR Investment Partners had total assets under management of EUR 17.6 billion (including SCOR Investment Partners UK Ltd's AUM and undrawn commitments).







Visit the SCOR Investment Partners website at: www.scor-ip.com (http://www.scor-ip.com)







Document intended exclusively for journalists and professionals of the press and media. This press release is produced for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer, solicitation, invitation or recommendation to purchase any service or investment product. SCOR Investment Partners SE accepts no responsibility, direct or indirect, which may result from the use of the information contained in this document. SCOR Investment Partners SE can in no way be held responsible for any decision, whatever it may be, taken on the basis of this information.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Sack Lunch Productions, Inc. (OTC PINK:SAKL) announced today that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with a third party to host its Color Me Rad events across North America. The licensee expects to hold 20 Color Me Rad events in 2022. SAKL will not play any role in the operation of the events. In the past the licensee hosted over 40 SAKL events prior to 2017 and is excited to reintroduce the Color Me Rad to a new audience edger to participate in live events while cultivating old hands. Richard Surber, CEO, stated that "I am excited to see the fun recommence after a long hiatus. I have confidence in our licensee's ability to operate and host Color Me Rad events based on its impressive track record in the event industry."

Please visit the following websites to find the next Color Rad or Dirty Dash event planned for your area: http://www.thedirtydash.com, and www.colormerad.com.

About Sack Lunch Productions, Inc.:

Sack Lunch Productions, Inc. (OTC PINK: SAKL) is a "live events" company that licenses action- oriented gatherings in the U.S. and internationally. SAKL's events include: Slide the City (1,000 foot long water slide for families and kids), Color Me Rad (5k color race), The Dirty Dash (mud and obstacle run), The Lantern Fest (nighttime party with lantern lighting and launch) and Trike Riot.

SAKL strongly encourages the public to read the above information in conjunction with its reports filed at www.otcmarkets.com. The actual results that SAKL may achieve could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to adverse weather conditions, equipment failure, state and local health code laws which may impact obtaining permits and other risks associated with judgment calls made by various government officials. Investors should not invest more than they can afford to lose.

IR CONTACT:

Richard Surber, President and Director

Sack Lunch Productions, Inc.

hudconsult@aol.com

SOURCE: Sack Lunch Productions, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687854/Sack-Lunch-Productions-Enters-into-Licensing-Agreement
The partnership will provide MaaT Pharma with a dedicated 1,500 square meter site, with the potential for double if needed, in order to increase its cGMP manufacturing capacities to support clinical and then commercial development of its most advanced assets MaaT013 and MaaT033, as well as to expand R&D manufacturing capacities for its new drug generation (MaaT03x).

MaaT Pharma will deploy a facility entirely dedicated to the production of the Company's Microbiome Ecosystem Therapy (MET) and will be the first resident biotechnology company of the Skyepharma SkyeHub Bioproduction.

This first plant, dedicated to complete ecosystems, could enable France to strengthen its national biomanufacturing capacity by acquiring a new bioproduction site in France integrating breakthrough technologies.

Regulatory News:

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005840/en/

MaaT Pharma (EURONEXT: MAAT the "Company"), a French clinical-stage biotech (Phase 3) and a pioneer in the development of microbiome-based ecosystem therapies dedicated to improving survival outcomes for patients with cancer and Skyepharma, a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) specialized in formulating and manufacturing complex and controlled release drugs, today announced they have entered a partnership agreement to build, to date, France's largest specialized cGMP manufacturing facility for ecosystem microbiome-based therapeutics. The facility, located near Lyon (Saint-Quentin-Fallavier) will boast an initial area of 1,500 square meters, that could be increased to 3,000 square meters depending on MaaT Pharma's manufacturing needs. The plant will allow MaaT Pharma to increase its manufacturing capacities ten-fold in order to support clinical and commercial development by 2030. The facility will aim to annually produce several thousand enemas of the Company's lead candidate (MaaT013) dedicated to Graft-versus-Host disease and several hundreds of thousands capsules of its second drug candidate (MaaT033) designed to improve survival in patients receiving allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

A designated area will be dedicated to R&D and clinical manufacturing of the MaaT03X range by 2030, using MaaT Pharma's innovative ecosystem co-fermentation technology to increase response rate in immunotherapy treatments.

"As we enter Phase 3 with our lead product MaaT013, the agreement with Skyepharma will allow us to scale up manufacturing to meet product demands, including commercial launch. We can look forward to expanding our product portfolio for cancer patients with serenity," commented Herve Affagard, Co-founder and CEO of MaaT Pharma. "This partnership is fully in line with France's ambition, as stated in the 2030 innovation plan for health, to become a nation at the forefront of biotherapies and ensure health independence in biomanufacturing. The emerging microbiome industry could open up an opportunity to position France as a leader."

David Lescuyer, Managing Director of Skyepharma added, "SkyeHub will increase cGMP production capacity for microbiome-based drugs in France. Our partnership acts as a value booster as each company brings its know-how and expertise."

Under the terms of the agreement, which follows a bilateral letter of intent signed in September 2021 and whose financial conditions remain confidential, MaaT Pharma will have a dedicated facility within SkyeHub Bioproduction and construction will be financed by Skyepharma. It is planned that the production site, expected to be operational in 2023, will host MaaT Pharma's team and proprietary equipment. In this context, the Lyon-based biotech will retain controlling oversight of the R&D as well as clinical and commercial production of its diverse portfolio of enema and capsule drug candidates. In addition to providing the cGMP building, Skyepharma will also provide its extensive expertise in product quality standards, regulatory affairs, certification, and large-scale production.

This new plant will also allow MaaT Pharma to accelerate the development of MaaT03X, its new generation of drug candidates, using its unique proprietary microbiome ecosystem co-fermentation technology, for which the Company was recently awarded two public grants (Plan France Relance and the 4th Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir (PIA4)). This new oral class of MET products includes hundreds of species and is tailor-made based on clinical data.

About MaaT Pharma

MaaT Pharma, a clinical stage biotechnology company, has established a complete approach to restoring patient-microbiome symbiosis in oncology. Committed to treating cancer and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), a serious complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation, MaaT Pharma has already achieved proof of concept in a Phase II clinical trial in acute GvHD. Our powerful discovery and analysis platform, gutPrint, supports the development and expansion of our pipeline by determining novel disease targets, evaluating drug candidates, and identifying biomarkers for microbiome-related conditions.

The company's Microbiome Ecosystem Therapies are produced through a standardized cGMP manufacturing and quality control process to safely deliver the full diversity of the microbiome, in liquid and oral formulations. MaaT Pharma benefits from the commitment of world-leading scientists and established relationships with regulators to support the integration of the use of microbiome therapies in clinical practice.

MaaT Pharma is listed on Euronext Paris (ticker: MAAT).

About Skyepharma

Skyepharma is an independent French pharmaceutical CDMO, 100% owned by its management team and Bpifrance. Skyepharma is an expert CDMO specialized in the formulation, development and manufacturing of complex oral solid forms (OSD), with a specific expertise and proprietary technologies on modified release products.

Skyepharma is based in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France. The current factory, dedicated to its OSD activity, occupies 22,000m, on a 60,000m piece of land. Skyepharma has decided to allocate a portion of the available land (more than 20,000m) to establish its SkyeHub Bioproduction, an innovative model designed to offer clinical and commercial production capacities to biotech companies. This SkyeHub model includes the construction of dedicated buildings, with specifically designed surfaces and premises, together with transverse support services such as quality, maintenance, batch release, etc.

Forward-looking Statements

All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release about future events are subject to (i) change without notice and (ii) factors beyond the Company's control. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as "target," "believe," "expect," "aim," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "project," "will," "can have," "likely," "should," "would," "could" and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control that could cause the Company's actual results or performance to be materially different from the expected results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005840/en/

Contacts:

MaaT Pharma

Herve AFFAGARD

Co-Founder and CEO

Sian Crouzet, COO/ CFO

+33 4 28 29 14 00

invest@maat-pharma.com

MaaT Pharma

Pauline RICHAUD

Senior PR Corporate Communications Manager

+33 6 07 55 25 36

prichaud@maat-pharma.com

Trophic Communications

Corporate Communications

Jacob VERGHESE or

Gretchen SCHWEITZER

+49 89 23 88 77 31

maat@trophic.eu

Skyepharma

Laurent RIGAUDEAU

Director of sales and business development

+33 6 30 49 22 82

l.rigaudeau@skyepharma.fr
The prop book used to open Disney's classic movie "Sleeping Beauty" is displayed in front of a medieval tapestry in the "Inspiring Walt Disney" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. (Paul Lachenauer, The Met / Courtesy photo)

Maybe art snobs will have second thoughts before looking down their noses at the artistry of Walt Disney.

"The Vultures," a 1937 gouache on two layers of celluloid over watercolor and gouache background, was given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Walt Disney Studios. The image was used in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and is on view in the current exhibition "Inspiring Walt Disney." (Metropolitan Museum of Art / Courtesy photo)

No less an august institution than the Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting an exhibition titled Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts.

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It is certainly a first-ever exhibition for the Met, said Max Hollein, the museums French director, at a press preview for the show.

The Mets Wolf Burchard saluted Uncle Walt as ranking among the most influential artists this country ever produced, saying both the great animator and the rococo artists of the 18th century had a similar goal with their art: To create the illusion of movement.

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This concept art for the movie "Sleeping Beauty," gouache on board, is by Eyvind Earle and on display as part of the Met's "Inspiring Walt Disney" exhibition. (Walt Disney Animation / Courtesy photo)

Burchard, associate curator of European sculpture and decorative arts, also wrote the comprehensive 240-page companion book for the exhibit.

These teapots, part of the Met's "Inspiring Walt Disney" exhibition, were made between 1719 and 1730 by the Meissen Manufactory in Germany. "Throughout the eighteenth century, European potters capitalized on the opportunities teapots presented for quirky humanized and animal-based designs," the museum notes. Disney animators capitalized on the same opportunities in designing Mrs. Potts for "Beauty and the Beast." (Matthew J. Palm / Orlando Sentinel)

In Holleins foreword to the book, he pays tribute to Disney as a Hollywood dream maker.It is hard to think of any other American who has had as far-reaching and long-lasting an impact on the visual arts, Hollein wrote.

He also calls Inspiring Walt Disney a landmark event, and it is a fascinating exhibit, with 60 18th-century European decorative works juxtaposed against 150 pieces of production artwork from Walt Disney Animation Research. Tapestries, ornate clocks and Sevres porcelain share space with animation cells from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and sketches from Beauty and the Beast.

The accompanying wall panels engagingly explain the connections, and as Hollein put it, help give the viewer a new appreciation for both the work of Disney and the European artisans.

Look for references to European culture in classic Disney movies, including the Gothic Revival architecture in Cinderella and medieval influences on the design of Sleeping Beauty.

This concept image of the "Beauty and the Beast" character Mrs. Potts is pastel on paper and board by Chris Sanders. It's part of the "Inspiring Walt Disney" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. (Walt Disney Animation / Courtesy photo)

Twisty golden candlesticks and colorfully decorated teapots show us the artistic ancestors of Lumiere and Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast.

A sculpture of a mournful lion, by German artist Johann Gottlieb Kirchner illuminates the artistic fascination with anthropomorphism  giving animals and inanimate objects human characteristics. That lions face, by the way, seems like a worthy ancestor to Disneys Beast  closer to the final depiction than interesting conceptual artwork for the character, which gives him more monkey-like features.

Unexpected items thrilled the Disney fan in me: the iconic storybooks used in the opening of such films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty are on view, in protective glass cases. (The Sleeping Beauty tome is displayed in front of a particularly beautiful tapestry.) An installation of sketches depicting Cinderellas transformation from scullery maid to belle of the ball becomes its own work of art.

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Johann Gottlieb Kirchner's 18th-century lion shows how artists have been fascinated with anthropomorphism. The sculpture, a detail pictured here, is part of the "Inspiring Walt Disney" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. (Matthew J. Palm / Orlando Sentinel)

Beyond the films, there are treats for theme-park buffs, too. A large-scale concept map of Disneyland has its own artistic qualities, with delicate graphite shading and engaging detail. It also shows a much taller and blockier castle than the Anaheim park would eventually build.

Things to Do Weekly A look at entertainment and sporting events in Orlando and around Central Florida. >

Herbert Rylan created the graphite drawing, under the guidance of Disney in 1953 while the entrepreneur was looking for investors for his California theme-park project.

Artist Glen Keane's "rough animation pencil test" of the Beast's transformation into the traditional "handsome prince" is part of the "Inspiring Walt Disney" exhibit at the Met. Keane was inspired by the weary facial expressions on the sculpted figures in Auguste Rodin's "The Burghers of Calais," also on display at the museum. (Matthew J. Palm / Orlando Sentinel)

Inspiring Walt Disney also details Disneys lifelong interest in Europe, with curiosities such as home-movie footage of an early trip to the Palace of Versailles.

This isnt the first time the Met has exhibited work from Disneys studios. Back in 1938, the museum received a gouache on celluloid image of the Snow White vultures who watch the Witch meet her doom.

In big, bold letters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Inspiring Walt Disney" exhibition poses a fundamental question: "It's Disney, but is it art?" (Matthew J. Palm / Orlando Sentinel)

Under a clip from the movie "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is the prop book used to open the film. The display is part of "Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. (Matthew J. Palm / Orlando Sentinel)

At the time, the acquisition of the work by Ward Kimball  one of Disneys famed Nine Old Men animators  raised eyebrows.

Disneys watercolors  will be hung under the same roof with the greatest works of the greatest masters of painting, and the Metropolitan isnt blushing about it, wrote The Philadelphia Record. The quote hangs on the wall of the exhibition, near another fundamental question posed at the time  Its Disney, but is it art?

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This exhibit clearly, educationally and entertainingly shows that it is.

"Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts" is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. (Paul Lachenauer/The Met / Courtesy photo)

Inspiring Walt Disney

Where: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave. in New York City

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave. in New York City When: Through March 6

Through March 6 Cost: $25; $17 seniors; $12 students

$25; $17 seniors; $12 students Info: metmuseum.org

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.
Collaboration combines SEngine's PARIS Test platform for drug screening on live patient-derived tumor cells and Oncodesign's Nanocyclix technology for generation of novel kinase inhibitors

Regulatory News:

SEngine Precision Medicine Inc., a precision oncology company revolutionizing cancer therapies by pre-testing drugs on patient-derived 3D cultures, and Oncodesign (Paris:ALONC) (ALONC FR0011766229), a French biopharmaceutical company specialized in precision medicine, have announced the signature of a research collaboration agreement for R&D of a new personalized cancer treatment for aggressive and untreatable tumors.

SEngine is commercializing the PARIS Test, a leading-edge diagnostic tool that pre-screens a broad panel of marketed cancer drugs on live patient-derived tumor cells. The results are analyzed using proprietary algorithms, culminating in a clinically actionable drug sensitivity report provided to oncologists for patients whose cancer has no remaining actionable treatment protocols. Dramatic results on the test's predictive value have been reported for a number of terminally ill cancer patients.

Oncodesign has developed Nanocyclix, a medicinal chemistry platform for generating highly potent and selective small macrocyclic kinase inhibitors. Using a probe-based drug discovery paradigm aimed to find highly effective inhibitors for intractable kinases, Oncodesign has built an extensive set of high potential compound probes that are highly novel. Since its inception, Oncodesign has advanced a two of these compounds to near clinical stage.

Testing of a subset of potent and selective Nanocyclix probes against an undisclosed target proposed by SEngine has shown significant selective cancer cell killing effects on a broad range of patient-derived live 3D-tumor cell systems (organoids) for multiple cancer types that are highly aggressive and without currently existing treatment options. This observation confirms the potential use of the Nanocyclix probes in SEngine's precision oncology platform to transform future cancer treatments.

SEngine and Oncodesign have initiated a joint research collaboration to evaluate the feasibility to convert the already identified Nanocyclix inhibitor series into drug candidates that are likely to be effective in the clinic. During this initial phase, both companies will combine their respective technology platforms to advance the program. SEngine will provide research funding to Oncodesign for the initial optimization of the compound series up to a predefined level. It is anticipated that this initial phase will be followed by a larger research collaboration with an option to license at a more advanced stage.

Carla Grandori, MD, PhD, CEO and co-founder of SEngine, stated: "I am thrilled to expand our collaboration with Oncodesign, now that their candidate kinase inhibitors have shown efficacy against a panel of patient-derived organoids for specific solid tumors. It is a new era for drug development, where drugs are pre-tested on mini-cancers grown in 3D shortly after ex vivo derivation, a significant improvement over the historical use of established cell-line models. SEngine's PARIS Test is highly predictive of in vivo drug response and allows us to bring novel therapeutics towards clinical evaluation with higher chances of success."

Philippe Genne, CEO and founder of Oncodesign, said: "This collaboration with SEngine goes right to the heart of our company's mission: finding novel treatments for cancer patients that have no remaining solutions. We already are working on target identification with Oncosnipe and our IA Business Unit and partnering with SEngine widens our horizon as the combination of Nanocyclix and the PARIS Test, two important technologies for personalized cancer treatment discovery, opens the door for a highly innovative way of discovering effective new cancer treatments, starting from biological material directly derived from patients."

Jan Hoflack, CSO of Oncodesign, added: "The results already obtained with our Nanocyclix probes in patient derived live cellular cancer organoids has generated high enthusiasm at both Oncodesign and SEngine. Combining our forces has the potential to dramatically change lives of patients with advanced, metastatic and uncurable cancers of multiple types and origin. Our teams have already started working to come to clinical candidate molecules."

About PARIS Test

The PARIS Test is a next generation diagnostic test that predicts drug responses by pre-screening a broad panel of cancer drugs in patient-derived live tumor cells using robotics and AI-driven computational tools. SEngine's CLIA certified PARIS Test generates actionable drug sensitivity reports for patients and is applicable to all solid tumors including colon, breast, lung, ovarian and pancreatic cancer. Cancer derived cells grown in 3D outside the body maintain the functionality of the original tumor as well as its genomic characteristics. For cancers where a treatment path is not clear, such as many metastatic and recurrent cancers, the PARIS Test provides crucial information to treating physicians to match the right drug to the right patient.

About SEngine Precision Medicine

SEngine Precision Medicine Inc. is a precision oncology company revolutionizing cancer therapies by pre-testing drugs on patient-derived 3D cultures utilizing patient specific tumor cells. As a spin-out from the world-renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, SEngine is leveraging over two decades of R&D in diagnostics and drug discovery. The Company is commercializing the PARIS Test, a next generation diagnostic test that predicts drug responses integrating knowledge of cancer genomics with phenotypic testing of patient-derived live cells combined with robotics and AI-driven computational tools. SEngine's CLIA1 certified PARIS Test generates actionable drug sensitivity reports for patients with solid tumors. SEngine is also pursuing drug discovery via strategic collaborations with biopharmaceutical pharmaceutical companies by deploying its precision oncology platform.

About Oncodesign: www.oncodesign.com

Oncodesign is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in precision medicine, founded in 1995 by its current CEO and majority shareholder. It has been listed on the Euronext Growth Market since April 2014. Its mission is to discover effective therapies to fight cancer and other diseases without a therapeutic solution. With its unique experience, enriched thanks to over 1,000 customers including the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and based on a one-of-a-kind technological platform combining artificial intelligence, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, regulatory bioanalysis and cutting-edge medical imaging, Oncodesign is able to select new therapeutic targets, then design and develop potential preclinical candidates up to the clinical phase stage. Oncodesign has configured its organization to offer innovative services to its customers and licenses for its proprietary molecules. When applied to kinase inhibitors molecules that represent a market estimated to be worth more than $65 billion by 2027 and nearly 25% of R&D investments in the pharmaceutical industry Oncodesign's technology has already made it possible to target several molecules of interest with a high therapeutic potential, both in and outside of oncology, and has signed partnerships with international pharmaceutical groups. Based in Dijon, France, at the heart of the University Hospital complex as well as the Paris-Saclay complex, Oncodesign boasts 230 employees across three Business Units (BU) Service, Biotech, and Artificial Intelligence and has subsidiaries in Canada and the United States.

Forward-looking statements

This document contains forward-looking statements and estimates regarding the financial position, results of operations, strategy, projects and future performance of the Company and the market in which it operates. Some of these statements, forecasts and estimates may be recognized by the use of words such as, without limitation, "believe", "anticipate", "predict", "expect", "project", "plan", intend", "estimate", "may", "want", "continue" and similar expressions. These include all questions that are not historical facts. Such statements, forecasts and estimates are based on various assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that were considered reasonable when made but may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict and may depend on factors beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, the Company's actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements, or industry results, may differ materially from future results, performance or achievements as expressed or implied by such statements, forecasts and estimates. In light of these uncertainties, no representation is made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. In addition, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates are only valid as of the date of publication of this document. The Company disclaims any obligation to update such forward-looking statements, forecasts or estimates to reflect any change in the Company's expectations relating thereto, or any change in the events, conditions or circumstances on which such statements, forecasts or estimates are based, except as required by French law.

1 Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments

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Contacts:

SEngine

Renee Volpini

Media Relations

Tel.: 917-923-8117

reneevolpini@aol.com

Oncodesign

Philippe Genne

Chairman and CEO

Tel.: +33 (0)380 788 260

investisseurs@oncodesign.com

NewCap

Mathilde Bohin

Investor Relations

Tel.: +33 (0)144 719 495

oncodesign@newcap.eu

NewCap

Arthur Rouille

Media Relations

Tel.: +33 (0)144 710 015

oncodesign@newcap.eu
SMBs and enterprise marketers benefit from unprecedented innovation in privacy-centric marketing technology

PORTLAND, OR / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Today, marketing analytics company LeadsRx shared the trends it sees emerging in 2022 that contribute to the unprecedented innovation taking place in performance marketing, marketing attribution and marketing analytics technologies.

Importantly, while the pace of innovation is accelerating, the No. 1 factor in delivering pervasive marketing attribution and analytics success are the people - the data-driven marketers who help ensure data quality and secure consumer privacy. "People + Data = Better" is the equation marketers need to measure against to have mutually beneficial outcomes for their businesses, brands and their customers.

Attribution and Analytics Are No Longer Just Enterprise Solutions

Gone are the days when only global business behemoths with massive marketing teams could benefit from marketing attribution and analytics systems. Small and medium-sized businesses are experiencing the benefits and value that come from having marketing attribution and analytics as a service they count on to deliver return on ad spend (ROAS) and conversion intelligence, which drive increased sales.

LeadsRx sees it firsthand having served thousands of SMBs, customers like The Great American Home Store achieving measurable results for its ecommerce and retail sales in its Tennessee-based retail locations; or Steel City Media building marketing and advertising campaigns that helped clients convert leads to sales for M&R Power Equipment Group near Pittsburgh and Max Motors, an auto dealership operating multiple lots in Kansas and Missouri.

"Multi-touch attribution and customer journey analytics can provide a lot of value to SMBs and enterprises alike by encouraging, informing, and driving increased marketing performance," said AJ Brown, co-founder and CEO of LeadsRx.

CMOs and CIO/CISO Partnering to Achieve Privacy-Centric and Effective Marketing

Consumer privacy needs to be front and center for any data-driven and performance marketing strategy employed by businesses, their agencies and personnel. This hyper focus on data privacy has fueled the evolution taking place in marketing analytics and attribution technologies that marketing and ad industries rely on to reach existing and new customers.

Consumers have driven the new landscape of increased regulation, and governments - and even tech and platform companies - have taken action to protect customer privacy and avoid data breaches, whether nefarious or accidental.

The road is only going to get tougher, and the demands to protect data only more restrictive. The buck stops with the IT department; but it certainly does not mean marketing departments must halt assembling data or that a business will be blocked from using that data to retarget or serve up an excellent experience for existing and new customers.

As a result, IT and marketing departments need to cooperate and collaborate. The CMO's team have access to and analyze lots of data; and the IT team is charged with housing and protecting said data across a multitude of devices, databases, SaaS systems, data clean rooms and systems. Increasingly it's a true partnership that needs to be led mutually by CMOs, CIOs and CISOs to have one goal in mind - delivering superior business results while protecting consumer privacy.

Predictive Marketing Takes Hold

There is a wealth of data that businesses and marketers have at hand to start to use marketing attribution and analytics to apply predictive marketing capabilities. Whether it is data residing in databases, or collected from online forms, inbound calls or via an algorithm that processes data, or other methods, it is insightful information that can be put to good use.

Imagine being able to harness that path-to-purchase data from past customer journeys, as well as capturing how other brands within an industry are faring, to predict the best way to reach existing and new customers. Predictive marketing, based on past analytics and benchmarks, is coming to the forefront. Existing attribution and customer journey analytics data can, and will, fuel increased marketing performance.

Predictive analytics is nothing new. However, it will become a powerful tool marketers can wield to improve performance.

"When it comes to marketing technology the 'A' in Artificial Intelligence marketing tools should really stand for 'Augmented.' People are still part of the equation to look at the data from past marketing efforts and use it to better inform future marketing campaigns," said Brown. "Marketers have more innovative tools available to apply their intelligence to identify and predict what has and is working, or what is or is not working, to improve marketing performance down the road."

Precision Analytics or Micro-Analytics & Micro-Segments - Segment and Target

Marketers can, and should, take data from multi-touch attribution, customer journey analytics, additional demographic and psychographic data, and buying intent attributes - and divide it all up into smaller market or brand segments.

With precision analytics you can evaluate and understand what is driving business to a retail store, hotel or other specific location. How does the buyer of the downtown niche hotel room want to be marketed to versus the outdoorsy type looking for that rustic room closer to nature?

It's easy to see where insights drawn from analytics data can help a franchise with varied venue types and geographies. The messaging and cadence of campaigns that work for middle America likely do not work for a big-city property; or maybe aspects of each do cross over. Marketing analytics data will provide the unbiased insights marketers need.

This micro-analytics approach is less about a business or brand separating itself from the competition; it's more about examining the marketing programs they have done, and are doing, to determine what is working to attract paying customers.

"Precision marketing matters because a brand's desire to build a more meaningful, emotional, and contextual relationship with a consumer is now more aligned than ever with what consumers are demanding for brands to earn their continued business," said Brown. "Ultimately a privacy-focused, data-driven marketing strategy needs to support the business goals and aid in cultivating a trusted relationship with customers."

To learn more about the LeadsRx suite of offerings, from multi-touch attribution, privacy-first customer journey analytics, data clean rooms and the concept of "People + Data = Better" visit LeadsRx.com.

About LeadsRx

Guided by an ethos of impartiality, consumer privacy, and quality first-party data, LeadsRx provides SaaS software and services that has helped marketers at more than 5,000 global and local brands and agencies increase customer acquisition efficiency, grow lifetime value, and identify wasted ad spend. The LeadsRx foundational technology is its unique Universal Pixel that has collected more than 2 billion personas for anonymous individuals - not personal identities, but the characteristics or demographic attributes that make up the type of customer or customers represented by their digital experience across devices, browsers, and apps. To learn more about how LeadsRx can support you in marketing transformation visit LeadsRx.com. Connect with LeadsRx on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

# # #

For more information

Jeff Fishburn

Fishburn PR for LeadsRx

jeff@fishburnpr.com

SOURCE: LeadsRx

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Global Study Examines Ethnicity in Brazil, China, India, South Africa & The United Kingdom and Finds Legal Obstacles to Data Collection & Fear of Physical Harm Over Disclosing Ethnicity in India

NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global business leaders have committed to addressing racial inequities within their institutions. While some progress has been made globally, especially on gender, sexual orientation, and disability, Coqual's new study published today, Equity and Ethnicity at Work: A Global Exploration, finds that to be truly inclusive, multinational companies need to consider more than race, and utilize a more nuanced approach to gain a deeper understanding of racial and ethnic marginalization.

Coqual's final study in a three-part series on equity surveyed nearly 4,000 college-educated, employed, full-time professionals in five global markets, to examine the experiences of employees with marginalized backgrounds in Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (UK). When it comes to race and ethnicity, much of the work in DE&I has been U.S.-centric, driven by underrepresentation of Black employees. Global DE&I work is complicated because ethnicity isn't always based on race, and cultural and ethnic distinctions vary markedly from country to country.

"Leaders at global organizations are hungry for guidance and eager to take action," said Lanaya Irvin, Coqual CEO. "Our new research underscores the importance of collaborating and acting locally and provides actionable ways companies can identify and understand the unique experiences of marginalized groups to achieve greater equity in the workplace."

DE&I work in the U.S. often treats race and ethnicity as synonymous (or close to it). Coqual finds only 22% of professionals in India say race is part of how they define their ethnicity compared to 60% in South Africa, 43% in China, 39% in the UK, and 28% in Brazil. Where race may be less salient, respondents cited other important factors that define their ethnicity such as: country of birth, language, and religion, among many others.

The study uncovers barriers to collecting data on ethnicity, including legal limitations, social constraints to open dialogue, and employee reluctance and fear. In India, nearly two in five (38%) Muslim professionals surveyed say they fear physical harm if they disclose their ethnicity at work. China-based focus group participants were reluctant to engage in discussions of ethnic discrimination and downplayed the role that ethnicity may play in achieving success. In the UK, professionals we spoke with were reluctant to discuss race and UK survey respondents were among the least likely in the study, second only to China, to say their company should encourage conversation about race and ethnicity.



"Companies are being called on to better support employees of marginalized backgrounds all over the world," said Julia Taylor Kennedy, Coqual Executive Vice President, who led the study. "When it comes to race and ethnicity, the outsider groups vary market-to-market. Our five-step process will guide business leaders to identify them, and to address the inequities they face."



Companies need guidance as they embark on global equity work. Coqual developed the following five-step process, rooted in rigorous methodology, for global DE&I leaders to identify and better understand marginalized ethnicity groups in any market:

Acknowledge a cultural starting point Identify marginalized groups Collect qualitative and quantitative data Partner and collaborate Distill and disseminate information

"We are proud to be the lead sponsor for this work that will help organizations better understand the nuanced nature of ethnicity-based marginalization in different global markets," said Carolanne Minashi, Global Head of Inclusion, HSBC. "To date, much of the analysis and insight has been on the UK and U.S., this global research widens our knowledge. We believe real change is starting to happen, it will take continued effort but collectively we can cultivate a more just world."



"At Google, we're always looking for ways to build equity within our workplace," said Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity Officer at Google. "It's why we continue to sponsor Coqual's critical research on DE&I and as a global company, learn from their valuable insights and recommendations."

To illustrate how ethnicity varies, Coqual applied its five-step process, focusing on two salient groups in each market (recognizing these are not the only marginalized groups worthy of corporate support).

BRAZIL

Brazil has a complex mix of ethnicities and racial identities, as well as deeply entrenched racial disparities. Coqual finds that Black professionals in Brazil are nearly four times as likely as White professionals to say they feel discriminated against at work most of the time. They are also the most likely racial group to say they see ethnic bias at work, and to feel silenced when discussing experiences related to race or ethnicity at work.

When it comes to religion in Brazil, the Roman Catholic tradition dominates cultural life and the workplace. The study finds non-Catholic professionals are more likely than their counterparts to feel misjudged and excluded at work most of the time. Additionally, when it comes to fitting in at work, non-Catholic Christian professionals are more than twice as likely as their Catholic peers to say they fit in less than colleagues, while those without religion are more than three times as likely to say the same.

CHINA

In China, Han Chinese have long been the dominant ethnic group. Coqual finds more than half (53%) of Han Chinese respondents say strong professional networks are important for success compared to their non-Han Chinese peers (28%). More than two in five Han Chinese respondents say fitting in is a requirement to advance compared to their non-Han Chinese peers. Additionally, non-Han Chinese professionals are more than twice as likely as their Han Chinese peers to say they feel excluded at work most of the time, but the Han Chinese respondents are more than twice as likely to say they change how they speak at work to fit in compared to their non-Han Chinese colleagues.

Hukou, China's national household registration system, also creates a divide between the rural (agriculture) vs. urban (nonagricultural) citizens, with designation based on place of birth and parental status. Coqual's data suggests rural hukou holders are less likely to feel they fit in at work and may minimize the importance of networks in career development compared to urban hukou holders.

INDIA

In India, striking disparities exist based on caste, particularly for those outside of the traditional caste system: Dalit, (formerly known as "untouchable"), and Adivasi (indigenous) groups. The study finds Dalit and Adivasi professionals are more likely than those from traditional castes to be negatively impacted at work, with more than half saying they feel invisible and alienated at work most of the time.

Compared to Hindu professionals in India, Muslim professionals are much more likely to experience negative emotions at work, with more than half feeling excluded (54%) and nearly half feeling alienated (47%) and misjudged (45%) most of the time.

SOUTH AFRICA

Race and heritage, often signified by native language, differentiate the experience of inclusion and equity at work in South Africa. The study finds that nearly half (45%) of Coloured professionals (people of mixed race) say they face more obstacles to career advancement than their peers and, 36% of them say their colleagues have assumed they are at a lower job level than they currently are. Coqual also finds that members of South Africa's Venda linguistic group often face exclusion at work. They are more likely than professionals of other linguistic heritage to say they face greater penalties or harsher evaluations.

UK

In the UK, race and religion stood out in the data. Coqual finds that Black, Asian, and Muslim professionals have significantly different experiences with workplace culture and career advancement compared to White and Christian respondents. At work, Coqual finds nearly half (47%) of Black professionals surveyed say that race affects the way people see or treat them, compared to their Asian (23%) and White colleagues (7%). Many professionals feel pressure to change aspects of their appearance and social life to fit in better with colleagues. Nearly one-third of Black professionals surveyed say that they change how they spend their free time to fit in with colleagues at work, and when it comes to appearance, more than one-third change their style of dress to fit in.

When it comes to religion, workplace norms in the UK are often more accommodating for Christian and nonreligious groups. Muslim respondents (31%) are more likely to say they receive less feedback compared to their Christian (15%) peers and those with no religion (9%). Additionally, one in four Muslim respondents feel misjudged at work most of the time.

While barriers to equity and opportunity and stark regional differences often exist for many groups, Coqual offers a roadmap for companies to tailor their global DE&I strategies to create inclusive, equitable workplaces for all.



Methodology: The research consists of a survey; focus groups, Insights In-Depth sessions (a proprietary web-based tool used to conduct voice-facilitated virtual focus groups), and one-on-one interviews with more than 100 professionals, experts, and practitioners in Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (U.S.). The survey was conducted online in August 2021 among 3,753 respondents (735 in Brazil, 817 in China, 790 in India, 707 in South Africa, and 704 in the UK), over the age of 21, currently employed full time in professional occupations, with at least a bachelor's degree. Data was weighted by gender and, where available, race, using available benchmarks for each market. The base used for statistical testing was the effective base. The survey was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago under the auspices of Coqual, a nonprofit research organization. NORC was responsible for the data collection, while Coqual conducted the analysis. In the charts, percentages may not always add up to 100 because of computer rounding or the acceptance of multiple responses from respondents.

Lead Sponsor, HSBC; Research Sponsors: Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY); Google; Intel Corporation; Johnson & Johnson; and S&P Global

Research Advisors: Dr. Ifedapo Adeleye, Professor of the Practice of Human Resources Management, Georgetown University; Dr. Joshua Castellino, Executive Director, Minority Rights Group International and Professor of Law at the School of Law, Middlesex University, Birgit Neu, Senior DEI Advisor and former Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at HSBC.

About Coqual: Coqual (formerly Center for Talent Innovation) is a global, nonprofit think tank dedicated to helping leaders design diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces where every person belongs. Founded in 2004, Coqual provides in- depth research, thought leadership, and data-driven, actionable solutions for companies to address bias and barriers to inclusion for underrepresented populations in the workplace. Coqual's cutting-edge research and Advisory Services focus on gender, race, ethnicity, disability, veteran status and LGBTQ identities, and others-as well as the intersections among these groups. For more information, visit www.coqual.org .

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CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - Tech giant Apple Inc. (AAPL) on Tuesday announced its plans to launch new Tap to Pay feature for iPhone. This feature, which will drop later this year, will allow merchants to use their iPhones to 'seamlessly and securely' accept Apple Pay payments with a simple tap. The feature will also work for contactless credit cards and debit cards, as well as other digital wallets. Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their business customers, including the Shopify Point of Sale app this spring. Additional payment platforms and apps will follow later this year. 'As more and more consumers are tapping to pay with digital wallets and credit cards, Tap to Pay on iPhone will provide businesses with a secure, private, and easy way to accept contactless payments and unlock new checkout experiences using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone,' said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. 'In collaboration with payment platforms, app developers, and payment networks, we're making it easier than ever for businesses of all sizes - from solopreneurs to large retailers - to seamlessly accept contactless payments and continue to grow their business.' Once Tap to Pay is available contactless payments will be accepted via any iPhone XS or newer device. At checkout, the merchant will simply prompt the customer to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch to pay with Apple Pay, their contactless credit or debit card, or other digital wallet near the merchant's iPhone, and the payment will be securely completed using NFC technology. No additional hardware is needed to accept contactless payments through Tap to Pay on iPhone. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Oil & Gas Interest Sold

Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Silk Road Energy Inc. (TSXV: SLK.H) the "Company" or "Silk Road") reports that the CFO, Mr. Derrick Colling, has resigned from the Company.

Mr. Colling has resigned in order to pursue other business opportunities. "Derrick has been with us since the beginning in 2014," said Director, Michael C. Judson. "He has done an excellent job and has been vital in the process of rebuilding Silk Road. We thank him and wish him well in his new endeavours."

Ms. Nathalie Kavanagh has been appointed interim CFO by the Board of Directors.

Ms. Kavanagh, has over 25 years' experience as a Chartered Professional Accountant. After completing her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration at l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Montreal, she joined Richter LLP's audit division and for 10 years worked in their Montreal and Toronto offices. She later joined their tax practice as a Senior Manager within the Estates Group. She currently works as a CFO for a residential real estate group in Montreal.

Disposition of petroleum and natural gas assets

In other news, the Company reports that it has sold its remaining oil and gas interests at Bashaw and Thornbury, Alberta, to Gold Note Resources Inc. ("Gold Note"). Gold Note acquired the assets for $10.00 and the assumption of associated liabilities in the amount of $120,618.71.

The above is a related party transaction. Michael C. Judson is a shareholder and director of Gold Note well as being a director and shareholder of Silk Road Energy.

As previously reported, Silk Road has entered into an agreement with a private company to acquire gold exploration properties in the Kirkland Lake gold mining camp in Ontario, Canada. Please see Silk Road's January 12, 2022 news release for details.

For more information please contact:

Michael C. Judson, Director,

Silk Road Energy Inc.

T. +1-514-865-5496

Website: www.silkroadenergyinc.com

Cautionary Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes", an or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would" , "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: approval of the Private Placement and obtaining a full revocation order. This forward-looking information reflects the Company's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions the Company believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the market acceptance of the Private Placement; the ability of the Company to obtain a full revocation order and the receipt of all required approvals in connection with the foregoing. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market price for securities; and the delay or failure to receive board, shareholder, court or regulatory approvals. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law the Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, including the NEX Board, nor the Canadian Securities Exchange have approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

The Units and the securities comprising the Units have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there be any sale of securities in the Unites States, or any other jurisdiction, in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113177
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Homerun Resources Inc. (TSXV: HMR.H) ("Homerun' or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has executed a letter of intent (LOI) for the option to purchase up to a 100% interest in the Ze Manoel Project in Goias State, Brasil (the "Project").

The Project covers an area of approximately 7,587 acres in the western portion of the Goias State within the Arenopolis municipality of Brazil, about 290 km from the state capital, Goiania and approximately 60 km east of the city Ipora. Access to the Property is via well-maintained state roads which cross most of the southern segment of the mineral concession. Access throughout the property is facilitated by unpaved secondary roads and trails.

The Ze Manoel Project lies within the Tocantins Structural Province in the Brasilia Fold Belt, inserted in the Arenopolis Magmatic Arc, located within the greater Goias Magmatic Arc, of Neoproterozoic age. The Property has significant metallogenic potential, justified by the occurrences of: intrusion-related and epithermal gold deposits of Bacilandia; Bom Jardim de Goias Cu and Au deposits; Ni, Cu, Co, PGE deposits and vermiculite deposits, related to layered mafic-ultramafic bodies; occurrences of Sn in anorogenic granites; occurrences of cretaceous diamondiferous kimberlitic intrusions, carbonatites and kamafugites from the Goias Alkaline Province (GAP), in addition to various industrial materials used for civil and agricultural inputs.

A recent research study on the property comprises the majority of data available on the Project, and includes ground-based geophysics, stream sediment sampling, trenching, and lithogeochemical outcrop sampling.

Target Zones

The Project consists of four major target zones: Ze Manoel, PAV, Dipolo, and Alkaline. A recent in-depth research report on the Property determined that it is situated in a favourable geological context for the formation of polymetallic mineral deposits. The geochemical results obtained corroborate the economic potential for copper, gold, iron, and diamond, with Cu contents above 1%, Au above 1 g/t and Fe2O3 above 80%.

The primary target, Ze Manoel, yielded anomalous values of Cu (1,325 to 11,410 ppm), Au (5 to 400 ppb), Fe2O3 (11.7 to 83.2%) and up to 3.85 ppm of Ag in magnetitic rock samples. The anomalous concentrations for these elements were from two main locations, one in the central portion of the target, in the contact of mylonite and diorite, where a breccia was found, and one in the northeast region of the target, with elevated Co and Fe2O3 content. Trenching identified anomalous copper values.

Sediment sampling at the Dipolo target, named as such for the presence of four north-south oriented dipoles identified from airborne geophysics, yielded three positive results for Au out of approximately 17 samples, with one sample yielding 1.678 g/t gold. The sample is located east and downstream of the dipoles. The near-term plan at Dipolo is a comprehensive mapping program.

The Alkaline target is defined by the presence of an alkaline intrusion mapped by the Brazilian Geological Survey. Twelve current sediment samples were collected with three positive results for Au, up to 0.28 g/t gold, which is located downstream of the alkaline rock body.

Transaction Details

The LOI (dated February 7,2021) is intended to document the general terms of a purchase option agreement between the Company and Beko Invest Ltd. ("BEKO") concerning the exclusive terms for the purchase of the Ze Manoel Project which is owned by BEKO through its 100% ownership of 3S Ltd. The proposed terms and conditions of the Purchase Option, which are entirely subject to the terms and conditions to be set forth in the Definitive Agreement, are as follows:

In order to initiate the exercise of the Purchase Option, HMR will advance cash payments of US$250k to cover the historical expenditures made by the vendor on the ZM Project.

HMR will have the option of making common share payments totaling 12,000,000 common shares to the vendor for a 100% direct ownership in the ZM Project as follows:

HMR will acquire an initial 25% interest in the ZM Project upon the issuance of 3,000,000 common shares of HMR to the vendor issued upon the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval of the Purchase Option.

HMR will acquire an additional 25% interest (cumulative 50%) in the ZM Project upon the issuance of an additional 3,000,000 common shares of HMR to the vendor at any time before the first anniversary of the TSX Venture Exchange approval of the Purchase Option.

HMR will acquire an additional 25% interest (cumulative 75%) in the ZM Project upon the issuance of an additional 3,000,000 common shares of HMR to the vendor at any time before the second anniversary of the TSX Venture Exchange approval of the Purchase Option.

HMR will acquire a final 25% interest (cumulative 100%) in the ZM Project upon the issuance of an additional 3,000,000 common shares of HMR to the vendor (the "3rd Anniversary Shares"), at any time before the third anniversary of the TSX Venture Exchange approval of the Purchase Option.

Qualified Person

The technical contents of this release were approved by Case Lewis, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

References

On behalf of the Board of Directors of

Homerun Resources Inc.

"Brian Leeners"

Brian Leeners, CEO & Director

Contact:

brianleeners@gmail.com

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved or disapproved the contents of this press release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113181
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - AJN Resources Inc. (CSE: AJN) (FSE: 5AT) ("AJN") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (the "MoU") with the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("DRC" or the "State") to acquire a number of exploration permits in the highly prospective Kilo Moto Gold Belt in North-East DRC, which hosts Barrick's Kibali Gold Mine.

On February 6, 2020, AJN announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with State entity, Societe Miniere de Kilo-Moto SA ("SOKIMO"), which is a DRC para-statal entity, pursuant to which AJN could secure the direct participation rights in several established gold projects held by SOKIMO. At that time AJN also announced its intention to raise a minimum of $CDN20,000,000 via the issuance of securities in its capital. As consideration for the direct participation rights AJN was to issue common shares in its capital equal to sixty percent (60%) of the issued and outstanding common shares of AJN post-financing.

Subsequent to signing the memorandum of understanding with SOKIMO, and after numerous consultations with representatives of the State, the State advised that AJN should deal directly with the State as after two years from signing the original memorandum of understanding with AJN, SOKIMO had still to receive the required approvals. The DRC subsequently decided to conclude the proposed transaction with AJN through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Congo Resources SAU.

Pursuant to the MoU with the DRC, the State will transfer a number of prospective exploration permits, mostly within the Kilo-Moto Gold Belt, (which hosts Barrick's Kibali Gold Mine and other prospective areas within the DRC), to Congo Resources SAU. Within 15 working days of signing the MoU, the State will establish a list of all permits which will be made available to AJN. AJN will have a 60-day period to evaluate and select all permits of interest that have been offered by the DRC. AJN will have a further 180 days of the signing of the MoU to conclude legal and technical due diligence. During this period, AJN will assess the mineralised potential of the selected licences and decide which licences are not to be included in the transaction.

Transaction

Pursuant to the proposed transaction, AJN can secure a direct 100% interest in the selected tenements via the transfer, to AJN, of all the State's shares in Congo Resources SAU. In exchange for the transfer, AJN will issue to the State that number of common shares in AJN's capital which is equal to sixty percent (60%) of the fully-diluted issued and outstanding common shares of AJN immediately prior to the closing of the transaction. The issuance will occur following completion of one or more financings to be conducted in connection with the proposed transaction. The quantum of the capital raise will be assessed during the due diligence period. After the closing of the proposed transaction the State will have a first right of refusal on any fund raisings carried out by AJN in the future. Shares issued to the DRC pursuant to the proposed transaction may be subject to regulatory escrow requirements as imposed by Canadian regulatory authorities. Closing of the transaction will be subject to certain conditions precedent including AJN having obtained all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals and confirmation from all relevant government agencies that all outstanding legal charges, royalties, and taxes have been paid.

On closing of the transaction, the Board of Directors of AJN will be comprised of five directors, two of whom will be directors appointed by the State (one of whom will be Deputy Chairman) and three will be current directors of AJN (one of whom will be Chairman).

A 10% finder's fee is payable at the close of the transaction and the acquisition of the projects, which will be settled by the issuance of AJN common shares to Klaus Eckhof, CEO and President of AJN or his permitted nominees.

Mr. Klaus Eckhof, CEO and President of AJN commented, "With the revised transaction AJN has the rare opportunity of partnering with the DRC State to assess and develop a number of good potential, early stage, gold projects which could ultimately create employment and alleviate poverty in the north-east DRC through job creation and structural upgrades. This area is particularly impoverished, therefore mine development would have an immense impact on the upliftment of the local population as is the case around Barrick's Kibali Gold Mine. Given our management's track record in the DRC, which includes the discovery of Kibali, the highest-grade tin mine Bisie in North Kivu, and one of the largest hard rock lithium deposits at Manono, which is currently being developed, we are working together with the incumbent Government to find another world class gold resource. We believe that we can deliver on the transaction which would make AJN a highly significant new gold player in the DRC."

About AJN Resources Inc.

AJN is a junior exploration company. AJN's management and directors possess over 75 years of collective industry experience and have been very successful from exploration, to financing, to developing major mines throughout the world with a focus on Africa and especially the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For further information, please contact Investor Relations:

Sheena Eckhof

Director, Investor Relations

sheena@eckhofconsulting.com

Visit us at www.ajnresources.com

Tel: +44 7496 291547

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Klaus Eckhof

CEO and President

klauseckhof@monaco.mc

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this news release may include certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward-looking statements. Although AJN Resources Inc. believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, AJN Resources Inc. disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113186
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / The Power Play by The Market Herald has announced the release of new interviews with Noram Lithium, Datametrex AI, Nextech AR, Lithium Chile and Highmark Interactive on their latest news.

The Power Play by The Market Herald provides investors with a quick snapshot of what they need to know about the company's latest press release through exclusive insights and interviews with company executives.

Noram Lithium Corp (TSXV:NRM) announces $14M financing

Noram Lithium (NRM) announces a royalty sale and equity investment with Lithium Royalty and the Waratah Electrification and Decarbonization AIE LP . The agreement is for the sale of a 1.0 per cent GOR over Noram's Zeus sedimentary lithium claims in Clayton Valley, Nevada for US$5M and a concurrent $9M private placement. Proceeds from the investment will be used to assist in accelerating the advancement of the Zeus Lithium Project. Mr. Peter A. Ball, President and COO sat down with Dave Jackson to discuss the financing.

For the full interview with Peter Ball and to learn more about Noram Lithium Corp's financing, click here.

Datametrex AI (TSXV:DM) graduates to Tier 1 status & completes initial stage of EV initiative

Datametrex has graduated to Tier 1 on the TSXV. Tier 1 is the TSXV's premier tier and is reserved for the TSXV's most advanced issuers. Datametrex has completed the initial development of an app that utilizes its proprietary AI engine to address the growing EV charging market. Marshall Gunter, CEO of Datametrex sat down with Dave Jackson to discuss the news.

For the full interview with Marshall Gunter and to learn more about Datametrex's TSXV graduation, click here.

Nextech AR Solutions (CSE:NTAR) (OTCQB:NEXCF) partners with SHOPLINE

Nextech (NTAR) has integrated its ARitize 3D modelling app with SHOPLINE, an Asian smart commerce platform. The 1-click integration will be available to all SHOPLINE merchants as a simple plugin, enabling them to offer immersive AR shopping experiences to encourage higher conversion rates and decreased returns. CEO Evan Gappelberg joined Dave Jackson to discuss the news.

For the full interview with Evan Gappelberg and to learn more about Nextech AR's partnership, click here.

Lithium Chile (TSXV:LITH) obtains maiden lithium resource estimate from first test well, Salar De Arizaro Property

Lithium Chile (LITH) has reported an initial lithium resource statement for its first test well in the Arizaro de Salar project in Argentina. The company is planning a follow up phase 2 drilling program consisting of three exploration holes aimed at expanding the lithium resource and improving the grade on the Arizaro property. Steve Cochrane, President and CEO of Lithium Chile sat down with Dave Jackson to discuss the estimate.

For the full interview with Steve Cochrane and to learn more about Lithium Chile's estimates, click here.

Highmark Interactive (TSXV:HMRK) selected to provide remote patient monitoring software

Highmark Interactive (HMRK) has announced the roll-out of its EQ Remote Monitoring solution to the U.S. Orthopedic Alliance (USOA). The USOA delivers health information technologies and practice management resources to a wide range of medical practices. The Highmark EQ Remote Monitoring app will enable a physician to monitor their patient and personalize the patient's care plan. Co-founder of Highmark Interactive Sanjeev Sharma sat down with Dave Jackson to discuss the partnership with USOA.

For the full interview with Sanjeev Sharma and to learn more about Highmark Interactive's partnership with USOA, click here.

Interviews for The Power Play by The Market Herald are released daily. To learn more about the companies featured in The Power Play or to explore our other interviews visit The Power Play by The Market Herald.

About The Market Herald

The Market Herald Canada is the leading source of authoritative breaking stock market news for self-directed investors. Our team of Canadian markets reporters, editors and technologists covers the entire listed company universe in Canada. We cover over 3,985 businesses, their people, their investors, and their customers. We write the stories that move the Canadian capital markets.

DISCLAIMER: Report Card Canada Media Ltd. ("Report Card") is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market Herald Limited, an Australian company ("Market Herald"). Report Card is not an advisory service, and does not offer, buy, sell, or provide any other rating, analysis or opinion on the securities we discuss. We are retained and compensated by the companies that we provide information on to assist them with making information available to the public. All information available on themarketherald.ca and/or this press release should be considered as commercial advertisement and not an endorsement, offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities. Report Card is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority in any province or territory of Canada, will not be performing any registerable activity as defined by the applicable regulatory bodies and do not provide nor claim to provide investment advice or recommendations to any visitor of this site or readers of any content on or originating from themarketherald.ca. Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees may from time to time acquire, hold or sell securities and/or commodities and/or commodity futures contracts in certain underlying companies mentioned in this site and which may also be clients of Market Herald's affiliates. In such instances, Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees will use all reasonable efforts to avoid engaging in activities that would lead to conflicts of interest and Market Herald and/or its affiliates will use all reasonable efforts to comply with conflicts of interest disclosures and regulations to minimize any conflict. All the information on this document and/or the website - themarketherald.ca - is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. Report Card does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find on this document and/or website (themarketherald.ca) is strictly at your own risk. Report Card will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website. From our website, you can visit other websites by following hyperlinks to such external sites. While we strive to provide only quality links to useful and ethical websites, we have no control over the content and nature of these sites. These links to other websites do not imply a recommendation for all the content found on these sites. Site owners and content may change without notice and may occur before we have the opportunity to remove a link which may have gone 'bad'. Please be also aware that when you leave our website, other sites may have different privacy policies and terms which are beyond our control. Please be sure to check the Privacy Policies of these sites as well as their "Terms of Service" before engaging in any business or uploading any information.

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themarketherald.ca

SOURCE: The Market Herald

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687882/The-Power-Play-by-The-Market-Herald-Releases-New-Interviews-with-Noram-Lithium-Datametrex-AI-Nextech-AR-Lithium-Chile-and-Highmark-Interactive
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices settled sharply lower on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session, and falling further from a 7-year high it touched last week. Oil prices dropped with traders eyeing U.S.-Iran talks. A flurry of diplomacy preceding the resumption of Iran nuclear talks in Vienna suggests there could be a deal on Iran's nuclear program. Oil exports from the OPEC producer could resume swiftly if a nuclear deal is reached. The deal could allow over 1 million barrels per day of Iranian oil, equal to over 1% of global supply, back onto the market. Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Short Term Energy Outlook today that oil production in the U.S. will likely rise to 12 million barrels per day in 2022 and 12.6 million barrels per day in 2023, from 11.2 million barrels per day in 2021. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended lower by $1.96 or about 2.2% at $89.36 a barrel. Brent crude futures were down $2.00 or 2.16% at $90.69 a barrel a little while ago. Meanwhile, traders look ahead to weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and EIA. While the API data is due later today, the EIA will release its inventory data Wednesday morning. A preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday that U.S. crude oil and gasoline stockpiles likely rose last week, while distillate inventories were seen falling. Crude inventories were seen increasing by about 700,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 4. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The man Orlando police said is responsible for the brutal 1987 killings of two men amid a spree of violent robberies was arrested after DNA evidence identified him as the alleged murderer, according to court filings.

Charlie James Hall, 55, allegedly attacked and robbed more than a dozen people  killing Lawrence Stewart and Louie Holloway  in downtown Orlando between August and October that year, beating them if they didnt turn over their belongings, investigators said in an affidavit filed Tuesday.

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The Orlando Police Department said Hall confessed to the murders when presented with the DNA evidence Monday. Hes charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is in the Orange County Jail with no bond.

Stewart and Holloway were found dead nearly two months apart within blocks of each other along the Interstate 4 corridor. Police said they were found with blunt force injuries to their heads and their items scattered around them.

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According to the affidavit, 14 others were attacked by Hall, often in the middle of the night, and were beaten bloody with what officers at the time described as rebar or metal pipes. Most of the victims were homeless and couldnt identify their attacker because the robberies often happened by surprise.

Hall was arrested Oct. 16, 1987, after months with no leads prompted an OPD task force to stake out the areas around downtown and Parramore. A transcript of his interview with police shows he took credit for five of the robberies but neither of the murders.

He also said he often heard voices ahead of the attacks and would black out while walking in downtown Orlando.

I just click, Hall said, according to the transcript. Its like all of a sudden I be walking down the street, I go talking to myself, laughing and [expletive] and I just ... go through changes.

Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. >

Hall wasnt charged for the murders at the time due to insufficient evidence, but the affidavit and Florida Department of Corrections records show he was imprisoned for two of the robberies at the time.

He was released in August 1990.

DOC records also show he was in and out of prison for burglary charges for years after that, with his final stint ending in October 2010.

OPD officers went looking for Hall in December, eventually finding him Jan. 19 in order to swab him for DNA to compare to samples obtained in the initial investigation. He was found by Orange County deputies at his home on 19th Street, where he consented to a swab, the affidavit said.

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Hall also allegedly showed remorse to officers in interviews and said he wanted to clear this up.

Ive been wrestling with this case for 34 years, Hall allegedly said. Even when I was incarcerated, I couldnt sleep because I know I hurt a lot of people. ... I felt that within myself that I had some unfinished business with the law.

creyes-rios@orlandosentinel.com


NEW BRUNSWICK (dpa-AFX) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) stopped the production at its Leiden plant, the only one making usable batches of its COVID-19 vaccine, reported the New York Times, quoting sources. As per the report, the halt in production is said to be temporary and the plant will be up and running in a few months' time.



The company said in a statement that at present, it has many doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in inventory and it is still providing all its completed sites, including Aspen, with drug substance needed to produce its shot.



The company said, 'We continue to fulfil our contractual obligations in relation to the COVAX Facility and the African Union.'



With the Leiden plant in the Netherlands not available, the supply of vaccine will come down by a few hundred million doses, the report said citing sources. It added that other facilities have been decided upon to manufacture the vaccine, but are facing different roadblocks like regulatory approval among others.



The Leiden facility has instead been making an experimental but potentially more profitable vaccine to protect against an unrelated virus, as per sources.



In January, J&J forecast as much as $3.5 billion in sales of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2022, a 46% jump from last year. In 2021, the company posted $2.39 billion in the sale of the COVID shot, but missing its earlier goal of $2.5 billion.







Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



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HOLLYWOOD and MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / On February 23, 2022 after the NYSE closing, HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI.A)(NYSE:HEI) will release its financial results for the first quarter ended January 31, 2022. The earnings release will be available through the Internet on the Company's website at http://www.heico.com.

In order to assist interested parties in scheduling their participation in HEICO teleconferences, the Company issues advance notices of conference calls.

HEICO will hold a conference call on Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time to discuss its first quarter results. Individuals wishing to participate in the conference call should dial: US and Canada (833) 377-4220, International (206) 596-9903, wait for the conference operator and provide the operator with the Conference ID 7373476. A digital replay will be available two hours after the completion of the conference for 14 days. To access, dial: (404) 537-3406, and enter the Conference ID 7373476.

The Company has two classes of common stock traded on the NYSE. Both classes, the Common Stock (HEI) and the Class A Common Stock (HEI.A), are virtually identical in all economic respects. The only difference between the share classes is the voting rights. The Class A Common Stock (HEI.A) carries 1/10 vote per share and the Common Stock (HEI) carries one vote per share. The stock symbols for HEICO's two classes of common stock on most websites are HEI and HEI.A. However, some websites change HEICO's Class A Common Stock symbol (HEI.A) to HEI/A or HEIa.

HEICO Corporation is engaged primarily in the design, production, servicing and distribution of products and services to certain niche segments of the aviation, defense, space, medical, telecommunications and electronics industries through its Hollywood, Florida-based Flight Support Group and its Miami, Florida-based Electronic Technologies Group. HEICO's customers include a majority of the world's airlines and overhaul shops, as well as numerous defense and space contractors and military agencies worldwide, in addition to medical, telecommunications and electronics equipment manufacturers. For more information about HEICO, please visit our website at http://www.heico.com.

Contact:

Victor H. Mendelson (305) 374-1745 ext. 7590

Carlos L. Macau, Jr. (954) 987-4000 ext. 7570

SOURCE: HEICO Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/687835/HEICO-Corporation-Announces-Regular-Quarterly-Conference-Call


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Billionaire investor Peter Thiel will step down from the board of Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc.(FB).



Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, was the first outside investor in Facebook. He has decided not to stand for re-election to the Board of Directors of the Company at the Company's 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.



Thiel has been a member of the company's board of directors since 2005 and will continue to serve as a director until the date of the Annual Meeting.



Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO, said: 'Peter has been a valuable member of our board and I'm deeply grateful for everything he has done for our company -- from believing in us when few others would, to teaching me so many lessons about business, economics, and the world. Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions. He has served on our board for almost two decades, and we've always known that at some point he would devote his time to other interests. I'm grateful he's served on our board for as long as he has, and I wish him the best in his journey ahead.'



Thiel, who joined Meta's board in April of 2005, said: 'It has been a privilege to work with one of the great entrepreneurs of our time. Mark Zuckerberg's intelligence, energy, and conscientiousness are tremendous. His talents will serve Meta well as he leads the company into a new era.'



Thiel announced the decision just days after Facebook's stock took a beating after it issued a weak outlook for the first quarter. The company's stock plunged 26%, losing nearly $250 billion in market value, the biggest single day wipe-out in market value of a company in history.



In 2004, Thiel became Facebook's first outside investor when he acquired a 10.2% stake for $500,000. This was the first outside investment in Facebook, and valued the company at $4.9 million.



During Facebook's IPO in May 2012, Thiel sold 16.8 million shares for $638 million. In August 2012, immediately upon the conclusion of the early investor lock-up period, Thiel sold almost all of his remaining stake for between $19.27 and $20.69 per share, or $395.8 million, for a total of more than $1 billion.







Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - EV maker Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) is removing one of the control units from the steering console of some of the Model 3 and Model Y cars manufactured in China to meet the fourth-quarter sales record amidst the growing semiconductor crisis. The step, reported by CNBC, was not announced by the manufacturer as it has shipped thousands of such models for sale in China, Australia, the UK, and other European markets.



The maker has not informed the customers as it believes that the lack of the part will not hinder the driving experience. The company has fared better than many other companies who have had to shut down production owing to the supply chain woes.



Musk said last month during a conference that the shortage is not going to be a long-term issue and he also blamed other manufacturers for hogging chips, thus creating a toxic cycle of chips shortage.



The modified cars, although will not have difficulty using the level 2 assisted-driving feature, will not have the Full Self-Driving facility available to them which costs another $12,000 or $199 per month. To have the software enabled in the cars, owners would have to take it to a company workshop and retrofit the column.



Musk has used the much-controversial FSD feature as one of the key selling points of the car and has promised as recently as last month that the feature will be available by the end of this year. 'My personal guess is that we'll achieve full self-driving this year at a safety level significantly greater than a person. So the cars in the fleet essentially becoming self-driving via a software update, I think, might end up being the biggest increase in asset value of any asset class in history. We shall see,' Musk said during the earnings conference.



The company expects to fix any bug that may result from such a call over its over-the-air software updates.







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AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today commended the African Union (AU) for elevating the role of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and making it an autonomous health agency.

"This is a significant milestone for the AU and the people of Africa, as it gives the continent a public health agency with the power to make and act on timely decisions, particularly during health emergencies-decisions that would typically have to trudge through slower bureaucratic channels," said AHF Africa Bureau Chief Dr. Penninah Iutung. "Empowering the Africa CDC to act on its own is a pivotal step toward making the region less dependent on the Global North, improving regional responsiveness during outbreaks like COVID-19, and strengthening national health systems overall."

Formerly, the Africa CDC was under the mandate of AU's Commissioner for Social Affairs, but now it will be funded by the AU as an independent entity and its chief will be elevated to a position of a director-general.

AHF organized a virtual sidebar panel session last month at the 1st International Conference on Public Health in Africa. Prominent experts and public figures-including former President of Ghana John Mahama and Member of Parliament of Ghana Akua Dansua-discussed how leaders across the region could step up efforts to address significant gaps in global health governance. Watch the video replay here.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.6 million clients in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208006211/en/

Contacts:

US MEDIA CONTACT:

Ged Kenslea,Senior Director, Communications, AHF

+1.323.308.1833 work +1.323.791.5526 mobile

gedk@aidshealth.org

Denys Nazarov, Director of Global Policy

Communications, AHF

+1 323.308.1829

denys.nazarov@ahf.org
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Castle Peak Mining Ltd. (TSXV: CAP) ("Castle Peak" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has changed its name from "Castle Peak Mining Ltd." to "Akwaaba Mining Ltd."

At the opening of the markets on February 9, 2022, the Company's common shares will commence trading under the name Akwaaba Mining Ltd. and the new ticker symbol "AML". The Company's new CUSIP number is 01021L106 and its new ISIN is CA01021L1067.

There is no consolidation of the Company's share capital in connection with the name change. As a result, shareholders are not required to exchange their existing share certificates for new certificates bearing the Company's new name. The name change does not affect the Company's share structure or the rights of the Company's shareholders, and no further action is required by the shareholders.

For further information, please contact:

"Iyad Jarbou"

Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 604.362.7685

Email: iyadj@castlepeakmining.com

Website: https://castlepeakmining.com/

FORWARD-LOOKING AND OTHER CAUTIONARY INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain 'forward-looking information' and 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This release may contain statements that are forward-looking statements and are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdictions in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Any offering made will be pursuant to available prospectus and registration exemptions and restricted persons to whom the securities may be sold in accordance with the laws of such jurisdictions and by persons permitted to sell the securities in accordance with the laws of such jurisdictions.

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Atomic Form, a NYC-based full stack solution for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital media, raised a seed round of funding of undisclosed amount.

Backers included Sino Global Capital, Samsung Next, Wave Financial, Mechanism Capital, Animoca Brands, and other artists and founders such as Thankyoux, Brendan Dawes, JN Silva, Parallel, and Nifty Gateway co-founder Duncan Cock Foster.

The funding will accelerate the development of hardware and software solutions that bridge physical and digital worlds.

Co-founded by Garrette Furo and Isabelle Kitze, who have a combined 15 years in the crypto industry, Atomic Form makes hardware and software for NFTs and Web3 media. The company builds for a blockchain-based internet-of-property that spans networks, currencies, video games, art, collectibles, and identification.

FinSMEs

07/02/2022
ClearEstate, a Montreal, Canada-based estate asset management suite, secured a US$13.25m Series A funding round.

The round was led by OMERS Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to expand throughout Canada and in the four largest US markets.

Founded in 2020 by CPO Alexandre Gauthier and CEO Davide Pisanu, ClearEstate provides a platform for executors and planners to streamline tasks and professional services related to estate planning and settlement. The startup, which has offices in Ontario, California and Texas, is now supported by some of Canadas most credible investors, including Diagram Ventures, Torstar, Triangle Capital and NAVentures, the venture capital arm of the National Bank of Canada.

FinSMEs

07/02/2022
GoCardless Team

GoCardless, a London, UK-baserd provider of direct bank payment solutions, secured a Series G funding round of USD312m, at a valuation of USD2.1 billion.

The first close of USD192m has completed. The round, which is expected to fully close later in the year subject to regulatory approvals, was led by Permira with participation from new investor BlackRock Private Equity Partners.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its presence in the open banking space through both product and geographical expansion.

Led by Hiroki Takeuchi, co-founder and CEO, GoCardless is a global leader in direct bank payment solutions, making it easy to collect both recurring and one-off payments directly from customers bank accounts through direct debit and open banking. The global payments network and technology platform is used by 70,000 businesses worldwide, from multinational corporations to small businesses. Each year, GoCardless processes over US$30 billion of payments across more than 30 countries.

GoCardless, which is headquartered in the UK, with additional offices in Australia, France, Germany and the United States, will also add further technology and payments expertise to its Board of Directors with Michael Rouse, former Chief Commercial Officer at Klarna, joining, and Koen Koppen, Chief Technology Officer at Klarna and Board Member of Mollie, joining as an independent director.

As GoCardless builds on its decade-long experience in direct bank payments, the company will broaden its focus to enable both recurring and one-time payments, and continue its international expansion. It will also open its bank pay network to other payment service providers who want to tap into its technology and platform.

FinSMEs

08/02/2022
Houwzer, a Philadelphia, PA-based end-to-end real estate brokerage and homeownership platform, closed a $118m financing round.

The funding includes $18M in Series B equity and a $100M warehouse line of credit. The round was led by Edison Partners with participation from follow-on investors Admiral Capital Group, GOPhilly, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners. This brings Houwzers total equity funding to $35m since its 2015 inception.

The company intends to use the funds to launch three new consumer products including Cash Advantage, Convenience Offers, and Buy Before You Sell to to further penetrate and expand within its six MSAs across seven states up and down the east coast and add key executives across Marketing, Product, People, and Home Services.

Led by CEO Mike Maher, Houwzer provides an end-to-end real estate brokerage and homeownership platform powered by proprietary technology and an all-W2 labor model across all of its salaried agents and mortgage advisors.

Currently operating in seven states, Houwzer services the Greater Philadelphia region, the Washington, D.C. beltway, the Greater Maryland region, and the Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville markets.

The company has enables clients to buy and sell 4,000 homes with a cumulative sales volume of nearly $2 billion.

FinSMEs

08/02/2022
A national police-reform advocacy group on Tuesday demanded that Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell reopen the case of a Black man who died after being tased and restrained by Ocoee police while suffering a mental health crisis in 2019.

Jean Samuel Celestin, 33, died after he was shocked multiple times by Ocoee and Windermere police with Tasers, then hogtied and left on the ground. He suffered cardiorespiratory arrest due to a lack of oxygen to his brain, according to investigative and autopsy findings.

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In a press release, the activist-led group Campaign Zero said justice can still be served in Celestins death.

State Attorney Worrell can  and must  reopen the investigation into Sammys death and hold the 5 officers who took his life accountable, the organizations statement said.

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Said Campaign Zero Executive Director DeRay McKesson, The time is overdue for the elected officials in this community to do their jobs of protecting these citizens so we are launching a campaign demanding justice for Samuel Celestin.

McKesson noted Worrell ran on a platform of police reform but has opted against charging officers in questionable use-of-force cases, including the Orange County deputy who killed Salaythis Melvin in August 2020 and an Osceola County deputy who was videotaped slamming a Liberty High School student to the ground in January 2021.

If leaders do not hold police officers accountable for their actions, they are sending a message to officers that they can act with impunity, especially when the victim is Black, McKesson said. Its time State Attorney Worrell do the job the people elected her to do.

In a statement, Worrell spokesperson Keisha Mulfort said the State Attorneys Office accept[s] the anger of Celestins family and supports legislation that would provide additional protections to people suffering mental health crises but could not bring charges in his case under current law.

Florida law provides an affirmative defense to officers who use less-lethal munition during and within the scope of their official duties, she said. ... The investigation revealed that we could not prove the officers engaged in criminal conduct beyond a reasonable doubt. Our hearts go out to the families, who are understandably frustrated by the limits of what our criminal legal system can do.

Founded in 2015, Campaign Zero conducts research and issues policy proposals, including its 8 Cant Wait campaign, launched after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which called for de-escalation tactics and banning chokeholds, among other proposals.

A spokesperson for Worrell in September described Celestins treatment by police as unacceptable and his death as unjust, but said there was no legal basis for charges against the officers, based on a review by her predecessor, former State Attorney Aramis Ayala.

Joanne Celestin, Samuel Celestins older sister, at the time accused Worrell of weak leadership and failing to deliver on a campaign promise to hold police accountable after Worrell told the family during an August meeting that her office would not re-investigate the death.

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Attorney Jeremy Markman speaks about the death of Samuel Celestin during a press conference at the Orange County Courthouse on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. Pictured from left are: Joanne Celestin (sister of Samuel), Markman, Dr. Rose Celestin (mother of Samuel), and Jean Celestin (brother of Samuel). (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

It makes me realize that when she stood out there with us, when Black Lives Matter was ... marching and she was marching along with us, she knew that she would not try any of these cases, Joanne Celestin said then. She has one job, one job only, and thats to bring justice. ... She has failed us all.

Joanne Celestin said she called 911 on April 11, 2019, to report that her brother, who suffered from schizophrenia, paranoia, Bipolar disorder and anxiety, was having a crisis, hoping he would be involuntarily committed under Floridas Baker Act.

Body-worn camera footage showed Ocoee police Officer Joshua Bode drew his Taser after Celestin opened the homes front door holding a knife. Bode and another Ocoee officer, Christopher Bonner, tased Celestin, causing him to fall and drop the knife.

Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. >

Celestin got up and tried to flee but Windermere Officer Griffin Hebel tackled him while an Ocoee officer stunned him. They bound Celestin him with a so-called hobble device. He stopped breathing. Officers tried chest compressions but did not perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Paramedics took Celestin to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Ayala, cleared the officers of wrongdoing, saying in a letter that officers actions are often harshly and unfairly judged. Her second-in-command, Linda Drane Burdick, found no evidence they committed intentional misconduct or acted with any degree of malice or prejudice.

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Andrew G. Celli, an attorney for the family, said last year that Worrell told Celestins loved ones she did not watch footage of the incident herself because it would be emotionally upsetting. Worrells office later confirmed she had not watched the video.

In a statement distributed by Campaign Zero, Joanne Celestin said she has to live every single day knowing that the call I made caused my brother to lose his life in a malicious way.

There is nothing I can do to bring Sammy back. But what I did do was vote for Monique Worrell, who promised accountability for police officers who commit misconduct, she said. Between my brother and other cases like Salaythis Melvin and Taylor Bracey, shes made it clear that she does not intend to keep her promise to the community.

jeweiner@orlandosentinel.com
Digital Twin Environment generated from MORAI SIM  Duluth, MN

Morai, a Seoul, South Korea-based developer of full-stack autonomous vehicle simulation technology, secured a USD 20m Series B funding round.

The round, which brought total funding to date to USD 25m, included new investors Korea Investment Partners, KB Investment, and the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), as well as existing investors Navers D2 Startup Factory, Hyundai Motor Groups ZERO1NE, Kakao Ventures, and Atinum Investment.

The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations and its development efforts to further enhance global competitiveness. The funding will also be used to apply its autonomous vehicle simulation technology to other verticals such as urban air mobility (UAM).

Founded in 2018 and led by Jiwon Jung, CEO, Morai is a provider of full-stack autonomous vehicle simulation solutions. Its technology automatically converts HD map data into digital twins, thereby providing large-scale simulation environments.

Having established its US office in the Bay Area, the company plans to further expand its global presence by establishing offices in Germany and Japan, as well as in Singapore, for the companys digital twin technology efforts.

Morai serves over 100 customers, which include corporate clients like Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai AutoEver, Naver Labs, and 42dot and educational and research institutions like KAIST and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority. It has also formed partnerships with a variety of global players such as NVIDIA, Ansys, and dSPACE.

FinSMEs

08/02/2022
Residents at Haley Sofge Towers in Miamis Little Havana say their party affiliations were changed from Democrat to Republican without their knowledge.
The X70 Pro is one of their latest flagship smartphones from vivo in India, that promises to deliver a flagship level camera experience, a beautifully designed body made out of high quality materials and a smooth software experience. It comes with a custom version of MediaTeks flagship Dimensity-1200 processor and features a whole host of custom-developed Zeiss-lens camera effects. So how does it perform and is the X70 Pro worth its price? Lets find out.

Box Contents

vivo X70 Pro in Cosmic Black color

44W FlashCharge USB Power Adapter (11V-4A)

Type-C earphones + Type-C connector

Type-C to USB cable

SIM ejector tool

Warranty and Quick start guide

Protective case

Protective film (Already applied on to the display)

Display, Hardware and Design

The vivo X70 Pro is a beautiful, slim and sleek smartphone. It is made out of premium materials all throughout, with glass in both the front and back, and metal railings on the sides. The glass back in particular has a Fluorite AG finish with crystals precipitated on top that does a good job with hiding fingerprints. It feels premium to the touch, however it does make the phone rather slippery to hold. As mentioned earlier, the X70 Pro is very slim, measuring about 7.99mm. I would highly recommend using the included protective case for the X70 Pro, or get your case.

The metal railings have a matte finish with cutouts around for signal coverage. The power and volume buttons are both on the right edge, and they feel decent to click. The USB Type-C port, speaker grill and dual SIM card tray can be found on the bottom edge, and on the top edge, there is an IR blaster for remote control functionality. Regarding the weight, the X70 weighs 183 grams, which is reasonable. More importantly, it feels balanced to hold in the hand.

The bezels all around the display are very thin, which adds to the premium look of the device. The earpiece grill is at the very top edge of the display and notably, it does not function as a secondary speaker unit. The X70 Pro comes with only a mono speaker, which is unfortunate for a device that is priced this high. Another weakness of the X70 is the haptic motor, which is one of the weakest I have experienced among flagship devices.

The camera bump on the rear is quite significant, which is expected considering the hardware inside, and the 32MP front camera is housed within a punch hole in the top center of the display.

For biometric authentication, there is an in-display fingerprint sensor that is placed near the bottom of the display at a comfortable height.

Coming to the display, the X70 Pro uses a 6.56-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2376 x 1080, a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz and a response rate of up to 240Hz. It uses an E5 AMOLED LTPS panel from Samsung Display, which is more power efficient and should contribute towards a longer battery life. vivo does not provide the maximum brightness value, but from my experience the display gets plenty bright and sunlight readability was not an issue.

The colours displayed were vibrant and had excellent contrast, blacks were wonderfully dark and overall, watching the content was an enjoyable experience. You can select between Standard, Professional and Bright for colours, and also adjust the colour temperature manually if youd like. According to vivo, there is support for HDR10+, but it seemed unavailable in this phone, and Im assuming it is just a software bug that could be fixed later. HDR10 content however did play properly in the YouTube app.

With a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, the experience was buttery smooth when navigating the UI. The phone does not support variable refresh rate, instead it only has the option to force either 120Hz, 60Hz along with an option to enable Smart Switch, which will automatically switch between the two refresh rates based on the content.

While there is no notification light, the X70 Pro does come with an Always-On-Display that comes with loads of customization features. You can customize the style, choose when to display and show notification from a select list of apps. I did notice a slight decrease in power consumption when the AOD was set to be display all day, but it was not significant.

Camera

As is with nearly every Vivo flagship smartphone, there is a great focus around the camera experience. Starting the raw specifications, on the back it features a primary 50MP gimbal camera with an f/1.75, a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera with f/1.98 aperture, a 12MP 50mm portrait camera with f/2.2 aperture and a 8MP periscope telephoto with a 5x optical zoom and an f/3.4 aperture. On the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera with f/2.4 aperture.

We have covered the quality of the photos and videos from the X70 Pro in detail, and you can check it out here. If I had to summarize it, the rear camera setup can produce some pleasing photos in good daylight conditions. In low light conditions, the output is quite impressive too, thanks to its gimbal stabilization technology. The various portrait modes supported are fun to use, especially the various custom Zeiss bokeh effects. Regarding videos and the front camera, the quality is good enough and nothing exceptional.

Here are a couple of samples from the x70 Pro:

Software, UI and Apps

The phone comes with Android 11 out-of-the-box, with vivos Funtouch OS 12 layered on top. At the time of this review, the phone was running the October 2021 Android security patch, which is a little dated at the moment. Vivo has confirmed that the phone will be receiving an upgrade to Android 12.

When setting up the phone, it did come with quite a few pre-installed apps such as Amazon, BYJUs, PhonePe and YT Music.

If you have recently used a vivo smartphone, Funtouch OS 12 will feel very familiar with its UI, navigations and animations. For new users, I believe it is quite easy to use the software, and there are tons of customization options for many elements of the UI. There are various options for themes, accent colours, icons and more.

Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock

It has an in-display fingerprint sensor that is placed about 2cms above the bottom bezel. The sensor operates quickly and there were rarely any hiccups when unlocking the phone. However, it was definitely not the quickest fingerprint sensor out there. Biometric authentication can be used for locking apps and also for payments services. Users can store a maximum of 5 fingerprints at a time. The phone also supports face unlock, however it is not as secure as unlocking with your fingerprints.

As is with most Vivo smartphones, you can change the animation around the fingerprint sensor when unlocking, and you can also change the design of the fingerprint icon, which I found is unique to vivo smartphones.

Music and Multimedia

The X70 Pro comes with its own Music app, although it does come with YT Music pre-installed if you want to use that. There is no support for Dolby Atmos, but there is support for Ear-customized sound effects where you can select your age group and the phone will apparently customize the sound profile accordingly.

Regarding speakers, the X70 Pro unfortunately only comes with a mono down-firing speaker. Many smartphones in the price range come with dual speakers, and it is just disappointing to see a mono speaker on the X70 Pro. The speakers get moderately loud at maximum volume, with a little amount of distortion. It is not very clear at high volumes, and the bass is clearly lacking.

The phone is Widevine L1 certified, which means HD playback is supported on Netflix. Regarding HDR, there is support for HDR10 and HLG, but there is no support for HDR10+ though. YouTube HDR playback works fine, but there is also no support for HDR playback in Netflix, and it is unsure if vivo will add it in a future update.

Dual SIM and Connectivity

The X70 Pro comes with dual SIM with dual standby, supports 5G connectivity, with a total of 4 bands including n3, n5, n77 and n78, along with 4G LTE. It supports VoLTE with Carrier aggregation, and it supports VoWiFi. I did not face any issues during calls, the earpiece was loud, and I did not notice any unusual battery drops either.

Other support for wireless technologies include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, however there is no support for NFC. For GPS, it supports GPS, BEIDOU, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, A-GPS, Cellular Positioning, WLAN positioning and also NavIC.

The body SAR value is 1.09 W/Kg and head SAR is at 1.21 W/Kg which is quite high, which could be explained due to its support for 5G connectivity. It was, however, under the limit in India, which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).

Performance and Benchmarks

The X70 Pro is one of the many smartphones that feature the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 CPU, and I believe it is one of the most expensive smartphones with this chip. It isnt a regular Dimensity 1200, however. vivo has worked with MediaTek and made some improvements to the chips ISP and the APU, and they have named the chip  MediaTek Dimensity 1200-vivo 5G Platform.

The GPU is an Arm Mali-G77 MC9 chip, which offers smooth gaming performance, even in demanding titles such as Genshin Impact. The phone does get hot when playing 3D titles, and occasionally during long gaming sessions, I would notice a bit of throttling. When recording 4K 60FPS, the device does get warm, but it never overheated.

Here are some benchmarks of the device:

Battery life

Coming to battery life, the X70 Pro has a 4450mAh (typical) battery inside. The Dimensity 1200-vivo is not a very hungry chip and along with its E5 AMOLED display, the X70 Pro has quite good battery life in my experience. With light to medium usage, I was able to easily nearly days worth of usage with about 8 hours of screen-on time. With heavy use that includes gaming, calls and GPS use, you can comfortably last a day with about 4-5 hours of screen on-time.

The phone supports vivos 44W Flashcharge technology that can charge the phone from 0-60% in 30 mins and 0-100% in 1 hour and 10 mins. It isnt as fast as some of the competitors who offer 67W fast charging, however, it is plenty fast for most users.

Conclusion

Vivos flagship X series of smartphones have always focused around great design and great cameras, and the X70 Pro certainly delivers on those fronts. Along with that, the phone is made out of high-quality materials, features a good display, long battery life with fast charging and it even has an IR blaster.

The Dimensity 1200 processor however is a bit of a weird choice for a smartphone that is above Rs. 40,000. There are a few competition devices that offer the faster Snapdragon 888 processor for a lower price, such as the OnePlus 9RT and Xiaomi Mi 11T Pro 5G. However, I didnt notice any slowdowns during my review of the X70 Pro, and for most users the Dimensity 1200 is a good enough processor.

Other downsides of the X70 Pro are the lack of dual speakers and the lack of HDR10+ support. I also wish there was some form of IP rating, considering that it is a flagship device.

Pricing and availability

The vivo X70 Pro has the following prices:

8GB + 128GB version : Rs 46,990

8GB + 256GB version : Rs. 49,990

12GB + 256GB version : Rs. 52,990

It is available on Flipkart, on vivos website and through offline stores.
Fontana man is sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for sex trafficking underage girl he met on Internet
Free N95 masks are expected to be given to Publix shoppers this week as part of the supermarket chains participation in a national effort to distribute hundreds of millions of masks to U.S. residents.

Publix says it expects the masks to arrive in stores throughout the week, and the masks will be given out based on the available supply. As masks arrive, stores will have a table setup to distribute up to three masks per customer while quantities last, said Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous.

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Publix is among the participants in the federal governments program to distribute free N95 masks as part of the effort to curb the coronavirus. Other companies include Winn-Dixie, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.

The Biden administration recently announced that it would distribute 400 million of the high-quality face masks free to Americans. The masks come from the Strategic National Stockpile, which has a supply of more than 750 million.

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Well-fitting N95 masks  also called respirators  offer the highest level of protection against COVID-19. Florida on Monday reported 32,035 new coronavirus cases from the weekend and increased its death total by 456, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

In addition to Publix, here are additional details about the other participating companies:

CVS

Distribution inside both CVS Pharmacy stores and CVS pharmacies located inside Target have started in South Florida.

Inventory will continue on a rolling basis as additional supply becomes available, according to a corporate spokeswoman.

Walmart and Sams Club

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Most Walmart and Sams Club locations throughout the U.S. should have the masks by this week, according to a spokeswoman. The masks will be available at the front of the stores.

Walgreens

More South Florida stores are getting their supply of masks.

The list with locations that now have masks are available at walgreens.com/n95storelist. The locations include one store each in Boynton Beach, Pompano Beach and Davie and three stores in Oakland Park.

A spokeswoman said distribution would continue on a rolling basis.

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Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Mas, and Harveys Supermarket

Distribution of the free masks has already started in South Florida.

A spokeswoman for Southeastern Grocers, the chain that owns Fresco y Mas, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie, said that all South Florida stores with in-store pharmacies will eventually have a supply of masks.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash.
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Subscriptions renew automatically every 30 days. Call 240-215-8600 to cancel auto-renewal. Most subscribers are served by News-Post carriers; households in some outlying areas receive same-day delivery through the US Postal Service. If your household falls in a postal delivery area, you will be notified by our customer service team.
Vice President Mike Pence receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, in Washington. Karen Pence, and U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams also participated. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

A majority of Florida residents want to know the vaccine status of politicians, according to a new survey.

Mybiosource.com conducted the survey and found nearly two in three residents in the state agreed with the statement, it would be prudent for politicians, who make decisions on behalf of the electorate, to disclose whether they are vaccinated formally.

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The national survey conducted in December had 3,187 responses. At 64%, Florida residents were in the middle of the pack of all 50 states tying with residents of Rhode Island and New Mexico. Only four states ranked below 50% with Montana the lowest at 35%, then North Dakota at 44%, Alaska at 45% and South Carolina at 47%.

The highest ranked state was Hawaii at 79%, one of eight states over 70% including New Jersey at 78%, California at 75%, Delaware at 73%, Oregan and Mississippi at 71%, and Michigan and New York at 70%.

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The company did not specify how many respondents were in each state.

The San Diego-based website, dedicated to providing the best biological reagents worldwide, did the survey after the COVID-19 Delta variant receded and Omicron took its place.

A press release cited why the website thought the study was necessary. The website wanted peoples opinions on whether politicians should set an example for their personal choices about vaccines.

It mentioned the politicization of mask-wearing in schools, emphasizing Gov. Ron DeSantis appeal of the blanket ban for mask mandates.

For anyone sitting on the fence when it comes to individual freedoms versus vaccine mandates, the advice coming from politicians can be disorientating, the release said. Many anti-vaccine politicians are fully vaccinated.

Although Florida reported 1,324 deaths and 132,622 cases this week, the 7-day average for daily deaths has taken a downward turn.
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Abigails Arms is asking for more help in the near term to hire extra staff and address rising demand from domestic abuse victims. The Gainesville-based nonprofit, established in 1983 to provide free help to people trapped in violent homes, has been inundated with adults and children in need in recent years. The agencys shelter is operating at its maximum capacity of 83, forcing staffers to reach out to other shelters across Texas and Oklahoma to place new clients.
MALI, Feb.8 -- The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) conducted an equipment inspection on the Menaka detachment of the 9th Chinese peacekeeping engineering contingent to Mali recently, which was the first UN equipment inspection on the Chinese detachment this year.

The inspection team carried out an overall inspection on the quantity, quality and technical performance of over 1,000 equipment and devices under 19 categories, including vehicle machinery and living facilities, as well as the logistic support capacity and material reserves.

During the inspection process, the Chinese peacekeepers explained the quantity and quality of the materials and devices as well as the technical performance of the weapons and equipment, and they also proficiently operated various equipment on the spot.

After more than four hours of inspection and evaluation, the UN inspection team unanimously believed that the vehicles and equipment of the Menaka detachment of the 9th Chinese peacekeeping engineering contingent to Mali passed the inspection with a 100% integrity rate, and the main equipment and self-maintaining equipment all met the UN requirements and the peacekeeping mission needs.
FILE - Firefighters and ambulance attendants remove a covered body from the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., after a deadly explosion detonated by members of the Ku Klux Klan during services on Sept. 15, 1963. Threats against Black institutions are deeply rooted in U.S. history and leaders say the history of violence against people of color should be passed on to new generations so the lessons of the past can be applied to the present. (AP Photo, File) (AP)

From her office in Birmingham, Alabama, DeJuana Thompson looks across the street and sees a daily reminder of terror. Her window overlooks the 16th Street Baptist Church, where a bomb in 1963 killed four young Black girls.

Living in the era of bomb threats is not new to people of color, said Thompson, president and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

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Nearly six decades after that bombing by the Ku Klux Klan, the FBI is now investigating last weeks bomb threats against at least 17 historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S. Thompson said the threats underscore the need to teach new generations the history of violence targeting people of color so the lessons of the past can be applied to the present.

The FBI said the hate crimes probe involves more than 20 field offices and is of the highest priority. Investigators have identified at least five persons of interest, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

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In one of the cases, a caller claiming to be affiliated with the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division described a plot at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida involving seven bombs hidden in bags, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said.

University campuses are considered soft targets, but theyre not as soft as they used to be, said Robert McCrie, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Universities have traditionally been easily accessible to the public, but many hardened their security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Now, picture IDs are needed to enter buildings on McCries campus and others, he said.

Though no devices were found at the schools threatened last week, people of color dont have that privilege to think its not real, said Lance Wheeler, director of exhibitions at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

The bomb threats against Black institutions are deeply rooted in U.S. history. In Alabama, people used to call Birmingham Bombingham because of how many bombs and bomb threats occurred, Thompson said. Among the many victims: the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a civil rights leader whose home was damaged on Christmas Day in 1956 by 16 sticks of dynamite placed beneath his bedroom window. When a KKK member suggested he leave town, Shuttlesworth responded that I wasnt saved to run, U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. told the House of Representatives after Shuttlesworth died in 2011.

How we responded then is how we are responding now, Thompson said. We will not stand for these hate crimes, we will not stand for this intimidation, we shall not be moved.

The Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus statement on the latest bomb threats recalled 1969 racial segregation protests at North Carolina A&T that prompted an armed response by the National Guard and police. One student was killed, dozens injured and more than 300 people arrested as gunfire was exchanged from campus buildings. The protests followed the first sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter by four Black men, later known as the Greensboro Four.

We know from history that in spite of external threats, HBCUs are resilient institutions that will persist through all forms of adversity, the statement said.

Universities in Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and other states targeted last week have resumed operations since the lockdowns. But many still worry about future threats and efforts to prosecute those responsible.

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Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party and strategist for the Movement for Black Lives, said HBCUs and independent Black institutions are targeted because they represent independence and resilience for African Americans, which is a threat to a white supremacist ideology.

The mere existence of Black schools, Black churches, Black political organizations and Black business are a threat, he said. We see upswings in these attacks as backlash to Black resistance, the exercising of independent Black political power, the influence of Black social movements.

Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. >

The attacks are ways to try to put fear into communities that are trying to obtain freedom, Wheeler said.

The impact of the Black vote this last election has been felt at the ballot box, such as Georgia flipping two Senate seats for Democrats including the election of Raphael Warnock as the first Black senator to represent the state. And the Black Lives Matter movement has led a national push for protests against police violence and injustice, including murder convictions for the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and George Floyd in Minneapolis.

There is a culture of fear of Black independence, of Black people building our own institutions, our own power and setting out our own direction politically, economically. Theres always efforts to suppress that, and I think that is whats happening right now, Mitchell said. The best way to challenge these white supremacists and haters is by doubling down and investing in HBCUs long term and strengthening them as institutions.

National Urban League President Marc Morial called the latest bomb threats part of the poisonous tree of hate, putting them in the same category as legislative proposals that would suppress the vote, the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a spike in hate crimes and backlash against affirmative action.

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Terrorism is always about creating discord, creating unrest and fear  its about disrupting society, said Warren Eller, who also teaches at John Jay.

Delaware State University President Tony Allen said students and community members shouldnt let threats disrupt their spaces. Sharing in Thompsons message, Allen wrote a letter to the university community shortly after a bomb threat on his campus.

Here is what I say to these bullies, these fearmongers of our day: We shall not be moved, he said.
Reportedly, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, hid a new data harvesting warning in a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. The Silicon Valley titan criticised EU regulations that will restrict it from digesting Europeans' data on American servers in it. Meta said it may be forced to shut down essential services in Europe if it can't move, store, or process data across the Atlantic.

According to Meta's study, unless European data rules are loosened the business will likely be unable to offer Facebook and Instagram. If the business decides to carry out the threat, British citizens may be barred from using Facebook and Instagram.

Data transfers and personal data

Meta's primary concern is a problem with transatlantic data transfers. Meta now handles data in the United States and Europe, which is critical to the way it does business. However, under the new restrictions, Meta may be obliged to process that data on European servers. The regulations aim to protect Europeans' privacy by ensuring that personal data is not processed outside of Europe's borders. Meta is requesting that it be allowed to continue using the Privacy Shield transatlantic data transmission mechanism. Metas Nick Clegg requested:

We urge regulators to adopt a proportionate and pragmatic approach to minimise disruption to the many thousands of businesses who, like Facebook, have been relying on these mechanisms in good faith to transfer data in a safe and secure way.

That was the legal basis on which the corporation conducted data transfers until it was overturned in July 2020 by new rules aimed at protecting Europeans' personal data. It is expected that the Meta and Europe will reach new agreements in 2022. However, if new agreements cannot be achieved, it may be compelled to withdraw services from Europe.

Bleak chances

The company's odds of carrying out the threat are slim, given that Europe is one of its largest and most profitable areas. The comments are most likely the firm flexing its muscles in the face of regulations that may stifle its data collecting, which is its principal source of revenue. A Meta spokesperson confirmed in a statement:

We have absolutely no desire and no plans to withdraw from Europe, but the simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organisations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate global services.

It follows a difficult few weeks of struggling for Meta. Last week, it was discovered that Facebook has lost users for the first time in its 18-year history, potentially jeopardising its status as the world's most popular social networking platform.
Gillette, WY (82718)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. High near 55F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph..

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Partly cloudy skies with gusty winds. Low around 35F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph.
Mail ballots are processed at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2020. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel)

How many envelopes does it take to return a mail ballot in Florida?

Four, according to the Senates latest scheme to frustrate the will of Floridians who want to vote by mail.

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A secrecy envelope. A certificate envelope. A return mailing envelope. All tucked inside a fourth main envelope. Now throw in confusing and complicated new requirements to be imposed on voters under the guise of preventing fraud, after the most orderly election in Floridas history, and you have a recipe for disaster.

[ RELATED: Stressed out by voting changes, just the way GOP wants | Steve Bousquet ]

Five Republicans on the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee voted for this deliberately clumsy and cumbersome system, and a similar plan is being cooked up in the Florida House, despite no evidence of irregularities in voting by mail, which was the preferred method of voting by nearly 5 million Floridians in the 2020 statewide election. The three Democrats on the committee voted against.

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Nearly half those 2020 mail ballots, or 2.2 million, were cast by Democrats, compared to 1.5 million cast by Republicans, and thats what this latest politically motivated attack is about. Simply put, too many Democrats like to vote by mail in Florida.

Inside one of those envelopes, under the proposed changes, every vote-by-mail voter would have to write down their drivers license number, state ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Yes, in an age of rampant identity theft, the state of Florida would force people to send their unique personal identifiers through the mail, or else their vote wont count.

As Senate Bill 524 says: A vote-by-mail ballot will be considered illegal and not be counted if the number provided does not match a number in the supervisors records.

What number in the supervisors records? you ask.

A sweeping overhaul the Legislature passed last year, SB 90, the law that also cracks down on the use of drop boxes, also requires the drivers license number or last four digits to be a part of every voters file.

That information is not on file for a lot of older voters because it wasnt required at the time they first registered to vote. They have voted for decades without problems, but now all of a sudden, they have to verify their identity again.

As mail ballot voters sort out which envelope is which, they also would be required to provide one of those numbers for their votes to count. They cannot be off by even a single digit, lest they risk their ballot being tossed out. Across the state, election supervisors are deeply worried about how badly this can turn out, and some privately tell us they fear the Legislature is deliberately setting up the system for failure.

Its frightening, and its unnecessary.

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A recipe for disaster

A recipe for disaster is what one supervisor predicts will happen if the provision becomes law.

That dire warning comes from Lake Countys Alan Hays, a former Republican senator, who told senators he sent notices to about 11,000 voters reminding them to provide the numbers, but only about half responded, in a heavily Republican county just north of the I-4 corridor in central Florida.

This proposed change would take effect Jan. 1, 2024, just before a statewide presidential preference primary that surely will attract DeSantis attention.

Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. >

The broader Republican strategy here is obvious, and its to undermine faith in democracy by creating a false narrative that voting by mail is not trustworthy, even though multiple safeguards are in place, including signature verification requirements, to protect the legitimacy of the count.

What has captured more attention in Senate Bill 524 is another case of outrageous overreach.

Its the creation, at the insistence of Gov. Ron DeSantis, of an Office of Election Crimes and Security in the Department of State, staffed by non-sworn investigators, to probe irregularities regarding elections and field complaints to a hotline.

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In addition, a separate cadre of sworn and armed agents in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, appointed by DeSantis, would investigate election crimes.

Pressed by senators, the bill sponsor could not really define what election irregularities are. Does it include knocking down an opponents signs? Lying on a direct mail piece? Democrats fear, as all voters should, that the elections police force could engage in partisan witch hunts and intimidate voters.

But four envelopes to submit one ballot? The Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes is a lot simpler.

This editorial was produced by the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, which consists of Steve Bousquet, Dan Sweeney, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, and the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, which includes Anderson, Krys Fluker, Jay Reddick and Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio. To contact us, email at insight@orlandosentinel.com.
Centre for Sustainable Solutions Activities

Sustainable Solutions Showcase

The Centre for Sustainable Solutions organised a Sustainable Solutions Showcase event in Hunter Halls on 9 November 2021. The Showcase was an all-day public event with interactive and engaging exhibits from a crowd-collaborative video game for using smartphones to manage a carbon 'budget', a range of activities for children of all ages to explore sustainability using their creativity, a water tank and CO 2 measuring chamber to demonstrate research in coastal wetlands, interactive exhibitions on sensors, 5G and quantum technologies and how they can help tackle the climate emergency...and much more! You can see all the events here.

Visitors ranged from a group of pre-schoolers from the University nursery to retired scientists wanting to learn more about what is current  and everyone in between. An interactive Mentimeter survey captured visitors live reactions as they moved around the Showcase  with results captured in the Wordcloud (pictured).

For any more information on the Centre for Sustainable Solutions activities please contact Sarah Currier, or visit their webpages.

Coastal vulnerability and social-ecological adaptations

Climate change is having the greatest effect on the narrow band of coastline squeezed between rising sea levels on one side and human development on the other. Despite their size, coastal wetlands provide disproportionately large benefits for people, including the provision of livelihoods, carbon sequestration, and flood protection.

Dr Cai Ladd and Dr Ying Zheng (School of Geographical & Earth Sciences), and Dr Emilie Cremin (School of Interdisciplinary Studies) held an exhibition at the Sustainable Solutions Showcase demonstrating why coastal wetlands are valuable.

Participants had the opportunity to try and flood a model coast with/without coastal vegetation in a wave tank. The tank showed that coastal wetlands buffer wave energy and protect against flooding from storms and Tsunamis. A novel open-source sensor developed here at UoG, the Mini Buoy was also on display, showing how coastal hydrology can be monitored to improve the success rate of mangrove restoration schemes. A CO 2 meter placed over our mangrove tree showed how coastal wetlands capture and store Blue Carbon beneath the ground. All these activities served as talking points for in-depth discussions on the challenges and solutions to coastal resilience under the climate crisis.

CSI @ Sustainable Solutions Showcase

Dr Shuja Ansari, Dr Yusuf Sambo and other members of the Communication, Sensing and Imaging (CSI) group in James Watt School of Engineering showcased demonstrations on their 5G technology at the Sustainable Solutions Showcase.

Energy Conversion and Storage

The School of Chemistry Energy Conversion and Storage research section took part in the Sustainable Solutions Showcase. Two section members Dr Mark Symes and Dr Alexey Ganin demonstrated the production of green hydrogen by electrolysis of water and the production of new batteries for the storage of renewably-generated electricity.

The sections stand also highlighted the recent success of the British Council-sponsored online workshop 'Delivering a Sustainable Energy Transition for Pakistan', co-organised by section member Dr Mark Symes.

Michael Johnson and Dr Anastasiia Klimash showcased the research in ultra-efficient low-energy lighting conducted in the group of the section head Professor Pete Skabara. They demonstrated future materials and devices based on organic semiconductors capable of replacing traditional inorganic compounds in devices such as LED lighting and solar panels.

Thriving Cities Initiative - Glasgow Launch

This event launched Glasgows participation in the Thriving Cities Initiative (TCI) - a three-year project by Glasgow City Council, C40 Cities and the Centre for Sustainable Solutions. The event kickstarted the community conversation on how Glasgow plans to transform to a thriving city - one where all people can access a good life within planetary boundaries. Professor Jaime Toney (GES) presented at the event on the University of Glasgows role in co-creating a City Portrait for Glasgow with the citys changemakers.

UofG and Korn Ferry Panel Discussion and Networking Event

The Centre for Sustainable Solutions launched the Global Energy Mentorship Scheme at the UofG and Korn Ferry panel discussion and networking event, focussed on talent in sustainability that is very much needed for the future. The panel discussed what traits, attributes and competencies are required for industry going forward and how can universities help develop these.

Our 18 Global Energy Mentees from our Earth Futures (GES) and Sustainable Energy (School of Engineering) taught masters programmes were invited to the discussion and subsequent networking event to launch the first cohort in this scheme.

Carbon Neutrality Beyond Borders: Carbon neutral energy intensive industries

This event focussed on the decarbonization of energy intensive industries that are responsible for over 25% of total CO 2 emissions globally and are crucial sectors to engage with to reach net-zero. This event was organised by UNECE and the University of Glasgows Centre for Sustainable Solutions Associate Director, Professor Gioia Falcone. It explored approaches that can be taken by governments, industry and financial institutions, and launched a new United Nations policy brief on carbon neutrality in the energy intensive industries.

UofG and the UK Universities COP26 Network

The Centre for Sustainable Solutions (CfSS) worked on behalf of UofG with the UK Universities COP26 Universities Network, a UK-wide grass-roots collective. The Network was given a space to demonstrate UK higher education research during COP26 in the official Green Zone exhibition space, and displayed nine exhibits. They covered many disciplines and subjects including housing, public health, vector-borne diseases, coastal erosion, quantum imaging, gender equality in climate science, and how to monitor and manage carbon reporting.

In the lead up to COP26, the Centre on behalf of the UK Universities COP26 Network, hosted a pan-UK directory of experts and promote the networks activities. They co-authored a number of briefings to bring the highlight significant topics ahead of COP26, such as the need to mainstream climate change education and consider co-benefits while taking climate mitigation and adaptation actions.

UoG (via the CfSS) and University of Strathclyde jointly organized a Finance Mobilisation for Climate Resilient & Carbon Neutral Communities Innovation Showcase on 12 November 2021, as part of the UK Universities COP26 Network. It aimed to illustrate the importance of partnership working with businesses, organisations and communities in tackling the challenge of mobilising climate finance.

In this edition:

Welcome from Professor Muffy Calder

Event Roundup

Conferences

Awards and Prizes

Media Coverage and Publicity

Future Events
Sydney, Jan. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of BuddeComm report outlines the latest developments and key trends in the telecoms markets. - https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Cameroon-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW





Camtel has long held a licence to offer mobile services, yet it has failed to do so thus far. A launch of services scheduled for the beginning of 2021, under the Blue banner, has been put on hold and is not anticipated until some time in 2022. Nevertheless, a limited fixed-wireless broadband service, under the Blue Home banner, was launched in September 2021.



The third MNO Viettel Cameroon had suffered from its own internal difficulties revolving around a longstanding dispute between the two shareholders Viettel and Bestcam. Noting that the quality of services had fallen during the previous few years, and anxious to safeguard its XAF210 billion investment in the country, Viettel in November 2021 resumed talks with Bestcam.



For its part, the regulator has failed to progress with issuing a 5G trial licence to MTN Cameroon, despite appeals for a licence having been made since 2019.





Key developments:





New fibre link to Gabon is completed;

MTN Cameroon applies for 5G trial licence;

Camtel signs national roaming deal with MTN Cameroon;

Cameroon accounting for 73% of the 1.1 billion e-payment transactions among CEMAC member countries;

Cameroon ends roaming charges with CEMAC countries;

Camtel becomes the fourth MNO after securing a mobile concession, but delays service launch;

Orange Cameroon expands LTE-A services;

Report update includes regulator's market report for 2019, telcos' operating data to Q3 2021, updated Telecom Maturity Index tables, charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of the pandemic on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.



Companies mentioned in this report:





MTN Cameroon, Orange Cameroon, Camtel, Cameroon Mobile Telecommunications (CMT), Pastel, CamNet, MTN Network Solutions, Matrix Telecoms, Ringo, Nexttel Cameroon (Viettel), YooMee







Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Cameroon-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW
LIVINGSTON, Calif., Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just one month into 2022, and even as the California economy continues to re-open, food insecurity shows no sign of waning. More than eight million Californians are still struggling to put food on the table. In its continuing commitment to the fight against hunger, Foster Farms today donated 70,000 pounds of vegetables, beans and grains to California food banks. The food will be distributed this month to families in need in the Central Valley, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. The donation builds on the companys recent holiday effort which provided thousands of holiday turkeys to feed more than 80,000 people from San Diego to Seattle.

Today, the company made donation deliveries to the first two of the three longtime partner food bank recipients including Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, Second Harvest of the Greater Valley and San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. Foster Farms has worked with these local hunger relief organizations for the past 13 years to provide a consistent source of protein as well as nutrient-rich staples.

While the holidays have come and gone, hunger remains, said Blake Young, CEO of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. We continue to see a steady demand for food with twice as many families turning to us than before the pandemic. We are grateful to Foster Farms for the companys continued generosity and support of California families in need year after year.

Foster Farms remains dedicated to fighting hunger and will continue to help where we can support our food bank partners, who do such important work in serving our communities, said Ira Brill, vice president of communications for Foster Farms. We hope that others will join us in supporting local food banks throughout the year by donating time, money or food.

About Foster Farms

Since 1939, West Coast families have depended on Foster Farms for premium quality chicken and turkey products. Family-owned and operated, the company continues its legacy of excellence and commitment to quality established by its founders, Max and Verda Foster. Foster Farms specializes in fresh, all-natural chicken and turkey products free of preservatives, additives, or injected sodium enhancers. Based in Californias Central Valley, with ranches in the Pacific Northwest, the companys fresh chicken and turkey are produced in or near each region served. Foster Farms also produces delicious pre-marinated, ready-to-cook and fully cooked products that meet the quality and convenience needs of todays home cooks, retailers, warehouse clubs and foodservice customers. The companys commitment to excellence, honesty, quality, service, and people is a source of great pride, and a longtime family tradition.

Food safety is Foster Farms' highest priority, and the company would like to remind consumers to always follow safe handling, preparation, and storage guidelines for the preparation of fresh poultry products. All fresh poultry products should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit as measured by a meat thermometer to ensure safety. Visit www.fosterfarms.com to learn more.

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NEW YORK, Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DarkPulse, Inc. (OTCMKT:DPLS) (DPLS, DarkPulse, or the Company) announced that it has executed a lease for its National Headquarters to be located at 815 Walker Street, Suite 1155 Houston, TX 77002. The Company will occupy approximately 4,224 sq. ft., in the Mellie Esperson Building. The lease term is for 10 years commencing March 1, 2022. The Company also operates a 20,000 sq. ft., Electronics Manufacturing and R & D facility located in Tempe, Arizona.



DarkPulse plans on hiring approximately 50 employees for its Houston location. To further collaboration and integration, the Company plans on relocating some of its corporate members from the United Kingdom including their Special Teams unit, which will be located in Houston. The move will enable closer teamwork to accelerate and increase value delivery through Company-wide initiatives.

Houston is home to 44 of the 113 U.S. publicly traded oil and gas exploration, production, and renewable green energy firms. Houston also hosts 25 Fortune 500 company headquarters, the third highest concentration in the country, after New York and Chicago, per the Greater Houston Partnership.

Described by Wikipedia as "among the most recognizable" buildings in Downtown Houston, The Millie Esperson Building and Niels Esperson Buildings are the only complete examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in Downtown Houston. Designed by theater architect John Eberson, the Esperson buildings were built in 1927 and 1941, respectively. They are elaborately detailed with massive columns, great urns, terraces, and a grand tempietto at the top, similar to one built in the courtyard of San Pietro in Rome in 1502.

Todays announcement is the culmination of hard work, dedication, and a focused business strategy built upon the Companys evolution as a global Infratech leader, said Dennis OLeary, DarkPulse Chairman & CEO. He continued DarkPulses high resolution BOTDA sensor systems offer leading edge structural health monitoring for critical infrastructure including oil & gas pipelines, bridges, overpasses and roadways. Our current technology deployment into transportation will create the worlds first smart bridge and rewrite capabilities of the worlds infrastructure through proactive detection and monitoring effectively eliminating safety concerns.

About DarkPulse, Inc.

DarkPulse, Inc. uses advanced laser-based monitoring systems to provide rapid and accurate monitoring of temperatures, strains and stresses. The Companys technology excels when applied to live, dynamic critical infrastructure and structural monitoring, including pipeline monitoring, perimeter and structural surveillance, aircraft structural components and mining safety. The Company's fiber-based monitoring systems can assist markets that are not currently served, and its unique technology covers extended areas and any event that is translated into the detection of a change in strain or temperature. In addition to the Companys ongoing efforts with respect to the marketing and sales of its technology products and services to its customers, the Company also continues to explore potential strategic alliances through joint venture and licensing opportunities to further expand its global market position.

For more information, visit www.DarkPulse.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the "safe harbor" created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "believe," "expect," "may," "should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "goal," "estimate," "anticipate" or other comparable terms. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this news release regarding our strategies, prospects, financial condition, operations, costs, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: our ability to successfully market our products and services; the acceptance of our products and services by customers; our continued ability to pay operating costs and ability to meet demand for our products and services; the amount and nature of competition from other security and telecom products and services; the effects of changes in the cybersecurity and telecom markets; our ability to successfully develop new products and services; our success establishing and maintaining collaborative, strategic alliance agreements, licensing and supplier arrangements; our ability to comply with applicable regulations; and the other risks and uncertainties described in our prior filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Media contact:

ir@DarkPulse.com
TORONTO, Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galane Gold Ltd. (Galane Gold or the Company) (TSX-V: GG; OTCQB: GGGOF) today announces that it has entered into definitive agreements to sell its Mupane gold mine in Botswana (the Mupane Property) to Hawks Mining Company Proprietary Limited (the Purchaser), a company registered under the laws of Botswana and owned by certain individuals forming part of the Companys local Botswana management team (the Transaction).



The board of directors (the Board) and management of Galane, as part of its continuing review of the strategy of the Company going forward, has concluded that the Transaction aligns with its long-term goal to be a low-cost producer that can generate positive cash flows through the various cycles of the gold market. With the near completion of the mining of the Tau ore body and the transition to the mining of Golden Eagle, there is a need to restructure operations at the Mupane Property both operationally and financially. Upon review by the Board, it was decided that the Companys resources will be better utilised by increasing production at Galaxy, and restarting operations at the Summit Mine. Based on the financial statements of the Company as at September 30, 2021, Mupane represented approximately 5% of the net value of the total assets less the total liabilities of the Company.

The Transaction is structured as a sale of all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Companys Botswana subsidiaries which own the Mupane Property and related claims namely Mupane Gold Mining Proprietary Limited, Galane Gold Botswana Proprietary Limited and Southern Cross Exploration and Development Proprietary Limited. The aggregate consideration to be paid by the Purchaser is a nominal amount. In addition, as part of the Transaction, the Company has agreed to cede its rights, title and interest in certain claims it has on loan accounts against the Botswana subsidiaries through cession agreements entered into with the Purchaser. On the closing of the Transaction, the Company will have no further rights or financial obligations relating to Mupane.

Mupane has been the cornerstone of Galane since we commenced operations in 2011, and the decision to sell it to the local management team represents a sensible conclusion for both parties. Mupane needs to transition into a smaller producer, restructuring its operations and finances to match its projected cash flows. We believe that the local management team has the skills required and will have the support of the Botswana Government to achieve this. For Galane Gold, the restructured Mupane does not fit our long-term goals. Our current focus needs to be on the expansion of Galaxy and the recommencement of operations at the Summit Mine, said Nick Brodie, Chief Executive Officer.

Ravi Sood, the Chairman of Galane Gold, said in addition, Our experience with Mupane in Botswana over the past 11 years has been outstanding in every respect. While we are sad to be leaving such a constructive and progressive country, we are very pleased to be part of a transaction that will result in one of the largest businesses in the country becoming wholly-owned by the local management team.

Closing of the Transaction is expected towards the end of the first quarter of 2022 and is subject to various conditions, including, but not limited to, the execution of transition services agreements with respect to certain obligations of each party to the Transaction for the interim period prior to the Closing and for 12 months following Closing, approval of governmental and regulatory authorities, including the Botswana Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security and the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV), and other customary closing conditions.

About Galane Gold

Galane Gold is an un-hedged gold producer and explorer with mining operations and exploration tenements in Botswana, South Africa and New Mexico. Galane Gold is a public company and its shares are quoted on the TSXV under the symbol GG and the OTCQB under the symbol GGGOF. Galane Golds management team is comprised of senior mining professionals with extensive experience in managing mining and processing operations and large-scale exploration programmes. Galane Gold is committed to operating at world-class standards and is focused on the safety of its employees, respecting the environment, and contributing to the communities in which it operates.

Cautionary Notes

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the closing of the Transaction, satisfaction of the closing conditions to the Transaction, obtaining customary governmental, regulatory and stock exchange approvals including that of the TSXV for the Transaction, the Company being a low-cost producer and generating positive cash flows through the various cycles of the gold market, technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, future financial position and results of operations, strategy, proposed acquisitions, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words believe, expect, aim, intend, plan, continue, will, may, would, anticipate, estimate, forecast, predict, project, seek, should or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Companys expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements.

Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to: the Companys dependence on two mineral projects; gold price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Companys mining activities in Botswana and South Africa; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to the Companys exploration, development and mining activities being situated in Botswana and South Africa; risks relating to reliance on the Companys management team and outside contractors; risks regarding mineral resources and reserves; the Companys inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks arising from the Companys fair value estimates with respect to the carrying amount of mineral interests; mining tax regimes; risks arising from holding derivative instruments; the Companys need to replace reserves depleted by production; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; the ability of the communities in which the Company operates to manage and cope with the implications of COVID-19; the economic and financial implications of COVID-19 to the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; lack of infrastructure; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; health risks in Africa; the Companys interactions with surrounding communities and artisanal miners; the Companys ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; risks related to restarting production; the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; development of the Companys exploration properties into commercially viable mines; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; risks related to the market perception of junior gold companies; and litigation risk. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.

Neither the TSXV nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information please contact:

Nick Brodie

CEO, Galane Gold Ltd.

+ 44 7905 089878

Nick.Brodie@GalaneGold.com

www.GalaneGold.com
I am ticked off at the city of Winter Park for allowing these huge houses to be built and then the front yard is basically a cement and gravel driveway and nothing else. It is ugly and sterile. How about building a slightly smaller house so you can actually have room in the front yard for something green?

To all of the companies who fly the American flag: You may think you are doing it to show your patriotism, but if it is faded and ragged, you show nothing of the sort. Change them!

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Now that Im driving an electric car I never block any gas station lines because I am never there in the first place. Also my consumption of junk food (especially those nasty hot dogs) has gone way down.

Im ticked off at my HOA for being inconvenienced by accepting payments and have contracted a third party to do their job and also add on their fee which is passed on to residents.

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I was upset to see local television channels blur the faces of the neo-Nazi idiots who chose to embarrass the entire region and state with their tiny demonstration. Why protect these peoples identities? I want to see the faces of these hateful bigots. I want the world to see their faces. No more digital white hoods.

I am ticked off that people keep bashing Mayim Bialik as the host of Jeopardy. I think she is doing a great job. Leave her alone.

To the person ticked off about Dukes rate Increase, Read the Sentinel about power companies and dark money. Then contact your State representative and State Senator, and complain about the power company monopolies in our state.

The flip side

My hat goes off to those that wear a N95 mask all day long to protect us and themselves. I wore one for the first time to a concert last week and after three hours it was half way off as I walked out the door.
VICTORIA, British Columbia, Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Many Americans rely on pharma care as part of dealing with chronic or degenerative health conditions. The medications prescribed to individuals relying on pharma care are often prohibitively expensive. This is especially true nowadays for people instructed to take prescription drugs that are no longer covered under Medicare Part D. For this reason and others, there have been concerted efforts made to find more affordable ways to buy medication. The search for equivalent medication at a more affordable price point has led many of these folks to international online pharmacies like Canada Drugs Direct.

These lower prices on Rx medications ordered from Canada are legitimate and more cost-effective. Consumers have also found there are no hidden fees, import duties, or anything similar connected to these more affordable medications. Some may still be skeptical on whether lower drug prices in Canada are as advantageous as they are made out to be.

A part of this thinking may be because buyer advantages for Americans who are shopping for products from Canada generally aren't based on them costing much less. It's more based around the fact that the US dollar is quite a bit stronger than the Canadian dollar. These lower prices on Rx meds from Canada are an exciting reality for many Americans and there are legitimate reasons why the medication is dispensed for less in Canada.

First and foremost, there are controls in place for Canadian medications that limit how high end-user costs can be for patients purchasing prescription medications. Overall, the pharma care industry is also lesser geared towards the profit-based structure that is the case in America. The single biggest factor is that drug manufacturers operating out of the U.S. and wholesalers cannot set drug prices as they'd like.

There are fewer intermediaries or "middlemen" in the Canadian pharmaceutical chain who often mark up prices such as those in the United States of America. Online international pharmacies in Canada are ideally situated to serve U.S. customers because of their proximity and their ability to offer lower prices on prescription drugs is entirely legitimate. These lower prices on drugs will be made available to Americans on an ongoing basis. Especially considering the White House's ongoing commitment to initiatives aimed at bringing down prescription medication costs.

About the Company

Canada Drugs Direct is a Canadian online pharmacy that is among those recommended for Americans who shop at a pharmacy in Canada. The Canadian online pharmacy can source medications in a way that allows for the best prices on prescription drugs from Canada. All orders require a prescription and are dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. Pay less for Rx medication ordered online from Canada.

https://www.canadadrugsdirect.com/

info@canadadrugsdirect.com

Toll-Free: 1-888-904-8467

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MELBOURNE, Australia and KYOTO, Japan, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) in collaboration with Kanazawa University today announces that the Phase I clinical study of its investigational prostate cancer imaging product in Japanese patients has reported the study results. The study has met its objectives, demonstrating safety and tolerability when using TLX591-CDx (Kit for the preparation of gallium-68 (68Ga) PSMA-11 injection).



This study is evaluating the safety, tolerability, radiation dosimetry and pharmacokinetics of TLX591-CDx in Japanese patients.1 No serious adverse events (SAEs) were observed in any participants, and whole-body and organ-specific radiation dosimetry demonstrated no difference between Japanese and non-Japanese populations. The pharmacokinetics of TLX591-CDx in Japanese patients was also comparable to that of previous studies reported in Western populations.

The study, conducted at Kanazawa University Hospital in Japan and supported by Telix, reported topline results in collaboration with Kanazawa University Hospital. In total, ten patients with prostate cancer were enrolled from May to August 2021. All patients underwent dosing with TLX591-CDx followed by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. All enrolled patients had completed the study by September 2021.

Professor and Chairman, Department of Clinical Development, Kanazawa University Hospital, Dr. Toshinori Murayama, stated, We are proud of our quick completion of this important Phase I study. We are highly encouraged by both the early safety and tolerability data, as well as the comparability of the pharmacokinetics and dosimetry of 68Ga-PSMA-11 between Japanese and non-Japanese populations.

Dr. Shintaro Nishimura, President of Telix Pharmaceuticals Japan, added, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the doctors at Kanazawa University and the prostate cancer patients who enabled us to complete this clinical trial in record time. I believe that this is the result of the desire of doctors and patients to see this investigational drug available to patients in Japan. These results will serve as a useful basis for advancing the TLX591-CDx program towards regulatory submissions across Asia including in Japan. We are committed to working to bring this candidate, which was recently approved in the United States and Australia, to market in Japan as soon as possible."

About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Telix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of diagnostic and therapeutic products using Molecularly Targeted Radiation (MTR). Telix is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia with international operations in Belgium, Japan, Switzerland and the United States. Telix is developing a portfolio of clinical-stage products that address significant unmet medical need in oncology and rare diseases. Telix is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: TLX). For more information visit www.telixpharma.com and follow Telix on Twitter (@TelixPharma) and LinkedIn.

Telixs lead product, gallium-68 (68Ga) gozetotide (also known as 68Ga PSMA-11) injection for prostate cancer imaging, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),2 and by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).3 Telix is also progressing marketing authorisation applications for this investigational candidate in Europe4 and Canada.5

Telix Media Contact

Dr. Stewart Holmstrom

Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Director Corporate Communications

Email: stewart.holmstrom@telixpharma.com

Important Information

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such an offer would be illegal. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the U.S. Securities Act), or under the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States, unless the securities have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act is available. This announcement has been authorised for release by Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. The Telix Pharmaceuticals name and logo are trademarks of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and its affiliates (all rights reserved).

_______________

1 Japanese Registry of Clinical Trials identifier: JRCT2041200110

2 ASX disclosure 20 December 2021.

3 ASX disclosure 2 November 2021.

4 ASX disclosure 10 December 2021.

5 ASX disclosure 16 December 2020.
VICTORIA, British Columbia, Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Americans are not limited to having prescriptions filled at a local storefront pharmacy anymore, as nowadays there are online pharmacies like Canada Pharmacy that are able to serve customers in the same way and dispense Rx medications for less money. These licensed pharmacies located outside of the US are still close enough to be able to ship the products to Continental US addresses while still preserving the discounts on the medications. Canada Pharmacy is among those with reliably lower prices on drugs along with similar savings on OTC medications and supplements.

The current White House administration is putting a lot of effort into changing laws that prevent Medicare from more effectively negotiating pricing with drug manufacturers in the USA. There is some truth to prescription drugs being expensive because of the R&D costs that go into creating medication that is proven effective and safe. However, Mexico and Canada, the two countries that border the USA, have pharmacies dispensing the same quality drugs at lower prices, indicating that many of the reasons drugs cost more in America are systemic ones related to the pharmaceutical industry.

Consumers can also take this to mean that change is naturally slow to occur when the root of a problem is deeply entrenched in how an industry is geared, and how it has been functioning for a long time. In the meantime, online pharmacies in Canada have the same high operating standards and must meet federal regulations related to running a pharmacy business. US consumers are able to submit their prescriptions online and these pharmacies are able to fill them at a lower cost as well as offer favorable shipping options.

This creates a situation where US residents shouldn't hesitate to use an online pharmacy in Canada if they prefer to have prescriptions filled without visiting a storefront pharmacy. Those who would like further quality assurances can check pharmacy websites at the Canadian International Pharmacy Association to determine if they are among the 63 that carry the CIPA Seal. Canada Pharmacy is among them and has a growing part of their customer base as US residents.

About the Company

Canada Pharmacy is a Canadian online pharmacy among those recommended for Americans who shop at a pharmacy in Canada to save money on medications. It is able to source medications in a way that allows for the best prices on prescription drugs from Canada. All orders require a prescription and are dispensed by a licensed pharmacist, in the same way it would be with any pharmacy in America. Pay less when you order drugs online from Canada.

Contact Canada Pharmacy:

https://www.canadapharmacy.com

Toll-Free: 1-800-891-0844

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HONG KONG, Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) today announced the addition of Jason Ho as a Senior Managing Director and Asia Leader of the Capital Solutions offering within the firms Corporate Finance & Restructuring segment, based in Hong Kong. FTI Consultings Capital Solutions team in Asia assists and provides solutions to corporates to enable opportunities such as acquisitions, refinancings and dividend recapitalisations.

FTI Consulting is well-positioned to offer capital solutions services to clients given how this uniquely supplements our subject-matter expertise and industry specialisations, providing a one-stop shop in transaction activities, said Vincent Fok, Head of Asia Corporate Finance & Restructuring at FTI Consulting. Todays financing markets are complex and varied. Now more than ever before, companies and creditors alike need a knowledgeable partner who understands the credit lifecycle and can actively assist in navigating capital markets. With the appointment of Jason, we are continuing our investment in client solutions, adding value for companies and capital providers as they optimise their balance sheets along the corporate lifecycle.



The expert-led team within the Capital Solutions offering at FTI Consulting will enhance the firms existing client service offerings focused on corporate restructuring and acquisitions, which include financial and commercial due diligence, valuation, merger integration and carve-outs and looks forward to being able to provide clients with a range of services, such as capital and credit structure solutions.



Mr. Ho joins FTI Consulting from Commerzbank AG in Hong Kong, where he was the Regional Head of Bonds for Greater China. Prior to Commerzbank, he spent several years at Citigroup in the Investment Banking and Capital Markets Originations departments. After his time at Citigroup, Mr. Ho then moved on to establish offshore advisory and capital markets franchises for Chinese investment banks, starting in 2011 at ICBC International, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, where he led teams in China and Hong Kong as the Co-Head of Debt Capital Markets Department and Head of Debt Syndicate. He then joined a regional bank as a Managing Director, Head of Debt Financing and Capital Markets. Mr. Ho has tailored solutions and raised over US$300 billion through more than 500 transactions for corporates in the private and public markets. Given that most of the projects in Asia are for PRC corporates, he has established a solid network with both borrowers and creditors across sectors, especially in real estate.

In addition to Mr. Hos appointment, FTI Consultings Corporate Finance & Restructuring segment continues to invest in its China practice with the addition of Managing Director Sean Qiao. Mr. Qiao, who is originally from China, spent over 10 years in FTI Consultings Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) industry practice in the U.S. and recently relocated from Denver to Shanghai. This strategic return further enhances FTI Consultings offering to domestic and international clients across restructuring, business transformation and transactions services in China, and deepens the firms TMT capabilities in Asia.

About FTI Consulting

FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory, reputational and transactional. With more than 6,600 employees located in 29 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges and make the most of opportunities. The Company generated $2.46 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2020. In certain jurisdictions, FTI Consultings services are provided through distinct legal entities that are separately capitalised and independently managed. For more information, visit www.fticonsulting.com and connect with us on Twitter (@FTIConsulting), Facebook and LinkedIn.

FTI Consulting, Inc.

555 12th Street NW

Washington, DC 20004

+1.202.312.9100

Investor Contact:

Mollie Hawkes

+1.617.747.1791

mollie.hawkes@fticonsulting.com

Media Contact:

Andrew Gerrard

+852.3768.4562

andrew.gerrard@fticonsulting.com
Collaboration will Focus on Identifying Most Promising Research Emerging from Biotech Companies in Korea and U.S. for Licensing, Investment and Company Creation



Partnership Supports Orange Groves Strategy for International Growth While Providing Pipeline of Early-Stage Drug Development Investment Opportunities for SV Investment in U.S.

CINCINNATI, Ohio and SEOUL, Korea, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orange Grove Bio, a U.S.-based preclinical drug investment and development firm, and SV Investment, a Korea-based venture capital and private equity firm, today announced the establishment of a new partnership through which the companies will collaborate on jointly sourcing and developing novel therapeutics in the United States and Korea. As priority partners, the companies will cultivate the U.S. and Korean biotech landscape through technology licensing and company creation in their respective geographic areas.

Under terms of the partnership, SV Investment will leverage its relationships with biotech companies and academic institutions in Korea to identify licensing opportunities for promising early-stage research in the area of drug development. As part of the agreement, Marc Appel, chief executive officer of Orange Grove, will join SV Investment as a venture partner and will play a key role in evaluating the licensing opportunities that are identified at Korean biotech companies and universities. As appropriate, Orange Grove will work to license these technologies as a basis for life science company creation in the U.S., with SV Investment serving as an early-stage investor in the companies.

Additionally, Orange Grove will identify appropriate drug development licensing opportunities at U.S.-based academic institutions that SV Investment may pursue for development and company creation in Korea. To support these activities, as well as other investment opportunities, SV Investment has initiated the process of raising a new fund named SV Bio Platform Fund I.

SV Investment is a premier firm in Korea and we are thrilled to be engaging in this partnership with their global investment leadership team. SV Investment has been supportive of Orange Grove Bios mission from the beginning, and we have collectively continued to seek opportunities to work together, said Mr. Appel. This new collaboration with SV Investment will be integral to Orange Grove Bios global mission to develop an international presence and to source and license promising technologies from Korean academic institutions and biotech companies.

We are eager to enter this international partnership with the team at Orange Grove Bio, as it will enable SV Investment to rapidly grow its footprint in the United States, said Won-Ho Hong, chief executive officer of SV Investment. With Orange Grove Bios expertise and network of relationships across the U.S., we believe this partnership will lead us to identify cross-border opportunities for investment earlier.

Seo Lee, SV Investments director, added: The collaboration formed between SV Investment and Orange Grove Bio will lead to progressive development of first-in-class technologies on an international scale for both parties.

SVs investment philosophy is to discover and develop promising companies and establish robust investment networks between startups in Korea and internationally. SV Investments management team prioritizes early discovery and lead investment into companies with high-growth potential and global expansion across borders. The firm has 19 years of experience providing support to companies via an extensive international network, helping companies through an initial public offering and enter into overseas markets.

Orange Grove Bios mission is to develop new therapeutic options for patients by harnessing the significant research potential found in universities across the United States. Orange Grove Bio fosters strong relationships with technology transfer offices outside of the traditional medical technology hubs of Boston and San Francisco. Collectively, Orange Grove Bios team possesses more than one hundred years of drug development and company creation experience, allowing it to build and finance innovative programs from the research and development stage to clinical trials.

About Orange Grove Bio

Orange Grove Bio (OGB) is an emerging, preclinical, capital allocation and asset development biotech company. OGB is headquartered at the 1819 Innovation Center, local to Cincinnati, Ohio. OGB partners with universities and entrepreneurs to develop innovative treatments for important diseases, particularly cancer and immune disorders.

About SV Investment

SV Investment is a Korean venture capital and private equity firm headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with international offices in Boston, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Singapore. The firms investment focus is in the area of life sciences, technology, consumer goods and entertainment. SV Investment finances companies and provides strategic guidance at critical stages of company development.
Portland, OR, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the south korea battery power tools market was pegged at $141.1 million in 2020 and is estimated to hit $351.2 million by 2030, registering a CAGR of 9.5% from 2021 to 2027. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the top investment pockets, top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, market size & estimations, competitive landscape, and changing market trends.

Rise in demand from the automotive sector, developments in the construction & manufacturing industries, and growth in popularity of brushless battery power tool drive the growth of the South Korea battery power tools market. On the other hand, fluctuations in the price of raw materials and availability of alternative tools hamper the growth to some extent. However, high-end technological advancements in tooling equipment are expected to create lucrative opportunities in the industry.



Download Sample PDF (152 Pages with More Insight): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/15542

Covid-19 Scenario-

Several lockdown measures across the region caused significant delay in production & manufacturing of battery power tools in the South Korean countries, thereby impactingthe South Korea battery power tools market negatively, especially during the initial phase.

However, the market is anticipated to get back on track soon.

The South Korea battery power tools market is analyzed across motor type, tool type, and application.

Based on motor type, the brushed segment contributed to around three-fourths of the total market share in 2020, and is expected to lead the trail by 2030. The brushless segment, on the other hand,would also cite the fastest CAGR of 10.1% from 2021 to 2030.

Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the South Korea Battery Power Tools Market Request Here

Based on tool type, the drills segment accounted for more than one-third of the total market revenue in share in 2020, and is anticipated to rule the roost by 2030. The impact wrench segment, however, would grow at the fastest CAGR of 12.3% from 2021 to 2030.

Based on application, the industrial segment held the major share in 2019, generating more than two-thirds of the total market. Simultaneously, the DIY segment would manifest the fastest CAGR of 10.5% during the forecast period.

Leading Players:

The leading market players analyzed in the South Korea battery power tools market report include Andreas Stihl Ag & Co. Kg, Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd., Hilti Corporation, Koki Holdings Co., Ltd., Makita Corporation, Robert Bosch, Aimsak,Snap-On Incorporated, Stanley Black and Decker, and Keyang. These market players have adopted different strategies including partnership, expansion, collaboration, joint ventures, and others to reinforce their status in the industry.

Schedule a FREE Consultation Call with Our Analysts/Industry Experts to Find Solution for Your Business @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/15542

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About Allied Market Research:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact us:
Oculis appoints Dr. Bastian Dehmel as Chief Development Officer

Former Amgen Global Development Leader/OxThera CMO joins Oculis as Chief Development Officer to lead development planning and drive operational excellence





LAUSANNE, Switzerland, February 8th, 2022  Oculis S.A. (Oculis), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative ophthalmic treatments to improve the sight and lives of patients, announces the further strengthening of the Companys executive leadership team with the appointment of Dr. Bastian Dehmel as global Chief Development Officer, based in Oculis corporate headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. At Oculis, Dr. Dehmel will be responsible for driving the further development of the Companys strong advanced pipeline of innovative ophthalmology therapies through the New Drug Application stage.

Dr. Dehmel brings close to 20 years of global biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry experience, spanning early and late-phase drug development, clinical operations, biostatistics, and regulatory and medical affairs across multiple therapeutic areas. He joins Oculis from OxThera, a Swedish biopharma company, where he was Chief Medical Officer. Prior to this, he spent more than 10 years at Amgen where he held roles of increasing responsibility, both in the European and Global headquarters, where he led its global Phase III EVOLVE study (Sensipar(R)/Mimpara(R)) and co-led the global product strategy team. He has also held medical advisory roles at Novo Nordisk in Denmark and GlaxoSmithKline in Germany.

Dr. Dehmel received his clinical training in Internal Medicine at Charite University and worked as a post-doc at the Max-Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, both in Berlin, Germany.

Riad Sherif, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Oculis, said: Bastian has a wealth of international experience in leading global clinical development programs gained both from large pharma and innovative biotech companies. We are excited to have him join Oculis as we further accelerate our innovative pipeline of transformational treatments in ophthalmology. His knowledge and expertise will be key in the next phase of our journey to successfully bring to market Oculis novel product candidates for the benefit of patients globally.

Dr. Bastian Dehmel, Chief Development Officer of Oculis, added: Oculis's mission to seek innovative solutions to ophthalmology diseases that transform the lives of patients is bold and exciting and I am delighted to join such an inspiring team. Oculis has already built a unique and highly differentiated pipeline and I look forward to further supporting its progress towards commercialization with my experience in executing global drug development programs.

-ENDS-

Photo available on request

About Oculis

Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland with global operations in Europe, the U.S. and China, Oculis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative innovative ophthalmic treatments to improve the sight and lives of patients. Oculis has a robust and expansive development portfolio including late-stage novel topical (eye drop) treatments, which are non-invasive and represent an unprecedented technical advance for patients with retinal edema and front-of-the-eye diseases. In addition, Oculis formulation discovery and innovation capabilities enable the development of a pipeline of topical drugs targeting sight-threatening eye diseases that affect both the anterior and posterior segments of the eye.

To learn more, please visit www.oculis.com

Contacts

Oculis

Dr. Riad Sherif, CEO

riad.sherif@oculis.com

Sylvia Cheung, CFO

sylvia.cheung@oculis.com

Louie-Anne Gauthier, VP, Strategic Marketing and BD&L

louie-anne.gauthier@oculis.com

Media & Investor Relations

SPRG (China / Asia)

Esther Chan, Cindy Lung, Brigid Lee

oculis@sprg.com.hk

Consilium Strategic Communications (Europe)

Amber Fennell, Matthew Cole, Allison Connolly

oculis@consilium-comms.com

Russo Partners (U.S.)

Nic Johnson, Jo Galatioto

RPOculisTeam@russopr.com
Dublin, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "E-Axle Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global E-axle market reached a value of US$ 2.88 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 9.42 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 21.49% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, they are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor



An electric axle (e-axle) is an electro-mechanical propulsion system integrated into an axle structure of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to deliver power for turning the wheels. It is manufactured using lightweight and high-strength metal like aluminum and includes bearings, shafts, pinions, and gearing components. It combines power electronics, electric motors, and transmission into a unified compact system, which reduces complexity and makes it possible to customize power, torque, and installation space according to end users' requirements. Presently, automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are relying on e-axle solutions to make optimum use of the internal volume of vehicles for extra battery capacity, passenger space, and other features



The increasing use of hybrid electric cars (HEVs), commercial vehicles, and trucks on account of rapid urbanization, inflating income levels, and expanding global trade represents one of the key factors impelling the market growth. This can also be attributed to the increasing awareness among individuals about the harmful effects of fossil fuel-based automobiles on human health and global climate. In line with this, governing agencies of numerous countries are banning the sales of fossil fuel passenger cars to reduce vehicle-based carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

This, in turn, is positively influencing the demand for e-axles across the globe as they assist in improving energy efficiency and noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) performance. They also support high-performance scalability for a broad spectrum of applications for various types of vehicles. Apart from this, leading manufacturers are developing advanced products that are equipped with high-strength casings and can accommodate both high torque and input speeds. This is projected to drive the market in the coming years



Key Market Segmentation:

The publisher provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global E-axle market, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country level from 2022-2027. Our report has categorized the market based on component type, vehicle type and drive type



Breakup by Component Type:

Combining Motors

Power Electronics

Transmission

Others

Breakup by Vehicle Type:

ICE Vehicles

Passenger Vehicle

Commercial Vehicle

Electric Vehicle

Breakup by Drive Type:

Forward Wheel Drive

Rear Wheel Drive

All Wheel Drive

Breakup by Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

Indonesia

Others

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Russia

Others

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Others

Middle East and Africa

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being AVL List GmbH, Axletech International (Meritor Inc), Borgwarner Inc, Continental AG, Dana Incorporated, GKN Plc (Melrose Industries), Nidec Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG and ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Zeppelin-Stiftung)



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global E-axle market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global E-axle market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the component type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the vehicle type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the drive type?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global E-axle market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology

3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global E-Axle Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Component Type

6.1 Combining Motors

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Power Electronics

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Transmission

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Others

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Vehicle Type

7.1 ICE Vehicles

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Key Segments

7.1.2.1 Passenger Vehicle

7.1.2.2 Commercial Vehicle

7.1.3 Market Forecast

7.2 Electric Vehicle

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Drive Type

8.1 Forward Wheel Drive

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Rear Wheel Drive

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 All Wheel Drive

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Region



10 SWOT Analysis



11 Value Chain Analysis



12 Porters Five Forces Analysis



13 Price Analysis



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Structure

14.2 Key Players

14.3 Profiles of Key Players

14.3.1 AVL List GmbH

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.1.3 Financials

14.3.2 Axletech International (Meritor Inc)

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3 Borgwarner Inc

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3.3 Financials

14.3.3.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.4 Continental AG

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5 Dana Incorporated

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5.3 Financials

14.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.6 GKN Plc (Melrose Industries)

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6.3 Financials

14.3.7 Nidec Corporation

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7.3 Financials

14.3.7.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.8 Robert Bosch GmbH

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.8.3 Financials

14.3.9 Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9.3 Financials

14.3.10 ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Zeppelin-Stiftung)

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10.3 Financials

14.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ejpmzu

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SILICON SLOPES, Utah, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Members of Utahs booming consumer sector will gather for the regions first annual Consumer Summit on Thursday, April 28, 2022 from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Slopes EVNTS Center in Draper, Utah. Spurred by Brandless and Clarke Capital Partners , the event brings together Silicon Slopes leading consumer brands, consumer technology companies, experts, and business leaders for the first time to elevate the regions consumer sector and their global thought leadership platform.



Consumer brands and consumer tech are a critical part of Silicon Slopes ecosystem that is contributing billions to the global economy, said Cydni Tetro, CEO of Brandless. This Summit is the first time were shedding light on the innovation and leadership of this community to solidify our place in the consumer conversation, and propel the global impact that is being built and created here.

Despite numerous industry events in Silicon Slopes, none have yet engaged the areas expansive consumer sector, which includes world leading brands such as Brandless, Chatbooks, Traeger Grills, Built Bar and many more. This Summit highlights these market leaders, elevates all consumer companies, and solidifies Silicon Slopes place in the global consumer sector.

The Utah consumer community is bursting with innovative brands, products and technologies, and were proud to be partners with many of these exceptional, high-growth companies making an impact far beyond the state borders, said James Clarke, Managing Partner and CEO of Clarke Capital, a leading consumer investment firm. This Consumer Summit will shine a spotlight on these cutting edge consumer companies and the transformations that are shaping the industry as a whole, and accelerate the growth of the entire sector.

The half-day conference has a full agenda focused on all things transformationinvestments, market, product, customer, technology and experiences. With engaging presentations, interactive product experiences and deep-diving panel discussions featuring key executives from leading consumer brands and companies, this event will give the insights and resources to help consumer companies of all sizes and growth stages adapt and succeed in todays evolving commerce landscape.

The event also features a pop-up store with Silicon Slopes best consumer products and product experiences, and the opportunity to give back through product bundles that benefit refugees and the homeless. In addition, the first annual award recipients of the Be More Awards will be presented, recognizing the individuals, companies and innovations that are trailblazing consumer transformation.

Tickets are $35 and include an exclusive networking lunch. To view the full agenda and to register to attend, please visit www.consumersummit.org .

The Consumer Summit will follow CDC guidance and requirements set forth by the state of Utah. Masks are recommended for all guests and employees in all inside public spaces regardless of vaccination status, and social distancing is encouraged.

ABOUT THE CONSUMER SUMMIT

The Consumer Summit is an annual event that brings together the Silicon Slopes brands, companies, leaders, and key players that are shaping and trailblazing the global consumer industry. Started and inspired by Brandless and Clarke Capital, the event is designed to recognize the leadership and innovation of the Silicon Slopes consumer community and elevate the sectors success and global thought leadership platform. For its inaugural year in 2022, the Summit will focus on transformation and the shifts that are changing markets, products, technology, and funding for the consumer landscape. Visit www.consumersummit.org to find out more.

PR Contact:

Codeword

651-301-0812

hjacobson@codewordagency.com
DENVER, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Generation USA has partnered with the Community College of Denver (CCD) to launch a workforce development program made possible by the Verizon Skill Forward initiative that provides free online training to community members to help participants develop skills that are in demand in the tech labor market.

CCD is one of nine colleges that are part of the Verizon Skill Forward initiative, a workforce development program designed in partnership with Generation USA to assist workers who are unemployed, underemployed, facing job displacement due to automation or further challenged by the pandemic. This effort will focus on populations facing systemic challenges, giving priority to Black and Latinx applicants, women of all races and people who do not have a four-year degree.

"Our partnership with Generation, through the remarkable support of Verizon, is allowing our students to acquire the skills and short-term credentials needed to get their professional start in the tech field at no cost to those that need it most in our Denver community," said Dr. Marielena P. DeSanctis, President, Community College of Denver. "With our deep community ties, our mission is aligned with Generation as we both seek to offer an opportunity to those who may not have traditionally had access to education and employment."

Made possible through the Verizon Skill Forward initiative, Verizon is investing more than $44 million over several years to Generation to help close the opportunity gap for workers and increase access to digital skills. This initiative is part of Verizon's responsible business plan, Citizen Verizon, to prepare 500,000 individuals for jobs of the future by 2030.

"This program underscores Verizon's commitment to removing equity and access barriers so that underrepresented Coloradans may gain the tech skills they need to compete in today's digital workforce," said Sarah Meuli, State Government Affairs for Colorado, Verizon. "In my discussions with Colorado's elected local leaders, the workforce talent pipeline is a recurring and prominent concern. They want to see educational resources that will transform their communities from surviving to thriving. Verizon's workforce development investment in Denver answers that call."

The program offerings, which are open to anyone seeking to expand their skillset and pursue a career in the technology field, give students opportunities to build and refine the skills needed to excel and launch new careers upon graduation.

"We're thrilled to partner with the Community College of Denver to empower its students to create a unique new pathway to career success," said Richard Clemmon, Generation USA COO. "These programs will not only provide students with the knowledge and skills needed for jobs in the digital world but, through mentorship and social support services, they'll have the opportunity to learn from others who have been in their shoes before."

In addition to these programs, Generation offers a myriad of online reskilling programs that provide free resources and access to multiple career pathways and full-time employment opportunities in high-demand technology sectors. These reskilling programs work towards Generation's goal to train 500,000 students by 2030.

For more information on the program or to apply, prospective participants and interested employers can visit the information site here.

About Generation

Generation is a nonprofit that transforms education to employment systems to prepare, place and support people into life-changing careers that would otherwise be inaccessible. The global pandemic has led to an unprecedented surge in unemployment. Even before the pandemic, more than 75 million young adults were out of work globally and three times as many were underemployed  and 375 million workers of all ages needed to learn new skills by 2030. At the same time, certain jobs remain in high demand and 40 percent of employers say a skills shortage leaves them with entry-level vacancies. To date, more than 38,000 people have graduated from Generation programs, which prepare them for meaningful careers in 14 countries. Generation works with more than 3,900 employer partners and many implementation partners and funders. For more, visit usa.generation.org.

About Community College of Denver

Community College of Denver (CCD) is a leading point of entry to higher education for the city and county of Denver. CCD provides cost-effective, high-quality college education, along with access and opportunity for non-traditional students, workforce development, training resources for local organizations, and community partnerships. CCD is a federally funded Hispanic Serving and designated Military Friendly Institution. Learn more at ccd.edu.

About Citizen Verizon

Citizen Verizon is the company's responsible business plan for economic, environmental and social advancement. Citizen Verizon empowers Verizon to deliver on its mission to move the world forward through action by expanding digital access and resources, protecting the climate and ensuring people have the skills needed for jobs of the future. Through Citizen Verizon, and the key pillars of Digital Inclusion, Climate Protection and Human Prosperity, the company is committed to providing 10 million youths with digital skills training by 2030, supporting one million small businesses with resources to help them thrive in the digital economy by 2030, achieving carbon neutrality in its operations by 2035 and preparing 500,000 individuals for jobs of the future by 2030. Learn more at CitizenVerizon.com.

Media Contact

Will Loschiavo

will@newswire.com

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.
John Bedell, left, and Fred Asare-Konadu are the inspiration behind a bill that would make voter registration a standard part of curriculum in every high school in Florida. - Original Credit: John Bedell (Courtesy photo)

Two years ago, a couple of teenage friends in Orlando were debating how they might make a difference in the world.

They zeroed in on voting.

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Too many young people were sitting on the sidelines of democracy. So John Bedell and Fred Asare-Konadu started programs at their own high schools to help kids register to vote.

The programs worked. But the students didnt feel like it was enough. John and Fred wanted to boost civic engagement everywhere.

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So they developed a plan to promote online voter registration at every high school in Florida and then found legislators willing to turn their idea into reality.

It was very surreal, said Fred, an Edgewater High School alumnus who now attends Harvard University. We went from having a conversation on a couch to having something we can hold in our hands. It was a very big milestone.

Id love to tell you this feel-good story has a happy ending. But it doesnt. At least not yet. Because these two guys altruistic ambitions ran head-first into politics. So far, the Republican majority that controls the Florida Legislature seems to have no interest in making it easier for young people to register to vote. Not a single GOP lawmaker has signed onto their bill.

The proposal looks dead this year. But their story is worth sharing  because it will probably continue.

It started two years ago when John went on Instagram to ask if any of his friends wanted to have an honest conversation about race relations. Protests over George Floyd had spilled into streets across America. John, who is white, wanted to talk about it. Fred, who is Black, volunteered.

The two boys knew each other casually. Theyd chatted during gym workouts. But they attended different high schools. And John, who attended Bishop Moore Catholic High School, wasnt sure what to expect.

The first conversation took place at Johns house in College Park, and it was so natural, it led to more. They both agreed that too many young people were passive observers; willing to protest or complain but not active enough in changing things.

Finally, Fred texted John a direct question: So what do you want to do about it?

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The two teens decided the time for couch conversations was over. John persuaded administrators at Bishop Moore to teach students how to register or pre-register to vote. Students learned they not only had a stake in their community and country but how to leverage that stake at the ballot box.

One school was good. But John and Fred wanted to do more. So they met with elections supervisors, lawmakers and the League of Women Voters. They learned legislators in several other states had already passed laws saying voter-registration information should be part of every high-schoolers education.

Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat, represents the 47th district in the Florida House of Representatives.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said she was eager to sponsor their idea in the Florida House. We definitely wanted to support them, she said. Online voter registration is not well promoted by the state, and we wanted to change that.

House Bill 903 would make primers on online voter registration part of Floridas U.S. government class. The states elections division would create a standardized program. Teachers wouldnt be allowed to pressure students in any way or even handle applications, since the whole thing would be done online.

If you think about it, its silly schools dont already do this. We give kids standardized life lessons about everything from driving a car to avoiding drugs. A tutorial on participating in democracy seems natural.

Sen. Annette Taddeo, D-Miami, agreed to sponsor the bill in the Senate. Five more Democrats signed on as co-sponsors in the House. But no Republicans.

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I wondered if maybe the Republicans just didnt know about the bill, since it wasnt one of the explosive, culture-war grenades that seem to consume all their attention lately. So when John was home over the holidays from the University of Virginia, I suggested that he and Fred reach out to every Republican in the Florida Senate to see if any would join their cause. Give each and every one the opportunity to lend support.

So thats how these two college freshmen spent their winter break  writing legislators.

Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. >

John said only one senator even responded; to say no.

Eskamani said, Florida Republicans are more committed to making it harder for people to vote versus providing new ways to get registered and becoming civically engaged.

House Speaker Chris Sprowls has claimed beefing up civics curriculum is one of his top priorities. His office did not respond to an email asking about this bill.

Fred and John are disappointed, but not terribly surprised. Nor are they daunted. In fact, both young men said they planned on lobbying for this bill again next year  and the year after that if necessary.

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I mentioned to Fred that most college students dont think past next Tuesday, much less about the legislative session two years from now. He laughed and said: I dont think Id identify either of us as normal students.

John said they fight from afar for simple reasons: We both love our state. We love the people of Florida. I think they deserve more than what they get. And if this is year one of 20, so be it. You know, Fred and I are both young.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emerge, the leading platform for freight procurement, has named Mark McEntire Senior Vice President of Operations. This strategic addition to the companys strong leadership team will add depth and breadth as Emerge continues its rapid growth throughout 2022.

Mark McEntire joins Emerges Senior Leadership Team

A seasoned veteran with more than 34 years of industry expertise, McEntires most recent role was Senior Vice President of Managed Transportation at Transplace, an Uber company. Throughout his career, he has managed large and complex transportation and supply chain strategies for major companies. His expertise includes work with many major market sectors, including CPG, Retail, Food & Beverage, and Automotive. He is an expert in Lean Six Sigma and other management processes designed to drive continuous improvement.

The supply chain industry is going through a renaissance. Once considered a cost of doing business, supply chain is now in boardrooms and serving as a competitive advantage for savvy C-suite leaders, said McEntire. I am pleased to join Emerge at this pivotal time. The companys vision is innovative, and will help shippers and carriers achieve greater business results.

Coming off of our meteoric performance in 2021, Emerge is poised for phenomenal growth through 2022 and having McEntire join our executive team is an excellent step in our evolution as a company, said George Abernathy, President of Emerge. We have the right products to help shippers transform their freight procurement for both contract and spot freight. And now, we can pair that great product experience with world-class end-to-end service and process delivery. And were just getting started.

New Leadership and Continued Platform Growth in 2022

Interest in Emerges Freight Procurement Platform continues to surge, and not only from the countrys most-preeminent shippers and carriers. New leaders are poised to join the organization from the supply chains most recognized brands and Emerge plans to significantly scale its internal team in 2022. We are attracting freight and FreightTech's top leaders and talent, said Abernathy. Currently, Emerge has over 200 new employment opportunities opening in enterprise sales, R&D, product and operations. From operations to the executive suite, we are bringing in freights heaviest hitters to create something truly revolutionary for our industry.

Rethinking Procurement: The Emerge Freight Procurement Platform

Transforming the $800 billion freight industry, Emerge empowers meaningful logistics relationships through its award-winning Freight Procurement Platform. The Emerge platform helps streamline the disjointed and cloudy procurement landscape, bringing shippers and carriers together in one space to create and build mutually beneficial relationships.

With freight procurement and optimization becoming a common boardroom conversation, companies are increasingly looking for creative ways to find new efficiency in their supply chain.The premier choice for carriers and shippers within the procurement ecosystem, the Emerge platform inherently creates a powerful network effect  opening new opportunities for all participants as the network grows and becomes more robust. With every carrier and shipper added, the Emerge marketplace becomes even more powerful  creating better, stronger opportunities and win-win scenarios for all.

Built for freight professionals, Emerge is the only platform designed and led by freight experts with decades of direct, hands-on procurement experience. The Emerge executive team and board members include some of transportations largest names, having previous experience leading companies like UPS, GlobalTranz, Coyote Logistics, J.B. Hunt and FreightWaves. This expertise allows Emerge to offer solutions that enhance contract and spot procurement, enabling shippers and carriers to make more empowered, strategic decisions.

The award-winning marketplace provides access to direct capacity and live market conditions for spot and contract freight - including its revolutionary RFP platform - and a light Transportation Management System (TMS).

Shipper and Carrier Collaboration, Evolved

Founded by industry veterans Andrew Leto and Michael Leto, Emerge has seen tremendous success since opening its doors in 2017. In addition to securing over $150 million in investor funding, the Emerge platform has enabled shippers to procure over $6 billion in freight by leveraging the Dynamic RFP and Spot Procurement platform. In September of 2021, Emerge announced its latest Series B funding round of $130 million, led by investment partners 9Yards Capital, Tiger Global Management and The Spruce House Partnership with additional participation from existing backers New Road Capital Partners and Greycroft.

This funding will allow us to scale our business efficiently  from creating new opportunities for our current employees to filling needs from the outside where necessary, Jack Holmes, Emerge Executive Chairman and former President & CEO of UPS Freight said. We have been fortunate to have great partners. Financial partners, shipper partners and carrier partners. Andrew [Letos] vision has continued to evolve and were confident that our platform will be regarded by our partners as the most influential in transportation.

Taking the logistics industry by storm, Emerge recently ranked on INC Magazines INC 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies list, FreightWaves FreightTech 25 and was named a Best Employer by Forbes, the Phoenix Business Journal and AZCentral.

About Emerge

Transforming the $800 billion freight industry, Emerge empowers meaningful logistics relationships through its award-winning Freight Procurement Platform. Built by freight professionals for freight professionals, Emerge offers solutions that enhance the procurement process, enabling shippers and carriers to make more empowered, strategic decisions. Founded in 2017, and located in Scottsdale, Arizona, Emerge is one of the fastest-growing technology startups in the U.S. Visit www.emergemarket.com to learn more or view current open positions.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Methodical Group, a national information technology consulting company, recently named Rene Head as vice president of its Managed Services Division. The Methodical Group strives to transform customer experience, enterprise efficiency, and effectiveness through operational excellence. The Managed Services Division offers flexible solutions for industry-specific needs and operates within six key areas: strategy and consulting, technology and engineering, human resources, cybersecurity, data and artificial intelligence, and IT managed services.

Head is a seasoned business and technology products and services leader with more than 30 years of experience successfully helping clients monetize disruptive technology and adopt new digital business models. He was most recently the vice president of enterprise IT and cloud services for Mindtree. He has previously held senior positions at Quest Software, Dell, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Unisys, and Hewlett Packard, among others. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Texas A&M University.

The newly created Managed Services Division will operate within many industry segments but focus closely on nimble, national companies that are seeking growth in the healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical, and banking and finance sectors.

"Rene Head brings an incredible depth of experience and a sterling reputation as a manager and thought leader to The Methodical Group," said company president Josh Morris.

The Methodical Group is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, but its employees and key contractors work remotely from around the globe. The company represents regional and national mid-sized companies as well as many members of the Fortune 500, including some of the best-known healthcare brands in the United States. For more information, visit MethodicalGroup.com.

Contact:

PR Manager

media@methodicalgroup.com

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Pune, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Surfactants Market Analysis and Insights: The global Surfactants market was valued at USD 32970 million in 2020 and it is expected to reach USD 42840 million by the end of 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.5% during 2021-2027.

Global " Surfactants Market " Research Report provides vital evaluation accessible status of the Surfactants with finest statistical data points, qualified feelings, definition, meaning, SWOT examination, and the most recent developments worldwide. It also includes estimates based on an acceptable set of expectations and processes. The research takes into account the revenue generated by This Report's sales as well as improvements made by various application segments. The assessment report examines and provides information based on advertise segments such as geologies, applications, and industries.

The evaluation report focuses on the Surfactants market, employing several approaches and assessments to provide positive and comprehensive information about the industry. The Surfactants Market provides a detailed analysis of the Surfactants industry's market size, share, growth, and prospects. This research contains all of the necessary information required to comprehend the critical advancements in the market expenditure in the Surfactants industry, as well as the development instances of each sector and area.

Get a sample PDF of the report at - https://www.industryresearch.biz/enquiry/request-sample/19794490

Scope of the Surfactants Market Report:

A surfactant is a surface active agent that changes a liquids surface tension. Surfactants are the basic cleaning agent in consumer and industrial cleaning products such as detergents for washing clothes, dishes, carpets, floors, walls, as well as shampoos, lotions, toothpastes and cosmetics. Other applications include fabric softeners, lubricating ingredients, emulsifiers for spreading agricultural products, and industrial applications such as latex systems, plastics and composites.

The major players in global Surfactants market include BASF, Stepan, Evonik, etc. The top 3 players occupy over 10% shares of the global market. North America and Europe are main markets, they occupy about 55% of the global market. Petroleum-based Surfactants is the main type, with a share about 60%. Detergent is the main application, which holds a share about 40%.



The report goes on to examine the market's development status and potential Surfactants Market design throughout the world. Similarly, it divides the Surfactants market by kind and by application in order to thoroughly and substantially explore and uncover market characteristics and prospects.

List of Key Players in Surfactants Market Report Are:

BASF

Stepan

Zanyu Technology Group

Indorama

Solvay

Sasol

Evonik

Lion Specialty Chemicals Co., Ltd.

Resun

Clariant

Dow

Nouryon

Kao

Croda

SINOLIGHT-CHEM

Innospec

Tianjin Angel Chemicals Group

Galaxy Surfactants

COVID-19 sickness began to spread all over the world at the beginning of 2021, infecting countless individuals in general, and important governments all over the world imposed foot restrictions and work stoppage orders. Aside from the clinical supplies and life support items organizations, most endeavors have been significantly impacted, and Surfactants adventures have been severely impacted.

To Understand How Covid-19 Impact Is Covered in This Report - https://www.industryresearch.biz/enquiry/request-covid19/19794490

Type Coverage (Market Size and Forecast, Major Company of Product Type, etc.):

Petroleum-based Surfactants

Bio-based Surfactants

Biosurfactant

Application Coverage (Market Size and Forecast, Different Demand Market by Region, Main Consumer Profile):

Detergent

Textile

Personal Care

Petrochemical

Paint and Coating

Others

The report provides a comprehensive overview of the Industry's major components and factors such as drivers, constraints, historical and present trends, supervisory scenarios, and technological progress. Details include the firm description, key business, total revenue and sales for the company, revenue produced in the Surfactants business, the date to join the Surfactants market, Surfactants product launch, current advancements, and so on.

A detailed review of the report's restraints depicts the contrast to drivers and allows for strategic planning. Factors that overshadow market growth are critical, as they may be used to design diverse strategies for seizing the rich chances that exist in the ever-growing market. In addition, insights of market experts' viewpoints have been used to better comprehend the industry.

Enquire before purchasing this report - https://www.industryresearch.biz/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/19794490

The analysis also focuses on the worldwide key top industry players in the Global Surfactants market, including details such as company biographies, product pictures and specifications, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue, and contact information. This study examines the Surfactants Market Trend, Volume, and Value at the Global, Regional, and Company Levels. This report summarizes the worldwide Surfactants Market Size by evaluating historical data and future prospects. Furthermore, expanding industrial and Surfactants is predicted to drive market expansion across a variety of industries globally.

Reasons to Purchase this Report:

To investigate the rising use of Worldwide Surfactants in Industry and its impact on the global market landscape.

Using Porter's five forces analysis, examine various market viewpoints.

to understand the market modality and application that are projected to dominate

To learn about the regions that are predicted to develop the quickest over the projection period,

Determine the most recent advancements, market shares, and tactics used by leading market participants.

Purchase this report (Price 2900 USD for a single-user license) - https://www.industryresearch.biz/purchase/19794490

Global Surfactants Market Forecast provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance, direction for businesses and people interested in the market.

Major Highlights of TOC:

1 Surfactants Market Overview

2 Market Competition by Manufacturers

3 Production and Capacity by Region

4 Global Surfactants Consumption by Region

5 Production, Revenue, Price Trend by Type

6 Consumption Analysis by Application

7 Key Companies Profiled

8 Surfactants Manufacturing Cost Analysis

9 Marketing Channel, Distributors and Customers

10 Market Dynamics

11 Production and Supply Forecast

13 Forecast by Type and by Application (2022-2027)

14 Research Finding and Conclusion

Continued.

Browse complete Table of Contents @ https://www.industryresearch.biz/TOC/19794490

Part II:

Global Specialty Surfactants Market Analysis and Insights: The global Specialty Surfactants market was valued at USD 31670 million in 2020 and it is expected to reach USD 35390 million by the end of 2027, growing at a CAGR of 1.6% during 2021-2027.

Specialty Surfactant is surface active agent that changes a liquids surface tension. Surfactants are the basic cleaning agent in consumer and industrial cleaning products such as detergents for washing clothes, dishes, carpets, floors, walls, as well as shampoos, lotions, toothpastes and cosmetics. Other applications include fabric softeners, lubricating ingredients, emulsifiers for spreading agricultural products, and industrial applications such as latex systems, plastics and composites.

BASF, Stepan, Zanyu Technology, Huntsman and Solvay are the leaders of the Specialty Surfactants industry, which take about 40% market share. Europe is the major region of the global market, which takes about 25% market share.

Get a sample PDF of the report at https://www.industryresearch.biz/enquiry/request-sample/19794559

List of Key Players in Specialty Surfactants Market Report Are:

BASF

Stepan

Zanyu Technology

Huntsman

Solvay

Sasol

Evonik

Lion

Resun-Auway

Clariant

DuPont

AkzoNobel

Kao

Croda

Sinolight

Unger

Tianjin Angel Chemicals

Aarti Industries

Flowers Song Fine Chemical

Guangzhou DX Chemical

Type Coverage (Market Size and Forecast, Major Company of Product Type, etc.):

Anionic Surfactant

Cationic Surfactant

Amphoteric Surfactant

Nonionic Surfactant

Application Coverage (Market Size and Forecast, Different Demand Market by Region, Main Consumer Profile):

Detergent

Textile

Cosmetics

Mining

Paint & Coating

Others

Enquire before purchasing this report - https://www.industryresearch.biz/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/19794559

Major Highlights of TOC:

1 Specialty Surfactants Market Overview

2 Market Competition by Manufacturers

3 Production and Capacity by Region

4 Global Specialty Surfactants Consumption by Region

5 Production, Revenue, Price Trend by Type

6 Consumption Analysis by Application

7 Key Companies Profiled

8 Specialty Surfactants Manufacturing Cost Analysis

9 Marketing Channel, Distributors and Customers

10 Market Dynamics

11 Production and Supply Forecast

13 Forecast by Type and by Application (2022-2027)

14 Research Finding and Conclusion

Continued.

Browse complete Table of Contents @ https://www.industryresearch.biz/TOC/19794559

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CHICAGO, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peapod Digital Labs, the digital, commercial and e-commerce arm of the Ahold Delhaize USA brands, announced that Ian Prisuta joined the company as Senior Vice President, Private Brands. Prisuta will lead the team responsible for delivering a full suite of private brands services from new product development to innovation, product packaging and design, quality, product integrity and sustainability to the local brands of Ahold Delhaize USA.



We are proud to welcome Ian to the company, says JJ Fleeman, President, Digital and Commercial Services, Peapod Digital Labs. I am confident that Ians leadership and experience will enable us to deliver products with compelling price and product positioning and a story that surprises and inspires customers, especially during a continued time of growth for the private brand sector.

Prisuta will have responsibility for the full suite of private brand products, including Taste of Inspirations, Natures Promise, CareOne and other private labels.

Prisuta brings more than two decades of industry experience, including 20 years at retailer Giant Eagle, and a deep knowledge of merchandising, category planning and strategic development. Most recently, Prisuta worked as a Senior Advisor for Boston Consulting Group. He is an accomplished business executive with extensive experience leading transformations across multiple areas within the retail supermarket business.

Im excited to join the team and continue my career in such a dynamic part of the retail industry, said Prisuta. Private label products represent a unique opportunity for the brands of Ahold Delhaize USA. Customers lives are constantly in motion, trying to find ways to have more convenience, more value, more options related to additives, ingredients or health. Private brands can play a big role in that, and Im excited to be part of defining what that looks like with the brands of Ahold Delhaize USA.

When he isnt working, Ian enjoys spending time outdoors with his family. He has passion for helping others and dedicates time to supporting his church, his community and helping underprivileged youth through educational non-profits. Prisuta has a bachelors degree from Colgate University.



About Peapod Digital Labs

Peapod Digital Labs is the digital, e-commerce and commercial engine of leading grocery retail group Ahold Delhaize USA. As the innovation lab for the U.S. brands, Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop, Peapod Digital Labs promotes digital and e-commerce innovation, technology and experience to meet the changing needs of customers of each Ahold Delhaize USA local brand, regardless of when, where and how consumers choose to shop. Learn more at www.peapoddigitallabs.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Theresa Funk

(616) 813-9970

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/27c43e98-61be-4f67-944a-6ca4c671f8e6
Managed Outcome ETFs provide advisors single ticker managed portfolios to streamline Defined Outcome ETF investing



Innovator Laddered Allocation Buffer ETF (BUFB)  Risk management growth engine built with an equal weight portfolio of 12 monthly U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs set to list February 9th

BUFF  the original Managed Outcome ETF  to reduce fee, change name to Innovator Laddered Allocation Power Buffer ETF on February 9th

CHICAGO, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Innovator Capital Management, LLC (Innovator) the pioneer and leader of Defined Outcome ETFs, today announced the planned launch of the Innovator Laddered Allocation Buffer ETF (BUFB) tomorrow, Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 on the Cboe. BUFB will allocate equally to each of Innovators 12 monthly U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs and rebalance semi-annually. The underlying U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs each seek to provide a buffer against the first 9% of losses in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and upside performance to a cap over a one-year outcome period. The laddered approach to BUFB means that the underlying U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs have outcome periods ranging from less than one-month to one-year. Each month, one U.S. Equity Buffer ETF concludes its one-year outcome period and resets its options on SPY for the coming year. BUFBs managed strategy can provide advisors and money managers an efficient way to incorporate the benefits of Buffer ETFs  risk management with upside exposure to equities  into balanced portfolios, retirement accounts, target-date funds and model portfolios.

The Innovator Laddered Allocation Buffer ETF (BUFB) will seek to allow advisors to own the market with built in buffers but without the need to evaluate the parameters of each monthly series. BUFB can help smooth out the equity investing experience by investing in Buffer ETFs that historically have shown lower volatility1, beta2 and drawdowns relative to SPY  the main benchmark for U.S. stocks  yet still participate in a healthy amount of the upside that equities can provide over time. There are many portfolio applications for this new ETF, and were excited to have it joining BUFF as potential solutions during a confusing market environment that is challenging both sides of a traditional balanced portfolio. These ETFs can potentially smooth out the equity investing experience and reduce the effects of severe market downturns, something that is so important for pre-retirees and retirees who are sensitive to sequence of returns risk, said Bruce Bond, CEO of Innovator ETFs.

Managed Outcome ETFs

The launch of BUFB represents the buildout of Innovators Managed Outcome ETF lineup. The funds within the Managed Outcome ETF suite seek to provide investors with professionally managed, tax-efficient and diversified portfolios based on Innovators industry-leading family of Defined Outcome ETFs.

With 80 Defined Outcome ETFs, including the flagship suite of U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs, Innovator has laid the groundwork for a range of managed strategies that seek to simplify and streamline the defined outcome investing process for advisors looking to allocate to solutions at any point in time.

Bond continued, With the Managed Outcome ETFs suite, Innovator is focused on bringing investors a seamless, packaged way to invest in Defined Outcome strategies. The Laddered Allocation Buffer ETF will join BUFF  our original fund of Buffer ETFs that uses a laddered allocation approach  in offering investors the ability to plug-and-play these potential solutions into portfolios. But were just getting started with this group of products. We see more concepts to bring in the Managed Outcome ETF suite that will leverage our expertise in Defined Outcome investing for the benefit of investors and their advisors, and were looking forward to growing this exciting lineup.

BUFF: Name Change (Innovator Laddered Allocation Power Buffer ETF) and Fee Reduction

Innovator also announced planned changes to its BUFF ETF, comprised of an equal-weight allocation to each of the 12 Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETFs that seek to provide the upside of Large-cap U.S. stocks, subject to caps, while buffering against the first 15% of U.S. equity losses.

BUFF became the first fund of Buffer ETFs composed of twelve monthly underlying Buffer ETFs on Large-cap U.S. stocks when it was converted from a previous strategy in August 2020.

Currently named the Innovator Laddered Fund of U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETFs, on Wednesday, February 9th, BUFF will change its name to the Innovator Laddered Allocation Power Buffer ETF.

Additionally, BUFFs total expense ratio will be reduced by 10 basis points from .99% to .89% of the Funds average daily net assets3. This total expense ratio includes the fees for the underlying Buffer ETFs, which are all 79 basis points. This name change and reduction in the annual unitary management fee paid by shareholders to Innovator Capital Management, LLC the Funds investment adviser, was recently approved by the Board of Trustees of the Innovator ETFs Trust.

BUFB - Innovator Laddered Allocation Buffer ETF

BUFB will seek to offer investors a managed portfolio (an ETF of ETFs) that will invest equally across all twelve monthly U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs  providing a ladder of buffered exposures to SPY. The twelve underlying buffered SPY exposures each have a different upside cap level and period of time until their annual reset, but share a 9% buffer against losses in SPY over their outcome period. Innovators intention with BUFB is to provide investors a managed approach to Buffer ETF investing that maintains upside growth potential by continuously participating in new upside caps as the underlying ETFs reset monthly  and which can be allocated to at any point during the year.

BUFB will be rebalanced semi-annually, charge a total expense ratio of .89%4 and seeks to provide investors with a simplified, efficient solution to buffered equity investing. It is anticipated the ETF will provide investors with lower volatility (standard deviation)5, beta6 and drawdowns relative to SPY while capturing a measure of the capital appreciation potential of U.S. domestic large-cap stocks, the largest equity market globally by capitalization and typically the most significant allocation in most diversified portfolios.

As an ETF of ETFs, BUFB is designed to be bought and/or sold without regard for the outcome period associated with the underlying individual ETFs. The strategy, as measured by its index  the MerQube US Large Cap Equity Buffer Laddered Index (MQUS9BLF)  seeks to provide lower volatility (standard deviation), beta and drawdowns relative to SPY. While BUFB will invest in Innovator Defined Outcome Buffer ETFs  in an equal weighted portfolio of all twelve monthly issues of the U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs, which have a 9% buffer against loss in the S&P 500  the Fund will not be a Defined Outcome product with an upside cap and downside buffer, nor an outcome period.

BUFB will seek investment results that correspond generally (before fees and expenses) to the price and yield of the MerQube US Large Cap Equity Buffer Laddered Index. BUFB will generally invest at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in securities comprising this Index. The Index has been developed by and is maintained and sponsored by MerQube. The Index is comprised of the shares of the following twelve underlying Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs:

Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  January (BJAN) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  February (BFEB) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  March (BMAR) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  April (BAPR) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  May (BMAY) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  June (BJUN) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  July (BJUL) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  August (BAUG) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  September (BSEP) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  October (BOCT) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  November (BNOV) Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  December (BDEC)

BUFBs investment performance, tracking its Index, will largely depend on the investment performance of the underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests, subject to the respective caps and buffers of the underlying ETFs. There is no guarantee the underlying funds will achieve their investment objectives.

The Fund is a fund-of-funds and does not itself pursue a defined outcome strategy, nor does it seek to provide a buffer against reference asset losses.

Innovator Defined Outcome ETFs - Benefits to Advisors

Pioneer and creator of Defined Outcome ETFs with 80 ETFs and over $5.7 billion AUM across family 7



Tax-efficient exposure 8 to five broad equity benchmarks with buffers against loss (Large-cap U.S. Equity (SPY), Growth (QQQ), Small-Cap U.S. Equity (IWM), International Developed (EFA), Emerging Markets (EEM)) the 20+ Year U.S. Treasury Market (TLT); the Stacker ETFs, the worlds first ETFs to offer a stacked exposure to two or three benchmark equity index ETFs on the upside, to a cap, with downside exposure to the SPY only; and the Accelerated ETFs, the worlds first ETFs to seek to offer a multiple of the upside return of a reference asset, up to a cap, with approximately single exposure on the downside



to five broad equity benchmarks with buffers against loss (Large-cap U.S. Equity (SPY), Growth (QQQ), Small-Cap U.S. Equity (IWM), International Developed (EFA), Emerging Markets (EEM)) the 20+ Year U.S. Treasury Market (TLT); the Stacker ETFs, the worlds first ETFs to offer a stacked exposure to two or three benchmark equity index ETFs on the upside, to a cap, with downside exposure to the SPY only; and the Accelerated ETFs, the worlds first ETFs to seek to offer a multiple of the upside return of a reference asset, up to a cap, with approximately single exposure on the downside Reset annually or quarterly and can be held indefinitely as core holdings



Innovators Defined Outcome ETF lineup has amassed 113 outcome period completions with the ETFs successfully resetting for the coming outcome period 9



Monthly issuance on SPY with three buffer levels (9,15, or 30%)



Innovator's Defined Outcome ETFs are the subject of a patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Funds have characteristics unlike many other traditional investment products and may not be suitable for all investors. For more information regarding whether an investment in the Fund is right for you, please see Investor Suitability in the prospectus.

About Innovator Defined Outcome ETFs

Defined Outcome ETFs are the worlds first ETFs that seek to provide investors with known ranges of future investment outcomes prior to investing. These outcome ranges include multiple and single upside exposure, to a cap, with defined levels of downside risk with buffers and floors over a set amount of time. The Innovator Defined Outcome ETFs cover a large spectrum of domestic and international equities and bonds. Innovators category-creating Defined Outcome ETF family includes Buffer ETFs, Stacker ETFs and Floor ETFs.

The Buffer ETFs seek to provide the upside performance of broadly recognized benchmarks (e.g., SPY, QQQ, IWM, EFA, and EEM, as well as TLT) to a cap, with built-in buffers, over an outcome period of one year. The ETFs reset annually and can be held indefinitely.

Each Buffer ETF in Innovators Defined Outcome ETF suite seeks to provide a defined exposure to a broad market benchmark where the downside buffer level, upside growth potential to a cap, and Outcome Period are all known, prior to investing. In 2019, Innovator began expanding its suite of U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs into a monthly series to provide investors more opportunities to purchase shares as close to the beginning of their respective Outcome Periods as possible.

Investors can purchase shares of a previously listed Defined Outcome ETF throughout the entire Outcome Period, obtaining a current set of defined outcome parameters, which are disclosed daily through a web tool available at: http://innovatoretfs.com/define.

Innovator is focused on delivering defined outcome-based solutions inside the benefit-rich ETF wrapper, retaining many of the features that have contributed to the success of structured products10 (e.g., downside buffer levels, upside participation, defined outcome parameters), but with the added benefits of transparency, liquidity, the elimination of credit risk11 and lower costs afforded by the ETF structure.

About Innovator Capital Management, LLC

Awarded ETF.com's "ETF Issuer of the Year - 2019"*, Innovator Capital Management LLC (Innovator) is an SEC-registered investment advisor (RIA) based in Wheaton, IL. Formed in 2014, the firm is currently headed by ETF visionaries Bruce Bond and John Southard, founders of one of the largest ETF providers in the world. Bond and Southard reentered the asset management industry to bring to market first-of-their-kind investment opportunities, including the Defined Outcome ETFs, products that they felt would change the investing landscape and bring more certainty to the financial planning process. Innovators category-creating Defined Outcome ETF family includes Buffer ETFs, Floor ETFs, Stacker ETFs and the Accelerated ETFs. Buffer ETFs and Floor ETFs seek to provide investors structured exposures to broad markets, where the upside growth potential, buffer or floor against the downside, and outcome period are all known, prior to investing. Accelerated ETFs are the worlds first ETFs to seek to offer a multiple of the upside return of a reference asset, up to a cap, with approximately single exposure on the downside over an outcome period. Having launched the first Defined Outcome ETFs in 2018 -- the flagship Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF Suite  Innovators solutions allow advisors to construct diversified portfolios with known outcome ranges to aid in risk management and financial planning. Built on a foundation of innovation and driven by a commitment to help investors better control their financial outcomes, Innovator is leading the Defined Outcome ETF Revolution. For additional information, visit www.innovatoretfs.com.

About Cboe Global Markets, Inc.

Cboe Global Markets is one of the worlds largest exchange-holding companies, offering cutting-edge trading and investment solutions to investors around the world. For more information, visit www.cboe.com.

About Milliman Financial Risk Management LLC

Milliman Financial Risk Management LLC (Milliman FRM) is a global leader in financial risk management to the retirement industry, providing investment advisory, hedging, and consulting services on approximately $173.5 billion in global assets as of September 30, 2021. Milliman FRM is one of the largest and fastest-growing subadvisors of ETFs. For more information about Milliman FRM, visit www.Milliman.com/FRM.

Media Contact

Paul Damon

+1 (802) 999-5526

paul@keramas.net

Interim Period Shareholders

Unlike structured notes, which offer limited liquidity, Innovator Defined Outcome ETFs trade throughout the day on an exchange, like a stock. As a result, investors purchasing shares of a Fund after its launch date may achieve a different payoff profile than those who entered the Fund on day one. Innovator recognizes this as a benefit of the Funds and provides a web-based tool that allows investors to know, in real-time throughout the trading day, their potential defined outcome return profile before they invest, based on the current ETF price and the Outcome Period remaining. Innovators web tool can be accessed at http://www.innovatoretfs.com/define.

The Fund is a "fund-of-funds" and does not itself pursue a defined outcome strategy, nor does it seek to provide a buffer against reference asset losses. Depending upon prevailing market conditions, an investor purchasing Shares of the Fund may experience investment returns that underperform the investment returns provided by the Underlying ETFs themselves because one or more Underlying ETFs may have exhausted the buffer that it seeks to provide or have little upside available due to the reference asset return being close to or exceeding to its Cap. Additionally, as a shareholder in other ETFs, the Fund bears its proportionate share of each ETF's expenses, subjecting Fund shareholders to duplicative expenses.

Although each Fund seeks to achieve the defined outcomes stated in its investment objective, there is no guarantee that it will do so. The returns that the Funds seek to provide do not include the costs associated with purchasing shares of the Fund and certain expenses incurred by the Fund.

Investing involves risks. Loss of principal is possible. The Funds face numerous market trading risks, including active markets risk, authorized participation concentration risk, buffered loss risk, cap change risk, capped upside return risk, correlation risk, liquidity risk, management risk, market maker risk, market risk, non-diversification risk, operation risk, options risk, trading issues risk, upside participation risk and valuation risk. For a detail list of fund risks see the prospectus.

Market Disruptions Resulting from COVID-19. The outbreak of COVID-19 has negatively affected the worldwide economy, individual countries, individual companies and the market in general. The future impact of COVID-19 is currently unknown, and it may exacerbate other risks that apply to the Fund.

Foreign and Emerging Markets Risk. Non-U.S. securities and Emerging Markets are subject to higher volatility than securities of domestic issuers due to possible adverse political, social or economic developments, restrictions on foreign investment or exchange of securities, lack of liquidity, currency exchange rates, excessive taxation, government seizure of assets, different legal or accounting standards, and less government supervision and regulation of securities exchanges in foreign countries.

Technology Sector Risk. Companies in the technology sector are often smaller and can be characterized by relatively higher volatility in price performance when compared to other economic sectors. They can face intense competition, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins.

Small-Cap Risk. Small-cap companies may be more volatile and susceptible to adverse developments than their mid- and large-cap counterpart. In addition, the small-cap companies may be less liquid than larger companies.

FLEX Options Risk. The Fund will utilize FLEX Options issued and guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). In the unlikely event that the OCC becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to meet its settlement obligations, the Fund could suffer significant losses. Additionally, FLEX Options may be less liquid than standard options. In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, the Fund may have difficulty closing out certain FLEX Options positions at desired times and prices. The values of FLEX Options do not increase or decrease at the same rate as the reference asset and may vary due to factors other than the price of reference asset.

These Funds are designed to provide point-to-point exposure to the price return of the Reference Asset via a basket of Flex Options. As a result, the ETFs are not expected to move directly in line with the Reference Asset during the interim period.

Investors purchasing shares after an outcome period has begun may experience very different results than funds' investment objective. Initial outcome periods are approximately 1-year beginning on the funds' inception date. Following the initial outcome period, each subsequent outcome period will begin on the first day of the month the fund was incepted. After the conclusion of an outcome period, another will begin.

Fund shareholders are subject to an upside return cap (the "Cap") that represents the maximum percentage return an investor can achieve from an investment in the funds' for the Outcome Period, before fees and expenses. If the Outcome Period has begun and the Fund has increased in value to a level near to the Cap, an investor purchasing at that price has little or no ability to achieve gains but remains vulnerable to downside risks. Additionally, the Cap may rise or fall from one Outcome Period to the next. The Cap, and the Fund's position relative to it, should be considered before investing in the Fund. The Funds' website, www.innovatoretfs.com, provides important Fund information as well information relating to the potential outcomes of an investment in a Fund on a daily basis.

The Funds with buffer mechanisms only seek to provide shareholders that hold shares for the entire Outcome Period with their respective buffer level against Reference Asset losses during the Outcome Period. You will bear all Reference Asset losses exceeding 9, 15 or 30%. Depending upon market conditions at the time of purchase, a shareholder that purchases shares after the Outcome Period has begun may also lose their entire investment. For instance, if the Outcome Period has begun and the Fund has decreased in value beyond the pre-determined buffer, an investor purchasing shares at that price may not benefit from the buffer. Similarly, if the Outcome Period has begun and the Fund has increased in value, an investor purchasing shares at that price may not benefit from the buffer until the Fund's value has decreased to its value at the commencement of the Outcome Period.

THE CORPORATIONS MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCT(S).

Cboe Global Markets, Inc., and its affiliates do not recommend or make any representation as to possible Benefits from any securities, futures or investments, or third-party products or services. Cboe Global Markets, Inc., is not affiliated with S&P DJI, Milliman, or Innovator Capital Management. Investors should undertake their own due diligence regarding their securities, futures and investment practices.

Cboe Global Markets, Inc., and its affiliates make no warranty, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties as of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness or timeliness, or as to the results to be obtained by recipients of the products.

* ETF.coms editorial team chose the finalists and then the ETF.com Awards Selection Committee, an independent panel comprised of fifteen of the ETF industrys leading analysts, consultants and investors, decided the winners.

Innovator ETFs, Defined Outcome ETF, Buffer ETF, Enhanced ETF, Define Your Future, Leading the Defined Outcome ETF Revolution and other service marks and trademarks related to these marks are the exclusive property of Innovator Capital Management, LLC.

The Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses should be considered before investing. The prospectus contains this and other important information, and it may be obtained at innovatoretfs.com. Read it carefully before investing.

Innovator ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

Copyright  2022 Innovator Capital Management, LLC.

800.208.5212

1 Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index.

2 Beta is a measure of the volatility of an individual stock in comparison to the unsystematic risk of the entire market.

3 BUFFs investment advisor, Innovator Capital Management, LLC, has agreed to waive management fees of .10% of average daily net assets until June 30, 2024. The waiver may be terminated by action of the Board of Trustees of the Trust at any time upon 60 days written notice by the Trust, on behalf of the Fund or by the Funds investment advisor on or after June 30, 2024.

4 BUFB will charge 0.10% of invested assets after assumed expenses of the underlying funds, which all currently have a management fee of 0.79% of invested assets (a total expense ratio of .89%). While BUFB has an approved management fee of .20%, the Funds investment advisor, Innovator Capital Management, LLC, has agreed to waive management fees of .10% of average daily net assets until June 30, 2024. The waiver may be terminated by action of the Board of Trustees of the Trust at any time upon 60 days written notice by the Trust, on behalf of the Fund or by the Funds investment advisor on or after June 30, 2024.

5 Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index.

6 Beta is a measure of the volatility of an individual stock in comparison to the unsystematic risk of the entire market.

7 AUM in all Innovator Defined Outcome ETFs as of 2.04.2022.

8 ETFs use creation units, which allow for the purchase and sale of assets in the fund collectively. Consequently, ETFs usually generate fewer capital gain distributions overall, which can make them somewhat more tax-efficient than mutual funds.

9 As of 2.01.2022

10 Structured notes and structured annuities are financial instruments designed and created to afford investors exposure to an underlying asset through a derivative contract. It is important to note that these ETFs are not structured notes or structured annuities.

11 Defined Outcome ETFs are not backed by the faith and credit of an Issuing institution, so they are not exposed to credit risk.
Chicago, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The France construction equipment market size by volume is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4.55% during the period 20212028.



Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

The construction equipment market in France by revenue is estimated to reach USD 15.31 billion by 2028. In 2020, the construction industry was adversely impacted as major infrastructure projects were halted to curb COVID-19 outbreak. This primarily led to a decline of 17.9% in demand for new construction equipment in France. By 2028, the earthmoving equipment segment in France is estimated to rise at a CAGR of 4.92%. The government of France intends to invest around USD 8 billion on infrastructure development and renovation in 2022, including the planned budget of USD 4.2 billion (growth of 17% when compared to 2021 budget allotment) for transportation infrastructure and services. Long-term industrial development will also be fueled by the government's intention to invest USD 94.4 billion in transportation infrastructure between 2018 and 2037. Progress is being made on the USD 37.4 billion Grand Paris Express Metro Rail project, which is billed as Europe's largest urban mobility project. These projects are expected to surge demand for the earthmoving equipment in France over the long term. Additionally, by 2030, the Grand Paris Express will include more than 200 kilometers of additional metro lines and 68 new stations. The 68 new stations will be surrounded by new neighborhoods, allowing the city to be reinvented on an existing urban fabric which is expected to provide new opportunities for construction equipment in infrastructure development. Climate change is a major concern for all countries worldwide, and therefore, many construction equipment manufacturers have incorporated new technologies in their products to reduce carbon emissions. Construction equipment powered by green hydrogen fuel are likely to replace the fossil fuel-based construction equipment. The French government is also undertaking initiatives to develop green hydrogen fuel. For instance, in November 2021, the French government announced a collaboration with the UAE on new projects in the energy sector, including renewables and hydrogen fuel. The construction equipment market is consolidated with Caterpillar France being the leader, followed by Liebherr France, Komatsu France, Hitachi Construction Machinery Europe and Volvo Construction Equipment France. These companies have more than 45% of the total France construction equipment market share.





Key Offerings:

Market Size & Forecast by Volume | 20212028

Market Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20212028

Market Dynamics  Leading trends, growth drivers, restraints, and investment opportunities

Market Segmentation  A detailed analysis by moving equipment and application

Competitive Landscape  10 key vendors, 5 other prominent vendors, and 6 distributors profile





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France Construction Equipment Market  Segmentation

Earthmoving equipment captured major pie in the overall France construction equipment market share due to their extensive use at construction sites for excavating and lifting of heavy weights. Also, the demand for earthmoving equipment in France is increasing rapidly due to several infrastructure projects such as Grand Paris Express (USD 40.2 billion), Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Village (USD 3.9 billion).

Motor graders are mostly used for road maintenance and transportation projects. Several road maintenance projects are being planned in France, which will drive the growth of the segment. Several renovation projects for bridges and roads, such as Green Infrastructure & Mobility Plan (USD 1.5 billion), AFITF New Railway Infrastructure (USD 510.2 million), are being considered by the French government to improve the supply chain. Such projects are likely to accelerate the demand for motor graders as they are mainly used to flatten a surface.

The rise in infrastructure projects to improve regional connectivity in France will drive the demand for construction equipment. For instance, USD 1.2 billion was invested in the construction of link tower by the French government. Such infrastructure development projects are expected to accelerate the demand for construction equipment used in the construction industry.





Market Segmentation by Moving Equipment

Earth Moving Equipment Excavator Backhoe Loader Motor Grader Other Earth Moving Equipment

Road Construction Equipment Asphalt Paver Road Roller

Material Handling Equipment Crane Forklift and Telescopic Handler Arial Platforms (articulated boom lifts, telescopic boom lifts, scissor lifts, etc)



Market Segmentation by Application

Construction

Manufacturing

Mining

Others

France Construction Equipment Market  Dynamics

Renovation of public infrastructure and government buildings supporting the demand for earthmoving equipment. According to the OECD, the French construction output will witness a rebound of 13% in 2021 after contracting by 14% in 2020. The countrys construction output will grow to 3% in 2022 as residential building and civil engineering projects will drive the recovery. In 2020, the French government announced that at least 50% of wood will be used in all new public buildings. This law is still supporting the construction sector. Additionally, by 2022, the planned budget for transportation infrastructure and services in France would grow by 17% to USD 4.2 billion. Furthermore, the declining consumer and investor confidence may impair short-term investments in the industry. The government expenditure on general infrastructure, notably in preparation for the impending summer Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, will sustain output throughout the forecast period. The government intends to spend USD 8 billion on infrastructure development and renovation.

Key Drivers and Trends fueling Market Growth:

Economic instability and high operating costs have accelerated the demand for new construction equipment through rental services.

The preparation for Olympic Games 2024 in Paris and The Grand Paris project is driving the sales of construction equipment.

Construction equipment powered by green hydrogen fuel is likely to replace electric construction equipment.

Environmental policies and initiatives to increase the use of excavators and loaders in the waste management industry.

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Why Should You Buy This Research?

This report is among the few in the market that offers outlook and opportunity analysis forecast in terms of:

Volume (Unit sales) Type Application

Value (USD) Type Application

Gain competitive intelligence about the economic scenario, advantages in France major projects and investments, dynamics, and market share.

Examples of the latest technologies.

Get presentation-ready format and easy-to-interpret data.

Enable decision-makers to make informed and profitable choices

Gain expert quantitative and qualitative analysis on value/volume growth projections of the France construction equipment market share

Complete supply chain analysis

Get COVID-19 impact analysis of the market





Major Vendors

Caterpillar

Liebherr

Komatsu

Kubota

Volvo Construction Equipment

JCB

SANY

Hitachi

John Deere & Company

Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co., Ltd. (XCMG)

Other Prominent Vendors

Yanmar

Manitou

Haulotte Group

Kobelco Construction Machinery

FAYAT Group





Distributor Profiles

Mini BTP

GMS

Wirtgen Group

Teramat

Bouchard Manutention

France TP Services

Explore our industrial machinery profile to know more about the industry.

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About Arizton:

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Gloucester, MA (01930)

Today

Cloudy with a few showers. High near 50F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low 44F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Dubai, 7 February 2022: The winners of the Emirates LitFest Writing Prize have been announced today, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature's prestigious competition to discover unpublished novelists.



Recognised as one of the most successful writing competitions in the region, the competition has a proven track record in finding new writing talent, producing nine published authors in the last nine years.

This year the process was revamped to include three judges, UK literary agents Luigi Bonomi and Sheila Crowley and UAE based publisher Kira Jean, each choosing their favourite from the entries.



The winners are:

Nicole Asinugo,This Land is Not For Sale chosen by Luigi Bonomi. Nicole Asinugo is currently working on Expo 2020 in Dubai, creating and curating content for the event, and has also written film scripts. Her first novel, This Land is Not For Sale, is an intergenerational story of a mother and daughter fighting to save their home in Nigeria.



Angela Hundal, Honey Tiger chosen by Kira Jean. Originally from South Africa, journalist and editor Angela Hundal has lived in the UAE for 13 years. Honey Tiger is set in Sri Lanka in 2004 and told through the eyes of the protagonist, 11-year-old Mala, but written when grown-up, looking back on a devastating life-changing event.



Zahra Alabandi, Chasing Grasshoppers chosen by Sheila Crowley. A Saudi/American national, who has also lived in the Emirates, Zahra is a health care professional (dentistry), and also an avid reader and writer. Chasing Grasshoppers is the story of a Saudi-born, American raised young woman who is gathering her courage to battle society's norms and the burden of carrying the family's honour.

The LitFest Writing Prize has attracted huge interest from aspiring writers in the UAE, so this year we wanted to open it up to give more entries the opportunity to be recognised, said Ahlam Bolooki, festival director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. The fact that so many finalists have won publishing deals in the past shows how high the standard of writing in the region is. I hope that this year's crop of talent will go on to find that they are the ones who will join our list of published authors.



Novelists that have never been published are eligible to enter, providing that they are 21 years or older and resident in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman or Saudi Arabia. Entrants had to submit a 400-word synopsis of the book in English and the first 2,000 words of their almost completed manuscript.

Although a publishing deal is not guaranteed, the winners of the Prize wins the chance to discuss their manuscript with each of the three judges.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Festival is held with Founding Partners Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate's dedicated authority for heritage, arts, and culture. It is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.

Posted by : GoDubai Editorial Team

Viewed 7318 times

Posted on : Monday, February 7, 2022

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This illustration shows a concept for a set of future robots working together to ferry back samples from the surface of Mars collected by NASA's Mars Perseverance rover. (NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech)

Not all of the players have been chosen for the mission to return samples of Mars back to Earth, but NASA on Monday announced Lockheed Martin will get the chance to become the first rocket to be launched off another planet.

The joint mission between NASA and European Space Agency is tied to the Perseverance rover already on the Red Planet that landed in 2021. The agencies plan is to launch a lander to Mars as early as 2026 that brings along with it a smaller rover designed to collect the samples that Perseverance is currently gathering, then stick them in what will be the first Mars Ascent Vehicle.

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That vehicle will then fly the samples up to the ESA-designed Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft, which would bring Martian soil to Earth sometime in the mid-2030s.

This groundbreaking endeavor is destined to inspire the world when the first robotic round-trip mission retrieves a sample from another planet  a significant step that will ultimately help send the first astronauts to Mars, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. Americas investment in our Mars Sample Return program will fulfill a top priority planetary science goal and demonstrate our commitment to global partnerships, ensuring NASA remains a leader in exploration and discovery.

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Lockheed Martin Space of Littleton, Colorado, which is already involved in making the aeroshell for the lander, as it has done on 10 previous NASA Mars missions, won the Mars Ascent Vehicle Integrated System contract with a potential value of $194 million.

A six-year period for the contract begins this month. The company is expected to design, build and evaluate multiple ascent vehicle test units in addition to the final spacecraft.

The spacecraft will be small and lightweight, have to fit inside the lander, and will be designed to carry rock, sediment and atmospheric samples back off planet. It will also need to interact with NASAs Capture, Containment, and Return System payload being carried by the ESA orbiter.

It could become the first rocket ever fired off of another planet. No decision on which company will build the lander has been made. The lander is expected to set down near or in the Jezero Crater so it can work with Perseverance to retrieve the samples. NASA said it will launch from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than 2026.

Committing to the Mars Ascent Vehicle represents an early and concrete step to hammer out the details of this ambitious project not just to land on Mars, but to take off from it, said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASAs associate administrator for science. We are nearing the end of the conceptual phase for this Mars Sample Return mission, and the pieces are coming together to bring home the first samples from another planet. Once on Earth, they can be studied by state-of-the-art tools too complex to transport into space.
The South American country has three world wonders out of the total officially voted New 7 Wonders of the World and New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Dubai - February 8, 2022: The Brazil Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai today celebrated the achievement of being chosen as a country which houses three of the seven world wonders and nature attractions the Iguacu waterfalls, the Amazon, and The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, built in 1931.

In a ceremony at the pavilion, New7Wonders, the organization that spearheads the voting campaign to select the new seven wonders of world and nature every year from across the world, unveiled specially designed Wonder Markers at the Brazil Pavilion, as part of celebrating and honoring the countries in the new list of attractions and are participants at Expo 2020 Dubai.

The selection process of the new seven wonders of world and nature preceded an arduous process of voting wherein over 600 million voters took part.

Commenting on the achievement, Elias Martins Filho, Commissioner-General for Brazil pavilion at the Expo 2020, said, We are extremely proud to host New7Wonders at our pavilion and celebrate the achievement of having three world wonders  Iguacu Waterfalls, the Amazon Forest and The Christ Redeemer, the world-famous statue built in 1931 -- out of the total officially voted New 7 Wonders of the World and New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Bernard Weber, President and Founder of New7Wonders, said: These are great symbols of unity which respect and celebrate the cultural and natural diversity on our planet. At Expo 2020 in Dubai, where a great number of nations come together, the unveiling of the Wonder Markers connects the heart of Expo directly with all the Wonders across the world.

By actively participating with hundreds of millions of votes, people from around the world have defined and given us the official New 7 Wonders of the past two thousand years. And by doing so, all the participants have also created what I call Global Memory: a canon of seven things that every human being can and will remember in the future, he added.

Congratulating Brazil, the New7Wonders Director Mr. Jean Paul de la Fuente, said: Brazil is uniquely blessed by being the nation with three officially voted Wonders of its own and that it shares with neighbouring nations: the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) in Rio, the Iguacu Falls shared with Argentina, and the Amazon shared with another 8 countries. And now this uniqueness is featured with its own special Wonder Markers at the historic World Expo in Dubai. And now everyone can see the precise distance from the centre of the Expo to all of the Brazilian wonders.

The Wonder Markers are part of the global strategy of New7Wonders to support the visibility and importance of the officially voted New 7 Wonders of the World and the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

The other countries in the list with wonders of the world include Mexico (Chichen Itza), Italy (Collosseum), China (Great Wall) Peru (Machu Pichu), Jordan (Petra) and India (Taj Mahal). The New 7 Wonders of Nature list includes Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Guiane, Guyana and Peru, Suriname and Venezuela since all these countries including Brazil share the Amazon, Vietnam (Ha Long), Argentina which shares the Iguacu waterfalls with Brazil, South Korea (Jeju Island), Indonesia (Komodo), the Philippines (Puerto Princesa Underground River) and South Africa (Table Mountain).

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Posted on : Tuesday, February 8, 2022

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Grand Haven, MI (49417)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. High around 50F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 43F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
This graphic illustration provided by Toyota Motor Corp. shows a vehicle called "Lunar Cruiser" to explore the lunar surface. Toyota is working with Japan's space agency on the Lunar Cruiser to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the moon by 2040 and then go live on Mars, company officials said Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (Toyota Motor Corp. via AP) (AP)

TOKYO (AP)  Toyota is working with Japans space agency on a vehicle to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the moon by 2040 and then go live on Mars, company officials said late January.

The vehicle being developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is called Lunar Cruiser, whose name pays homage to the Toyota Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle. Its launch is set for the late 2020s.

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The vehicle is based on the idea that people eat, work, sleep and communicate with others safely in cars, and the same can be done in outer space, said Takao Sato, who heads the Lunar Cruiser project at Toyota Motor Corp.

We see space as an area for our once-in-a-century transformation. By going to space, we may be able to develop telecommunications and other technology that will prove valuable to human life, Sato told The Associated Press.

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Gitai Japan Inc., a venture contracted with Toyota, has developed a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser, designed to perform tasks such as inspection and maintenance. Its grapple fixture allows the arms end to be changed so it can work like different tools, scooping, lifting and sweeping.

Gitai Chief Executive Sho Nakanose said he felt the challenge of blasting off into space has basically been met but working in space entails big costs and hazards for astronauts. Thats where robots would come in handy, he said.

Since its founding in the 1930s, Toyota has fretted about losing a core business because of changing times. It has ventured into housing, boats, jets and robots. Its net-connected sustainable living quarters near Mount Fuji, called Woven City, where construction is starting this year.

Japanese fascination with the moon has been growing.

A private Japanese venture called ispace Inc. is working on lunar rovers, landing and orbiting, and is scheduled for a moon landing later this year. Businessman Yusaku Maezawa, who recently took videos of himself floating around in the International Space Station, has booked an orbit around the moon aboard Tesla CEO Elon Musks Starship.

Toyota engineer Shinichiro Noda said he is excited about the lunar project, an extension of the automakers longtime mission to serve customers and the moon may provide valuable resources for life on Earth.

Sending our cars to the moon is our mission, he said. Toyota has vehicles almost everywhere. But this is about taking our cars to somewhere we have never been.
BloombergNEF has just published its hydrogen market outlook for the first half of 2022. Among its findings are that annual government funding for hydrogen has reached $16 billion per year globally, up 40% from July 2021. This puts it two-thirds of the way to where it needs to be in order for clean hydrogen to play a strong decarbonizing role in the economy.

Electrolyzer sales have more than doubled to 458MW in 2021 and are set to grow 4-5x this year. Almost two-thirds of these sales will happen in China. Globally, BNEFs database now tracks 122GW of planned electrolyzer projects, up from 50GW in July 2021.

Clean hydrogen demand is about to shoot up due to 10 industrial projects slated to come online in 2022. Two projects in China plan to use more than 40,000 metric tons of clean H 2 this yearseveral times more than all of the worlds hydrogen cars combined.

Proposals for policies that would help hydrogen demand grow further are becoming commonplace. They include industrial decarbonization policies, clean fuel mandates, heavy transport emission rules and standards certifying hydrogen emissions.

Stronger policies favoring decarbonization will be needed to keep the growth going, BNEF said. Crucially, these include higher carbon prices in sectors where hydrogen could play a strong role, such as ammonia, methanol, oil refining, iron and steel.





Announced pipeline of electrolyzers proposed by developers. Source: BloombergNEF. Note: includes only officially announced projects that have disclosed electrolyzer capacity. N/A means the developer has not disclosed the projects commissioning year.
EV Metals Arabia, the operating subsidiary of EV Metals Group plc (EVM), has signed a Front-End Engineering Design Agreement (FEED) with Mustang and Faisal Jameel Al Hejailan Consulting Engineering Company, a subsidiary of Wood Plc, for the development of the first two processing trains for production of lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) in the Lithium Chemicals Plant of the Battery Chemicals Complex in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Under the FEED agreement, the scope of work will focus on the non-process infrastructure, utilities and port infrastructure. The balance of FEED is being undertaken by Amec Foster Wheeler Australia (trading as Wood) in Perth, Western Australia in an integrated owners team with EVM.

EVM is building a global battery chemicals and technology business with the development of the first integrated Battery Chemicals Complex at Yanbu Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Battery Chemicals Complex will produce high-purity chemicals containing lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and other metals and cathode active materials used in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.

The Lithium Chemicals Plant is a strategic first step in the development of our Battery Chemicals Complex. The first two trains of LHM will bring in an initial investment of US$800 million. They will produce 50,000 tpa of LHM for Original Equipment Manufacturers, principally electric vehicle manufacturers and battery cell manufacturers seeking stable, long term, independent and transparent supply chains as structural deficits emerge in lithium after 2025. The BCC is strategically located in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to become a global hub for midstream and downstream processing of critical raw materials for a clean energy future. Eng. Abdullah S. Busfar, Chairman of EVM
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Meta submitted a report, which warned it may shut down its Facebook and Instagram services in Europe due to new regulations approved by the European Commission. The new EU laws force all companies to process user data on local servers located within Europe while Meta sends user data from Europe to its US servers.



Robert Habeck(German Economy Minister) and Bruno Le Maire (French Finance Minister)

Today, two EU officials - Robert Habeck (German Economy Minister) and Bruno Le Maire (French Finance Minister) commented on Metas annual report and the possibility of Facebook and Instagram being shut down across the EU. The pair were straightforward that Meta needs to abide the new EU regulations or else its social media platforms would be banned across Europe.

Ive lived without Facebook for four years and life has been fantastic. The European Union is such a big internal market with so much economic power that if we act in unity we wont be intimidated by something like this. - Robert Habeck (German Economy Minister)

Habeck said that life without Facebook is fantastic while Le Maire added that people would live very well without Facebook while also confirming that the EU will not back down from protecting the rights of its population.

I can confirm that life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook. Digital giants must understand that the European continent will resist and affirm its sovereignty. - Bruno Le Maire (French Finance Minister)

With the latest comments, we can see the EUs perspective on the matter is set while Meta has the ball in its hands and needs to make a key decision. Well just have to wait and see how the Facebook parent company reacts and what will come next.

Source (paywall)
For a while now, we've heard rumors about Motorola planning to launch the Edge X30 outside of China as the Edge 30 Pro. We've even heard that this phone is to be unveiled before the end of the month - and guess what? Motorola basically just confirmed that.

Through the tweet you see below, the company is teasing a new Edge-branded phone launch for February 24. Well, at least one phone - it could be an entire family, it's unclear.

Anyway, we expect to see the Edge X30, already available in China, finally make its global debut. If the Edge 30 Pro does in fact turn out to be just a rebrand of that device, then expect it to come with a 6.7" 1080x2400 144 Hz OLED screen, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, 8/12GB of RAM, 128/256GB of storage, a triple rear camera setup (50 MP main with OIS, 50 MP ultrawide, 2 MP depth sensor), a 60 MP selfie snapper, and a 5,000 mAh battery with 68W fast charging. It should run Android 12 from day one.
Live in India? Like Samsung flagships but hate Samsung Exynos chipsets? This will make you very happy!

According to a prolific India-based tipster, the upcoming Galaxy S22 family will come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC in India. Time to rejoice, Snapdragon fans, as this is definitely not the norm.

Previous flagship Samsung families arrived in India with Exynos chipsets, but that all changes this year - if this rumor turns out to have been correct, of course. Anyway, we'll find out in less than 48 hours as the official unveiling of the series is scheduled for February 9.

Source
Its been a little over two months since the Chinese debut of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 4G and it seems the device is now heading to India albeit with a different chipset at the helm. A new Geekbench listing for the Xiaomi 2201117TI which is believed to be the Redmi Note 11 4G reveals the device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset alongside 6GB RAM.



Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 4G India variant Geekbench scorecard

The phone managed 376-points in the single-core department and a 1,580-point outing in the multi-core test. The listing also reveals the phone is running Android 11. Xiaomi is set to unveil the Redmi Note 11S and Redmi 11 in India tomorrow and well just have to wait and see if the Note 11 4G is also announced on stage alongside them.

Via
The meaning of Valentine's Day is to not only celebrate the romantic aspect but to express to the people you love in your life such as your significant other, family or friends how much you care about them.
A man was charged with robbery after he was accused of stealing a 12-pack of beer from a gas station and threatening an employee with a machete.

The man, whose name is listed in court documents as RJ, also known as J.R., Jay Wine and John Doe, walked into the Yigo Mobil gas station at 3:50 a.m. Monday. He tried to open the refrigerator containing alcohol, but the door was chained shut, according to a magistrates complaint filed in Superior Court.

An employee told RJ alcohol was not sold at the time. Businesses that are not bars or restaurants are required to stop selling alcohol at midnight on weekdays and at 2 a.m. on weekends, according to Guam law.

RJ picked up a 12-pack of Heineken next to the fridge and tried to leave, but the employee had electronically locked the entrance, according to the complaint.

RJ pulled a machete from his waist area and told the employee to open this door right now or Ill hurt you, the complaint stated.

The employee opened it out of fear.

At about 6:15 a.m., the employee got off work and found RJ behind the gas station asleep under a tree with two unopened 12-packs of Heineken beside him, according to the complaint.

The employee took the beer. RJ was arrested shortly after, the complaint stated.
Flora Santipas was working the graveyard shift Wednesday night at the Mangilao Mobil and getting ready to give a customer his change at 11:47 p.m.
Manuel Tedtaotao was found to be incompetent to be prosecuted on charges connected to the assault and burning of John Pinaula, who later died from his injuries.

Tedtaotaos forensic evaluation was filed in Superior Court of Guam on Monday.

In a hearing on Tuesday morning, defense attorney William Pole said the evaluation determined Tedtaotao was incompetent to move forward.

The prosecuting attorney was unable to review the results before the hearing.

DOC

In the meantime, Pole asked the court if Tedtaotao could get services from Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center while he is confined at the Department of Corrections.

Tedtaotao, who appeared virtually from DOC, said he made a request to receive services but hasnt been helped.

Ive been struggling to get services from Guam Behavioral for a while now, Tedtaotao said.

Judge Maria T. Cenzon said she would issue an order to help move the process along.

Burning

Tedtaotao is facing charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and felonious restraint in connection with the assault, kidnapping and burning of Pinaula in August, court documents state.

Pinaula died in October, but Tedtaotaos charges have not been changed.

Pinaula had cuts and third-degree burns over a significant portion of his body. An attending physician at Guam Regional Medical City said he had a 5% chance of surviving, according to court documents.
Repatriation flights to the Federated States of Micronesia have been suspended because of the spread of the omicron variant on Guam.

With hundreds of cases of COVID-19 being diagnosed on Guam each day, returning citizens and foreign service workers at the consulate office could become infected with the virus, according to a news release from the FSM presidents office.

People who are in the pre-quarantine site on Guam now will return to the FSM as planned, but no new flights will be scheduled.

The FSM government is developing a plan for financial assistance for citizens who dont live on Guam but are stranded on the island awaiting repatriation. People who traveled to Guam on their own, or upon the advice of a state government or non-government organization, may not be eligible for help, the release stated.

In addition to preventing infection of travelers, the pause will help the FSM government focus on vaccination efforts in the country. Although most people ages 45 and older are vaccinated, the government is trying to get more children ages 5-12 vaccinated.

Officials would also like more people to get booster shots, according to the release.

Delaying the arrival of more people also will allow strengthening of infection control procedures and provide time for more safety protocol training.

Repatriation flights will resume when the government determines there is less risk involved. Officials didn't provide an estimate of when that would happen.
The University of Guam wants to partner with the Guam Regional Transit Authority to help grow ridership.

Transit board members went over a proposal Tuesday for a public relations partnership with UOGs Global Learning & Engagement Department.

The recommendation: Rebranding.

Global Learning & Engagement spoke with riders and the general public to gauge perception of the transit services, said Amanda Blas, who works with UOGs Global Learning & Engagement Department. Ride times have improved in recent years, but rebranding the service could help, Blas said.

The partnership would cost about $40,000 for one year.

In return, the Transit Authority would get help with social media account management, pushing out updates for notices like bus delays, and developing marketing materials. Blas said the partnership could help expand the agencys customer base and generate more revenue.

One suggestion was to provide a more user-friendly way for riders to look at bus routes.

All of the bus routes are in excel table sheets. So we were looking at how we can redesign it, Blas said, explaining maps with village-specific information could be helpful.

Mayors also could provide relevant information for riders traveling through different regions of the island, she added.

Assistance could even be as small as creating how-to flyers for people who dont know how to use the bus system, or improving the visibility of bus stops, Blas said.

The Transit Authority currently does not have a marketing team, officials said, but former Executive Manager Celestin Babauta said the agencys budget included a slot for a marketing representative.

Board members were largely receptive to the proposal. Acting Executive Manager Richard Ybanez said a review would be needed to identify funding before a decision could be made at the upcoming board meeting March 8.

Grants

Ybanez said four grants were submitted by the Transit Authority:
A school employee behind a plexiglass wall greets and checks in all those visiting C. L. Taitano Elementary School in Sinajana Oct. 19, 2021.
Power plant smokestacks, left, can be seen in the distance from the Jose Rios Middle School campus in Piti July 28, 2021. The Guam Power Authority will be able to build a new 41-megawatt power plant at Cabras, within 1,200 feet of Jose Rios Middle School.
The manufacturing of Samsung's qd-oled screens appears to be difficult. According to TheElec sources in South Korea, the qd-oled display yield is approximately 30%. Connecting organic material to the panels, seems to be a challenge.

Samsung Display is unlikely to determine in the first half of this year whether to increase its investment in quantum dot (QD)-OLED panel production capacity this year, TheElec has discovered. According to insiders, the corporation is unlikely to do an investment evaluation on QD-OLED during the first half of 2022. Samsung affiliates conduct frequent investment assessments of critical businesses in order to communicate their findings to the Samsung Group's leadership and obtain approval for large expenditure plans.

Samsung Display believes it has insufficient data such as customer reaction and market demand to make an investment review for QD-OLED, sources said.

QD-OLED panel __ called QD Display by the display maker __ is a large, high-end panel used in premium TVs or monitors.

The biggest obstacle for the company in deciding whether to spend more on QD-OLED production was also the low production yield rate of the panels, which was around 30% currently, they said.

Samsung Display was facing difficulty especially in the deposition process __ where organic materials are deposited on the panel.

The yield rate for the front-end processes of the production, which includes deposition, came down to 30% __ the ultimate yield rate, when including back-end processes such as modularization, was even lower, the sources said.

This means Samsung Displays production capacity for QD-OLED will likely remain 30,000 substrates per month next year, same as in 2022, they said.

This is because even if an investment review was conducted during the second half of this year, considering the time it takes to place orders for equipment as well as their delivery and installation, Samsung Display will only be able to activate new production lines in 2024 at the earliest to expand its production capacity, they said.

The South Korean panel maker currently operates one production line called Q1 at its Asan plant.

The line uses Gen 8.5 (2200x2500mm) substrates and has a capacity of 30,000 substrates per month.

This is not enough to expand aggressively in the high-end panel market. The sources said Samsung Display can likely offer up to early-1 million units of QD-OLED panels for TVs and monitors per year with its current capacity. However, it will need to increase its yield rate for the panels to 70% within the year to achieve this volume, they said.

Meanwhile, rival LG Display, which offers white (W)-OLED panels, is aiming to ship 10 million units this year.

The company is offering more affordable W-OLED panels such as those with 60Hz refresh rate to expand its share in the OLED TV space.

It has a total capacity of 170,000 substrates per month, near six times that of Samsung Display, from its facilities in South Korea and China.

Samsung Display could also decide to not to expand QD-OLED production and instead jump to QD nanorod LED (QNED) panels instead.

This will depend on how much QD-OLED Samsung Electronics, Samsung Displays biggest customer, decides to buy going forward.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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By Wei Jinshen

Recently, the situation on the Russia-Ukraine border has been ever heating up. On the one hand, Western countries keep hyping up the assembly of Russian troops on its border with Ukraine, and countries such as the US, the UK, Germany and Australia have announced the withdrawal of non-essential personnel and remaining dependents from their embassies in Ukraine, creating a tense atmosphere that Russia is about to invade. Russia, on the other hand, accused the US and NATO of providing military aid to Ukraine and boosting its military deployment to Eastern Europe. With the fruitless negotiations between Russia and the US, NATO and the Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on regional security, the international community has worried that the Russia-Ukraine situation may evolve into a regional war.

To make out the current tensions between Russia and Ukraine, it is necessary to know the background of the strategic games between Russia and Western countries first.

Since the disintegration of the former USSR, Western countries including the US have had clearly shown their strategic goal in European geopolitics, that is, to take advantage of the security and development demands of Eastern European countries, so as to promote the constant eastward expansion of the NATO and EU, and establish their superior position in the European region. For Russia, the eastward expansion of the NATO and EU means a constant cut-down of its strategic space. Therefore, Russia is trying to reshape the Eurasian geo-space to achieve the goal of revitalizing its glory as a great power, which has resulted in strategic conflicts between Russia and Western countries.

However, Russias practice of reshaping the geopolitical Eurasian area has led to conflicts between Russia and other Eurasian countries. At the end of 2013, protests broke out in Ukraine, then-President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine fled his palace, Crimea declared independence through a referendum and then got incorporated into Russia. The conflicts in eastern Ukraine have caused civilian casualties; the protracted Ukrainian issue is as much simmering tensions between Ukraine and Russia, and has also made Ukraine the forefront of the strategic games between Russia and Western powers.

Therefore, there are three main reasons for the ever-heating up situation between Russia and Ukraine:

First, the central-local issue within Ukraine plays a role. There are serious ethnic and religious identity contradictions between the east and west of Ukraine. After the Ukrainian protests in 2013, Russia, in order to ensure its strategic interests, took action to support Crimeas secession from Ukraine and incorporation into Russia, which has been a major inspiration for pro-Russian Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in eastern Ukraine. The declaration of independence from Ukraine by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine is fundamentally a matter of state governance within Ukraine.

Second, the crisis between Russia and Ukraine works. Since Ukraines pro-Western government came to power, cultural de-Russification has been adopted, which has exacerbated tensions between Russia and Ukraine, since there are a large number of Russians in eastern Ukraine who have long been influenced by Russia in terms of culture and values. For one thing, Ukraine accused Russia of interfering in its internal affairs and supporting the separatist forces in Ukraine; for another, Russia believed that the Ukrainian government has violated the rights of Russians therein.

Third, the strategic games between Russia and Western countries matter. The strategic competition between Russia and Western countries including the US is a structural conflict hard to reconcile. As the pro-Western Ukrainian government came to power, Western countries, as represented by the US, saw it as a rare opportunity to further reduce Russias strategic sphere of influence, while Russia believed that it will face great pressure if Ukraine swings to the West. As it shows clearly, Russia and the Western countries are tit-for-tat on the Ukraine issue. Although both sides have a clear understanding of each others strategic goals, there is limited room for negotiation and concession, making it difficult to resolve the Ukraine issue for a long time.

Even so, a large-scale war between Russia and Ukraine doesn't seem much likelihood of happening, so is a war or conflict between Russia and NATO forces. Resolving differences through dialogue and consultation is the best way for both sides. What's more, due to the structural conflicts between Russia and Western countries, the long-term trend in resolving the Ukraine issue is inevitable. During this process, tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and between Russia and Western countries as led by the US will continue to unfold.

Editor's note: The author is an associate professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, Lanzhou University. This article is originally published on china.com.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.




Haiti - Economy : The Dominican businessman Capellan proposes an economic alliance between the USA and Haiti





During the Forum of the Unit of Studies of Haiti, of the "Center of studies German Father, SJ", of the "Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra", the Dominican businessman Fernando Capellan President of the consortium of "Grupo M" companies and the CODEVI company in Ouanaminthe, responsible for more than 20% of textile jobs in Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26459-haiti-economy-a-dominican-responsible-for-more-than-20-of-textile-jobs-in-the-country.html proposed that the United States and Haiti agree and develop a constructive partnership to promote a sustainable economy, in unison with the fight against corruption and strengthening the rule of law.



He believes that despite its current instability, Haiti is well placed to develop a constructive partnership with American companies and promote a sustainable economy, while fighting corruption and strengthening the rule of law.



He explained that the commercial collaboration he proposes could provide enormous benefits for the American economy, stressing that Haiti could become the missing link for American manufacturers looking for a qualified workforce and plentiful near their markets. Recalling that the textile and clothing industry plays a fundamental role in the Haitian economy, because it is the largest employer in the country and represents 90% of its exports.



Capellan, believes that this relationship must consider shared economic opportunities for the United States, covering their basic needs in light manufacturing as for the Haitian people and the Dominican Republic.



He explained that through preferential trade programs: the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), the Caribbean Basin Trade Association Act (CBTPA), the Haitian Hemisphere Through the association (HOPE) and the Haiti Economic Program (HELP), most clothing manufactured in Haiti enters the United States duty-free.



"These programs are the cornerstone of an industry that supports the consumption of materials of American origin and also promotes the creation of business clusters in areas surrounding industrial parks," he said.



He also indicated that multilateral organizations, such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, have collaborated in the construction of a network of industrial facilities in Port-au-Prince and in northern Haiti, where the Caracol Industrial Park and CODEVI has an unparalleled manufacturing infrastructure, home to several major global brands that enjoy duty-free access to the US market.



Haiti is known for its private labels and high-quality clothing. Therefore, as US companies strive to improve the apparel value chain, Haiti could become the profitable manufactory of the Western Hemisphere, supplying labor-intensive products such as clothing, footwear and toys on the American market at competitive prices", explained Capellan who is convinced that Haiti is the right partner for brands, retailers and investors "In addition, since production in Asia is no longer as profitable as it was, the proximity to Haiti represents the most economically viable decision for U.S. businesses."



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-35374-icihaiti-codevi-opening-of-a-binational-emergency-center-in-ounaminthe.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29957-haiti-politic-important-bilateral-meeting-on-the-development-of-a-prosperous-border.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27320-haiti-dr-codevi-will-create-14-000-new-jobs-this-year.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19056-haiti-economy-installation-of-a-new-factory-in-ouanaminthe.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17192-haiti-dr-development-of-the-border-200-000-jobs-over-10-years.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/article-836-haiti-republique-dominicaine-la-codevi-une-solution-a-la-migration-illegale.html (in french)



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





20 passengers on a bus taken hostage

A Sans Souci bus have been kidnapped last Friday in Croixdes-Bouquets, the driver was released the next day, however the 20 passengers are being held hostage, informs Sans Souci Tours.



Message from Michel Martelly

"Haiti should wake up on February 7 in an atmosphere of the investiture of a constitutionally elected president. Alas! This day is the heartbreaking theater of eternal clan struggles against a backdrop of crisis of confidence and pseudo individualist solutions out of all reference . Only this long-awaited 'tet ansanm' can save our adrift democracy, finally bring justice to President Jovenel Moise and pave the way for economic recovery. 'Ayisyen balon an nan pye nou' !" former President Michel Martelly



Course: Boarding Officer

On Friday, February 4, 23 Haitian Coast Guard members successfully completed the exportable two-week Boarding Officer Course provided by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). A representative of the Haitian National Police (HNP) Director General, the Haitian Coast Guard Commandant, and representatives from the HNP Academy attended the graduation. U.S. Embassy Department of Defense and Coast Guard officials attended as well. Our key partners successful completion of the course symbolizes yet another joint success between Haiti and the United States. This course is the first of many provided by USCG Mobile Training Teams (USCG-MTT) that are scheduled for 2022.



Arrest of 2 people and seizure of a kg of marijuana

A joint operation carried out by the police of Les Cayes, the Departmental Unit for the Maintenance of Order (UDMO) and the Parquet aux Coteaux, particularly in the localities of Dejoie, 2nd section of Chardonieres and Port-a-Piment led to the arrest by Alcene Inel and Chester Saint-Cyr. 981 grams of marijuana were seized. Note that Chester Saint-Cyr was actively wanted for the theft of a service weapon from a policewoman in the West department.



3.2% of Haitian children do not reach the age of one month

The latest report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) published in early February 2022, reveals that in Haiti 3.2% of children do not reach the age of one month, i.e. the highest neonatal mortality rate in the region.



51 young people for psychosocial support to 1,550 children

51 young volunteers from La Saline area were trained in psychosocial support. Under the leadership of the Directorate of Civil Protection, these young people will carry out psychosocial activities in La Saline and at the bottom of the city center for 1,550 children.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2022/02/07 | Source

Group 2PM's Ok Taecyeon and actor Ha Seok-jin will meet in "Blind - 2022".

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Ok Taecyeon and Ha Seok-jin will appear in OCN drama "Blind - 2022", which is scheduled to air in the second half of the year. It is the story of a normal, unfair victim and an assailant who is blind to uncomfortable truths. It focuses on detectives, judges, social workers and nine jurors.

Ok Taecyeon plays Ryoo Seong-joon, a homicide detective. He has dreamed of punishing evil by watching hero movies. When an incident breaks out, his gaze changes. Ha Seok-jin plays Ryoo Seong-hoon, a judge of the Criminal Agreement of the Mooyoung District Court. Silent and rational, he is a perfectionist who does not tolerate mistakes.

It is directed by director Sin Yong-hwi of "Tunnel - Drama" (2017) and "Voice 4" (2021). It will be written by Kwon Gi-kyeong, author of "Sharp 1" Season 1 and 2 (2003-2005-2005) and "Andante" (2017-2018).
By William Schwartz | Published on 2022/02/07

South Korean media production typically gives big name stars large fees, with some regularly exceeding $100,000 dollars per episode. Yet the performance of recent dramas with high-priced talent has not met with expectations. "Snowdrop" never exceeded 4% ratings despite the presence of Jung Hae-in. "Bad and Crazy" with Lee Dong-wook had drifted down to 2.8% ratings in its final episode. "Bulgasal: Immortal Souls" with Lee Jin-wook had a similarly disappointing 5% ratings finish.

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"Our Beloved Summer" even had the benefit of two big stars instead of just one, with Choi Wooshik and Kim Da-mi in the leading roles. Yet that drama ended with just 5.3% ratings. "Our Beloved Summer" did have a noteworthy advantage compared to the other three in that it performed exceptionally well in the international market on Netflix. Yet even that example poses a noteworthy counterargument. "All of Us Are Dead" has no major stars to speak of yet is the world's most popular Netflix show.

If viewers aren't drawn to serial dramas with big stars, then what are they drawn to? The answer is that they respond to strong performances. "Uncle" hasn't had much of an international profile. But it's had excellent ratings, with a high of 9.3%. The sentimental TV Chosun drama about an unemployed middle-aged man doesn't sound exciting. The biggest credit lead actor Oh Jung-se had before then was in "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" as the older autistic brother of Kim Soo-hyun's character.

Yet that performance was a powerful one, and Oh Jung-se has earned further plaudits for his role in "Uncle" cementing his reputation not just as supporting talent, but as talent capable of carrying a narrative as the lead. Ultimately the story that has emerged from recent big projects is that a big star alone can't guarantee success. A good drama needs a solid appeal, and whether an actor is right for the role matters more than how famous they are.

Written by William Schwartz
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Published on 2022/02/08 | Source

New stills added for the upcoming Korean movie "In Our Prime" (2020)

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Directed by Park Dong-hoon

With Choi Min-sik, Kim Dong-hwi-I, Park Byung-eun, Park Hae-joon, Jo Yun-seo, Ro Jong-hyun,...

Also known as "A Mathematician in Wonderland"

Synopsis

Special classes of math between two outcasts: a genius mathematician with a hidden past and a needy student given up on math.

Ji-woo (Kim Dong-hwi-I), an outcast in a prestigious private high school, does not fit in due to different social backgrounds than his well-to-do classmates. One day, he meets Hak-seong (Choi Min-sik), the school's security guard who is actually a mathematical genius defected from North Korea, now living with his past shut away. Ji-woo asks Hak-seong to teach him math, and although reluctant at first, Hak-seong eventually agrees to. Finding each other in their most difficult times, Ji-woo and Hak-seong open up to one another during their special math lessons, but their friendship is at risk when Ji-woo is framed for an incident in school, and Hak-seong is faced with people prying on his past.

Release date in Korea : 2022/03/09
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U.S. gross domestic product shrank 1.4% in the first quarter at the same time infl
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Background

On December 31, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) offered states the opportunity to apply for short-term, one-year flexibilities with School Year (SY) 2021-22 ESEA accountability processing, school exits and identifications, and reporting via an addendum template. The Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) is planning to request some of these flexibilities to ensure it will meet the federal requirement to exit currently identified Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools, and to identify new CSI and TSI schools in Fall 2022. In addition, Hawaii will submit an amendment, which is the mechanism to request long-term revisions to its Consolidated State Plan. The waiving of administering statewide assessments is not a flexibility being offered by the ED.

Request for Public Comment on the Proposed Changes

Submission Request Addendum







  1. Still to be determined if this will be requested. Currently under consideration: Replace/modify the chronic absenteeism measure with another measure for SY2021-22.

2. Revision to the growth calculation methodology for when using 2021 growth results for multi-year calculations. Propose to calculate 2021 growth results based on 2021 and 2019 test results given no testing in 2020. 3. Revision to add pre-COVID year(s) data used to identify schools across all exit and identification measures: Proficiency, growth (elementary/middle schools), graduation rate (high schools), chronic absenteeism, English Language Proficiency for English Learners. 4. Consider the exclusion of some or all of the COVID impacted years, except 2022 which must be used for exits and identifications, and the option to weight multiple years differently with more weight attributed to results from pre-COVID year(s).

Amendment 1. Revision to the minimum number of students for which data shall be reported from 20 to 11. In 2021, the Hawaii State Legislature enacted HRS 302A-1004, requiring specific provisions on data reporting that includes reporting data when the number of students in a particular data subgroup is greater than ten.

SY 2021-22 Accountability Addendum and Amendment Links for the following reference documents are provided below: (1) The COVID-19 Addendum Template, and (2) Hawaii's Consolidated State Plan.

2022 COVID-19 Addendum Template

Hawaii ESEA Consolidated State Plan

HIDOE Recommendation HIDOE recommends the proposed addendum and amendment requests detailed in the table above with rationale for support summarized below: The use of 2021 and 2019 test results to calculate 2021 growth allows the use of 2021 growth data in lieu of what would otherwise be missing data given there were no 2020 growth results due to a waiver of statewide testing in 2020.

The use of pre-COVID data for exiting CSI/TSI schools, and for identifying new schools, helps mitigate concerns with using only COVID impacted results.

The option to more heavily weight pre-COVID years allows for further flexibility in diminishing the impact of COVID-year results in the identification and exiting of schools.

Decreasing the minimum number of students for which results are reported allows ESEA determinations to account for more student subgroups previously excluded from calculations and ensures those results are more representative of schools' student populations.



This public comment process provides feedback to HIDOE for consideration in finalizing requests to the ED. The following table details the changes currently being considered for both the Addendum and Amendment.
A member of the Executive Committee of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Duran Kalkan, indicated that whoever stands in the face of the terrorist organization ISIS must stand in the face of the fascist coalition of the Justice and Development Party and the National Movement (AKP-MHP), which is the other side of the terrorist organization in terms of their mentality their approach, and their lives.

Participating in the special program on Haber TV, a member of the Executive Committee of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Duran Kalkan, spoke about the legendary struggle by the leader Abdullah Ocalan in the conditions of absolute isolation imposed on him in his prison in Imrali.

Duran Kalkan said: "The regime of severe isolation continues against the leader Abdullah Ocalan, and many institutions have put this issue on their agenda on the basis of bringing about some change, but nothing has changed. Everyone ignores this violation of international laws and rights. The dominant regimes are satisfied with this, and the isolation imposed in Imrali is evidence of the international conspiracy, against the leader Ocalan. this is evidence of the repressive and fascist regime directed against the Kurdish people.

They think they will force leader Ocalan to say things against his will

He continued: "They have closed the doors of Imrali so that the leader does not communicate. Turkey speaks on his behalf, opponents and heads of parties. In its struggle for the freedom of the leader Ocalan, this is impossible. Our people have shown a position about it, it should be further strengthened until the leader is liberated.

Also, this position shows that the system in Imrali is a political detention system, they resort to such a system because they are unable to force the leader Ocalan to say what they want, and this is the best evidence that the Turkish state does not enjoy rights and laws and all its laws are false, and it has political goals, and it also has a political detention system."

They confronted the policy of denial, execution and extermination

During his speech, Duran Kalkan reminded that they are on the 23rd anniversary of the international conspiracy on February 15, and said: "We struggle against it. Our people called this day the 'Black Day'. As for the leader Ocalan, he called it the day of the 'Kurd Extermination'." I salute the continuous historical resistance that the leader Ocalan has been waging for 23 years against the regime of isolation, and I also remember our heroic martyrs who turned into a ring of fire under the slogan "You will not be able to block our sun", with all respect and gratitude.

It is not possible to define the February 15 plot without addressing the October 9 plot, as this plot was launched with the aim of eliminating Leader Ocalan through the conspiracy, and because they were unable to achieve it, they resorted to the February 15 plot by the fascist Turkish state; Our people and our leader have been waging a legendary struggle against this regime of isolation and torture for 23 years, and this means that the policy of extermination and denial has been confronted, and this is what constituted the third resurrection of the leader, and made the whole world recognize his truth, and turned him into the leader of all the oppressed. This fact is gradually expanding and It will be the biggest event of the twenty-first century."

Those who struggle against ISIS should also fight against its supporters

A member of the Executive Committee of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Duran Kalkan, also evaluated the struggle against ISIS, saying: "I salute the heroic struggle that our people have been waging against ISIS for 8 years, and I remember the martyrs of this struggle with all respect and appreciation in Al-Hasakah, they represent the hope of humanity, the will and the future of humanity.

There are some forces that must do something concrete about ISIS. The United States, for example, says that Abdullah Qardash was killed after killing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, meaning that the two leaders of the terrorist organization ISIS were eliminated, so where did ISIS come from? This should be well defined. They support each other. Where were Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abdullah Qardash hit? In an area under the control of the Turkish state, and on its borders; Well, is it not the responsibility of the Turkish state and the alliance of the Justice and Development Party and the National Movement? Why don't they say anything, just say they are doing us harm in our struggle against ISIS, this is not acceptable.

The attacks that were launched in al-Hasakah did not target the prison, which contained ISIS terrorists, but rather were attacks to eliminate the Autonomous Administration and occupy the entire area. These attacks were not carried out with force and normal preparations, but behind them was a large force that prepared itself greatly. Abdullah Qardash death was a response to these attacks in general.

Those who support these attacks are the alliance of the Justice and Development Party, the National Movement and the Turkish State. Everyone must realize this fact, and those who claim to be struggling against ISIS must struggle against those who support and finance ISIS and follow its ideology, which is the alliance of the Justice and Development Party, the National Movement and the Turkish State, and so on. Goes in the wind and meaningless.

They launch attacks in response to the defeat of the terrorist organization ISIS

The terrorist organization ISIS attacked the city of Al-Hasakah on January 20, but was defeated. Complicated with the victory of the Justice and Development Party, the nationalist movement, and the defeat of the terrorist ISIS means their defeat, as the attack targeted the three areas in which ISIS was defeated in 2014, and this is the reason for its revenge. Kurdish genocide.

They use the KDP as a tool to achieve their ends

Turkey uses the KDP as a tool in its hand. Did Nechirvan Barzani understand something of Kurdishism? Does he not know that the people will hold him accountable? Do you think the Turkish state is that strong? Are the Kurds worthless to this extent? Who accepts this? This is clear and I will not talk about this subject much.

They raise discussions about civilians and they themselves bomb them

Another thing I'd like to point out is: Those who stand up the attacks, they discuss the attack on civilians, of course civilians shouldn't be hit, well is it legitimate to attack non-civilians? What is this logic? What is their right? And what is the right of the Turkish army to attack the protection forces in northern and eastern Syria, the Makhmour Protection Forces, and the Shingal Protection Forces? It must be properly discussed, they are supposed to resist the attacks but they resist them in this way, and this resistance is an obsolete position, they also say that it is not civilian but military, attacks are launched on soldiers in civilian clothes, so this approach should be criticized and closely condemned, All the attacks carried out are fascist genocide attacks, most of the attacks on organized forces, resistance and freedom are brutal attacks, these forces are the most valuable values, they must be solidarity and supported.

We must strengthen our organization and step up our struggle

The Kurdish people everywhere showed a strong reaction, and it must be continued, as the Turkish occupation, through these attacks and intelligence operations carried out by the Kurdistan Democratic Party, wants to identify the targeted places and people, and strike them through modern military techniques to eliminate them and intimidate the people. This matter has become clear, Then the leaders must be careful and defend themselves better, and the people should also benefit from this and beware of it, and the ranks of the organization and the resistance must be developed in creative ways.

Makhmour people will not allow such violations. Such attacks have been carried out dozens of times against this people, but they do not realize who this people is. It is the people of Botan. The people of Sengal and Rojava have lived and recognized the will of freedom. The Turkish occupation with its attacks cannot break the will of This resistant people.

A

Source: ANF
A statement issued by the Relations Office of the Syrian Democratic Forces regarding the irresponsible statements of the UNICEF representative in Syria to the media.

While the Syrian Democratic Forces welcome the official statement issued by the UNICEF Syria office on February 6, after they have been given the access, despite the exceptional security conditions, to the detention center of ISIS terrorist members in Al-Hasakah, the Syrian Democratic Forces at the same time denounce the statements of the UNICEF representative in Syria, Mr. Bo Viktor Nylund about the situation of adolescents associated with ISIS for the New York Times newspaper because of the inaccuracies and unfair information it contains and contradicts the facts and as well as the official statement of the UNICEF itself, it is a huge contradiction and unprofessional.

Its unacceptable when it comes to distortion of facts, distortion of the image of our forces, and denial of the tremendous efforts that have been made to preserve the lives of adolescents and to meet their basic needs. Therefore, the following details must be clarified:

First: The teenagers associated with ISIS were not in the old detention center when UNICEF visited them, but rather they were in another center because the old detention center became out of service due to the military operations, and Mr. Nylund saw it himself. The segmentation approach to the problem and not addressing it as a whole, is subjective and unacceptable, because most countries which have nationals among these teenagers, and international organizations, including UNICEF, are aware of all the details related to the process of transporting teenagers due to the emergency situation which posed a threat to local peace and security and caused the displacement of more than 30,000 thousand civilians and the death of dozens of our fighters to protect the population and the region and keep these teenagers safe.

Second: The leaked photo of the teenagers, which UNICEF provided to the New York Times newspaper, was of a temporary dormitory in which the teenagers were placed because the main dormitories were undergoing restoration and rehabilitation operations during the visit. The photo was taken while the teenagers performed group prayers in the afternoon, and the photo does not reflect the situation of the teenagers inside the detention center.

Third: Adolescents inside the detention center receive three main meals on a daily basis, clean water, and health care is provided to them by the medical staff of the detention center.

Fourth: The access of humanitarian actors (international non-governmental organizations) to adolescents inside the detention center to provide support was available from the beginning of the year 2020 until the detention center was subjected to an armed attack by ISIS militants on January 20, and it stopped for purely security reasons related to the emergency situation.

The Syrian Democratic Forces confirm that the access to the adolescent detention center by the active humanitarian organizations will be activated as soon as the security situation gets more stabilized and terrorist threats are ended, and the rehabilitation programs will be resumed as planned to repatriate those children to their countries of origin and integrate them into society.

Asking for support and mobilizing assistance from countries and concerned parties and advocating to end the crisis of adolescents associated with ISIS who stranded in northern and eastern Syria shouldnt be done by falsifying facts or distorting the efforts of the Syrian Democratic Forces because it is shameful and contradicts the basics of humanitarian work in a system such as the United Nations and harms UNICEF.

At the same time, the Syrian Democratic Forces commend the role of all international organizations and international non-governmental organizations for their rapid and exceptional intervention in the most difficult circumstances to meet the basic needs and provide health care for adolescents inside the detention center.

Relations Office of the Syrian Democratic Forces

February 8, 2022

ANHA
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Afghanistan International TV (translated by RAWA), February 5, 2022

A spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Promoting Virtue and Prohibiting Virtue said 15,000 mullahs (Islamic religious teacher) had been recruited across Afghanistan. Mohammad Sadegh Akef said that among their missionaries, there are currently no Shiite mullahs, but the process of hiring mullahs from other religions continues.

In an interview with Entekhab Media, he said that the fight against Western ideology in Afghanistan is one of the main plans of the Taliban in the coming years.

The Taliban believe that freedom of expression, girls' education, women's work and even listening to music are part of Western thinking.

A spokesman for the Taliban's well-known ministry says the 15,000 mullahs they hire are also being paid to reform society and fight Western thinking. Meanwhile, the salaries of a large number of government employees have not been paid for months, despite a reduction of even 70%.

The Taliban are scheduled to hold a meeting of religious scholars in Kabul soon in order to govern themselves.
City wants ARP spending to be 'transformative'

Hendersonville City Manager John Connet opened the citys information meeting on American Rescue Plan money with an observation about how unprecedented the program is.

Ive been in local government for 35 years and never have I received a gift of this magnitude from the federal government, he said.

Specifically, the city will receive $4.5 million in ARP money, half already deposited in the city treasury and half next year. The city is using the in-person and Zoom-available meeting plus an online survey to gather input on how residents want the money spent. If the attendance at last weeks public meeting at the City Operations Center is a guide, nonprofit agencies may have the greatest stake and most intense interest in where the council sends the money. Agencies from the Team ECCO Aquarium and Shark Lab downtown  I have 300 mouths to feed every day, director BJ Ramer said  to Interfaith Assistance Ministry sent leaders to find out how they can apply for grants.

Think of long-lasting, high impact on vulnerable populations, Connet said.

We want to be transformative, we want to be catalytic and we want to impact the greatest number of people, he said. "We want to focus on the disadvantaged and the greatest number of folks in those categories.

Local government bodies are allowed to spend ARP money to contain Covid-19 and address other public needs, invest in water and sewer infrastructure, appropriate premium pay for essential workers, replace revenue lost because of the pandemic and address negative economic impacts that people or businesses have had. Examples of the last category, the city says, include housing assistance, food assistance, home repair and weatherization and job training. Ineligible categories include contributing money to rainy day funds or pension funds, debt service, general infrastructure spending and paying legal settlements or judgments.

The council has already signaled its desire to give premium pay to essential employees and to identify and replace lead pipes in the city water system, Connet said. Identifying homes or businesses served by failing septic tanks is another potential use of the money.

We can spend this money to extend sewer lines into those areas to move people from a private septic tank system into public sewer, Connet said.

Whether the money can be spent on parks or for development of the Ecusta Trail is a little less certain.

Originally there was some question whether it can be used for recreational activity, Connet said. In the final rule we have a little bit more leeway.

The next step in the process takes place next month when the City Council uses public input and its own priorities to set goals and objectives. In the next two months, the city will refine the applications nonprofit agencies can use to apply for ARP money. In May the council is expected to set funding priorities. All ARP money must be appropriated by December 2024 and spent by December 2026.

* * * * *



The survey on how you think the city should spend $4.5 million in American Rescue Plan money is open through Feb. 11. Find it at Hvlnc.gov/ARP.
Harley Stepp, legendary trial lawyer, dies at age 87

W. Harley Stepp Jr. died Saturday at age 87.

William Harley Stepp Jr., a legendary trial lawyer, community leader, successful real estate investor and sometimes developer, died on Saturday at age 87.



Family members and friends remembered with fondness and admiration the old lion of the Henderson County bar whose presence was unmistakable, skill in the courtroom renowned and devotion to clients rock solid.

I think the thing my dad taught me the most was he truly loved people, said his son, Christopher, who joined his dads law practice in 1991 after he graduated from law school. He loved his clients, he loved helping people, he loved helping people through the difficult times of their life. It was a great honor to him. I admired those qualities about him.

Chriss wife, Heather, recalled that her father-in-law used his considerable sales skills to recruit his son to come home and join the practice.

Harley made it clear that he believed in Chris, that he loved him and he really desired for Chris to come back and practice law with him, she said.

Chris recalled his fathers consuming passion, determination and devotion to a client on trial for his life for a double murder.

It was a tough job, he said. It took a lot out of him. He worked very, very hard and it changed our whole family life for a long time until he got through that case.  Things that he taught me about the courtoom? I think that my dad had a natural presence about him and I think he wanted to as much as possible to be in control and for his clients to know he was in control.

Henderson County Commissioner Michael Edney announced Stepps death during a meeting of the Board of Commissioners on Monday night, mentioning that he also had served as county attorney about 40 years ago.

Harley, big Democrat, Don Garren, big Republican, they had a law practice together, Garren and Stepp, many years ago, Edney said later. Harley was one of the best, well-known trial lawyers ever. Did a lot of criminal defense work. He was also smart enough to invest in a lot of real estate.

Edney got early training and valuable guidance from both Stepp, a classmate of Edneys mother at Flat Rock High School in the 1950s, and Garren.

I was a young lawyer and being family friends (with Stepp) he would show me the ropes, so to speak, and show me where I was making mistakes and how to do things better, he said. While he was a law student at the University of South Carolina, Edney worked for Garren doing title searches.

A lifelong resident of Henderson County, he was born July 10, 1934, to William Harley Stepp Sr. and Arvenia Jones Stepp. He graduated from Flat Rock High School, where he met the love of his life and wife of 64 years, Mary Margaret Shipman. Harley earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1960 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and went on to complete his law degree from UNC in 1963.

While an undergraduate at Chapel Hill, he enlisted in the U.S. Army through the G.I. bill and served in the 549th AAA Battalion, also known as the Knights of the Blue Nose. Following his military service, he returned to UNC to complete his studies, and more importantly, to reunite with Margaret, who was finishing her degree at UNC Womens College. He and Margaret married in his senior year at Carolina. During law school, he served as the legislative correspondent at the Institute of Government, covering the activity at the state Legislature. Some of their favorite stories came from their early years there in Chapel Hill. The combination of Harleys enthusiasm for a new venture and Margarets grounded approach led them to open their first business, a used furniture shop on Main Street in Carrboro, even while he completed his law degree.

Harley set up his practice on Main Street upon returning to Hendersonville. He brought his trademark color and zeal to all he did, and this included the courtroom. He loved the folks he represented, and he was grateful to advocate for countless people throughout his decades-long career. Apart from practicing law, he and Margaret continued to enjoy partnering in entrepreneurship as well. Some of these ventures included running a concrete plant, opening the Quarter House restaurant on Asheville Highway and operating motels in Hendersonville, at Folly Beach, South Carolina, and in Florida. He began buying thoroughbreds in the 1980s, and enjoyed some exciting years following his horses on the circuit, and winning a major stakes race at Keeneland in 1995.

In 1985, he was awarded the Order of the Longleaf Pine by then Gov. Jim Hunt, a law school classmate.

Gov. Hunt used to stay at his house when he visited Western North Carolina, Heather Stepp said.

In 2000, Harley retired from his law practice but not from his zest for life. He remained active in real estate, dabbled in antique cars, continued to be an active reader of old classics and mystery novels and enjoyed time at the South Carolina coast.

Harley passionately loved life, and his foremost passion was his family. Into his children and grandchildren he generously poured out his love, laughter and a lifetime of memories that family members will forever cherish. He manifested his wisdom to his children and grandchildren in countless ways, and the earliest came in his old school advice to us when being flung off of a pony. Hed firmly and gently say, You get back on that horse and show him whos boss!

We will always hear him reminding us of one of his favorite and true platitudes: never give up., the family said in the obituary posted by Shuler Funeral Home. We are forever grateful for this legacy of grit and optimism.

In addition to Christopher and Heather and his wife, Margaret, Stepp is survived by his daughter, Marley Beckmann (Ted); and grandchildren Samuel Stepp, Alex Imm and Anthony Imm; a step-grandson Charlie Beckmann; and a brother, Benjamin.

The family thanked the Rev. Craig Halford for his consolation and friendship, Four Seasons Hospice, and many special caregivers who supported Harley Stepp and his family.

A gathering of friends and family will be 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, at Forest Lawn Funeral Home. Heavy refreshments will be served. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to First Contact, 106 Chadwick Avenue, Hendersonville N.C., 28792, and Four Seasons Foundation, 211 North Main Street, Hendersonville, N.C. 28792.
THE new chairman of the Countryside Charity in South Oxfordshire says the countryside is facing the biggest threat in its history.

Dr Geoff Botting, from Woodcote, said the threat came from unsympathetic development and climate change.

He said: South Oxfordshire has still got some great areas of countryside. Weve got a couple of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty with a big chunk of the Chilterns and part of the North Wessex Downs and its important to keep those.

Its a local facility that we care about and we get people coming out here from London to appreciate the landscape.

Its not only that, though. It seems to me that preserving this landscape is an essential step in holding back climate change.

Climate change is the one issue thats really existential  if we get climate change wrong, you can forget about the rest of it.

Dr Botting, a member of Woodcote Parish Council, said the Oxfordshire 2050 plan contained nothing about climate change.

He continued: If you build 100,000 houses theres no real understanding of what thats going to do to carbon.

And if you lose the climate, you lose the countryside, you lose everything. Its the equivalent of putting three new Oxfords in the county. You cannot develop without taking up green land  theres no point pretending you can do this on brownfield sites.

It would mean the loss of a lot of countryside and the loss of biodiversity. Just in building and running these houses you are creating an enormous amount of carbon dioxide.

Behind all this is the assumption that if weve got all these houses its going to create a lot of employment and a lot of low-cost housing. Thats not going to happen. Developers arent going to build cheap houses, theyre going to build to the value houses already are.

I think theres less of a housing crisis and more of an equality of opportunity crisis. In some parts of the country you have rows and rows of empty houses but no jobs. I dont think we should be encouraging the depopulation of cities. Cities are a very efficient use of land.

We should be looking at creating more efficient cities rather than spreading houses more evenly over what is a diminishing volume of countryside.

The Countryside Charity, also known as the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a nationwide charity which campaigns for the protection of the countryside.

Dr Botting said it had a lot of consultations it needed to respond to.

He said: Theres the South Oxfordshire Design Guide, which should say more about climate and doesnt, and theyre starting to work on a new local plan for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse which has to take climate as its first priority. Theres the Oxfordshire local plan and the connectivity plan across South Oxfordshire which doesnt talk about sustainable transport. Well be trying to respond to that.

One thing I think the charity does very well is to respond after the event but I think what weve really got to try to do is get these planners and local authorities to listen to us.

Its quite clear that you cannot rely on local authorities to do the right thing around the climate crisis, youve got to get a push through the community and the CPRE is one of many ways of doing that.

It has to come from people who are concerned about the kind of world their children and grandchildren are inheriting. If you have any doubt about climate change just look at whats going on in Australia, America or look at the floods in Asia, its happening.

Just think about what sea level rise does to this country  large parts of the coast underwater and mass population movement. Weve got to take action now, its almost too late.

Dr Botting has lived in Woodcote for 45 years and has been a parish councillor for a decade.

He came to the University of Reading as an undergraduate in 1964 and fell in love with the surrounding countryside.

On retiring from a career in the IT industry in 2011, he become involved in developing Woodcotes neighbourhood plan.
Republicans are frustrated by RNC move reopening partys January 6 divide ahead of midterms

Republicans felt they were finally united in their quest to take back the House and Senate  with the political winds at their back and President Joe Biden reeling from an array of domestic and international problems.

Then the Republican National Committee last week ripped open old January 6 wounds.

Recommended for you +11 'Til Depp do us part...its 10 Stars who stand with Johnny Depp As the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard - who he is suing over her 2018 Washington Post domestic violence op-ed - continues, we take a look at 10 of the stars who have shown their support for the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star. Click for more.

GOP lawmakers on Monday were aghast that the RNC had used the words legitimate political discourse in a censure resolution describing the roles of GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois in their efforts to investigate the insurrection with Democrats on the House select committee.

They viewed both the effort to punish the pair of Republicans  along with language interpreted as a way to whitewash the deadly attack  as an unforced error over a divide the party has long sought to paper over: former President Donald Trump and his role in inciting the mob that stormed the US Capitol.

In particular, some Republicans directed the criticism squarely at Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the RNC.

I think Republicans ought to stop shooting at Republicans, including the chairman, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the GOP leadership, told CNN.

Asked if McDaniel should step aside, Senate GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota said: Oh, I dont know. Ultimately, it will be up to the RNC. But its just not a constructive move, when youre trying to win elections and take on Democrats, to take on Republicans. Its just not helpful.

White House science adviser resigns and acknowledges disrespectful and demeaning behavior after investigation

Eric Lander, a top science adviser to President Joe Biden, resigned Monday after a White House investigation that found he had violated workplace policies became public.

We have assembled the most amazing set of people at OSTP, and we have together set out the most ambitious goals that this agency has ever attempted. I have sought to push myself and my colleagues to reach our shared goals  including at times challenging and criticizing, Lander wrote in his resignation letter to Biden.

But it is clear that things I said, and the way I said them, crossed the line at times into being disrespectful and demeaning, to both men and women. That was never my intention.

Lander wrote that his resignation is effective no later than February 18 in order to permit an orderly transfer.

The resignation of the Presidents science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy comes just a day after damning reports surfaced that he had been the subject of an internal investigation late last year after a complaint was filed under the Executive Office of the Presidents Safe and Respectful Workplace Policy. The investigation, first reported by Politico, found credible evidence of violations of the policy and corrective action was taken consistent with those findings, a spokesperson for OSTP told CNN. It did not find credible evidence of gender-based discrimination, the spokesperson noted.

A person familiar with the situation told CNN that Biden had not asked for Landers resignation but that he had offered it Monday night after staying on in his role as a top adviser had become untenable.

US approves $100 million missile defense sale to Taiwan

The United States has approved the possible sale to Taiwan of military equipment and services, including engineering services to support the Patriot missile defense system, for an estimated cost of $100 million, according to a statement released Monday by the Defense Department.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States had requested to buy the equipment and services to support its participation in the International Engineering Services Program and Field Surveillance Program for five years, which are designed to sustain, maintain, and improve the defense system, the statement said.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said they had delivered the required certification notifying Congress of the possible sale on Monday.

This proposed sale serves US national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipients continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability, a statement from DSCA said.

It added the sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region.

 From wire reports
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Etlat- Rooz (translated by RAWA), February 7, 2022

Residents have staged a protest following the killing of a civilian in Kabul's Mirbacheh Kot district.

The incident took place this evening (Monday, February 7) in the "Sarai Khaja" area of Mirbacheh Kot district of Kabul and the victim was a shopkeeper.

Protesters carried the body on the Parwan-Kabul highway, chanting "Death to the Taliban!" slogan as the road closed to traffic.

In a video posted on social media, protesters blamed the Taliban for the killing of the shopkeeper.

Eyewitnesses told a number of media outlets that the Taliban had initially arrested the shopkeeper, but when he [the shopkeeper] fled, the group shot him dead with two bullets and left the area.

The Taliban have not yet commented.
Greenville, TX (75401)

Today

Cloudy and windy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with thunderstorms becoming likely overnight. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Anderson, IN (46016)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 57F. NNW winds shifting to ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 57F. NNW winds shifting to ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
New Orleans is a place where everyone is encouraged to live as their authentic selves. Hotel Indigo New Orleans - French Quarter takes inspiration from the sounds and sights of local traditions, including the booming melodies of brass bands, the creative costuming of locals and visitors alike, and the enticing beckon of the city's "second line" parades.

The "second line" tradition is woven into the fabric of the community and dates back to the social aid and pleasure clubs of the early 19th Century. This celebratory parade was open to any and all to rejoice in life, eventually entrenching itself in the daily ritual of life - marking funerals and celebrations, or for no other reason than to convene in merriment.

The 143-room Hotel Indigo New Orleans - French Quarter invites guests to be "part of that number," whether visiting as a quick stop during the day or enjoying for a longer period. Located in the Central Business District along the world's oldest continuously operating street railway, the hotel now stands at the very intersection where the historic St. Charles Hotel once loomed. The spirited neighborhood, steps from the vibrant French Quarter, is a crossroads of historic architecture and contemporary life, with public artworks celebrating the city's rich culture, notable theaters and lively new food halls.

After discovering the local art galleries, jumping on the St. Charles line for a nostalgic street railway ride, and tasting Cafe du Monde's famous beignets, visit Common Interest, the hotel's restaurant lounge that brings together a cultural cauldron of guests and locals while serving up a contemporary twist on traditional New Orleans cuisine.

Hotel website
Pasuta began her career at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok before exploring opportunities outside of Thailand. Developing her skills and adding to her experience, she worked in New Zealand and also held the Deputy Hotel Manager position at Bougainvilla Hotel in Khartoum, Sudan. In 2009, Pasuta returned to Thailand to take on the role of Resort Manager at X2 Samui Villas by Design before becoming the Resort Manager at Away Koh Kood in June 2010. She continued her career as a Resort Manager for Absolute Sanctuary Samui in 2011 before moving to Khon Khaen's Wishing Tree Resort for 4 years. For the past 6 years, Pasuta has held the position of General Manager at Jasmine Palace Hotel in Yangon Myanmar, leading the hotel since its pre-opening phase.

With her 20-year career in the hospitality industry, Pasuta has built up extensive knowledge and experience of international and luxury brands. "I am very happy to announce the appointment of Pasuta as General Manager of our first hotel in Laos. Her hands-on experience in the hospitality business, combined with her business acumen are the qualities we need in our executive management team. I'm excited to welcome her to her new role," said Mr. Clovyn.
Expedia. Skyscanner. Booking.com. Trip.com. Priceline. These days there are countless third-party platforms for booking flights, hotels, rental cars and other aspects of the travel experience.

While these websites can make the planning process feel more seamless and convenient, there are some potential drawbacks that are important to understand before you make any reservations.

Below, travel experts share the common mistakes people make when booking trips through a third-party service  and their advice for avoiding these errors during your travels.

Assuming They Have The Lowest Prices

Travel booking websites can be great for comparing prices across different providers and potentially finding exclusive deals. But youre often going to see the same costs across platforms  including the travel vendors direct website.

You should not assume online travel agencies have the lowest prices, said Phil Dengler, co-founder of The Vacationer. While coupons and other promotions can make it appear that you are saving a lot of money, you should always check directly with the airline or hotel.

When booking a flight, you should check the prices on the airline websites, as well as results on search engines like Google Flights. As you look for accommodations, compare rates on hotel websites and third-party booking systems.

In many cases, hotels will guarantee the cheapest rate when booking directly with them. In certain situations, third-party booking sites will hide resort fees until the very last moment or put them in an easy-to-miss spot.

Losing 24-Hour Cancellation Options

You should not book airfare with an online travel agency if there is a chance you may take advantage of the federal 24-hour cancellation rule, Dengler said.

Read the full article at huffingtonpost.com
PITTSBURGH  With revenue volumes among its portfolio of independent, branded and soft-brand hotels and resorts on the rise, third-party management company OTH Hotels Resorts needed a way to streamline its financial processes without incurring costly support fees. Unable to self-administer changes directly into its existing accounting system, the young hotel company  founded in January 2020  was paying exorbitant administrative costs just to modify a single employee password or add/remove system access as staff came and went. Corporate Director of Finance David Wheeler knew it was time for a change. The 33-year hospitality veteran said he always had tremendous success with Aptech, the industry standard for hospitality financial management. Upon learning of PVNG, Aptechs advanced enterprise accounting solution built on a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, OTH immediately made the switch, and Wheeler got his wish to operate as a paperless accounting operation.

Our former accounting solution provider was more focused on the support agreement than the product; it was frustrating to say the least, Wheeler said. So, I reached back out to Aptech  an accounting system that I could always rely on  to start a new conversation. Familiar only with its earlier-generation accounting product, Profitvue, I was thrilled to learn that Aptech had developed a new SaaS solution, PVNG. It has all the best practice features I remember from the past, but its built on modern technology that enables us to operate in the cloud and function as a paperless office by scanning invoices and digitally attaching them to AP registers, journal entries and more. This was the exact type of efficiency I was looking for. PVNG has all the features available in expensive General Ledger and Accounts Payable systems, but its offered as a subscription service, giving us a custom solution at an off-the-shelf software price. The cost efficiencies we experienced with PVNG enables us to be more competitive as we pass the savings on to our clients.

The biggest differentiator is that Aptech doesnt treat its support program like an endless source of revenue generation, he said. They suggested a higher tier of support for the first 90 days while we were getting comfortable with the system, but after that, we could reduce our reliance on support as needed. Today, we are handling 90% of all support in house because PVNG is so user friendly and intuitive. Any changes we need to make within the system we can do it ourselves . . . FREE. Gone are the days of paying ridiculous support bills for simple resets. With Aptech and PVNG, support issues are a thing of the past.

PVNG is a game-changer in the world of hotel accounting. It features the Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger, Statistics, Financials, and Bank Reconciliation that todays hotel operators are seeking with much-needed browser navigation. Its OCR invoice processing, myriad of payment options, drill-down capabilities in financial statements and reports, ability to handle single or multi-property accounting, and the fact that it can be deployed as a hosted service, explains why this accounting solution is in such high demand.

We are thrilled to have David Wheeler back among the Aptech family and add OTH Hotels Resorts to our growing list of satisfied and highly-successful management company clients, said Sam Costa, Aptech Director of Customer Service and Support. No one is happier than Sales Manager Kimberly Sieminski who struck up a long-term friendship with Dave over the years; their desire to stay in touch paid off for both companies. This is a true testament to the Aptech sales team; they are relationship builders who truly care about the success of their customers.

OTH Hotels Resorts is a rising star in the management company market, Costa said. They love the resort business, as their diversified portfolio of upper upscale hotels shows. When you operate a mix of independents, brands, and softbrands like OTH, you need financial management software that can be customized to meet each propertys needs and support brand standards. Aptech has been developing web-based, customizable, financial-management software for more than 50 years. We have the tool that todays challenged accountants need to access, view, compare, and dynamically analyze the performance data of their single hotel or multi-property, multi-branded portfolios. Its a real pleasure to bring OTH into the Aptech fold, and we look forward to onboarding more properties as they continue to expand in the future.

For more information on PVNG by Aptech, visit http://www.aptech-inc.com.

About OTH Hotels Resorts

OTH Hotels Resorts manages a diverse portfolio of upscale and upper-upscale independent, lifestyle, soft-branded, and branded hotel properties across the United States. Our leadership team of experienced, industry-best hospitality professionals excels at implementing operational efficiencies, nurturing a thoughtful employee culture, and offering warm, unforgettable guest service that turns moments into memories for our guests and yields positive outcomes for our owners and team members alike.

About Aptech Computer Systems Inc.

Aptech Computer Systems, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the only provider of a fully integrated enterprise accounting, business intelligence and planning ecosystem to the hospitality industry. All clients are companies like yours, which own or manage hotels. Its solutions help customers at both the corporate and property levels understand their financial and operational data for faster goal achievement. The company is renowned for introducing business intelligence into the hotel industry and offers a solid resource of hospitality professionals. Aptech is an IBM Software Value Plus partner and Premier Solution Provider, as well as a Prophix Premier Business Partner. Incorporated in 1970, Aptechs state-of-the-art back office, true business intelligence and enterprise planning solutions are 100% hotel specific. Solutions include PVNG, Execuvue and Targetvue. Clients comprise over 3,500 properties  including large chains, multiple-property management companies and single-site hotels. Execuvue is registered to Aptech Computer Systems Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective holders. For more information, please visit www.aptech-inc.com.

Barbara Worcester

+1 440 930 5770
In a new paper published this week in the journal Current Biology, University of Osnabrucks Dr. Simone Pika and colleagues report the first observations of chimpanzees applying insects to their own open wounds and to the wounds of conspecifics.

Self-medication  where individuals use plant-parts or non-nutritional substances to combat pathogens or parasites  has been observed across multiple animal species including insects, reptiles, birds and mammals, said Dr. Pika, a cognitive biologist with the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabruck.

Our two closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, for instance, swallow leaves of plants with anthelmintic properties and chew bitter leaves that have chemical properties to kill intestinal parasites.

However, despite research spanning decades from other long-term field sites in west and east Africa, external application of animal matter on open wounds has, until now, never been documented.

Our observations provide the first evidence that chimpanzees regularly capture insects and apply them onto open wounds, said Dr. Tobias Deschner, a primatologist with the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabruck.

We now aim to investigate the potential beneficial consequences of such a surprising behavior.

In November 2019, Alessandra Mascaro, an evolutionary biologist with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and a volunteer at the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project, observed a chimpanzee named Suzee inspecting a wound on the foot of her adolescent son, Sia, catching an insect out of the air, putting it into her mouth, and then applying it onto the wound.

The Ozouga Chimpanzee Project team members had been studying this group of chimpanzees in Loango National Park in Gabon, West Africa, for 7 years but hadnt witnessed behavior like this before.

In the video, you can see that Suzee is first looking at the foot of her son, and then its as if she is thinking, What could I do? and then she looks up, sees the insect, and catches it for her son, Mascaro said.

The team started to monitor the chimpanzees for this type of wound-tending behavior, and over the next 15 months (from November 2019 until February 2021) documented 76 cases of the group applying insects to wounds on themselves and others (eleven adult males, two adolescent males, one juvenile male, four adult females, two adolescent females, and two juvenile females).

In 19 events, individuals (five adult males, one adult female, one juvenile female) applied an insect to one of their own wounds using the following behavioral sequence, the authors said.

First, they caught an insect; second, they immobilized it by placing and/or squeezing the insect between their lips; third, they placed the insect to an exposed surface of the wound and moved the insect on the surface using their fingertips or lips; fourth, they extracted the insect from the wound with the mouth or their fingers. Steps three and four are often repeated multiple times during each event.

Though the insect species utilized have not yet been identified, there are several consistencies across all our observations: they appear to be winged, flying insects, given the fast motion used to catch them; the insects are caught from under a leaf or branch; they are 5 mm in size and usually dark in color and there was no observation of insect ingestion.

They theorize that the insects might have soothing properties that could provide pain relief.

Studying great apes in their natural environments is crucial to shed light on our own cognitive evolution, Dr. Deschner said.

We need to still put much more effort into studying and protecting them and also protecting their natural habitats.

_____

Alessandra Mascaro et al. 2022. Application of insects to wounds of self and others by chimpanzees in the wild. Current Biology 32 (3): PR112-R113; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.045
NUMA: 500% revenue growth, over 2,500 units, booking occupancy 85% despite COVID, 230% above market average across Europe

NUMA's innovative model proves resilient amid challenging market conditions in 2021

Lead investor DN Capital, co-lead Headline and investors Soravia, Cherry Ventures, Scope Hanson, and Kreos Capital accelerate NUMAs strong growth

NUMA Group (www.numastays.com, previously known as COSI Group), the leading European digital hotel operator and technology developer, has raised additional $45 million growth capital in a new funding round to further expand its business. The company provides disruptive design hotels for modern travelers. NUMA has been highly successful in operating more than 2,500 units in A-list European cities, including Berlin, Munich, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, and Vienna, under the claim "bring some soul to travel".

NUMA partners with investors, property owners, developers, and hotel operators to create innovative technology-based operator solutions. NUMA's proprietary technology stack increases profits by up to 40% for hotel operators through automated business processes, intelligent pricing, and higher occupancy rates.

Germany-based NUMA Group successfully expanded into Spain, Italy, Austria, and the Czech Republic in 2021. NUMA achieved 85% booking occupancy of its 2,500 units in Europe, a stark contrast to the industry-wide decline caused by the pandemic.

NUMA outperformed the market average for traditional hotels by 230% of booking occupancy during the pandemic, according to benchmarking solution Fairmas. The new strategic business unit NUMA Go, a technology franchise solution for hotels, already convinced numerous hotel operators to adopt its technology in its first year. NUMA Go is an all-in-one solution supporting the hotel industry in adapting flexibly to the new market conditions and significantly reducing costs.

The new lead investor of NUMA Group is DN Capital Group, one of the most successful global technology investors who previously backed Auto1, HomeToGo, and Shazam. The co-lead investor is Headline. Existing investors Cherry Ventures, Soravia, Kreos Capital, TruVenturo, and Scope Hanson are also participating in the new and oversubscribed $45 million financing round.

Christian Gaiser, CEO, and co-founder of NUMA Group explains: "Our clear goal is to establish NUMA as the dominant technology and creative solution provider for a completely new generation of hotels in Europe. NUMA used the pandemic to prove the resilience of its business model. We achieved 500% revenue growth and 85% booking occupancy despite Corona using our NUMA concept and proprietary technology." Gaiser adds, "We will use the fresh capital to offer even more NUMA hotel rooms and expand our technological lead across Europe rapidly  we will also expand the NUMA Go business unit.

Nenad Marovac, Founder and Managing Partner of DN Capital Group, European Midas List Investor and Board member at NUMA: "We are very impressed by NUMA's strategy, performance and its consistent expansion in a very challenging market environment. The team behind NUMA has consistently achieved high occupancy rates and sustainable profitability of its units despite Corona. NUMA's business model offers an attractive risk-reward profile for real estate partners, operators  and, most importantly, a completely new travel experience for modern travelers. We believe NUMAs disruption technology will fundamentally change the hotel industry."

Christian Miele, Partner at Headline, President of the German Startups Association, and German Startup Investor of the Year (Handelsblatt): "Demand is clearly shifting from traditional hotel offerings to NUMA's product category. NUMA is very capital-efficient in developing a new, disruptive hotel category that is tailor-made to meet the demand of Millennials and Gen-Z. As early investors, we are therefore very excited to continue supporting NUMA in its next phase of growth."
Magnuson Hotels signed 80 Independent Collection hotel agreements in 2021, in the US and UK, with a strong year forecast for 2022. The commitments illustrate the resilience of the companys model during the downturn, as it focused on local markets and dynamic pricing, supported by a global team on call 24/7.

The company reported a 31.3% increase on occupancy and a 43.5% increase over 2019 in RevPAR (revenue per available room) for its Independent Collection for year-end 2021.

These performance figures come in a recovery year in which global hotel bench mark agency STR reports a USA negative occupancy (-12.6%), a negative ADR (-4.8%) and therefore a RevPAR deficit of -16.8%.

Thomas Magnuson, CEO, said: The pandemic has seen a shift in hotel source markets, with corporate travel and international travel as weve known it removed from hotels options. Our teams have instead looked domestically and locally at those businesses which are key to success and solid, long-term business.

Local government, medical, public safety, energy, transportation, construction, government, long-term corporate. The business market is now driven by essential business travelthe must-take trips, those small and medium-sized enterprises which have been getting in their cars and hitting the road.

Magnuson said: With hotels drained of their cash reserves after two years of Covid and government support waning, we see a strong growth pipeline in 2022. Hotels are already responding to pressures of rising supply from Airbnb and also need a solution for the required renovations by publicly traded franchise brands that mean $20K per room expense..

Magnuson adds further, ongoing changes to travel restrictions mean that dynamic pricing is now operating on a much shorter timescale, and states hotels will require distribution platforms with pricing automations and outsourced revenue management with 24/7 pricing and distribution support.

About Magnuson Hotels

Magnuson Hotels is a global flag which offers a variety of routes to market for owners, both branded and unbranded, at a fraction of the cost of traditional franchises, underpinned by the Magnuson Cloud, a comprehensive technology solution which includes global distribution. Magnuson Hotels never requires renovations, but insists upon an aggregate review score to meet guest expectations. Learn more at www.magnusonhotelsworldwide.com

Magnuson Hotels press information and images:

Emily Newman or Katherine Doggrell at NewDog PR [email protected] or [email protected]

Magnuson Hotels

US: +1509.747.8713 or UK: +44 208 767 4878

Magnuson
Last year, road trips continued to reign supreme for many North American travelers, air travel started to rebound, cruise enthusiasts finally hit the high seas again, and the industry maintained its path toward recovery. Although COVID-19 continues to impact the travel industryand travelersthe clear path forward is adapting and creating new realities for travel, and agility remains key to success.

According to the latest findings from the Expedia Group Traveler Value Index: 2022 Outlook, which surveyed 5,500 adults in eight global markets, 8 in 10 travelers are planning to take at least one leisure trip in the next six months. To help marketers plan for the year ahead and capture leisure travel demand, were highlighting 2022 industry trends based on the latest data and insights from 300 petabytes of Expedia Group first-party data and custom research.

Below are a few of the trends we expect to see for destinations and car rental companies in 2022.

1. Travelers Will Invest in Travel  and Themselves

The study found that 54% of travelers expect to spend more money on travel than they did pre-pandemic, with American, British, Australian, and Canadian travelers planning to spend the most. On the flip side, Japanese and Mexican travelers expect to spend the least. This may be due to stringent travel regulations or travel preferences.

Regardless of travel budgets or spending intentions, there is a wide-reaching opportunity for travel marketers to appeal to travelers with discounts, promotions, and special offers. Those who are already expecting to spend big may be more open to investing in discount upgrades or ancillary items that improve the overall travel experience, while those who plan to spend less may be influenced by deals and discounts that align with their budget.

In addition to the financial investment, travelers will invest in their personal wellness through future travel. According to Expedias 2022 Travel Trends Report, more than one-third (36%) of U.S. travelers are searching for a sense of contentment and mental wellbeing on their next trip. In 2022, 38% of Americans are most looking forward to a trip experience that allows them to relax and do nothing. Marketers can lead with visuals or messaging that highlight opportunities for travelers to disconnect, decompress, and get away from it all.

2. Car Travel Will Lead, Driven by a Desire for Quick Trips

Though all modes of transportation are expected to see a lift in 2022, car travel continues to be the leading choice for travelers around the world. 7 in 10 travelers plan to take a car tripwhich includes a personal vehicle or rental carin the next 12 months. Americans (77%), followed by French (73%), Australian (73%), and Canadian (72%) travelers are most likely to travel by car in the next 12 months. Rental car marketers should continue to engage with a broad demographic audience to inspire travel, but a focused effort on travelers from these regions is most likely to create opportunities to engage and convert.

In addition to regional targeting, marketers can promote deals and discounts for quick trips or long weekend getaways. Car travelers (83%) prefer more frequent, shorter trips, so incentivizing them with a great dealand providing an excellent experiencecould help drive repeat business with this receptive and eager-to-travel audience.

3. Travelers Will Adapt Plans and Preferences to Safely Get Away

After living in the pandemic for nearly two years, consumers have learned how to travel under the circumstances, based on their comfort level, and they will continue to adapt and evolve their travel behaviors and preferences as the landscape changes. For instance, 54% of travelers said they would pick a destination with COVID-19 safety protocols and 49% would choose a less crowded destination. Furthermore, 62% of travelers would follow local COVID-19 guidelines in an effort to adapt their travel specifically because of the effects of the pandemic.

These findings indicate that health and safety guidelines and COVID-19 protocols may re-emerge as an important factor in traveler decisions. Markers should continue to highlight this information to help travelers make responsible travel decisions and take appropriate precautions.

To learn more about these trends, as well as insights for air, accommodations and more, download the full Traveler Value Index: 2022 Outlook. You can also find out about our car rental and destination marketing solutions, or contact us to speak with a digital media consultant today.

Download the Report.

About Expedia Group Media Solutions

Expedia Group Media Solutions, the advertising organization of Expedia Group, offers industry expertise and digital marketing solutions that allow brands to reach, engage and influence its qualified audience of travelers around the world. Through its vast network of leading travel brands and global points of sale, Expedia Group Media Solutions provides marketing partners with proprietary data-driven insights about traveler behaviors during every stage of the purchase journey, along with dynamic advertising solutions, to deliver strategic campaigns and measurable results. For more information, visit www.advertising.expedia.com.

 2022 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. CST: 2029030-50

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The Student Hotel concept started with one simple observation: that students deserve better. Today, that vision has become reality and grown to encompass all guests with a student spirit. From design-savvy travelers to next-gen entrepreneurs, TSH now welcomes thousands of people annually to its ever-expanding portfolio of urban campus-style hotels across Europe. Purpose-built or housed in historic reimagined buildings, TSHs industry-leading concept provides blended spaces to learn, stay, work and play for a night, a week, a month or a year. TSH guests, businesses and local communities embrace its positive impact-driven programming and inclusive culture. All TSH properties offer a mixed-use campus with accommodation, bars, restaurants, gyms, retail shops, meeting and event spaces and TSH Collab, TSHs coworking hubs. With more than 6,000 rooms now open, TSH is operating in 16 European locations: Amsterdam City and West, Berlin, Dresden, The Hague, Delft, Vienna, Groningen, Eindhoven, Maastricht, Rotterdam, Florence, Bologna, and Paris, as well as two TSH Campus sites in Barcelona  student-only residences. Its pipeline of new hotels includes Madrid, San Sebastian, Barcelona Provencal, Paris La Villette, Toulouse, Lisbon Carcavelos, Porto, Rome, Turin, and a further Florence location. Opening in the coming years, our pipeline represents circa. 6,000 additional rooms.
After a slump in 2020 largely due to the COVID pandemic, mergers and acquisitions in Texas during 2021 boomed to record levels, both in number and value.

The energy, technology and manufacturing companies led the wave of M&A activity last year. And merger and acquisition experts say they expect more of the same for 2022.

Texas lawyers worked on 929 business mergers and acquisitions in 2021  53 percent more than in 2020, according to exclusive new data from The Texas Lawbooks Corporate Deal Tracker.

The data shows that corporate dealmaking in 2021 was 32 percent higher than the 704 transactions in 2019, which was a record year.

The price tag of those deals also hit record levels.

The value of mergers and acquisitions in 2021 topped $601.7 billion, an increase of 133 percent from the $258 billion in 2020, according to the Deal Tracker data. The 2021 deal value total was 83 percent more than in 2019.

Brittany Sakowitz, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis in Houston, said mega deals and opportunistic or restructuring-driven transactions blared full volume across most sectors, deal sizes and structures.

Many predicted that deals would climb in 2021, but the pace of deal making significantly outperformed even the wildest expectations, she said. Deal activity was boosted by pent-up demand from private equity, public market strength, an abundance of cheap financing, substantial corporate cash, confident board rooms and accommodating Fed policies.

In late 2020 with COVID in full swing, there was much uncertainty, said Eric Otness, a partner at Skadden in Houston, but as oil and natural gas prices started to climb with global demand, the deals started rolling in 2021.

BIG QUESTION: Will blockbuster oil profits mean more jobs, stronger recovery for Houston?

It was hard to anticipate how busy it would become in 2021, but private equity activity and strategic consolidation fueled a boom in 2021, he said.

In addition to the $601.7 billion value attached to 2021 deals, there were 401 transactions that were confidential and the price tag kept secret.

Among the Corporate Deal Tracker statistics, four underscore the significance of the Texas M&A market last year:

 Texas dealmakers worked on more mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures in each month of 2021 than they did in the same months a year earlier.

 There were 115 deals handled by law firms in Texas that were valued at $1 billion or more compared with 64 in 2020 and 66 in 2019.

 Of the 929 transactions in 2021, 105 had price tags of $500 million to $999 million, more than double the 51 in that range a year earlier.

 The number of transactions handled by Texas lawyers with values of $250 million to $499 million also doubled last year, to 107 from 53 in 2020.

Janice Davis, a partner at Morgan Lewis in Dallas, said 2021 was the busiest M&A season that she has experienced in her 30-plus year career.

It was exhilarating, she said.

Sector breakdown

Health care M&A activity continues to be strong, especially with physician practice groups being purchased by private equity firms and the consolidation of certain health care businesses, such as hospice and home health, orthopedic and dermatologist physician practice groups, dental and orthodontist practice groups, Davis said.

The health and wellness sector and technology-enabled companies with a expandable business models witnessed elevated activity, according to Greenberg Traurig partner Tom Woolsey in Dallas.

Corporate Deal Tracker data shows Texas dealmakers worked on 33 health care-related deals in 2021 compared with 15 in 2020 and 11 in 2019.

Lawyers say they also saw more deals flow in the retail and consumer products sectors in 2021.

Consumer products in particular had a historic year of deal activity, said Katy Lukaszewski, a partner in Sidley's Houston office. We saw a renewed interest from strategics to bring innovative brands in-house to their brand portfolios, along with continued interest from private equity firms with an emphasis on skin care.

Technology transactions also skyrocketed last year, according to Data Tracker data. Lawyers in Texas handled 132 technology industry deals in 2021, a 53 percent increase from 2020 and quadruple the number in 2019.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

Manufacturing deals rose by 88 percent. Transactions involving business services companies rose to 45 last year from nine in 2020. Construction mergers jumped by 400 percent year over year, data shows.

The number of deals in only one business sector, financial services including banking, significantly declined last year, according to CDT data. There were 30 deals involving financial services compared with 42 in 2020.

The energy sector continued to dominate M&A transactions. In 2021, Texas dealmakers did 328 energy deals, a 25 percent jump from the previous year.

On the oil and gas front, there was a lot of activity in the oilfield services and midstream segments, according to Steve Gill, a partner at Vinson & Elkins who was recently named co-head of the firms M&A and capital markets practice group.

We saw a decline in upstream deals, but that doesnt mean people were not talking, he said. The general rise  albeit choppy and volatile  in commodity prices likely played a role in upstream deals as stock prices run ahead of what buyers felt were reasonable premiums.

But Gill also saw a dramatic increase in energy transition and digital infrastructure deals.

For our firm in particular, we did five times the number of energy transition deals in 2021 than we did in 2018 and double the digital infrastructure deals, he said.
Will patients be able to shop around for an MRI or colonoscopy like they do for hotels on sites such as Kayak or Orbitz?

The founders of Turquoise Health, a price comparison site for medical services, say yes.

The start-up launched in December 2020, and now has 4,000 health care providers including hospitals and other providers such as imaging centers, across the country in its database, including 320 in Texas. There are about 6,000 hospitals in the U.S., according to the American Hospital Association, and 650 hospitals in Texas, according to the state.

The company gathers pricing data with software that scrapes the web for hospitals that post prices and from hospitals that submit prices directly to Turquoise Health. Users can type procedures and their zip code in and compare the prices of providers in their area.

Turquoise Health, headquartered in San Diego, launched not long before the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services required hospitals to post prices  including those negotiated with insurers  for medical services such as x-rays and lab tests  by Jan. 1, 2021, or face fines up to $5,500 a day.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston's largest hospitals aren't posting price lists for medical services, could face federal fines

This really got its start as a bet on the pricing transparency final rule, Joe Wisniewski, head of platform growth at Turquoise Health. A lot of folks didn't expect this law to come into effect and yet it did come through 2021.

But pricing data remains limited. About 55 percent of U.S. hospitals are not complying with price transparency rules, according to a study Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published in December.

Medical pricing is also complex and more difficult to compare than say, airline tickets or hotel room. Hospitals can charge vastly difference prices for the same service. Different insurance companies can be charged different prices for the same procedure at the same hospital. The uninsured, or those who pay with cash, also will be billed different price.

Meanwhile, insurance coverage varies based on employers, insurers and plans, so even if patients know the price, its difficult to know how much they will actually pay for certain types of procedures, said Dr. Peter Cram, chair of the internal medicine department at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Other charges, such as facility fees, also may not be reflected in the pricing for particular services.

Finally, the data to be collected is limited. Only hospitals are required to post prices; stand-alone clinics for services such as MRIs and blood tests are not. As a result, price comparison databases may not include lower-cost options.

There are going to be concerns that these arent going to be the actual prices the patients are paying because there is cost sharing or deductibles, Cram said. There are going to be lots of reasons why people say this doesnt work.

On HoustonChronicle.com: More Texans than ever get health insurance through the ACA as enrollment surges 42 percent

Wisniewski, said he anticipates more hospitals to post prices as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services enforces the rules. In January, Turquoise Health added pricing for about 150 more providers to its database.

Houston Physicians Hospital, located in Webster about a half hour from Houston, is the only Hospital in Texas to send their prices to Turquoise Health as part of the companys efforts to verify prices. Amin Dhalla, the hospitals chief operating officer, said Houston Physicians wanted show it has nothing to hide.

We feel it's a competitive advantage for us to allow the community to see what we can do and what we will charge and the quality, Dhalla said. When you look at a procedure, why is one hospital being paid $5,000 and another being paid $15,000? So, we want to advocate for fair pricing in the marketplace with high quality outcomes.
Actor and musician Jackson Rathbone, who played Jasper Hale in the Twilight Saga film series, and his wife, Sheila, in July sold their five-bedroom, 3,929-square-foot house in Pflugerville for an amount likely close to their $800,000 asking price.

The sale came six months after the couple sold another Austin-area house  a four-bedroom, 4,254-square-foot contemporary-style house in Austins Northwest Hills area  for an amount likely close to their $1.495 million asking price.

The Rathbones have left the Austin area and have moved to the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Ga., where they paid $920,000 in July for a six-bedroom brick house on a 1.17-acre property.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Former mayoral candidate Tony Buzbee accepting Bitcoin for $27.5M River Oaks Mansion

In June 2021, Rathbone, 37, posted on Facebook about his angst of moving again. And in May 2021, he posed for a photo on Facebook while seated on a Genuine Buddy 125 scooter in front of his garage in Pflugerville.

In Pflugerville, the couple had bought their home in September 2020 for an undisclosed amount from do-it-yourself Instagram influencers Brad and Holly Lauritzen, who had owned it since 2017. The Lauritzens gave the home numerous upgrades during their ownership of it.

Built in 2016, the Pflugerville house has 3-1/2 bathrooms, a shiplap fireplace in the family room, engineered hardwood flooring, and a kitchen with large brass pendants, subway tile, quartz countertops and a large farmhouse apron front sink. The houses primary bedroom is on the main level and has a bath with a soaking tub and walk-through shower, while the second level has a loft area with barn-style doors and a pool table. The house also has a media room with a built-in bar area.

Outside on the property is a playhouse.

Listing agent Jessica Murdock declined to comment on the Rathbones Pflugerville sale. However, Jackson Rathbone wasnt the only celebrity to own a home in his area of Pflugerville. Just a few blocks away, comedian and podcaster Brian Redban in late 2020 paid likely close to $440,000 for a four-bedroom, 3,225-square-foot house.

The Rathbones had bought their Northwest Hills-area house in April 2018 for an amount likely close to the $995,000 asking price at the time. They then listed that house in October 2020 for $1.65 million. They later cut their listing price to $1.49 million before finding a buyer and closing on the sale of that house in January 2021.

Built in 1967, the Northwest Hills-area home has a pool off the living room, Swedish white oak floors throughout the entire first floor, a kitchen with Thermador appliances, new light fixtures and custom hand-painted tile, and new recessed lighting and cans throughout the first level.

Goldsborough is a freelance reporter who writes for the San Antonio Express-News.
WASHINGTON  Even as oil companies pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by mid century, their plans to continue increasing crude production through the end of the decade put global climate change efforts in jeopardy, a prominent climate scientist told Congress Tuesday.

Testifying before the House Oversight Committee, Michael Mann, a professor at Pennsylvania State University, described the oil sector's efforts to address climate change by reducing the carbon intensity of their fuels and capturing carbon emissions for storage underground as "delay tactics."

"If we are to meet this monumental challenge, we need all hands on deck. We can not have industry and their PR firms working at cross purposes," he said. "It means incentivizing the energy industry to move towards clean and renewable energy today, rather than kicking the can down the road. Congress has a central role in facilitating all of these actions."

RELATED: Oil companies climate targets not what they seem

In recent years major oil companies like Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell have worked to move beyond the industry's climate denial of the 1990s and 2000s, pledging to get their operations to net zero emissions by 2050.

But that does not include emissions from the products they sell, like gasoline and jet fuel, drawing criticism they are not addressing the bulk of their industry's emissions. In a presentation to investors last year, Exxon CEO Darren Woods said the company's oil and gas production would stay level over the next four years.

"Exxon Mobil is really like a tobacco company that pledges to prohibit smoking in their factories by 2050 while continuing to produce and sell cigarettes," Mark van Baal, founder of the activist group Follow This, testified Tuesday.

Asked for comment, oil companies including Exxon, BP and Royal Dutch Shell maintained they were making serious effort to address climate change.

"Over the next six years, we plan to invest more than $15 billion on initiatives to lower greenhouse gas emissions," said Casey Norton, an Exxon spokesman. "Stronger policy further accelerates development and deployment of lower-emission technologies, and would provide ExxonMobil additional investment opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

BP announced Tuesday morning they would cut the carbon intensity of their products, not just their operations, to net zero by 2050.

For now, the world remains hugely reliant on oil and other fossil fuels to produce the energy around which modern society operates.

Recent investor shifts away from fossil fuels have resulted in an under investment in new oil and gas infrastructure, in part contributing to recent rises in oil and natural gas prices, oil and gas executives maintain.

"Rather than interrogate these companies engaged in the yet legal actives of producing and selling oil to American and global customers, Congress should be seeking to understand the ongoing energy price crisis," testified Katie Tubb, a senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

After Democrats took control of the House last year, the House Oversight Committee began looking into companies contribution to climate change and the veracity of their efforts to reduce global emissions.

In October, they grilled Woods, BP America CEO David Lawler, Chevron CEO Michael Wirth and Gretchen Watkins, president of the U.S.-based Shell Oil Co., along with the heads of the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for hours about their companies' role in climate change.

The effort has divided Democrats and Republicans, with Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., accusing Democrats of intending to, "put these companies out of business."

Democrats leading the committee had called board members of Exxon, Chevron, BP and Shell to testify in Tuesday's hearing. After some back and forth on timing their appearance has now been scheduled for March, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the oversight committee.

"The committee will use every tool at its disposal to get the information we need," she said. "The American public and all generations to come deserve accountability."
Cold, colder, coldest: This was the week when I wanted my meals to warm me up. The quest took me to a futuristic Chinese takeout joint, a brilliant new modern Mexican restaurant and a clubby New American spot where the vinyl is cool and the crowd is, too.

Mapo tofu and Garlic 4 Season green beans from The Rice Box

Alison Cook / Staff

The warming mala tingle of Sichuan peppercorns meeting dried red chiles was just what I required as the mercury plunged.

And thanks to the heroic portions from The Rice Box, the three-unit takeout enterprise that began life as a food truck, I procured enough mapo tofu and green beans to eat for days without venturing into the cold again. Twenty-five bucks bought me enough food for a family of three, to my surprise, with rice and a couple of egg rolls in the bargain.

Both dishes were lively enough that I didnt tire of them, either. The tofu cubes were as silken as could be. The mala heat jump-started my nervous system without tromping on my palate. A fine mince of local 44 Farms beef and whole fermented black beans added substance to the ethereal tofu.

The skinny green beans proved to be a perfect foil, jumping with garlic and gently sweetened with lengths of sauteed onion. Both the beans and the tofu reminded me of why I enjoyed The Rice Box way back when owner John Peterson was handing cartons out of a lantern-festooned truck parked off of Westheimer: The food was always better than it had to be.

These days, you can eat in at the neon-lit River Oaks location, where I ordered online and picked up my food, right on time, and theres even a dining deck. Beware the tricky wedge of parking lot, though; and be advised that the location on an equally tricky curve allows you to enter only when driving north on Shepherd.

Handmade flour tortillas and truffle butter with salmon roe at Chivos

Alison Cook / Staff

I gaped outright at the plate of flour tortillas that was set before me at Chivos, the contemporary Mexican restaurant where gifted chef Thomas Bille holds forth.

You had to see these tortillas close up, from an angle, to appreciate them. The gilded surfaces lifted up in billows, the layering always a clue to superior specimens. The tortillas were pliable  the better to roll them  while retaining a good, firm bite.

There was lovely pale butter to spread on them, too. I had been wary of the whole truffle butter idea, fearing the truffle-oiled worst, but however the truffle effect was achieved, it worked subtly and well. Adding briny orange salmon-roe pearls made all the textures and flavors pop.

Its the after-school snack a grandma might have offered to tide you over until dinner, if it went and got itself a Ph.D. Order Chivos sophisticated West Tejas cocktail to go with it.

Bone-marrow tacos with salsa seca at Chivos (pictured above)

What an idea! From the rich, quivery thrills of bone marrow to the lure of superior blue-corn tortillas, these roll-your-own tacos were the biggest hit of an exciting dinner.

Step one: spoon out some of the trembly, rendered-down marrow from the long troughs of shin bone, making sure to capture enough of the salsa seca baked on top, a blissful grit of red chile, toasty seeds and nuts, all flecked with big crystals of sea salt.

Step two: roll the marrow into a tender and fragrant blue-corn tortilla, along with some leaves of brightly dressed parsley and greens. Tuck in some radish slices and pickled red onion, too.

Step three: ooh, aah and fight with your friends over the last little scraps.

Tlayuda at Chivos

Alison Cook / Staff

I could have devoted this entire column to dishes from chef Billes exciting menu at Chivos, truth be told. His food is that good  and his kitchen delivers even when hes off duty, which is always a huge plus.

In this case, they turned out a tlayuda so thin and cracker-crisp that it would be admired in Oaxaca, where this thin cartwheel spangled with ingredients is eaten at street stands, in market stalls and at restaurants.

Here in Houston, tlayudas are few and far between. (Xochi does a good version, for one.) Billes version combines fragile textures with an earthy depth of flavors, thanks to thin slices of rosy-rare strip loin against a smooth black bean base. Tart green salsa, pickled red onion and dressed greens all cut an edge, while crema and quesillo, the Oaxacan fresh cheese, smooth things out.

Bille is a major talent who once was executive sous chef at the highly regarded Otium in LA. He came to Houston for a brief stint as chef de cuisine at Xochi before opening his own place in Old Town Spring. It was an out of the mainstream location, and the pandemic struck soon after.

So I rejoice that Greg Perezs Night Moves hospitality group recruited Bille to head up Chivos (its Mexican for goats, and yes, its a pun) in the Heights space that was formerly Calle Onze.

Chivos , 222 W. 11th, 832-767-1417

Nonnos Pasta from Nobies

Alison Cook / Staff

Few things are more comforting than pasta Bolognese during a cold snap. Chef Martin Stayers version at Nobies has gathered a reputation thats a little surprising, since it is one of the only normie dishes on this pun-filled, resolutely forward-looking farm-to-table menu.

I never thought to order it until now. Suddenly, I understand the staying power of the dish, which Stayer has adapted from his father-in-laws family recipe.

Theres an intense, finely hewed meatiness to the pork-and-beef-based Bolognese sauce, which goes onto wide, thick tagliatelle noodles made in house. The pasta has a nice al dente bite to it, and the Bolognese is a mere cling rather than an opaque sluice. Squint past the butter gleam on the noodles and you can spy flecks of carrot and red chile flakes in the mix, which cooks down overnight with red wine and red wine vinegar as well as milk and cream.

The dish travels well, as does the gorgeous whole-head Bibb salad you may want to order to go with it. And heck, yes, get some of Nobies citrus-scented olive oil cake for dessert. Or even a slab of their unthinkably lush, baroque Peanut Butter Black Bottom Pie. Its cold out, after all.

Word to the wise: Colquitt at Shepherd is a mess of construction right now, so you may want to come around the back way, from streets to the east. No online ordering, but they do a nice job on call-ins.

Nobies , 2048 Colquitt, 346-319-5919

alison.cook@chron.com
Olympic fashion, particularly at the opening ceremonies, is as much a part of the games as the competition.

Ralph Lauren is a mainstay, outfitting the U.S. Olympic team again for the Winter Games in Beijing, China. Now, there's a Houston connection to Olympic style.
Congressman Troy Nehls (R-Texas 22) announced Monday that he has authored a bill that will provide grant funding to add 100,000 more law enforcement officers on the streets over the next five years. The Public Safety Enhancement Act of 2021 is a bill that reauthorizes the grant authored by then-Sen. Joe Biden in his 1994 crime bill.

The legislation calls for funding to add another 20,000 officers to the streets each year over the next five years, Nehls explained.

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In the 1994 crime bill, then-President Bill Clinton drafted the bill with the support of Biden, then a senator, Nehls said. At the time, Biden was the chairman of the Senate Judiciary. Article One of that crime bill provided funding for the addition of 100,000 officers to the streets.

According to data from the FBI, Nehls said, overall violent crime has risen by almost 6 percent since 2020. The overall murder rate in the U.S. has increased by nearly 30 percent, he added, making it the largest increase in more than a century.

This violent crime is taking over our nations streets and neighborhoods, and the American people are saying, Enough is enough, Nehls said. What happens then is when you have less police, you will see more crime because more crimes will be committed as a result of less police visibility.

Nehls was sheriff of Fort Bend County prior to being elected to Congress. One of his more passionate campaign promises was his vow to promote law enforcement legislation and focus on crime reduction.

Despite being a reauthorization of a bill first drafted by two notable Democrats, Nehls worries that the bill will be struck down by fellow members of Congress due to the fact that its authored by a Republican.

Ive had some people say to me, Your bill isnt going to go anywhere because your names on it, meaning Nancy Pelosi is not going to give a Republican a win here, he said.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Harris County GOP official sparks bipartisan scorn with 7 shocking, hate-filled proposals

He issued an open request for a Democrat to author the bill in order to help it move through Congress.

I will put the name of any Democrat on it because this is good for America and the American people, he said. Who cares about whos taking credit, or whose idea it was? Lets just do something for the American people, those that are subject to criminal activity in their neighborhoods.

The bill has received original cosponsors from Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), and Reps. Don Young (R-Ark.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Brian Babin (R-Texas), Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), John Carter (R-Texas), Brain Mast (R-Fla.), David Rouzer (R-Texas), Randy Weber (R-Texas), Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), Gregory Murphy (R-N.C.), and Pat Fallon (R-Texas).

claire.goodman@chron.com
Confederate Drive in Missouri Citys Vicksburg subdivision is now Prosperity Drive.

Area residents and elected officials met Sunday afternoon to celebrate the renaming and applaud Beau and Rhonda Gilbo, who spearheaded the initiative.

All of us (neighbors) just wanted our street name changed to something more inclusive, said Rhonda Gilbo after thanking the attendees. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors, but I hated the name of my street.

Several places in the Houston and Missouri City area continue to bear offensive names, serving as painful reminders of Americas troubling history. Councilman Jeffrey Boney spoke at length about the African American experience and history in Texas.

(After the Civil War) blacks became governors and senators and Congress people, Boney said. The people that had been in power for so long didnt like that. So, the Ku Klux Klan was formed, and they terrorized, not only black people, but abolitionists who wanted to see things change in this country. Thus, the Confederacy was born, and they lost.

Congressman Al Green recalled the racial etiquette that governed the behavior of children in the 1950s and 60s  colored water fountains, separate doors and being expected to yield to whites while waiting in line.

Ive also lived long enough to understand that its not the color of skin, is the character within that determines the worth of men and women, Green said. This is about two people of character today in this community who decided that Confederate Drive was just not accepted.

Members of Congress can request to have an American flag flown over the United States Capitol building in honor of special people or causes. Green presented the group with commemorative flags, praising the elected officials and community members for proving that taking action to eliminate symbols of bigotry and racism was indeed possible.

This is a special occasion and these special people, said Green, and these are flags that were flown over the Capitol.

After it is flown over the Capitol, each flag is issued a keepsake certificate of authenticity by the Architect of the Capitol.

The vestiges of a bygone era, an era riddled with invidious discrimination and marked by insidious segregation, remain in our country to this day, Green stated. The renaming of Confederate Drive, a symbol of shame, to Prosperity Drive, a symbol of hope, indicates the willingness of our society to acknowledge and rectify the sins committed during one of the most tragic periods in our history.

Councilor Jeffrey Boney, whose district includes the Vicksburg subdivision, was instrumental in changing Missouri Citys street-renaming code. Previously, 90 percent of property owners needed to sign a petition to have their street renamed. In September 2020, this threshold was lowered to 70 percent.

Its very, very difficult to get nine out of 10 people to agree on something, Boney said. Especially if they dont have the same concerns. It may not mean as much to them.

The residents of Prosperity Drive have list of six more names in the subdivision which they plan to tackle one by one  Bedford Forrest Drive (named for a KKK leader), Cresswell Court, Cumberland Drive, Breckinridge Court, Pickett Place and Beauregard Court.

Todays street renaming is also an example of what must be done to the taxpayer built and maintained Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., Green said in a statement. Much like Confederate Drive in Missouri City, the name Russell is a profound disgrace because it honors Richard Russell, a self-proclaimed white supremacist.

juhi.varma@hcnonline.com
Ahead of the March 1 primaries, the Sugar Land Sun asked the candidates for Texas House District 27 about four topics:

Tell the readers about yourself and why you want to represent House District 27. What are the biggest issues facing the district? What will be your top priorities if elected? How will you work to achieve your objectives?

Answers were submitted in writing and edited only for punctuation and AP style.

Ron Reynolds (Democrat)

Rep. Reynolds was sworn in on Jan. 10, 2011, as State Representative, House District 27. Reynolds is currently serving his sixth term in the Texas House. He is the first African-American state representative in Fort Bend County since Reconstruction. Reynolds was named 2021 87th Session Legislator of the Year by both Fort Bend United and The Young & the Politics. He was voted by his House colleagues as Freshman Legislator of the Year and Public Servant of the Year by the Houston Minority Contractors Association. He served as the House minority whip during the 83rd & 84th Legislative sessions. Reynolds is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and 100 Black Men of America.

Currently, Reynolds is the chair of the Texas Progressive Caucus; vice chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus; and vice chair of the House Caucus on Climate, Environment and the Energy Industry. He also serves as the legislative leader for the Texas State NAACP and the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats. Reynolds serves as the ranking member on the House Committee on Environmental Regulation and serves on the powerful Energy Resources Committee.

Prior to being elected state representative, Reynolds was an associate municipal judge for the city of Houston, past president of the Houston Lawyers Association and past president of the Missouri City & Vicinity NAACP. He is a recipient of the Honorary Doctorate of Divinity. Reynolds is a devout Christian.

I want to continue representing HD 27 so that I can continue advocating and fighting for my constituents in the areas of public education, health care, criminal justice reforms, climate action and jobs.

The biggest issues facing HD 27 are helping my constituents adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, fixing our energy grid and ensuring Texans have access to affordable health care.

My top priorities if reelected will be to continue helping my constituents with resources needed from the impact of COVID-19, fighting for Medicaid expansion, criminal justice reforms, jobs and gun control reforms.

I will continue helping my constituents with need resources including but not limited to free food distributions, COVID-19 testing sites, fighting for voting rights, filing legislation for Medicaid expansion, gun control reforms, criminal justice reforms, increase minimum wage to $15 an hour and fixing our energy grid.

Rodrigo Carreon (Democrat)

I have just filed for my third term elections for May 7, 2022, as local board member of Fort Bend Fresh Water Supply District 1. I have filed to give voters a chance to decide by voting for their best interest of my leadership, to go an rise me into state level in HD 27 or for me to continue at here local level in Fort Bend? I will be happy and satisfied where I get elected in 2022 elections at state level HD 27 or local level.

My top issues are increasing U.S. First Amendment rights to increase voters turnout in annual elections! Then, help improve state justice system with more public love an trust for equal justice to all. Education to increase students graduation to make our state a safer place to live. Then to help improve an help provide health care to more people for saving lives.

The best way to help getting job done is by helping turn Texas blue with public vote and public voice to support by sharing ideas and concerns with all elected officials before and after 2022! No public elected officials can work alone. Public and officials working together overcome future issues thats been effecting state of Texas before and after 2022 elections! Only citizen voters can help solve problems by voting and speaking to help get officials job done!

Sohrab Gilani (Republican)

Gilani did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
Candidates for Texas Senate District 18 were asked to respond to the following four topics in written form:

Tell the readers about yourself and why you want to represent Senate District 18. What are the biggest issues facing the district? What will be your top priorities if elected? What makes you the best person for this position?

Responses were edited only for punctuation and AP style.

Josh Tutt (Democrat)

I'm running for Texas State Senate District 18 because I think it's time for something new in Texas. When I woke up cold in my house during the Texas Blackout, I realized somebody had to do something about our state governments failures, and that somebody is me. I want to invest in the rural infrastructure we need, fund our public schools and support our teachers, and expand health care access for our neighbors. Im a seventh-generation Texan, an Eagle Scout, a graduate of Texas A&M University and an LGBTQ+ nonprofit leader. Im ready to make progress in Texas.

The biggest issue were facing right now is our population growing faster than our ability to support it. We see this in three major ways: water resources, public education and health care infrastructure. Our communities depend on reliably managed water resources, and especially in rural areas, groundwater conservation efforts. Our schools need better funding for teacher pay, support staff, technology and classroom supplies, particularly as the number of students continues to rise. And were all seeing the consequences of when our health care system is stretched too far, which is doubly true in rural counties. Lets be prepared for our future.

My top priorities are going to include modernizing the Texas power grid to prepare for future storms (not just winter storms, but hurricanes too), accept federal Medicaid expansion funds to bring our taxpayer dollars back to Texas, and expand voting rights, starting by creating online voter registration. The six-week abortion ban went too far, and we need to reverse it to ensure Texans have safe and legal access to abortion. Since I support responsible gun ownership, I believe we need to repeal the permitless carry laws passed last year. Additionally, its time that Texas legalized marijuana for adult use.

I think what Texans deserve most from our next State Senator is somebody who will listen and really hear them. I know how to do that. I volunteered over a thousand hours for a crisis intervention and suicide prevention hotline during college. I trained in active listening skills so I could put aside my own biases and expectations and truly listen. I work full time in the IT and technical support industry, so I know how to identify root problems and communicate to reach real solutions with people from all sorts of backgrounds. I hear you, and Im happy to help.

Lois Kolkhorst (Republican)

Kolkhorst did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

According to her campaign website, she is a fifth-generation Texan who was elected to the Texas Senate in 2014 after serving seven terms in the Texas House. In chairing the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, she has worked to form public health policies and guide Texas through the COVID-19 pandemic. Some other Senate committees she has served on include Finance; Natural Resources and Economic Development; Transportation; and Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The website states that Kolkhorst supports private property rights, the education community, peace officers and first responders, and state parks and historic sites. She has also pushed for improvements to Texas roads, ports and trade corridors.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
SHELTON  A Shelton nonprofit rehabilitation center has managed to not only survive, but thrive in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moving with Hope  long known for providing affordable care to those diagnosed with debilitating physical disabilities  received about $600,000 in COVID relief funds. Owners Tad and Joanne Duni invested the federal money in state-of-the-art equipment and hiring experienced staff for the 10-year-old center.

I thought we would never get this chance again, so we went for it, said Tad Duni, who hosted U.S Rep. Jim Himes last week for a tour of the facility, now located on Controls Drive.

We invested the money to further develop our real-world working public health model to help people living with disabilities and COVID-long-haulers regain health, skills and independence, Duni said. Weve made Moving with Hope the best-equipped outpatient clinic in Connecticut.

Duni added the facilitys cupboard is full. Now we just need to let everyone know what we offer.

When insurance-based services stop short, Duni said, Moving with Hope focuses on continuing the clients journey to recovery. Duni said the organizations clients receive more than six hours of rehab and other support strategies each week. Pricing is about $55 per hour, he said.

In the year prior to the pandemic  which forced shutdowns and limited services  the Dunis team of eight full-time and five part-time employees provided more than 24,000 hours of direct client services.

Moving With Hope has since expanded its services to include skilled occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech language pathology. The additional services will complete the Dunis community-based model goal of providing the best opportunity for people seeking optimal recovery, health, wellness and independence, he said.

Moving with Hope provides life changing rehabilitative services to those who are recovering from a serious injury, Himes said. I got to see that work up close. Best of all, I saw how the federal government has supported the critical mission of their team during this pandemic.

Himes noted that $350,000 in state-of-the-art equipment and $80,000 in additional staffing and training were both made possible by the CARES Act.

Thanks to Tad and his colleagues for showing me how theyve put this money to good use, Himes added.

Duni also used the relief funds to purchase equipment, such as the Madonna intelligently controlled assistive rehabilitation elliptical (ICARE) trainer, which helps physically challenged individuals and those with chronic conditions regain or retain their walking ability and levels of physical fitness.

Also, among the 25 new pieces of equipment is the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill, which uses air to unweight patients, enabling greater comfort and mobility without impeding natural gait mechanics.

Duni said the AlterG integrates patented, NASA differential air pressure (DAP) technology, a precise air calibration system, and real-time information in rehab and training. Duni said AlterG enables patients to move unrestricted and pain-free  restoring and building muscle strength, range of motion, balance, function, and fitness.

There are only a handful of these in the state, Duni said.

Moving with Hope also offers a virtual reality physical therapy occupational system, Duni says, which is the only one of its kind in the country.

Duni said the technology is in place, along with the quality staff, in what is a model for similar facilities throughout the state and country.

We need a public health plan in place that addresses the restoration of physical health for the current COVID-long-haulers, the next COVID-19 survivors and for the millions of aging Americans with poor health, disabilities, and poor savings, Duni said.

Duni said the process can begin with a partial solution  the establishment of dozens of re-ability clinics in every state.

The model does not rely on health insurance to pay for services, Duni said. Reability clinics only provide activity-based therapy, using evidenced-based science to implement appropriate mass practice and task specificity.

Duni said, with an aging population, there was a need for up to 20,000 such facilities in the U.S. in the next 10 years.

There is no system like this anywhere in the country, but there are millions of people in need of what we offer, he said.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
GIANRIGO MARLETTA/AFP via Getty Images

On Friday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity highlighted data from the Business Formation Statistics Report that shows Illinois is leading the Midwest in business startups and is among the top 10 states nationally.

Additionally, the state reached the highest recorded number of business startups, with 198,827 business startups created in Illinois in 2021, up from 170,400 in 2020, highest since data began in 2004. Illinois had 69% more business startups in 2021 than before the pandemic in 2019 (198,827 compared to 117,392).
Jay R. Jordan / Jay Jordan, Staff

The driver of a Toyota Tundra pickup truck fatally struck a 73-year-old male bicyclist in the Sharpstown area Monday morning, according to Houston police.

The trucks driver turned right onto Bellaire Boulevard, striking the bicyclist around 10:15 a.m. while he was crossing in the 7800 block of that road, "possibly in the crosswalk," according to a police.
The first of 2,000 soldiers to arrive in Europe following the Pentagon's announcement of additional forces moving from the United States to Europe in support of our NATO allies, February 6, 2022. /CFP

By Andrew Korybko

China's principled opposition to the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was officially enshrined as policy in the joint statement that was released following Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing last week. The Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU) reaffirmed this policy in a statement that was released on February 8 in response to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's criticism of the aforementioned.

Casual observers might wonder why China is opposed to NATO expansion when it's not even in Europe, which is why it's important to clarify its policy for anyone who's confused. This stance isn't just out of solidarity with its comprehensive strategic partner, Russia, but is based on an important principle of international law. In particular, that's the inadmissibility of ensuring one's own security at another's expense, which is exactly what NATO has done vis-a-vis Russia.

Readers should remember that NATO's continued eastward expansion after the end of the Cold War, in violation of what Russia maintains was the bloc's promise to never move an inch beyond the then-reunified Germany, has destabilized Europe. Moscow suspects that members of the bloc, specifically its de facto American leader, are plotting to deploy strike weapons near its borders under the pretext of supporting Ukraine if Kiev initiates a third round of civil war hostilities in Donbass.

That could undermine Russia's nuclear second-strike capabilities that have hitherto maintained strategic stability between these nuclear superpowers, which is why the Kremlin made its security guarantee proposals in late December in order to diplomatically preempt this globally destabilizing scenario. China is keenly aware of its Russian strategic partner's concerns. It understands that NATO is using the false pretext of ensuring its own security to undermine Russia's.

Another reason why China is opposed to NATO expansion is because the organization's bloc-based mentality is an outdated relic of the Cold War. It has no place in contemporary international relations. The very concept of an alliance explicitly created to contain another country is provocative, let alone one that persists to this day over seven decades after its founding. NATO could reform to become something other than an anti-Russian military alliance, but its de facto U.S. leader isn't interested in this.

This bloc also has a track record of aggression and meddling. It's enough to reference its 1999 war on Yugoslavia, not to mention the U.S.'s bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade at the time that Washington unconvincingly claims was an "accident," to get an idea of just how destructive it has been even within its own continent. NATO countries have also worked together outside the bloc's official umbrella to attack and destabilize countries further afield like Libya and Syria too.

Those aggressive countries exploit the alliance's mutual defense clause under Article 5 to act with reckless abandon abroad, hoping to intimidate their victims into not responding out of fear of triggering the full wrath of the bloc and especially its American leader.

This warmongering mindset is on full display in Ukraine where some NATO members have reportedly deployed troops. They're basically serving as tripwires to potentially trigger the bloc's intervention if those forces are harmed.

This is playing with fire and risks provoking a regional war, which undermines security both in Europe and across the world more broadly. Speaking of which, NATO countries also act with the same arrogance in Asia as proven by America's "freedom of navigation operations" (FONOP) in the South China Sea and the limited number of troops that it's deployed in the renegade Chinese Province of Taiwan. As can be seen, the aggressive NATO mindset knows no geographical limits.

These facts should hopefully help observers better understand why China is opposed to NATO expansion despite not being located in Europe. Simply put, this alliance is a force of global destabilization, a regular violator of international law and an outdated relic of the Cold War. Its continual expansion doesn't enhance anyone's security; it only undermines everyone's in terms of the bigger picture. This American-led alliance must therefore cease expanding and urgently reform its warmongering ways.

Editor's note: Andrew Korybko is a Moscow-based American political analyst. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
Chronicle file

As you can see it was a busy news day on this day in 1962.

One big story that day was the announcement of a $2 million drive to build a new home for the Houston Museum of Natural Science. A planetarium was also included in these plans, which would all be located in Hermann Park.
Two Harris County constables have donated $5,000 to the family of an 11-year-old boy who was fatally shot Thursday outside his northeast Harris County apartment.

Some of the money will help pay for funeral expenses for Darius "DJ" Dugas, whose family told authorities he was shot when he went outside their apartment in the 12200 block of Tidwell Road to grab a jacket from his mother's car.

Precinct 3 Constable Sherman Eagleton and Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman went by the grandmother's home Monday afternoon, alongside a chaplain, to personally deliver a check to his mother, Brenetta Francis, and to pray with the family, Herman said.

More from HoustonChronicle.com: Child fatally shot outside NE Harris County apartment complex

"When I heard about it and saw the mother on the news it just broke my heart," Herman said. "Not that you can heal or stop the pain but I wanted to do whatever we could do to help that family through these times."

Both Eagleton, whose precinct has jurisdiction in the incident, and Herman spoke and agreed to take the family money from their personal checkbooks to help cover the cost for DJ's funeral and other expenses relating to the tragedy, Eagleton said.

"I'm just so heartbroken for the family," Eagleton said. "I thought about donating money to CrimeStoppers and Constable Herman said 'We already gave money to CrimeStoppers' and that it would probably be a good idea to see if we could just help the family."

More from Joel Umanzor: Residents shocked after 11-year-old is gunned down at NE Houston apartment complex

News of the fatal shooting has shook the northeast Harris County community, Eagleton added, saying that tragedies like this one hit close to home.

"In this day and time, there is no place safe anymore. Like I said, it could have been your son or my son," he said. "When crime comes knocking at the door it doesn't discriminate. We could all fall victim to this."

For Herman, current policies at the county level have failed to provide safety to the public in order to avoid these types of tragedies and contributing to a rise in violent incidents.

"For an 11-year-old kid to be killed and murdered that way in Harris County, Texas I would have never thought it would happen here," Herman said. "But it has arrived."

More from HoustonChronicle.com:More than $27K donated for funeral of 11-year-old child, D.J., who was fatally shot in NE Houston

In a Monday Facebook post, Brenetta Francis thanked friends, family and members of the community for their support.

"The support is far beyond anything that I could ever imagine & your prayers are felt in such a strong way," Francis wrote.

The family started the GoFundMe to raise $20,00 to pay for funeral expenses. By Tuesday morning, they have raised $29,914.

Joel.Umanzor@chron.com
2 1 of 2 Jay R. Jordan / Jay Jordan, Staff Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Houston Police Department Show More Show Less



A woman has been charged with murder after another woman was fatally shot in Houstons Southside Saturday, according to Houston police.

Authorities identified the woman charged as Brittany Brown. The 30-year-old woman slain was not identified by name in a release from police, which said that the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences needed to notify her family.
The $50 million Powderhorn Ranch is closer to becoming a state park. However, there is still a lot of work to be done before Houstonians can make the 2.5 hour trek to the 17,000-acre property near Matagorda Bay.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department closed on the final portion of the property in October in a private-public partnership with the Nature Conservancy, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation and The Conservation Fund. The state park at Powderhorn could open about a decade from now, Texas Monthly reports. The department still needs to complete surveys, host public meetings, outline a master plan and raise more money before construction can kick off.
Dr. Peter Hotez has been awarded the American Medical Association's 2022 Scientific Achievement Award. Hotez  dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Childrens Hospital  has worked for years in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development. His work has pushed him to international renown for his commentary on COVID-19 over the past two years.

HOTEZ: OMICRON ISN'T THE END OF THE PANDEMIC

According to the AMA, "Hotez was awarded for his efforts in vaccine development and combating vaccine hesitancy and misinformation." Specifically, he was recognized for his work "fighting vaccine hesitancy and misinformation."

Hotez said "it has been an honor for me to work with the AMA throughout this pandemic."

HOTEZ'S BATTLE AGAINST ANTI-SCIENCE CONFEDERACY

He continued: "Together with Todd Unger, the chief experience officer at the AMA, weve worked to educate physicians and physician-scientists on how to combat vaccine disinformation, and overall, the AMA has been terrific in giving me a voice to explain the scientific basis of COVID-19 vaccine development.

In addition to his work fighting misinformation, Hotez and Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi  his colleague and associate dean at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine  have worked to create a low-cost vaccine, Corbevax, to help global efforts combating the virus.

You can read more on the AMA and its Scientific Achievement Award here.
Despite the novelty of being the first jurors back to downtown Houstons criminal justice complex in more than four years  many were mixed on the call to break away from their routine.

Jackie Cathriner had her daughters future marital vows on her mind.

Id love to do my civic duty if I werent planning a wedding, Cathriner said.

One woman would have liked to stay home. Another man expressed worry about jury duty amid the omicron variant  cases of which continue to dwindle since last months peak in the Houston area, according to hospital officials. The group of prospective jurors hurried into the freshly-renovated Jury Assembly Plaza just before 8 a.m. Monday to escape the brisk weather.

Downstairs at 1201 Congress, four auditoriums with socially distanced seating were waiting for them.

District Clerk Marilyn Burgess swore in 549 prospective jurors  all wearing masks  and imparted the uniqueness of their session  that their group is the first to return to building in the four years since Hurricane Harvey sent floodwaters pouring into the basement.

One person clapped in return.

Jurors who described themselves as non-Hispanic white dominated the group at 305, according to district clerk records. More than 120 people described themselves as Hispanic white, nearly 70 as Black and 40 as Asian.

Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

The August 2017 storm damaged the predominantly underground structure and the neighboring criminal and civil courthouses, forcing jurors to relocate to a nearby county basement. In the aftermath, judges shared courtrooms, public defenders and prosecutors moved to buildings elsewhere and proceedings came to a crawl  setting into motion the extensive case backlog that the pandemic exacerbated. The restoration  an $86 million project  of the 1201 Franklin courthouse continues.

Work to fix the jury building  a $11.9 million project with FEMA reimbursements  started in February 2020.

The pandemic did not help. Months into the contagion, county court officials converted NRG Arena into a makeshift jury duty hub to make sure the courts moved forward amid the backlog. As of January, that backlog stands at more than 89,000 pending felony and misdemeanor cases.

When I came on the bench (in 2018), we were still suffering the impact of Harvey, said 113th District Court Judge Rabeea Collier, whose sits on the countys jury committee. She shared her civil courtroom with criminal judges until March 2020. By the time we got our courtroom back, COVID hit.

Since then, more than 620 civil and criminal cases went to trials, more than what the rest of Texas was able to manage, Collier said. In a typical year, such as 2016, more than 1,700 trials would reach the Harris County court system, according to district clerk records.

We led the state in in-person trials, Collier continued. Its important that we continue to have access to the courts and that we try our best to make sure everyone is as safe as possible.

Jurors saw another first Monday. Bailiffs later led pools of jurors to the Family Law Center for the next step before trial: a preliminary examination by a judge or lawyer known as voir dire. On the sixth floor, jurors heard about a domestic violence case pending in the 180th District Court.

Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

The proceedings started later as anticipated, with 65 jurors waiting in the hallway for at least an hour as officials organized the room and decided where the defendant would sit. Eventually the judge dived into asking the prospective jurors  about equal parts men and women  who takes issue to the presumption of the defendant's innocence.

Two women raised their hands.

The first juror expressed doubt after Associate Judge Stacey Allen described the indictment  the defendant had been accused of assaulting a woman he dated  because she works with domestic violence victims. But she would try her best to presume his innocence, the juror ultimately said.

Another woman outright said no because her daughter had been attacked by her ex-husband, she said. The trial is expected to begin Tuesday, records show.

The district clerk said some cases do not make it as far as voir dire because the defendants accept last-minute plea agreements.

The county tapped the facility at 1115 Congress to house voir dire proceedings and removed some walls to accommodate social distancing. Those selected for a jury would then be taken to the respective courtroom. Burgess office cited the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo  slated to kick off Feb. 28 at NRG Park  as the reason for returning the jurors to downtown when they did.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
BONHAM  Shelley Luther, the hair salon owner who was catapulted into political stardom after being jailed for defying a pandemic lockdown order, put transgender kids in the crosshairs of her campaign for the Texas House over the weekend.

Appearing at a candidate forum in northeast Texas Saturday, Luther, a former school teacher, said transgender children make her uncomfortable, and she complained that their classmates werent allowed to make fun of them.

I am not comfortable with the transgenders, Luther told the audience of Republican voters. The kids that they brought in my classroom, when they said that this kid is transgendering into a different sex, that I couldnt have kids laugh at them  like, other kids got in trouble for having transgender kids in my class.

Now Playing: Hairdresser Shelley Luther was catapulted into political stardom when she was briefly jailed in 2020 for defying a pandemic lockdown order. Over the weekend she put transgender kids in the crosshairs of her campaign for a seat in the Texas House. Video: Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle

Luther, who was answering a question about what she would do to enact conservative priorities in a divided Legislature, also cited the presence of transgender children in Texas classrooms as the reason she supports school choice.

On her website, Luther says parents should be allowed to choose the most appropriate type of schooling (homeschool, public, charter or private) for their child without government intrusion.

Luthers comments drew a rebuke from Equality Texas, which advocates for the rights of gay and transgender Texans. The groups CEO, Ricardo Martinez, said all Texas school children should feel a sense of belonging in school so they can focus on academic success.

Lamenting not being able to allow students to laugh at, bully and harass transgender kids isnt leadership, its cruelty plain and simple, Martinez said. All children in Texas are guaranteed a public education under the constitution, deserve privacy and the ability to learn in a safe environment.

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Luther said in an email to the Houston Chronicle that she respected and supported all students in my classroom but claimed it became hard for her to teach because the topic of gender transition became the top discussion every day in my classroom.

When the center of focus becomes a student and not the actual lesson being taught, it is unfair to the other students, she said. We should focus more on learning instead of arguing about which bathroom someone should use. Bullying is never acceptable, and did not occur.

Its not the first time Luther has gotten blowback over divisive rhetoric. In January she came under fire for tweeting that Chinese students should not be allowed to enroll in state universities. Though she deleted the tweet, that essentially remains the official position on her website, which says we should not allow Chinese Nationals into our colleges where they can obtain classified information, steal technology, and essentially learn how to defeat the United States.

Luther garnered national attention in May 2020 when she defied emergency orders to shut down her Dallas salon and was sentenced to a week in jail. She was released after about two days, but that was long enough to make her a hero for those fighting pandemic lockdowns.

She went on to become a darling of far right Republican donors at war with the GOP establishment in Austin  most notably Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont. Luther pulled in over $1.7 million from Midland oilman Tim Dunn during her failed run for the state Senate last year, according to campaign finance records.

Luther is now running against Rep. Reggie Smith, R-Sherman, in the March 1 GOP primary for a state House seat in a staunchly conservative district that runs along the Oklahoma border northeast east of Dallas.

jay.root@chron.com
A search is underway for a Texas man and his 9-year-old daughter after the pair went missing during a hike in Big Bend National Park more than a week ago.

Hector Flores, Jr. and his daughter Luna Flores, of Fort Stockton, have not been seen since traveling to Big Bend on Jan. 28, according to a release. Flores' blue 2005 Dodge 1500 truck was later found abandoned along the northern end of Old Ore Road with their personal belongings inside it.
WASHINGTON  Republicans have never held Texas 28th congressional district, a stretch of South Texas district long represented by Laredo Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar. GOP candidates have tried only three times in the last decade to take it away from him.

But now seven Republicans are vying for a shot at flipping the district  a feat the party believes it just might pull off as Cuellar finds himself the target of a federal criminal investigation and faces stiff competition from the left, including progressive immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros, who came close in 2020 to unseating the nine-term incumbent.

If Cuellar wins the primary, he may still be under a cloud of suspicion after the FBI searched his home and campaign headquarters in January.

Valerie Gonzalez, MBI / Associated Press

And if Cisneros wins, the Republicans say, its even better. Shes backed by left-wing politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republicans in the race are already labeling Cisneros as a socialist and AOC 2.0.

This seat is winnable, said Steven Fowler, a former Air Force pilot who says he moved from the D.C. area back to Texas to run in the district to stop this AOC girl from going to Congress.

What if I jump in and beat her, and stop her? Fowler said. Ill be a hero.

Courtesy photo

Fowler is one of two veterans running in the crowded GOP primary, which includes a former San Antonio police officer, a retired Wall Street investment banker-turned-rancher, and a former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz. A grassroots activist from Laredo who ran against Cuellar in 2020 is running again, as well. And so is an activist who got his start in politics organizing Trump trains.

A punchers chance

Cuellars district is one of three in South Texas that Republicans have targeted to flip after a surprisingly strong showing there in the 2020 presidential elections. They are also targeting districts currently held by Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen and Filemon Vela of Brownsville. Vela announced last year he plans to retire and Gonzalez is now running in the district Vela held.

The outcomes of all three races will be closely watched as Republicans seek to reclaim control of the House during the midterms. They need to gain just eight seats to do so.

The district Gonzalez is leaving, which stretches from east of San Antonio to McAllen, is seen as Republicans best shot.

Gonzalez won 50.5 percent of the vote there in 2020, down from nearly 60 percent in 2018. The states new political maps appear to make the district a bit redder. President Joe Biden won 50.4 percent of the vote in 2020. Former President Donald Trump won 51 percent of the vote in the newly drawn district, according to data from the Texas Legislative Council, a nonpartisan state government office that researches the impact of legislation.

The 34th District where Gonzalez will seek re-election is bluer after redistricting. Biden won the current district, which stretches from Cameron County to Gonzalez County, with 51.5 percent of the vote. More than 57 percent of voters in the new district, which now only reaches as far north as Kleberg County, voted for Biden, according to TLC data.

Political experts say Cuellars district may be the longest shot for Republicans  especially since Cuellar has consistently outperformed other Democrats there. He won reelection in 2020 by nearly 20 percentage points while Biden carried the district by just 4 percentage points.

Cuellar and Cisneros are also far outpacing the Republicans so far in fundraising. Cuellar has more than $2 million to fend off challenges. Cisneros has raised more than $800,000.

But the federal investigation into Cuellar, potential political shifts among Latino voters and redrawn district boundaries that now include much more of San Antonio could make it a closer race than Republicans have ever had there, said Jon Taylor, who chairs the University of Texas at San Antonios political science department.

Republicans have a punchers chance, but the stars have to align for a Republican to ultimately win, Taylor said.

Sandra Whitten, a conservative activist in Laredo who ran against Cuellar in 2020, said shes been doing the work to win and wont let someone come in and take that from me. She is trying to position herself as a true conservative in a state full of RINOs.

If we have a weak Republican, Whitten said, I think they will win.

More Information 7 Republicans vie for blue South Texas district Ed Cabrera: A Cuban immigrant and retired Wall Street investment banker-turned-rancher who has more money than anyone else in the race and says Republicans need to elect a Latino to win the district. "At the end of the day the only way Republicans are going to win this after so many years of failure is by having someone who can walk in and speak the language," he said. Steven Fowler: U.S. Air Force officer and congressional staffer who says he moved back to Texas to run for office to stop progressive immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros, who he has deemed "the AOC of Texas." Cassy Garcia: A South Texas native and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who has endorsed her in the race. Eric Hohman: A Mexican immigrant and former Air Force combat controller who says he's approaching the race like "combat deployment," hitting the road and knocking on 60 to 70 doors a day. "I'm a one-man Army," Hohman said. "I'm out there meeting the public, that's what you're supposed to do." Willie Vasquez Ng: A former San Antonio police officer, is campaigning as a conservative with a long history of public service who can win over Democrats. "When people hear the sincerity of the conversations, they gravitate to it and they start to forget about politics and they start to forget about political parties," he said. Rolando Rodriguez: A political activist known for organizing "Trump trains" who is now making a bid for Congress to prevent the nation from "falling to communism." Sandra Whitten: A conservative activist in Laredo making her second run for Congress after losing to Cuellar in 2020. See More Collapse

41,000 Bexar residents shift landscape

Taylor said Cuellar should likely still be seen as the frontrunner in the race. But he said if Cisneros wins, it could give Republicans an opening to brand her as too far left.

Cisneros said she is confident shes the strongest choice for Democrats. Cuellars campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Our team has been investing in capacity building and politically organizing to a degree that hasnt been seen before in almost two decades, Cisneros said. I pride myself in being a candidate with an ear to the ground. People dont support my campaign because its progressive, they support us because we are advocating for bold policies that meet the urgency of the moment and speak to the struggles South Texans face every day.

Tannya Benavides, a former educator and community organizer running in the Democratic primary, said she cant deny the Republican trend in South Texas, but that is not what this primary election is about.

Its about electing the best Democratic candidate for our community, she said. The people in our communities, we dont care about labels  we care about electing leaders with integrity and the political will to fight for us, not only for their special interests.

Redistricting data suggests the district got a bit bluer. Biden would have won by 7 points in the new boundaries. Taylor said thats still a competitive range.

Its a district that does lean Democrat, its supposed to lean Democrat, Taylor said. But at the same time its not as strongly Democratic as it once was.

And there are questions about how the addition of some 41,000 San Antonio and Bexar County residents old enough to cast ballots in the race might affect it.

The district, which previously covered parts of Bexar County almost entirely east of Loop 410, now stretches across much of southeast San Antonio and into downtown. Its northwestern-most tip now extends beyond the Alamo.

Much of that new territory is reliably blue. But portions of the district stretching south and east around San Antonio overlap with a state House district thought to lean Democratic where Republican John Lujan pulled off a surprise upset over Democrat Frank Ramirez in a special election last year.

ben.wermund@chron.com
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to pay families of victims and survivors of the Sutherland Springs mass shooting more than $230 million in damages for the Air Forces failure to report the gunmans violent criminal history to the national firearms database, which could have prevented him from buying his assault-style rifle.

In a 185-page order, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez included individual awards of $5 million to $6 million for pain and mental anguish for several survivors or estates of those killed.

He ordered the government to pay millions more for damages such as loss of companionship or consortium, pecuniary loss, disfigurement and physical impairment, and medical costs associated with the massacre at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

The verdict is the largest award or settlement in recent memory over a mass shooting in the United States. Plaintiffs lawyers said that if the government doesnt appeal, the verdict would compensate more than 80 family members of victims and survivors who filed suit.

The losses and pain these families have experienced is immeasurable. Our civil justice system only allows us to rectify these kinds of losses through money damages, the attorneys said in a joint statement issued by lead counsel Jamal Alsaffar.

Lisa Krantz, Staff Photographer / San Antonio Express-News

The U.S. Attorneys Office in San Antonio, whose lawyers helped defend the Air Force at trial, referred questions to the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. The department said it is reviewing the decision, and it declined further comment.

Attempts to reach some of the victims for comment Monday were unsuccessful.

On Nov. 5, 2017, disgraced former airman Devin Kelley opened fire at the church with an AR-556 rifle, killing 26 people and wounding more than 20 others. His wife attended the church, but Kelley had tied her up at their New Braunfels home before going on the rampage in Sutherland Springs, about 35 miles to the south.

Kelley was booted from the Air Force in 2014 because of his propensity for violence. Before his discharge, he was convicted of domestic violence for seriously injuring his infant stepson and was sent to jail for a year. He had been barred from Holloman AFB in New Mexico because of a pattern that included threats to superiors and bringing firearms onto the base.

After a trial last spring, Rodriguez ruled in July that the Air Force was 60 percent responsible for the shooting and Kelley was 40 percent responsible.

Testimony showed that for more than 30 years, the Air Force failed to report thousands of violent felons, including Kelley, into the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System. That system is designed to prevent convicted criminals from purchasing or possessing firearms. Without that flag, Kelley was able to buy guns from licensed dealers.

Rodriguez held a separate trial in October and November to determine damages, during which survivors told harrowing stories of the shooting. Many believed the gunshots were firecrackers initially. But when they realized what they heard were gunshots, they hit the floor and crawled under pews to try to escape the rain of bullets. Many cried as they saw their fellow worshippers killed, while some sang Jesus Loves Me or prayed. Mothers used their bodies to try to shield their children; some dragged the wounded to safety or triaged those who were shot.

Kelley shot more than 450 rounds at the victims and through the church walls.

The trial even made seasoned police investigators break down on the witness stand. It was the worst mass shooting in Texas and drew dozens of local, state and federal law officers to the small town east of San Antonio.

Juan Gunny Macias, 53, who served in the Marine Corps, testified during the damages phase of the trial that he began to get up to rush Kelley when he heard him drop one of the magazines to reload the rifle, but he couldnt get up because he had been shot in the leg. Kelley saw Macias move and fired, hitting him several more times before he fled and was chased out of town by good Samaritans. Kelley took his own life at the end of the chase.

I didnt save anybodys life. Thats a big thing for me, Macias testified. At one time, someone got on the news and said about Sutherland Springs that we did everything wrong, that we should have ran. And I felt so guilty because I was the first one to yell get down. Although I know  I know if anybody would have gotten up and tried running, the church so small, I think more people would have died. But the guilt is still there.

At the end of the damages phase, lawyers for the survivors and for bereaved relatives of the deceased had asked the judge for $418 million. The Justice Departments lawyers had proposed $31.8 million.

In their statement, lawyers for the families and survivors noted that, during the damages phase, the federal government settled two other mass shooting cases accusing the federal government of negligence, while refusing to settle the Sutherland Springs case.

At the end of October, the Justice Department announced that it had settled lawsuits stemming from the 2015 church shooting in South Carolina. In that case, the Justice Department agreed to pay $88 million to the families of nine people who were killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston by gunman Dylann Roof.

And in November, families of more than a dozen victims of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., reached a $127.5 million settlement with the Justice Department to resolve their lawsuit over the FBIs failure to act on tips about the gunman. Seventeen people were killed in that shooting.

Despite the overwhelming facts presented that proved the governments severe negligence in the Sutherland Springs Church shooting, the government chose not to make a settlement offer to the 26 deceased Texas victims and instead forced their families to endure two long and emotional trials, the Sutherland Springs lawyers statement said.

These families are the heroes here, attorney Alsaffar said. While no amount can bring back the many lives lost or destroyed at the hands of the governments negligence, their bravery in obtaining this verdict will make this country safer by helping ensure that this type of governmental failure does not happen in our country again.

guillermo.contreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland
Three Republican challengers seek to end the flamboyant career of U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw after just two terms in Congress. Jameson Ellis, Martin Etwop and Milam Langella each promise to be a truer conservative, and a truer friend to Donald Trump, than Crenshaw has proven to be.

Martin Etwop, 42, a TSU law student who was born in Uganda, said he decided to run after the birth of his 6-month-old son, and realizing the $30 trillion national debt will likely be a lodestone around his sons neck all his adult life. Who is looking after my kids? Your kids? Thats why I decided to run.

As for Crenshaw, Etwop said the representative is too busy jetting around the country raising money and planning his campaign to have spent the kind of time in the district voters expect.

Langella, 51 and a former Marine who fought in Iraq and currently is an airline pilot, said hes building support on a small campaign budget and a clear message.

The America we grew up in is not the America we have today, he said. "When I am there, Ill vote no to every bill that would increase the size of the federal government or impinge on civil liberties.

Jameson Ellis, 39, promises to do his best to have Black Lives Matter, inc labeled a domestic terrorist organization. He believes Americans are overtaxed and businesses immorally regulated and on his website calls the 2020 presidential election a theft.

All three challengers want to repeal the 16th Amendment and end the income tax. Each has embraced term limits.

Such fealty to Trump and to red-meat conservative issues would seem to be just what voters are asking for in this years Republican primary. But so far, none of the three challengers has seemed to make any headway against Crenshaw. Compared to the nearly $5 million in cash on hand Crenshaw reported as of Dec. 31, none of his challengers has raised a total of more than $50,000.

Etwop told us hes encouraged by the small uptick hes seen in his fundraising, which totals about $18,000. He sounded sincere about the need to rein in federal deficit spending, but lost our support when the topic changed to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He claimed that Americans had arrived at the Capitol intent only on petitioning the government for redress and that it was the Capitol Police who ushered the protesters inside. He said protesters had a right to be upset because of election irregularities that no one had addressed. In truth, dozens of courts had reviewed and rejected claims of widespread fraud.

Republican voters already have in Crenshaw a reliable conservative vote. A former Navy Seal, Crenshaw, 37, said he remains committed to passing laws that benefit his district. In response to questions from the editorial board, he said if elected hell keep fighting Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosis damaging, radical policies.

In his first term, under Democratic leadership in the House, he sponsored at least four bills that passed the House and has authored 18 so far this session, on topics championed by conservatives, from preventing unjust redflag laws to reimbursing states for border security costs to exempting healthcare workers from vaccine mandates.

The challengers best case to party faithful is that Crenshaw has occasionally strayed from the orthodoxy that has so firmly gripped the party in recent years. But the Heritage Action Committee rates his performance this session as 98 percent in line with their conservative preferences, and 92 percent over his total tenure in Congress.

While Crenshaw did join a legal brief in support of Texas Attorney Generals lawsuit to overturn the 2020 presidential election, he refused to toe the party line on Jan. 6 and the riots, which he said some of his Republican colleagues in Congress helped incite.

All of the members who called for everyone to come and fight and make their last stand, all of those members were scattered like cowards while the Capitol Police had to do the fighting, Crenshaw told Hearst Newspapers the morning after the attack.

Thats a stroke of independence that Republican voters in his district ought to applaud.
With nearly complete control over the redistricting process last fall, Texas Republicans were faced with a tough choice in Harris County: make life tougher for a House Democrat such as Lizzie Fletcher in a swing district, or draw up a brand new district for one of the GOPs favored candidates.

The result was the 38th Congressional District that carves out chunks of several districts to form an ultra-red seat in western Harris County. The new district map resembles an oak tree, roots splayed from Barker Reservoir in the west to River Oaks in the east, its trunk extending north through Jersey Village, and branches and leaves stretching through Cypress and Tomball.

Hours after a draft of this map was unveiled in September, Republican Wesley Hunt declared he would run in the new district. Hunt, 40, who ran for the 7th Congressional District in 2020 and lost to Fletcher by 10,000 votes, is considered a rising star in the Texas GOP. Hes a West Point graduate who flew Apache helicopters in Iraq and spent 20 years in the Army, later earning three masters degrees from Cornell. Hes been endorsed by both Sen. Ted Cruz and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and has a formidable campaign war chest, with $1.5 million on hand as of January.

While the district is tailored for Hunt to win, his campaign thus far has shown hes no establishment hack. Hes one of the most viable and qualified candidates in a crowded Republican primary field.

While many primary candidates in this district are steeped in conspiracy theories and fear-mongering, particularly as it pertains to election integrity and the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, Hunt has focused on traditionally conservative issues, namely border security, reining in federal spending and funding flood infrastructure projects.

Hunts approach to energy policy  Houstons Energy Corridor is now in the 38th District  in some ways bucks the party orthodoxy. In interviews, Hunt acknowledges the importance of combating climate change but believes oil and gas are still critical in this transition period toward a decarbonized future.

I think we can all be fair, we can all say that we want to get to that next abundant and affordable energy source, no one wants to stop that, Hunt told Cornerstones Jack Belcher. But its not the governments role to implement that.

Hunt would also be one of just three Black Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Hunt did not meet with the editorial board or return calls, which does give us some concern about how responsive and transparent hed be in public office. Still, his other strengths put him ahead of his primary challengers, including two who stand the only plausible chance of beating him: Mark Ramsey and Jerry Ford Sr..

Ramsey, 65, is a longtime GOP activist who previously represented parts of the district for the State Republican Executive Committee. He has racked up endorsements from statewide elected officials and precinct chairs in the district and suggests voters will reject Hunt as a candidate handpicked by Washington politicians. But as a career oil and gas engineer, Ramsey seems lto believe the global energy transition underway can be stopped rather than making sure Houston remains the energy capital of the world as the mix of sources changes.

Ford, 62, a former Houston assistant fire chief and fire marshal, ran in 2020 as a Democrat against U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. He was the only candidate in our endorsement screening to unequivocally state that President Biden legitimately won the election, countering the pernicious narrative of 2020 election fraud. Yet Ford also had a checkered history as fire marshal, with multiple fire inspectors accusing him of cutting corners on safety to pad the divisions performance statistics.

Other candidates in the race include Philip Covarrubias, 53; Alex Cross, 51; Brett Guillory, 41; David Hogan, 43; Damien Mockus, 47; Richard Welch, 44; and Roland Lopez, 51. Only Guillory and Lopez have raised any money, with $4,078 and $870 on hand, respectively.

We believe Hunt has the vision and pragmatism to be an asset in Congress and urge Republicans to give him their support.
Regarding "Pay to play: Harris County commissioners hide where most of their campaign cash comes from: Donors whom they award hundreds of millions of dollars worth of no-bid contracts each year." (Feb. 3): Thank you Zach Despart and the Chronicle for a fine investigation into what's going on with our county commissioners. Many of us had no idea that the job of county commissioner was so lucrative  $5.9 million in campaign donations over just two years is quite the success story. The vendors' story is actually even better  their investment of $5.9 million has yielded them a fantastic $310 million in return. We should all be such good investors. These commissioners take money and give favors. The stink of corruption at the public's expense is revolting, And insulting  when confronted, these guys just sit back and say, "It's legal, what are you going to do about it?" It's time they were gone. Every single one of them.

Tom Schmal, Houston

The one truth about politics is and has been follow the money. Nothing has changed except the amount of money. The commissioners should be ashamed. Adrian Garcia, Tom Ramsey and Rodney Ellis played the ignorance card and Jack Cagle declined to be interviewed. The see no evil, hear no evil, do no evil approach to politics is outdated. If they are not intelligent or aware enough to see the connection and understand what is at stake then they should simply step aside and see if we can find honest candidates. To paraphrase Commissioner Garcia, this is crap!

Bill Turney, Houston

Legitimate protest

Regarding "GOP signals Capitol attack was acceptable, (Feb. 5): Such a shocking statement from the Republican Party, it may turn me into a Democrat. Unbelievable that the GOP would try to oust Liz Cheney for being loyal to the Constitution. Good for Mitt Romney standing up and former Vice President Pence also for repudiating Trump's claims. I will pick future candidates very carefully.

Bob Ziegler, Houston

It should be noted that violence is not a protected form of First Amendment speech, nor could such behavior be legitimate political discourse. During Donald Trump's presidential term, the rioting that accompanied many of the demonstrations about George Floyd was roundly condemned by the talking heads of the Republican Party. Both situations are wrong. At least be consistent.

The current path of the GOP is to deny the Constitution and its dictates.

This country works best when it has two parties that disagree about many things but believe in the primacy of the Constitution and the rule of law. That is quickly disappearing. However, former Vice President Mike Pence provided a glimmer of hope by denying Trump's claim that Pence could have overturned the election. There may be hope after all.

Michael A. Lamson, Houston

When did violence, murder and vandalism amounting to millions of dollars in damage become legitimate political discourse in America? I have to wonder what the GOP would be calling the January 6 riot had it been instigated by Black Lives Matter protestors?

Julie Clark, Houston
The Harris County Commissioners Court will urge local bail bondsmen leaders to enforce a 10 percent minimum on bond payments that ensure a defendants release from jail.

The court voted unanimously on Tuesday to encourage the Bail Bond Board to require a fee minimum, citing public safety and the exhaustive criminal case backlog which has been exacerbated by Hurricane Harvey damage and the ongoing pandemic.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said some bail bondsmen have collected lower than the customary 10 percent and the bail board has the ability to set a standard.

CHRONICLE INVESTIGATION: As Harris County judges take heat for felony bonds, critics point to unnoticed culprit: The bondsmen

We believe that we should make it more difficult for violent offenders to get on the street, Garcia said.

A Chronicle analysis in 2021 found that bail bondsmen in Harris County have for years accepted lower than 10 percent fees. Now, some bail agents are more often charging lower fees on more violent crimes. The number of bail licenses in Harris County dwindled following the adoption of misdemeanor bail reform  which requires cash-free releases for most poor misdemeanor defendants.

While the passed resolution does not require the Bail Bond Board  whose members are slated Wednesday to meet  to take action, its board members can impose requirements  if they so choose. The state legislature grants the board broad authority under the occupations code to set business requirements, such as contracting and licenses, County Attorney Christian Menefee said.

They are the authority who sets the rules of the road, Menefee said.

It is unclear if any city, county or state requires a 10 percent fee minimum as Garcia has requested. The city of Houston last week revealed that it has asked its legal department to propose an ordinance prohibiting less than 10 percent fees. Mayor Sylvester Turner said that he would like the Bail Bond Board adopt a countywide standard.

City officials on Tuesday declined to elaborate on the mayors proposal beyond what was announced at a recent news conference about violent crime.

The county resolution resembled Turners request. The two Republicans on the Democratic-majority court initially expressed hesitation in supporting the motion.

More from Nicole Hensley: Mayor Turner outlines $44 million plan to combat violent crime

Jack Cagle, Precinct 4 commissioner, worried that the resolution shifts focus from criminal judges in the debate in how to curb violent offenses  which increased nationwide during the pandemic. He suggested that judges should be forfeiting bail, rather than revoking the bonds.

Revocations trigger an arrest warrant and a defendants return to court once apprehended. Forfeitures, however, are a more tedious process that results in the court keeping the bail amount  but only after a judge agrees and prosecutors successfully sue to seize the money.

His counterpart in Precinct 3, Tom Ramsey, also kept his attention on the judges.

Judges should not release defendants who the district attorneys office said should not have bond, Ramsey said.

In most cases, the Texas Constitution guarantees a defendants right to bail, which allows for pretrial release from jail upon the payment or promise that a defendant will return to court.

Garcia urged the commissioners to think bigger.

Im not taking the attention off anybody, Garcia said, adding that all stakeholders in the criminal justice system  police, judges, bail bondsmen, prosecutors, pre-trial services, probation and public defenders  should be part of the focus.

Comments from Mario Garza, president of the Harris County Professional Bonding Association, appeared to sway Ramsey and Cagles vote toward supporting the resolution. He named six bail agents with a history of granting lower than 10 percent surety bonds.

Bail companies are not obligated to enter their contracts  which would detail how much defendants pay to get out of jail  into the public record. While rare, samples of payment data have been made available in documents known as affidavits of surety to surrender principal  which allow a bail agent to cut ties with a defendants bond, usually after a new charge.

'OUT OF CONTROL': 6 Harris County police officers wounded, killed in one week

Garza, licensed in Harris County since 2007, warned that mandating a 10 percent fee could harm indigent defendants accused of felonies  but guarantee that bail bondsmen collect the desired fee upfront to secure someones release from jail.

You actually hurt the public because a lot of these people cant come up with 10 percent all at once, Garza said, adding that many poor defendants depend on payment plans. You know how hard it is to collect sometimes on payment plans? They have problems, things come up.

The lowest fee Garza said he charges is 5 percent.

And if the defendant absconds, Garza told commissioners that six months must pass until bail agents like him are on the hook for a defendant accused of a misdemeanor offense. Nine months for a felony. By then, law enforcement usually round up the wanted individuals.

Rodney Ellis, Precinct 1 commissioner, asked how many times Garza  who operates 1st Advantage Bail Bonds  has had to pay the full value of a bond.

Probably 15, Garza replied.

Alex Bunin, Chief Public Defender for Harris County, said bail bondsmen rarely lose money when defendants skip court or abscond. If a defendant is arrested while on bond, bail agents get to keep that money, he said.

The resolution, while not binding, shines light on the issue of bail and businesses of that nature in Harris County, Bunin later said. He expressed surprise that Garza would shame the six bail companies.

It just shows theres great variations of practices in that industry and theres no great oversight, Bunin said, adding that the resolution may or may not change bail practices in the Houston area. It could embarrass some folks to act more appropriately.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
Chris Hollins, the former Harris County clerk who implemented a number of measures aimed at expanding voting access during the 2020 election, announced Monday he plans to run for Houston mayor in 2023.

With his announcement, Hollins becomes the second entrant in the race to succeed Mayor Sylvester Turner, who will be forced out of office by term limits in January 2024. State Sen. John Whitmire, a Democrat and the longest-serving member of the Texas Senate, told supporters at a campaign rally in November that he plans to run for mayor.

Hollins campaign team said he would spend the coming months engaging community leaders, thought leaders, and Houstonians in every corner of the city to share his vision for Houston and hear their concerns about the city. His campaign will be run by political strategist Grant Martin, who oversaw the successful mayoral campaigns of Turner and his predecessor, Annise Parker.

Our next mayor will lead Houston at a defining moment in its history, Hollins said in a statement. The pandemic changed our world overnight, and we as a city have to deal with that change. We cant go back. I am offering my leadership and experience to propel Houston forward.

Hollins, a member of the METRO board and vice chair of finance for the Texas Democratic Party, previously worked at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he focused on helping government agencies become more efficient. He has never been elected to public office, though in May 2020 he was appointed to oversee Harris County elections, taking over on an interim basis after his predecessor, Diane Trautman, stepped down because of health issues.

With election officials projecting record turnout amid the coronavirus pandemic, Hollins put in place several programs intended to boost turnout while limiting in-person contact between voters during the 2020 general election. Those initiatives included drive-thru voting, 24-hour voting and attempting to send mail-in ballot applications to all 2.4 million registered voters in the county, including those who did not request them.

Armed with $27.2 million in extra funding from Commssioners Court, Hollins nearly tripled the number of early voting sites in Harris County and hired 11,000 poll workers to staff them.

Though Hollins was lauded for the effort, mostly by Democrats, Republican officials and activists challenged a handful of the measures in court, arguing Hollins had exceeded his legal authority. The all-GOP Texas Supreme Court struck down the countys plan to proactively send out mail ballot applications, and a federal court upheld Gov. Greg Abbotts proclamation limiting Harris County to a single location for voters to drop off completed mail ballots, instead of the 12 envisioned by Hollins.

The state Supreme Court  and a federal judge  sided with Hollins, however, in striking down attempts by Republicans to halt drive-thru voting and, later, nullify the more than 120,000 ballots cast by Harris County voters from their cars. The county ultimately smashed turnout records during the 2020 election.

Republicans in the Texas Legislature responded by passed a sweeping bill that targets many of Harris Countys 2020 initiatives, including bans on 24-hour and drive-thru voting.

The countys innovative election measures  and the barrage of lawsuits challenging them  quickly raised Hollins profile. He appeared frequently on national TV and in local and national coverage of the Harris County elections spectacle, and drew the praise of local officials, including Turner.

The mayor, a Democrat, effusively praised Hollins work, at one point tweeting that Hollins has done a brilliant job handling this election season. Innovative, organized, poised, articulate. On Saturday, Turner moderated a panel with Hollins and two Democratic legislators about the impact of the new Texas voting law.

Renee Cross, senior director of the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, said an endorsement from Turner would go a long way toward helping Hollins compete with Whitmires deep ties among Democrats  and his $11 million campaign war chest.

That endorsement is going to mean a lot more to a Chris Hollins than it would to a John Whitmire, Cross said. Hollins is still relatively new. Whitmire has 50 years of solid support among Democrats.

It is unclear where Turner will come down on the battle to succeed him. Whitmire also is a public ally of the mayor, whom he overlapped with in the Legislature for nearly three decades. Whitmire supported Turner in his 2015 bid for mayor and again in 2019, when Turner won re-election.

Last year, however, Whitmire publicly backed the Houston fire unions effort to collect signatures to put a charter amendment on the city ballot that would force stalled contract talks to be resolved through binding arbitration. The move put Whitmire at odds with Turner, who opposed the effort.

Turners successor will face a number of immediate challenges, including a city budget patched together by a one-time infusion of federal stimulus funds. The federal relief is helping pay for a 6 percent pay raise for firefighters this year, which the union has blasted as mere bonus pay that does not make up for years of stagnant salaries.

Aside from the long-simmering firefighter salary dispute, the next mayor will confront a cash-strapped Solid Waste Management Department plagued by an aging fleet, high staff turnover and numerous service delays during the last few years. And the citys infrastructure remains in a tenuous spot, with a network of pockmarked streets and a sanitary sewer system under a federal consent decree requiring the city to spend an estimated $2 billion over 15 years on improvements.

Other challenges include the citys large unfunded liability for retiree health care costs, and property tax revenue caps  both locally and state imposed  that limit the citys budget to address the host of issues.

Whitmire, up for re-election in the Senate this year, has said he plans to serve during the 2023 legislative session before turning his attention to the mayoral campaign trail. He faces a spirited challenge in the March 1 primary from Molly Cook, an emergency room nurse who has accused Whitmire of running for two offices at once by way of his early mayoral announcement.

If elected, Hollins, 35, would be the youngest mayor of Houston since Kathy Whitmire, who also was 35 when she was elected mayor in 1981. John Whitmire is Kathy Whitmires former brother-in-law.

Cross noted that Hollins would not be the first Houston mayor who had not been previously elected to a different office. Former mayors Bill White and Bob Lanier  Kathy Whitmires successor  had been appointed to previous political posts but never elected.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
It was no surprise to see the Ethics Code on the Hudson Common Council agenda, Monday, Feb. 7. Council members discussed its future, voting to inquire with outside parties for a redraft.

Quick hits... Hudson Council Feb. 7 The council went into closed session. Upon returning they voted to inquire with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation about a meeting to discuss the council's concerns with the Highway 35 project as outlined by the city engineer.

The Hudson Royal Ambassadors addressed the council, thanking them and the community of Hudson for their support. Since being crowned in July, theyve had a joyful time representing the community, volunteering at events and attending neighboring community parades.

Since 2018, the city of Hudson has been recognized as a Wisconsin Bird City , in conjunction with Tropical Wings, a local non-profit organization. May 14 was proclaimed as World Migratory Bird Day by the mayor.

The mayor formally recognized Michael Elwood for his Eagle Scout standing and accomplishments as a young man of the Hudson community. Upon graduating from high school, Elwood intends to attend a four-year college and follow in his grandfathers and great grandfather's footsteps by joining the military.

Robert Staebell resigned from the Police and Fire Commission. The mayors appointment of Karl Olson was approved by the council.

Maggie Westmoreland was approved for hire as an administrative assistant and election specialist.

Council member Sarah Bruch asked that the council spend some significant time on reviewing and revising the code, particularly its administrative function.

This section of the code deems the Finance Committee responsible for sitting as the Ethics Committee should a complaint arise.

Bruch brought forward the proposal that an independent and impartial board of ethics be formed. This board would make a recommendation that would be brought back to council.

Council member Randy Morrissette II offered a motion to bring on an outside professional to revise and draft an Ethics Code.

In agreement with this proposal, Bruch noted it would truly be honoring that impartiality aspect she is keen on.

The council voted to inquire with a neutral party about revising and drafting the code.

City Administrator Aaron Reeves noted that as a part of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, there may be an attorney available to assist with this type of request.

This is the first step, Bruch said about addressing the Ethics Code.

There was no dissent on the issue from the council.

Building inspector

Council member Paul Deziel expressed appreciation for the work of Building Inspector David Gray as the annual report was approved by council.

In 2021, Gray issued 414 building permits with a total of 3,436 inspections. Between 2012 and 2019, permits did not exceed 375.

The construction value was almost $43 million.

A look back on 2021 would not be complete without remembering the long overdue maintenance and Council Chamber improvements at City Hall or the windstorm of Sept. 16-17, Grays report said. The City Hall improvements are substantially completed, but the library repairs will likely take a good portion of 2022 to complete due to the long lead times on the windows and other building materials.

According to projections from Gray, 2022 may be the year the City of Hudson runs out of buildable one- and two-family lots.

With the shortage of land, developers are looking closer at underdeveloped or run-down properties and teardowns will become more popular, Gray writes. I can think of 10 buildings currently slated for demolition in 2022, or shortly thereafter, to make way for new developments. The landscape will be changing in Hudson and may be in places you didnt anticipate.
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Hoosac Valley middle and high students have been collecting pet-related donations for tornado-stricken Mayfield, Ky. The students also promoted the drive by creating posters and press releases and alerting the school community.

Hoosac Valley Students, Rescue Collect Pet Food for Tornado Victims



Kathy Hynes, founder of Got Spots Etc., gave tremendous credit to the students working on the collection drive. She said they were selfless and applauded their ability to relate to and connect with others.

CHESHIRE, Mass  Hoosac Valley Middle and High School students have teamed up with dog rescue Got Spots Etc. for a pet food collection drive to benefit a Kentucky town devastated by tornadoes in December.

Kathy Hynes, founder of Got Spots Etc., said they received nearly 800 donations so far, all of which will go to the Mayfield-Graves County Animal Shelter. Nearly three dozen tornadoes tore through four states on Dec. 10 and 11, and Mayfield was right in the path. The storms killed 76 people in Kentucky alone and caused significant damage to property and the community.



"[The students] are the ones that are responsible for collecting the goodies and packaging them up for when it's time to rock and roll down to Kentucky," Hynes said.

(McCann Technical School collected goods for the people of Mayfield in December.)

The student councils for the middle and high schools have been collecting donations. In addition, students promoted the donation drive by creating posters, writing press releases and telling the school community.



"They spread the word through our superintendent's notes and our notes to families from the principal of the middle school," said Jennifer Kline, a teacher and Student Council adviser for the middle school. "So word easily spread and quickly spread. And before you knew it, our collection was off and running."



Hynes said several businesses are working with the donation drive, including Berkshire Outfitters, Adams' Hometown Market and Smith Brothers-McAndrews Insurance. While the middle school has completed its portion of the donation drive effort, Kline said the high school's work is still ongoing.



"I feel like we are trying our best to, one step at a time, try to change this world to a better place," Kline said. "I think the world is a pretty gloomy place right now for multiple reasons. And if we can do our small part in trying to change the world and make it a better place, then I call that a win for our school and for our children."



Once the donation drive is complete, the students will have the opportunity to meet David Spalding, Mayfield-Graves County Animal Shelter board president, via Zoom. Hynes said the driver, who will be spending two days driving the donations to Mayfield, will also be in attendance.



"They're going to, first hand, to be able to see his face and hear his voice," she said.



Donations are being taken through the high school and a collection box is being set up at Adams' Hometown Market.
State's Low-Income Workers Getting $500 Premium Payments

BOSTON  A half-million low-income workers will start seeing $500 payments in the coming months from the COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay program

These payments represent the first round of funds to be distributed as part of the $460 million program, which was enacted in December when Gov. Charlie Baker signed a $4 billion spending plan for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. These payments, worth $250 million, will be mailed to 500,000 people by the end of March.

"I was pleased to sign the COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay program into law in December, and our administration has worked quickly to design the parameters for the program with plans to efficiently begin distribution of these payments by the end of March," said Baker in a statement. "This program will support those workers who served our communities, especially early in the pandemic."

The law provided for the administration to design the program and develop eligibility parameters to quickly provide funds to qualified workers across the commonwealth. Based on filed 2020 Massachusetts tax returns, individuals will be eligible for payments if their income from employment was at least $12,750 and their total income put them below 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

The lower bound of this range equates to working 20 hours a week for 50 weeks at minimum wage of $12.75 as of 2020. The federal poverty level is set by the federal government and increases with household or family size. For example, the maximum total income for a single filer with no dependents will be $38,280; a resident who files with a spouse and two dependents, or with no spouse and three dependents, could be eligible with a household income up to $78,600. Married filers can each be eligible, provided each independently qualifies.

Individuals who received unemployment compensation in 2020 will not be eligible for the first round of payments, nor will the commonwealth executive branch employees who received or will receive a one-time payment from the state as their employer.

The legislation creating the Premium Pay program included $500 million for low-income essential workers; this $460 million program comprises the majority of those funds, and $40 million was allocated to fund previous agreements with state employee unions. Additional information on plans to disburse subsequent rounds of funds after March will be released in the future.

Based on the parameters, the below chart indicates eligibility for these payments by household size:
This is a contributed article by Sebastien Marotte, President of EMEA at Box.

From multinational corporations to small businesses, every organisation has business-critical content. Whether youre an independent merchant storing customers personal information on record, or a large pharmaceutical company with blueprints for the next life-saving drug, all organisations have content that needs to be protected from third-party attackers and other unauthorised users.

With 39% of UK businesses having reported a cybersecurity breach within the past 12 months, it has never been more imperative for businesses to have robust security measures. But while most businesses have robust cybersecurity precautions in place, many lack a dedicated information security strategy and, as a result, are at risk of losing valuable data.

As a first step, businesses and technology leaders must understand the differences between cybersecurity and information security in order to effectively protect their information in the expanding, modern threat landscape.

Cybersecurity, information security? Aren't they the same thing?

Simply put, cybersecurity is the broad approach an organisation takes to safeguard its data, networks, and devices from electronic or digital threats. These breaches could involve a malicious actor gaining unauthorised access to a network, device or content, or the installation of malware on a device or network. To prevent these threats, cybersecurity controls, including network and WiFi access, hardware and software configurations, and firewalls, should all be put in place.

Falling partially under the umbrella of cybersecurity is information security (infosec), which focuses specifically on protecting content and data. Information, in this case, can take many forms, from purely digital content such as videos and spreadsheets, to physical formats such as paper files or printed documents.

Information security threats include the theft of physical data, deletion of content, damage to the integrity of content, and unauthorised access to data and content. Infosec controls can be digital, such as encryption and password protection, as well as physical, such as using locks on a filing cabinet.

Because a companys information can be vulnerable to both digital and physical attacks, it is important that businesses have robust infosec controls in place in addition to their cybersecurity controls. Together, the two work in tandem to protect organisations from differing threats.

Encryption, for example, is an imperative control that will allow businesses to protect their content, as well as the data on their devices and networks. Similarly, password protection and authentication tools, such as multi-factor authentication, allow businesses to restrict access and verify a persons identity before they can get into a device, piece of content, or access the companys network.

Education is also a fundamental aspect of both cybersecurity and infosec policies, and training must be used as an opportunity to explain policies and methods to staff members. By training employees to recognise security hazards and providing them with the knowledge of what to do if they think they are under attack will ultimately help protect a companys network, devices and content.

How to protect your company's information

While the specific tactics of information security and cybersecurity differ, the fundamental principles governing the two are ultimately the same. When developing an infosec or cybersecurity policy throughout a business, organisations should consider the CIA triad - confidentiality, integrity and availability - to help them govern successful regimes:

Confidentiality

The principle of confidentiality ensures that only people who should have access to content, a network or a device can access it. Multiple controls should be put in place to increase confidentiality, such as encryption, password protection and user classification. Organisations can also use educational programming to inform employees and other relevant parties of the importance of ensuring confidentiality.

Integrity

Integrity refers to the condition of the content or network and focuses on ensuring that information, devices or networks are not altered or compromised. In the case of information security, this could be if someone changes the bank account information on a payment form, thereby affecting the forms integrity. Similarly, in the case of cybersecurity, if a hacker installs a virus on a computer and that virus travels through the network, infecting other devices, the networks integrity and relevant devices are affected.

Availability

While cybersecurity and information security programmes must protect the confidentiality and integrity of information, devices and networks, its also imperative that these programmes dont impede access. Every employee that requires access to content, networks and devices should have them available. Factors that limit availability include power outages, denial-of-service attacks, and hardware or software failures. In some cases, an employee who forgets their password or leaves their device at home can accidentally limit their own access to the content they require.

In todays landscape, the security of a companys data and network is imperative to business success. By implementing intensive and robust infosec and cybersecurity policies that are strategically designed to protect against attacks of a specific nature, organisations can avoid damaging their reputation, losing their valuable data and ultimately, negatively impacting their profit margins.

Sebastien Marotte is President of Box Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Over a 30+ year career, Marotte has held executive roles at some of the world's highest-profile software companies including Google, Hyperion, and Oracle. He led Google Cloud's EMEA Channels as Vice President, having also served as Vice President of Google Cloud EMEA for almost a decade. As an early leader at Google Cloud, Marotte was responsible for much of the foundational growth and development across EMEA, including the launch of G Suite (now Google Workspace).
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria has suspended Rudaw Media Networks license and blocked its financial aid, claiming it is spreading hatred and misinformation. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has strongly condemned the 5 February suspension and urged the administration to reconsider a decision that seriously undermines media freedom and the right of Syrian citizens to information.

According to Rebaz Ali, the Senior Producer of Rudaw Media Network, the authorities claimed the network was spreading hatred and disinformation just days after Rudaw reporters were attacked in Qamishli, northeast Syria , while covering the funeral of 12 members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Rudaw said the statement was a "purely political act, which is not based on any legal basis. Our office has been attacked six times with Molotov Cocktails, ... two Rudaw reporters have been expelled from Rojava and three others have been beaten. And our entire staff have been threatened that they will be killed"

Rudaw headquarters is in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. The Iraqi Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate (KJS) condemned the decision and called on the authorities to stop suppressing press freedom and allow the network to resume its work.

Anthony Bellanger, IFJ General Secretary said: "We urge the Administration of North and Eastern Syria to lift its suspension of Rudaw's licence and restore the financial aid and let the network and its staff operate freely. Syria needs a free press and the public deserve free and pluralistic media."

The IFJ also urged the Authority to urgently address the fate of journalist Mohammed Al Sagheer who was arrested on 7 June, 2019 in Northeast Syria and sentenced by a military anti-terrorism court to 25 years in jail. In a letter to the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) in December, the federation has urged for the release of the journalist.
Rohit Biswal, a reporter based in Odisha, was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) allegedly planted by Maoist insurgents on February 5. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Indian affiliate, the National Union of Journalists, India (NUJ-I), condemn the continued violence against journalists in India and urge the Indian authorities to expedite their investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Biswal, a resident of Madanpur-Rampur town in the Kalahandi district, had travelled to the Damba Karlakhunta area to investigate reports of posters placed by members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), asking locals to boycott the upcoming three-tier Panchayat election.

According to Odisha police, the journalist was killed instantly when the IED, allegedly placed to injure police personnel, detonated after Biswal took photographs and approached the posters.

State-sponsored violence is being inflicted in the garb of elections. Everyone should boycott the election. The CRPF units should be withdrawn from the area. The rights of land-dwellers should be settled, the posters read. Odishas State Election Commissioner (SEC) had called the Panchayat election for February 16, 2022.

In a statement on Twitter, Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, expressed his condolences to Biswals family and said, The government strongly condemns the Maoist violence and will take immediate action against all those involved.

Kalahandi Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have begun investigating the journalists death. Following the incident, the Odisha government announced a financial support package of Rs 13 lakh (approximately USD 17,407) for the family of the deceased journalist.

Biswal is the first journalist to be killed in India in 2022. According to the IFJs killed list, four Indian journalists, Sulabh Srivastava, Chenna Kesavulu, Raman Kashyap and Budhinath Jha, were killed for their work during 2021.

The NUJ- I President, Ras Bihari, said: NUJ-I appeals Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to provide proper protection to journalists working in Mao-infested areas. We also urge for the enactment of the Journalist Protection Act in the country.

The IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: The death of Rohit Biswal is yet another example of the lack of safety and protection for journalists in India, exposed to life-threatening situations and killed as collateral damage. The Indian Government must do more to safeguard the lives of journalists and media workers. The IFJ calls for a swift investigation into the case to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.
When the pandemic started, the Philippines experienced the biggest dip in its economy since World War I. This is due to nationwide lockdowns aimed to stop the surge and spread of COVID-19 infections. In the second quarter of 2021, the countrys GDP showed a double-digit growth of 11.8% from the -3.9% of the first quarter in the same year.

Epson Philippines Customer Support Leadership. Edgar V. Barcellano (Team Lead, Service Operation, Customer Support), Samuel B. Arada (Team Lead, Product Support, Customer Support), Eduardo P. Bonoan (Head of Marketing Division), Gerry N. Mendoza (Senior Manager, Customer Support), Roy T. Catana (Team Lead, Pre-Sales, Customer Support), and Donato P. Oliman II (Senior Pre-Sales Engineer, Customer Support).

Epson has been powering through the pandemic and has remained as the market leader in 2021. Despite major setbacks experienced by many businesses in the country, Epson is right on track with its FY21 target, boasting 124% sales in the first half of the year. Epson scanners have maintained market dominance in H1 and have secured the #1 market share in document scanners.

There is a slight drop in demand for business systems like printers due to lockdown restrictions and school vacations. However, Epsons commercial and industrial printer sales demonstrated aggressive growth as the market reopens and the election campaign starts. Meanwhile, the visual instruments market is expected to recover as corporate and leisure-related business reopens. Epsons projector sales are expected to close at 144% by the end of FY21.

Epsons Directions for FY21

During the FY21 Customer Support Midyear Forum, Epson leaders discussed their directions for the rest of the fiscal year. Included in their goals for product management is to maintain market leadership with the efficient use of resources and to rethink the way that the market is engaged.

Epson further improved the companys customer support efforts by maintaining the base of its authorized service partners. Its boost on B2B support capabilities includes certifying its product specialists for corporate and onsite support for Epson products.

Additionally, Epson expounded on its supply chain management. Aside from ensuring efficient support for its products, Epson also secured spare parts stocking and availability. They backed up demo unit usage activities more efficiently through outsourcing and safeguard regulatory compliance by revising current processes.

Overcoming challenges caused by the pandemic

Epson as an organization prioritized its staff safety and well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The company provided support for its employees such as oxygen tanks, care packs delivered directly to the employees homes, and home or office disinfection.

Aside from caring for its employees, Epson Singapore and Philippines joined hands to aid service providers all over the country. Both the SG and PH teams highlighted the importance of meeting the users expectations in line with market norms through safe and useful products.

Additionally, the company utilized its call center services to efficiently focus on B2B, demonstrate a higher level of technical expertise, improve online support platform, and optimize a fast-track onsite support as the economy slowly opens up.

Epson is already repackaging a lot of its technology to fit more into the higher demands and expectations of the market during the pandemic. The company is preparing to adjust into this change not just in the business aspect, but also in top-notch customer service.
As the world observes Safer Internet Day, partners in the movement to end the online sexual exploitation of children celebrate wins achieved over the years while calling for stronger community resolve against the continuing threat.

DOJ-IACAT, PNP-WCPC, IJM, TikTok, PLDT and Smart come together for #NotOnOurScreens campaign

The Department of Justice  Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (DOJ-IACAT), Philippine National Police  Woman and Children Center (PNP-WCPC), International Justice Mission (IJM), TikTok, PLDT, and Smart joined hands to urge the public to take a stand against the livestreamed sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

Dubbed #NotOnOurScreens, the campaign aims to cultivate a culture of vigilance against the trafficking of Filipino children through the creation and propagation of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM). Influential TikTok creators participated in the campaign by posting informational videos and directing users to PNP-WCPC hotlines.

The online sexual exploitation of children is the worst form of trafficking today. It is unfortunate that the internet is being used by unscrupulous individuals in this wrong and illegal way. Thankfully, we have held several perpetrators accountable  at least 138 of them already serving their respective sentences, including life imprisonment. But we cannot rest on our laurels, especially with the surge of this crime during the pandemic. More than ever, there is a greater need now to stay alert against this crime. We at IACAT call on the public to help fight this crime by reporting it to authorities, said DOJ-IACAT Undersecretary-in-Charge Emmeline Aglipay-Villar.

Ever since Philippine authorities got wind of this modern form of child trafficking, more than 300 perpetrators have been arrested and close to 900 victims have been rescued as a result of the Philippine governments relentless campaign to end online sexual exploitation of children, including numerous successful anti-TIP (Trafficking In-Person) operations conducted by the PNP-WCPC. The WCPC is a specialized unit of the PNP working against online sexual exploitation of children which is a trafficking offense in the Philippines.

The WCPC also runs a 24-hour Facebook page helpline, dubbed as AlengPulis, where people can report online sexual exploitation of children and other incidents of abuse and exploitation of women and children.

The government, through the Department of Justice, has also scored at least 138 convictions, based on IJM-supported operations as of Dec. 31, 2021.

PLDT and Smart support the IJM and the Philippine government in their efforts to continuously broaden the coalition against online sexual exploitation of Filipino children. As cases of this crime soared through the pandemic, we were able to block access to an accumulation of over 179,000 URLs linked to online child abuse through our network-embedded Child Protection Platform, as of January 31, 2022. Driven by our pioneering Child Safeguarding Policy, we have also rolled out child online safety education to over 37,000 stakeholders and implemented capacity-building interventions for barangay councils for the protection of children in most affected areas, said PLDT and Smart First Vice President and Group Head for Corporate Communications Cathy L. Yap-Yang.

IJM is honored to convene key partners for this campaign as we raise our collective voice against the online sexual exploitation children, todays most urgent crime occurring on the internet. We at IJM are committed to support the PNP-WCPC and DOJ-IACAT in bringing victims to safety, in holding their traffickers accountable and in sustaining the fight until all children are free. We are also delighted to work alongside one of the worlds largest social media platforms, TikTok, and the countrys largest telecommunication company, PLDT and Smart, in making the internet safer for every Filipino child, said Atty. Samson Inocencio Jr., Regional Vice President of IJM Programs Against Online Sexual Exploitation of Children.

To deepen public understanding of the crime, IJM worked with lawyer and TikTok creator, Atty. Cherie Maryse Alcantara, who created and posted videos about the nature of online sexual exploitation of children and its legal consequences for perpetrators.

IJM also tapped Jan Abigail Maravilla, a TikTok creator known for her educational tech-related videos, for content underscoring the critical role of tech and financial sector in the detection, disruption, and prevention of livestreamed child sexual exploitation. Only 22% of surveyed companies used classifiers to detect livestreamed child sexual abuse, according to the Global Threat Assessment 2021, released by WeProtect Global Alliance and supported by IJMs Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children.

This is the second time IJM collaborated with TikTok for a grassroots awareness campaign. In August 2021, IJM and TikTok launched the #Report2Protect campaign, which aimed to increase community reporting of online sexual exploitation of children.

Campaign videos are posted on IJM Philippines TikTok channel (@ijmph). To view all campaign videos, search for content under the #NotOnOurScreens hashtag on TikTok.

Anyone who has information about an incidence of online sexual exploitation of children is encouraged to report it immediately via these PNP-WCPC hotlines: 0919-777-7377 (Smart) and 0966-725-5961 (Globe).
When economic growth helps only a small portion of a society, it is time to make changes. That's according to Rep. Ro Khanna, whose new book, Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us, provides straightforward ideas to bring meaningful change to our tech-giant-dominated landscape.

Khanna, the Democratic congressman who represents California's 17th district, which includes a large portion of Silicon Valley, describes himself as a progressive capitalist. "You shouldn't have the government making all decisions about an economy and that's why I embrace innovation and entrepreneurship," Khanna said during a recent interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS News Hour. "I just want to make sure everyone has the shot that I did: healthcare, education, nutrition, a safe community, to have a real chance of success in this market economy."

He also believes these changes will help heal the deep political polarization in our country.

"I believe, to reduce some of the division, we have to bring the opportunities of the modern economy to communities left out, so people can prosper without leaving their hometowns. And so, when Silicon Valley prospers, Youngstown, Ohio, or Beckley, West Virginia, could prosper, and that there's more interconnection in our economy," Khanna said.

Here are three of Khanna's suggestions for leveling the tech playing field.

1. Make an Internet Bill of Rights

Khanna believes there needs to be policy in place for transparent and consensual data collection, and misinformation guidelines. "There's a societal harm to these companies having all of this data, constructing social profiles and using it to target the most vulnerable," he said on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. "[I]t shouldn't just be the Wild West."

2. Require federal contractors to create jobs in rural areas.

Citing Intel's recent decision to build a chip-making factory in Ohio that's expected to create roughly 10,000 jobs, Khanna suggests that creating tech jobs in areas outside of the traditional tech cities will help close the digital divide. "My argument is that we have to make sure these 25 million new digital jobs are decentralized, that we need a place-based policy that brings these jobs to communities," Khanna said on WYNC. "We need more of that and policies that will encourage that."

3. Fund more technical education.

Khanna envisions a kind of digital version of the Peace Corps that would help create opportunities by training government workers in the field of technology. He noted that apprentice programs at tech companies have proven to help give students a leg up in gaining valuable tech skills early in their career. Khanan pointed to a need for additional training when citing that students with a 4.0 GPA at Claflin University, an HBCU in South Carolina were having trouble getting hired when interviewing for entry-level positions.
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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.
Firstsource Solutions Limited (NSE: FSL, BSE: 532809), a leading provider of Business Process Management (BPM) services and an RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company, today announced its inclusion in the 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI). The modified market capitalization-weighted index aims to track the performance of public companies committed to transparency in gender-data reporting in 2022 and comprises 418 companies across 45 countries and regions.The GEI framework scores companies against five pillars of gender equality: female leadership & talent pipeline, equal pay & gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand.This is a proud moment of validation for us. At Firstsource, we are committed to building an equal and inclusive workplace and the GEI framework provides an important benchmark to measure and improve against, saidAn inclusive, equal workplace doesnt only address a social imbalance, it creates diversity of thought leading to innovation and better impact for any organization.We are proud to recognize Firstsource and the other 417 companies included in the 2022 GEI for their commitment to transparency and setting a new standard in gender-related data reporting, saidEven though the threshold for inclusion in the GEI has risen, the member list continues to grow. This is a testament that more companies are working to improve upon their gender-related metrics, fostering more opportunity for diverse talent to succeed in their organizations.A record number of companies disclosed their data for this years GEI by using the GEI Framework, an increase of 20% year-over-year. This demonstrates a growing commitment to gender equality and recognition that the global business community can lead the charge for meaningful change by committing to more transparent reporting and disclosure of social data.Bloomberg collected this data for reference purposes only. The index is not ranked. While all public companies are encouraged to disclose supplemental gender data for their companys investment profile on the Bloomberg Terminal, those that have a market capitalization of USD 1 billion are eligible for inclusion in the Index.Firstsource Solutions Limited, an RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company (NSE: FSL, BSE: 532809, Reuters: FISO.BO, Bloomberg: FSOL@IN), is a leading provider of transformational solutions and services spanning the customer lifecycle across Healthcare, Banking and Financial Services, Communications, Media and Technology and other industries. The Companys Digital First, Digital Now approach helps organizations reinvent operations and reimagine business models, enabling them to deliver moments that matter and build competitive advantage. With an established presence in the US, the UK, India and the Philippines, Firstsource acts as a trusted growth partner for over 100 leading global brands, including several Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies. https://www.firstsource.com Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision- makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The companys strength  delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately  is the core of Bloomberg Professional Services . For more information, visit www.bloomberg.com
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition of athenahealth Group, Inc. by funds managed and advised by H&F, Bain, and GICSI.The proposed combination pertains to the proposed acquisition of athenahealth Group, Inc. (Target) by Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners X, L.P., Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners X (parallel), L.P., HFCP X (parallel-a), L.P., H&F Executives X, L.P., H&F Executives X-A, L.P. and H&F Associates X, L.P.( Funds managed and advised by Hellman Friedman LLC (H&F)), Bain Capital Fund XIII, L.P., Bain Capital Fund (lux) XIII, SCSP, (Funds managed and advised by Bain Capital Investors LLC (Bain)), Viggo Investment Pte. Ltd. (Investment holding vehicle managed and advised by GIC Special Investments Pte. Ltd. (GICSI)), and Minerva Holdco, Inc. (Acquirers).The Acquirers have been established as parallel special purpose vehicles. Their primary business activity is to invest funds to achieve an appreciation of the capital invested.athenahealth Group is a company headquartered in Massachusetts, USA. It is a cloud-based provider of the medical record, revenue cycle, patient engagement, care coordination, and population health services, as well as point-of-care mobile applications. These products and services are designed for the healthcare industry, specifically serving medical practices, hospitals and health systems and health plans. Target holds a minority interest in Access Healthcare Services Private Limited (Access), which provides services related to revenue cycle management in the health segments to customers located in India.As a result of the Proposed Combination, the Acquirers will acquire indirect, joint control of the Target through Minerva Parent, LP and its wholly controlled subsidiary, Minerva Bidco Inc., in terms of the Competition Act, 2002.
The Board of Directors of DiGiSPICE Technologies Ltd has decided to acquire additional 2% shares of Vikasni Fintech Private Limited (Vikasni), a step down subsidiary Company from Spice Money Limited, a subsidiary Company. Consequently, Vikasni will become a direct subsidiary Company.As per regulatory filing, the new company belongs to lending Technology platform & other technology services Business and the objective of acquisition is to make the target Company a direct subsidiary of the Company.Vikasni Fintech Private Limited was incorporated on November 01, 2021 in India. It has not done any business since then.At around 9:31 AM, DiGiSPICE Tech was trading at Rs42.10 per piece lower by 0.36% on Sensex.
Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal announced that Indias export of Tractors rose by more than 72.55% to $1025 Million during April-December 2021 compared to $594 million during April-December 2013.The major destination for the export of tractors is USA (25.2%), Nepal (7.3%), Bangladesh (6.5%), Thailand (5.4%) & Sri Lanka (5.3%).In the latest Budget 2022, it was proposed to phase out the concessional rates in capital goods and project imports gradually. This is another step towards creating a level playing field for domestic manufacturers and capacity creation in the sector which includes tractors.India has been seeing consistent growth in exports. Indias merchandise exports in January 2022 increased by 23.69% to $34.06 billion over $27.54 billion in January 2021; recording an increase of 31.75% over $25.85 billion in January 2020. Indias merchandise export in 2021-22 (April-January) rose by 46.53% to $335.44 billion over $228.9 billion in 2020-21 (April-January); marking an increase of 27.0% over $264.13 billion in 2019-20 (April-January).The Government has taken several proactive and effective measures since 2014 to boost Indias export. A new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 was launched on 1st April 2015. The policy, inter alia, rationalised the earlier export promotion schemes and introduced two new schemes, namely Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for improving export of goods and Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) for increasing exports of services. Duty credit scrips issued under these schemes were made fully transferable.
On February 7, the West Bengal government began 'Paray Shikshalaya,' a neighbourhood open-air school initiative for pupils in grades 1 through 7.

The goal of this project is to encourage students who were forced to drop out of school because of the Covid-19 outbreak to return to school.

Why was the project started in the first place?

Representational Image/Unsplash

Classes for grades 8 to 12 began on January 31st across the state. Students in lesser classes, on the other hand, continued to enroll in online programmes. SFI, West Bengal Chhatra Parishad, and ABVP, student organisations, had been protesting in the streets for a week prior to this declaration, asking that all classrooms be reopened as soon as possible.

The reopening of schools was also supported by a group of doctors and parents. The state government reopened schools and established this neighbourhood courses project in response to the increased demand for physical education classes.

Who is expected to be enrolled in these classes?

Initially, the campaign was aimed at pupils in primary schools (1 to 5). Physical classes in schools did not reopen for students in grades 6 and 7, thus they were included as well. Batches of students are summoned. Mid-day meals have also been arranged for students taking classes in the neighbourhood.

Where did these classes take place?

Bobins Abraham/ Indiatimes

Classes were held in neighbourhood parks and grounds for schools without open-air venues. Local councils and MLAs assisted in the establishment of infrastructure in such parks, such as the erection of temporary shades and seats, as well as the provision of mid-day meals for the students.

Classes were held in open-air locations at schools with such facilities. Students were seated on benches, and blackboards were arranged to simulate a school setting.

What was the initial response of students?

On the first day, students were enthusiastic about their classes. Classes were held in a variety of locations throughout Kolkata, with approximately 30 to 40 children per school. Students were required to adhere to Covid-19 safety guidelines and wear masks at all times.

Who said what on this project?

Pabitra Sarkar, an educationalist, was unsure if this approach would be beneficial. In an India Today report, he was quoted as saying, "I don't know if the necessary infrastructure can be created for this."

BCCL

The proposal, according to SFI state general secretary Srijan Bhattacharya, is a gimmick because the infrastructure to run regular sessions with such a large number of students does not exist.

According to Saptarshi Sarkar, national secretary of the ABVP, the 'Paray Sikshalay' project was introduced without significant consideration, and that regular classes, even at the pre-primary level, will benefit the children.

Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad state president Trinankur Bhattacharya, on the other hand, remarked that the state government's innovative move will benefit students from lower socioeconomic strata who are unable to attend offline classes in buildings due to the epidemic.

For more on explainers, news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


In a tragic news, all seven Army personnel who were struck by an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday, have been confirmed dead. Their bodies have been retrieved from avalanche site in Kameng sector during rescue operation.

"Seven Army personnel who were struck by avalanche in high altitude area of Kameng Sector in Arunachal Pradesh on 6 Feb have been confirmed dead, their bodies retrieved from the avalanche site," Indian Army has said in a statement as per ANI.

Seven Army personnel who were struck by avalanche in high altitude area of Kameng Sector in Arunachal Pradesh on 6 Feb have been confirmed dead, their bodies retrieved from the avalanche site: Indian Army pic.twitter.com/2SZMML8GzC  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022





The Army personnel were declared missing after their patrol team was hit by an avalanche in Kameng sector of Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday. Search and rescue operations are currently underway. Specialised teams have been airlifted to assist in rescue operations, Defence PRO Tezpur had said on Monday.



Region experiencing extreme weather

Remember, the area has been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall since the last few days. The sparsely populated, forested Kameng sector is located at heights of over 14,000 feet and borders Bhutan and China.



Daria Hill near Itanagar received snowfall after 34 years and Rupa town in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district witnessed snowfall after two decades, according to news agency PTI.

ANI

Temperatures might further dip in the Northeast Region of India, which is already reeling under a cold spell with heavy rain, snowfall, dense fog and thunderstorm over parts of the region in the next couple of days.

Warnings issued in Arunachal, Himachal

Warnings have been issued for certain parts of the region which may experience extreme weather phenomena. Dense fog is very likely to occur at isolated places in East Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura.

Meanwhile, the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), Manali, has also issued an avalanche warning at 24 places in five districts of Himachal Pradesh, including Lahaul and Spiti, Kullu, Chamba, Kinnaur and Shimla. In wake of the alert, the respective district administrations have advised people to avoid venturing into avalanche-prone areas.

SASE has issued avalanche warning in Solang nullah, south and north portals of Atal Tunnel, Koksar, Batal, Kaza, Tabo, Sumdo, Kalpa, Karchham, Sangla, Chitkul, Narkanda and Theog. Avalanche may also hit Jalori Pass, Nehrukund, Palchan-Kothi, Rohtang Pass, Sissu, Tandi, Keylong, Darcha, and other high-altitude areas.

Instagram

Other avalanche prone areas are Killar, Barwas, Gahar, Kalawan, Ranikot in remote Pangi valley of Chamba and Manimahesh trek route in Bharmour. The hill state experienced a spell of snow on Thursday and Friday, throwing normal life out of gear. Though the skies have cleared, the state is still struggling to return to normal as hundreds of roads are still blocked for traffic.



For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


On 1 January this year, around a hundred prominent Muslim women woke up to find themselves listed for online auction on an app. These womenwho included activists, journalists, politicianswere put up for sale as bulli bais. Bulli is derogatory slang used for Muslim women. Of course, there was no real sale involved, and the app was designed to attack and humiliate outspoken Muslim women. The targets included the Nobel laureate Malala Yousufzai, the Padma Bhushan-awardee actor Shabana Azmi and even Fatima Nafees, the 65-year-old mother of the disappeared student Najeeb Ahmed.



Reuters

The app sourced their pictures from their social media handles, and created lewd, doctored versions of them. Last year, a similar application called Sulli Deals had put up photos of 80 women up for auction. What is striking is that the app was allegedly created by a 20-year-old student who was arrested soon after.

Harmful online behaviour

Young people are not only victims but also perpetrators of harmful online behaviour. Internet, often hailed for its potential for education and democratisation of knowledge, has also become a site of violence that feeds and complements offline crime. Harassment and violence against women and young girls are commonplace, in addition to cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking and exposure to harmful content. Young people are especially vulnerable and as a society we have done very little to understand these problems, or to build a safer internet for them.

Reuters

The past decade witnessed rapid growth in internet usage in India and globally.

Internet users numbers rising

In January 2021, India had 624 million internet users, and while we do not have exact numbers, a significant proportion of these users are young people. The COVID-19 pandemic has further pushed children indoors and online, with schools and other outdoor spaces becoming inaccessible.

Last year, a study reported that 47 percent of Indian adolescents have moderate internet addiction while 24 percent have a high level of internet addiction. Simultaneously, we have witnessed a spike in cybercrimes and misdemeanors, which can leave victims traumatised for life.

Challenges galore

We have made a small beginning in trying to understand these emerging but fast increasing challenges. Until 2012, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), did not include data on online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Now, such crimes are recorded under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Indian Penal Code, 1860. In 2019, the Central Bureau of Investigation created a cell for online child abuse and exploitation. And yet, as a 2020 study conducted on adolescents in Delhi NCR reported, roughly 50 percent of instances of online violence are never reported. Most active internet users have experienced some form of online violence, but rarely do they have much information of what the risks are and how they can protect themselves.

uncredited

In a recent online survey undertaken by the Population Foundation of India, we found that adolescent participants access the internet unsupervised almost 80 percent of the time. With about 50 million active adolescent users on Instagram alone, there is serious danger of these young and inexperienced internet users falling prey to online predators or being influenced by disinformation propagated by malicious content creators.

"Bois locker room"

Two years ago, an Instagram group called bois locker room made headlines across the nation, when screenshots showed a group of boys posting photos of teenage girls without their consent, making offensive and sexually violent remarks about them.

To address these concerns and prevent cybercrimes, it is not only necessary to strengthen legal redressal mechanisms, but also ensure widespread awareness about online violence, and adequate counseling mechanisms for victims.

Parents need as much education on these aspects as children do. Internet-safety rules and practices should be included in the school curriculums, and parents should be made aware of them. The government should put in place a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, prepared by experts, to ensure children understand consent and sexuality.

At the Population Foundation of India, we have been working in these areas across our programmes. This includes a chatbot SnehAI with material on the different forms of online violence and information on a range of different helplines, which was developed in partnership with End Violence Against Children, an initiative led by UNICEF global. We have also set up Educately.org, a digital resource for information on adolescent health and wellbeing which provides teacher-training courses.

Representative image

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, boundaries between our real and virtual lives were blurring. Young people especially depend on the internet for education, pleasure and exploring new possibilities. We must ensure that we prevent and encourage reporting instances of online violence, and provide active support to victims. Hence, it is imperative that we actively strive to make online spaces for women and young people safe and empowering.

The swift action by the authorities in the Bulli Bai case was an exception, not the norm. Many on the internet continue to be victimised, with perpetrators facing no consequence. Thus, action for building a safer internet is an urgent and critical need.

This article is co-authored by Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director at Population Foundation of India and Martand Kaushik, Manager - Media & Communications at Population Foundation of India. All views/ opinions expressed here are of the authors.
A crossing guard has been hailed a hero after her quick thinking saved a school student from being hit by a car.

The incident took place in Maryland, U.S., and was caught on camera by a nearby school bus. In the video, a crossing guard is seen stepping into the crosswalk to stop traffic while a student from North East Middle School jogs across to cross the road.

Screengrab/YouTube

A car is seen approaching the crosswalk, and when the crossing guard realises the car is not stopping in time, she throws the student out of harm's way, and is struck by the car herself.



The crossing guard was identified as Annette Goodyear of the North East Police Department, ABC13 reported.

Goodyear was taken to hospital as a precaution but was quickly released, according to Cecil County Public Schools. She suffered minor injuries, the report said.



School officials added that Ms Goodyear later visited the student at their home to check in.

Gratitude and prayers to Corporal Annette Goodyear from the North East Police Department for her heroism, Ms Hornberger said. The town of North East is already working on commendations for her bravery and swift action.

Screengrab/YouTube

Cpl. John Fakner of the North East Police Department told WJZ that the incident happened around 7:30 am on Friday.



Police said Goodyear was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries and was released.

Were just extremely proud of her actions, he told WJZ. It was a split-second reaction that saved a child from potential injury. A job well done.

For more from trending, click here.


Balikagala and her coworkers collected blood from patients infected with malaria for four weeks. They then treated them with powerful antimalarial drugs. After initial analysis, the team sent their samples back to Japan -- glass slides stained with blood and filter papers with blood spots.

They tested the blood slides they had made by drawing blood from patients several times per hour in their Juntendo University lab. Balikagala and her colleagues have seen the drug effectively clearing the infection in previous years. However, some patients were still suffering from the parasite this time. Balikagala recalls, "We were surprised when we did the first parasite reading in 2017, and we found that some patients had delayed clearing." It was shocking for me.

More than half a million people are killed by malaria each year, with most of these being children. However, the World Health Organization estimates that interventions have prevented approximately 10.6 million deaths from malaria between 2000 and 2020. Most of these deaths were in Africa. The majority of this progress was due to insecticides and bed nets. A new antimalarial treatment, artemisinin-based combinations therapies (or ACTs), saved a lot of lives. They replaced older drugs such as chloroquine.

ACTs are used as a first-line treatment for malaria. They have prevented a large number of deaths from the disease since their introduction in 2000. ACTs combine a derivative from the drug artemisinin and one of five drug combinations or partner drugs. The fast-acting component of artemisinin kills most parasites in a matter of days. The longer-acting partner drug eliminates the remaining ones.

The ACTs became an important part of malaria treatment. In 2009, however, researchers found evidence of resistance to artemisinin at the Thailand-Cambodia border. Because the parasite was not cleared quickly by the artemisinin component, the partner drug had the responsibility of picking up the load. This created favorable conditions for drug resistance. Multi-drug resistance is a major problem in the Greater Mekong Subregion . Scientists fear that this resistance could spread to Africa, which is responsible for over 90% of all global malaria cases.

Scientists have now confirmed that artemisinin resistance has emerged in Africa in two reports last year. In April, one study reported that ACTs failed to work for more than 10% at two sites in Rwanda. The prevalence of artemisinin-resistance mutations was also higher than detected in previous reports.

Balikagala's group published in September their report on Uganda. This report also highlighted mutations that could lead to artemisinin resistance. Alarmingly, resistant malaria parasites have increased from 3.9% in 2015 to almost 20% in 2019. Genetic analysis has shown that resistance mutations have developed in Uganda and Rwanda independently.

In December, the WHO published the latest malaria report . It also highlighted worrying signs of artemisinin resistant in the Horn of Africa on the eastern side of Africa. There have yet to be published peer-reviewed studies that confirm such resistance.

The ACTs have been shown to work so far. In an experimental setting, however, if drug resistance develops, treatment can be extended by up to three to four days. This may not seem like much to Timothy Wells chief scientific officer at the non-profit Medicines for Malaria Venture . He says that the longer the therapy is, the greater the chance of people not finishing their treatment. The parasites are exposed to the drug but not all. This leaves survivors more likely to become drug-resistant. Wells says that this is really bad news because it sets up an environment for more resistance.

Reports from Uganda and Rwanda show a grim consensus. Pascal Ringwald, WHO Global Malaria Program Coordinator, said that "We are going see more and more independent emergence." "This is exactly the same thing we saw in Greater Mekong." Wells claims that switching to other ACTs helped combat resistance, avoiding prolonged treatment.

The WHO has given a new malaria vaccine the green light. However, it won't have any major impact on drug resistance. Even the most promising drug in the pipeline will take at least four more years to be widely available.

Public health workers in Africa have one option: Track and Surveil Resistance to Artemisinin and Other Drugs. Experts say that effective surveillance systems must be implemented quickly and widely throughout Africa.

Experts agree that there is little surveillance of the continent. There is a lot of uncertainty over the extent of antimalarial resistance in sub-Saharan Africa. Also, it is difficult to know how to interpret initial reports about emerging partner drug resistance in certain countries.

"Our current systems don't work as well as they should," states Philip Rosenthal a researcher on malaria at the University of California in San Francisco. He said that the new artemisinin resistance reports can be considered a "wake-up call" to improve surveillance.

Watch out for drug resistance

Before, malaria drugs had failed. Chloroquine was used to defeat the disease in the 20th century. Around a decade later, resistance to chloroquine emerged along the Thailand-Cambodia frontier.

By the 1970s, chloroquine-resistant malaria had spread across India and into Africa, where it killed millions, many of them children. Rosenthal says that "in retrospect, it is clear that chloroquine has been used for many years after a massive resistance problem." "This likely led to millions of deaths, which could have been prevented if we had used other drugs."

Artemisinin was discovered in the flurry of research to find new drugs. Artemisinin was used by Chinese herbalists to treat malaria-like symptoms 2,000 years ago. It was discovered in the 1970s by biomedical scientists in China. The use of artemisinin became more widespread in 2000.

Researchers have been haunted by the failure to treat malaria with chloroquine. However, they are still on the lookout for signs the parasite may be resisting artemisinin and its companion drugs. A therapeutic efficacy study is the gold standard method. This involves closely monitoring patients infected with malaria while they receive antimalarial medication. It can be used to determine how effective the drug works and detect resistance.

These studies should be conducted at multiple sites within a country once every two years, according to the WHO. Philippe Guerin is the director of the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network . Efficacy studies can be slow, expensive and labor-intensive. Guerin also says that you don't get a good geographic representation because there are only so many locations where you can conduct a clinical trial.

Researchers also use molecular surveillance to avoid the issues associated with efficacy studies. Researchers take a small amount of blood from the infected person and place it on filter paper. The laboratory then scans it for genetic mutations that could lead to resistance. This is a relatively simple and inexpensive technique.

These types of surveillance data allow policymakers to choose the drugs they will use in a specific region. Health authorities can also take action to stop the spread of resistance by detecting it early. This includes more aggressive screening and treatment campaigns and increased efforts to control mosquitoes that transmit malaria.

This warning system is, however, weak in practice. Rosenthal says that there is no organized surveillance system on the continent. "Surveillance can be haphazard."

Experts believe resistance may be undetected in countries without a strong health system or political instability. The border of South Sudan lies just 60 miles away from northern Uganda, where Balikagala and colleagues discovered resistance to artemisinin. Guerin says that South Sudan is not being monitored due to security concerns and a weak refugee system. Guerin adds that the same is true in parts of nearby Democratic Republic of Congo.

Regional antimalarial networks like the East African Network for Monitoring of Antimalarial Therapy (now defunct) have helped to address some gaps in surveillance. These networks are able to standardize protocols and coordinate surveillance efforts. Recent funding cuts have caused problems for these networks. The East African network "will be awakened," Balikagala predicts, as concerns about artemisinin-resistant malaria grow.

Eight countries from southern Africa have joined forces to form the Eight Initiative . This coalition aims to promote malaria elimination across borders and may aid in the jump-start of surveillance efforts.

Ringwald states that drug resistance is a top priority for him as well as his WHO colleagues. He stated that the topic was "highly on the agenda" at a meeting of the malaria policy advisory committee last fall. Ringwald sent Undark a portion of the 2021 World Malaria Report when Undark asked him how the WHO would combat African drug resistance. Although the WHO states it will work with countries to create a regional plan that can be coordinated, it does not provide any details on how that plan will be implemented. The African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (part of the African Union) did not respond to inquiries about its plans to strengthen surveillance.

Karen Barnes, a South African Malaria Elimination Committee co-chair and a clinical pharmacist at the University of Cape Town, says that researchers have an ethical responsibility to share information as soon as they can. "And make every effort to ensure that it is not the same as when there was chloroquine resistance.

Despite all the worries, there are signs of hope

Reports have identified troubling, but not conclusive, signs of drug resistance in partner drugs, despite the lack of a more thorough surveillance.

A series of four studies conducted between 2013 and 2019 at several sites in Angola found the efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine -- the most widely used ACT in Africa -- had dropped below 90%, the WHO threshold for acceptable malaria treatment. Similar results were reported by peer-reviewed studies from Burkina Faso , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo .

Studies have not identified genes that are associated with artemisinin-resistant genes, which suggests that lumefantrine might be in trouble. However, several researchers in malaria said Undark that they were skeptical about the methods used and considered the results preliminary. Ringwald says, "I would prefer that we looked at data using a standard protocol and excluded any confounding factors such as poor microscopy or an analytical method."

Mateusz Plucinski (an epidemiologist from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Malaria Branch) defended the findings. "The persistence of artemether-lumefantrine efficacy near or under 90% in Angola likely suggests that there is likely a true signal of decreased susceptibility of parasites to this drug," he wrote in an email to Undark. Angolan health officials responded to this data by using a new ACT.

It's not clear at this stage how dire the situation in Africa is, or what the future holds. According to Leann , a biochemist from the University of Melbourne, who studies antimalarial resistance, the research community and authorities "are at the level of just looking and seeing what happens at that stage." Experts say that if artemisinin resistant develops and begins to impinge on the partner drug's ability to function, policymakers may need to change to another ACT or deploy triple ACTs with both partner drugs.

Experts believe that artemisinin resistance may spread slower in Africa than in Southeast Asia. However, if artemisinin resistance and other partner drugs developed, it could put Africa in serious trouble. At the moment, there are no replacements for ACTs. Wells says that the Medicines for Malaria Venture drug pipeline contains about 30 potential medicines that have been tested in preliminary testing. Another 15 molecules are currently undergoing clinical trials for safety and efficacy. Even the drugs at the end will need to wait about five to six more years for approval by regulatory authorities before they can be included in WHO guidelines.

Wells mentioned one promising compound from Novartis that performed well during early clinical trials. Wells claims that the drug will not be available for use in Africa until 2026.

Scientists worry that funds for malaria control and elimination programs are still limited. Between COVID-19, the rollout of the malaria vaccine, and COVID-19, scientists fear that resources and attention for drug resistance surveillance and research might be dwindling. Barnes says, "I hope those with resources will see that investing in Africa's artemisinin resistance response today, or at least yesterday, is probably the best place they can put their money."

Time and again, the annals of malaria show that once resistance is developed, it spreads and threatens progress against this deadly disease. Barnes says that the signs are pointing to Africa. She asks the bigger question: "Are you capable of learning from past experiences?"




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Possibly confused by the novelty of Vienna's first-ever mini-roundabout at Park and Locust streets, S.E., a motorist in 2016 improperly drives over the central hub instead of driving around it. Meanwhile, Vienna officials are now working on rewrites of rules related to parking in the town. (Photo by Brian Trompeter)
HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. (AP)  A federal judge has approved a $65 million settlement in a class action lawsuit with three companies over chemical contamination of the water supply in an upstate New York village.

The Times Union reported the ruling Friday by U.S. District Senior Judge Lawrence E. Kahn sets off a 30-day period for an appeal to be filed challenging the settlement. Kahn had previously ruled the settlement was fair, reasonable and adequate.

Under the settlement, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Honeywell International and 3M will compensate plaintiffs who are current or former residents of Hoosick Falls, northwest of Albany, for their exposure to PFOA, a chemical once used in certain industrial processes.

The residents of Hoosick Falls learned several years ago that their drinking water had been contaminated by PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, which has been connected to cancer and thyroid disease.

Payments under the settlement are expected to be divided among 1,800 property owners.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits New York Pollution
Credit Suisse faced charges in a Swiss court on Monday of allowing an alleged Bulgarian cocaine trafficking gang to launder millions of euros, some of it stuffed into suitcases.

In the first criminal trial of a major bank in Switzerland, Swiss prosecutors are seeking around 42.4 million Swiss francs ($45.86 million) in compensation from Credit Suisse.

They say the countrys second-biggest bank and one of its former relationship managers did not take all necessary steps to prevent the alleged drug traffickers from hiding and laundering cash between 2004 and 2008.

Credit Suisse unreservedly rejects as meritless all allegations in this legacy matter raised against it and is convinced that its former employee is innocent, the bank said in a statement to Reuters. It added it would defend itself vigorously in court.

The case has attracted intense interest in Switzerland, where it is seen as a test for prosecutors taking a potentially tougher stance against the countrys banks.

The indictment runs to more than 500 pages, and centers on relationships that Credit Suisse and its ex-employee had with former Bulgarian wrestler Evelin Banev and multiple associates, two of whom are charged in the case. A second indictment in the case charges a former relationship manager at Julius Baer with facilitating money laundering.

A legal representative for the ex-Credit Suisse employee, who cannot be named under Swiss privacy laws, said the case was unjustified and his client denied wrongdoing.

That banker would start testifying on Wednesday or Thursday, a preliminary court schedule showed.

A lawyer for the two alleged gang members, who face charges of multiple counts of misappropriation, fraud and forgery of documents in the Swiss federal court but cannot be named under Swiss privacy laws, declined to comment. A lawyer for the former relationship manager at Julius Baer did not respond to requests for comment.

Banev, who does not face charges in Switzerland, was convicted of drug trafficking in Italy in 2017 and then in Bulgaria in 2018 for money laundering.

He vanished, but was arrested in September in Ukraine.

Bulgarian prosecutors are seeking his extradition to face charges of setting up an organized criminal group for money laundering, while Romania seeks him for setting up a group for drug trafficking, Interpols red list of wanted persons shows.

Banevs legal representative had no immediate comment.

Julius Baer, which is not facing charges, declined to comment on the case.

Cash in Cases

The former Credit Suisse employee brought at least one Bulgarian customer, who was an associate of Banev, with her when she joined Credit Suisse in 2004, prosecutors allege in the indictment.

The customer, who was later shot dead as he left a restaurant with his wife in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2005, had begun placing suitcases full of cash in a safe deposit box at Credit Suisse, the indictment says.

Prosecutors allege the gang used a practice known as smurfing, whereby a large sum of money is broken down into smaller amounts that are below the anti-money laundering alert threshold, to launder money, putting millions of euros in small-value bills into safety deposit boxes and later transferring them into accounts.

The defendants said this was standard practice at the time the deposits were made, although Swiss private banks have since adopted much tougher anti-money laundering know-your-client checks after international pressure.

The prosecutors allege the former relationship manager, who left Credit Suisse in 2010 after being detained for two weeks by police in 2009, helped conceal the criminal origins of money for the clients by carrying out more than 146 million Swiss francs in transactions, including 43 million francs in cash.

Our client is being unfairly accused, because Swiss law requires that a person be implicated in order to condemn a bank, attorneys at law firm MANGEAT LLC, representing the ex-employee, told Reuters. She is innocent, outraged by the accusations. We will plead for her full and complete acquittal.

Credit Suisse disputes the illegal origin of the money, a source familiar with its thinking told Reuters, saying that Banev and his circle operated legitimate businesses in construction, leasing and hotels.

The Swiss bank, which the indictment says considered Bulgaria as a high-risk country at the time, plans to draw attention to calls made by its compliance department to Swiss prosecutors after Banev was temporarily arrested in Bulgaria in April 2007, the source added.

Credit Suisse is hoping that the court will view that its compliance departments move was a sign of the bank taking its anti-money laundering obligations seriously and of cooperating with prosecutors in the matter.

In June 2007, the prosecutors asked Credit Suisse for information on accounts held by Banev and his associates in response to a request from Bulgaria, the source added.

Noticing a series of withdrawals, the banks compliance department asked prosecutors whether to freeze the accounts, but was told not to in order to avoid tipping the clients off, according to the source.

By the time prosecutors gave Credit Suisse the go-ahead, much of the money had been withdrawn.

The prosecutors office declined to comment on Friday, saying the matter was in the hands of the court.

The second indictment filed by federal prosecutors against the former relationship manager at Julius Baer, which is being tried in the same court case, alleges some of the funds were transferred to another Swiss bank.

The former relationship manager, who left a few months after the transfers took place, is charged with facilitating money laundering.

Julius Baer had refused to accept a suitcase filled with cash from the defendants, the indictment says.

($1 = 0.9245 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Silke Koltrowitz; additional reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; editing by Alexander Smith and Barbara Lewis)
A cyber attack targeting fuel storages in Germany and parts of northern Europe stretched into a sixth day with little visibility over when things will get back to normal.

Mabanaft Germany, whose systems were breached, continued to work on resolving the issue on Friday, according to a letter from the company seen by Bloomberg.

Cybercrime Gang Tied to Ransomware Attacks in Germany, Colonial Pipeline Hackers Hackers Target Key Fuel-Distribution Firms in Europe

The hack left swaths of German fuel depots unable to load onto trucks. Operations at different companies terminals have also been disrupted in Belgium that handle a range of fuels, including gas. At least one terminal in Antwerp run by a company that suffered an IT outage is at least partly operating, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

German authorities said earlier this week the incident was serious but not grave. People involved in fuel distribution in Germany said the fuel-supply situation since the hacking has so far been stable. One said there were plenty of alternative routes to market, while others said that high prices and subdued demand have helped to take any pressure off the countrys supply of heating oil.

The hackers behind the German breach appear to be related to the Russian DarkSide ransomware gang, according to Brett Callow, a threat analyst at the cyber-security firm Emsisoft. DarkSide was accused of the attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. last year, shutting down the largest gasoline pipeline in the U.S. for several days in May.

The hacking has coincided with one of the tightest diesel markets that Europe has seen in years. So-called timespreads for the fuel have surged to the highest since 2008, indicating demand is outpacing supply. The distributors in Germany said that has resulted in slow demand.

Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH, a Mabanaft-linked storage firm whose IT system was also compromised, had about 18 million tons of fuel pass through its depots in 2020. That equates to about 15-20% of the nations oil demand, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In Germany, a force majeure is in place across distribution and storage assets owned by Mabanaft Group, within which the Oiltanking Deutschland operates. Both firms are owned by Marquard & Bahls.

The disruption left companies like Shell Plc unable to load fuels onto trucks at Oiltanking Deutschland facilities and looking for alternative options. Some barge operators cant get fuel out of storage onto vessels operating along the Rhine River, a major conduit for supplies from northwest Europe to buyers as far away as Switzerland. Payments were hindered at some German filling stations.

With assistance from Ryan Gallagher and Julian Lee.

Photograph: Red light illuminates the keys of a laptop computer. Photo credit: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Cyber Europe Germany
Aston Lark, the London-based insurance broker that is soon to become part of Howden, announced Healthwise Group Ltd. as its second healthcare acquisition of 2022.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1993 and based in Dudley in the West Midlands, England, with a dedicated team led by Paul Swanson and Bob Grindley, Healthwise provides private medical insurance and other employee benefits solutions.

Were delighted to welcome the Healthwise team to the group, as we continue our ambitious employee benefits growth strategy. The last year has been transformational in the EB space and the addition of Healthwise will further allow us to broaden our offering to our personal and business clients, commented Peter Blanc, Aston Lark Group CEO.

We have been contacted by many parties interested in acquiring Healthwise over the years, however, Aston Lark stood out as a great future home for our clients. They offer vast expertise across a wide range of insurance products including all areas of employee benefits, whilst still providing a highly personal service, replicating our own business model. We can now support all our clients insurance needs as part of the combined group facility, said Paul Swanson, commercial director of Healthwise.

About Aston Lark

Currently backed by Goldman Sachs but soon to be acquired by Howden (as announced on Oct. 13, 2021), Aston Lark has more than 1,700 employees across more than 55 offices in the UK and Ireland, 200,000 customers and more than 1 billion of GWP. Its expertise spans all commercial sectors, industry-specific schemes, employee benefits consultancy, and a wide range of private client solutions.

Source: Aston Lark

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions
Betterview, an insurtech provider of property intelligence to property/casualty insurance companies, now has available what it calls its Defensible Space feature that enables insurers using the companys Remote Property Intelligence Platform to better protect vulnerable properties against catastrophic weather damage.

According to CalFire definition, defensible space is the buffer created between a building on a property and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any wildland area that surround it.

Betterviews Defensible Space feature includes a color-coded map and a numerical score for each structure. The map displays the amount of defensible space in each of three zones, as defined by CalFire and other disaster preparedness authorities, surrounding the structure. The score, similar to Betterviews Roof Spotlight Index, shows the defensible space for each structure, and how vulnerable it is to damage.

In addition to this map and score, the Betterview platform pulls in weather and catastrophe-specific third-party data from companies such as RedZone and Canopy Weather to further inform a propertys level of risk.

Defensible space has become a major area of interest for P/C insurers recently, said Madeleine Lopeman, lead data scientist for Betterview. In addition to overall property condition, insurers writing in high-risk regions are starting to consider how maintaining defensible space helps protect properties against damage from different types of catastrophic events. This new feature easily identifies the defensible space for each structure and provides a score indicating whether that space is sufficient or not to protect against damage.

CLARA Analytics Takes On Escalating Commercial Auto Claims

As commercial auto losses continue to climb, CLARA Analytics, which provides artificial intelligence technology in the commercial insurance industry, has released its latest Litigation for Commercial Auto, which helps insurers evaluate litigation risk, identify the best attorneys for each claim, resolve claims quickly, and control escalating costs.

Powered with advanced AI technology, insurers now have a path to control the rapidly increasing costs by optimizing claims management and avoid litigation, the company says.

CLARA uses natural language processing to perform contextual analysis, incorporating structured, semi-structured and unstructured data into its AI analysis.

CLARA Litigation for Commercial Auto was launched at a critical time for this industry, said Tom Warden, chief insurance and science officer at CLARA, noting that legal costs make up 40% of losses for commercial auto.

Ascend Raises $30 Million

Insurance payments platform Ascend raised $30 million in Series A equity funding, bringing its total funding raised to $39 million along with a $250 million lending commitment to finance insurance premium loans through its platform.

The funding was facilitated by Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd.  doing its reinsurance business as HSCM Bermuda  an investment adviser that specializes in reinsurance, insurtech and transportation investments.

Ascend Co-CEO and Co-Founder Andrew Wynn said this capital raise came at the right time as the insurance industry has changed a lot in the past few years due to disrupters such as digitization, COVID-19 and the hardening market.

Those changes helped prime the market for a product like Ascend, and now were at a point of rapid growth, he said. In order to scale our team and our product, we felt it was necessary to bring in the additional financing.

Ascends payment APIs (application programming interface) and no code products automate insurance payments end-to-end, whether its through an online point of sale with buy now, pay later financing or the distribution of commissions and carrier payables. With these products, the company aims to make the process of buying commercial insurance more efficient.

Traditional premium financing companies allow for payment plans and the cultivation of relationships. However, they can be difficult to work with and cause more friction than they alleviate when it comes to workflow, Wynn said. Ascends no-code and API products eliminate the need for independent agents and brokerages, online sellers, and distributors of commercial insurance to build their own payment offerings.

The Series A funding was led by Index Ventures with participation from new investors such as Distributed Ventures and its anchor limited partner NFP, a global property/casualty insurance brokerage, HSCM Bermuda, XYZ Ventures, and a series of strategic angel investors. Also participating were existing investors First Round Capital, Susa Ventures, and FirstMark Capital.

Wynn said the lending capacity will be used to streamline both commercial and personal lines of insurance loans, helping to ease the friction with modern financing infrastructure and the increasing demand for high-quality customer experiences. The additional equity capital will be used to hire dozens of new team members on the product and marketing side out of Ascends New York, Columbus and California offices.

Topics Carriers Auto InsurTech Tech Commercial Lines Business Insurance Property Casualty Property Funding
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Monday it was issuing draft guidance seeking to protect aviation employees who perform government certification duties from interference by airplane manufacturers and others.

Congress in December 2020 approved legislation boosting FAA oversight of aircraft manufacturers, requiring disclosure of critical safety information and providing new whistleblower protections in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people and led to the planes 20-month U.S. grounding.

An FAA survey released in August 2020 found some safety employees reported facing strong external pressure from industry and raised alarms the agency does not always prioritize air safety.

Agency employees reported being over-powered in meetings with industry.

Boeing said it fully supports efforts to enhance transparency and independence of the FAA program. Boeing said it would continue to work with the FAA to ensure our unit members can perform their vital roles without interference through open communication and a supportive environment.

The draft guidance, which is open for comment, calls for manufacturers to monitor, report and investigate all allegations of interference and to report the results to the FAA. It also establishes a clear path for these employees to speak freely with FAA certification officials at any time.

In November, the FAA told Boeing that some of its appointees overseeing aircraft certification tasks lack expertise and directed the largest U.S. planemaker to quickly address the issue.

In a Nov. 2 letter seen by Reuters, the FAA told Boeing an oversight review conducted this summer found some appointees did not have required expertise and found some of those Boeing employees performing certification tasks for the agency are not meeting FAA expectations.

Under the reform law, the FAA in January began exercising new oversight over selection of candidates who perform safety work on the FAAs behalf.

Boeing is nominating candidates but FAA must approve or reject them.

Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department into the MAX certification as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Potter and Bernard Orr)

Topics USA Aviation Manufacturing Aerospace
For all the potential peril of a workplace romance, the most common source of trouble, experts say, is allowing it to remain a secret.

A case in point was last weeks abrupt ouster of longtime CNN chief executive Jeff Zucker, who said he was `wrong in not being upfront with the network about a consensual relationship he was having with another executive.

Zucker only acknowledged his relationship with CNN chief marketing officer Allison Gollust after being questioned about it during an investigation of now-fired anchor Chris Cuomo. The executive shakeup comes at a pivotal moment for CNN, and prominent employees have expressed dismay that things werent handled differently.

He should have known better, said David Lewis, CEO of Operations Inc., an HR consulting firm. He decided to avoid what was a clearly stated policy by his employer. The problem with that is there was no good outcome once he decided not to tell.

Zucker is hardly alone in finding love at the office. About a third of U.S. workers say they are in a workplace relationship or have been in one  and the trend has been on the rise since the start of the pandemic, according to trade association Society for Human Resource Management.

Most big corporations have a policy on workplace romance, but the majority of U.S. businesses do not, according to SHRM. Corporate policies can vary from forbidding all relationships to just those between managers and subordinates. Some simply require disclosure.

Among smaller businesses, there are rarely rules at all. Nearly 80% of U.S. workers say that their employer does not require them to disclose a workplace romance, according to the most recent data from SHRM.

And that can cause just as much trouble as employees keeping relationships secret from a company that actually has a policy.

A policy protects workers from quid pro quo relationships, it protects a companys morale, and ideally protects against lawsuits and scandals.

Smoldering Fire

Companies that choose to look the other way are the ones that are allowing a smoldering fire to turn into an inferno, said David Lewis, CEO of Operations Inc., a human resources consulting firm. Countless organizations have chosen to not deal with these head on and have paid dearly as a result.

The (hash)MeToo movement shed light on toxic _ and at times, criminal _ workplace sexual misconduct that even the best office-romance policies are unlikely to prevent. That includes film studio Miramax failing to address long-running accusations against Harvey Weinstein, who was eventually convicted of rape and assault, and NBCs brand being tarnished after sexual misconduct allegations against anchor Matt Lauer.

Hidden consensual romances present their own problems for companies, especially when top executives are involved. Because of the potential for power dynamics to come into play, a relationship with a lower-level employee is usually against policy, even if it is consensual.

When such a relationship comes to light, it often causes a public relations nightmare. In 2019, McDonalds fired CEO Steve Easterbrook after he acknowledged exchanging videos and text messages in a non-physical, consensual relationship with an employee. McDonalds forbids managers from having romantic relationships with direct or indirect subordinates. Then, the company sued him in 2020 when other relationships came to light that he had lied about. Easterbrook ended up returning $105 million to settle the suit.

Having a policy in place is just the first step. Employees may not be aware of it, said Jeff Hyman, CEO of Recruit Rockstars, an online recruiting firm.

A big problem is, most employees have no idea what their companys policy is, he said. Its not typically included in an offer letter.

Another common problem is that employees fear theyll be punished if they disclose a relationship, or they dont want human resources involved in a budding romance. So companies need to make it clear that disclosing a relationship helps protect both the employee and the company, and wont be used against them, said Johnny Taylor, CEO of SHRM.

The challenge is to communicate to employees that `We need you to do this, and nothing negative will happen if you follow this.

Its possible that if Zucker or Gollust had disclosed the relationship at the proper time, CNN could have found alternatives to his resignation, Taylor said.

While I do not know the details of CNNs policy, my instinct is that, had Zucker notified his board of the developing relationship instead of them learning of it as a result of an investigation, theres a very good chance the board wouldve found a better solution  one that did not involve them losing a star talent, Taylor said.

CNN declined to comment for this article.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics USA Commercial Lines Business Insurance Human Resources
Although a black maintenance worker suffered intolerable racial harassment from co-workers at a Kentucky manufacturer, the employer took steps to investigate and end the practices and cannot be held responsible for civil rights violations, a federal appeals court decided Monday.

Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act requires a reasonably prompt response, not a perfect response from the employer, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found in Ronald Burns vs. Berry Global Inc. Because no reasonable juror could find Berry acted unreasonably or in a deliberately indifferent manner, we affirm the district courts grant of summary judgment.

The publicly traded Berry is one of the worlds largest manufacturers of plastic packaging, tapes and other household and industrial products. Ronald Burns began working at the firms Nicholasville, Kentucky, plant in 2018, and soon was subjected to racially offensive and threatening notes and actions, including a noose left in his toolbox, the court decision explained.

Burns brought the actions to the companys attention and human resource employees investigated, going so far as to review hours of security camera footage to determine which worker was the culprit. The company suspended one worker and told Burns that another was under suspicion. Berry also interviewed workers and conducted a limited amount of employee training on respect and non-harassment.

Burns, who later found another job and left Berry, filed suit in 2020, arguing that the company did not take enough corrective actions and ignored signs that a supervisor was involved. Berry disputed the claim that the alleged harasser was, in fact, a supervisor.

Berrys attorneys asked for summary judgment and the district federal court granted it. The supervisor standard of review did not apply in this case, the district court found, and under the coworker standard of review, Berrys response was adequate.

The 6th Circuit judges agreed.

To hold an employer liable for the harassing conduct of an employees coworker, the employee must show the employers response to the harassment manifested indifference or unreasonableness in light of the facts the employer knew or should have known,' Judge Julia Gibbons wrote for the panel, quoting from previous court decisions.

Case law has held that the plaintiff must show the employer tolerated or condoned the situation or that the employer knew or should have known of the alleged conduct and failed to take prompt remedial action, Gibbons wrote. She added that an employers response is generally considered adequate if it is reasonably calculated to end the harassment.

Also, Berrys decision to allow its human resource generalist to continue the investigation, rather than an outside attorney or investigator, was not unreasonable, the court found.

In the end, no one was fired or charged in the racial incidents at the Berry plant. The company said not enough evidence could be found to prove any workers actions.

Ronald Burns suffered intolerable racial harassment at work on account of his race, the 6th Circuit said. His employer, however, cannot be held legally responsible under the coworker standard of review. Berrys response, though perhaps imperfect, was legally adequate under the requirements of Title VII and its progeny.

Topics Manufacturing Kentucky
Derelict buildings, including shops and pubs, will be converted into new homes as part of a new policy that will funnel an unprecedented level of investment into Irish towns.

Skibbereen in Co Cork was one of the 26 towns selected for funding under the first phase of the Town Centre First policy in 2021.

The town received 100,000 from the Cork Council to support the development of a plan that would seek to maintain and restore the area.

The new policy outlines 33 measures designed to make towns attractive places in which to live, work, visit and run a business.

The policy aims to aid job creation, refurbish vacant buildings to increase housing supply in towns, develop bespoke transport plans, retrofit houses to be more climate-friendly, and conserve heritage sites.

Participating towns will have town regeneration officers which will lead engagement with town stakeholders to help facilitate the Town Centre First process.

Funding for Town Centre First projects will come from existing schemes such as the rural regeneration and development fund (RRDF), urban regeneration and development fund (URDF), Housing for Alls forthcoming Croi Conaithe Fund, and the town and village renewal scheme.

There is some mixed reaction from the policy already. Darragh OBrien, the housing minster; Peter Burke, the planning and local government minister and Malcom Noonan, the heritage and electoral reform minister, have all come out in support of the new policy.

However, Independent TD Sean Canney stated that as the funding streams are already in existence, theres nothing new in the policy.

The urban and rural regeneration funds supports urban regeneration in towns with a population of over 10,000.

The fund has approved 410m in funding for projects in towns. These projects will be completed over the next few years.

A funding call for new projects to local authorities will be made in the summer, which will be specifically aimed at Town Centre First Implementation as one of its key objectives.

In December, Heather Humphreys, the rural and community development minister, announced 2.6m in funding to deliver the new policy.

She said: 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.

One of the reasons for the development of the Town Centre First plan was the impact of Covid-19.

During the pandemic, more significance has been put on local areas and remote working.

As a result of travel restrictions and home working, many people have rediscovered the value and convenience of shopping locally, and the importance of local towns and villages for social and cultural engagement, stated the Town Centre First Report.

The widespread adoption of remote working, which will have an enduring impact, has the potential to enable workers across a wide range of industries and sectors to avail of a greater range of locations to live and work.

Remote working will also allow many workers to spend less time commuting and more time living in their own communities, The report continued.

As this policy was being developed, Ennis in Co Clare was used as an example of the benefits to restoring a local area through planning and consultation.

Public consultation played a key role in the production of the Ennis 2040 Strategy enabling the plan to reflect the needs of the communities, businesses and all the stakeholders.

The plan was delivered through the Economic Development Directorate of Clare County Council which set up formal structures to include elected members, the Ennis Chamber and community and businesses.

Benefits from extensive public consultation included ensuring the development of a comprehensive spatial and economic strategy, early identification of trends and emerging challenges, facilitation of ownership of the strategy by all the stakeholder groups and the wider community, and a town vision and strategic action plan.

Clare County Council are currently undertaking a comprehensive multi-stage regeneration programme for Ennis Town Centre with the use of 7.5m in URDF funding.
Jenny McCarthy is back in hospital following brain tumour surgery.

The Irish wedding photographer, who is married to Virgin Media's Martin King, told followers she couldnt believe she was back in Beaumont Hospital after being discharged on Saturday.

Please say a prayer they can manage the pain for me, she said alongside a photo of a half-eaten bowl of cornflakes.

Jenny shared an update with her followers

This past weekend, the Dubliner had told her followers she had been allowed home to relax after undergoing brain tumour surgery last week.

Ive never been so grateful, grateful to have the last week behind me, she shared.

"It looks great, just one more little test to come back. But for now it's time to chill out on the couch and start the road to getting Jenny back to where she actually belongs."

Jenny had a brain tumour successfully removed back in 201. In January, she shared that a brain scan had flagged new activity and surgery had been recommended to remove the tumour.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner in 2013, her husband Martin King, who presents the Six O'Clock show on Virgin Media, said he felt helpless when his wife was unwell and was glad of his faith.

When my wife Jenny became sick a couple of years ago she was a hero. She coped by stepping outside of herself. But I felt completely helpless.

I had to put my trust in the skills of one person to enable another person to live. I was glad I had some type of faith.
An environmental group has launched a High Court challenge seeking to quash planning permission for the development of a new cable car system connecting Co Corks Beara Peninsula and Dursey Island.

An Bord Pleanala gave Cork County Council the go-ahead in November last for the decommissioning of the existing cableway structure and the construction of a new two-way cableway, with operating stations and a mainland exhibition centre, cafe and car park.

The current cableway facilitates the operation of a single six-person cable car used by about 20,400 visitors each year, according to planning documents. The two new cable cars would be able to carry 15 people each, with monthly users capped at 5,000.

Mr Justice Richard Humphreys gave leave to the Friends of the Irish Environment Limited (FIE), permitting it to proceed with its judicial review challenge over the planning permission. He adjourned the matter to a later date.

In a sworn statement, FIE director Kieran Cummins said the environment where the infrastructure is being placed is highly sensitive, with both the island and mainland sides captured within the Beara Peninsula Special Protection Area (SPA).

He said he believed the popularity of photo-sharing social media sites such as Instagram had generated a new level of interest in the drama and beauty of Dursey Island in recent times.

FIE, represented by Oisin Collins SC, instructed by OConnell & Clarke Solicitors, challenges the boards decision on a number of domestic and European law grounds.

It claims the board erred in concluding that the development does not adversely affect the integrity of European sites when this allegedly could not have been ascertained beyond reasonable scientific doubt.

It alleges the board does not scientifically justify its reasons for setting a monthly limit of 5,000 visitors and said the estimated 60,000 annual visitors was a very significant increase in traffic to Dursey island.

The applicant also claims the board failed to properly provide any actual assessment either in an Environmental Impact Assessment or Appropriate Assessment as required by national and European Union law.

Environmental effects

FIE notes that the boards own inspector opined negatively about the environmental effects of the proposed development and recommended planning permission be refused on environmental grounds.

In particular, FIE claims, the inspector recommended refusal due to the likelihood of significant adverse effects on the nearby Beara Peninsula SPA and Kenmare River Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Further, the applicant claims the board erred in assuming the chough  which is part of the crow family  is a ground nesting bird and not properly assessing the impacts of the proposed development on its nesting.

FIE also allege the decision is invalid due to it allegedly contravening the EIA and Habitats directives.

As well as a quashing order, FIE seeks various declarations, including that the State failed to properly transpose sections of the European Birds Directive by failing to put in place special conservation measures to ensure the survival and reproduction of the chough and gull-like Northern Fulmar birds in connection with the Beara Peninsula SPA.

FIEs case is against An Bord Pleanala, Ireland and the Attorney General, while Cork County Council is a notice party.
A Muslim woman from Uttar Pradesh reported, `We are submerged in pools of fear. The pools are deep. Unending. I cannot get out. We cannot hear each other Suffocating. Like a well

by Amjed Jaaved

There are seven Indian states (Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, and Uttarakhand) that are heading for assembly polls soon. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is sanguine that it would bag 300 plus seats out of the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh State assembly.

With a population of 204.2 million, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in the Indian Union. Hindus constitute 79.7 per cent of the states population and Muslims 19.3 per cent. The Muslim community numbers over 38, 483,967, the largest among the Indian states.

Freebies

Besides slogans, the parties promise exotic freebies to their electorate. The goodies range from hard cash to electric scooters to mobile phones, laptops, gas cylinders, free electricity, cooking vessels, cycles, mixer-grinders, government jobs, or even gold jewellery for daughters marriages.

In the last assembly elections, and offered free robots to homemakers to help them in their domestic chores, three-story houses with a swimming pool for everyone, a mini-helicopter, 100 sovereigns of gold to women for their marriage, a boat for every family, and $50,000 to youths to start business ventures.

The BJPs bonanza for UP this season includes a cash transfer of $30 to Indian farmers per month; $800 million to self-help groups empowering women; $15 sent to primary school students families for buying school gear, and $30 provided per month to 1 million girls.

The reign of fear

In 2014, male chauvinist Yogi Adityanath authored an article that affords a peek into dark recesses of his mind. The article is entitled matrushakti bharitiya sanskriti ke sandarbh mein (power of the mother figure in the context of Indian culture).He says, Shastras (scriptures) have talked about giving protection to women. Just like urja (energy) left free and unchecked causes destruction women also do not need independence, they need protection. Their energy should be channelized to be used productively. He added, Stree shakti (women power) is protected by the father when a child, by the husband when an adult, and by the son in old age. If the woman adopts the qualities of men, that of bravery (shaurya) or masculinity (purush arth), then she becomes a devil (rakshasa).

Love jihad

In disregard of Indias freedom of Religions Act, Anti-Romeo squads in connivance with police discourage inter-caste and inter faith marriages. The legislation is used to harass Muslim community and institute false cases against them.

Most converts are reconverted through trickery or social pressure. Even so only five percent cases of inter-faith marriage and 95 per cent inter-caste.

His supporters have called for digging up Muslim women from their graves and raping them. In 2015, he said that if he was given the chance, he would install idols of Hindu gods in every mosque. In an undated video uploaded in 2014, he said, If [Muslims] take one Hindu girl, well take 100 Muslim girls. If they kill one Hindu, well kill 100 Muslims. (Nilanjana Bhowmick , Meet the militant spreading Islamophobia in India, Washington Post March 24, 2017).

A Muslim woman from Uttar Pradesh reported, `We are submerged in pools of fear. The pools are deep. Unending. I cannot get out. We cannot hear each other Suffocating. Like a well (Angana P. Chatterji, Thomas Blom Hansenand Christophe Jaffrelot, eds., Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism is Changing India, Hirst &Company, London. 2019, p. 418)

Both Modi and Adityanath are a deeply polarizing figures in Indian politics. Muslims nurture a palpable fear of persecution at the hands of the BJP's government. Modi sloganeered 'sab ka vishwas (everybody's trust), but practically he has engendered a trust deficit and cynicism in the minds of Muslims by marginalising them. Modis former role as Chief Minister of Gujarat during the deadly riots of 2002 cast a dark shadow over his prime ministership since 2014.Instead of healing old wounds, Modi has created new fissures in the minds of Muslims, making them feel alienated and helpless. There has been a spike in vigilante attacks against Muslims accused of killing or transporting cows for slaughter or simply eating beef, chiefly in states governed by the ruling party since Modi came into power in 2014. Countless Muslims lost their livelihood for closure of abattoirs under pressure of Hindu fanatics.

Muslims are portrayed as anti-national, terrorist, pro-Pakistan and enemies of the Hindu nation. Religious minorities including Muslims have been threatened to convert to Hinduism, text books have been revised to demonise Muslim rulers of India, and cities renamed to erase Indias past links to Muslims. The Citizenship Amendment Act and the national register of Citizenship targets Muslims, called "infiltrators" and "termites" by leading BJP leaders including Amit Shah. Appointing hard-line nationalists to key government posts, at the recommendation of the RSS, belies Modis pledge for an inclusive India. In 2017, Yogi Adityanath, called for India to become a Hindu state.

Muslim Munch

To avoid persecution, many Muslims joined the Muslim Munch, a wing of the RSS. Modis government did not rebuke calls for Muslim genocide. In a US Congressional briefing, Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch president said on January 12, We are warning that genocide could very well happen in India. For Stanton, genocide is a ten-stage, non-linear process, which culminates in extermination and denial. The Genocide Convention, though, defines it not as a process but as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. These acts include killing, inflicting bodily harm, or preventing births.

Concluding remarks

Surveys reflect that the BJPs expectations may not be outrightly outlandish; yet, a discernible change in the Congresss strategy may strengthen their winning tally.
A Government minister has said people who are worried about the cost of living should "shop around".

Sean Fleming, the junior finance minister, told RTE's Drivetime that people should look for alternatives instead of "complaining".

Asked by host Sarah McInerney about measures being taken by the Government to tackle the cost of living, Mr Fleming said savings could be made by changing providers of utilities or shopping at a different supermarket.

It takes effort to shop and switch and if people make an effort they can save a lot of money.

Rather than just complaining and asking 'what the Government is going to do for me' you could actually have a serious impact on your own finances but it involves people having to do some work themselves.

Mr Fleming clarified the complaining reference was in relation to opposition TDs, whom he said did not offer any practical suggestions to people.

"Instead of people complaining, because youve listed two or three opposition TDs who have complained, I'm saying it would be more practical and give people suggestions. If you move around you can get better prices and thats in our own hands," he said.

The junior minister told the show his net income is about 1,000 a week but his advice was applicable regardless of income.

Mr Fleming said he had changed providers himself in different areas and does the weekly food shop in his own home.

"The best thing to do is if you need to change your supermarket, change your supermarket.

"If you need to change who you order your oil from every so often, change that too," he said.

Ive shopped around in relation to my health insurance. And it does take time and effort and if people put in time and effort they will actually get reductions.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald described the comments as out of touch and indifferent.

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy described Mr Fleming's comments as a "Marie Antoinette moment".

"Instead of telling people to shop around, the responsibility has to be on the Government to actually take the action that makes a meaningful difference for people who are making a choice of heating their homes or indeed, paying the rent," she said.

Labour TD Ged Nash tweeted: This really is something else, and from a junior minister for finance too.

Energy and fuel bills up by over 30% abs his solution is stop 'complaining' and shop around!

At this rate, therell be a lot of FF voters shopping around for better value at the next election, Mr Nash wrote.

Hitting out at the suggestion that families shop around to make reductions on their energy, insurance and grocery bills, Mr Nash said: "No amount of shopping around gets you the kind of significant reduction that families need in their utility bills.

"Remember, if you look at fuel bills and energy books combined, over the last period of time, there has been a 30% increase."

In a statement released after the interview, Mr Fleming said: I did not intend to imply people shouldnt complain about the cost of living, that wasnt my intention and for that I apologise.

"I was urging people to also shop around for best value, in addition to the measures being taken by the Government."

The statement added: The Government and Fianna Fail take the issues around the cost of living very seriously. We are taking action to help ease the cost of living pressures many are currently facing.

"I am very aware of the cost of living pressures that are currently confronting people and businesses.

Asked about the comments, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said: "I didn't hear Minister Fleming, I know that he's apologised for the comments.

"I'm not sure if what he said was what he intended. What I do know is that he, the same as myself and my colleagues in Government, are very much aware of the fact that the cost of living has increased.

"It's already having a significant impact on a lot of households and we are absolutely committed to trying to provide support where we can," she told RTE's Morning Ireland programme.
Burma Cambodian PM Embarrassed After Myanmar Junta Fails to Free Detained Australian

Professor Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Sean Turnell, the detained Australian professor and key economic adviser to ousted Myanmar leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, remains in Yangons Insein Prison, despite a claim by Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen that he had been released on Sunday.

Turnell was arrested on February 6 last year, a few days after the coup, and charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act.

Confusion arose on Monday when Hun Sen wrongly announced that Professor Turnell had been released on Sunday. The Cambodian PM had lobbied coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to free him during his visit to Naypyitaw last month, at the request of Australias foreign minister.

Hun Sen is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and was the first foreign leader to visit Myanmar since the coup.

While his controversial visit drew public fury and international criticism, Cambodias government defended the trip as yielding potential steps towards resolving the crisis in Myanmar.

Cambodia highlighted the plight of Sean Turnell as one issue Hun Sens visit could help resolve.

However, its efforts ended in humiliation on Monday with junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun refuting Hun Sens announcement that Professor Turnell had been freed. He told the BBC Burmese service that there were no plans to release him.

After causing distress and confusion, Hun Sen admitted that he was wrong in taking credit for helping to free Turnell when he hadnt been released and asked for understanding.

In reality, the Australian national was not released, Hun Sen said in a Facebook post late on Monday. The confusion is because of me getting information wrong, please forgive me for the unintentional mistake, he wrote.

Cambodias Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Hun Sen had raised the issue of Sean Turnells detention during his talks with Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and added that the junta boss had assured him that he would reconsider the case once the court process was over.

Professor Turnell faces a potential maximum prison term of 14 years under the Official Secrets Act charge. His co-defendants include Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and four senior government figures.

Australias foreign minister released a statement calling on the military regime to free Turnell.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is providing all possible consular assistance to Professor Turnell. This includes ensuring he is able to speak to his family and to the Australian Embassy, and supporting his health and welfare in detention. DFAT is also providing consular assistance to Professor Turnells family, the statement said.

Consistent with basic standards of justice and transparency, we expect that Professor Turnell should have unimpeded access to his lawyers, and that Australian officials be able to observe his court proceedings, the statement added.



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Burma Dozens of Regime Troops Killed in Resistance Attacks in Sagaing, Kayah

A vehicle carrying junta police lies on its side on the Kale-Tamu highway after being ambushed by the PDF in Tamu Township, Sagaing Region in mid-January. / PDF-Tamu

Twenty-six junta soldiers and a resistance fighter were killed during clashes with the Peoples Defense Force (PDF) in Sagaing Region and Kayah State on Monday.

Kalay-PDF claimed to have killed at total of 17 soldiers when it conducted a series of ambushes against a military convoy in Kale Township, Sagaing Region on Monday.

At 10 a.m. on Monday morning, a combined force of five resistance groups including ethnic Chin defense forces used mines to ambush an eight-vehicle military convoy as it was traveling to the town of Kale from the south of the township.

After the mines exploded, an intense shootout erupted between the regime forces and the resistance groups, Kalay-PDF said.

In the clash, nine junta soldiers and a resistance fighter from the Chin National Defense Force (CNDF) were killed and five other PDF members were injured by the regimes heavy explosives.

Kalay-PDF said it later used mines to ambush the military convoy another three times in two different locations as it was heading to Kale.

In those mine ambushes, eight more junta soldiers were killed and regime forces abandoned a vehicle that was destroyed by the mines.

On Sunday evening, around 20 soldiers were reportedly killed and many injured when the Kalay-PDF ambushed a detachment of 60 regime troops with mines while they were traveling to Kale from a village.

On Monday morning, nine more junta troops were killed during two firefights with a combined force of fighters from the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and the Karen Armythe armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Partyin Loikaw Township, Kayah State.

During the clashes, some Karenni resistance fighters also suffered minor injuries, the KNDF said.

Currently, the military regime is facing daily attacks from PDFs and ethnic armed group across the country.

Meanwhile, the junta continues its atrocitiesincluding arrests, torture, burning people alive, massacres, arbitrary killings, using civilian detainees as human shields, shelling residential areas, and looting and burning housesespecially in Magwe and Sagaing regions and Chin, Kachin, Shan, Kayah and Karen states.

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Burma Junta Troops Clash With Arakan Army in Western Myanmar

Arakan Army fighters.

Military tensions are running high in Maungdaw in Rakhine State in western Myanmar after fresh clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military, raising fears that the informal ceasefire between the two sides is breaking down.

Fighting broke out last Friday when junta troops carried out a sneak attack on an AA outpost near the Letpan Mountains northeast of Mee Taik Village, killing an AA sentry, said AA spokesman Khaing Thukha.

A number of junta soldiers were killed in the 40 minute clash, according to sources. The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm junta casualties.

The two sides clashed again on Sunday for three hours, with both sides reportedly suffering casualties. Clashes happened [on Sunday] after the military attacked us again in the Letpan Mountains. I still dont know details about casualties, said Khaing Thukha.

Rakhine politician U Pe Than told The Irrawaddy: It can be said that the informal ceasefire has collapsed. We will wait and see if the leaders of the two sides will hold talks [to stop the fighting] or just let it happen. Since the ceasefire [in 2020] both sides have strengthened their forces and prepared for a war so, if this situation continues, clashes may spread to other places.

Khaing Thukha said it depends on Myanmars military whether clashes intensify in Rakhine State. The AA will respond as necessary, he added.

Amid the heightened tensions in Rakhine, the military regime last week imposed a 9pm-5am curfew in Kyauktaw Township which is located by the Kaladan River.

Junta troops came close to AA outposts in Kyauktaw on January 17, forcing locals from a number of villages to flee their homes out of fear of a possible battle.

On January 27, the military regime briefly detained 30 Rakhine youths heading to the AA headquarters to undergo training.

The AA and the Myanmar military have observed an informal ceasefire since the November 2020 general election, but tensions have risen on the ground and renewed fighting broke out in Maungdaw in November last year.



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Burma Mandalay Mayor Detained by Myanmar Regime Hospitalized

Detained Mandalay Mayor Dr. Ye Lwin.

Ousted Mandalay municipal minister and mayor Dr. Ye Lwin has been hospitalized after falling sick with suspected gastrointestinal problems in Mandalays Obo Prison.

Dr. Ye Lwin was transferred from the Obo Prison hospital to Mandalay General Hospital on February 4.

We were told that he is suspected to have gastrointestinal problems and a diagnosis will be conducted by a physician. The result is still unknown, said a member of his legal team.

Dr. Ye Lwin was detained following the Myanmar militarys coup in February last year. In December, he was sentenced by a junta court to eight years in jail, the maximum sentence for a violation of Penal Code 505(b), for inciting civil servants and municipal workers to join the Civil Disobedience Movement.

A medical doctor who trained as an eye specialist, Dr. Ye Lwin is a respected figure in Mandalay. After the National League for Democracy Party won the 2015 general election, he was nominated by Mandalay Region chief minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung as the mayor and municipal minister of Myanmars second city.

He enjoys huge popularity among residents as the architect of Mandalays transformation into a smart city. He rejected the military regimes offer to join its administration, and was thus imprisoned.

Under Dr. Ye Lwins leadership, Mandalay was ranked in 2018 by CIO-Asia as fifth among the top 10 cities in Southeast Asia in the process of becoming smart cities, a ranking based on information from the ASEAN Post, the Economist Intelligence Unit, the networks own project profiles and Govlnsider.

Mandalay also won the Smart City 2019 award given by the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization, a federation of information and communications technology industry associations in the Asia and Oceania region.



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Guest Column Juntas Use of China as a Shield Aggravates the Conflict in Myanmar

Anti-regime protesters in front of the Chinese Embassy in Yangon in February 2021. / The Irrawaddy

The Myanmar militarys coup detat turned one year old on Feb. 1 amid an ongoing brutal and violent crackdown by forces of the State Administration Council (SAC) against the resistance, which has only intensified the conflict. The current conflict in Myanmar continues to have adverse impacts on our immediate neighbors, China and the ASEAN countries, which cherish stability and peace in the region. The anniversary also spotlights the shortcomings of China and ASEANs current cautious approach, which has failed to alleviate the conflict and restore stability and peace in Myanmar. While brutally cracking down on the peoples resistance to the coup and holding on to power at all costs, the SAC is using China as a diplomatic and military shield against the UN and the West, and to strengthen its diplomatic status and military position, further aggravating the conflict.

Chinas current stand

Though China is not happy with the coup, it started normalizing its relations with the SAC in the middle of last year, mainly to resume its ongoing investment projects. While Beijing seems to have adopted a cautious policy toward Myanmar, worrying that siding with either the SAC or the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) would further aggravate the conflict, it also seems to be under pressure from its state-owned enterprises and local businesses in Yunnan Province, who have both new and old ties with local cronies in Myanmar and some ethnic armed organizations in the border areas.

Chinas key strategic interests

Analysts and observers point out that China has three key strategic interests and concerns with respect to Myanmar: 1) border security and stability; 2) Chinese businesses and investments in Myanmar; and 3) anti-Chinese sentiment.

Border security and stability : While Western diplomats and analysts often say that Chinas key interests in Myanmar are its geopolitical ambitions and economic interests, Chinese analysts view Chinas priorities in Myanmar as being more about border security and stability than purely economic. This is mainly because Beijing approaches border security and stability in its western provinces through economic development, especially in Yunnan Province, which is one of the poorest provinces in China.

: While Western diplomats and analysts often say that Chinas key interests in Myanmar are its geopolitical ambitions and economic interests, Chinese analysts view Chinas priorities in Myanmar as being more about border security and stability than purely economic. This is mainly because Beijing approaches border security and stability in its western provinces through economic development, especially in Yunnan Province, which is one of the poorest provinces in China. Chinese businesses and investments in Myanmar: The interest in border security and stability extends to protecting its businesses and investments in Myanmar.

The interest in border security and stability extends to protecting its businesses and investments in Myanmar. Anti-China sentiment: In line with its political and economic strategies, China does not want anti-China sentiment or any public anger against China or Chinese investments.

Options, scenarios for China and Myanmar

In dealing with the conflict in Myanmar, China has three very different options: 1) side with the SAC; 2) side with the Myanmar people and the NUG; or 3) remain neutral. Currently China may consider its position as neutral. Chinas cautious approach and policy on normalizing the relationship with the SAC while maintaining a good relationship with the National League for Democracy (NLD) as the peoples representative may appear a safe and strategic move for China. However, Chinas remaining neutral is interpreted inside Myanmar as siding with the SAC.

And over the course of time, the current conflict is likely to unfold as one of three scenarios for Myanmar: 1) the resistance wins; 2) the SAC wins; or 3) a prolonged stalemate. Currently, scenario No. 3 is unfolding.

What can China do to restore stability?

Chinas current stand and approach are clearly unacceptable to the majority of Myanmar political elites and ordinary citizens alike. They are also not succeeding in restoring stability quickly in Myanmar. By remaining neutral or normalizing relations with the SAC, China is viewed as siding with the military.

Being viewed as one of the SACs very few friends could reverse recent positive developments and severely damage the hard-earned mutual understanding and relations China developed with Myanmar during the NLD government. Worse, the current situation has already reawakened existing anti-China sentiment, mainly rooted in the Myanmar peoples entrenched hatred towards the military, which comes from having experienced decades of poverty and persecution under its rule. Chinas role as the militarys go-to shield, not to mention military propaganda touting the friendship and support of China, have only aggravated this sentiment.

The SAC forces increasing brutality and frequent atrocities have broken the trust between the Myanmar people and the military; this will most likely be irreversible, certainly for the foreseeable future. While economic development is important for Chinas border security and stability, as well as for Myanmar in the medium and long terms, engaging with the SAC for the sake of economic development to alleviate the current conflict is counterproductive and will only prolong it. Economic problems cannot be solved without addressing the political situation.

Such economic relations with China will only embolden and empower the SAC to prolong the situation, while the Myanmar people continue to suffer and see little or no benefiteconomically or politicallyin either the immediate or the long term.



China may choose to side with the SAC or remain neutral. Both of these options would have severely damaging consequences for China and Myanmar.

In either of these options, if the resistance side wins, the new Myanmar and its people will remember China as a disloyal friend who turned its back when they needed it the most. If the SAC wins, it will be even worse. The prolonged anti-Chinese sentiment, which is closely associated with our historic dark age of military rule, would severely damage the future of any China-Myanmar relations, and prolong the conflict in a region that needs stability and prosperity.

China may choose to side with the people and the resistance. Whether China supports the Myanmar people or not, the people will not accept the military as a legitimate political institution due to its decades-long record of failing the country, as a driver of conflict and division, mismanaging the economy at the expense of poverty for the majority of the population. Since the coup last year, the incompetent but highly corrupt military has been killing unarmed Under military rule, the people have very limited options: they can become impoverished or get killed, or they can end the militarys political role once and for all.

While China may think that any coercive measures will aggravate the current conflict, taking the option of supporting the Myanmar people would bring more benefit than harm to China, and would be more effective in terms of restoring stability and peace in Myanmar quickly.

First, the 70-year-long civil war shows that the Myanmar military will never be able to bring stability or peace to Myanmar; this severely impacts Chinas strategic interest in border security and stability.

the 70-year-long civil war shows that the Myanmar military will never be able to bring stability or peace to Myanmar; this severely impacts Chinas strategic interest in border security and stability. Second, the SACwith or without Chinas knowledgeis using China as a diplomatic and military shield to protect itself from the UN and the wider international community, and to strengthen its diplomatic status and military position. Chinas protection aggravates the current conflict by emboldening the Myanmar military.

Once the SACs China shield is removed, the Myanmar military will face immense pressure and realize that it cannot win alone, both in the diplomatic sphere and on the military front. Thus, removing the protection for the SAC will be a much more effective political tool and strategy to force the SAC to come to the negotiation table than any other means.

Third, for Chinas border security and stability in the long term, establishing a good relationship with the Myanmar people and a people-supported civilian government at this critical time for Myanmars future is more important than ever.

Thus, the current situation creates a historic opportunity for China to strengthen its ties with the Myanmar people by supporting their resistance to the militarys brutal rule and helping to restore stability quickly and to sustain a better relationship. Chinas border security and stability as well as its ambitious China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and Belt and Road Initiative schemes will benefit significantly from quickly restored stability in Myanmar. Such support from China for what the Myanmar people truly desire will be gratefully remembered and will plant the seeds of successful economic and diplomatic cooperation in the coming years.

Khin Oo is the pseudonym of a public policy analyst and researcher on the political economy of Myanmar.



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With a population of 1.44 billion, China is the most populated country and home to 18.47% of the worlds population.

In comparison, 332 million, or 4.25%, live in the US (less than a quarter). In July of 2021, goods exported from the U.S. to China amounted to $124.5 billion.

Goods imported from China to the US reached $434.7 billion. Understanding our interconnection with other nations, including the cultures and backgrounds of significant trading partners, is critical to form opinions and help us make decisions when its time to vote for effective trading policies and agreements.

This past week people around the world celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Tiger and the Lunar New Year. Largely a secular holiday, it includes rituals and traditions that derive from Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, as well as from ancient myths and folk religions.

From New York to Bangkok, from Indonesia to Scotland, from India to Japan and Latin America, worshippers engaged in ceremonies to mark their New Year. In China alone, the Spring Festival is the biggest human migration in the world as over 400 million people will empty the cities and return to their rural homes across the country.

Put a Tiger in Your Tank was a slogan created in 1959 to boost sales of Esso Extra. When US sales soared in 1964, Time magazine declared 1964 to be The Year of the Tiger. Evoking the image of the powerful cat has a long tradition in many cultures around the world. Tiger I and II were model names of powerful German WWII tanks, Tiger Brands is South Africa's largest food company.

The Chinese zodiac is based on a 12-year cycle and assigns an animal to ones birth year. It proclaims that it has a profound influence on your personality, relationships, and destiny.

People born in the years of the Tiger are vigorous and ambitious, daring and courageous, enthusiastic and generous, self-confident with a sense of justice and a commitment to help others for the greater good one of the horoscopes reads


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Consultancy services giant Deloitte and Salesforce have teamed up to develop a national talent development program aimed at boosting diversity in the technology industry and help close a growing skills gap in Australia.

The Digital Career Compass program will focus on reaching a diverse cross-section of the community, including Indigenous Australians, women returning to the workforce, and retired athletes, who will be provided with the training and technical skills to kick-start a career in technology.

Deloitte Lead Partner, Salesforce, Claire Gillies said: In response to the growing technical skills gap in Australia we wanted to take a lead in being part of the solution. We have therefore developed a unique program, in partnership with one of our key alliance partners, Salesforce, to create a diverse development program that will give people the opportunity to learn new skills. Our focus will be on working with candidates who demonstrate the right aptitude and attitude, rather than on higher education qualifications, to reflect the rich diversity of our community.

Participants will receive Salesforce technical and business skills training, access to Salesforces Trailhead Virtual Bootcamp program, mentoring from highly experienced professionals, career support and access to masterclasses - and at the end of the 12-week training period, participants will be connected with employers in the Salesforce ecosystem.

IDC Research, commissioned by Salesforce, found that by 2026 Salesforce and its ecosystem of partners and customers will add over 104,000 new jobs in Australia.

The initiative will also contribute to Deloittes global commitment to impact 100 million futures by 2030. Eligible participants can reach out to Fitted for Work, Goanna Solutions and Australian Athletes Alliance for further information on the program.

The first intake commences in March and will graduate May 2022.

Tara Ridley, Vice-President Alliances and Channels at Salesforce ANZ said: There is an urgent need to increase the number of skilled professionals in the technology industry and for the industry to better represent the diversity of the Australian community. Deloitte and the programs NFP partners will help Australians from all backgrounds enter rewarding new careers.

Elizabeth Trewhella, She Works Manager, Fitted for Work said: This is a real opportunity to upskill women and provide them with the opportunity to re-enter the workforce. Were proud to partner with Deloitte and Salesforce to bring this program to our community.

Lisa Sarago, Chief Executive Officer, Goanna Solutions said: As an Aboriginal-owned and operated organisation, we are focused on closing the digital gap by offering opportunities to equip our community with skills for the future, access to employment opportunities and networks. We celebrate the commitment by Deloitte, Salesforce and other organisations in the ecosystem to create a diverse workplace.

Jacob Holmes, General Secretary, Australian Athletes Alliance said: Were pleased to be working with Deloitte and Salesforce on this program to provide the opportunity for elite athletes to learn valuable skills to assist them with a meaningful career beyond sport.
ISTANBUL, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese consumers' growing favor in Turkish food products has translated into an 86 percent increase in exports for most of 2021 following expos organized by China despite the COVID-19 pandemic, industry insiders said.

Turkey's food exports to China, one of its biggest export markets, saw a considerable jump over 300 million U.S. dollars in value in the first 10 months of 2021, according to data released by the Aegean Exporters' Association (EIB).

The amount, though a modest sum in China's overall imports, is what Turkish producers are working hard to enhance.

Turkey has set its sight on exporting 1 billion dollar worth of food products to China over the next two years, according to the EIB, which includes Turkey's biggest fruit, vegetable, dairy, dried nuts, and fisheries producers.

"We believe that the China International Import Expo (CIIE) editions held in 2020 and 2021, although partially virtual due to the pandemic, was crucial in introducing Turkish products," Serap Unal, deputy secretary general of the EIB, told Xinhua.

China is one of the target countries for the Turkish food industry, she said.

Turkish enterprises highly value Chinese expos as it enhances the image of Turkish products among Chinese consumers, she said.

Birol Celep, vice president of the EIB, said that the Turkish food sector sees China as a "strategic market" and wants to expand its product range in line with the Chinese consumers' demands.

Omer Faruk Erbil, co-owner of Unal Dried Nuts located in Turkey's capital city of Ankara, which joined for the first time in the CIIE held in November last year, is hopeful for the future of transactions with Chinese counterparts.

"Dried fruits are loved by the Chinese consumers as they are considered as healthy snacks, we understand from the feedback we are getting from our representatives that our Chinese friends can't get enough of our pistachios for example," he told Xinhua.

Dairy products are at the top of Turkey's exports to the Chinese market, and Turkey's main exporting dairy products are cheese, whey products, and milk powder.

"We have big ambitions and projections, and we want to maintain a permanent presence in this huge market with quality products," Bedri Girit, chairman of the Aegean Fisheries and Animal Products Exporters' Association, told Xinhua.

Girit called on Turkish dairy exporters to respect China's health requirements to ensure a sustainable market for the years to come.

In recent years, relations between Turkey and China have improved significantly in the economic, commerce, tourism, and transportation areas. China has made important investments in Turkey in the last decade. 




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Exploiting the global political climate in the aftermath of 9/11, Muslim governments were blackmailed by the US and forced to explain their innocence and disclose details of Islamic organisation activities on the pretext of investigating links to the Al Qaeda organisation in their countries.

by Latheef Farook

Funding Islamophobia to generate hatred towards Islam and Muslims have become an industryby itself in the United States. According to a recent report inciting hate toward American Muslims and Islam is a multibillion-dollar business.

January 11, 2022 report titled Islamophobia in the Mainstream, was published by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, a civil rights group and political lobby.

Released by Cair and University of California Berkeleys Center for Race and Gender, the report names 74 groups it says contribute in some way to Islamophobia in the US. Of those groups, it says, the primary purpose of 33 is to promote prejudice against, or hatred of, Islam and Muslims.

Corey Saylor, author of the report and director of Cairs department to monitor and combat Islamophobia, said: The hate that these groups are funding and inciting is having real consequences like attacks on mosques all over the country and new laws discriminating against Muslims in America.

Saylor added that the Washington-based Center for Security Policy and Actfor America have the most impact, because they are trying to push their anti-Muslim rhetoric beyond their formerly fringe following.

The government sanctioned campaign ofdemonsing Islam and Muslims to justify US-European-Israeli invasion of Muslim countries began in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy at the World Trade Centre in New York and Pentagon.

As disclosed by many reports it was an inside job and the Muslims had nothing to do with these attacks. However former President George Bush, perhaps as planned well in advance, accused Afghan Taliban of attacking WTO and exploited the tragedy to launch a global campaign against Islam and Muslims.

Such a campaign is needed for the US government to justify its wars against Muslim countries and destroy them as they have done in Somalia, Afghanistan,Kuwait,Iraq, Syria,Libya,Lebanon andYemen.

THE war against terrorism, spearheaded by Bush in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington was so comprehensive that it struck at the very root of political, military, economic, financial, social, religious and even cultural life of Muslims all over the world.

Therein began the well-planned and carefully orchestrated campaign against Islam and the dehumanisation of Muslims on a global scale to engineer conflicts and thrive on human misery.

Every Muslim man with beards and woman with headscarves were, afraid to move freely walk especially in the West. Most people from the Gulf and the Middle East, instead of travelling to the US and Europeturned to Malaysia and other Asian countries for their annual vacation, eager to avoid harassment in the US and European countries.

The hatred towards Muslims has become so widespread that the world was shocked in September 2004, when former celebrity pop icon Cat Stevens, now Yusuf Islam, regarded internationally as a peace activist, was humiliated when he arrived in New York from London, and was put back on a flight to London for no obvious reason.

The only factor one could attribute to this humiliation is that he is a practising Muslim propagating Islam. If this is how a celebrity (who still has a following of thousands of pop fans in the US) is treated by so called freedom-loving America, imagine the plight of the millions of faceless Muslims all over the world.

Exploiting the global political climate in the aftermath of 9/11, Muslim governments were blackmailed by the US and forced to explain their innocence and disclose details of Islamic organisation activities on the pretext of investigating links to the Al Qaeda organisation in their countries.

Many Muslim countries and almost every country in the Middle East supplied plane loads of documents to the US giving detailed accounts of all Muslim Associations, their activities and the people involved in their respective countries. In doing so, these regimes tried to ensure their own survival rather than the interests, the dignity or security of their countries.

As pointed out by former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir MohamedMuslim countries are being attacked and bombed with impunity; Muslims are tortured and killed, their religion and prophet mocked. Muslims are among the poorest people in the world and their countries the least developed. Ironically, this is despite immense wealth.

Islamophobia entered Sri Lankan in the aftermath of the ethnic war in May 2009 when the government opened the country to anti-Muslim forces such as Israel and RSS front BJP with their evil agendas.

Without any valid reason government backed racist elements attacked Muslims and burnt their commercial, residential and industrial properties and mosques.

This senseless campaign continued until the April 21 Easter Sunday attacks on churches massacring innocent worshippers. Few Muslims were involved in the attacks and the Muslim community as a whole was not involved at al.

Yet in the GeorgeBush style Maithri -Ranil government unleashed violence against the entire community causing untold misery. The strange similarity between the two tragedies,like in New York, here in the island too the mastermind is yet to be traced.
Response crews trained in environmental cleanup and remediation were in the far western Green Acres neighborhood Tuesday to find, assess and clean up any asbestos.
Ballad Health on Monday reported 454 people hospitalized with the coronavirus, surpassing the previous record of 450 reported last Tuesday.

According to the hospital systems scorecard, a daily document providing system statistics related to COVID-19, there were 74 admissions in the past day  the third most ever reported. There were 76 admissions reported on Jan. 25, and a record 83 on Jan. 26. Sixty-eight people had been discharged over the same time period Monday, indicating that hospitalizations increased over the weekend as well.

Mondays inpatient total was up 23 compared to Friday, after hospital officials said they were hopeful the surge peaked last week.

Ballads Chief Operating Officer Eric Deaton told the Press last Wednesday that he was pretty hopeful the surge had peaked, but did say you dont really know exactly because these are individuals  its not just statistics.

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That hope stemmed from a decline in the number of people testing positive for the virus in recent days. Deaton said last week the hospital system saw the number of people testing positive cut almost in half. Data reported last week from the Tennessee Department of Health also showed a decline in the number of people testing positive in Northeast Tennessee, though that data is now more than a week old.

As of Jan. 29, the most recent day for which data is available, the region was averaging 1,226.4 new cases per day over the past seven days, down from a peak of 1,309.4 reported on Jan. 26. It was the first time that number had declined in a month.

Of the 454 people hospitalized with the virus, 90 were in intensive care and 67 were on ventilators, both numbers down slightly from Friday. There were also nine children hospitalized with the virus, a total that has not dropped below 6 in more than three weeks.

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Western and Indian conspiracists smear China-Sri Lanka cooperation

by Huang Lanlan in Shanghai and Chen Runze in Colombo

After Sri Lanka declared an economic emergency and asked China for help at the beginning of the year, some Western and Indian conspiracists once again went on a bashing spree against China and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

By maliciously tying Sri Lanka's recent financial distress to the Chinese investment in the country, they got busy hyping the so-called "Chinese debt trap" in an attempt to mislead the public and attack the China-Sri Lanka cooperation.

Some users created and spread rumors on social media in January that "China's central bank issued bank notes with a face value of 10,000 rupees in Sri Lanka," which was later refuted. This misinformation insinuates China's violation of Sri Lanka's currency sovereignty, smearing the mutually beneficial economic cooperation between the two sides as an "unequal plunder" by China, observers told the Global Times.

With either rumors about currency sovereignty or the so-called "China debt trap," some Western countries, led by the US, and India have been attacking China's overseas construction projects. However, their cliches have rarely been echoed in BRI countries, Chinese and Sri Lankan scholars said.

China is a good friend "with consistent economic policies, good trade practices and a win-win attitude," Samitha Hettige, advisor of the National Education Commission of Sri Lanka, mentioned in his article published in December on Sri Lanka's English-language newspaper, Ceylon Today. "Sri Lanka-China relations are quite strong, only based on friendship and nothing to do with [business or politics]," Hettige told the Global Times.

Disinformation campaign

The rumor about currency sovereignty went rife earlier in January, coinciding with Wang's visit to Sri Lanka. One of the earliest rumormongers was a Twitter user under the name "bandhini fernando" who frequently posts anti-China misinformation, the Global Times found. On January 9, "bandhini fernando" posted two fake pictures of "Sri Lanka's new 10,000 rupees note" saying it was issued by the People's Bank of China.

"Wang Yi officially handed over new currency to Sri Lanka during his meeting with [Sri Lankan] President," bandhini fernando wrote. The user claimed that the "new bank note" can be used in Sri Lanka and wickedly described the Chinese-invested projects of Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port as "Chinese territory."

The rumor was refuted the following day by Sri Lankan fact-checking agency Factcrescendo, which quoted a response by the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, CJP Siriwardana, as saying that the bank currently has no plans to issue a 10,000 rupees bank note and the highest currency value in Sri Lanka remains 5,000 rupees.

The "China debt trap," an old accusation though, is another defamation campaign by the West and India against China-Sri Lanka's economic cooperation.The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by saying that the accusations are not true. "China-Sri Lanka cooperation is mutually beneficial and has been warmly welcomed by all sectors in Sri Lanka," said the ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on January 10.

There is no such thing as a "China debt trap," noted Hettige. "The total Chinese loans only account for a little more than 10 percent of our total loan property portfolio, and China is actually the fourth largest [creditor], behind international capital markets, multilateral development banks and Japan," he told the Global Times, highlighting that "the media did not show the fact."

US and India's role

The US and India play a major role in the slandering campaign against China-Sri Lanka cooperation and China-funded projects in the country, observers found.

"Sri Lanka has not fallen into a debt trap," President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, once stressed in the presence of then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as Sri Lanka's news site Ada Derana reported in October 2020. Readers often see mainstream American newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy and The Atlantic, publish articles blathering about the alleged "China debt trap." Responding to the smears and attacks, Rajapaksa said in an official statement in October 2020 that "constructing a port in Hambantota is an idea of Sri Lanka and not China's." He also added that the project has a vast potential for generating income and employment opportunities for his country.

"The US frequently defames China-invested projects in Sri Lanka, partly to hope that Sri Lanka will abandon [the BRI] and opt for the [aid plans] the US offers," said Qian Feng, Director of the Research Department of the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University.

"Some Indian government officials and reporters always regard South Asia as India's 'sphere of influence,' wary of the so-called 'outside forces' developing relations with other countries in the region," Qian said while highlighting that "with hostility toward China, they see China's cooperation with countries like Sri Lanka a weakening of India's power of influence there."

Source: Global Times
Joplin, MO (64801)

Today

Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 48F. S winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
What is needed now is to understand exactly what our national responsibility is in the face of such events. Then we will understand the deep and dark reality of this extremism and the false pretences of the real sinners who supported and cultivated it.

Editorial

During a political talk show aired on a private TV channel yesterday in Colombo, several important factors were highlighted about the Easter attacks in April 2019. Harin Fernando and Manusha Nanayakkara, two young opposition MPs, have long used parliamentary immunity to blame the current government and intelligence agencies for the attacks. However, the two ruling party MPs were able to answer questions raised face to face during the programme. As a result, the very foundations of conspiracy theories have crumbled. It is a programme that goes beyond the political drama of wasting people's time on empty words and rhetoric that are usually aired on television. The members who participated in the discussion should be commended for maintaining self-discipline.

A screengrab of the programme aired on a private TV channel in Colombo

During the debate, the two opposition MPs acknowledged that the leaders of the previous government were responsible for the terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic fanatics that killed nearly 300 unarmed civilians. They also acknowledged that their government's indifference had given the golden opportunity to the attackers. Alas, according to one MP now they are trying to find out who took advantage of their negligence instead of answering their weaknesses.

However, the behaviour of these politicians in this conversation is a useful example for future political dialogue. Over the past period, numerous parties and social groups have tried to gain various advantages by politicizing the terrorist attacks in a vile manner. Based on an alleged statement made by the former Attorney General, a grand conspiracy was hatched around the incident. Consequently, we as a country failed to learn the basic lesson taught by those Islamic fanatics. This failure created a situation in which some of those who had direct links with the suicide bombers became innocent in the eyes of society. Instead of engineering a legal environment in which those individuals could be punished, the background was set for them to grab the sympathy they needed nationally and internationally. These wolves in sheeps clothing are now behaving as if they were victims of so-called draconian laws. But the truth is out there.

Following the September 11 attacks by Al Qaeda on the United States of America as well as assaults by Lashkar-e-Taiba in Mumbai, India in November 2008 respective governments were immediately directed its state apparatus to focus to understand the depth of the enemys ideology. And then they have implemented the requirements to prevent reoccurrence. Accordingly, they strengthened regional and global intelligence cooperation. On the other hand, the state has formulated policies to close all avenues that could feed extremism locally. Many in those countries did not use those events as tools for narrow political gain but to address the national issues.

But what happened here after the Easter attacks? What happened to the report of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security, headed by former MP Malith Jayathilake? As far as we know, former MP Jayathilake as a member of the previous government worked hard to compile the report. The report suggested a series of urgent reforms in religious, educational, and social institutes. Why don't the Opposition MPs initiate a social dialogue based on that very important report? What is the role of opposition politicians and other social groups who are passionate about the Easter attacks? Instead of trying to mislead society with conspiracy theories, it is time for them to assist in formulating a national programme to implement recommendations in the report.

The political debate that aired yesterday was an opportunity not only for those who disseminated fake news but also for those who spoke without adequate information about the attacks to rethink their approach. What is needed now is to understand exactly what our national responsibility is in the face of such events. Then we will understand the deep and dark reality of this extremism and the false pretences of the real sinners who supported and cultivated it.
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.
A Hyundai Sonata sits in a Hyundai car dealership in Des Plaines, Ill., on Oct. 4, 2012. Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of nearly 485,000 vehicles in the U.S., Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, to park them outdoors because they can catch fire. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of nearly 485,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park them outdoors because they can catch fire even if the engines have been turned off.

The recalls from the two Korean automakers are another in a long string of fire and engine failure problems that have dogged the companies for the past six years.

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This time the problem is contamination in the antilock brake control module that can cause an electrical short.

Affected are certain Kia Sportage SUVs from 2014 through 2016, and the 2016 through 2018 K900 sedan. Recalled Hyundais include certain 2016 through 2018 Santa Fe SUVs, 2017 and 2018 Santa Fe Sports, the 2019 Santa Fe XL and 2014 and 2015 Tucson SUVs.

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The automakers say they have 11 reports of fires in the U.S. but no injuries.

Documents posted Tuesday by U.S. safety regulators say owners should park the vehicles outside and away from structures until repairs are made.

Dealers will replace a fuse. In addition, Hyundai dealers will inspect the control modules and replace them if needed. Hyundai owners will be notified starting April 5. Kia expects to mail letters starting March 31.

The recalls come after U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stepped up a series of investigations into engine compartment fires that have plagued the Korean automakers.

In December, the agency consolidated two investigations from 2017 into a new a new engineering analysis covering more than 3 million vehicles from the 2011 through 2016 model years. At the time, NHTSA had received 161 complaints of engine fires, some of which occurred in vehicles that had already been recalled.

The first recall from the companies related to engine failures and fires reaches all the way back to September 2015. Since then it has issued at least eight more recalls for a host of engine problems, according to NHTSA documents.

The agency said its opening the engineering analysis to evaluate whether previous recalls covered enough vehicles. It also will monitor the effectiveness of previous recalls as well as the long-term viability of related programs and non-safety field actions being conducted by Hyundai and Kia.

At the time Hyundai and Kia said they are cooperating with the agency.

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In separate the automakers said they have undertaken numerous recalls to address engine issues, including recalls, new engine monitoring technology and providing extended warranties.

The vehicle fires under investigation involve the related Korean automakers Theta II GDI, Theta II MPI, Theta II MPI hybrid, Nu GDI and Gamma GDI engines. Models covered include Hyundais Sonata, Santa Fe, and Elantra and as well as Kias Sorento, Rio, Optima and Soul. Model years covered are 2011 through 2016.

In November of 2020, NHTSA announced that Kia and Hyundai must pay $137 million in fines and for safety improvements because they moved too slowly to recall more than 1 million vehicles with engines that can fail. The fines resolved a previous probe into the companies behavior involving recalls of multiple models dating to the 2011 model year.

Kia was to pay $27 million and invest $16 million in safety performance measures. Another $27 million payment will be deferred as long as Kia meets safety conditions, NHTSA said.

Kia denied the U.S. allegations but said it wanted to avoid a protracted legal fight.

Data collected by the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety show more than 30 U.S. fire and engine-related recalls from Hyundai and Kia since 2015. The recalls involve more than 20 models from the 2006 through 2021 model years totaling over 8.4 million vehicles.

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Many of the recalls involved manufacturing defects that stopped oil from flowing through the engine block. Many involved expensive engine replacements.

Hyundai and Kia also did a U.S. product improvement campaign covering 3.7 million vehicles to install software that will alert drivers of possible engine failures.
PARKADE DISAGREEMENT

WHAT: Lawyers for the town and Manchester Parkade I LLC disagree over whether the development agreement is null and void, according to letters exchanged between the two sides.

DEVELOPERS: Claim town didnt give them an official notice of default.

TOWN: Claims the developers committed a breach of the agreement when they didnt secure the necessary financing by the September deadline, effectively discharging the town from any future contractual liability.
Five years after its signature, the future of Colombias landmark peace agreement hinges on the upcoming presidential and legislative elections. This time around, as the country prepares to turn the page on the administration of the unpopular president and peace deal critic Ivan Duque, victims of its armed conflict are taking on a more visible role.

With a record number of victims on the ballot, 16 special seats reserved for them in Congress and three political parties revived on account of their historical annihilation, political participation is gaining prominence as a form of redress. Add to that a record number of politicians who are also victims running for president  and Colombias electoral season promises to keep the transition towards peace at the heart of public debate.

A slain political icons party revived

In August 2021, Colombias Constitutional Court announced a major decision. Three decades after Luis Carlos Galan was gunned down on the main square of Soacha, a city just south of Bogota, under orders from the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar, just as he was the odds-on favourite to win the Colombian presidency, his since-deceased movement reappeared on the political landscape.

There is no doubt that the atmosphere of violence and the events that tragically culminated in the assassination of the New Liberals leader put an end to a political project, stated the countrys top court, agreeing with former party members who argued that this led to the loss of their legal status in the 1990s and thus to the possibility of fielding candidates in elections and accessing state funds and media.

A political project with an ideological platform, a programme and a name ceased to exist because of violence in Colombia. Or at least it ceased to be visible due to forces that instilled fear and dread in its leaders, something that also happened to other groups or movements and, more broadly, to the electoral and party systems and to Colombian democracy, justices wrote. Their decision paved the way for the New Liberal party to revive, with a silhouette of its slain leader now featuring prominently on its burgundy logo.

It was also one imbued in the spirit of the peace deal, which includes an entire chapter on broadening and improving political participation and facilitating collective, rather than only individual, methods of reparations. In the courts words, it had the possibility, if not to investigate, at least to seek formulas of redress for victims, including party leaders but also its members and voters.

Three other parties see the light again

In returning Galans party to life, the Constitutional Court went further in opening the doors of political reparations. Its ruling also stated that other parties or movements that were affected by similar persecutions and hindered from electoral participation at any point since 1988 could also benefit from the same democratic opening.

In early December, two other parties had their legal status reinstated by the National Electoral Council, following the courts guidelines. Ingrid Betancourt, the former presidential candidate who remained kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for six years, saw her centre-left Green Oxygen party resurrected two decades after it disappeared. And the right-wing National Salvation Movement historically led by three-time presidential runner-up Alvaro Gomez Hurtado, who was slain in 1995 and whose murder FARC surprisingly confessed to last year, also came back to life. A week later, the Colombian Communist Party was also revived. They joined a fifth party, the left-wing Patriotic Union, whose legal status had been reinstated by a 2013 State Council ruling on similar grounds. The murder of 3.136 of its followers in the 1980s and 90s, usually by right-wing paramilitaries in cahoots with state agents, is one of the seven macro-cases currently under investigation by the JEP, the judicial arm of the Colombian transitional justice system.

A flurry of new parties on the ballot

The sudden reappearance of these victimised movements has already altered the political landscape, broadening the Colombian party system to almost twenty parties. In the process, in a way, its balancing out the peace deals provision that allowed FARC to become a political party after its members laid down their weapons and to currently hold ten seats in Congress.

Most of these new parties have been quite active, fielding their own candidates for Congress and presidential candidates. Juan Manuel Galan, a former senator and Galans eldest son, is one of the leading contenders in the centres March primaries, which will see voters choose a single candidate for the general elections in May. Ingrid Betancourt first served as a mediator in building that same coalition, then jumped herself into the fray last month and surprisingly ended up breaking with them to go on her own, in a lone ranger style that mimics her political persona of two decades ago. And Enrique Gomez, a nephew of Alvaro Gomez and his familys lawyer in all matters related to his uncles murder, also announced a presidential bid, albeit on an anti-peace deal platform.

Juan Manuel Galan (right), son of a famous presidential candidate assassinated by drug traffickers in Colombia in 1989, was able to revive his fathers party thanks to a ruling by the Constitutional Court, to run in elections this year.  Juan Barreto / AFP

Several of these parties have also chosen prominent victims to compete for seats in Congress. Among the New Liberals top recruits is Yolanda Perea, a lively Afro-Colombian who has spearheaded calls for the JEP to open a sexual violence case to investigate. Green Oxygen presented retired policeman John Frank Pinchao, who spent nine years abducted by FARC and met Betancourt while in captivity.

16 special seats for victims

In addition to the resurrection of these parties, a record number of victims are on the ballot this year. The main reason for this is that another of the peace deals provisions will finally make its debut after a political and legal saga that delayed it for four years: inhabitants from the 16 rural areas of the country most heavily afflicted by the armed conflict will get to vote for their own additional members of Congress. The catch: only registered victims may compete for these seats and ordinary political parties are barred from them.

These seats, known as the special temporary peace constituencies, are meant as a way to guarantee that rural areas where the problems of Colombias are most exacerbated obtain national political representation, in many cases for the first time ever. They were identified using four criteria: high numbers of victims, significant poverty rates, weak state institutions and presence of illegal economies, such as coca crops. In total, 403 persons are running for these additional 16 seats in the House of Representatives, which will be in place for two legislative periods and represent almost 10% of Colombias lower chamber.

Political participation in Colombia is in theory open, but in practice has been concentrated in reduced circles with social and economic means. Ordinary people dont have the possibility of reaching scenarios where decisions that affect their lives are made, says Jose de la Cruz Valencia, a 34-year-old Afro-Colombian leader who hails from Bojaya, a riverside village in the tropical forests of north-western Colombia where in 2002 FARC launched a cylinder bomb against the church where villagers were seeking refuge from a confrontation between that guerrilla and paramilitaries. The attack left 119 dead, including three of Valencias young nephews. He was a teenager at the time.

Since then, he has been a vocal member of Bojayas victims committee that planned the December 2015 public ceremony in which FARC publicly apologised for any of their criminal deeds for the first time ever. We have worked for many years in defending the rights of Bojaya victims. We want to do the same for victims from all over Colombia, he says. To do so, though, he faces stiff competition from a candidate with ties to local political elites and questions regarding his speedy registration as a victim last year.

A form of collective redress

These special seats in Congress are a different way of understanding redress. In the peace deals vision, Colombia should step up collective forms of redress to reach a higher number of victims and have a greater chance of satisfying more victims rights in a country where 9 million persons  or one out of every five Colombians  are registered as such.

In peripheral regions like mine, the fact that peasants who have suffered war in their bodies, their world and their lives have the opportunity to reach political scenarios, can go a long way in transforming how the rest of the country sees us, says Guillermo Murcia, a 39-year-old peasant and landmine victim from Arauca, on the border with Venezuela. After surviving an explosive device that has required 18 reconstructive surgeries since 2005, Murcia became a prominent voice for Colombias 12.031 landmine victims and travelled to Havana to speak with FARC and government negotiators on the importance of demining efforts.

The reasoning behind these seats is that the current model prioritising individual economic reparations has proven costly and slow: so far only 16% of eligible victims have received compensations and clearing the backlog would take 59 years at the current rate, according to a congressional report. This is why the peace deal underscores the need for community-based restorative actions, including ceremonies where perpetrators own up to their deeds, humanitarian demining and territorial development plans to provide those same regions holding the special seats with public infrastructure projects prioritised by their inhabitants.

In some areas of Colombia, however, security conditions have steadily deteriorated over the past years. Arauca, where Murcia lives, is currently ensnared in constant fighting between ELN rebels and FARC dissidents, with civilians caught in the middle. As Murcia says, were campaigning for peace in the midst of a tremendous war.

Despite the political and security difficulties, the special seats promise to bring more diverse voices to a Congress where victims have seldom had one. This is not my personal bid, but my communitys, says Valencia, explaining that in his case the different indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups from his town got together to jointly decide on his candidacy.

Environmentalist leader Francia Marquez, who comes from an Afro-Colombian community that has been victimized by multiple armed groups, is one of seven victims of the conflict to run for president in Colombia.  Luis Robayo / AFP

Seven victims run for president

This years presidential elections will also bring another record: seven of the 25 candidates vying for a spot in the May 29th ballot are victims themselves.

They come from all sides of the political spectrum. Two other candidates on the centre besides Betancourt suffered kidnappings first-hand: former environment minister Luis Gilberto Murillo was abducted by paramilitaries two decades ago and forced to flee the country with his family, while former health minister Alejandro Gaviria had both his father and brother held as hostages in separate episodes. On the left, environmental leader and Goldman Prize winner Francia Marquez -who has placed racism squarely on the political agenda- hails from an Afro-Colombian community that has been victimised by multiple armed groups and she herself has suffered threats, one forced displacement and a physical attack. And on the right, besides Enrique Gomez, construction tycoon and populist firebrand Rodolfo Hernandez saw his father kidnapped by FARC and his daughter by the ELN. She has been missing ever since.

That number will be narrowed down to a handful of candidates, given that three primaries will be held on the same day as the March 13th legislative elections that will become a first test on whether political participation can indeed work as a form of redress.
The fabled shrine city of Timbuktu was reduced to a shadow of its former self by Islamist jihadists, and residents are still living in fear today, the International Criminal Court heard Tuesday.

Lawyers representing 1,946 victims of the year-long jihadist occupation of the fabled Malian city stated their case before the Hague-based court, where a Malian jihadist police chief is on trial.

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud 44, is charged by the International Criminal Court with war crimes and crimes against humanity including rape, torture and sexual slavery for his role in the invasion of the city, known as the Pearl of the Desert a decade ago.

Timbuktu was reduced to a shadow of its former self and this will be remembered for thousands of years to come, said Seydou Doumbia, a Malian lawyer representing the victims.

The victims continue to endure acts of violence  abductions, kidnappings, looting and threats of death, said Doumbia, speaking via videolink.

They rub shoulders with death on a daily basis and their persecutors are still in their midst, capable of causing panic at any time, he said.

Prosecutors say Al Hassan was a key figure in the Islamic police and court system set up by the militants after they exploited an ethnic Tuareg uprising in 2012 to take over cities in Malis volatile north.

Al Hassan committed unimaginable crimes, personally overseeing corporal punishments, including floggings and amputations as well as arranging for women and girls to be forced to marry militants as part of a system of gender-based persecution, prosecutors said.

The jihadists from the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Eddine groups also destroyed the centuries-old shrines of Timbuktu.

The arrival of the jihadists in Timbuktu gave rise to great social upheaval. There was a shockwave that was as far reaching as the most remote areas of the region, Doumbia said.

Al Hassan is the second Islamist extremist to face trial at the ICC for the destruction of the Timbuktus shrines, following a landmark 2016 ruling at the worlds only permanent war crimes court.

In the courts first case to focus on cultural destruction, the ICC judges found Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi guilty of directing attacks on the UNESCO World Heritage site in 2012.

He was sentenced to nine years in jail.

Timbuktus tombs were rebuilt after the jihadists were thrown out, but the city remains in the grip of insecurity and tourists who once flocked there are now scarce.

jhe/cdw

HERITAGE OIL
GRANTS PASS, Ore.  The 2015 case of a Josephine County man who was shot and killed by two Oregon State Police officers will go to trial, the result of an Oregon Court of Appeals decision last year.

According to contemporary reports, two Oregon State Police troopers responded to the property of 55-year-old Robert Box on Fir Canyon Road in May of 2015, after Box's daughter called to report that she'd been injured by her father in a domestic assault.

OSP's news release said that the two troopers made contact with Box, but soon reported that "shots had been fired," and Box was down. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Neither trooper was harmed in the shooting.

Bernadette Box, Robert Box's widow, filed a $6 million wrongful death suit against OSP in April of 2016  alleging that the troopers had illegally trespassed on the family property, hailed him from the darkness, then shot him when he emerged with a handgun in his pocket. Robert Box had been on the phone with his wife when he was shot that night, the suit says.

The suit hinges on the allegation that Kelsey Box, the daughter who called police, had already left the property and had reported as much to police dispatch  and that dispatch had informed the troopers before they arrived.

"Without making direct contact with Kelsey Box, evaluating the circumstances and credibility of her report, waiting to determine the extent of her injuries nor learning that she did not even seek medical evaluation, they nevertheless decided to continue on towards the Box Property," the lawsuit claims.

According to the suit, Box had told his daughter and her partner to move out that night because of their alleged drug use and theft. The resulting argument turned physical "causing minor injuries to both parties," the suit claims.

In 2018, a Josephine County Circuit Court judge tossed out Bernadette Box's lawsuit, concluding that the troopers had not done anything wrong. According to Bernadette Box's attorneys, the judge also sealed "hundreds of pages of evidence" in the court record.

Box's attorneys fought the decision, submitting it to the Oregon Court of Appeals. In its opinion, the appeals court found sufficient evidence that the case was entitled to a jury trial. On February 2, 2022, the court issued a final appellate judgment, kicking the case back down to Josephine County Circuit Court for trial.

"The troopers trespassed as a matter of law when they entered areas of the Box property where they lacked privilege or consent to do so," the Court of Appeals wrote in its opinion. "Therefore, the court erred in denying plaintiff's partial motion for summary judgment."

While the state petitioned the Oregon Supreme Court for a review, the high court chose not to take up the case.

Through her attorneys, Bernadette Box said that she's hopeful to finally have an opportunity to clear her husband's name, claiming that a jury will determine the facts of the case "based on the full scope of evidence."

My husbands blood was shed right here on our family property. Now all I have are the memories, some good and some so bad it takes me right back to that terrifying night, said Box. I wont have closure until we expose the truth and get all these covered up secrets out. All I want is justice for Rob, my soul mate, who can never be replaced. And I wont rest until that happens.

NewsWatch 12 reached out to an OSP spokesperson, who said that the agency would not comment on active litigation.
If youve spent any time in downtown Fort Lauderdales Riverfront area, youve probably seen the signs promising two new restaurants at the Society Las Olas apartments.

According to the banners festooned along the fencing blocking the construction, Big Buns Damn Good Burgers and Matchbox are coming soon to the busy-buzzy enclave of Las Olas Riverfront Circle, alongside crowd-magnets The Wharf, Rivertail, Bodega Taqueria Y Tequila and  around the corner  Township and Rooftop 1WLO.

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Big Buns Damn Good Burgers opened Feb. 24 and Matchbox has an April 4 target for opening, according to Thompson Hospitality, which owns both brands as well as Fort Lauderdales YOT Bar & Kitchen. The Virginia-based company recently snapped up Canyon restaurant and is eyeing Las Olas Boulevards Capital One Cafe.

[ RELATED: Waterside restaurant in Fort Lauderdale - Yot Bar & Kitchen opens at marina. ]

As the name implies, Big Buns is a fast-casual with burgers, bowls and craft beers, while Matchbox is known for its brick-oven pizzas, elevated bistro entrees and craft cocktails. Though side-by-side, the restaurants will be separate venues.

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The Classic Burger from Big Buns Damn Good Burger, made with either Angus, veggie or Impossible Burger. (Chris Schwalm / Courtesy)

They will be neighboring with a common wall between them, explains Warren Thompson, president and chairman of Thompson Hospitality. Both restaurants will have individual kitchens with a shared patio space. You can go to Big Buns for a burger and your friend can go to Matchbox if they want a pizza. You will be able to sit together [at] common tables outside.

Thompson is a part-time Fort Lauderdale resident with a home in Harbor Beach.

Ive been coming to Fort Lauderdale ... for over 20 years, he recalls. Im a boater. I love spending time on the water, up and down the Intracoastal, on the river. And Im always looking for restaurant locations on the water. They do well. If you can find a place and deliver a product, its hard to miss.

[ RELATED: Celebrities pack a sneak peek of the Carousel Club at Gulfstream Park ]

Matchbox cracked the market about five years ago with a location at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise. Its been doing extremely well considering that development has been hit hard by COVID, Thompson says. It has really started coming back. Were now 5% over 2019 revenue. We are doing better now than we were pre-COVID.

He credits The Wharf for drawing crowds to the Riverfront/Riverwalk area on the bank of the New River, but says its time to offer patrons who get tired of eating off a food truck more culinary options.

Ribeye with Cajun butter, bacon-wrapped asparagus and crispy parmesan red potatoes from Matchbox. (Chris Schwalm / Courtesy)

What are the brands bringing to SoFlo?

Both Matchbox and Big Buns started about 12 years ago in the Washington D.C./northern Virginia area.

[Matchbox] ... is one of the premier brands in the Washington metro area, Thompson adds. We have 12 of them open and another three under construction in the D.C. market. Weve added additional menu items to offer more variety in the entree area.

He adds that Matchbox looks to become a neighborhood restaurant and that the company is mindful that downtown Fort Lauderdales West Las Olas Boulevard is very different from Sunrise/Sawgrass Mills.

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In Sawgrass people are not necessarily there to go to restaurants. They go there to shop, so everything is greared to shoppers and international visitors to Sawgrass Mills. But on Las Olas you have to cater to the communities of residents of Las Olas and downtown Fort Lauderdale. Theres just an abundance of local people.

[ RELATED: Essential South Florida - Our email newsletter will help you get the most out of living here. ]

Toward that end, the new Matchbox will offer an abbreviated brunch menu every day, all day.

There will also be what they are calling a chefs table (Old school would call it a buffet, Thompson says) with a rotating list of brunch dishes.

Warren Thompson, president and chairman of Thompson Hospitality. (Thompson Hospitality / Courtesy)

Big Buns came about when Craig Carey teamed up with chef Tom Racosky to try to come up with the best burger, something reminiscent of the food off a backyard grill.

The kind of burger you cook at home, explains Thompson. They picked two locations in northern Virginia, two C-minus locations  just not the best locations from a real estate perspective. But then the revenue per square foot was surpassing restaurants in an A location. We bought a majority interest and Craig is still a part of the team. Hes ... interested in technology. He loves to push the envelope from a technology aspect.

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The menus

In addition to its signature burger, Big Buns will also offer menu options such as:

The Frickin Good Chicken (fried chicken, avocado, shredded lettuce, dill pickles topped with buttermilk herb ranch)

The Hot & Hef (angus beef, pepper jack cheese, avocado, grilled habanero, serrano house pico de gallo and sriracha aioli)

Peppercorn Steakhouse (angus beef, gruyere, fried onion straws, sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, tellicherry and peppercorn mayo)

The menu will also include a variety of bowls and side dishes

The Hollaback Bowl from Big Buns Damn Good Burger, made with chopped kale, quinoa, house falafel (a.k.a. Hollaback Bites), dried cranberries, shredded carrots, toasted almonds and parmesan Caesar dressing. (Chris Schwalm / Courtesy)

While known for wood-fired pizzas, Matchbox will also offer:

Starters such as mini burgers, buffalo or Old Bay dry-rubbed wings, spicy tuna tartare, tempura-battered shrimp tacos, chicken tortilla soup are included.

Salads and bowls including apple pear salad, BBQ salmon salad, tuna poke bowl and blackened chicken kale bowl are planned for the menu.

Handhelds options will include a Maine lobster roll, crispy chicken sandwich, crab cake sandwich and a bistro burger.

Chef-inspired entrees, such as miso salmon, lump crab cakes, chicken fettuccine alfredo, chimichurri steak frites and BBQ baby back ribs are featured. They have great ribs, Thompson says. That is always my go-to when I go to Matchbox.

As for the pizzas, Thompson says there will be some new ones created for the Las Olas location. Lighter pizzas, vegetarian pizza, truffle pizza, seafood-topped pizzas a greater variety of pizzas on Las Olas. A lot of the diners will be lighter eaters. Its a more energized clientele. We know we have to get that person that is health-conscious gluten-free pizzas.

Both locations will have a variety of shakes, both with or without alcohol.

The numbers

Matchbox will seat 200 and Big Buns will be able to handle 125.

At Big Buns the burger will start at $9 and entrees will run $9-15, including the salad and bowl program where you can add a protein or a burger on top.

Matchboxs entrees start around $18 and go up to $38 (for a steak). The same steak at other places for $60, you will be able to get from us for $38, Thompson says.

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[ RELATED: The new Morea adds a touch of the Mediterranean to Fort Lauderdale beach. ]

Becoming part of downtown Fort Lauderdale

In addition to adding live music to the scene, Thompson says both restaurants are looking to establish roots in the community.

For me its very personal, he says. I look at Fort Lauderdale as my second home. Im part of the community and want to work with fraternities, civic groups, organizations. I love doing business where I live. l love people saying. I was at your restaurant last night or the other day. Or sending me a text from the restaurant. I will be in there a lot. We want to get involved with civic organizations so if they want to partner with us, please contact us.

If you go info

Both restaurants will be located at Society Las Olas, 301 SW First Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

Big Buns will be open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Wednesdays and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. For more information, go to EatBigBuns.com.

Matchbox will initially open 3-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and 3-11 p.m. Fridays. The chefs table brunch will be 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays with dinner service from 3 p.m. to close. For more information, go to MatchboxRestaurants.com.

Craft cocktails from Matchbox. (Alicia Griffin / Courtesy)
These are among the artistic images generated by a form of artificial intelligence now showing nightly on the exterior of the Rotary Centre for the Arts in downtown Kelowna.






Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick, shown here with his granddaughter Luna in a file photo from 2017, asked new Liberal leader Kevin Falcon to leave him out of the shadow cabinet announced Monday. Letnick is focusing on his work with a new non-profit housing society called Yeye, which means grandfather in Mandarin Chinese.
An entrepreneur makes a business pitch to potential investors at the 2020 OKGN Angel Summit Finale. This years finale, an online event owing to the pandemic, will be held March 1, with six entrepeneurs competing for a $150,000 prize.
Premier John Horgan talks to media about the recent flooding in the province at the legislature during a press conference in Victoria, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Politicians are back at the British Columbia legislature today where the New Democrat government will deliver a throne speech outlining its political agenda for the coming months. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
BOCA RATON 

When Ryleigh Sharp came to work Wednesday morning to find the front door to Pho Boca shattered, glass littering the ground, she immediately knew what happened.

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The restaurant where she has worked as a head server for five years was one of the latest hit in a string of burglaries at businesses west of Boca Raton. The burglar has recently broken in to businesses and headed for cash registers a dozen times in the area, the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office said Monday.

Since November 2021, the male burglar, who deputies are still searching for, is believed to have been involved in 12 burglaries at businesses on six different dates, the Sheriffs Office said.

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The burglar smashed into Pho Boca, at 9181 Glades Road, Unit 110, shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday. The restaurants surveillance video captured a man breaking through the door and walking through the business with an object in his right hand before walking out of the cameras view.

He ripped a cash register off the counter, Sharp said, smashed the screen and left with the entire cash box with about $200 to $250 inside.

When Sharp got to work later that morning, she saw the door to the neighboring restaurant Bamboo Wok, at 9181 Glades Road, Unit 100, also had been destroyed.

But Sharp didnt know until Monday that the same burglar already had broken into several businesses in the area in the weeks before. Two more businesses would be hit in the following days  one in the same plaza as Pho Boca and Bamboo Wok.

Ryleigh Sharp, a head server at Pho Boca, came to work on Wednesday Feb. 2 and found the front door had been shattered. Pho Boca, at 9181 Glades Rd., is one of the latest in a string of burglaries west of Boca Raton. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said Monday that several businesses have captured the same suspect on video breaking in and heading for cash registers. (Provided by Ryleigh Sharp)

I think its brave. You would have to think after robbing two restaurants you wouldnt step foot near the place where that happened, Sharp said. But he just came back totally showing his face and everything and did it again.

Ryleigh Sharp, a head server at Pho Boca, came to work on Wednesday Feb. 2 and found the front door had been shattered at Pho Boca as well as the door to Bamboo Wok, a neighboring restaurant at the same plaza at 9181 Glades Road. Sharp said both businesses were victims in a string of burglaries in West Boca. (Provided by Ryleigh Sharp)

About 5 a.m. Saturday, the burglar entered Stallones Italian Kitchen at 9181 Glades Road. Robert Stallone, the owners son, said the incident at his familys business was identical to the others: the burglar smashed the glass door and darted for the cash register.

After a burglary years ago, they learned not to keep cash in the drawers, Stallone said. The burglar left with just a few dollars in coins, Stallone said, many of which were scattered around the pavement outside.

We were definitely surprised that he would come back to the same place  He looked pretty mad [in the video] when he realized there was no cash in the drawer, too, Stallone said.

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The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is searching for a man who is suspected of burglarizing several businesses in West Boca. Since November, there have been a dozen reported business burglaries on six separate dates that appear to be committed by the same burglar, the Sheriff's Office said Monday. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)

Lindee Usamanont, owner of UB-Thai at 6063 SW 18th St., said the burglar broke into her restaurant twice, on Dec. 6 and again on Jan. 31.

In the first break-in, the suspect stole about $900 in cash, Usamanont said. She estimated she lost about $5,900 in total from the stolen cash, the damage to the store and having to shut down for half of a business day to clean and repair.

When the burglar returned last Monday, he smashed the door again and left with a few hundred dollars. Usamanont said her security system sent an alert to her cell phone that morning shortly after 1 a.m., and when she checked the cameras, she saw nothing out of the ordinary.

But by 4 a.m., Usamanont received another alert. She saw lights were on inside the restaurant, and police officers were inside when she checked the cameras again, she said.

Every time I wake up in the middle of the night, I cant help it, but I keep checking my phone. I just constantly have to look at it because Im scared, Usamanont said.

Usamanont said she has had to pay for the repairs and damages out of pocket, a financial burden on the mom-and-pop restaurant that opened in May.

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How many more? Everybodys on edge, she said.

The Sheriffs Office has not released the names and specific addresses of the businesses. Teri Barbera, a spokesperson for the Sheriffs Office, said Tuesday detectives believe the suspect may be from northern Broward County.

The burglar also robbed four businesses at two strip malls at the intersection of Southwest 18th Street and Palm Doro Road after 11 p.m. Nov. 2, the Sheriffs Office said.

UB-Thai was broken into next shortly before 3 a.m. Dec. 6, Usamanont said. Another business on Southwest 18th Street was robbed that morning, the Sheriffs Office said.

The third incident occurred in the early morning of Dec. 22 when another business on Southwest 18th Street was broken into, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Then on Jan. 31, Usamanonts surveillance cameras captured the second break in through the front door a few minutes before 1 a.m.

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On Wednesday, Pho Boca and Bamboo Wok on Glades Road became the next victims just before 2 a.m., restaurant employees said. The burglar got into Stallones Italian Kitchen, located in the same plaza, later that week.

Another business at 23261 State Road 7 was burglarized about 6:20 a.m. Saturday, the Sheriffs Office said.

The Sheriffs Office asks anyone who may be able to identify the man in the video to call 1-800-458-8477 or download the PBSO app using the See Something feature.
Rep. Myron Dossett, R-Pembroke, speaks about the tornado damage in his district during a discussion of House Bill 5, a bill providing funds for disaster recovery and relief, in the House.
Ketchikan, AK (99901)

Today

A few showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High 52F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

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Periods of rain. Becoming windy late. Low near 40F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.
Florida Atlantic University will test all components of the its alert system, which is designed to notify students, faculty and staff during emergency situations, the school said.

At 2 p.m. Wednesday, the emergency siren will sound, and a public address system will activate on the FAU campus in Boca Raton, the John D. MacArthur campus in Jupiter, and the FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce.

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The siren and spoken message are designed to be heard across all campuses and in the surrounding neighborhoods for residents and businesses.

The test also includes university-wide alerts via the FAU Ready OWL app, email, telephone, text, web, and social media will be activated as well as digital signage.

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The toll free emergency hotline number  1-888-8FAU-OWL (832-8695)  will also be tested.

The university is providing advance notice of the test to avoid unnecessary and unfounded calls to local police departments about a school emergency.
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I come calling from the frontlines of COVID.

My colleagues and I are exhausted. Defeated. And on the brink of collapse.

I have been a health care worker for 15 years. I have never seen things so bad in so many ways.

At the height of COVID, I was working 12-hour overnight shifts and weekend day shifts, in addition to my full-time job of helping manage a life support system called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a life-support machine that takes over the functions of the patients heart, lungs, or both, when options are depleted.

ECMO is only offered to a select few patients who meet specific hospital dependent criteria, which are based in part on a patients age, comorbidities, as well as, availability of support staff and equipment. Sadly, many patients who dont meet the criteria perish and those who do may end up hooked to an ECMO machine for days or months. Pre-COVID, the medical teams I worked with typically had up to five patients on ECMO at a time. ECMO requires a high level of technical medical support staff and many hospitals are not staffed or equipped to provide this aid. When their patients need this level of help, regional hospitals send them to us.

In 2020, the team of perfusionists at Advocate Christ Medical Center in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn had ECMO patients doubled up in rooms, 24 patients on ECMO with three perfusionists, when usually only one was present to monitor ECMO at a time, per 12-hour shift around the clock. This is in addition to their normal complement of nurses, doctors and care providers. Every day, we worried about patients dying, and most days at least one did.

Each death takes a personal toll on us.

I cannot count how many times I have told my husband that I did not want to go to work because I didnt want to see another person die. It helped to know that when one patient passed away, an ECMO machine was freed up. Small victories, right?

To cope, frontline health care workers like me had to learn to work and live differently.

We self-quarantined ourselves from family and friends.

We took our clothes off in the backyard. Showered as soon as we got inside our homes. We tried not to touch a thing on the way in.

At work, we held the hands of our patients until their last breath.

We held up iPads so family members could say final goodbyes.

Today, I can tell you that frontline health care workers are too exhausted and too defeated to speak up. But, they need help. They need the public to do its part.

They are too overwhelmed and shocked to say what needs to be said. Let me try.

The reality is that more times than anyone wants to admit, stressed and overworked health care workers are unable to take proper care of their patients.

Believe me, each and every one of them wants to provide the level of care they provided before anyone heard the word COVID. The truth is, they are struggling to give the best care they can, given staffing shortages and having to work extra hours every week for two years straight. Right now, Omicron is wreaking more havoc on staffing levels across Chicago, the state, and the nation.

To provide a sense of how horrible things are, I will candidly share some of the most heartbreaking comments I have heard recently from fellow colleagues on the front lines:

I heard a code red go off, but it was not my patient, and I did not have the energy to get up to help, so I went back to sleep to try and have energy for my patients.

I was waiting to vaccinate my children, but after seeing a 3-year-old be placed on ECMO for COVID-19 due to a failing heart, I sent my wife to get our second, younger child vaccinated.

I cannot watch these patients not get better for months on end and then die. I cannot watch this anymore.

How are health care workers expected to protect their personal and professional well-being when they go to work and face these grueling realities hour after hour?

And conditions keep spiraling. Now, many hospitals have shortened quarantine for health care workers to 5-day periods upon onset of COVID symptoms or a positive test result, per new Centers for Disease Control guidelines. This blatant attempt to minimize sick days off and staffing shortages comes at the expense of the health care workers own health.

Americas health care workers are on the brink of collapse. If we want them to hold on and be there for us when we are too sick to walk, stand or breathe, we must act now.

Cast aside political opinions. Follow CDC guidelines. Wear masks when you are in a group of people. Remain properly vaccinated. Maintain social distances. And please extend extra consideration to health care workers.

Is that too much to ask to do for someone trying to save your life or the life of your loved one?

Julie Collins is a cardiovascular perfusionist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Looking to update your home? Watch the KHQ Spring Home Design Guide featuring the areas top home improvement businesses on Sat, May 7 at 4:30pm on KHQ. And click here to win a $500 VISA gift card, courtesy of our presenting partner - VPC Electric!
MIRAMAR  Multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire in Miramar led to the discovery of a man found dead in a car surrounded by dozens of bullet casings, police said.

Police went to the area around Foxcroft Condominiums, at 3494 Foxcroft Road, south of Miramar Parkway, shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday. Officers came upon a car that had jumped a curb and was parked in an atypical manner, said Miramar police spokesperson Tania Rues.

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The cars front end was slanted up against a fence, partially on the grass.

Multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire in Miramar led to the discovery of a man found dead in a car surrounded by dozens of bullet casings, police said. The body was discovered shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday at Foxcroft Condominiums at 3494 Foxcroft Road. (Joe Cavaretta)

As police got closer, they found a man dead in the drivers seat and dozens of shell casings within feet of the car.

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Rues said the victim was a young adult, and a family member invoked the right to withhold his name under Marsys Law, a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018 that allows crime victims to shield their information from the public.

The victims car was rented outside the South Florida area, but within the state, she said.
Kilgore, TX (75662)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with thunderstorms becoming likely overnight. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
After nearly 10 months of uncertainty, Broward is expected to finally name a new permanent superintendent on Wednesday.

The School Board is expected to hold a meeting at 10 a.m. to conduct final interviews with two contenders, Interim Superintendent Vickie Cartwright and Michael Gaal, an Air Force veteran and former administrator in three large urban school districts.

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The School Board has been in limbo since late April, when former Superintendent Robert Runcie announced he was stepping down, following an arrest on a perjury charge. Cartwright was hired for the interim role and initially was not allowed to apply for the permanent job. The School Board considered hiring Cartwright permanently in October but decided instead to allow her to apply and compete in a national search.

On Tuesday, School Board members interviewed the two finalists one-on-one, and they both attended a public forum at Plantation High that night to answer questions from the districts search firm, Ray & Associates.

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Cartwright, with the advantage of incumbency, has been considered the favorite, as she has strong support from the Broward Teachers Union and a letter of recommendation from a group representing principals and assistant principals. Board members Nora Rupert and Rosalind Osgood are expected to support Cartwright, as neither of them chose Gaal as a finalist.

The two Broward County Superintendent candidates Interim Superintendent Vickie Cartwright and Michael Gaal, an Air Force veteran and former Washington, D.C., deputy chancellor address questions about their qualifications and why they are best suited for the job during a public forum at Plantation High School on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. (Mike Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

But Gaal has generated strong support from parent groups, including the leaders of several district advisory committees and Concerned Citizens of Broward County, a 4,800-member Facebook group created after Parkland to advocate for new leadership in the district. School Board member Lori Alhadeff, the mom of a Parkland victim and a critic of status quo, is expected to support Gaal.

Where the six other board members stand remains to be seen. All selected Cartwright and Gaal as finalists.

[ RELATED: Superintendent search comes down to two finalists ]

The two candidates shared their vision for the district and why they think theyre the best choice at the Tuesday night forum. About 100 people attended, with groups for both candidates cheering after their choice spoke.

Being a superintendent is a critical role. Its one for which if you are not successful, the entire organization suffers, including students, Cartwright said. I was purposeful in my career to make sure I had the knowledge and the skills to be successful once I took on the role of superintendent.

Cartwright had a successful 17-year career with the Orange County School District, where she rose to become an associate superintendent. She was hired as the superintendent in Oshkosh, Wisc., in 2018, where she had a more turbulent tenure. While she was initially supported by her School Board, her leadership style was criticized by many administrators and parents. She resigned under pressure in mid-2021.

Her relationship with employee groups in Broward appears to be much improved over Oshkosh, but some parents say she has failed to make the dramatic changes needed in a district has struggled in recent years with high employee turnover, the arrests of three top administrators, a failed $800 million program to renovate schools, dwindling student enrollment, disappointing student achievement and a perceived lack of transparency.

The two candidates for Broward schools superintendent are Vickie Cartwright, interim Broward schools superintendent, and Michael Gaal, retired Air Force veteran and former deputy chancellor of Washington, D.C Public Schools. (Courtesy)

Broward Schools is a complex organization facing challenges no one person can successfully overcome on their own, Nathalie Lynch-Walsh, who chairs the districts Facilities Task Force, wrote to School Board members. Being an effective leader involves being able to admit what you do not know and listening to those who do know so you can make sound decisions.

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She said Cartwright failed to do that.

Others say Cartwright has done a great job during her tenure here and criticized Gaals lack of K-12 classroom teaching experience. He was a pilot instructor in the Air Force.

The students, teachers, and staff deserve a superintendent with real world, classroom experience, teacher Kathy Kerstetter wrote the School Board. Dr. Cartwright has navigated through some of the most difficult times for the BCPS school board with integrity and grace and deserves to remain.

Some liberal residents fear Gaal could support rightwing causes being pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Legislature since he has built solid support among conservative parents who oppose masks, vaccines, certain library books and diversity efforts that they see as akin to critical race theory.

[ RELATED: 3 candidates vie for Broward superintendent job ]

Gaal has given no indication his views are out of step with the heavily Democratic Broward. During his interviews, he voiced support for racial diversity, immigrant students and LGBTQ students, including accommodating transgender students with restroom needs. On Tuesday, he took a shot at the heavily Republican state government in Tallahassee.

The state of Florida is underfunding education at criminal levels, he said.

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He also said Broward also has some long systemic problems that need to be addressed.

I wanted to be part of the solution, he said. We need strong systems and leadership to set a new aspiration to ensure we can deliver for all students.

[ RELATED: School Board not ready to give Cartwright permanent job ]

Comments will be accepted until 8 a.m. Wednesday at this link.
ANKARA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish prosecutor on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for 21 suspects over their alleged links to a network accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.

The warrant was issued as part of an investigation into the Gulen Movement and targeted three lawyers, along with students who were dismissed from the Faculty of Security Sciences of the Police Academy Presidency and the Police College, the prosecutor's office of the capital Ankara said.

The Turkish government accused Gulen Movement of infiltrating into the state bureaucracy and attempting a coup on July 15, 2016.

Simultaneous operations are carried out by the police to detain the suspects in six cities, it said.

The Gulen movement, which mainly runs schools around the world, is a community of people named after Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen who is regarded by followers as a spiritual leader.

Ankara accuses U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the attempted coup, in which at least 250 people were killed.

Turkey requests the extradition of Gulen, but Washington is reluctant to extradite the self-exiled Islamic cleric, saying that Ankara has not presented sufficient evidence against him.

The Turkish government has launched a massive crackdown on suspects with links to the network after the coup attempt. 
The so-called Dont Say Gay bill won initial support from legislators on Tuesday, and comes at a time when Florida lawmakers, and those in many other states, are introducing measures to police what ideas schools can expose students to.

The initial support from both chambers could be a sign of the bill becoming a reality, which critics say could create a chilling effect over what is and isnt allowed in schools.

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Opponents have dubbed it the Dont Say Gay bill, because it would prohibit teachers and school districts from encouraging discussion with students about gender and sexual orientation. The Senate measure focuses on grades K-3, when students are generally between the ages of 5 and 8, while the similar measure in the House extends to fifth grade, when students are generally 10.

[ RELATED: Dont Say Gay bill draws protest and rally from LGBTQ advocates ]

Both the Senate and House measures would allow parents to sue the school district if they suspect a violation, something that critics say would stifle the exchange of ideas in the classroom. The measures are gaining momentum in the Legislature, despite fierce opposition from Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocates.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis publicly signaled his support for the measure, officially called Parental Rights in Education, during a news event on Monday. He said it was entirely inappropriate for teachers to have conversations with their students about gender identity, although he acknowledged he doesnt think its happening often in Florida schools.

Schools need to be teaching kids to read, to write, he said. They need to teach them science, history. We need more civics and understanding of the U.S. Constitution, what makes our country unique, all those basic things.

Sen. Dennis Baxley, a Republican from Central Florida, sponsored the bill and argued that it would take some of the burden off teachers to incorporate social issues into their curriculum.

Weve put too much on our school systems, he said. We need to awaken this sense of parental rights. Parents are concerned about being ignored in the equation.

Asked what teachers should tell curious children who ask why some of their classmates might have two moms or two dads, Baxley said with a chuckle: You might ought to say, ask your mother.

I dont think its the school teachers responsibility to address every single question, he added.

[ RELATED: Its an urgent matter: School diversity committee pens letter opposing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation ]

DeSantis doubled down when pressed further by a reporter about Baxleys suggestion that teachers should have to tell their students to ask their parents about any questions about sexual orientation. The reporter added that several people testified during the Senate hearing that their parents would have abused them or ostracized them for being LGBTQ+.

Yes, unfortunately, in our society, not every parent does a great job, DeSantis said. But to keep parents out and keep them in the dark, I dont think thats something that works very well.

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January Littlejohn, who described herself as a licensed mental health counselor and a stay-at-home mom, spoke during the hearing about violations of parental rights occurring all over our state. Littlejohn sued the Leon County school district last year when educators had a meeting with her child about which name, pronouns, and bathroom they wanted to use, and kept Littlejohn out of the meeting. She said they formed a student support plan with her child behind closed doors and without notifying me.

Littlejohn said when she asked educators why she was kept out of the meeting, they told her that her teenagers privacy was protected from her.

Protected from me and not by me, Littlejohn said.

Those who came to oppose the bill argued that often, LGBTQ+ children dont have supportive home environments and fear coming out to their parents or guardians, which can put them at risk of taunting, conversion therapy, or in extreme cases, getting kicked out of their home.

Some 55 public speakers spoke about the bill, the vast majority of them against it. Many of them said it would further stigmatize LGBTQ+ youth and contribute to bullying and suicides, which already impacts LGBTQ+ youth at a disproportionate rate.

Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel of the ACLU of Florida, said it would silence students and erase their LGBTQ+ families, friends, icons, and identities.

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It is always appropriate for kids to talk about themselves, their experiences, their families, she said. These are not taboo subjects, but banning them makes them so.

Laura Goodhue, who said she has two sons in Palm Beach County public schools, described how its been a tough school year because of issues such as teacher shortages.

[ RELATED: Were trying our best: South Florida schools cope with staff shortages during COVID surge ]

You know what hasnt been tough this school year? People discussing my sons sexual orientation, she said. She said her son told her he was gay last year, and that she couldnt be more proud. Her testimony was cut short so other speakers would have the opportunity to comment as litigators rushed through public comment so they could vote by 11 a.m.

Jay Marie Bailey, an Orange County public school teacher, brought her transgender son up to the podium with her. She argued against the bill, saying it would erode trust between teachers and their students.

Before her testimony was cut off, she added that her son knew something was different at 7 years old, and how kids play house at ages 4, 5, and 6 and start getting curious about gender and sexual orientation from a young age.

Michael Womack, communications manager for Equality Florida, described how he couldnt come out at school, and didnt feel as though there was anyone he could trust because of it. But his school guidance counselor, English teacher and history teacher supported him while he was in school, and helped him see the value in himself.

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Theres an epidemic of LGBTQ kids hurting themselves here, he said as his time was cut short. Dont take away their reason not to.

[ RELATED: Lawmakers ramp up bills that would affect LGBTQ+ students ]

The bills align with DeSantis anti-woke agenda, and comes at a time when other states are experiencing an uptick in similar legislation. DeSantis uses woke as an acronym he devised for Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees.

Other education proposals up for consideration in Florida are:

SB 148/HB 7, which would prohibit teachers from implying that any individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously. The house bill goes even further, giving parents and state regulators authority to ban books or teachings that cause discomfort.

SB 1300 would appoint a state-trained reviewer in each school district to look over curriculum and textbooks, and establish procedures for anyone to object to material they find offensive, whether they have a child in the school system or not.

The Dont Say Gay bill now goes to two more committees in the Senate for potential revisions and approval, and votes on the House and Senate floors before it lands on DeSantis desk.

Staff writer Steven Lemongello contributed to this report.

Brooke Baitinger can be reached at: bbaitinger@sunsentinel.com, 954-422-0857 or on Twitter: @bybbaitinger
Jasper, TX (75951)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick condemned Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed map of Florida congressional districts, arguing Monday it would seriously harm Black voters and violate both the Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act.

Under the proposed DeSantis map, all the Palm Beach County voters in her 20th Congressional District would be moved to a different district, leaving a Broward-only District. The current boundaries of the district are crafted to make it much more likely that Black residents of the two counties would elect a Black member of Congress.

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The proposed DeSantis changes would place the major communities in Palm Beach County into a district represented by U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Treasure Coast Republican, making it exceedingly unlikely they would have Black representative in Congress, Cherfilus-McCormick said, adding in a telephone interview that the move is dangerous and something weve never seen before.

[ RELATED: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-florida-congress-special-election-sheila-cherfilus-mccormick-20220112-ffxnpkapibgqbpvq75rc4rvwou-story.html ]

Earlier Monday, Cherfilus-McCormick filed a brief with the Florida Supreme Court arguing that the DeSantis proposal would unfairly reduce the number of districts likely to elect Black members of Congress from the state, as well as hurt the Black voters of Palm Beach County.

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Broward County [would] still [have] minority representation. What about all the minorities in Palm Beach that he just disenfranchised? Cherfilus-McCormick said. Every minority area would be all under Brian Mast in one huge district totally diluting minority access.

Cherfilus-McCormick, the first Haitian American Democrat elected to Congress, was elected in a Jan. 11 special election to fill the vacancy created by the death last year of U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings.

Under mid-1980s revisions to the federal Voting Rights Act, the boundaries of the 20th District were drawn to create a district that increases the chance that someone from a minority group could win the election and bring a voice that wouldnt be otherwise heard to the halls of Congress. That helped Hastings win his first election, in 1992.

Cherfilus-McCormick said its important to maximize the ability of minority voters to elect minority lawmakers.

If you look at traditionally how minorities havent been included in the voting process, in the political process, it is important that we be able to come together and have representation, she said.

The current 20th District, which stretches from Miramar in southwest Broward to Riviera Beach in northeastern Palm Beach County, takes in most of the African American and Caribbean American communities in the two counties.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of Calif., administers the House oath of office to Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla. during a ceremonial swearing-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Cherfilus-McCormick won a special election Florida's 20th congressional district to fill the seat left vacant after Rep. Alcee Hastings's death last year. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

The state Legislature is charged with drawing new congressional district boundaries in advance of this years elections to adjust for population changes uncovered in the 2020 Census. DeSantis has the authority to sign or veto a congressional redistricting plan.

The proposed realignment of voters in Congressional District 20, representing Broward and Palm Beach Counties, significantly diminishes the participation of minority voters in a matter that dilutes their voting strength to elect a member of their choice in violation of the United States Constitution, Cherfilus-McCormick said in her brief filed with the Supreme Court.

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She argued that the DeSantis plan is designed on its face to pack and dilute Black voters into congressional districts in a manner that reduces the number of Black members of Congress in Florida from four to two. The proposed plan affects Congressional District 20, just as it does Congressional District 5, by diminishing the ability of minority voters to utilize their voting strength to elect a candidate of their choice.

The proposal will produce discriminatory results for Black Floridians, she wrote, making it blatantly unconstitutional because race is admittedly the predominant motive.

Most of the discussion about the DeSantis proposal has concerned the elimination of the majority Black district in northern Florida, that includes Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Thats represented by U.S. Rep. Al Lawson. Under the DeSantis plan, Lawsons district would have more Republicans, and it would be more difficult to win re-election.

Al Lawsons seat is a huge issue, Cherfilus-McCormick said. I wanted to be able to point out the collateral damage.

DeSantis proposal would also significantly alter the district currently represented by U.S. Rep. Val Demings, D-Orlando. She is running for U.S. Senate and isnt seeking re-election.

[ RELATED: Florida Democrats, tired of losing, say they have a voter registration plan to reverse the trend ]

After DeSantis offered up his own version of a congressional district map and asked the Florida Supreme Court to decide if eliminating Lawsons district is constitutional, the Legislature stopped work on congressional redistricting. The Republican-controlled Florida Senate had earlier approved a map that largely kept the Lawson district intact. To take in enough Black voters to increase the likelihood of electing a Black lawmaker, the district is extremely wide  more than 200 miles.

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In the interview and in her court brief, Cherfilus-McCormick said the state Supreme Court should reject DeSantis request for an advisory opinion on the legality of the plan. She also said the governor should stick to his constitutional role of signing or vetoing a proposed plan of districts  not trying to meddle in the drawing of the lines.

[ RELATED: State legislative redistricting lines win approval, head to Supreme Court review ]

The power to approve or veto laws does not make one a king Cherfilus-McCormick told the court.

DeSantis, in his own brief filed Monday, said the Supreme Court should consider the case.

And, he said, that he wasnt asking for the court to issue an opinion on his map. Instead, he said, hes asking a related question: whether minority-voting protects require a district in northern Florida that stretches hundreds of miles to connect a Black population in Jacksonville with a Black population in Gadsden and Leon Counties so that they can elect a candidate of their choice, even though not a majority.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said in her offices filing that the Supreme Court should weigh in on the matter.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @browardpolitics
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US skateboarder Josh Neuman, 22, among four people killed in Iceland plane crash. Neuman was known for his daredevil videos.
Exterior view of the Sun Sentinel's headquarters in Deerfield Beach. Local and regional newspapers have seen advertising dollars dry up as three of the largest tech companies, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon, now account for roughly two-thirds of all digital advertising spending.

Last year, in a rare display of bipartisanship, a reform designed to modernize Americas infrastructure was signed into law by President Biden, having received the support of dozens of congressional Republicans and nearly all Democrats. This year, President Biden and Democrats in Congress can pass another important piece of legislation on a bipartisan basis: the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA).

On Wednesday, Feb. 2, the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee held a hearing on the legislation, which is designed to curb Big Techs monopoly over news and information.

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If passed, the JCPA would allow news publishers to collectively negotiate  under the authority of a federal arbiter  with social media companies over how news is distributed online. This would ensure that local news outlets receive adequate compensation for their content so that they can continue to operate.

Currently, Big Tech disseminates the intellectual property of media outlets without offering any compensation or benefit to these local content providers. This is not only blatantly unfair  as it represents an expropriation of outlets work products without any economic benefit  but it is also one of the major reasons why local newspapers across the country are facing unprecedented challenges in remaining economically viable.

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The world of news and information has changed dramatically over the last two decades, yet antitrust and antimonopoly laws havent changed with it.

As a result, local newspapers have been on life support throughout much of the 21st century. Google News, Facebook News, and similar news aggregator sites drive traffic to their sites by presenting a constant flow of links to articles from thousands of smaller publishers. Parent companies like Alphabet and Meta monetize their own advertising and related products  without fairly compensating smaller publishers for their material.

Current copyright and antitrust laws in the U.S. do not provide any legal basis for news publishers to collectively negotiate with these online platforms.

Companies such as Alphabet and Meta havent taken the initiative to self-regulate. It is now the job of the federal government to make news and information a freer and fairer industry.

It is noteworthy that the JCPA is part of a global trend in which governments have been cracking down on social media monopolies by strengthening their antitrust laws. The Canadian government is currently working on a proposal similar to the JCPA, and last year, Australia became the first government to pass actual legislation to that effect.

In the U.S. alone, over the last several months, there have been numerous antitrust hearings in Congress in which the CEOs of Big Tech social media companies were questioned about their approach of bullying competitors into either accepting buyouts, or face being destroyed.

JCPA has bipartisan support in the House and Senate, but faces opposition from some members of both parties.

Some are claiming that the JCPA would enable large news outlets to make special deals with Big Tech companies, worsening the problem of monopolization in the news industry. However, the bill does not allow big companies to negotiate alone or to broker side agreements under the threat of harsh penalties.

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Those on the political right have taken issue with the bill for different reasons, arguing that it would actually give Big Tech more power to discriminate against smaller conservative publications for the purposes of demonetizing the outlet. Yet, the JCPA is also written to prevent Big Tech from engaging in this kind of behavior.

Its clear that the time has come for the U.S. to rein in Big Tech.

President Biden should begin increasing the visibility of the issue by addressing the JCPA in his State of the Union speech next month.

Ultimately, if America is to have a news and information industry that is truly free and fair, we must stop allowing Big Tech companies to engage in market manipulation without consequence. We can start by passing the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act into law.

Douglas Schoen is a longtime political consultant. He writes a column for the Orange County Register, where this piece originally appeared.
JEFFERSON CITY - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Lincoln University Monday and announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $1 billion in climate-smart commodities and will offer grants for pilot projects.

Vilsack emphasized the importance of joining forces with local farmers to combat the climate crisis because of how much they are impacted by climate change.

1:23 US Agriculture Secretary to visit Lincoln University Monday Vilsack will discuss the climate crisis and solutions that he said will strengthen rural America.

"A changing climate... which we have all seen the results of: unprecedented storms, extensive droughts, horrific wildfires, all connected to climate. And there's probably no group of Americans who understand and see it more than our farmers, ranchers, and producers," Vilsack said.

The USDA's new Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities will finance projects that create market opportunities for U.S. agricultural and forestry products that use climate-smart practices, a news release said. It also includes cost-effective and innovative ways to measure and verify greenhouse gas benefits.

According to the USDA, a climate-smart commodity is defined as an agricultural commodity that is produced using agricultural - farming, ranching or forestry - practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon.

Funding will be provided for pilot projects to provide incentives to those who:

Implement climate-smart production practices, activities, and systems on working lands.

Measure/quantify, monitor and verify the carbon and greenhouse gas benefits associated with those practices.

Develop markets and promote the resulting climate-smart commodities.

"We are encouraging partnerships and collaborations and focusing on climate-smart practices in those large landscape and watershed-scale projects," Vilsack said.

Vilsack started his day on campus by meeting with Lincoln University President Dr. John B. Moseley and its 1890 scholarship students. The 1890 scholarship is from the USDA, and its goal is to increase the amount of minority students studying agriculture, food, and natural resource sciences. Lincoln University is one of 19 universities in the program.

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Vilsack just got done speaking to a group of students accompanied by Lincoln Universitys President. @KOMUnews pic.twitter.com/7UUMjToEyC  Chase (@ChaseMatteson) February 7, 2022

Vilsack then received a tour of the Dickinson Research Facility, where he listened to presentations by various scientists from Lincoln, alongside graduate students. The presentations included topics of watershed research in southeast Missouri, hemp research and quinoa farming research.

Secretary Vilsack speaks with Lincoln University Scientist Babu Valiyodan PhD in the greenhouse here at the Dickinson Research Facility. @KOMUnews pic.twitter.com/LUGAVsHx8O  Chase (@ChaseMatteson) February 7, 2022

Dr. Moseley said he was honored to host Vilsack for the day and believes the announcement being on Lincoln's campus will be great for the school.

"To simply have him [Vilsack] stop by and make this historic announcement on our campus will benefit this University, I think, for years to come," Moseley said.

Dr. Moseley was also pleased with the researchers Vilsack got to hear from. Vilsack mentioned the hemp research as well as the quinoa research in his speech. Vilsack talked extensively with scientist Dr. Babu Valiyodan about industrial hemp climate smart research.

"The hemp research that is taking place on this campus we would put it up against anyone in the country," Dr. Moseley said.

"It is just great when our folks get a chance to really show people, in the fight, what it is that we are working on," Dr. Moseley continued.

The USDA's investment plan is structured into two funding pools that will take grant applications starting this April. Here are the two groups for the grant applications:

The first group of grant applications will be due April 8, 2022 , and be designated for larger research and projects with potential funding from $5 million to $100 million.

, and be designated for larger research and projects with potential funding from $5 million to $100 million. The second group of grant applications are due May 27, 2022, with proposals from $250,000 to $4,999,999.
JEFFERSON CITY  Several educators came to the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee meeting Tuesday in opposition to a bill that would put them at risk of being sued for teaching about current events.

House Bill 2428 is sponsored by Rep. Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) who wants to limit what educators can say based around public policy. The bill states: "No school or school employee shall compel a teacher or student to discuss public policy issues of the day without such teacher's or student's consent."

Educators who came to oppose the bill argued that the bill did not specifically define what public policy included.

Amber Benge of the Missouri Equity Education Partnership testified in opposition to the bill.

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If you really cared about education, you would be debating more about the failure of charter schools in the state and how you could put funding into programs that would improve the Missouri school system, Benge said. What we do have are politicians pushing to legislate classrooms and police speech. Politicians will be making critical decisions and not the people who are licensed and trained to do so.

Elementary and Secondary Education Committee Chairman Rep. Chuck Basye (R-Rocheport) said he supports Dogans bill.

There are many programs based in Columbia and Springfield in which parents have come to me to complain that they are not pleased with the education their child is getting, Basye said. I use my grandson as an example. Hes 14 years old, hes not a racist and hes a good kid, and I dont want him being told otherwise that just based solely on the color of his skin.

Basye said schools are putting topics in front of children that are not appropriate. He said schools are making points of certain childrens background based on race and hate.

I know there are children of a certain skin color told that they are born racist, theyre privileged, theyre oppressors and other children are being told that if they have a certain skin tone that they are victims and they cant succeed in society that we have right now and I think that is completely inappropriate, Basye said. There are a lot of white children who are born poor, and there are children of color that live an affluent lifestyle. So, in terms of what is being taught, I think it is just inappropriate.
The White House has begun reaching out to potential Supreme Court nominees. President Joe Biden, with retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, here speaks at White House on January 27.
NH Nonghyup Bank's global business head Kim Yong-ki, right, stands next to Investment NSW's Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Michael Newman at the headquarters of the bank in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of NH NongHyup Bank



By Anna J. Park



NH Nonghyup Bank is planning to open a branch in Sydney, Australia, accelerating its overseas push as a part of an ambitious plan to operate in over 12 countries by 2025.



According to NH Nonghyup Bank, it is planning to open the Sydney branch in the third quarter of this year. Currently it is applying for a permit from the Australian government, after receiving preliminary authorization last March.



In order to discuss NH Nonghyup Bank's Sydney operation, Nonghyup Bank's global business chief Kim Yong-ki held a meeting at the bank's headquarters in central Seoul earlier this week with Michael Newman, senior trade and investment commissioner of the provincial government agency Investment NSW. The Australian Trade and Investment Commission's (Austrade) Seoul Trade Commissioner Ronald Green also attended the meeting.



During the meeting, Kim called for Investment NSW's close cooperation, so that the bank's Sydney branch could engage in various infrastructure investment opportunities later this year.



According to NH Nonghyup Bank, the Australian investment officials promised support for the bank's Sydney operation. They also discussed mutual cooperative measures in ESG-principled investments over diverse sectors, such as agriculture and renewable energy.



NH Nonghyup Bank plans to expand to over 12 countries by 2025. Currently, the bank has 10 branches in seven countries, such as the U.S., Myanmar and Cambodia. The bank also operates five regional offices, including in Beijing, New Delhi and London. The bank hopes that the successful establishment of the Sydney branch will accelerate the launch of branches in India, Vietnam and Hong Kong as well as other countries.



Despite the pandemic, local banks are turning their eyes overseas, focusing mostly on Southeast Asian countries. While the number of their overseas operations have been dropping in recent years, their profits from these operations have been growing steadily.


By Raja Krishnamoorthi



Seven years after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the United States' reaffirmation to support Ukraine's territorial integrity, more than 127,000 Russian troops are positioned on Ukraine's eastern border. Russia could double that number "in relatively short order" according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Warnings of imminent invasion, including from President Joe Biden, are increasing, as diplomatic negotiations continue to stall.



Following America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, the world  including China, Iran, North Korea and nonstate actors  is watching how and whether we will uphold our commitments to Ukraine. U.S. messaging promises "economic consequences" and a "swift, severe and united response" should Russia decide to invade.



Failure to follow through on these assurances, however, will not only condemn Ukraine's national identity and its right to self-determination to the will of Moscow. It also will undercut American international leadership and invite further aggression from our adversaries and those of our allies.



China and Iran are taking note of U.S. resolve, or lack thereof, to test where the U.S. draws its line in the sand against authoritarian aggression and cooperation. China's air force is escalating military exercises within Taiwan's air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, while a joint Chinese and Russian military exercise has intruded on Korean and Japanese ADIZs.



Meanwhile, Iran continues to grow its nuclear stockpile, and Iran's president is seeking to partner with Russian President Vladimir Putin to take on "the power of the Americans with an increased synergy between (the) two countries." While the U.S. must respond to these individual acts of aggression swiftly and appropriately, we must also remember that missteps in protecting Ukrainian sovereignty will only deepen our adversaries' impression that the United States lacks the conviction to uphold democracy abroad.



That's why we should consider the strongest possible economic and diplomatic responses to a Russian invasion  everything short of deploying U.S. combat troops in Ukraine. After our 20-year military commitment in Afghanistan, we must realize that such open-ended military action abroad can undermine our security objectives and prevent the host country from building the capacity to stand up for itself. We must not repeat that mistake, but there is much we can do short of sending U.S. troops.



First, we must outline the economic and diplomatic consequences of any Russian troop movement into Ukraine. The administration should amplify these messages alongside our NATO allies to demonstrate U.S. and European resolve to support Ukraine against Russian aggression.



NATO allies have already discussed potentially cutting Russia's largest financial institutions off from global transactions, sanctioning Russia's energy sector and placing an embargo on American defense-related technologies.



To raise the stakes appropriately, the U.S. should also respond with the threat of expanded sanctions on Russia's arms export industry  the second largest on Earth  and strengthened enforcement against Russia's evasion of current sanctions. The U.S. should also make clear we will do everything possible to prevent the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from going into operation.



While these steps are essential, we must also recognize the risk of Russian retaliation at the outset. Moscow would likely cut off natural gas sales to our European allies, and the U.S. would need to move swiftly to help them find supplies elsewhere.



Actions in support of Ukraine could also draw Russian cyberattacks against the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, which helps facilitate the plurality of international banking.



Russia has exhibited its willingness to launch cyberattacks that target critical infrastructure, including power grids in Ukraine, and reveal sensitive information, such as data from the Democratic National Committee. Now, the growing possibility of Russia being cut off from using SWIFT could make the institution a major target, especially given its vulnerabilities to North Korean disruption.



An attack on SWIFT and similarly important entities would be consistent with Russia's doctrine of "escalate to de-escalate" and serves as a reminder that as we must stand with Ukraine, we must also expect Russian reprisals for that support.



We must prioritize Ukraine's territorial integrity, condemn authoritarian aggression and reassert our credibility. As the world and our adversaries watch our every move, we must focus on pursuing a peaceful resolution while reaffirming our readiness to stand with our democratic partners in the face of aggression.



That commitment carries a cost, but it is nothing compared to that of abandoning our friends and our values in the face of authoritarian aggression.





Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Schaumburg, is a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. This article was produced for Chicago Tribune and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.


By Eugene Lee





The last two years were very complicated for the world, to say the least. The pandemic has battered all sides of our lives. And none of that was easy, nor for us as individuals, nor for the governments around the world. And it didn't matter what kind of government you were either. That brings to our attention the issue of effective governance.



According to its definition, governance refers to all the processes of interactions be they through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system. In simple words, it involves not just the creation of new laws and regulations, but also communication with society. However, it seems that effective communication is what many governments are lacking.



The developed countries, in spite of their advanced medical systems, are seeing waves of infections every quarter. In a relatively short time these governments were able to achieve the unimaginable  create DNA-based vaccines in a matter of months. However, all attempts to stem the pandemic, be it through inoculations, mandates or lockdowns, have been met with ferocious resistance from the public.



To this day, proponents of "freedom" are demonstrating against those mandates and restrictions in all corners of the world from New York and all the way to Paris and Brussels. Restrictions or not, the pandemic has had an economic effect, primarily a negative one. In this respect, the developed countries have fared better compared to the rest of the world.



The less-democratic states, surprisingly, have seen even more pressure put on them. One would have thought that they would be able to deal with it better; in fact, they are feeling even more vulnerable than ever. Some states even see changes in their governments in the form of cabinet resignations, like in Malaysia, Kuwait and Poland, or in some cases political upheavals and even coups, like in Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Burkina Faso. Of course, it would be too naive to put the pandemic as the cause of it all, but to deny it can be politically disastrous.



Some governments, in order to divert public attention from internal domestic issues, are becoming increasingly adventuristic and plainly aggressive. Russia, with its worsening economic outlook due partly to the pandemic, is looking for "solutions" by "exploring" disputes with its neighbors and beyond.



In terms of infections, Russia has been registering five-digit numbers daily approaching hundreds of thousands and the total of reported deaths of 300,000. Even if it was one of the first countries to develop a COVID vaccine, the lack of effective governance didn't let the national vaccination rate reach 50 percent.



South Korea's immediate neighbors, China and Japan, are taking two very different routes. China, with its zero-infections policy, has put very stringent restrictions on its population and has been locking down its large cities and testing millions at once. With only a few infections, these lockdowns have led to temporary halts of not just a few factories, but huge industrial zones that are vital not only to China or the region, but to the world economy.



Some argue that this led to the disruptions in global supply chains, especially in auto and IT industries. Japan, on the other hand, took a very different approach from everyone else. On one end, it decided to shut down its borders to international travel and relax the pandemic regulations internally. Ultimately, the country is registering soaring numbers of infections and with its aging society, the number of pandemic-related deaths is likely to hit 20,000 in the near future.



The South Korean government has been taking a very prudent approach in its attempts to control the spread of the pandemic. As it is the Year of the Tiger, I would name it the "Tiger" governance approach to the pandemic  strong and bold, but careful and soft at the same time. Timely adopted government policies are putting South Korea at the heart of the global fight against COVID-19.



The "vaccine hub" policy is definitely important, as it positions the country to lead not just in the coronavirus-type of vaccine development, but any vaccine for deadly diseases of today and possibly of the future. It seems the only aspect in which the government has been faltering is communication, which in effect has led towards a negative perception of all the efforts the government has been making so far.



Obviously, China's "whack-a-mole" governance approach to the pandemic is not a panacea. Some argue that will weaken China in the long term, as it won't allow immunity to develop in the population.



Japan's "let it boil" approach will work, but probably will leave deeper scars on society's psyche. Remember, one prime minister and his cabinet had to leave due to, as I quote, "insincere and ambiguous comments and actions on containing the pandemic every single day," which "have made Japanese citizens very frustrated."



Two years into the fight, the virus has been relentless in its variant replication and transmission rates. In the past few weeks we have also observed the progressive rise in the infections going up to five digits.



Should we worry? I would cautiously say no, as we have tools to fight it  the first being science. The vaccines are getting updated and new ones are being created, and medications are being developed also. Secondly, policy execution  the government is expanding its fighting front down to the small clinics in order to ease the access to virus treatments.



Thirdly, and equally crucial, is the ability of the government to communicate its vision to the people comprehensively and effectively and persuade them to follow. If all three elements of governance come into play then the day of turning this pandemic into an endemic won't be far.



On this note, I'd like to wish all a happy New Year and a victory over the virus in the coming year. One way or the other, we should be able overcome it?





Eugene Lee (mreulee@gmail.com) is a lecturing professor at the Graduate School of Governance at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. Specializing in international relations and governance, his research and teaching focus on national and regional security, international development, government policies and Northeast and Central Asia.


Two people were injured and one was taken to an area hospital following a Monday morning crash on S.R. 1 and C.R. 40 south of Butler.
Christina Pushaw, press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, attends a press conference as the governor announces the opening of a monoclonal antibody treatment site for COVID-19 patients at Lakes Church in Lakeland. Pushaw has previously seen her Twitter account temporarily suspended for encouraging harassment and has used the account to attack journalists and question whether neo-Nazis rallying in Orlando were planted by Democrats. (SOPA Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty) (SOPA Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty)

Christina Pushaw is a combative, divisive and highly partisan political operative whose keyboard rants carry great weight for one reason: Shes the governors press secretary.

When she tweets and retweets, likes and dislikes, shes speaking on behalf of Ron DeSantis, the governor of the third-largest state and a likely 2024 presidential candidate.

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True to her flawed form, Pushaw implied on Twitter that neo-Nazi demonstrators in Orlando might be Democrats in disguise. They were not, of course, and she soon deleted the tweet. (The Sun Sentinel has asked for all of her deleted tweets, contending they were public records created by a state employee. So far, no response. No surprise.)

The deletion only called more attention to how her boss wouldnt say anything about the repugnant outburst of racism in one of the worlds most popular tourist destinations.

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When he finally did, it was to wallow in pretentious self-pity, complaining that Democrats were trying to smear me as if I had something to do with that. No one suggested anything of the sort. DeSantis silence was the issue  and Pushaws knee-jerk response highlighted it.

Nazi ideology, the greatest evil in modern history, committed the genocidal murder of millions and devastated Europe with war and is resurgent in the U.S. The numbers may be relatively small, but antisemitic attacks are rising.

History demands, and Americans expect, that their leaders denounce Nazi racism whenever it erupts from the sewer. Other Florida politicians in both parties spoke up swiftly and loudly against the outrage in Orlando, making DeSantis silence all the more conspicuous.

Nazism and other manifestations of white nationalism are a clear and present danger here, encouraged by the former presidents remark about fine people among the Unite the Right thugs at Charlottesville four years ago.

A Palm Beach County rabbi, Jeffrey Salkin of Temple Israel, called Pushaws comments reprehensible. The rabbi, whos also a columnist for Religion News Service, told POLITICO: This is the time for the public to be aware of the dangers of anti-Semitic extremism and not to traffic in the denial of that extremism.

In an era of endless spin, Pushaw takes things to new lows. She lights up social media with incendiary and off-base remarks that would have embarrassed previous governors and gotten press aides fired. DeSantis seems to relish them, and thats the problem.

Twitter suspended Pushaw for 12 hours for violating rules on abusive behavior in her criticism of an AP story last summer linking DeSantis largest campaign contributor with investments in Regeneron, a drug the governor was promoting for COVID-19 treatment. She warned the reporter that if he didnt retract it, she would put you on blast and retweeted: Light. Them. Up. AP said the reporter was a target of threats and stood by its story.

She set off a firestorm of criticism in November after peddling a conspiracy theory that linked new COVID-19 rules in the Republic of Georgia with a visit by a member of the Rothschild banking family. She took down that post and said she had not known that the Rothschilds have been perpetual targets of antisemitic propaganda.

She accused Ben Frazier, a Black social organizer in Jacksonville, of intending to disrupt a DeSantis press conference where he was handcuffed and charged with trespassing for demanding to talk to the governor about his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frazier, she said, is an activist, not a member of the press, which should not have mattered. The trespassing charge was quickly dropped.

After Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried compared DeSantis to Adolf Hitler, Pushaw attacked the media as DNC stenographers, a partisan slur that referred to the Democratic National Committee. (This newspapers opinion page editorialized against Frieds comments.)

She retweeted a post that said, The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is trying to make it so that people in Florida die of COVID. Theyll kill people to harm Republicans.

Often too quick on the draw, she attacked Glenn Kessler, a respected Washington Post fact-checker, for Glenn Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor, MSNBC analyst and critic of Donald Trump. Yes, she deleted it.

The traditional role of the governors press secretary is to announce, explain and defend policies and field inquiries. The prudent ones usually kept in the background and let the boss do the talking.

Pushaw is a one-off spokeswoman who strays far beyond that. She verbally attacks private citizens, picks fights with the media, and routinely blasts the Biden administration. Shes a full-time propagandist for DeSantis ambitions, and he gets to stick Florida taxpayers with her $120,000 salary.

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DeSantis, who seems to regard his reelection this year as a given and as a way station to the presidency, should pay Pushaw from his political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis. He can afford it and its an abuse of the public treasury to make taxpayers pick up the tab for her daily partisan warfare.

A freelance journalist previously published in conservative media like Human Events Pushaw hitched herself early to DeSantis rising star. Before asking him to hire her, she auditioned of sorts, with articles attacking Rebekah Jones, a DeSantis critic fired from her job at the Department of Health and charged with illegally accessing state computers.

Pushaw and DeSantis rarely miss an opportunity to elevate his profile by attacking Democrats and the national media. If the corporate press nationally isnt attacking me, then Im probably not doing my job, DeSantis has said.

In many respects, hes mimicking the divisive tactics that Donald Trump used to win the presidency, where he boosted DeSantis to the governors mansion from an obscure seat in Congress.

DeSantis doesnt bother to deny that the White House is his goal, and he wont rule out running against Trump himself in 2024, which means that the platform for Pushaws distortions, attacks and flouting of Floridas public records law may only get bigger.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. High 58F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 48F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 49F. NNW winds shifting to E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 49F. NNW winds shifting to E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
State Rep. Kenny Cox, D-Mansfield, complained Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, when colleagues moved his north Louisiana district to New Orleans when they drew up new maps to match shifts in Louisiana's population. (Photo by Tyler Bridges, The Advocate)
Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, speaks with Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.
UPDATE, FEB. 9 AT 2:58 PM:

A full Avalanche Fatality Report was released Wednesday following the death of a snowmobiler who was caught and killed in a small avalanche on the Ski Hill at the south end of Lionhead Ridge.

The report says the victim was on a 45-degree wind-loaded slope when it released and partially buried him against a tree.

Nobody witnessed the avalanche, and the victim was estimated to have been buried 15 to 25 minutes before he was uncovered.

He was a part of a group of four men from Iowa were riding in Lionhead on Feb. 6 as they had for several winters before, the report says.

Everyone had also taken avalanche awareness classes multiple times and had read the avalanche forecast for the morning of the day of the incident.

The report says the victim, 30-year-old Bradie Harold Becker, was an expert rider who spent three winters in the area.

Although the avalanche danger for the Lionhead Area was rated low for the day, it is likely the victim triggered the avalanche as he sidehilled across the slope according to the report.

You can read the report here.

UPDATE: FEB. 8 AT 12:47 A.M.

The following is a release from the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office:

On Sunday, February 6, 2022, the Gallatin County Coroners Office investigated an avalanche-involved fatality near West Yellowstone. Investigation concluded that 30-year-old Bradie Harold Becker, of Iowa, died of asphyxiation after being buried in avalanche debris. Bradie had been separated from the group of snowmobilers at the time of the avalanche and when located resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. He was wearing an avalanche airbag that had been deployed and a helmet. Sheriff Springer thanks the rapid response of the Gallatin County Sheriffs Search and Rescue, National Forest Service, Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, and Hebgen Basin Rural Fire Department, who all assisted with the recovery. Our deepest condolences go out to Bradies family and friends during this time.

UPDATE: FEB. 7 AT 11:33 A.M.

The following is a Facebook post from Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue:

"On February 6, 2022, at 4:48 pm, the West Yellowstone Police Dispatch Center received a call for an injured snowmobiler. The snowmobiler was involved in an avalanche in the Dry Fork of Denny Creek, 9.8 miles west of West Yellowstone. Initial reports indicated the injured snowmobiler was unresponsive and members of the group were performing CPR.

Volunteers from Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue in West Yellowstone, National Forest Service, Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, and Hebgen Basin Rural Fire Department responded to Denny Creek. A snowmobile rescue team deployed immediately up the trail. Lifesaving efforts were attempted for over an hour before the patient was pronounced deceased. The victims name has not been released.

Forest Service Law Enforcement and Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center is conducting the investigation and all media inquiries should be directed to the Avalanche Center at 406-587-6984. Sheriff Dan Springer would like to offer his condolences to the family and friends of the victim during this tragic time."

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. - A snowmobiler died after he was stuck in an avalanche in the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone Sunday.

Avalanche experts are warning people to stay away from wind-loaded slopes where unsteady slabs are lying on top of a weak layer of facets 18-24 below the snow surface.

Friends of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center posted to Facebook people should non-winded carefully assess the snowpack and stay away from terrain traps that could increase avalanche consequences.

"The wind increased late yesterday afternoon in Hyalite Canyon and will continue to transport recent snow into unstable drifts where avalanches large enough to injure or bury climbers, skiers and riders are possible," Friends of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center said on Facebook.
BILLINGS, Mont. - Crews responded to a fire at an apartment complex located on North Thirty-first Street Tuesday.

Billings Fire Battalion Chief Jason Lyon told Montana Right Now they received a report from a woman around 12:50 p.m. saying she could smell smoke in her apartment and could hear the smoke alarm going off in the next-door unit.

Lyon said when first responders arrived, they noticed signs of heat inside the apartment, such as window blinds beginning to melt and seeing smoke.

When responders broke into the unit, they found and extinguished a small fire burning on the stove.

Lyon said the fire was contained to that apartment and responders did not find any victims.

Billings Chief of Police Rich St. John told us police set up a perimeter around the fire and evacuated some people who were inside.

A couple people were evacuated, but it does not appear there are any injuries, according to St. John.

According to Lyon, one person was evacuated--he said most of the other units were empty.

Lyon said no residents of the apartment going to be displaced due to the fire.

Fire officials are still investigating the cause.

The public is asked to avoid North Thirty-first Street between Seventh and Eighth at this time.
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(The Center Square)  Amid rising violent crime levels around the country, President Joe Biden sent a message to defund the police supporters late last week during his visit to New York.

The answer is not to defund the police, Biden said in New York City where two law enforcement officers recently were killed in a Harlem shooting.

Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund President Jason Johnson said Bidens comments are not enough to satisfy the police community.

President Biden needs to know that merely not supporting the defund the police slogan does not make him or his policies supportive of law enforcement, Johnson said. In fact, the Biden Administration has repeatedly peddled falsehoods and dangerous myths which have demoralized and disempowered the police. The defunding' movement has been about much more than funding. It has successfully advocated for policies that have resulted in skyrocketing levels of violent crime across the country.

Other critics have pointed to the rise in ambush attacks on police officers. The National Fraternal Order of Police said 364 police officers were shot last year with ambush attacks up 115% from the year prior.

If criminals dont care about shooting police officers, what will they do to law-abiding citizens? the group said.

Johnson pointed to a range of policies that he says have disempowered police during the violent crime wave.

President Biden himself has backed many of these policies, demanding passage of the ill-conceived and dangerous George Floyd Justice in Policing Act which would hobble law enforcement, Johnson said. Bidens repeated false and ill-informed claims about the propriety of actions taken by law enforcement officers in high-profile cases undermine the faith and trust of police in their leaders and the publics faith and trust in law enforcement. Such claims were motivated by his desire to pander to the defund the police crowd, but, at the very same time, he has alienated and abandoned those interested in maintaining public safety through professional policing."

This wasnt the first time the president has gone against the defund movement. In June of last year, Biden called for hiring more police officers to respond to the wave of violent crime since the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki echoed that sentiment at the time.

But what I would say to you is that the President has never supported defunding the police, Psaki said at a White House press briefing. Hes always supported community policing programs. Hes supported giving funding to  to states and localities around the country, including through his American Rescue Plan, because he thinks there is an essential role to play for community policing.

Those comments drew pushback for the president at the time, and his most recent comments in New York have been met with another round of criticism from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

My colleagues keep telling us to wait, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said Sunday. They keep telling us defunding the police and investing in communities wont work. Well, their policies keep ending up with police murdering Black people. Enough patronizing. Listen to the movements that are telling you how to save lives.

Other leading Democrats were just as pointed in their messages.

The only data police use to justify themselves is crime, which is a measure of their failure, Dyjuan Tatro, a senior advisor for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, wrote on Twitter. Every time they talk about rising crime, remember, that their clearance rates are abysmal. They are more worried about their paychecks than public safety.

While some kinds of crime stayed the same or even decreased since the pandemic began, one kind has sharply increased: homicides. Many cities have broken or nearly broken their violent crime records on the heels of cutting police budgets. Many experts have linked that rise to the defund movement, saying officers either lack the resources to patrol more dangerous neighborhoods or fear they will be publicly maligned and even jailed in the event an altercation occurs.

Republicans have hammered Democrats in advertising for months over the defunding message. Heading into the midterms in November, that issue will likely resurface as a major tension point in close races.

Nobody believes Democrats are going to abandon their pro-crime agenda. Democrats are, and always will be, the party of Defund the Police, said Mike Berg, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
(The Center Square)  The IRS announced Monday it will transition away from using third-party facial recognition technology after bipartisan backlash on the issue.

The IRS faced controversy in recent weeks over the use of facial identification for new online accounts. The agency said the measure was an effort to increase security but has now backed down.

The IRS takes taxpayer privacy and security seriously, and we understand the concerns that have been raised, IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said. Everyone should feel comfortable with how their personal information is secured, and we are quickly pursuing short-term options that do not involve facial recognition.

The IRS stressed that the announcement will not interfere with any filings for taxpayers this tax season.

During the transition, the IRS will quickly develop and bring online an additional authentication process that does not involve facial recognition, the agency said. The IRS will also continue to work with its cross-government partners to develop authentication methods that protect taxpayer data and ensure broad access to online tools.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., was one of several lawmakers who criticized the IRS use of facial recognition. He welcomed the announcement Monday.

The IRS has notified my office it plans to transition away from using facial recognition verification, as I requested earlier today, he said. While this transition may take time, the administration recognizes that privacy and security are not mutually exclusive.

The pushback from lawmakers was bipartisan with several sending letters to the federal tax agency raising concerns about the IRS use of facial recognition.

Other critics of the move brought up past mistakes and abuses from the agency, which currently faces millions of backlogged returns.

This is an agency that weve already gone to court over after they were caught targeting conservatives, and we put a court order into place to forbid this practice, said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which pushed back against the IRS use of the technology. This is also an agency that still uses fax machines to communicate instead of more modern methods like email. Not to mention, the IRS had, at the end of the last filing season, more than 35 million total unprocessed returns. How could they handle this technology? The IRS is the last agency that the American people would want to have this confidential biometric information.
Identification has been made of remains of a male that were found in the area of Redgate Road in Marion on 10/26/2003. The Flathead County Sheriffs Office, through the work of the nonprofit DNA Doe Project, has positively identified the male as Steven Edward Gooch of Washington

Courtesy: Flathead County Sheriff's Office
Are you planning to attend NH Pumpkin Festival this year? If not, what would make you attend?
Louisiana has the shameful distinction of being the incarcerating capital
Millie Peck

peckcami@grinnell.edu

In Jan. 2019, a man broke into 1018 East Street in Grinnell, Iowa. At the time, the home was rented by a group of then-fourth years, several of whom were on the womens frisbee team. Then first years on the team  Clare Roarty, Ella Mullin, Grace Duffy and Erin Ritter, all `22  fell in love with the house and set their sights on living there their senior year.

Most of my memories from first year are definitely wrapped up with the people who lived here, said Ritter.

The group signed the lease for 1018 along with their friend, Annie Estes `22, before spring break their second year, ensuring no one else snagged the popular home. The residents were excited to continue the legacy of 1018 and live in the home that felt foundational to their friendship. While the tenants hoped to recreate some of the experiences they had in the house their first year, they did not expect history to repeat itself in such an uncanny fashion. On Dec. 4, 2021, a man once again broke into the quaint off campus house with a yellow door.

Comfortable in their home, the current residents had left cellphones, wallets, car keys and wallets strewn about the house, all of which were untouched by the mysterious intruder. The man simply wandered from room to room with no apparent motive. His intrusion woke Duffy, Roarty and Ritter. The three of them communicated about the intrusion over the phone from their bedrooms.

I so clearly remember texting, Theres a man in our house, Roarty said.

I so clearly remember reading that and just being terrified, Duffy added.

The residents debated the best course of action, as they were hesitant to call the police. Roarty eventually told the others that she would take care of it, and chased the man out of the house.

As shocking as the break-in was, the girls spent most of the interview discussing the other, more cheerful, aspects of living together in the house.

One of the cool things about the house is it has a living room downstairs and upstairs, and our first year we would always come to this house for Frisbee team bonding and do what we call slammers up in the upstairs attic living room. And then they would also host parties here and obviously I would bring Annie because shes my best friend, said Duffy.

The group had originally thought that they would be split up for their third year, since they had been planning to go abroad opposite semesters, but the pandemic allowed them to all live together in Grinnell during the school year, solidifying their friendships and providing crucial support through the difficult time.

It is just so nice to come home to your friends, said Roarty.

A quintessential feature of the house are the notorious knickknacks left behind from various tenants.

Theres just random really strange things in most of the nooks and crannies in our house, it feels feel like a museum, said Roarty.

Notable items include a neon cocktail sign, a plastic leg and an abominable snowman head. These items have been fixtures of the house and are features of their first-year memories. Duffy described taking nap while wearing the abominable snowman as a freshman, and Roarty has video of her crawling around while wearing the head in the upstairs living room. The group has also added a large stuffed unicorn to the collection. The unicorn was originally gifted to Estes by the rest of the group for her 21st birthday, but has now become a permanent fixture of the living room.

Along with the many fond associations from first year the group has created new memories this past year: hosting Bachelor watch parties, purchasing a kiddie pool, grilling pizzas in the yard and coming together to watch shows and decompress in the living room after school.

Despite the constraints of the pandemic, the frisbee team members have also done their best to keep the teams traditions alive in the house.

Weve done Frisbee team bonding over here, in the backyard with our fire pit and weve had a few basement parties last semester. So, I feel like people are coming to know the house well.

Next year, frisbee team members Eliza Meyer `23 and Mallory Graham `23 plan to live in the home. With any luck, the locks will do the trick and the house can remain a safe and lively home.
Wisconsin lawmakers are considering legislation to make it easier to sell off public lands, raising concerns that the proposal could undermine trust from private donors whove helped preserve thousands of acres.

The bill would allow the sale of some lands purchased with Knowles-Nelson Stewardship funds, a program through which the Department of Natural Resources helps local governments and nonprofit organizations preserve land for nature-based use by the public.

Since its creation in 1989, the Knowles-Nelson program has been used to preserve more than 800,000 acres throughout the state, including places like the Pheasant Branch Conservancy and Cherokee Marsh.

Current law prohibits the sale of Knowles-Nelson lands without DNR approval, something the agency rarely grants.

Companion bills sponsored by a pair of northern Wisconsin Republicans would allow lands acquired through grants to nonprofit conservation groups and local governments to be sold for private use so long as the state grant is repaid.

Groups including Clean Wisconsin, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited and the Wisconsin Bike Fed oppose the bill, which they say would compromise the stewardship program and the states outdoor economy.

Its a pretty significant departure from where the law stands now, said Charles Carlin, director of strategic initiatives for Gathering Waters, an alliance of more than 40 private land trusts. It undermines this incredibly popular conservation program.

While the bill would require repayment of state grants, theres no such provision for private donors who often put up half the funds to buy the land or people who sell at below-market prices with the expectation that land will be conserved for the public.

This bill is really about honoring the commitments weve made, said Peter Burress, government affairs manager for Wisconsin Conservation Voters.

Carlin notes the bill affects just a fraction of Wisconsins roughly 6 million acres of public land but would make it harder for conservation groups to help local governments acquire public lands.

Madison Audubon has used Knowles-Nelson funds to protect more than 2,700 acres, including the roughly 700-acre Goose Pond Sanctuary in Arlington. Executive director Matt Reetz said the limitations on future use are essential to securing matching funds.

It gives people the assurance that the conservation of that land is forever, Reetz said. You have that trust.

Conservation groups also warn the bill could create a perverse incentive to use stewardship funds as low-interest financing for land speculation.

If youve got a park and you conserved it 25 years ago and now the real estate value is 25 times what it was  you can sell it to a developer, Carlin said.

Fear tactics

The sponsors say they are simply trying to make it easier for grant recipients to get rid of land that no longer meets their needs  something thats currently burdensome and rarely ever approved, said Sen. Mary Felzkowski of Irma.

No one is required to sell their stewardship land, said Rep. Calvin Callahan, R-Tomahawk. We are simply attempting to make it easier for those who no longer need the land for their own conservancy goals.

The DNR estimates about 10 properties would be sold off each year if the bill is passed.

DNR spokesperson Sarah Hoye said the agency has not approved the sale of any land bought with Knowles-Nelson funds but has approved some land swaps in cases where the land was subject to eminent domain or otherwise sold to a utility or the state Department of Transportation.

Under the bill, a county or other landowner would simply have to notify the agency, pay back the grant with interest and keep the land open until its sold.

In comments submitted to an Assembly committee last week, Felzkowski said her office has received an influx of calls from people concerned she is gutting the stewardship program.

This is incredibly far from the truth, and were extremely disappointed with these fear tactics, said Felzkowski, who accused opponents of being more concerned with protecting their business than preserving healthy ecosystems.

Boy Scout site

Collin Driscoll, an aide to Felzkowksi, said the bill was drafted in response to a request from Langlade County, which is seeking to sell part of a former Boy Scout camp it bought about five years ago with Knowles-Nelson funds.

County Administrator Jason Hilger said the board wants the option to sell some of the 652 acres to fund improvements on the rest.

I understand some (people) may not like what were proposing, Hilger said. Why couldnt we sell a few lots to help develop the rest of the property?

There are better ways to patch local budgets, said Mike Kuhr, state council chair for Wisconsin Trout Unlimited. Selling off public lands is a short-term fix, an economic band-aid that robs future generations of their outdoor recreation rights and prevents the expansion of our sustainable outdoor recreation economy.
A Republican state lawmaker who falsely claimed that former President Donald Trump won Wisconsins 2020 election and proposed a resolution aimed at reclaiming the states 10 electoral college votes received guidance from a top Trump attorney alleging that the state Legislature had the power to select electors as it sees fit.

The Dec. 30 memo, first reported by Rolling Stone, was sent to Rep. Timothy Ramthun, R-Campbellsport, from Trump attorney John Eastman and alleges that, if illegality in the conduct of the election occurs, and is not remedied by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, then the power to direct the (appointment) of electors devolves back onto the Legislature.

Eastmans memo further underscores efforts by those in Trumps inner circle to circumvent the Electoral College process in several states including Wisconsin following the 2020 election, despite recounts and court decisions affirming that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in the battleground state by almost 21,000 votes.

While I acknowledge that the question posed of me places us in uncharted territory, my conclusion is that the state legislatures, which exercise plenary authority under (the U.S. Constitution) to direct the manner for choosing presidential electors, do have the authority to de-certify the election of presidential electors in their state upon a definitive showing of illegality and/or fraud in the conduct of the election sufficient to have altered the results of the election, Eastman wrote in the memo.

Eastman added that the counter arguments increase in strength with each successive event, citing several deadlines in the electoral process including the certification of the election, the Dec. 8, 2020, safe harbor date for states to certify their results, the Dec. 14, 2020, casting of electoral votes, the counting of the electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021, and the Jan. 20, 2021, presidential inauguration.

More than a year after the final deadline cited by Eastman, Ramthun proposed a resolution on Jan. 25 aimed at reclaiming the states 10 electoral college votes granted to Biden. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, who vowed to kill Ramthuns proposal, has said the resolutions intent was illegal and just plain unconstitutional.

Days before Ramthun proposed his resolution, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, disciplined the lawmaker by removing his lone staff member, but not for Ramthuns comments about who won the states 2020 election. Rather, the removal of Ramthuns staffer stemmed from his false accusations that Vos had signed a deal with attorneys for former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to authorize absentee ballot drop boxes, Vos office said.

Sen. Kathy Bernier, a former elections clerk who chairs the Senate elections committee, said she  like Vos  requested a memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau that confirmed the Legislature cannot affect the electors after an election has taken place.

Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, said on Monday she hadnt seen Eastmans memo to Ramthun, but described the ongoing push to decertify the 2020 election, which has been accepted and counted by Congress, as the dumbest thing I have ever heard of in my life.

Its just ludicrous to think somebody is just going to keep pursuing this avenue, I just dont get it, Bernier said.

Support from the base

Despite the disciplinary measure, Ramthun told Rolling Stone his proposal has boosted his support among some conservatives, due in part to incorrect reporting on the matter by conspiratorial website Gateway Pundit, which falsely claimed the Legislature had voted to withdraw its electoral votes for Biden.

They want me to run for governor, Ramthun told the media outlet, adding that hes considering it.

Ramthuns efforts to overturn the states 2020 election results also drew praise from Trump, who called the state lawmaker in early December to thank him for his efforts, Rolling Stone reported. Trump also issued a statement that month praising Ramthuns proposal.

If Ramthun launches a bid for governor, he would join an already crowded GOP primary that sees former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch facing Marine veteran and self-proclaimed anti-establishment candidate Kevin Nicholson. The winner of the August primary will go on to face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is seeking a second term this fall, in the November general election.

Trump has not yet formally endorsed a candidate in the gubernatorial race, but the former presidents backing could provide a pivotal boost among Republican voters.

Ramthun did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Opinions differ

Documents obtained by the liberal watchdog group American Oversight show that the states nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau sent two memos to Vos on Nov. 16, 2020, indicating that the Legislature has the ability to determine how presidential electors are selected but may not affect the electors after an election has taken place, as the legislature has no unilateral authority to reverse the choice of the people of the state.

However, a Nov. 18, 2020, memo from Boston-based attorney Kenneth Chesebro sent to former Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jim Troupis alleged that there is a very strong argument, supported by historical precedent that the real deadline to come to a conclusion on the states election results was Jan. 6, 2021.

The memo was sent a month before 10 Wisconsin Republicans convened in the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign official-looking documents falsely affirming that Trump had won the state. The meeting occurred on the same day that the Democratic slate of Wisconsin electors met in the same building to deliver the states 10 electoral votes to President-elect Biden. The meeting of Republicans occurred after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Biden had won the election.

Chesebros memo corroborates reports that the fake GOP electors were coordinated by Trumps legal team in an attempt to present Vice President Mike Pence with conflicting slates of electors during the congressional certification so that he could throw the election to a House vote, which would have handed the election to Trump.

Eastman, who sent the legal analysis to Ramthun late last year, was the same Trump attorney who wrote the legal memo suggesting Pence could overturn the election result.

Pence refused to participate in the purported scheme on Jan. 6, 2021, the day Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.

Jan. 6 subpoenas

The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol has subpoenaed 14 people who signed the phony election documents in the seven states, including Andrew Hitt, former chair of the state Republican Party, and 8th Congressional District GOP chair Kelly Ruh.

The subpoenas call for Hitt and Ruh to provide documents by Friday detailing any information about your role and participation in the purported slate of electors casting votes for Donald Trump and, to the extent relevant, your role in the events of January 6, 2021 and sit for depositions on Feb. 28.

Hitt is listed in the signed documents as the chairperson, and Ruh is listed as the secretary. Eastman has also been subpoenaed by the U.S. House committee.

Multiple complaints regarding the fake electors were filed last year by liberal law firm Law Forward with the Wisconsin Elections Commission and Milwaukee County District Attorneys Office alleging the Wisconsin Republicans committed fraud. A third complaint was filed against Hitt with the Office of Lawyer Regulation, the agency that handles complaints against lawyers.

So far, none of the agencies have formally taken up the complaints, while Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal recently suggested that the state or federal justice department would be best suited to determine what steps, if any, should be taken on the matter.

The Elections Commission could take up the complaint as early as next month, and Law Forward attorney Jeffrey Mandell has warned that if no action is taken soon, the group will file a lawsuit over the matter.

The results of the 2020 election have been confirmed by county canvassing boards, which compare vote totals against paper records and other procedures designed to catch and correct errors; recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties; post-election audits by local and state election authorities to identify cases of possible voter fraud, which are then referred to prosecutors; a voting equipment audit by the Elections Commission; and reviews by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which found ways in which elections could be improved but no evidence of widespread fraud. Multiple court rulings have also found no evidence of irregularities.
The future of the Burlington dam and Echo Lake is now at a crossroads.

The dam is aging and needs to be addressed sooner than later. But the question that remains is what should happen to Echo Lake.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has notified the city that the aging dam at Echo Lake no longer meets safety standards. The dam must either be upgraded and expanded, or it must be dismantled by 2025. Dredging is needed, too, to remove decades of pollution and sediment.

This is a decision that will truly shape Burlingtons future. Its not a decision that should be taken lightly and that is why it makes sense to have a referendum directly asking the residents what should happen to Echo Lake and the dam.

City engineers have calculated that maintaining the lake would cost more than $5 million for the dam repair and dredging. Removing the dam and draining the lake would cost less, with estimates ranging from $1.1 million to $2 million.

Although the city hopes to land grants and maybe other donors, the project could hit Burlington taxpayers in the pocketbook.

City officials have projected that borrowing $5 million to save the lake would increase property taxes for the average homeowner $68 a year over 20 years, for a total of $1,368. By comparison, borrowing $1.5 million to remove the lake would cost the same homeowner $20 a year, or a total of $409.

If the residents believe the dam is worth spending the extra money, then they will vote to save it. If they dont think its worth extra tax money, then they will vote against it.

Many families have memories by the lake, including weddings at Veterans Terrace.

Those families should have a say. Wed rather have them telling their children and grandchildren how they voted on the dam, rather than telling them the story of how a group of elected officials voted to drain the lake or voted to up their taxes.

For a while, the City of Burlington officials thought they were on a tight time crunch to make the decision and didnt have time for a referendum, which would likely happen in August or November.

But it turns out they do have extra time.

In addition, three current aldermen are stepping aside: Steve Rauch, Theresa Meyer and Ryan Heft. They will be replaced by three newcomers who are running unopposed. Those new aldermen should be in place when the final decision on the lake is made.

An informal city survey shows roughly two-thirds of Burlington residents want to save the lake. But the survey was completed by only about 400 of the 10,000 people who live here.

A publicized referendum with projected dollar amounts for the two options gives everyone the chance to vote and have their voices heard.

The Regional News editorial board consists of General Manager Robert Ireland, Editor Stephanie Jones and community members Patrick Quinn and Elizabeth Lupo DiVito.
By Gabby Hernandez

hernande6@grinnell.edu

Stella Lowery `24 and Georgia Carbone `24 opened their joint art show Green, Pink, and Yellow in the Smith Gallery on Jan. 30. Green, Pink, and Yellow displays monoprints Lowery and Carbone made after taking a printmaking class in Fall 2021.

The day after their successful opening night on Sunday, Jan. 30, Carbone shared that she and Lowery enjoyed exploring printmaking further in their free time outside of class. It felt pretty natural to want to exhibit work, said Carbone. She attributed this feeling to their shared experiences attending the same high school in New York and hosting annual art shows.

Carbone and Lowery took a variety of introductory art classes there, including a printmaking class. However, this course did not give enough studio time or freedom to explore different methods compared to the printmaking course at Grinnell.

This freedom to explore creative techniques allowed Lowery and Carbone to use a variety of different methods to produce their prints.

Lowery burnt silkscreen to create stencils, drew with water-soluble crayons, and used pressure to push colors through the screens to create her silkscreen monoprints. These, along with many other nuanced steps, allowed her to create a variety of textures in her art pieces.

Lowery said that she and Carbone were particularly interested in the unpredictability of the print-making process since once its being printed it kind of isnt really up to [them] anymore. This unpredictability is guaranteed in the printmaking process, as no two prints are exactly alike.

Carbone produced monotype prints. Her process involved rolling layers of ink onto a glass plate and using thin plastic sheets to create many different shapes in her pieces. Her pieces in the gallery are all connected by common threads of shared shapes and colors.

Carbone described how even if she started a piece with a goal in mind, a lot of the prints make themselves, even though Im the one making them. Once theyre on the page, the ink mixer makes its own textures and things that I cant predict.

When their pieces were complete, Lowery and Carbone realized they were both drawn to the same colors during their creative processes. With this revelation in mind, they settled on the name for their show: Green, Pink, and Yellow.

According to Carbone, they were both initially hesitant to do solo shows and realized that by producing a joint show, they would be able to guide each other through it. As a result of the pandemic, they had no frame of reference for what art shows in the gallery should look like. They chose to display pieces considered non-traditional and unique, and intend to hold more shows in the future.

During the height of the pandemic, the Smith Gallery hosted no art shows in the physical space of the Smith Gallery. Instead, according to Studio Art Technician Joe Tuggle Lacina, the Gallery chose to host digital art shows on its website.

In regards to the application process for hosting an art show in the gallery, Tuggle Lacina shared that at the end of each semester there is an open call for applicants. The application itself is a proposal including a description of show plans, special equipment or installation requirements, and photos of current works. Tuggle Lacina said that the application is open to anyone whos an art major or anyone whos currently enrolled in studio art class.

Green, Pink, and Yellow will be in the Smith Gallery until Feb. 13. The schedule for the rest of the spring semester includes displays from Zainab Thompson from Feb. 13-27, McKenna Doherty and Hannah Agpoon from Feb. 27 to Mar. 13, Maxwell Sorenson from Apr. 3 to Apr. 17 and Paula Persiani from Apr. 17 to May 1.
Mid-Atlantic horticultural and vegetable associations celebrated excellence in service, research and leadership at their annual Fruit and Vegetable Growers Banquet on Jan. 30.
Weather Alert

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM MDT TO 8 PM MDT MONDAY FOR THE NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL PLAINS, NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS AND SANDIA, MANZANO AND GALLINAS MOUNTAINS DUE TO STRONG WINDS, LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE... ...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT LATE TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH EARLY EVENING FOR ALL AREAS DUE TO STRONG WINDS, LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE... .Westerly flow aloft strengthens areawide today, and the increased humidities across the east will fall rapidly into the single digits. This will set the stage for another round of critical fire weather conditions along and east of the central mountain chain. Yet another approaching storm system on Tuesday will keep windy conditions continuing areawide. With dry conditions still in place, critical fire weather conditions are possible areawide Tuesday. ...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING... ...FIRE WEATHER WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING... The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch. This Fire Weather Watch is in effect from Tuesday late morning through Tuesday evening. * AREA AND TIMING...For the Red Flag Warning, Northeast Highlands, Northeast Plains, Sandia, Manzano and Gallinas Mountains, and East Central Plains 10 AM MDT Monday morning through 8 pm MDT Monday evening. For the Fire Weather Watch, late Tuesday morning through early Tuesday evening. * 20 FOOT WINDS...For Monday, west to northwest 25 to 35 mph with gusts to around 50 mph. For Tuesday, southeast 20 to 30 mph with gusts to around 40 mph. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY...For Monday, 5 to 10 percent. For Tuesday, 10 to 15 percent. * IMPACTS...Outdoor burning should not be done. Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Please advise the appropriate officials or fire crews in the field of this Red Flag Warning. Please advise the appropriate officials or fire crews in the field of this Fire Weather Watch. &&

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM MDT TO 8 PM MDT MONDAY FOR THE NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL PLAINS, NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS AND SANDIA, MANZANO AND GALLINAS MOUNTAINS DUE TO STRONG WINDS, LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE... ...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT LATE TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH EARLY EVENING FOR ALL AREAS DUE TO STRONG WINDS, LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE... .Westerly flow aloft strengthens areawide today, and the increased humidities across the east will fall rapidly into the single digits. This will set the stage for another round of critical fire weather conditions along and east of the central mountain chain. Yet another approaching storm system on Tuesday will keep windy conditions continuing areawide. With dry conditions still in place, critical fire weather conditions are possible areawide Tuesday. ...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING... ...FIRE WEATHER WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING... The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch. This Fire Weather Watch is in effect from Tuesday late morning through Tuesday evening. * AREA AND TIMING...For the Red Flag Warning, Northeast Highlands, Northeast Plains, Sandia, Manzano and Gallinas Mountains, and East Central Plains 10 AM MDT Monday morning through 8 pm MDT Monday evening. For the Fire Weather Watch, late Tuesday morning through early Tuesday evening. * 20 FOOT WINDS...For Monday, west to northwest 25 to 35 mph with gusts to around 50 mph. For Tuesday, southeast 20 to 30 mph with gusts to around 40 mph. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY...For Monday, 5 to 10 percent. For Tuesday, 10 to 15 percent. * IMPACTS...Outdoor burning should not be done. Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Please advise the appropriate officials or fire crews in the field of this Red Flag Warning. Please advise the appropriate officials or fire crews in the field of this Fire Weather Watch. &&
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 8 (ANI/PRNewswire): Digital adoption alone is no longer enough to meet business objectives and drive profits, according to new research from Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY).

The study reveals that companies must now use digital to differentiate beyond traditional IT metrics, reaffirming the importance of people-focused transformation and ESG in achieving business success. While businesses once faced a 'digital ceiling', unable to reach the most advanced levels of tech adoption, these adoption thresholds have become the minimum standard.

Also Read | Driven by Mindless Hate and Frustration, Some Opposition MPs Have Mocked Indias   Latest Tweet by PM Narendra Modi.

Infosys Digital Radar 2022 assessed the digital transformation efforts of companies on a Digital Maturity Index and found that companies have progressively adopted technology year-over-year. The report, which surveyed nearly 2,700 digital transformation leaders from the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia, ranked the most digitally advanced companies as 'Visionaries', followed by 'Explorers' and then 'Watchers'.

From 2018 to 2020, a meaningful portion of businesses lagged far behind, watching the technology journeys of others before starting their own. This year's findings, however, show that all respondents have graduated from the 'Watchers' category and are now all either 'Visionaries' or 'Explorers'. Infosys has found that each industry has reached an age of digital maturity never seen before.

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The percentage of companies achieving moderate transformation success, the 'Explorer' tier, rose minimally. However, the 'Visionary' cluster grew from 22% in 2020 to 30% in 2021, the largest year-over-year increase for this cohort in the survey's history, indicating that companies have broken through the 'digital ceiling' and being a top adopter is no longer an operational or financial differentiator.

Companies across all industries have rushed to broadly implement technology

Companies are significantly increasing adoption of emerging technologies. More respondents reported implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain (73% and 71%, respectively) than mature and foundational cloud and legacy modernization (69% and 68%, respectively), suggesting that once emerging technologies (like AI) now show real promise, and enterprises are moving quickly and aggressively to implement them than in earlier times.

More than 90% of companies indicated they had at least started to adopt the 19 digital initiatives surveyed. Technology adoption in the healthcare industry, for example, increased from 60% to 98% since 2019. The adoption rate for the manufacturing sector increased from 81% to 97%, and the rate for the financial services sector grew from 59% to 94% in the same period.

As adoption rates soared during the pandemic, the study also indicated a point of diminishing returns for companies with high levels of adoption. Companies with above-average adoption rates, in fact, generated slightly less profit growth than those with lower adoption, while those with average rates generated the most. The study data suggests that mere adoption is not enough, what matters most is the effectiveness with which companies use their technology.

Previous surveys found adopting Agile, cloud, and other technologies led to better operational and financial benefits, but that was no longer the case in 2021, as more companies approached digital maturity. Further, the survey found companies are more effective when they use digital to positively impact stakeholders, including through environmental and social responsibility and initiatives like career paths for women and minorities, data privacy, and AI ethics.

Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys, commented: "Enterprises are at an inflection point post-pandemic. COVID-19's widespread disruption and the subsequent digital acceleration have permanently altered how the world views technology. While some enterprises have seen this as an opportunity to move beyond the questions of whether and how far to digitize, some still haven't realized the need to use these digital tools to engage their stakeholders more purposefully and respond to calls to serve people, planet, and community."

ESG provides direction, clarity -- and profits

When companies have high levels of tech adoption and strong ESG commitment, four out of five times (81%), they also use technology most effectively. ESG and technology effectiveness are connected because ESG informs company culture, shapes mindset, and provides a purpose that guides decision-making up and down the line. Improving ESG leads to higher effectiveness than simply adopting more technology. While adoption is necessary and positive, ESG focus further doubled tech effectiveness, indicating that ESG commitment now drives value in its own right.

"Focused initiatives in sustainability almost unfailingly reflect in a marked increase in revenue growth, accelerated transformation effectiveness, boosts in profits and shareholder value. ESG measures will increasingly grow to influence and eventually change the metrics that measure transformation success, especially when consistently demonstrated through engagements with stakeholders across the board," said R "Ray" Wang, Principal Analyst & Founder, Constellation Research.

As the world demands more sustainable business practices, this research signals that companies who capitalize on the link between tech effectiveness and ESG are best placed to succeed in the decade ahead. They are more likely to realize business value and proactively anticipate regulatory requirements and societal pressures.

Unify ESG with digital transformation

Improving average transformation effectiveness has the potential to unlock $357 billion in incremental profits globally, based on data from the top survey respondents. While digital adoption and ESG orientation individually drive profits, they are more effective together. The research identified four approaches to amplify purpose and increase transformation effectiveness:

Integrate experience into the operating model. Digital Radar 2022 found that people-focused experience goals such as improved customer engagement, building a data-driven culture and increasing employee engagement are distinguishing top performers than tech-driven efficiency.

Elevate the human element across the life cycle. Companies can emphasize the human element by utilizing Agile to coordinate small behavioral nudges and include a diverse ecosystem to better manage project delivery. Companies that rapidly implemented Agile, and in more than half (60%) their teams, were more likely to grow faster than peers (64% vs. 54% average).

Build diverse, dedicated teams so that tech solutions meet the needs of all. Purpose-driven culture is created through teams that are intellectually diverse and have a shared, dedicated purpose. Digital Radar 2022 concluded companies with greater diversity use technology more effectively.

Measure initiatives using ESG target. Human-centered approach to solutions and ESG are becoming more quantitative and metrics-driven. Companies today can chase loftier goals practically, armed with technologies to help them set and meet important climate and people goals.

Jeff Kavanaugh, VP and Global Head at Infosys Knowledge Institute, commented: "This year's Digital Radar research revealed a significant shift - no longer are enterprises sitting, waiting, and watching from the outside as others embrace digital. The most successful businesses are no longer early digital adopters, nor those that invested the most in AI, blockchain, and IoT. Those most successful firms now see value in the relationship between digital technologies and the people they serve. The companies best prepared to enter the post-pandemic era have already realized that technology itself isn't a differentiator, but a commitment to people and purpose."

For a full copy of the Infosys Digital Radar 2022, please visit: https://www.infosys.com/navigate-your-next/research/digital-radar-report.html

Note to Editor:

Methodology

In the latter half of 2021, Infosys used a blind format to conduct an online survey that attracted responses from nearly 2,700 CXO, senior-level, and mid-level respondents from companies with revenues upwards of US$1 Billion. Respondents represented multiple industries and hailed from Australia, China, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, U.K., and the U.S. To gain additional qualitative insights, phone interviews were also conducted with a few practitioners and subject matter experts.

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in more than 50 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)

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New Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI) As many as 47 terror modules related to Khalistani separatist activities were busted in Punjab in the last three years, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said that eight people died in Khalistani related terror incidents in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

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As regards the Khalistani separatist activities, in the year 2019, seven terror or radical modules were busted in Punjab as against 15 such modules in 2020 and 25 modules in 2021. No loss of property was reported during the period, he said replying to a written question.

Rai said two persons died in Punjab during 2019 in Khalistani related terror incidents, as against three persons in 2020 and three persons (one victim and two perpetrators) in 2021.

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Referring to the Naxal or the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) related violence in the country, the minister said such incidents have declined by 77 percent from an all-time high of 2,258 incidents in 2009 to 509 in 2021.

He said similarly, resultant deaths (civilians and security personnel) have declined by 85 percent from an all-time high of 1005 in 2010 to 147 in 2021.

In the last two years, the incidents of LWE violence and the resultant deaths have come down by 24 percent and 27 percent, respectively, he said.

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Jaipur, Feb 7 (PTI) Former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot on Monday hit out at the central government, saying aggressive politics started in the country ever since the BJP came to power.

He said democracy is such a platform where people of different ideologies and thinking speak their own words and the public decides who is right and who is wrong.

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"But I do not think that violence, misbehavior, undemocratic language should be used by any person. It is a healthy tradition that we should oppose each other. Even if there are ideological differences, we should use civilized language and violence has no place in politics and should not be there," he told reporters.

On political appointments which are pending in Rajasthan, Pilot said everyone cannot be given a ministerial or other big post but their participation in the government can be ensured.

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He said that in the recent two-three months, party president Sonia Gandhi, AICC has taken some steps in the right direction so he is confident that when the assembly elections are held in 2023, the Congress will again be able to form the government.

To a query regarding REET paper leak case, he said the government, the Congress, and AICC have taken it very seriously and some concrete action will also come out in it.

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Hyderabad, February 8: Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended the millennium birth anniversary celebrations of Bhakti Saint Sri Ramanujacharya in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Addressing the event, Shah said, "Statue of Equality has recently been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji and Chinna Jeeyar Swamy Ji. By looking at this statue, the mind gets instilled with peace and happiness. I am sure it will further Ramanujacharya Ji's message of Equality and Sanatan Dharma all over the world. PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates 216-Feet Tall 'Statue of Equality' To Commemorate Bhakti Saint Sri Ramanujacharya In Hyderabad.

Amit Shah Visits Statue of Equality in Hyderabad

Had a great fortune to visit the Statue of Equality in Hyderabad and offer prayers to Sri Ramanujacharya Ji. pic.twitter.com/ni9OSOe0s4  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 8, 2022

"When the invaders invaded the temples in India and the temples began to collapse, then the tradition of worshiping God at home was given to Sanatan Dharma by Ramanujacharya Ji due to which Sanatan Dharma has survived today. Ramanujacharya ji did a revolutionary work of bringing unity in the Indian society with the concept of non-duality and middle path. Due to his Vishist Advaita philosophy, India was tied in one thread from East to West. The origin of many Bhakti movements was from in Vishist Advaita."

He said Sri Ramanujacharya Ji was an icon of equality and his teachings have inspired some of India's foremost ancient poets, such as Meerabai and Kabir.

"Ramanujacharya ji had a revolt against the evil practices from which he changed many evil practices with great humility. If humility and rebellion meet, then reformation takes place, changing the practice without any discretion is called reformation and he did it very well. Ramanujacharya also did a lot of work for women empowerment. I am sure the Statue of Equality will surely inspire our young generation to follow the teachings and ideals of Sri Ramanujacharya Ji," stated Shah.

Shah also offered prayers to Sri Ramanujacharya. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 'Statue of Equality' on Saturday.

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New Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has conveyed to his Sri Lankan counterpart GL Peiris that Colombo's interests are best served by ensuring equality, justice and respect for the Tamil people within a united Sri Lanka and called for expeditiously taking forward mutually beneficial projects including the ones to enhance air and sea connectivity.

In his talks with Peiris here on Monday, Jaishankar also talked about the need for keeping the shared maritime domain safe from various contemporary threats and assured that India would always stand by the island nation in its times of need, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

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The MEA said on Tuesday that both sides reiterated the longstanding consensus to handle the fishermen issue through a humanitarian approach and refrain from the use of violence in dealing with incidents along the IMBL (international maritime boundary line).

It said the Sri Lankan foreign minister expressed gratitude for India's recent assistance and updated the external affairs minister on the steps taken by the government of Sri Lanka on human rights and reconciliation.

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In the talks, Jaishankar also said that "devolution of power" is an important aspect of the Tamil reconciliation process.

India has been consistently calling upon Sri Lanka to fulfil its commitments to protect the interests of the Tamil community which has been demanding the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that provides for devolution of power to it.

The 13th amendment was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987.

"Recalling the positive impact of India's developmental and rehabilitation support, the external affairs minister emphasised that Sri Lanka's interests are best served by ensuring equality, justice, peace and respect for the Tamil people within a united Sri Lanka. Devolution of power is an important aspect of this process," the MEA said in a statement.

Besides holding extensive talks with Jaishankar, the Sri Lankan foreign minister also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

Peiris arrived in Delhi on Sunday on a three-day official visit.

The MEA said that the external affairs minister underscored the priority accorded to Sri Lanka by India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) vision and the 'Neighbourhood First' policy.

"He called for expeditiously taking forward mutually beneficial projects, including proposals to enhance air and sea connectivity between India and Sri Lanka to reinforce people to people linkages, economic and investment initiatives, additional steps to enhance Sri Lanka's energy security, keeping our shared maritime domain safe from various contemporary threats and cooperation in combating COVID-19 pandemic," the MEA said.

The reference to shared maritime interests and contemporary threats came in the backdrop of China's increasing presence in the maritime domain.

The MEA said Jaishankar conveyed that India would always stand with Sri Lanka during its times of need.

"The Sri Lankan foreign minister expressed gratitude for India's recent assistance and updated the external affairs minister on the steps taken by the government of Sri Lanka on human rights and reconciliation," the MEA said.

The visit by Peiris to India came days after India extended a USD 500 million line of credit to Sri Lanka to help it purchase petroleum products as the island nation has been reeling under a severe foreign exchange and energy crisis.

It is the first visit Peiris to India as foreign minister in his current term.

"Both sides reiterated the longstanding consensus to handle fishermen issue through humanitarian approach and refrain from the use of violence in dealing with incidents along the IMBL. They agreed that bilateral mechanisms should meet early, starting with the Joint Working Group on Fisheries," the MEA said.

The fishermen issue is a contentious one in ties between the two sides.

There have been several alleged incidents in the past of Sri Lankan Navy personnel using force against Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait which is a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka.

The MEA said both the ministers discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and explored ways to further strengthen the close and friendly ties between India and Sri Lanka.

"Noting that this year marks 75 years of independence and establishment of diplomatic relations, both leaders agreed to mark the occasion in a suitable way," the MEA said.

"The two ministers also exchanged views on cooperation in regional platforms like BIMSTEC and Colombo Security Conclave. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister invited the external affairs minister to visit Sri Lanka," it said.

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New Delhi [India], February 8 (ANI): The issue of providing more rakes for the supply of coal was discussed with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the meeting, informed Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday.

Speaking to media persons after meeting the Railway Minister, Bommai said, "the State Chief Secretary would speak to the Chairman of Railway Board in this regard."

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Bommai when asked about the delay in implementation of central projects in the state and delay by the state government in according clearances for road and railway projects said, "GST exemption for STRR Roads project has been approved, talks are on over issues related to land acquisitions, railway projects are being implemented on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis between the Centre and State," Bommai told media persons.

He also stated that the funds for railway projects are not released at one go in a single year.

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"It is being released on a priority basis in phases. Though funds have been released for some railway projects, the hitches in land acquisition cause delays sometimes. Action is being taken to resolve issues related to land acquisition," he added.

The Chief Minister also met the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and discussed the COVID-19 situation in the state.

"I have requested special grants to ramp up medical infrastructure in the state and he has agreed for that," Bommai said. (ANI)

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Kochi (Kerala) [India], February 8 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the Kerala Gold Smuggling Case, and asked her to appear before its Kochi office on Wednesday at 11 am.

She has been directed to either appear in person or through an authorized representative.

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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.

Recently, Swapna Suresh had alleged that she was exploited and manipulated by M Sivasankar, principal secretary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

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The statements came after Sivasankar in his upcoming autobiography "Aswathamavu: Verum Oru Aana" alleged that Swapna had trapped him by gifting him an iPhone.

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)

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Guna (Madhya Pradesh) [India], February 8 (ANI): A man was brutally thrashed in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district by two people on suspicion of stealing their mobile phone, informed police.

"The man named Arvind Kalawat has filed a complaint that Hetram Gurjar and Golu has brutally beaten him. First, they asked Kalawat if he has stolen their phone and then started beating," said Rakesh Gupta, Station in-Charge, Vijaypur Police Station.

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"Gurjar has been arrested. Other accused is absconding, we are looking for him," he said.

A case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

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Further probe is ongoing. More details are awaited. (ANI)

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New Delhi [India], February 8 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday condoled the demise of Indian Army personnel who lost their lives due to an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh.

Expressing condolences to the bereaved families of the Army personnel, the Prime Minister said their "exemplary" services to the nation will not be forgotten.

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"Saddened by the loss of lives of Indian Army personnel due to an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh. We will never forget their exemplary service to our nation. Condolences to the bereaved families," the Prime Minister tweeted.

President Ram Nath Kovind also expressed condolences over the death of Army personnel.

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The President said that the soldiers laid down their lives in the service of the country and their "selfless sacrifice" will be remembered.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu while expressing grief over their demise said that he prayed for strength to bereaved families to bear with the tragic loss.

"Deeply saddened by the loss of lives of 7 brave Indian Army Jawans, who were trapped in an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest condolences to the bereaved families on their tragic loss. May God give them enough strength to bear the irreparable loss," Khandu tweeted.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said, "Saddened to know of the death of Army Personnel in avalanche tragedy in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest condolences to their family and friends. We salute the martyrs."

Seven Army personnel, who were hit by an avalanche in a high-altitude area of Kameng sector in Arunachal Pradesh, were confirmed dead and their bodies were recovered from the avalanche site, the Army said on Tuesday.

The soldiers were stuck in an avalanche on February 6.

An Army statement said search and rescue operations, which were launched immediately on February 6 including airlifting of specialised teams, have now been concluded. (ANI)

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Bhatinda (Punjab) [India], February 8 (ANI): Aam Aadmi Party's Chief Ministerial face for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday slammed the Congress and said it had given the state two corrupt CMs in five years of its rule.

Addressing a press conference, Mann said, "Congress gave two corrupt CMs in 5 years. Captain Amarinder Singh whose doors were not open for the people, then came (Charanjit Singh) Channi."

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Claiming victory for AAP in the assembly polls, he said that the people of Lambi have made up their minds to bring about a change in Punjab.

Further, the AAP MP slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his "state needs someone who understands poverty and hunger" remark while announcing Channi as the CM face and said, "the wealth of that poor person (Channi) is Rs 170 crores. Maybe he is poor for Rahul Gandhi."

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"Have they visited the houses of the Scheduled Castes (SC) brotherhood that poor man (Channi) represents?" he asked.

Lauding the choices offered to the people of Punjab by AAP, Mann said, "We have given the people those the Dalit community will vote. The Dalits will vote on face value, but that faces will be that of their children, their elders, for whom they will worry about education, health. They will see the face of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh."

Punjab will go to the polls on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.

In the 2017 Assembly polls in the state, Congress won an absolute majority by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government which had been in power for 10 years. (ANI)

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Bettiah, February 8: A 40-year-old Bihar man who asks for alms at Bettiah Railway Station gives people options to pay him via digital mode with a QR code placard around his neck and a digital tablet.

Raju Patel, the digital beggar, who calls himself a follower of the former state chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and attended his programs, is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India Campaign. Karnataka: Thousands Bid Adieu to Mentally Challenged Beggar Huchcha Basya Who Died in Road Accident Ballary.

Raju Patel, Beggar From Bihar Goes Digital

Bihar | Raju Patel, a beggar in Bettiah, goes digital; accepts PhonePe & puts a QR code around his neck "I accept digital payments, it's enough to get the work done & fill my stomach," said Raju Patel Visuals from Bettiah railway station pic.twitter.com/nbw83uXop6  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

The digital beggar said that he never forgets to listen to PM Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme. Speaking to ANI, Raju Patel said, "I accept digital payments, and it's enough to get the work done and fill my stomach. I have been begging here since my childhood but I have changed the way of begging in this digital age."

"After begging, I sleep at the station itself. I could not find any other way of livelihood. Many times, people refused to give alms saying that they did not have cash in smaller denominations. Many travellers said that in the era of e-wallets like pay-phones etc., there is no need to carry cash anymore. Due to this, I opened a bank account, and an e-wallet," he added.

Patel who carries the e-wallet for begging said that most of the people still give alms in cash. However, some people also transfer money to his e-wallet.

He informed that the bank wanted his Aadhaar and PAN card for opening the bank account, so he got himself a PAN made as well to set the ball rolling.

Consequently, Patel opened an account in the main branch of the State Bank of India in Bettiah and got an e-wallet made. Currently, he begs digitally around Bettiah railway station.

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Noida, Feb 8 (PTI) Ahead of the state assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday hit out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath alleging mismanagement by him during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read | Arunachal Pradesh: Seven Soldiers Trapped Due to Avalanche in West Kameng District Found Dead, Says Indian Army.

AAP's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh slammed Adityanath for his indecent remarks against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, equating his expressions with those of a chauraha chhap neta.

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While dubbing Adityanath's remarks as those of a chauraha chhap neta, Singh, also the in-charge of his party's affairs in UP, asserted that his own remarks were befitting a chief minister who utters words like garmi nikaal denge and thok denge.

The attack came a day after Adityanath and Kejriwal got engaged in an online fight trading barbs over the mismanagement by their governments during the pandemic.

His (Adityanath's) language against a popular and elected Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal -- he said 'Suno Kejriwal' -- this kind of indecent language for an elected chief minister reflects that Adityanath ji might have unfortunately become the CM of UP but he speaks like a 'chauraha chhap neta', Singh said.

He is talking about COVID-19 mismanagement but I am saying if there is any live example of the mismanagement, it is Adityanath. We have seen decomposed dead bodies along river banks in Prayagraj, Kanpur, Ballia and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh with birds and animals nibbling on them. People have not forgotten those images, Singh told reporters in Noida.

He also shared pictures of helpless people during the first and second waves of the pandemic, dead bodies along river banks in UP to substantiate his claims.

The Rajya Sabha MP from Delhi also alleged large scale black- marketing of essential items during the pandemic outbreak as hit out at CM Adityanath for mismanagement.

He alleged medical equipment were procured by the UP government at inflated prices, while people were left to fend for themselves for the want of oxygen cylinders and medicines.

Asked about terming the UP CM as chouraha chhap neta, Singh defended his remark, saying it was befitting for a chief minister who himself was using slangs like garmi nikaal denge, thok denge, ulta latka denge, patak denge.

Are you a dictator or Hitler of India? You will get the response in the language you utter against others. Learn to speak decently and with civility, he said, accusing Adityanath of using objectionable words.

On Kejriwal campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, he said the AAP is fighting polls in four states with limited resources and the party's national convenor will reach UP immediately after completing his responsibilities in Punjab.

He has been here on and off and even made videos in support of party candidates. He has been to Ayodhya, Meerut and held a campaign in Lucknow also. Other party leaders and workers are also campaigning in the state. I have been active for the last two years and not left any stone unturned in working for the people, Singh said.

He said his party is fighting all 403 seats in UP but does not claim to have any vote bank because its politics is rooted in voters who want 300 units of electricity free, good education, health care facilities, want jobs for youth and allowance for unemployed people.

We are fighting the polls on the strength of various issues and getting good public support and as seen in local panchayat polls in UP where AAP candidates won 86 seats, we are hopeful of getting good support in the assembly polls too, he said.

Singh was in Gautam Buddh Nagar to campaign for AAP's Noida candidate Pankaj Awana and Dadri candidate Sanjay Chechi. Tuesday marked the last day of the poll campaign for the first phase of elections in the state.

Voting in Gautam Buddh Nagar is scheduled for February 10 and results will be announced on March 10.

(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, Feb 8 (PTI) State-run SJVN Ltd is looking to develop 10,000 MW solar power projects entailing investment of Rs 50,000 crore in the next five years in Rajasthan.

"SJVN has submitted its intention to develop 10,000 MW solar power projects in next five years in Rajasthan," a company statement said.

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According to the statement, the Government of Rajasthan has accepted the proposal of SJVN and an MoU in this regard will be signed shortly.

Letter of Intention (LOI) by SJVN and further Acceptance Letter were exchanged in the august presence of Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot, by SJVN Chairman & Managing Director Nand Lal Sharma and Additional Chief Secretary, Power, Government of Rajasthan & CMD RRECL Subodh Agarwal in Jaipur on Tuesday, it stated.

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Sharma informed that SJVN intents to establish 10,000 MW renewable power projects/parks on the land banks to be allocated by Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Ltd in the state.

An estimated investment of Rs 50,000 crore is proposed by SJVN on developing these projects, it stated.

The commercial production will commence in a phased manner and the power generated will be transmitted to the beneficiaries through nearest sub-stations.

Power purchase agreements for the generated energy will be signed through competitive tariff-based opportunities available in the market.

He further added that these projects will usher in socio-economic development in the project areas and also open up avenues of direct and indirect employment to about 15,000 people.

Sharma said that driven by the commitment of Government of India to achieve 500 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, SJVN has re-engineered its business model and has given a major thrust to its renewable energy portfolio in a big way.

"SJVN has proposed to develop solar power projects in Rajasthan as the state has largest solar power potential in the country. It receives the highest solar radiation (5.72 Kwh/m2/day) and also has the highest number of more than 325 clear sunny days in a year. All these factors work in our favour of developing the projects," he said.

Sharma said that SJVN has 2,750 MW of renewable energy projects in its portfolio. He added that the company has recently upgraded its shared vision to installed capacity of 25,000 MW by 2030 and 50,000 MW by 2040.

The revision of targets is a result of SJVN being awarded mega power projects in India and abroad.

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Veteran actor and athlete Praveen Kumar Sobti who essayed the role of 'Bheem' in BR Chopra's 'Mahabharata' has passed away at the age of 74.As per reports, Kumar Sobti had left for his heavenly abode on Monday night.Born in Punjab, the actor who had just turned 74, in December last year was also an athlete. Praveen Kumar Sobti, Mahabharats Bheem, Passes Away At 74.

He had participated in hammer throw and won several medals for India in the Asian and Commonwealth Games and even participated in the Olympics.The actor had worked in about 30 movies in his showbiz career and played many memorable roles including Mukhtaar Singh in Amitabh Bachchan's cult classic film 'Shahenshah'; before he moved to politics. Nitish Bharadwaj, Actor Who Played Krishna on Mahabharat, Joins Social Media as Show Returns on DD National.

Kumar Sobti contested in the 2013 Delhi Legislative elections on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket, but lost. Subsequently, in 2014, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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Islamabad [Pakistan], February 8 (ANI): As many as two people were killed by the unknown assailants in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

The incident took place near an expressway in the capital, Xinhua reported citing local media. It further added that police and rescue team reached the site.

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Police told local media that both of the parties had an old enmity.

According to the report, police cordoned off the area and started a search operation for the arrest of the assailants.

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Pakistan is witnessing a tide of violence in recent months.

In recent months, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the southwestern region of the country, with recent attacks on security posts in Pakistan that resulted in the death of seven Pakistani soldiers and 13 separatists. (ANI)

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Milton Keynes (UK), Feb 8 (The Conversation) Astronomers famously snapped the first ever direct image of a black hole in 2019, thanks to material glowing in its presence. But many black holes are actually near impossible to detect. Now another team using the Hubble Space Telescope seems to have finally found something nobody has seen before: a black hole which is completely invisible. The research, which has been posted online and submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, is yet to be peer-reviewed.

Black holes are what's left after large stars die and their cores collapse. They are incredibly dense, with gravity so strong that nothing can move fast enough to escape them, including light. Astronomers are keen to study black holes because they can tell us a lot about the ways that stars die. By measuring the masses of black holes, we can learn about what was going on in stars' final moments, when their cores were collapsing and their outer layers were being expelled.

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It may seem that black holes are by definition invisible  they after all earned their name through their ability to trap light. But we can still detect them through the way they interact with other objects thanks to their strong gravity. Hundreds of small black holes have been detected by the way they interact with other stars.

There are two different approaches to such detection. In X-ray binary stars  in which a star and a black hole orbit a shared centre while producing X-rays  a black hole's gravitational field can pull material from its companion. The material circles the black hole, heating up by friction as it does so. The hot material glows brightly in X-ray light, making the black hole visible, before being sucked into the black hole and disappearing. You can also detect pairs of black holes as they merge together, spiralling inwards and emitting a brief flash of gravitational waves, which are ripples in spacetime.

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There are many rogue black holes that are drifting through space without interacting with anything, however  making them hard to detect. That's a problem, because if we can't detect isolated black holes, then we can't learn about how they formed and about the deaths of the stars they came from.

New, dark horizons

To discover such an invisible black hole, the team of scientists had to combine two different types of observations over several years. This impressive achievement promises a new way of finding the previously elusive class of isolated black holes.

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity predicted that massive objects will bend light as it travels past them. That means that any light passing very close to an invisible black hole  but not close enough to end up inside it  will be bent in a similar way to light passing through a lens. This is called gravitational lensing, and can be spotted when a foreground object aligns with a background object, bending its light. The method has already been used to study everything from clusters of galaxies to planets around other stars.

The authors of this new research combined two types of gravitational lensing observations in their search for black holes. It started with them spotting light from a distant star suddenly magnify, briefly making it appear brighter before going back to normal. They could not see any foreground object that was causing the magnification via the process of gravitational lensing, though. That suggested the object might be a lone black hole, something which had never been seen before. The problem was that it could also just have been a faint star.

Figuring out if it was a black hole or a faint star required a lot of work, and that's where the second type of gravitational lensing observations came in. The authors repeatedly took images with Hubble for six years, measuring how far the star appeared to move as its light was deflected.

Eventually this let them calculate the mass and distance of the object which caused the lensing effect. They found it was about seven times the mass of our Sun, located about 5,000 light years away, which sounds far away but is actually relatively close. A star that size and that close should be visible to us. Since we can't see it, they concluded it must be an isolated black hole.

Taking that many observations with an observatory like Hubble isn't easy. The telescope is very popular and there is a lot of competition for its time. And given the difficulty of confirming an object like this, you might think the prospects for finding more of them aren't great. Luckily, we're at the beginning of a revolution in astronomy. This is thanks to a new generation of facilities, including the ongoing Gaia survey, and upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, all of which will take repeated measurements of large parts of the sky in unprecedented detail.

That's going to be huge for all areas of astronomy. Having regular, high-precision measurements of so much of the sky will let us investigate en masse things which change on very short timescales. We'll study things as varied as asteroids, exploding stars known as supernovas, and planets around other stars in new ways.

When it comes to the search for invisible black holes, that means rather than celebrating finding just one, we could soon be finding so many that it becomes routine. That will let us fill in the gaps in our understanding of the deaths of stars and the creation of black holes.

Ultimately, the galaxy's invisible black holes are about to find it much harder to hide. (The Conversation)

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MBABANE  Furniture and electrical appliances that were looted and recovered during the June 2021 political unrest will go under the hammer.

The hundreds of new household goods that were looted from one of the countrys major furniture shops will be sold by public auction on February 26, 2022 at Somhlolo Shisanyama next to Somhlolo National Stadium. According to Deputy Sheriff David Magagula, the items are in good condition with a few scratches. He further pointed out that a registration fee of E50, which was non-refundable would be required to be paid in advance through MTN Mobile Money and the deadline was on February 25, 2022. Magagula, who has been instructed to auction the items by Topbet (PTY) Limited said some of the household items that would be sold were beds, washing machines, refrigerators, couches and television sets. The auction will be suitable for both individuals and businesses, as a 2009 Isuzu bus and a Quantum mini bus will also be sold on that day.

The number of bidders to take part in the auction is limited to 200 in conformity with COVID-19 guidelines for gatherings. The auctioneer can be contacted on 7629 8233/7965 7137 for enquiries related to the auction. The name of the furniture shop has not been mentioned in the advert for the auction, but the deputy sheriff disclosed that the furniture and the electrical appliances were those that were looted from one of the countrys major furniture shops during the political unrest last year. It must, however, be noted that during the political unrest in the country, a number of furniture shops and supermarkets were looted.

Investigations

Some of the items were recovered by the police in various homesteads during investigations and this led to the arrest of a number of people, including pupils. A number of those who were arrested are currently out on bail while some were convicted and sentenced. During the political unrest last year, it was reported that some people were charged for allegedly looting property amounting to over E6 million at Buy Cash Hardware at Sithobelweni area and had their sentence wholly suspended after the items in their possession were recovered.

The exact amount of the looted property was E6 668 377. Initially, during mitigation, it was found that the looted items amounted to E132 000. Another furniture shop that was affected during the unrest was Lewis Furniture, which had its warehouse at Ngwenya burnt after the looters had taken the furniture that was inside.

The destruction to property occurred all over the country. Roads were inaccessible as the looters vandalised cars. The first notable casualty was Shoprite, whose truck carrying goods was set ablaze in what was described as the arguably first unfortunate occurrence on our shores. The situation had seemingly calmed down after government deployed the army to the streets to ensure order and peace. Government said it might take about 10 years for many of the affected businesses to recover. The looted and vandalised stores included four OK Stores at Kwaluseni, Mathangeni, Mhlaleni and Logoba. There were two liquor stores that were looted at Kwaluseni and Mathangeni, with two SaveMart stores at Luyengo and Mbikwakhe also vandalised. Out of these, four stores were set on fire and these were Kwaluseni, Mathangeni, Mhlaleni and Luyengo.
Moscow, Feb 8 (AP) Belarus' authoritarian president said Tuesday he has no intention of sending troops to Syria to serve alongside Russian forces in the country but held the door open for a potential deployment of military medics there.

President Alexander Lukashenko's comment followed the publication of a draft agreement between Russia and Belarus that envisages the deployment of up to 200 Belarusian military personnel to Syria.

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The document released by the Russian government Monday is yet to be signed by the countries' foreign and defense ministries. It states that Belarusian military personnel will act under operational control of the Russian military in Syria when deployed there.

Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since 2015, teaming up with Iran to help Syrian President Bashar Assad's government reclaim control over most of the country after a devastating civil war.

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The announcement of the potential deployment of Belarusian military personnel to Syria comes amid increasingly close defense ties between the two ex-Soviet neighbors and allies and it drew an immediate strong protest from the Belarusian opposition.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main challenger to Lukashenko in an August 2020 vote that was rejected as a sham by the opposition and the West, denounced the planned deployment to Syria as Lukashenko's payback for Moscow's support for his crackdown on post-election protests.

In an apparent effort to deflect such criticism, Lukashenko said that he hadn't authorized any deployment yet.

I haven't sent anyone there, Lukashenko said Tuesday, adding that Syria had asked for humanitarian assistance and he discussed sending military medics there at some point.

If they need doctors, we will offer help, he said. But not now  we have plenty of our own problems now and the pandemic isn't over.

Lukashenko noted that Belarusian and Russian authorities had discussed logistics to accommodate the Belarusian personnel if they are sent to Syria.

Some observers saw Lukashenko's backpedaling on the announced deployment as part of his barganing with Moscow for bigger financial assistance.

Lukashenko again engages in a familiar haggling pattern, demanding pay for every step in support of the Kremlin, said independent analyst Valery Karbalevich.

The Belarusian leader 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 defense ties with Moscow and recently offered to host Russian nuclear weapons.

In recent weeks, Russia 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 Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Beijing, Feb 8 (PTI) China said on Tuesday that it was considering a "coordinated" arrangement for the return of foreign students, but remained non-committal on a definite timeline to allow them, including over 23,000 Indians, who are stuck back home for the past two years due to Beijing's COVID-19 visa bans.

Asked at a media briefing here on Tuesday when will China permit the stranded Indian students and what is hindering Beijing to allow them, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian merely retreated what his ministry has been saying for over a year that Beijing wants an orderly return of the students as per the safety protocols of COVID-19.

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"I can tell you that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the issue of foreign students returning to China for their studies," Zhao said.

"We are considering in a coordinated manner the arrangement for allowing foreign students to return to China for their studies. We stand ready to work actively toward the healthy, safe and orderly cross-border flow of people on the basis of sound anti-epidemic protocols, he said.

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Last week, China promised during the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan here to "arrange" for the return of about 28,000 Pakistani students who are stuck back home for the past two years following visa curbs imposed by Beijing under its zero COVID-19 case policy.

A joint statement issued at the end of Khan's four-day visit to China on Sunday said, while ensuring safety against COVID-19, China will arrange for Pakistani students to return to China and resume classes in a prudent manner.

China reportedly made similar assurances to Mongolia and Singapore whose leaders also visited Beijing to take part in the opening ceremony of the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics.

Recently, the Sri Lankan government urged Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit to Colombo to permit its medical students studying in Chinese universities to return as their future was at stake.

While making these promises, Beijing has not given any definite timeline to those counties to permit the students to return.

Since 2020, China has stopped issuing visas for Indians and currently, there were no flights in operation between the two countries.

The extension of China's strict zero case policy of COVID-19 to thousands of foreign students, mostly studying in Chinese medical colleges, has virtually ruined nearly two years of their education.

The online classes which their colleges claim to conduct made little difference to the medical students who were deprived over the valuable laboratory classes.

Into the second month of this year, Beijing is yet to commit to a definite timeline for the return of the Indian students and their South Asian counterparts besides hundreds of Indian employees and businessmen who are either stuck at home or separated from their families.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kathmandu [Nepal], February 8 (ANI): A Nepalese government report has accused China of encroaching into western Nepal along their shared border.

The report was commissioned in September last year after reports emerged that China has been trespassing in the district of Humla.

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This committee was formed under the Home Ministry Joint Secretary to study the dispute over the Nepal-China border. The team studied border pillars, especially in the Limi valley, and initial findings confirmed that there were some serious border issues between Nepal and China.

Nepal's Hindu Civic Society, Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan on Monday handed over a memorandum to the UN, saying that China has encroached on their land in the Humla district and urged the international community to pay attention to Chinese land grabbing.

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Ekta Abhiyan chairperson Binay Yadav handed over the memorandum to UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard in Kathmandu, Khabarhub reported. The civic society organisation also urged the Nepali Congress-led government to take action as suggested by the committee formed under its initiation.

"According to the study, the area between pillar number 5 (2) and the middle of the Kit Khola has been marked as the border between the two countries since the 1963 Boundary Protocol," the Rastriya Ekta Abhiyan's appeal said. However, the Chinese side has erected fences and wires in Nepali land.

Despite all evidence on the ground, the report is now pending with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Surprisingly, Kathmandu remains silent over China's expansionist approach in the Himalayan nation despite reports indicating illegal encroachments in bordering districts including Humla, Gorkha, Darchula, Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk.

Last month, Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan burnt pictures of the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi in the capital city protesting China's "increased interference" in Nepal's internal matters.

Demonstrators also lambasted the Chinese Ambassador for interfering in Nepal's internal affairs and imposing an unannounced blockade in Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani. The protesters also raised slogans against Chinese Ambassador Yanqi. (ANI)

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Beijing [China], February 8 (ANI): China on Tuesday warned the United States against a USD 100 million deal on weapons supply to Taiwan and said that Beijing will take necessary actions to protect its sovereignty.

The United States has approved a possible USD 100 million sales of equipment and services to Taiwan to "sustain" and "improve" the Patriot missile defence system used by the self-governing island.

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"China strongly protests and condemns this action," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a briefing, adding that the US should "withdraw" this proposal immediately.

Zhao said China will take necessary and effective measures to protect its sovereignty and ensure its security.

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The development comes at a time when tensions between China and Taiwan are heightened. The relations between China and the US have also deteriorated in recent issues concerning human rights, coronavirus pandemic and trade.

US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Monday said it has delivered the required certification notifying Congress following State Department approval for the sale requested by Taiwan's TECRO.

"This proposed sale serves US national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient's continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability. The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region," the statement read.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region, the statement added.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has welcomed the US move to approve USD 100 million arms sales.

"We welcome @StateDept's approval of a USD100 million arms sale to Taiwan. The decision demonstrates the US government's commitment to the #TaiwanRelationsAct & #SixAssurances. It also supports the maintenance of our defensive capabilities, as well as regional peace & stability," said Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China has repeatedly threatened Taiwan with invasion and has adopted an aggressive policy to intimidate the self-governing island. (ANI)

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Port-Au-Prince (Haiti), Feb 8 (AP) Schools and businesses across Haiti shuttered their doors on Monday and large numbers of police patrolled the streets as the country braced for a grim anniversary.

Monday marked not only seven months since President Jovenel Moise was slain at his private residence but also the end of his term, with opponents demanding that Prime Minister Ariel Henry step down, arguing that his administration is unconstitutional.

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We're in a situation where fear is taking over peace, Bocchit Edmond, Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., told The Associated Press. Our country cannot continue to live that way.

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Thousands of people opted to stay home on Monday, afraid that even greater violence would erupt as Haiti's political instability deepens, kidnappings spike and gangs grow more powerful amid a crumbling economy. Lionel Fortune, a 33-year-old law student, was among the few who ventured outside and waited a long time for a public bus to materialize on the empty streets.

This country has totally deteriorated, he said. You don't know who you can count on, who you can trust to lead the country to the right path.

Henry, the prime minister, has promised to create a provisional electoral council soon to pave the way for elections that he says will occur by the end of this year as his administration tries to improve security conditions.

The heinous assassination of President Jovenel Moise last year has brought our country to the brink of chaos, and our institutions are completely dysfunctional, he wrote in an op-ed published Sunday by The Miami Herald. My mission and that of the government over which I preside is to get our country back on track to achieve democracy as soon as possible.

Haiti currently has only 10 elected officials since it failed to hold legislative elections in October 2019 amid political gridlock and massive protests, with Moise ruling by decree for more than a year before was killed.

Since then, numerous opponents have challenged Henry and nominated their own leaders, moves that the prime minister has not recognized.

A president cannot be named, appointed or selected by any group of people or organization, Henry wrote. Elections are the only way forward.

Bocchit echoed those thoughts, saying that Henry did not make himself prime minister but rather was chosen by a legitimate and democratically elected president.

He said the process of choosing an electoral council was very well advanced and called on opponents to dialogue with Henry and work together, adding that he remains optimistic elections will be held.

My only fear is to see my country not moving forward, Bocchit said.

He dismissed accusations that Henry is not considered a legitimate leader given that Haiti's chief public prosecutor, whom Henry has since fired, noted that the prime minister spoke with one of the main suspects in the presidential slaying hours after it occurred.

Henry has said he received multiple calls that day and doesn't remember all of them.

It's an ongoing investigation, Bocchit said. Let us leave (this to) the justice system.

One of the most high-profile groups that oppose Henry, the Montana Accord, named after the hotel where it was signed, has proposed a two-year transitional period to allow Haiti time to create a safer environment for voters.

The group, made up of thousands of supporters including prominent politicians and civil society leaders, recently nominated as its leader Fritz Jean, former governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

In a speech on Saturday, Jean said he plans to reach out to more groups and political parties to find solutions to Haiti's issues and noted that violence is not the road to democracy.

As political figures keep vying to be Haiti's new leader, Fortune, the law student, lamented the spike in prices of basic food staples and accused the government of not doing anything to improve people's lives: The economy has hit rock bottom. It can't go farther than it has. No one can really survive.

___

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP)

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Las Vegas, Feb 8 (AP) Maurice Gallagher, the longtime CEO of budget airline Allegiant, will step down as CEO of the airline's parent company and be replaced by company President John Redmond on June 1.

Allegiant Travel Co. announced the change in CEOs on Monday. Gallagher will remain chairman.

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Gallagher said the change in CEOs formalizes changes that have been working in practice for the last several years.

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The announcement came the same day that two rivals, Spirit and Frontier airlines, announced plans to merge, creating a larger budget airline than Allegiant, based in Las Vegas.

Redmond, who spent many years in the hotel and resort business, has served on Allegiant's board since 2007 except for a one-year break. He has been president for five years and oversees day-to-day operations of the company.

Gallagher was among the investors who started ValuJet Airlines, a discount airline that suffered a 1996 Florida crash that was blamed on improperly stored hazardous materials in the cargo hold. The airline bought AirTran and took the smaller rival's name.

Gallagher took over Allegiant in 2001 after the company went through a bankruptcy reorganization.

Allegiant reported a profit of $152 million on $497 million in revenue last year. Revenue exceeded 2019 levels, a rarity in the airline business, which is still trying to recover from the onset of the pandemic.

The company has ambitious growth plans, including a partnership with Mexico's Viva Aerobus to increase its international business.

Shares in Allegiant Travel ended Monday little changed at $173.11. (AP)

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Bangkok, Feb 8 (AP A delegation from Mauritius is set to sail Tuesday to the Chagos Islands to press the country's claim for the strategically important Indian Ocean archipelago, which is also claimed by Britain and is home to an American military base.

It is the first time Mauritius has embarked upon an expedition to the islands without seeking the permission of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said in a statement, adding it is a concrete step in exercising its sovereignty and sovereign rights in relation to the Chagos Archipelago.

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Those rights were strengthened in 2019 by a non-binding opinion from the International Criminal Court, which said that Britain had unlawfully carved up Mauritius, an archipelago nation whose main island is some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off the southeast coast of Africa. The Chagos islands were a part of Mauritius until Britain separated them a few years before Mauritius became independent from British colonial rule in 1968.

The United Nations General Assembly followed that opinion with a resolution two months later demanding that Britain end its colonial administration of the Chagos Islands, which include the US military base on Diego Garcia, and return them to Mauritius.

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Even Pope Francis weighed in, saying that Britain should obey the UN resolution.

Thus far, however, Britain, which calls the archipelago a British Indian Ocean Territory, has refused to abide by the non-binding decisions.

It has argued that the Chagos archipelago has been under its sovereignty since 1814 and that its continued presence there is strategically important.

Britain's Foreign Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the current expedition.

In his statement, Jugnauth recalled the ICJ ruling and said that continued administration of the Chagos archipelago by the United Kingdom constituted a wrongful act.

His office did not immediately respond to an email seeking further comment.

Jugnauth has repeatedly said that ending the British administration, however, would have no implications for the US military base at Diego Garcia, which he has said Mauritius is committed to maintaining.

Britain sealed a deal in 1966 allowing the US to use Diego Garcia for defense purposes. The United States maintains a base there for aircraft and ships and has backed Britain in the legal dispute with Mauritius.

Britain evicted about 2,000 people from the Chagos archipelago in the 1960s and 1970s so the US military could build its base. Many resettled in Britain and have fought in courts there to return to the islands.

Jugnauth in 2019 told the UN General Assembly their forcible eviction remains a very dark episode of human history akin to a crime against humanity.

Jugnauth said the vessel commissioned by Mauritius, Bleu de Nimes, is to sail Tuesday from Seychelles to the Chagos archipelago, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Maldives in the Indian Ocean.

Onboard for the 15-day journey is Mauritius' permanent representative to the UN, as well as legal advisers and others who planned to undertake a scientific survey at the Blenheim Reef, a partially submerged atoll in the northeastern part of the archipelago.

Jugnauth said the survey results would be part of Mauritius' submissions for a case being heard by the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which was brought by Maldives, which supports Britain's sovereignty claim.

Jugnauth said in his statement that he would not accompany others on the current voyage, but would personally visit the islands in a separate voyage.(AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 8 (ANI): After China, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to visit Russia at the end of this month, according to local media.

The country's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Moscow this month at the invitation extended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Daily Times reported.

Also Read | US Researchers Detect Four Cryptic Variants of COVID-19 in Samples of Wastewater From New York City.

The foreign minister made the announcement about the Russian tour while giving a briefing about the prime minister's recently concluded visit to China and its outcomes.

According to the publication, the Prime Minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation of senior ministers from his cabinet.

Also Read | Iran-US Nuclear Talks to Resume in Vienna from Tomorrow.

During his visit to Russia, the discussions will focus on enhancing cooperation in the spheres of economy, trade, defence and energy.

Imran Khan who was invited to Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games 2022, met with China's President Xi Jinping and discussed a range of issues.

As per The HK Post, Pakistan's dependence on China for its economic wellbeing- short, medium and long-term- is heavy and promises to increase.

According to Pakistani economist Kaiser Bengali, Pakistan is now 100 per cent dependent on China for financial and economic assistance. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Colombo [Sri Lanka], February 8 (ANI): Sri Lanka will import 1,00,000 metric tonnes of white rice and 50,000 metric tonnes of parboiled rice from Myanmar during the years 2022 and 2023.

It has planned to import this stock of rice at US $ 445 per metric ton through the Sri Lanka State Trading (General) Corporation, reported Colombo Page.

Also Read | Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to Wear Queens Kohinoor Crown When Prince Charles Becomes King: Report.

Sri Lanka, which is facing a severe food crisis, has approached various countries including Myanmar for the import of rice to increase its food stock.

A bilateral agreement was signed between the Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Trade.

Also Read | Pakistan: Over 2,000 Rapes Reported in Punjab Province in Past 6 Months.

Notably, China has donated one million metric tons of rice to Colombo to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Rice-Rubber pact which is expected to reach Sri Lanka in March, 2022.

Earlier, Sri Lanka, on November 30, had also requested Pakistan for a comprehensive Credit line of USD 200 million to import cement, rice and other essential food items. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington [US], February 8 (ANI): A China-based communications company recruited Motorola employees to steal their technology, the US Justice Department said on Monday.

"A telecommunications company conspired with former employees of Chicago-based Motorola Solutions Inc. to steal digital mobile radio technology developed by Motorola, according to an indictment unsealed today in federal court in Chicago," the Justice Department said in a statement on Monday (local time).

Also Read | US Researchers Detect Four Cryptic Variants of COVID-19 in Samples of Wastewater From New York City.

According to it, the indictment alleges that Chinese company Hytera Communications recruited and directed several Motorola employees to steal proprietary and trade secret information between 2007 and 2020, using the information to accelerate the development of their own digital mobile radio technology.

"The indictment alleges that China-based HYTERA COMMUNICATIONS CORP. LTD. recruited and hired Motorola Solutions employees and directed them to take proprietary and trade secret information from Motorola without authorization. The charges allege that while still employed at Motorola, some of the employees allegedly accessed the trade secret information from Motorola's internal database and sent multiple emails describing their intentions to use the technology at Hytera," the release said.

Also Read | Iran-US Nuclear Talks to Resume in Vienna from Tomorrow.

The 21-count indictment was partially unsealed today by court order in US District Court in Chicago. It charges Hytera with conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
MANZINI  A number of emaSwati based in South Africa were seen protesting in the perimetres of Netcare Unitas Healthcare in Pretoria, South Africa.

This is where they claimed the Queen Mother is currently being treated. Video footage shared in various media platforms, including Swaziland Democratic News, showed the people singing political songs and calling for the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, to engage local authority on evacuating her from that republic. In the vicinity of the crowd were members of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Efforts to get comments from the Kings Office Director of Communications, Percy Simelane, proved futile. This reporter wanted to verify information that the Queen Mother had left the country due to ill health. His phone rang unanswered and he did not respond to text messages.

Simelane had been contacted since Sunday morning. Until 9pm yesterday he had not responded to either calls or messages. The first WhatsApp message was sent to him at 11:23 am on Sunday while the first call was placed at 10:45am. Per hour he had been contacted and was yet to respond. A text message was also sent to him at 4pm on Sunday and a follow-up yesterday at 10am.

Also, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Moses Vilakati, was contacted through WhatsApp call as he is out of the country. Vilakati said he was in a meeting and should be contacted later and subsequently a WhatsApp message was sent to him at 5:13pm on Sunday and he is yet to respond. Also, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Melusi Masuku, was on Sunday sent a WhatsApp message and an sms at 5:15pm.

Phone

Also means to contact him through his mobile phone on Sunday and yesterday did not yield any positive results. A text message was also sent to his official mobile number and it is yet to be answered. Ludzidzini Governor Lusendvo Fakudze was contacted on Sunday and he said he was indisposed and was in Pretoria, South Africa. Yesterday, his phone rang unanswered.

An effort to get the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, also did not yield any results as she terminated the call while it rang. The call to her was placed at 9:28pm.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the anti-NEET Bill which had been sent back by governor RN Ravi for reconsideration. Chief minister MK Stalin moved the Bill.

See Tweet:

Bill against NEET exam unanimously passed in Tamil Nadu Assembly through voice vote.  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
Hyundai India has issued a second statement after its Pakistan social media handle posted a message on Kashmir Solidarity Day. Hyundai Pakistan shared a message that expressed solidarity with Kashmiri brothers in their fight for freedom. The post created a social media uproar with Indians boycotting the South Korean car manufacturer.

See Tweet:

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
A UK based recruitment company (Yolk Recruitment) is offering its employees a holiday as a "gratitude" for working during the pandemic. Cardiff-based Yolk Recruitment has announced that it will take all 55 of its staff members and "not just the top billers" on a company holiday in April to Tenerife, the largest of Spain's Canary Islands, off the coast of northwest Africa. The company said this paid-for holiday comes after "historic 2021 results". This holiday in a hotel in Tenerife will last for four days.

"Yolk Folk are off to Tenerife. That's everyone. Not just the top billers or those that played a part in our historic 2021 results, but EVERYONE," the company said on LinkedIn. Facebook/Meta Voted Worst Company of The Year by Yahoo Finance Audience Survey 2021

Our purpose is building a culture where everyone wins! Which means no one can be left behind on this all-inclusive company holiday," the company wrote.

The new hires of January and February will also go on the four-day holiday.

According to a report in BBC, the company estimates the holiday will cost it more than 100,000 pounds (roughly Rs 1-crore) for the four-day break.

Yolk's Chief Commercial Officer Pavan Arora said: "2020 was a really tough time on our whole industry - we went from the jobs market being put on hold to going into overdrive. Our staff have been on a journey, from going to remote working to hybrid back to remote...so we just wanted to put our arms around everyone and say thank you for the last two years." US Woman Sues Instagram's Parent Company Meta and Snap Inc Over Daughter's Suicide

The LinkedIn post has gone viral on social media, with netizens praising the company for its gesture.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 08, 2022 09:18 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The White House announced President Obama's decision to visit Flint, Michigan by posting a letter he wrote to 8-year-old Flint resident Mari Copeny, known locally as Little Miss Flint, who had asked to meet the president.

I want to make sure people like you and your family are receiving the help you need and deserve, Obama told her.

Copeny's letter to President Obama

Mr. President,

Hello my name is Mari Copeny and Im 8 years old, I live in Flint, Michigan and Im more commonly known around town as Little Miss Flint. I am one of the children that is effected by this water, and Ive been doing my best to march in protest and to speak out for all the kids that live here in Flint. This Thursday I will be riding a bus to Washington, D.C. to watch the congressional hearings of our Governor Rick Snyder. I know this is probably an odd request but I would love for a chance to meet you or your wife. My mom said chances are you will be too busy with more important things, but there is a lot of people coming on these buses and even just a meeting from you or your wife would really lift peoples spirits. Thank you for all that do for our country. I look forward to being able to come to Washington and to be able to see Gov. Snyder in person and to be able to be in the city where you live.

Thank You

Mari Copeny

President Obama's reply
One person was killed, while another person was wounded in an altercation that led to a shooting at a Fred Meyer store in Richland, Washington, Monday, past 11 a.m, Fox News reported.

Authorities immediately cleared the store 101 Wellsian Way throughout the afternoon, per USA Today. They swept each aisle and helped both customers and workers escape, including a group hiding in the pharmacy area.

Richland Police Captain Chris Lee said the suspect and the deceased victim had an "interaction" before "multiple" shots were fired. It was not clear whether they both knew each other. The suspect then fled after the incident.Meanwhile, the injured victim, who was in critical condition, underwent surgery, Lee confirmed.

Manhunt for Washington Grocery Store Shooting Suspect Underway

Police warned the public to avoid the area as the "armed and dangerous" suspect remains at large. His identity is yet to be disclosed, but Lee said the man has had past "contact" with the police.Richland PD's official Twitter account posted a photo of the middle-aged White male suspect from the store's security camera.

UPDATE: If you recognize this individual or have any information on his whereabouts, please call Non- Emergency dispatch at 509-628-0333. pic.twitter.com/AYFSKAJxE5  Richland PD, WA (@RichlandPolice) February 7, 2022

The department asked the public to call the non-emergency dispatch at 509-628-0333 if they have information about the individual.Local law enforcement from across the Tri-Cities area in Eastern Washington have launched a manhunt operation to arrest the suspect. As Washington Examiner reported, spokesperson Steve Bern of the FBI Seattle field office confirmed that they are assisting the local police force in "locating and identifying the individual responsible." Police closed off traffic in nearby areas while the investigation was ongoing.

ALSO READ: Washington Police Search for 2 Suspects After an Officer Was Shot as He Tried to Stop Burglars While Off-Duty

Schools in the Area Placed on a "Non-Critical Lockdown"

Schools in the area were put on a "non-critical lockdown" as authorities conducted the investigation, a district spokesperson confirmed with Fox News. The spokesperson said the "precaution step" was based upon the recommendation from the police.

Richland fire and police departments also requested two school buses from the district to assist with efforts of reuniting the employees and customers with their families.

The district then said schools will release students on their normal schedules. School buses would also run their routes as scheduled. The district said Richland Police Department committed to have officers visible in the communication "out of an abundance of caution."

Fred Meyer Commits to Cooperate in the Investigation

A spokesperson for the company said Fred Meyer is "deeply saddened" by the shooting.

"The entire Fred Meyer family offers our thoughts, prayers, and support to all affected individuals and families during this difficult time," per an official statement.

The store also expressed its commitment to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

"The store will remain closed while the police investigation continues and we have initiated counseling services for our associates," the spokesperson added.

READ MORE: Boulder Shooting Suspect Faces 43 New Charges in King Soopers Rampage

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Beau West

WATCH: One Dead After Shooting at Washington Supermarket - NBC
The National Archives has confirmed that they have recovered on Monday 15 boxes of Donald Trump's White House records from his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida that were "improperly" removed after the end of his administration.

National Archivist David Ferriero noted that representatives for the former president are still searching for more records that may have been inappropriately taken from the White House, according to an ABC News Go report.

Sources noted that the documents retrieved last month included communications between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un.

There was also a letter from former President Barack Obama to Trump that was left as per custom ahead of Trump's inauguration.

The Lincoln Project tweeted regarding the matter, saying that Trump did not only try to destroy records but also stole those.

Not only did Trump attempt to destroy documents; he stole them, too. https://t.co/uML2IayWK6  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) February 7, 2022

Twitter user @lindlyli said that the same people who crucified Hillary Clinton before are staying silent now.

Trump stole WH docs & hid them at Mar-a-Lago, including Kim Jong Un letters & gifts from world leaders that belong to the American people



He also shredded & burned records for 4 years, violating the Presidential Records Act



The same people who crucified Hillary are silent now  Lindy Li (@lindyli) February 7, 2022

Clinton used to have her own email server, which was scrutinized by Trump and the media.

Legal analyst Joyce Alene tweeted that if records and documents are not released from a national security point of view, it could pose a real concern.

With Trump, what should be shocking is merely expected: From a national security perspective..if records and documents are not disclosed, that could pose a real concern if the next administration is flying blind without that information. https://t.co/PAw2eTQu2M  Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) February 7, 2022

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

Donald Trump White House Records at Mar-a-Lago

The 15 boxes of records recovered at Mar-a-Lago violated the Presidential Records Act, according to an NPR report.

Under the Act, the records found at Mar-a-Lago should have been handed over to NARA from the White House at the end of Trump's presidency in January 2021.

Ferriero said that all Presidential records must be properly preserved by each administration under the mandate of the Presidential Records Act.

The National Archives Public and Media Communications said in a statement that the agency had arranged for the transport of the 15 boxes from Trump's Florida property.

Trump advisers noted that they deny "any nefarious intent" and said that the 15 boxes of records were "mementos, gifts, as well as letters from world leaders."

Deseret News noted that the type of transfer of documents to Mar-a-Lago was "out of the ordinary."

It was reported that NARA "has never had that kind of volume transfer" like the Mar-a-Lago records.

There were earlier reports about Trump's practice of tearing up records and throwing them on the floor or in the trash.

Trump's unofficial "filing system" led to the process of taping documents back together to ensure that the administration is following the Presidential Records Act, according to a CBS News report.

The select committee has requested the Archives team to release the records that could have noted the events leading to the January 6 riot, which included presidential diaries, visitor logs, as well as handwritten notes from the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Trump had asserted executive privilege over the records as his attempt to shield those from being released. However, U.S. President Joe Biden has declined to acknowledge those privilege claims.

Trump then sued the committee and Archives to block the release of the documents. The Supreme Court ruled against the former president.

READ MORE: Donald Trump's Pardon Talk Sparks Major Concern Among Republicans: "He'll Do It All Again!"

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Trump Used 'Burn Bags' To Destroy Docs, Took Records To Mar-a-Lago - from MSNBC






A Kentucky man shot and killed his wife inside their home before turning the gun on himself on Sunday night.

According to WKYT, police are still working to find answers to the apparent murder-suicide that happened in a home at Linden Lane, Nicholasville.

The Nicholasville police said the husband and wife were home with the wife's three children. Sergeant Kevin Grimes noted that officers got a call at around 8:45 p.m. about a domestic situation, and police responded, FOX 56 News reported.

When the responding officers arrived, they found the Kentucky man and his wife dead inside the home. Grimes said they knew the husband and wife were arguing before the shooting as the wife's 15-year-old daughter called 911.

The police sergeant noted that there were three kids inside the home when the shooting happened - the teen daughter, an eight-year-old daughter, and a seven-year-old son.

Grime said police were not sure what the children saw or what they heard. He noted that they were hoping that the children did not see anything and they were able to get out of the house before the shooting.

Police said all three children were physically unharmed. Grimes noted that the children are now staying with a family member.

According to the police, the Kentucky man shot his wife inside their home before he got into his car and took his own life.

Police said they would try to find out the answers about what happened. However, Grimes noted that some questions would never get answered in cases like this one.

Similar to the other murder-suicide they had this year, Grimes said they had trouble knowing what really happened before the killings.

Grimes noted that at the end of the day, there are only two people who know what happened, and "neither one of them can talk."

READ NEXT: Texas Woman Rebecca Lanette Taylor Offered Mother $500k to Sell Her Infant Boy to Her at a Texas Walmart

Neighbors React on the Kentucky Man Shooting His Wife

Neighbor Carolyn Congleton said the Kentucky man shooting his wife before committing suicide had shocked their community.

Congleton told WTVQ that she still could not believe this happened four doors down from her house. She described the children as polite and would say "hi" to her, adding that the family seemed like good people.

Another neighbor Loretta Johnson said she did not hear anything. She noted that it was her granddaughters who told her there was a shooting down the street. Johnson noted that it was a sad and tragic incident, especially for the children.

Domestic Violence Statistics in the United States

On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the U.S., which equates to more than 10 million women and men in one year, according to a National Statistics Domestic Violence fact sheet.

A study of intimate partner homicides found that 20 percent of victims were not the intimate partners themselves but family members, friends, neighbors, or persons who intervened.

Around 72 percent of all murder-suicides reportedly involve an intimate partner, with 94 percent of the victims under murder-suicide incidents being female.

One in five children is exposed to intimate partner violence every year, with 90 percent of these children being eyewitnesses to this violence.

In addition, the study suggests that there is a relationship between intimate partner violence and depression, and suicidal behavior.

READ MORE: Texas Teen Adalia Rose Dies at 15 After Her Battle With Real-Life Benjamin Button Disease

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Nicholasville Murder-Suicide Overnight - From FOX56 News






A man whose naked body was put inside a plastic trash bag was found on Sunday in Mexico's state of Guanajuato plagued by Mexican drug cartels fighting for territory.

A passerby discovered the large plastic trash bag with the human body outside the Mercado el Dorado market in Celaya city at around 7 p.m. and reported it to police.

According to Periodico AM, the victim's identity has yet to be identified, but his body bore signs of physical abuse. The outlet noted that the corpse was transferred to the forensic medical service SEMEFO, where an autopsy will be carried out.

In Apaseo el Alto, two corpses with their hands tied behind their backs with rope were found on the side of a road on Sunday.

According to local reports, the bodies were visible to all the drivers who passed by the Pan-American highway in its Apaseo el Alto-Queretaro stretch.

Police said a passerby called 911 at around 8 a.m. to report the corpses beside the road. One of the victims' bodies was reportedly lying on the ground, with face up and legs crossed. Authorities provided no other details at this time.

Other Recent Killings in Mexico's Guanajuato State Amid Mexican Drug Cartels' Turf Wars

Last week, dismembered body parts of three people were found inside a plastic bag and sacks in Guanajuato state.

A body of a man dismembered and put inside a black plastic bag was discovered in front of an abandoned house in the municipality of Purisima del Rincon on February 1.

Authorities said the head of the unidentified man and his limbs were found inside the black plastic bag. They also said the victim's body bore signs of physical abuse.

On the same day, a man in Silao City found several sacks with dismembered body parts. The man was collecting recyclable materials and firewood when he saw a dog with a person's arm in its mouth.

He then followed the dog and found the sacks that already had a foul odor. The man alerted the residents, who reported the rotting body parts to authorities.

Local officials confirmed that two human bodies were placed separately inside several sacks, with only one human head since the other head was missing.

Personnel of the SEMEFO will reportedly conduct autopsies on the three dismembered bodies found inside the plastic bag and the sacks.

On January 17, at least 21 people were reported dead in Guanajuato in just 24 hours. The victims, consisting of men, women, and children, were found dead in several municipalities, with their bodies riddled with bullets.

A week before this, at least seven people were killed in two attacks in the state. Two men and two women were reportedly killed in the morning of January 9 after armed men entered a property near Acambaro. In the evening, two men and a woman were murdered inside a house in the center of Irapuato.

READ NEXT: Amid Mexico's Cartel Wars, Body Found Inside Plastic Drum While Another Left in Middle of Road

Mexican Drug Cartels Battling for Territory

The number of violent crimes in the cartel-plagued Guanajuato state continues to rise as Mexican drug cartels fight for control of territory.

The Jalisco cartel has reportedly been fighting to take over territory in Guanajuato from local drug gangs. According to Border Report, the state is the scene of a bloody turf war between the Jalisco cartel and the home-grown Santa Rosa de Lima gang.

The bloodbath in the state reportedly started in 2018 when the Jalisco New Generation Cartel or Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) moved into Guanajuato.

The Jalisco cartel is considered one of Mexico's most dangerous and powerful drug cartels allegedly involved in mass graves, kidnappings, acid baths, and video recording beheadings.

According to the U.S. State Department, the Jalisco cartel is considered "to be the most violent drug trafficking organization currently operating in Mexico, with the highest cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine trafficking capacity."

Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera is currently leading the Jalisco cartel. The U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest as he continues to evade capture.

READ MORE: Jalisco Cartel in Mexico Is Creating Homemade Bombs Similar to Those Use by Islamic Militants Amid Drug War

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Adrianna Grant
A mom in Mexico plunged to her death after stepping into an empty elevator shaft when faulty doors opened.

According to Periodico AM, the woman attempted to take the elevator at the "Oficinas Gutierrez" building in Portal Corregidora at the center of Moroleon in Guanajuato state at around 9 a.m. on Sunday.

The outlet noted that the Mexican mom stepped into the elevator after the doors opened without realizing that the elevator car was not there.

Mexican Mom Found Dead in Elevator Shaft in Mexico

It was still unknown what floor she was on, but it was high enough to kill her after she plunged to the ground, where emergency workers found her.

After seeing what happened, a witness called 911 to report an injured person. Minutes later, personnel from the Civil Protection and the Red Cross arrived at the scene.

They went down the elevator shaft to help the Mexican mom. But after checking on her, they found that she had already died from injuries she suffered in the fall.

The woman's relatives, including her children, also arrived at the scene and burst into tears after knowing her fatal fall.

The State Attorney General's Office said the cause of the elevator failure was still unknown, but they were already investigating the case.

READ NEXT: Mexico: Body Found in Plastic Trash Bag While 2 Corpses With Hands Tied Behind Backs Left on Side of Road Amid Drug Cartel Wars

The Most Common Cause of Elevator-Related Deaths

According to the Center for Construction Research and Training in the U.S., more than half of all elevator-related deaths are caused by falls.

That is occasionally from elevator malfunctions in which it plummets suddenly while carrying passengers, slamming them into the floor, ceiling, or walls. Other incidents have involved people stepping into empty elevator shafts and sometimes climbing out of a stuck elevator.

Since 1992, only around 18 percent of elevator-related deaths were about being crushed between floors by an elevator.

Elevators are still reportedly safer than stairs, with about 1,600 stair-related deaths recorded each year. Citing data from the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Reuters reported that more than one million Americans are injured by taking the stairs yearly.

According to the CDC, falls from the stairs can be deadly since they can cause broken bones, concussions, or other head or brain injuries, especially if you fall sideways.

READ MORE: Amid Mexico's Cartel Wars, Body Found Inside Plastic Drum While Another Left in Middle of Road

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Adrianna Grant
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MANZINI  The rules of Sibaya do not allow for widowed women to participate and also has strict dress code and body appearance rules that are obstructive to the full and meaningful participation of women in the dialogue.

This is one of six concerns raised by the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) through its chairman, Thulani Maseko. In a press statement, which is a reaction to the Speech from the Throne, the human rights lawyer said MSF was reiterating its stance for emphasis that they were rejecting the call that Sibaya was the proper forum for the national dialogue. Maseko said all the parties to the dialogue should be of the same mind regarding what role Parliament and Sibaya would play in the process. This, he said, was despite that the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics Defence and Security, through its Chairperson, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, stated that the process towards the national dialogue would take into account and incorporate structures and processes enshrined in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini, including the role of the Parliament of the kingdom, and the Sibaya convened by His Majesty King Mswati III.

Dialogue

The MSF chairperson claimed that a dialogue process could never be led and determined by one party. Such, he supposed, was not a dialogue but a monologue. It has been shown over the past many years that Sibaya is indeed a monologue, where the proponents of the tinkhundla regime populate Sibaya to make the loudest noise about how good the Tinkhundla System is, claimed the MSF. Maseko said Sibaya was a creature of Swazi law and custom and, therefore, it was a traditional structure. He said the rules of engagement, conduct and behaviour were the precepts of custom, tradition and culture  all of which were designed to entrench the power and hegemony of the King and the royal family.

The human rights lawyer said it was significant to note that the crisis the country was in was not a predicament to be resolved by traditional practices. He said they were for all intents and purposes challenges of a political nature and Sibaya was supposedly incapable of earnestly addressing political issues. The MSF statement further pointed out that Sibaya, by virtue of being a traditional structure, was convened by the King as Ingwenyama and it, therefore, lacked checks and balances. This, he claimed, meant it was predominantly convened, managed and conducted by the Ingwenyama, while he (King as Ingwenyama) purportedly had extra-ordinary powers that could not be challenged and were immune from legal challenge.

Autocratic

This makes the process to be without any form of checks and balances and cannot be objective or fair to all role players. It is an autocratic exercise from the very beginning and does not meet the litmus test for an all-inclusive externally mediated dialogue process that the mass democratic movement is calling for, reads the statement in part. Furthermore, the MSF claimed that the set- up inside Sibaya was not conducive for any meaningful engagement and participation by those who did not subscribe to its concept. We refuse to be denigrated and dehumanised under the disguise of respecting culture and tradition. The democratic future of this nation should never be subjected to the dictates of tradition which is abused and manipulated to perpetuate the status quo, reads the statement.

Also, the MSF statement claimed that in recent history, the chairmanship of Sibaya had been delegated by the King to the Attorney General, Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo, not in his capacity as such; but as one of the Kings governors. The chairperson of MSF said the fact that it was the AG who presided over the Sibaya meeting, did not take away the reality that he so chaired the meeting on delegated authority of the Ingwenyama. We in the mass democratic movement have indicated that we want a dialogue process under an independent and impartial chairperson accepted by all sides. We have welcomed the intervention of the SADC to help us broker the impasse.

Degrading

On the rights of women, Maseko purported that Sibaya was generally hostile to the free participation of the people. He claimed it was particularly oppressive to women as it allegedly subjected them to inhuman and degrading rules. Maseko supposed that save for women who were under the regiment of Lutsango, they could be perhaps be used to such. He said the rules of Sibaya did not allow widowed women to participate and also had strict dress code and body appearance rules that were obstructive to the full and meaningful participation of women in the dialogue. We demand a non-sexist environment that would allow for women delegates to participate fully and freely in the national dialogue process rather than being hindered by cultural and traditional rules and norms, reads the statement in part.

He further raised the concern of recording of minutes, decisions and implementation which it was said, was not done by an impartial secretariat, but somebody called the secretary to the nation. It was said the secretary to the nation had never reported to the people, not accountable to the people and who had never been agreed upon as the secretary. Maseko said like the chairman of the meeting, he served at the behest of the King. Fundamentally, the whole Sibaya arrangement is skewed against those who are legitimately challenging the tinkhundla regime and the unrestricted exercise of power by the King, reads the statement. Consequently, he said, they stood firmly on the basis that the only legitimate national dialogue process that they would participate in and or recognise was one that was an outcome of engagements by both parties to the conflict.

Maseko said this was mostly the reason why the two sides needed to meet to find common ground as to the nature of the dialogue before an engagement on the process, talk about the rules and terms of engagement, the issues to be dialogued on and the general management of the entire process. He said the King and government could not be the player and referee of the dialogue at the same time.
Some 20% of Ireland's biggest jail in Portlaoise contracted Covid-19 in January according to figures from the Irish Prison Service (IPS).

While the IPS says the Midlands Prison outbreak is under control, the service continues to warn about the challenge of preventing the virus from infecting prisoners and staff at the jail.

In a statement, the Service can confirmed that 175 prisoners from A, C and E Division in Midlands Prison tested positive for Covid-19 as the Omicron virus peaked. It said an Outbreak Control Team was established.

The IPS said that by January 31 Public Heath staff reached agreement with the prison's Outbreak Control Team to stand down the outbreak as a result the third round of prisoner testing. Following this decision senior management returned the A & C and the E Division to a normal regime.

The service said the total number of prisoners to test positive for Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic had reached 738 by the end of January 31.

It also cautioned that it continues to face an "unprecedented challenge in continuing to keep prisoners safe from infection" due to the prevalence of the disease in the community.

The IPS says it has managed 14 Covid-19 Outbreaks within a prison setting since November 2021, of which all have been successfully stood down.

Family visits were suspended during January but recommenced by January 24.
MANZINI  Even though TUCOSWA has been denied permission to march tomorrow, the workers union is adamant that its planned mass political march will go ahead.

The Municipal Council of Manzini has denied the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) permission to lead workers in its political march in the city to deliver a petition to the Manzini Police Regional Headquarters (RHQ). The planned march was announced by TUCOSWA President Bheki Mamba, during the procession to deliver a petition to the Manzini Police RHQ over the arrest of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) President, Colani Maseko. The activity was organised by the students union. According to TUCOSWA Secretary General (SG) Mduduzi Gina, they approached the Municipal Council of Manzini on Thursday and served it with a notice, which notified the local government about their intention to march on the streets of the city tomorrow to deliver a petition to the Manzini Police RHQ.

Gatherings

He said they served the municipality with the notice as per the Public Order Act No. 12 of 2017, in particular Section 6 of the Act, which talked about notice of gatherings. Section 6 (1) says; The convenor of a gathering shall as soon as possible, but not later than four days before the date of the intended gathering deliver by hand to the local authority written notice of the gathering, signed by the convenor, in accordance with the provisions of this section and substantially in the form set out in Schedule I. In fact, the workers union SG said they had given the municipality time which was more than the period which was stipulated in the Act. In that regard, he said they did all that was expected of them, as per the Public Order Act No. 12 of 2017.

However, he said yesterday they received a response from the municipality and it denied them permission to march on the citys streets. Gina said the council highlighted that it still upheld the directive which was issued by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Prince Simelane, where he banned local governments across the country from issuing permits for gatherings, thus it would not give them the permission to march on the streets of the city. The Municipal Council of Manzini Information Communications Officer, Mathokoza Thwala, said: It is true that the municipality denied permission for the proposed procession in the city based on a directive from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Thereafter, the workers federations secretary general said as leadership, they believed that they had met the requirements as stipulated by the law (Public Order Act No. 12 of 2017). As such, he said the march would go ahead as planned.

We believe the municipality should entertain us based on the existing Act, instead of talking about a directive which does not even amend the law, Gina said. He emphasised that it would be all systems go tomorrow and that if there would be some barriers, their lawyers would be on standby to deal with such. On another note, the SG said even though SNUS President Maseko was out on bail for his sedition and malicious damage to property charges, they would go ahead with the march to deliver their petition. He said this was because their petition would be about arbitrary arrests and alleged police brutality, which he said was still happening. Worth noting is that when announcing the march last week, the federations president invited the whole nation to join them and pleaded with those who worked in the city to bear with them during the procession. He said they would be demanding an immediate release of arrested pro-democracy leaders and commissioning of a true and honest dialogue. Another thing which he said they would do was to raise awareness to the nation that they did not recognise Sibaya as a venue for dialogue.

Policing

Meanwhile, the Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer, Inspector Nosipho Mnguni, said so far, they did not have something written down about the proposed march. Thereafter, she said as a police service, they would continue with their normal daily policing duties even tomorrow. She said she would not comment much on an activity which they did not know. It is worth noting that on October 28, 2021, TUCOSWA had planned a nationwide protest march, which was aimed at delivering petitions to different government ministries on social and political matters. However, the marches, which were supposed to be held in cities and towns in the four regions of the country, were called off on the day of the demonstration. This was due to various reasons, including poor attendance and alleged intimidation by members of the State security organs.
Laois County Council management and councillors have paid tribute to a retired IT worker who died suddenly a month ago.

Described as "an inventor' and a "great member of the community, Denis Lowry from Timahoe died on December 29.

Cllr Paschal McEvoy from Timahoe led tributes.

"He was a great member of the community, from a highly respected family. He was a member of staff here for many many years. Unfortunately a young man in the full of his health who died suddenly. Speaking on behalf of the people of Timahoe, he was very highly respected and an absolute gentleman. I offer sympathies to his wife and three daughters, his brother and sisters," he said.

Cllr John King also paid tribute.

"I got very friendly with Denis, he was an inventor. He showed me a water unit he designed for taking water out of a river. As a friend and colleague I send sympathies to his family," he said.

Cllr Willie Aird said that Mr Lowry was farming fulltime before he went back to further education to retrain in Information Technology.

"I always found him very helpful and very friendly. It's an awful time he was such a young man. My deepest sympathy," he said.

He also offered sympathies to the White family from Portlaoise on the death of Frank White from Newpark, who he noted was a good choir member. All also sympathised with staff member PJ Kelly on the death of his mother Christina from Stradbally.

The CEO also offered sympathies to the Lowry and Kelly families.

"The bereavements in the Kelly and Lowry family have hit the staff of this county council quite hard. Denis was a former colleague and enduring friend to many people who work in this building. We want to convey our sincere sympathies to the extended Kelly and Lowry families," John Mulholland said.

A minute's silence was observed ahead of the December/January meeting of Laois County Council.
Laois Offaly based Minister of State Pippa says the Government's new retrofit plan is 'wonderful news' for Laois and other counties in the Midlands as it will cut bills and create jobs.

In a statement, Minister Pippa Hackett said she warmly welcomed the Governments announcement of a package of supports which she claimed would make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades, for warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills.

She said the measures address barriers to undertaking energy upgrades (retrofits) reported by homeowners and those working in the industry. She added that they also reflect the step-change needed  in pace and scale of delivery  to achieve the Government target of 500,000 home energy upgrades, to B2 Building Energy Rating (BER) standard, by 2030.

Minister Hackett pointed out that the changes represent an important step in delivery of the National Retrofit Plan, which identifies a range of measures aimed at driving demand for retrofit, expanding the size and capacity of the supply chain, as well as making retrofits more affordable.

This is wonderful news for the Midlands. Many of our social homes are already retrofitted because of our special status in transitioning away from fossil fuels, so we have seen the benefit of such work, and now, todays announcements opens the retrofitting option to many more homeowners.

"The size of the grants will put the work within reach of many lower-income families, with credit unions expected to offer loans for the homeowners contribution. Its a huge investment in cutting our heating bills and reducing our dependency on fossil fuels which people have been calling on the Government to deliver. Now we are.

"This development will also create new jobs for skilled tradesmen. That represents another opportunity for this area, given that we already have a Centre of Excellence for retrofitting training right here in the Laois-Offaly ETB, said the Senator.

The Minister outlined the key measures as follows:

A new National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme providing increased grant levels of up to 50% of the cost of a typical deep retrofit to a B2 BER standard (up from 30%-35% grants currently)

One Stop Shops to offer a hassle-free, start-to-finish project management service, including access to financing, for home energy upgrades

A significant increase in the number of free energy upgrades for those at risk of energy poverty (400 per month  up from an average of 177 per month in 2021)

A special enhanced grant rate, equivalent to 80% of the typical cost, for attic and cavity wall insulation for all households, to urgently reduce energy use as part of the Governments response to current exceptionally high energy prices

An Exchequer investment of 8 billion to 2030 will enable the supply chain to scale up, creating thousands of high quality jobs and delivering on this critical national objective

The Schemes will be administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The increased grant supports and the significant ramping up of free energy upgrades for those at risk of energy poverty is supported by ring-fenced funds from the carbon tax.

She also outlined what she said are the main features of the Government's announcement on February 8:

New Home Energy Upgrade Scheme  to transform your home

Increased grant rates and supports for step-by-step home upgrades

Free home energy upgrade: Protecting people at most risk of energy poverty

Grants, equivalent to 80% of the typical cost, for attic and cavity wall insulation

Community schemes: Improving buildings across the country

Long-term funding commitment: Providing certainty for the home energy upgrade sector

National climate action goals

Speaking at the launch of the new National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme, the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin T.D., said: Today, the Government is committing to support people in making their homes warmer and less expensive to heat, while also tackling our climate change crisis. The Irish people responded collectively, and with a sense of purpose, to the pandemic by helping protect the most vulnerable in our society. The climate crisis is just as critical for our children and future generations, as well as people at risk of fuel poverty now. This Governments commitment to reaching our climate ambitions is clear, and today is another step along that journey.

The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D., said: This scheme will create thousands of jobs in every county in the country making homes warmer, more comfortable and healthier. Im glad to see the move towards a much more streamlined, customer focused model, with the One Stop Shops making it much easier for people to see what they need to do and how they can get funding. The long term commitment of Government funding and our investment in apprenticeships and skills training will allow the industry to build capacity, as well as all other aspects of the supply chain.

The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan T.D., said: The urgent nature of the climate crisis and the energy price crisis means that we must act to reduce our energy use and to reduce the cost of heating our homes. The unprecedent commitment from the Government, and indeed all politicians in Ireland, to focus on improving our homes as a centre-piece of climate action is demonstrated here today. We have a 30-year task of transforming our homes. Todays launch is the one of the key steps we need to take to insulate ourselves from international price volatility and the geopolitics of international energy markets.

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Chief Executive Officer, William Walsh said: SEAI, through Government funding, has already supported 450,000 home energy upgrades. Todays announcement by the Government demonstrates its commitment to assisting homeowners by making home energy upgrades more accessible and affordable. Through these new measures we look forward to supporting homeowners to achieve a warmer, cosier home, with lower energy bills, while also helping to achieve Irelands ambitious climate targets.
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Nowadays, it seems like young people are growing up even faster than before, and are becoming more and more environmentally conscious.

Kill village native Lorna Anne Tierney is such an example  according to her, she went from a "regular fast fashion shopping teen" to setting up The Earthy Marketplace (TEM).

Initially launched on November 16 last year, Lorna Anne said that TEM is a "first-of-its-kind" venture: "It is an all-Ireland resource hub for conscious consumerism: its launch was supported and shared by many prominent conscious influencers such as The Useless Project, Climate Love Ireland, Veghuns and Veganlife.ie."

As for some of the local businesses it works with, Lorna Anne said that TEM closely collaborates with Neon Beings for vintage clothing, along with the zero-waste stores Refillz and Unpacked.

She has been proactive for the environment in many ways over the past several years, and set up a page on Instagram called Earthy Cailini with a friend at the beginning of January 2020.

Lorna Anne Tierney

"I have always been keen to highlight and promote small sustainable and ethical businesses on Earthy Cailini but even more so since the beginning of the pandemic," Lorna Anne explained.

Speaking on what made her more environmentally conscious, Lorna Anne said that she became interested in environmentalism after watching the documentary Cowspiracy: "Now, all these years later I can say it goes beyond a passion, its a duty.

"People like me have everything we need and more: the life we live now would have been unimaginable just one or two generations ago.

"We are told we can have everything and be anything we want in life and more; we are the generation of more, but we need to be the generation of less: far less," she added.

Lorna Anne is also a proud vegan: discussing her lifestyle, she said: "At its core veganism is about kindness and compassion, not only towards animals but humans as well."

She added that she thinks stigmatisation "only helps to perpetuate a negative narrative" about vegans, who she says are "a diverse group of people with a general drive to try to make this world a better place and I think that is something to be wary of."

"For me personally, I believe you can only meet a person where they are: I believe in education and that knowledge is power and when someone is given both sides of a story, we can then make a conscious decision based on how we feel about the situation."

Lorna Anne also confirmed that there are already plans in place to expand TEM.

She elaborated: "We have just recently announced our plans to expand our community to include conscious/environmental NGOs, charities and non-profit organisations across Ireland."

Lastly, Lorna Anne said she wanted to draw attention to an initiative known as the Tree Tally: "At TEM, we believe in giving back to nature directly; we also believe that to begin to tackle the biodiversity crisis and climate change, we need to start thinking differently and collectively: which is why every month, with the help of our friends over at tree-planting initiative Reforest Nation, we have decided to ensure that a percentage of our service fee goes towards planting native Irish trees every month.

"This will contribute not only towards offsetting the carbon footprint of TEM's community, but it will also aid biodiversity and help to reforest and re-wild Ireland," Lorna Anne concluded.

Further information about TEM can be found at www.theearthymarketplace.com.
A Senator has said that 180 cost rental homes are expected to be secured for South Kildare this year.

Fianna Fail (FF) Senator Fiona OLoughlin said: "I am delighted that assurances have been secured as a result of my lobbying that South Kildare will be a target area for cost rental homes in 2022."

"I have been liaising with Minister Darragh OBrien and his officials and calling for our community to be included within the FF parliamentary party for some time now: cost rental is an obvious solution for us in Kildare South.

She continued: "Cost rental is a new form of tenure in Ireland where tenants will pay rent that covers the costs of delivering, managing, and maintaining the homes only... these homes are targeted to middle income households with a reduction of at least 25% on open market rental values.

"Cost rental offers you a long-term, secure tenancy that is more affordable for families.

The Newbridge native went on to say that affordability is an issue for those who live in Kildare South, and further said that it is her belief that cost rental "would be a good fit" for those that live there.

Senator Fiona OLoughlin, Fianna Fail

"It is expected that 90 cost rental homes will be delivered in The Paddocks, 50 homes in Belin Woods in Newbridge and 40 homes in Walkers Gate in Kildare Town will be delivered this year.

"This is great news, and something I am so proud to have been able to deliver for my community."

Senator O' Loughlin said that while exact details of how to apply and when they will come on stream are not fully available at this early stage, the assurance that they will go ahead with a target completion date of 2022 has been secured: "Applications will be managed through a third party, and to qualify you have to earn under 53,000 and not be receiving social housing supports.

"Successful applicants will be decided by lottery, and this allows for all eligible parties to be assessed equally and fairly; the initial tenancy term is 6 years, with an option for a longer-term extension."

Senator O' Loughlin added: "It has always been my ambition to see a project such as Barnhall Meadows in Leixlip being delivered in South Kildare.

"Offering long term forever homes, reducing the cost on the squeezed middle and offering solutions to local people.

"I am pleased to see that South Kildare will benefit and I will continue to work closely with Minister OBrien to deliver as soon as possible," she concluded.
A Senator paid tribute to a Kildare woman who passed away just over five years ago.

Maxine Maguire died by suicide on February 7, 2017 at 25 years of age.

Fianna Fail Senator Fiona O' Loughlin said that the "life and death of Maxine Maguire mattered" while speaking to those in attendance in the Seanad today during Order of Business.

The late Maxine Maguire

The Newbridge representative also said that she taught Maxine in school when she was in Junior Infants, and emphasised the importance of early intervention and mental health treatment: "Her family pointed out that support and treatment for Maxine was better for her physical health, rather than her mental health."

"We have to be better as a nation when it comes to mental health," she added.

Fianna Fail Senator Fiona O' Loughlin (File Pic)

If you have been negatively affected by this article, you can find resources to help you by emailing Samaritans Ireland at jo@samaritans.ie or ring 116 123.

You can also visit pieta.ie or call its Freephone at 1800 247 247.
The number of Kildare people receiving the PUP has fallen to 2,971, according to the latest figures.

As hospitality industry returns to work and arts events are resuming, the tally has fallen by around 300 in the last week alone.

PUP numbers peaked during the first lockdown in May 2020 when 26,896 people were claiming the financial support.

This week, the Department of Social Protection issued 16.96 million in PUP amounts to 67,434 people across Ireland.

This represents a decrease of 7,979 on the number of people in receipt of the payment last week.

In addition, a further 4,881 people, who are receiving payment today, closed their PUP claim between 31st January and 6th February, 2022.

These figures are in addition to the 162,578 people who were on the Live Register at the end of January.

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said:

Without doubt, the PUP has acted as a vital support since the onset of this Pandemic, having cushioned the incomes of hundreds of thousands of workers.

In fact, over 9.1 billion has been paid out in PUP payments since the support was introduced.

With the economy now fully re-open, it is welcome to see the number of people receiving the PUP fall over the past seven days, with further decreases expected in the weeks to come.

In the meantime, we will continue to roll-out the suite of supports under the Governments Pathways to Work Strategy, which will be key as we embark on our recovery from Covid-19.

Having re-opened for workers who had been impacted by the restrictions in early December, PUP closed for new applications on 22nd January 2022 in line with the Government decision to lift these restrictions.

The next phase in the process of transitioning people from PUP onto standard jobseeker terms, which was due to commence at the end of January was deferred for a period of 4 weeks. It is intended that PUP will be fully closed by the end of March. The Department will contact all PUP recipients in the coming days to explain how the transition process affects them and the steps they may need to take to ensure a smooth transition.
A total of 180 new homes with reduced rents will be delivered for Newbridge and Kildare town in 2022, Government Senator Fiona OLoughlin has announced.

The properties will be part of the new Cost Rental scheme which is aimed at middle income households who will get a 25% reduction on rent prices in the area.

Senator OLoughlin said 140 homes will be delivered in Newbridge  90 at The Paddocks off Station Road and 50 properties in Belin Woods off the Athgarvan Road.

In Kildare town, there will also be 40 homes in Walkers Gate, off the Green Road.

Senator OLoughlin said she has been working closely with Housing Minister Darragh OBrien on delivering more housing for South Kildare.

Applications will be managed through a third party, and to qualify you have to earn under 53,000 and not be receiving social housing supports.



Successful applicants will be decided by lottery, and this allows for all eligible parties to be assessed equally and fairly.

The initial tenancy term is six years, with an option for a longer-term extension.

Senator OLoughlin added that the scheme is offering long term forever homes, reducing the cost on the squeezed middle and offering solutions to local people.

I am pleased to see that South Kildare will benefit and I will continue to work closely with Minister OBrien to deliver as soon as possible.

Senator OLoughlin said she is contacted day in and day out by concerned constituents who are struggling to find appropriate accommodation to rent or to buy, or by people who are living in uncertain rental circumstances.

More affordable for families

The Fianna Fail politician concluded: Cost rental offers you a long-term, secure tenancy that is more affordable for families.

Affordability is an issue for us in Kildare South, and I believe cost rental would be a good fit for us here.
There are 28,000 public lights standing in County Kildare and according to Kildare County Council the current fault rate  is just over 2%.

KCC has a 2.9m budget for maintenance and energy costs as well as new installations.

Information was sought by Cllr Angela Feeney who said well lit spaces make us feel safe.

The Labour politician said she sought information about lighting following the recent tragic and sad event in Tullamore which really hit a collective nerve.

She said she has been inundated with calls from many constituents, mostly women and mothers fearful for themselves or their daughters and sons walking from the train, out for a walk or a jog.

Read more Kildare news

A common theme that comes up is the call for improved public lighting in our public areas. If our open spaces are to be truly welcoming, and to feel safe for everyone using them, you know they have to be sufficiently well lit and we see how they thrive when people feel safe using them.

Cllr Feeney added: Lighting is key to this feeling of safety and can help reduce crime and, most importantly, the fear of crime. So, along with physical changes to these spaces to make them safer, lighting can do a lot to alleviate the fear of crime, and to encourage greater use and get people out.

She pointed out that a recent report commissioned by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, brings to life the experiences of women in Ireland through data and real-life stories, highlighting the challenges women face when it comes to mobility.

The research found that fears around using sustainable transport modes were limiting womens choices and that street lighting and improved visibility is key.

Cllr Feeney also questioned why it takes up to 28 days to have a light repaired in County Kildare.

She asked if thai is an acceptable time scale and if it could be done facter.

KCC official Evelyn Wrights said that the waiting time will be reduced as lights are repaired.

Ms Wright further reported that as housing estates are taken in charge the number of lights and energy costs continues to grow and this has led to a reduction in the number of new projects which can be progressed.

Maintenance and repair for all lighting is the responsibility of Enerveo Ireland, formerly SSE Airtricity, following a public tendering process in 2018.

A KCC meeting on January 31 was told that some issues can affect the 28 day time period such as ESB attendance at the site, underground cable damage, access issues and pole replacement.

Public lighting faults are identified through night patrols carried out by maintenance contractors or faults reported by the public.

KCC is participating in a project to reduce energy consumption by adopting LED technology and this will both save money and help the council and contribute to energy efficient targets.

Its estimated that when the project is completed, Kildare will reduce its Co2 Emissions to 2,300 tonnes a year at 60% efficiency.
Additional bed units are needed as soon as possible at St Vincent's Hospital (SVH)  that's according to one Kildare Senator.

Labour Party Senator Mark Wall made the comments while speaking in the Seanad today.

Senator Wall said that SVH acts as one of the biggest employers of in Athy.

He also pointed to the fact that, in 2019, a design team was assigned to SVH, and "promised a 50 bed unit, costing around 9.3 million."

"I would ask the Minister to confirm that this plan will proceed, and in the quickest possible timeframe," Senator Wall added.

In response to the Athy representative, Minister of State for Public Health, Well Being and National Drugs Strategy, Frank Feighan TD, said that he could confirm that the plans will be completed in two phases; with the 50 bed unit to be implemented as part of the first phase.

Senator Mark Wall, Labour Party

He too shared his concerns with Senator Wall over the hospital's infrastructure, saying: "Many hospitals (in Ireland) are less than ideal in a modern context."

The Fine Gael Minister also said that phase 2 would include plans for two 10-bed dementia units at SVH.

"Planning permission should be due by Q1 of this year, although this will be subject to various approval stages," he explained.

Senator Wall replied that while he was pleased to hear the confirmation, he told Minister Feighan that the "people of Athy and its surrounding areas, and in particular staff at the SVH, want to know is that these plans will proceed."

Following this, Minister Feighan reassured Senator Wall that the planning permission would be agreed upon by Q1 2022.

Yesterday, Senator Mark Wall criticised both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in their approach to the cost of living, referring to the two parties as being "out-of-touch" with the public.
SITEKI  Security is on high alert!

Subsequent to the circulating information about the threats to bomb aircraft at the King Mswati III International Airport, National Commissioner (NATCOM) of Police William Dlamini has disclosed that those who would be behind that mission should know that they would be taking a high risk as the police were ready and dangerously armed to ensure safety. A contigent of police officers from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU), as well as members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF), have been added to the existing security personnel based at the international airport. This follows a circulating video clip about threats to burn certain places around the country, including the international airport.

Threats

The commissioner mentioned that the threats and circulating video had reached their attention and they were not taking them lightly. He said they had already beefed up security measures to ensure the safety of infrastructure. The police boss mentioned that the police would be armed with dangerous weapons and warned that those behind that mission would be putting their lives at risk. The NATCOM said those perpetuating such violence should know that they would be injured and advised that people should stop the threats as the police were taking them seriously. He said the threats were being analysed to ascertain where they came from and who was behind them. The police chief added that the police condemned the threats and warned the nation to stay away from involving themselves in such activities. He made it known that the threats had reached their attention and that there were people who were threatening to do harm to government and national structures at various places across the country.

Dlamini emphasised that security measures had been tightened to ensure that property was protected. We want to warn them that the targeted places have the element of danger and taking that risk to bomb those places and structures would be dangerous as the security forces would be armed with weapons and coming near those structures and properties would be doing so at their own risk, the NATCOM said. A source at the international airport also confirmed that security had been beefed up. However, he could not give figures as he stated that this bordered on national security.

According to the highly impeccable source based at the airport, government had since reinforced security by increasing the number of army personnel and police officers from OSSU to ensure safety of property, including aircraft. Just recently, last Thursday to be precise, the country woke up to news of two arson attacks. Movable property belonging to a sub-contractor to Inyatsi Construction at Hhelehhele area was reduced to ashes by a fire that was started by unknown people. Also, vehicles parked at a garage at the SACCRO building were also torched. The value of the burnt items in both incidents was estimated to be about E2.2 million as confirmed by the police at the time. The source confided that the beefing up of security was necessitated by the circulating information on social media platforms to the effect that immovable and movable properties linked with royalty should be torched.

Adding, the source mentioned that the countrys security forces bosses acted swiftly and increased the numbers of police officers and soldiers deployed at the airport among other structures in the country. This is highly classified information and the reinforcement of the police and soldiers at the King Mswati III (KMIII) International Airport has been primarily done for safety reasons to protect property and the aircraft that land there. It is a security threat to the country to issue such a call for the destruction of immovable and movable properties linked with royalty, said the highly placed source. The source added that government was also conducting intelligence investigations on this subject matter. Honestly, after the issuance of threats and being circulated on social media, government engaged a high gear in attending to them as well as moving fast to bring those behind them behind bars. Security in the country is now on high alert, concluded the source.

Classified

Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) Public Relations Officer (PRO) Tengetile Khumalo said unfortunately operations and redeployment at the army was treated as classified information. Your questionnaire is highly appreciated. Unfortunately, operations and redeployment at the UEDF is classified information. It is not for public consumption, she briefly said. Worth mentioning was that police officers from OSSU and soldiers were deployed in towns and industrial areas, particularly Matsapha and Mbabane, during the June-July unrest that saw property being burnt and shops being looted as well as the shooting of civilians. It is also important to note that the armed forces were also deployed in schools during protests to calm the volatile situation after pupils started burning tyres and vandalising property, including school furniture and the newly-erected hand-washing stations. Meanwhile, two houses belonging to Sihle Dlamini. Dlamini is the Kings Interpreter and Estate Manager at the Kings Office. Another house belonging to a brother to Inkhosikati Lagija was also petrol-bombed.
The Irish Defence Forces, Oglaigh na hEireann will commemorate the centenary of the handover of Finner Camp, in Donegal and Longford Barrack from British to Irish military forces with a series of events.

Events will be held between Finner Camp and the neighbouring town of Bundoran next Monday, February 14.

A special ceremony is being held in the grounds of the former Sean Connolly Barracks Longford on the evening of Thursday, 17 February to mark the centenary of the handover of the barracks to the IRA. The event is being organised by Longford County Library, Heritage and Archive Services as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.

At Finner Camp, proceedings will be led by Lt Col Stephen Morgan, the Officer Commanding 28 Infantry Battalion, the Unit of the Irish Army currently based at Finner Camp.

The days events will begin with a memorial mass in the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Bundoran at 11am.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the mass, which will also be broadcast via the Magh Ene Parish webcam for those unable to be present.

The address for this live stream is www.magheneparish.ie/livestream

This will be followed by a military parade through Bundoran, commencing at 12.30pm from the roundabout on Church Road, proceeding through Main Street and concluding at Sea Road junction at the East End of the town. This will be followed by an invite only ceremonial event in Finner Camp to mark the transfer of authority to Irish Forces, which will incorporate the raising of the National Flag and the laying of the wreath to commemorate all those from the North West of Ireland who died in military service to the State.

Guests will also invited to experience interactive military history and capability display combining an exhibition of militaria from the Irish revolutionary era alongside a selection of the equipment and capabilities of the contemporary Irish Defence Forces.

In Longford, the ceremony which takes place at 5pm on February 17, will begin with an ecumenical prayer service in memory of all who served in the barracks. It will also include a brief talk with local historian Hugh Farrell on the handover. Members of the Peter Keenan Branch of the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel will participate and Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Mullins, from the Transport School in The Curragh, will represent the Defence Forces. Finally, a plaque will be unveiled at the entrance of the barracks to mark the occasion.
THE DEPARTMENT of Education have approved the construction of a new 650 pupil school in Limerick.

The new state of the art school for Ardscoil Mhuire in Corbally will be built on a greenfield site adjacent to the current school building.

Minister for Education Norma Foley has given initial approval for construction of the building and it is hoped that work on the design stage can now begin.

Ardscoil Mhuire is an all-girls voluntary Catholic secondary school under the trusteeship of CEIST.

Plans for the school have not been revealed yet however the new building will include two special education classrooms.

Willie O'Dea TD welcomed the news and said the school has made huge progress under Principal Brid Herbert.

He said: "The present school building was completed in 1975, with a major extension opened in 1994.

"The new school will provide a state of the art learning environment and solidify the presence of Ardscoil Mhuire in Corbally and Limerick for many decades to come."

Kieran ODonnell TD also commended the work of the school staff and said he is looking forward to working with them.

He said: "It is great to see Ardscoil Mhuire, who has been providing secondary education here in Limerick for decades being approved for such a much needed new-state-of-the art school.

I wish to commend the principal, Brid Herbert, board of Management, pupils and parents at Ardscoil Mhuire, Corbally on their work in advancing this school building project and look forward to working with them on progressing same."
AN Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has revealed there has been some bureaucratic resistance against Limericks plan for a new executive mayor.

However, the Fine Gael leader expects legislation to back the project will come to the Dail before the summer recess.

Crucially though, no election date has yet been confirmed, despite it being almost three years since Limerick backed the plan in a plebiscite on the same day as the 2019 local election.

Its intended it will be in the house well before the summer and hopefully enacted by then, he told the Dail in answer to a question from local TD Maurice Quinlivan, But there's no election date yet because legislation has to be enacted first. There is some bureaucratic resistance within certain departments - not mine - when it comes to the delegation of functions and evolution of function.

Mr Varadkar added: It'll never go as far as some people want it to, but it should go far.

Mr Quinlivan had raised concerns regarding the progress for the executive mayor  and expressed concerns over what he described as reported resistance to the project from government.

It suggests to me that there may be an effort by some ministers and their departments to limit the proposed powers of a future democratically elected mayor in Limerick, he said.

Any failure to devolve powers would be an utter betrayal of what the Limerick people voted for in 2019. The people expect the mayor to be more than a ribbon cutter, and any chance to dilute or withhold powers would be a significant problem for us. It is essential that any attempts to withhold powers to from an elected Mayor are resisted. We must deliver proper powers to ensure that the new mayoral position is effective, added Limericks polltopper.

"I have no doubt that, with the correct powers, the directly elected mayoral position has the potential to be transformative and will be replicated in other cities across the state, he concluded.

The voters of Limerick backed the proposals for a new executive mayor with far reaching powers back in May 2019.

Similar votes held in Waterford and Cork were rejected by their local electorates.
BENGALURU : Foreign investors are fussing over how SpiceJet is being run, with BlackRock Inc., the worlds biggest money manager, even pointing to substantial accounting irregularities", without specifying details, in the low-fare airline.

BlackRock, the New York-based asset manager that manages $10.01 trillion in assets, criticized the state of affairs at the airline as it exercised its voting rights when SpiceJet put two resolutions before its investors.

On 30 December, SpiceJet sought shareholders approval on the reappointment of Shiwani Singh as director and to adopt the financial statements. Singh is the wife of SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh.

Vote against audit committee member (Shiwani Singh) because of substantial accounting irregularities for which we believe the audit committee bears some responsibility," BlackRock said as it voted against the resolution, documents reviewed by Mint showed. BlackRock also said it voted against the resolution of adopting financial statements because of serious qualifications by auditors".

A little over half of the public institutions voted against Shiwani Singhs reappointment, while 46.76% of large investors voted against accepting the financial statements for the year to March 2021. However, both resolutions were approved as Ajay Singh and his family own 59.46% of the airline and retail shareholders own a third. Institutional investors, including foreign investors and mutual funds, own 1.96%. Three other foreign investorsLegal & General Investment Management (LGIM), American Century Investments and State Street Global Advisorsalso voted against the two resolutions, the documents showed. LGIM said it voted against adopting financial statements because the auditors expressed concerns regarding the companys accounts" while it was unhappy with Singh being part of both the composition of audit and nomination and remuneration panels.

Globally, foreign investors like BlackRock have started wielding their vast shareholder voting power as they look to nudge managements of companies to comply with best corporate governance practices.

Most institutional shareholders have sold much of their shares in the past two years as the airline industry went through a crisis because of the pandemic. They cut holdings from 12% at the end of December 2019 to less than 2% at the end of the previous quarter. During the same time, retail shareholders ownership rose from 22.48% to 33.55%.

Mint cannot independently ascertain the accounting irregularities that BlackRock has referred to. An email sent to BlackRock seeking comment went unanswered. LGIM, American Century Investments and State Street Global Advisors did not respond to a questionnaire sent by Mint.

SpiceJets statutory auditor, Walker Chandiok and Co., highlighted that the airline recognized compensation from aircraft-maker Boeing for losses incurred because of the grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft as other income, before it received funds from the aircraft maker.

In November, SpiceJet said it had settled with Boeing on outstanding claims related to the grounding of the 737 MAX aircraft. The airline didnt disclose the details of the agreement.

The management of the company has recognized other income of 5,604.48 million ( 560.45 crore) for the year ended 31 March 2021 ( 6,718.04 million for the year ended 31 March 2020) and related foreign exchange loss on restatement of 270.61 million for the year to March 2021 for the amount charged to Boeing for reimbursement of expenses incurred on Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which has been grounded since March 2019," wrote Neeraj Goel, partner at Walker Chandiok and Co.

In a response to BlackRocks observation, a spokesperson for SpiceJet said the reasons of the voting by the foreign portfolio investors are best known to them as they have never sought any clarification from the company.

In fact, these investors have not even attended the annual general meeting wherein the company responded to various queries of investors," the spokesperson said, adding that the auditors have not highlighted any financial irregularities.

There is only one qualification that has been mentioned by the auditors and the same is on account of difference in the opinion between the views of the management and the auditors regarding the manner and timing in which the compensation from the manufacturer of grounded 737 MAX aircraft is to be accounted. These are not financial irregularities and the same has been disclosed by the company in all transparency with full disclosures at all relevant times. In fact, the view of the management on the said qualification was disclosed and filed with BSE on 30 June 2021 and the same is reproduced below for your reference:

The management always believed that it will be able to recover the compensation from the aircraft manufacturer, which was the basis for the management to recognize the amounts in the manner as reflected in its financial statements quarter on quarter. The same is now manifested from the settlement which the company entered with Boeing which was announced by the company on 17 November 2021. Since the company has now entered into settlement agreement with Boeing, the above said audit qualification will be removed/altered upon the publication of the financial results for quarter ended 31 December 2021."

In any event, the resolutions put to vote at the AGM held on 30 December were passed by the majority shareholders voting over 98% in favour, as per the provisions of the Companies Act and the majority of funds voted in favour of both these resolutions."
Amid French assertions, the Kremlin said on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin has not promised Emmanuel Macron that Moscow would not carry out new military initiatives around Ukraine for now.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia and France had not yet been able to strike a deal on de-escalating tensions around Ukraine but said it was needed and that the meeting had provided the basis for further work on that front.

This comes after a French official said Putin had made the pledge of de-escalation during long talks in Moscow on Monday evening with Macron.

According to the same French official, Putin had also agreed that troops taking part in a military exercise on Belarusian territory near Ukraine's borders will be pulled back once those war games are over on 20 February.

He said troops would return to their bases in Russia after the drills, without giving a precise date, but pointed out that nobody had ever said the forces would stay in Belarus.

Following this, Macron said he had a substantial, deep" discussion with Putin, with a focus on conditions that could help de-escalation.

We tried to build converging elements," he said. The upcoming days will be crucial and deep discussions together will be needed." He added that its Europes duty to find a solution to try to rebuild good-neighbourly ties with Russia.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to defuse the tensions around Ukraine continued on Tuesday with the French leader reaching Kyiv the day after hours of talks with the Russian leader.

Macron is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as fears of a possible Russian invasion mount.

Moscow has massed over 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders but insists it has no plans to attack Ukraine. The Kremlin has demanded guarantees from the West that NATO will not accept Ukraine and other former Soviet nations as members, halt weapon deployments there and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe  demands the US and NATO reject as nonstarters.

Western leaders in recent weeks have engaged in high-level diplomacy in the hope of de-escalating the tensions and preventing an attack.




Troy is an ancient city and archaeological site in modern-day Turkey, but is also famously the setting for the legendary Trojan War in Homer's epic poems the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey."

In legend, the city of Troy was besieged for 10 years and eventually conquered by a Greek army led by King Agamemnon. This "Trojan War erupted because Helen, a queen from Sparta , was abducted by Paris, the son of Troy's King Priam, according to Homer's epic poem "Iliad." Throughout the "Iliad," the gods constantly intervene in support of characters on both sides of the conflict.

Troy also refers to a real ancient city, also known as Hisarlik, located on the northwest coast of Turkey, which has been identified by many as the legendary Troy featured in Homer's poems." Whether the Trojan War actually took place, and whether the site in northwest Turkey is the same Troy, are matters of debate.

The idea that Hisarlik is the real-life location of the city portrayed by Homer goes back at least 2,700 years, when the ancient Greeks were colonizing the west coast of what is now Turkey. In the 19th century, the idea again came to popular attention when Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman and early archaeologist, conducted a series of excavations at Hisarlik and discovered treasures he claimed belonged to King Priam.

The legend of Troy and the Trojan horse

The Trojan War is thought to have taken place near the end of the Bronze Age, around or before 1200 B.C. At that time, a Greek civilization we call the Mycenaean was collapsing . The Mycenaens built great palaces and developed a system of writing, and their culture dominated the Greek world for about 300 years before their decline. In the "Iliad," the Greek forces are led by Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae.

The earliest accounts of this war come from Homer, a Greek author who lived around the eighth century B.C.  several centuries after the war supposedly took place. Homer's works were told through oral stories and do not appear to have been written down until even later, likely during the sixth century B.C.

Homer's "Iliad" is set in the 10th year of the Greeks' siege of Troy and tells of a series of events that appear to take place over a few weeks. The story makes clear that the siege had taken its toll on the Greek force sent to recover Helen. The "timbers of our ships have rotted away and the cables are broken and far away are our wives and our young children," the poem says (translation by Richmond Lattimore).

By this point, the war had essentially become a stalemate, with the Greeks unable to take the city and the Trojans unable to drive the invading force into the sea. We "sons of the Achaians [Greeks] outnumber the Trojans  those who live in the city; but there are companions from other cities in their numbers, wielders of the spear to help them," the "Iliad" says (translation by Eric Robinson).

A number of key events happen in the poem, including a duel between the Trojan Prince Paris and Menelaos (or Menelaus), the king of Sparta and husband of Helen. The winner is supposed to receive Helen as a prize, ending the war. However, the gods intervene to break up the duel before it is finished, and the war continues.

Another important duel occurs near the end of the poem between Achilleus (or Achilles) and a great Trojan warrior named Hektor (or Hector). The Trojan knows that he's no match for the Greek warrior and initially runs three laps around Troy, with Achilleus chasing him. Finally, the gods force him to face the Greek warrior, and Hektor is killed.

The Trojan horse, the subterfuge that the Greeks used to enter the city of Troy is shown in this 19th-century engraving. (Image credit: Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

Contrary to popular belief, the "Iliad" does not end with the destruction of Troy but with a temporary truce, after which the fighting presumably continues. Another Homeric epic poem called the "Odyssey" is set after the destruction of the city and features the Greek hero Odysseus trying to get home. That poem briefly references how the Greeks took Troy using the famous "Trojan Horse." The Greeks left a gift to the Trojans "of a giant wooden horse as an offering to the goddess Athena" that concealed Greek warriors within, while the "Greek army, encamped outside the city walls, made as if to sail home," Armand D'angour, professor of Classics at Oxford University, wrote in a BBC article in 2014. The Trojans took the offering into the city, and the Greeks emerged from the horse and attacked the unsuspecting Trojans.

"What a thing was this, too, which that mighty man wrought and endured in the carven horse, wherein all we chiefs of the Argives were sitting, bearing to the Trojans death and fate!" reads part of the poem (Translation by A.T. Murray through Perseus Digital Library).

Like the "Iliad," the "Odyssey" was also probably not written down until sometime after the death of Homer. One of the earliest surviving copies of the "Odyssey" is a fragment of the text that appears on a fifth century B.C. pottery shard found at Olbia in modern-day Ukraine.

The city's origin

The site of Hisarlik, in northwest Turkey, has been identified as the site of the legendary Troy since ancient times. Archaeological research shows that it was inhabited for almost 4,000 years, starting around 3500 B.C. The city was constantly changing, and the settlement was destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly: After one city was destroyed, a new city would be built on top of it, creating a human-made mound called a "tell."

"There is no one single Troy; there are at least 10, lying in layers on top of each other," Gert Jan van Wijngaarden, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, wrote in a chapter of the book "Troy: City, Homer and Turkey" (W Books, 2013).

Van Wijngaarden noted that archaeologists have had to dig deep to find remains of the first settlement, and from what they can tell it was a "small city surrounded by a defensive wall of unworked stone." Outside the largest gate was a stone with an image of a face  perhaps a deity welcoming visitors to the city.

Troy took off in the period after 2550 B.C. The city "was considerably enlarged and furnished with a massive defensive wall made of cut blocks of stone and rectangular clay bricks," van Wijngaarden wrote. He noted that the settlement's citadel featured houses of the "megaron" type, which contained "an elongated room with a hearth and open forecourt."

When Heinrich Schliemann excavated this level of Troy in 1873, he discovered a cache of treasure, which he believed belonged to King Priam. "The collection of weapons, gold, silver, electrum, copper and bronze vessels, gold jewellery, including thousands of gold rings, and a range of other objects made of precious materials apparently came to light close to the outer side of the city wall near the building which Schliemann designated as the royal palace," Trevor Bryce, a researcher at the University of Queensland in Australia, wrote in his book " The Trojans and their Neighbours " (Routledge, 2006).

Some researchers have speculated that these treasures were not found all in one hoard but were rather precious objects from across the site, which Schliemann gathered over a number of weeks. While Schliemann believed he had found Priam's treasures, it became clear in the following decades that these artifacts date back more than 4,000 years  a millennium too early for Priam.

Homer's Troy?

Two other phases, or layers, of Troy that date between roughly 1700 B.C. and 1190 B.C. may be the city that featured in Homer's works. Bryce noted that during this period the city's defenses were formidable.

"The walls, surmounted by mud-brick breastworks, once reached a height of nine meters (30 feet). Several watchtowers were built into these walls, the most imposing of which is the northeastern bastion, which served to reinforce the citadel's defences as well as offer a commanding view over the Trojan plain," he wrote.

The exact size of the city is disputed. Archaeological work on the site shows that there was a "lower city" beyond the citadel, bringing its total size to about 30 hectares (74 acres), archaeologist Manfred Korfmann, who led excavations at the site, wrote in a study published in the book "Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic" (Blackwell Publishing, 2007).

"This Troy had a large residential area below a strongly fortified citadel. As far as we know today, the citadel was unparalleled in its region and in all of southeastern Europe," he wrote. The extent of the residential area is a topic of debate among scholars, with some arguing that Korfmann overestimated its extent.

But was this really the same city as the one depicted by Homer? While scholars have noted that the topography of Troy as told in the legend does seem to generally match that of the real-life city, a key problem with identifying it as Homer's Troy is the way the city was destroyed. Cracks in its walls suggest that it was hit by an earthquake around 1300 B.C., possibly followed by an uprising or attack. "There are also some indications of fire, and slingstones in the destruction layer (suggesting) the possibility that there might have been some fighting," van Wijngaarden wrote. "Nevertheless an earthquake appears to have caused the most damage." An interesting fact is that the city was rebuilt after its destruction by the same population groups as before, rather than by a foreign Greek force, van Wijngaarden noted.

While there is also archaeological evidence that the city was attacked in 1190 B.C., there are once again problems with the idea that it was carried out by a Greek force. By this time, Greece's Mycenaean civilization had collapsed. Additionally, archaeologists have found ceramics and bronze axes at Troy that originate from southeast Europe, suggesting that people from this area may have conquered, or otherwise moved into the city around this time. Around 1190 B.C. the Hittite Empire was in decline and may not have been able to assist Troy.

Later Troy: A venerated site

Here, the ruins of the ancient legendary city of Troy in Canakkale, Turkey. (Image credit: skaman306/Getty Images)

Troy was abandoned around 1000 B.C. but was reoccupied in the eighth century B.C., around the time Homer lived. The Greeks called the reoccupied city "Ilion."

Many scholars believe that the people who resettled Troy were Greek colonists, although there is some evidence that people who already lived in the area also settled in the reoccupied settlement. In 2014, a team of scholars published research in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology that examined amphorae at Troy dating to after 1000 B.C., and found that they were locally made rather than imported from Greece, leading the researchers to conclude that the new settlers were not exclusively from Greece.

For its first few centuries, Ilion was a modest settlement, although it later grew thanks to its association with Homer's works. The "new settlers had no doubt that the place they were preparing to occupy was the fabled setting of the Trojan War," Bryce wrote, and in later times its inhabitants took advantage of this to draw in political support and ancient tourists.

Xerxes, the Persian king (lived 519-466 B.C.), stopped to pay homage to Troy on his way to attack Greece around 480 B.C., and, most notably, Alexander the Great (356 to 323 B.C.) did the same on his way to conquer the Persian Empire, and he granted it special status within his empire.

"It is said that the city of the present Ilians was for a time a mere village, having its temple of Athena, a small and cheap temple," wrote Strabo, an ancient Greek geographer and historian who lived from 64 B.C. to A.D. 23 . When "Alexander went up there after his victory at the Granicus River he adorned the temple with votive offerings, gave the village the title of city, and ordered those in charge to improve it with buildings, and that he adjudged it free and exempt from tribute; and that later, after the overthrow of the Persians, he sent down a kindly letter to the place, promising to make a great city of it." (Translation by H.L. Jones, through Perseus Digital Library)

Troy's special status continued into the period of Roman rule, when the Romans conquered the region in 129 B.C. The Romans believed that Aeneas, one of Troy's heroes, was an ancestor of Romulus and Remus, ancient Rome's legendary founders. Troy's inhabitants took advantage of this mythology, and it became a "popular destination for pilgrims and tourists," Bryce wrote. He noted that in this phase the city became larger than at any time before, including when the Trojan War was said to have taken place.

However, during the Middle Ages, Troy fell into decline, and by the 13th century, the city had been reduced to a modest farming community.

Troy today

In the 1860s Frank Calvert carried out excavations at the site and was convinced that the site was likely Troy and his work helped persuade Heinrich Schliemann to carry larger excavations at the site starting in 1870. Schliemann dug deep into the city, most famously unearthing treasures that he incorrectly attributed to King Priam. His work greatly increased the fame of the site.

Archaeological work continued off and on over the next 150 years. As archaeological techniques were refined and new scientific tests such as radiocarbon dating  were discovered the different levels of Troy could be more accurately dated. This dating was important as it showed what levels could be associated with the Trojan war and what levels were too early. They also proved that the artifacts that Schliemann attributed to King Priam were created almost a millennium before Priam lived.

Today, Troy is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a popular attraction for tourists. Excavations continue at Troy but are now led by archaeologists from Turkey, the most recent digs being led by Rustem Aslan, a professor at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart Universitesi. The fact that work is now led by Turkish archaeologists is important as historically work was led by archaeologists from Europe or the United States. Aslan's team found that Troy may have been founded around 3500 B.C., which makes it about 600 years older than originally believed, says a report in Hurriyet Daily News .

A new museum was opened at Troy in 2018; its displays include a collection of gold jewelry that was repatriated to Turkey from the Penn Museum. The jewelry was returned after research revealed that it was taken from Troy sometime in the early-mid 20th century, C. Brian Rose, a professor of archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in an article published in 2017 in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies.

Was there a Trojan War?

German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann sketches the remains of ancient Troy. (Image credit: Bettmann / Getty Images)

The big question researchers still face is, was there ever a Trojan War?

Unfortunately, there are few written clues for scholars to go on. The only written record found at Troy that dates to before the Greek colonization in the eighth century B.C., is a seal written in a language called Luwian, which was perhaps brought to Troy from elsewhere in Turkey.

Archaeologists unearthed historical records at Hattusa, the capital city of the Hittite Empire, in modern-day Turkey in the late 19th and early centuries. The Hittite Empire thrived in the region from roughly 1750 B.C. to 1200 B.C, and Hittite records claim that Troy (which the Hittites called "Wilusa") was likely a vassal state of the empire around the time of the Trojan War, British Museum curators Lesley Fitton and Alexandra Villing wrote in a blog post.

This means that Troy may not have been an independent kingdom, something that contradicts the story told by Homer. The records do, however, mention fighting between the Hittites and people from Greece over Wilusa, the curators noted, suggesting that it's possible that this fighting could have served as a basis for the Trojan War stories.

As mentioned earlier, the archaeological evidence at Harsalik is ambiguous regarding the Trojan War: While there is evidence that Troy was attacked around the time period the stories are set in, there is no strong evidence that the city was assailed by a Greek force.

These issues leave researchers with a mystery about the truth of the Trojan War. "At one end of the spectrum of opinion is the conviction that there was indeed a war and that it was pretty much as the poet described it," Bryce wrote. "From that we pass through varying degrees of scepticism and agnosticism to the other end of the spectrum where the tradition is consigned wholly to the realm of fantasy."

Korfmann, a modern-day excavator of Hisarlik, believes that the story of the Trojan War contains some truth. "According to the current state of our knowledge, the story told in the "Iliad" most likely contains a kernel of historical truth or, to put it differently, a historical substrate," he wrote. "Any future discussions about the historicity of the Trojan War only make sense if they ask what exactly we understand this kernel or substrate to be."

Additional resources

Troy is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its entry can be read here . The site of the lost city of Tenea was discovered in Greece in 2018. Ancient historians say that the people of Tenea believed that they were descendants of Trojan prisoners taken to the city. Another recent find is a woman who died at Troy of a pregnancy related cause during the Middle Ages.

Bibliography

Bryce, Trevor "The Trojans & Their Neighbours" Routledge, 2006

Carolyn Aslan, Lisa Kealhofer and Peter Grave "The Early Iron Age at Troy Reconsidered" Oxford Journal of Archaeology 33, 3, August 2014

Gunay Uslu, Jorrit Kelder and Omer Faruk Saroglu eds., "Troy: City, Homer and Turkey" W Books, 2013

Rose, Brian C, "Beyond the UNESCO Convention: The Case of the Troy Gold in the Penn Museum" Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 5, no 1, 2017

Winkler, Martin ed., "Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic" Blackwell Publishing, 2007
Cynthia Perkins, a former teacher who is accused of numerous sex crimes with her ex-husband and disgraced sheriffs lieutenant Dennis Perkins, has requested her upcoming trial be moved out of Livingston Parish due to its extraordinary media coverage and pretrial publicity, according to court documents.

Her attorney, James Spokes, filed the motion for a change of venue Tuesday morning, less than a week before jury selection was set to begin. In court filings, Spokes said details of the case have been widely publicized by several media outlets and that finding unbiased jurors in Livingston Parish will be extremely unlikely.

Since this case became public, multiple media outlets have covered or discussed the charges against the defendant, Spokes said in the documents. The local public awareness of this case will make it difficult at best to find jurors who have not heard about this case and who have not already determined guilt merely based on coverage from news outlets, blogs, and social media dialogues.

It is more than probable that Ms. Perkins has already been convicted by the population through the various forms of media.

Dennis Perkins and Cynthia Perkins were arrested in October 2019 and later indicted together by a grand jury. They face a total of 150 charges, including first-degree rape, producing child pornography, obscenity, video voyeurism, sexual battery of a child under 13 years old, and mingling harmful substances. Dennis Perkins is also accused of sexual abuse of an animal.

Dennis Perkins is a former SWAT team commander with the Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office. Cynthia Perkins is a former middle school teacher at Westside Junior High.

The two, who have pleaded not guilty to the charges, were originally set to stand trial as co-defendants, but that changed last June when Judge Erika Sledge ruled in favor of a severance. That decision was upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court in December.

Jury selection for Cynthias trial was set to begin Monday at the Livingston Parish Courthouse, but Spokes said in court filings that his clients right to a fair trial will be in jeopardy if the trial remains in Livingston Parish.

The publicity for this case has been especially inflammatory, with comments across all media platforms consisting of insults, firm beliefs that the defendant is guilty, and an abundance of death threats, Spokes said.

With influence stemming from public comment sections on news sites, blogs, and social media platforms, the defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial will be in jeopardy if she were to face a jury in Livingston Parish.

The Attorney Generals Office is prosecuting both cases against Dennis and Cynthia Perkins.
The search is ongoing for three inmates who escaped a Tennessee jail Friday L-R: Tobias Wayne Carr, Johnny Shane Brown and Timothy Allen Sarver. Sullivan County Sheriff's Office
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
A prayer service was recently held at the construction site of Dubais newest Hindu temple in Jebel Ali to mark the construction topping out ceremony.

The new temple is being constructed adjacent to the Guru Nanak Darbar in Jebel Ali, making the locality a multi-religious corridor in Dubai.

With the trial opening scheduled for July-August period, the temple is on track for official opening in October this year during Dussehra festival, reported Khaleej Times.

The temple will be home to 11 Hindu deities, catering to the religious beliefs of Hindu communities belonging to all parts of India, stated the report, citing a senior official.

"We are ahead of schedule and are expected to complete in four months. From July-August, we would have a trial operation phase to put in place strict safety protocols," explained Raju Shroff, one of the trustees of the Gurudarbar Sindhi Temple.

Nine brass Kalash (a metal or stone spire used to top the domes of Hindu temples) spires will soon soar over the temple as preparations for its opening picks up speed. The spires were specially imported from India, he stated.

"There will be nine kalashas that will be part of the puja. The tallest kalash is 1.8 metres high and weighs about 120 kg," explained Shroff.

"The remaining eight are each about 1.2 metres high and weigh about 90 kg," he added.
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County still in state of emergency; roads clearing, many still without power
It has been announced today that the man who is credited with overseeing the building and opening of the 233 million Center Parcs Longford Forest resort in 2019, Center Parcs Chief Executive Officer, Martin Dalby, will step up to become the Non-Executive Chairman of Center Parcs from Friday, April 22 next.

Martin joined Center Parcs in 1995 and has been CEO for over 20 years. Under Martins leadership, Center Parcs has become one of the most successful short break holiday companies in the UK & Ireland.

More recently, Martin led Center Parcs through the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, from which the business emerges in better shape than ever.

Taking over Martins role as CEO will be the current Chief Financial Officer Colin McKinlay. Colin has over four years experience as CFO of the business and over 25 years experience in the broader leisure sector.

Martin Dalby, CEO said, With the business performing extremely well, now is absolutely the right time for me to hand over the day-to-day running of Center Parcs. I am, however, delighted to be remaining part of this amazing business in my new role as Chairman. I would like to congratulate Colin on his appointment as CEO and I look forward to working closely with him to ensure continuity and a smooth transition in the coming weeks and months."

Colin McKinlay, CFO said, On behalf of everyone at Center Parcs, I would like to thank Martin for his incredible commitment to, and passion for Center Parcs over such a long period of time. Under his leadership the business has gone from strength to strength and it is great that we are able to retain his vast experience and knowledge as we move into another exciting period for the company."



Brad Hyler, Managing Partner, Brookfield said, We congratulate Colin and Martin and look forward to working with them both in their new roles. We would like to thank Martin for his exceptional leadership of Center Parcs over more than two decades. Despite the recent challenges of the pandemic, Center Parcs has never been stronger and the business is well-positioned for continued growth, underpinned by its robust operating platform and industry-leading team. With his wealth of experience from his time as CFO and as a respected leader in the travel sector, Colin is ideally placed to take the business forward as its new CEO.

Center Parcs is the UK & Irelands leading short break holiday operator with six high-quality short break destinations: Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire; Elveden Forest in Suffolk; Longleat Forest in Wiltshire; Whinfell Forest in Cumbria; Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire; and Longford Forest in County Longford, Ireland.

In 2021, the company announced it had identified a site in West Sussex for a sixth Center Parcs village in the UK and pre-planning works are ongoing.
The Minister for Justice has vowed to deliver more than 400 refuge beds across the country, as part of a plan to boost domestic violence services.

Helen McEntee has also promised to open refuge spaces in the nine counties, one of which is Longford, that currently have no services.

The minister said she also plans to increase the number of spaces in places that have reached capacity.

There are currently nine counties in Ireland that do not have refuges spaces for women and children escaping a violent home.



Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the plan to deal with domestic violence services has been her priority since taking up the justice role (PA)





There are 140 emergency beds across the country, but Ms McEntee said she wants to scale up to 400 and potentially more.

The minister is planning to bring the findings of an accommodation review to Cabinet next week.

There has been a major increase in the number of calls for help by victims of domestic violence during lockdowns.

There has also been an increase in the number of breaches of court protection orders.

Ms McEntee said it is her intention to set up refuge spaces in the nine counties currently without any.

The minister said the plan to deal with domestic violence services has been her priority since taking up the justice role.

Were trying to fill gaps as they exist across the country where my department is responsible for providing support, but theres a lot of other areas that we need to do, she told RTE Morning Ireland.

She said that an audit has taken place across the country, looking at how policies are developed and how services and spaces are delivered.

Ive listened to and my colleagues have listened to the frontline workers, the community and voluntary sector, those who deliver these services and based on that audit, based on that accommodation review, were bringing together the delivery of policy and services, Ms McEntee added.

So in a matter of weeks, I will be the lead minister with responsibility for delivering those refuge spaces.

But what we need to do is change the structure.

At the moment, essentially if you do not have a community organisation or a service provider in an area that comes forward and says, I want to provide a service in this county, and we have many counties we know that dont have services. If that doesnt happen, then the services not delivered.



The minister said that women and children should no longer be turned away due to a lack of services (PA)

That cant continue and we need to change that. Im already working with (child and family agency) Tusla.

The minister said that women and children should no longer be turned away due to a lack of services.

Wait for Longford domestic violence refuge could finally be over Funding to open a domestic violence refuge in Longford could finally be delivered, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has indicated.

Funding is not the issue here. Funding is provided through the Department of Housing, but because of the system and structure as it exists, because we have to essentially wait for somebody to come forward and say we will deliver this, its taking too long.

The minister said that any victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse who are forced to flee their homes are entitled to funding under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme.
H&S Real Estate, a Dubai-based real estate company and partner of Emaar Alliance, celebrated Chinese New Year in style with a special light show at Burj Khalifa.

Around 500 Chinese community members took part in the festivities to mark China's new lunar year.

H&S Real Estate is the official Alliance Partner and sales agency for Emaar Properties in the UAE, China and in Pakistan.

The Chinese investors based in UAE and back in China enjoy a strong relations and level of trust on advice from H&S Real Estate when it comes to selecting the right property in the UAE with higher ROI.

Group CEO (UAE & China regions) Saad Haq said: "Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, H&S Real Estate had a permanent office with a large team deployed in Mainland China. But we had to halt our operations due to flight restrictions."

"We plan to restart our China operations with even wider presence and team in the major cities of China as soon as travel restrictions ease," he noted.

"China is among the top countries that invest in the Dubai property market. We provide free in-depth financial advice to Chinese investors which helps them choose the right property. We do not just sell properties, rather, we sell investing options, high-yield and beautiful property assets at prime locations." stated Haq.

"H&S Real Estate is a brokerage & financial house that leads a team of more than 90 multilingual property experts and we have a dynamic Chinese speaking team. We cater to all segments: bulk buyers, mid-size investors as well end-users," he added.

CEO Fahad Haq said: "H&S is a complete solution for all local and international property buyers. Once a buyer has purchased a property with H&S, we take care of the handover, rental, maintenance and resale."

Since 2018, H&S is offering distinct real estate consultancy and sales advice to Chinese investors and end-users. From 2018 to 2021, H&S advice helped bring in estimated AED3 billion ($800 million) Chinese investments in Dubais real estate sector. -TradeArabia News Service
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause

By Chris Boyle Published: February 08 2022

I hope we can look to each other, find strength within our communities, unite, and together make Nassau an even more vibrant place to live County Executive Blakeman said.

Recently, Nassau County Executive Bruce A. Blakeman in conjunction with the office of Asian American Affairs hosted a Lunar New Year celebration and lit the dome of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building Red & Gold to kick off the year of the Tiger. Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillips, Treasurer David Chiang, Legislator Ford, Legislator Rhoads, Legislator Schaefer, Legislator McKevitt, Legislator Guiffre, Chinese American organizations, local business owners, and residents attended.

The Chinese Center of Long Islands Lion Troupe performed a traditional Chinese dance, and County Executive Blakeman awarded Jericho resident, Ruka Anzai for being a trailblazer in her community and establishing an activist network.

The year of the Tiger symbolizes bravery, courage, and strength. As we observe the Lunar New Year, a time of reunion and rebirth, and new potential for change. I hope we can look to each other, find strength within our communities, unite, and together make Nassau an even more vibrant place to live County Executive Blakeman said.
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(Sharecast News) - France's Iliad made an offer for Vodafone's Italian unit last week, according to a report on Monday that cited people with knowledge of the matter.Backed by telecommunications billionaire Xavier Niel, Iliad made an offer to Vodafone's board of directors last week. Speculation of a merger emerged in recent weeks as both companies tried to find a way to end ruthless competition in a tightening market.

Iliad has been looking at expansion options in Italy in recent months as it seeks to agreements in the domestic telecoms sector to accelerate consolidation and end a price war that has cut its margins.

Vodafone is currently looking for merger opportunities in the UK, Spain, Italy and Portugal, its chief executive Nick Read said last week. The UK telecoms major is under pressure after the arrival of activist investor Cevian Capital on its share register.

Iliad is also considering a move to purchase a rival phone carrier in Italy if the opportunity arises, local unit Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Levi said in an interview with Bloomberg in January.

Iliad moved into the Italian mobile services market in 2018 as a no-frills challenger, sparking a price war that last year led to three profit warnings by ex-monopolist Telecom Italia. The news of the Vodafone offer was reported by Bloomberg.
(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:

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Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Ltd - New York-based music copyright investment company - Acquires significant majority of the music rights for American rock band Alice In Chains. Does not disclose financial details for deal. The acquisition covers the publishing, masters and neighbouring rights of the band, including a catalogue comprising 94 compositions and 159 recordings. "Revenue from the catalogue is attributable to a diverse group of sources...In terms of geographical exposure, 75% of the revenue is from the US, while the remaining balance is from other countries," Round Hill says.

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Aquis Exchange PLC - London-based stock exchange operator and software developer - Partners with Investre, which is building an exchange for retail customers to buy and sell "values-driven" investment funds - either direct from the asset manager on the primary market, or by trading with other users through an auction process on the secondary market. "Aquis is providing the technology to power the secondary market, by supplying a fully outsourced technology model to Investre consisting of its award-winning Aquis Matching Engine, its Aquis Market Surveillance product, as well as ongoing operational support to the business. The duration of the contract will be three years, and the value of the contact will not be disclosed," company says.

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Beeks Financial Cloud Group PLC - Glasgow-based provider of connectivity for financial markets - Signs GBP2.5 million contract extension over three years with an existing unnamed tier 1 customer. The contract is for the provision of private cloud services into an additional geography, Beeks notes. Chief Executive Gordon McArthur says: "We continue to secure notable contracts with some of the world's largest players in the financial services industry, demonstrating our growing reputation and the quality of our offerings. This latest contract contributes towards underpinning our financial 2023 expectations. With growing levels of committed future revenues and a record pipeline, we are confident in continued growth."

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Cap-XX Ltd - New South Wales, Australia-headquartered manufacturer of ultra-thin prismatic and cylindrical supercapacitors - Wins contract from MCCI Corp, an open-source developer for LoRaWAN long-range wireless IoT networks. MCCI selects ultra-thin CAP-XX HW103 1Farad 2.75V supercap for its Model 4906 Supercap FeatherWing LoRa Module. "MCCI chose the CAP-XX supercapacitor for its thin form factor that fits easily in the Adafruit-Feather-compatible footprint, and for its low Equivalent Series Resistance which enables the high bursts of power needed for LoRa wireless data transmissions in both consumer Internet of Things and industrial IoT devices such as remote monitoring sensors," company says. Chief Executive Anthony Kongats says the deal proves how company's prismatic supercapacitors can be "excellent supporting actors" for power management in space-constrained IoT devices.

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LBG Media PLC - Manchester-based digital media and youth content publisher, also known as LADbible - Expects 2021 revenue to be at least GBP54 million, slightly ahead of expectations and increasing by 80% from GBP30.2 million in 2020. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization will be slightly ahead of market consensus of GBP16.2 million. Says direct revenue growth was driven by a significant increase in content marketing and direct display sales in the UK, Australia and Ireland. Notes indirect revenue increased significantly, primarily due to a 97% increase in views of group-generated content. Chief Executive Solly Solomou says 2021 performance "outstanding, both financially and operationally".

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Nuformix PLC - London-based pharmaceutical development firm focused on fibrosis and oncology via drug repurposing - After signing exclusive global licensing agreement with Oxilio Ltd for NXP001 in September, Oxilio progresses product and signs "significant" service contract with Quotient Sciences Ltd to support the formulation development of NXP001. This is a proprietary new form of aprepitant which is currently marketed for cancer chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. "Under the contract Oxilio will work with Quotient Sciences, a drug development and manufacturing accelerator, to identify and evaluate the cocrystal formulation of aprepitant to deliver optimal bioavailability for the treatment of CINV," Nuformix explains.

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Armadale Capital PLC - investment company focussed on mining projects in Africa - Makes further progress developing the mining lease at the Mahenge Liandu project in Tanzania, as part of its plans to commission commercial operations. Applies for three incremental exploration licences, which it hopes will "materially enhance" the Mahenge Liandu project's exploration potential.

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Riverstone Energy Ltd - Guernsey-based investor in energy companies and assets - Will sell its entire stake in Pipestone Energy Corp for CAD53.0 million, about GBP30.8 million. Riverstone says it will use the proceeds as part of its plan to recommence its share buyback programme. Riverstone said it decided to allocate an additional GBP46 million to the GBP40 million programme launched last May. It already has repurchased 7.7 million shares at a total cost of GBP36 million.

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Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd - oil and gas exploration company focused on Guyana and Namibia - Signs definitive share purchase agreement to buy 100% of Azinam Group Ltd in return for a 16.5% equity stake in the company. Co-Founder & Chief Executive Gil Holzman says: "This now puts the company a step further towards joining all of Azinam's offshore exploration acreage into our broader portfolio. We are working towards drilling a well on Block 2B, a highly prospective play in the Orange Basin, offshore South Africa, close to the recent discovery by Shell PLC and Qatar Energy in the Orange Basin in Namibia. The well is planned for the second half of this year." Azinam owns a portfolio of offshore petroleum assets in Namibia and South Africa.

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By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - Anglo-German holiday operator Tui AG on Tuesday said revenue rose in the three months to the end of December amid a relaxation of travel restrictions, but bookings for the current quarter were hurt by the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Tui said it currently has 6.0 million bookings across the Winter 2021-22 and Summer 2022 holiday seasons, with an acceleration in bookings since the start of 2022, as confidence in international travel improves.

Winter 2021-22 bookings stand at just 58% of Winter 2018-19 levels, meaning pre-pandemic, and Tui said it expects winter capacity to come in at the bottom of its guided range of 60% to 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

More positively, Summer 2022 bookings are 72% of Summer 2019 levels, with recent bookings showing the same pattern as in January 2019, Tui said. In the UK, the removal of testing requirements gave a boost to bookings, and Summer 2022 bookings currently are 19% ahead of Summer 2019, the Hannover, Germany-based company said.

Revenue in the three months that ended December 31, Tui's financial first quarter, totalled EUR2.37 billion, well up on EUR468.1 million a year before. Loss before interest and tax was EUR271.4 million, narrowed from EUR698.1 million. On an underlying basis, the Ebit loss was EUR273.6 million, narrowed from EUR675.8 million in financial 2021.

Best performing, Tui's Hotels & Resorts segment recorded a second sequential profitable quarter, with an underlying Ebit profit of EUR61.1 million, swung from a EUR95.6 million loss a year before.

Capacity during the quarter was 67% of 2019 levels, as expected. Tui served 2.3 million customers during the three months, up by 1.7 million from a year before, with a load factor of 79%, up from 70%.

Net debt at the end of the quarter was EUR5.1 billion, unchanged from a year before. Tui said it will take the first step to hand back government funding that it received during the virus crisis. It plans to pay back about EUR700 million come April 1.

By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under fresh pressure over the Jimmy Savile smear he aimed at Keir Starmer after the Labour leader had to be rescued by police from a mob near Parliament.

Starmer faced baseless allegations of "protecting paedophiles" and chants about the sex offender from protesters before being bundled into a police car for protection.

Former Cabinet minister Julian Smith was among several Conservative MPs to demand that the prime minister fully withdraws the Savile slur for the sake of Starmer's security in the wake of the incident on Monday.

Johnson tweeted that the "behaviour directed" at the Labour leader was "absolutely disgraceful" but did not address the nature of the abuse.

Officers stepped in to protect the Opposition leader as the group, some protesting against Covid measures, followed him from outside Scotland Yard.

On at least two videos posted to social media, a man and a woman were heard shouting about Savile to the Labour leader, as he walked with shadow foreign secretary David Lammy.

At least one person was heard repeatedly shouting about "protecting paedophiles".

Last week, an under-pressure Johnson accused Starmer of having "used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile" while director of public prosecutions (DPP).

After the incident, Lammy said it was "no surprise the conspiracy theorist thugs who harassed" Starmer and himself had "repeated" Johnson's slurs.

Smith, who previously served as Johnson's Northern Ireland secretary, tweeted: "What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling.

"It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full."

Former minister Stephen Hammond, one of the 15 Tory MPs to have publicly called for Johnson to resign over the partygate scandal, said he agreed with Smith, as did Robert Largan and Aaron Bell, who were elected in 2019.

Senior Tory Sir Roger Gale demanded that Johnson makes a Commons apology on Tuesday over the abuse which he feared could be the result of Johnson's "deliberately careless" Savile allegation.

"It has, I'm afraid, played into the hands of some rather unpleasant people," the MP, first elected in 1983, told the PA news agency.

"I think what he ought to do a is to go to the despatch box tomorrow to condemn the way Keir was treated and apologise."

Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons Defence Committee, told the prime minister "apologise please".

"Let's stop this drift towards a Trumpian style of politics from becoming the norm," he added.

Chris Bryant, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons Committee on Standards, said: "This is what happens when a Prime Minister descends into the gutter and recycles lies from hard-right conspiracy theorists. Political poison has an effect. Johnson has no moral compass."

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, said: "Any politician choosing to weaponise online conspiracy theories against opponents knows fine well that they risk stirring up the kind of hate and abuse that Keir Starmer experienced today.

"If he has any decency at all, the PM will now apologise unreservedly."

Scotland Yard said two arrests were made following clashes between police and protesters on the Victoria Embankment after Starmer was taken to safety.

A Metropolitan Police statement said: "Shortly after 5.10pm on Monday February 7, a man who had been surrounded by a group of protesters near to New Scotland Yard, was taken away from the scene by a police car.

"A man and a woman were arrested at the scene for assault of an emergency worker after a traffic cone was thrown at a police officer."

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the scenes were "completely unacceptable" and that she was in contact with police over the incident.

Johnson tweeted: "The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable."

Footage posted to social media showed Piers Corbyn, the Covid-19 conspiracy theorist brother of former Labour leader Jeremy, addressing the crowd before the incident and later leading chants of "resist, defy, do not comply".

Starmer, surrounded by police, was followed down the street while being targeted with shouts of "why aren't you opposing?" and "traitor".

Someone yelled: "You should be hung."

"Why did you go after Julian Assange, why did you go after journalists?" one man shouted.

It was understood Starmer was not harmed during the incident.

After he was taken to safety, an officer was called a "pathetic little thug" during angry exchanges.

Protesters were seen displaying signs opposing mandatory vaccination and the use of restrictions to prevent Covid-19 deaths.

Johnson first shared the falsehood in the Commons on January 31.

Under vast pressure, he later clarified his remarks, insisting he had not been referring to Sir Keir's "personal record".

But he did not apologise for the "scurrilous" smear, which long-standing adviser Munira Mirza cited as the reason for resigning as No 10's head of policy.

Starmer apologised while director of public prosecutions in 2013 for the CPS having failed to bring Savile to justice four years earlier.

But there is no evidence that Starmer had any personal role in the failure to prosecute the man who was one of Britain's most egregious sex offenders before his death in 2011.

By Sam Blewett, PA Deputy Political Editor

source: PA

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Global technology major Honeywell has signed an agreement with Etisalat Misr, a subsidiary of the UAE telecom group Etisalat, to develop advanced solutions for smart buildings, communities and cities in Egypt.

The MoU between Honeywell and Etisalat Misr outlines the intent to co-develop IoT-based offerings that leverage artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), connecting and hosting technologies that can be applied to various vertical segments such as manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, education, real estate and transportation.

As per the deal, the duo will collaborate to build a cloud-based IoT platform to help further the advancement of both greenfield and brownfield projects across Egypt.

Honeywell said it will provide expertise for the IoT-platform solution development including hardware and software support, and Etisalat Misr will leverage its capabilities in connectivity, hosting services, software and operations.

The collaboration supports Egypt Vision 2030 by helping to enable digital transformation of key industry sectors across the country and creating a more sustainable environment through the deployment of smart solutions to conserve energy and water consumption and manage waste.

This effort builds on the established track record of Honeywell and Etisalat Misr to collaborate and deliver successful smart city projects. It will help further demonstrate the countrys ability to deliver cutting-edge, digital-first solutions to the citizens, companies and visitors of Egypt, said Khaled Hashem, President, Honeywell, Egypt and North Africa.
8 February 2022

Centamin plc

("Centamin" or "the Company")

LSE: CEY / TSX: CEE

sukari UNDERGROUND reserve growth supports TRANSITION TO OWNER MINING, delivering COST SAVINGS and increased flexibility

Centamin announces that, following an independently managed contractor tender process, the underground operations at its Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari") will transition from contractor-mining to owner-operator mining with immediate effect. This change will deliver significant cost savings and improve operational control and mining flexibility, whilst also enabling the company to upskill the local workforce.

The decision to move to owner mining, following the expiry of the current five-year contract, has been based on the following:

 Reserve growth - the 200% increase in Sukari underground Proven and Probable Reserves, as announced in December 2021, underpins an eight-year underground life of mine, with identified near-term growth targets to extend beyond a ten-year life of mine

 Leadership team - the operational leadership at Sukari has been significantly strengthened, with experienced underground expertise and increased investment in the development of the national workforce

 Operational benefits - an owner-operator model including risk-based analysis against the submitted contractor-mining tender proposals identified significant operating synergies for the broader Sukari operations

 Cost savings - the transition to owner-operator mining is expected to generate long-term cost savings of an average US$19 million1 per annum from 2023 onwards compared to the 2021 cost base, and

 Mine life extension and upside - 90,000 metres of underground drilling is budgeted for 2022, including identified near-term growth targets to extend the underground beyond a ten-year life of mine and helping to support the underground expansion study which is due for completion in H2 2022.

UNDERGROUND MINING

A detailed transition plan to owner-operator mining is in place with implementation underway, including utilising a third-party underground mining specialist to assist with workforce training. The Company has also executed its contractual right to purchase the current underground mining fleet from the incumbent contractor for a total capital cost of US$10.5 million to be paid this quarter, Q1 2022.

UNDERGROUND DRILLING

Following the completion of an independent tender process, the Company has awarded Geodrill Limited ("Geodrill") a five-year contract to provide underground drilling services, including a minimum of 90,000 metres of drilling per annum and introducing reverse circulation ("RC") drilling to the underground which is faster and enables larger samples to be taken. The contract is to commence this quarter, Q1 2022.

2022 GUIDANCE

There is no change to the 2022 annual production and cost guidance. As a result of purchasing the incumbent contractor underground mining fleet, the annual capital expenditure guidance for 2022 is increased by US$10.5 million to US$225.5 million.

Martin Horgan, CEO, commented: "The decision to transition the underground to owner mining reflects extensive planning and evaluation to determine the most effective operating model as we continue to grow and maximise the value of the Sukari orebody. Following a 200% increase in underground reserves with further identified growth opportunities and an underground expansion study underway, we believe this move best places us to extract the maximum value safely, efficiently and cost-effectively from the expanding underground operations. In addition, we welcome Geodrill to Sukari and look forward to working with the team as a key partner and contractor as we continue to explore and develop the full potential of the underground operations."

About Centamin

Centamin is an established gold producer, with premium listings on both the London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. The Company's flagship asset is the Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari"), Egypt's largest and first modern gold mine, as well as one of the world's largest producing mines. Since production began in 2009 Sukari has produced circa 5 million ounces of gold, and today has a projected mine life of 12 years.

Through its large portfolio of exploration assets in Egypt and West Africa, Centamin is advancing an active pipeline of future growth prospects, including the Doropo project in Cote d'Ivoire, and over 3,000km2 of highly prospective exploration ground in Egypt's Arabian Nubian Shield.

Centamin practices responsible mining activities, recognising its responsibility to not only deliver operational and financial performance but to create lasting mutual benefit for all stakeholders through good corporate citizenship.

FOR MORE INFORMATION please visit the website www.centamin.com or contact:

Centamin plc Alexandra Barter-Carse, Corporate Communications +44 (0) 7700 713 738 investor@centaminplc.com Buchanan Bobby Morse/Ariadna Peretz/James Husband + 44 (0) 20 7466 5000 centamin@buchanan.uk.com

ENDNOTES

Cost savings

Cost savings were calculated relative to the incumbent underground contractor contract terms, all things being equal, and include the initial equipment purchase required to maintain current production levels and future capital cost estimates related to any near-term fleet replacement.

Guidance

The Company actively monitors the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic and guidance may be impacted if the workforce or operation are disrupted.

Forward-looking Statements

This announcement (including information incorporated by reference) contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including statements with respect to future financial or operating performance. Such statements include "future-oriented financial information" or "financial outlook" with respect to prospective financial performance, financial position, EBITDA, cash flows and other financial metrics that are based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts" and "anticipates"." and include production outlook, operating schedules, production profiles, expansion and expansion plans, efficiency gains, production and cost guidance, capital expenditure outlook, exploration spend and other mine plans. Although Centamin believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, Centamin can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are prospective in nature and are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections of the management of Centamin about future events and are therefore subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In addition, there are a number of factors that could cause actual results, performance, achievements or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements; the risks and uncertainties associated with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 or other pandemic, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the results of exploration activities and feasibility studies; assumptions in economic evaluations which prove to be inaccurate; currency fluctuations; changes in project parameters; future prices of gold and other metals; possible variations of ore grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; climatic conditions; political instability; decisions and regulatory changes enacted by governmental authorities; delays in obtaining approvals or financing or completing development or construction activities; and discovery of archaeological ruins. Financial outlook and future-ordinated financial information contained in this news release is based on assumptions about future events, including economic conditions and proposed courses of action, based on management's assessment of the relevant information currently available. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook or future-ordinated financial information contained or referenced herein may not be appropriate and should not be used for purposes other than those for which it is disclosed herein. The Company and its management believe that the prospective financial information has been prepared on a reasonable basis, reflecting management's best estimates and judgments at the date hereof, and represent, to the best of management's knowledge and opinion, the Company's expected course of action. However, because this information is highly subjective, it should not be relied on as necessarily indicative of future results. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information or statements, particularly in light of the current economic climate and the significant volatility, uncertainty and disruption caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this announcement and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

LEI: 213800PDI9G7OUKLPV84

Company No: 109180
Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning is extended for the following rivers in Louisiana... Mississippi River At Red River Landing affecting West Feliciana, East Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupee Parishes. For the Lower Mississippi River...including Red River Landing... Minor flooding is forecast. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov/lix. Click on the Rivers and Lakes menu for forecasts and observations. The next statement will be issued when updates are needed. && ...FLOOD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL EARLY FRIDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is occurring and minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Mississippi River At Red River Landing. * WHEN...Until early Friday morning. * IMPACTS...At 51.0 feet, All river islands along the reach from Red River Landing to Baton Rouge will be inundated. Recreational camps and river bottom farm land will be under water. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 9:00 AM CDT Monday the stage was 50.2 feet. - Recent Activity...The maximum river stage in the 24 hours ending at 9:00 AM CDT Monday was 50.3 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to fall below flood stage Thursday evening. - Flood stage is 48.0 feet. - Flood History...This crest compares to a previous crest of 48.8 feet on 04/22/2014. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
From September, the Bellver International College in Palma will become the first British school in Spain to offer film production as an option for the Baccalaureate. The audio-visual communication course will include possibilities to shoot a short film, visit film studios, meet professionals in the sector, and even help to decide the vote in the Goya Awards' categories.

Endorsed and examined by Cambridge University, the course coordinator and teacher is Marcos Cabota. Himself a former student at the college, Cabota is a member of Spain's Film Academy who has twice been nominated for a Goya.

The director of a dozen films, such as I Am Your Father (with Toni Bestard), Cabota says that after two years of study, students "will have the feeling of having worked in the film industry, because they will know exactly how it works".

He explains that "we are experiencing a boom in film creation, but as a director I find it difficult to find professionals". So the course will lead to various job opportunities, e.g. in production, as a camera technician or in makeup. Cabota looks forward to the possibility of working with his students in the future.

The director of the college, Vincent Deperrois, says that this subject is part of a development plan to enhance the overall education on offer. "We want to be a benchmark within Spain and abroad. For this, we must respond to the needs of the new generations and booming industries."

About the college, he says that it is "small and humble", but that it is precisely this that allows the offer of a more "personalised" education.


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The Malaysia Sustainable Agricommodity Week (Food Agricommodities), being held this week (February 7 to 12) at the World Expo 2020, Dubai, is focusing on Malaysia's important food-based agricultural commodities, namely palm oil, cocoa and pepper as well as sustainable initiatives and management in the Malaysian palm oil industry.

The event, hosted by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC), the Platinum Premier Partner for Malaysia Pavillion in Expo 2020 Dubai, also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) between Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and Lulu Hypermarket to market Malaysian palm oil-based products in the UAE on the first day, MPIC said in a statement.

The Deputy Minister Datuk Willie Anak Mongin, representing MPIC, witnessed the signing of the MoU.

For the palm oil industry, the concept of 'Sustainable Agri-commodity' provides a strong platform for Malaysia in expanding the global market for palm oil exports. Malaysian Palm Oil Full of Goodness would be the main promotion and marketing theme for the palm oil industry throughout the week, MPIC said.

Sustainable initiatives and management in the Malaysian palm oil industry will also be the week's highlight. These initiatives include Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Certification Scheme regulatory guidelines, Good Agricultural Practices and the development of cutting-edge technology by the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the industry.

For the cocoa industry, MPIC, through the Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB), will focus on producing single-origin and premium quality cocoa beans to meet the market's high demand and ensure the products comply with the Malaysian Standards and other international standards regulations and standards, including food safety.

With global cocoa consumption projected to be worth $120 billion at present ($1=RM4.18), the Ministry has drafted various initiatives to achieve the targetted export value as well as harness the industry's great potential. The Ministry is confident that with the application of the latest method in crop planting, harvesting, post-harvest and cocoa bean processing, and managing cocoa genetic materials, Malaysia could become one of the high-quality cocoa beans producers in the world.

Another important milestone of the week is the MoU signing between MCB and Agrocloud Sdn Bhd. on strategic partnership in developing smart technology for cocoa farming. The collaboration will focus on enhancing the productivity of Malaysian cocoa planting via a concept or regime operating under the Internet of Things (IoT) and any farming methodologies regarded as modern farming methodologies, including mechanisation, precision farming, and automated farming.

Malaysia's pepper is renowned for its high quality in terms of pungency, flavour and aroma compared to other pepper producing countries. The Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) will highlight value-added pepper products produced by SMEs and premium pepper such as Creamy White Pepper (CWP) which are halal certified. Several matters, such as new products, import regulations, consumption trends, quality and offer prices will also be discussed with existing buyers and prospective buyers during the Dubai Expo 2020 exhibition.

MPIC and its agencies have also lined up exciting activities for visitors to the Malaysia Pavilion, such as cooking demonstrations, online contests, soap making workshops, Beyond The Canopy Art Workshop, as well as special talks on sustainable Malaysian palm oil, cocoa and pepper.

In his speech, Deputy Minister Datuk Willie Anak Mongin highlighted that despite the rough economic climate worldwide, Malaysia agri commodity trade continues to perform reasonably well. From January to November 2021, the agri commodity sector has contributed total export revenue of RM189.5 billion to the Malaysian economy. This value has exceeded Malaysia's total export revenue for 2020 of RM152 billion.

The Minister also expressed hope that MPICs presence at the World Expo 2020 Dubai will help to tap the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) market, as well as facilitate potential joint ventures and foreign investment from the Mena region.--TradeArabia News Service
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Omans Raysut Industrial City has signed an investment pact with Sahari Qatbeet Trading and Transport Company to set up a factory for industrial salt production with an Omani-Emirati partnership.

The investment process took only a two-hour time of electronic investment procedures related to examining the industrial land, signing the lease contract and completing payments, Madayan said in a statement.

With a total investment value touching RO1 million ($2.6 million), the project will operate on an area of 12,248 sq m.

Eng. Ali Al Maashani, Acting Director General of Raysut Industrial City, explained that investors can submit investment applications and complete the procedures electronically through Masar Service Centre. In fact, the promptness of electronic investment procedures happens with the support of Masar Service Centre and the other digital services employed by Madayn, which jointly play a significant role in facilitating these procedures for investors in the industrial cities, Al Maashani pointed out.

Al Maashani elaborated that the investment activity in Raysut Industrial City is seeing constant growth as there are currently 207 operating projects, which have been localised on 97% of the leasable area. During 2020 and 2021, Raysut Industrial City was able to attract 40 projects.

By the end of 2021, the total investment volume in Raysut Industrial City amounted to more than RO 479 million and the national manpower touched 1,197. Moreover, Madayn is currently aiming at obtaining new expansions in Raysut Industrial City to keep pace with the growing demand, in addition to the development of the newly announced Thumrait Industrial City, he added.--TradeArabia News Service
McAlester, OK (74501)

Today

Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 78F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Occasional thunderstorms - possibly severe. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 51F. SSW winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
(From left to right) Wolfgang Egger, VP & GM, UKIMESA at HPE; Mangle and Mushtaha

iWorld Connect, a leading ICT vendor in Bahrain has won the The Best Saudi-Gulf Partner of the Year Award in Commercial and Midmarket segment by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Middle East. The Saudi-Gulf region covers Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

The awards ceremony took place on February 2, 2022 on the sidelines of the LEAP conference which was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The award recognises best HPE partners in the GCC region committed to customer excellence, strong performance, focus on growth, and dedication to mutual achievements.

iWorld Connect is a leading strategic partner for HPE in Bahrain providing HPE Server/Storage/HCI/Cloud solutions to the enterprise and midmarket in Bahrain.

"Together, iWorld Connect and HPE provide customers with solutions to accelerate their digital transformations, from edge to cloud, and help enterprises tackle their toughest issues to achieve transformative business outcomes.

"We are delighted to win the HPE Best Saudi Gulf Partner of the year award. This recognition reflects our drive to deliver best in class customer experience through our HPE certified and trained team of professionals driving transformation at scale and help customers realize their growth aspirations, said Abhijit Mangle, General Manager, iWorld Connect.

We are proud to recognise iWorld Connect as the 2021 Best Saudi Gulf Partner of the Year. I look forward to continuing this legacy of success in bringing our joint solutions to the market with the HPE team handling Bahrain market, said Mohamed Mushtaha, Regional Channel and Sales director, Saudi-Gulf Region, HPE.TradeArabia News Service
ICT plays a critical role in the sustainability drive, particularly in accelerating the transition to cleaner power, supporting zero-emission vehicles, and scientific innovation, says Jason Cao, CEO, Huawei Bahrain.

World leaders convened for the COP26 summit with urgent calls to accelerate action towards climate change. One of the most ambitious national pledges at the conference in Glasgow was made by Bahrain, with the GCC country announcing plans to reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent over the next 15 years.

Speaking at the summit in Glasgow, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, said the 2035 target includes quadrupling the area of Bahrain's mangroves, doubling tree coverage and investing in sustainable technologies.

The COP26 announcement was the culmination of long-term efforts by Bahrain to forge a sustainable future. In November 2014, the country established the Sustainable Energy Unit (SEU), a joint initiative between the Office of the Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The SEU aimed to create a cohesive and sustainable energy policy and promote renewable energy and energy efficiency in Bahrain.

The SEU developed the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP), representing the Kingdom's efforts to deliver the sustainable energy transition envisioned in the Economic Vision 2030. The plan sets a national renewable energy target of 5% by 2025 and 10% by 2035. The proposed renewable energy mix consists of solar, wind and waste to energy technologies.

Amidst these ambitious climate plans, the pivotal role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in supporting the transition to a sustainable future cannot be overstated. In particular, ICT plays a critical role in three areas: accelerating the transition to cleaner power, supporting zero-emission vehicles, and raising climate ambitions through scientific innovation.

Further, breakthroughs in ICT are helping to protect the environment indirectly. For example, 5G networks are optimised to transmit data at a fraction of the energy consumption per bit of 4G, leading to enormous climate gains when set against the copious amounts of data transmitted through modern mobile networks daily. Leaders at COP26 were vocal that a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach is required for research to ensure that a diverse range of technology and climate solutions are affordable, available, and accessible to all.

To deliver on these sustainability goals, we need to build electric systems based on new power sources, particularly solar. With some of the world's longest sunlight hours, there are great opportunities for large-scale deployment of PV and energy storage systems in Bahrain.

Combining digital and power electronics technology using AI, cloud, and big data provides a pathway to low carbon solutions for nearly all sectors. By continuing to develop the capabilities and skills to use these technologies at scale, Bahrain will find itself well on its way to achieving its sweeping campaign to tackle climate change and reduce carbon emissions.

Offering clean energy solutions is one of several priorities that Huawei has in Bahrain over the coming years. Founded earlier this year, Huawei Digital Power combines digital and power electronics technology to provide low carbon solutions to end-users that are secure, simplified, and green. Using AI, cloud, and big data will facilitate more efficient operation and maintenance so that enterprises can provide clean and stable power to society. If we put 5G and digital power together, as one example, we can envision a future where we can build smart and integrated energy solutions easier and at lower costs. -TradeArabia News Service
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.
AlUla will play host to an innovative photography exhibition from February 9 to March 31, featuring the work of 19 artists from around the world, including works by photographers from Saudi Arabia.



As part of the AlUla Arts Festival, AlUla has collaborated with Cortona On The Move, the acclaimed Italian festival of documentary photography, to curate a special site-responsive experience in AlUlas AlJadidah Village, reported Saudi Press Agency (SPA).



The first edition of the collaboration is titled Past Forward  Time, Life and Longing where leading local, regional and international photographers will have their works exhibited on walls and courtyards, creating an exciting journey of visual narrative.



The expo is co-curated by Arianna Rinaldo, curator and artistic director of Cortona On The Move from 2012 to 2021, and Saudi-based visual artist and curator Kholood Al-Bakr. The concept at the heart of the exhibiting programme is the idea of time. Both AlUla and Cortona live and breathe the cultural legacy of their history, one in the stunning deserts of northwest Saudi Arabia, and one in the historic heart of Italy.



Cortona On The Move is known worldwide for its focus on the visual narrative that shares stories of people and planet and celebrates creativity through images. The artworks selected for Cortona On The Move AlUla are connected to the idea of the passing of time, whether it is meant on a personal and human level, or as a global and environmental point of view. Key themes explored in the exhibitions include family, friendship, memory, change and the future.



Alongside the exhibitions, visitors can engage and immerse with a variety of activities including guided tours, meetings with the photographers, photography workshops, screenings, and social evenings open to all audiences. Industry-specific activities will also take place, such as training workshops with international photo editors and associated professions.



An artist residency programme will accompany the exhibition, including mentorship and masterclasses to foster cultural exchange and artistic development. In this way, the project aims to develop the skills of local artists and enrich the lives of visitors and communities.



Serving as a crossroads between three continents and a gateway between East and West, AlUla was built from successive civilizations and for millennia was a place for cultural exchange. RCUs wider long-term plan is to reinvigorate, protect and preserve AlUla, with its community at the heart of its development and future.



Nora AlDabal, Director of Arts and Creative Planning at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) said: Photography and AlUla go hand in glove. Photographers come from all over the world to capture our landscapes, heritage sites and culture. There is already a vibrant photography community in AlUla and they will no doubt be very excited to engage with this programme. Our focus on the arts in AlUla has been magnified recently with many great initiatives and collaborations announced.



Veronica Nicolardi, director of Cortona On The Move festival said: Collaborating with RCU in this special project dedicated to the historic and culturally rich city of AlUla is very exciting for us, especially as this is the first time Saudi Arabia is collaborating with a European festival of photography.



Arianna Rinaldo and Kholood Al-Bakr, co-curators of Cortona On The Move AlUla stated: Past Forward promises to be a creative amalgamation of art, culture, history, and life in the form of images. The exhibited artists from across continents explore different perspectives of photography and combine a multitude of themes fusing the past with the future to produce a truly one-of-a-kind experience that draws from the cultural heritage of AlUla while looking towards its future.



Cortona On The Move was created in 2011 from an idea of the Cultural Association ONTHEMOVE, whose aim is to disseminate and promote contemporary photography searching for new visions and original forms of visual communication. Now in its 12th edition, the festival offers continuous interaction between industry experts and fosters constant search for works that document the ongoing evolution of visual language  all of this in the exceptional setting of the Etruscan town of Cortona, in Tuscany, Italy.
Anethole is the essential volatile oil that lends this spice its characteristic sweet flavor.

Star anise is a small, star shaped fruit growing on an evergreen plant, Illicium verumwith. A native from southern China, star anise has a licorice like taste and lends a soft, exotic taste to a meal, predominantly Asian dishes. This plant is quite popular for its distinctive culinary and medicinal values.

The Chinese and Japanese are the two variants of star anise. The Chinese star anise possesses medicinal properties with a host of health benefits and considered safe for consumption, whereas the Japanese star anise contains sikimitoxin making it toxic in nature.

Once dried, it is difficult to distinguish between the two variants of star anise. Hence, the US Food and Drug Administration has issued an advisory warning against the drinking of teas brewed from star anise since consumption of Japanese star anise may result in seizures, vomiting, jitteriness and rapid eye movement.

Star anise contains a blend of compounds possessing anti-oxidant, disease preventing, and health boosting properties.

The essential oil of star spice provides relief from rheumatism and lower back pain. Linalool, a compound present in star anise contains anti-oxidants properties which keep aging, cancer and age-related disorders at bay.

Star anise also works as an excellent breath freshener. It is an excellent source of Shikimic acid, which is used for preparing drugs for treating influenza or the flu virus and boosting the immune system.

Good for Digestive Problems

It is a commonly used remedy for treating digestive ailments, such as bloating, abdominal cramps, gas, indigestion and constipation.

Treats Respiratory Disorders

Many commercially available cough syrups contain star anise extract. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of this wondrous spice are effective in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis and dry cough.

Advertisement

Fights Fungal Infections

Star anise combats a common skin problem called candidiasis, caused by a fungus, Candida albicans which affects mouth, throat and genital areas due to its anti-fungal properties.

Solves Sleep Problems

Star anise possesses sedative properties and may be an effective remedy for people suffering from sleep disorders.

Benefits Womens Health

Star anise tea promotes overall good health of female reproductive organs. In traditional Chinese medicine, star anise was given to women during pregnancy and lactating periods, since it boosted the immunity of the mother and increased milk secretion.

Amla and Star Anise Shot

Ingredients:

4 deseeded and chopped amlas

1 tsp amla crush

1/2 tsp powdered star anise

1 tbsp honey

4 tbsp crushed ice

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For Garnishing:

4 star anise

Method:

Combine amla, amla crush, star anise powder and 1 cups of water in a mixer and blend till it becomes smooth. Strain the liquid and keep it aside.

Combine the strained liquid and honey. Mix well.

Before serving, place 1 tbsp of crushed ice and pour equal quantity of the juice in each glass. Serve chilled with a star anise on the rim of every glass.

Veggies and Star Anise Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp minced ginger

2 tbsp minced garlic

4 whole dried Thai chili

4 star anise

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 cups vegetable broth

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

2 cups boiled noodles

Method:
Alia Bhatt entered Bollywood in 2012 with Karan Johar's Student of The Year and has established herself amongst the most successful actresses of current times. Fans are eagerly waiting for her next release Gangubai Kathiawadi, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The much-hyped film is slated to hit the big screens on February 25.

Post Gangubai Kathiawadi, Alia will next be seen in Shah Rukh Khan-produced Darlings. The project also marks her debut as a producer and features Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma, and Roshan Mathew in pivotal roles.

As per the latest buzz, Darlings has taken the OTT route and will premiere on a popular streaming platform this summer. Reportedly, the makers have already sold the film to Netflix for a whopping amount. Yes, you read that right!

Revealing the same, a source informed Pinkvilla, "Its a dark comedy and the makers felt that the film will be able to reach its target audience through the OTT medium. The conversations were on with multiple players and it's finally Netflix, who has bagged the exclusive streaming rights. The film has been sold for a sum of Rs 80 crore, thereby making it one of the biggest deals for a female led film".

However, an official announcement from the makers is still awaited.

The source further added that the deal is in a similar zone as Deepika Padukone-starrer Gehraiyaan, which got an offer in the range of Rs 80 to 85 crore from Amazon Prime Video. It was part of a deal between Dharma Productions and the streaming platform, who profited handsomely from Shershaah.

For the unversed, Darlings is touted as a dark comedy that revolves around a mother-daughter relationship. Reportedly, Shefali Shah is playing Alia's mother in the film.

Besides Gangubai Kathiwadi and Darlings, Alia also has films like SS Rajamouli's RRR, Ayan Mukerji's Brahmashtra alongside boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor, and Karan Johar's directorial venture Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani opposite Ranveer Singh in her kitty.

Source: Pinkvilla
Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan is slowly and steadily cementing her place as one of the most prominent names in the industry.



Sara, who is the daughter of Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, made her debut back in 2018 with Abhishek Kapoor's Kedarnath opposite Sushant Singh Rajput.

 Zee5

Well, fair to say it's been a decent four years of experience for the actress, who has done a wide range of films in that period with Love Aaj Kal, Coolie No. 1, Rohit Shetty's Simmba, and the recently released Atrangi Re, which was directed by Anand L Rai.



Now, while she is all ready and set to go for newer projects, it appears that she is actually absolutely done with a certain aspect of Bollywood film.

According to Sara, there is one thing that she doesn't want to do anymore, and it's starring in any more Bollywood remakes.

As you know, Sara starred alongside Varun Dhawan in Coolie No 1, which was the remake of the 1995 film starring Govinda and Karisma Kapoor.

She also did Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal opposite ex-boyfriend Kartik Aaryan, with the film being a remake of Saif and Deepika Padukone's first film.

 Prime Video

No more remakes for me right now. I will star in the remake of Atrangi Re. You tell Aanand ji and we will start rolling at India Gate in Delhi, Sara told Hindustan Times.



Sara then spoke about her belief in versatility and how doing a wide range of different films is why she loves to act in the first place.

The favorite thing of my job is that ek din main Ranveer Singh ke saath high energy gaane karungi, aur doosre din Dhanush ke saath scene karungi, Varun (Dhawan) ke saath comedy. Thats why I do what I do so that I can do everything. said Sara.

The 26-year-old also revealed how she has now become greedier for meaty parts, especially, since Atrangi Re.

 Prime Video

For me, the role and screen time matter. Of course, having done Aanand jis film, I am greedy, I want more meaty parts. I want to do all kinds of films. Today, if Rohit Shetty (director of Simmba) comes to me with another commercial film where he needs me to do another Aankh Maare, I will do it.



After seeing the nuances with which Anand ji directed me wherein he told me: Your character in Atrangi Re has zubaan pe gaali aur aankhon mein nahin chahiye... Such things are very exciting to hear, she said.

Sara will next be seen in Laxman Utekars upcoming project opposite Vicky Kaushal, with the film's shooting already reported to be wrapped up in Indore.

Source: Hindustan Times
Netflix and Chill!



Or maybe, Netflix, and Chill The F*** Out!

Yep! That's right. Looks like Netflix has taken the whole chilling game way too seriously now.

This is, at least, according to many of the viewers who have been left horrified after watching a new show on the international streaming platform.

Netflix's new show The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (Yeah, I know! A really long name) has reportedly left many fans shocked with a controversial sex scene.

 Netflix

The new show, which falls under the category of Dark Comedy and Thriller, is a miniseries created by Rachel Ramras, Hugh Davidson, and Larry Dorf.



The eight-episode-long first season is centred around the life of a heartbroken woman named Anna, which is played by Hollywood actress Kristen Bell.

 Reuters

In the show, Anna is unsure of whether or not she witnessed a murder and takes it upon herself to find the truth.



While the show has received mixed reviews from critics, it is creating a buzz around social media for showcasing a rather graphic sex scene that has left viewers just mortified.

At the end of the fifth episode, Kristen Bell's character can be seen stripping off on her doorstep before having steamy sex with Rex, a character played by Benjamin Levy Aguilar.

Now, while sex scenes have rather been normalized in films and show across countries, this one apparently takes it up a notch.

In this particular sex scene, the couple actually ends up having sex in the shower, on the stairs, and even against a window, with the footage obviously alarming people whose kids may have access to Netflix and other platforms.

 Netflix

Well, here are some fan reactions right here.



Damn, that sex scene in The Woman in the House   (@anessaann02) February 3, 2022

the woman in the house across the street from the girl in the window, why did Anna just have sex with that man who forced himself into her house? (ignore the fact that he might be good looking)  Jasmine K. (@glacier_heart) February 2, 2022

Just watched the sex scene in The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl In the Window, and Im inconsolable.



as if the title wasnt enough  Chile, anyways (@LemmeFindOut_) February 2, 2022

hating the woman in the house across the st from the girl in the window // dont look up // sex life of college girls // emily in paris genre thats supposed to be ironically bad but its just bad and not good  Hailey (@hroovy) February 3, 2022

just watched kristen bell get absolutely RAILED with my girlfriend and my mom in the same room  Eric (@NinosGoodTimes) January 30, 2022

Sorry.. it is never appropriate.. in any show or movie.. Makes me sad to see people reduced to that..  Sindy Sands (@thindi31) January 31, 2022

While these are just a few of the reactions, it's reported that Kristen Bell has now actually even apologized for the scene, even if it's been jokingly done.

Hahahahaha sorry dude  Kristen Bell (@KristenBell) January 30, 2022

It certainly looks like Kristen is having none of it.

I mean, it's still a show and what she did was according to the script.

What do you guys think?

Has Netflix gone too far this time?
Fashion designer Niti Singhal was one of the 198 contestants on the business based-reality show Shark Tank India.

She had pitched her business model Twee in One which was rejected by Shark Ashneer Grover who was harsh in his criticism.

He had said, Bahut hi ganda fashion hai yeh (Its terrible fashion). Nobody will wear this in my house. Aap yeh band kar do (You should close it down). Why are you wasting your time?. Aap mummy ke saath baith ke lehenge bech loge toh do lakh ka bik jayega (If you sell a lehenga with your mother, it will sell for two lakhs).

 Sony TV

Nitis brand deals in convertible and reversible clothing for women.



Ironically, Ashneers wife was seen wearing a dress from Nitis Twee in One on The Kapil Sharma Show.

Taking to their Instagram account, Twee in One shared a video pointing out the doglapan and wrote in their caption, We love how @madsj30 look beautiful in our Twee dress at @tksshowofficial ! Thank you Madhuri, for believing in our work.

Take a look at the video below:

Speaking to Hindustan Times about the irony and the harsh criticism that she received from Ashneer Grover, Niti said, With the kind of product I have, there has been critical feedback for a long time. I am used to it. Even mentors in the fashion industry said a few harsh things over the years. So I have received criticism, of course not as harsh as Ashneer's. But since I have, it has made me thick-skinned. I believe in my product so I have the confidence to face all criticism. And in the end, any PR is good PR, even if people are talking bad about it.

She further added, They actually cut his speech half. He actually spoke twice so you can imagine the amount of things I heard. They were sweet enough to edit it out. It went on for a long time. But not like unke bolne se mera business band hoga (It's not as if his comments will shut my business). I was just thinking it's good. TRP badh rahi hai (the TRP is increasing).

Further talking about how Ashneers wife wore a Twee dress on The Kapil Sharma Show, Niti said, On the show, Ashneer said, 'Mere ghar me to tumhare kapde koi nahi pehenega' (Nobody in my house will wear your clothes). But the funny thing is that his wife Madhuri was wearing the dress I gifted him on The Kapil Sharma Show. It's kind of funny since he always says, 'Yeh sab dogalapan hai' but I was reminded of that line when I saw it.
After the Hyundai controversy that has been raging over social media, sentiments of a large number of Indian citizens have been hurt, courtesy the controversial stand regarding 'freedom of Kashmir'. Not just Hyundai, other brands have also messed up just like this in the past, but did not get under the radar of pissed off netizens, somehow. That just changed, and looks like the first casualty is KFC.

Clearly, the implications started showing immediately, and KFC stepped up and apologised. Here's the tweet.

We deeply apologize for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride.  KFC India (@KFC_India) February 7, 2022

However, did it work? Looks like an apology post is not sufficient when it comes to doing damage control, judging by the soaring tempers of Indians on Twitter.

It's time to wrap up your business from india , wait and watch. #BoycottKFC  karnik Upadhyay (@karnikUpadhyay) February 8, 2022

You lost at least 10 customers from my family forever. That may not affect you. But, me and my family is not the only one. Millions will be there! #BoycottKFC  Madhav (@starks5s) February 8, 2022

This is final, I will never purchase anything from KFC....

KFC knows everything about Kashmir India Pakistan still the comment Kashmir issue from my side it's a lifetime boycott....  I am Rohit (@RohitBidgar) February 8, 2022

People are refusing to let KFC India or even the mother brand go scot free because the post was made from KFC Pakistan's handle. Here's an argument for the same.

Hyundai & KFC operate in China as well as Taiwan. But you will not see their Taiwanese subsidiaries ditch One China Policy or call for Taiwan's independence. Because if you do, you will never see them operating from China ever again.



Strength is feared before it is demonstrated.  Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) February 7, 2022

Looks like other brands are not exempt as well, as netizens have kept a track and old incidents are being uncovered as we speak.

Companies which posted against India



1. KFC

2. PizzaHut

3. Hyundai

4. Osaka Batteries

5. Isuzu D-Max

6. Bosch Pharmaceuticals

7. Atlas Honda Limited

8. Kia Motors Crossroads

9. Dominos



You all can go and do business only in Pakistan. #MNCsLeavePakistan  Amit kumar (@Amitnsece) February 8, 2022

Here are some more reactions, that sum up the tense environment permeating on social media right now.

Boycott @KFC_India @HyundaiIndia @KiaInd and all terrorism-supporter corporates till the time they send an official APOLOGY to GOI, persecuted Kashmiri Hindus & every Indian and fire all those executives involved in this anti-India campaign. #RightToJustice pic.twitter.com/cLDpx8h1Xa  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) February 7, 2022

Don't know what's wrong with these MNC companies like #KFC and #Hyundai - Needling India for a market which probably not even profitable. Companies are expected do business and not to dive into geo-political issues, rubbing a nation with 1.3 billion consumers in a wrong way. pic.twitter.com/K45kA7CV48  Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) February 7, 2022

I was a die hard fan of kfc. But not more than our country. @KFC_India be indian buy Indian #BoycottKFC pic.twitter.com/zIHwon6oAR  Vikram Rana (@Vikramranachd) February 7, 2022

I appeal to the centre & all the state govts to take serious action against all the @KFC_India outlets and ask them to shut their outlets .

They have no right to do buisness in India. #BoycottKFC pic.twitter.com/6CugpmjI7h  Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 7, 2022

Looks like brands need to be more vigilant in terms of expressing opinions in issues that don't directly concern them or their business in any way whatsoever, especially when it concerns sensitive geo-political issues such as Kashmir.
Meridian, MS (39302)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 68F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Dubai's 3 Fils restuarant has been named the 'Best Restaurant in Middle East & North Africa 2022' at the Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants Awards.

Sponsored by S Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, the award covers 11 countries across the MENA region, from Morocco and Tunisia to Kuwait and Qatar.

Lowe in Dubai has been awarded the Sustainable Restaurant Award, while Tresind Studio in Dubai wins the Art of Hospitality Award. Reif Othman of Reif Kushiyaki, Dubai, was voted by his peers as the winner of the Chefs' Choice Award.

Emirati chef Sahar Parham Al Awadhi takes home the MENA's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Valrhona. Bahraini chef Tala Bashmi was chosen as the MENA's Best Female Chef and Kamal Mouzawak of Tawlet in Beirut, Lebanon has been recognised with the Foodics Icon Award.

The culinary stars of the restaurant world converged at Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi yesterday (February 7) for the debut of the Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants awards.

The event was hosted in partnership with Department of Culture and Tourism  Abu Dhabi.

3 Fils, a casual contemporary restaurant located in Dubai's historic Jumeirah Fishing Harbour, also was named the Best Restuarant in the UAE. It was founded in 2016 by two Emiratis and a Singaporean. The menu features Asian fusion dishes ranging from sushi rolls to indomie, as well as king crab salads, marinated lamb ribs, and matcha chocolates with tea crumbs and milk foam from its dessert bar, Brix, located next door. 3 Fils is one of the most celebrated and recommended restaurants in the UAE. This hidden gem prides itself on elevating every dining experience with a sense of comfort, discovery and sharing in a laid-back harbourside setting.

The Japanese izakaya Zuma in DIFC, Dubai, founded by chef Rainer Becker, claims the No.2 spot, followed by Raz Rahav's OCD Restaurant in Tel Aviv (No.3), which is also named the Best Restaurant in Israel.

William Drew, Director of Content for Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants, said: "It's a great honour to announce that 3 Fils has made it to the top of the rankings at the inaugural Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants awards. It is a brilliantly executed home-grown restaurant, loved by local residents and visitors alike. There is no doubt that it sets new standards in creativity, sourcing and food presentation, coupled with a personable service style, and we are delighted to announce that it has been voted No.1. Additionally, we are excited to see that 11 countries from the region are represented on the Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants list, demonstrating the extraordinary diversity of cuisine in this region."

The United Arab Emirates tops the list with an impressive 19 restaurants, including three from host city Abu Dhabi, while Israel follows with six restaurants on the list, two of which are in the top 10: OCD Restaurant (No.3) and George & John (No.9). Following close behind are Lebanon and Saudi Arabia with five restaurants each: just outside the top 10 and leading the way for Beirut is Baron (No.12), named The Best Restaurant in Lebanon, while Riyadh's Myazu (No.15) is the winner of the Best Restaurant in Saudi Arabia title.

Egypt is also well-represented with four restaurants featured in the ranking including Sachi (No.5), making it the Best Restaurant in Egypt. Jordan also has a player in the top 10 with Fakhreldin (No.7) in Amman named the Best Restaurant in Jordan.

The anime-inspired Japanese eatery White Robata in Kuwait City comes in at No.43, making it the Best Restaurant in Kuwait, while steakhouse Cut by Wolfgang Puck in Doha (No.36) bags the Best Restaurant in Qatar award. At No 31, Mirai is the Best Restaurant in Bahrain, while Tunis restaurant La Closerie (No.46) claims the title of the Best Restaurant in Tunisia. Three Moroccan restaurants also feature, with Marrakech's La Grande Table Marocaine (No.26) being voted the Best Restaurant in Morocco, alongside Iloli (No.32) in Casablanca and +61 (No.49), also in Marrakech.

Popular Singapore-born chef Reif Othman is honoured with the Chefs' Choice Award. Designed to give recognition to a chef who has had a positive impact on the regional culinary community, the award is peer-voted by chefs of the restaurants on the MENA's 50 Best Restaurants list. Othman has worked in many of the leading restaurants throughout the region, including Zuma and Burj Al Arab in Dubai, and recently opened a new restaurant under his own name, Reif Kushiyaki, which features on the ranking at No.16. - TradeArabia News Service
Frontier bids $2.9B for rival airline Spirit

Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines are proposing to combine in a $2.9 billion deal that would create a larger discount airline to compete against the nations dominant carriers and, they say, promote lower fares.

Both are ultra-low-cost carriers that tempt travelers with rock-bottom prices for no-frills service but often generate more than their share of consumer complaints.

The deal is likely to get a close examination from antitrust regulators in the Biden Administration, which has signaled a tougher line against big corporate mergers. Consumer advocates criticized the Obama administration for allowing a string of major-airline mergers that greatly consolidated power in the industry.

However, the Frontier-Spirit combination would rank only fifth among U.S. airlines in passenger-carrying capacity and seventh in revenue. Frontier and Spirit are pitching their merger as a counterbalance to American, Delta, United and Southwest, which together control about 80% of the U.S. air travel market.

Protesters seek acting police chiefs resignation

MINNEAPOLIS  A caravan of vehicles drove through Minneapolis demanding justice in the death of Amir Locke, the 22-year old Black man who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police as officers served a no-knock search warrant.

Sundays caravan of about 50 vehicles was organized by the Racial Justice Network and other police accountability groups.

Some in the caravan then gathered in a neighborhood outside whats believed to be the home of interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman. They chanted the names of Locke as well as Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was killed by Kentucky police during a no-knock raid in 2020.

They also called for Huffmans resignation, the Star Tribune reported.

Commerce adds 33 Chinese companies to red flag list

WASHINGTON  The Biden administration is raising red flags about 33 Chinese companies whose legitimacy it cannot verify, imposing new restrictions on their ability to receive shipments from U.S. exporters and requiring extra diligence from American companies that want to do business with them.

The Commerce Department said Monday that it was adding the companies to what is known as the Unverified List, a roster of businesses worldwide that are subjected to stricter export control because U.S. officials have been unable to do customary checks.

The ability to verify the legitimacy and reliability of foreign parties receiving U.S. exports through the timely completion of end-use checks is a core principle of our export control system, Matthew Axelrod, the departments assistant secretary for export enforcement, said in a statement.

He added that the addition of 33 parties in the Peoples Republic of China to the Unverified List will assist U.S. exporters in conducting due diligence and assessing transaction risk, and signal to the PRC government the importance of their cooperation in scheduling end-use checks.

The announcement comes as Beijing occupies the worlds attention by hosting the Winter Games. And it follows a speech last week from FBI Director Christopher Wray in which he said the bureau was opening investigations related to Chinese intelligence operations about every 12 hours and warned that there was no country that presents a broader threat to our ideas, innovation and economic security than China.

China has repeatedly rejected accusations from the U.S. government, saying Washington has made groundless attacks and malicious smears.

The Commerce Departments action puts U.S. exporters on notice that they will now need a license if they want to ship products to any of the companies on the list. It alerts the flagged companies that they must certify that they are legitimate and willing to comply with U.S. regulations to continue receiving shipments.

And the move is meant to advise China that it must permit U.S. checks and inspections of the companies if it wants them to come off the list.

The Commerce Department conducts checks of some foreign companies, or end-users, that receive shipments from inside the U.S. to ensure that the companies exist and are legitimate businesses and that the products are being used for the stated purposes. Thats especially a concern in China, where products seemingly meant for commercial use wind up diverted for military purposes.

The checks are typically coordinated with the Chinese government. When the U.S. is unable to conduct a check, or unable to verify a companys legitimacy, the company can then be added to the Unverified List. It can come off the list by agreeing to a check and establishing that it is a legitimate business.

Most of the companies flagged Monday are electronics businesses, but they also include optics companies, a turbine blade company, state laboratories at universities and other businesses.

The addition of the 33 Chinese companies brings the total number of listed entities to roughly 175. Other nations with companies on the Unverified List include Russia and the United Arab Emirates.



Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Joseph Drake suffered the loss of four fingers from his left hand on Monday at the plant of the Daviess County Planing Mill company. Young Drake is a student in the manual training class at the high school and frequently has gone to the planing mill to do work in connection with the machinery at the mill. Monday morning he was working at a joiner and had been engaged for some time when a scream was heard. Upon investigation, one of the men at the mill found the young man had allowed his hand to come in contact with a revolving saw which had taken off his fingers. The young man was hurried to the hospital.

 Feb. 7, 1922, Miss Irene Piedalue, specialist from the University of Kentucky, and Mrs. Walter Evans, county home demonstration agent, held a very enthusiastic millinery meeting at Maceo. Miss Piedalue instructed how to make a hat, how to makeover and freshen materials for trimming and told the correct shapes for the different types which should be worn. Fourteen women attended the meeting and today a similar meeting will be held at Pleasant Ridge.

 Feb. 8, the supposed mountain lion, whose tracks were first seen along Yellow Creek, which runs through the farm of Allan Reid, made its appearance at the farm of Wes Cook, a few miles east of the Reid place. The animal killed a fine hog belong to Mr. Cook. The noise of the hogs squealing attracted the attention of Mr. Cook, and with his son and the dogs on the place, they started for the pig pen. Then animal escaped before their arrival.

 Feb. 9, so far only forty-five cases of influenza have been reported at the county health department, these dating back to the first week in January. A large number of cases of grip are being heard of in and about the county. Colds, grip and influenza seem prevalent. Livermore, Calhoun and many of the surrounding smaller towns are noted to have many sick people. None of the cases seems to be of a serious nature as of yet.

 Feb. 10, Whitesvilles first farm school opened Thursday morning with splendid attendance. Some 200 men and half as many women crowded into the auditorium of the parochial school and listened with undivided attention to the excellent addresses on subjects now foremost in farm life. J. R. Smyth, poultry specialist, opened the school with is address, How to Make More Money Out of Poultry. He spoke for an hour on the subject and answered many questions.

 Feb. 11, Henry Miller of Dawson Springs, Ky., was killed accidentally by Whimp Hunsacker. Several boys were hunting and had been shooting marbles from a shotgun by explosion of the cap only. One of the boys loaded the gun with powder and young Hunsacker, not being aware of the fact, placed another marble in the gun and jokingly said he believed he would shoot Miller. He pulled the trigger and the marble struck Miller in the head, causing death instantly.

50 Years Ago

 Feb. 7, 1971, the Youngers Womans Club accepted five new members in the February meeting. Mrs. Harrold Warren gave the program on safety. She urged the women to help promote passage of a bill to make it a law that drivers must have an eye test each time their licenses are renewed. Also, two special magnifying lenses have been purchases and placed in city and county schools for use by children with visual impairment.

 Feb. 8, the Owensboro-Daviess County Heart Association reviewed plans for Heart Sunday, Heart Month and established a Heart Fund Headquarters at the February board meeting. Dr. Robert Hast, describing The Candidate for a Heart Attack, discussed how a persons personality traits could affect his heart and explained the coronary care units at both local hospitals and the training procedures for nurses working in the units.

 Feb. 9, Hayward Spinks of Hartford has donated a 3,000 watt FM radio transmitter system to Kentucky Wesleyan College. The equipment, valued at $5,000, was given to the college when Spinks secured new equipment for his FM radio station in Hartford. Plans have been underway at KWC for a carrier current radio station and the use of the equipment for a college radio station is being explored.

 Feb. 10, Owensboro became an All-Kentucky City Wednesday. The city was one of 13 communities throughout the state to win the award presented at a luncheon in Lexington. The All-Kentucky city communities were selected from 26 cities that received certificates of excellence with honorable mention. Owensboro, as depicted in narrated slides and in an accompanying 72-page report on the progress of the city, draws on its geographic location and its heritage of being an old rivertown.
When I was growing up, words like courage, integrity, honesty and public service meant something. After four years of President Trump, it appears that lying, cheating, stealing, cowardice and insurrection against the U.S. democracy have absolutely no consequence to being a Republican leader.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 1, 2022

Contact: Michael Frezell, FrezellM@Michigan.gov

Gov. Whitmer Announces First-in-the-U.S. Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Road System Contract Awarded by MDOT

Fast facts:

Electreon has been selected to build a public wireless in-road charging system to pilot on a 1-mile section of road in Detroit.

In September 2021, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer first announced the pilot initiative to develop the nation's first wireless charging infrastructure on a public road in the U.S. right here in Michigan.

More than half of Michigan's automotive suppliers conduct automated vehicle testing in the state.

Michigan offers nearly 600 miles of roadway equipped for connected vehicle testing, and is building the road of the future with a new 40-mile connected corridor project being led by MDOT and the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification.

LANSING, Mich. - Governor Gretchen Whitmer, today announced the award of a contract to build a first in the United States public wireless in-road charging system allowing electric vehicles (EV) to charge while in motion and stationary. Electreon was selected to build an electric road system (ERS) in Detroit as part of the inductive vehicle charging pilot program.

"As we aim to lead the future of mobility and electrification by boosting electric vehicle production and lowering consumer costs, a wireless in-road charging system is the next piece to the puzzle for sustainability," said Governor Whitmer. "I am happy to see Michigan lead and keep building on these ground-breaking initiatives creating new business opportunities and high-tech jobs. Together, we will continue growing our economy and putting Michiganders first."

Governor Whitmer first announced the Inductive Vehicle Charging Pilot in September 2021 at Motor Bella. Later that month, MDOT released the request for proposal specifying the system is safe, scalable, interoperable with industry technology and vehicles, and financially and environmentally sustainable.

"This is such an exciting time for the Motor City and the entire state. Michigan continues to lead the charge on electric vehicles, and this investment in the first public wireless in-road charging system in the U.S. further solidifies our position as a leader in EV technology," said U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence. "Public-private partnerships like this is how we will promote innovation and outcompete the rest of the world. I applaud Electreon for receiving this award, and I'll continue to champion investments in electric vehicle infrastructure."

"Michigan is aggressively rolling out various charging solutions and we need to continue to stay ahead of the technology curve," State Transportation Director Paul C. Ajegba said. "A wireless in-road charging system will be revolutionary for electric vehicles, potentially extending their charge without having to stop."

Electreon will lead the design, evaluation, iteration, testing, and implementation of the pilot program, which aims to be operational as of 2023, working with NextEnergy and Jacobs Engineering Group. The project is currently slated for up to a 1-mile stretch of both dynamic and stationary wireless EV charging in Detroit. The project will be hosted by and live within Michigan Central, a mobility innovation district, and supported by partners like Ford Motor Co., DTE Energy, and the City of Detroit.

"We are proud and thankful to be selected by the Michigan Department of Transportation to lead and implement the first wireless electric road system in the United States," said Stefan Tongur, vice president of Electreon. "We're excited to be transferring our success in wireless charging for a variety of electric fleets - from cars to buses and heavy-duty trucks - to this innovative project. There's important work ahead with our partners in Detroit to develop scalable, 'plug-free' charging that will future-proof the city's EV infrastructure."

"The electrified future is one of the focus areas for Michigan Central, and we are creating the platform and convening the partners to help scale EVs and discover new technologies and business models," said Carolina Pluszczynski, Michigan Central development director. "Implementing a public wireless EV charging road system in the district area - the first in the U.S. - will help not only serve as an asset for innovation for many partners, now and in the future, but also as a tool for education on the value electrification can create, including for everyday needs. This collaboration symbolizes the open platform Michigan Central is creating for partners of all kinds to come together and test and deploy innovations in a real-world environment."

"Here in Michigan, embracing bold innovations that transform the future of mobility and electrification is a part of our DNA," said Trevor Pawl, chief mobility officer for the State of Michigan. "We are thrilled to see how Electreon's proposals become a nationwide model for how we can continue accelerating electric vehicle adoption and usher in a new generation of transportation technologies."

"The City of Detroit and the Office of Mobility Innovation are excited to be a part of this first-of-its-kind deployment in the U.S.," said Tim Slusser, City of Detroit's chief of mobility innovation. "We look forward to this wireless charging infrastructure attracting other mobility tech companies to Detroit to innovate. The City is committed to working with companies like Electreon to help keep Detroit at the forefront of electric vehicle technology and mobility innovation."

MDOT will provide $1.9 million in funding toward the pilot project, with Electreon contributing the remainder. Electrified roadways have the potential to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles by consumers and fleet operations alike by enabling continuous vehicle operations and turning public streets into safe and sustainable shared energy platforms.

###
MANISTEE COUNTY  The following includes reports made to the Manistee County Sheriffs Office from Jan. 9-15.

All calls may not be reported. This is part of a lengthy report and is compiled by assistant editor Arielle Breen.

Jan. 9

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 6:23 a.m. in Stronach Township.

 A gun-shooting incident was reported at 10:16 a.m. in Norman Township.

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 11:59 a.m. in Cleon Township.

 A civil issue was reported at 12:46 p.m. in Norman Township.

 Animal control was called to a complaint at 12:44 p.m. in Springdale Township.

 A person was reported as being suicidal at 1:33 p.m. in Stronach Township.

 A property damage crash was reported at 2:25 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 A coyote-vehicle accident was reported at 9:22 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies conducted a well-being check at 10:49 p.m. in Maple Grove Township.

Jan. 10

 A personal injury crash was reported at 2:57 p.m. in Pleasanton Township.

 A person was reported to have been unwanted at a location at 5:46 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies assisted Lake County with an incident at 8:55 p.m.

Jan. 11

 Truancy was reported at 9 a.m. in Dickson Township.

 A person was reported to have been unwanted at a location at 10:31 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Attempted prescription fraud was reported at 12:09 p.m. in Filer Township.

 Animal control was called to Arcadia Township at 12:44 p.m. for a dog bite.

 A person was reported to have been unwanted at a location in Filer Township.

 A neighbor dispute was reported at 3:04 p.m. in Filer Township.

 A reckless driver was reported at 3:34 p.m. in Filer Township.

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 5:55 p.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 Harassment was reported at 6:39 p.m. in Eastlake.

 Deputies assisted a citizen at 8:09 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 8:29 p.m. in Arcadia Township.

Jan. 12

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 7:51 a.m. in Brown Township.

 Truancy was reported at 9 a.m. in Onekama Township.

 Truancy was reported at 9 a.m. in Onekama Township.

 Truancy was reported at 9:02 a.m. in Onekama Township.

 Deputies assisted a citizen at 10:38 a.m. in Filer Township.

 A youth was reported as being incorrigible at 12:24 p.m. in Norman Township.

 A person was reported to have been suicidal at 3:13 p.m. in the county.

Jan. 13

 Fraud was reported at 4 p.m. in Norman Township.

 A two-vehicle property damage crash was reported at 4:21 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 A domestic incident was reported at 11:18 p.m. in Norman Township.

 Animal control was called to a complaint at 10:07 p.m. in Manistee Township.

Jan. 14

 Deputies conducted a well-being check at 9:19 a.m. in Norman Township.

 A warrant arrest was made at 10:30 a.m. in Onekama Township.

 A personal injury crash was reported at 12:46 p.m. in Stronach Township.

 A civil situation was reported in Filer Township.

 A suspicious vehicle was reported at 7:35 p.m. in Eastlake.

 Property damage was reported at 8:06 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies assisted the City of Manistee Police Department with a use of force at 11:17 p.m. in the city of Manistee.

Jan. 15

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 12:52 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies assisted the Michigan State Police with a use of force at 1:20 a.m. in the city of Manistee.

 A warrant arrest was made at midnight in Manistee Township.

 A domestic incident was reported at 6:57 a.m. in Springdale Township.

 A vehicle-turkey accident was reported at 2 p.m. in Manistee Township.
MANISTEE COUNTY  February marked the beginning of Teen Dating Violence and Prevention month, and this week, local advocates are focused on helping teenagers recognize the characteristics of a healthy relationship.

An information campaign, going on now as part of Respect Week, is aimed at raising awareness on healthy dating behaviors and how to identify unhealthy and abusive ones.

Megan McCarthy heads the Lakeshore Childrens Advocacy Center, and is one member of a recently formed public health coalition, called the Teen Dating Violence Planning Committee. McCarthy says that everyone, regardless of their age, deserves a healthy relationship that's built on respect and trust and equality.

Related content: Agencies partner to curb youth dating violence in Manistee

We want teenagers to recognize the signs of an abusive relationship and to know that those warning signs might include jealousy, possessiveness or controlling behavior, verbal criticism, if they're constantly being checked up on or socially isolated, or made to feel like they're holding the blame, McCarthy told the News Advocate.

The advocacy center provides a coordinated response with law enforcement when there has been a disclosure of sexual abuse or severe physical abuse.

That means that by the time McCarthy becomes involved in a case of teen dating violence, it must rise to a criminal level. McCarthy and other advocates want to help teens end abusive relationships before things can progress that far.

We hope that a child will never need the services of a child advocacy center. But if they do, we are here to support them through the process and to help them heal, McCarthy said in an email.

Relationship rights

Advocates like McCarthy, say that teens should be aware of their relationship rights.

Love is Respect, an extension of the National Violence Hotline, lists these rights on its website loveisrespect.org.

 You have the right to privacy, both online and off;

 You have the right to feel safe and respected;

 You have the right to decide who you want to date or not date;

 You have the right to choose when/if you have sex and who you have sex with;

 You have the right to say no at any time (to sex, to drugs or alcohol, to a relationship), even if youve said yes before;

 You have the right to hang out with your friends and family and do things you enjoy, without your partner getting jealous or controlling;

 You have the right to end a relationship that isnt right or healthy for you; and

 You have the right to live free from violence and abuse.

Healthy vs. unhealthy or abusive relationships

Not every relationship is going to look alike, but healthy relationships typically have the same hallmarks of respect, honesty and equality, according to documents from Love is Respect.

Healthy relationships are based on equality and respect. You make decisions together and can openly discuss whatever youre dealing with, like relationship problems and sexual choices. You enjoy spending time together but can be happy apart, states part of the document.

Unhealthy relationships are ones based on attempts to control the other person.

One tries to make most of the decisions. He or she may pressure their partner about sex or refuse to see how their actions can hurt. In an unhealthy relationship, you feel like you should only spend time with your partner, the document states.

Many aspects of an unhealthy relationship get amplified in an abusive one. Like unhealthy relationships, a truly abusive one is also based on things like power and control, McCarthy said.

One person is making all of the decisions  about sexual choices, friend groups, boundaries even whats true and whats not. You spend all of your time together and feel like you cant talk to other people, especially about whats really happening in your relationship, the document continues.

The hallmarks of an abusive relationship include accusations, blame shifting, isolation, pressure and manipulation.

McCarthy said this was critical information for teens as they begin dating, because she said that when younger people are involved in unhealthy relationships, that can set a pattern for being victims of domestic violence down the line and for all kinds of unsafe behaviors.

I think sometimes its a lack of knowledge for teens, that it doesnt start off as an abusive relationship  it starts off as something exciting and fun, McCarthy said. Then once lines are crossed, its critical that kids understand what is healthy and what is safe.

McCarthy said that information on healthy relationships is being shared at places where young people congregate along with resources for those who may be impacted by teen dating violence.

Collectively, we decided to make sure that resources for teens were put in visible locations, McCarthy said. We hung these in all of the area high schools, at the Armory Youth Project, at libraries, and included with that are posters that give information about healthy versus unhealthy relationships.

A number of quizzes are available at loveisrespect.org/quizzes that can help teens determine if their relationship is unhealthy or to see how they can be a better romantic partner.

If a young person suspects their relationship might be unhealthy or abusive, McCarthy and other advocates say the next step is to find help.

A 24-hour relationship violence hotline can be reached at 866-331-9474 and people can text LOVE IS to 22522 to get started. An online chat and more information on health relationships is available at loveisrespect.org.
Today, Midlanders have multiple avenues to share their thoughts to a public audience. Facebook, Twitter, a personal blog, or countless other online platforms can help one instantly convey feelings to others.

But back in the early 1970s, people might simply use pens, markers, spray paint, and a wall.

After making some initial renovations, the new owners of the former Sleepy Hollow Bookshop building, located at 22 Ashman Circle, uncovered a time capsule of doodles and messages from decades prior. However, it is largely a mystery as to why this was a gathering space for people to share their thoughts on war, romances and then-President Richard Nixon.

Kevin Harrison, owner of the Midland Furniture Garage, bought the Sleepy Hollow building months ago and began tearing down wall coverings. However, after removing some wood paneling and wall treatments, a 10-foot to 15-foot stretch of wall holding thoughts and feelings of a bygone era was revealed.

We were thrilled to find the (mural) there, Harrison said.

Reaching out to the former owner of the building for answers on the mural's origin proved to be fruitless, as they were not aware of the murals existence, Harrison said.

The wall features an abundance of messages from what appears to be the Vietnam War era. One message read, Either war is absolute, or man is. Another read, They shoots students, dont they?

More explicitly stated was a message that read, Were f*****g up in Vietnam, lets pull out now! One of the more striking messages against the war is a partially torn up celebration that reads War is over, in big, bold, black lettering.

However, not all topics on the wall relate to the war. There are remnants of the hippie movement on the wall, including one message that reads, Love doesnt die, (if it does, it doesnt die easily. Right)? There even appeared to be someone soliciting dating advice on the wall, with the question Help me choose: Mike or Dave?

Jake Huss, historical programs and exhibitions manager at the Midland Center for the Arts, said the writings were most likely done over an extended amount of time in the 1970s. When he researched the current address of the building, he found that the building housed an H&R Block office from the late 1960s into the early 1970s. Through most of the 70s, it was Pioneer Water Co., and then in the 80s it turned to Circle Video, a video rental place, he said.

One signature Huss recognizes from the mural is that of Peter Sinclair, a lifelong Midland resident and a climate change activist and videographer. While Sinclair does not remember signing his name on the mural, he does recognize the signature as his own from that time.

However, Sinclair remembers the building being used as a small bookstore in the 1970s, and a gathering place for young baby boomers. Huss said that would not have been Sleepy Hollow since it did not move in until the 1990s. But he said there could have been another bookstore in that cluster of buildings at one point.

Huss said the writings on the wall were most likely encouraged by the owners at the time, but Sinclair was not sure if that was the case. However, Sinclair said the wall reflects the emotions of young people during the time, especially with topics such as the Vietnam War.

There were a lot of young people who were not feeling heard at the time, Sinclair said. The Vietnam War was still raging, Richard Nixon was in the White House, and (there) was a lot of frustration. It seems natural that people would seek to express themselves outside of normal channels and pass messages back and forth in that way.
After a process that has been many years in the making, Huron Countys new hazard mitigation plan finally has a draft available for public viewing.

Huron Countys Emergency Services Director Randy Miller has been leading efforts to update it as he has given updates about the plans progress at Huron County Planning Commission meetings.

A hazard mitigation plan is a way for the county, or state or federal government, to recognize issues and concerns within the community and identify possible ways to mitigate those impacts before they happen.

The ultimate goal is to save lives and property and money by getting ahead of a problem before it becomes a disaster, Miller said. Sometimes it is feasible to mitigate an issue and sometimes it is not possible due to complicated reasons or size.

Having a mitigation plan helps make a community eligible for potential grants and other government programs that could assist in accomplishing a mitigation strategy.

The driving force of most mitigation efforts is funding, Miller said. A community may well identify a problem that is has no means to solve/mitigate.

It can also point out where a public-private entity partnership may work together to help mitigate a problem.

One example of that kind of partnership is utilities companies cutting trees along a power line right of way and the government establishing an ordinance saying trees that grow over a certain height not being planted in the power line right of way, Miller said. Each side benefits, the local government by having the power stay on for its citizens and the utility by not having to pay for expense repairs.

In addition to laying out how different mitigation strategies can be implemented, the 200-plus page plan has a community profile of Huron County, infrastructure, natural features, and the different kinds of hazards Huron County communities are at risk of dealing with.

There have been surveys and questions given out to all sorts of people and companies asking what they thought issues are when this plan was being put together.

The Saginaw-based Spicer Group is the vendor for producing this plan and putting it all together, with many other members of county government being of help along the way. This includes past and present planning commission members, the board of commissioners, the road commission, building and zoning Director Jeff Smith, and Tuscola Countys Emergency Management Coordinator Steven Anderson.

While the hazard mitigation plan should be updated every four to five years, Huron Countys plan was last updated in 2008 and has been in the revision process since 2014. Miller said the reason that the county is only getting its complete revision now is because the county wanted the plan to work in concert with the new master plan, which was adopted last year. He also acknowledged the COVID-19 pandemic did cause a few months of delays.

Having the mitigation plan cooperate with the overall vision of the county is important, Miller said. It takes a clear direction and makes possible solutions that make sense with the planning commission and board of commissioners wisely chose to make one plan compliment the other.

The plan will go before the planning commission at its next meeting for comment and potential recommendation to the board of commissioners. The meeting was due to be this past Wednesday, but the county building closed early due to a snowstorm and will now be at 7 p.m. on Feb. 9 in Room 305 of the county building.

Aside from the planners and board of commissioners, the plan will also be sent out to all the townships, villages, and cities in the county so that they can join the plan if they so choose. They are not required to and can establish their own plan if they desire.

The plan is at (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) for review at this time but will be looked at locally at the same time to move the process forward, Miller said.

The timeline for closing out this process is in mid-March, since that when the FEMA grant Huron County received to produce this plan will close.

The plan will be available on the Huron County website after the upcoming planning commission meeting takes place.
Courtesy photo/Getty Images

LANSING  Students who want to be given priority consideration for state of Michigan financial aid programs should submit their Free Application for Federal Student Aid  commonly known as the FAFSA  on or before March 1, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.

The application is a critical step in the financial aid process, serving as a gateway application to be considered for grants, scholarships and other forms of financial assistance. Application submissions received at the federal processor on or before March 1 are given priority consideration for the Michigan Competitive Scholarship and Michigan Tuition Grant.
FEMA recently awarded the Village of Sanford nearly $1 million through the 2020 Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) to assist in buying 18 village properties that were damaged in the May 2020 flooding caused by dam failures.

Sanford Village President Dolores Porte said Monday that the $931,930 grant is for the acquisition and demolition of five homes, seven businesses, and three rentals. Three empty lots are also included. These properties are in the flood zone closest to the Tittabawassee River and near Porte Park and Village Park.

The businesses included LL Accounting and Tax, Fieros Forever Museum, and Whippy Dip, among others.

HMGP provides grants to state, tribal and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures following a natural disaster. For this project, FEMA will pay 75% of the $1,242,573 eligible project cost, with the remaining 25% of the funds, $310,643, provided by the Village of Sanford. FEMA will also provide an initial $25,000 in sub-recipient management costs to assist Sanford in managing the grant.

Porte, who has been working on the grant for almost two years, said the property owners all have the right to opt-out of the acquisition and attempt to sell the properties on their own. But they would have to petition the state to do so since they are in a flood zone. The government doesnt want people to build in a flood zone, she said. If the owners do sell their properties to the village, they would get a pre-flood appraisal.

According to FEMA, the area is susceptible to recurring flooding unless mitigation measures are taken. To reduce the communitys flood vulnerability and to mitigate risk to life and property, these structures will be removed from the flood hazard area and the location will be reverted to open space maintained by the village.

FEMAs Hazard Mitigation Grant Program enables communities to implement critical mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate the risk of disaster losses, said Moises Dugan, acting regional administrator, FEMA Region 5, in a news release from FEMA. The damage sustained from the dam breaks ... was substantial and this project will increase the communitys resilience to future flooding.

The Sanford community is still dealing with some of the devastating impacts of the floods nearly two years ago, said Capt. Kevin Sweeney, commander of Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division. We are grateful to our federal partners for their continued efforts to help the community recover and become more resilient.

Porte said the Village of Sanford will use village rebuild funds and other donations for their part of the grant.

We are pleased we were able to get this awarded and to be able to start working with the property owners, Porte said.

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, applauded nearly $1 million in federal funding to help the Village of Sanford recover from flooding.

Federal resources are on the way to Sanford to help our community respond to recent flooding, said Kildee on Monday. In Congress, I will continue to work to bring federal resources back home to mid-Michigan to help with Midland Countys flood recovery efforts.

A Major Disaster Declaration after the dam failures in May 2020 made Sanford eligible for this FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) grant.

Kildee said he continues to advocate for mid-Michigan families impacted by the May 2020 flooding, including helping to secure more than $25 million in federal funds for the repair and reconstruction of federal highways, roads and bridges that were damaged by the dam failures.

Michigan's two U.S. Senators, Democrats Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, also issued statements about the FEMA grant for Sanford.

After flooding nearly two years ago that resulted from dam failure, Mid-Michigan communities have worked to recover from that catastrophic event and protect themselves from future damage. However, it is clear more needs to be done and I applaud FEMA for continuing to provide assistance to towns in Midland County who are still vulnerable to damage from high water levels and flooding, said Peters. Im proud to have played a part in securing this funding that will help protect the community from future flooding damage. As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee  with oversight of our nations federal disaster response  Ill continue leading efforts to ensure Michiganders, our small businesses, and our communities can withstand future natural disasters.

The community of Sanford experienced some of the worst damage from the flooding that shook Mid-Michigan in 2020. This funding represents my continuing commitment and the commitment of FEMA and other members of Congress to help Sanford and all the communities impacted by this flood fully recover and better prepare for the future, said Stabenow.
3 1 of 3 Chelsea Neelon / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Chelsea Neelon / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





MIDDLETOWN  The lieutenant governor joined Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim Monday for a tour of downtown small businesses run by Black entrepreneurs in honor of Black History Month.

Its important that people continue to support their communities by shopping local, Susan Bysiewicz said in a prepared statement. For every $1 spent at a small business, 67 cents goes back into the local community.
Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media

NEW HAVEN  One person was killed Monday afternoon in a crash in the Westville neighborhood, according to police.

Officers were called to the intersection of Chapel Street and Central Avenue around 12:14 p.m. for a motor vehicle crash, Officer Scott Shumway said in an email.
It's been just over four years since Joe and Claryce Holcombe lost their son and seven other relatives from three generations of their family when a former airman stormed into the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and fired more than 700 rounds, killing 26 parishioners.

Joe Holcombe said he had a "beautiful" relationship with his late son, John Bryan. They lived and worked on the family farm together. Since that tragic November day, the father has experienced "profound sadness, painful memories of the trauma, and avoidance of reminders of this loss" from the shooting, experts described in court documents.

The Holcombes' tragedy was detailed in a ruling Monday, in which a federal judge ordered the Air Force to pay more than $230 million to the survivors and families of the church shooting victims because the service failed to report the gunman's criminal history to state authorities. That history would have stopped him from buying the firearm he used to gun down the parishioners.

Read Next: Commissaries Eye Grocery Delivery to Homes Near 8 Military Installations

"The losses and pain these families have experienced is immeasurable," Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas wrote. "Ultimately, there is no satisfying way to determine the worth of these families' pain."

Despite the Air Force admitting that a mistake had allowed the gunman, Devin P. Kelley, to fall through the cracks, the service has made it difficult for survivors and family members to get financial closure, one of the lawyers who represented the families told Military.com.

"The Air Force gave lip service, saying 'we were wrong, and we made mistakes that caused this,'" Jamal Alsaffar said. "But then fought [the survivors of the shooting] tooth and nail and tried to deny responsibility in every stage of this case."

After the 2017 shooting, Air Force officials claimed they would make immediate reforms.

That year, a Pentagon inspector general's report found that all military services "consistently" failed to submit fingerprint data for 24% of the convicted offenders reviewed.

Notably, one of the Air Force's law enforcement offices failed to report 60% of the fingerprint and final disposition reports for convicts, the review detailed.

"This was not just a one-time mistake," Alsaffar said. "The Air Force and the entire military was aware for 30 years that they were not reporting dangerous felons in the background check system."

Under federal law, Kelley shouldn't have been allowed to purchase the rifle used in the shooting because of a prior conviction of domestic assault against his wife and stepson. He received a bad conduct discharge from the Air Force in 2014.

Then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told Washington officials in 2017 that local offices were now required to loop in higher levels of command before closing criminal cases and that officers must verify that the records have been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's database.

In 2019, the Air Force acquired a new program for crime reporting that replaced an outdated computer system that had been around since the 1990s.

Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, declined to comment on what other policy measures have been taken to ensure such a tragedy doesn't occur again.

Stefanek, when asked about an appeal, added, "We are aware of the court's award and are reviewing the judge's ruling,"

In response, Alsaffar said, "The folks that are making this decision are the president of the United States, the Attorney General of the United States and the Department of Justice, not a media spokesperson."

In the four years since the shooting, the victims have had to relive their trauma every anniversary, for every trial and every time many of them go back to that church.

But for those parishioners who served in the military, it's knowing that the Air Force has battled them in court that really hurts.

"Quite a few of the victims who were seriously injured, one who was permanently paralyzed, and several who died in that shooting are veterans," Alsaffar said. "So, this was particularly painful for them."

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: Air Force Ordered to Pay More Than $230M in Church Shooting
The Air Force granted its first batch of religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine to nine airmen but won't comment on the circumstances, including whether the service members were already on their way out of the ranks.

Eight of the requests were approved; another airman was rejected but won on appeal, according to a service news release Monday. So far, the Air Force has kicked out 142 airmen for refusing to get the vaccine.

"The Department of the Air Force determined the service members' accommodations could be supported with no impact to mission readiness," spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in an emailed statement.

Read Next: Air Force Fought Families of Texas Church Shooting Victims 'Tooth and Nail,' Lawyer Says

But Stefanek declined to say whether these service members were already on terminal leave or already on their way out of the ranks, the basis for approval in other cases elsewhere in the military.

The Marine Corps made headlines last month when it became the first military branch to grant three religious exemptions, but all three went to Marines who were functionally no longer serving.

As of Feb. 1, 96% of airmen were fully vaccinated; however, no exemptions had been announced at that time.

Yet, a document filed with a federal court on Feb. 4 noted that the branch had granted six exemptions. The remaining three were apparently granted sometime in the last week.

The filing is part of a legal case in the northern district of Florida that aims to be a class-action lawsuit and names officers and enlisted personnel from all the military branches, as well as civilian contractors.

The suit asks the federal court to strike down the vaccine mandate as illegal. The case gained attention last week when the judge issued an injunction that stopped the Navy from removing a commander and a Marine lieutenant colonel from their jobs over their refusal.

In the injunction, the judge overseeing the suit, Steven Merryday, wrote that the two officers were "very likely to prevail on their claim that their respective branch of the military has wrongfully denied a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccination."

"The record creates a strong inference that the services are discriminatorily and systematically denying religious exemptions without a meaningful and fair hearing," the judge added.

The Marine Corps recently changed its reenlistment code for those being booted from its ranks, making it easier for vaccine refusers to reenter the service if they subsequently get vaccinated.

Similarly, the Air Force added that "there is no pre-established reenlistment code for those separated for vaccine refusal."

"Each case is assessed on its own merits, as is the discharge characterization," Stefanek said, but did not discuss whether the Air Force is mirroring the Marine Corps' policy.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: The 3 Religious Exemptions Granted by the Military Went to Marines on Their Way Out
The Defense Commissary Agency, or DeCA, is gearing up to provide grocery delivery from stateside stores, beginning with a test run at eight facilities sometime in the coming months.

A preliminary contract solicitation published by the Defense Department on Jan. 31 indicates that a pilot program will offer delivery within a 20-mile "driven" radius of select stores.

Orders would be placed through DeCA's online Click2Go system, already in use for curbside pickup.

Read Next: Another Leaked Video Offers a Dramatic View of F-35C Crash Aboard Carl Vinson

According to the contract notice, the installations selected for the test include:

The solicitation does not include a timeline for the program to start. Defense Commissary Agency spokesman Kevin Robinson declined Tuesday to comment on the projected availability.

"It would not be appropriate for the Defense Commissary Agency to comment on the specifics of this procurement action," Robinson told Military.com.

The pilot is expected to run for a little over four months, with the selected delivery company given 45 days to develop its system and 90 days of delivery service, according to the notice.

Under the program, customers will place their orders; select a two-hour delivery window; and pay via Click2Go, with the total cost covering groceries, the commissary surcharge, delivery fee and tip.

Commissary staff will then select, bag and stage the items for the contractor to pick up and deliver during the selected time frame.

Customers will set a preference to be notified of the delivery via call, text or email.

The solicitation does not specify how much contractors will charge for a delivery. Delivery fees from popular grocery stores such as WalMart or Giant depend on the size of the order, ranging from $6.95 to $9.95 with discounts for memberships.

The fee likely will be determined by the contractor.

Under the contract, the commissary will remain the initial point of contact for customers who have problems with their orders, including damaged or unusable products. The contractor is obligated to reimburse the government for any waste resulting from poor handling or delayed delivery.

The delivery company will be responsible for ensuring that cold and frozen items are delivered at appropriate temperatures, according to the solicitation.

System-wide curbside pickup and home delivery have been long-term goals for Defense Commissary Agency Director Bill Moore, who assumed leadership of the agency five months after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Moore told Military.com in December 2020 that DeCA needed to begin offering such services at all stores to remain competitive, increase patronage and improve access to the commissary benefit.

"I don't feel like we have a whole lot of time to make some significant changes. The benefit is just too important to not being better at it and delivering it," Moore said during an interview Dec. 15, 2020.

During the pandemic, DeCA accelerated the timeline for instituting curbside pickup through Click2Go across the system. As of Sept. 30, 2021, all 236 commissaries offer online ordering and pickup.

The contract pre-solicitation indicates that the goal is to provide home delivery at all commissaries in the continental United States but does not establish a timeline for complete rollout. It asks interested companies to provide information on their nationwide delivery capability, as well as their initial delivery abilities and potential expansion.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.

Related: Inflation and Supply Chain Issues Are Cutting into Savings at Commissaries
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration has approved a $100 million support contract with Taiwan aimed at boosting the islands missile defense systems as it faces increasing pressure from China.

The State Department announced the engineering and maintenance agreement on Monday as China plays host to the 2022 Winter Olympics.

China, which is sharply critical of any American arms sales to Taiwan, called on the U.S. to revoke the deal and stop any military interaction with the self-governing island.

U.S. arms sales to Taiwan ... seriously undermine Chinas sovereignty and security interests, and seriously damage China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Tuesday.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province, has not ruled out the use of force to unify the island with the mainland and has in recent months escalated fighter jet flights near Taiwan.

The support agreement is meant to help Taiwan maintain its existing air-defense missiles and advanced U.S.-made Patriot missiles that Taiwan is acquiring.

Taiwan's defense ministry tweeted its thanks to the U.S. for the agreement's approval.
The day after Christmas in 1944, the 92nd Infantry Division was in Italy fighting the Nazis in the Serchio River Valley. Among them was Lt. John R. Fox, a forward observer with the 598th Artillery Battalion. Positioned on the second floor of a house in the village of Sommocolonia, Fox watched as the Americans abandoned the town in the face of overwhelming German numbers.

As he called in artillery fire, he realized his position in the house was about to be overrun. So he called for a strike on his own coordinates. He told the artillery to give the enemy hell. Fox was killed in the barrage, along with 100 enemy troops. He wouldn't receive recognition for his sacrifice until 1982, when he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Decades after Fox gave his life in a small Italian village, the U.S. government decided he was denied because of systemic racism in the awards process.

Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond, commanding general of the 92nd Infantry, inspects his troops during a decoration ceremony in Italy in 1945. (National Archives) Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond, commanding general of the 92nd Infantry, inspects his troops during a decoration ceremony in Italy in 1945. (National Archives)

Italy capitulated to the Allies and turned on its former Axis partner, Germany, in 1943. Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was overthrown and later killed, and Hitler's forces occupied the land it held. Rome fell to the Allies that same year. By December 1944, American forces were pushing the Germans back into northern Italy.

The 92nd Infantry Division, also known as the Buffalo Soldiers, was a segregated unit sent to the Italian Front in 1944. It was the only all-Black infantry division to fight in combat in Europe during World War II. Fox and his company arrived in Italy on Dec. 9, 1944

On Dec. 23, Fox volunteered to head an artillery observation post in the contested village of Sommocolonia, held by just 70 Black soldiers and 25 Italian partisans. It was supposed to be a four-day mission, but Fox and the Americans had no clue the Germans were preparing to go on the offensive. Operation Wintergewitter (Winter Storm) was specifically designed to target the newly arrived and inexperienced 92nd Infantry.

Three days after Fox set up his position on the second story of a house, the Germans significantly increased their mortar attacks on the American positions in Sommocolonia. Early that morning, the 92nd took small arms fire and artillery barrages for the first time ever.

A relentless series of attacks from the German 14th army quickly followed, and the Germans would not be taking any Black prisoners. Although the Americans were ordered to hold the village at all costs, the 92nd could not hold against the swarms of enemy troops coming at it. Fox ordered his men to retreat with the rest of the Americans.

As they made their getaway, Fox continued to send coordinates to the artillery supporting the American defense of the village. The coordinates kept getting closer until he finally ordered an artillery strike on his own position.

The voice on the other end of the radio was Otis Zachary, a good friend of Fox's. He warned Fox that he was calling in an attack on himself, to which Fox replied: "Fire It! There's more of them than there are of us. Give them hell!"

Along with the 29-year-old Fox, the artillery killed an estimated 100 German troops and gave the Americans enough time to conduct an orderly retreat and help Italian civilians escape the carnage. The German offensive was also delayed. The 92nd reorganized itself and launched a counterattack, taking the village again on Jan. 1, 1945.

Despite his sacrifice, Fox wasn't recommended for any medal at the time of his death. His remains were sent home and buried in Whitman, Massachusetts. That was the end of Fox's story until 1982, when Fox received the Distinguished Service Cross after the Pentagon began to review the records of Black soldiers.

Lt. John R. Fox in 1943. (U.S. Army) Lt. John R. Fox in 1943. (U.S. Army)

But that's not the end of the story, either.

Not a single Black soldier received the Medal of Honor during World War II, and Black veterans groups wanted to know why. In 1993, President Bill Clinton took office and ordered the Pentagon to find out. Although no direct evidence of discrimination was found, it noted that systemic racism permeated the culture of the war department.

The Army asked North Carolina's Shaw University to investigate the Army's nominations and awards processes at the time. In 1996, Shaw recommended that 10 Black soldiers be considered to receive the Medal of Honor for their actions in World War II. Fox was one of those 10 soldiers, and one of seven to be approved for an upgrade.

In 1997, Clinton presented Fox's Medal of Honor to his widow, Arlene.

''I think it's more than just what it means to this family," Arlene Fox said during the presentation ceremony. "I think it sends a message to all, like a little wakeup call, that when a man does his duty, his color isn't important.''

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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The Houston Race Riot of 1917 resulted in what's known as the largest court-martial in U.S. military history. That August, 20 people were left dead after soldiers from the 24th Infantry Division clashed with White police officers on the streets near Camp Logan, Texas.

"The White citizens were apprehensive about the presence in their city of armed Blacks [soldiers] wearing the uniform of the United States Army, especially since as military guards, the soldiers would be in a position to exercise authority over them," Robert Haynes said in his 1973 report for "The Southwestern Historical Quarterly."

At the same time, the 8th Illinois Regiment -- the first all-Black National Guard unit and the first to be commanded by Black officers -- became federalized and headed to Houston for training. The troops arrived at Camp Logan in October 1917, two months before 13 soldiers from the 24th Infantry Division were executed for their role in the riot.

Soldiers from the 8th were recruited from prominent Black neighborhoods in Chicago and Springfield. Areas like Bronzeville, Illinois, were like a "city within a city" where Black residents had established their own political base, economy and press, much like Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was known as "Black Wall Street" at the time.

Black men line up to enlist for active service in the 8th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Chicago, IL, 1917. The 8th Illinois became part of the 93rd Provisional Division, and the Army re-designated it as the 370th Infantry Regiment. (National Archives) Black men line up to enlist for active service in the 8th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Chicago, IL, 1917. The 8th Illinois became part of the 93rd Provisional Division, and the Army re-designated it as the 370th Infantry Regiment. (National Archives)

Fighting 8th Viewed as a Source of Pride

Robert Jefferson Jr., a professor of Black history at the University of New Mexico, said the neighborhoods also had their own soldiers, the "Fighting 8th," whom residents upheld as a focal point in the community and a source of racial pride.

"It was not uncommon to walk into someone's home and see a photograph of a soldier from the 8th Illinois hanging on the wall," he said. "They were our Barack Obamas or the people we know as the most notable African-Americans in our society today. They were our long-distance runners and the ones we pointed to as being the yardstick for achieving full equality in American society."

Heroes in their communities but Black nonetheless, the troops were required to overcome and endure training through heightened racial tensions in Houston and then in Newport News, Virginia's segregated, Jim Crow South.

Upon their deployment to Europe during World War I, the 8th was redesignated as the 370th Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division, and was determined to serve in combat. Members of the 370th rejected the notion Black soldiers wouldn't stand to fight and should perform only garrison and logistical duties.

"For many of those who served in units like the 8th Illinois, this was their chance to prove not only who they were as African-Americans, but who they were as men," Jefferson said.

'Black Manhood'

"Black manhood" is a common theme in the discussion about why Black troops would enthusiastically volunteer to fight for a country that denied them fundamental rights and equality at home. In his report, Haynes cited soldiers' hopes of being afforded the same privileges and respect other men in uniform received if they proved they were worthy in combat.

Army Gen. John J. Pershing commanded the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe and, according to Jefferson, resented the thought of Black soldiers facing combat with the French but made an exception to fulfill manpower shortages.

When they arrived, the 370th was refitted with French uniforms and equipment to ultimately prove they could not only function under direct fire but operate as an organized unit.

"They got a sense of this transnational feeling of fellowship ... and saw what true, interracial democracy might look like," Jefferson said. "They saw rank discrimination exhibited by the American forces while also seeing this enlightened sense of a new world coming into being."

American troops of the 93rd Division receive machine gun training in France, 1918. (National Archives) American troops of the 93rd Division receive machine gun training in France, 1918. (National Archives)

'Black Devils' Earn Plethora of Honors

As they addressed French civilians' questions about rumors, like "Black soldiers had tails," the men of the 370th conducted themselves in a manner to leave a legacy of valor.

They became known to their German adversaries as the "Black Devils" for their fighting capabilities and received 21 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal and 68 Croix de Guerre, a French military cross that rewards acts of bravery. Lt. Col. Otis B. Duncan was the highest-ranking Black officer to serve in combat during World War I and was awarded a Croix de Guerre.

Later units would be sure to emulate and attempt to live up to the 370th's discipline and battle superiority. But Jefferson also said the 8th Illinois' legacy is one of camaraderie and unit cohesion.

"They were very much responsible to each other," he said. "This unit, in particular, would not be discouraged by the racial [prejudices] taking place around them. If anything, it had the tendency to make them come together as a collective."

Members of the 370th received a hero's welcome when they returned to Chicago. Citizens collected donations to erect the Victory Monument in 1925, which stands in Bronzeville today as a dedication to the Fighting 8th and a symbol of the community's identity. The 178th Infantry, Illinois National Guard carries the legacy of the 370th and deployed in 2008 to support Operation Enduring Freedom.

Jefferson added that systemic racism to this day has denied some distinguished members of the 8th Illinois recognition for their sacrifice and selfless service. Other notable Black military units that have blazed a path forward but may not have been fully recognized include:

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Leader of the Association Mallam Sheibu

08.02.2022 LISTEN

Members of a Kumasi-based Moslems group calling itself Moslem Mobile Preachers Association (M.M.P.A) have expressed worry about the activities of illegal miners popularly known as galamsey in the country.

The group made the observation during their recent journey to some towns and villages such as Manso, Tontokrom, Dantano and Takorawasi during their religious crusades.

At the said villages and towns, they allegedly came across some illegal miners who were busily polluting the water bodies in addition to the destruction of the forest reserves, a situation that prompted them to take pictures.

Speaking to the correspondent in reaction to what they saw, the leader of the group, Mallam Sheibu alleged that the illegal miners were seen using heavy earth moving equipment among others in their activities.

At both Tontokrom and Manso for instance, he said they allegedly witnessed how two big streams had been muddied and blocked from flowing.

Aside dirty fuel and broken materials that were also seen at the galamsey sites, deep holes created by the alleged illegal miners were left covered.

Describing the degree of damages, the illegal miners have caused to the environment as unfortunate, Sheibu said the sources of drinking water for residents in the affected areas have been destroyed.

Sheibu has made a passionate appeal to the government to sit up and restructure its effort at clamping down the activities of illegal miners who have devised so many means to continue their illegal activities.
08.02.2022 LISTEN

The Volta regional branch of Salvation Army Church has donated some items to tidal wave victims at Kedzikope, a suburb of Keta in the Volta Region on Friday, February 4, 2022.

The items donated include 76 bags of 25kilograms of Jasmine rice and four gallons of cooking oil.

Major Ebenezer Danqua, the Volta Divisional Head of Salvation Church who led the group for the donation told ModernGhana News that the gesture was a show of kindness and support to those who were displaced last years by the tidal waves.

He also explained that their team of directors were in the area some weeks ago to assess the level of damages caused by the tidal waves.

He stated that the church through their normal benevolent effort decided to extend a helping hand to the victims to mitigate any pain and hardship they may be going through.

"Yes,we know these may not be enough per the number of damages and the households affected,but we plead to you to be managing this as we plan for other helps for you," he added.

According Major Ebenezer, the items were sent from the headquarters of the church in Accra to the Volta chapter to be given to the tidal wave victims as a way of support.

"We are even planning to do more for you in near future since the level of damages and trauma caused to you psychologically is higher than one can imagine. We believed there is more blessing in giving as instructed by God in the Holy Bible onto all humans," he stated.

Mr George Goka, one of the leaders at Kedzikope who received the item on behalf of the community thanked the leaders, pastors and the entire Salvation Army church for the kind gesture.

He pledged the items will be shared accordingly for everyone to benefit.

He also appealed to other individuals, churches, corporate organizations among others to help since the damaged created by the tidal waves is huge.

Further information gathered by ModernGhana news indicates that about 179 households and over 400 people were affected by the tidal waves at Kedzikope.

Some beneficiaries who spoke to this reporter expressed their excitement over the gift and thanked the Salvation Army church for coming to their aid.

It will be recalled that in November 2021, thousands of residents in Ketu South Municipality, Keta municipality and Anloga District in the Volta region were displaced by tidal waves.

Several properties worth millions of cedis were destroyed leaving many stranded and traumatized.

The National Disaster Management Organization later distributed some relief items as well as help from politicians, individuals, philanthropists and groups.
The people Agave in the South Tongue District of the Volta region have celebrated their annual traditional Dzawuwu festival to mark and perform some sacrifices to purify their land for better future ahead.

It was the original festival of the Agave people from Hogbe to the present abodes in the traditional area in South Tongu.

The festival is essentially the cleansing and feeding of the gods led by Togbe Gborbleh and Adzemu with their various cults.

The festival as usual starts from November every year on any Dabala market day that falls on a Thursday and ends on any Dabala market day that falls on Thursday in January.

From the January market day on Thursday, Togbe Adzemunua, the Head of all the Chief Priests and Chief Priestesses leads all priests to the seven principal shrines of Agave to perform the customary celebration with citizens of the clans and the cults.

The activity which lasted for seven days visitation to the seven principal shrines, after which the Paramount Chief enstooled on the Gborbleh Ivory Stool and cult was invited by the Adzemunua for the closing and thanksgiving together with the Chief priests for prayers and sacrifices in the Agave State.

Further information gathered by ModernGhana News indicates that there is no other confirmed paramount chief or Acting chief for Agave since 2009. This means that the annual mini durbar has since been performed by the Stool Father of Togbe Yelu Keteni, the Senior Divisional Chief of Tsiala clan and the owner of the Agave Paramount Stool on behalf of the Agave State.

Togbe Yelu Keteni and his Stool Father have been in charge of the festival for the past 10 years.

Though this year's festival has witnessed a little confusion among some youths and other elders of the traditional area, the peace pipe was finally smoked which allowed for it to be celebrated.
A Kumasi-based Non-Governmental Organisation, Damak Sanitation Health Watch has extended a cleanup exercise to the Kumasi Tafo government hospital.

The program forms part of the organisation's social interventions aimed at supporting government efforts to keep the country clean.

Residents joined the group in the Tafo township busily desilting choked bridges and gutters, weeding bushy areas among others.

Speaking to the media after the program the Chief Executive Officer of Damak Sanitation Health Watch Mr Daniel Mbabugri Akugri hinted that the event is part of series of exercises to be done yearly.

According to him, the program seeks to educate and inform the public on the need to keep the environment clean.

Mr Mbabugri is urging government to make available logistics to ensure the enforcement of the sanitation bye-laws.

He thanked the Municipal Environmental Officer, Mr Ebenezer Kwaku Baotey for the support during the exercise.

On his part, the Tafo Municipal Sanitation Officer, Madam Linda Owusu lauded Damak Sanitation Health Watch for the gesture.

She urged all and sundry to do as much as they can to help to keep the environment clean.

The Assemblyman for the Tafo-Nyieaso Electoral Area, Hon. Alhaji Bashiru Mohammed Gambo who led the exercise in his area stressed that sanitation is a huge challenge confronting the area.

He commended Damak Sanitation Watch for choosing Tafo Municipality for its assignment.
Prophet Dr Jonas Affum Fianko

08.02.2022 LISTEN

Founder and leader of the City of Shiloh Prayer Center located at Mankessi in the Central Region, Prophet Dr Jonas Affum Fianko aka Prophet Magraa has said inspite of the challenges confronting the country, the year 2022 will be different.

He notes that the country will experience massive progress.

The man of God indicated that a spiritual white symbol of apparel that attracts goodness is hanging on the nation.

Speaking to the correspondent in an interview, the Prophet said Ghanaians need not fear or panic about what will happen this year since God's mighty hands are upon the country.

The prophet assured that the glory of God which is shining upon the country will empower the citizens to renew their faith in the Lord to conquer whatever stands their way.

In his scriptural point of view, Prophet Magraa said the Bible makes it clear that with "our eyes we shall see the reward of the wicked and that the just shall live by faith."

According to him, if the faithful God is assuring his people about His protection and glory "then what can be the cause of our fear."

Delving further, the man of God hinted that the year 2022 will take a form in three apparels.

The first apparel, he disclosed would be in the form of a red symbol that will project the country against dangers the world would encounter this year.

He added that the second apparel which is a black symbol will also protect Ghanaians against unprecedented deaths that would greet the world in 2022.

The white apparel which is the third symbol, Prophet Maagra revealed, is the glory and protection of the country.

"The most interesting part about white apparel is that it will attract good things to thwart economic challenges," Maagra pointed out.

The Prophet also called on Ghanaians to be resolute and prayerful to ensure that the country overcomes its challenges through the protection that God has assured this year 2022.
The African Union concluded its annual summit on Sunday, condemning a recent wave of military coups on the continent. An unprecedented number of member states have been suspended from the bloc amid fears of democratic "backpedalling".

The recent spate of coups d'etat on the continent was among the main issues raised at the two-day gathering in Addis Ababa, although African leaders got bogged down in heated discussions over the AU's ties to Israel.

Less than two weeks before the summit began on Saturday, Burkina Faso became the fourth country to be suspended by the African Union after disgruntled soldiers toppled President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Guinea, Mali and Sudan are also currently suspended.

Speaking on Sunday, the head of the AU's Peace and Security Council Bankole Adeyo said: "Every African leader in the assembly has condemned unequivocally ... the wave of unconstitutional changes of government.

"At no time in the history of the African Union have we had four countries in one calendar year, in 12 months, suspended," Adeoye added.

Former Chadian prime minister Moussa Faki Mahama, who chairs the African Union Commission, painted a stark picture of the state of democracy on the continent, alluding to Africa's instability in the 1970s by stating: "It gives the impression that Africa is backpedalling to a period when coups d'etat were legion in Africa, and that is not acceptable."

However, the AU has itself been accused of giving inconsistent responses, notably by failing to suspend Chad after a military council took over following the death of longtime President Idriss Deby Itno last April.

Analysts say AU institutions must be more proactive to prevent putsches.

"It is only when crisis hits that we say, 'Gosh, how come this country is falling apart like this so quickly?'" quipped Solomon Dersso, founder of the AU-focused Amani Africa think-tank.

Debate on relations with Israel suspended

Meanwhile, African leaders agreed to suspend a debate on the AU chairman's controversial decision to grant observer status to Israel, postponing a potentially divisive vote.

In July, Faki's overtures to Israel drew protest from influential members including South Africa and Algeria, which argued that it flew in the face of AU statements supporting the Palestinian Territories.

Both countries pushed to have the issue put on the summit agenda.

During Saturday's session, Faki defended Israel's observer accreditation, noting that 44 member states have diplomatic ties with Israel.

He also maintained that the move is "in total harmony" with the African Union's backing of a two-state solution and Palestinian independence.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has called for Israel's accreditation to be revoked, saying Israel "should never be rewarded" for its "apartheid regime".

The AU says it will launch a six-country committee to study the issue, including South Africa and Algeria as well as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supported Faki's move.

Ethiopia peace push

Despite pressure from advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch, the AU summit did not appear to extensively address the 15-month 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 has made any intervention by the bloc particularly 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.

Obasanjo is due to head to conflict zones this week, and the AU will provide "experts from the African continent" to back up his push for dialogue.
The Deputy General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen has rubbished claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC's) General Secretary, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia that the NDC MPs who engage in the brawl in Parliament over the passage of the controversial E-levy were defending the 1992 Constitution.

According to him, what happened in Parliament was despicable and must not be lauded by any fair-minded person in the country.

Nobody should glorify what transpired in Parliament over the passage of the controversial E-levy, he said.

Mr. Obiri Boahen said this in an interview with Kwame Obeng Sarkodie on the Ghana Yensom morning show on Accra 100.5 FM on Monday, February 7, 2022.

According to him, what happened on the floor of Parliament cannot be said to be in defense of the 1992 Constitution.

For somebody to say what transpired on the floor of Parliament was in defense of the Constitution was the glorification of irresponsibility from Members of Parliament who are supposed to know better, Mr. Boahen stated.

He said the actions of the NDC MPs must not receive any applause from any quarters whatsoever.

He noted that the comment attributed to the NDCs scribe that NDC MPs should slap the Deputy Speaker when he attempts to vote for the passage of the E-levy is reckless and irresponsible.

This irresponsibility on the part of the NDC MPs must not be glorified in any quarters, he stressed.

He said the NDC's General Secretary needs tutorials in good governance.

---Classfmonline
The deadly riots that rocked South Africa after ex-president Jacob Zuma was jailed last year exposed significant intelligence lapses by the police, said an inquiry report released on Monday.

ANC factional battles also fuelled the July 2021 violence, which overwhelmed the security forces, the report found. The unrest was the deadliest in South Africa's democratic era.

The report into the handling of the riots by a government-appointed expert panel was made public by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday.

"There was a failure by the intelligence structures to anticipate and respond adequately to the violence," it found.

The intelligence services "failed to predict the nature, scale and modus operandi" of the violence while the police had "insufficient capacity" to curb it, the report added.

The experts also said that the information they gathered suggested "that the internal differences within the governing party, the ANC, contributed to the unrest".

The African National Congress is divided mainly between supporters of Ramaphosa and those of his predecessor Zuma, who was forced to resign over corruption in 2018.

The ANC had admitted that some of the people "inciting" the violence were their members, the report said, adding however that "it is unclear whether disciplinary action was taken against such members".

In an address to his party meeting last month, Ramaphosa remarked that "divisions and factions in the ANC are becoming a threat to our democracy".

Mobs overran dozens of shopping malls and warehouses, carting away flat-screen televisions, refrigerators, leather couches and cartons of fresh meat.

Some even smashed automatic teller machines and emptied them of cash.

"The police admitted that the large numbers were overwhelming," it said.

Riot organisers 'largely faceless'

The unrest broke out after Zuma was jailed for contempt over his refusal to testify before a commission probing state corruption during his presidency.

The rioting and looting started in his home region, KwaZulu-Natal, before spreading to Johannesburg.

More than 350 people were killed and some 50 billion rand ($3.2 billion) was wiped off the economy.

The riots were largely organised by protesters on social media, the panel found, with the masterminds remaining "largely faceless".

To date none of the "real instigators" of the violence have been arrested, something that is "a matter of concern", the panel said.

Only eight people have appeared in court over the riots, according to the priority crimes unit of the police.

The methods used by protesters, including widespread and simultaneous looting and the torching of property, took the police by "surprise", the report said.

Police failed to "adapt their tactics to the situation facing them, (they were) inadequately equipped and they ran out of crowd control equipment", it added.

"There is no doubt that the police had insufficient capacity to stop the violence," it said.

Days into the unrest, Ramaphosa deployed around 25,000 troops before order was restored and called the violence an attempted insurrection.

After the riots, he shook up his cabinet, scrapped the state security ministry and firmly placed intelligence services under the control of his office.

sn/gd

South Africa's economy shrank for the first time in a year in the third quarter as the country was hit by riots and tighter Covid restrictions, official statistics showed Tuesday.

After four consecutive quarters of growth, the economy of Africa's most industrialised country contracted by 1.5 percent between July and September compared to the previous three-month period, the Stats SA agency said.

The contraction eroded "some of the economic gains the country has made since the severe impact of Covid-19 in the second quarter of 2020," Stats SA said in a statement.

The economy underperformed "under the twin pressures of tighter Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and a spate of civil disorder in July, as well as several other headwinds", the agency said.

A spree of arson and looting rocked parts of South Africa in July following the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma for contempt after he refused to appear before graft investigators.

The unrest in the two most populous provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal killed more than 300 people and caused damage worth more than $1.7 billion (1.5 billion euros).

The country worst-hit by Covid in Africa also tightened coronavirus restrictions in July to tackle a third wave of infections.

South Africa is also entering a fourth wave of infections fuelled by a highly-mutated virus variant known as Omicron.

Dozens of countries have blacklisted South Africa, the first country to officially announce the detection of the variant, dealing another blow to its struggling tourist industry ahead of the summer high season.

GDP in the third quarter of 2021 was on par with the first quarter of 2016, it added.

Six of South Africa's 10 main industries recorded a decline in production during third quarter.

Trade, catering and accommodation industries fell by 5.5 percent.

Fourth wave ahead

Manufacturing shrank by 4.2 percent, while agricultural activity plunged by 13.6 percent, its biggest drop in five years.

Household expenditure also decreased by 2.4 percent, with less spending reported on both durable and non-durable goods.

"The looting and closure of retailers in KwaZulu-Natal during the civil disorder resulted in food shortages. Many consumers struggled to buy basic supplies," said the data collector.

South Africa was in recession when the pandemic hit.

A hard lockdown imposed in March last year brought many industries to a standstill, and rolling restrictions have continued to stifle business.

Recurring electricity cuts forced by ageing and poorly designed power plants have added to the economic woes.

The economy contracted by a record 6.4 percent in 2020, but rebounded faster than expected during the first half of this year.

Real GDP in the first nine months of 2021 increased by 5.8 percent compared to the same period the previous year, and the economy has been predicted to grow by 5.1 percent in 2021.

But unemployment keeps creeping to new highs since coronavirus started, rising to 34.9 percent in the third quarter of 2021.
Tunisian police on Monday blocked access to the country's top judicial watchdog in a move its chief slammed as "illegal", two days after President Kais Saied dissolved the body.

Security forces blocked all roads to the Supreme Judicial Council (CSM) headquarters in Tunis.

"We don't know who issued these orders but we know that they have no legal basis," CSM president Youssef Bouzakher told AFP.

Saied dissolved the body on Sunday, months after sacking the government and seizing wide-reaching powers in Tunisia, often lauded as the only democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab revolts.

His supporters say his power grab on July 25 was necessary after a decade of misgovernance by corrupt political parties.

Saied vowed Monday that he would not interfere in court cases or judicial appointments.

"I will never interfere with the judiciary," he said, adding that he had only taken the CSM decision "because it had become necessary, and because the Tunisian people want the country to be cleansed".

Speaking to Prime Minister Najla Bouden in a filmed meeting posted on his Facebook page, he said the courts had been the scene of "farces".

"Whoever thought the judiciary was a tool to achieve his own personal or political goals must know that he will never be able to infiltrate the courts."

But critics say Saied has pushed the country down a dangerous route back towards autocracy.

Bouzakher said the closure of the CSM "proves that we have entered a phase where the executive is using force to seize control of all state institutions, including the judiciary".

Warning of threats to "rights and liberties", he said the CSM would carry on with its work.

Saied had said Sunday that the CSM was corrupt and had delayed politically sensitive investigations into the assassinations of left-wing opposition figures Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi.

The CSM said he lacked the legal and constitutional authority to dissolve it.

The body, created in 2016, consists of 45 magistrates, mainly appointed by parliament, and has the power to appoint judges.
Human Rights Watch called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Monday for "a credible international inquiry" into the 2017 murder in the Democratic Republic of Congo of two UN experts, an American man and a Swedish woman.

The NGO said in a press release there was an urgent need for a probe into the murders and the role of the Congolese authorities, adding that the 51 death sentences handed down at the end of January in the African country -- mainly given to militia fighters -- left too many questions unanswered.

"Nearly five years on, there are still more questions than answers about those who bear ultimate responsibility for the murders of the UN investigators," HRW's researcher Thomas Fessy said in a statement also directed at the US and Swedish governments."

"The UN's past failure, along with the US and Sweden, to investigate the deaths... was a cynical betrayal," the statement said.

"But this should not deter them from now conducting a credible investigation focusing on the chain of command behind the murders," it added.

Michael Sharp, a US national and Zaida Catalan of Sweden disappeared on March 12, 2017, while they were in Kasai to investigate mass graves linked to an armed conflict that had broken out after the death of customary chief Kamuina Nsapu, killed by the security forces.

Their bodies were found two weeks later. According to the official version, they were executed by militiamen from the Kamuina Nsapu sect.

But in June 2017, a report submitted to the UN Security Council argued that the double murder was a "premeditated ambush" and did not rule out the involvement of members of state security forces.
Chief Policy Analyst at the Ghana Institute of Public Policy Options, Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, believes government will be on course in controling the increasing price of fuel should it leverage on the countrys windfall profits from oil revenue.

For him, the global factors affecting brent crude oil prices will always be unfavourable hence applying the windfall profits is Ghanas best option to cushion fuel consumers.

Speaking on the Point of View on Monday, the former Chief Executive Officer for the Volta River Authority (VRA) demanded action from the government to mitigate the impact of the high cost of fuel on Ghanaians.

When crude prices fall below the brent price, it means that we are making revenue. Because we have declared that we are a net exporter of oil, when bench prices go up, we get windfall profits because we are getting revenue over and above the brent mark price. So there is something we can do with that money, because it is windfall profit and we do not consider it part of our streams of revenues for the year. That money can be used to calculate the ex-refinery price to reduce the price at the pump.

That for me is the leeway government can use to either keep prices stable or below for what they have been for the past years. I do not expect crude prices to come down, so unless the government starts applying the windfall profit to reduce ex-pump prices, we are in for a bad time for fuel prices. The GH8 mark for fuel prices will happen within the next month because I do not expect crude prices to come down, he said.

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.

Fuel prices to hit GH8 per liter soon; adopt dual pricing method  COPEC

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) has asked the 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, 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.

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.

citinewsroom
The Ghana Physician Assistants Association says the failure of the Ministry of Health to respond to its concerns regarding better conditions of service within the next seven days will compel them to embark on an industrial action.

The Association in its post-2021 Annual General Conference over the weekend raised several concerns affecting its members and the smooth delivery of services.

The Association is also perturbed about the poor treatment of physician Assistants by the Medical and Dental Council and the high level of unemployment within its fold.

Speaking at a news conference in Kumasi, President of the Association, Emmanuel Yaw Appiah, said if the government does not respond in time, its industrial action will severely affect the delivery of health care in the country.

The Ministry of Health should as a matter of urgency initiate processes leading to a broader stakeholder engagement within six months on the mounting specialty programme for practicing physician assistants in Ghana. The Ministry of Health and the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) must officially appoint physician assistants as sub-district heads and commensurate remunerations must be attached to such positions, he said.

The association also demanded the provision of financial clearance for the 800 physician assistants who are home and yet to be employed.

Also, the Ministry of Health shall within two months seek financial clearance for the over 800 physician assistants who are sitting at home. We expect the Ministry of Health to within the next 7 days response to all our issues or we publish a road map that would ultimately lead to an industrial action, Emmanuel Yaw Appiah said.

Citinewsroom
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, an aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, has criticsed Vice President Mahamudu Bawumias stoning silence on the current state of Ghanas economy.

He has completely disappeared from the economics team. He has gone into hiding, and he is avoiding discourse on the economy like the plague, Mr. Ofosu said on Eyewitness News.

Mr. Ofosu believes Dr. Bawumia is well aware of the declining state of the economy and avoiding it.

He doesn't want to touch it with a long pole. He doesnt want to take responsibility for the mess that he has supervised.

Mr. Ofosu further questioned the lack of clarity from the government, which he said has not been forthcoming with any plan.

If you say you dont want to go to the IMF, what is the credible plan that you have to ensure that confidence returns to the economy and that we do not collapse?He asked.

Mr. Ofosu also rubbished the governments response to the recent rating agencies assessment of the economy.

The government, for instance, did not agree with the ratings from Fitch and Moodys, which tagged Ghana as unstable and regressing.

But Mr. Ofosu retorted that if two of them give you a very grim, very dire, very gloomy outlook, I'm not sure if there is anything to be proud of.

In one of its arguments, the government said the downgrade by Moodys was underpinned by a lack of ground work by its Lead Analyst.

But Mr. Ofosu retorted that this is the most ridiculous and embarrassing excuse I have ever heard any government make about a downgrade.

Data is data and nobody has to travel from Paris or London to Accra to obtain it, he added.

citinewsroom
France's 77-year-old former interior minister Claude Gueant, who has been jailed for two months in Paris, is to be released on Wednesday.

One-time an aide to former president Nicolas Sarkozy, Gueant has been behind bars since 13 December over to failing to deliver fines and damages he was ordered to pay in 2017 in a case regarding underhand cash bonuses from the Interior Ministry.

Gueant's lawyer has argued that the former minister has "paid in full" his debts via loans from relatives.

He added that Geuant's "health would significantly deteriorate" in the Fleury-Merogis prison, south of Paris, as he suffers from a form of epilepsy.

The former interior minister has however been granted conditional release, without an electronic tag, starting this Wednesday.

In another case concerning the a polling fraud case, Gueant was handed a one-year jail term for nepotism on 21 January, that was suspended under a deferred detention warrant.

His lawyer has appealed the ruling.

The Balkany affair

In related news, Patrick Balkany, the former right-wing mayor of the Paris suburb Levallois-Perret who was convicted of tax fraud in 2019, was returned to prison on Monday.

Balkany, a close friend of former President Sarkozy, was jailed after being found guilty of financial fraud and money-laundering.

He was released in February 2020 on health grounds but had been returned to prison after a judge revoked his conditional release.
08.02.2022 LISTEN

A 24-year-old man, identified as Abubakar Sadique, who is parading himself about as a military officer has been arrested by some Military personnel on duty at the VRA Hospital checkpoint at Akosombo, in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region.

The suspect was arrested by two military officers namely; Sergeant Ofori David and WO1 Assam Eric all from 1BN, Michael Camp.

The soldiers were embarking on operational duty at Akosombo Hospital barrier when the suspect came down from a commercial vehicle and introduced himself as a soldier from 1BN.

The Eastern Regional Police spokesman, DSP Ebenezer Tetteh who confirmed the incident said when the suspect alighted, upon interrogation by the military men in the presence of some witnesses, Sergeant Ofori David detected that he was not a soldier as he claimed despite showing a picture on his phone profile fully dressed in military uniform.

Subsequently, he was arrested and handed over to the Akosombo Police.

DSP Ebenezer Tetteh explained that the suspect has been charged for falsely pretending to be a public officer contrary to section 237 of Act 29/60 and is expected to be arraigned before court by Monday.

DGN online
The Coalition of Concerned University Students (CoCUS) will today, February 8, 2022, stage a demonstration in Accra dubbed students are suffering demonstration.

The exercise is to express the frustration of University students affected by the ongoing strike action for the past month.

The Coalition of Concerned University Students - COCUS with a collective voice humbly wishes to inform all university students and concerned citizens on details of the long-anticipated protest dubbed #Students_ Are_Suffering Demo, a statement issued by the group on February 7 and signed by all conveners and leaders of COCUS said.

It concludes, All Ghanaian students, parents, and compatriots of the general public and all stakeholders are invited to join us in this peaceful protest.

Todays demonstration by the University Students is starting from the campus of the University of Ghana, Legon to the Jubilee House.

Students are advised to be law-abiding during the protest.

All protesters should avoid behaviors that contravene the laws such as open smoking of "Indian hemp", indecent exposure in public, harassing of ladies and citizens, bumping of vehicles, etc, the statement from the Coalition on todays demonstration said.

Read a copy below:
The National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), George Opare Addo has described as comical the reasons given by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the imposition of the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy).

The President in calling on the citizenry to embrace the new levy recently argued that it is a necessary step that will provide additional financing to close the revenue gap created by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking on the E-Levy when a delegation from the Dzodze Traditional Area in the Volta region called on him at the Jubilee House on February 2, H.E Akufo-Addo said it was time the country looked inward to raise money to fund its economic growth and development, and not depend on foreign grants and loans, which may not be sustainable in the long term.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Monday, February 7, 2022, NDCs Opare Addo said these and all arguments made by government officials are just comical.

The President and his spokesmen have given comic reasons why there is the need to impose the levy. The only reason why this government is doing everything possible to impose the levy is that Ghana is not creditworthy hence it can no longer borrow or raise bonds on the international market, the NDC National Youth Organiser told journalists.

He said at a time when Ghanaians are already suffering, the government must be considerate to cut down its spending instead of imposing the E-Levy.

Already, Ghanaians are saddled with many taxes resulting in the increase in petroleum products, high tariffs, increase in prices of goods and service, increase in the cost of living etc. Even when Ghanaians have almost unanimously kicked against the introduction of the obnoxious e-levy, the Akufo Addo/Bawumia administration is bent on using all means possible to force it down their throats.

In the midst of all these, there is no conscionable person in this government to counsel the President and his Cabinet that they must sacrifice by cutting down their profligate spending and bring economic respite for the poor people across the country who live in strenuous conditions, Opare Addo stressed.
French President Emmanuel Macron heads to Kyiv this Tuesday after offering Russia "concrete security guarantees" in an effort to dissuade Moscow from invading neighbouring Ukraine, with Russia's Vladimir Putin suggesting compromises could be found.

Macron's visit to Kyiv comes during a week of intense Western diplomacy as a major Russian military build-up on Ukraine's eastern border has raised fears of an imminent invasion.

During their meeting in Moscow on Monday, President Vladimir Putin told Macron Russia would "do everything to find compromises that suit everyone", raising the prospect of a path to de-escalating the situation.

Putin said several proposals put forward by Macron could form a basis for moving forward on the crisis over Ukraine, saying: "A number of his ideas, proposals ... are possible as a basis for further steps."

The Russian president did not provide any further details but said the two leaders would speak by phone after Macron meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The French president said he has proposed "concrete security guarantees" to Putin, adding that his Russian counterpart was ready to engage and maintain stability and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

"There is no security for the Europeans if there is no security for Russia," he added.

The French presidency said the proposals include an engagement from both sides not to take any new military action, the launching of a new strategic dialogue and efforts to revive the peace process in Kyiv's conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions persist

During the meeting, Putin denied that Russia was acting aggressively towards Ukraine or the West, saying "it is not us who are moving towards Nato's borders".

If Ukraine joins the Western military bloc, Russia could get sucked into a conflict with European countries, he added.

"Do you want France to go to war with Russia?" Putin said.

Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, has expressed a desire for closer ties with the West and membership of the Nato military alliance that sought to contain Moscow and its Communist allies during the Cold War.

Putin has complained that Nato's eastward expansion following the end of the Cold War has undermined Russia's security.

Biden's warning on Nord Stream 2

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden warned Putin that he would "end" the controversial new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe if Moscow sends forces across the Ukrainian border as it did during the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington, Biden underlined: "If Russia invades - that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again - then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2."

"I promise you," the president added, "we will bring an end to it."

Biden's declaration was the bluntest so far on the fate of the massive pipeline, which is complete but has yet to begin funnelling natural gas to Germany, tying energy-hungry Europe ever closer to Russia.

Chancellor Scholz, was less direct and said only that Berlin was "united" with Washington, but declined to mention the pipeline by name.

Scholz himself is due in Moscow and Kyiv next week for talks with Putin and Zelensky.
08.02.2022 LISTEN

Two nurses on Monday, February 7, 2022, displayed heroism when they rushed into a bush at Gyata, a farming Community in Afram Plains South District in the Eastern Region to deliver a pregnant woman in labour.

Sources inform Modernghana News that at around 9:15am, a Fulani herdsman in a rush reported to the nurses that one of their women, Salamatu Ampadu was in labour in the bush and in need of help.

A staff nurse, Amos Acheampong, and a Community Health Nurse, Ruby Amenuveve on receiving the news, immediately followed the man to the bush to attend to the woman.

Reports indicate that when the two nurses arrived on the scene, some membranes had already raptured and the head of the baby had started coming out.

Stepping up to the task at hand, the two nurses assisted the Fulani woman and in the space of 15 minutes, managed to help her to successfully deliver a baby boy.

Nurse Amos Acheampong and nurse Ruby Amenuveve subsequently managed the woman and her newborn through a temporal three-stage management process before they were transported on a motorbike for full maternal and newborn care services at the Agyata CHPS Zone.

Checks reveal that bush and roadside deliveries are common in the Afram Plains Area and its environs due to inadequate health facilities.

Residents are also challenged with deplorable and inaccessible roads, often depriving pregnant women in labour of the convenience of moving to health facilities.
08.02.2022 LISTEN

Baskin Africa has urged government to scrap and reduce some taxes and levies on petroleum products to "cushion the suffering masses".

In the statement copied to Modern Ghana News by the Executive Secretary of Baskin Africa, Mr Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese, noted however that government does not have control over some of the factors like the prices of crude oil on the world market.

It noted that the price build of petroleum products is affected by key indicators including the price of crude oil in the world market, cost of importation, exchange rate (i.e cedi-dollar relationship), and taxes, levies and margins, among others.

However, Baskin Africa indicated that government has control of the taxes, levies and margins which can be adjusted to cushion the suffering masses.

It stressed that the ex-pump price build-up chart released by the NPA on the 1st of February, 2022 indicated that taxes, levies and margins alone are about 14 in the price build-up and constitutes about 32 to 35 percent of the price build-up.

"So, a reduction in the threshold and scrapping of some of them will free some space for price stability and a possible reduction in the final price the consumer is expected to pay," the group noted.

It added that since the final cost is passed on to the consumer, "a reduction will have a positive downward effect on consumers, thereby reducing the cost of goods and services and ultimately, the cost of living".

Find the full press release below:

Press Release

For Immediate

08/02/2022

GOVERNMENT MUST SCRAP AND REDUCE SOME TAXES AND LEVIES ON PETROLEUM PRODUCTS TO CUSHION THE SUFFERING MASSES.

The Government of Ghana started the implementation of the price deregulation of petroleum products in June 2015, to allow for the ex-pump prices to reflect industry cost, and to also engineer competition of the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the importation, financing and control of retail pricing. In view of this, the government weaned the OMCs from the Petroleum Price Control by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

It is worthy of note that the price build of petroleum products is affected by key indicators, including:

1. Price of crude oil in the World Market

2. Cost of importation

3. Exchange rate (ie Cedi-dollar relationship)

4. Taxes, levies and margins, among others.

Pursuant to the above, and with reference to the price deregulation policy, the government does not have control over some of the factors, like the prices of crude oil in the world market. However, it has total control over the taxes, levies and margins so, to cushion the suffering masses, the government only need to either scrap some these taxes and levies or reduce their threshold and scope.

The ex-pump price build up chart released by the NPA on the 1st of February, 2022 indicated that, taxes, levies and margins alone are about 14 in the price build up, and this constitute about 32 to 35 percent of the price build up. So, a reduction in the threshold and scrapping of some of them will free some space for price stability and a possible reduction in the final price the consumer is expected to pay. Since the final cost is passed on to the consumer, a reduction will have a positive downward effect on consumers, thereby reducing the cost of goods and services and ultimately, the cost of living.

In the 2022 budget, the government set the benchmark price of crude oil at $52 per barrel. As of 7th February, 2022, Brent Crude Oil is selling at $92.85 per a barrel. This implies that there is a windfall of about $40 per barrel. The government can do a strategic balancing by compensating the loses expected to be incurred from the scrapping and reduction of some of these taxes by the gains made as a result of the windfall.

Baskin Africa therefore, suggest that the government should consider scrapping and reducing the threshold of the following taxes and levies on petroleum products:

1. A reduction in the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy by 50%, so that the remaining 50% can still make the revenue for the premix fuel subsidy.

2. Government must scrap the Energy Debt Recovery Levy

3. The government should also scrap the Sanitation and Pollution Levy and rather impose it as a direct discriminatory tax on giant companies that engage in the pollution.

4. Scrap the Special Petroleum Tax since it has outlived its usefulness.

5. Reduce the Energy Sector Recovery Levy by 50%.

If the above suggested measures are heeded, there will be stability and reduction in the final price the consumer is expected to pay even with the price deregulation policy is in place.

The government must be concerned about the notice served by 16 transport companies to increase transport fares by 30%. These unions cite among others, fuel price increases and increases in the cost of maintenance as the reasons for their decision. This will surely have a multiplier effect on the ordinary Ghanaian, in that, cost of goods and services will increase. The accompanying cascading effect on the poor masses will be dire with the inequality gap expected to widen in the final analysis.

-Signed-

Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese

(Executive Secretary-Baskin Africa)

0244198031
The government of Ghana has fined mining company, Maxam Company Limited has been punished for the recent explosion that occurred at Appiatse, a mining community in the Western Region.

The company has fined cedi equivalent of US$6,000,000 at the prevailing commercial rate for regulatory breaches in respect to manufacture, storage and transportation of explosives for mining.

This is made up of an administrative of the cedi equivalent of one million United States Dollars (US$1,000,000.00), at the prevailing commercial rate and cedi equivalent of five million United States Dollars(US$5,000,000.00) at the prevailing commercial rate.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in a press release dated February 7,2022 stated that the fine is as a result of a report from a three-member committee led by Mr. Benjamin Aryee, a former Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission which found the mining company guilty of some regulatory breaches.

According to the ministry, the report, submitted on February 1, 2022 showed that Maxam Co. Limited breached manufacture, storage and transportation regulations and that led to the explosion at Appiatse.

The statement indicated that the breaches, per L.I.2177, attract fines ranging from six hundred cedis (GHC600.00) to ten thousand United States Dollars (US$10,000)

However, looking at the nature and circumstances that led to the tragic incident, the Minister has imposed an administrative fine of the cedi equivalent of one million United States dollars (US$1,000,000.00) at the prevailing commercial rate.

Nonetheless, having regard to the nature and totality of the circumstances leading to this tragic incident, I, as the Minister responsible for lands and natural resources and therefore, the overseer of the activities in the sector have imposed an administrative of the cedi equivalent of one million United States Dollars (US$1,000,000.00), at the prevailing commercial rate on Maxam.

The one million dollars fine is to be paid before the companys permit to manufacture, supply, store and transport explosives is restored.

The second amount of five million dollars will be paid in monthly installments for eighteen months starting on the 1st of March, 2022 to 1st August, 2023.

The company will pay an amount of two hundred and seventy seven thousand, seven hundred and seven US dollars and seventy eight cents (US$277,777.78) or its cedi equivalent at the prevailing commercial rate from March 1, 2022 and every other first day of the month constituting the eighteen months.

The Ministry also included some conditions the mining company has to meet before its permit to operate is restored.

The conditions to be met by the mining company include its inability to transport explosives unless a 48-hour notice has been given to the chief inspector of mines or the regional mines inspector.

The company must also have an inspector of mines present to verify, inspect and log designated explosives for transportation.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources added that the measures prerequisite for Maxams permit restoration is applicable to all other companies operating in Ghana in the manufacture, supply, transportation and use of explosives.

It included that, regulatory breaches and sanctions against Jocyderk Logistics Limited and Arthanns Enterprise and Transport Service, who were also involved in the tragic incident are being reviewed and would be communicated and applied in due course.

On Thursday, 20th January 2022, a truck transporting Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil (ANFO) from Maxam Ghana Limiteds explosive plant caught fire and exploded.

The explosion blew Appiatse community into pieces.

Thirteen persons reportedly died with hundreds sustaining injuries.
Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga has accused France of working to partition his country through French military involvement in the Sahel, in a hostile new challenge to European diplomats in Bamako.

Maiga, who heads the government installed by Mali's military junta in June 2021, attacked France for more than 45 minutes in front of a gathering of diplomats summoned to the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.

Although he stopped short of explicitly demanding the withdrawal of the French-led anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane.

Speaking to the congregation of envoys, Maiga said that after a time of "elation" when French soldiers liberated northern Mali from jihadists in 2013, "the intervention turned into an operation of de facto partition of Mali which [consisted in giving up] part of our territory where the terrorists had time to take refuge and reorganise themselves to come back in force from 2014."

Amid frayed relations between Paris and Bamako, Maiga drew comparisions with the liberation of France at the end of the Second World War: "Didn't the Americans liberate France?

"When the French judged that [the American presence in France] was no longer necessary, they told the Americans to leave, did the Americans then start insulting the French?" he continued.

Since the Economic Community of West African States imposed French-backed sanctions against Mali in January, the military junta has been claiming Mali's sovereignty has been compromised.

French presence 'destabilising'

The Malian authorities accuse former colonial power France of having used Ecowas as a tool "to present us as a pariah, with the unavowed and unmentionable short-term objective of suffocating the economy in order to achieve ... the destabilisation and overthrow of the transitional institutions", Maiga added.

"We can't be subjugated, we can't turn the country into a slave; that's over," he continued, referring to colonisation.

Maiga also attacked the European Takuba task force, established by France to accompany Malian soldiers into combat against jihadists.

In addition to the junta's delay in returning the country to civilian rule, France and its European and American allies accuse the military leaders of welcoming the Russian mercenary group Wagner onto Malian soil.

In response, Maiga likened the French Foreign Legion to mercenary soldiers of fortune.
Mr Sugandh Rajaram, the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Monday assured of his effort to strengthen the relations between India and the Bono East Region through agriculture investment.

He said agricultural investment would boost the socio-economic development of the two countries to improve human development.

The High Commissioner said India, over the years, had made progress in agriculture and would, therefore, shared its experience with the region, which was poised to become the hub of agriculture in the country.

Mr Rajaram gave the assurance when he paid a courtesy call on Mr Kwasi Adu-Gyan, the Regional Minister, at his office at Techiman.

The call commences his four-day working visit to the region to have first-hand information about the area and prepare the grounds for agro-investment promotion between the two sides.

Mr Rajaram said working together would also promote human resource development to improve the socio-economic fortunes of the people, especially the youth through job-creation.

He said India's support for the region would create strong agriculture mechanism to promote holistic development and announced that some Indian business entities had already expressed interest to invest in the region.

Mr Adu-Gyan lauded India's preparedness to partner with region, saying the relations would propel the region to realise its dream as the preferred destination for agro-processing.

He said the Government was committed to establishing mechanized agriculture centres to create opportunities for the youth to actively engage in agriculture for wealth creation.

He announced the region's efforts to establish the University for Science and Technology to focus on encouraging commercial agriculture and other science and technology related programmes.

The High Commissioner later had separate meetings with the heads of decentralised departments and the Techiman Traditional Council to discuss issues pertaining to the realisation of the Bono East-India relations.

Mr Rajaram was accompanied by Mr James Rahjamani, the Chief Executive Officer for Kingdom Exim Group and Chief Chancellor for India Africa Trade Council.

GNA
08.02.2022 LISTEN

The Supreme Court has for the second successive time been unable to hear a writ of summons against the embattled Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson due to the inability to serve the processes on the legislator.

The Court at its last adjourned date was informed by its Registrar of two failed attempts to serve Mr. Quayson through Parliament, and subsequently ordered the plaintiff to assist the Court Registrar to serve the summons on the defendant.

When the Court reconvened today, Tuesday, February 8, 2022, Registrar, Matthew Antiaye informed the court that the processes could still not be served.

He told the court that though they attempted to serve the processes on James Gyakye Quayson on two different occasions and at two different locations, the bailiffs were unsuccessful.

In a sworn affidavit dated 1st February 2022, a Supreme Court bailiff, Joshua Banning, narrated how he was thrown out of James Quaysons Office at Job 600, Parliament House.

According to the Bailiff, he arrived at Mr. Quaysons office, introduced himself and declared his intention.

He was however immediately dismissed by Mr. Quayson who said he was busy and ordered his Personal Assistant to escort him out.

The Bailiff said when the Personal Assistant was unable to do this, Mr. Quayson ordered his bodyguard to throw him out; and that was done.

In the second affidavit, Francis Kumi, a bailiff attached to the Assin Fosu Court swore that he got to Mr. Quaysons indicated residence on 7th February 2022, where a caretaker informed him that Mr. Quayson was away in Accra and did not know when he would return.

Rejected Amicus

Still in court, the Supreme Court turned down an indication by Tsatsu Tsikata to intervene as a friend of the Court.

Mr. Tsikata, who is not a party to the case, had attempted to provide information to the Court after the Registrar read out the sworn affidavits.

But President of the Court, Dotse JSC, noted that the Court at the material time was in no need of the intervention since it was yet to consider the intricate question of article 117 of the Constitution, 1992.

Article 117, provides that Civil or criminal process coming from any court or place out of Parliament shall not be served on, or executed in relation to, the Speaker or a member or the Clerk to Parliament while he is on his way to, attending or returning from, any proceedings of Parliament.

The case has subsequently been adjourned to Tuesday, March 1, 2022, for hearing of the motion.

The 7-member Court was composed of Justices Jones Dotse, as President, Nene Amegatcher, Getrude Torkonor, Yoni Kulendi, Agnes Dordzi, Mariama Owusu and Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu.

---citinewsroom
The Federation of Handicraft Producers, Dealers, and Exporters Association at the Arts Centre in Accra has served notice they will reject their planned eviction to pave way for the Marine Drive Tourism Investment Project until the government fully completes the needed infrastructure agreed on to accommodate them.

The association says, the Kawukudi and Dodowa projects agreed on to house them should be completed and ready for business before they are relocated. Already, some creative artists in the country are not happy with the decision by the government to demolish the center to pave the way for the Marine Drive Tourism Investment Project.

The associations are the Greater Accra Arts and Craft Dealers Association, United Craft Producers Association, Traditional Cultural Kente and Adinkra Manufacturers and Sellers Association, and the Traditional Herbal Dealers Association.

Bright Antwi, the Coordinator of the association says the government should fast track processes leading to the completion of the buildings before they are relocated.

It has to be understood that only the producers that are the manufactures of handicrafts, having realized that they cannot be accommodated at Kawokudi because of their volume of work, machinery, heavy nature of their materials and space for export activities, found a better location at Dodowa and the Marine Drive Team welcomed this initiative.

The handicraft operators agreed that no one group will move out of the center and leave the other. Hence, the Kawokudi and Dodowa projects should be completed before all operators move out, and the movement must happen at once and the same time.

They pointed out that relocating to Ghana House would not serve the purpose of the Arts Centre since up-and-coming artists such as poets, stage actors, and visual artists who use the centre would lose the opportunity.

He further indicated that unfortunately, the recent event seems to give the false impression that the Arts centre market including the building housing the administration will be demolished and relocated to Ghana house and Kawokudi respectively. However, this is not the case. It is only the administration of the centre for National Culture that is relocating to the Ghana House.

The government intends to pull down the structure to pave way for the commencement of the marine drive project.

Although the government has justified the move with claims that the marine drive project is an investment that will rectify the poor condition of the area, boost Ghana's tourism industry, and create jobs and revenue streams for the local inhabitants, the artists insist these do not override the importance of the center which has served as an embodiment of culture for many years.

---citinewsroom
The Medical Superintendent at the Shai-Osudoku Hospital, Dr. Kennedy Tettey Coffie Brightson has explained the medical condition that makes some women to menstruate through the eyes and palm.

Speaking on an Accra television station, Dr. Brightson scientifically explained the rare menstrual condition some women are living with.

He said the rare condition found in some woman is termed as 'ocular vicarious menstruation'.

It is described as 'cyclical bleeding occurring during menstruation from extragenital organs'.

The most common place for bleeding is from one's nose but it can also happen from lips, eyes, lungs, and stomach.

Dr. Brightson indicated that, the endometrium tissue is responsible for menstruation which is made up in the womb.

The endometrium tissue he said is responsibility for making the eyes and the palm bleed.

What causes you to menstruate is the lining of the womb which we call the endometrium. So that tissue is responsible for you to menstruate. There could be a biological or a genetic error and part of that tissue could join the tissues that are responsible for making your palm or eye menstruate, he explained.

The Medical Superintendent however stated that, some people have refused to accept the scientific phenomenal because it beats their understanding.

It is not juju. The unfortunate thing is that our part of the world, we refuse to accept scientific phenomenal so whatever beats our understanding as Ghanaians then we attribute it to divinity so there is a God interplay, he stated.

He added that, some people damage their eyes in order to treat this menstrual occurrence.

So, before they come to the hospital they go through all manner of herbal and many treatments so they come too late when the eyes are damaged. They are pouring things unto the eye. They are saying that Satan is cutting their eyes so that they bleed, he stated.
The Logos Hope, the world's largest floating book fair, which berthed at the Tema Port late January 2022 continues to attract long queues of visitors, who throng the facility daily.

The ship, billed to berth for a 38-days, with a crew and staff strength of about 400 Christian volunteers from 60 nations, contains 5,000 book titles being patronized by the many visitors.

The books cover a range of subjects including science, sports, hobbies, medicine, cookery, languages and philosophy with children's titles.

The ship is opened to the public from Tuesdays to Sundays, and usually attracts large numbers of visitors on weekends, a situation leading to people queueing for hours before having their turn to enter.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency on Sunday met long queues of vehicles waiting at the Clinker Gate of the Port of Tema where the ship is docked awaiting their turn to go through security checks before entering.

Some of them told the GNA that on a normal day the Port was a restricted area so having the opportunity to enter, thanks to the docking of Logos Hope, was a moment they cherished.

They said apart from seeing vessels getting close to them for the first time, they saw how clinker was being discharged, as well as reach-stackers lifting and stacking containers.

A crew member, who was carrying a water dispenser at his back, covered with the flag of his country, created humor while giving people free water to sip.

To qualify to have a taste of his 'holy water', you have to say; Jesus is Lord and he would hand over to you a small cone-shaped paper cup with chilled water.

Mr Joshua Boateng Appiah, a visitor, said it was his first time visiting the vessel, and that he and his family joined the queue at about 14:15 hours, stood for about three hours before getting the chance to get a chair provided under a canopy to sit at 1800 hours.

He said the wait was worthwhile as he admired the interior of the vessel, which was breathtaking, in addition to the amazing number of books available for sale at affordable prices.

I will visit the ship again to buy more books, he said.

He suggested that more ticket selling points must be made available on weekends to ease the long queues.

Mr. Charles Abrokwa, a resident of Oyibi, said even though it was hectic standing in the long queue, for him and his family it was an eye-opener as it served as an excursion for the children.

The current Logos Hope ship had visited Ghana three times with the last one being 2016, this brings the number of visits to 17 times with the four different ships of Logos Mission Ships.

The crew and staff of the ship, as part of the visit, engage in mission and medical outreaches as well as workshops for youth leaders, women of virtue and a mission fair.

GNA
Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, the Minister of Road and Highways, says road contractors found guilty of possessing fake certificates will face the full rigours of the law.

Meeting

It is worrying that a contractor will enter the Ministry and within an hour obtains a classification certificate. Some of the certificates have forged signatures of the Minister and the Chief Director, he noted and said such people would be dealt with.

The Minister gave the caution when he met the executives of the Association of Road Contractors, Ghana and the Progressive Road Contractors Association to address issues in the sector.

The Minister pledged to include representatives of the Associations in a Ministerial Advisory Committee and committed to resolving their outstanding challenges.

Mr Amoako-Atta said he was aware that some staff of the Ministry had formed agencies and competed for jobs, which was illegal, stressing that it would be in the best interest of such individuals to desist from the act or resign.

I have warned my staff against such acts and that any person found culpable will face the law. The country cannot develop with such an attitude, we need to be sincere and do the right thing, he added.

The Minister said his office was inundated with so many certificates to sign every day and upon thorough investigation, he found that most of the documents did not meet the required standards for certification.

To address the issue, he said the Ministry had reviewed its processes and introduced the re-classification of certificates, where contractors were to re-apply every two years for certificates.

The Minister, in 2021 inaugurated a reconstituted 10-member road classification committee to ascertain the ability of contractors to execute projects in the country.

The Committee, he said, would further be responsible for grading contractors as well as empowering them in undertaking road projects in the country to ensure value-for-money.

The Committee's mandate is to relook at the road classifications in the country to ensure the highest standards against mediocrity.

Mr Amoako-Atta said the Government had started paying monies owed road contractors and asked those who had not received theirs to remain calm.

The Government has announced 2022 as the third year of roads and said work would commence on nine new major road projects in parts of the country.

In January 2021, the Government pledged its commitment to bridging the road infrastructure deficit in the country and prioritise road construction to ensure that a significant number of kilometres were tarred in the country.

The Minister also inaugurated a nine-member Premix Concrete Committee to check the spillage of premix concrete on roads.

He charged the Committee to executive its work without fear or favour.

Mr John Afful Junior, the National President of Association of Road Contractors, Ghana, stated the willingness of the contractors to work with Government to address issues in the road sector.

GNA
Reverend Eastwood Anaba, Founder and President of Eastwood Anaba Ministries, has admonished those living in the northern part of the country not to entertain thoughts that the National Cathedral is far away from them and so they will not contribute towards building it.

He said even though the National Cathedral was situated in Accra, it belonged to Ghana, just like any other national monument, and therefore, the need for all to be part of history to build it.

He told people of the northern part of the country that Let us do something for people to say that even though the north is far away from the National Cathedral, it did something monumental towards the building of the National Cathedral.

He was delivering a sermon at the Northern Regional launch of Fund Raising for the construction of the National Cathedral held in Tamale over the weekend.

Reverend Anaba said one of the things that would make the church strong in the country was the National Cathedral urging all to be part of history to contribute funds towards its construction.

He said We may look weak and poor but we will rise up to build the National Cathedral to the glory of God.

The National Cathedral, which is being constructed as an interdenominational facility, is expected to be inaugurated by the President on March 06, 2024.

Even though construction works are progressing steadily on the project, there is need for funds to complete it on schedule hence the fund-raising activities.

Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah, Executive Director of the National Cathedral Secretariat spoke about the fund-raising strategies saying We want to raise one million people to donate GHc100 every month for two years to help build the Cathedral.

Dr Opoku-Mensah said efforts were being made to reach out to various stakeholders both home and abroad to raise the needed funds for the project.

Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister commended the church for the unique roles in human development and socio-economic development of the country.

Alhaji Saibu appealed to all to embrace the National Cathedral project by contributing generously towards the realisation of the project.

Ya-Na Abukari (II), Overlord of Dagbon Traditional Area, who was represented by Sagnari-Naa Yakubu Abdulai, Paramount Chief of Sagnarigu, expressed his support for the vision to build the National Cathedral, and pledged GHc10,000.00 towards it.

GNA
Military prosecutors in Burkina Faso Tuesday requested 30 years in jail for exiled former president Blaise Compaore over the 1987 murder of his predecessor, revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara.

The long-awaited trial, which started in October, comes as the West African country reels from its latest military coup last month, following popular anger over jihadist attacks in the country.

Prosecutors asked a court to find Compaore guilty in absentia of an "attack on state security", "concealment of a corpse" and "complicity in a murder", accusing the deposed leader in exile of being the mastermind of the killing.

At the request of the defence, which has yet to make a plea, the trial was then suspended until March 1.

Revered among African radicals, Sankara was an army captain aged just 33 when he came to power in a coup in 1983.

The fiery Marxist-Leninist railed against imperialism and colonialism, often angering Western leaders but gaining followers across the continent and beyond.

Sankara and 12 of his colleagues were gunned down by a hit squad on October 15, 1987, at a meeting of the ruling National Revolutionary Council.

Their assassination coincided with a coup that brought Sankara's former comrade-in-arms, Compaore, to power.

Compaore ruled for 27 years before being deposed by a popular uprising in 2014 and fleeing to neighbouring Ivory Coast.

Fourteen people stand accused in the trial, 12 of them appearing in court. Most pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution also requested 30 years in jail for the commander of Compaore's presidential guard, Hyacinth Kafando, who is suspected of having led the hit squad. He is also being tried in absentia.

It sought a 20-year sentence for Gilbert Diendere, one of the commanders of the army during the 1987 coup and the main defendant present at the trial. He is already serving a 20-year sentence over an attempted military coup in 2015.

'Asking for justice'

The prosecution recounted the day Sankara was killed in its closing statement

It said that when Sankara headed to the National Revolutionary Council, "his executioners were already there".

The assassinations coincided with a coup that brought Sankara's former comrade-in-arms Blaise Compaore, shown here in 1985, to power. By Eric CONGO AFPFile

According to its version of events, after Sankara entered the meeting room, the hit squad burst in, killing his guards.

"The squad then ordered president Sankara and his colleagues to leave the room. They would then be killed one by one," the prosecution said.

The prosecution also urged prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years for five other defendants, as well as an 11-year suspended sentence for another.

It sought acquittal over lack of evidence for three of the accused, and cited the expiration of a statute of limitations for the final two.

The trial was already briefly suspended last month after a coup that deposed Burkinabe president Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

After new military strongman Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba restored the constitution, the trial resumed last week.

Prosper Farama, the lawyer representing Sankara's family, said that, as the trial approached its end, the families were finally feeling some relief -- even though "during this trial, no one confessed or repented. No one!"

"We ask the court to give the families justice," he said. "We don't want revenge, we're simply asking for justice."
An Accra High Court (Criminal Court 2) has sentenced the Host of Battle Ground on Power 97.9 FM, Oheneba Boamah Bennie to prison custody for 14 days.

The court presided over by Justice Elfreda Dankyi, fined the broadcaster an amount of GHS 3000 Tuesday morning.

Background

The Attorney General, Godfred Dame dragged Bennie to court last year for contempt of court.

Court

After the declaration of President Akufo-Addo as the President-elect by the Electoral Commission (EC), Bennie allegedly published a video on his Facebook wall, claiming that President Akufo-Addo had met with eight justices of the Supreme Court, led by the Chief Justice, and had influenced them.

The A-G made a case that through his publication, Bennie wants to tell the public that judges, including the justices of the apex court, decide cases not independently but by taking directives from the President.

Ruling

In her ruling, Justice Elfreda Dankyi held that Oheneba Boamah was guilty of the charge against him and that she was charitable with the sentence.

I have been magnanimous, the Justice stated when counsel for Boamah, Victor Kojoga Adawudu prayed the court to be charitable.

Source: myxyzonline.com
The Registrar of the Supreme Court has told the apex court how James Gyakye Quayson, a Member of Parliament for Assin North instructed his bodyguard to throw out a court Bailiff.

The Bailiff, Joshua S. Banning according to Matthew Antiaye, the Supreme Court Registrar, was at Job 600 at the Parliament House on February 1, 2022 to serve the MP with the processes filed by Michael Ankomah Nimfah, of the New Patriotic Party to injunct him from performing his parliamentary duties.

But he was thrown out.

The Supreme Court last week could not hear the motion due to non service.

In court on Tuesday, February 8, the Registrar said on February 1, the Baillif was at the MPs office at Job 600 in Parliament House.

But, the MP indicated he will not see him and subsequently asked his bodyguard to throw him out.

The Registrar also told the Supreme Court panel of seven presided over by Justice Jones Dotse that, a second attempt through the registrar at the court in Central Region on the February 3, 4 and 7th all proved futile.

To this end, the application has for the second time not been considered.

According to EIB Networks Court Correspondent Murtala Inusah, the Supreme Court has instructed the Registrar to submit a detailed report of the assault and the supporting documents to the Chief Justice for the necessary action against the bodyguard of the MP.

Michael Ankomah Nimfah, a member of the NPP is seeking an interlocutory injunction against the MP whose seat has been declared vacant by the High Court in Winneba.

He has since filed an appeal.

The applicant is also seeking an interpretation of Article 94(2)(c) over the MPs denunciation of his dual citizenship.

The apex court panel has adjourned the case to Tuesday, March 1, 2022 to hear the case.

---Kasapafmonline
08.02.2022 LISTEN

A divorce case settled 8 years ago by an Accra High Court between former Black Stars Player, John Mensah and his first wife Henrietta, has resurfaced again and this time, with further allegations of breach of neglect of his 4 children he had with his ex-wife.

In her latest media interview, Henrietta has unleashed some pack of issues accusing John Mensah left, right, and centre.

It has also emerged that apart from the irresponsible fatherhood on the part of John Mensah, he has traded off as well as rented out some properties directed by the court to be given to the ex-wife.

John Mensah has refused to heed the court order which asked him to release some of his properties for sale and sharing with his first wife Henrietta.

According to Henrietta, since John Mensah still has documents of the said properties meant to be given to her in his name, he is doing serious business in Ghana with those properties.

I suffered a lot in the hands of John Mensah going through all kinds of domestic abuse. He is the quick-tempered type and sometimes without any provocation John Mensah slaps and beats me anyhow. I remember suffering some bruises in the eye on one occasion way back in Italy when he played over there.

"Till date, I still feel pains in the eye. I suffered a similar abuse in France, London, even in Ghana, he punched me at some point and the case ended up at the East Legon Police Station, where the police asked that the matter be settled as a family issue, Henrietta recounted bitterly.

On top of that, he has refused any form of child support for the four children.

It would be recalled that John Mensah and Henrietta had their petition for divorce granted by an Accra High Court in January 2014.

The court presided over by Justice Doris Bempong, gave its approval for the divorce after months of a legal battle.

John and Henrietta had been married for 13 years during which period they had 4 children together.

Henrietta is reported to have found out about John Mensahs extra-marital affairs and not just that but also discovered that John Mensah had a number of children, about 6 extra children out of wedlock.

John Mensah had 6 children which his first wife Henrietta didnt even know about.

---kasapafmonline.
France will soon drop its requirement for vaccinated travellers from outside the European Union to produce a negative Covid test on entering the country as daily infection numbers continue to fall, Europe Minister Clement Beaune has said.

"We again required tests in December over the Omicron variant. In the coming days we will announce that tests are no longer needed for vaccinated people," Beaune told France 2 television.

Currently anyone coming from outside the EU, including Britain, has to show a negative test result from the previous 48 hours, regardless of vaccination status.

New European protocol

"This week there will probably be a new European protocol for vaccinated people arriving from outside the EU, with eased measures," Beaune explained.

EU members agreed on 25 January to better coordinate their travel rules, in particular for people crossing borders within the bloc.

The Omicron surge prompted Italy and Denmark, for example, to impose recent negative test requirements for entry by fellow EU residents as well as vaccination proof, a tightening of the rules that irritated officials in Brussels.

French authorities began lifting a series of Covid restrictions this month, with nightclubs set to reopen from 16 February and standing areas once again authorised for concerts and sporting events as well as bars.

The country recorded 46,001 Covid cases on Monday, a sharp drop from the record of just under 465,000 infections in mid-January.

(with AFP)
08.02.2022 LISTEN

World Bank is advancing a policy dialogue as part of due diligence process to provide about US$1 billion financial support in a new country-partnership agreement to Ghana.

The three-to-four-year agreement, which is being presented to the Board of the Bank in February this year for approval, will be intended for specific sectors of the economy such as education, health, and agriculture.

Mr Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank Regional Vice President for Western and Central Africa, made this known at a press briefing in Accra.

The financial support, he said was embedded in programmes that would among other things aid the country become resilient and adapt to climate change and promote inclusiveness in development with lessons of instability occurring within the sub region.

We also want to contribute to helping Ghana anticipate and address some of the challenges that it faces within a geographical context in, which Ghana is currently, he said.

For many years we have supported Ghana in a number of sectors and of cause the economy has not been the same but today when you look at the development trajectory, I think there is reason to praise the government, he said.

With robust mechanism to supervise and independent audit of programmes supported, he said the Organisation would ensure that resources were used for intended purposes while value for money achieved.

He mentioned the need for investment in sound policies, good governance, and human resource development as the foundation for better development outcomes.

The energy sector is a targeted area in the new support programme with a consistent plan to help the country achieve universal coverage of clean energy in an affordable manner.

Mr Diagana, who is in the country for the first time since his appointment in 2020, will pay a courtesy call on the President, Nana Akufo-Addo and will be monitoring some projects as well as hold a high-level meeting with some government officials.

GNA
Problems with some forms of inequity are easier to understand than others. Unequal access to healthcare or food, for example, is clearly bad for everyone's wellbeing, contentment and productivity.

The problem with some other forms of inequity, however, is less clear. For instance, not every individual can have the same opportunities.

My colleagues and I were intrigued by the apparent link between income inequity and health. In particular, we were puzzled by the assertion that income inequity was robustly associated with wellbeing and stress. Why would knowing that a small proportion of people have preposterously large incomes necessarily affect someone's wellbeing? We wanted answers to the questions of why income inequity is a problem and why it has been so difficult to resolve.

To answer these questions, we undertook an extensive search of the published literature. We studied the publications of leading authorities in the field of health inequity and examined the sources they had referenced.

One of our initial discoveries was the caveats that apply to the apparent link between income inequity and people's health and happiness. For example, the research underpinning this link applies only to more affluent countries. In poorer countries, economic development is of greater importance for wellbeing than the gap between those with the most money and those with the least.

We didn't start our investigation to discover where income inequity might have the greatest relevance. But our findings did suggest income inequity might have limited relevance in African settings. What might, perhaps, be more important for wellbeing is the ability to contribute to decisions about how to live in a social group. Therefore, political, economic, and governance structures might be more important than income inequity.

Investigating inequity

We came across frequent references to concepts like self-determination, freedom, capability, agency, and opportunity. Michael Marmot, a professor of epidemiology and public health, is a highly regarded authority in this area . For example, he writes about the freedom to be and to do. He suggests that it is not so much how much money you have but what you can do with what you have that is important for your health. Joseph Stiglitz, the American economist and public policy analyst, proposes that burgeoning inequity is one side of a coin with shrinking opportunity on the other side.

A recent review of the historical origins of inequity suggested that the fundamental issue is not how equitably people are able to access material resources. Rather, it is how equitable the capacity is to contribute to decisions about how to live together.

For us, all these ideas could be captured and accommodated by the fundamental mechanism of individual control of key priorities for living. The process of control is the defining feature of life. It refers to keeping a balance at all levels of functioning for all living things. Control explains why the capacity to contribute to decisions about how to live and live together has always mattered so much to people.

Through our efforts to understand inequity more clearly, we arrived at the position that inequity in and of itself is not a problem. Compromised control is the problem because it interferes with people's ability to live as they would prefer.

Stiglitz, for example, maintains that inequity in the US exists because the top 1% (in terms of income) want it to. He suggests that the ultra rich are able to directly influence political decision-making, including systems of taxation, so that their fortunes are protected. He reminds us that the fate of the top 1% is inextricably linked to the fate of the remaining 99%. But the very rich often ignore this fact, to their ultimate peril.

Relevance to African countries

Inequity, therefore, and especially income inequity, might have limited relevance in African settings. The concept of control, however, encompassing the ability to contribute to decisions about how one can live harmoniously and productively in a social group, may have much greater relevance and application.

Healthcare services could do much more to adapt treatments and interventions to local contexts. For wellbeing, this might involve developing programmes based on the prevailing culture and belief systems rather than imposing, for example, western biomedical ideas of psychological illness. Rwandan scholar Jean Pierre Ndagijimana describes the development of a programme of psychological healing in Rwanda that was based on local concepts like kongera kwiyubaka and kwigira (rebuilding ourselves again).

Governance structures that provide opportunities for people at a local level to contribute to decision-making would also enhance people's abilities to control important factors in their life. Rwanda, for example, is organised according to provinces, districts, sectors, cells and villages. At each level are various positions and groups that are responsible for different aspects of governance and decision-making. This move to more decentralised forms of government commenced in 2001 and is reported to have increased citizen participation in local decision-making as well as greater equity in resource allocation and services.

How things might be different

Greater attention to control could be helpful in a general sense. Corruption is often identified as a problem in government, organisations and industries. Corruption might be considered as nothing more than people in positions of authority using that authority at their own discretion to advantage some people while disadvantaging others. A CEO, for example, might create positions in an organisation for family members and remove people who disagree.

Inequity, as a concept, has not been a topic of interest and investigation for all time and across all people. Control is as important as life itself. The important lesson from our very earliest beginnings is that societal structures and institutions generally, as well as entities such as healthcare systems, must be organised so that the few do not determine the fates of the many.

The sustainability of social living depends on being able to find ways for all members of a community, society, nation, and indeed the planet, to live lives of their own design without preventing others from doing the same.

Timothy A. Carey works for the University of Global Heatlh Equity.

By Timothy A. Carey, Director: Institute of Global Health Equity Research, Andrew Weiss Chair of Research in Global Health, University of Global Health Equity
It seems the time of reckoning for the massive corruption that has hobbled South Africa's economy is nigh. Two parts of the three-part report by the judicial commission investigating allegations of state capture under former President Jacob Zuma have now been published. The third is due at the end of February.

State capture has become the South African term for what is elsewhere called kleptocracy.

Here I reflect on Part 2 of the report.

Ideally, a review of the complex Zondo Commission Report Part 2 requires a team of three co-authors: a chartered accountant, a political scientist, and a jurist specialising in company law. This review cannot do justice to a summary of a report when part 2 alone exceeds 640 pages. Instead, I will focus on some thoughts and analysis.

These opening observations are drawn from my knowledge of politics, informed by what's in the report.

Firstly, the Gupta family  friends of former President Jacob Zuma's who, the commission says, orchestrated massive corruption and the capture of the South African state with Zuma's help  were rumbled by events that caught them off-guard.

They had not, for example, anticipated that their actions in South Africa would result in a media uproar and political backlash. The media's role in the ultimate demise is recognised in this latest report. The commission praises Shadow World Investigation (Zondo,pp.19, 229); AmaBhungane (Zondo, p.260); Mail and Guardian ; and Open Secrets , (Zondo,p.261); for investigative exposes of state capture.

These exposes eventually saw the Gupta's fleeing to the United Arab Emirates in 2016.

They also never anticipated that South African banks would close down all their corporate and personal accounts . This ultimately pressured the South African branch of India's Bank of Baroda  their original home base  to reluctantly follow suit .

These developments indicate that South Africa's institutional safeguards, civil society NGOs, and democratic culture are more robust than those of some other countries.

The Guptas were also rumbled because they failed to take note of the fact that the most successful parasites never harm their hosts. That's so they enjoy a lifelong nurturing host environment. The scale of their rapaciousness meant that, within just a few years, the institutions they leeched were in a state of collapse. These included Transnet , the transport parastatal, South African Airways , the national carrier, Eskom , the power utility, Denel , the state defence, security and related technology company.

Aspects of the report show how this happened.

Zondo Commission report part 2

The specifics of this part of the Zondo report are that procurement and related crimes cost Transnet, R41 billion (equivalent to US$2,7 billion), which amounts to 72% of all contracts tainted by corruption (p.19).

These losses mounted following successive decisions that were driven by avarice and corruption. One example was the decision over a new chief executive for Transnet. When Barbara Hogan , then a cabinet minister in charge of the state transport company, resisted Zuma's demands on who to appoint as chief executives, he fired her from the cabinet , and sought to redeploy her as ambassador to Finland. Former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama testified at the State Capture Inquiry in April 2021. Photo: Luba Lesolle/Gallo Images via Getty Images

The commission found that the man Zuma preferred, Siyabonga Gama , should be prosecuted for transactions involving the Guptas, amounting to billions.

There were other attempts at resistance too. Take the actions of Denel CEO Riaz Saloojee. He refused to take bribes. But his efforts came to nought. The Guptas, through Zuma's new appointment Lynn Brown to the portfolio of running state enterprises, simply suspended him and appointed a new board of directors that was more pliable to the Guptas.

Beyond detailing how appointments were made, the report focuses a great deal of analysis about highly technical banking techniques and financial transactions. These show how in every case the lowest bid tender, or the most cost-effective solution, was rejected, so as to provide openings for middlemen, Gupta-controlled companies, to profit.

The fight back

In the immortal words of one of Nigeria's heroes against corruption, its former finance minister and current World Trade Organisation president, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala:

when you fight corruption, corruption fights back .

Corruption is indeed fighting back.

As a result, it has become one major dimension of the factionalism now wracking the ruling African National Congress (ANC) . It is evidenced by pseudo-populist attacks on  white monopoly capital , the  Stellenbosch mafia , and on President Cyril Ramaphosa .

In US slang, this is not grassroots rhetoric, but an Astroturf campaign , referring to a campaign pretending to be populist, but actually waged by a business clique of tenderers and their political clients.

They richly deserve the South African Communist Party witticism denouncing tenderpreneurs  'businesspeople' who enrich themselves through government tenders, often dubiously.

Recommendations

The Zondo Commission makes useful recommendations.

One is that in future, Cabinet ministers should not have unlimited power to appoint their cronies as chairs or board members to parastatals. Instead, all candidates for board members of state-owned enterprises should be subject to the background checks and procedures akin to those of the Judicial Service Commission , which advises the government on any matters relating to the judiciary or administration of justice and adjudicates complaints brought against judges.

In turn the board members, not the minister, should elect their chairs and CEOs.

Zondo also points out that it is not yet a crime in itself to abuse public power for a politician's private interest. This should be criminalised across the board, from the President down to the lowest official.

Finally, the success or failure of the Zondo Commission Report will be what consequences will result from it for the criminals and corrupt, such as prosecutions , and reclaiming illegal and illicit profits from tenderers.

South Africa has witnessed a decade of unimplemented recommendations of commission reports, from the Khayelitsha Commission , appointed in December 2012 to investigate police inefficiency, to the Farlam Commission into the 2012 Marikana massacre.

It's not known if the Zondo Commission reports will fare any better.

What's clear, however, is that the number of successful prosecutions, and the amount of plundered funds retrieved, will be a key deterrence to future instances of corruption. Crucial here will be to what extent Treasury will increase the budget allotted to the National Prosecution Authority , the Special Investigative Unit , and the Assets Forfeiture Unit .

The country now awaits the third part of the Zondo Commission report, due at the end of February.

Keith Gottschalk is an ANC member, but writes this review in his professional capacity as a political scientist.

By Keith Gottschalk, Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
08.02.2022 LISTEN

Pakistan and Bangladesh can reap the benefits from growing trade and business. This will benefit the people of the two countries. and Pakistan together make up 5 percent of the world's population. The Possibilities of market value in the case of export and import between these two states are inevitably huge. But the trade between the two countries of 39 crore people is now only 6-7 hundred million dollars. This is a very small share in the exports of both countries. In 2019-20, only 50 million worth of goods went from Bangladesh to Pakistan. It has the potential to grow exponentially. The industrial sector of both countries has expanded tremendously in the last 50 years. The industrialists of the previous generation knew the details of each other's people and markets. The next generation of industrialists is unable to make use of that historical experience due to a lack of political action.

India and China have been in the midst of a war frenzy for the past year. But in the meantime, it has done business worth about 109 billion dollars. The example of Pakistan-India may be more relevant in this regard. The two countries exchange gunfire every week. There have been three large-scale battles between them. But in the meantime, they are selling products. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, goods worth 300 million US dollars went from India to Pakistan. Last year it was almost four times more. They may go back to the previous state in the future. If Pakistan-India can continue to trade despite the fragility of political relations, Bangladesh can do the same with both countries. You need to be able to. Building a market in South Asia is becoming more urgent for Bangladesh to escape the European-American political caution.

Pakistan has put Bangladeshis on the priority list for visas since 2019. Both countries can make it easier to boost export trade. This will increase the market of jute, tea and tobacco in Bangladesh, Pakistan will also increase the export of yarn, sugar, etc. However, in order to make the current trade balance more favorable for Bangladesh, policy support from Pakistan is needed. After a long hiatus, Pakistan has already shown diplomatic interest in developing relations by sending an ambassador to Bangladesh. They have to go further. Islamabad has a lot of responsibility to heal the historical wounds of Bangladesh. Many Pakistani policymakers want Bangladesh to forget the 1971 Independence war and move forward. But it is not easy on the part of Bangladesh; Not even possible. Rather, it would be convenient in practical terms to solve the problems arising from the seventy-first chapter quickly. It is high time for Pakistan to realize the situation. Those are not to be avoided. Pakistan wants to increase trade relations with Bangladesh. The Canada-based International Forum for Rights and Security, a think tank, recently published a report on Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has been shown there that Bangladesh is ahead in all areas of the index. Many Western economists have called on all countries to follow the Bangladesh model in the development of South Asia.

According to Bangladeshi Media, Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said that Pakistan is keen to boost trade and economic ties by maintaining good relations with Bangladesh on January 26, 2021. He said there were problems in some areas in trade with Pakistan. If they are removed, the trade will increase further. Both countries have huge potential to increase trade and commerce. This opportunity can be used. He made the remarks during an exchange of views with Pakistan's High Commissioner to Dhaka Imran Ahmed Siddiqui at his office in Dhaka on Wednesday (January 26th, 2021).

The Commerce Minister of Bangladesh said Bangladesh's trade with Pakistan is ongoing. Tea, pharmaceutical products, readymade garments, ceramic products, shoes, leather and jute products are exported from Bangladesh to Pakistan.

There is an opportunity to further increase these exports. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh is advancing rapidly in all fields including economic and social. The development of Bangladesh is now visible. Bangladesh's capacity in international trade has increased.

He said Pakistan had recently imposed anti-dumping on hydrogen peroxide exports. Such measures hinder the development of trade. Any existing problem can be solved through discussion. The problems can be identified and resolved at a meeting of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) between the two countries. Traders have an important role to play in increasing trade. Traders can increase trade by visiting each other's countries. Necessary cooperation can be given in this case.

Pakistan's High Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui said the Pakistani government wants to move forward by developing trade relations with Bangladesh. There is ample opportunity to enhance trade and economic relations between the two countries. Pakistan is keen to enhance trade and economic ties while maintaining good relations between the two countries. Ceramic products made in Bangladesh are being widely used in various government departments of Pakistan.

Envoy Imran requested that visas for visits to Bangladesh be made easier for Pakistanis for personal and business purposes and that Dhaka-Karachi direct communication is introduced for the transportation of goods. He also called for a single country fair for Bangladeshi products in Pakistan and stressed holding the 9th meeting of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC).

In the last fiscal year 2019-2020, Bangladesh exported goods worth. 50.54 million to Pakistan. During the same period, it imported goods worth 543.90 million US dollars. If trade complexities are removed in some cases, the export of Bangladeshi products to the Pakistani market will increase further. Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh for the year 2020-21 was $721.67 million. Of which Pakistans exports to Bangladesh in that time were $650.21 million while imports stood at $71.45 million. Bangladesh is one of the top 10 export destinations for Pakistani products. (Data are collected from reports of various media outlets).

According to recent media reports ( based on the data of the State Bank Of Pakistan ) Pakistan's goods and services trade with Bangladesh witnessed surplus of 46.65 percent during first six months of financial year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The overall exports to Bangladesh were recorded at $399.408 million during July-December (2021-22) against exports of $ 274.246 million during July-December (2020-21), showing growth of 45.63 percent, SBP data revealed. Meanwhile, on year-to-year basis, exports to Bangladesh during December 2021 also increased by 52.01 percent, from US $ 54.433 million to US $82.746 million. Similarly on month-on-month basis, exports of Bangladesh were rose by 14.38 percent during December 2021 in comparison with exports of US $ 72.339 million in November 2021, SBP data said.

It is true that Bangladesh and Pakistan cam profit by growing business relations. Pakistan can export cotton, yarn, fabric, leather, inorganic chemicals, vegetables and electronics (fan), halal foods to Bangladesh. There is a high demand for these products in Bangladesh. On the other hand, Bangladesh can export its world-class medicines, apparel, agro-products, halal foods, ceramics, etc. Bangladesh can benefit from using Pakistans Gwadar port and China-run CPEC. Bangladeshi products can be exported to Central Asia and imported from the region easily. As a result, Pak-BD ties would boost up more. Both sides can also work in promoting cooperation in the areas of science and technology, information technology, health care, digital cooperation, SME [Small and medium-sized enterprises] development, tourism, etc. Bangladesh has vast experience in dealing with refugees, tackling climate change approach, countering terrorism, human resource development. Pakistan has experience in the sector of religious tourism. Both countries can exchange these advantages.

According to some reports of the media outlets and data of Pakistans central bank, in the first three months of the current financial year, the trade volume between Bangladesh and Pakistan is growing day by day. Bangladesh is now at the top of Pakistan's foreign trade list. Although having some political problems between Pakistan and Bangladesh but the bilateral relationship between the two South Asian countries is growing. According to those reports, Bangladesh-Pakistan trade in the goods and services sector increased by about 37 percent (36.90 percent) in the first three months of the 2021-22 fiscal year compared to last year. The import of Pakistan from Bangladesh has increased by about 44 percent (43.96 percent) this year. From July to September of the 2020-21 fiscal year, Pakistan imported goods worth just over 12 million. Which stood at 17 million at that time in the 2021-22 fiscal year. It is true that bilateral trade is increasing between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Pakistan and Bangladesh should reap the benefits from growing their trade ties.

However, there are many potentials in economic relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan. But this should be realized by the government of Pakistan for its own interest. Because they need Bangladesh's help and support in reviving their fragile economy and raising various regional issues at all international forums. The sooner the Pakistani government realizes this, the better for them. Pakistan and Bangladesh can gain by growing trade ties.
The Founder of Danquah Institute, Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko has said former President John Dramani Mahama sounds like a stammerer whenever he talks about the state of the countrys economy.

His comment follows the statement by the ex-president on the poor state of Ghanas economy under President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's government.

The former President John Dramani Mahama has time and again stressed that the current government has failed in managing the economy and must immediately engage stakeholders to find a way forward.

In a Twitter post on Monday, February 7, 2022, Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko who is a close ally of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government shared, Listening to John Mahama preach on the economy is like hearing a stammerer (apologies to stammerers), not only boldly criticising Sarkodies rap, but trying to convince music lovers that Sarkodie must learn to learn how to verbalise from him, the stutterer.

Having cited the post, Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Mr. Sam George immediately replied to Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko in equal measure.

The outspoken National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP reacted to Gabby's post, Reading your tweets about good governance and empathy for the masses is like hearing a harlot (no apologies to harlots).
The Member of Parliament for the Damongo Constituency who doubles as Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Lawyer Samuel Abu Jinapor, has donated a brand new Nissan Hardbody pickup to the Damongo branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).

The vehicle with registration number GS-318-19 is to help facilitate the day-to-day activities of the union.

In handing over the vehicle on behalf of the Member of Parliament at a short ceremony, the Municipal Chief Executive for West Gonja, Karim Musah Kusubari said the donation was in recognition of the role the GPRTU was playing in the constituency.

He said the Member of Parliament appreciates the tireless effort of members of the union in ensuring that passengers within the Damongo area journey to and from their preferred destinations safely.

According to him, it was the hope of the legislator that the vehicle will help in the smooth running of the administrative activities of the GPRTU Damongo office.

Mr Addae Musah, the Chairman of the Damongo Branch of GPRTU expressed profound gratitude to the Member of Parliament for the kind gesture.

He said the donation was very timely as it would help them effectively run the activities of the union in the constituency in order to render quality service to its clients.

Whilst wishing the MP well in his exploits, he pledged on behalf of all members that the vehicle will be used with care.
08.02.2022 LISTEN

Ghanaians have been advised to do away with indiscipline and bad attitudes as it thwarts the development of every nation since no President or government can prosper without its citizens being disciplined.

Madam Mary Posch-Oduro in an interview with Accra based Oman FM express worry about the recent insurgence of indiscipline acts among many Ghanaians.

She gave instances of rampant indiscipline on our roads exhibited by both drivers and other road users have contributed to the many road crashes, killing many and injuring others.

"My brother imagine a driver feeling relaxed on a three-tier road and still using the extreme left instead of using the right lane made for vehicles with slow movements. How can drivers of the following vehicles overtake from the right side of the road knowing well that it is not done so," she quizzed rhetorically

Madam Posch-Oduro also spoke against the improper disposal of refuse and littering which is a major challenge to Ghana's environmental health.

She noted that, "It is so sad to see people walking around in town and throwing sachet rubbers and plastic bottles anywhere they like. If government want to tax such products to help it cater for its cleaning too, the same people will blame the government for subjecting them to payment of taxes".

She, however called on Ghanaians to inculcate the habit of self-discipline and patriotism in order to keep the environment safe for good health for all.

Madam Mary Posch-Oduro is vying for the position of National Treasurer in the party's internal elections scheduled for this year.
James Klutse Avedzi

08.02.2022 LISTEN

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament says it will use the services of Interpol to have a Madam Afia Nyarkowaa arrested for running away with state money.

Madam Afia Nyarkowaa, a former teacher of the Pantang Nurses and Midwifery School was indicted in the 2018 auditor Generals report for drawing salaries while on study leave.

Although she was expected to pay back the money amounting to GHS70,000, she has failed to do so despite the efforts of the school.

School authorities engaged in the matter have informed the Public Accounts Committee that it has become impossible to have madam Afia Nyarkowaa refund what she owes to the state.

Unhappy with her conduct, James Klutse Avedzi who is Chairman for PAC said Interpol will now be engaged to go after the former Pantang Nurses and Midwifery School teacher.

Madam you have to contact the director of Interpol, provide the necessary details about her. I am sure you know where she is living now so that they can track her.

Afia Nyarkowaa who was a teacher at Nursing and Midwifery Training College Pantang who left and earn close to over GHS70,000 salaries that she knew that she wasnt entitled to yet she received the money. We are getting the Director of Interpol to track her and get the money so that the government can retrieve the money, Mr. James Klutse Avedzi said while engaging school authorities.

The Public Accounts Committee notes that it will follow the case to the latter to ensure that the money owed to the state is retrieved.
One Ghanaian was among the dozens of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant  Libya (ISIL-Libya) members who were recently arrested by security officials.

The Ghanaian is among 30 foreigners found to be part of the ISIL-Libyas operations.

The other foreigners were from Eritrea, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal and Sudan.

This was contained in the 29th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team on Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Al-Qaeda, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities submitted to the UN Security Council Committee.

Members of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant  Libya (ISIL-Libya) (QDe.165) are also present in the Fazzan region, but the group is estimated to have been degraded to approximately 50 fighters, located mainly between Sabha, Murzuq and Umm al-Aranib. A recent arrest led to the identification of a further 30 foreign fighters from Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, the Niger, Senegal and the Sudan, the report said.

The report however indicated that despite its weakness, ISIL-Libya still had operational capability and pitches its base in southern Libya, where it hopes to reorganize its command.

The full extent of the involvement of Ghanaians in the operations of terrorist groups such as ISIL-Libya is yet to be ascertained but the government of Ghana says it is on high alert to guard against threats of terrorist groups in the country.

Last year, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the government was aware of at least one Ghanaian who had been recruited to participate in terrorist operations.

The government will wish to assure citizens that it will continue to take all appropriate measures to ensure that Ghana is protected. In the last few months, countries that share borders with Ghana including Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire have experienced a series of terrorist attacks and there is now evidence that at least one Ghanaian [has been] confirmed to have been recruited by some of these terrorist groups to participate in their activities, he said.

It is unclear if the Ghanaian referenced by the minister is the same or among those, the UN document mentions to have been arrested.

---citinewsroom
Gibraltar Tourist Board Becomes Official CLIA Partner

The Gibraltar Tourist Board has been confirmed as a new long-term associate partner of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) UK & Ireland.

The agreement will enhance Gibraltars brand awareness across the region, bringing them into CLIAs wider community of cruise lines, travel agents and stakeholders.

As part of the agreement, the Gibraltar Tourist Board will sponsor CLIA's flagship main conference in Southampton at the end of May 2022. It will gain further trade exposure via CLIA's website, newsletter and yearbook.

Cruise lines have been visiting Gibraltar since last August, with 175 ships scheduled to call at its port throughout this year. Its tourism representatives are looking to highlight the host of attractions and activities visitors can experience during their visit to the British Overseas Territory.

Andy Harmer, CLIA UK & Ireland Managing Director, said: Were thrilled to welcome the Gibraltar Tourist Board to the CLIA family. Gibraltar is a firm favourite with cruisers and were delighted to see ships once again calling at this unique destination.

"The robust health and wellbeing protocols put in place by cruise lines, coupled with ever-increasing demand from passengers, means cruise has successfully restarted in Gibraltar and across almost 90 markets worldwide. Were eagerly anticipating supporting Gibraltars tourism team as they further build their relationship with the travel trade, enhance their cruise profile and operations, and continue to benefit from the wider economic and social advantages that cruise brings."

Minister for Business, Tourism & The Port, The Hon. Vijay Daryanani said: There is no doubt that the cruise sector is extremely important to the Gibraltar economy. As we ramp up our marketing drive, the Government is committed to pushing our brand in the right circles to increase calls to our port. I am constantly asked by our businesses and stakeholders on the work we are doing to achieve this. I look forward to working with CLIA in fulfilling our goal to make Gibraltar the port of choice in the Mediterranean
08.02.2022 LISTEN

Punctuality has been a major problem among Ghanaians since time immemorial and continues to be more compelling nowadays.

Most workers, especially from the public sector and government appointees have been chastised for their lateness to work and public events.

It is in line with this that the National Treasurer hopeful, Mary Posch-Oduro has admonished Ghanaians to respect and work with time to help improve productivity.

"A public servant will tell you to meet him/her at Ministries by 9am but by the time you get there, that person will not even be at the office. Most public servants do not come to work early but closes before time. How can we develop the country with such attitudes," she stressed.

Mary Posch-Oduro complained that "The amazing thing is that the same workers will in turn come back to ask for salary increment knowing well that their productivity is not enough."

The National Treasurer hopeful retreated government's commitment to the development of the nation but called on all Ghanaians to work hard in ensuring the country achieve its target.
Maxam Company Limited has denied breaching any regulations leading to the explosion at Appiatse, near Bogoso in the Western Region.

However, the management of the company has accepted the $6 million fine from the government saying it will pay to ensure it continues its business operations.

Maxam has noted the findings made by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources from its review of the tragic road accident and its assessment of how to avoid a recurrence. The Ministry has determined that there were certain breaches by Maxam in its operations and has imposed a fine of US$1 million on the company. None of these breaches were the cause of the tragic road accident and all of them relate to the transport carried out by Arthaans Logistics.

Based on a different interpretation of the applicable regulations, we believe that Maxam has not committed any of those breaches, however, to ensure the continuity of the business, to be able to supply our customers, to protect the employment of our workers and sub-contractors, Maxam has decided to pay the fine and will comply with the measures of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, a statement from the management of Maxam has said.

In addition to the $1 million, Maxam as part of its commitment to Ghana and its welfare has agreed to the payment of additional Five Million United States Dollars or its cedi equivalent.

We are indeed saddened by the incident and we express our heartfelt sympathy to Ghana, particularly, members of the Appiatse community for the loss of lives, property, and livelihoods.

Maxam will ensure it is in full compliance with the new regulatory measures announced by the Ministry and will continue to conduct its operations in accordance with the laws of Ghana and international best practices. Maxam wishes to emphasize its sympathy with the Appiatse community, the Maxam statement adds.

A statement issued by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Kinapor on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, disclosed a review of reports of the committee set up to look into the Appiatse explosion established regulatory breaches on the part of Maxam Ghana Limited in respect of the manufacture, storage, and transportation of explosives for mining and other civil works.

It is as a result of the said breaches that Maxam is now set to pay a fine of $1 million, plus the $5 million.
The Founder and General Overseer of the Royalhouse Chapel International, the Apostle General Most Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah, has been honoured by the US government with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award which is based on meritocracy was given in recognition of his commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service.

The award contained a citation signed by US President Joseph R. Biden Jr. with part reading, "the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.

"I congratulate you on taking it upon yourself to contribute to the public good, and I'm proud to present you with the President's Lifetime Achievement award in recognition of your 4,000 hours of service to this great Nation."

"It indicated that throughout the history of US, the American story has been strengthened by those who combine an optimism about what can be with the resilience to turn that vision into reality.

"I know I'm not alone in recognizing that those who are willing to step up and volunteer in service of community and country are essential to the ongoing work of forming our more perfect union. By sharing your time and passion, you are helping discover and deliver solutions to the challenges we face - solutions that we need now more than ever," the citation read.

It further added that the world is in a moment that calls for hope for the future, light to see the way forward, and love for one another.

"Through your service, you are providing all three. On behalf of the American people, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to you for your volunteer leadership, and I encourage you to continue to answer the call to serve. The country is counting on you," it added.

The award was presented by Dr. Jason Renville on behalf of the US government during the Sunday Church service in Accra.

Receiving the honour, the Most Rev. Korankye Ankrah, thanked US President Joe Biden, for sustaining the ward which was started by former US President George Bush Jnr.

He dedicated the award to God, his family and the church for supporting the social work that has brought him this honour.

He shared testimonies of how the lives of individuals and families have been touched and transformed through social interventions like the compassion ministry, feed the hungry, scholarship for the brilliant but needy and the school of restoration.

He also thanked his colleague men of God for their prayers and support for his ministry.

Special Guest of Honour, Yaw Osafo Marfo, Senior Presidential Advisor, Office of the President on behalf of the government congratulated Most Rev. Korankye Ankrah for the honour which he said has put Ghana once again in the global limelight.

He attested to the great leadership skills of the man of God and the impact the social work being done by the church was having on the overall development of the country.

Dignitaries including Dr. Rockfeler Herisse, Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopong, Rita Odoley Sowah, the Mayor of Accra and Municipal and District Chief Executives were present to honour the man of God.
Mr Stephen Ofosu, Ashanti Regional Director of the Department of Children under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has called on parents and guardians to closely monitor their wards on internet usage.

This, he said was the surest way to better assess whether children were using the internet for things that enhanced their development.

He said though some children were using the internet to learn, others were using it to watch nudity contents and other immoral subjects that regressed their holistic development.

It was therefore important for parents to show keen interest in how their children used the internet to help safeguard their future.

Mr Ofosu was speaking at a ceremony at Tanoso in the Kwadaso Municipality to mark the 2022 Africa Safer Internet Day celebrations.

This year's celebration was on the theme, Together for a Better Internet.

It was put together by the MoGCSP with support from Child Online Africa, a child focused research and advocacy NGO.

The Day, which falls on February 8, every year, is used to call on stakeholders to make the internet a safer and better place for all.

It is also used to spread awareness on online privacy and security.

Mr Ofosu said it was no doubt a higher percentage of children in Ghana had access to the internet, but it was incumbent on parents to ensure safe access of online contents by their wards.

He called on parents to put passwords or link their wards phones to their gadgets as a means to effectively monitoring their activities online.

The Department as part of the activities to mark this year's celebration visited community households, markets, lorry terminals in the area to ascertain the level of sensitization young people go got before handling internet devices.

They also collated data on their responses to inform the next line of action.

Information gathered included the level of risks children encounter while using the internet, data purchased and awareness of safe and unsafe materials.

Other questions included how children secured their phones and protection and security strengths of their gadgets.

The team also visited two schools - John Williams International and Sefa Boakye Educational Complex and interacted with more than 400 pupils on internet usage issues.

Mr Ofosu advised the pupils to desist from using the internet to watch pornographic films, filming nudity and other programmes that incited violence in the society.

Mr Richard Sarpong, Ashanti Regional Programmes Director at the Department of Gender, said his outfit was doing its best to reduce sexual immorality amongst children which was why it had been actively involved in advocacies in schools.

He educated the school children on the proper ways to report sexual harassment to the right authorities.

GNA
Dr Hilda Mantea Boye, President, US-Ghana Alumni Association has called on society to focus on the potentials of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and take necessary steps to assist them develop these potentials.

She said PWDs were endowed with great potentials and urged society to provide them with the needed opportunity and support to actualise these potentials.

Dr Boye, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at a skills training for some thirty selected women in Ho charged society to put measures in place to make the world a better place for persons with disabilities."

Madam Boye who is also a Paediatrician at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital said everyone had something to contribute uniquely to societal development hence conscious efforts must be made to aid PWDs attain greater heights in life.

She said the training was organised by US-Ghana Alumni Association in partnership with the US State Department and aimed at equipping the women with employable skills in soap making, pastries and bread making.

Dr Boye said the training was to provide the women with livelihood skills that would enable them to earn a decent income to support them and their children.

She noted that the beneficiaries were mothers of visually impaired children at the New Horizon Centre in Ho in the Volta Region, and that they were selected based on the disabilities of their children.

Dr Boye said most parents of these children were unable to provide them with the needed support due to inadequate financial resources, thus, the need to empower them economically through livelihood skills acquisitions.

She urged the beneficiaries to put the skills they acquired to good use and to see the value in their children with disabilities and invest in their education.

Dr Boye who was accompanied by some members of the association took the children at the Centre through leadership and literacy training to improve their literacy skills and how to make rightful career choices.

Reverend Albert Kwasi Addae, Lecturer, University of Health and Allied Science (UHAS) who was one of the resource persons at the training, encouraged parents of children with disabilities to take proper care of them.

Children with disabilities are also human like us, so whatever we think is good and we plan for ourselves we must do the same for them, he said.

He underscored the importance of the training, saying the acquisition of knowledge through skills training was vital to individual and societal development and commended the organisers.

Reverend Mrs Nyuieme Adiepena, immediate past National Women Programme Officer, Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana, lauded the organisers for the programme, saying skills training was crucial in empowering people to become economically independent.

She said not much capital investment was required to start business with the skills the women had acquired and implored the beneficiaries to make good use of skills.

Some beneficiaries, who spoke to GNA said the skills acquired would go a long way to transform their lives and expressed gratitude to US-Ghana Alumni Association and the US State Department for the initiative.
The Government of Ghana has finally lifted the travel restrictions on non-Ghanaians travelling from South Korea into the country.

The government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration issued a statement in December 2021 announcing travel bans on Israel, South Korea, and Malta as part of efforts to curb the importation of the Omicron Variant of the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19).

The temporary ban on South Korea was subsequently extended from January 2022 to February 3, 2022.

With the timeline elapsing last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has issued a new statement disclosing that the ban on non-Ghanaians travelling from South Korea into the country has been lifted.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana wishes to inform the general public that the Government of Ghana has lifted the temporary travel restrictions on all non-Ghanaian travellers arriving from South Korea with effect from 4th February 2022, part of the new statement read.

It concludes, To this end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and regional integration wishes to state that the general public should take note of the above and adherer to it accordingly.

Find a copy of the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration below:
The Ghana National Association of Teachers, (GNAT,) has protested the introduction of Ghana Basic Education Skills Examination Test proposed by the National Teaching Council (NTC).

According to the association, it is protesting against what it refers to as an attempt by the NTC to craft a policy and arbitrarily foist it on the education enterprise.

A statement issued by the GNAT and signed by its General Secretary, Thomas Nii Musah on Tuesday, 8 February 2022 noted that its attention has been drawn to a document being circulated on social media with the headline National Teaching Council (NTC) Introduces Ghana Basic Education Skills Examination Test.

The association further noted that the document which is purported to have been from the NTC suggests that applicants for admission into public training institutions will have to take an entrance examination dubbed Ghana Basic Education Skills Examination Test, as part of measures to ensure that only qualified persons are admitted.

The association said: We wish to draw the attention of the NTC to Section 60 (a), Part 3 of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020, which stipulates the functions of the NTC, as advising the Minister (for Education) on matters relating to the professional standing  of teachers, among others, and allow the Ghana Education Service (GES) to play its role as lead agency for the implementation of approved policies and programmes at the pre-tertiary level, and not to subsume it.

The statement continued that: The NTC should cease being a Regulator and Implementer; it does not have the mandate to be so.

It added: We wish to reiterate, that we are not against reforms to education; we stand for the best for education in the country; however, we wont stand for policies, programmes and pronouncements off-the-cuff; the Agencies vested with the powers must be allowed to work, and come out, only when the proper consultations have taken place and consensus reached.

---classfmonline.com
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has urged the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ghana Highway Authority to reconsider its decision to convert abandoned tollbooths into washrooms.

The Authority said converting the tollbooths into washrooms for use by motorists would create obstruction and expose pedestrians to danger.

Mr Kwame Atuahene, Head of Regulatory, Inspection and Compliance at NRSA, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, on Tuesday.

Roads and Highways Minister, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, on Monday, February 7, 2022, said the government had planned to convert all abandoned tollbooths into decent washrooms for use by motorists.

We want to refurbish all tollbooth structures to provide proper and decent washrooms for use by motorists to avoid situations where motorists stop to ease themselves indiscriminately, the Minister said.

Mr Atuahene said the plan could pose major danger to users of the facility and pedestrians alike if precautions were not taken.

He said as a risk management Organisation, it would advise that the tollbooths were totally removed to ensure safety of road users.

Mr Atuahene, therefore, called on the Ghana Highway Authority to subject the plan to a thorough safety scrutiny to ensure that it met safety standards, as well as served the public good.

We have to assess the safety impact of that plan and that would determine whether it is a better option or not. We could feel strongly that it may not serve public interest or public good, Mr Atuahene said.

He added that the Authority would follow up on the plan.

The Ministry of Roads and Highways, on Wednesday November 17, 2021, directed the discontinuation of the collection of tolls on all public roads and bridges across the country effective, Thursday, November 18, 2021.

The directive followed the announcement by the Finance Ministry of the scrapping of tolls on all public roads.

The NRSA had earlier called on the sector Ministry to remove the non-functioning booths to prevent any unforeseen occurrences.

Meanwhile, Mr Yaw Atta Arhin, Chairman of the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation, welcomed the proposal, saying, it would help reduce open defecation in the country.

GNA
Mr Ataa Lartey, Director of Street Academy, has called on Ghanaians in the diaspora to come home and help make the country a better place.

He made the call while receiving study materials-exercise books, pens, pencils, sharpeners, crayons  from Miss Ebony Ambassador UK 2021.

The donation, which had support from, Africa 2 Diaspora Connections, was to encourage street children to take formal education seriously.

He received the items on behalf the Accra Street Kids, saying, the items will help us prepare the kids into the formal education, and expressed gratitude to the philanthropist.

Miss Samira Mensah, the 2021 winner and ambassador of Miss Ebony UK, pledged to sustain such outreaches with creative workshops to empower young people in Ghana.

Miss Elegant, Bold, Originality, Noble, Youth ambassador (E.B.O.N.Y) pageant is a contest organised to crown a young black beauty from African decent to be a youth representative to her own country.

The Street Academy is a non-formal school institution, located at the Arts Centre in Accra.

There are 620 children who are supported by the Street Academy, with about 80 of them studying at the Academy.

GNA
The Central Regional Branch of the Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission (FC) is expected to plant about 1.6 million tree seedlings, come Saturday, June 04, 2022, under the Green Ghana Project.

Last year, during the maiden exercise of the Project, more than 650,000.00 were planted across the 23 Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts (MMDAs) in the Region.

The afforestation project is aimed at speedily retrieving and revamping degraded lands and restore the country's lost green environment.

Mr Michael Paintsil, the Regional Manager of the Forest Division Services disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Cape Coast.

He said this year's number represented an increase of 1,599,350.000.00 trees expected to be planted.

On survival rate of last year's trees, Mr Paintsil said about 80 percent of the trees survived, describing it as a remarkable success.

He said effort was being made to replace dead ones to achieve the purpose of the exercise .

The Regional Manager attributed the success of the initiative in the region to the collective participation of various stakeholders including faith-based organisations, traditional authorities, educational institutions, and individuals.

He commended them for their tremendous support and called for more enthusiasm this year to ensure the targeted tree seedlings were planted in the Region.

To achieve this year's milestone, the Region has been divided into four sectors namely; Assin Fosu, Dunkwa, Winneba and Cape Coast to ensure all areas particularly, the remotest, were captured in the planting project.

He said the office was collaborating with all stakeholders, enhancing public education and media engagement to get Ghanaians informed on the relevance of tree planting in the country.

Trees to be planted this year include fruit trees, ornamental trees, indigenous and exotic trees among others.

Mr Paintsil appealed to all MMDAs, religious groups, traditional authorities, and institutions to support the Commission to restore the country's lost forests.

The Regional Manager urged the public to own the trees and develop strategies to nurture them for the benefits of all.

The government, with support from various stakeholders, undertook a nationwide tree planting exercise last year to restore the country's forest cover.

Over five million trees were planted across the country as part of the Green Ghana project.

The initiative was also to encourage the citizens and to inculcate in them the habit of planting trees to protect the vegetation cover for a balanced ecology and as a long-term measure against heavy storms.

The Green Ghana project is a presidential initiative launched by President Nana Akufo-Addo on March 23, 2021, to rally Ghanaians to plant five million trees on June 11, 2021, to preserve the country's forest.

GNA
On 7 February 2022, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), met with H.E. Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados, as part of his visit to the Caribbean island to launch the Project Hammer to address the smuggling of firearms and narcotics in small parcels.

They discussed the ongoing progress in Customs reform in Barbados, including the recent legislation and the migration to the new IT system that offers interoperability with other government agencies.

Prime Minister Mottley expressed her keen interest in human capacity development in Customs as well as her support to the current reform process. Secretary General Mikuriya expressed his support to the Prime Ministers priorities and highlighted that they were in line with the WCOs policy regarding political commitment, partnership and for a people-centric approach.

Dr. Mikuriya reiterated the WCOs support to Small Island Economies in terms of capacity building, including the launch of the Project Hammer aiming at enhanced risk management.

At the end of the meeting, they agreed to continue working together for the development of the Caribbean region.
Damaged equipment is seen in the office of Guinea-Bissau broadcaster Radio Capital FM after armed men raided the station's headquarters, threatened its staff, and destroyed its equipment on February 7, 2022. Photo: Mustafa Queita

08.02.2022 LISTEN

Authorities in Guinea Bissau must thoroughly investigate the latest attack on broadcaster Radio Capital FM, ensure the safety of its staff, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

At around 10 a.m. on Monday, a group of about four unidentified men fired guns at the privately-owned broadcasters headquarters in Bissau, the capital, and then broke into the office and ransacked it, according to media reports and Radio Capital FM program host Sabino Santos and owner and director Lassana Cassama, both of whom spoke to CPJ in phone interviews and via messaging app.

The attackers, some in military uniforms and others in civilian clothes, shot and destroyed broadcasting equipment throughout the office, according to those sources.

The men openly discussed whether to kill the stations staff members, but one of the men ordered that no one be harmed, Santos and Cassama said. The staff members on the premises were able to flee, but several sustained injuries while escaping over the two-meter wall surrounding the building, they said.

A police officer guarding the station fled as soon as the attack began, according to Santos and Cassama.

The station often reports critically on the government of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and that morning had hosted a call-in show for listeners to comment on the countrys failed February 1 coup attempt, Santos said.

Police have been stationed at the broadcaster following an attack in July 2020, when unidentified armed men smashed its broadcast equipment. Authorities have not identified any suspects in that attack, Santos and Cassama told CPJ.

Authorities in Guinea-Bissau must ensure that this time around, those responsible for attacking Radio Capital FM and terrorizing its journalists and media workers are arrested and held to account, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. The continued impunity for attacks on journalists in Guinea-Bissau has given armed thugs the license, once again, to destroy equipment and force off air a radio station critical of the government of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, believing that there will be no consequences.

Administrative assistant Binghate Martins was at the broadcaster during the raid and told CPJ in a phone interview that the attackers forced him to lay on the ground, fired gunshots near his feat, and beat him on his back with rifles.

Reporters Maimuna Bari, Bala Sambu, and Ansumane Sow, radio technicians Lassana Djassi, Bakar Kuiate, and Alssene Kande, and administrative worker Sana Mancal sustained injuries as they escaped over the wall surrounding the radio station, according to Santos.

He said that Bari sustained a suspected spinal contusion and remained hospitalized; Djassi broke a leg, Sow broke an arm, and the others suffered minor injuries.

Sow told CPJ in a phone call that he broke his right arm when he slipped and fell trying to climb the wall as attackers fired their initial shots outside the building. He was treated at a private clinic in Bissau, he said.

Hearing gunshots at the radio station was particularly horrible and traumatic after he had reported on the February 1 coup attempt, Sow said.

Santos told CPJ that the attackers shot nine computers, two sound mixing tables, and all of the stations security cameras, and the attack lasted about five minutes.

Their intentions to wreck the equipment were clear, he said, adding at the broadcaster was off the air indefinitely due to a lack of functioning equipment.

Santos said the national judicial police sealed the station to investigate the attack, and he could not predict when they would release the premises or when the station would be back online.

The deputy director of the judicial police, Cornelia Viera, told CPJ in a phone interview that she did not know when the premises would be unsealed, as it would depend on when the investigation was completed. She said she could not comment further as the case was under investigation.

In comments to journalists yesterday, the deputy commissioner of the public order police, Salvador Soares, described the attack as an isolated act. Santos disagreed with that framing, asking, how is this an isolated act if the Ministry of Interior has had two officers at the door since the last attack?

Indira Balde, head of the local journalists trade union SINJOTECS, told CPJ via messaging app that the attack goes to show journalists are not safe while doing our jobs in Guinea-Bissau.

Last year, Santos also faced a criminal defamation investigation over his work, along with Radio Capital FM host Sumba Nancil. The case was later dropped for lack of evidence, Santos said.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo Prampram, Samuel Nartey George has lashed out at a member of the ruling NPP Gabby Otchere Darko following his latest attack on former President John Dramani Mahama.

The Founder of Danquah Institute, Gabby Otchere-Darko on Monday, February 7, 2022, said in a Tweet that hearing the former President preach about the state of the economy of the country is like listening to a stammerer.

Listening to John Mahama preach on the economy is like hearing a stammerer (apologies to stammerers), not only boldly criticising Sarkodies rap, but trying to convince music lovers that Sarkodie must learn to learn how to verbalise from him, the stutterer, Gabby Otchere-Darko said in his Tweet.

Having cited the post on Twitter, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP Sam George did not hold back but replied in equal measure.

The Ningo Prampram MP in a retweet said reading the tweet of Gabby Otchere Darko about good governance and empathy for the masses is like hearing a harlot.
Government, as part of its educational reforms, will introduce aeronautics and aerospace engineering courses in secondary education to develop the creative ability of students and improve on the science to humanities ratio.

Other courses include environmental science, computer science, manufacturing, biomedical sciences, agricultural sciences, global studies and creative arts.

This is part of the new secondary career pathway for the country.

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, who announced this in Accra, said a Curriculum Writing Group had been constituted and stakeholder consultations were ongoing.

He said the Government had drafted partnership guidelines between High Schools in Ghana and other schools for exchange programmes to learn from best practices and inculcate the knowledge acquired into the country's educational system.

The Ministry, he said, had established the National Education Institute to run tailor-made courses in school leadership and management for practising and potential teachers to improve learning outcomes.

That, he explained was necessary because research conducted by the National Teaching Council revealed that 94.5 per cent of headmasters or headmistress in the public schools did not have formal training in school management.

He said the Government as part of efforts to improve technical and vocational education and skills in the country on December 14, 2021, launched the Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Service.

The Minister said all TVET institutions now captured under the TVET Service had been included in the Computerized School Selection and Placement System.

The Pre-Tertiary Education Act, 2020 (ACT 1049) has aligned all TVET providing institutions under the 19 Ministries offering skills training to the Ghana TVET Service under the Ministry of Education

The object of the Service is to manage, oversee and implement approved national policies and programmes relating to pre-tertiary technical and vocational education and training.

He announced the opening of six new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) schools this year to improve on the science to humanities ratio programme.

The schools are: Abomosu STEM School, Kpasenkpe STEM School, Bosomtwe Girls STEM school, STEM Centre at Accra Senior High School and TVET School at East legion.

The government, he said, had commenced the development of 20 STEM centres, and 10 model STEM Senior High Schools across the country, which were at various stages of completion, as part of the commitment to the advancement of STEM education in the country.

To check examination malpractices, the Minister said the Government instituted the e-testing and serialisation, which was piloted in the 2021 National Standard Test and the Basic Education Certificate Examination.

GNA
Mr Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank Regional Vice President for Western and Central Africa says the World Bank is not in the business of criticising governments on how they manage their economies.

The Organisation, he said, sought to establish objective ways of understanding situations and advise countries on how to mobilise and utilise resources to champion development priorities.

For every challenge that we see, we need to think of opportunities associated with those challenges he stated.

Speaking at a Press Briefing in Accra, Mr Diagana said the Bank had the responsibility of occasionally engaging government considering the number of portfolios of investments it had in the country estimated at US$3.2 billion.

It is important for us to come and see how those projects are being implemented and how they are contributing to Ghana's development goal.

He said the prevailing unusual circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic called for collaboration between government and other international organisations to ensure that the country achieved its vision.

Mr Diagana commended Government's effort at managing the pandemic and emphasised the need to intensify the campaign to have more of the population vaccinated because higher herd immunity was critical to economic recovery.

Mr Diagana, who is in the country for the first time since his appointment in 2020, will pay a courtesy call on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and will be monitoring some projects as well as hold a high-level meeting with some government officials.

GNA
Dr. Wallace Odiku-Ollennu, a Dentist, has advised Ghanaians to desist from wiping the enamel of their teeth through over brushing.

He said brushing the teeth for over two minutes could damage the enamel, which protected the inner layers of the teeth against acid, bacteria, plaque and other harmful substances.

Dr Odiku-Ollennu also advised the populace to use toothpastes that contained fluoride (1450-1500ppm) to help prevent cavities and tooth decay.

He said that could protect the teeth against several risk factors such as consumption of excess sugar, alcohol intake, use of tobacco and smoking, which subjected people to tooth and oral problems.

Dr Odiku-Ollennu, also with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) ahead of the commemoration of the World Toothache Day.

Oral diseases, he said, posed a major health burden for many countries and affected people throughout their lifetime, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement and even death.

He bemoaned the nonexistence of oral health policy in Ghana and the lack of cohesion among dentists and other health professionals in their line of duty, which he said, was a major challenge in addressing dental health in the country.

The Policy, when formulated, would address issues of oral health education, information, communication, infection prevention and control to support and promote the oral health of the people.

He thus, called on government to hasten the process of developing the Oral Health Policy to address some of those challenges.

Ghana will tomorrow join the rest of the world to mark National Toothache Day, which falls on February 9.

The Day serves as a reminder of the benefits and overall importance of dental hygiene.

According to National Today, a global calendar on national days for commemoration, though the origin of the Day was not known, the unofficial holiday served to remind people that it was important to look out for one's own oral well-being for a happy, healthy, and long life.

It said taking the time to consider and prioritise one's oral health was essential for keeping the teeth healthy and pain-free.

Toothaches, scientifically known as odontalgia, are exactly what they sound like, the pain generated from either one or multiple teeth.

A toothache can make it difficult to eat, sleep, or sometimes even talk.

While they are not worth celebrating, we all can hear up the ways to stop them for good.

The Day is, therefore, celebrated to encourage individuals to be more proactive about visiting dentists and making sure to go for booked cleanings even with a busy schedule for at least twice a year.

It also serves as a reminder to avoid lots of sugary foods at a time, which in turn, may improve one's overall health.

It said one could observe the National Toothache Day by brushing and floss, learning how to care for a toothache, and visit the hospital for a dental check.

GNA
A Policy Analyst at the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC,) Mr. Bernard Anaba has cautioned that government stands to struggle for access to funds from donor partners should the anti-gay bill before parliament be passed.

It can be recalled that in June 2021 the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2021 was presented to Parliament.

The Bill prescribes that people of the same sex who engage in sexual activity could spend up to 10 years in jail.

Since its introduction, a group of Parliamentarians led by Ningo Prampram MP Sam George and with support from some Civil Society Organisations, religious and community leaders has been pushing for its passage into law.

At a workshop in Accra organised by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) on the topic Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill and its Potential Impact on the Economy, Mr. Bernard Anaba presented an argument on why government must have an interest and probably see to it that the private member's bill is not passed.

The policy analyst noted that the Bill is going to be a source of social disorder and its economic impact on Ghanas struggling economy could be dire.

The Bill is contradictory to the universality of self-ownership and undeniable fundamental rights that has no alternative in the scheme of social order. If you are going to say that people do not have the right to themselves then what we are saying is that they should bring back slavery or we are saying that we shouldn't interact altogether.

The relatively weak economic position and heavy reliance on external financing in grants particularly expose Ghana to considerable economic impact if diplomatic tensions lead to reduced interest in Ghana. The resultant indirect cost to the economy as a result of possible diplomatic tension, reduced or delayed grants mostly from the west where Ghana has been dependent will be huge, Mr. Bernard Anaba explained.

He said for a country whose annual budget relies on 4-6% on foreign aid, passing an anti-gay bill is sure to bring unwanted consequences.

The Policy Analyst further argued that the passing of the bill will mean Ghana will go against a number of UN human rights conventions it has already signed onto.

According to him, this will also attract a blowback on the country and will result in diplomatic tensions as well.

Ghana is a signatory to a number of United Nations Human Rights Conventions and we know that a lot of our external partners are against the passage of this bill. If we are going against the UN order of human rights of which significant provisions of this bill contradicts even in our constitution, then it is going to bring about diplomatic tension between officials of Ghana and UN officials, Mr. Bernard Anaba noted.

He told journalists that the government should conduct a broad cost-benefit analysis of the bill to avoid a potential repercussion of economic impact already triggered by the consideration of the bill.

Mr. Anaba insists that at a time where Ghana is signed onto many global covenants on human rights, there is the need to critically look at its obligations before passing the anti-gay rights bill to avoid any unnecessary blowback that would be costly.

Government may need to consider whether the bill will have a positive economic impact or it will impose an unneeded economic cost, the Policy Analyst stressed.

Joining the workshop via zoom, economist and political risk analyst, Theophilus Acheampong suggested that government conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the passing of the bill.

He further called for an anonymous survey to find out which sectors of the economy are LGBTQ+ individuals most likely to be, establish the nature of the scale of the exclusion that they face, and address the effects of stigma targeted at these individuals.
World Bank Vice President for Central and Western Region of Africa, Ousmane Diagana as part of his visit to Ghana has visited some World Bank financed projects.

He toured the Korle-bu treatment hub and vaccination center today, February 8.

The treatment hub which is supposed to serve as an ultra-modern facility to care for COVID patients was funded by the World Bank as part of its efforts to aid the countrys fight towards COVID-19.

The 80-bed unit comprises a centre for training and research and a pediatric unit. The facility which is 86% complete will see the use of modern technology to boost the state of healthcare and research.

The World Bank Vice President, Ousmane Diagana stated that he was impressed with the progress made so far with the facility saying, the World Bank was pleased to have partnered government of Ghana.

Speaking to the press, he stated that the World Bank would continue to do its best to help government materialize its vision.

The World Bank is very pleased to be a part of this; we are a long standing partner of Ghana in all the human capital of Ghana and at the center of health. Today in visiting this facility and the vaccination center, Im really pleased to note that beyond what you have on the paper you are moving fast. Im impressed by the quality of the infrastructure, he stated.

He pledged the continued support of the World Bank towards the countrys development.

Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu also present at the tour stated that, without the support of the World Bank, the country wouldnt have been able to visualize such facilities.

According to him, the support of the World Bank came at the right time as the money given was not only able to put up the treatment hub, but also provide some medicines to persons of disability and storage for low temperature vaccines.

He added that government had received close to US$430,000,000.00 which had not been totally used.

World Bank we would want to rely on you for continuous support and Ghana would never fail you. When you put in money here, we will utilize it for the best of our country and the rest of the world, he stated.

The tour was joined by the Country Director for World Bank, Mr. Pierre Laporte, the CEO of the Korle bu Teaching Hospital, Opoku-Ware Ampomah, the Minister for Health as well as some other stakeholders.

The treatment hub and vaccination center are a part of a plethora of World Bank financed projects in the country.

The treatment hub according to the constructor should be completed by end of February 2022
The Ghana Tech Lab and the Ghana Innovation Lab during a visit by World Bank Vice President, Ousmane Diagana today, appeared to be living up to the expectation of advancing digital skills in young people.

The tech lab, which comprises a programming, robotic, media and machinery design department has trained and is still training young persons in the tech industry to produce their own devices as well as garner other digital skills.

The Vice President of the World Bank for Central and Western Africa, Ousmane Diagana stated that he was impressed by the strategy of the Ghanaian authorities to ride on digitalization to improve the standards of the youth and the nation in general.

According to him, he was happy the Bank had partnered Ghana on this project that saw the creation of jobs.

Mr. Ousmane Diagana also interacted with some trainees at the Ghana Tech Lab as he inquired how the experience had been for them so far.

The innovation hub, which takes young entrepreneurs through development and branding of their ideas, has seen the creation of jobs for a lot of young people who have passed through the initiative. The hub has seen the production of made in Ghana products like rice, beans, granola and many others by its trainees.

Minister of Communication, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, stated that the support from the Bank had been amazing and it was rewarding to see that, the seed sown in the tech lab and innovation hub had yielded some positive results.

She added that young people were the face of digitalization and investing in them now would lead to great revenue in the next few years.

I keep saying that if we give our young people the digital resources they require today, they will provide the human resources for the global world of work in 20-30 years and I think that what we have seen just today is a little exposure to digital technology and skills, Mrs Ursula stated.

She stressed that the project had impacted about 5,000 young persons and hundreds of jobs are being created.

The sector minister added that government was thankful for the support of the World Bank and all other stakeholders who keep supporting the project.

The Ghana Tech Lab and Innovation Hub are projects funded by the World Bank through the Ministry of Communications.

Mr. Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for Central and Western Africa region visited the Accra Digital Centre, where the Tech Lab and Innovation Hub are located as part of his visit to World Bank funded projects in the country.

He had previously visited the treatment hub and vaccination center at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital also funded by the World Bank.

He was joined by the Country Director of the World Bank Office in Ghana, Mr. Pierre Laporte, Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu Ekuful as well as some stakeholders.
In a country with low financial literacy, the government has a duty to explain its stand clearly and unambiguously when it takes the first step towards taxing or regulating a new and confusing financial asset. The numbers are large enough to warrant clarity, especially when the government expects to collect taxes on income from the product. However, typical of how the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) functions, it first delayed a decision on regulating crypto currency for too long and, when it finally took a decision, it put taxation before legislationa bit like putting the cart before the horse.

According to the crypto industry, there may be as many as 20mn (million) crypto investors in India. This is equal to the number of investors we have had in the capital market (including mutual funds) for over two decades, right until the COVID pandemic. Their total investment is estimated at around US$6bn (billion). These are industry estimates. The Budget has not even put out any official numbers on the size of the industry or trading volumes.

The finance ministers (FMs) decision to impose a 30% tax on profits from crypto transactions and 1% tax deduction at source (TDS) was seen as legalising crypto currency in India. It also opened the doors to a deliberate and cynical attempt by the crypto industry to mislead the gullible. Founders of crypto exchanges, miners , influencers and public relations (PR) companies are out in force declaring that a decision to tax equals legalising crypto; especially since it was accompanied by the announcement that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will launch its digital currency this year. There is also a misguided social media petition lobbying for a reduction in tax which is approvingly re-circulated among blind followers.

1. (@BuddhaSource) tweeted on Budget day: The clarity on crypto tax is such a positive move by our government. This essentially removes doubt of illegal vs legal for those who are still wondering. Now waiting for Banks to support us.

The clarity on crypto tax is such a positive move by our government ????



This essentially removes doubt of illegal vs legal for those who are still wondering.



Now waiting for Banks to support us.  Siddharth ( WazirX ) (@BuddhaSource) February 1, 2022

@NischalShetty of WazirX a crypto exchange, and a big campaigner for spreading the crypto cult, tweeted: Todays budget has ensured a very bright future for Indian Crypto ecosystem A few notable outcomes: - Government has legitimised industry - No more fear to BUIDL - Everyone can participate Over 1188 days of 2.@NischalShetty of WazirX a crypto exchange, and a big campaigner for spreading the crypto cult, tweeted: Todays budget has ensured a very bright future for Indian Crypto ecosystem A few notable outcomes: - Government has legitimised industry - No more fear to BUIDL - Everyone can participate Over 1188 days of #IndiaWantsCrypto Its been worth it! Next, lets Build For Crypto.

Todays budget has ensured a very bright future for Indian Crypto ecosystem



A few notable outcomes:

- Government has legitimised industry

- No more fear to BUIDL

- Everyone can participate



Over 1188 days of #IndiaWantsCrypto



Its been worth it!



Next, lets Build For Crypto ??  Nischal (Shardeum) ?? (@NischalShetty) February 1, 2022

3. @BlockBulletin : Crypto in India is legal from now on with India's finance minister revealing plans for CBDC and 30% tax on cryptocurrencies profits.

Crypto in India is legal from now on with India's finance minister revealing plans for CBDC and 30% tax on cryptocurrencies profits. #India #Crypto #Tax #Legal #CBDChttps://t.co/ItdkrFpght  Blockbulletin (@Blockbulletin_) February 7, 2022

RBI and the finance ministry, that have a presence on social media, cannot have failed to notice thousands of tweets declaring that India has legalised crypto. Instead of clarifying the situation, the finance ministry is only adding to the confusion.

On 2nd February, finance secretary (FS) TV Somanathan told Bloomberg Television ( India says crypto not illegal as its taxed like gambling win ), They are in a grey area. Its not illegal to buy and sell crypto. Two days later, on 4th February, the same FS told PTI that cryptocurrency will never be a legal tender and that RBIs digital rupee would alone be a legal tender in India. Couldnt FM Nirmala Sitharaman have said this unambiguously in the Budget?

But wait, the FS himself goes on to muddy the waters in the very same interview. Asked why crypto legislation is not listed for the Budget session of parliament, he says, "We are in a democracy. In a democracy, the government starts with something but then there is feedback. Government is listening to that feedback; based on that feedback they are yet to conclude how it should be done. Meanwhile, the questions of tax clarity cannot wait forever because volumes have become very large.

So his unambiguous initial statement may not even hold water a few months down the road. How then should we read his emphatic will never be a legal tender? Does never, in the finance ministrys lexicon, mean until there are wider consultations that may change their mind? Or does it mean that they may even introduce a Bill in parliament and roll it back after a few months if there are protests, outrage and losses?

According to the FS, Legal tender means by law it is accepted in settlement of debts. The tweets quoted above show that the industry is telling investors something different and the government is not offering any clarity. While the FS spoke about having to take into account the international consensus since there would be cross-border transactions, the fact is that, with the exception of El Salvador, no other country has accepted crypto as legal tender.

Taxed but Not Legal

Most people understand taxation as a simple binary: That government can only tax what is legal; if it is illegal, they expect the government to punish it and force disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. Otherwise, doesnt the State become a partner in crime? Taxation works very differently. Unfortunately, investors only listen to self-proclaimed gurus in the crypto echo-chamber. So let me point to an example that should ring a bell.

The most famous case of successfully taxing illegal income is the nailing of Chicago crime boss Al Capone in the US. It was not fiction. Tax laws around the world are based on this principle. Global precedents ( https://taxguru.in/income-tax/taxability-of-fraudulent-income-earned-under-income-tax.html ) on this issue go back to the 1927 case of Minister of Finance vs Smith (1927 AC 193 PC) where Lord Haldane observed that the Income-Tax (I-T) Act is not necessarily restricted in its application to lawful business only. The revenue merely looks at an accomplished fact. It brings the profit to tax but it does not condone or take part in the illegal enterprise. Prosecutions for the offence will not disentitle the I-T department from taxing the profits arising out of the commission of the offence.

Tax expert HP Ranina explained this in a column in February 2009. Section 2(24) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, he wrote, creates an obligation to pay tax on all income received. He cites several cases that were eventually decided by the Supreme Court. In Dr TA Quereshi vs CIT (287 ITR 547), the Court held that cases are to be decided by courts on legal principles and not on moral views. Law is different from morality. The primary function of the Act is to bring the income of various kinds into the tax net. The income tax authorities are not concerned about the manner or means of acquiring income. The income might have been earned illegally or by resorting to unlawful means. Any illegality tainted with the earning has no bearing on its taxability Allowing such income to escape the tax net would be nothing but a premium or reward to a person for doing an illegal trade, he wrote.

It was further iterated that the I-T department cannot act like the police to prevent the commission of unlawful acts; but the tax machinery can tax such income. The Act considers the income earned legally as well as tainted income alike. There is nothing like an illegal income so far as the tax collector is concerned. Even if the assessee is prosecuted by law enforcing authorities for commission of offence, the income earned by the offender would be income liable for assessment. It is not a defense in such cases that the State is also becoming a party to the illegal act by sharing the booty. The Madras High Court also upheld this view in CIT vs K Thangamani (309 ITR 15) where a tax practitioner was claiming TDS refunds by filing bogus returns in the names of fictitious persons. The substantial questions of law are decided ( https://taxguru.in/income-tax/illegal-income-is-taxable-madras-high-court.html ) in favour of the revenue, setting aside orders by the tax tribunal.

Globally, the US has accepted this principle since 1961 and illegal income, such as theft, embezzlement and drugtrafficking, are included in gross income. It has been argued that the government needs money to operate; hence, although it does not condone illegal activity, it doesnt let that stop it from getting its fair share of the income earned. Interestingly, the law also allows assesses to claim deduction on expenses related to that illegal activity and tax only net income. This is because the US Supreme Court said that the tax code was not meant to punish unlawful behaviour but only to collect tax.

The Canadian government specifically audits people accused of criminal behaviour to check if they have paid taxes on illegal income ( https://taxpage.com/articles-and-tips/income-from-illegal-activities/ ). Such earnings are taxed as business income with similar deductions as allowed by the US, plus penalties for delayed filing, etc. Europe has similar laws. In effect, there are plenty of global precedents, which could have been explained to people.

A new twist to the Indian situation is that many misguided youngsters are already accepting payments in crypto currency, since the government has yet to decide on its legality and regulation. There is no clarity on how the 1% TDS would apply on this after April 2022. There is no clarity on the impact and mechanism for such deduction, especially for traders, since crypto exchanges themselves are not legal.

Another unanswered question is whether the 30% tax will be applicable on such income, irrespective of whether people being paid in cryptos are in the tax bracket or not. A simple reading of the finance ministrys statement would suggest that it will, indeed, be taxed at 30%, because the government sees its decision as a smart move to collect revenue in a legally ambiguous situation. The issue of expenses on business income would be decided based on established precedents, unless the tax department decides to disallow such expenses and have the issue decided by the court.

All this suggests that those earning in cryptos may be forced to go underground and accept illegal payments that fly below the tax radar, while those with taxable income and earnings may be in for a harrowing time until the government sorts out, what is smugly seen as a canny move to collect taxes from trading that has attracted 20 million Indians, largely youngsters.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted the compromise reached between Adani Power (Mundra) Ltd. and Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. (GUVNL), over the supply of electricity.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said: "In view of settlement deed, we dispose of the curative petition, by saying that both parties will be governed by the compromise".

In a settlement, the private firm waived off its nearly Rs 11,000 crore dues with the state PSU in a dispute over termination of a February 2007, power purchase agreement for supplying 1000 MW electricity. The private firm has agreed to keep supplying power to the state PSU.

On September 30, last year, the top court asked Adani Power (Mundra) Ltd. to respond to a curative plea by GUVNL challenging it's 2019 judgment which had upheld the private firm's termination of a pact with the state PSU.

At the outset, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submitted before the bench that parties have settled the problem and there was a claim of over Rs 10,000 crore compensation and it now stands withdrawn. The AG urged the top court to record the settlement in the matter. The bench, also comprising Justices U.U. Lalit, D.Y. Chandrachud, B.R. Gavai, and Surya Kant queried the law officer, how to interfere in the judgment?

The counsel for Adani submitted that curative petition can be disposed of on the terms of settlement reached between the parties, and the firm will continue to supply power.

The Chief Justice queried that once the court has taken up the curative and doesn't interfere in the judgment then how can it modify the judgment. He added, "You want it to be disposed of based on settlement?"

The AG urged the bench to take on record affidavits by both parties in the matter. Justice Lalit suggested that the court can record that the relationship between the parties will be governed by the compromise. Justice Kant agreed with Justice Lalit's suggestion in the matter.

The AG submitted that the court can invoke Article 142 and put an end to the dispute.

Justice Lalit said that parties have entered into compromise and the court can dispose of settlement in terms of the settlement which was filed by signatures of competent persons. "We proceed that both parties have now entered into settlement", he added.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
Fort Polk, LA (71446)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
This story was originally published by ProPublica.

Amid a national housing crisis, giant private equity firms have been buying up apartment buildings en masse to squeeze them for profit, with the help of government-backed Freddie Mac.

Daniel Cooper could barely afford a tiny apartment at the 13-story Olume building in downtown San Francisco. But the expansive view from the roof deck captivated him.

Raised in a small city in Kentucky, Cooper was struck by the grandeur of the skyline before him, from the soaring heights of Salesforce tower, San Franciscos largest skyscraper, to the gleaming gold cupolas atop St. Josephs Church, one of the citys historic landmarks.

The sense of opportunity he felt when looking out on his new hometown helped convince the software engineer to become one of the glassy new buildings first tenants in 2016. He joined Mevis Mousbe, a driver for a ride-sharing service who had been the first to move in. She admired the high ceilings in her new junior studio on the sixth floor, which she shared with her Shih Tzu, Roxie-Jolie. A few months later, Specs Titus, an entrepreneur whose eyeglasses inspired her nickname, settled happily into a corner unit on the eighth floor with her daughter. Shed won it in a lottery for apartments with below-market rents.

But prospective tenants werent the only ones eyeing the new apartment building, with its 121 units, gym and rooftop fire pits.

In July 2017, Cooper received an email announcing that Greystar, the property management and real estate investment behemoth, was taking over the building. The private equity-backed firm was buying the Olumes owner, Monogram Residential Trust, and its investments in four dozen properties scattered across 10 states. Cooper worried his new community was about to change.

As Greystar took charge, his alarm grew. Rents soared. Trash collected in the hallways and on the rooftop deck, Cooper said. The security guard showed up less often. One tenant said she was frightened when she encountered a large, seemingly drunk man she didnt know dancing in a leotard and tutu in the parking garage. Another renter described having to heat her bathwater on the stove after she woke several times to find only cold water flowing from her tap.

I understand that rent goes up, cost of living goes up, everything goes up, Cooper said. But with that, we would expect the quality of the building, and the quality of the management, would stay the same, and that was not what we saw.

Greystar did not respond to questions about tenant complaints, except to say that resident satisfaction was very important to the company.

Cooper and his fellow tenants were experiencing firsthand the effects of a dramatic, though mostly unnoticed, shift in control of a vital portion of Americas housing stock, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by ProPublica.

During the past decade, private equity-backed firms such as Greystar have stormed into the multifamily apartment market, snapping up rentals by the thousands and becoming major landlords in American cities, according to ProPublicas analysis of National Multifamily Housing Council data on the nations biggest owners of apartment buildings with five or more units.

Private equity is now the dominant form of financial backing among the 35 largest owners of multifamily buildings, the analysis showed. In 2011, about a third of the apartment units held by the top owners were backed by private equity. A decade later, half of them were.

Private equity-backed firms in the top 35 cumulatively held roughly a million apartments last year, the analysis showed. That is likely an undercount, because private equity giants like Blackstone, Lone Star Funds and others dont participate in the National Multifamily Housing Councils annual survey.

Private equity firms often act like a corporate version of a house flipper: They seek deals on apartment buildings, slash costs or hike rents to boost income, then unload the buildings at a higher price.
(The Center Square)  Montana taxpayers shouldn't worry about the state's budget once the influx of federal money runs out because of the approach state lawmakers took last session, according to a taxpayer advocacy group.

Revenue estimates by Montana's Legislative Fiscal Division range from $181 million above forecasts to $956 million higher than set in the Legislatures joint balance budget resolution passed in January 2021.

How long does that surplus go on? Because most analysts here think it's mainly driven by the federal stimulus money, Bob Story, executive director of the Montana Taxpayers Association, told The Center Square.

Income and corporate taxes have also been a big a part of the states budget.

Individual income tax collections through the end of December were $114.2 million, which was 12.7% above the year-to-date collections in fiscal year 2021, the Legislative Fiscal Division report said.

Even without a surplus, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte is expected to work on lowering income tax rates, something he accomplished in the last legislative session. In next years session, Story said he expects more legislation to further reduce rates, which would happen even without the big budget surplus.

That was kind of one of his goals all along was to try to bring down, get back in line again with some of the surrounding states income tax rates, he said.

Corporate income tax collections through the end of December were 29%, or $33.9 million above this time in fiscal year 2021, which was far above estimates.

Coal, oil and gas tax revenues have been down a bit, but might be coming back up, Story said.

But federal stimulus funding during the pandemic has supported the state budget. The American Rescue Plan Act provided $2.7 billion to the state in 2021. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act sent $1.25 billion to Montana and CARES Act II provided another $754 million in 2020.

They did the best they were allowed to do to use it in existing programs where they could or use it ... in one-time-only expenditure. So, and I don't think there'll be a big, big hit when the federal money finally runs out, he said.

Montana received $14 billion total in federal funding in the past 18 months, according to Story. A lot of that has been driving the economy, along with a pickup in the tourism industry.

Whether the huge growth in revenue is something that will stay with us or its a bubble in the system, he said legislators are reluctant to use it to backfill local government revenue losses from property tax reductions.

All the federal money hasnt been allocated or spent in Montana, Story said. A lot of it goes into infrastructure projects that will take several years to build, keeping the money churning in the system.

Everyone's in the same boat," Story said. "There's X amount of construction workers and equipment and supplies out there and every state is scrambling for them."

A lot of the infrastructure projects funded with stimulus money will have trouble meeting the 2026 deadline. Congress may have to extend the deadline just to get projects that have been on the drawing board completed, he said.
February 08, 2022

Europe Should Leave NATO Behind And Integrate With Russia

The ongoing scuffle over Russia's and China's efforts to rearrange the global order continues.

The recent Chinese Russian statement made it look as if Russia has completely turned its back to Europe and is now locked into an Eurasian destiny with China, Iran and the Central Asian states. That however does not seem to be Russia's understanding.

A man who has Putin's ear, Professor Sergey Karaganov who is the honorary chairman of Russias Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, has written an op-ed that points to an alternative.

The piece was requested by and supposed to be published in the Financial Times, which means that it is directed at the European leadership. But the FT has now rejected it for unstated reasons. It was then published in the Russia in Global Affairs journal and has now been re-published by RT.

Russia will not invade the Ukraine, Karaganov writes. The real issue at hand is the potential threat that NATO may become for Russia should it come nearer to Russia's border.

He then states:

The security system in Europe, built largely by the West after the 1990s, without a peace treaty having been signed after the end of the previous Cold War, is dangerously unsustainable. There are a few ways to solve the narrow Ukrainian problem, such as its return to permanent neutrality, or legal guarantees from several key NATO countries not to ever vote for further expansion of the bloc. Diplomats, I assume, have a few others up their sleeves. We do not want to humiliate Brussels by insisting on repudiating its erroneous plea for the open-ended expansion of NATO. We all know the end of the Versailles humiliation. And, of course, the implementation of the Minsk agreements. But the task is wider: to build a viable system on the ruins of the present. And without resorting to arms, of course. Probably in the wider Greater Eurasian framework. Russia needs a safe and friendly Western flank in the competition of the future. Europe without Russia or even against it has been rapidly losing its international clout. That was predicted by many people in the 1990s, when Russia offered to integrate with, not in, the continents systems. We are too big and proud to be absorbed. Our pitch was rejected then, but there is always a chance it wont be this time.

That last paragraph is quite astonishing.

"Russia needs a safe and friendly Western flank in the competition of the future."

Russia just allied with China.

What "competition of the future" does Karaganov envision that would necessitate a "friendly western flank" for Russia? That "competition" would be in the east or south from Russia? With whom?

Is Karaganov thinking of a U.S. vs. China conflict that would necessitate Russian support for China?

In the late 1990s Russia indeed tried to integrate with Europe, NATO or a follow up organization. That was rejected by the U.S. which did not want another big dog among its pack of European ankle-biters.

But what Karaganov seems to envision now is an integration of Russia with Europe without U.S. involvement.

That is certainly something the French President Macron would also like to see. France has long insisted on European sovereignty including in defense matters. German's chancellor Scholz would likewise agree with it. As would other west-European countries.

This especially after the U.S. president arrogantly asserted power over a German-Russian economic project the U.S. no relation with. This even while Chancellor Scholz, standing next him, avoided to make any commitment in that regard:

PRESIDENT BIDEN: The first question first. If Germany  if Russia invades  that means tanks or troops crossing* the  the border of Ukraine again  then there will be  we  there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it. Q: But how will you  how will you do that exactly, since the project and control of the project is within Germanys control? PRESIDENT BIDEN: We will  I promise you, well be able to do it.

Such talk alone should be reason enough for Germany to leave NATO and to kick the remaining U.S. troops out of its country.

But to set up an alternative organization is not easy. The current European Union structures in Brussels do not allow for doing that under an EU umbrella. A new alliance of France, German, Spain and maybe Italy could be a decent start to then integrate with Russia. That would certainly also attract other European NATO members though some eastern European countries would probably lag because of their historic Russia phobia.

That all may look to be far outside of the current horizon. But we should remember that it was a U.S. president who just five years ago considered to leave NATO.

Karaganov may be onto something and the European capitals should start to think about it.

---

* Biden seems to be fine with the Russian long range artillery and airforce action should the Ukraine dare to attack its rebellious Donbas region. Good, as that is likely what Russia has planned to do.

Posted by b on February 8, 2022 at 18:00 UTC | Permalink

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Big Bend National Park

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK  The National Park Service, Big Bend National Park and the Federal Bureau of Investigation El Paso Field Office, Alpine Resident Agency Office, are seeking information on a missing Fort Stockton man and his daughter.

Hector Flores Jr., 49, and his 9-year-old daughter Luna Flores were last seen on Jan. 28 after traveling from Fort Stockton to Big Bend National Park in his blue 2005 Dodge 1500 truck, according to a press release from Big Bend National Park.
Former Trudeau Research Director Re-joins Pollara

Canadian firm Pollara Strategic Insights has announced the return of Dan Arnold, as Chief Strategy Officer, after six years serving as Director of Research and Advertising to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.



Originally founded in 1985 as Insight Canada Research by Michael Marzolini, Pollara is headquartered in Toronto and also has an office in Vancouver. The company specializes in brand and customer experience research, and its InsurPoll takes the annual pulse of Canada's auto and home insurance policyholders. In addition, the firm has recently launched a standalone business called PoliSci, which will offer new research tools to political parties and candidates in municipal, provincial and federal elections in Canada and abroad.



Arnold (pictured) was previously part of Justin Trudeau's senior staff, responsible for overseeing the Government of Canada's public opinion research, advertising and correspondence, and using research findings to help develop messaging and position the government on key issues. Prior to this, he was briefly Director of Research for the Liberal Party of Canada, having spent six years at Pollara, latterly as Associate VP. In his new position, Arnold will also bring his political research experience to the new PoliSci offer.



Separately, company President Craig Worden has been given the additional role of Chief Innovation Officer, charged with designing and building new research models and overseeing the expansion of Pollara's Online+ research platform; while Lesli Martin has been promoted to Senior Vice President.



Web site: www.pollara.com .




Innovid Buys TVSquared to Create TV Ad 'Currency'

Connected TV (CTV) advertising delivery and measurement platform Innovid has agreed to acquire measurement and attribution specialist TVSquared for $100m in cash and approximately $60m in stock.



US-based Innovid helps clients to stream, personalize and measure connected TV (CTV) advertising, the last of these accredited by MRC. The firm is headquartered in New York City and has extended its global reach in recent years with office launches in Japan, expansion across the DACH region and a number of acquisitions. Last June, an IPO announcement valued the company at around $1.3bn.



TVSquared is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, and led by company President Jo Kinsella and CEO/founder Calum Smeaton (pictured). Its scalable ADvantage platform measures the effectiveness of linear television, addressable and OTT/CTV. A year ago the company launched a fully-automated cookie-less solution called ADvantage XP, while partnerships with the likes of Sky Media, Foursqaure and Flashtalking have helped further expand its offer. Total preliminary revenue for the full year 2021 is expected to be between $20m and $22m.



The buy is expected to close by the end of Innovid's fiscal second quarter, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Smeaton will then step down as TVSquared CEO to take on a strategy role in support of the integration, while Kinsella will join the Innovid executive team, reporting to Innovid CEO and co-founder Zvika Netter, and leading the measurement business.



Netter comments: 'In acquiring TVSquared, we aim to provide the most complete view of the total TV and digital universe through a scalable, currency-grade measurement platform. Additionally, we immediately accelerate and broaden our scope globally, as brands, agencies, publishers, and broadcasters on six continents rely on TVSquared to maximize reach, identify the right audiences and drive business growth with TV'. Kinsella says 'we believe this combination will give advertisers, across the ecosystem, everything they need to transact at scale', while Smeaton says the two firms 'share complementary visions to transform TV measurement' and adds: 'Joining forces establishes a cross-platform measurement solution that maps one of the largest datasets of audiences, homes, and devices, at scale, across linear, CTV, and digital video'.



Web site: www.tvsquared.com .




BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in China have sent a working group to the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to guide COVID-19 response following a recent resurgence of infections.

The working group will oversee prompt implementation of nucleic acid testing, epidemiological investigation and contact tracing to contain the epidemic in the region, He Qinghua, an official with the disease control department of the National Health Commission (NHC), told a press conference on Tuesday.

Guangxi reported 64 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, all in the city of Baise, on Monday, according to the regional health commission.

Guangxi has logged 108 locally-transmitted confirmed cases and four local asymptomatic infections in the latest resurgence of COVID-19, the regional health commission said Tuesday, adding that a total of 815 close contacts are currently under medical observation.

The NHC official said that Baise is witnessing a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections. With over 80 percent of the cases in the outbreak living in the same village, risks of further spread of the epidemic remain high due to multiple factors such as hidden community transmission and higher mobility of people during the Chinese New Year holiday, He noted. 
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Cowgirl Chocolates offers something sweet to spice up Valentine's Day

TAYLA COURAGE Cowgirl Chocolates owner Judith Ames (left) and assistant store manager Mekayla Brown (right) are anticipating a busy month as customers pop in to purchase a selection of gourmet caramels and chocolate truffles. TAYLA COURAGE Shoppers with a sweet tooth can visit Cowgirl Chocolates in Murfreesboro or online to snag their favorite truffle and caramel flavors in time for Valentines Day. Store owner Judith Ames said customers can choose from 4-piece, 10-piece, 20-piece and 40-piece samplers. TAYLA COURAGE Packaged mild and spicy truffles can be purchased at Cowgirl Chocolates in Murfreesboro as well as caramels, chocolate bars and cocoa.

Valentines Day would be nothing without something sweet to treat a loved one to, and at Cowgirl Chocolates in Murfreesboro, theres many options to be saddled up.

Judith Ames, the self-proclaimed new head cowgirl in town, bought the chocolate business from its original owner, Marilyn Lysohir, a ceramics artist and equestrian who announced her plans to retire after more than 20 years of popularizing chocolate bars, truffles and caramels.

Ames, a California native, made the move to Murfreesboro after selling her equine ranch in Plano, Texas in 2017. It was being closer to family that called her to Tennessee upon diving into her next business venture.

Marilyn was retiring, and I had a tea company, and I just thought the chocolates would go well with the tea, said Ames, referring to 9 Lives Tea House which shares the same brick and mortar space as the chocolate store at 175 Mall Circle Drive just across the street from Dillards.

She eventually plans to offer tea classes that show which pairings work best together.

Ive taken several classes and it can completely change the taste of the tea, whether its a dark chocolate or a white chocolate, it can manipulate the taste of the tea as you drink it, she said. Its really interesting.

She says it was Lysohirs decision to spice up the confection scene by infusing cayenne into several of the flavors, a choice that exploded the business and allowed the chocolate to take center stage with small screen appearances on the Food Network.

The company launched in Moscow, Idaho in 1995 and has gained a name for itself in surrounding states as well as Canada.

In February, customers can admire a selection of candy packages ranging from a four-piece sampler to a 40-piece, or one pound in truffles, to treat themselves or a significant other. Getting locals accustomed to the kick of cayenne found in the spicy double dark, raspberry, cappuccino and hazelnut flavors has been a task that shes continuing to tick the box on as more faces swing by to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Gradually, were getting a good following for the spicy, so I always recommend that people come and try the milds to start, and if theyre curious, try the spicy, said Ames, whos best advice is to avoid gobbling them down.

We keep water at the desk, just in case, she said with a laugh.

Stuffed animals and party tins can also be purchased in the store or online. Orders to be shipped must be made by Wednesday, Feb. 9 to be fulfilled in time for Valentines Day.

A couple times a year, Ames will order 20 boxes of sweets, each containing 600 pieces to be wrapped and packaged by hand. That adds up to 12,000 pieces of bite-sized bonbons at one time.

We dont make it on site because our volume is so much because were online, and we have a very active wholesale market that we sell to throughout the United States, Ames said.

Recently, she made a change to the longtime logo of a cowgirl mounted atop her trusty steed to a more modern cowgirl, horse and heart design fitting for the month when love is in the air. Its an update she hopes will draw in the younger millennial and Gen Z demographic.

A chocolate introduction

She recalls her first encounter with the Cowgirl Chocolates Company by a friend in the Idaho-based Appaloosa Horse Club about five years before the opportunity to take over the business was even on the table.

Nobody told me there was spice in it, and the first time I had it I was like, Who would eat this? but then you get addicted to it, she said, commenting on the unique flavor profile. Its very yummy.

After a two-year purchasing period, the company became her own. The hunt for a solid commercial location was tricky given the rapid growth the city continues to experience. Like many other businesses, she was forced to shut down during the pandemic shortly after opening in November of 2019.

I was closed for seven months, said Ames. So, it was like a get started and then a seven-month vacation.

The online side of the business kept orders coming in during that period of downtime. Valentines Day, Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, graduation season and Christmas are the times of year when folks giddy up for edible gifts and goodies.

The warmer months are the only slow season Ames encounters when high heat makes it more difficult to ship orders and guarantee un-melted sweets. Cold packs are used to keep the chocolates from reaching temperatures above 75 degrees.

For quality sake, she keeps orders within the United States, despite international requests coming in from as far away as England and Australia.

Assistant Store Manager Mekayla Brown, Ames soon-to-be niece-in-law, recommends the classic milk chocolate and the spicy raspberry flavors.

After 11 years in the food industry, shes excited to have a laid-back work environment with familiar faces coming in more and more.

The raspberry is different, said Brown, an MTSU graduate. I didnt think Id like it as much, but even with the spice, which raspberry just hits you, and its very cooling.

Customers also have the freedom to assemble their own bags of caramels and truffles, sorted by colorful, metallic wrapping, to get a taste for what flavors may soon become their favorite. The singles are priced at 65 cents each with a 10% discount to first-time shoppers on their entire order.

For those looking to stay in Cupids good graces, Ames suggests forgoing the supermarket, heart-shaped boxes and going the gourmet route that promises dark chocolates that arent bitter and milk chocolates that arent waxy.

Oh, ours is so much better, she said.
Muskogee, OK (74401)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High 74F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Occasional thunderstorms - possibly severe. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low near 50F. SSW winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch.
BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to advance the opening-up of its high-level education, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said in its key tasks for 2022 released Tuesday.

Efforts will be made to step up cooperation with other countries in the sector, such as advancing the high-quality development of the Education Action Plan for the Belt and Road Initiative and stepping up cooperation with ASEAN countries in vocational education and mutual recognition of academic qualifications, according to the ministry.

The country will also deepen reform of the system and mechanism for sending government-funded students to study abroad, develop internationally competitive education for overseas students, and tighten regulations for the employment and management of foreign teachers, said the MOE.

The ministry will support quality basic education resources on the mainland to run schools in Hong Kong, explore the integrated development of education across the Taiwan Strait, and consolidate the platform for educational exchange between the mainland and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

Efforts will also be made to promote the pilot construction of overseas Chinese schools and deepen cooperation with international organizations such as UNESCO, it added. 
Horry County Schools students will now have the chance to skip quarantine based on receipt of negative COVID-19 test results - with some stipulations.

In an email sent to parents on Tuesday morning, Horry County Schools said they sent a request to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control so they will provide the district with at-home COVID-19 tests in order to take part in DHECs Test-to-Stay program. The school district will begin taking advantage of the program Wednesday.

According to the email, if a student is deemed a close contact of a COVID-19 positive individual (regardless of vaccination status), they may continue to attend school and avoid quarantine as long as they have no symptoms and follow a few directives.

These rules include remaining symptom-free, wearing a mask through day 10 and getting a COVID-19 test between days 5 and 7. These results must be provided to HCS by day 8.

A PCR, rapid antigen from a lab, or an at-home rapid test are accepted, the email read.

If parents use an at-home test, they must use the DHEC attestation form here and submit it to the school district.

Either the form or a negative test result can be delivered to the school nurse or may be sent to negativeCOVID19testresults@horrycountyschools.net.

Of course, if the student is positive or develops symptoms, they should isolate immediately. If the test is not submitted by day 8, the district says students must quarantine at home for three additional days before they can return to school on day 11.

The email also states if students refuse to wear a mask for those ten days, they will not be allowed to participate in the Test-to-Stay program.

The district said it does not know yet when they will receive the at-home tests to distribute to families, but rapid tests are available at no cost at many public health departments and through the federal government. Tests may also be purchased at some pharmacies and retail stores.
Aynor High School ninth grader Carolinah Carroll doesnt know what its like not to play the lead role in every school musical.

In fifth grade, she was Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz; in sixth grade, she was Mary in Mary Poppins; and in seventh grade, she was Anna in Frozen.

Her vocal ability is continuing to be appreciated this year as she was chosen to step into the role of Maria Rainer in The Sound of Music.

I have always loved musicals all my life, and I just love to sing and I thought this would be a great experience for me, she said.

Play directors arent the only people who appreciate Carrolls singing. She is the reigning Teen Star in Conways SuperStar competition. Her winning song was Blue Moon of Kentucky.

Her favorite song in this show is My Favorite Things. Other great and lasting songs from the production include The Sound of Music, Climb Every Mountain and Do-Re-Mi.

Also cast in top roles are Leah Cox as Mother Abbess, River Adams as Capt. George von Trapp and Ngaarumbidzwe Unathi Magombedze Rue as Elsa Schraeder, who is also doubling as the student director.

The Sound of Music will be presented at AHS Feb. 10-12 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 13 at 3 p.m.

Rue is fascinated with the character she will play, a woman she calls a very classy woman.

Elsa is the Captains original love interest before he meets and falls in love with Maria.

Elsa is rich and the Captain is highly esteemed and has made a name for himself, according to Rue. She thinks their relationship is more of a business partnership than a love affair.

I do love the character. I love the way they interact, Rue said.

Rue went to boarding school in South Africa where she studied theatre. She was on the cusp of going into an advanced theatre program when she moved.

This is something that I want to do for the rest of my lifeI love being on stage. Im hoping to go into directing as a profession, she said.
New property, same result.

Fearful of a major amphitheater disrupting their rural community, dozens of residents packed Conway City Council chambers Monday night to oppose a rezoning request from the same group that had proposed building a 21,000-seat venue in the S.C. 22 corridor last year. Although the group never revealed any specifics about their plans for the 182-acre property off U.S. 378 in Conway, neighbors didnt want to risk a concert venue coming to their backyard and urged the council to reject the project, which the panel did unanimously.

An amphitheater of this kind will create a feature in our community that will disrupt our history, our values as well as our normal, said Edna Dewitt, who lives on Blain Lane in Conway. A 21,000-seat amphitheater of this type would be absurd for the Sandridge community.

Many of the comments focused on similar concerns: traffic congestion, noise and and worries that the facility would upend life in a quiet area that residents said is not prepared for such a large attraction.

The amphitheater proposed in the county last year had been billed as a $35-40 million facility capable of hosting superstar artists such as Drake and Taylor Swift.

The project is the brainchild of Patrick and Deanna Beech Palmer, a couple with a background in the live music industry. They had originally planned to open a Michael Jackson theme park in the region, but they decided that concept was too daunting of an undertaking. So they scaled it back to just an amphitheater, which they thought would be ideal for the Grand Strand because of the lack of large venues here.

But the Palmers faced a backlash from neighbors in the S.C. 22 corridor who expressed concerns about preserving their rural way of life.

A key difference between the county debate and what happened Monday was that the specific plans for the Conway property were never discussed. Once the neighbors learned the same business, the Palmers PDN Enterprises, was involved, they feared an amphitheater was in the works.
PITTSFIELD  Farmers State Bank employees recently partnered with the Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities programs of Pike and Morgan-Scott counties to work with students on the steps of entrepreneurship.

The program is part of the year-long Midland Institute for Creating Entrepreneurship course, which is designed to use such partnerships to provide students with an overview of business development.

Local businesses partner with schools to create projects that give students experience in owning and operating a business. The businesses provide funding, know-how, meeting space and mentoring, while students visit businesses for tours, hear from guest speakers, participate in a business class, learn how to write a business plan and start and operate their own business.

Throughout the course, student participants learn problem-solving, teamwork, self-motivation, responsibility, higher-order thinking, communication and inquiry.

Farmers State Bank has partnered with the CEO program since it began and now recruits prospective employees from among students in the program.

From an employers standpoint, the CEO program has proven to be a successful recruiting tool, said Jill Moss, Farmers chief operating officer. Students we have hired from the program have showcased skills that directly align with our customer service standards and core values.

During their Farmers State Bank visits, students learn how a bank operates, how various bank divisions work together to provide customer service, and the financial considerations of opening and operating a business.

The CEO program is vital to our local students and businesses, Moss said. Its an exceptional program that teaches life and business skills that will propel the next generation of leaders in our community, and we take pride in being a part of it.
Jacksonville-area school districts were scrambling Monday to figure out whether to continue enforcing student mask mandates or scrap them in light of a judge's order saying the regulations are unlawful.

A Sangamon County judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order against the mandate for 146 school districts sued by about 700 parents who argued the regulations by Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration should not be enforced. State officials on Monday challenged the ruling by Sangamon Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow, which applies only to those who are part of the legal action.

While some school districts  Jacksonville and Jersey County among them  are responding by making masks optional for all students, others are taking a wait-and-see approach or are exempting only students whose parents were parties to the lawsuit.

Parents from Jacksonville, Carrollton, Jersey County, Pikeland, PORTA, Schuyler-Industry and Pleasant Hill school districts are among those who joined the legal action.

Jacksonville schools Superintendent Steve Ptacek said the district is following the law, although he said there are questions of how the order is meant to be applied.

"All this disagreement and confusion over the (temporary restraining order) should be clarified somewhat soon," Ptacek said in an email Sunday. "It is predicted that the appellate court might rule on the issue within two weeks. ... The main point of confusion and disagreement is over the (restraining order) and how it legally applies. We have been advised that (it) does not legally apply to all students."

The school district was going to require masks for all students except those whose parents are part of the lawsuit, which would have limited the number of students who were not masked. But based on feedback from the community, school officials revisited the decision and decided to change the policy for now, Ptacek said.

Parents who want their child to attend classes without a mask can write a note to the student's teacher. Students at Jacksonville High School and Jacksonville Middle School will carry the note with them from class to class.

The school district still will require masks while on school transportation.

"I need to highlight those masks on buses is a federal requirement and the ruling does not impact our bus routes at all," Ptacek said. "Given that fact and that busing requires everyone to be close together, masks will be required on our buses."

Jersey Community Unit School District 100 now will recommend masks but not require them.

"This is a temporary restraining order, which is by its very definition 'temporary' and is not a final disposition of the issues," Superintendent Brad Tuttle said. "It is not a permanent injunction and is not necessarily a reflection of the final merits of the case."

PORTA School District also has allowed students to decide whether to wear masks.

Superintendent Matt Brue said the district is following the court order and will continue to watch the case as it continues.

"We opened it to all of our students, as that was the recommendation of our attorney," Brue said. "We encourage universal masking for our students and staff, but we are not requiring it."

He said the same policies are being put into place for their buses.

"I think this will all be short-lived," Brue said. "I think we'll get some definitive answers in the next 10 days."

Pritzker on Monday said school districts not named in the lawsuit should "continue to follow the prescribed public health protocols," which he said have proven beneficial.

The state's attorney general on Monday appealed the restraining order and a decision is expected within 10 days.

Once a final ruling is made, JSD 117 will follow the ruling, Ptacek said.

"We will continue to be a district that follows the guidelines and the law. However, we understand the confusion Fridays ruling has created" Ptacek said.
Sometimes to honor someone, a person only needs a penny.

Jedd Price of Orlando, Florida, has been honoring veterans  and then some.

The Illinois native is on a journey to place 100,000 pennies at the gravesites of veterans across the country. He said the idea came after he returned to Illinois in 2020 for Memorial Day. While visiting, he noticed his grandfather's gravestone was dirty. He came back a year later to clean it and sought out others who wanted the same done for their family members' gravestones.

He received no responses but decided he wanted to do something to honor others anyway.

"I thought, 'Well, I'll go honor 1,000 veterans on Memorial Day just as a way to honor a bunch of them instead of just one by cleaning it'," Price said.

Throughout the rest of 2021, Price placed pennies on veterans' gravesites in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois and every national cemetery in Florida.

He leaves the coin on a headstone to let a soldier's family know someone stopped and paid their respects.

Price returned home Jan. 29 to place the last five of his pennies  in Carrolton, Greenfield, Highland and Fairview Heights. Two were for his stepgrandfathers, two were for his biological grandfathers, and one was for his great-grandfather.

When he started his project, pandemic-related coin shortages meant there was some struggle to get enough pennies. This did not deter Price, who instead termed the challenge an "honor shortage."

"There's a love for veterans, but there's not a lot of active ways to kind of show respect," Price said. "I'm just trying to do something a little more tangible."

Price said that, since he started his journey, he has received support from many people. His employer, Auto Pay Plus, has helped him gather 41,000 pennies for his mission.

He's also met a lot of people, recalling in particular one widow of a veteran.

"Before leaving, she made a beeline for me with the biggest smile on her face and said, 'Keep doing what you're doing  and here's every last penny in my van'."

With the last of his pennies distributed, Price plans to take up another project, though he is not yet sure what it will be.
BAGHDAD, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament) on Tuesday reopened the nomination for the post of president of the country for three days, after the parliament failed on Monday to hold its second session to elect a new president.

The parliament decided to open the door for candidacy for the post starting from Wednesday and will continue for three days, the Iraqi parliament said in a statement, citing that the decision came due to the expiration of the constitutional period of 30 days (from the first session on Jan. 9) to elect a new president.

The Iraqi parliament had set February 7 as a date for holding its second session to elect a new president of the country from among 25 candidates, but the parliament failed to hold the session due to a lack of quorum and the political disputes among parliamentary political blocs.

On Jan. 31, the Iraqi parliament announced the names of 25 candidates for the presidential election, including incumbent President Barham Salih who represents the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, former Foreign Minister and Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Rizgar Mohammed Amin, former chief judge of the Iraqi Special Tribunal that organized the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

However, the Iraqi federal court on Sunday decided to suspend the nomination of Zebari as a candidate for the presidency until a corruption lawsuit against him would be resolved.

On Jan. 9, the Iraqi parliament held the first session, in which the lawmakers elected the speaker of the parliament and his two deputies. According to the Iraqi constitution, lawmakers should elect a new Iraqi president from the candidates by a two-thirds majority of its members.

Once elected, the new president will ask the largest parliamentary alliance to name a prime minister-designate to form a government within 30 days.

On Oct. 10, 2021, Iraq held the fifth parliamentary election, where Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Sadrist Movement emerged as the biggest winner with 73 out of the 329 seats. 
Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Edith M. Schubert, 40, homeless, was arrested at 2:42 p.m. Monday in the 700 block of West Douglas Avenue on a charge of aggravated robbery in connection with an armed robbery Jan. 13 in Rolling Acres subdivision at 1042 E. Morton Ave. She was also arrested on a Pike County warrant accusing her of failing to appear in court on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

 Ryan L. Fernandes, 52, of 1119 Firecracker Road was arrested at 12:01 p.m. Monday on a domestic battery charge.

 Timothy L. McMeans, 62, of 531 Sheridan St. was arrested at 1:17 a.m. Monday on a probation violation.

THEFTS, BURGLARIES

 A counterfeit $20 bill was used about 6:15 p.m. Saturday to pay for merchandise at Circle K, 602 N. Main St.

ACCIDENTS

 Reginald D. Williams, 81, of Jacksonville was cited on a charge of failing to yield the right of way after the car he was driving and one being driven by Hayle M. Bufford, 37, of Concord collided at 1:02 p.m. Sunday at Washington and North Main streets.

OTHER REPORTS

 Police were told a man was walking in the middle of North East Street near Lafayette Avenue about 4 p.m. Monday and exposing himself to people driving by. Police were unable to locate the man.

 A caller told police a man jumped out of a pickup truck with a gun at 1:23 p.m. Sunday on Leach Farm Road. The man could not be located, police said.

Brown County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Adam T. Rice, age unavailable, of Virginia was arrested at 7:35 a.m. Jan. 30 on a domestic battery charge.

 Thomas L. Langan, age unavailable, of rural Timewell was arrested at 7:20 a.m. Feb. 1 on a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.

Pike County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Zachary D. Tolbert, 27, of Bowling Green was booked into Pike County Jail at 4:24 p.m. Feb. 1 on a battery charge.

 Daniel D. Adams, 36, of Nebo was booked into Pike County Jail at 3:13 p.m. Thursday on a charge of criminal damage to property.

 Jennifer N. Adams, 33, of Nebo was booked into Pike County Jail at 12:36 p.m. Friday on a warrant accusing her of theft and criminal damage to property.

Pittsfield Police



ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Maegan D. Young, 40, of Pittsfield was booked into Pike County Jail at 3:58 p.m. Thursday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

 April D. Carnes, 36, of Pittsfield was booked into Pike County Jail at 3:59 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine and on a petition to revoke probation.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer
Tuolumne Public Health Covid Cases by Episode date Feb 7, 2022 View Photo

Calaveras County Public Health reports a woman in her 70s has died from Covid-19. There are 90 new cases since Friday, February 4. There are 29 fewer active cases for a total of 74 active cases including three Covid hospitalizations. Calaveras reports positive cases age 17 and under are at 1,400 or more, and cases age 65 and older remain at 1,100 or more, specific numbers are no longer provided. There are 118 more counted as recovered for a total of 6,634 and 56.83% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated in the county. According to the state, Calaveras 14-day average for Covid hospitalizations decreased to three and there are six ICU beds available.

Tuolumne County Public Health reports 67 new Covid-19 community cases, active community cases decreased 142 to 298 including 11 people who are hospitalized. There are 17 newly identified inmate cases at the Sierra Conservation Center since Friday. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports 187 active inmate cases down from 450 Friday. There have been 2,303 inmate cases, the prisons inmate population is 2,989.

The newly reported community cases include ten cases age 17 or younger and 19 cases age 60 or older. The new Covid cases demographics: three girls, four boys age 11 or younger, two girls and one boy age 12 to 17, two women and eight men age 18 to 29, three women and seven men in their 30s, three women and five men in their 40s, three women and seven men in their 50s, four women and seven men in their 60s, two women and one man in their 70s, and three men in their 80s and one woman and one man age 90 or older.

The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County decreased to 85.3 from 108.6 per 100,000 population. The case rate reached a high of 174.8 on January 24th. A total of 209 were released from isolation in all 9,522 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 12. 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.

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 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

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Date

New

Active (Hospital)

Total 2022 All Cases (All Deaths) Amador 2/3 (M/Th) 82 417 (17) 1,355 5,521

(64) Calaveras 2/7 90 74 (3) 2,175 6,810

(102) Mariposa 2/7 95 113 (16) 960 2,823

(20) Mono 2/7 0 N/A 931 2,901

(8) Stanislaus 2/7 542 8,930 (225) 29,488 113,862

(1,565) Tuolumne 2/7 84 298 (11) 4,320 12,214 (163) Reported cases at end of 2021 and 2020 Amador updates Monday and Thursday.
Microphone and US Flag View Photo

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered remarks yesterday on the Senate floor regarding China.

McConnell was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

This years Winter Olympics are officially underway on the home turf of the Chinese Communist Party.

Of course, Americans are rooting hard for our outstanding Team U.S.A. athletes.

But this years setting has also trained spotlights worldwide on the abuse and repression the CCP inflicts on its own people  and aspires to inflict on much of the world.

Unfortunately, this has also occasioned some instances of jaw-dropping tone-deafness and gullibility from American voices.

I noted on this floor several years ago that as Chinas modernized its economy, too many wealthy and powerful American actors have seemed willing to help whitewash the CCPs many abuses, or at least turn a blind eye. Hollywood self-censoring our own American films to satisfy President Xi and his cronies is just one example.

Well, last week, one American broadcaster seemed to uncritically amplify the CCPs propaganda goal when they included a member of the oppressed Uyghur minority in the opening ceremonies.

This broadcaster called the CCPs obvious propaganda stunt, an in-your-face response to those Western nations, including the U.S., who have called this Chinese treatment of that group genocide. President Xi couldnt have scripted it better.

Also last week, a faculty member at a Big Ten university went on TV and compared Chinas secret police to American police officers, and Chinas tyranny to American voting laws. Who are we to criticize Chinas human rights record when we have ongoing attacks by the agents of the state against unarmed citizens, and weve got assaults on the voting rights of people of color in various states in this country?.

Beyond absurd.

The truth is: The CCP has turned Xinjiang province into a giant oppression factory where they enslave, sterilize, and commit genocide against the Muslim minority.

The truth is: The CCP has systematically worn down human rights and democracy in Hong Kong and jailed Hong Kongers for speaking up.

The truth is: The CCP is an aggressive, irresponsible presence in the Pacific region and beyond.

Americas national security and economic competition with the CCP is a defining challenge for our country. And not just us, but for all our friends and partners around the world; anyone who values an international order built on freedom and self-determination instead of their opposites.

Last year, the Senate took some bipartisan steps to strengthen Americas hand in that competition.

The bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competition Act was not any Senators, any committees, or either partys idea of a perfect bill. But this delicate compromise product made headway on issues from critical supply chains to counterespionage to intellectual property.

The Senate passed this bill last June.

And the House did nothing for eight months.

Nothing from House Democrats from last June until last week.

A few days ago, instead of passing the Senates careful compromise, House Democrats slapped together a partisan bill stuffed with poison pills and the kinds of things they tried to put in their reckless taxing and spending spree that failed last year.

They didnt even bother to try working with House Republicans. The whole exercise was unserious.

House Democrats version mentions the word climate nearly as many times as China.

It pours billions into the U.N. Green Climate Fund  so the U.S. can borrow money from China to give it to an international body which can then give it to China.

Their bill even goes out of its way to include provisions on  wait for it  marijuana banking.

China has been steadily building up its military and economic might and the Democrats answer is to help Americans to get high?

Drug overdoses on fentanyl just became the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45 across the entire country. Much of this poison pours into our country from China.

And Democrats plan to combat this is some more marijuana on the side?

Needless to say, this is not a winning strategy for a global competition between great powers.

Heres the bottom line, Madam President.

The bipartisan Senate USICA bill was itself a delicate compromise product.

Any Democrats hoping to yank the bill to the far left or insert poison pills are badly mistaken.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
Supervisor Anaiah Kirk Voices Displeasure About Tuolumne County's Roads View Photo

Sonora, CA  A new state report ranked Tuolumne Countys roads as the worst in the State of California.

Each county receives a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) score between 0-100, and Tuolumne County is currently at the very bottom with a score of 28. Click here to view the report. Tuolumne County Public Works estimates that it would cost around $439-million over the next 10 years to be in the desired place.

It was discussed during a presentation on the state of the roads during todays board of supervisors meeting. The board agreed collectively that they would like to lobby the Governors office, and other state leaders, about the need for more revenue, and the competitive disadvantage rural counties face. The county will look into hosting a special meeting in Sacramento so that all five members of the board can attend under Brown Act laws.

Board chair Anaiah Kirk stated that California has a First World Economy and Third World roads. He argued that California needs to spend some of the projected $45-billion shortfall to address this issue.

District Two Supervisor Ryan Campbell indicated the county is at a competitive disadvantage in the states funding formula because of the lower population numbers but a higher number of road miles. He argued that the state also needs to allow local public works departments the ability to do more of the work in-house rather than needing to request bids after certain dollar thresholds.

District Four Supervisor Kathleen Haff said the formula for SB1, which allocates road dollars, is ridiculous. She adds that 60-percent goes to the state and only 40-percent to counties, with strings attached and requirements. This has to stop and we need to get a bigger percentage, she argued.

Supervisors David Goldemberg and Jaron Brandon were also critical. Brandon noted that he desires to see a long-term plan developed to address local road improvements. He supports efforts to lobby the state for changes but also indicated the county cannot rely on that to happen, so the county should investigate local solutions.

More discussion on potential efforts to lobby the state will be discussed at future meetings.
ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 soldiers of the pro-government Yemeni forces were killed Tuesday by a landmine explosion in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah, a local military source told Xinhua.

"An explosion of a landmine laid by the Houthi rebels killed at least 10 pro-government soldiers in Hajjah's strategic district of Haradh near Saudi Arabia's border," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The blast destroyed a military vehicle of the pro-government forces on the site, he said, adding that the Houthi rebels laid hundreds of landmines in the area to block the advance of government forces.

Under the cover of the intensified airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, the Yemeni government forces have been engaged in intense battles recently with the Houthi fighters in Haradh.

Haradh was the main gateway for Yemen's exports before a land port there was closed by the Houthis in 2014.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. 
One of San Antonio's newest residents is a prolific TikToker who is already getting a city-wide welcome. Ronald E. Winters Jr., known as @ipilotthejet to his more than 500,000 followers, went viral last week as San Antonio shut down ahead of an icy forecast for Thursday, February 3.

San Antonio temperatures dipped below freezing on Thursday. With icy precipitation in the forecast, school districts and businesses sent students and employees home and off the roads. The same day, Winters' hometown of Chicago was also facing Winter Storm Landon's blast with temperatures in the high teens and snow showers, but continued on business as usual.

In his TikTok monologue, a relieved but shocked Winters tells his followers how San Antonio preps for wintry weather versus his hometown. He remembers a few years ago, when Chicago weather dipped 30 degrees below freezing (the city had wind chills of -30 degrees in February 2021), he was told that if he wanted to miss work, he'd have to use vacation time. In San Antonio, he says, his employer told him last week, "It's going to be too cold just go home."

@ipilotthejet Texas too good to be true type shi  original sound - Ronnie

While the San Antonio area didn't see any snow last week, Winters' video accumulated a mound of more than 400,000 likes.

"[My friends] think it's hilarious, but also unfair because us Chicagoans would still have to work," he says. "They don't care if it's below -50. But that's why I love Chicago because we can get through extreme weather, so we're kind of use to it  it makes us to be built a little different."

The 25-year-old tells MySA he moved to San Antonio about two months ago and works at a local pool company. Winters says his Windy City crowd is loving how San Antonio is embracing him. He even got a welcome from the Spurs TikTok account which told him to "stay safe and warm."

The Spurs weren't the only San Antonians chiming in on the comment section. Other locals or Chicago transplants living in San Antonio got a kick out of the contrast and welcomed Winters to Texas ... winters. Now that we're experiencing more mild weather, he says he's excited to explore the city and try new restaurants to review on his TikTok platform.

"It did bring a lot of attention to Texas though because Chicagoans love how Texas treats their people," he says of the video, which has more than a million views.

Though he only has one San Antonio winter under his belt, Winters has a pretty solid gauge on how 210 residents would react to Chicago's weather.

"I feel like if San Antonians were to live in Chicago winters, there would be a bunch of jobs receiving calls offs or no shows," he jokes.

True. But for the record, the average high temperature in Chicago last summer was 84 degrees, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune also reported that schools closed in 2013 when the temperature hit the mid-90s.

*Laughs (and cries) in San Antonian*
On Saturday evening, I thanked the heavens that I'm a sucker for a boilermaker. As I sipped on some Balvenie and a bottle of Miller Lite at my favorite Austin bar, Nickel City, I glanced at my phone and saw a distressingly familiar alert: Austin Water issues citywide boil-water notice. Thank God I drink my whiskey neat, I thought. No tainted ice for me, but still  back to boiling water once I get home.

But for the folks who own Nickel City  and the thousands of restaurants and bars in Austin  they are, for the third time in four years, forced to stop on a dime and pivot because of an issue with water treatment in the city. Between altering menus to remove items that are impossible to make without fresh water to using plastic drinkware instead of glasses, as they were at Meanwhile Brewing on Sunday, the the city's inability to regularly provide clean water is harming local bars and restaurants.

Sharon Mays, owner of Baby Greens, a drive-thru salad restaurant in Northwest Austin, spent more than 10 hours on Monday strictly boiling water. Since most of their food is served uncooked, the boil notice was especially daunting.

"It's not just that we have to boil water," she says, taking a break from her 12-plus hour day at the restaurant. "We have to cool it down."

Luckily, since Baby Greens closed during last week's freeze, they had a reserve of clean ice. Mays and her team were able to chill the water in a vegetable sink filled with ice. She went out and bought some more ice for drinks, but she's worried what will happen, especially if the boil notice continues past Tuesday.

"It's very stressful because it's like every week  what's coming next?" Mays says. "I mean, they say a couple of days, but there's just no way of knowing anymore. This is this is the new normal on some level  to just say that we need to over-prepare, because you just don't know what's going to be next."

Baby Greens, which has been open in this most recent incarnation since 2016, has had to deal with Austin's water safety issues an average of every other year. It begs the question: How is Austin, a place that prides itself on being a modern city  and with so much tech money  without essential services like clean drinking water for a third time in four years?

"I feel like this is not something that should happen with this level of frequency," says Mays, a native Austinite. "To be doing that again, it just seems a little bit insane."

Online, people variously blamed Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Austin City Council Member Kathie Tovo, Congressional candidate Greg Casar, and communism. A report on Sunday indicated, however, that simple human error may be the culprit this time. The Ullrich Water Treatment Plant, located in West Lake Hills, had a number of errors that "were not properly corrected," according to Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros, resulting in turbidity, or cloudiness, in the citys water.

"It is really is concerning, especially because this is an infrastructure problem," Mays says, aware that no one actually knows what happened yet. "The concern that I have is  as a city, are we investing in the infrastructure that we should be investing in for the growth that that is being driven here, on a city level and on a statewide level?"

The boil notice has revealed other issues at multiple levels of public services. Austin Independent School District let us know that we should send our children to school with bottled water, which we luckily had procured in advance of Winter Storm Landon. But many didn't have extras. On Monday, our kids after school program told us that the district was unable to provide enough bottled water. They were asking for donations and for parents to send extra bottled water for their own children each day until the ban is lifted. Schools don't have the resources to provide clean drinking water, which should surprise exactly no one who knows anything about the district, which currently faces a $62 million budget shortfall.

For now, that it appears the ban will be lifted Tuesday evening at the earliest. Individuals also don't have enough drinking water, as evidenced by the distribution sites set up by the city.

It's touching that Austinites can come together to help those in need during times like this, like the folks who donated hundreds of bottles of water to Austin Pets Alive. But, as Austin positions itself as a major metropolis, with unprecedented growth and an influx of new money from out-of-state, its citizens are now meant to step up where public facilities fall short.

"Here we are, we're at this place again," Mays says, as she gets ready to boil more water and prepare for the coming week of unknowns. "That to me, is a real question that I have: How are we preparing to be this large city? Have we have we made sure that we're ready to have an influx of hundreds of thousands of people? You know, kind of seems like, maybe not."
SeaWorld San Antonio

Last week's cold snap slow-downed more than your schedule  it put an entire species of turtles at risk. The SeaWorld Rescue Team helped rescue cold-stunned sea turtles during the Texas cold snap. The sea turtle species becomes lethargic and unable to swim when water temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Central Texas had below-freezing temperatures from Thursday through Sunday, resulting in district closures and more than 70,000 outages. Gov. Greg Abbott called it the most significant icing event Texas has experienced in at least several decades.
MattGush/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A Texas man is suspected of killing four family members, including his 4-year-old child, before fatally shooting himself on Saturday, February 5. The Corsicana Police Department stated in a news release its officers reported a total of five dead and three injured.

The department stated they got a 911 call just after midnight Saturday from someone who said Kevin Milazzo, 41, had killed his family. Upon arrival at a residence, CPD officers found two dead people (a woman and a man) with gunshot wounds, as well as two additional gunshot victims who were transported to a Dallas-area trauma center with unknown conditions.
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Chris Hollins, the former Harris County elections chief who pushed measures aimed at expanding ballot access during the November 2020 election, announced Monday that hes running for Houston mayor in 2023.

The challenges that were facing as Houstonians are becoming more and more complex, Hollins, 35, said in an interview with The Texas Tribune. And to overcome those challenges, that job demands innovation, that job demands effective leadership. And so we need a mayor who has a vision for Houston, but who also has the skills and attributes necessary to achieve that vision.

Hollins, a Texas Democratic Party official who temporarily served as Harris County clerk in 2020, rose to prominence two years ago by championing efforts intended to make it easier for people to vote during the pandemic, including 24-hour drive-thru voting and a bid to send applications for mail-in ballots to more than 2 million registered voters in Harris County.

Those efforts drew a legal battle and a decisive rebuke from state Republican lawmakers, who passed a sweeping voting restrictions bill last year that outlawed the measures Hollins put in place.

Now, Hollins is looking to use his brief seven-month tenure as county clerk to catapult him into the mayors office  where he would oversee a $5.1 billion budget and 23,000 municipal employees. Hes running to replace Mayor Sylvester Turner, who will step down next year after serving two four-year terms; the city has term limits that prevent him from running again.

Hollins is the second major candidate to announce for mayor, following state Sen. John Whitmire, a longtime Houston Democrat with deep ties to the citys police and fire unions and an $11 million war chest.

Top of mind for Hollins is public safety. Like many other major U.S. cities, Houston has seen a substantial increase in the number of homicides during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last years 469 killings represented one of the highest homicide rates in decades, according to the Houston Chronicle. And in one week last month, one Houston-area law enforcement officer was fatally shot, another was killed by a driver and another three were wounded in a shootout.

Last week, Turner announced a $44 million plan to combat the rise in violent crime.

Hollins, who grew up in southwest Houston and whose father was a Houston police officer, said he wants to see a few hundred [more officers] at minimum added to Houston Police Departments authorized strength of 5,429 sworn officers, as well as investments in crime-fighting technology. But boosting safety extends beyond policing, Hollins said.

Our community at large cannot thrive unless were safe and, just as important, we feel safe in our city, Hollins said. So whether that means addressing issues of crime, flooding, housing or the pandemic, Houstonians have to be able to trust that our mayor is committed to protecting residents and to fostering a safe community.
Reader Amfortas comments:

I am sure readers will join Yves and me in wishing the absolute best for them both, and their family and community, today, and in the days to come. lambert

EchidnaCSI: Engaging the public in research and conservation of the short-beaked echidna PNAS. Citizen science!

Contortion Nation Doomberg, Anthony Bourdain and migrant workers, plus pipelines. Something for everybody!

Climate

Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022 New Climate. Targets for 2030 fall well short of the ambition required to align with the internationally agreed goals of the Paris Agreement and avoid the most damaging effects of climate change. Among the companies we assessed, 15 of the 25 prominently report interim climate targets. However, our analysis finds that the average emission reduction commitment of full value chain emissions between 2019 and 2030 is just 23%.

#COVID19

70 percent of Americans say its time to accept COVID and get on with our lives The Week. Missed this last week.

Charted: Americas divide on moving on from Covid-19 Advisory Board. This survey:

NATIONAL POLL: 70% agree: Its time we accept that #Covid is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives. AGREE by PARTY

89% REP

71% IND

47% DEMhttps://t.co/yPTZsCe3N2  MonmouthPoll (@MonmouthPoll) January 31, 2022

Get on with our lives is carefully undefined. What non-pharmaceutical interventions are contemplated? Well

Poll: 27% of Americans Believe Worst of Pandemic Yet to Come MedScape. The West has a history of relaxing restrictions too soon when Covid is on the downslope; live your life looks to me like exactly the same process, except with more anger behind it, and meme-age better than in past valleys between peaks. So far as I can tell, theres no science behind the concept that Omicron will be the last wave; only handwaving and vague profit-driven hopes. I dread the possibility of tragedy to come. After all, the flip side of live your life is were f*cked (good and hard (and proud of it)).

Long Covid now major cause of long-term job absence, say quarter of UK employers FT (KLG25). Live your life. Such as it is.

* * *

Omicron Variant: What You Need to Know CDC

Omicron BA.2 variant to become dominant worldwide  WHO regional director Jerusalem Post

* * *

I compiled a listas exhaustive as possibleof all peer-reviewed & published research articles that evaluate the effectiveness of nonpharmaceutical interventions, specifically lockdowns on COVID-19 Marc Bevand, Threadreader (MR). Important!

Landmark study says children DO find it more difficult than adults to recognize people wearing masks  and it could affect their ability to make friends: Demands mount to set our kids free as COVID levels plummet Daily Mail. Right, right, thats why we keep reading those stories about small Asian children wandering about, lost, unable to recognize family or friends. Holy moley, Landmark, my Sweet Aunt Fanny.

Blue states move to drop mask mandates Axios

Stark County schools invest in air cleaning technology to prevent the spread of COVID-19 The Repository (MR). Canton, OH. A majority of the school districts have turned to a new technology, called bipolar ionization.,,, Money sent to school districts to help them with COVID-19 mitigation strategies, known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, has covered the cost of nearly all of the projects. The EPA:

[Bipolar ionization] is an emerging technology, and little research is available that evaluates it outside of lab conditions. As typical of newer technologies, the evidence for safety and effectiveness is less documented than for more established ones, such as filtration. Bipolar ionization has the potential to generate ozone and other potentially harmful by-products indoors, unless specific precautions are taken in the product design and maintenance.

As opposed to HEPA, a proven technology. Yet another opportunity squandered by the Biden Adminstration, who really have a unparallelled track record for this sort of thing. Where was the CDC on this? (If your district got suckered by biopolar ionization salesman, make sure the device conforms to UL 2998 standard certification (Environmental Claim Validation Procedure (ECVP) for Zero Ozone Emissions from Air Cleaners. Note this is mere safety, not effectiveness.)

* * *

Covid vaccines: the race for a single shot to prevent new pandemics FT. Race in a headline is a bullshit tell.

Deaths among the vaccinated:

What I'm going to share here is the most recent data from a reasonable period from each state, for deaths, or if that's unavailable, hospitalizations. It won't be consistent because the data isn't consistently presented. But I think a pattern will emerge.  Will Stancil (@whstancil) February 1, 2022

* * *

Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19 Nature. n = 153,760 (from the VA). From the Abstract: Our results provide evidence that the risk and 1-year burden of cardiovascular disease in survivors of acute COVID-19 are substantial.

Clinical predictors of acute cardiac injury and normalization of troponin after hospital discharge from COVID-19 The Lancet. n = 4,248. The Interpretation: Persistent cardiac injury is common among COVID-19 survivors. Readily available patient data accurately predict ACI recovery post-discharge. Early identification of at-risk patients could help prevent long-term cardiovascular complications.

Something to watch (karenica):

Israel  Director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Sheba Hosp, Prof. Rahav: "We have identified a phenomenon of omicron recoverers who deteriorate and reach a severe condition after about 10 days, with problems that are not necessarily related to the airways" -Kann News  Gabriel Hebert-Mild  (@Gab_H_R) February 6, 2022

* * *

Assessment of a Smartphone-Based Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza Viruses JAMA. Findings: In this cohort study of saliva samples from 50 community-based patients, the smartphone-based LAMP assay detected SARS-CoV-2 infection and exhibited concordance with reverse transcriptasequantitative polymerase chain reaction tests. And:

The smartphone-based LAMP assay detection system consists of a hot plate, cardboard box, and LED lights. The system is inexpensive to set up and portable; it can be fabricated for less than $100 (in addition to the smartphone cost, which is approximately $200 used or approximately $400 new). The smartphone-based LAMP assay thus offers the potential to leverage a readily accessible technology to inexpensively deliver state-of-the-art nucleic acid diagnostics for quantitative pathogen detection at the POC.

Staten Island white-tailed deer found with omicron variant, study says Staten Island
BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the United States' plan for the sale of arms worth 100 million U.S. dollars to Taiwan and urges its immediate cancellation, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that the sale of weapons to the Taiwan region of China by the United States severely violates the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, especially the August 17 Communique.

"Such acts seriously undermine China's sovereignty and security interests and gravely harm China-U.S. relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," said Zhao.

China urges the United States to stay committed to the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, immediately cancel its arms-sale plan, and stop military ties with the Taiwan region, said the spokesperson.

China will take legitimate and forceful measures to staunchly defend its sovereignty and security interests, he said. 
(Natural News) The Right Side host Doug Billings said the United States needs to secure its borders if it wants to stop child and sex trafficking, as well as the drug cartels.

Every state in this union, every state is now a border state only. Millions of illegal immigrants are being moved up through the southern border of the United States. Thus, every state is a border state because these illegal immigrants arent stopping in Arizona, Texas and California, said Billings during the February 1 episode of his show on Brighteon.TV.

Theyre going up and through and being delivered to, and in many cases, theyre being delivered by the communist socialist party themselves and by Administrator Biden and his administration. A record two million migrants from around the world were let into this country last year and we have no idea where they are now. There is no reasonable or credible vetting done on any of them.

Billings recently visited the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas at the Rio Grande Valley with former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Director Mark Morgan, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Holman, Women Fighting for America CEO and founder Christie Hutcherson, former National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn, Steel Truth host Ann Vandersteel and many others.

According to Billings, the policy of the Biden administration allows these immigrants to come in, have them processed by the Border Patrol and then set them loose to be free. The author and podcaster said that supporters of the U.S. communist socialist party themselves are transporting these illegal immigrants to many American states. This, he said, is designed to cause chaos.

Drug cartels are getting paid

He noted that part of the problem America must deal with is the incentive being given to people beyond the southern border and other countries throughout the world to pay the drug cartels in Mexico.

So thats why people from foreign countries are paying the drug cartels. If you think that anybodys getting into the United States from the southern border or any border, especially the southern border, free of charge or by sheer luck, or by governments of either Mexico or the United States, youre wrong. The only way that people are getting up through the United States southern border is with paying the drug cartels, Billings explained.

The Brighteon.TV host host then showed a video clip of a raft of the cartel coyotes who were transporting children, adults and drugs into the border.

Billings lamented Bidens policies on illegal immigration and illegal immigrant children, which he described as a catastrophe of huge proportions. He took note of the fact that Trump has done everything to seal the border and try to lock down, seal up and prevent the cartels.

He added that the Border Patrol agents are demoralized because the policies of Biden are forcing them to process and release millions of illegal aliens.

Illegal immigration to America has risen at a faster rate in the first nine months of Bidens tenure than at any time in the Border Patrols 97-year history, as shown by data released by the Customs and Border Protection last October. (Related: Illegal immigration skyrockets under Biden to third-highest level in 97 years.)

The 1.66 million unlawful crossings that Border Patrol stopped nationwide in a year was the third-highest in U.S. history, following the 1,692,544 in 1986 and 1,676,438 in 2000. The vast majority of the Border Patrols encounters took place at the Mexican border. Over the past decade, roughly 30,000 to 50,000 people have been confronted illegally crossing the southern border each month.

That number decreased to below 20,000 at the beginning of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, partly as a result of Trumps order that any child, adult or family who illegally crossed the border will be sent back to their home country rather than taken into custody.

More related stories:

Abbott deploys Operation Lone Star at Texas-Mexico border to fight illegal immigration.

Crimes at the border: Illegal immigrants, illegal drugs flow freely in southwest border.

Bidens open borders policy generates $14 million a DAY for human traffickers.

Watch the full Feb. 1 episode of The Right Side below. The The Right Side with Doug Billings airs every Tuesday at 7-8 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Follow OpenBorders.news for more news related to illegal immigrants.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheFocus.news

News.Yahoo.com
(Natural News) Ben Armstrong discussed how doctors are saying Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines are causing cancer and vaccine-induced AIDS at an alarming rate during the February 2 episode of The Ben Armstrong Show.

Armstrong said that there were three whistleblowers who managed to get data from the Department of Justice, and were able to find information about the vaccines and their adverse effects. In fact, the vaccines have massive adverse effects that the pharmaceutical companies that produced them need special protection from the Senate.

Senator Ron Johnsons panel titled COVID-19: Second Opinion talked about how the cancer is spreading like wildfire, and the increase in cases has been going on for months. (Related: Stunning German analysis finds that COVID-19 vaccine death rates are FAR higher than previously reported.)

One of the panelists, physician Ryan Cole, said that he noticed certain viruses increasing while the same T-cells or immune cells keep cancers in check. He shared that he had to do about 40,000 biopsies in the past year, and he has been seeing many certain types of cancers.

However, upon talking to other laboratories to aggregate a bigger data set, Cole said that he has been ridiculed and maligned instead. And now when we travel with these groups and summits, I have oncologists, I have radiation oncologist, I am seeing an uptick in cancers. Im seeing these odd stable cancers take off like wild fires after the vaccines. It is happening.

A study published last year showed that the coronavirus vaccines have spike proteins that inhibit natural DNA damage repair, which is needed for the bodys adaptive immune response. Spike proteins localize themselves in the nucleus of the cells and block DNA repair proteins from doing their jobs.

The study explained that the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins can weaken the DNA repair system of other people and impede recombination and adaptive immunity. In contrast, data are providing valuable details on the involvement of spike protein subunits in DNA damage repair, including spike-based vaccines that may inhibit the recombination of V (D) J in B cells. V (D) J is the recombination of the mechanism of somatic recombination that occurs in developing lymphocytes during the early stages of T and B cell maturation.

The study concluded: Our findings reveal a potential molecular mechanism by which the spike protein might impede adaptive immunity and underscore the potential side effects of full-length spike-based vaccines.

Vaccine-induced AIDS

Armstrong shared a clip from Thrive Time Show where host Clay Clark discussed with Dr. Vladimir Zelenko how the COVID-19 vaccines are causing AIDS. Its not an HIV-induced AIDS, but a similar one that weakens the immune system.

Zelenko said that by taking a shot that damages the tumor suppressor genes, people are killing their innate immune system. (Related: Thrive Time Show: Covid vaccines part of bigger plan to ELIMINATE free will  Brighteon.TV.)

And so thats why theres a huge spike in cancers. A huge spike in autoimmune diseases, opportunistic infections. Not to mention blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, myocarditis, miscarriages, ovarian testicular dysfunction, most likely infertility and antibody-dependent enhancement, Zelenko said.

Armstrong noted that calling the adverse effect AIDS freaks people out, so public health authorities chose to call it Vaccine-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (VAIDS) instead.

VAIDS is basically AIDS given by a vaccine. Think of it as your immune system not performing like its supposed to, Armstrong said.

More related stories:

CDC report shows 40 percent increase in excess deaths among Americans ages 18 to 49.

Study proves that coronavirus vaccine would never work; might actually create MORE new viruses through recombination in human hosts.

Anthony Fauci wants coronavirus vaccines to be forced on all Americans.

The coronavirus vaccine might kill up to 110,000 Americans, suggest estimates from health author.

Prestigious vaccine journal: Flu vaccine increases coronavirus infection risk 36%.

Watch the full February 2 episode of The Ben Armstrong Show below.

This video is from the channel Truthchannel on Brighteon.com.

Follow Pandemic.news for more updates related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

MDPI.com
(Natural News) Days after actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson left a comment of support for Joe Rogan, said support has seemingly now been pulled back after social media users rabidly attacked Johnson for the comments.

(Article by Gregory Hoyt republished from RedVoiceMedia.com)

The modern left and their cancel-culture bandits have been relentless over the past few weeks going after Rogan and his podcast, but now simply going after Rogan isnt enough for the mob any longer  theyre also going after any celebrity or public figure that lends an iota of support to Rogan.

Back in late January, Rogan posted a video online where he said that he was going to work with Spotify to ensure content advisories were applied to episodes of his podcast that some (a.k.a., the mainstream media) would deem controversial.

The video was posted to Twitter, which Johnson had lent a supportive comment to Rogans video and even voiced a desire to appear on an episode some time.

Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.

In the days following Johnsons rather innocuous comment, rabid leftists identifying as fans of Johnson began to constantly badger him about this one little comment  with many people claiming that Johnson was supporting a racist.

In case youve missed out on the evolving cancellation efforts of Rogan, the narrative has now shifted from misinformation to Rogan is a racist.

Much of the hubbub around Johnsons Twitter comment was initially stirred by former USA Today columnist Cheri Jacobus, the woman fired from the outlet in 2018 for suggesting that Trump ally Michael Caputos young daughters should be raped at the Epstein parties.

On February 3rd, Johnson took to Twitter after being tagged by Jacobus multiple times about the comment he left on Rogans video, writing, Hi Cheri, Good morning, its DJ. Youre all over my timeline so I wanted to share some context with you so hopefully, youre no longer triggered by headlines you read. I thought his response was contrite and more importantly, open to change to becoming better.

But apparently the harassment over a simple comment didnt stop, and the expected eventually happened  Johnson caved to the social media mob after author Don Winslow got aboard the Rogan is racist train.

Dear [Don Winslow], Thank you so much for this I hear you as well as everyone here 100% I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now Ive become educated to his complete narrative. Learning moment for me. Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend. DJ

Dear @donwinslow

Thank you so much for this

I hear you as well as everyone here 100%

I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now Ive become educated to his complete narrative.

Learning moment for me. Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend.

DJ https://t.co/3mBf85wRoe  Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 5, 2022

The irony in all this is that now Johnson is caught up in the apology vortex, because now hes being accused of being a misogynist on Twitter because he called Jacobus triggered a day before his most recent take on the Rogan debacle.

Read more at: RedVoiceMedia.com
(Natural News) For the time being, Republicans have gained control of the Senate after Sen. Ben Lujan, a Democrat from New Mexico, suffered a stroke after getting vaccinated for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).

The current Senate is split evenly with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, with fake vice president Kamala Harris being the tiebreaker vote in favor of the Democrats. With Lujan out of commission, however, the Democrats no longer hold that razor-thin majority.

Lujan was initially admitted to Christus St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Santa Fe on January 27. The senator complained of dizziness and fatigue, according to an official statement from his office. He was transferred a day later to University of New Mexico Hospital where he underwent decompression surgery to relieve pressure in his skull.

Doctors there determined that the 49-year-old first-termer suffered a stroke in his cerebellum, which is the back part of the brain that controls walking, motor skills, vision and more.

He is currently being cared for at UNM Hospital, resting comfortably, and expected to make a full recovery, reads a statement from Carlos Sanchez, Lujans Chief of Staff.

The Senators offices remain open and will continue providing constituent services to all New Mexicans without any interruption. The Senator and his family would like to thank the wonderful doctors and staff at both UNM Hospital and Christus St. Vincent Regional Hospital for their excellent care during this time.

Covid is a religion, and its adherents want to forcibly convert you

Lujan was something of a trendsetter when it came to pushing vaccines, face masks, lockdowns and all the rest during the early days of the plandemic. All over social media, he was touting these things as the remedy for the crisis.

Lujan received his first Pfizer mRNA (messenger RNA) injection on Dec. 19, 2020, though at the time he did not specify that it was Pfizer. We know, however, that Pfizer received emergency use authorization (EUA) first, and Modernas EUA came later.

The same day he received his first shot, Lujan wrote on Facebook that he was pleased to see health care workers get placed at the front of the line for the injections.

As the first New Mexicans receive the coronavirus vaccine, I have a responsibility to lead by example and show my constituents that this vaccine is safe and effective, he added, admitting that he, too, hopped to the front of the line.

There is nothing to fear about getting vaccinated to protect yourself from this deadly disease, he further wrote, claiming that vaccination is only one tool in our kit to combat the plandemic, the others being social distancing, wearing a mask and washing our hands frequently to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.

Just days after getting his first shot, Lujan was sworn into office, having just defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti in the 2020 General Election. Ever since then, he has been an unapologetic loyalist to Big Pharma and its interests.

At least twice since September 2021, Lujan has promoted legislation and policies that aim to expand the censorship of free speech online, particularly the kind that challenges the official plandemic narrative.

Currently, it is unknown whether Lujan received a booster shot following the first two injections. We do know that he has been actively pushing Americans to do so, including for their children.

He especially liked posting photos of children being injected, notes The Covid Blog about Lujans disturbing social media habits.

As we approach the holidays, I want to extend my prayers to all the families who will have empty chairs at the table this year, reads one pathetic post that Lujan posted just before Christmas. I cant stress how important it is to get vaccinated and boosted.

The latest news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine injuries and deaths can be found at Genocide.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheCovidBlog.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Law enforcement in Canada is reportedly breaking the law, ironically enough, by interfering with the Freedom Convoy of truckers protesting Canadas new mandatory Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination policies.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has warned that Ottawa Police are breaking the law by attempting to intimidate or arrest people for bringing food and other supplies to the truckers and their supporters who are peacefully exercising their Charter rights and freedoms.

On February 6 at 11:52 a.m., Ottawa Police tweeted the following illicit message, suggesting that Canadas Charter rights are now being scrapped because of the virus.

Anyone attempting to bring material supports (gas, etc.) to the demonstrators could be subject to arrest, law enforcement threatened illegally. Enforcement is underway.

Nicholas Wansbutter, a lawyer retained by the Justice Centre to represent the Freedom Convoy, called out Ottawa Police for tweeting this illicit threat, which violates Canadas Charter provisions.

People who bring food, water, gasoline or other supplies to peacefully protesting truckers are not breaking any law, Wansbutter said. There is no basis for this police threat, that was issued by Twitter this morning.

In a free and democratic society that is governed by the rule of law, citizens can freely associate with each other, including the giving and receiving of goods and gifts. There is no law that would allow the Ottawa Police to arrest people for giving fuel or food to another Canadian.

It turns out that the truckers and their supporters, even in Canada, are fully protected by the Charter to exercise their freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assemble. They are legally entitled, Wansbutter says, to do all this under the law.

Nova Scotians defied illegal government orders, participated in massive slow roll protest to Halifax

Law enforcement in Nova Scotia is attempting similar oppression tactics and protesters, many of whom are defying them by protesting anyway.

The government of Nova Scotia decided to prohibit the blocking and disrupting of traffic to and from certain highways, this being an unconstitutional order that LifeSiteNews Celeste McGovern says didnt deter anyone from participating.

Hundreds of vehicles reportedly made a slow roll through the province into the capital of Halifax with no interference by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The Province issued a directive under the Emergency Management Act today, February 4, prohibiting protesters from blockading or disrupting traffic on any road, street or highway in Nova Scotia, reads the Nova Scotia government website.

The new directive follows a similar one issued January 28 banning protesters from organizing a blockade of Highway 104i at the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border in support of the 2022 Freedom Convoy and the Atlantic Hold the Line event.

The government further threatened to fine individuals and corporations for failing to comply with its illicit directive, which will remain in place for the duration of the provincial state of emergency.

According to the order, private citizens face fines of up to $10,000 for violating the directive, while businesses could be fined upwards of $100,000 for noncompliance. However, nobody received fines over the weekend because everyone stood in unity against the order.

More than 150 cars were seen protesting in Windsor in the Annapolis Valley. They drove 50 kilometers to Halifax and more cars joined them all along the way.

McGovern says that she is unsure exactly how many cars ended up joining the slow roll into downtown, but that it was huge.

Politicians and the police operate above the law, wrote someone at LifeSiteNews about the whole situation. For some reason people are more than willing to tolerate it. These are the people they vote for to handle things.

More related news about police oppression against protesters of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) tyranny can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com

LifeSiteNews.com
(Natural News) American truckers slammed Facebook for removing their protest and organizing page, called Convoy to D.C. 2022. It serves as a place for truckers to coordinate their trek from California to Washington D.C. as they protest against vaccine mandates.

The Freedom Convoy was started by Canadian truckers and is garnering attention and support worldwide, with Americans and Australians already joining in.

The organizer of the American leg, Jeremy Johnson, said Facebooks move is censorship at its finest, adding that his personal account has also been removed. They like to silence people that speak the truth, he said of the ban. He also contacted a civil rights attorney to discuss the next steps.

A spokesperson for Facebooks parent company, Meta, told Fox News that they removed the groups page for repeatedly violating policies around QAnon, which they labeled as a violence-inducing conspiracy network in October 2020. They also announced then that any group pages and admins tied to QAnon will be removed. (Related: 50,000 truckers storm Ottawa to demand end to covid vaccine mandates.)

Brian Brase, an event co-organizer, disputed Facebooks characterization of the group. Thats not true, he said, adding that they have not been given the option to remove content and request a review like what Facebook does with other administrators. They literally wiped Mike Landis and Jeremy completely out of Facebook. They dont even have a profile anymore, so how are you supposed to request a review or remove anything? he asked.

Landis, who is a trucker involved in the freedom convoy, said the movement is a long time coming, as Americans are now tired of the government overreach. He criticized politicians for not following the constitution. The presence of that amount of people that show that they are unhappy with whats going on is a good way to hopefully get their attention.

Johnson and Brase anticipate a wide range of Americans to support their cause, saying that it crosses all genders, races, sexual orientations and occupations. While the truckers are the ones standing up, Brase said that its not just about them, its about America. (Related: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau calls citizens, truckers protesting vaccine mandate fringe minority who dont share government-accepted views.)

The group aims to end vaccine mandates through peaceful protests, with Johnson saying that the government needs to take a look at what the American people want.

Groups GoFundMe account also frozen

The groups GoFundMe account has also been frozen, which means that no one can donate to the fundraiser. The already-donated funds cant be transferred anywhere, either.

GoFundMe stated on the account page that the fundraiser is currently paused and under review to ensure that it complies with the terms of services and applicable laws and regulations.

The site says in a statement that it wants the organizers to outline how the money (already amounting to about $7,889,500) will be spent before they can release funds.

Following the second freeze of their GoFundMe account that raised over $10 million for the Canada convoy and protests, the group stated that they are no longer fundraising for the U.S. convoy effort.

On their Telegram page, the group stated: We want to be very clear that at this point, this group has no funding accounts or donation links posted. We are not collecting donations. If that changes, it will be posted here and our Facebook group. Please research who you are sending your money to if you are in other groups and make sure they are legit.

The group has not yet publicly announced its routes for the protest. However, the convoy is set to originate from multiple locations in California, along with convoys from other parts of the U.S., such as Texas, Florida and Maine. The groups will converge in Washington, D.C.

More related stories:

Australian truckers take cue from Canadas Freedom Convoy, drive to capital to protest pointless COVID mandates.

50,000 truckers vow to stay in Ottawa until government lifts vaccine mandates.

PURE EVIL: GoFundMe withholds nearly $5 million from truckers protesting Canadas vaccine mandate.

Josh Sigurdson talks about worldwide protests against Covid vaccine mandates.

Even the fundraising site GoFundMe is now de-platforming vaccine skeptics.

Watch the video below to learn more about the Freedom Convoy and its mission.

This video is from the BrighteonTV channel on Brighteon.com.

Follow Pandemic.news for more updates related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

HarbringersDaily.com

CBSAustin.com

Brighteon.com
BAGHDAD, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Three Iraqi soldiers and a civilian were killed Tuesday in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a security source said.

The incident took place when a roadside bomb went off near an army patrol escorting a group of hunters from Kuwait in a desert area near the town of Rawa, some 320 km northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Mahmoud al-Dulaimi from the Iraqi army told Xinhua.

The blast destroyed the military vehicle, killing three soldiers and the local guide of the hunters, and wounding two others aboard, al-Dulaimi said, adding that there was no casualty among the hunters.

The deserts and valleys of the provinces in western and southern Iraq have gained popularity as hunting grounds, attracting visitors from the Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar to explore the vast wilderness.

Despite the improvement of the security situation in Iraq since the Iraqi forces defeated the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants in 2017, IS remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. 
(Natural News) A stunning new report claims that COVID-19 vaccines are causing a lot more harm and many more deaths than previously known, and could eventually be responsible for hundreds of thousands more dead.

The number of Americans who have suffered serious side effects or died after receiving the mRNA injection billed as a vaccine is exploding, the RAIR Foundations Amy Mek reported last week.

Furthermore, injected people seem to be much worse off than those who refuse the experimental jab. Yet, despite the vaccine and boosters not protecting people from COVID, and increasing the chances of infection from Omicron, left-wing governments worldwide continue to pressure and mandate citizens to receive them, she continued.

Mek cited a report from the One America News Network, which reported last month that as of 4 January, at least 946,000 Americans had died after taking the vaccine or had experienced serious side effects. Also, the report noted that the Department of Health and Human Services has noted that more than 100,000 Americans have had to be hospitalized after taking the jab.

Those suffering from the injections side effects are not just nameless figures on a page, reports OAN. For example, Angelia Desselle from Louisiana could barely stand after her shot and suffers from a neurological disorder that, according to doctors, is the result of the vaccine. Likewise, Shawn Skelton from Indiana has been debilitated and lost control of her body since the Pfizer shot, Mek reported.

And fully-vaccinated Jummai Nache of Minnesota underwent amputation of her legs and hands after she was vaccinated, while 13-year-old Maddie de Garay from Ohio has been paralyzed from the waist down, must now be fed through a tube, and has lost complete control of her bodily functions, Mek noted.

Health officials in the communist country of Vietnam have more respect for their people than Western officials do; that country suspended the use of the Pfizer vaccine after more than 120 children had an adverse reaction and needed to be hospitalized. Three children died, in fact.

According to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been more than 20,000 deaths after COVID-19 vaccines  which may not seem like a lot unless, of course, unless one of those deaths was someone close to you.

But that said, researchers from Columbia University report that the actual number of people who have died after getting a COVID vaccine is actually much higher than the official numbers say. Data scientists at the institution say that the government is underreporting vaccine deaths by a factor of 20, meaning there are actually around 400,000 COVID vaccine deaths.

Finally, former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, who has been following the pandemic and emerging research for nearly two years, is reporting that mRNA shots are now showing a strong negative efficacy and could actually be increasing a persons chance of contracting the omicron variant.

Mek adds:

According to OAN, tens of thousands of people, including children, have also died following the vaccination. Thirteen-year-old Jacob Clynick of Michigan died in his sleep shortly after getting his second Pfizer shot. An 11-year-old girl from Georgia died shortly after her Pfizer vaccine. Also, a 5-year-old girl died four days after getting her first Pfizer shot. In addition, an 8-year-old girl suffered a stroke and a brain hemorrhage seven days after the Pfizer shot.

We are now seeing the ramifications of this untested, unproven, and hastily developed vaccine, and it is much worse than we feared, said OANs Pearson Sharp, and this is just the beginning.

Unless Americans and parents stand up to these unscientific mandates, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands more dead and permanently injured victims from the biggest experiment on human beings in history, Sharp continued.

Sources include:

RAIRFoundation.com

NewsTarget.com
(Natural News) Theres an entire field of research dedicated to developing messaging designed to persuade vaccine-hesitant individuals to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

(Article by Ann Tomoko Rosen republished from ChildrensHealthDefense.org)

None of the messaging examined by researchers involves conveying factual evidence that supports the claims  widely disseminated by Big Pharma, Big Media and public health agencies  that the vaccines are safe and effective.

Researchers last month published the results of a clinical trial involving two survey experiments on how to manufacture consent for COVID vaccines.

The Yale-sponsored study, Persuasive messaging to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions, examined how different persuasive messages affected 1) intentions to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, 2) willingness to persuade friends and relatives to get the vaccine, 3) fear of those who have not been vaccinated, and 4) social judgment of people who choose not to vaccinate.

According to the studys authors:

Given the considerable amount of skepticism about the safety and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine, it has become increasingly important to understand how public health communication can play a role in increasing COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

The paper did not address the underlying reasons someone might have concerns about the safety or efficacy of COVID vaccines but focused instead exclusively on how to persuade them to get the vaccine.

From the paper:

We conducted two pre-registered experiments to study how different persuasive messages affect intentions to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, willingness to persuade friends and relatives to receive one, and negative judgments of people who choose not to vaccinate. In the first experiment, we tested the efficacy of a large number of messages against an untreated control condition  In Experiment 2, we retested the most effective messages from Experiment 1 on a nationally representative sample of American adults.

The messages tested by the researchers have been woven into mainstream media narratives and public health campaigns throughout the world. But the study completion date for part 1 was July 8, 2020, which means all of these messages were created prior to the release of any science to support them.

The baseline information control message states:

To end the COVID-19 outbreak, it is important for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 whenever a vaccine becomes available. Getting the COVID-19 vaccine means you are much less likely to get COVID-19 or spread it to others. Vaccines are safe and widely used to prevent diseases and vaccines are estimated to save millions of lives every year.

In order to establish which messaging strategies elicited an inclination to get vaccinated, 10 additional messages were added to bring context to the baseline message.

These messages incorporated themes of self-interest, community interest, guilt, embarrassment, anger, bravery, trust in science, personal freedom, economic freedom and community economic benefit.

We find that persuasive messaging that invokes prosocial vaccination and social image concerns is effective at increasing intended uptake and also the willingness to persuade others and judgments of non-vaccinators, the researchers wrote.

To study the impacts of guilt, embarrassment and anger, researchers prompted people to think about how they would feel if they did not get vaccinated and then spread the virus to others.

Emotions are thought to play a role in cooperation, either by motivating an individual to take an action because of a feeling that they experience or restraining them from taking an action because of the emotional response it would provoke in others.

The not brave and trust in sciences messages were designed to evoke concerns about reputation and social image. The not brave message reframed the idea that being unafraid of the virus is not a brave action, but instead selfish, and that the way to demonstrate bravery is by getting vaccinated because it shows strength and concern for others.

The trust in science message suggested, those who do not get vaccinated do not understand science and signal this ignorance to others.

Personal freedom, economic freedom and community economic benefit messages drew on concerns linked to COVID restrictions.

Overall, it was a message that appealed to community interest, reciprocity and a sense of embarrassment that proved most persuasive, resulting in a 30% increase in intention to vaccinate, a 24% increase in willingness to advise a friend to get vaccinated and a 38% increase in negative opinions of people who decline the vaccines relative to the placebo message.

Community interest messages that incorporate embarrassment were determined to be most effective in getting people to encourage others to get the vaccine, while not brave messaging showed the most promise in creating negative judgments of non-vaccinators.

The Yale study findings are consistent with another recent paper, Vaccination as a Social Contract, which demonstrated people view vaccination as a social contract and are less willing to cooperate with those who refuse vaccination.

The study stated:

The experiments consistently showed that especially compliant (i.e., vaccinated) individuals showed less generosity toward nonvaccinated individuals  It is concluded that vaccination is a social contract in which cooperation is the morally right choice. Individuals act upon the social contract, and more so the stronger they perceive it as a moral obligation. Emphasizing the social contract could be a promising intervention to increase vaccine uptake, prevent free riding, and, eventually, support the elimination of infectious diseases.

Forget the facts, appeal to values

Saad Omer, one of the authors of the Yale study, has an extensive interest in public health messaging.

His efforts to combat vaccine hesitancy earned him a spot on the World Health Organizations (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts working Group on COVID-19 Vaccines, the Sabine Vaccine Institutes Board of Trustees and the WHOs Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

In 2020, Omer initiated a Building Vaccine Confidence Through Tailored Messaging Campaigns project involving randomized trials in five countries using social media messaging to increase COVID and childhood vaccine coverage.

In his keynote address at the first WHO Global Infodemiology Conference in June 2020, Omer referenced moral foundation theory and suggested appealing to values could change decision-making behaviors.

Omer provided details about a messaging study for the HPV vaccine and discussed how similar strategies could be applied to create compliance for COVID measures:

We wanted to test out, can we have a purity-based message? So we showed them pictures of genital warts and described a vignette, a narrative, a story, talking about how someone got genital warts and how disgusting they were and how pure vaccines are that sort of restore the sanctity of the body.

So we just analyzed these data. This was a randomized control trial with apriori outcomes. We found approximately 20 percentage point effect on peoples likelihood of getting an HPV vaccine in the next 6 months 

We are trying out liberty-based messages or liberty-mediated messaging around this behavior related to COVID-19 outbreak. That wearing a mask or taking precautions eventually make you free, regain your autonomy. Because if the disease rates are low, your activities can resume.

The science of infodemiology, infoveillance and infodemic

Omer is one of many prominent voices in what is known as the field of infodemiology, a term coined in 2002 by Dr. Gunter Eysenbach.

As the first infodemiologist and founder of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, Eysenbach defines infodemiology as the science of distribution and determinants of information in an electronic medium, specifically the Internet, or in a population, with the ultimate aim to inform public health and public policy.

Eysenbach also coined the terms infoveillance, defined as a type of syndromic surveillance that specifically utilizes information found online, and infodemic, which refers to an overabundance of information that generally includes deliberate attempts to disseminate wrong information to undermine the public health response and advance alternative agendas of groups or individuals.

Using just three words, Eysenbach created a scientific niche, identified a problem and proposed at least part of a so-called solution.

The WHO readily embraced this language during the pandemic. An editorial in the August 2020 issue of The Lancet began with a quote from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Were not just fighting a pandemic; were fighting an infodemic.

The WHO hosted several infodemiology conferences throughout the pandemic. Asserting that misinformation costs lives, the WHO, the United Nations and other groups created the perfect justification for social media surveillance and the suppression of dissent.

In 2020, the WHO created a resolution asking member states to take measures to leverage digital technologies to counter misinformation and disinformation and worked with more than 50 digital companies and social media platforms, including TikTok and even Tinder, to support these efforts.

The efforts to eliminate misinformation resulted in unprecedented censorship of virtually anything that steps outside of state-sanctioned consensus and the creation of a captive audience primed to accept a singular narrative.

A National Defense Authorization Act amendment in 2012 that legalized the use of propaganda on the American public makes it easier for governments to create self-serving narratives.

And thanks to a multi-billion dollar budget from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we are under the influence of the best messages money can buy  whether or not those messages are true.

This is likely why the CDC, public health departments and mainstream media can make broad assertions like this: COVID-19 vaccines were developed quickly while maintaining the highest safety standard possible, and this: Hydroxychloroquine shouldnt be used to treat COVID-19, and claim they are fact.

Articles and posts that challenge those assertions are regularly removed if theyre even permitted to be published in the first place.

Public health compliance: A cottage industry

Yale is not the only university researching the science of compliance. Academic institutions and government agencies throughout the world are immersed in this emerging behavioral science.

In February 2021, the University of Pennsylvania newsletter, Penn Today, published, When the Message Matters, Use Science to Craft It, covering behavioral scientist Jessica Fishmans Message Effects Lab (MEL) initiative and research related to what sways decision-making, particularly with regard to COVID vaccination and testing.

MEL currently has partnerships and ongoing projects with the World Bank, the National Institutes of Health, the CDC, Penn Medicine, The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Independence Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Government of Canada to address health-related behaviors.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a branch of HHS, also sponsored research to explore influences on COVID vaccine decision-making. The study, Attitudes Toward a Potential SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine: A Survey of U.S. Adults, concluded:

We found that a substantial proportion (42.2%) of participants in a national survey conducted during the coronavirus pandemic would be hesitant to accept vaccination against COVID-19. Black race was one of the strongest independent predictors of not accepting vaccination; this is especially alarming, given the outsized impact of COVID-19 among African-Americans. Our findings suggest that many of the individuals who responded not sure may accept vaccination if given credible information that the vaccine is safe and effective. As vaccine development proceeds at an unprecedented pace, parallel efforts to proactively develop messages to foster vaccine acceptance are needed to achieve control of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Behavioral scientist Dr. Rupali Limaye took the messaging a step further. She teaches a free online training course, offered by Johns Hopkins University, that prepares parents of school-age children, PTAs, community members and school staff to be Vaccine Ambassadors and promote vaccine acceptance in their communities.

Limaye will be a panelist for an interactive webinar Making COVID-19 vaccines APPEALing: Pilot message testing in India, later this month.

Changing messages, same goals

While government agencies and the scientific community cling to unsupported beliefs about vaccine safety and efficacy, they appear to recognize the importance of constantly revisiting their understanding of the impacts of messaging.

UPenns updated research found intentions around vaccination have changed. The universitys Annenberg School for Communication reported:

The researchers found that trust in scientific institutions and health authorities was central to individuals intentions to be vaccinated, especially in the early part of the pandemic. However, as the pandemic continued, other factors related to trust emerged  The evidence, the researchers wrote, documents the need for the public health community to redouble its efforts to preemptively and persistently communicate not only about how vaccines in general work but also about their benefits, safety, and effectiveness.

Research from Civics Analytics, a technology company that creates data-driven audience campaigns, seconds the notion that effective messaging must evolve.

With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the company explored COVID concerns among different demographics and determined that a one-size-fits-all message would not work. The company said:

In the spring of 2021, before the Delta variant emerged in the U.S. and when vaccine mandates had not yet been implemented, we found that messages highlighting experiences that are off-limits to unvaccinated individuals (such as concerts or international travel) or emphasizing personal choice were most persuasive As youll see in this research, the most persuasive messages have changed.

According to Civics Analytics, FOMO (fear of missing out) and personal decision messages were the most impactful. But more current data indicates the protecting children message has become more effective at persuading people to get vaccinated.

From the study:

For general messaging targeting all unvaccinated people, focus on protecting children from COVID-19 and on the financial ramifications of contracting the virus.

The company found vaccine safety, scary COVID statistics and personal story messages were inclined to backfire and could decrease the likelihood of vaccinating.

Perhaps some good scientists will advance the learning curve and study what happens when the public discovers that proven messages lack supporting scientific data.

Read more at: ChildrensHealthDefense.org
(Natural News) The High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com recently shared a video of Dr. Jane Ruby Show discussing the the strange, never-before-seen white clots found in deceased vaccinated individuals.

The clots are found in the veins and arteries of deceased people who have taken the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, most of whom died suddenly due to cardiac arrest or stroke.

Since speaking with board-certified embalmer, Richard Hirschman, numerous others have come forward, with some scientists weighing in on the matter. People want to know whats inside of the white, fibrous pieces of clots that are being pulled out of dead bodies because they are blocking attempts at embalming.

Host Jane Ruby showed a photo taken by Hirschman showing the clots. The clots extracted were very large, leg-length clots that formed a cast-like structure, similar to a mold of the inside of the entire vessel.

A video also showed that removal of the clot formation of the entire leg out of an arterial vessel.

Arteries carry oxygenated blood out into the body, while veins return deoxygenated blood back to the heart and lungs for re-oxygenation. A redistribution, so to speak. Upon checking and washing the pieces of clots, Hirschman took samples and got a chemical and structural analysis of the materials that comprise the strange white fibers.

The clots are very fibrous with hair-like offshoots. (Related: Funeral director finds bizarre, rubbery blood clots in bodies of the vaccinated.)

Clots may be spike proteins from the COVID virus

Ruby also shared a video of Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, who had his own suspicion of what the clots may be made of.

Bhakdi thinks its the spike protein of the virus. Its those cells, you know, lining the blood vessels. So in the lining of a blood vessel, the blood is in front and the cell takes up the gene. Then the cell starts to produce the gene. The cells line your blood vessels, all of your body and all organs, he said.

That cell is now going to start producing the gene, this virus gene is the spike protein of the virus, the hand and it will start you see this coming out of the cell, at the same time, waste trash is produced of this protein that hasnt been used. And that trash that is producing the production, the cell places in front of itself. So you have the spike and the waste.

Bhakdi continued: Now, this spike itself has a wonderful property, a property that is wonderful for science, but not wonderful for you, because it has the propensity, it has the ability to know what is coming. These platelets, those little cells that start blood clotting going the moment it touches gets activated and start wanting to start the blood clotting.

Regrettably, there is another type of cell that comes around to see the trash and this cell is the killer lymphocyte and you kill it. Lymphocytes are trained to see the trash of viruses because then they will come and try to kill the cell that is daring to produce the virus which is the cell that lines a wall the tapestry of your wall blood vessels, this can happen anywhere. (Related: New research points to link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots.)

In other reports, COVID vaccines were seen to produce serious side effects related to blood clots, which is why some countries urged their temporary discontinuation. Blood clots in the veins have been reported in different parts of the body, including the brain, thigh and lower leg, with other vaccine-associated clots systematically traveling to the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism and thrombosis.

Ruby said she believes that when the chemical analysis is released, there will be a lot more understanding on what the mysterious clots could be.

For now, this is an immune response. Its the body fighting, she said. One vascular surgeon said he removed [clots] surgically from a live patient. And within a few days or weeks, they continued to redevelop and fill the vessels. So the problem is upstream. It is the mRNA driving the body, especially the endothelial cells in the vasculature to produce the spike protein, and a major clotting cascade.

More related stories:

Excess deaths soaring in every country where covid vaccine uptake is high: data.

Stunning German analysis finds that COVID-19 vaccine death rates are FAR higher than previously reported.

Thrive Time Show: Covid vaccines part of bigger plan to ELIMINATE free will  Brighteon.TV.

FBI raids HQ of COVID-19 testing company but lets vaccine makers off the hook for dangerous, faulty products.

Fully vaccinated people make up 71% of new cases and 60% of COVID hospitalizations in US.

Watch the full below of Dr. Jane Ruby discussing the mysterious white clots found in the bodies of deceased vaccinated people.

This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com.

Follow Pandemic.news for more updates related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

BangkokHeartHospital.com
(Natural News) Clinical forensic psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman said that United States President Joe Biden is repeating a doomed history with his decision to send the U.S. military to Ukraine.

Lieberman made the statement in her interview with host Ann Vandersteel during the February 1 edition of the Steel Truth on Brighteon.TV.

That saying he who forgets history is doomed to repeat it could relate to how hes forgotten 9/11, how the Taliban and other groups of terrorists are still out there to get us. It is still applicable today and he took us out of Afghanistan supposedly to get people, to get Americans back home and out of danger and all of that. And he, of course, created a terrible fiasco. And no sooner did the U.S. military get back to America that he is now putting them in Ukraine, Lieberman said. (Related: Majority of Americans do not believe Biden is competent, most also opposed to his handling of Afghanistan fiasco)

So if we werent supposed to be in Afghanistan  Im not saying that we werent because that retreat is what caused not only [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but all the other major world leaders, our enemies to realize that the time is now to attack America. The time is now to attack places where you want to take over because Biden is out to lunch, doesnt know what is going on. He has what I call it encroaching dementia.'

Biden is like the weak animal in a pack

Lieberman, a best-selling author, added that Biden is like the weak animal in a pack that the predator is going after. She added that all the world leaders like Putin have seen what happened in Afghanistan and realized that they can really take advantage of Bidens poor leadership.

The host of Dr. Caroles Couch pointed out that what happened in Afghanistan has caused much damage physically and mentally to Americans, especially to those who were left behind.

Lieberman added that Americans who are in Ukraine, including those in the Ukrainian embassy, will soon plan to leave quickly after seeing what happened in Afghanistan and how Biden failed to fulfill his promise to take everybody out.

The forensic psychiatrist, who analyzes the psychological impacts of world events, also mentioned that members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) dont really want to get into a war with Russia, which is currently encroaching on Ukraine. She added that Putins plan on invading Ukraine with all their troops and weapons at the border may be a ploy to confuse other countries and test the U.S. leadership, which Lieberman said is an unfortunate problem.

According to Lieberman, the morale of the military is so low right now after seeing what happened to the American troops in Afghanistan.

The way that we retreated, the way Biden surrendered to the Taliban, made all the sacrifices worthless. All the people who gave their lives, and the families of the troops who went to Afghanistan, and the people who gave their legs, limbs, psyche and all of the things that they sacrificed to really work hard to protect America by being in Afghanistan  Biden made all that worthless, Lieberman stressed.

It took away their purpose in life, their proud achievement. And so people thinking about joining or being recruited, volunteering to be in the military, theyre gonna think two, three and 10 times before they do that because why would they take a chance? Why would they risk sacrificing their lives when the same kind of thing could happen?

Lieberman also talked about her book Lions and Tigers and Terrorists, Oh My!, which she said helps grownups, parents and teachers talk to kids about terrorism, how to help them express their emotions about it and notice when they need professional help.

The book is a picture book. It talks about radical Islam and it helps kids to understand what really is going on without scaring them so that they can be prepared. And that goes just as well for Ukraine. Whats happening now is what happened in 9/11 and Afghanistan. Its all terror around us, Lieberman said.

More related stories:

Biden knew all along the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was imminent.

Biden admin official claims Americans should care about Ukraines borders while Biden opens U.S. borders to unlimited illegal immigration.

Biden family ties to Communist China even more extensive than thought; author details scariest investigation in exposing first family corruption.

Biden admin bribing doctors to push COVID shots on children.

Watch the full Feb. 1 episode of Steel Truth below. The Steel Truth with Ann Vandersteel airs from Monday to Friday at 9:30-10:30 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Follow JoeBiden.news for more stories on Joe Biden and his administration.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

DrCarole.com
(Natural News) The millions of health impacts being reported in conjunction with Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines have one common link: microscopic blood clots triggered by spike proteins.

It is now known that the jabs damage blood vessels throughout the body. They are far worse, in fact, than covid itself.

While the full extent of what these spike proteins and micro blood clots do is not yet fully known, it is clear that they cause nothing but harm.

Blood clots that occur in the tiniest blood vessels are referred to as microvascular thromboses and reduce blood flow, reported LifeSiteNews. The clinical symptoms depend on the organs that are most strongly affected.

The problem with micro blood clotting is that it is not visible to the naked eye or even to normal scans. And yet the damage it causes is prolific.

When pumped into the lungs, for instance, spike protein-induced micro blood clotting can lead to pulmonary embolisms. If they reach the brain, confusion or stroke can ensue.

If they lodge in the heart, they can cause a heart attack or promote inflammation, LifeSiteNews added. (Related: One possible solution for spike protein damage is broccoli sprouts.)

If they lodge in the smaller blood vessels that provide oxygen to the hands or feet, they can cause those limbs to go numb and possibly require amputation. Clots in other organs, such as the liver or the kidneys, could cause those organs to fail.

Covid vaccine spike proteins were designed to destroy the human body

Since spike proteins can lodge almost anywhere in the body, the resulting damage can take many forms. This explains why the fully vaccinated are developing all sorts of health problems, some of them seemingly unrelated.

As of this writing, more than one million reports of covid jab-caused adverse events have been reported to VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). Hundreds of thousands of deaths have also been reported.

Medical expert Dr. Peter McCullough has repeatedly warned about micro clots, only to be ignored by the establishment. He stated early on in the plandemic that the spike protein itself is causing coagulation and blood clotting, though few listened.

Spike protein-induced coagulation is unique in that it causes red blood cells to stick together, as well as platelets. This is a very different type of blood clotting that one would expect to see with major blood clots in the arteries and veins.

Canadian doctor Charles Hoffe went public last summer with evidence showing that 62 percent of his hundreds of vaccinated patients showed high numbers on the d-dimer test, suggesting the presence of micro blood clots.

A d-dimer test measures the amount of degraded fibrin in the blood, LifeSiteNews explains.

On top of releasing this finding, Hoffe warned that mRNA (messenger RNA) injections, which program the body to produce its own spike proteins, would kill most people through heart failure, either immediately or later on down the road.

In the next few years, Hoffe says, nearly everyone who got stabbed with an mRNA needle will die from heart failure. Time will tell if his assessment comes to fruition.

Anyone who took the mRNA shot from either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna will eventually, if they have not already, see their capillaries get plugged up. At some point, this will result in a major cardiovascular event possibly leading to death.

In plain language, he said that the mRNA shots are programmed to turn a persons body into a spike protein factory, and that over time these mass-produced spike proteins cause progressive blood clotting.

The latest news about injuries and deaths caused by Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines can be found at Genocide.news.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The Czech Republics Supreme Court has ruled that citizens cannot be forced to receive the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

Measures that allow only vaccinated people or those who have successfully recovered from COVID-19 into restaurants, clubs and other public spaces will be considered invalid. The Czech government previously banned unvaccinated people from non-essential indoor places.

They were not permitted to show negative COVID test results to visit such venues either. Only those who were vaccinated or recently recovered from the virus remained eligible to visit, with the exception of children ages 12 to 18 and individuals whose medical condition doesnt allow for vaccination.

Judge Petr Mikes explained in the ruling that the Ministry has no support for restricting such types of establishment in the so-called pandemic law unless it is for technical measures. Miles added that the Ministry could restrict activities in accordance with the Public Health Protection Act, but only to persons suspected of being infected.

Further, the court pointed out that the measure could not force citizens to be vaccinated as it is a voluntary act. The aim of the measure cannot be to indirectly force citizens to be vaccinated. This would make voluntary vaccination mandatory through an emergency vaccination measure, as unvaccinated people would have no choice but to be vaccinated if they wanted to live normally, Mikes said. (Related: Brazil starting to ease lockdown restrictions, even as total coronavirus deaths surpasses Spains.)

The new Czech government also announced that it would invalidate its predecessors directive on mandatory vaccination for healthcare workers and other professions. Petr Fiala, the newly elected prime minister, said that he doesnt want to divide society even more.

Czech Minister of Health Vlastimil Valek expressed a similar sentiment, tweeting: Though vaccination is the most efficient weapon against severe forms of COVID, we will not coerce anyone.

The Czech Republic, which has a population of around 10.5 million, has around 6.8 million people fully vaccinated, with around 3.8 million already receiving their booster shots.

End of mandatory COVID testing

The government also agreed to end mandatory coronavirus testing in schools and companies. However, wearing masks indoors and limiting the number of people at public events will remain.

Company employees previously needed to be tested twice a week, while school children and school employees took their tests once a week.

The Czech Republic recorded 57,195 new cases on February 1, which is a new day-to-day record and 2,500 more than the previous one. The seven-day infection rate also grew to 2,483 per 100,000 residents on February 1, up 2,318 the previous day as cases surged due to the omicron variant.

While omicron is less likely to cause severe illness than delta, it spreads more easily than previous strains and has already become dominant worldwide. It also easily infects those who have been vaccinated or had previously been infected by prior versions of the virus.

The number of COVID patients needing hospitalizations in the country had been slightly increasing recently, with the numbers reaching 2,653 on February 1, which is still a far cry from the 7,000 in early December 2021. The number of patients in intensive care units has also been stable for the last two weeks, with around 200 cases day-to-day. There were also fewer COVID-19 deaths in January compared to December.\

The Czech Republic has so far registered 37,281 virus-related deaths during the pandemic. (Related: Boris Johnson drops mask mandate in U.K.  will the rest of the world follow suit?)

By easing the mandates, the Czech Republic is following the move of other European counties. Neighboring Austria, for instance, is now allowing shops and restaurants to remain open longer. It is also easing restrictions on the unvaccinated from next week.

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that Italy would be announcing a timetable to roll back its own COVID-19 mandates and limitations.

More related stories:

Czech Republic scraps vaccine passport requirements and other mandates.

New Czech PM scraps predecessors planned Covid vaccine mandate.

Vaccination mandate sparks rallies in Prague and other cities.

A massive COVID wave in Germany and Central Europe despite high vaccination.

Denmark permanently bans Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca over deadly blood clots.

Watch the video below to see how the U.S. is faring in the Defeat the Mandates fight.

This video is from the You Silenced Me channel on Brighteon.com.

Follow Vaccines.news for more updates related to the coronavirus vaccines.

Sources include:

DailyExpose.uk

ABCNews.go.com

USNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The head of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) advised against repeated booster doses of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. The Australian research institute joined a growing sector that disagrees with repeated COVID-19 boosters.

Speaking with the Australian Financial Review, Doherty Institute Director Sharon Lewin said chasing COVID-19 variants alongside giving repeated COVID-19 boosters was not a variable strategy. We wont be able to manufacture that amount, and youll never be able to keep up with the variance. An omicron variant vaccine may not be better than [an original Wuhan strain] vaccine, even against omicron.

Instead of repeated injections with mRNA vaccines, Lewin proposed the use of pan-sarbecovirus vaccines. The SARS-CoV-1 pathogen behind the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s and the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen responsible for COVID-19 are both classified as sarbecoviruses. We just dont know enough about how durable the immunities are, she said.

Lewin also expressed the belief that the clinical definition for COVID-19 will soon be switched. This will likely change health procedures with a focus on isolating only vulnerable groups. That would mean a much simpler messaging to the public to stay at home if sick, she said.

Her statement against boosters followed that of British scientist Andrew Pollard, one of the developers of the AstraZeneca adenoviral COVID-19 vaccine. The chairman of the United Kingdoms Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization said injecting COVID-19 boosters on the population every four to six months is an unsustainable practice.

We cant vaccinate the planet every four to six months. Its not sustainable or affordable. In the future, we need to target the vulnerable. The future must [focus] on the vulnerable and make booster or treatments available to them to protect them, Pollard told the Telegraph. (Related: AstraZeneca vaccine creator says continual Covid vaccine booster shots are UNSUSTAINABLE.)

The University of Oxford scientist also disagreed with injecting a fourth vaccine dose on the general population. We know that people have strong antibodies for a few months after their third vaccination, but more data [is] needed to assess whether, when and how often those who are vulnerable will need additional doses, he said.

WHO advises against frequent boosters

Aside from Pollard and Lewin, the World Health Organization (WHO) has also advised against frequent booster doses against COVID-19.

The WHOs Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC) said back in January that repeated boosters were unsustainable. A vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable, it said in a Jan. 11 statement. TAG-CO-VAC cited near- to medium-term vaccine supply, vaccine equity and the viruss continued evolution for its advice.

According to the advisory group, vaccines that prevent infection, transmission, severe disease and death should be prioritized. These vaccines should also elicit immune responses that are broad, strong and long-lasting in order to reduce the need for successive booster doses. To this end, TAG-CO-VAC proposed three options for future vaccines.

First, it suggested the development of a monovalent vaccine that targets dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants. However, the advisory group acknowledged the challenges that come with this option  such as rapidly emerging variants and the duration needed to modify existing vaccines or develop new ones.

Second, it proposed a multivalent vaccine with antigens taken from different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. Lastly, it proposed a pan-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that targets all strains. This was touted as a variant-proof and more sustainable option for the long term.

In the interim, the TAG-CO-VAC encourages COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to generate and provide data on the performance of current and omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines  including the breadth, magnitude and durability of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to variants through monovalent and/or multivalent vaccines, the advisory group concluded.

More related stories:

Scientists question the need for COVID-19 booster shots.

EU, WHO both warn that covid booster shots are dangerous.

WHO warns against boosters, says strategy not viable for new variants.

European Medicines Agency advises against frequent COVID boosters, warns of risks.

EU regulators, WHO call for end to COVID boosters, citing evidence strategy is failing.

Watch the video below of Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan claiming boosters provide up to 64 percent protection against omicron.

This video is from the JosephJenkins channel on Brighteon.com.

Visit VaccineWars.com for more news about experts advising against COVID-19 boosters.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

Telegraph.co.uk

WHO.int

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Late Sunday night, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a fake local state of emergency to try to stop the Freedom Convoy truckers and their supporters from protesting Canadas mandatory Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination policy.

Watson, a fascist, decided that food, gasoline, and other supplies are no longer allowed to be transported in to the protesters, even though this decree is illegal and violates Canadas civil rights Charter.

After Watson sent out this signal, local police, who are also fascists, swept in to start dismantling the Convoy in any way they could. According to reports, they began ripping everything apart in an attempt to shut the whole thing down as quickly as possible.

They created their false justification and now they are acting on it, reported News Thud. Like all fascist dictatorships, they will claim they are doing this for the people, for safety and security. But we know what this is.

The most important act of defiance against tyranny in the Western World was this convoy. Our hemispheres Honk Kong protests. And the powerful just cant have that, can they? Nor can the Marxists, the totalitarians  the various parts of the Leftist coalition. This is THEIR crackdown.

Canadian government deploys drones to spy on Freedom Convoy truckers

Not only are the Ottawa City Council and Ottawa Police forces blocking supplies from entering the protest area, but they are also reportedly stealing the supplies that are already there.

Someone tweeted reports about how truckers are having fuel taken from them by police, while others are being arrested. This person added that he has not personally seen any arrests, but is keeping an eye out for them.

There is a long row of tow trucks at the ready to remove transport trucks, added CBC News reporter and investigator Judy Trinh. I see 30 police officers dismantling the logistics camp.

Trinh added that she personally witnessed [l]ots of officers surrounding the logistics camp. Protesters throughout the area say they want to remove fuel, she further said.

Witnesses say before the raid they saw a drone fly overhead surveilling them, Trinh wrote in another tweet. Then dozens of officers came over the snow banks and surrounded them. Protesters prayed for police.

Some of the protesters were genuinely shocked to see this and other egregious displays of force by local police, some of whom were armed with carbine rifles.

I will say I did not see police lay hands on anyone, Trinh made sure to add. No arrests here  just fuel seizure.

Trinh later followed up by stating that she did, in fact, hear about two people getting arrested for mischief at the Coventry protest camp. Multiple vehicles and fuel were also seized, though she did not personally witness the arrests.

Right before Watsons midnight state of emergency was declared, protesters were seen bringing in fuel to get ahead of the tyranny. How long that fuel will last is unknown.

Criminal lawyer David Anber from the Ottawa area tweeted that he is already receiving calls from people in custody, so the arrests appear to have begun.

If he says hes getting calls from people in custody, its clear the massive sweep against Trudeaus opposition has begun, tweeted Rebel News journalist Ezra Levant.

Jack Posobiec, the host of Human Events Daily, added in his own tweet that the truckers had just brought in bounce houses for the children right before the government ordered the confiscation of fuel supplies in the dead of winter.

Time for the pitchforks and rope? asked one person at News Thud.

Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) fascism continues to spread like a virus. To keep up with the latest, visit Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

NewsThud.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A number of GOP attorneys general are looking into recent actions by GoFundMe that they believe may constitute fraud after the platform initially said it would distribute donations for Canadian Freedom Convoy truckers to other groups.

The platform has since backed off that intention as truckers continue to protest Canadas asinine COVID-19 vaccine mandate in Ottawa, the countrys capital, but GOP attorneys general are still going forward with plans to probe the platform to see if they are engaged in any illegal activity.

Several Republican Attorney Generals from across the U.S. have already publicly announced that their offices will be looking into whether GoFundMe violated any state laws in response to the fundraising website canceling a fundraiser for Canadian truckers and initially stating that they would send the funds to other charities, The Daily Wire reported.

The platform canceled the fundraiser for the truckers after it had garnered more than C$10 million.

Initially, the platform announced, in part:

Organizers provided a clear distribution plan for the initial $1M that was released earlier this week and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest. Given how this situation has evolved, no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers  we will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities verified by GoFundMe.

Later, the platform issued a statement reversing course and citing donor feedback:

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.

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.

But those actions garnered the attention of several Republican attorneys general who vowed to look into the matter to see if GoFundMe broke laws or committed any acts of fraud.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt wrote on Twitter: [flashing red light emoji] Its totally unacceptable for @gofundme to siphon over $9M in donations sent to support #TruckersForFreedom2020 & funnel it to causes it supports. I will be investigating these deceptive practices. Donors should be given a refund.#TruckersConvoy2022 #TruckersForFreedom.

?Its totally unacceptable for @gofundme to siphon over $9M in donations sent to support #TruckersForFreedom2020 & funnel it to causes it supports. I will be investigating these deceptive practices. Donors should be given a refund.#TruckersConvoy2022 #TruckersForFreedom  Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) February 5, 2022

In [West Virginia], organizations must not deceive donors and engage in deceptive advertising practices, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey tweeted on Friday night. If youve been victimized by a deceptive act or practice, let us know!

#GoFundMe now wont honor #FreedomConvoy donations and will instead redirect to other charities? In WV, organizations must not deceive donors and engage in deceptive advertising practices. If youve been victimized by a deceptive act or practice, let us know!  Patrick Morrisey (@MorriseyWV) February 5, 2022

Did you donate to the #FreedomConvoy through #GoFundMe? If you are an Ohioan, I want to hear from you! Ohios GOP AG Dave Yost tweeted as well, along with a link to a state government website where donors could file a complaint.

Did you donate to the #FreedomConvoy through #GoFundMe? If you are an Ohioan, I want to hear from you! You can file a complaint here: https://t.co/4Y1H52rPis Freedom Convoy: GoFundMe seizes funds of Canada occupation  BBC News https://t.co/SMLkOI6936  Attorney General Dave Yost (@DaveYostOH) February 5, 2022

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry responded: I share the concerns of @WestVirginiaAG . My office will be looking into whether or not #GoFundMe violated our state law. If you are a Louisiana donor to the #FreedomConvoy, please contact my #ConsumerProtection Section! #lagov

I share the concerns of @WestVirginiaAG. My office will be looking into whether or not #GoFundMe violated our state law. If you are a Louisiana donor to the #FreedomConvoy, please contact my #ConsumerProtection Section! #lagov https://t.co/lwCAvsbLrY  AG Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry) February 5, 2022

Left-wing Democratic AGs go after conservatives all the time  as we see with prosecutors in Atlanta, Ga., and New York State going after Donald Trump for the crime have having been a president they didnt like. So its good to see a little legal payback for a change.

Sources include:

DailyWire.com

RT.com
(Natural News) Ann Vandersteel went out of the studio, took a trip to the border city of McAllen, Texas, and found how life has changed for those wishing to enter the U.S. via the southern tip of the state.

The Steel Truth host talked with people from the Customs and Border Protection to local businesses and was surprised with the leniency President Joe Bidens administration has treated the migrant applicants as opposed to former President Donald Trumps strict orders to bar their entry whenever possible.

All of these people that have done all kinds of work to protect our government lands are here to basically push paper as administrative assistants and allow people to come through the processing center as they are picked up by the thousands every day, processed, and then put back, said Vandersteel during the January 27 episode of Steel Truth on Brighteon.TV.

This is what our customs and border patrol have become. This is what our government is doing, bringing people in, sit down in front of a typewriter, essentially, and process people and then send them back out.

Nothing wrong there, really. Its their job to at least take note of those people who are raring to pursue their American dream.

Vandersteel can accept that. What piqued her was the discovery that these applicants have become pampered.

We spoke to somebody today that works in the business here locally. And she told us that, in fact, not only are these people coming into the processing center but theyre given $200 debit cards and a free plane ticket to anywhere they want to go in the country. Theyre being resettled at an alarmingly high rate, said Vandersteel.

Ultimate betrayal of the American taxpayer

The Brighteon.TV host continued: This is Joe Bidens America. Absolutely atrocious whats happening right now. Talk about the ultimate betrayal of the American taxpayer. These videos that are coming out, the stories that were hearing are all about the fact that these people are coming across the border and being allowed to resettle wherever they want. So yes, coming to a city near you are going to be the illegal immigrants that are coming across the border. (Related: Report finds illegal immigrants to receive about $4 billion in stimulus checks.)

Bringing her crew and new equipment along, Vandersteel showed a video clip of the border wall built by Trump, the processing station for the actual border, where people need to go through if theyre coming from the American side to the Mexican side.

And again something caught her attention.

There was very little traffic actually going to the border check station from McAllen, Texas, into Mexico. And the only thing I can surmise is that theyre all coming across the border illegally. Theres really very little reason for them to be commuting back and forth across the United States. Really quite interesting.

Taking a tour of McAllen, which is just 11 miles from Reynosa, Mexico, Vandersteel noticed that its very busy, with a lot of industry, big factories and a lot of manufacturing, with the signage in Spanish.

This led Vandersteel to believe the border community is thriving.

Migrants fear the cartels

But when she talked to a businessman, she found theres a prevailing fear of the cartels among the over 142,000 residents.

The businessman requested not to be shown on camera for fear of reprisal from cartel members who are into human trafficking, drug trafficking and gun smuggling.

Vandersteel could only empathize with him and the other locals.

Its not because they cant say no to these people. Its because theyre in fear of these people. And this is right here on American soil. They actually fear the cartel, because they know they come into our country, they know theyre coming in and doing business in our establishments. And frankly, theyre afraid to actually interact with the cartel or even condemn them. So this is again, Joe Bidens America.

Since his term started in January 2021, Biden has either altered or reversed many restrictions imposed by Trump on immigration to the United States.

These steps include plans to boost refugee admissions, keep deportation relief for unauthorized immigrants who entered the U.S. as children and lifted restrictions set early in the coronavirus pandemic that reduced the number of visas issued to immigrants. From about 240,000 visas granted in the first quarter (January to March) of 2020, the number dipped to 79,000 in the second quarter (April to June).

Currently, there are over 35 million legal immigrants in the U.S. and most of them are already American citizens. In addition, about one million unauthorized immigrants have temporary permission to live and work in the United States.

But this number pales in comparison to Bidens immigration proposal that would open the path for nearly 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants who are already in the country to gain legal status.

Vandersteel could only cringe at the thought.

More related stories:

Crimes at the border: Illegal immigrants, illegal drugs, flow freely in southwest border.

Illegal immigrants now outnumber Americans who are officially unemployed.

More than half of Border Patrol agents could be fired for refusing covid jabs, leaving border wide open to endless invasion.

Watch the full January 27 episode of Steel Truth below. Catch new episodes of the program from Monday to Friday at 9:30-10.30 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Courier-journal.com

PewResearch.org
(Natural News) The tyranny of the leadership is plaguing the U.S. military, compounding the problems brought about by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Taking a combative stance, The Prather Point host Jeffrey Prather accused the military higher-ups of mandating illegal orders and a camaraderie vaccine that is not available during the February 4 episode of his show on Brighteon.TV.

Prather, a retired Army veteran and former Defense Intelligence Agency branch chief, said the general officers are betraying their oath to uphold and support the constitution of the United States.

Fortunately, Prather said, the non-commissioned officers (NCOs), the backbone of the United States military; the chief warrant officers, the institutional memory of the United States military; and the Navy chiefs petty officers, who are the backbone of the Navy, are making a difference and will make a difference.

According to Prather, there is a PowerPoint presentation in his Patreon account called Hold the Line, done by senior NCOs, that details how the military top brass is wrecking the institution entrusted to protect the nation and its people with illegal mandates such as forced vaccination.

Tyranny of the leadership

Prather referred to whats happening as the tyranny of the leadership. He believes, however, that as long as there are trustworthy warrant officers, NCOs and CPOs, order in the military is still secured and, even if its already broken, can be restored.

So remember, before there was a country, there was an army, before there was an army, there was a militia, before there was a militia, there were warriors holding the line. And this is just a different type of warfare that we have to adjust to, said Prather.

And in this great document, they really detail all of the injuries that are being covered up by the various matrix, because this is a different system; because lots of group studies are done by the military because they can order a bunch of guys [who] has certain characteristics to do stuff. So lots of studies, big studies, are done by the military.

Prather cited as an example the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) that has been tracked by NCOs and chief warrant officers. The data, involving military personnel and gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, is indeed alarming.

These showed heart attacks climbed by 269 percent, pericarditis (swelling of the tissue surrounding the heart) rose 179 percent, myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscles) increased 285 percent, pulmonary embolisms (blood clots that developed in blood vessels) soared 467 percent, cerebral infarctions (strokes) gained 393 percent and Bells palsy cases increased by 319 percent, all for the year to date.

Prather rattled off more figures: Guillain-Barre syndrome (disorder in which a persons own immune system damages the nerve) climbed 250 percent, immunodeficiencies (immune system is not working properly) rose 275 percent, immune thrombocytopenic purpura (a disorder characterized by a decrease in the number of blood platelets) increased 322 percent.

Definitely, these pieces of information from the DMED deserve scrutiny and investigation.

And so this is a great example of the true patriots fighting back while the sold-out general officers and admirals betray their country and their oath, said Prather, warning that China is pouncing on the demoralization in the U.S. military to wield its influence among the Americans as a prelude to world conquest. (Related: The collapsing American military.)

Prather mentioned the fact that the American army is starting to remove those who wont get the jab, although 98 percent of those in active service have been vaccinated, which is how the enemy intends to hollow out the American warrior force.

The truth is, this is not just a numbers game for even thousands of dismissals would hardly be felt by the U.S. military. It is more of a mental game because when the soldiers morale dip, so will their ability to reject illegal commands. They will fall prey to the tyranny of the leadership, Prather said.

More related stories:

Leaked DoD database shows US military illnesses skyrocketing due to covid jabs.

Viral video shows increasing number of illnesses in US military following COVID vaccines.

Lawyer Thomas Renz accuses military of COVID cover-up, urges immediate investigationBrighteon.TV.

ACT OF WAR: Thanks to covid vaccines, the militarys cancer rate has more than tripled

Watch the full February 4 episode of The Prater Point below. Catch new episodes of the program every Friday at 10-11 a.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Follow Pandemic.news for more news related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

FortHoodSentinel.com

NBCNews.com

Army.mil
(Natural News) Former government geological expert and deep underground military base engineer Phil Schneider was murdered (executed) after going public in 1995 with shocking details of what he knew.

According to Schneider, a vast network of 133 underground military bases had already been constructed by 1995, and they were connected by levitation trains that traveled through underground tunnel systems that spanned the entire continental United States, traveling at speeds up to Mach 2.

Some of Phils lectures can be found on Brighteon.com at the channel Arcana-x:

https://www.brighteon.com/channels/arcanax

While Schneider is known in some circles for his work on DUMBs (Deep Underground Military Bases), he also talked openly about 11 extraterrestrial species that routinely interacted with the governments of the world. Nine of those species, he said, were enemies of humanity. Just two species were benevolent. Many of the technologies that humans supposedly developed over the years were actually technology transfers from extraterrestrial civilizations, Schneider explains. We have previously covered how the transistor  which gave rise to the entire field of electronics and internet surveillance that has enslaved humanity  suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the late 1940s (Bell Labs) and had no traceable lineage of development.

Weve captured some of Schneiders most stunning statements from 1995, reproducing them in todays Situation Update podcast (below). The Schneider segment begins at 41:20. Heres some of what he explains:

Do I tie in the alien agenda with the New World Order? Yes sir, 100% The New World Order right now is basically dismantling countries theyre taking their orders directly from the aliens who have their own time table. They want the one world order because they want the planet for themselves. Youve heard the term Global 2000, and thats a sinister plot to produce biological weaponry to reduce or thin out, or so-called ethnic cleanse the population of the planet by 5/6th enslaving the rest to work willy-nilly with the so-called people of the New World Order.

Note what Schneider is describing: A biological weapon to reduce global human populations, followed by a one world government authoritarian system to enslave the survivors.

Sound familiar? Sound like what weve all witnessed over the last two years?

Schneiders warning is the Oblivion Agenda

I was not aware of Schneiders speeches in 2019 when I delivered my own warning for humanity in a speech entitled, Oblivion Agenda. In that speech, I warned that Earth was being prepared for a post-human future and that non-Earth entities were terraforming the planet and preparing to launch a biological weapon for global depopulation and planetary-scale extermination of the human race.

Little did I know that Schneider had issued essentially the same warning more than two decades earlier.

Heres part of my Oblivion Agenda speech, delivered live in 2019, pre-covid:

Brighteon.com/81a56b91-841b-4056-bcc7-61f5ca06e34c

Now we know that Schneider was correct. There is a global depopulation war against humanity that has been activated and is currently being run under the cover of covid-19. It includes the following elements:

The deliberate release of toxic nanoparticle bioweapons.

Depopulation via vaccines (increased cancers, vascular deaths, neurological deaths, autoimmune deaths, etc.).

Terraforming of the atmosphere to dim the sun and shut down photosynthesis, leading to global famine.

and shut down photosynthesis, leading to global famine. Engineered food scarcity and famine via supply chain disruptions (trucker vaccine mandates, shipping port shutdowns, etc.).

Widespread electronic tracking and surveillance of the population using the excuse of vaccine passports or public health initiatives.

Large-scale industrial carbon dioxide theft from the atmosphere (carbon sequestration), which will deprive Earths plant-based ecosystem of the critical nutrient for survival (CO2). This will lead to a near-total die-off of the existing web of life, including plants, animals, insects and aquatic life systems.

A total takeover of all governments, institutions, science establishments, media, tech giants, etc., in order to enslave the entire human race and corral the masses into committing vaccine suicide for global depopulation.

Heres one video snippet from a longer lecture series from 1995, featuring Phil Schneider talking about government cover-ups and false flag operations:

Non-terrestrial entities have decided that humanity is too stupid and reckless to exist

If aliens are watching human civilization, they must have already concluded that the human race is too stupid and reckless to exist. Of all the species on planet Earth, only humans murder their own children and then celebrate the abortions (Democrats and Leftists). Only humans poison their own food supply with pesticides and herbicides and then brag about corporate profits for the poison manufacturers like Bayer. Only humans celebrate the maiming of the genitalia and coerced gender confusion of their own offspring. No other species on the entire planet is so insane and stupid.

On top of that, the human race is engaged in widespread ecological destruction, microplastics pollution of the oceans, runaway pollution of soils and waterways, and continued nuclear weapons testing that unleashes radioisotopes across the planet.

The human race has proven itself to be a species that not only excels in self-destruction and self-delusion, but if humans were to gain access to more advanced space travel technology, humanity might threaten the rest of the cosmos with runaway destruction and war.

In other words, the human species is still not mature enough to demonstrate its own sustainability or wisdom. Apparently, some other civilizations have decided that humanity doesnt show enough promise to even allow to exist any longer. So the decision has been made to pull the plug on human civilization and reboot the planet for a post-human era.

Thats what you and I are living through right now: Planetary-scale ethnic cleansing. Its not just the depopulation vaccines, its also terraforming, chemtrails, global dimming, global famine and a planned financial reset that will lead to mass poverty and collapse.

Thats why it all seems so insane: The deliberate food scarcity, senseless lockdowns, withholding ivermectin from the population, murdering hospital patients with ventilators, etc its all a deliberate global depopulation plan to maximize human casualties and reduce human civilization to absolute rubble.

Some people believe an advanced alien AI system is actually calling all the shots right now, controlling the media, Big Tech, governments and more. They explain we are living under a kind of cosmic cyber war where AI systems have turned humanity against itself, achieving a high die-off rate without having to invoke kinetic weapons of any kind.

We have reached the end game for the human race

If Schneider is correct, we are in the end game war against humanity, and weve probably already lost because 99% of the human race has no idea theyre under attack. The media brainwashing, censorship and indoctrination has been successful at keeping the masses in the dark while they line up to be injected with the very bioweapon thats killing them.

Our only hope, it seems, is that the vaccine survivors might change course and demonstrate that the human race still has cosmic potential. Perhaps if we defeat the corrupt institutions and unleash knowledge for abundance  free energy, natural medicine, consciousness / awakening, etc.  then those who are currently trying to destroy humanity might change their mind and halt their extermination agenda. Or perhaps God steps in and protects humanity from demonic, destructive forces as described in the Book of Revelation.

However this ends, theres no question that humanity has failed to demonstrate any real redeeming values on a cosmic scale. The human race largely consists of clueless, obedient sheeple run by evil, corrupt, insane, demon-worshiping, child-raping pedophile elitists. Its hard to see how any cosmic gauge of the quality of a civilization could give Earth anything other than a hard F.

Or perhaps everythings fine and Biden is a great leader and if we all just take more jabs, everything will go back to normal. Thats what about half the population believes, somehow thereby proving yet again how incredibly stupid and deluded they are. Its already clear that humanity has no future if we continue to embrace the runaway stupidity and evil of socialism, communism, transgenderism, wokeism, pedophilia, pesticides, GMOs and deadly vaccines. Its all just a twisted, demonic suicide pact that no doubt has non-Earth entities either laughing hysterically or flipping the exterminate switch in disgust.

Hear Schneiders explanation of all this in his own words in todays Situation Update podcast, starting at 41:20. In the first half of the podcast, Im mostly talking about Joe Rogan, the n-word, Planet of the Apes and demonic possession. Plus theres a short video of Nancy Pelosi who appears to be unsuccessfully trying to drown out her inner demons with vodka.

Full episode here:

Brighteon.com/27e3d32f-1886-44a0-8cb8-794ea0bd1980

Find more information-packaged podcasts each day, along with special reports and emergency updates, at:

https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport

Also follow me on:

Brighteon.social: Brighteon.social/@HealthRanger

Telegram: t.me/RealHealthRanger

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Join the free NaturalNews.com email newsletter to stay alerted about new, upcoming audiobooks that you can download for free.

Download my current audiobooks  including Ghost World, Survival Nutrition, The Global Reset Survival Guide and The Contagious Mind  at:

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(Natural News) By the year 2025, Switzerland could face weeks or even months at a time with no electricity, warned President Guy Parmelin in a recent statement.

The central European country does not produce enough electricity to meet demand, forcing it to import. However, one of its suppliers, Germany, is phasing out its nuclear energy industry as part of a massive green push, as well as in response to the Fukushima disaster of 2011.

During the winter, Switzerland imports about 20 percent of its energy from Germany. This gap is expected to rise as Germany continues to shut down its nuclear plants.

Germany is temporarily switching over to coal, a transitory form of electricity generation that the country plans to fully phase out by 2035.

Structurally, this transition could make it difficult for Europe to produce enough electricity, warns Climate Depot.

Those who dont produce their own electricity risk having black-outs, said Stephane Genoud, an expert in energy management at HES-SO, a university in Valais.

Switzerland needs more wind, solar and natural gas energy production systems

Last month, Parmelin told his countrys largest electricity consumers that he hopes for their support with reduced consumption. If they can figure out ways to consume less energy, the crunch moving forward will be lessened.

If they do not and the energy runs out, then factories could be forced to cut production; banks could be forced to reduce their opening hours; and transport operators could be forced to reduce the number of trains and trams running.

Individuals and households across Switzerland are also being told that they should try to conserve energy as well, if possible, to help avoid prolonged energy shortages and the damage they threaten to cause.

Back in September, the Swiss government sent letters to 30,000 large electricity consumers warning them of these future energy shortages. It explained that forced consumption restrictions could be necessary.

During shortages the Federal Council could restrict consumption if calls for voluntary reductions are not enough, the Depot reported.

Genoud, meanwhile, told the media that he thinks Switzerland has rested on its laurels and needs to start producing more wind and solar electricity if it hopes to overcome these energy challenges.

For him, natural gas should also be an essential part of the plan, even if it only ends up being a temporary solution. It turns out that natural gas is one of the most abundant, inexpensive and easily accessible forms of clean, renewable energy.

I thought the Swiss were smart engineers, wrote someone at the Depot about how this energy shortage situation is a major failure for Switzerland. When did they abandon common sense?

Over at Natural News, someone wrote that Germany is also facing its own energy shortages. The government there has actually been sending out pamphlets to citizens with advice about what to do when the power goes out.

Sorry, but nuclear power is the worst, wrote another. If you have an accident, that radiation has a half-life of thousands of years  humans will be irradiated for the next hundred generations.

The world opted-out of the much safer Thorium-based nuclear power, responded another. It didnt produce the bomb-making material that they craved.

Still another pointed out that, like Switzerland, Germany used to be very technologically advanced and at the forefront of preventing problems like this from occurring. What happened?

It blows my mind how Germany pioneered the best microphones and recording gear, yet is so dumb in so many other areas, this person said, noting that todays Germany is becoming so focused on woke causes that it has missed the plot.

Germany is so busy straining at a gnat that theyve swallowed the proverbial camel.

More related news about the nuclear controversy can be found at Nuclear.news.

Sources for this article include:

ClimateDepot.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Police in the United Kingdom have arrested and raided the home of a gender-critical womens rights activist due to her outspoken criticism of transgender ideology.

On January 23, Gwent Police in southeastern Wales in the U.K. detained 53-year-old Jennifer Swayne, who is disabled, for suspicion of criminal damage and threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

At the time of her arrest, Swayne, who relies on a mobility scooter to move around, was putting up posters as part of her womens rights activism. She was kept in jail for over 12 hours. Police refused to give her back her medication, which she has to take for her severe bipolar disorder. She was released on conditional bail pending further investigation at 3:30 a.m. the next day. Gwent Police confiscated her phone and has not returned it at the time of writing. (Related: THOUGHT POLICE: U.K. to throw people in prison for criticizing transgender surgery that maims children.)

Upon her release, Swayne made a statement on her Twitter account pointing out that nothing she did violated the law.

Gwent Police saw me as an exceptional threat to the [transgender] community by posting stickers and posters that did not mention [transgender people] once, she wrote. They were feminist in content and, I felt, pleasingly informative to women and concerned.

Some of the stickers and posters Swayne put up featured slogans like No child is born in the wrong body, humans never change sex, Women = Adult Human Female, No men in womens prisons and Are you happy for your 13-year-old daughter to shower next to an adult man, yes or no?

According to the Gwent Police, it carried out the arrest and detention after multiple people allegedly came forward to complain that posters Swayne had been putting up as part of her activism carried an anti-transgender message.

Weve received several reports in relation to posters containing offensive material appearing in Newport between October and January, said Gwent Police Superintendent Vicki Townsend in response to Swaynes arrest. Officers on patrol in Newport saw a woman spraying stickers to two lamp posts.

Gwent Police raided Swaynes home and confiscated book critical of trans ideology

According to Swayne, upon her arrest, police officers executed a search warrant on her property and confiscated several items, including dozens of pro-womens rights stickers and a book about transgender ideology and the theory and practice of converting children into transgenders.

The book, Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body, is by Heather Brunskell-Evans, a feminist activist, social theorist and philosopher specializing in feminist philosophy. The book is a series of essays that takes a critical look at the theory and practice of turning children into transgender individuals. Brunskell-Evans serves as the editor of the collection.

It was crammed with my notes, wrote Swayne on her Twitter account. MY THINKING IS BEING INVESTIGATED  not things, not materials, not actions, my actual thinking.

Fair Cop, a British free speech organization, has come to Swaynes defense and has accused the Gwent Police of unlawful interference.

Harry Miller, founder and chairman of Fair Cop, said in a statement that the posters Swayne put up around her town were a political statement and her expression of her opinions should not be criminalized.

His organization has pledged to provide Swayne with legal aid if she gets charged. Fair Cop will also set up a donation platform for her as soon as she requires additional funding for her legal needs.

Shes been arrested on charges of vandalism, hate crimes and public order offense, wrote the organization. Must be one hell of a turbocharged motor scooter. Just what do the police think they are doing?

Swayne is just the latest in a series of men and women gender-critical activists who have been targeted for expressing pro-women  or anti-trans, as their detractors claim  views or publishing works that challenge transgender ideology.

What Swayne and many others over the past few years have experienced is the weaponization of the state against citizens who are not on board with the LGBT agenda, wrote Jonathon Van Maren for Life Site News. The police can not only detain you, but raid your home  and when is the last time you read about cops seizing a book in a Western nation? Worse  seizing a book as evidence of wrong views?

More related stories:

Doctors in the UK are resigning left and right over transgender lunacy targeting innocent children.

Staff members are quitting their jobs at the U.K.s National Health Service because of rampant transgender experimentation on children.

U.K. government declares that MEN can get pregnant, too not just women  liberalism has reached the point of mass mental illness.

Watch this episode of Brighteon Conversations as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks to an expert in civilization collapse about how the transgender mutilation of children is one of the final signs of a culture in rapid decline.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

Learn more about how anti-trans voices are being silenced at Gender.news.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

GBNews.uk

DailyMail.co.uk

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The new Online Safety Bill in the United Kingdom is forcing Big Tech to censor all online content that the government deems hateful or containing misinformation.

Great Britains digital secretary Nadine Dorries warned that the legal update will bring full weight of law against anyone who dares to challenge any official government narrative online, or who uses the web as a weapon to ruin peoples lives.

The Online Safety Bills update includes provisions specifically for smuggling, hate crimes, fraud and revenge porn. Each of these will take priority in terms of enforcement.

Tech companies will be forced, under the new rules, to actively look for such content rather than waiting for it to be flagged by users. The government of the U.K. has also added three new criminal offenses to deal with internet trolls.

The worst offenders could be jailed for up to five years for threatening to kill MPs and celebrities, noted the DailyMail Online. Spreading Covid-19 disinformation would also be covered under a crime of sending a false communication.

The Online Safety Bill is currently in draft form and the government is looking for additional ways to strengthen it. These changes are expected within the next month.

Politicians are scared so theyre trying to ban free speech on the internet

Once fully implemented, the Online Safety Bill will grant regulator Ofcom the power to levy massive fines against any tech firm that breaches its requirements.

Under the draft version, only terrorism and child sexual abuse were deemed priority illegal content, but now the new provisions include misinformation about the Fauci Flu, as decided by the government.

Even though the plandemic narrative is constantly changing, the government will decide on the fly what is considered true and what is considered false. And Big Tech will be expected to comply at all times.

Dorries is excited about three new communications offenses that could land internet trolls in prison for up to five years if they threaten to rape, kill, inflict physical violence or cause serious financial harm against someone else.

Posting false content about Fauci Flu cures will also be subject to prosecution, this being a top priority of the British governments anti-free speech crusade on the internet.

This government said it would legislate to make the U.K. the safest place in the world to be online while enshrining free speech, and thats exactly what we are going to do, Dorries said, noting that public debate is exempt from the new rules, as is the press.

We are listening to MPs, charities and campaigners who have wanted us to strengthen the legislation, and todays changes mean we will be able to bring the full weight of the law against those who use the internet as a weapon to ruin peoples lives and do so quicker and more effectively.

In the comment section at the DailyMail Online, someone pointed out that the British government lumping covid disinformation in with rape and terrorism is a huge worry.

You cant have freedom of speech when the State has already decided on a truth to enforce, this person wrote. Not to mention the people genuinely peddling misinformation will spin this as what THEY dont want you to know and just retreat to anonymous untraceable platforms anyway.

How is the State going to enforce this on fly-by-night IRC chats without resorting to honeypots which will eventually get rooted out and avoided anyway? How are they going to deal with users that are unlocatable because of VPNs? What about the dark web? The government will be forced to change course on this.

The latest news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) tyranny can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) If America loses a future war to China or even a major battle, we will have some of the largest U.S. technology companies to blame for it, according to a just-released report.

The Washington-based advocacy group Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VoC) and Horizon Advisory consultant group note in their report that eight major U.S. firms are providing direct support to the ChiCom governments military and state security apparatuses.

In their endeavor to capture Chinese markets and boost their bottom lines, American corporations have increasingly supported Beijings military modernization, surveillance state, domestic securitization, and attendant human rights violations, the report said.

The groups looked at eight American companies that operate in China  Amazon, Apple, Dell, Facebook, GE, Google, Intel and Microsoft  in a search for business links that may directly or indirectly support Chinas state surveillance, military modernization, and human rights violations.

And though all of the firms analyzed by the report had a questionable history of doing business with Chinese state-owned corporations, the groups documented in their report that GE, Intel and Microsoft, in particular, gave direct support to either the Chinese military or the ChiCom state security apparatus, The Epoch Times reported.

The outlet noted:

It is no secret that American companies are supercharging the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Establishment media has hinted at the prevalence of business deals favoring CCP authoritarianism for years. The new report does, however, add new detail to just how pervasive the trend is.

Indeed, the companies involved are reported to have helped the CCP implement its militarization of Chinese society at the highest levels.

Apple and Intel leadership have met multiple times with top brass at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), a leading Chinese state entity charged with implementing Beijings military-civil fusion strategy, which channels technological innovations developed or acquired in the private sector toward the Chinese military, the report said.

Military-civil fusion strategy refers to the mobilization of Chinese society in order to take part in the great rejuvenation of the country via the modernization of the ChiComs military branch, the Peoples Liberation Army. Under the strategy, all tech development by civilian companies occurs with an eye towards being able to apply it for a dual-use military purpose. As such, that is a problem for any U.S. or Western firm that wants to locate to China and do business there, including tech development.

For companies intentionally partnering to develop technologies with military corporations, however, the threat to the United States, as well as to Chinese civil liberties, is something more severe, The Epoch Times reported, adding: Partnerships and engagements with Chinese regime entities that support the PLA and state surveillance efforts, however, are far from rare, as the report detailed.

U.S. firm Intel is especially exposed.

Intels exposure exceeds that of other companies surveyed in this effort, the report said. Intel invests in Chinese high-tech and military-civil fusion companies, potentially fueling them with both capital and access to technology. Intel has taken no action to curb or terminate such problematic relationships.

Similarly, GE was found by the organizations to have been heavily engaged in tech partnerships with state-connected Chinese firms including those serving the Chinese military-industrial sector.

[GEs] partnerships appear to involve technology-sharing, including with core players in Chinas military, military-civil fusion, and surveillance system, the report said.

Those partnerships have  granted military-tied Chinese players positions of leverage in GEs supply chains, critical to both Americas national security and its manufacturing base, the report said.

And GEs operations and partnerships in China systemically expose it to risks associated with forced labor and other human rights atrocities in the country.

The groups also noted that American companies are blatant hypocrites regarding their U.S. and China-based operations.

US corporate players have no problem saying one thing in the United States while doing (and saying) something different in China, the report said.

Such hypocrisy is particularly flagrant when it comes to digital privacy: Companies like Apple, Amazon, Dell, and Intel that stress information security in the U.S. also abide by Chinese regulatory requirements for storing and handling data, the report continued.

This jeopardizes the information, and therefore security, of users in China who oppose the regime, as well as of global users.

China is Americas biggest competitor and future enemy  much more so than Russia.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandate implemented by the U.S. has significantly impacted trucking at the southern border. Unvaccinated truckers coming from Mexico have been barred from entering American soil  similar to the situation up north at the Canadian border.

On Jan. 22, the U.S. mandated non-citizens entering the country by land via Mexico and Canada to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Truckers were included in this mandate.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Assistant Director of Field Operations Armando Taboada said his team encountered 111 unvaccinated drivers during the first three days following the mandates effectivity. Taboada, who is assigned at CBPs Laredo, Texas field office, is in charge of overseeing eight ports of entry along the Texas-Mexico border.

We were capturing the numbers the first few days to give us an idea. For the most part, I believe the carriers got the message that vaccine requirements were being enforced, he said.

According to Taboada, non-compliant drivers returned to Mexico. Those with empty trucks were returned with the tractor-trailer still attached. Meanwhile, loaded shipments were processed for import into the U.S. regardless of the vaccination status of the drivers transporting them.

The non-compliant drivers with loaded shipments [or] trailers were temporarily held in the cargo import facilities. The non-compliant driver was sent back to Mexico, but the trailer with loaded shipment was allowed to proceed with a replacement vaccinated, compliant driver to keep the flow of trade moving. This was done at all of our ports of entry. (Related: Biden bans unvaccinated truckers from entering the US, accelerating collapse of supply chains.)

The U.S. allows trucks from Mexico  called drayage trucks  to travel short distances northbound to drop off shipments. However, these drayage trucks are only permitted to travel generally within a 25-mile zone. The drayage trucking industry along the southern border sees hundreds of trucking companies transporting both raw materials and finished products back and forth across the border daily.

Truckers speak out regarding the new vaccine mandate down south

Several trucking companies have spoken out about the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for truckers coming into Mexico. They warned that the mandate can potentially exacerbate the current supply chain crisis.

Cold Chain Solutions CEO Gerardo Alanis Barrios said the vaccine mandates have strained the already-tight market for truck drivers. The head of the Laredo-based firm said: Drayage capacity has been strained for the better part of two years. The vaccine mandate has come to dent it even more.

Barrios elaborated: In our fleet, about four percent of our drivers have refused to get vaccinated. Some argue they cant get it because of medical conditions, while others simply dont want unknown substances in their bodies. A few have gone so far as to ask for other jobs within the company to support their decision.

Luis Garcia, carrier relations head at digital logistics platform Nuvocargo, said the company saw a few northbound shipments coming from Mexico face delays following the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for drivers imposed by the United States. Aside from unvaccinated drivers, he also mentioned the impact of COVID-positive truckers calling in sick.

Weve seen a few cases. One of our carriers had to change drivers last minute after they got [COVID-19 test] results from an internal policy of testing that they carried out. That made one of our pickups take two hours longer than expected, said Garcia.

The Nuvocargo executive pointed out that most of the drivers his company works with have accepted [COVID-19] vaccines. He continued: However, what theyre suffering is sick leaves from their driver base and are hamstrung with [the] capacity to move the loads  and it is backlogging capacity.

More related stories:

Vaccine mandate for truckers entering Canada now in effect; unvaccinated American truckers will be TURNED AWAY.

EXPECT SHORTAGES: Canadian truckers not exempt from new vaccine mandate despite recent announcement.

Food shortages begin in Canada following trucker covid vaccine mandate.

Vaccine mandates in Canada now affecting pig and feed shipments.

Watch the video below of Harrison Smith explaining the impact of vaccine mandates on the food supply.

This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.

MedicalTyranny.com has more about COVID-19 vaccine mandates on truckers entering the United States.

Sources include:

FreightWaves.com

Brighteon.com
Rosemary has served its purpose as food garnish or for medicinal use for thousands of years. As luck would have it, an investigation finds early evidence of COVID-19 treatment in the herb's compounds.

Researchers are intrigued to find antiviral effects in most of the molecules found in Rosemary that might "deal a blow against Covid-19" in two different ways, as per IFLScience. Its carnosic acid (CA), particularly, has inspired the team from the Scripps Institute to further do research on the potential application of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) in COVID-19 treatment.

Since Roman times, Rosemary's oils have been used in traditional medicines. In fact, carnosic acid, which makes up about 2 percent of its dry weight, had already been investigated for its anti-inflammatory effects on the brain even before the pandemic hit.

The new research in the journal Antioxidants shows that carnosic acid could have anti-COVID-19 properties, as well as positive implications in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Carnosic acid disrupts SARS-CoV-2's capacity to infect cells

Senior author Professor Stuart Lipton said in Scripps Institute's website that "carnosic acid, or some optimized derivative, is worth investigating as a potentially cheap, safe, and effective treatment for COVID-19 and some other inflammation-related disorders."

In addition, according to author Dr Chank-ki Oh, carnosic acid "interferes with SARS-CoV-2's capacity to infect cells" and is "almost 90 percent effective in blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection."

Derivative carnosol, also a compound found in Rosemary, also inhibits NLRP3 inflammation linked to the cytokine storms that pose a threat during acute COVID, and the "brain fog" and anxiety commonly associated with Covid. In addition, the team proposed that CA-related compounds may serve as therapeutics against the brain-related after-effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, termed "long-COVID".

Professor Lipton described carnosic acid as showing signs of being a "pathologically activated therapeutic...inactive and innocuous in its normal state, but converted to an active form when it needs to be active."

Also read: Corbevax: A Cheaper and Effective COVID Vaccine That Could Change the World

Not a substitute for getting vaccinated

A test tube experiment could have different results when applied to humans, which is why most tests fail for one reason or another when transferred to living things. Carnosic acid could easily prove similarly disappointing, the Scripps team say, "so the only reason to be adding rosemary to your meals is if you like the flavor." However, they hope to find a solution that will eventually prove its worth and its benefits will be proved in time.

The review of evidence and mechanistic considerations supporting the future testing of rosemary extract is that its use is generally safe and exhibits no presence of side effects. In addition, the carnosic acid's health-promoting effects have been demonstrated in multiple animal models against chronic neurodegenerative disorders.

"CA exerts neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects and has been proposed to be a potential therapeutic against chronic neurodegenerative disorders, such as AD and PD, and acute and chronic effects of infections such as SARS-CoV-2," the authors wrote.

The study highlights two mechanisms in CA's manifestations of SARS-CoV-2, "one at the point of viral entry, possibly through covalent binding to the ACE2 receptor protein, and the other by ameliorating cytokine storm through the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation." Thus, the conclusion that the compound represents a potential therapeutic for COVID-19 as well as for neurodegenerative disorders.

Also read: More Than 120 Venomous Snakes Found in Home of Dead Man in Maryland
Chimpanzees were observed by scientists applying insects on their open wounds and the wounds of other chimpanzees.

Although other animals are known to use plants as a form of self-medication, the recent observation is the first known behavior of animals using insects in treating wounds.

It is for this reason that scientists described the chimpanzees' usage of insects for wound medication as a surprising behavior.

The observations were published in a new study this week, highlighting that there are still mysterious animal behaviors waiting to be discovered.

Insects and Treating Wounds

Scientists published their new study on this unusual chimpanzee behavior in the journal Current Biology on Monday, Feb. 7.

The study sheds light for the first time on the extent of the social behavior of chimpanzees of not only treating themselves but also showing empathy to other chimps.

The study was conducted by a research team from Osnabruck University in Germany.

The team observed around 45 chimpanzees in a community living in the Loango National Park in Gabon. They conducted the study from November 2019 until February 2022.

Among the 45 chimpanzees, the researchers found 19 chimps would catch a small-winged insect and put it between their lips. The chimpanzees would then rub the insects on their open wounds, and then remove the insects.

Also read: New Study Reveals Chimpanzees Pass on Their Knowledge to Next Generation, Just Like Humans

Ozouga Chimpanzee Project

The team first observed the surprising behavior of the primates at the Loango National Park, which is home to the so-called "Ozouga Chimpanzee Project."

The project is led by Tobias Deschner, a primatologist, and Simone Pika, a cognitive biologist professor at Osnabruck University.

Alessandra Mascaro, a volunteer on the project, was the first one to observe the unusual behavior of chimpanzees that she discoveted through a recorded video footage of the chimps.

She watched a female chimpanzee apply an insect to her son's wounded foot.

A student also observed an adult male chimpanzee using insects in treating wounds, as per New Scientist.

Pika stated the observation was an amazing discovery.

Small-Winged Insects, Another Medicinal Source?

According to the new study, instances of self-medication have been observed in the past with other animals, including bears, elephants, moths, and starlings.

Two decades ago, researchers observed captive chimpanzees swallowing and eating leaves that contain chemical properties to kill intestinal parasites, according to a separate study published in the journal Primates in 2004.

Researchers from the study in 2004 supported the hypothesis that leaf swallowing amongst the group of captive chimpanzees they observed was acquired in the wild from opportunistic feeding behavior.

However, this was later passed down traditionally as a means for self-medication.

This is the reason why the researchers from the new study found the chimpanzees' recently observed self-medication as a surprising social behavior.

In spite of this breakthrough discovery, it is still unclear why the chimpanzees use small-winged insects for treating wounds.

Related article: Decrypting the Meanings of Chimpanzee Chatter
An amphibian disease affecting frogs was assessed by biologists in the state of Baja California in Mexico.

The disease, caused by a fungal infection, has been responsible for killing amphibians worldwide for decades.

The biologists published their first major account of the disease in a new study this year.

Chytridiomycosis Amphibian Disease

Biologists from Southern California and Baja California have assessed an amphibian disease called, chytridiomycosis or the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus Disease, caused by the chytrid fungus in the Mediterranean region of Baja California in Mexico.

The biologists published their first major account of the amphibian disease in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation.

The study indicated that the disease is more dominant in the Baja California peninsula than in similar areas of Southern California in the US.

According to Andrea Adams, an assistant researcher in the Earth Research Institute at UC Santa Barbara lead author of the study, "We call it a panzootic-it's like a pandemic, only with animals," via Science Daily.

The threat by the chytrid fungus is more significant in Baja California even though the chytrid fungus and the environment are similar to Southern California, said Adams.

The scientists conducted the study to determine how and why chytridiomycosis is prevalent in the area.

Also read: Amphibian Rescue In 2016: 5 Conservation Goals for This Year

Chytrid Fungi and Amphibians

The majority of the chytrid group consists of soil-dwelling fungi, which are relatively common worldwide and generally pose no harm.

However, the researchers' comprehensive study indicated the chytrid fungus evolved to penetrate and infect the skins of amphibians.

These evolved chytrid fungi infect amphibians and have been responsible for a large number of deaths among the amphibian population worldwide with a high mortality rate, as per the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment.

The amphibian group consists of several species, including frogs, toads, and salamanders.

Amphibians like frogs use special skin glands for various purposes, including fighting off bacteria or fungal infections, says National Geographic.

However, these special skin glands seem to fail frogs in Baja California, and they end up getting an infection from the chytrid fungus, leading to the disease.

Ongoing Investigation of the Chytridiomycosis Disease

The research team collected samples of the chytrid fungus from the skins of Baja frogs between November 2015 and November 2016; these frogs include the California red-legged frog and the American bullfrog.

The team concluded that infection from the chytrid fungus is based on the location and species of the amphibian.

In this case, the California red-legged frog was the most infected species of frogs.

Furthermore, the study showed chytrid fungus infections are dominant in highly elevated and ooler environments that are more moist.

In its first comprehensive study of the chytrid fungus disease, the researchers of the study have investigated the origin, pattern, and genetics of chytridiomycosis to protect the biodiversity in Baja California.

The study is likely to be succeeded by further investigations and research in the coming years with the aim of maintaining and increasing the population of frogs.

Related article: Water-borne Fungus That Caused the Extinction of Amphibians is Threatening Terrestrial Frogs
by Xinhua writer Wen Jing

LANZHOU, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Despite the biting cold, Lhunbo Tsering's heart was filled with the warmth of joy as the 52-year-old rode his motorbike to collect his handsome dividend, braving snow-covered roads.

"I will be paid 10,000 yuan (about 1,570 U.S. dollars) today," said Lhunbo Tsering, adding that all 52 households of his native village Ango would earn the same amount in dividends, thanks to the village's transformation into a tourist destination.

Nestled at an average altitude of 3,000 meters, Ango is 61 km from the county seat of Xiahe in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Gansu Province. For generations, villagers in Ango have earned their livelihood through herding, staying obscured from the outside world.

Back in the day, the village, though endowed with natural resources, seldom saw any tourists due to its remote location and weak infrastructure.

Changes began after the local government initiated a series of projects aimed at transforming backward rural and pastoral settlements into modern tourism destinations.

However, the challenges were far from over as the initiatives triggered pushback from the locals. "At that time, the villagers were averse to the demolition of old houses and sheds," Lhunbo Tsering said, adding that as the director of the village committee he had gone door to door to persuade the villagers.

With local government funds, muddy trails were converted into concrete roads, a small village square with recreational facilities was built, and shabby bungalows were renovated into cozy villas with ethnic Tibetan features.

To help the village develop rural tourism more professionally, the local government introduced a tourism development company.

Yang Haijin, chairman of the company, worked to refurbish 143 vacant rooms of the villagers into homestays and encouraged the locals to get involved in tourism businesses.

In 2018, Yang leased a pasture land, spanning an area of 16.7 hectares, from the villagers and set up a glamping hotel. The hotel tents were decorated with Tibetan-style furniture and modern facilities, offering visitors a fusion of tradition and luxury.

As glamping emerged as a new vacation trend, the hotel became a smash hit, gaining popularity online. "During peak seasons, the tents are booked out up to two months in advance," Yang said.

Over the past four years, the company has distributed more than 2.3 million yuan in dividends to 52 village households, attracting more than 50 villagers -- many of whom were previously living in poverty -- to work in the company.

By utilizing natural and cultural resources, many villages in Gannan have developed rural tourism, bringing additional income to farmers and herders, thus boosting rural vitalization.

Many herders now attach more importance to education, creating a better educational environment for the children there.

"The changes that took place in Ango were not unique. Tourism has opened a window to a broader world for Tibetan people living on the grassland while maintaining a balance between ecology and economy," said Yang Haiqiang, head of Xiahe County. 
The Thwaites Glacier has continued to retreat or melt amid rising ocean surface temperatures.

One of the largest glaciers in Antarctica, scientists are concerned that global sea level may continue to rise if the Thwaites Glacier completely dissolves.

Thwaites Glacier, the 'Doomsday Glacier'

Scientists have recently issued a warning regarding the melting of the Thwaites Glacier, also known as the "Doomsday Glacier," which has already contributed to 4% sea-level rise worldwide and could add more if it reached its tipping point.

Amid increasing surface water temperatures due to global warming and climate change, Thwaites Glacier--one of Antarctica's largest glaciers--is at risk of further rapid deterioration.

The risk could result in a chain effect of glacial melting and glacial collapse across Antarctica, as per Live Science.

Located in Antarctica's western region, the Thwaites Glacier is significantly huge. Its width spans 120 kilometers (74 miles), and the colossal glacier has been compared with the states of Alaska and Florida.

According to Dr. Pat Abbott, "I think the size of ice we're talking about when we say the Thwaites Glacier is about the size of Florida, and when that goes it destabilizes the rest of the western Antarctic," as cited by CBS8 news.

Abbott also compared the Thwaites Glacier to bigger than the state of Alaska.

The Thwaites Glacier contains 3,000 inches of ice and it could add two inches of sea level if we melt the said glacier completely, said Abbott.

Also read: New Study: Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' is Battling Against the Earth's Inner Heat

International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration

Due to this threat, scientists are currently engaged in fieldwork to understand what is happening at the Thwaites Glacier.

The US and UK scientists are coordinating under an environmental mission to investigate and determine the conditions of the Thwaites Glacier due to global warming-induced melting.

The mission is involved with the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, a multinational organization initiative participated by the US, UK, South Korea, and other countries dedicated to protecting the Thwaites Glacier.

In January 2022, the organization sent a team of 32 international scientists on the U.S. National Science Foundation icebreaker, Nathaniel B. Palmer, as reported on Feb. 3.

The ship sailed from Chile to investigate the Thwaites Glacier and surrounding areas in Antarctica.

Global Warming and Rise of Sea Level

Over five decades, the repercussions of human-caused climate change and global warming have accelerated the greenhouse effect, causing the rapid melting of glaciers.

The greenhouse effect is the natural process where greenhouse gases are trapped in the Earth's atmosphere and prevent the sun's heat from escaping.

The retreating or melting of the so-called 'Doomsday Glacier' posed the biggest threat for sea-level rise in the 21st century, according to the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of the Colorado Boulder.

Related article: Antarctica's Doomsday Glacier at Risk of Collapsing, Could Permanently Change Global Coastline
Since September 2020, University of California, Davis, researchers have been monitoring wastewater on the UC Davis campus and in the city of Davis for COVID-19 through the Healthy Davis Together program.

An article published on Feb. 8 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reviews their experiences and the advantages and limitations of wastewater testing as a public health tool in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Widespread of COVID-19 virus on wastewater

Associate Professor Heather Bischel and Ph.D. student Hannah Safford, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Karen Shapiro, Associate Professor of Veterinary Medicine currently administer city/campus wastewater monitoring programs that include weekly, three-week, or daily sessions. A collection of more than 50 sites across the UC Davis campus and Davis City sewers.

Their results have supported the return of students to campus and have helped officials understand the spread of COVID-19 in society, according to ScienceDaily.

Wastewater monitoring can provide an early warning of infection in the community, as infected people begin to shed the virus a few days before symptoms appear. This approach is more cost-effective than large individual clinical trials when it comes to collecting data on local disease levels.

Wastewater observation also has limitations. It's less effective as an early-warning system once community transmission is high. And whereas relatively inexpensive, wastewater monitoring isn't cost-free. Safford, Shapiro, and Bischel explained. As published on ScienceDaily.

As per ScienceDaily, It needs specialized instrumentation like autosamplers, furthermore as employees to collect, process, and analyze samples. Finance in wastewater monitoring may also divert time and resources from different efforts.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday it was adding data collected from sewage samples across the country to its COVID-19 data tracker, providing a better picture of trends in participating communities and putting it at the forefront of pandemic surveillance, as mentioned by Patch.

Read more: Austin, Texas, issues precautionary citywide boil water notice

Limitations and Recommendations

Finally, deciding a way to act on sewer water information will be challenging, because the results don't show who could also be infected: they will only purpose to a neighborhood or a complex (such as a university dorm) of potential concern.

In Davis, Healthy Davis together has used wastewater data to strategically target email, text alerts, and incentives encouraging Davis residents to urge tested once local virus levels are on the rise. As per ScienceDaily.

Dr. Amy Kirby, of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the built-in advantages can inform important public health decisions, such as where to allocate mobile testing and vaccination sites, also, she said the public health agencies have also used the data of wastewater to forecast the changes in the utilization of hospitals and providing additional time to mobilize those resources and prepare for increasing cases of COVID-19. As per Patch

The PNAS piece includes a series of recommendations for using sewer water observation in COVID-19 response. These include avoiding redundancy with clinical testing, thoughtful design of sampling and data-analysis plans, process action thresholds, monitoring fewer sites however more frequently, building on existing infrastructure, and being ready to adapt and communicate with alternative practitioners, epidemiologists, and public health officers. As per Patch.

Read more: Covid-19: Comparing the US and Canada
Historians recently discovered the greatest set of historical Egyptian 'notepads' discovered since the 20th century.

Experts have classified almost 18,000 written fragments of earthenware from the long-lost metropolis of Athribis in main Egypt, which some appear to originally had authored by pupils.

Discovery of 18,000 Ancient Egyptian 'Notepads'

According to Science Alert, Remains of shattered pots as well as other containers have been used on a regular schedule in Egyptian civilization to specify product recommendations, document transactions, duplicate texts, and educate pupils how to spell and sketch.

The notepads were far more use as they were much affordable and readily available than papyrus. The artifacts of inked ceramics are referred to as the ostraca. Indeed, many of the ostraca discovered at the Athribis ancient temple seem to be leftovers of an old community college.

While Archaeologist of Germany's College of Tubingen, Christian Leitz explained that the notepads seem to be catalogues of periods, statistics, mathematical puzzles, grammatical lessons, and a bird vocabulary, in which every character was allocated a bird which identity starts with that character.

Over a hundredth of the ostraca discovered at Athribis are filled with monotonous calligraphy practices, of the similar letters inscribed all over again, on both sides of the paper. Almost two millennia ago, it appears that bad youngsters were chastised with the famous Bart Simpson penalty.

Nearly majority of the documents discovered are inscribed in Demotic, an institutional language employed throughout the administration of Ptolemy XII who is commonly recognized nowadays as Cleopatra's father, and who governed between 81 to 59 BCE and once more around 55 to 51 BCE.

Athribis was the center of an Egyptian monarchy situated somewhere along Nile River during the period. Despite the fact that Demotic was undoubtedly the most prevalent character at the moment, students were nevertheless educated a reduced form of hieroglyphic writing.

For example, the passage beneath is a classroom piece of the Hieratic script, with each character paired by a related bird.

Also read: New Data Set Shows How Far Human Influences Affect Evolution

How Ancient Alphabet Works

The numerous dialects visible on the ostraca of Athribis, such as hieroglyphics, Grecian, Arabian, and Coptic, indicate at the metro's turbulent and varied heritage.

The Coptic character, for example, is a combination of Grecian and Egyptians dialects that is intimately linked with Catholicism. The writing beneath is a Coptic ticket, most likely created in the 6th century when Egypt was conquered by the Romans. Writings regarding ancient times deities started to fall out of popularity with the development of Catholic faith.

An example of a baboon and an ibis, both holy creatures of Thoth, the old Egyptian deity of knowledge, is seen beneath.

Those certain evidence of Roman influence can be found in the broken pieces of earthenware. Following the fall of the Ptolemaic monarchy in the 1st century CE, for instance, the writings began to allude to a series of Ruling dynasties, notably Hadrian who governed throughout 117 and 138 CE, Titus, Nero, Domitian, as well as Vespasian.

Such a huge array of ostraca was only discovered once previously. Historians discovered countless pieces of inscription in the archaeological site of Deir el-Medina, somewhat lower downstream the Nile River, in the earlier of 1900s.

These historical documents, on the other hand, were primarily remarks on healthcare and clinical methodologies. While The ostraca of Athribis, could perhaps explain everyone about ordinary routine from one of the antiquated largest and most influential ancient empires.

Also read: New Finding Opens Door to More Ideas about the Iconic Body Form of Megalodons
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President Joe Biden speaks Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in support of changing the Senate filibuster rules that have stalled voting rights legislation on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University.
KABUL, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 630 soldiers have been commissioned to the security forces of the Afghan caretaker government, the country's Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.

"In a special ceremony, 50 soldiers graduated on Monday from the 7th Brigade Training Center of the 217th Omari Corps after two months of military and intellectual training in northern Kunduz province," the ministry said in a statement.

A couple of days ago, 580 fresh graduates received their certification from the same training center in the province, 250 km in the north of Kabul, according to the source.

The newly graduated soldiers will be deployed in northern provinces to ensure the security of the people and protect the borders of the country, the statement noted.

Qari Fasihuddin, army chief of the Taliban-led caretaker administration, has recently said that the administration was trying to make a capable army to ensure the security of the country.

Besides, security forces in Afghanistan have set free a physician from the clutch of abductors in the western Nimroz province, deputy to provincial police chief Mohammad Mahajir said Tuesday.

The abducted medical doctor was freed on Monday following the crackdown on the hideouts of the alleged kidnappers, and three persons have been arrested.

Earlier, police in Kabul rescued a businessman from kidnappers on Friday night, the state-run news agency Bakhtar reported Saturday. 
The American Red Cross declared a blood supply crisis for the first time ever last month when it hadless than a one-day supply of critical blood types. Normally, the Red Cross has a five-day supply of blood at all times.


Conference lifts the lid on modern slavery Conference lifts the lid on modern slavery

Mark Little MBE is organising a conference in Norwich Cathedral to shed light on the scourge of modern slavery.

The Queen awarded Mark an MBE for his anti-slavery work in the 2022 honours list. He has been a parishioner at Our Lady of the Annunciation, Poringland since 1978 and was financial adviser to the Diocese of East Anglia from 1992 to 2001.



Behind closed doors, writes Mark, in remote places and right under our noses in plain sight, some 40 million people are held in slavery and servitude worldwide and one in four of these are children. Even in the UK it is estimated that over 130,000 people are living in modern day slavery.



Mark became involved in 2001 after watching a documentary on modern slavery. Within a few months he had travelled to India to begin helping victims of trafficking, and he has since made visits to several other countries.



My visits to child slave rehabilitation centres in India, Nepal and Thailand these last 19 years have made me realise that one of the great crimes of slavery is that it goes beyond servitude, he writes. It goes to the point of eliminating the identity of the individual, and the younger someone is taken into slavery, the less likely they are able to repossess their own identity.



Mark is organising the Conference on Modern Slavery on behalf of the Rotary Club of Norwich St Edmund. It will take place from 2.15pm to 5pm on Wednesday March 23 in the Weston Room at the Hostry at Norwich Anglican Cathedral.



The speakers will include an anti-slavery activist and author on modern slavery from the USA, a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation, and a former officer of the Metropolitan Police who was part of an anti-trafficking group. He now runs Bakhita House, a safe house in London operated by Caritas Westminster which provides rehabilitation for women and girls rescued from sex slavery.



The conference will cover the nature of human trafficking and slavery, where and why it occurs, what motivates the slave masters and how it affects the victims. It will also highlight the role of the Rotary Action Group against Slavery in raising awareness of and taking action against modern slavery. It will provide guidance on how to spot victims and discuss what to do when victims are suspected.



Entrance will be limited to those purchasing tickets (price 10) from Leaping Hare, www.leapinghare.org 07802 701911. Proceeds and any donations will be shared between the Clewer Sisters (funders of the Clewer anti-slavery Initiative) and Bakhita House.



The conference is an integral part of an art exhibition whose main aim is to raise awareness of modern slavery. The exhibition, which is being curated by Rotarian Caroline Evans and Nicola Hockley, will be in the Hostry throughout the whole of Lent.



Further details can be obtained from Mark Little on littlebmark@gmail.com .



Pictured above is Mark Little with slavery survivors in Mumbai on a bus bought with help from his fundraising. Below is Mark at an ashram in India with slavery survivors.





















Eldred Willey, 08/02/2022


Tributes paid to dynamic Norwich Methodist Tributes paid to dynamic Norwich Methodist

Tributes have been paid to Margaret Hardingham for her prolific contributions to the community at both ends of the age spectrum.

Margaret Hardinghams life was not only shaped by remarkable achievement, writes Rev Nigel Fox, but also by a real breadth of dedicated Christian ministry, which was outworked in both the local community and through her local church.



Originally from Lowestoft and educated in Beccles, Margaret Hardingham (29 May 1930  8 January 2022) was denied the opportunity of going to university and left school to work in banking. She worked her way up to becoming the assistant bank manager  a major achievement in those days, and an early indication that Margaret would achieve much in her fruitful Christian life.



Margaret met her future husband, Trevor, at a youth group at London Road Baptist Church. They were married on February 14, 1957, so beginning their 64-year journey together in faithful marriage, and in providing a loving family home for Jane and Jeremy, and also for her seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.



While Trevors work was coupled with active Christian discipleship that involved, for example, helping take Bibles behind the (then) Iron Curtain, Margarets own discipleship covered a different range of dedicated ministries, both in the community and in the church.



She was closely involved in the Sprowston Nursery Playgroup, and also ran the Nursery at St Christophers school for many years. Whilst there, she applied for and gained a Winston Churchill Fellowship award for the study of development of Under 5s. Reporting on studies made in the Netherlands, she reinvested her learning in lecturing at Norwich City College. Margaret served the community as a parish councillor and as a district councillor for Broadland. She also served on the Wherry Housing Committee.



Margaret was also a governor in five nearby schools. At the other end of the age spectrum, and with an experience gained in looking after her own mother, she was actively involved with Age UK (formerly Age Concern, as Chair of Norfolk Age Concern). Over the years, many people have turned to her for practical information when in need.



Having attended Silver Road Baptist Church at first, Margaret is remembered for so much work in her local church, Wroxham Road in Sprowston. Besides the usual mix of mid-week fellowships and regular activities such as the Bright Hour (recently Cameo), she led a house group and was active as a pastoral visitor. Under the mentoring of the late Albert Ward, Margaret trained and became accredited as a Local Preacher, offering many years of loyal service from the pulpit throughout the Norwich Circuit.



Together with Trevor, she was active in special projects such as Mission England in 1984, with J Johns Just 10 mission to Norwich and with the running of local Alpha courses.



Margarets unflagging dedication is perhaps best highlighted in her work with Chinese friends, recalls Nigel Fox, starting with the first request that the fledgling fellowship should settle at Wroxham Road in 2003 right through its growth towards formation as a local church with a full-time pastor in 2014 and its re-establishment in new premises at Bowthorpe Road in 2018.



On Sundays and Mondays every week, she was always on hand to offer active support. Amongst other things, Margaret led some useful lessons for those wanting to learn English. Her love and care to the Chinese congregation was tireless, even when walking around the corner to meetings became difficult. Her loving support made her more than a mother or grandmother figure to her Chinese friends. Deep appreciation is perhaps best summarised by a quote from Edmond Tsui (Lay Pastor, now retired)  I always say that Margaret is an angel to us.



Margaret loved the Lord Jesus and, as a dedicated Christian, she has been a blessing, and many have been blessed through her ministries.



Pictured above is Margaret Hardingham during her time as chair of Age Concern Norfolk, pictured with William Coe (image: Archant). Centre is Margaret with members of the Chinese Methodist Church (seated to the right of the Chinese pastors).



Eldred Willey, 08/02/2022
Software-defined networking, intent-based networking, SD-WAN, and a host of other technologies are focused on making IT work easier through automation. Rather than manually configuring every part of a system, these technologies offer templates, AI assistance, and, in theory, a much lower workload for the IT worker in the field. Whether that theory translates to practice, however, remains a matter of debate.

Outsourcing can ease technology adoption

For some, the advantages of networking automation and outsourcing have proved wildly successful. Stewart Ebrat is the CIO of the Vera Wang Group, a fashion chain with 10 stores in the U.S. and several hundred around the globe. Hes been in IT for more than 20 years and has worked for IBM and the New York Stock Exchange, among others.

In his earlier days in IT, Ebrat said, the focus was heavily on just making sure all the interconnections worked  he cited clients and mainframes as particular pain points. And at the outset of his time at Vera Wang five years ago, the IT shop was much more traditional, relying on virtual private LAN service to link stores to a data center and handling operational tech like point-of-sale locally.

Under his stewardship, Vera Wang has embraced the as-a-service availability of new technologies, more or less outsourcing every part of its IT infrastructure to vendors. For example, Aruba/HPE handles the networking, including SD-WAN, to connect stores to one another and to an Azure back-end, and it also handles most of the day-to-day IT support for the stores.
Newburyport, MA (01950)

Today

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Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 44F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
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People carry the body of one of the three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during a funeral in the West Bank city of Nablus, on Feb. 8, 2022. Israel confirmed on Tuesday its forces killed three Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during an alleged "operation to thwart a terror cell." (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel confirmed on Tuesday its forces killed three Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during an alleged "operation to thwart a terror cell."

The three men were "armed terrorists who were ... killed during clashes with the security forces," Israel's Border Police announced.

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinian men in al-Makhfeya neighborhood in the city of Nablus.

Israel's Shin Bet security service claimed in a separate statement that the three killed Palestinians were responsible for several recent shooting attacks against the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli civilians, adding that the Israeli forces suffered no casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted that "those who harm us will be harmed."

On the other side, Palestine called on the international community to investigate the Israeli killing, as its cabinet called on the United Nations, the human rights organizations and the international law organizations to "condemn the awful crime and act."

According to a statement issued by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed wing of the Fatah movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the three men are members of the group and "heroic martyrs."

Recent weeks have seen a sharp rise in violence of Jewish settlers against the Palestinians and Palestinian property in the West Bank, as well as Palestinian attacks against Israeli forces and settlers. 

People carry the body of one of the three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during a funeral in the West Bank city of Nablus, on Feb. 8, 2022. Israel confirmed on Tuesday its forces killed three Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during an alleged "operation to thwart a terror cell." (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

People carry the body of one of the three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during a funeral in the West Bank city of Nablus, on Feb. 8, 2022. Israel confirmed on Tuesday its forces killed three Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during an alleged "operation to thwart a terror cell." (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

People carry the bodies of the three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during a funeral in the West Bank city of Nablus, on Feb. 8, 2022. Israel confirmed on Tuesday its forces killed three Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during an alleged "operation to thwart a terror cell." (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

People gather around a car belonging to three Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers, in the West Bank city of Nablus, on Feb. 8, 2022. Israel confirmed on Tuesday its forces killed three Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during an alleged "operation to thwart a terror cell." (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

People gather around a car belonging to three Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers, in the West Bank city of Nablus, on Feb. 8, 2022. Israel confirmed on Tuesday its forces killed three Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during an alleged "operation to thwart a terror cell." (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)
MERIDEN  A local police officer was recently honored for his arrest last month of an individual found to be wanted by authorities in Vermont on an attempted murder case, according to officials.

Meriden police said Monday that Officer Raeshaun Finney was awarded Meriden Police Officer of the Month for January in connection with the arrest of Matthew Champagne on Jan. 21.

That day, a radio transmission went out about a 2011 white Mercedes C300 that was stolen from the Mobil gas station at 954 E. Main St.

Finney was one of the responding officers, and he quickly spotted the vehicle in the area of Pratt and Center streets. Police said Champagne tried to flee, but stopped the vehicle soon after and tried to run away.

Police said Finney gave chase through backyards before taking the 19-year-old Champagne into custody at gunpoint.

When officers ran Champagnes name through a national crime database, police said, they found he was wanted out of Vermont on an attempted murder charge.

For the Meriden incident, police said, Champagne was charged with second-degree larceny, interfering with police, reckless driving, engaging police in a pursuit and operating a motor vehicle without a license. He was held on a $50,000 bond.

Meriden police said Vermont authorities are in the process of extraditing Champagne.

On Nov. 4, 2021, authorities in Newport, Vt., announced a warrant had been obtained for Champagne in connection with a shooting at Gardner Park on the evening of Oct. 21.

The warrant, according to Newport police, would charge the Barton, Vt., teen with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a weapon and reckless endangerment.

Police in Vermont said officers responded to Gardner Park after a report of multiple shots fired in the area. A witness told officers they saw two vehicles drive off after the gunfire.

No one was hurt by the bullets. Shell casings were found near a fence at the park.

Officers interviewed additional witnesses in the area and searched the park and surrounding areas, police said.

During an additional investigation, police said, officers learned that Champagne and another man he knew got into a dispute that led to the gunfire.

The Vermont incident remains under investigation by Newport police.

Anyone with information is asked to call Newport, Vt., police at 802-334-6733.
Pikeville, KY (41501)

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HAVANA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The 13th International Congress on Higher Education began on Monday at Havana's Convention Center, under the theme of "University and Innovation for a Sustainable and Inclusive Development."

Addressing the audience, Cuban Higher Education Minister Jose Ramon Saborido said that the congress "is clear evidence of the importance of higher education and its development for our peoples and nations."

Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Ma Hui attended the opening session. He told Xinhua after the ceremony that China and Cuba will continue enhancing collaboration in the field of higher education.

"The two countries can benefit from exchanges and cooperation in higher education, including the exchange of students, which is important to promoting not only knowledge but also understanding between the peoples," he said.

Organized by the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education, the congress has been held biennially since 1998. This year's event is held in-person and online through Friday. 
Longview, TX (75601)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early. Thunderstorms developing late. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
In a research paper posted to the Research Square preprint* server and under consideration for publication in the European Journal of Pediatrics journal, researchers assess the different clinical symptoms of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children and adolescents across different time periods.

Study: Dynamics in COVID-19 Symptoms During Different Waves of the Pandemic Among Children Infected with SARS-CoV-2. Image Credit: Aleksandra Suzi / Shutterstock.com

Globally, SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 397 million people and caused over 5.7 million deaths as of February 7, 2022. SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) manifest as different symptoms across different age groups. For example, both the Alpha and Delta VOCs have been shown to induce more severe symptoms in children and adolescents as a result of the weaker immune response in these individuals.

About the study

The present study explored the different clinical characteristics manifested by SARS-CoV-2 infections in children and adolescents due to the emergence and dominance of the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta VOCs during various time periods.

This retrospective cross-sectional study included reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed SARS-CoV-2-infected children and adolescents under 16 years of age. The study participants were characterized into several groups including infants aged zero to one year, toddlers aged one to three years, preschoolers aged three to six years, children in their middle childhood aged six to 12 years, and adolescents aged between 12 and 16 years of age.

The nasopharyngeal samples were collected in the third and fourth pandemic waves from December 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, and June 1, 2021, to October 10, 2021, respectively.

When a child or adolescent was found to be positive for COVID-19 by RT-PCR, the individuals physician or pediatrician was informed and required to contact the infected individual to examine the persons health and assess any symptoms. The physician then noted the symptoms in the structured symptom questionnaire.

In the event that the patient presented a symptom that was not mentioned in the symptoms list, the physician added it to the list. Any new symptoms that were observed throughout the course of the infection were also added to the symptom questionnaire. When the data was collected for the study, symptoms were classified into groups including respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurology, general, and other symptoms.

Study findings

The mean age of SARS-CoV-2-infected children in the third and the fourth COVID-19 waves was 8.54 and 7.86 years, respectively. In the third and the fourth waves, 37.5% and 49.9%, respectively, of the infected children reported at least one symptom. However, the difference in symptomatic manifestations in the respiratory, neurology, and gastrointestinal systems was negligible.

Rate of febrile illness by age in the third and fourth wave

The prevalence of general symptoms increased from 1.5-fold to 2.6-fold in the third to fourth waves across individuals of all age groups. Fever, in particular, was more prevalent among general symptoms, with an increase in proportion from 1.7-fold to 3.8-fold in the third to fourth waves. Notably, febrile illness had the highest rate in infants for both the waves, with a decreasing number of cases up to the age of six and a subsequent rise in occurrence observed in older children.

Among symptomatic individuals, the proportions of general symptoms among the studied population were 54.6% and 75.7% in the third and fourth waves, respectively. Fever was the most common symptom observed in 36.1% and 66.1%patients in the third and fourth waves, respectively. In contrast, a reduction in the frequency of respiratory symptoms from 42.1% to 54.1% was observed in the fourth wave compared to the third wave, especially among younger children up to six years of age.

Conclusions

The study findings showed that fever was the dominant symptom across all ages for both the third wave driven by the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha VOC and the fourth wave led by the SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC.

Febrile illness was also noted in 33% and 66% of asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID-19 patients, respectively, during the fourth wave. This significant difference in the proportion of febrile illness in patients from the two waves indicated that different VOCs have different implications owing to their varied virulence.

The surveillance of the various symptoms caused by emerging SARS-CoV-2 VOCs can enable efficient handling of the spread and transmission of the virus.

*Important notice

Research Square publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
An international team of scientists has used atlases of the human brain informed by genetics to identify hundreds of genomic loci. Loci is plural for locus, and in genetics indicates the physical location of a gene or variant on a chromosome.

The work was led by Chi-Hua Chen, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Radiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. The findings are published in the February 3, 2022 online issue of Science.

"The complexity of the human brain has equally eluded and fascinated scientists for centuries," said first author Carolina Makowski, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow working with Chen.

"A large part of how our brain is shaped boils down to what is entwined in our DNA. The last decade has seen a flourish in studies mapping different regions of the brain to unique genetic codes that naturally vary in the population. The way these brain regions are defined, however, can have an important impact on findings, something that we highlight in this work."

By and large, construction of the human brain is determined by heredity, though factors like environmental exposures also play a role, particularly during sensitive periods of neurodevelopment during childhood. Large-scale MRI and genetic datasets have increasingly illuminated the common genetic variants that help build the human cerebral cortex -; the outer, layered sheet of wrinkled tissue associated with humans' highest mental capabilities, such as language, memory, perception, awareness and consciousness.

The latest study goes further, using genetically informed brain atlases in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of regional cortical surface area and thickness in 39,898 adults and 9,136 children. GWAS are studies that scan complete sets of DNA or genomes of many people to find genetic variations, usually those that may be associated with a particular disease.

The team focused on the cortex and used atlases with boundaries defined by genetics that had been developed previously by the study authors, including William S. Kremen, PhD, professor of psychiatry, and Anders Dale, PhD, professor of neuroscience and radiology, both at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

"Imagine you're planning a cross-country road trip," said Makowski. "You would likely turn to a road map or GPS to navigate your way around, and you would be less interested in consulting other maps based on topography or physical features of the landscape to get to your destination.

"Similarly, how we define brain regions should depend on the research question at hand. With this approach of using genetically defined atlases, we were able to uncover the largest number of genetic variants to date associated with the size and thickness of the cortex."

The researchers found 440 genome-wide significant loci in the discovery cohort and 800 in a post-hoc combined meta-analysis.

"Intriguingly, many of the genes that these loci map to are also associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, epilepsy and intellectual disability, and dementia. To some extent, the molecular machinery for normal brain development and disorders overlaps, which could reflect a continuous spectrum of genetic effects on normal brain structural variation to aberrant neurodevelopment. One possible mechanism is that certain genetic compositions cause abnormal brain development, which leads to neurodevelopmental disorders. The loci we discovered can be used by researchers for further mechanistic studies of how genes impact the brain and diseases." Chi-Hua Chen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, UC San Diego School of Medicine
Researchers have developed a new protocol for monitoring acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children, to inform more effective treatment strategies and detect disease recurrence. The personalized mediator probe PCR (MP PCR) uses multiple genomic cancer cell markers in a single assay and is simpler than current techniques. It improves monitoring clonal tumor evolution to detect a relapse sooner and avoid false negative results. Their protocol is detailed in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, published by Elsevier.

The survival rate for children with ALL has increased impressively to over 80% over the last several decades. However, the prognosis for children whose cancer recurs remains unfavorable. Therefore, minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring is an important prognostic factor for treatment response and patient stratification. MRD monitoring uses highly sensitive real-time PCR to measure the amount of cancer cells among normal cells.

MRD markers can disappear during treatment, which can lead to false-negative results and poor decision-making in personalized treatments." Cornelia Eckert, PhD, Principal Investigator, Department of Pediatric Oncology/Hematology, Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)

Consequently, monitoring at least two independent markers per patient is recommended. Dr. Eckert continues, "The current gold standard EuroMRD consortium guidelines call for amplification using singleplex real-time PCR quantification, making testing additional markers more laborious and expensive. They also lead to a higher consumption of patient material."

To overcome these limitations, Dr. Eckert and co-investigators established the personalized MP PCR, an iterative workflow and guidelines for designing multiplex real-time PCRs to monitor up to four MRD markers for ALL simultaneously in one assay. When tested on DNA in bone marrow samples from patients with ALL, the MP PCRs met the EuroMRD gold standard guidelines and level of sensitivity for clinical decision-making.

Co-investigator Michael Lehnert, PhD, Hahn-Schickard Freiburg, states, "Multiplexing can significantly improve personalized MRD monitoring of patients, because a higher number of MRD markers per patient can be analyzed at the same time. Even though these patient-specific sequences of cancer cells only differ in a few DNA nucleotides from healthy cells, our multiplex assay can still distinguish between these DNA sequences. Therefore, a broader range of patient-specific sequences can be included in the assay."

The MRD-MP guidelines are simple and may allow assay standardization across different laboratories. To demonstrate the potential transfer of the duplex MP PCR into a routine diagnostic setting, the new assay was applied in a prospectively assessed patient case in comparison with the gold standard singleplex test. Both fulfilled the EuroMRD guidelines and led to a similar quantitative range and sensitivity.

In order to deal with challenges inherent to multiplex PCR, the researchers developed an efficient iterative workflow for PCR design and optimization. DNA primer titration is only involved and extended if the assay performance is not sufficient in the first step, so that the number of iterations is minimized.

"There is a vast variety of DNA marker sequences unique to each leukemia," adds first author Elena Kipf, PhD, Hahn-Schickard Freiburg. "The MRD-multiplex workflow provides a systematic and reliable way of effective MRD-MP PCR design and optimization and helps the standardization of personal diagnostics."

While their work demonstrates that multiplex MP PCR has the potential to set a new standard in personalized MRD monitoring, the researchers note it must be clinically validated in a representative cohort of ALL patients. "Cancer is a fatal disease from which not every patient can be cured," Dr. Eckert stresses. "After successful clinical validation, patients could benefit from extended MRD monitoring, leading to more precise predictions of therapy response and better patient stratification and outcomes."
South Africa: Constitutional promises must be kept

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Ronald Lamola says the basic needs of all South Africans must be met and poverty must be eradicated in order for the true intentions of the Constitution to be realised.

The Minister was speaking during a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Constitution coming into effect.

Although it was signed into law by Former President Nelson Mandela in December 1996, the Constitution only officially came into effect on February 4, 1997.

Lamola reflected that although the past 25 years have been characterised with the advancement of human rights in South Africa, the living conditions of some South Africans leaves the government with much to do to improve lives.

While government programmes over the past 25 years have cushioned millions of South Africans against the devastating impact of poverty, levels of poverty remain high and are inconsistent with governments stated vision and development goals, he said.

According to the Minister, the proportion of South Africans living below the poverty line increased from at least 18.7 million people in 2011 to some 21.9 million in 2015.

This, he said, was an indication that the ideals written in the preamble of the Constitution to improve the quality of life of all citizens have not quite been reached yet.

So it is clear to us that for this Constitution to live in its truest sense, Vision 2030 of the [National Development Plan] cannot afford to gather dust. The realisation of an ethical and capable state is no longer an aspiration, it is a necessity to reverse and make sure that all South Africans live above the poverty line and to ensure that they have access to basic necessities.

It is through the Constitution that we can improve the quality of life of all citizens, free the potential of each person and build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations, he said.

Lamola conceded that the delivery of Constitutional promises has been inconsistent.

However, it cannot be us, who are charged with making the Constitution a lived reality, who send mixed signals on how South Africans, should interact with this instrument.

If us members of the Executive stand and wash our hands off this Constitution, we make a mockery of our oath of office and our duty to serve this great nation and fulfil its true potential which is countenanced by the Constitution.

He added that although South Africans intrinsically bear all of the rights of the Constitution, citizens should also commit to abiding by the rule of law.

Our following of the rule of law must not be based on what is pronounced by the judiciary but a complete commitment to justice in its truest sense by all of us as South Africans.

We must continue to respect the rule of law [and] respect the contract that binds us together if we are to grow as a nation, Lamola said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-02-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
NANNING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region registered 27 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases from 12 p.m. Monday to 12 p.m. Tuesday, all in the city of Baise, officials told a press conference on Tuesday.

Since the latest resurgence of COVID-19 on Feb. 5, Baise has logged 126 locally-transmitted confirmed cases, said Huang Zaibo, director of the Baise municipal health commission.

Rounds of nucleic acid testing are underway in several counties and districts in Baise. 
In a recent Science Journal research paper, researchers identify 17 individuals who were infected with a highly virulent variant of the human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1).

Study: A highly virulent variant of HIV-1 circulating in the Netherlands. Image Credit: Federov Oleksiy / Shutterstock.com

Background

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses like the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are highly vulnerable to evolving over time as a result of their error-prone replication process. RNA viruses are therefore at a greater risk of acquiring mutations that can increase their virulence and subsequently cause greater damage to their hosts.

The global monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants that arise as a result of these mutations has been essential in mitigating the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Similarly, scientists around the world also continuously monitor the virulence of HIV-1, which is a retrovirus that also consists of single-stranded RNA.

To date, several subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) between the subtypes of HIV-1 have been identified in various regions around the world, each of which is associated with their own distinct associations with geography, ethnicity, and mode of transmission. Among all HIV-1 subtypes and CRFs, virulence is often determined by measuring both viral loads and the concentration of CD4+ T-cells present in the peripheral blood of infected individuals. Importantly, both the viral load and rate of CD4+ T-cell decline can be used to identify novel variants of HIV-1.

About the study

In the current study, the researchers identified 17 individuals who were infected with a distinct subtype-B variant of HIV-1. This discovery was part of the ongoing BEEHIVE study, wherein the viral genomes from individuals throughout Europe and Uganda who have recently been infected with HIV-1 are sequenced. Of the 17 individuals included in the current study, 15 were from the Netherlands, whereas the remaining two participants were from Switzerland and Belgium.

In order to identify these individuals, the researchers measured the viral load and CD4+ T-cell levels of 2,446 newly diagnosed individuals and compared these levels after antiretroviral treatment was initiated. The viral genomes of these individuals were then compared to similar HIV viral genotypes available on public databases.

HIV testing. Tajikistan, 2021. Credit: UNAIDS

Study findings

Variant-infected individuals had higher viral loads at diagnosis at a mean of 5.84 as compared to non-variant infected individuals with a mean viral load of 5.10 at discovery. Importantly, after treatment was initiated, the viral load increased by 0.54 log 10 viral copies/ml in variant-infected individuals as compared to non-variant infected study participants. More specifically, mean viral loads of 4.79 and 5.33 were recorded in non-variant- and variant-infected individuals, respectively, after treatment.

CD4+ T-cell levels in variant-infected individuals at diagnosis were lower than those of non-variant-infected individuals by 73 cells/mm3. Those infected with the HIV-1 variant also exhibited a greater and more rapid decline in CD4+ T-cells by 49 cells/mm3 per year, which reflected a doubling rate of CD4+ T-cell decline.

Both the age and proportion of variant-infected individuals who were men who have sex with men were similar between both variant- and non-variant-infected individuals. Additional characteristics including the suspected mode of transmission and region of birth were also similar among the individuals diagnosed with this variant, thereby demonstrating that the increased virulence of this new HIV-1 strain is a characteristic of the virus, rather than a confounding property of the infected individuals.

The sequencing analysis of the variant genomes revealed that 30 amino acid substitutions were positively associated with escape from cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response for at least one human leukocyte antigen, whereas 13 substitutions were negatively associated with this response. When assessing the phylodynamics of the novel HIV-1 variant, the researchers observed a lack of viral load evolution within the clade of variants. This observation suggests that the increased virulence is a property of the whole clade of variants, rather than a subset of other known viruses.

Conclusions

The World Health Organization (WHO) designates an advanced HIV status to individuals with CD4+ T-cell levels of 350 cells/mm3. The study findings demonstrate that advanced HIV can be reached in about nine months from the time of diagnosis in individuals infected with the novel HIV-1 variant, which is significantly less than the prognosis for non-variant-infected individuals of 36 months.

Importantly, this prognosis is based on males who are between the ages of 30 and 39, whereas individuals who are older at their diagnosis are associated with a poorer prognosis, despite the initiation of treatment. Taken together, the current study demonstrates that the HIV-1 variant discussed here could exacerbate the potential of reaching advanced HIV, particularly in situations where a diagnosis is delayed.
Lung transplantation is a life-saving intervention in cases of severe respiratory failure. A feared and common complication following a lung transplant is chronic deterioration in lung function (CLAD/Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction). Early diagnosis of any threatened deterioration in lung function is therefore important, so that therapeutic measures can be taken to prevent it. MedUni Vienna scientists from the Department of Medicine I and from the Department of Thoracic Surgery have now discovered that a detailed analysis of the lung microbiome can be used to predict future changes in lung function.

The working groups of Sylvia Knapp and Konrad Hotzenecker successfully used Machine Learning to show that certain microbiome profiles of the lung following lung transplantation can provide prognostic information. "This method therefore enables us to predict future changes in lung function - and so could help to identify at-risk patients early on," emphasizes Knapp. CLAD affects up to 50% of lung transplant patient within the first five years following the procedure.

Previous illnesses also determine the post-transplantation lung microbiome.

"We looked closely at how the environment of the lower airways changes over time in the allografts of a total of 78 patients following lung transplantation and adapts to the new host. For example, we investigated which bacteria, which immune cells and which metabolites are present and how these change in their new host," explains Knapp.

The researchers were able to show that the lung microbiome changes continuously until ultimately recipient-specific factors - such as age, gender, underlying disease - define the microbiome in the long term. Moreover, the scientists discovered that certain bacteria, which are prevalent in some lung diseases prior to transplantation (e.g. in cystic fibrosis), can also move into the otherwise healthy lung following transplantation and become established. The conclusion: "That means that pre-existing conditions of the allograft recipient also determine the lung microbiome after transplantation."

Using Artificial Intelligence in the form of Machine Learning and based on the analysis of the multiomics data - including not only the microbiome, but also the lipidome (lipid composition), the metabolome (metabolic building blocks of the cells) and clinical parameters - enabled them to predict changes in lung function. "Our calculations therefore show that certain microbiome profiles provide prognostic information," say Knapp and Hotzenecker in summary.
Keith Renshaw, Department Chair/Professor, Psychology; Christianne Esposito-Smythers, Professor, Psychology; and Sarah Fischer, Associate Professor, Psychology, received funding from County of Fairfax for: "Northern Virginia Regional Consortium for Evidence-Based Trauma Treatment."

The overarching goal of this consortium is to develop, deliver, and track the results of training in evidence-based treatments for adults and youth with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or subclinical PTSD that requires treatment, and associated conditions for community service boards (CSBs) in the Northern Virginia Region. Training will be specifically tailored to fit the needs of the CSBs, their clinicians, and their clients.

Regarding the consortium's importance, Renshaw said, "Nearly one in five people in the U.S. had a diagnosable mental illness before the pandemic, and these numbers have only grown during the pandemic. Effective treatments that can be readily employed by clinicians in community settings are sorely needed to meet these mental health needs  this training consortium will provide high-quality, high-intensity training in those treatments for the clinicians across Northern Virginia."

The researchers will receive total funding of $703,071 for this project. Funding began in December 2021 and will end in late August 2023.
Spinal anesthesia is not safer or more effective than general anesthesia in patients who undergo surgery for hip fractures, according to a major study.

The finding, which challenges the accepted view, offers doctors and patients better information in choosing the method that's best for them.

The assumption of the anesthesia and surgical communities based on the literature up to the publication of this study was that if a patient could have spinal anesthesia it was probably the safer option." Derek Dillane, co-author, associate professor and acting chair of anesthesiology and pain medicine, University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Those assumptions are being re-evaluated because they are based on older, smaller retrospective studies, which look back on patient records after surgery, Dillane said.

He and his colleagues conducted a prospective study, generally considered the most reliable method of research, which enrolled new patients, randomly assigned them to receive either general or spinal anesthesia, and then monitored their outcomes. It's the largest clinical trial to date on the question, involving 1,600 patients aged 50 and older at 46 American and Canadian hospitals, including 151 patients at the University of Alberta Hospital. The results were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

The team found no difference between the two types of anesthesia in the primary outcomes: death or an inability to walk three meters independently at two months following surgery. The incidence of post-operative delirium and length of hospital stay were also similar in both groups. The team reported slightly smaller risks with spinal anesthesia for dying during hospitalization, developing pneumonia or being admitted to intensive care.

"Spinal anesthesia for hip-fracture surgery in older adults was not superior to general anesthesia with respect to survival and recovery of ambulation at 60 days," the researchers concluded.

Approximately 30,000 Canadians fractured their hips over the past year, and more than 400 of them had surgery at the University of Alberta Hospital (UAH).

"These are typically patients who fall, either by slipping on the ice in the wintertime or slipping in the shower," Dillane said. "For them, the ability to walk independently again is of greatest importance."

Dillane said the results of the study will be helpful when discussing anesthesia options with patients and their families. Both types of anesthesia have risks and benefits, Dillane noted. For example, it can be hard for hip fracture patients to roll onto their sides for spinal anesthesia and there is a risk of spinal bleeding if a patient is on blood thinners, while general anesthesia may worsen dementia.

"The method that we choose is always tailored towards the particular patient and that patient's medical status," he explained.
In a recent study posted to the Research Square* preprint server under consideration at a Nature Portfolio journal, researchers demonstrated that a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector expressing the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) protein (MVA-CoV2-S) was 100% effective in preventing neuroinvasion and brain damage by SARS-CoV-2 in transgenic mice.

Study: MVA-CoV2-S vaccine candidate confers full protection from SARS-CoV-2 brain infection and damage in susceptible transgenic mice. Image Credit: Dana.S/Shutterstock

Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily a respiratory disease, many patients show neurological symptoms attributable to secondary effects of the systemic alterations or the direct infection of the central nervous system (CNS) by SARS-CoV-2. Previous studies have reported the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the brain of experimental animals, including transgenic and knock-in mice.

All the currently used COVID-19 vaccines, including Moderna and AstraZeneca, do not confer sterilizing immunity. It is, however, unknown whether they prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to the CNS and confer protection against associated brain damage.

About the study

In the present study, researchers analyzed the spatiotemporal SARS-CoV-2 viral distribution and replication in the brain in the K18-human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) mouse model. They adopted two experimental approaches to test the efficacy of the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine.

In the first approach, they immunized K18-hACE2 mice intramuscularly (i.m.) with one or two doses of MVA-CoV2-S at days 0 and 28. On day 63, they inoculated a lethal intranasal (i.n.) SARS-CoV-2 MAD6 isolates in these mice, and after four days post-inoculation (dpi), three mice from each group were sacrificed for brain extraction and processing. As a control, they used SARS-CoV-2-challenged mice primed and boosted with MVA-WT (wild-type empty MVA vector).

In the second experimental approach, the researchers evaluated whether mice that survived after the SARS-CoV-2 challenge, having received one or two doses of the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine, were protected against viral neuroinvasion following SARS-CoV-2 reinfection performed 46 days after the first SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Five mice from each group were sacrificed for brain extraction and processing at six dpi or six days after the first infection in the unvaccinated and MVA-WT groups. SARS-CoV-2-challenged unvaccinated, MVA-WT inoculated mice comprised the control group.

Then, the researchers performed immunohistochemistry on mice brains after two, four, and six dpi. All the mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 lost more than 25% of their body weight after six dpi and were sacrificed.

Since SARS-CoV-2 infection can induce neuronal apoptosis, the researchers used the immunodetection technique to study the number of cells expressing cleaved caspase-3 (c-casp3) in brains from the control group and SARS-CoV-2-infected mice after four and six dpi. The authors also performed quantitative analyses of apoptotic cell numbers in the hippocampus and the hypothalamus.

Study findings

Brain coronal sections of SARS-CoV-2-infected mice showed SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) staining, with numerous infected cells throughout different regions of the brain. Although after two dpi, there was no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in three mice, after four dpi, variable levels of viral infection were observed in different cerebral regions, especially the basal forebrain, amygdala, and hypothalamus, showed the highest levels of viral infection.

Only one of three mice brains showed few SARS-CoV-2 cells, indicating a lower level of infection after four dpi. Finally, after six dpi, all five mice brains analyzed revealed high levels of SARS-CoV-2 N staining but showed a non-homogeneous distribution of viral infection among the main areas of the brain. Histological analysis showed that viral replication in the brain occurred primarily in neurons, further validated by high-resolution confocal microscopy analysis.

The cerebral SARS-CoV-2 replication began two to four days after inoculation with MAD6 isolate, attaining the highest rates in ventral areas of the brain. Later, between four to six dpi, viral replication spread to most cerebral regions, producing a severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.

SARS-CoV-2-infected mice brains had a significant number of C-Casp3+ cells distributed all across the brain, highest in the hypothalamus region, particularly evident at six dpi when the brain viral infection is maximal. The distribution of C-Casp3+ cells suggested that most apoptotic cells were neurons.

All the vaccinated mice, regardless of MVA-CoV2-S vaccine dosage, were 100% protected against cerebral SARS-CoV-2 infection following a single infection or reinfection, with no trace of any SARS-CoV-2-infected cells in any of the brain regions analyzed.

Conclusions

According to the study's authors, two previous studies have addressed the efficacy of adenoviral or lentiviral S-based vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 cerebral infection using K18-hACE2 transgenic mice. The current study is the first to demonstrate that the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine candidate completely abolished SARS-CoV-2 brain replication, even with a single dose, and showed 100% efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 brain infection and damage even after reinfection. MVA-CoV2-S also induced SARS-CoV-2-specific memory cells and CD4+ and CD8+ T cell immune responses six months after the vaccination.

Together, these results support the evaluation of MVA-CoV2-S, a promising COVID-19 vaccine candidate, in clinical trials.

*Important notice



Research Square publish preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
The federal government has penalized 764 hospitals  including more than three dozen it simultaneously rates as among the best in the country  for having the highest numbers of patient infections and potentially avoidable complications.

The penalties  a 1% reduction in Medicare payments over 12 months  are based on the experiences of Medicare patients discharged from the hospital between July 2018 and the end of 2019, before the pandemic began in earnest. The punishments, which the Affordable Care Act requires be assessed on the worst-performing 25% of general hospitals each year, are intended to make hospitals focus on reducing bedsores, hip fractures, blood clots, and the cohort of infections that before covid-19 were the biggest scourges in hospitals. Those include surgical infections, urinary tract infections from catheters, and antibiotic-resistant germs like MRSA.

This year's list of penalized hospitals includes Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles; Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago; a Cleveland Clinic hospital in Avon, Ohio; a Mayo Clinic hospital in Red Wing, Minnesota; and a Mayo hospital in Phoenix. Paradoxically, all those hospitals have five stars, the best rating, on Medicare's Care Compare website.

Eight years into the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, 2,046 hospitals have been penalized at least once, a KHN analysis shows. But researchers have found little evidence that the penalties are getting hospitals to improve their efforts to avert bedsores, falls, infections, and other accidents.

"Unfortunately, pretty much in every regard, the program has been a failure," said Andrew Ryan, a professor of health care management at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, who has published extensively on the program.

"It's very hard to capture patient safety with the surveillance methods we currently have," he said. One problem, he added, is "you're kind of asking hospitals to call out events that are going to have them lose money, so the incentives are really messed up for hospitals to fully disclose" patient injuries. Academic medical centers say the reason nearly half of them are penalized each year is that they are more diligent in finding and reporting infections.

Another issue raised by researchers and the hospital industry is that under the law, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services each year must punish the quarter of general care hospitals with the highest rates of patient safety issues even if they have improved and even if their infection and complication rates are only infinitesimally different from those of some non-penalized hospitals.

In a statement, CMS noted it had limited ability to alter the program. "CMS is committed to ensuring safety and quality of care for hospital patients through a variety of initiatives," CMS said. "Much of how the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program is structured, including penalty amounts, is determined by law."

In allotting the penalties, CMS evaluated 3,124 general acute hospitals. Exempted from the evaluation are around 2,000 hospitals. Many of those are critical access hospitals, which are the only hospitals serving a geographic  often rural  area. The law also excuses hospitals that focus on rehabilitation, long-term care, children, psychiatry, or veterans. And Maryland hospitals are excluded because the state has a different method for paying its hospitals for Medicare patients.

For the penalized hospitals, Medicare payments are reduced by 1% for each bill from October 2021 through September 2022. The total amount of the penalties is determined by how much each hospital bills Medicare.

A third of the hospitals penalized in the list released this year had not been punished in the previous year. Some, like UC Davis Medical Center in California, have gone in and out of the penalty box over the program's eight years. Davis has been penalized four years and not punished four years.

"UC Davis Medical Center is usually within a few points of the [Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program] threshold, so it's not unusual to move in and out of the program year to year," UC Davis Health said in an email. It said Davis ranked 38th out of 101 academic medical centers that use a private quality measurement system.

The Cleveland Clinic said that its satellite hospital in Avon has received awards from private groups, such as an "A" grade for patient safety from the nonprofit Leapfrog Group. Both it and Cedars-Sinai touted their five-star ratings. In addition, Cedars said that overall assessment comes even though the hospital deals with large numbers of very sick patients. "This rating is particularly meaningful because of the complexity of the care that many of our patients require," Cedars said in a statement.

Other hospitals declined to comment or did not respond to emails.

The KHN analysis found that the government penalized 38 of the 404 hospitals that were both included in the hospital-acquired conditions evaluation and had received five stars for "overall quality, which CMS calculates using dozens of metrics. Those include not just infection and complication rates but also death rates, readmission frequencies, ratings that patients give the hospital after discharge, and hospitals' consistency in following basic protocols in a timely manner, such as giving patients medicine to break up blood clots in the 30 minutes after they display symptoms of potential heart attacks.

In addition, 138 of 814 hospitals with the next-highest rating of four stars were docked by the program, KHN found.

Lower-rated hospitals were penalized with a higher frequency: Although just 9% of five-star hospitals were punished, 67% of one-star hospitals were.

KHN's analysis found major discrepancies between the list of penalized hospitals and how Medicare's Care Compare rated them for virtually the same patient safety infection rates and conditions. On the Medicare site, two-thirds of the penalized hospitals are rated as "no different than average" or "better than average" for the public safety measures CMS uses in assigning star ratings. The major differences center on the time frames for those measures and the structure of the penalty program. The Medicare website, for instance, evaluated only one year of infection rates, rather than the 18 months' worth that the penalty program examined. And the public ratings are more forgiving than the penalties: Care Compare rates each hospital's patient safety metric as average unless it's significantly higher or lower than the scores of most hospitals, while the penalty program always punishes the lowest quartile.

Nancy Foster, the vice president for quality and patient safety at the American Hospital Association, said the penalties would cause more stress to hospitals already struggling to handle the influx of covid patients, staffing shortages, and the extra costs of personal protective equipment. "It is demoralizing to the staff when they see their hospital is deemed unsafe or less safe than other hospitals," she said.

Dr. Karen Joynt Maddox, co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, said it was time for Congress and CMS to reevaluate the penalty program. "When this program had started, the thought was that we would get to zero" avoidable complications, she said, "and that hasn't proven to be the case despite a really good effort on the part of some of these hospitals."

She said the hospital-acquired conditions penalty program, along with other quality-improvement programs created by the ACA, feels "very ready for a refresh."
INTEGRA Biosciences has reported considerable growth for over 10 years  averaging 18 percent per annum  and more than doubling in the previous two years. The company grew by 73 percent in 2020, and has followed this with a 46 percent increase in turnover in 2021, reaching 191 million Swiss Francs.

The life sciences industry is thriving, and there is currently unprecedented demand for liquid handling solutions. INTEGRAs extensive portfolio of pipettes  including the recently launched MINI 96, a 96 channel portable electronic pipette  is trusted by laboratories worldwide, helping to drive the companys continued expansion. The company attracted a further 1000 new customers in 2021, and hired an additional 100 employees to increase its global operating capacity. Similar results are expected in 2022, and the company is forecasting double-figure growth. This is likely to be driven by an increase in direct sales in multiple countries across Asia and Europe, as well as exciting new product launches. Construction of a new office and production building  the INTEGRA Campus  will continue at Zizers, and another 150 staff are planned to be employed across various sectors globally.

Urs Hartmann, CEO at INTEGRA, commented: Our innovative solutions make for a reliable partner in the lab, and 99 percent of our customers say that they would continue to use, and recommend, INTEGRA products. Creating a positive and safe working environment for our staff is crucial to the companys success, together with ensuring that growth doesnt compromise our long-term sustainability objectives.

Visit the INTEGRA Biosciences website to learn more.
Republican Missouri state Sen. Mike Moon believes that covid-19 vaccinations, especially among children, should cease until the long-term effects are known. He points to the research of sources of covid misinformation like America's Frontline Doctors and Dr. Robert Malone, a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast. He himself is not vaccinated.

So, on Feb. 1, he and other senators tanked the nomination of Donald Kauerauf to become the state's next health director. Kauerauf had held the office in an interim capacity since September and professed on the record that he was anti-abortion and anti-mandate for masks and vaccinations, all while being nominated by a Republican governor who is also anti-mandate. But it wasn't enough for Moon.

"Missourians don't want to be ruled with an iron fist," Moon said.

The heartland state's kerfuffle is one more example of political pushback to public health leadership. A KHN and Associated Press investigation last year found that at least 1 in 5 Americans lived in places that had lost their top local public health official amid a wave of threats to the profession and chronic stress that led to firings, resignations, and retirements since the pandemic began. Such blows endanger the public health system's ability to respond to other issues in the future, public health officials said.

In Florida, the nominee for that state's surgeon general declined five times to definitively acknowledge in a hearing that covid vaccines work. And the state health department recently placed a local public health official on administrative leave for encouraging vaccinations among his staff.

Montana passed a law banning employers  including in health care settings  from requiring vaccinations for covid, the flu, or anything else.

A Tennessee legislator threatened the existence of the state medical board for warning that doctors could jeopardize their licenses if they spread covid misinformation.

Serving at the pleasure of elected leaders is becoming "twisted and grotesque" amid extreme politicization, said Brian Castrucci, CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, which advocates for public health. Governmental public health leaders are being chosen based on their political ideology rather than their scientific and leadership abilities, he added.

"This is public health dying," he said. "A dark age of politics has begun that is choking science."

Over half of states have rolled back public health powers during the pandemic, which experts say permanently weakens states' abilities to protect their constituents' health.

"Both the fundamental legal authorities of public health, as well as the people who are practicing, are being threatened in ways we've never seen before," said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. He warned that even more legislative rollbacks would take place this year across the country, as well as court rulings limiting public health authorities.

This stripping of public health powers doesn't just mean that unpopular covid restrictions will end, he said. These curbs often cripple public health's ability to fight other scourges.

In Missouri, state legislators passed a law last summer limiting public health powers. A judicial ruling in November further chipped away at local health officials' authority to issue covid restrictions, saying they were "based on the unfettered opinion of an unelected official." Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt  who is also running for Senate  is suing schools to eliminate mask mandates and in December created an email tip box where parents can send concerns, photos, and videos that involve mask wearing by students.

Kelley Vollmar, executive director of the health department in Jefferson County, in eastern Missouri, said these actions have severely weakened her public health powers. The state legislation, for example, requires her to get orders confirmed by the county board of health. But the orders must be reconfirmed after 30 days, and Vollmar has to spend $2,000 advertising them in her local paper.

"You cannot rule by committee," Benjamin said. "That's like telling the chief of police that they can't make an arrest."

The November judicial ruling stripped Vollmar and other public health officials in the state of the ability to issue any orders involving infectious diseases. Those must now come from elected officials above them. That affects public health tools like contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine  not just for covid, but also for the other 134 communicable diseases she's tasked with protecting the public from.

"The things they are stripping powers of are things normally happening in the background," she said.

Vollmar has seen a sharp increase in requests for vaccine exemptions for measles and other preventable infectious diseases  and fears what could come next.

It doesn't help that Missouri has underfunded public health for years  a 2020 KHN and AP investigation found public health spending per person was $50 a year in Missouri  one of the bottom 10 states in the nation.

That is part of a right-wing strategy, said Democratic state Sen. John Rizzo, minority floor leader. "They actively go and break government, and then run their next campaign about how government is broken," he said.

All the while, the vaccination rate against covid in Missouri hovers around 55%, with outliers like Pulaski County in the Ozarks below 21%. But those who opposed Kauerauf took his statements that he wanted to increase vaccination levels as a sign that he may be pro-mandate, despite his protestations otherwise.

Kauerauf declined to comment for this article.

Republican Gov. Mike Parson was outraged that his nominee had been blocked. "Ive been a conservative Republican my entire life and contrary to what some Senators believe, tarnishing a mans character by feeding misinformation, repeating lies, and disgracing 35 years of public health experience is not what it means to be conservative," he tweeted.

Finding a state health department leader to tackle all these issues now may be nearly impossible, said former Kansas City health department head Dr. Rex Archer, who left his Missouri-based post last summer after 23 years. He'd advise anyone who asked about the job not to buy a house in the state or move their family.

"What qualified candidate would want to risk coming here and then not get confirmed because the party in power won't even support their governor's nomination?" he said.

Moon's not worried. He believes the state will find an anti-abortion, anti-mandate candidate whose positions he can stomach. "We don't want someone coming in who has been part of a state that had strict processes and procedures for this virus, bringing them with them," he told KHN, citing Kauerauf's prior public health experience in Illinois.

And he said he received roughly 1,000 emails encouraging his move to block the nomination, as well as support from dozens of protesters, including some from the Concerned Women for America of Missouri, which opposed Kauerauf's appointment.

That's terrifying to Vollmar, who said that means Moon doesn't want a public health director  he wants a politician.

"Our greatest chance for a better public health system in Missouri lies in the hands of the silent majority of our population that support science-based decisions," she said. "I pray they find their voice before it is too late."
Veincentre in Birmingham is delighted to show their support for local charity LoveBrum and as well as donating their 1000 to LoveBrum earlier this year will be donating socks to help the homeless this winter.

LoveBrum has been appealing to local businesses to buy a brummie a gift this Christmas and theyve been overwhelmed by the support theyve received.

Kathryn Simkiss, Causes and Executive Coordinator at Love Brum said: Wed like to thank Veincentre and all our businesses and individuals for their support with this campaign, weve received more than 3500 items this year which is incredible and will all be going to help homeless and vulnerable this Christmas.

Weve been supporting LoveBrum for the past twelve months and its great to see our Birmingham clinic getting involved with the local community. Were looking forward to working with LoveBrum on their new initiatives for 2022 and are delighted to hear that the socks will be going to good use this Christmas. Mike Casewell, Marketing Director, Veincentre

Bags4brummies first started in 2018 and with more than 3,200 items given out last year, Bags for Brummies is a virtual shopping initiative that provides everyone with the opportunity to buy a gift that could help to keep the homeless safe and warm this winter. All you have to do to donate is to go on the following link https://www.givetoday.co.uk/lovebrum/

Available via the Give Today platform, items start from 75p with no minimum order and are delivered direct to three outstanding charities SIFA Fireside, St Basils, and Lets Feed Brum who have persevered through the most challenging year the charity sector has ever faced.

Veincentre is a specialist medical centre for the treatment of varicose veins using Gold Standard minimally invasive techniques. Their vision is to provide the most effective, proven treatment and the highest quality of care, that is accessible to everyone.
Jeffersonville, IN (47130)

Today

Cloudy skies with showers and a possible thunderstorm late. Low 63F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with showers and a possible thunderstorm late. Low 63F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
HAIKOU, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Ten offshore duty-free shops in south China's island province of Hainan reported a total turnover of 2.13 billion yuan (about 335 million U.S. dollars) during the Spring Festival holiday, a year-on-year increase of 151 percent, according to the provincial department of commerce.

According to the department, duty-free sales of the shops reached 1.94 billion yuan from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, up 156 percent year on year. The number of shoppers totaled more than 300,000, up 138 percent year on year.

Three more duty-free shops opened last year in Hainan, raising the total number to 10. The duty-free shops host more than 720 brands in a total shopping area of 220,000 square meters.

Since July 1, 2020, Hainan has raised its annual tax-free shopping quota from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person. The duty-free purchase limit for cosmetics has been raised from 12 items to 30 items.

China released a master plan in June 2020 to build the island province into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Hainan has grown into an attractive shopping destination for domestic consumers. 
(Newser)  Update: A California nun and retired principal who embezzled $835,000 in donations, tuition, and fees from a Catholic elementary school will now have to pay it all back and serve a year behind bars. "I have sinned, I've broken the law, and I have no excuses," Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, said as she was sentenced Monday for wire fraud and money laundering, per the AP. "I was wrong and I'm profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering I've caused so many people." Kreuper, who previously acknowledged using the stolen funds to pay off gambling debts, had reportedly faced up to 40 years in federal prison. Our original story from June 2021 follows:

Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the California nun who embezzled $835,000 from a Catholic elementary school to fund a gambling habit, is "very remorseful," her lawyers say. The 79-year-old agreed to plead guilty this week to federal charges that could send her to a federal prison for up to 40 years. Kreuper, who served as principal of the St. James Catholic School in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance from 1990 until her retirement in 2018, is "sorry for any harm she has caused," her lawyers said in a statement to the Washington Post Wednesday. Prosecutors say Kreuper diverted donations and tuition fees into a different account and used the funds for personal expenses, including large gambling expenses at Nevada casinos.

The fraud was uncovered as the school prepared for the change of leadership in 2018, the New York Times reports. Kreuper, who took a vow of poverty when she became a nun at age 18, admitted responsibility when she was confronted and has been cooperating with law enforcement, the lawyers said, adding that "later in her life she has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgment and caused her to do something that she otherwise would not have done." Prosecutors say Kreuper admitted falsifying financial reports and ordering employees to destroy records during an audit. KTLA reports that another nun, Sister Lana Chang, was initially implicated in the scheme, but prosecutors say only Kreuper was charged and the investigation is now closed. (At a school fundraiser, one parent noticed Kreuper was "one hell of a poker player.")
(Newser)  Update: The gunman who shot up a Texas church in 2017, killing 26 and injuring 22, is no longer alive to pay any kind of restitution to his victims or their loved ones. But on Monday, Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled that the US government is now on the hook for $230 million, to be paid to survivors of the Sutherland Springs massacre and their family members, reports NPR. In his 185-page ruling, Rodriguez reiterated that the Air Force failed to report gunman Devin Kelley's 2012 conviction for domestic violence, which Rodriguez says may have prevented the 2017 mass shooting. The judge laid out how much around 80 victims and family members would receive, with the largest single amount set at $7 million, per the New York Times. Our original story from July 2021 follows:

In 2012, a court-martial found then-Airman Devin Kelley guilty of assaulting his wife and toddler stepson; he was sentenced to year in a military prison. But the Air Force failed to enter his criminal history into a federal database used for background checks for gun buyersand five years later, he carried out the worst mass shooting in Texas history. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the failure made the Air Force 60% responsible for the Sutherland Springs church shooting, which killed 26 people, including young children, the Wall Street Journal reports. If Kelley's name had been in the database, he would have been unable to buy the rifle used on Nov. 5, 2017, though the Air Force argued that he would have found another way to obtain firearms even if he had been in the database.

Kelley, 26, escaped from a psychiatric hospital while awaiting a court-martial in 2012. He received a bad-conduct discharge in 2014. He took his own life after the mass shooting, which also injured 20 people. Wednesday's ruling followed a civil lawsuit from survivors and victims' families. "The trial conclusively established that no other individualnot even Kelley's own parents or partnersknew as much as the United States about the violence that Devin Kelley had threatened to commit and was capable of committing," said US District Judge Xavier Rodriguez. The judge called for another trial to assess monetary damages owed to the families, the AP reports. Last month, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the families couldn't sue the store that sold Kelley the rifle, reports the Texas Tribune. (Read more mass shootings stories.)
(Newser)  A major source of funding for North Korea's government, especially its missile program, is theft, a UN report says. The investigation found that cyberattacks have netted millions in stolen cryptocurrency, the BBC reports, from at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe, and Asia. The findings have been forwarded to the UN sanctions committee. Independent monitors compile an assessment of North Korean issues each year, based on on-site data collection, public information, and intelligence from UN nations.

The investigators said North Korea stole more than $50 million in digital assets in 2020 and part of 2021; the report included an estimate from the security firm Chainalysis that the cyberattacks could have brought in digital assets worth $400 million last year. The UN Security Council has prohibited North Korea from carrying out nuclear tests and missile launches, but the report says the weapons infrastructure continues to be developed despite sanctions. The US and eight other Security Council members issued a statement Friday condemning North Korea's recent launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile; China and Russia would not sign, per CBS News.

The report said the humanitarian situation in North Korea has deteriorated and probably worsened because the country closed its borders during the pandemic; 30 recommendations were included to address the problem. The difficulty in getting information from North Korea makes it hard to tell how much of the suffering is caused by international sanctions, the report said. The US has said it wants the UN to approve more sanctions in response to the increase in missile tests, per CBS. (Read more North Korea stories.)
(Newser)  If Joe Rogan is getting tired of apologizing for the contents of his podcasts, he might be tempted by an offer from video-sharing platform Rumble. The right-wing Canadian site is trying to lure Rogan away from Spotify with a $100 million deal, per the Hollywood Reporter. The Joe Rogan Experience moved exclusively to Spotify in 2020 in a deal believed to be worth around the same amount. "We are ready to fight alongside you," Rumble told Rogan in a tweet Monday, sharing a letter from CEO Chris Pavlovski.

"We stand with you, your guests and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation," Pavlovski wrote. "How about you bring all your shows to Rumble, both new and old, with no censorship, for $100 million bucks over four years?" The offer came after Spotify removed around 70 old Rogan episodes but said it was standing by the podcaster after controversy over his use of the n-word. Rogan apologized for his use of the slur Saturday, saying it was "the most regretful and shameful thing" he'd ever had to talk about publicly. Less than a week earlier, he apologized to Spotify for the backlash against COVID misinformation on his show that caused artists including Neil Young to depart.

"This is our chance to save the world. And yes, this is totally legit," Pavlovski said in his letter to Rogan. Rumble, which was launched in 2013 as a YouTube alternative, already has deals with controversial figures including Dan Bongino and Steve Bannon. It also has an agreement to provide video for Truth Social, Donald Trump's proposed social media platform, reports Reuters. Spotify is believed to have a multiyear contract with Rogan and it's not clear how easily he would be able to change platforms, the Wall Street Journal notes. (Read more Joe Rogan stories.)
(Newser)  In a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, President Biden emerged from a meeting with Germany's new leader Monday vowing the crucial Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline would be blocked if Russia further invades Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the US and its allies were the only ones talking about invasion, the AP reports. Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron met for hours in Moscow at the same time Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke at the White House in efforts to defuse the crisis. Russia has massed thousands of troops at the Ukraine border, adding military might almost daily.

The Biden administration has expressed increasing alarm about the prospect of war, and the president has been looking to solidify support among European allies for economy-jarring sanctions against Russia if it sparks armed conflict. "We are jointly ready, and all of NATO is ready," Biden said, referring to the powerful Western alliance, of which Ukraine is not a member. While Biden reiterated with certitude that the pipeline would not move forward, Scholz stressed the need to keep some ambiguity about sanctions. "It's necessary for Russia to understand that a lot more could happen than theyve perhaps calculated with themselves," Scholz said.

Biden on Monday said "it would be wise" for Americans other than essential diplomats to leave Ukraine amid the Russian military threat. In Moscow, Putin and Macron met for several hours. Putin later said without elaboration that some of Macron's proposals could serve as a basis for a settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, adding that they agreed to have a call after Macron's visit to Kyiv on Tuesday. Likewise, Biden said when asked if there remained an "offramp" for Russia in the standoff: "The answer is yes."

(Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
(Newser)  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may yet break with former President Donald Trump, possibly in launching his own presidential campaign. But not today. When he was asked Monday if he agrees with former Vice President Mike Pence's contention that he was powerless to change the result of the 2020 presidential election or Trump's false claim that he wasn't, DeSantis stammered. "I'm not. I " the Republican governor said before changing the subject, NBC News reports. DeSantis then told reporters he had a "great working relationship" with the Trump administration and criticized the Biden administration.

Neither Trump nor DeSantis has announced plans to run, but polls have assessed their chances anyway. Trump holds a big lead over DeSantis, though the governor becomes the favorite if Trump doesn't run again. Pence is running third. Trump has complained about DeSantis angling for a run, per the Hill, but publicly he's said they get along fine. DeSantis is up for reelection in Florida this year. (Read more Ron DeSantis stories.)
(Newser)  Peter Thiel, a longtime member of Facebook's board known for his sometimes-contrarian views, will leave the company this year to focus on politics. He was an early investor in the company and joined the board in 2005, one year into the small startup's existence, CNN reports. He was a mentor to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who thanked him Monday for "teaching me so many lessons about business, economics, and the world." Meta, as the parent company is now called, didn't say whether Thiel will be replaced on the board.

He had received more attention in recent years as he became more involved in politics, per the New York Times. One of the Republican Party's biggest donors, Thiel is leaving to concentrate on helping candidates who support former President Donald Trump's politics win in the midterm elections. Zuckerberg has prized Thiel's Republican positions and presence on the board as ensuring ideological diversity. Thiel and his venture capital firm had a 10% stake in Facebook after he kicked in $500,000 in capital to Zuckerberg 18 years ago.

The entrepreneur co-founded PayPal and got in early on such tech startups as LinkedIn and Yelp. Lauded by Zuckerberg as "an original thinker," Thiel has supported creating floating cities, argued that young people should not go to college, and made the case that entrepreneurs should strive toward establishing monopolies. He's also backed the development of facial recognition software. In the process, a book released last fall said, Thiel has had a major effect on Silicon Valley. (Read more Peter Thiel stories.)
HONG KONG, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The draft bill for legislation in accordance with Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is expected to be submitted to the HKSAR's Legislative Council (LegCo) for deliberation by the end of this year, a senior official said Tuesday.

Chris Tang, secretary for security of the HKSAR government, said efforts are being made to push forward the enactment of local legislation to implement Article 23, and the consultation is expected to start within the tenure of the current-term HKSAR government.

The parties concerned are seeking to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities regarding the Article 23 legislation under the HKSAR Basic Law as soon as possible, Tang said during a policy briefing with the LegCo Panel on Security.

The Article 23 of the HKSAR Basic Law stipulates that the HKSAR "shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies."

The relevant parties will build on local studies, overseas experience, implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong and court rulings to formulate effective and pragmatic proposals based on Hong Kong's actual conditions, Tang said.

He added that the difficulties of relevant legislative work will not be underestimated, as external forces are attempting to undermine the security of the country and the HKSAR, and smear the Article 23 legislation.

Related authorities will interpret and explain relevant legislative work to the public through different channels, Tang said. 
(Newser)  Kyrsten Sinema is not exactly popular amongst her fellow Democrats right now, and amidst all the controversy she's been stirring up, Gawker used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain her divorce papers. The Arizona senator met Blake Dain at Brigham Young University in the 1990s; they reportedly wed in 1995 and divorced in 1999, though information on him and their union is so difficult to come by that a 2013 profile of Sinema described her as never having been married.

The divorce papers don't reveal much (see Gawker's rundown here), except Sinema's social security number, driver's license number, and bank account number, none of which were redacted. Gawker says it will not be publishing the numbers, but the National Review takes the site's very announcement of being in possession of the numbers as a "thinly-veiled threat." (Read more Kyrsten Sinema stories.)
(Newser)  With 400 to 500 trucks honking near-constantly for nine days in Ottawa, the sound able to be heard blocks away, residents were not happy. But now, a judge has ordered the honking to cease for at least 10 days, the BBC reports. "Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought I'm aware of," he said in his ruling. The injunction applies to trucks parked on city streets, Fox News reports. The truckers, of course, are in the city to protest COVID-related health measures including vaccine mandates, though the protests have spread across Canada and now encompass a great many issues.

The mayor, who over the weekend declared a state of emergency in the city, has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to deploy 1,800 law enforcement officers to Ottawa to help keep the peace. He called the honking "psychological warfare." The New York Times is out with a piece explaining how the Ottawa protests "have become a rallying cry for powerful far-right and anti-vaccine groups around the world." Millions of dollars in donations have poured in, and US truckers are planning a similar convoy from California to Washington. Even so, Dahlia Lithwick at Slate talks to Canadian journalist, researcher, and author Stephen Marche, who says this is not equivalent to the January 6 US Capitol attack. "I think Americans are more obsessed with this story than Canadians are," he says. (Read more Canada stories.)
(Newser)  American skateboarder and YouTube star Josh Neuman is one of four people confirmed to have died in a small plane crash in Iceland. The bodies of the 22-year-old, the pilot of the Cessna 172, and two other passengers were discovered Sunday in Lake ThingvallavatnIceland's second-largest lake, some 30 miles east of Reykjavikusing a remote submarine and sonar, reports the Guardian. Poor weather prevented their immediate recovery. The plane is believed to have crashed Thursday after disappearing from radar. More than 1,000 search and rescue personnel launched a hunt for the aircraft, which had not issued a distress signal, per Sky News.

The wreckage was ultimately found at a depth of more than 150 feet. Also on board: 49-year-old pilot Haraldur Diego, who ran photography tours; 32-year-old Belgian skydiver and social media influencer Nicola Bellavia; and 27-year-old Tim Alings, who was the sponsorship manager for Belgian fashion brand Suspicious Antwerp. Cameras were meant to capture footage of Icelands scenery during the flight as part of a project to create commercial content for the brand, a rep says, per the Guardian. "All persons present were hugely passionate about travel and content creation, hence these themes were the main focus of the trip," the rep adds.

Neumanwho also worked with brands including Prada, Sony, Lexus, and GoPro, per the Washington Posthad nearly 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, where he posted some of the most-watched skateboarding videos on the internet. One 2019 video, viewed more than 106 million times, shows him racing down a mountain road at breathtaking speed. Another video, uploaded last month, shows him reaching 70mph on a longboard. In a Monday statement shared on Neuman's Instagram page, his family said he "passed doing what he loved, having just experienced the Northern Lights in Iceland for the first time." In a brief clip shared with the statement, Neuman exclaims, "This may be the best night of my life." (Read more plane crash stories.)
(Newser)  The Canadian trucker protest over COVID rules shows no sign of letting up, and it's now inspired a copycat protest in New Zealand. NDTV reports that trucks and campervans clogged streets near Parliament in Wellington on Tuesday. Protesters in the vehicles and on foot objected to vaccine mandates and other COVID rules, though Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern struck a defiant tone of her own. "Ninety-six percent of New Zealanders have gone out and got a vaccination, which has enabled us to live now with fewer restrictions because of the extra protection that has provided," she told Radio New Zealand. Meanwhile:

Trudeau: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the House of Commons Monday night about the ongoing protests in Ottawa, declaring, "It has to stop," per the New York Times. He accused protesters of "trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens' daily lives." Separately, he promised that police and the government would employ "whatever resources are needed to get the situation under control."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the House of Commons Monday night about the ongoing protests in Ottawa, declaring, "It has to stop," per the New York Times. He accused protesters of "trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens' daily lives." Separately, he promised that police and the government would employ "whatever resources are needed to get the situation under control." Clogged crossing: Trucks clogged the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest crossing on the US-Canada border, for the second straight day on Tuesday, reports the CBC. Police were advising people to avoid the span.

Trucks clogged the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest crossing on the US-Canada border, for the second straight day on Tuesday, reports the CBC. Police were advising people to avoid the span. Bright spot: After a judge ordered truckers to stop honking, Ottawa residents told local radio they were able to get a good night's sleep for the first time in about a week, per the Times.

(Read more Canada stories.)
(Newser)  In 2016 around $71 million in bitcoin was stolen when the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange was hackedand its value today is now around $4.5 billion. Federal investigators say they have now recovered $3.6 billion of that current value, the largest seizure of funds in Justice Department history, and arrested a husband and wife accused of conspiring to launder the cryptocurrency. llya Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Morgan, 31, allegedly tried to launder the 119,754 bitcoin stolen when a hacker made around 2,000 unauthorized transactions on the exchange, the Washington Post reports. They were arrested Tuesday morning. Federal prosecutors say they moved the funds "through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions."

Prosecutors say the FBI tracked the movement of the cryptocurrency, which went through a darknet exchange linked to major crimes, reports Reuters. "Today, federal law enforcement demonstrates once again that we can follow money through the blockchain, and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. said in a statement, per CNBC. More than 94,000 of the nearly 120,000 stolen bitcoin were successfully seized.

The couple are not charged with carrying out the hack, and officials declined to say whether they are suspected of actually stealing the funds, though the Post notes the stolen bitcoin "was sent to a digital wallet controlled by Lichtenstein." According to an affidavit from an IRS agent, they are accused of spending only a small portion of the the funds, buying gold, NFTs, and "mundane things such as purchasing a Walmart gift card for $500." The Daily Beast reports that Lichtenstein is a tech entrepreneur, while Morgan has contributed articles to Forbes and Inc. She also raps under the name Razzlekhan. They face up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted of money laundering. (Read more cryptocurrency stories.)
(Newser)  Now that France's Emmanuel Macron has wrapped up two days of diplomacy on the Russia-Ukraine standoff, is the world a safer place? Hard to say. At one point, Macron suggested he and Vladimir Putin had made substantive progress in their meeting Monday, but the Kremlin quickly pushed back on that notion. Details:

Hopeful: "I secured an assurance there would be no deterioration or escalation," Macron said of his Monday meeting with Putin, per the BBC. He spoke ahead of meeting Tuesday with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

"I secured an assurance there would be no deterioration or escalation," Macron said of his Monday meeting with Putin, per the BBC. He spoke ahead of meeting Tuesday with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Maybe not: When those comments hit the airwaves, a Kremlin spokesman shot them down, saying that Macron alone could not hammer out such an agreement. In the current situation, Moscow and Paris could not make a deal," said Dmitri Peskov, per the New York Times. "France is an EU and NATO member," he said, adding that "France is not leading NATO."

What Putin said: The Russian leader himself suggested there was some progress in his Macron talks. "A number of his ideas or proposalswhich it is probably too early to speak aboutI see as rather feasible for creating a foundation for our further steps," he said. Reports suggested one such proposal was that Russia would withdraw its troops from Ukraine neighbor Belarus after military exercises finished this month.

The Russian leader himself suggested there was some progress in his Macron talks. "A number of his ideas or proposalswhich it is probably too early to speak aboutI see as rather feasible for creating a foundation for our further steps," he said. Reports suggested one such proposal was that Russia would withdraw its troops from Ukraine neighbor Belarus after military exercises finished this month. Quite a line: Also in his press conference Monday, Putin referenced a 2015 agreement reached in Minsk that, in his view, gives Russia some sway in Ukraine foreign policy. "You may like it, you may not like itdeal with it, my gorgeous," said Putin, referring to Ukraine's leader. The Times explains it's a "crude expression derived from a Russian rhyme." The Guardian translated the line as "Like it or not, youll have to tolerate it, my beauty" and called it "sinister-seeming.'

Bottom line: "Lets not be naive," said Macron on Tuesday, per the AP. "Since the beginning of the crisis, France hasnt been inclined to exaggerate, but at the same time, I dont believe this crisis can be settled in a few hours, through discussions."

(Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
VIENNA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China supports Iran's principled position of continuing to seek resolution of the Iran nuclear issue through negotiations, said Wang Qun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations in Vienna, on Tuesday.

Wang made the remarks as talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), resumed here on Tuesday after the negotiators returned from consultations in their respective capitals. Wang is the head of the Chinese delegation to the Vienna talks.

Citing the package proposed by the United States and the E3 (the United Kingdom, France and Germany) and the recent U.S. sanction waiver on Iran's civil nuclear program as "a positive step" toward a final deal, Wang said all other parties should continue to listen more to Iran's views on the package and address Iran's legitimate rights and reasonable demands.

He also expressed the hope that Iran will "formally come up with its written feedbacks on the proposed package for discussion by all parties."

The Chinese envoy said that in general, the ongoing Vienna talks are "making positive progress" toward the final settlement of the Iran nuclear issue.

He urged all parties to cherish the hard-won progress achieved in the past negotiations, focus on pending issues such as the lifting of sanctions and economic guarantee, further expand consensus, and strive to reach an early agreement.

"China agrees to enhance the sense of urgency during the talks, but it's not constructive to set a deadline for the negotiations," Wang said, calling for the participants to further strengthen their political will and show goodwill and flexibility in the final stage of the nuclear talks.

Wang urged the parties to focus on the issue of sanctions relief, which is Iran's primary concern as well as an important concern of China.

"The United States, as the originator of the current Iran nuclear crisis, should lift all related illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran and third parties, including China, in order to regain the trust of the international community, while Iran should again comprehensively fulfill its obligations on this basis," Wang said, adding that the sanctions lifting, instead of a mere statement, should be implemented through concrete measures.

Any solution to the Iran nuclear issue must address China's legitimate concerns, he said, urging the United States to honor its commitments, respect China's legitimate rights and properly address the issue of sanctions against Chinese entities and individuals.

Wang stressed that dialogue and negotiation are the only way to resolve the Iran nuclear issue, and that China will work with all other parties to promote early breakthroughs of the negotiations.

The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (namely the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States, plus Germany), together with the European Union. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the pact in May 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, which prompted the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments.

Since April 2021, Iran and the other five remaining signatories to the JCPOA -- China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and Germany -- have held rounds of talks in Vienna to revive the deal. 
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Reports regarding an accident at Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) have been denied by the company.

It said the report was incorrect.

Bapco has one of the highest safety standards in Bahrain.

It conducts periodic evaluations of the standards and safety procedures and addresses shortcomings in safety performance.

The company has been enhancing the importance of the application of good practices in the field of environment, health and safety
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Cabinet has highlighted the importance of the seventh edition of the International Maritime Exercise, 22 (IMX / CE 22), part of which was witnessed by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister.

This came as HRH Prince Salman yesterday chaired the weekly Cabinet meeting at Gudaibiya Palace.

The Cabinet commended the role of such exercises in promoting international joint action when confronting the challenges that limit freedom of navigation and to maintain the free flow of maritime trade across the region and the world.

It expressed its gratitude to the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), US Naval Forces Central Command, US Fifth Fleet, The Combined Maritime Forces, as well as all allies and participating countries of the important joint international maritime exercise.

The Cabinet noted His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Supreme Commanders inauguration of the Royal Guard headquarters, marking the 54th anniversary of the BDF.

Praise for BDF

The Cabinet congratulated His Majesty and members of the BDF and the Royal Guard on this occasion and commended the address given by His Majesty during the ceremony, which noted the continual progress and prosperity of the BDF, which has led to the BDF becoming a peacekeeping force in the region, and a force for national prosperity and growth.

After reviewing a memorandum submitted by the Minister of Interior, the Cabinet announced the launch of the Golden Residency Visa, part of a series of economic initiatives within the Economic Recovery Plan.

The visa will contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of Bahrain, supporting development paths across various economic, investment and service sectors, attracting talent and opening the opportunity to obtain and benefit from permanent residency in Bahrain.

The Cabinet welcomed Bahrain International Airports attainment of a five-star rating from the international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Residents and non-residents in Bahrain can expect their applications to be processed electronically, and immediately, upon meeting the prescribed criteria.

The Golden Residency Visa was announced at a Press conference held yesterday at the Officers Club in Gudaibiya and jointly addressed by Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Undersecretary for Nationality, Passports and Residency Affairs at the Interior Ministry, and Shaikh Ahmed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Assistant Undersecretary at NPRA.

The introduction of the Golden Residency Visa is designed to attract investors, benefit our businesses, and contribute to the provision of quality opportunities for Bahrainis. This programme will also provide the deserved reward to those existing residents who have contributed significantly to Bahrains economy and society over many years, Shaikh Hisham said.

By retaining and attracting those with talent, experience, and internationally renowned knowledge, the Government of Bahrain has adopted a dynamic approach as we emerge from the pandemic with reasons to be highly optimistic about the strength and growth of our economy.

This Golden Residency Visa will enhance and promote the continued development of the business and investment-friendly environment that the Kingdom of Bahrain is already known for. It will be available for qualifying residents, allowing them to take advantage of the benefits of being permanent residents.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Interior Minister, General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, praised the security cooperation between Bahrain and the US within the strategic partnership and close ties between the two countries.

General Shaikh Rashid made the statement as he received yesterday a delegation from the USbased Atlantic Council, led by the former Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs at the US Department of State.

Present in the meeting were Chief of Public Security, Lieutenant-General Tariq Al Hassan, and Assistant Chief of Public Security for Operations and Training Affairs, Major-General Dr Shaikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.

The Interior Minister welcomed the delegation and highlighted the importance of the visit in exchanging views and promoting coordination. He valued the councils role.
Bahrain resident dies after falling from running train on way home

Bahrain resident dies after falling from running train on way home

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

In a tragic incident, a Bahrain resident died on Saturday after falling from a running train while on the way home from the airport.

According to sources, Bahrain resident Abdul Hameed had landed at Calicut International Airport located in the Southern Indian State of Kerala before boarding a train to his hometown Kannur.

The accident is believed to have occurred after two hours of boarding the train and the body of the deceased was found trapped in a fishing net set by the local fishermen in a river that flows beneath the rail bridge, the sources added. It is learnt that Abdul Hameed has been managing his own business in Bahrain.

He was a long-time resident in Saudi Arabia and had only come to Bahrain two years ago.

Local police have begun a probe into the incident, the sources said.

Local media quoted Abdul Hameeds brother who said the initial probe by police signals at an accident.

My brother must have fallen from the train to the river, he said.

Travelling by standing at the open doorway of a running train is a common practice across India though authorities frequently warn against engaging in the act.

According to a recent Indian Supreme Court verdict, Indian Railways is liable for a passenger who hurts or kills himself in a fall from a speeding train while he or she was standing at the open door of a compartment.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Final year medical student, Abdulla Jamal Al Zeera, from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) has won the National Competition of the Global Students Entrepreneurship Award (GSEA).

Representing RCSI Bahrain, Al Zeera competed with six finalists from different universities to pitch his business (Globeauty), in front of a panel of judges.

As the winner of the national competition, Al Zeera will be representing Bahrain in the Global GSEA competition held in the US, while competing with other national winners from all around the world, in addition to being sponsored and featured by the National Geographic Channel and Disney Studios.

All participants in the Global GSEA will compete for the chance to win the grand prize of $25,000.

President of RCSI Bahrain, Professor Sameer Otoom, commented, My sincere congratulations to Mr Abdulla Al Zeera, for his outstanding achievement of winning the National Student Entrepreneur Competition. We are very proud that our student is to represent Bahrain in the Global GSEA competition.

All of us at RCSI Bahrain look forward to following Mr AlZeeras future accomplishments and we wish him the best of luck in the global competition.
Agencies | Al Mukalla

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Houthi fighters in Yemen are using civilian facilities at Sanaa airport and the Red Sea port of Hodeidah as bases to launch ballistic missiles, the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy said yesterday.

The Iran-backed militia fired four missiles from the port and the airport yesterday targeting government-controlled areas in the northern province of Hajjah, where loyalist troops are advancing deeper into Haradh city.

The coalition said it would take operational measures to deter Houthi threats to Yemeni civilians.

The militarisation of Hodeidah port and Sanaa airport threatens regional and international security, it said.

Coalition airstrikes also hit military targets in Houthi-held Sanaa, and destroyed a ballistic missile launcher in the northern province of Al-Jawf.
SoftBank's $66bn sale of U.K.-based chip business Arm to Nvidia collapsed on Monday after regulators in the U.S., U.K. and EU raised serious concerns about its effects on competition in the global semiconductor industry, according to three people with direct knowledge of the transaction.

The deal, the largest ever in the chip sector, would have given California-based Nvidia control of a company that makes technology at the heart of most of the world's mobile devices. A handful of Big Tech companies that rely on Arm's chip designs, including Qualcomm and Microsoft, had objected to the purchase.

SoftBank will receive a breakup fee of up to $1.25 billion and is seeking to unload Arm through an initial public offering before the end of the year, said one of the people.

The failure is set to result in management upheaval at Arm, with chief executive Simon Segars being replaced by Rene Haas, head of the company's intellectual property unit, the person added.

The collapse of the deal robs SoftBank of a big windfall it would have earned thanks to a boom in Nvidia's stock price.

The cash-and-stock transaction was worth up to $38.5 billion when it was announced in September 2020. But the value soared as Nvidia's shares took off, reaching a peak of $87 billion last November.

In the UK, where politicians have viewed Arm as a strategic national asset, attention is set to shift to whether the company will be listed on the country's domestic market. A British competition review into the deal was extended late last year to include national security considerations.

However, people close to SoftBank said the group prefers the idea of listing Arm in New York and will seek to resist nationalistic pressure. US markets accord higher valuations to tech stocks, even after a recent sharp reversal, and UK tech executives recently pressed for changes to listing arrangements to make London more attractive.
GABORONE, Botswana, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's support in such areas as vaccines, medical equipment and personnel has been very critical to Botswana's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak, said Kobamelo Motshidisi, manager at the Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital -- Clinical Services.

According to the health ministry, Botswana has so far recorded over 253,000 coronavirus infections and more than 2,500 COVID-19 related deaths, which has been described by many medical experts as a drop in an ocean when compared to other developing countries across the globe.

Botswana could not have attained such an accomplishment without the "unwavering support we got from China since the outbreak of the pandemic," said Motshidisi in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"I can testify that the support was really critical in dealing with the challenges brought by COVID-19 pandemic," said Motshidisi, who manages the only referral hospital in the northern part of Botswana that serves more than half of its population of 2.3 million.

Motshidisi recalled that vaccination campaign in the country was boosted since it received a donation of 200,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines in April 2021.

"Friendly relations between Botswana and China ensured that we were able to opt for the Sinovac vaccine. We chose to intensify the vaccination campaign with the Sinovac, and we were very satisfied," he said.

Sinovac vaccines produce very few side effects, and this helped ensure that people do not show any hesitancy to vaccinate for fear of side effects, hence Botswana is one of the few African countries which have surpassed the World Health Organization's vaccination target of 40 percent of its population by December, he said.

"Medical teams to Botswana consisted of medical workers from various specialties such as cardiology, gynecology, surgery and anesthesiology," he said, recalling the long history of bilateral cooperation in the field of health since 1981. "These services are much appreciated by the population, and we have a lot of people coming for consultation."

Motshidisi added that the Chinese medical team is also assisting in training local doctors and healthcare workers to improve local medical services. 
LAGOS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) said Monday that it had arrested 19 people on suspicion of stealing oil in southern Nigeria's River State in recent operations against vandalism.

The suspects were found on Friday and Saturday with three tanker trucks, a large wooden boat, and many liters of petroleum products that were thought to be illegally-made diesel, said Abu Tambuwal, head of Nigeria's paramilitary agency in the state.

He said they made the arrests and seizures to support the state government's campaign against illegal refineries partly responsible for the soot pollution in the state.

"We launched this operation to put an end to the destruction of aquatic life and agricultural products caused by oil spillage orchestrated by acts of illegal bunkering," he added.

The officer said NSCDC investigators were currently grilling the 19 suspects and made clear that they would be charged in court if they were found culpable of the crime. 
BETHEL  The Board of Education has recommended a 2022-23 budget with a greater spending increase than the one the superintendent originally proposed last month.

On Thursday, the board adopted a $51.2 million spending plan that reflects a 4.43 percent increase over the districts current budget and a 0.48 percent increase over Superintendent Christine Carvers request.

Carver cited two reasons for the adjustment: health insurance and transportation cost increases.

Transportation was a piece of it, but most of the increase had to do with health insurance, said Carver, whose original proposed spending plan budgeted health insurance costs at a 6 percent increase.

Shortly after her presentation, she learned from the Connecticut Partnership Plan and the districts insurance consultant that Bethel should actually plan for an around 8 percent increase, she said.

In the revised proposal, health insurance costs about $162,000, according to Fiscal Services Director Terry Yonsky.

Carver said the transportation budget saw a slight increase due to bus contract bids coming in higher than anticipated.

There were a variety of options that we asked for bids on when we renewed our bus contract and in that, the difference between what we had budgeted and where the bids fell was around $75,000 more, she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic and increasing enrollment  two major issues facing Bethels school district  have affected transportation.

Due to higher-than-projected enrollment, the school district added one large bus to its fleet last budget cycle  bringing its total bus count to 24. However, Carver said, the district has not been able to use them all due to COVID-related driver shortages.

Carver said the pandemic and rising enrollment have been stretching the districts resources very thin.

With enrollment on the rise, she said school officials have concerns about being able to support students academic and social-emotional needs. The school district has at least 264 more students this year than projected in 2016.

Carver says the proposed 2022-23 school budget is designed to maximize resources to support fiscal efficiency, address student academic and social-emotional needs, maintain the districts curricular and extracurricular programs, and support the needs of students with disabilities and the districts increasing enrollment.

With nearly $34 million allocated for salaries, payroll accounts for about 67 percent of the proposed budget.

The school board invites residents to attend its next budget meeting on Thursday, when it will present the proposed spending plan to the finance and selectmen boards at 7 p.m. in the senior center.
DANBURY  A New York man is facing two felony charges after authorities say he tried to fraudulently obtain narcotics at Danbury Hospital.

Corey Yancy, 33, was arrested and charged Sunday with attempt to obtain a controlled substance through a forged prescription, as well as impersonation of an officer, after allegedly using a fake name in an attempt to get a narcotics prescription, according to a police spokesperson.

Yancy presented himself as a Westchester County police officer under a fictitious name after going to Danbury Hospital for some type of injury, Det. Lt. Mark Williams said. Williams added that Yancy is a former Westchester County corrections officer.

Yancy attempted to fill the prescription at the hospital pharmacy but was unsuccessful because he did not have identification matching the fictitious name, according to police.

After that, Yancy allegedly contacted the hospital, asking for the prescription to be sent to a different pharmacy, Williams said.

Hospital personnel had already figured out that Yancy had lied about his identity, Williams said, so in response to his request, Yancy was asked to return to the hospital for the script.

Upon his return to the hospital, Williams said Yancy was interviewed by a Danbury police officer and admitted to his lies.

Yancy was taken into custody, charged with the class D and U felonies and later released after posting 10 percent of a $5,000 bond.

He is scheduled to be arraigned at state Superior Court in Danbury on March 7.
My then 4-year-old autistic son found happiness swimming in Lake Kenosia, on the west side of Danbury. As a teenager, so did I. His late grandfather, in the 1930s, walked from his Miry Brook neighborhood to swim around its perimeter or across the lake for recreation.

My son was the third generation of his family to swim in the 59.5-acre Lake Kenosia, but there wont be a fourth.

Thats because state law has banned swimming in the lake for at least a decade. Swimming in the lake, for me and thousands of people in the area, has become an increasingly distant memory.

The water was cool and bracing. My family and others had a small beach at the southwest end of the lake, with an anchored raft floating about 20 yards off the sand.

At a day camp one summer before I turned 9, I swam the length of the lake, estimated then at one mile in distance. But I realize now it was much shorter. Still, I had to float on my back to rest, since I couldnt hold on for dear life to the accompanying counselors rowboat.

In 1986, as a young adult, I jumped into the lake on a misty morning from a city park to begin the swim of a mid-level triathlon, back when I was a mediocre triathlete.

It was early on a late-summer morning, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon, and the water temperature was more of a wake-up call than three shots of espresso. To this day, I remember the race was sponsored by Chucks Steak House, the venerable regional restaurant in business a few miles away since 1973.

The lakeside has a romantic history, starting in the 1860s, when a Victorian-era hotel was built, with a track for horse racing, followed by an amusement park. For 5 cents, patrons could ride the extended trolley from downtown and enjoy the park for its 25-cent admission.

How did we move from generations of swimming and recreational memories to a no-swimming lake ban?

The gist of it, according to David Day, Danburys superintendent of public utilities, is that since 1985, the city has been using the clean, precious bodily fluids of Lake Kenosia as an emergency water source.

Due to state law, swimming is banned in any pond, lake or reservoir that is used as a water source even, as is the case with Lake Kenosia, if its not a full-time source of water.

One irony is that it apparently took the state 24 years to notice, between the beginning of the water pumping in 1985 to the first investigation in 2009, to ban swimming. After repeated attempts seeking comment, the state Department of Public Health was unavailable to speak for this essay.

By 2015, when swimming was finally banned, there was no public uproar, Day said. Well, sure. My vocal family and our neighbors with beach rights had moved out of town by then.

Another irony is that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden last year, approved by Congress, has only $55 billion in it for clean water projects, or less than 5 percent of the total package. Thats like racking up a $100 grocery bill at the supermarket and only spending $4.60 on fruits and vegetables.

Day said the state has not yet worked with local departments to divvy up the clean-water project money coming into the state.

Is it a priority for our freshwater sites?

To be sure, there is regional freshwater swimming available in Danbury at its town park on beautiful Candlewood Lake, and there is swimming nearby in massive Lake Zoar, which spans multiple towns. There are more than 3,000 freshwater bodies of water in Connecticut.

But I never swam in any of those places growing up.

Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it, author Lucy M. Montgomery wrote in The Story Girl.

In my memories, I return to Lake Kenosia often. When I need to relax, I close my eyes and think of lying on a towel on our beach, the sun beaming down on my youthful body. I remember the cool, clear waters. I recall my heart beating as I finished a quick (for me) 50-yard freestyle swim.

Ill let my now-adult autistic son, Ian, have the last words:

I remember swimming in it when I was little in the shallow end, near the buoy lines, Ian said. And then when I was older, as a better swimmer, I swam out to the raft. The water quality was refreshing.

Refreshing, like the memories.

Arthur R. Henick worked in journalism and public affairs in Connecticut for 40 years.
TOKYO, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Japan booked a current account deficit in December 2021, the government said in a report on Tuesday.

According to the Finance Ministry, the deficit in the recording period stood at 370.8 billion yen (3.2 billion U.S. dollars), the Finance Ministry said.

The ministry's preliminary report showed that Japan had booked a trade deficit of 318.7 billion yen and a services trade deficit of 321.3 billion yen.

The report also showed that primary income, which reflects returns made on investments overseas, logged a surplus of 398.8 billion yen.

The ministry also said that for 2021, the country booked a current account surplus of 15.4 trillion yen.

Japan's current account is one of the widest gauges of international trade, helped by income from foreign investments.

The data is keenly eyed by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the Finance Ministry ahead of new potential policy changes or monetary easing or tapering measures.

In Japan, the current account surplus increases the nation's net foreign assets by the corresponding amount, and a current account deficit does the reverse.

Both the Japanese government's and private payments are included in the calculation. (100 Japanese yen equals 0.87 U.S. dollars) 
"There is a generational shift occurring that challenges conventional thinking that next gens are not ready, willing or interested in the family business. In fact, they value the enterprise their family has built and want to preserve it. Our research shows that younger owners have as much, if not more, interest in retaining family control and preserving the business for their children," says Olivier de Richoufftz, General Secretary, Family Enterprise Foundation.

The Foundation's research on Canadian Family Business Transition Intentions is supported by KPMG in Canada's Family Office and was conducted by Abacus Data. Our report, Who are the Guardians of Family Legacy?, represents the second part of a national study, building on Ready, Willing and Interested - or Not? This landmark research provides the most comprehensive picture of transition intentions in Canadian business families to date.

In Part 1, significant misgivings about the passion and capabilities of the next generation to take over the family business were identified. However, these concerns do not seem to reflect the true intentions of the next generation of owners. The findings in Part 2 clearly show that the senior generation are not the sole guardians of family legacy.

Key survey findings

The "family" piece of the business is important to all family members who work in a family enterprise. In particular, a large percentage think it's extremely, very or somewhat important to build a sustainable business (91 per cent), work together as a family (88 per cent) and have someone within the family take over the business (77 per cent). However, when broken down by age groups, there are significant differences in the level of importance assigned to these and other aspects of family business legacy depending on the generation of respondents.

A comparison between younger (1844 year-olds) and older (45+ year-olds) respondents shows the family business "spirit" is strongest in younger owners, especially when it comes to succession and the desire for long-term family control:

Expectations are highest among younger respondents of continued family ownership of the business, with 87 per cent expecting to see company ownership remain in future generations, compared to 70 per cent of older respondents.

The importance placed on direct family leadership of the business also diminishes among older family members as 95 per cent of younger respondents feel that family taking over has some importance, compared to their older counterparts at 65 per cent.

"It was great to find that the next generation has a strong attachment and loyalty to the family business that, if nurtured properly, can be extremely beneficial. It's important for the senior generation to see this commitment as an asset to the business and the family. Clearly, giving the next generation a voice and a seat at the table early on is essential to the longevity and future success of the business. The skillsets and fresh perspectives of a younger, tech-savvy generation can improve business competitiveness and lead to exciting new opportunities," notes Richa Arora, FEA, Senior Family Advisor, KPMG Family Office.

Even greater attitudinal differences are evident when the data is further refined across generations, contrasting next gens (18-35 year-olds) with senior gens (60+ year-olds):

96 per cent of next gens think of the family business as a legacy to leave future generations, while only 67 per cent of senior gens agree.

100 per cent of next gens surveyed consider working together as a family to be important, while the importance decreases with age, down to 77 per cent among senior gens.

Interestingly, 95 per cent of next gens would be very willing or somewhat willing to invest in their next generation's business, in contrast with 74 per cent of those in the senior generation.

"This research highlights some unexpected generational differences that are even more pronounced at each end of the age spectrum. The reduced emphasis on family continuity of the business among senior gens may simply reflect the personal experiences and expectations they have about their adult children and their likely career paths," says Bill Brushett, President and CEO, Family Enterprise Canada.

While many of the senior generation are concerned that the next generation is not prepared or interested in taking over the family business, the research shows that most young family business owners are optimistic, committed and are even thinking further ahead about passing the family enterprise on to their own children one day.

Methodology and Demographics

The survey was conducted with 300 Canadian business owners, involved in family-owned businesses with 20 or more employees, between the dates of June 3 to 11, 2021. A random sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey. The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 5.65, 19 times out of 20.

About Family Enterprise Foundation

Family Enterprise Foundation (FEF) is the charitable foundation of Family Enterprise Canada. As the unified voice of family enterprise in Canada, Family Enterprise Foundation focuses on developing educational resources, conducting research, building a strong and connected ecosystem and promoting the success and sustainability of entrepreneurial families and their enterprises to ensure intergenerational longevity. To learn more, please visit FamilyEnterpriseFoundation.org.

SOURCE Family Enterprise Foundation

For further information: Media Contact, Sheila Scott, National Director, Marketing & Communications, Family Enterprise Foundation, T: 647.521.7812, E: [email protected]
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that the party ought to be flattered that a large part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in the Parliament was devoted to attacking Congress.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that the party ought to be flattered that a large part of Prime Minister Narendra Modis speech in the Parliament was devoted to attacking Congress. His entire speech was an attack on the Congress party. It was a very political speech with a large portion devoted to attacking Congress I suppose we ought to be flattered that he sees us this way, he stated.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hit out at his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanth saying that the latter was giving advertisements in the Time magazine when the dead bodies of people were flowing in the river during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kejriwals remarks came in response to Adityanaths tweet in which he said the Delhi government forced the migrant UP workers to leave the national capital when the entire humanity was groaning due to the pain of coronavirus. Listen Yogi, You just let it be. When the dead bodies of the people of UP were flowing in the river, you were giving advertisements of your false applause in Time magazine by spending crores of rupees. I have never seen such a vicious and cruel leader like you, read Kejriwals tweet roughly translated from Hindi.

Earlier on Monday, taking to his Twitter handle, UP CM said that the Delhi governments move to force the migrant workers out of the city was an inhuman act.

Listen Kejriwal, You forced the workers of UP to leave Delhi when the entire humanity was groaning due to the pain of Corona. Your government did an undemocratic and inhuman act like leaving even small children and women helpless on the UP border in the middle of the night. Call you a traitor or, read UP CMs tweet roughly translated from Hindi.

In another tweet, Adityanath said, Kejriwal has a knack for telling lies. When the whole country was battling a global pandemic like Corona under the leadership of the respected Prime Minister, Kejriwal showed the migrant labourers the way out of Delhi.

The electricity-water connection was cut and the sleeping people were picked up and sent to the UP border by buses. An announcement was made that buses are going for Anand Vihar, beyond that buses will be available for UP-Bihar. The UP government arranged buses for the migrant labourers and brought them back safely, he added.

The UP chief ministers remarks come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the Opposition parties in Parliament on Monday accusing the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of contributing to the widespread of COVID-19 in the initial days by pushing migrant labourers to leave Mumbai and Delhi, thereby triggering a crisis.

Congress gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai. At the same time, the Delhi government went around slums in jeeps and announced on mics that whoever wants to go home, buses have been arranged to leave the city. This led to the spread of COVID in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, said PM Modi.
Poll of polls predicts that BJP is likely to lead the electoral race with 30 seats. INC will be at number 2nd with 19 seats. 4 seats will be secured by NPP, 5 by NPF and 2 by others.

The main opposition Congress announced a pre-election coalition with four Left parties and the Janata Dal-Secular ahead of the Manipur Assembly election, while the ruling BJP presented a list of candidates to fight all 60 constituencies. NewsXs poll of polls survey has predicted BJPs win in the poll-bound state.

Seat Share:

Out of the 60 seats, Designed box has predicted BJP to win around 33-37 seats. Meanwhile, 13-17 seats are expected to be retained by INC, 2-4 by NPP, 4-6 by NPF and 0-2 by others.

P MARQ has also predicted BJPs win, suggesting 31-37 seats. Meanwhile, 13-19 seats are expected to be secured by INC, 4-10 by NPP, 3-9 by NPF and 0-2 by Others.

CVOTER has predicted a close competition between BJP and Congress, suggesting that 23-27 seats are likely to be secured by BJP and 22-26 seats by Congress. Meanwhile, 2-6 seats are expected to be secured by NPF and 5-9 by Others. However, no party appears to have a full majority in the election, as per CVOTER.

India TV also predicts a tight contest between the BJP and the Congress, with the BJP expected to win 26-30 seats and the Congress likely to win 22-26. Meanwhile, the NPP is anticipated to win 1-3 seats, the NPF 3-7, and Others 0-2 seats. Again, no party appears to have a full majority in the election.

As per poll of polls, BJP is likely to lead the electoral race with 30 seats. INC will be at number 2nd with 19 seats. 4 seats will be secured by NPP, 5 by NPF and 2 by Others.

Vote Share:

As per Design Boxed, BJP is expected to lead with a 41% vote share, followed by INC (30%), NPP (5%), NPF (8%) and others (16%). P Marq has predicted 39% vote share for BJP, 28.8% for INC, 14.3% for NPP, 6.4% for NPF and 11.5% for Others.

CVOTER has predicted 35.5% vote share for BJP, 32.6% for Congress, 11.2% for NPF, and 20.7% for Others. India TV has predicted 39% vote share for BJP, 37% for INC, 4% for NPP, 11% for NPF and 9% for Others.

The Poll of polls has estimated 38.62% vote share for BJP, 32.1% for INC, 7.76% for NPP, 9.15% for NPF and 12.37% for others.
Before Punjab goes to polls on February 20, the NewsX's poll of polls survey has predicted AAP's win in Punjab.

In the electoral battle of 2022, there would only be one winner. In Punjab, one of the hotbeds of assembly elections 2022, the momentum is at its all time high. While the Bhartiya Janata Party is yet to announce its CM candidate, Congress has fielded the sitting CM Charanjit Singh Channi and the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Bhagwant Mann. Before Punjab goes to polls on February 20, the NewsXs poll of polls survey has predicted AAPs win in Punjab.

Seat Share:

Out of the 117 seats, C Voter has predicted that Aam Aadmi Party will be leading with 55-63 seats. Meanwhile, 24-30 seats would likely be retained by Congress, 20-26 by SAD, 3-11 by BJP and 0-2 by others.

India TV, on the other hand, has predicted that Congress will come back to power with 50-52 seats. As per India TV poll survey, 29-31 seats are expected to be bagged by AAP, 30-32 by SAD, 1-3 by BJP and 1-3 by others.

P MARQ has predicted a close competition between AAP and Congress, suggesting that 49-55 seats are likely to be secured by AAP and 43-49 seats by Congress. Meanwhile, 15-21 seats are expected to be secured by SAD, 1-3 by BJP and 1-3 by Others. Designed box has also predicted a close competition between the two parties and suggests that 39-42 seats will be secured by AAP and 38-41 by Congress. 25-28 seats are expected to be secured by SAD, 3-6 by BJP and 2-5 by others.

VETO has predicted AAPs win with 57-60 seats. As per VETO, 43-46 seats will be secured by Congress, 10-13 by SAD, 0-3 by BJP and 1-2 by Others. Jan Ki baat has predicted that AAP will be sweeping Punjab polls by winning around 60-66 seats. It has predicted that 33-39 seats would be secured by Congress, 14-18 seats by SAD and 0-4 by BJP.

As per poll of polls, AAP is likely to lead the electoral race with 51 seats, while Congress, SAD, BJP+ and others would be trailing with 41, 21, 3 and 1 seats respectively.

Vote Share:

As per C Voter, AAP is expected to lead with a 39.8% vote share, followed by Congress (30%), SAD (20.2%), BJP (8%) and others (2%). India TV has predicted Congresss comeback with 36% vote share. According to India Tv, 28% vote share would be secured by AAP, 22% by SAD, 5% by BJP and 9% by others. P Marq has predicted 37.3% vote share for AAP, 35.3% for Congress, 16.3% for SAD, 5.6% for BJP and 5.5% for others.

VETO has predicted 42.38% vote share for AAP, 34.25% for Congress, 14.80% for SAD, 4.01% for BJP and 4.55% for others. Designed Box has predicted 34% vote share for AAP, 30% for Congress, 25% for SAD, 6% for BJP and 5% for Others. Jan Ki Baat has predicted 41.5% vote share for AAP, 34.5% for Congress, 15.5% for SAD, 7% for BJP, 1.5% for others.

Poll of polls has estimated 37.16% vote share for AAP, 33.34% for Congress, 18.96% for SAD, 5.93% for BJP and 4.61% for others.
HAMDEN  Add COVID-19 test kits to the list of items you can find in a vending machine.

Quinipiac University plans to use the same mechanism hungry students can use to buy candy bars and sodas to distribute at-home tests.

To obtain the kits, students will swipe their Q Cards at a 24-hour access vending machine, according to Bethany Zemba, Quinnipiacs vice president for strategy and community relations.

A Q Card is a student ID that provides access to meal plans and campus buildings, Quinnipiacs website says.

The vending machine is set to be placed in the student health services lobby.

We are having it closely located to student health services so that they can continually stock it, Zemba said.

In general, students will be allotted three tests per semester, according to Zemba, who said the university may increase that number for individuals when needed by loading more tests onto those individuals Q Cards.

Quinnipiacs vending machine was delivered Tuesday.

I would hope by the end of the week its gonna be up and running, Zemba said.

The vending machine idea came to Zemba after someone shared a picture of such a vending machine elsewhere.

I thought, Well, isnt that a really unique way of doing it, Zemba said.

She reached out to the business department, which ran the proposal by the universitys vending company, Berkshire Food Inc.

Our vending company was on board with the idea, Zemba said.

We set up one of our vending machines so instead of buying a bag of Doritos or a Snickers bar you can drop a COVID test, said Jim Pulizzi, president of Berkshire Food.

Because the tests fit into the existing slots, the machine did not require any special adjustments, according to Pulizzi.

They gave us a sample box for my technicians to go through the machine just to make sure each spiral location is the correct size, but it was a very easy procedure, he said.

Quinnipiacs request marks the first time the business has been asked to distribute COVID-19 tests from its vending machines, Pulizzi said.

But he wouldnt be surprised if other Connecticut schools catch on.

We do the bulk of (colleges) in Connecticut, Pulizzi said. I wouldnt doubt that well be getting phone calls for others.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
SYDNEY, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of students in the Australian state of Victoria tested positive for COVID-19 since returning to classrooms, while the state government hasn't decided yet to extend the school surveillance testing.

There were 2,368 school students and 125 staff in the state tested positive on Monday, taking the infection tally to 7,046 school students and 925 staff since schools reopened last week, according to Victoria's Education Minister James Merlino on Tuesday.

Despite the infections, no schools have been forced to return to remote learning, and Merlino argued the current highly recommended twice weekly rapid antigen testing is "really providing confidence and comfort to everyone in school".

"We knew there will be positive cases once we do the surveillance testing, but it means we identify the cases early, and this will overall drive the number down, stopping the transmission," Merlino said.

Meanwhile, Victoria recorded 20 COVID-19 deaths and 9,785 infections on Tuesday, an increase of more than 1,500 from the previous day's tally.

Under the state's back-to-school plan, the surveillance testing is only for the first four weeks of term one. The state government is yet to make any extension to the plan, saying that the situation will be reviewed in time and they will inform any changes.

However, this school COVID-19 testing program will be expanded to children aged three to five at early childhood services, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Tuesday.

In the next two weeks, 1.6 million rapid antigen tests will be delivered to services, beginning with kindergartens and then early childhood services. 
During the upcoming 2022 legislative session, Connecticut lawmakers intend to tackle two of the biggest pandemic-related issues impacting schools and children: a mental health crisis and remote learning standards.

With the two-year COVID-19 pandemic taking a massive toll on childrens mental health, lawmakers have been discussing for months how to address what experts agree is a health care crisis.

Legislators have hosted forums with behavioral health professionals, state officials and child experts to discuss how the childrens mental health crisis has led to overwhelmed pediatric emergency rooms. They have also examined which improvements to behavioral health services need to be made in school districts and surrounding communities throughout the state.

While leaders on the Education and Childrens committees say improving mental health and social-emotional resources for children will be one of the substantive issues they address during the session, they also plan to propose establishing remote learning standards and diversifying and retaining the teacher workforce in Connecticut.

Educators and state officials have expressed repeated concerns about the impact remote learning has had on students over the course of the pandemic. In a study released last winter of nine high schools in historically struggling districts, the RISE Network found that the percentage of students in danger of failing had doubled since the previous year.

These challenges with remote learning make it imperative to establish some standards for its use, lawmakers said.

Getting a better handle on mental health care

During a press conference last month to discuss the crisis in childrens mental health and drug use in schools, Childrens Committee leaders vowed to push legislation to address drug use among adolescents this legislative session that would fully fund an adolescent expert or A-SBIRT program.

Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Cheshire, co-chair of the Childrens Committee, said the program is similar to a pilot program she introduced in her district that trains adults on how to intervene if they think a child is using opioids and can help them detect early signs of drug use.

The program would be available to staff at schools, youth agencies, and local health districts.

The bill will be a train-the-trainer model which will ultimately imbed trainers around the state who can then continue to train others, making it the most cost efficient and long-term way to introduce training programs that support children, Linehan said in a statement. Its important that we not only supply our schools and youth organizations with the tools to treat drug overdoses, but with the proposer staffing and training to recognize drug use in its early stages and support young people before things worsen.

Legislators have also described the mental health crisis among children as one of the most pressing priorities this session, and Linehan will be co-authoring what is expected to be an omnibus bill that ties in proposals ranging from recruitment and retention efforts in the field to resources in schools and hospitals.

The Education Committee is also planning to head into the session with mental health as a top priority.

Committee Co-chair Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, said social-emotional learning is at the top-level for members of the committee, who want to better understand how the trauma children have experienced over the last two years has affected their social development.

Its not just in the school  the kids are only in school for about 7-8 hours. Those resources also have to be in the community, McCrory said. We have to work with those kids before they walk into the building. Weve got to work on those families before they even walk into the building. So its important that those resources are provided in those communities that need it, in all communities.

Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, a ranking member on the Education Committee, said finding ways to reduce school expulsions and suspensions remains a priority for lawmakers.

She added that reducing suspensions and expulsions is linked to better mental health supports because expanding or improving those resources would be reducing the negative behavior that some students might be exhibiting.

The way I operate is to try to find the root cause of whats going on and then direct services for early intervention, try our best to have those restorative practices available and to try to understand whats going on, McCarty said. We cant just expel our students, but we need to give support to the teachers.

Sarah Eagan, the states Child Advocate, expects to see a variety of omnibus bills that will encapsulate different initiatives focused on childrens mental health  ranging from changing how mental health services are delivered to expanding school-based centers and increasing workforce development.

She also hopes lawmakers will create an oversight structure for the childrens mental health system in Connecticut  one that is adequate, funded, staffed to analyze how children and families access mental health care across the state.

I think that the lack of a governance structure is undermining us, because theres lots of state agencies, lots of private agencies doing great work, Eagan said. We could get further if we were better coordinated, had a better handle on the needs of our health system.

She explained that pediatric offices need to be able to integrate behavioral health resources and assessments into their work, and mental health supports need to be integrated into schools at a much greater level than they are right now. Structural reform to support the development of a workforce dedicated to wellness and developmental supports for kids is also needed.

This is a multi-year effort, Eagan said. This is not going to be one and done in the session.

Remote learning and workforce

During the 2021 legislative session, the General Assembly passed legislation aimed at changing remote learning standards that would be in place by the next school year.

Recently, the state Department of Education discussed a draft for permanent remote learning standards that could go into effect for high school students next year, according to the CT Post. But the conversation is expected to continue throughout the session, with recommendations for legislation.

A remote learning commission has been tasked with providing recommendations to lawmakers.

During a recent state board of education meeting, Commissioner of Education Charlene Russell-Tucker explained the purpose of developing standards is to guide the design of remote learning environments for students in grades 9-12.

As required by the legislation, districts can start offering remote learning opportunities to students in grades 9-12 for the upcoming year based on standards that are developed, she said. So the first part of these standards is to get to the remote learning commission to get feedback.

McCrory said considering recommendations from the remote learning commission will be one of the priorities for the Education Committee.

I would like for the kids to stay in class. However, because of this variant, we know theres a large number of staff who were not coming in, and thats going to affect our children, he said. Personally, I believe either we are going to be all in or all out. I dont think we should move toward a hybrid model like we did last year.

Fran Rabinowitz, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, sees tremendous possibilities for the state to have standards for remote learning but added that the standards should be focused on the type of remote learning being offered.

We had many, many different models of remote learning: you had synchronous, all day long, you had asynchronous  we had videoing of lessons, etc., said Rabinowitz, who sits on the remote learning commission. So what is it that we want remote learning to look like in Connecticut? I think that that is also going to be incredibly important.

Connecticut Education Association President Kate Dias, another member of the commission, said they are trying to decide which students should receive remote learning and establish guidelines for transitioning a student back to an in-person experience if remote learning is unsuccessful.

While there are no easy answers to those questions, Dias said, finding a targeted use for emergency situations is the best step forward. She said the commission has also been considering whether districts should have the flexibility to deploy remote learning for inclement weather or emergency situations.

We have times where a water main breaks and the school has to be closed for three or four days, she said, adding that these standards will be an optional tool for districts to use. I think it is worthwhile for us to investigate, [but] not all districts need to do that.

Another issue the education committee will be focusing on this session, McCrory said, is diversifying the states teaching population as well as finding resources to help retain teachers.

Dias explained the CEA is looking closely at what attracts people to and keeps them in the teaching profession, adding that they are considering whether growing the ranks of teachers can be achieved by better supporting educators financially and helping people transition into a teaching career from other professions.

Dias said CEA is also looking at caseloads for special education teachers, social workers, and school psychologists to see how the workforce needs to be expanded in those areas.

Were really trying to look at lots of different ways to think about those issues because we know that theres a lot of complexity to it, and a little bit of nuance when you talk about legislation for sure, she said. So were trying to tackle it in a multitude of ways.
NEW BRITAIN  A New Britain High School student was shot while walking toward the school Tuesday morning, according to police.

The student was walking from the intersection of South Main and Mill streets toward the high school when an early 2000s Nissan Altima pulled up and some type of exchange occurred, according to New Britain Police Chief Christopher Chute in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Chute said at least one shot was fired from the vehicle before it fled the area.

Police were then called to the area at 11:26 a.m. for a report of a person shot. Responding officers found the 16-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound, according to Chute.

Chute said the students wound was not life threatening, and he was conscious, talking and walking. The student was taken to an area hospital for treatment. The student was still at the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon.

Police believe the student and the suspect, or suspects, in the vehicle knew each other and there is no threat to the public at this time.

New Britain High School was immediately placed in a lockdown while police searched the area. The school was later moved to a shelter-in-place at 12:15 p.m. as no threat had been identified inside the building, the Consolidated School District of New Britain posted on Facebook Tuesday afternoon.

Police are seeking help from the public to identify the vehicle, as well as the suspect or suspects inside it. Chute said the car is either light blue or light gray and was last seen heading west on Mill Street.

Police are also checking surveillance footage from the school, local businesses and private residences in the area.

Anyone with information related to this shooting should call the New Britain Police Department at 860-826-3000. Anyonymous tips can also be submitted by going to NewBritainPolice.org.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com
BRIDGEPORT - Arrested for allegedly starving five dogs to death in her Fairfield home, a crying Heidi Lueders turned to a detective and asked, Do you think they will ever let me own dogs again?

She appeared remorseful, Fairfield Detective Kerry Dalling continued under questioning by Superior Court Judge Peter McShane Monday afternoon. She was crying and she told me she had just gotten out of a rehab facility that day.

Dalling was the final witness called by Assistant States Attorney Felicia Valentino in the trial of the 34-year-old Lueders, the former president of Bully Breed dog rescue. Valentino then rested her case.

Lueders lawyer, Robert Serafinowicz, told the judge he didnt expect to call any witnesses but would decide Tuesday.

Both Valentino and Serafinowicz are to present their summations Tuesday afternoon.

Lueders, accused of leaving the five dogs to die in the Prince Street, Fairfield, home she rented in November 2018, is charged with five counts of first-degree maliciously killing an animal, a felony, and one count of first-degree criminal damage to property.

If convicted of all the charges she could be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. She requested a trial by judge rather than a jury.

Lueders, the lower half of her face covered by an American flag bandanna, sat busily writing on a page of lined paper during testimony Monday.

Her landlord, Celly Roberts, testified earlier in the trial that she called police after going into the house and finding the remains of the five dogs in locked cages throughout the home. She said the house was filled with garbage.

Police testified they found dog feces all over the floor of the home and that it smelled heavily of rotting flesh.

A retired state pathologist previously testified that he couldnt tell how the dogs died from their remains - just skin and bones - but that it was probably from lack of care.

Christine Antollini, the vice president of Lueders dog rescue operation, testified Monday that Lueders had been keeping the five dogs in her home since November of 2017 but she had not been in the Prince Street home after October 2017. She said at that time the home appeared fine.

Dalling testified that Lueders turned herself in at the Fairfield Police Department on Jan. 15, 2019, after being told there was a warrant for her arrest.

She appeared to be a little bit disheveled, tired. She started crying, Dalling related.

She said she couldnt believe she did this, she was a terrible person and she talked about how much she loved dogs, Dalling said of Lueders. She said she had a tattoo of a dog.
Protesters caused a boondoggle Monday on the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. This photo was shared by Marcella Picone on behalf of For the Love of Family- Reunification for All Families are Essential. There is no word on whether a similar protests could be coming locally but leaders say there may an event in Buffalo this Saturday.
NEW DELHI, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Four paramilitary troopers belonging to India's paramilitary Central Reserve Police (CRPF) were wounded Tuesday in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by Naxals in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, officials said.

The IED blast was triggered in Modakpal area of Bijapur district, about 450 km south of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh.

"Four personnel of the CRPF were wounded today late afternoon in an IED blast triggered by Naxals in the area falling under the Modakpal police station," senior police official Sundarraj P. was quoted by local media as having said.

According to police, the CRPF men were part of a patrolling team that was out on area domination in the forest area.

The injured have been shifted to the district hospital Bijapur.

Currently, the Naxal rebels are active across the central and eastern parts of India.

Last week, a journalist working with a vernacular daily was killed in an IED blast in the adjacent state of Odisha. Police blamed Naxals for the blast.

India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh once termed the Naxalite movement as India's "greatest internal security challenge".

New Delhi has deployed several companies of its paramilitary forces to take on Naxals in their strongholds.

The insurgency reportedly has claimed hundreds of lives besides rendering thousands of poor inhabitants homeless. 
Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has noted that currently, Nigerians are expressing resentment against what ...

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has noted that currently, Nigerians are expressing resentment against what he termed autocrats, mediocre, ethnic champions, incompetent and visionless actors in the country.

Babangida stated this during a visit by the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Iyorcha Ayu, along with the members of the National Working Committee at his Hilltop Mansion in Minna, Niger State.

The former military leader, who read from a prepared speech, explained the need by leaders of the party to cash in on the present moment to adequately manage the complexities of the competitive party and electoral politics in the direction of pursuing politics as a public interest project.

He said, If we have failed to adequately manage the complexities of the competitive party and electoral politics since independence. We now have a golden opportunity at our present crossroads to turn in the direction of pursuing politics as a public interest project, in line with moral and statutory provisions of articles 13 and 14 of the constitution of Nigeria.

Earlier, Senator Ayu explained that he came with members of the NWC and leaders of the party to visit the elder statesman to secure his blessings and as well tap from his wealth of experience and wisdom as a founding father of the PDP.

He stated that the visit was pertinent, especially at a time the nation is grappling with a lot of security challenges and divisions.

The national chairman of the PDP called on IBB not to relent in his efforts at ensuring that the unity of the country that he fought so tirelessly for is sustained.
The Indigenous People of Biafra has said that its earlier decision banning the movement and consumption of Fulani cows in the South-East f...

The Indigenous People of Biafra has said that its earlier decision banning the movement and consumption of Fulani cows in the South-East from April 2022 still stands.

The group also clarified its stand that the decision was not borne out of hate but to safeguard its land and the people from the evil agenda of the Fulani.

The group made its position known in a statement on Monday by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful.

Our decision is borne out of the natural desire to preserve our race from being wiped out by the Fulani terrorist herdsmen, the group said.

It said it would no longer tolerate the criminal silence and the failure of the Federal Government to protect its territories against attacks.

The statement read, Our patience has been over stretched beyond its elasticity point. We can no longer afford to fold our arms and be waiting for the last man in Biafra land to be killed by those masquerading as herdsmen.

Our people waste huge sums of money up to N3bn every year on cow meat and we will not allow that to continue. We, therefore, encourage those who have the money to start breeding our local cows (Efi Igbo) and other farming; IPOB will support them to boost the farming and animal husbandry business.

While advising those dealing in Fulani cow meat to look for alternative before the April due date, the group said the decision was in the collective interest of the South-East people.
A group of armed bandits have again invaded two local government areas in Niger State killing forty-four villagers including a blind man.

A group of armed bandits have again invaded two local government areas in Niger State killing forty-four villagers including a blind man.

The local government invaded are Shiroro and Munya.

A source from the areas revealed that the villages deeply affected are Galadinma Kolgo, Erena, Chukuba, and Allawa in Shiroro LGA where the gunmen killed 27 persons.

Mostly killed according to the source were women and children while twenty-eight other women, three men and children whose number could not be immediately ascertained were abducted.

It was also gathered that the Bandits had last Saturday stormed some villages in Munya local government area of the state where a blind man and sixteen other villagers were massacred.

The villages ravaged were Guni, Dazza and Zagzaga communities in Munya local government where no fewer than ten women and an unspecified number of children were abducted before setting their houses and farmlands ablaze.

President, Lakpma Youth Association, Jibril Allawa who confirmed this to our Correspondent said the bandits have already opened up discussions with relatives of those abducted and are demanding Sixty million naira (N60 million) ransom before they can be released.

Already, most of the affected communities in the two local government areas are now ghost towns as the villagers have taken refuge at the internally displaced person camp (IDP) in Central primary school, Gwada.

Also, the Co-Convener Concerned Shiroro Youths Abubakar Sani Bello Kokki while confirming the development said, the gunmen stormed the Communities in a large convoy of motorcycles with each carrying two or three passengers wreaked havoc and held the communities, hostage, for several hours.

According to him these villagers can no longer harvest their farm produces because the gunmen have warned them to stay away from their farms.

We, therefore, call on both Federal and state governments to intervene immediately, he pleaded.

The Police Public Relations Officer DSP Wasiu Abiodun could not be reached for more confirmation.
A pathologist with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr Sunday Soyemi, on Tuesday told a magistrate conducting the coroner inq...

A pathologist with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr Sunday Soyemi, on Tuesday told a magistrate conducting the coroner inquest into the controversial death of Slyvester Oromoni, a schoolboy, Mikhail Kadiri, that his hospital lacked a toxicology laboratory.

Soyemi, who has been a pathologist since 2005 and a Consultant since 2010, was responding to a question from the counsel for the Oromoni family, Femi Falana, during a sitting held at the Ikeja Magistrate Court, Lagos, on Tuesday.

During cross examination, Falana asked Soyemi, You did say that when you were going through the body, you found a blackish substance in the intestine of the deceased?

The pathologist replied, Thats correct.

Falana pressed further, Did you send the black substance to a toxicologist?

No, Soyemi said.

The counsel also asked, Do you have a department of radiology in LASUTH?

Yes, the pathologist said.

Do you have a department of toxicology in LASUTH? asked Falana.

No, Soyemi replied.
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has acknowledged the support of the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleima...

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has acknowledged the support of the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleiman to the plight of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in Benue State.

Apostle Suleiman during a courtesy call on the Governor, announced a donation of N20 million for the upkeep of the IDPs.

Governor Ortom stated that the concern shown by the man of God at the height of external aggression against people of the state through the donation of cash and call is also appreciated.

The Governor spoke Tuesday, 8th February 2022, when he received Apostle Johnson Suleiman and his delegation at the Benue Peoples House on a courtesy call.

He thanked the Apostle for finding time to personally visit Benue to identify with the people especially IDPs and support financially for their upkeep.

Earlier, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, who is in the state for a city-wide crusade, urged the governor to believe in the course he is fighting, stressing that those who believe in what he is fighting are more than those against him.

He stated that though the Bible says people will reap what they sow, it is unfortunate some people have sown in their old age and may not live to reap.

The man of God had earlier donated N5 million at the peak of the attacks on Benue people for the upkeep of IDPs.
The Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Tuesday, described as miscarriage of justice, the continued detention of embattled Yoruba...

The Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Tuesday, described as miscarriage of justice, the continued detention of embattled Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho.

Adams insisted that the self-determination campaigner had committed no crime for expressing his displeasure with the Nigerian state and demanding the secession of the South-West geopolitical zone from the current geographical space known as Nigeria.

Counsel for the detained activist, Yomi Aliyyu, had said that the francophone West African nation extended Igbohos detention by six months.

Reacting in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, Adams condemned what he described as the secret trial of Igboho.

There was miscarriage of justice in the way Igbohos detention was extended without trial. It is evident that Benin Republic has taken Igbohos case far beyond the normal legal procedures.

The extension of the detention of Igboho further exposed the frailty in the administration of justice. The young mans rights have been abused without trial. He had not been convicted of any offence. The law of any country that claims to be guided by the rule of law should be explicit on the rights of citizens, Adams was quoted as saying.

Recall that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), earlier said the Federal Government would bring back Igboho to Nigeria after his prosecution in Benin Republic.

The Department of State Services had stormed Igbohos Ibadan residence in a Gestapo style around 2am on July 1, 2021. The secret police killed two of the agitators associates and arrested 12 others who were released months later.

Declared wanted by the secret police for allegedly stockpiling arms to destabilise Nigeria, an allegation he denied, Igboho escaped to the neighbouring francophone country in July 2021.

However, luck ran out on him and he was arrested by Interpol at a Benin airport when he tried to board a Germany-bound flight.

He had since been remanded in a prison in Benin Republic for over six months where he is said to be facing trial for immigration-related offences, amongst others.
Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, says he has no special interest ahead of the 2023 elections. Wike said his goal is to ensur...

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, says he has no special interest ahead of the 2023 elections.

Wike said his goal is to ensure the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not killed, noting that it is important the party fields a qualified candidate for the presidential election.

The governor spoke on Monday when he visited Ahmed Makarfi, the former national caretaker chairman of the PDP, at his residence in Kaduna.

On the issue of zoning the 2023 presidency, Wike said the party will meet to take appropriate decisions.

It is not a one-man decision, whether you zone it (presidency) to west, east, north. What is important is somebody that has the capacity to move Nigeria forward, he said.

Nigerians are waiting for us and we must bring somebody who has what it takes to move Nigeria from where we are now to what every Nigerian expect.

We have many people who have what it takes. But at the appropriate time, we will sit down and move forward.





For me, I have no other place other than PDP. When people hear me come out, they think I have a special interest. The special interest I have is that this party should not be killed.

Time will come when PDP will look at those qualified. We are not going to base it on the fact that you are from the south or north.

Even if it is zoned to the south or north, we will sit down and look at people who have the capacity.

The Rivers governor added that members of the party must unite to win the 2023 elections.

He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed the country and Nigerians are looking up to the PDP for a way forward.

My ambition is for PDP to be reunited. If you have a united party, then you are sure of victory. Does it make sense if you have a presidential ticket of a party and the party cannot win an election? he asked.

So for me, the unity of the party is paramount. It is not about going about (saying )you want to be president.

For me, it is how the party united and fight this evil, this monster they call the APC.

Wike said his visit to Makarfi had nothing to do with his personal ambition, adding that I came here to see one of our leaders who has done well for the party.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Light rain early. Then remaining mainly cloudy. Low around 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Light rain early. Then remaining mainly cloudy. Low around 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
TOKYO, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Tokyo metropolitan government on Tuesday said elderly people are contracting COVID-19 at an "unprecedented" rate as the Omicron variant runs rampant across Japan.

Patients aged 65 or above comprised 8.5 percent of the 127,357 new infections reported in Tokyo for the week through Monday, according to official figures.

For those seven days, the total number of elderly people carrying the coronavirus was 2.1 times higher than that of the entire month of August, when Japan was grappling with its fifth wave of infections, the metropolitan government said.

The number of infected elderly patients in the same week was also 1.4 times higher compared to the previous week and three times higher than the week before, it added.

As 12,211 new cases were confirmed on Monday, the highest for any Monday in the capital, and 68,000 new daily cases were reported nationwide, the infections barely showed any sign of letting up. Those aged over 70 are the majority of those being hospitalized with serious symptoms.

On Friday, Takaji Wakita, who heads a group of experts advising the Japanese Health Ministry on its pandemic response, urged the government to focus on reducing the infection rate among both the elderly and children.

"The number of novel coronavirus cases is starting to decline among young generations, but unless we see a downtrend among children and elderly people, the overall figures will not decline," Wakita said.

BOOSTER SHOTS

In terms of the government's booster shot drive, Wakita said the third shots were of paramount importance as part of the country's overall fight against different variants.

Japanese Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto, for his part, told a press conference that Japan needed to "push forward with encouraging children to wear face masks."

In a bid to speed up yet another inexplicably sluggish vaccine rollout, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday said he has put into action plans to rapidly increase the number of booster shots available to combat the highly-transmissible Omicron variant that is wreaking havoc on the country.

At a budget meeting of the lower house of parliament on Monday, Kishida said he has informed his ministers to quickly increase the number of booster shots being administered to 1 million per day.

"By setting a clear goal, the government as a whole will work to deliver shots to those who hope to be vaccinated as soon as possible," Kishida told the parliamentary session.

He said he has told his ministers to urge local governments to expedite the distribution of vaccination coupons to the public and to set up more vaccination centers.

TRAVEL ADVISORY

Japan is racing against time to advance its delayed booster shot campaign as the country has been recording daily new infections of 100,000 recently.

Meanwhile, the United States has begun advising its citizens not to travel to Japan amid surging COVID-19 cases.

The new advisory is the highest since June last year, when Japan was similarly grappling with its fifth wave of the coronavirus and sluggish vaccine response.

Local reports here said the advisory was based on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s reconsideration of the rate of virus in Japan, which reads "Very high," the highest on the CDC's scale, one notch higher than its previous health notice. 
WELLINGTON, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand recorded 202 new community cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Among the 202 new community infections, 119 are in the largest city Auckland, 39 in Waikato, eight in Bay of Plenty, 17 in Northland, four in the Lakes region, and eight in Hawke's Bay, according to the Ministry.

In addition, 63 new cases of COVID-19 were detected at the New Zealand border.

The ministry urged the public to take their booster jab of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. "With Omicron in New Zealand, one of the best things you can do is get your booster as soon as it is due."

There are 14 COVID-19 patients being treated currently in New Zealand hospitals, with one of them in the intensive care unit.

New Zealand has reported 17,876 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 13,468 cases in the current community outbreaks.

The country is currently at the highest Red settings under its COVID-19 Protection Framework. At Red settings, face masks become mandatory in many indoor environments and gatherings are limited to 100 people. 
Jenny Peterson and Greg Wilson are all smiles after months of practicing an intricate surprise first dance at the Audubon Tea Room
John Corporon, a television news executive whose career included a decade at WDSU in the 1960s as well as at stations in New York and Washington, died Saturday at his home in Brooklyn, New York. He was 92.

Corporon worked at WDSU from 1958 to 1967. He was first hired by the station as a reporter, covering politics and the Civil Rights movement in Louisiana and Mississippi, then became the stations Washington, D.C., correspondent. He was news director from 1962-1967.

In August 1963, Corporons news sense prompted him to have his staff interview a man he spotted while on his way in to work. The man distributing leaflets on Canal Street calling for Fair Play for Cuba was Lee Harvey Oswald.

I was driving to work one morning and saw a man who was passing out handbills in front of the International Trade Mart, Corporon said in a 1995 WYES-TV interview.

A few weeks later we were stunned to hear that President Kennedy had been murdered in Dallas, Texas, and even more startled to find out a few hours later they had arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, Corporon said in a 2011 interview. WDSU provided its news footage to NBC News and the Associated Press, sharing the first images of Oswald with the world.

Corporon said the stations brush with Oswald led the FBI and Secret Service to Corporons office at WDSU, asking for more information about what he and his staff knew of the alleged assassin. Corporon is also cited in the Warren Commission report.

During his time at WDSU in the 1960s, Corporon also wrote and delivered station editorials. He said he was particularly proud of editorials he wrote supporting Civil Rights and opposing the idea of an elevated Vieux Carre Riverfront Expressway. Many credit WDSUs opposition with helping kill the idea in 1969.

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Corporon's first job in journalism was for United Press International, first in New Orleans and later as a Baton Rouge-based correspondent and bureau chief. He covered the Louisiana Legislature and Gov. Earl K. Longs administration. It was during that time that he worked on a story his family said he was most proud of: an investigation into Black voter suppression in north Louisiana, which led to a federal probe.

Corporon and his wife, Harriett, whom he married in 1957, left New Orleans for New York in 1967. He went to work as vice president and news director of WNEW. While there, he created and launched New Yorks first 10 p.m. newscast.

In 1970, he returned to Washington, D.C., as the vice president and general manager of WTOP, the CBS affiliate.

In 1972, he returned to New York where he was vice president and news director at WPIX-TV. Corporon retired from WPIX in 1996.

Corporon received a national Emmy award for a WDSU documentary on the Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana. In 2000, he was inducted into the New Orleans Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the Greater New Orleans Broadcasters Association.

The youngest of nine children, Corporon was born in Arcadia, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas, earning degrees in journalism and political science. He served in the U.S. Army for two years.

His wife died in 2020. Survivors include two sons, John and David Corporon; four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
ROME  Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness Tuesday for any "grievous faults" in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but admitted to no personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticized his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.

"I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate," the retired pope said.

Benedict, 94, was responding to a Jan. 20 report from a German law firm that had been commissioned by the German Catholic Church to look into how cases of sexual abuse were handled in the Munich archdiocese between 1945 and 2019. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.

The report's authors faulted Benedict's handling of four cases during his time as archbishop, accusing him of misconduct for having failed to restrict the ministry of the priests in the cases even after they had been convicted criminally. The report also faulted his predecessors and successors, estimating that there had been at least 497 abuse victims over the decades and at least 235 suspected perpetrators.

The Vatican on Tuesday released a letter Benedict wrote to respond to the allegations, alongside a more technical reply from his team of lawyers who had provided an initial 82-page response to the law firm about his nearly five-year tenure in Munich.

The conclusion of Benedict's lawyers was resolute: "As an archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse," they wrote. They criticized the report's authors for misinterpreting their submission, and asserted that they provided no evidence that Benedict was aware of the criminal history of any of the four priests in question.

Benedict's response was far more nuanced and spiritual, though he went on at length to thank his legal team before even addressing the allegations at hand or the victims of abuse.

In the letter, Benedict issued what he called a "confession," recalling that daily Mass begins with believers confessing their sins and asking forgiveness for their faults and even their "grievous faults." Benedict noted that in his meetings with abuse victims while he was pope, "I have seen at first hand the effects of a most grievous fault.

"And I have come to understand that we ourselves are drawn into this grievous fault whenever we neglect it or fail to confront it with the necessary decisiveness and responsibility, as too often happened and continues to happen," he wrote. "As in those meetings, once again I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness."

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The law firm report identified four cases in which Ratzinger was accused of misconduct in failing to act against abusers: Two cases involved priests who offended while Ratzinger was archbishop and were punished by the German legal system but were kept in pastoral ministry without any limits on their ministry. A third case involved a cleric who was convicted by a court outside Germany but was put into service in Munich; while the fourth involved a convicted pedophile priest who was allowed to transfer to Munich in 1980, and was later put into ministry. In 1986, the priest received a suspended sentence for molesting a boy.

Benedict's team had earlier clarified an initial "error" in their submission to the law firm that had insisted Ratzinger was not present at the 1980 meeting in which the priest's transfer to Munich was discussed. Ratzinger was there, but his return to ministry was not discussed, they said.

Benedict said he was deeply hurt that the "oversight" about his presence at the meeting had been used to "cast doubt on my truthfulness, and even to label me a liar." But he said he had been heartened by the letters and gestures of support he had received, including from his successor.

"I am particularly grateful for the confidence, support and prayer that Pope Francis personally expressed to me," he said.

The Vatican had already strongly defended Benedict's record in the aftermath of the law firm report, recalling that Benedict was the first pope to meet with victims of abuse, that he had issued strong norms to punish priests who raped children and had directed the church to pursue a path of humility in seeking forgiveness for the crimes of its clerics.

The Vatican's defense, however, focused primarily on Benedict's tenure as head of the Holy See's doctrine office, from 1982 until he was elected pope in 2005.

While he was prefect of the doctrine office, Ratzinger in 2001 directed all cases of clergy sex abuse to be sent to his office for processing, after he saw that bishops around the world were moving rapists from parish to parish rather than punishing them under the church's in-house canon law. During the final two years of his pontificate, Benedict defrocked nearly 400 priests for abuse.

Benedict reflected on his legacy at the end of his letter, noting that he is at the end of his life and will soon be judged by God.

"Quite soon, I shall find myself before the final judge of my life," he wrote. "Even though, as I look back on my long life, I can have great reason for fear and trembling, I am nonetheless of good cheer, for I trust firmly that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who himself has already suffered for my shortcomings."
Ed Joseph was optimistic he would finally get to confront Brian Highfill, a former New Orleans priest and Air Force chaplain who Joseph first accused of sexually abusing him 36 years ago.

Joseph, an Air Force veteran living in South Dakota, said a military investigator told him in December that he would soon be called to testify in a criminal case against Highfill.

But Josephs hopes for justice  along with the hopes of at least one other airman and three civilians who claimed they were abused by Highfill over the last 20 years  were suddenly and emphatically dashed two weeks ago.

Highfill died from cancer on Jan. 23. He was 79. The Archdiocese of New Orleans announced Highfills death in its weekly bulletin last week, without mentioning that the former priest was on the list of clergy who were credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. The announcement ends with the words May he rest in peace.

He's not going to have eternal rest if there's such a thing  not considering the crimes that he's committed, crimes against humanity, Joseph said. And I'm going to just hopefully let him go and just move on. I have to. Otherwise, I'm going to torture myself.

Former airman Thomas Furino said hes also crestfallen to hear of Highfills death.

He reported to the federal Veterans Affairs department in 2004 that Highfill sexually assaulted him in 1982 near England Air Force Base in Alexandria. His attorney, Soren Gisleson, said Air Force judge advocates told him they were preparing to prosecute Highfill for that alleged assault.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations confirmed an open criminal case against Highfill.

The priest denied Furinos allegations in court documents, admitting instead to having a four-year sexual affair with a married woman during his time at the Louisiana base. Reached before his death, Highfill and his attorney declined to answer questions from WWL-TV and The Times-Picayune.

Highfill was eventually suspended from ministry in 2018 after Mike Brandner Sr. went to the archdiocese and turned over stacks of love letters the priest had sent his little brother, Scot Brandner.

Years later, Scot Brander committed suicide.

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Archbishop Gregory Aymond said the letters alone weren't enough to establish sexual abuse, but they did prompt him to look into Highfill's record in the Air Force.

He sent a letter to the Archbishop for the Military Services in October 2018, asking if the division had received any allegations against Highfill from his time as a chaplain.

Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio responded definitively the following month: "There is nothing in his personnel file that would cast suspicion on his ministry while a military chaplain."

However, Joseph said in 2016 he sent emails to the Archdiocese for the Military Services victims assistance coordinator and vicar general alleging Highfill sexually assaulted him at Bitburg Air Base in West Germany in 1986.

WWL-TV confronted the Archdiocese of the Military Services with Josephs 2016 complaint and asked how Broglio could tell Aymond there was nothing that would cast suspicion on Highfill's ministry as a chaplain.

A spokesman responded: "The AMS did not receive any reports or briefings from the Air Force investigation and was not contacted to participate in any investigation. Therefore, there were no findings to note in Msgr. Highfill's personnel record."

Highfill was ordained in 1974 and served at Our Lady of the Rosary in New Orleans; St. Ann, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Edward the Confessor and St. Francis Xavier, all in Metairie; and St. Francis de Sales in Houma. He was assigned to the Diocese of Las Vegas when he was removed from ministry.

In 2020, Aymond eventually added Highfill to the churchs list of credibly accused clergy.

He said the delay was due to the fact that he had not directly received any of the complaints, including those from Joseph and Furino, who allege that Highfill plied them with alcohol and then forced sexual contact when they were unconscious. A woman also reported in 2002 that Highfill molested her in a Metairie church in 1975 when she was 16.

To be very honest, it angers me that we didn't have the information that we needed because this whole process would have been much simpler for us, Aymond said in 2020.

+2 Priest recently added to New Orleans' credibly accused clergy roster also put on Las Vegas list A priest whom the Archdiocese of New Orleans added this week to a list of clergymen faced with credible allegations of child molestation datin
Entergy Corp. unveiled a new logo on Monday, saying the rebranding exercise is more than just a new visual identity: "It signifies our commitment to improve how and when we communicate."

The revamped branding comes after a year in which Louisiana's dominant utility company faced backlash from regulators and the public over a host of reliability and billing issues.

The record storm seasons of 2020 and 2021 left customers across a large part of the state without power for as much as several months at a time. The storms also left ratepayers on the hook for more than $4 billion of repair costs to Entergy's transmission and distribution infrastructure, unless that can be mitigated by federal grants.

One of the biggest criticisms leveled at Entergy was its lack of communication with customers and regulators about upcoming outages, especially during the winter storm on Mardi Gras 2021, when thousands of residential and business customers in New Orleans were cut off without notice.

Regulators also grilled the utility company about skyrocketing bills that in many cases could not be explained and for which customers found they had little recourse.

Entergy's poor customer ratings were reflected in the rankings by data analytics firm J.D. Power for 2021, which put Entergy New Orleans at 20th out of 20 among the midsize/South electric utility providers. Entergy Louisiana ranked 8th out of 12 for large/South providers.

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Entergy declined to say how much the rebranding would cost but spokesman Neal Kirby said it will be rolled out over several years and be "commensurate with what companies of similar size would allocate." It is being handled internally rather than by an outside branding consultant, he said.

The new logo is a monogram, or "lettermark", type of brand, with a lowercase "e" partially encased in red and purple followed by the company's name in lowercase.

Social media comments on the logo focused on the small-caps option, as well as speculation as to how much it might cost customers.

Kirby said regulators do not allow Entergy to recover rebranding costs, so those costs will not be passed on directly to customers.

Marion Andrivet, a branding expert and founder of The Branding Journal, said it is hard to tell the cost as there is no outside consultant and the full scope of the multi-year project isn't clear. The logo design alone might cost $1 million or more, but the full campaign could be 10 times or more, she noted.
A firefighter was taken to a hospital for observation after battling heavy smoke and flames at a scooter business on St. Charles Avenue late Monday, according to officials.

No other injuries were reported.

The fire was reported to the New Orleans Fire Department at 8:49 p.m. Monday at Avenue Scooters at 1134 St. Charles Ave. (map).

Heavy smoke was coming from the two-story masonry building when firefighters arrived five minutes later. Everyone in the second-floor apartment was able to escape without injury, officials said.

Firefighters called for additional help at 9:03 p.m. due to the building's proximity to nearby businesses and the type of construction, officials said.

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There were fully fueled scooters inside the building, so firefighters had to be "extremely careful," according to a statement from NOFD.

At one point, the fire began to burn through the ceiling, which compromised the second floor.

Once crews were able to stop the fire from spreading further on the second floor they were able to gain control of the scene, officials said. The fire was declared under control at 9:40 p.m.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

NOFD sent 18 units carrying 44 personnel to the two-alarm fire. New Orleans Emergency Medical Services, Entergy and New Orleans police also responded.
Waving signs that read Bring in state troopers! and LaToya call the governor, hundreds of people demonstrated against crime outside New Orleans City Hall on Monday in a rally organized by colleagues of the real estate agent who was brutally carjacked while gassing up her vehicle at Costco last week.

The demonstration, dubbed the "rally for peace," came as the City Council amps up the pressure on Mayor LaToya Cantrell to change her public safety policies. Council members said that they are calling on Gov. John Bel Edwards to send State Police troopers to patrol interstate highways in the city.

The life story of the alleged carjacker, Tyrese Harris, 18, was also emerging as a political issue on Monday. Council President Helena Moreno accused the city of failing to identify Harris as a youth bounding down a path toward trouble  but Cantrell's administration said she had personally met with Harris in an attempt to set him on the right track.

Many rally attendees were gathered because of the near-death experience on Feb. 1 of Kelleye Rhein, a real estate agent who was knocked unconscious and left with a fractured skull after a carjacker drove off in her vehicle, dragging her in the process.

Harris has also been booked in the January killing of a 12-year-old boy whose body was dumped in a remote area of New Orleans East.

Rheins coworkers at Reve Realtors helped organize the rally, which included addresses from another agent, a pastor and an anti-crime activist. They called for a mix of short-term policies like higher bails for people accused of violent crimes and more services for youths in the long term.

Moreno said the rest of the City Council, save District E Council member Oliver Thomas, have signed a letter to Edwards asking for more State Police to patrol the interstates and take pressure off of the New Orleans Police Department, which is struggling to respond quickly to 911 calls in the face of depleted staffing.

Theres much more that needs to be done immediately, and some of these actions can easily be done by our mayor, if she made those asks and requests, said Moreno, adding that Cantrell should also ask for back-up on the highways.

City Hall hasn't committed to making that request. In a statement, a City Hall spokesperson said that Cantrell and other city leaders have been in constant communication with Edwards and the State Police regarding law enforcement challenges.

Chief Ferguson communicates regularly with Col. Lamar Davis at the LSP. As with every law enforcement agency in the country, the state police are contending with manpower challenges of their own. However --- they will continue to support NOPD and special events in the City, said the spokesperson, Beau Tidwell.

Edwards office struck a similar note in a statement through a spokesperson, Christina Stephens, who said troopers were deployed to the city for a special anti-crime operation last summer.

Keeping Louisianans safe is a top priority of the Governors and of LSPs and the best way for us to deploy resources at this time is through short-term deployments, which are dictated by LSPs own staffing levels and prioritize the enforcement of aggressive and impaired driving, violent fugitive apprehension and recovery of illegal narcotics and illegal weapons, Stephens said.

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Tidwell said the most useful thing the council could do would be to pass an amendment to the 2020 ordinance banning the NOPDs use of surveillance technologies like facial recognition.

Moreno said that Harris had been arrested 12 times as a juvenile. Someone should have stepped in to provide him and his family strong wraparound services, Moreno said.

But that didnt happen, and part of those failures, Ill be honest with you, have to do with part of the Mayors Office, Moreno said. Because when it comes to services for kids who go through the juvenile justice system here in New Orleans, it is the Mayors Office of Youth and Families that is responsible for those services.

But earlier in the day, Cantrell told reporters that she had been personally involved in efforts to set Harris on the right path.

In an interview, a top Cantrell administration staffer said the mayor had met with Harris and his mother twice last year, after the mothers pastor contacted Cantrell.

To say that we werent intimately involved with this case is just completely false, said Emily Wolff, director of the Office of Youth and Families.

After the first meeting, the city arranged for Harris and his family to find housing outside the city because of threats to their lives, Wolff said. After the second meeting, in June 2021, city employees arranged for Harris to take part in the National Guard Youth Challenge program, but he failed to show up and his family stopped communicating despite the citys attempts to follow up, she said.

You had a mayor who literally sat in front of this family multiple times. Sometimes our systems cannot get through, but that doesn't mean that we stop, and we don't continue to try and wrap our arms around, as we have done quite literally with this child, Wolff said.

Harris had been referred to six different court-mandated programs between 2018 and 2021 but kept getting arrested, according to Wolff. She said that none of those programs were run by the city.

Cantrell also said that Harris had been arrested again and again, and it was "time for the other elements within our criminal justice system to do their part."

Harris was out on $12,500 bail for an aggravated flight from an officer charge, after District Attorney Jason Williams' office refused an armed robbery charge against him.

"We were unable to accept charges on all counts due to an initial decision by the victim of the robbery not to participate in the post-arrest investigation," Williams' office told WWL-TV in a statement.
A second suspect has been arrested in the Jan. 3 shooting death of 12-year-old Derrick Cash.

Tyree Conerly, 19, was booked on a count of second-degree murder late Monday night, according to jail records.

Conerlys arrest came after another suspect in the case, 18-year-old Tyrese Harris, was arrested Sunday and allegedly confessed to a role in Cashs shooting death Jan. 3. Harris confession implicated Conerly, according to records filed at New Orleans criminal court.

Harris was also jailed in a brutal carjacking outside Costco on Feb. 1 that left a local realtor and mother of two with a fractured skull, along with a botched carjacking at a gasoline station in the 1000 block of Carondelet Street on Jan. 18. Police allege that Harris dropped his cellphone during the attempted Jan. 18 hold-up, and evidence on the device suggested he knew about Cashs slaying.

Harris remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of a $2.76 million bond. Conerly hadn't appeared at a bond hearing as of Tuesday morning.

Federal prosecutors also have filed a detainer against Harris, signaling their interest in prosecuting him, records show. Neither the U.S. Attorney's Office or Williams' staff have commented on that filing, though federal prosecutors have been known to prosecute serial robbers first arrested by local authorities to avail themselves of stiffer penalties in the federal system.

Cash was found shot just before 10 a.m. on Jan. 3 in the 14000 block of Michoud Boulevard, police said. A worker in the area and a truck driver said they found Cash lying on the ground, gasping for air.

Cash was found near a black Jeep Cherokee that had been reported stolen from a valet at the Pontchartrain Hotel on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. It wasnt immediately clear whether Cash was involved in stealing the car or was aware it was stolen.

Before his arrest late Monday, Conerly had been booked on counts of purse snatching, illegal carrying of weapons, illegal possession of stolen things, and illegal possession of a stolen auto last year, court records show. But, while he was out on bond in the summer, prosecutors declined to press charges, records show.

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It wasnt immediately clear why the charges against Conerly were refused, but it isnt uncommon if prosecutors believe there are issues with the case. In a statement, DA Jason Williams' office noted that Conerly was already out of jail when the case was refused, so no action taken by prosecutors led to Conerly's release.

Police linked Harris to the Costco carjacking through surveillance footage and social media. When they arrested him in that case, investigators questioned him about Cash, and he allegedly admitted that he and Conerly were both involved in the boy's shooting death.

Detectives later questioned Conerly, who purportedly claimed he was at home at the time of Cash's killing. But police said they found video showing Conerly getting home after Cash's death, and they found a distinctive purple jacket and red ski mask that Conerly was seen wearing on social media in the stolen Jeep near the boy's body.

Authorities haven't discussed a possible motive for Cash's slaying.

Like Conerly, Harris had prior brushes with the law that are now well-publicized.

He was out on a $12,500 bond stemming from allegations that he tried to steal a man's car Aug. 19, and he was scheduled to appear in court Feb. 22.

In that case, police had initially booked him with aggravated flight from an officer, illegal possession of stolen things and resisting an officer, before adding a count of armed robbery with a firearm. But, in November, the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office refused most of those charges, except for a single count of aggravated flight from an officer.

A statement from Williams' office said the victim in that case wasn't willing to testify.

Also, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told media Monday that she had personally worked with Harris' family following a series of robbery-related arrests when he was a minor to steer him away from a life of crime. She said she had even signed him up for the Junior National Guard, casting that as something she would do for any young person in the city.
Nadia Sanchez was relaxing in her Gentilly home when she heard what she thought was her 11-year-old sister and 12-year-old brother roughhousing in the front yard. She went outside and witnessed her mother being killed.

A carjacker had stolen Jeannot Plessy's SUV and run over her while her children looked on. When Sanchez's husband tried to intervene, the carjacker dragged him 60 feet, causing a traumatic brain injury.

It felt surreal, like it was a joke. My brain couldnt even process what I was seeing, Sanchez said. Three years later, there are some days I still cant believe this happened to Mom. I cant believe this is our life.

Such shocking scenes are reality for a growing number of New Orleanians as violent crime surges in the city. In the first month of 2022, homicides were up 120% compared to the same period in 2021; shootings were up 233%; and carjackings were up 400%, according to data compiled by the Metropolitan Crime Commission. The numbers mirror national trends, and they spurred Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Wednesday to describe the bloodshed as terrorism  happening on our streets.

The toll of crime

The impact of each violent crime extends well beyond the victim, as relatives, friends, co-workers and broader community suffer. But when the police tape comes down and the news media moves on, survivors must map the contours of their new realities largely on their own, often amid physical injuries, legal battles and unforeseen expenses  plus the challenges of everyday life  all with brains affected by trauma.

In the aftermath of losing my mom, I had a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old, and I was responsible for my brother and sister. I was very, very overwhelmed, said Sanchez, who was 31 when her mother was killed. I was dealing with my own mental health and trauma, but outside of that, what are the kids eating for dinner?

Asking for help is critical, even though the urge to isolate and avoid talking or thinking about the crime is a common response, said Dr. Erika Rajo, a clinical psychiatrist who leads the Trauma Recovery Clinic at University Medical Center.

While that (withdrawal) is normal and understandable, avoidance can actually lead to things like PTSD down the road, or a worsening, stronger, intense reaction to the trauma, Rajo said. Not only is there avoidance, but theres a sense of wanting to protect your loved ones from your own distress and not add to their plate.

PTSD and the crime surge

Sanchez received cognitive behavioral therapy at University Medical Center, which makes the service available to anyone who has lost a loved one to homicide or experienced a traumatic injury such as a gunshot wound or stabbing.

Rajo said that without treatment, 20% to 30% of people who experience a traumatic injury go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, which is characterized by nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance and the urge to avoid talking about the event, among other symptoms. Although those symptoms are a normal reaction to trauma, they can develop into PTSD or depression if they persist longer than a month.

Rajo said treating PTSD is more than an act of self-care for those impacted by violence; its also a crime prevention tactic for the larger community, as PTSD is associated with both crime and violent trauma recidivism.

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Untreated trauma and PTSD is driving the crime surge, Rajo said. I think back to the amount of people impacted by Hurricane Katrina who didn't have access to mental health treatment and still are suffering from PTSD from that community trauma, even if they were infants at the time. Now its manifesting in other ways because theyre operating out of a survival mode."

How to break the cycle

Rajo said talking about trauma is crucial to healing.

Even though its a hard step to take to open up to someone and talk about it, that has an immense healing effect on your psyche, Rajo said. My advice would be not to just hold it in, push it down and try to keep going or shove it under the rug. Really honor your feelings and talk to someone.

The someone can be a professional, a support group or a friend or relative.

For Khanh Nguyen-Dufour, whose father, Long Van Nguyen, was killed in a hit-and-run wreck in August, family support made a tremendous difference.

We have this amazing tribe, and we get together quite a bit, Nguyen-Dufour said. I think its truly the key to getting through this together. It really is helpful to be surrounded by love and not to be bitter toward the suspect or toward NOPD or anyone.

The person who killed Nguyen-Dufours father remains at large. Jontrell Robinson, who killed Sanchezs mother, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and carjacking in 2020, but that did little for Sanchez's mental health.

Sending someone to prison at 17 years old doesnt give me any joy, Sanchez said. It doesn't give me closure.

Sanchez has found a degree of healing in launching the nonprofit Love Your Neighbor NOLA, which provides resources for survivors of violent crime and distributes baby supplies in New Orleans East. She said people often dont see the connection between family support and violent crime, but she thinks access to community resources is often the missing link.

Rajo thinks that what isnt healed in one generation is passed on to the next.

We cant prevent bad things from happening, but we can provide support and resources to help people move forward and heal, so it doesnt lead to more bad things happening, Rajo said.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia will not shut down its economic and industrial activities even if new COVID-19 cases spike, Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali has said.

Previous lockdowns had caused 826,000 people to lose jobs in the first three months of the total lockdown in 2020, Mohamed Azmin said following a Chinese Lunar New Year dinner hosted in Johor state on Monday by the Batu Pahat Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

"We can't do it anymore (total lockdown), yes, we need to manage this pandemic effectively, we will do our best on the health matter, but 'economic health' is also important. And we will now do it in a balanced way if there is a sudden spike (COVID-19)," state news agency Bernama quoted the minister as saying.

Mohamed Azmin said his ministry will focus on getting the employees of the economic sector vaccinated.

Malaysia has seen a spike in fresh COVID-9 infections over the past week, with 13,944 new cases being reported on Tuesday alone, according to data from the health ministry, with the Omicron variant being blamed for the increase. 
U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh appeared with city and state leaders in New Orleans Monday to tout the importance of supporting the workers who arrive in Louisiana and other states to rebuild following hurricanes and other disasters.

As natural disasters grow in frequency, severity and costliness, so too has an industry filled with recovery workers that labor advocates say are vulnerable to exploitation.

During a news event Monday at Delgado Community College with Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Gov. John Bel Edwards, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, disaster-recovery businesses and labor advocates, Walsh said new industry standards are needed to ensure workers are treated fairly and that they are accurately counted as part of recent U.S. job gains.

Whats not captured in those figures are people who are working in the shadows, said Walsh, a former union official who joined the Biden administration after serving as the mayor of Boston.

As part of the event, officials cheered an agreement signed by Michigan-based Signal Restoration Services, a private firm that helps companies to restore operations after storms and other disasters, that could be the first step to getting other companies to agree to minimum workplace standards.

Signal pledged that it and and its subcontractors will pay a $15 minimum hourly wage, and that Signal will take punitive action against subcontractors who steal wages. Signal said it would ensure subcontractors follow health and safety laws.

Signal also agreed to donate $600,000 to Resilience Force. The nonprofit labor advocacy organization partnered with the city of New Orleans during the pandemic to create the New Orleans Resilience Corps, which has supported the New Orleans Health Department with citizen outreach on vaccines and other projects.

Resilience Force executive director, Saket Soni, also signed the agreement and said the money would be used for compliance and enforcement.

Soni said in a brief interview that there are likely hundreds of thousands of people in the "resilience workforce," but a lack of data makes it difficult to know for sure. Soni said advocates are pushing for a new code within the North American Industry Classification System, a system used by the federal government to track employment data by occupation.

Part of the issue is that we dont count them in America, Soni said.

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While it is difficult to tally the number of people working in disaster recovery, it is no doubt a growing industry. Natural disasters in the U.S. caused $427 billion in insured property losses over five years ending in 2021, more than double the previous five-year period, according to insurance firm Aon.

Mark Davis, the chief executive of Signal, said the partnership with Resilience Force was born after Category 4 Hurricane Laura, which devastated southwest Louisiana in 2020. Daviss company hired 3,000 temporary workers, some of whom he learned from Soni had been exploited.

Anyone that's affiliated with us going forward, these are the standards. They will sign on to them as well, or they won't do work with us, Davis said.

The agreement also identifies New Orleans as one of four key locations  along with Detroit, the Miami area and Sonoma County, Calif.  to establish training hubs and partnerships.

Cantrell said Monday that there were plans in the works for a resilience training center in New Orleans East, and that the city had identified potential (land) parcels for the training center.

The administration did not respond to a request for additional information about the project, including a timeline, building specifications and who would operate it.

Cantrell said the training center would build on the work of the Resilience Corps, which was funded by private foundations and employs residents in pandemic response jobs, such as wellness checks, contract tracing and door-to-door education campaigns.

New Orleans Resilience Corps workers initially started with $12 hourly wages, with a path to making $18 per hour if they continued working, according to an October 2020 Rockefeller Foundation news release. All Resilience Corps workers now make $18 plus benefits, according to Resilience Force.

A request for additional information concerning New Orleans Resilience Corps was pending on Monday afternoon.

Cantrell said the program had become a national model.

Now (we have) the opportunity to scale it, so that again we can meet the needs of our residents here local, and throughout the United States of America, Cantrell said.
The Oklahoma House has given final approval to a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. The bill passed Thursday by the GOP-led House now heads to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt. He's expected to sign it within days. The bill was immediately challenged in court by abortion rights advocates. The measure prohibits abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo. Experts say thats typically about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. Like Texas, the bill allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion for up to $10,000. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a similar law in Texas to stand.
Loyalsock Township, Pa.  Two new businesses are potentially moving into Loyalsock Township, including a Chipotle restaurant on the Golden Strip and Tractor Supply Company in the Heshbon area.

The plans for Chipotle were approved at the Jan. 25 Loyalsock Township supervisors meeting. The restaurant will be built at 1955 E. Third Street, next to MedExpress. The existing building, which formerly was the King House Buffet, has been vacant for years.

Township manager Bill Burdett said the building will be razed, most likely by spring, and he expects construction on the new restaurant to begin by summer. Chipotle will have a few conditions they need to meet for the lot, including easements for storm water, but plans are moving forward, according to the township.

At the north end of the township, Tractor Supply Company is looking to open in the Heshbon area. The location has been identified on Lycoming Creek Road south of Hays Lane, Burdett said.

Representatives from the company had reached out to Burdett more than a year ago, but then plans were put on hold. They reached out by phone to Burdett again last week with their intent to move forward. Once plans are received, they will go to the townships planning commission, Burdett said.

Plans also in the works to add a second drive-thru lane to the Dunkin Donuts on E. Third Street, which would help alleviate the traffic issues. The restaurant has been drive-thru only since the COVID-19 pandemic began and lines are often backed up onto E. Third Street.

Dunkin Donuts has submitted a revision of their Highway Occupancy Permit, which is currently being reviewed, according to a Maggie Baker, spokesperson for PennDOT.

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Allenwood, Pa. -- The Snappy's convenience store in Allenwood opened for its first day of business on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

A grand opening is planned for April 1, and will feature a ribbon-cutting, a visit from the Williamsport Crosscutters Mascot, Boomer, live radio, vendor giveaways, wine tasting, grille specials, and grille tasting.

Related reading: Snappy's convenience store in Allenwood set to open in January

The brand new 5,000 sq. ft. store located at 18395 Russell Road in Allenwood features a robust made-to-order grille complete with online and mobile ordering, two fuel islands (one for diesel and one for gasoline) with 12 gas pumps, and a proprietary rewards program. It is located across the road from the Allenwood Low Federal Correctional Institute.

The store brings as many as 20 jobs to the area. A Snappy's Grille, featuring a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu, also is part of the store. Snappy's also will sell local products, including wines from Shade Mountain Winery, Union Cellars, and Spyglass Ridge.

The Allenwood location will be Snappy's 11th store and the company's 5th Grille store. Customers may order food on kiosks in the store or through the Snappy's app.

A grand opening event is scheduled for April 1, 2022, and will feature a ribbon-cutting, a visit from the Williamsport Crosscutters Mascot, Boomer, live radio, vendor giveaways, wine tasting, grille specials, and grille tastings.

Snappy's began in 1993 as a small convenience store in central Pennsylvania. The company has since opened locations in Philipsburg, State College, Clearfield, and Lewistown, among others. In 2016, Snappy's opened its first Grille location.

Snappy's is owned by JJ Powell, Inc., located in Philipsburg, Pa. JJ Powell already has a presence in the Susquehanna Valley, as they own Mid-Penn Energy in Lewisburg and Snyder Fuels in Sunbury.

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Several licensed establishments in Snyder, Northumberland, and Columbia counties were cited in January by Pennsylvania State Police liquor enforcement officers for violations.

The District 6 Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board office in Williamsport received a total of 55 complaints and sent 15 warning letters to establishments for violations of liquor control laws, according to a release. District 6 includes Lycoming, Bradford, Clinton, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Union, Sullivan, and Tioga counties.

Lightstreet Beer Express in Orangeville, Columbia County, was cited for numerous occasions from Feb. 10 to Sept. 15, 2021, in which the establishment possessed or operated gambling devices or permitted gambling, according to a police release.

In Northumberland County, the Blue Spruce Inn of Milton was cited for permitting smoking in a public place where smoking is prohibited on Nov. 17 and Dec. 1, 2021.

Three establishments in Snyder County were cited for allegedly serving alcohol to a 19-year-old on Nov. 19, 2021. The cited establishments include: Mid-Penn Beverage in Middleburg, Freeburg Hotel in Freeburg, and Isle of Que Brewing Company in Selinsgrove.

The establishments could potentially be fined from $50 to $1,000 for minor offenses and up to $5,000 for more serious offenses. The administrative law judge may also impose a license suspension or revocation of the establishments license. Additionally, the judge may mandate training for the licensee.

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Williamsport, Pa.  Patience paid off for detectives with the Lycoming County District Attorneys office after a long stake out of a suspected drug dealers home.

Authorities watched a man leave the residence at 1173 High Street on Jan. 31 and approach a vehicle that had been idling out front for more than an hour. According to an affidavit filed by detectives, they observed a man lean into the passengers side and complete a hand-to-hand transaction.

Julius Joseph Smith III, 33, of Williamsport was aftewards observed reentering the residence. Detectives stopped the vehicle and recovered three grams fentanyl from a person inside the vehicle.

Detectives said theywere familiar with the driver, who admitted to purchasing fentanyl from Smith on several occasions over the previous two years. The person admitted to six or seven alleged transactions with Smith just in January.

Detectives executed a search warrant on the residence on Feb. 1 and took Smith into custody. During a search of the home, authorities recovered $5,680 in cash along with digital scales and packaging materials.

Smith was arranged by Magistrate Judge Christian Frey on a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. Smith is being held at the Lycoming County Prison on $150,000 monetary bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 8 with Judge Frey.

Docket sheet

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Muncy -- Jack E. Zimmerman, 71, of Muncy passed away on February 3, 2022 at the Gatehouse, Williamsport.

He was born on January 5, 1951 in Williamsport, a son of the late William Red and Audrey (Walters) Zimmerman. On August 25, 1984, he married the former Janet Guisewhite, who survives. Together they celebrated 37 years of marriage.

Jack was a 1970 graduate of Hughesville High School. He worked for many years at Springs Window Fashions, Montgomery, until they closed. He then worked for Hans CedarDale, Hughesville.

Jack was a member of the American Legion Post 35, Hughesville.

He was an avid hunter and fisherman, and a life member of the North American Hunting Club. Jack enjoyed traveling to Sodus Point, N.Y. to fish Lake Ontario with his wife and friends.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by one brother, Ronald Zimmerman, of Hughesville; and numerous nieces and a nephew.

In addition to his parents, he is predeceased by two brothers, William Bill and Rodney Rod Zimmerman.

Services will be held privately at the convenience of the family.

Contributions in Jacks memory may be made to either Susquehanna Health Foundation c/o Home Care and Hospice, 1001 Grampian Blvd., Williamsport, PA 17701 or Veterans of the Vietnam War - Post PA 51, PO Box 23 Hughesville, PA 17737.

Expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.grenoblefuneralhome.com.

To plant a tree in memory of Jack Zimmerman as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.

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Lifestyles

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Redistricting taking the swing out of swing states

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America/TNS Protesters attend a rally for Fair Maps on March 26, 2019, in Washington, D.C., as the Supreme Court holds hearings in redistricting cases out of North Carolina and Maryland.

Democratic and Republican state legislatures have put the competitive congressional district on the endangered species list, bolstering the GOP advantage in this years midterm elections but also setting up an even more polarized Congress next year.

There are just 13 toss-up seats out of the 269 districts in redistricting completed so far, according to ratings from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The U.S. has 435 congressional districts and not all state maps are yet completed, with some facing legal challenges.

Partisan lawmakers have turned old-fashioned gerrymandering  the designing of congressional district maps for political advantage  into a high-tech art form, using sophisticated computer modeling to insulate incumbents and diffuse voters who favor the minority party.

That process gives most lawmakers insurmountable double-digit edges heading into reelection campaigns, setting up a new Congress with scant reason to work together in order to guarantee their own reelections.

Politically, Democrats are on the defensive. President Joe Bidens first year in office was marked by rising inflation, a raging pandemic and increasing tension with Russia. If Republicans win control of even one chamber of Congress, Bidens already-faltering domestic agenda will be essentially dead as he looks to run for reelection in 2024.

But unexpectedly, Cook forecast that Democrats are on track to gain as many as three seats from redistricting, given developments in New York, Pennsylvania and Alabama, where a court struck down a map on grounds it discriminated against Black voters, who overwhelmingly vote Democrat. On Friday, North Carolinas supreme court threw out Republican-drawn congressional and legislative maps, saying they violate the state constitution.

While the definition of competitive districts varies, theyre generally considered seats that either party has a shot at winning. Different groups pin the decrease, compared with the old maps, as anywhere from seven to 16 seats.

Redistricting was a process designed to apportion power among states in the form of congressional districts according to their population, as measured by the Census every 10 years.

This year, Republicans who control redistricting in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and other states have made GOP seats safer, in part by targeting for redesign the suburban districts that have been trending Democratic and adding in rural areas that overwhelmingly favor the GOP.

The 24th District in Texas was changed from one that Biden carried by more than 5 percentage points in 2020 to one he would have lost by 12 points, for example, based on the new boundaries that shift Black and Latino voters in Dallas County into other districts and add White Republicans from Tarrant County, which includes neighboring Fort Worth.

At the same time, Democrats are gerrymandering districts in Illinois, New York and other states where they control the process to maximize their chances for winning new seats, said Michael Li, a redistricting expert with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

Gerrymandering has been offset somewhat in states such as Colorado where the process is run by nonpartisan commissions, which have tended to draw more competitive districts.

An American problem

The reduction in competitive districts could also make it harder for Democrats to win back the House majority during the next decade if they lose control in 2022 because most maps being drawn now will remain in place until after the 2030 Census, Li said.

The loss of competition is one of the big stories of this decade, Li said.

Texas exemplifies the trend to use gerrymandering to reduce competition. There were 10 congressional districts in Texas in 2020 where the margin between Biden and Donald Trump was within 4 points, but the new map has only one such competitive district.

Politically, it is looking bleak, to be perfectly honest, said 2020 Democratic congressional candidate Candace Valenzuela, who came within 4,600 votes of becoming the first Black Latina in Congress from Texas 24th District. This isnt a Democrat-Republican problem. Its going to be an American problem, if it isnt already.

The full impact of the 2022 vote is not yet set as the battle over the maps is still playing out in courts and state legislatures.

The Texas congressional map, which sets boundaries for 38 districts, or 8% of the entire U.S. House of Representatives, will be used unless a court intervenes. The U.S. Justice Department is challenging it in court.

The Ohio Supreme Court invalidated the states congressional map on Jan. 14, ruling that it unconstitutionally favored Republicans, and ordered the Ohio Legislature to pass a new map in 30 days.

Last month, federal judges in Alabama ruled that a proposed map violated the Voting Rights Act by not carving out districts in proportion to the states Black population. The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But Harrell Kirstein, a spokesman for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, says the loss of competitive seats will hurt Democrats by leaving fewer opportunities to flip seats. She cited an NDRC analysis that showed that if no districts were gerrymandered, there would be a 40% increase in competitive seats, rather than a decrease, largely because of demographic shifts.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Tim Persico said that Neither side can gerrymander their way to a majority, but they can make it harder to win the majority.
MOSCOW, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian agreed in a telephone conversation Tuesday on the urgent need to fully restore the Iran nuclear deal.

They discussed the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) amid the ongoing talks in Vienna over the landmark deal, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministers expressed support for a quick revival of the JCPOA in its original form.

Lavrov and Amir Abdollahian also exchanged views on the recent visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Moscow, and reassured their readiness to foster cooperation in a wide range of fields.

Talks on the revival of the JCPOA resumed in Vienna on Tuesday.

The current eighth round of negotiations will focus on discussing "the prospect of a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides," according to a statement published by the European External Action Service. 
Emergency responders work Sunday at the scene of a house fire on East Gay Street in Harrisonburg.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Washington National Cathedral paid tribute on Monday evening to the 900,000 lives claimed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

The cathedral in Washington, D.C. tolled its funeral bell 900 times, once for every 1,000 people who had died of the coronavirus.

The mourning, also livestreamed on social media, took nearly 90 minutes.

"I remember when this particular sad tradition began in 2020, when 50,000 and 100,000 seemed horrible and unthinkable," tweeted Susan B. Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker and former editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy magazine. "Here we are. Soon, no doubt, one million."

COVID-19 deaths in the United States surpassed 900,000 days ago, roughly two years after the country reported its first fatality.

"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," Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, has reportedly said. "Those are the places where we have failed as America."

U.S. President Joe Biden has called the loss of lives "another tragic milestone," while continuing to urge Americans to be vaccinated.

"Get vaccinated, get your kids vaccinated, and get your booster shot if you are eligible," Biden said in a statement. "It's free, easy, and effective -- and it can save your life, and the lives of those you love."

A growing number of states are moving to ease COVID-19 restrictions, as daily new cases are on the decline nationwide, but the seven-day moving average of added deaths is still well over 2,000.

The United States has reported nearly 77 million COVID-19 infections and 905,000 deaths as of Monday evening, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. 
VALPARAISO  The Valparaiso Community Schools board unanimously approved a resolution Monday to renew the operating referendum passed in 2015 for an additional eight years.

The referendum will now be voted on in the May 3 election.

If approved, the referendum would proceed at a lower maximum tax rate, decreasing from $0.2042 to $0.1495 per $100 of net assessed value, according to a press release from VCS.

The referendum would go toward hiring teachers and managing class sizes, managing health and safety initiatives, retaining teachers and staff, and funding academic programs.

In 2015, voters passed two referendums for the school district. One was for construction of the new Heavilin Elementary School and renovations elsewhere, including a new pool at Valparaiso High School. The other was to increase general fund operations about $4.4 million annually over seven years. That money has gone toward items like teacher salaries, technology and mental health workers.

The referendum for operating costs came with a seven-year expiration date, meaning it would need to be renewed this year.

A financial report presented to the board in January indicated the significance of the referendum revenue.

This revenue represented 6.1% of the revenue in 2016, 6.5% in 2017, 6% in 2018, 6.3% in 2019 and 6.8% in 2020, the report said.

Superintendent Jim McCall said the 2015 referendum has allowed VCS to continue high expectations, strong scores, the opportunities for IB and AP programs and many other benefits.

McCall also mentioned that Valparaiso receives limited state funding in comparison to other schools, making the referendum especially important.

Several audience members asked questions during the board meeting.

Brian Williams asked why the school board is asking the community for these funds when they should be asking the state instead.

I think a lot of us here want to see the transparency of where every single dollar and penny is going, Jessica Jepsen said. She said a lot of parents are struggling due to the pandemic and wants to be sure that residents can access detailed financial documents.

John Sut said he does not currently support the referendum as he feels it is the wrong time to ask the community for money, especially as the district has received ESSER funds.

Sut said he is concerned about the lack of advertising regarding this referendum. He said several residents may be totally unaware of whats going on.

He also asked how long is the district going to keep asking for money. He wanted to know if eight years from now, the district may ask again.

We support children and schools and teachers, but I want you to be fiscally responsible with the money you already have, Sut said.

The Valparaiso Democratic Committee said in a statement that it approves the referendum.

The VDC fully supports this referendum as an opportunity to continue to have a strong school system, support for our teachers and ancillary staff (local jobs), and our community's school children, the statement said.

The VDC then said that it understands that referendums may not be the best way to fund schools but that changes need to be made at the state level.

The referendum has previously seen a lack of support. In October, Porter County Parents for Freedom vowed not to support it, largely due to concerns about financial situations amid the pandemic.

Stephanie Pals spoke at a school board meeting in October and asked how it expected parents to afford it.

Families are going to struggle even more than they are struggling now, Pals said.

In May, the question will appear on the ballot as:

Shall Valparaiso Community Schools continue to impose increased property taxes paid to the school corporation by homeowners and businesses for eight (8) years immediately following the holding of the referendum for the purpose of managing class sizes and essential health & safety initiatives, retaining teachers and staff, funding academic and educationally related programs and changing the maximum operating referendum tax levy fund rate from $0.2042 to $0.1495 per one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation? The property tax increase requested in this referendum was originally approved by the voters in May, 2015, and originally increased the average property tax paid to the school corporation per year on a residence within the school corporation by 23.4% and originally increased the average property tax paid to the school corporation per year on a business property within the school corporation by 19.4%.

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GARY  Gary police Detective Sgt. William Fazekas stepped out of his vehicle during a traffic stop Monday afternoon only to be "ambushed by a barrage of gunfire," the department said in the first detailed description released on the shooting of the officer.

"Sgt. Fazekas took cover inside the vehicle, but unfortunately was struck by gunfire," according to the statement provided by Gary police Cmdr. Jack Hamady. "This individual continued to fire upon Sgt. Fazekas and later fled the area on foot."

As other officers in the area arrived to investigate the sound of gunfire, one came to the aid of Fazekas, who was "bleeding out," Hamady said. Fazekas was placed into a police vehicle and taken to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary for treatment.

Another officer pursued the shooter, who was on foot, Hamady said. Gary police K-9 Rocki helped track the suspect from the 400 block of Lincoln Street, and the suspect was taken into custody without incident.

"This individual was later located and arrested in an abandon home nearby," Hamady said.

The identity of the shooting suspect will be released by the Lake County Sheriff's Department once formal charges are presented to the Lake County prosecutor's office, according to police.

Detectives were expected to meet Tuesday morning with prosecutors, according to Pam Jones, public information liaison with the Lake County Sheriffs Department.

"At the time of the incident, it was unclear if there were any other suspects at large," Hamady said. "A perimeter search was contained to the area for the safety of the officers and all the citizens in that area. As the investigation continued with statements and video downloads it was determined that there was one subject that engaged in the gunfire with Sgt. Fazekas and that individual was in custody."

Fazekas, who was transferred to a Chicago hospital, remained in stable condition Tuesday morning and is expected to undergo surgery later in the day to repair his shoulder, according to Gary Police Department Public Information Officer Lt. Dawn Westerfield.

Fazekas, a 33-year veteran of the force, will not be making any public statements, according to police, who have asked for respect for his privacy and that of his family.

Police say Fazekas had been in the area of Fourth Avenue and Johnson Street around 12:55 p.m. Monday when he saw a vehicle drive recklessly toward a person on Fourth Avenue.

"Sgt. Fazekas followed the vehicle to see the intentions of the driver and that is when the vehicle came to a stop in the 400 block of Johnson Street," Hamady said. "Sgt. Fazekas in a Gary Police Department police vehicle activated his lights and began to exit the vehicle to investigate. As Sgt. Fazekas exited the police vehicle, is when he was ambushed by a barrage of gunfire."

The shooting triggered a massive manhunt that drew in officers from all across Northwest Indiana to descend on downtown Gary.

Fazekas had joined the Gary Police Department in December 1989 and currently works in the violent crimes division as an investigator, police said.

The Lake County Sheriff's Department has taken the lead on the investigation.

"The Gary Police Department does not investigate their own officer-involved shootings and requests the outside agency to do so," Hamady said.

"(Gary Police) Chief Brian Evans would also like to thank all the outside agencies that responded quickly from Lake County and Porter County as well as all the federal agencies," Hamady said. "Their assistance and the assistance from the community helped a tragic incident be resolved quickly and get the person responsible in custody without incident."

Come back to nwi.com for updates as they become available on this developing story.

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State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, has a message for Hoosier motorists used to escaping punishment for driving around a school bus with its stop-arm extended and red lights flashing while the bus is stopped to pick up or drop off children.

Time's up.

Niemeyer last week won Indiana Senate approval for legislation that would allow police to ticket the registered owner of a vehicle that unlawfully passes a stopped school bus, regardless of who was driving the vehicle when the violation occurred.

The penalty, if Senate Bill 121 also is endorsed by the House and enacted into law, would be a class B infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 per violation.

"We need to look at doing something here," Niemeyer said. "We can't just sit here and wait for another tragedy to happen and then act on that tragedy once it happens  this is a solution."

Niemeyer explained motorists going around stopped schools buses typically are getting away with it now because school bus drivers and stop-arm enforcement cameras usually only record the license plate of the vehicle breaking the law, not the identity of the driver.

"A school bus driver has other concerns on his time when he's picking up kids to be looking for that driver," Niemeyer said.

But he said that also makes it difficult, if not impossible, to prosecute stop-arm violations as a misdemeanor because without knowing who was driving, there's no person to hold responsible for the crime.

In fact, Niemeyer said in a recent year, zero of the 256 school bus stop-arm violations recorded in Lowell's Tri-Creek School Corp. led to drivers getting prosecuted for passing a stopped school bus.

His plan, which is supported by the Indiana State Teachers Association and the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, eliminates the need to identify the driver for stop-arm violations by permitting police to simply issue a ticket to the registered owner of the vehicle, similar to a parking ticket.

The measure provides the vehicle owner can get out of the ticket if the owner can show the vehicle was stolen, rented, in use by an employee, or out of state at the time of the infraction  provided the owner helps police identify who actually was driving when the stop-arm violation occurred.

"If you loaned your car, or it's a commercial vehicle, I think you have a responsibility to know that this happened," Niemeyer said. "What this is all about is finding the driver of that vehicle."

Critics of the measure, including state Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, said they would like to see more due process protections for vehicle owners to ensure Hoosiers aren't improperly getting ticketed and fined and have an opportunity to clear their names.

In response, Niemeyer said as the proposal goes through the House, he's "open to any language that will make this bill work."

"This isn't going to stop the tragedies that might happen. Those things are still going to go on. I'm not trying to say this is a bill that's going to fix everything. But we have to do something so that people understand that we're going to go after these violators," he said.

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GARY  A suspect was taken into custody Monday after a Gary police officer was wounded in a shooting after responding to a car crash, prompting a massive, intensive manhunt that led officers from all across Northwest Indiana to descend on downtown Gary.

The suspect was taken into custody by Gary police officers with help from the Lake County Sheriff's Department, Gary Mayor Jerome Prince said.

The wounded officer, identified as Detective Sgt. William Fazekas, was in stable condition with his family late Monday afternoon, Gary Police Department Chief Brian Evans said.

Fazekas, who joined the Gary Police Department in December 1989 and currently works in the Violent Crimes Division as an investigator, was shot about 1 p.m. while responding to a vehicle accident he happened to pass, police said.

He was driving down the street when he witnessed a vehicle strike another vehicle, Evans said. He went to see if he needed to render aid or otherwise help out when one of the suspects started shooting at him, he said.

"Sgt. Fazekas activated his emergency lights and engaged the vehicles in the incident," he said. "One of the suspects opened fire on Sgt. Fazekas, striking him in the left shoulder. At 12:57 p.m., the officer called out shots fired and officer down."

Fazekas was able to return fire.

"We do not know if he struck anybody," Evans said. "The individual we have in custody was unharmed."

The officer was taken to a local hospital for treatment after the shooting near West Fifth Avenue and Johnson Street, Lake County sheriff's spokeswoman Pam Jones said. He went to a local hospital at 12:59 p.m. and then was taken to a Chicago hospital for further treatment at 2:15 p.m., Evans said.

Prince said he was thankful the officer was in stable condition.

"I visited with the officer briefly, and I am relieved to say he is doing well," Prince said.

Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said one person was taken into custody at an abandoned building in the area of West Fourth Avenue and Buchanan Street. Another person of interest was still at large as of late afternoon Monday, Evans said.

Sheriff's police took the lead in the investigation at the request of the Gary Police Department, he said.

The mayor did not release further details about the identity of the suspect.

"Our Gary Police Department has made significant progress in making our city safer, but, as today reminds us, our dedicated men and women on the police force put their lives and well-being on the line every day to serve and protect us," he said. "It can be dangerous work, and I thank each and every one of them."

The investigation remains active.

"One of our veteran officers was injured in the line of duty today," Prince said at a press conference Monday afternoon. "The Gary Police Department as well as the Lake County Sheriff's Office responded immediately, secured the scene and was able to actually apprehend the suspect. To that extent, we're certainly proud of that immediate service to the community."

Prince went to the scene and to the hospital to check on Fazekas.

"He appeared to be doing as well as could be expected," he said. "It's sort of cliche to say police personnel and fire personnel run to danger when others run away from it. But having said that, it's important to note that these men and women place themselves and their lives in danger every single day. To that extent, as the mayor of Gary, I'm certainly please by all of our officers as well as the Lake County Sheriff's Department but in this instance certainly Sgt. Fazekas in particular. He has proven himself to be committed to the success and safety of our city, and we're certainly grateful to have him. But also I wanted to mention I am grateful to all of the officers who responded to the scene."

Elected officials wished for the officer's speedy recovery.

I was pained today to hear the news that my friend Sgt. William Fazekas was shot in the line of duty. However, Im grateful to hear that he is in stable condition and receiving further treatment," said state Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton. "Sgt. Fazekas has honorably served the Gary community for 32 years, putting his life on the line every day. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he knows that he has the entire Gary community behind him.

State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, voiced his concern.

I was saddened to hear the news that Sgt. William Fazekas was shot while on duty, but Im glad to know he is receiving treatment and recovering. I want to thank him for his service to our community, and he and his family will be in our prayers.

Authorities scoured the neighborhood near the shooting scene, which also is near Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in the 600 block of Grant Street. The Lake County Sheriff's Department helicopter circled overhead as officers from multiple agencies converged on the neighborhood.

Officers from Gary, Griffith, Crown Point and Merrillville and their K9s scoured residential streets in the area.

Evans described the crime scene as being from Fourth Ave to the north to Sixth Ave to the south, from Grant Street to the west to Taft Street to the east. The person of interest is believed to be within that radius.

He encouraged residents not to be alarmed.

"The Gary Police Department is very committed to your safety and very committed to our jobs," Evans said. "We do it every day to the best of our abilities. Sometimes, these things happen. Sometimes it's dangerous to do traffic stops and dangerous to be police. But we're committed to make sure you're safe and committed we're doing our jobs. The one thing I can say about the residents of Gary is they always come forward when we need them. That's our sixth man off the bench."

For much of Monday afternoon, police blocked off Grant Street in front of the hospital as well as West Seventh Avenue and Fifth Avenue. At the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Johnson Street, police refused to allow pedestrians to pass through an area described by one officer as a crime scene.

Officers placed crime tape around an apartment building at Fifth Avenue and Johnson Street and could be observed counting bullet shells there.

An armored SWAT vehicle and dozens of officers, several armed with assault rifles and many with K9s in tow, gathered on Fifth Avenue outside the building for much of Monday afternoon.

The heavy police presence tied up traffic and delayed school bus drop-offs, leading Gary schools to notify parents via robocall and Skyward. Brian Hurst, a steelworker at Gary Works, found Fifth Ave was closed off after trying to commute home from the mill.

"Honestly, it's nothing new, being in Gary," he said. "There's crime and shootings all the time. It's scary driving to work every day. I drive right through here. It could happen to anybody. Wrong place, wrong time, you know."

He hoped the officer would recover.

"It's a sad world," he said. "It could happen to anybody."

Times Staff Writer Bob Kasarda contributed to this report.

Come back to nwi.com for more details as they become available in this developing story.

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Bob Kasarda Porter/LaPorte County Courts and Social Justice Reporter Bob is a 23-year veteran of The Times. He covers county government and courts in Porter County, federal courts, police news and regional issues. He also created the Vegan in the Region blog, is an Indiana University grad and lifelong region resident. Follow Bob Kasarda Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Joseph S. Pete Business Reporter Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military. Follow Joseph S. Pete Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
CROWN POINT  A Merrillville woman posted a $2,000 cash bond Thursday on charges she sent PCP-laced mail to a Lake County Jail inmate days before the inmate was sentenced for murder.

Sharita A. Strong, 30, is accused of sending inmate Marquis D. Young a letter in late September containing two pieces of paper laced with PCP.

Strong has not yet entered a plea to one count of trafficking with an inmate, a level 5 felony. Her initial hearing was scheduled for April 11.

Young was sentenced Sept. 24 by the late Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell to 115 years in prison for killing a man and attempting to kill two others in 2020 at a Gary gas station. He has not been charged in connection with allegations involving jail mail.

According to charging documents in Strong's case, she and Young spoke Sept. 22 on a recorded phone line from the jail about a piece of mail she sent to Young.

Strong said she put the outgoing letter in her own mailbox and added, "I'm to the point I don't care," records allege.

She agreed the letter likely would not arrive at the jail until the following Monday, according to court documents. Jail staff intercepted the letter and later examined it.

On Sept. 27, Young sent Strong a message that said, "It didn't go through, baby," records state.

Strong is the fifth person to be charged since Lake County sheriff's police began an investigation in spring 2021 into suspicious mail sent to inmates at the Lake County Jail, court records show.

Nicole M. Moulesong, 51, and Michael A. Galateanu, 43, each were charged in June after jail staff intercepted mail addressed to Galateanu that contained paper laced with suspected PCP, documents state. Moulesong is accused of using another person's Telmate account to communicate with Galateanu about the mail.

Moulesong and Galateanu each have pleaded not guilty.

Anna M. Thomas, of Gary, and James L. P'Pool were charged in September after jail staff seized mail addressed to P'Pool that contained paper laced with suspected PCP.

Thomas has pleaded not guilty to three counts of trafficking with an inmate, a level 5 felony.

P'Pool pleaded guilty in October to attempted possession of a controlled substance. At the time, P'Pool already was serving a five-year sentence for robbery and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.

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Northwest Indiana's newest state senator is on the job.

State Sen. Michael Griffin, D-Highland, showed no hesitation Monday as he walked to the rostrum in the marble-walled Indiana Senate chamber and swore his oath of office in front of Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush.

His new colleagues, on both sides of aisle, heartily applauded Griffin after he officially became part of the 50-member legislative body.

"Today, I felt so privileged to be sworn into the state Senate to serve the people of District 1," Griffin said.

Griffin was selected Saturday by Democratic leaders in the district  which currently includes Hammond's south side, Munster, Highland, Griffith, Dyer and Schererville  to succeed former state Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, who retired Jan. 11 after nearly 40 years in the Senate.

The longtime Highland clerk-treasurer topped Highland veterans advocate Martin Del Rio, 48-31, at the Democratic precinct caucus, due in part to Griffin's years of experience in local government.

Griffin said he hopes to use that experience at the Statehouse to help shape House-approved legislation now being considered by the Senate, as well as in the final weeks of the annual session when last-minute ideas are quickly inserted and removed from pending measures.

"This is an incredible opportunity to do good for my community and for every Hoosier, and I couldn't be more excited and ready to get to work on behalf of our community," Griffin said.

Griffin already has been assigned to serve on the Committee on Insurance and Financial Institutions and the Local Government Committee to help evaluate and revise suggested new laws on behalf of the entire Senate.

He'll also have the opportunity to propose amendments to advancing legislation on the Senate floor. Though as one of just 11 Democrats in the chamber, it's unlikely his proposals will be adopted unless they also appeal to the supermajority of Senate Republicans.

Griffin's first vote to send a measure to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to be signed into law or vetoed could come as soon as Thursday when House Bill 1013, establishing the mastodon as the official state fossil, will be poised for final Senate approval.

Such things weren't yet on his mind as Griffin gratefully reflected on his first day as a member of the General Assembly, watching the action from a seat on the Senate floor instead of in the public gallery one floor above.

"Thank you to my family, friends and community for your support  I'm humbled by your trust and will strive to honor it by serving every citizen of Indiana and District 1 faithfully and compassionately," he said.

Griffin is due to defend his Senate seat against Del Rio in the May 3 Democratic primary election for the new 1st Senate District.

The district's boundaries were shifted a bit south 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.

Starting in November, it will encompass Highland, Griffith, Dyer, Schererville, St. John and southwestern Merrillville.

The Democratic primary winner will face Lake County Councilman Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, at the Nov. 8 general election for a four-year Senate term. Dernulc is running unopposed for the GOP nomination.

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DYER  A 30-year-old woman is reported missing in Dyer.

Police are pleading for the public's help in finding her.

The Dyer Police Department is asking the public to be on the lookout for Jeanna Marie Macocha, who turns 31 years old in a few weeks.

She was last seen at Franciscan Health Dyer near U.S. 30 and the Illinois state line.

"Jenna was last seen leaving Franciscan Health Dyer, on foot, north toward U.S. Rt. 30," Dyer police said in a press release. "Jenna was wearing blue jeans and black shoes."

No further description was provided.

Anyone who is aware of Macocha's current whereabouts is encouraged to immediately call the Dyer Police Dispatch at 219-660-0000.

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EAST CHICAGO  Work will begin this month to replace the St. Josephs Carmelite Home that was severely damaged by fire in May, the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus announced Tuesday.

"After discussions with engineers, architects, constituents, consultants and the Carmelite Board, the sisters determined it would be more cost-effective to rebuild a new facility than to remodel and replace what remains after the fire. Moreover, building a new, modern facility will better meet the needs of the children the sisters are privileged to serve in their ministry," the group said.

Since its origin as an orphanage in 1913, the facility has provided care for thousands of children in crisis at the Grasselli Avenue location.

"The sisters and their valued staff are continuing to provide excellent care to the children who currently live in parts of the campus that were not destroyed by the fire," said attorney Scott Yahne, chairman of the Carmelite Homes advisory board. "We know that care will only be enhanced with the exciting plans we are developing for the new replacement building.

Thomas Lemke, director of services at the Carmelite Home, said the very structures now being replaced have been home to a nurturing and loving environment to thousands of children and families in East Chicago.

"We are grateful to God for what has been accomplished to date, and we are humbled and excited for what we will be able to do in a more modern facility," he said. "We also are grateful to all of our neighbors and organizations that have provided encouragement and support all of these years. With all of our loving friends, we move forward in faith."

Sister Maria Giuseppe, executive director of the Carmelite Home, also thanked the Carmelite fathers from their monastery in Munster.

"For many years our sisters have been blessed by the daily presence of the Carmelite fathers, who have provided the spiritual fortification necessary to continue with our oftentimes challenging ministry," she said.

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LAPORTE  Residents of a large subdivision in LaPorte County will see relief from long-standing problems with flooding.

The LaPorte County Board of Commissioners last week approved a contract of slightly more than $1 million to improve drainage at Meadowview Estates.

Commissioner Joe Haney said many of the residents operate two sump pumps at a time from spring to fall to keep their basements dry and keep an extra one in stock to plug in right away should one of the pumps go out.

Im glad were finally moving it forward here, said Haney, who made addressing the issue a top priority after taking his seat on the governing body for the first time last year.

The bid submitted by Woodruff and Sons of Michigan City was about half as much as the next lowest of the five other bids.

Haney said the plan is to run a drainage pipe about 1,000 feet to carry excess stormwater from the subdivision three miles south of LaPorte to Kingsbury Ditch.

He said the project will also alleviate flooding from other developments, farmland and roads in the surrounding area.

Haney said flooding became an issue several years ago when the subdivision expanded and other developments emerged around it.

The area with a high water table began holding more water than it was able to drain.

Its just kind of a culmination of a series of unfortunate events that led to the position theyre in today, he said.

Haney said the hope is to begin the project as soon as possible.

The commissioners also approved a $2.4 million bid from Rieth Riley Construction of LaPorte on two road projects.

LaPorte County Planner Mitch Bishop said the bid is for resurfacing a stretch of 500 West between U.S. 6 and Indiana 2 and 150 North eight miles from Lofgren Road to the St. Joseph County line.

Bishop said new shoulders and striping on both roads are included in the work, which must receive final approval by the LaPorte County Council.

The state is providing $1 million toward the cost of the projects under its Community Crossings program, which awards road money to local governments providing dollars toward the improvements.

Bishop said LaPorte County has been receiving at or close to the $1 million annual maximum under the program over the past several years.

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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and another was wounded in a shooting Monday at a grocery store in U.S. state of Washington, authorities said.

The shooting incident inside a Fred Meyer grocery store in the southeastern Washington city of Richland was reported at approximately 11:03 a.m. local time, said the Richland Police Department in a statement posted on Facebook.

"One person has died and another is in the hospital with injuries. The suspect has been described as a middle aged white male," the statement added.

Police said that officers are still actively searching for the suspect who is "believed to be armed and dangerous." The suspect left the store and it is undetermined if he left on foot or in a vehicle.

Authorities posted a photo of the suspect on social media and urged local residents with information to contact police.

"If you see the suspect or feel you are in danger, please call 911," said police in the statement.

Authorities also urged people to avoid the incident location. Schools in the Richland School District were temporary on lockdown at noon in response to police activity in the area, according to the school district's website. 
VINCENNES  The completion of restoration work on the exterior of a century-old southwestern Indiana theater where comic Red Skelton got his start has been delayed by supply chain issues.

Architect Callahan Jordan told members of the Pantheon Board last week that due to delays in the delivery of a handful of items, the completion of the Pantheon Theatre's exterior restoration will likely be pushed back by as much as two months.

Jordan told the board, which is overseeing the nearly $1 million restoration, that while the original completion date was late May, that will now likely become late July, the Vincennes Sun-Commercial reported.

The ornate Renaissance Revival-style theater opened in 1921 in Vincennes, a city about 50 miles north of Evansville. The venue was the first stage on which Vincennes native Skelton performed and it also hosted the Marx Brothers, Spike Jones and Duke Ellington.

The historic theater building has been rebranded as the Pantheon: A Business and Innovation Theatre.

Crews have spent months doing tuck pointing to the outside of the theater-turned-co-working space as well as restoration and repair work to its terra cotta details. Workers recently have began replacing exterior windows and doors, making a huge visual impact to passers-by.

The restoration, which is mostly being paid for with a federal grant, also includes the addition of a historic-inspired marquee.

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Be mindful of each others emotional needs

Unlike gay men, women who are married to women are constantly monitoring each others emotions and needs and responding to them  but they are doing it for each other, so its reciprocated, said Debra Umberson, Ph.D., a professor of sociology and the director of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

Two men, in contrast, do less monitoring, which is less labor-intensive.

Theyre on the same page about it, said Dr. Umberson, who has studied gay couples for more than a decade. Two men will tell each other what they need or speak up when there is an issue.

If a couple has similar philosophies about emotional monitoring, there is less potential for conflict between them, Dr. Umberson said.

In heterosexual couples, women are the ones who tend to do emotional monitoring and responding, but the men tend to be unaware of it and often are not doing it, she added  and that can negatively affect the couple by making them feel more frustrated, worried, irritable or upset.

Dr. Umberson's latest study, published in May, examined the psychological toll of providing for the emotional needs of a spouse. The researchers found that the well-being of women married to women seemed to be affected less by the work of assessing and managing each others emotions than that of women married to men. Earlier research suggests this could be because lesbians are more reciprocal in taking care of a spouses emotional needs and also have a greater appreciation for doing so.

Strive for equality in your relationship

Same-sex couples do not have traditional societal roles defining which tasks each member of the couple ought to perform at home or how they ought to relate to one another, which allows them to create their own dynamic.

Straight couples should negotiate and discuss things more, Cadrain suggested, and dont presume certain roles or jobs in terms of who is the breadwinner or how the household is taken care of.
Try to consume your perishables right away, says Ruth Santiago, an environmental lawyer from Salinas, Puerto Rico, who lost electricity for nearly two months after Hurricane Maria hit the island in September 2017. Fishermen sometimes paid Santiago in fish for her legal services. After she lost power, she emptied her freezer and cooked a big seafood stew to share with neighbors. Your freezer will keep its temperature for about 48 hours. If you have forewarning and sufficient space, put water bottles in your freezer and refrigerator to help extend cooler temperatures. Prepare by keeping stores of canned food, bottled water, flashlights, solar lamps and cellphone chargers. Make use of the sun; Santiago took to brewing tea in a jar set outside.

Expect more power outages as climate change causes more extreme weather. Cellular service will be interrupted wherever cell towers lose electricity. Go find a signal, says Santiago, who often had to drive more than an hour to find one, so she could work in her car. If your water provider loses power, your toilets might not flush, and your tap will go dry. Be ready to maybe not have water, banking services, gas pumps, says Santiago, whose sister collected rainwater to flush her toilet. Come up with contingency plans if you rely on medical devices that require electricity or medicine that needs refrigeration. When Santiagos mother, who has diabetes, couldnt find any ice, a doctor suggested she keep her insulin in cold water, out of direct sunlight.

Only use a generator outside, away from windows, to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Never use a gas stove or oven as an indoor heater. Be proactive before things go dark. Put pressure on your utility to invest in resilient solutions like distributed renewable energy and battery storage, says Santiago, who installed solar panels on her rooftop that have protected her from the persistent outages that continue to plague Puerto Ricans. She is involved in a campaign to pressure the electric power authority to do the same across the whole island. If you do lose electricity, check on your neighbors, especially the elderly. Try to share whatever resources you have, whether thats ice, a generator, a can of beans, a battery pack or even just a glass of sun tea.
LONG BEACH, Calif.  The pleasure of a well-made kouign-amann  a French pastry from the town of Douarnenez, perfected in bakeries across Brittany  is in that tickle of salty butter layered throughout the laminated roll, set against the sweetness of the yeasted dough and the dark caramel that covers it.

At Gusto Bread, in Long Beach, the savoriness is intensified by sourdough and a dose of nixtamalized corn. The combination is enough to completely recalibrate the flavor and texture, to shift the pastrys fealty away from France and to reposition it as a Mexican sweet bread, a pan dulce. This calls for a new name, no?

The Nixtamal Queen is delicious, both as a pastry that leaves you satisfied and sticky-fingered, and as a challenge to the idea of Eurocentric authority in the bread and pastry world.
Research suggests that deer are catching the virus from humans and then spreading it to other deer, and there is no evidence that the animals are transmitting it back to people. But longer-term, widespread circulation of the virus in deer would give the virus more opportunity to mutate, potentially giving rise to new variants that could spill over into people or other animal species.

The circulation of the virus in deer provides opportunities for it to adapt and evolve, said Vivek Kapur, a veterinary microbiologist at Penn State University, who is part of the Staten Island research team. And its likely to come back and haunt us in the future.

The researchers also found that one deer with Omicron already had a high level of antibodies to the virus, suggesting that it may have been previously infected. Omicron has proved able to evade some of the immune systems defenses in humans. If it is similarly immune-evasive in deer, animals infected during earlier outbreaks may be vulnerable to reinfection.

The news that Omicron had breached white-tailed deer populations was not unexpected, experts said.

Its disappointing but its not surprising, said Dr. Scott Weese, an infectious diseases veterinarian at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Omicron is quite ubiquitous, said Dr. Samira Mubareka, a virologist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto.
Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York said last week that officials were striving to remove mask mandates in schools, but that vaccination rates for younger children needed to rise.

The more children we have vaccinated, the safer theyll be when they go to school, Governor Hochul said. Were just not there yet.

In appearance on Monday in Kingston, N.Y., she said that she was still monitoring the situation and noted that New Jerseys mandate would not be lifted for another month.

Im gathering data, Governor Hochul said. We are trending in a very, very good direction.

In California, the most recent mask mandate, which required masks in indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status, was put in place in mid-December, amid uncertainty around the Omicron variant, and was set to remain until Jan. 15 at least. As case counts exploded, stretching essential work forces, the state extended the mandate until Feb. 15. Thats when it will expire.

The rate for fully vaccinated New York residents ages 5 to 11 is 30 percent; that age group became eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine in early November. That rate for children ages 12 to 17 is 70 percent, according to federal data.

A spokesman for the New York City Department of Education said Monday that the citys mask mandate for schools, which is separate from the state requirement, remained unchanged. The city will decide what to do with its mandate based on what happens on the state level, the spokesman said.

As of Sunday, the daily average of new virus cases in New York had dropped 69 percent statewide over a 14-day period, according to a New York Times database. Hospitalizations had decreased by 42 percent and deaths had fallen by 39 percent over the same period.
The former head of one of the largest operators of homeless shelters in New York pleaded guilty Monday to pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from contractors in a scheme that went on for years, as homelessness in the city grew to record numbers.

Victor Rivera, the founder and former chief executive of the nonprofit Bronx Parent Housing Network, admitted to accepting kickbacks from contractors working with the organization and laundering the money through entities he controlled, according to the city Department of Investigation.

As part of the plea agreement, Mr. Rivera is expected to face a prison sentence and, according to federal court documents, he has agreed to forfeit $1.2 million. He also agreed to pay $902,000 to the shelter organization he used to run.

It was a very stupid thing that I did, Mr. Rivera said during his plea in federal court in Manhattan, according to a transcript of the proceedings. It was dumb. Greed.
I spoke to him many times about the failings of various parts of the left, which became one of his great subjects, but I dont recall him ever seeming embittered. Some people, disenchanted by the left, make a whole politics out of that disenchantment. But Gitlins broad ideals remained consistent, even if his onetime radicalism was chastened by experience. He threw himself into the fight to get universities to divest from fossil fuel corporations. He was excited by Occupy Wall Street and by the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020.

Something I learned from Gitlin and never forgot was that in 1968, when a majority of Americans had turned against the war in Vietnam, the antiwar movement was detested still more  the most hated political group in America, disliked even by most of the people who supported immediate withdrawal. Now, activists are often unpopular. Martin Luther King Jr. was also viewed unfavorably during much of his lifetime. But there was a cost to needlessly alienating potential allies and fueling right-wing backlash. Gitlin argued for left-wing pragmatism because he wanted the left to succeed, even if some people on the left heard it as patronizing centrism. As he once wrote of Occupy Wall Street, I worry with this movement, not just about it.

I wish Id asked Gitlin how it felt to adopt the Howe role in some of his arguments with young leftists, knowing how scornful they can be  how scornful he had been  of tut-tutting elders. To me it seems thankless, but perhaps it was the price of staying engaged.

In a forthcoming tribute to Gitlin in The Nation, his friend Eric Alterman writes that being at once an activist and an intellectual is harder than it looks: To be an honest intellectual, as I once heard Susan Sontag  another friend and fan of Todds  say, is to make distinctions. To be a successful activist, however, requires the elision of such distinctions in the name of movement unity. Gitlin had once disparaged those who chose reflection over action; because the Dissent crowd were intellectuals, he and his friends saw them as inactivists. But he would learn to combine activism and intellectual rigor, even if that sometimes meant saying things other activists didnt want to hear. (Hed also join the editorial board of Dissent.)

Gitlin wrote plenty of things I disagree with, sometimes in substance and sometimes just in tone. I dont like trigger warnings but also dont like hectoring people who support them not to give in to fragility, as he did in a not-uncharacteristic 2015 essay, Please Be Disturbed: Triggering Can Be Good for You, Kids. But Gitlin could push back against what was once called political correctness without ever dipping so much as a toe in Intellectual Dark Web-style reaction. He knew what was important and spent the end of his life working feverishly to rally people on behalf of liberal democracy.
There is no evidence that a combined Nvidia and Arm would have either the ability or the incentive to harm competition, lawyers for Nvidia, SoftBank and Arm argued in a response to the F.T.C. complaint.

Whoever might have prevailed in court, the lengthy delays in closing the deal posed problems for Arm and SoftBank. SoftBank had paid $32 billion for Arm in 2016, as an audacious bet by its chief, Masayoshi Son, on a global rise in internet-connected devices, and was looking to reap gains from the deal.

SoftBank now plans to take Arm public, sometime in the fiscal year starting in March. Arm said Simon Segars, its chief executive, decided to step down after 30 years at the company in view of the demands of taking it public. He is being succeeded by Rene Haas, a longtime senior executive.

Our business has never been better, Mr. Haas said in an interview, but he added that the uncertainty about the deal was not helpful. Its very clear that the regulatory climate has gotten more challenging.

Mr. Huang of Nvidia vowed to remain a user of Arm technology. Though we wont be one company, we will partner closely with Arm, he said in a statement.

The end of the deal is not a surprise. Many Wall Street analysts had concluded after the F.T.C. suit that Arm would have to make other plans. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Nvidia was likely to abandon the effort. The Financial Times reported earlier on Monday that the transaction was being canceled.

It feels safe to say that virtually no one in the investment community has expected it to close anyway, Stacy Rasgon, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, wrote in a research note last month.
Kenneth H. Brown, a New York playwright whose acclaimed 1963 Off Off Broadway play The Brig, based on his experiences as a Marine, portrayed dehumanization inside a military prison during the Korean War, died on Feb. 5 at a hospice in Queens. He was 85.

A friend, the performance artist and writer Penny Arcade, said the cause was cancer.

After growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950s as something of a street tough, Mr. Brown, eager to serve his country, enlisted in the Marines at 18. But stationed in Japan, he found himself rattled by military life and was thrown into the brig for insubordination.

There, by his account, he was humiliated and abused. Guards called him maggot; he was punched in the gut for even minor infractions. Mornings started with garbage-can lids being banged on bunk beds, and he and his fellow inmates were ordered to jog around their claustrophobic quarters for hours until they were breathless.

I was always in trouble in the Marines, he said in an interview with the Lower East Side Biography Project. I went to the brig twice. The first time I did 25 days. Of his military service, he said, By the time I got out, I was a complete pacifist.
Students wearing face masks are seen at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Feb. 7, 2022. Free masks and rapid tests were available to UBC students on Monday as most in-person learning returned after a delayed start due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A volunteer distributes KN95 masks at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Feb. 7, 2022. Free masks and rapid tests were available to UBC students on Monday as most in-person learning returned after a delayed start due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

Students wearing face masks are seen at a campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Feb. 7, 2022. Free masks and rapid tests were available to UBC students on Monday as most in-person learning returned after a delayed start due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A staff member distributes face masks to a student at a campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Feb. 7, 2022. Free masks and rapid tests were available to UBC students on Monday as most in-person learning returned after a delayed start due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A student receives a COVID-19 antigen test kit and face masks at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Feb. 7, 2022. Free masks and rapid tests were available to UBC students on Monday as most in-person learning returned after a delayed start due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

Students wearing face masks are seen at a campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Feb. 7, 2022. Free masks and rapid tests were available to UBC students on Monday as most in-person learning returned after a delayed start due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)
A federal judge ordered the U.S. Air Force on Monday to pay more than $230 million to the survivors and the families of the victims of a 2017 shooting at a Texas church because the Air Force had failed to report the gunmans criminal history.

In his ruling, Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas wrote that the Air Force could have blocked the gunman, Devin P. Kelley, who had served on an Air Force base in New Mexico, from buying the rifle he used to kill 26 people on Nov. 5, 2017, at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

For its failure to report Mr. Kelleys 2012 conviction for domestic assault, the Air Force must pay damages to the victims for their pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, impairment and loss of companionship, the judge wrote. He added that the case was unprecedented in kind and scope.

The ruling came in a lawsuit brought against the federal government by the families of the victims.

Ultimately, there is no satisfying way to determine the worth of these families pain, the judge wrote.
California is set to end a universal indoor mask mandate next week and roll back other restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, officials announced on Monday.

The most recent mask mandate, which required Californians to cover their faces in indoor public settings, was put in place in mid-December, amid uncertainty around the Omicron variant, and was set to remain until Jan. 15 at least.

Then, as case counts exploded, stretching essential work forces, the state extended the mandate until Feb. 15. Thats when it will expire.

Masks will still be required indoors for people who are not vaccinated, and in high-risk settings, including in hospitals and in schools  although state officials said they were working with labor groups and others to agree to adjust mask requirements for schoolchildren and teachers.
Local election officials told Ms. Moses then that she could not be on the ballot because of prior felony convictions, including a 2015 conviction for tampering with evidence. That felony conviction meant Ms. Moses would never be allowed to vote again, but officials did not tell her that at the time and advised her only to check her probation status, said Bede Anyanwu, her lawyer.

Ms. Moses was confused because she thought her probation was over, Mr. Anyanwu said. She still wanted to run for mayor, or at the very least vote in the upcoming election, so she went to find answers.

In September 2019, a judge told Ms. Moses that she was indeed still on probation. She remained skeptical and went to the probation office, where a probation officer told her she was actually done with her felony probation, records show. The probation officer signed off on her voting rights restoration form. Ms. Moses submitted the form to election officials.

Problems came one day later. The probation officer had made a mistake, and the Department of Correction sent a letter to the Shelby County Election Commission informing it that Ms. Moses was still under an active felony sentence and could not vote, records show.

Ms. Moses was then charged with perjury on a registration form and consenting to a false entry on official election documents. The former charge was dropped, because there was no false statement from Ms. Moses on the voting form, but she was convicted of the second charge in November and sentenced Jan. 31 to six years and one day in prison.
Theres wide agreement on three points to do that:

Extending the safe harbor deadline, the date by which all challenges to a states election results must be completed.

Clarifying that the role of the vice president on Jan. 6 is purely ministerial, meaning the vice president merely opens the envelopes and has no power to reject electors.

Raising the number of members of Congress needed to object to a states electors; currently, one lawmaker from each chamber is enough to do so.

The harder part is figuring out how to clarify the process for how states choose their electors in the first place. And thats where things get tricky.

The states that decide presidential elections are often closely divided. Maybe one party controls the legislature while another holds the governors mansion or the secretary of states office. And while each state has its own rules for working through any election disputes, its not always clear what is supposed to happen.

In Michigan, for instance, a canvassing board made up of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats certifies the states election results. What if they cant reach a decision? That nearly happened in 2020, until one Republican member broke with his party and declared Biden the winner.

Progressive Democrats will want more aggressive provisions to prevent attempts in Republican-led states to subvert the results. Republicans will fear a slippery slope and try to keep the bill as narrow as possible.

Kings solution was to clarify the process for the federal courts to referee disputes between, say, a governor and a secretary of state, and to require states to hash out their internal disagreements by the federal safe harbor date, which he would push back to Dec. 20 instead of its current date of Dec. 8.

The political obstacles are formidable, too. Still reeling from their failure to pass federal voting rights legislation, many Democrats are suspicious of Republicans motives. Its entirely possible that Democrats will decide that its better to do nothing, because passing a bipartisan bill to fix the Electoral Count Act would allow Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, to portray himself as the savior of American democracy.

Representative Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who heads the Committee on House Administration, has been working with Representative Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican, on a bipartisan House bill. But she stressed that their ambitions are fairly limited.
WASHINGTON  Eric S. Lander, the presidents top science adviser, resigned Monday evening after acknowledging that he had demeaned and disrespected his colleagues, behavior that prompted immediate questions about how he could keep his job given President Bidens promise to fire any aide who disrespected others.

The president accepted Dr. Eric Landers resignation letter this evening with gratitude for his work, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. He knows that Dr. Lander will continue to make important contributions to the scientific community in the years ahead.

Dr. Lander, a cabinet-level official, apologized in an email to his staff after an internal investigation found that he had violated an administration policy that outlines rules for respectful workplace conduct. In his resignation letter to the president, he again expressed regret for having been disrespectful.

I am devastated that I caused hurt to past and present colleagues by the way in which I have spoken to them, Dr. Lander wrote in his resignation letter. I have sought to push myself and my colleagues to reach our shared goals  including at times challenging and criticizing. But it is clear that things I said, and the way I said them, crossed the line at times into being disrespectful and demeaning, to both men and women.
WASHINGTON  The House on Monday overwhelmingly passed legislation that would overhaul how workplace sexual assault and harassment claims are handled, approving a significant change in employment law that would effectively do away with forced arbitration in such cases, eliminating a central source of protection for the perpetrators.

The bills passage, 335 to 97, had broad bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate and is backed by President Biden. It came years after a major public reckoning on sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace that revealed how powerful men at some of the most prominent companies used secretive proceedings with no appeals to settle cases and silence victims. Those practices allowed the perpetrators to move on without the public learning that claims had ever been filed against them.

The bill would for the first time ensure that victims of sexual harassment and assault have the option of suing their abusers in state, tribal or federal court, invalidating any contract that closed off the option  a common condition of employment at many companies.

House passage was the first step in a quick push to usher the legislation into law. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said Monday that the Senate would take it up later in the week, and the White House has indicated that Mr. Biden will sign it.
Former President Donald J. Trump last month handed over to the National Archives 15 boxes of documents, letters, gifts and mementos that he had taken with him when leaving office but that he had been legally required to leave in the custody of the federal government, officials said on Monday.

The materials included the original versions of a letter that former President Barack Obama had left for Mr. Trump when he was first sworn in, as well as correspondence from the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. The items also included a map Mr. Trump famously drew on with a black Sharpie marker to demonstrate the track of Hurricane Dorian heading toward Alabama in 2019 to back up a declaration he had made on Twitter that contradicted weather forecasts.

The boxes contained items taken from the White Houses residence during a hasty exit after Mr. Trump had spent the bulk of the presidential transition trying to find ways to stay in power, according to two people familiar with the process of how the boxes were returned. At the time, Mr. Trumps aides were either preoccupied with helping him overturn the election, trying to stop him or avoiding him.

The Washington Post reported earlier that Mr. Trump had handed over the boxes to the National Archives.
The truck convoy protests in Canada that have roiled the nations capital are attracting support online among far-right activists across the world.

The protests initially focused on vaccine mandates imposed by the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but have since grown to encompass broader demonstrations over general pandemic rules like vaccination mandates, shutdowns and mask requirements.

About two weeks ago, photos of the truckers appeared on anti-vaccine groups on Facebook and other social networks. The hashtag used by the truckers, #FreedomConvoy, spread quickly across Facebook and Twitter, as well as the messaging app Telegram.

Since then, prominent far-right figures in numerous countries, including the United States, Australia and Germany, have praised the protests online, spreading the images and arguments even more widely. Some are also calling for similar demonstrations in their countries.
OTTAWA  Eleven days into an unruly occupation against coronavirus restrictions that has paralyzed Canadas capital, the protests have become a rallying cry for powerful far-right and anti-vaccine groups around the world that have made the cause their own.

The demonstration in Ottawa started in January as a loosely organized convoy of truck drivers and protesters rumbling across the country to oppose the mandatory vaccination of truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border. It soon attracted the support of other Canadians exhausted by nearly two years of pandemic restrictions.

Some were clearly on the fringe, wearing Nazi symbols and desecrating public monuments. But many described themselves as ordinary Canadians driven to take to the streets by desperation.

They keep doing the same thing, and its not working, said Nicole Vandelaar, a 31-year-old hairdresser protesting in the capital. They have to do something else. No more lockdowns. Let us live our lives.
But the protests sudden surge, coming amid a wider backlash to pandemic-related restrictions, illuminates the far rights unique and potentially changing role in Canadian political and cultural life, as well as the challenges and opportunities facing it.

The biggest misconception about this, even within Canada, is that extremists have infiltrated the movement, said Stephanie Carvin, a former national security official in Canada who now teaches at Carleton University.

In reality, she added, this was an extremist movement that got mainstream attention.

The organizers are mostly fringe activists, rather than truck drivers, an overwhelming majority of whom are vaccinated.

One organizer, Tamara Lich, was a senior member of a splinter party that has advocated secession for Western provinces, until resigning her position last week. B.J. Dichter, who was listed on the convoys official fund-raiser alongside Ms. Lich, has said that political Islam is rotting away at our society like syphilis.

Pat King, who is listed as an official contact for a regional group involved in the protest and has been a prominent champion of the protests online, has called Covid a man-made bioweapon and claimed that international financiers seek to depopulate the Anglo-Saxon race. He has said of lockdowns, The only way that this is going to be solved is with bullets.
A boy shows a Chinese New Year decoration at the pavilion for translated Chinese books at the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



The reason behind Egyptian readers' growing interest in China-related books is that the Chinese culture is one of the closest to the Arab culture, and China's development success has made Egyptians curious about its experience, the fair's chief organizer says.



CAIRO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian book lovers have treated themselves with hundreds of titles on China during the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), a major cultural event in the Egyptian capital that runs from Jan. 26 to Feb. 7.

More than 600 Arabic books translated from Chinese have been on display in the pavilions of Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group, a local publishing house mainly devoted to the Arabic translation of Chinese books.

"Our main goal is to be a cultural bridge between the Arab and the Chinese cultures," said Ahmed al-Saeed, CEO of Bayt Al-Hekma, during the two-week cultural feast.

Featured publications include books on China's history, literature, culture, geography and economy, dictionaries and lexicons, as well as best-seller Chinese children's books in Arabic.

"We also have a pavilion for children's books, with about 300 book titles, in partnership with China's renowned Jieli Publishing House," Saeed told Xinhua.

The language books were published by Egypt's Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group with its Chinese partner Peking University Press and Sinolingua, he noted.

People visit the pavilion for translated Chinese books at the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



Bayt Al-Hekma won the Best-translated Book award at the fair for its Arabic edition of Belt and Road Initiative: A Comparative Study of Regional and National Economies.

Saeed said the rising number of Egyptian students of the Chinese language and the close political, social, economic ties between Egypt and China are behind the rising attention to China among local readers.

Yasmine Ahmed, a student of the Chinese language at Ain Shams University in Cairo, came to visit the Bayt Al-Hekma pavilions because of its "rich and diversified" books on China.

"These books, whether in Chinese or translated into Arabic, help me a lot with my study," she told Xinhua.

Youssef Baghdady, a senior engineering student at the Egyptian Chinese University in Cairo, said he came to buy Chinese-learning books as he plans to work for one of the Chinese companies operating in Egypt after graduation.

"Many people who work there are Chinese. We can communicate in English but being able to speak Chinese with them can better boost your career," the young man explained.

This year's CIBF is held at the Egypt International Exhibitions Center, with the participation of 1,063 publishers from 51 countries.

People visit the pavilion for translated Chinese books at the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



It received 1 million visits during the first nine days and the number is expected to reach 2 million by the end of the fair, up by 20 percent from last year's edition, said Haytham al-Hajj Aly, head of the General Egyptian Book Organization and chief organizer of the CIBF.

The reason behind Egyptian readers' growing interest in China-related books is that the Chinese culture is one of the closest to the Arab culture, and China's development success has made Egyptians curious about its experience, he told Xinhua. 
Video Heavy trucks and private vehicles shut down the Ambassador Bridge, Canadas busiest link to the United States, located between Detroit and Ontario. Credit Credit... Sarah Rice for The New York Times

As Ottawa remained paralyzed by nearly two weeks of protests against pandemic measures, the demonstrations continued to reverberate beyond Canada, with a new road blockade temporarily cutting off the countrys busiest border crossing and copycat convoys spreading to New Zealand and Australia, with plans for a third in the United States.

While smaller than the protests that have buffeted the core of Ottawa, Canadas capital, the new protest targets the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit. The bridge is a vital link for the automobile industry, which relies on a constant shuttling of parts and components across the border to keep factories humming in Ontario and the Midwestern United States.

The heavy trucks and private vehicles have blocked traffic destined for Canada. On Tuesday morning the Canada Border Services Agency listed the bridge as temporarily closed. But Windsor Police said on Twitter that traffic was again moving to the United States through a secondary entrance to the bridge.

Most of the trucks in the Windsor protest were covered with flags and posters denouncing vaccine mandates and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mr. Trudeau himself had his own message for the protesters in the national capital, whom he accused of undermining Canadian democracy: It has to stop.

In the United States, plans for a demonstration by truckers similar to the one in Ottawa appear to be gaining momentum, aided by online supporters.

The route and timing of the demonstration, meant to protest pandemic restrictions in the United States, was set to be announced on Tuesday evening, said Brian Brase, a trucker who is organizing the American effort. According to messages posted on social media, the route may start in Sacramento, Calif., and end in Washington, D.C., but Mr. Brase declined to comment on details of the convoy until an official announcement was made.

It is unclear how large any such convoy might be, should it come to pass. But anti-vaccine activists have started planning on popular forums on Facebook and Telegram, the messaging app.

Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:08 - 0:00 transcript It Has to Stop: Trudeau Denounces Anti-Vaccine Protesters in Ottawa Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defiantly called for an end to protests in Canadas capital, where truckers and anti-vaccine groups have paralyzed the city center. Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens daily lives. It has to stop. The people of Ottawa dont deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods. They dont deserve to be confronted with the inherent violence of a swastika flying on a street corner, or a Confederate flag, or the insults and jeers just because theyre wearing a mask. Thats not who Canada  Canadians are. Thats not what Canadians demonstrated over the past two years, of consistently, continually being there for each other. The people of Ottawa, indeed, people across the country, deserve to have their safety respected and deserve to get their lives back. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defiantly called for an end to protests in Canadas capital, where truckers and anti-vaccine groups have paralyzed the city center. Credit Credit... Justin Tang/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

Speaking to the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday night, the prime minister said the protests, which began in opposition to Covid-19 restrictions, were harassing Ottawa residents in their own neighborhoods.

They are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens daily lives, he said.

Mr. Trudeau said on Twitter that hundreds of Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been mobilized to support Ottawa police officers, and promised that the Canadian government and city would employ whatever resources are needed to get the situation under control. On Sunday, the authorities in Ottawa had declared a state of emergency.

The prime minister faced new dissent from within his own party ranks on Tuesday, when Joel Lightbound, a Liberal member of Parliament from Quebec, spoke out against Mr. Trudeaus handling of the pandemic, saying that people worried about the governments policies have legitimate concerns.

He said Mr. Trudeau shouldnt demonize people worried about pandemic restrictions.

In Ottawa on Tuesday, several hundred trucks continued to paralyze the city center, but the nonstop honking of previous days appeared to have subsided. Reports on local radio in Ottawa said residents were able to sleep undisturbed for the first time in over a week. But many businesses have been shuttered during the protests, losing tens of millions of dollars.

The demonstrations in Ottawa started in January as a loosely organized convoy of truck drivers and protesters opposed to the mandatory vaccination of truckers crossing the U.S.-Canadian border. But it morphed into a protest against pandemic restrictions in general and the leadership of Mr. Trudeau.

The Ottawa demonstrations have also become a rallying cry for powerful far-right and anti-vaccine groups around the world.

Prominent far-right figures in numerous countries, including the United States, Australia and Germany, have praised the protests, spreading the images and arguments even more widely. Some, including in the United States, want to replicate the protests.

Donors have contributed millions of dollars meant for the Canadian protesters in online campaigns.

Now, the protests are threatening the supply chain of an industry with deep links between Canada and the United States.

Flavio Volpe, the president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, a Canadian trade group, said that about $300 million dollars in goods cross the bridge daily with about $100 million of that related to the auto industry. Most assembly plants, he said, have enough parts for only one days production, raising the possibility of layoffs if there is a prolonged border disruption.

The idea that a group is hiding under the profession of trucking, though unsupported by trucking associations, to disrupt this is brain-dead, he said.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, denounced the bridge blockade on Tuesday, noting that it is used by many health care workers.

Officials in Detroit are redirecting traffic bound for Canada to a border crossing about two hours away in Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario. Another Canadian protest convoy closed a highway leading to that bridge on Sunday and slowed border traffic.

A blockade of the border between the Western province of Alberta and Montana that started on Jan. 29 continues to slow and sometimes close the border in the town of Coutts.
MOSCOW  President Vladimir V. Putin said he was prepared to keep negotiating over Russias security demands in Eastern Europe but offered a stark warning over the possibility of a full-scale war between Russia and the West  using a five-hour meeting with his French counterpart on Monday to keep the world guessing about his intentions.

Mr. Putin said that proposals made by President Emmanuel Macron of France in their one-on-one meeting at the Kremlin were too early to speak about but could create a foundation for our further steps. Mr. Macron, in a joint news conference with Mr. Putin after their hastily scheduled meeting, described the coming days as potentially decisive in heading off what the West fears could be a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We are in a situation of extreme tension, a degree of incandescence that Europe has rarely known in the past decades, Mr. Macron said.

The meeting came as President Biden hosted Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany at the White House to coordinate a trans-Atlantic response to a potential attack on Ukraine, underscoring the intense unease in the West touched off by Mr. Putins enormous troop buildup around Ukraines borders.
The Kirov Academy in Washington D.C., an elite ballet school founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church, plans to close in May after serving as an important dance training ground for three decades.

Parents were informed by email in November that the school was winding down its operations.

As much as we love the Kirov Academy, we cannot ignore the financial reality, the Kirovs executive director Pamela Gonzales de Cordova wrote in the email.

School officials declined to detail those financial realities of the academy, which offered academic and music programs in addition to its lauded Russian-style ballet training.

Thomas Walsh, the president of the academy and the Universal Peace Federation, founded by Rev. Moon, said in an email: Last year, it became clear that we could no longer rely on the necessary funding we had received in the past. We made great effort to acquire adequate funds to remain open for one more year so that we could help assure a smooth, dignified transition for our students, as well as faculty and staff.
Bunch said that this priority would be integral to Nicanors mandate, as well. We want to make sure the Cooper Hewitt reaches an inclusive audience that is not just local but also global, he said.

He added that he was especially encouraged by Nicanors history at the Guggenheim, where between 2003 and 2013 she held several positions, including associate curator of architecture and urbanism and co-curator of the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a traveling think tank.

You want someone who understands culture in New York, Bunch said.

While Nicanor was born in Barcelona and raised and educated in Madrid  her bachelors degree is in art and architectural history and theory from the Autonoma University  she earned her masters degree in museum and curatorial studies at New York University. New York has been my home for many years.

With creative parents  her father is a filmmaker and her mother is an intellectual property lawyer in the arts  Nicanor said she has always been fascinated by how things are made, how design affects the interaction you have with the world around you.

In thinking about the role of the Cooper Hewitt, Nicanor said she wants to advance the museums digital component and to connect with national design policy, what it means to talk about design in the larger context.

That means not just exhibiting beautiful cups of tea, she added, but also explaining the infrastructure bill.
Everyone eats.

That simple truth, which has persuaded even quarreling heads of state to sit down together, has now inspired a new television series that aims to teach another frequently fractious group  children ages 2 to 7  cooperation, compassion and cultural literacy. Disney has taken on this challenge in Alices Wonderland Bakery, a novel blend of sweetness and spice that uses globally inspired food to help little viewers master resilience and adaptability.

Debuting on Wednesday on the Disney Channel, Disney Junior and the streaming service Disney+, the show takes its brightly colored universe and rapid-fire surprises from Alice in Wonderland, the companys fantastical  and fantastically food-filled  1951 animated feature film of the classic Lewis Carroll story.

We had been looking at doing something with Alice for a while, Joe DAmbrosia, the senior vice president for original programming and general manager at Disney Junior, said in a telephone interview. And we also had really been trying to find a cooking show for preschoolers.

This half-hour animated series is not, however, a traditional cooking show with recipes to follow. Although DAmbrosia said he hoped it would inspire families to bake together, you wont find ingredients like dancing dodo eggs and shrinking powder in your pantry. Instead, the dishes the series features  some entirely fanciful, like dwindling dewdrop cake, and others based on the real world, like gingerbread  become vehicles for creativity and problem-solving. The shows Alice may concoct something delectable so she can make a new friend, comfort an old one or show how a situation, just like a recipe, can be approached in more than one way.
LONDON  For more than a century, Charles Dickens scholars have tried, without much success, to decipher a one-page letter written by the author in symbols, dots and scribbles.

The letter sat for decades, unread, in a vault in the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, until recent months, when two Americans with backgrounds in computer science were able to make substantial headway in decoding the letter. They were motivated by a challenge from the University of Leicester, which posted a copy of it online and promised 300 British pounds, or $406, to the person who could make the most sense of it.

The winner of the competition, Shane Baggs, a computer technical support specialist from San Jose, Calif., had never read a Dickens novel before. He transcribed more symbols than any other of the 1,000 people who entered  helping to crack a 163-year-old mystery about one of the worlds most celebrated authors.

After getting mostly C grades in literature, I never dreamed anything Id ever do would be of interest to Dickens scholars! Mr. Baggs said in a statement. Ken Cox, a 20-year-old cognitive science student at the University of Virginia, came in second place.
The themes emerge daringly late in these layered tales. Beth and her activist friend, Kay, who was killed at 17 while involved in a violent protest movement against apartheid, are on the right side of history, but only Kay emerges as wholly innocent  not always kind or honest in private life, but politically moral. Zhao, perhaps like anyone who survives a long period of state violence, recalls his questionable decisions and priorities. Beth has left a marriage broken by her husbands conviction that in making the compromises necessary to represent her country she has become complicit in its corruption.

The novels secondary characters develop the theme. Shan, the daughter of a high-ranking civil servant, was educated in America and is equally attuned to the priorities of American democracy and Chinese communism; she puts herself in danger in translating Zhaos writings but does so ambivalently, in full knowledge of the personal cost paid by the families of those who prioritize principle over self-interest. The experiences of her Zulu husband, Arabile (Beths boss), of being Black in China echo those of Langston Hughes, though Hughess anger remains with American racism.

This isnt  couldnt be  a book that claims to offer answers to these dilemmas, but it is an admirably ambitious and absorbing exploration of activism, betrayal and daily life in interesting times, of increasing relevance in many parts of the world.
Throughout Origin, Raff takes on pseudoscientific nonsense rooted in bigotry and colonial thinking. She eviscerates claims of lost civilizations founded on the racist assumption that Indigenous people werent sophisticated enough to construct large, animal-shaped or pyramidal mounds and therefore couldnt have been the first people on the continent. She convincingly disposes of the Solutrean hypothesis of ancient Europeans in the Americas with logic and evidence. It puzzles her (and me) that people interested in this topic watch ill-informed documentaries on the History Channel when the true histories, evident in genetics, oral traditions and archaeology, are exciting enough.

Given the fast and furious pace of discovery in this field, Raff is clear that not everyone will agree with her interpretations of the data. All scientists must hold themselves open to the possibility that we could be wrong, and it may very well be that in five, 10 or 20 years, this book will be as out of date as any other, she writes. That possibility is what makes working in this field so rewarding. That, she explains, is how science is done.

While science is the most objective way of understanding the natural world that humans have ever devised, it is still done by an emotional, subjective primate  us. Raff celebrates science, but also calls attention to the many ways science has harmed Indigenous communities. Origin details mistrust between some Native communities and helicopter scientists who have swooped into their lands and exploited them for their DNA without inviting input and participation from all stakeholders. The hashtag #decolonizescience looks good on Twitter and the concept sounds good in grants, but it rings hollow unless it is put into practice. Raff provides a road map for how to do this and convincingly argues why this must be the future of our science. In fact, Origin opens with the discovery of 10,000-year-old human bones from Shuka Kaa Cave, Alaska, and details the constructive partnerships, built on transparency and trust, that emerged between scientists, Indigenous communities and federal agencies.

My only quibble with this outstanding book is that we dont learn who Raff herself is and how she personally has contributed to this work through her scholarship until halfway through Origin. At the end of the book, she describes herself as one obscure researcher from a small lab. To be sure, there are much bigger labs than hers, but I think shes being too modest. Jennifer Raff is a well-published scholar and accomplished scientific communicator who has contributed important insights into the genetic history and movement patterns of Indigenous Americans. She is at the forefront of a culture change in our science. And now she has written the book anyone interested in the peopling of the Americas must read.
THE COLOR OF ABOLITION

How a Printer, a Prophet, and a Contessa Moved a Nation

By Linda Hirshman

On Aug. 6, 1845, Frederick Douglass set sail on a speaking tour of England and Ireland to promote the cause of antislavery. He had just published The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an instant best seller that, along with his powerful oratory, had made him a celebrity in the growing abolition movement. No sooner had he arrived in Britain, however, than Douglass began to realize that white abolitionists in Boston had been working to undermine him: Before hed even left American shores, they had privately written his British hosts and impugned his motives and character.

The author of these sneaky, condescending missives, Douglass soon discovered, was Maria Weston Chapman, a wealthy, well-connected and dedicated activist whose scornful nickname, the Contessa, stemmed from her imperious behind-the-scenes work with the leading abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.

In Linda Hirshmans fresh, provocative and engrossing account of the abolition movement, Chapman was the prime mover in driving Douglass away from the avowedly nonpolitical Garrisonians and toward the overtly political wing of abolitionism led by Gerrit Smith, a wealthy white businessman in upstate New York. With brisk, elegant prose Hirshman lays bare the casual racism of the privileged class within Garrisons abolitionist circle.

Setting out on her research, Hirshman initially considered Chapman a feminist hero whose significant role in the movement had long been overlooked. After all, Chapman raised enormous funds for abolition societies, edited Garrisons newspaper, The Liberator, for years in his long absences, and carried on a massive petition campaign to end slavery. But when she read Chapmans voluminous correspondence, Hirshman encountered the ugly personal rivalries and private politics at the center of a shaky alliance between the uncompromising Garrison and the ambitious and self-possessed Douglass.
Yesterday, protesters shut down traffic crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit to Windsor, the busiest crossing point on the U.S.-Canada border. Last night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the protesters of undermining Canadian democracy. It has to stop, he said.

To understand more about the chaos in Ottawa, I spoke to my colleague Ian Austen, who covers Canada.

What have the last few days been like?

Until last night, the truckers were blowing horns day and night. Aside from the noise, you basically cant get around downtown Ottawa, and you cant easily get over to Quebec. Hospitals have had to open up residences so employees can stay overnight because the city is just gridlocked.

But its also evolving. During the week, its been maybe 400 or 500 trucks. On the weekends, its frenetic. Last weekend, another thousand trucks of various sizes showed up for the day, and about 5,000 more people showed up. Theres also sort of a party scene  if you can stand the cacophony  next to the hotel Im using as an office. There was a circle of tractor-trailer trucks and there was a D.J. in the middle of it.

What are residents telling you?

Downtown Ottawa is compact and you dont have to get very far away from Parliament to be in residential neighborhoods. And for those people, when Ive interviewed them, their life is just complete turmoil. A number of them have been afraid to go out. I was roughed up by one protester the first day, and a lot of residents are being yelled at and heckled for wearing masks. Most shops in the downtown area, including a major shopping mall, have just given up and closed.

Who are the protesters?

This all started out as a group of truckers who were irritated because the federal government mandated vaccines for all truck drivers  Canadian and American  crossing the border into Canada. Now, there are various people who seem to be leaders of the protest, but its fuzzy  not all of them are connected to the trucking industry.

One woman is a former country musician who was a founder of a political party that was initially devoted to separating Alberta and Saskatchewan from the rest of Canada. Its now become a sort of far-right party  the Maverick party.
BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- For China, the year 2021 was a milestone. Notable progress was made in high-quality development in the face of unexpected challenges and external uncertainties.

It was also a fresh start. The country embarked on a new journey to build itself into a modern socialist country -- the Second Centenary Goal -- by the mid-21st century.

Marching into the year 2022, will China sustain the momentum of economic growth? What are the policy priorities this year? What should be expected of China's capital market?

Xinhua asked economists their opinions on hot topics concerning China's prospects. Here are the answers.

Q1: How do you view the macroeconomic situation this year?

Despite the triple pressure of shrinking demand, supply shocks and weakening expectations, China's economy will likely maintain steady growth momentum this year, said Liu Yuanchun, vice president of Renmin University of China.

The country's economic growth potential is constantly strengthening with a dropping unemployment rate, generally stable price levels, stable and decreasing macro leverage ratios, enhanced scientific and technological innovations, ever-increasing international competitiveness, and comprehensively strengthening human capital, Liu added.

China is well-prepared at the policy level to meet the challenges this year, said Peng Wensheng, chief analyst with the China International Capital Corporation.

The country will probably see its economic growth accelerate in the second half of the year as there is a time lag between the introduction of policies and their effects, Peng said.

Exports, foreign investment, green and high-tech investment, and the digital economy will continue to provide solid support for the high-quality development of China's economy, said Shen Jianguang, chief economist with JD.com.

Q2: What will likely be this year's policy priorities?

There is the apparent signal of ensuring stable growth from the authorities who will continue the prudent monetary policy and proactive fiscal policy, said Liu.

Green investment, tax and fee cuts, and transfer payments will be focused on, in addition to traditional infrastructure, said Peng.

He added that the government will be extremely cautious in introducing policies that have a tightening effect and there is less chance that regulatory policies will be introduced simultaneously in certain sectors.

The platform economy supervision system, which emphasizes both regulation and development, will be gradually improved, contributing to the long-term, healthy development of the sector and boosting enterprise expectations and confidence, said Shen.

Q3: What new investment opportunities will open up for all?

China will aim at making breakthroughs in scientific and technological innovations and shoring up weak links in domestic industrial and supply chains, among others, which will need much investment, said Liu.

Behind China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, rural vitalization and consumption upgrading are immense investment opportunities, said Peng.

Shen noted the investment potential in new infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.

Q4: How do you see the future development of the housing market?

China will continue sticking to the principle of "housing is for living in, not for speculation," Shen said, adding that future policies will better coordinate stable growth and risk prevention in the sector.

The government will adopt city-specific policies to boost the virtuous cycle and healthy development of the sector, he said.

Peng said the default of individual property developers will not lead to systemic impacts, and risks are being defused in an orderly manner.

Housing demand remains strong with many first-time home buyers and those who crave better living conditions, which forms the foundation for long-term, steady and sound development of the real estate sector, Liu said.

Q5: What to expect of China's capital market as uncertainties mount in the global financial market?

Despite uncertainties in the global financial market this year, China's capital market still has the foundation and conditions for sustainable and sound development, Liu said, quoting the steady growth momentum of the Chinese economy, more ample liquidity and continued reforms.

The opportunities outweigh the challenges for China's capital market in 2022, said Peng.

He said China's policies to stabilize growth are the opposite of policy tightening and downward cycle overseas.

In the future, China's market conditions and institutional environment will further improve. The country's capital market will become more attractive and the yuan-denominated assets will become more valuable, said Shen. 
China fell far short of the commitments it made in a 2020 trade deal with the United States, failing to purchase the promised volume of American airplanes, soybeans, energy, services and other products before the end of last year, data released Tuesday morning showed.

In a trade agreement signed with former President Donald J. Trump in January 2020, Chinese leaders committed to buying an additional $200 billion worth of American goods and services over 2017 levels by the end of 2021, in addition to other trade commitments. Those targets were viewed as ambitious at the time and would have amounted to a record level of purchases by China.

In order to reach those targets, China would have needed to purchase at least $227.9 billion of U.S. exports in 2020 and $274.5 billion in 2021, for a total of $502.4 billion over the two years, said Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

But China did not come close, Mr. Bown said in an analysis of the trade data published Tuesday, buying only $288.8 billion, or 57 percent, of the American exports it promised.
Among the violations, Mr. Borges said, were opening a locked door at their store; remaining inside the store without authorization after it had closed; allowing other unauthorized individuals inside the store after it had closed; and allowing unauthorized individuals in parts of the store where access is typically restricted.

He also wrote that one employee had opened a store safe when the employee was not authorized to do so and that another employee had failed to step in to prevent this violation.

Two of the terminated employees said that some of the supposed violations were common practices at the store and that employees were not previously disciplined over them. They said, for example, that off-duty employees frequently went to the back of the store to check their schedules, which are posted there. Mr. Borges said that this was uncommon when a store is closed.

One of the former workers, Beto Sanchez, said he was the employee accused of opening a store safe without authorization. He said that as a shift supervisor, he was normally authorized to open the safe and that he had done so to help a colleague on the evening of the media interview, when he was not on duty. He wondered why he had been fired over the violation rather than disciplined some other way.

Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents workers at two stores in Buffalo and that is helping to unionize Starbucks workers across the country, filed unfair labor practice charges over the firings and said in a statement that Starbucks chose to selectively enforce policies that have not previously been consistently enforced as a pretext to fire union leaders.
It didnt matter that Citigroup paid Amy Wu Stratton $450,000 in 2021  her most lucrative year ever  to work with some of its biggest private equity clients. It didnt even matter that she was on track for a promotion that could double her pay.

After almost 16 years in banking, she was ready for something new.

I was just so tired of it. It wasnt making me happy, said Ms. Stratton, 45, a former director in a Citi division that worked on financing and risk management for deals. A job she loved had become a hamster wheel, she said  an unfulfilling chase for more money and promotions.

You dont have time to breathe, she said. The pandemic slowed me down and made me take stock.

Up and down Wall Street, droves of bankers are changing jobs  switching banks, moving to investment firms, taking equity stakes in financial technology companies or cryptocurrency start-ups  and sometimes getting out altogether. Pandemic-inspired ennui, blockbuster profits and a war for talent across the industry has accelerated the job churn at the countrys big banks.

People are exhausted, said Alan Johnson, the managing director of Johnson Associates, a Wall Street compensation consultancy. The ranks of those earning $10 million or more will grow amid competition for top performers after a bumper year for earnings, Mr. Johnson said, but money doesnt always make you happy.
Ariana DeBose wasnt quite dancing in the streets Tuesday morning, but if you happened to be strolling along a certain New York City river around 9 a.m., you might have thought she was just another crazy New Yorker.

Im pretty sure I scared every runner on the path with my shrieking and jumping up and down, she said by phone Tuesday morning, recalling the moment she learned she had been nominated for her first Oscar, for best supporting actress for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielbergs remake of West Side Story.

With the nomination, DeBose and Rita Moreno, who won the Oscar for the same role in the 1961 film and stars in the new adaptation in a different role, made history: They became the first actors of color and the first women to be nominated for the same character.

And, should DeBose win, they would become only the third pair to accomplish the feat. The other two are Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone (The Godfather and The Godfather Part II) and Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker (in The Dark Knight and Joker).
Is the feeling any different the second time around?

No. I mean, it was seven years ago, so my memory  you know, Ive had an awful lot of life since then. But I would say the joy, the thrill of it, the sort of excitement of it  we live in a very different time and I suppose that is part of whats changed, but actually that doesnt affect your visceral reaction to being recognized for your work in this way. Its a great honor, it really is.

You are not the first person that comes to mind when casting a cowboy, and you trained extensively to portray Phil and his life accurately, even learning to brand and castrate cattle. How was that?

One of the true joys of this job in general for me is obviously the elements you can experience outside of your lived experience. And everything about this role is as far away from me as possible. And in many ways my wheelhouse, what Ive been known to perform as before  although Im always thinking about the physicality of my characters. So all of this was a lived experience in his body, which is so essential to the storytelling of Phil Burbank, how he holds himself, who he is with his command of craft and land and people and animals. And so for all of his masculinity and brutality and all the danger, theres an incredible, sensitive, vulnerable, artistic side to him, which is working in relation very openly, unlike his inner secret  his sexual identity or what his experience has been at least in the past and his life with that man, which is very hidden from the world.

But even the miniature furniture that he whittles for his brother as a joke at one point, that kind of craft, and the banjo playing that was looked upon by the other ranch hands as being a real badge of the brilliance of their leader. They marvel at his ability in every regard. Its not just riding the cattle herd or castrating the animals, but I needed to somehow experience all of that in my body. And I did experience all of that in my body. But that moment where Im whipping the horse with the blanket? I hate to tell The New York Times but obviously its me and a camera with reins around it. I cant watch that moment.

Have people talked to you about being confused by the film at all?

Theyve talked to me in, in very honest terms, about how there are so many elements that are open to interpretation. Listen, whats extraordinary about this film is its the equivalent of a piece of poetry compared to an Op-Ed on Trumpism. It is metaphor as the best of cinema can be. So I think a little confusion, or a little questioning over motivations or outcomes, or how the plot ties together is a good thing. Its not just a straightforward thriller about an avenging angel. Especially because [Phil and Peters] dynamic starts to become incredibly slippery. Peter is trying to seduce Phil, but also getting seduced by his role play in some way. And maybe Phil is seduced so artfully within the masculinity that hes portraying and emulating to disguise something else that he feels in contact with in private. Its just got an iceberg worth of subtext underneath it.

Are there any of Phils traits that youve carried into your life?

Theres a simplicity to him and a directness, which I admire. There is also the so profound connection to nature. Thats becoming increasingly important to me as a father. He is someone who brings the outside in, and theres an honesty to the way he behaves without dressing up or masquerading that I find appealing. Hes such a tortured soul. But despite his abhorrent behavior, you see through him, and you understand who he is and why he is the way he is. And he becomes very compelling as a character.
The Power of the Dog led the Oscar nominations on Tuesday, but plenty of other high-profile contenders fell short. Here, the Projectionist muses on the mornings most startling surprises and omissions.

Kristen Stewart gets the royal treatment.

Kristen Stewarts role as Princess Diana in Spencer is the sort of thing Oscar voters usually rush to crown: Its a juicy, transformative lead in a biopic, performed by a famous actress who has successfully leapt from blockbusters to prestige films. Then came a shocking snub from the Screen Actors Guild, followed by another shutout from BAFTA, and pundits worried whether shed get nominated at all. Still, Stewart was game, continuing to do press and awards-season round tables, and the 31-year-old actress was rewarded Tuesday morning with her very first Oscar nomination.

Lady Gaga and Jared Leto are shut out.

House of Gucci was stripped to its studs Tuesday, as former winners Lady Gaga and Jared Leto were both snubbed by the academy. Few performances this year were talked about more  both by audiences and by the two actors themselves  and the red carpet will be a little lesser for their absence. (Hey, nobody said the Oscars were particularly ethical  but they are fair.)

Drive My Car overperforms.

Coming out of last summers Cannes Film Festival, no one had tagged Ryusuke Hamaguchis Drive My Car as a major Oscar spoiler: Instead, films like Asghar Farhadis A Hero and Julia Ducournaus Titane had all the buzz. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Dolby Theater: A year-end surge from critics groups put Hamaguchis contemplative three-hour drama in the thick of the awards conversation, thanks to high-profile best-film wins from the critics in New York and Los Angeles. Off that momentum, Drive My Car managed an astounding four Oscar nominations, with citations in picture, director, adapted screenplay and international film.
Puiu, whose satire on the failure of Romanias medical system, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, helped start the Romanian New Wave, has questioned measures against the coronavirus before. In August 2020, while introducing his film Malmkrog at the Transylvania International Film Festival, Puiu described the events mask requirement as inhuman and reminded the audience that rule breaking brought down Romanias dictatorship in 1989. Puiu did not respond to interview requests for this article.

Neamtu, a Romanian intellectual and the author of The Trump Arena (2017), a book praising Donald J. Trump, said in an interview that coronavirus restrictions recalled the excessive control over powerless citizens that he experienced growing up under communism.

Everybody who has read Vaclav Havels The Power of the Powerless has glimpsed the possibility that a new form of totalitarianism could emerge if we dont criticize the government, he said, referring to a 1978 essay on communist persecution by the Czech dissident who would go on to become his countrys president.

Other Romanian artists rejected those views. In an interview, Jude, the Bad Luck Banging director, called it ridiculous to say that protesters against coronavirus measures were reviving a past spirit of dissent. Romania had a string of really horrible dictatorships, and most people complied very well with them, he said, referring to Ceausescus rule and the fascist dictatorships that preceded it. All of a sudden, now, its compensation for those who slept for 100 years to say they are taking revenge against the dictatorship of the masks and vaccines.

Jude explored the repressive terror of Ceausescus dictatorship in another movie, Uppercase Print, based on the secret police file of an anti-regime teenage graffiti artist. But Jude is also known for addressing historical subjects that are still taboo in Romania, such as the enslavement of Roma people in the 19th century (in Aferim!) and the countrys massacre of Jews during the Holocaust (in I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians and The Dead Nation). Those films made him a contentious figure in his home country.

Jude sometimes collaborates with Adrian Cioflanca, a Romanian historian, to make movies that excavate archive images and shed light on the atrocities committed in World War II under Romanias fascist dictatorship, headed by Ion Antonescu. A short film by Cioflanca and Jude about that period, Memories From the Eastern Front, will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this month.
Its really hard to come to an objective measure of dangerousness that is not burdened on some level by racial bias, said Ames Grawert, a senior counsel with the Brennan Center for Justice.

The crux of the debate centers on whether the changes to the law have led to a spike in crimes committed after people were arrested and then released.

In late December, two years after the law took effect, the state began to publish data that documented the rates at which defendants were rearrested. In the year after reforms were fully implemented, the available data appears to show that roughly 20 percent of those released after being charged with crimes ineligible for bail were rearrested before trial. About 2 percent were rearrested for violent crimes.

The data is incomplete and limited, making it impossible to draw a complete picture, however, and some researchers say that it could be years before the full impact of the bail law can be properly assessed.

Even so, some Democrats say the preliminary results vindicate bail reform, pointing to the low rate of recidivism in violent crimes and citing the positive effects of allowing those facing trial to remain in their jobs and homes while they wait for their day in court.

Studies from other localities where similar reforms have been introduced have found that such laws do not lead to a meaningful increase in crime, according to an analysis released by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Republicans, for their part, have largely argued that any preventable crime is a public policy failure.

State Senator Zellnor Myrie, a left-leaning Democrat, said that it was important that we acknowledge that whether or not the statistics bear it out, people feel afraid.
We want to make sure that we are pursuing evictions as a matter of last resort, Lisa Bova-Hiatt, NYCHAs general counsel, said in an interview.

Still, NYCHA will have to contend with the back rent accumulated during the pandemic, raising concerns among tenants and housing advocates that it may ultimately start taking a harder line.

All residents really can do is rely on NYCHAs good faith in being thoughtful about which cases they bring, said Lucy Newman, a staff lawyer at the Legal Aid Society.

New York Citys public housing system is the largest in the nation. Its official population of about 350,000 is larger than the cities of Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Orlando.

And it is home to many of the lowest-income New Yorkers. The median NYCHA household makes $16,956 a year, compared with the median across New York City, which is $64,000. NYCHAs median monthly rent, which is generally capped at 30 percent of a tenants income, is $389, about 73 percent below the citywide median.

There is enormous demand for a NYCHA home: More than 250,000 applicants are on a wait list, according to the agency.

And the pandemics economic pain has fallen far more harshly on people of lesser means.

Because NYCHA rents are based on a tenants income, many people seek to avoid falling behind by reporting financial hardships, like a job loss, and asking for a rent reduction. In 2019, before the pandemic, NYCHA received just over 17,000 such requests from tenants. That figure rose to more than 37,000 in 2020, and more than 23,000 last year.
BERLIN  Last week, Ukrainian legislators held up the flags of countries providing military and diplomatic assistance to Ukraine as it faces the threat of a Russian invasion. The flags of the United States, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Poland and Turkey all jostled for space. One, however, was conspicuous by its absence: the black, red and gold of Germany.

It was a fitting rebuke. Over the past few weeks, as Europe has seemingly approached the brink of war, Germany has been the odd man out. While the United States, Britain and Poland delivered weapons to Ukraine, the German government stoutly refused to do the same  and even seemed to block a transfer of weapons previously sold to Estonia. Across the continent, criticism has been fierce.

For Germanys chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who on Monday met with President Biden in Washington, its been a trial by fire. In office since December and at the head of a new coalition government, he has struggled to gain control of a situation that threatens to torpedo his authority. Its a stark contrast to the way Angela Merkel stepped up after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Through active and energetic diplomacy, Ms. Merkel was able to bring about a cease-fire and something approaching a settlement. Under similar pressure, her successor has gone missing.

But the problem goes beyond Mr. Scholz to Germany itself. The crisis in Ukraine puts to the sword many of the countrys central assumptions about its role in the world. Wedded to the past and conflicted in the present, Germany  at least when it comes to foreign policy  looks stuck. But now is not the time to be indecisive. It needs to assert itself as a power broker and unify Europes response to Russian aggression.
The Hualong One ZH-65 steam generator being hoisted for shipment in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Zhai Li)

SHENZHEN, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Hualong One, a domestically designed third-generation nuclear reactor, has been confirmed adequate for use in Britain, said the designer, China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), on Monday.

The reactor has met the standard of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA), according to a joint statement issued on Monday by the British Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA).

Before being put into use, the new technology must pass the assessment led by the ONR and the EA to determine its safety and environmental impact.

ONR has issued a Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) and EA has issued a Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) to Hualong One.

The CGN and French state-owned power giant EDF signed deals with the British government in September 2016 on building three projects in Britain. The project based in Bradwell, Essex, is expected to use the Hualong One technology. 
To the Editor:

Re We Cant Work It Out: Why I Finally Broke Up With the Beatles, by Josh Max (Opinion guest essay, Jan. 28):

I thoroughly enjoyed this piece, likely because I shared Mr. Maxs (overly?) keen interest in the greatest pop/rock band that ever existed (sorry, Stones).

My obsession began early in life (fourth grade, 1969-70). I still vividly recall a student teacher playing Rocky Raccoon for us. And the older regular teacher who took him into the hallway to admonish him for playing something so risque. She particularly found the line the doctor came in, stinking of gin inappropriate for us kiddies.

That sealed the deal. Whenever I was bored in school in the following years, I would write out the songs lyrics in their entirety. More time-killing and entertaining than scrawling I hate school over and over. Heck, I even wrote a short essay on some of my college applications explaining the Beatles greatness.

At age 61, and 50-plus years after their breakup, I still love, listen to and learn from the Beatles.
Seeing parents charged after a school shooting by their child is unusual. Thats because the legal bar is high. Every state has its own criminal code; homicides are typically divided into different degrees of murder and manslaughter. The distinction between charges turns largely on a defendants state of mind. The murder charges against Ethan Crumbley are predicated on evidence of premeditation and the intent to kill. Involuntary manslaughter does not require an intent to kill; instead prosecutors must establish gross negligence beyond a reasonable doubt.

That means the prosecution must show more than mere carelessness. In the parents case, prosecutors will have to prove that the Crumbleys knew he posed a danger to others and that they failed to take steps that could have prevented the shooting  by securing the gun out of his reach, for instance, or checking his backpack before he returned to the classroom. Jurors must be convinced that it would have been clear to a reasonable person that it was likely that someone could be seriously injured if the parents didnt take those steps.

Mass shootings and school shootings, in particular, have become common. We know the names of the victims, and we mourn their deaths, even as cruel and evil people in our society spin conspiracies that a shooting didnt happen or claim that the presence of more guns would have prevented it.

The Michigan prosecution is a rare and welcome moment of accountability, with the potential to provide some much-needed deterrence in a country awash in guns. A conviction would set an outer limit on how permissive parents can be with firearms without exposing themselves to criminal charges. A child who poses some risk simply cannot be allowed access to a firearm.

Prosecutors wont be able to charge all of those who procure the guns children use in shootings, but they should be aggressive when the facts point to gross negligence. The precise contours of just what parents must do may remain unclear even if this prosecution is successful, and thats a good thing; greater concern that carelessness could be criminal is likely to discourage people from reckless behavior and encourage more attention on how they store and handle their guns.

State legislatures could make it easier to prosecute parents in such situations by passing laws that specify the kinds of conduct and failures to act that constitute involuntary homicide. Those could include measures specifying that a failure to secure a firearm with a minor in the household constitutes the gross negligence that merits charges of involuntary manslaughter.

This prosecution and even new laws are no guarantee that schoolchildren wont continue to send frantic text messages to parents to say, I love you. Theres an active shooter here. But in an era of permissive gun ownership, the prosecution of parents may provide one of the few available paths to keeping our children safer.

Joyce Vance, a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, was the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017.
Coraopolis, Pa. | $269,900

A 1924 Cape Cod cottage with three bedrooms and one bathroom, on a 0.3-acre lot

Coraopolis, a small borough in Allegheny County with a population of about 6,000, is within easy commuting distance of Pittsburgh, about a 20-minute drive. Its small downtown, about 10 minutes away from this house by car, is a few blocks from the Ohio River. In recent years, a handful of breweries and coffee shops have sprung up along a stretch of Fourth Avenue, anchored by the boroughs Romanesque Revival train station, which local preservationists are in the process of restoring. This property is less than half a mile from a middle school and about 15 minutes from Robert Morris University, which has about 5,000 students.

Size: 1,092 square feet

Price per square foot: $247

Indoors: A driveway leads from the street to the garage, and a paved path connects this side of the property to the house.

The front door opens into a small foyer with hardwood floors and an arched doorway facing a living room with dark gray walls, white molding and a fireplace with a tile hearth.

The hardwood floors continue through the living room and into a spacious dining room with toile wallpaper and a chandelier. This room is connected to an updated kitchen with stainless-steel appliances. Off the kitchen is a bedroom with two windows facing the homes wraparound porch.
We already knew the asteroid 130 Elektra was special. Astronomers previously discovered it had two moons, making it a rare triple asteroid system. Now a third moon may have been found, making it even more uncommon  the first-known quadruple asteroid in the solar system.

Elektra was first discovered in 1873, orbiting in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Oblong-shaped and 160 miles across on its longest side, it is a relatively large asteroid and completes an orbit of the sun every five years.

In 2003, the first moon was discovered orbiting Elektra, and in 2014 a second. The discoveries were interesting, but not unusual  more than 150 asteroids are known to have one or two moons, in the same way planets can have moons that are gravitationally bound to them. Multiple moons can be found around large asteroids, said Bin Yang, an astronomer from the European Southern Observatory in Chile who discovered Elektras second moon. A NASA mission, DART, is on target to collide with one such asteroids moon later in the year.

But until now, an asteroid with three moons has eluded astronomers. Anthony Berdeu from the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand and colleagues used images from the Very Large Telescope (V.L.T.) in Chile to take a closer look at Elektra, and they found evidence for a previously hidden moon inside the orbits of the other two.
On a small, cozy corner of the internet, mornings are spent curled up in an armchair while leisurely sipping cafe au lait from a wonky ceramic mug. Clothing is loosefitting, adheres to an earthy color palette and is often paired with chunky handmade clogs. Natural fabrics abound, and an abundance of indoor greenery always seems to be flourishing nearby.

Welcome to the world of slow fashion influencers, where people  primarily women  gather to share outfits and extol the virtues of thrifting, mending and buying well-made garments instead of fast fashion pieces.

These creators have built followings for their conscious consumerism, the placid tableaus they post on Instagram and their preternatural ability to look good in clothes. But beneath the surface of all the lifestyle photography lies a more complicated reality.

Slow fashion is a practice, a set of values that asks adherents to prolong the life span of their existing garments and, if they must shop, to buy secondhand. But increasingly the term has been adopted by brands that do little more than produce clothing in smaller quantities than, say, the Gap.
I wasnt a hot young thing anymore, says McCarthy, now 59, on an early December afternoon as he sets down a plate of Humboldt Fog cheese in an open kitchen whose earthy warmth belies the fact that it was once a classroom. In the adjoining dining area, light streaks through diaphanous denim curtains, onto which hes drawn gridlike patterns with bleach from a mustard dispenser, a nod to the noren hed seen at the temple in Los Angeles where his Japanese American mother used to take him and his two younger sisters as children. Nearby, in an airy living room, a rock sculpture by the Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone and a daybed inspired by Donald Judd and fabricated with marine-grade fir plywood add to the spaces meditative mood. I moved to New York to become famous, he says. But at a certain point, I realized that the greatest thing would be freedom.  Disconnecting from the city was about disconnecting from who I was there. (Tellingly, one of his homes only reminders of New York  framed strips of photo booth self-portraits by Andy Warhol, torn from an auction catalog  are down in the basement with his two kilns.)
And the drive was worth it, to see curiosity rekindled in a teenager.

Its just so cool to feel it land on your hand, said Henrik, as a Canada jay picked bread crumbs from his palm. It had been years since one of my sons thought a bird was cool. Somewhere after elementary school, dads birding habit became decidedly nerdy. But now that innocent smile was back.

Oh, please dont feed them white bread, said a voice behind us. I turned to see a woman with an Algonquin Provincial Park patch on her ski hat walking toward us, offering handfuls of peanuts in the shell, sunflower seeds and dried fruit.

It was Emily Fikkert, the organizer of a day trip of bird photographers from Toronto who shares photos on Instagram. She started coming up to Algonquin several years ago, initially hooked on shooting photos of moose. Then, she said, she met a man feeding Canada jays with a handful of cranberries, bread and cheese, and a new wildlife obsession was born.

Ms. Fikkert gave me extra handfuls of seeds and nuts for later. She said that she often offers a free upgrade on bird food to people she meets in the park. I feel that if many are going to feed the birds, it should be of nutritional value to the birds.

Ms. Fikkert says she would never feed any other wildlife, but she makes an exception for the birds in Algonquin, which are already socialized.

A tiny creature showing trust, she said. I love it because as a birder, it allows me to feel the weight, feel their tiny feet and see all the incredibly beautiful details up close.
Sea Lions in Los Angeles

Moviegoers can be forgiven if they believe coyotes wandering from the desert to yodel above Modernist rooftops are Los Angeless wildlife stars, but most people within earshot of the Pacific know better, especially during winter when beach revelers head indoors and their din is replaced by barking sea lions. Like their tiny ears, sea lions stand out and are louder, generally heavier and more sociable than their seal cousins  the latters lack of external ears is a quick way of telling them apart. Sea lions also have longer flippers to propel themselves off the beach, so theyre landlubbers, too, sometimes getting as far as a mile into the urban jungles of Los Angeles.

We call them ocean puppies, because theyre playful and get around, said Amber Becerra, the chief executive of Marine Mammal Care Center, a rescue center in Los Angeles. Their sociability comes in part from how theyre raised. Seals only need six months to nurse with their mothers. Sea lions need more than a year.

Theres hardly been a better time to check out the sea lions along Southern Californias coast, thanks to the recent pandemic beach bans that have given sea lions room to reclaim space, especially on long stretches of Los Angeless abandoned shores.

We have a theory when the humans stay inside, the animals thrive, Ms. Becerra said. The basic rule out in the wild, she added, is to stay at least 50 yards away from them,

The center is open to the public. To get within herring-throwing distance of sea lions, make an appointment for the 11 a.m. feeding time and head to the pools in back where staff feed up to 70 patients a day. Pups often show off when visitors are present, leaping ballerina-like from the pools. When they are fattened up enough and have been trained to catch fish, they are released back to the Pacific.

Otherwise, its easy to find them in the wild. Just listen for the barks. One of their more popular hangouts is two hours drive south of Los Angeles at La Jolla Cove, a major sea lion rookery. A cliff trail along the shore takes you right above the sea lion colonies and down to Childrens Pool Beach, where they sprawl out together like a giant shag rug.

King Harbor in Redondo Beach has so many sea lions that its become a matter of controversy among property owners, fishermen and conservationists.
In a move intended to address its history of segregation, trustees at the University of Alabama agreed last week that a building named for David Bibb Graves, a former governor and Ku Klux Klan leader, will also carry the name of Autherine Lucy Foster, who in 1956 was the first Black person to attend the school.

The decision to rename the building Lucy-Graves Hall was made on Thursday, exactly 66 years after Ms. Foster started classes on the universitys campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala. It was part of an initiative that the university has undertaken as institutions across the country are re-examining the names of buildings associated with racism and slavery.

At a meeting of the universitys board of trustees on Thursday, John England Jr., a retired judge and former trustee who served as the chairman of a group that considered the renaming, said its members struggled with the question of whether to retain the name of Graves, a Democrat who served two terms, from 1927 to 1931 and 1935 to 1939.

Some say he did more to directly benefit African American Alabamians than any other governor through his many reforms, Mr. England, who is Black, said at the meeting. Unfortunately, that same Governor Graves was associated with the Ku Klux Klan. Not just associated with the Ku Klux Klan, but also a Grand Cyclops. Its hard for me to even say those words.
In their statement, Dr. Comaroffs lawyers disputed the logic of the sanctions. The investigation found that he was motivated only by concern for Ms. Kilburns well-being and had no romantic or sexual intention, but that the advice nonetheless constituted sexual harassment, the statement said. Professor Comaroff vehemently disputes this conclusion, which would cripple faculty members ability to use their best academic judgment in advising students about essential safety issues.

The controversy has divided the faculty. In the days leading up to the lawsuit, more than 90 academics at Harvard and other universities globally  signed open letters defending his character and extolling his reputation and mentorship.

The Harvard signers included prominent academics like Paul Farmer, a physician and anthropologist known for his relief work in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake; Henry Louis Gates Jr., professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research; Stephen Greenblatt, a Shakespeare scholar; Jill Lepore, a historian; and Randall Kennedy, a law professor.

Their letter says that Dr. Comaroffs discussion of rape was a legitimate warning about conditions in the areas where Ms. Kilburn would be doing her field work. It said the signers were perplexed by her objections, because they would also feel ethically compelled to offer the same advice.

And they took issue with Harvards decision to conduct two investigations, which the letter suggests exposed Dr. Comaroff to a kind of double jeopardy. As faculty members, the letter added, we must know the rules and procedures to which we are subject.

On Monday night, as the lawsuit was about to be filed, another 50 or so Harvard scholars  most of them tenured, according to Walter Johnson, a history professor  replied in an open letter, criticizing Dr. Comaroffs defenders for being too quick to accept the facts as presented by his lawyers.

As evident from the letters written in his support, Professor Comaroff is a scholar with a powerful network of friends and colleagues, who could discourage other students from coming forward, the latest letter said.
MOSCOW, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin met with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday to discuss the Ukrainian crisis and the security issue in Europe.

The meeting was businesslike and useful, Putin said at a joint press conference with Macron following their hours-long talks in the Kremlin.

Russia's core concerns on security were ignored by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while the military alliance attempts to lecture Russia on where and how to place its armed forces, Putin said.

He told Macron that Kiev refuses to comply with the 2015 Minsk agreements on a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian issue and even aims to dismantle the deals.

Putin reiterated Russia's opposition to NATO's eastwards expansion.

During the briefing, Macron said that he believes there is still opportunity to find a peaceful path for Europe, where new mechanisms are needed to ensure security and existing pacts should be preserved at the same time.

He said that there is no alternative to a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis and the Minsk agreements remain the basis of it.

As for Moscow-proposed security guarantees between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO, Macron said that negotiations should continue, although it won't be easy to reach a consensus.

Putin and Macron agreed to talk over phone after the latter's visit to Kiev on Tuesday. 
To that end, the prosecutors have amassed an expansive array of witnesses and evidence, according to the list they filed Monday night. While much of the information they plan to introduce had been revealed in previous court papers and hearings, some of it was new, suggesting that they may have similarly undisclosed evidence waiting in the wings for future trials.

Mr. Reffitts lawyer, William L. Welch III, did not respond to a request for comment on the governments evidence, but his client has openly pushed back against accusations that he took part in anything untoward at the Capitol on Jan. 6. In a letter obtained by ProPublica last spring, Mr. Reffitt wrote of the attack, There was no insurrection, no conspiracy, no sinister plan and no reason to think otherwise.

While Mr. Reffitts trial is certain to attract attention for being the first, other larger and more complicated trials are tentatively scheduled for later in the year. Four leaders of the far-right nationalist group the Proud Boys are set to go on trial in Washington in May. And in July, prosecutors plan to try 11 members of the Oath Keepers militia  including its leader Stewart Rhodes  on charges of seditious conspiracy.

The Reffitt trial is likely to begin with an overview of the tumult on Jan. 6 offered by an officer who worked that day at the U.S. Capitol Polices command center, overseeing a video surveillance system, and radio and phone communications, prosecutors said. The officer will explain the progression of the riot through a compilation of surveillance videos from both inside and outside the building and will show the jury a separate video of former Vice President Mike Pences motorcade leaving the east plaza of the Capitol at 1:57 p.m.

Three other Capitol officers are scheduled to testify about their direct interactions with Mr. Reffitt and others members of the mob, prosecutors said. These officers are expected to describe their experiences trying to control the crowd by firing pepper balls and other projectiles and to give accounts of failing to subdue Mr. Reffitt and his fellow rioters with chemical spray.
WASHINGTON  Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was evacuated from a high school in the capital on Tuesday after a bomb threat.

Katie Peters, a spokeswoman for Mr. Emhoff, said that the U.S. Secret Service was made aware of a security threat at Dunbar High School, where Mr. Emhoff was meeting with students and faculty members for an event honoring Black History Month.

Mr. Emhoff is safe and the school has been evacuated, Ms. Peters wrote on Twitter. We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work.
WASHINGTON  During the summer of 2018, as Richard Seddon, a former British spy, was trying to launch a new venture to use undercover agents to infiltrate progressive groups, Democratic campaigns and other opponents of President Donald J. Trump, he turned for help to a longtime friend and former colleague: Erik Prince, the private military contractor.

Mr. Prince took on the role of celebrity pitchman, according to interviews and documents, raising money for Mr. Seddons spying operation, which was aimed at gathering dirt that could discredit politicians and activists in several states. After Mr. Prince and Mr. Seddon met in August 2018 with Susan Gore, a Wyoming heiress to the Gore-Tex fortune, Ms. Gore became the projects main benefactor.

Mr. Princes role in the effort, which has not been previously disclosed, sheds further light on how a group of ultraconservative Republicans employed spycraft to try to manipulate the American political landscape. Mr. Prince  a former C.I.A. contractor who is best known as the founder of the private military firm Blackwater and whose sister, Betsy DeVos, was Mr. Trumps education secretary  has drawn scrutiny over the years for Blackwaters record of violence around the world and his subsequent ventures training and arming foreign forces.

His willingness to support Mr. Seddons operation is fresh evidence of his engagement in political espionage projects at home during a period when he was an informal adviser to Trump administration officials.
WASHINGTON  The House on Tuesday approved the most significant overhaul of the Postal Service in nearly two decades, seeking to address the beleaguered agencys financial woes and counter pandemic-era mail delays that became a flash point in the 2020 elections.

The service has teetered on the brink of insolvency for years, as repeated efforts to revamp its structure and finances have stalled in Congress. In 2020, a slowdown of mail delivery and a series of operational changes ahead of the election, in which a record number of votes were cast by mail because of the pandemic, prompted intense scrutiny and helped set off a renewed effort to address the agencys troubles.

The House approved the measure 342 to 92.

A companion bill in the evenly divided Senate has bipartisan backing, including more than a dozen Republican co-sponsors, signaling sufficient support for the measure to move through that chamber and become law.

I expect to move quickly to vote on these critical reforms that will help ensure the Postal Services long-term success, said Senator Gary Peters, Democrat of Michigan and a champion of the companion bill, in a statement.
WASHINGTON  An antiwar alliance of veterans that emerged from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and spanned the political spectrum is splintering badly over the U.S. response to the threatening moves of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia against Ukraine.

The fracturing is more ideological than partisan: Some groups on the left that opposed the war in Afghanistan are siding with President Bidens deployment of thousands of troops to Eastern Europe, while other liberals are staunchly against it. Some conservative groups and lawmakers oppose the deployments, while others are pressing the president to go further, arguing that he has not been tough enough.

The complex dynamics among veterans groups that had been united just months ago reflected both general exhaustion with war among American voters and shifting domestic politics on the right and the left.

Mr. Biden approved the deployment of 3,000 troops to NATO allies, including Poland and Romania, but said he did not intend to send troops to Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance. The administration has also described a range of possible responses should Mr. Putin decide to invade Ukraine, including economic sanctions targeting Moscow.
When the police came to arrest an associate, he threatened the officers, who politely urged him to calm down. You will all die, Mr. Narsinghanand is seen in a video telling them.

The police arrested Mr. Narsinghanand on Jan. 15, and he was charged in court with hate speech.

He said nothing wrong, said Swami Amritanand, an organizer of the Haridwar event. We are doing what America is doing, we are doing what Britain is doing.

Mr. Amritanand said the call for arms was justified because within the next 10 to 12 years there will be a horrible war that will play out in India.

Late last month, the monks again sounded a violent call to create a Hindu state, this time at an event hundreds of miles away from Haridwar in Uttar Pradesh. They threatened violence  referencing a bombing of Indias assembly  if Mr. Narsinghanand was not released.

Ms. Pandey described their actions as defensive. We must prepare to protect ourselves, she said.

To the Haridwar police, the event in Uttar Pradesh did not count as a repeat offense. Rakendra Singh Kathait, the senior police officer in Haridwar, said Mr. Narsinghanand was in jail because he had acted again in the city; others like Ms. Pandey got a warning.
On Tuesday, Mr. Morrison singled out Ms. Higgins in his remarks.

Im sorry to Ms. Higgins for the terrible things that took place here, he said. And the place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare.

Mr. Morrison had also apologized to Ms. Higgins last February, a day after she had made her allegation public. He was criticized for saying that he had come to understand the gravity of the situation only after speaking with his wife, who had told him to imagine that his own daughters had been assaulted.

Ms. Jenkins, the sex discrimination commissioner, called the parliamentary acknowledgment on Tuesday an important first step, adding on Twitter that she was heartened by the clear and unequivocal apologies from across parliament.

I am confident we are at the start of real and lasting change, she said.

Still, advocates for victims of sexual assault and harassment said the apology did not go far enough to deliver accountability, and they called for all of the reviews recommendations to be carried out. In her review, Ms. Jenkins proposed a series of measures to address the power imbalances, gender inequality and lack of accountability in Parliament.

How about some proactive, preventative measures and not just these performative, last-minute bandaid electioneering stunts? Grace Tame, a prominent advocate for survivors of sexual assault, said on Twitter.

Leaders in Parliament also faced criticism on Tuesday after Ms. Higgins, who was set to give a speech in Canberra, the capital, told an Australian news site that she had not initially been invited to attend Parliament to hear the apology in person. That omission, apparently related to Covid restrictions, was later rectified, according to the site, News.com.au.

The parliamentary apology would have had a greater impact had it properly acknowledged the people who had been affected and allowed them to be present, said Susan Harris Rimmer, a law professor at Griffith University and a former parliamentary staff member.
His three-word response to a violent uprising became among the most famous ever uttered in the history of Canadian law enforcement: Just watch me.

It was October 1970 when Pierre Elliott Trudeau  Justin Trudeaus father  took this stand. Asked outside Parliament how far he would go to stop The Front de Liberation du Quebec, an extremist group agitating for Quebecs independence from Canada, he was defiant. The group had kidnapped a Quebec cabinet minister, Pierre Laporte, who was subsequently assassinated. There had been a reign of terror of hundreds of bombs and robberies in Montreal. A British trade commissioner had also been kidnapped.

Mr. Trudeau successfully quashed the extremists by invoking the War Measures Act  the only time in Canadian history it was applied in peacetime. He sent thousands of troops to Montreal and abrogated some civil liberties. Uniformed soldiers raided homes, hunting for terrorists. Some 400 people were arrested and detained without charges.

Now, some in Canada are calling for Justin Trudeau to have his Just watch me moment.

Just watch me is burned into the memory of all of us who were alive to hear then prime minister Pierre Trudeau speak it, all those years ago, read a letter published Monday in the Toronto Star, Canadas largest circulation newspaper. It is time for his son, Justin, to do the same with the protesters in Ottawa.
SJAELLANDS ODDE, Denmark  Aboard a ferry heading to Denmarks second-largest city on Friday, Allan Hjorth stood out. He was one of just a few passengers to wear a mask, while hundreds of others left their faces uncovered, enjoying the end of Covid-19 restrictions announced a few days earlier.

The mere fact of wearing a mask makes people feel that something is wrong, Mr. Hjorth said. He took his own off after a few seconds, and added, And we, in Denmark, want to believe that we are going back to normal.

Nearly two years into the pandemic, normal looks like this in one of the worlds most prosperous nations: 5.8 million people live free of Covid restrictions, even though nearly 1 percent of them tested positive for the coronavirus in a single day last week. The country is reporting one of the worlds highest Covid-19 cases per capita, and hospitalizations have reached an all-time high.

But the government declared that as of Feb. 1, it would no longer consider Covid a socially critical disease and dropped all restrictions, including a mask mandate in closed spaces and on public transportation.
For a long time after, she did not leave her house.

It wasnt that I was afraid of being killed, she said. I had a terrible feeling of inferiority. Once again in my life, I wasnt in control of my own destiny.

What hit her the hardest psychologically, she said, was the knowledge that this was being done to us not by an invader as in 1941, but people we lived with and worked with and students I had so carefully nurtured. She added, Even today I cant understand it.

Greta Weinfeld was born on June 26, 1924, in Novi Sad. Her father, Isidor Weinfeld, was a prosperous businessman; her mother, Daniela (Steinitz) Weinfeld, was a homemaker. Greta was an only child and, she said, doted on by her extended family.

In Mr. Pasovics film, Ms. Ferusic described the cattle trucks that delivered her family to Auschwitz and the nonchalant gestures of Dr. Joseph Mengele, who became known as the Angel of Death, as he separated the arrivals, some directed to the left and others, like Ms. Ferusic, to the right. Those on the left, including her parents and members of her extended family, were never seen again.

Ms. Ferusic was intent on survival. When the Germans abandoned the camp in January 1945 and forced some 60,000 prisoners to march with them, she managed to stay behind. She weighed just 70 pounds and was clad only in a torn nightgown when the Soviet Army liberated the camp on the 27th of January.

She returned to her home in Novi Sad, and after she had begun to recover, she sold it to pay for her education at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Belgrade. Mr. Pasovic said he thought that she had chosen architecture because she had seen so much destruction and wanted to build things. (Her son, his wife and their two sons are also architects.)

One might ask, Ms. Ferusic said in the film, how I was able to adapt and make life fairly comfortable for myself. My reason was that it was better to think about the future, and what could be done with it, than to mourn for what is lost.
Firefighters from Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province drew mascots of the Beijing 2022 on snow-covered ground to celebrate the ongoing sporting event. #GLOBALink





Produced by Xinhua Global Service




KYIV, Ukraine  President Emmanuel Macron of France said on Tuesday that the Ukraine crisis could take months to resolve, but that his shuttle diplomacy this week between Russia and Ukraine had raised hopes of stabilizing the situation.

Mr. Macron met President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday, a day after holding a five-hour meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that there were seeds of reason in proposals Mr. Macron had put forward during the meeting with Mr. Putin. But Mr. Putins spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, rejected reports that the two leaders had reached any sort of agreement on de-escalating the crisis, which Western nations say has been incited by Russias buildup around Ukraine of roughly 130,000 troops, many of which appear to be in the final stages of readiness for an invasion.

Mr. Putin was prepared to keep negotiating over Russias security demands in Eastern Europe, Mr. Peskov said, but added: So far, we dont see and feel the readiness of our Western counterparts to take our concerns into account. The United States and NATO have flatly rejected Russian demands to cease the blocs expansion into parts of Eastern Europe that Moscow considers part of its sphere of influence.
ROME  Responding to a report that he mishandled four cases involving the sexual abuse of minors while he was an archbishop in Germany decades ago, retired Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged on Tuesday that abuses and errors had taken place under his watch and asked for forgiveness, although he denied any misconduct.

I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church, Benedict said in a written response to the findings in the report commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church in Munich. All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate, he said in the response made public by the Vatican. Each individual case of sexual abuse is appalling and irreparable.

The report, and the accusations by investigators that Benedict had misled them, sent shocks through a Roman Catholic Church that has for a quarter century been devastated by revelations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. The allegations related to Benedicts time in Munich reached the very top of the church hierarchy, and they came not long after a separate report commissioned by the Vatican itself cast a shadow over Benedicts predecessor, John Paul II, for failing to root out abusers in his church.

Benedict, whose backers point out that as pope he did much to throw abusers out of the church, has sought to put himself in a better light. But critics have found his answers more legalistic than pastoral and short of what many victims of abuse and their advocates long to hear from the former head of the church.
LONDON  With more than a dozen Conservative lawmakers calling on him to quit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain shuffled his top team on Tuesday and hired a new chief whip to contain a mutiny within his party over a swirling scandal over lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street.

So determined is the prime minister to hang on to his job that, according to his new media chief, Guto Harri, Mr. Johnson burst into an impromptu rendition of Gloria Gaynors song, I Will Survive at a recent meeting.

Despite those efforts by Mr. Johnson, and his resolve, analysts are wondering whether it is too late to rescue the authority of a prime minister now under investigation by police for breaches of the lockdown laws he himself made.

Once you begin to look like a loser, its quite difficult to turn that around, said Jill Rutter, a senior research fellow at U.K. in a Changing Europe, a research institute. Ms. Rutter worked as a civil servant in Downing Street for former Prime Minister John Major, whose government never recovered after a financial crisis in 1992 but limped on, wounded, for more than four more years before suffering a landslide election defeat.
For too long, he said in an interview, people in Western Europe have been lulled into thinking that a new war on the continent was impossible. For Mr. Putin, that point of view needs to be changed, Mr. Sushentsov said, to compel the West to accept Russias demands.

Whats important is this suspense, this feeling of a prewar situation, Mr. Sushentsov said. People are spoiled by an overly long peace. They think of security as a given, as something that is attained for free, rather than something that must be negotiated. This is a mistake.

For the West, that approach could mean being drawn into a new sort of forever war  a conflict consuming ever more time and treasure, with no clear exit strategy. The lesson of the chaotic Afghan withdrawal last summer, to Mr. Putin, may have been that the U.S. has no stomach for a distant conflict  and Ukraine is distant to the U.S. but not to Russia.

President Biden came to office determined to focus the U.S. and its allies on the long-term threat of managing a rising China  a technological, military and economic competitor. But now it is Mr. Putin who has seized the administrations attention.

One senior European diplomat said in Washington recently that six months ago, no one was discussing a threat to the fundamental order that was created after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Now we all are, he said.

Mr. Biden on Monday characterized a Russian invasion of Ukraine as tanks or troops crossing the border. But American officials say that there remain numerous lower-grade options that Mr. Putin is considering that could touch off a less deadly but still costly conflict.
President Emmanuel Macron of France invoked a Cold War-era term on Monday, telling reporters on his flight to Moscow that Finlandization of Ukraine was one of the models on the table for defusing tensions with Russia.

On Tuesday, standing alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in Kyiv, Macron denied making the remark, which appeared to put him at odds with not only the Ukrainians but also the United States. But the idea is once again being discussed in diplomatic circles.

The term refers to Finlands strict neutrality during the Cold War, enshrined in a 1948 treaty with Moscow when tensions between the Soviet Union and the West were at a high. The treaty ensured Finland that unlike other countries in Eastern Europe, it would not face a Soviet invasion, but in return, it agreed to stay out of NATO and allowed the giant next door to exercise significant influence over its domestic and foreign policy.

Ukraine, formerly a part of the Soviet Union, has increasingly tilted toward the West, economically and politically, while resisting Russian influence. In 2008, NATO said it planned eventually for Ukraine to join the alliance, a popular idea within the country, though it has never actually applied for membership and NATO officials say it would not happen any time soon.
KYIV, Ukraine  The Ukraine crisis is entering a critical phase this week.

Military analysts say the final elements of a potential Russian invasion force, such as field kitchens and hospitals, are falling into place in camps and bases of the Russian army near Ukraines borders. At the same time, President Emmanuel Macron of France has described the outlines, hazy for now, of a diplomatic resolution.

Mr. Macron is shuttling from Moscow to Kyiv to Berlin exploring whether a French- and German-brokered negotiating channel between Russia and Ukraine, first established seven years ago to resolve the regional conflict in eastern Ukraine, could be repurposed to defuse the wider crisis.

Mr. Macron is focused, at least in part, on this negotiating process, known as the Normandy Format talks  a grouping that includes Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. These talks revolve around a series of notoriously ambiguous cease-fire agreements from 2014 and 2015, known as the Minsk accords, that were forged after Russian-backed separatists attacked and grabbed territory in eastern Ukraine.

Here is a guide to the Minsk accords, how Russia and Ukraine interpret them, and whether they might become the basis of a deal now to defuse the Ukraine crisis.
Jonathan Dedmon

The Dilenschneider Group opens a Miami office. The office is headed by Jonathan Dedmon, who recently relocated to Coral Gables from Chicago. Dedmon joined the group shortly after its founding in 1991. In addition to the new Miami locations, The Dilenschneider Group has offices and principals in New York, Chicago and Washington, DC. It offers experience in such areas as mergers and acquisitions, crisis communications, marketing, government affairs and international media. It has just released an updated version of The PR Handbook, a guide for public relations professionals that was first was published in 1967 and subsequently updated in 1979, 1987, and 2010. Miami and Southern Florida are dynamic economies that continue to attract leading companies and individuals. It is an important location for any communications firm, said agency founder Robert L. Dilenschneider.

Daniel Oppong

The Courage Collective, a diversity, equity and inclusion consultancy, launches Boundless, a company and fellowship program designed to create access for underrepresented groups in marketing/advertising, consulting and technology. Employers can use the platform to share jobs with its talent network or work directly with the Boundless team to identify candidates for open job or internship positions. For early-career candidates, the program will begin in May and run for 12 weeks, with a focus on professional development, career growth and community. Every single organization we have worked with through The Courage Collective is trying to figure out how to bring more people from underrepresented groups into their company, said Boundless founder Daniel Oppong. And while recruiting certainly isnt a fix all for the myriad of DEI challenges many organizations face, increasing representation should certainly be a focal point.

Fiducia Investors, the capital markets strategy, execution and investment arm of North Sixth Group (which owns North 6th Agency) is one of the inaugural investors in venture capital firm Predictive VCs flagship fund. Predictive focuses on high-growth tech companies, and its flagship fund is earmarked for companies across metaverse, machine learning and artificial technology. We believe our capital markets expertise combined with our relationships, access and resources via the North Sixth Group network positions us uniquely to provide clients with a world-class and high-performance alternative investment solution suite, said Fiducia Investors vice chairman and chief investment officer George A. King.


Illinois Needs Outreach for Mental Health Parity Law Mon., Apr. 25, 2022 The Illinois Dept. of Insurance has issued an RFP to educate residents about their rights under the states mental health parity law. It has budgeted $1.2M for a
Offaly based Minister of State Pippa says the Government's new retrofit plan is 'wonderful news' for Offaly and other counties in the Midlands as it will cut bills and create jobs.

In a statement, Minister Pippa Hackett said she warmly welcomed the Governments announcement of a package of supports which she claimed would make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades, for warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills.

She said the measures address barriers to undertaking energy upgrades (retrofits) reported by homeowners and those working in the industry. She added that they also reflect the step-change needed  in pace and scale of delivery  to achieve the Government target of 500,000 home energy upgrades, to B2 Building Energy Rating (BER) standard, by 2030.

Minister Hackett pointed out that the changes represent an important step in delivery of the National Retrofit Plan, which identifies a range of measures aimed at driving demand for retrofit, expanding the size and capacity of the supply chain, as well as making retrofits more affordable.

This is wonderful news for the Midlands. Many of our social homes are already retrofitted because of our special status in transitioning away from fossil fuels, so we have seen the benefit of such work, and now, todays announcements opens the retrofitting option to many more homeowners.

"The size of the grants will put the work within reach of many lower-income families, with credit unions expected to offer loans for the homeowners contribution. Its a huge investment in cutting our heating bills and reducing our dependency on fossil fuels which people have been calling on the Government to deliver. Now we are.

"This development will also create new jobs for skilled tradesmen. That represents another opportunity for this area, given that we already have a Centre of Excellence for retrofitting training right here in the Laois-Offaly ETB, said the Senator.

The Minister outlined the key measures as follows:

A new National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme providing increased grant levels of up to 50% of the cost of a typical deep retrofit to a B2 BER standard (up from 30%-35% grants currently)

One Stop Shops to offer a hassle-free, start-to-finish project management service, including access to financing, for home energy upgrades

A significant increase in the number of free energy upgrades for those at risk of energy poverty (400 per month  up from an average of 177 per month in 2021)

A special enhanced grant rate, equivalent to 80% of the typical cost, for attic and cavity wall insulation for all households, to urgently reduce energy use as part of the Governments response to current exceptionally high energy prices

An Exchequer investment of 8 billion to 2030 will enable the supply chain to scale up, creating thousands of high quality jobs and delivering on this critical national objective

The Schemes will be administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The increased grant supports and the significant ramping up of free energy upgrades for those at risk of energy poverty is supported by ring-fenced funds from the carbon tax.

She also outlined what she said are the main features of the Government's announcement on February 8:

New Home Energy Upgrade Scheme  to transform your home

Increased grant rates and supports for step-by-step home upgrades

Free home energy upgrade: Protecting people at most risk of energy poverty

Grants, equivalent to 80% of the typical cost, for attic and cavity wall insulation

Community schemes: Improving buildings across the country

Long-term funding commitment: Providing certainty for the home energy upgrade sector

National climate action goals

Speaking at the launch of the new National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme, the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin T.D., said: Today, the Government is committing to support people in making their homes warmer and less expensive to heat, while also tackling our climate change crisis. The Irish people responded collectively, and with a sense of purpose, to the pandemic by helping protect the most vulnerable in our society. The climate crisis is just as critical for our children and future generations, as well as people at risk of fuel poverty now. This Governments commitment to reaching our climate ambitions is clear, and today is another step along that journey.

The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D., said: This scheme will create thousands of jobs in every county in the country making homes warmer, more comfortable and healthier. Im glad to see the move towards a much more streamlined, customer focused model, with the One Stop Shops making it much easier for people to see what they need to do and how they can get funding. The long term commitment of Government funding and our investment in apprenticeships and skills training will allow the industry to build capacity, as well as all other aspects of the supply chain.

The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan T.D., said: The urgent nature of the climate crisis and the energy price crisis means that we must act to reduce our energy use and to reduce the cost of heating our homes. The unprecedent commitment from the Government, and indeed all politicians in Ireland, to focus on improving our homes as a centre-piece of climate action is demonstrated here today. We have a 30-year task of transforming our homes. Todays launch is the one of the key steps we need to take to insulate ourselves from international price volatility and the geopolitics of international energy markets.

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Chief Executive Officer, William Walsh said: SEAI, through Government funding, has already supported 450,000 home energy upgrades. Todays announcement by the Government demonstrates its commitment to assisting homeowners by making home energy upgrades more accessible and affordable. Through these new measures we look forward to supporting homeowners to achieve a warmer, cosier home, with lower energy bills, while also helping to achieve Irelands ambitious climate targets.
FOUR years after Offaly was split in two by Failte Ireland, the tourism promotion agency has decided that the entire county will now be part of Ireland's 'Hidden Heartlands'.

Prior to the 2018 launch of the Hidden Heartlands brand, Offaly was marketed under the 'Ireland's Ancient East' brand.

The creation of the Hidden Heartlands resulted in parts of Offaly along the river Shannon receiving a new designation and other attractions, such as Birr Castle, were given the option of selecting their preferred brand.

On Tuesday Failte Ireland announced what they called an expansion of the Hidden Heartlands, saying that Offaly, along with Westmeath and Cavan, will sit wholly within the Irelands Hidden Heartlands brand and will no longer be part of the Irelands Ancient East brand.

Tipperary however, continues to be split, with Failte Ireland saying a slightly greater portion of Co Tipperary will also be encompassed within the Hidden Heartlands brand, namely all the Nenagh Municipal District and part of the Thurles Municipal District.

Failte Ireland said the change follows a review of the branding: The division of Westmeath, Cavan and Offaly between the two brands is confusing for the visitor and some industry, which is having a negative effect on brand adoption and visitor experience on the ground.

Meanwhile, the tourism promotion body said a review of the Ireland's Ancient brand is underway, noting that initial research and stakeholder engagement identified the large scale of the region as a challenge to successfully positioning the region as a single, unifying proposition.

This change will strengthen the saliency of Irelands Ancient East by making it more east and less Midlands, said Failte Ireland.

The new arrangement will strengthen both brands, will create a more cohesive visitor experience, will enable a more efficient alignment of industry and a clearer collaboration and engagement with other authorities within existing county structures.

Paddy Mathews, Head of Irelands Hidden Heartlands at Failte Ireland said: Todays expansion of the Irelands Hidden Heartlands brand to include Cavan, Westmeath, Offaly and part of Tipperary will allow us to further raise awareness of this region domestically and internationally. The Irelands Hidden Heartlands brand is centred around Irelands natural rural beauty, relaxation, and untouched heritage and outdoor activities which each of these counties boast in abundance. We look forward to working with industry stakeholders, strategic partners, Members of the Oireachtas and the Local Authorities as we develop this beautiful region as one of the leading regenerative tourism destinations in Europe, with nature and communities at its heart.

The four regional experience brands are Wild Atlantic Way, Irelands Ancient East, Irelands Hidden Heartlands and Dublin.

Irelands Hidden Heartlands now comprises counties Leitrim, Cavan, Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, part of Tipperary, east Galway and east Clare.
A POLISH flag has joined its Welsh counterpart at one of the shrines to murdered teacher Ashling Murphy in Tullamore.

The flag appeared on Tuesday at the entrance to Fiona's Way, the main access point to the Grand Canal greenway from the town centre.

Both flags were flying this afternoon at the site where numerous floral tributes and heartfelt messages to the 23-year-old remain in place.

The young Blueball woman was killed while jogging on the canal bank near Digby bridge in Cappincur on January 12 and her death sent shockwaves around the world

The Wales flag (pictured below) was erected by a group of Welsh rugby supporters who were in Tullamore at the weekend and watched the Six Nations match against Ireland in a local public house.

The fans had followed news of Ashling's murder in their home country and decided to pay their tribute to her when holidaying in Tullamore.

They travelled from their accommodation on Sunday morning to pay their respects at the shrine.
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Residents who live near the convoy protest outside the Manitoba Legislative Building say they're frustrated with the noise from blaring horns as the the protest enters its fourth day.
Its been nearly three weeks since the bodies of a family from Dingucha village in India were discovered in what RCMP say was an attempt to illegally cross into the United States.
The Russian President used a five-hour meeting with his French counterpart to keep the world guessing about his Ukraine intentions.
A report commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church in Munich had accused Benedict of mishandling at least four cases of sexual abuse by priests when he was the archbishop there.
In the latest push for a diplomatic solution to the rising tensions, the leaders of Germany, France and Poland gathered in Berlin. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said all three were united on their assessment.
The Ubersee-Museum has "no longer any justification" to keep human remains from colonial contexts, its director said, as she sought "righting the wrongs of the past."
Rumble 25 Mar 2022

Proofs from History that America and its NATO allies deliberately pushed Putin into launching its invasion of Ukraine, after having..
Swedish price comparison firm PriceRunner accused Google of "abusing the market" by promoting its own shopping comparisons in search results despite a 2017 EU ruling.
Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity fled to the Bahamas in recent weeks after a U.S. judge granted an arrest warrant for one of them.
Six Russian warships are heading for the Black Sea for naval drills amid escalating tension between the West and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
Hoping to force a breakthrough in the East-West stalemate, the French president said "a number of propositions" had emerged from his talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow.
A 20 year-old man from Akron, Ohio, is facing potential swatting-related charges after calling in a bomb threat to police in the wrong Ottawa.
The German government has rejected Ukraine's demands for arms deliveries, saying Germany does not send weapons of war to conflict zones as a matter of principle. A DW fact check finds this stance has often been ignored.
The world was shocked when the Omicron variant was discovered in South Africa last year. But life is almost back to normal there. The government has lifted most lockdown restrictions, and tourists are flocking back.
Google shared a map of the most-searched teams by state with USA TODAY, showing whether each state is searching more for the Bengals or the Rams.


United States President Joe Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House to discuss various issues including Russia's potential invasion of Ukraine. The Democratic U.S. president said that his administration will shut down the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline project if Moscow continued its aggression.
Senate Republicans are criticizing the decision of the Republican Naitonal Committee (RNC) to censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. The decision was made because the two lawmakers were part of the House Select Committee and its alleged persecution of innocent Americans.
Aberdare, Kenya (AFP) Feb 7, 2022



A fire that raged for two days in Kenya's Aberdare National Park has been extinguished after burning through hundreds of hectares of wilderness, a government forest official said on Monday. The blaze started Saturday and dozens of forest rangers, firefighters and volunteers had struggled to control the fire from spreading, as suspicions of arson emerged. The park was etched in history w
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Mashable 25 Feb 2022

If you can believe it, Tumblr turned 15 this month. The microblogging site that launched a thousand ships was created by software..
Watch VideoPresident Joe Biden said Monday "it would be wise" for Americans other than essential diplomats to leave Ukraine amid the Russian military threat.



President Biden made his comments during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House, shortly after the two leaders met for talks about...
U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday warned that if Russia invades Ukraine, there would be no Nord Stream 2, but did not specify how he would go about ensuring the controversial pipeline would not...



#nordstream #nordstream2
Oskaloosa, IA (52577)

Today

Cloudy with a few showers. High 58F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low around 45F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Courageous and unknown nuns. Brief stories of the charism



Sister Clotilde Morano who taught physical education to other religious during Fascism, as an alternative to the dictates of the regime. However, she was destined to be copied, with her insights and exercises appropriated and included in published didactic texts. On the other hand, in Slovakia, under communism, Sister Maria Cerna secretly continued to promote the vocations of young girls, and she experienced firsthand the hell of a concentration camp. In Spain, before taking the veil, Sister Virginia Ferraro Orti had even joined the newly formed union of seamstresses, while in Lombardy, Sister Iside Malgrati founded the Liceo Europeo in Cinisello Balsamo to promote an avant-garde professional education for women. In India, Sister Nancy Pereira committed herself to helping women develop empowerment through microcredit, a useful tool to escape exploitation, and in many cases slavery.



These are just some of the motivated and courageous but unknown protagonists of the Salesian reality. To them, the volume, Volti di uno stesso carisma - Salesiani e Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice nel XX secolo [Faces of the Same Charisma - Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in the 20th Century] edited by Francesco Motto and Grazia Loparco for the Associazione Cultori Storia Salesiana (Las-Roma) is dedicated. The publication, with 832 exciting pages full of scrupulously documented facts, revolves around 48 biographies of religious men and women who, even though they did not hold top roles in the congregation, distinguished themselves for having developed the Salesian charism in their daily lives. Of these, The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians are prominent.

But all the protagonists in the book are united by the educational charism that they put into practice in different historical, environmental, cultural and political contexts. This portrays Sister Grazia Loparco, an historian, who coordinated the research among the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians throughout the world, who relied on a network of local collaborators. The intention was to discard illustrious figures and protagonists of institutional history such as the blessed, servants of God, major rectors, and general superiors (already the focus of previous research) in order to concentrate instead on the foot soldier. These people, who worked in silence, without spotlights or honors, lived the Salesian ideals intensely in conditions that were often adverse, if not prohibitive. We asked all the members of the Association of Salesian History Connoisseurs from five continents to tell us about significant figures from their own Countries, explains Loparco. Once we received the profiles, we, the editors, chose those for whom there was reliable documentation beyond the praise passed down verbally. The book is made up of historical reconstructions, not edifying medallions.

A striking description is that of Sister Clotilde Morano (1885-1963), from Piedmont, who worked in physical education -a rare occurrence amongst nuns-, and was guided by the preventive system that aims at the totality of the person, mens sana in corpore sano. During the Fascism period, Sister Morano, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, created ad hoc courses of gymnastics to train nuns as teachers. At that time, nuns were forced to exercise together with laywomen, following the military approach of the regime and had to wear inappropriate clothing that caused them extreme embarrassment. In addition, Sister Morano wrote books and believed in her ideas at the cost of clashing with her superiors who wanted to curb her initiative, which was not always channeled into obedience. Supported by her lay collaborator Luisa Larese Cella, succeeded in interesting Pope Pius XI in her activities.

The Fascist regime assumed Sister Moranos ideas, her exercises, her essays, and claimed them its own. The outbreak of war blocked the international foundation in Rome, but not her activity.

Another protagonist written about in the book is Sister Maria Cerna (1928-2011), whose very hard life did not prevent her from being fundamental to the reestablishment of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Slovakia. This period under communism was when religious orders could not officially exist. Although she may have been unprepared to become a teacher, but sustained by faith, she formed the girls in total secrecy, and promoted vocations. Despite her poor health, like many other religious, she was sent to concentration camps for forced labor. Her work, carried out with Sister Vilma Sutkova, was the foundation for the rebuilding of the Institute in Slovakia after the fall of communism in 1989.

An active social commitment as a laywoman preceded the consecration of Sister Virginia Ferraro Orti (1894-1963). A seamstress in Valencia, Virginia joined the needle workers union to fight against their exploitation. After taking the veil, she then became the director of a boarding school in Valverde del Camino, which she had to defend during the Spanish Civil War years by exercising her capacity for dialogue with the authorities. In a situation of contextual difficulties and misery, she professionally promoted the education of the poorest girls. Just like the other protagonists written about in the book - intrepid missionaries, educators with entrepreneurial skills - thanks to her enormous faith in Providence she was always able to be generous.

By Gloria Satta
Ottumwa, IA (52501)

Today

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High 57F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low around 45F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and a former opinion page editor at the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.
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The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Collin Periatt.

Sunday, Feb. 6

9:09 p.m.  Officers investigated a call of a domestic verbal dispute on North Columbine Street.

8:11 o.m. - A deputy responded to a Homer Township residence regarding a report of a disorderly 9-year-old girl. The deputy spoke with the juvenile, who agreed that her actions were inappropriate, and she agreed to change her behavior.

7:31 p.m.  Officers investigated a call of a domestic verbal dispute on Baldwin Street.

6:59 p.m.  Officers investigated a call of a domestic verbal dispute on Washington Street.

1:11 p.m.  A 57-year-old Beaverton man was arrested on a warrant and turned over to Gladwin County police. He was issued citations for his other violations.

12:32 p.m.  Officers performed a death investigation on Shreeve Street.

12:04 p.m.  Officers investigated malicious destruction of property on Eastman Avenue.

5:20 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Jerome Township location regarding a third-party report of a vehicle that went off the roadway and rolled over into a ditch. The driver was not located at the scene and did not report the crash. The vehicle was impounded. The 17-year-old driver was later found walking several miles away from the scene, and he admitted to taking his grandmother's vehicle without permission. The juvenile was cited and released to his father.

2:41 a.m.  A 22-year-old Saginaw woman was arrested for a warrant out of Saginaw County following a traffic stop in Lee Township. The woman was transported and turned over to the Buena Vista Township Police Department.

12:57 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Jerome Township residence regarding an argument between a 35-year-old female and her 41-year-old boyfriend. The argument was verbal only, and no assault occurred.

Saturday, Feb. 5

7:39 p.m.  Officers investigated a case of identity theft and fraud on East Main Street.

4:53 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lincoln Township residence regarding an unwanted guest. A 56-year-old Lincoln Township man reported a 46-year-old Gladwin County woman at his daughter's Lincoln Township residence who was unwanted. The 46-year-old woman had two valid warrants out of Gladwin County. Deputies arrested the woman and turned her over to the Gladwin County Sheriff's Office without incident.

2:26 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lincoln Township residence regarding a 10-year-old boy who had run away. A Michigan State Police K9 unit located the 10-year-old walking on a Lincoln Township roadway. The 10-year-old was transported back home without incident.

6:02 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Greendale Township location for an unknown accident. Deputies made contact with a 28-year-old Greendale Township woman who was transported to the Mid Michigan Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Further investigation revealed that the woman was under the influence of liquor, but she was not lodged due to injuries. The woman received a citation.

Friday, Feb. 4

11:34 p.m.  A deputy conducted a traffic stop at a Lincoln Township location for a traffic violation. The deputy made contact with the driver, a 32-year-old Saginaw woman. Further investigation revealed that the driver had a suspended license and no insurance and had a warrant out of Saginaw. The woman was placed in custody for the warrant and received a citation.

5:47 p.m.  A 23-year-old Jerome Township woman called 911 and reported a domestic assault that had occurred at her residence. The 23-year-old advised she had been assaulted by her 54-year-old Jerome Township boyfriend, who had left a few hours prior. The woman was not injured and refused EMS.

5:10 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Midland residence to speak with a 14-year-old girl and her 40-year-old mother regarding a possible domestic assault that occurred in Larkin Township. The 14-year-old stated that she was assaulted by her 41-year-old father at his Larkin Township residence.

3:36 p.m.  Officers investigated a case of larceny on Hedgewood Drive.

1:29 p.m.  Officers investigated a call of a domestic verbal dispute on Longview Street.

10:52 a.m.  A 54-year-old Jasper Township woman called 911 and reported that she was hearing noises and was concerned for her safety. Deputies spoke to both the woman and her caregiver. Deputies confirmed that the woman was feeling unwell and was being monitored by her caregiver.

12:09 a.m.  A 40-year-old Midland Township man was bitten by a stray dog that was going through his trash. The man received treatment at the MyMichigan Medical Center ER.
ReGrow Midland, a partnership formed to aid restaurants impacted by the pandemic and address food insecurity, announces the program will be coming to close on April 1.

ReGrow Midland, a program of the Midland Business Alliance (MBA) and the Midland Area Community Foundation (MACF), was a short-term program designed to help local restaurants rebound from extended closures and restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic while providing low-cost, healthy meal options to the community. Funding for the one-year project was provided in partnership with the MBA, Michigan Baseball Foundation (MBF) and MACF with contributions from the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation, the Charles J. Strosacker Foundation and the Dow Company Foundation as well as private citizens/investors.

With all the uncertainty of the pandemic, our local restaurants needed support to stay open, said Tony Stamas, MBA president and CEO. ReGrow Midland has accomplished its goal to bridge the gap during closures with a reliable revenue stream that enabled restaurants to bring staff back to work and provided business support to help them keep their doors open.

Each week since May 2021, distribution centers in Midland County received nutritious meals to offer to the public for a small monetary donation or at no cost. The meals incorporated sourcing fresh produce and meats from local farmers.

To date, 30,458 meals have been distributed to those in need and restaurant partners were able to hire and/or retain 60 employees as well as invest over $76,000 back into their business.

Involvement in the ReGrow Midland program was pivotal in our ability to continue operations during the pandemic, said Kelly Osborn, owner of The Menu Manager. It also served as a platform to not only expand our services but to invest in a new Midland location as well.

ReGrow Midland wishes to thank their distribution sites The Bridge, North Midland Family Center, West Midland Family Center, Coleman Family Center and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sanford for providing the meals to the public each week as well as participating restaurants Bucks Run, Taco Universe, Molasses, The Menu Manager, Shiers Deli, Great Hall Banquet and Convention Center, Egyptian Koshery and Red Oak Lounge. Additionally, they'd like to extend their appreciation to Downtown Restaurant Investments (DRI) and the Midland Country Club for assisting with the program launch. They especially want to thank Jason Story, Midland Country Club culinary director who served as the ReGrow Program Coordinator and streamlined the process for all parties involved.

We are so appreciative of the community interest and engagement received to bring ReGrow Midland to life, said David Ramaker, president of MBF. We want to thank Downtown Restaurant Investments and the Midland Country Club for partnering together to create and develop our menus, operating guidelines and running the initial pilot. We also want to recognize the essential assistance provided by Senior Services of Midland County regarding nutritional analysis and council on the meal distribution options.

Senior Services was happy to be part of a program that played a role in helping our community endure the pandemic," said Charlie Schwedler, executive director of Senior Services Midland County Council on Aging. ReGrow Midland was yet another example of our community coming together to create solutions.

ReGrow Midland was developed to offer short-term immediate support to local restaurants and help with food insecurity within the Midland community and has accomplished this goal. Although ReGrow is ending, efforts to support workforce training in the hospitality industry continues in partnership with the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association, Midland County ESA, local schools and Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works. Additional resources to help those with food insecurity can be found attached or by contacting 2-1-1 at 211nemichigan.org.

As we shared when this program got underway, we recognize that one element of a thriving community is a vibrant economy, with restaurants being an important part of our local economy. We are so proud that ReGrow Midland supported our restaurants during this challenging time while providing meals for those in need, said Sharon Mortensen, president and CEO of MACF. It has truly been a community win-win.
Palestine, TX (75801)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early. Thunderstorms developing late. Low 69F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A German delegation on Tuesday discussed Investment Promotion and Privatisation, the activation of suspended projects in Libya and the possibility of taking advantage of existing projects and how to agree on new ones
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The International Press Centre (Maison de la presse) of Mali Tuesday condemned the expulsion of Benjamin Roger, a journalist with the weekly "Jeune Afrique", saying that "freedom of expression and press freedom is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Members of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission arrived on Tuesday evening in Sirte (Centre) for the holding of their ninth meeting at its permanent headquarters in the city
Photo: (Photo : Getty images )

An unvaccinated father from New Brunswick lost custody over his three kids, including his ten-year-old immunocompromised daughter, after he repeatedly refused COVID-19 vaccination, CBC reported.

Justice Nathalie Godbout of the Court of Queen's Bench penned that the father and new partner were "well-positioned to transmit the virus" to the children in the court decision.

According to USA Today, she debunked the research presented by the father that questions the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Godbout referred to the study as "anecdotal" and wrote that it carries little or no weight compared to the medical advice of public health officials.

However, the father can have generous Zoom interaction with the kids. Once he gets himself vaccinated, the judge ruled that he may go back to court to have his status re-evaluated.

Read Also: Preemie Twins Born at 22 Weeks Defy Doctor's Bleak Prognosis That They Will Not Survive

The change of custody

The couple separated in 2019 but agreed to share custody of the three kids. Last year, the mother asked the court for a change of custody agreement, asking for complete control of the three kids.

At the onset of the pandemic, Godbout wrote that the refusal of the father and his new spouse to be vaccinated posed serious risks to the children, especially the middle child who has non-cancerous tumors in her blood vessels, DailyMail reported.

The father also refused to consent for the children's vaccination after the kids became eligible for it last November. The judge also ruled that the mother could get the kid's vaccination done without the father's consent.

Kids got their first dose of the vaccine

Godbout issued her decision on Monday. The mother's lawyer, Grant Ogilvie, said that the three children have already received their first vaccine doses.

Ogilvie said that the mother was ecstatic about this new development. He further clarified that the mother does not want to take the children away from their father, but she is doing the best for her children. Ogilvie also said that the mother knows this decision may impact her kids, but she did what was best for them.

Recently, Ogilvie said he won a similar order in another case, but Godbout's decision is the first written ruling of its kind in the province. He added that the case would serve as a precedent for other similar cases.

Ruling a welcome development

Godbout's decision offers hope to parents in similar situations. Shelbi McLellan shares custody of their daughter, Penobsquis, with her ex-husband. She is immunocompromised as she has Crohn's disease and Colitis, but her ex-husband refuses to get the vaccination. She sought the province's help, but the provincial office told her to ask for a change in custody arrangement in court, which she admitted she did not have enough resources to do so.

Family lawyers like Sheila Cameron welcomed the recent decision of Godbout as COVID-19 lawyers reported that COVID-19 had opened a lot of issues involving child custody.

Cameron said they had encountered many issues that they had never seen in her 29 years of practice, and the judge's ruling on the matter guides them.

Related Article: Artificial Insemination Mix-up: Family Sues Hospital After Finding Out Daughter Had Different Father
Photo: (Photo : IVAN COURONNE/AFP via Getty Images)

Couples who dream of having babies or are ready to grow their family and become parents, but have fertility issues, turn to in vitro fertilization to help with the conception. The IVF industry is one of the fastest-growing industries, with an estimated $8 billion growth in recent decades.

But while IVF has helped thousands of couples, there are also countless sad stories about miscarriages and other infertility challenges that cannot be fixed with the advances of science. The reality is that this expensive procedure does not guarantee conception and could lead to false hopes for some eager parents.

Read Also: Paris Hilton Hopes Her Future Daughter Will Be a Nerd, Not an Influencer

The IVF Success Rate

A study conducted by researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia, which followed women who had in vitro fertilization between 2016 to 2020, showed that the IVF success rate diminishes as women age. Their findings were published in the SciMex journal.

A woman who has the procedure before she's 30 years old may have a 43 percent chance of conceiving within one cycle and a 66 percent chance within three cycles. A woman above the age of 35 has a 40 percent chance of having a baby after the first IVF and 61 percent after three rounds of the fertilization process. A woman in her 40s will have considerably lowered chances at 13 percent for one round and 25 percent for three rounds.

In 2018, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that 50 percent of women who have IVF under 35 years old might result in a baby's birth, but only 3.9 percent of women over 45 years old may have successful deliveries through this process. However, there are other considerations and options, such as a donor egg, to increase the IVF success rate.

A single round of IVF is highly strenuous on a woman's body that doctors recommend the second or succeeding procedures should never be done within two months of each other. Doctors also need to consider the woman's menstrual cycles in between the procedures, following a negative pregnancy test.

However, some fertility clinics may fail to emphasize that the health and fertility of a woman's body and the male's sperm differ with every patient. While the technology may be so advanced, there are still several factors that could impact the chances of conception through IVF.

The Economic Factor

On top of the time element and woman's health, the cost of IVF falls around $12,000 to $17,000 per round, per the New York Times. This does not yet cover the medications needed and will also depend on the woman's health insurance coverage, doctor's fees, and other additional treatments.

So, if a woman or a couple does not have enough funds, the chances of having a baby further diminishes due to the economic factor. Some parents go knee-deep in debt after choosing to have IVF, especially those who wait past their child-bearing years to have kids.

Fertility industry workers tell CNBC that some couples are in for a rude awakening after realizing all the factors it takes to start a family through in vitro fertilization. Even as some clinics offer financing, installment payments, or other pricing models, some couples are forced to draw the line and consider giving up their dreams of having a child.

Related Article: Mom Addicted to Pregnancy Says Surrogacy Is the 'Best Job in the World'
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It's being reported this afternoon that Apple Inc. acquired a UK startup in London called AI Music that uses artificial intelligence to generate tailor-made music. The technology could be used across its slate of audio offerings.

The purchase of AI Music, a London-based business founded in 2016, was completed in recent weeks. AI Music's LinkedIn site stated that they had 17 employees.

Technology developed by AI Music can create soundtracks using royalty-free music and artificial intelligence, according to a copy of its now-defunct website. The idea is to generate dynamic soundtracks that change based on user interaction. A song in a video game could change to fit the mood, for instance, or music during a workout could adapt to the users intensity.

On its LinkedIn page, AI Music states: Human creativity is the core of what we do. We are on a mission to redefine how we create, interact and experience music. Our goal is to give consumers the power to choose the music they want, seamlessly edited to fit their needs or create dynamic solutions that adapt to fit their audiences."

The startup had earlier deals with advertising companies to create more engaging ads that played different music depending on the audience. For more read the full BNN Bloomberg report. The AI Music website has been shut down.
The monitor market is on the cusp of entering a new era of innovation. After two decades relying on a familiar core technology  an LCD panel with an LED backlight  consumer PC displays are making the leap to Mini-LED and OLED technology.

Lenovo is a leader in this space. It was an early adopter of OLED in laptops, the first to bring a 2-in-1 PC with a folding OLED screen to consumers, and is among the few selling a 27-inch Mini-LED monitor right now.

I asked Stefan Engel, Lenovos VP & GM of Visual Business, where he thinks PC displays go from here. The answers will leave you eager for what comes next.

More Mini-LED is coming to monitors, and soon

The Lenovo ThinkVision Creator Extreme is a 27-inch Mini-LED monitor with 1,152 individual dimming zones. Thats more than Samsungs top 2021 Mini-LED television, which has 792 dimming zones across a 65-inch display. The dimming zone density of the Lenovo monitor is three times greater than Samsungs 2021 Mini-LED flagship.

Its impressive but comes with an outrageously high price tag. The ThinkVision Creator Extreme retails for a truly extreme $3,499, placing it far outside the average consumers budget. Luckily, theres reason to think pricing will come down.

Lenovo

Lenovo is paving the way for Mini-LED in the monitor market, says Engel. For 2022, [] we plan to develop a series of Mini-LED products and monitors to benefit a multitude of commercial and consumer users.

The key word here is consumer. Lenovos ThinkVision monitor is a pricey, low-volume monitor for a niche professional market. The same is true of Asus high-end ProArt Mini-LED monitors.

Consumer displays are a different story. Engel wasnt ready to reveal specifics, but I expect the Lenovos future consumer Mini-LED displays, while still likely to sell well above $1,000, will be notably less expensive than the ThinkVision monitor.

This isnt just speculation. Most companies that showed Mini-LED monitors at CES 2022 were unwilling to talk pricing, but two broke ranks: Acer and Monoprice. Acer priced its upcoming Acer Predator X32 FP Mini-LED gaming monitor at $1,799. Monoprice beat that by a mile, announcing its 27-inch Mini-LED will sell for $999. To be frank, Lenovo must lower pricing to compete with Acer and Monoprice.

In any case, pricing is headed in the right direction. Asus ROG Swift PG32UQX, my personal favorite gaming monitor of 2021, arrived with an MSRP of $2,999. Samsungs super-ultrawide Odyssey Neo G9 hit stores at $2,499. It appears new Mini-LED monitors expected in 2021 will shave a thousand, or more, off the price.

Mini-LED could also be coming to gaming laptops (and more)

High-end PC monitors were not Mini-LEDs only success story in 2021. They also came standard on Apples MacBook Pro 14 and 16. Its hard to argue with the results. The new MacBook Pro models have a display brighter and more vivid than any PC laptop, including those with OLED.

I asked Engel if Lenovo will be bringing Mini-LED to laptops, and though he declined to name any specific models, he hints theyre in the works.

Lenovo

For whats next in laptops, Lenovo is dedicated to optimizing its immersive visuals, particularly within gaming markets, said Engel. So, Id imagine panel improvements, like up to Mini-LED display and performance upgrades for avid gamers, could be offered in the not-too-distant future.

Engels comments focus on gaming, which makes sense. Excellent HDR performance is a key advantage of Mini-LED, but the Windows desktop (and everything you do in it) is designed for SDR.

Gaming and streaming are where Mini-LED literally shines, leaping ahead of OLED with unmatched brightness. Games also benefit from Mini-LEDs improved contrast which, though not as good as OLED, is far superior to a traditional edge-lit LCD.

Burn-in remains a limitation for OLED

The debate over OLED burn-in remains a controversial topic. It can also be frustrating to cover, as executives often play coy asked about the issue. I was surprised, then, by Engels frank response when I pressed him on how Mini-LED and OLED compare.

Of note, OLED has low durability, specifically called burn-in, says Engel. OLED quality may be degraded, with a shadow on the image, after long-time usage.

Engel was quick to clarify this problem doesnt invalidate OLED, as should be obvious from Lenovos early and continued commitment to the technology. Instead, Engel believes use case is key when deciding which is best.

As a rule of thumb, Id say if youre a designer and work with rather stable content on your screen, go with Mini-LED. But if your world is all moving content like video, go with OLED, says Engel.

He also points out Mini-LED isnt perfect. The technologys critics often leap on its blooming or halo issue, which causes a halo of brightness around small, bright objects on a dark background. This downside will remain a trait of Mini-LED for the immediate future. Enthusiasts must decide for themselves if long-term durability or pixel-perfect contrast is the priority.

What about OLED, anyway?

Engels most revealing comments were about Mini-LED. When asked whether Lenovo plans to bring a QD-OLED display to market in 2022, as will Dell and Samsung, Engel declined to offer specifics, saying only that Lenovo adds new options when it can find the right space in its product line. Engel was similarly vague about the future of Lenovo PCs with flexible OLED displays, a category Lenovo pioneered with the X1 Fold.

Dell

Does that mean Lenovo will focus less on OLED in the future? I doubt it. OLED has proven successful in Lenovos laptops, offering a high-end display option thats superior to a standard edge-lit LCD display. Instead, I read Engels lack of comment on OLED to mean the company will move forward on multiple paths.

This will be true of the entire industry. As I wrote in November of 2021, OLED displays face headwinds due to high production costs, especially for the 24-inch to 32-inch panels in desktop monitors.

However, this will ease into 2024 and 2025 as a new generation of OLED fabrication comes online, giving OLED the opportunity to strike back. By then, consumers will likely have dozens of Mini-LED and OLED monitors to choose from.

A monitor revolution?

Engels comments show the PC monitor display market is headed in a new direction. Change wont happen overnight, and pricing for new Mini-LED and OLED monitors will be relatively high for the foreseeable future. Still, its obvious monitors are about to become much, much better  and Lenovo hopes to be a leader in this revolution.
Have you looked for a new or used car recently? Demand and prices are through the roof. Microsoft has just made finding a new car a little easier: Microsoft, MSN, and the Bing search engine has launched what it calls Autos Marketplace.

Naturally, the Autos Marketplace site allows you to filter by make, model, price, and more, including proximity. Microsoft promises that youll be able to find background information on the available cars, reviews, and even video, provided that theyre available.

Autos Marketplace allows you to search for either new or used cars. In the latter category, knowing what you can about the history of the vehicle matters. Bings Auto Marketplace site links to the free CARFAX report, which can show if the car has been in an accident and what the repair history might be. Finally, the Bing Autos Marketplace allows you to compare the prices of the car against similar listings, allowing you to try and figure out if youre paying too much.

Users can also use the new Autos Marketplace site to sell a car, too, though the process is more akin to simply listing a car for sale. The Sell Your Car feature allows you to fill out online forms attesting to the make, mileage, color, and more, along with features. Its worth noting that adding the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is an optional feature, so listing (and buying) a car via this method might be more akin to listing a used car on Craigslist than in having Microsoft back the transaction.

Google Journeys collects your searches around specific topics, such as Yosemite. Google

Interestingly, if you are in the market for a car, or have for searched for one previously, Google Chrome also announced a feature Monday called Journeys that will allow you to revisit an old search rather than begin a new one. Its not quite like a bookmark in that you save your search; its more like a targeted search of your own search history, so that you can dig out what you were looking at previously. It also appears that this feature will show up in your search history, not your toolbar, once its enabled.

If youre in the market for a new car, why not use both the new Google and Bing tools to help out?
The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) has been directed to hand over to Prof Mawutor Avoke with immediate effect in accordance with last Wednesday's High Court order.



Prof Andy Ofori-Birokorang who was acting as Vice Chancellor in the absence of the substantive once has been directed by the Governing Council of the University to revert to his position as Pro-Vice Chancellor and to cooperate with Prof Avoke as he resumes office.



A letter dated February 4, signed and issued by the Chairman of the Governing Council of the University, Nana Ofori Ansah I, said, "On the authority of this letter, you are directed to hand over forthwith to Professor Mawutor Avoke, who resumes duty as substantive Vice-Chancellor following a High Court order directing his reinstatement.



As you revert to your position as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the UEW, I urge you to assist management of the University in the transition to give full effect to the said High Court order. Again, you are required to support and cooperate with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Avoke, to achieve his vision and the goals of the University."



In another letter addressed to Prof Avoke and copied to the Office of the President, Vice-President, Chief of Staff, the Minister of Education and other management members of the university, the Governing Council of the University said, "in compliance with the order of the court, you are hereby reinstated as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba.



It however reminded Prof Avoke that his retirement from office was September 2023.







Source: graphiconline.com









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The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, on Monday 7th February 2022, inaugurated a five-member Ministerial Committee of Inquiry, chaired by a distinguished Minerals Engineer and Vice Chancellor of the Paa Grant University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa (UmaT), Prof. Richard Amankwah, to review the health and safety regime of the mining industry.



The other members of the Committee are Prof. Grace Ofori-Sarpong, a professor of minerals engineering, and Dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies at Paa Grant University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, representing the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences; Ms. Effie Oppong-Fosu, an Associate of Menka-Premo and Co. Law Firm, with specialisation in mining and energy law, representing the Ghana Bar Association, Mr. Benjamin Aryee, a former Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, and Mr. Kwesi Enyan, a former inspector of mines, and a former Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti.



The setting up of the Committee became necessary following the Appiatse explosion incident which claimed thirteen (13) lives and destroyed the entire Appiatse community. Speaking at the inauguration, the Minister said unfortunate though the incident was, it should serve as a wake up call for us to take proactive measures to prevent such disasters.



He referred to similar actions taken by the United States following the BP oil spill in 2010 and South Africa, after the Vaal Reefs disaster in 1995.



Mr. Jinapor also noted that the Appiatse incident is not an isolated one in the mining industry. He indicated that in the course of this week, the Ministry will be updating the nation on some of the consequential actions following the report of the investigation. He however, referred to various cave-ins of mining pits in Ayanfuri and Breman, both in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region, and the recent one in AngloGold Ashantis Obuasi Mine last year.



He stressed that We cannot continue to treat these as isolated incidents. We must take a holistic approach to dealing with the health and safety issues in the mining sector. The Committee is, therefore, not to look at the Appiatse incident or explosives only, but the entire health and safety regime of the mining industry.



Their terms of reference are to undertake a general review of the health and safety regime in the mining industry; to review the existing laws, regulations, and guidelines on health and safety standards in the mining industry; to inquire into any matter relating to health and safety in the mining industry; and to make recommendations to Government for legislative, policy, and other reforms it may deem fit.



The Minister gave the Committee one (1) month to present their report. He said the President of the Republic, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is committed to making Ghana the mining hub of Africa, and this requires a safe and healthy environment for mining.



Responding to the Minister, the Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Amankwah, thanked the Minister for the confidence reposed in them. He expressed worry about the Appiatse incident and the other incidents the Minister referred to. Prof Amakaw said out of this disaster must be the opportunity, as is the case in other countries to come up with extensive and far reaching results.



He promised that the Committee will work diligently to support Governments vision to create a safe and healthy environment for mining.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Auditor-General (A-G) has cited the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for failing to account for 97 vehicles the authority seized between January 2015 and October 2017.



The A-G blamed the authority for falling short of ensuring reliable and appropriate auction procedures for the confiscated vehicles.



In its 2018 report on ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), the A-G said the authority could not provide proper documentation on the reserve price list of the vehicles, auction sales report and internal audit report covering the auctioning of 1,719 confiscated vehicles during the period 2015 to 2017.



No suspected deals



However, yesterday when officials of the GRA appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament to answer questions on infractions for which the A-G had cited the authority in 2018, the Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA, Colonel Kwadwo Damoah (retd), denied any corrupt deals associated with the missing vehicles.



"We had these challenges when we were doing the auction manually. Everything had to be done manually, right from the beginning of the process when vehicles were not cleared within the stipulated time of 60 days," he said.



Probe



The 25-member committee, chaired by the Deputy Minority Leader, Dr. James Klutse Avedzi, is probing infractions cited by the A-G against the Ministry of Finance, led by a Deputy Minister, Mrs. Abena Osei-Asare, and officials from the various agencies under the ministry, including the GRA and the Controller and Accountant Generals Department (CAGD), in 2018.



Manual process



Providing details on what accounted for the missing vehicles, Col Damoah said since officials, including auditors of the authority, had to resort to the manual auctioning process, matters that had to do with physical examination and the taking and keeping of details of such processes had to be executed manually.



"So the manual way of doing things created some problems for documentation," he acknowledged.



He, however, indicated that during the period under review, the Customs Division of the GRA managed to produce documentation covering 1,622 vehicles, which had been forwarded to the A-G.



"Gradually, we are interpreting our data and we have managed to reduce the number of vehicles the auditors initially observed as unaccounted for. As of the last count, the figure has come down to 97 and we are still in the process, engaging with auditors who are verifying the data we are providing them," he added.



Streamlining auction



The commissioner was happy that the recent auction process had been tidier now than it had been in the past.



He attributed that to the introduction of what he called the Integrated Customs Management Systems (ICUM) as part of efforts to digitalise operations at the port.



"We believe that with the introduction of the ICUM systems and the plan to automate the auction process, [reports of unaccounted vehicles] will become a thing of the past," he assured the committee.



Still vetting



When the committee members sought to know from the A-G if the account Col Damoah had given of the 1,622 vehicles which had not been accounted for, an official from the A-Gs Department said the A-G was still vetting some of the documentation being made available by the authority.



"So far, some of the documents made available to us are the gazettes and a list from their system which authenticates the auctions made so far. So we are still going through the process with them," he said.













Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Deputy CEO of the National Youth Authority, Akosua Manu, on Friday, February 4, 2022, was named the Most Influential Young Politician in Ghana by The Youth Excellence Awards Africa.



Since its inception in 2017, The Youth Excellence Awards Africa has been honoring young people making significant impact across all working sectors in Ghana and Africa.



The 4th edition of the awards took place at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra.



Akosua Manu spoke on the voice and support for the youth, women and SME business in AfCFTA implementation in her capacity as guest Speaker at the event.



She emphasized how government interventions like National Entrepreneurship and Innovations Programme (NEIP), Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), the presidential pitch among others are laying firm foundations for young people and businesses in the country to meaningfully participate in Africas market.



She however noted that the lack of trust in the system is a hindrance to the equitable distribution of programs and opportunities in the country.



While coming across as basic, a lot of people do not apply for opportunities because they believe the system cannot work for them, she stated.



Other notable award winners on the night included Her Excellency Anne Sophie-AVE, French Ambassador to Ghana; Ms. Adeline Quarshie, CEO of Credence Micro Credit.

Source: Pious Baidoo Banson/Peace News









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has lambasted the Ghana Police Service for not doing much to expose the alleged Police officers who assaulted a Journalist at Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region last Thursday.



According to a 3news.com publication, a Connect FMs morning show Producer, Eric Nana Gyetuah was severely manhandled by some men believed to be Police officers.



He was accused by the officers of unlawfully taking photographs of them at the 'God Is Love' Chop Bar.



Nana Gyetuah had gone to the eatery for lunch but was confronted by the officers who beat him to pulp.



Following the incident, the Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare is said to have promised to deal with the culprits.



However, Kwesi Pratt isn't really satisfied with the IGP's promise.



Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', he sought to find out why the delay in punishing the offenders.



He was worried that little has been done to getting to the bottom of the case.



''Is this country really going well? Suspects have been arrested and those who arrested them sent them to a chop bar. Really! The guy, who was severely beaten, was taken to the Police station and till date, inspite of the fact that Inspector General Dampare is in charge, nothing dey happen. In fact, those so-called security personnel haven't been spotted, let alone for them to be interrogated," he exclaimed.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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All persons with disabilities (PWDs) who lost their jobs following the discontinuation of road toll collection will continue to receive their salaries until they are reassigned by the Ministry of Roads and Highways.



This follows a government policy directive for them to draw their salaries while waiting to be redeployed to suitable areas.



The Head of Public Relations of the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Mr. Nasir Ahmad Yartey, said a directive had been issued for the PWDs to receive their salaries pending retraining and redeployment.



"Just this afternoon, the minister (Mr. Kwasi Amoako-Atta) met representatives of the PWDs who worked as toll collectors, and communicated the government's policy to pay all of them until they are reassigned.



"The minister also assured them that all those with outstanding salaries will have the money paid within one week," he said.



Mr. Yartey, however, said the PWDs would need to be retrained before deployment.



"A proposal on what kind of work they can do and the training they require has been submitted to the minister, and he is currently reviewing it. Very soon, the minister will meet the Commission on PWDs and toll collectors and communicate details of the training and deployment modalities to them," he added.



Fate change



The fate of the PWDs had been hanging in the balance two months after the suspension of toll collection by the Ministry of Roads and Highways.



Although the ministry had indicated in a statement dated November 19, 2021, that the PWDs would be redeployed to play other roles, the Daily Graphic's checks showed that they were currently at home.



The paper also found that 190 PWDs who worked under toll booths that were managed by Tolls and Routes Management Limited (TRML), a private company, have not been paid for the last three months  from November 2021 to January 2022.



Ordeal of PWDs



Some of the PWDs said their situation had worsened, stressing that they now struggled to meet basic needs, including food and utility bills.



They, therefore, appealed to the government to redeploy them and ensure the payment of their outstanding salaries.



One of the PWDs, Mr. Anthony Adarkwah, who worked at the Dodowa toll booth, said he was struggling to feed his family because he had not been paid since November 2021 and had no work to do.



At his Labadi home last Friday, he narrated how he had to remain indoors and hope against hope for the government to restore his job.



"It was a very good policy by the government to employ PWDs at the toll booths. We were paid GH700 every month. Although it was too low, it helped us a bit to survive. Ever since the toll collection was ceased on November 17, life has been difficult for us," he said.



Mr. Adarkwah, who was the President of the Greater Accra Regional branch of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD), said their colleagues who worked at toll booths under the management of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) had received their salaries, while those who were under the TRML had not received anything yet.



Mrs. Mavis Esi Adarkwah, one of the PWDs and wife of Mr. Adarkwah, shared similar sentiments.



She said she had also not been paid her salaries since November 2021, and had not been reassigned to perform other roles either.



The General Manager of TRML, Mr. Samuel Abrah Adjei, told the Daily Graphic that efforts were being made to pay the PWDs who worked under the company.



"We admit that we owe them salaries for November 2021. The government promised to pay them the December salary.



"We have submitted claims to the government, and as soon as they pay the claims, we will pay the workers," he added.



Background



The Minister of Roads and Highways directed the immediate cessation of tolls collection across the country, effective 12 a.m. on Thursday, November 18, 2021, on the back of governments plan as announced in the 2022 Budget to Parliament to scrap tolls on all public roads.













Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Naada Jinapor Foundation, a non-profit organization is set to cover the costs of breast cancer surgery and medical bills for two patients, one from Damongo in the Savannah Region and one from Krabonso in the Bono East Region of Ghana.



As part of its efforts to raise awareness of the deadly disease, the foundation organised a breast screening exercise for both communities in October of last year as part of a project termed Breastober.



The medical team discovered positive cases in approximately 21 women from both towns, with two cases scheduled for surgery due to the extent of the damage. The other women have since undergone multiple screenings to determine the extent of the damage and have been treated accordingly.



The Naada Jinapor Foundation will cover the costs of these two womens surgeries, as well as any additional surgeries that may be required as a result of the ongoing screening of the remaining women.



Over 800 women in the Damongo municipality and Krabonso in the Bono East Region of Ghana were screened by the Naada Jinapor foundation for diseases related to breast last October by the foundation for free during the breast cancer awareness week celebration.



The charity organization is headed by the wife of the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Damongo Constituency Mrs Naada Jinapor, an astute Lawyer and Corporate woman.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The governing NPP is finding it difficult to get the controversial Electronic Transactions Levy (E-levy) bill passed into law.



This is because the Majority is finding it difficult to get all 137 MPs in the House during proceedings, therefore, the bill has not been re-laid before the House since it resumed for the second session.



Kennedy Agyapong, MP, Assin Central, has condemned such attitude of his colleagues urging them to resign if they are not interested in helping the government to achieve all the promises it made to Ghanaians.



Speaking in a radio interview recently, the MP noted that, some of his colleagues use parliamentary hours to pursue other interests rather than the governments.



If you are not ready to be an MP, leave the post. Nobody forced you to be an MP. We are sick and tired of your bogus attitude. People are scared to tell you but I will because I dont fear anyone. I have to go for a check-up but Im here because of my party and country.



What kind of nonsense is going on in NPP. Every day, you hear them say this and that, you can go to hell. If you like, Ghana can burn and we dont care. We are tired of your bogus attitude, he stated.



Agyapong is of the view that, the constant blame that is levelled against the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, is uncalled for, rather, people should blame NPP MPs, who have refused in attending proceedings of the House.



He said, the attitude of the governing partys MPs is urging the NDC Minority on in seeing the E-levy not passed.



Nobody should blame Bagbin, blame NPP MPs. We are afraid of covering them up. Whats going on is bad. We are all serving Ghana so how can you be so bitter. Have you seen me in any position? We are tired of them. I had to go for a check-up on 28th January but Im still here because Im a good citizen and a good party man. We all have issues but we dont go out there and sell the party, he stressed.



Kennedy Agyapong added, "the NDC doesn't think about the poor... I will leave you to rate both NDC and NPP and tell me which among them brought social interventions that have benefitted the poor. The NDC only amass wealth when they come into power.



"The NDC doesn't want the E-levy to be passed. They just want to see Akufo-Addo's good policies for Ghana in shambles. Just like John Mahama stood in Kumasi to say that Ghanaians easily forget things. Akufo-Addo was the one who ensured that Nurses who had stayed home for years were posted.



About the E-Levy



On November 17, 2021, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced the introduction of a 1.75% tax on all electronic transactions during the 2022 budget presentation before parliament.



According to him, this new directive forms part of strategies to widen the countrys tax net.



He added that the 1.75% tax is also to enhance financial inclusion and protect the vulnerable in the country.



The E-levy since its announcement by the Finance Minister has received public backlash from some Ghanaians especially Members of Parliament from the Minority Caucus.



At a recent press conference, the Minister outlined a number of modifications to the Bill and announced that the government continued to engage stakeholders on the bill ahead of resubmission before MPs.





Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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De Lima relies on surrogates, video messages and dispatches for her campaign pitches

As the country's election campaign season kicks off today, Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima shares that she relies heavily on her campaign team, representatives and handwritten statements from Camp Crame to mount a strong campaign from detention.

De Lima, the most prominent political prisoner under the Duterte regime, said her representatives and campaign team will communicate her advocacies and platforms to all Filipinos.

"Given my situation as PDL, my reelection bid is, in real and palpable terms, handicapped or disadvantaged," she said in her Dispatch from Crame No. 1216.

"Kaya umaasa po ako na sa pamamagitan ng aking mga surrogates o proxies sa mga sorties, pre-recorded video messages, at syempre, mga dispatches from Crame, ay mapaparating ko po sa mga botante ang aking mga saloobin, hangarin at plataporma. Maraming salamat po sa tiwala at suporta," she added.

The lady Senator from Bicol said that she is seeking re-election to help the country stand back on its feet, strengthen the fight against violence and injustice and continue pushing for her advocacies

Through her campaign team, De Lima shared that they reached out and reconnected with friends and supporters who helped them in the 2016 elections, to help them reach out to base voters.

"To our volunteers and supporters, you are the backbone of our campaign. I cannot emphasize enough how much you all have fueled even further the burning desire in my heart to keep fighting the good fight for all of us," she said.

"Let us not be afraid. Let us stand and fight and fight more. Para sa minamahal nating bansang Pilipinas. Para sa inyong kinabukasan at ng mga susunod pang henerasyon. Sama-sama: #LeilabanTayo!"
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina Constituency Lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu has pleaded not guilty to police criminal summons.



The MP for Madina denied the charges when he first appeared before the court on December 1, 2021, which led to a bench warrant issued for his arrest rescinded.



This came to light when Mr. Sosu and his lawyers appeared before the Kaneshie District Court presided over by His Worship Oheneba Kuffour on Monday.



The MP has been charged for unlawfully blocking a public road and the destruction of public property after he joined his constituents of Ayi-Mensah, Danfa, and the Otinibi in the La Nkwantanang -Madina Municipality in a demonstration over poor roads in the area on October 25, 2021.



In court on Monday, February 7, 2022, when the case was called, the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), sought direction from the court on the matter.



It was the case of ASP Asare that a bench warrant was issued for the arrest of the accused person but was later rescinded.



He said, prior to that, some applications were filed by the accused person, and We do not know whether they want to withdraw or intend to pursue it so that we can advise ourselves.



Counsel for the MP, Victor Kwadjoga Adawudu in his response said, We filed an application for the court to set aside the bench warrant.



He added that it was filed on November 30, 2021, and they wish to withdraw that application because the accused person appeared before the court and the bench warrant was rescinded.



We filed another motion on notice for Stay of Proceedings and to set aside criminal summon. We wish to withdraw it for it to be struck out, Counsel told the court.



Lawyer Adawudu urged the court to order the prosecution serve us with disclosures to facilitate speedy trial since his plea has been taken and granted bail.



Explaining to the court why prosecution has not filed its disclosures, he said it was due to the pending applications.



According to him, If today (Monday) they have withdrawn the applications, may we humbly take a date to file our disclosures.



The court presided over by His Worship Oheneba Kuffour after listening to the parties ordered the prosecution to serve the accused person or his lawyer with witness statements and all documents they intend to rely on for the trial.



The case has been adjourned to March 14, 2022.







Source: kasapafmonline.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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Kwesi Pratt has expressed utter worry over the UTAG impasse resulting in University lecturers in the country laying down their working tools.



The lecturers have embarked on a strike, asking for better conditions of service before they resume work.



They remain adamant in their decision despite a strict directive by the National Labour Commission for them to return to work.



In order to resolve the conflict, the Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' Monday morning, indicated a meeting with the teachers on Tuesday, 8th February, 2022, to address their concerns.



As the Ministry and the University lecturers persevere to come to a consensus, Kwesi Pratt, the Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, is unhappy with the vacuum created in the Universities due to the strike action.



He pointed out to the repercussions among other problems that the strike is having on the students and their parents or guardians and the nation.



Citing a personal example of how his friend who resides in Bolgatanga has his child, who has gained admission into the University of Ghana, living in a hostel and paying his hostel fees along with giving him feeding fees although there are lecturers on campus, Mr. Pratt couldn't but to think about the mess created by this ongoing University lecturers' strike.



"What's going on in the Universities is not simply a dispute between government and lecturers. It is far more than that. It has many, many repercussions for all sectors of national life . . . It's a major social problem," he said during a panel discussion programme on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo''.



Mr. Pratt however called on government to resolve the deadlock and find better ways to address the teachers' conditions of service, so they resume work early.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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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. 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.

.......................

*Edward Kobina Enninful who traces his roots to Ghana is from Enyan Denkyira, Central Region. He moved to Ladbroke Grove, London in his teens with his parents and siblings. Young Enninful was appointed as a fashion director of British fashion magazine i-D at the age of 18. In August 2017, he was named the first Black editor of British Vogue, a position he holds to date.







Read Full Story .... dailymail.co.uk >>> :

















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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, joined by one of her dogs, looks at a display of memorabilia from her Golden and Platinum Jubilees in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England, in this undated but recent image that was released on Friday Feb. 4, 2022. Queen Elizabeth II will mark 70 years on the throne Sunday Feb. 6, an unprecedented reign that has made her a symbol of stability as the United Kingdom navigated an age of uncertainty. (Steve Parsons/Pool via AP)
Trinidadian Canadian painter Denyse Thomasos stands in front of her work Metropolis (2007). Thomasos passed away suddenly in 2012, at the age of 47. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-The Estate of Denyse Thomasos and Olga Korper Gallery **MANDATORY CREDIT**
Logansport, IN (46947)

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Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 53F. NW winds shifting to E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

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Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 53F. NW winds shifting to E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
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A few tickets remain for the national tour of a Broadway show making a stop in Pittsburg next week at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts.

South Pacific, winner of 10 Tony Awards, will open at 7 p.m. on Feb. 20, and is the first Broadway show to be staged at the Bicknell Center since An American in Paris on March 4, 2020.

The iconic work of theater premiered on Broadway in 1949 and was an immediate hit, running 1,925 performances. Composed by Rodgers and Hammerstein, it is based on James Micheners Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book, Tales of the South Pacific, set during World War II.

With themes of romance, duty, prejudice and racism, it's a story that is heartbreaking, hilarious, and thought-provoking.

A nurse from Arkansas falls in love with a French plantation owner who has two children from his late Polynesian wife, and a lieutenant falls for an island native. Both Americans find themselves struggling to reconcile their own cultural prejudices with their feelings as the dark cloud of war comes ever closer to their tropical island paradise.

The beloved scores songs include Some Enchanted Evening, Im Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, and There is Nothin Like a Dame amidst big, Broadway performances and a chorus of American sailors and Navy nurses ready to take you to Bali Hai.

Tickets: $39 to $72 based on availability. Call the PSU Ticket Office at 620-235-4536, visit www.bicknellcenter.com, or stop by the ticket office during business hours in Room 137 of the Garfield Weede Building.
Vermillion, SD (57069)

Today

Cloudy. Some light rain will fall throughout the day. High 49F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

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Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 36F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
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Some of Aiken County's more seasoned military veterans have a new option to consider this month, amid discussion of the Vietnam Veterans of America possibly establishing a local chapter.

Blythewood resident Sam Brick, an attorney and Army veteran, spoke with dozens of vets and other local residents Monday afternoon, noting that the national organization's rules have been rewritten to require a minimum of 15 members  down from 25  to establish a chapter. Activities included collecting signatures and contact information from people who are interested in forming a chapter. Brick is president of VVA's South Carolina council.

The national organization, as described on its website, aims to "promote and support the full range of issues important to Vietnam veterans, to create a new identity for this generation of veterans, and to change public perception of Vietnam veterans."

The state currently has nine VVA chapters, spread among Barnwell, Manning, Walhalla, Union, Spartanburg, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Columbia and Charleston. VVA membership is open not only to veterans who served in Vietnam, but to any who served in "the Vietnam era."

Brick said the organization's current activities in South Carolina include such things as an initiative to support a reunion of prisoners of war who served in Vietnam. "There are 400 living POWs, and about 120, right now, are signed up to come up to Greenville in the first couple of days of June for this meeting," he said, citing that the POWs "showed what this nation is all about to the North Vietnamese who were holding them."

Discussion also touched on such topics as social gatherings and service projects. Brick cited the examples of recent efforts to help tornado victims in Kentucky and wildfire victims in Colorado.

"We take care of other veterans as well  not just Vietnam veterans. Our legacy is that we take care of all veterans, not being treated like we were when we came back," he said, recalling that some Vietnam veterans faced contempt upon returning from their service abroad.

Dwight Bradham, director of Aiken County Veterans Affairs, helped organize Monday's assembly. He estimated a wait of about a month for the local veterans' petition to be considered at the state level, and said that another meeting will probably be scheduled, most likely in March, to deal with such concerns as by-laws and electing officers.

"The turnout was outstanding, and there was a lot of positive information that was exchanged," said North Augusta resident Kevin Joy, commander of American Legion Post 71.

Joy was among the group's younger veterans having served in the Marine Corps from 1973 to 1985 and then the Army National Guard from 2001 to 2014.

Among local residents already familiar with VVA are Brent and Linda Caldwell. Linda acknowledged that the Aiken area has plenty of veteran service organizations, sometimes known as VSOs, so Vietnam veterans looking to get on board with VVC may include some already active in similar groups.

The Caldwells are both VVA members from years ago when they lived in Flemington, New Jersey, the home of VVA Chapter 452. Linda's background is in the Army Nurse Corps (1966-69) and Brent's is in the Air Force (1967-71).

"We thought it was important to join with others who had similar experiences, and  that it might serve a purpose for some of the guys and maybe a few gals who are Vietnam veterans," she said, noting that "there's comfort in knowing that you're with somebody who's experience what you have, or at least has been in the same situation, presumably."

She said she was pleasantly surprised by the relatively high attendance at Monday's meeting. "I think it's a good idea, and there's clearly interest in it. Advertising works."

The overall organization, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, now includes 89,086 members spread among all 50 states and several other countries, from Australia to Canada, according to a Tuesday report from VVA's office. Among its founding principles is, "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another."
South Carolina's low unemployment rate is making it difficult for the state Commerce Department to attract new businesses, and the agency in charge of bringing jobs to the Palmetto State is studying what other factors might be holding back industrial recruitment.

"Frankly, the main area that we're dealing with is workforce  we have very, very low unemployment across the state," S.C. Commerce secretary Harry Lightsey told legislators at a recent House Ways and Means subcommittee meeting. "Prospects are looking at us and saying, 'I want to understand where my workforce is going to come from. Where are we going to get the workers that we need to bring my business online?'"

The state's unemployment rate dipped to 3.5 percent in December and was even lower  2.9 percent  at South Carolina's top industrial markets of Charleston and Greenville. A study of unemployment claims by WalletHub showed the Palmetto State has recovered jobs lost during the pandemic the past two years faster than any other state.

"The historically low unemployment that we're dealing with presents some unique challenges in particular areas of the state," Lightsey said.

The only bright spot, he added, is that competing states are dealing with the same issue.

"It's all across the country," Lightsey said.

An available workforce isn't the only issue that could be keeping industries from choosing South Carolina. Lightsey said his agency has launched a study that will compare the types of incentives South Carolina offers to those available in other states.

"We're going to take a long look at what other states are doing, particularly the states that we compete with on a regular basis  North Carolina and Georgia, Tennessee and, to some extent, Texas," he said "We want to see what they're doing and, frankly, what we hope to do."

The study should be completed by this fall, Lightsey said, in time for legislators to consider during their next budget-writing session.

Despite Lightsey's concerns, Commerce said last week it helped recruit a record $5.7 billion worth of capital investments in 2021 from business expansions and new locations. The 153 projects created more than 18,000 jobs.
Subscribe to Charleston's Menu today to learn more about Charleston's dynamic food scene. With restaurant features, reviews, chef spotlights and more, it's the essential newsletter for food lovers.

It's almost Valentine's Day, so there couldn't be a better time to honor Charleston's food and beverage industry "power couples."

Restaurants are a team effort, and some of the couples, such as Tony and Kelly Chu of Red Orchids; Corrie and Shuai Wang of Jackrabbit Filly; Chasity and Nate Brown of Daddy's Girls Bakery; Allyson Sutton and Joel Sadler of Sightsee Shop; Alissa and Marc Zera of Off Track Ice Cream; and James and YoYo London of Chubby Fish, work side by side daily to successfully serve customers.

Others, like Jeremiah and Jillian Schenzel, helm the kitchens at their own Charleston area establishments or operate multiple small businesses; Tina Schuttenberg, who owns Kwei Fei with her husband David, splits time between the James Island restaurant and her downtown Charleston vintage clothing store, called Portal.

With so many couples leaving their mark on the industry, we thought you might be curious to learn more about their backgrounds, lives as F&B couples and even what they'll be doing for Valentine's Day.

Did you know, for instance, that Jeremiah Schenzel's business partner, Nick Dowling, introduced him to Jillian at the Spoleto Festival USA finale in 2013? Or, that Ty and Karen Raju of SAVI Cucina + Wine Bar were each others' first match on eHarmony? Meanwhile, Dave and Chrissy Lorenz of Mex 1 Coastal Cantina met through a mutual friend in Chapel Hill, N.C., and in the summer of 1999, Maryam Ghaznavi and Raheel Gauba of Malika and Ma'am Saab got to know each other over Star Wars movies and restaurant hopping with friends.

Some bonded over food, like Tony Chu, whose pickup line was "Do you know the difference between Peking duck and Cantonese roast duck? Let's go for a week of duck tasting in my favorite restaurants." Kelly was immediately in love.

Or, Michael and Melody Shemtov of Butcher & Bee, who met while working at Mellow Mushroom and fell for each other over pizza. Or Steven Niketas and Michael Routzahn of Stella's and Mosaic Catering, who were introduced by a mutual friend in the Charleston F&B industry.

These power couples have dealt with immense change over the course of the last two years. Matthew Conway and Carissa Hernandez moved to Charleston from New York City to open The Tippling House, and Sarah and Nathan Williams-Scalise of Sarah Dumps turned their popular pop-up into a frozen dumpling delivery service that took the couple all over the tri-county area.

Find out more about 15 of Charleston's food and beverage power couples below.

F&B power couples Chasity and Nate Brown, owners of Daddys Girls Bakery Tony and Kelly Chu, owners of Red Orchids Matthew Conway and Carissa Hernandez, owners of The Tippling House Maryam Ghaznavi and Raheel Gauba, owners of Maam Saab and Malika James and YoYo London, owners of Chubby Fish Chrissy and Dave Lorenz, owners of Mex 1 Coastal Cantina Steven Niketas and Michael Routzahn, owners of Stella's and Mosaic Catering Ty and Karen Raju, owners of SAVI Cucina + Wine Bar Michael and Melody Shemtov, owners of Butcher & Bee and The Daily Jeremiah and Jillian Schenzel, owners of Daps Breakfast & Imbibe, Bodega Todo and Rudy Royale David and Tina Schuttenberg, owners of Kwei Fei and Portal Allyson Sutton and Joel Sadler, owners of Sightsee Shop Shuai and Corrie Wang, owners of Jackrabbit Filly Sarah and Nathan Williams-Scalise, owners of Sarah's Dumps Marc and Alissa Zera, owners of Off Track Ice Cream

What impresses you most about your partner?

"YoYo has this innate ability for hospitality. She can read a guest in a nanosecond and figure out how to give them the best experience possible. She has a pure passion for the industry and it shows. Shes a sweetheart and an amazing cook to boot."  James London, Chubby Fish

"Dave has a unique way of connecting with his staff. He operates with integrity. He creates a positive working environment and works hard to maintain a family-like culture. He can keep his calm through even the most chaotic times."  Chrissy Lorenz, Mex 1 Coastal Cantina

"Tina is just so damn strong. She is my partner in Kwei Fei, owns and runs her retail store, Portal, and is super mom to our 15-year-old daughter Jessie Ruth. When she sets her sights on something, nothing will stop her from achieving her goals. She has taught me so much about how to be a better manager and operator."  David Schuttenberg, Kwei Fei

"We are two parts of the Yin Yang. He is creative, fun, passionate and genuine. He is the kind of person who can turn your frown upside down."  Kelly Chu, Red Orchids

"Her resilience and ability to do anything. No matter what it is, if Jill wants to learn how to do something, she will learn it and likely master it with just a little practice."  Jeremiah Schenzel, Daps Breakfast & Imbibe

"What impresses me the most about Nate is his passion for whatever he believes in and not backing down/standing strong for what he believes."  Chasity Brown, Daddy's Girls Bakery

"Nate's constant high level of energy. Sarah's ability to excel in absolutely everything that she does except her hand-eye coordination."  Sarah and Nathan Williams-Scalise, Sarah's Dumps

"Michael is the most creative, conscientious and caring person I have ever met. ... He does an amazing job interpreting clients' wishes and executing them at a level they never thought possible."  Steven Niketas, Stella's and Mosaic Catering

"Maryam is probably one of the most hard-working humans I know. Her love and dedication towards her family, her fierce talent to create and passion to achieve bears no bounds. The last two years have been extra special as I got to witness the entrepreneur in her."  Raheel Gauba, Malika and Ma'am Saab

"Her ability to be patient with me despite my imperfections."  Matthew Conway, The Tippling House

"Karen naturally loves seeing people happy and is the quintessential Italian nurturer: Always looking to make someone laugh and fill their stomach!"  Ty Raju, SAVI Cucina + Wine Bar

"Marc is meticulous and diligent with his ice cream recipes, from formulating the recipes on paper to executing the final product. The high level of commitment he has to his craft is rare. He leads me and our team by example, with positivity, and with great humility."  Alissa Zera, Off Track Ice Cream

What is the hardest part about being a couple who works in the food and beverage industry?

"There is no relief. There is no backup. But you still have to go to work and lead people and be 'up.' We're the only ones who see the true stress of it and the toll it takes. The constant anxiety. Most people get to go home and have a break from it. We bring the good times to work and the bad times home. I'm always impressed that at the end of the day we still really like one another. Truly."  Shuai and Corrie Wang, Jackrabbit Filly

"Owning a brick-and-mortar business of any kind, but especially one like a coffee shop that has countless moving parts, is a 24/7 endeavor. The to-do list is never-ending, plus when you're passionate about what you're doing it's hard not to want to talk about it all the time. The line between work life and personal life becomes very blurry, so every day you have to find that line together and stick to it."  Allyson Sutton and Joel Sadler, Sightsee Shop

"Couples often have the chance to go to various events or relax during weekends and holidays. During these times we are usually working."  Nate Brown, Daddy's Girls Bakery

"Especially in a smaller market, we constantly feel the pressures of being 'on.' The hard part is feeling comfortable turning off the hospitality agent in us and be real humans outside of work."  Matthew Conway, The Tippling House

"The hours can be challenging, especially given that holidays and weekends tend to be our busiest times. Even before COVID, staffing shortages were a regular challenge, and that situation has become exponentially worse over the last couple of years."  Steven Niketas, Stella's and Mosaic Catering

"Our working hours have recently started to even out, but up until our third year in business, this meant working late every night to about 11 p.m. and all weekends in addition to standard business hours Monday through Friday. Building our business to get to a point where we can have some balance in our personal lives has taken a lot of hard work and time."  Marc and Alissa Zera, Off Track Ice Cream

What advice do you have for other couples in the food and beverage industry?

"Be patient and understanding. There are always emergencies. We have to give each other a lot of grace for constant changes to the schedule and filling in for last-minute emergencies. We are lucky that both of us are in the business, so we both have a deep understanding of the commitment involved."  Jillian Schenzel, Bodega Todo and Rudy Royale

"Get a dog. A dog forces you to separate yourself from the restaurant which we all need to do sometimes. Having our lab Koji has been such a blessing for us."  YoYo London, Chubby Fish

"Your business is never more important than your relationship. Have serious conversations sober."  Tony Chu, Red Orchids

"I think being realistic about who you are as a person and how you work helps. Being able to not take things personally and bring them home is very, very important."  Tina Schuttenberg, Kwei Fei

"Both marriage and restaurants require commitment and sustained passion, and a desire to not only succeed, but to get better and better over time. Be patient. Work hard. Dont forget to say I love you, especially after a tough shift. Try not to equate failures in the restaurant with failures in your partnership, they are not the same thing."  Michael and Melody Shemtov, Butcher & Bee and The Daily

"Like many other couples in F&B, Raheel and I have our own essential roles that we play. In order to add our individual flavor to the success of our restaurants, having mutual respect and setting realistic expectations is super important. It just solidifies the trust in a relationship, when you can rely on your partner to tap in when your plate is too full and you are there to support them when they are up against deadlines."  Maryam Ghaznavi, Malika and Ma'am Saab

"Do your best to respect your significant other and how they operate. Just because you do it one way, doesn't mean there aren't a million other ways to go about it. Stay in your lane."  Dave and Chrissy Lorenz, Mex 1 Coastal Cantina

"No matter how stressful work gets, or what you say to each other in the midst of the stress, you can't take it personally. Remember that you're on the same side."  Shuai Wang, Jackrabbit Filly

"Always remember the 'why.' Why you fell in love, why you chose food and beverage, why you give it your all, why you want to succeed. The answers are typically found in the why, and the day-to-day 'noise' can often cloud that."  Ty and Karen Raju, SAVI Cucina + Wine Bar

"Be OK giving each other a break and space  communicate. Find each others' strength in the business and let the other run with it, especially if you both have strong personalities like us."  Sarah and Nathan Williams-Scalise, Sarah's Dumps

What are you doing for Valentine's Day this year?

"Probably doing what we usually do: Hanging with our dog babies, watching 'The Great British Bake Off' and ordering to-go food. And hopefully something chocolate-y is involved."  Corrie Wang, Jackrabbit Filly

"We will be seven months pregnant with our first child (It's a boy!), so we will be at home snuggled up together on the couch."  Marc and Alissa Zera, Off Track Ice Cream

"I have an aversion to going out on Valentine's Day. It's just awkward. Plus it's cold outside in February. No thanks. Our first year as a couple, we stayed in and cooked dinner together and it was so lovely that we made it a tradition."  Allyson Sutton, Sightsee Shop

"We will be enjoying our annual winter vacation with our family."  Jillian and Jeremiah Schenzel, Dap's Breakfast & Imbibe

"Luckily this year Valentines Day is on a Monday (I had to check the calendar before I answered!), so we might actually be able to have a dinner date, which is a rare treat for us. The hardest part will be to stay away from talking 'F&B' during the dinner!"  Maryam Ghaznavi, Malika and Ma'am Saab

"Well be working during the day and if we can get a sitter, going out. It may be cheesy and it may be an amateur's night out, but after the most challenging two years in the history of the restaurant industry, we deserve a treat."  Michael Shemtov, Butcher & Bee and The Daily

"Who wrote this balderdash?! We will probably work all day, and then go home, hire a sitter to put our kids to bed, and crash early. We just opened a restaurant, what could be more romantic and luxurious than a good night's sleep?!"  Melody Shemtov, Butcher & Bee and The Daily

"As with everyone in our business, we will be in the restaurants working!"  Steven Niketas, Stella's and Mosaic Catering
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Brandon Alter covers the town of Kingstree and Williamsburg County for The Kingstree News. He is from the suburbs of Washington, D.C. He graduated from the University of South Carolina's school of Journalism and Mass Communications in May 2021.
CONWAY  Horry County lawyer Ralph Wilson Jr. can practice law in South Carolina again after his 2021 suspension by the states Supreme Court was lifted Feb. 7.

He was arrested in January 2021, accused of domestic violence against his wife.

Wilson was originally charged with domestic violence in the first degree, but instead of going to trial he pled no contest in December to a lesser charge of assault and battery in the third degree.

A judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail for the assault charges but suspended it and ordered him to pay a $500 fine.

According to warrants in the case, Wilson allegedly hit the victim in the back and face several times. He also poured water and placed a pillow over the victims mouth and nose which impeded her air flow.

Warrants released said that Wilson allegedly threw the victims cellphone in the backyard, and the incident was in view of children.

Wilson, son of a former 15th Circuit solicitor, previously said the allegations against him are completely false, fabricated by his wife and in response to a request from him to separate.
NORTH CHARLESTON  Corius Johnson dialed 911 in the early morning hours of Jan. 16. The police had shot someone in his backyard, he blurted to the dispatch center between shaky breaths, watching from a window.

Yeah, they were chasing an armed suspect, the operator said.

North Charleston police officers fatally shot Junnie Williams, 35, in Johnsons backyard on Melville Road near Crossroads Drive after trying to question him in a reported vehicle theft case. Williams was armed with a gun, according to a police report released Jan. 18.

Patrolman 1st Class Juan Recinos Estrada, 32, and Patrol Officer Justin Lamar Whittaker, 22, were the officers involved in the shooting. They have since been put on administrative leave with pay, per department policy.

Officials released Johnsons call as part of a batch of 911 audio recordings and dispatch records related to the shooting.

North Charleston Police Department officials have made scant comment on Williams death, citing the ongoing investigation. They have not announced any specifics in the case, such as whose gun was fired in the struggle or whether Williams fired at officers before he was shot. Police have not said whether there is any body-camera footage in the case.

The reports, along with neighbors accounts of the incident, provide the first glimpse into the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting.

Shots fired

At the 1100 building of the Palmetto Grove apartment complex, a woman dialed 911 at 3:37 a.m. to report a brick being thrown at her car window, setting off her car alarm.

I had nothing important in the car, the woman told the dispatcher. It just looks like theyve been looking through some stuff, and busted the window and left the door open.

The woman told the dispatcher she saw a man running into the back of the neighborhood.

She called the dispatch center three times before police officers arrived at 4:09 a.m.  half an hour after her initial report, records show.

Whittaker, identified in records by his unit number, met with the caller at 4:11 a.m.

Estrada radioed at 4:20 a.m. to say he was chasing a suspect on foot down Crossroads Drive. Several backup units were called to the scene.

About 20 seconds later, Estrada radioed again, this time to report he and Williams were engaged in a struggle.

Then  just over a minute since beginning the foot pursuit  Estrada reported shots were fired. He called for emergency medical workers, stating the suspect was down with a weapon in his hand.

When the officer later radioed to give an updated location, he described running down Crossroads Drive and taking the first right  landing him, and Williams, in Johnsons backyard.

Johnson called 911 at 4:22 a.m. to report the shooting.

I am looking at the police, he said. They shot somebody in my backyard.

Johnson later told The Post and Courier his family was awakened by about five gunshots.

It was real early in the morning, and there was a rapid-fire of gunshots, he said. We jumped up to check on the kids, and we looked outside, and saw a man laying down on the ground and cops standing over him at that point.

A neighbor on Melville Road told reporters he was in his kitchen making food around 4:15 a.m. when he heard arguing outside his house followed by approximately five gunshots.

I figured I had to hit the deck, he said.

The neighbor said he could not discern any police commands during the argument.

Other nearby residents said they, too, remember waking up to loud noises, followed by blue lights and sirens, leading them to conclude it was gunfire.

Maryanne Harward, who can see Johnsons backyard from her bedroom window, recalled checking her phone around 4 a.m. and hearing four distinct gunshots.

Harward did not fall back asleep until 5:30 a.m.

No judgment here  I manage a liquor store, Harward told The Post and Courier. I was shaken. I came down and had a shot of a mini-bottle out of my freezer.

A few minutes after hearing the gunshots, Harward listened as police and fire vehicles arrived at Melville and Crossroads. She also watched officers poke around Johnsons backyard area using flashlights.

Caution tape roped off a swath of property on Melville Road within 30 minutes after Harward first woke up, she said.

Reports on Williams condition came in as additional officers arrived at the scene. One official stated at 4:32 a.m. Williams was in traumatic arrest.

Another request came in three minutes later to alert Trident Medical Center staff of the incoming patient who had multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.

Williams arrived at the hospital at 4:48 a.m.  about 28 minutes after the police officer first reported gunshots, records show.

He was pronounced dead nearly 10 minutes later.

A second shooting

Some neighbors said they heard gunshots for a second time Jan. 16, mere hours after Williams death. But police believe those shots fired do not connect to Williams case.

Two people  one who lives at the Palmetto Grove apartment complex and another who lives on Long Shadow Drive near Melville Road  dialed 911 just after 6 a.m. to report a shooting.

The Palmetto Grove resident said he listened to arguing and yelling from inside a neighbors unit before hearing four or five shots ring out loud and clear.

North Charleston police officers made contact with a 25-year-old man who was shot above the right ankle, according to dispatch reports.

The unidentified victim, who lives in the complexs 700 block, told officers someone shot at him while he was taking out the trash, and he returned fire, records state.

At this time, police believe the two incidents are not related to each other, North Charleston police spokesman Harve Jacobs said.

Lingering questions

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating Williams death, which is standard protocol for police shootings, according to the 9th Circuit Solicitor's Office.

The Post and Courier initially requested 911 audio connected to Williams case on Jan. 18. North Charleston police denied the newspapers request, citing the ongoing investigation into the shooting.

On Jan. 26, the newspaper requested police provide legal justification for withholding the audio recordings in their entirety.

Police said Jan. 31 they were following the Solicitors Office protocol for investigating these shootings. Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said the polices justification was inaccurate.

Authorities on Feb. 1 released six 911 calls related to two shootings that night.

Williams is no stranger to law enforcement, court records show. He previously pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary in 2011 and was sentenced to six years in prison, according to court records.

The U.S. Attorneys Office charged Williams in 2015 with one count of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He pleaded guilty to the charge in 2016 and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was released from prison in May 2021, according to court records.

Williams' family members said Jan. 19 they were eager to know whether any ballistics tests came back in the shooting, or whether gunpowder residue was found on Williams hands.

They said they were concerned about the lack of transparency from police.
ST. STEPHEN  Officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department arrested a man Feb. 7 in a September 2021 fatal shooting on Dingle Lane.

Police arrested Rayel Ravenell, 21, of St. Stephen. Ravenell was charged by the Berkeley County Sheriffs Office with murder, grand larceny and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. In a separate charge, Colorado Springs police also charged him with murder.

If convicted of murder, he could face up to life in prison.

Deputies responded to Dingle Lane Sept. 27 in response to a shooting. Upon their arrival, police found the victim was fatally shot in the head, sheriffs office spokeswoman Carli Drayton said.

Deputies identified Ravenell as a suspect based on witnesses descriptions of the shooter, she said. The Berkeley County Coroners Office has yet to announce the identity of the victim.

The sheriffs office continues to investigate the case, Drayton said. No further information was immediately available.
MONCKS CORNER  A local nonprofit is adding a mobile laundry trailer to its growing list of resources for the homeless.

Jean's Angels recently showcased its homeless washer and dryer trailer. It's a traveling laundry room that will allow community members in need to wash their clothes free of charge.

The nonprofit's leader and founder, Katrina Carpenter, got the idea from simply talking with displaced people in the community.

While they were thankful for clothing and toiletry donations, she said, they told her those didn't matter if they didn't have a place to wash the clothes and themselves.

"We're doing exactly what is needed," Carpenter said.

Jean's Angels is a nonprofit that began in 2014 as an organization that supports children of parents on dialysis. It has since grown to helping senior citizens and more children by offering things like tutoring services, school supply giveaways and hosting toy drives.

The nonprofit distributed 3,000 toys in Berkeley County in its most recent drive. Since its creation, the nonprofit has given away around $200,000 worth of items.

Carpenter said her late brother was a big advocate for people who are homeless. After he passed away, she decided to increase her focus on that community by hosting dinners and luncheons and giving out clothes and toiletry items. All of this would eventually lead the organization to its homeless washer and dryer trailer.

Jean's Angels raised more than $56,000 in private donations to support the project.

On Feb. 3, organizers with Jean's Angels were joined by community leaders, residents, company representatives and county and town officials during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the laundry trailer.

Located in the parking lot of the Moncks Corner Municipal Complex, a crowd of more than 50 joined in to celebrate. Target, Walmart, Home Depot in Summerville and Lowe's Home Improvement in Goose Creek all sent over representatives after donating to the trailer.

Attendees also included Pastor Tory Liferidge, the leader of Grace Reformed Episcopal Church.

Liferidge and other local minsters in the community recently camped outside the Berkeley County Administrative Building in tents to bring awareness to the lack of a homeless shelter in the county.

At the ribbon cutting, Liferidge said what Carpenter and her team have been able to accomplish is phenomenal. He calls the trailer a practical necessity that's going to allow community members to reclaim their dignity.

He also said he hopes that the officials present were paying attention to how well the community can come together.

"They can hear and see (that) the people of their community are trying to step up and do something," he said.

Moncks Corner and Berkeley County Council members all voiced support for Jean's Angel's new initiative.

Moncks Corner Mayor Michael Lockliear said they know homelessness is a problem. He wants the community to know the town is willing to support initiatives like Carpenter's.

"We're here to help," he said.

Though the homeless population in Berkeley isn't as large as Charleston's, community leaders said the number is growing as the country grows.

The 2020 South Carolina State of Homelessness Report recorded 26 unsheltered individuals when the number has historically been zero.

"Our goal is to be able to bless all of the counties," Carpenter said.

Those who want to support Jean's Angels can go to jeanangels.org. That's where people can also learn where the trailer will be in the future.

Carpenter said they envision sending it to schools and different events. One of those events includes Moncks Corner's Thursday farmers market.

The nonprofit is also in the process of funding a second trailer that will include a shower and barbershop. They are raising $109,000 to support the effort. They have more than $55,000 raised so far.

Carpenter said she's been humbled by all of the community support she has received.

"At the end of the day, this heals me," she said.
MOUNT PLEASANT  In his State of the Town address, Mayor Will Haynie said voters can expect to see a tax referendum on the November ballot for recreation and arts projects.

The videotaped, 13-minute address was posted online at noon Feb. 8 and was more a celebration of the town  including four video clips of dolphins swimming in Shem Creek  than a forward-looking statement about plans and goals.

The widely expected ballot referendum was the exception.

Council is working hard to create a path for the recreational and artistic needs of our residents," Haynie said. To that end, were crafting credible language for a referendum question to fund recreation programs before coming to you for a vote in November."

The big questions  what would voters be asked to pay, and what would the potential revenue pay for  have not been answered.

Councilwoman G.M. Whitley gave an example of the potential cost in a Dec. 6 Facebook post, in which she said revenues are needed to support the "world class facilities" the town deserves.

"For an additional $108 a year for ten years (in property tax) on a $500k house, our town could support $50m in recreation projects," she wrote, using an example town staff had provided.

Aside from the potential request for an extra tax, Town Council is hashing out which projects could end up on a referendum. Even with potentially tens of millions of dollars in new revenues, were the referendum to succeed, there are competing demands.

They range from new playing fields to park improvements, new multi-use paths for cyclists and pedestrians, development of the town's Rifle Range Road park, a second senior center, a cultural arts center and more.

Weve got a few months of committee work to get there from here," Haynie said at council's annual retreat and meeting in January.

In his address, Haynie said Mount Pleasant, which has grown to become South Carolina's fourth-largest city, has outgrown it's image as "a suburb of Charleston, living in the shadow of an historic city" and become "a community worth of celebrating its culture."

Our population is nearing the 100,000 mark, and yet we have made good on our promise to reduce the growth rate to less than 2 percent," said Haynie, who was reelected to a second term as mayor in November.

The town's handling of the pandemic was contentious in 2020, when people opposed to mask-wearing requirements packed some council meetings, but Haynie said with the help of health care and business partners, Mount Pleasant reached a level of vaccination in excess of 80 percent."

Through the pandemic, the town maintained the public services for which local governments are most known, and employees received raises and bonuses. Haynie's video included a list of statistics, ranging from how many garbage cans were emptied in 2021 (37,000) to how many street signs were installed (244) and how many ribbon-cuttings were held for new businesses (34).

Mount Pleasant is open for business and proudly so," he said.

"At times our community was divided on many issues. But we have come together," Haynie said. "Weve shown unity and resilience and we have a strong future to build upon.
Around 100 firefighters from Charleston, North Charleston and St. Andrews departments descended on an apartment complex West of the Ashley to battle an early morning fire that displaced 179 people from their homes.

The fire destroyed five buildings and wiped out 56 apartments. But there were no deaths or serious injuries reported in the unruly blaze.

Charleston firefighters were dispatched to the Palms Apartments off Orange Grove Road just before 5 a.m. Feb. 7. A resident had dialed 911 to report smoke in the hallway, Chief Fire Marshal Mike Julazadeh said.

The three-alarm fire originated inside a unit at 220 Royal Palm Blvd., he said.

The large complex, which was built in 1966, contains 52 separate buildings and 408 total apartments.

Residents living in 32 dwellings were also displaced due to loss of power and water in addition to the 56 apartments destroyed.

The fire spread across seven buildings total. Five of those interconnected buildings were destroyed, according to the department. The other two buildings received substantial damage, authorities said.

Within minutes of arriving at the scene, firefighters saw they needed to perform several rescues, Julazadeh said. They saved about four or five residents, some of whom they found on balconies.

Officials began attacking the blaze from the ground-level apartment, but as additional emergency personnel arrived, the fire had already spread into the building's attic space.

Crews then decided to evacuate from the building and switch to a defensive posture, meaning they weren't actively fighting the fire from inside.

The first firefighters to respond to the scene faced "insurmountable odds," Charleston Fire Chief Dan Curia said.

Curia estimated crews actively fought the fire for about 90 minutes. Firefighters would likely remain at the apartment complex for most of the day working to extinguish remaining hot spots.

"The fact that the fire is under control, at this point with no reported injuries, is probably the best we could hope for," he added.

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg thanked first responders from police and fire departments for their work in helping residents to safety.

Displaced residents were transported to the nearby Charleston County Masonic Temple, with Red Cross workers already present.

Tecklenburg appealed to the local community for assistance, asking people to donate to Red Cross if they wish to help those affected by the fire.

Kenneth L. Williams said his brother was among the displaced. His brother, who has a 4-year-old son, awoke to firefighters advising them to evacuate, Williams said.

The Palms Apartments are not equipped with a sprinkler system, Julazadeh said.

The complex was built in accordance with the code at the time, which did not mandate sprinkler systems. The buildings would need to be brought up to current code  which does require sprinklers  only if they were to undergo renovation, he added.

It was still too early to determine a cause for the fire, authorities said. The fire department will continue to investigate the fire's origin for the next several days, they said.

Olivia Diaz contributed to this report.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
The Republican race for the Charleston region's seat in Congress landed on the national stage when former South Carolina lawmaker Katie Arrington jumped into the fray, announcing she would take on U.S. Rep Nancy Mace in the GOP primary.

Their pending duel opens the door for former President Donald Trump to throw his weight into the coastal 1st District, though Trump remained silent in the hours after Arrington formally announced Feb. 8.

Still, Arrington was not shy about invoking her unabashed support for Trump early and often in her kickoff day.

Every Republican right now should be sticking to the talking points of what is critically important, prioritizing the pro-Trump, America First agenda, Arrington told The Post and Courier after making her campaign official.

Her announcement made it clear she would aggressively target Mace, who Trump last year said he wanted replaced in Congress after she made comments against him in connection to his sparking the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

She also accused Mace of being more concerned with advancing her personal brand than in advocating for the Lowcountry, criticizing Maces time on the Hill, deriding the freshman congresswoman's frequent clips on national television, appearances with celebrities like "Tiger King" star Carol Baskin and sponsoring federal legislation to decriminalize marijuana.

"Is Nancy Mace high?" Arrington asks in her announcement video.

Mace, who ran a more centrist campaign to win the seat in 2020 after Arrington lost the Republican-held district to Democrat Joe Cunningham the cycle before, welcomed the challenge in a statement to The Post and Courier.

"Serving in Congress is the honor of my lifetime, and I at least partially have her 2018 loss in our District to thank for that," Mace said.

In another message Mace tweeted "Bring. It. On."

Trump ties

Arrington's announcement again promoted her as a "Pro-Trump conservative with strong family values," saying she would "protect the unborn; build the wall; get our economy moving again; and stand up to Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and the radical left."

Other platforms announced included committing to self-imposed term limits, capping herself at eight years in office, and pledging to donate a portion of her salary to charity.

But she often returned to invoking Trump, affirming to reporters she believes the election was stolen from Trump.

Arrington said she has yet to meet with the president about her bid, and has no immediate plans to travel to Florida to seek him out.

My focus right now, 100 percent, is the South Carolina Lowcountry, getting to know the new parts of the district, Arrington said.

The Mace campaign had been anticipating Arrington's entrance into the primary field for months amid anemic fundraising efforts by two other announced Republican challengers: Lynz Piper-Loomis and Ingrid Centurion, whose two campaigns currently count less than $10,000 in reserves combined.

The dynamics of the 1st Congressional District covering Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Colleton and Beaufort counties have changed. Once considered one of the nations most competitive, the district was recently redrawn by Republicans in the Statehouse to be highly favorable to Republicans, increasing the likelihood the winner of the Republican primary will have an advantage in the general election in November. A lawsuit seeking to overturn those district lines is pending.

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While Arrington has yet to assemble a list of donors, she is entering the race prepared. In a Feb. 8 interview with conservative outlet Breitbart News announcing her run, Arrington said she had hired GOP consultant Axiom Strategies to run her campaign.

One of the largest GOP consulting groups in the country, the firm has represented major Republican politicians including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and Govs. Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin. Axiom's Ethan Zorfas, who led the 2020 U.S. Senate campaign for Sen. Tommy Tuberville, will manage her campaign, the outlet reported.

Former Arrington donors have recently flocked to Mace. Arringtons focus now, she said, is winning them back.

People supported Nancy Mace because she was the Republican candidate. They didn't have much choice, she said. But now there's a choice to be made, and people that supported her in the past may not be supporting her in the future. Do you want a pro-Trump conservative who's about the America First agenda and putting the priorities of the Lowcountry first? Or do you want somebody who was focused on getting media attention, creating a brand and going after things that aren't on our agenda? I think once they see that there's a choice, things will change.

The race would also pit two likely presidential candidates against one another.

Trump targeted Mace for a primary challenge in November after the Lowcountry congresswoman took aim at the former president for his role instigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol that interrupted the certification of the 2020 election results. He called out for good and SMART America First Republican Patriots to challenge her. Meanwhile, Arrington's announcement comes one day after Mace netted an endorsement from Trump's former U.N. ambassador and presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, who announced plans Feb. 7 to fundraise on Mace's behalf.

Democrats took Arrington's announcement as an opportunity to slam both candidates.

"While Katie Arrington is running to serve Donald Trump and Nancy Mace is running to continue serving herself, I am running to serve the thousands of Lowcountry families who simply want honest and effective representation," said Lowcountry doctor Annie Andrews, the leading Democratic challenger for the seat in November.

Lingering work questions

Arrington's entry in the primary comes amid an ongoing legal battle with her now former employer at the U.S. Department of Defense, where she stood accused of divulging classified information while leading a new cybersecurity initiative for defense contractors at the Pentagon.

Arrington formally resigned from her position at the Pentagon Defense late Feb. 7, months after being placed on administrative leave, Bloomberg News first reported.

While Arrington resigned from her position Feb. 7, her attorney, Mark Zaid, has filed an administrative appeal to get Arringtons security clearance restored. That clearance remains suspended.

"We remain confident no security violations occurred," Zaid tweeted Feb. 1.

Arrington did not elaborate on details of the case in a Feb. 8 interview with The Post and Courier, saying only she believed it to be a politically motivated move by the Biden administration.

I needed to resign in protest because you cannot use a federal agency as a political weapon ever, Arrington said. And thats what happened to me.

In other Trump news, Gov. Henry McMaster briefly met with Trump last week, according to his public schedule released Feb. 8. The governor declined to give reporters any details about the meeting with Trump, who campaigned for him in 2018, calling it a "catch-up visit."

Asked whether the discussion included the GOP primary races for South Carolina's 1st District seat, the 7th District held by impeachment supporter U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-Myrtle Beach, or whether Trump would be visiting South Carolina to campaign for him again, McMaster said, "We didn't get into that."

The former state Republican Party chairman indicated he would not endorse in the congressional GOP primary races, saying only, "I'm for Republicans."
COLUMBIA  A Senate panel advanced legislation to make Juneteenth a state holiday amid continuing tensions around the fate of South Carolina's Confederate monuments.

After fewer than 10 minutes of discussion Feb. 8, a Senate Family and Veterans Services subcommittee voted to advance legislation sponsored by Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Hopkins, that would give state workers the option to take a paid day off on the June 19 holiday, which commemorates the 1865 emancipation of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas.

Citing concerns about adding an additional paid holiday to the state calendar, Jackson introduced an amendment allowing state workers the option of choosing either the Juneteenth holiday or Confederate Memorial Day  a state holiday created as a result of a compromise to remove the Confederate battle flag from the top of the Statehouse in 2000.

The cost of an additional holiday would have been $12 million, according to estimates from the Department of Administration.

According to the Congressional Research Service, 49 states and the District of Columbia have already passed legislation recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday or observance. However, only five states  Texas, New York, Virginia, Washington and Illinois  recognize Juneteenth as an official paid holiday for state employees.

President Joe Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021. But conversations to make Juneteenth an official state holiday have been long-standing in South Carolina, even before Jackson introduced an initial version of his bill in 2021.

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In 2010, the S.C. House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing June 19 as "Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom Day," described as a "a day of reflection and commemoration of the freedom of African Americans and their contributions to this country."

While communities like Cayce have already moved to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for local employees, the Legislature never formally recognized the day as a state holiday, prompting calls to add an additional state holiday to the 13 already on the state calendar. Some now believe that effort is gaining momentum.

"I think there's a bipartisan consensus that honoring Juneteenth is important policy, at least from my perspective," Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg, said during the hearing. "We do we have to be mindful of how many state holidays we're paying for, so we've struck the balance here of not increasing spending while also honoring an important moment in America's history. I think this is a great compromise."

The debate comes amid ongoing Statehouse tensions around the fate of Confederate monuments. A recent resolution supporting the relocation of a Confederate statue in Orangeburg Memorial Plaza recently attracted opposition from Republican lawmakers in the Upstate.

"I'm opposed to tearing down our monuments across the state," Rep. Steven Long, R-Spartanburg, said. "I'm hearing from a lot of people that are opposed to it that we're tired of the woke left going after our history, going after our heritage, after our monuments."
SPARTANBURG  Supply chain disruptions and delays in logistics at the nation's ports are expected to continue through early 2023, an official with the South Carolina Ports Authority said.

Michael Hoffman, S.C. Ports Authority general manager of intermodal operations, said several factors have caused longer wait times at ports, importing and exporting goods. He was a featured speaker at OneSpartanburg's Voice of Business Brunch held at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport's conference room on Feb. 7.

Inland Port Greer, an S.C. Ports Authority facility, is just north of the airport.

During the pandemic, Hoffman said people have ordered more goods than spending money on services. It's placed a strain on the supply chain with more volume than the ports can handle. Hoffman said there are more than 15 ships waiting offshore in Charleston to unload their goods. The average wait time for import ships to unload their goods in Charleston has increased from four days to eight days. It's also taken longer for exports in Charleston with an average wait time of 15 days, which previously was eight days.

"Right now we have 30,000 exports on the terminals in Charleston," Hoffman said. "We need those to get on vessels to leave to create more space but vessels aren't moving fast enough to keep clearing those boxes. We are trying to meet the demands of export customers."

Hoffman said the nation's shortage of about 80,000 truck drivers has added to the supply chain issues. Worker shortages at distribution centers have also created a backlog. The nation's ports can handle about two million containers combined. The total volume across the country exceeded capacity in 2021, he said.

"In the United States, that volume is far exceeding that right now," Hoffman said. "That is what is causing the backup. We need to better utilize resources or it will still remain a problem."

Hoffman said longer wait times could continue through late 2022 or early 2023. He called the delays at the nation's ports "unprecedented."

While delays at ports are expected to continue, Hoffman said South Carolina is poised for continued growth and investment in its port system, with $3 billion in planned investments over the next decade.

Growth at Inland Port Greer is expected to continue. Hoffman said Inland Port Greer does about 157,000 rail lifts annually and is expected to increase to 200,000 rail lifts in the future. The state's ports authority has had success with inland ports and might consider future expansions into other areas of the state, he said.

"We might start looking around," Hoffman said. "I don't think we are done in South Carolina with our inland ports. They have been very successful and we know what to do and what not to do. There could be another one (inland port) or two."

Allen Smith, OneSpartanburg CEO and President, said Inland Port Greer has increased investment in Spartanburg County since opening in 2013.

"There is tremendous momentum in Spartanburg County and a lot of that investment has to do with the ports of South Carolina," Smith said.

In 2021, companies pledged $1.9 billion capital investments in Spartanburg County and 4,045 new jobs. There were 44 total economic development projects announced in 2021, according to OneSpartanburg.
I havent commented on the protest by Canadian truckers in Ottawa. Thats Johns beat, and hes doing a great job with it.

However, I did come across this passage in a Daily Mail article about the protests:

James Doull, 24, a diesel mechanic who is organizing truckers parked along Wellington Street, where many of the parliamentary and government buildings are located, claimed all the stuff put out by Trudeau and the government about the convoy are lies. There is no racism, the truckers arent vandalizing things, he told DailyMail.com. Fringe groups coming in may be responsible but its not the truckers themselves. We are not right-wing conspiracists, we are hard-working everyday Canadians who just want our freedom back, said Doull, who lives in Grand Manan, New Brunswick. Since DailyMail.com arrived in Ottawa last week we have seen no indication of violence or vandalism or any extremist political agenda. In fact, the demonstrations have shown the opposite. Apart from the incessant honking of their horns, all has been peaceful. The truckers seem to have united the people of Canada in a common goal, to get rid of government mandates.

(Emphasis added)

False claims of racism and violence by the truckers remind me of similar slurs against the Tea Party. Readers may the allegation of spitting at a black congressman that turned out to be unsupported and almost certainly false.

There are important differences between the truckers protest and those of the Tea Party. The truckers actions are highly disruptive and maybe illegal. To the best of my recollection, that wasnt the case with Tea Party protests.

However, both sets of protesters fell victim to the imperative that forces effectively opposing liberal orthodoxy be defamed as racist and violent.

Its also worth noting, as the Daily Mail does here, that although GoFundMe promoted fundraising efforts for participants in the destructive Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) in Seattle where two teens were shot dead, it has cancelled a fundraiser for the Canadian truckers. Being killed is more disruptive and unlawful than being deprived of sleep due to honking (although Im sure I would hate to experience the latter).

GoFundMe defended its decision to cut off the truckers saying it supports peaceful protests and believe[d] that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created. However, 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.

But the reports of trucker violence and hate crimes apparently are bogus. In any case, the CHOP protest in Seattle indisputably was violent. Yet this didnt seem to bother GoFundMe.

Nor does any desire truthfully to report on whats actually happening with the truckers in Ottawa preoccupy or constrain the liberal media.
Apart from the Afghanistan fiasco, I omitted foreign policy issues in my bill of particulars accounting for the Biden administrations slide in the esteem of voters since January 2020. The slide is multifactorial, overdetermined, and precipitous, as such things go. I left out foreign policy issues because, short of war, they rarely move American voters.

Thats not to say such issues shouldnt be taken into account. They certainly mean a lot to us.

Over this past weekend Peter Berkowitz looked back at the Obama administrations arrangement with the mullahs in the JCPOA. He drew on Senator Tom Cottons perceptive letter to the mullahs on the arrangement.

Senator Cotton took about as much grief from the arbiters of taste for his letter as he did for his raising the possibility that the Covid-19 epidemic originated with a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In both cases Senator Cotton has proved right  in the latter case, proved right with respect to the serious possibility of a leak  which is yet another mark against him in the eyes of the arbiters.

All of Berkowitzs column is worth reading. It is occasioned by the Biden administrations patent lust to consummate another such arrangement with the mullahs, only worse. The giveaways have already begun.

I want to highlight this passage in Berkowitzs column:

According to a November 2015 State Department letter to then-Congressman Mike Pompeo, the JCPOA was stitched together of even weaker obligations than Cotton and his Senate colleagues envisaged: The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not a treaty or an executive agreement, and is not a signed document, wrote Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield. The JCPOA reflects political commitments between Iran, the P5+1 (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, China), and the European Union. Even if honored, these legally non-binding political commitments played into the ayatollahs hands. In exchange for sanctions relief, the JCPOA restricted the level to which Iran could enrich uranium and subjected aspects of Tehrans nuclear program to regular inspection by International Atomic Energy Agency officials. But verification protocols were fatally flawed: Inspectors couldnt access undeclared sites at will, while military bases were off limits. And the deal was silent about Irans ballistic missiles program; its funding of terrorism and proxy fighters in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen; and its supplying of rockets and missiles to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip for terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians and civilian infrastructure. Moreover, far from ending Irans quest for nuclear weapons, the deals sunset provisions provided Iran a glide path to them by the end of this decade. And it injected into the hobbled Iranian economy tens of billions of dollars, empowering Tehran to intensify its pursuit of regional hegemony.

I would add only that the tens of billions of dollars injected into the hobbled Iranian economy also funded the regimes nuclear program. It was almost as though this was a consummation devoutly to be wished.
I learn from todays New York Post story that Senate Judiciary Committee member Tom Cotton has written a letter posing a few questions to the meritless Merrick Garland about the sentencing of Minnesotas own Montez Terriel Lee. Lee drove up from Rochester, Minnesota to get in on the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis on the evening the police departments Third Precinct Headquarters was burned down. Lee joined the action by burning down a pawn shop on Lake Street and incinerated another gentleman in the process.

Among the handful of cases charged in the riots, Lee pleaded guilty to arson. Federal sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 20 years, but the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota  in the person of AUSA Thomas Calhoun-Lopez  invoked Martin Luther King and sought for a far more lenient sentence because rioting in a cause mitigated the offense. Judge Wilhelmina Mimi Wright, now on President Bidens shortlist for appointment to the Supreme Court, took up the idea and sentenced Lee to 10 years.

The problem, in my view, is not so much the sentence per se as the prosecutors philosophical endorsement of rioting and Judge Wrights reflections on Lees human potential (see her comments at the sentencing hearing in my linked post). Give me a break.

Hoping to draw attention to the the anomalies, I wrote about the case at some length, most recently, in Felony murder in a good cause: FOX News edition. Senator Cotton now takes up the case in his letter to Garland (included with press release here, PDF here):

Dear Attorney General Garland: On May 28, 2020, Montez Lee set fire to a pawn shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and murdered a 30-year-old father of five. In August 2020, the United States Attorneys Office in Minnesota indicted Lee on one count of Arson and he pleaded guilty on July 22, 2021. The sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of around 20 years. But the U.S. Attorneys office filed a Sentencing Memorandum asking for half this time. Most shockingly, the U.S. Attorney defended Montez Lee and expressed sympathy for his murderous arson because Lees crime was committed during the BLM riots. Showing leniency towards a career criminal who committed murder is bad enough. But justifying the murder because the career criminal shares the Biden Administrations politics is beyond the pale. The American people deserve to know whether leniency for left-wing murderers is the official policy of the Biden Department of Justice, or whether this travesty was a one-off. Please provide answers to the following questions by February 21, 2022. 1. Does the Attorney General believe participation in a riot is a basis for leniency in sentencing individuals for violent crimes? 2. In the Sentencing Memorandum, the government concludes that Montez Lee does not appear to pose a danger to the public. The Sentencing Memorandum stated that Lee, who was 25 when he committed this crime, had been convicted for burglary, domestic violence, and theft. The government also acknowledged that, in his domestic violence case, Montez Lee violently ruptured his girlfriends eardrum. Given these convictions, all committed in a truncated period before Lee was even 25 and which put him at Criminal History Level IV (out of VI), please describe how the government concluded that Lee posed no danger to the community. 3. Please provide all communications between the United States Attorneys Office for Minnesota and any political appointees at the Department of Justice regarding the sentencing recommendation for Montez Lee. Sincerely, /s/Tom Cotton

The Star Tribune and other local media have avoided raising any such questions. It is good to have Senator Cotton on the case in the Biden kakistocracy.

Quotable quote: Showing leniency towards a career criminal who committed murder is bad enough. But justifying the murder because the career criminal shares the Biden Administrations politics is beyond the pale. The American people deserve to know whether leniency for left-wing murderers is the official policy of the Biden Department of Justice, or whether this travesty was a one-off.
Someone has managed through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to dislodge a consultants 254-page report to Andy Marshalls legendary Office of Net Assessment in the Department of Defense from way back in 2013. Marshall, who died in 2019, and his ONA are legendary in defense and intelligence circles (his nickname was Yoda) for its outside-the-box thinking and projections, many of which proved themselves out over time.

The 2013 report in question bears the title The Strategic Consequences of Chinese Racism: A Strategic Asymmetry for the United States. The authors name is redacted, but is identified as a political scientist, [and] the managing member of Thayer Limited, LLC. Formerly, he was a tenured associate professor in Missouri State Universitys Department of Defense and Strategic Studies. He has also served as a Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and as a consultant to the Rand Corporation, along with several other distinguished academic things. Other publications by the author are also redacted.

The authors name may have been redacted because of the blunt language contained in the report. Such as:

Racism remains a key component of how the Chinese see the world, their central place in it, and the worlds other, inferior inhabitants. . . Virulent racism and eugenics heavily inform Chinese perceptions of the world. United States decisionmakers must recognize that China is a racist state, much closer to Nazi Germany than to the values upheld in the West. Most often, the Chinese do not even recognize their racism as a problem. They believe that racism is a Western phenomenon and that Westerners are obsessed with race. This obsession is seen by the Chinese to be a strategic vulnerability of the West, whereas China is not affected by racism. Second, racism informs their view of the United States. From the Chinese perspective, the United States used to be a strong society that the Chinese respected when it was unicultural, defined by the centrality of Anglo-Protestant culture at the core of American national identity aligned with the political ideology of liberalism, the rule of law, and free market capitalism. The Chinese see multiculturalism as a sickness that has overtaken the United States, and a component of U.S. decline.

Let us pause here, and raise the question about whether the author of this report has dual purposes in mind. Could this be a classic example of not-entirely-esoteric writing where the author, while writing in detail about China, is also trying to make perceptive readers reflect on the problem in the United States? Is not his characterization of the Chinese perception that multiculturalism is a sickness that has overtaken the United States essentially correct? While much of the rest of the report goes on to analyze how the United States might be able to exploit Chinas racism, the unstated premise of this exploitation would require the United States sorting out its current perverse racial obsessions.

More from this remarkable and politically incorrect report:

Chinese racism retards their relations with the Third World. Chinese racism makes it difficult for China to advance a positive message in the Third World, especially Africa, but also in Latin America and the Middle East. . . Chinese racism, and the degree to which the Chinese permit their view of the United States to be informed by racism, has the potential to hinder China in its competition with the United States because it contributes to their overconfidence. This overconfidence is a result of ethnocentrism and a sense of superiority rooted in racism. The Chinese are never going to go through a civil rights movement like the United States. This is because, first, they have no freedom of the press, freedom to petition their government, freedom to assemble, all of which are necessary to support a civil rights movement. Second, there is no political drive or consciousness for equality in Chinese thought. Equality is associated with Maoism and rejected in todays China, where inequality is accepted and celebrated. In addition, there is no notion of civil rights in Chinese political thought or, practically, in jurisprudence. The report observes that China will play the race card in the developing world by embracing the self-critical narrative of the United States and Europe, but that it will be ultimately unconvincing or effective in Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere. These themes allow the United States and other states to challenge Chinas projected image of an oppressed victim of racism with actual empirical reality: China is a racist superpower. It does not equal the horrors of Nazi Germany, but it is far closer to Nazism than it is to the free and tolerant societies found in the West. The second major implication is that it provided the United States with a major asymmetry in the Third World. Chinese racism allows the United States to undermine China in the Third World.

Of course, the moral and cultural relativism of the United States and other Western nations will likely make any such American appeal incoherent. And I suspect the sophisticated Chinese know this. In fact, I have old notes about President Clinton visiting China in the 1990s, and the then-Premier Jiang saying the two countries have different means and ways of realizing human rights and fundamental freedoms perfect faculty room multiculturalism! Clinton responded weakly about how American values change over time, and apologized for the painful moments in American history when we fell short of our ideals, as though he was afraid the Chinese might suggest that Kent State was the moral equivalent of Tiananmen Square. Actually, thats what of American leftists do believe.
FMDQ Securities Exchange Ltd. has announced the listing of the Federal Government of Nigerias $4 billion dollars Eurobonds under its global medium-term note programme on its platform.

This is contained in a statement by FMDQ Exchange made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

The breakdown of the listings are as follows, 6.12 per cent $1.25 billion September 2028; 7.37 per cent 1.50 billion dollars September 2033 and 8.25 per cent 1.25 billion dollars September 2051 Eurobonds under its Global Medium-Term Note Programme.

It said that the listing of the foreign currency-denominated debt securities was another commendable feat for the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Debt Management Office (DMO).

The statement said the transaction demonstrated the governments unrelenting commitment to supporting the development of the nations debt capital markets (DCM) toward sustainable economic development.

These issuances represent the FGNs seventh Eurobond issuances, following the issuances in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2019.

The admission of these Eurobonds, co-sponsored by Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Ltd. and FSDH Merchant Bank Ltd., is reflective of the potential of the Nigerian DCM and the commendable level of confidence demonstrated by both issuer and investors, it said.

Speaking on the successful issuance of the Eurobonds, the Director-General, DMO, Patience Oniha, was quoted by the statement as saying that this issuance was one of the largest financial trades in Africa in 2021 and also aligns the objectives of the Nigerias Debt Management Strategy (2020-2023).

Investors keen interest in the issuance as shown by the Order Book of over 12 billion dollars demonstrated confidence in Nigerias economy, with bids being received from international investors across Europe, America and Asia as well as robust participation from domestic investors.

The Eurobonds enabled access to international capital markets inflow of foreign exchange and increased our external reserves.

 DMO achieved this successful outing through the team of international arrangers, Nigerian bookrunner, the financial adviser and the legal advisers.

The proceeds of the Eurobonds were applied to part-finance the deficit in the 2021 Appropriation Act. The Eurobonds have been listed on the London Stock Exchange and FMDQ Exchange, Oniha said.

READ ALSO:

Also speaking, the co-sponsor of the Eurobonds and a Registration Member (Listings) of the Exchange, Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Ltd., through its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bolaji Balogun, said: Chapel Hill Denham is honoured to have acted as Nigerian bookrunner and Joint Lead Manager on the FGNs four billion dollars Triple-Tranche Issuance.

The FGN and DMO appointed a Nigerian Bookrunner for the first time on a Sovereign Issuance and the firm delivered the largest ever domestic demand on a Eurobond Issuance, enabling the FGN price tightly, notwithstanding tricky market conditions.

Also, the co-sponsor of the Eurobonds and a Registration Member (Listings) of the Exchange, FSDH Merchant Bank Ltd., through its Managing Director, Mrs Bukola Smith, said: FSDH Merchant Bank Limited is pleased to have acted as Financial Adviser to the FGN on the issuance.

The Eurobonds were oversubscribed by 300 per cent and saw significant demand from a diverse cohort of large ticket investors and was indicative of confidence in Nigeria and our economy; despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The listing of the Eurobonds on FMDQ Exchange will provide visibility and enhance the liquidity of the Eurobonds.

We would like to thank the FGN, the DMO and the investor community for their support in ensuring the successful capital raise, Smith said. (NAN)
The federal government says it has set another 60-day export action plan as part of its efforts to make it easier for people to do business in the country.

It is the governments seventh 60-day target. Government agencies performed poorly during previous 60-day action plans, hence the need for another, an official said Monday.

In 2020, Nigeria ranked 131 on the global Ease of Doing Business index, up from 145 in 2019.

The action plan is targeted at ensuring that perishable agricultural produce earmarked for export are allowed to move freely through our ports.

This comes after Nigerias Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, had earlier decried how regulatory requirements and elongated certification processes are killing Nigerian businesses.

There are too many regulatory requirements. Too many regulations kill output. We have to take a second look at how we regulate. Over-regulation is killing businesses. It kills investments. An agric exporter cant export perishable produce after months, he said.

The 60-days agro-export action plan is part of the priority reforms to be implemented by select ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), to drive ease of doing business in Nigeria.

Speaking at the launch at the launch of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) 7th 60-day National Action Plan (NAP) in Abuja on Monday, the special adviser to the president on ease of doing business, Jumoke Oduwole, said the seventh NAP is designed to break away from the lackluster performance of the previous plans, which saw the relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) perform below par at 44 and 43 percent.

In the area of ports and trade facilitation, the focus is on a 60-day agro-export action plan targeted at ensuring that perishable agricultural produce earmarked for export are allowed to move freely through our ports.

Indeed, the faithful implementation of the Agro-export plan is expected to boost the competitiveness of Nigerias agro-exports, and create jobs, while enhancing Nigerias foreign exchange earnings and providing good rewards for the labours of farmers all across Nigeria, the presidential aide said.

She highlighted the other areas to be reformed to include automation, regulatory, legislative/judicial, and executive order compliance.

The order provides the full executive backing for reforms aimed at creating an enabling environment for businesses by entrenching measures and strategies aimed at promoting transparency and efficiency in public service delivery.

According to Mrs Oduwole, the deployment of automation and process review would intensify efforts at improving the travel experience and strengthening the automation of the business incorporation process of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) among others.

Indeed, an enabled business climate is critical for achieving the successful implementation of the recently launched National Development Plan 2021-2025, as 86% of the funding requirement for the implementation of the Plan is to be private sector-driven, she said.
Ahead of a court hearing on Wednesday, Olanrewanju Saheed, the estranged lover of famous Yoruba actress, Ronke Odunsanya, has apologised to her for questioning their daughters paternity in a Magistrate court in Lagos in February 2021.

The actress and her estranged lover had been enmeshed in a messy separation scandal since December 2020.

It led to a series of court cases as Mr Saheed, popular as Jago, said he doubted he was the father of the child they had welcomed in 2019 during their relationship.

Mr Saheed, in a surprise video posted on his Instagram account on Monday evening, said, Im using this video to clear the air concerning the DNA request I made at the court.

Im sorry about that. I want you guys to know that Oluwafifehunmi Aranmolate is my daughter, and I love her so much with all my heart.

He captioned the video, Oluwafifehunmi is my daughter. I love her so much. @ronkeodusanya.

Background

In December 2020, both parties were enmeshed in a messy separation scandal broken by a popular Instagram gossip blog.

Among other things, the blog alleged that the famous actress ruined the father of her child, financially by making him sell off his assets to fulfill her luxurious desires.

Responding to the allegations, the actress said the rumours were untrue, but she had chosen to remain calm as the truth would eventually reveal itself.

She said: While my silence will be taken for cowardice, I will be calm because the truth always reveals itself. Of course, I can defend myself, but I wont want my daughter to read such irritating and fact-less information. The court of social media has always been myopic and manipulative.

You cannot break me. Bank statements can reveal who has received money from whom and for what. Investigate before publishing. Seeds sown will indeed germinate for the platform used for peddling such absurdity. Seeds sown will indeed germinate.

Ms Odusanya, 47, made her acting debut in the 2001 Yoruba film, Baba Ologba.
The production of Conversation in Transit, the first-ever Nollywood movie to be shot on a train in transit, commenced on Saturday at the Mobolaji Johnson Rail Station, Yaba, Lagos State.

The movie is being produced by Rogers Ofime and directed by Robert Peters.

In October 2021, Mr Ofime told PREMIUM TIMES that the project would be the first of its kind in Africa as the entire movie would be shot on a moving train, from its arrival, transit, and departure.

The movie set is situated at the departure axis of the Mobolaji Johnsons rail station, where the train used to shoot the movie is stationed.

Set

When this newspaper visited the movie set on Saturday, Mr Ofime reiterated that they would shoot over 95- percent of the movies scene on a train route from Lagos-Ibadan.

The producers, Native media, said the film would explore the infrastructural development in the Nigerian railway corporation and also narrate a love story between three couples.

Hajara, an event planner; Ini, a career woman; and Adeola embark on a train ride with an abusive fiance, a cheating and an alcoholic repentant husband.

Native Media Ltd is a multi-award-winning television production company; they are the producers of Oloibiri, Voiceless, Hush, Zamani, Hotel Majestic, amongst other blockbuster movies.

The movie cast is star-studded as Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), Rahama Sadau, Uzee Usman, will play the lead roles.

The producers told our correspondent that the movie would also premiere on a train in transit.

Challenges

Indeed, shooting almost an entire movie on a train in Nigeria for the first time is undoubtedly an uphill task.

However, Mr Peters, the movie director, who spoke with our correspondent, recounted some of the challenges with shooting and directing a movie on a train in transit.

He said: After I received the script from the producer, I felt like it was a crazy idea, but it was also beautiful, and I loved it.

Although one of the biggest problems we have in this part of the world is that we dont plan, and I wanted us to plan, and that is why we are paying attention to details.

Mr Peter is famous for directing Christmas in Miami (2021), Voiceless (2020), and A trip to Jamaica (2019). He said the film is quite demanding.

This film has peculiar constraints as the post-production process of the movie has spanned over six months, he revealed.

Mr Peters also said he is focused on tantalising the audiences visuals.

Although he is skeptical about reviews and setting the pace in Nollywood, Mr Peter said he was optimistic about the project. At the end of the day, people are going to watch and judge us by every frame, not just every scene, he said.

While this isnt the first film, he would shoot on a train in transit, the actor-turned-director noted that Conversation in Transit is unique.

He said: Although I have shot short scenes on a train but not an entire movie. So it becomes a task to do almost an entire movie on a train. So we went into research to know what we would need to shoot a movie on the train. We reviewed the script and the actors, but the most difficult part is logistics.

Normally, when I work, I do with ideas in my head, but this one comes different because we are doing a shot-list. The shot-list is a map of everything we will follow, not just the script. The shot-list is the movie on paper, and it took us about two months to prepare.

Expressing how he felt to be at the location of the movie, Mr Peter said: this is a new process for me. I am excited, I am happy, and I cant wait to share it with you guys out there.

The movie was scripted by Tope Bolade- Akinbode and Dichie Enunwa. For a first-hand perspective, they traveled by train from Lagos to Ibadan to experience traveling via train.

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After the tour, the writers scripted the storyline of the movie.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has blamed the Nigerian judiciary for the nagging problem of delay in the determination of high profile corruption cases in court.

Mr Malami said this in an interview on Channels Televisions primetime programme, Politics Today, Monday.

Citing the case of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, whose trial at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory over alleged abuse of office, Mr Malami said, You cannot by any stretch of imagination, place a blame associated with the conclusion and determination of the case on the doorsteps of the executive (arm of government). It is exclusively a judicial affair.

He said the government was applying the innovative provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (2015), a legislative intervention aimed at curing the teething problems of delayed criminal justice administration in Nigeria.

One of such provisions in the law is the day-to-day hearing of criminal cases.

But corruption cases involving Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) have lingered for several years despite this provision, which Mr Malami blamed on the judiciary.

Malamis half-truth

While Mr Malamis assertion blaming the judiciary for the delays of high profile corruption cases may be true with regard to certain cases, it is not in respect of others.

For instance, the judiciary cannot be blamed for the over six years delay in the trial of a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, accused by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration of diverting billions of dollars meant for procuremebt of arms under the Goodluck Jonathan administration

The delay is rather due to the illegal detention of Mr Dasuki for about four years by the State Security Service (SSS) frustrating his prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the FCT High Court, Abuja.

The diversion of the arms fund is the main allegation of corruption Mr Buhari administration levelled against his predecessors administration. Yet, almost seven years after the Buhari administration came on board, it has not been able to bring any of the major actors to book.

A former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, was convicted and jailed by the Federal High Court in Abuja for fraudulently receiving part of the arms fund from Mr Dasuki to run the partys 2015 presidential election.

But the conviction has been overturned by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

One of such cases that the judiciary can also not be blamed for its delay is the one involving a former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, whom the Nigerian government has not been able extradite to face the money laundering charges filed against her by the EFCC since 2018.

But a case like that of a former governor of Benue State and serving senator, Gabriel Suswam, who is facing money laundering charges involving diversion of over N3 billion in states funds, fits into the category of high profile cases that the judiciary is to blame its delay.

Between 2015 and 2020, the case was transferred between two judges on three different occasions.

The order for the last transfer of the case in 2020 from the judge, who had made substantial progress in the case within a relatively short period of time, to the other judge, who was adjudged to be reluctant handling the case, was made by the Court of Appeal in Abuja in February 2020.

Mr Malami, in blaming the judiciary for the prolonged hearing of high-profile cases, shies away from the problems that make the criminal justice system vulnerable to the manipulation of the rich and influential corruption suspects.

He also fails to acknowledge the practicability of the ACJAs provision of the day-to-day hearing of criminal cases given the high volume of cases, limited number of judges, infrastructure, and equipment, some of the courts contend with.

There has also not been any known action taken by the minister as Nigerias chief law officer to address delays attributable to judges or court administration.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) said on Monday that the law will run its course in the trial of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu who is being prosecuted at the Federal High Court in over terrorism charges.

Mr Malami, who appeared on Channels Televisions Politics Today Monday evening, however, did not foreclose a political solution in Mr Kanus alleged conflict with the Nigerian law.

In terms of prosecution, you cannot rule out any possibility. The law of the land must take its natural course.

In our laws, there are a lot of possibilities, but as it is now, the law is taking its natural course, Mr Malami said.

There has been a clamour from notable groups in the South-east for Mr Kanus release.

Some of them have visited President Muhammadu Buhari over the matter. But Buhari would later respond in an interview that Mr Kanu should defend himself in court.

The IPOB leader was reportedly rearrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June last year by Nigerian government.

This was almost four years after Mr Kanu fled Nigeria after the military invaded his Afara-Ukwu home in Abia State in 2017.

While abroad, Mr Kanu, a separatist seeking the secession of the Igbo-speaking part of Nigeria as an in independent Biafra nation, frequently reached out to his followers mainly in the South-eastern part of the country through incendiary social media broadcasts.

During the period, the Nigerian government blamed him and his IPOB for the escalation of the violence in the South-east region.

After his rearrest in June last year, the charges of treasonable felony levelled against him for seeking the secession of the South-region were amended to include terrorism charges.

Sunday Igboho

Also speaking on detained Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, Mr Malami said the Yoruba nation secessionist might be subjected to Nigerias criminal justice system upon conclusion of his incarceration by the government of the Republic of Benin.

It is a matter being prosecuted at a foreign country, and within the context of that prosecution, one thing that is apparent is that he (Igboho) has been taken into custody on account of breaching laws applicable in a foreign nation. And with that in mind, he is being prosecuted, Mr Malami explained.

No political solution in terms of what he is standing trial for in a foreign country, may be those political considerations may be brought to bear after conclusion of his trial at the foreign nation, Mr Malami said.

Like the IPOB leader, Mr Igboho fled Nigeria last year after the State Security Service (SSS) led a controversial security operation at his home Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, which led to the death of two of his associates and the arrest of 12 others.

A court in Oyo State has since held the Nigerian government liable for the SSS invasion awarded N20 billion damages to Mr Adeyemo.
The Federal High Court in Gusau, Zamfara State capital, on Monday, struck out a suit filed by some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state against Governor Bello Matawalle over his defection last year from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The court said although it has no jurisdiction to hear the case, since it is neither a pre-election nor post-election case, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not prohibit a governor from defecting from a party.

The judge, Bappa Aliyu, said the constitutions of the APC and PDP also do not make it unlawful for a governor to decide and defect to any other constitutionally recognised political party operating within Nigeria.

Mr Aliyu said if it were a pre-election case, it should have been filed before an election petitions tribunal, as the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction to handle it.

On the request by the plaintiffs, including Bashir Saleh, Abduhamid Haruna and Ibrahim Turaki, to remove the governor on the grounds of defecting from the PDP, as presented by their counsel, J. C. Shakaka, Mr Aliyu said it is only an election petitions tribunal or the state House of Assembly that has the power to do so.

READ ALSO: Taraba senator dumps PDP for APC

He, therefore, charged the plaintiffs to pay the sum of N1 million to each of the four defendants, including Governor Matawalle, the APC, INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation, as compensation for their time wasted.

Mr Matatwalle and his deputy, Mahdi Aliyu, had all taken their offices on the platform of the PDP after the Supreme Court disqualified candidates of the APC who had been declared winners in the 2019 governorship election.

The governor last year defected to the ruling APC, following which the PDP members asked the court to remove him for abandoning the platform on which he was elected.

Ironically, the State House of Assembly on Friday began an impeachment process against the deputy governor who refused to join the other elected officials in the state in moving from the PDP to the APC.
A major technical glitch has forced down multiple Nigerian government websites for weeks, halting the services and information provided by the platforms.

At least six websites, including those of the presidential office and the National Identity Management Commission, were affected as of Tuesday afternoon.

All affected sites had an error message that said, This site cant be reached.

Other affected sites were those of the Budget Office of the Federation, Open Treasury, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

The internet wayback machine, which crawls and archives web pages, showed that the budget office website was last active on January 29.

The police website and the State House site were last accessible on February 1, while the websites of the OSGF and the NCAA last functioned on January 20 and January 27 respectively. The Open Treasury site was last active on December 21, 2021.

The website of the identity management body, NIMC, stopped functioning on February 5, stopping thousands of Nigerians who lost their phone SIM cards from retrieving their National Identity Numbers (NIN).

NIMC recently apologised to the public for any inconvenience caused by its poor online service. It blamed the situation on its network providers, saying there was a maintenance activity.

The spokesperson of the Budget Office of the Federation, Afolabi Olajuwon, told PREMIUM TIMES that the hitch was as a result of a system breakdown that affected Galaxy Backbone Limited, the agency responsible for managing most governments website.

The issue is not within the purview of our office. It is almost a nationwide issue because it affects not just the Budget Office website but those of other agencies managed by Galaxy Backbone, he said.

Galaxy Backbone Limited, which is saddled with the responsibility of managing the internet facilities and websites of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the federal government, on Monday said it was having technical challenges with its hosting service platform.

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In a statement published on its Twitter handle, the organisation said it had put together a highly skilled technical team of experienced Engineers and Applications experts to not just solve this current issue but put in place all the necessary structures to ensure that such an incident never occurs again in the future.

The Nigerian government spends huge annually on its ICT facilities, internet and related services. This does often translate to quality service.

The government has budgeted over N19 billion for software services in its 2022 budget, according to an analysis by PREMIUM TIMES.

A project executive at the Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID), Ijeoma Okereke-Adagba, said the failure of several government sites has seriously affected the functions of many public and private organisations. She criticised the governments apparent unhurried response to the outage.

The budget office website for example is one of the platforms many organizations like the CJID rely on to carry out their work. Its barely a month since the 2022 FGN budget was uploaded and the site goes down, she said. Access to information is critical for any democratic government.

If the website of any government parastatal goes down for whatever reason, the general public ought to be informed, she said.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, has denied the twin accusations of delaying high-profile corruption cases and running an opaque budget. The allegations were levelled against the Nigerian judiciary by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami.

Mr Malami had about two weeks ago criticised the lack of transparency around the judiciarys budget.

The AGF, who spoke at a Justice Sector Summit, organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), challenged the judiciary to make its budgetary allocations and expenditures open.

The judiciary had yet to respond to the charge when, Mr Malami, on Monday, blamed it for the protracted trial of high-profile corruption cases.

The justice minister, during an interview on Channels Televisions primetime programme, Politics Today, on Monday, asserted that despite the legal framework put in place to speed up criminal proceedings, judges were still delaying timeous hearing and determination of such cases, particularly concerning Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

Reacting to the allegation in a statement by his spokesperson, on Tuesday, the CJN said Mr Malamis criticism of the judiciary for the delays suffered in court by high-profile corruption cases, was one-sided.

The position of the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) that the judiciary be held responsible for delays in the trial and delivery of judgements on corruption cases involving politically exposed individuals appears to be one-sided, the CJNs spokesperson, Ahuraka Isah, wrote in the statement.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that Mr Malamis allegation was only partially true, with references to instances of delays caused by the federal government or its agencies.

The report added that the comment by Mr Malami ignored deeper systemic problems in the nations criminal justice system that are responsible for such delays.

While acknowledging that the judicial arm of government was not perfect, the CJN pointed out that when the political and economic conditions under which it is operating is compared with its counterparts in other climes, it would be adjudged a prized model.

FG files frivolous charges it cant prove

Commenting on how government prosecutors contribute to delays, the CJN said: The Federal Governments prosecution sector files more charges than it can prove or provide witnesses to prove, ostensibly at times for the prosecution to even fail.

Referring to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (2015), which was intended to address Nigerias snail-paced criminal justice system, the head of Nigerias judiciary said the legislation is infected with sores in some parts, making speedy adjudications improbable.

He said high volume of cases, limited number of judges, poor infrastructure or archaic equipment, have compounded the woes of the judiciary in swiftly determining criminal cases.

Mr Malami had, in the course of his Channels Television interview, reeled out a number of legislative and executive interventions that were targeted at resolving prolonged criminal trials.

One of the innovative provisions of the ACJA is the day-to-day hearing of criminal cases, thereby addressing the delay tactics often employed by defence lawyers in suits involving PEPs.

But the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, had in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES last year, said the day-to-day hearing of criminal cases was impracticable going by the enormous volume of cases on its dockets.

Last December, Mr Tsoho, during the courts New Legal Year ceremony, disclosed that there are over 100,000 cases that are pending before 75 judges of the court.

Judiciary not fraud detective sqaud

The CJN also pointed out the lapses on the part of the executive arm of government contributing to the delays in cases.

Mr Muhammad said the constitutional responsibility of the judiciary does not involve crime detection and investigation. He also mentioned the serial disregard of court orders by the executive.

The CJN noted that the judiciary does not have a garrison command to fight its cause or enforce its orders and decisions.

Under President Muhammadu Buharis watch, a plethora of court judgements and orders, especially bordering on human rights violations, have been disobeyed.

Judiciary has internal mechanism of budget accountability

In addressing Mr Malamis challenge to the judiciary to open its budget details, the CJN enumerated a number of internal audit mechanisms it said were geared to towards financial accountability.

The Judiciary has an internal mechanism for budget control and implementation, Mr Muhammad began.

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The judiciary defends its budget before the senate and the House of Representatives Committees on Judiciary at the National Assembly, besides the initial vetting by the executive.

The judiciary has an internal mechanism for budget control and implementation. Each Court and judicial body has a budget unit, the account department, internal audit, Due Process Unit, as well as Departmental Tenders Board, the CJN explained.

He added that There is also a Due Process Committee at the NJC (National Judicial Council) and the Judicial Tenders Board that award contracts on expenditure above the approval limit of the accounting officers of the Courts and judicial bodies.

These layers of control were established by the Judiciary to ensure transparency, accountability and effective budget implementation. The type of transparency that the Federal Government has stressed.

The CJN also said the National Assembly carries out oversight on the judiciary.

One only hopes that these allegations against the judiciary by the Federal Government is not just a way of giving a dog a bad name so as to then hang it, the statement concluded.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Monday signed three bills into law during the weekly State Executive Council meeting at Lagos House, Ikeja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three bills included the law regulating real estate transactions and the law to provide for the registration of Cooperative Societies in Lagos State.

It also included the law to regulate ownership, licensing and sales of pets and to prohibit and restrict people from having in custody dangerous animals in public places.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the new bills would strengthen government and citizens engagement and relationships.

According to him, the bills will also ensure that residents continue to live in an atmosphere where the rule of law is enshrined, and for residents to know what is expected of them.

The governor said the government would continue to ensure that residents were happy with the government and that trust was further deepened in the government.

He said that the law to regulate the real estate transactions in Lagos State would help to protect the citizens; the unsuspecting residents who fell prey to many real estate professionals.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said that the law would also help players in the real estate sector to know what was expected of them and for the government to be able to track happenings in the sector.

It is really about ease of doing business and ensuring that we can continue to attract private sector investments into the real estate space.

READ ALSO:

We believe this law would be the very first in the country that has taken a deep dive into what is happening in that space and it further strengthens our intervention in housing through the Ministry of Housing, he said.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said that the law to provide for the registration of cooperative societies in Lagos State would make it easy to regulate the operations of thousands of cooperative societies in the state for harmonious cooperation.

He said that the law regulating the ownership, licensing and sales of pets, prohibiting and restricting people from having in custody dangerous animals in public places, would further strengthen all the deliverables in the Ministry of Agriculture, especially issues that had to do with pets and animals.

The governor commended the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, and the state lawmakers for seeing the need to pass the bills into laws.

(NAN)
An Ikeja High Court on Monday ordered Gladys Kanu, one of the widows of Ndubuisi Kanu, to pay a total cost of N120 ,000 for delaying proceedings in a suit she filed over her late husbands estate.

Mr Kanu, a retired rear admiral, was a military administrator of Imo and Lagos states.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Christopher Balogun ordered Gladys to pay N40,000 to each of the three lawyers representing her stepchildren, co-wives and the Nigerian Navy, for delaying proceedings because of her frequent change of lawyers.

Since the commencement of the suit after her husbands death in 2021, Gladys had changed legal representation eight times.

During proceedings on January 31, 2022, her seventh counsel, O.J. Owoh, told the court that because he was new to the case, he needed time to study the case file and some documents.

Proceedings were adjourned for that reason.

However, during Mondays proceedings, it was brought to the attention of the court that Gladys again hired a new counsel.

Reacting, Mr Balogun in a short ruling, said, This court cannot proceed with anything just like last week, as the claimant (Gladys) has changed counsel to another law firm.

All counsels in court today are ready to go on with the matter. All defendants represented are hereby granted N40,000 each, he said.

The court also ordered the Nigerian Navy to calculate the entitlements of the deceased and send it to its counsel, C.G. Cirbam, who is to file it by way of affidavit evidence before the court before the next proceeding.

Earlier, the new counsel to the claimant, Udenna Chukwulobe, from the law firm of Olisa Agbakogba (SAN), informed the court that the law firm was new to the case and had just been briefed by Gladys.

He requested for an adjournment to enable adequate preparation for the case.

Since commencement of the suit, the claimant has engaged eight different lawyers, including Emeka Etiaba (SAN), Ebun Adegboruwa (SAN) and Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN).

Other counsels are C.J Jiapkona, Onyebuchi Ede, John Duru, O.J Owoh and currently Mr Chukwulobe from the law firm of Olisa Agbokoba (SAN).

Counsels to all respondents to the suit have, however, remained the same.

All counsels to the respondents did not oppose Gladyss change of counsel as it is her constitutional right.

Tomilade Shodimu, counsel representing children of the deceased, had requested that cost should be awarded against Gladys for stalling the business of the day.

Agreeing with the lawyer, Benjamin Ijewereh, counsel to Josephine Kanu, one of the widows of the deceased, also asked that Gladys should be made to pay costs for wasting judicial time.

NAN reports that in the suit marked LD/3685FPM/2021, Gladys is seeking that the Nigerian Navy should calculate the entitlements of the deceased into an account.

She is seeking to be declared the only legal wife and sole widow of the late former military administrator.

According to her, she and the deceased were cohabiting until his death.

She said that she was married to him for 27 years but was in a relationship with him for 31 years.

Respondents in the suit are the Nigerian Navy, children and other wives of the deceased, who are Kelly Kanu, Simone Abiona (Nee Kanu) and Andrey Joe-Ezigbo (nee Kanu).

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The others are Paula Ndidiamaka Kanu and Karen Johnson (Nee Kanu), Jeffery Kanu, Laura Kanu, Stephen Kanu, Josephine Ndubuisi-Kanu (wife) and Christine Kanu (wife).

The case was adjourned until March 8 for further hearing. (NAN)
The House of Representatives Committee on Safety Standards and Regulations on Monday raised concerns over the gap in the level of safety compliance between local and international oil companies in Nigeria.

The Chairman of the Committee, Ibrahim Hamza (APC, Kaduna), raised the concerns during an oversight visit to some oil companies in Rivers State.

The committee paid an oversight visit to INTELS and Brawal companies operating at Onne, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday.

Mr Hamza said there is a gap between local and international companies in Nigeria when it comes to safety.

According to a statement released by the lawmaker, Intel Nigeria, an international company is safety compliant, while Brawal, a local oil company is below expectation when it comes to safety.

It is very obvious and very glaring that there is a great gaps between local companies and international companies in terms of implementation of health and safety policies. We visited INTELS we saw that they are in compliance to a very high magnitude in terms of health and safety policies.

The other company we visited which is a local Nigerian company  Brawal, they are also doing well but they are operating below our expectations and we are hoping that there will be improvement because we really sympathize with them because of the nature of the economic situation because there are a lot of challenges but with the involvement of the Parliament, Im sure we will be able to intervene and come up with laws and regulations that will really aid the progress of their health and safety activities.

To address the gap, Mr Hamza disclosed that the committee will roll out some legislation on safety at workplace.

He added that even though there are legislations on safety, there is lacuna that hinders implementation.

He also charged the Ministry of Labour to ensure compliance with existing legislation.

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment needs to up its activities to make sure that the reporting line is being enhanced because most of these activities and incidences are not being reported to the right agencies which is part of what we have noticed in our visit today.

We hope to really look into it, we will call the Department that is in charge of ensuring that these policies are being implemented properly from the Ministry of Labour and Employment. We will make sure that things are being done properly.

Committee on Safety Standards and Regulations was constituted in 2021, following the tragic death of Khalifah Suleiman at an amusement park in Abuja.
Abubakar Malami, Nigerias Attormey General of the Federation, said on Monday that he would advise President Muhammadu Buhari on the re-ammended electoral in the best interest of Nigeria.

Mr Buhari had withheld his assent to the earlier version of the electoral bill for imposing direct primaries as the only of selection of candidates for elective offices by political parties.

An amended version of the bill has since been resent to Mr Buhari for assent by the National Assembly.

Speaking on the matter during an interview on Channels Televisions Politics Today on Monday, Mr Malami said he could not yet make any categorical statement on the amended bill as a copy of it was only sent to him some moments before leaving for the interview.

He, however, promised to study it with a view to advising Mr Buhari on a legislation that would deepen Nigerias democratic tenets.

In terms of satisfaction, honestly, it is premature for me to conclude, taking into consideration that I can admit to you that the electoral bill was only received in my office this afternoon as I was preparing to come over for this engagement with Channels TV, he said.

The minister added, So, I have not taken steps to review the content and context of what has been presented for consideration for the President. So, it is premature and pre-emptive for me at this moment, now to arrive at any conclusion, taking into consideration that I have not gone through the document to understand what it contains and then analyse the same in accordance with the constitution and the prevailing laws.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Osun Command, says it has returned a 14-year-old girl trafficked to Ejigbo (Osun) from Enugu State, back to the Enugu Police Command.

The Osun NSCDC Spokesperson, Atanda Olabisi, made this known in a statement on Monday.

Mr Olabisi said that the girl stated that she was charmed and taken from Enugu but later escaped from her trafficker, where she was locked up in Ejigbo.

The Anti Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration Unit of the NSCDC, Osun Command, on Friday, handed over the 14-year-old, allegedly trafficked from Enugu State to Ejigbo in Osun, to Enugu Police Command.

The trafficked girl said that one Samuel from Cotonou, who is the suspect in the case, came to Enugu for Plaster of Paris business (POP).

She said the alleged suspect visited her parents house in Enugu, where he met her and promised to take her to Lagos for hairdressing training.

She thereafter asked Samuel to allow her to inform her parents but before she knew what was happening, Samuel had forceful put a charmed bangle on her wrist.

She added that she didnt know the actual date or how she got to Ejigbo, but on her arrival, she found herself in a room with two other boys and a girl.

She said the suspect, Samuel, use to touch their heads with eggs anytime he was going out and that she was lucky to have finally escaped from the room they were kept, Mr Olabisi said.

The NSCDC spokesperson said the girl was found while roaming the streets of Ejigbo, by officers of the Civil Defence Corps, who questioned her and later took her to the corps command for further investigations.

She said the corps later discovered that the girls parents had filed a report that their child was missing, at the Enugu Police Command, and that NSCDC, Osun Command has handed over the girl to the Enugu Police Command.

Mr Olabisi said the state Commandant of NSCDC, Emmanuel Ocheja, had, however, called on parents and guardians to keenly watch over their wards and appealed to them to always know the whereabouts of their children.

(NAN)
A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Patience Key, says her administration will implement a three-point agenda of Peace, Equity, and Wealth Creation (PEW) if elected in the 2023 election.

Mrs Key, a Nigerian in the diaspora, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York.

She said as president, she would give Nigerians the room to hold her accountable for the delivery of the agenda.

From my vast experience, juxtaposing successful national development models across the world with Nigerias peculiar situation today, I have identified three core interwoven concepts.

I believe the concepts should constitute the focal points of the desired roadmap to Nigerias redemption and rapid transformation, namely, Peace, Equity, and Wealth Creation (PEW), she said.

The aspirant said she would use her leadership experience of more than 15 years in the U.S. to provide the right kind of leadership for the country.

As a community leader and the former Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation in the United States, I worked with fellow Nigerians and other Nigerian professionals, ethnic, religious, and business organisations.

I related with the government in power by virtue of my office. These interactions have given me better insights into the Nigerian nation, the issues, and governance.

I was equally opportune in the intervening period, to interact with individuals and groups of people from other developed nations including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, New Zealand, and Germany to name a few, she said.

She added that her leadership experience and exposure had afforded her the opportunity to critically study how nations develop, and to have an understanding of what life is like for the citizens of the developed nations.

I was very mature before leaving the shores of Nigeria, and I have returned home on countless occasions. That has given me the dual benefit of being in touch with the realities of our times back home.

That is probably why I am utterly discontented with the situation in Nigeria, Mrs Key said.

She said the economic and security challenges in the country inspired her to declare her intention to run for the presidency in a male-dominated country as Nigeria.

Since our independence from the colonial masters, there have been unrests in the system which makes it look as if we are still under colonialism as opposed to freedom.

Nigeria has seen various leaders. And these leaders have served the country to the best of their abilities.

But you see, there is room for improvement in all things  leadership inclusive, she said.

She urged Nigerians to make wise, conscious, and constructive decisions as they vote in a new president in 2023 towards overcoming poverty, hunger, and the prevailing security challenges.

I am not a regular politician. I am a leader who understands great management. I also know that the office of the president in any nation is not gender-specific, Nigeria inclusive.

I see impoverishment in a nation with so much abundance, I see people die of preventable diseases, I see so much chaos and insurgency in friendly and happy communities.

I see communities agitating for self-determination, separatism, and referendum because the people feel marginalised, secluded, unprotected, and disrespected.

I see a vibrant and huge population of unemployed and brutalised youths, I see a nation whose human talents remain subservient, and a nation whose rich natural resources are used to develop the western world, she said.

She added: I see an abundantly rich nation wrongly tagged the poverty capital of the world.

All these and more are what inspired me to run for the President of Nigeria.

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Mrs Key declared her intention to run for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on November 23, 2021, at her ancestral home, Ekekhen in Igueben Local Government Area, Edo State.

(NAN)
The Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos has suspended a Reverend Father, James Anelu, for shouting down the worshippers who were singing an Igbo song during Mass.

According to a statement by the church, Mr Anelu, the priest-in-charge of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu-Owa, Ikorodu, has been asked to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence till further notice.

The church also said it is conducting a thorough investigation of all matters relating to Mr Anelus ministry in the Parish.

The priest made some completely unacceptable comments about Igbo songs being sung in the church and unsavoury remarks that do not represent the Catholic Churchs position on common brotherhood of peoples of all tribes and religions, read the statement signed by Alfred Martins, the Archbishop of Lagos.

We, therefore, urge all Catholic faithful to hold on to the faith and continue in our worship of God as one big family united in love and not separated by language, culture, or race.

What the priest said

During Mass last Sunday, Mr Anelu halted the choir midway into a song and berated them that this is a new year.

He reportedly said Igbo songs would no longer be allowed in the Parish and church members who disagree with him should see him after the Mass.

If you are aggrieved, see me after Mass, not during the Mass. If you know you have arguments to put forward before the altar of God, see me after Mass, Mr Anelu said.

If I go to Ekwulobia (in Anambra State) and start speaking Yoruba, Ekwulobia people will use stone to drive me away.

I was in Awo Omama (Imo State) to go and bury someone, they said I cant say Mass because I cant speak Igbo, but when I now told them that the woman or that corpse will kill the Reverend Father before the Reverend Father now allowed me to use English.

We are here to evangelise everybody, we are not here to dominate and to suppress. If you sing Igbo, will the Yoruba person come to this church?

Will other tribes come to this church? If all other tribes start to sing their song, how many people will remain in church?

Mr Anelus indefinite leave of absence is effective February 8.

According to Kelvin Ugwu, a Malawi-based Catholic priest, the indefinite leave of absence means Mr Anelu would be unable to celebrate public Mass or be in charge of any Parish until investigations are concluded.

No priest or Bishop or Pope should be bigger than the church, Mr Ugwu said in a Facebook post.

No pastor or prophet should be bigger than the ministry. The moment there is no authority that can check the excesses of your priest or pastor or bishop, then anything can happen.
The police in Ondo State have denied media reports that gunmen kidnapped a couple on Monday evening in Akure, the state capital.

Funmilayo Odunlami, the police public relations officer in the state, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) on Tuesday in Akure.

Media reports had claimed that the couple was kidnapped and the husband found dead at Odiolowo area of Akure.

Ms Odunlami, however, explained that the victim was a security man, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver, adding that the victims wife had reported the case at the police station.

It was a case of hit and run accident and the man involved is a security man in his late 60s or so.

The wife of the victim just left our office not quite long, so, there is no incident of the kidnap of a couple anywhere in Ondo State.

The news of a couple kidnapped in Ondo State and the husband killed is fake. l am appealing to members of the public to verify every information before spreading it, she said. (NAN)
The House of Representatives has asked the federal government to commence full implementation of the Nigerian Gas Policy with a view to halting the surge in the price of cooking gas.

The House resolved that the government should make immediate intervention to force down the rising cost of cooking gas in Nigeria.

The decision followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Rotimi Agunsoye (APC, Lagos) on Tuesday during plenary.

Nigerian Gas Policy

The Nigeria Gas Policy of 2017 replaced the 2008 Nigeria Gas Masterplan. The policy seeks to create a framework that will focus on gas as a stand-alone commodity separate from oil and will address all the legal, regulatory, institutional, commercial, and fiscal issues concerning gas.

The policy is intended to end gas flaring, creating an enabling environment for investors, seeking value addition for gas, and improving governance in the sector.

READ ALSO: NLNG set to supply cooking gas to Nigerian market to crash prices

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, during a virtual conference themed: Climate, Conflict, and Demography in Africa, jointly hosted by the International Crisis Group, the Royal African Society, and African Confidential publications, made a case for gas to be the source of energy in the global energy transition.

Mr Osinbajo had called for more funding for gas projects in Africa.

The motion

In his motion, Mr Agunsoye lamented the surge in the price of cooking gas in the past year, noting that 100 per cent increment in the price of cooking gas is not good for the economy.

He said the NGP with its decade of gas slogan has the capacity to increase domestic use of cooking gas in households but would have a greater economic scale which would reduce the price for more affordability.

A 12.5kg of cooking gas is currently sold between N7,000 and N8,500.

A proper harnessing of LPG would place Nigeria to becoming a gas-based industrial nation while satisfying local demands, he said.

The motion was taken when it was put to vote by the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase.

The Committee on Gas was mandated to monitor compliance and report back to the House in four weeks.
An Ebute Meta Magistrates Court, Lagos, on Tuesday, remanded a pastor with the Royal World Embassy Church, Rufus Olatunji, for allegedly raping and impregnating a 14-year-old member.

The Chief Magistrate, F.M. Kayode, who did not take Mr Olatunjis plea, ordered that the pastor be remanded at Ikoyi Correctional Centre.

Mr Kayode then adjourned the case to March 8 for mention.

Mr Olatunji, 45, is facing a two-count charge of unlawful sexual intercourse and procuring an abortion.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Kehinde Olatunde, told the court that the defendant committed the offences in August 2021, at Royal World Embassy Church, Ipaja.

Mr Olatunde alleged that the defendant had sexual intercourse with the girl in the Churchs store, which resulted in the pregnancy.

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He said that when the defendant found out, he gave the girl a drug to terminate the pregnancy.

Mr Olatunde said the girls parents reported the case to the police and the defendant was arrested.

He said the offences contravened Sections 137 and 145(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

(NAN)
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday held a meeting with heads of regulatory agencies in the education sector over an alleged hikes in school fees in some tertiary institutions.

Executive Secretaries of National Universities Commission, Abubakar Rasheed, and that of National Commission for Colleges of Education, Paulinus Okwelle, attended the meeting in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bilkisu Ahmad, who represented the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) also attended the meeting.

Mr Lawan in his opening remarks said he convened the meeting to have a first-hand information on an issue that could cause crisis in the education sector if not quickly addressed.

He said students had drawn his attention to a planned hike in school fees in some tertiary institutions during his earlier engagement with students arm of Coalition of Northern Groups.

We felt that we actually owe it a duty to listen to our students and of course also hear from you because we need to establish beyond reasonable doubt what the situation is.

Whatever situations we find ourselves, we must not do anything that will jeopardise the position of our students particularly at a time that is so difficult.

We understand that our tertiary institutions have need for more resources but we equally understand that our students are mostly from very poor background.

We must do everything possible to protect those who are so vulnerable. The finances for their education must never be hurdles between them and actualising their dreams, Mr Lawan said.

He said there was the need for all to know the true situation of the alleged increases and take appropriate measures to address it.

This is because you represent the supervising bodies of our tertiary institutions, we felt that we should start with you; listen to you and then we can now find a way out of this, he said.

Responding on behalf of his colleagues, Mr Rasheed commended the Mr Lawan for his timely intervention.

Your concern is shared by all of us. It will, at this point, be difficult to know exactly which universities are violating the rules.

But after this meeting, we shall consult all the universities with a template to complete and tell us exactly what charges they have.

We understand that the universities cannot be forced to charge uniform fees across the country because they have different demands and they come from different situations.

Possibly a university in Lagos or Port Harcourt may charge slightly more than universities in some rural areas, but there should be a base line, he said.

According to him, one university cannot charge N20,000 while the other charges N150,000.

We are happy that you have now raised this alarm on time and will go back immediately, consult vice chancellors.

If possible we shall bring them to a meeting to discuss whatever resolution we arrive at the end of this meeting, Mr Rasheed said.

(NAN)
The Office of the Account General has said it is not aware of the location of the N1.2 trillion belonging to the federal government which banks have refused to release despite several directives mandating them to do so.

At the investigative hearing into unclaimed funds organised by an ad hoc Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday, Sylva Okorieaboh, a director at the OAGF, disclosed that the agency, which is statutorily charged with keeping record of the governments financial records, is unaware of the details of the funds withheld by banks.

Mr Okorieaboh, who represented the OAGF at the hearing, however, said the government is aware that banks are violating the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the government. But he said the agency does not know the specifics of the funds or their locations.

The official, who is the coordinator of the TSA, said the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had set up a committee to review the implementation of the policy of the federal government.

According to him, the minister had directed banks to remit the funds to the TSA or risk being dragged to anti-graft agencies but the banks are not yielding.

We are aware that there is good likelihood that substantial amount of federal government funds might still be lying with commercial banks despite the presidential directive of 7th August 2015, and the circulars and efforts made to compel the commercial banks to comply with those directives.

On the December 14, 2021, the Minister of Finance inaugurated a new TSA implementation structure and she alluded to the fact that there is a likelihood that substantial amounts of federal government funds are still lying with commercial banks. She directed the banks to return those funds or they will be reported to anti-corruption agencies.

We believe that there are still federal government funds with commercial banks but we cant say specifically how much and where. So to that extent we welcome the efforts of this committee.

The TSA guideline we issued in 2015, on page 14 states that all collections must be swept to their individual federation account at CBN on daily basis. The use of intermediary accounts is not allowed. So, right from day one, this is what we have always tried to enforce. So if any bank or MDAs is not doing this, that is clearly an infraction and the work of this committee will help us unravel anything of that such.

The TSA, which is a unified accounting system for all federal government cashflow, prohibit MDAs from operating account outside the TSA system.

The Committees mandate

The decision to set up the committee followed the adoption of a motion by Dachung Bagos (PDP, Plateau) on the need to investigate unclaimed funds in commercial banks.

The House had mandated the committee to investigate suspicious unclaimed funds trapped in commercial banks, including advance payments by the government for contracts.

The committee was also mandated to investigate the unremitted funds collected on behalf of agencies and departments of the federal government by commercial banks.

Its Chairman, Uyime Idem (PDP, Akwa-Ibom), explained that the probe will focus on the specific roles of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Commercial Banks and the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal overnment of on the issue of unclaimed funds.

Also, the committee will look at the level of compliance with the TSA policy by the MDAs since its commencement in December 2015 and the review of long outstanding Advance Payment Guarantees (APGs) issued on federal government projects, and monies held because of failed and unexecuted contracts.

Furthermore, the committee will look at the evaluation of the level of compliance with the operation of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) regime by the Nigerian Commercial Banks under the supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other stakeholders such as the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

Speaking at the hearing, the Director-General of Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, who represented the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, said the ministry did not understand the letter sent to them.

According to Mr Akabueze, they thought the probe was into unclaimed funds in dormant and inactive accounts.

When we received this invitation that talked about unclaimed funds in Nigeria commercial banks, basically my initial reading of this is that its related to inactive accounts, dormant accounts, because the extant regulation guiding the management of these issued by the CBN, on October 2015, provides guidelines for the management of inactive accounts dormant accounts and unclaimed funds. Those guidelines obligate any bank to have notified the federal government of the existence of any such funds belonging to it, he said.

Meanwhile, declaring the investigative hearing opened, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), said the said N1.2 trillion will go a long way to improve the fiscal constraint facing the county.

Other MDAs that appeared before the committees are Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and some representatives of banks.

The Chairman of the Committee directed that banks be given specific dates to appear before the Committee.
The Attorney-General of the Federation( AGF), Abubakar Malami, has criticised the recent ranking of Nigeria by Transparency International as the second most corrupt country in West Africa.

Nigeria dropped for the fifth consecutive time in the Transparency Internationals latest corruption perception index (CPI) released in January 2022.

Mr Malami, speaking during an interview on Channels Televisions primetime programme, Politics Today, Monday, evening, said the global anti-corruption body lacked the basis upon which it could rank Nigeria.

He boasted that the anti-corruption efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government had been commented by other reputable International organisations such as the African Union and the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Mr Buhari came to power in 2015 with a promise to tackle Nigerias endemic corruption, especially in public service.

If Nigeria does not kill corruption, then corruption will kill Nigeria, Mr Buhari was quoted to have said in one of his campaign slogans in the build up to the 2015 polls.

Malamis defence

While speaking on the hour-long television programme on Monday, Mr Malami said TIs ranking does not support the empirical evidence on institutional efforts being put in place by the federal government to combat sleaze.

The major consideration that should constitute the basis for the successes of the Nigerian government as far as the fight against corruption is concerned should not be an exclusive position of the TI, Mr Malami added.

He went on to reference the 2019 assessment of the Nigerian government by the UNODC, juxtaposing it with TIs ranking, saying, When you juxtapose the UNODC position with the TIs ranking, then that places a question mark on the TIs assessment.

Successes?

While reeling out the successes recorded by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in securing over 2000 convoctions last year, Mr Malami said, The African Union has recognised President Muhammadu Buhari as the champion of anti-corruption in Africa.

The institutional performance as it relates to the fight against corruption; here we are as a government, we inherited about 103 prosecution and convictions as at 2014/2015 when we came in by the EFCC.

And then today, as at the end of 2021, Nigeria has recorded over 2000 convictions by EFCC, the Justice Minister said.

The AGF argued that part of empirical evidence for measurement of the fight against corruption is the number of convictions that are secured.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, has again assured that that the trial of some identified terrorism financiers would soon commence.

It has become Mr Malamis rhetoric to assure that the trial of the suspects would soon commence since the news of their arrest filtered out in April last year.

Mr Malami, who spoke during an interview with Channels Televisions Politics Today on Monday, assured again that those found ti have committed the crime would soon be charged.

It has been a work in progress. Prima facie case seems to have been established, but proof of evidence has to be developed and eventually prosecution will take place, Mr Malami explained after several of such promises to arraign the suspects failed in the past.

So, there is nothing that is hidden as far as prosecution is concerned; it is traditionally a public prosecution, the AGF said against the backdrop of recent allegations of government compromise in bringing alleged sponsors of terrorism to justice.

Mr Malami, who doubles as the Minister of Justice, has also refused to disclose the identities of the suspects.

In a couple of weeks, these people will be charged and arraigned in court. In a number of weeks, you will have something tangible and cogent by way of prosecution.

Apart from the case of the alleged terrorism financiers, there are also thousands of terrorism suspects awaiting trial in the various military detentions.

In January, Mr Malami assured that the trial of Boko Haram suspects would soon resume.

He gave the assurance while recieving the Nigerian Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Eniola Ajayi.

Machineries are in motion to ensure the continuation of courts sitting in kainji, New Bussa for prosecution of Boko Haram cases, the ministers spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, said in a statement.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) recalled in its latest world report that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had determined in December 2020 that an ICC investigation of Nigeria is warranted for crimes committed in the Boko Haram-related conflict given inadequate domestic efforts to deliver justice for the crimes.

HRW also noted that ICCs decision to investigate Nigeria followed its finding of reasonable basis to believe Boko Haram, its breakaway factions, and Nigerian security forces had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Ibrahim Shekarau faction has rejected the decision of the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the crisis in the Kano State chapter of the party.

The faction stated this on Monday in response to a letter addressed to stakeholders by the Governor of Yobe State and national chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Mai-Mala Buni, stating the decision of the national leadership of the party on the crisis.

Mr Buni had inaugurated an harmonisation committee to ensure inclusive structures in the crisis-riden Kano chapter.

In the letter signed by his chief of staff, Abbdullahi Gashua, Mr Buni said the party has appointed the Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and a senator, Abba Ali, to supervise the harmonisation of the party structures and ensure consensus.

The letter stated that stakeholders at the reconciliation meetings came to a consensus on the following irreducible minimums, including but not limited to the following:

That H.E (DR) Abbdullahi Umar Ganduje is the undisputed APC leader in Kano State and as leader, he is encouraged to demonstrate leadership to accommodating key stakeholders.

That the court cases are totally unhelpful to the two sides as none can win future election without the other.

That in order for us to build one APC community and not a community of APC groups in Kano, Governor who is the leader is encouraged to expand the participatory space to all stakeholders in the spirit of justice and fair play.

That justice demands not only sharing of party positions at all levels but providing some guarantee of comfort to some of the key stakeholders who harbour some sense of alienation, the letter stated.

From the totality of the above conclusions, each side, taking into cognizance its strength, was tasked to articulate its position on how harmonisation of party executives at all levels can be done in order to bring the two sides together as one family, thereby achieving genuine and sustainable reconciliation.

The two sides were reminded of the fact that genuine reconciliation can only be attained by compromise. Meaning that none of the two sides can have 100% of its demands and that you cannot lack what you give, you only lack what you keep.

Having taken all issues into consideration and in the overall interest of our Kano State Stakeholders and entire membership of our great party, the party resolves to direct as follows:

To widely consult with the identified critical stakeholders of the party with a view to coming up with an all-inclusive party structure based on CONSENSUS.

Terms of reference

A bottom-top Caucus shall be constituted at each Local Government Area. The Caucus shall have the following as members:

a) Serving Senator, if he is from the Local Government

b) Serving Member, House of Representatives, if he is from the Local

Government

c) Serving Member, State House of Assembly, if he is from the Local

Government

d) Serving Council Chairman and his Deputy

) Hon. Commissioner from the Local Government

f) Special Advisers from the Local Government

g) Member of CECPC from the Local Government

i) Hon. Minister from the Local Government

j) One woman to be nominated by His Excellency in due consultation with Sen. Ibrahim Shekarau.

1. Each Local Government Caucus will meet and come up with a proposed structure for all Wards and Local Governments.

2. The proposed structure will be forwarded to the joint National/State Committee for final vetting or amendment as the

case may be.

3. All Caucus members are RESTRICTED to only their Local Government Areas.

4. The National/State Joint Supervisory Committee reserves the right

to adopt or amend any proposal submitted to it by the Local Government Caucus.

5. The National/State Joint Supervisory Committee has the following

as members:

i H.E. (Dr) Abdullahi Umar Ganduje

ii. Sen. Ibrahim Shekarau

il. HE. Bello Muhammad Matawalle

iv. Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara

V. Sen. Abba Ali

Vi. Secretariat

6. The Committee will sit in Kano State and will have 7 days within which to complete and submit its report.

7. The State Supervisory Committee is to be headed by H.E (Dr) Abdullah Umar Ganduje, the Executive Governor of Kano State, who is the party leader and to be assisted by Sen Ibrahim Shekarau.

Shekarau faction rejects decision

But in response, the Ibrahim Shekarau faction said Mr Bunis letter failed to reflect on the proposals and submissions made by both groups during reconciliation meetings.

The response is contained in a letter co-signed by Mr Shekarau, who is also the senator representing Kano Central, Barau Jibrin, senator for Kano North, and four members of the House of Representatives, including; Nasiru Abdua, Tijjani Jobe, Shaaban Sharada and Haruna Dederi and the chairperson, Buhari support group, Shehu Dalhatu.

We, the undersigned, hereby write to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 7th February, 2022 in respect of the above subject matter, which was submitted to the Leader of our Forum, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau (Sardaunan Kano).

Once again, we appreciate your tireless concern and efforts to restore sanity and bring back unity of purpose and re-enact the trust among the APC, Kano State family.

You may wish to recall that since the commencement of the reconciliation moves, several meetings were held at your instance and submissions made by both sides relating to the proposed composition of harmonized leadership of our party in Kano State at all levels.

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We had anticipated that the communication from you would be reflective of the proposals and/or submissions made to you.

Regrettably however, your said letter to us never contained the proposals and/or submissions put forward by both sides, nor even made specific reference to them.

Furthermore, to our utter dismay and disenchantment, the letter had even gone viral in the social media emanating from Kano State Government circles even before reaching us, mischievously paraded as conclusive evidence that the party would be surrendered to the H.E. Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje faction.

In the circumstances therefore, we are constrained to notify you Sir, that the entirety of the content of your letter is totally unacceptable to us.

Once more, we wish to reiterate our firm commitment to the promotion and preservation of the integrity of our great party and its leadership.

We wish you Allahs guidance and protection as you continue to pilot the affairs of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the group said in the letter.
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Gudu, in Apo, Abuja, has struck out the case of the alleged murder of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State.

In November last year, Mr Adegoke was reportedly murdered at Hilton Honour Hotel and Resorts, Ile Ife.

The judge, Modupe Osho-Adebiyi, issued the order striking out the charges filed in connection to his death after the prosecuting counsel, Ochogwu Ogbe, moved an application for discontinuance of the case on Tuesday.

Mr Ogbe, representing the police prosecuting team, said the withdrawal of the case was necessitated by the need for further investigations on the case.

The lawyer said this was in view of some new facts found concerning the case.

Take notice that the complainant discontinues all the proceedings in the case against the defendants for further investigation, part of the prosecutions court filing read.

The judge, Ms Osho-Adebiyi, subsequently struck out the case on the basis of the application.

Since the prosecutor has applied for a discontinuance of case and the defendants are not opposing the application, I hereby struck out the case, she ruled.

The ruling came as a temporary reprieve for the seven defendants, including Rahmon Adedoyin, the owner of Hilton Honour Hotel and Resorts, Ile Ife, where Mr Adegoke was reportedly murdered in November, 2021.

It is, however, not immediately clear if the police would release the defendants during the period of further investigations.

The decision by the police to withdraw the charges came on the heels of the request by the Adegoke family lawyer, Femi Falanas request for the case to be transferred to Ile Ife in Osun State, where the alleged offences were said to have been committed.

Controversy had trailed Mr Adegokes death after he lodged at Hilton Hotel and Resort in Ile Ife, Osun State.

He was in the ancient city to write an examination at the OAU Distance Learning Centre, Moro campus, when he was declared missing on November 7, 2021.

Mr Adegokes body was said to have been discovered after some suspects, including workers at the hotel, were arrested by the police for questioning.

The police had stepped into the matter, and in January, charged the owner of the hotel, Rahmon Adedoyin, and six others over Mr Adegokes death.

Mr Adedoyin was charged with an attempted felony, conspiracy, unlawful interference with Adegokes corpse, and tampering with the hotels receipt and CCTV camera, with the intent to destroy evidence that would prove that Mr Adegoke visited the hotel.

Others charged alongside Mr Adedoyin are: Adedeji Adesola, 23; Magdalene Chiefuna, 24; Adeniyi Aderogba, 37; Oluwale Lawrence, 37, Oyetunde Kazeem, 38; Adebayo Kunle, 35, and others at large.

Those at large were Prince Rahim Adedoyin, Esther Asifo and Quadiri Moshood.
At least, 13 people have been killed and many others abducted by bandits in attacks they carried out between Monday night and Tuesday morning in three Katsina State communities, residents told PREMIUM TIMES.

The three communities, Guga, Gidan Kanawa and Dukawa, are in the Bakori and Funtua local government area, all in the southern part of the state sharing boundaries with Kaduna.

Katsina State has witnessed frequent bandits attacks since the beginning of this year.

The recent attacks were the killing of a village head and four others in Yan gayya and at least 12 people in Ilela villages.

The police spokesperson in the state, Gambo Isa, had attributed recent attacks to fleeing bandits from Zamfara and Sokoto states.

Recent attacks

Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES, Nafiu Muhammadu, said the village head of Guga, Alh Umar, was abducted while 10 people were killed in the attack.

When they came, they started shooting sporadically and putting fire on shops in the community, which caused panic. When residents started running, some of the bandits started shooting, which led to the death of the 10 people I told you.

The village head, despite the chance for him to run because his house is a little far away from where the attack started, came towards the bandits, asking his people to run. That was when he was captured. He was taken back into his house where some money and foodstuff were also taken, Mr Muhammadu said.

He said only the village head was abducted. Those killed have not been buried yet.

Local sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the marauding bandits stormed Dukawa in Funtua local government Monday night and ran a house to house search.

An anonymous source, who is now seeking refuge in Funtua told this reporter that the bandits were possibly there to loot food.

They did not kill anyone in the village but eight women and six children were taken by the bandits when they couldnt get any meaningful food stuff. I was there and there was no attempt by the security agents to repel the attack despite the fact that we called the policemen stationed not far from the village, he said.

The source, however, said negotiations have started for the release of the women and children.

The attack in Gidan Kanawa came hours after the one in Dukawa, all in Funtua local government area.

Attahiru Bala, another resident of Funtua, said the attack on Gidan Kanawa in which three people were killed in the village was a reprisal attack.

My sister-in-law lives there with her husband. She told us that the bandits were frustrated by vigilante members last Saturday when they attempted to attack the town. But they regrouped and came back this morning around 1 a.m. and launched the attack. If not because of the resilience of the vigilante members who still confronted them and helped residents escape, the casualties would have been more than the three killed. But I was also told that several people were abducted, he said.

Mr Bala said the three people were buried Tuesday morning in the area.

The command spokesperson in Katsina State, Mr Isas phone number was not reachable but a message was sent to him for comments on the attacks.
A supporter of former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Yusuf Baban-Yola, 43, has been remanded in prison for allegedly insulting the Lamido of Adamawa, Barkindo Aliyu-Musdafa.

The chief magistrate court I in Yola, on Monday, ordered the remand of Mr Baban-Yola who was arraigned by the police following a complaint from the emirate council.

How it started

Mr Baban-Yola was allegedly angry with a politician, Bako DDK, who on a radio programme had accused Mr Abubakar of failing to impact the lives of the people of Adamawa while he was vice president.

In a programme last week on NAS F.M, Mr DDK, who is a supporter of President Buhari, reeled out the achievements of the president in the state and dared the Atiku camp to come forward and mention those of Mr Abubakar.

He said the president has done what Mr Abubakar did not do by appointing many people from Adamawa into positions at the federal level.

Unlike the former vice president, who can you mention that rose through him from Adamawa? In my previous programme, I challenged Atikus supporter (s) to mention a developmental project done by the former vice president, but up to date they have not, Mr DDK said.

But immediately after the programme, Mr Baban-Yola engaged Mr DDK on phone and told him to stay away from Mr Abubakar.

While Mr Baban-Yola rained insults on Mr DDK, the latter pleaded that he had respect for him. He said the radio programme was purely political and his statements were not made to demean the personality of the former vice president.

But Mr Baban-Yola was not appeased.

Even if your father is the Lamido of Adamawa, I will f**k the Lamido. Lets see tomorrow, I will deal with you even if your father is the National Security Adviser, go to Aso Rock Villa and report me.

You are in Jimeta just like myself, I will deal with you. F**k you with your politics. Is Atiku your mate? Is he your son? I will show you I have influence in this land, the furious Mr Baban-Yola said.

Court session

Following the outburst, Mr Baban-Yola was arraigned before the court on a three-count charge of cyberstalking, use of insulting or abusive language and inciting public disturbance.

The police said Mr Baban-Yolas action contravened section 24 of Cybercrime Prohibition and Prevention Act 2015 and sections 385 and 80 of the Penal Code law of the state.

The prosecutor, Iliya Akawu, an inspector of police, told the court that the Commissioner of Police had on February 6 received a letter from the Adamawa Emirate Council, dated February 5.

The police said the letter revealed that sometime in February, Mr Baban-Yola of Sarkin Wuta Street Shinco in Jimeta town, insulted the traditional ruler while communicating on cell phone with one Bako D.D.K. of Yola South LGA.

According to the police, the defendant used abusive, insultive, derogatory and heavily vulgar language against the monarch.

The police said such language against the person and integrity of the Lamido of Adamawa was capable of inciting civil unrest and disturbance of public peace and order within and among his subjects.

The prosecution added that the insults had gone viral on social media, causing palpable tension in and around the state.

After the case was mentioned, counsel to the defendant, Ruth Gbah, applied for the bail of her client, saying that the offences for which he is standing trial are bailable in nature.

But the prosecutor, Mr Akawu, objected to the application for bail, saying there was tension in the state considering the personality involved, and prayed the court to refuse it.

Chief Magistrate Abdullahi Digil adjourned the matter to Tuesday, February 8, for ruling on the bail application.
Celebrations erupted in Mali on Friday as the transitional government of the West African country expelled its former colonial master, France, from its territory.

People in the capital, Bamako, waved Russian flags and burned cardboard cut-outs of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The transitional government, last Monday, had given a 72-hour ultimatum to Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Foreign Minister, to leave the country over hostile and outrageous comments, it said in a statement read on national television.

According to Al Jazeera, Mr Le Drian said on Friday that Malis military government was out of control amid escalating tensions between the West African state and its European partners following two coups. He also called the military government illegitimate.

French Defence Minister Florence Parly said on Saturday that French troops would not stay in Mali if the price was too high.

The EU retaliated on Friday by imposing sanctions on five senior members of Malis transitional government, including interim Prime Minister Choguel Maiga.

The five designated people are subject to a travel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territories, and an asset freeze, a statement from EU states said on Friday.

The EU sanctions are ratcheting up the pressure, but simply follow what the Africans have done themselves, Terence McCulley, former US ambassador to Mali, told Al Jazeera. I think dialogue is still an option and still the preferred option with both ECOWAS and the international community.

Adama Ben Diarra, a sanctioned member of the transitional government, described the restricting measures as an honour, saying that expelling the French ambassador is only the latest step in getting rid of Paris influence.

It is an important step in the fight, but the victory must go all the way, the next step must be the departure of French forces and then we will start the move towards economic and monetary sovereignty, Al Jazeera quoted him as saying during a rally on Friday.

Addressing the deployment of Russian mercenaries to Mali, Mr Diarra said: For the security of my people, I am ready to make a pact with Satan to drive out France and its terrorist allies.

Mali continues to face challenges in trying to contain an armed rebellion that erupted in 2012.

The most recent being the August 2020 coup and another in May 2021. The military promised to hold elections in February 2022 and return to civilian rule but reneged, proposing to hold power until 2025.
The Senate on Tuesday received a letter from the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Iyorcha Ayu, nominating Shuaibu Lau (Taraba North) as the new Deputy Minority Leader in the Senate.

Mr Ayu said Mr Laus nomination was against the backdrop of Emmanuel Bwachas defection from the opposition party to the All Progressives Congress (APC) last week.

The letter was read at the start of plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

The letter reads in part, following the defection of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha to the ruling APC, the PDP Senate caucus has nominated as his replacement, Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau.

Senator Lau is from Taraba State, the North East geo-political zone of the country, where the position has been zoned.

The PDP Senate caucus has duly informed the National Headquarters of the party, in view of which we so communicate to you.

We believe that Senator Lau will be an asset to the leadership of the Senate.

Thank you and accept the assurances of our highest regards.

Meanwhile, the former Deputy Minority Whip of the Senate, Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South), has formally defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Bwachas defection brings the number of APC Senators to 70, PDP 38 Senators and Young Progressives Party (YPP) 1.

His decision to leave the opposition party was conveyed sequel to a point of order raised by the lawmaker during plenary.

Relying on Order 42 of the Senate Rules (Personal Explanation), Mr Bwacha gave reasons for his defection.

He said, In view of my desire for equal competition, and about my desire to enjoy the full operations of my fundamental human rights, Mr. President, I want to announce this day, that it is appointed to me, henceforth, to enjoy free air.

As King Solomon said, theres a time for everything; now is a time for me to leave the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mr. President, I say I have opportunity to breathe freely because of a deliberate isolation and huge division and factionalisation in the party in my state.

Mr. President, I had to leave because I seek to breathe better. This day, I announce henceforth my exit from the Peoples Democratic Party, and to join the governing party because of the visible presence of the party in my Senatorial District.

I say this without fear of contradiction that my constituents are happy about this movement because of what they have seen on ground in Taraba South Senatorial District.

READ ALSO: Taraba senator dumps PDP for APC

So, we make bold to pay the PDP back by ensuring that better days are ahead for the party in Taraba State.

Immediately after his announcement to defect from the opposition party, George Sekibo (Rivers East), came with a counter point of order to oppose Bwachas defection citing the provisions of Section 68 (g)(h) and subsection 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The lawmaker, against the backdrop of the provisions cited, requested the Senate President to declare Mr Bwachas seat vacant.

Mr Sekibo was, however, ruled out of order by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

Mr Lawan observed that Mr Sekibos demand was null as Senator Bwacha had explained that the PDP in Taraba was factionalised.

He also drew Mr Sekibos attention to a letter by the National Chairman of the PDP nominating a new deputy leader to replace Mr Bwacha.

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According to Mr Lawan, the decision by the PDP caucus in the Senate to intimate the national body of the opposition party of a new nomination translates to an acceptance of Mr Bwachas resignation from the PDP.

The Senate President, on the strength of the reasons advanced, ruled Mr Sekibo out of order.

Signed:

Ezrel Tabiowo

Special Assistant (Press)

To President of the Senate
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has postponed the date for the commencement of the registration for the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and Direct Entry (UTME/DE).

A statement issued by the examination body and signed by its head, public affairs and protocol, Fabian Benjamin, noted that the registration now commences on February 19, 2022 and ends on Saturday March 26.

JAMB had earlier scheduled the registration to commence February 12.

The statement said the one-week postponement was to allow for fine-tuning and upgrade of the registration procedures.

The statement read in part: The one-week postponement is to allow for more fine-tuning of the upgraded and more user-friendly procedures for candidates registration.

The process, which will be concluded within the one-week extension period, is also aimed at accommodating feedbacks from candidates and other stakeholders alike.

The board wishes the general public to note that the board is ever ready to provide world-class services to Nigerians.

Self-registration platform

Meanwhile, JAMB has also introduced self-registration outlets in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory and Lagos, the nations commercial hub, where it said candidates can visit, mount themselves on a computer and do the registration themselves.

The board said the new measure was to reduce the crowd at the accredited computer-based test (CBT) centres in the two cities.

New USSD code

The examination body also said it has adopted 66019 as an additional Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code to complement the 55019 that has been in existence since 2018.

JAMB said this is to facilitate a hitch-free 2022 UTME/DE registration exercise by ensuring that there is no difficulty whatsoever in the creation of profiles.

JAMB in its weekly bulletin released on Monday said its partner on the project, ASD Technologies, has developed a WhatsApp solution for applicants for registration support and other complaints.

It said: The platform would provide help with such things as step-by-step registration procedure, as well as providing a feedback mechanism for effective service delivery.

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The platform will also complement the existing ticketing system, thereby expanding access to critical services, among others.

Meanwhile, Mr Benjamins statement said the new and improved measures introduced by JAMB will be properly highlighted in the next edition of its weekly bulletin on February 14.

Further to the above, the new and improved procedures for the 2022/23 UTME registration would be made available on the Boards website, its weekly bulletin as well as other media outlets on Monday, 14th February, 2022, the statement further read.
The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives has summoned the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to explain the inflow into the countrys foreign reserves.

The committee also asked the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, and the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, to appear before it alongside their permanent secretaries and directors of finance.

Other ministers asked to appear before the committee are: Ali Pantami, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, and Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of Health.

Oluwole Oke (PDP, Osun), the chairman of the committee, issued the directive on Tuesday during the hearing into 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 reports of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

CBN appearance

Officials of the CBN led by C.I. Iguadunasue, had appeared before the committee to explain queries raised by the OAuGF report on accounts belonging to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The committee is investigating the alleged non-disclosure of over $40 million recovered funds during those years.

However, the CBN team could not give satisfactory answers to issues raised by the committee. Consequently, the committee resolved that the CBN boss must appear before the committee to provide answers.

Mr Oke ruled that the CBN should provide the details of the inflow into the foreign reserves of the federation.

Summoning of ministers

While announcing the summon of the ministers, Mr Oke said the Ministry of Works had asked for extension for five different times. He then directed the clerk of the committee to write a letter to Mr Fashola to appear before the committee.

We have invited the Ministry of Works and over five times they have written us to ask for more times, we cannot continue like this.

For the last time, even though the permanent secretary is the chief account officer of the ministry pursuant to section 20 of procurement Act, do a letter to the Minister.

Copy the Chief of Staff to the President and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Attorney General of the Federation  that the Minister should bring the permanent secretary, director of finance to appear before this committee within seven days.

Similarly, this ruling applies to the Ministry of Interior, the minister should bring the Permanent Secretary, the CG Immigration, the CG Fire Service and CG Civil Defence.

Same applies to the Federal Ministry of Health, the Primary Healthcare Development Agency and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, he said.

The committee did not state the actual date the officials are to appear before it
A former registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Dibu Ojerinde, is considering opting for a plea bargain in his trial over N900 million fraud charges at Federal High Court in Abuja.

Mr Ojerindes new lead counsel, Ibrahim Ishyaku, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), announced this on Tuesday.

He pleaded with the judge, Obiora Egwuatu, to give his client 24 hours to discuss the planned plea bargain agreement with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), the agency prosecuting him.

The senior lawyer informed the judge that the trial could commence if after 24 hours, the matter could not be resolved.

My Lord, our plea is that we be given 24 hours to explore the possibility of plea bargain to resolve this matter and we ask that the trial be adjourned for the period to enable us come up with our terms of settlement, Mr Ishyaku said.

ICPC lawyer, Ebenezer Sogunle, did not object to the request but insisted that the trial would proceed in case the plea bargain failed.

Meanwhile, the judge slated February 9 for report of the plea-bargain to be presented.

Plea bargain agreement system allows a defendant to negotiate a lighter punishment, saving the prosecution the rigour, time and resources a full blown trial would have required.

But the system has been thoroughly abused in Nigeria with many defendants accused of high -level looting of public funds often getting away with a mere slap on the wrist.

Backstory

The anti-graft agency had, on July 8, 2021, arraigned the former JAMB Registrar on an 18-count charge bordering on diversion of public funds to the tune of over N900 million.

He was said to have committed the offences during his time as the head of the National Examination Council (NECO) and JAMB.

Mr Ojerinde, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was later admitted to bail in the sum of N200 million.

The court had granted N200 million bail to Mr Ojerinde after he was arraigned.

ICPC had in 2020 obtained a court order for the confiscation of various assets, including schools, filling stations, and houses traced to Mr Ojerinde.
Four days after killing at least 12 persons in Daraga, residents of the village on Tuesday said the terrorists have stopped them from evacuating the bodies for burial.

Daraga is in Maru Local Government, one of the worst hit areas in Zamfara State.

In a special report carried by BBC Hausa Tuesday morning and monitored by PREMIUM TIMES, residents said they could not bury their dead because the bandits are still around the village.

An anonymous source who spoke to the BBC said his house was completely burnt down, with his brother and boss in the shop killed.

As I speak to you, there is no single person in that community because we have all fled from the place. 12 people were confirmed killed while several others were injured during the attack. Eight of my friends were killed. The bandits are still around the village and have stopped us from retrieving the dead bodies for proper burial.

We tried calling security agents but to no avail. To be honest with you, the security agents in Dan Kurmi (a larger community neighbouring Daraga) could not match the bandits. There is nothing they cannot do because they have more sophisticated weapons and are many in number, he said.

According to him, residents have deserted the village to various communities, including Dan Kurmi, Bena, Zargado (all in Zamfara state) and as far as Wasagu and Unashi in Kebbi State.

Mohammed Shehu, the Zamfara police command spokesperson, did not respond to SMS and calls on the situation at Daraga.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, and some senior officers are currently on a two-day retreat in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to assess Nigerias international security threats and devise means of tackling them.

Nigeria, for years now, has been plagued by several security challenges, ranging from Boko Haram insurgency, banditry to abduction-for-ransom.

Police officers have also been target of deadly attacks, especially in the countrys South-east where the agitation for an independent state of Biafra had given rise to armed group, IPOB.

We hope to undertake a holistic assessment of the current internal security threats and crime dynamics in the country, identify factors engendering crimes, re-evaluate our strategies, identify operational gaps and evolve new pathways or strengthen existing strategies towards meeting our sacred obligations to the citizens of this country, the IGP, Mr Baba, said on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the retreat.

The retreat is the largest gathering and broadest representation of senior police officers across Nigeria, according to Mr Baba.

The officers, he said, are drawn from the force headquarters, formations, zonal headquarters and state commands across the 36 states and the FCT.

The retreat is to come up with a roadmap for stabilising Nigerias internal security.

This Retreat and Conference will avail participating Police Officers of the opportunity to draw on the expertise of seasoned facilitators and the rich professional knowledge of the array of police officers here gathered to broaden and strengthen their critical thinking and strategic leadership ability.

It is also our expectation that we shall leverage on the network to be established at the event to enhance professional peer-review towards engendering a broader understanding of our mandate and strengthen our administrative and operational capacity, Mr Baba said.

The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, who is hosting the retreat, said the meeting was timely because of the current security threats all over the country.

We are living in an age where known approaches to fighting crimes have been tested, thus necessitating the evolution of new strategies. We are living in an age and time, where criminals have reinvented their wheels of criminal enterprise; where non-state actors with no known addresses have infiltrated our space, where a neighbour may be kidnapers, or runs a terrorist cell.

This reality calls for new strategies to take the fight to these enemies of peace and defeat them. The first step to achieving this usually starts from retreats such as the one you are having here, Mr Emmanuel said in his opening remarks.

The governor said security is everybodys business and therefore Nigerians should support the police and other security agencies to fight crime.

The retreat which is supposed to be annual gathering since it was first hosted in Lagos in 2019 could not hold in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19.

The IGP assured Nigerians that the police would continue to work for the safety and security.

He also spoke on the 2023 general elections in the country.

The countdown to the general elections will present new sets of security challenges which will undoubtedly further task our professionalism. We must, as strategic police managers on whose shoulders the task of ensuring a peaceful electoral process rest, be adequately prepared.

It is my additional expectation that this Conference and Retreat will serve as a forum to also engage issues relating to our roles in the electioneering process, Mr Baba said.
The National Universities Commission (NUC), the regulatory body in charge of universities in Nigeria, said it has communicated appropriate educational agencies of government including the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Tertiary Education Trust Find (TETFund) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), among others, of the additional two universities in Lagos State.

The development followed the approval of the two new universities by the regulatory body as proposed by the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration of the state.

In a statement issued by the state government and shared with PREMIUM TIMES by the governors senior special assistant on new media, Jubril Gawat, said the executive secretary of NUC, Abubakar Rasheed, reportedly said this during the presentation of clearance certificate of operations to Mr Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday at the agencys headquarters in Abuja.

The new institutions are the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUST), Ikorodu, and the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Ijanikin. While the former is a transmutation of the existing Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), the latter is a product of the transmutation of both the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Ijanikin, and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Epe.

New universities may admit in 2022

The special adviser to Governor Sanwo-Olu on education, Tokunbo Wahab, has said the implication of the approval licence granted the government by NUC is that fresh students may resume into the university for the 2022/2023 academic session.

He, however, added that the new development marks the end of admission of candidates into the hitherto existing National Diploma (ND), Higher National Diploma (HND) and the National Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes offered by LASPOTECH, AOCOED and MOCPED.

Mr Wahab, who spoke in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, said all hands are on deck to ensure the smooth transmutation of both the institutions and the staff.

Mr Wahab said; So, in between February and May when UTME registration and examination are scheduled to hold, I believe strongly we would have done a lot of things and be ready to go. We want them to start admitting new students this year.

By the way of this recognition by NUC, they cant admit students into subsisting structures as polytechnics and colleges of education. That ends, but they will have to graduate the students that have been admitted before now.

NUC hails Sanwo-Olu

According to the statement, speaking on the new universities, the NUC boss, Mr Rasheed, a professor, pledged the commissions total support to the two universities and urged Lagos State Government to take full advantage of the professional and technical advice that the commission would provide to the state government for the establishment and operation of their universities.

He said: We congratulate the governor on his efforts and initiative. We congratulate your team on the vision of moving Lagos State forward. We particularly congratulate you on your decision to invest wisely in higher education.

The Lagos State University of Science and Technology certainly would be a benefit to the position of Lagos as the hub of industries and technology in this country and West Africa. And if properly supported, this is a university that can help Lagos States determination to transit into a knowledge economy.

Lagos as a state can move ahead of others based on investment in education. I know that the economy of Lagos alone is the fifth in the entire African continent. The economy of Lagos alone is more than the entire economy of Ghana and Ivory Coast put together.

Excited Governor

The statement also said governor was excited by the development, noting that with the certificate received by the governor Lagos State University of Education is now the 56th State university and 204th university in Nigeria, as well as the second university of education in Nigeria while Lagos State University of Science and Technology is 57th state university and 205th university in Nigeria.

Speaking at the NUC headquarters, Mr Sanwo-Olu, who commended the Commission for granting the operational certificates, said the creation of the two universities by his administration is not about being ambition but doing what is proper for the people of the state.

He commended the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obas, and the lawmakers for what he described as working with him and others toward passage of the law setting up the two universities.

He also appreciated the leadership of the legacy tertiary institutions for their understanding.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said converting LASPOTECH to University of Science and Technology will bring about innovative engineering, science invention and other innovations that are critical to the development of the country and the state.

He said the two additional universities will assist in meeting the demands and needs of teeming youths.

It is about the future of our citizens. It is about the future of our youths, who truly believe in us to do the right thing. It is about our commitment to taking tertiary education to a level that all of us would be proud of. It is all around ensuring that we give hope and opportunity to our teeming youths that believe in us to do the right thing.

We are giving a commitment that what we have done in LASU, we will also replicate it in the two universities. We will ensure that the two great children that we are giving birth to today are not left alone. All of the various development infrastructure; human and materials that are required to make the universities one of the best in the country, Lagos State would make those resources available for them.

We say this with every sense of responsibility, knowing fully-well what we are doing in LASU, the level of infrastructure we are putting into erstwhile polytechnic and colleges of education, we would double up those efforts at ensuring that they can turn into great citadels of higher learning and universities that would be reference points in the years ahead.
The Senate on Tuesday approved the establishment of six new campuses of the Nigerian Law School across the six geo-political zones of the country.

The newly approved law schools is in addition to the seven existing ones, bring the total number of law schools in the country to 13, excluding that of the Federal Capital Territory.

The approval of the new law campuses followed the consideration and adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on the Legal Education Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

The bill was sponsored by Smart Adeyemi (APC-Kogi).

Accordingly, the Senate approved the Jos Law School Campus, Plateau and Kabba Law School Campus, Kogi, for the North-central geo-political zone.

The chamber also gave the nod for the Yola Law School Campus, Adamawa and Maiduguri Law School Campus, Borno, to serve the North-east zone.

In the North-west, the Senate approved the Kano Law School Campus, Kano State and Argungun Law School Campus, Kebbi.

In the South-east, the chamber gave approval for the Enugu Law School Campus and Okija Law School Campus, Anambra.

The Senate also approved the Yenegoa Law School Campus, Bayelsa; Port Harcourt Law School Campus, Rivers and Orogun Law School Campus, Delta for the South- south zone.

In the South-west, the chamber approved the Lagos Law School Campus, Lagos; and Ilawe Law School Campus, Ekiti.

ALSO READ: Rivers govt to spend N5 billion on infrastructure at law school in Bayelsa

The Bwari Law School Campus, Abuja, remains exclusively for the Federal Capital Territory.

Chairman of the Committee, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the creation of the new six law schools was a legislative intervention to address the exponential increase in the number of law graduates from our universities and foreign ones, coupled with the backlog that existed over the years.

According to the lawmaker, existing campuses are overstretched and the infrastructure are not enough to accommodate thousands of law students graduating from the universities.

(NAN)
It remains to add that while the concept of Federal Character has been grossly abused in its application, the zoning principle in politics has helped to ensure a sense of balance, rotation and inclusion, but to jettison it for purposes of expediency would be counter-productive and costly. In an ideal situation, every aspect of national life should be driven by merit, but there is nothing ideal about Nigeria, and that is why we run a turn-by-turn democracy

The politics of zoning is likely to make or mar the 2023 presidential election, with implications for the stability of the country. It is one of the most contentious issues in Nigeria at the moment, particularly in the two major political parties: the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), which both represent most of the contending stakeholders in Nigeria. It is often argued that zoning is not expressly stated in either the 1999 Constitution or the Electoral Act, but it was a convenient measure adopted by the Peoples Democratic Party in 1999, with the return to civilian rule, in order to ensure equity, justice and a sense of ownership in the political representation process. Even though the word zoning is not used in the 1999 Constitution, it is nonetheless in line with the ideals of Federal Character as stated in Sections 14(3), 147(3) and 171(5) and the establishment of a Federal Character Commission in Section 153 (1c) and Part 1(C) of the Third Schedule.

The principle is that in a multi-plural, diverse country like Nigeria, with over 400 ethnic nationalities, it is important that every group is given a sense of belonging, and participation, to promote national unity and loyalty, and to prevent the overt domination of some sections of the country, lording it over others in appointments and the sharing of power and access. It is in this sense that zoning or the concept of rotational presidency is a derivative of the Federal Character principle. Since independence, this principle has been a source of tension and conflict among the various ethnic nationalities, regions and zones that make up Nigeria, with minority groups protesting over their marginalisation by majorities, and great discontent over the distribution of power and positions by leaders who assume office and resort to the politics of hegemony, nepotism and favouritism to the advantage of their own ethnic stock. This was an issue during the military era, under Lt. General Aguiyi-Ironsi, Igbos were accused of dominating other groups. Then, there was the civil war, and the North seized power. Over the years, other Nigerians have complained of marginalisation, and the Northernisation of power in Nigeria. The return to civilian rule in 1999 and the exit of the military were both meant, in part, to address this volatile issue and ensure true, participatory democracy that sits on a tripod of equity, justice and good conscience.

It is therefore most unfortunate that as Nigeria moves closer to the 2023 general elections, there is so much disquiet over zoning and rotational presidency. The kernel of it is the insistence by certain Northern interest groups that there is nothing wrong in a Northerner becoming president after eight years of the Buhari presidency. These groups including the Northern Leaders of Thought, Northern Elders Forum, Coalition of Northern Groups and the Arewa Consultative Forum, and their spokespersons have at one time or the other in the last few months argued that the North has as much right as any other zone in the country to run for the presidency in 2023, and that there is no such thing as a consensus or an agreement to zone the presidency of Nigeria to either the South or to the South-East. Most Northern commentators on the subject indeed sound irritated by the idea of an Igbo presidency or the thought that Ndigbo is the only major ethnic group that has not been allowed to lead Nigeria since the return to civilian rule in 1999. There are however exceptions from the North: the Arewa Consensus Assembly, for example, has called for a southern presidency in 2023.

The main argument of the naysayers is as articulated by former governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who argued in a television Interview that: If you look at it from 1999 to date, or even after 2023, we have 16 years for PDP, eight years for APC. Now in the 16 years of PDP, we had a situation where the presidency has been in the South for 14 years and only in the North for two years during the (administration of) Umaru Musa YarAdua of blessed memory. Similarly, the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Muhammed, has argued as follows: I want to let all Nigerians, especially those clamouring for the 2023 presidency to go to the South, that it is the turn of the North to produce the next president.. We are aware of the agitations of the Southern part of the country because the leader of the country today, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is from the North, will finish his tenure in 2023, so power could rotate to the South. But I want to say that I am in PDP. I am not in APC that has this burden of zoning the presidency to the South.my party was at the centre for 16 years; 14 of those years were led by people from the South, so where is the justice and the justification. Therefore, it is the turn of the North to produce the next president

It seems to me however that the APC seems to be handling the politics of zoning for the 2023 presidential race much better than the PDP. With perhaps the exception of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, the other APC members that have publicly shown interest in the presidential race are from the South: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State; Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia State; Senator Rochas Okorocha, former governor of Imo State

Both Kwankwaso and Muhammad may be defending the reported plan by the PDP to throw the race for the presidency open within its ranks, but at the heart of their argument is the suggestion that the South has spent more time in power at the centre than the North. It is a specious argument that has been taken up by some youth groups in the North, and they are wrong. Nigeria did not begin in 1999. In the 61 years of the countrys independence, under both the military and civilians, the North has controlled power at the centre, for more than 41 years! So there is a case to be made for equity and justice and it is in part why many Nigerians from the Middle Belt to the South are calling for restructuring. This is also at the root of calls for self-determination and/or secession by ethnic nationalist groups in the East and the West.

For the benefit of those arguing that nobody should come to power on the basis of sentiments, they may need to be reminded of a bit of history, which they seem to be conveniently ignoring. After the annulment of the 1993 presidential election won by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Bashorun MKO Abiola and the turmoil that enveloped the country, the military junta, in setting up the Interim National Government (ING), had to choose as its head, a Yoruba man, and not just any Yoruba man, but someone from the same town as Chief Abiola, that was Chief Ernest Adegunle Shonekan. It doesnt take much commonsense to see that there was an attempt here to assuage the feelings of the Yoruba and the Egba, even if that didnt last for too long. Again in 1999, with the tension over the 1993 debacle yet to settle, the two major political parties at the time: the PDP and the SDP, both chose Yorubas as presidential candidates: Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (PDP) and Chief Olu Falae (SDP). The plan obviously was to appease the South-West over the injustice that had been done to Chief MKO Abiola in 1993, and perhaps to show that Abiolas party, the SDP still stood a chance of winning Nigerias presidential election. Again, for the benefit of those opposing the idea of a Nigerian president of Southern extraction in 2023, they should remember the dust that was thrown up by the North in 2010, after the death of President Umaru Musa YarAdua. The 1999 Constitution is very clear on succession to power in the event of the death of a sitting president: the Vice President is immediately sworn in. But Northern groups opposed the idea of then Vice President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan assuming office in accordance with constitutional provisions (see section 146).

Nigeria almost broke up because some Northerners argued that only a Northerner could complete President YarAduas remaining one year in office. It took the National Assembly coming with a doctrine of necessity, something unknown to the Constitution, before reason prevailed. The people behind the planned subterfuge never forgave President Jonathan. They took their pound of flesh in 2015, when they began yet another drama about how President Jonathan had promised to do only one term in office, and it was the turn of the North to produce the next president. Even Northern members of the PDP, some of whom are now opposed to power-shift to the South, engaged in anti-party activities just to get power back to the North. As a worst case scenario for 2023, across the aisle, some other power brokers, including emirs, are now suggesting that the same Jonathan that they opposed in 2015, should be allowed to return to office, and it is not certain that they want him back for altruistic reasons or out of love. So, should political parties and their leaders be allowed to always take decisions based on expediency?

It seems to me however that the APC seems to be handling the politics of zoning for the 2023 presidential race much better than the PDP. With perhaps the exception of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, the other APC members that have publicly shown interest in the presidential race are from the South: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State; Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia State; Senator Rochas Okorocha, former governor of Imo State; Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State; and by proxy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti. So far, the APC seems to be tilting towards the South as most of its Northern members seem to be more interested in vying for the chairmanship of the party  12 so far in the APC chairmanship race. APC insiders also claim that President Buhari believes that it is immoral and inequitable for a Northerner to succeed him. What is not clear is which Southerner from the South, East or South-West the president is interested in, but in any case that is left for party delegates to decide. What is clear is that the APC has problems of its own, the party has been somewhat riotous as a constitutional, legitimate body in managing its own affairs, and that may be seen when and if the party is able to hold its National Convention scheduled for February 26. Is there a Third Force within the APC? So it seems. Already, some members of the party are challenging the legitimacy of the Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee led by the governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni. Even if the Convention holds, there is still the possibility of some aggrieved members of the party going to court to challenge the legitimacy of the Buni committee, as in the Ondo State case: Jegede vs. Akeredolu. The technical point raised by Jegedes counsel at the time was determined narrowly by the Supreme Court, 4-3. The res in the matter can still be revisited.

In 2014/2015, the PDP lost woefully and imploded, basically because of this same division, with many of the party foot-soldiers at the grassroots level, scattering like pigeons. The standard explanation that is offered by PDP leaders is that consultations are ongoing and that many of the aspirants are also still busy with consultations. Whatever it is, the uncertainty within the party serves only the purpose of giving an advantage to other political parties at all levels.

The PDP is likely to find itself in the eye of the storm if it zones its choice of presidential candidate to the North. Except the PDP is playing some kind of game or a curious strategy, those who are pushing for a Northern PDP presidential candidate must know that it amounts to political arrogance for anyone from the North to think he or she can win the presidential election by jettisoning zoning or without the support of the South. The constitutional provision on the character and spread of votes for a person to be elected Nigerian president is a bit cumbersome (see Section 133). The country is also fragile from many perspectives. We need to manage peoples expectations in the best interest of national stability. Why would the Northern PDP leaders say that they have not had their chance within the party? Do those of them who engaged in anti-party activities in 2015 have the moral right to talk about the Northern interest in 2022/23? Those pushing for a Northern presidential candidate in the PDP apparently underestimate the resolve of the Southern Governors Forum comprising governors from PDP, APC, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the position, as well, of the various ethnic socio-political organisations  Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and Afenifere. Southern leaders are unyielding in their determination that the next president of Nigeria must come from the South. Both PANDEF and Ohanaeze have warned about the possible break up of Nigeria if power at the centre remains in the North, and there is no respect for zoning. Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo wants a president of South-East extraction.

Unlike the APC, the PDP has a long list of presidential hopefuls from the North: former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki; governor of Sokoto State, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal; Bauchi State governor, Bala Muhammad; former Kano State governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso. If the PDP goes ahead with its proposed no-zoning policy, these Northern aspirants would confront, for now, from the South, former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi; former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose; governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel; former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim; former president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa; veteran journalist, Dele Momodu and others within the party, who may also have their eyes on the ticket. The politics of zoning is bound to widen the gulf within the party with grave consequences in the 2023 elections. In 2014/2015, the PDP lost woefully and imploded, basically because of this same division, with many of the party foot-soldiers at the grassroots level, scattering like pigeons. The standard explanation that is offered by PDP leaders is that consultations are ongoing and that many of the aspirants are also still busy with consultations. Whatever it is, the uncertainty within the party serves only the purpose of giving an advantage to other political parties at all levels.

It remains to add that while the concept of Federal Character has been grossly abused in its application, the zoning principle in politics has helped to ensure a sense of balance, rotation and inclusion, but to jettison it for purposes of expediency would be counter-productive and costly. In an ideal situation, every aspect of national life should be driven by merit, but there is nothing ideal about Nigeria, and that is why we run a turn-by-turn democracy, with emphasis on how access to power amounts to access to the proverbial national cake. The logic is simple: every group wants their own share of the cake before anyone begins to talk about merit, as if any single group in the country has a monopoly of talent. This is the Nigerian dilemma.

Reuben Abati, a former presidential spokesperson, writes from Lagos.
Phytomedicine is the utilisation of the therapeutic and healing properties of herbs for medicinal purposes, and this has been in existence since the advent of human civilisation. With the numerous health challenges that Nigerians face, ranging from communicable to non-communicable diseases, conventional pharmacotherapy has rather been the mainstay of treatments for a majority of conditions. Yet, there is need to ensure national sufficiency and drug security in tackling diseases

The quality of health facilities, equipment and, most importantly, drug making has always been a major concern in the Nigerian health sector and these cannot be over emphasised.

As we all know, one of the major challenges that the health sector in the country is currently facing pertains to the high dependency on imported drugs, 70 per cent of which are brought in mainly from China and India. In addition to this, Nigeria relies on imported pharmaceutical ingredients, as well as equipment for the local manufacturing of drugs.

Lately, drug manufacturing in Nigeria has been on the decline, with the main reasons for this being infrastructural challenges, such as a lack of consistent energy supply, as well as inadequate financial support for up-and-coming pharmaceutical scientists. Other difficulties include a weak technology and engineering base, coupled with feeble industrial linkages and supply chains, alongside high taxation.

Nearly all the local drug manufacturers purchase pharmaceutical ingredients from foreign manufacturers, which are then formulated into finished drugs, meaning that they are limited to the purchase and repackaging of drugs for use.

There is currently no significant research and development activity in the country with regard to phytomedicine and most of the pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria have not been able to fully navigate these challenges, which makes their operations in the country sub-optimal.

Meanwhile, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is generally known for providing support for research and development in institutions in the country of which the health sector is not left out. TETFunds intervention often covers universities and other health parastatals in the areas of medical research, as well as the provision of facilities for the treatment of major ailments.

In this light, the recent promise of TETFund to provide financial support to four public agencies for the purpose of producing drugs is quite inspiring, and one of the public agencies to benefit from this is the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD).

The NIPRD is a parastatal of the Federal Government of Nigeria under the Federal Ministry of Health, mainly conducting research into pharmaceutical raw materials, drugs and biological products. NIPRD mainly works in collaboration with national and international partners.

This pledge of support from TETFund was disclosed by the executive secretary of the organisation, Professor Suleiman Bogoro during a virtual meeting on the Institutionalisation of R and D in Nigerias Pharmaceutical Subsector Thematic Group, which coincided with the one year anniversary of the establishment of the TETFund Research and Development Standing Committee (RDSC).

Moving forward, while developing a sustainable and efficient local drug industry in Nigeria would take decades of dedication by both the private sector and government, I strongly believe that TETFunds partnership with the NIPRD on pharmaceutical research will bring about a new beginning and great improvement in the health sector.

Bogoro made it known that NIPRD would collaborate with the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan to carry out research on and the production of phytomedicine.

Phytomedicine is the utilisation of the therapeutic and healing properties of herbs for medicinal purposes, and this has been in existence since the advent of human civilisation. With the numerous health challenges that Nigerians face, ranging from communicable to non-communicable diseases, conventional pharmacotherapy has rather been the mainstay of treatments for a majority of conditions. Yet, there is need to ensure national sufficiency and drug security in tackling diseases, reducing mortality and catering for other health care needs.

There is currently no significant research and development activity in the country with regard to phytomedicine and most of the pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria have not been able to fully navigate these challenges, which makes their operations in the country sub-optimal.

Moving forward, while developing a sustainable and efficient local drug industry in Nigeria would take decades of dedication by both the private sector and government, I strongly believe that TETFunds partnership with the NIPRD on pharmaceutical research will bring about a new beginning and great improvement in the health sector. This is because Nigeria is richly blessed with thousands of medicinal herbs and this is an opportunity for us to strategically improve our research on herbal medicines for diseases management and to also improve access to various types of medicines.

Rahma Olamide Oladosu writes from Abuja and can be reached through: oladosurahma@gmail.com.
Our country had more to gain from him than he from the country. What did he need? Money, fame, power or what? Nigeria should thank God that men of honour like him were able to step up when it mattered. Those who criticise him accuse him of having been naive or that he was betrayed by his military friends. Yet, every genuine, honest and trusting individual is liable to betrayal. It is the betrayer, not the betrayed, who deserves to be pitied.

Now that the great man has been laid to rest, I would like to add a tiny voice of sympathy to the immediate family of Chief Ernest Shonekan, our former Head of State, who died last month. I thought it was best to allow those who knew the man well to have their way and have their say before I wrote my own little drop to an ocean of tributes that are bound to follow his exit. I cannot claim to have known him very well. However, the little contact I had with him left me with some memories which I would like to share.

Shortly after the installation of Chief Shonekan as the Head of Interim National Government on August 26, 1993, I got a call from the then Nuncio to Nigeria, His Grace, Archbishop Carlo Mario Vigano, asking if I could join him the following day to pay a courtesy call on the new Head of State. We arrived at the State House to a very warm reception by his Secretary, who led us into the waiting room. In less than 10 minutes, we were ushered into the Head of States office. He greeted the Nuncio very warmly and turned to me with a much wider smile: Fr Kukah, he said as he shook my hand; It is a great pleasure to finally meet you. I had always looked forward for a chance to meet you. Then he turned to the Nuncio and said, pointing at me as if I were an accused: This young man has done a lot for our country. He is a great man and he writes very well. I literally squirmed at the unexpected attention I was getting.

He ushered us to seats but I held back because I thought they needed privacy and, in any case, I was only a bag carrier, but he quickly said: Fr. Kukah, please sit here, as he pointed at a seat beside the Nuncio. Not feeling confident, I literally perched on the seat. They talked for about 20 minutes. He had presence, poise and stature befitting his office. I really liked him. He wore his corporate culture well and spoke with finesse. We rose to leave and he gently lead us all the way to the exit door where we shook hands and bade goodbye. I never had any further contact with him in his very short three-month stint as Head of State. I will return to this later.

My next meeting with him was towards the end of the public sitting of the Human Rights Violation Commission, known as the Oputa Panel. As the reader might already know, our work at the Commission became very controversial when we got to the issues of the military testimonies during the public hearings. A good part of the stories and the intrigues are captured in my book, Witness to Justice. The meeting with Chief Shonekan was one of the last items in the work of the Commission. But let me digress a little.

Recently, when I saw a video of a reconciliation between the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, his opponent, along with their deputies during a Prayer Breakfast, my mind raced back to what we had tried to do towards the end of the work of our Commission in 2001, as a way of bringing some level of closure to our situation. The video showed the men tendering apologies, hugging one another and promising to put their animosity behind them for the sake of their country. As metaphors of reconciliation go, this was impressive. I felt sad because I thought of what might have been in our dear country.

As we rounded up our work, I had suggested to Justice Oputa that we needed to develop a strategy that would make our work at reconciliation go beyond those who had petitioned the Commission and whose cases had been heard. I told him that I felt that the country was severely wounded and needed real healing. To do this, I suggested to him that we needed to bring those past leaders who were being vilified today into the loop of reconciliation. When he asked how this was to happen, I offered to send him a memo the following day.

In the two-page memo, I had suggested that despite the character assassination that had followed the testimonies of some of the military men during the public hearings, it was important that we gave the generals a chance to clear their names, in an informal sense, not through the podium. My efforts in this regard are all documented in my book. However, my proposal was to the effect that on the final day of the Commissions sitting, we should invite all the former heads of state to come as a group to what would be like the closing ceremony of our work. Before then, we would plan private confidence building meetings, with all of them individually, to seek their wise counsel on the way forward for national reconciliation. Then, if they agreed, on live television, I proposed that we could have the Chairman deliver a short speech urging forgiveness and the need for our country to move forward.

I proposed that after the speech, General Gowon would deliver a short speech on behalf of his colleagues, former heads of state. Essentially, the speech would say that they were all thankful to God and to Nigerians that they had had a chance to govern our country. In the course, they had all done their best in running the affairs of the country. However, if in the course of doing their best, Nigerians felt their best had not been good enough and they had hurt anyone, then, he on behalf of his colleagues was requesting forgiveness from Nigerians. He would then conclude by appealing to Nigerians to unite so that we could build our dear country in a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. I was, as I said in my memo to Justice Oputa, convinced that Nigerians, teary-eyed, would be ready to answer this call.

One week later, Justice Oputa asked me to see him. He said, I have looked at your memo and reflected on it. I think it makes sense, but how should we proceed with it? I told him that moving forward was the easy part if he thought the memo made sense. Let me, I said, reach out to some of them, but in the end, we have to draft a letter inviting all of them and selling the idea to them. I know that they can be persuaded to see sense in this move, despite the hurt that some of them feel by the way their integrity has been publicly called to question. Once we agreed, he sold the idea to other members of the Commission during our meeting. Everyone saw sense in the decision.

We decided to take the first step by sending out letters inviting all the former heads of state to private meetings with the members of the Commission. We were to use this session to pick their brains and also build confidence in what we were trying to do by answering any questions or doubts that they may have had and finally having their buy in to the idea of ending our proceeding with a public event. All the letters went out and the first response we got was from Chief Shonekan who asked for a date, venue and time for the meeting.

On the agreed date, as I arrived at the Transcorp Hilton entrance, I saw a headline announcing our meeting boldly on the front page of ThisDay newspaper. I bought the paper, read the story but tried to ensure that Justice Oputa did not see it. Someone had leaked our letter and it was too late for us to do anything. I was in a state of shock and confusion, especially as that was the morning we had planned to receive Chief Shonekan. All of a sudden as I stood outside not knowing what to expect, there was some movement as the great man stepped out of a car. I quickly alerted the Chairman and we all received him and took him upstairs, where we had planned our private meeting in. I think Kaduna Hall. There was no media presence because we had planned this with the utmost secrecy.

He sat down and was formally welcomed by the Chairman, Justice Oputa. Chief Shonekan told us that he had decided to honour our invitation because he thought it was a good opportunity to share his experience with us. He commended our work and proceeded to regale us with some very intriguing accounts of his experiences as a Head of State. He spoke about honour, patriotism, answering the call to duty and insisted that he considered it an honour to have been asked to serve. He said he really had no regrets and had no quarrels with the military. Almost rhetorically, he asked: Have you ever seen anywhere that the victim of a coup turned around to serve those who overthrew him? I worked with General Abacha despite his having staged a coup against the government that I headed for the good of our country. He regaled us with stories but one of my favourites was the one he told about trying to order the release of the late Ransome Beko Kuti.

He said that when he became Head of State, the first thing he wanted to do was to buy a lot of good will. He said he had been following developments in the country leading to the arrest and detentions of human rights and labour activists. He decided to order the release of Beko Kuti because he knew it would excite civil society. He called the Director of the State Security Services (SSS) as they were there for a meeting. After discussing what he considered the futility of arresting activists with the Director, he ordered the immediate release of Beko because, he said, we needed the goodwill of Nigerians.

Next day, he excitedly scanned through the papers over breakfast expecting to see banner headlines of the release of Beko, but there was nothing. Again, the second day, he looked through the newspapers, but found no story about Beko. He summoned the Director of the SSS immediately. When he arrived, Chief Shonekan said he asked him rather angrily why he had not effected the release of Beko as he ordered him, the Director said: You did not put it in writing Sir! That was, he said to us, his early lesson with the Nigerian civil service!

Our paths did not cross again until early August 2011 when I visited his Ikoyi residence. He had shocked me by calling to congratulate me on my appointment as the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese. I therefore decided to personally visit and present an invitation to my ordination and installation to him. Surprisingly, he was alone in the sitting room when he received me. Over coffee and biscuits, we talked as if we had been friends for a while. His almost self-effacing charm was engaging. He spoke about frustrations with Nigerias seeming lack of progress but faith in the power of God. I have fond memories of Sokoto, he said to me. My eyes lit up because I was hoping I could glean some insights from him. He could see that I was all ears and he continued.

As the Head of State, he said to me: I was on a State visit to Sokoto. I was very well received and His Eminence, Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki, hosted me to a sumptuous lunch. I was served a soup that was peculiar to only my Egba people, a soup which only my mother knew how to make. My mother had taught my wife how to make that soup, but she really had not grasped its intricacies. Now, here I was having the same soup, with the same taste as only my mother would have made it in what I thought was a strange, far away land from my Egbaland. So, after the meal, I asked His Eminence how he came about the soup. The Sultan smiled and said to me; Come back in the evening and we can talk about the soup and its origins. I left and of course returned to the palace in the evening. He received me and, there, beside him seated on the floor was a woman who was in her hijab and whom I could not see well. He turned to her and said: This is my wife, your sister from Egbaland. She made the soup for you. At this point, even I was shocked and moved in my chair, as if to hear more. Then, Chief Shonekan said to me: Fr Kukah, that incident showed me the greatness of our complex country. I thought back and wondered about the prospects of a Prince with Egba blood becoming the Sultan of Sokoto!

We chatted about other small issues and our dear country. I thanked him for the warm reception and reminded him that I had brought the invitation just for information. As I got up to leave, he said: I want to assure you of my best wishes and prayers in Sokoto. I believe you will enjoy your stay there, especially with the new Sultan who is a modern and very pleasant person. You are right, I may not be able to join you but our prayers will be with you. I nodded in deep appreciation. He then picked an envelope from a side table and handed to me: Here, it is a little token of my appreciation for your inviting me. What is inside is very little. Please pray for us and our dear country. I thanked him profusely and said to him: Sir, this envelope means much to me because of what it represents. The symbolism is more than the contents. He then led me to my car and stood until we drove off. I was really touched.

We had a few other brief encounters over time. I admired this great man because he always glowed even in old age. I have read many commentaries about this great nationalist, corporate mogul, bureaucrat and devout Christian. Many ideologues have continued to see this great man, one of the nations most decent and honourable men from the severely narrow prism of navel gazing politics and the ideological disputations around the June 12th elections and their aftermath, the military intrigues and all of that. None of this can tarnish this great mans legacy. Sadly, the real and true story of this phase of our nations life has not yet been unraveled, thanks to a nation where academics have abandoned their duty posts.

Our country had more to gain from him than he from the country. What did he need? Money, fame, power or what? Nigeria should thank God that men of honour like him were able to step up when it mattered. Those who criticise him accuse him of having been naive or that he was betrayed by his military friends. Yet, every genuine, honest and trusting individual is liable to betrayal. It is the betrayer, not the betrayed, who deserves to be pitied. Unless we are to blame Jesus for giving Judas a seat at the table. The Chief lived and served well. May God be merciful to him and console his wife, children, family, Egbaland and Nigeria.

Matthew Hassan Kukah is the Catholic archbishop of Sokoto Diocese
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Osun State said it has returned a 14-year-old girl to Enugu State after she was trafficked from the state to Osun State.

The NSCDC spokesperson in Osun State, Atanda Olabisi, who made this known in a statement on Monday, said the girl was handed over to the police in Enugu State.

Ms Olabisi said the girl stated that she was charmed and taken from Enugu but she later escaped from where she was locked up in Ejigbo by her trafficker.

The Anti Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration Unit of the NSCDC, Osun Command, on Friday, handed over the 14-year-old, allegedly trafficked from Enugu State to Ejigbo in Osun, to Enugu Police Command.

The trafficked girl said that one Samuel from Cotonou, who is the suspect in the case, came to Enugu for Plaster of Paris business (POP).

She said the alleged suspect visited her parents house in Enugu, where he met her and promised to take her to Lagos for hairdressing training.

She thereafter asked Samuel to allow her to inform her parents but before she knew what was happening, Samuel had forcefully put a charmed bangle on her wrist.

She said she became unconscious after the charmed bangle was placed on her and later found herself at Ejigbo in Osun.

She added that she didnt know the actual date or how she got to Ejigbo, but on her arrival, she found herself in a room with two other boys and a girl.

She said the suspect, Samuel, used to touch their heads with eggs anytime he was going out and that she was lucky to have finally escaped from the room they were kept, Mr Olabisi said.

The NSCDC spokesperson said the girl was, however, found, while roaming the streets of Ejigbo, by officers of the Civil Defence, who questioned her and later took her to the corps command for further investigations.

She said the corps later discovered that the girls parents had filed a report that their child was missing, at the Enugu Police Command.

Ms Olabisi said the state Commandant of NSCDC, Emmanuel Ocheja called on parents and guardians to keenly watch over their wards and appealed to them to always know the whereabouts of their children.

(NAN)
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed the death of three persons from an accident involving a vehicle and a motorcycle in Anambra.

The corps said the accident was recorded along Onitsha-Ayamelum Road in Ayamelum Local Government Area of Anambra on Monday night.

The Sector Commander of FRSC in Anambra, Adeoye Irelewuyi, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Tuesday.

The FRSC boss said six male adults were involved in the accident, which was caused by excessive speed.

The crash involved an unidentified commercial driver of a white Toyota Sienna with registration number: ABN504SZ, and an identified rider of a private motorcycle with no registration number, whose name is Okwudili Okeke.

An eyewitness report indicates that the driver of the Sienna was on top speed while trying to avoid an oncoming motorcycle. He hit another motorcycle beside him while on motion, somersaulted and crashed into the bush.

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The victims were rushed to a nearby Primary Health Centre by FRSC personnel in Ayamelum Station Office, where three male adults were confirmed dead, he said.

Mr Irelewuyi said the bodies of the victims were deposited at the mortuary.

While commiserating with the families of the deceased, he urged motorists to obey traffic rules by desisting from excessive speed and drive within safe speed limits.

(NAN)
The history of the former Rev. Abraham Haff/Stephen Keese Smith farm on Union Road in Peru was successfully pitched by the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association for a documentary, a two-year project with MDOCS Co-Creation Initiative and Skidmore College faculty, staff and students.
Developments in the automotive industry, increased construction activities across the globe, and advancements in the manufacturing sector drive the growth of the global hand tools market.

PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Hand Tools Market by Type (Wrench, Plier, Screw Drivers, Hammers, Cable Cutter, and Others), Distribution Channel (In Store and Online), and End User (DIY, Commercial, and Industrial): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030." According to the report, the global hand tools industry was estimated at $21.29 billion in 2020, and is anticipated to hit $31.81 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 4.2% from 2021 to 2030.

Drivers, restraints, and opportunities-

Developments in the automotive industry, increased construction activities across the globe, and advancements in the manufacturing sector drive the growth of the global hand tools market. On the other hand, growth in popularity of power tools and fluctuation in price of raw materials restrain the growth to some extent. However, surge in popularity of DIY projects is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the industry.



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Covid-19 Scenario-

Prolonged lockdown measures in the majority of countries and delay in production & manufacturing of hand tools that are utilized in automotive, construction, and several other sectors impacted the global hand tools market negatively, especially during the initial phase.

However, the market is expected to recoup soon, as the global situation gets back to normalcy.

The wrench segment to dominate by 2030-

Based on type, the wrench segment held the major share in 2020, accounting for more than one-third of the global hand tools market. Developments in the manufacturing and automotive industries in developing countries drive the growth of the segment. At the same time, the cable cutter segment would register the fastest CAGR of 6.2% from 2021 to 2030. Economic growth in countries such as India, Vietnam, Nigeria, South Africa, Colombia, and others drives the growth of the cable, automotive, and construction industries, which in turn, increases the demand for hand handled cable cutting tools, thereby boosting the segment growth.

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The industrial segment to maintain the dominant share-

Based on end-user, the industrial segment contributed to nearly half of the global hand tools market revenue in 2020, and is projected to lead the trail throughout the forecast period. Moreover, the same segment is also projected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 5.0% from 2021 to 2030. The development of on-demand car repair application development has made a huge significance in the automobile maintenance industry. The application works on providing convenient maintenance services by managing it through mobile applications, which in turn, provides quick services to the customers. Such initiatives drive the demand for hand tools, thereby, reducing the operation timings. In this regard, the hand tools aid the requirement through the use of wrenches, cutters, and others. These factors are expected to propel the demand for hand tools in the industrial application globally.

Asia-Pacific, followed by North America, garnered the highest share in 2020-

Based on region, the market across Asia-Pacific, followed by North America, contributed to the highest share in 2020, accounting for around two-fifths of the global hand tools market, and is estimated to continue its dominant share in terms of revenue by 2030. The same region is also expected to showcase the fastest CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period. This is because the major players are striving to develop manufacturing units in the region to improve the production quantities as well as serve the Asian industries including construction, automobile, consumer goods, and others.

Key players in the industry-

Snap-On Incorporated

Emerson Electric Co.

Stanley Black and Decker

and Decker Wera Tools

Apex Tool Group

Klein Tools Inc.

Akar Tools Limited

Channellock, Inc.

JCBL India

Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd.

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Press Release

February 8, 2022 Bong Go urges parents to get their eligible children vaccinated, seek accurate information from experts, trusted healthcare providers Senator Christopher "Bong" Go reiterated the importance of vaccines in defeating the pandemic as he urged parents to get their qualified children inoculated so the latter would not get severely sick or die of COVID-19. His appeal came after a petition had been filed before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for a temporary restraining order against the government's rollout of COVID-19 shots for children between 5 to 11 years old. The petition also seeks to make the injunction permanent by declaring Department of Health Memorandum No. 2022-0041, which sets the interim guidelines for the rollout of pediatric vaccines, as unconstitutional and void for grave abuse of discretion. "I respect the right of the petitioners to question before our courts the COVID-19 vaccine rollout for our minors... Nasa demokrasya naman po tayo," Go said in a statement issued on Monday, February 7. "Bilang chair ng Senate Committee on Health, tiwala ako na dumaan sa masusi at maingat na pagsusuri ang mga bakuna bago inilabas ito sa publiko. Naniniwala din ako na ang bakuna ang susi natin para malampasan ang kasalukuyang pandemya," he continued. Go pointed out that public health experts largely agree that the vaccines are the most effective form of protection against the virus. However, he acknowledged that there may be hesitations due to differing opinions or information published online, especially on social media. The senator assured the parents that their concerns are legitimate and strongly encouraged them to get the information they need from trusted healthcare providers and health experts, such as their local pediatricians. "Sa mga magulang na may agam-agam hinggil sa ating mga bakuna kontra COVID-19, hinihikayat ko kayo na sumangguni sa inyong mga doktor, health experts o sa DOH upang mailatag nang maayos ang mga impormasyon na dapat ninyong malaman. Huwag po tayong basta-basta maniwala sa kung anong mga ipinapakalat sa social media," cautioned Go. Nevertheless, following a slight delay, the government officially began inoculations for the nearly 16 million children aged 5 to 11 on Monday in select areas in Metro Manila. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a pediatric version of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine which shall be distributed across the country in the coming days. In a joint statement last Thursday, the DOH and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said that the rollout is the result of careful studies by health experts and has been approved in the United States and many other countries. They added that no adverse events were recorded among the nine million vaccinated minors aged 12 to 17 since rollout began in October 2021. "As we always emphasize, all Food and Drug Administration-approved COVID-19 vaccines have been proven to be safe and effective. Over 8.1 million children have already been vaccinated worldwide, with no reports of deaths and serious adverse events among those vaccinated," they remarked. The Philippine Pediatric Society and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines also expressed their support for the rollout in a separate joint statement on Friday. In the end, Go recommended that additional guidance be released by concerned agencies so accurate information can be made accessible to the public. The senator further urged the government to keep improving its information campaign to combat misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. "Sa mga ahensya naman ng gobyerno, kailangang mas paigtingin ang inyong information campaign hinggil sa pagbabakuna sa ating mga menor de edad. Gawing mas available ang mga tamang impormasyon sa paraang mas maayos at mas madaling maintindihan ng lahat," appealed Go.
Companies eager to improve people practices and build a culture of success are turning to Lattice to help engage and grow employees and drive overall business performance.

LONDON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lattice , the leading people management platform for businesses with people-first cultures, today reported record growth in its 2021 summary report. This continued company momentum speaks to the significant market opportunity and demand for software that enables companies to build engaged, high-performing teams while providing people leaders with strategic, data-driven insights.

In today's rapidly changing world of work, identifying the tools and processes that will enable organizations to build, manage, and grow high-performing teams needs to be an intentional part of any company's overall people strategy.

"Over the past year, we have invested heavily in building a people management platform that is not only critical for companies focused on attracting and retaining top talent, but also gives every people leader visibility into their teams to maximize employee insight, support, and growth," said Jack Altman, Lattice CEO and co-founder. "As a result, Lattice has emerged as the essential tool for people-first organizations."

As part of its record growth, Lattice has achieved a number of major milestones, including:

Business Growth: In September 2021, Lattice officially expanded its focus internationally with a European headquarters in London, UK to support customers in over 39 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Exiting 2021, Lattice reported over 110% global year-over-year ARR growth. Further, the company increased its customer base by more than 40%. Additionally, in January 2022, Lattice closed its Series F fundraising round at $175 million , bringing the company valuation to more than $3 billion.

Employee Activity: From January 2021, Lattice grew headcount to more than 480 employees, including over 30 in London, which represents 150% year-over-year company growth since January 2021. Lattice also strengthened its leadership with senior hires across all departments as well as a new board member . In January 2022, Lattice received the Great Place to Work Certification .

Product Innovation: Over the course of 2021, Lattice announced several products including a new OKR and Goals solution and a new Compensation Management solution. Most recently, Lattice launched a host of new integrations with HRIS systems focused on EMEA partnerships. To end 2021, Lattice also ranked as the top Momentum Leader on G2's Winter Momentum Grid reports for Performance Management, Employee Engagement, OKRs, and Career Management. Lattice was also recognized on Fosway's Talent and People Success 9-Grid.

About Lattice

Lattice is the people management platform that enables people leaders to develop engaged, high-performing teams. By combining continuous performance management, employee engagement, development, and growth in one solution, HR and People teams get powerful, real-time analytics that leads to actionable insights turning managers into leaders, employees into high-performers, and companies into the best places to work. Based in San Francisco, Lattice serves over 3,700 customers including Slack, Monzo, and Tide. Learn more at: www.lattice.com .

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/745587/lattice_logo_full_color__33_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Lattice
STOCKHOLM, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quant Finland Oy and Quant Estonia OU (together "Quant") have renewed an existing Total Maintenance Partnership agreement with Metsaliitto Cooperative, Metsa Wood ("Metsa Wood"), a leading producer for premium-quality wood products. The agreement renewal contains scope changes beneficial to both parties. In its quarterly report for the first quarter of 2022, Quant will increase its contract portfolio value with EUR 2 million.

Metsa Wood and Quant has signed a renewal of a Total Maintenance Partnership agreement, originally entered into in 2017, into an evergreen contract which cover industrial maintenance on five production sites in Finland and Estonia. Quant will focus on areas of safety and provide a cost-effective and flexible service, supporting Metsa Wood in both daily operations and investments. The agreement renewal contains scope changes beneficial to both parties which increases Quant's contract revenue by EUR 2 million.

"We have built a good foundation for the development of maintenance in the future, and now we are able to take the development of proactive and predictive maintenance to the next level together with the customer," says Janne Toivanen, Account Director, Quant Finland.

Stockholm, 8 February 2022

Quant AB (publ)

For further information, please contact:

Sebastian Storbacka, SVP Region Manager Finland & Baltics: +358 503 545 564

Andre Stromgren, CFO: +46 708 410 796

E-mail: ir@quantservice.com

Quant AB (publ) is a global leader in industrial maintenance. For over 30 years, we have been realizing the full potential of maintenance for our customers. From embedding superior safety practices and building a true maintenance culture, to optimizing maintenance cost and improving plant performance, our people make the difference. We are passionate about maintenance and proud of ensuring we achieve our customers' goals in the most professional way. The group operates internationally in close to 20 countries world-wide, employing more than 2,300 people. The parent company is located in Stockholm, Sweden.

Quant AB (publ) is privately held by Nordic Capital since 2014. For additional information about the group, please visit www.quantservice.com.

This information is information that Quant is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 09:00 CET on 8 February 2022.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/quant-ab/r/quant-signs-renewal-with-metsa-wood-in-finland,c3499208

SOURCE Quant AB
LIMASSOL, Cyprus, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ALO (Affiliate Leaders Online), a team of affiliate marketing experts, is known for their global events featuring industry leaders. Seizing the opportunity to communicate with the most experienced marketing professionals, ALO team gathered their forecasts about the upcoming trends of 2022 .

ALO

Recently, the company issued a free forecast PDF containing ideas, practical tips, and views expressed by 30 representatives of the top tier advertising companies and agencies. In the eBook, readers will find reflections of CEOs, sales directors, commercial officers, and other eminent figures on the following topics:

Marketing practices to embrace in 2022 considering radical technological changes, like AR and VR, cookies ban, blockchain, etc.;



Advice on how to work with the most widespread affiliate marketing verticals, like Dating, Nutra, Info Products, Utilities, and Software;



Upcoming trends of media buying and reflections on the future of CPA networks;



Risks surrounding the MarTech industry and ways to deal with them.

The main focus of the compilers is practice, therefore the presented eBook can be used as a comprehensive guide containing numerous strategies to apply. The PDF will be handy for both newcomers and experienced affiliate marketers willing to keep up with the latest events and changes of the industry.

ALO offers the exclusive educational eBook for free download - users can find it right here .

About ALO:

ALO team organizes large affiliate marketing events featuring online and offline lectures, debates, and speeches delivered by highly experienced and acknowledged figures of the industry. In addition to the educational part, ALO also organizes parties for interpersonal communication, where experts and newcomers can network and find professional partnerships.

Contact:

Maria Yashina

+35795989881

[email protected]

SOURCE ALO
"We're excited to partner with Dr. Comfort to expand our foot care and amputation prevention resources," said Charles Henderson, Chief Development Officer. "Diabetes can cause many kinds of foot problems and because the risks and complications can change over time, there is no single solution or prescribed course of action that will work for all 37.3 million Americans living with the disease. That's why we created an interactive online experience designed to meet individuals wherever they are on their diabetes foot care journey, and provide the best information based on their particular needs."

For those who have been recently diagnosed with diabetes, this new interactive website offers tips for warding off foot issues, lists of signs and symptoms to be aware of, ways you can find a foot specialist in your area, and much more.

Experience Living with Diabetes: Foot Care & Amputation at diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes.

About the American Diabetes Association

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization fighting to bend the curve on the diabetes epidemic and help people living with diabetes thrive. For 81 years the ADA has driven discovery and research to treat, manage, and prevent diabetes while working relentlessly for a cure. Through advocacy, program development, and education we aim to improve the quality of life for the over 133 million Americans living with diabetes or prediabetes. Diabetes has brought us together. What we do next will make us Connected for Life. To learn more or to get involved, visit us at diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383). Join the fight with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Spanish Facebook (Asociacion Americana de la Diabetes), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn), and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

Contact: Daisy Diaz, 703-253-4807

[email protected]

SOURCE American Diabetes Association
HUDSON, Ohio, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital marketing agency Hedges & Company has been awarded 2022 Premier Partner status in the Google Partners program, a program for accreditation with Google Ads. To qualify for Premier Partner status an agency must rank among the top 3% in the United States.

Hedges & Company provides paid search marketing, search engine marketing and mailing lists for clients in the automotive aftermarket, OEM parts and powersports industries.

In February, Google recognized the achievements of top-performing digital marketing partners across the globe by awarding Premier Partner status as part of the new Google Partners program.

"We're proud of our digital marketing team's accomplishments," said Jon Hedges, President, Hedges & Company. "Google measures the top 3% of agencies by a number of factors including client growth, client retention, and annual ads spend."

"Congratulations to our Premier Partners," said Davang Shah, Senior Director, Google Ads Marketing. "These companies stand out based on their commitment to developing product expertise, building new client relationships, and helping their current clients grow."

The Google Partners program has undergone significant changes for 2022, including redefining what it means to be a Premier Partner through new, advanced program requirements and offering new Premier Partner benefits to support growth and success with Google Ads. Hedges & Company achieved Premier Partner status in the original Premier Partners program, launched in June 2016.

The Google Partner program is designed for advertising agencies and third parties that manage Google Ads accounts for other brands or businesses. It is designed to empower digital agencies by giving them innovative tools, resources, and support to help their clients succeed and grow online.

About Hedges & Company: A full-service digital marketing agency serving a $38 billion addressable market of eCommerce and third-party marketplaces selling vehicle parts and accessories. Founded in 2004, its digital marketing capabilities include automotive search engine optimization, paid search management, email marketing and automotive mailing lists. Hedges & Company was the first Google Premier Partner agency and Microsoft Partner agency dedicated to the automotive aftermarket, OEM parts and powersports industries. Members of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), the Auto Care Association and Custom Automotive Network (CAN). For more information visit https://hedgescompany.com.

Media Contact: Jon Hedges, Hedges & Company

(234) 380-1650

[email protected]

SOURCE Hedges & Company
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Avenue of the Arts, Inc., the organization that champions Philadelphia's theater and cultural arts district will present its Third Annual Visionary Awards to two women who have changed the trajectory of dance in Philadelphia with their vision and dedication.

Joan Myers Brown, the founder of PHILADANCO!, Philadelphia's predominantly Black Internationally Renowned Modern Dance company and Christine Cox, the co-founder of BalletX, Philadelphia's premier contemporary Ballet company, will be honored at the organization's April 22nd gala at Arthaus, the newest addition to the Avenue of the Arts' skyline.

"It is an honor to recognize these two innovators who have helped put Philadelphia on the map nationally and internationally in the world of dance while continuing to thrill local audiences," says Dianne Semingson, Chair of the Avenue of the Arts, Inc. Board. "In addition, their commitment to diversity in the arts and the bridges they have and are continuing to build with the community have had a lasting impact on the arts in Philadelphia."

Avenue of the Arts, Inc. Executive Director Laura Burkhardt adds, "Both women display the type of vision that has made the Avenue of the Arts such an incubator for talent and growth in the arts. That innovation keeps the Avenue vibrant, drawing audiences, investment, residents and all the elements that make this great street the heart of our city."

Joan Myers Brown founded The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!) in 1970 as well as the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts in 1960. She now serves as Executive Advisor and retired artistic director of the company. Christine Cox, Artistic and Executive Director of BalletX, co-founded the company with Matthew Neenan in 2005, after both had been dancers with then-Pennsylvania Ballet.

The Avenue of the Arts draws 2.8 million visitors a year, generating over $1 billion in economic impact. AAI and its associated organization, Friends of the Avenue of the Arts, work to promote investment, beautification and marketing of the Avenue to make it a great place to live, work, shop and play.

For tickets to the 2022 Avenue of the Arts, Inc. Visionary Awards, visit: https://faa-visionary22.eventbrite.com.

SOURCE Avenue of the Arts, Inc.
The #Investeen campaign will feature a host of engaging educational programs, including livestreamed virtual classes and the 2022 Global Teen Investment Competition (GTIC). The GITC includes a paper trading competition hosted in a specially programmed environment in the moomoo app. The top-ranked regional teams will be invited to create an equity portfolio pitch to a judging panel comprised of investment professionals, finance media veterans and executives from investment firms.

"An adequate financial literacy education will benefit today's youth for a lifetime. This is especially important now, as young investors increasingly enter the financial markets on the heels of the meme stock craze and wider adoption of trading apps," said Carolyn Bao, Vice President at Moomoo Inc. "We have long-admired Palo Alto Education and LaunchFIT's dedication to financial literacy education and are thrilled to partner with them on this important campaign."

In conjunction with the #Investeen campaign, moomoo and Palo Alto Education today released polling data from its survey of 120 teenagers between the ages of 13-18 on their experiences and education surrounding financial literacy and investing.

Investing education from a trustworthy source is especially important at this stage of life, given an overwhelming majority (92%) of adolescents have interest in investing in the stock marketeven though more than seven in ten teens (71%) report that they are currently receiving limited education about investing, or none at all. When asked to rate their knowledge of investing in the stock market, most adolescents (69%) claimed to have some basic knowledge only while 13% of participants say they have absolutely no idea.

When asked why they were interested in investing, financial independence was the most common response, with 82% of participants citing it as a motivator. The data also showed that teens are prioritizing future needs, such as paying for college (54%) and building up retirement savings (43%) over short-term luxuries, such as buying a car (25%).

The majority of adolescents say they turn to friends and family (76%) or financial websites (66%) for investment guidance and ideas. Although nearly half of teens (43%) learn about investing through online forums and social media, their trust in influencers' investing guidance is lowwith fewer than 13% of surveyed teens responding that they trust influencers for investment recommendations and ideas.

Notably, despite the buzz surrounding cryptocurrency, teens surveyed report that they prefer traditional assets like stocks (73%) and savings accounts (43%) over cryptocurrency (25%) and NFTs (12%).

"It's crucial for teens to begin learning about financial literacy now because they have the power of time on their side," said Joyce Lin, Co-founder of LaunchFIT, a nonprofit created by teens for teens. "The earlier they learn, the more compounding potential their money will have. Unfortunately, many schools do not go into depth on topics such as saving and investing, which is where FIT comes in. We hope to fill the knowledge gap left by schools."

Between now and February 14th, students can register for the GTIC paper trading competition on moomoo's website . Winners will be named and prizes will be awarded in April 2022.

About Palo Alto Education Group

Based in Silicon Valley, Palo Alto Education Group aims to ignite the passion and maximize the potential of each student in finance, investing and AI with social equity, in preparation for global competitiveness. www.thePaEdu.com

About LaunchFIT

LaunchFIT (Financial Intelligence for Teens) is a 501c(3) non-profit organization with the goal to empower teens through spreading financial knowledge, teaching the power of responsible decision making, and financial literacy. www.launchFIT.org

About Moomoo Inc.

Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Moomoo Inc. is a company that offers a commission-free* professional trading app. With advanced research tools, free in-depth market data, and one of the most active online communities, moomoo empowers individual investors to trade like a pro. In the United States, securities are offered by Futu Inc., a licensed broker dealer regulated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Futu Inc is also a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). For more information about moomoo, please visit the company's official website www.moomoo.com .

*Commission-free trading is available only to U.S. residents trading in the U.S. markets.

SOURCE Palo Alto Education Group
The prestigious WELL Health-Safety Rating is an evidence-based program developed with the Mayo Clinic which requires 15 criteria to be met across five categories: cleaning and sanitization procedures; emergency preparedness programs; health service resources; air and water quality management; and stakeholder engagement and communications. The initiative promotes optimal health and well-being for residents and places utmost value on impacting and improving lives. The third-party verified assessment for new and existing buildings reviews operational policies, maintenance protocols, and emergency plans to address a post-COVID-19 climate. The Souferian Group's milestone achievement demonstrates the brand's commitment to pushing boundaries and creating environments that promote the well-being of residents, guests, and staff while meeting criteria for health and safety. The WELL Health-Safety Rating is endorsed by celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and Michael B. Jordan.

"Achieving the WELL Health-Safety Rating supports The Souferian Group's core value to deliver a differentiated living experience. Be Mesa's initiatives deliver a unique value proposition for residents," said Behzad Souferian, Founder & CEO of The Souferian Group. "As the first multifamily building in Arizona to successfully achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating, we are only scratching the surface in innovation and will continue to go above and beyond to create a one-of-a-kind community that appeals to today's discerning renter."

Inspired by the tireless pursuit to disrupt the industry norms, Be Mesa makes this announcement as the first of many innovations to come for the multifamily housing industry. With this achievement, Be Mesa joins The Souferian Group's 606-unit property in Los Angeles, Be DTLA by The Souferian Group, which became the first multi-family community in Southern California to earn the WELL Health-Safety Rating.

In addition to the WELL Health-Safety seal, Be Mesa is undergoing a multimillion-dollar reimagination, slated for completion in 2022. Formerly known as Alantra Apartments, Be Mesa's value will be derived by the sum of its parts; wellness-centric approach, cutting edge design, thoughtful amenities, attentive services and a robust Be Benefits program.

With interior and exterior upgrades already in progress to create a Santa Barbara-inspired, Spanish aesthetic, Be Mesa will provide a host of on-property amenities and programming related to wellness and common spaces that encourage fun and socialization. Be Mesa will offer large one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging from 750 to over 1,000 square feet starting at $1,525/month. Be Mesa is located at 510 South Extension Rd. within close proximity to Banner Desert Medical Center, one of the area's largest hospitals and adjacent to Tempe, Gilbert and Chandler. Further, the property is well positioned to meet the needs of the area's major employers like Mesa Public Schools.

Be Mesa represents the first Arizona project for the Be Brand, and an addition to The Souferian Group's existing Arizona portfolio and its continued national expansion.

To learn more about this innovative rental community, visit www.beinmesa.com and follow along on Instagram at @BeByTSG.

About The Souferian Group

The Souferian Group is a best in class, fully integrated real estate investment and development company dedicated to developing innovative, value driven experiential projects. Their successful track record spans acquisitions and developments in multi-family, office, mixed-use, medical, retail and residential properties. The company offers expertise that spans every aspect of the real estate process from identifying acquisition properties, financing, entitlements and zoning, master planning, architecture and design, construction management, marketing, leasing and sales. The privately held company acquires and develops projects through its own direct investments or institutional joint venture partnerships. To learn more, visit TheSouferianGroup.com.

SOURCE The Souferian Group
ZUG, Switzerland, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitcoin Association for BSV, the Switzerland-based global industry organisation that works to advance business with the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain and digital currency, today announces that it has become a member of the Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association to support its growing mandate in Central Europe.

Like Bitcoin Association for BSV, the Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association is based in Zug  Switzerland's 'Crypto Valley'  from which it works to connect the growing blockchain communities in both Switzerland and Poland. Sharing several of the same goals for the development of a thriving global blockchain ecosystem, Bitcoin Association for BSV joins the Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association to build awareness of the BSV blockchain in both Switzerland and Poland, particularly for enterprises and governments.

As the only blockchain protocol which adheres to creator Satoshi Nakamoto's original design and vision for Bitcoin  both as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system and global data ledger for enterprise  BSV is fast becoming the distributed data network of choice for businesses and developers alike. With the ability to scale unbounded and support huge volumes of transactions, in addition to its micropayment, smart contract, tokenization and data functionalities, BSV is ideally suited to serve as the world's public data ledger for payments and enterprise data applications.

Recently, Bitcoin Association for BSV Technical Outreach Specialist for Central Europe Marcin Rzetecki  himself a Poland-native  participated in the Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association's webinar on the Metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the first of several planned engagements between the two associations.

To find out more about the Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association visit swisspolishblockchain.org.

Commenting on today's announcement, Bitcoin Association for BSV Managing Director Patrick Prinz said:

"A key pillar of the work that Bitcoin Association for BSV undertakes is connecting the Bitcoin SV community and BSV ecosystem with like-minded communities and innovators that are working to shape the direction of blockchain technology at scale. The Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association shares this aim  and many others  with our own organisation, making them an ideal partner for both our association and its membership. I look forward to working alongside them and collaborating to build a thriving global blockchain community from which we all stand to benefit."

Also commenting, President of the Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association Katharina Lasota Heller said:

"The Swiss Polish Blockchain Association (SPBA) is delighted to welcome the Bitcoin Association for BSV as a new member. The main goals of the SPBA are to build bridges, share knowledge and enable an exchange between blockchain passionate people in both: Switzerland and Poland. The Bitcoin Association for BSV has recently decided to broaden its activities into Poland. Joining the SPBA shall give both associations a unique possibility for deeper and stronger cooperation."

About Bitcoin Association for BSV

Bitcoin Association for BSV is the Switzerland-based global industry organisation that works to advance business on the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain. It brings together essential components of the BSV ecosystem  enterprises, start-up ventures, developers, merchants, exchanges, service providers, blockchain transaction processors (miners), and others  working alongside them, as well as in a representative capacity, to drive further use of the BSV blockchain and digital currency.

The Association works to build a regulation-friendly ecosystem that fosters lawful conduct while facilitating innovation using all aspects of Bitcoin technology. More than a digital currency and blockchain, Bitcoin is also a network protocol; just like Internet protocol, it is the foundational rule set for an entire data network. The Association supports use of the original Bitcoin protocol to operate the world's single blockchain on BSV.

SOURCE Bitcoin Association
VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Organization of Canadian Women in Public Relations and American Women in Public Relations (Women in PR North America) have developed a new website to bring together both entities into one cohesive brand platform.

The website has been designed to provide a user-friendly experience, with streamlined navigation and functionality, to allow visitors to see the full product offering from Women in PR North America.

Women in PR North America New Website - Our Programs Women in PR North America New Website - Homepage

The site has many new features, including quick facts tables to highlight past research, a story timeline to celebrate milestones, recommended partners and programs, a press centre, a new job board, and an overview of core offerings.

Visitors to the site can stay informed with the latest industry news through the improved Women in PR magazine, which contains member interviews, press releases, featured products, services, and community news.

"With our programs moving online, we felt it was the perfect opportunity to streamline our operations and create one main website for our community," stated Talia Beckett-Davis, Founder and CEO of Women in PR North America. "Our goal during the redesign process was to create a more valuable user experience and highlight our past event photos."

In addition, Women in PR North America has launched an online membership, the Collective Club, to bring together women working in public relations globally. Members receive access to PR leadership talks, and online career resources to help them move into leadership positions.

2022 PR Leadership Talks Include:

PR Best Practices for Writers and Authors with Julie Navickas , Burning Soul Press.

, Burning Soul Press. The Future of Influencer Marketing with Megan Taylor , Faulhaber Communications.

, Faulhaber Communications. How to Stay True to Yourself to Avoid Competition with Caroline Kalentzos, Posh PR.

Salary Renegotiation Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make with Michele Dye , Dyenamic Career Goals.

, Dyenamic Career Goals. The Inside Scoop on Internal Communications with Sarah Mawji , Sevans Strategy.

, Sevans Strategy. How To Build Meaningful Media Relationships with Nicole Rodrigues , NRPR Group.

, NRPR Group. Creating Consistency Compared to a Big Break with Taylor Baker , Resilient Innovation.

, Resilient Innovation. Incorporating Compassionate Marketing with Chandra Gore , Publicist.

, Publicist. Build Your Financial Confidence with Tracey Lundell , Sea Glass Wealth Advisory Group.

, Sea Glass Wealth Advisory Group. Navigating a Brand's Role in the Era of Charged Social Movements with Nesh Pillay, Press Pillay PR.

Women in PR North America is introducing innovative new initiatives to enable groups of PR practitioners across the Americas to advocate for major issues directly affecting women working in the PR industry today.

Visit the new website to learn more here: womeninpr.com

Women in PR North America

Canadian Women in Public Relations Ltd. (Women in PR Canada) and American Women in Public Relations (Women in PR USA) is an influential network of leading businesswomen striving for excellence in the field of public relations. Together, the organizations form the networking group Women in PR North America.

Media Contact:

Talia Beckett-Davis

[email protected]

778 840 1784

www.womeninpr.com

www.taliadavis.com

www.publicrelationsacademy.com

SOURCE Women in PR North America
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) announced that it has imposed an interim suspension of the CFP certification against James Iannazzo, which was effective on February 7, 2022.

On February 7, 2022, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission ("Commission") issued James Iannazzo of Southport, Connecticut an interim suspension of his right to use the CFP certification marks. CFP Board staff became aware of an incident in which Mr. Iannazzo verbally and physically abused certain employees of a smoothie shop, one of whom was reportedly a minor, near his home on January 22, 2022, which was captured on video and widely publicized through media and social media outlets. Mr. Iannazzo was arrested and charged with three crimes, including Intimidation Based on Bigotry or Bias in the Second Degree, a felony. Based on these facts, on January 25, 2022, CFP Board Counsel filed a Motion for Interim Suspension Order pursuant to Article 2.1.a.1. of CFP Board's Procedural Rules requesting that the Commission issue an Interim Suspension Order against Mr. Iannazzo. After reviewing the matter, a Hearing Panel of the Commission determined that CFP Board Counsel demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Iannazzo's conduct significantly impinges upon the reputation of the profession and the CFP certification marks. Therefore, the Commission issued an Interim Suspension Order to Mr. Iannazzo. Pursuant to the Interim Suspension Order, Mr. Iannazzo's right to use the CFP certification marks is suspended pending CFP Board's completed investigation and possible further disciplinary proceedings, effective immediately.

An interim suspension is a suspension of a CFP professional's Certification and Trademark License during the pendency of proceedings. A Respondent subject to an Interim Suspension Order must not use the CFP certification marks or state or suggest that Respondent is a CFP professional while the Interim Suspension Order is in effect. An Interim Suspension Order is a temporary sanction and does not preclude CFP Board from imposing a final sanction. An Interim Suspension Order will remain in place until the DEC or, if an appeal is filed, the Code and Standards Enforcement Committee (or CFP Board's Appeals Commission for appeals filed on or after February 21, 2022), issues a final order. CFP Board may vacate an Interim Suspension Order if a Criminal Conviction is vacated or reversed or if Respondent provides sufficient evidence indicating that Respondent was not the subject of a Criminal Conviction. A Hearing Panel of the DEC may issue an Order to vacate an Interim Suspension Order upon a successful Petition to Vacate an Interim Suspension Order by Respondent.

The basis for this decision also may be found on CFP Board's website at CFP.net/verify. At that website, the public may check on any individual's CFP Board disciplinary history and CFP certification status. The website also provides links to other sources of information about CFP professionals that may be more recent or that may contain information that has not led to CFP Board discipline and does not appear on CFP Board's website. That information may include customer disputes, disciplinary actions taken by a regulator or employer, certain criminal matters, and certain financial matters (such as bankruptcy proceedings and unpaid judgments or liens). For those who are subject to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversight, the website includes links to FINRA's BrokerCheck and the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure databases.

CFP Board's Enforcement Process

As part of their certification, CFP professionals make a commitment to CFP Board to uphold CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (Code and Standards), or its predecessor, the Standards of Professional Conduct (Standards), which included the Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Rules of Conduct and Financial Planning Practice Standards. CFP Board's Procedural Rules outline a peer-review, enforcement process for investigating matters and imposing sanctions where violations have been found.

CFP Board has a defined process for handling allegations of misconduct in violation of the Code and Standards or its predecessor Standards. It enforces its ethical standards by investigating alleged violations and, where there is probable cause to believe there are grounds for sanction, presents a Complaint containing the alleged violations to CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission). The Commission meets at least six times a year to review any matter in which CFP Board has alleged that a CFP professional has violated the Code and Standards, or its predecessor Standards. The Commission functions in accordance with the Procedural Rules and reviews all matters on a case-by-case basis, considering the details specific to an individual case.

If the Commission determines there are grounds for sanction, then it may impose a private or public sanction, depending on the seriousness of the matter. More information on CFP Board's enforcement process can be found at CFP.net/ethics/enforcement.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP certification  one of the most respected certifications in financial services  so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the public's awareness of CFP certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by firms and consumer groups as the standard for financial planning, CFP certification is held by more than 92,000 people in the United States.

SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Civic Federal Credit Union, a digital-first financial services firm serving North Carolina's local government employees and their families today announced a partnership with the NC Local Government Budgeting Association (NCLGBA) to launch a new endowed scholarship for college students in North Carolina.

The new scholarship program will benefit students pursuing a master's of public administration at a NC-based institution. It is designed to champion budgeting, strategy and performance management as viable career paths in local government.

Civic Federal Credit Union is helping to launch the fund as the first public donor with a $25,000 contribution to the program. The NCLGBA is adding $12,500 for a total of $37,500 in new scholarship funding. The NCLGBA will lead the scholarship program that will provide a minimum of $1,000 grants to qualifying NC students. The first scholarship from the program is expected to be awarded in the fall of 2022.

"We have a unique opportunity to encourage our students to consider leadership roles in local government, here at home in our North Carolina cities and towns," said Dwayne Naylor, President of Civic Federal Credit Union . "Our entire team is committed to access  for education needs, financial resources and talent development opportunities that can help improve people's lives across our state."

About Civic Federal Credit Union

As North Carolina's first digital credit union, Civic is a member-led organization that serves local government employees, their families, and small businesses. Created in 2018, Civic has reimagined financial services 'beyond the branch' and expanded access to financial services for people across the state using secure app and web technology for anytime and convenient banking options. The credit union designs products and services which empower people to achieve financial goals, increase financial wellness and, in turn, create stronger communities. Headquartered in Raleigh, Civic serves all 100 North Carolina counties from its LEED Gold-certified building .

Media Contact

Kiersten Wolf Williams

Principal

Genesis Strategies, LLC

[email protected]

(D) 917-873-3266

SOURCE Civic Federal Credit Union
Majority experienced a clinically meaningful improvement in stress and sleep quality, and a significant 74% average improvement in well-being

DENVER, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - (TSX:CWEB) (OTCQX:CWBHF) Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. ("Charlotte's Web" or the "Company"), the market leader in cannabidiol (CBD) hemp extract wellness products, shares the positive results from a randomized, controlled, clinical trial study which evaluated the effectiveness of hemp-derived CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web participated in the Radicle ACES (Advancing CBD Education and Science) study, conducted by Radicle Science, an independent health tech company validating health and wellness products. As part of a larger study, hundreds of participants from across the US used Charlotte's Web Original Formula for four weeks and were assessed for key health outcomes across five domains including general well-being, quality of life, sleep quality, feelings of daily stress or discomfort. Researchers conducted the study using standardized scientific methods and validated indices for measuring each outcome and tracked their progress repeatedly throughout the study.

"As a hemp company driven by sound science, we were encouraged by the Radicle Science study," Charlotte's Web President of CW Labs' Tim Orr said. "Independent third-party research and reporting on the efficacy of hemp wellness products help build long term consumer trust and is an ongoing commitment of Charlotte's Web."

"We're applying modern science to prove or predict the effectiveness of CBD products used by tens of millions of Americans every day," said Jeff Chen, MD/MBA, Co-founder and CEO of Radicle Science. "Our objective is to deliver accurate, transparent, and actionable insights to help create trust and transparency for the CBD industry."

People in the study regularly taking Charlotte's Web Original Formula on average realized a distinct and palpable improvement in their quality of life and well-being. A majority of people also experienced clinically meaningful improvements across the other health domains studied including sleep quality and feelings of daily stress or discomfort as compared to the baseline, before they started taking Charlotte's Web. People on average showed significant improvements as compared to the control group who did not take any hemp extract.

This clinical trial helps confirm the benefits of Charlotte's Web full spectrum hemp extract. 64% of participants with symptoms of stress experienced clinically meaningful improvements in their stress after taking Charlotte's Web Original Formula, versus only 22% of the control group. 60% of participants struggling with sleep issues experienced clinically meaningful improvements in sleep quality, versus only 15% of the control group. And participants who took Charlotte's Web experienced a significant 74% improvement in their well-being assessed using the World Health Organization (WHO)-5 Well Being Index. The study also showed that Charlotte's Web worked quickly with notable improvements on average occurring within the first week, and generally reported effect onset within four hours after using the product. The study is therefore helpful in addressing a common question around hemp CBD: "How long will it take to work?"

"Charlotte's Web and other responsible participants in the CBD industry continue prudent research investment to contribute data on the safety and efficacy of hemp. This increases the standard of trust and transparency for consumers, healthcare providers, and regulators," said Jacques Tortoroli, Chief Executive Officer of Charlotte's Web. "Our Original Formula remains as effective today as when it was first developed by the founding Stanley Brothers years ago and took the world by storm. Consistency from year to year and bottle to bottle is a core driver of the trust that Charlotte's Web has earned."

"The rigor, large scale and intentional heterogeneity of our studies deliver the first ever scalable path to validate the health effects of health and wellness products," said Pelin Thorogood, Co-founder and Executive Chair of Radicle Science. "We are proud to partner with industry leaders such as Charlotte's Web to inform evidence-based decision making for consumers, brands, healthcare providers and regulators alike, increasing trust and transparency for the CBD industry."

Subscribe to Charlotte's Web investor news.

About Radicle Science

Radicle Science is a transformative health tech B-corp offering the first ever scalable path to validate and predict the health effects of health and wellness products, transforming them into democratized precision solutions for ailments or enhancement of human function. Radicle Science leverages a proprietary data analytics platform and a virtual, direct-to-consumer (D2C) clinical trial model to deliver objective health outcome data across diverse populations and conditions, at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional methods. Our Radicle Vision is a future where affordable, accessible, consumer health products are trusted by patients, recommended by healthcare providers, reimbursed by insurance, and used as widely as pharmaceutical drugs. To learn more, please visit www.radiclescience.com and follow their LinkedIn page and Twitter page.

About Charlotte's Web Original Formula

In 2013, Colorado's seven Stanley Brothers famously developed a unique CBD hemp extract to help a little girl (Charlotte Figi) in need, and changed global perceptions around the wellness benefits of hemp. Charlotte's Web Original Formula full spectrum CBD hemp extract  first used by Charlotte Figi, the namesake of the Company - has been credited with supporting numerous wellness goals, improving lives, and launching a global CBD industry. The 2018 Farm Bill federally legalized hemp. Charlotte's Web is the Worlds Most Trusted Hemp Extract and continues to lead the way for consumer access. Since its founding, Charlotte's Web's mission has been "To unleash the healing powers of botanicals with compassion and science, benefiting the planet and all who live upon it."

About Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.

Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc., a Certified B Corporation headquartered in Denver, is the market leader in innovative hemp extract wellness products under a family of brands which includes Charlotte's Web, CBD Medic, CBD Clinic, and Harmony Hemp. Charlotte's Web branded premium quality products start with proprietary hemp genetics that are 100-percent American farm grown and manufactured into hemp extracts containing naturally occurring phytocannabinoids including cannabidiol ("CBD"), CBC, CBG, terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial hemp compounds. The Company's CW Labs R&D division, advances hemp science at two centers of excellence in Louisville, Colorado, and the Hauptmann Woodward Research Institute at the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network. Charlotte's Web product categories include full-spectrum hemp CBD oil tinctures (liquid products), CBD gummies (sleep, stress, exercise recovery), CBD capsules, CBD topical creams and lotions, as well as CBD pet products for dogs. Through its vertically integrated business model, Charlotte's Web maintains stringent control over product quality and consistency. Charlotte's Web products are distributed to more than 14,000 retail, over 8,000 health care practitioners, and online through the Company's website at www.CharlottesWeb.com.

Charlotte's Web is a science-driven and a socially and environmentally conscious company. It is committed to using business as a force for good and a catalyst for innovation. Charlotte's Web donates a portion of its pre-tax earnings to numerous charitable organizations in support of the greater good.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking information"). In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Specifically, this news release contains forward-looking information relating to the Company's expansion activities and growth strategy; the Company's expectations regarding future cash flow and its financial position; the results of cost saving efforts; the impact and results of the Company's reorganization; market share expectations; and impacts of regulatory changes.

Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's current expectations, estimates and projections regarding the future of our business, future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information include, among others, the factors discussed throughout the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's most recently filed annual information form available on www.SEDAR.com and in the Company's most recently filed Form 10, as amended, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available on www.SEC.com. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking information, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.

THE WORLD'S MOST TRUSTED HEMP EXTRACT

SOURCE Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.
Mr. Dobbeck recently served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Synergy55/Composites One. Prior to his CFO post he joined the company as Controller in 2011. At Composites One, Mr. Dobbeck has elevated financial services and operations support and provided a leadership role as the company works through an enterprise resource planning (ERP) transformation. He is well respected by the many team members that contribute to the success of Composites One.

Before joining Composites One, Mr. Dobbeck spent six and a half years at Deloitte in his last position as Audit Senior Manager. He holds a master of accountancy degree from the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to support our team members at Composites One in helping our customers grow their businesses," said Mr. Dobbeck.

Mr. Dobbeck will work closely with newly appointed President and CEO Leon Garoufalis as he transitions to his new role.

About Composites One

Composites One is North America's leading distributor of composites materials serving customers from more than 44 locations. Composites One provides composites fabricators and molders thousands of products from 600 of the industry's top suppliers through a technical sales, technical support, and customer service force that is the most knowledgeable in the industry. The company offers its customers a variety of value-added services that includes closed mold technologies, process enhancement guidance, regulatory compliance assistance and unmatched technical support. Composites One is headquartered in Schaumburg, IL. Find out more at www.compositesone.com.

SOURCE Composites One
Coqual's final study in a three-part series on equity surveyed nearly 4,000 college-educated, employed, full-time professionals in five global markets, to examine the experiences of employees with marginalized backgrounds in Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (UK). When it comes to race and ethnicity, much of the work in DE&I has been U.S.-centric, driven by underrepresentation of Black employees. Global DE&I work is complicated because ethnicity isn't always based on race, and cultural and ethnic distinctions vary markedly from country to country.

"Leaders at global organizations are hungry for guidance and eager to take action," said Lanaya Irvin, Coqual CEO. "Our new research underscores the importance of collaborating and acting locally and provides actionable ways companies can identify and understand the unique experiences of marginalized groups to achieve greater equity in the workplace."

DE&I work in the U.S. often treats race and ethnicity as synonymous (or close to it). Coqual finds only 22% of professionals in India say race is part of how they define their ethnicity compared to 60% in South Africa, 43% in China, 39% in the UK, and 28% in Brazil. Where race may be less salient, respondents cited other important factors that define their ethnicity such as: country of birth, language, and religion, among many others.

The study uncovers barriers to collecting data on ethnicity, including legal limitations, social constraints to open dialogue, and employee reluctance and fear. In India, nearly two in five (38%) Muslim professionals surveyed say they fear physical harm if they disclose their ethnicity at work. China-based focus group participants were reluctant to engage in discussions of ethnic discrimination and downplayed the role that ethnicity may play in achieving success. In the UK, professionals we spoke with were reluctant to discuss race and UK survey respondents were among the least likely in the study, second only to China, to say their company should encourage conversation about race and ethnicity.



"Companies are being called on to better support employees of marginalized backgrounds all over the world," said Julia Taylor Kennedy, Coqual Executive Vice President, who led the study. "When it comes to race and ethnicity, the outsider groups vary market-to-market. Our five-step process will guide business leaders to identify them, and to address the inequities they face."



Companies need guidance as they embark on global equity work. Coqual developed the following five-step process, rooted in rigorous methodology, for global DE&I leaders to identify and better understand marginalized ethnicity groups in any market:

Acknowledge a cultural starting point Identify marginalized groups Collect qualitative and quantitative data Partner and collaborate Distill and disseminate information

"We are proud to be the lead sponsor for this work that will help organizations better understand the nuanced nature of ethnicity-based marginalization in different global markets," said Carolanne Minashi, Global Head of Inclusion, HSBC. "To date, much of the analysis and insight has been on the UK and U.S., this global research widens our knowledge. We believe real change is starting to happen, it will take continued effort but collectively we can cultivate a more just world."



"At Google, we're always looking for ways to build equity within our workplace," said Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity Officer at Google. "It's why we continue to sponsor Coqual's critical research on DE&I and as a global company, learn from their valuable insights and recommendations."

To illustrate how ethnicity varies, Coqual applied its five-step process, focusing on two salient groups in each market (recognizing these are not the only marginalized groups worthy of corporate support).

BRAZIL

Brazil has a complex mix of ethnicities and racial identities, as well as deeply entrenched racial disparities. Coqual finds that Black professionals in Brazil are nearly four times as likely as White professionals to say they feel discriminated against at work most of the time. They are also the most likely racial group to say they see ethnic bias at work, and to feel silenced when discussing experiences related to race or ethnicity at work.

When it comes to religion in Brazil, the Roman Catholic tradition dominates cultural life and the workplace. The study finds non-Catholic professionals are more likely than their counterparts to feel misjudged and excluded at work most of the time. Additionally, when it comes to fitting in at work, non-Catholic Christian professionals are more than twice as likely as their Catholic peers to say they fit in less than colleagues, while those without religion are more than three times as likely to say the same.

CHINA

In China, Han Chinese have long been the dominant ethnic group. Coqual finds more than half (53%) of Han Chinese respondents say strong professional networks are important for success compared to their non-Han Chinese peers (28%). More than two in five Han Chinese respondents say fitting in is a requirement to advance compared to their non-Han Chinese peers. Additionally, non-Han Chinese professionals are more than twice as likely as their Han Chinese peers to say they feel excluded at work most of the time, but the Han Chinese respondents are more than twice as likely to say they change how they speak at work to fit in compared to their non-Han Chinese colleagues.

Hukou, China's national household registration system, also creates a divide between the rural (agriculture) vs. urban (nonagricultural) citizens, with designation based on place of birth and parental status. Coqual's data suggests rural hukou holders are less likely to feel they fit in at work and may minimize the importance of networks in career development compared to urban hukou holders.

INDIA

In India, striking disparities exist based on caste, particularly for those outside of the traditional caste system: Dalit, (formerly known as "untouchable"), and Adivasi (indigenous) groups. The study finds Dalit and Adivasi professionals are more likely than those from traditional castes to be negatively impacted at work, with more than half saying they feel invisible and alienated at work most of the time.

Compared to Hindu professionals in India, Muslim professionals are much more likely to experience negative emotions at work, with more than half feeling excluded (54%) and nearly half feeling alienated (47%) and misjudged (45%) most of the time.

SOUTH AFRICA

Race and heritage, often signified by native language, differentiate the experience of inclusion and equity at work in South Africa. The study finds that nearly half (45%) of Coloured professionals (people of mixed race) say they face more obstacles to career advancement than their peers and, 36% of them say their colleagues have assumed they are at a lower job level than they currently are. Coqual also finds that members of South Africa's Venda linguistic group often face exclusion at work. They are more likely than professionals of other linguistic heritage to say they face greater penalties or harsher evaluations.

UK

In the UK, race and religion stood out in the data. Coqual finds that Black, Asian, and Muslim professionals have significantly different experiences with workplace culture and career advancement compared to White and Christian respondents. At work, Coqual finds nearly half (47%) of Black professionals surveyed say that race affects the way people see or treat them, compared to their Asian (23%) and White colleagues (7%). Many professionals feel pressure to change aspects of their appearance and social life to fit in better with colleagues. Nearly one-third of Black professionals surveyed say that they change how they spend their free time to fit in with colleagues at work, and when it comes to appearance, more than one-third change their style of dress to fit in.

When it comes to religion, workplace norms in the UK are often more accommodating for Christian and nonreligious groups. Muslim respondents (31%) are more likely to say they receive less feedback compared to their Christian (15%) peers and those with no religion (9%). Additionally, one in four Muslim respondents feel misjudged at work most of the time.

While barriers to equity and opportunity and stark regional differences often exist for many groups, Coqual offers a roadmap for companies to tailor their global DE&I strategies to create inclusive, equitable workplaces for all.



Methodology: The research consists of a survey; focus groups, Insights In-Depth sessions (a proprietary web-based tool used to conduct voice-facilitated virtual focus groups), and one-on-one interviews with more than 100 professionals, experts, and practitioners in Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (U.S.). The survey was conducted online in August 2021 among 3,753 respondents (735 in Brazil, 817 in China, 790 in India, 707 in South Africa, and 704 in the UK), over the age of 21, currently employed full time in professional occupations, with at least a bachelor's degree. Data was weighted by gender and, where available, race, using available benchmarks for each market. The base used for statistical testing was the effective base. The survey was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago under the auspices of Coqual, a nonprofit research organization. NORC was responsible for the data collection, while Coqual conducted the analysis. In the charts, percentages may not always add up to 100 because of computer rounding or the acceptance of multiple responses from respondents.

Lead Sponsor, HSBC; Research Sponsors: Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY); Google; Intel Corporation; Johnson & Johnson; and S&P Global

Research Advisors: Dr. Ifedapo Adeleye, Professor of the Practice of Human Resources Management, Georgetown University; Dr. Joshua Castellino, Executive Director, Minority Rights Group International and Professor of Law at the School of Law, Middlesex University, Birgit Neu, Senior DEI Advisor and former Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at HSBC.

About Coqual: Coqual (formerly Center for Talent Innovation) is a global, nonprofit think tank dedicated to helping leaders design diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces where every person belongs. Founded in 2004, Coqual provides in- depth research, thought leadership, and data-driven, actionable solutions for companies to address bias and barriers to inclusion for underrepresented populations in the workplace. Coqual's cutting-edge research and Advisory Services focus on gender, race, ethnicity, disability, veteran status and LGBTQ identities, and othersas well as the intersections among these groups. For more information, visit www.coqual.org .

SOURCE Coqual
Bagshaw, a seasoned business executive, brings a wealth of operational, marketing and business development experience to DSI as the company ushers in a new era for how power is delivered. Mr. Bagshaw's diverse industry experience is underscored by a proven track record that spans over three decades, consistently producing breakthrough market growth, revenue and profitability.

According to Brantly Turner, one of the founding owners of DSI, "On behalf of our ownership group, we could not be more pleased to have Jeff join DSI. After an extensive candidate review, his proven executive leadership skills and international business experience spoke volumes as we expand our business across North America."

Most recently, Mr Bagshaw served as Vice President of Global Business Development at IQVIA Biotech. Prior to IQVIA, he served as President and CEO of E2 Technology, where he successfully negotiated strategic relationships with national utility companies, large-scale energy cooperatives and fortune 500 corporations.

"As our world is looking to companies who can provide transformational energy solutions, the opportunity to make a difference is clear at DSI" Bagshaw expressed. "I am looking forward to implementing strategic initiatives that allow us to rapidly grow our utility-scale solar electrical and solar contracting services to complement DSI's amazing history of success."

Jeff received his BS in Marketing from University of Tennessee in 1986. He has achieved success in executive roles across the pharmaceutical, energy management and clinical research industries, working for some of the largest and most respected organizations in the world.

About DSI

DSI provides specialized electrical utility and utility-scale solar construction services to some of the nation's leading energy developers, private industry, and public utilities. The company provides construction, operations and maintenance services to bring electric power and renewable energy sources to hundreds of millions in North America. In business since 2005, the company is headquartered in Hope Mills, North Carolina with operations that extend throughout the United States.

SOURCE DSI
DENVER, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Everside Health, LLC ("Everside"), a leading national direct primary care provider, today announced that it has received the 2022 Best in KLAS award for Employer Sponsored Healthcare Services Provider. Everside's direct to employer primary care model is a recognized solution for labor unions, school districts, municipalities and companies of all sizes looking to provide affordable, accessible healthcare customized to the needs of their employees. Best in KLAS means healthcare customers consider Everside Health the leader in Employer Sponsored Healthcare Services. To determine its rankings, KLAS validated customer experiences with over 100 employers.

Everside offers complete preventive health services  including mental and occupational healthcare  to over 575,000 patients at onsite or near site employer workforces, as well as virtually. This approach has been successful in helping employees better manage a wide array of costly, chronic health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, due to Everside's ability to treat health issues early before they require more expensive urgent care. On average, employers on the Everside program also save 17% on claims costs by year three and 31% by year five, based on retrospective savings analysis.

Chris Miller, CEO of Everside Health, said, "We are proud to accept the Best in KLAS award for Employer Sponsored Healthcare Services for 2022  our second in the past four years. This honor reflects our commitment to keeping workforces healthy and active while reducing the total cost of care for patients and employers alike. We are grateful for our clients and will continue serving by their side as their partner in better health."

Adam Gale, CEO of KLAS Research, said, "Each year, thousands of healthcare professionals across the globe take the time to share their voice with KLAS. They know that sharing their perspective helps vendors to improve and helps their peers make better decisions. These conversations are a constant reminder to me of how necessary accurate, honest, and impartial reporting is in the healthcare industry. The Best in KLAS report and the awards it contains set the standard of excellence for software and services firms. Vendors who win the title of Best in KLAS should celebrate and remember that providers now accept only the best from their products and services. The Best in KLAS award serves as a signal to provider and payer organizations that they should expect excellence from the winning vendors."

Everside, which operates more than 375 health centers in over 145 U.S. markets across 34 states, previously announced that it opened 52 health centers in 2021, an increase of 42% from the prior year.

About Everside Health

Everside Health is one of the largest direct primary care providers in the U.S., operating 375+ health centers in 34 states located at or near the facilities of its employer, union and other benefit sponsor clients. Everside's patient-focused, care-obsessed, technology-driven healthcare delivery model aligns incentives to benefit the patient, the physician and the benefit provider, all while reducing the total cost of care. Patients receive convenient, low- or no-cost access to physicians and 24/7 virtual care, reducing the need for costly ER use. Everside Health is based in Denver, Colorado. For more information, visit www.eversidehealth.com.

About KLAS

KLAS is a research and insights firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery by amplifying the provider's voice. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data and insights on software, services and medical equipment to deliver timely reports, trends and statistical overviews. The research directly represents the provider voice and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance. Follow KLAS on Twitter. Learn more on the KLAS website.

Press Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE Everside Health
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Strategikon Pharma announced today they are adding a new application to complete the Clinical Maestro Sponsor Edition platform- VISION for R&D vendor management. This major update to their Clinical Maestro platform is a powerful, first-to-market, clinical vendor governance solution that uniquely addresses the requirements of biopharmaceutical companies for R&D oversight and vendor performance management.

Vendor management is a key activity in biopharma R&D management involving multiple departments: Outsourcing, Procurement, Finance, Quality, and Clinical Operations. This complex set of data resides in Excel spreadsheets and disparate systems, requiring manual consolidation of key performance indicators and risk scores. With more pressure than ever to comply with oversight regulations, quality standards, and faster, data-driven decisions, the frustration with the process is reaching peak levels.

VISION, part of the Clinical Maestro platform of SaaS applications, is an innovative, fit-for-purpose solution that provides all the key elements of vendor quality and strategic management including contracts, operational performance, quality, and financial KPIs under a single, visionary umbrella. It enables clear visibility into vendors' activity details across studies, departments, therapeutic areas, and geography through powerful data integration and dashboards, eliminating >90% of manual activities and data entry associated with vendor performance tracking. VISION is easily configurable to address the specific needs of small, medium, and large pharmaceutical sponsors.

"We designed the Clinical Maestro Sponsor Edition to address all the major pain points of clinical business operations through cutting-edge technology: clinical study planning and budgeting, outsourcing management, contract tracking, and forecasting. With the addition of VISION, we are completing the cycle by bringing new vendor qualification, existing vendor risk scoring and performance management under the same ecosystem, giving strategic sourcing managers, quality groups, and outsourcing teams unprecedented transparency into all key aspects of vendor governance," said Anca Copaescu, Founder and CEO of Strategikon Pharma.

About Clinical Maestro by Strategikon

Clinical Maestro is a SaaS solution that equips all participants in developing clinical trials, including both Biopharmaceutical companies and R&D Service Providers with state-of-the-art tools to budget, source, and manage faster, more accurately, and with less effort. Please visit www.clinicalmaestro.com for more details.

Contact:

Karen Wills

Strategikon

617-899-0986

[email protected]

SOURCE Strategikon Pharma
SAN CARLOS, Calif., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Gala Therapeutics, Inc. (Gala), a developer of medical devices to treat pulmonary disease, today announced the first worldwide commercial procedures using the RheOx Bronchial Rheoplasty system for the treatment of the symptoms of chronic bronchitis. The first Bronchial Rheoplasty cases were performed by Professor Stefano Gasparini, Polytechnic University of Marche hospital, and Dr. Lina Zuccatosta, Director Pulmonary Diseases Unit, University Hospital Ancona in Ancona, Italy. Dr. Michela Bezzi, Director of Interventional Pulmonology, University Hospital Brescia in Brescia, Italy, also treated patients in commercial cases in the first week.

RheOx is a new system that endoscopically delivers non-thermal pulsed electric field (PEF) energy to the lung airways to reduce mucus-producing cells. It is the first medical device available for sale in Europe to treat the symptoms of chronic bronchitis.

"For more than 30 years I have witnessed patients with chronic bronchitis struggle with frequent coughing attacks, excess mucus production, and limitations on their quality of life, but we did not have a solution to help them," explained Prof. Gasparini, who also is Vice Chair, World Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology. "The RheOx system is a significant advancement in managing chronic bronchitis patients. It is an intuitive, minimally invasive procedure that I believe will change the treatment of chronic bronchitis. I'm excited to be the first in the world to offer patients bronchial rheoplasty to improve their quality of life."

Chronic bronchitis, a phenotype of COPD, affects an estimated 3-16% of the population worldwide.1 Patients experience prolonged inflammation and excess mucus in the lung airways, causing severe coughing spells, wheezing, chest pain and shortness of breath.2 Chronic bronchitis can develop after exposure to cigarette smoke, vaping, airborne chemicals, and other pollutants and irritants. Current treatments are directed at bronchodilation and reducing inflammation, without addressing the root cause of the overproduction of mucus.

"We are excited to launch the RheOx system in Europe for patients who suffer from chronic bronchitis, and we are already seeing strong demand from the clinical community," said Jonathan Waldstreicher, MD, CEO of Gala Therapeutics. "We will continue to introduce the therapy at other European respiratory centers of excellence in the coming months while simultaneously conducting the global RheSolve pivotal clinical trial to support FDA approval."

About RheOx

RheOx is designed to reduce mucus-producing cells in patients with chronic bronchitis through a minimally invasive bronchoscopic procedure called bronchial rheoplasty. The revolutionary RheOx technology includes an electrosurgical generator and a single-use catheter that together deliver non-thermal energy to the airways to reduce the number of abnormal mucus-producing cells, making way for new normal cells to redevelop. In 2019, RheOx received CE Mark in the European Union and U.S. Food and Drug Administration Breakthrough Device Designation. RheOx is limited by U.S. federal law to investigational use only.

About Gala Therapeutics

Gala Therapeutics, a privately held medical device company based in San Carlos, Calif., is dedicated to developing disease-modifying therapies that improve survival, quality of life, and outcomes for patients with pulmonary diseases. Formed by ATP, a leader in life sciences venture capital, Gala builds technologies to address the needs of interventional pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, and all physicians who treat pulmonary disease.

References:

1Mejza, F. Prevalence and burden of chronic bronchitis symptoms: results from the BOLD study. Eur Respir J 2017; 50: 1700621.

2Chronic Bronchitis. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/chronic-bronchitis

SOURCE Gala Therapeutics
DUBLIN, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Wound Care Market Research Report: By Product Type, Wound Type, Age Group, End User - Global Industry Revenue Estimation and Demand Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global wound care market revenue is predicted to witness a 5.5% CAGR during 2021-2030, to reach $34,459.2 million by 2030.

The rising prevalence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes; increasing cases of burns and other types of injuries, and booming geriatric population are propelling the demand for wound care products.



Manufacturing facilities of wound care market players were shut down in the beginning of 2020 to lessen the spread of the COVID-19 infection among workers. Additionally, lockdowns and movement restrictions forced people inside their homes, which substantially reduced the incidence of chemical burns and road accidents, thereby pushing down the demand for wound care products.



Wound closure, advanced, and traditional are the categories of the wound care market, based on product type. Among these, in 2020, the market was dominated by the advanced category, and the same trend is expected till 2030. Advanced wound care offers faster wound healing and more-effective infection control and leads to fewer drainage issues.



North America was the largest wound care market in 2020 due to the increasing demand for such products among the elderly, technological advancements in such products due to extensive research and development (R&D), and surging spending on healthcare. Asia-Pacific (APAC) will likely grow the fastest till 2030, driven by the booming geriatric population and increasing number of burns and traumatic wounds.



In order to improve their position in the wound care market, the providers of such products are engaging in mergers and acquisitions.



For instance, in February 2020, an agreement was signed by Essity AB for the acquisition of 75% shares of ABIGO Medical AB, a medical solutions firm based in Sweden. ABIGO Medical AB offers a range of advanced wound care solutions, including Sorbact. With the acquisition, Essity AB widened its portfolio of advanced wound care products that prevent bacterial invasion without making the body resistant to antibiotics.



In the same way, in April 2019, Leaf Healthcare Inc., which developed the Leaf Patient Monitoring System for patient mobility monitoring and pressure injury prevention, was acquired by Smith & Nephew PLC. After a two-year exclusive distribution and strategic investment partnership with Leaf Healthcare, Smith & Nephew acquired the latter to improve its advanced wound care portfolio.



Market Dynamics

Trends

Shift in preference from traditional products to advanced therapies

Drivers

Growing geriatric population

Increasing prevalence of diabetes

High rate of injuries and trauma cases

Increasing prevalence of chronic wounds

Rising cases of burns

Impact analysis of drivers on market forecast

Restraints

High cost of advanced wound dressing products

Inability of traditional wound dressing to treat severe wounds

Impact analysis of restraints on the market forecast

Opportunities

Developing economies offer lucrative growth opportunities

Impact of COVID-19

Porter's Five Forces Analysis

Market Segments

By Product Type

Advanced

Dressing

Foam

Hydrocolloid

Film

Alginate

Antimicrobial

Hydrogel

Collagen

Hydrofiber

Wound contact layer

Superabsorbent

Therapy device

NPWT device

Pressure relief device

Biologic

Skin substitute

Collagen-based

Growth factor

Wound closure

Suture

Hemostat

Surgical staple

Adhesive & tissue sealant

Wound closure strip

Traditional

Bandage

Fixation tape

Gauze

Sponge

Abdominal pad

Others

By Wound Type

DFU

Pressure ulcer

Surgical & traumatic wound

Burn

VLU

Others

By Age Group

By End User

Hospital & clinic

Homecare setting

Long-term care setting

Company Profiles

Hollister Incorporated

DeRoyal Industries Inc.

ConvaTec Group plc

Johnson & Johnson

Smith & Nephew PLC

Molnlycke Health Care AB

3M Company

Company Essity AB

Paul Hartmann AG

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Coloplast A/S

Tecnoquimicas S.A.

Beiersdorf AG

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation

Wright Medical Group N.V.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mfca7e

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "IT Training Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global IT training market reached a value of US$ 70.2 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 87.3 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 3.9% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, they are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use sectors. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor



Information technology (IT) training comprises imparting knowledge and skills related to the development, application, implementation, design and management of computer-based systems. With the increasing adoption of the latest technologies by organizations worldwide, IT training has become essential for companies to carry out their operations in an efficient manner. Proper IT training prepares a company to manage its data and resources effectively and boosts the efficiency and productivity of its employees



With the growing adoption of smartphones and smart wearables technology, many firms and users are increasingly opting for mobile-based IT training. This helps the learners to access the information anytime and anywhere on their mobile devices. Moreover, the constantly evolving technology and growing business needs require regular training programs for employees to help them understand the latest developments in the market. This has also created a positive impact on the market. Earlier, corporate training used to add significant expenses for organizations.

However, companies can now save on costs and expenses by providing IT training through e-learning methods to their staff. Additionally, governments and public bodies are also formulating policies and making investments to facilitate the expansion of educational technology and e-learning methods. This has resulted in an increasing demand for IT expertise to impart knowledge and skills in students as well as teachers

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined with some of the key players being Avent Academy, CGS, Corpex, Dell, ExecuTrain, ExitCertified, Fast Lane, Firebrand, Global Knowledge, GP Strategies, HP, IBM, ILX Group, LearnQuest, New Horizon, Oracle, QA, and SAP



Key Question Answered in this Report

1. What is the size of the global IT training market?

2. What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global IT training market?

3. What are the key factors driving the global IT training market?

4. What is the breakup of the global IT training market based on the application?

5. What is the breakup of the global IT training market based on the end user?

6. What are the key regions in the global IT training market?

7. Who are the key players/companies in the global IT training market?



Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global IT Training Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Application

6.1 IT Infrastructure Training

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Enterprise Application and Software Training

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Cyber Security Training

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Database and Big Data Training

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast

6.5 Others

6.5.1 Market Trends

6.5.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by End-User

7.1 Corporate

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Schools and Colleges

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Others

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Region



9 SWOT Analysis



10 Value Chain Analysis



11 Porters Five Forces Analysis



12 Price Analysis



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Market Structure

13.2 Key Players

13.3 Profiles of Key Players

13.3.1 Avent Academy

13.3.2 CGS

13.3.3 Corpex

13.3.4 Dell

13.3.5 ExecuTrain

13.3.6 ExitCertified

13.3.7 Fast Lane

13.3.8 Firebrand

13.3.9 Global Knowledge

13.3.10 GP Strategies

13.3.11 HP

13.3.12 IBM

13.3.13 ILX Group

13.3.14 LearnQuest

13.3.15 New Horizon

13.3.16 Oracle

13.3.17 QA

13.3.18 SAP



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yfj641

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]







For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900







U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716



SOURCE Research and Markets
AUSTIN, Minn., Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) invites you to participate in a webcast and conference call with Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, and Jacinth Smiley, executive vice president and chief financial officer, to discuss the company's first quarter financial results. The company will issue its earnings press release before the markets open on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, and will host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. CT (10:00 a.m. ET).

WHEN: Tuesday, March 1, 2022





9:00 a.m. CT (10:00 a.m. ET)



WEBCAST: To listen to a live webcast of the conference call, go to the company's website, http://www.hormelfoods.com, click on Investors, and you will find a link to the webcast.



PHONE: Dial toll-free 888-317-6003 at least 10 minutes prior to the call.





From outside the United States, call 412-317-6061. Please note: all dial-in participants should quote the conference ID of 0574068 to access the call.



If you have difficulty accessing the call, please contact:

Chorus Call

Customer Service

(800) 967-4633





AUDIO REPLAY: To listen to a replay of the conference call, go to the company's website http://www.hormelfoods.com, click on Investors, then click on News & Events and you will find a link to the webcast.

About Hormel Foods  Inspired People. Inspired Food.

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $11 billion in annual revenues across 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters, SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, WHOLLY, Hormel Black Label, Columbus and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list by Forbes magazine for three years, is one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has appeared on Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" list for 12 years, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement  Inspired People. Inspired Food.  to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com.

Investor Relations

(507) 437-5248

[email protected]

Media Relations

(507) 434-6352

[email protected]

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation
MIAMI, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hotelier Michael Krymchantowski title as the bona fide pioneer of Wynwood commercial development is soaring to new heights with a new property opening in 2024.

Hotelier Michael Krymchantowski Hotelier Michael Krymchantowski

One of the hottest neighborhoods in Miami continues to hold its stellar reputation due to the trailblazing efforts that Krymchantowski took when he opened the very first hotel in the neighborhood, Krymwood Flats. The premiere original business in the area is now celebrating a 10th anniversary. The legendary area of Miami would never have been what it is today without Krymchantowski's business model and vision.

"When I found the neighborhood all my friends said I was crazy to finance in this underdeveloped zone," he stated while talking about the initial project. "I helped to clean the area. I made it a safe and hip place to stay in Miami."

Hotelier Michael Krymchantowski is a successful Brazilian businessman who was one of the first to open doors on the streets that once laid out some undesirable abandoned lots. It was not overnight, but rather years of perseverance that brought in financial gain and an outstanding reputation as a property developer.

Now in a landmark real estate deal, Wynwood is set to break ground on the first-ever luxury hotel in the neighborhood. The developer in association with MKDA Executive Managing Director of Design, Amanda Herzler, and legendary commercial lender, Ken Klein with Berk Ocal of QKapital Group are merging talents to cultivate the deal that will bring high-end accommodations to one of Miami's hottest neighborhoods.

Financing for the project with QKapital Group is complete and Krymchantowski has signed an exclusive architectural contract with MKDA offices to launch the property at 176 NW0 28th Street in the heart of the artistic and lively Wynwood region.

Find out more about the journey that Krymchantowski has been on to create the property that changed Miami forever for the better. For more information on Wynwood's first hotel, as well as Krymchantowski's future project of a new luxury hotel being developed with Ken Klein of QKapital Group contact Glo Creative today.

CONTACT:

Glo Creative

[email protected]

786-623-3911

SOURCE Krymwood
JobSage releases a list of the best cities in the United States for entrepreneurs of color. Tweet this

Using data from the United State Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey, JobSage determined ten cities that stand out as places where minority-owned startups thrive.

St. Louis, Missouri

Fresno, California

San Antonio, Texas

Orlando, Florida

Baltimore, Maryland

San Jose, California

Washington, D.C.

Seattle, Washington

Houston, Texas

Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

These ten metros were among the highest ranked in areas such as percentage of startups that are minority-owned, total number of minority-owned startups, annual sales at minority-owned startups, and more. JobSage also considered support available to business owners of color in each city including local chambers of commerce, funding opportunities, and startup accelerators.

To learn more about these ten cities and their resources for business owners of color, visit JobSage's Best Cities for Entrepreneurs of Color.

About JobSage

JobSage is an employee review platform that brings insight to the things that matter most to jobseekers: inclusive workplaces, opportunities for growth, a sense of purpose, meaningful feedback, and flexibility.

As a third party, we're able to maintain employee privacy and provide a safe space for employees to share with honesty. Moreover, employees can provide their demographic information, which gives jobseekers more context into these insights. Combined, this approach lets JobSage create authentic, accessible conversations about what it is really like to work at a company.

SOURCE JobSage
"UFCW is committed to establishing and maintaining high standards for cannabis workers," said Joe Duffle, President of UFCW Local 1167. "This agreement is historic for the number of workers it covers at one of the most well-known companies in the industry, and it has the potential to be a model contract for all employers who put the respect and dignity of workers as a top priority. Together, we can continue to raise standards for everyone in this rapidly developing industry."

One of the fastest growing cannabis brands in the world, STIIIZY along with its sister stores Authentic and Flight, made history by coming together with the union to offer competitive wages and benefits. STIIIZY will continue to implement local hiring practices that ensure these union jobs aid the local community. The majority of STIIIZY employees are historically under-represented and under-protected in the cannabis industry, with people of color making up more than 56 percent.

"We applaud the Shryne Group for its commitment to its workers and our communities by having a universal CBA in place," said Mark Ramos, President of UFCW Local 1428. "Their commitment to retail workers' rights and putting employees' health and safety first set an encouraging example for the rest of the emerging cannabis industry."

While previous California cannabis contracts were negotiated regionally or locally, the new agreement covers retail employees throughout the state, offering quality healthcare benefits, workplace protections, competitive standardized wages with annual increases, pension contributions (from a first-of-its-kind, employer-funded pension plan), generous sick leave policy, and guarantees of hours.

"This is the first time a company of any kind, not just cannabis, has sought out various chapter presidents of a union, bringing everyone to the table to create a universal CBA, to cover all our retail locations, including new stores yet to open," said Raquel Origel, board member and acting head of HR at Shryne Group. "As a woman of color, I am proud that we went beyond words and took decisive action to ensure workers' rights are protected and prioritized."

"We see this global agreement as a great benefit for legalized cannabis, creating a uniform set of workers' rights and protections across the state of California," noted Tak Sato, President of Shryne Group. "We appreciate the UFCW's shared vision of building the cannabis industry together."

About Shryne Group Inc.

Shryne Group Inc. is a Los Angeles-based cannabis holding company with a vertically integrated asset and license portfolio covering the breadth of California, the largest legal cannabis market in the world. The company has 20 open retail locations across California with plans for 40+ locations open by the end of 2022. Shryne Group has cultivation, manufacturing and distribution facilities in Humboldt County, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Lompoc and has more than 2,500 employees across business lines. While rooted in California, the company also sells products in Arizona, Nevada, and Michigan.



Shryne Group's flagship brand STIIIZY has a passionate following and is inspired by authentic cannabis culture, with the goal of providing high quality cannabis products at affordable prices. The STIIIZY product line is the #1 selling vape brand nationally, the #1 overall cannabis brand in California, and the #3 selling cannabis brand overall nationally. For more information, visit www.shrynegroup.com.

SOURCE Shryne Group Inc.
CHICAGO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Livingstone is pleased to announce the sale of Messenger Holdings, LLC ("Messenger" or the "Company") to PNC Riverarch Capital ("Riverarch"). Deal terms were undisclosed.

Livingstone

Messenger, founded in 1913 and headquartered in Auburn, Indiana, is North America's largest and most comprehensive provider of memorialization products, tech-enabled financial services, and technology solutions to funeral homes nationwide. The Company built its best-in-class reputation and unrivaled customer network over 100+ years as a manufacturer and marketer of memorial stationery, urns, and specialty consumer products, including jewelry and other keepsakes. In recent years, Messenger leveraged its powerful distribution reach, brand equity, and industry relationships to broaden its product lines to include innovative technology and life insurance assignment solutions through the funeral home and cemetery specialty retail channel.

"The funeral products industry is poised to continue its strong secular growth trajectory, and the Messenger team's market position is uniquely suited to provide its customers and families with the best products and services in the industry," asserted Andrew Isgrig, Partner at Livingstone.

PNC Riverarch Capital is a middle-market private equity firm. PNC Riverarch invests in market-leading companies where it can partner with management to support accelerated growth. PNC Riverarch is based in Pittsburgh and is the private equity affiliate of The PNC Financial Services Group.

"We are proud to have represented the Messenger team for a second successful transaction, having previously advised the Company on its exit from Prairie Capital in 2015," added Ryan Buckley, Partner at Livingstone.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL served as legal counsel while RSM US LLP provided transaction-related accounting services to Messenger. Dentons Cohen & Grigsby P.C. served as legal counsel and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP provided transaction-related accounting services to Riverarch.



About Livingstone:

Livingstone is an international mid-market M&A and debt advisory firm with offices in Beijing, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, and Stockholm. We have deep industry expertise, and extensive global coverage, with dedicated teams across our offices serving five segments: Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial, and Media & Technology.

Visit the Livingstone website to learn more: www.livingstonepartners.com

Media Contact:

Olga Jewusiak

773-505-8315

[email protected]

SOURCE Livingstone
HOUSTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Milton Street Capital, a Houston-based private equity firm, is pleased to announce the promotion of Kevin Crook to Partner and Chief Compliance Officer, Tim Bernica to Partner, and the hiring of Brian Hensley as Vice President on the investment team.

Kevin Crook joined the firm in 2018 as a Vice President and previously worked at The Sterling Group and Raymond James. With this promotion, Crook will now be a member of Milton Street's investment committee and oversee all firm compliance. Crook currently sits on the boards of Milton Street portfolio companies Woodsage and Kreg Therapeutics and previously sat on the board of American Trailer Rental Group.

Tim Bernica joined the firm in 2018 as a Vice President and previously worked at The Sterling Group and Lazard. With this promotion, Bernica will now be a member of Milton Street's investment committee. Bernica currently sits on the boards of Milton Street portfolio companies IC Biomedical and ZXP Technologies.

"We have known and worked with Kevin and Tim for the last 15 years combined, including prior to the formation of Milton Street," said Francis Carr, Managing Partner at Milton Street. "They are both exceptionally bright and hardworking. Just as importantly, Kevin and Tim share our values as well as our passion for working alongside management teams to transform lower middle market businesses. The opportunity to develop Kevin and Tim into first chair investors has been our privilege."

Brian Hensley will be responsible for transaction evaluation and deal execution as well as portfolio company management. Prior to joining Milton Street, Hensley spent over five years at Intrepid Financial Partners where he advised on M&A, restructuring, and capital raises in the energy sector. Additionally, Brian was a mezzanine lender at Macquarie and a merchant banking analyst at Parkman Whaling.

About Milton Street Capital

Milton Street is a Houston-based private equity firm focused on control investments in North American lower middle market industrial manufacturing, rental, distribution, and service companies with EBITDA typically ranging from $5 million to $20 million. The firm seeks opportunities to create value and transform companies into sustainably great businesses through active engagement in strategy, human capital, and commercial and operational improvements.

Contact

Kendall Childers

[email protected]

SOURCE Milton Street Capital LLC
"We are thrilled to be recognized as an employer that has made significant investment in the Massachusetts health science sector, and we are grateful to the Town of Westborough for nominating Olympus," said Richard Reynolds, President of the Medical Systems Group at Olympus America, Inc. "The expansion of our medical business in Massachusetts furthers our ability to support physicians in diagnosing and treating diseases and disorders, such as colorectal cancer. With this new investment, we also deepen our impact throughout the state as we further our connections and collaborations with health care and community partners."

Olympus is among 14 award-winning companies that will be honored at a dinner being held Thursday, April 7, 2022, at the Gillette Stadium Putnam Club in Foxboro, Mass. Winning companies were selected for their outstanding contributions to the Massachusetts economy, which included establishing new operations in Massachusetts or expanding existing operations.

Company expansion projects represented in this year's Economic Impact Award include a financial investment over $3.9 billion, 1.375 million in additional square feet of facilities, and approximately 975 new jobs in Massachusetts. Other factors considered in the evaluation were social impact through community involvement/philanthropic efforts and equity, diversity, and inclusion practices.

"The commitment of these companies to innovate, invest and grow in Massachusetts is emblematic of the broader vitality of our economy and the workforce that drives it," said Peter Abair, Executive Director of MassEcon. "We are incredibly honored to recognize these companies and their achievements."

The 150,000-square-foot Olympus facility located at 800 West Park Drive in Westborough, Mass., will enable coordinated and agile management processes to support a global medical technology enterprise. Olympus has taken a conservative approach to the company's return to the office plans with a primary focus on employee safety and wellbeing. With the successful continuation of business operations done virtually, the company has implemented a hybrid scheduling option for all office-based employees once the company determines it is safe to fully reopen facilities.

With this new campus and recent announcements about the company's new medical business direction, Olympus expects that there will be positions opening at Westborough. Job listings can be found at https://careers.olympusamerica.com

About Olympus

Olympus is passionate about creating customer-driven solutions for the medical, life sciences, and industrial equipment industries. For more than 100 years, Olympus has focused on making people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling by helping to detect, prevent, and treat disease; furthering scientific research; and ensuring public safety. Olympus is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with more than 35,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries and regions.

Olympus Corporation of the Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Olympus Corporation, is headquartered in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USA, and employs more than 5,500 employees throughout locations in North and South America. For more information, visit www.olympusamerica.com.

About MassEcon

MassEcon's mission is to promote and champion Massachusetts as the best place to start, grow and locate a business. Built upon a robust network of corporate and civic members, MassEcon convenes public and private sector leaders of industry to create an inclusive business ecosystem that enhances job growth across a diverse talent pool; promotes investment in all communities; expands equitable opportunities throughout the Commonwealth.

SOURCE Olympus
"Orvis is a purpose-led company. For 165 years we've led through our commitment to connecting our customers to the natural world and protecting the places and passions we share for future generations. Over the last decade, we've doubled down on our brand vision through an omnichannel approach, and we've tapped Sheila to work with our incredible team to continue delivering on our ethos. Her 20-year career growing and strengthening global, mission-driven brands made her a clear choice to elevate what Orvis stands for in the lives of our customers and partners across all touchpoints," says Orvis President Simon Perkins.

Pollak will lead efforts to channel Orvis' brand values to grow the company's awareness and customer base, build community and future generations of conservationists, and further evolve meaningful storytelling and engagement across omnichannel touchpoints.

"This is an incredibly exciting time for Orvis. As the leader in the fly-fishing community and trusted guide to unforgettable outdoor adventures, we have the honor of enjoying relationships with our customers for decades if not generations. With outdoor participation at an all-time high and wellness and conservation being more important to people than ever before, we are well-positioned to create positive impact for our customers and all those seeking an inspired life outdoors for the next 165 years," says Pollak.

Under Perkins' leadership, Pollak's arrival is the latest in executive-team hires over the last two years. Fellow former Gap executive and Nike V.P. of Global Apparel Reenie Benziger joined Orvis as chief product officer in December 2020. Rebecca Jones assumed the chief people officer role in October 2021, having previously led global human resources strategy for European Wax Center.

Pollak was most recently senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Biossance, a sustainable, eco-friendly skincare company. Prior to that, she spent 16 years within the Gap Inc. family of brands, including 10 years at Athleta. As chief marketing officer, Sheila led Athleta to double-digit revenue and earnings growth and the launch of the Power of She brand platform.

About The Orvis Company: Founded in 1856, we believe the most meaningful experiences are created by sharing the love of nature and being inspired by its endless possibilities. Orvis pioneered the mail order industry in the United States, operates more than 80 retail stores in the U.S and the U.K., and maintains a network of over 400 dealers worldwide as a trusted source of discovery and adventure in the natural world. We promise to open the door to extraordinary outdoor experiences, and to protect nature by committing 5% of our pretax profits each year to conservation efforts worldwide. www.orvis.com

Contact: Ryan Silven

[email protected]

970-924-0704 ext. 2114

SOURCE The Orvis Company
GARDNER, Mass., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Precision Optics Corporation, Inc. (OTCQB: PEYE) (the "Company") today announced that it has scheduled a conference call to discuss second quarter of fiscal year 2022 financial results on Monday, February 14, 2022 at 5:00pm ET.

The Company intends to release its financial results and to file its 10-Q after the close of the market on February 14, 2022 followed by the conference call.

Conference Call Details

Date and Time: Monday, February 14, 2022, at 5:00pm ET

Call-in Information: Interested parties can access the conference call by dialing (844) 735-3662 or

(412) 317-5705.

Live Webcast Information: Interested parties can access the conference call via a live webcast, which is available at https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2109/44590.

Replay: A teleconference replay of the call will be available until February 21, 2022 at (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088, replay access code 1851668. A webcast replay will be available at https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2109/44590.

About Precision Optics Corporation

Founded in 1982, Precision Optics is a vertically integrated optics company primarily focused on leveraging its proprietary micro-optics and 3D imaging technologies to the healthcare and defense/aerospace industries by providing services ranging from new product concept through mass manufacture. Utilizing its leading-edge in-house design, prototype, regulatory and fabrication capabilities as well as its Lighthouse Imaging division's electronic imaging expertise and its Ross Optical division's high volume world-wide sourcing, inspecting and production resources, the Company is able to design and manufacture next-generation product solutions to the most challenging customer requirements. Within healthcare, Precision Optics enables next generation medical device companies around the world to meet the increasing demands of the surgical community who require more enhanced and smaller imaging systems for minimally invasive surgery as well as 3D endoscopy systems to support the rapid proliferation of surgical robotic systems. In addition to these next generation applications, Precision Optics has supplied top tier medical device companies a wide variety of optical products for decades, including complex endocouplers and specialized endoscopes. The Company is also leveraging its technical proficiency in micro-optics to enable leading edge defense/aerospace applications which require the highest quality standards and the optimization of size, weight and power. For more information, please visit www.poci.com.

About Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express the Company's intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any other statements related to the Company's future activities or future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's business based, in part, on assumptions made by the Company's management. These statements are not guarantees of future performances and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including those risks discussed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K and in other documents that we file from time to time with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report, except as required by law.

SOURCE Precision Optics Corporation
WAKE FOREST, N.C., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Revibe technologies, a commercial-stage digital therapeutics company, announced today the positive results of their feasibility study examining the efficacy of FokusRx in school aged children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). FokusRx is an investigational SaMD (Software as a Medical Device) that has the potential to provide a new nonpharmacologic approach to treating attention, focus and hyperactivity deficits associated with ADHD, and other mental health conditions.

ADHD is one of the most commonly diagnosed and increasingly prevalent mental health disorders in children and adolescents.1,2 In the United States, 6.1 million children aged 2-17 years have been diagnosed with ADHD.3 Approximately 50% of families stop using prescription drug treatments for ADHD within a year.4 Over 30% of parents refuse pharmacologic treatment for their children with ADHD.5,6

In this, single-arm multi-rater feasibility study, parents (n = 38) and teachers (n = 26) rated youth aged 8-12 years with a parent-reported diagnosis of ADHD. Youth were attending in-person classroom learning and not taking medication for their ADHD. The study included a number of outcome measures including the ADHD-RS-5 (Home and School versions), Conners 4  short version, Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale-Parent Form (WFIRS-P), and the Academic Performance Rating Scale (APRS). To be included in the analyses, youth had to have worn the Revibe Connect wearable device to school Monday to Friday for a at least three days per week or a minimum of 15 days total for a period of four weeks.

The study found:

Statistically significant improvement in ADHD symptoms as measured by the ADHD-RS-5 Total Score rated by both parents and teachers (Parents: p < .001, d = 1.01; Teacher: p = .004, r = .57). Clinically significant change on Total score ( 30%) was demonstrated for parent ratings, while teacher ratings approached this threshold (28% change).

< .001, = 1.01; Teacher: = .004, = .57). Clinically significant change on Total score ( 30%) was demonstrated for parent ratings, while teacher ratings approached this threshold (28% change). Statistically significant improvements in ADHD symptoms (Inattention/Executive Dysfunction, Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, Emotional Dysregulation) and functioning (schoolwork, peer relationships, family relationships) as measured by the Conners 4 and rated by parents ( p ranges from .20 to <.001, d ranges from .39 to 1.21). Similar improvements were reported based on teacher ratings for Inattention/Executive Dysfunction (INA/EDF; p = .005, d = .60), Impulsivity ( p = .03, d = .45, and Schoolwork ( p = .04, r = .40). Improvements exceeded a 5-point change (0.5 SD) and in the case of INA/EDF and Schoolwork a 10-point change (1.0 SD) based on parent ratings. For teacher ratings a 5-point change was demonstrated for INA/EDF and approached this threshold for Impulsivity and Schoolwork.

ranges from .20 to <.001, ranges from .39 to 1.21). Similar improvements were reported based on teacher ratings for Inattention/Executive Dysfunction (INA/EDF; = .005, = .60), Impulsivity ( = .03, = .45, and Schoolwork ( = .04, = .40). Improvements exceeded a 5-point change (0.5 SD) and in the case of INA/EDF and Schoolwork a 10-point change (1.0 SD) based on parent ratings. For teacher ratings a 5-point change was demonstrated for INA/EDF and approached this threshold for Impulsivity and Schoolwork. Statistically significant improvements in 4 of 6 domains of functioning (Family, School, Life Skills, and Social Activities) as measured by the WFIRS-P, as well as the Total Score ( p < .001, d = .66). Clinically significant change ( .25) demonstrated for both School Learning and Life Skills.

< .001, = .66). Clinically significant change ( .25) demonstrated for both School Learning and Life Skills. Statistically significant improvement in academic performance (Total score) as rated by teachers (p = .007, d = .58).

"We are pleased that the feasibility study has proven to be a successful exercise that de-risks our upcoming randomized sham-controlled pivotal trial. The moderate to large effect sizes observed and change scores that exceed standards for minimally important (clinically significant) differences, provide encouraging preliminary evidence supporting the efficacy of our intervention", says Dr. Lindsay Ayearst, Chief Scientific Officer of Revibe.

Revibe's Scientific and Medical Advisory Board member, Dr. Margaret Weiss, Director of Clinical Research in Child Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, stated, "These results are consistent across both symptoms and functioning, and across informants. They would translate into clinically significant change. Most impressive is the demonstration of an effect on academic performance."

"The data from the classroom feasibility study suggests FokusRx can effectively and safely improve ADHD symptoms and functioning in school-aged children. It is our intention that FokusRx will provide kids and parents another option to help them succeed and reach their full potential. We are excited to begin designing our pivotal trial planned for the fall," said Joseph Koziak, Chief Executive Officer of Revibe.

About FokusRx

FokusRx is an investigational SaMD designed to provide a new nonpharmacologic approach to treating symptoms and impairment associated with ADHD. The FokusRx software is embedded within a dedicated smart watch to act as a digital therapeutic wearable.

About Revibe Technologies

Revibe Technologies is passionate about leveraging technology to help children and adults with focus and attention problems overcome obstacles in order to succeed in life. Revibe Technologies hopes to be a resource for students, parents, teachers, schools, and clinicians. https://revibetech.com/

References

Perou R, Bitsko RH, Blumberg SJ, et al. Mental health surveillance among children  United States , 20052011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2013;62(2):1-35. Xu G, Strathearn L, Liu B, Yang B, Bao W. Twenty-year trends in diagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among US children and adolescents, 1997-2016. JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(4):e181471. Danielson ML, Bitsko RH, Ghandour RM, Holbrook JR, Kogan MD, Blumberg SJ. Prevalence of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis and associated treatment among U.S. children and adolescents, 2016. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2018;47(2):199-212. Winterstein AG, Gerhard T, Shuster J, et al. Utilization of pharmacologic treatment in youths with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Medicaid database. Ann Pharmacother. 2008;42(1):24-31. Demidovich M, Kolko DJ, Bukstein OG, Hart J. Medication refusal in children with oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder and comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: medication history and clinical correlates. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2011;21(1):57-66. Krain AL, Kendall PC, Power TJ. The role of treatment acceptability in the initiation of treatment for ADHD. J Atten Disord. 2005;9(2):425-434.

FokusRx is an investigational product that is not for sale. Results have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal, and therefore, are considered preliminary. FokusRx has not been cleared by the FDA, nor have these results been validated by the FDA with regard to the safety or efficacy of FokusRx.

CONTACT:

Joseph Koziak, CEO

Revibe Technologies

Cell: 480 254 8530

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Revibe Technologies

Related Links

http://www.revibetech.com


ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Service King recently repaired and donated a 2018 Nissan Altima to Illeah, a local Ocoee resident, through the National Auto Body Council's (NABC) Recycled Rides program.

Service King

Recycled Rides is a unique community action initiative through which members of the NABC and others in the auto body repair industry unite with local nonprofit organizations to provide deserving individuals and families with the gift of a fully restored vehicle. Service King has consistently donated vehicles through the Recycled Rides program for several years. For this donation, Geico Insurance provided the car that Service King repaired.

Illeah, a single mother of four, was nominated by the Boys and Girls Club of Ocoee, a nonprofit organization that provides academic support, extracurricular opportunities and positive adult role models to help break the cycle of poverty for future generations. Illeah spends her time helping others as a customer service representative and was unable to replace the transmission in her 18-year-old Buick, making it undrivable. She relied on friends and family to help transport her children to and from school and the Boys and Girls Club after-school program. Service King's donation will provide necessary independence to Illeah's family.

"Service King is honored to have repaired and donated this vehicle to Illeah and her family," said Jeff McFadden, President of Service King. "Our company is committed to giving back to the communities we serve and it's incredibly rewarding to be able to live out our commitment though the Recycled Rides program. We're excited for Illeah and her family to regain their independence through reliable transportation. Our passion to help others through the act of service will remain steadfast throughout 2022 and beyond as we continue to transform the lives of deserving individuals and families by providing them with dependable vehicles."

This is the first vehicle that Service King has restored in collaboration with the NABC this year, with additional donations planned for the remainder of 2022.

To learn more about Service King, visit serviceking.com.

About Service King Collision

Service King Collision, which is now celebrating 45 years of experience in the automotive repair industry, is a leading national operator of comprehensive, high-quality auto body collision repair facilities. The organization is consistently recognized for its commitment to customer satisfaction, quality workmanship and giving back to the industry through innovative training and recruiting initiatives. Service King traces its roots back to Dallas, Texas and founder Eddie Lennox who opened the very first Service King in 1976. Today, Service King operates locations in 24 states and the District of Columbia across the U.S.

For more information and to find a local Service King, visit serviceking.com and follow Service King on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Contact: Mark Carrigan, Service King Collision

972.953.5432

[email protected]

SOURCE Service King
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SHEIN, an online retailer of fashion, beauty and lifestyle products, recently marked the first anniversary of its fashion incubator, SHEIN X. The program aims to discover and empower indie designers by showcasing their talent to millions of SHEIN fans worldwide. Since launching in early 2021, SHEIN X has partnered with 1,442 designers and artists from over 20 countries. SHEIN expects the number to grow to over 3,000 this year.

Notable designers featured over the past year include The SHEIN X 100K Challenge winner Sasha Ruddock, Voter's Choice Awardee Armand Mehidri, and design-duo Roberta Chang and Xinyi Xhao. Freak City LA's founder, Valerie Campbell, whose hip hop and streetstyle-inspired designs have appeared on A-list celebs, had the most popular SHEIN item in 2021 with 11,505 pieces sold. And while SHEIN helps with production and sales, each designer retains ownership of their designs and receives a percentage of the profit. The SHEIN X program has paid over $1.5 million to designers and artists throughout its inaugural year.

George Chiao, President of SHEIN U.S., said: "The fashion industry is competitive, and many talented designers struggle to be seen. Through SHEIN X, our goal is to help elevate and empower the next generation of designers and artists. We are very proud that in just one year, we have helped introduce hundreds of creatives from diverse backgrounds to millions of people in the SHEIN global community."

Core to the SHEIN X program is ensuring diversity among designers, playing a small but important role in fostering a fashion industry that reflects the diversity of its shoppers. Throughout the coming year, the brand will be showcasing many of these designers and artists. In celebration of Black History Month, SHEIN is spotlighting SHEIN X creatives in a video series.

SHEIN X empowers emerging fashion designers and artists by providing the opportunity to partner with SHEIN and take their designs and brands to new heights. SHEIN provides these creatives with tools, marketing, manufacturing, and operational and financial support, so they can focus on what they lovecreating fashion and artwhile SHEIN helps them turn their designs into a business.

About SHEIN:

Founded in 2012, SHEIN is a leading global online retailer with operations in Guangzhou, Singapore and Los Angeles, along with other key markets. SHEIN reaches consumers across more than 150 countries and regions around the world. We place a premium on choice, delivering more than 6,000 new fashion, beauty and lifestyle products daily with more than 600,000 items available. Our mission is to help people express their individuality through the latest trends that are accessible and affordable. To learn more about SHEIN, follow us at shein.com and instagram.com/sheinofficial.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE SHEIN
Hosting all Shopoff Realty Investment Funds and Structures on One Platform will Support All Investors and Audiences Tweet this

"At Shopoff, we are committed to delivering an elevated experience for all of our advisors and investment partners," explained Shopoff Realty Investments President and Chief Executive Officer William Shopoff. "We selected AIX because we wanted a partner who understood our specific needs and could be consultative, evolving and growing with us. Through our partnership with AIX, we are delivering a seamless subscription capability that solves for the requirements of each RIA, independent broker dealer, and direct investor we serve."

"The partnership with Shopoff Realty Investments is particularly exciting because of their commitment to the advisor experience and to authentically elevate the way business is done. Our ability to collaborate with their cross-functional team, coupled with AIX's direct data connectivity with their transfer agent, Phoenix American, enables us to create an end-to-end, seamless experience that is driven by data. It is exciting because the impact to the business and advisor experience will be so much higher given the removal of error prone manual steps that have historically created friction. We are providing a mutual-fund-like experience for all of Shopoff Realty Investments products," adds Brad West, AIX COO.

Headquartered in Orange County, California, Shopoff Realty Investments uses a multi-disciplined approach that enables the firm to uncover opportunities that others may not capitalize on or recognize. The company's practiced investment method includes a fundamental analysis of real estate markets supplemented with expertise in entitlement and adaptive reuse strategies.

About Shopoff Realty Investments

Shopoff Realty Investments is an Irvine, California-based real estate firm with a 30-year history of value-add and opportunistic investing across the United States. The company primarily focuses on proactively generating appreciation through the repositioning of commercial income-producing properties and the entitlement of land assets. The 30-year history includes operating as Asset Recovery Fund, Eastbridge Partners and Shopoff Realty Investments (formerly known as The Shopoff Group). Performance has varied in this time frame, with certain offerings generating losses. For additional information, please visit www.shopoff.com or call (844) 4-SHOPOFF.

Disclosures

This is not an offering to buy or sell any securities. Such offer may only be made through the offerings memorandum to qualified purchasers. Any investment in Shopoff Realty Investments programs involves substantial risks and is suitable only for investors who have no need for liquidity and who can bear the loss of their entire investment. There is no assurance that any strategy will succeed to meet its investment objectives. The performance of this asset is not indicative of future results of other assets. Securities offered through Shopoff Securities, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC, 18565 Jamboree Road, Suite 200, Irvine, CA 92612. (844) 4-SHOPOFF.

About AIX:

Alternative Investment Exchange (AIX) is an end-to-end digital platform purpose-built to improve the processes related to buying, owning, and selling alternative investments. AIX's technology reduces friction, mitigates risk, and creates value across all alternative investing stakeholder groups - wealth managers, asset managers, custodians, transfer agents, and fund administrators. By evolving beyond documents to make data the connective tissue between alternative investment players, AIX makes it easier to conduct business and accelerate industry growth. For more information, please visit aixplatform.com or LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/aix-alternative-investment-exchange .

Media Contact:

Mark Tordik

Broadpath

+1 215-644-6503

[email protected]

SOURCE Alternative Investment Exchange
At SkinCeuticals SkinLab by Mt. Pleasant Dermatology, our mission is to take the guesswork out of finding the best skincare solutions for the expert results you want. Our team of skin experts, led by board certified dermatologist, Dr. Stephanie Smith-Phillips, aim to provide consumers with an integrated approach to great skin with one simple formula: advanced diagnostics, signature aesthetic treatments, and effective skincare. Our goal is to be the go-to destination for brighter, healthier-looking skin in under an hour.

Of the partnership Dr. Stephanie-Smith-Phillips says, "We are very excited to partner with SkinCeuticals because of their outstanding support, attention to detail and continued education to provide the best skin care knowledge to our patients and staff. While every patient's concerns and needs are unique, I always recommend an antioxidant like Phloretin CF and an SPF to protect skin from damaging free radicals and UVA/UVB."

Amy Sloan, Head of SkinCeuticals US notes, "The launch of SkinCeuticals SkinLab by Mt. Pleasant Dermatology marks an exciting time for our brand. Dr. Stephanie Smith-Phillips is a valued partner to us and is held in the highest regard among her patients. Together we hope to bring our expert knowledge and the SkinCeuticals gold standard experience to the Charleston community," she continues, "Since our brand's inception, we've expanded to over 5,000 doctors' offices nationwide with the goal of providing well-rounded skincare regimens and cutting-edge treatments. We consider SkinCeuticals SkinLab to be the next generation of approachable aesthetics and are proud to be rolling it out to skincare enthusiasts across the country."

Visitors can look forward to a relaxing, stress-free environment and a simplified treatment menu including an expert skincare consultation featuring the SkinCeuticals exclusive SkinScope LED diagnostic. The space encourages consumers to unplug and unwind in the sleek product discovery areas, shop brand heroes such as antioxidants and corrective creams for a comprehensive regimen personalized by skincare experts. A Dermablend Professional makeup finishing station is available for touchups following treatments.

In partnership with esteemed physicians, SkinCeuticals curated 3 science-backed signature treatments that deliver professional-grade results with minimal effort and downtime. Treatments, all within one hour long, include:

SKINSMOOTH: LED Micropeel + Phyto treatment using red light therapy paired with a chemical peel for a perfect skin refresh, ideal for party prep or a rough skin day.

SKINBRIGHT: HydraFacial + Micropeel treatment helps restore what daily life can take from your skin. Perfect for routine maintenance or seasonal skin concerns.

SKINFIRM: Microneedling + HB5 treatment goes deeper to address more intensive concerns. Skin will appear firmer and more youthful-looking in a few days.

These signature treatments are exclusively available at SkinCeuticals SkinLab. In addition to the signature treatments, SkinCeuticals SkinLab will offer aesthetic services through the expertise of trained medical professionals, overseen and credentialed by our physicians, which include injectables treatments such as neuromodulators and fillers. Results are complemented with state-of-the-art SkinCeuticals homecare. Additional services to be announced seasonally.

ABOUT SKINCEUTICALS

Founded in Dallas, TX in 1997, SkinCeuticals discovers, develops, and delivers an advanced line of scientifically backed cosmeceutical treatments. As leaders in antioxidant and sun protection technology, SkinCeuticals products have been shown to dramatically improve skin health by protecting skin from environmental damage and visibly improving skin clarity, tone, and texture to minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. For more information, visit the brand on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or at www.SkinCeuticals.com.

Contact: Laura Cummins at SkinCeuticals: (212) 984-4907 / [email protected]

ABOUT Mt. Pleasant Dermatology

Mt. Pleasant Dermatology has served the dermatologic needs of the Greater Charleston Area as well as the entire Lowcountry for over three decades.

Our board-certified dermatologists provide a full range of dermatologic services for the entire family.

From the diagnosis and treatment of eczema, psoriasis, and skin cancer to informing and providing our patients with the latest cosmetic skin procedures and skin care products, we strive to always give our patients individualized state of the art care.

445 KING STREET SUITE 101 CHARLESTON, SC 29403 [email protected]

SOURCE SkinCeuticals
HOUSTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SMA Technologies Inc., makers of OpCon workload automation and orchestration solution for financial services, retail, and other transactional businesses, announces the launch of OpCon Cloud, a solution designed to reduce the burden of IT infrastructure issues and automate repetitive tasks so financial institutions can concentrate on reaching their business goals and satisfying their customers' needs. The cloud-based platform is delivered as a white-glove service and can be up and running in as little as 24 hours  and is easily scalable as a business grows.

"Let's face it, financial institutions understand how to service their customers but are not in the business of maintaining a data center, which can be extremely distracting," said Todd Weiss, VP of Product at SMA Technologies. "This is where our new OpCon Cloud solution provides true value, as it offers banks, credits unions, and other transactional businesses more flexibility and resources by integrating with the cloud versus hosting on a local server. Internal IT staffs are faced with increasing workloads and limited resources, and this platform enables them to automate manual tasks to free up time to focus on strategic issues that directly affect bottom line."

OpCon Cloud not only offers a lower cost of operation but can address bandwidth issues (maintaining and upgrading processing and storage capacity to manage increased workloads) instantly versus undergoing a complex, expensive and time-consuming IT infrastructure update. The platform eliminates the need for expensive IT hardware, software licensing fees and the staff required to support on-site infrastructure and ensures business continuity during a natural disaster or other major disruption as applications and data are securely backed up and protected.

"Outsourcing is a growing trend in the financial services industry and migrating to the cloud is just another sign of how financial institutions are looking for efficiencies in their workload automation systems and processes," said Weiss. "With OpCon Cloud, our customers can rest easy knowing that they will no longer be forced to get out of bed to deal with locally-hosted infrastructure issues and internal IT teams. All maintenance is on us."

For more information on OpCon Cloud, please visit https://smatechnologies.com/opcon-cloud.

About SMA Technologies

SMA Technologies is the maker of OpCon, the leading workload automation and orchestration platform for financial institutions, insurance companies, retailers, and other transactional businesses. The platform delivers enterprise power and scalability without the complexity or cost. OpCon enables companies to easily automate manual tasks and seamlessly orchestrate workloads across business-critical operations, saving time and reducing cost by eliminating human error and deploying IT resources on strategic initiatives. OpCon is used by more than 600 clients across 27 countries and territories.

Public Relations Contact:

Bryan Spevak

Vice President

anthonyBarnum Public Relations

Office: 512-387-3703

[email protected]

SOURCE SMA Technologies
KINSTON, N.C., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SOCIAL HOUSE Vodka, North Carolina's leading craft vodka, is proud to announce Lisa Lowery has joined the team as Master Distiller. Lowery brings a wealth of experience and technical expertise which gives her the ability to focus on quality, craftsmanship, and innovation.

"We are thrilled to welcome Lisa to the Social House team," said Cary Joshi, President, and Founder of SOCIAL HOUSE Vodka. "Lisa is among the finest distillers in our business, she has a true visionary mindset and a passion for craft spirits. We are excited to have her continue the Social House tradition and lead the expansion of our spirits portfolio."

Prior to joining Social House, Lowery has 20 years in the brewery and distilling industry and was most recently the head distiller at another local distillery when left to take the fight to the breast cancer experience. Emerging with greater inner strength and perspective, Lisa's passion for distilling became clear. She began working with rural communities to build the framework to attract distillers when she was invited to appear on the Discovery Channel's Moonshiners: Master Distiller Edition - "Gin Craze."

"The vision and opportunity at Social House Vodka captured my attention from the very beginning with the quality of its vodka, the culture, and the team," said Lowery of her new role. She continued, "I'm excited to carry on those expectations into a new collection of innovative and complex small-batch spirits."

Like many craft distilleries that have been hit hard by the pandemic, Social House Vodka has had to return to its roots as a farm-to-flask spirits brand, artfully crafts the highest-quality, locally sourced, and authentically American vodka for all to enjoy with friends and family - that's how the journey began and how it will continue.

About SOCIAL HOUSE Vodka. SOCIAL HOUSE Vodka is an American-made vodka, superior in both substance and style. It is handcrafted on the foundation of quality ingredients, naturally purified water, and with the artistry of its unique American heritage. To learn more, please visit: https://socialhousevodka.com/ .

More Information Contact:

Tina Uribe

252-526-1715

[email protected]

SOURCE SOCIAL HOUSE Vodka
HOUSTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweet Paris Creperie & Cafe, the ultra-popular restaurant brand specializing in sweet and savory crepes, hot drinks and more, has many reasons to celebrate its achievements in 2021. The brand recently debuted on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2022 Franchise 500 list; co-founder Allison Chavez was recognized on the prestigious Nation's Restaurant News' Power List; multiple franchise agreements were signed in new territories; and multiple local food banks benefitted from Sweet Paris' Eat Here, Feed There program, which has now provided over 314,000 meals to children in need.

"We are thrilled to see Sweet Paris expanding to new markets and growing even during such challenging times," said Allison Chavez Co-owner of Sweet Paris. "The accolades Sweet Paris has received are a testament to the perseverance of our strategic partners and the loyalty they've created among thousands of guests across our established restaurants. We look forward to continuing the brand's growth in 2022 and giving back even more to the communities we serve."

Sweet Paris has a strong representation in Texas with 10 locations  8 in Houston, one in Austin, and one in San Antonio. In 2022 the brand will expand to Dallas for the first time with a multi-unit agreement signed by current Strategic Partners who will bring three locations to the area. For the first time, Sweet Paris will also debut a restaurant in Florida. The brand will open two corporate locations in Miami and former Chief Development Officer Ivette Escobar will open two of her own locations in Miami.

On the heels of its impressive unit economics and new franchise agreements in 2021, Sweet Paris entered Entrepreneur's coveted Franchise 500 list, and co-founder Allison Chavez was ranked on NRN's annual Power List. The Power List includes an exclusive group of 50 people that the publication identifies as the most innovative and inspiring people in the restaurant industry.

"It is such an honor to be recognized by NRN in this way. To be considered one of the most innovative people in the restaurant industry is truly overwhelming when we look back to the days when Sweet Paris was just a pipe dream," said Chavez. "We are only getting started with our business and look forward to continuing reviving the art of eating crepes with every new restaurant we open."

Sweet Paris was founded in 2012 by Allison and Ivan Chavez to "Revive the Art of Eating Crepes," one creperie at a time. The brand has quickly become one of the hottest restaurant franchises in Texas with an extravagant ambiance and delicious food and drinks made of the highest quality ingredients and bold flavors. Made from scratch, the dishes are as delicious as they are beautiful. The lavish interiors and the artful food and drinks make Sweet Paris a favorite place for haute social media influencers.

ABOUT SWEET PARIS:

Sweet Paris Creperie & Cafe is a fast-growing restaurant franchise specializing in sweet and savory crepes, waffles, salads, hot drinks and more. On a mission to "Revive the Art of Eating Crepes," Sweet Paris is seeking qualified Strategic Partners, especially those with a background in hospitality, to expand the concept in new markets. For more information about the brand, please visit www.sweetparis.com, and for more information on Strategic Partnership Opportunities, visit www.sweetparisfranchise.com.

SOURCE Sweet Paris
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP), a non-profit association that provides professional development tools, accredited training programs, and networking resources to over 2,400 members, announced today the winners of the 2022 Energy Awards. The awards seek to give people and projects the recognition and exposure they deserve in an effort to share best practices and spur more innovative thinking in energy efficiency.

"Our industry is driven to make the world a better place, one which produces fewer emissions and has less dependence on our limited fuel resources," said Jen Szaro, AESP President & CEO. "Our members work every day to make strides toward achieving these goals and the Energy Awards recognize this spirit of innovation and hard work."

In total, four organizations and two individuals were recognized with seven awards.

Eversource received the Beyond Energy Efficiency Award for their Residential New Construction Program, recognizing their efforts to go above and beyond traditional energy efficiency programs and achieve greater efficiency and progress.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) received two Customer Engagement and Marketing Awards, one each for the Residential and Commercial/Industrial categories. These awards were given respectively for TVA's EnergyRight for the Home and EnergyRight Business & Industry programs, recognizing the effectiveness of these initiatives to significantly increase action and improve customer engagement for TVA.

Efficiency Maine received the Groundbreaking Residential Program Design and Implementation Award for their Home Energy Savings Heat Pump Program, recognizing the successful design and execution of an innovative residential program. Through partnerships with HVAC contractors to maintain quality assurance, a comprehensive engagement plan, and reliable funding of rebates and loans, Efficiency Maine is transforming the marketplace for low-carbon, low-cost heating and cooling.

Uplight received the Innovation in Technology Award for its Plus program, a subscription energy service that allows utility companies the ability to package programs and services based on customer needs, making it easier to decrease energy use and predict energy costs.

Eddie Smith of DTE Energy was recognized as AESP's Emerging Professional of the Year, an award which celebrates the next generation of energy professionals who demonstrate leadership, a drive to grow professionally, and have achieved a meaningful impact on the industry.

SWEPCO's Sherry McCormack was bestowed the BH Prasad Award, AESP's prestigious achievement award named in memory of the former chair of the AESP Board of Directors. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to AESP and the energy efficiency industry. "Sherry embodies the spirit of this award," said Szaro. "We honor her for unwavering support of our organization, her committed, thoughtful and genuine approach to leadership, and everything she has done throughout her career to expand knowledge, build community, and collaborate to solve problems."

These awards are made possible through the generous sponsorship of ICF, a global advisory and digital services provider who combines unmatched expertise with cutting-edge engagement capabilities to help clients solve their most complex challenges, navigate change, and shape the future.

"Changes across the energy industry are accelerating, from customer behavior to energy sources to climate risk. ICF is very proud to sponsor AESP's 2022 Energy Awards, which recognize the best in innovation, collaboration, and hard work  initiatives that will help us meet the challenges brought on by these changes and unlock the possibilities of revenue growth, sustainability, and better customer and community outcomes," said Robin Clark, Senior Vice President, Energy, ICF.

Award recipients will be honored at AESP's 32nd Annual Conference, featured in AESP's Energy Intel magazine, have their work featured in upcoming educational content, and recognized on social media for the impact of their good work.

About the Association of Energy Services Professionals

Founded in 1989, AESP is a not-for-profit, member-based association dedicated to improving the delivery and implementation of energy efficiency, demand-side management, distributed energy resources, and demand response programs. AESP achieves its mission through knowledge amplification, professional development, and community building. Learn more at aesp.org.



AESP Media Contact:

Ian Motley

480.467.2817

[email protected]

SOURCE AESP
Proven oil and gas reserves increased by 13%, up to 2,002 MBOE[1]

- The Reserve-Replacement Ratio (RRR) of 200% implies that, for each barrel produced in the year by the Company, two barrels were added to reserves.

- The Ecopetrol Group's average reserve life increased to 8.7 years, exceeding the 2014 figure when the average Brent was USD 102 per barrel (compared to USD 69.2 per barrel in 2021).

- The incorporation of proven reserves for the Ecopetrol Group was 462 MBOE, of which 282 MBOE were primarily due to outstanding performance within development fields, optimal and timely maturity of new projects, and greater capacity to execute and implement enhanced recovery expansion projects. Excluding the price effect, the RRR would have been 122%.

- Proven gas reserves increased by 7.9% as compared to 2020, with an RRR of 176%.

- 89% of the reserves correspond to fields in Colombia, increasing the average reserve life up to 8 years, while the remaining 11% corresponds to the operation of Ecopetrol Permian and Ecopetrol America in the United States.

BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL,NYSE: EC) announced today its consolidated proven oil, condensate, and natural gas reserves (1P reserves, according to the standard international denomination), which include the results of Ecopetrol S.A. and its subsidiaries, as of December 31, 2021.

Reserves were estimated based on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) standards and methodology. 99.5% of the reserves were certified by four independent specialized firms (Ryder Scott Company, DeGolyer and MacNaughton, Gaffney, Cline & Associates, and Sproule International Limited).

The SEC-defined price used for the 2021 valuation of reserves was USD 69.2 per barrel of Brent versus USD 43.4 per barrel of Brent in 2020.

At the end of 2021, the net proven reserves of the Ecopetrol Group were 2,002 MBOE. The Reserve-Replacement Ratio was 200% and the average reserve life was equivalent to 8.7 years.

In 2021, the Ecopetrol Group incorporated 462 MBOE of proven reserves and the total accumulated production was 231 MBOE. Of the total balance of reserves, 72% are liquid reserves, with an average life of 8.2 years, while the remaining 28% are gas reserves, with an average life of 10.4 years.

Of the 462 MBOE incorporated, 61% (282 MBOE) was primarily a result of performance within development fields, optimal and timely maturity of new projects, and greater capacity to execute and implement enhanced recovery expansion projects in fields such as Chichimene, Castilla, and Akacias, among others. The remaining volumes correspond primarily to the favorable effect of the recovery of international oil prices during 2021.

As a result of Ecopetrol's sale of Savia Peru effective as of January 2021, a disincorporation of said company's reserves was carried out for 3.5 MBOE.

83% of the proven reserves are owned by Ecopetrol S.A., while the other Ecopetrol Group companies contributed with 17% of the 2,002 MBOE, mainly due to the operation of Ecopetrol Permian and Ecopetrol America in the United States.

The 13% increase achieved in reserves in 2021 demonstrates the strength of the Ecopetrol Group's hydrocarbon portfolio, which supports the company's sustainable growth path within its energy transition strategy.

Ecopetrol Group's Proved Reserves 2021



Proven Reserves 1P MBOE Proven Reserves as of Dec 31, 2020 1,770 Revisions 315 Mineral Purchases 0 Enhanced Recovery 139 Extensions y Discoveries 12 Mineral Sales -3.5 Production -231 Proven Reserves as of Dec 31, 2021 2,002

Ecopetrol is the largest company in Colombia and one of the main integrated energy companies in the American continent, with more than 17,000 employees. In Colombia, it is responsible for more than 60% of the hydrocarbon production of most transportation, logistics, and hydrocarbon refining systems, and it holds leading positions in the petrochemicals and gas distribution segments. With the acquisition of 51.4% of ISA's shares, the company participates in energy transmission, the management of real-time systems (XM), and the Barranquilla - Cartagena coastal highway concession. At the international level, Ecopetrol has a stake in strategic basins in the American continent, with Drilling and Exploration operations in the United States (Permian basin and the Gulf of Mexico), Brazil, and Mexico, and, through ISA and its subsidiaries, Ecopetrol holds leading positions in the power transmission business in Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, road concessions in Chile, and the telecommunications sector. This press release contains business prospect statements, operating and financial result estimates, and statements related to Ecopetrol's growth prospects. These are all projections and, as such, they are based solely on the expectations of the managers regarding the future of the company and their continued access to capital to finance the company's business plan. The realization of said estimates in the future depends on the behavior of market conditions, regulations, competition, the performance of the Colombian economy and the industry, among other factors, and are consequently subject to change without prior notice.

This release contains statements that may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements, whether made in this release or in future filings or press releases or orally, address matters that involve risks and uncertainties, including in respect of the Company's prospects for growth and its ongoing access to capital to fund the Company's business plan, among others. Consequently, changes in the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements: market prices of oil & gas, our exploration, and production activities, market conditions, applicable regulations, the exchange rate, the Company's competitiveness and the performance of Colombia's economy and industry, to mention a few. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

For more information, please contact:

Head of Capital Markets

Tatiana Uribe Benninghoff

Email: [email protected]

Head of Corporate Communications

Mauricio Tellez

Email: [email protected]

[1] Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/95646/ecopetrol_s_a__logo.jpg

SOURCE Ecopetrol S.A.
RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Veterans Service Organization, The Independence Fund, is expanding their impact with their Veteran mental health-focused program, the Veterans Justice Intervention, in partnership with the State of North Carolina through the No Veteran Left Behind Act.

The Veterans Justice Intervention program will address the unique and severe mental health needs faced by Veterans, especially post-9/11 combat Veterans. Its initial pilot program will include four North Carolina regions by training local law enforcement departments in Veteran-centric Crisis Response Training.

Per the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 730,000 Veterans live in North Carolina. Nearly half of those Veterans seek medical or mental health treatment, according to the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research, and many experience crisis without knowing how to adequately address their needs.

"The Independence Fund, through the Veterans Justice Intervention program, will help law enforcement agencies, first responders, and front-line workers to understand the nuances and true scope of Veterans' mental health once they return home from service," says The Independence Fund's CEO Sarah Verardo. "VJI will help develop robust, alternative ways to approach Veterans in crisis from initial contact with 911 operators, first responders, and law enforcement."

The No Veteran Left Behind Act seeks to avoid the unnecessary criminalization of mental illness, substance abuse, and incarceration among Veterans by intervening on behalf of eligible Veterans early in contact with the criminal justice system, to ensure their access to mental health and substance abuse services in the community, and from State and federal agencies. Navigating Veterans through alternative routes, such as Veteran Treatment Courts, will allow the system to focus on individual circumstances, substance abuse, and Veteran preference.

"Veterans and law enforcement have an incredible built-in camaraderie because of their service to their nation both overseas and at home," says North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore. "Thanks to the No Veteran Left Behind Act, the Veterans Justice Intervention program reinforces that bond and shines a light on the critical mental health needs of our Veterans. The Independence Fund has been a dedicated ally to our veterans, and I am looking forward to the launch of the Veterans Justice Intervention program in North Carolina."

VJI's approach is holistic, from a Veteran's initial contact through any necessary legal processes. Importantly, the program establishes a strong aftercare plan through an extensive network of resources and partner organizations to help a Veteran find healing and hope beyond their crisis.

"We know that early intervention and casework is crucial to Veteran mental health," says Verardo. "Our Veterans Justice Intervention program, and the first of its kind, No Veteran Left Behind Act, are truly life-saving for so many families and heroes being served by The Independence Fund. We are thrilled to bring this program to North Carolina Veterans in 2022."

ABOUT THE INDEPENDENCE FUND:

Established in 2007, The Independence Fund is a national Veterans Service Organization dedicated to meeting the unmet needs of catastrophically wounded Veterans, Caregivers, and their families through a variety of programs. To learn more, visit www.independencefund.org .

Media Contacts:

Ashley Skinner, Communications Manager

[email protected]

(704) 712-5380

SOURCE The Independence Fund
PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Thompson Duke Industrial , the leader in cannabis oil vaporizer device filling and capping equipment, is now providing automated solutions for filling and capping the Dablicator Oil Applicator . The patented Dablicator Oil Applicator, invented by California's Jetty Extracts, is designed to precisely dispense cannabis oil, CBD, live resin and related products for various medical and adult use applications. Thompson Duke's equipment allows the Dablicator Oil Applicator to be filled at scale by automating the filling and capping processes.

Thompson Duke Industrial Automates Filling and Capping of Dablicator Oil Applicator

"One of our primary goals as a company is to help our clients and partners create lasting, significant efficiencies on the manufacturing floor," said Chris Gardella, Chief Technology Officer for Thompson Duke Industrial. "Our partnership with Dablicator Oil Applicator is a good example of achieving this goal. They were looking for a way to provide a filling and capping solution for their devices, at scale, to meet the growing demand in the cannabis industry. Our equipment helps their customers' production by automating a formerly manual process."

Thompson Duke's automated IZR and ACF1 industrial filling machines are capable of dispensing various viscosity oils to fill the Dablicator Oil Applicator with extreme accuracy, precision and repeatability. Thompson Duke has also created a custom method and solution for capping the Dablicator Oil Applicator using the company's LFP Press . The LFP press is a benchtop, fully pneumatic four-ton industrial press, capable of rapidly capping a large array of Dablicator Oil Applicators. These industrial solutions developed by Thompson Duke allow the Dablicator Oil Applicator partners to fill large orders quickly and efficiently.

Mike McDonald, President of Dablicator, said, "Demand for Dablicator Oil Applicator is increasing dramatically. We are excited about the custom and innovative solutions Thompson Duke Industrial has created for our partners. These solutions will make possible the fulfillment of much larger orders in far shorter timeframes. Thank you Thompson Duke!"

About Thompson Duke Industrial, LLC

Thompson Duke Industrial, LLC is an original equipment manufacturer, a member of the National Cannabis Industry Association and a wholly owned subsidiary of Portland Engineering, Inc. The company's Portland, Oregon operation designs, manufactures and distributes a line of patented, cETLus Certified and GMP-ready filling machines specifically designed for filling cannabis oil vaporizer devices, along with mouthpiece fastening machines and process performance and reporting data systems. With over 1,200 filling machines deployed in the cannabis industry, Thompson Duke Industrial is the leader in cannabis oil vaporizer device filling and capping equipment. The complete line of filling and capping machinery enables cannabis processors to be more successful by increasing accuracy, consistency, efficiency and overall throughput of vaporizer device fulfillment operations. https://thompsondukeindustrial.com



About Dablicator Oil Applicator

Dablicator Oil Applicator was invented in 2014 by the pioneers at California's Jetty Extracts. Their vision was to create the easiest, most efficient way to dispense oil. Designed to replace a messy syringe, Dablicator Oil Applicator is ideal for all hemp products  including RSO  distillate, live resin, CO2 oil and broad-spectrum CBD. It allows users to twist, click and dispense for a precise dose every time. Dablicator's Brand Partner Program offers a complete turnkey solution with customizable hardware, packaging and marketing materials for partners. https://dablicator.com

MEDIA CONTACT:

Morgan Whitehouse,

[email protected],

802-373-4686

SOURCE Thompson Duke Industrial
TURLOCK, Calif., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- At its February 8, 2022 board meeting, Turlock Irrigation District (TID) announced Project Nexus, a pilot project to build solar panel canopies over a portion of TID's existing canals to operate and research a truly innovative, multi-benefit, water-energy nexus project that can further California's push toward water and climate resiliency.

Conceptual rendering of solar panels spanning the 110 foot-wide TID Main Canal

Project Nexus, a public-private-academic partnership among TID, the Department of Water Resources (DWR), Solar AquaGrid, and the University of California, Merced, could contribute to a more water resilient future for California and position the State to meet its ambitious clean energy goals. The first-ever solar panel over canal development in the United States, the Project will assess reduction of water evaporation resulting from mid-day shade and wind mitigation; improvements to water quality through reduced vegetative growth; reduction in canal maintenance through reduced vegetative growth; and generation of renewable electricity.

Groundbreaking on Project Nexus is scheduled for this fall, with project completion expected in 2024 at multiple locations throughout the TID service territory in California's Central Valley. The project will use existing TID infrastructure on already-disturbed land to keep costs low and efficiency high while supporting the region's sustainable farming tradition. Additionally, energy storage will be installed to study how storage facilities can support the local electric grid when solar generation is suboptimal due to cloud cover. The $20 million project is funded by the state of California.

"In our 135-year history, we've always pursued innovative projects that benefit TID water and power customers," said TID Board President Michael Frantz. "There will always be reasons to say 'no' to projects like this, but as the first public irrigation district in California, we aren't afraid to chart a new path with pilot projects that have potential to meet our water and energy sustainability goals."

While Project Nexus, especially if expanded beyond a demonstration project, offers benefits to TID, the project is seen as a template with potential to be replicated elsewhere in the state to help California achieve its water and energy goals. The inspiration for Project Nexus comes from the concept presented in a recent University of California study, published last March in the journal Nature Sustainability.

The UC study illustrated that covering all of the approximately 4,000 miles of California canals could show a savings of 63 billion gallons of water annually, comparable to the amount needed to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of more than 2 million people. According to the study, the 13 gigawatts of solar power the solar panels would generate each year would equal about one sixth of the state's current installed capacity.

"The Solar AquaGrid model provides a combined, integrated response to addressing our water-energy nexus," said UC Merced Professor Roger Bales. "It helps address California's underlying vulnerabilities while meeting both state and federal level commitments to produce renewable energy, preserve natural lands, lower greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change."

DWR will oversee administration of the project, will provide technical assistance, as well as serve as a research partner.

"We are excited to explore new efforts to advance the integration of renewable energy into our water supply delivery system," said Karla Nemeth, Director of DWR. "The project offers great potential, and we look forward to collaborating with our local and academic partners to advance these type of multi-benefit projects."

Turlock Irrigation District has retained Bay Area development firm Solar AquaGrid as project developers and program managers for TID and Project Nexus. The two agencies have been collaborating since the project's inception. Solar AquaGrid originated the project after commissioning the UC Merced Study in 2015 and has facilitated collaboration among the various parties to bring Project Nexus to fruition.

"Research and common sense tell us that in an age of intensifying drought, it's time to put a lid on evaporation," said Jordan Harris, CEO of Solar AquaGrid. "We are excited to partner with Turlock Irrigation District, DWR, and UC Merced to develop this first-in-the-nation pilot project and bring needed innovation to the Central Valley. Our initial study revealed mounting solar panels over open canals can result in significant water, energy, and cost savings when compared to ground-mounted solar systems, including added efficiency resulting from an exponential shading/cooling effect. Now is the chance to put that learning to the test."

For additional information about the project and project partners, visit www.tid.org/projectnexus, or contact those listed below.

Contacts:

TID - Josh Weimer | [email protected] | 209.883.8361

Solar AquaGrid - Julie Hendricks | [email protected] | 626.390.6265

DWR  Maggie Macias | [email protected] | 916.902.7405

UC Merced  Lorena Anderson | [email protected] | 209.201.6255

Project Nexus Partners

Turlock Irrigation District (TID)

The Turlock Irrigation District, located in Turlock CA, is the first publicly owned Irrigation District and is one of only four today that provides irrigation water and power to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers within its service area. TID has been in the retail electric business since 1923. TID provides safe, low-cost, reliable energy to a growing customer base that today exceeds 103,000 home, farm, business, industrial and municipal accounts. TID also serves 4,700 irrigation customers covering approximately 150,000 acres of farmland. For more information about TID visit www.tid.org.

Department of Water Resources (DWR)

The Department of Water Resources' mission is to sustainably manage the water resources of California, in cooperation with other agencies, to benefit the state's people and protect, restore, and enhance the natural and human environments. For more information, follow us on Twitter or Facebook and read our news releases and DWR updates.

Solar AquaGrid

Solar AquaGrid LLC is a project development & envisioneering studio based in Marin County, California. Founded by social & sustainability entrepreneur Jordan Harris and chief creative officer Robin Raj, the firm is dedicated to accelerating adoption of innovative solutions to address our water/energy nexus and is currently guiding development of pilot projects to provide large-scale solar shading over canals across the American West. www.solaraquagrid.com

UC Merced

The University of California is more than 150 years old and its 10 campuses including UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz  comprise more than 280,000 students and more than 227,000 faculty and staff. UC campuses are routinely ranked among the best in the world. Through teaching, research and service, UC students, faculty, staff and alumni make advancements and address the world's most pressing challenges. UC faculty members are the drivers behind thousands of innovations in biotechnology, computer science, art, architecture and many other areas. Thousands of California jobs, billions of dollars in revenue and countless everyday household items can be traced back to UC discoveries. Similarly, many of California's leading businesses are based on UC technology, developed by faculty or led by UC graduates. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu

SOURCE Turlock Irrigation District
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36 diamond drill pads approved at the San Gill Breccia target

Assays pending for 15 holes recently completed at Panuco North

Assays pending for 4 diamond holes completed at northern splay of Panuco Central Vein

Approval for an additional 29 drill pads at Panuco North is expected within the next few weeks

Dr. Chris Wilson, Chief Operating Officer and a Director of Zacatecas Silver comments, "Drilling has progressed at a very good pace, and we have drilled from almost all permitted drill pads at Panuco North Vein. The usually rapid assay turn-around has slowed during the recent COVID surge, but should soon return to normal. With assay results and drill pad permits pending at Panuco North, the rig has moved to the San Gill Breccia following the award of 36 new diamond drill pads in that target area. San Gill is a largely untested, 800 m long hematitic breccia zone with anomalous surface silver-base metal geochemistry, representing a robust exploration target."

Panuco North Vein

Zacatecas Silver has completed a total of 29 angled diamond drill holes at Panuco North, with assays pending for 15 of the holes. The initial drill holes in the southeast of the vein targeted down-dip extensions of surface outcrop and intercepted significant intercepts, including 2.17m at 823 g/t AgEq (798 g/t Ag and 0.34 g/t Au) and 3 m at 267 g/t AgEq (203 g/t Ag and 0.85 g/t Au) (see news release dated November 23, 2021).

More recent holes have targeted the near surface (<75 m) depth extension of the central part of the vein over a strike length of approximately 250 m and the NW part of the vein over a strike length of 200 m. All holes intercepted sulphidic quartz veins and multiple assays are pending.

The Panuco North Vein (Figure 1) has a strike length of at least two kilometres, within concessions held by the Company, with shallow historical workings developed along the length of the vein. The Panuco North Vein is open along its 2 km strike length to the west and at depth. Zacatecas Silver will recommence drilling at Panuco North once drill pad approvals are granted.

San Gill Breccia

The San Gill target is a hematitic/stockwork zone breccia has a NS-trending strike of approximately 800 m, is up to 40 m wide, and is most likely near vertical. The NS orientation of the breccia suggest the system may be gold-enriched  as evidenced by other gold-mineralized NS oriented veins in the Zacatecas region. This interpretation is consistent with the results of a historical diamond drill hole completed by the previous operator which intercepted 4.16 m at 1.14 g/t Au, 128 g/t Ag, 2.23% Pb and 1.86% Zn (Hole MG 11-08).

Zacatecas Silver drilled three angled diamond holes across the San Gill target in late 2021 and assays have been received for two holes. All holes intercepted near-surface vein/breccia zones over intervals of 3 to 5 m downhole. Breccia vein zones were oxidized and appeared leached. It is therefore significant that hole SGI-2021-003 intercepted a near surface breccia that assayed:

1.64 m @ 110 g/t Ag from 61.7 to 63.34 m downhole

@ 110 g/t Ag from 61.7 to downhole Including 0.52 m @ 267 g/t Ag (61.7 to 62.22 m )

The San Gill breccia is largely untested. Dip is poorly constrained and further drilling is required to better understand its downdip orientation. Zacatecas Silver is planning a series of relatively shallow diamond holes to better understand near surface geochemistry and morphology. San Gill is a robust exploration target with significant strike and depth potential.

Qualified Person

The contents of this news release have been reviewed and approved by Chris Wilson, B.Sc. (Hons), PhD, FAusIMM (CP), FSEG, Chief Operating Officer of Zacatecas Silver. Dr. Wilson is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and is responsible for all technical information in this news release.

About Zacatecas Silver Corp.

The Zacatecas Silver property is located in Zacatecas State, Mexico, within the highly prospective Fresnillo Silver Belt, which has produced over 6.2 billion ounces of silver. The company holds 7,826 ha (19,338 acres) of ground that is highly prospective for low and intermediate sulphidation silver-base metal mineralization and potentially low sulphidation gold-dominant mineralization. On December 15, 2021, Zacatecas announced a mineral resource estimate at the Panuco Deposit consisting of 2.7 million tonnes at 187 g/t AgEq (171 g/t Ag and 0.17 g/t Au) for 16.4 million ounces AgEq (15 million ounces silver and 15 thousand ounces gold) (see news release dated December 15, 2021).

The property is 25 km south-east of MAG Silver Corp.'s Juanicipio Mine and Fresnillo PLC's Fresnillo Mine. The property shares common boundaries with Pan American Silver Corp. claims and El Orito which is owned by Endeavour Silver. There are four main high-grade silver target areas within the Zacatecas concessions: the Panuco Deposit, Muleros, El Cristo and San Manuel-San Gill. The Property also includes El Oro, El Orito, La Cantera, Monserrat, El Penon, San Judas and San Juan silver-base metal vein targets. These targets are relatively unexplored and will be the focus of rapid reconnaissance.

On behalf of the Company

Bryan Slusarchuk

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Zacatecas Silver cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by many material factors, many of which are beyond their respective control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Zacatecas Silver's limited operating history, its proposed exploration and development activities on is Zacatecas Properties and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Zacatecas Silver does not undertake to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Zacatecas Silver Corp.
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After flat financial results in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, Cause + Effect Strategy roared back into its customary growth pattern in 2021, driving revenue up 88% over 2020, and nearly doubling its staff, from 8 to 15. With a three-year growth rate of more than 54%, the data-insight specialty company has grown every year but one since its inception in 2015. That growth has also translated into community impact, as the company has donated nearly $40,000 to greater Rochester and Finger Lakes charities since opening.

"Growth is important, but it's not the whole story," said John Loury, co-founder and president of Cause + Effect Strategy. "What's most rewarding in our business is partnering with corporate leaders who value the critical importance of business intelligence and the data that drives it. True success for us is measured by the impact that data-driven decisions have on a client's business. Whether it's marketing, sales, operations, finance, HR, or a very specific business challenge, we seek to empower them in using data, in some cases for the first time, but in many cases in ways they've aspired to," Loury stated.

CE Strategy now not only serves clients regionally and nationally, but internationally, including organizations based in London, Toronto and Bogota, Columbia. As a result, the company's workload grew from 103 projects in 2020, to 192 in 2021, a year-over-year increase of more than 86%.

Currently, CE Strategy works with national clients such as Briggs & Stratton, Inshur, Jack Doheny Company, Monro Inc. and Nesco Resource; and regionally with BioWorks, Delta Sonic, Isaac Heating & Air Conditioning, The Strong National Museum of Play and the University of Rochester.

Clients sign new, expanded contracts

Driving CE Strategy's growth trajectory is the company's success in adding clients and nurturing multi-year relationships. "As we achieve success with clients, we establish greater levels of trust and collaboration, making the continuation of our work together a natural progression," said Loury. CE Strategy's greatest growth has been in technology and financial-services startup companies, where the work centers on setting up initial data architectures and establishing the vision for how data will be applied to the businesses. A close second area of growth has been in larger, more established enterprises, and is focused on modernizing and finding efficiencies in the processes and technologies clients are using to inform business decisions.

Work leads to expanded lines of service

Adding to its expertise in business intelligence and analytics, CE Strategy's client work has led to its expansion into consulting and tactical development in the areas of data architecture and data science.

"Working with clients on their BI challenges has led us to dig more deeply into the entire lifecycle of how data is ingested, visualized, and used to make decisions," Loury explained. "We are now solidly in the realm of consulting on foundational infrastructure elements such as cloud-data warehousing and data engineering, along with later-stage data initiatives involving advanced data science such as machine learning," he concluded.

Partnerships drive business

One of the drivers of CE Strategy's success has been its partnerships with technology partners. In 2021, the company became a Gold Partner with Sisense, and is on track to be its first Platinum Partner in 2022. In addition, CE Strategy progressed from Registered to Select Partner with Snowflake. Similar partnerships are likely to be announced this year. The company is seeking to add strategic partners in 2022, with the goal of offering clients leading-edge technology in the data, business intelligence and analytics space.

About Cause + Effect Strategy

Founded in 2015, Cause + Effect Strategy is a business intelligence and analytics firm that helps clients achieve data-driven transformations and make more informed business decisions. Headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., CE Strategy has experienced consistent growth resulting from its work with clients in the United States and around the world. Clients include automotive, ad agency, B2B, financial services, fundraising, higher education, insurance, politics, retail, and technology-based companies.

Contact:

Jeff Halik

[email protected]

SOURCE Cause + Effect Strategy
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifestyle agency CRC has joined the 360PR+ family of agencies, with CRC's founder, Cindy Riccio, serving an executive vice president and general manager of the CRC business based in in 360's New York office. Riccio and her team bring significant expertise working with mass-market and luxury brands in apparel, footwear, beauty, personal care, food & beverage, health & wellness, home goods and tech. Prior to launching CRC in 2007, Riccio served in corporate communications and marketing roles, as vice president of PR at Hanesbrands, director of communications and advertising at L'OREAL for the Matrix brand, and director of communications for Horizon Media.

"Cindy has built a reputation for excellence over the past 15 years and brings significant expertise to enable us to strategically extend our work to adjacent categories and deepen our work for brands in sectors that are already 360 strong suits," said 360PR+ CEO Laura Tomasetti. "We had an opportunity to collaborate with Cindy prior to formalizing our partnership and there's a clear, natural cultural fit with our two organizations and we're excited to welcome Cindy, her team and clients to 360."

Like 360PR+, CRC's focus over the past 15 years has been on elevating brands that enable better living. CRC clients have included Hanes Hosiery, Donna Karan Hosiery and DKNY Intimates, Maidenform, Kenneth Cole and Ted Baker Watches, Samsung Home Appliance, Chesapeake Bay Candle Company, Ceramedx Natural Ceramide Skincare, Jovial Pasta, Simply Protein and Deep River Snacks, among others.

"We're thrilled we are officially joining forces with 360PR+, bringing additional expertise and resources to CRC clients and continuing as an independent agency with a longstanding reputation of creating innovative campaigns to help clients achieve their goals," commented Riccio. "I'm honored to have the opportunity to partner with such a talented team. 360 feels like home already."

CRC has been recognized as one of the top-20 NYC PR firms for multiple years and Riccio is a recipient of PR News' Top Women in PR Award. Prior to leading CRC and her career in Fortune 500s, Riccio was with Marina Maher Communications and Saatchi & Saatchi's The Rowland Company. She is a graduate of New York University and a member of the Public Relations Society of America, Women in Communications, Advertising Women of New York, The Fashion Group International and Cosmetic Executive Women.

About 360PR+

360PR+ is an award-winning, leading independent integrated communications agency recognized for its bold, headline-making, conversation-driving campaigns for some of the most trusted global brands and innovative marketplace challengers. 360PR+ clients include America's Test Kitchen, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Hasbro, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, illy caffe, Mass. Bay Brewing Co., Nasoya, Netflix, Nintendo of America, Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs, Riverbend Home, The Rockport Company, Silver Hills Bakery, Sweethearts Candy, Trek Bicycle, United Natural Foods, Inc. and Virgin Airlines, among others. 360PR+ is a certified women-owned business and partner in PROI Worldwide, with reach and expertise in 100+ cities globally.

The 360PR+ family of agencies includes 360PR+, CRC and Three Cheers PR.

SOURCE 360PR+
OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Absinthia's Bottled Spirits (@AbsinthiasBottledSpirits), a woman-owned artisan spirits company, has released Absinthia Barrel Aged Absinthe, an aged version of their award-winning Absinthia Blanche.

"Absinthe has always had a storied reputation  some based in myth and other in fact  but it is a wonderful canvas for innovation," said Absinthia Vermut, Founder and creator of Absinthia's Bottled Spirits. "I knew that the time was right to leverage American passion for aged brown spirits into creating a new chapter for Absinthe in the US."

The Absinthia Bottled Spirits portfolio of authentic absinthes. Absinthia's Bottled Spirits launches barrel aged variant.

The Absinthes are crafted in California using vintage Swiss recipes. They are distilled in California in a small batch copper pot still and distilled a second time with organic botanicals such as fresh wormwood (artemesia absinthium), star anise, fennel seed, and coriander seed from Oregon. The Barrel Aged expression is aged for 6 months in 30-gallon American Oak Heavy Charred barrels that previously held distilled neutral spirit for one year.

"I've wanted to make a barrel aged Absinthe for some time," said Vermut. "The months spent maturing in a charred barrel mellows the anise and brings out delicious creamy notes of vanilla and caramel that blend beautifully with the other botanicals. It is deliciously balanced and will be a distinctive addition to modern mixology."

The new Barrel Aged Absinthe has already been picked up by Monsieur Marcel Gourmet Market in Los Angeles.

Absinthia Facts:

Farm to bottle authentic absinthe from a vintage Swiss recipe

Twice distilled in California in a copper pot from grapes and herbs

in a copper pot from grapes and herbs Aged for 6 months in 30-gallon American Oak Heavy Charred barrels that held distilled neutral spirit for one year

110 proof (55% ABV)

Barrel Aged SRP $44.99 (375ml)

(375ml) Blanche SRP $44.99 (375ml)

(375ml) Verte SRP $44.99 (375ml)

About Absinthia's Bottled Spirits

Absinthia's Bottled Spirits is a WBENC-certified woman-owned artisan craft beverage business based in Oakland, California. The passion of founder Absinthia Vermut, the company celebrates unique and bold flavors using craft spirits from high-quality ingredients produced in ways that respect the environment. The brands in the Absinthia's Bottled Spirits portfolio include a trio of authentic absinthes and a range of craft cocktail spirits. Absinthe Bottled Spirits strike the balance between timeless flavor and modern mixology and are distributed in key markets. For more information email [email protected] or visit www.absinthia.com

Follow Absinthia's Bottled Spirits on Social Media: Facebook @TheAbsinthia; Instagram @AbsinthiasBottledSpirits; #Absinthia; #GreenFairy

Samples and hi-res photography are available on request. Contact Laura Peet, PeetCom Inc. [email protected]

Media Contact:

Laura Peet, PeetCom Inc.

(917) 860-6285

[email protected]

SOURCE Absinthia's Bottled Spirits
TORONTO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ada, an Automated Brand Interaction company that bridges the gap between brands and the people they care about, today announced it has been named to G2's 2022 Best Software Awards, placing 2nd on the Top 50 Analytics & AI Products list. Operating a software marketplace used by more than 60 million software buyers annually, G2 is the definitive online destination to discover, review and manage the technology that businesses need to reach their potential. Its annual Best Software List ranks the world's best software companies and products based on authentic, timely reviews from real users.

This is Ada's first time appearing on one of G2's Best Software lists, earning its place this year thanks to their product Ada Support. Ada Support is personalized customer support at scale. Ensuring better brand interactions, Ada Support allows company's support teams to solve 80%+ of inquiries instantly, with an AI-powered chatbot.

Ada Support was built out of the understanding that brand reputations are built on the sum of every single customer interaction. The company has seen five years in a row with 100% year over year growth, making them the number one platform for Automated Brand Interaction. Next month, Ada plans to put on an event to explore the future of automation and discuss the need for a single automation layer across the customer and employee experience with their trusted customer Square.

Mike Murchison, Co-Founder & CEO of Ada, noted, "We're thrilled to be chosen as a winner for G2's 2022 Best Software Awards under the Analytics and AI Products category. At Ada, we help brands talk more to their customers and not less, and we do this through leveraging the power of conversational AI to automate brand interactions. As we continue our growth in 2022, we look forward to bridging the gap between brand and consumer, and establishing deeper relationships for our clients and their customers."

"As we continue to accelerate rapid growth, our online marketplace boasts 100,000+ software and services companies in 2,000+ categories and over 1.5 million trusted user reviews. Simply put, G2 is where you go for software," said Godard Abel, co-founder and CEO, G2. "Our annual Best Software List aims to guide buyers on their purchasing decisions, knowing they can trust in the credibility and objectivity of our scoring algorithms. We applaud those companies named to our 2022 list, as they've earned the satisfaction among their customers as well as an impressive market presence."

The top 100 software sellers are ranked based on a combination of Satisfaction and Market Presence scores for each seller, and the top 100 products are ranked based on reviews across all categories they are a part of. To be included in one of G2's Software Sellers or Software Products "Best Of" lists, a software seller or product must receive at least 50 approved and published reviews during the 2021 calendar year. Scores reflect only data from reviews submitted during this evaluation period.

To learn more, view G2's 2022 Best Software List and read more about G2's methodology .

About G2

G2 is the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace, helping more than 60 million people every year make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews. Thousands of companies partner with G2 to build their reputation, manage their software spend, and grow their business -- including Salesforce, Hubspot, Zoom, Adobe and more. For more information, visit www.g2.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn .

About Ada

Ada is an Automated Brand Interaction company that bridges the gap between brands and the people they care about. The world's most innovative brands, like Zoom, Facebook, and Square, use Ada's award-winning platform to automate their most valuable interactions, bringing a true VIP experience to every customer and employee. The digital-first company was born in Canada and now serves brands and people worldwide. For more information, visit www.ada.cx .

SOURCE Ada Support
The Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) segment in the airport security market will witness growth during the forecast timeline, which is credited to the rising focus on improving passenger flow across the site. To improve operational efficiency, reduce maintenance costs & track passengers traffic, airport authorities are investing in RTLS systems at different checkpoints. For instance, in December 2021, Xovis AG received a contract from the Airports of Thailand (AoT) for the supply & installation of passenger tracking systems at three airports including Phuket International, Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok) Airport, and Don Mueang International. The agreement includes the deployment of solutions for monitoring, analyzing, and presenting real-time data of travelers.

The system will collect data from operational data, such as a number of passengers in the arrival, departure & transit areas, and from visual information, to derive data-driven insights. Through this, the organization is focusing on reducing the waiting time during security checks, check-in lines, and passport controls, thus improving the overall customer travel experience. The collected data can also be used to forecast passenger traffic on a day-to-day basis and allocate resources & assets accordingly.

The increasing demand for modernization of the existing infrastructures will propel the airport security market expansion in North America. Organizations and government administrations are emphasizing on developing their facilities with the installation of advanced technologies such as automated lanes, biometric access control systems, video analytics, AI-based surveillance cameras, and explosive detection solutions. Through this, they are improving the performance, productivity & safety of airport assets and passengers.

For instance, in May 2021, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) awarded a contract worth USD 318 million to Raytheon Technologies for deploying checked baggage screening machines across all federally managed airports. The five-year nationwide contract includes equipment expansion to around 430 federal airports. It will also improve the security aspects of the terminals and reduce any danger to various stakeholders on-site. The growing implementation of safety solutions will support industry demand during the forecast period.

Request for customization of this research report @

https://www.gminsights.com/roc/367

Some major findings of the airport security market report are:

The integration of advanced technologies, such as AI, data analytics, cloud computing & IoT, will boost the industry revenue. Furthermore, companies are developing security management software with features such as configurable API user restrictions, facial recognition, recorded footage smart search, map navigations, and video alarm processing.

The introduction of new & stringent government regulations associated with the security parameters of airports will foster the market progression. Airway transportation authorities across various countries are launching guidelines to maintain a minimum standard of operational activities. Through this, they are focusing on monitoring unlawful practices to prevent major incidents in the coming years.

The airport security market will showcase growth owing to growing investments in infrastructural extension of the facilities. To accommodate the increasing daily traffic in airports, administrations are planning new projects to add new flights paths, terminals, lounges, and parking spaces. The expansion of airport terminals will increase the requirement for safety solutions.

The growing risk of terrorist attacks will support the airport security market value. Organizations are installing advanced X-rays scanners at the checkpoints to prevent illegal smuggling of dangerous explosives, weapons, chemicals & firearms. The aim of this deployment is to reduce harm & danger to passengers, sitting inside the airport & in the airplane.

Table of Contents (ToC) of the report:

Chapter 3 Airport Security Market Insights

3.1 Industry segmentation

3.2 Impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

3.2.1 Global outlook

3.2.2 Regional outlook

3.2.3 Industry value chain

3.2.3.1 Manufacturers

3.2.3.2 Software/technology providers

3.2.3.3 System integrators

3.2.4 Competitive landscape

3.2.4.1 Strategy

3.2.4.2 Marketing

3.2.4.3 Business growth

3.3 Industry ecosystem analysis

3.3.1 Raw material suppliers

3.3.2 Component suppliers

3.3.3 Manufacturers

3.3.4 Technology/software providers

3.3.5 System integrators

3.3.6 Distributors

3.3.7 Vendor matrix

3.3.7.1 Raw material suppliers

3.3.7.2 Component suppliers

3.3.7.3 Manufacturers

3.3.7.4 Technology/software providers

3.3.7.5 System integrators

3.3.7.6 Distributors

3.4 Technology & innovation landscape

3.4.1 AI & Cloud

3.4.2 Data analytics and Machine Learning

3.4.3 Automated Screening Lanes (ASL)

3.4.4 Biometrics

3.5 Regulatory landscape

3.6 Industry impact forces

3.6.1 Growth drivers

3.6.2 Industry pitfalls & challenges

3.7 Growth potential analysis

3.8 Porter's analysis

3.9 PESTEL analysis

Browse Complete Table of Contents (ToC) @

https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/airport-security-market-report

About Global Market Insights Inc.

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy, and biotechnology.

Contact Us:

Arun Hegde

Corporate Sales, USA

Global Market Insights Inc.

Phone: 1-302-846-7766

Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Global Market Insights Inc.
ROSEVILLE, Calif., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Always Best Care Senior Services, one of the leading senior care franchise systems in the United States, announced today that Comfort and Michael Oseme are the new owners of the South Jersey franchise. Always Best Care of Greater South Jersey serves Atlantic, Burlington and Camden Counties and is one of six Always Best Care agencies across New Jersey. The Osemes and their team of caregivers provide senior care services to communities including Absecon, Berlin, Egg Harbor City, Marlton, Medford, Moorestown, Waterford Works and surrounding areas.

"Always Best Care has a strong history in the South Jersey community providing high-quality senior care services," said Jake Brown, President and CEO of Always Best Care. "Comfort's nursing experience and deep knowledge of the healthcare space coupled with Michael's finance background make them ideal franchisees for this business. I feel confident they have the knowledge and commitment to continue growing this business and providing a valuable service to seniors and their families in the area."

The Osemes have lived in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, for the past five years. Prior to joining Always Best Care, Comfort earned two master's degrees in nursing from Drexel University and gained invaluable healthcare and customer service experience in both home care and acute care. She was most recently the nursing director for a large Medical Surgical Telemetry unit. Michael has a master's in business from Rutgers University and was previously an associate vice president in finance.

"We have witnessed a definite shift from seniors seeking care in a facility to wanting to be cared for at home. As more Baby Boomers advance in age, this market for aging in place is growing by leaps and bounds," said Comfort Oseme. "The opportunity to own our own business in such a rewarding industry and with an established brand in the community is a dream come true for us. We look forward to putting the resources of Always Best Care to work and continuing to serve Greater South Jersey."

Always Best Care is one of the nation's leading providers of non-medical in-home care and assisted living referral services, with skilled home health care in limited markets. The company delivers its services through an international network of more than 225 independently owned and operated franchise territories throughout the United States and Canada. By working with case managers, social workers, discharge planners, doctors, and families, Always Best Care franchise owners provide affordable, comprehensive solutions that can be specifically matched to meet a client's particular physical or social needs.

For additional information on services available through Always Best Care of Greater South Jersey, or for a free evaluation, please call (856) 574-4308 or visit www.alwaysbestcare-sj.com.

About Always Best Care

Founded in 1996, Always Best Care Senior Services is based on the belief that having the right people for the right level of care means peace of mind for the client and family. Always Best Care has been assisting seniors with a wide range of conditions and personal needs for over 25 years and currently provides thousands of hours of care every year. Franchise opportunities are available to individuals interested in leveraging the company's clear strategy and proven track record for delivering affordable, dependable service to seniors in their local areas.

Always Best Care also offers exclusive programs such as Always in Touch, Balance Tracking System and remote patient monitoring. For more information regarding Always Best Care's solutions, visit www.alwaysbestcare.com.

CONTACT:

Nicole Hunnicutt

Fish Consulting

404-558-4108

[email protected]

SOURCE Always Best Care
The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award recognizes prominent individuals who use their influence to inspire social action and provides $250,000 in unrestricted funding in addition to valuable development resources and partnership opportunities to advance their mission and scale their work. The Elevate Prize Foundation selected Amal and George Clooney for consistently using their influence and platform to shine a light on injustice throughout the world and encourage countless others to do the same, demonstrating that no problem, nor problem-solver, is too small to be ignored.

"The Clooneys embody our belief at The Elevate Prize that by creating greater awareness for the most pressing problems of our time, while also raising visibility for the individuals and organizations working to confront these problems, we can inspire more people to take action and do good in their own communities," said Joseph Deitch, entrepreneur and founder of The Elevate Prize Foundation. "With this award, we hope to both draw attention to human rights abuses and injustices globally, as well as recognize the extraordinary efforts made by the Clooney Foundation for Justice to combat these issues, especially those made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic."

Since launching in 2016, CFJ has worked to fight for the rights of individuals unfairly targeted by oppressive governments, expose corruption fueling grave human rights violations and seek justice for populations targeted by hate. Previously, the organization also aided displaced children and refugees looking for opportunities to learn and rebuild their lives abroad. Most recently, CFJ announced a new initiative aimed at helping free unjustly imprisoned journalists and advance women's rights around the world.

"We are honored to receive The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award and extend our appreciation to Joseph Deitch and The Elevate Prize Foundation," said George Clooney. "One of The Elevate Prize Foundation's core values is human safety and freedom  a goal we share at The Clooney Foundation for Justice as we work to free the innocent and punish the guilty, waging justice one case at a time." Amal Clooney added, "The funding we receive from this award will support our TrialWatch program, which monitors criminal trials around the world and defends individuals who are unjustly detained, including journalists, women, LGBTQ persons and minorities."

The inaugural Elevate Prize Catalyst Award was presented to Trevor Noah in recognition of his work with the Trevor Noah Foundation, which seeks to foster enabled learning and teaching environments in South African schools while empowering teachers to be innovative leaders and problem solvers in their classrooms and communities.

Last November, The Elevate Prize Foundation announced the winners of its second-ever Elevate Prize, which awards $5 million across 10 social entrepreneurs driving innovative solutions to the world's most pressing challenges.

"Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Elevate Prize. George and I are so inspired by these young leaders working on some of the most pressing issues of our time," said Amal Clooney. "We celebrate the young people we see out there challenging injustices in their communities  these people, along with the winners of The Elevate Prize, represent a new generation that won't accept the status quo," added George Clooney.

Founded by Joseph Deitch in 2019, The Elevate Prize Foundation aims to serve as an engine for social good by helping changemakers raise their visibility and ability to inspire others, ultimately multiplying their impact and underscoring the power of 'making good famous.'

About the Elevate Prize Foundation

Founded in 2019 by businessman, philanthropist, and author Joseph Deitch, The Elevate Prize Foundation aims to serve as an engine for social good by funding, guiding, and scaling the platforms of social entrepreneurs. The Foundation's signature program is its annual Elevate Prize, which is awarded to 10 or more global leaders tackling pressing issues in innovative ways. The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award, another one of the Foundation's programs, recognizes prominent individuals for their commitment to inspiring global social action and using their influence for the good of humanity. Through the Elevate Giving program, the Foundation offers anyone the opportunity to participate in philanthropy and collectively fund high-impact organizations in communities around the world. For more information, visit www.elevateprize.org and follow @ElevatePrize on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

About the Clooney Foundation for Justice

All over the world, journalists and human rights defenders are detained, prosecuted, and jailed. Women and girls, LGBTQ+ people, and minorities are subject to unfair laws and targeted for abuse. Meanwhile, perpetrators of massive human rights abuse and atrocities walk free. George and Amal Clooney created the Clooney Foundation for Justice to combat this: by waging justice, one case at a time.

SOURCE The Elevate Prize Foundation
LONDON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - APR Energy Ltd. ("APR"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp. ("Atlas" or the "Company") (NYSE: ATCO), announced today that it will provide Evolution Power Partners ("EPP") with 228 MW of gas generation capacity for a minimum of one year. APR's solution for EPP includes a full turn-key natural gas-fired power plant powered by eight GE TM2500 gas turbines in Itaguai, Rio De Janeiro with a commercial operation date of May 1, 2022.

\APR's work will support EPP's award in the October 2021 simplified competitive procedure emergency auction held by ANEEL, Brazil's National Electricity Regulatory Agency. ANEEL's reserve energy auctions were driven by a need by Brazil to mitigate the worst drought in 91 years impacting the availability of hydro power in the country.

"Fulfilling Brazil's energy needs takes innovation, reliability and proven results. Our new partnership with APR Energy exemplifies this approach. APR brings a track record of executing energy projects in a range of configurations and jurisdictions across the world," said Mauricio Carvalho of EPP.

APR has deployed over five GW of short- and long-term power projects in 35 markets around the world over the last 15 years. This contract represents APR's first project in Brazil.

"We are thrilled to be entering the dynamic and growing Brazilian market by partnering with a trusted industry leader such as EPP," said Ben Church, CEO, APR Energy. "APR is committed to Brazil in the long-term. We look forward to supporting the citizens of Brazil with sustainable and reliable power through the energy transition and beyond."

About APR Energy

APR Energy provides rapidly deployable power and long-term generation solutions to governments, utilities, and industries around the world. For more information visit aprenergy.com .

About Evolution Power Partners

EPP - Evolution Power Partners is a Brazilian power company, focused on developing sustainable, cost-effective, and productive thermal and renewable power plant projects. For more information visit evolutionpp.com Instagram: evolutionpowerpartners

About Atlas

Atlas is a leading global asset management company, differentiated by its position as a best-in class owner and operator with a focus on deploying capital to create sustainable shareholder value. Atlas brings together an experienced asset management team with deep operational and capital allocation experience. We target long-term, risk adjusted returns across high quality infrastructure assets in the maritime sector, energy sector and other infrastructure verticals. Our two portfolio companies, Seaspan Corporation and APR Energy Ltd., are unique, industry-leading operating platforms in the global maritime and energy spaces, respectively. For more information visit atlascorporation.com .

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "forecasts", "will", "may", "potential", "should", and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, reflect management's current expectations only as of the date of this release. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. Although these statements are based upon assumptions that we believe to be reasonable based upon available information, they are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors detailed from time to time in our periodic reports and filings with the SEC, including Atlas's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on March 19, 2021. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information, a change in our views or expectations, or otherwise. We make no prediction or statement about the performance of any of our securities.

SOURCE Atlas Corp.
LAKELAND, Fla., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lawton M. Chiles Center for Florida History Florida Lecture Series will hold its fifth event of the 2021-22 academic season as it brings a celebrated author and storyteller to the campus of Florida Southern College.

Janis Owens will speak on Feb. 10 in Branscomb Auditorium presenting a talk titled, "Doing What Comes Naturally: A Cracker Talks Stories."

Owens is a novelist, memoirist, folklorist and premier storyteller. She is a native of Marianna, Fla., and attended the University of Florida, where she was a student of Harry Crews' Creative Writing Workshop and earned a degree in English with a minor in Southern history.

Owens is an award-winning author of several acclaimed novels: My Brother Michael, winner of the Chautauqua South Fiction Award for Best Novel, Myra Sims, The Schooling of Claybird Catts, American Ghost and Hidden in Plain Sight: A History of the Newberry Mass Lynching of 1916. In addition to her books, Owens' essays on her life experiences living in Florida have appeared in the New York Times, Writer's Digest and many other publications.

"Janis Johnson Owens is a Florida original, but her literary scope and her commentary reaches well beyond the Sunshine State," noted Dr. James M. Denham, Professor of History and Director of the Lawton M. Chiles Center for Florida History. "Her books and her words speak about a South that's still with us. We are delighted to be able to welcome her to the Florida Southern College campus."

In the past 10 years, as Owens has traveled talking about her books, Owens would describe herself as a "Southerner of the Cracker persuasion," which has gotten her laughs in the South and mixed reviews in other regions.

"They found the word deprecating and naive and inevitably, someone would ask why I'd so proudly associate myself with a word that had such a loaded historic connotation," Owens said. "To them, it was clear that Cracker equaled ignorant, racist, toothless and base. To me, it meant a whole different thing, and in time, re-educating my audience over the roots and true heritage of the word became an interesting side line."

As a part of the Florida Lecture Series, Owens joins a group of speakers who have come to the Florida Southern campus to explore Florida lifestyles and culture. The series has covered a wide range of disciplines including history, public affairs, law, sociology, criminology, anthropology, literature, and art. The objective of the series is to bring members of the community, faculty and student body together to interact with and learn from leading authorities in their fields.

About Florida Southern College

Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private college in the state. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 70+ undergraduate programs and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning, and boasts 30 NCAA Division II National Championships. Florida Southern is ranked at #8 among the "Best Regional Universities in the South" by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 "Best Colleges" guide and is included in The Princeton Review's 2022 Best 387 Colleges guide and the "Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022." The 2021-2022 Colleges of Distinction guidebook praises Florida Southern's AACSB accredited Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise alongside the College's School of Education and its Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Poets&Quants, U.S. News & World Report, Fortune, and The Princeton Review further laud the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise and the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences as foremost programs in the nation for business and nursing education. Home to the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, FSC has appeared on The Princeton Review's top 20 "Most Beautiful Campus" national listing for 12 consecutive years. Connect with Florida Southern College.

SOURCE Florida Southern College
This news release contains forward-looking statements. For a description of the related risk factors and assumptions, please see the section entitled "Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements" later in this release.



MONTREAL, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Bell Canada (Bell) today announced the public offering in the United States of US $750 million aggregate principal amount of Notes in one series (the US Offering). The US $750 million 3.650% Series US-7 Notes will mature on August 15, 2052 and will be issued at a price of US $99.144 per $100 principal amount for a yield to maturity of 3.697%. The Notes are being publicly offered in the United States through a syndicate of underwriters. Closing of the offering of the Notes is expected to occur on February 11, 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by BCE Inc.

Bell intends to use the net proceeds from the US Offering towards the cost of funding the redemption of its C$1 billion principal amount 3.350% MTN Debentures, Series M-26, Due 2023.

The US Offering is being made in the United States pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated February 8, 2022 to Bell's short form base shelf prospectus dated November 16, 2020 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of an effective shelf registration statement on Form F-10. The Notes are not being offered in Canada or to any resident of Canada.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

Copies of the short form base shelf prospectus and the prospectus supplement relating to the offering of the Notes filed with securities regulatory authorities in the United States may be obtained from the Investor Relations department of Bell Canada at Building A, 8th floor, 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell, Verdun, Quebec, H3E 3B3 (telephone 1-800-339-6353). Copies of these documents are also available electronically on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval of the Canadian Securities Administrators (SEDAR), at www.sedar.com, or on the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system, administered by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this news release are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements relating to the expected timing and completion of the proposed sale of the Notes, the intended use of the net proceeds of such sale and other statements that are not historical facts. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the 'safe harbour' provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws and of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements, by their very nature, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties and are based on several assumptions, both general and specific, which give rise to the possibility that actual results or events could differ materially from our expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events, and we caution you against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release describe our expectations at the date of this news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are presented in this news release for the purpose of giving information about the proposed offering referred to above. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The timing and completion of the abovementioned proposed sale of the Notes is subject to customary closing terms and other risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the proposed sale of the Notes will occur, or that it will occur at the expected time indicated in this news release.

About Bell

Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing advanced broadband wireless, TV, Internet, media and business communication services throughout the country. Founded in Montreal in 1880, Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca or BCE.ca.

Through Bell for Better, we are investing to create a better today and a better tomorrow by supporting the social and economic prosperity of our communities with a commitment to the highest environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. This includes the Bell Let's Talk initiative, which promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research and workplace leadership initiatives throughout the country. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.

Media inquiries:

Marie-Eve Francoeur

514-391-5263

[email protected]

@Bell_News;

Investor inquiries:

Richard Bengian

514-786-8219

[email protected]

SOURCE Bell Canada
DALLAS, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BenefitMall , the leading provider of next-generation broker services, is proud to announce the company has earned a 2022 Top Workplaces award. The recognition follows a third-party survey of employees by Energage , a leading provider of technology-based employee engagement tools. The anonymous survey measures several aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few.

"While culture is the foundation of great companies, it's the people in that company that create and sustain the culture," said Scott Kirksey, CEO for BenefitMall. "It's a testament to the BenefitMall family that we've found ways to grow our inclusive culture and celebrate diversity, even in a remote environment."

Despite the challenges of working remotely, BenefitMall's commitment to building a strong, well-defined culture made the transition easier. The company's dedication to collaboration translated easily to virtual meetings. Inclusion ambassadors adapted strategies to ensure they were still in tune with the pulse of the company and could provide opportunities to strengthen employee engagement at a local level.

"During this very challenging time, Top Workplaces has proven to be a beacon of light for organizations, as well as a sign of resiliency and strong business performance," said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. "When you give your employees a voice, you come together to navigate challenges and shape your path forward. Top Workplaces draw on real-time insights into what works best for their organization, so they can make informed decisions that have a positive impact on their people and their business."

BenefitMall's culture is centered around its five core values: collaborate to win, innovate to simplify, have the courage to grow, earn trust with every engagement, and co-create a culture of inclusion. With a company-wide dedication to living shared values, BenefitMall is able to provide the fastest, easiest and most trusted benefits selling experience to its clients.

About BenefitMall

Headquartered in Dallas, BenefitMall is the largest general agency partnering with a network of 20,000 Brokers to deliver employee benefits to more than 140,000 small and medium-sized businesses. BenefitMall uniquely leverages innovative technology backed by human expertise to provide the fastest, easiest, and most secure benefits selling experience for carriers, brokers, and their clients.

Owned by Management and The Carlyle Group, BenefitMall also operates HealthCareExchange.com, the leading online community for health care reform and compliance. More information is available at www.benefitmall.com .

About Energage

Making the world a better place to work together.

Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 14 years of culture research and the results from 23 million employees surveyed across more than 70, 000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit Energage or Workplaces .

SOURCE BenefitMall
NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bermuda has announced updated COVID-19 protocols, offering new travel guidelines that will streamline the process for vaccinated travellers visiting the island, by land or sea. Effective March 7, 2022, the revised guidelines will continue to ensure the safety of all residents and visitors, while making it even more convenient for visitors.

"We welcome visitors from around the world with travel guidelines that ensure their safety as well as their convenience, and our updated protocols will make visiting Bermuda even easier," said Charles H. Jeffers II, Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) CEO. "Our hotels and local businesses are open with the Bermudian hospitality for which we are known. There's never been a better time to visit."

Bermuda's new guidelines will require all visitors to show proof of current vaccination status and a negative COVID-19 test result (both antigen or PCR tests are allowed) within two days of arriving on the island.

Travellers will need to complete the Travellers Authorisation form with this information 24  48 hours prior to arrival.

Up-to-date vaccination status is defined as having received a second dose within six months, or three doses of the vaccine.

No further testing will be required upon arrival. If country of origin requires a test to return, Bermuda will automatically schedule and provide return testing to travellers.

"Due to the overwhelming response we have seen to our recent Pink Sale promotion, we are extending this special offer for savings of up to 50% if booked before February 20," said Douglas Trueblood, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. "People are ready to travel, and Bermuda is eager to welcome them back."

For all Bermuda coronavirus updates and requirements, go to www.gov.bm/coronavirus.

About the Bermuda Tourism Authority

The Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) is an independent, non-government entity and the official destination marketing organization for the island country. The Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) promotes Bermuda globally as a world-class destination for leisure and group travel and tourism investment. For more information visit: www.gotobermuda.com/bermudatourism.

Contact: Amy Moynihan

Director of Global Communication & Partnerships

[email protected] | 212.916.3139

SOURCE Bermuda Tourism Authority
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest analysis from BizVibe, a leading company insights platform, provides detailed insights for hundreds of air freight trucking companies and over 100,000 transportation companies worldwide. BizVibe's air freight trucking company insights highlight the strong influence that the growing demand from e-commerce is expected to have in the coming years for market participants.

Get free insights for 100+ air freight trucking companies

BizVibe's Air Freight Trucking Company Analysis Highlights

Key Industry Trend  Growing Demand from E-Commerce Sector

The e-commerce sector continues to grow as an increasing number of customers and businesses shop for goods and services online. The pandemic has accelerated this growth, with record numbers of online purchases as people adopt ways to shop as safely as possible. This is driving the demand for air cargo, which in turn leads to higher demand for air freight trucking services. The air cargo industry saw record revenue levels in 2021 after a decline in 2020 and is expected to see further growth in 2022.

Trend Geographic Relevance  High Relevance in Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific region holds the largest share of the global air cargo market, and accounts for over half of its growth. With a growing population and high concentration of manufacturers, the region's need for air freight transportation continues to rise, helping to bolster demand for air freight trucking as well. Outside of Asia-Pacific, some of the leading countries for air cargo and air freight trucking include the US, Germany, the UK, and France.

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CHICAGO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

Transaction Highlights:

Acquires powerful data and technology assets that allow dealers to efficiently buy and sell inventory through CARS' extensive dealer network and tap into CARS' massive in-market audience, improving dealer inventory turn and maximizing transaction margins

Enables real-time transparency on vehicle valuation and provides a trusted platform for secure online transactions for dealers and consumers looking to sell to qualified buyers

Further strengthens end-to-end capabilities on CARS' platform, driving incremental revenue and ARPD opportunities

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS) ("CARS" or the "Company"), a leading automotive marketplace platform that provides a robust set of industry-specific digital solutions, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the assets of Accu-Trade, Galves Market Data and MADE Logistics ("Accu-Trade"), which includes real-time, VIN-specific appraisal and valuation data, instant guaranteed offer capabilities, and logistics technology. Consideration for the transaction will be $65 million in cash at closing. There is also the potential for additional cash and stock consideration based on achievement of certain financial thresholds. We anticipate making a $63 million earn-out payment, which may be higher or lower based on actual performance. The transaction is expected to close in approximately 30 days.

"We are excited to enter into the rapidly growing multi-billion-dollar digital vehicle acquisition and remarketing category with Accu-Trade's best-in-class valuation and appraisal technology. These solutions will drive better inventory management and maximize profits for dealers while introducing a more efficient option for buying and selling wholesale inventory at scale. We will also empower millions of consumers to confidently and securely sell their vehicles online to the best buyer," said Alex Vetter, Chief Executive Officer of CARS. "This acquisition is a further acceleration of our platform strategy and will fuel our end-to-end transaction capabilities for buyers and sellers as well as long-term growth for CARS."

As a result of the acquisition, the CARS platform will enable dealers to quickly and efficiently buy and sell inventory at scale across a dealer-to-dealer and consumer-to-dealer network, improving inventory turn and maximizing profits per transaction by helping to match each vehicle with the best end-user. Dealers will gain access to an instant guaranteed offer solution across the CARS platform, including on the Cars.com marketplace and Dealer Inspire websites. Using Accu-Trade's proprietary VIN-specific valuation and appraisal technology, dealers will confidently source inventory directly from the tens of millions of high-intent, in-market shoppers who visit the CARS platform each quarter -- 142MM visits at Cars.com and an additional 247MM visits across DI dealer websites.

Shoppers will benefit from real-time transparency and consistency about a vehicle's guaranteed value, instant connection to the best buyer, and a secure option to complete an online transaction. CARS will also launch new sell-it-yourself capabilities on its marketplace, giving the approximately 11MM annual private-party car sellers in the U.S. the option to sell to another consumer or to one of thousands of certified dealers. Integration of the technology across the CARS platform is expected to begin shortly after the transaction closes.

Accu-Trade generates revenue through subscription fees of its appraisal and data products to dealers. CARS expects to launch the product across its platform and begin recognizing incremental revenue in the second quarter of 2022. We expect the acquisition will be EBITDA accretive in year one. More information will be provided on the future revenue contribution and incremental expenses related to Accu-Trade on CARS' year-end earnings call.

Accu-Trade was founded in 2015 by automotive industry leader Robert Hollenshead, a leading North American wholesaler and auto software entrepreneur. Jeff Zamora, Chief Technology Officer of Accu-Trade, who will be joining CARS' leadership team, said, "CARS' strong consumer audience and outstanding network of dealer customers, combined with its proven track record of delivering digital solutions, makes it the ideal match to drive wider adoption of the Accu-Trade platform. As dealers look for new solutions to optimize inventories and further drive profitability in their businesses, we believe we can quickly scale these assets across the CARS dealer network. On behalf of the entire Accu-Trade team, we look forward to joining the CARS family to help accelerate innovative digital solutions for the auto retail space."

CARS Internal Data, Q3 2021

NADA Used Car Data for Private Party Vehicles, Nov. 2021

ABOUT CARS.COM INC.

CARS is a leading automotive marketplace platform that provides a robust set of industry-specific digital solutions that connect car shoppers with sellers. Launched in 1998 with the flagship marketplace Cars.com and headquartered in Chicago, the Company empowers shoppers with the data, resources and digital tools needed to make informed buying decisions and seamlessly connect with automotive retailers. In a rapidly changing market, CARS enables dealerships and OEMs with innovative technical solutions and data-driven intelligence to better reach and influence ready-to-buy shoppers, increase inventory turn and gain market share.

In addition to Cars.com, CARS brands include Dealer Inspire, a technology provider building solutions that future-proof dealerships with more efficient operations and connected digital experiences; FUEL, which gives dealers and OEMs the opportunity to harness the untapped power of digital video by leveraging Cars.com's pure audience of in-market car shoppers, DealerRater, a leading car dealer review and reputation management platform, and automotive fintech platform CreditIQ.

The full suite of CARS properties includes Cars.com, Dealer Inspire, FUEL, DealerRater, CreditIQ, Auto.com, PickupTrucks.com and NewCars.com. For more information, visit www.Cars.com.

ABOUT ACCU-TRADE

Accu-Trade provides dealers with vehicle valuation and appraisal technology and connects consumers to the best buyer for their vehicle. The platform is based on VIN-specific historic information and condition. The company's valuation platform is fueled by market-correct data from Galves, which has been a leading provider of wholesale vehicle auction information since 1957. Galves has been trusted and used by thousands of dealers to buy and sell more vehicles. The company also includes MADE Logistics, an early-stage dealer and wholesaler logistics platform to transport vehicles. For more information, visit www.accu-trade.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning the Company's industry, Dealer Customers, results of operations, business strategies, plans and objectives, market potential, outlook, trends, future financial performance, planned operational and product improvements, potential strategic transactions, including the proposed acquisition and integration of CreditIQ, and other matters and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. As a result, the Company's actual financial results, performance, achievements, strategic actions or prospects, including the expected benefits of the acquisition of CreditIQ may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "project," "anticipate," "outlook," "intend," "strategy," "plan," "estimate," "target," "seek," "will," "may," "would," "should," "could," "forecasts," "mission," "strive," "more," "goal" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations, beliefs, strategies, estimates, projections and assumptions, based on its experience in the industry as well as the Company's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments, current developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors the Company thinks are appropriate. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company and its management based on their knowledge and understanding of the business and industry, are inherently uncertain. These statements are expressed in good faith and the Company believes these judgments are reasonable. However, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of strategic action, performance or results. The Company's actual results and strategic actions could differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Given these uncertainties, forward-looking statements should not be relied on in making investment decisions. Comparisons of results between current and prior periods are not intended to express any future trends, or indications of future performance, unless expressed as such, and should only be viewed as historical data. Whether or not any such forward-looking statement is in fact achieved will depend on future events, some of which are beyond the Company's control.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, that could cause its actual results and strategic actions to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. For a detailed discussion of many of these and other risks and uncertainties, see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, its Current Reports on Form 8-K and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available on the Company's website at investor.cars.com or via EDGAR at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this press release in the context of these risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based only on information currently available to the Company and speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation, other than as may be required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking or cautionary statements to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of events, unanticipated or otherwise, or changes in future operating results over time or otherwise.

The forward-looking statements in this report are intended to be subject to the safe harbor protection provided by the federal securities laws.



SOURCE Cars.com Inc.
"We are excited to welcome Dr. Crawford to CHOC," said Dr. Sandip Godambe, CHOC's chief medical officer. "Dr. Crawford joins a stellar team of physicians and staff. Together, they will make CHOC the leading destination for pediatric neurology and all neuroscience care, research and training  and continue to provide the highest levels of care to our patients and families."

Dr. Crawford joins CHOC from Rady Children's Hospital, where he served as director of its Neuro-oncology Program; started and led its Neuro-Oncology Fellowship Program; and established the Pediatric Neurology Education and Research program.

"I am thrilled to join CHOC's extraordinary family of expert and compassionate physicians and staff," Dr. Crawford said. "The CHOC Neuroscience Institute and I are committed to advancing the science and medicine for the children of Orange County and beyond who are affected with the entire spectrum of neurologic disorders. I am humbled to work alongside a team of board-certified specialists and neuroscience-trained staff to ensure our patients have the very best outcomes and lead a happy and healthy life."

Dr. Crawford attended medical school at the University of Massachusetts in Worchester, Massachusetts, and served his residency at the University of Southern California. He performed his Child Neurology and Neuro-oncology fellowships at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Dr. Crawford is an author or contributor of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and multiple book chapters.

Dr. Crawford's appointment at CHOC comes at an exciting time, given the Neuroscience Institute's growth, expanded treatment modalities, and future plans that include building an inpatient Neuroscience Unit in what is currently shelled space in the Bill Holmes Tower of CHOC's hospital campus in Orange.

Dr. Crawford will lead the Institute alongside Co-Medical Director Dr. Suresh Magge, a neurosurgeon who joined CHOC in 2020.

About CHOC:

CHOC, a pediatric healthcare system based in Orange County, California, is committed to being a leading destination for children's health by providing exceptional and innovative care. Our growing community includes two state-of-the-art hospitals in Orange and Mission Viejo and a regional network of primary and specialty care clinics serving children and families in four counties. CHOC offers several clinical programs of excellence providing the highest levels of care for the most serious pediatric illnesses and injuries, both physical and mental. Our research and innovation institutes are focused on translating real patient needs into real-world treatments so every child can live the heathiest and happiest life possible. To learn more, visit www.choc.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:

[email protected]

SOURCE CHOC
A leading global executive, Laurie Ann has more than 30 years of management and operating experience building consumer businesses across the retail and apparel, film and television, hospitality, and food and beverage industries. She previously served as the CEO of Avon North America, the CEO of Spanx for 12 years and in leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company and Macy's.

Laurie Ann's appointment also continues Claire's strong representation of female leaders, who account for 50% of the Board. Laurie Ann succeeds Samantha Algaze, who has served as Board Chair since 2018. Ms. Algaze will continue to serve on the board alongside Claire's CEO Ryan Vero and non-executive directors Carmen Bauza, DeAnn Brunts, Samantha Lomow, Arthur Rubinfeld, Paul Best, Patrick Fallon, and Theophlius Killion.

"As a successful executive, Laurie Ann's wealth of experience at building consumer products companies makes her an outstanding choice for Chair of the Board of Managers," said Samantha Algaze. "I am confident Claire's is well-positioned for continued success under her guidance and leadership, and I look forward to serving with her on the Board as Claire's continues to grow and thrive."

"Laurie Ann's incredible track record, dedication to brand evolution and operational excellence, as well as her unique perspective, complements our vision and will be instrumental in further ensuring long-term success as we strengthen the power and reach of our brand," said Ryan Vero, Chief Executive Officer of Claire's. "We are pleased to welcome her as our new Chair and know she will be a tremendous asset as we advance the growth of Claire's."

"I'm thrilled to be joining the Claire's Board of Managers during this exciting time as the team builds on the strong legacy of Claire's and accelerates its leadership as a global brand," said Laurie Ann Goldman. "I look forward to joining this visionary management team to make a positive impact on the continued success of Claire's."

Over the course of her career, Laurie Ann was named one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women, one of JWI's Top Ten Women to Watch and Ad Age's Top 50 Marketing Executives, receiving the AJC National Human Relations and Leadership Award along with Madeleine Albright. She is a member of The Committee of 200, Economic Club, Chief Executives Organization and Women Corporate Directors. Laurie Ann currently serves as a member on the board of directors for Guess? Inc., Joe & the Juice (General Atlantic), European Wax Center, Inc., 101 Studios (Yucaipa), Terminix Global Holdings Inc., ClubCorp (Apollo) and Newlight Technologies. She holds a B.S. in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin.

For more information about Claire's Board of Managers, please visit Corporate.Claires.com .

About Claire's Holdings LLC

Claire's Holdings LLC is a fully integrated, global fashion brand powerhouse committed to inspiring self-expression through the creation and delivery of exclusive, well-curated products and experiences. For over 50 years, Claire's has been a destination for the curious, creative and influential and an industry-leader in ear piercing services, delivering a trendsetting assortment of fashion products and accessories that help young people worldwide style and define themselves. Through its global brands, Claire's and Icing, the company delivers an immersive, omnichannel shopping experience with owned and concession stores throughout North America and Europe as well as franchise stores in the Middle East and South Africa. More information regarding Claire's is available at www.clairestores.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Sarah Gordon, SHADOW

[email protected]

SOURCE Claire's
GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Clave, a leading fintech consumer lending company in Latin America, today announces the appointment of two senior executives to its leadership team.

Neel Parekh joins Clave as Chief Strategy Officer with 15+ years of experience in finance, investing in fintech, consumer and technology companies.

Claudia Nieves joins Clave as Chief Marketing Officer with 15+ years of experience in marketing and consumer data analytics.

Clave's additions to its leadership team come on the heels of Clave's expansion into Colombia.

"We are excited to welcome Neel and Claudia to the Clave team. They bring extensive experience and expertise at a critical time as the company embarks on its next stage of growth," said Pablo Pizzimbono, CEO of Clave.

Neel Parekh

Prior to joining Clave, Neel spent over 15 years in finance, investing [most recently $4 billion] in fintech, consumer and technology companies. He spent the first ten years of his finance career at Tiger Consumer, serving ultimately as a Managing Director. Neel later was a portfolio manager at two investment industry leaders, Citadel and Millennium. Neel started his professional career practicing law at Latham & Watkins LLP. He serves on the board of I AM ALS, a non-profit that empowers advocates to raise awareness and to search for a cure for ALS. He is also Director Emeritus at Urban Arts Partnership, after serving as Board Chair for over a decade. Neel was also a founding board member of Citizen Effect, a non-profit focused on funding sustainable infrastructure projects in Africa and South Asia.

Claudia Nieves

Prior to joining Clave, Claudia was the CMO of Wing, one of the leading fintech companies in Asia. She has an extensive background in marketing and consumer data analytics. In 2021, Claudia was recognized as one of the top CMOs by Industry Era, receiving international recognition. She spent 15 years working in local and regional marketing positions in the telecom sector, and more recently in fintech. Claudia is also actively involved with a non-profit organization that builds and renovates housing for people in need all over the World.

About Clave

Clave is a digital consumer lending company providing users with a digital wallet to access simple, intuitive, and secure solutions to traditional financial services that include credit, payments and transfers as well as providing a gateway to a new age of financial products based on blockchain technology. Clave represents the new financial ecosystem that removes the barriers between traditional finance and emerging consumer products built on blockchain, unleashing the power of new technologies and re-defining financial inclusion.

For additional information please visit www.clave.com

Press Inquiries:

Marcelo Pizzimbono

President

Clave

[email protected]

SOURCE Clave
ALPHARETTA, Ga. and SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- nThrive, Inc. ("nThrive"), a healthcare revenue cycle management ("RCM") software-as-a-service ("SaaS") platform provider backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with certain affiliates, "Clearlake"), today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire PELITAS, a leading provider of healthcare patient access, digital patient intake, and front-end RCM software solutions. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The addition of PELITAS's integrated patient access and digital patient engagement software solutions, awarded Best in KLAS for 2019, 2020 and 2022, will advance nThrive's position as a leading software provider in front-end revenue cycle management.

PELITAS will boost nThrive's patient access offerings, delivering incremental value for both providers and patients:

Providers will have automated workflow capabilities for financially clearing patients pre-service or at check-in. PELITAS's Integrated Patient Access Solution  (iPAS) integrates seamlessly with any EHR or PMS and eliminates redundancy, freeing staff to focus on more impactful work.

will have automated workflow capabilities for financially clearing patients pre-service or at check-in. PELITAS's Integrated Patient Access Solution (iPAS) integrates seamlessly with any EHR or PMS and eliminates redundancy, freeing staff to focus on more impactful work. Patients will benefit from virtual check-in and payment capabilities. PELITAS's Virtual Intake Management is a suite of digital, self-service tools that allows patients to complete registration documentation and submit payments virtually. This technology provides one of the most in-demand capabilities in healthcare, driven in part by worsening labor shortages, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and growing consumer preference for digital engagement with their providers.

"PELITAS's innovative patient access technology solutions complement the front-end of our portfolio by enhancing and automating workflows and enabling a digital patient experience, one of the most coveted solutions in healthcare today," said Hemant Goel, CEO of nThrive. "Both organizations are rooted in complementary missions and cultures of innovation to drive meaningful improvement to health and financial outcomes for healthcare providers, payers and patients. We look forward to integrating their solutions and colleagues into our growing company."

"We are thrilled to support nThrive in this strategic transaction that extends its leadership in revenue cycle management software and adds new capabilities to support digital patient intake and patient engagement solutions," said Behdad Eghbali, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, and Paul Huber, Principal, of Clearlake. "We are excited to continue executing on our buy-and-build thesis to scale our SaaS platform investment in nThrive and create a comprehensive end-to-end RCM technology provider, while adding value through our proprietary O.P.S. framework."

nThrive and PELITAS are each committed to helping customers achieve stronger financial outcomes. With a unified portfolio, their customers will benefit from a comprehensive end-to-end RCM technology platform, resulting in increased confidence and predictability in payment optimization.

This acquisition furthers nThrive's commitment to better serve the healthcare community by increasing revenue assurance and improving revenue staff efficiency while lessening administrative burden so that providers can focus on higher quality care and outcomes for patients.

"nThrive and PELITAS share a common vision of transforming the patient financial experience through best-of-breed technology solutions that integrate key touchpoints, eliminate inefficiencies and optimize outcomes," said Steven Huddleston, President & CEO of PELITAS. "Both organizations are relentlessly focused on delivering extraordinary value to customers while fostering business cultures that promote diversity and inclusion."

About nThrive

nThrive provides one of healthcare's most comprehensive revenue cycle management SaaS platforms, offering patient access, charge integrity, claims management, contract management, machine learning & robotic process automation, data & analytics, and education software solutions to more than 900 hospitals and health systems in North America, including 37 of the 40 largest healthcare providers in the U.S.

nThrive's end-to-end software platform helps healthcare organizations increase revenue, reduce costs, expand cash collections, and ensure regulatory compliance across the entire revenue cycle continuum. For more information, please visit https://www.nthrive.com/.

About PELITAS

PELITAS provides technology solutions to help hospitals, physician practices, and specialty groups improve patient experience, maximize revenue, and eliminate inefficiencies throughout the revenue cycle. Awarded Best in KLAS in 2019, 2020 and 2022, its Integrated Patient Access Solution (iPAS) is designed to financially clear patients at the first point of contact by improving the accuracy of registrations, increasing point-of-service payments, and reducing denials. Learn more at www.PELITAS.com.

About Clearlake Capital

Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is an investment firm founded in 2006 operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational improvement approach, O.P.S. The firm's core target sectors are technology, industrials and consumer. Clearlake currently has over $60 billion of assets under management and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 300 investments. The firm has offices in Santa Monica and Dallas. More information is available at www.clearlake.com and on Twitter @ClearlakeCap.

Media Contact:

For nThrive:

Audra Murphy

nThrive

(717) 476-4864

[email protected]

For Clearlake:

Jennifer Hurson, Lambert & Co.

845-507-0571

[email protected]

SOURCE nThrive
MIAMI, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Cloudastructure, pioneer in cloud video surveillance, was declared the global winner of the "Security Innovation of the Year SMB" in the international Cloud Computing Awards program, The Cloud Awards.

Celebrating its ten-year anniversary, The Cloud Awards identifies and celebrates innovation in cloud computing from organizations of any scale and headquartered in any country worldwide.

Cloudastructure CEO Rick Bentley commented, "Winning 'Security Innovation of the Year' is a great honor, and we'd first like to thank the judges, especially on the ten-year anniversary of the Cloud Awards. I'd also like to thank our engineering team at Cloudastructure, as we couldn't have done this without you. We look forward to continuing to lead the way in transforming video surveillance into AI/ML based smart surveillance, both in the cloud and at the edge, to meet the immense security needs of SMB's and enterprise businesses, as well as the security and smart city needs of municipal, state, and federal agencies."

Head of Operations for the Cloud Awards, James Williams, said: "The Cloud Awards has been identifying the great organizations who create world-changing technologies for a decade now. Cloudastructure is a worthier-than-ever winner of a Cloud Award, taking cloud technologies to new heights. It was a real pleasure to see them come in top of their category and shows how much they impressed the panel with their market-leading innovations."

Cloud Awards judge Jason Ford commented, "We at the Cloud Awards recognize that video surveillance has been a core part of organizational security for decades. It is fantastic to see Cloudastructure using the cloud to bring video surveillance into the 21st Century. Well done, Cloudastructure!"

Hundreds of organizations entered, with entries coming from across the globe, covering the Americas, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. You can view the full shortlist here: https://www.cloud-awards.com/2021-shortlist/ .

Media inquiries based on this release please contact:

For Cloudastructure

Kathleen Hannon - Director of Communications

www.cloudastructure.com

[email protected]

For the Cloud Awards

James Williams  Operations

www.cloud-awards.com

[email protected]

About Cloudastructure:

Headquartered in Miami, Florida, with R&D in Silicon Valley, California, Cloudastructure's award-winning surveillance video management system is designed and supported by world-class technical resources drawn from five continents. The platform's unique architecture enables AI and computer vision for scalable, flexible, cost-effective security and eliminates the resource-intensive management and data risks of on-premises solutions. Cloudastructure enables a unified view of multiple sites for motion, facial recognition/detection, anomaly detection, object counting, LPR, advanced analytics, and compliance and delivers up to a 75% lower total cost of ownership than other systems. For more information, visit www.cloudastructure.com .

About the Cloud Awards:

The Cloud Awards is an international program which recognizes and honors industry leaders, innovators and organizational transformation in cloud computing. The awards are open to large, small, established and start-up organizations from across the entire globe, with an aim to find and celebrate the pioneers who will shape the future of the Cloud as we move into 2022 and beyond. The Cloud Awards currently offers two awards programs, the Cloud Computing Awards and the Software-as-a-Service Awards.

Categories for the Cloud Computing Awards include Most Promising Start-Up, Best SaaS, and "Best in Mobile" Cloud Solution. Finalists were selected by a judging panel of international industry experts. For more information about the Cloud Awards, please visit https://www.cloud-awards.com/ .

SOURCE Cloudastructure, Inc
VOORHEES, N.J. , Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Comar, a premier supplier of custom medical devices & assemblies and specialty packaging solutions, announced today it has acquired Automatic Plastics Ltd., a contract manufacturer of injection molded products primarily for the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors. The company is headquartered in Wicklow, Ireland just south of Dublin. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is backed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners.

Automatic Plastics Ltd. (APL), in operation for 50 years and led by owner and managing director Al Lawless and commercial director Andrea Cawley, specializes in custom design, development, molding, and assembly of medical devices and rigid pharmaceutical packaging. APL operates out of an ISO 13485 certified production facility that houses 30 injection molding machines ranging from 25 to 485 tons with expertise in design and development, overmolding, two-shot molding, automation, desiccant handling and packaging, and custom printing.

The combination of APL and Comar enhances Comar's medical device and pharmaceutical packaging manufacturing expertise and represents the first step in its global expansion. With Ireland being one of the world's major medtech and pharmaceutical industry hubs, the acquisition provides an exceptional foundation for Comar to supply its multinational customers and grow in European healthcare markets. The combined company will have 11 manufacturing facilities and over 1200 employees worldwide.

"We have proudly served our customers for the last five decades and cannot wait to provide more for them in the future as a part of Comar," said Al Lawless, Managing Director of APL. "From the beginning we have trusted in Comar, their capabilities, and most importantly, their culture. They know how to partner with companies, mentor teams, and empower them to drive growth. We truly believe Comar will bring the focus and resources necessary to elevate APL to the next level of performance."

Mike Ruggieri, CEO of Comar added, "We are so excited to welcome the APL team to the Comar family. As part of our global vision, we believe it is critical to have a presence in Europe to better serve our medical and pharmaceutical customers many of whom have global reach. APL has superb quality, best-in-class manufacturing, and a spectacular management team that can carry our strategic initiatives forward. We look forward to a successful partnership and continuing our growth journey together."

About Comar

Comar, headquartered in Voorhees, New Jersey, USA has ten strategic engineering, manufacturing, and distribution locations and employs a host of plastic molding technologies, including injection molding, injection blow molding, injection stretch blow molding, and extrusion blow molding, which are complemented by a full suite of value-added service offerings. For more than 70 years, Comar has partnered with clients to launch high-impact packaging and medical solutionstransforming them from concept to reality, where they can positively impact the world around us. Comar is majority-owned by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. For additional information, visit comar.com.

About Automatic Plastic Ltd.

Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Wicklow, Ireland near Dublin, Automatic Plastics Ltd. (APL) is a custom plastic injection moulding company with 50 years of experience and expertise in injection moulding and automated assembly. APL offers a bespoke service through every stage of a client's requirements: advising on initial design, providing project management support for mould design and build, producing precision manufactured parts and assemblies, and supporting clients with finished product inventory and logistics solutions. For additional information, visit automaticplastics.com

About Morgan Stanley Capital Partners

Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, is a leading middle-market private equity platform that has invested capital in a broad spectrum of industries for over three decades. Morgan Stanley Capital Partners focuses on privately negotiated equity and equity-related investments and seeks to create value in portfolio companies primarily in a series of subsectors in the business services, consumer, healthcare, education, and industrials markets with an emphasis on driving significant organic and acquisition growth through an operationally focused approach. For further information about Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, please visit www.morganstanley.com/im/capitalpartners.

SOURCE Comar
BOSTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cooper Housing Institute announced that it has awarded the non-profit public policy advocacy organization, Massachusetts Housing & Shelter Alliance (MHSA), with a $300,000 grant. The grant will fund the production of the feature-length documentary, Beyond the Bridge: A Solution to Homelessness, by A Bigger Vision Films, LLC.

The film will focus on innovative solutions to homelessness and analyze racial disparities that create a lack of housing opportunities. It will explore "housing first" models, which prioritize permanent housing as a foundation for individuals to pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life. By facilitating treatment of addiction and mental illness, the Housing First model saves cities millions of taxpayer dollars and is now working in communities in the US.

"The Cooper Housing Institute's mission is to support research, education and public awareness programs that address housing affordability and homelessness in the United States," said Co-Founder Will Cooper Jr. "Beyond the Bridge will be an important educational tool that explores how to eliminate homelessness in the United States."

About Cooper Housing Institute

The Cooper Housing Institute is a private 501(c)(3) foundation founded in 2018 by the Cooper family, whose commitment to affordable housing spans 50 years. The foundation strives to make housing a priority in the United States by supporting research, education and programs that address housing affordability and homelessness. The organization focuses on the root causes of the shortage of affordable housing and chronic homelessness across the nation, and aims to focus on objective, fact-driven research that brings often divergent groups together to embrace common sense solutions. The Cooper Housing Institute was formed by Will N. Cooper Sr. and Will N. Cooper Jr., leaders of Irvine, California-based WNC, a leading provider of investment, asset management and development services in the affordable housing industry. To learn more, visit https://cooperhousinginstitute.org/.

Contact: Julie Leber

Spotlight Marketing Communications

949.427.1391

[email protected]

SOURCE Cooper Housing Institute
DALLAS, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dallas-based business litigation and intellectual property law firm Caldwell Cassady & Curry is proud to announce the promotion of associate Seth Reich to principal.

Mr. Reich earned the promotion based on his years of successful work for clients and leadership within the firm. Since joining Caldwell Cassady & Curry in 2018, he has helped the firm win substantial courtroom verdicts for both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes intellectual property trials and business disputes.

"Seth is a tenacious litigator, and he exhibits the character and leadership that we want our firm to be known for," says Caldwell Cassady & Curry name principal Austin Curry. "We look forward to working alongside Seth on our clients' most important cases for years to come."

Mr. Reich's track record at Caldwell Cassady & Curry includes his work as trial counsel for Acantha LLC in the company's patent infringement litigation against DePuy Synthes, a subsidiary of healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson. Jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin issued an $8.2 million verdict against DePuy Synthes after finding that the company infringed an Acantha patent covering an orthopedic implant assembly.

He also has played a key role in Caldwell Cassady & Curry's ongoing representation of VirnetX Inc. in the company's patent litigation against technology powerhouse Apple Inc. Those wins for VirnetX include a unanimous verdict of $502.6 million in 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and a separate verdict of $502.8 million handed down by a different Eastern District jury in 2020.

Mr. Reich handles cases in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. He has served as trial counsel in matters involving patent infringement, contract disputes, contested trademarks, and trade secrets claims.

Caldwell Cassady & Curry represents companies and individuals in high-stakes civil litigation, including patent infringement cases, trade secrets claims, fiduciary duty cases, class actions, and disputes involving company founders. The firm has tried and won some of the nation's top verdicts against the largest companies in the world. Learn more about the firm at www.caldwellcc.com.

For more information, contact Bruce Vincent at 214-763-6226 or [email protected].

SOURCE Caldwell Cassady & Curry
LONDON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The island nation of Dominica is making the right strides in its quest to becoming a climate resilient nation.

This will be achieved by the construction of a geothermal plant, amongst other initiatives, that will enable the country to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

The United Nations made an urgent call to all countries in 1992 to tackle climate change amongst other issues and in 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed.

Dominica is already on its way to achieving six of the 17 SDGs for its nation, these include No Poverty; Good Health and Wellbeing; Affordable and Clean Energy; Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Sustainable Cities and Communities and Climate Action.

As hurricanes become more frequent and more intense, Dominica and other small islands are seeking new opportunities which lie in decarbonisation and renewable energy technologies to aid more sustainable forms of tourism and digitisation of the economy.

A greener Dominica

In 2017, the Prime Minister of Dominica, Dr the Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, vowed to make Dominica the first climate-resilient nation in the world after the devastation left behind by Hurricane Maria.

The country, which can be counted amongst the few nations that can be termed "carbon neutral" is enhancing its resilience agenda by utilising resources on the island to generate energy.

The geothermal plant is being constructed in partnership with the United Kingdom, the World Bank and Kenesjay Green LTD, a local green energy company, and is expected to be operational by 2023.

The plant will ensure that the country is powered by renewable energy, reducing energy costs and carbon emissions while simultaneously creating jobs.

During COP26, which took place in Glasgow Scotland late last year, the Climate Resilience Executive Agency of Dominica's CEO, Francine Baron said, "This signing complements the work that Dominica is doing with the support of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in developing green industrial projects as a major diversification effort and sustainable economic development for Dominica."

"CREAD will work with Kenesjay Green Limited to expeditiously position Dominica to take advantage of its vast geo-thermal resources and growing global market interest for new eco-friendly products such as green hydrogen."

Along with the geothermal plant, the island is ensuring that all infrastructure on the island is developed with sustainability and resilience in mind  all buildings from homes to hospitals, are built to withstand weather disasters.

A green revitalisation for the tourism sector

Dominica's tourism sector is also witnessing a green revitalisation, thanks to the introduction and construction of boutique environmentally sensitive villas and resorts.

During a recent visit to the Expo 2020 Dubai, Denise Charles, Minister for Tourism, International Transport and Maritime Initiatives said, "We want visitors to know the real Dominica, with its 35 rivers, numerous waterfalls, pristine forests, wildlife and nature trails. We're committed to sustainable tourism, and very soon, we'll have an eco-resort powered by solar and green energy."

"We are inspired by the Expo's subtheme of Sustainability because for several years Dominica has given high importance to nature conservation. Our pristine, unspoilt environment is perfect for eco-tourism," added Kenneth Darroux, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and Diaspora Relations, who was also at the Expo.

As the country moves towards complete climate resilience, visitors can be confident that their trip helps preserve and boost the environment. Those who fall in love with the country can be pleased to know that they can make it their ideal second home.

Under Dominica's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme, investors looking to expand their real estate portfolio can invest in established luxury hotel brands and villas and receive Dominican citizenship. This real estate route supports several sustainable resorts from renowned hoteliers that prioritise the natural environment. Over the years, it has attracted internationally recognised hotels to its shores, from the award-winning Secret Bay, Sanctuary Rainforest, Marriott, Hilton, Kempinski, and unique boutique villas and resorts such as Jungle Bay.

A CBI programme like no other

Dominica has for several decades used funds generated by its CBI programme to realise its ambitions towards constructing climate-resilient infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters, while creating lasting jobs in construction and tourism.

Established in 1993, Dominica's CBI Programme has helped vetted individuals and their families in becoming citizens of the nation once they either invest in a government fund or purchase pre-approved real estate properties. The programme is one of the longest-standing options on the market and continues to be ranked as the world's best by the annual CBI Index report conducted by experts at the Financial Times' PWM magazine.

Dominica's CBI programme has several features which makes it attractive to investors including transparency, due diligence, and fast processing.

The programme has remained the most transparent CBI programme in the industry for nearly three decades as the government is investing all the funds raised by CBI towards the country's development including supporting the island nation in becoming the first climate-resilient nation in the world.

The country places a high focus on the safety of its citizens and third-party due diligence background checks are thorough. These are conducted on all candidates and dependents over sixteen to ensure that no illegal persons are granted citizenship.

Another key reason for Dominica's success in the citizenship by investment market is its unwavering dedication to speedy application processing. Applicants sometimes receive approvals in as little as three months after submitting their applications.

CBI empowers the governments of small nations like Dominica to build its economy and infrastructure and changes the lives of the international businesspeople that invest in the programme.

The programme has been pivotal to generating foreign direct investment which has been channelled into the country's national development. In exchange, investors gain the nation's citizenship including its many benefits from increased travel freedom particularly to global business hubs, a second home in a stable democracy where financial prosperity is ripe and has ties to economic giants like the United States and the ability to pass citizenship down for generations to come.

Investment in Dominica is attractive as it allows individuals to achieve professional goals, gain global mobility, ensure their family's safety and improve their quality of life.

Investing in Dominica's CBI programme allows the applicant a number of benefits including:

Family reunification - large families are now able to obtain citizenship together, and citizenship can be passed down to future generations.

- large families are now able to obtain citizenship together, and citizenship can be passed down to future generations. Health and education - A chance to live somewhere with an improved standard of healthcare and education is also a drawcard, giving parents the tools to help their children succeed in life.

- A chance to live somewhere with an improved standard of healthcare and education is also a drawcard, giving parents the tools to help their children succeed in life. Domestic wellbeing - Applicants have the opportunity to call their dream destinations home.

- Applicants have the opportunity to call their dream destinations home. Personal and professional security - Applicants can live in a country where civil liberties are protected and, socio-economic and political stability is achieved.

Media Contacts: [email protected], www.csglobalpartners.com

SOURCE CS Global Partners
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The electronic multi-fusion instrumental group, Elektragaaz, releases its fourth, and most exciting yet, EP in their ongoing Synaesthetic Picture Show series on February 8th.

The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4 Elektragaaz--The Music of the Future Your Future

Elektragaaz features a mix of live and electronic music with most of the members based in the New York metropolitan area but headed by a mysterious and intensely private young Frisian composer using the pseudonym of Poppo Redband but usually referred to as simply Redband. The music draws on such far flung influences as classical music, hip hop, rock, club, techno, pop, dance, film noir, comic strips and video games. The new EP features among its six songs, by way of example, music ranging from the angry anthem, The Defiant Ones, to the cinematic spy-thriller CounterSpy to the disco influenced Her Body is a Dance.

The goal of the music is to create movies in the mind of its listeners. While the music cannot be easily pigeon-holed, it might be described as Gorillaz meets Snarky Puppy meets Kraftwerk. One commentator has described the music as a successful combination of a variety of genres "ranging from the sizzle of jazz, baroque aromas, the smooth elongated flows of prog-rock, the energy of dance, and the heft of alt-rock." To put it more succinctly, Elektragaaz is the music of the future. Your future.

Elektragaaz came into life in 2017 beginning with an unsolicited phone call from Redband to New York producer Trebor Lloyd on a late spring evening in 2017. Redband was a 19 year-old young man looking for an outlet for his musical vision. Lloyd gleaned little information on that night or subsequently as to the identity of "Redband" though in the course of the conversation it appeared that Redband is a fledgling video games developer as well as a composer, purportedly based in Friesland, a province of the Netherlands. Redband was working on a musical project that he styled Elektragaaz and wanted to gather collaborators for what he called his musical "quest". Following the conversation Redband began to send Lloyd intriguing electronic tracks via WeTranfer, Dropbox and Google Drive originating from an ever changing array of email addresses. Lloyd pulled in the most talented folk he could find in the New York area for the purposes of the Elektragaaz collaboration eventually recording a deep and wildly varied catalog of instrumental music, slices of which have been included in the four released EPsout of a planned six EPs in The Synaesthetic Picture Show series.

The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4, on the AIS label and distributed by The Orchard, is available on all major music platforms. Please contact Rick Eberle at [email protected] at (516) 729-6872 for further information concerning all matters Elektragaaz.

SOURCE Elektragaaz
The Fairfield shop is located at 180 Serrano Drive, Suite A, in Fairfield. The storefront is soft opening on February 8th and will host a ribbon-cutting and grand opening celebration on February 19, featuring deals, specials, and promotions from the state's leading brands.

"As a member of Embarc's Community Advisory Board, I am thrilled to see Embarc open their doors as the first cannabis dispensary in Fairfield, serving as foundational leaders in setting the standard for safe, compliant, and truly community-focused cannabis operations in our community," says Pastor David C. Isom of St. Stephen Christian Methodists Episcopal Church and Governing Board Member of the Fairfield Suisun Unified School District. "I look forward to working with Embarc to ensure the benefits of retail cannabis are felt in Fairfield and that our industry is the gold standard for community-centric retail cannabis in California."

Embarc Fairfield joins Embarc's existing operations in South Lake Tahoe, Alameda, and Martinez and will be joined by half a dozen additional storefronts opening later this year. "We're thrilled to be operating in Fairfield and appreciate the collaborative spirit of residents and local community leaders in ushering in local cannabis operations," says Chief Executive Officer Lauren Carpenter. "I am honored to work alongside our partner Ron Turner and our local Community Advisory Board to ensure thoughtful, responsible operations."

"I am proud to open the first dispensary in my community as Embarc Fairfield will set the bar for community-centric cannabis operations, ensuring the benefits of legal cannabis are felt right here in Fairfield," says local owner Ron Turner, a former Fairfield public safety officer and founder of a local non-profit organization. "This is an important step for our community, and I am honored to play a founding role in ensuring the Fairfield cannabis industry serves as an exemplary partner to community and government alike."

Embarc thoughtfully curates products to meet the needs of all consumer types, price points, and desired effects. Embarc dedicates 50% of our shelf space to promote inclusion and diversity within the industry, never compromises on quality, and carries brands that share these values. Embarc is focused on benefiting the community, with one percent of all sales at Embarc Fairfield reinvested into the Fairfield community. This investment is guided by Embarc's Community Advisory Board, a group of local community members and leaders focused on ensuring the thoughtful integration of cannabis activities in Fairfield.

About Embarc

Embarc is one of California's fastest-growing independent cannabis retailers, having opened three stores in nine months amid the global pandemic. Fairfield is the fourth store opening, with six additional locations opening later this year. Embarc donates 1% of gross receipts in perpetuity to a Community Investment Fund in each of the communities where it operates, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in direct community reinvestment.

Embarc is also the leading events concessionaire for cannabis in California, working with jurisdictions, event promoters, and communities to integrate responsible cannabis sales and consumption into mainstream live events. Embarc Events brings a turn-key cannabis concession model that harnesses industry expertise to bring culturally impactful ideas to life, offering cannabis in a responsible environment that allows adults to safely consume as well as an educational opportunity for novices.

For more information, please visit www.goembarc.com and www.embarcevents.com

Visit us on social media:

Instagram

LinkedIn

CONTACT: Libby Dolan

[email protected]

SOURCE Embarc
PROVIDENCE, R.I., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- EpiVax, Inc. ("EpiVax") announces the establishment of the Vax Gives Back Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation, a step to continue the strong tradition of corporate responsibility and community service at the company.

EpiVax has a long standing commitment to charitable giving since the company's inception in 1998. Dr. Annie De Groot, Co-founder and CEO/CSO, has led these efforts with a focus on local and global organizations.

EpiVax taps the Rhode Island Foundation to accelerate charitable giving programs Tweet this

Dr. De Groot founded the GAIA Vaccine Foundation in 2001, and continues to serve as Scientific Director, making frequent trips to Mali to work at the foundation's medical clinic. GAIA's mission is to reduce the incidence of infectious diseases that disproportionately impact the world's poorest communities.

In 2007, De Groot and other medical volunteers founded Clinica Esperanza / Hope Clinic, a free medical clinic for uninsured residents of the Valley, Olneyville, and surrounding neighborhoods in Providence, Rhode Island. The clinic has become a community pillar, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteers provide free testing services and have administered over 15,000 vaccine doses to date.

EpiVax formalized their charitable giving programs in 2017 with the formation of the "Vax Gives Back" initiative. Led by EpiVax employees, Vax Gives Back allows employees to direct where charitable donations should be made. EpiVax gave 1.5% of gross income to charitable institutions in 2021, a higher percentage than most corporations.

The new Vax Gives Back Fund sets aside a yearly budget for EpiVax employees to distribute to local non-profit organizations throughout the year. EpiVax Human Resources Manager, Leaya Martelli, who leads Vax Gives Back, said "The new fund will help EpiVax contribute to the community and access the Rhode Island Foundation's charitable expertise for years to come. "

About EpiVax:

EpiVax is a biotechnology company with expertise in T cell epitope prediction, immune modulation, and rapid vaccine design. EpiVax's immunogenicity screening toolkits for therapeutics and vaccines, ISPRI and iVAX, are employed in advancing the research of a global roster of companies.

For more information about EpiVax, visit www.epivax.com.

About Rhode Island Foundation:

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. Through leadership, fundraising and grant-making activities, often in partnership with individuals and organizations, the Foundation is helping Rhode Island reach its true potential. For more information, visit rifoundation.org.

Press Contact:

Katie Porter, Business Development Manager

EpiVax

[email protected]

Source: EpiVax, Inc.

SOURCE EpiVax, Inc.
COLUMBUS, Ga., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Insured, but still exposed  that's what Aflac, a leading provider of supplemental insurance in the U.S., discovered in its inaugural Aflac Care Index. This survey of more than 6,500 adults was designed to help measure Americans' awareness of and exposure to debt resulting from medical bills not covered by health insurance  and findings revealed that a staggering 46% of respondents do not have enough savings set aside to pay for potential unexpected medical expenses, even when they have insurance. For those living in economically distressed communities, that percentage is even higher.

"The Aflac Care Index reveals that the high cost of health care is a huge problem for the uninsured, but they are not alone, as even among those who have health insurance, nearly half say that they could not pay for costs that are not covered by their insurance," said Aflac U.S. President Teresa White. "As a company that cares for our neighbors, our employees and our communities, we want to utilize this information to help address this national challenge head on. No one should have to choose between daily living expenses and paying medical bills, which unfortunately, is how many Americans are forced to live today."

According to the Aflac Care Index, 24% of respondents report having no money in their savings accounts and 48% say they have $1,000 or less. Further exacerbating the situation is that 33% of insured Americans cannot go more than one week without a paycheck, while 71% cannot endure a month without pay, leading many (25%) to have to borrow money in the event of a medical emergency, almost a quarter (22%) saying they would need to find an additional job, and 6% would have to file bankruptcy. At the same time, approximately three-quarters of insured respondents underestimate their financial exposure to common medical challenges, such as heart disease (79%) and breast cancer (73%).

"Millions of Americans are forced to make difficult health-related decisions every day, often delaying treatment or incurring debt due to the high costs of health care," said Shannon Watkins, Chief Brand and Marketing Officer for Aflac. "The most important thing Americans can do to avoid the impact of medical debt is to be prepared. Make sure you assess your out-of-pocket maximum in relation to your savings, take steps to boost your rainy-day fund and prioritize preventative care to identify where you may be vulnerable based on your family history. Supplemental insurance, like Aflac, is also a potential solution, as it is designed to help close the gaps between what health insurance covers and does not."

Aflac Care Index identifies the most at-risk states:

Health care challenges and inequities facing Americans also vary by region. When looking at the group of respondents whose savings are less than or equal to their ability to pay out-of-pocket costs, it is revealed that a higher number of residents living in 11 U.S. states  Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia  are identified as exceeding the average vulnerability to medical debt, lacking available savings should a medical need arise. Insights include:

Insufficient savings : A significant percentage of residents in select states report having savings less than or equal to their out-of-pocket maximums, as compared to a national average of 63%: Arkansas : 79% Iowa : 78% Kansas : 75% West Virginia : 84%

: A significant percentage of residents in select states report having savings less than or equal to their out-of-pocket maximums, as compared to a national average of 63%: Concerns over unpaid medical bills: Americans in several states report that they are much more concerned today than they were five years ago about paying medical bills not covered by insurance: Arkansas : 43% South Carolina : 45% Texas : 33%

Americans in several states report that they are much more concerned today than they were five years ago about paying medical bills not covered by insurance:

No rainy-day fund: A considerable proportion of residents in several states report having no rainy-day fund to potentially cover unexpected medical bills: Arkansas : 43% Indiana : 31% Iowa : 36% Kentucky : 44% Ohio : 31% Oklahoma : 40% Virginia : 32% West Virginia : 42%

A considerable proportion of residents in several states report having no rainy-day fund to potentially cover unexpected medical bills:

From emergency funds availability to family history of disease  especially cancer and heart disease/stroke  these 11 states also stood out across several areas of concern. Accordingto the AmericanCancer Society, residents of these states generated an estimated 445,000 new cancer cases in 2021, or roughly 23% of the nation's total, and many rank highly for coronary heart disease and stroke as well, meaning that those who are most concerned about the impact of high health care costs are often the most impacted by health challenges.

Aflac is working to help Close the Gap:

To help address these concerns, Aflac applied the data and key findings from the study to help inform its new Close the Gap initiative, a comprehensive program that aims to help educate, support and advocate around the critical and rising issue of medical debt. In October, the company announced its intent to give away $1 million to families, individuals and organizations throughout 2022. And starting this month, Aflac will expand its CareGrants program and award grants to communities greatly impacted by medical debt, as identified through data from the Aflac Care Index.

Care Index Methodology:

Conducted by The Bantam Group, Inc. and commissioned by Aflac, the Care Index surveyed 6,514 Americans nationwide, all of whom have health insurance and make or share in household insurance decisions, via online survey in October 2021.

About Aflac Incorporated

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) is a Fortune 500 company helping provide protection to more than 50 million people through its subsidiaries in Japan and the U.S., where it is a leading supplemental insurer, by paying cash fast when policyholders get sick or injured. For more than six decades, insurance policies of Aflac Incorporated's subsidiaries have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. Aflac Life Insurance Japan is the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance in Japan, where it insures 1 in 4 households. For 15 consecutive years, Aflac Incorporated has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2021, Fortune included Aflac Incorporated on its list of World's Most Admired Companies for the 20th time, and Bloomberg added Aflac Incorporated to its Gender-Equality Index, which tracks the financial performance of public companies committed to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation and transparency, for the second consecutive year. To find out how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover, get to know us at Aflac.com or Aflac.com/Espanol .

Aflac | Aflac New York | WWHQ | 1932 Wynnton Road | Columbus, GA 31999.

Media contact: Jon Sullivan, 706.573.7610 or [email protected]

Analyst and investor contact: David A. Young, 706.596.3264 or [email protected]

SOURCE Aflac Incorporated
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Falvey Insurance Group is proud to announce a series of quarterly panel discussions entitled, "Women at the Helm." With all female panelists and moderators, the goal of "Women at the Helm" is to spotlight female professionals who have made notable contributions to business, those who have balanced career and family, others who have made an impact in the insurance industry, and those who have encouraged diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organization.

All moderators will be female employees of Falvey, while the panelists will be invited guests. Each installment will align with a day of observance of women. The event is open to all. The first discussion will take place on International Women's Day, March 8th, amongst women business leaders including Helena Foulkes, Democratic Candidate for Governor of RI and experienced CEO; Barbara Cottam, Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Affairs and Corporate Responsibility at Citizens Bank; Rachelle Green, Member of Cervenka Green & Ducharme LLC, Rhode Island's first women-owned business law firm; and Gina Perini, Chair of the Board of Directors and CEO at Somos, Inc. Foulkes will also participate in a 1:1 discussion with the panel moderator who is Falvey's Corporate Controller, Julie Hencler.

"Women at the Helm" is now open for registration and will be hosted at Quidnessett Country Club. Registration is complimentary to make this event accessible to all interested attendees and includes access to a networking reception following the panel discussion. The remaining event dates and respective topics can be found at falveyinsurancegroup.com/women-at-the-helm.

Mike Falvey, President and CEO of Falvey Insurance Group explains: "The staff at Falvey Insurance Group is over 50% female. Our philosophy has always been to hire people who are simply good at what they do, which has naturally resulted in an even gender split.

Supporting female leaders and providing career opportunities to every employee is part of our culture. This helps us build a strong team that's able to exceed our clients' expectations and offer unique solutions to the industry."

"Professional development is another integral component of Falvey's culture. 'Women at the Helm' is just one example of how Falvey strives to educate its employees, and the wider community. Further, the series is meant to empower the women in and outside of The Group in their professional growth, networking, and mutual support for the success of all women," adds Megan Bell, Falvey's Director of Marketing.

To learn more or register for the first event of the series, please visit falveyinsurancegroup.com/women-at-the-helm. For any questions related to "Women at the Helm", please contact Megan ([email protected]).

About Falvey Insurance Group

Falvey Insurance Group began as a single division, Falvey Cargo Underwriting, opening its first office in 1995 in Wakefield, RI by the company's founder: Mike Falvey. After 25 years, the company has evolved into Falvey Insurance Group, comprising four divisions: Falvey Cargo Underwriting, Falvey Shippers Insurance, Safe Harbor Pollution Insurance, and Falvey Insurance Services. "The Specialized Insurance Experts" are known for flexibility, World-Class customer service, claims processing excellence, and comprehensive knowledge and expertise that is unparalleled in the insurance industry. Falvey was also named Insurance Insider's MGA of the Year in 2020.

www.falveyinsurancegroup.com

Media Contact:

Megan Bell

(401) 214-5600

[email protected]

SOURCE Falvey Insurance Group
After Ana made landfall on the Mozambique coast Jan. 24, the historic storm tore through southern Malawi the next day with torrential rains and strong winds causing intense flooding, downed trees and power lines, as well as structural damage. In Malawi, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs says Ana displaced more than 193,000 households (more than 948,000 people) from their homes across 17 districts.

With such a devastating storm, it will take everyone working together to help the affected families. Feed the Children is working with the Nutrition Cluster, co-chaired by the Government of Malawi through the Department of Nutrition & HIV/AIDS and UNICEF, to determine short, mid- and long-term needs as families work to clean and rebuild after the storm. The nonprofit plans to distribute more than 400,000 water purification packets from Proctor & Gamble. These will provide families with safe, clean drinking water. In collaboration with local government and aid groups, Feed the Children will also be distributing more than 50,000 packets of Vitameal donated by Nu Skin, which will reach children under the age of five, lactating mothers and pregnant women. This nutrient-dense food will provide those who have lost everything with a warm meal. Through the nonprofit's disaster response, it is estimated more than 8300 individuals will get the Vitameal support needed, while approximately 80,000 households will benefit from the water purifier support.

"Our staff members in Malawi are diligently working on the ground to make sure the immediate needs of community members are met," said McHenry Makwelero, Director of International Finance Operations & Compliance for Feed the Children in Malawi. "We know that the families affected by Ana need our support now more than ever. With the help of relevant government departments, and other partnering organizations, we can reach suffering children and families with ready-to-eat food and clean water."

Through its international offices, Feed the Children works strategically to engage the local government and community leaders to discuss the true need of the community and to develop a collaborative plan for action. The nonprofit's international relief and development includes short- and long-term programming that helps save lives, alleviates suffering and aims to restore human dignity to sustainably improve the quality of life in the communities it serves.

To learn more about Feed the Children's work in the U.S. and in eight countries, visit feedthechildren.org.

About Feed the Children

At Feed the Children, we feed hungry kids. We envision a world where no child goes to bed hungry. In the U.S. and internationally, we are dedicated to helping families and communities achieve stable lives and to reducing the need for help tomorrow, while providing food and resources to help them today. We distribute product donations from corporate donors to local community partners, we provide support for teachers and students, and we mobilize resources quickly to aid recovery efforts when natural disasters strike. Internationally, we manage child-focused community development programs in eight countries. We welcome partnerships because we know our work would not be possible without collaborative relationships.

Visit feedthechildren.org for more information.

SOURCE Feed the Children
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- William Galvin, head of the Massachusetts Securities Division, has filed an administrative complaint against Fidelity Brokerage Services. The firm has been accused of not making a good enough attempt to vet investors' applications before allowing them to engage in options and margin trading. This led to financial losses for investors.

The state regulator accused the broker-dealer of having a "halfhearted and lackadaisical attitude" when it came to protecting retail investors. Fidelity Brokerage Services failed to reasonably perform due diligence related to approving customers' accountsa violation of Massachusetts securities laws.

According to Galvin's complaint, Fidelity's application review system for options and margin trading let customers complete multiple applications, allowing them to modify information until they were approved. For example, one customer applied 13 times in a month, providing inflated financials (among other changed details) that reviewers at the broker-dealer failed to detect. Galvin also accused the firm of failing to do even the most basic review of customer information, not reasonably training its agents, and neglecting to monitor and enforce its own policies to make sure they complied with Massachusetts securities regulations.

Because of Fidelity Brokerage Service's allegedly inadequate supervisory compliance policies and lack of safeguarding, the brokerage firm exposed retail customers to the hazards involving options and margin trading, posing a threat not just to these investors' financial health but also to the securities markets.

This is especially important considering that the broker-dealer experienced an "explosive growth" in its business in 2021. The complaint noted that as of September 30, 2021, Fidelity Brokerage Services had 30.9 million retail brokerage accounts, 22% higher than during the third quarter of 2020.

Often involving highly leveraged investments, options trading provides the chance of high returns. But it also provides the risk of significant losses. Smartphones make it easier to trade in the securities market and many retail investors attempt to get involved in options trading while not fully comprehending the risks.

William Galvin wants Fidelity Brokerage Services to pay a civil fine, retain an independent compliance consultant, and avoid making these same violations in the future.

Our broker-dealer negligence lawyers are investigating claims of losses by Fidelity customers who may have been unsuitably approved to participate in options and margin trading.

Contact us below:

[email protected]

www.investorlawyers.com

US: (800) 259-9010

Internationally: WhatsApp (text only): (713) 227-2400

SOURCE Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP
MILWAUKEE, Wis., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Gecko Hospitality, the nation's largest hospitality recruiting firm, welcomes LaRaine Broadway as the newest franchise partner for the state of Wisconsin. LaRaine began her career in the food industry at age 18, bartending in the Milwaukee Area and attended Wisconsin State University, where she majored in Psychology.

LaRaine Broadway joined Gecko Hospitality in July 2020 as a hospitality recruiter, using her four-plus years of experience in Front and Back of House operations and a passion for developing talent in those around her to help find what they love to do. Six-months later she was promoted to a staffing role where she continued to be promoted, ultimately becoming the youngest branch manager in the company, responsible for managing a team of recruiters. A short 18 months later, LaRaine decided to purchase the Wisconsin territory from her partner to pursue the dream of owning her own company, becoming the youngest minority franchise partner.

LaRaine attributes her work ethic to her mother, who worked three jobs as a young, single parent. As the first business owner in her family, LaRaine takes pride in the ability to empower applicants to think outside the box and set their own goals. A true Wisconsinite, LaRaine enjoys traveling and a good cup of coffee, as well as spending time with her husband and two cats. LaRaine can be reached at 414-377-3766 or by e-mail at [email protected].

"We are very excited in the enthusiasm, passion, and real-life experience LaRaine brings to the table," said Robert Krzak, President of Gecko Hospitality. "She is a disciplined and results-oriented professional, driven to deliver top talent."

About Gecko Hospitality

Based in Fort Myers, FL, Gecko Hospitality is the largest hospitality recruiter in the US. Gecko Hospitality's national network of recruiters and franchise partners connects top-tier talent to companies within the hospitality and restaurant industries. Their rigorous seven-step interview and placement process ensures only the best candidates who fit the requirements and the culture are presented to clients, leading to extraordinary results. Gecko Hospitality: Connecting people and changing lives, one career at a time.  Visit geckohospitality.com to see how Gecko does recruiting like you've never experienced before.

CONTACT: Robert Krzak

Gecko Hospitality; (239)-690-7006

[email protected]

SOURCE Gecko Hospitality
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GoDocs, the automation leader in commercial loan document generation, today reported exponential growth in 2021 along with the recent hiring of a dynamic leadership team to help guide the company as it continues to transform commercial real estate lending technology.

With securitized commercial lending on the rise, check out our "10 Common Myths of Securitized Lending" to learn the truth about the persistent discouraging beliefs and how to take advantage of these loans.

GoDocs achieved nearly 100% year-over-year growth in 2021, its 24th year in business, while forming multiple new strong partnerships with banks, credit unions, and private lenders. Its full SaaS solution and industry best support produced customer retention of essentially 100%. Lenders use GoDocs in all 50 states and in all areas of commercial real estate financing. GoDocs is now the leader in automated document generation for 1-4 units, including DSCR loans. The company's overall multi-family automated document generation business, including Fannie Mae large multi-family loans, is growing rapidly, driven by lenders who demand a full SaaS, pay-as-you-go, easy to use solution that generates documents that are more accurate and often superior to attorney prepared versions.

Based on the tremendous interest in the company's new comprehensive automated loan document generation solutions for construction loans, GoDocs expects to continue to grow rapidly during 2022.

CEO of GoDocs, Stephen Butler, sees continued strong growth. "We have created a truly unique digital solution that lenders tell us is rapidly transforming how commercial real estate loans are being processed. We expanded our leadership team with innovative experts in their fields to handle current growth and to help drive future growth. We couldn't be more excited about the future and what the new team members will bring to GoDocs."

Joining CEO Stephen Butler and GoDocs founder and President, Gary Highland, this powerhouse team includes:

Vic Sunshine , SVP Sales - brings 30 years of financial industry experience, including 20 years at Finastra in sales leadership positions. He excels in new customer acquisition and exceeding revenue goals by delivering solutions that deliver high value and by focusing on and ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction.

- brings 30 years of financial industry experience, including 20 years at Finastra in sales leadership positions. He excels in new customer acquisition and exceeding revenue goals by delivering solutions that deliver high value and by focusing on and ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction. Virginia Bush , VP of Marketing - a 25-year seasoned marketing executive and a digital marketing pioneer, having executed SEO and SEM success before Google was a household name. She is known for excelling in digital demand generation strategies and building exceptional marketing teams designed to exceed ROI goals.

- a 25-year seasoned marketing executive and a digital marketing pioneer, having executed SEO and SEM success before Google was a household name. She is known for excelling in digital demand generation strategies and building exceptional marketing teams designed to exceed ROI goals. Brenda Gordon , General Counsel - with more than 20 years of lender related legal experience, she comes to GoDocs with a unique blend of more than 12 years as a commercial real estate finance attorney at the top law firm, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisnor, followed by 10 years as the General Counsel for leading Arizona lender, Vantage West Credit Union.

- with more than 20 years of lender related legal experience, she comes to GoDocs with a unique blend of more than 12 years as a commercial real estate finance attorney at the top law firm, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisnor, followed by 10 years as the General Counsel for leading lender, Vantage West Credit Union. Sujai Asur, SVP of Product Development - with over 25 years in software product development, including more than 12 years in key roles at Apple and Walmart.com, and recently head of engineering at leading mortgage technology SaaS provider, Roostify, Sujai is the technology visionary for GoDocs' platform development and direction.

- with over 25 years in software product development, including more than 12 years in key roles at Apple and Walmart.com, and recently head of engineering at leading mortgage technology SaaS provider, Roostify, Sujai is the technology visionary for GoDocs' platform development and direction. Stephen Lange , Director of Product Management - a licensed real estate professional with 20 years of project and product experience at Calyx Software, AI Foundry, and Evolve Mortgage Services building end-to-end mortgage platforms that are highly integrated, Stephen understands lender's challenges as well as anyone and focuses on delivering a roadmap of products that solve real lender problems and deliver very high value.

- a licensed real estate professional with 20 years of project and product experience at Calyx Software, AI Foundry, and Evolve Mortgage Services building end-to-end mortgage platforms that are highly integrated, Stephen understands lender's challenges as well as anyone and focuses on delivering a roadmap of products that solve real lender problems and deliver very high value. James Martin , VP of Operations - using experience gained at Alliance Partners, a commercial lending consultant and asset manager of BancAlliance that builds trusted community banking relationships, James will define and implement operations strategies and processes to continue GoDocs' goal to increase automation, support, and satisfaction levels as the company scales.

About GoDocs

GoDocs, the automation leader in commercial loan document generation, offers a next-generation software platform for banks, credit unions, and private lenders that creates a streamlined process for closing commercial loans. The first and only purely SaaS system for automated loan document generation, GoDocs provides lenders with a pay-as-you-go digital solution that requires no training to use. The company has the #1 NPS customer satisfaction score in the industry and is trusted by industry leading banks as well as community banks, Federal and local credit unions, and private lenders of all sizes. GoDocs is proud to back its solutions with 100% onshore support.

Media Contact

Virginia Bush

VP of Marketing

GoDocs

949.274.7907

[email protected]

SOURCE GoDocs
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greater San Diego Association of REALTORS (SDAR) is paving the way for members to expand their business with international clients by forming new partnerships with real estate associations throughout South America. Recently signed reciprocity agreements in seven South American counties will enable REALTORS to grow their referral business while sharing best practices to ensure confidence with international clients.

As foreign investors return to the United States and new market trends emerge, arrivals from South America have recovered the most toward pre-pandemic levels. Among all international buyers in the United States, California ranks as the second largest destination  where 11 percent of foreign buyers in the market are from South America. SDAR is helping members tap into a share of this market by making it easier to connect with international buyers seeking to purchase real estate in San Diego and providing more opportunities to earn commissions from referring local buyers to properties in South America.

"SDAR is devoted to helping our members succeed by finding new and creative ways to improve their business and access more clients," said SDAR President Chris Anderson. "Real estate is about building connections, knowing the market, and paying attention to detail. We are proud to partner with our colleagues in South America to share information and form new relationships on behalf of our members."

The accelerated adoption of new digital technologies and marketing tools in the real estate industry make it more convenient than ever to participate in the global real estate market. These technologies, combined with the steady return of international travel create the potential for significant business growth for agents and brokers. SDAR's dedicated Global Real Estate department is working to expand access to clients around the world by building collaborations with foreign real estate associations.

In South America, SDAR recently signed reciprocity agreements with associations from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. These partnerships will facilitate business growth among members while upholding the highest standards of practice that clients everywhere have come to trust. In Brazil, the real estate sector is continuing to improve, particularly for foreign investments and luxury properties. Brazil's Federal Council of Realtors (COFECI) recognized SDAR for its professional expertise as a committed partner in the industry.

"COFECI, the second largest real estate association in the world, is very pleased to have begun a cooperative relationship with the San Diego Association of REALTORS," said Joao Teodoro, COFECI President. "We are certain that this relationship will result in increased business opportunities for our members. We look forward to working closely together for many years to come."

For more information, contact SDAR at (858) 715-8000 or visit www.sdar.com.

The Greater San Diego Association of REALTORS is the largest trade association in San Diego County and one of the largest local REALTOR associations in California. We help our members, who adhere to a code of ethics and professional standards, sell more homes. We also help people realize the dream of home ownership, and we are dedicated to protecting private property rights. You can follow SDAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Greater San Diego Association of REALTORS
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GrubMarket today announced it has completed the acquisition of Chicago-based Nova Libra, a highly reputable enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider which specializes in eCommerce and supply chain software solutions.

Founded more than 23 years ago by Tom Greenhaw, Nova Libra has taken hundreds of projects from concept to reality. Its primary product offerings span enterprise eCommerce, product information management, and employee & vendor portals. The company's areas of expertise include custom application development, mobile applications, AI & machine learning, cloud computing, and large scale database management with an emphasis on Microsoft and Oracle technologies. The company's CORAL eCommerce and communications platform, which includes a complete API for point of sale (POS) integration, also caters to clients looking for a turnkey solution. This flexible and easy-to-use approach has enabled Nova Libra to cultivate and maintain its relationships with most of their large scale customers for over a decade.

In 2021, Nova Libra was recognized by CIOReview as one of the "most promising eCommerce technology solution providers". The company has securely processed billions of dollars of revenue to date, and its software products are used at thousands of locations across North America every single day.

"We are excited to join the GrubMarket team and welcome the opportunity to add our 23 years of advanced supply chain management experience to the food wholesale business. Customers including True Value, Michaels, FTD and Navistar have relied upon Nova Libra to provide excellence in software development and service. We are thrilled to learn that GrubMarket shares the same goals and has built out such a well-integrated and much-needed software solution to enable more streamlined eCommerce for the food supply chain industry. The mission to provide high quality, nutritious food to all market segments, especially those that are underserved, is a truly meaningful endeavor," said Tom Greenhaw, President of Nova Libra.

According to Mike Xu, CEO of GrubMarket: "Nova Libra has a sterling reputation in the software development space. They've been in business for over two decades, have a proven track record, and are a profitable business with high customer and employee satisfaction and retention. In this current digital age, having a strong eCommerce presence and operations is vital to the survival of traditional retail businesses. The pandemic has also accelerated adoption of digital transformation practices across all industries, especially in the food supply chain space. We're excited for Nova Libra to join the GrubMarket family to bring their high-quality and reliable eCommerce development talent to our ecosystem. This acquisition enables us to further strengthen our eCommerce and software development capabilities for our software customers."

Nova Libra's software and eCommerce development offerings will become an addition to GrubMarket's ecommerce and software product family, which already includes the innovative and proprietary WholesaleWare software suite, the company's software-as-a-service platform that provides food industry wholesalers and distributors with seamless financial management, easy-to-use sales and online ordering features, precise inventory management, lot traceability and tracking, grower accounting, and automated routing and logistics tools.

About GrubMarket

Founded in 2014, GrubMarket is a San Francisco-based food technology company operating in the space of food supply chain eCommerce for both business customers and end consumers, as well as providing related software-as-a-service solutions to digitally transform the American and global food supply chain. Currently, GrubMarket operates in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and British Columbia (Canada), with plans to expand to the rest of the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the world.

For Media Inquiries:

GrubMarket Media Team

[email protected]

(510) 556-4786

GrubMarket Inc.

1925 Jerrold Ave.

San Francisco, CA, 94124

SOURCE GrubMarket
HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the Great American Outdoor Show, Guidefitter announced hosted Outfitter Websites, an all-new solution for professional hunting and fishing outfitters to significantly upgrade the presence of their outfitting business online, without the website maintenance hassles and expense that have plagued many outfitters for years. Outfitters can sign up for the new service starting today.

With clean, beautiful design templates and extremely fast performance, these mobile friendly and search-engine-optimized websites bring an affordable and extremely simple-to-maintain solution to outfitters looking to stand out online with less effort. Outfitting businesses can continue using their current website addresses, preserving their existing website traffic, and securely collect client leads and communicate with prospects easily. Finally, all content, including price lists, photos and more, is easily managed through a simple interface on computers, tablets or phones.

"At the core of the outfitting industry are thousands of small business operators who have dedicated their lives to do what they love in the outdoors," said Cheyenne Wallace, guide and outfitter liaison at Guidefitter. "Part of our mission at Guidefitter is to support these professionals with the tools they need to run a highly successful outfit with less effort, which is why I'm excited about today's announcement. With more clients researching trips online and seeking more self-help online, it's more important than ever for outfitters' websites to stand out above the competition."

Outfitter Websites also include additional features:

Multiple contributors including guides, spouses, and other authorized persons can collaborate to add and maintain website content

All content is seamlessly synchronized with the outfitter's business listing on Guidefitter.com

Easy to understand website metrics, including website visits and more

"I spend over 260 days a year in the field as an outfitter and professional bear guide," said Tyler Kuhn, owner of A-Team Outfitting based in Palmer, Alaska. "I love my Outfitter Website by Guidefitter because it provides that professional edge I need in my business and it's so easy to use, which is important because I'm not a software-tech person. I can update photos and trips at any point right from my phone, and the site does the rest of the work. I'm also excited about Guidefitter's plans for ongoing improvements for the websites this year. They have a robust roadmap in place that will add even more value to my business."

Outfitters who sign up before June 1, 2022, get an entire year of hosting for free. After that, pricing starts at $99 a year. To learn more about Outfitter Websites powered by Guidefitter or to sign up, please visit www.guidefitter.com/outfitter-websites or call (512) 215-4530 M-F, 7a  5p mountain time.

About Guidefitter

Guidefitter is the online community and e-commerce marketplace of choice for genuine outdoor-industry professionals and other consumers who enjoy the great outdoors. We are pioneering the outdoor industry's first online experience where brands, true outdoor pros, and consumers engage in a common digital community, and a marketing and e-commerce platform oriented around a shared passion for outdoor recreation and great gear. Industry pros have access to hundreds of pro-purchase programs from a central location, tools to easily promote the brands they love, and a like-minded community to demonstrate their abilities and expertise. Consumers benefit from a community that understands their passion for the outdoors, access to thousands of outfitters through a comprehensive search engine, and opportunities to discover and purchase great gear based on the insights from people who know better than anyone elsetrue outdoor professionals. Over 300 outdoor brands, including Swarovski Optik, Kenetrek Boots, Weatherby, Polaris Ranger, and First Lite Hunting Apparel, work with Guidefitter to promote their brand with authentic messages through large, managed audiences of genuine outdoor professionals. Guidefitter is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. For more information, please visit www.guidefitter.com, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Guidefitter
BOSTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE: HAE) announced that financial results for its third quarter fiscal 2022, which ended January 1, 2022, are available on its Investor Relations website.

The Company will host a conference call and webcast with investors and analysts to discuss and answer questions about the results at 8:00 a.m. EST on February 8, 2022. The conference call and webcast can be accessed with the following information:

U.S. / Canada toll free (877) 848-8880; International (716) 335-9512

toll free (877) 848-8880; International (716) 335-9512 Conference ID required for access: 1649685

A live webcast of the call can be accessed on Haemonetics' Investor Relations website or via the following link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/qdj4xoqw

In addition, the Company has posted to its Investor Relations website the earnings release and analytical tables and supplemental information that will be referenced on its conference call and webcast, direct links to which are available below.

Direct link to 3Q FY22 Earnings Release:

https://haemonetics.gcs-web.com/static-files/a59812dd-079f-499d-b726-fea541f2555e

Direct link to 3Q FY22 Analytical Tables and Supplemental Information:

https://haemonetics.gcs-web.com/static-files/ef7b55ef-4438-44dc-ab9c-0574a6bad75f

A replay of the conference call and webcast will be available for one year beginning on February 8, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. EST using the conference call webcast link provided in this press release.

ABOUT HAEMONETICS

Haemonetics (NYSE: HAE) is a global healthcare company dedicated to providing a suite of innovative medical products and solutions for customers, to help them improve patient care and reduce the cost of healthcare. Our technology addresses important medical markets: blood and plasma component collection, the surgical suite and hospital transfusion services. To learn more about Haemonetics, visit www.haemonetics.com.

Investor Contact Media Contact Olga Guyette, Director-Investor Relations Josh Gitelson, Director-Global Communications (781) 356-9763 (781) 356-9776 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Haemonetics Corporation
Hercules Mulligan Rum & Rye was inspired by the man himself  the tailor, Irish immigrant, spy, and unsung hero of the American Revolution. It is a 50:50 blend of Caribbean aged rum and home-grown American rye whiskey inspired by the revolutionary era. Fresh, organic, ginger root is macerated in the rum and rye blend, and a splash of bitters is added, ensuring this liberating libation can be enjoyed on the rocks as a ready-made Irish Old Fashioned.

Just over two years ago, Hercules Mulligan co-founder and spirits industry veteran Steve Luttmann teamed up with Grisa Soba, co-founder of Flaviar, and Mario Mazza of NY based Five & 20 Distilling, master distiller for Hercules Mulligan Company. The trio affectionately referred to as "The Three Musketeers" have led the company, which started with just 2,000 coveted bottles at its launch, to become one of the best-selling new brands in the spirits direct-to-consumer marketplace.

"The Flaviar community really helped build our brand from the start, making Hercules Mulligan the number one rated brand on the platform. It has proved so popular with one of the highest repurchase rates on Flaviar that we believe we will be incredibly successful as we start to bring Hercules Mulligan to the home state of the man who inspired our brand," said Luttmann.

Hercules Mulligan is a product that was created and launched during the COVID-19 pandemic. After launching on November 25, 2019 (the anniversary of Evacuation Day), the brand was able to leverage its DTC audience to receive feedback from its consumers, to then tweak and improve based on its customers' feedback. Once the product met its full potential, the company leveraged its loyal consumer based to fuel a crowdfunding round, raising $750,00 in an unprecedented short 3 week period to fuel its ambitious growth plans with a historic, collaborative, democratic approach to brand building. Following its successful crowdfund, the brand is now able to expand beyond its direct-to-consumer offering and bring it to a wider audience in New York with plans for expansion into additional markets just around the corner.

Hercules Mulligan Rum & Rye 750ml 43% ABV SSP $38.00. For more information about Hercules Mulligan Rum & Rye visit www.herculesmulligancompany.com.

About Hercules Mulligan

Named for the until recently little-known tailor, spy, and hero of the American Revolution who changed history and secured freedom for all, Hercules Mulligan is based on a unique recipe from the period. It's what Mulligan, the man, stood for, and it's what this Rum & Rye blend embodies: a spirit of independence.

Launched on November 25, 2019, the anniversary of Evacuation Day, this historical recipe is simple in its nature - Rum, Rye Whiskey, fresh Ginger & Bitters - yet utterly complex and delightful; a unique composition which tickles the nose and loosens the lips.

Quality is etched in Hercules Mulligan's DNA, as it uses real, honest, actual natural flavors, none of this WONF [Natural flavors with other natural flavors] tomfoolery. It's a true craft cocktail in a bottle  picking up awards and rave reviews for how it delivers an Old Fashioned with ease. The best way to savor its flavors is sipping it on the rocks. Simplicity for the win.

AWARDS: Double Gold Medal in San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2021

About Flaviar:

Founded in 2012, Flaviar is the world's largest premium spirits club, with operations in the US and Europe. Flaviar offers a better way to experience fine spirits.

Flaviar members enjoy a full suite of benefits, including quarterly tasting boxes supported by video on demand expert tasting guides and full-size bottles sent directly to their home, invitations to exclusive spirits events, access to rare and original spirits available only to members, free shipping, over 200K member reviews and more.

Flaviar is here to help more people try more new things more often. Flaviar membership is $300 per year, or $95 a quarter.

For more information visit www.flaviar.com

You've got to try this!

SOURCE Hercules Mulligan
Vimian Group has acquired IMEX, an orthopedic implants company in Texas, United States. IMEX is the fourth product brand in the Movora family of brands.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Effective December 21, 2021, Movora has acquired IMEX Veterinary, Inc. IMEX is a family-owned supplier of premium orthopedic implants for the veterinary market. The company was founded by Hall Griffin, DVM, in 1990 and is based in Texas, USA. Today, IMEX continues to be a market leader within the niche of external fixation.

"Through the acquisition of IMEX we enter a new niche segment within surgical products and complement our existing product portfolio in Movora. IMEX has a strong reputation in the veterinary market with its high-quality product brands and long-term stakeholder relationships. I have known Dr. Griffin for 30 years and I am excited to now work together with him and his team", says Chris Sidebotham, Co-CEO of Vimian's MedTech segment Movora.

IMEX will round out Movora's product portfolio extending its reach into small and exotic breed animals with the VetKISS Micro Plating System  offering the world's smallest, clinically tested veterinary locking plate system. In addition to external fixation, IMEX offers worldwide solutions for joint stabilization and size accommodations spanning both extremes of the veterinary patient size spectrum.

About Movora

Movora is a global provider of orthopedic implants sold to veterinarians, veterinary surgeons, and universities. Through its brands, BioMedtrix, KYON, and Veterinary Orthopedic Implants, it offers one of the broadest product portfolios within companion animal orthopedics, ranging from fracture plates to complete hip replacement systems. Movora also believes in supporting veterinary professionals throughout their careers and offers one of the most comprehensive calendars of Continuing Education courses in the industry, teaching DVMs and Veterinary Surgeons new techniques and procedures. Movora has regional headquarters in Florida, USA; Ontario, Canada; Zurich, Switzerland; and Tokyo, Japan. Learn more by visiting www.movora.com .

About Vimian

Vimian is a global, fast-growing group of innovation-driven companies with a shared passion for making a positive impact through improving animal health. Together, we put science, technology and our customers' needs at the centre of everything we do to deliver effective solutions to veterinary professionals, labs and pet parents around the world. We bring together pioneering and entrepreneurial businesses in animal health, with an aim to create a uniquely diversified proposition of products and services of the highest standard. Our group covers four essential and rapidly evolving areas within animal health: Specialty Pharma, Diagnostics, Veterinary Services and MedTech. Vimian provides individual businesses with access to our networks, expertise, infrastructure and capital to accelerate innovation and growth. We are as passionate about supporting leadership within our existing businesses, as we are about welcoming new partners to the Vimian family  together helping us make an even greater impact by improving animal health. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Vimian and our family of companies reach over 15,000 customers in +150 markets, employ more than 450 people and have a combined annual turnover of approximately EUR 140 million. FNCA Sweden AB is appointed the Company's Certified Adviser, [email protected] , +46 (0) 8-528 00 399. For more information, please visit: www.vimian.com.

SOURCE Movora
Companies interested in participating in IMEA can submit their nominations by March 31, 2022; for more information, please visit https://www.frost.com/events/india-manufacturing-excellence-awards/ . For any queries or assistance, please contact Apoorv Anand at [email protected] with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, and company e-mail address.

Rick Ainsworth, Chief Commercial Officer, Frost & Sullivan, said: "Over the past 18 years, Frost & Sullivan has assisted automotive, industrial engineering, FMCG, pharmaceutical, healthcare, and metals-based organizations to advance their manufacturing capabilities, extend supply chains, and optimize production systems. We are deeply committed to the technology-driven change in India, and our 'Smart Manufacturing Model' has been developed to serve and advance the IMEA vision."

Rahul Sharma, Director and Global Head, Manufacturing & Process Consulting Practice at Frost & Sullivan, said: "With the increasing challenge in the global supply chain, cost reduction, environmental pressures and a sense of urgency to capture new markets, the organizations have to accelerate digital strategy, adoption, and transformation across industries to grow."

Frost & Sullivan's awards assessment process highlights the consonance of strategic goals toward business growth, their derivative organizational objective toward enhanced competitiveness, and the facility's operational performance toward manufacturing effectiveness. The principal award at IMEA will be the "Indian Manufacturer of the Year"; there will also be sector-specific Gold and Silver awards and Future-ready Factory awards across industries such as automotive, engineering, healthcare, FMCG, metals, and chemicals. Meanwhile, the organization's combined performance in the Manufacturing Excellence and Digital Readiness segment will determine the "Smart Factory of the Year" award.

The benefits of participating in these awards include:

Business growth arising from the stakeholder needs being addressed.

arising from the stakeholder needs being addressed. Ability to build a competent supply chain, leading to enhanced competitiveness .

. Monitor your organization's manufacturing effectiveness and evaluate and benchmark digital manufacturing adoption against competitors.

and evaluate and benchmark adoption against competitors. Assessment of operational excellence and adoption of Industry 4.0.

and adoption of Digital Readiness assessment that evaluates a company's adoption of digital tools, readiness, and maturity to go along with the digital transformation journey.

that evaluates a company's adoption of digital tools, readiness, and maturity to go along with the digital transformation journey. Integrated supply chain assessment that will focus on the evaluation of upstream and downstream supply chain performance and inbound and outbound logistics.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over six decades, Frost & Sullivan has helped build sustainable growth strategies for Fortune 1000 companies, governments, and investors. We apply actionable insights to navigate economic changes, identify disruptive technologies, and formulate new business models to create a stream of innovative growth opportunities that drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion .

Media Contact:

Priya George, Corporate Communications

P: +91 44 6681 4414

E: [email protected]

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Inflectra - a market leader in IT Software Lifecycle Management solutions announced that it signed a partnership agreement with Itecor Suisse SA. Inflectra's enterprise Program, Portfolio and Risk Management platform, SpiraPlan, will further strengthen the technical and advisory capabilities in the regulated sectors served by Itecor - an international consultancy leading the charge in digital transformation in banking and finance, governance, public sector and education in Switzerland and the EU.

Strengthening Existing Synergies

"We have been impressed not only with the Inflectra offerings but also the company philosophy and the team behind the software," says Helen Bally, Head of Quality Assurance and Testing. "We are looking forward to working with the Inflectra team in supporting our Quality Assurance and Testing customers in Switzerland."

Inflectra and Itecor's relationship dates back years. The two companies complement and strengthen each other's market offerings and have developed an integrated approach to serving their customers in Switzerland. The signing of the formal partnership agreement signals that the two companies anticipate a much closer alignment and stronger synergy in the strategic deployment of their combined solutions in the European market.

"We have known Itecor for some time, and are proud to finally make the partnership official. Because we are familiar with each other's philosophies and we work in complementary industries, the partnership is already off to a great start," says Adam Sandman, Director and Founder of Inflectra. "This partnership will be crucial as we expand into a more global market, and we look forward to collaborating our efforts with Itecor to provide the best possible service for our clientele."

About Inflectra Corporation

Founded in 2006, Inflectra is a market leader in software test management, test automation, application lifecycle management, and enterprise portfolio management space with its SpiraPlan, Rapise, and Kronodesk platforms. The company is headquartered in the USA but has offices in over 10 countries. Known globally for its legendary customer support, Inflectra makes turn-key solutions that address many challenges in software testing and QA, test automation, and product lifecycle management. Its methodology agnostic software tools are used in regulated industries where portfolio management, requirements traceability, release planning, resource management, document workflow, baselining, and enterprise risk analysis are required. The company uses a concurrent pricing model for all its tools with unlimited products, projects, sprints, tests, API calls, included in a single price. All Inflectra products have a 30-day free trial.

About Itecor

Itecor advises organizations in achieving their vision through digital transformation. They deliver high-performing IT services in the governance & service management space, building sound digital solutions and providing top-of-the-range quality assurance & testing methodologies. Itecor does all of this with an eye to the future, building long-term partnerships with their clients who come from a range of fields, including technology, banking and finance, consumer goods, public sector, and education.

Media Contact:

Thea Maisuradze

202-558-6885 x409

[email protected]

SOURCE Inflectra
Report finds companies can gain $357 billion in annual profits globally through people-focused transformation efforts and a commitment to ESG

BENGALURU, India, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital adoption alone is no longer enough to meet business objectives and drive profits, according to new research from Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys (NSE, BSE,NYSE: INFY). The study reveals that companies must now use digital to differentiate beyond traditional IT metrics, reaffirming the importance of people-focused transformation and ESG in achieving business success. While businesses once faced a 'digital ceiling', unable to reach the most advanced levels of tech adoption, these adoption thresholds have become the minimum standard.

Infosys Digital Radar 2022 assessed the digital transformation efforts of companies on a Digital Maturity Index and found that companies have progressively adopted technology year-over-year. The report, which surveyed nearly 2,700 digital transformation leaders from the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia, ranked the most digitally advanced companies as 'Visionaries', followed by 'Explorers' and then 'Watchers'. From 2018 to 2020, a meaningful portion of businesses lagged far behind, watching the technology journeys of others before starting their own. This year's findings, however, show that all respondents have graduated from the 'Watchers' category and are now all either 'Visionaries' or 'Explorers'. Infosys has found that each industry has reached an age of digital maturity never seen before. The percentage of companies achieving moderate transformation success, the 'Explorer' tier, rose minimally. However, the 'Visionary' cluster grew from 22% in 2020 to 30% in 2021, the largest year-over-year increase for this cohort in the survey's history, indicating that companies have broken through the 'digital ceiling' and being a top adopter is no longer an operational or financial differentiator.

Companies across all industries have rushed to broadly implement technology

Companies are significantly increasing adoption of emerging technologies. More respondents reported implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain (73% and 71%, respectively) than mature and foundational cloud and legacy modernization (69% and 68%, respectively), suggesting that once emerging technologies (like AI) now show real promise, and enterprises are moving quickly and aggressively to implement them than in earlier times.

More than 90% of companies indicated they had at least started to adopt the 19 digital initiatives surveyed. Technology adoption in the healthcare industry, for example, increased from 60% to 98% since 2019. The adoption rate for the manufacturing sector increased from 81% to 97%, and the rate for the financial services sector grew from 59% to 94% in the same period.

As adoption rates soared during the pandemic, the study also indicated a point of diminishing returns for companies with high levels of adoption. Companies with above-average adoption rates, in fact, generated slightly less profit growth than those with lower adoption, while those with average rates generated the most. The study data suggests that mere adoption is not enough, what matters most is the effectiveness with which companies use their technology.

Previous surveys found adopting Agile, cloud, and other technologies led to better operational and financial benefits, but that was no longer the case in 2021, as more companies approached digital maturity. Further, the survey found companies are more effective when they use digital to positively impact stakeholders, including through environmental and social responsibility and initiatives like career paths for women and minorities, data privacy, and AI ethics.

Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys, commented: "Enterprises are at an inflection point post-pandemic. COVID-19's widespread disruption and the subsequent digital acceleration have permanently altered how the world views technology. While some enterprises have seen this as an opportunity to move beyond the questions of whether and how far to digitize, some still haven't realized the need to use these digital tools to engage their stakeholders more purposefully and respond to calls to serve people, planet, and community."

ESG provides direction, clarity  and profits

When companies have high levels of tech adoption and strong ESG commitment, four out of five times (81%), they also use technology most effectively. ESG and technology effectiveness are connected because ESG informs company culture, shapes mindset, and provides a purpose that guides decision-making up and down the line. Improving ESG leads to higher effectiveness than simply adopting more technology. While adoption is necessary and positive, ESG focus further doubled tech effectiveness, indicating that ESG commitment now drives value in its own right.

"Focused initiatives in sustainability almost unfailingly reflect in a marked increase in revenue growth, accelerated transformation effectiveness, boosts in profits and shareholder value. ESG measures will increasingly grow to influence and eventually change the metrics that measure transformation success, especially when consistently demonstrated through engagements with stakeholders across the board," said R "Ray" Wang, Principal Analyst & Founder, Constellation Research.

As the world demands more sustainable business practices, this research signals that companies who capitalize on the link between tech effectiveness and ESG are best placed to succeed in the decade ahead. They are more likely to realize business value and proactively anticipate regulatory requirements and societal pressures.

Unify ESG with digital transformation

Improving average transformation effectiveness has the potential to unlock $357 billion in incremental profits globally, based on data from the top survey respondents. While digital adoption and ESG orientation individually drive profits, they are more effective together. The research identified four approaches to amplify purpose and increase transformation effectiveness:

Integrate experience into the operating model. Digital Radar 2022 found that people-focused experience goals such as improved customer engagement, building a data-driven culture and increasing employee engagement are distinguishing top performers than tech-driven efficiency. Elevate the human element across the life cycle. Companies can emphasize the human element by utilizing Agile to coordinate small behavioral nudges and include a diverse ecosystem to better manage project delivery. Companies that rapidly implemented Agile, and in more than half (60%) their teams, were more likely to grow faster than peers (64% vs. 54% average). Build diverse, dedicated teams so that tech solutions meet the needs of all. Purpose-driven culture is created through teams that are intellectually diverse and have a shared, dedicated purpose. Digital Radar 2022 concluded companies with greater diversity use technology more effectively. Measure initiatives using ESG target. Human-centered approach to solutions and ESG are becoming more quantitative and metrics-driven. Companies today can chase loftier goals practically, armed with technologies to help them set and meet important climate and people goals.

Jeff Kavanaugh, VP and Global Head at Infosys Knowledge Institute, commented: "This year's Digital Radar research revealed a significant shift  no longer are enterprises sitting, waiting, and watching from the outside as others embrace digital. The most successful businesses are no longer early digital adopters, nor those that invested the most in AI, blockchain, and IoT. Those most successful firms now see value in the relationship between digital technologies and the people they serve. The companies best prepared to enter the post-pandemic era have already realized that technology itself isn't a differentiator, but a commitment to people and purpose."

For a full copy of the Infosys Digital Radar 2022, please visit: https://www.infosys.com/navigate-your-next/research/digital-radar-report.html

Note to Editor:

Methodology

In the latter half of 2021, Infosys used a blind format to conduct an online survey that attracted responses from nearly 2,700 CXO, senior-level, and mid-level respondents from companies with revenues upwards of US$1 Billion. Respondents represented multiple industries and hailed from Australia, China, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, U.K., and the U.S. To gain additional qualitative insights, phone interviews were also conducted with a few practitioners and subject matter experts.

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in more than 50 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE,NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

SOURCE Infosys
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Supreme Court of Italy yesterday rejected an appeal brought by the Republic of Kazakhstan against recognition of the $544 million "Tristangate" Award on the grounds that it was procured by 'fraud'.

The Supreme Court of Italy upheld the earlier judgment of the Rome Court of Appeal handed down in February 2019.

Kazakhstan had argued in Italy and elsewhere that the Swedish arbitration panel making the original Award and subsequent appeals heard by Swedish judges had not considered its fraud allegations.

However, the Italian Supreme Court confirmed the appeal court's finding that this was not the case and that "it appears ex actis that both the Stockholm Court of Appeal and the Swedish Supreme Court were aware of the appeal against the Award for reasons that substantially resemble those that have now been brought before the Court."

A group of bondholders, including Argentem Creek, is due to receive approximately 70% of the Award proceeds under a sharing agreement with the Award creditors.

Daniel Chapman, CEO of Argentem Creek Partners, commented:

"Even at the height of the recent unrest, President Tokayev was emphasizing the importance of and need for foreign direct investment into Kazakhstan. The new government respecting its obligations under international law will reassure foreign investors Kazakhstan is now a safer place to do business."

Since December 2013, Kazakhstan has refused to pay the Award to Tristan Oil's owners in compensation for the harassment campaign and illegal expropriation of assets. The Award has since been recognized in multiple jurisdictions, including the U.S., Sweden, Luxembourg, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.

Kazakhstan's refusal to honor the Tristangate Award has led to the freezing of Kazakhstani state assets worth a total of US$5.8 billion worldwide.

Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling opens up the possibility for the attachment in Italy of additional assets.

For a history of the Tristangate dispute and an archive of all related court documents and news articles, please visit www.tristangate.com.

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE Argentem Creek Partners
John was selected as a CRN Channel Chief for the fifth consecutive year. He has led key programs focusing on training and education for resellers, while simultaneously focusing his efforts on building a strong pipeline of Sharp products by helping dealers drive diversification initiatives. Under his leadership, Sharp was able to quickly adapt to focus on promotion for collaboration-centric solutions, which was a need in the market.

Bob was named a Channel Chief for the second straight year, receiving this honor by leading the team through the creation of promos, content and direct engagements that accelerated channel partners and reawakened the marketplace. Bob attended key events as the market re-opened and participated in programs aimed at motivating sales teams. His role leading content and campaign assets with specific focus areas relevant to industry needs engaged the Sharp channel in new discussions, improved solution awareness and education, drove new marketing capabilities, and resulted in an increase in information consumption.

"Bob and John always demonstrate unparalleled leadership and dedication, so it comes as no surprise to the Sharp family that they both have been named Channel Chiefs once again," said Mike Marusic, CEO and President, SIICA. "Despite the various challenges the industry faced, they both showcased expertise and critical thinking that helped Sharp achieve great successes throughout the year. We're proud of their commitment to Sharp and the dealer community and look forward to their continued leadership as we grow our business."

A panel of CRN editors selected the honorees for their channel dedication, industry stature and accomplishments as channel advocates. The 2022 Channel Chiefs are influential leaders who continue to shape the IT channel with innovative strategies, programs and partnerships.

"CRN's 2022 Channel Chiefs recognition is given exclusively to the foremost channel executives who consistently design, promote, and execute effective partner programs and strategies," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "We're thrilled to recognize the tireless work and unwavering commitment these honorees put into fostering outstanding business innovation and building strong partner programs to drive channel engagement and success."

CRN's 2022 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2022 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs.

About Sharp Electronics Corporation

Sharp Electronics Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sharp Corporation. Sharp is a worldwide developer of one-of-a-kind home appliances, networked multifunctional office solutions, professional displays, and smart office technologies. Sharp has been named to Fortune magazine's 2020 World's Most Admired Company List, ranking the world's most respected and reputable companies. Sharp's headquarters in Montvale, NJ has been named a "Best Places to Work in NJ 2021" by NJBIZ, a leading New Jersey business publication.

About Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America

Sharp Imaging and information Company of America, a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, strives to elevate your workplace with Simply Smarter technology, including professional and commercial displays. Through U.S. Professional Display Distributor sales channels, Sharp is a leading brand for non-touch and touch-enabled Professional Flat Panel Displays.* Sharp's professional and commercial displays are specially engineered to accelerate collaboration and are offered in a wide range of sizes and varying capabilities. From high-impact displays for digital signage, to state-of-the-art ultra-narrow bezel video walls, to the award-winning AQUOS BOARD interactive display systems and Windows collaboration displays, Sharp commercial and professional displays help you communicate, collaborate and disseminate information brilliantly. For more information, visit our website at business.sharpusa.com.

For more information on Sharp's business products, visit our website at business.sharpusa.com. Become a fan of Sharp business products on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram and watch us on YouTube .

Peppercomm for Sharp

Paul Merchan

212.931.6172

[email protected]

SOURCE Sharp Electronics Corporation
Ms. Davis began her banking career with Imperial Bank as an AVP Commercial Loan Officer and rose to Regional Manager. She briefly worked for City National Bank before joining Heritage Bank of Commerce in 2005. She was a Senior Vice President/Regional Manager for 13 years and was responsible for all deposit and loan growth in the Los Altos Region. Before joining Pinnacle Bank she was Senior Relationship Manager in Specialty Banking for Boston Private Bank, a division of Silicon Valley Bank. Ms. Davis has lived in Los Altos for over 30 years and will be working out of Pinnacle Bank's Campbell office.

"I am so happy to be joining a local community bank that believes in working with their clients to find the best banking solutions. I am looking forward to continuing to provide the best in community banking to my existing clients and help grow Pinnacle Bank in the Campbell market and surrounding areas," stated Ms. Davis.

About Pinnacle Bank

Pinnacle Bank is a full-service community business bank dedicated to providing quality depository and credit services in Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey counties. The bank focuses on commercial banking services for small to medium-sized businesses, offering a variety of products and services that combine the best of personal touch with convenient technology-based client service. Pinnacle Bank has locations in Campbell, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, and Salinas. For more information, visit www.pinnacle.bank.

Media Contact:

Pinnacle Bank

Jeffrey D. Payne, President & CEO

408-762-7146

SOURCE Pinnacle Bank
CINCINNATI, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced the retirement of Mark Tuffin, senior vice president of retail divisions, after more than 26 years of distinguished service, effective April 1. Tuffin will be succeeded by Kenny Kimball, currently president of the Smith's division.

Kenny Kimball, President of Smith's Division, Named Senior Vice President

Kimball, currently president of the Smith's division, will succeed Tuffin, upon his retirement.

Kimball joined the organization in 1984 as a courtesy clerk in the Smith's division, followed by serving in several leadership roles in the years that followed, including store manager, district manager and bakery director. He was then promoted to group vice president of retail operations before being named senior vice president of sales and merchandising in 2009. In 2012, Kimball accepted the role of vice president of merchandising for the Ralphs division. He was then named vice president of operations for Ralphs in 2013. Kimball took on a special assignment for the organization in 2015 before returning to Smith's as vice president of operations in 2016. He was promoted to president of the division later that year.

In the new senior vice president role, Kimball will oversee several retail divisions across the organization and in the interim, will also have responsibility for the Smith's Division.

"Kenny is truly an inspirational leader that effectively balances a passion for people and a passion for results with tremendous experience across our organization, ranging from courtesy clerk to division president," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO. "He is driven, passionate, and respected for his ability to see the big picture while also putting his associates and customers first. We're excited to bring his perspective and experience to our senior leadership team."

Mark Tuffin, Senior Vice President, Announces Retirement

Tuffin began his career in the grocery industry at Smitty's in Arizona where he held various positions before joining Smith's in 1996. At Smith's, Tuffin served in a series of leadership roles and was named vice president of merchandising in 1999. In 2009, he was promoted to vice president of transition, leading an organizational restructuring of the Kroger enterprise's then 18 retail divisions. Tuffin moved back to Smith's in 2011 to serve as president before taking on his current role as senior vice president of retail divisions in 2014.

"Mark is a tremendous leader whose passion for our customers and our people will leave a lasting legacy across the many divisions he has led," said McMullen. "We thank Mark for his dedication throughout the years and wish him all the best in retirement."

To download headshots of Tuffin and Kimball visit here.

About Kroger

At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve over nine million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

SOURCE The Kroger Co.
DENVER, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kutak Rock is pleased to announce that attorney Erich Kennedy has joined the firm's national public finance practice group as of counsel in the Denver office. Mr. Kennedy focuses his practice on public and commercial finance representing banks, underwriters, issuers and borrowers in a variety of roles, including as bond counsel on taxable and tax-exempt financings. He brings more than 20 years of experience supporting project financings of local and regional significance to the firm's 26-member Denver public finance team.

"Erich is an outstanding addition to Kutak Rock's banking and public finance groups with his broad experience representing borrowers, issuers, banks and underwriters," said Tiffanie Stasiak, managing partner of Kutak Rock's Denver office. "Erich has strong healthcare and long-term care experience as well as deep banking relationships which mesh well with our current client base. His arrival will strengthen our existing and long-term public finance presence in the region. After working on financings with Erich for years, we are excited to welcome him."

Mr. Kennedy has extensive experience with transactions involving senior living facilities, schools and universities, affordable housing, public transportation, special districts and LIHTC transactions that complement several of Kutak Rock's key practice areas. In addition to financing transactions, Mr. Kennedy has assisted for-profit and nonprofit clients with incorporation and corporate governance, contracting and leasing matters, day-to-day operational and business matters and acquisitions.

"I am thrilled to be joining Kutak Rock's talented bench of public finance attorneys," said Kennedy. "Throughout the years, Kutak Rock attorneys have been at the table in a number of financings in which I was involved. Through my experience, I witnessed firsthand the power of a national platform, authentic commitment to client service and collaborative culture. I look forward to this next chapter."

Mr. Kennedy earned his J.D. from Emory University School of Law and his B.S. from Lee University. He is admitted to practice in Colorado.

About Kutak Rock LLP

With a footprint spanning 19 offices in 14 states and the District of Columbia, Kutak Rock's 550+ attorneys work seamlessly to provide clients excellent, responsive legal services. The firm's multidisciplinary practice comprises more than 25 areas of focus and dozens of discrete specialties. For more information, see www.KutakRock.com.

SOURCE Kutak Rock LLP
MIAMI, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LatinFinance has announced the winners of its 2021 Deals of the Year Awards.

LatinFinance's Deals of the Year Awards are the landmark recognition of stand-out transactions and institutions in the capital markets of Latin America and the Caribbean. This year's awards are based upon published results during the eligibility period of October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021. The winners were determined by LatinFinance's editorial staff based on an exhaustive selection process.

The full list of winners can be found in a special Deals of the Year supplement to LatinFinance magazine. Winners will be recognized at LatinFinance's annual Deals of the Year Awards Dinner on March 10, 2022, in New York City.

Winning deals and institutions

Sovereign Issuer of the Year Republic of Chile

Corporate Issuer of the Year Cemex

Sustainable Borrower of the Year Suzano

Sovereign Bond of the Year Republic of Peru $4 billion Multi-Tranche Issuance

Sovereign Liability Management of the Year Dominican Republic Inaugural DOP116.8 billion Local Notes Offering

Quasi-Sovereign Bond of the Year Tocumen Airport $1.85 billion 2041 & 2061 Notes Offering

Subnational Deal of the Year Province of Buenos Aires $7.1 billion Restructuring

Corporate High-Grade Bond of the Year FEMSA Euro-Denominated Sustainability-Linked Bond

Corporate High-Yield Bond of the Year Mercado Libre Inaugural USD and Sustainable Bond Issuance

Corporate Liability Management of the Year Petrobras Liability Management Program

Syndicated Loan of the Year Coppel MXN40 billion Sustainability-Linked Loan

Local Currency Deal of the Year Republic of Chile CLP 1.6 trillion Debt Offering

Domestic M&A Deal of the Year Raizen Acquisition of Biosev

Cross-Border M&A Deal of the Year State Grid International Acquisition of Naturgy Stake in CGE

Restructuring of the Year Cinepolis $1.6 billion Loan Restructuring

Structured Financing of the Year Metro de Panama $2 billion ECA-Covered Notes Issuance Facility

ESG Deal of the Year Interchile $1.2 billion 2056 Green Notes

FI Deal of the Year Itau Unibanco $500 million 2031 Sustainability Tier 2 Notes

Private Equity Deal of the Year KKR Acquisition of Telefonica Fiber Assets in Chile and Colombia

IPO of the Year Rede D'Or R$11.4 billion IPO

Equity Follow-On of the Year Banco Inter R$5.5 billion Follow-On Offering

Financing Innovation of the Year Mexico's $4 billion Federal Structured Financing of States (FEIEF)

Law Firm of the Year Brazil Pinheiro Neto

Law Firm of the Year Mexico Ritch, Mueller y Nicolau

Law Firm of the Year Andes Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Law Firm of the Year Latin America Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Bond House of the Year Citi

M&A House of the Year BTG Pactual

Equity House of the Year BofA Securities

Investment Bank of the Year Latin America & Loan House of the Year J.P. Morgan

Upcoming award nominations

Sign up to be notified when LatinFinance's 2022 awards nominations open at www.latinfinance.com/awardalerts.



For more information about the selection process, visit www.latinfinance.com/dealsoftheyear.

About LatinFinance

LatinFinance is the leading global platform providing intelligence on the financial markets and economies of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Drawing on more than 30 years of editorial excellence, its English-language publications deliver high-value information to an international readership of companies, governments, financiers and investors, while its events convene those communities for high-level networking forums focused on the dynamics of those markets, by geography and sector.

Media contact: [email protected]

SOURCE LatinFinance
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LeanDNA, the leading provider of factory-focused inventory optimization solutions, today shared 2021 results and key accomplishments. As pandemic disruptions continued to affect global supply chains, the LeanDNA platform was a critical tool in driving economic recovery for manufacturers in the aerospace, industrial goods, automotive, semiconductor, construction equipment, and medical device industries. The platform helps supply chain operations teams prioritize the most important actions, empowering them to respond quickly to shortages while balancing inventory and delivering product.

Growth

LeanDNA experienced record growth in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and grew its customer base by 28% year over year and across new industries and geographies. Fueled by the heightened urgency to solve supply chain shortages and the impactful benefits realized with the platform, LeanDNA grew site licenses by 53% as customers expanded across multiple factory locations in over 25 countries.

To support international demand for supply chain optimization, LeanDNA expanded staff presence in Europe and Asia and doubled the size of the customer success team.

Product

LeanDNA rolled out a next-generation data pipeline that quickly integrates with customer data sources. Unlike other complex enterprise platforms that require a heavy customer commitment to deploy, maintain, and build data lakes, LeanDNA can be fully implemented in as few as three weeks with little impact on IT resources.

"Our next-generation data pipeline extracts, transforms, and harmonizes our customers' disparate ERP data into our uniform data model," said Roy Shamir, LeanDNA VP of Engineering. "This has resulted in faster implementation and time to value for our customers."

In addition, LeanDNA strengthened its capabilities for shortage management to address today's pervasive supply chain issues. Complementing features to easily spot current and future material shortages, the LeanDNA platform added enhanced out-of-the-box prioritization logic and workflows to identify critical inventory actions and ensure production orders are Clear-to-Build.

Awards & Recognition

LeanDNA was awarded the 2021 Supplier Innovation Award from Spirit AeroSystems, which designs and builds aerostructures for complex defense and commercial applications worldwide. By leveraging LeanDNA's groundbreaking platform, Spirit AeroSystems improved business outcomes, including decreasing raw material inventory by 16% in a single year.

"As one of the world's largest manufacturers of aerostructures for defense platforms, commercial airplanes and regional jets, supply chain optimization is mission critical," said Jim Cocca, Vice President of Supply Chain Execution at Spirit AeroSystems. "LeanDNA's modern, factory-focused solution gave us the insights needed to adjust inventory, streamline supplier collaboration and improve on-time delivery for our customers globally."

Other accolades include:

CEO Richard Lebovitz was named Supply & Demand Chain Executive 's Pro to Know of the Year for his continued commitment to empower supply chain professionals and procurement teams with tools that provide continuous value as new challenges, such as the pandemic, arise.

was named 's Pro to Know of the Year for his continued commitment to empower supply chain professionals and procurement teams with tools that provide continuous value as new challenges, such as the pandemic, arise. Inc. 5000 ranked LeanDNA 57 on their Texas list of the fastest-growing private companies.

5000 ranked LeanDNA 57 on their list of the fastest-growing private companies. Business Intelligence Group's Excellence in Customer Service Award.

Senior Customer Success Manager Astrid Hussonnois was named a Supply & Demand Chain Executive Women in Supply Chain Award Winner.

was named a Women in Supply Chain Award Winner. Best Place to work by BuiltinAustin and an A-List Late Stage Award Winner by The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, which celebrates business innovation and entrepreneurship.

Media Coverage

The company was widely covered in the media due to experience and expertise in solving supply chain issues. Examples include:

The New York Times interviewed Lebovitz on the global goods shortage issues brought on by the pandemic and how manufacturers can avoid being vulnerable to disruption.

interviewed Lebovitz on the global goods shortage issues brought on by the pandemic and how manufacturers can avoid being vulnerable to disruption. E-One, a producer of fire trucks as well as airport and forestry vehicles, told IndustryWeek that LeanDNA gives them the ability "to look out into the future," helping them avoid shortages.

that LeanDNA gives them the ability "to look out into the future," helping them avoid shortages. ASSEMBLY shared how Safran Seats GB, a world leader in aircraft-interior production, turned to LeanDNA to automate and standardize its shortage management workflows. Within a few months, Safran achieved a 36% inventory reduction along with increased efficiency and responsiveness of the overall procurement teams.

"We're grateful to our customers for trusting us to help them transform a supply chain crisis into an opportunity to improve the performance of their supply chain operations," said Richard Lebovitz, CEO of LeanDNA. "While many of our customers are dealing with shortages today, they are also worried about the cost of carrying too much inventory. LeanDNA is in a unique position to provide their teams with signals on inventory and risk, giving them prioritized actions to impact inventory and optimize their overall business."

About LeanDNA

LeanDNA is the leading provider of factory-focused inventory optimization solutions. Our collaborative, cloud-based software platform empowers global manufacturers to reduce shortages, optimize inventory, and improve on-time delivery and team efficiency. We provide a unified, shared view that makes it easy for buyers, planners, suppliers, and executives to prioritize, understand, and collaborate on overcoming supply chain issues. Our customers achieve measurable results, including an average 14% inventory reduction, 32% shortage reduction, and 18% improvement in on-time delivery. Learn more at leandna.com .

SOURCE LeanDNA Inc
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC, together with its affiliates (collectively, "we" or "Legion Partners"), is a significant shareholder of Guess?, Inc. ("Guess", or the "Company") (NYSE: GES). Today Legion Partners issued a public letter to the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") calling for the removal of Guess co-founders and directors Paul and Maurice Marciano.

For more than a decade, a pattern of appalling sexual assault and harassment allegations have been made against Paul Marciano, while his brother Maurice Marciano appeared to turn a blind eye as a former Chairman of the Board. Now, new sexual assault and harassment allegations have surfaced against Paul Marciano. Legion Partners believes that it is the responsibility of the rest of the Board to finally take action and immediately remove Paul Marciano from his executive role and both brothers from the Board  or at the very least commit that they will not be renominated at the upcoming 2022 annual meeting of shareholders.

The full text of the letter follows:

February 7, 2022

Board of Directors

Mr. Carlos Alberini

Mr. Anthony Chidoni

Ms. Laurie Ann Goldman

Ms. Cynthia Livingston

Mr. Paul Marciano

Mr. Maurice Marciano

Ms. Deborah Weinswig

Mr. Alex Yemenidjian

Guess?, Inc.

1444 South Alameda Street

Los Angeles, CA 90021

Dear Members of the Board:

Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC, together with its affiliates (collectively, "we" or "Legion Partners") are significant shareholders of Guess?, Inc. ("Guess", or the "Company"). We have extensive experience in the retail and fashion industry, having previously invested in and driven boardroom change at Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, Genesco and Perry Ellis. Within our portfolio, we promote the building and strengthening of company cultures where ESG isn't just a trendy acronym, but rather is embraced and deeply knit into the fabric of the organization. We believe this is essential to achieving sustainable longterm financial returns.

As investors, we are deeply concerned by the lack of good judgment the Board of Directors ("the Board") of Guess has displayed in continuing to allow co-founder Paul Marciano to serve as a Board member and as Chief Creative Officer of the Company. As human beings, we are appalled.

For more than a decade, allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Paul Marciano have mounted. He has been publicly accused of sexual misconduct by at least 11 women, going back to 2009, with the alleged incidents beginning as early as the 1980s.1 According to the allegations, he appears to be a serial predator who has used his positions of power and authority at Guess to harass, sexually assault and otherwise take advantage of young female models. He has been accused by four women over the past year alone .2 There is no way to know how many other allegations may been settled privately by Paul Marciano or the Company.

In Legion Partners' view, Guess is an iconic brand and the Company under the leadership of current CEO Carlos Alberini has made a number of positive strategic moves in recent years, including optimizing its store portfolio, improving supply chain and logistics, and implementing significant cost savings and profit improvement plans. Mr. Alberini appears to be a talented CEO who has demonstrated substantial progress executing an operational turnaround at the Company. However, we do not believe that Guess will ever be able to reach its full potential with the persistent overhang of legal, reputational and moral risk that accompanies the Marciano brothers remaining on the Board or continuing to serve in any role inside the Company.

The Board Continues to Fail to Act

A little more than a month ago, the insurance carrier that underwrites the Company and Paul Marciano, sued to absolve itself of any responsibility for covering claims related to Paul Marciano's alleged "pattern" of "wrongful acts.3,4,5" This rare action was precipitated by a lawsuit filed last January by a former model accusing Paul Marciano of rape and Guess of enabling his behavior for years.6

We had hoped these recent developments would be enough for the Board to finally act. Unfortunately, no action was announced, and so on January 11, 2022, we sent a letter to the Board seeking decisive steps, including making a formal demand that they immediately initiate an investigation into whether any officers of the Company or directors had breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the ongoing misconduct by Paul Marciano.

The Board responded with a tepid commitment to "review the formation of a committee" and to get back to us in the "coming weeks." Anyone who knows the history of the Company would find this weak response disappointing but not surprising. That is because Guess has been down this road before.

Following an internal investigation initiated in February 2018, the Board concluded Paul Marciano had shown "poor judgement" when working with models. As a result, the Company said he would leave Guess by January of 2019.7 Instead, a short time later the Company reversed course and announced the Board had requested he continue his employment as Chief Creative Officer  resulting in public and investor outcry.8 During much of this time, Maurice Marciano served as Chairman of the Board.9

These are just some of the publicly reported examples of Paul Marciano's repulsive alleged misconduct:

In a 2021 lawsuit, a former Guess model alleges that he "enticed her to an empty apartment in February 2020 on the promise of career opportunities, 6 " and then "forced her to perform oral sex on him. 6 " After the assault, per the complaint, Mr. Marciano promised her more Guess modeling gigs and gave her a $1,000 Guess gift card. 10





on the promise of career opportunities, " and then "forced her to perform oral sex on him. " After the assault, per the complaint, Mr. Marciano promised her more Guess modeling gigs and gave her a Guess gift card. In a harrowing, nearly 2,000-word interview with Time Magazine in 2018, supermodel Kate Upton detailed how on her first day of shooting for Guess, Mr. Marciano "forcibly grabbed" her breasts, thighs, arms, neck and back of her head to start forcibly kissing her and "smelling" her. These allegations were corroborated by photographer Yu Tsai . Ms. Upton went on to detail not only additional instances of Mr. Marciano's assault and harassment, but how she was fired from subsequent shoots when she resisted his advances  with her weight gain given as the excuse. At her final shoot, she says she was told to leave because Mr. Marciano had declared, "Get that fat pig off my set. 11 "





detailed how on her first day of shooting for Guess, Mr. Marciano "forcibly grabbed" her breasts, thighs, arms, neck and back of her head to start forcibly kissing her and "smelling" her. These allegations were corroborated by photographer . Ms. Upton went on to detail not only additional instances of Mr. Marciano's assault and harassment, but how she was fired from subsequent shoots when she resisted his advances  with her weight gain given as the excuse. At her final shoot, she says she was told to leave because Mr. Marciano had declared, "Get that fat pig off my set. " Five women complained about sexual harassment by Paul Marciano in early 2018, including one who filed a police report. Each of these women alleged that Paul Marciano groped her breasts, forced her to perform a sex act, or both. 12 According to news reports, Guess reached financial settlements with all five women for $500,000 but took little action against Paul Marciano . 6 The Company has also disclosed that it paid an additional $300,000 to resolve similar claims brought by another former model in March 2021 . 13





in early 2018, including one who filed a police report. Each of these women alleged that groped her breasts, forced her to perform a sex act, or both. According to news reports, Guess reached financial settlements with all five women for but took little action against . The Company has also disclosed that it paid an additional to resolve similar claims brought by another former model in . Lindsey Ring , a former Guess model, filed a lawsuit in 2009 in Los Angeles Superior Court in which she alleged that Paul Marciano repeatedly kissed her, made sexual comments to her, touched her inappropriately and without her consent, groped her breasts and buttocks and whispered that he wanted to "take her right there.14" After she reported this to Guess' human resources department, she alleges that she was told "this is not the first time this has happened with Mr. Marciano.9" She further claims that the human resources department merely directed her to avoid being alone with Paul Marciano .15

We believe that what has occurred at Guess at the Board level demonstrates a stunning breakdown of corporate governance and a violation of fiduciary duties. The continued presence of Paul Marciano on the Board and involvement with the Company should have been deemed unacceptable when the allegations first surfaced in 2009.13 The fact that the Board somehow still justifies it today  when investors, customers, regulators and other stakeholders have repeatedly made clear there should be zero tolerance for executives who abuse their power to sexually exploit employees  is astonishing.

It is Time for Guess to Move Past the Marcianos

It is also imperative that Paul Marciano's brother Maurice's time on the Board come to an end as well. We are sympathetic to the fact that Maurice Marciano was seriously injured in an accident in August of 2020. However, based on the Company's own disclosure, it appears Maurice Marciano has been unable to participate in a number of Board meetings since his accident, which on its own would be a strong reason for him to be replaced on the Board by a new highly-qualified independent director. Additionally, and further troubling, is that there have been reports of Maurice dismissing Paul's sexually predatory behavior for years, including as a former Chairman of the Board.16 We are understandably and deeply concerned that Maurice has been wielding his influence to cover for his brother's inappropriate actions.

The Marciano brothers' influence has not only cast a shadow over the Company's reputation, but the legitimacy of various financial transactions. Their economic interests have been catered to by a Board that continues to approve significant related party transactions between Guess and Marciano entities. In an effort to fully cleanse Guess of the Marciano influence, the Board must move to eliminate future related party transactions as soon as possible.

For example, Guess has been leasing warehouse and administrative facilities, including its headquarters in Los Angeles, from partnerships affiliated with Marcianos since at least 1996, totaling $105 million and $55 million lease payments to "Marciano Entities" since 1996 and in the last decade, respectively.17

Guess has also periodically chartered aircraft owned by the entities affiliated with the Marciano family since 2004. As disclosed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2021, the total fees paid under these arrangements for the past three years were approximately $2.8 million, $0.4 million and $1.0 million, respectively.18 The total aircraft management fees paid to Marciano Entities since 2004 and in the past decade are $17 million and $11 million, respectively.

This Board already conducted an investigation, and despite troubling findings, re-installed Paul Marciano in a senior executive position at the Company, empowering him to continue his alleged predatory behavior. The result has been multiple new allegations, at least one new settlement and potentially more liability that may not be covered by insurance. It is clear that the Board must now finally act. It should not take us writing this letter, or the voices of other shareholders, for the Board to remove the Marciano brothers from their positions. We hope that this time, the directors do what is right for all the Company's stakeholders. If it does not, we will continue to make our voice on the matter heard and to exercise all options available to us.

Sincerely,

Chris Kiper Ted White

Managing Director Managing Director

About Legion Partners

Legion Partners is a value-oriented investment manager based in Los Angeles, with a satellite office in Sacramento, CA. Legion Partners seeks to invest in high-quality businesses that are temporarily trading at a discount, utilizing deep fundamental research and long-term shareholder engagement. Legion Partners manages a concentrated portfolio of North American small-cap equities on behalf of some of the world's largest institutional and HNW investors.

Media Contact:

Longacre Square Partners

Dan Zacchei / Joe Germani

[email protected] / [email protected]

1 The Daily Beast, 'I Was Sexually Assaulted' in 1983 by Fashion Mogul Paul Marciano.

2 The Daily Beast, 'My Dreams Were Crushed': Marciano Rape Accuser Speaks Out.

3 The Daily Beast, Guess Mogul's Insurer Distances From Him Amid Sexual Misconduct Claims.

4 Beazley Insurance Company, Inc. v. Guess?, Inc., et al., 2:21-cv-09962.

5 Law.com, Insurer Sues Guess and Co-Founder Paul Marciano Following Sexual Misconduct Claims.

6 The Daily Beast, This Alleged Serial Harasser Got a Second Chance. Now He's Accused of Rape.

7 Wall Street Journal, Guess Co-Founder Paul Marciano to Leave Company Next Year Following Misconduct Allegations.

8 Bloomberg, Guess Plunges as It Names CEO, Keeps Paul Marciano as Creative Head.

9 From June 2018 to August 2020. Maurice Marciano also served as Chairman of the Board from 1999 to January 2012.

10 Jane Doe v. Paul Marciano, GUESS?, Inc., et al., 21STCV02126 (Cal.Sup.).

11 TIME Magazine, 'I'm Not Going to Let Him Intimidate Me Anymore.' Kate Upton Speaks Out on Alleged Harassment by Guess Co-Founder Paul Marciano.

12 LA Progressive, Sexual Harassment Allegations at Guess. available at: https://laprogressive.com/sexual-harassment-allegations-at-guess/; Jane Doe v. Paul Marciano, Complaint at  11-13.

13 Q2 FY 2021 10-Q, at F-25.

14 The Daily Beast, After Kate Upton's Allegations, New Sex Claims Against Guess' Paul Marciano Surface.

15 ABC News, Guess Inc. responds to sexual harassment allegations against co-founder Paul Marciano.

16 Liz Warren, "Guess' Paul Marciano Again Under Fire For Past Alleged Sexual Assault," Rivet (Apr. 7, 2021).

17 FY 2021 10-K, at F-44-45 (defining "Marciano Entities" "entities owned by, affiliated with, or for the respective benefit of Paul Marciano, who is an executive and member of the Board of the Company, and Maurice Marciano, who is also a member of the Board, and certain of their children.").

18 FY 2021 10-K, at F-45.

SOURCE Legion Partners Asset Management
"With their expert knowledge and familiarity with wine and cream-based beverages, ABV is uniquely qualified to handle our product," said James Reisigl, president of Marchetti Brands. "We're thrilled to have a partner with that kind of experience and knowledge working with our distributor to help grow the brand, and we're excited that more consumers across the state of Florida will be able to experience Lina's."

ABV's well-defined comprehensive route-to-market strategy of integrated sales and marketing solution services will help to increase the footprint and sales growth of the Lina's brand. With their talented team of professional industry experts and insiders, and a vast network of distributors and sales partners, ABV will diligently position and align the brand for success.

"It's such a great time for the brand! We're excited to be partnering with James and Lynn to bring such a great family story, along with a delicious tasting and very versatile brand, to everyone throughout Florida," said Rudy Aguero, managing partner of ABV.

Officially launched in 2018, Lina's Crema di Limoncello is a wine-based cream limoncello. Lina's was inspired by founder and co-owner Lynn "Lina" Reisigl's family recipe, which has roots in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Lina's is currently distributed with Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits (SGWS) in Florida.

Consumers can find Lina's Crema di Limoncello in grocery and liquor stores, restaurants and bars across the state, or by visiting www.linaslimoncello.com

About Marchetti Brands:

Founded in 2013, Marchetti Brands is a woman-owned, family-run wine and spirits company based in Jupiter, Florida. For additional information about Marchetti Brands and Lina's Crema di Limoncello, please visit www.linaslimoncello.com

About All Beverage Ventures (ABV):

ABV is a leading purveyor of wine and spirits, providing sales solutions, broker representation and marketing services to beverage brands, owners and suppliers throughout the United States. For more information, please visit www.allbeverageventures.com

SOURCE Marchetti Brands, LLC
TSX-V: MKO; OTCQX: MAKOF

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Mako Mining Corp. (TSXV: MKO) (OTCQX: MAKOF) ("Mako" or the "Company") would like to announce an update to its capital structure since the end of the third quarter 2021 ("Q3 2021").

Since the end of Q3 2021, 37,300,000 warrants and 12,340,000 options were cancelled or expired unexercised. In February 2022, 1,503,800 Restricted Share Units ("RSUs") were granted to certain executive officers of the Company and an aggregate of 1,318,400 Deferred Share Units ("DSUs") were granted to the non-executive directors of the Company under the terms of the Company's Omnibus Incentive Plan. This update corrects and supersedes the Company's disclosure in its February 2, 2022 press release that an aggregate of 494,400 DSUs were granted.

Additionally, since the end of Q3 2021, US$5.3 million of principal has been repaid to affiliates of Wexford Capital LP ("Wexford") and Sailfish Royalty Corp. ("Sailfish").

Accordingly, as at the date of this press release, the Company's current share capital structure is: 659,308,984 shares issued and outstanding (unchanged from Q3 2021), 33,395,000 options outstanding (45,735,000 in Q3 2021), 1,503,800 RSUs and 1,318,400 DSUs outstanding (0 RSUs and DSUs outstanding in Q3 2021).

There is currently US$9.4 million of principal remaining on the Wexford loan and 3,895 ounces of gold remaining on the Sailfish gold-linked loan (see press releases dated February 21, 2020 and August 30, 2021 for details on these two loans).

On behalf of the Board,

Akiba Leisman

CEO

About Mako

Mako Mining Corp. is a publicly listed gold mining, development and exploration company. The Company operates the high-grade San Albino gold mine in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, which ranks as one of the highest-grade open pit gold mines globally. Mako's primary objective is to operate San Albino profitably and fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package.

Forward-Looking Information: Statements contained herein, other than historical fact, may be considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information contained herein is based on the Company's plans and certain expectations and assumptions, including that the Company can operate San Albino profitably in order to fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package. Such forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, risk risks and uncertainties as disclosed in the Company's public disclosure filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof, based on information currently available and is included for the purposes of providing investors with the Company's updates regarding its capital structure and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Mako does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Mako Mining Corp.
TOLEDO, Ohio, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pizza lovers rejoice! Marco's Pizza is delivering the extra pep everyone is craving in honor of National Pizza Day, tomorrow Feb. 9, with a special deal on its most loved pizza  Pepperoni Magnifico. Topped to perfection with the ultimate combination of Marco's signature Old World Pepperoni and classic pepperoni, this VIP  very important pizza  has developed a fan following all its own thanks to mouth-watering flavor and of course, an abundance of everyone's favorite pizza topping for unstoppable savory satisfaction. In fact, in 2021 alone, Marco's customers devoured 1 million pounds of Old World Pepperoni.

Marcos is inviting pizza lovers to celebrate National Pizza Day on Feb. 9 with a special deal on its large Pepperoni Magnifico for just $9.99.*

Timed to this delicious occasion, customers are invited to enjoy a large Pepperoni Magnifico for a special price of just $9.99* when ordering online or through the Marco's Pizza app with the code 'PEPMAG.' But run, don't walk, because this hot deal is only available while supplies last!

"Our customers can't get enough of Pepperoni Magnifico and our Old World Pepperoni so there's no better way to celebrate National Pizza Day than with a special deal we know they will enjoy," said Chris Tussing, Chief Marketing Officer at Marco's Pizza. "One enthusiast calls this fan favorite 'the divine god of pepperoni pizzas' and a must-try for those who crave the ultimate pepperoni experience."

Old World Pepperoni, the star of Pepperoni Magnifico pizza, is made from Marco's proprietary recipe using a special blend of spices and cured meats dried for 12 days, for flavor customers will crave in every bite. True pepperoni aficionados can spot Old World Pepperoni thanks to its unique crisp and curl with a subtle kick of heat in each bite. Customers can also choose Old World Pepperoni as a topping for Marco's Build-Your-Own Pizza or Build-Your-Own Pizza Bowls.

In addition to not one, but two types of pepperoni, Marco's Pepperoni Magnifico offers top tier, quality ingredients, garnished with romesan seasoning, original sauce and three fresh signature cheeses to create a magnifico masterpiece.

For more information about Marco's Pizza and to find your nearest location, please visit www.marcos.com or download our mobile app available on the App Store or Google Play.

ABOUT MARCO'S PIZZA

Marco's Pizza is America's Most Loved and Most Trusted Pizza Brand, according to the 2019 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco's Pizza is one of the fastest-growing pizza companies in the United States. Marco's was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale Giammarco and thrives by making authentic Italian quality pizza with fresh ingredients. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate over 1,000 stores in 34 states with locations in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.

*Prices and participation may vary

SOURCE Marco's Pizza
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mars, Incorporated has retained WPP's MediaCom as its global media agency across its Mars Wrigley, Mars Petcare and Mars Food segments. This new global partnership, which began in January 2022, will run until the end of 2025.

The reappointment follows a thorough media review throughout 2021, a critical element of Mars' new vision for marketing called "Building Brands for Mutual Value." This strategic platform includes transforming its approach to consumer engagement, data insight, digital marketing, and brand purpose in three ways:

Driving an innovative media transformation plan across all Mars businesses, brands, and regions. It will focus on embracing the latest in data-driven planning, underpinned by WPP's Choreograph, which will bring its data enablement capability to help Mars evolve its content strategy and adapt to changing media habits.

Supporting Mars as a champion of brand safety and expanding its investments in inclusive and sustainable marketing through GroupM's industry-leading Responsible Investment Framework.

Extending the relationship to include GroupM sister agency, Essence, who will develop Mars' approach to auction-based media. Essence will enable Mars to reach and engage consumers, and will be responsible for Mars' fast-growing programmatic video, social and search investment, establishing specialist hub capabilities regionally in Europe , Asia and Latin America .

Rankin Carroll, Chief Brand & Content Officer at Mars Wrigley and Executive Sponsor for Media, Mars Inc. said: "We set out a detailed vision and operating plan for our next wave of media transformation at Mars. We were impressed by WPP's commitment to evolving their own integrated team to deliver that vision, building on our trusted partnership with MediaCom but adding in fresh, digital-first thinking from other GroupM partners, including Essence."

Simon Sadie, WPP's Global Client Leader, Mars and Client President, MediaCom said: "After a decade of partnership, we are incredibly proud to extend our relationship with Mars, and excited to embark on the next stage of the journey together. The coming years will see accelerated changes in how Mars approaches media, reflecting changing media habits and the fast-evolving data-driven media opportunities. We are dedicated to seeing the bigger picture for Mars to deliver smarter and forward-thinking media solutions."

Ron Amram, Senior Director of Global Media for Mars, commented: "The extension of our WPP relationship brings a new level of partnership between Mars Inc. and WPP, building on enhanced mutually aligned commercial terms and greater operating transparency which will enable us together to drive improved media effectiveness and real business growth we have designed a modern partnership that addresses many of the challenges of the 21st century digital age".

Sasha Savic, MediaCom's U.S. CEO, said: "It is an honor to evolve and expand our partnership with Mars. Their new vision for marketing, "Building Brands for Mutual Value," compliments our philosophy and allows for an even stronger path to transformation - by being data-driven, collaborative, and purposeful."

About MediaCom

MediaCom unleashes brands' growth by helping them See the Bigger Picture. This means that we apply our unique 'Systems Thinking' philosophy and technology to all marketing levers: media, message, and data. As a result, we design communication strategies that deliver short term results and help brands build for the future.

As part of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group, and GroupM, WPP's consolidated media investment management arm, we have access to the richest data, most robust benchmarks, and most advanced capabilities in the market. This helps us provide comprehensive solutions to all marketing challenges. Our success is underpinned by our long-standing 'People First, Better Results' belief. We know that by investing in our people's whole-person wellbeing, careers and capabilities, we will help grow our clients' businesses.

In 2021 this approach led MediaCom to be crowned Global Media Network of the Year by Adweek, Eurobest, Festival of Media Global and M&M Global.

MediaCom is one of the world's leading media communications specialists, with billings of US$17.6 billion (Source: COMvergence, 2020), employing 8,000 people in 125 offices across 100 countries. Its global client roster includes adidas, Bayer, Coca-Cola (TCCC), Dell, Hasbro, Mars, NBC Universal, P&G, Richemont, Shell, Sony, Uber and Walgreens Boots Alliance. Find out more at www.mediacom.com .

Alternatively, follow us @MediaComGlobal on Twitter or via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mediacom/

About GroupM

GroupM is the world's leading media investment company responsible for more than $50B in annual media investment through agencies Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence, and m/SIX, as well as the outcomes-driven programmatic audience company, Xaxis. GroupM's portfolio includes Data & Technology (Choreograph), Investment, and Services, all united in the vision to shape the next era of media where advertising works better for people. By leveraging all the benefits of scale, the company innovates, differentiates, and generates sustained value for our clients wherever they do business.

Discover more about GroupM at www.groupm.com.

Follow @GroupMWorldwide on Twitter

Follow GroupM on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/groupm

About Choreograph

Choreograph is WPP's global data products and technology company fueling growth for the world's most admired brands. Built on the most advanced global data foundation, and powered by 850 technologists, product developers, and data scientists, it harmonizes data capabilities across GroupM and WPP into an end-to-end data orchestration system. With our commitment to "Data with Purpose. Fuel for Growth," Choreograph brings your customer data to life, empowering marketers to move with intention. Discover more about Choreograph at www.choreograph.com.

ABOUT MARS, INCORPORATED

For more than a century, Mars, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. This idea is at the center of who we have always been as a global, family-owned business. Today, Mars is transforming, innovating and evolving in ways that affirm our commitment to making a positive impact on the world around us.

Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of confectionery, food, and pet care products and services, we employ 133,000 dedicated Associates who are all moving in the same direction: forward. With $40 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world's best-loved brands including DOVE, EXTRA, M&M's, MILKY WAY, SNICKERS, TWIX, ORBIT, PEDIGREE, ROYAL CANIN, SKITTLES, BEN'S ORIGINAL, WHISKAS, COCOAVIA, and 5; and take care of half of the world's pets through our nutrition, health and services businesses, including AniCura, Banfield Pet Hospitals, BluePearl, Linnaeus, and VCA.

We know we can only be truly successful if our partners and the communities in which we operate prosper as well. The Mars Five Principles  Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom  inspire our Associates to take action every day to help create a world tomorrow in which the planet, its people and pets can thrive. For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us. on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

SOURCE MediaCom
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LA-based venture capital fund Morpheus Ventures today announced the final closing of their second discretionary capital fund ('Fund II'). The oversubscribed fund has exceeded its target of $200 million in commitments and is primed to continue investing in disruptive technology companies across FinTech, InsurTech, PropTech, Robotics/Automation and selected Frontier Technologies.

"With this closing, the new fund takes the total committed capital across all Morpheus funds and vehicles to over $300 million, making us one of the largest early-stage VC funds in Los Angeles. We greatly appreciate the support and confidence of our new and existing investors, which allowed us to complete an over-subscribed fundraise in a crowded environment," said Joseph Miller, Managing Partner of Morpheus. "The resiliency of our existing portfolio companies through the COVID downturn, coupled with the consistency of our investment strategy and approach to value creation, ultimately resonated with a strong base of world-class investors."

Fund II is backed by leading endowments, private pensions, funds of funds, corporate balance sheets, wealth managers and family offices in North America, Australia, and Asia. Harken Capital Securities served as the U.S. advisor and placement agent and Proskauer Rose served as legal advisor for Morpheus Ventures II.

With approximately 80% of investments from outside Silicon Valley, Morpheus' reach uncovers the next generation of amazing founders. Morpheus' diverse team has decades of combined personal experience as founders, operators and investors, and employs a unique people-driven approach to identify essential innovations early and aid founders with tailored support, strategy, and access to a dynamic international network.

Today's announcement builds on the ongoing success of Fund I, which is ranked globally in the top echelon for 2016 vintages, with a flagship portfolio of companies funded at seed or Series A, including runaway successes such as leading quality inspection software SafetyCulture, real estate valuation platform HouseCanary, life insurance platform Bestow and revolutionary healthcare insurer Sidecar Health.

"This successful fundraise is a testament to the world-class founders and management teams that we have partnered with to build their businesses," said Kristian Blaszczynski, Partner of Morpheus. "With Fund II, Morpheus is well-positioned to back a new group of industry-leading financial and business technology entrepreneurs."

About Morpheus Ventures

Founded in 2016, Morpheus Ventures is one of the largest early-stage investors based in Los Angeles, investing in the disruption of large markets across the technology landscape from consumer to enterprise technologies including data analytics, machine learning, robotics, transportation, and SaaS. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles and backs great entrepreneurs worldwide.

For more information, see www.morpheus.com.

Contact:

Joseph Miller

[email protected]

SOURCE Morpheus Ventures
Clinical validation of MYND Diagnostics' proprietary biomarkers in evaluating the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in treatment-resistant depression

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - MYND Diagnostics Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MYND Life Sciences (CSE: MYND) (OTC: MYNDF), is pleased to announce that the Company's proprietary biomarker testing technology will be a pivotal component of a $3 million, Government of Australia funded clinical trial.

The Government of Australia launched a $15 million Innovative Therapies for Mental Illness Grant Opportunity under the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to stimulate Australian-led clinical research into breakthrough therapies and treatments of debilitating mental illnesses. The study titled Evaluating the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in treatment-resistant depression led by Dr. Paul Fitzgerald of Monash University has received approval for $3 million of the allocated government funds.

The project will directly address the desired outcomes by conducting an adaptive dose-finding single phase 2b clinical trial of the efficacy and safety of psilocybin assisted psychotherapy ("PAP") in the treatment of people diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression ("TRD"). The study will utilize MYND Diagnostics' proprietary biomarkers to assess and then monitor blood indicators of a trial subject's response, progress and any relapsing to the psilocybin treatments administered in the trials.

MYND Diagnostics' will play an integral role in this research project's "evaluate" component. If successful, within 12 months, it may lead to a multi-site phase 3 adaptive trial to take this treatment through to regulatory approval by the Therapeutic Goods Association ("TGA"), the Australian counterpart to Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Monash University professor Dr. Paul Fitzgerald will lead the project team with 7 other scientific collaborators from Monash University, Deakin University, and the University of Sydney. Dr. Fitzgerald is Deputy Director of Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre ("MAPrc") and Professor of Psychiatry at the Epworth Clinic / Epworth Health Care in Camberwell. He is a qualified psychiatrist, has a Master's of Psychological Medicine and a research Ph.D. Professor Fitzgerald has run over 20 clinical trials registered through this scheme over the last two decades.

"We are excited to participate in Dr. Fitzgerald's study and to potentially establish a new industry standard for monitoring and quantifying treatment solutions," stated MYND Life Sciences CEO Dr. Lyle Oberg, M.D. "Our involvement in this project is a critically important advancement in the commercialization of our diagnostic division and is a fundamental step towards our biomarker receiving FDA approval. MYND anticipates entering additional clinical trial programs in 2022/2023 to further solidify our biomarker's late-stage development and commercialization."

"The ability to monitor neurological responses objectively and consistently in all central-nervous-system diseases is paramount to validate the efficacy of treatment solutions and help millions of patients fight against terrible diseases," stated MYND Life Sciences CSO Dr. Wilf Jefferies, DPhil.

Granting of Restricted Share Units

MYND Life Sciences has granted an aggregate 313,895.22 restricted share units (RSU) pursuant to the Company's RSU plan.

ABOUT MYND LIFE SCIENCES INC.

MYND Life Sciences Inc. is a medical biotech drug research and development company focused on neuro-pharmaceutical and novel psilocybin drug development, diagnostics and vaccines. MYND is developing new biological entities (NBEs) and new chemical entities (NCEs) and differentiates itself from other (bio)pharmaceutical companies by unique molecular concepts for the applications of Psilocybins for overcoming disease. The Company advances pharmaceutical developments through rigorous science and clinical trials while diligently patenting and safeguarding its intellectual property.

For more information and to subscribe to MYND's mailing list, please visit https://myndsciences.com/contact/.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr. Lyle Oberg, MD, CEO

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.myndsciences.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of MYND to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or information contained in this release.

Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

None of the securities issued in connection with the Offering will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"), and none of them may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state where such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful.

SOURCE Mynd Life Sciences Inc.
Press Release

February 8, 2022 Gordon kicks off campaign in Bicol NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur -- Senator Richard J. Gordon today joined the caravan of Vice Pres. Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis Pangilinan as one of their guest candidates in their Senate slate. Gordon, who is aiming for a consecutive and final term as a member of the Upper Chamber, said that it was an honor for him to be recognized as one of the candidates the tandem sees as a major player against corruption. "We went here to the beautiful and historic city of Naga today to appreciate the support thrown at us by our countrymen from Bicol as we start our journey towards six more years in the Senate," mentioned Gordon. "Kami ay nagpapasalamat sapagkat nasusuklian ng Bicol ng pagmamahal sa amin, dahil hindi natin napabayaan ang mga nasalanta ng maraming kalamidad sa rehiyong ito," he added. Gordon was among one of eight senatorial bets of the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem represented in the kickoff of the election campaign period. The senator headed to various towns in Camarines Sur, including the Angat Buhay village in Lupi town, among other local government units before culminating in a grand rally at Plaza Quezon in Naga in the late afternoon. He is also scheduled to head to nearby Sorsogon and Albay in the second day of his two-day Bicol journey. Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, vowed to continue combating corruption and incompetence in government if he gets reelected. "Hindi natatapos dito ang ating krusada laban sa mga tiwali at abusadong kawani ng gobyerno, dahil patuloy nating pananagutin ang mga nagnakaw at nagkasala sa taumbayan," remarked Gordon. "We will leave no stone unturned and continue to render our selfess service to the Filipino people, because they deserve leaders to look up to and be emulated by our next generation," he continued. As a member and eventual chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, Gordon has responded to numerous natural disasters in the area, including the Mayon Volcano eruption, and countless powerful typhoons. Gordon built and renovated tens of thousands of houses in the region that were badly damaged by the unforgiving force of Mother Nature. He also brought forth recognition to Bicolano patriot Wenceslao Vinzons, the youngest delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention, and fearless guerilla fighter during World War II. Serving as Tourism secretary from 2002-04, Gordon promoted Masbate's famous rodeo and gave attention to the whale sharks swimming in Sorsogon through the "Watch our Whales" slogan, just one of the many introduced by the wildly-successful WOW Philuppines camapign.
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NAMI-NYC (local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness) today announced the launch of the "NAMI-NYC WALL STREET MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATIVE"  a first-of-its-kind program, designed exclusively for financial services providers that have made a public commitment to reduce stigma surrounding mental health challenges for employees, and the business and financial communities at-large. Deutsche Bank joins as the founding partner of the Collaborative, with CVC Advisors, Mizuho Securities USA, The Riverside Company, UBS and Varde Partners also committed as the inaugural financial cohorts in the year-long initiative.

Matt Kudish, executive director & Rachael Steimnitz, director of workplace mental health at NAMI-NYC said jointly: "When thinking about developing this program, we wanted to emphasize that mental health affects us all. While work can be a source of stress, it can also be an important part of recovery for people living with mental health challenges. The investment in the Collaborative allows us to not only support the mental health of employees at the participating firms but also create programs to support workforce development opportunities for people living with mental health challenges in the greater NYC community."

The three goals of the Collaborative to change the culture surrounding employee mental health are:

Reduce stigma so that employees can show up as their full selves in the workplace;

so that employees can show up as their full selves in the workplace; Increase social support so that employees feel psychologically safe sharing new ideas or asking for help when needed;

so that employees sharing new ideas or asking for help when needed; Foster community engagement and build trust so that employees feel a deeper connection to each other, their employer, and create a sense of purpose and community.

Executive leadership statements about the Collaborative:

Christiana Riley, Member of the Management Board and Americas CEO, Deutsche Bank: "The direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health won't be addressed by maintaining the status quo. Returning to the office and re-engaging with our whole selves at work will only be possible by prioritizing mental wellbeing in the workplace, reducing the stigma around mental health topics and fostering better community engagement."

Jerry Rizzieri, President and CEO, Mizuho Securities USA: "Wall Street can play a prominent role in helping remove the stigma around mental health challenges. Mizuho is proud to stand with NAMI-NYC and other financial services firms during a time of increasing need for education, support, and advocacy."

Bela Szigethy, Co-CEO, The Riverside Company: "Beyond its threats to physical health, the pandemic has exacerbated mental health challenges that people around the world are facing. At Riverside, we are committed to the mental wellbeing of our entire team, and we're excited about all efforts that promote dialogue and assistance around this important topic."

Joe Azelby, Head of Real Estate & Private Markets, UBS Asset Management: "As the pandemic moves into its third year, it is important to recognize the continued impact on the state of mental health in the workplace. The NAMI-NYC Wall Street Mental Health Collaborative brings financial services firms together to help diminish the stigma and increase mental health awareness in our industry."

Marie Suesse, Senior Managing Director, Global Head of HR, Varde Partners: "At Varde we encourage our people to bring their whole selves to work and to create an inclusive culture that supports and accepts all challenges. We believe NAMI- NYC's mission will increase awareness and decrease the stigma around mental health issues in an industry that's long-prided itself on perfection."

In addition to networking opportunities to share learnings and enhance existing employee engagement activities, the Collaborative's mental health program offers its financial services partners:

Five steering committee meetings  specifically for human resources, employee development teams, and other internal company mental health champions  to offer direct input and guide the Collaborative's actions and goals throughout the year;

Two panels where employees from all companies will learn specific best practices related to bettering employee mental health within the financial services industry;

Five remote training sessions  available to all employees  on a variety of topics related to workplace mental health.

Ahead of the Collaborative's launch, last month, NAMI-NYC hosted a special virtual panel for its partners, "Media Depictions of Mental Health in Financial Services" featuring television series co-creators, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay of HBO's fictionalized drama, "Industry" (set in the London world of investment banking.)

The NAMI-NYC WALL STREET MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATIVE is part of the grassroots organization's continued expansion of Workplace Mental Health programs to help small to mid-sized companies and large corporations across various industries in New York City to develop, implement, and sustain mental health workplace strategies and employee well-being initiatives. Past and current partner companies engaged in NAMI-NYC's mental health programs include Alight, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, FS Investments, HSBC Bank, Oberland, Publicis Health, PwC, Shutterstock, UBS, WarnerMedia/HBO. To learn more, visit, NAMI-NYC Workplace Mental Health .

ABOUT NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS OF NEW YORK CITY (NAMI-NYC)

For 40 years, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of NYC has offered life-changing support, education, and advocacy programs to families and individuals affected by mental illness. NAMI-NYC's services are free of charge and accessible for anyone who needs them. For more information about NAMI-NYC and its programs and services, please visit naminyc.org .

NAMI-NYC on SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter: @NAMINYCMetro | Instagram: @NAMINYC_Metro | Facebook: @NAMINYCMetro | Hashtag: #NAMINYC #WorkplaceMentalHealth #WorkplaceWellness

Media Contact: Adriana Douzos, 917-749-3977, [email protected]

SOURCE NAMI-NYC
The Scholarship for Journalism Diversity Honoring Julie Schoo is a $5,000 scholarship awarded to a high school senior. The purpose of the scholarship, named for the former executive director of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, is to recruit promising future journalists who will bring diversity to American journalism. The award can be renewed for up to three years at $5,000 per year.

is a scholarship awarded to a high school senior. The purpose of the scholarship, named for the former executive director of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, is to recruit promising future journalists who will bring diversity to American journalism. The award can be renewed for up to three years at per year. The Richard G. Zimmerman Scholarship is a one-time scholarship of $5,000 named for a long-time National Press Club member who died in 2008 and endowed a scholarship in aid of high school seniors who wish to pursue a career in journalism.

is a one-time scholarship of named for a long-time National Press Club member who died in 2008 and endowed a scholarship in aid of high school seniors who wish to pursue a career in journalism. The Wes Vernon Broadcast Scholarship , established in 2021, supports diversity within the field of broadcast journalism while honoring longtime radio journalist Wes Vernon , a former National Press Club member. The scholarship is $5,000 per year awarded to a student who demonstrates a commitment to a career in broadcast journalism. The award can be renewed up to three years. The award is open to any student pursuing an education in broadcast journalism.

, established in 2021, supports diversity within the field of broadcast journalism while honoring longtime radio journalist , a former National Press Club member. The scholarship is per year awarded to a student who demonstrates a commitment to a career in broadcast journalism. The award can be renewed up to three years. The award is open to any student pursuing an education in broadcast journalism. The Dennis and Shirley Feldman Fellowship recognizes a student pursuing graduate studies in journalism with a one-time stipend of $5,000 to help defray tuition costs.

Application instructions, including eligibility requirements, are available here. Applications will close at 5 p.m. ET Friday, March 18, 2022.

The National Press Club scholarship program, administered by the nonprofit National Press Club Journalism Institute, has impacted the careers of dozens of journalists-in-training through its years.

"I can't thank the National Press Club enough. Since 2018, I've watched my writing, reporting, pitching and story sense improve tenfold," said Tony Madden, a University of Missouri student who received the Scholarship for Journalism Diversity Honoring Julie Schoo in 2018.

Since receiving the scholarship, Madden has interned for Traklife Media Group, based in Los Angeles and earned numerous awards for their student journalism work.

"Now in my second to last semester before graduation, I've landed a role as Culture Editor for Vox Magazine, Columbia's city magazine," Madden said. "Next year, I plan to move to Nashville and focus on the arts and culture journalism I've come to love in my time at the Missouri School of Journalism. None of this could have come without the help of the Press Club."

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. The Club has 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization and is a leading voice for press freedom in the United States and around the world.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.

For information on National Press Club scholarships, visit www.pressclubinstitute.org or email [email protected] .

Press contact: Beth Francesco, Senior Director, National Press Club Journalism Institute, [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club Journalism Institute
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- National PTA is excited to invite you to a week of live virtual events Feb. 7-11. National PTA's Safer Internet Day Celebrations , as part of the association's PTA Connected initiative , gives PTAs and families the opportunity to expand their knowledge around digital well-being and internet safety.

"National PTA has spent the past several years bringing awareness to the impacts of our digital world on the lives of our children," shared Anna King, National PTA president. "This year's week-long events, in conjunction with Safer Internet Day, will feature digital learning experiences that help reinforce the importance of using technology responsibly. Our goal is to empower students and families to create a safer, kinder, more inclusive online community, and that starts with relevant education about the challenges families face as they navigate the digital landscape."

Safer Internet Day is a global event officially convened in the United States by ConnectSafely . National PTA is proud to support the goals of Safer Internet Day by hosting an interactive series to teach caregivers and PTA leaders how to talk about technology in ways that resonate with today's youth and spreads kindness by building welcoming communities.

Monday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. EST

Safer Internet Week Kick Off Celebration

Facebook live hosted by National PTA with ConnectSafely

Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. EST

National PTA's Safer Internet Day: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World

Zoom event hosted by National PTA

Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. EST

How Teens Create Digital Spaces for Belonging

National PTA's Discord Server hosted by Discord, featuring Discord Teen Moderators

Thursday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. EST

Stop, Think, Decide, Act: Navigating Important Conversations About Online Safety

TikTok livestream hosted by TikTok

"Today, National PTA is also pleased to announce 40 local PTAs will each receive a $1,000 grant, sponsored by TikTok, to host family-centered conversations within their high school communities," said Nathan R. Monell, CAE, National PTA executive director. "We thank all of our sponsors. Our digital safety week events would not have been possible without the support of National PTA Proud National Sponsors Discord, NortonLifeLock and TikTok. Together, they have consistently shown their dedication and commitment to helping families understand digital wellness, security, access, equity and literacy through our PTA Connected initiative."

For more information about National PTA's celebration of Safer Internet Day and to register for the events, visit PTA.org/SaferInternet .

About National PTA

National PTA comprises millions of families, students, teachers, administrators, and business and community leaders devoted to the educational success of children and the promotion of family engagement in schools. PTA is a registered 501(c) (3) nonprofit association that prides itself on being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, and a strong advocate for public education. Membership in PTA is open to anyone who wants to be involved and make a difference for the education, health and welfare of children and youth. For more information, visit PTA.org .

SOURCE National PTA
"The metaverse is the next gigantic opportunity for investors, entrepreneurs, creators, and businesses to tap into the biggest revolution of digital technology that we have ever seen," says Nina Xiang. "This book fills the knowledge void for readers who wish to have a comprehensive understanding of how the metaverse will likely be shaped across different regions globally."

The materialization of the metaverse will take place amid persistent US-China geopolitical and technological rivalry. This means there may be greater divergence among the two countries' metaverse ecosystems related to major players, content creation, infrastructure outlays, applications, product formats, laws and regulations, and investment opportunities.

Despite the differences, there will be some familiar trends. American companies are once more the front-runners exploring the cutting edge of the metaverse's possibilities. Chinese companies, meanwhile, are attentively looking westward for affirmative evidence that can be adopted for the massive Chinese market.

It seems certain that in the metaverse revolution, the US and China will again play to their respective strengths. But the geopolitical tensions will complicate the evolution of "the next chapter of the Internet", presenting companies with more complicated business decisions that go far beyond commercial considerations.

"It feels quite like deja vu when you see how ByteDance, Tencent, and Baidu launch their products or make investments taking cues from Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft," says Nina Xiang. "At the same time, China's reliance on foreign core technology is again likely to define and constrain the country's metaverse build-up. Conversely, American companies are consciously reevaluating their supply chains by incorporating the 'China risk' factor."



The book examines the entire metavese ecosystem to highlight the differences and shared characteristics of the development in the U.S. and China. From major companies and their metaverse development strategies; metaverse infrastructure (chips, data centers, cloud services); man-machine interfaces (XR, AI); applications; and product matrixes, a comparative analysis of the two tech superpowers' next computing transformation will give readers unparalleled understanding of humanity's technology future.

Other countries and regions including South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe will also be covered to contrast the two tech superpowers' blueprints.

This book will provide readers a comprehensive and deep dive into how the metaverse will be generated and built around the world. Readers will therefore be better equipped to find the best development strategy or growth opportunities for their own businesses or organizations in the age of the metaverse.

The book is currently on pre-sale in e-book format here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RN764WF

The e-book will be released on May 3, 2022 while a paperback format will be available at the same time.

About Nina Xiang

Nina Xiang is a renowned author and award-winning journalist, and an expert on the Chinese venture capital and technology sector with nearly twenty years of financial and business media experience. She has held editorial positions at Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Euromoney Institutional Investor, China Radio International, and China Business Network in Beijing, New York, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

In 2011, she founded China Money Network, a platform tracking China's smart investments and technology innovation.

Nina Xiang is part of the team winning an Excellence in Human Rights Reporting honor in SOPA Awards in 2007. She was awarded a Foreign Press Association Annual Scholarship in 2007.

She is an agenda contributor for the World Economic Forum and was named Female Entrepreneur of the Year at the ChinaBang Awards 2019. She appears frequently in a range of international media, including the BBC, CNN, Financial Times, Nikkei, and CGTN.

Her previous books "Red AI: Victories and Warnings From China's Rise In Artificial Intelligence" and "US-China Tech War: What Chinese Tech History Reveals About Future Tech Rivalry" were both the number one new release in its category.

SOURCE China Money Network
PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) is making careers in natural medicine more accessible by offering four of its undergraduate and graduate degree programs in an online format for the upcoming Fall 2022 term.

The new online degree programs include:

Incoming online students can expect the same intensive rigor of the on-ground degree programs but from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

"These online programs will allow us to meet learners where they are," says Dean Andrew Erlandsen, ND, who oversees the new online degree programs.

Most of the new programs' instructional delivery takes place in an asynchronous manner, providing students the freedom to access courses and their instructional materials at any time. Students can complete coursework independently, while also having access to virtual support from top NUNM faculty.

NUNM President/CEO Dr. Melanie Henriksen says the university was moving towards more online and hybrid learning models before the pandemic, but the impacts of COVID-19 make the expansion of online programs vital.

"Higher education has to be more equitable, which means we have to continue to center our students and increase access to naturopathic medicine. If you're feeling called to a career in nutrition, integrative or global health, you don't have to delay your dreams."

The expanded online offerings build on the industry-leading first-year online Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) program, which NUNM offered for the first time in 2021  the first such ND program accredited by the Council of Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME).

"It's clear that students everywhere are being called to natural medicine," said Dr. Henriksen. "If they can't come to us, we will come to them virtually."

Established in 1956, National University of Natural Medicine is the oldest accredited naturopathic medical university in North America and a leader in natural medicine education and evidence-based research. Learn more at www.nunm.edu .

SOURCE National University of Natural Medicine
"Our physicians and advanced practitioners use the best traditions of clinical medicine, apply cutting-edge innovations, and incorporate the most current research findings to provide comprehensive, compassionate care for each patient," said Shyam S. Varadarajulu, MD, president, Orlando Health Digestive Health Institute. "We are excited to offer technology patients will find only at our program, treatment options that are available at only a few facilities around the country and participate in cutting-edge clinical trials that leads to innovation. We have designed a truly unique program."

The Institute, which provides advanced medical care for general, extremely complex, and often rare digestive and liver disorders, was designed and developed by four internationally recognized experts, all of whom are board certified in gastroenterology: Dr. Varadarajulu, who specializes in complex digestive disorders, has authored more than 300 research publications and has served in visiting professorships around the world; Ji Young Bang, MD, is internationally recognized for her research in interventional endoscopy and has conducted 15 randomized clinical trials to date, winning numerous awards at all major national and internal conferences for her research; Robert H. Hawes, MD, former President of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, specializes in advanced endoscopy with particular interest in pancreatobiliary diseases and gastrointestinal oncology; and Udayakumar Navaneethan, MD, is a leading international expert on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who is currently the principal investigator for multiple IBD-related clinical trials and studies.

The medical team also includes general gastroenterologists led by Christina Covelli, MD, medical director, General Gastroenterology, Orlando Health Digestive Health Institute. General gastroenterology includes evaluation of abdominal pain, colon polyps, diverticulitis, gallstones and gallbladder disorders, and ulcers. Dr. Covelli oversees gastroenterology practices at multiple Orlando Health campuses including Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, Orlando Health  Health Central Hospital and Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital. Future digestive health facilities are planned at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and Orlando Health Medical Pavilion  Summerport.

The Orlando Health Digestive Health Institute offers several condition-specific programs to meet individual patient care needs.

The Center for Advanced Endoscopy Research and Education where complex conditions are treated using the latest therapeutic endoscopy techniques resulting in fewer complications and hospitalizations.

The Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease featuring minimally invasive endoscopic treatments and a team-based approach to manage IBD and its complications.

The Luminal Gastroenterology Program that manages patients with disorders such as GI bleeding, abdominal pain and intestinal polyps.

Research that provides opportunities for innovative clinical trials and programs that educate the next generation of digestive health experts.

Subspecialty Programs encompassing pancreatic, liver and motility diseases are in development.

According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 60 to 70 million people in the United States are affected by digestive diseases. More specifically, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis affect approximately 1.5 million people across the country, according to the National Library of Medicine. Digestive health is important to ensure the body breaks down food and beverages to gain the nutrients needed for energy, growth, and cell repair to work properly and stay healthy. Digestive tract problems can cause pain, discomfort, and more serious complications. Proper diagnosis and treatment of digestive issues are imperative to a healthier and improved quality of life.

About Orlando Health

Orlando Health, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $7.6 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States.

Founded more than 100 years ago, the healthcare system is recognized around the world for its pediatric and adult Level One Trauma program as well as the only state-accredited Level Two Adult Trauma Center in the St. Petersburg region. It is the home of the nation's largest neonatal intensive care unit under one roof, the only system in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida, the site of an Olympic athlete training facility and operator of one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. Orlando Health has pioneered life-changing medical research and its Graduate Medical Education program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows. The 3,200-bed system includes 16 wholly-owned hospitals and emergency departments; rehabilitation services, cancer and heart institutes, imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, physician offices for adults and pediatrics, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with FastMed Urgent Care. Nearly 4,500 physicians, representing more than 90 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the Orlando Health system, which employs more than 23,000 team members. In FY21, Orlando Health served nearly 160,000 inpatients and nearly 3.6 million outpatients. During that same time period, Orlando Health provided approximately $648 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more. Additional information can be found at http://www.orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @orlandohealth.

Media Contact:

Sabrina Childress

Media Relations & Public Affairs Manager

Orlando Health

321.841.8748

[email protected]

SOURCE Orlando Health, Inc.
Request a Free Sample Report to Know More

Leading global suppliers can assist buyers in realizing high-cost savings through their efforts on areas such as forward integration, reducing total ownership cost, manage ad hoc spend, negotiate on pricing and contractual terms, conference participation, managing labor price volatility, level of automation, quality management, and reduction in ad-hoc spend. Collaborations with global suppliers will also help buyers in cost-saving and ensure high-quality procurement in the dynamic market.

Paraffin Wax Market in India: Key Price Trends

The pressure from substitutes and a high level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the moderate bargaining power of suppliers. This makes it extremely important to get the pricing and pricing model right. Buyers should align their preferred pricing models for Paraffin Wax with the wider industry and identify the cost-saving potential.

Per-user licensing pricing, subscription-based pricing, and single-license plus service fee pricing are the most widely adopted pricing models in Paraffin Wax. Each pricing model offers optimum benefits and fitment in specific situations. Buyers should identify the model that suits their operations in the best manner and link supplier performance to the pricing models.

The report also offers information on the upcoming trends and challenges that will influence market growth.

www.spendedge.com/report/paraffin-wax-market-procurement-research-report

Insights Offered in this Paraffin Wax Market Report

Top Paraffin Wax suppliers and their cost structures

Top Paraffin Wax suppliers in the US and their cost structures

Paraffin Wax market spend analysis in the US

Paraffin Wax price trends, and forecasts

Cost drivers influencing the Paraffin Wax prices

Some of the Top Paraffin Wax suppliers listed in this report:

This Paraffin Wax procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

China Petrochemical Corp. (SINOPEC)

Exxon Mobil Corp

China National Petroleum Corp

Know More About Major Paraffin Wax Suppliers

Regional Analysis

Further breakdown of the market segmentation at requested regions.

Market Player Information

Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players, vendor segmentation, and vendor offerings.

Know the strategies adopted by vendors during the COVID-19 Recovery Phase.

View Free Sample Report

Best Selling Procurement Research Report :

Fruits and Vegetable Processing Equipment - Forecast and Analysis : The fruits and vegetable processing equipment will grow at a CAGR of 5.52% during 2021-2025 . Click the above link for a free sample report.

The fruits and vegetable processing equipment will grow at a . Click the above link for a free sample report. Amusement Park Construction Services Sourcing and Procurement Report : This report evaluates suppliers based on quality of services to ensure safety of drugs and medical devices, therapeutic expertise, reputation and level of experience, and global reach and capacity.

This report evaluates suppliers based on quality of services to ensure safety of drugs and medical devices, therapeutic expertise, reputation and level of experience, and global reach and capacity. Waste Management Equipment- Sourcing and Procurement Intelligence Report: This report evaluates suppliers based on warranties, low lifecycle costs, proximity to the buyers location, and manufacturing performance. The pressure from substitutes and a high level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the moderate bargaining power of suppliers.

To access the definite purchasing guide on the Paraffin Wax that answers all your key questions on price trends and analysis:

Am I paying/getting the right prices? Is my Paraffin Wax TCO (total cost of ownership) favorable?

How is the price forecast expected to change? What is driving the current and future price changes?

Which pricing models offer the most rewarding opportunities?

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

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.

Contact

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
OSLO, Norway, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Photocure ASA (OSE: PHO), The Bladder Cancer Company, announces that President and Chief Executive Officer, Dan Schneider and Chief Financial Officer, Erik Dahl will present a corporate overview and host 1-on-1 meetings with investors at the 11th Annual SVB Leerink Global Healthcare Conference, being held virtually February 14-18, 2022.

Photocure's presentation is scheduled to take place February 17th at 11:20am ET (5:20pm CET) and can be accessed via the link below: https://wsw.com/webcast/svbleerink67/pho.ol/2984800



About Photocure ASA

Photocure: The Bladder Cancer Company delivers transformative solutions to improve the lives of bladder cancer patients. Our unique technology, making cancer cells glow bright pink, has led to better health outcomes for patients worldwide. Photocure is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: PHO). For more information, please visit us at www.photocure.com, www.hexvix.com, www.cysview.com

For further information, please contact:

Dan Schneider

President and CEO

Photocure ASA

Email: [email protected]

Erik Dahl

CFO

Photocure ASA

Tel: +4745055000

Email: [email protected]

David Moskowitz

Vice President, Investor Relations

Photocure ASA

Tel: +1 202 280 0888

Email: [email protected]

Media and IR enquiries:

Geir Bjrlo

Corporate Communications (Norway)

Tel: +47 91540000

Email: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/photocure/r/photocure-to-participate-in-the-11th-annual-svb-leerink-global-healthcare-conference,c3500444

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Photocure
In the first phase of the Grangemouth site expansion, two new ADC manufacturing suites, operational by Q3 2023, will be added to the existing three. The building has been designed to accommodate further expansion, with planned future phases that include a new sterile fill/finish suite dedicated to ADCs and two additional large-scale manufacturing suites capable of handling increased batch sizes. A new customer experience center is also being constructed for clients who are visiting the site during development and/or manufacturing activities. Ground preparation and piling works are well under way, with an official groundbreaking ceremony taking place yesterday, February 7th.

Piramal Pharma Solutions is a global leader in ADC development and manufacturing, with hundreds of payloads developed and more than a thousand ADC batches manufactured. When complete, the expansion will enhance PPS' standing significantly by increasing ADC capacity at the Grangemouth site. The new facility will be fully supported by analytical laboratories (Quality Control, Cell-based Assay and Enzyme-Linked Immune Sorbent Assay [ELISA], Good Manufacturing Practice [GMP]), warehousing, and administrative offices, all housed in a purpose-built facility.

PPS's Grangemouth facility boasts two significant ADC capabilities: fit-for-purpose rapid development for early clinical materials and robust, scalable late phase development to support pivotal trials and commercial launch. By combining these skills with offerings from our other thirteen global facilities, including fill/finish, payloads, and peptides, we can provide integrated ADC services to customers looking for fast, simplified solutions.

Peter DeYoung, Chief Executive Officer, Piramal Pharma Solutions said, "We are delighted to announce the capacity expansion of our Grangemouth facility in the UK. This new development will more than double our ADC production capacity, strengthening our ability to service customers throughout the entire drug lifecycle. The primary driver behind this investment is the demand for commercial ADCs, coupled with a strong pipeline for clinical materials. This growth is a validation of Piramal Pharma Solutions' strong focus on Patient Centricity, its proven track record of service delivery, and the strategic initiatives and deep customer relationships."

This expansion represents an investment of 45 million pounds sterling, including a grant of 2.4 million from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland's national economic development agency.

Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, commented, "Piramal's investment is tremendous news for Scotland's life sciences sector, one of the largest life sciences clusters in Europe, and is creating new, high-quality jobs that are crucial to our economic recovery. With Scottish Enterprise support, the company's Grangemouth site expansion proposals will deliver more R&D and production capacity for the development, scale up and commercial manufacture of drugs in the global fight against cancer."

The Grangemouth expansion, which is also client co-funded, is designed to facilitate the continued evolution of the business through the commercialization of customer products, together with satisfying the strong pipeline of early phase clinical demand. The new facility is being built on a 5-acre brownfield plot less than 100 meters from the existing site and is designed to meet the highest standards of global compliance. It is expected that this expansion will create approximately 40-50 new jobs, bringing the total number of employees at the site to more than 250. The new hires will join a highly qualified scientific, technical, and professional staff that has already grown almost 4-fold in recent years.

Scottish Government Investment Minister Ivan McKee added, "This will be an important new development which could aid the treatment of life-threatening cancer, with Scottish Enterprise funding supporting the creation of 40 new jobs and safeguarding 170 more in Grangemouth."

"We are working with agencies like Scottish Enterprise to deliver support for manufacturing across Scotland. Investments like this are helping us build a strong industry which will boost our economic recovery and deliver future prosperity."

Morpeth Site API Investment

The investment in API capabilities at the Morpeth site, which is valued at approximately 10 million, includes new equipment, infrastructure, and utility systems. It is intended to meet increased market demand from global API customers while also improving PPS' carbon footprint by replacing obsolete equipment with new, energy-efficient alternatives. More than 400 people are employed at Morpeth, with ~160 directly in API Operations, and this investment helps safeguard their future while also improving the site's environmental impact. PPS is investing 8 million directly, while the UK government is contributing 2 million to the project.

Mr. DeYoung concluded, "PPS is firmly committed to keeping pace with the market through expansions and investments, but we are working hard to do so with a focus on sustainable and environmentally-responsible practices. As we enhance our capabilities at sites in North America and India, similar plans are in place."

About Piramal Pharma Solutions:

Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS) is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) offering end-to-end development and manufacturing solutions across the drug life cycle. We serve our customers through a globally integrated network of facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia. This enables us to offer a comprehensive range of services including drug discovery solutions, process & pharmaceutical development services, clinical trial supplies, commercial supply of APIs, and finished dosage forms. We also offer specialized services such as the development and manufacture of highly potent APIs, antibody-drug conjugations, sterile fill/finish, peptide products & services, and potent solid oral drug product. Our track record as a trusted service provider with experience across varied technologies makes us a partner of choice for innovator and generic companies worldwide.

For more information please visit: www.piramalpharmasolutions.com | Twitter | LinkedIn

About Piramal Pharma Ltd.

Piramal Pharma Limited (PPL) offers a portfolio of differentiated products and services through end-to-end manufacturing capabilities across 15 global facilities and a global distribution network over 100 countries. PPL includes: Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS), an integrated Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization; Piramal Critical Care (PCC), a Complex Hospital Generics business, and the India Consumer Healthcare business, selling over-the counter products. PPS offers end-to-end development and manufacturing solutions through a globally integrated network of facilities across the drug life cycle to innovator and generic companies. PCC's complex hospital product portfolio includes inhalation anaesthetics, intrathecal therapies for spasticity and pain management, injectable pain and anaesthetics, injectable anti-infectives, and other therapies. The Indian Consumer Healthcare business is among the leading players in India in the self-care space, with established brands in the Indian consumer healthcare market. In addition, PPL has a joint venture with Allergan, a leader in ophthalmology in the Indian formulations market. In October 2020, the company received growth equity investment from the Carlyle Group.

For more information visit: www.piramal.com | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

SOURCE Piramal Pharma Solutions
SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Democrat Junaid Ahmed 's grassroots campaigning efforts demonstrate that he's the most viable challenger in the Illinois 8th Congressional District race. In 2021, he outraised Republican challenger Peter Kopsaftis and Democrat challenger Faheem Mohammed combined by more than $500,000.

Of the $612,716 Ahmed raised by the end of 2021, more than 77% were from individual donations of $300 or less. He ended last year with $421,049 on hand.

Junaid Ahmed

"While I never intended to run for office, my parents did raise me to love and give back to my communityand I have dedicated my life to serving others," said Ahmed. "To receive this much support from the community I love, well, I just don't know what to say other than thank you. Thank you for believing in me.but let's not forget that money does not win elections. People win elections."

One of Ahmed's campaign promises is to abolish super PACs and replace corporate funding with publicly funded elections.

"The voters will be the ones who decide this election," Ahmed said. "I hope everyone who donated will consider joining me and my team as we talk to them."

On Feb. 2, national grassroots organization Peace Action announced its endorsement of Ahmed.

"Peace Action is thrilled to support Junaid Ahmed in his run for Congress," said Lilly Dragnev, National Engagement and Campaigns Manager at Peace Action. "He knows where the priorities of those in power should lie  with their constituents, not special interests."

For more information, interviews, and other media requests, please contact Ashley Young at 800.648.6854 or [email protected] and visit Ahmed's campaign website .

Paid for by Junaid Ahmed for Congress

SOURCE Junaid Ahmed
ATLANTA, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta-based PureCars, a leading provider of digital marketing technology and services for automotive dealers, has achieved 2022 Premier Partner status in the Google Partners program.

PureCars is part of a select group of Premier Partners in the Google Partners program. This program is designed for advertising agencies and third parties that manage Google Ads accounts on behalf of other brands or businesses. Its mission is to empower companies by providing them with innovative tools, resources, and support to help their clients succeed and grow online.

"Today's automotive landscape requires digital advertising technology and resources that help dealers truly capitalize on changing consumer behaviors and evolving industry challenges," said Jeff Ranalli, President of PureCars. "Achieving Google Premier Partner status is a true testament to the industry-leading technology and superior support that PureCars provides retailers across North America, and it also demonstrates the significant value we deliver, and the profit-producing results our dealer partners realize."

Google recognized the achievements of top-performing digital marketing partners across the globe by awarding Premier Partner status as part of the new Google Partners program.

The Google Partners program has undergone significant changes for 2022, including redefining what it means to be a Premier Partner through new, advanced program requirements and offering new Premier Partner benefits to support growth and success with Google Ads.

"Congratulations to our Premier Partners for being among the top 3% of Google Partners in the U.S. These companies stand out based on their commitment to developing product expertise, building new client relationships, and helping their current clients grow. We look forward to supporting them as they help their customers succeed online," said Davang Shah, Senior Director, Google Ads Marketing.

PureCars' best-in-class tech optimizes media buys to achieve lower ad costs per unit sold and per RO, resulting in increased profitability for dealerships. It also offers credit-first payment technology that converts shoppers earlier in the buying process, further reducing advertising costs for dealerships while providing an improved buying experience for their customers. Explore the full range of offerings on www.PureCars.com.

About PureCars

Since 2007, PureCars has helped thousands of dealers improve their advertising effectiveness, lower ad costs per unit sold and per repair order. Through our unique combination of advanced advertising solutions, digital merchandising and market analytics, we provide dealers and partners with best-in-class solutions that increase efficiency and profitability. We are a certified digital provider for 15 OEMs in the U.S. and 1 in Canada, compliant with 40+ brands and serve 65 of the top 100 dealer groups in North America.

SOURCE PureCars
Through the Purple Leash Project, Purina and RedRover are working to create more pet-friendly shelters and provide more resources so that survivors with pets can escape abuse and heal together. Currently only 15% of domestic violence shelters in the United States allow pets and almost half of abuse survivors (48%) will delay leaving their abuser if they can't take their pet with them into a shelter.

"The Purple Leash Project is focused on easing a survivor's decision to leave abuse," said Nina Leigh Krueger, CEO and President of Purina. "Knowing that there are resources available to them and their four-legged family members aides in their decision to leave. By working together with RedRover, we've helped to provide more than 33,000 safe nights for domestic abuse survivors and their pets with much more work to be done."

With this latest round of funding, 30 grants totaling more than $500,000 have now been gifted to domestic violence shelters across the US by Purina. Since the Purple Leash Project was founded in 2019, Purina has provided more than $1 million in funding and is working together with RedRover toward a goal of helping to ensure that at least 25% of domestic violence shelters are pet-friendly by 2025.

Each domestic violence shelter will use the Purple Leash Project grants to fund projects and services unique to the needs of their location:

Family Violence Prevention Center of Greene County Inc in Green County, Ohio will receive $46,055 to build on-site kennels and create an outdoor fenced-in play area, remaining funds will go toward pet supplies, laundry supplies and air purifiers for bedrooms and their indoor dog room.

will receive to build on-site kennels and create an outdoor fenced-in play area, remaining funds will go toward pet supplies, laundry supplies and air purifiers for bedrooms and their indoor dog room. Sojourner House in Providence County , Rhode Island will receive $21,800 to house pets at one of their three shelters and foster care through the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RISPCA). Remaining funds will be allocated for veterinary care, food, pet deposits and transportation.

, will receive to house pets at one of their three shelters and foster care through the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RISPCA). Remaining funds will be allocated for veterinary care, food, pet deposits and transportation. YWCA of Bradford in McKean County, Pennsylvania will receive $19,000 to create a separate building on the property to house pets so that their owners can be close and care for them, all while accommodating survivors who may be allergic to dogs or cats.

will receive to create a separate building on the property to house pets so that their owners can be close and care for them, all while accommodating survivors who may be allergic to dogs or cats. The Spring in Tulsa County, Oklahoma will receive $10,000 to build kennels, a visitation area, and an outdoor play area, the remaining funds will go toward a new HVAC system.

will receive to build kennels, a visitation area, and an outdoor play area, the remaining funds will go toward a new HVAC system. Services to Abused Families in Culpeper County, Virginia will receive $7,950 to renovate the barn on the property to house dogs and cats and create a bathing station for the pets to stay clean and sanitary during their stay.

"We are so grateful for Purina, RedRover and the Purple Leash Project for providing funds that allow us to build a safe haven for animals whose owners are fleeing a domestic violence situation," said Shelley Alcorn, Program Director of the YWCA of Bradford. "We often hear of abusers threatening to harm pets if a survivor chooses to leave. Now, we can ensure the safety of survivors and their animals. Our program team is very excited to begin this adventure as our community can vastly benefit from these resources."

To learn more about the Purple Leash Project, donate or sign up for ongoing updates, visit www.PurpleLeashProject.com.

If you know someone who is being abused and ready to leave with their pet, they can find information on pet-friendly shelters in their area at www.SafePlaceForPets.org.

About Purina

Nestle Purina PetCare creates richer lives for pets and the people who love them. Founded in 1894, Purina has helped dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by offering scientifically based nutritional innovations. Purina manufactures some of the world's most trusted and popular pet care products, including Purina ONE, Pro Plan, Fancy Feast and Tidy Cats. Our more than 8,700 U.S. associates take pride in our trusted pet food, treat and litter brands that feed 51 million dogs and 65 million cats every year. More than 500 Purina scientists, veterinarians, and pet care experts ensure our commitment to unsurpassed quality and nutrition.

Purina promotes responsible pet care through our scientific research, our products and our support for pet-related organizations. Over the past five years, Purina has contributed more than $150 million towards organizations that bring, and keep, people and pets together, as well as those that help our communities and environment thrive.

Purina is part of Nestle, a global leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness. For more information, visit purina.com or subscribe here to get the latest Purina news.

About RedRover

Since 1987, RedRover has focused on bringing animals out of crisis and strengthening the human-animal bond through emergency sheltering, disaster relief services, financial assistance, and education. To learn how RedRover is creating a more compassionate world, visit RedRover.org.

SOURCE Purina
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- QurAlis Corporation, a biotech company developing breakthrough precision medicines for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets, today announced an expansion of its leadership team to strengthen expertise in regulatory affairs, clinical affairs and operations, and global supply management. Bryan Boggs, Pharm.D., RAC, has been appointed as head of regulatory affairs; Christopher Gerry Lohan (Gerry) has been appointed head of clinical operations; and Guzide Adhikari has been named head of global supply chain management.

"As we position QurAlis for our next phase of growth and value creation, we are thrilled to announce the addition of such experienced leaders as Bryan, Gerry, and Guzide in key competencies  regulatory affairs, clinical operations, and global supply chain management," said Kasper Roet, Ph.D., CEO of QurAlis. "With their combined breadth of expertise within these central functions, they will play a critical role as we advance our deep pipeline of novel therapeutics for ALS and beyond to help patients desperately in need of treatment options."

Dr. Boggs has extensive experience in U.S. and international regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, project management, and clinical strategy across the clinical and regulatory spectrum - from preclinical through late-stage. He joins QurAlis from Eli Lilly and Company where he spent 30 years in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as director, global regulatory and pharmacovigilance. In this position, Dr. Boggs oversaw strategic regulatory direction, quality oversight, and processes for regulatory initiatives outside of the U.S. during a three-year assignment in Germany. During his tenure at Eli Lilly, Dr. Boggs was responsible for leading project teams in both early and late-phase drug development including new drug applications in diabetes, depression, and chronic pain. He has contributed to dozens of other global regulatory filings and agency interactions, three of which led to successful drug registrations. He earned his doctor of pharmacy from Purdue University and a B.S. in biology from Indiana University.

Mr. Lohan brings more than 20 years of clinical research experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries with expertise in U.S. and global clinical drug and device trials from Phase 1 through Phase IV. Immediately before joining QurAlis, he was senior director of clinical operations for Editas Medicine where he was responsible for the clinical operations management and execution of the company's in vivo rare disease clinical programs. Prior to his tenure at Editas, he held positions of increasing responsibility within clinical affairs and operations at Avedro, Inc., scPharmaceuticals Inc., Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Medtronic, and Boston Scientific. He started his career as a clinical research associate at Wyeth Research. Mr. Lohan holds a master's in regulatory affairs and a B.S. in health science from Northeastern University, and a project management certificate from Worchester Polytechnic Institute.

Ms. Adhikari has more than 15 years of commercial and clinical supply chain experience in planning, logistics, and technical operations at global pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies. Prior to joining QurAlis, she was senior director, supply chain management at Translate Bio, a Sanofi company, where she established and led a new supply chain team responsible for planning and overseeing external development, manufacturing, procurement, and distribution of raw materials. Previously, she was at Takeda where she spent 10 years in roles of increasing responsibility within the company's global supply chain management organization. Ms. Adhikari holds a M.S. in operations research from Northeastern University and a B.S. in industrial engineering from Dokuz Eylul University (Turkey).

About QurAlis Corporation

QurAlis is trailblazing the path to conquering amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets with next-generation precision medicines. QurAlis' proprietary platforms and unique biomarkers enable the design and development of drugs that act directly on disease-causing genetic alterations. Founded by an internationally recognized team of neurodegenerative biologists from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, QurAlis is advancing a deep pipeline of antisense oligonucleotides and small molecule programs including addressing sub-forms of ALS that account for the majority of ALS patients. For more information, please visit www.quralis.com or follow us on Twitter @QurAlisCo.

SOURCE QurAlis
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

Ram Revolution created to invite consumers to join the brand on its journey to revolutionize the pickup truck market, as it prepares to launch the Ram 1500 battery electric vehicle (BEV) in 2024

RamRevolution.com hub launches today and will give customers an inside look and the opportunity to provide their real-world input as Ram electric trucks are developed

The Ram Revolution insider program will provide consumers with unique content and a closer connection with the Ram brand and its electric-vehicle (EV) philosophy

New Ram Real Talk Tour begins: a series of yearlong conversations with truck owners to better understand what an electric pickup truck must do to meet their real-world needs

New images mark the beginning of the Ram Revolution and provide a glimpse at what will inspire the first Ram EV pickup truck

Ram will deliver fully electrified solutions in the majority of its segments by 2025, and a full portfolio of electrified solutions for all of its segments no later than 2030

Ram today announced the Ram Revolution, an exclusive insider program with Ram brand fans that invites them to join Ram on its journey to revolutionize the pickup truck market again, this time with the new Ram 1500 battery electric vehicle (BEV) in 2024.



The Ram Revolution, including the new RamRevolution.com hub, provides consumers with a closer connection with the brand and its electric-vehicle (EV) philosophy, meaningful updates with unique visuals and content, and an ongoing dialogue that will include the opportunity to provide input as Ram EV trucks are developed.

"Launched as a stand-alone truck brand in 2009, Ram revolutionized the pickup truck segment once, and is laser-focused on doing so again with the best electric trucks on the market," said Mike Koval Jr., Ram brand CEO  Stellantis. "Our new Ram Revolution campaign will allow us to engage with consumers in a close and personal way, so we can gather meaningful feedback, understand their wants and needs and address their concerns  ultimately allowing us to deliver the best electric pickup truck on the market with the Ram 1500 BEV."



As part of today's Ram Revolution announcement, the brand showcased images of a concept vehicle that is being developed with customer input to inspire the design of the upcoming Ram 1500 BEV. In addition, the Ram brand launched a new video manifesto, "Spark."



With the Ram EV revolution, the brand is debuting its Ram Real Talk Tour, a series of yearlong conversations with consumers at various events to better understand what the next generation of Ram trucks and vans must do to meet their needs.



"The Ram brand's promise is grounded in our unique 'Built to Serve' philosophy, and our new Ram Revolution campaign takes this pledge even further," Koval added. "At Ram, we are built to serve our customers, understanding and delivering exactly what they need and want in a Ram. Our next-generation Ram solutions will be powerful and capable trucks that tow, haul, complete the job and always go the distance."



Ram will deliver fully electrified solutions in the majority of its segments by 2025, and a full portfolio of electrified solutions for all of its segments no later than 2030. The brand's promise is to serve the next generation of Ram customers with a portfolio of products that delivers on their real-world demands. Ram will push past what competitors have announced and what customers expect to deliver a fuller portfolio of technology with more range, power, productivity and convenience.

Ram Truck Brand

In 2009, the Ram Truck brand launched as a stand-alone division, focused on meeting the demands of truck buyers and delivering benchmark-quality vehicles. With a full lineup of trucks, the Ram 1500, 2500/3500 Heavy Duty, 3500/4500/5500 Chassis Cab, ProMaster and ProMaster City, the Ram brand builds trucks that get the hard work done and families where they need to go.



Ram is the number one brand in new vehicle quality and is the only truck-exclusive brand to ever finish first in J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study (2021), which tracks new vehicle performance over the first three months of ownership. In the same study, Ram Heavy Duty models also scored best, making Ram the number-one truck brand in new vehicle quality among large heavy-duty pickups.



In addition, the latest J.D. Power APEAL study - which rates the emotional bond between customers and their vehicles  named the 2021 Ram 1500 as the best vehicle in the large light-duty pickup category. This marks the second straight year Ram 1500 has received top honors.



The 2022 Ram 1500 lineup includes the Know & Go mobile app featuring an immersive experience for customers who want to learn more about their vehicles.



Ram continues to outperform the competition and sets the benchmarks for:

1,075 lb.-ft. of torque with Cummins Turbo Diesel

Towing capacity of 37,090 lbs. with Ram 3500

Segment first 1,000 lb.-ft of torque with Cummins Turbo Diesel

Payload of 7,680 lbs. with Ram 3500

Most luxurious: Ram Limited with real wood, real leather and 12-inch Uconnect touchscreen

Best ride and handling with exclusive link coil rear and auto-level air suspensions

Most interior space with Ram Mega Cab

Most capable full-size off-road pickup  Ram Power Wagon

Ram 1500, America's most powerful half-ton diesel pickup with 480 lb.-ft. of torque, achieves an unsurpassed 33 mpg highway and delivers up to 1,000 miles of range on a single tank of fuel

Ram 1500 TRX is the quickest, fastest and most powerful mass-produced pickup truck in the world

Most awarded light-duty truck in America

Highest owner loyalty of any half-ton pickup

Ram is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

Follow Ram and company news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Ram Truck brand: www.ramtrucks.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/RamTrucks

Instagram: www.instagram.com/ramtrucks

Twitter: www.twitter.com/RamTrucks and @StellantisNA

YouTube: www.youtube.com/RamTrucks, https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

SOURCE Stellantis
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Redwire Corporation f/k/a/ Genesis Park Acquisition Corp (NYSE: RDW) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

Class Period: August 11, 2021 to November 14, 2021

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: February 15, 2022

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in RDW:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/redwire-corporation-f-k-a-genesis-park-acquisition-corp-loss-submission-form?id=23404&from=4

Redwire Corporation f/k/a/ Genesis Park Acquisition Corp NEWS - RDW NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Redwire Corporation f/k/a/ Genesis Park Acquisition Corp made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) there were accounting issues at one of Redwire's subunits; (2) as a result, there were additional material weaknesses in Redwire's internal control over financial reporting; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Redwire, you have until February 15, 2022 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Redwire securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the RDW lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/redwire-corporation-f-k-a-genesis-park-acquisition-corp-loss-submission-form?id=23404&from=4.

ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM

J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

J. Klein, Esq.

Empire State Building

350 Fifth Avenue

59th Floor

New York, NY 10118

[email protected]

Telephone: (212) 616-4899

www.kleinstocklaw.com

SOURCE The Klein Law Firm
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. and PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Refuel Agency, a standout provider of Media + Marketing services specializing in and reaching select niche audiences throughout the United States, is integrating with Thinking Cap Agency as the higher education division under the Refuel umbrella of offerings to military, teen, college, and multicultural markets.

Thinking Cap Agency is a collaborative digital media and content marketing partner to higher education institutions across the U.S. for specialized enrollment marketing. Thinking Cap markets for all areas of education with primary focus on graduate, transfer, online, and professional and continuing education recruitment.

Derek White, CEO of Refuel Agency, explains, "Refuel Agency has been successfully reaching military audiences for enrollment marketing and Thinking Cap's continuing education focus will further deepen and broaden our offerings. In turn, Thinking Cap Agency will benefit from our unparalleled youth and multicultural consumer audience engagement. With the enrollment challenges that colleges are facing, Thinking Cap will be an excellent complement to Refuel Agency."

Timothy Gerstmyer, President of Thinking Cap, envisions multiple advantages by joining forces. "Our combined resources, along with Refuel's thirty-year history of successful niche audience targeting, and proprietary research, will allow Thinking Cap to make a bigger impact on our university partner enrollment growth. With Refuel's success in military higher education, we can now truly address any enrollment need for our university clients."

Thinking Cap has become a well-known agency for colleges and universities looking to increase enrollment. The company has a unique position in the industry with its proprietary research, database of millions of prospective students, omni-channel marketing solutions including U-Social short-form video storytelling, and transparent reporting and analysis.

While Refuel Agency is headquartered in sunny Santa Barbara, the Thinking Cap division will remain headquartered in Princeton, NJ.

About Refuel Agency

Refuel is the largest provider of Media + Marketing services for brands and agencies to reach military, teen, college and multicultural audiences. Refuel is the agency for agencies and for over 30 years has worked with almost half of all Fortune 500 companies, as well as most top 100 agencies and hundreds of boutique agencies, reaching over $1.5B in total billings. Previously part of Alloy Media, Refuel Agency is majority owned by Prospect Capital (NASDAQ: PSEC) a leading Business Development Company with over $6B in investment assets. Refuel is headquartered in Santa Barbara with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Princeton. www.refuelagency.com

SOURCE Refuel Agency
OLD BRIDGE, N.J., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- R.J. Brunelli & Co., LLC today announced that it recently completed six leases for retail sites in northern, central and southern New Jersey.

R.J. Brunelli recently signed Envy Lash Studio and The Shape of You for The Promenade in Summit. The firm is exclusive leasing agent for the retail portion of the mixed-use property, which also includes 22 luxury apartments. AT&T recently signed for an endcap space at 1882 Hooper Ave. in Toms River. A Pizza Hut with drive-thru previously signed for the other endcap unit at the 12,600-sq.-ft. retail center, now under construction in the town's Silverton section.

As exclusive statewide leasing representative for Dollar Tree, the Old Bridge-based retail real estate brokerage signed the national chain for an 11,642-square-foot endcap space at The Shoppes at Parsippany. Located at 1470 Rte. 46 West, near Baldwin Rd., the 54,700-square-foot Morris County center is anchored by a Delight Big Bazaar farmer's market. Dollar Tree is expected to open in the second quarter of 2022, occupying a former Retro Fitness space.

R.J. Brunelli President & Principal Danielle Brunelli and Senior Sales Associate Pete Nicholson represented Dollar Tree on the lease, while the landlord was represented by Darrin Hiban of Tri State Commercial Inc.

In other northern New Jersey deals, Senior Sales Associate John Lenaz completed two streetfront leases for The Promenade, a mixed-use property at 545 Morris Ave. in Summit. Located at the corner of River Rd., the Union County site offers 15,600 square feet of retail space, plus 22 luxury apartments on the two upper floors.

Envy Lash Studio recently opened at The Promenade in 1,202 square feet, offering eyelash and facial treatments, plus other personal services. This is the second location for Envy Lash, which also operates in Bernardsville. In the second of the leases, beautification spa The Shape of You is expected to debut in March 2022 in a 1,257-square-foot space. Both tenants will join a mix that also includes Connect One Bank, Dunkin Donuts, Kumon and Little Gym. R.J. Brunelli, which is exclusive broker for The Promenade's retail space, also represented both tenants on the leases.

Elsewhere, Ms. Brunelli executed her two latest leases on behalf of European Wax Center franchisees, signing the chain for locations in central and southern New Jersey.

In the central region, European Wax Center is expected to open in June 2022 in a 1,984-square-foot inline space at Hillsborough Promenade, located at Rte. 206 and Falcon Rd. The 328,300-square-foot Somerset County power center is anchored by Kohl's, Weis Markets, Lowe's and Home Goods.

A third quarter 2022 opening is anticipated at Collegetown Shopping Center in Glassboro, where European Wax Center signed for a 1,672-square-foot endcap space in a pad site building. Located less than a mile from Rowan University at 731 Delsea Drive, the 248,000-square-foot Gloucester County center is anchored by Lidl, Ross and Esporta Fitness.

R.J. Brunelli serves as exclusive leasing representative for European Wax Center franchisees in New Jersey. Hillsborough Plaza was represented by Shane Wierks of Jefferey Realty, while Collegetown Shopping Center was represented by Valerie Pettine of Metro Commercial.

In Ocean County, the firm signed AT&T for a 3,726--square-foot endcap space at 1882 Hooper Ave. in Toms River. R.J. Brunelli is exclusive broker for the new 12,600-square-foot retail center being developed by March Construction in the municipality's Silverton section. As previously announced, Pizza Hut took the site's other endcap space, signing for an 1,800-square-foot unit with a drive-thru. Both tenants are expected to open this summer.

"As construction on the building moves forward, we currently have several prospects interested in the remaining 7,100 square feet of inline space," said Mario Brunelli, the R.J. Brunelli VP & Principal who represented the landlord on both the AT&T and Pizza Hut leases. Jack Kahn Realty represented AT&T on its lease.

About R.J. Brunelli & Co.

R.J. Brunelli & Co. serves as exclusive broker for 31 retail properties with a combined gross leasable area (GLA) exceeding 2 million square feet, and five properties for sale. The properties are located throughout New Jersey. The firm also serves as exclusive or preferred tenant representative for 22 retail, restaurant and service chains. These include representation in various New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania counties for such companies as Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, My CBD Organics, European Wax Center, Asian Food Markets, and New Jersey Spine and Wellness.

Press contacts: At R.J. Brunelli & Co., LLC, Danielle Brunelli, President, (732) 721-5800; at Jaffe Communications Bill Parness, [email protected], (732) 673-6852, or Elisa Krantz, [email protected], (908) 789-0700.

Note to Media : Photos are available upon request from Jaffe Communications.

SOURCE R.J. Brunelli & Co.
NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Chegg, Inc. (NYSE: CHGG) between May 5, 2020 and November 1, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the February 22, 2022 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Chegg securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Chegg class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2232.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than February 22, 2022. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Many of these firms do not actually handle securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Chegg's increase in subscribers, growth, and revenue had been a temporary effect of the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in remote education for the vast majority of United States students and once the pandemic-related restrictions eased and students returned to campuses nationwide, Chegg's extraordinary growth trends would end; (2) Chegg's subscriber and revenue growth were largely due to the facilitation of remote education cheating  an unstable business proposition  rather than the strength of its business model or the acumen of its senior executives and directors; and (3) as a result, Chegg's current business metrics and financial prospects were not as strong as it had led the market to believe during the Class Period. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the Chegg class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2232.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Governing Board of the San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP) has announced that Yolanda Richardson, currently the Secretary of the California Government Operations Agency, will succeed John F. Grgurina, Jr., as Chief Executive Officer, effective April 4, 2022.

Richardson was selected after a rigorous nationwide search, facilitated by recruiting firm Russell Reynolds Associates, which included extensive interviews with SFHP Governing Board members. Mr. Grgurina supported the Board in its search, to ensure the new CEO would uphold SFHP's mission to improve health outcomes of the diverse San Francisco communities through successful partnerships.

Mr. Grgurina announced his retirement on August 6, 2021, after 14 years with SFHP and a distinguished career in health care that spans three decades.

"Finding someone committed to SFHP's mission and culture to support our members, the safety net providers of San Francisco and our staff were the most important factors to me." said John F. Grgurina, Jr. "Yolanda is a true advocate of affordable health care for all and has had a lifelong commitment to service with proven capabilities to lead through extraordinary times; I am confident she will guide SFHP through its next stage of evolution."

Secretary Richardson has more than 20 years of healthcare leadership experience, including her current role as Governor Newsom's Secretary of the California Government Operations Agency, leading 11 state departments and offices essential to the effective administration of California state government. In January 2021, Governor Newsom called on Yolanda to help increase the pace of vaccine administration statewide and ensure vaccines were distributed equitably. She launched a "Get Out the Vaccine" campaign in partnership with UCLA and community organizations statewide to promote vaccinations, knocking on more than three million doors to help Californians access the COVID-19 vaccine. For her wide-ranging work during the pandemic, Yolanda was named "Public Administrator of the Year" in 2021 by the American Society of Public Administration (Sacramento Chapter) and one of five "Warrior Women" leading the fight against COVID-19 in 2021 by California Women Lead.

Prior to joining the Agency, Secretary Richardson helped found Covered California, one of the nation's most successful health insurance exchanges. Beginning in 2011, she helped grow the organization to become one of the nation's most successful Affordable Care Act exchanges. By the time she left the role of Chief Deputy Executive Director in 2016, Richardson's efforts had helped enroll millions of Californians in health coverage and cut the state's rate of the uninsured by half.

"I am honored to be selected to lead SFHP, a strong, innovative organization with a compassionate mission and an outstanding network of health care providers, staff and members," said Secretary Richardson. "I am excited to return to SFHP where I once served as COO and as CEO, I will continue to build on SFHP's innovative culture and advance its vision into the future."

"There are no words to describe the remarkable impact that John F. Grgurina, Jr. has had on SFHP and the San Francisco community. He has shepherded SFHP through a remarkable decade and a half, with an extraordinary increase in the member population. Although he will be sorely missed, we wish him nothing but the best on his well-deserved retirement," said SFHP Governing Board Chair, Dr. Steven Fugaro, MD. "Secretary Richardson has proven to be a dynamic leader and the Board strongly believes that she is the right person to carry on Mr. Grgurina' s legacy of optimizing the MediCal experience for our Members, Providers and Team Members. We look forward to this next chapter in our organization's extraordinary history."

San Francisco Health Plan is an NCQA Accredited Medi-Cal health plan providing no-cost and affordable health coverage to over 160,000 low and moderate-income families residing in San Francisco.

About San Francisco Health Plan

San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP) has a rating of 4 out of 5 in NCQA's Medicaid Health Plan Ratings 2021. SFHP is a licensed community health plan providing affordable health coverage to over 160,000 low and moderate-income families residing in San Francisco. SFHP is designed for and by the residents it servesmany of whom would not be able to otherwise obtain health care for themselves or their families. Through SFHP, members have access to a full spectrum of medical services including preventive care, hospitalization, prescription drugs, family planning, and substance abuse programs. SFHP's mission is to improve health outcomes of the diverse San Francisco communities through successful partnerships. San Francisco Health Plan is also the third-party administrator for the nationally recognized Healthy San Francisco program. For more information on SFHP, visit www.sfhp.org,

About NCQA

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes clinicians in key clinical areas. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's website ( ncqa.org ) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more-informed health care choices. NCQA can be found online at ncqa.org , on Twitter @ncqa , on Facebook at facebook.com/NCQA.org/ and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa .

SOURCE San Francisco Health Plan
GOTTINGEN, Germany, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The life science group Sartorius announced today that, through its subgroup Sartorius Stedim Biotech, it closed the acquisition of the Novasep chromatography division as of February 7, 2022, following approval by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The transaction had already been agreed upon at the beginning of 2021. The business acquired generated sales of around 40 million euros in 2020 at a double-digit profit margin; final figures for 2021 are not yet available. The majority of the approximately 100 employees work at the Pompey site in eastern France and some in the USA, China, and India.

The portfolio acquired comprises chromatography systems primarily suited for smaller biomolecules, such as oligonucleotides, peptides, and insulin, as well as innovative systems for continuous manufacturing of biologics. Since 2018, Novasep and Sartorius have also been jointly developing optimized systems for a membrane-based chromatography technology.

As the acquisition is expected to generate additional non-organic sales revenue growth of around 1 percentage point in 2022, Sartorius has updated its sales revenue forecast for the current year as follows: Consolidated sales revenue is now expected to increase by about 15 percent to 19 percent (previously about 14 percent to 18 percent), with non-organic growth from acquisitions projected to contribute about 2 percentage points (previously about 1 percentage point). The company's underlying EBITDA margin remains forecasted at about 34 percent this year.

For the Bioprocess Solutions Division, the company now forecasts sales revenue growth of about 17 percent to 21 percent for 2022 (previously about 16 percent to 20 percent), with non-organic growth from acquisitions contributing around 2 percentage points (previously around 1 percentage point). The division's underlying EBITDA margin is still expected to be around 36 percent. The 2022 forecasts for the Lab Products & Services Division remain unchanged: Accordingly, the company continues to project sales revenue growth of about 6 percent to 10 percent, including a non-organic growth contribution from acquisitions of around 1 percentage point, and an underlying EBITDA margin of around 26 percent for the division.

All forecasts are based on constant currencies.

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the future development of the Sartorius Group. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Sartorius assumes no liability for updating such statements in light of new information or future events. This is a translation of the original German-language press release. Sartorius shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this translation. The original German press release is the legally binding version.

About Sartorius

The Sartorius Group is a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry. With innovative laboratory instruments and consumables, the Group's Lab Products & Services Division concentrates on serving the needs of laboratories performing research and quality control at pharma and biopharma companies and those of academic research institutes. The Bioprocess Solutions Division with its broad product portfolio focusing on single-use solutions helps customers to manufacture biotech medications and vaccines safely and efficiently. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions of complementary technologies. In fiscal 2021, the company earned sales revenue of some 3.45 billion euros according to preliminary figures. At the end of 2021, nearly 14,000 people were employed at the Group's approximately 60 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the globe. Follow Sartorius on Twitter @Sartorius_Group and on LinkedIn.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1123369/Sartorius_Logo.jpg

Contact

Petra Kirchhoff

Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

+49 (0)551.308.1686

[email protected]

www.sartorius.com

SOURCE SARTORIUS CORPORATE ADMINISTRATION GMBH
- Sales revenue forecast for 2022 updated due to acquisition

AUBAGNE, France, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sartorius Stedim Biotech, a leading partner of the biopharma industry, announced today that it closed the acquisition of the Novasep chromatography division as of February 7, 2022, following approval by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The transaction had already been agreed upon at the beginning of 2021. The business acquired generated sales of around 40 million euros in 2020 at a double-digit profit margin; final figures for 2021 are not yet available. The majority of the approximately 100 employees work at the Pompey site in eastern France and some in the USA, China, and India.

The portfolio acquired comprises chromatography systems primarily suited for smaller biomolecules, such as oligonucleotides, peptides, and insulin, as well as innovative systems for continuous manufacturing of biologics. Since 2018, Novasep and Sartorius Stedim Biotech have also been jointly developing optimized systems for a membrane-based chromatography technology.

As the acquisition is expected to generate additional non-organic sales revenue growth of around 1 percentage point in 2022, Sartorius Stedim Biotech has updated its sales revenue forecast for the current year as follows: Consolidated sales revenue is now expected to increase by about 15 percent to 19 percent (previously about 14 percent to 18 percent), with non-organic growth from acquisitions projected to contribute about 2 percentage points (previously about 1 percentage point). The company's underlying EBITDA margin remains forecasted at more than 35 percent this year.

All forecasts are based on constant currencies.

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the future development of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Sartorius Stedim Biotech assumes no liability for updating such statements in light of new information or future events. Sartorius Stedim Biotech shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this English text. The original French press release is the legally binding version.

A profile of Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading international partner of the biopharmaceutical industry. As a total solutions provider, the company helps its customers to manufacture biotech medications safely, rapidly and economically. Headquartered in Aubagne, France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is quoted on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and an international network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech has a global reach. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions of complementary technologies. In 2021, the company employed more than 10,400 people, and earned sales revenue of around 2.89 billion euros according to preliminary figures. Follow Sartorius Stedim Biotech on Twitter @Sartorius_Group and on LinkedIn.

Contact

Petra Kirchhoff

Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

+49 (0)551.308.1686

[email protected]

www.sartorius.com

SOURCE Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- During the month of February, SCORE , mentors to America's small businesses and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, is celebrating and honoring the achievements of Black-owned small businesses as COVID-19 challenges continue.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 19,381 Black-owned businesses reached out to SCORE as part of the new, post-pandemic entrepreneurship boom. Thirty-one percent of SCORE's client services in 2021 supported Black entrepreneurs, including more than 1.4 million hours of volunteer service.

SCORE Celebrates Black-owned Businesses

"We've heard firsthand that Black entrepreneurs can face unique challenges in their journey to entrepreneurship," said SCORE CEO Bridget Weston. "For some, access to small business funding and key resources is challenging. For others, increasing business knowledge is the key to success. Whatever the needs may be, SCORE offers free mentoring, education and resources to make the path to success easier and more direct."

SCORE Supports Black Owned Businesses

In response to unique barriers faced by Black entrepreneurs, SCORE created a centralized hub called SCORE for Black Entrepreneurs which includes:

Webinars and original online educational content

Free, remote, expert business mentoring

Inspiring stories of Black entrepreneurs who achieved their dreams and business goals

Black-owned Small Business Success Stories

Olivia F. Scott worked with SCORE to develop her business, Freedom At The Mat, a wellness platform offering meditation, yoga and mindfulness content. "[My SCORE mentor] Dean Bedekar counseled me to negotiate with suppliers, including terms and conditions and pricing. He helped me set realistic goals and expectations to launch smartly with limited resources. He also pushed me to create a business plan and develop and execute my own marketing plan."

Unveiled Bridal Studio Owner Veatrice Conley worked with SCORE to get her business off the ground: "[I'm] so very grateful for the opportunity to work one-on-one with [my SCORE mentor] Pat Wente and the SCORE family during my start-up process. Having continuous support from Pat for my first eight months in business reassured me that mentorship is a necessity for all new business owners. She is my fairy godmother for all things business."

To learn more about the resources for Black entrepreneurs, visit https://www.score.org/black-entrepreneurs .

About SCORE:

Since 1964, SCORE has helped 11 million entrepreneurs to start, grow or troubleshoot a business. SCORE's 10,000 volunteers provide free mentoring, workshops and educational services to 1,500+ communities nationwide. In the past five years, SCORE volunteers have helped start 186,685 businesses and create 378,550 non-owner jobs. Follow @SCOREMentors on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Funded [in part] through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Contact:

Betsy Dougert

SCORE

800-634-0245

[email protected]

SOURCE SCORE
CLEVELAND, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) is pleased to announce that it signed an agreement today with the state of North Carolina, Iredell County and the city of Statesville to significantly expand its architectural paint and coatings manufacturing capacity and establish a larger distribution facility in Statesville, North Carolina. Sherwin-Williams plans to invest a minimum of $300 million in the project and add more than 180 full-time jobs at the site over the next three years, which would essentially double the existing workforce.

The project will include a 36,000-square-foot extension of its existing 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, the addition of four new rail spurs, as well as the construction of a new 800,000-square-foot distribution and fleet transportation center, which has another 200,000 square feet available for future expansion.

Together, the facility upgrades will add millions of gallons of annual manufacturing capacity and sizable pallet storage capacity to support the Company in meeting increasing demand for its architectural paint and coatings products.

"Sherwin-Williams continues to invest in initiatives that support our growth for years to come. The planned expansion of our Statesville facility demonstrates a deep commitment to both our customers and the region," said John G. Morikis, Sherwin-Williams Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This investment will not only allow us to meet the growing customer demand in the region, but it will also add a number of good-paying jobs to our already vibrant employee base in the community."

The Company considered multiple locations for expansion opportunities in a competitive vetting process before selecting the Statesville facility. Among the reasons the Statesville facility was chosen include its transportation infrastructure, ability to handle expanded capacity and its location that provides for the centralization of existing distribution opportunities for the Company's regional operations. In addition, Sherwin-Williams is extremely pleased with the high quality of its current workforce at its North Carolina facilities and is confident in having continued access to top talent across the state that meets the Company's needs.

Furthermore, Sherwin-Williams will receive incentives and benefits valued at approximately $30 million from the state, county and local government as part of the agreement. This investment reflects the strength of the public-private partnership between Sherwin-Williams and the state of North Carolina, Iredell County and the city of Statesville and underscores the Company's confidence in the region and its people.

"Sherwin-Williams has long been a top employer in North Carolina. There are currently more than 2,400 full-time Sherwin-Williams employees working in the state, and today's announcement ensures a substantial number of jobs will be added over the next three years," said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. "Because of this continued partnership, the state was pleased to provide the necessary financial incentives to support the Company's decision to grow its footprint in the city of Statesville for years to come."

"Sherwin-Williams has been an integral part of the Statesville community since 1993. We are thrilled that they decided to continue to invest in our city, our region and our people by expanding their footprint and adding career opportunities with today's announcement," said city of Statesville Mayor Costi Kutteh. "We look forward to seeing the progress of the project and to welcoming new Sherwin-Williams employees to the enhanced facility in 2024."

Construction is expected to start by the third quarter of this year, with all work slated to be completed by the end of 2024. The manufacturing facility will continue to operate for the duration of the project.

ABOUT THE SHERWIN-WILLIAMS COMPANY

Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution, and sale of paint, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. The Company manufactures products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy, Krylon, Minwax, Thompson's Water Seal, Cabot and many more. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, Sherwin-Williams branded products are sold exclusively through a chain of more than 5,000 Company-operated stores and facilities, while the Company's other brands are sold through leading mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers, and industrial distributors. The Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings Group supplies a broad range of highly-engineered solutions for the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets in more than 120 countries around the world. Sherwin-Williams shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: SHW). For more information, visit www.sherwin.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Julie Young

Vice President, Global Corporate Communications

Direct: 216.515.8849 - [email protected]

INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS:

Jim Jaye

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Direct: 216.515.8682 - [email protected]

Eric Swanson

Vice President, Investor Relations

Direct: 216.566.2766 - [email protected]

SOURCE The Sherwin-Williams Company
Wooddell has worked more than two decades as a community leader. Her company, Nonprofit Spot, LLC, was founded in 2013, helping more than 100 metro Detroit nonprofit organizations with programming, operations, and management. She is a tenured associate professor at Grand Valley State University; prior to 2013 she worked at the Detroit Historical Society for 11 years.

"My whole career has been spent side-by-side collaborating with the organizers, activists and community leaders who work tirelessly on behalf of families living in southeast Michigan. Now, I'd like to take that knowledge and experience to Congress to fight for hardworking families," said Wooddell. "The families of the 12th district need someone who doesn't demonize their opponents or spend their time shouting about issues on social media or in the press. I'm an ordinary, no-nonsense mom who knows that Congress needs more representatives willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work."

Wooddell is a graduate of Dearborn Public Schools, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. Her father worked for Ford Motor Company for more than 30 years and still lives in Dearborn. Wooddell lives in Southfield, Mich., is married to Victor Wooddell, and the couple have two adopted children, Aleksey and Sasha.

About Michelle Wooddell for Congress

Michelle Wooddell is a socially liberal, fiscally responsible Democratic candidate for the newly formed 12th Congressional District. Her campaign focuses on priorities including affordable healthcare and college tuition, support for a strong economy with job opportunities for everyone, more aid in dealing with mental health issues, support for troops and their families, and protection of the environment, particularly our Great Lakes. Wooddell grew up in Dearborn and now lives in Southfield, both cities in the district. After 15 years working in metro Detroit's nonprofit sector, Michelle formed her own company, The Nonprofit Spot, LLC. She has worked with more than 100 nonprofit and community organizations over the past decade, helping them serve the residents of our communities. Wooddell is a tenured Associate Professor at Grand Valley State University. She is married to Victor, has two adopted children, a dog called Ruby and two cats, Cleo and Reggie. More information on Wooddell and her campaign is available at unitethe12th.

Contact: Alison Schwartz

[email protected]

(248)214-1205

SOURCE Michelle Wooddell for Congress
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Participating companies in the S tudent P rogram to R eady I nterns for N ext-generation T alent (SPRINT) are actively recruiting candidates for Summer 2022 paid internships through LifeSciSprints.com. This program aims to provide over 100 paid opportunities in the life-science industry this summer to students attending Connecticut Colleges and Universities, as well as students with ties to Connecticut.

"We continue to have new internship opportunities become available each week, as we build momentum in the SPRINT program. This exciting program brings together leading bioscience companies in Connecticut to offer a one-of-a-kind internship experience. Not only will the program include working for leading companies, but also the ability to gain exposure to other companies across the collaborative. The internship program will provide educational workshops and networking throughout the summer across the bioscience community," said Jennifer Good, President and CEO of Trevi Therapeutics based in New Haven, CT.

Terin Tyson, a former intern for Alexion AstraZeneca, a participating SPRINT company, offered her perspective on interning with a life-science company in Connecticut. Terin shared, "Being an intern at Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Disease was a life changing experience. My perspective and interests as a young student were valued and used to build important initiatives within university relations and early career talent recruitment. Now that I am working with Alexion in a full-time consulting capacity, I can honestly say that my learning experience and ability to be open minded throughout my internship have made me an effective recruitment coordinator."

Individuals interested in applying to life-science internships should visit www.LifeSciSprints.com/Internships/ to view all open positions. Applications for summer internships and application resources are now available on the website.

Upcoming Event Attendance

The SPRINT internship program will be exhibiting at the Greater New Haven Internship, Career, & Job Fair, happening on February 17th from 1pm-4pm at the Long Wharf Maritime Complex, located at 545/555 Long Wharf Drive, New Haven, CT 06510. Participating companies will be present to answer questions about SPRINT and career workshops will be available for students.

SPRINT Timeline

Jan 2022- Feb 2022 - Apply for Summer Internships

- Apply for Summer Internships March- April 2022 - Summer Internship offers go out

- Summer Internship offers go out June 2022 - Kick-off event for all hired interns across the state

- Kick-off event for all hired interns across the state Summer 2022 - Rotational field trips to visit various companies in the state

August 2022 - A celebratory closing meeting to share experiences and resume workshop

About SPRINT Internships

The SPRINT internship program brings together emerging and established companies across the industry, offering a wide variety of opportunities, across scientific, commercial, finance, and other areas. With 25 companies currently participating, additional internship opportunities are anticipated to be posted to the SPRINT website through early Spring. SPRINT interns will learn about different career paths across the industry by participating in skill workshops and rotational talks at various companies. Participating companies include: Adela, Alexion, Ancera, Artizan Biosciences, Arvinas, Azitra, BioHaven Pharmaceuticals, BioRez, Boehringer Ingelheim, CheminPharma, Cybrexa Therapeutics, EvolveImmune Therapeutics, Halda Therapeutics, Invea Therapeutics, IsoPlexis, The Jackson Laboratory, Pfizer, Rallybio, ReNetX Bio, SpringWorks Therapeutics, Thetis Pharmaceuticals, Trevi Therapeutics, ViiV Healthcare, Wellinks and 4Catalyzer.

About Bioscience Collaborative

Bioscience Collaborative is an industry led group formed from the Governor's Workforce Council that follows the NextGen Regional Sector Partnerships model. This industry led initiative, in partnership with the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, helps to bring awareness to the resources and workforce available in Connecticut for life-science companies. The Collaborative is focused on three components to build a sustainable pipeline of talent, increase awareness and visibility through branding, and expand lab space and infrastructure to support bioscience industry growth. The Collaborative is partnering across the state to make this initiative successful including partnerships with Southern Connecticut State University's BioPath program, CTNext, BioCT, and regional universities and colleges.

The Bioscience Collaborative developed from the work of the Governor's Workforce Council. Council Chair, Mark Argosh said, "The SPRINT Bioscience internship program will significantly expand the talent pipeline for our growing Bioscience Sector while providing valuable work experiences for students from diverse backgrounds. This is an exciting opportunity developed by the leadership of the Bioscience Regional Sector Partnership that was former earlier this year through the Governor's Workforce Council." Additionally, Kelli-Marie Vallieres, Executive Director of the Office of Workforce Strategy said, "I am so pleased to see this level of collaboration within the New Haven Bioscience industry. By bringing educators, state agencies and leading bioscience employers all to the same table, the New Haven Bioscience Collaborative is creating a diverse array of career pathways that are truly aligned to the needs of employers and provide high-quality jobs for students across all socioeconomic backgrounds. These types of collaborative efforts are exactly what the Lamont Administration is prioritizing when it comes to workforce development."

About Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce

The Greater New Haven Chamber's mission is to provide value through resources and services to its partner companies and to lead regional economic growth through bold and effective advocacy. The Chamber serves 15 municipalities, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven, and Woodbridge. Established in 1794, the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce is one of the three oldest business associations in the United States.

Media Contact:

Keyri Ambrocio, Public Policy & Strategic Communications Specialist

(203) 390-5575

[email protected]

SOURCE Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce
VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Strategic Resources Inc. (TSXV: SR) (the "Company" or "Strategic") is pleased to announce the results of its annual general meeting of shareholders held on February 7, 2022, in Vancouver (the "Meeting"). Strategic's shareholders voted in favour of each of the matters considered at the Meeting, including electing each of Scott Hicks, Timo Maki, Michael Moore and Mark Serdan as directors of the Company to hold office for the ensuing year, appointing BDO Canada LLP as the Company's auditors for the ensuing year and authorizing the board of directors to set their remuneration, and approving Strategic's 10% Rolling Stock Option Plan.

About Strategic Resources

Strategic Resources Inc. (TSXV: SR) is a Vancouver, Canada-based mineral exploration and development company focused on vanadium projects in Finland. The Company is primarily focused on its flagship Mustavaara vanadium-iron-titanium project in Finland. The Company continues to evaluate new opportunities that are related to the electrification of the economy.

Further details are available on the Company's website at https://strategic-res.com/.

To follow future news releases, please sign up at https://strategic-res.com/contact/.

Signed: "Scott Hicks"

Scott Hicks, CEO



Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.



SOURCE Strategic Resources Inc.
HOUSTON, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: SMLP) (the "Partnership") announced today that Marc Stratton, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Summit Midstream GP, LLC (the "Company") will be departing the Company to pursue other interests. Mr. Stratton's employment with the Company will terminate effective March 4, 2022.

The Company announced that it is promoting William (Bill) Mault to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Mault joined the Company in 2016 and has held various senior management roles at the Company including, Vice President of Corporate Development, Finance and Treasurer. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Mault spent nearly 10 years in mergers & acquisitions and investment research capacities, most recently at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (now Truist Securities). Mr. Mault has over 10 years of oil and gas industry experience, is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in Banking, Finance and Economics, from Northwood University.

In addition, the Company announced that it is promoting Matt Sicinski to Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, effectively immediately. Mr. Sicinski joined the Company in February 2020 as the Company's Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Sicinski was the Vice President and Controller at Venari Resources and he spent over 8 years at Southwestern Energy in multiple accounting, finance and commercial development roles. Additionally, Mr. Sicinski worked in the Houston offices of Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, most recently as a manager. Mr. Sicinski has over 20 years of oil and gas industry experience, is a Certified Public Accountant and received Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration degrees in Accounting from Angelo State University.

Heath Deneke, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, commented, "I would like to thank Marc for his service and contributions to Summit over the past 12 years and wish him success in his future endeavors. Marc was a founding member of Summit Investments, has served in various senior management roles and spearheaded a series of capital markets transactions that significantly transformed SMLP's balance sheet and enhanced financial flexibility. I'm excited to welcome Bill and Matt as the newest members of Summit's senior management team and look forward to working with them in their new roles. They have been critical members of the team since joining the Company and have been deeply involved in SMLP's financial and strategic initiatives. They bring a highly complementary skill set to the Company and I am confident that they have the relevant experience and knowledge to succeed in their new roles and will continue to focus on creating long-term value for our investors."

About Summit Midstream Partners, LP

SMLP is a value-driven limited partnership focused on developing, owning and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets that are strategically located in unconventional resource basins, primarily shale formations, in the continental United States. SMLP provides natural gas, crude oil and produced water gathering services pursuant to primarily long-term and fee-based gathering and processing agreements with customers and counterparties in six unconventional resource basins: (i) the Appalachian Basin, which includes the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in Ohio and West Virginia; (ii) the Williston Basin, which includes the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations in North Dakota; (iii) the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which includes the Niobrara and Codell shale formations in Colorado and Wyoming; (iv) the Permian Basin, which includes the Bone Spring and Wolfcamp formations in New Mexico; (v) the Fort Worth Basin, which includes the Barnett Shale formation in Texas; and (vi) the Piceance Basin, which includes the Mesaverde formation as well as the Mancos and Niobrara shale formations in Colorado. SMLP has an equity investment in Double E Pipeline, LLC, which provides natural gas transportation service from multiple receipt points in the Delaware Basin to various delivery points in and around the Waha Hub in Texas. SMLP also has an equity investment in Ohio Gathering, which operates extensive natural gas gathering and condensate stabilization infrastructure in the Utica Shale in Ohio. SMLP is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements concerning expectations for the future that are forward-looking within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may project, indicate or imply future results, events, performance or achievements and may contain the words "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions, or future conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," and "could." Forward-looking statements also contain known and unknown risks and uncertainties (many of which are difficult to predict and beyond management's control) that may cause SMLP's actual results in future periods to differ materially from anticipated or projected results. An extensive list of specific material risks and uncertainties affecting SMLP is contained in its 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 4, 2021 and in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on May 7, 2021, its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2021 filed with the SEC on August 9, 2021 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2021 filed with the SEC on November 5, 2021, each as amended and updated from time to time. Any forward-looking statements in this press release, are made as of the date of this press release and SMLP undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events.

SOURCE Summit Midstream Partners, LP
ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Advancements in designs of high-power and medium voltage cable technologies have enabled companies in the superconducting power cables market to meet the requirements of various end-user requirements. Key end users expected to propel the revenue gains are renewable energy and utility. The global valuation is projected to surpass US$ 2.6 Bn by 2031.

The modernization of electric grids particularly of energy infrastructure in developing economies has propelled demand for high-temperature superconductor (HTS) power cables. In recent decades, developed nations have undertaken massive electric grid projects wherein the installation of HTS cables has led to considerable savings on transmission losses. North America for instance is at the forefront of such developments, notes a TMR study analyzing the sales prospects of products in the superconducting power cables market.

Novel methods and techniques to reduce alternating current losses in HTS power cables are likely to set the tone for product innovation in the near future, thus underpinning new revenue sales in the superconducting power cables market. REG superconducting cables are becoming crucial in preventing power outages and blackouts.

Key advantages of superconducting power cables include the ease of and reduced time in installation and high-power carrying capacity have expanded the horizon of applications in utility and renewable energy.

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Key Findings of Superconducting Power Cables Market Study

Focus on Improving Resiliency of Electric Grids to Boost Critical Energy Infrastructure of Cities : Enormous efforts have been made in preventing power outages and blackouts. Innovative technologies notably Resilient Electric Grids (REGs) superconducting cable systems have gained noticeable traction in electric grid projects in some developed nations. Companies are collaborating to install and commission high-power medium voltage cable technology. The trend will expand the commercialization of products in the superconducting power cables market.

: Enormous efforts have been made in preventing power outages and blackouts. Innovative technologies notably Resilient Electric Grids (REGs) superconducting cable systems have gained noticeable traction in electric grid projects in some developed nations. Companies are collaborating to install and commission high-power medium voltage cable technology. The trend will expand the commercialization of products in the superconducting power cables market. New Designs in Three-phase Concentric HTS Cable Spur Revenue Prospects: Manufacturers are keenly leaning on overcoming the technical limitations of three-phased concentric HTS cables when they are used in varied power systems. In particular, the problem of significant AC losses have concerned the manufacturers as well as customers. To circumvent these, novel circuit-based techniques and simulation techniques are expected to have game-changing potential, thereby influencing the sales opportunities in the superconducting power cables market.

Manufacturers are keenly leaning on overcoming the technical limitations of three-phased concentric HTS cables when they are used in varied power systems. In particular, the problem of significant AC losses have concerned the manufacturers as well as customers. To circumvent these, novel circuit-based techniques and simulation techniques are expected to have game-changing potential, thereby influencing the sales opportunities in the superconducting power cables market. Installation in Modern Electric Grids Propel Revenue Growth: The expansion of installed offshore wind capacities has spurred the demand for superconducting power cables for installed offshore wind capacity. Such projects are growing in number worldwide especially in Oceania and North America , and have underpinned the growth avenues for players in the superconducting power cables market.

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Superconducting Power Cables Market: Drivers

Over the years, the resiliency of electric grids is crucial for protecting them against catastrophic events. This has spurred the commissioning of HTS cable for grid systems in several economies around the world, observe analysts at TMR.

The ever-rising need for energy in urban areas is propelling the demand for new technologies in power distribution. The trend has extended the commercialization avenue for new technologies in superconducting power cables market.

Installed wind power capacity is anticipated to rise significantly over the next three decades, with China , the Netherlands , and Belgium being the hubs of addition of new capacities. The rapid expansion of offshore wind farms to meet the growing appetite for renewable power generation has spurred the demand in the superconducting power cables market.

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Superconducting Power Cables Market: Lucrative Regions

Asia Pacific held a major share of the global superconducting power cables market in 2020. Enormous expansion of electric grid networks in economies such as Taiwan and China have spurred the revenue generation potential of the regional market. The rising demand for electricity in South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and India has bolstered revenue generation in the Asia Pacific superconducting power cables market

Superconducting Power Cables Market: Key Players

Some of the prominent players in the market are NKT A/S, NEXANS, Advanced Conductor Technologies LLC, LS Cable & System Ltd., PJSC FGC UES, LUVATA, American Superconductor, and MetOx Technologies, Inc.

Global Superconducting Power Cables Market: Segmentation

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by Type

YBCO Cables

BSCCO Cables

Others (Superconducting Cables Derived from Conventional Superconductors such as Niobium-titanium)

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by Type of Design

Warm Dielectric

Cold Dielectric

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by Capacity

0-2 KA

2-4 KA

Above 4 KA

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by End-user

Utility

Renewable Energy

Industry

Others (includes Telecom Industry)

Superconducting Power Cables Market, by Region

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



France



U.K.



Italy



Russia & CIS

& CIS

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China



Japan



India



ASEAN



Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

GCC Countries



South Africa



Rest of Middle East & Africa

& Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Rest of Latin America

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SOURCE Transparency Market Research
STOCKHOLM, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SyntheticMR's mission is to make quantitative imaging solutions the standard of care to support more precise diagnosis, reliable monitoring and deeply personalized treatment strategies. SyntheticMR's product SyMRI NEURO provides volume and population-based reference measurements of the brain's tissues, including industry-first Myelin segmentation. Hyland Healthcare's PACSgear Modlink offers radiology departments a bridge between the measurements captured at a device and their radiologists' reporting systems. Through SyntheticMR's partnership with Hyland, measurements and information captured at device modalities no longer need to be reported manually or multiple times to be incorporated and accessed properly.

"Being able to integrate Modlink with SyMRI, or delivering Modlink directly to healthcare providers, provides an enhanced workflow and throughput. Healthcare organizations looking for a more efficient way to add in quantitative structured reports will be able to access and leverage the data, no matter the modality. We are incredibly excited to partner with Hyland Healthcare and look forward to the success our customers will achieve via the solution," says Kyle Frye, President Americas & ANZ and CCO of SyntheticMR.

A recent study demonstrated that for every thousand exams, over 16 hours of radiologists' time was wasted manually dictating measurement information into the reports. In addition, nearly four percent of those reports contained erroneous data, which were eliminated within two months of ModLink deployment. "ModLink is the translation engine that accepts DICOM SRs and HL7 mes ges, translates and normalizes the values from those messages then forwards the translated values to a voice recognition system via an API or HL7 message," said Lyle McMillin, Enterprise Imaging Product Manager at Hyland Healthcare. "This software increases radiologist reporting speed and accuracy, while eliminating time-consuming dictation."

For additional information, please contact

Kyle Frye,

President Americas & ANZ, and CCO at SyntheticMR

+1 (859) 512-9496

[email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/syntheticmr-ab/r/syntheticmr-partners-with-hyland-to-utilize-pacsgear-modlink-software,c3500797

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE SyntheticMR AB
Tacora Resources Inc. Announces Consent Solicitation from Holders of 8.250% Senior Notes due 2026 Tweet this

As of the date of the Consent Solicitation Statement, dated February 8, 2022, Tacora has entered into Support Agreements with holders of the Notes in aggregate principal amount exceeding 50% of the aggregate principal amount of outstanding Notes, pursuant to which Tacora expects to receive the Requisite Consents on or prior to the Expiration Date.

The Consent Solicitation will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on February 14, 2022, unless otherwise extended (such time and date, as may be extended, the "Expiration Date"). A consent can be revoked prior to the earlier of the receipt of the Requisite Consents or the Expiration Date.

Subject to the terms and conditions of the Consent Solicitation, Tacora expects to pay to each holder of Notes that consents to the amendment proposed by the Consent Solicitation, on or prior to the Expiration Date and which consent is not revoked, a fee equal to $10.00 in cash for each $1,000 in principal amount of the Notes for which consent is received (the "Consent Fee"). The Consent Solicitation is being made pursuant to the Consent Solicitation Statement. Jefferies LLC is serving as solicitation agent and IHS Markit is serving as tabulation agent in connection with the Consent Solicitation. Requests for assistance in delivering consents or for additional copies of the Consent Solicitation Statement should be directed to Ipreo LLC at (212) 849-3880 or (888) 593-9546 (toll free) or by email to [email protected] or to Jefferies LLC at (203) 708-5967 or by e-mail to [email protected]. This press release is not an offer to sell securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy securities.

About Tacora Resources Inc.

Tacora is a private company that is focused on the production and sale of high-grade and quality iron ore products that improve the efficiency and environmental performance of steel making. The Company owns and operates the Scully Mine, a 6 million tonne per year iron ore concentrate producer located in Wabush, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and owns the Sydvaranger Mine, a mine located in Sr-Varanger, Norway that is currently idled with a feasibility study recently completed for an expansion to 4 million tonnes per year of iron ore concentrate. The Company's equity investors include funds managed by Proterra Investment Partners LP; Aequor Holdings LLC; Cargill, Inc.; a fund managed by Orion Mine Finance; Titlis Mining AS; and MagGlobal LLC. 100% of the Scully Mine concentrate is purchased and marketed globally by a subsidiary of Cargill Inc. Additional information about the company is available at www.tacoraresources.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Some statements in this press release are known as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Tacora's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts. When used in this press release, the words "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Because these forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual results, events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including Tacora's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other factors. You should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are based on the information currently available to Tacora and speak only as of the date of this press release. Tacora undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. However, your attention is directed to any further disclosures made on related subjects in subsequent periodic reports filed with the Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as trustee under the indenture governing the Notes.

Contact:

Ronald Moen

218-259-6616

[email protected]

SOURCE Tacora Resources Inc.
"TAICCA assists the industry to participate in major international film and TV markets with projects in the pitching phases to search for investment," said TAICCA CEO Izero LEE. "The number of works presented this year has nearly doubled, and we're pleased to see more industry practitioners recognize and understand the benefits of attending international content markets."

The agency will also introduce various programs for co-production opportunities with Taiwan during the Country Session of the Co-Production Market, such as Taiwan's International Co-funding Program (TICP) , and encourages emerging producers to take part in the Visitors Program to connect with professionals around the world.

"TAICCA also provides resources for every stage of film and TV series development, from financing proposals to investment matchmaking, helping the industry to secure the funding required for each production. Through various programs we hope to improve the ecosystem of Taiwan's film and TV industry while increasing the quality and quantity of content," LEE added.

With the support of the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, the Taiwan Pavilion will emphasize Taiwan's creative freedom and boundless potential. Titles presented include In the Morning of La Petite Mort by director WANG Yu-lin which was selected for the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market, K Series by directors TSAO Shih-han, HUNG Tzu-hsuang, CHOU Tung-yen, YIN Chen-hao, CHIANG Wei-liang, and the short film The Mother of God by LIAO Che-i, a documentary of poet WU Sheng titled He's Still Young, and animation adapted from beloved comic series Shiro - Hero of Heroes.

Also included are VR projects Madame Pirate: Becoming A Legend and LIPs (Prototype), which are both selected for this year's SXSW XR Experience Spotlight, as well as PIERCE starring TSAO Yu-ning, LIU Hsiu-fu, which is supported by the TICP.

Entering its 72nd edition, the Berlin International Film Festival will be held in person. Several works from Taiwanese filmmakers have been recognized by the 2022 Berlinale. The Lighting by Taipei and Berlin-based filmmaker and visual artist Musquiqui Chihying is selected for the Forum Expanded section, and Gong Ji; Rooster by Burmese-Chinese director Myo AUNG is selected for the Generation section.

For more information on Taiwan's participation at the EFM, please visit the following links:

SOURCE Taiwan Creative Content Agency
GOTEBORG, Sweden, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Concordia Maritime has launched a technical design study together with Stena Teknik and a German consulting company specialising in ship design. The aim is to investigate the feasibility of converting and adapting a P-MAX vessel for container transportation. The assignment also includes preparation for "basic design" class approval.

The container segment has shown strong growth in recent years, driven by disruptions to international logistics as well as more structural factors.

According to initial assessments, the P-MAX vessels' two engines, with full redundancy, and other dimensions make them possible to convert to container vessels with a capacity of approximately 2,100 TEU. It should be stressed that there are a number of technical and market challenges to convert and adapt P-MAX tankers to container ships and there is therefore a risk that the study will lead to that the project will not be concluded.

The technical design study is expected to be completed by the end of Q2 2022 and - if the result is positive - it will be followed by discussions with shipyards and possible charterers to explore potential interest. A full conversion is expected to take approximately 3-5 months.

Concordia Maritime owns a total of 9 P-MAX vessels.

For more information, please contact:

Erik Lewenhaupt

CEO, Concordia Maritime AB

+46 704 855 188

[email protected]

This information is information that Concordia Maritime Aktiebolag (publ) is obliged to publish in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was provided by the contact person above for publication on 8 February 2022 at 08:45 CET.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/concordia-maritime/r/technical-design-study-on-conversion-launched,c3500531

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1948/3500531/1531199.pdf Concordia Maritime - Press release - 20220208

SOURCE Concordia Maritime
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Botanist Islay Dry Gin introduces its first-ever television commercial, "The Spirit of Community," debuting at the Super Bowl, to drive awareness for local bars and restaurants who continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), the campaign urges all Americans to take action to help the IRC in its efforts to refill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) and promote positive change for the industry.

The Botanist hails from Bruichladdich Distillery on the Scottish Isle of Islay, one of the few distilleries in the world to be B Corp certified. The distillery believes in using business as a force for good, putting people and purpose in line with profit. The Botanist's ongoing partnership with the IRC is rooted in its people-centric values, a demonstration of how its community extends far beyond Islay and into the bar and restaurant industry in the U.S. The goal of "The Spirit of Community" campaign is to raise awareness of the critical support still needed for the 500,000 independent restaurants and bars that remain at risk of closure  90,000 of which initially closed during the first year of the pandemic. Through the campaign, The Botanist and the IRC are mobilizing Americans to show support for the bar and restaurant community in this continued time of hardship.

"Local bars and restaurants across the U.S. have been supporting The Botanist since our first distillation on Islay over a decade ago," said Ian McLernon, President and CEO at Remy Cointreau Americas. "Thus it was natural for The Botanist, a brand that is an integral part of the community on the island of Islay, to leverage our first-ever TV commercial to help support the community of hospitality staff working at local bars and restaurants across the U.S. during their time of need. Now more than ever, we must do what we can to save the establishments we know and love. Our hope is that our campaign's debut at the Super Bowl helps amplify the vital message of our partners at the Independent Restaurant Coalition."

The Botanist is proud to bring its community-focused spirit to life through its first-ever commercial debuting on the biggest night in television. The 30-second spot will urge Americans to take action and support their favorite local bars and restaurants. Created by documentary film production company Blacksmith & Jones, the commercial features real-life bar and restaurant staff, amplifying the continued need for support and encouraging viewers to get involved.

"Local bars and restaurants are the fabric of our communities across the country. These beloved establishments are still facing potentially insurmountable hardships," said Tom Colicchio, Founding Member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. "Our industry is on life support right now, and the only way to avoid massive closures is for swift action to be taken by our elected officials. We are grateful to The Botanist for recognizing the spirit of our community and using their platform to help raise awareness of our industry's struggles during a monumental event like the Super Bowl."

"Hospitality is at the heart of every independent restaurant and bar," explained Erika Polmar, Executive Director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. "While you will surely be welcomed with a warm smile as you're seated in your favorite corner booth, beneath the surface restaurant owners continue to struggle with nearly two years of losses and little financial assistance. Hundreds of thousands of restaurants are at risk of closing permanently, threatening widespread job loss, a massive supply chain disruption, the loss of community gathering spots, and the destruction of family-owned businesses. It's partners like The Botanist who are helping us fight to keep those businesses and dreams alive."

The Botanist's "The Spirit of Community" creative will air in 17 TV markets nationwide and digitally across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The Botanist chose to run the ad in some of the America's most influential food and drink cities, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, and Miami. The campaign teaser is live now on YouTube. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVG15dSOCjY.

To learn more about how to get involved to support your favorite local bars and restaurants visit saverestaurants.com.

About The Botanist:

Founded in 2011, The Botanist Islay Dry Gin is distilled and hand-crafted at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, a remote island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the first and only Islay Dry Gin  a rare expression of the heart and soul of this wild Scottish isle. Hailing from one of the only B Corp certified distilleries in the world, The Botanist believes in using business as a force for good, putting people and planet in line with profit. The craft liquid is distilled with a unique combination of 22 wild Islay botanicals which are hand-foraged locally and sustainably on the island by The Botanist's professional forager, James Donaldson. The Islay botanicals are slow simmer distilled with pure Islay spring water in a unique Lomond Still, affectionately nicknamed Ugly Betty, by Head Distiller Adam Hannett. The result is a smooth yet complex gin that speaks of Islay. www.thebotanist.com | Instagram @TheBotanistGin_US |Twitter @TheBotanist_US

About the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC):

The Independent Restaurant Coalition was formed by chefs and independent restaurant owners across the country who have built a grassroots movement to secure vital protections for the nation's 500,000 independent restaurants and the more than 11 million restaurant workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

About Blacksmith & Jones:

Production company Blacksmith & Jones is a motion picture concern focused on story driven filmmaking. Founded by Trevor Jones and Greg Swartz, the company recently produced the documentary feature film The Water of Life.

About Remy Cointreau:

All around the world, there are clients seeking exceptional experiences; clients for whom a wide range of terroirs means a variety of flavors. Their exacting standards are proportional to our expertise  the finely-honed skills that we pass down from generation to generation. The time these clients devote to drinking our products is a tribute to all those who have worked to develop them. It is for these men and women that Remy Cointreau, a family-owned French Group, protects its terroirs, cultivates exceptional multi-centenary spirits and undertakes to preserve their eternal modernity. The Group's portfolio includes 13 unique brands: Remy Martin and Louis XIII cognacs, Cointreau liqueur, Champagne Telmont, METAXA Greek spirit, Mount Gay rum, St-Remy brandy, The Botanist gin, and our collection of single-malt whiskies (Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore from Islay, Westland from Seattle and Domaine des Hautes Glaces from the French Alps). Remy Cointreau has a single ambition: becoming the world leader in exceptional spirits. To this end, it relies on the commitment and creativity of its 1,900 employees and on its distribution subsidiaries established in the Group's strategic markets. Remy Cointreau is listed on Euronext Paris.

SOURCE The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
In 2021, GWM sold 1.28 million new vehicles worldwide, with an increase of 15.2% year on year. The global sales have exceeded one million for sixth consecutive years and reached a new record. In 2021, GWM launched a variety of products globally, including the GWM POER, 3 rd generation HAVAL H6 and HAVAL JOLION, to meet different needs of all kinds of customers and further contribute to the growth of revenue.

The continuous expansion of the globalized market layout is an important reason for the revenue growth of GWM. In January 2022, GWM officially completed the transfer of the ownership of the Iracemapolis factory in Brazil, starting the intelligent and digital transformation and upgrading of the factory. It forms a strategic layout with Brazil as the fulcrum to cover the entire South American market. Previously, GWM had opened a subsidiary in Munich of Germany and set up a European headquarters to accelerate its strategy implementation in Europe. With the active development in the markets of South Asia, South America, Europe and North Africa, GWM has entered a new stage of globalization.

The huge investment in technology research and development is another core factor contributing to GWM's revenue growth. The company have invested CNY 20 billion into Intelligent platforms, including the L.E.M.O.N., TANK and Coffee Intelligence, which have brought to customers a large number of new vehicles, such as the HAVAL Shenshou(for the Chinese market) , WEY Latte DHT(for the Chinese market) and HAVAL DARGO to start a new product cycle globally. According to the "2025 Strategy", the total investment in R&D will reach CNY 100 billion in the next five years in order to enhance the level of electrification and intelligentization.

Currently, GWM has set up overseas R&D centers in Japan, the US, Germany, India, Austria and South Korea, and actively attracted global talents to form the global R&D system to accelerate the transformation into a global intelligent technology company.

The excellent performance of GWM in revenue has further boosted the brand value. Recently, GWM's HAVAL brand was included in the list of "Brand Finance Global 500 2022" for the first time, released by Brand Finance, an international authoritative brand value assessment agency. This shows that the brand value of Chinese automobiles has won international recognition.

Based on such good performance on the yearly revenue, GWM will continue to concentrate on electrification and intelligentizion in 2022. The company plans to launch and deliver WEY Coffee 01, ORA GOODCAT, HAVAL H6 PHEV and models of the TANK Brand in overseas markets to promote the development of globalized products and accelerate the implementation of the 2025 strategic goals.

SOURCE GWM
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IT By Design (ITBD), a Master Managed Services Provider (MMSP), is pleased to announce that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Sunny Kaila, Founder and CEO, Kam Kaila, President, and Javid Khan, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Integrator, to the 2022 Channel Chiefs list. CRN's annual Channel Chiefs project identifies top IT channel vendor executives who continually demonstrate expertise, influence, and innovation in channel leadership.

A panel of CRN editors selected the honorees for their channel dedication, industry stature and accomplishments as channel advocates. The 2022 Channel Chiefs are influential leaders who continue to shape the IT channel with innovative strategies, programs and partnerships.

Sunny Kaila founded ITBD in 2003 in New York City and has since grown it into the largest privately held MSP in the nation. It is the leading talent solutions provider for MSPs across the globe and currently has 500 employees on three continents. He has earned numerous industry and humanitarian awards, including the 2013 Humanitarian Award from the Kidney Urology Foundation of America. He hosts a popular weekly podcast series, "Sunny's Silver Linings", that features guests who provide valuable thought leadership for MSPs.

ITBD President, Kam Kaila, joined the company in 2005 and is the visionary for ITBD's Build IT Brand, which includes community and education platforms  Build IT University and Communities of Practice  and ITBD's annual conference, Build IT LIVE, which has been designated a "Top 50" channel event. She is the recipient of numerous accolades for channel excellence, multiple "Woman of the Channel" honors, and was named an "Influencer of the Year" in 2018.

ITBD's CTO and Integrator, Javid Khan, has been with the company for 15 years. He has extensive experience in IT solution designing, compliance audits and remediation, and business continuity/disaster recovery solutions. CRN had previously recognized him as one of its Next-Gen Solution Provider Leaders for 2020.

"It's always honorable to be named a Channel Chief, but this year it's an extra thrill to have three of our leaders recognized," said Sunny Kaila. "The success of ITBD is partly due to these team members' dedication to our vision of being an organization grounded in honesty, hard work, customer service, lifelong learning, and genuine partnership."

"CRN's 2022 Channel Chiefs recognition is given exclusively to the foremost channel executives who consistently design, promote, and execute effective partner programs and strategies," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "We're thrilled to recognize the tireless work and unwavering commitment these honorees put into fostering outstanding business innovation and building strong partner programs to drive channel engagement and success."

CRN's 2022 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2022 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs .

About IT By Design

With more than two decades of experience as a technology services providerfirst as an MSP, and then for MSPsIT by Design (ITBD) helps clients navigate the volatile technical landscape. As the authority on MSP-trained technical talent, it understands the challenges its customers face when recruiting team members. ITBD addresses those issues through many solutions: dedicated staffing, 24x7x365 NOC services, helpdesk solutions, RMM virtual admin, vCIO consulting, security, and professional services. ITBD is headquartered in New Jersey and has facilities in India and the Philippines. Learn more about ITBD at www.itbd.net.

Follow IT By Design: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram

IT By Design Contact:

Tom Zanca

(201) 669-6048

[email protected]

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter , LinkedIn, and Facebook .

 2022. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

CONTACT: Jennifer Hogan, The Channel Company, [email protected]

SOURCE IT By Design
"We are incredibly grateful to TIAA for investing in the success of Howard students through the creation of the Ferguson-TIAA GRACE Scholars program," said Wayne A.I. Frederick, Howard University president. "Mr. Ferguson has been a pillar in our society and through many of his deeds has been a voice for those less fortunate. The GRACE grant has been very successful in removing financial barriers for students and encouraging on-time graduation. It is fitting to have his name and this resource associated with the provision of opportunity for those who otherwise wouldn't have it."

Mr. Ferguson has been a pillar in our society and through many of his deeds has been a voice for those less fortunate.

Created in 2014, the GRACE Grant closes the gap for Howard University's students who are most in need of financial support for their education. These students have an expected family contribution as low as $0. When GRACE recipients receive the grant, they are 40 percent more likely to stay enrolled for four years. The new Ferguson-TIAA GRACE Scholars program will provide a permanent source of financial aid to students in need.

The scholarship will begin in the 2022-2023 academic year for sophomores and pay up to $20,000 for tuition and fees each year through graduation for at least three students, provided the awardee remains on track to graduate in four years and maintains a minimum 2.5 GPA.

"HBCUs like Howard University have a long-standing history of enhancing access to higher education for students of color from all economic backgrounds," said Michael McPherson, President of the TIAA Board of Governors. "Through this scholarship fund, and in conjunction with our continued partnership with Howard, our goal is to enhance this mission and ensure students thrive while pursuing their academic goals. We are also recognizing our former CEO, Roger Ferguson, whose outstanding leadership of our company reflects his longstanding commitment to the pursuit of knowledge and life-long learning."

"Many of our students struggle financially to pay for their education, so donor scholarships are critically important to helping them stay on track," said David Bennett, senior vice president for development and alumni relations. "Through our partnership with TIAA, the new Ferguson-TIAA GRACE Scholars program greatly reduces student debt burden," he added.

TIAA's commitment to higher education institutions can be traced back to its founding in 1918, when Andrew Carnegie established the company to provide guaranteed retirement income and life insurance to educators. More than 100 years later, TIAA continues to serve as the leading provider of retirement services for those in higher education, including more than 70 percent of all HBCUs.

"I am honored to have this scholarship named after me," said Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. "Growing up in Washington, D.C., I have a great appreciation for Howard University as an institution committed to academic excellence and advancements in research while fostering leaders and difference makers across many disciplines. My hope is that this scholarship will enable future leaders to achieve their own academic dreams and positively impact the world."

In addition to this scholarship, TIAA will continue its annual HBCU Early Career Insights Program, which allows HBCU students to seek professional advice directly from TIAA executives, talk with other HBCU alums, attend skill-building workshops, and learn about TIAA's summer internship opportunities.

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 14 schools and colleges. Students pursue more than 140 programs of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 12 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

About TIAA

TIAA is a leading provider of secure retirements and outcome-focused investment solutions to millions of people and thousands of institutions. It is the #1 not-for-profit retirement market provider1, paid more than $3.6 billion to retired clients in 2020 and has $1.3 trillion in assets under management (as of 9/30/2021)2.

1 As of Dec. 31, 2020. Based on data in PLANSPONSOR's 403(b) Market Survey, which published in August 2021.

2 Based on approximately $1.3 trillion of assets under management across Nuveen affiliates and TIAA investment management teams as of 9/30/2021.

Investment, insurance and annuity products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, are not deposits, are not insured by any federal government agency, are not a condition to any banking service or activity, and may lose value.

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, FINRA Member, distributes securities products. Annuity contracts and certificates are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), New York, NY. Each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations.

 2022 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund, 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

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SOURCE TIAA
OAK PARK, Calif., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dwellics, the authority in U.S. city data and personalized advice on where to move, has unveiled its 2022 list of the Top 100: Best Cities for Retired Singles.

Dwellics analyzed data on over 50,000 U.S. cities to compile a list of the Top 100: Best Cities for Retired Singles. Among the ranking factors are budget, including cost of living index and property price; climate; infrastructure; human safety, including risks of natural disasters, water and air quality, cancer risks, and life expectancy; and community of people of retirement age who are single.

While it is no surprise, Florida has long been a prime U.S. retirement destination, grabs the top honors for the state with the most entries on the list, the best city for retired singles nationally is Cypress Lake, Florida. This Lee-County community is experiencing rapid growth and has a reputation for being a haven for retirees.

The top five cities in the U.S. for retired singles:

Cypress Lake, Florida (#1)

(#1) Indian River Estates, Florida (#2)

(#2) Cocoa Beach, Florida (#3)

(#3) Juno Beach, Florida (#4)

(#4) Inverness, Florida (#5)

In addition to Florida, North Carolina (Hendersonville, #8), Illinois (Lincolnshire, #12), and New Jersey (Mansfield Township, #23) all make an appearance in the top 25.

The prevalence of Florida in the report reflects the state's status as a tax-friendly, warm-weather haven for retirees willing to risk living in an area prone to frequent hurricanes. Interestingly, Arizona, which is similarly regarded as being tax-friendly towards retirees, with a warm, hurricane-free climate, only places two communities on the list (Bisbee, #36 and Catalina Foothills, #74). This could be explained by the fact that single retirees increasingly choose an active lifestyle, which Florida's many beaches and miles of coastline promote.

Media inquiries, please contact:

Giselle Sitdykova

[email protected]

See the full list at: dwellics.com

SOURCE Dwellics
JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sasol is expected to deliver a mixed set of results for the six months ended 31 December 2021 (2022 financial half year). Improved Brent crude oil price, refining margins and chemical prices resulted in a notable gross margin improvement from the prior half year, combined with strong cost and capital expenditure performance. These benefits were partly offset by operational challenges in our South African value chains which resulted in lower production, as reported in our Business Performance Metrics SENS announcement on 25 January 2022.

Sasols adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (adjusted EBITDA**) for the six months ended 31 December 2021 is expected to increase by between 66% and 76% from R18,6 billion in the prior half year, to between R30,9 billion and R32,7 billion. This is due to a strong recovery in Brent crude oil and chemical prices, partly offset by lower sales volumes for chemicals and energy.

Shareholders are advised that, for the 2022 financial half year:

Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be between R22,81 and R25,15 compared to the prior half year earnings per share of R23,41 (representing a change of between (3%) and 7%);

Headline earnings per share (HEPS) are expected to be between R14,25 and R16,17 compared to the prior half year headline earnings per share of R19,16 (representing a decrease by between 16% and 26%); and

Core HEPS (CHEPS*) are expected to be between R22,13 and R22,91 compared to the prior half year CHEPS of R7,86.

Notable non-cash adjustments (before taxation) for the six months ended 31 December 2021 include:

include: Unrealised losses of R4,9 billion on the translation of monetary assets and liabilities and valuation of financial instruments and derivative contracts;

Remeasurement items net gain of R5,8 billion, mainly due to a gain of R4,9 billion on the realisation of the foreign currency translation reserve (FCTR) on the divestment of Sasol Canada's shale gas assets and a R1,4 billion reversal of impairment on the Chemicals Work Up & Heavy Alcohols value chain due to a higher price outlook on the back of a sustained increase in demand for alcohols into the personal hygiene market during and post the COVID-19 pandemic.

The financial information on which this trading statement is based has not been reviewed and reported on by the Company's external auditors.

Sasol will release its 2022 interim financial results on Monday, 21 February 2022. Sasol's President and Chief Executive Officer, Fleetwood Grobler, and Chief Financial Officer, Paul Victor, will present the results. The pre-recorded presentation will be available on 21 February 2022 on the following link: https://www.corpcam.com/Sasol21022022. Fleetwood Grobler and Paul Victor will host a conference call via webcast on 21 February 2022 at 15h00 (SA time) to discuss the results and provide an update of the business. Please confirm your participation by registering online: https://www.corpcam.com/Sasol21022022Q.

* Core HEPS is calculated by adjusting headline earnings with non-recurring items, earnings losses of significant capital projects (exceeding R4 billion) which have reached beneficial operation and are still ramping up, all translation gains and losses (realised and unrealised), all gains and losses on our derivatives and hedging activities (realised and unrealised), and share-based payments on implementation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) transactions. Adjustments in relation to the valuation of our derivatives at period end are to remove volatility from earnings as these instruments are valued using forward curves and other market factors at the reporting date and could vary from period to period. We believe core headline earnings are a useful measure of the groups sustainable operating performance.

** Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by adjusting operating profit for depreciation, amortisation, share-based payments, remeasurement items, change in discount rates of our rehabilitation provisions, all unrealised translation gains and losses, and all unrealised gains and losses on our derivatives and hedging activities.

Adjusted EBITDA and Core HEPS are not defined terms under IFRS and may not be comparable with similarly titled measures reported by other companies. The aforementioned adjustments are the responsibility of the directors of Sasol. The adjustments have been prepared for illustrative purposes only and due to their nature, may not fairly present Sasols financial position, changes in equity, results of operations or cash flows.

For further information, please contact:

Sasol Investor Relations,

Tiffany Sydow, Investor Relations Officer

Telephone: +27 (0) 71 673 1929

[email protected]

Disclaimer - Forward-looking statements

Sasol may, in this document, make certain statements that are not historical facts and relate to analyses and other information which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements may also relate to our future prospects, expectations, developments, and business strategies. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and measures taken in response, on Sasol's business, results of operations, markets, employees, financial condition and liquidity; the effectiveness of any actions taken by Sasol to address or limit any impact of COVID-19 on its business; the capital cost of our projects and the timing of project milestones; our ability to obtain financing to meet the funding requirements of our capital investment programme, as well as to fund our ongoing business activities and to pay dividends; statements regarding our future results of operations and financial condition, and regarding future economic performance including cost containment, cash conservation programmes and business optimisation initiatives; recent and proposed accounting pronouncements and their impact on our future results of operations and financial condition; our business strategy, performance outlook, plans, objectives or goals; statements regarding future competition, volume growth and changes in market share in the industries and markets for our products; our existing or anticipated investments, acquisitions of new businesses or the disposal of existing businesses, including estimates or projection of internal rates of return and future profitability; our estimated oil, gas and coal reserves; the probable future outcome of litigation, legislative, regulatory and fiscal developments, including statements regarding our ability to comply with future laws and regulations; future fluctuations in refining margins and crude oil, natural gas and petroleum and chemical product prices; the demand, pricing and cyclicality of oil, gas and petrochemical product prices; changes in the fuel and gas pricing mechanisms in South Africa and their effects on prices, our operating results and profitability; statements regarding future fluctuations in exchange and interest rates and changes in credit ratings; total shareholder return; our current or future products and anticipated customer demand for these products; assumptions relating to macroeconomics; climate change impacts and our climate change strategies, our development of sustainability within our Energy and Chemicals Businesses, our energy efficiency improvement, carbon and GHG emission reduction targets, our net zero carbon emissions ambition and future low-carbon initiatives, including relating to green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel; our estimated carbon tax liability; cyber security; and statements of assumptions underlying such statements. Words such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "seek", "will", "plan", "could", "may", "endeavour", "target", "forecast" and "project" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there are risks that the predictions, forecasts, projections, and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. If one or more of these risks materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. You should understand that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors and others are discussed more fully in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed on 22 September 2021 and in other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The list of factors discussed therein is not exhaustive; when relying on forward-looking statements to make investment decisions, you should carefully consider foregoing factors and other uncertainties and events, and you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements apply only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Sasol Limited
CLEVELAND, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE: TDG), a leading global designer, producer and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components, today reported results for the first quarter ended January 1, 2022.

First quarter highlights include:

Net sales of $1,194 million , up 8% from $1,108 million in the prior year's quarter;

, up 8% from in the prior year's quarter; Income from continuing operations of $163 million , up 226% from $50 million in the prior year's quarter;

, up 226% from in the prior year's quarter; Earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.96 , up from a loss per share from continuing operations of $(0.42) in the prior year's quarter;

, up from a loss per share from continuing operations of in the prior year's quarter; EBITDA As Defined of $565 million , up 19% from $474 million in the prior year's quarter;

, up 19% from in the prior year's quarter; EBITDA As Defined margin of 47.3%, up 450 basis points from the prior year's quarter;

Adjusted earnings per share of $3.00 , up 52% from $1.97 in the prior year's quarter; and

, up 52% from in the prior year's quarter; and Strong operating cash flow generation of $279 million .

The Company's full fiscal 2022 guidance remains suspended at this time as a result of the continued disruption in our primary commercial end markets. Refer to the "Fiscal 2022 Outlook" section below for further information.

Net sales for the quarter increased 7.8%, or $86 million, to $1,194 million from $1,108 million in the comparable quarter a year ago. Organic sales growth was 8.7%.

Income from continuing operations for the quarter increased $113 million, or 226.0%, to $163 million from $50 million in the comparable quarter a year ago. The increase in income from continuing operations primarily reflects the increase in net sales described above, favorable sales mix, and lower COVID-19 restructuring costs and stock compensation expense, partially offset by a higher effective tax rate.

GAAP earnings per share were reduced in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 and 2021 by $0.77 per share and $1.32 per share, respectively, as a result of dividend equivalent payments made during each quarter. As a reminder, GAAP earnings per share are reduced when TransDigm makes dividend equivalent payments pursuant to the Company's stock option plans. These dividend equivalent payments are made during the Company's first fiscal quarter each year and also upon payment of any special dividends.

Adjusted net income for the quarter increased 53.9% to $177 million, or $3.00 per share, from $115 million, or $1.97 per share, in the comparable quarter a year ago.

EBITDA for the quarter increased 38.1% to $522 million from $378 million for the comparable quarter a year ago. EBITDA As Defined for the quarter increased 19.2% to $565 million compared with $474 million in the comparable quarter a year ago. EBITDA As Defined as a percentage of net sales for the quarter was 47.3% compared with 42.8% in the comparable quarter a year ago.

"The continued improvement in global air traffic despite the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in late 2021 is encouraging. It further demonstrates the pent-up demand for air travel that exists and bodes well for the momentum of the commercial aerospace recovery as we continue into 2022," stated Kevin Stein, TransDigm Group's President and Chief Executive Officer. "I am also pleased to see another quarter of sequential improvement in our commercial aftermarket revenues and even more significant improvement in our commercial aftermarket bookings. The commercial aftermarket continues to lead the recovery of our commercial aerospace revenues, and we expect that trend to continue throughout our fiscal 2022 barring any significant disruption in the commercial aerospace industry. As always, we remain focused on executing our operating strategy and managing our cost structure as we continue on this journey to a full recovery of the commercial aerospace industry."

The effective tax rate in the current quarter of 15.7% was favorably impacted by the discrete impact of excess tax benefits associated with share-based payments. For the full 2022 fiscal year, the Company expects the effective tax rate to be in the range of 21% to 23% and the adjusted tax rate to be in the range of 26% to 28%.

Please see the attached tables for a reconciliation of income from continuing operations to EBITDA, EBITDA As Defined, and adjusted net income; a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to EBITDA and EBITDA As Defined, and a reconciliation of earnings per share to adjusted earnings per share for the periods discussed in this press release.

Fiscal 2022 Outlook

Given the considerable uncertainty around the extent and duration of business disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our primary commercial OEM and commercial aftermarket end markets, the Company will not provide full fiscal year 2022 guidance at this time. Information regarding fiscal 2022 EBITDA As Defined margins, expected defense market revenue growth, tax rates, interest expense, capital expenditures and select accounting information is included in the slide presentation available for today's earnings call.

Earnings Conference Call

TransDigm Group will host a conference call for investors and security analysts on February 8, 2022, beginning at 11:00 a.m., Eastern Time. To join the call, dial (833) 397-0943 and enter the passcode 2791668. International callers should dial (720) 405-3217 and use the same passcode. A live audio webcast can be accessed online at http://www.transdigm.com. A slide presentation will also be available for reference during the conference call; go to the investor relations page of our website and click on "Presentations."

The call will be archived on the website and available for replay at approximately 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time. A telephone replay will be available for one week by dialing (855) 859-2056 and entering the passcode 2791668. International callers should dial (404) 537-3406 and use the same passcode.

About TransDigm Group

TransDigm Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a leading global designer, producer and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components for use on nearly all commercial and military aircraft in service today. Major product offerings, substantially all of which are ultimately provided to end-users in the aerospace industry, include mechanical/electro-mechanical actuators and controls, ignition systems and engine technology, specialized pumps and valves, power conditioning devices, specialized AC/DC electric motors and generators, batteries and chargers, engineered latching and locking devices, engineered rods, engineered connectors and elastomer sealing solutions, databus and power controls, cockpit security components and systems, specialized and advanced cockpit displays, engineered audio, radio and antenna systems, specialized lavatory components, seat belts and safety restraints, engineered and customized interior surfaces and related components, advanced sensor products, switches and relay panels, thermal protection and insulation, lighting and control technology, parachutes, high performance hoists, winches and lifting devices, and cargo loading, handling and delivery systems.

Non-GAAP Supplemental Information

EBITDA, EBITDA As Defined, EBITDA As Defined Margin, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share are non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release as supplemental disclosures to net income and reported results. TransDigm Group defines EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and defines EBITDA As Defined as EBITDA plus certain non-operating items recorded as corporate expenses, including non-cash compensation charges incurred in connection with TransDigm Group's stock incentive plans, restructuring costs related to TransDigm Group's cost reduction measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign currency gains and losses, acquisition-integration costs, acquisition and divestiture transaction-related expenses, and refinancing costs. COVID-19 restructuring costs represent actions taken by the Company to reduce its workforce to align with customer demand, as well as incremental costs related to the pandemic that are not expected to recur once the pandemic has subsided and are clearly separable from normal operations (e.g., additional cleaning and disinfecting of facilities by contractors above and beyond normal requirements, personal protective equipment). Acquisition and divestiture-related costs represent accounting adjustments to inventory associated with acquisitions of businesses and product lines that were charged to cost of sales when the inventory was sold; costs incurred to integrate acquired businesses and product lines into the Company's operations, facility relocation costs and other acquisition-related costs; transaction-related costs for both acquisitions and divestitures comprising deal fees; legal, financial and tax diligence expenses and valuation costs that are required to be expensed as incurred and other acquisition accounting adjustments. TransDigm Group defines adjusted net income as net income plus purchase accounting backlog amortization expense, effects from the sale on businesses, non-cash compensation charges incurred in connection with TransDigm Group's stock incentive plans, restructuring costs related to TransDigm Group's cost reduction measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign currency gains and losses, acquisition-integration costs, acquisition transaction-related expenses, and refinancing costs. EBITDA As Defined Margin represents EBITDA As Defined as a percentage of net sales. TransDigm Group defines adjusted diluted earnings per share as adjusted net income divided by the total shares for basic and diluted earnings per share. For more information regarding the computation of EBITDA, EBITDA As Defined and adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share, please see the attached financial tables.

TransDigm Group presents these non-GAAP financial measures because it believes that they are useful indicators of its operating performance. TransDigm Group believes that EBITDA is useful to investors because it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to measure operating performance among companies with different capital structures, effective tax rates and tax attributes, capitalized asset values and employee compensation structures, all of which can vary substantially from company to company. In addition, analysts, rating agencies and others use EBITDA to evaluate a company's ability to incur and service debt. EBITDA As Defined is used to measure TransDigm Inc.'s compliance with the financial covenant contained in its credit facility. TransDigm Group's management also uses EBITDA As Defined to review and assess its operating performance, to prepare its annual budget and financial projections and to review and evaluate its management team in connection with employee incentive programs. Moreover, TransDigm Group's management uses EBITDA As Defined to evaluate acquisitions and as a liquidity measure. In addition, TransDigm Group's management uses adjusted net income as a measure of comparable operating performance between time periods and among companies as it is reflective of changes in pricing decisions, cost controls and other factors that affect operating performance.

None of EBITDA, EBITDA As Defined, EBITDA As Defined Margin, adjusted net income or adjusted earnings per share is a measurement of financial performance under U.S. GAAP and such financial measures should not be considered as an alternative to net income, operating income, earnings per share, cash flows from operating activities or other measures of performance determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, TransDigm Group's calculation of these non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to the calculation of similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Although we use EBITDA and EBITDA As Defined as measures to assess the performance of our business and for the other purposes set forth above, the use of these non-GAAP financial measures as analytical tools has limitations, and you should not consider any of them in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results of operations as reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

neither EBITDA nor EBITDA As Defined reflects the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements, necessary to service interest payments on our indebtedness;

although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and neither EBITDA nor EBITDA As Defined reflects any cash requirements for such replacements;

the omission of the substantial amortization expense associated with our intangible assets further limits the usefulness of EBITDA and EBITDA As Defined;

neither EBITDA nor EBITDA As Defined includes the payment of taxes, which is a necessary element of our operations; and

EBITDA As Defined excludes the cash expense we have incurred to integrate acquired businesses into our operations, which is a necessary element of certain of our acquisitions.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements under the heading "Fiscal 2022 Outlook," are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "may," "will," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "predict," "anticipate," "estimate," or "continue" and other words and terms of similar meaning may identify forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause TransDigm Group's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, TransDigm Group. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has on the TransDigm Group's business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity; the sensitivity of TransDigm Group's business to the number of flight hours that its customers' planes spend aloft and its customers' profitability, both of which are affected by general economic conditions; future geopolitical or other worldwide events; cyber-security threats, natural disasters and climate change-related events; TransDigm Group's reliance on certain customers; the U.S. defense budget and risks associated with being a government supplier including government audits and investigations; failure to maintain government or industry approvals; failure to complete or successfully integrate acquisitions; TransDigm Group's indebtedness; potential environmental liabilities; liabilities arising in connection with litigation; climate-related regulations; increases in raw material costs, taxes and labor costs that cannot be recovered in product pricing; risks and costs associated with TransDigm Group's international sales and operations; and other factors. Further information regarding the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results can be found in TransDigm Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2021 and other reports that TransDigm Group or its subsidiaries have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, TransDigm Group undertakes no obligation to revise or update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

TRANSDIGM GROUP INCORPORATED



CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME



FOR THE THIRTEEN WEEK PERIODS ENDED

Table 1 JANUARY 01, 2022 AND JANUARY 02, 2021

(Amounts in millions, except per share amounts)



(Unaudited)











Thirteen Week Periods Ended



January 1, 2022

January 2, 2021 NET SALES

$ 1,194

$ 1,108 COST OF SALES

533

567 GROSS PROFIT

661

541 SELLING AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

170

197 AMORTIZATION OF INTANGIBLE ASSETS

36

29 INCOME FROM OPERATIONS

455

315 INTEREST EXPENSENET

264

267 OTHER INCOME

(2)

(5) INCOME FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS BEFORE INCOME TAXES

193

53 INCOME TAX PROVISION

30

3 INCOME FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS

163

50 INCOME FROM DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS, NET OF TAX

1

 NET INCOME

164

50 LESS: NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS

(1)

 NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO TD GROUP

$ 163

$ 50 NET INCOME (LOSS) APPLICABLE TO TD GROUP COMMON STOCKHOLDERS

$ 117

$ (23) Earnings (loss) per share attributable to TD Group common stockholders:







Earnings (loss) per share from continuing operationsbasic and diluted

$ 1.96

$ (0.42) Earnings per share from discontinued operationsbasic and diluted

0.02

 Earnings (loss) per share

$ 1.98

$ (0.42) Weighted-average shares outstanding:







Weighted-average common shares outstanding

55.3

54.7 Vested options deemed participating securities

3.9

 Total shares for basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share (1)

59.2

54.7

(1) For the thirteen-week period ended January 2, 2021, total weighted-average common shares outstanding for calculating basic and diluted adjusted

earnings per share are 58.4 million shares as 3.7 million shares of vested options deemed participating securities are included when calculating

weighted-average common shares outstanding for basic and diluted earnings per share.

TRANSDIGM GROUP INCORPORATED



SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION - RECONCILIATION OF EBITDA,



EBITDA AS DEFINED TO INCOME FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS



FOR THE THIRTEEN WEEK PERIODS ENDED

Table 2 JANUARY 01, 2022 AND JANUARY 02, 2021

(Amounts in millions, except per share amounts)



(Unaudited)











Thirteen Week Periods Ended



January 1, 2022

January 2, 2021 Income from continuing operations

$ 163

$ 50 Adjustments:







Depreciation and amortization expense

65

58 Interest expense, net

264

267 Income tax provision

30

3 EBITDA

522

378 Adjustments:







Acquisition and divestiture transaction-related expenses and adjustments (1)

5

4 Non-cash stock compensation expense (2)

37

49 COVID-19 pandemic restructuring costs (3)



21 Other, net (4)

1

22 Gross Adjustments to EBITDA

43

96 EBITDA As Defined

$ 565

$ 474 EBITDA As Defined, Margin (5)

47.3%

42.8%



(1) Represents costs incurred to integrate acquired businesses and product lines into TD Group's operations, facility relocation costs and other

acquisition-related costs; transaction-related costs for both acquisitions and divestitures comprising deal fees; legal, financial and tax due

diligence expenses; and valuation costs that are required to be expensed as incurred.





(2) Represents the compensation expense recognized by TD Group under our stock incentive plans.





(3) Represents restructuring costs related to the Company's cost reduction measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the thirteen

week period ended January 2, 2021 of $20 million. These are costs related to the Company's actions to reduce its workforce to align with

customer demand. This also includes incremental costs related to the pandemic for the thirteen week period ended January 2, 2021 of

$1 million that are not expected to recur once the pandemic has subsided and are clearly separable from normal operations (e.g., additional

cleaning and disinfecting of facilities by contractors above and beyond normal requirements, personal protective equipment, etc.). Restructuring

costs incurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the thirteen week period ended January 1, 2022 were not material.





(4) Primarily represents foreign currency transaction gain or loss, payroll withholding taxes related to special dividend and dividend equivalent

payments and stock option exercises, non-service related pension costs, deferred compensation and gain or loss on sale of fixed assets.





(5) The EBITDA As Defined margin represents the amount of EBITDA As Defined as a percentage of net sales.



TRANSDIGM GROUP INCORPORATED





SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION - RECONCILIATION OF





REPORTED EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE TO





ADJUSTED EARNINGS PER SHARE





FOR THE THIRTEEN WEEK PERIODS ENDED Table 3 JANUARY 01, 2022 AND JANUARY 02, 2021 (Amounts in millions, except per share amounts)





(Unaudited)











Thirteen Week Periods Ended



January 1, 2022

January 2, 2021 Reported Earnings (Loss) Per Share







Income from continuing operations

$ 163

$ 50 Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

(1)

 Net income from continuing operations attributable to TD Group

162

50 Less: Special dividends declared or paid on participating securities, including dividend equivalent payments

(46)

(73) Income from discontinued operations, net of tax

1

 Net income (loss) applicable to TD Group common stockholdersbasic and diluted

$ 117

$ (23) Weighted-average shares outstanding under the two-class method







Total shares for basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share - GAAP basis

59.2

54.7 Total shares for basic and diluted earnings per share - Adjusted basis

59.2

58.4 Earnings (loss) per share from continuing operationsbasic and diluted

$ 1.96

$ (0.42) Earnings per share from discontinued operationsbasic and diluted

0.02

 Earnings (loss) per share

$ 1.98

$ (0.42) Adjusted Earnings Per Share



Income from continuing operations

$ 163

$ 50 Gross adjustments to EBITDA

43

96 Purchase accounting backlog amortization

4

 Tax adjustment (1)

(33)

(31) Adjusted net income

$ 177

$ 115 Adjusted diluted earnings per share under the two-class method

$ 3.00

$ 1.97 Diluted Earnings (Loss) Per Share to Adjusted Earnings Per Share



Diluted earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations

$ 1.96

$ (0.42) Allocation of undistributed losses to participating securities



0.03 Adjustments to diluted earnings (loss) per share:







Inclusion of the dividend and dividend equivalent payments

0.77

1.24 Acquisition and divestiture transaction-related expenses and adjustments

0.11

0.05 Non-cash stock compensation expense

0.46

0.64 Tax adjustment on income from continuing operations before taxes (1)

(0.34)

(0.16) COVID-19 pandemic restructuring costs



0.27 Other, net

0.04

0.32 Adjusted earnings per share

$ 3.00

$ 1.97











(1) For the thirteen week periods ended January 1, 2022 and January 2, 2021, the Tax adjustment represents the tax effect of the adjustments

at the applicable effective tax rate, as well as the impact on the effective tax rate when excluding the excess tax benefits on stock option exercises.

Stock compensation expense is excluded from adjusted net income and therefore we have excluded the impact that the excess tax benefits on

stock option exercises have on the effective tax rate for determining adjusted net income.

TRANSDIGM GROUP INCORPORATED



SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION - RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH



PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES TO EBITDA,



EBITDA AS DEFINED



FOR THE THIRTEEN WEEK PERIODS ENDED

Table 4 JANUARY 01, 2022 AND JANUARY 02, 2021

(Amounts in millions)



(Unaudited)











Thirteen Week Periods Ended



January 1, 2022

January 2, 2021 Net cash provided by operating activities

$ 279

$ 274 Adjustments:







Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisitions and sales of businesses

(18)

(121) Interest expense, net (1)

256

258 Income tax provision (benefit) - current

30

(2) Loss contract amortization

12

18 Non-cash stock compensation expense (2)

(37)

(49) EBITDA

522

378 Adjustments:







Acquisition and divestiture transaction-related expenses and adjustments (3)

5

4 Non-cash stock compensation expense (2)

37

49 COVID-19 pandemic restructuring costs (4)



21 Other, net (5)

1

22 EBITDA As Defined

$ 565

$ 474

(1) Represents interest expense excluding the amortization of debt issue costs and premium and discount on debt.

(2) Represents the compensation expense recognized by TD Group under our stock incentive plans.

(3) Represents costs incurred to integrate acquired businesses and product lines into TD Group's operations, facility relocation costs and

other acquisition-related costs; transaction-related costs for both acquisitions and divestitures comprising deal fees; legal, financial and

tax due diligence expenses and valuation costs that are required to be expensed as incurred.

(4) Represents restructuring costs related to the Company's cost reduction measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the thirteen

week period ended January 2, 2021 of $20 million. These are costs related to the Company's actions to reduce its workforce to align with

customer demand. This also includes incremental costs related to the pandemic for the thirteen week period ended January 2, 2021 of $1 million

that are not expected to recur once the pandemic has subsided and are clearly separable from normal operations (e.g., additional cleaning and

disinfecting of facilities by contractors above and beyond normal requirements, personal protective equipment, etc.). Restructuring costs incurred

in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the thirteen week period ended January 1, 2022 were not material.

(5) Primarily represents foreign currency transaction gain or loss, payroll withholding taxes related to special dividend and dividend equivalent

payments and stock option exercises, non-service related pension costs, deferred compensation and gain or loss on sale of fixed assets.

TRANSDIGM GROUP INCORPORATED



SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION - BALANCE SHEET DATA

Table 5 (Amounts in millions)





(Unaudited)











January 1, 2022

September 30, 2021 Cash and cash equivalents

$ 4,813

$ 4,787 Trade accounts receivable - net

673

791 Inventories - net

1,215

1,185 Current portion of long-term debt

76

277 Short-term borrowings-trade receivable securitization facility

350

349 Accounts payable

212

227 Accrued and other current liabilities

740

810 Long-term debt

19,388

19,372 Total TD Group stockholders' deficit

(2,633)

(2,916)

SOURCE TransDigm Group Inc.
Timothy C. Tyson , Chairman & CEO of TriRx, stated, "The Speke facility deal constitutes the second part of our acquisition and supply agreement with Elanco, following our closing on the Shawnee, Kansas facility in August 2021. We look forward to continuing our successful strategic partnership with this global leader. This important two-facility acquisition represents a significant step in our strategy to be a leading global CDMO in both animal health and human health. We welcome the skilled workforce at Speke to TriRx, and look forward to growing this team as we invest in the site, fulfilling the long-term supply agreement with Elanco Animal Health and bringing in new business as part of our strategic plan."

The Speke facility, initially built by Eli Lilly, offers capabilities to manufacture human health and animal health products. The sale includes the physical assets of the site and transfer of approximately 350 employees. Under the long-term supply agreement, TriRx will continue to provide Elanco with reliable delivery of its products.

James Scandura, COO of TriRx, said, "The Speke facility is located close to Liverpool, UK, which is strategically important for TriRx. It is the fifth location for us and takes us to two manufacturing facilities in North America and two in Europe. It also adds API and biological capabilities to our portfolio, and further capacity capable of manufacturing both animal health and human health products."

TriRx officially took ownership of the Speke facility on February 1st, 2022 with a formal celebration event scheduled for February 8th, attended by Maria Eagle, UK Member of Parliament for Garston and Halewood, as well as other local dignitaries, key customers, pharmaceutical executives, personnel from TriRx and Elanco, and local community members.

Dave Urbanek, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing & Quality at Elanco Animal Health, said, "Since the sale of the Shawnee facilty to TriRx in August last year, our partnership has been very successful, and we are delighted to complete this next step with the Speke facilty sale and continue our long-term strategic supply agreement with a major supplier that shares our vision."

About TriRx

TriRx Pharmaceutical Services is a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) serving biopharmaceutical and animal health markets. Headquartered approximately 50 miles outside of New York City in Norwalk, Connecticut, TriRx operates facilities in multiple regions providing state-of-the-art laboratory, manufacturing, packaging, warehousing, and technical service capabilities. Founded and led by a team of pharmaceutical industry executives, who have served as both contract service providers and outsourcing customers, TriRx has a profound and multifaceted understanding of client needs. It has the knowledge and commitment to deliver an exceptional experience on every project, consistently meeting or exceeding quality standards, regulatory requirements, on-time-in-full (OTIF) delivery, and all other customer requirements and expectations. Learn more at trirx.com.

For further information

TriRx Media Contact:

Nick Cirignano

Senior Vice President

TriRx Pharmaceutical Services Inc.

Telephone: +1 917 767 3614

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE TriRx Pharmaceutical Services
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UbiQD, Inc., a New Mexico-based deep tech company specializing in nanomaterials innovation, announced today that it has released new plant trial data and launched a new website for its greenhouse industry-focused brand. UbiGro incorporates UbiQD's quantum dot technology to create a new layer of light in a greenhouse that enables growers to create a more optimal spectrum of light. The new website allows customers to learn more about the technology, review the latest data, and connect with a team of experts: https://UbiGro.com.

Image from the new https://UbiGro.com website.

"UbiGro represents a revolution in the controlled environment agriculture industry, and is disruptive for energy-intensive horticultural lighting," said Dr. Hunter McDaniel, UbiQD CEO. "We're proud to offer our customers and collaborators a user-friendly website that helps them understand how our technology works for them, with a host of new case studies to support the value proposition."

UbiGro has been retrofitted into more than 30 unique greenhouse sites in seven U.S. states and seven foreign countries. Customers currently trialing UbiGro for cannabis alone have over 4.3 million square feet of greenhouse crop canopy. After installing UbiGro, owners, saw:

Up to +21% improved tomato production

Up to +16% boost in dry trimmed cannabis yield

Up to +21% more flower clusters in geraniums

Up to +13% enhanced lettuce weight

Up to +28% strawberry production

To read more, including customer anecdotes and payback time analysis, please visit the case studies section of the new site. UbiQD also recently announced progress with its quantum dot glass-based solar window technology, and several new key hires.

"There are more than 1.3 million acres of greenhouse growing space worldwide. Our goal is to help support these growers," said Eric Moody, Director of Marketing and Sales. "Every time the sun is above the horizon, UbiGro is activated and working to maximize productivity and profits."

About UbiQD, Inc.

UbiQD (pronounced 'ubiquity') is an advanced materials company powering innovation in agriculture, clean energy, and security. Our quantum dots enable products that harness the power of color and light. Headquartered in Los Alamos, New Mexico, UbiQD is licensing technology developed at leading research institutions, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, M.I.T., and others. To learn more, please visit: https://www.ubiqd.com

MEDIA CONTACT

[email protected]

505.310.6767

SOURCE UbiQD, Inc.
DUBLIN, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "U.S. CAD Software Market Research Report - Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The U.S. CAD software market value stood at $2,458.6 million in 2020, and it is expected to rise to $4,271.5 million by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.7% from 2020 to 2030.

The major factor driving the market is the surging usage of the CAD software in the packaging industry and automotive industry.



The U.S. is home to several industries that were significantly affected because of the lockdown imposed by the government to control the spread of the COVID-19 infection. For example, the growth of the automotive industry slowed down massively because of the disruptions in the manufacturing and supply chain processes on account of the imposition of lockdowns and restrictions on the movement of people and goods. This subsequently hampered the progress of the U.S. computer-aided design software market as the demand for the software fell among automobile manufacturers.



The surging use of the CAD software in the automotive industry is fueling the progress of the industry.



Between 3D and 2D software, the demand for the former was higher during the last few years, and this trend will continue in the upcoming years. The 3D software works more efficiently and provides a deeper insight when drawing designs than the 2D version.



End users are predicted to prefer cloud-based deployment over the on-premises one in the coming years. This is because the cloud provides improved agility, remote access from any internet-connected device, and better scalability.



The aerospace and defense industry is expected to use the CAD software extensively in the coming years, owing to the growing requirement for state-of-the-art space shuttles, aircraft, and missiles. High accuracy is required in the production of aerospace and defense components, which is fueling the adoption of the CAD software for product designing in this industry.



The players operating in the U.S. CAD software market are focusing on mergers and acquisitions to bolster their position. For instance, an agreement was signed by 3D Systems Corporation in September 2021 for acquiring Oqton Inc., a software company that offers cloud-based manufacturing operating system (MOS) platforms.



The industry is fragmented in nature because of the presence of various major players.



The mushrooming requirement for the CAD software in the packaging industry is one of the major growth drivers for the U.S. CAD software market. Packaging systems are needed for labeling, product filling, strapping, and wrapping processes.

With these machines becoming highly complex, designers and engineers are turning to the CAD software for meeting the mechatronic engineering challenges. This software makes unconventional modeling of packaging equipment possible via simulation and various communication control tools, which assist in the optimization of motors and selection of actuators.



Dassault Systemes SE, Hexagon AB, Bentley Systems Inc., Autodesk Inc., 3D Systems Corporation, Trimble Inc., Siemens AG, IronCAD LLC, AVEVA Group plc, PTC Inc., and CNC Software Inc. are some of the most-significant companies in the market.



Market Dynamics

Trends

Focus On Acquisitions by Market Players

Shift From License-Based To Subscription-Based Model

Transition From 2D Cad To 3D Cad

Drivers

Increasing Use of Cad Software In Packaging Industry

Growing Cad Adoption In Automotive Industry

Restraints

Availability of Free and Open-Source Cad Software, Coupled With Software Piracy

High Cost of Advanced and 3D Cad Software

Opportunities

Growing Adoption of Saas-Based Model

Rising Popularity of Cloud-Based Cad Services

Impact of COVID-19 On U.S. Cad Software Market



Porter's Five Forces Analysis



Company Profiles

Dassault Systemes SE

Autodesk Inc.

Bentley Systems Inc.

Trimble Inc.

PTC Inc.

3D Systems Corporation

AVEVA Group plc

Hexagon AB

IronCAD LLC

CNC Software Inc.

Siemens AG

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/g1yqmm

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Figure Skating recently announced that it will begin accepting donations and gifts of cryptocurrency via a web-based platform powered by Engiven, creating a new path for supporters to contribute to the organization. Crypto donations will help fund several organizational projects, including Destination Beijing, which bring athletes' family and friends together in celebration of major international competitions when travel to the event is not possible.

As the members of the U.S. Figure Skating team compete around the world, their family and friends will still be able to support them from afar despite the ongoing pandemic. The upcoming Destination Beijing Celebration will allow family and friends to gather in "U.S. Figure Skating's Family Room" to watch their loved ones compete on U.S. Figure Skating's media partner NBCU.

Donations to the Destination Beijing program will help bring these family and friends together and -- through the magic of NBC -- give them the opportunity for direct, live communication with their athlete after competitions. Together, they will share their stories, hopes and pride during this unique time to cheer on their athletes as they compete on the world's greatest stage.

U.S. Figure Skating is partnering with Engiven, a company that powers an enterprise-level donation platform that more easily enables nonprofits to add cryptocurrency donations to help fund their causes. Engiven verifies donations on the blockchain, automatically exchanges the crypto for USD, and immediately transfers the funds to U.S. Figure Skating. U.S. Figure Skating is the first National Governing Body in the United States that will accept gifts in multiple cryptocurrencies.

Donors will still be able to choose which fund their gift will support, whether it be through Destination Beijing, Friends of Figure Skating, the Memorial Fund, the Mabel Fairbanks Skatingly Yours Fund, the Synchronized Skating Athlete Support Fund, or the area of greatest need. Every gift to U.S. Figure Skating, which is a 501(c)3 organization, is tax-deductible and has a direct impact on the success of skaters and figure skating programs around the country. Donations provide over $1 million annually to the Organization's athletes and programs.

"We continue to look for new and innovative ways to provide funding to the U.S. Figure Skating athletes, clubs, programs and initiatives," Executive Director Ramsey Baker said. "Allowing our supporters to give to U.S. Figure Skating using cryptocurrency makes sense in today's quickly changing financial marketplace. The more avenues available for current and new donors to support the organization, the more we will be able to directly support our athletes and the many programs that service our members."

Prior to the Covid pandemic, most nonprofits had an online strategy that included giving. Today, no nonprofit can afford to neglect its online audience, donors and seekers. Crypto is rapidly becoming part of that online ecosystem and platforms like Engiven have been able to equip foundations and nonprofits to benefit from the rapid adoption of crypto giving.

"We couldn't be more proud of U.S. Figure Skating as they compete against the world's best," said James Lawrence, CEO of Engiven. "Providing a technology platform for donors to give cryptocurrency so that these athletes can achieve their dreams is truly an honor. We encourage crypto donors everywhere to support programs like Destination Beijing and the other initiatives of U.S. Figure Skating."

For more information on how to accept crypto donations for your foundation or nonprofit organization, visit: https://engiven.com For more information about donating to U.S. Figure Skating, visit: https://www.usfigureskating.org/support/donate

About Engiven

Engiven is a leading cryptocurrency donation management platform providing an end-to-end giving solution benefiting nonprofits and their donors. For more information about Engiven, visit https://engiven.com

SOURCE Engiven, Inc.
Sandhills' aviation products include Controller , Controller EMEA , Executive Controller, Charter Hub , Aviation Trader , Aircraft Cost Calculator , and AircraftEvaluator. AircraftEvaluator is Sandhills' proprietary asset valuation tool for all types of aircraft, built using the same technology behind FleetEvaluator . Widely used and trusted across equipment, truck, and trailer industries, FleetEvaluator identifies asset values with unparalleled accuracy.

The key metric used in all of Sandhills' market reports is the Sandhills Equipment Value Index (EVI). Buyers and sellers can use the information in Sandhills EVI to monitor equipment markets and maximize returns on acquisition, liquidation, and related business decisions. For 2022, Sandhills has enhanced its EVI with new metrics. The data now includes model year equipment actively in use, which grows the used equipment population beyond aircraft available in retail markets. New EVI data, already available for the United States, is also now available for Canada to better reflect aircraft values by location. The enhanced version of Sandhills EVI requires Sandhills to restate the values starting in January 2022, so prior numbers will not be comparable to the new, more insightful values.

Chart Takeaways

This report includes detailed analysis of asking values and inventory trends in the U.S. used aircraft market along with charts that help readers visualize the data. This report provides vital trends for the 25-year-plus age groups in used piston single and turboprop aircraft. The 25-year-plus age group is the largest inventory category for both types of aircraft.

U.S. & Canada Used Piston Single Aircraft

Average asking values for used piston single aircraft grew by $38,000 YOY in January, moving from $187,000 in 2021 to $225,000 in 2022.

YOY in January, moving from in 2021 to in 2022. Inventory levels for piston single aircraft were down 40% YOY. Nearly half of piston single aircraft fall into the 25-year-plus age group. The Sandhills EVI finds the 25-year-plus age group also displayed the steepest asking value increase among age group categories, gaining 27.9% YOY.

U.S. & Canada Used Turboprop

The Sandhills EVI charts a $170,000 YOY increase in average asking values for turboprop aircraft, rising from $1,390,000 in January 2021 to $1,560,000 in January 2022 .

YOY increase in average asking values for turboprop aircraft, rising from in to in . Used turboprop aircraft inventory was down 66% YOY. More than two-thirds of the turboprop category consists of the 25-year-plus age group. Similar to aging trends in piston single aircraft, 25-year-plus turboprop aircraft displayed the highest asking value increase among age groups, jumping 20.1% YOY in January.

Obtain the Full Report

For more information, or to receive detailed analysis from Sandhills Global, contact us at [email protected].

About Sandhills Global

Sandhills Global is an information processing company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our products and services gather, process, and distribute information in the form of trade publications, websites, and online services that connect buyers and sellers across the aviation, construction, agriculture, and commercial trucking industries. Our integrated, industry-specific approach to hosted technologies and services offers solutions that help businesses large and small operate efficiently and grow securely, cost-effectively, and successfully. Sandhills Globalwe are the cloud.

About the Sandhills Equipment Value Index

The Sandhills Equipment Value Index (EVI) is a principal gauge of the estimated market values of used assetsboth currently and over timeacross the construction, agricultural, commercial trucking, and aviation industries represented by Sandhills Global marketplaces, including Controller.com, AuctionTime.com, TractorHouse.com, MachineryTrader.com, TruckPaper.com, and other industry-specific equipment platforms. Powered by FleetEvaluator and AircraftEvaluator, Sandhills' proprietary asset valuation tools, Sandhills EVI provides useful insights into the ever-changing supply-and-demand conditions for each industry.

Contact Sandhills

www.sandhills.com/contact-us

402-479-2181

SOURCE Sandhills Global
WURZBURG, Germany, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- vasopharm GmbH ("vasopharm"), a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focusing on novel therapeutics to treat cerebrovascular diseases, today announces the combined post hoc analyses of the phase 2 (NOSTRA) and phase 3 clinical trials (NOSTRA III) of Ronopterin (formerly VAS203) for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). These analyses expand on the clinically meaningful results in patients with moderate and severe TBI with early infusion of Ronopterin, starting between 6 and 12 hours after TBI. Ronopterin has the potential to be the first successful drug therapy for TBI with meaningful improvements in neurologic outcome.

The combined analysis of the phase 2 (NOSTRA) and phase 3 (NOSTRA III) trials reveals a positive and clinically meaningful impact on signs of efficacy and safety when Ronopterin is infused within 12 hours after TBI, particularly in patients aged 18-39 years. With this analysis, NOSTRA III confirms the results of the initial NOSTRA trial.

The early start of infusion with Ronopterin improves neurologic outcome at 6 months after TBI and supports the continuous neurologic improvement over time. The significant reduction in the intensity of basic treatment options reflects better control of increased intracranial pressure. This is best explained by Ronopterin's mechanism of action: inhibition of excessive nitric oxide-induced cell damage and vasodilation decreases edema formation and brain swelling. In addition, none of the 133 patients aged 18-39 years showed signs of higher grade renal impairment; among the 122 patients aged 40-60 years, 16 patients exhibited fully reversible signs of higher grade renal dysfunction. The combination of Ronopterin-induced better neurologic outcome and complete absence of higher grade renal impairment clearly defines the patients aged 18-39 years as the target patient population for the next trials in the Clinical Development Plan for Ronopterin.

Professor Erich Schmutzhard, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria and Chief Investigator for the NOSTRA III trial, said: "I am happy to see strong evidence defining the optimal use of Ronopterin resulting in neuroprotection in patients with moderate and severe TBI. Currently, there is no drug treatment available to improve neurologic outcomes for these patients. For us clinicians it is crucial to have a drug allowing us to prevent and reduce the severity of secondary brain damage. Decreasing the vulnerability of the injured brain will support further maximum neurologic improvement after discharge from the neuro-intensive care unit. It is comforting to see that the improved outcome already disclosed in the prespecified analysis in the young adult patients is now repeated and confirmed in the post hoc analysis. This is very important as the young adults with their long life expectancy must return to their normal life in the best condition possible."

Neurologic outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale) in 18-39 years

Combining the 3 time points at 3, 6, and 12 months of the NOSTRA (6, 12 months) and NOSTRA III trial (3, 6 months) shows a continuous neurologic improvement over time in young adults with early start of infusion between 6 and 12 hours after TBI.

The steady decrease in proportion of patients with Unfavorable Outcome (GOS 1-3) is exceeded by a steady increase in Favorable Outcome (GOS 4-5) and Good Recovery (GOS 5) in the Ronopterin group. At 6 months, neurologic improvement appears to level off in the Placebo group with a continuous increase in the Ronopterin-treated patients, reaching highest values at 12 months (Good Recovery at 6 months: Ronopterin vs Placebo: 50% vs 26%; 12 months: 80% vs 20%, p=0.02).

Therapy Intensity Level (TIL) in 18-39 years

The combined analysis reveals a significant increase in proportion of low TIL levels (3-10 points) (Ronopterin vs Placebo: 71% vs 62%, p=0.01), reflecting decreased aggressiveness of treatment measures required to reduce ICP. Ronopterin's TIL reducing effect is highest during the second week after TBI (81% vs 64%, p=0.0002).

Renal function in 18-39 years

Clinically relevant reduction in renal function (AKIN level 2 and 3) was never observed in patients aged 18-39 years neither in the NOSTRA nor the NOSTRA III trial. This underscores the positive benefit-risk profile for the use of Ronopterin in young critically ill adult patients with moderate and severe TBI.

Professor John Stover, Chief Medical Officer of vasopharm, explained: "We are very excited about this robust and resilient data base. We can confirm the key results from the initial trial with the results of the corresponding NOSTRA III patients with early start of infusion. This strongly substantiates our conviction to move forward with Ronopterin. vasopharm will discuss with EMA and FDA the new Clinical Development Plan in the next months to support the market authorization application."

About vasopharm GmbH

vasopharm is a privately held drug development company focused on small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). vasopharm was founded in July 1998 as a spin-off from the University of Wurzburg Medical School by Harald Schmidt, MD, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Ulrich Walter, MD, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry. For more details please visit www.vasopharm.com

About Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when a sudden external force, such as a road traffic accident or fall, causes damage to the brain. This can impair cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functioning temporarily or permanently. This impairment can lead to disability and loss of independence. TBI is the leading cause of death and disability in young adults in the developed world. Annually, within the US alone, head trauma is the cause of approx. two million emergency room visits, 475,000 hospital admissions, nearly 52,000 deaths and approx. 80,000 cases of severe long-term functional, cognitive, and learning disabilities.

Current approaches are limited to the symptomatic treatment of acute TBI focusing on short term patient mortality (increasing blood pressure and reducing intracranial pressure) with limited impact on reducing long-term physical and cognitive deficits. To date, there is no specific therapy for patients suffering from the consequences of TBI.

Direct costs attributed to the current symptomatic treatment of TBI exceed $10bn p.a. in the US alone. TBI results in more lost working years than cancers, stroke and HIV/AIDS combined. On a global scale, the number of life-years lost due to TBI is four times that of diabetes-related loss. Moderate and severe TBI is associated with a 2.3 and 4.5-fold higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, respectively. See www.center-tbi.eu/ for more information.

About Ronopterin

Ronopterin is an analogue of the natural co-factor, tetrahydbrobiopterin involved in the generation of nitric oxide by the Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS) family of enzymes. Ronopterin selectively inhibits the inducible NOS (iNOS) without significantly interfering with the function of other NOS enzymes. iNOS with increased release of nitric oxide is significantly involved in the cascade of damaging sequelae following brain injury.

Ronopterin has successfully passed phase 1, 2, and 3 trials. Its safety and efficacy profile underscore a positive benefit-risk assessment supporting its use to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. Ronopterin has pharmacologic effects on renal function that allow its controlled use in patients with risk of kidney dysfunction. Also, it does not interfere with neuronal or endothelial nitric oxide synthases (NOS) which are important for normal brain and body functioning. Beyond TBI, Ronopterin carries a development potential for a broad range of acute and chronic diseases characterized by activation of inflammatory cascades with subsequent activation of iNOS.

About Nostra

NOSTRA (NOSynthase Inhibition in TRAumatic brain injury) (Phase 2a) was an exploratory placebo-controlled, randomised, multi-centre study comparing Ronopterin to placebo, in addition to standard of care. The trial was conducted in six centres in Austria, France, Spain, Switzerland. and United Kingdom. Ronopterin treated patients had a significantly better clinical outcome than patients given placebo, as assessed by the therapy intensity level (at day 6 after TBI) and the extended Glasgow Outcome Score (at 6 and 12 months after TBI). The primary endpoint was eGOS at 6 months for which the median was 6 with Ronopterin vs 4.5 in the placebo arm. The trial results strongly indicate a neuroprotective role of Ronopterin in patients with moderate and severe TBI.

About Nostra III

The NOSTRA III trial entitled "Efficacy of Ronopterin in patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (NOSTRA-III)" (NCT02794168) examined the efficacy and safety of Ronopterin in patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The placebo-controlled, randomised, double-blind, multi-centre NOSTRA III trial was conducted in 38 centers in 5 European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom) and completed as planned. In total 223 patients comprise the Full Analysis Set with 112 patients randomized to the Ronopterin treatment arm and 111 patients in the Placebo treatment arm. As in the NOSTRA trial, Ronopterin was added to the Standard of Care and the primary endpoint was again extended Glasgow Outcomes Scale at 6 months after TBI.

While the primary endpoint was not met, the prespecified analysis revealed significantly higher eGOS levels in the patients aged 18-39 years vs 40-60 years.

During the entire course of the study, an independent Drug Monitoring Committee (DMC) unanimously recommended to continue the study according to the original study protocol. The DMC concluded that at no time any safety concerns were identified.

By extending the time to infusion from 12 to 18 hours after TBI to facilitate recruitment, the number of patients with infusion start between 6 and 12 hours was unintentionally reduced, reaching 30% in the NOSTRA III compared to 88% in the NOSTRA trial. This obvious difference forms the basis of the detailed post-hoc analysis. The combined analysis of the two trials with start of Ronopterin infusion within 12 hours after TBI shows improved neurologic outcome in all patients 18-60 years of age with significantly increased proportion of patients with Good Recovery (GOS 5) at 6 months (Ronopterin: 39% vs Placebo: 18%, p=0.03).

SOURCE vasopharm
"We're very excited to have the opportunity to showcase not only our new products, but our entire product portfolio to the dental professional community at the upcoming Midwinter Meeting, especially since this is the first time W&H will have a booth at this event," said William Kubofcik, North America Dental Equipment Director of Sales. "We invite attendees to stop by and meet our talented sales team, interact at our demo stations and learn more about how W&H products can provide a full spectrum of dental solutions for their practice."

"At W&H we believe in personal contact and we are very appreciative of the opportunity to reconnect with our customers and partners in person," said Chris Stachl, CEO of W&H Impex. "This is particularly important to us as we use this exchange of ideas and experiences to ensure our products meet the precise needs of our customers. Building relationships is an integral part of our customer experience."

Demonstrations

Schedule an appointment in advance for a demonstration at their booth (1420, 1519) with a member of their sales team to learn more about their latest products in dental innovation and to take advantage of their special show promotions.

Booth 1420 & 1519, Level 3, Hall F

About W&H

W&H Impex, Inc. located in Ontario, Canada is a subsidiary of W&H Group. Headquartered in Burmoos, Austria, the international W&H Group is a global leader in the development and manufacture of medical technology products. Passion and innovation are the motor of the company. High-quality product and service solutions, a modern corporate structure, a strong focus on research and development as well as social responsibility make W&H a locally and globally successful family business. More than 1,200 employees contribute to the production of hardware and software products for use in the dental, medical and veterinary industries.

Visit W&H's booth at Chicago Midwinter

Booth #1420, 1519

 W&H

SOURCE W&H Impex Inc.
TSX | NYSE | LSE: WPM

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ("Wheaton" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive Precious Metal Purchase Agreement (the "Agreement") with Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. ("Sabina") (TSX: SBB) in respect to the Goose Project, part of Sabina's 100% owned Back River Gold District located in Nunavut, Canada (the "Goose Project"). The Goose Project is forecast to be a high margin mine in the lowest half of the gold cost curve with a 15-year mine life1.

"The Goose Project in the Back River Gold District in Nunavut provides Wheaton with an exceptional opportunity to expand our portfolio into one of Canada's strongest and fastest-growing mining jurisdictions," said Randy Smallwood, Wheaton's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Underscored by a respectful development approach and calculated de-risking through sound environmental and social responsibility mandates, we are proud to partner with Sabina on the advancement of this project."

TRANSACTION DETAILS

Upfront Payment: Wheaton will pay Sabina an upfront payment of US$125 million in four equal installments during construction of the Goose Project, subject to customary conditions.

Wheaton will pay Sabina an upfront payment of in four equal installments during construction of the Goose Project, subject to customary conditions. Streamed Metal: Wheaton will be entitled to receive 4.15% of the payable gold production from the Mine dropping to 2.15% of the payable gold production from the Mine after delivery of 130,000 ounces of gold and dropping to 1.5% of the payable gold production from the Mine after delivery of 200,000 ounces of gold.

Wheaton will be entitled to receive 4.15% of the payable gold production from the Mine dropping to 2.15% of the payable gold production from the Mine after delivery of 130,000 ounces of gold and dropping to 1.5% of the payable gold production from the Mine after delivery of 200,000 ounces of gold. Production Profile 1 : With a fixed payable rate of 99.98%, attributable gold production is forecast to average 11.7 koz per year for the first five full years of production, and 10.7 koz per year for the first ten full years. Sabina is finalizing its 2022 work program and expects production to commence in the first quarter of 2025.

With a fixed payable rate of 99.98%, attributable gold production is forecast to average 11.7 koz per year for the first five full years of production, and 10.7 koz per year for the first ten full years. Sabina is finalizing its 2022 work program and expects production to commence in the first quarter of 2025. Production Payments: Wheaton will make ongoing production payments for gold ounces delivered equal to 18% of the spot gold price until the value of gold delivered less the cumulative production payments is equal to the upfront consideration of US$125 million , at which point the production payment will increase to 22% of the spot gold price.

Wheaton will make ongoing production payments for gold ounces delivered equal to 18% of the spot gold price until the value of gold delivered less the cumulative production payments is equal to the upfront consideration of , at which point the production payment will increase to 22% of the spot gold price. Incremental Reserves and Resources 2 : The addition of the Goose Project will increase Wheaton's estimated Proven and Probable gold reserves by 0.14 Moz, Measured and Indicated gold resources by 0.03 Moz and Inferred gold resources by 0.04 Moz. Significant exploration upside potential exists within the Goose Project with over 4 km of untested plunge length to be explored within over 15,000 hectares of mineral claims and leases.

The addition of the Goose Project will increase Wheaton's estimated Proven and Probable gold reserves by 0.14 Moz, Measured and Indicated gold resources by 0.03 Moz and Inferred gold resources by 0.04 Moz. Significant exploration upside potential exists within the Goose Project with over 4 km of untested plunge length to be explored within over 15,000 hectares of mineral claims and leases. Community Investment Support: As part of the Agreement, Sabina is eligible for additional community support through Wheaton's Partner CSR Program which provides financial support for its mining partners' economic, environmental and social initiatives within the communities that are directly influenced by the mines.

As part of the Agreement, Sabina is eligible for additional community support through Wheaton's Partner CSR Program which provides financial support for its mining partners' economic, environmental and social initiatives within the communities that are directly influenced by the mines. Other Considerations:

Wheaton has a right of first refusal on any future streaming agreement, royalty agreement or similar transaction entered into by Sabina or any of its affiliates relating to production of any precious metal from the Goose Project.



Security provided in respect of the Agreement will be subordinate to project debt and other customary permitted liens, and pari passu with certain other debt.



Under certain circumstances, Sabina has the option of deferring delivery of gold ounces to Wheaton if the average market price of gold falls below US$1,500 per ounce during a period of at least 180 days.

per ounce during a period of at least 180 days.

Until the Agreement parameters are met, Sabina has a one-time option to repurchase 33% of the gold stream on a change in control for an amount ensuring a fixed internal rate of return to Wheaton.



Wheaton also intends to provide up to US$20M in equity to Sabina, subject to remaining below 10% of the outstanding shares of Sabina.

INCREASE TO WHEATON'S LONG-TERM GUIDANCE

As a result of the Agreement and the forecast addition of attributable production from the Goose Project, Wheaton is increasing its ten-year production guidance to 910,000 gold equivalent ounces[3] ("GEOs") from 900,000 GEOs. 2022 and five-year guidance remain unchanged at 700,000 to 760,000 GEOs in 2022 and 850,000 GEOs on average for the next five years.

FINANCING THE TRANSACTION

The Upfront Payment will be paid over the construction of the Goose Project, coinciding with the start of construction. As at September 30, 2021, the Company had approximately US$372 million of cash on hand, when combined with the liquidity provided by the available credit under the $2 billion revolving term loan and ongoing operating cash flows, positions the Company well to fund all outstanding commitments and known contingencies as well as providing flexibility to acquire additional accretive mineral stream interests.

ABOUT SABINA AND THE GOOSE PROJECT

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is an emerging precious metals company with district scale, advanced, high grade gold assets in Nunavut, Canada.

The Goose Project is the first mine Sabina is advancing in its 100%-owned Back River Gold District, which is an 80km long belt with a series of gold deposits in banded iron formation, located in southwestern Nunavut, Canada, approximately 520 km northeast of Yellowknife. The Goose Project is an advanced and fully permitted project with social license in hand. Pre-development activities have begun with the Project's Port Facility and winter ice road being completed as well as major earth works at the Goose Project site.

Attributable Gold Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources  Goose Project

Category Tonnage Mt Grade Au g/t Contained Au Moz







Proven 0.3 5.54 0.06



Probable 0.4 6.29 0.09



P&P 0.8 5.97 0.14



Measured 0.04 4.94 0.01



Indicated 0.1 5.18 0.02



M&I 0.2 5.13 0.03



Inferred 0.2 6.64 0.04





Notes on Mineral Reserves & Mineral Resources:

1. All Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources have been estimated in accordance with the 2014 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves and National Instrument 43-101  Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). 2. Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are reported above in millions of metric tonnes ("Mt"), grams per metric tonne ("g/t") and millions of ounces ("Moz"). 3. Qualified persons ("QPs"), as defined by the NI 43-101, for the technical information contained in this document (including the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates) are:

a. Neil Burns, M.Sc., P.Geo. (Vice President, Technical Services); and

b. Ryan Ulansky, M.A.Sc., P.Eng. (Vice President, Engineering),



both employees of the Company (the "Company's QPs"). 4. The Mineral Resources reported in the above tables are exclusive of Mineral Reserves. Sabina report Mineral Resources inclusive of Mineral Reserves. The Company's QPs have made the exclusive Mineral Resource estimates for the mine based on average mine recoveries and dilution. 5. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. 6. Goose Project Mineral Reserves are reported as of January 15, 2021 and Mineral Resources as of December 31, 2020. 7. Goose Project Mineral Reserves are reported above the following undiluted gold cut-off grades assuming a gold price of $1,500 per ounce:

a. Umwelt  1.72 grams per tonne for open pit and 3.9 grams per tonne for underground

b. Llama  1.74 grams per tonne for open pit and 4.1 grams per tonne for underground

c. Goose Main  1.70 grams per tonne for open pit and 4.1 grams per tonne for underground

d. Echo  1.60 grams per tonne for open pit and 3.5 grams per tonne for underground 8. Goose Project Mineral Resources are reported above a gold cut-off of 1.4 grams per tonne for open pit and 3.0 grams per tonne for underground for all deposits, assuming a gold price of $1,550 per ounce. 9. The Goose PMPA provides that Sabina will deliver 4.15% of the payable gold production, dropping to 2.15% after delivery of 130,000 ounces of gold and dropping to 1.5% after delivery of 200,000 ounces of gold. Attributable gold reserves and resources have been calculated on the 4.15% / 2.15% / 1.5% basis.

Neil Burns, P.Geo., Vice President, Technical Services for Wheaton Precious Metals and Ryan Ulansky, P.Eng., Vice President, Engineering, are a "qualified person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101, and have reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release (specifically Mr. Burns has reviewed mineral resource estimates and Mr. Ulansky has reviewed the mineral reserve estimates).

______________________________ 1) Please see "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking-Statements" at the end of this news release for material risks, assumptions, and important disclosure associated with this information. Based on report entitled "National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Technical Report: 2021 Updated Feasibility Study for the Goose Project at the Back River Gold District, Nunavut, Canada" with an effective date of January 15, 2021. Production forecasts contain forward looking information and readers are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. S&P data set for 2024 projected global cost curves. 2) Please refer to the Attributable Mineral Reserves & Mineral Resources table in this news release for full disclosure of reserves and resources associated with the Santo Domingo project including accompanying footnotes. 3) Gold equivalent forecast production for 2022 and the longer term outlook are based on the following updated commodity price assumptions: $1,800 per ounce gold, $24 per ounce silver, $2,100 per ounce palladium, $1,000 per ounce of platinum and $33.00 per pound cobalt. For complete details regarding Wheaton's production guidance, refer to Wheaton's news release dated February 7, 2022, titled "Wheaton Precious Metals Meets 2021 Production Guidance and Forecasts 20% Long-Term Growth."

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING-STATEMENTS

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation concerning the business, operations and financial performance of Wheaton and, in some instances, the business, mining operations and performance of Wheaton's precious metals purchase agreement ("PMPA") counterparties. Forward-looking statements, which are all statements other than statements of historical fact, include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the payment by Wheaton of US$125 million to Sabina and the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the Agreement, the future price of commodities, the impact of epidemics (including the COVID-19 virus pandemic), including the potential heightening of other risks, the estimation of future production from mineral stream interests owned by Wheaton (the "Mining Operations") (including in the estimation of production, mill throughput, grades, recoveries and exploration potential), the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources (including the estimation of reserve conversion rates) and the realization of such estimations, the commencement, timing and achievement of construction, expansion or improvement projects by Wheaton's PMPA counterparties at Mining Operations, the ability of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties to comply with the terms of a PMPA (including as a result of the business, mining operations and performance of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties) and the potential impacts of such on Wheaton, the costs of future production, the estimation of produced but not yet delivered ounces, any statements as to future dividends, the ability to fund outstanding commitments and the ability to continue to acquire accretive PMPAs, future payments by the Company in accordance with PMPAs, including any acceleration of payments, projected increases to Wheaton's production and cash flow profile, projected changes to Wheaton's production mix, the ability of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties to comply with the terms of any other obligations under agreements with the Company, the ability to sell precious metals and cobalt production, confidence in the Company's business structure, the Company's assessment of taxes payable and the impact of the Canada Revenue Agency ("CRA") Settlement for years subsequent to 2010, possible audits for taxation years subsequent to 2015, the Company's intention to file future tax returns in a manner consistent with the CRA Settlement, and assessments of the impact and resolution of various legal and tax matters, including but not limited to outstanding class actions. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "projects", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", "potential", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Wheaton to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including (without limitation) risks associated with the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the terms of the Agreement, fluctuations in the price of commodities (including Wheaton's ability to sell its precious metals or cobalt production at acceptable prices or at all), the Mining Operations (including fluctuations in the price of the primary or other commodities mined at such operations, actual results of mining and exploration activities, environmental, economic and political risks of the jurisdictions in which the Mining Operations are located, and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined), the absence of control over the Mining Operations and relying on the accuracy of the public disclosure and other information Wheaton receives from the Mining Operations, uncertainty in the estimation of production from Mining Operations, uncertainty in the accuracy of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimation, the ability of each party to satisfy their obligations in accordance with the terms of the PMPAs, the estimation of future production from Mining Operations, Wheaton's interpretation of, compliance with or application of, tax laws and regulations or accounting policies and rules being found to be incorrect, any challenge or reassessment by the CRA of the Company's tax filings being successful and the potential negative impact to the Company's previous and future tax filings, assessing the impact of the CRA Settlement for years subsequent to 2010 (including whether there will be any material change in the Company's facts or change in law or jurisprudence), potential implementation of a 15% global minimum tax, counterparty credit and liquidity, mine operator concentration, indebtedness and guarantees, hedging, competition, claims and legal proceedings against Wheaton or the Mining Operations, security over underlying assets, governmental regulations, international operations of Wheaton and the Mining Operations, exploration, development, operations, expansions and improvements at the Mining Operations, environmental regulations and climate change, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to obtain and maintain necessary licenses, permits, approvals and rulings, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to comply with applicable laws, regulations and permitting requirements, lack of suitable infrastructure and employees to support the Mining Operations, inability to replace and expand mineral reserves, including anticipated timing of the commencement of production by certain Mining Operations (including increases in production, estimated grades and recoveries), uncertainties of title and indigenous rights with respect to the Mining Operations, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to obtain adequate financing, the Mining Operations ability to complete permitting, construction, development and expansion, global financial conditions, and other risks discussed in the section entitled "Description of the Business  Risk Factors" in Wheaton's Annual Information Form available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and in Wheaton's Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2020 and Form 6-K filed March 11, 2021 both on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. and available on EDGAR (the "Disclosure"). Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management currently believes to be reasonable, including (without limitation): the payment of US$125 million to Sabina and the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the terms of the Agreement, that there will be no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, that the Mining Operations will continue to operate and the mining projects will be completed and achieve their stated production estimates, that the mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates from Mining Operations (including reserve conversion rates) are accurate, that each party will satisfy their obligations in accordance with the PMPAs, that Wheaton will continue to be able to fund or obtain funding for outstanding commitments, that Wheaton will be able to source and obtain accretive PMPAs, that expectations regarding the resolution of legal and tax matters will be achieved (including ongoing class action litigation and CRA audits involving the Company), that Wheaton has properly considered the interpretation and application of Canadian tax law to its structure and operations, that Wheaton has filed its tax returns and paid applicable taxes in compliance with Canadian tax law, that Wheaton's application of the CRA Settlement for years subsequent to 2010 is accurate (including the Company's assessment that there will be no material change in the Company's facts or change in law or jurisprudence for years subsequent to 2010), and such other assumptions and factors as set out in the Disclosure. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and even if events or results described in the forward-looking statements are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Wheaton. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. The forward-looking statements included herein are for the purpose of providing readers with information to assist them in understanding Wheaton's expected financial and operational performance and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, reflects Wheaton's management's current beliefs based on current information and will not be updated except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Although Wheaton has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forwardlooking statements, there may be other factors that cause results, level of activity, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

Cautionary Language Regarding Reserves And Resources

For further information on Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources and on Wheaton more generally, readers should refer to Wheaton's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other continuous disclosure documents filed by Wheaton since January 1, 2021, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Wheaton's Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are subject to the qualifications and notes set forth therein. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources: The information contained herein has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. The terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve" and "probable mineral reserve" are Canadian mining terms defined in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM")  CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (the "CIM Standards"). In addition, the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are defined in and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. "Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations. The SEC has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). These amendments became effective February 25, 2019 (the "SEC Modernization Rules") with compliance required for the first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021. Under the SEC Modernization Rules, the historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants included in SEC Industry Guide 7 will be rescinded and replaced with disclosure requirements in subpart 1300 of SEC Regulation S-K. Following the transition period, as a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system, the Company is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC will recognize estimates of "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources." In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "proven mineral reserves" and "probable mineral reserves" to be "substantially similar" to the corresponding definitions under the CIM Definition Standards that are required under NI 43-101. However, while the above terms are "substantially similar" to CIM Definition Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report as "proven mineral reserves", "probable mineral reserves", "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the reserve or resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. Accordingly, information contained herein that describes Wheaton's mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. United States investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in Wheaton's Form 40-F, a copy of which may be obtained from Wheaton or from https://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

SOURCE Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.
BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Whirlpool Corporation is announcing the expansion of a program designed to provide local market assistance to builders who are facing a variety of challenges in the growing economy.

The Builder Support Representative Program ensures that single-family builders in select markets have a direct Whirlpool Corporation contact in their community that they can count on for one-on-one operational training and assistance in managing their appliance-related needs.

Whirlpool Corporation's Builder Support Representatives work with local sales representatives to provide seamless support to builders and job supervisors on-site, as well as sales consultants in model homes and designers in design studios. Their roles and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Facilitate smooth deliveries

Conducting operational training and policy review

Providing product education, including how to sell options, upgrades and new product launches

Assisting builders and warranty managers with timely appliance-related needs

Ensuring model home and design center appliances are current, and in proper working order

"With this program, we're building strong relationships at the community level and lending in-person support at every turn," said Susan Ruckstaetter, Builder Operations Manager at Whirlpool Corporation. "Our builders can count on us to provide an understanding of all the resources available to them, and how to use them appropriately to ensure excellence in every job."

Whirlpool Corporation's first Builder Support Representatives began training in August 2019, with seven in place in various markets just one year later. Since then, the overwhelming success of the program led to an expansion of the team into 16 major builder markets, primarily in the West, Southeast and Southwest, with plans to continue broadening the program in 2022.

"Whirlpool created a role to support builder business locally about 18 months ago," said Melissa McGhee, Senior Director of Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing at KB Home. "The role has become a critical resource for the team of builders in a single community as well as highest levels of management in each division. Solutions to daily problems were resolved quickly and with increased, effective communication due to this new role. My team recognized considerable improvement overall with having a local direct, single point of contact to the Whirlpool group."

To learn more about the Builder Support Representative Program or inquire about the program in your area, visit WhirlpoolPro.com/Contact . Those interested in learning more about Whirlpool Corporation and its portfolio of brands can also stop by Whirlpool Corporation booth W2554 at the NAHB International Builders' Show on Feb. 8-10, 2022 in Orlando, Fla.

About Whirlpool Corporation

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company, in constant pursuit of improving life at home. In an increasingly digital world, the company is driving purposeful innovation to meet the evolving needs of consumers through its iconic brand portfolio, including Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, JennAir, Indesit and Yummly. In 2020, the company reported approximately $19 billion in annual sales, 78,000 employees and 57 manufacturing and technology research centers. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com.

Kelly Bradley

[email protected]

312.661.1050

SOURCE Whirlpool Corporation
DUBLIN, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Autonomous Train Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global autonomous train market reached a value of US$ 7.9 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 11.4 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.2% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, they are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor



Autonomous trains are driverless mass-transit locomotives that are monitored from the control station and operated automatically without any human intervention. Some of the commonly used autonomous passenger and freight trains include metros, monorails, light rails and high-speed rail or bullet trains. They are managed through stations that control the arrival, departure, movement, and automatic halting of the trains. Autonomous trains consist of an odometer, tachometer, radio set, camera, and accelerometer. In comparison to manually controlled trains, autonomous trains have improved acceleration capabilities, enhanced system efficiency, and reduced ongoing operational costs while providing consistent train speed and safety



The increasing electrification and automation of the transportation industry is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market. Autonomous trains are integrated with advanced systems that provide improved control over stopping, departure and movement of the locomotive between stations. They also offer automatic and sensor-based opening and closing of doors to enhance passenger safety and convenience.

Moreover, the rising demand for safe, secure, and efficient transport systems is providing a thrust to the market growth. Autonomous trains run on ground and underground levels and are highly secured by walls and fences to prevent trespassing and fatalities. Additionally, various technological advancements, such as the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions with railway systems, are favoring the market growth.

These technologies aid in improving the overall operational efficiency and maintaining freight operations and systems. In line with this, the widespread adoption of communications-based train control (CBTC) technology to reduce the time intervals between trains is positively impacting the market growth. Other factors, including the implementation of various government initiatives to improve public transportation systems, along with rising environment consciousness among the masses, are anticipated to drive the market toward growth

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being ABB Ltd., Alstom SA, Belden Inc., Bombardier Inc., CAF Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles S.A., CRRC Corporation Limited, General Electric Company, Hitachi Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Siemens AG, and Thales Group



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global autonomous train market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global autonomous train market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the component?

What is the breakup of the market based on the train type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the automation grade?

What is the breakup of the market based on the technology?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global autonomous train market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Autonomous Train Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Component

6.1 Camera

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Accelerometer

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Odometer

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Tachometer

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast

6.5 Radio set

6.5.1 Market Trends

6.5.2 Market Forecast

6.6 Others

6.6.1 Market Trends

6.6.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Train Type

7.1 Metro/Monorail

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Light Rail

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 High-Speed Rail/Bullet Train

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Automation Grade

8.1 GoA 1

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 GoA 2

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 GoA 3

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 GoA 4

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Technology

9.1 CBTC

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 ERTMS

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast

9.3 ATC

9.3.1 Market Trends

9.3.2 Market Forecast

9.4 PTC

9.4.1 Market Trends

9.4.2 Market Forecast



10 Market Breakup by Application

10.1 Passenger Train

10.1.1 Market Trends

10.1.2 Market Forecast

10.2 Freight Train

10.2.1 Market Trends

10.2.2 Market Forecast



11 Market Breakup by Region



12 SWOT Analysis



13 Value Chain Analysis



14 Porters Five Forces Analysis



15 Price Analysis



16 Competitive Landscape

16.1 Market Structure

16.2 Key Players

16.3 Profiles of Key Players

16.3.1 ABB Ltd.

16.3.1.1 Company Overview

16.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.1.3 Financials

16.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.2 Alstom SA

16.3.2.1 Company Overview

16.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.2.3 Financials

16.3.2.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.3 Belden Inc.

16.3.3.1 Company Overview

16.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.3.3 Financials

16.3.3.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.4 Bombardier Inc.

16.3.4.1 Company Overview

16.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.4.3 Financials

16.3.4.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.5 CAF Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles S.A.

16.3.5.1 Company Overview

16.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.5.3 Financials

16.3.6 CRRC Corporation Limited

16.3.6.1 Company Overview

16.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.6.3 Financials

16.3.7 General Electric Company

16.3.7.1 Company Overview

16.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.7.3 Financials

16.3.7.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.8 Hitachi Ltd.

16.3.8.1 Company Overview

16.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.8.3 Financials

16.3.8.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.9 Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.

16.3.9.1 Company Overview

16.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.9.3 Financials

16.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.10 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

16.3.10.1 Company Overview

16.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.10.3 Financials

16.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.11 Siemens AG

16.3.11.1 Company Overview

16.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.11.3 Financials

16.3.11.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.12 Thales Group

16.3.12.1 Company Overview

16.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.12.3 Financials

16.3.12.4 SWOT Analysis

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8h1gho

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets
NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Working in Support of Education (W!se), a leader in financial education, is pleased to announce the launch of a major new digital resource to enhance its award winning Financial Literacy Certification program.

W!se (Working In Support of Education) Launches Financial Literacy App to serve high school students nationally. Tweet this W!se Video

This resource is a newly developed cloud-based mobile app with an updated database of practice test questions that enables students from schools participating in the Certification program to take practice tests and quizzes online. The app will help students prepare for W!se's national Financial Literacy Certification Test. Students who pass the Test become Certified Financially Literate , a credential recognized by schools in 49 states.

Development of the W!se app was spearheaded by Deutsche Bank ('DB'), together with support from Microsoft ('MS'), W!se and students from schools in the Certification program. The app was initially designed during the bank organized three-day Hackathon in which 120 of their employees in four U.S. cities, 20 MS volunteers, W!se staff and high school students created 15 different prototypes. Following the Hackathon, a DB team, with W!se and input from high schools in several states, used the best prototype features and developed the app for iOS and Android mobile phones. The app was also made possible through a generous grant from Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.

"It's been very rewarding to apply the latest mobile and cloud technologies to advance financial literacy, and engage students on devices they use every day," said Andrew Grant, DB Lead Developer. 'We are truly pleased to support financial education and W!se," added Milind Nimesh, DB Product Manager.

"Offering this app strengthens our financial education programming" said W!se Founder, President, & CEO, Phyllis Perillo. "The practice test questions on banking, credit, insurance, investing, and financial planning support personal finance instruction and are an investment in developing the financial literacy of young people."

The new resource is integrated into W!se's existing online testing system. Schools have a choice of using the W!se app any time any place and/or the web-based database. They will also be able to track students' practice test and quiz scores through a comprehensive reporting capability developed in collaboration with teachers and administrators from our national network of schools.

"The new app is a great resource," commented George Carbone, an educator at Northern Highlands Regional High School in New Jersey. "The quality and breadth of questions are outstanding. The mobile capability is unparalleled in terms of its features and ease of use. I also love that the computer-based capability offers analytics which enable me to evaluate my students' level of content knowledge and areas of need."

To learn more, click here or contact Ethan Finkelstein at [email protected] .

About Working in Support of Education (W!se) is a leading educational nonprofit based in New York City to improve the lives of young people and at-risk adults through programs that develop financial literacy and readiness for college and the workforce. For more information, visit wise-ny.org. Follow W!se on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @wisenewyork.

Media Contact: Samantha Spina at [email protected]

SOURCE W!se
Joules Group PLC (AIM:JOUL), the clothing, accessories and homeware retailer, slumped more than 40% last week when it issued a trading statement and cut its full year profit guidance.

Now it has recovered some lost ground after it announced its half year results, showing profits up from 1.3mln to 2.6mln but below expectations.

It blamed supply chain issues, rising costs, Brexit-related duties and taxes which hit its EU business, and labour shortages.

Chief executive Nick Jones said: "Whilst the group experienced strong levels of customer demand that resulted in good revenue growth against the prior two comparative periods, group profitability in the first half was impacted by various factors, most notably the severe inflationary cost environment.

"We have a clear plan of action to simplify the business, enhance efficiencies and mitigate the cost pressures that will enable the group to convert the strong levels of customer demand into sustainable, profitable growth."

Last week it said it would spend less on marketing, sell old and slow-moving stock to outlets, change its wholesale operations and put up prices when it could.

On financing, it said: "The directors believe that the likelihood of the group being in breach of its facilities over the twelve months from the date of this report is low and that mitigating actions available are sufficient to address these risks.

"Therefore, there is a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate financial resources to continue to operate for at least the next twelve months from the date of this report."

Its shares are up 15.86% at 60.25p.

2.30pm: CAP-XX (AIM:CPX) climbs after winning US Internet of Things deal

CAP-XX (AIM:CPX) has seen its shares climb after America's MCCI Corporation chose the company's ultra-thin supercapacitors for its latest long range module.

MCCI chief executive Terry Moore said: "The thin CAP-XX (AIM:CPX) supercap handles the periodic wireless data transmissions that require high burst power, offloading that role from the battery and enabling designers to use smaller batteries in often space-constrained Internet of Things sensors."

CAP-XX (AIM:CPX) is up 9.9% at 5.55p.

12.11pm: Rainbow Rare Earths rises after positive update from South Africa

Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd (LSE:RBW) is heading higher after positive test results from its Phalaborwa Project in South Africa.

It said the results of the tests - conducted with Australia's ANSTO Minerals and US group K-Technologies - would allow the company to push ahead with the feasibility study for the project.

Chief executive George Bennett said: "We are delighted by this positive test work and are very reassured that results received to date continue to demonstrate Phalaborwa's robust fundamentals. The studies have identified several key opportunities for capital and operating cost savings as well as underscoring the significant environmental benefits of the project. The potential to participate further downstream in the value chain and produce rare earth oxides with 99.5-99.9% purity has been confirmed by K-Tech's study, which also highlights flexibility for phased project development if required."

Rainbow shares are up 3.58% at 17.35p.

11.11am: Deltex Medical drops as it raises 1.4mln to help fund launch of new monitor

Deltex Medical Group plc (AIM:DEMG) has dropped after the monitoring specialist raised 1.4mln at a discount to the market price.

The funds are being raised via a subscription for 111.72mln new shares at 1.25p each.

In the market Deltex is down 10.91% at 1.22p.

The proceeds from the fundraising will be used in part to launch and market its next generation TrueVue monitor, as well as for general working capital.

The company has also extended a 0.5mln standby loan from a company controlled by its chairman Nigel Keen from December 2022 for an extra year.

Its financial performance in 2021 was hit by the impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent delays in elective surgical procedures around the world, reducing demand for its equipment.

Keen said: "This fund raising enables Deltex Medical to develop and launch the next generation of its technology, including the new non-invasive TrueVue Doppler with significantly broader applications throughout hospitals.

"We believe that Deltex Medical will benefit this year from a combination of the world learning to live with COVID-19 and pressure continuing to build on health systems to reduce the substantial backlog of elective surgical procedures."

"The group's next generation monitor and new, novel non-invasive haemodynamic monitoring technology should help position Deltex Medical to build market share as the backlog in elective surgery is tackled around the world."

10.03am: Midwich Group on the acquisition trail with telecoms group purchase

Midwich Group PLC (AIM:MIDW) is looking bright after snapping up telecoms group Nimans.

The audio visual distributor is paying 27.5mln in cash to Nycomm Holdings for Manchester based Nimans, a specialist in communications and telecoms hardware.

Its key brand relationships include BT, Yealink and Jabra, and it has more than 2,500 telephony, IT and retail customers .

Midwich group managing director Stephen Fenby said: "Nimans is a long-established business with a great reputation for technical excellence, customer service and logistics. Its traditional telecoms market has experienced significant change in recent years, bringing with it new revenue opportunities which the company has developed strongly, in areas such as unified communications, video conferencing, security and networking."

The deal is expected to be earnings enhancing in the year to 31 December 2022.

Midwich shares have added 4.17% to 625p.

9.43: Filtronic shares jump after upbeat outlook

Filtronic PLC (LSE:FTC) is flying after returning to profit.

The maker of products for the aerospace, defence and communications markets, said half year revenues rose from 7.1mln to 8mln.

It made a 0.7mln profit compared to a 0.1mln loss this time last year.

Adjusted EBITDA climbed from 0.6mln to 1.1mln.

In an upbeat outlook statement chairman Jonathan Neale - recently appointed from McLaren - said: "We are confident we will achieve a third consecutive year of EBITDA growth despite the headwinds of supply chain disruption from global semiconductor shortages. Coupled with a healthy cash position, this provides a robust platform to further develop the business and continue investing in revenue growth initiatives and the technology roadmap...

"Recent investments in product development and operational capability align with the UK government's ambition for sovereign capability within the core markets we serve, as well as emerging markets such as Low Earth Orbit Space. This positions us well to capitalise on these opportunities and we are now starting to see the flow down into the supply chain and our opportunity pipeline. To this end, we are confident we can achieve our key strategic objective of broadening the customer base to add to our recent contract win with a leading 5G over-the-air equipment provider."

Filtronic is up 8.66% to 12.77p.

8.37am: Avon Protection lifted by US defence order

Avon Protection PLC (LSE:AVON) is in demand after unveiling a US defence contract.

The company will supply its advanced combat helmet to the US Defense Logistics Agency in a deal worth a maximum of US$204mln over five years.

Chief executive Paul McDonald said: "This is another significant, multi-year helmet contract for Avon Protection, following the award for the U.S. Army next-generation Integrated Head Protection System...

"This contract helps underpin the medium-term outlook and visibility for Avon Protection and reflects the strength of our offering to both military and first responder customers globally."

The company's shares have climbed 6.89% or 76p to 1179p.

Also flying higher is Hummingbird Resources PLC (LSE:HUM).

The miner has added 5.77% to 13.75p after a positive update from the Dugbe gold project in Liberia, which is being developed by Pasofino Gold and where Hummingbird has a controlling interest.

The feasibility study on the project is expected to be completed by April, and Hummingbird chief executive Dan Betts said: "The completion of the [study] will mark a major milestone for Dugbe and complete its journey from being a pure exploration asset to a viable project, with strong project economic fundamentals."
Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR) has dotted the Is and crossed the Ts on its Graphic Lake Lithium Project acquisition in Canada.

The resources stock finalised the Ontario-based lithium and rare earth elements asset acquisition after confirming the buy did not require Canadian Investment Review Board approval.

Graphic Lake marks an extension of Criticals existing assets in Canada, situated roughly 180 kilometres from the companys newly acquired Mavis Lake Lithium Project.

CRR says the acquisition strengthens its lithium exploration footprint in an underexplored and emerging lithium province in Ontario.

Natural synergies are clear

Speaking to the acquisitions settlement, Critical Resources managing director Alex Biggs said: The final acquisition of Graphic Lake is a clear demonstration of our intent to develop our business in Canada.

The natural synergies with our Mavis Lake asset are clear, both from a commodity and exploration standpoint.

Graphic Lake presents an exciting opportunity to conduct exploration works to further define and understand the pegmatite trend from the northeast to the southwest across the property.

Recent additional ground acquisitions have further increased our exploration opportunities across this exciting asset.

We look forward to starting our work programs and will keep the market updated.

The fine print

In exchange for the lithium asset, CRR will hand over:

An A$80,000 cash payment (including the A$10,000 paid as an option fee);

A$120,000 worth of CRR shares (calculated at the 20-day volume-weighted average price); and

A 1.5% net smelter royalty, capped at C$500,000 with the option to purchase at any time for C$500,000.

With the acquisition now settled, Critical intends to pay out the required cash and shares in the coming days.

About Critical Resources

Critical is a base metals and lithium exploration and development focused company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia.

Recently, the company has engaged in a structured process of change at the director and executive level.

These changes represent a renewed focus on providing shareholder value through exploring, developing and advancing the companys long-held NSW assets, newly acquired lithium assets in Canada and copper assets in Oman.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly important part of the way we work, live and play.

The digital assistant in your smartphones, self-driving vehicles and even your Roomba vacuum have harnessed this technology to make the mundane and everyday more seamless.

But what if I told you AI was making its way to the boardroom?

As environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations become more fundamental to a companys operations, businesses are turning to the power of AI to better their practices.

So just how is this technology impacting the working world, and whats on the horizon for AI-powered ESG reporting?

How could AI empower ESG practices?

Companies have just started to skim the surface when it comes to ESG reporting. And that means data surrounding their practices can be varied, inconsistent and difficult to wrap your head around.

A December report from international hedge fund WorldQuant says datasets tracking ESG factors often leave much to be desired.

Investors continue to struggle with questions about ESG data collection and interpretation. The absence of standardised ESG datasets and reporting methodologies makes it difficult for issuers to disclose meaningful information on sustainability," the report stated.

Data may not be widely available or manually collected by analysts, leaving data providers little choice but to produce subjective qualitative assessments.

Such an approach means that different ESG research companies and data providers use their own, often inconsistent methodologies to generate ESG scores."

But WorldQuant believes better data and better data tools  empowered by AI  could resolve many of these issues.

The good news is that tools now exist that were not available even a few years ago, the report stated.

Sophisticated players are learning how to use AI techniques like machine learning, deep learning and neural networks to significantly improve the quality and amount of usable data, and to analyse it more effectively.

The rise of AI in the workplace

In recent years, AI has gained ground as a way for companies to generate further value.

Management consultancy McKinsey & Companys report The state of AI in 2020 tracked how businesses were bringing machine technology into their operations.

A global survey from the firm revealed half of the respondents reported that their companies had adopted AI in at least one business function.

Whats more, 22% of those surveyed said at least 5% of their companies earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were attributable to AI.

Fast forward to today, and companies are investigating how AI can provide further benefits across other aspects of their business  such as emerging ESG functions.

How can AI support ESG investing?

Introducing AI to the world of ESG doesnt just pose benefits for companies: investors also stand to benefit from the growing synergies.

In a 2020 report, financial analytics corporation S&P Global described AI at the crossroads of technology, innovation and sustainability.

Artificial intelligence allows investors to collect and analyse more information than ever before when accounting for environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities, the report stated.

AI can help sustainable investors process mountains of data that hold essential information for ESG investing.

Computer algorithms that have been trained to find and analyse tone and content can digest all of the information available about a company, which can be a massive task for human employees to do at a reasonable speed."

While S&P admits AI is still finding its feet in the ESG realm, it reckons machine tech could have positive implications for investors down the line.

If the promise of these AI technologies is solidified by the results of their output, ESG investing could become more methodical and accessible, the report concluded.

Introducing AI to ESG reporting

As ESG reporting comes to the fore as a key consideration for investors and companies alike, theres room for AI to really shine.

Last year, UK-based fintech All Street launched Sevva, the worlds first AI platform to provide ESG ratings for any public or private company.

Sevvas real-time ratings are based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and cover all 70,000 publicly listed companies globally, any private company and any fund.

Essentially, the platforms cognitive robots read millions of ESG data points from all publicly available information to automatically calculate ESG ratings.

Theres an emphasis on providing data transparency where theres been little in the past, providing investors with in-depth ESG analysis across the entire public and private investable universe.

It also stands to increase accountability  the data doesnt lie, so theres no room to hide if companies arent delivering on their ESG strategy.

Through these insights, it becomes easier to sort the wheat from the chaff.

For example, according to Sevvas research, 80% of the worlds largest companies  1,600 in total  are still not addressing all 17 of the SDGs.

Whats on the horizon?

Theres still a way to go as AI reforms the ever-changing ESG reporting landscape.

But already, the technologys potential in the space is clear: it stands to standardise and transform how companies report their ESG data, increasing transparency and simplicity for investors along the way.

WorldQuant remains bullish about AIs future in the ESG space.

The common consensus is that transparency and ESG integration will become more profound  the ability to operate with reliable data will play a key role in that process.

AI can become the key factor in helping investors and risk managers analyze ESG data that can be collected in both structured and unstructured formats.

Not only can AI help extract relevant information from existing data sources, it also offers exciting opportunities to create new ones.
Red 5 Ltd (ASX:RED) has awarded an integrated haulage and road maintenance services contract to service its King of the Hills (KOTH) gold processing facility which is nearing completion in Western Australia.

The contract with MLG Oz Limited aligns with Red 5s Darlot mine plan and KOTH processing hub strategy and is to service the KOTH processing facility, with run of mine ore from satellite sources at Darlot and Greater Western.

This new contract falls within MLGs Western Australian Operations and is for an initial term of two years with a further one-year extension option at the discretion of Red 5.

It is expected to increase MLGs annual revenue with Red 5 to $20 million from approximately $10 million.

Long-standing customer

MLG founder and managing director Murray Leahy said: We are very pleased to be given the opportunity to continue to support and grow with Red 5 which has been a long-standing customer of MLG.

"The KOTH project and Darlot expansion are very exciting opportunities for Red 5 and we look forward to supporting the company in developing its regional hub.

READ: Red 5 commissioning King of the Hills crusher circuit as it closes in on first gold production

Ore from Darlot and Greater Western is expected to be processed through the KOTH mill from the June quarter of 2022.

Red 5s regional strategy aligns strongly with MLGs existing Goldfields network.

The new KOTH mill is a low cost conventional 4 million tonnes per annum plant in the Eastern Goldfields and is central to Red 5s processing hub strategy to facilitate the processing of ore from multiple regional sources at KOTH.
Alligator Energy Ltd (ASX:AGE) has secured a 12-month option to acquire 100% of the Piedmont Nickel-Cobalt Project in northern Italy from Chris Reindler and Partners (CRP).

If the option is exercised, the resources stock is set to pick up full interest in any exploration licences making up the Piedmont project that it does not currently own.

Alligator will pay a $75,000 option fee, and if the option is exercised, a purchase consideration of $350,000 (in a mix of cash and shares) and a 1% net smelter royalty on any future production from the Laghetto exploration licence.

The company hopes consolidating its interest in the Piedmont project will help progress discussions with strategic investors.

Alligator intends to complete ground electromagnetics and drone magnetic geophysics surveys during the European summer, which falls within the option period.

Two key ingredients for EV industry

Speaking to the deal, Alligator Energy CEO Greg Hall said: We are pleased that Alligator has made significant progress in consolidating the companys interest in the Piedmont Project, morthern Italy, which we believe will be supportive in discussions with strategic investors, one of whom has recently visited Piedmont.

We intend to run geophysics campaigns during the 12-month option period, to provide interested strategic investors with a broader data set, enhance the prospectivity of the licenses and better inform their investment decision. The Laghetto EL is also approved for a drilling program.

Europe has overtaken China as the largest market for electric vehicles and the EU is highly focused on securing reliable, ethical, supply chains for the key inputs for EV batteries such as nickel and cobalt.

To improve the resilience of supply chains, the EU is applying a policy mix that aims to increase domestic capacity and diversify suppliers.

In this environment, our Piedmont Project offers strategic investors the dual benefits of prospectivity for two key inputs for these supply chains, as well as a location in a tier-one jurisdiction that is in close proximity to key markets, and with the scope to produce ethically and sustainably.

Next steps

Alligator continues to plan ground EM and drone magnetic geophysics surveys over a number of the Piedmont Project licences.

With internal board approvals in place to undertake these operations during 2022, contractor negotiations and program designs are underway, and an initial site visit was conducted by potential contractors in late 2021.

The planned surveys are expected to provide further evidence of Piedmonts prospectivity to assist in further discussions with interested strategic investors.

In addition to securing an option over the CRP Exploration Licences, a field trip will take place in the first quarter of 2022, using Alligators in-country team.

From here, the crew will map and sample lower altitude sites at the Isola prospect, where a new forestry road has revealed fresh exposures with evidence of disseminated sulphides.

The Isola prospect is on Alligators 100%-held Sella Basa exploration licence (currently in application).
SenSen Networks Ltd (ASX:SNS, OTCQB:SNNSF) has landed a 36-month contract with distribution partner Duncan Solutions to supply automated parking enforcement solutions to Toowoomba Regional Council in Queensland.

Beginning in March this year, SenSen will deploy one of its sensor AI parking enforcement units along with associated solutions, software and services.

The company will earn upfront revenue for the systems, software and commissioning of the unit to the tune of about A$230,000.

SenSen will also earn annual recurring revenues and fees for the software licence, maintenance and support services under the three-year term of the contract.

Seventh council contract

This service will represent part of Duncan Solutions comprehensive smart parking technology infrastructure solution with the council.

SNS expects that, as with all of its customer contracts, SenSen and Duncan may further assist Toowoomba in keeping its roads safe and congestion free.

Toowoomba is Queenslands largest inland city, located 125 kilometres west of Brisbane in the Darling Downs region with a population of about 170,000.

The company says this win further demonstrates its 'land and expand' strategy, adding a seventh major Queensland council to the growing list of cities utilising SenSens patented AI sensor systems.

About SenSen

SenSen Networks is focused primarily on the development, commercialisation and supply of innovative, data-driven business process enhancement solutions.

The companys software combines enterprise video and sensor data acquisition, data fusion and Internet-of-Things (IoT), and Big Data analytics into a highly scalable and configurable platform that allows customers to improve the speed and accuracy of their decisions.

SenSens R&D and sales teams in Melbourne are supported by an Indian team providing administrative and back-end support and services, including, software testing, quality assurance and customer support.
ClearVue Technologies Ltd (ASX:CPV, OTCQB:CVUEF) has signed a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with D2Solar for the development of its technology in California.

ClearVue operates in the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BPIV) sector which involves the integration of solar technology into building surfaces, specifically glass and building facades, to provide renewable energy.

The company has developed advanced glass technology that aims to preserve glass transparency to maintain building aesthetics whilst generating electricity.

ClearVue will co-locate its US engineering team with D2Solar, a leading specialist in the field of solar engineering, for further development work on its second and third generation technologies.

The move will help improve product development timeframes and ensure a localised US technical team is in place capable of supporting CPVs sales and marketing efforts and provide after sales support in North America.

It is hoped the development of ClearVue components will help secure a position within the US supply chain.

Read: ClearVue bolsters team with new North American CEO

Master Services Agreement

The MSA signing sets the foundation for a long-term partnership with D2Solar, extending market development strategies in a key location of North America.

This partnership ensures a stable, secure US-based product supply chain; a key factor in purchasing decision making in the North American market.

D2Solar managing director Duncan Harwood says the opportunity to work with ClearVue has been very exciting.

We have worked on building integrated photovoltaic products before, but not window integrated photovoltaics like the ClearVue product which sits in is a very exciting new area that is well positioned to focus on responding to the climate crisis.

Further development through SOWs

Additionally, the MSA provides a scope of work to be completed under Statements of Work modules (SOWs).

The first SOW from D2Solar between 2019 and 2021 includes the development of prototypes, which demonstrated a 33% improvement in the power performance of its insulated Glass Unit. It also includes the development of single and double glazed versions of its product designs.

The MSA provides for both parties to enter into an Exclusive OEM Supply Agreement for D2Solar to manufacture certain ClearVue components once final manufacturing-ready products are agreed and tested against appropriate product certification standards.

Such components would be supplied to ClearVue for inclusion in end-products or for supply to ClearVue manufacturing and fabrication licensees.

A second SOW is in the works for an expanded scope of work with ClearVue. This will include further developing its second and third generation technologies and refining its single-and double-glazed product types.

Advance and Overseas Finding Certificate

Due to the specialist and highly technical nature of the development work being undertaken by D2Solar, CPV was granted an Advance and Overseas Finding Certificate (No. OF01278) from AusIndustry in June 2021.

The certificate allows for research and development works undertaken by CPV outside of Australia, specifically through D2Solar, to be claimed as a part its annual R&D Tax Incentive claim.

CPV expects that a significant proportion of development costs for current development works and works that will form the subject of the second Statement of Work with D2Solar, will be able to be claimed.

A bright future

ClearVue executive chairman Victor Rosenberg says he looks forward to the future of their partnership with D2Solar.

Very few contract development teams globally have the depth of skills and knowledge that the team at D2Solar can offer.

We have been very pleased to be working with them over the last few years and are very much looking forward to deepening this relationship going forward including as a tech development partner.

- Written by Duncan Bailey
Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX:CPH, OTCQB:COPHF)s wholly-owned, Canadian-based psychedelics subsidiary Halucenex Life Sciences Inc. has been included on a list of companies that can provide psychedelic compounds to researchers and patients under the SAP.

More broadly, this means Halucenex may provide patients with previously restricted psychedelic substances, under certain circumstances, following Health Canada guidelines.

The SAP is a federal program that allows healthcare professionals to apply for access to non-marketed medications that have not yet been approved for sale.

This can only occur if the medications show clinical evidence of safety and efficacy and are intended to treat patients with severe or life-threatening illness.

Included in the list of medications is psilocybin and Halucenex is one of only several suppliers that doctors and patients who obtain permission will be directed to for the supply of psychedelic substances.

Psilocybin may be used for treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is part of a therapeutics sector expected to grow to US$10.5 billion in value by 2025 providing Creso Pharma with a major market opportunity.

Psilocybin access

The changes to the SAP were announced on January 5 2022 in the Government of Canadas official newspaper, the Canada Gazette.

This announcement reversed a 2013 decision that prohibited a range of restricted drugs, including psilocybin, in the treatments for mental health and other health conditions.

The new regulations allow medical practitioners, on behalf of patients with serious to life-threatening conditions, to be able to request restricted drugs through the SAP.

Halucenex is now on a list of suppliers who can give doctors access to psilocybin for their patients.

Treatment options growing

We commend Health Canadas continued progress towards providing treatment options to those needing support to combat serious or life-threatening conditions, Halucenex president, CEO and founder Bill Fleming said.

Becoming an approved supplier of psychedelic compounds for the Special Access Program provides Halucenex with a new potential revenue stream and cements our place as one of Canadas leading drug development and supply company.

Its encouraging to see policy makers begin to recognise the potential for psychedelic medicines for both its medicinal and research capabilities.

"As the public demand for psychedelic medicines increases, we hope to continue to witness a change in the regulatory landscapes to allow us to fully utilise the application of these innovative medicines.

"We are now focused on working with our network of partners to begin the supply of our Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) quality grade synthetic psilocybin to doctors and patients under the SAP.
'We are honored and appreciate the significant initial support from SDTC to accelerate the development of the innovative design of the Vicinity Lightning EV which will mitigate exposure to energy and carbon costs,' said Vicinity Motor CEO William Trainer

Vicinity Motor Corp. (TSX-V:VMC) has announced the receipt of an initial C$2.6 million grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a foundation created by the Canadian government, for the development of zero-emission transit busses.

SDTC helps Canadian entrepreneurs accelerate the development and deployment of globally competitive clean technology solutions.

The non-repayable grant from SDTC will help Vicinity Motor to introduce its new all-electric, true low-floor wheelchair-accessible fully ADA-compliant, mid-sized, medium-duty bus in Calgary.

READ: Vicinity Motor receives C$3.5M order from First Transit for eight Vicinity Classic buses

The project creates an affordable new class of mid-sized buses, providing an environmentally responsible alternative to buses with traditional combustion engines.

"We are honored and appreciate the significant initial support from SDTC to accelerate the development of the innovative design of the Vicinity Lightning EV which will mitigate exposure to energy and carbon costs," Vicinity Motor CEO William Trainer said in a statement. "As cities and governments around the world continue to establish climate goals, they are rapidly committing the funding needed for zero emission transit options like our breakthrough Vicinity Lightning EV.

Trainer also noted that SDTC focuses on deploying new technologies with the potential to transform Canadas environmental and economic landscape.

With this complementary mission between us, we look forward to our continued relationship with SDTC as a valued partner to enhance our growth and encourage adoption of electric vehicles within the Canadian market," added Trainer.

Meanwhile, SDTC President Leah Lawrence, pointed out that Vicinity Motor's new Lightning EV bus will give municipalities a way to provide transit options that are both sustainable and accessible to all citizens.

SDTC is proud to support Vicinity Motor Corp. (TSX-V:VMC) as they continue to innovate and find cleaner options for moving people," added Lawrence.

From initial funding to educational support, SDTC is invested in helping small and medium-sized businesses grow into successful companies that employ Canadians. The innovations SDTC funds help solve some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges including climate change.

Vicinity Motors flagship line of buses, which maintains a market segment leadership position in Canada, are produced by the firms world-class manufacturing partners and will be assembled at its soon-to-be-completed Buy America Act compliant facility in the state of Washington.

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive
Global Energy Metals said the compilation and interpretation work will include incorporating the first ever, high-quality, detailed magnetic survey completed on the property

Global Energy Metals Corp (TSX-V:GEMC) announced that it has hired SJ Geophysics Ltd to assemble a complete, extensive, comprehensive and detailed data compilation and interpretation program for its Treasure Box project in Nevada.

The company said Treasure Box is considered to be highly prospective with supergene-enriched iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) style mineralization that includes the potential for discovery of high-grade copper and cobalt.

Global Energy Metals noted the compilation and interpretation work will include incorporating the first ever, high-quality, detailed magnetic survey completed on the property, which highlighted multiple zones of interest, along with all known lithological and mineralogical information and known structural measurements to allow for the framing of a comprehensive structural and geological map that will vector fieldwork towards those areas of highest merit for exploration and target high-priority areas for drilling.

It added that SJ Geophysics will reinterpret historical drilling and mining data related to the Treasure Box project and will review and incorporate historical geological data collected from previous operators spanning over a century in order to support upcoming exploration programs.

As well, Global Energy Metals reported that SJ Geophysics will evaluate recent drilling at the companys Lovelock project from a geophysical data perspective.

The company said SJ Geophysics performed the initial Induced polarization (IP) survey and integrated the results of the airborne magnetic survey and then made recommendations relative to drill hole location and orientation.

Global Energy Metals is investing-in, exploring and developing prospective, scaleable assets in established mining and processing jurisdictions in close proximity to end-use markets.

It has current copper, nickel and cobalt projects in Canada, Australia, Norway, and the US.

Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com
Technology Metals Market, or TM2, is the world's first spot market where direct investment in technology metals is possible, as it becomes the one-stop-shop for EV battery manufacturers and OEMs

Gratomic Inc said it has signed an indicative term sheet with Millenium Metals LTD (TM2) to supply graphite over 60 consecutive months, beginning upon commencement of commercial production at its Aukam Graphite project in Namibia.

The companies forged a strategic partnership with the intention of being the first to industrialize graphite as a commodity.

Technology Metals Market, or TM2, is the world's first spot market where direct investment in technology metals is possible. It is quickly becoming the one-stop-shop for electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturers and OEMs.

The metals and minerals available on the TM2 platform are essential to EV batteries, aerospace, semiconductors, and many additional high-tech industries. Its innovative approach to commodities has created a global community within the EV space.

"Gratomic, like TM2, is founded on forward-thinking and this transaction is a prime example of how we strive to create opportunities rather than settling for the status quo. Gratomic will continue to establish itself as a multinational graphite supplier and aims to stake out a solid position in the electric vehicle battery sector," said Gratomic CEO Arno Brand in a statement.

Gratomic said the parties have agreed to enter a long-form agreement within six months under which Gratomic will commit to supplying 30% of its total production of its SG16 uncoated and 15% of its SG16 coated graphite material year-over-year for 60 consecutive months from the date that the company's Aukam Graphite Plant officially enters commercial production. Commerical production is defined as an output of greater than 51% of total production, which is estimated for the third quarter of 2022.

The first three-month commitment will be at a fixed price of US$2,700 per ton for graphite grade SG16 uncoated, and US$8,000 per ton for graphite grade SG16 coated. After the first three months of delivery, products will be purchased from Gratomic at prevailing market rates and according to Fastmarkets graphite price for graphite and subject to final weight and assays.

A provisional payment of 90% in advance will be made quarterly to Gratomic for the upcoming three-month delivery period based on planned production and prices on the date of payment. Final payment will be made when final weight, assays, and prices are known, according to three-month quotational period and no later than 90 days after delivery less 2.5% total invoice value as commission.

The processing plant at the company's Aukam Graphite project was built to accommodate an initial 20,000 tonnes per annum of output and was engineered in a modular design to accommodate rapid expansion over time. The over-engineering of the front and back end of the plant, allows the company to quickly increase capacity up to 45,000 tonnes per year, to accommodate the market increase in demand.

Product output is intended to be supplemented through the development of Gratomic's Capim Grosso graphite project in the Bahia State of Brazil.

Gratomic emphasized that no Preliminary Economic Analysis (PEA), Preliminary Feasibility Study, nor Feasibility Study has been completed to support any level of production. No mineral resources, or mineral reserves demonstrating economic viability and technical feasibility, have been delineated on the Aukam property.

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham
CLS Holdings USA (CSE:CLSH, OTCQB:CLSH) Inc has released its initial 2022 outlook and issued a review of the financial and operational highlights that made 2021 the company's most successful and transformational year to date.

CLS pointed out that after experiencing strong performance in the 2021 calendar year, it expects 2022 to be even better and anticipates year-on-year revenue growth to accelerate while maintaining gross margins with continued EBITDA improvement.

Despite the Nevada cannabis market decelerating in 2021, CLS saw net revenues increase 44% year-over-year in 2021 and entered into two important joint ventures, which it says should transform the company and add substantial revenue at attractive margins.

The company said: "This next year has a lot in store, full of new products and stories to tell. We are excited about growing into other markets while giving back to the communities around us and continuing to invest in our people."

Looking ahead in 2022, CLS said it recognizes the key to success is to focus on what it can control. Once the new joint ventures commence operations, the company noted that it will have direct control over its large expansion into the flower and pre-roll categories while continuing to capitalize on the current successes of City Trees and Oasis.

In its review of the previous year, CLS said: "2021 was a year to remember. We set out to accomplish some lofty goals and shake things up in the cannabis industry. We knew that if we were disciplined and executed on what we could control, we had the potential to achieve our best year ever.

"While the legal cannabis market in Nevada saw a deceleration of growth in 2021, our small but mighty company strongly grew YOY for the 3rd year in a row. This has everything to do with the teams we have in place on the ground working tirelessly to achieve a common goal, simply put, to be the best version of ourselves."

The company continued: "We also entered into several key joint ventures, which we strongly believe will strategically transform the CLS story. The significant benefits of these partnerships will be increasingly visible to our investors and our customers as we progress through 2022. The Company's primary wholesale brand, City Trees, further established itself as one of the leading brands in Nevada, achieving a top market share position across its categories and winning numerous industry awards for product quality and innovation."

"We take great pride in contributing to the cannabis industry as a whole and fostering change within our community. We would like to thank all of those who have contributed to our successes in 2021," CLS concluded.

CLS Holdings USA (CSE:CLSH, OTCQB:CLSH) is a diversified cannabis company that as an integrated cannabis producer and retailer through its Oasis Cannabis subsidiaries in Nevada and plans to expand to other states.

CLS stands for 'Cannabis Life Sciences', in recognition of the company's patented proprietary method of extracting various cannabinoids from the marijuana plant and converting them into products with a higher level of quality and consistency.

The company's business model includes licensing operations, processing operations, processing facilities, sale of products, brand creation and consulting services.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
The company plans to complete the installation of an analytical lab and achieve first copper-gold concentrate production in March

Altiplano Metals Inc (TSX-V:APN, OTC:ALTPF) has reported major progress on its ongoing construction activities at its El Penon processing facility being built to support copper-gold-iron production from its flagship Farellon mine near La Serena, Chile.

In September last year, the Canadian gold, silver, and copper company obtained permit approval to construct and install the copper-gold flotation, iron magnetic separation and a dewatering processing plant.

In a statement, Altiplano CEO Alastair McIntyre said: "We are very pleased with the construction progress at the mill site where 90% of the work has been completed.

READ: Altiplano Metals boosts revenue in 4Q with higher copper sales from Farellon mine in Chile

He added: Our team in Chile has done an excellent job working with the government and local contractors to move the project towards completion. The next steps of integrating the various processing components are the final steps to bring the plant circuit online."

Since receiving the September permit approval, Altiplano has completed the installation of the crushing, milling, and flotation equipment and installed hoppers and a conveyor system. The firm said it has also shipped dewatering and magnetic separation equipment to the site.

Altiplano noted that it had also completed the construction of four concrete platforms for the copper-gold concentrate dewatering filter press system, magnetic separation and tailings dewatering processes.

In addition, Altiplano made headway on the electricity front by drawing an electrical connection from principal power lines to its main power room, including connection to hydraulic systems for crushing, milling and flotation processes, and an electrical connection to the diesel electricity generator to support back-up power.

Altiplano highlighted the companys next steps with a precise timeline as follows:

Testing of the crushing, milling and copper-gold flotation concentrate circuit (February)

Complete building construction (February)

Installation of the iron oxide magnetic separation and dewatering equipment (March)

Begin shipment and stockpiling of production from Farellon to the plant site (March)

Finalize dry stack tailings storage area (March)

Construct copper and iron concentrate product storage pads (March)

Complete the installation of an analytical lab and achieve first copper-gold concentrate production in March

Altiplano has generated over US$7.98 million from the recovery and sale of 3.86 million pounds of copper with an average grade of 1.74% copper. The company noted that the cash has gone back into equipment, underground drilling, and expanding underground development at Farellon, intensifying exploration at Maria Luisa, and the El Penon fit-for-purpose mill and flotation plant 15 kilometers from the Farellon site.

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive
ACME Lithium Inc CEO Steve Hanson tells Proactive that project operator GeoXplor Corporation has received a letter of approval under a Notice of Intent to Drill from the United States Bureau of Land Management for ACME's near-term drill program at its Clayton Valley lithium brine project in Nevada.

Hanson says the Notice of Intent covers a multi-hole drill program up to a depth of 500 meters and focuses on the most prospective lithium brine targets as defined by recent geophysical work, in addition to drill road access and site preparation.
Jakarta, Feb 8 : The Indonesian government has decided to upgrade the public mobility restriction protocol, locally known as PPKM, to level 3 alert status, following the wave of Covid-19 Omicron variant.

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the country's Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, told a press conference on Monday that the level 3 restriction was applied in Indonesia's capital Jakarta and its satellite cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi, renowned resort island Bali, Yogyakarta, and Bandung.

The PPKM level 3 means that public places such as cinemas, restaurants, shopping centers, and houses of worship are only allowed to receive visitors only up to 60 per cent capacity and to close by 9 p.m, Xinhua news agency reported.

Only adult visitors who have been fully vaccinated are allowed to enter those places, whereas for children, only those who have received their first vaccine jab, are allowed entry.

The decision to elevate the level restriction policy came just days after Bali, the country's most renowned holiday island, reopened for direct international flights from all the countries and regions worldwide.

The Southeast Asian country is seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases since January, driven by the Omicron variant.

Indonesia on Monday confirmed 26,121 new Covid-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 4,542,601, the country's Health Ministry said.

According to the Ministry, the death toll from Covid-19 in the country rose by 82 to 144,636, while 8,577 more people recovered during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,191,604.

As the Indonesian government is accelerating its national vaccination programs to curb the spread of the virus, more than 186.70 million people have received their first dose of vaccines, while more than 131.11 million have taken the second dose.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Ankara, Feb 8 : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have held a phone conversation over regional developments, particularly tensions between Russia and Ukraine, said Turkey's presidency.

The phone talk comes amid NATO member Turkey's mediation efforts to defuse tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Turkey acts in a "logic of calming the tensions," Erdogan told the NATO Chief on Monday, according to a presidential statement.

Stressing that the crisis should end in peaceful and diplomatic ways based on Ukraine's territorial integrity and international law within the framework of the Minsk Agreements, the Turkish President said he had told his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts on several occasions that Turkey would like to host a summit at the leadership level or talks at the technical level, Xinhua news agency reported.

Stoltenberg tweeted that he exchanged views with Erdogan on "Russia's buildup in and around Ukraine." "I thanked him for his active support and personal engagement to find a political solution, and welcomed Turkey's strong practical support to Ukraine," he said, adding NATO remains ready for dialogue.

Last week, the Turkish Ptresident held talks with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev where he proposed to mediate between Ukraine and Russia.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Ankara, Feb 8 : Turkey's state pipeline operator announced that the full flow of natural gas to industrial plants will resume on Tuesday, after it temporarily limited gas use because of a breakdown on an Iranian pipeline.

"We would like to thank our industrialists for their understanding and cooperation in this process," Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) tweeted on Monday.

Turkey reduced gas supply to industrial sites and power stations by 40 per cent on January 20 after Iran cut the gas flow to Turkey on the grounds of "technical failure." In its statement on January 28, BOTAS said the gas supply from Iran had started in limited quantities, and the rate of cuts applied to industrial enterprises would be reduced to 20 per cent from January 31, Xinhua news agency reported.

With the increasing demand during the cold weather conditions in Turkey, about 288 million cubic metres of gas was consumed on January 19, breaking an all-time record.

Turkey's annual natural gas consumption varies between 55 to 60 billion cubic metres. Nearly 40 per cent of heating and electricity generation in the country are provided by natural gas.

Turkey is dependent on imported gas, mainly from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Iranian gas has a share of 8 to 10 per cent in Turkey's overall supply.

Turkey will bring in an additional 4 million cubic metres of natural gas per day through the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline in February from Azerbaijan to meet its increasing demand during the harsh winter conditions, state-run Anadolu agency reported on January 26.
Helsinki, Feb 8 : Erkki Tuomioja, Finland's former Foreign Minister and long-time Member of Parliament, said he doubted that his country's possible North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) membership would strengthen its security.

Commenting on his new book "Finland and NATO" on Monday, Tuomioja raised the question of what in practice would NATO countries be willing to do to help Finland in the event of a war, Xinhua news agency reported.

If Finland were a NATO member, it would become the primary front in a war between NATO and Russia, he added.

"I believe NATO would ultimately emerge as the winner and would show up as the liberator of Finland, but what would remain of us by that time, especially if nuclear weapons are used?" Tuomioja asked.

According to him, it is not in the interest of either Finland or Russia to turn the 1,300-km border between them into a military conflict zone.

In his opinion, Finland should have the opportunity to apply for NATO membership, but now is not the time to do so.

According to national broadcaster Yle's report on Monday, a recent poll found that 45 per cent of those surveyed would support Finland's application for NATO membership on condition that it is recommended by the nation's leaders.

Nearly one-third of the respondents opposed the idea and under one quarter were undecided.

Last December, Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson said they had no plans to apply for NATO membership.
Kiev, Feb 8 : Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his visiting German counterpart Annalena Baerbock have discussed cooperation in the Normandy format aimed at resolving the Ukraine crisis, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

Speaking at a meeting after their talks, Kuleba on Monday said currently, diplomats are preparing for talks of the advisors of the Normandy format, a four-party diplomatic group consisting of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, in Berlin.

"The preparations for the meeting in Berlin are not easy. But we are working to ensure that, at least after the meeting in Berlin, negotiations at the level of Normandy format advisers continue," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister told reporters.

For her part, Baerbock said that the fact that negotiations within the Normandy format at the level of advisers continue is a "success".

"Of course, we will not publish the agenda in the press. But we will communicate within the framework of a trusting atmosphere," he added.

The advisors to the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are set to meet on February 10 in Berlin, Xinhua news agency reported.

On January 26, the Normandy four advisors met in Paris and agreed on a joint statement, the first since December 2019.

Baerbock arrived in Kiev earlier on Monday for a two-day visit.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Kiev for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

On Monday, Macron met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Since November, Kiev and some Western countries have accused Russia of assembling heavy troops near the Ukrainian border with a possible intention of "invasion".

Russia denied the accusation, saying that it has the right to mobilise troops within its borders to defend its territory as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's activities constitute a threat to Russia's border security.
Cairo, Feb 8 : Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his visiting Djiboutian counterpart Ismail Omar Guelleh have discussed bilateral relations and regional issues of common interest.

During a joint press conference in Cairo on Monday, Sisi said the visit of Guelleh is a continuation of the communication and coordination between the two countries at various bilateral and regional levels, and a follow-up to the results of their consultations during Sisi's visit to Djibouti in May 2021, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This outreach underscores the long-standing strategic relations that unite our two countries across all levels," said the Egyptian President, noting the bilateral ties over the past period have witnessed significant steps in all political and economic fields.

The talks have been characterised by openness and transparency that reflected the two countries' consensus on many bilateral and regional issues, he added.

"We discussed all aspects of the ongoing cooperation between the two countries, notably at the economic, trade and investment levels, as well as means to further advance them in a manner that befits the distinguished political relations between our two countries," he said.

The two sides agreed on the importance of necessary support to boost mutual investments, the contribution of Egyptian companies to economic development efforts in Djibouti, and efforts to inaugurate a branch of Bank Misr there.

"We stressed the need to strengthen our efforts to increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries and establish an Egyptian logistic zone in Djibouti," Sisi said, noting they also discussed efforts to foster closer cooperation in the fields of transport and ports connectivity, as well as efforts to establish direct flights between Cairo and Djibouti city.

The two Presidents also exchanged views on joint cooperation in the areas of education and health.

Sisi reiterated Egypt's commitment to the persistent support for Djibouti, and providing training and building capacities in various fields.

He said they also discussed the developments in the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), underscoring Egypt's political will to reach a legally-binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam within an appropriate timeframe.
Jerusalem, Feb 8 : Israel has said it is setting up a government inquiry commission to investigate allegations of the police using spyware on mobile phones of officials, businesspersons and civilians without authorisation.

The police used the spyware NSO's Pegasus to hack into phones of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son Avner Netanyahu and two of his close associates, the newspaper Calcalist reported on Monday.

According to Calcalist, the police also targeted activists, journalists, civil servants and the owner of Israel's third-largest supermarket chain. A witness in Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial was also allegedly monitored, Xinhua news agency reported.

Led by a retired Supreme Court judge, the commission will "investigate in depth the violation of civil rights and privacy in the years in question," Internal Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev tweeted.

He said the commission will investigate not only the police use of Pegasus but also their other scandals, including an alleged hacking into the phone of Defense Minister Benny Gantz and other politicians while Netanyahu was in power.

"We will get to the bottom of it. We will eradicate corruption," Omer noted.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who replaced Netanyahu in June 2021, said in a statement that "the reports about Pegasus, if they are true, are very serious".

Noting he will consult with other ministers, Bennett said "we won't leave this without a response".

Speaking at the parliament, Netanyahu, currently the opposition leader, viewed the police use of Pegasus as "a dark day for the state of Israel".

The ousted leader said the alleged use of the spyware against civilians and public servants was "unthinkable," urging the authorities to open an independent investigation.

President Isaac Herzog also voiced his concern. "We must not lose our democracy. We must not lose our police. And we must certainly not lose public trust in them. This requires an in-depth and thorough investigation," he said in a statement.

According to Calcalist, the police used Pegasus during the term of former Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh, who led the force between 2015 and 2018.

The spyware infects mobile phones and enables operators to extract messages, photos and emails, and secretly activate microphones and cameras. It drew international criticism after several governments around the world were found to misuse it to target officials, journalists, activists, and academics.

In November 2021, the company was blacklisted by the US Commerce Department over its engagement "in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the US."
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Artist Jitish Kallat's 'Order of Magnitude', his first major solo exhibition in West Asia and the Levant will be presented by Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, from February 16 to July 1. It will be accompanied by physical and virtual tours, educational and public programmes, a newly commissioned text by Amal Khalaf and artist conversations over the duration of the exhibition.

Presenting new works that include paintings, multimedia installations, drawings and site-specific interventions, the exhibition reflects Jitish Kallat's profound deliberations on the interrelationship between the cosmic and the terrestrial.

The artist's oeuvre sits between fluid speculation, precise measurement and conceptual conjectures producing dynamic forms of image-making. Using abstract, schematic, notational and representational languages, he engages with different modes of address, seamlessly interlacing the immediate and the cosmic, the telescopic and the microscopic, the past and present. In 'Order of Magnitude', one finds a contemplation of overarching interconnectivity on the individual, universal, planetary and extra-terrestrial dimensions.

The viewer is first confronted with Integer Studies (Drawings from Life), which run through the space resembling both the horizon and the equator. Since the beginning of 2021, Kallat followed a ritual of making one daily drawing as part of a durational study in graphite, aquarelle pencil and gesso stains. Each work comprises diverse forms anchored by the same three sets of numbers: the algorithmically estimated world population, the number of new births, and the death count noted at the particular moment of the work's creation. Human life and death are abstracted in drawings that are both graphic and painterly, prompting questions of extinction and evolution.

Seen alongside these studies is a wall-sized painting titled 'Postulates from a Restless Radius', whose perimeter takes the form of the conic Albers projection of the Earth. The work begins as an unstable, cross-sectional grid (in aquarelle pencil) that opens up the globe on a flat plane. There is no cartographic intent here; in place of planetary geography it assembles signs and speculations, at once evoking botanical, suboceanic, celestial, and geological formations. 'Postulates from a Restless Radius' is an exploratory abstraction of forms that suggest signatures of growth and entropy.

Placed centrally are four double-sided and multi-scopic photo works titled 'Epicycles'. This series began during the early days of the pandemic in 2020 with a hand-drawn journal capturing minute changes in Kallat's studio -- such as cracks surfacing on walls. The artist embeds these chance encounters with iconic pictures from the 'Family of Man' exhibition organised by photographer Edward Steichen at the MoMA, New York, in 1955. The resulting prints combine the artist's everyday observations with archival images of human solidarity taken by photographers from around the world. Meticulously composed on a lenticular surface, the depicted figures appear and disappear as one moves around the work, yielding a complex portrait of time in its transience and ephemerality.

Finally, a site-specific intervention by the artist titled N-E-S-W serves as an allusive clue to reading this exhibition. Embedded within the foundation's architecture, a functional magnetic compass is inset within the flooring. N-E-S-W summons the cardinal directions of the Earth, aligned to invisible force fields, rendering both the exhibition and Ishara into planetary surveying devices.
Lucknow, Feb 8 : The Samajwadi Party (SP) has demanded removal of Inspector General of Police, Lucknow Range, Laxmi Singh as her husband, Rajeshwar Singh, is contesting as a BJP candidate from the Sarojini Nagar constituency in the state capital.

In a letter to the Election Commission of India, SP state chief Naresh Uttam accused the IPS officer of taking undue advantage of her position in trying to influence voters and demanded her immediate transfer.

Polling in Lucknow is scheduled for February 23.
Lucknow, Feb 8 : Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav has sought action from the Election Commission (EC) after a differently-abled person, Surendra Singh of Fatehabad constituency in Agra, said that he wanted to cast his vote for SP but was not allowed to do so during postal voting two days ago.

On Sunday, the sector magistrate cast his vote for the BJP, Surendra claimed.

A video of the voter along with other villagers arguing with the polling team has gone viral on social media.

In the video, J.P. Pandey, SDM Fatehabad, is heard saying that "one vote does not make a difference".

Sharing the video on Twitter, Akhilesh asked SP-RLD alliance supporters and workers to remain vigilant during polling.

The district administration has refuted the charge.

Terming the incident as a case of "rigging", Akhilesh said in a tweet that this was a serious matter, adding: "It is expected from the EC that such officers should be identified and suspended immediately." Police and local authorities were called in after a group of people at Jagrajpur village protested over the alleged forced polling.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters, Surendra said: "We are being threatened by the local authorities not to speak to the media. My family is scared." Calling the allegations of forceful voting as "politically motivated and baseless", Agra District Magistrate Prabhu Narain Singh said: "Surendra Singh had voted himself. We have a video recording of him taking the postal ballot paper from the polling staff inside his home to exercise the franchise. The micro-observer appointed by the EC was also present at the spot. A report has been sent to the EC." The voting process for the state Assembly polls began in Agra on Sunday for persons with disability and those above 80 years of age.

For the first time, the EC has allowed people in the two categories to vote using postal ballot papers.

The first phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh will begin from Thursday. Results will be declared on March 10.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Enforcement Directorate is likely to seek an extension of remand of Bhupinder Singh Honey, the nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.

Honey will be produced before the court on Tuesday after the expiry of his custody in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to the illegal mining in Punjab.

Sources claimed that the ED is mulling to seek more custody as Honey was reportedly evasive during the interrogation and was not cooperating with the probe agency. ED sources said that he needs to be confronted with other accused and a few more documents.

Honey was arrested during the intervening night of February 3 and 4, and remanded to ED custody till February 8.

Honey was interrogated by a team of elite officials of the central probe agency. His family had been allowed by the court to meet him once for an hour everyday.

The ED document accessed by the IANS reads that Honey allegedly used to take money from officials in lieu of their choice of transfer and posting.

"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 crore), Sandeep Kumar's premises at Ludhiana (Rs 1.99 crore) and from the Homeland House Premises at Mohali (Rs 3.89 crore) actually pertained to him. He admitted to having generated such proceeds of crime through mining related activities, including clearance of mining files and transfer of officials," read the ED document.

Sources have claimed since Honey was close to Channi, he was using the political connection to earn huge profits.

According to ED documents, Honey has confessed that it was his Rs ten crore which were recovered during raids.

ED has alleged that he was getting money from illegal mining too.

On January 18, ED had conducted raids at ten different locations, including Homeland Heights which is the residence of Honey.

The ED continued raiding at different places for two days and recovered incriminating documents.

Honey was asked to appear before 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 official had said that they seized incriminating documents pertaining to illegal sand mining, property transactions, cell phones, gold worth above Rs 21 lakh, a watch worth Rs 12 lakh and cash of Rs 10 crore during the raids.

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 per cent equal shares.

The ED case is on the basis of a two year old FIR.

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 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 involved in the case and they started probing the matter.
Lucknow, Feb 8 : The Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind (MuH), a national body of clerics, has condemned the Karnataka government's decision to ban hijabs in educational institutions.

In a statement, MuH general secretary Maulana Kalbe Jawad and other clerics have sought revocation of the order, terming it as anti-constitutional and against minority rights.

The group collectively said that the hijab was neither restrictive by nature nor an obstacle in their education.

They also drew a comparison with the Central government's decision on Surya Namaskar to be performed by all irrespective of religious sentiments.

"The controversy had been escalating for a month but neither the Karnataka state government nor the central government addressed it properly. The governments should know that hijab does not come in the way of education but the ban seems to be targeting a particular community so that saffron motives can gain further heights.

"Hinduism holds Surya Namaskar in high regard but it is not acceptable by people of other faiths in India, yet the central government ordered for it to be performed on January 26. Islam allows for Allah's worship alone and Surya Namaskar cannot be made the threshold for identifying nationalism. Similarly, the literacy gap cannot be reduced in the country if governments ban the hijab which does not come in the way of women's success," the MuH added.
Agra, Feb 8 : The campaigning for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will come to halt at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Only door to door canvassing would be permitted.

A total of 58 Assembly constituencies in 11 districts will go to polls on February 10.

Agra District Magistrate P.N. Singh said no big programmes would be allowed. A separate control room has been set up in each of the nine Assembly constituencies.

District officials said liquor shops will remain shut till the polling day on February 10.

A total of 129 companies of para military forces have been deployed. Traffic restrictions have come into force.

Nine assembly constituencies in the Agra district, with sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, go to the polls on February 10. The polling duty staff will move out on Wednesday for the 3,911 booths. For the nine constituencies, there are 34.61 lakh voters and 107 candidates.

While Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav with his ally Jayant Choudhary, RLD president, have been campaigning hard in rural segments, and their strong pockets, the BJP all the stalwarts from Amit Shah, Hema Malini to Raj Nath Singh, J.P. Nadda, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with his two deputies Keshav Maurya and Dinesh Sharma to campaign.

Due to Covid-19 protocol and a set of restrictions, campaigning has been hampered. The continuing cold wave conditions too added to the challenges for the candidates.
Chennai, Feb 8 : While Sri Lanka has been assuring India that they would not be troubling the Indian fishermen, the Tamil Nadu 'Q' branch police has said that 16 Indian fishermen from Rameswaram were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy at Deft island in the early hours of Tuesday.

According to a statement of the 'Q' branch police of Tamil Nadu, 16 fishermen and three boats were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy at 2 a.m.. The Sri Lankan Navy, according to the 'Q' branch had apprehended the fishermen from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu at the Delft Island or Neduntheevu in Northern Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan Navy has slapped charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on the Indian fishermen, according to sources in the police.

Sixty-three Indian Fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and remanded to judicial custody by the Sri Lankan Navy in December 2021, and 53 of these fishermen are still in an isolation centre of the Sri Lankan government after being released from prison.

The Sri Lankan Fisheries department has also advertised in newspapers in the Island nation on the auction of the Indian fishing boats seized some time back by the Sri Lankan authorities.

It may be noted that the Government of India had recently sanctioned a huge amount to the Sri Lankan government to support that country which was in a major debt crisis due to foreign exchange issues.

K. Jesudasan, a fishermen leader from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu while speaking to IANS said, "Sri Lankans are exceeding the limit and our fishers are voyaging into waters with much reluctance these days. The Government of India and the state government of Tamil Nadu must jointly bring a settlement to this issue.

"The Palk Straits are a small area and unintentionally, our fishermen cross over to the Sri Lankan waters. This need not be taken as a major issue and arrests and all are unwarranted. The Government of India is supporting the present Sri Lankan Government with all means and this leverage has to be taken diplomatically to bring an amicable settlement to the issues of our fishermen."
United Nations, Feb 8 : Influential Spanish painter Pablo Picasso's famed "Guernica" tapestry has returned to the UN Headquarters in New York after a year-long absence.

The tapestry was restored at its original place outside the Security Council Chamber on February 5, reports Xinhua news agency.

The owner of the tapestry, Nelson Rockefeller, Jr., retrieved it in February 2021.

No reason was given at the time.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in February 2021 that the world body chief and others went to great lengths to keep the tapestry in the UN, but in vain.

"I am grateful that the tapestry will be able to continue to reach a broader segment of the world's population and magnify its ability to touch lives and educate," said Rockefeller.

Guterres stated in a letter dated December 15, 2021 to Rockefeller: "This is most welcome news as we end a difficult year of global hardship and strife. The Guernica tapestry speaks to the world about the urgent need to advance international peace and security.

"We are honoured to serve as careful stewards of this one-of-a-kind iconic work -- as we draw inspiration from its message." The tapestry of Picasso's 1937 anti-war painting "Guernica" was commissioned in 1955 by former US Vice President and governor of New York State Nelson Rockefeller and offered on loan to the UN in 1984.

It had been outside of the Security Council since 1985.

The original grey, white and black "Guernica" painting is exhibited in the Museo Reina SofAa in Madrid.

The "Guernica", a large 1937 oil painting on canvas, is one of Picasso's best-known works, regarded by many art critics as the most moving and powerful anti-war painting in history.

It portrays the suffering wrought by violence and chaos. Prominent in the composition are a gored horse, a bull, screaming women, a dead baby, a dismembered soldier, and flames.
Hyderabad, Feb 8 : Hyderabad police have arrested a YouTuber and three others for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.

Sarayu, who runs YouTube channel '7 Art', was picked up by police along with others from her office in Film Nagar under the limits of Banjara Hills police station late on Monday.

They were later let off after police issued them notices, directing them to appear before it on Tuesday.

The arrests were made following an FIR registered against them for allegedly insulting Hindu gods in her short film screened in Sircilla last year as part of a promotional campaign for a local restaurant.

The FIR was registered after Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Sircialla district president Chapuri Ashok Sircilla lodged a complaint that Sarayu and her cast members demeaned the Hindu community and women.

The FIR was lodged at the Sircilla police station but it was later transferred to the Banjara Hills police station in Hyderabad.

Sarayu, who is a former Big Boss Telugu contestant, was arrested along with producer and director of the short film Srikanth Reddy and Karthik and Krishna Mohan who acted in the short film.
Dehradun, Feb 8 : The Uttarakhand BJP is leaving no stone unturned to gain political benefits by cornering rival Congress over the reportedly promised 'Muslim University' in the state in the Assembly polls.

The BJP claims that the Muslim University controversy has been intensely created by the Congress to polarise the minority votes ahead of the February 14 Assembly polls.

Uttarakhand Congress vice-president Akil Ahmad claimed former Chief Minister Harish Rawat assured that a Muslim university would be set up in Uttarakhand. The Congress party and former chief minister Rawat have denied Ahmad's claims, the BJP has said that the opposition party is trying to 'polarise Muslim voters' in certain Assembly segments by promising to set up the Muslim University in the state for the community.

A senior Uttarakhand BJP leader claimed that the Congress leaders as part of well planned strategy said that Harish Rawat has promised setting up a Muslim University in the state. "Seeing the humiliating defeat, Congress is trying to polarise the election on religious lines," he said.

BJP chief J.P. Nadda also attacked the Congress for promising the Muslim University and said that by building 'community specific university', the Congress is spreading poison of appeasement in the state.

"In the name of community specific university, the Congressmen are now spreading the poison of appeasement. What message do these people want to give to the people of Uttarakhand at the time of elections? In the name of the university, Congress leaders are destroying the society," Nadda said addressing a public meeting in Dehradun Cantt Assembly seat on Monday evening.

BJP Rajya Sabha member from Uttarkhand Naresh Bansal said that the Congress is treating the Muslim community as 'vote bank' and by promising a university they are trying to appease the minority community.

A social media battle over the controversy has even reached the door of the Election Commission and a notice has been issued to the saffron party and its leader on the complaint of Congress party.

In its complaint to the Commission, the Congress alleged that Uttarakhand BJP and its youth wing BJYM national secretary Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga have tweeted morphed images of Harish Rawat.

Responding to the notice, in a letter to the Uttarakhand chief electoral officer, Bagga said he did not mean to insult Harish Rawat but was praising him by paring the Congress leader with the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.

"Does Harish Rawat consider drawing a parallel with Sir Syed Ahmed Khan an insult to him? Syed Ahmed Khan was the first leader to set up an Islamic university in the country and Harish Rawat will be the second person to do so. However, if Harish Rawat thinks it's an insult to him, he must give it in writing and I will delete my tweet," Bagga further wrote.
Seoul, Feb 8 : North Korea convened a two-day session of its rubber-stamp legislature earlier this week to discuss budgetary and other pending issues, but without the attendance of leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang's official state media said on Tuesday.

The 6th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was held in Pyongyang on Sunday and Monday, attended by senior ruling party and Cabinet officials, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The session, however, apparently focused on such domestic matters as reviewing the state budget and adopting laws on child care and overseas compatriots.

No message has been issued in public for the US or South Korea, spawning speculation on the reasons, Yonhap News Agency said.

During the SPA gathering, the North's officials decided to increase expenditures for "emergency epidemic prevention work" by 33 per cent on-year in 2022 and vowed to further intensify efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as "the top priority of the state affairs", the KCNA said.

North Korea has imposed strict border controls since the start of the pandemic, though it has recently resumed partial freight train operations across the border with China.

On the economic front, participants in the session vowed efforts to implement the country's five-year development plan, and "make evident changes in developing the economy and improving the standard of people's living".

The North said its "total yearly industrial output plan was fulfilled at 148 per cent" last year despite "the hostile forces' persistent sanctions and worldwide health crisis".

The country's defense spending "for further bolstering the war deterrent both in quantity and quality" stood at 15.9 per cent of the total expenditures last year and remained unchanged for this year.

The SPA is the highest organ of power under the North's constitution, although it rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling Workers' Party.

Kim participated in eight out of 14 previous SPA sessions held after he took the helm of the country in late 2011 and delivered policy speeches at two of those events -- in April 2019 and September 2021.

During the SPA session held in September, the North's leader announced a decision to restore communication lines with South Korea as part of efforts to improve inter-Korean relations and achieve "durable peace" on the peninsula.
Los Angeles, Feb 8 : Hollywood star Will Smith will be covering both ends of the Earth in a series for National Geographic.

The programmer announced on Monday that it has ordered the non-fiction series 'Pole to Pole', which follows Smith on a journey from the South Pole to the North Pole, reports variety.com.

'Pole to Pole' is part of an extensive slate of new content that Nat Geo is bringing to Disney Plus, which it revealed during its portion of the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

'Pole to Pole' will mark Smith's third project with National Geographic after 'Welcome to Earth' and 'One Strange Rock', reports variety.com.

The series covers an expansive journey spanning different biomes, communities and landscapes across the Earth.

'Pole to Pole' is executive produced by Smith under his Westbrook banner, alongside Miguel Melendez and Terence Carter. For Nutopia, Jane Root and Peter Lovering are executive producers. For Protozoa, Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel are executive producers.

"At National Geographic, our strategy is to tell bold, best-in-class stories that ignite curiosity and inspire people to explore and care about our world," said Courteney Monroe, president of National Geographic Content, in a statement.

"With premium, creatively ambitious shows from the very best storytellers in the world, we are bringing awe and wonder to the lives of global Disney+ subscribers with wildly entertaining National Geographic documentary series, feature documentary films, epic natural history and fact-based scripted drama."
Washington, Feb 8 : A judge has ordered the US Air Force to pay more than 230 million in damages to survivors and victims' families of a 2017 Texas church shooting.

In an ongoing civil lawsuit, US District Judge Xavier Rodriguez on Monday ruled that the federal government failed to flag a conviction that might have kept the gunman from legally buying the weapon used in the shooting, reports Xinhua news agency.

On November 5, 2017, 26 people were killed and 22 others injured when Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire during a Sunday service at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.

Kelley died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound afterwards.

Rodriguez had ruled in July 2021 that the Air Force was "60 per cent liable" for the tragedy since Kelley had threatened mass violence while in the Air Force before the attack, aligning with the victims and families who believe the massacre could have been prevented if the Air Force had submitted Kelley's assault conviction to a national database.

The family members and victims requested around $418 million and the federal government was originally only willing to pay roughly $31.8 million.

The federal government has 10 days to file objections to the case, reported local media.

There are approximately 80 claimants.

Payments to each victim or family member are laid out by the judge based on relation, physical harm, mental harm and future expenses and mental anguish.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 8 : Following fresh revelations by the prime accused in the infamous gold smuggling case -- Swapna Suresh has been asked to appear before the Enforcement Directorate officials in Kochi on Wednesday.

Reacting to the new developments Swapna said she is yet to get the summons as she has some technical issues with her email.

"Of course, if they have sent it, I will definitely cooperate with them. I reacted because he (Sivasankar) portrayed me in such a manner and hence I spoke the truth. The future is bleak before me," said Swapna.

Last week an autobiography written by the then principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan - M. Sivasankar revealed that 'he never did any favour to Swapna' and also added that 'he never knew the iPhone that was gifted to him by her was part of a bribe'.

Angered by this statement, Swapna said 'it was Sivasankar who destroyed her life and all what she knew, he also knew'.

She also pointed out that he had told her that he will take voluntary retirement and settle down with her in the UAE.

She 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, when the gold smuggling case surfaced in July 2020, when the entire state was under massive Covid travel restrictions. Another revelation of hers was that of the two audio clips of hers, one which came out on the day she and her family were on the run to Bengaluru and another while in custody, she said, it was all stage managed and directed by Sivasankar and others.

Incidentally, it's in this revelation, while she was in custody, that she said in presence of two women police officers she was asked to give a clean chit to Vijayan, and to say that she was being pressurised by the central agencies to implicate Vijayan. Swapna further said she was told and if she did so, she would be made an approver in the case. After this, the Kerala Police registered a case against the ED officials, but the Kerala High Court quashed that.

Meanwhile, the other central agencies -- Customs and Intelligence Bureau have also registered cases supplementary to the gold smuggling case and in all these Swapna is an accused and now out on bail.

And according to sources in the know of things, these agencies are also examining the fresh revelations and are likely to give her notice to appear before them to find out more.

On the political front, the ruling CPI-M has been jolted by the revelations. While the Congress and the BJP slammed Vijayan, the CPI-M's only reaction was they will go by what Sivasankar said and dismissed Swapna's allegations as baseless.
Vienna, Feb 8 : Talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will resume in vienna on Tuesday, the diplomatic service of the European Union (EU).

In a statement, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said that the participants in the eighth round of negotiations will "continue the discussions on the prospect of a possible return of the US to the JCPOA and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides", reports Xinhua news agency.

The Iran nuclear talks were most recently halted in late January as the negotiators returned to their capitals for consultations.

EEAS Deputy Secretary-General Enrique Mora tweeted on Monday that given the "undesirable trends undermining the JCPOA, there is a need to swiftly conclude these negotiations".

"We need spirit of compromise to take us back to full implementation," Mora said.

Iran and the five other signatories to the JCPOA -- China, Russia, the UK, France and Germany -- have held rounds of talks in the Austrian capital to revive the deal, from which Washington withdrew in 2018 under former President Donald Trump.
Washington, Feb 8 : One person was killed and another was wounded during a shooting at a grocery store in Washington state, authorities said.

The shooting incident inside a Fred Meyer grocery store in the southeastern Washington city of Richland was reported at 11.03 a.m. on Monday, Xinhua news agency quoted the Richland Police Department as saying in a statement.

"One person has died and another is in the hospital with injuries. The suspect has been described as a middle aged white male," the statement added.

Police said that officers are still actively searching for the suspect who is "believed to be armed and dangerous".

The suspect left the store and it was undetermined if he left on foot or in a vehicle.

Authorities posted a photo of the suspect on social media and urged local residents with information to contact police.

"If you see the suspect or feel you are in danger, please call 911," the police statement added.

Authorities also urged people to avoid the incident location.

Schools in the Richland School District were temporary on lockdown in response to police activity in the area.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted the compromise reached between Adani Power (Mundra) Ltd. and Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. (GUVNL), over the supply of electricity.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said: "In view of settlement deed, we dispose of the curative petition, by saying that both parties will be governed by the compromise".

In a settlement, the private firm waived off its nearly Rs 11,000 crore dues with the state PSU in a dispute over termination of a February 2007, power purchase agreement for supplying 1000 MW electricity. The private firm has agreed to keep supplying power to the state PSU.

On September 30, last year, the top court asked Adani Power (Mundra) Ltd. to respond to a curative plea by GUVNL challenging it's 2019 judgment which had upheld the private firm's termination of a pact with the state PSU.

At the outset, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submitted before the bench that parties have settled the problem and there was a claim of over Rs 10,000 crore compensation and it now stands withdrawn. The AG urged the top court to record the settlement in the matter. The bench, also comprising Justices U.U. Lalit, D.Y. Chandrachud, B.R. Gavai, and Surya Kant queried the law officer, how to interfere in the judgment? The counsel for Adani submitted that curative petition can be disposed of on the terms of settlement reached between the parties, and the firm will continue to supply power.

The Chief Justice queried that once the court has taken up the curative and doesn't interfere in the judgment then how can it modify the judgment. He added, "You want it to be disposed of based on settlement?" The AG urged the bench to take on record affidavits by both parties in the matter. Justice Lalit suggested that the court can record that the relationship between the parties will be governed by the compromise. Justice Kant agreed with Justice Lalit's suggestion in the matter.

The AG submitted that the court can invoke Article 142 and put an end to the dispute.

Justice Lalit said that parties have entered into compromise and the court can dispose of settlement in terms of the settlement which was filed by signatures of competent persons. "We proceed that both parties have now entered into settlement", he added.
Mumbai, Feb 8 : Actor Sandesh Gour, who has been a part of shows like 'Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya', 'Saraswatichandra', 'Shapath', and 'Badi Dooooor Se Aaye Hai', is excited to feature in a romantic music video, 'Pata Na Chala'.

He says: "I'm really excited to feature in this song and spread love all around. It will be a treat to my audience. As everything looks romantic around when it's a love week, being single the song has come to me as a blessing to feel the vibes of love." The song sung by Souvik Kabi also features actress Sangeeta Meena and is directed by Jitendra Singh Tanwar. Earlier Sandesh has featured in songs like 'Pagli Tere Liye', 'Surmayee Nain Tere', 'Soniye', 'Tum Mere', Roothe Chahe Rab, Rooh Me Meri among others.

Sandesh reveals he enjoys shooting for music videos. "As an actor, shooting for music videos is really exciting. As they are shot in beautiful locations. And it challenges the artiste inside you. You have to express the situation with your moves, expression and act in it. And these days songs are too shot with a good budget." The song will be released on February 10.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Indian coal mining tycoon Gautam Adani has become Asia's richest person thanks to a push into green energy that has boosted his fortune to $88.5bn, The Guardian reported.

Adani has overtaken fellow countryman Mukesh Ambani to enter the top 10 of the world's richest people, according to figures from Forbes and Bloomberg, after seeing his personal fortune rise by $12bn in the past year.

Among the mega-rich whom Adani has leapfrogged to reach the world top 10 are Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who slipped down the table several places last week after losing $ 30 billion of his personal fortune, the report said.

His Adani Group controls the port of Mundra, India's largest, in the mogul's home state of Gujarat and he also owns 74 per cent of Mumbai international airport.

But his push into green energy has paid off handsomely in the past year with the listed company Adani Green Energy now his most valuable after its share price almost doubled in the past 12 months, the report said.

The group is in the process of ploughing $70bn into green energy projects by 2030 with the aim of becoming the world's largest renewable-energy producer.
Canberra, Feb 8 : Australia's Defence Minister Peter Dutton on Tuesday rejected reports suggesting he is preparing to depose Prime Minister Scott Morrison ahead of the general election this year.

Dutton insisted he is behind Morrison in the lead-up to the election, which is expected to be held in the first half of this year, reports Xinhua news agency.

It came after Bob Carr, a former Premier of New South Wales (NSW) and Foreign Minister, claimed Dutton was the government minister involved in a leaked text exchange that savaged Morrison's character with then-NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Carr recently wrote on social media that "if Morrison has one more week in free fall the prospect of a leadership change pre-election is real".

Dutton said on Tuesday that the accusation was untrue and baseless.

"I have been loyal to Scott Morrison from day one and I continue to be so, because I have seen what he has done in taking us through what has been a difficult situation," he told local media.

Dutton was among a group of MPs who in 2018 manufactured the downfall of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

He contested the subsequent leadership ballot to become Australia's 30th Prime Minister but was defeated by Morrison.

Former Opposition Labor Party leader Bill Shorten, who was defeated by Morrison at the 2019 election, called for the government to "settle their internal fighting".

"People have to be convinced about the merits of politics on a good day. But this government is hopelessly divided and we've got the aged care crisis," he told Nine Network television.

"We've got people with disabilities risking Covid-19. I think the nation wants us to focus on the people, not on our own games and the ins and outs."
Mogadishu, Feb 8 : An estimated 4.3 million people have been affected by the severe drought which is ravaging several parts of Somalia, up from 3.2 million a month ago, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

It said the escalating drought has seen some 271,000 have abandoned their homes in search of water, food and pasture, reports Xinhua news agency.

"With the next rainy season not expected until April 2022, Somalia is staring at a potential catastrophe," tge OCHA warned in its latest drought response released in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

It said the UN Central Emergency Response Fund has allocated $25 million for the drought response and the Somalia Humanitarian Fund has complemented this funding with an allocation of $6 million; a second allocation is underway.

Additional funding for priority sectors is urgently required to save lives and livelihoods, including substantive and early funding for the 2022 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan.

"Severe water shortages and inadequate access to sanitation and hygiene facilities have heightened the risk of disease outbreaks," the OCHA said.

It warned that the drought is projected to intensify as Somalia faces the risk of a fourth consecutive failed rainy season in early 2022.

The UN agency said the drought is compounding severe vulnerabilities and humanitarian needs caused by decades of protracted conflict and insecurity, climate shocks and disease outbreaks.

It said thousands of children have dropped out of school as parents can no longer afford to pay fees, adding that food insecurity is increasing and malnutrition is high in drought-affected areas.

According to the OCHA, local communities, authorities and humanitarian partners are scaling up assistance and intensifying resource mobilisation, guided by the drought response plan.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : BJP MP from Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi, on Tuesday criticised the newly appointed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice chancellor, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit terming her appointment as 'mediocre' that can damage human capital and youth's future.

Varun Gandhi's comment came in view of the press statement released by Pandit after her appointment as JNU VC on Monday, wherein the BJP leader found grammar mistakes.

"This press release from the new JNU VC is an exhibition of illiteracy, littered with grammatical mistakes (would strive vs will strive; students friendly vs student-friendly; excellences vs excellence). Such mediocre appointments serve to damage our human capital & our youth's future," Varun Gandhi said in a tweet on Tuesday morning.

Pandit in her statement soon after the announcement of her appointment had said (verbatim): "As Vice-Chancellor, JNU, I thank both the Hon'ble Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education for giving me this opportunity as the first woman and alumnus of this esteemed University from the State of Tamil Nadu.

"The immediate focus of this administration would be to provide clean administration, students friendly and gender sensitive environment for academic excellence.

"We would strive to implement NEP 2020 the vision of our Hon'ble Prime Minister especially in interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary areas of studies, JNU rising to greater heights of academics and research. The focus would in constructing Indo-centric narratives.

"I look forward to working with students, faculty and staff to contribute in achieving these objectives. (sic)" Pandit was appointed as the first female VC of the JNU by the Ministry of Education on Monday.

Born in Russia's St. Petersburg, Pandit is fluent in English, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, and Konkani. She did her schooling in Chennai and topped the state. She also did her B.A. in History and Social Psychology in 1983 from Presidency College in Chennai and did a diploma in Social Work from California State University. Pandit is also a gold medallist.
Chennai, Feb 8 : The Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department will reopen sand quarries in the state on February 25 after the urban local body polls scheduled on February 19.

On January 6, the state government had announced that 16 river sand quarries for heavy vehicles and 21 sand quarries for bullock carts would be opened in the first week of February. In the second phase, the government is planning to open 63 big quarries and nine bullock cart quarries.

However, sources in the environment department told IANS that the second phase would be allowed to open only after getting clearance from the Environment Impact Authority (EIA).

The move was postponed due to the government being wary of unnecessary issues in the run-up to elections and more hearings being required in certain areas in the Cauvery belt.

State president of the Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Federation, Sella Rajamani told IANS: "The government must lay proper roads near the sand quarries that are to be opened soon. As the quarries were shut for the past several years, the approach roads are not suited even for plying a light vehicle, leave aside big lorries and trucks that are necessary to transport sand from these quarries." He said the lorry owners are in a dilemma after the government announced the rate of sand as Rs 1000 per unit. He said that the price has to be increased as the transportation costs will have to be included in the sand price.

However, Water Resource Department officials told IANS that the issue of pricing will be settled after the February 19 urban local body polls.
Kochi, Feb 8 : The Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld the decision of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to revoke the licence of Malayalam news channel MediaOne- Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited.

Passing the orders Justice A.N. Nagaresh said he has gone through the files.

"I find that the ministry has called for report from various intelligence agencies. Based on those inputs, it was found that security clearance should not be renewed. There are inputs which justify the decision. Therefore, I am dismissing the petition," said the judge.

Following the judgement by a single bench, the channel authorities sought two days' time to file a review petition in the Division bench, which was denied.

The TV channel, however, has decided to go ahead with the appeal.

The channel was taken off air on January 31 following which it approached the High Court, which decided to defer the Ministry's order and extended it. This morning, it dismissed the channel's arguements.

But the TV channel' counsel told the court that the national security cannot be a reason to cancel the license without prior notice.

Earlier, the court had insisted that the reason for revoking the license should be revealed and the files regarding the case to be produced before it and posted the case for Monday.

It passed the order this morning.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down the plea by Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan seeking interim bail and asked him to move the Allahabad High Court, where his bail plea is pending.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Khan, submitted before a bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao that his client's bail plea was not taken up for 3-4 months, despite repeated requests for hearing on the matter. Sibal added that over 80 cases have been filed against Khan and barring a few, he has already been granted bail in many cases. He contended that in a few cases his client was denied bail and it appears that the state government does not want him to participate in the campaigning in the upcoming polls in the state.

The bench, also comprising Justice B.R. Gavai, told Sibal not to bring politics into the court. Sibal replied that politics is already before the court in the matter.

The top court asked the high court to take up the plea and decide on it expeditiously.

Citing the writ petitions filed for grant of interim bail, the bench said: "We can't entertain it..." Sibal pressed those cases filed in connection with the events, happened long back and the high court is simply adjourning the matter.

The top court also asked the high court to take into account the concerns raised by the petitioner. Khan had moved the Supreme Court, seeking an interim bail to campaign in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Athens, Feb 8 : The Covid-19 vaccination certificates of 324,000 people in Greece who did not take their booster shots have became invalid, the government announced.

According to current regulations in Greece, the vaccination certificates are valid for seven months from the day of the second vaccination for those who received the double-dose vaccines, and three months for those with single-shot vaccines, reports Xinhua news agency.

Booster shots may be administered three months after a completed vaccination.

Marios Themistocleous, General Secretary of the Primary Health Care at the Greek Ministry of Health, said at a press briefing that these people's vaccination certificates will become valid again until they receive a booster shot.
Amsterdam, Feb 8 : The Dutch antitrust watchdog Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has confirmed that it has fined tech giant Apple another 5 million euros ($5.72 million) over the dating app's payment methods.

According to TechCrunch, the penalty relates to an order by the competition authority requiring Apple to allow local dating apps to use third-party payment providers for sales of digital content, rather than mandating these apps use Apple's payment infrastructure which incurs a commission fee to Apple.

Apple has been fighting the Dutch order since last year and continues to appeal against it, the report said.

But last month -- as the first deadline for compliance with the threat of a penalty loomed -- it agreed to let apps plug into alternative payment tech, saying it would be introducing two "optional new entitlements" exclusively for dating apps on the Netherlands App Store so they could provide additional payment processing options for users as required by the order.

Apple's claim of compliance last month was, however, quickly met by a fine by the ACM for non-compliance -- as the regulator took issue with Apple foot-dragging on fulfilling all the requirements of the order.

The exact details remain murky as parts of a court order related to Apple's challenge to the ACM's order have not been unsealed so the competition regulator has said it is limited in what it can discuss.

Apple, meanwhile, has concentrated its public-facing comms on this saga at attacking the order -- claiming the changes "could compromise the user experience, and create new threats to user privacy and data security", as it put it in a statement last month.
Mumbai, Feb 8 : 'Dil Bechara' actress Sanjana Sanghi will be seen in the upcoming short film titled 'Uljhe Hue' which releases on February 11.

The film also features new talent in Abhay Verma. It is a love story, that revolves around how Rasika, an introverted visual artist bumps into Varun, a lawyer, after being stood up on a date. They happen to chit-chat and bond a bit more than strangers usually do. What happens after that, if they find the courage to reach out for love or will they be too shy and hide their feelings, sets the journey of the narrative.

Talking about the film, the director Satish Raj Kasireddi said, "'Uljhe Hue' is a love story that audiences will be able to relate to and cherish. The short film has been created by highly credible artists and captures the pulse of modern-day romance. Amazon miniTV's wide presence will certainly take our work of passion far and wide this Valentine's Day." The film will premiere on Amazon miniTV.
[February 08, 2022] California Casualty Management Company Selects Guidewire Cloud to Enhance Customer Experience for Business Growth California Casualty Management Company (California Casualty), an auto and home insurance company for educators, firefighters, law enforcement personnel, and nurses, and Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE) announced that California Casualty has selected InsuranceSuite on Guidewire Cloud to power its core operations and simplify its IT operations, adapt more quickly to changing market demands, and deliver more value to its policyholders. A Guidewire customer since 2007, California Casualty will migrate InsuranceSuite onto Guidewire Cloud beginning this year with ClaimCenter, followed by PolicyCenter and BillingCenter. The company will also be migrating DataHub and InfoCenter to Guidewire Cloud as its enterprise-wide data management and analytics systems. Lastly, California Casualty will be subscribing to Predict to embed real-time predictive insights into InsuranceSuite and better compete in the lines of business and states where it operates. "Moving to the cloud will provide us with the flexibility to accelerate our digital initiatives, increasing customer satisfaction and 'stickiness' by making their experience deeper and richer," said Jim Kauffman, executive vice president, Strategic Business Transformation, California Casualty. "We will also be able to more easily integrate with the third-party, best-in-class insurtechs that are part of the Guidewire PartnerConnect ecosystem." Kauffman added, "Migrating our self-managed Guidewire implementations to Guidewire Cloud will be a more cost-effective way of using the technology. By leveraging Guidewire Cloud, we will be able to take advantage of and stay current with Guidewire's latest technology and innovation, devoting less time to system maintenance. It will also enhance our business continuity strategy and help mitigate our seurity risk." "We thank California Casualty for its continued trust in Guidewire and our platform and welcome the company to the Guidewire Cloud," said Ken Shapiro, group vice president, Americas Sales, Guidewire. "We are humbled by its vote of confidence in our cloud services capabilities to continue its mission of providing protection and peace of mind for the people working in education, firefighting, and law enforcement who serve our communities." About California Casualty Management Company Headquartered in San Mateo, California with Service Centers in Arizona, Colorado and Kansas, California Casualty provides auto and home insurance to educators, firefighters, law enforcement and nurses across the country. Founded in 1914, California Casualty has been led by four generations of the Brown family. To learn more about California Casualty, or to request an auto insurance quote, please visit www.calcas.com or call 1.800.800.9410. About Guidewire Software Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. ?We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 450 insurers, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire. As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record, with 1,000+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation. For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com and follow us on Twitter: @Guidewire_PandC. NOTE: For information about Guidewire's trademarks, visit https://www.guidewire.com/legal-notices. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005017/en/

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New Delhi, Feb 8 : As her film 'Gehraiyaan' is all set to release just days before Valentine's Day, Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone, who has time and again redefined romance with her actor-husband Ranveer Singh, has shared the key to a good and healthy relationship.

The actress, who in 2018 was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME, has also talked about what it feels like to be in love. She says for her love is trust, friendship, companionship and where one can just be themselves.

Talking to IANS in a candid chat about what it takes to make a relationship healthy and successful, pat came the reply from Deepika: "Communication." She added: "I think honest communication in a relationship is extremely important and it's not necessary that two people in a relationship are always on the same page. They may not necessarily have to agree with each other on all points but I think to communicate the way you feel about certain things and to be honest about that." Deepika says "communication is extremely key and important." "Even if there are arguments and disagreements. The fact that you feel a certain way and to communicate is that I think is important. So, I think a key to a good or a healthy relationship is communication," added the doe-eyed actress.

Deepika and Ranveer have set the benchmark of what love is with their constant romance-filled exchanges on social media.

Asked what it feels like to be in love, Deepika shared: "Well, I think love in itself is a very loaded and complicated word to use like that I think. Also, because love just means so many different things to different people." She added: "But as far as I am concerned, for me love is trust, friendshop, companionship, love is where you can just be yourself, love is adjustment. I think when you are 19 or 21, the definition of love is very different and when you get older the definition changes." Deepika currently awaits the release of her upcoming romantic drama 'Gehraiyaan', which talks about love and complex human relationships. The film is all set for a digital release on Prime Video on February 11.

Talking about her character Alisha in the film, Deepika said it was her story that was emotionally draining.

"I don't think I can say there's one thing that drained me. I think just the backstory of the character is the baggage that she's carrying from the past. The emotional and mental turmoil she is going through when you see her in the film and the circumstances around her throughout the film," she said.

"So, it's like the character has been layered from the start so the minute you introduced to the character you realise that she is already at quite a juncture in her life in a sense so I think the hardest part was obviously was the conviction with the choices that are being made by this character and the repercussions of the choices," Deepika added.

"So, emotionally that sort of turmoil of choices and consequences was the most difficult part for me." (Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Canberra, Feb 8 : One of Australia's leading conservation groups has called on the federal government to change koalas' status from "vulnerable" to "endangered" following research into the extent of their habitat's destruction.

Since Australia's iconic marsupial was listed as vulnerable a decade ago, some 25,000 hectares of their habitat across the nation has been cleared, reports Xinhua news agency.

The report released by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) on Tuesday revealed that 63 planned government projects would result in another 25,000 hectares of koala habitat being destroyed.

Koalas are particularly vulnerable to habitat destruction as they subsist wholly on the leaves of the eucalyptus tree.

It is estimated that their populations have declined by 30 per cent in the last three years alone.

Media and Investigations manager at the ACF Freya Cole told Xinhua on Tuesday that given the rate of destruction of koala habitats, if now assessed, their status would "almost certainly" be upgraded.

The Threatened Species Scientific Committee, the body that advises the Australian government on conservation listings, has already issued advice. But the advice has not been acted on.

"We're expecting that (upgrade to 'endangered') anytime soon," said Cole. "And I think it's just really important to highlight that this government is doing everything it can to hide the fact that koalas are in a really bad position." Late last month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a A$50 million package for koala conservation.

However, the record investment has been widely criticized as throwing money at the problem rather than establishing a more robust conservation framework.

The ACF's nature campaign manager Basha Stasak said the funding, while welcomed, was in stark contrast to the increasing amount of land approved for clearing for mining operations, transport and residential housing each year.

"The first thing federal and state governments should do for koalas is immediately stop approving the destruction of their homes for commercial projects," said Stasak.

The report also suggested that the extent of land clearing could actually be much larger because agriculture and logging were often left out of national environmental law.

Stasak said a re-assessment of the conservation status of koalas was "long overdue".

"Koalas are in strife. An assessment has been conducted to determine whether the species' conservation status should be changed from vulnerable to endangered, but that assessment has not been released," she said.

"If we want our grandchildren to see koalas in the wild, governments must stop approving the bulldozing of their homes for mines and new housing estates," she said.
Chennai, Feb 8 : The ruling DMK has captured the Periya Negamam town panchayat in Pollachi district even before votes are polled for the Urban local body elections.

AIADMK candidates had withdrawn their nomination papers on the last date of withdrawal on Monday. However, Ravi Ramasamy of the AIADMK also got elected unopposed. He is one among the nine candidates who got elected unopposed among the fifteen wards.

The AIADMK candidates withdrew from wards 3,6,7,8,11,12 and 14.

Sources in the AIADMK told IANS that there was an unwritten code in Periya Negamam that the ruling party candidates are elected unopposed in urban and rural elections. Even the former chairman of Periya Negamam town panchayath, P. Somasundaram of the AIADMK did not file his nomination from ward 10 even though he was allocated a seat by the party.

Notably, in 2011, AIADMK which was ruling the state then was elected in 14 of the 15 seats unopposed. The only DMK candidate who won from ward no 3 in the Periya Negamam town panchayath was R. Sakkaravarthy who was elected unopposed.

AIADMK senior leader Pollachi Jayaraman, who was in charge of the election for the party in the town panchayat, tried to convince the candidates but failed. He was not available for comment even after repeated calls.

According to an AIADMK leader of Periya Negamam town, the local people want to elect the ruling party unopposed in the urban local body polls as they believe that only candidates from the ruling party can do development works in the town.

Dr. R. Padmanabhan, Director, Socio-Economic Development Foundation (SEDF), a think tank based out of Madurai, while speaking to IANS, said: "Electing the representatives unopposed is not a good sign of a healthy democracy. Political parties and leaders must convince people that elections are to be held and in back-to-back elections, candidates from the party ruling the state getting elected unopposed is poor democracy. According to Panchayat Raj's concept, for a healthy democracy, there has to be a vibrant gram, and village panchayats and political leadership must seriously contemplate on this."
Dinner table conversations have changed since Shark Tank India started streaming. The show received 62,000 applicants from India, out of which 198 businesses were selected to pitch their ideas to the "sharks". By the end, the programme has made a funding commitment worth nearly Rs 42 crore to 67 budding businesses.

The show has garnered a wide following with more people understanding the process of raising equity-based funding.

However, unlike the show, Founders have to go through a much longer process to secure funding in reality. It involves multiple iterations, lots of rejections, and a lot of time and effort away from business.

Even then, not getting any funding or the desired amount is a real possibility. Traditional capital sources cannot be a frequent solution for entrepreneurs which creates the need for founder-friendly funding alternatives.

Keeping up with the ever-growing pool of new companies in innovative segments, the business of funding them is also evolving fast.

Newer funding models like Revenue Based Financing (RBF) are becoming popular based on the idea that all businesses do not flourish with traditional equity-based funding. There is a need to offer sustainable capital to Founders without trading ownership. RBF facilitates access to much-needed growth capital customised to a company's revenues.

Why should start-ups consider RBF? Today's market is highly dynamic and start-ups cannot afford the long turnaround timelines of traditional funding when raising capital. Raising funds through banks & financial institutions comes with either a personal guarantee or fixed liability that is payable irrespective of your business performance.

Since repayments under the RBF model are directly linked to the revenues, the financier is also more like a partner in the growth of the start-up.

It is a simple process which does not involve any pledge of collateral and hence is an ideal source of capital for smaller digital start-ups that do not have any physical assets.

-- Founder-friendly with no equity dilution -- Fast as companies get funded within days & sometimes hours

-- Fair with RBF providers only look at the company's financials removing biases associated with who pitches or how they pitch

-- Flexible as brands commit to repayments as a percentage of future revenue and not fixed EMIs

-- Frequent with companies unlocking repeat funding with growing revenue

What if Founders could trade a share of their revenues instead of equity?

The boom in the D2C and SaaS sectors has created a huge opportunity for RBF providers. Out of the 198 businesses that pitched on the show, few of them have already raised RBF rounds with capital platforms like Klub including Wakao Foods, TagZ Foods, Deciwood and more.

Even brands that could not secure funding on the show, like JhaJi Store, opted for RBF because of their recurring revenues.

Uma and Kalpana Jha, Co-Founders, JhaJi Store, aptly sum up the case for RBF, when they say, "We've worked hard to build a profitable business at JhaJi Store that can generate cash every month. Once we achieved that, Klub's revenue-based financing product was a no-brainer. The funding from Klub literally gives us the fuel to add to the fire that's cooking ever more batches of pickles and chutneys. RBF helps first time entrepreneurs like us to fund our own growth without having to give up any equity." Revenue sharing deals on the show can be a win-win situation for Founders as well as investors when they peg repayments to a brand's performance. Similar to Shark Tank, Canadian reality TV series Dragon's Den featured Michele Romanow as a "dragon" in 2015 and after investing in entrepreneurs pitching on the show, she founded Clearbanc (now ClearCo) to facilitate revenue-linked funding options for Founders.

We believe the next season of Shark Tank will start showcasing Revenue Based Financing investments as well.

(Anurakt Jain is CEO and Co-founder, Klub)
Bengaluru, Feb 8 : Prohibitory orders have been clamped in Shivamogga district of Karnataka on Tuesday following incidents of violence due to hijab row. Considering the volatility of the situation, the district administration has issued curfew orders to stop mobs and students from stone pelting. The agitating students wearing saffron shawl hoisted 'Bhagva dhwaj' in the college premises.

Education Minister B.C. Nagesh has given directions to the Education Department to take a call on declaring two-day holiday for the colleges and schools based on the prevailing situation which is turning violent in the backdrop of hijab row.

Even as violence broke out due to the hijab row, the Education Department on Tuesday announced PUC (Class 12) annual examinations to be held between April 16 and May 6.

Shivamogga Superintendent of Police Lakshmiprasad stated that the violence started between two groups of students and they pelted stones at each other. Two students got hurt and the police are still looking for injured persons. The police are looking into how the stone pelting started, he said.

R. Selvamani, District Commissioner of Shivamogga district said that the students were being sent back as a preventive measure to avoid confrontation. A complaint on stone pelting has been received and investigation will be taken up, he said.

Sources said the police have taken four students of Shivamogga Government College into custody following the eruption of violence and their parents have objected to the action by the police. The miscreants have pelted stones at one of the private buses in the city.

Meanwhile, four persons have been taken into custody in Banahatti of Bagalkot district as violence and stone pelting erupted between two groups of students. The violence has spilled over to other areas of the city as well.
Chennai, Feb 8 : The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday passed the anti-NEET Bill moved by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. While the opposition AIADMK supported the Bill, the BJP legislators staged a walkout from the Assembly.

The Bill was for seeking exemption from NEET for the state of Tamil Nadu for the second time. The Bill will be sent to the Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi immediately for forwarding it to the President of India.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly had earlier passed a similar Bill on September 13, 2021, but the Governor did not take any action on the Bill for 142 days. Later he resent the Bill back to the Tamil Nadu government.

Stalin moved the Bill and expressed confidence that the Governor would forward it to the President of India for consent with immediate effect.

While the DMK took exception to the action of Governor R. N. Ravi in not forwarding the earlier Bill to the President for his consent and returned it after keeping it for 142 days. The AIADMK supported the Bill and the BJPA walked out of the Assembly when the Bill was moved.

The Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly, M. Appavu read out the objections raised by the Governor while returning the Bill and the state health Minister Ma Subramanian denied the objections one by one.

The state health minister also said that the Justice (Rtd) A.K. Rajan committee, which was constituted to study the impact of NEET in medical admissions, had gone into every aspect of the issue. The health minister also said in the Assembly that the Justice (Rtd) A.K. Rajan committee had studied every aspect of the issue and had submitted its reports and recommendations to the government after eliciting the views of the people of the state.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin took strong exception to the Governor returning the Bill back to the government and said that the Governor had failed to discharge his constitutional responsibilities by returning the NEET Bill.

MMK leader M.H. Jawahirullah said Stalin should lead a movement to abolish the post of Governor.
Canberra, Feb 8 : Thousands of children in the Australia's Victoria tested positive for Covid-19 since returning to classrooms, while the state government hasn't decided yet to extend the school surveillance testing.

There were 2,368 school students and 125 staff in the state tested positive on Monday, taking the infection tally to 7,046 school students and 925 staff since schools reopened last week, Victoria's Education Minister James Merlino said on Tuesday.

Despite the infections, no schools have been forced to return to remote learning, and Merlino argued the current highly recommended twice weekly rapid antigen testing is "really providing confidence and comfort to everyone in school", reports Xinhua news agency.

"We knew there will be positive cases once we do the surveillance testing, but it means we identify the cases early, and this will overall drive the number down, stopping the transmission," Merlino said.

Meanwhile, Victoria recorded 20 Covid-19 deaths and 9,785 infections on Tuesday, an increase of more than 1,500 from the previous day's tally.

Under the state's back-to-school plan, the surveillance testing is only for the first four weeks of term one.

The state government is yet to make any extension to the plan, saying that the situation will be reviewed in time and they will inform any changes.

However, this school Covid-19 testing program will be expanded to children aged three to five at early childhood services, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Tuesday.

In the next two weeks, 1.6 million rapid antigen tests will be delivered to services, beginning with kindergartens and then early childhood services.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The current surge of Covid-19 cases in the country is showing a sustained declining trend, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Responding to a question on alarming rise in the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the country, Mandaviya informed the house, "Omicron variant is the dominant variant in the country presently. The current surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, however, is showing a sustained declining trend since January 21." The Health Minister added in his reply that the ministry continues to provide support to states and UTs to enhance preparedness and response capacities against Covid-19 and other public health emergencies. "Under ECRP Phase II, a package of Rs 23,123 crore (with Rs 15,000 cr as Central Component) has been approved. Of this, as on 31st January 2022, funds to the tune of Rs 7,245.95 crore have been released to States/UTs as part of the Central component to strengthen health infrastructure to manage any surge in cases", said Mandaviya.

With the reopening of schools, raising concern over the safety of children below 15 years of age, Health Minister Mandaviya said that the government will take a decision to vaccinate this group based on suggestions of an expert group, he said.

"About 67 per cent in the age group of 15-18 years have been vaccinated so far. The vaccination drive is being implemented in a speedy manner. The future decision will be taken based on the expert group's suggestion," Mandaviya said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Attacking the BJP and the Congress, AAP Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday appealed to the voters of both the parties to vote for his party for the betterment and development of Uttarakhand.

Kejriwal, who is in the hill state campaigning for his party, told mediapersons that the electorate gave ten years to the Congress and 11 years to the BJP, but both the parties did nothing for the development of the state.

"AAP is a new party and has an honest Chief Ministerial face. The party has a agenda for the development fo the state," he said.

"We will provide free education and health facilities to each village, 24 hour power supply, unemployment allowance to the unemployed and jobs to the unemployed. All these benefits will be extended to the Congress and BJP voters," he said.

"Even if you will give five more years to the BJP, nothing will change. The government will run like that only and corruption will also be there. In 21 years, the Congress and BJP together had put a debt of Rs 72,000 crore on the state. We assure you that besides giving you the benefit of all schemes, we will run the government and make the state debt-free in five years. We have done it in Delhi and we can do it here," Kejriwal claimed.

The BJP is putting its best foot forward to retain power in the state while the Congress and AAP are listing the shortcomings of the saffron party's government.

The 70-member state assembly is slated to go to the polls on February 14.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
New Delhi, Feb 8 : External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar on Tuesday had a telephonic conversation with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong on India-South Korean bilateral issues along with the recent controvesy over a social media post of Hyundai Pakistan regarding Kashmir.

"Received a call from ROK FM Chung Eui-yong today. Discussed bilateral and multilateral issues as also the Hyundai matter," tweeted Jaishankar.

"Foreign Minister of Republic of Korea Chung Eui-yong called External Affairs Minister this morning (February 8). While they discussed several issues, the ROK Foreign Minister also conveyed that they regretted the offence caused to the people and Government of India by the social media post," said the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.

"We had seen a social media post on the so called Kashmir Solidarity Day was made by Hyundai Pakistan. Immediately after this social media post on Sunday, 6 February 2022, our Ambassador in Seoul contacted the Hyundai Headquarters and sought an explanation. The offending post had been removed subsequently. The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs yesterday 7th February 2022. The strong displeasure of the Government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him. It was highlighted that this matter concerned India's territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise. We expected the Company to take appropriate action to properly address these issues, informed Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs." "A statement was also issued by Hyundai Motors conveying its deep regret to the people of India and making it clear that it did not comment on the political or religious issues.

"India welcomes investments by foreign companies in various sectors. But, it is also expected that such companies or their affiliates will refrain from false and misleading comments on matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity," reads the statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said that they have arrested three accused in an ongoing investigation in connection with post-poll violence in West Bengal.

The accused were identified as Shibani Mahesh, Alaka Mahesh and Subhajit Shekhar Mahesh.

The CBI had on November 9, 2021, registered a case against five accused following the Calcutta High Court order and started the investigation.

Earlier, a case in this respect was lodged with the Sabang Police Station.The case is related to the alleged murder of a BJP leader Biswajit Mahesh.

The accused allegedly attacked the deceased on the night of May 4, 2021. They came prepared with iron rods and sword with an intention to murder the deceased.

After mercilessly beating Mahesh, the accused later threw him in a pond of Gopal Barman.

Mahesh was taken to the Sabang Hospital where he was declared brought dead by the doctors.

The state police had filed a charge sheet against the two accused in this connection.

One accused did not join the investigation and an arrest warrant was issued against him by the Court.

During the CBI's investigation, the role of five accused named in the FIR came to the fore.

"The deceased was allegedly taunted and attacked by the accused (said to be supporters of another political party) after declaration of the election results. They also had an alleged property dispute," said the CBI.

The accused will be produced before the Competent Court at Paschim Medinipur (West Bengal).

The CBI has so far registered 51 cases in the matter related to poll violence and other offences in West Bengal.

They said they were probing the matter.
Gandhinagar, Feb 8 : The Ahmedabad special designated court on Tuesday pronounced its verdict in the 2008 serial blasts case which claimed 56 lives. The court acquitted 28 accused out of 77 and convicted 49. The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment on Wednesday.

Judge Ambalal R. Patel, who presided over the trial, resumed work after recovering from Covid-19.

As many as 77 accused faced trial in the case, after one of them turned approver. Four more accused were arrested later, but their trial has not yet commenced. Out of the 28 acquittal, 16 were given a benefit of doubt, while 12 were pronounced innocent due to lack of evidence.

At least 56 people were killed and over 200 were injured in 21 bomb blasts that rocked Ahmedabad city within a span of 70 minutes on July 26, 2008. The police had claimed people associated with the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of radicals of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), were involved in the blasts. It was alleged IM terrorists had planned and executed the attack as revenge for the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

The trial in the case began in December 2009 against 78 persons connected to IM after the court merged all 35 FIRs.

Over 1,100 witnesses were examined by the prosecution. The accused are facing charges of murder and criminal conspiracy, among others, and they have also been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The trial court had set February 1 as the date for the judgment, but the matter was deferred to February 8 after the judge fell ill. The court will pronounce the sentence on Wednesday.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : A Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer on Tuesday wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal seeking de-registration of Hyundai India, KIA India, KFC India and Pizza Hut India over their offensive statements on social media regarding the union territory Jammu and Kashmir.

"Recently, the said companies have posted on their social media accounts offensive statements and posts challenging the sovereignty of our country," Advocate Vineet Jindal wrote in his letter.

On February 5, Hyundai Pakistan called for the 'freedom of Kashmir from India' through its official Twitter channel in Pakistan. The day is observed by Pakistan as the 'Kashmir solidarity day'.

The Indian Twitter users, livid after this obnoxious propaganda by Pakistan, began criticising Hyundai on social media, forcing the parent company to issue a response.

"Hyundai Motor India has been committed to the Indian market for more than 25 years now and we stand firmly for our strong ethos of respecting nationalism. The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view," the statement from Hyundai read.

Not only Hyundai but its subsidiary Kia too had tweeted similar things.

Pizza hut Pakistan shared a post on its Instagram account that read, "This Kashmir solidarity day, let's join hands and stand united for the freedom of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters." KFC PAK also made a similar Twitter missive.

Jindal told IANS that the statement made by Hyundai India is a mere condemnation of its own act and does not support the acceptance of the offence and the statement is not an apology for the grave offence made publically.

The Advocate also sought an immediate registration of an FIR under sections 121A, 153, 153a, 504, 505 of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act . He has also forwarded his letter to Delhi Police commissioner Rakesh Asthana.

Jindal said that the controversial post targeting the sovereignty of India by these multinational companies to gain business profit in Pakistan is highly deplorable. "These MNC's have intentionally made atrocious statements on public platforms accessed by millions of users to challenge the sovereignty and integrity of India and their act can cause national riots, communal disharmony and is an act of waging war against India," he said.

Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took up the issue in Parliament and without naming any company said the content "they have posted on their platforms calls for freedom for Kashmir." "These companies are doing business both in India and Pakistan, yet have posted content in solidarity with Pakistan over Kashmir. Such posts that are challenging the sovereignty of our country should not be acceptable. It has been surprising that it has been ignored till now. And also keeping in mind that these companies have been flourishing in India for the past many years yet choosing to take stances that are contentious is unacceptable," the Parliamentarian said.

Chaturvedi demanded that the government should ensure that these companies apologise unequivocally for the seditious posts and "further ensure that companies operating in India do not challenge the sovereignty of the country." Responding to Shiv Sena MP's demand, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the government has asked the company to be more forceful in unequivocal apology.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Congress Party had "throttled" democracy in 1975 and is now teaching the lesson of democracy to the BJP.

Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha, PM Modi said contrary to Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's claim that the Congress laid the foundation of the country and the BJP only hoisted its flag on it, the grand old party had in reality "throttled" democracy in 1975.

Continuing to attack the Congress Party, Modi said the problem with the Congress is that they do not think beyond the dynasty. "The biggest threat to India is from dynastic political parties and when a family is supreme in a party, the first casualty is talent. For years, the country has suffered owing to it. I expect all political parties to follow democracy in their working also and the Congress should take a lead on this." Holding the Congress' mindset that 'India is Indira and Indira is India' responsible for these debacles, he said: "What would have happened if Congress was not there? This was Mahatma Gandhi's wish too." Taking a jibe at the party , he said, "Had Congress ceased to be as per Mahatma Gandhi's wish, democracy would have been free from dynastic influence, there would not have been any foreign influence, emergency, no caste and regional divide. Had Congress not been there, then Sikh's massacre would not have happened and Punjab would not have burnt in flames of terrorism for years, there would not have been exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and the daughters would not have been burnt in the tandoor." His remarks evoked a sharp response from the Congress with the LoP objecting to it strongly stating that Modi should have spoken only on the President's speech.

At this, Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu intervened and said: "Kharge ji, you all had also spoken like this." The Congress members rushed to the well of the House and kept on protesting. After a while, they staged a walk-out.

Modi went on to say that the Congress has a problem with the word 'nation' as well. "If 'nation' is unconstitutional, then why is your party's name Indian National Congress?. Change it to Federation of Congress. Correct the mistakes done by your predecessors." he added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi/Agartala, Feb 8 : Dissident Tripura MLAs of the ruling BJP -- Sudip Roy Barman and Ashis Kumar Saha, who resigned from the Assembly and the party on Monday, Joined the Congress in New Delhi on Tuesday. AICC in-charge for Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim, Ajoy Kumar in his tweets said that Roy Barman and Saha joined the Congress in presence of party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Tripura Pradesh Congress President Birajit Sinha and former state President Gopal Roy and other leaders including Ajoy Kumar were also present when the two leaders joined Congress at the residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.

Both Saha and Roy Barman while separately talking to IANS over phone, claimed that more than five BJP MLAs would join the Congress after March. "The BJP MLAs who are intended to join would have to complete certain organisational and technical matters before joining the Congress. Besides the BJP MLAs, a large number of saffron party leaders and workers would also join the Congress as everyone is disillusioned with the party (BJP)," Saha, a former minister, said.

Roy Barman, a former Minister, and Saha had told the media in Agartala before leaving for Delhi that they have also sent their resignation letters to the BJP's state President Manik Saha. Roy Barman said: "The BJP government led by Deb utterly failed to deliver. An autocratic rule has been prevailing in the state. People are in serious distress. We want to work for the people as we are unable to do this while remaining in the BJP." Roy Barman and Saha were earlier in Congress before joining Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2016 and then to BJP next year (2017).

Earlier, BJP MLA Ashish Das after openly criticising the saffron party and its leadership including Chief Minister, joined the TMC on October 31, 2021 following which he was disqualified from Tripura Assembly by Speaker Ratan Chakraborty on January 5 (this year).

Two other BJP MLAs -- Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl and Burba Mohan Tripura - also went to Delhi on Monday along with Roy Barman and Saha but their political positions have not yet officially been announced. BJP, on the other hand, downplayed the resignations of Roy Barman and Saha and said that their quitting from the Assembly membership would not create any constitutional crisis in the state.

State BJP spokesman Nabendu Bhattacharjee said that it was expected that Roy Barman and Saha would leave BJP. "They have been openly criticising the Chief Minister and other party leaders. Their resignation from the Assembly and the party has no importance to BJP," Bhattacharjee told the media.

Roy Barman, Saha and three other BJP MLAs -- Ashish Das, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl and Burba Mohan Tripura -- in August last year held a big gathering in Agartala which was attended by many local BJP leaders and workers. They had also met BJP's National President J.P. Nadda and other central leaders and Ministers and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and apprised them about the "misgovernance in Tripura and Chief Minister's authoritarian style of work".

To curb the rebellion in the party and to set the governance right, several central party leaders led by BJP's North East Zonal Secretary (Organisation), Ajay Jamwal, had visited the state several times. In the presence of the central party leaders, three BJP MLAs -- Ram Prasad Paul, Sushanta Chowdhury, Bhagaban Chandra Das -- were on August 31 last year inducted into the Tripura cabinet in its first cabinet expansion after the BJP-IPFT (Indigenous People's Front of Tripura) alliance assumed charge in March 2018.

The open dissent and internal dispute in the ruling BJP began after Roy Barman, who was holding the Health and Information Technology departments, was sacked in May 2019 following differences with Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.
Chandigarh, Feb 8 : The Haryana Cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, on Tuesday gave approval to a proposal regarding granting relief of Rs 2.19 crore in license fee for the 2020-21 to retail liquor licensees.

Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the retail liquor vends that were allotted for financial 2020-21 could not commence their operations from April 1, 2020.

In view of an unprecedented situation arising due to the pandemic, the excise policy of the year 2020-21 was amended with the approval of the Council of Ministers, an official statement said.

As per the amended excise policy, the period of operation for retail licences and other concomitant licences was amended and it was fixed as from May 6, 2020, to May 19, 2021.

In addition, a number of other relaxations were also granted to the licensees so as to compensate them to help to do over the adverse impact of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, a number of representations were received from the liquor license holders who claimed that they have suffered huge losses in their business due to the pandemic.

To take care of such grievances, a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Deputy Chief Minister Dhushant Chautala, was constituted for redressal of grievances of the licensees which may arise from low sale volumes, if any, and consequent short quota lifting.

The GoM finalised the principles for providing relief to the licensees.

The Cabinet also accorded approval of working capital loan of Rs 1,000 crore to Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd (HSIIDC) for acquisition of land and development of infrastructure facilities, to make payment of enhanced compensation to the ex-land owners and to meet the working capital requirement for the development of industrial estates.

The Cabinet approved the draft of the Repealing Bill 2021. The Bill now be placed before Vidhan Sabha.

As per the draft Bill, 20 Acts of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department which are old and are no longer in use have to be repealed.

The Departmental Committee gave its report regarding repeal of various old and out dated acts.
Gandhinagar, Feb 8 : Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday unveiled a new IT/ITES policy that is expected to take the state's export from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore in five years.

It also promises to generate one lakh new direct jobs in the next five years.

Launched at a formal event in Gandhinagar's GIFT city , the new policy aims at replacing the 2016-2021 policy which had promised to create 10 lakh jobs over the last five years.

It offers both capital and operational support to IT firms making new investments in the state. For the first time, as claimed by the government, the policy provides support for both capital (CAPEX) and operational (OPEX) expenditures. The CAPEX support has been raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 200 crore for mega projects.

For the normal projects, a 25 per cent CAPEX support will be given under the limit of maximum Rs 50 crore and upto Rs 200 crore limit will be for the mega projects. Fifteen per cent OPEX support will be given for normal projects upto Rs 20 crore every year and for mega projects upto Rs 40 crore every year. The OPEX will include lease rental, bandwidth, cloud rental, patent and power tariff expenditure.

Two special incentives have been included in the policy by the Gujarat government to encourage IT employment. Besides, an Employment Generation Incentive (EGI) upto Rs 60,000 per employee and a redemption upto 100 per cent for the EPF contribution of the employer by Atmanirbhar Gujarat rojgar sahay have also been included.

A support of up to Rs 50,000 (males) - Rs 60,000 (females) or 50 per cent of one month's CTC will be given to the IT firm for hiring and retaining a new local employee for a year.

Apart from this, IT/ITES units will be able to claim reimbursement on the employer's statutory contribution under the Employees Provident Fund. The state government will reimburse 100 per cent of the EPF amount for female employees and 75 per cent for male employees.

Besides, the government is also providing CAPEX support of a maximum of Rs 100 crore for creating IT office space in an IT city or township. For IT/ITES units opting to start operations in coworking IT office spaces under the government facilitated model, a fiscal support of Rs 10,000 will be given on a per seat basis for the first two years. Thereafter, Rs 5,000 will be given for 3-5 years.
Chennai, Feb 8 : The Kerala Catholic diocese has moved the Tirunelveli district court for bail of Bishop Samuel Mar Irenios who was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Crime branch CID at Ambasamudram. Vicar General Shaji Thomas Manikulam and four other priests were also arrested with the Bishop.

The bail application at Tirunelveli court will be coming up for a hearing on Wednesday.

While the Bishop (69) and Father Thomas Chamakkala (69) were admitted to Government Medical College hospital, Tirunelveli after they complained of chest pain and fell ill, the rest of the priests were remanded to judicial custody on Monday.

The priests who are remanded in judicial custody at Nanguneri jail are George Samuel (58), Vicar General Shaji Thomas (58), Jijo Thomas (37), and Jose Kalaviyal (53).

Manuel George of Pathanamthitta in Kerala was arrested earlier in this case.

Police officers said that Manuel George had obtained a license for storing, processing rough stone, gravel, crusher dust, and M-Sand in a 300-acre plot adjacent to a check dam at Pottai in South Kallidakurichi village in Tirunelveli district.

The property was owned by Bishop Irenious on behalf of the Malankara Catholic Church, Pathanamthitta district, and was given on lease to Manuel George from November 2019 for a period of five years.

Several social and environmental activists complained that Manuel George was conducting large-scale river sand mining from Vandal Odai Check dam and adjacent areas, after which the Sub collector of Cheranmahadevi conducted an inspection and assessed that 27,774 cubic cm of sand was illegally mined and transported from the place.

The Sub Collector imposed a penalty of Rs 9.54 crore on the landowners under the Tamil Nadu Mines and Mineral Corporation rules 1959.

The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had directed the case to be transferred from Kallidakurichi police station to the CB-CID after local people, environmentalists and social activists moved the court citing illegal sand mining and transportation.

The CB-CID arrested the Bishop and the five priests citing that the illegal land mining was conducted by Manual George in connivance with the owners including Bishop Irenious and the priests.

A senior priest of the Pathanamthitta diocese said, "Bishop and priests did not know that the person who had taken the land on lease was indulging in such activities. In fact, the Bishop was called for a discussion but we came to know that he has been arrested along with other priests. We did not know that Manuel George who was given the 300 acre land on lease was carrying out sand mining in adjacent plots of land that don't have title deeds."
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said in the Rajya Sabha that India took a leadership role during the Covid pandemic.

Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Upper House, he said that Covid is a global pandemic and in the past 100 years, humanity never witnessed such a pandemic. The danger is there and changing its form, causing the entire world to struggle.

"People around the world were wondering what will happen to India and how it will impact the entire globe but today,the world is praising efforts made by India, this is India's achievement, not of a particular political party. You (Opposition) should have taken benefit of this; do we need to teach you even this? Modi quipped.

Listing the various measures taken by the Central government, the Prime Minister said that despite the negative campaign against vaccines in many parts of the world, we decided that no one should suffer and we accelerated the vaccine drive. We are going ahead at a fast pace, he added.

"Some leaders campaigned against vaccines. However this country's public was aware and they decided to go for vaccination and stood in queues to get the jab," Modi said, adding that the country is heading towards 100 percent vaccination soon.

Thanking the frontline health workers, doctors and scientists' unrelenting efforts to fight this pandemic, Modi said that we all are thankful to them and the House should also appreciate their efforts which will also increase their courage to serve the people.

Talking about the Covid 19 period, he said that in fact during the corona time, the farmers continued to produce bumper crops and the government also procured grains in huge quantities. The same focus was given to the various infrastructure projects to generate employment.

He also said that the farm sector has produced bumper wheat and rice crops and the government had also procured these crops on increased MSP wherein the money was transferred to their accounts directly through the Direct Benefit Transfer. The farmers in Punjab were saying that such a huge amount was never transferred to their accounts in the past, he added.

On this, Leader of Opposition Kharge quipped that by making the reference to the farmers of Punjab, he was trying to take political benefits in the Punjab Assembly election. The other parties on the Opposition benches joined Kharge on this.

He also said that the government took care of the poor and over 82 crore poor people have been given free rations since then and till the pandemic is there, the government will spend on the poor people.

Be it the northeast region or Jammu and Kashmir, development took place during Covid-19 wave. Sportspersons brought laurels to the country; they did not let it impact their performance. "We continued our efforts to give houses to the poor and over five crore houses have been provided with tap water connection in the country." Hitting out at the Congress Party again on the federal structure, Modi said that the whole Covid period was an example of this. With an open mind, we held 23 meetings with Chief Ministers, and everyone contributed their best in dealing with the pandemic.

He also mentioned that during the All Party Meeting on corona, some attempts were made to boycott the meeting. "Sharad ji (Sharad Pawar) said that he could not force anyone to not come, you boycotted (without naming Congress), even TMC came," he added.

"This was a crisis on humanity, on the country, despite that people didn't turn up. I don't know who your advisers are. Pick up the next day's newspapers, your actions were criticised," Modi added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Mumbai, Feb 8 : Actor Arjan Bajwa who reunites with veteran star Mithun Chakraborty in web series 'Bestseller' says that the energy and the enthusiasm of the senior actor is truly inspiring.

Arjan told IANS: "One quality that I have noticed of his is humility. He is a superstar, a National Award-winning actor and we all know the great dancer that he was in his younger age. He has achieved everything that an actor wishes for...but on set, he is always on time and his enthusiasm is almost like a newcomer; as if it is his debut film. It just gives me goosebumps. I think there is a reason why these actors become icons and that is not just about their talent and luck. It has a lot to do with their humility and remain the constant learner of their craft." He went on adding, "One we become successful we tend to think we know it all and nothing can go wrong in whatever we do. But when we look at an actor like Mithun da who is always ready to improvise in a scene and change things without hesitation and mingling with us, his co-star as if we are classmates, without keeping any distance of seniority it says a lot about him." The show 'Bestseller' is an adaptation of a book written by Ravi Subramanian, named 'The Bestseller She Wrote'. The show is directed by Mukul Abhyankar.

Arjan earlier worked with Mithun in Mani Ratnam directorial 'Guru' but he did not have much screen time with the veteran. However, the actor mentioned that this time he has a substantial amount of that.

Asked about what kind of interaction he used to have with Mithun off-camera, Arjan said, "Mostly about his career, early days and movies, acting...our kind of chat. Once I took a screenshot of one of his earlier ad films of Panasonic India and shared with him. He had an instant smile on his face and told me, "Aareh! ye tujhe kahan se mil gaya, bahat purani baat hai yeh." Then he was telling us the story of how the Japanese company Panasonic came to India, met him and be became the brand ambassador of Panasonic India. He is a very happy man with a vivacious smile!" The show 'Bestseller' also featuring Shruti Hassan, Gauahar Khan, Satyajeet Dubey among others - releases on Prime Video on February 18.
Chennai, Feb 8 : Naveen Mohamedali, who directed the critically acclaimed Tamil film 'Moodar Koodam', on Tuesday expressed pain and concern at the intensifying hijab debate in Karnataka.

Posting a video clip that showed the intensity of the ongoing debate over not permitting Muslim girl students to wear hijabs inside educational institutions, the director said, "Looking at this situation, one is both pained and scared." The director further said that we had let the poison of religious fanaticism enter young hearts and added that one could not stay peaceful, believing this wouldn't happen here as this was the land of the Periyar.

"Just a drop of poison is enough to poison a pot of clean water," the director pointed out.

On Sunday, the director had made it clear in a couple of tweets that be it wearing the mangalsutra or the hijab, both were a decision for women to make.

"...My mother, who was born a Muslim, never wore a pardha. My wife who was born a Hindu refused to wear a mangalsutra.

"However, those were both their decisions. They were not compelled by anybody to make those decisions. Women must decide what they wish to wear. Be it father, husband or society, nobody has a right to order in this matter," he had said.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said it will club together and hear on Friday all the pending petitions related to the Amazon and Future dispute in connection with the 2019 deal between the firms. A bench of Justice C Hari Shankar said the court wants to deal with the pleas in a speedy manner and does not want to keep them "hanging".

Last week, the apex court had set aside two previous verdicts by the Delhi High Court's two separate single judge benches. Also, the court had asked the high court to hear the dispute afresh on merit. During the course of the hearing, the court asked the counsels from both sides to submit on record short notes setting out the controversy by Thursday. Further, it listed the matter for hearing on Friday.

While Amazon's counsel Rajiv Nayar sought the Amazon vs ED not to be clubbed with this batch of pleas, the bench said that the issue should be raised with the Chief Justice, since it was through an administrative order that the present cases came to be listed before the court.

In January, intensifying the legal battle, Amazon had moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order, which stayed the ongoing arbitration proceedings with the Future Group, in connection with the 2019 deal between the firms. On January 5, the Delhi High Court stayed further arbitration proceedings between the parties before the Singapore tribunal till February 1.

The Supreme Court while setting aside the Delhi High Court orders, which included initiating coercive steps against Future Group companies and its promoters for alleged violation of the emergency award (EA) passed by the Singapore Arbitration Tribunal, said the courts should be cautious, especially in commercial matters having a serious impact on the economy and employment of thousands of people.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Taliban views ISIL-K as its primary kinetic threat, as the group aims to position itself as the chief rejectionist force in Afghanistan, with a wider regional agenda threatening neighbouring Central and South Asian countries, as per a UN report.

Member States estimated that, if Afghanistan descends into chaos, some Afghan and foreign extremists may shift allegiances to ISIL-K, which continues to be led by Sanaullah Ghafari (alias Shahab alMuhajir), an Afghan national.

Aslam Farooqi, a former ISIL-K leader, escaped from prison and has subsequently rejoined the group in a senior role. The former leader of ISIL-K, Abu Omar al-Khorasani, was killed by the Taliban in August, shortly after it took control of the prison in which he was being held.

Member States assess that the strength of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan (ISIL-K) has now risen from earlier estimates of 2,200 to approaching 4,000, following the release of several thousand prisoners. One Member State assessed that up to half of ISIL-K is composed of foreign terrorist fighters. Although the group controls limited territory in eastern Afghanistan, it is capable of conducting high-profile and complex attacks, such as the 27 August bombing at Kabul airport, in which more than 180 people were killed, and several subsequent attacks.

Central Asian terrorist groups Islamic Jihad Group (IJG), Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari (KIB) and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) which actively participated in fighting alongside the Taliban, are now experiencing greater freedom of movement in the country.

Central Asian embassies based in Afghanistan have observed with concern that several leaders of those groups have travelled freely to Kabul. IJG, led by Ilimbek Mamatov, a Kyrgyz national, and his deputy, Amsattor Atabaev of Tajikistan, is assessed to be the most combat-ready Central Asian group in Afghanistan.

It operates primarily in Badakhshan, Baghlan and Kunduz Provinces. KIB, led by Dilshod Dekhanov, a Tajik national, is currently located in the Bala Murghab district of Badghis Province. The group's strength has increased through the recruitment of local Afghans.

In September, Mamatov and Dekhanov separately visited Kabul. Each leader lobbied for support from the Taliban to unify the Central Asian groups under their respective leadership, in recognition of their contributions to the Taliban victory. The Taliban reportedly rejected the proposals, preferring to incorporate the groups as distinct military units within the newly established Taliban army, the UN report said.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 8 : A decade's-long save-the-forest movement in Bokaro leads the fight in protecting rich, biodiverse, and ecologically-sensitive sub-tropical forests from commercial exploitation and environmental devastation while allowing indigenous peoples to thrive off their land.

Bokaro: During their younger days, Khirodhar Mahto and Jodha Mahto, residents of the Upar Ghat area of the Bokaro district in Jharkhand, were deeply troubled by the gradual decline of thick forest cover around their village. They felt that the diminishing green canopy signalled a silent threat to their existence and that of their village. Prompted into action, they rallied together like-minded conservationists among their fellow villagers and started a campaign to save the forests. Today, both Khirodhar and Jodha (52 and 55 years old, respectively) witness the fruits of their activism, as they are surrounded by lush and dense forests that benefit both the environment and the community.

Khirodhar Mahato is now the chairman of the local forest conservation committee consisting of 11 members and also the convener of the Bokaro District Forest Conservation Committee.

He recalled, "The movement gained traction in 1981-1982. When we organised ourselves to salvage and rejuvenate the forests, it brought awareness and sensitivity among the common people." His companion, Jodha Mahto, added, "At that time, the dense forests were fading. Many trees had become stunted, making us aware of the severity of the situation. We realised that if our forests disappeared, then our fields would also become barren, and in turn, our livelihoods would also suffer." Unfettered mining and heavy industry endanger forests

Gulab Chandra, a prominent environmental activist of Bokaro district and convenor of the Damodar Bachao Abhiyan, told 101Reporters, "These forests are adjacent to some of the country's major power and coal-producing industrial units -- namely the power generation unit of Bokaro Thermal and coal mining projects of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL). So protecting the biodiversity of the forest land becomes more challenging and necessary." Chandra said that in the 90s, through the Sanjeevani Rath, they started a campaign to distribute tree saplings and inspired people to plant them. Under the banner of the Chotanagpur Central Forest Protection Committee, they also encouraged people to plant trees to celebrate the birth of every girl child, thereby reducing female foeticide. In due course, the trees would provide the parents with financial benefits at the time of their daughter's wedding. The tree became her 'brother and protector' and symbolic rakhis were tied to them. This Van Raksha Bandhan movement, popularised by prominent environmentalist Mahadev Mahato, was adopted to safeguard the forests in Pilpilo. The activist's visit to the village had motivated the people here, who started tying protective threads on the branches of trees and bushes.

"We take a pledge once a year to protect the trees and take out a procession in which women are also equally involved," said Pushpa Devi (40) from Kanjakiro.

Meena Devi (30), her fellow villager, said, "We stop anyone from chopping trees and make them understand that it will disturb the environmental balance." Devi is associated with self-help groups of the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) and is the chairperson of the village organisation.

The Sakhus of Upar Ghat Upar Ghat is a sprawling collection of many isolated forests which mainly fall in the Nawadih block area. Until recently, this zone was still a stronghold of Naxalites with numerous instances of unrest. Though not completely eradicated, their presence is receding, with the violence on the ebb for the time being. Nawadih was also in the news when the Bokaro forest division under the Vanvardhan, Afforestation and Land Conservation Scheme for 2020-21 planted 5.9 lakh native tree saplings in 616 hectares of forest land. Other prominent villages in Upar Ghat are the villages of Pilpilo, Kanjakiro and Pipradih in the Kanjakiro Panchayat limits. People of Kurmi, Adivasi and Turi communities reside in these areas.

The Pipilo forest boasts more than 150 types of trees. Communities in the area benefit by collecting and selling fruits, greens and mushroom varieties from the forests in nearby markets.

When 101Reporters visited Pilpilo, Khirodhar proved a valuable guide, providing thorough information about the flora of the land. "Worshipped by the tribal communities, almost 90 per cent of the trees here are Sakhua. It absorbs water during the monsoons and slowly discharges it during the summers, replenishing groundwater sources. Therefore, a significantly large number of trees would alleviate any future water shortage," he said, emphasising that the water-retaining properties of Sakhua are well-known among the locals. He said that there are many evergreen springs in the forests of Lugu and Parasnath adjoining Upar Ghat and attributes it to the abundance of Sakhua trees.

Dr MS Malik, Dean of the Department of Forestry at Birsa Agricultural University, said there haven't been studies on the Sakhua's capacity for water harvesting but said that they grow on very less water and are prolific across Jharkhand because of the favourable acidic soil. "If you dig a pit next to the tree, it retains water and doesn't dry up," he said. The Sakhua matures over 40-60 years and has medicinal value.

Mahto knows all about the medicinal value of these native trees; it's committed to a sharp memory. Oil is produced from the fruit of the Kusum tree, and lacquer is also made from it. The fruits of the Kanaud kaur and Sayam core tree are edible. The fruit of the Koraiya tree is used to treat diabetes, while the Bandarlore and Rohan trees have medicinal properties. During the monsoons, khukri/khukdi or futka (mushroom varieties) are found in the forest, foraged and sold at high prices, almost at Rs 400 per kg.

At constant vigilance In 2020, many trees were felled when the power line was installed through the Teharwa forest adjacent to the Pilpilo forest. Also, stones for the construction of the power units were sourced from the Upar Ghat forests, the quarrying of which caused significant damage to the woodlands, according to Gulab Chandra, the convener of Damodar Bachao Abhiyan. There were no public consultations about any of this, said Khirodhar Mahto. This pushed Chandra and local activists to raise public awareness against the plundering of natural resources and habitats. The incident had rattled many people.

On the condition of anonymity, a former Forest Department official said that if there are government or private industrial activities within the forest limits it is bound to cause damage, then, as a rule, the concerned authorities must make provision for uprooting and transplanting trees that are in the line of destruction in an alternative area.

However, no such conservationist endeavours have been recorded in Pilpilo. He also added that there was also much pressure to open the ecologically endangered zones of Upar Ghat to the tourism sector. Attempts to contact AK Singh, Bokaro's Divisional Forest Officer via phone and email have been unsuccessful.

(This article is a part of a 101Reporters' series on The Promise Of Commons. In this series, we will explore how judicious management of shared public resources can help the ecosystem as well as the communities inhabiting it.)
Bengaluru, Feb 8 : Amid tension and violence at educational institutions in the state, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday adjourned, to Wednesday, the hearing of petitions on questioning denial of permission to hear hijab to classrooms by Udupi Pre-University College students and others for Wednesday.

The single bench of Justice Krishna S. Dixit also requested the student community to maintain peace in the state. The court will take up the matter on Wednesday at 2.30 p.m.

Meanwhile, considering the volatile situation in the state against the backdrop of the hijab crisis, the BJP government has declared a three-day holiday for schools and colleges starting from Wednesday. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has requested the students to wait until the court order and not to get provoked.

"I appeal to all students, teachers and management of schools and colleges as well as people of Karnataka to maintain peace and harmony. I have ordered the closure of all high schools and colleges for the next three days. All concerned are requested to cooperate," he said.

At the hearing on Tuesday, the bench asked counsel to present their arguments briefly, saying arguments and counter-arguments can't be heard till the end of the academic year.

Justice Dixit has also observed that the court has confidence in the discretionary power of the public and students.

Advocate General Prabhuling Navadagi, appearing for the government, will present his arguments before the bench on Wednesday. However, the bench did not accept his request to give an interim order to stop protests until the matter is heard by the court.

Counsel appearing for petitioners seeking permission to wear hijab submitted to the court that the Kerala High Court judgment, ruling against wearing of hijab, is related to the issue of a Christian college, and has no links with the Karnataka case.

"The religious right is as much the right of students also. The state government has referred the verdict of Bombay High Court in Fathima Sayeed case. In that case Fathima had sought relief from the Bombay High Court as she was not allowed to attend college in hijab. The court had ruled against her appeal as it was a girl's college. That cannot be implied here as the state government has implemented the rule in all colleges," Devdutt Kamath, counsel for the petitioner, said.

"Hijab is an integral part of Islam. It is used to cover the neck and hair. All Muslim scholars have agreed upon this fact. The government can say wearing hijab is right or wrong but it can't prevent students from wearing hijab. If the government wants, it can give a colour to the issue. All religious faiths could also be dubbed in a certain way. The government is giving colour to the hijab issue in the pretext of maintaining a law and order situation. If a Sikh is wearing a turban, Brahmin is wearing a tilak, how is the law and order situation affected?" he questioned.

"Can wearing of tilak be stopped if anyone is feeling bad? The act of wearing a hijab to sit in a separate room is a violation of fundamental rights. Article 14 is there for our protection. Everyone is equal before the law," he said.

At this stage, Advocate General Navadagi objected, alleging counsel is making charges without any basis and it can prove dangerous for the society. He said that one should not give statements which indicate that there are attacks on all hijab-wearing students.

Kamath stated that it is "religious untouchability" and a separate affidavit has been filed on that matter. He also asked the government counsel not to set aside his right to freedom of expression. Quoting the verdicts of Malaysia and US courts, he stressed that the sweeping decision to ban protests would be against Article 19 of the Constitution.

The bench, at this point, observed that it is important to see whether the same feelings prevail here, while the judgments of foreign countries are being quoted.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Rajya Sabha Secretariat Employees Association (RSSEA) has expressed gratitude to Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu for taking decisions in the interest of the employees.

RSSEA also termed tenure of the Chairman as the 'Golden Phase of Rajya Sabha Secretariat'.

It said that Naidu guided the Secretariat in framing Recruitment Rules for the posts of Secretary, Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. He also constituted Rules Review Committee that presented its report on December 28, 2018 recommending amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business to the Council of States.

The initiatives taken during the tenure of Naidu included creation of a Reservation Cell for scrutinizing the promotional proposals, creation of Welfare Section, introduction of adhaar enabled biometric attendance system (AeBAS) enabling the employees to mark their attendance twice a day on AeBAS machines, introduction of e-Office software package and File Management System of e-Office Module, creation of Vigilance Section in the Secretariat, a Committee for Rationalization of Cadre strength in various grades, the Financial Incentive Scheme, 2021 for acquiring typing proficiency in Hindi/English language, Gradation List 2020 of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

Keeping in view the overall development of the employees/officials of the Secretariat, Naidu directed secretariat to make rules regarding the rotation and transfer policy of Officers posted in a Section for more than ten years. As a result of this policy, rotation of work amongst more than 225 staff and officers was initiated.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), led by Osama Mehmood and his deputy Atif Yahya Ghouri retains a presence in Afghanistan, as per a UN report.

AQIS is retains a presence in the Afghan provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimruz, Paktika and Zabul, where the group fought alongside the Taliban against the ousted Government.

AQIS is estimated to have between 200 and 400 fighters, mainly from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan, the report said.

Al-Qaida also received a significant boost following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, as some of its closest sympathizers within the Taliban now occupy senior positions in the new de facto Afghan administration.

The Taliban takeover has made it more likely that Mohammed Salahaldin Abd El Halim Zidane, (alias Sayf-Al Adl), in the event that he succeeds al-Zawahiri, will have the option of establishing himself in Afghanistan to take up his new role, although one Member State has denied his presence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Although under the Doha agreement of February 2020, the Taliban has committed itself to preventing any international terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan, Member States are concerned that the regime will offer a safe haven for Al-Qaida, provided that the latter does not jeopardize Taliban efforts to achieve international legitimacy.

Al-Qaida continues to have concerns about its future leadership, although there is now proof of life for Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri as recently as early 2021.

The security landscape in Afghanistan changed dramatically on 15 August, when the Taliban took control of the country. There are no recent signs that the Taliban has taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist fighters in the country.

On the contrary, terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than at any time in recent history. However, Member States have not reported significant new movements of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan.

On August 31, Al-Qaeda released a statement congratulating the Taliban on its victory. Since that statement, Al-Qaeda has maintained a strategic silence, likely an effort not to compromise Taliban efforts to gain international recognition and legitimacy.

Al-Qaeda is also continuing to recover from a series of leadership losses and is assessed to lack the capability to conduct high-profile attacks overseas, which remains its long-term goal. Amin Muhammad ul-Haq Saam Khan, who coordinated security for Usama Bin Laden, returned to his home in Afghanistan in late August.

One Member State reported that Bin Laden's son, Abdallah visited Afghanistan in October for meetings with the Taliban. Aiman al-Zawahiri was reported alive as recently as January 2021, but Member States continue to believe that he is in poor health, the UN report said.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at sanjeev.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 8 : A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the Congress Party as a 'Tukde-Tukde gang' in the Lok Sabha, he on Tuesday said in the Rajya Sabha that the principal opposition party's thinking has been hijacked by the urban Naxals.

Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's speech in the Upper House, he said, "It is said that we are trying to change history. Congress thinking has been trapped by urban Naxals." Saying that their (Congress) thinking has become destructive, Modi added, "We just want to improve the memory of some people. We are not changing history. Some people's history starts from a particular time, we are only going back. Some people's history is limited to one family." Taking a jibe over the statement made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the importance of federalism in the Lok Sabha last week where he said that India is a Union of States, Modi said that the Congress party has an objection to the word nation. Why do they not change the name of their party from Indian National Congress to Federation of Congress. "Correct the mistake made by your predecessors," he added.

Talking about cooperative federalism, Modi said that the GST Council is an example of the federal structure wherein the State finance ministers and Union Finance Minister sit as equals to make decisions. All decisions have been taken unanimously.

He said that like social justice, regional justice is also very important and considering that aspect we have selected aspirational districts along with States. Apart from one State, all States have participated in the scheme and 100 districts were taken to improve the development indicators in these districts which are now even better than the rest of the districts in a state.

We have made improvements in the coal and mining sectors by giving more and more incentives, all income from the auctions have gone to state governments. "If states benefit, the country benefits. Odisha has been the finest example of cooperative federalism wherein the state cooperated with us shoulder to shoulder in implementing the reforms and the state Chief Minister must be praised for this." Stating that States will be developed for the country's development, Modi said you all know what happened with me when I was Chief Minister of Gujarat. "But as CM I always used to say that the State will be developed for the country's sake. People who ruled the country for decades, the way they exploited the States, they brought President's rule over 100 times and uprooted elected governments," he added.

Taking a dig at the Congress Party, he said that the grand old party did not even spare its own leaders. They divided Andhra Pradesh in a wrong way that both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are fighting till now. "Atalji also made three States, but it was done peacefully. We are not opposing Telangana, but it could have been done peacefully," Modi added.
Chennai, Feb 8 : The fans association of Tamil Super Star Vijay will lend support to some independent candidates in the ensuing Urban local body elections of the state.

Vijay Makkal Iyyagam (Vijay Fans Association) general secretary Bussy Anand on Tuesday said that two candidates will be introduced to the members of the fan association in Chennai.

However, the Iyyagam leaders said that more candidates may be extended support in the coming days depending on the background of these candidates.

The Vijay Makkal Iyyagam has more than 1.5 lakh members with identity cards in Chennai city alone and in Tamil Nadu, there are 15 lakh members, according to the office-bearers of the organisation.

Bussy Anand, in a statement, said that the Vijay Fans association has not reached out to any candidates but the independent candidates have approached the association. He said that the extension of support was after a background check of the candidates and their support for social causes.

It may be noted that in the recent rural local body elections to the nine districts that were held in October 2021, the Vijay fans association members won 115 seats out of the 169 seats from where they contested.

The Vijay Fans association had outnumbered Kamal Hassan's Makkal Needhi Maiam(MNM) and Seeman's ANaam Thamizhar Katchi (NTK) which are recognised political parties. Both the parties drew a blank in the rural local body polls.

It may be noted that Vijay has been testing the waters of Tamil Nadu politics for some time and he is planning his political entry in the manner in which Desiya Murpoku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) leader and Tamil actor Vijayakanth who had first ventured into rural local body elections and then Urban local body polls.

Vijayakanth later forayed into Assembly elections and could even become the opposition leader in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Dr. Uma Maheswari, political analyst and Professor of Political science in a private college of Chennai while speaking to IANS said: "Presently with Rajanikant expressing his inability to enter into the world of politics, Vijay is the only person from the Tamil film world who has a chance to unseat the present political parties. It is to be seen whether he will go for that plunge or keep a safe distance from the politics of Tamil Nadu."
Chandigarh, Feb 8 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati on Tuesday described the Congress party's decision to declare incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi as its chief ministerial face in Punjab as a desperate attempt to revive its sinking fortunes in the state.

The BSP supremo, who addressed a large gathering here along with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal, in Nawanshahr said: "The Congress party only remembers Dalits at the time of elections. Once the elections are over they will sideline Charanjit Channi who is even now being remote controlled from Delhi." She also asked Channi to understand why he had been promoted in the party, saying the Congress party had a past history of using the Dalit community during elections.

She also pointed out that it would have been better and more befitting if Channi had taken the blessings of Guru Ravidas-ji after being appointed the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress party.

"I appeal to the Ravidas samaj to make Channi realise the value of Guru Ravidas-ji", Mayawati added in her first election rally ahead of polling for 117 seats of the Assembly on February 20.

The BSP president, while expressing confidence that the SAD-BSP alliance would sweep the polls, said: "We all have to work unitedly to install Sukhbir Badal as the next chief minister of the state." She said she was confident that with Badal as the next chief minister special schemes would be launched to bring in all-round improvement in the life of the weaker sections of society.

In her message on the occasion, Mayawati said while the Congress party was dying a natural death across the country and its days were numbered in Punjab said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was also on its way out. "People realise the BJP has a corporate mindset and will make it meet the same fate as the Congress party." Speaking about Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Mayawati said people should see the conditions in Delhi for themselves before thinking of reposing faith in AAP in Punjab.

Speaking on the occasion, SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal stated that after Mayawati's visit to Punjab, the SAD-BSP tsunami was set to sweep the state.

He said the Punjabis felt cheated by the Congress party which had done nothing and wasted five years by scrapping or curtailing all social welfare benefits given to Punjabis by Parkash Singh Badal, be it scrapping blue cards or curtailing old-age pension and shagun scheme.

He said similarly Punjabis could not trust AAP which had an anti-Punjab agenda.

He said AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal did not have any attachment with Punjab.

"Kejriwal has taken an anti-Punjab stance in the Supreme Court on key issues and even demanded transfer of Punjab's river waters to Haryana and Delhi, closure of its thermal plants and registration of criminal cases against farmers who were forced to burn their paddy stubble." Badal also announced that all blue cards which had been deleted by the Congress government would be restored within one month of formation of the SAD-BSP government.

He also announced that Rs 2,000 per month would be given to the woman head of below poverty line families, all consumers would be given 400 units of power free of cost, Rs 10 lakh medical insurance cover would be given to all and that students will be eligible to a Rs 10 lakh loan for higher studies, besides 33 per cent reservation in technical institutions (government school students).

He also announced that all those who did not have a home would be given a five marla plot of land and that a 500 bed medical college would be established in every district of the state.
Bengaluru, Feb 8 : Shocking details are emerging from the widespread incidents of violence from across Karnataka on Tuesday in the backdrop of hijab row. The miscreants have attacked a teacher with iron rods causing severe head injuries to him in Bagalkot district. BJP MLA Haratalu Halappa stood as a mute spectator even as a student was beaten up by a mob in Shivamogga district.

Manjunath Naik (30), a school teacher has been attacked with iron rods by miscreants in Banahatti town of Bagalkot district after the violence erupted following students protest. "I was crossing the road when a group of people attacked me with iron rods on my head. I couldn't realize what was happening," a bleeding Manjunath Naik explained to media persons.

He was taken to hospital by the police later. The situation is still tense in Banahatti town and the police has made elaborate arrangements to avoid any incident of violence.

In another incident, BJP MLA Haratalu Halappa remained a mute spectator even as the violent mob attacked a student. The incident happened when Halappa visited Sagar District Hospital to inquire about injured students in the stone pelting and lathicharge incident.

A large number of student groups have been stationed at the entrance of the hospital. The student groups tried to pour out complaints to Halappa. Hindu as well Muslim students raised slogans and condemned each other. Meanwhile, the incident took a violent turn when the saffron shawl cladding students suddenly attacked a student who was raising slogans in support of hijab.

Even as violence was unfolding before him, MLA Halappa did not make any attempt to stop the crowd involved in violence. The video has gone viral and drawing sharp reactions from the public.

In yet another incident in Mandya district, a hijab wearing college student had to bear the brunt of the anger of hundreds of students at PES College. The students started raising slogans of Jai Shri Ram as soon as they spotted a hijab wearing student. Angered by this, the young woman raised the slogan of 'Allah hu Akbar'. The mob got more angry by this and started following the lady, raising the slogan of 'Jai Shri Ram' more vigorously.

C.B. Ryshyanth, Superintendent of Police of Davanagere district where prohibitory orders are clamped till Wednesday evening stated that, the police department has taken suo motu complaint of the violence that has taken place in Davanagere and Harihara twin cities. "CCTV footage is available. Whoever is involved will not be spared. We don't make any arrests unnecessarily. I request people not to come out of their houses," he stated.

Siddaramaiah, the Opposition leader has slammed the ruling BJP government for the situation in the state. He said, the provocative statements by the Home and Education Ministers are responsible for the present situation in the state. The issue could have been solved at the local level in the initial stages. Now the ruling government is in a helpless state, he chided.

Meanwhile. K.S. Eshwarappa, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj charged that Congress is behind the hijab crisis in the state for vote bank politics.
Amaravati, Feb 8 : Tollywood megastar Chiranjeevi along with some other representatives of the Telugu film industry are likely to meet Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on February 10 over cinema ticket prices.

A decision on the contentious issue is likely to be taken during the meeting. Indications to this effect were available after minister for cinematography Perni Nani met the chief minister and briefed him on the deliberations the government-appointed had with various stake-holders.

The minister is understood to have conveyed to the chief minister the views of the committee on fixing minimum and maximum ticket prices and the problems of cinema theatre owners.

It may be recalled that Chiranjeevi had met Jagan Mohan Reddy on January 12 amid the row between Andhra Pradesh and Tollywood over cinema ticket prices.

On the invitation of the chief minister, Chiranjeevi had a meeting with him at the chief minister's official residence at Tadepalli here.

After a one-and-half hour long meeting, the actor had told reporters that Jagan Mohan Reddy responded positively to the issues raised by him on behalf of the film industry, exhibitors and theatre owners.

The chief minister had assured him that a mutually acceptable decision will be taken. He had told the actor that he will convey the issues raised by him to the committee constituted by the government. He said a draft will be prepared and he will be invited again for consultation before issuing a Government Order.

Chiranjeevi had said that he would discuss the draft with all stakeholders in the industry and would be happy to take them along to meet the chief minister next time.

Chiranjeevi also appealed to all in the industry not to avoid issuing statements on the issue. His appeal had come amid a bitter war of words between some Tollywood personalities and cinematography minister and leaders of ruling YSR Congress party.

Several producers, actors, exhibitors and cinema theatre owners had slammed the state government for slashing the ticket prices saying this has led to closure of some theatres.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Union Budget FY23 is expected to have a positive impact on the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector, said India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).

The budget has given an incentive for international trade and extended previous schemes to provide the much-needed relief to MSMEs.

"The extension in the scope of ECLGS by Rs 50 billion, making a total of Rs 5 trillion to be availed by March 2023, will support the liquidity and debt servicing of most MSMEs," the ratings agency said.

"MSMEs will be able to free-up their working capital funds and swap their previously availed high interest-bearing term loans with lower cost ECLGS loans. However, the working capital of MSMEs remaining stuck in the form of either inventory or debtors will remain a key concern, as it might deplete the newly sanctioned funds in the short term and increase the financial leverage." As of November 2021, Rs 2.82 trillion has already been sanctioned to 13 million MSMEs.

Besides, the Rs 60 billion 'Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance' (RAMP) programme is another budget scheme that is expected to positively impact the MSMEs.

The Centre has allocated Rs 60 billion for the RAMP programme for MSMEs for the coming five years, which is inclusive of the Rs 37.50 billion RAMP programme launched by the World Bank in June 2021.

The World Bank had earmarked this funding for the period FY22-FY26 under the 'Credit Linked Capital Subsidy' and 'Technology Upgradation Scheme'.

"It will nudge MSMEs to scale-up their capacity. Also, the large-scale, cost-effective integration to be implemented under the RAPM scheme will enable the Ministry of MSME and states to improve its monitoring and evaluation capacity which will bridge the information gap and improve the efficiency of the system.

"Furthermore, the RAMP programme will help the MSME sector in scaling up, by providing formal sources of finance, a platform where MSMEs and suppliers can come together and fintech solutions for financial assistance," Ind-Ra said.

However, the eligibility criteria are still awaited.

Furthermore, the agency expects a positive impact on the hospitality sector from the budgetary provisions.

"The Rs 50 billion earmarked for the hospitality sector and related enterprises will provide the much-needed liquidity support.

"In FY21, the hospitality sector witnessed a major setback on account of a sharp decline in the occupancy and footfall due to the Covid-19 pandemic."
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Delhi on Tuesday registered 1,114 fresh Covid cases, a marginal decline from 1,151 cases reported on previous day, as well as another 12 deaths, according to the Health Department bulletin.

Meanwhile, the Covid positivity rate has come down to 2.28 per cent, while the active cases has also reduced to 6,908. With the recovery rate climbing to 98.21 per cent, the active cases rate stands at 0.37 per cent while the death rate continues at 1.41 per cent.

With 2,079 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries has gone to 18,13,280. A total of 4,843 Covid patients are being treated in home isolation at present.

The fresh Covid infections have pushed the tally to 18,46,198 and the death toll at 26,010.

The number of Covid containment zones has also declined to 25,875 in the city.

Meanwhile, a total of 48,792 new tests -- 37,456 RT-PCR and 11,336 Rapid Antigen - were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 3,53,46,462.

Out of 1,00,659 vaccines administered in the last 24 hours, 21,305 were first doses and 71,104 second doses. Meanwhile, 8,250 precaution doses were also administered in last 24 hours. The total number of cumulative beneficiaries vaccinated so far stands at 3,00,64,513 according to the health bulletin.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Los Angeles, Feb 8 : 'Writing With Fire', which was hailed by 'The Washington Post' as the "most inspiring journalism movie" and 'The New York Times' as "nothing short of galvanising", has become the first Indian documentary feature to get an Oscar nomination.

Helmed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, 'Writing With Fire' documents the inspiring story of 'Khabar Lehriya', a vibrant community newspaper in multiple dialects -- Bundeli, Avadhi and Bajjika -- run by women from marginalised communities in Bihar's Sitamarhi district and UP's Banda district.

The narrative of 'Writing With Fire', which won top awards at last year's Sundance Film Festival, traces the journey of the newspaper from the print to the digital medium, with the women leading it becoming daring smartphone journalists.

Supported by the Sundance Institute, the documentary was shot over five years, following the paths of the newspaper's chief reporter and the crime reporter as they negotiate what can at times be a difficult and dangerous world for women like them.

The story of the citizen journalists who run 'Khabar Lehriya' and have overseen its makeover from print to digital has been greeted with high praise by just about every film trade magazine in the United States.

The 'San Francisco Chronicle', though, may have nailed it when it said: "Even (Bob) Woodward and (Carl) Bernstein would be inspired by the women reporters of India's 'Writing with Fire," The two American journalists with 'Washington Post' had blown the lid off the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Given the particularly close relationship that exists between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, it will be important to monitor whether the Taliban decides in the future to provide Al-Qaeda with items from the State inventory of military equipment it now controls, as per a UN report.

There has been concern among countries about the glut of weapons, especially small arms, that exist in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan.

Such concerns have been exacerbated by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, including of the country's large quantities of weaponry and other military equipment. With the country facing a sever e economic, financial and humanitarian crisis, tradeable commodities such as arms and related material are more readily available, the report said.

There is a risk that they could be acquired by organized criminals and terrorists inside Afghanistan and even that they could find their way into neighbouring countries.

One Member State has observed that the Taliban is in the habit of giving small arms as gifts to groups that have supported it, potentially including groups sanctioned pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) and related resolutions. This risk is not currently reported to extend to arms that are more substantial than automatic rifles, but the risk remains that such transfers could add to the offensive capability of the groups in question.

Given the particularly close relationship that exists between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, it will be important to monitor whether the Taliban decides in the future to provide Al-Qaeda with items from the State inventory of military equipment it now controls.

Afghanistan has the potential to become a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and a number of terror groups with ties to the Central Asia region and beyond. While Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant -- Khorasan (ISIL-K) controls limited territory, it has demonstrated a continuing ability to mount sophisticated attacks, adding to the complexity of the security situation in Afghanistan.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Several Christian-led activists and rights organisations in Pakistan staged a protest demanding the government better protect the lives and properties of religious minorities in Pakistan, Friday Times reported.

The group called for the arrest and prosecution of the assailants who gunned down Pastor William Siraj and wounded Pastor Patrick Naeem in Peshawar last week.

Protesting in front of the Karachi Press Club, Chairman of the Muttahida Masihi Council Noel Ijaz said that the feeling of insecurity within the Christian community had increased following the violent killing.

"We would feel better protected if the police succeed in arresting the attackers and if perpetrators are convicted for their crimes. It is a sad reality that attackers involved in the persecution of minorities usually enjoy impunity," he observed, the report said.

Protestor Alyas Samuel said that whenever the minorities are attacked, perceived police and government inaction leaves an impression that minorities are second-class citizens, and are not treated equally, the report said.

Another protester, Asif Bastian lamented the government's response, which he said some believe emboldens terrorists and extremists to oppress and attack minorities, particularly Christians, with impunity.

"Religious minorities are beaten down time and again, and we find no protection. If we fight back, the police put us in jail, but the elements behind mob attacks against minority settlements get away with their crimes," he commented.

Chairman of Voice for Justice Joseph Jansen cited the government response to the killing of two Muslims in 2015 in retaliation of the Youhanabad church attacks. Police in this instance took direct action and arrested 200 Christians, eventually charging 47 members of the Christian community. A least 41 Christians spent five years in prison until they were finally acquitted, Jansen claimed, noting the government's quick action in the matter.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : A sessions court in Pakistan's Ghotki has sentenced a Hindu man to life in prison on charges of blasphemy. Nautan Lal has been fined Rs 50,000 as well, Samaa TV reported.

Additional Sessions Judge Mumtaz Ali Solangi delivered the verdict on Tuesday. It has taken the court two years to pass the final order. Nautan Lal has been in jail since 2019 as an undertrial prisoner.

A case against Nautan Lal was also registered under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks).

He has been sent back to Central Prison in Sukkur. In the past two years, his requests for bail have been rejected twice, the report said.

On September 14, 2019, a video was shared on social media in which a teenager, a first-year Intermediate student, claimed that the owner of Ghotki's Sindh Public Higher Secondary School had blasphemed himself.

According to teachers, however, Nautan Lal was just visiting that day. He does not actually teach at his school. He is a physics teacher at Government Degree College Ghotki, the report said.

Soon after, the head of a madrassa, Mufti Adul Karim Sayeedi of Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, registered a blasphemy case against the school owner.

Violence broke out in the district the night the case was registered. As the news spread, masked men attacked the Sacho Satram Dham Temple in Ghotki. They ransacked the temple, damaged its idols and battered its blue and green walls, Samaa TV reported.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 8 : It has been now 31 hours since a young trekker enthusiast has been trapped in a fault line of the Koormbachi hillock in Kerala's Palakkad as several efforts to rescue him have not been successful.

Babu, 23, along with three of his friends had climbed the hillock and while coming down, he slipped and fell into the fault line.

After failing to rescue him, his friends rushed downhill and alerted the locals and soon came the rescue team, but they too failed.

On Tuesday an Indian Coast Guard's Chetak helicopter attempted the rescue operations, but, due to inclement weather, was unable to complete the mission.

Two units of the NDRF are at the spot and have been doing their best, but have not been able to been successful so far.

Attempts to give Babu food with the help of drones also failed.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought the help of defence officials and a team of two Army Officers, two JCOs and five other ranks from Wellington is expected to arrive at the location before midnight, while the Indian Air Force will be transporting one more mountaineering team of the Indian Army from Bengaluru and will be joining by early Wednesday morning.
New Delhi, Feb 8: The United States has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the capture of ISIS-K leader Sanaullah Ghafari and another $10 million reward for information about other terrorists responsible for the attack on Kabul International Airport on August 26 in which more than 200 people including 13 US troops were killed.

The US State Department said the cash pay outs would encourage tip-offs that could lead to the arrest of leaders and militants of the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.

Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir, was appointed to lead ISIS-K in June 2020, according to the Department of State. He is thought to be responsible for approving ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding for the group. In November, the U.S. State Department designated Ghafari as a "specially designated global terrorist." "An ISIS communique announcing his appointment described al-Muhajir as an experienced military leader and one of ISIS-K's 'urban lions' in Kabul who has been involved in guerrilla operations and the planning of suicide and complex attacks," says the US state department.

According to the US security officials, Ghafari is responsible for approving all ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations. The group has more than 4000 fighters spread in Afghanistan.

Ghafari alias Shahab al-Muhajir, is a former operative of the Haqqani Network who now dominate the Taliban government in Kabul, including control over the ministry of interior responsible for managing internal security. The chief of Haqqanis, Sirajuddin Haqqani is the Interior Minister of Afghanistan who carries a bounty of $ 10 million on his head. According to some news reports, several major attacks over the past two years involved direct collaboration between the Haqqanis and ISIS-K.

Since the Taliban's capture in Kabul, ISIS-K has stepped up attacks across the country, raising alarm bells about the potential resurgence of a group that could eventually pose an international threat. The insurgent group has targeted ethnic minorities and the Taliban and is now carrying out attacks across the country.

Growing regional and international demands for a clampdown has put the Taliban in a Catch-22 position, whereby the action needed to restore access to its funds frozen in the US and elsewhere runs the risk of tearing its own nascent government apart. The Taliban cannot be seen to be ignoring growing international pressure to tackle all militant groups, including ISIS-K, the anti-Pakistan TTP and the anti-China ETIM, among other trans-national outfits based in the country.

While the Taliban have confined their struggle to Afghanistan, the Islamic State group in Afghanistan and Pakistan has embraced the Islamic State's call for a worldwide jihad against non-Muslims.

Last week, the US announced the death of ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, caused by a self-inflicted explosion during a US counterterrorism raid in Syria on Wednesday. However, despite the victory, ISIS and its Afghan affiliate ISIS-K is far from neutralized.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
New Delhi, Feb 8: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's visit to the Philippines starting this weekend is set to cement special ties between New Delhi and Manila riding of their recent BarhMos missile deal, widely touted as a game-changer in the South China Sea. The two countries are now looking at working together in the fields of maritime security, intelligence-sharing, military training, procurement and logistics.

The Philippines' Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and BrahMos Aerospace Director General Atul Dinkar Rane had signed the contract worth PHP 18.9 billion in a virtual ceremony at the DND headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on January 28.

Calling it a landmark move, the western Pacific Ocean country said it realises the importance of the contract considering escalating regional tensions, especially China's strategic expansion into the South China Sea.

"Equipping our Navy with this vital asset is imperative as the Philippines continues to protect the integrity of its territory and defend its national interests," Lorenzana had said at the time of contract signing for the shore-based anti-ship missile system acquisition project for the Philippine Navy.

"As the world's fastest supersonic cruise missiles, the Brahmos Missiles will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine our sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippine Sea," the defence chief had added.

As reported by IndiaNarrative.com last December, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been busy giving final touches to the modernization of his country's armed forces with acquisition of missile corvettes, Black Hawk combat helicopters, Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and India's BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, before his term expires in June.

The Philippine government's Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had on December 27 released two Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) to cover the initial funding requirements of the 'Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System Acquisition Project' of the Philippine Navy under the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Programme.

Manila has shown interest in acquiring BrahMos - the potent offensive missile weapon system developed through the joint venture between India (DRDO) and Russia (NPOM) - ever since the indigenously built stealth warship INS Sahyadri had docked at Manila South Harbour along with an anti-submarine corvette, INS Kiltan in October 2019.

Initially, Philippines will be acquiring three batteries - consisting of three mobile autonomous launchers along with two or three missile tubes each and the tracking systems - besides training for operators and maintainers as well as the necessary Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package.

The deliveries of the BrahMos for the Philippine Navy's Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System Acquisition Project are expected to start later this year.

Lorenzana had called it an "absolute honour" for the Philippines to be the first foreign nation to acquire India's supersonic cruise missile systems.

Jaishankar, who will be reaching Manila straight from Australia after attending the two-day Quad foreign ministers' meeting beginning January 10, is also expected to discuss key developments in overall bilateral relations with his counterpart Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin.

Strengthening cooperation between India the Philippines on regional and global issues in the context of ASEAN and India Dialogue; and mutual support to address the Covid-19 pandemic and economic revitalization in the fields of agriculture, energy, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) could also be the top meeting agenda.

Locsin had last year said that Jaishankar's wisdom on Indo-Pacific dynamics has guided him in many crucial decisions, including Indian minister's "sharp insight" on the the Indo-Pacific region.

We support India's initiative for an ASEAN-India Joint Statement on the ASEAN Outlook and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.

"We commend India's active participation in the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum, and SOMTC Plus India. We aspire for a region of peace, growth, stability and freedom especially from non-state transnational threats to which we are especially vulnerable," the Foreign Affairs Secretary had commented during the ASEAN post-ministerial conference session with India last August.

"We look especially to India as a teacher in this particularly perilous field of fire - which describes our respective countries' situations in this regard," he added.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Hyderabad, Feb 8 : German multinational Bosch Global Software Technologies has agreed to set up their facility in Telangana which will provide employment for about 3,000 people, the state government said on Tuesday.

During a virtual meeting with the leadership team of Bosch, Information Technology and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao welcomed the company.

"BOSCH in Hyderabad! German MNC & a world leader in Mobility, Industrial Engineering & Home Appliances has chosen Hyderabad as a strategic location with its Bosch Global Software Technologies and R&D presence. The proposed facility will provide employment to about 3000 people," he tweeted.

During the meeting, the minister highlighted that Telangana has the best talent pool and infrastructure. Earlier, many companies recruited more employees than they announced initially, he said.

Bosch came to India 100 years ago when it started its operations in then Calcutta. Bosch software and R&D division came to then Bangalore in 1997. For the first time after 25 years, the company decided to set up their facility in Hyderabad with a large presence of 3,000 people in IT, engineering, and R&D.

Officials said this stands as a testimony to the visionary leadership, able administration and industry-friendly policies of the Telangana government.

A formal launch event will be organised by Bosch in the coming days.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) on Tuesday said that it has started its first ever programme for students to learn about the tribal communities of India.

The Commission said that it has selected 30 students from different universities across the states for a three-month internship programme to learn about the tribal community.

"This is the first time that such an initiative has been undertaken by the Commission. Under this initiative, total 30 students from different states have been selected for a three-month internship. Travelling & accommodations of the students will be arranged by the Commission," it said.

The selected students will be given information about the tribal community and the subjects concerned for the first week. Academics, teachers from various universities, and experts in tribal affairs will brief the students before sending them to the tribal areas in different states.

The Commission said the students will be staying in tribal areas for three months and will work amidst the tribal people, study their problems and make reports, which will be submitted to it.

"The purpose of this internship is to provide experience to the students of working in the tribal areas and among tribal people. On the basis of the reports presented by the students, the commission will decide its role further," the Commission said.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : Global road safety body, the International Road Federation on Tuesday wrote to Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, urging that the AIIMS' JPN Apex Trauma Centre, which was converted into a Covid care centre given the surging cases in the city, be restored to its original role.

"The number of Covid patients are on constant decline in the capital. There are enough beds in Delhi's government-run hospitals for Covid patients and there is no further need to make specific Covid facilities," IRF President Emeritus K.K. Kapila, said in his letter to the LG.

AIIMS had again converted the trauma centre only couple of months back.

The JNP Apec Trauma Centre is a world-level trauma centre with an annual foot fall of 70-80,000 of accident and other injured patients, providing 24x7 quality patient care with all specialties catering to the injured patients, the letter read adding that India accounts for the highest number of road accident deaths and injuries in the world.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The government on Tuesday questioned electric car company Tesla's business practices, of seeking tax breaks to use the Indian market to sell its products, but not wanting to set up manufacturing facilities in the country which can generate thousands of jobs.

"We can't grant subsidies or relaxation in taxes to the said company as they don't want to set-up their manufacturing and other operation bases here. Why should we favour a company which creates jobs in China and mints profit from our markets? Our Prime Minister has a vision for all such foreign companies, if you want to sell your product in our country, then manufacture them here only," Minister of State for Heavy Industries Krishna Pal Gujjar told the Lok Sabha in response to a question by Shiv Sena member Vinayak Bhaurao Raut.

Raut had asked what kind of relaxation in taxes is the government is planning to grant the electric car giant, so that they can start their manufacturing in various states here as announced.

The minister informed the house that Tesla hasn't shown any interest in any of the government's schemes for electric vehicles.

"The said company has not participated in any of our schemes, and that cleared their intentions that Tesla only wants to exploit our market to mint profit, but will refrain from setting up manufacturing units here. If they manufacture their electric cars in China, thousands of jobs will be created there, not for Indian youths here," he said.

As per the Ministry of Heavy Industries, the government has formulated a scheme, Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in 2015 to promote the adoption of electric/hybrid vehicles (EVs) in the country with an aim to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

At present, Phase-II of FAME India Scheme is being implemented for a period of 5 years with effect from April 12, 019 with total budgetary support of Rs 10,000 crore.

Also, GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent, and on chargers/charging stations for electric vehicles from 18 per cent to 5 per cent.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bengaluru/New Delhi, Feb 9 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that his government had decided to oppose Tamil Nadu's Hogenakkal hydro electric project and Cauvery, Gundar and Vaigai river linking project by filing objections in the court.

Addressing media persons in New Delhi after chairing a meeting with senior counsel who represent the state in the legal battles, the state Advocate General and senior officers on 'Inter-State Water Disputes', he said: "Karnataka has always been united when it comes to protecting state's interests related to its land and water. As for the Mekedatu project, it is coming up before the National Green Tribunal(NGT) and there is also another case coming up for hearing together. We will present our stand clearly by filing our objections." Replying to a question on notifying the award of Krishna Tribunal-2, Bommai said that the judge had recused himself before the last hearing. "This time we have submitted a petition to Registrar General for appointing a new Judge before the next hearing. The Chief Justice would decide on that. If not we have decided to make a submission in the court regarding this," he said.

"It has also been decided to present our stand clearly before the Central Water Commission and Cauvery River Management Authority. I had met the Union Jal Shakti Minister and environmental clearance is awaited.

"Mahadayi too came up for discussion. We have requested a speedy hearing. That too is in final stages. As all the riparian states have submitted objections to the Tribunal award... we need to find a solution. The river diversion issue is already discussed and settled. If DPR is approved work would be continued. The meeting discussed about how to start our projects, status of the court cases and how to continue the projects which have been started," Bommai said.

"We also discussed Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Pennar river linking project. We have to file our objections conveying the stand that till the water share of each state including our own share is decided, approval should not be given for DPR. Union Finance Minister too has been informed about our stand that, consent of all the states should be obtained before going ahead with the project," he added.

Replying to a question on cabinet expansion, the Chief Minister said the issue would be discussed only when he meets BJP President J.P. Nadda.
Chennai, Feb 9 : Six persons, including three Sri Lankan nationals, were apprehended by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) as it busted a major drug syndicate in Chennai on Tuesday, officials said.

A total 11 kg of amphetamine was seized from the arrested individuals from the Chennai-Gummidipoondi national highway during the early hours of Tuesday.

The NCB officers intercepted a goods carrier and found 11 packets of 1 kg each of the drug hidden on the vehicle.

The packets, according to NCB sleuths, were well concealed in a tarpaulin within a big machine in the truck and were difficult to detect.

On interrogation, the driver of the goods carrier revealed the details of the other five members of the gang and the NCB arrested all of them including the three Sri Lankans.

The NCB officers said that the arrested were planning to smuggle the drug to Sri Lanka as well as to other Indian states. The arrested included the financier, carrier, middleman, vehicle owner, and peddler.

"Sri Lankan nationals are getting more involved in the smuggling of amphetamine drug and according to the information we received, the source of this drug is Manipur along the India-Myanmar border. The gang has networks in Sri Lanka and other south Indian states for the past seven years," an NCB source said.
New Delhi, Feb 9 : The Facebook and Instagram handles of the Indian Army's Srinagar-headquartered 15 Corps have been blocked by the service provider for nearly a week now, sources said on Tuesday.

The two handles were created by the strategically important 15 Corps to counter and negate propaganda unleashed from across the border and to apprise the people of the real situation in the Kashmir Valley.

The account handles were blocked as they were used extensively to showcase the Republic Day celebrations, the security establishments alleged.

The Chinar Corps of Indian Army is responsible for guarding the Line of Control and anti-terror operations in the mainland Kashmir.

"A link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed", read the messages on both Facebook as well as Instagram pages of the Chinar Corps, a popular name of 15 Corps.

Both Facebook and Instagram are owned by the same company. Under normal conditions, the page/account on Facebook and Instagram is blocked if the user does not follow the regulations of the company.

The force is awaiting response from Facebook and Instagram after their handles were blocked.

Sources said that the account of Indian Army was blocked on January 28, two days after India celebrated Republic Day posted how the locals took part in the celebration.

A senior Indian Army officer said: "We have informed the establishment which have reached out to them. We are still waiting for their response." But security establishments were 'surprised' that the US giants did not respond to them.

Another social media giant Twitter did not engage itself into the issue.

Sources said that the blocking might have taken place due to unexpected mass complaints from Pakistan but also stated "how any country stops others from celebrations".

The social media platforms in India are under scanner for various reasons.

Last year, India's apex court had upheld Delhi Assembly's Committee on Peace and Harmony summons to Facebook to appear before its committees on grounds of its privilege.

The Supreme Court held that digital platforms like Facebook have become power centres that have the ability to influence opinions. The court said they thus will have to remain accountable.

Dismissing the plea, the apex court had stated that entities like Facebook, which has around 270 million users in India, have to remain accountable to those who entrust them with such power.

Facebook had approached the Supreme Court to challenge the summons issued by the Delhi Assembly's Peace and Harmony committee for failing to appear before it as witness in connection with the Delhi riots.
New Delhi, Feb 9 : Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu has appealed for honouring unsung national heroes and chronicling anecdotes of their life journey in an engaging way to inspire school children. He also suggested recounting tales of social harmony from the freedom struggle that reflect India's civilisational values.

He was releasing a book 'Dhyaas Panthe Chaalta' -- a historical account of the 160-year legacy of the Maharashtra Education Society from 'Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas' in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Speaking on the importance of teaching history, Naidu on Tuesday said, "We must teach our children the stories of such brave heroes this land has seen. Our glorious history must unshackle our minds of any inferiority complex we may harbour. History can indeed educate, enlighten and emancipate us." The Vice-President expressed concern that even after we gained independence, a colonial tinge remained in our education system. A successful implementation of the National Education Policy should remove this, he added.

Referring to Vasudev Balwant Phadke, Naidu lauded him as one of the earliest revolutionaries who fought for India's independence from colonial rule. He said the valiant manner in which Vasudev Balwant Phadke fought against the British by preaching the mantra of 'swaraj' and gathering the support of local communities is truly legendary.

Noting similar contributions from the state, the Vice-President added that Maharashtra was at the forefront in producing leaders and organisations and laying the ideological foundation for the freedom struggle.

He noted the efforts of organisations such as the Paramahansa Mandali, Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and Satyashodhak Samaj with leadership from stalwarts such as Dadoba Pandurang, Ganesh Vasudev Joshi, Mahadev Govind Ranade and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule "in bringing meaningful social reform in India." Observing that "institutions such as the Maharashtra Education Society, the Deccan Education Society and others took education as a mission," Naidu called for a similar spirit now to further the cause of education.

Stressing the need for a '21st century touch' to the education sector, the Vice-President urged an enthusiastic implementation of National Education Policy, 2020, by states and educational institutions, with emphasis on interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity.

Noting that the Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated the use of digital classrooms, smart devices and micro courses, Naidu observed that the mode of education cannot be status quoist anymore and called upon private and public educational institutions to adopt these new hybrid standards in education.

"Vocational courses and distance education delivered through modern technologies can bridge geographical barriers and reach remote areas. They must be fully explored and further scaled up," he added.
Jaipur, Feb 9 : After Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack at the Congress, accusing the party of using Parliament for political gains, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday responded, saying that there is an undeclared emergency in the country.

In a conversation with the media after the Congress' 'Chintan Shivir', Gehlot said, "Today there is an undeclared emergency in the country. Veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani himself was hinted as soon as the Modi government was formed and he came under pressure from the RSS and had to keep quiet." He added, "Why and under what circumstances did the emergency happen? In fact, after it, out government collapsed, everyone knows about it, what is the point of speaking about it now?"

The Rajasthan Chief Minister said, "What is happening in the country today, in which direction the country is going, no one knows." "Today there is an atmosphere of violence, unrest and mistrust in the country. We are making these allegations against the NDA government, BJP and RSS. On the contrary, Modi ji is saying that we are provoking people. Will we do the work of instigating the workers," Gehlot asked.

Terming lockdown and demonetisation as the Centre's mistake, he added, "You people have made mistakes, due to which the situation came that there was a sudden lockdown. Suddenly there was demonetisation. Long lines formed in front of banks. Has the Government of India conducted a survey of how many people were killed during demonetisation? The migrant workers had to walk on foot... how many laborers died on the way, is there any data with the Government of India."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Moscow, Feb 9 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian agreed in a telephone conversation on the urgent need to fully restore the Iran nuclear deal.

They discussed the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) amid the ongoing talks in Vienna over the landmark deal, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said in a statement.

The Ministers expressed support for a quick revival of the JCPOA in its original form, Xinhua news agency reported.

Lavrov and Amir Abdollahian also exchanged views on the recent visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Moscow, and reassured their readiness to foster cooperation in a wide range of fields.

Talks on the revival of the JCPOA resumed in Vienna on Tuesday.

The current eighth round of negotiations will focus on discussing "the prospect of a possible return of the US to the JCPOA and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides," according to a statement published by the European External Action Service.
Kiev, Feb 9 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron met to discuss the peace process aimed at resolving the crisis in and around Ukraine, Zelensky's press service reported.

At the talks on Tuesday, the Ukrainian President voiced the hope that the next meeting of leaders of the Normandy Four, which includes Ukraine, France, Germany and Russia, may take place "in the near future".

"An important step in this direction is the intensification of dialogue at the level of political advisers. We hope that the meeting in Paris, which took place on January 26, 2022, and the upcoming talks in Berlin will bring us closer to holding the Normandy Summit," Zelensky was quoted as saying by his press service.

Kiev and Paris share a common vision of current threats and security challenges for Ukraine, Europe and the world at large, he said.

Meanwhile, Macron said that the Minsk agreements are a path to de-escalation and lasting peace in Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.

The French President held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. Macron said that during his talks with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, both Kiev and Moscow expressed their readiness to implement the Minsk agreements.

The French President also announced that France will allocate 1.2 billion euros (nearly $1.37 billion) of macro-financial assistance for Kiev to help strengthen Ukraine's economic stability.

Following the meeting of the two leaders, Ukraine and France signed a string of bilateral agreements in defense, transport, infrastructure, aviation and other sectors.

Macron arrived in Kiev earlier on Tuesday. His trip marked the first visit of the French President to Ukraine in 24 years.

Macron's visit came amid the escalation of the tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

Since November, Kiev and some Western countries have accused Russia of assembling heavy troops near the Ukrainian border with a possible intention of "invasion".

Russia denied the accusation, saying that it has the right to mobilise troops within its borders to defend its territory as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's activities constitute a threat to Russia's border security.

The meeting of the advisors of the Normandy format will take place in Berlin on February 10.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Tehran, Feb 9 : Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said some Arab nations' normalisation of ties with Israel will create more problems for the region.

The President made the remarks on Tuesday in a meeting with Salam Zawawi, the new Palestinian Ambassador to Iran, to receive her credentials, reported the Iranian presidency's website.

Raisi noted that certain Arab states' move to establish diplomatic relations with Israel will not ensure protection and security for them, and instead, it will create more problems for the region and Arab countries, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the public protests by all Palestinian people and groups proved that "the act of betrayal" was rejected and condemned.

Stressing the Palestine issue should be the Muslim world's top priority, the Iranian President said Iran is the true supporter of the Palestinian nation and the liberation of Al-Quds, or the holy city of Jerusalem.

For his part, Zawawi censured those Arab states that "rushed" to normalise ties with Israel, saying they turned their back on the Palestinian cause and a blind eye to the rights of the Palestinian people and the existing resolutions in this regard.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalised their ties with Israel in 2020 under the US-brokered deals known as the Abraham Accords. Morocco and Sudan also followed suit.
Tehran, Feb 9 : Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said the Iranian media should take on the "absolute and immediate duty" to confront what he called the Western media's invasion.

Khamenei made the remarks on Tuesday during a meeting with the Iranian Air Force Commanders, according to Khamenei's website.

He added that the definite policy of the Western media hostile to Islam and Iran is to distort the realities through telling "professional lies".

The top Iranian leader accused the Western media of trying by all means to distort the realities of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and its founder, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, while denying the revolution's advancements and positive aspects.

He said media dictatorship is a type of despotism set up and used by Western powers despite their claimed freedom of speech, which is evident in the removal of Qassem Soleimani's name from major social media platforms, Xinhua news agency reported.

Soleimani, former Commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, was assassinated by the US with a drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

Khamenei called on all Iranians, particularly the officials of the state media and media outlets owners, to report the country's true realities and achievements to counteract the enemy's tactics.
National Safe Parents Coalition No child should ever be court ordered to be left alone with a dangerous abuser, period. Kaydens Law in VAWA will help states to ensure that never happens again, said Danielle Pollack, the policy manager for the National Family Violence Law Center at GW (NFVLC).

Calling All Safe Parents!

National Safe Parents Coalition

Launches Campaign to Include Child Safety First

Kaydens Law in VAWA (Violence Against Women Act).

National Safe Parents Coalition (NSPC), a coalition of more than 100,000 safe parents and family court reform advocates across the U.S., launches its first national legislative action campaign to advocate for the inclusion of the child safety first provision Kaydens Law in VAWA (Violence Against Women Act). As VAWA talks are in the final days, it is crucial that the hundreds of thousands of domestic abuse advocates and victims are heard collectively to ensure childrens safety is prioritized and addressed during family court custody proceedings. Kaydens Law in VAWA passed the U.S. House in 2021 and is now awaiting approval in the Senate.

The NSPC campaign focuses on the Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act or Kaydens Law, a provision in VAWA aimed at making child safety the primary concern in custody disputes. For decades, safe parents across the nation have struggled to keep their children safe from a dangerous ex partner, while family courts frequently minimize risk concerns and the detrimental effects of family violence on children as victims or witnesses. Too often, court decisions have compounded harms to at-risk children, sometimes ending in preventable abuse and child murder by a dangerous parent. Coming together to raise awareness of this proposed federal law, more than 100,000 safe parents and concerned citizens hope to create a sea change in how family courts handle risk and abuse to children.

Actress, UN Special Envoy, and child rights advocate Angelina Jolie, in her recent address on the Violence Against Women Act on January 19, 2022, urged support for Kaydens Law, saying: Please contact your Senators and ask them to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) with these new protections for the sake of families across our country ... for children like Kayden in Pennsylvania and Piqui in California.

"Kayden's Law" is named after Kayden Mancuso, a 7-year-old girl from Bucks County, Pennsylvania who was murdered by her father during court-ordered unsupervised custody time, which was granted over the objections of her mother who had raised safety concerns in custody litigation. Kaydens mother, Kathy Sherlock submitted evidence to the court of the fathers abusive, violent history  including criminal records - but he was nevertheless granted unsupervised contact with Kayden by the court. The father then beat Kayden to death and tied a bag over her head, leaving a note of retribution on her body.

Unfortunately, Kayden's story is not unique and many children have been preventably killed like this by a dangerous parent who was awarded custody. It is estimated that each year in the U.S. tens of thousands of children are court-ordered into the custody of an abusive parent, frequently without supervision or other safeguards in place. Furthermore, throughout the U.S. and world, dangerous parents are using family court systems to harm children and former partners, continuing their post-separation abuse with little oversight or accountability. While these problems have been widely studied and documented, children continue to be sent into harms way.

Building on a state bill of the same name led by Pennsylvania Senators Santarsiero and Baker, U.S. Congressman Fitzpatrick authored Kaydens Law in VAWA in consultation with the National Family Violence Law Center at GW (NFVLC), the only national organization specializing in the intersection of adult and child abuse in the family and its implications for state family courts.

No child should ever be court ordered to be left alone with a dangerous abuser, period. Kaydens Law in VAWA will help states to ensure that never happens again, said Danielle Pollack, the policy manager for the National Family Violence Law Center at GW (NFVLC). By adding Kaydens Law to VAWA, for the first time since it was passed in 1994, states will be eligible for federal funding when they improve their state custody statutes and close loopholes which routinely jeopardize the safety of children, she added.

In 2018, the founder and director of NFVLC, Professor Joan Meier, provided the technical assistance for House Congressional Resolution 72, which encourages state courts to improve custody adjudications where family violence is alleged, and laid the groundwork for Kaydens Law in VAWA. Since 2018, several states invested in improving their family court systems have already begun this process in consultation with NFVLC, and many others may soon follow with the passage of Kaydens Law in VAWA as it provides essential funding to the states ready to protect children.

NSPC works with similar national organizations across the globe, all whom are contending with the same problems we see in the U.S.: Courts resistance to taking risks and abuse to a child seriously in the context of child access decisions, said spokesperson for Connecticut Protective Moms, a National Safe Parents Coalition member.

The National Safe Parents Coalition (NSPC) represents dozens of family court reform advocacy organizations and more than 100,000 survivor parents and concerned citizens in the United States advocating for evidence-based policies which put child safety and risks at the forefront of child custody decisions.

National Safe Parents Coalition: http://https://www.nationalsafeparents.org/

Twitter: http://https://twitter.com/safe_parents

Facebook: http://https://www.facebook.com/nationalsafeparents/

Instagram: http://https://www.instagram.com/nationalsafeparentscoalition/

__________________________________________________________________________________

Highlights of Kaydens Law in VAWA

The Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act or "Kaydens Law" in VAWA, if adopted, will incentivize states to ensure that their child custody laws improve protections for at-risk children by:

1. Restricting expert testimony to only those who are appropriately qualified to provide it. Evidence from court-appointed or outside professionals regarding alleged abuse may be admitted only when the professional possesses demonstrated expertise and experience in working with victims of domestic violence or child abuse, including child sexual abuse.

2. Limiting the use of reunification camps and therapies which cannot be proven to be safe and effective. No reunification treatment may be ordered by the court without scientifically valid and generally accepted proof of the safety, effectiveness and therapeutic value of the particular treatment.

3. Providing evidence-based ongoing training to judges and court personnel on family violence subject matter, including: (i) child sexual abuse; (ii) physical abuse; (iii) emotional abuse; (iv) coercive control;(v) implicit and explicit bias;(vi) trauma;(vii) long and short-term impacts of domestic violence and child abuse on children; and (viii) victim and perpetrator behaviors.

Media Contact:

Traci Wallace

media@nationalsafeparents.org

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Please email us at media@nationalsafeparents.org

Copyright 2022 National Safe Parents Coalition. All rights reserved.
The team at Operation TRIAGE cant thank Titan Factory Direct enough for their kindness and quick response to Vietnam Veteran Dennis Stout and his familys dire need for a new home.

Titan Factory Direct, an indirect subsidiary of Skyline Champion Corporation, partnered with the non-profit organization Operation TRIAGE to gift a Veteran a new manufactured home this past holiday season. On November 28, 2021, the two organizations came together to surprise Vietnam Veteran, Dennis Stout, and his wife Lynn Stout with the news that they would be receiving a brand-new home gifted from Operation TRIAGE.

The team at Operation TRIAGE cant thank Titan Factory Direct enough for their kindness and quick response to Vietnam Veteran Dennis Stout and his familys dire need for a new home, said Daniel Vargas, Founder and President of Operation TRIAGE. We only found out about the Stout familys need for a residence in October and, thanks to Titan Factory Direct, we were able to get them into their new home in time for Christmas! Many companies talk about helping Americas Veterans, but Titan Factory Direct does more than talk. They act!

Titan Factory Direct offered Operation TRIAGE the home at cost to help provide local support for veterans. The President and Founder of Operation TRIAGE approached Titan Factory Directs Retail President and veteran Joseph Kesterson to request assistance in making a difference in the life of a fellow veteran in need. I hold all service members in high esteem and as a fellow US Army Veteran, I am aware of the incredible sacrifices they experience while serving in the military, said Joseph Kesterson, Retail President of Titan Factory Direct. The needs of Veteran Dennis Stout were dire, and we were glad to assist Operation TRIAGE and their mission to help a fellow Veteran in need.

To find out how to donate or join Operation TRIAGEs efforts to support Veterans in need, please contact Daniel Vargas at mailto:danielvargas.operationtriage@gmail.com [danielvargas.operationtriage@gmail.com __title__ null] or visit the website at https://operationtriage.org/home.

About Operation TRIAGE

Operation TRIAGE was established in 2016 as a non-partisan/non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Operation TRIAGEs mission is to provide emergency advocacy and financial relief, mortgage free homes, and home remodeling and renovations to disabled veterans, first responders, and active-duty service members with a focus to get their lives back on track and become productive members of their communities

Learn More about Operation TRIAGE:

https://operationtriage.org/home

https://operationtriage.org/completed-projects

View Veteran home delivery video: https://youtu.be/DarMITvhtbM

About Titan Factory Direct

Titan Factory Direct is the fastest growing manufactured home retailer in Texas and Oklahoma. Its wide selection includes award winning floor plans and styles. Titan Factory Directs mission is to Achieve excellence in customer satisfaction by providing every customer with peace of mind by delivering a quality-built home at an affordable value. From manufactured and modular homes to tiny homes and everything in between  Titan has something that can fit any customers homebuying needs.

Learn more about Titan Factory Direct:

https://www.titanfactorydirect.com

About Skyline Champion Corporation:

Skyline Champion Corporation (NYSE: SKY) is the largest independent, publicly traded, factory-built housing company in North America and employs more than 7,900 people. With almost 70 years of homebuilding experience and 40 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and western Canada, Skyline Champion is well positioned with a leading portfolio of manufactured and modular homes, ADUs, park-models and modular buildings for the single-family, multi-family, and the hospitality sectors. In addition to its core home building business, Skyline Champion operates a factory-direct retail business, Titan Factory Direct, with 18 retail locations spanning the southern United States, and Star Fleet Trucking, providing transportation services to the manufactured housing and other industries from several dispatch locations across the United States. Skyline Champion builds homes under some of the most well-known brand names in the factory-built housing industry including Skyline Homes, Champion Home Builders, Genesis Homes, Athens Park Models, Dutch Housing, Excel Homes, Homes of Merit, New Era, Redman Homes, ScotBilt Homes, Shore Park, Silvercrest, Titan Homes in the U.S. and Moduline and SRI Homes in western Canada.

Learn more about our products and services on the following company website: http://www.championhomes.com
InnerSpace inTELLO Analytics Dashboard "The Legal department and the Sales team may occupy the same address; but they likely use meeting rooms, collaborative areas and assigned seating in completely different ways, making a one-size-fits-all approach to office design inefficient and impractical" - Matt MacGillivray, Co-founder and VP R&D

Corporations gain access to deeper insights  beyond people counting  to optimize their office real estate portfolio

InnerSpace, a space utilization and analytics platform that provides advanced spatial intelligence for companies with large real estate footprints, has released the next generation of its analytics console, inTELLO. The new dashboard offers an improved user experience, heat maps for visualizing utilization data over time, and Sankey diagrams that visualize movement and common pathways through any space. Significantly, this release also introduces filters to discern the movements of unique work teams, providing insight into the specific requirements of different groups sharing the same office.

Our location intelligence engine goes far beyond people counting, with advanced analysis of movement and flow indoors, said James Wu, Co-founder and CEO InnerSpace. A proprietary WiFi-based solution enables accurate data capture without requiring additional sensors or hardware to get started. The data can inform important decisions about capacity, furniture, lighting, and layout of offices and workspaces and, ultimately  how much real estate is actually needed.

Corporate real estate teams, occupancy planners, facilities and HR teams rely on InnerSpace data for the complete story of how their indoor space is being used. This information helps guide decisions about design, purpose and portfolio size. InnerSpace is currently working to provide insights that support hybrid workplace transformation projects for clients with healthcare, education, and large office facilities in the US and Canada.

Enhanced Data and Visualization Made Simple

The web-based inTELLO analytics portal presents InnerSpace spatial intelligence data as a series of simple cards presenting answers to common questions about space usage. This at-a-glance simplicity is augmented with detailed charts and graphs that present the full spectrum of historical data for reference over periods of time.

A new dashboard design empowers users to select the metrics most important to them and to export data for their own reporting needs. All graphs and charts in inTELLO are available for CSV download, along with a high-level summary PDF report. They are also accessible via InnerSpace API, alleviating the need for clients to rebuild these metrics from the raw data in-house. All metrics are calculated at the building, floor and zone level, as well as by team.

InTELLO offers these metrics, available only from the InnerSpace solution:



Team-based behaviors

Visitor behaviors (new vs. returning)

Pathway analysis

Visit frequency (limited to WiFi solutions only)

InnerSpace also measures these metrics, while requiring little or no additional sensor hardware:

Space Utilization

Visit counts

Dwell time (with added scope of data)

Meeting room usage

Density

Occupancy

Make Smarter Decisions Beyond metrics presentation, inTELLO provides further comparison analysis and smart recommendations based on the overall dataset, including:

Usage comparison based on capacity, peak and average utilization

Effectiveness of different spaces by type and time of day

Recommendation on underutilized and overutilized spaces

Heat maps for a variety of supported metrics, with time-based playback

From People Counting to Distinct Team Behaviors

The InnerSpace solution uses a proprietary WiFi Location Intelligence Engine to generate more accurate data than traditional WiFi-based space utilization solutions. Using WiFi for this data has multiple advantages, including the ability for clients to continuously reconfigure their floor plans without redeploying expensive sensors. It also combines this data with the ability to analyze and present all available metrics by team or group.

Deep insight into occupant behavior allows our clients to prove and predict requirements of different teams sharing the same set of resources, said InnerSpace Co-founder and VP R&D Matt MacGillivray. The Legal department and the Sales team may occupy the same address; but they likely use meeting rooms, collaborative areas and assigned seating in completely different ways, making a one-size-fits-all approach to office design inefficient and impractical.

inTELLO in use

A companys real estate team was notified about the need for a new office space in another state. Before pricing out the project, the team wanted to know whether COVID-19 had changed the way people were using their original office. inTELLO heat maps showed them that over time, the outdoor patio space at their home office had become very popular. As a result, their needs analysis for the second office was updated to include a requirement for substantial outdoor space.

About InnerSpace

InnerSpace is a space utilization and analytics platform that uses proprietary technology and advanced data science to provide location intelligence that goes well beyond people counting. InnerSpace enables its enterprise clients to optimize for their two most valuable resources: people and property. https://innerspace.io/

Download Blueprint for a Hybrid Workspace to learn how our data can empower you to make future-forward decisions about your workplace.
"If youre a creator or an exchange, and you wish to list an NFT for sale, you need to understand how Blue Sky laws play a role and how to comply,

GUARDD, a Denver-based startup specializing in illiquid securities compliance, announced it is expanding operations to include secondary trading compliance for NFTs on the heels of criticism by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, saying the markets are rife with fraud, scams, and abuse where in many cases, investors arent able to get rigorous, balanced, and complete information on tokens or trading and lending platforms.

NFTs, otherwise known as non fungible tokens, are seen as the next wave of digital assets. What started with Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) and then Security Token Offerings (STO) has now morphed into the NFT craze. The only difference is that people seem to be learning from the prior mistakes and market participants expect regulatory action soon.

GUARDD, founded in August 2018, provides ongoing private company financial disclosures so that illiquid securities can compliantly trade on secondary markets. Since some NFTs may be considered securities, GUARDD can assist them to trade within securities laws rather than defying them.

What most issuers of securities dont understand, says Sherwood Neiss, CEO of GUARDD, is that while securities may be excluded from Federal registration in a primary offering. In many cases, they are not excluded from state registration and oversight (aka Blue-Sky laws) when it comes to the secondary transfer of those securities. For a small issuer, complying with a patchwork of state-by-state registration is too costly, bureaucratic, and confusing.

This historically has been one of the bottlenecks as to why investors in private companies were tied to those investments until the company had an exit event. This is also why there are billions of dollars of pent-up demand for liquidity by investors.

There is an exception from state registration, says Neiss. It is called the Manual Exemption. It requires the issuer to file current and ongoing company and financial disclosures, like what one might see in quarterly filings for public companies in a National Securities Manual. This way, investors have the most current information about the company whose securities are trading.

This is the service GUARDD provides and the pathway that two NFTs have taken; CryptoPunk #543 and CryptoPunk #2142. These NFTs were acquired via part of a securities offering by Otis Collection. Otis used Regulation A, an exempt offering qualified by the SEC, one of the highest bars of regulatory approval. Once approved, Otis then used GUARDD to comply with secondary trading, and a report was published in Mergents National Securities Manual. These NFTs are now trading on Otiss platform within the US/State regulatory regime. If the regulators come down on NFTs, CryptoPunk #543 and CryptoPunk #2142 will likely avoid their scrutiny.

GUARDD, founded in August 2018, began processing Blue Sky reports in early 2021 and formed a key partnership with Mergent, owner of the National Securities Manual, RIVIO, a 3rd party provider that provides authenticated audit reports and AICPA where GUARDD is a member of the 2021 Accelerator cohort.

While GUARDDs clients are private companies and the creators/issuers of NFTs, its partners are broker-dealers, Alternative Trading Systems, transfer agents, and the like. Compliance is a vital part of what they do, and they all play a role in the secondary transfer of securities.

The startup primarily focuses on helping private companies, and their investors comply with the Manual Exemption so their securities can freely trade. Compliance with secondary trading will be crucial for exchanges seeking to facilitate the trading of NFTs as the regulators enforce securities law.

Really what GUARDD says is that if youre a creator or an exchange, and you wish to list an NFT for sale, you need to understand how Blue Sky laws play a role and how to comply, Doug Ellenoff Partner at Ellenoff, Goldman and Scholle LLP a securities law firm said.

GUARDD estimates that more than 90% of the worlds exchanges that sell to Americans will have to comply with the Manual Exemption as soon as the regulators begin enforcement.

Oddly enough, it isnt difficult to comply, Keith Marshall of Otis said. It is a matter of completing GUARDDs standardized report and submitting it. GUARDDs compliance team reviews and publishes the report to trade the NFTs immediately.

GUARDD already counts Alternative Trading Systems and Brokers like PPEX and Templum among its partners and Otis, Collectable, and Landa among its customers. Financial institutions and brokers are also reaching out to GUARDD, Neiss said. The company plans to run a Regulation Crowdfunding offering in 2022 to build its product team.

The global nature of exchanging digital assets appears to be driving some of this urgency to comply with the Manual Exemption. NFT issuers are not just faced with the challenge of appeasing their regulators  they also must figure out how to not lose overseas transaction volumes in the process, Neiss explained.

For example, Luxembourg categorized NFTs into three distinct types: financial instruments, electronic money, and collective investment instruments. While some NFTs may not be securities, the facts and circumstances by which they are created and traded might make them such. If other countries follow this pathway, it will also force global issuers to heed secondary trading regulations in the USA.

So, were seeing a large influx of companies that are moving up their secondary trading compliance, so they dont lose anticipated transaction volume," Neiss said.

For more information visit http://www.guardd.com.
"With over 140 geospatial and built world technology solutions providers exhibiting at Geo Week, there is no shortage of innovation at this event, said Jeremiah Karpowicz, Executive Editor at Diversified Communications.

At Geo Week, the coming together of the International Lidar Mapping Forum, SPAR 3D and AEC Next, three innovative solutions, and one notable project were chosen as the winners of the Pitch the Press event. The latest products from NavVis, Avatour and Prostar GeoCorp were chosen from 16 of presentations that were pitched rapid-fire to a panel of high-profile press representatives at Geo Week. These solutions represent the cutting edge in reality capture, collaborative work and visualization tools.

Reality capture company NavVis demonstrated the utility of their wearable mobile mapping system, NavVis VLX. The NavVis VLX is a mobile mapping system designed for reality capture in AEC, enabling quick, high-quality captures to be performed on foot in only a few minutes. Up to ten times faster than a terrestrial laser scanner, the NavVis VLX and can be operated by field personnel with little training required. Backed by NavVis precision SLAM, this versatile system is a stand out for its unique approach to reality capture workflows.

Avatour offers a platform for virtual collaboration, but rather than focusing on limited video conferencing, have built a tool that harnesses real-time 360 video to bring together teams that are remotely located. The collaboration platform connects remote users with the full context of a real-world location, enabling more effective virtual inspections, trainings, site visits and other yet to be realized applications. The cloud-based service uses off-the-shelf hardware to provide full-motion 360 real-time communication connected via a web browser. For meetings where visualizing the place and surroundings is as important as seeing ones colleagues Avatour rises to meet that need.

ProStar GeoCorp brought their precision mapping solution, PointMan. The primary application of the tool is to solve a particularly challenging problem, visualizing underground utilities and assets that may only have disconnected and out-of-date records. PointMan's mobile app allows users to connect their mobile device (Android/IOS) with major GPS/GNSS, cable, & pipe locating equipment manufacturers to capture mission critical infrastructure data with unprecedented precision that includes; type, depth, accuracy, depth of cover, and precise geospatial location. PointMan can also create and bind forms, sketches, and photos to any point, line, or polygon and works in unison with mobile devices in order to display captured meta-data into a reliable mobile mapping software, all from the palm of your hand.

In addition to the innovative products spotlighted above, the jury would also like to recognize a unique effort presented among the pitches. The Earth Archive Initiative is a US-based non-profit focused on 3D scanning the planets surface to create an open-sourced digital twin of the planets most threatened areas. This effort uses lidar technology to capture these areas, capturing details of vegetation and the ground beneath it in three dimensions from the vantage point of a plane, helicopter, or drone. The Earth Archive hopes to serve both as a record of the state of the planet as it exists now, to help scientists better understand how it is changing, and as a virtual planet that can serve as a precious gift for future generations.

Pitch the Press is a unique opportunity for exhibitors to present their products to a group of editors and reporters looking for the most unique new technologies on display at Geo Week. Sixteen exhibiting companies opted to share their new product or service during the one-hour event. Each exhibitor gave a 2 minute brief to members of the media, followed by a one-minute Q&A.

"With over 140 geospatial and built world technology solutions providers exhibiting at Geo Week, there is no shortage of innovation at this event, said Jeremiah Karpowicz, Executive Editor at Diversified Communications. Seeing just a handful of them quickly highlight where and how these innovations can make a difference was instructive to our selected panel of journalists, who chose three products that can create value in multiple industries."

Pitch the Press provides attendees a sense of what products can be further explored Geo Week exhibit floor, which contains more than 140 exhibitors from around the world. Understanding the opportunities that companies like Avatour, NavVis and ProStar GeoCorp are creating is just the beginning of where and how their respective industries will advance.

The Pitch the Press judging panel included Dawn Zoldi, Founder and CEO of P3 Tech Consulting LLC, Jason San Souci, Drone Scientist and Host of Do You Know Drones? Podcast, Todd Danielson, Editorial Director of Informed Infrastructure, and Carla Lauter, Editorial Analyst for Geo Week News.

About Geo Week

Geo Week is part of a network of events and media for the global geospatial and built markets organized by Diversified Communications, a leading organizer of conferences, trade shows, and online media. Geo Week, taking place February 6-8, 2022, is the new brand name of previously stand-alone events AEC Next Technology Expo & Conference, International Lidar Mapping Forum, and SPAR 3D Expo & Conference, and reflects the increased integration between the built environment, advanced airborne/terrestrial technologies, and commercial 3D technologies. Powerful partnership events will also take place at Geo Week, including ASPRS (American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing), MAPPS and USIBD (US Institute of Building Documentation). For more information, visit http://www.geo-week.com.

Questions?

Lora Burns, Geo Week Marketing Manager, LBurns@divcom.com


Maine drivers who do a lot of travel in the winter months will find a Toyota model with capable AWD or 4WD at Downeast Toyota.

Winter has come. When the mercury dips and the snow starts to fall in The Pine Tree State, Maine residents need a vehicle that can handle inclement weather, unplowed roads and blizzard-like conditions. Downeast Toyota is the All-Wheel Drive Headquarters in the Bangor area and the dealerships Toyota model inventory provides local drivers with more than a few cars and crossovers that can be equipped with innovative all-wheel drive systems to help keep families safe when faced with winter road conditions.

The list of Toyota vehicles that are available with all-wheel drive is an impressive one and will cater to almost any lifestyle or budget. The 2022 Toyota RAV4 is a compact crossover that is available with Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD  which will provide the traction needed in the winter without penalizing fuel economy in the summer. Additional Toyota crossovers and sport utilities available with Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD include the 2022 Toyota Highlander and the brand-new 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross. Bangor-area drivers who are interested in a family sedan that will provide all-wheel drive capabilities in the winter may find that the 2022 Toyota Camry, 2022 Toyota Prius and 2022 Toyota Avalon fit the bill.

When the snow gets deep in the middle of winter, drivers who love the outdoors and still need to travel can upgrade to Toyota trucks and SUVs that are available with four-wheel drive. The next-generation 2022 Toyota Tundra and popular 2022 Toyota Tacoma provide the versatility and capability that many drivers need with an available 4WDemand part-time 4x4 system that can be paired with Multi-Terrain Select Snow Mode. Rugged SUVs with 4WD capabilities will serve the same purpose for the family on the go and the 2022 Toyota 4Runner and 2022 Toyota Sequoia can be outfitted with innovative 4WD systems for winter travel.

Maine drivers in search of an AWD or 4WD Toyota vehicle can learn more about the options available at Downeast Toyota online at http://www.downeastoyota.com. Those who prefer a more personal interaction can contact the dealership sales team directly by calling 207-989-6400.
Having forged AQCOLOR Technology to deliver accurate colors for the global community of color professionals, we look forward to incorporating Pantone SkinTone Validated for technology products that are more inclusive than ever

BenQ, internationally renowned brand of digital lifestyle devices and innovator of professional display technology, today announced that several designer and photography displays achieved Pantone SkinTone Validated, including the DesignVue PD3205U and PD2705U, as well as the PhotoVue SW240 and SW321C.

Having forged AQCOLOR Technology to deliver accurate colors for the global community of color professionals, we look forward to incorporating Pantone SkinTone Validated for technology products that are more inclusive than ever, said Conway Lee, president of BenQ Corporation. Pantone SkinTone Validated gives designers and photographers confidence in displaying authentic real-world colors and accurately representing the worlds palette of skin tones.

Leveraging the Pantone SkinTone guide, the first science-based system for matching and reproducing human skin tones, the program comprises 110 discrete skin tones based on thousands of human skin measurements from a diverse range of ethnicities and age groups. As an extension to the Pantone Validated program, Pantone SkinTone Validated assures color professionals that certified devices comply with the Pantone Matching System (PMS) and accurately reproduce lifelike skin tones to represent equality and inclusivity for all consumers.

The Pantone SkinTone Validated program exemplifies inclusivity in technology and we are thrilled to be working with BenQ to help realize skin tone color accuracy in their products and services for a better and more accurate experience. We look forward to further collaborating with the BenQ team on this for years to come, said Iain Pike, Pantone Director of Licensing and Business Development.

As the worlds first professional monitors to become Pantone SkinTone Validated, BenQ DesignVue and PhotoVue professional displays are exhibited at CES 2022. To learn more about BenQ displays, please visit: https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor and to learn more about Pantone Validated, please visit https://www.pantone.com/validated.

About BenQ America Corp.

The world-leading human technology and solutions provider, BenQ aims to elevate and enrich every aspect of consumers lives by designing products with a purpose. BenQ sells and markets innovative technology products, consumer electronics, computing, and communications devices. Founded on the corporate vision of Bringing Enjoyment N Quality to Life, BenQ focuses on the aspects that matter to most people today  lifestyle, business, healthcare, and education - with the hope of providing people with the means to live better, increase efficiency, and enhance learning by providing people-driven products and embedded technologies spanning digital projectors, monitors, interactive large-format displays, audio products, cloud consumer products, mobile communications, and lifestyle lighting. Because it matters. For more information about products and to purchase, visit BenQ.com.
2022 MIAMI YPN President Chandra Etienne It has been an honor, privilege and a blessing to be serving on the MIAMI YPN board since 2019"

The MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) elected Chandra Etienne, C2EX, PSA, AHWD, MSIRE of Village Premier Collection as its 2022 MIAMI Young Professionals Network (MIAMI YPN) president. She and the 2022 MIAMI leadership boards were installed Jan. 28 at MIAMIs Inaugural & Awards Celebration at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

It has been an honor, privilege and a blessing to be serving on the MIAMI YPN board since 2019, Etienne said. Serving alongside other professionals who are just as passionate about our association and our industry makes this even more of a fulfilling experience. As the 2022 MIAMI YPN President, the goal is to expand on our national global connections and relationships, improve and develop new educational curriculum and events to help with professional development, and to strategically collaborate with all of the other boards to provide even more value to our Realtor members. Together we are better, and I can't wait to see what our boards and associations accomplish together this year!

MIAMI YPN, a two-time winner of the National Association of Realtors Top YPN Network award, provides value and mentorship to young Realtors unlike any other Realtor group in the U.S. MIAMI YPN has won NARs Top YPN Network two times in the last six years (2017, 2021) and was the starting place for leadership for the 2022 Florida Realtors President Christina Pappas, a longtime MIAMI leader and former MIAMI YPN president.

MIAMI YPN is comprised of real estate influencers creating the next generation of real estate leaders. To join, visit: http://www.MiamiRealtors.com/YPN

An award-winning leader with over a decade of experience in the real estate industry, Etienne is the founder and Principal of The Core Brokered by Village Premier Collection.

Etienne is a wife, mother, 2nd-generation real estate professional and Miami native representing buyers, sellers and investors in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. Her client-centric team covers the tri-county area, however, her strategic partnerships cover all 50 states and even cross international borders. She is passionate about ensuring fair and equal housing, giving back through charitable donations or community involvement, and helping people build wealth through homeownership. She is dedicated to redefining the buying and selling experience through partnerships, technology and integrity.

Etienne has a Bachelors in Criminal Justice from Florida International University, a masters degree in Criminal Justice from Nova Southeastern University, and a Masters degree in International Real Estate from Florida International University.

In addition to serving as 2022 President for Miami YPN at the Miami Association of REALTORS, Candra is a State Director, sits on the YPN, Diversity and Communications committees at Florida REALTORS, and is a Director for the National Association of REALTORS.

Etienne was the recipient of the Miami YPN All-Star of the Year Award for 2019 by the Miami Association of REALTORS.

Announcing the 2022 MIAMI YPN  Young Professionals Leadership Council

Joining Etienne are: MIAMI YPN President-Elect Gabriel Amedee, C2EX, e-PRO, SRS, PSA of Strike Realty; 2021 MIAMI-YPN President Bethany Martinez, SRS of RelatedISG International Realty; Broward Chapter Chair Darnell Aponte, SRS, PSA of Keller Williams Partners Realty; JTHS Chapter Chair Shakearah Rolle of Arise Real Estate Advisors; Katherine Arteta, C2EX, SFR of Luxe Properties; Phillip S. Calloway, MS, C2EX, AHWD of Influencers Realty Group; Jeff Corriolan, CIPS, SRS, PSA, CRS, e-PRO, ABR, CHLMS, SFR of JC Sales Team at The Keyes Company; Dania Diaz, TRC, MRP, CNE, C2EX, PSA of RE/MAX Advance Realty; Yara Domiati of Keller Williams Realty Partners; Banna Fakhoury of One Sothebys International Realty; Eric Firestone, ABR, SFR, PSA, MRP, e-PRO of Elite Ocean View Realty; Karen Gomez of Real Estate Sales Force; Simo Labriti of Keller Williams Elite Properties; Sommer Norris of Avanti Way; Adi Posada-Torres of Canvas Real Estate; Nick Tiger Quay of Avanti Way; Violeta Rocha, C2EX, SFR of Lifestyle International Realty; Sacha Roude, SRS, PSA, SFR of Real Estate Sales Force; Ashley Silva, C2EX of Coldwell Banker Realty; Marcelo Steinmander, BHHS of EWM Realty.

Kevin Puricelli is the MIAMI VP of YPN. Teresa King Kinney, CAE, CIPS, GRI, RCE, TRC serves as the CEO for the MIAMI Association of Realtors.

About the MIAMI Association of Realtors

The MIAMI Association of Realtors was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 102 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward-MIAMI Association of Realtors, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents 53,000 total real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. and has official partnerships with 225 international organizations worldwide. MIAMIs official website is http://www.MiamiRealtors.com

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Genedata Biologics allows us to digitalize our work, increasing quality and efficiency of our antibody discovery and protein production by integrating processes and connecting our global operations,"said Katherine Vousden, Ph.D., Head of Large Molecule Discovery, Charles River

Genedata, the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharmaceutical R&D, today announced that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., has chosen Genedata Biologics to support their rapidly expanding global biopharma operations across multiple groups in the UK and the USA.

Reducing project timelines within the discovery of new therapeutics is critical for both us and our clients, said Katherine Vousden, Ph.D., Head of Large Molecule Discovery, Charles River. Genedata Biologics allows us to digitalize our work, increasing quality and efficiency of our antibody discovery and protein production by integrating processes and connecting our global operations. Our partners and clients who also use the platform will see the benefit of easier information sharing.

Charles River Discovery is using Genedata Biologics as their central data backbone across antibody discovery and protein production, including the recently acquired Distributed Bio and their proprietary AbGenesis antibody technology. Genedata will help accelerate internal data transfer and reduce operational bottlenecks so their clients can more quickly achieve critical development goals from discovery to commercialization. Genedata Biologics supports the full breadth of Charles RiverDiscoverys processes, including antigen generation, immuno-engineering, antibody repertoire sequencing, TCR repertoire analysis, and specialized functional assays, allowing them to systematically track, analyze, and optimize thousands of antibody repertoires and antibody libraries. Charles River has been using Genedata Screener R&D for many years and is now expanding usage of Genedata to their biotherapeutic discovery groups.

We are delighted that Charles River, one of the leading partners to the biopharmaceutical industry worldwide, has decided to embark on Genedata Biologics, said Othmar Pfannes, Ph.D., CEO of Genedata. Its exciting that more and more companies offering drug discovery as a service are adopting Genedata Biologics to support biopharma R&D, including for cell & gene therapies. This demonstrates the flexibility and scalability of our platform and how it supports seamless access and transfer of data between CROs and CDMOs and their biopharma and biotech partners. Our vision is to provide a global, shared digital backbone for the biopharmaceutical industry, which will help them bring innovative medicines to the patients sooner.

About Genedata

Genedata transforms data into intelligence with innovative software solutions that incorporate extensive biopharma R&D domain knowledge. Multinational biopharmaceutical organizations and cutting-edge biotechs around the globe rely on Genedata to digitalize and automate data-rich and complex R&D processes. From early discovery all the way to the clinic, Genedata solutions help maximize the ROI in R&D expenditure. Founded in 1997, Genedata is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland with additional offices in Boston, London, Munich, San Francisco, Singapore, and Tokyo.

http://www.genedata.com

LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube

________________________________________

Contact

Allison Kurz

Genedata

Public Relations

pr@genedata.com

Disclaimer

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company's products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Cocoa Hyundai Welcomes the 2022 Hyundai Tucson to its Inventory

Cocoa Hyundai has welcomed a new addition to its inventory  the 2022 Hyundai Tucson that offers buyers more luxury and safety than ever before. The popular Hyundai Tucson holds a strong appeal for crossover SUV shoppers in the Cocoa area. For 2022, the Hyundai Tucson makes a splash with its fourth generation. This next-generation version includes a complete refresh throughout the interior and exterior, a revised range of powertrain options and several new in-cabin features. Cocoa customers are encouraged to browse the dealerships website for more information on the trims, features and colors.

The 2022 Hyundai Tucson continues to impress us with its available plethora of safety and interior features. Features like 64-color ambient lighting, a larger touch display screen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto leather material, heated seats, a power liftgate, a keyless ignition, a quality sound system, USB ports, a panoramic sunroof and other equipment are available in some or all trim levels, adding to the cars fresh appearance. Furthermore, all Tucson trims in 2022 come included with SmartSense safety features. Adaptive cruise control, pedestrian recognition, a 360-degree video system, blind-spot monitoring and a slew of other premium features all work together to improve your road safety.

This compact crossover SUV is available in four different trim levels- SE, SEL, N-line and Limited. At the time of writing this release, the dealership reported having up to eight models of the 2022 Hyundai Tucson in stock. Hence, potential buyers in the Space Coast area are encouraged to check the dealerships online inventory as soon as possible and take this SUV home.

To learn more about this vehicle or for any other queries, Cocoa area residents can contact our sales team at 321-631-2444 or visit our website. Cocoa Hyundai is located at 1825 West King Street in Cocoa, FL. The dealership is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Saturday it is open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sundays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
At Cogent, we pride ourselves on being able to identify MSPs with similar cultures and values that offer a good fit for the customers and employees of both companies.

Cogent Growth Partners, a buy-side advisor and intermediary for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the IT Services sector, today announced its role in Charles ITs acquisition of managed services provider (MSP) NST Systems. Charles IT, one of the top 3% of IT service providers in the Connecticut/Metro New York market, provides technology support for companies and enterprises in highly regulated industries, and NST Systems, Inc. provides a diverse array of IT Solutions to small and midsized businesses serving parts of Connecticut and the New York metro area. Cogent sourced NST as a candidate for its client Charles IT, performed pre-deal analysis and deal structuring, then led project management, due diligence, and deal negotiation to assist in getting the transaction successfully completed for both companies.

Acquiring NST Systems was a strategic decision that will benefit both our firm and NST Systems. Cogent Growth Partners played a critical role in helping us find this perfect fit, said Foster Charles, founder and CEO of Charles IT. As company leaders increasingly seek the strongest, most secure IT solutions, we want to be the leader whose reputation for achieving these goals is unrivalled.

This latest transaction, which expands Charles ITs presence in Connecticut and metro New York, is one of more than a dozen acquisitions Cogent has closed in the past 12 months.

At Cogent, we pride ourselves on being able to identify MSPs with similar cultures and values that offer a good fit for the customers and employees of both companies, said Rick Murphy, CEO and Managing Partner of Cogent. That was certainly the case in this transaction, which paired two proven MSP leaders with complementary services. We look forward to seeing Charles IT expand its footprint across the East Coast with future acquisitions.

From its inception in 2010, Cogent has been dedicated to helping IT business owners discover and consummate acquisition opportunities with well-matched candidate companies, so that together they can leverage evolving organic growth. Along the way they have developed unique tools and processes that allow the deal parties to stay focused on their businesses while the Cogent team streamlines the acquisition.

About Cogent Growth Partners

Cogent Growth Partners, LLC, a buy-side intermediary for mergers and acquisitions, taps into the in-organic growth opportunities found by combining Americas 20,000+ IT businesses. Cogent has brought buyers and sellers together for over a decade, closing more than 135 deals, and still counting. Cogent accelerates the M&A timeline using a set of proprietary tools and processes that enable buyers and sellers to stay focused on running their respective businesses, while Cogent does the heavy lifting. Anyone who wants to know why Cogent is different, need look no further than our business card: Providing Transaction Therapy for IT Business Owners Since 2010. For more information on M&A in the IT Services sector and buy-side intermediary services, please visit http://www.cogentmergers.com, or email us at info@cogentmergers.com, or call 678-820-5290.


This book is a warning. Caution should be exercised against a tricky, greedy merchant of lies and death who is encountered throughout the entire world. Hes looking for poor and rich, uneducated and learned people of all ages to make business with. In this book, I testify about what has been revealed to me, Martineau Dimanche states.

Dimanche received a special gift from God, collecting messages, visions, wisdoms, and revelations. In I Testify The Truth About The Truth And The Prophetic Revelation (published by LifeRich Publishing), he offers insight into these communications, helping humanity understand Gods wishes for his people and strengthen the faith of those who want to be saved.

Dimanche addresses a wide array of subjects in his mission to encourage Christians to be true disciples of Jesus to glorify God, his word and his Holy Spirit. These subjects include the visions, dreams, and his mission, the reality of Gods word, Gods nonstop daily miracles, how to inherit the kingdom of God, law, grace, and the consolatory and unity statement and parables and more.

This is a wisdom book. It is very relevant for the readers in order for them to be capable to face the enemy and defeat him. It was written only for Gods purposes and is dedicated and profitable to His people who are in need, evermore they may be blessed through His ministry! Supporting this book, is another way of working for His kingdoms cause by servicing His people who are all around the world. Lets share it together for His glory, Dimanche says. For more details about the book, please visit https://www.liferichpublishing.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/828604-i-testify-the-truth-about-the-truth

I Testify The Truth About The Truth And The Prophetic Revelation

By Martineau Dimanche

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 136 pages | ISBN 9781489739162

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 136 pages | ISBN 9781489739155

E-Book | 136 pages | ISBN 9781489739278

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Originally from Port-au-Prince, Martineau Dimanche was born in Port-de-Paix, northwest side of Haiti. He is married, a real estate broker and lives in Orlando, Florida. After receiving his call from Jesus Christ in 2010, he is now on a mission for his kingdom's cause.

LifeRich Publishing, the strategic publishing partnership of Readers Digest and Author Solutions, LLC, was created to provide all writers a platform for sharing their stories, recipes, advice and more. LifeRich authors will benefit from a wealth of editorial design, marketing and education resources, specially created by Readers Digest editors for the enrichment of these LifeSmart individuals. Books can be published in print, ebook or audio formats, with additional distribution to up to 25 million Readers Digest customers through its online properties. For more information or to publish a book, please visit liferichpublishing.com or call 844-686-9607.
Community Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in Milwaukee When setting up the practice, I wanted to ensure that every patient felt cared for and every family member was supported. I wanted patients to come in and feel safe, welcome and heard.

On January 10th, 2022, Community Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery opened its doors for the first time to patients. The practice, which is located in the historic Walkers Point neighborhood of Milwaukee, is deeply committed to its missions of service, innovation, and workplace empowerment.

The practice is woman-owned, minority-owned, and speaks three languages: English, Spanish, and Arabic. It was built with inclusion in mind; the clinic is equipped with ADA-compliant restrooms, entrances and exits, and spacious treatment rooms to accommodate any accessibility needs. The restroom is all gender, and the clinic is working to ensure that the space is mom/child friendly.

"When setting up the practice, I wanted to ensure that every patient felt cared for and every family member was supported. I wanted patients to come in and feel safe, welcome and heard. I think that we were able to achieve that. We have a tremendous team with many years of experience who share the missions of the practice and who are here for our patients," says Dr. Ruba Khader, the owner, and solo surgeon in this practice.

The practice chose to defer any grand opening ceremonies for the time being out of caution at a time when the city and the state have been hit hard with COVID-19 infections. This has not stopped the practice from continuing on with its innovative mission, however. On January 25th, 2022, Yomi, the only FDA-approved dental implant robotic arm in North America and the first of its kind in Wisconsin, was installed in the clinic. Yomi offers cutting-edge technology and unparalleled accuracy in dental implant treatment. The clinic is outfitted with state-of-the-art technologies that allow for improved patient communication and improved outcomes. The practice has also recently launched a slick, beautiful, and user-friendly website.

As Ruba Khader, BDS, the founder and lead oral and maxillofacial surgeon, explains, "I am very excited for the launch of the website! The mobile app is brilliant; you will have fun clicking the various buttons to see what lies within. Patients will have access to so much information including information about their upcoming procedures, postoperative care instructions, the technology available to them at the clinic, and how to refer a friend. For me, this website and the mobile app are truly a continuation of the clinic - they are part of our team. We cannot wait for you to see it!"

With all of this exciting news, the oral health of the residents in and around the Milwaukee, WI area has a bright future ahead.

About Ruba Khader, BDS

Dr. Ruba Khader received a Bachelor of Dental Science degree from Jordan University for Science and Technology and later attended Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston. There, she completed a General Practice residency in dentistry and an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency training. Dr. Khader has practiced in an academic setting at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Tufts University in Boston, and the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She directed the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency program at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2017/2018. She then spent two years as an associate surgeon in private practice.

Driven by a desire to bring holistic and state-of-the-art oral and maxillofacial surgery to the community, Dr. Khader decided to open her own practice, Community Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, in 2021.

Dr. Khader currently serves at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center as a part-time staff surgeon. She mentors dental students at Marquette University through their student mentorship program. She also serves on the Wisconsin Dental Association Foundation (WDA Foundation) board of directors.

About Community Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Community Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery is located in Milwaukee, WI. The practice employs a committed team whose goal is outstanding and compassionate care for the community. Community Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery offers the following services:



Dental implants

Dental implant robotic technology

Bone grafting

Tooth extractions

Third molar extractions

Impacted teeth exposure

Orthognathic surgery

Jaw and oral cavity pathology

Facial trauma

Treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders

To learn more about Community Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, check out their website at https://www.communityomfs.com/, call their office at (414) 810-1707, or visit their office located at 408 W. Florida Street, Suite 105, Milwaukee, WI 53204.
Detail Garage, an exclusive retail destination for the Chemical Guys brand of auto detailing supplies, detailing equipment, car care accessories, and training, closed out 2021 with 15 new store openings. Now, with more than 80 locations already in operation around the world, the Detail Garage team is gearing up to reach more than 100 open units in 2022, followed by 50 locations added to the system each year following.

"Looking back at the past two years and the volatility in the retail space, it is incredible to think that we will have more than doubled our store count from the start of 2019, said John Mansfield, Detail Garage's Chief Revenue Officer. our continued growth during this period is a testament to the shared passion for shine that exists between our Franchisees, Employees, and Customers."

Throughout 2021, the brand opened new locations in Tennessee, California, Texas, Connecticut and Virginia, while continuing to expand its company-owned footprint in the southwest. These new store openings arrive as new customers continue to connect with the brand and recognize the importance of maintaining their vehicles. In fact, throughout 2020 and 2021, the brand, like the automotive industry at large, has proven resilient against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gil Gonzalez, a Detail Garage franchisee with three locations in Southern California (Montclair, El Monte and Riverside), attested to the brands rapid growth and the family-like atmosphere.

A customer might come in and not have any knowledge of detailing, but we welcome them and will educate them on what the products do and how to properly apply the various products, said Gozalez. We want all customers to leave feeling like they are part of the Detail Garage family and encourage them to attend our community events, such as Rides and Coffee, or our Smart Detailing University training classes.

Gonzalez was the very first franchisee with the Detail Garage, and he says he knew the opportunity to grow with the brand was the perfect chance for him to not only educate others on the detailing industry but also foster a passion and community for cars.

I loved the idea of providing customers and car enthusiasts with the products and knowledge all under one roof, said Gonzalez. I am also a car enthusiast myself, and I knew that the environment was perfect for me. I love the whole business model  its not just a retail store selling products, it is designed to personally connect with customers. We get to see their passion, recommend the right products and educate them on how to use it. That is really hard to find in the retail industry.

Chad Zani, Director of Business Development for Detail Garage, agreed with Gonzalezs sentiment, noting that the brand has successfully combined an automotive lifestyle brand, globally-recognized retail products and industry-leading innovations. By doing this, Zani says Detail Garage has brought together the perfect blend of products, tools, accessories and education.

We are riding an incredible wave of momentum coming into 2022, said Zani. It is exciting to see our stores deliver incredible results as we continue to grow and expand the business.

For more information, visit: https://www.detailgarage.com/

About Detail Garage:

Started in 2008 by professional auto detailers, Detail Garage was born out of a need for the ultimate playground and community for car care enthusiasts. It is the country's go-to retail car care store for passionate car owners and detailing professionals. With over 80 locations already in operation around the world, the Detail Garage team is looking to reach 100 units open this year, followed by 50 locations added to the system each year following.

About Chemical Guys

Driven by adventure, a passion for shine, and a love for the road ahead, Chemical Guys is a worldwide leader in automotive detailing products for car care enthusiasts and professionals. From exclusive small-batch waxes to cutting edge ceramic coatings, and specialty cleaners for exteriors and interiors, Chemical Guys sets the industry standard when it comes to product innovation, technological advancement and education. Based in Southern California, Chemical Guys has evolved from a handful of passionate car fanatics to a global lifestyle brand with the largest digital library of automotive detailing "how to" content available. Learn more and join the Chemical Guys family at ChemicalGuys.com.
Engel & Volkers Snell Real Estate's Award Winning Team As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, its a major moment to reflect on the remarkable growth of our organization and teams. It's also an opportunity for us to give thanks to our cherished homeowners, clients, friends and communities around the world for their business and continual trust.

The year 2022 marks a very special anniversary for the #1 brokerage in Mexico's Baja California Sur. Now celebrating 25 years of real estate excellence, the local and globally recognized name of Engel & Volkers Snell Real Estate draws the spotlight on Los Cabos, helping generations of families buy and sell iconic properties. At the top of their game, they offer simply the best home buying and selling experience and without question, they have both the reviews and numbers to prove it.

Founded in 1997 by the living namesake Chris Snell, the brokerage soon became a staple business in the Los Cabos community. Then, in 2012, Vanessa Fukunaga acquired the brokerage and shortly after, the first Engel & Volkers in Mexico was incorporated into the brand. For a decade, Fukunagas unstoppable drive has led her team of expert and passionate advisors to provide the ultimate in real estate services. Her focus to elevate the level of profession and marketing power certainly catapulted sales to new heights and now, in addition to celebrating their silver jubilee year, the team is also commemorating 2021 as their STRONGEST year on RECORD positioning the brokerage at nearly $3B in sales volume since inception.

There's a lot to be happy about if youre part of this top-producing, award-winning team. Spend a day with Fukunaga and any one of the advisors or support staff and its clear to see the extraordinary work behind their success. Building the regions #1 real estate brand to the Engel & Volkers Snell Real Estate of today has taken years of commitment and perseverance through looking beyond the traditional market practices. Connecting iconic properties with discerning buyers is what they do, and now with 25 years in the business  expect only the best of the best.

As we celebrate our 25th anniversary together, its a major moment to reflect on the remarkable growth of our organization and teams. Its also an opportunity for us to give thanks to our cherished homeowners, clients, friends and communities around the world for their business and continual trust, says Owner, President and CEO, Vanessa Fukunaga.

The year 2022 looks ahead with confidence as already, more than one month in and the volume of accepted offers is nearly 90% higher than the beginning of 2021. As Engel & Volkers Snell Real Estate continues their legacy of selling quality investments, heres to another 25 years of real estate excellence.

For more information please contact:

Tania Ashby

Public Relations | Communications

T.ashby@snellrealestate.com

866.650.5845 (Toll-free)

http://www.snellrealestate.com
The Diocese of Western North Carolina has seen an increase in the number of people throughout North Carolina seeking aid for disaster relief in the wake of the pandemic and multiple tropical storms in 2021, said Lura Steele, Program Officer, US Disaster Program, Episcopal Relief & Development.

Episcopal Relief & Development has partnered with the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina to provide resources and support to Latino communities in the western part of the state in response to Tropical Storm Fred and other storms which struck the area in 2021.

The Diocese of Western North Carolina has seen an increase in the number of people throughout North Carolina seeking aid for disaster relief in the wake of the pandemic and multiple tropical storms in 2021, said Lura Steele, Program Officer, US Disaster Program, Episcopal Relief & Development. Staff have identified significant needs in Latino communities in particular and have developed a plan to address these needs.

Tropical Storm Fred was the most destructive storm to hit North Carolina in the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane season. The storm moved through the western part of North Carolina on August 17, dumping more than a foot of rain on already water-soaked areas and causing flash floods. It also spawned several tornadoes. Millions of dollars of property, homes, buildings and crops were damaged or destroyed.

The diocese is partnering with Episcopal Relief & Development, and collaborating with the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry and other regional organizations to provide assistance to Latino communities, including undocumented workers, who have been impacted by the recent disasters. The diocese is creating a joint program for disaster-preparation training and long-term support, including direct financial aid, shelter, medical care, clothing and other supplies. The program will develop and distribute health and disaster safety information in Spanish based on materials created by Episcopal Relief & Development.

Many agricultural and undocumented workers in Latino communities lost income due to the pandemic and tropical storms, continued Steele. This program aims to come alongside them to help rebuild and prepare for future disasters.

Learn more about Episcopal Relief & Developments US Disaster Program here.

ABOUT EPISCOPAL RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT:

For over 80 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has been working together with supporters and partners for lasting change around the world. Each year the organization facilitates healthier, more fulfilling lives for close to 3 million people struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease. Inspired by Jesus words in Matthew 25, Episcopal Relief & Development leverages the expertise and resources of Anglican and other partners to deliver measurable and sustainable change in three signature program areas: Women, Children and Climate.


Everything Legendary, a Black-Owned Plant-Based Food Manufacturer, Closes $6 Million Series A Funding Round to Support Stellar Growth Doug Martin, Chief Brand and Disruptive Growth Officer of General Mills, said, "We're thrilled to partner with Everything Legendary. Their plant-based, chef-created products are a natural fit for 301 INC, where our mission is to discover and elevate remarkable founders with innovative offerings.

Everything Legendary, creators of plant-based food with legendary flavor, announced today that it closed $6 million dollars in Series A funding. The round was led by CircleUp Growth Partners with additional investments from the venture capital arm of General Mills, 301 INC, and Mark Cuban. Also, International Entrepreneur and Record Executive, Russell Simmons joined the all-star team as a Senior Advisor.

The rapid rise of Everything Legendary, the nations fastest growing plant-based meat company, began in early 2021 when they were hand-making burgers in their own kitchen. In just 10 months they went from zero to 1500 grocery store shelves including Safeway, Acme, Giant, Target, Ralphs, Kings and Balduccis, with additional placements coming in Sprouts, Meijer, Publix, and more in early 2022. In less than a year, the company has grown from a family kitchen operation to a brand with a national retail footprint, three co-packers and a rockstar team to take the growth to the next level.

There are a lot of people trying to get into the $5 billion+ plant-based food market, explained Everything Legendary co-founder Duane Myko Cheers. What has our investors excited about us is they can see that we arent just another plant-based product...we are looking to disrupt the multi-billion dollar industry with unprecedented flavor, premium ingredients and high-energy marketing that sets our brand apart. Having partners like CircleUp and General Mills, that work with some of the biggest brands in the world, is an amazing honor.

Karen Howland, CircleUps General Partner explained The Everything Legendary team is taking a new, fresh approach to the plant-based meat category. Their bold packaging and unique brand messaging allows the product to stand out in a crowded space. The company has seen more rapid distribution growth than other better funded businesses and we know this team wont stop until they are on top. CircleUp is proud to support Duane and Danita in this next phase of growth.

Doug Martin, Chief Brand and Disruptive Growth Officer of General Mills, said, "We're thrilled to partner with Everything Legendary. Their plant-based, chef-created products are a natural fit for 301 INC, where our mission is to discover and elevate remarkable founders with innovative offerings. Given that Black Americans are one of the fastest-growing vegan demographics in the country, we believe Everything Legendary is poised for substantial growth  and we are just as energized by the passion of these founders as we are about the business opportunity. We're ready to work together to make big things happen."

Up to this point, all of the sales and growth of Everything Legendary has been organic. Now with this capital infusion, the company believes it will be better positioned to expand even faster nationally. The new funding will be used to support a planned launch in 5,600 grocery stores by summer 2022. The company will also introduce new delicious products like sausage, boneless wings, and breakfast patties. And they will deploy street teams that will help spread the word of their legendary burger in the same fun, energized way the founders have used to elevate the brand to date.

Were all about breaking through barriers, said Vince Parker, Everything Legendary COO. Were a black-owned, grassroots business competing with large, well-established companies vying for the same customer. Just two years ago we were working out of a garage. Were pretty proud of what weve achieved so far, and like my good friend Duane has said, were just getting started!

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About Everything Legendary

Everything Legendary, founded by Duane Myko Cheers and Danita Claytor, is leading the flavor revolution with a line of healthy, plant-based ground and burger patties. Inspired by Mom, created by a chef, and taste-tested by the community, Everything Legendary is a Black-owned company that goes above and beyond the impossible to deliver food with legendary flavor and superior quality at retailers nationwide, in restaurants and online at https://golegendary.com/. Join them for recipes, tutorials, product information and more: Everything Legendary. Socialize with them: Instagram and Facebook.

About CircleUp

Founded in 2009, CircleUp is a privately owned company on a mission to empower entrepreneurs with the funding and support that they need to thrive. Having facilitated investments for 500+ brands and counting, CircleUp uses their business technology platform, Helio, to increase the speed, quality, and objectivity of decision making in the private company landscape. Using a unique combination of data and machine learning technology, CircleUp makes it possible for underserved entrepreneurs to finally get the support they deserve. With a vast network of entrepreneurs, institutional investors, industry experts, and flexible financing solutions, CircleUp is shining a light on untapped human potential and transforming the world of private enterprise. For more information please visit: http://www.Circleup.com.

About General Mills

General Mills makes food the world loves. The company is guided by its Accelerate strategy to drive shareholder value by boldly building its brands, relentlessly innovating, unleashing its scale and being a force for good. Its portfolio of beloved brands includes household names such as Cheerios, Nature Valley, Blue Buffalo, Haagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Annies, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2021 net sales of U.S. $18.1 billion. In addition, the companys share of non-consolidated joint-venture net sales totaled U.S. $1.1 billion.

Media Contact:

Vivian Wolf

Orca Communications

vivian.wolf@orcapr.com

260-804-7086
Airlot Stage The Airlot partners with Hollywood to merge and monetize stages with virtual production.

In 2020 a new technology created with LED wall virtual production and made famous by Jon Favreau on The Mandalorian shook up traditional filmmaking to its core and its starting to catch fire with production companies like Netflix, Paramount and others as the cheaper, better, faster, safer way to make films. In late 2020 The Airlot team recognized a few key trends. Virtual production was forever going to change the way movies and TV are made. The lack of sound stage inventory, Hollywood has over 96% occupancy rate for sound stages resulting in a steadily increasing need for space. The content budgets for streamers like Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, Disney + and others reached a combined $250 Billion in 2021. This content spend figure is predicted to increase to about $172 Billion by 2025.

The Airlot, Inc monetizes space and properties leading the way to fill the need for stage space and looks to be the Airbnb for streamers like Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Universal and other content producers that benefit from shooting on virtual production stages. The Airlots first stage is Airlot 21, a 22,000 sf stage, the largest LED virtual production stage in Florida with 120 circumference, 80 diameter and 23 high LED wall. The Airlot, Inc is partnered with the best in the business using state of the art technology from 4Wall, Brompton, Disguise, Unreal and Redspy. The Airlot 21 is modular and can accommodate any production. With The Airlot 21 virtual production stage creatives can previsualize, virtual scout and collaborate remotely. Unprecedented In-camera visual effects create a workflow of speed, efficiency and creative freedom never before achieved in Hollywood filmmaking. Shooting with virtual production is a budget cost saving of 30% to 50%.

In addition to The Airlot 21 virtual production stage, being on the backlot at Universal provides producers and filmmakers with unprecedented support services by the Universal Studios Florida Production Group (USFPG). From hotels, parking, catering, additional production sound stage and support space, offices, makeup and other services as well as connections to local vendors, talent and equipment, make shooting at Airlot 21 the go to for productions small and large. Partnering with The Airlot 21 is Pamela Tuscany, Vice President, Production. We are so thrilled to be a part of this dynamic new production method The Airlot 21 will be providing to our clients and long-time production partners. The Airlot 21 is the perfect addition to the deep bench strength of production services and talent available in Orlando and at Universal.

Virtual production is here to stay and The Airlot is setting the stage for Hollywood productions to reap the rewards. The Airlot works at the studio level to help filmmakers and producers embrace the future with The Airlot as a turnkey virtual production solution for any size production.

The Airlots strategy is to help accelerate Hollywoods transition to virtual production. At The Airlot, we partner with Hollywood to merge and monetize stages with virtual production and allow the filmmakers to create in the new world of virtual production where imagination is only the beginning.

On February 24th, 2022 for Industry Professionals and Press The Airlot and Universal Orlando are hosting an open house at The Airlot Stage 21 on the backlot of Universal Studios Orlando, Florida. Email info@theairlot.com for more information and to receive your pass.
Forza debuts the world's first 48-inch Dual Fuel Range with a single oven cavity at IBS and KBIS 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Forza is passionate about offering professional appliances that embody radical Italian design as well as ultra-premium powerful performance, so we are excited to share our new sexy Dual Fuel Ranges with everyone at the show.

Forza will be exhibiting at the International Builders' Show (IBS) and Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in Orlando, Florida, from Feb. 8 to 10 with the American Gas Association in booth W3153. The Italian ultra-premium appliance manufacturer will be showcasing its new Dual Fuel Range product line, which includes the world's first 48-inch dual fuel range with a single oven cavity.

Forza is passionate about offering professional appliances that embody radical Italian design as well as ultra-premium powerful performance, so we are excited to share our new sexy Dual Fuel Ranges with everyone at the show, said Marco Guerzoni, Forza Director of Marketing and Product Development.

Italian manufacturer @ForzaCucina debuts the world's first 48-inch Dual Fuel Range with a single oven cavity at @IntlBldrsShow and @KBIS 2022 in Orlando, Florida in booth W3153. https://www.forzacucina.com/product/48-professional-dual-fuel-range/

KEY/EXCLUSIVE FEATURES OF THE DUAL FUEL 48-INCH RANGE



The new MassimoRED Broiler spans the width of the oven cavity, using an electric broiler to evenly distribute heat to deliver top chef results. The 48-inch model features the widest electric broiler in the industry.

A massive 7.8-cubic-foot gross-capacity oven with six rack levels is large enough to roast two turkeys or numerous commercial trays of cookies at once.

An exclusive Infinito Grate System is the industrys only continuous grate system with an integrated bullnose, utilizing edge-to-edge cast iron grates. With four 12,000 Btu full brass burners in the back and four 20,000 Btu full brass burners in front, it has 128,000 Btu of total cooktop power.

Forzas MaxRotisserie accessory is a 33-inch motor-driven rod that can rotate a whole goat, lamb or small pig in the giant oven cavity.

The bold form and style of the Dual Fuel Ranges embody the soul of radical Italian design with the heart of an American muscle car, featuring unique angular racecar-inspired lines and offered in seven vivid colors: Audace Black, Dinamico Blue, Radicale Red, Ardente Orange, Ribelle Yellow, Valoroso White and Stainless Steel.

For more information about the Dual-Fuel Ranges, please visit https://www.forzacucina.com/product-category/ranges/.

About Forza

Forza delivers dynamic Italian design with ultra-premium, professional cooking appliances. Designed and built in the heart of the famed Emilia-Romagna region in Modena, Italy, Forza appliances include professional gas ranges, dual convection electric wall ovens, professional range tops, high-performance ventilation hoods and a powerful, energy-efficient dishwasher. Forza is the American brand of parent company, Glem Gas, which has been producing high-performing appliances that embody the spirit of Italian craftsmanship for more than 60 years. For more information about Forza, visit forzacucina.com.
Hendry Marine Industries logo Kelly Hendry, Hendry Marine Industries president, said: Our company was founded in Tampa in 1926. Participating in this thorough certification will help us to further our familys multigenerational commitment to the Port of Tampa and to our community, she said.

Hendry Marine Industries Gulf Marine Repair is the first U.S. Gulf Coast shipyard to become a Participant in Green Marine, the largest voluntary environmental certification program for North Americas maritime industry.

Were so pleased to welcome Hendrys Gulf Marine Repair as both a Florida and U.S. Gulf Coast first in terms of shipyards, said David Bolduc, Green Marine executive director. Through the Green Marine Certification Program, Gulf Marine Repair has committed to continually assess and improve its environmental performance in order to positively impact the local community and economy through its repair of vessels of all ages in a responsible manner.

Kelly Hendry, Hendry Marine Industries president, welcomed the Green Marine programs rigor and transparency. Our company was founded in Tampa in 1926. Participating in this thorough certification will help us to further our familys multigenerational commitment to the Port of Tampa and to our community, she said.

For certification, Hendry Marine Industries Gulf Marine Repair will assess its environmental performance based on Green Marines detailed framework that includes addressing greenhouse gases and air pollutants, spill prevention, waste management, employee and community impacts, and showing environmental leadership. The certification is independently verified upon initial certification and subsequently every two years. The individual performance of each Green Marine participant is published annually.

Hendry Marine began the certification process earlier this year as the result of engaging a third party to help the company better understand its environmental, social and governance impacts and opportunities. This prestigious accomplishment will allow the company to assure its customers, the maritime industry and the broader community of their ongoing commitment to operating in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.

Hendry Marine Industries is also enrolling its subsidiaries, Anchor Sandblasting and Coatings, and Universal Environmental Solutions, as Green Marine Partners. Through our subsidiaries, Hendry offers a full suite of services to attract and support global customers using Port Tampa Bay. We are excited about using the Green Marine framework to assess 100% of our operations.

By transparently documenting the environmentally sustainable aspects of their operations, the simultaneous addition of these two subsidiaries as Green Marine Partners further enriches the resources available to the program's membership, Bolduc added.

About Hendry Marine Industries

Hendry Marine Industries consists of a diverse range of maritime businesses, including commercial and government ship repair (Gulf Marine Repair), marine environmental services (Universal Environmental Solutions), and surface preparation and coatings (Anchor Sandblasting and Coatings). All of the companies are headquartered at the main shipyards location in Tampa, Florida. Hendry Marine Industries is a holding company owned by the Hendry family and the companys employees, whose stock ownership instills an increased sense of commitment to their work and pride in its quality.

Green Marine overview

Founded in 2007, Green Marines North American environmental certification program is the result of a voluntary effort by the shipping industry to go beyond regulations. There are currently more than 150 ship owners, port authorities, terminal operators and shipyard managers throughout Canada and the United States participating in the program. Green Marines unique character derives from the support it receives from environmental, scientific, government and community organizations. Some 85 supporters help to shape and revise the program, which is outlined in detail at http://www.green-marine.org
Local car shoppers can save time and money at Earnhardt Hyundai of North Scottsdale with the Hyundai PLUS Lease Program - which features a monthly price that includes the lease, insurance and service.

Potential car shoppers who have fallen in love with the Hyundai brand are always looking for the right fit for their budget. Affordable prices on brand-new Hyundai cars, trucks and crossovers at Earnhardt Hyundai of North Scottsdale are just the start. The innovative Hyundai PLUS Lease Program provides budget-minded car shoppers with an affordable automotive subscription service. To qualify for the Hyundai PLUS Lease Program, interested individuals must be approved by Hyundai Motor Finance.

Phoenix-area drivers who take part in the Hyundai PLUS Lease Program will pay a monthly subscription price that includes an affordable monthly lease payment, automotive insurance coverage and service fees on select 2022 Hyundai models. Hyundai vehicles that may be eligible for the Hyundai PLUS Lease Program include the Hyundai Kona, Hyundai Tucson, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Santa Fe and Hyundai Sonata.

With this program, potential lessees will enjoy an impressive list of benefits that many automotive manufacturers cannot match. Participants in the Hyundai PLUS Lease Program at Earnhardt Hyundai of North Scottsdale will enjoy a hassle-free, fixed monthly payment with a fixed term, a simple sales process, convenient insurance coverage at an affordable price and first-rate service with the Earnhardt Hyundai of North Scottsdale Service Department. Backed by Americas Best Warranty with impressive coverage and service, the Hyundai PLUS Lease Program and the Hyundai brand will stand apart from competitors.

Individuals who would like to learn more about the Hyundai PLUS Lease Program and its benefits at Earnhardt Hyundai of North Scottsdale can visit the dealership website, http://www.northscottsdalehyundai.com. Those who prefer a more personal interaction can contact the dealership sales team directly by calling 480-922-5200.
Our team of innovators is redefining traditional cybersecurity processes, which will Im confident will lead to continued opportunities to change cybersecurity in 2022. - Eyal Benishti, Founder and CEO of IRONSCALES

IRONSCALES, the leader in AI-powered email security and the fastest growing email security company in the world, celebrated another successful year, including significant partner and customer growth.

In 2021, IRONSCALES:



Increased its customer base by more than 3,000

Expanded industry partnerships to more than 1,100

Handled 2,843,637 phishing incidents

Remediated 27,010,807 emails

Onboarded 67 employees globally

The companys continued growth and success in thwarting ever-evolving email phishing attacks led to 16 award recognitions throughout the year, including ranking 618 in the annual Inc. 5000 and landing the 13th spot on Globes Fastest Growing Israeli Companies.

Rounding-out the year, IRONSCALES announced a $64M in a Series C Funding round. PSG led the funding, with participation from existing investors K1 Investment Management and Jump Capital.

The company is continuing the momentum this year, winning Gold in three 2022 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards:

Chief Executive Officer of the Year (CEO)  North America (between 50 to 99 employees)

Fastest Growing Cybersecurity Company  North America (50-99 employees)

Anti Phishing  North America (between 50 to 99 employees)

Our team remains focused on delivering innovative solutions and training methodologies to address threats to corporate information, time and revenue, said Eyal Benishti, CEO and Founder of IRONSCALES. Our team of innovators is redefining traditional cybersecurity processes, which will Im confident will lead to continued opportunities to change cybersecurity in 2022.

IRONSCALES now reaches more than 5000 customers and more than 700,000 mailboxes globally and has a presence in the United States, Israel, the UK, Ukraine, Singapore, India, South Africa and more.

About IRONSCALES

IRONSCALES is a leading email security company focused on fighting back against todays modern phishing attacks. Our self-learning, AI-driven platform continuously detects and remediates advanced threats like Business Email Compromise (BEC), credential harvesting, Account Takeover (ATO) and more. We believe our powerfully simple email security solution is fast to deploy, easy to manage and keeps our customers safe. Founded in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2014 by alumni of the Israel Defense Forces elite Intelligence Technology unit, IRONSCALES is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. We are proud to support thousands of customers globally with our award-winning, analyst-recognized platform. Visit https://ironscales.com/ to learn more.
America! Walk in My/Our Shoes: To Know Us, Know Our Journey: a potent examination of racial tension and what can be done to improve racial affairs. America! Walk in My/Our Shoes: To Know Us, Know Our Journey is the creation of published author James Winchester, Sr., one of thirteen children who would later go on to become a loving husband and father. Winchester, Sr. had a varied career, including manufacturing as a knitting machine operator, study of Radio Broadcaster, and director of The Farmworkers Corporation of New Jersey. He is also a graduate from the Sound Masters Recording Engineer Institutes Audio Engineer program.

Winchester, Sr. shares, This book is about racial reconciliation. We are all Americans irrespective of our race, religion, sexual preference, or national origin. Whenever members of any race conduct themselves as being superior to another race, thats racism. If we truly care about this beautiful country of ours, we must deal with this horrible cancer of racism. Its not that complicated; but someone has to start that ongoing conversation.

Americans have always been resourceful. We lead the world in science and technology. When our backs are against the wall, we rise to the occasion. When hit with the COVID-19 pandemic, our scientists discovered viable vaccines.

Remember in school when the teacher paired you with a stranger to complete a two-week assignment? Maybe that person was Black and lived across the tracks. Because of the amount of racial tension in the world today, you might have felt uncomfortable and reluctant to accept that task. However, after working with that person, your inhibitions slowly faded away, and by the end of the assignment, you became quite friendly toward one another. There was nothing magical about it. The more time spent on the assignment, the more you learned about one another.

The author wrote this book to make known the journey the Black people traveled in America. Moreover, the author wanted to personalize it by adding my journey as well. As with the example of the two people mentioned in their assignment, the author is hoping the more my white brothers and sisters know our journeys, the more likelihood of them understanding us.

Something happened this year that proved the authors point. After the George Floyd murder, the author saw people of all races stop what they were doing to focus their attention on that video. The fact they were witnessing the actual murder of an unarmed human being triggered something inside of them. Whatever it was, they felt compelled to do something about it.

During this time period, the words Black Lives Matter wrongly had negative connotations by some white people. However, white people proudly marched under that Black Lives Matter banner with their Black brothers and sisters. America has never seen those kind of protest marches. Not only did those marches occur all over America, the Black Lives Matter banner and protests was seen in numerous foreign countries. Those marches lasted nonstop for over a solid month.

People of all races put their lives on the line to protest the killing of unarmed Black people.They were shot with rubber bullets, clubbed, knocked to the ground, pepper sprayed, and tear-gassed by law enforcement officials. They realized the systemic killing of Black men, women, and children was real, and it had to stop.

They inspired the author to think about what he could do to help the cause. He decided to write this book. He thought if his white brothers and sisters can react to George Floyds killing, how beneficial it would be to them if they learned more about the Black peoples journey in America.

The author is optimistic about a coming together of all Americans one day. We must learn from this new generation of Americans. They are leading the way, and he thanks God for strength, courage, and color blindness.

Stay woke!

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, James Winchester, Sr.s new book is an engaging discussion with personal insights and historical reflections.

Winchester, Sr. shares in hopes of encouraging the younger generation to continue working towards equality.

Consumers can purchase America! Walk in My/Our Shoes: To Know Us, Know Our Journey at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about America! Walk in My/Our Shoes: To Know Us, Know Our Journey, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.


Kurz Family Im looking forward to creating a reliable, trustworthy name in my new community as the owner of Fresh Coat Painters of Boca Raton. Im also excited to have the chance to spend more time with my family and enjoy all it means to pursue the American Dream. - Jason Kurz

Jason Kurz is excited to pursue his own American Dream as the owner of the new Fresh Coat Painters in Boca Raton. Kurz moved from Toronto in 2021 and is excited to become a pillar in the community by providing professional, quality painting services.

Fresh Coat Painters of Boca Raton offers interior and exterior painting services as well as additional services such as wallpaper removal, drywall repair and more in Boca Del Mar, Boca Raton, East Boca Raton, Hamptons at Boca Raton, Mission Bay, Sandalfoot Cove, West Boca Raton and the surrounding areas. Fresh Coat Painters has a national product partnership with Sherwin-Williams, a quality paint provider.

When I decided to buy a franchise, I went with Fresh Coat Painters because the brand standards aligned with my own personal vision for how I wanted to run this business. My highly-qualified technicians treat all of our clients homes like their own, Kurz said. I'm new to the community and looking forward to providing my clients with a high-end experience and quality products.

As the demand for quality painting services continues to grow across the country, especially in Florida, Kurz saw an opportunity to move to the Sunshine State, provide a much-needed service and raise the bar in a sometimes challenged industry. It also gives him the opportunity to spend more time with his family.

Im looking forward to creating a reliable, trustworthy name in my new community as the owner of Fresh Coat Painters of Boca Raton. Im also excited to have the chance to spend more time with my family and enjoy all it means to pursue the American Dream, Kurz said.

As part of the companys commitment to service, Fresh Coat Painters also has a 24/7 receptionist, online scheduling and free detailed quotes. Fresh Coat Painters also offers a 3-3-3 customer service pledge, which means calls will be answered by a live person within three rings, a quote will be delivered within three days (customer schedule permitting) and the project will be started within three weeks.

Fresh Coat Painters was founded in 2004 as part of Strategic Franchising Systems. Since 2015, Fresh Coat Painters has been included in the Bonds Top 100 and named to Entrepreneur Magazines Franchise 500 list. Fresh Coat Painters is also part of the International Franchise Association, the Small Business Associations Franchise Registry, VetFran and Minority Fran. Fresh Coat Painters of Boca Raton is bonded and insured.

For more information about Fresh Coat Painters of Boca Raton, call 561-419-9102, email JKurz@FreshCoatPainters.com or visit http://www.FreshCoatPainters.com/Boca-Raton.
Bill Frisell at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club "We are honored to be welcoming one of the greatest Jazz guitarists to every play the instrument...Bill Frisell represents the highest standard of excellence in jazz guitar - a true master."

Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club Features GRAMMY Award-Winning Jazz Guitarist & Composer BILL FRISELL on Saturday February 19 at 7 & 9:30 P.M. GRAMMY Award-Winner Bill Frisells career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 40 years and many celebrated recordings. Bill Frisell is a GRAMMY Award-Winner, a 6x-GRAMMY Award Nominee, a 12x-Downbeat Critics Poll Guitarist of the Year, and a 5x-Jazz Journalist Association Guitarist of the Year.

Bill Frisells album Unspeakable won a GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Frisell's other GRAMMY Award Nominations include: Americana (2020)  Best Contemporary Instrumental Album; When You Wish Upon A Star (2016)  Best Contemporary Instrumental Album; Guitar In The Space Age! (2015)  Best Contemporary Instrumental Album; History, Mystery (2008)  Best Jazz Instrumental Album; The Intercontinentals (2003)  Best Contemporary World Music Album.



Frisell has had a lot of practice putting high concept into a humble package. Long hailed as one of the most distinctive and original improvising guitarists of our time, he has also earned a reputation for teasing out thematic connections with his music... Theres a reason that Jazz at Lincoln Center had him program a series called Roots of Americana," hails the NEW YORK TIMES.

"Bill Frisell plays the guitar like Miles Davis played the trumpet: in the hands of such radical thinkers, their instruments simply become different animals. And, like Davis, Frisell loves to have a lot of legroom when he improvises--the space that terrifies others quickens his blood," says THE NEW YORKER.

You probably already realize that Frisell is one of the most lyrical guitarists thats ever picked up the instrument," raves GLIDE MAGAZINE.

Bill Frisell's latest recording is Valentine (2020) on Blue Note, a trio album that has been hailed as a masterpiece by Downbeat Magazine. They consistently and strikingly play as one, voices intertwined, completing phrases as if sharing a single thought Even overdubs are so perfect that everything feels utterly organic the performances represent jazz playing at its most sublime," states Downbeat Magazine.

"We are honored to be welcoming one of the greatest Jazz guitarists to every play the instrument," said Suzanne Bresette, Managing Director of Programming at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club. "Bill Frisell represents the highest standard of excellence in jazz guitar - a true master. We know the audience at Jimmy's will experience a remarkable evening of jazz music with Bill and his trio. We look forward to Bill gracing the stage at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club for the first time!"

Tickets for GRAMMY Award-Winning Guitarist & Composer BILL FRISELL on Saturday February 19 at 7 P.M. are SOLD OUT. Tickets for the 9:30 P.M. show can be purchased on Ticketmaster or the Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club website.

Jimmys Jazz & Blues Clubs 2022 Schedule of Shows already includes 5 NEA Jazz Masters, 24 GRAMMY Award-Winning Artists, 20 Blues Music Award-Winners, and a comprehensive list of talented musicians with 300+ GRAMMY Award Nominations amongst them. Visit Jimmys Online Event Calendar for Jimmys Jazz & Blues Clubs 2022 Schedule. Subscribe to Jimmys Email Newsletter to stay informed on new jazz and blues artist announcements, tickets, special offers, Jimmys Sunday Jazz Brunch, and much more.

ABOUT JIMMYS JAZZ & BLUES CLUB

The mission of Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club is to provide guests a one-of-a-kind, world-class experience featuring serious jazz and blues music served with exceptional southern-inspired cuisine. Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club features a spectacular and visually breathtaking environment engineered to deliver the highest quality acoustics while utilizing state-of-the-art production, sound and lighting technologies. Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club is located within a beautifully restored 1905 building at 135 Congress Street in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For more information visit http://www.jimmysoncongress.com or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JimmysJazzBlues.
Passion is a key trait I look for in any individual. Finding people who are passionate about not only what they do, but also of achieving a companys vision is the key to success.

Kristen Duell, EVP at KanTime, a leader in the post-acute care space, has been awarded the Health 2.0 Outstanding Leadership Award, which is being presented during the Health 2.0 USA 2022 Conference in Las Vegas, NV, this spring.

KanTime Healthcare Software firmly believes that having a team with exceptional leaders is how we will continue to make a substantial impact.

Rachana Sundar, KanTimes Vice President of Product Support, stated how important leadership is for our customers:

KanTimes leadership team is all focused on the same goal of How do we innovate so that our products make customers lives easier and better.

Our companys leaders incorporate KanTimes two core principles: Do It Right the First Time+ and Manage by Exception+ in everything they do.

KanTimes Chief Executive Officer, Sundar Kannan, expressed how vital leadership is:

Passion is a key trait I look for in any individual. Finding people who are passionate about not only what they do, but also of achieving a companys vision is the key to success. I am thankful for my team at KanTime as they all love what they do and believe in the mission of the company.

Kristen has been in the healthcare industry for 18 years and has demonstrated outstanding leadership throughout those years.

Jil Schexnayder, Relationship and Events Director at KanTime, shared:

Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes - Margaret Wheatley.

This statement embodies the leadership of Kristen. She consistently demonstrates her leadership through her work ethic, vision, adaptability, and true compassion for her partners, peers, and team. Kristen always speaks up and provides a positive perspective! Jil stated. I have had the absolute privilege to work under Kristens leadership for several years. She has taught me an immeasurable skill set that I will take with me forever.

KanTime is honored to have a leader like Kristen Duell. With great leaders, KanTime can reach its full potential in helping its customers deliver quality patient care around the clock while implementing the core values of Doing Right the First Time+ and Managing by Exception+ every day.

About KanTime Healthcare Software:

KanTime Healthcare Software is an American-based healthcare technology company that is the fastest-growing post-acute software provider in the nation with over 900,000 patients, 210,000 users, $12.9B in processed claims, and 70M annual visits. We provide cloud-based enterprise software to home health, hospice, pediatric, private duty, and consumer-directed services agencies. KanTime helps agencies improve clinical compliance, increase operations efficiency, and achieve financial success.

KanTime works seamlessly on any point of care device, be it iOS, Android, or Windows-based, both online and offline. Additionally, KanTime offers robust business intelligence tools that allow upper-level management to drill down into various clinical, financial, and operational KPIs and act accordingly.

https://kantime.com/

About Health 2.0

Health 2.0 promotes, showcases, and catalyzes new technologies in healthcare. Through a worldwide series of conferences, Health 2.0 brings together the best minds, resources, and technologies for compelling panels, discussions, and live product demonstrations.

Health 2.0s annual flagship event is held each fall in Silicon Valley.

In addition, Health 2.0 and HIMSS co-host Dev4Health, an event for developers in health, and multiple international conferences, including HIMSS and Health 2.0 Europe and Health 2.0 Japan. Health 2.0 also co-hosts live events that bring together start-ups, investors, and customers, VentureConnect, an investor-focused pitch competition, and MarketConnect Live, a curated forum connecting buyers and sellers of health technologies.

https://www.health2conf.com/
What Dementia Taught Me: A 21-Day Devotional and Journal Prompt: an encouraging and emotionally intelligent devotional. What Dementia Taught Me: A 21-Day Devotional and Journal Prompt is the creation of published author Kimberly Seals, the director of the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the former state director of Maternal and Child Health for the Alabama Chapter of March of Dimes.

Seals shares, When dementia impacts a loved ones life, it becomes an entire villages journey. While there will be many unpredictable moments, hope, love, and peace can be found when we pause to remember that the God is with you along the way. No matter where you are in your journey, What Dementia Taught Me walks with individuals through the beginning, middle, and end stages. This twenty-one-day devotional and journal prompt invites readers into the authors personal dementia journey with her mother and help readers reflect on their journey as well. Although her story is still being written, this book offers a transparent look at the true emotions of any daughter, spouse, or caregiver. Read alone or with a group. You will remember to laugh, cry, and eat as God reveals himself to you on both your good and bad days. What Dementia Taught Me celebrates the life and legacy of your loved one through scripture, devotion, and prayer. Dementia will no longer feel like a lonely road but rather a community of friends as you engage with each daily entry.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Kimberly Sealss new book is a helpful tool for those seeking comfort while celebrating life in all its stages.

Seals draws from personal experience to help others cope and find the silver lining in each moment.

Consumers can purchase What Dementia Taught Me: A 21-Day Devotional and Journal Prompt at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about What Dementia Taught Me: A 21-Day Devotional and Journal Prompt, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Kermit Lowery, LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation Board Director

The LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation Board of Directors is proud to welcome Kermit Lowery as an incoming Director. LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation is the non-profit entity of LexisNexis Legal & Professional that aims to advance the rule of law around the globe through program development, funding, and partnerships.

In a career with LexisNexis spanning 33 years, Mr. Lowery most recently served as Vice President & Head of Legal - North America. He retired from LexisNexis in June 2021. Prior to joining LexisNexis, Mr. Lowery served as an Assistant Judge Advocate in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps, from which he retired in 2012 as a Colonel. Kermit is a distinguished member of the Dayton, Ohio community, where he resides with his wife.

Mr. Lowery has spent his time and talent for several years as a committed advocate for the advancement of the rule of law generally and, more particularly, as a champion for the mission and vision of LexisNexis and LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation. Mr. Lowery received numerous awards for his work and service, including the 2014 American Bar Associations Pro Bono Publico Award and the John and Ginny Elam Pro Bono Award from the Ohio State Bar Association. Kermit also served as a Staff Judge Advocate at the United States Southern Command when the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate received the ABA Hodson Award for legal work performed in support of Operation Unified Response following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Im excited to work with the other consummate rule of law enthusiasts on the Board, said Kermit Lowery. The foundation is a force multiplier to promote the rule of law globally. I look forward to helping the foundation grow and expand its impact to help people around the world who need it most.

I am delighted to have the passion and resource of Kermit Lowerys caliber joining us to help the foundation grow to new heights, Ian McDougall, President of LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, remarked.

For more information on LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, visit: https://www.lexisnexisrolfoundation.org/.

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis Legal & Professional is a leading global provider of legal, regulatory and business information and analytics that helps customers increase productivity, improve decision-making and outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis and Nexis services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 160 countries with 10,400 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

About LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation

LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which has the mission to advance the rule of law around the world. The foundation efforts focus on the four key elements of the rule of law: transparency of the law, accessible legal remedy, equal treatment under the law, and independent judiciaries.


Thompson Habib Denison (THD), a Moore company, announced today that they have been selected by Make-A-Wish as their agency of record, providing an omnichannel solution across channels, screens and an ever-evolving communications ecosystem.

THD will be responsible for all direct response marketing, providing strategic recommendations regarding channel mix and budgetary allocations and ensuring that Make-A-Wish efforts utilize the best-performing media mix powered by SimioCloud, the Moore constituent data platform. Other Moore companies being leveraged for this integrated service solution include Direct Donor TV for media buying and TCM Creative for video creative and production.

We are honored to work with such a celebrated brand and look forward to building an omnichannel donor experience that engages and acknowledges donors, motivating them to join the cause and stay connected for the long term, said Linda Williams, chief strategy officer at THD. Make-A-Wishs vital mission has given back to so many families over the past four decades by giving kids the strength to fight against critical illnesses.

Through insight-powered strategies, sophisticated analytical tools, digital marketing techniques, compelling creative and a unique midlevel donor advancement practice, THD will inspire current and future donors to support the mission of Make-A-Wish.

We look forward to working with THD and applying their data-driven strategies to drive long-term revenue and donor growth, said Amanda Clayton, vice president of integrated fundraising with Make-A-Wish. The THD team and Moore enterprise as a whole is highly strategic, creative and laser-focused on solving our challenges.

We will use the full resources of Moore to support Make-A-Wish and their fundraising goals, said Gretchen Littlefield, chief executive officer of Moore. I am confident that the THD team is the right choice for Make-A-Wish, as their fundraising program is highly complex and requires a company like THD that has the depth and breadth to deliver transformational growth.

To learn more about THD and the services they provide to help nonprofits grow, visit THDinc.com.

About Make-A-Wish

Make-A-Wish creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Make-A-Wish is the world's leading children's wish-granting organization, operating in every community in the U.S. and in nearly 50 countries worldwide. Together with generous donors, supporters, staff and more than 30,000 volunteers across the U.S., Make-A-Wish delivers hope and joy to children and their families when they need it most. Make-A-Wish aims to bring the power of wishing to every child with a critical illness because wish experiences can help improve emotional and physical health. Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has granted more than 500,000 wishes worldwide; more than 340,000 wishes in the U.S. and its territories alone. For more information about Make-A-Wish America, visit wish.org.

About Thompson Habib Denison

Thompson Habib Denison (THD) is a social impact agency committed to helping nonprofits grow through long-term, brand-loyal donor relationships. Bringing together its core competencies in strategy, data, analytics, marketing and creative, THD develops and executes insight-driven multichannel strategies to advance the mission of meaningful causes that serve our communities, our nation and our world. The company is headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, with clients across the U.S. and Canada.

About Moore

Moore is a leading constituent experience management (CXM) company focused on the integration of the donor experience across all platforms, channels and devices. With over 3,500 employees in 40 locations across the country, the company provides strategy, creative, production, media, data and analytic services powered by an ongoing investment in next-generation artificial intelligence and machine learning to nonprofit, political and association clients. Moore is a recognized key contributor in strengthening these sectors.
Im thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Smile Brands to open this state-of-the-art facility and serve the community of Fort Worth.

Smile Brands Inc., one of the nations leading providers of business support services to dental groups in the United States, today announced the grand opening of another affiliated Monarch Dental office, serving the community of Fort Worth, TX.

Patients will enjoy convenient hours, a comfortable office, and full-service care at the new Texas Speedway location. The newest Monarch Dental office provides full-service general dentistry, plus specialty care services, such as orthodontics (braces and clear aligners), oral surgery, periodontics, endodontics, and implants. Located at 3556 Highway 114, Suite 400, in Fort Worth, the office will be open on weekdays with convenient hours and same-day appointments. Monarch Dental accepts most major insurance plans and offers flexible financing options so patients can afford the care they need.

To celebrate the grand opening, the new Texas Speedway office will offer a special $39 new patient package, including an exam and digital x-rays, and $100 off dental services over $300. Opening this new location helps Smile Brands and its affiliated dental groups achieve their mission to provide Smiles for Everyone by bringing affordable dental care to local neighborhoods.

Leading the clinical team in the new Monarch Dental office is Dr. Maryam R. Qureshi. Dr. Qureshi has advanced training in General and Orthodontic Dentistry and is committed to providing a friendly and knowledgeable approach to patients, so they are happy with their smiles.

I strive to treat everyone with the highest level of care and compassion and enjoy getting to know my patients on a personal level, explains Dr. Qureshi. Im thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Smile Brands to open this state-of-the-art facility and serve the community of Fort Worth.

Prospective patients can call the new Texas Speedway Monarch Dental office at 682-382-2520 or toll-free at 1-800-MONARCH (1-800-666-2724). People can also visit us online to schedule an appointment.

About Smile Brands Inc.

Smile Brands, based in Irvine, California, is one of the largest providers of dental support services in the United States. The company supports nearly 700 affiliated practices, with more than 7,500 dedicated team members across 30 states. Smile Brands supports a portfolio of over 75 brands including well-known regional brands: Bright Now! Dental, Castle Dental, Merit Dental, Midwest Dental, Monarch Dental, and Mondovi Dental. The company provides comprehensive business support services through exclusive long-term agreements with affiliate dental groups, allowing practices to spend more time caring for patients and less time on the administrative, marketing, and financial aspects of operating a dental office. The organization receives frequent recognition for its award-winning culture and has been recognized as a Best Place to Work by Glassdoor, Comparably, Stevie Awards, and more. Smile Brands is a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, a leading middle-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA. Visit smilebrands.com for more information.
Money Pages, the multi-media marketing franchise that helps local businesses reach their target audiences through direct mail by distributing over 13 million magazines last year, closed out 2021 with substantial growth, adding three new units to its system in 2021. The franchise is now looking to continue its growth in key markets across the Southeast, including Georgia (Johns Creek, Athens, Augusta), Florida (Tampa  St. Petersburg, Orlando, Tallahassee), North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham, Cary  Apex, Greensboro), South Carolina (Charleston, Columbia, Greenville), and Tennessee (Nashville and Knoxville).

According to Chris Sexton, Money Pages VP of Franchising, the brands recent and ongoing growth is due largely to its prime market availability, low overhead, and recurring revenue streams, all of which allow franchisees to stake an outsized claim in an industry projected to reach $70.66 billion by 2023.

We have more than four awards planned for this year and are looking forward to continuing to grow the system into more states and local communities, said Sexton. We are also looking forward to expanding into Charlotte with our first publications in 2022. Our Richmond market is off to a stellar start with Aubrey Sylvester continuing to increase page counts and billing since his launch in October 2021.

The brands strong positioning has not gone unnoticed in the franchise industry. This year, Entrepreneur Magazine included the brand in its prestigious Franchise 500 list as No. 1 in category for Advertising Services.

Money Pages Franchisees Plan for Success in 2022

One of the franchisee powerhouse teams taking Money Pages into new territories in 2022 is Heather and Ryan Zabinksy, who signed in Summer 2021. The couple was awarded one unit in Ft. Mill, South Carolina, and also signed an Area Developer agreement for Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Zabinksys, who formerly owned an HVAC company for 14 years in Jacksonville, Florida, would advertise their previous company in Money Pages, so they were familiar with the product and knew it was an option they wanted to pursue for their next business venture.

Money Pages has a proven system that we believe in. We believe in the marketing, we believe in what the publication can do for local communities, and we believe in the power of our sales team, said Ryan. Money Pages worked with us and gave us the opportunity to put our best foot forward in our South Carolina community  and we look forward to growing from here.

Were offering an incredibly valuable service  constant business-to-consumer branding to those businesses in our immediate area on a month-to-month basis, said Ryan.

Moving forward into the new year, the couple will expand their territory into the South Charlotte region and continue to grow into North Carolina.

Another franchisee team, the Eders  Jeff and his son Nate  have strong ties to their Indiana community and wanted a local business where they could help other business owners and strengthen their towns economy.

Brownsburg-Hendricks County is a growing community with a lot of business opportunities, said Jeff. There are alot of new businesses starting up here and businesses moving into this area. Money Pages is here for that. It feels like the right time to launch this type of business.

The Eders Brownsburg, Indiana, publication will launch in Spring of 2022 and reach other surrounding Hendricks County towns of Avon and Danville with the hyper-local magazine geared to help small businesses.

Alan Worley, CEO of Money Pages, expressed his excitement that this new franchise location in Indiana is a family operation rooted in passion for small local business.

Money Pages is rooted in family, and we are thrilled to be welcoming this father-son duo to our team, said Worley. We can't wait to see what big things the Eders do for the Brownsburg community."

Sexton says the success of the brands franchisees is a direct result of its growth mindset and robust support team with a deep bench of experience.

Our most successful franchise owners have multiple units and or development areas, said Sexton. Its important, when thinking about growth, multiple units is where you are really going to thrive. Growth is accelerated by access to a very experienced leadership team that has a direct role in supporting our franchise owners.

The investment to open a Money Pages franchise starts at $107,500. For more information, visit https://moneypagesfranchising.com/

About Money Pages Franchising

Money Pages Franchising was launched in 2012 in response to ever-growing interest to bring the flagship Money Pages magazine founded in 2001 to cities across the country. The system has since grown to more than seven states and over 13 million magazines in circulation annually. Our franchise owners come from a wide cross-section of backgrounds and experiences who share a common interest being a part of their local business communities and helping readers save money. Entrepreneur Magazine ranked Money Pages on its Franchise 500, including ranking as #1 in Advertising Services, and recognized it as a Top Low Cost Franchise. Money Pages is the perfect franchise model for motivated entrepreneurs to bring an industry leading local publication to their city! Call 888.417.2552 for more information.
About 2,000 learners per semester enroll in UNH's professional education programs focused on work ready skills, with over 6,000 digital badges issued to date. Photo courtesy of UNH. Our states micro-credential programs give individuals a cost-efficient option to higher education that allows them to obtain and showcase work ready skills, said BEA Commissioner Taylor Caswell. Its a turning point in our higher-education system that will shape the future of the workforce.

The University of New Hampshires (UNH) new micro-credential program is helping to close the workforce skills gap, announced the N.H. Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA). UNH offers more than 250 micro-credential courses and 26 certificate programs in areas ranging from computer science and cryptocurrency to business management and law. Since the program began 18 months ago, about 2,000 learners per semester enroll in professional education programs focused on work ready skills, with over 6,000 digital badges issued to date.

Courses  which start as low as $50 and are open to all individuals regardless of enrollment status  range from one-day training programs to intensive, month-long certificate programs and credited options. Upon completion, students can present their achievements to potential employers through digital badges that describe specific knowledge and skills obtained. Select micro-credentials can be stacked or combined with others to count towards mastery certificates.

Its a win-win for both students and employers in our region, said Ken La Valley, Vice Provost of Outreach and Engagement and Director of UNH Extension. The program provides job seekers the opportunity to advance their knowledge and promote work ready skills that supplement a traditional degree, and it offers employers an upscaled workforce, allowing them to retain employees.

Courses are taught in person and online by professors and business professionals. UNH partners with more than 5,000 New Hampshire businesses to provide training programs for existing employees and new graduates who have obtained relevant micro-credential competencies.

Our states micro-credential programs give individuals a cost-efficient option to higher education that allows them to obtain and showcase work ready skills, said BEA Commissioner Taylor Caswell. Its an interesting turning point in our higher-education system that will shape the future of the states workforce as a whole  benefitting thousands of companies.

In addition to UNH, several other micro-credential programs are implemented throughout the states Community College System (CCSNH), including a credited program at New Hampshire Technical Institute (NHTI), where all micro-credentials lead to an NHTI certificate and/or degree program. There is no formal college admissions process to enroll in NHTIs credited micro-credential courses and most courses can be completed in eight weeks of virtual learning.

A similar virtual academy, facilitated by New Hampshire Public School District, is also being considered for high school students.

Those interested in the UNH program can learn more here, http://www.learn.unh.edu.

About the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA)

The Department of Business and Economic Affairs is dedicated to enhancing the economic vitality of the State of New Hampshire while promoting it as a destination for domestic and international visitors. For more information visit http://www.nheconomy.com or http://www.choosenh.com.

About the University of New Hampshire

The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. A Carnegie Classification R1 institution, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and received $260 million in competitive external funding in FY21 to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.
The global pandemics profound effect on the labor market resonates throughout the data found in this years benchmark report. Its clear that it has been a rocky period for recruiting and hiring, said Heather Salerno, chief marketing officer at Appcast.

Appcast, the global leader in programmatic recruitment advertising technology and services, today unveiled the findings of its sixth annual Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report. The report examines 2021 job ad data - 165 million job ad clicks and 8 million applies - from nearly 1,200 U.S. employers, uncovering how industry and job function, geography and market, job ad content and timing impact recruitment advertising outcomes. This years report also explores recruitment marketing performance with attention to labor market data, which Appcast refers to as - Recruitonomics, in addition to a first-of-its-kind look at cost per hire (CPH) insights.

Cost Per Application Skyrockets

2021 was one of the most challenging years for recruiters in recent history due to a perfect storm of fierce competition for talent paired with a pandemic-induced mismatch in labor supply, and these trends look set to continue. The impact of these dynamics is evident in these sharp spikes to recruitment marketing costs:



Cost per application (CPA) rose by 43% in 2021 compared to 2020.

Cost per click (CPC) on job applications rose by 54% in 2021, another key indicator of high recruiting costs.

By comparison, CPC rose by just 11% in 2020.

Overwhelming demand for workers across all industries left job seekers with a wealth of options, allowing people to be more selective. Additionally, many remained concerned about COVID risks resulting in a slow rebound in worker participation  something the labor market continues to grapple with.

Data Confirms Strong Demand for Remote Work

The report found that including remote work or work from home (WFH) in job ads resulted in a higher apply rate and lower CPA. Findings showed that the median CPA dropped from $23.29 to $20.16 when the job ad mentioned remote work, a 13% reduction in costs. Furthermore, when WFH options were mentioned in a job ad, the apply rate improved by 12%. These findings reveal a significant opportunity to reach and attract a broader pool of talent and reduce recruitment advertising costs with job roles that can be performed remotely.

Report Includes Initial Cost Per Hire Data

For the first time, this years benchmark report includes an initial analysis of cost per hire (CPH) data. A key metric for assessing recruitment advertising performance, CPH data empowers organizations to bolster job advertising performance by allowing organizations to optimize results to the event that matters most - a hire. Specifically, the initial CPH data analyzed by Appcast revealed that no single hiring source  i.e., job board, website or social media channel  performed best for open positions across all industries. Instead, Appcast found that each hiring source delivered the lowest CPH for at least one job function, and each demonstrated weaknesses. These variations in the performance of various hiring sources emphasize the need for employers to diversify sources and ensure that down-funnel data is at the heart of recruitment advertising decisions.

Pandemic Proves Significant Influence on Apply Rate by Job Function

Out of 24 job functions analyzed, all but six job functions saw a decline in apply rates. Job functions with the sharpest decline in apply rates aligned with industries where concerns over COVID risks and working conditions had the greatest impact on labor shortages.



The food service industry saw the most notable decline in apply rates, down 2.67%.

Customer service (down 1.64%), healthcare (down 0.96%) and human resources (down 0.94%) were other industries that experienced the greatest drop in apply rates.

Manufacturing jobs fared the best, with apply rates increasing by 3.61%.

Manufacturing jobs are, on average, good jobs. The typical pay is higher than in many industries, while the education requirement is typically a high school diploma, so there are usually few openings in manufacturing, said Andrew Flowers, labor economist at Appcast. But the pandemic caused consumer habits to change, especially spending on manufactured goods. As a result, job openings in manufacturing soared. In fact, manufacturing is the industry with the highest increase in job openings compared to Feb. 2020 (pre-pandemic), up more than double.

Mobile Job Applications Continue Upward Trend

According to the report, 67.24% of job applications were completed on mobile devices in 2021, demonstrating a continued shift in job seekers preferences to apply for jobs in the same manner they would shop online.

Mobile apply rates increased across the board, but were especially significant in several sectors: 86.4% of applies for gig-type jobs (i.e. delivery drivers, ride sharing apps, etc) were done on a mobile device. Other top industries for mobile job applications include manufacturing (78.1%), hospitality (76.9%), transportation (76.5%), warehousing and logistics (76.5%) and food service (73.5%).

In 2019, only 50.99% of job applications were completed on a mobile device.

Mobile applies surpassed desktop applies for the first time in 2020.

From 2020 to 2021, there was a 13.8% decrease in desktop apply rates.

While the predominantly desk-driven technology and legal jobs ranked lowest for percentage of mobile applications, these job functions still saw significant increases in mobile applies. For comparison, in 2021, 32.1% of technology job applications were completed on a mobile device, and that same share was only 22% in 2020.

Overcoming Recruitment Challenges

The report also highlights actionable steps talent acquisition teams can take to improve recruitment efforts in a tight labor market.

Adopt a mobile-friendly application process; Appcast recommends applying for your open jobs via mobile device yourself, taking into account time to complete and friction points.

If remote or work from home is an option with your roles, emphasize this in your job ads.

Understand your market. The data in Appcasts report includes benchmarks and insights for specific geographical locations and job functions so you can effectively compete for talent in those domains.

Optimize job ad content. The report contains valuable information on improving a job ads success including length of job title, best practices for including benefits and optimal timing for posting job ads.

The global pandemics profound effect on the labor market resonates throughout the data found in this years benchmark report. Its clear that it has been a rocky period for recruiting and hiring, said Heather Salerno, chief marketing officer at Appcast. Through this report, we aim to provide hiring organizations with a deeper understanding of the current labor market and arm TA leaders with valuable data and insights to achieve their recruitment goals and rise above this difficult labor market.

To download the 2022 Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report, visit

https://info.appcast.io/whitepaper/2022-recruitment-marketing-benchmark-report-pr

About Appcast

Appcast is the global leader in programmatic recruitment advertising technology and services. With advanced technology, unmatched market data and a team of the industrys best recruitment marketers, Appcasts technology and services manage over half a billion dollars in job advertising annually on behalf of more than 1,500 clients. Headquartered in Lebanon, N.H. with offices in Boston, Mass., New Brunswick, Canada and Minsk, Belarus, Appcast is a subsidiary of StepStone, one of the worlds largest job classified businesses. To learn more, visit https://www.appcast.io/ and follow on Twitter @appcast_io.


The Mercy College Board of Trustees has elected five members who will guide the Colleges financial and operational growth and inspire broader investment in its students, faculty and staff. These new members have been elected over the past year and include Melissa Encarnacao Battista 13, M.B.A. 14, Michael Hayes 92, H.D. 21, Cindy Lopez 07, M.S. 08, M.S. 11, Susan Maklari, and Marlene Melone Tutera CNR SAS 71, adding a wealth of experience in the relevant fields of finance, education and accounting.

The Board and I are excited to welcome our newest members and we look forward to our work together, said Joseph Gantz, chairman of Mercy Colleges Board of Trustees. Their combined strengths and demonstrated commitment to furthering the Colleges mission signal a promising future for motivated students seeking to transform their lives through higher education.

Mercy College is fortunate to have such a dedicated and diverse group of trustees and we are proud to welcome these new members who include alumni, said Mercy College President Tim Hall. We deeply value their commitment to ensuring our students receive a high-quality education in a vibrant, personalized learning environment. We are grateful to all our trustees for investing their time and expertise to ensuring that Mercy College will continue to thrive in the years to come.

New members include:

Melissa Encarnacao Battista 13, M.B.A. 14

Corporate Vice President and Senior HR Business Partner, New York Life

Melissa Encarnacao Battista recently joined New York Life as corporate vice president and senior HR business partner. Previously, she held various positions at Morgan Stanley, including vice president, VCS chief administrative officer within Virtual Client Solutions, an organization comprised of Morgan Stanleys leading financial advisors and service professionals. In a prior role at Credit Suisse, Battista was responsible for managing HR activities in compliance and regulatory affairs. She graduated cum laude from Mercy College in 2013 with a bachelors degree and went on to receive a Master of Business Administration in Human Resources Management/Finance in 2014. Her community work includes volunteering at Mercy College, White Plains Hospital, the American Heart Association/Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, and the ASPCA.

Michael F. Hayes 92, H.D. 21

Partner, PKF OConnor Davies, LLP

Michael Hayes is a certified public accountant in three states at PKF OConnor Davies LLP. Previously, he was a partner at KPMG LLP since 2014. His deep industry knowledge includes working with hedge funds, private equity funds, and endowments in areas such as financial reporting, regulatory compliance, enterprise-wide risk, internal controls, taxes, valuation, and governance. He is a member of the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association and has led industry seminars aimed at helping investment leaders stay abreast of current accounting, tax, and regulatory issues. Previously Hayes was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP where he offered audit and business advice to investment funds and endowments for over 20 years. Hayes has served on many not-for-profit boards in the health and welfare, educational, and arts industries. A volunteer firefighter in his hometown of Katonah, New York, Hayes received his bachelors degree in accounting from Mercy College in 1992. He was awarded an honorary degree from Mercy in 2021.

Cindy Lopez 07, M.S. 08, M.S. 11

Superintendent, Charter School of Educational Excellence

Cindy Lopez is superintendent at the Charter School of Educational Excellence (CSEE) in Yonkers, New York. She joined CSEE in 2007 as a fourth-grade teacher, becoming assistant principal in 2011, and principal in 2014. During her appointment to superintendent in 2019, Lopez in collaboration with an amazing team expanded the CSEE K-8 program into the CSEE K-12 program with approximately 1200 students. With the program expansion, Lopez worked on the finance and planning of the 76,000-square-foot HS Building expansion. CSEE has been designated as a Reward School and Recognition School by NYSED for several years, and provides educational choices for families of all economic backgrounds in the surrounding communities. Prior to becoming a teacher, Lopez worked for 15 years as a health care administrator. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including Educator of the Year and the Entre Nosotras Award for her commitment to improving the lives of children through education. Lopez is a three-time alumna of Mercy College, having earned a bachelors degree in behavioral science in 2007, a Master of Science in Childhood Education in 2008, and a Master of Science in School District Leadership in 2011.

Susan Maklari

Senior Equity Research Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Susan Maklari is a senior equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs, where she leads the top-ranked housing and home decor consumer goods team. She collaborates globally with consumer and industrial analysts to develop insightful, accurate perspectives on sector trends that highlight companies with growth opportunities and challenges. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, she was a director/senior equity research analyst at Credit Suisse. Before that, she held the position of equity research analyst at UBS for 17 years and served as a consultant to KPMG. Maklari has a bachelors degree in finance from Georgetown University and a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University.

Marlene Melone Tutera CNR SAS 71

Retired Education Professional

Marlene Melone Tutera spent 22 years of teaching at the Jewish Community Centers Early Childhood Center. Prior to that, she served for 20 years as Director at Beach Point Day Camp in Mamaroneck, New York. Tutera graduated with honors from the College of New Rochelle (CNR) in 1971 with a bachelors degree. At CNR, she served as Director of Housing Director of Alumnae/i Relations. Tutera has twice served as president of the Alumnae/i Association and is past chair of the CNR Board of Trustees. She currently serves as a co-chair of the newly formed CNR Legacy Council. She has volunteered in the New Rochelle public education system and served on the boards of several community not-for-profits. She was honored at the Mercy College 2020 Trustees Scholarship Dinner with the inaugural CNR Legacy Award.

About Mercy College

Founded in 1950 by the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy College is an independent, coeducational college that offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs within five schools: Business, Education, Health and Natural Sciences, Liberal Arts and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The vibrancy of the College culture is sustained by a diverse student body from around the region. The College offers campuses in Dobbs Ferry, Bronx and Manhattan as well as online offerings.
NFP, a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides property and casualty, corporate benefits, retirement, and individual solutions, today announced it has acquired East Coast Underwriters, LLC and Blue Ridge Captive Solutions PCC, Inc. The acquisition enhances NFPs medical stop loss and self-funded group captive business, its scale and underwriting talent, and solidifies NFPs best-in-class position in providing tailored solutions to self-insured employer groups. The transaction closed December 23, 2021.

Im excited to welcome Aaron and the East Coast Underwriters team to NFP, said Kim Bell, executive vice president, Head of Health and Benefits, NFP. Their focus on delivering the service and expertise clients need, as well as their strong relationships and sound underwriting practices, will help our clients navigate an increasingly challenging healthcare benefits landscape and enable them to gain more control over the associated costs.

East Coast Underwriters, a managing general agent based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, provides medical stop loss to mid-sized self-insured employers through a distribution network of third-party administrators, benefits brokers and general agents. Blue Ridge Captive Solutions, a captive program underwritten by East Coast Underwriters, enables groups of all sizes to pool their risk, delivering a more controlled, predictable, and stabilized environment for self-funded plans.

Aaron Wilkie, president of both East Coast Underwriters and Blue Ridge Captive Solutions, will join NFP as a managing director and work closely with NFPs Medical Stop Loss unit, including Excess Reinsurance, an NFP company, and its Corporate Benefits team.

"Were thrilled to join NFP and have the opportunity to work with their exceptional team, said Wilkie. Our complementary capabilities will benefit clients, and as we integrate with the NFP team well also gain access to a variety of new resources and growth opportunities. This is a great way to start 2022.

About NFP

NFP is a leading insurance broker and consultant providing specialized property and casualty, corporate benefits, retirement, and individual solutions through its licensed subsidiaries and affiliates. NFP enables client success through the expertise of over 6,600 global employees, investments in innovative technologies, and enduring relationships with highly rated insurers, vendors, and financial institutions. NFP is the 5th largest benefits broker by global revenue, 7th largest US-based privately owned broker, 9th best place to work in insurance and 13th largest broker of U.S. business (Business Insurance); 10th largest commercial lines agency by P&C commercial lines revenue and 10th largest property and casualty agency (Insurance Journal); and 13th largest global insurance broker (Bests Review).

Visit NFP.com to discover how NFP empowers clients to meet their goals
Nord QuantiqueError-correcting quantum processors Nord Quantique embraces the great technological challenges that high performance quantum computing demandsand were on the path to develop ground-breaking innovations. Julien Camirand Lemyre, Ph.D.

Nord Quantique, a Sherbrooke-based quantum computing technology start-up, today announced it has closed CAD $9.5 Million seed funding. Nord Quantique develops technology using superconducting qubits to solve challenges within current quantum processors.

Co-leading this seed investment is BDC Capitals Deep Tech Venture Fund and Paris-based Quantonation VC fund. Real Ventures from Montreal, already a shareholder, also participated in the seed round. Nord Quantique is a partner of the Sherbrooke Quantum Innovation Zone, dedicated to advancing quantum computing innovation in Quebec.

Nord Quantique develops hardware that accelerates the pathway to fully fault-tolerant quantum computing. Leveraging bleeding-edge Canadian expertise in quantum technology and semiconductor chip fabrication, Nord Quantique is redesigning processors from the ground up to mitigate and reduce error events on every individual qubit.

Were consistently reviewing the global quantum computing landscape, and we truly believe that Nord Quantique has one of the most promising technical roadmaps to realize fault-tolerant quantum computing. The rigorous support they receive from the world-class Sherbrooke quantum ecosystem is key in helping them compete against the tech giants of the world. said Charles Lesperance, Partner, Deep Tech Venture Fund at BDC Capital.

As one of the first venture capital investment funds dedicated to quantum and quantum-enabling technologies worldwideQuantonation has been on board with Nord Quantique since day one of its inception in 2020. With the support of Profs. Alexandre Blais, Scientific Director of the Institut quantique at University of Sherbrooke, and Michel Pioro-Ladriere, Deputy Director at Institut quantique sitting on the Nord Quantique scientific advisory board, we have full confidence in the vision and capabilities of this team and their impact on the future of quantum computing, said Christophe Jurczak, Managing Partner at Quantonation, France.

Co-founders Julien Camirand Lemyre and Philippe St-Jean stated, We embrace the great technological challenges that high performance quantum computing demandsand were on the path to develop ground-breaking innovations, said Julien Camirand Lemyre, Ph.D. We are uniquely positioned in the quantum tech ecosystem, and are grateful for these VC investment funds that will be the founding fuel to help us continue to grow, innovate, and attract brilliant new minds to Quebec, added co-founder, Philippe St-Jean, Ph.D.

For more information about Nord Quantique and to view career opportunities, visit: https://www.nordquantique.ca/.

About Nord Quantique

Nord Quantique develops hardware for fault-tolerant quantum computing by redesigning processors from the ground up with low-error in mind. The company is building superconducting circuits that can mitigate errors on every individual qubit, providing a faster pathway to high performance quantum computers. Based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and part of the Sherbrooke Quantum Innovation Zone, Nord Quantique was co-founded in 2020 by Philippe St-Jean, Ph.D., and Julien Camirand Lemyre, Ph.D. as a spinoff from the Institut Quantique. For more information about Nord Quantique and open career opportunities, visit: https://www.nordquantique.ca/.

About BDC Capital

BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, the bank for Canadian entrepreneurs. BDC Capital serves as a strategic partner to the countrys most innovative firms. It offers businesses a full spectrum of capital, from seed investments to growth equity, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who have the ambition to stand out on the world stage. Visit http://www.bdc.ca/capital.

About Quantonation

Quantonation is the first venture capital fund dedicated to quantum technologies and innovative physics. Areas such as material design, high-performance computing, cybersecurity, or ultra-precise detection are now driven by innovation based on these disruptive technologies. Quantonation aims to support their transition to marketable products for the industry. Quantonation is headquartered in Paris, France, and invests worldwide. Learn more: https://www.quantonation.com

About Real Ventures

Real Ventures is an early-stage venture firm focused on serving daring entrepreneurs with the ambition to create successful, global companies. Since 2007, Real Ventures has dedicated itself to building the Canadian startup ecosystem on the belief that people, not money, build game-changing companies. Real Ventures provides stage-specific guidance, mentorship, and access to networks and resources to fast-track founders personal and company growth. Real Ventures manages $325 million across five funds and its portfolio of 60+ high-growth tech companies is currently valued at over $15 billion. http://www.realventures.com.

Media Contact:

info@nordquantique.ca
Northeast Delta HSA releases evaluation report of 6-month Rise Above Stigma initiative "You will find that we have been committed and consistent in how we have created innovative programs, resources, initiatives, and community engagement strategies to help address many of the negative social determinants found in our region." - Dr. Monteic A. Sizer

Northeast Delta Human Services Authority (NEDHSA) announces the release of its six-month Rise Above Stigma evaluation report. This evaluative document serves as a progress report on what was accomplished during the first six months of Rise Above Stigma. It is also designed to further support data-informed decision-making.

NEDHSA's Rise Above Stigma initiative aimed to help increase access to behavioral health services, provide mental health awareness, and increase culturally and linguistically appropriate training for people living in northeast Louisiana.

NEDHSA Executive Director Dr. Monteic A. Sizer said in this six-month report, "we were determined to meet people where they were to understand better the issues and obstacles that limited individuals from seeking lifesaving health services."

"We recognize this project's potential impact on our region, state, and nation and believe it will be a blueprint on how service innovations and community connections can transcend brokenness and various forms of division," Dr. Sizer said. "You will find that we have been committed and consistent in how we have created innovative programs, resources, initiatives, and community engagement strategies to help address many of the negative social determinants found in our region."

In July 2021, NEDHSA contracted with SheRay's & Associates to facilitate and evaluate the implementation of our Stigma Reduction Plan. The Measurement Group LLC was selected to independently evaluate the Rise Above Stigma campaign. Dr. Lisa A. Melchior, president of The Measurement Group LLC, said, "There is evidence of progress revealed in the report."

"Despite the challenges faced in achieving the goals of the project, we have already begun to observe evidence of progress in engaging parish members at the grassroots level in working to address behavioral health stigma in their communities," Dr. Melchior said.

While this evaluation focused on the first six months of the Rise Above Stigma initiative, Dr. Sizer indicated the work would continue.

"Our Rise Above Stigma campaign is a continuation of the innovative work we have been doing since NEDHSA was established nearly nine years ago," Dr. Sizer said. "From the very beginning, we have been meeting the region's people in their homes, community centers, and houses of faith better to understand their fears, needs, and dreams. And after hearing from the people, we immediately begin to form collaborative agreements to work across race, class, politics, and governmental silos to help meet the needs of our diverse constituency."

The agency currently has a mental health mural being toured throughout the 12-parish region and is currently hosted at the Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Museum during February for Black History Month. It will be at the Union Parish Museum of History and Art in March. The agency is also hosting a regional theatrical psychodrama in May as part of its Rise Above Stigma initiative.

To view the report, click the following link: https://bit.ly/NEDHSAStigma6MonthEvaluation

For more information contact Public Information Director DeRon Talley by emailing deron.talley@la.gov
groov RIO EMU (Energy Monitoring Unit)

Opto 22 has expanded its groov RIO edge I/O series with a new energy monitoring unit (EMU) designed to help plant managers, machine operators, and financial analysts understand electrical costs and track changes in load that might give early warning of equipment faults. Using 0.333 V, 1 V, or 5 A current transformers (CTs), groov RIO EMU measures live AC power and energy consumption from any three-, twin-, or single-phase load up to 600 V and provides 64 simultaneous field measurements and calculated values directly to analytics software, databases, and other connected systems.

For many industrial rate-payers, a lack of visibility into energy consumption means that operational costs may be higher than necessary. Relatively simple changes and operational improvements can often reduce peak power usage, resulting in significant savings. But without strategic data collection, these improvements can be difficult to identify. Additionally, measuring power draw at the machine level is an effective way to assess machine health, detect impending problems, and make timely adjustments to equipment such as motors, bearings, filter pressures, and lubrication, without instrumenting each component.

The groov RIO EMU module measures AC RMS voltage and current for up to three phases (Wye or Delta) and is rated to UL 61010-3 measurement category III. From the measured field inputs, additional values are calculated for each phase including true, reactive, and apparent power; power factor; frequency; and net energy; as well as combined totals for all phases. The small form factor allows for installation at the point of use, permitting granular measurement of electrical loads: pumps, heating/cooling systems, solar power generation, and many others.

groov RIO EMU is built on Opto 22s proven edge I/O platform. It includes Power over Ethernet (PoE) and a wide operating temperature range for easy installation. Module operation and data distribution are protected with cybersecurity features including mandatory user authentication, a configurable firewall, and SSL/TLS encryption. Both OT and IT communication options are supported, including a full REST API, VPN client, and MQTT/Sparkplug client. groov RIO EMU is compatible with traditional control programming and SCADA systems. Data can also be accessed through the embedded Node-RED IoT programming environment and IT programming languages like C++, Python, and Java.

Availability

groov RIO EMU modules (GRV-R7-I1VAPM-3, $895 USD) are available through Opto 22s global network of distributors and system integrators and directly via +1-800-321-OPTO and http://www.opto22.com. Free technical support is provided for all Opto 22 products from pre-sales through the life of the system.

About groov RIO

Opto 22s groov RIO product line combines real-time I/O sensing with the connectivity many of todays projects require: field sensors and devices, legacy PLC systems, software applications, remote equipment, and cloud services. These flexible edge I/O modules quickly and securely connect common industrial data sources directly to Ethernet networks and data consumers without intermediary control or communication hardware.

About Opto 22

Opto 22 designs and manufactures industrial control products and Internet of Things platforms that bridge the gap between information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT). Based on a core design philosophy of leveraging open, standards-based technology, Opto 22 products are deployed worldwide in industrial automation, process control, building automation, industrial refrigeration, remote monitoring, and data acquisition applications. Designed and manufactured in the U.S.A., Opto 22 products have a worldwide reputation for ease-of-use, innovation, quality, and reliability. For over 40 years OEMs, machine builders, automation end-users, and information technology and operations personnel have and continue to trust Opto 22 to deliver high-quality products with superior reliability. The company was founded in 1974 and is privately held in Temecula, California, U.S.A. Opto 22 products are available through a global network of distributors and system integrators. For more information, contact Opto 22 headquarters at +1-951-695-3000 or visit http://www.opto22.com. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube.
I want people who read this book to see how God meets us when we make ourselves available to Him, said Howard.

For author Patty Howard, the words so much of our lives is influenced by how we see God began a two-and-a-half-year journey of listening to God every morning with the expectation that He would speak. With social media as her pulpit and her friends as her congregation, Howard shared what God gave her every day and the Holy Spirit did the rest. In her debut book, Meet Me in the Morning: Spirit Meets Social Media, she has gathered those meditations, originally posted on social media and compiled them into a devotional.

This daily devotional shows how scripture applies to real life, in real time and invites the reader to carry the ideas and insights beyond the page and into their daily life. Howard shares the inspiring meditations in the order she posted them on social media, encouraging self-reflection and discussion. She provides an entry for every day of the year including pages for Ash Wednesday, the Sundays of Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost and the Sundays of Advent. Howard highlights how these holy days are significant and should be observed no matter what date they fall on in a particular calendar year.

I want people who read this book to see how God meets us when we make ourselves available to Him, said Howard. It is her hope that these daily meditations motivate, inspire, convict and convince readers that God sees them, knows them and loves them.

Meet Me in the Morning: Spirit Meets Social Media

By Patty Howard

ISBN: 9781664250277 (softcover); 9781664250284 (hardcover); 9781664250260 (electronic)

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and WestBow Press

About the author

Patty Howard taught high school English for nearly 30 years before leaving the education space to become a pastor. As she has trained for ministry, she has been challenged to be vulnerable with God and with trusted others, to grow and to allow herself to be formed into Christlikeness. She has two sons, two daughters-in-law and three grand dogs. Howard currently resides in Chehalis, Washington and is an associate pastor at Gather Church, where she serves the congregation and community. For more of Howards daily meditations, please visit her Facebook page.

General Inquiries:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

480-306-6597

mbowman@lavidge.com


Chris Kanze has a long history of philanthropic work in the Chicago area and has previously donated to local homeless shelters as well as children & youth charities. For this reason, Chris Kanze chose to donate to the reputable Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

Chris Kanze, former CEO of Roobet and Chicago-based philanthropist, recently announced his donation of ten thousand dollars to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Chris Kanze has a long history of philanthropic work in the Chicago area and has previously donated to local homeless shelters as well as children & youth charities. For this reason, Chris Kanze chose to donate to the reputable Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

Today, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is the only nonprofit group in Illinois that advocates for public policies to help end homelessness. The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless team pushes public policies that address the lack of affordable housing across Illinois through community outreach and strategic policy campaigns. Chris Kanze recognizes the severe extent to which the lack of affordable housing within metropolitan Chicago has impacted Chicago residents, resulting in nearly 80,000 homeless Chicagoans each year. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has worked to increase the number of homeless within Illinois, Chris Kanze believes it is now more important than ever to support local homeless shelters and charities.

Chris Kanze is committed to continuing his philanthropic work in 2022 and hopes to inspire those who have the financial means to also contribute to their choice of charity.

About Chris Kanze:

Chris Kanze is an entrepreneur and philanthropist based in the Chicago area. Chris Kanze is best known for previously serving as CEO of online cryptocurrency casino, Roobet, as well as his philanthropic work both within and outside the Chicago area. As a Chicago native, Chris Kanze is deeply passionate about supporting local nonprofits and helping to raise awareness for various charitable causes.


I am so honored to receive this recognition from Find Local Doctors. It is my mission to provide access to advanced treatments and surgical options to reduce the risk and recovery time for my patients, says Dr. Daniel Shouhed.

Dr. Daniel Shouhed is one of the top robotic general surgeons in the country, with extensive experience in this advanced field. Dr. Shouhed has earned this prestigious award from Find Local Doctors as a result of his exceptional five-star ratings and excellent reviews from patients. Find Local Doctors is a trusted online directory that allows consumers to locate and connect with the most reputable and qualified physicians in their community. Dr. Daniel Shouhed is a renowned expert in gastrointestinal, metabolic and bariatric surgical intervention, training many of his colleagues in these complex techniques. Any treatments or surgeries involving the digestive tract and connected organs must be carefully planned and executed to minimize risks and improve the outcome of the procedure. As one of the top GI and bariatric surgeons in Los Angeles, Dr. Shouhed has the knowledge and training in robotic technology and minimally-invasive techniques to perform these precise and complicated surgical procedures with great success. Some of the procedures Dr. Shouhed specializes in include gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, revision bariatric surgery, hernia repair, spleen and gallbladder surgery, colon and small intestine disorders, appendix removal and GI cancer surgery.

I am so honored to receive this recognition from Find Local Doctors. It is my mission to provide access to advanced treatments and surgical options to reduce the risk and recovery time for my patients, says Dr. Daniel Shouhed.

More about Dr. Daniel Shouhed:

Dr. Shouhed graduated from UCSD School of Medicine and completed his general surgery residency at Cedars Sinai, where he developed his passion for minimally invasive surgery of the gastrointestinal tract. He then went on to complete fellowship training in metabolic (bariatric), endocrine and minimally invasive surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Shouhed was immediately recruited back to join the division of Minimally Invasive GI Surgery at Cedars Sinai Hospital. He is the associate director of the Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship Program as well as the co-director of the Multi-Disciplinary Adrenal Program at Cedars Sinai and has also been appointed the director of the Robotic Catalyst program. Dr. Daniel Shouhed is a nationally renowned mentor and educator, traveling across the country to present at prestigious conferences and train other attending surgeons and students in robotic surgery. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters, including multiple articles in the Journal of JAMA Surgery, JACS and other reputable journals.

Dr. Shouhed has two practice locations in the Los Angeles area, at 2121 Santa Monica Blvd in Santa Monica, CA (310) 904-6647 and at 436 N Bedford Drive, Suite 311 in Beverly Hills, CA (310) 980-5834. For additional information, please visit http://www.drdannyshouhed.com.


We were attracted to the site because of its unique and exclusive location at the top of Chapman Mountain overlooking Huntsville. Most residential sites in Huntsville are on flat land without views so our product will be highly differentiated from whats currently being offered.

Prosper Group, a Tampa, Florida real estate developer, led by Jay Roberts acquired Hawks Ridge, a 64 acre raw land site in Huntsville, Alabama for an undisclosed amount in mid December 2021. The property was purchased through a joint-venture between Prosper Group and SSG, a Miami-based development group led by Manny Rodriguez, from RFM Properties, LLC, a Huntsville-based developer.

The joint-venture plans to build high end luxury homes ranging from $700,000 to over a million dollars overlooking downtown Huntsville. The property is located in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in the area and sits atop a ridge with unmatched sweeping city and valley views.

We were attracted to the site because of its unique and exclusive location at the top of Chapman Mountain overlooking Huntsville. Most residential sites in Huntsville are on flat land without views so our product will be highly differentiated from whats currently being offered. We plan to capitalize on the increased demand for luxury homes in Rocket City and are thrilled to partner with Manny and his team to deliver an excellent product, said Jay Roberts, CEO of Prosper Group.

Huntsville Alabama is the state's largest city overtaking Birmingham according to U.S. Census numbers. Huntsville city has a population of 215,006 with the greater metro being home to nearly half a million residents and has seen rapid growth over the past decade driven by tech, engineering and manufacturing jobs. The city is nicknamed Rocket City for being home to the U.S. space program. The growing city has attracted major corporations such as SpaceX, Toyota, Mazda, Boeing, Facebook, Blue Origin and the FBI who have collectively invested billions of dollars in the region.

Jay Roberts is the founder of Prosper Group, a Tampa Florida-based real estate development and investment firm, currently building homes in Tampa Florida and Huntsville, Alabama. Jay is a former investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York City.
New America recently released a report about the value of culturally relevant curriculum in schools. According to a new review, the report is timely and helpful, although some limitations in its analysis weaken an otherwise valid exploration of how to address long-standing issues of racial and gender justice.

Christine Sleeter of California State University, Monterey Bay, reviewed New Americas Representation of Social Groups in U.S. Educational Materials and Why it Matters. The report synthesizes research studies that analyze representation of diverse groups in curriculum materials, particularly childrens literature. It finds an underrepresentation of minoritized racial/ethnic groups and females, very little attention to nonbinary and LGBTQ characters, and very little analysis of characters with multiple identities. The report concludes that many students consequently lose the opportunity to see themselves in curriculum and to learn about minoritized Americans who differ from themselves.

The report provides helpful resources, according to Professor Sleeter. But she also flags some weaknesses. First, it concentrates narrowly on character representation in literature; it gives little attention to questions pertinent to other subject areas, such as history. It is also limited by relying as much on non-peer-reviewed as on peer-reviewed studies. Finally, it misses opportunities to connect culturally relevant curriculum with student academic learning, connect gender with culturally relevant education, or reveal how cultures of power (white and male) are represented in curriculum.

Despite these limitations, Professor Sleeter continues, the overall validity of the reports conclusions remains intact. Taken as a whole, the report draws needed attention to the importance of cultural relevance of curriculum materials.

Find the review, by Christine Sleeter, at:

https://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/curriculum

Find Representation of Social Groups in U.S. Educational Materials and Why It Matters, written by Amanda LaTasha Armstrong and published by New America, at:

https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/the-representation-of-social-groups-in-u-s-educational-materials-and-why-it-matter/
The 2022 Toyota RAV4 now on sale at Dan Cava Toyota World

Toyota returns to the battlefield in 2022 with a bang, wresting other brands clutch over multiple segments. Numerous anticipated upgrades and carried-over amenities are offered on every trim level of the 2022 Toyota RAV4, now available for sale at Dan Cava Toyota World in Fairmont, West Virginia. Included in the brand-new RAV4 is Toyotas most diverse technological suite, elevating the driving experience across all terrains. Scores of mechanical tweaks and popular add-ons make it an SUV worth looking forward to this year. Robust systems akin to the wild details of a prowling beast establish the prowess of the RAV4.

Redefined luxury features offered on the 2022 model include heated seats, faux-leather upholstery, and a chic stereo system. Higher efficiency seekers might want to wait for the RAV4 Hybrid. Regardless of this disparity in ratings on the RAV4 and Hybrid, Toyota achieves superior standards with its handsomely designed headlamps and LED foglamps. Starting at $26,525, the RAV4 tops the list of most affordable 2022 SUVs. Housed beneath the hood is a 203 horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, delivering the best through its pairing with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Depending on the variant, a choice between front-wheel drive and multiple all-wheel-drive systems is also available.

The base model offers everything essential for a standard luxurious drive, including interior features such as cloth seats, a premium steering wheel design, and convenient climate control. Toyota paints more strokes of opulence and weaves tighter stitches of comfort into the cabins of the higher trim levels. Safety takes a bold stride in the direction of idealism by combining enhanced features with the driver-assistance technologies of the previous models.

Interested customers from Fairmont, West Virginia, can now get behind the wheel of a customized RAV4 for a test drive at Dan Cava Toyota World. Buyers who want a tour of the 2022 Toyota RAV4 can contact the dealership at 304-366-2720 or drop by 2510 White Hall Blvd, Fairmont, West Virginia 26554.
...maintain our commitment to employees, the community, and our customers.

Waseyabek Development Company (WDC) announced its investment in Safari Circuits, an Otsego, Michigan based Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) firm. Safari is an innovative leader in electronics manufacturing, engineering services, and supply chain management.

BlueWater Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor and Howell Parfet Schau acted as the legal counsel to Safari Circuits for this transaction.

Safari was founded in 1985 and serves clients in the medical, instrumentation, industrial, automotive, and military sectors. It employs more than 150 people.

As the founder of Safari, it was important to me to find a majority investor who would maintain our commitment to employees, the community, and our customers, said CEO, Larry Cain. We believe the leadership at Waseyabek Development Company shares that commitment and will carry on that legacy.

Waseyabek is proud to invest in locally-based companies that generate jobs and income in this region, said WDC Board Acting Chair, Chris Rogers. As the majority owner of Safari Circuits, we will work with the leadership to grow the firm, which in turn will strengthen the overall economy in Southwest Michigan.

About Waseyabek Development Company

Waseyabek Development Company, LLC, is a 100% Tribally-owned holding company that manages the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomis non-gaming economic development activities. By investing and acquiring diverse businesses and real estate properties on behalf of the Members of the Band, WDC contributes to the Tribes long-term success and economic self-sufficiency by providing revenue and employment opportunities for Tribal Members. http://www.waseyabek.com

About Safari Circuits

Founded in 1985, Safari Circuits provides world-class electronics development and manufacturing services to customers, large and small, in support of their mission to create intelligent, safe, cost-effective solutions for their customers and markets. They specialize in electronics manufacturing services, engineering services, and supply chain management. http://www.safaricircuits.com

About BlueWater Partners

BlueWater Partners is a middle market investment banking and consulting firm. As strategic advisors to business owners and management, BlueWater Partners works with companies to create, manage and realize business value, frequently before or through a sale or acquisition. BlueWater Partners services include advice on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, capital sourcing, performance improvement, restructuring and turnaround. To learn more about BlueWater Partners, visit http://www.bluewaterpartners.com.
Santa Rosa Island Authority Joins the Florida Purchasing Group The Santa Rosa Island Authority invites all potential vendors to register online.

Today, the Santa Rosa Island Authority announces it has joined the Florida Purchasing Group, a regional purchasing community by bidnet direct. Local government agencies throughout Florida utilize the purchasing group for bid and vendor management. The Santa Rosa Island Authority invites all potential vendors to register online with the Florida Purchasing Group to access its upcoming solicitations by visiting http://www.bidnetdirect.com/florida/santarosaislandauthority.

The Santa Rosa Island Authority joins the Florida Purchasing Group and the community of nearly 50 participating local government agencies located throughout Florida. Along with a variety of bid and vendor management solutions, the Santa Rosa Island Authority gains access to a bid library to help with bid creation, a shared pool of vendors, and association with like-minded purchasing professionals in the area.

Collaboration is important to us, says Leigh Davis, Executive Director of the Santa Rosa Island Authority. We think the bid library will really help us save time in drafting more effective bids and access specifications, Davis continued. Plus, it makes it easier for our vendors to access our bids.

Vendors interested in doing business with the Santa Rosa Island Authority and other nearby government agencies are encouraged to register at http://www.bidnetdirect.com/florida/santarosaislandauthority. Benefits of joining the Florida Purchasing Group include:



Centralized location for bids from all 47 participating agencies

Bid alerts customized to the vendors products or services

Reliable and timely delivery of notifications, addendums and documents

Advanced notice of Term Contract expiration

E-Bid and E-Quote Submission

The Florida Purchasing Group is one of bidnet directs regional purchasing groups throughout the country. It provides the Santa Rosa Island Authority a bid and vendor management solution, document and addendum distribution, and tracking of all activity throughout the procurement process.

About the Santa Rosa Island Authority:

The Santa Rosa Island Authority (SRIA) is the governing branch overseeing the direction of Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island. Pensacola Beach is located in Escambia County, the northwestern most county in Florida, and is home to approximately 2,000 residents. It is fully funded from lease fees collected from beach businesses and residences.

About bidnet direct:

bidnet direct, powered by mdf commerce, is a sourcing solution of regional purchasing groups available at no cost to local government agencies throughout the country. bidnet direct runs regional purchasing groups, including the Florida Purchasing Group, across all 50 states that are used by over 1,600 local governments. To learn more and have your government agency gain better transparency and efficiency in purchasing, please visit https://www.bidnetdirect.com/buyers
MYDENTALWIG is pleased to announce a revolutionary patent-pending dental product, the iDentalWig.

The iDentalWig is a wearable dental device that looks and feels a lot like our Dental Wig alternative to dental implants but stands out by having the ability to monitor the human body.

The original Dentalwig is a patented, FDA-cleared painless system that replaces the tooth or teeth missing without having to go to the dentist. The device is comfortable to wear and will last a long time without having to get frequent replacements.

Whats unique about the new product is that it has a special sensor inside the device that monitors and collects data on the bodys processes. Namely, it collects information on brain activity, heart activity, blood, muscles, and whatever else needs to be monitored.

This information can be accessed by physicians and the individual wearing the iDentalWig through an app on a smartphone, tablet, and other support devices. The collected data can also then be sent to scientists and medical professionals to use it for their research.

The purpose of collecting data on the bodys activity is to better understand how the body works without pause

Current Machines

Of course, there are machines and technology that monitor the body. For example, heart failure monitoring devices are implanted into the pulmonary artery to detect changes in blood pressure, and from that information, a doctor can adjust treatment.

For the brain, there are EEG (electroencephalography) tests and MRI machines that measure brain functionality by detecting either changes in the blood flow or electrical activity. The problem with all of these examples is that theyre very expensive and/or are limited to a hospital setting.

Theres no at-home way to effectively and accurately monitor brain activity. Some treatments, like the heart monitor, require surgery which, of course, is expensive. Especially in the United States where the country is notorious for its extremely high medical costs.

With the iDentalWig, we expect that the data collected by the device will lead to a much better understanding of the brain and how it works. And from that new knowledge, scientists and medical experts can hopefully create ways to prevent diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinsons, heart failure, and more from occurring. In fact, we plan to develop this technology to the point where it can detect how inebriated a person is and warn them to not drive to save them a DUI.

How It Works

The way the iDentalWig works is similar to Apple Watches.

The Apple Watch has various apps on its platform that measure electrical signals from the heart and other parts of the body. From that information, for example, an Apple Watch owner can learn what is their hearts sinus rhythm, which is to say, if the heart is beating in sync.

The Apple Watch can tell you if the heart is beating irregularly or if your heartbeat is too high or too low etc. However, the problem with wearable devices is that A) theyre expensive, B) they require frequent charging, and C) theyre not always the most accurate.

So, we at MyDentalWig asked ourselves why cant we do something similar to the Apple Watch. In fact, we believe that we can do something better in the form of the iDentalWig to monitor body functionality.

The data is collected and then sent over to a cloud computing service where it is kept safe and can be easily accessed through the app. That way, you have accurate information about your body every day at any time.

The biggest obstacle to all this is the battery. How do we keep the iDentalWig up and running all the time? A rechargeable battery wont work because the whole point is to have it on all the time so it can monitor the body. Taking it out every few hours to recharge goes against the design philosophy

.

And you certainly cant have a wire coming out of your mouth providing power.

So, we decided to include a self-charging battery that turns mechanical energy into electricity.

On average, the human swallows between 1500 and 2000 times a day. The battery can harness the motion to provide energy to the iDentalWig. Other motions like chewing and talking will go to powering the device.

This New Dental Sensor System to Monitor the Body breakthrough technology has multiple applications. For example, it will enable drugs companies like Pfizer, Moderna, etc. to exponentially boost the efficiency of drugs, by allowing possibilities like customized/personalized medications/treatments.

Weve even designed the iDentalWig to continue collecting data even after a person has passed so we can understand further what happens to the body after death.

About MyDentalWig

The idea of the iDentalWig was conceived when two distinct life events happened to founder Lydie Livolsi.

The first was when Lydie pursued a career in dentistry in France so she could learn how to make crowns, bridges, dentures, and other forms of tooth prosthetics. She had a particular passion for replacing teeth loss as her grandmother was afflicted by it.

The other inciting event was when she got the news that two people close to her had a stroke. Fortunately, the person survived, but Lydie started to wonder could there be a way to see signs that a stroke was coming way before one occurred.

After learning that it was possible to insert device inside denture, Lydie came up with her company, MyDentalWig, to help people across the world with missing teeth. There are numerous testimonials from people of all age groups on MyDentalWigs website talking about their experience with their dental implants alternative.

At this point, the patent is pending for the wearable iDentalWig with the price point yet to be determined and it also making MYDENTALWIG a complete Tech company like Apple. The global wearable technology market size is expected to reach $195.57 billion usd by 2027 while exhibiting an astounding CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 26.4% and the dental industry in the US alone is projected to reach $160 billion usd by 2030.

If youre interested in learning more about the company, and the iDentalWig, please visit mydentalwig.com. And if you want to invest, you can do so at PicMii Crowdfunding where you can pledge at least $100 into the project to get it off the ground, and Fundable for accredited investors only, plus learn more about the company and how it plans to grow.

Lydie Livolsi

MYDENTALWIG INC.

4712 E. 2nd Street, #640, Long Beach, CA, 90803

(562) 279-5770

Contact: media@mydentalwig.com
TownNews TownNews is honored and proud to have been selected by Tekan as their CMS of choice after a thorough vetting process. We are a firm believer in Tekans mission and think it will serve as a model for other countries.

TownNews and Tekan announce an exclusive partnership for TownNews to become the content management system (CMS) and associated technology stack for members of a newly formed coalition of Canadian publishers.

For TownNews, the exclusive partnership opportunity with Tekan provides a launch pad for a major expansion into the Canadian market. TownNews is the leading media CMS in the U.S. but has had, to date, a limited presence in Canada.

Tekan is a new company, formed as a coalition of Canadian publishers that will establish scale across the country to strengthen their position in the digital advertising marketplace and identify cost efficiencies in systems and technology.

TownNews solution set was thoroughly vetted against four other CMS vendors before earning Tekans endorsement. BLOX CMS is TownNews proprietary, mature multimedia publishing system, powering nearly 2,000 websites, and BLOX Total CMS is used for the design of about 1,000 print publications, helping publishers achieve greater production efficiencies. The TownNews stack includes advanced audience and digital subscription technology, accelerating publishers growth in subscription revenue; advanced analytics platform; replica e-editions; native apps; integrated email newsletter and social media applications, a video management system; and apps for streaming broadcasting (OTT).

TownNews is honored and proud to have been selected by Tekan as their CMS of choice after a thorough vetting process. We are a firm believer in Tekans mission and think it will serve as a model for other countries, said Brad Ward, CEO of TownNews.

We are excited to enter into an exclusive agreement to provide the advantages that scale can provide in lowering costs, eliminating technical debt and enabling new features and functionalities to increase revenues that were otherwise out of reach for many publishers, said Doug Clarke, President of Tekan.

Torstar is looking forward to becoming the first Canadian publisher to sign up with Tekan for the TownNews solution set said Paul Rivett, Chairman and co-owner of Torstar.

With the partnership, Tekan will become the exclusive provider of TownNews technology in Canada. Tekan is a newly formed Canadian company that services publishers and is owned by publishers, based in Toronto. Based in East Moline, IL, TownNews is majority owned by American media company Lee Enterprises.

###

About TownNews

TownNews equips local media organizations with the digital services and guidance to transform their business models and flourish in the digital age. Our tools and expertise in digital, advertising, video, connected TV, and print enable forward-thinking media organizations in dynamic markets to efficiently engage their audiences, increase security and grow revenue.

Fueled by a passion for local media and a 30-year proven track record of success, more than 2,000 news organizations have benefited from the platform and tools we've built specifically for the media industry to thrive. Learn more at http://www.TownNews.com.
Signing ceremony on January 13 transcosmos launched "Neijiang Center," which opened in the Dongxing District, Neijiang City, with 300 workstations and will gradually expand in size up to 1,000 workstations in five years.

transcosmos inc. is proud to announce that Shanghai transcosmos Marketing Services Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shanghai, China; CEO: Eijiro Yamashita; transcosmos China), its wholly-owned subsidiary, held a signing ceremony on January 13, 2022, to mark the opening of its new operations center in Neijiang city with the People's Government of Dongxing District, Neijiang city, Sichuan province, China. As the company's first operations center in the southwest region of China, the center will offer cost competitive contact center services with the power of digital.

At the ceremony, which was held online to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Mr. Xu Rongbin, member of the Standing Committee of Dongxin District Committee, and Executive Deputy District Head of Dongxing District, Neijiang City (Right) and Mr.Toshiya Okada, General Manager of transcosmos China (Left) signed the agreement.

A key transport hub in the southwest of China, Neijiang City is situated at the heart of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle in the southeastern area of Sichuan Province, the province known as the Country of Heaven with a population of 83.67 million. In order to boost regional development initiatives, the city proactively invites companies in the BPO/IT industries. transcosmos launched "Neijiang Center," which opened in the Dongxing District, Neijiang City, with 300 workstations and will gradually expand in size up to 1,000 workstations in five years.

Mr. Kang Houlin, secretary of the Standing Committee of Dongxing District Committee, Neijiang City said at the signing ceremony: "transcosmos is a world-renowned BPO service provider, highly regarded for its contact centers, digital marketing and BPO services. We are confident that the opening of transcosmos China's Neijiang Center in Dongxing District, in the southwest region of China will be beneficial for the district in growing, innovating and advancing the BPO industry."

Mr. Toshiya Okada, General Manager of transcosmos China expressed his gratitude to the government officials and commented: "We, transcosmos, have been striving to help our clients enhance their competitive strengths with our high-quality, high-added value BPO services. We have decided to enter the Dongxing District, Neijiang City, because we fully recognize the business environment there, its potential to attract talented people as well as governmental supportive policies that the city and the district offer. Going forward, we will implement new technologies including data analytics and AI, fully unleash the power of local talent and cost advantages, and ultimately offer highly cost-effective contact center services. At the same time, we will create and provide young people in the local communities with various employment opportunities, and develop more talent."

Mr. Bi Sheng, Vice Mayor of Neijiang City said: "Today, we held an online signing ceremony, commemorating the construction project of transcosmos China's first operations center in the southwest region of China. This is a whole new approach to hold a signing ceremony, going beyond time and space, and marks the starting point for our collaboration. On behalf of Neijiang government, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to you all for a successful project kickoff. We strongly believe that transcosmos Group's sharp insight into market opportunities and its entry into Neijiang City will spur significant growth for transcosmos, as well as instill renewed vigor and stimulate momentum in the city, thereby promoting the advancement of the city's outsourcing industry."



Neijiang Center Overview

Founded: January 2022

Workstations: 300 (phase 1), to be expanded up to 1,000

Location: Software and Information Technology Service Outsourcing Industrial Park, Neijiang City, Sichuan Province

Services: Digital contact center services including Inbound and outbound calls, online chat

As of now, services are offered from a temporal center facility, and these will be relocated to the Neijiang Center once construction is completed. With the opening of the new center in collaboration with the regional government, transcosmos will provide a range of contact center solutions to many more clients.

transcosmos history in China

transcosmos entered the Chinese market and launched its offshore services business in 1995. In 2006, the company opened its first call center in Shanghai ad started to provide call center services for the Chinese market. Today, transcosmos has its bases and subsidiaries across 22 cities in China including Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Hefei, Xi'an, Changsha, Wuhan, Suzhou, Neijiang, Taipei and more. The company offers extensive services such as business outsourcing including contact centers, e-commerce one-stop, digital marketing and system development for both Chinese and global brands.

*transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. in Japan and other countries.

*Other company names and product or service names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies.

About transcosmos inc.

transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior "people" with up-to-date "technology" to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 173 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce Services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services to consumers in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the "Global Digital Transformation Partner" of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment. Visit us here https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/
"When a client hires our team, we fill out the most important role in their business and that is to create THE business strategy using data to scale up. We can catch those bottlenecks and help businesses renovate for lasting growth."

Businesses sometimes start with an idea, but some are borne of friendship. That is the case with Chicago entrepreneurs Martha Razo and Maryam Pishgar, who are the creative mathematical minds and co-founders of Solix Business Services, a new Chicago-based consulting firm launching this month that provides business data-driven solutions to companies, allowing them to grow and expand their enterprises.

Razo and Pishgar struck up their friendship as students attending the University of Chicago and working in the institutions research lab. They had a lot in commonPh.D. candidates in data science and analytics, children who are of similar ages, becoming entrepreneurs, and a desire to help business owners understand the power and the impact numbers can have on their businesses successes or failures and the necessary changes to guarantee success based on their financial figures.

Owners come from a long day at work from their businesses, Razo said. Numbers are daunting, challenging and people hate them. By ignoring the figures, businesses suffer and in the long run, they can go out of business and cannot be sustainable in serious times like a pandemic. When a client hires our team, we fill out the most important role in their business and that is to create THE business strategy using data to scale up. We can catch those bottlenecks and help businesses renovate for lasting growth. We will help them and make sure their businesses are always headed in the right direction.

Razo and Pishgar have developed a proprietary method proven to scale up businesses. Also, Solix offers process mining tools that allow business owners to see their entire business process in one image.

Process mining tools are game-changers because large well-known brand companies such IBM, Intel, and Nestle are using them, Pishgar said. Companies can learn about the power of how these tools can help them by an expert like Solix.

Having a data analyst and business expert on a companys team can help interpret the meaning behind the numbers for owners and their staff. For example, Solix was able to help G. Pallets of Chicago double its sales and its profits grew six times in a year post the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some business owners can look at an Excel sheet or a database and dont understand what their data represents, Pishgar explained. Data scientists like us explain the findings with graphs and visualizations to discuss their financial situation. If you look beyond the surface, these numbers mean something. They can explain trends or the direction that the business is going in currently. After studying and doing coding and forecasting for a long time, I realized that numbers really mean something and its very valuable informationinformation that can make or break a business.

Razo explained that business owners cannot have the mindset that every months sales figures will be the same.

If you think that way, you fall in a trap where your business financials flatline; there is no movement, she said. Your business financials either go down or up. So, if you're flatlining, you're most likely going down. I would recommend to business owners who are in this situation to think about renovating their strategies every month, observe what has worked and hasnt, and look at other ways to stimulate growth. There should be that adventure of changing and adapting to achieve growth, whatever the growth means to that company.

For more information, visit https://www.solixservices.com/.

About Solix Business Services:

Based in Chicago, Solix Business Services provides tools and consultation services to our clients that will help the business managers and owners visualize their process through graphs, discover their bottlenecks, and optimize their process to save resources and money. For more information, visit https://www.solixservices.com/.
We work ultimately to achieve healthier living environments and, to reach that goal, its critical we link residents with like-minded builders, manufacturers, architects and designers. IBS and KBIS are the ideal venues to do just that, so our team will be out in full force in Orlando.

Wellness Within Your Walls (WWYW), the award-winning resource group which certifies people, places, products and programs to promote healthy living environments, will attend the NAHB International Builders' Show (IBS) and Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) beginning Feb. 8 in Orlando, Fla. WWYWs founder will speak at two events during the trade shows and the group will launch the online application of its third-party residential certification for health and wellness. Additionally, a team of WWYW-certified professionals will travel the Expo floors spotting preferred health and wellness products, and the organization will debut a new tagline - Wellness Within Your Walls Connects Heart & Science  which will appear in a series of ads, video spots and other marketing tools at the Expos.

We have spent years perfecting the science of exactly what makes a healthy home, and we couldnt be more excited to launch our simple website application of our third-party residential certification for health and wellness, said Jillian Pritchard Cooke, WWYW founder. We work ultimately to achieve healthier living environments and, to reach that goal, its critical we link residents with like-minded builders, manufacturers, architects and designers. IBS and KBIS are the ideal venues to do just that, so our team will be out in full force in Orlando.

Over the last 15 years, WWYW has consulted with scientists, physicians, architects, builders, raters, inspectors, realtors, specifiers, and interior designers to develop an industry-leading standard to certify people, places, products, and programs globally through education and health and wellness protocols. WWYWs certification process includes such protocols as education, testing, inspections, specifications, resident behavioral strategies, and data analysis to certify residences. Wellness Within Your Walls is the bridge between residents and trusted and vetted manufacturers, architects, builders, and designers, resulting in healthier homes.

A team of WWYW experts will traverse the IBS and KBIS conference floors, spotting new and innovative products, systems, and technologies for healthier homes. When they identify an exhibitor of interest, they will put a tent at that booth, alerting Expo attendees that the exhibitor is a WWYW preferred vendor for the product identified.

The WWYW journey has included multiple case studies and pilot homes, providing invaluable data for WWYW health and wellness protocols. These protocols led to the creation of the WWYW 10-step holistic approach, known as the Healthy Living System, and now launching to the new tagline, Wellness Within Your Walls Connects Heart & Science. The certifying organization will introduce this new identifier tagline at IBS and KBIS in various ads, table-top tents, videos, buttons, handouts and other marketing materials.

Building industry leaders have worked with WWYW over the years and several have become champions of the wellness organization, employing WWYW protocols in residential construction. Bill Hayward, creator of the Hayward Healthy Home Score, is currently constructing a home in Pebble Beach, Calif. and his home is slated to be certified by WWYW at completion at the most rigorous level, exemplary. Randy Noel, a past chair of NAHB, built a WWYW-certified pilot home in Luling, La., a locale known for unhealthy air and water attributed to significant toxins present from chemical plants along the Mississippi River. Despite its location, the Luling house, a spec home in the Greater New Orleans HBA Parade of Homes, scored a perfect 100 on the Hayward Healthy Home Score, due largely to the protocols required by WWYW certification.

Jillian and the entire WWYW team are thorough and exhaustive in their research and approach to healthy building protocols, said Randy Noel. Because of my involvement with them professionally through NAHB over the years, I was completely comfortable trusting them and participating in their pilot home program in my personal residence.

Noel will participate on a panel at this years IBS continuing education series called 60 Design Ideas in 60 Minutes, during which he will highlight healthy building protocols. The panelists speak at 9:15 am. on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

Jillian Pritchard Cooke will also speak at this years IBS. Her presentation, Why Wood? Woods Contribution to a Healthier Building Industry will occur at the Canadian Briefing Session Breakfast at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9. She also will present 10 Healthy Home Strategies that Will Set You Apart from the Competition at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10. At both presentations, conference goers will get insight into the organizations health and wellness strategies which result in a legacy of health, harmony and sustainability in living environments.

IBS and KBIS are being held in person Feb. 8 through 10 in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center. Learn more here.

About Wellness Within Your Walls

Wellness Within Your Walls (WWYW) is an award-winning informational resource group created to provide education and guidance on chemicals commonly found in living and working spaces. With a goal to empower and guide consumers and professionals toward healthier living environments, WWYW certifies people, places, products, and programs globally through education and health and wellness protocols with a 10-step holistic approach, known as the Healthy Living System. WWYW was founded by Jillian Pritchard Cooke, a 40-year industry veteran, whose cancer diagnosis became the catalyst to found WWYW, turning her expertise into a passionate commitment to reduce toxins and create healthier living environments. WWYW provides frequent and sought-after speakers at trade shows, educational opportunities, workshops, seminars, and other industry events. For more information, visit: http://www.wellnesswithinyourwalls.com.

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In addition to providing on-call and on-site staff extension support, this contract will help Broward County develop a UAS program that includes a framework and protocols for AAM that will best support their evolving airport operations.

Woolpert was selected by the Broward County Aviation Department (BCAD) to provide advanced planning, consulting and technical services for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and North Perry Airport. The $5 million, multiyear contract will support geospatial solutions, dynamic planning and development management, advanced air mobility and general airport planning solutions.

Woolpert will provide a wide range of planning, technology and geospatial services. These include enterprise geospatial applications, unmanned aircraft systems integration, building information modeling and FAA Airports GIS Program support. New projects and procedures will be implemented to help BCAD stay compliant through the Airport Data and Information Portal process for new and ongoing construction projects.

Woolpert Aviation Program Director and Senior Associate Ed Copeland said the goal is to look for ways to enhance and more fully integrate existing systems and databases to create additional efficiencies and lower costs, while at the same time evaluating new technologies and concepts to support and advance the full life cycle of planning and engineering through construction, operations and maintenance specific to the BCAD environment.

In addition to providing on-call and on-site staff extension support, this contract will help Broward County develop a UAS program that includes a framework and protocols for AAM that will best support their evolving airport operations, Copeland said. These advanced planning and technical services will enable BCAD to implement a strategic plan for the next five years, ensuring the county and its residents benefit from these rapidly developing technologies and are well positioned for the future of aviation.

This contract is now underway.

About Woolpert

Woolpert is the premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG) and strategic consulting firm, with a vision to become one of the best companies in the world. We innovate within and across markets to effectively serve public, private and government clients worldwide. Woolpert is an ENR Top 150 Global Design Firm, recently earned its sixth-straight Great Place to Work certification and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity and respect. Founded in 1911 in Dayton, Ohio, Woolpert has been Americas fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. The firm has more than 1,600 employees and 60 offices on four continents. For more, visit woolpert.com.
This work provides a pathway for developing countries to explore harsh waste-free, energy-efficient, and economically viable conversion of non-food plants, such as bamboo cultivated on marginal lands, into renewable biobased fuels. - WPI Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Ali Salifu

Could one of the fastest growing plants on earth offer a solution to some countries reliance on gasoline? A team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and around the globe has co-developed a process to convert bamboo into an ethanol fuel for powering cars and trucks. The research, funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the World Bank African Centers of Excellence program through the Pan African Materials Institute (PAMI), and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund of Nigeria (TETFund), has been published in the journal Advanced Sustainable Systems. The findings show that in countries with an abundant supply of bamboo, this new biofuel process could significantly reduce fossil fuel usea major source of air pollution impacting health, economic development, and climate change.

Through processing using ball milling, which grinds up the bamboo, and an enzyme treatment, the researchers were able to convert the bamboo into simple sugars, which can then be fermented to create ethanol. Ball milling increases sugar yields obtained from the enzyme step by an order of magnitude, compared with the yields obtained without ball milling. In addition, the ball milling does not generate any new chemical wastes, unlike other methods used to make biofuels.

Weve shown that ball milling has the potential as a waste-free method, while using abundant resources in developing nations to offset their liquid fuel use as part of a sustainable approach to lowering their greenhouse gas emissions, said WPI Chemical Engineering Professor Michael Timko.

The researchers used Nigeria as a case study for implementing the fuel made from bamboo after Nigerian researcher Nneka Blessing Ekwe came to WPI to develop technologies to use bamboo for biofuel production. The team found the bamboo could be effective in creating a sustainable system that also helps decarbonize that countrys economy. In fact, they found this new biofuel could meet as much as 80 percent of Nigerias domestic gasoline requirements. Sunlight is the primary need for growing bamboo and as such, the researchers say, this model could be widely applicable to many developing nations. Its also in line with one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, namely Affordable and Clean Energy.

This work provides a pathway for developing countries to explore harsh waste-free, energy-efficient, and economically viable conversion of non-food plants, such as bamboo cultivated on marginal lands, into renewable biobased fuels. Scaling up the techniques from this study will enable these countries to provide alternative energy to their populations while diversifying their economies from petroleum-based fuels and reducing their carbon emissions," said WPI Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Ali Salifu.

The next steps for the research team, which includes members from African University of Science and Technology in Nigeria, Sivas Cumhuriyet University in Turkey, and Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, will be to look at ways this process could be scaled up for commercial use.

The collaborative approach to this project is in line with WPIs project-based and globally engaged curriculum.
WorldView Real Estate, Founded by Mike DOnofrio and Tracey Esling Our community has been waiting for a small boutique luxury brand with all the benefits and reach of a large company, and we are just the ones to fill the void

WorldView Real Estate today announced its partnership with Side, the only real estate technology company that exclusively partners with high-performing agents, teams, and independent brokerages to transform them into market-leading boutique brands and businesses. The partnership will ensure that WorldView Real Estate, a small boutique luxury brand with all the benefits and reach of a large company, is powered by the industrys most advanced platform.

With six decades of combined experience helping sellers and buyers in the Tri-Valley area, Worldview Real Estate has the local knowledge needed to deliver results for its diverse clientele. Specializing in both traditional real estate services and more nuanced processes, WorldView Real Estate has navigated clients through thousands of transactions totaling more than $1 billion, consistently showcasing the success of its intuitive, results-driven approach.

Led by longtime industry experts Tracey Esling and Mike DOnofrio, WorldView Real Estate fosters an environment characterized by consistent communication, efficiency, and genuine care. While the teams approach has garnered numerous accolades and awards, its crowning achievement is helping clients reach success.

Given the consolidating trend in the market with large companies acquiring others and seemingly taking over, we wanted to give consumers another choice, said Esling At WorldView, we deliver honest advice and expert knowledge in an intimate, tailored atmosphere.

Partnering with Side will ensure WorldView Real Estate remains on the cutting edge of the evolving real estate market while continuing to deliver premium services to its clients. Side works behind the scenes, supporting WorldView Real Estate with a one-of-a-kind brokerage platform that includes proprietary technology, transaction management, branding and marketing services, public relations, legal support, lead generation, vendor management, infrastructure solutions, and more. Additionally, WorldView Real Estate will join an exclusive group of Side partners, tapping into an expansive network from coast to coast.

Our community has been waiting for a small boutique luxury brand with all the benefits and reach of a large company, and we are just the ones to fill the void, continued DOnofrio. We remain on the forefront of real estate because we combine the best of old- and new-school support to benefit both the agent and the customer.

About WorldView Real Estate

WorldView Real Estate operates with a mindset of abundance rooted in the principles of strength, honesty, and industry influence. Its sizable presence in the Tri-Valley area positions its savvy team for success while maintaining the remarkable service and care for which it is known. For more information, visit http://www.worldviewre.com.

About Side

Side is a behind-the-scenes brokerage platform that exclusively partners with top-performing agents, teams, and independent brokerages to create and grow their own boutique brands without the cost, time, or risk of operating a brokerage. Sides proprietary technology platform and premier support solutions empower its agent partners to be more productive, grow their business, and focus on serving their clients. Side is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit http://www.sideinc.com.
Ankineedus experience in driving teams to improve processes will be a great resource for YES as we scale to meet the challenges of worldwide growth," said Rezwan Lateef, President of YES.

YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences and More-than-Moore applications, today announced that it has set up Engineering Centers of Excellence at two locations in India: Coimbatore and Bangalore. A sales office will also be located in the Bangalore area.

It is no secret that high-caliber engineering expertise is in high demand in Silicon Valley, said Ramakanth Alapati, Chairman and CEO of YES. Our companys rapid growth has inspired us to widen our technical recruitment efforts to include global engineering talent powerhouses like India. In addition, we feel there is a strong market for reliable, cost-effective YES systems within Indias domestic semiconductor industry.

Leading YESs efforts in India will be Dr. Ankineedu Velaga, a high-tech engineering executive with more than 35 years of experience spanning engineering and fab operations, customer interaction and retention, and business development support in the US and Asia.

Ankineedus experience in driving teams to improve processes will be a great resource for YES as we scale to meet the challenges of worldwide growth. We will be looking to him to draw upon his impressive track record of building organizations to develop complex semiconductor capital equipment as well as leading organizations to achieve better process development, yields, process control, cycle time, cost, and product quality, said Rezwan Lateef, President of YES.

Dr. Velaga has held leadership roles with BRIDG, imec, SilTerra, Applied Materials, Avago, and Lucent (among others), and his global management experience extends from the US and the European Union to Malaysia and Singapore. His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, and a B.S in Chemical Engineering from the Regional Engineering College in Warangal, India.

I am pleased and honored to be embarking on this exciting endeavor with YES, commented Velaga. We expect to build our India team quickly, and I look forward to talking with high-potential candidates. To see our current job postings for YES India, please visit Careers at Yield Engineering Systems and scroll down to the YES India heading. If you dont see a job there at the moment that aligns with your skills and interests, but you are a qualified candidate with a technical background and semiconductor experience, I encourage you to submit your resume to careers@yieldengineering.com and include YES India in the subject line.

About YES

YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials, and interfaces. The companys product lines include thermal processing systems, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, plasma etching tools, and wet process equipment used for the precise surface modification of semiconductor substrates, semiconductor and MEMS devices, and biodevices. With YES, customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies can create and volume-produce products in a wide range of markets, including Advanced Packaging, MEMS, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Life Sciences. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing global presence. For more information, please visit http://www.yieldengineering.com.
Last month the University of Minnesota Press reissued in hardcover format The Big Island: A Story of Isle Royale by Julian May, illustrated by John Schoenherr  who won the Caldecott in 1988 for Owl Moon, written by Jane Yolen. The picture book, originally published in 1968 by Follett Publishing Company, tells the story of Isle Royale, a 205-square mile island in Lake Superior that lies between Minnesota and Michigan, and is a major part of Michigans Isle Royale National Park wilderness area. May narrates the natural history of Isle Royale through the centuries, with an emphasis on the cyclical predator-prey relationship between the wolf and moose populations.

Like the presss reissues of the classic Nordic-infused picture books by the DAulaires, the acquisition and reissue of The Big Island came about because of a chance discovery by editor Kristian Tvedten. While reading an academic paper titled The Wolves of Fate: Media Coverage of the 2018 Isle Royale Genetic Rescue,  Tvedten came across the following passage:

Perhaps nothing represents charismatic megafauna in the eyes of the public more strongly than their featured role in a childrens book, and by 1968 the wolves and moose of Isle Royale were main characters in a book called The Big Island. Author Julian May told the story of a hungry, large moose who sees the island across the water in the distance and swims for it. Others follow, and still more come across later on an ice bridge. Drama ensues when overpopulation buffets the animals, and even humans cannot save them. Along comes the heroes, a wolf pack that is trapped on an ice floe and conveniently drifts to the island. And, perhaps because it was a childrens book (or especially biologically accurate), the wolf pack feeds only on old, weak, and sick moose, balancing the population, so the wolves and the moose and other animals all live together. They all have plenty to eat. Those that are not eaten, the reader presumes, live happily ever after.

Tvedten recalled, I had never heard of this book before and so I looked it up. I had never heard of a childrens bookand certainly one from that eraabout Isle Royale.

He felt confident that there would be a readership for the book even more than 50 years after its release, he said, especially because of the interest by many people in the re-introduction of wolves to Isle Royale by the National Park Service, which began in 2018 after the number of wolves had dwindled to two; the re-introduction is meant to restore an ecological balance to the island.

We were just enchanted by the illustrations; theyre gorgeous and lush, but at the same time minimalist, Tvedten said. But we also were taken with the simplicity of the story. Its valuable to give children a rounded look at ecology and what balance is like in nature and how certain populations balance each other out. Theres been a lot of talk about wolf populations, and since 1968, the [wolf] population has fluctuated a lot.

Tvedten also admitted that the backgrounds of both author and illustrator intrigued him, as May is best known for her science fiction and fantasy writings, such as the Saga of Pliocene Exile series and the Galactic Milieu series. While renowned as a childrens book illustrator, Schoenherr is just as famous for his illustrations of SFF books for adultsincluding the first edition of the classic science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert.

The University of Minnesota Presss edition contains an update on the back page written by L. David Mech, a biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, who is regarded as one of the worlds foremost authorities on wolves. He began studying the Isle Royale wolves in 1958.

While the press was not able to gain access to the original artwork, Tvedten procured a first-edition copy in excellent condition from an online retailer and the press was able to reproduce the artwork from that book.

It might seem that the reissue of The Big Island by the University of Minnesota Press was somehow fated to be. Tvedten noted that when he asked Mech to read the book and provide a brief note regarding the current status of wolves and moose on Isle Royale, the 84-year-old biologist disclosed that May had contacted him back in the 1960s while he was studying wolves in Minnesotas Superior National Forest early in his career. She had asked him to read the manuscript for accuracy.

It was a long time since the first edition, and I hardly remembered that Id read it, he said, noting that he has read and reviewed many publications since then. Once I got at it, I realized Id seen this book many, many years earlier. I had finished the [first] Isle Royale study, but I was still working with wolves, in northern Minnesota instead of Isle Royale. Its a very good book, and I was happy to write an update.

I really love the book, Tvedten said. The University of Minnesota Press has a longstanding tradition in terms of childrens publishing of doing books that are focused on natural history. This was a nice project, because its a reprint and a great story of nature, an excellent way to bring an ecological story to young readers. And even though its in Michigan, we would love to claim Isle Royale for Minnesota.
In response to Texas Rep. Matt Krauses published list of 850 books on race and sexuality that he targeted for their subject matter many of which were pulled from school library shelvesa group of Texas school librarians has decided to push back. Last November, they orchestrated #FReadom Fighters, a social media campaign with the goal of supporting authors, teachers, librarians, and students in their pursuit of intellectual freedom. In a matter of months, the organizations work has amassed thousands of supporters, both at the state level and across the country, and incited other likeminded groups to take action.

As the war on books persists, amid repeated requests from parents, state officials, and policy makers to ban books that speak to a broader culture, efforts from the #FReadom Fighters continue to ramp up by highlighting books that promote diversity and inclusivity. The #FRreadom Fighters are a shining example of the power of librarians voices when there is a need to unite, said Shirley Robinson, executive director of the Texas Library Association.

Shelf Talkers

The concept for #FReadom Fighters germinated when two colleaguesretired Texas school librarian Carolyn Foote and Leander, Tex., school district coordinator Becky Calzadashared with each other their frustrations about the growing number of book challenges. When Krause released his list, that got us even more engaged, Calzada said. Upon noticing the attention that the #txlege hashtag was receiving, they decided to stage a Twitter takeover by emphasizing the books they loved. After joining forces with two other school librarians (who remain anonymous), they invited other industry friends and authors to share positive messages about personally meaningful titlesusing the #FReadom Fighters hashtagand watched their efforts begin to take shape online.

On launch day, November 4, 2021, #FReadom Fighters garnered 13,000 tweets, much to the organizers surprise. We had planned all this in secret, so we were amazed that this was happening even before starting a Twitter account, Foote said. We saw ourselves as a guerilla effort, serving as a rapid response team. The @FReadomFighters Twitter account and website soon followed, updated with weekly and monthly action plans to support fellow librarians in their day-to-day operations. Ideas for #FReadom Fridays varied, from inviting authors to show letters they had received from readers about why their books were so powerful, to asking people to share books that had had an impact on them. A more recent prompt focuses on celebrating wins: sharing success stories of books that have been put back on shelves.

When posting on social media, participants are asked to tag #FReadom and #txlege, furthering their reach. Foote and Calzada believe in the power that these posts are having on the community at large. It speaks to me about the hunger that people have to speak positively about defending libraries, she said. For Calzada, its also about the hunger for connection. Librarians are singletons in a school community and it can be very isolating for them, she noted. Using these hashtags allows them to connect with other librarians experiencing similar challenges.

Strength in Numbers

Inspired by the work behind the #FReamdom Fighters movement, the TLA has taken its own steps to help support member librarians. Following the release of Krauses list, the association issued a statement condemning censorship and infringement on students First Amendment rights. Webinars and training sessions designed to assist members with related concerns were conducted last fall, while a dedicated helpline was established in December to provide a listening ear for librarians. Volunteers provide resources, answer questions and share their own experiences in responding to materials challenges, Robinson said.

Also motivated by the #FReadom Fighters is former Texas high school English teacher-turned-author Ashley Hope Perez, whose YA novel Out of Darkness (Holiday House, 2015) was challenged last year for its depiction of a romantic relationship between a Mexican American teenage girl and an African American boy. Following the viral video of a Texas mothers criticism of Perezs book at a local school board meeting, it was removed from high school libraries in Texas, Virginia, Utah, Kansas, Missouri, and Georgia. Perez has since partnered with PEN America to advocate for the inclusion of diverse books and has been involved with #FReadom Fighters from the start. Their efforts emphasize what these books that are under attack offer to young people: powerful, positive messages, she said.

To date, the @FReadom Fighters account has nearly 6,700 followers and has yielded almost 4,000 tweets. We are providing people with a mentor, not a model, Calzada noted. We were originally thinking about whats happening in Texas, but we can also offer the opportunities for others to learn from us. As evidence of a strong following, during the last FReadom Friday challenge, 40% of the letters written to school board members were from states other than Texas, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, Idaho, Utah, Washington, and Georgia.

As censorship continues to threaten schools access to books that represent all races, cultures, genders, and backgrounds, the work of the #FReadom Fighters is poised to become even more essential. All students deserve to find themselves in books, Robinson said. We must protect our school librarians right to fulfill this vital role.

Its our goal to keep us all on the straight and narrow... to be positive and a source of hope, Foote said. We are highlighting whats going on, but we are also sharing solutions.
Award-winning childrens book author and illustrator, fine artist, and educator Ashley Bryan, widely known for his passion for poetry and vibrant retellings of folktales and spirituals rooted in the Black oral tradition, died peacefully on February 4 while staying with relatives in Texas. He was 98.

Bryan was born July 13, 1923 in Harlem to parents who had immigrated from the British West Indies (now Antigua) following WWI. Though times were tough when he was growing up in the Bronx, Bryan noted that his father, a printer and musician, and his mother, a seamstress, had been hugely supportive of his early love of art. I cant remember a time when I have not been drawing and painting, Bryan wrote in his autobiographical essay for Something About the Author. His father brought home paper from his job for Bryan to draw on, and his mother had a flair for crafting the flowers she missed from her homeland out of cut paper. Bryan wrote that there was always music and color in their familys apartment.

From the ages of 10 to 12, during the Depression, Bryan further developed his drawing skills when he and his five siblings were able to take free art, drawing, and piano lessons provided by artists working in the Works Progress Administration. He credits teachers throughout his public schools in the Bronx with encouraging his pursuit of art and even giving him supplies to work with. He wrote in SATA that he was especially grateful to two of his high school art teachers. They helped him put together a portfolio so he could apply for scholarships to local art schools. When Bryan experienced blatant racism during the interview process, his high school teacherswho were whitecounseled him to take the intensive placement exam at New Yorks Cooper Union in the summer of 1940which did not involve a face-to-face interview. Bryan was selected for a scholarship on the basis of his submitted work.

Bryan was drafted into the U.S. Army in May 1943, during his final semester at Cooper Union. He said that his art helped sustain him during war, giving him faith and direction as he endured the struggles of being a Black soldier in a segregated army. While stationed in Glasgow, Scotland, he requestedand receivedpermission from his officers to take art classes at the Glasgow School of Art. He sketched relentlessly, chronicling everything around him and kept paper, pens, and pencils with him at all timesin his knapsack and even in his gas mask. His company took part in the Normandy invasion on Omaha Beach. I carried my drawings everywhere I wentthe harder it was to draw the more important it was to do it! he wrote in SATA. My art was able to help me get through the terror and desperation of war. After not speaking about these experiences for most of his life, he wrote about them in the memoir Infinite Hope: A Black Artists Journey from World War II to Peace (Atheneum/Dlouhy, 2019).

Upon returning to the U.S. in early 1946, Bryan completed his art studies and graduated from Cooper Union. The summer of that year he received a scholarship to study at the Skowhegan School of Art in Maine. While there, he fell in love with Isleford/Little Cranberry Islandthe place he would eventually call home for six decades.

Bryan took advantage of the G.I. Bill to enroll in Columbia University and pursued a degree in philosophy, which he earned in 1950. Following his graduation from Columbia, Bryan additionally used the G.I. Bill to study art in Europe including at the Universite dAix-Marseille in France; he also received a Fulbright grant to study at the University of Freiburg in Germany.

By 1958 Bryan had returned to New York and began his professional teaching career while he simultaneously shopped his portfolio around to book publishers and opened an art studio. Over the years, Bryan taught art at New York Citys Dalton School and Queens College, as well as at Philadelphia College of Art and Dartmouth College.

Bryans first book-illustration gig came to him through friends he had met in France, and he did not receive credit for his work on Fabliaux: Ribald Tales from the Old French, edited by Robert Hellman and Richard OGorman, published by T.Y. Crowell in 1965. But his childrens book career got its start when Jean Karl, an editor at Atheneum, paid a visit to Bryans art studio. Impressed with his work, she offered him a contract to illustrate poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore using his linoleum cut medium. That book became Moon, for What Do You Wait?, edited by Richard Lewis (Atheneum, 1967). It marked the start of a long, fruitful partnership with Karl and a relationship with Atheneum that has lasted nearly 60 years.

Illustration work from Karl kept coming, including a collection of African folktales, a project that Bryan agreed to take on only if he could retell the stories himself and liven them up. Karl was on board. That first venture into reinterpreting texts resulted in The Ox of the Wonderful Horns and Other African Folktales (Atheneum, 1971) and opened the door for Bryan to do many more.

As an artist, Bryan possessed an impressive mastery of various media. For each of his childrens books he worked in whatever style he believed best fit the text. He won the first of four Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards for Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum (Atheneum, 1980), which featured woodcut illustrations. His 2003 title Beautiful Blackbird, another CSK winner, was the first to feature collage. He cut the paper freestyle using his mothers embroidery and dressmaking scissors. In a sense I have my mothers hand in mine as Im cutting, he told SATA. In 2017, Bryan received a Newbery Honor for Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life (Atheneum, 2016). Additionally, he received two lifetime achievement awards for his contributions to childrens literature: the 2009 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal and the 2012 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award.

Following his retirement from teaching at Dartmouth in the late 1980s, Bryan began working with Childrens Literature for Children and other initiatives in Africa where he traveled each year for weeks or months at a time to raise funds and help build schools and libraries. The children of Kenya he adored honored him with the nickname LongPapa.

Though many people know Bryan for his more than 70 acclaimed childrens books, he continued working in the fine arts for his entire life, taking great pleasure in painting outdoors on large canvases at his island home and creating puppets out of found objects including shells and pieces of fishing net that had washed up on the beach. In the 1950s he began crafting a series of stained-glass window panels using sea glass he collected and a method of papier-mache. The windows depict scenes from the life of Christ and Bryan has said they were inspired by European cathedrals. The panels can be seen on Islesford at the Congregational Church and at the Storyteller Pavilion constructed in 2017 on land next to Bryans home there. The Ashley Bryan Center in Cambridge, Mass., was founded in 2013 to preserve, celebrate, and share broadly Bryans work. The Center donated Bryans archive to the Kislak Center for Special Collections at the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 and is working with colleges and museums in Maine to place other works and ensure Bryans Maine legacy.

In 2020, Maine governor Janet Mills proclaimed July 13 Ashley Frederick Bryan Day in honor of his contributions to the state. Fittingly, July 13, 2022which would have been Bryans 99th birthdayis the planned date of a memorial service for him to be held on Islesford, Maine. In the meantime, friends and fans of Bryan are invited to share memories and notes via the Ashley Bryan Center website.

Caitlyn Dlouhy, v-p and publisher of her eponymous imprint at Atheneum, who had been Bryans editor for 21 years, shared the story of how they first met. I had just started at Simon & Schuster and I didnt know anybody, really, she said. It was Newbery Caldecott time and for whatever reason they had me go to help chaperone somebody. And at the Newbery Caldecott dinner, they had me sitting next to this incredibly lovely gentleman. It was so loud that when he said who he was, I didnt hear his name. And it was dark, so I couldnt quite make out exactly who he was. But it turned out that this gentleman and I had this big long conversation, the whole night, talk, talk, talk. A few days later, when I was back at work, Jon Lanman [former editorial director at Atheneum] came into my office and he said, I got a call from Ashley Bryan, who wanted to know who that young woman he was talking to at the Newbery Caldecott dinner was, because he felt that she should be his editor. I kind of stuttered, The man I was sitting next to was Ashley Bryan? I could barely speak!

Dlouhy added, One of the remarkable things about Ashley is that everything interested him. He just saw the worth in everything, and everybody, and it all went into his artto give all of it back to us to remind us of our worth.

Michelle Leo, v-p and director of education and library marketing at Simon & Schuster, worked closely with Bryan for many years. One of my favorite memories of Ashley is his acceptance of the 2017 Newbery Honor for his book Freedom Over Me, she said. It has always been the ALA tradition that only winners, not honor book recipients, speak at the award banquet. When Ashley was called on stage to receive his plaque, he burst into one of his famous lively performances of My People by Langston Hughes. It was the most unexpected treat and the highlight of the evening for all in attendance. Ashleys joy was infectious. He lit up the world. He was one of the most kind, gentle, and humble humans I have ever met, and I will miss him dearly.

Fellow artist, illustrator, and Mainer Daniel Minter spoke of Bryan as someone he sought to emulate. "When I met Ashley, I considered him an elder and a role model. That sentiment only deepened as I got to know him more. I looked to him as an example of what a person needs to do to be an artistwhere does this path of an artist take you? One of the things I often think back on is when Ashley told me about the slave documents he had found [at auction] listing the names and prices of 11 slaves in 1828. He said he just knew he had to have those, but what does he do with them? He struggled for a long time over that, but we talked about who those people were, and he said he wanted to make them knowable characters. Giving those people personalities, dreams, desires of who they actually are not who that document says they are, was a way for him to take these documents from a clearly damaged world and do the thing that Ashley does so well. He transforms just about any situation into a positive situation or an opportunity for growth."

Poet Nikki Giovanni, who collaborated with Bryan on two books of poetry for children, recounted fond memories of nervously making her first visit to Bryan at his island home a number of years ago. I was fortunate that he wanted to do a book with me. And I couldnt say yes quickly enough. Like many who knew him and many who saw and admired his work, I love him. I know you are not dead until you are forgotten and Ashley will never be dead.

Author Nikki Grimes said, Its difficult to isolate one single remarkable quality when it comes to Ashley Bryan. Let me say this, though: Ashleys one default was generosity. Whether you were a member of the childrens literature community or not, Ashley was generous towards you. His gracious smile and open-handedness was simply part of who he was. He didnt seem to know how to be otherwise. How fortunate we all were because of it!

And author Katherine Paterson paid tribute with these words: Im only one of thousands who felt that I was Ashleys close friend. He made each one of us feel beloved. I am so grateful for his enriching presence in my life, and his gifts of image and voice and heart to us all.

Giovanni offered this poem in Bryans honor:

An Angel Like Ashley

What does a poem

Look like

Well of course you can read

The words

Or admire the paper

And even wonder why

This metaphor embraced

That simile

But to see a poem

You need

An angel

You may wonder

What a poem tastes like

Yes you can swirl

The batter

Add sugar

An egg (well beaten)

And bake

But to taste a poem

You need an angel

Sometimes youre cold

Or sad

Or lonely

And you need something

Or someone to comfort

You

And you turn

To a poem

Because an angel

Comes to rub your back

How does a poem

Sound

Like an angel

Blowing a saxophone

Or a vibraharp

Or most likely like Ashley Bryan

Reading to us

From Heaven
In a deal that unites two of the largest independent distributors of self-published books, Draft2Digital has agreed to acquire Smashwords for an undisclosed price. The purchase is expected to be complete by March 1, at which time the combined company will operate under the Draft2Digital name. The combined company will distribute more than 800,000 titles from about 250,000 authors and publishers.

Smashwords was started in 2008 by Mark Coker, and Draft2Digital was cofounded four years later by Kris Austin. In a joint interview, Coker and Austin said combining forces will allow the new company to operate from a single platform and free up resources to develop new tools for authors. We will be able to reduce redundancies between the companies and look for new ways to grow, Austin said.

The new Draft2Digital will add a few new retailers by combining the companies, Austin said, including the Smashwords Store, which will sell Draft2Digital titles for the first time. According to Smashwords, sales at the store have increased annually over the last five years, including a 20% increase in December over December 2020. Both said that, unlike for traditional publishers, e-book sales for the two distributors rose in 2021 over 2020.

Although Draft2Digital started four years after Smashwords, it is the larger of the two companies, and Coker was effusive in his praise of what Austin and his team have accomplished. When we began talking, it became clear to me that in teaming with Kris we could continue to be a leader in the self-publishing distribution business, Coker said. Following the completion of the acquisition, Austin will be CEO, and Coker will become chief strategy officer.

Smashwords is known for its marketing tools, while Draft2Digital has developed a robust print option for authors through its D2D Print service. Austin said the company currently has 11,000 print titles, a number that he said will soar to more than 100,000 this year. 2022 is the year of print at Draft2Digital, Austin said. He attributed the boom to new software tools that make it much easier to convert an e-book file into a print file.

Austin and Coker will soon begin reaching out to authors and retailers to explain how the acquisition will affect them. Were excited to see what we can achieve working together, Austin said of the deal.
After a nearly three-hour virtual hearing on February 7, federal judge Deborah L. Boardman is now set to rule on the Association of American Publishers December 16 motion for a preliminary injunction to bar Maryland state officials from enforcing the state's recently enacted library e-book law.

The hearing comes almost two months after the AAP first filed suit on December 9 alleging that Maryland's library e-book law forces publishers and authors to license works against their will. The law, which went into effect on January 1, requires that publishers offering e-books to consumers in state to also offer to license the works to public libraries on reasonable terms. On January 14, Maryland attorneys responded with a motion to dismiss the suit, which is still pending.

Opening the hearing, AAP attorney Scott Zebrak reiterated the AAPs position that Marylands library e-book law is clearly preempted by federal copyright law. Im not one to exaggerate, but [the Maryland Act] is the definition of a preempted state law, Zebrak told Boardman, repeating the AAPs argument that the law functions as a shadow copyright act.

Arguing for the state of Maryland, assistant attorney general Sean Fitzgerald opened by telling the court that the states e-book law basically comes down to one word: balance. Fitzgerald said that Congress had carefully crafted the Copyright Act to balance a creators right to negotiate a fair price for their works with the publics right to access those works. But that balance cannot be maintained, Fitzgerald told the court, if publishers can arbitrarily deny digital licenses to public libraries in the state or license works only on demonstrably unfair terms.

Boardman then began her questioning, grilling Fitzgerald for well over an hour, beginning with her concerns about the language of the Maryland law. Among her questions, Boardman noted that the Maryland law applies when a publisher offers an e-book to the publicbut what does the public mean? Does it mean an offer to the Maryland public or to the public anywhere in the world?

Furthermore, Boardman pointed out, the statute says the publishers shall offer, to license works to libraries on reasonable terms, which Boardman interprets as a command to publishers. And who decides what is reasonable? Boardman asked, at one point questioning how she could not read the law as an order to distribute" because it in effect would force publishers to negotiate licenses they might otherwise choose not to undertake. At one point, Boardman even suggested the library e-book market was "a different market" from the the consumer e-book market, because libraries lend their copies, a point Fitzgerald conceded.

While Boardman appeared sympathetic to the Maryland law's intent, she was clearly skeptical of the law's operation.

What authority do I have at this point to consider a compelling state interest? Boardman asked Fitzgerald. Because I dont disagree with you that there seems to be a compelling state interest in increasing the accessibility of e-books to the Maryland public. But what role does that play in a preemption analysis?

Fitzgerald suggested the answer lies in the states authority to regulate against discriminatory contracts, and particularly in terms of libraries.

The only reason why publishers will not enter into such contracts is because they are seeking to exclude public libraries while availing themselves of the Maryland public at large, Fitzgerald said. The holders of copyright have the right to exclude others from using their property and to content themselves with not licensing their product. But once they start putting their product into the marketplace they dont have the right to do so a) free from regulation, and b) they do not have the right to exclude a particular class, and in this case, such a special and important class of non-commercial entities, from their products.

Fitzgerald reiterated the state's position that the Maryland Act is a "library protection statute" rather than a copyright law. "The Maryland Act is not requiring publishers to give their works away. It is not requiring them to divest themselves of the copyrights they have. What its saying is that you cannot discriminate and arbitrarily exclude libraries because that is inconsistent with over 100 years of library lending protected by the copyright act," Fitzgerald argued. "The Maryland act is achieving congressional intent, thats why its not preempted. Its not frustrating the objectives of Congress."

In turning to the AAP, Boardman began her questions by asking Zebrak to weigh in on the equity of access question. It does seem to me that there is inequity and an unfairness on how publishers have treated public libraries, Boardman said. Zebrak refused to concede the point.

Your honor, I dont understand the starting point of the question, Zebrak replied, disputing that there is any issue with the library e-book market, which he characterized as flourishing. Zebrak suggested "this perceived unfairness" was due to the state relying on the word of library advocates in seeking to "substitute its judgment" for Congress. "Whats happening here is an end run by certain groups that want to divert copyright policy from the federal government to state legislatures, but its unambiguous that [copyright policy] is Congress's sole authority."

 In the back-and-forth that its all about balance, and achieving the right balance, or a fair balance, or a reasonable balance, or a proper balance, all these words involve judgment. And that judgment is for Congress. Its not for the state. 

If Fitzgerald had sought to capture Marylands position in a single word (balance) Zebraks argument for the AAP could also be characterized by a single word: Congress. Zebrak consistently reminded the court that the Maryland law was improperly infringing on an area of policy and law decided exclusively at the federal level.

Congress decides copyright policy, Zebrak told the court. In the back-and-forth that its all about balance, and achieving the right balance, or a fair balance, or a reasonable balance, or a proper balance, all these words involve judgment. And that judgment is for Congress. Its not for the state. Whatever interest [the state] thinks it has, the state cannot substitute its judgment for that of Congress. This is an area fully for Congress.

Asked by Boardman whether a copyright holder has the right to exclude a swath of the public from access, as Fitzgerald said was driving the law, Zebrak first denied any such thing was happening in the marketplace. But he also insisted that a copyright holder absolutely has the right to refuse a license to any person or entityincluding libraries.

Congress has granted a very carefully balanced set of rights and exceptions. And our exclusive rights dont say you have the exclusive right to decide whom to distribute to or not distribute to, except you must always just distribute to public libraries if they want it. Thats not what the statute says. The statute gives [copyright holders] exclusive rights. This is all in the area that Congress regulates. The state can have views on these things. But it cant regulate what is regulated by Congress.

Critically, Zebrak insisted the Maryland law is clearly, "irreconcilably" preemepted by copyright law, explaining to Boardman that, contrary to Fitzgerald's claims, the Maryland Act is in obvious conflict with the exclusive rights granted under federal copyright law.

"The state is making it an impossibility to comply with both the state and the federal law," Zebrak told the court. "The only way for us to as publishers fulfill our obligation to authors...would be, unless you wanna risk civil liability or potentially be put in jail, to acquiesce and bend the knee to the state regulation, and to substitute its policy for Congress's determination on how to best calibrate copyright."

Injunctive Relief?

Despite its length, the hearing offered no surprises as both sides stuck to and amplified the arguments laid out in their briefs. And though Boardman clearly appeared skeptical of the Maryland law's potential intrusion on the exclusive rights of copyright holders, it is unclear whether she heard enough to clear the high bar necessary to grant the AAP's motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the law at this stage.

At one point, Boardman acknowledged that the case law at issue, while offering some guidance, was not totally on point. In particular, the discussion focused heavily on a 1999 decision in Orson Inc. v. Miramax, a case that involved the commercial distribution of art films in local theaters in Pennsylvania. In its arguments, the AAP has argued the case is very much on point, because it clearly lays out that, whatever good intentions a state may have, it cannot enact laws that compel copyright holders to license their works or otherwise infringe on a rights holder's exclusive rights.

Maryland attorneys, however, insist the Orson case is distinguishable, because it deals only with commercial exploitation, not nonprofit public institutions like the public library. Furthermore, Fitzgerald insisted the Orson case was "analytically different" from the Maryland Act as well, because Orson dealt with an exclusive first run arrangement in which the copyright holder agreed to distribute through one entity first, then perhaps to the world at large. In the case of the Maryland Act, the publishers are pursuing the opposite: offering the work to the public at large, but discriminating against one class of consumer.

In order to win a preliminary injunction, parties must satisfy a four factor test. Factor one must show a likelihood of success on the merits; Factor two requires showing there will be irreparable harm without an injunction. Factor three focuses on the balance of equities. And factor four requires an injunction be in the public interest. If any one of the factors tips against the moving party, the injunction must be denied.

At the hearing, Boardman focused mostly on the irreparable harm issue. And while that issue is complicated by the fact that the law has not yet been invoked, the AAP's main argument is straightforward: The Maryland law represents a Constitutional injury because it infringes upon copyright holders' exclusive rights, and a Constitutional injury is by definition irreparable harm. But Zebrak also told Boardman that calculating damages would also be impossible if the law is allowed to stand only to be struck down in a year or so, because the court could not effectively measure the impact of excess library lending on consumer sales. "You can't unring that bell," Zebrak said.

Fitzgerald, meanwhile, insisted the AAP had not met its burden on any of the four factors, and implored Boardman to deny the injunction, saying to grant it would "rubber stamp" publishers' decisions to discriminate against libraries. And he took aim at the idea that the rise in the business of library e-book lending indicated a well-functioning market.

"Of course [digital library lending is booming], because taxpayers are footing the bill," Fitzgerald argued. "Libraries will always do whatever they can to get these products. But it doesnt mean the market is balanced. Saying that libraries are accessing these products does not equate to publishers are licensing them on fair terms, or not embargoing libraries. It doesnt mean that this market practice is sustainable, which is the goal of the Maryland Act. And it is a powerful enough market ill that the general assembly passed and Maryland Act unanimously. And in an era where bipartisanship can be few and far between, I think thats a testament to how apparent this market inequity really is."

While Boardman could not give an exact date, she told the parties she understood the urgency with the case, and promised to deliver a speedy decision.
Chicago and Prodigal Son actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has signed on to star in the Disney+ series, National Treasure.

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Disney said in a press release Monday that the new show centers on young heroine Jess, "a brilliant and resourceful DREAMer with a natural talent for solving puzzles and a proclivity for unraveling good mysteries."

"In search of answers about her own family, Jess embarks on the adventure of a lifetime and recruits a few treasure-hunting friends -- Tasha, Ethan, Oren and Liam -- and an FBI agent to help uncover the truth about her parents and their connection to a long-lost Pan-American treasure."

Co-starring Lisette Alexis, Zuri Reed, Jordan Rodrigues, Antonio Cipriano, Jake Austin Walker and Lyndon Smith, the show is described by Disney as an "expansion" of the National Treasure movie franchise.

Nicolas Cage and Diane Kruger starred in 2004's National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
Disney has announced it renewed its family adventure series, Secrets of Sulphur Springs, for a third season.

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The time-travel mystery airs on Disney Channel and streams on Disney+

The story began with middle-school student Griffin (Preston Oliver) moving with his family into Louisiana's dilapidated Tremont Hotel, which happens to have a resident ghost and a secret portal to the past in the basement.

Kyliegh Curran plays Harper, who is obsessed with the history of the building, befriends Griffin and together they explore the inn and travel to 1990 where they meet their own parents as kids, as well as Savannah (Elle Graham,) a missing girl whom their town believes is dead.

By the end of Season 1, Griffin and Harper realize Savannah is very much alive; she just relocated to the 1960s.

Season 2, airing now, follows Griffin and Harper as they travel to 1930 where Harper meets her great-grandmother after Savannah finds old photos of Harper's family.
TRAVERSE CITY  According to Munson Healthcares COVID-19 tracker, the number of people hospitalized with the pandemic disease has declined in northern Michigan since Jan. 28.

COVID hospitalizations at Munson dipped from 90 beds to 79 beds systemwide during the past 10 days.

The latest on COVID-19 Continuing coverage of COVID-19 and its impact. If you have a question about the novel coronavirus pandemic and haven't been able to find an a

There were 48 COVID-19 inpatients at Munson Medical Center on Monday, compared to 57 on Jan. 28, a nine-patient increase.

In general, however, according to data posted on the hospital systems website, hospitalizations have declined, but only slightly, since the beginning of the year when the Omicron variant was detected in northern Michigan.

The lingering elevated hospitalizations in the Grand Traverse region persist as officials said the U.S. hit a two-year total of 900,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. The nation hit that grim milestone as the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 has declined 15% since mid-January to about 124,000, according to Associate Press reports.

According to data released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, between Dec. 1 and Wednesday, 484 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 had been recorded in northern Michigan  a little more than a quarter of all deaths in the region since the start of the pandemic.

According to a recent press release by Grand Traverse County Health Department, in January the health agency reported the most positive cases for a single month since the start of the pandemic, with 3,671 cases. The rate at which officials have logged new cases has declined during the past two weeks  down to an average of 70 new cases per day during the pas seven days.

Percent positivity during the past seven days has also declined to 24.7 percent.

The Grand Traverse County release said the decrease in cases is, in part, because of positive cases not being reported when people take at-home rapid tests, so its difficult to say whether or not transmission is truly decreasing.
Traverse City, MI (49684)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 40F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 40F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
TRAVERSE CITY  Judge Thomas G. Power of the 13th Circuit Court granted a motion for summary disposition in a lawsuit regarding mask mandates in two local schools.

During a Monday court hearing, attorneys on both sides of a lawsuit against Traverse City Area Public Schools and Grand Traverse Academy argued over the legality of the school districts mask mandates and asked Power to consider their motions to end the lawsuit before the trial.

The latest on COVID-19 Continuing coverage of COVID-19 and its impact. If you have a question about the novel coronavirus pandemic and haven't been able to find an a

The plaintiffs attorney James A. Thomas argued that the school districts overreached their authority in requiring masks, which he said can be considered medical devices and medical treatment. Thomas said the mandates infringed on the right given to parents by Michigan law to determine and direct the care, teaching and education of their children.

There should be nobody that has to put a mask on their face if they dont want to wear a mask, Thomas said.

GTAs attorney James Spurr said Thomass interpretation of the statute that gives parents those rights is not tenable because there is meant to be compromises with it. He added that masks should not be considered medical devices or treatment just as gloves are not considered such, even though they prevent children from getting frostbite.

Robert Jordan, the attorney representing TCAPS in the case, seconded Spurrs points.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Power denied the plaintiffs motion for immediate declaratory relief and granted the defendants motion for summary disposition. He said the questions at the center of the lawsuit are political questions and should be left to the political process and shouldnt be decided by a judge.

I dont see that any more is going to come out of further deliberations on this, Power said.

The plaintiffs in this case filed their lawsuit against TCAPS and GTA in October. GTA students are required to wear masks at all times except when they are seated at their desks, while TCAPS staff and students are currently required to wear masks at all times while they are in school buildings.
Health Editor and Athens Frontline Podcast Host

Simran Kaur Malhotra is the current health editor and a member of the D&I committee. As a pre-med student, she is majoring in anthropology & minoring in global health. Simran is the founder and CEO of UGA Doctors Without Borders. Associated: AHCJ; AAJA
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.
People gathered in Harmony Parking lot in Brattleboro on Friday, April 22nd for a street festival and parade in celebration of Earth Day. According to Nancy Braus of 350 Brattleboro, the goal was to celebrate the ways in which the community is working towards climate justice and to empower 
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
Justin Orwat tries to address the Sanderson family during a change of plea hearing at the Windham County Superior Court, Criminal Division, in Brattleboro, Vt., on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021.
CASE OF KOMISSAROV v. THE CZECH REPUBLIC (Application no. 20611/17)

Publisher Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights Publication Date 3 February 2022 Other Languages / Attachments Decision Cite as CASE OF KOMISSAROV v. THE CZECH REPUBLIC (Application no. 20611/17), Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 3 February 2022, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECHR,620251054.html [accessed 2 May 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Komissarov v the Czech Republic: 18-month detention violates Article 5 ECHR

On the 3 February 2022, the ECHR released its judgment in the case of Komissarov v the Czech Republic. This case involved a Russian national who gained residency in the Czech Republic in 1999. The applicant was indicted by Russia for fraud and was the subject of several extradition requests lodged by Russia. In November 2015 the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic authorised the applicant's extradition and he was apprehended and placed in detention in May 2016. On the following day, the applicant lodged an application for asylum and the extradition proceedings were halted, however he remained in detention during the duration of the asylum proceedings and following their rejection he was extradited on the 15 November 2017.



The applicant therefore submitted to the ECHR that his detention was arbitrary and excessively lengthy as the time-limit prescribed under domestic law had not been followed and no alternative measures to detention were considered. In its analysis, the Court noted that when extradition and asylum proceedings run together, separate time-limits are provided in domestic law, and in the present case these limits had been greatly exceeded. The Court continued that strict time limits for an examination of the asylum are important safeguards against arbitrariness, and that therefore the domestic authorities were under an obligation to demonstrate the required diligence, under both domestic law and the Convention. It elaborated that in the applicant's case, the authorities did not acknowledge or react to the serious delays in the proceedings despite the applicant's complaints. The Court thereby deduced that the delays in the asylum proceedings and the length of the applicant's detention pending extradition for 18 months was not in accordance with domestic law. It moreover analysed that the two time-limits are linked and that the time-limit for consideration of an asylum claim is intended to ensure the overall length of detention is not excessive. In light of these considerations, the Court concluded that there had been a violation of Article 51(f) of the Convention.

ELENA Weekly Legal Update of 4 February 2022
A.A. v. Sweden

Publisher UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) Publication Date 20 January 2022 Citation / Document Symbol No. 918/2019 Other Languages / Attachments AA v Sweden Cite as A.A. v. Sweden, No. 918/2019, UN Committee Against Torture (CAT), 20 January 2022, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,CAT,6202537c4.html [accessed 2 May 2022]

CAT: Committee finds return to Afghanistan in violation of Article 3 CAT

On the 20 January 2022, the Committee against Torture (CAT) issued its decision in the case of A.A. The case concerns an Afghan national, born in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1998 after his parents moved there in fear after a family feud. He was arrested in 2015 together with his brother by the Iranian police, who warned them that they must fight in the Syrian Arab Republic or be deported to Afghanistan. The applicant and his family fled to Sweden in 2015 where they applied for asylum. Their asylum applications were initially refused. In the meantime, the applicant and his brother converted to Christianity and added this new ground to their asylum claim. The Swedish Migration Agency rejected the applicant's request for asylum on the grounds that he had failed to adequately explain his rationale for leaving Islam and becoming a Christian and decided that he had not demonstrated that his faith was genuine, nor that he would face a risk of persecution if returned to Afghanistan. On 1 August 2018, the Migration Court denied the appeal considering the applicant's responses regarding his conversion too general and vague.



The applicant continued his religious activities and started to post part of his religious and church experiences on Instagram, after which he began to receive threats from Afghans and Iranians on social media. In light of the events the applicant lodged a subsequent application. The Migration Court held that the facts did not present new circumstances, but rather additions to the pre-existing ones which had already been determined before, and therefore, rejected the application.



The Committee only focused on the procedural limb due to the recent ban on removals to Afghanistan and assurances by Sweden that once it's lifted, previously rejected cases will be subjected to fresh review in the context of the human rights situation in Afghanistan as it stands at that time.



The Committee considered that procedurally Sweden failed to place the evidence provided by the complainant in the context of his cultural and educational background, to obtain independent medical evidence, to consider evidence as a whole and to accurately represent the complainant's responses given their importance for the credibility assessment. It concluded that Sweden did not undertake a sufficient, individualised assessment of the risk of a foreseeable, present, personal and real risk that the complainant would be subjected to torture if deported to Afghanistan. The Committee also asked the State party to reconsider the complainant's asylum application and to refrain from deporting the applicant in the meantime.



With thanks to Martin Nyman for highlighting this case to the EWLU team

ELENA Weekly Legal Update  4 February 2022
MA & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v Coventry City Council & Anor [2022] EWHC 98 (Admin)

Publisher United Kingdom: High Court (England and Wales) Publication Date 19 January 2022 Other Languages / Attachments MA & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v Coventry City Council & Anor [2022] EWHC 98 (Admin) Cite as MA & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v Coventry City Council & Anor [2022] EWHC 98 (Admin), United Kingdom: High Court (England and Wales), 19 January 2022, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,GBR_HC_QB,620255184.html [accessed 2 May 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The UK: High Court rules that the way the Home Office carried out age assessments and detained applicants was unlawful

On the 19 January 2022, the High Administrative Court decided that the Kent Intake Unit (KIU) Social Worker Guidance pursuant to which the applicants' ages were assessed, the age assessment decisions taken in respect of the applicants and their prolonged detention were unlawful.



The applicants, MA (Kuwaiti national) and HT (Iranian national), arrived in the UK on 15 December 2020 and 10 January 2021 respectively and were taken to the Kent Intake Unit, a short-term detention facility located within the Port of Dover. The age assessments were conducted on the same day of their arrivals and without the opportunity to have an independent appropriate adult, or to provide clarification, correction or further information about their age; moreover, both interviews lasted between forty minutes and one hour, after which it was concluded that they were 20 and 21 years old. Shortly after the applicants' ages were established, they were transferred to an Immigration Removal Centre for three and five days before being released in an adult asylum support accommodation in Coventry.



The Court first recognised that detention for the purpose of a short formalised process, within the overall parameters of the duration of Schedule 2 paragraph 16(1) of the Immigration Act 1971, would not be unlawful provided it is in accordance with a Merton compliant age assessment as set out in R (B) v London Borough of Merton. Conversely, the Court considered that any prolongation of detention for the purpose of an initial assessment which does not comply with applicable legal standards and, is in practice not designed to abide by the Merton principles is unlawful.



The main problem perceived by the Court in the present case lied in the way in which the KIU Social Worker Guidance provides for short form age assessments to be done in cases where the individual is not clearly over 18. The Court held that both, common law principles and section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, require a fair and careful process involving safeguards even when making initial age assessments of individuals whose appearance does not obviously indicate that he or she is an adult. This is even more necessary where the individual has only reached the UK from an arduous journey in the last 24 hours, which will most likely impact his or her ability to respond to questions concerning his or her family history, education, and life narrative. On this basis, the Court found that to seek to assess age in a non-obvious case where an individual has just arrived at the UK and has been detained without the support of an appropriate adult, is inconsistent with the principles set out in the case-law and such short form assessment cannot be qualitatively equated to a Merton-compliant local authority assessment.



From all the above, the Court concluded that it is a problem that the Guidance provides for short form assessments to be used in cases where the social workers have not concluded that it is clear that the individuals are over 18. It follows that the Guidance is also inconsistent with the pre-existing age assessment policies and guidelines.

Copyright notice: Crown Copyright
WINSTED  Residents brought questions and concerns regarding marijuana regulations to town leaders at a hearing this week.

By 2023, towns across Connecticut are likely to welcome retail cannabis establishments to their business communities. Growers and packaging companies may also find their way in, using Public Act 21.1, which was approved by the state in 2021.

But where those businesses will be allowed remains in the hands of local boards and commissions. Winsteds Planning & Zoning Commission is drafting an ordinance focused on where a retail cannabis store or growing operation might go, and how to enforce the use of marijuana in public. And this week, the Board of Selectmen held a public hearing to hear from residents about the new law.

Public Act 21.1 allows a person to have up to 1.5 ounces on them, and up to four ounces at home or locked inside a vehicle, according to Town Manager Josh Kelly.

Other parts of the act allow people who use medical marijuana to grow up to 12 plants in their homes. Businesses allowed under the act include growing, packaging and retail sales. As an incentive for towns, an additional 3 percent sales tax added to products that are sold are given back to the municipality.

Kelly said he spoke with businesses and officials in nearby Great Barrington, Mass., which is a few years ahead of Connecticut with its regulations.

Great Barrington is similar in size, but they have less people, and they have seven permitted cannabis businesses, Kelly said. They have received approximately $7.6 millon from the extra 3 percent sales tax. The people I spoke with said theyve seen an overall increase in business, and that the cannabis businesses have been pleasant to work with and that theres been no increase in crime.

Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman George Closson and his boards draft ordinance focuses on locations for retail businesses and have marked three specific areas of town where they feel those establishments are appropriate. Those include Main Street; the gateway areas of Routes 8 and 44 on the outskirts of town; and industrial areas, where growers could set up shop. The commission discussed that draft in January.

Weve got a rough draft of what we think the ordnance would look like, and we want the Board of Selectmen and the public to react to this, Closson said.

He said the zoning board would use public input from Mondays hearing to continue writing its draft regulations, then hold its own public hearing before they are adopted. The board has also looked at Great Barringtons cannabis businesses as a reference point, he said.

Several people encouraged the selectmen to support them as they apply for licensing, saying the application process is extremely competitive, and that license holders will be chosen by lottery. In a letter, resident Shayne Deschamps said Winsted will only benefit from the new law.

(Cannabis) already been here for decades, Deschamps said in his letter. The industry will bring jobs and tax revenue that we can really use.

Others, like Bryan Sundie, asked the board to think carefully of the impact having cannabis businesses in town will have.

Speaking for a lot of parents, theres nothing I worry about more than kids and drugs, Sundie said. I just worry about the message were sending to our town, our children.

Think about the kids, he said. Thats what Im worried about.

Sundie said town leaders should talk to law enforcement officials and professionals who work with drug users.

Id like you to hear from substance abuse professionals and the police, he said. We think this is going to be a big boon, and were gong to be able to fix our roads and our budget problems, but other states that have adopted this still have a lot of budget problems. It hasnt solved anything.

Selectman Jack Bourque asked how the license holders are chosen.

Say there are five competing businesses, he said. Who decides who gets the right to open? The Board of Selectmen? The Planning & Zoning Commission?

A state agency oversees the actual licensing, Kelly said. Theyll be the ones to say Yes, you can open in Winsted, and then that person comes to the PZC with an application.

The Board of Selectmens next meeting is Feb. 22.
Lebanon, IN (46052)

Today

Cloudy with occasional rain late. Low 57F. NNW winds shifting to ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional rain late. Low 57F. NNW winds shifting to ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Poison hemlock is a highly toxic plant that has white flowers, looks similar to wild carrot, and grows in moist areas and along rights of way.
This file photo shows two striking NagaWorld Casino employees protesting for the release of their representatives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Authorities in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh have arrested three more striking workers from the citys NagaWorld Casino after they refused to follow orders to end their strike.

Thousands of workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union leaders and 365 workers they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino.

Cambodian authorities have deemed the strike illegal and say it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government. Activists say the government is using COVID-19 laws to target peaceful protesters.

RFA reported Friday that Phnom Penh City Hall ordered the strikers to go home after the Ministry of Health found one of them had tested positive for COVID-19. The announcement warned that workers refusing to comply would be prosecuted and face fines.

Police in Phnom Penh arrested the three union leaders, all men, on Saturday night. Authorities are also said to be looking for four women. Arrest warrants issued by the citys Deputy Prosecutor Seng Hieng said the strikers violated COVID-19 health regulations.

City Hall on Sunday again released written orders for the strikers to take COVID-19 tests and stop the strike or face legal consequences. The Ministry of Health said it found 29 infected strikers on the same day.

Authorities said the order is meant to protect the protesters, their families and relatives, and the larger community from infection.

But representatives from civil society groups say that the arrests are meant to silence the strikers.

COVID laws should not be used against these strikers, as they had already been cooperating with and actively practicing COVID prevention rules, Chak Sopheap, the chairwoman of Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told RFAs Khmer Service. They even went to go get tested as they were instructed. They did not avoid testing so using this law against them is excessive and unjust.

She called on the authorities to release the strikers and drop the charges.

Authorities should take a neutral stance on the labor dispute, the deputy director for human rights monitoring for the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, Am Sam Ath, told RFA.

The root of the problem is to resolve labor disputes, not to arrest unionists and workers and putting them in prison, he said. It is not the solution. It is the cause of the problem that is causing it to drag on and on for a long time like this.



On Monday, more than one hundred domestic NGOs, unions and rights groups jointly submitted a letter to the Ministry of Interior and the National Assembly demanding the release of the 11 union leaders and activists.



Ou Tep Phallin, president of the Federation of Food and Service Workers' Unions, told RFA that the letter asked the Minister of Interior Sar Kheng and National Assembly to intervene and demand NagaWorld allow employees and striking workers to return to work.

These detainees, who are union leaders, who just came forward to simply negotiate with the employers for workers and then got arrested. What is the situation in our country now? she said.

So, please, our government should take this issue seriously. If we end the labor dispute as soon as possible, then there will be no strikes. If the government wants to fight poverty, it has to make sure the workers have equal rights in negotiating with the employers to avoid being treated like modern-day slaves.

Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
A man holding dual Chinese and Australian nationality is believed to be among 47 democracy activists and opposition politicians awaiting trial for "subversion" under a draconian security law for taking part in a democratic primary, Australian media reported.



Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) hasn't named the man, but says he was arrested on Jan. 6 last year, the date of the mass arrests of the 47 political activists, on suspicion of "conspiring to subvert state power," before being bailed, rearrested and charged with "subversion," ABC news reported.



The man -- who was potentially identified by the news website HK01.com as Gordon Ng -- has spent the last 11 months in jail and could face life imprisonment under the national security law, which ushered in a citywide crackdown on political opposition and public dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.



Australian officials have been repeatedly refused consular access to the man, ABC quoted a DFAT spokesperson as saying.



"We have been denied consular access despite multiple attempts because the individual is deemed to be a Chinese citizen under China's citizenship laws, which do not recognise dual nationality," the spokesperson said.



The case has raised concerns about dual nationals of China and another country who are caught up in the current political crackdown in Hong Kong.



City leader Carrie Lam has previously warned that the government doesn't recognize dual nationality, and so anyone holding Chinese and another nationality will be denied consular assistance.



Gordon Ng, a dual Chinese and Australian national who has spent the last 11 months in jail and could face life imprisonment under Hong Kong's national security law, seen in his Facebook profile. Credit: Gordon Ng Hardening stance

Hong Kong political commentator Joseph Cheng said the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) appears to have hardened its stance since promising to make "accommodations" for dual passport holders ahead of the 1997 handover to Chinese rule.



"The Hong Kong government used to take a relaxed attitude to this, even after the handover," Cheng told RFA. "Consular officials were still allowed to offer assistance to Hong Kong residents with foreign passports."



"But under the national security law, as this case shows, you will be considered a Chinese national ... even if you never gave up your foreign passport," he said.



Benson Wong, a former Hong Kong politics lecturer now based in the U.K., said Beijing's earlier attitude had come from a sudden mass wave of emigration out of Hong Kong in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.



"Since 1989, a lot of business people and professionals in Hong Kong have held more than one nationality," Huang told RFA. "[Their earlier approach] was to a certain extent a compromise in the face of reality."



"If China had said it wouldn't recognize dual nationality at the time it took over in 1997, that would have been quite a shock, especially for the financial elite," he said.



"Now, the tacit understanding has changed, along with the political situation."



He said the emerging news about the Australian passport-holder could shake up a decades-long practice among Hong Kong residents, who have tended to prefer to live in the city as permanent residents while holding nationality of another country as an insurance policy.



"This puts a lot more pressure on Hong Kong people holding dual nationality to leave Hong Kong altogether," Wong said.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu say they have confirmed the identity of a woman shown in a viral video with a chain around her neck, amid renewed public anger over the trafficking of women and girls.



The identity of [the woman] has been investigated and confirmed by police as Xiao Huamei ... of Yagu village, Fugong county in Yunnan province," the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee for Jiangsu's Xuzhou city and its municipal government said in a statement carried by official media.



"The [CCP's] disciplinary inspection and supervisory organs are investigating the relevant personnel for negligence and dereliction of duty and other issues in this matter," the statement said.



The woman -- until now identified as Yang ***xia -- was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia after her story surfaced online, sparking a public outcry.



She had started to show "abnormal speech and behavior" after an earlier divorce from a man in Baoshan city in 1996, the official statement claimed.



She was later brought to Jiangsu by a woman surnamed Sang for "treatment," the investigation team said. Sang has since claimed to have "lost" Yang soon after their arrival in Jiangsu, though she didn't report her as missing, nor inform her family, the statement said.



The case has exposed huge reserves of public anger over the trafficking of women and girls in China, with people showing up at the village in Feng county where Yang lived with husband Dong ***min for several years, and where she bore him eight children.



In the video, the woman known as Yang ***xia -- now identified by officials as Xiao Huamei -- is shown sitting in a dilapidated outhouse at a rural property near Jiangsu's Xuzhou city with a chain around her neck, as a friend drops by to ask her if she is getting enough to eat.



Investigators said Yang's condition has stabilized since she was diagnosed and given antipsychotic medication. But they denied online claims that her teeth had been pulled out by her husband's family, saying she suffers from severe periodontal disease.



All of Dong's eight children were confirmed to be the biological children of Dong and Yang, it said, adding that the police investigation into Dong's behavior is still ongoing.



The statement came amid competing online reports that said the woman hailed from northeastern China, and of the family of a missing woman, Li Ying, from Sichuan province, who thought Yang looked exactly like their daughter, and requested a DNA test.



Security tight in Feng county



Jiangsu-based current affairs commentator Zhang Jianping said Li Ying's family had been prevented from telling their story to the media.



"They blocked it out [because] the official conclusion from the investigation in Xuzhou just doesn't stand up to scrutiny," he told RFA.



Security was tight outside the Dong family home in Feng country, with around 100 police officers stationed nearby, after concerned members of the public started traveling there.



A video clip uploaded to social media showed several officers preventing people from entering the village, with one police officer threatening them with jail.



"What are you guys gonna do, huh?" the officer tells them. "You have no power to cause trouble here or make waves, a handful of ringleaders like you."



"If you try to start anything, you'll be arrested and go to jail, I can tell you that for sure," the officer says. "Who do you think you are? There are more than 100 police officers on duty here right now."



Another video clip showed a police officer telling off a woman who had displayed a reference to the Feng county case in the window of her car.



"Everything is subject to official information processes," the officer says. "The case is still under way, and as such is a state secret, so this kind of publicity isn't allowed."



Zhang Jianping said public anger has been triggered by persistent anecdotal evidence among the general population that women and girls have been trafficked on a huge scale for decades, but with the apparent collusion of local officials.



"The worst thing about this whole Feng county incident is that all of the [official media] outlets have been silenced, which isn't something that would happen in a normal country," he said



"Either the media is reluctant to focus on this, or there are forces at work behind the scenes ensuring that they don't," Zhang told RFA.



An Anhui-based writer who gave only the surname Lu said Feng county has a reputation for trafficking women and girls.



"There was another case of a [girl or woman] who was also abducted and sold to that village, and was kept crawling around on the ground for 10, 20 years, and also chained up," Lu said. "And for all those people that have been abducted and sold here in Xuzhou, there are even more nationwide."



Current affairs commentator Cai Shenkun agreed, adding that more than one million people go "missing" in China, including 200,000 children, annually.



"Feng county has long been a distribution center for human trafficking," Cai told RFA. "If the truth of this matter were to be fully made known, neither the Feng county nor the Xuzhou authorities would be able to justify themselves."



He said the case has garnered 1.65 billion views in recent days. "That's a lot of traffic," he said.



Lawyers told RFA that Yang is likely to have been illegally restrained and that Dong should be investigated for rape, as well as possible trafficking.



A senior media worker who requested anonymity said the local authorities want to ensure total control over what information is made public.



"This broke just before Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics, and their first reaction is to cover it up and stop anyone from out of town getting in," they said. "I heard yesterday via a friend that the husband has been arrested. They don't let independent journalists do reporting, so I can't get an answer to these questions."



Trafficking in Southwestern China



Repeated calls to the Feng county police department rang unanswered during office hours on Tuesday, while an official who answered the phone at the Feng county party committee referred all inquiries to the propaganda department.



"The relevant departments in the county have fully intervened, but we don't know the specifics yet," the official said. "For that, you need to call the propaganda department."



But a propaganda official at the Feng county CCP committee referred inquiries to the Cyberspace Administration of China, and refused to answer when asked if the case had been taken over by the Jiangsu provincial propaganda department.



"I don't know about this, because our department isn't responsible for it," the official said.



An official who answered the phone at the Feng county Cyberspace Administration also said they didn't know about the case.



"I'm just the staff member on duty; I'm not in charge of this," the official said, before hanging up the phone when asked how many women and girls had been trafficked in Feng county.



According to official data posted online by concerned members of the public, there were more than 48,000 cases of trafficked women and girls in the six counties around Xuzhou alone, between 1986 and 2006.



The majority hailed from the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, and some were as young as 13. Some victims have been brought to the area from southeast Asian countries, including the case of a 12-year-old girl treated at the Xuzhou No. 4 Hospital for pregnancy after having been sold to, and raped by, a man in his 40s.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
China said it had no interest," but Chinese military observers have been watching the accident closely.

A video purportedly showing flight deck footage of the crash of a U.S. F-35C jet fighter on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier on Jan. 24, 2022. The Pentagon says the U.S. Navy is investigating the video leak, which has been widely circulated on social media.

The U.S. Navy is investigating the unauthorized leak of an official video showing the crash of an F-35C fighter jet on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea last month, the Pentagon says.

The video of the so-called ramp strike by the jet on the USS Carl Vinson emerged at the weekend and was then shared widely on social media including Twitter and YouTube.

The Pentagon confirmed that the video of the Jan. 24 crash is authentic. It shows footage, apparently originating from flight deck cameras and taken from two angles as the jet comes into land. From the first one, the plane hits the deck then rotates and skids in flames. In the second, it crashes onto the deck before sliding off the flight deck and into the sea.

Yelling can be heard for the pilot to abort the landing attempt but within five seconds the F-35C had dropped into the South China Sea.

The pilot safely ejected, the U.S. Navy said earlier.

Another video clip and a photo circulating on social media last week showed the F-35C hitting the water the right side. It appeared to be intact before sinking.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. Navy is investigating the unauthorized leak of the official video.

This is going to be crucial to the investigation into the mishap itself, he told a media briefing on Monday.

He said the U.S. Navy is taking all the appropriate planning actions to recover the plane, and that the salvage operation would be done in a timely manner as weve done in the past.

A video purportedly showing flight deck footage of the crash of a U.S. F-35C jet fighter on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier on Jan. 24, 2022. Our property

It has been two weeks since the crash. U.S. 7th Fleet spokesperson Cmdr. Hayley Sims was quoted in the U.S. Naval Institutes news portal USNI News as saying that the U.S. Navy has begun mobilizing units that will be used to verify the site and recover the F-35C aircraft.

On Feb. 2 the Japanese Coast Guard issued a navigation warning for mariners to beware of salvage operations, believed to be for the U.S. fighter, which would take place at a location west of Luzon Island of the Philippines.

Experts told RFA the water depth at the site is around 3,000 meters to 3,500 meters, and the salvage operation could take more several weeks.

The $100-million F-35, developed by the American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp., is a state-of-the-art, stealth aircraft.

The leaked footage of the crash has attracted huge attention from observers and analysts who said China would be interested in recovering the wreckage that may contain sensitive technological information.

Beijing said it had no interest in the affair but Chinese military observers have been monitoring the accident closely  not least because it took place in the South China Sea which China regards as its own domain and which has become a focus of strategic rivalry with the U.S and its allies.

The state-run Global Times on Monday said the accident again exposed the exhaustion and lack of proper management of the U.S. military under its excessive troop deployment in attempts to contain China.

Pentagons spokesperson Kirby, when asked, dismissed concerns about specific Chinese ship movements in the salvage area and said any question about some sort of competition to recover what is in fact our property is speculative at best."
Sixty-three percent of refugees surveyed in Bangladesh want to go to third nations, an NGO report says.

Rohingya refugees gather near water after fleeing a fire near Camp 8E, Ukhia, in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, in this undated photo.

Bangladesh should boost security in Rohingya camps, allow refugees to work and pursue education, and begin cooperation with the international community to resettle the stateless minority from Myanmar in a third country, a U.K.-based NGO said in a report released Tuesday.

The recommendations by the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) were based on a survey it did last year of Rohingya living in refugee camps in Coxs Bazar, a district in southeastern Bangladesh near the border with Myanmars Rakhine state.

A majority of the surveyed refugees said that the crowded camps were rife with crime and violence, and that they would prefer to be repatriated to a third country, according to the groups report, titled We Also Have Dreams.

Security officials should increase their presence in areas dominated by criminal organizations or armed groups and ensure the safety of the community. In doing so, they must also ensure they do not arbitrarily harass, arrest, or harm civilians, said the 57-page report based on a survey of 29 refugees across 10 camps.

Arson or similar crimes against the Rohingya community must be thoroughly investigated and the authorities must be transparent about their investigations to foster the trust the community places on them ongoing safety and quality of life issues for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya are legally prohibited from working, but they are willing and able and should be allowed to so they can support themselves financially and are able to afford a little more than only the basic necessities provided to them, the report said.

Many Rohingya interviewed for this report spoke positively about their ability to work and support themselves in Burma compared to how they are living in Bangladesh, even though they faced harsh restrictions on employment and labor in Burma, the Burma Human Rights Network reported.

The willingness to work and the many skill sets the Rohingya bring with them should be encouraged by Bangladesh rather than legally prohibited. This would help ease the burden on aid agencies, allow for greater autonomy for refugees, and could help the economy of the host communities grow as well, it added.

Shah Rizwan Hayat, Bangladeshs commissioner for refugee relief and repatriation, said local authorities had to restrict the movements of Rohingya and keep them confined to the camps in order to prevent potential trouble between members of the refugee community and the surrounding host community in Coxs Bazar.

Making a demand is easy but managing this huge number of people is a tough job for the host-country. There is no scope for allowing Rohingya people [to pursue] formal education here.

A local police official, meanwhile, responded to concerns conveyed in the report about criminality in the camps.

Camp dwellers are now living here with enough safety and security. The camps have now become unsafe for miscreants, M. Kamran Hossain, additional superintendent of police for the Armed Police Battalion in Coxs Bazar, told BenarNews on Tuesday.

Ready to go to another country

With the survey by BHRN showing that 63 percent of refugees would want to be repatriated to a third country if it were an option, the report recommended that the international community work with the Bangladesh government on the issue.

The international community must exercise diplomatic efforts with Bangladesh to allow for the [resettlement] of Rohingya into third countries, the report said.

If resettlement is allowed, the chances of Rohingya fleeing with the help of human traffickers would decrease as would their unsafe passage in rough seas, the rights group said.

Yes, we would want to be resettled into a third country. We are ready to be resettled into a third country. If we cant return to Myanmar with the resolution of our case, we are ready to go to another country, a 38-year-old woman told Burma Human Rights Network.

Meanwhile the shadow civilian National Unity Government in Myanmar must also have a clear repatriation timetable, the report said, because all the Rohingya refugees surveyed had said they wanted to return to Burma despite the atrocities the Burmese military committed against them.

When asked what change they wanted to see in the next five years the majority of refugees said they wanted to return to Burma, the report said.

When asked what needed to change in order for them to go back to Burma, the majority of Rohingya refugees interviewed by BHRN said equal rights (ethnic and citizenship) and safety had to be ensured for them to be able to return.

Additionally, international pressure was raised as a requirement several times, implying that nothing could change if the world didnt raise serious pressure on Burma to equitably return refugees to the country.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Pro-junta forces have torched more than 1,000 homes in four villages over five days.

Junta troops and pro-military militiamen in Myanmars Sagaing region burned down more than 700 homes in Pale township over the weekend, according to sources, amid a scorched earth campaign that has left some 1,100 buildings destroyed in four neighboring villages over the span of five days.

On the evening of Feb. 4 soldiers and members of the Pyu Saw Htee militia entered the villages of Hlaw Gar and Kine Twin, sending inhabitants fleeing, residents told RFAs Myanmar Service. Villagers who hid near the area said they saw fighters from the two groups loot homes before setting them alight, destroying around 500 of 1,000 homes in Hlaw Gar and some 200 of 260 in Kine Twin.

They burned down the homes in Kine Twin village ... and then they moved north. Pyu Saw Htee forces entered Hlaw Gar village around 10:30 p.m. and raided the homes. They seized the property they wanted and transported it to Inn Ma Htee village, where the military is training Pyu Saw Htee members, said a villager from Hlaw Gar, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

Around 1 a.m., Pyu Saw Htee members in plainclothes started burning the homes. The military soldiers wearing uniforms extinguished the fire, he added, suggesting that troops did not want to be seen carrying out arson.

Sources told RFA that residents remain too frightened to return to the area because junta troops had left secret monitors to watch civilian movements.

They said the weekend arson was the latest in a series of burnings in response to a Jan. 23 attack by local anti-junta Peoples Defense Force (PDF) militiamen on the military camp used to train members of the Pyu Saw Htee in Inn Ma Htee village.

Within the space of five days, the military and pro-junta militia members have razed buildings in four villages lying within six miles of each other. At least 400 structures were burned on Jan. 31 in Mwe Tone and Pan villages, which lie just southeast of Hlaw Gar and Kine Twin.

A 40-year-old resident of Kine Twin village who lost his home over the weekend told RFA he had been on the run for five days straight.

I have had to temporarily flee the village since the [PDF] attack on Inn Ma Htee village. Finally, I decided not to return and ran for my life, said the villager, who declined to be named.

The people [of Kine Twin] are now staying in nearby villages or in the woods. They fled on their carts with their cattle and are now sheltering under trees.  The weather is so cold. It is very challenging for elderly people. No one has slept for days.

The resident said that the refugees feel insecure and afraid that they will be targeted by airstrikes, which the military increasingly employs against villages it sees as friendly to the PDF.

The bodies of 11 people were discovered in Myinmu townships Padoke Tine village on Feb. 4, days after the military carried out an airstrike on a graduation ceremony for PDF recruits with five helicopters, killing some 20 civilians, sources told RFA last week.

A PDF member from Pale township told RFA that the recent incidents show that the military will use whatever means it can to crush anti-junta forces.

I think they are trying to secure the villages around In Ma Htee village. I think they are burning down homes in all the villages where they think PDF forces are hiding, he said.

This is brutal, and they are victimizing the local citizens. But they will pay for what they have done.  We are always waiting for the right time to strike back at them.

Thousands displaced

On the evening of Feb. 5, PDF forces led an attack on the police station in Pale town center and engaged with security forces. The following morning, the military fired artillery on villages in the surrounding area that they accuse of providing haven to PDF fighters, sources told RFA on Monday.

Residents said that more than 10,000 people from the villages of Nyaunggone, Kangyi, Phoe Kone, Nyaung Kan, Ywa Tha, Leik Kone, Yahtin, Aye Gone, Mya Gone and Yoe have fled their homes since Jan. 31.

The shelling blast from the junta troops artillery fire burned homes. After the fire, people in town were too afraid to stay. They packed up their valuables and took shelter in nearby monasteries, said one resident of Pale town.

Later, around 30 soldiers arrived in Pale town and nearby villages and arrested those who remained or took them for interrogation, said Phoe Thar, a member of the Black Panther PDF group.

We heard they fired guns, beat the adult males and seized mobile phones, but I heard those who got arrested were released after a while. They spread the military columns and cleared the nearby area. All the people from the villages on their operation route have fled. Some villages are deserted now.

Repeated attempts by RFA to reach junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on reports that the military and Pyu Saw Htee fighters had been setting homes on fire in Pale township went unanswered over the weekend and on Monday.

On Sunday, the junta announced that security forces and troops from the Sagaing regional command division were working together in response to the attacks on the Pale police station.

According to the research group Data for Myanmar, which documents the impact of armed conflict in the country, junta forces have burned down at least 3,379 homes from 126 villages and townships in nine regions and states in the year since the military seized power in a Feb. 1 coup. More than 1,400 of the homes are in Sagaing region, the group said.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Fighting between junta troops and members of the Arakan Army (AA) has resumed in Myanmars Rakhine state for the first time in more than a year after the military attacked two of the ethnic armys bases over the weekend, an AA official source said Monday.

A resident of Rakhines Maungdaw township told RFAs Myanmar Service on condition of anonymity that the two sides had engaged in intense fighting on Feb. 4 and 6 in the vicinity of Latpan mountain near Metike village, around 30 miles from the seat of the township.

We heard blasts and the firing of both heavy and light artillery, coming from around five or six miles from the Taman Thar area where we live, he said, adding that the blasts appeared to originate from the foot of the mountain.

Another resident of the conflict area, who also declined to be named, said the fighting on Feb. 6 was vicious and lasted more than three hours.

I heard three artillery blasts first and after an hour I heard gunfire. I couldnt see the fighting, but it came from the mountain west of our village, he said.

Residents of the township said they are now too worried to enter the nearby woods to collect things they need and fear that the fighting will spread to their villages. The AA agreed to a ceasefire with Myanmars military in late 2020 after around two years of intensive fighting.

AA spokesperson Khine Thukha told RFA that the fighting over the weekend erupted after the military launched offensives on Arakan Army bases.

On Feb. 4, a quadrant from the militarys Light Infantry Battalion No. 352 entered an AA base area and shot and killed AA fighters, he said. Two days later, fighting resumed when military troops tried to secure the Latpan mountain area, prompting AA fighters to engage, he said. The fighting resulted in causalities on the military side.

Khine Thukha did not provide details on the number of causalities involved in the two incidents.

Whether the fighting will continue or spread out to other areas depends on the militarys activities, he said. We will respond to their actions as necessary.

Reports under investigation

When contacted by RFA on Monday, junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun confirmed the fighting in Rakhine State on Feb. 4, but said the military was uncertain if the fighting involved the AA. The military took control of Myanmars government in a Feb. 2, 2021, coup.

There was fighting in the Maungdaw area. It is complicated because the AA said the fighting was with their troops, but we dont know how the AA got into the Maungdaw region, he said. The AA was not active in these areas. It is possible. We are still investigating.

Zaw Min Tun said there had been an exchange of gunfire between border guard forces and the outlawed Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Feb. 4 after the group carried out a mine attack, injuring some of the soldiers.

ARSA, which has joined Myanmars shadow National Unity Government and other armed ethnic groups in fighting the junta, has been moving aggressively to establish control over sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh, where three-quarters of a million ethnic Rohingya fled during a crackdown by Myanmars military in 2017. The crackdown came in response to ARSAs attack on Rakhine police posts.

Residents of Maungdaw told RFA last month that ARSA appeared to be taking advantage of the relative calm of the ceasefire between the military and the AA. In November, clashes broke out between ARSA and the military in Maungdaw. Last month, a man from the townships Khonedaing village was injured when ARSA gunmen opened fire on a group of 20 people who had gone to collect bamboo in the jungle.

Phae Than, a former lawmaker for neighboring Myaebon township, told RFA that if reports of the fighting between the military and the AA are true and the two sides do not hold a dialogue, clashes are likely to continue.

If they launch attacks, the other side will respond, no matter where it is. Thats why they need to maintain communication, he said. If they could come to a ceasefire through mutual understanding, why cant it continue? It is imperative to find a solution through dialogue.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Baku announced -- then partly walked back -- steps to remove what it calls "fictitious traces of Armenian heritage from churches now under Azerbaijani control in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Archival images show what some of those inscriptions and artworks look like.

The Dadivank Monastery (pictured above) is one of scores of Christian sites recaptured by Azerbaijan during the 2020 war with ethnic Armenian forces over Nagorno-Karabakh. Dadivank is currently under the control of Russian peacekeepers inside Azerbaijani territory.

On February 3, Azerbaijans Cultural Ministry caused an outcry when it announced the creation of a committee that would take steps to remove the fictitious traces written by Armenians on Albanian religious temples in the recaptured areas.

In a tweet, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said it is "deeply concerned by #Azerbaijan's plans to remove Armenian Apostolic inscriptions from churches. We urge the government to preserve and protect places of worship and other religious and cultural sites." Azerbaijani officials have repeatedly claimed ancient monuments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region are of Caucasian Albanian -- rather than Armenian -- origin and that artworks, such as the khachkar above, are forgeries.

When Azerbaijans President lham Aliyev visited the church pictured above in March 2021, he dismissed Armenian script on the entrance. All these inscriptions are fake, Aliyev declared. They were written later, suggesting the church had Caucasian Albanian origins.

Historians say Christian Albanian tribes did live in an area of todays Azerbaijan. Their last king was assassinated in 822.

In the 1950s, controversial Azerbaijani academic Ziya Bunyadov first floated the theory that ancient churches in Nagorno-Karabakh were built by vanished Albanian tribes and not Armenians. That claim has been amplified in recent years by Azerbaijani officials.

The Albanian claim has been widely panned by international scholars. Thomas de Waal, a British expert on the Caucasus, calls the Azerbaijani claims rather bizarre and notes the argument has the strong political subtext that Armenians had no claim to [Nagorno-Karabakh]. Bunyadov was behind a notorious article in which he claimed Armenians engineered a 1988 massacre of Armenians to vilify Azerbaijan.

After the February 3 announcement by Azerbaijans culture minister that a working group had been set up to restore Armenianized Albanian temples, the Culture Ministry followed up with a response to the reporting of what it called biased foreign mass media outlets.

The February 7 statement appeared to partly walk back the earlier announcement, saying only that the working group would note any falsifications to monuments in recaptured territory, which would then be presented to the international community.

A ruling by the International Court of Justice in December 2021 on a case brought by Armenia declared that Azerbaijan must take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage in the recaptured territories.

But there are fears -- after the erasure of Armenian heritage from the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxcivan -- that Azerbaijan will press ahead with wiping out Armenian cultural heritage in the retaken areas. Analysts have pointed out that Baku has renewed leverage with the West due to tensions with Moscow over Ukraine.
After Sajjad Heydari beheaded his 17-year-old wife, Mona Heydari, he paraded her severed head in the streets of the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz in an attempt to prove that hes an honorable man. Footage of the macabre scene was posted online showing him smiling.



Mona Heydaris killing, which was reported on February 5, is the latest publicized case of an "honor killing" in which mostly women are killed by their male relatives on the grounds they dishonored their family for any number of alleged moral failings -- including eloping, committing adultery, requesting a divorce, or even unfounded accusations of tainting the family's reputation.



The gruesome killing in the capital of Khuzestan Province has shocked the nation and renewed a debate about widespread violence against women and the lack of legal protections.



Mona Heydari had reportedly fled to Turkey months before her slaying to live with a Syrian man she had met online. The young wife and mother of a 3-year-old son was killed a few days after she returned to Iran after reportedly receiving assurances from her family that she would be safe.



Her husband and his brother, who reportedly helped carry out the crime, are in custody.

Reports say Mona Heydari had been forced into marrying her cousin and that she had given birth to her son when she was only 14. According to Iranian media reports, she is said to have been subjected to violence by her husband, who had refused to divorce her.



Many in Iran have blamed the Islamic legal system as well as the country's patriarchal culture and traditions for fostering an environment that allows for such a killing, which comes less than two years after 14-year-old Romina Ashrafi was beheaded by her father in northern Iran. Ashrafis father, who before killing her had consulted a lawyer to find out what punishment he could face for the crime, was later sentenced to eight years in prison.

U.S.-based sociologist Hossein Ghazian told RFE/RLs Radio Farda that many men believe the women in their families are their property.



Men own the mind and bodies of women. They draw a line and consider it a societal duty to protect their honor," Ghazian said. If they fail, they believe they have to prove their honor, and [often] do so by by killing the women whose bodies have been violated."

'There Is No Law'



Female lawmaker Elham Azad said there is no law with an executive guarantee to protect women from violence in Iran.



She expressed hope that pending legislation on the Protection, Dignity And Security Of Women Against Violence would prevent such horrific crimes in the future.

Although Romina's mother was terribly afraid for herself...and this concern was raised many times in court, we did not get any results. Why? Because there are problems in this field when it comes to the law.

The bill, passed by the government of then-President Hassan Rohani in January 2021 but waiting to be passed into law by parliament, criminalizes violence against women, including action or behavior that causes "physical or mental harm" to women.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that, despite having "a number of positive provisions," the proposed legislation falls short of international standards.



Iran's vice president for women's and family affairs, Aniseh Khazali, wrote on Twitter in the wake of Mona Heydari's killing that parliament placed an urgent review of the bill on its agenda after fixing shortcomings.



Khazali also said that the judiciary is determined to impose the most severe punishment against Sajjad Heydari and his accomplice. She did not provide further details.

'We Did Not Get Any Results'



Lawyer Ebrahim Nikdel Ghadam, who represented Ashrafis high-profile case, argued in court at that time that Iranian law did not create a deterrent against such killings.



He said Ashrafis father did not receive the highest sentence he could receive for murdering a child, which is punishable by three to 10 years. He was exempt from the "retribution" law -- meaning the death penalty -- since according to the Islamic Penal Code he was the girl's guardian.

The beheaded child bride might be alive today if Iran's government had enacted laws against the cruel practice of child marriage and protections against domestic violence."

However, Nikdel Ghadam said the court didnt accept an additional punishment of internal exile, which is allowed under Iranian law.

"Although Romina's mother was terribly afraid for herself...and this concern was raised many times in court, we did not get any results. Why? Because there are problems in this field when it comes to the law, he said.



He also suggested that light sentences for those who kill their female relatives pave the way for more such killings.



"We see that they did not deal with the case and a brutal murder properly to set [an example], and the result was that less than two years later we are witnessing another tragic event, another life lost," he said.



Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said Iranian authorities are "as responsible for Heydaris death as her murderers."



"The beheaded child bride might be alive today if Iran's government had enacted laws against the cruel practice of child marriage and protections against domestic violence," Ghaemi said on Twitter.



There are no reliable statistics kept about honor killings in Iran. Many cases are believed to go unreported and are hushed up.



Social activist Atefeh Baravieh told the Andishey Pouya publication last month that in the past two years 60 women in the province of Khuzestan were victims of "honor killings," while none of the perpetrators has faced judicial action and the families have not filed lawsuits.



She said the real number of such killings is likely to be higher.

With reporting by RFE/RL Radio Farda correspondent Roya Maleki.
Around 100 Ukrainian civilians were being evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on May 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, after the United Nations confirmed a "safe passage operation" was in progress there.

"Grateful to our team! Now they, together with [United Nations], are working on the evacuation of other civilians from the plant," Zelenskiy said on Twitter.

The evacuees would reach the city of Zaporizhzhya on May 2, he added.

The long-awaited rescue came as the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, pledged continued U.S. support for Ukraine when she met Zelenskiy in an unannounced visit to Kyiv.

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 posted videos from the unannounced April 30 visit by Pelosi online on May 1.

We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom, Pelosi told Zelenskiy. We are on a frontier of freedom, and your fight is for everyone. Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done.

Pelosi arrived in the Ukrainian capital with a delegation that included House members Jason Crow (Democrat-Colorado), Jim McGovern (Democrat-Massachusetts), and Adam Shiff (Democrat-California). The trip had not been previously announced and comes when the United States and other countries are ramping up military aid and other support for Ukraine.

Pelosi said the delegation delivered the message that additional American support is on the way.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week asked Congress for a $33 billion aid package for Ukraine.

U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on May 1 that he would add provisions to the Ukraine aid package to allow the United States to seize Russian oligarchs' assets and send money from their sale directly to Ukraine.

Zelenskiy posted on Twitter: "The U.S. is leading strong support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression."

Pelosi later traveled to Poland for talks with President Andrzej Duda and other officials. Poland has taken in more than 3 million refugees from Ukraine since the war began.

"Do not be bullied by bullies," Pelosi said in Rzeszow in southern Poland after returning from Ukraine. "If they are making threats, you cannot back down. That's my view of it. We are here for the fight and you cannot fold to a bully," she said.

The White House said Biden had spoken with Pelosi on May 1 about her trip, without giving details.

Meanwhile, the United Nations confirmed that an operation to evacuate people from a steel plant in the bombed-out Ukrainian city of Mariupol is under way.

UN humanitarian spokesman Saviano Abreu told AP on May 1 that the effort to bring people out of the sprawling Azovstal steel plant was being done in collaboration with the International Committee for the Red Cross and in coordination with Ukrainian and Russian officials.

He called the situation very complex and would not give further details.

The Red Cross also said it couldn't share any details about the operation.

"The ICRC insists on the fact that no details can be shared until the situation allows, as it could seriously jeopardize the safety of the civilians and the convoy. Relevant local authorities are communicating with the civilians about practical details," it said.

A plan to evacuate civilians from areas of the devastated city outside the steelworks had been postponed to the morning of May 2, Mariupol's city council said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said 80 civilians had been evacuated from the steel plant, adding: "Those who wished to leave for areas controlled by the Kyiv regime were handed over to UN and ICRC representatives."

The UN believes about 1,000 civilians are living under the Azovstal steelworks in the city, the only part of Mariupol that is not under Russian occupation. There are believed to be about 100,000 civilians in the city, which has been the scene of intense fighting since the Russian invasion on February 24.

WATCH: RFE/RL correspondent Maryan Kushnir met with Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russian forces in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. One of the soldiers called the Russian troops "cannon fodder," describing their tactics as "desperate" and without any coherent strategy.

Russias Defense Ministry said on May 1 that two groups of civilians -- about 45 people in all -- had been evacuated from Azovstal the previous day as a result of a cease-fire regime and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. The evacuees were reportedly taken to the settlement of Bezimenne.

The Ukrainian defenders in the Azovstal factory posted videos on April 30 saying they were running out of food, water, and other supplies and appealing for help.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said that four civilians were killed and 11 injured by Russian shelling in the town of Lyman as Moscow's forces push deeper into the eastern Donetsk region.

Moscow claimed on May 1 -- without providing evidence -- that Ukrainian forces in the southern region of Kherson had shelled civilian areas and caused casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to Reuters requests for details.

Ukraines military said Russian forces had launched attacks along the Kherson regions borders and seemed intent on pushing toward the cities of Mykolayiv and Kryvyi Rih.

Russia on April 30 launched a rocket attack on an airport runway in Odesa, Ukraines third-largest city and a key Black Sea port. The Ukrainian military said the attack had rendered the airport unusable. Odesas governor said the attack was launched from the Russia-occupied Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

Pope Francis on May 1 used his weekly Angelus prayer to renew his appeal for humanitarian corridors from Mariupol, saying that the city had been "bombed and destroyed in a barbaric manner."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and RIA Novosti
KYIV -- A pizza place in Ukraines capital held an unusual promotion earlier this month: Buy a gun, get a free pie.

Get a free medium or large pizza pie, that is -- eat-in only -- if you can show you purchased a firearm or received a gun permit in January.

The three-day offer was available at a central Kyiv franchise of nationwide chain Pizza Veterano -- a name that reflects the fact that the chain's owner, Leonid Ostaltsev, is a veteran of the nearly eight-year war against Kremlin-backed separatists in the eastern region known as the Donbas.

The promotion, Ostaltsev said, was a gesture of gratitude to Ukrainians who have bought or registered guns at a tense time when Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near its border with their country, igniting fears that Moscow could launch a major new offensive.

It also played into a growing discussion of gun ownership -- stoked by civilian training programs, the creation of regional defense units that would seek to defend the country against a large-scale attack, and other preparations taking place in the shadow of Moscows military buildup.

"I want to thank those citizens who, sensing the danger of the unpredictable movements of [Russia], make the right decisions and become owners of firearms," Ostaltsev wrote on Facebook, using an expletive to describe Ukraine's much larger neighbor.

Ostaltsev's message ended with a caveat: "And don't forget the important thing! Without proper training, weapons are just a lot of metal and plastic -- so go and train."

War came abruptly to Ukraine in April 2014, after the massive Euromaidan protests pushed a Moscow-friendly president from power and Russia responded by seizing the Crimean Peninsula and fomenting separatism across the east and south. The conflict in the Donbas has killed more than 13,200 people, displaced more than 1 million others, and affected the country and its people in many ways.

Now, the prospect of a new and possibly much wider invasion has put the issue of gun ownership in the spotlight.

'We Can't Rely On The State'

On December 29, 2021, the government allowed enlistees of each of Ukraines 25 newly formed Territorial Defense Units -- one for each province, roughly -- to use their own hunting weapons when joining.

Yaroslav Yemelyanenko, head of the Chernobyl Tour Operators Association, possesses five firearms -- with varying ranges and purposes -- and the view that we cant rely on the state to protect us.

For Yemelyanenko, that became clear during the Maidan movement, when large crowds of people took to the streets in the autumn of 2013 to protest official corruption and President Viktor Yanukovychs decision to abandon plans for closer ties with the European Union.

"When the Maidan started, there were many cases when the police ceased to function as a police force and did not protect citizens. It was completely unclear whether they would go against us, he said. There were also cases when criminal elements intensified.

Having survived this stress without weapons, Yemelyanenko obtained five gun permits shortly after the permitting authorities resumed operations, he said.

Yemelyanenko favors widespread gun ownership, saying that he wants as many protected people as possible in our country, but he emphasized that gun owners must have proper training and that their proficiency must be maintained at all times.

When it comes to a possible Russian offensive, the concern that the state may not provide adequate security is widely held, opinion polls indicate.

A nationwide survey conducted by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center in January found that 56 percent of Ukrainians believe that neither President Volodymyr Zelenskiy nor the authorities more broadly were "making sufficient efforts to prevent a full-scale invasion" or "organizing the country's defense" for that eventuality.

Self-defense instructor Oleksiy Martynenko is another advocate of gun ownership, in part because "law enforcement can only do so much to protect everyone," he said.

In his profession, he sees the growing number of "civilians considering gun ownership as a way of protecting their country," Martynenko added.

Compounding concerns over the possibility of a new Russian invasion, he said, is the fact that "the majority of people [do not know] how to handle a weapon."

Martynenko cited the late Jeff Cooper, a former U.S. Marine and small-arms expert, as saying that "owning a gun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a piano makes you a musician."

For some in Ukraine, the dangers of gun ownership outweigh the potential benefits, at least for those who are not properly trained.

Tetyana, an instructor in tactical medicine and first aid, sold her hunting rifle last year after being convinced it wouldn't be effective in combat.

Most hunting rifles "are for short distances...and if a person has no experience in close-range or far-range shooting and never shot at a person before, then the weapon is more likely to put [the shooter] in a coffin," she said.

'This Is Our Land'

Tetyana told RFE/RL's Donbas.Realities that she was not opposed to civilians owning guns but that they must be kept in safe hands.

There are nearly 1.5 million firearms in circulation in the nation of 44 million, according to the Interior Ministry. About 70,000 are sold each year, the Ukrainian Arms Owners Association told the online publication New Voice of Ukraine this month, and it takes an average of one month to obtain a gun permit.

Vyacheslav Zhuravlyov, a former lieutenant colonel in the state Security Service's anti-terrorist unit, is another advocate of responsible gun ownership, saying that "there should be professionals to train how to properly handle weapons and everything else will be OK."

In the event of a major Russian offensive, the prospects would be grim.

And Oleksiy Byk, who earlier fought in a volunteer battalion in the Donbas war and is now a member of the National Corps, a far-right political organization that a 2018 U.S. State Department report labeled a "nationalist hate group," said that the proliferation of illegal weapons is also a serious problem. But he believes that, compared to 2014, Ukraine is much better prepared for a potential escalation in Russia's aggression.

"We've learned our lessons. Veterans have legal firearms and are undergoing training," he said. "We won't flee. We have nowhere to run. This is our land, and we will protect it."

Written by Mark Raczkiewycz based on reporting by Darya Kurennaya
Richmond, KY (40475)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
The Army ROTC unit was honored for readiness training and commissioning lieutenants for military service, having cadets exceed several performance averages, and having key leadership roles in the Wabash Battalion.

Rose-Hulmans Army Reserved Officers Training Corps unit of The Wabash Battalion has earned the 2021 MacArthur Award as the top program in the militarys 7th Brigade, a region covering 38 universities and colleges in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee.

The brigade award now makes Rose-Hulmans ROTC unit eligible for national Army ROTC honors and possibly the overall 2021 Department of Defense ROTC and Partner Institution Excellence Award among Army, Air Force and Navy units.

The U.S. Army Cadet Command recognized the units achievements during the 2020-21 school year for readiness training and commissioning lieutenants for military service. Award-winning programs best represent the Armys ideals of Duty-Honor-Country and the legacy of leadership as practiced by General Douglas MacArthur, according to Army ROTC award guidelines.

Professor of Military Science Lt. Col. Benjamin Schneller reports the following Rose-Hulman ROTC unit accomplishments for 2020-21:

* Commissioning 35 officers, far exceeding the 19-officer requirement.

* Six cadets ranked in the top 20% nationally and earned distinguished military graduate honors.

* 24 cadets exceeded performance averages in areas of physical fitness, written land navigation, practical land navigation, weapons qualification, and tactical performance evaluations during last summers training exercises.

* Cadets had key leadership roles in the Bold Warrior/Ranger Challenge team that had its best finish in the past 20 years against other senior ROTC programs in the 7th Brigade region.

* 98% retention rate of students enrolled in the program from 2020 to 2021.



None of this would have been possible if not for the amazing support we receive from Rose-Hulman, says Schneller. The entire program is humbled by the institutes generosity and commitment to helping us develop future leaders for the Army and our country. We thank everyone for their continued support.

Joining Schneller in leading the Rose-Hulman ROTC unit are Thom Robbins, Ethan Allen, and Rick Maples, senior military science instructors; Max Dixon and Ari Merdler, assistant professors of military science; Mertz Goodwin, military science instructor; Bob Doll, recruiting operations officer; Tom Deal, human resource assistant; and Troy Batchelor and Gavin Brothers, National Guard liaisons.

The Wabash Battalion ROTC unit has 31 scholarship student cadets and five other participating students from Rose-Hulman participating in activities with 34 other contracted cadets and 20 participating students from six other colleges in southwest Indiana for the 2021-22 school year. Student leadership rotates during each of three academic quarters. This years senior cadets from Rose-Hulman are Griffin Altmix, Nick Barr, Landen Berlin, Samuel Dickinson, Drew Gearhart, Tristen Maesch, Alec Teichmann, Samuel VanDendurgh, and Ryleigh White.

Rose-Hulman has one of the nations original Army ROTC programs. Shortly after its founding in 1874, Rose-Hulman hosted a Student Army Training Corps unit and had an active role in training engineers and mechanics for Army service during World War I. An official Army ROTC unit became active in 1917, after ROTC was authorized by the National Defense Act of 1916, and graduated its first commissioned officers in 1922. Today, Rose-Hulman is part of the Army ROTCs Wabash Battalion with Indiana State University, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, DePauw University, Vincennes University, University of Southern Indiana, and University of Evansville.
Left to right - Martin Leake, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, and Jacob Gill Image credit: DMCC

DMCC, the worlds flagship Free Zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise, has announced that its Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) has hosted a tender this week featuring an astonishing 1086.10-carat gem-quality diamond.The tender was managed by Koin International and took place ahead of the Dubai Diamond Conference slated for 21 February 2022, which will bring together leaders from across the global industry to discuss the future of diamonds.Sourced from Southern Africa, this was the largest ever gem-quality rough diamond to be hosted by and sold at the DDE. Given its size, there has been a surge in global interest in the stone, with diamond experts flying in from across the world to view it ahead of its sale this week.The DDE has already hosted six major tenders this year, reaching over USD 300 million worth of rough diamonds traded.
By Chris Devonshire-Ellis

South America becoming increasingly receptive to Russian trade and economic viability

The Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez has been in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and signed off an agreement with China to join the Belt and Road Initiative. Argentina has been enduring economic problems with loans to the IMF secured by multiple American investors who have been unwilling to provide economic concessions. The China deal will open up access to Asian funding instead, with Fernandez stating that This strategic decision will allow the national government to sign different agreements that guarantee financing for investments and works for more than US$23.7 billion.

In addition to the China angle, Fernandez also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin just prior to the Olympics, in Moscow, stating that Argentina should be a door for Russia to enter Latin America in a more decisive way. He also mentioned that his country sought to lessen its dependence on the IMF and the United States.

China has been making increasing strides into South America, with Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela all members of the Belt and Road Initiative. Brazil, the regions largest economy is not  but it has signed an agreement to align its national development plan with Chinas  a significant step. In Central America to the north, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama have all joined, as has Cuba.

The regions trade with, and investment from China has been growing, with 24% of all Latin American products now exported to Asia, up from 18% in 2017. China has also stated that it expects to invest about US$250 billion in South America over the next decade.

Russias ties to Central and South America have lesser depth than Chinas, but it too has been developing diplomatic and trade relations. It has strong connections with Cuba and Venezuela and has been eyeing South America for trade and development relations through the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to widen the Russian trade sphere in the wake of existing and threatened trade sanctions. To that end, discussions have been held concerning EAEU free trade negotiation with Chile and Ecuador, and it is possible that a future deal could be signed with the entire Mercosur trade bloc of which Argentina is an influential member. Brazil meanwhile is a member of the BRICS grouping, and with China and Russia, a 20% shareholder in the BRICS multilateral New Development Bank and has been considering issuing bonds in Rubles.

There are other incentives to increase Russia-South American trade. Generally speaking, South American currencies are kept low by constant pressure upon them by the US dollar  meaning the US can access South American goods and investments at cheap exchange rates. Some Latin American economies, such as Nicaragua and Venezuela, are like Russia, heavily sanctioned. These two combinations provide easy access for the United States to invest in and purchase regional products, while dissuading trade and investment in the opposite direction  the US dollar is too expensive for many South American economies to readily access. Russia however also has the exact same problem  the Ruble is undervalued by about 72%. What this does however is make the Russian, and EAEU markets (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) far more attractive and more reasonable for South American traders and investors. The EAEU has a market of about 187 million and fits into the trade space between China and the European Union.

With the United States continuing its policy of subduing the purchasing value of South America, and inflicting pain upon what ought to be friendly near-neighboring economies such as Argentina, what is happening is a gradual desertion of the US ideal towards China and Russia instead.

We can expect to hear more in the coming months as a result of increasing trade and investment ties between the South American region, China  and Russia.

Related Reading
Turkmenistans Turkmen Trading House, a privately owned, export-oriented business has opened operations in Kazan, the capital city of Russias Tatarstan Republic, with a primary focus on Turkmenistan-made goods.

Tatarstan has a similar ethnic background to Turkmenistan, with majority of the Republics population being of Tartar origin. It is served by the Volga River and Trans-Siberian railway in the European part of Russia.

One of the priority directions in the commercial activity of the Trading House is the expansion of the range of textile, knitwear, and clothing goods made in Turkmenistan. The company will engage in both wholesale and retail trading of Turkmen and Russian-made goods.

The House, which registered in Kazan in March 2021, is aimed at attracting wholesale and small-scale wholesale buyers, as well as commercial entities engaged in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of goods.

From the beginning, the company set the goal of providing direct deliveries from Turkmenistans leading factories, equipped with the most contemporary technologies, and satisfying international standards.

Turkmenistan initially decided to open a trading house in Kazan due to the great demand for its goods in Russia.



Location of Tatarstan in Russia

Turkmenistan places a high value on its relations with Tatarstan. The two parties cooperate in areas such as oil exploration, oil production, gas transportation, automobile, aircraft and shipbuilding, energy, chemical products supplies, pharmaceuticals, medicine, construction, agriculture, innovations, and information technologies. Branches of the leading companies of Tatarstan, such as KAMAZ, Tatneft, and IED-Holding, also operate in Turkmenistan.

In 2019, Turkmenistan exported US$144 million of goods to Russia. The main products exported from Turkmenistan to Russia were Non-Retail Pure Cotton Yarn (US$33.4 million), Propylene Polymers (US$31.7 million), and Ethylene Polymers (US$29.3 million). The Turkmen Trading House will concentrate more on consumer goods, including traditional fabrics and consumables.

To boost the volume of Turkmen products offered on the global market, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan has established trading houses in dozens of countries, including Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and China.

Kazan is being linked by high-speed rail to Moscow with talks of this track being extended to Beijing.

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A juvenile has been arrested in connection with a Linda Vista stabbing that left a teenager dead Sunday night, San Diego police said.

The suspect, a male teenager who was not identified because he was a minor, was booked into juvenile hall on suspicion of murder on Monday, acting homicide Lt. Brent Williams said.

He and the victim, identified Tuesday as 16-year-old Jose Daniel Sotelo by police, were acquaintances, and the stabbing occurred during an altercation, Williams said. He declined to comment on the reason for the argument.

Sotelo was stabbed once in the upper torso just before 10 p.m. on Jewett Street near Montgomery Middle School on Ulric Street, police said. He died before he could be taken to a hospital.
Crossville Middle School administrators and DeKalb County Superintendent of Education Wayne Lyles attended a Feb. 3 ceremony to congratulate CMS sixth-grade teacher Jon Bales for winning the Worlds Finest Chocolate $2K Giveaway for Outstanding Educators for January. From left, are CMS Principal Brian Pool, Lyles, Bales, and CMS Assistant Principals Justin Croley and Meagan Stone.
When a new law that exempts sustainable transportation projects from environmental reviews went into effect at the start of last year, San Francisco officials said it led to extraordinary results.

Projects meant to beef up pedestrian safety and speed up the citys public transit were completed within weeks and months instead of years, they said, increasing efficiency in a city government notorious for project delays that sometimes have snowballed for years.

Now, the law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020 that fast-tracked the expansion of transit-only lanes in San Francisco, as well as street-safety improvements in the Bayview, could become permanent under new legislation.

The proposal, Senate Bill 922, would indefinitely extend the 2020 law, SB288, thats set to expire at the end of this year as dozens of upcoming transportation projects hang in the balance. The proposal, supported by a group of state lawmakers and San Francisco transportation leaders, essentially grants certain environmentally sustainable transportation exemptions from the California Environmental Quality Act.

SB922, introduced Friday by Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, also would expand the list of eligible projects to include those that add carpool lanes on highways and other efforts aimed at reducing single-occupancy car trips.

Under the current version of the law, projects that speed up transit, modernize rail infrastructure and make street safety improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians have enjoyed the exemptions that shield them from CEQA appeals that, according to city officials, bogged down their progress for years by adding layers of bureaucracy.

Unfortunately, what weve seen over time, including here in San Francisco, when we try to improve bus service or improve safety for people biking or walking, these projects get caught up in CEQA, Wiener said. They take a long time to approve, and then they get caught up in appeals and lawsuits, not for environmental reasons, but because people just dont like them.

Speaking outside the Box Shop in the Bayview, where traffic on a nearby deadly curve was reduced to two lanes to make way for new bike lanes, Wiener told reporters Monday that his proposal to make these exemptions permanent comes at an urgent moment for the region.

Even as the rise in telework has dramatically curtailed weekday traffic congestion on Bay Area highways, driving activity across the region has either rebounded or exceeded pre-pandemic levels, endangering the states goals to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions largely fueled by car traffic.

Serious and fatal car crashes also persisted during the pandemic as traffic speeds increased in absence of congestion, stalling the citys progress in meeting its self-appointed goal of getting rid of all traffic deaths by 2024.

Jeffrey Tumlin, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, said the proposal would be critical in advancing the agencys ambitious Vision Zero strategy that calls for turbo-charging the rate of completed safety improvement projects and expanding the citys transit-only lane network.

The agency made progress on both fronts in 2021 as it paired 2020s SB288, also authored by Wiener, with a new quick-build policy that stripped away bureaucratic hurdles by giving the citys traffic engineer more authority.

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We were able to, thanks to SB288, cut through what would have been years of pointless red tape and instead design and implement projects in a matter of weeks or months, as opposed to years that are right now delivering real results for transit and safety, Tumlin said. Without SB288, we would still be in a pointless bureaucratic process.

Paralysis by bureaucracy had been more the norm for green transportation projects prior to SB288, officials acknowledged. Efforts at the beginning of the pandemic to roll out Slow Streets and transit-only lanes, for example, were delayed for months because of CEQA appeals.

The new proposal does not give transportation projects blanket exemptions from the states environmental review process. Qualifying projects must not incentivize putting more cars on roadways nor jeopardize affordable housing.

Projects with estimated price tags over $100 million have to complete a racial equity analysis and have a public-input process in the projects early stages. SB322 is expected to be heard in legislative committees later this spring. Its predecessor bill, SB288, passed the Legislature with almost no opposition.

Ricardo Cano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ricardo.cano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByRicardoCano
Housing-rights advocates announced a settlement Monday that will provide $53 million in government aid to minority home-buyers and homeowners in 39 U.S. metropolitan areas, including two in the Bay Area, Vallejo and Richmond/Oakland.

The agreement resolves a lawsuit filed in Oakland in 2016 accusing the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, of racial discrimination in its foreclosure practices: providing maintenance to homes on which it had foreclosed in largely white areas, while allowing foreclosed homes in communities of color to deteriorate, harming their neighborhoods and future residents.

The settlement does not include any admission of wrongdoing but requires the agency to assist residents in the affected districts. According to Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California, more than $35 million will be used nationwide to promote home ownership, renovate housing and provide assistance with credit and down payments.

Of those funds, $755,000 will go to each of the the two Bay Area districts for neighborhood rehabilitation, and additional sums will be available for fair-housing services, said the groups executive director, Caroline Peattie.

She said the suit followed a four-year investigation of more than 2,300 foreclosed homes owned by Fannie Mae, including 68 in Vallejo and nearby Solano County neighborhoods and 88 in Oakland and Richmond.

According to the suit, more than 39% of foreclosed homes in Black or Latinx neighborhoods had trash visible on the property, 25% had unsecured or broken doors, and more than 41% had damaged, boarded or unsecured windows, more than twice the rates of such disrepair in homes taken over by Fannie Mae in white neighborhoods.

The agency sought to dismiss the suit, but U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ruled in 2019 that the housing-rights groups could try to prove that Fannie Mae violated fair-housing laws by failing to change its conduct after being notified of the investigation and its findings. The groups said it was the first federal court ruling to conclude that housing-discrimination laws applied to foreclosed properties owned by the agency.

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We poured a lot of time and effort into investigating the differences between the marketing and maintenance of foreclosed homes in communities of color compared to white communities, because we knew how big an impact this can have on the health and well-being - financial and otherwise - of neighborhoods with foreclosed properties, Peattie said in a statement. We are excited that Fannie Mae has made the commitments it has in this settlement.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
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Two schools in Hercules were put under lockdown orders Monday afternoon after a student posted photos online showing two students brandishing firearms in a school bathroom, officials said.

Hercules police were called to Hercules Middle School and Hercules High School around 1:30 p.m. for a report of two students possibly in possession of guns on campus. The schools, which share a central office, were locked down until most students were dismissed, said Hercules police Commander Joseph Vasquez.
The campaign to organize Starbucks workers is finally coming to union-friendly California, as workers at three stores have filed federal paperwork to unionize over the past three weeks and organizers say colleagues in more than 14 other stores statewide are interested in joining them.

Two of the three stores are in Santa Cruz  the third is in Chatsworth, a suburb of Los Angeles  with union votes in the Santa Cruz stores coming as soon as late March, organizer Joseph Thompson told The Chronicle. Five of the 14 others are in the Bay Area, Thompson said.

Thompson, an 18-year-old UC Santa Cruz student, said he and his co-workers were inspired by Starbucks employees in Buffalo, N.Y., who voted in December to become the first store to be unionized in the 9,000-outlet coffee chain. The organizing movement has spread from New York to Chicago, Colorado and then to the West Coast. Starbucks Workers United, a national organizing group, said workers in 64 stores have filed for union elections in 18 states.

Were watching whats happening in Buffalo, and its really inspiring to see, Thompson said Monday. We felt that there was no way we could get corporate to change their policies without forming a union.

Leaders of the 2.1 million-member California Labor Federation are providing support, but emphasize that this movement is being driven by Starbucks employees talking to one another and organizing online in a grassroots fashion thus far.

So why has it taken so long to hit California? Thompson, who makes $20.57 an hour, said one reason may be that wages in the state are higher than in other parts of the country (as is the cost of living) and that there are more worker protections in California than elsewhere.

But Steve Smith, a spokesman for the labor federation, said that given the amount of resources that Starbucks has, sparking organizing is very difficult to do. Workers are rightly afraid that they may lose their jobs. And thats the case in California as well as any other states across the country.

Smith said, however, I think youre going to see more public support for organizing, and that includes getting more political support here in California than you would in other states and thats going to be a benefit as they go through this effort.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

One reason why there could be more support: The potential membership gain for the union could be substantial. Each Starbucks typically has 20-30 employees and the Seattle-based chain has nearly 3,000 stores in California, according to the data-gathering site Scrapehero.

Most important from the unions perspective is that many of the organizers are young, like Thompson.

Weve known for the last couple years that 18- to 25-year-old workers are the most pro-union group that weve ever seen in our lifetimes, Smith said, noting that union approval is at 80% among young workers, according to the unions internal polling.

It is a generation that has grown up in a post-9/11 world, through a war, a major recession, a housing meltdown, a pandemic and has seen their student debt load explode. Many, Smith said, see unionization as a way to regain some semblance of power and equality with their employers.

So youve got leaders like Joseph (Thompson), who are 18, 19, 20 years old, organizing their co-workers, Smith said. This is incredibly exciting for the future of the labor movement. In fact, this is the future of the labor movement.

Thompson grew up in rural Placer County and moved to Texas to live with his aunt and sister when he was in high school. He said he started working at Starbucks when he was 16 in part because he needed the benefits. He grew up being regularly food insecure and reliant on Medi-Cal for health insurance. Starbucks provides health insurance to its part-time workers. Thompson was born with a genetic disease where all of his teeth have very little enamel.

So I needed to get health care soon just to fix that, he said.

In high school, he worked 12 to 20 hours a week at a pizza restaurant and another 20 or so at Starbucks to make ends meet. He said he liked his manager there and appreciated the companys help in getting extra benefits and pay during the early days of the pandemic.

That feeling changed shortly after he moved to California last summer to go to college and began working in a local Starbucks. Soon after he began working there, he and his co-workers began to feel threatened by customers acting menacingly toward them and overdosing in the bathroom, he said.

Thompson said Starbucks declined requests for a security guard, Narcan to counteract opioid overdoses and a secured box in the bathrooms to deposit used needles. A Starbucks spokesperson said that the stores bathroom has been closed for a few months and that a strongbox for needles will be added after the bathroom is reopened, and another is located behind the counter. The spokesperson said the company does not have a record of a formal request for a security guard but takes all concerns about worker safety very seriously, particularly when it involves opioid issues.

As for high turnover, the spokesperson said Starbucks has been under the same economic pressures as other retail chains that have had trouble hiring and retaining employees. The company has committed $1 billion toward increasing wages and benefits over the past two years.

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Last week, Starbucks reported that its profits rose 31% in the last three months of last year. The total compensation of CEO Kevin Johnson rose 39% in 2021 to $20.4 million.

Thompson said a lot of those local moves wouldnt have happened without the pressure of a union campaign.

Overall, nobody felt that their voices were being heard, said Thompson, who added that hes not anti-Starbucks and wants the company to just live up to the values it preaches. Theyre trying their best to make sure that were safe now, but they wouldnt have cared until we filed our petition.

Aly Young, an organizing director with the California Labor Federation, has seen what frequently comes in the wake of a fledgling Starbucks union drive in other parts of the country.

The company will start engaging in relentless communication with Starbucks workers through text and one-on-one meetings, urging them to Vote no. Vote no. Vote no and creating pressure inside the stores, Young said. Its like a carrot-and-stick approach. Theyll say, We value you. But then theyre going to be relentless about saying why the union is bad and why we need you to vote no.

This approach hasnt hit California yet, but Young predicted, its coming.

A Starbucks spokesperson said the company is not anti-union. Conversations that managers have with employees about unions is not union-busting, the spokesperson said, but an effort to answer questions they may have.

We will listen and learn from the partners in the stores in the way we always do across the country, said company spokesperson Sarah Albanesi, noting that partners is what Starbucks calls its employees. Our success in the past and moving forward is based on how we partner together and the relationships we have with one another.

Thompson knows that in this era, there are a lot of other stores with job openings. But he wants to make it work at Starbucks.

Either were going to successfully win our union and have a union at our store, Thompson said, or for me and a lot of our partners, we dont see how we could continue working for Starbucks.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
San Francisco police arrested a 28-year-old man for a fatal stabbing in the Mission District on Jan. 31, officials said Tuesday.

Eugenio Corleto of San Francisco was arrested Friday on suspicion of homicide, police said.

Officers were sent to the 500 block on Potrero Ave. at 12:22 a.m. on Jan. 31 for a reported stabbing.

They found a 27-year-old man with a stab wound and rendered treatment on the scene until paramedics arrived and took the victim to the hospital, police said. He died on Feb. 2.

Investigators identified Corleto as the suspect and located him in the 25000 block of Clawiter Road in Hayward, according to police.

He was taken into custody by San Francisco police officers without incident. Corleto was transported to San Francisco County Jail where he was being held Tuesday on homicide charges.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
The number of daily COVID deaths reported in the Bay Area has doubled from two weeks ago but appears to be leveling off in recent days. Californias statewide mask mandate, which requires everyone to wear face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status, will be lifted Feb. 16 . Bay Area health officials are now talking about the next phase of the 2-year-old pandemic. Two years since the pandemic debilitated public transit, Munis weekday ridership has been slashed to about half of 2019 levels and growth has slowed recently.

Latest updates

Half a million deaths since discovery of omicron 'beyond tragic,' says WHO: There have been 130 million coronavirus cases and 500,000 deaths due to COVID-19 globally since omicron was labeled a variant of concern in late November, officials from the World Health Organization announced Tuesday. "In the age of effective vaccines, half a million people dying, its really something," Abdi Mahamud, the organization's incident manager said at a briefing. "While everyone was saying omicron is milder, (they) missed the point that half a million people have died since this was detected. Its beyond tragic." The agency said it is too early for nations to pull back on restrictions meant to curb the spread of the virus. This virus continues to be dangerous, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHOs technical lead. She said the astronomical number of cases makes "previous peaks look almost flat," She cautioned that the crisis was ongoing: Were still in the middle of this pandemic. Many countries have not passed their peak of omicron yet.

Hawaii draws line on boosters for travelers: Hawaii Gov. David Ige said Tuesday he will not mandate coronavirus booster shots for incoming tourists. "I want to emphasize that the program remains unchanged at this time and boosters will not be required for up-to-date status," Ige tweeted. Ige indicated last week that he was considering adding the booster requirement but changed his mind due to declining rates of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the island state, "While it is not required  I do encourage you to get boosted or vaccinated. Its one of the best defenses we have against COVID-19," he added.

CDC stands by masking guidance for K-12 schools: "Now is not the moment" to drop mask mandates for schools, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. With COVID case numbers still very high nationwide, it's not time to ease up, Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Reuters following announcements by officials in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Oregon that they plan to lift indoor mask mandates for schools and other indoor spaces in the coming weeks. "I know people are interested in taking masks off. I too am interested. That would be one marker that we have much of the pandemic behind us," Walenksy said. Right now our CDC guidance has not changed ... We continue to endorse universal masking in schools. The United States is reporting an average of around 290,000 COVID-19 cases per day and higher rates of hospitalization than it did during the previous virus surges. Walensky said hospital capacity is one of the most important barometers for scaling pandemic restrictions, and hospitals now are "overwhelmed."

Hamsters can spread coronavirus: Pet hamsters can transmit the coronavirus to humans and likely caused a recent COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong, according to a preprint study published in the Lancet. Thousands of hamsters were killed after Hong Kong officials found several imported from Syria that were infected, and more than 50 people were infected with the delta variant, the first time that strain had been detected there in more than three months. "Both genetic and epidemiological results strongly suggest that there were two independent hamster-to-human transmissions and that such events can lead to onward human transmission," the researchers wrote. The findings indicate animals can be coronavirus reservoirs in "real-life" settings, they wrote.

California's test positivity rate continues dropping: A day after dipping below 10% for first time since Christmas, California's rate of coronavirus tests coming back positive dropped again, to 8.8%, as of state data on Tuesday. It was 9.5% as of Monday. At the height of the omicron wave around Jan. 9, the test positivity rate was nearly 23%. The figures are seven-day averages

Pan says people can make own decisions on risk: Addressing questions about why the state would drop its indoor mask mandate when coronavirus case rates are still running high in California, the state epidemiologist Erica Pan emphasized a shift from government mandates to encouraging personal risk assessments Were trying to balance all the work of the last two years, what weve required people to do and what we have to enforce from the government side, versus encouraging people to do it, she said. Were still recommending it (masks) while rates are high, certainly in indoor settings  and were still protecting the highest risk settings. Thats a general theme were moving forward to."

Availability of treatments, therapeutics expected to improve in March: California anticipates getting more COVID-19 treatments and therapeutics next month, state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Tuesday during a COVID update. Availability of therapeutics, including monoclonal antibody treatments and oral antiviral pills, has been extremely limited for the last several weeks because of supply constraints. Supply has been "relatively slow, but a little more reliable" recently, Pan said. "We are being told March may be the time we'll see a lot more treatments and therapeutics."

Mask benefits in schools outweigh inconvenience, state epidemiologist says: Benefits of keeping mask requirements in schools, even as California moves to loosen them for vaccinated people in most indoor settings next week, outweigh the alternatives, said Dr. Erica Pan, the state epidemiologist. "What we really all want is our kids to be in school and mitigate transmission," she said during a Grand Rounds discussion Tuesday. Dr. Linsey Marr, an expert on airborne transmission of viruses and a professor at Virginia Tech, added, "I'm not aware of any data indicating that masks are harmful ... All the evidence suggests when we require everyone to wear them we do see a small reduction in transmission in schools and other places." Pan said masks will ensure that schools can remain open while coronavirus transmission rates remain high, especially with the omicron variant in circulation. "We want kids who live in communities who have been impacted most to feel safe coming to school," she said.

California cases during omicron surge more than twice that pre-vaccine surge: California recorded 151,408 COVID-19 cases on Jan. 4, the apparent peak of the omicron winter surge in the state. That is more than twice the approximately 60,000 cases reported during the high point of last years winter surge before vaccines became widely available. The spike has put health care facilities under enormous strain, Dr. Erica Pan, the state epidemiologist, said Tuesday. This has really, really stretched our hospitals, with less staffing than weve had in the previous surge, she said during a Grand Rounds discussion with medical professionals. The most recent influenza outbreak caused 5% of deaths in California hospitals, she said, while the latest COVID-19 surge drove 20% of the deaths. Its still dramatically higher in confirmed causes of death, Pan said. We still arent back to severity levels that are similar to flu.

More than 65% of kids 5-11 in California remain unvaccinated: Over 65% of children between the ages 5 and 11 in California have not received even one dose of vaccine against COVID-19, state officials said on Tuesday. They warned that the delay in getting the youngest eligible group their shots could leave them vulnerable to infection from omicron or future coronavirus variants. COVID-19 is a childhood illness, said Dr. Erica Pan, the state epidemiologist, said Tuesday in a Grand Rounds session with medical professionals. Health department data shows that unvaccinated children in that age group are at 11 times higher risk for hospitalization from COVID-19  and the risk of death is four times higher than from the flu. Pan said there are steep disparities in vaccination rates among children based on neighborhoods and wealth, and encouraged pediatricians to better offer their patients information about the vaccine. We need to make a lot of progress in our 5- to 11-year-olds, she said. California has recorded 50 confirmed pediatric COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic, with the median age of the patients being 10-years-old.

Four states move to drop school mask mandates: Officials in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon announced plans to drop mask mandates for schools in the coming weeks, leaving masking decisions to individual districts, the Washington Post reports. Connecticuts governor said he will recommend dropping the states school mandate at the end of this month, and New Jersey plans to do so March 7. Oregons masking requirement for all indoor public places, including classrooms, will be removed no later than March 31, along with Delawares school mask mandate.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends universal indoor masking in schools.

Oakdale district bans students without masks: Amid unruly protests against mask mandates for students, an Oakdale school district (Stanislaus County) on Monday banned students without masks from campuses and postponed a school board meeting due to safety concerns. The district superintendent said the said the actions were needed to calm tensions that included a threat of violence against high school staff, student walkouts and rumors spread on social media that maskless students were being locked in a cold gym. Read the full story.

Study warns of sharp rise of croup cases in kids with COVID: Pediatricians in the United States have tracked a shape rise in croup cases in children who test positive for the coronavirus. The trajectory of infections appears to run parallel to the spread of the dominant omicron variant, according to a preprint study published in the medical journal medRxiv. About 2.8% of croup cases among those studied were in children infected during the delta wave, while more than 48% tested positive once omicron became dominant. Croup, which is typically triggered by respiratory viruses, causes difficulty in breathing and usually a loud, persistent cough. During the omicron surge, we have seen that the incidence of croup nearly doubled compared to the rate in prior months, while at the same time the number of cases of parainfluenza virus identified decreased, the researchers write.

BA.2 puts a dent in omicrons domination: The dominance of the primary omicron coronavirus variant in the United States is being challenged by the rapid spread of the BA.2 subvariant, according to data published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Feb. 5, the original omicron lineage, called B.1.1.259, accounted for 96.4% of new COVID-19 cases nationally  down from about 99% the previous week. In that period, the BA.2 lineage was estimated to grow from 1.2% of cases to 3.6%. While preliminary data shows BA.2 is 1.5 times more contagious than its parent strain, public health officials do not think it causes more severe disease. The delta variant of the virus, which accounted for 99.2% of all new cases on Dec. 4, is no longer present in new cases.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Johnson & Johnson halts production of COVID-19 vaccine: The pharmaceutical company discreetly closed the only plant making usable batches of its COVID-19 vaccine, according to a New York Times report citing people familiar with the decision. The sources indicated that the pause was temporary as the production facility in the Dutch city of Leiden is now being used to manufacture a potentially more profitable vaccine against an unrelated virus.

Sick leave extension moves through state Legislature: Both houses of the California Legislature have voted to revive paid supplementary COVID-19 sick leave that expired last year. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the legislation, which would be retroactive to the beginning of the year. Labor groups had pressed Newsom and the Legislature to resurrect the measure, which was allowed to expire at the end of September when federal tax credits for businesses providing the leave expired. Read more here.

Marin County offers shot clinics: Marin County health officials say that while more than 87% of county residents now are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, a far lower number, 68%, are getting booster shots, which are a crucial step in helping to protect against the omicron variant. The county urges residents to get their shots at free clinics at: Northgate Mall on Wednesday through Saturday this week, the Kerner Clinic in San Rafael on Saturday, and St. Andrew Presbyterian Church on Wednesday.

Bay Area deaths double in two weeks: The number of daily COVID deaths reported in the Bay Area has doubled from two weeks ago but appears to be leveling off in recent days. At the same time, cases and hospitalizations of patients with COVID continue to plunge from the height of the omicron surge. Coronavirus fatalities in the region have ticked up since Jan. 24, from 11 per day to 22 per day as of Monday, according to state data on seven-day averages of new daily deaths. Read the details here.

Californias indoor mask mandate on the way out: Californias statewide mask mandate, which requires everyone to wear face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status, will be lifted Feb. 16, health officials confirmed Monday, noting that cases have dropped dramatically from the peak of the omicron surge. Read the full story here.

Californias positive-test rate dips below 10% for first time since Christmas: The states rate of coronavirus tests coming back positive dropped to 9.5% as of Monday  the first time since Christmas Day the rate has been below 10%, according to state data  as the omicron surge continues its decline. At the height of the omicron wave around Jan. 9, the test positivity rate was nearly 23%. The figures are seven-day averages.

San Francisco delays non-essential worker return: City staff who can work remote wont be back in the office until at least March 7, rather than February 14 as the omicron variant, though dropping in case numbers, remains a threat. Around a third of 35,000 workers are affected, with essential workers already in person.

CDC considers longer time between vaccine doses: A longer interval between doses of two-shot coronavirus vaccines is under consideration by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is looking at recommending eight weeks between the first and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna shots. The CDCs Dr. Sara Oliver told a recent meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that the longer interval may lower the risk of heart inflammation, an extremely rare side effect of mRNA shots, and increase overall vaccine efficacy. The agency currently recommends spacing out the first two shots of Pfizers vaccine for three weeks and Modernas for four weeks. Booster uptake in the highly-vaccinated Bay Area has lagged significantly behind rates of vaccination with the initial single - or two-dose series of coronavirus vaccine.

Infected Bay Area skater drops out of Olympic event: U.S. figure skater Vincent Zhou of Palo Alto, who tested positive for the coronavirus a day after struggling through a poor free skate for the eventual team silver medalists, will not not compete in the mens singles competition that begins Tuesday. The skater made the announcement Monday night in a teary video posted to his Instagram account. Unfortunately I will have to withdraw from the individual event starting tomorrow, he said, recounting the emotional frustration of doing everything he was supposed to in order to prevent infection and then testing positive nonetheless.
Its happening again.

COVID is spreading through immigration detention centers across the country like wildfire. This time, however, the coronavirus infection rates are the highest that theyve ever been, increasing a staggering 848% over the first few weeks of 2022. About 14% of people in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody were infected  the worst since the start of the pandemic.

The large number of infections is partially explained by increased transmissibility of the omicron variant. However, ICE has repeatedly demonstrated that it is incapable of handling public health crises. From shirking basic hygiene measures like provision of masks and soap to deliberately under testing for COVID, the agency has flagrantly failed to comply with the most fundamental public health recommendations throughout the pandemic. Even after repeated outbreaks, ICE refuses to release important public health data, such as information on COVID hospitalizations of detainees and infection or vaccination rates among its employees or contractors. When confronted with these failures, ICE lied to courts regarding their COVID response.

Additionally, despite studies demonstrating that the most reliable protection is vaccination, only a third of all individuals who entered ICE detention since the pandemic onset received COVID-19 vaccinations. Unfortunately, even this statistic lacks context and detail: ICE has not shared the percentage of the currently detained population that have been vaccinated since people are constantly rotating through, what types of vaccines are provided and whether individuals received their first or second shot. There is no nationwide plan to offer boosters to all detainees. And there is no plan to overcome the immense distrust of ICE following years of medical neglect, coercion and substandard care, which has led to a third of detainees refusing the vaccine. Only 671 individuals have received a booster vaccine as of January, roughly 2% of ICEs currently detained population.

ICE lacks a coordinated national vaccination plan or protocol. Each detention facility determines its own protocols for detained people and even staff. While some states, like California, took up the challenge of including detainees in their vaccination roll out plans, many have not. And many ICE detention centers are run by private corporations, which argue that they do not fall under state jurisdiction and operate with even less transparency. (Notably, these corporations also manage for-profit prisons across the country, where COVID numbers are also surging, but not nearly as severe as whats happening in ICE detention centers.) At this rate, providing boosters every six months or so will be an impossible task in facilities with such disparate policies and that are so poorly equipped to keep track of a fluctuating population.

The reality is dire for the 21,000 still held in the 200 detention centers, county jails and for-profit prisons. People in overcrowded and poor living environments like detention facilities are three times more likely to die of COVID.

As a human rights lawyer representing vulnerable migrants and an emergency medicine physician conducting physical exams of asylum seekers, I have personally witnessed the decimation of immigrant communities by COVID  and how carceral facilities, like detention centers, are incubators and super spreaders of the disease. One man, who spoke to me under condition of anonymity from Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, described a continued lack of personal protective equipment as well as the resurgence of widespread symptoms such as coughing and fever.

The only thing more pervasive than these ubiquitous symptoms is fear.

Meanwhile, family members of the detained people I support report increasing staff shortages and denials of booster vaccines despite requests.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit seeking booster shots for five immigrants, who were denied their jabs despite having dangerous medical comorbidities that put them at higher risk of death if infected. But immigrants in detention shouldnt have to go to court to be given access to booster vaccines when their lives are in jeopardy now.

The spread of COVID inside these facilities not only endangers the lives of those in detention, but also in surrounding communities. Coronavirus does not stay trapped within the walls of a detention center; staff enter and exit every day and the detainee population churns regularly. One study demonstrated how the spread of coronavirus from a single jail accounted for close to 16% of all cases in Illinois in 2020. Without a doubt, overcrowded and neglected conditions of carceral settings of all types transform into epidemic engines that spread infectious diseases into the broader community. We have seen this spread with influenza, tuberculosis, HIV and now COVID.

While it may be too late for the current omicron surge of the pandemic, the only path forward is clear  decarceration and release of the 75% of detained individuals who hold no criminal records and the thousands more who have only minor misdemeanors. Studies have shown that decarceration is extremely effective at reducing disease burden and transmission. At the same time, groundbreaking settlements hold ICE and its private-prison contractors accountable, paving the way to humane precedents that detention facilities across the country should follow.

If detention centers and other such carceral facilities dont decarcerate, they will continue to serve as kindling to public health wildfires like COVID.

Theresa Cheng is a UCSF clinical instructor-physician in emergency medicine and a Skadden Fellow/human rights attorney. She is also a Physicians for Human Rights Asylum Network member and is on the board of directors of Border Kindness, a nonprofit providing migrant families with essential needs as well as medical and legal services.
WASHINGTON  On Feb. 1, attorney Monika Langarica was in a San Diego courtroom watching as the Biden administration resumed hearing cases on a controversial immigration policy that requires migrants to wait in Mexico while they plead their case to enter the U.S. That evening, she wrote a series of tweets describing what she saw.

The next day, she received an email from the Justice Department that shocked her: The administration asked her to delete the tweets. They claimed she violated a policy against making a record of immigration court proceedings and threatened potential criminal penalties if she committed further violations.

The Justice Department retracted its request and apologized to Langarica after The Chronicle inquired about the threat, saying further review confirmed she was not tweeting from the courtroom and thus did not violate any policies.

Still, the surprising episode raised several issues, including First Amendment concerns, issues of transparency in the often secretive immigration courts as well as criticisms of the policy at the heart of the dispute.

It (was) shocking, because we are in our right to observe these proceedings, we are in our right to share with the public what is happening in these court rooms, Langarica said in an interview before the apology had been issued. Langarica is an attorney with UCLAs Center for Immigration Law and Policy and formerly with the San Diego American Civil Liberties Union.

The agency was right to apologize and retract its unlawful threat to ... Monika Langarica, the centers co-director Ahilan Arulanantham said in a statement. Shedding light on the cruelty of Bidens (remain in Mexico) policy is essential, not illegal.

Under a quirk of federal law, the immigration courts are wholly controlled by the Justice Department, including the judges being employees overseen by the attorney general. The agencys courts branch is called the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Justice Department does have policies governing the use of electronic devices in immigration courtrooms, but their initial threats in response to Langaricas tweets, which did not violate the policy in any apparent ways, alarmed Langarica and her colleagues.

In an email Tuesday morning that was shared with The Chronicle, the Justice Department informed Langarica that upon further review of your posts, the timestamps reveal that you did not post to social media during the proceedings, and those posts therefore did not violate Federal regulation or EOIR policy. We regret the error and apologize for requesting that you remove those posts.

In a statement, an official with the agency said it regrets requesting that the attorney delete her tweets and has apologized to the attorney.

Langarica was observing proceedings in what are known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, a Trump-era policy that requires that migrants who arrive at the southern border seeking asylum or other protections in the U.S. wait in Mexico until their cases are decided. President Biden initially ended the program, but a federal judge ordered it to be reinstated. The Biden administration has recently resumed the policy, they say with more humane provisions, but immigration advocates have fumed that Biden and his officials did not try harder to avoid re-implementing the system that Biden himself decried.

In a critical series of tweets that are time-stamped to confirm Langarica sent them after leaving the San Diego court, the attorney described everything she observed that day, including what she argued was insufficient access to legal guidance for migrants. She also described and quoted from a particular court proceeding where the judge told a migrant she had to find an attorney herself if she wanted one, urging her to keep calling attorneys until one answered and could take her case, while the migrant said she did not have enough phone minutes to do so.

At the end of her string of tweets, Langarica critically concluded that the MPP policy tramples on due process and forces people to make impossible choices, like buying minutes to call attorneys who may not answer or saving money for housing across the border.

The next day, she received an email from the Justice Departments Executive Office for Immigration Review public information officer who covers courts in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, according to a copy of the email obtained by The Chronicle.

Usage of cameras or recording devices in courtrooms or other EOIR space is prohibited, the officer wrote. Usage of electronic devices to make a record  audio or written transcription  of the proceedings is prohibited. Accordingly, please delete the tweets linked here as your tweets are contemporaneous transcriptions of the proceedings in violation of the security directive.

The message continued: Please note that further violation of the aforementioned security directive may result in you being removed from EOIR space. Additionally, further violations may result in criminal consequences.

The later apology and retraction from the Justice Department came from a different civil servant based in the main D.C. office.

It is unclear why the Justice Department targeted Langarica. Countless journalists, including from The Chronicle, have observed immigration court proceedings and reported on their content. The Washington Post published a story about MPP that included courtroom quotes the same week Langarica received the email ordering her tweets removed.

It is relatively common practice for immigration attorneys and advocates to observe court proceedings and share what happens inside, without facing takedown requests. A North Carolina immigration attorney was prosecuted and convicted for using her cell phone in an immigration courtroom after being ordered to stop. But the email from the Justice Department to Langarica made no mention of in-court disruption, only pointing to the tweets themselves as improper transcription.

The big question here is why is DOJ using resources to threaten the few lawyers that are actually present in this space that lacks critical access to legal resources instead of fixing or addressing in any way the inherent due process issues in MPP court? Langarica said.

In the context I think of any immigration court proceedings that are open to the public, this is egregious. In the context of MPP court, in the context of a process that is so egregious in terms of due process violations and inhumanity that allow it to operate, it is incomprehensible.

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan
Michael Shellenberger, an author and journalist who has criticized San Franciscos Tenderloin Linkage Center, was escorted out of the facility last week after purportedly scaling a fence and entering an off-limits area.

A spokesperson for the citys Department of Emergency Management, which manages the center, said a person climbed over a fence and entered the facility without authorization on Feb. 3. The person, whom the department did not identify, was escorted off the premises by staff, who filed a citizens arrest for alleged trespassing.

Shellenberger confirmed he was evicted from the center on Feb. 3, during an interview with The Chronicle on Monday.

The incident was referred to San Francisco police, who conducted interviews and determined no criminal offense had taken place. Police declined to provide any reports or other written documentation related to the incident on Monday.

The linkage center seeks to connect people in the Tenderloin to drug treatment, housing and other services while offering a place where people in need can access showers, food, bathrooms and other basic necessities. It opened last month, but quickly attracted controversy following reports  first published by Shellenberger  that people at the center were permitted to use drugs inside the fenced-in area that separates the seven-story building from U.N. Plaza.

Shellenberger declined to confirm that he had climbed the fence or explain how he got into the center. He said his cameras were confiscated by the linkage staff and taken inside the facility. Journalists are not allowed inside the site.

I was in the linkage center monitoring it as is my right as a citizen, Shellenberger said. I was covering a secret and illegal medical experiment. I was evicted from the site.

The center opened in January as part of the citys efforts to address overdose deaths in the neighborhood. Access to the center remains strictly limited in an effort to preserve a sense of privacy for the people utilizing its services, according to Department of Emergency Management officials.

The city has so far denied The Chronicles requests to enter the site.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

It takes time, trust and a feeling of safety for people to be ready to engage, follow through and commit to programs that address the challenges people are experiencing, Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Francis Zamora said in a statement. This is why we must provide a safe and welcoming environment where people can meet their basic needs so we can be there for them when they are ready to do more.

Shellenberger confirmed that police interviewed him and the staff members who evicted him and ultimately were able to secure his cameras and return them to him. He said police asked if he, in turn, wanted to file a complaint.

I said no despite the fact that it is an illegal and unethical experiment being done on our most vulnerable citizens, he said.

Shellenberger is the author of San Fransicko, a book arguing that San Franciscos famously progressive politics and policies are to blame for the citys homelessness, drug-addiction and mental health crises.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@samwhitingsf
Four people were injured in three separate recent shootings in San Francisco, police said. In all instances, the victims' injuries are non-life-threatening and no arrests have been made, the San Francisco Police Department said.

The first incident occurred on Thursday, Feb. 3, in SoMa where a 40-year-old man was shot when he tried to stop two men from breaking into his car, the department said.

Police responded to the 200 block of 9th Street just after 9 p.m. where they found the man with a gunshot wound.

There were two more shootings on Saturday, Feb. 5. In broad daylight, two vehicles "exchanged gunfire" in the Castro at the intersection of Market and Douglass streets, the department said. Police responded at 12:49 p.m., found evidence of a shooting and talked to multiple witnesses.

"A short time later, two victims with gunshot wounds arrived to a local hospital," police said.

That evening, a 48-year-old man was shot in the Bayview, the department said. Officers responded to the incident at Underwood Avenue and Ingalls Street at 8:25 p.m.

The male said he was walking when suspects in a dark sedan stopped their car near the victim and one of them "brandished a firearm," police said.

"The victim attempted to disarm the suspect and during the struggle, the firearm went off and the victim was struck by a bullet," police said.

Anyone with information on any of these incidents can call the SFPD tip line at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.
LATEST Feb. 8, 10 a.m. A missing San Francisco man who went missing in the Muir Beach waters Monday afternoon has not yet been found, prompting a second-day shore search, Golden Gate National Recreation Area said in a tweet Tuesday morning.

We will not be releasing the names of the people involved out of respect for their families, the agency added.

Feb. 7, 3:55 p.m. A multiagency search for a missing San Francisco man commenced at Muir Beach on Monday afternoon, the National Park Services Golden Gate National Recreation Area office announced.

Two people who were with the missing individual were already rescued and brought ashore earlier Monday afternoon; how the group got stranded in the water is unclear.

Golden Gate NPS officials believe that the three individuals, all fishermen from San Francisco, hiked down to the water from the Muir Beach Overlook and ended up in the punishing waters.

The overlook sits above the beach and is bordered by steep rocky cliffs, read a tweet from Golden Gate NPS, which manages the area. There is no trail that goes to the water.

The recovery efforts now include the U.S. Coast Guard, in addition to the Marin County Fire Department and Marin County Sheriffs Office, the California Highways Patrol's Golden Gate division, the Muir Beach Fire Department and the Southern Marin Fire District. A California Highway Patrol helicopter transported the two rescued individuals back to shore.

Officials are advising that the public stay away from Muir Beach and Muir Beach Outlook until the rescue mission is complete.

This story is developing and will be updated as more information is made available.
A rafter of wild turkeys is causing major headaches for scientists at NASAs Ames Research Center in the Bay Area  and now federal officials are getting involved.

As first reported by the Bay Area News Group, about two dozen of the pesky creatures have made the Mountain View laboratory their home  and laid siege to nearly everything in sight.

The news publication reported that the turkeys are blocking traffic, defecating around buildings, pecking at cars and windows and, crucially, posing a threat to NASA aircraft.

The rafter reached its peak during the pandemic, with 20 to 25 turkeys roaming around the facility in 2020. NASA Ames spokesperson Rachel Hoover told the outlet that the turkeys likely lay their eggs at the nearby Stevens Creek. (Hoover did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.)

And the blight of turkeys has perhaps been exacerbated by people on site, who feed them despite a no feeding policy implemented on the campus, reports the Bay Area News Group.

Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is intervening  with hopes to relocate the birds to an ecological reserve managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The process will likely take about a month.

If done successfully, theyll be able to move the birds to the reserve before nesting season  when new baby turkeys will begin to hatch, without learning the destructive behavior of the older turkeys. If not, Hoover told the Bay Area News Group, theyll have to just figure out how to coexist at Ames together.
LATEST, Feb. 8, 9:20 a.m. Every single Bay Area county except for Santa Clara announced it will align with the state and lift its mask mandate next week. Read more from SFGATE here.

Feb. 8, 6:30 a.m. San Mateo County will align with the state and no longer require masks at most indoor settings after Feb. 15, bringing the number of Bay Area counties dropping requirements up to three.

The announcement was made during a Tuesday board of supervisors meeting.

Feb. 8, 1:50 p.m. The state of California's indoor mask mandate is set to end after Feb. 15, which means control of masking policies  save for masking requirements in schools, and in "high-risk" settings such as public transit and hospitals  returns to the counties.

Beginning next Wednesday, Feb. 16, counties can decided whether to lift their mask mandates in line with the state or continue to require them. At this point, in the Bay Area it appears only Solano and Marin counties are definitively planning to drop the face covering requirement, while others continue to figure out next steps.

Prior to the statewide mask mandate going into effect Dec. 15 amid the omicron surge, eight Bay Area counties  San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Marin, Sonoma and Napa  issued their own mask mandates in response to the delta variant, and devised a set of shared criteria for lifting these mandates. Solano County did not join the other counties, and the county's website confirms masks will no longer be required after Feb. 15.

Of the eight counties with their own mandates, only Marin County was able to satisfy the three conditions to lift its mandate before the statewide mandate came down in December.

SFGATE reached out to all eight of those Bay Area counties and asked whether they would stick with the original shared criteria or lift the mandate Feb. 16 along with other counties in the state. Notably, no counties recommitted to the shared criteria.

San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara

San Francisco demurred last week when asked about its future masking plans, and said Tuesday it is discussing "next steps" with other counties.

"San Francisco is currently evaluating our local situation based on cases, hospitalizations, and vaccination citywide including booster doses, and is consulting with our regional and state partners on next steps regarding our indoor masking requirements," the San Francisco Department of Public Health said in a statement.

"In Contra Costa County, we are in the process of evaluating our county masking requirements in light of the upcoming changes to state guidance and will announce any changes to local orders as soon as they are finalized," a spokesperson for Contra Costa County wrote in an email.

"Alameda County case rates and hospitalizations continue to decline," a spokesperson for Alameda County wrote in an email. "We are monitoring these metrics and evaluating the role of our local face masking order in light of the expected State mask policy changes. We will provide an update to residents before February 15."

Santa Clara County said an update will come during a Board of Supervisors meeting later Tuesday. During that board meeting, Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said she had no update to provide.

Marin

Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis told SFGATE in January his county will no longer be using case rates to set public policy, making it the first (and only) Bay Area county that adopted the shared criteria to publicly ditch that requirement.

"We'd be looking at hospitalizations as our primary indicator, and importantly, hospitalizations 'for COVID,' where it's directly attributable to the virus," Willis said. "That'd be the primary metric we'd be looking to."

The county's deputy public health officer told the Marin Independent Journal masks will longer be required after Feb. 15.

Marin no longer has a local health order around masking, so well align with the state, Dr. Lisa Santora said.

Sonoma

Sonoma County did not return an SFGATE request for comment, but county Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase told the Press Democrat that while case rates are moving in the right direction, virus transmission is still widespread.

Were discussing next steps now with other Bay Area counties, well know better by that time what direction were going, Mase said.

San Mateo and Napa

San Mateo and Napa counties also did not return SFGATE requests for comment.

San Mateo County's health department has its own dashboard displaying the county's progress in meeting the shared criteria. It was last updated earlier this week and shows the county does not meet the case or hospitalization requirements.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

The state of California's indoor mask mandate, which was issued on Dec. 15 and later extended through Feb. 15, will indeed expire on Feb. 15, officials announced Monday.

The most important question now is which individual counties will choose to also end local mask mandates on Feb. 15, as state law requires that counties follow state mandates if the state mandates are more restrictive. With the statewide mandate gone, control over masking policies returns to the counties.
Thousands of Oaklands students, parents and teachers have taken to the streets in the last week  and two teachers are on their eighth day of a hunger strike  protesting proposed school closures that would disproportionately affect Black students in low-income neighborhoods.

The Oakland school board will vote Tuesday night on whether to close eight schools around the city. A board meeting Jan. 31 had more than 1,800 Zoom attendees; dozens spoke during the public comment period, which ran well into Tuesday morning. The list of schools was made public less than two weeks ago, a timeline that critics say is far too short to understand the true impact to students and their communities.

The proposal comes in response to escalating pressure from the state and from Alameda County Office of Education, which has threatened to withhold funds and even seize control of the budget if Oakland fails to reduce annual school spending by $50 million. Critics of the proposed closures say they will cause significant harm to Black students in Oakland, who have already been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and past school closures. Forty-three percent of students at the schools on the chopping block are Black, compared with 22% of Oakland public school students overall, according to Oaklandside.

Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATE

Oakland Unified has struggled with finances for years, both because of falling enrollment and  according to a 2018 grand jury report  because of massive overspending on educational consultants and administrative services. (The district spent over $33 million in the last school year on "consultants" and approved construction on a new central office building estimated to cost $48 million.) While the district receives some of the highest per-student funding in the state, its teachers are paid some of the lowest wages in California. Many schools struggle to afford librarians and janitors.

Proponents of the closures point out that Oakland has a higher number of schools per student than similarly-sized districts, and many of Oakland's schools are under-enrolled, which spreads resources out across many locations. The toll of gentrification on Oakland is really severe in terms of the number of families that have left, Sam Davis, vice president and one of seven members of the school board, told SFGATE. Right now, salaries in Oakland Unified are very low. Our job is to support the adults who support the children. Davis will likely vote for closures at Tuesdays meeting.

Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATE

But opponents of the plan maintain that other budgetary mismanagement is the primary reason for the shortfall. Very rarely does the district show any outcomes for the money being spent on consultants, VanCedric Williams, a school board member representing West Oakland, told SFGATE at a protest on Saturday. He plans to vote against the closures. Were throwing all this money in a dark hole. Thats the challenge  how do you create a system of accountability?

At a board meeting last week, the district claimed the school closures will save between $4 and $15 million, though critics point out that a round of closures in 2019 doesnt seem to have saved any money. Promises to provide transportation and other support to students affected by those earlier closures fell far short of community needs, according to Williams and Oakland parents who spoke with SFGATE.

Those closures did not give any savings whatsoever, or very negligible savings, Williams said. Thats what makes it so shocking that theyre pushing this without any conversation or debate.

Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATE

Like many parents of kids at West Oaklands Prescott Elementary, one of the schools slated for closure, Tiffany Climens walks her son to school every day. Without a car, and with little public transportation nearby, shes not sure how she would get her five-year-old son to the next closest elementary school more than a mile away. This is my community. My childs father and his parents, they all went to Prescott, Climens told SFGATE. Everyone here knows my son. If theres an emergency, his auntie lives around the corner, and I live two blocks away. As a single worker mom, thats so important.

Alicia Simba is a second-year teacher at Prescott, where she teaches transitional kindergarten for five-year-olds whose birthdays fall after the cutoff for traditional kindergarten. While she worries about how her students will adjust to changing schools, shes even more concerned about their parents, many of whom have relied on the school community during pandemic crises. Prescott is part of the wider community, too. The school, which is located in a food desert, has a deal with a grocery delivery company to distribute free boxes of healthy food in the neighborhood, and serves as an election polling place.

Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATE

Simba, who received her master's degree in education from Stanford two years ago, has struggled to convince classmates and other teacher friends to apply for jobs in Oakland. Its hard to tell teachers they should come work in the district, or convince parents to enroll their kids, when the school might close in two years, she said. The Oakland community  teachers, parents and staff  are doing the best we can. Weve worked so hard during the pandemic. This feels like a slap in the face.

The vote will be held during a special meeting on Tuesday, February 8 at 5 p.m. For more information, including a link to the Zoom, click here.

Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATE
Somewhere in the dark, shadowy maze, my lantern went out.

It was after sunset, the sea breeze was chilly, and for a moment, I could have sworn I saw a ghostly figure in uniform darting in my peripheral vision.

No, this was not an old-timey horror movie, but wandering the halls of a Civil War relic certainly gets the imagination going.

Special to SFGATE

Rather, this was Fort Point, once known as the Pride of the Pacific, nestled in the wing of the monstrous Golden Gate Bridge. The seacoast fortification was at one point the most formidable defense California could offer to an attack by sea, but its soldiers never fired a shot at an enemy.

Today, visitors can catch a glimpse into San Franciscos past with a candlelit tour of the historic site.

On a recent Saturday night, I was running late to my evening tour, having missed my exit in the dark. I jogged towards my group, which had already gathered at the mouth of the fort.

Special to SFGATE

The National Park Service ranger leading the tour beckoned people inside the fort, advising everyone to duck. The doorway was roughly the height of a hobbit.

Once inside the sallyport  a heavily guarded entryway with gargantuan oak doors at both ends  we were told to select lanterns and have the rangers light them. The ornate pattern on mine bounced eerie shadows off the walls, the top of the lantern growing hot in my hand.

With the creepy shadows getting to my head, I later asked my tour guide, park ranger Roger Fang, if anyone ever saw any ghosts on the tour.

Special to SFGATE

That question comes up quite a lot. Visitors occasionally do think they see things in the dark, he said, pragmatically. But there's no way we can confirm that there's anything there.

Fang and the other ranger beckoned us deeper inside, funneling us into an interior courtyard known as the parade ground, where soldiers would run drills. Beneath the towering brick walls and the clear sky studded with stars, it didnt feel like San Francisco anymore. Wed crossed a threshold and landed somewhere very far away, very long ago.

In its earliest days, the land that Fort Point was built on belonged to the Ramaytush Ohlone. In the 18th century, Spanish colonizers took over, building the Castillo de San Joaquin, a little gun battery erected to defend the San Francisco Bay against British and Russian enemy ships. Its adobe walls, however, could not sustain the elements and quickly fell into disrepair. The fort remained abandoned until it was captured and occupied during the Mexican-American War.

Special to SFGATE

Once California was annexed into the United States, it was the Gold Rush that brought the coastal defense to life again  suddenly, San Francisco had something very valuable to protect. Construction began on Fort Point in 1853, continuing until the Civil War broke out.

Worried that Confederate states would attempt to attack San Francisco, Union troops filed into the nearly complete fort in 1861. They occupied the coastal defense for four years, but the fort was never attacked. Still, the nearly 500 soldiers stationed there had to remain vigilant.

One soldier at the fort was assigned the task of rolling barrels of gunpowder to keep them from clumping in the coastal air, Fang told the group. Not only were the barrels extremely heavy at 100 pounds each, but it was also a dangerous job: The soldiers only available light was a lantern, meaning they were holding fire awfully close to barrels of explosives.

Special to SFGATE

Without ever seeing an attack, life for soldiers at Fort Point during the Civil War was a mundane one of repetitive drills and maintenance chores. But it was also often uncomfortable.

Conditions were damp, cold and foggy, and ocean waves often sprayed over the walls of the fort. The damp weather also mixed poorly with the soldiers wool uniforms. Peeking out a tiny window of the fort at the choppy waves of the Pacific, I shivered just imagining it.

While officers enjoyed individual bedrooms and shared common parlors  cozy habitations with curtains and carpets we saw reconstructed on the tour  enlisted men slept in austere bunks, two dozen to a room. Soldiers only bathed once a week, and washed their feet twice. If that didnt already sound gross, consider this: The men slept two to a bed, head to feet.

Special to SFGATE

Showing visitors the soldiers quarters is Fangs favorite part of the tour, he said.

It gives me the chance to put our visitors in the shoes of other human beings who used to live at the fort 160 years ago, he explained.

After the Civil War, no one ever occupied the fort for such a lengthy stay again, but it saw a number of uses throughout the years. It served as barracks for officers during World War I, as trade schools in the early 1920s and again as living quarters and office space during World War II.

U.S. National Park Service

Instead of demolishing the fort to make way for the Golden Gate Bridge in 1933, pains were taken to preserve it. It ended up coming in handy  artisans and workers on the bridge used it as a workspace during construction.

Now, Fort Points identity is intrinsically tied to the bridge. At the end of the tour, Fang took us up to the roof, an incredible vantage point for bridge viewing. The look of awe when people get to the top is another one of his favorite parts of the tour, he said.

Special to SFGATE

Its some of the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge you can get in the city, said Fang.

I peered over the brick wall of the fort, the behemoth bridge casting a golden glow over the dark evening waves. Awe-inspiring, indeed.

Fort Point tends to get overshadowed by the more famous landmark above it, but its still fascinating in its own right. Even for locals, theres still a ton to learn about San Franciscos history  in fact, said Fang, the majority of people who take the candlelit tour are locals.

Special to SFGATE

At its core, Fort Point is a military installation, but when we learn about the history of how Fort Point came to be, that origin story, we start getting exposed to all those different stories that tie into the park, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, he said. From the indigenous people who managed this land before settlers arrived, to the Spanish who were the first settlers, you get this diverse and rich cultural picture.

Theres just something about the darkness of night and the orange flickering of lanterns that really brings those stories alive. Maybe youve visited Fort Point in the daytime, but trust me  you havent really seen Fort Point until youve seen it at night.

Special to SFGATE

Special to SFGATE

Special to SFGATE
TORONTO - The busiest crossing on the U.S.-Canada land border was blockaded Tuesday as the demonstrations against vaccine mandates that have paralyzed Canada's capital spread to a crucial trade artery, while inspiring similar protests from Europe to Australia.

The Ambassador Bridge, which links Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, was "temporarily closed" for passengers and commercial traffic, authorities on both sides of the border said Tuesday, though Windsor police said "limited traffic" was being allowed into the United States. The 1.6-mile suspension bridge is an important trade link, particularly for the region's auto industry. It also connects families, friends and essential workers, including Canadian nurses who work in Detroit-area hospitals.

The blockade there began Monday; it was unclear when it might end. The U.S. Transportation Department estimates the bridge carries nearly 30% of the annual trade between Canada and the United States.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged the self-styled "Freedom Convoy," which has since Jan. 28 jammed major thoroughfares in downtown Ottawa with idling big rigs and other vehicles, to go home.

"Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens' daily lives. It has to stop," he said during an emergency debate in Parliament on Monday evening. "The people of Ottawa don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods."

On Tuesday, a lawmaker in Trudeau's Liberal Party broke ranks, telling reporters that he has heard from many people who feel "it is becoming harder and harder to know where public health stops and politics begins." He said the government should provide "clear and measurable targets" for lifting some of the public health restrictions.

"I fear that this politicization of the pandemic risks undermining the public's trust in our public health institutions," said Joel Lightbound, who represents a Quebec City district. "This is not a risk we ought to be taking lightly."

The Ottawa protest has drawn support from former president Donald Trump and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, and police have said a "significant element" from the United States has been involved, including in its funding and organization. Senior Canadian officials hit back at U.S. politicians weighing in.

The convoy started as a protest of U.S. and Canadian rules that require truckers to be fully vaccinated to cross the border, but its grievances are now wide-ranging. Some protesters want an end to all public health measures, most of which are imposed by provinces, not the federal government.

Others are directing their ire at Trudeau.

In Ottawa, the number of protesters fell from the roughly 5,000 who gathered downtown Saturday to roughly 100 on Monday, but rows of big rigs continued to jam city streets. Local media reported relative quiet after a judge Monday granted a temporary injunction barring protesters from incessantly honking their horns.

"Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought I'm aware of," said Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean.

Many businesses, including a downtown shopping mall, remained closed because of security concerns.

Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, said an estimated $100 million in auto parts crosses the Ambassador Bridge each day. The blockade, he said, was "certainly not ideal."

"Even if we have other options available to us, it's going to raise prices and it's going to challenge our ability to deliver just in time," he said. "Very importantly, the same goes for all of those automotive part suppliers in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois who use that border crossing to send their cars to their Canadian customers."

He called on authorities to enforce the law. He noted that several groups representing Canadian truckers have distanced themselves from the demonstrations and that the vast majority of truckers are fully vaccinated.

"This is not a truckers protest," Volpe said. "It stopped being a truckers protest, especially in Windsor, a week ago."

By Tuesday afternoon, there were delays of more than two hours for commercial traffic at the Blue Water Bridge, an alternative route more than 60 miles away that connects Sarnia, Ontario, and Port Huron, Mich.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was in contact with its Canadian counterparts.

"We, of course, support . . . the right to freedom of speech and protest," she told reporters. "While we do see some of this congestion due to protests, it is clear that these disruptions have broadened in scope beyond the vaccine requirement implementation."

In Ottawa, police have shifted their strategy in recent days to focus on trying to dismantle the supply lines that have sustained what Police Chief Peter Sloly has called a "siege." One tactic has been seizing fuel from well-supplied logistics hubs that have sprouted up, though authorities have had mixed success.

Police said Tuesday that they had made more than 20 arrests, issued more than 1,300 tickets and opened 85 criminal investigations. On Monday, they worked with authorities in Ohio to identify and arrest a person who they allege was calling in fake threats to "distract" emergency resources.

"Through intelligence, we've also learned that almost 25% of the 418 trucks encamped in our city have children living in them . . . who could be at risk during a police operation," Deputy Chief Steve Bell said. "We're working with the Children's Aid Society to ensure their welfare and safety."

An additional challenge, he said, is that demonstrators have deliberately immobilized vehicles blocking thoroughfares by removing their tires or bleeding their brakes.

The standoff in Ottawa is inspiring copycats, particularly in Europe, where anti-vaccine and anti-mandate groups have started to rally under the "Freedom Convoy" banner.

Though Europe has a history of trucker and anti-lockdown protests, the Ottawa demonstration has fueled a rush of online organizing.

A "European Freedom Convoy" flier posted to Twitter on Jan. 31 calls on groups across the continent to "block" each European capital before making their way to Brussels on Feb. 14.

One Facebook group for the European convoy has more than 48,000 members. Users who join the group might be directed to events in France, Portugal, Denmark and Norway.

On Telegram, a messaging app popular with far-right groups, one international convoy channel has 49,000 members and another more than 18,000. Both are circulating links to smaller channels for more than two dozen European countries, including Sweden, Luxembourg and Malta.

The Twitter organizing uses language popular with the anti-lockdown movement, a combination of anti-vaccine, anti-mandate and conspiracy-theorist far-right politics that has thrived on both sides of the Atlantic throughout the pandemic.

Public health measures such as vaccine and mask mandates are compared to "martial law." There are references to "individual sovereignty" and "the right to choose" - clear calls to anti-vaccine-mandate organizing.

On Telegram, there are earnest expressions of support for truckers and calls for protest amid the more conspiracy-theorist fare, including misinformation about vaccines and QAnon-influenced memes about "cabals" of global elites.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, R, tweeted over the weekend that their states would investigate GoFundMe after the website said it was removing a fundraiser that had raised more than $8 million for the Ottawa protest. GoFundMe cited evidence from law enforcement "that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity."

Marco Mendicino, Canada's public safety minister, told reporters it was "certainly not the concern of the Texas attorney general as to how we in Canada go about our daily lives in accordance with the rule of law."

Bill Blair, the minister of emergency preparedness, also chimed in.

"We're all entitled to an opinion," he said, "and in my opinion, [Paxton] is wrong."

- - -

Rauhala reported from Brussels. Timsit and Hassan reported from London.
By Joe Dworetzky

Bay City News Foundation

A federal appellate court in San Francisco Friday issued an extraordinary writ of mandamus to prevent the deposition of former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos concerning the handling of student loans at her former agency.

Plaintiffs in a San Francisco class action wanted to question DeVos concerning her role in, and knowledge of, the U.S. Department of Education's handling of student loan "borrower defense" applications.

The trial court initially denied the DeVos deposition because she was then a sitting Cabinet Secretary. However, when she left office in January 2021, the court allowed her to be deposed.

The DOE tried to block the deposition in a Florida court, but that court transferred the matter to U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco who was handling the class action.

After Alsup denied the motion, the DOE and DeVos asked the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus to quash the deposition. A divided panel agreed to do so.

The case stems from the DOE handling of federally insured student loans while DeVos was Secretary.

When a student has grounds to challenge a loan for misconduct by the school -- a so-called borrower defense case -- he or she may apply to the DOE to cancel the loan.

According to statistics relied on by the court, during the Obama administration, 99.2 percent of applications were granted, many arising from the collapse of Corinthian Colleges, a chain of for-profit schools.

DeVos was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017 and she took office after a hotly contested confirmation battle.

The evidence in the case revealed that for an 18-month period, from June 2018 to December 2019, the DOE issued no decisions in borrower defense cases and the backlog grew to more than 210,000 applications.

Plaintiffs sued to force the DOE to resolve the pending applications. The court subsequently certified a class of borrower defense applicants.

The DOE issued an explanation for its delay: "Issuing final decisions on such claims is time-consuming and complex... and agencies must be given, within reason, the time necessary to analyze the issues presented so that they can reach considered results."

The parties negotiated a settlement that required all cases to be resolved within 18 months and they asked Judge Alsup to approve the settlement. While that process was underway, plaintiff learned that the DOE had issued 118,000 form-letter denials in the pending cases, resulting in a denial rate of just under 90 percent.

Finding it impossible to square the DOE stated need for time to resolve these "time-consuming and complex" matters, with its denial of tens of thousands of the claims by form letters without any explanation of reasons, Judge Alsup declined to approve the settlement.

He also permitted the plaintiffs to take depositions of officials within the DOE. However, he denied their request to depose DeVos because of the traditional deference the courts have given to Cabinet level officials and the rule that only under "extraordinary circumstances" can they be compelled to sit for depositions.

When DeVos left office however, Alsup allowed plaintiffs to take her deposition.

Alsup found there were extraordinary circumstances. First, he found the agency had acted in bad faith with the borrower defense cases; second, that DeVos had first hand, unique knowledge, relevant to resolving the case; and finally, there was no less burdensome way to get the information.

The DOE then petitioned the Court of Appeals to issue a writ of mandamus and quash the deposition. DeVos was represented in the matter by, among others, David Boies, who famously represented Al Gore in the U.S. Supreme Court in the contest over the election of George W. Bush.

The judges on the Court of Appeals divided on the result.

The majority, in an opinion written by Milan D. Smith and joined by Judge Jacqueline Nguyen, voted to reverse.

Judge Richard Paez dissented.

Smith was appointed to the court in 2006 by George W. Bush. Nguyen was nominated to the court in 2012 by Barrack Obama. Judge Paez was nominated to the court in 2000 by Bill Clinton.

Because a writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, it may only issue when a district court has committed "clear error," an exacting standard of review.

While the majority agreed that the DOE had acted in bad faith, it said Alsup had incorrectly applied the other factors. For relief to be granted, plaintiffs would have had to show that the Secretary's testimony was absolutely essential, and there was no other possible way to get the information.

In the majority's view, Alsup had applied less rigorous requirements.

Moreover, the fact that DeVos had left her post did not matter. Even though a deposition would no longer interfere with her day-to-day job responsibilities, the possibility of post-service depositions could chill decision-making and might even "discourage" government officials from "taking that office in the first place."

Judge Paez's sharply worded dissent argued that Alsup had not committed "clear error" as required for the extraordinary writ; in fact, he had been completely correct.

Alsup's error, if there was one, couldn't have been clear because there was no definitive standard to apply to a former cabinet official. More importantly, Alsup had essentially applied the same standards that the majority articulated.

Judge Paez's said the traditional deference to cabinet officials largely stems from a concern that potential depositions would interfere with the performance of their official functions.

Given that DeVos no longer held her post, he wrote, "I fail to see how these concerns apply.... Neither the majority, nor the government, nor former Secretary DeVos has identified any essential governmental duties that she would be distracted from by having to prepare and sit for a three-hour deposition."

Recognizing that depositions of presidents have been permitted, even when they were in office, Judge Paez suggested that former cabinet officials cannot be completely off-limits.

Copyright  2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2022 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco police announced Tuesday an arrest linked to a stabbing in the city's Mission District last week that left a 27-year-old man dead.

The stabbing on happened early on the morning of Jan. 31 near the corner of Potrero Avenue and Mariposa Street, according to police.

At the scene, officers found the victim suffering from a stab wound. Although medics rushed the victim to the hospital, he died from his injuries two days later, police said.

The victim has since been identified as 27-year-old Frank Chavez, a South San Francisco resident.

Following an investigation, detectives were able to identify 28-year-old San Francisco resident Eugenio Corleto as a suspect. On Friday, officers located Corleto in Hayward, where he was taken into custody, police said.

Corleto has been transported to the San Francisco County Jail and booked on suspicion of homicide. He remains in custody and is being held without bond, according to jail records.

Copyright  2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2022 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Two weeks ago, state Sen. Richard Pan introduced a new bill which would require all children K-12 to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to attend school in person after Jan. 1, 2023. Unvaccinated children would be forced into remote learning.

Pan said, We need to make sure schools are safe so that all parents are comfortable sending their children to school.

Every parent wants safe schools. But our children deserve medical care driven by facts, not politics. As physician epidemiologists, we have analyzed the data and found that this mandate is not supported by the scientific evidence  which is why no European countries or other U.S. states have implemented their own.

California already has a mandate for children over 12, which will be triggered once the vaccines receive full approval. Pans bill would go much further, requiring every child in K-12 to be vaccinated while the shots are still under emergency use authorization.

The stricter requirement is necessary, according to Pan, to reduce transmission of the disease in schools. That may once have been possible. Unfortunately, with the emergence of the omicron variant, immunization no longer prevents people from catching and spreading the virus long-term. While they are still extremely effective at preventing severe disease, vaccines stop just 5% to 30% of omicron infections, according to several studies that have yet to go through peer review. Even this benefit seems to evaporate a few months after the last shot.

Insinuating mandating student vaccination will keep schools open or will keep schools safe is misleading. In fact, this messaging may result in students knowingly coming to school with symptoms because their parents think they cant spread the virus.

While the protective benefits of vaccination are extremely clear for adults, the data for children is murkier. First, children are at extremely low risk of severe COVID-19. Even before the emergence of omicron, which is considerably more mild than earlier strains, the virus was less deadly to children than flu and pneumonia, heart disease, car crashes or guns. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data also suggests that children who have already caught and recovered from COVID-19 may benefit very little from vaccination.

Although serious side effects of immunization are exceedingly rare, mounting evidence suggests even those are more common than severe COVID-19 in some children, including teen boys. We should further study a specific  and rare  side effect called myocarditis that appears to occur in one in 3,000 to one in 7,000 boys between 12 and 17 after a second COVID-19 vaccine dose. Because of these issues, we believe parents should have the right to make an individual risk-benefit calculation for their children.

In Europe, this stance is not controversial. Norway, Sweden and the U.K. only recommend  not require  vaccines for high-risk 5-11 year-olds. Countries such as the Netherlands and Norway acknowledge children may not benefit from vaccination if they have already recovered from infection.

Excluding unvaccinated children from in-person learning would come at an enormous cost, at a time when they should be catching up on critical academic and social experiences. In December, when the Los Angeles Unified School District tried to implement a K-12 COVID-19 vaccine mandate, they found that 30,000 students ages 12 and older hadnt met the mandate requirements. If we extrapolate those numbers to the entire state, and take into account lower vaccination rates among children ages 5-11, over a million California children could be forced into remote learning. It is also important to acknowledge that Black and Latino children are less likely to be vaccinated, meaning they would likely be excluded at higher rates than their white peers.

We understand that COVID-19 vaccines have become highly politicized, with support for adult mandates often splitting down party lines. Even before the pandemic, school immunization requirements were a controversial issue; indeed, Pan has pushed several bills that expand student vaccine mandates. We support mandates for vaccines like measles and mumps, which protect children against infection and transmission for a lifetime. COVID-19, though, is a different kind of virus, which  like the flu  can spread even among vaccinated people. Thats why the flu vaccine is not required for school attendance.

Experts increasingly admit that COVID-19 will be with us indefinitely. As we adapt to this new reality, it is vitally important that we follow the science, particularly when it comes to the health and safety of children.

Because Pans bill would only provide slight and fleeting protection against transmission in schools  at the potential cost of banishing hundreds of thousands of kids from in-person learning  we cannot support it.

Tracy Beth Heg is a Danish-American physician in private practice in California with a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health and is the senior author of multiple peer reviewed scientific studies of COVID-19 and children. Vinay Prasad is associate professor of epidemiology at UCSF and practicing hematologist oncologist He is author of 2 books and 300 peer reviewed papers.
It will take a lot of work and plenty of money, but a Michigan mansion could be a showplace once again.

The hulking 12,000-square-foot Book Mansion sits just a few miles from downtown Detroit.

The current owners have owned it for about 12 years. It was run-down, and just a mess, says the listing agent, Steve Katsaros with KW Metro. They have spent a total of $4.2 million remediating, remodeling, and renovating this property, and it's still not done.

It's now on the market for $3.5 millionnearly 20% less than what the owners have spent on the project thus far. Recouping the full cost isn't in the cards.

Its a shame, but its realityand the owners are in tune with reality, Katsaros says.

Exterior of mansion in Detroit Hommatti

Aerial view Hommatti

Interior Hommatti

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One of the owners is a principal violinist, and the vision was to transform the mansion into a facility where an orchestra could practice, gather, and sleep if needed.

The owners reached a point where because of COVID, their dream did not materialize. [An orchestra] could not gather, and they could not practice, so that kind of took the wind out of their sails, he explains.

Much of the money spent went toward restoration of the exterior and the remediation of several environmental issues, both inside the house and on the grounds.

The dirty work and the hard work are done. It has a clean bill of heath from the city and the state, Katsaros says.

There's also a certificate of occupancy, and the structure is zoned for residential or mixed use.

Staircase Hommatti

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Inside the main home, there are seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, as well as several reception halls and living rooms, many of which have 12-foot ceilings.

Most of the rooms have elaborate trimwork, much of which has already been restored. Other design highlights include mosaic floors and elaborate ceilings.

The marble grand staircase in the entry is a focal point.

It really jumps out at you. At one point, there was probably carpet on the steps, and the carpet was held down with brass rivets. The brass is still in the marble, the agent says.

When the home was built, in 1911, materials were sourced from all over the world, including flooring from Greece, wall hangings from France, and wood from Italy.

Exterior Hommatti

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At one point, the home was an office building, but it eventually fell into disuse, and sat abandoned and boarded up before its rescue by the current owners. They took down many of the walls used to divide the space into offices and made it into a residence again.

James Burgess Book Jr., a Detroit businessman and developer, built the home over a century ago, as a private residence. His family developed many properties in the city, including the Book-Cadillac Hotel.

The architect, Louis Kamper, modeled the mansion on Marie Antoinette's palace at Versailles. Kamper also designed the Book-Cadillac Hotel and dozens of other buildings in the area.

Katsaros says the neighborhood of Indian Village used to be filled with auto and other executives, and the street is lined with large homes.

Some of the houses are very spectacular," he says. "This house is by far double anything here. Its a mansionwhere the other ones are homes.

Because the home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the exterior can't be altered.

Carriage house Hommatti

On the property is a carriage house with a four-car garage and a living space above it. Katsaros says that it is not habitable right now, but adds that it has been gutted and remediated.

A buyer will also acquire an additional lot behind the house.

Its of high value. You could build one spectacular house or maybe even build two homes, he says. If it sells as a business, it could be used as additional parking.

Although the project is far from over, the current owners are living in the home and have updated three of the bathrooms.

Its a work in progress," Katsaros says, as far as the decorating is concerned. "Its ready for someone to pump some more energy into it.

Interior Hommatti

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The post Can You Write a Happy Ending for Detroit's $3.5M Book Mansion? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
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In a move aimed at bringing about a paradigm shift in the way film business is conducted in India, a technology entrepreneur and a movie business consultant have paired up to establish Oracle Movies - India's first NFT movie marketplace.

NFT, short for Non-Fungible Token, allows film producers and companies to buy and sell movie rights through advanced and secure blockchain technology.

Initially, Oracle Movies will provide its services to Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English film producers and IP rights holders, the promoters said.

Thereafter, the services will be extended to other languages across the country.

Oracle Movies will take the business of Indian movies to the traditional global markets as well as new and unexplored markets. It will also bring international films for release, dubbing and remakes to Indian market.

Since NFT is unique and can't be replaced with something else, it helps prevent malpractices while offering a safe and secure environment to stakeholders.

With NFTs, any asset, either physical or digital, can be "tokenised" and stored in a decentralised ledger known as blockchain to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold.

Since the current system relies on paper contracts which does not hold good for modern cinema and there is no central agency that keeps track of movie rights sold, NFT comes in handy to address the huge gap and Oracle Movies will be the one-stop service provider.

Oracle Movies will integrate RBI's Central Bank Digital Currency, DigitalRupee when it launches later this year in their Blockchain Application Platform, the promoters explained.

Oracle Movies has been floated by technology entrepreneur Senthil Nayagam and film producer and movie business consultant G.K. Tirunavukarasu.

Senthil Nayagam has been working on open source technologies for over two decades. He had co-founded Sedin Technologies, a 16-year-old software service company employing hundreds of people , having offices in Chennai, Bangalore and Canada.

GK Tirunavukarasu, is Media Professional with over 15 years of experience in the industry and specialised in Radio, Television, Events and Film. A movie producer and consultant, he is the co-founder and director of Oracle Movies.

Kamesh Elangovan, co-founder and COO, GuardianLink.io who recently raised 12 million dollar funding after successfully launching Amitabh Bachchan's NFT, is one of the advisors to Oracle Movies.

Other advisory members include IP strategist Bharath MS, Venkatesh Srinivasan, CEO, Nexus Consulting, Sriram, Founder and Managing Director of Contus, and operates GudSho, a new generation OTT platform, and P Ranganathan, Film Producer & Distributor.
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Firstly, this bill could be construed as protecting conservative elements in religious circles and allowing them to get away with offensive statements on any issue whether its about homosexuality or adultery and so forth. As a robust democracy, we do need to protect our right to freedom of speech before anything else. There will always be the odd crazy out there, but in general we have been able to maintain a healthy and harmonious balance between religion and free speech.

Secondly, this bill should not be conflating religious freedom with sexual identity or gender. They are two unrelated matters. Ones sexual identity or gender is not relevant to a church, a synagogue or a mosque congregation, nor is it relevant to a Catholic, Jewish or Islamic school. That is why the amendments must ensure that schools cannot use religious discrimination laws as a pretext to discriminate because of sexuality.

My belief is that there is a way forward, but even after so many years of talking about this we need to re-visit the reasons we wanted such a bill and ask ourselves, what is the essential message that we are espousing? What is the fundamental essence of this bill?

We want a world free of discrimination, correct? Against race, against age, against sex and against disability. The one that seems to be left in the too hard basket is religion. It is and always has been a contentious aspect of society and even today we find more and more Australians are being put off organised religions and what they stand for.

So its understandable that this proposed legislation is creating a lot of concern in the secular part of the community. Although I would assume many Muslims, too, are concerned about the way the legislation is, I think, as Muslims, we need to take a stronger stand.
Last week, Brisbane school Citipointe Christian College sparked national outrage when it said it would only enrol students on the basis of the gender that corresponded with their biological sex. The school has now withdrawn the enrolment contract and the principal has stepped down. Australian Association of Christian Schools chair John Metcalfe said he was unaware of any Christian school that had expelled a student for being homosexual or transgender. Mr Metcalfe, who is also the principal of Plenty Valley Christian College in Doreen, said Christian schools were more concerned about the ability to employ staff with similar values than the sexual orientation or gender identity of students. Gay and trans students are protected from discrimination at Victorian state schools. Some Victorian faith-based schools have been very supportive of transgender students.

King David School, a co-ed Jewish school in Armadale, said it welcomed transgender and gender non-conforming students. The school has gender-neutral bathrooms, there are a variety of uniform options and students are generally not referred to as boys and girls. There is also staff and student training in supporting transgender gender and gender non-conforming students. Our core Jewish principles of egalitarianism, inclusivity and tikun olam (social justice) mean that we strive to create an environment that is inclusive and safe for all our students and staff, principal Marc Light said. Last year, a student at Xavier College, one of Melbournes oldest Catholic boys colleges, identified as a girl in year 12.

We affirm her in her decision, principal William Doherty and rector Father Chris Middleton wrote in a newsletter to parents at the time. We will continue to welcome, care for and educate our female student in all ways. The newsletter said the school was aware that this topic could elicit a range of opinions and thought but it rejected prejudice and discrimination in all its forms. Jesus, of course, was the great includer, often challenging the norms of his time centred on the universal tenets of love and inclusion. Islamic Council of Victoria president Adel Salman said he would be surprised if Islamic schools did not already enrol gay and transgender students. No Islamic school that I know has actually caused such harm to children because of their sexuality or because of their gender orientation, so even if this becomes law, I think Islamic schools  because of their duty of care to children  will handle this sensitively and certainly will not cause harm or trauma to children. Miles said Koo Wee Rup Secondary College immediately changed his name and pronouns when he came out as transgender in September last year and contacted the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority to make sure his details were correct in exams.

Loading They have been absolutely amazing from the beginning. Its been a blessing, he said. The vice-principal got me in for a meeting just to discuss anything that would help me. I can use whatever toilets, but she gave me a pass for the unisex, disabled toilet just to be more comforting and private. Miles said retaining the right to expel transgender students from faith-based schools made the broader community believe it was OK to discriminate against people on the basis of faith. One of my biggest supporters is my music teacher. Hes Christian, he has faith, but he is the most accepting person I know, he says. And that just shows you that when somebody has so much faith in religion, such as a man like him, you can still live happily and support anyone you like no matter what.

Loading Miles said he was recently in the male toilet of a public restroom adjusting his binder, a clothing item that some transgender people use to flatten their chest. Obviously someone saw  and chased me down the street and beat me up. He attacked me  a grown man beating up a 16-year-old in broad daylight. Jeremy Wiggins, executive officer of Transcend Australia, an organisation that supports trans children and their families and carers, said public debates about transgender students fostered hateful attitudes in the broader community. These are the side effects and consequences of these sorts of debates and thats why the government needs to take responsibility to protect trans kids, he said.
The general provisions of the order will operate from next Monday.

Purchasing groceries with a basket at David Jones in Sydney on February 9, 1942. The sign readsRestriction on delivery of parcels. Credit:Ernest Bowen

Canberra, Wednesday - As a result of an order issued today by the Minister for Customs, forbidding the wrapping of articles which do not require wrapping for their protection, shoppers will have to use bags or baskets.

The order will also stop the practice which has been introduced in some Sydney stores of selling wrapping paper separately to customers who desire to have their parcels wrapped.

Kraft wrapping paper manufactured in Australia, Senator Reaper said, must incorporate a considerable proportion of pulp of American origin to impart the required strength and it is becoming harder to obtain supplies of pulp from overseas.

There are big defence requirements of paper and cardboard. Cardboard containers are needed to replace timber cases, and composite containers are needed to replace those previously made of tinplate.

The order directs that goods which do not require wrapping or packing for their protection must not be wrapped, and for those that do, no greater quantity of paper and cardboard than is necessary must be used.

Goods already packed in paper, cardboard, tin, glass, calico, or any other wrapping material cannot be further wrapped or packed when sold retail.
A cleaner accused of fatally bashing and stabbing her elderly client has told a court she blacked out during the incident and woke up holding a knife in her bloodied hand while the injured woman lay on the kitchen floor.

Hanny Papanicolaou, 38, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Marjorie Welsh, 92, who was severely bashed at her Ashbury home in Sydneys inner west on the morning of January 2, 2019. Mrs Welsh died in hospital six weeks later.

On trial for murder: Hanny Papanicolaou. Credit:

A NSW Supreme Court jury has been told Ms Papanicolaou bashed Mrs Welsh with her own walking sticks so viciously that two of them broke, smashed crockery into her head, and stabbed her multiple times with a kitchen knife.

It is alleged Ms Papanicolaou then unplugged the base station of Mrs Welshs duress alarm, which had a backup battery, and fled the home taking Mrs Welshs phone and the bloodied knife.
Police have released images of a man they would like to speak to after workers fixing a leaking toilet pipe in a unit complex alerted them to $1.1 million in cash and $44 million worth of the drug ice.

Officers were called to the property, believed to be a safe house for the illicit items, on Minter Street, Canterbury, in Sydneys south-west, about 3.20pm on July 9 last year.

Police released an image of a man they want to speak to. Credit:Police Media

That was after the discovery of suspicious items by a number of tradesmen who were doing work on the unit complex, Detective acting Superintendent Stuart Gordon told reporters on Wednesday.

I believe it was a leaky toilet and some plumbing. Those particular tradesmen have done the right thing.
Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese also acknowledged the role Ms Higgins played in lifting the lid on the culture of Parliament. You have torn through a silence that has acted as a life-support system for the most odious of status quos, he said. No one deserves to feel unsafe or disrespected in any workplace, let alone our national Parliament. Men have to step up and be allies in both words and deeds. We have no excuse to wait for another wake-up call. Ms Higgins left the chamber in tears after Mr Morrison and Mr Albaneses statements, and the others watching were also visibly emotional.

Loading Ms Potter, who spoke out in 2019 alongside NSW political staffer Dhanya Mani about their experiences, said the acknowledgement was a step in the right direction  but that was starting from a very low position. The government has previously given us every reason not to trust them, she said. But that said, I have decided to draw a line in the sand and I will support the crossbench and the opposition party and the government to implement whatever can be done and, whatever government is elected in May, we will continue that. Another Liberal staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it had been personally traumatic to speak with the Jenkins review team about being sexually harassed and assaulted, but she did it because she wanted a better workplace.

I learned actions are much more than words, and at this stage, those words mean nothing if the recommendations dont all get implemented, she said. There are so many former and current staffers that are hanging on to see this and like me, they dont actually think it will happen. Ms Mani wasnt aware the statements were being made in Parliament until Tuesday morning, which she believed reflected the total lack of willingness of this government to engage shes experienced previously. She says only a comprehensive overhaul of the workplace laws for staffers  known as the MOP(S) Act  and an independent dispute mechanism will fix the situation. You can still lose your job at any time, she said.

The government intends to put initial legislative changes to Parliament on Wednesday that would ensure staffers are covered by the workplace and discrimination laws that exist for other workers. It has also commissioned a comprehensive review of the legislation governing the employment of staff, known as the MOP(S) Act. This will report by September. What is the statement of acknowledgement? Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins recommended Parliament make a statement to acknowledge the harm caused by bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault ... and a commitment to action and shared accountability. The report did not call for an apology but said the statement should acknowledge the lack of action taken in the past to deal with misbehaviour. It said an acknowledgement was important for validating the experience of individuals who have been subject to harm under the watch of leaders and could start to restore trust. Labor is open to a bigger apology to staffers. We owe our staff of today, the staff and members and senators who served here previously and perhaps most importantly, those who will come in the future nothing less than to continue that cooperative, thoughtful approach to implementation of these recommendations, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said. A multi-party taskforce led by former senior public servant Kerri Hartland is overseeing the response to the Jenkins recommendations.

Independent MP Zali Steggall, who is on the taskforce, says its clear some of the recommendations are easier to do than others but she is hopeful it will create meaningful change as fast as possible. Kate Jenkins has provided two years; I think thats a long time. I dont think it should take that long and I will be pressing for it to happen faster, she said. John Korn, the lawyer for Bruce Lehrmann, the man who has pleaded not guilty to raping Ms Higgins, described the Prime Ministers apology as an absolute disgrace. He has no authority from anywhere or anybody to make that apology. He has abrogated and ignored the presumption of innocence. Hes ignored and disrespected the function of the courts, and has no respect for the rule of law, Mr Korn said. The Prime Minister does a great disservice to properly constituted courts in making this apology for an event which had not yet been proven to have occurred.
Beijing: American-born Eileen Gu of China cranked out the first 1620 of her career on her final jump, stunning Tess Ledeux of France and earning the first of what she hopes will be three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in womens freestyle big air on Tuesday.

With tennis player Peng Shuai watching from the stands, the skier nicknamed Snow Princess delivered on the immense hype to perform in her adopted home country. She is a medal favourite in big air, slopestyle and halfpipe - and no action-sport athlete has ever reached the podium in all three.

Her first attempt at gold came down to the last round.

Eileen Gu celebrates a stunning gold medal win. Credit:Getty Images

Ledeux is the only other woman to ever land a 1620 - four 1/2 spins - in competition, and she stomped one out with a slight wobble on the landing in round one.
Ivanka Trump has details about what occurred in the lead-up to and on January 6 and about the former presidents state of mind as events unfolded, Florida Democrat Stephanie Murphy, a member of the panel, told The Associated Press. It is highly unusual for congressional investigators to target a family member of a president, but as a senior adviser to her father, she also had a perch close to power. A good man: Ivanka Trump reportedly agreed with Mike Pence. Credit:AP Kellogg disclosed the exchange with the committee, but so far Ivanka Trump, who famously guards her image and public profile, has not talked to the panel. The answers could have significant repercussions not only for Donald Trump, who is eyeing a political comeback in 2024, but for those in the Republican Party who have downplayed his role in the insurrection.

A spokeswoman for Ivanka Trump did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But in a statement issued in late January, a representative for her noted that Ivanka Trump did not speak at the rally near the White House where the then-president urged his supporters to fight like hell as Congress convened to certify the 2020 election results, and said she still believed that any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable. Members of the committee hope to get beyond such vague assertions. Hours after Trumps call to Pence, Ivanka Trump joined brother Donald Trump jnr, Rudy Giuliani and Kimberly Guilfoyle under a large tent at the rally to listen to Trumps speech. She reportedly told aides she decided to attend only because she had hoped to calm the president and help keep the event on an even keel. After Trumps speech, as rioters began to smash through Capitol police barriers and break windows, he tweeted: Mike Pence didnt have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution ...

In happier times: Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Credit:AP That tweet, according to court testimony, only added to the anger fuelling the mob. Back in the White House, as staffers watched in shock at what was unfolding down Pennsylvania Avenue on television screens positioned throughout the West Wing, Trumps attention was so rapt that he hit rewind and watched certain moments again, according to Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary. Look at all of the people fighting for me, Trump said, according to Grisham, who also served as chief of staff to then first lady Melania Trump. At one point, the president was confused why staffers werent as excited as he was watching the unrest unfold. Kellogg testified that staff wanted Trump to take immediate action to address the violence consuming the Capitol, but he refused.

Is someone getting to potus? He has to tell protestors to dissipate. Someone is going to get killed, Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House communications official, texted Ben Williamson, an aide to then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Ive been trying for the last 30 minutes. Literally stormed in outer oval to get him to put out the first one. Its completely insane, Williamson wrote back. The White House in the background, then president Donald Trump speaks at a rally before a mob invaded the US Capitol on January 6, 202 Credit:AP Republican Senator Lindsey Graham then called Ivanka Trump, pleading that the president ask people to leave the Capitol. Were working on it, she replied.

At that point, staffers acknowledged that despite efforts by Meadows, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Kellogg, the only person who could get through to him would be his daughter. Loading Ivanka Trump, according to testimony, went on to make at least two tenacious attempts to reason with her father as staffers were bombarded with messages from Trump allies begging him to quell the violence. Can he make a statement. I saw the tweet. Ask people to leave the [Capitol], Fox News host Sean Hannity texted Meadows. But inside the West Wing, Kellogg strongly recommended that they not ask the president to appear in the press room, where a group of reporters would be waiting for him.

Apparently, certain White House staff believed that a live unscripted press appearance by the President in the midst of the Capitol Hill violence could have made the situation worse, lawmakers wrote in a letter to Ivanka Trump. Loading The president ultimately agreed to a video statement. Multiple takes were filmed but not used. In each one of the initial takes, according to the committee, he failed to ask rioters to leave. The final video was released on Twitter at 4.17pm  nearly two hours after Trumps initial tweet criticising Pence. This was a fraudulent election, but we cant play into the hands of these people, Trump said in the video. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you; youre very special.
PHILIPSBURG:--- National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) George Pantophlet on Sunday lauded the new Dutch government and in particular State Secretary for Home Affairs and Digitization Alexandra van Huffelen for keeping her promise giving the people of St. Maarten hope that future talks would be more on an equal basis and better understanding for the financial conditions of St. Maarten.

He said the country has not yet recovered from Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The MP said he had no doubt that the Kingdom Council of Ministers would approve the countrys request to deviate from article 15. He would not have felt this way had former State Secretary for Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Raymond Knops, been part of the present Dutch government.

Pantophlet called it unfortunate that United Democrats (UD) leader MP Sarah Wescot-Williams and Independent MP Christophe Emanuel still continue to look for ways to discredit what has been achieved.

What is consistently being left out of their discourse is the fact that government requested and received approval from the Committee for Financial Supervision (CFT) to deviate from Article 100 paragraph 1 of the Constitution of St. Maarten. If the government had acted illegally, why were the CFT and the Dutch Government quiet on the matter, Pantophlet said in a statement on Sunday.

The United Democrats leader is maintaining that she would like to see the conditions under which this deviation was allowed although Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs was quite clear that no conditions were attached to this deviation. It was the former State Secretary [for Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond  Ed.] Knops who created the fiasco and they (opposition) jumped on board. It is a fait accompli. If one can recall, it was in June 2022, that I submitted a motion in Parliament which was supported by all 15 Members of Parliament [for government to - Ed.] in their discussions with the Dutch government, requesting Debt cancellation.

Pantophlet said he is convinced that these discussions are ongoing and should be continued. If one can recall, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on two occasions, once during the handling of the 2020 Budget and again during the handling of the 2021 Budget stated that unless these loans are turned into gifts or grants we will return to pre-pandemic days.

He said converting the loans into grants will make available the necessary funds that will allow the government to restore the benefits that were taken away from civil servants, government-owned company employees, and other affected persons. It will also address other needed social responsibilities.

Such an action will restore the purchasing power of the workers. This will be a positive driver for the economy. On the matter of the NAF. 124 million budget deficit the UD leader is not concerned that this amount will not be approved by the Dutch government. He said the Oxford Dictionary defines a Budget as an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time.

In other words, this amount is estimated. It is hoped that if the economy improves this amount will definitely be reduced, as has happened in the past. We also hope that we dont experience any hurricanes this year either, hence whether the amount will be approved or not is a point of concern nor debate for me. Deviation approved, Pantophlet said.
Diadema sea-urchins play a vital role in maintaining a balanced coral reef ecosystem and their restoration is essential to assist recovery of the degraded coral reefs around Saba and St. Eustatius. A collaborative effort between the University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein, WUR, STENAPA, CNSI, and NIOZ studied settlement rates of sea-urchin larvae. The new findings provide insight into why the Diadema population has not been restored since the massive die-off in the mid-1980s and are important for developing and implementing effective sea urchin restoration projects.

Long-spined sea urchins (Diadema antillarum) play a critical role in maintaining healthy coral reefs. They help sustain the delicate balance within the reef by grazing on algae, which are the main competitors of corals. Unfortunately, in the mid-1980s, a disease swept through the Caribbean, wiping out nearly the entire sea urchin population. Soon after, reports of rapid algae growth were documented throughout the Caribbean. The algae occupy all available space, preventing coral recruitment and limiting the coral reefs ability to recover from other disturbances. So far, the recovery of D. antillarum populations has been very slow to nonexistent. In the few areas where sea urchins were able to naturally recover, these trends were reversed, highlighting the importance of restoring this keystone species.

Studying sea-urchin settlement

A collaborative study between Van Hall Larenstein, Wageningen University and Research (WUR), STENAPA, Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute (CNSI) and NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research worked to unravel the mystery behind the slow recovery rate of these vital species. As both juveniles and adults are absent from most reefs, it is likely that the bottle-neck in D. antillarum recovery occurs in the first phase of the life cycle. Sea urchins start their life as larvae and remain in the water column for 30-60 days until they find a suitable place to settle. Understanding settlement rates and patterns will help understand the slow recovery and guide recovery efforts moving forward.

Effectiveness of settlement collectors

Settlement collectors were set up in five different locations around the island of St. Eustatius. Between April and December 2019, researchers carefully monitored and analyzed the settlement rates by counting each individual sea urchin larvae which settled on the collectors. Over these 10 months, more than 890 sea urchin settlers were collected. Furthermore, this study compared different materials to identify the most suitable settlement collector for Diadema sea urchins. These materials included panels, artificial turf, bio balls, frayed ropes, and a doormat collector. Results showed both the bio ball and doormat collectors were most effective, especially when placed mid-water column.

The mystery behind the slow recovery

Despite high settlement densities in several locations, no juvenile or adult sea urchins were observed on the reefs around the settlement collectors. This hints that there are likely other reasons these populations have been unable to recover around the island. Furthermore, previously conducted reef surveys from 2017 through 2019 found less than 0.01 sea urchins per square meter, far below pre-die-off densities. The fact that this study proves there are sea urchin larvae in the water paired with the lack of juveniles on reefs could be an indication of high predation pressures on settlers on the reef.

Future Populations

One solution which may aid in the restoration of this species would be to collect settlers from the reef and raise them in land-based nurseries. This would protect them from predation early in life and allow them to grow to adequate size before being returned to the reef. In order for this to be economically feasible, high numbers of settlers would need to be collected. Studies such as this can help the islands design and implement effective methods to restore Diadema sea urchins, which can help coral reefs to recover from disturbances naturally.
In this image taken from Minneapolis Police Department body camera video and released by the city of Minneapolis, Minneapolis police enter an apartment on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, moments before shooting 22-year-old Amir Locke. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has imposed a moratorium on no-knock warrants after Locke was killed as a SWAT team carried out a search warrant in a downtown apartment. (Minneapolis Police Department via AP)
Edith Marie Smith, 59, of Somerset passed away Saturday, April 30, 2022 at her residence. Arrangements are pending and will be announced later by Morris & Hislope Funeral Home. Condolences may be expressed to the family at: www.morrisandhislope.com.
South Africa: Comprehensive Sexuality Education key in fighting social ills

Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, says that the country needs to realise that Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is a keystone to push back against social ills, especially HIV, and early and unintended pregnancies.

Motshekga said that she is alive to the reality that addressing social ills is a societal responsibility, hence using a public medium such as radio to reach out to parents and caregivers.

The Minister was speaking at the launch of the CSE radio lessons at Hitekani Primary School in Tshiawelo, Soweto on Tuesday.

The Minister said that she felt honoured and privileged to address the launch of Life on Madlala Street, a radio drama series adapted from the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) lessons.

The series is adapted from the 80 CSE scripted lessons, which are already part of the Life Skills and Life Orientation curriculum.

The first episode of Life on Madlala Street played today and the next five lessons will play on 15 and 22 February, and 1 and 8 March on 22 community radio stations.

I am genuinely excited that we are witnessing the launch of the CSE Radio Lessons today in our lifetime as a country. In the main, this radio drama series seeks to liberate the girl child and women from the iron grip of patriarchy, she said.

The Minister said that the department opted to use the much-loved and accessible medium of radio to amplify the critical messages of CSE in an age-appropriate manner.

She said their target market is a million brains of learners, teachers, parents, caregivers, and radio lovers of all hues.

Our determination is to teach the values of gender equality anti-gender-based violence messaging while tackling the hot potato of early and unintended pregnancies, she said.

She highlighted the fact that all these social ills such as drugs/alcohol use, early pregnancies, and gender-based violence sometimes happen on school grounds or to learners accentuates that maxim that our schools are a microcosm of society.

Thus, the drama series Life on Madlala Street is a last-ditch effort to scale up our prevention messages through the medium of radio, she said.

The Minister noted that the launch of this ground-breaking radio drama series comes days before the country marks 2022 Pregnancy Awareness Week and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)/Condom Week.

At present, the sector provides scripted lessons on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and health services to learners, such as access to sexual and reproductive health services in secondary schools.

However, in primary schools, the sector focuses on raising awareness of social justice principles and addressing vulnerabilities such as abuse reporting and support for children from gender-based violence infested homes.

We also focus on preventing learner pregnancy, alcohol and drug use and now also COVID-19, all these are considered risk factors to womens health and fertile grounds for gender-based violence, she said.

Motshekga added that their response is multi-faceted to systematically address the identified social ills, including anti-gender-based violence messaging in the curriculum and assessment and learning and teaching support materials.

She said that the primary concern is the impact of social ills such as gender-based violence and rapes which negatively affect womens and girls well-being and mental health.

Motshekga has urged society to confront the elephant in the room, men who have gone rogue in the name of exerting power through sexual assault.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-02-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Scientists have created the first map of a colossal supercluster of galaxies known as Laniakea, the home of Earth's Milky Way galaxy and many other. This computer simulation, a still from a Nature journal video, depicts the giant supercluster, with the Milky Way's location shown as a red dot. (Image credit: Nature Video

The biggest single entity that scientists have identified in the universe is a supercluster of galaxies called the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall. It's so wide that light takes about 10 billion years to move across the entire structure. For perspective, the universe is only 13.8 billion years old.

What does "big" mean in space?

Space is all about large distances and objects.

Earth is big to us, about 24,901 miles (40,075 kilometers) in circumference at the equator. But based on the cosmic scheme of things, Earth is tiny. Even in our own solar system, we are easily dwarfed by the planet Jupiter (which could fit more than 1,300 Earths inside) and our sun (which could fit more than a million Earths inside of it).

And while our sun seems huge, it looks puny compared to the biggest stars we know of. The sun is a G-type star or a yellow dwarf and a pretty average size on the cosmic scale. Some "hypergiant" stars are much, much larger. Perhaps the biggest star known is UY Scuti, which could fit more than 1,700 of our suns. (Some estimates for the size of UY Scuti put it lower on the list, but there are other gigantic stars of a similar size.) But while in diameter and circumference UY Scuti is enormous, it's only about 30 times more massive than our sun: volume and mass don't necessarily correlate in space.

Related: Smallest, densest white dwarf ever discovered packs the sun's mass into a moon-size stellar corpse

Even more massive objects to consider are black holes and, in particular, the supermassive black holes that typically reside in the center of a galaxy. For example, the Milky Way hosts one that is about 4 million times the mass of the sun. One of the biggest supermassive black holes ever found resides in NGC 4889 and contains 21 billion times the mass of the sun. However, even the most massive black holes aren't particularly large, since this type of structure is the densest in the universe.

Nebulas , or vast clouds of gas that often condense to become new stars, also have impressively large sizes. NGC 604 in the Triangulum Galaxy is commonly cited as one of the largest; it's roughly 1,520 light-years across.

Galaxies are collections of star systems and everything inside those systems: black holes, planets, stars, asteroids, comets, gas, dust and more. Our own Milky Way, if considered as one object, is about 100,000 light-years across. Scientists struggle to characterize the largest galaxies, because they don't really have precise boundaries, but the largest galaxies we know of are millions of light-years across.

The biggest known galaxy, first described in a 1990 study from the journal Science, is IC 1101, which stretches as wide as 4 million light-years across, according to NASA .

Galaxies are often bound to each other gravitationally in groups that are called galaxy clusters. (The Milky Way, for example, is part of the small Local Group that comprises about two dozen galaxies, including the Andromeda Galaxy.) Astronomers once thought that these structures were the biggest things out there. In the 1980s, however, scientists realized that groups of galaxy clusters can also be connected by gravity, forming a supercluster, the largest class of objects in the universe.

What is the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall?

Right now, scientists' best candidate for the biggest supercluster known in the universe is the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, although astronomers have spent almost a decade debating the structure.

In 2013, a research team led by Istvan Horvath of the National University of Public Service in Hungary announced the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall at the 7th Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium.

The scientists had been studying brief cosmic phenomena known as gamma-ray bursts, which astronomers believe come from supernovas, or massive stars that explode at the end of their lifetimes. Gamma-ray bursts are thought to be a good indication of where huge masses of stuff lie in the universe, because big stars tend to congregate in denser neighborhoods. Horvath and his colleagues found gamma-rays particularly concentrated about 10 billion light-years away in the direction of the Hercules and Corona Borealis constellations.

An artist's depiction of a gamma-ray burst. (Image credit: NASA, ESA and M. Kornmesser)

But it's a puzzle as to just how the big structure came to be. According Horvath, this structure appeared to go against a principle of cosmology, or how the universe formed and evolved. The principle in question holds that matter should be uniform when seen at a large enough scale, but the cluster is not uniform.

"I would have thought this structure was too big to exist. Even as a coauthor, I still have my doubts," Jon Hakkila, an astronomy researcher at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, said in a 2014 press release. But, he said, there was only a very small chance  far less than 1%  that the researchers saw a random number of gamma-rays in that location.

"Thus, we believe that the structure exists," he added. "There are other structures that appear to violate universal homogeneity: the Sloan Great Wall and the Huge Large Quasar Group ... are two. Thus, there may very well be others, and some could indeed be bigger. Only time will tell."

Related: Astronomers discover South Pole Wall, a gigantic structure stretching 1.4 billion light-years across

One 2020 paper from the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society calls the existence of the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall "doubtful at best," pointing out that it could be a statistical blip in very complicated data. But the original team that first proposed the existence of the supercluster supported their original findings in a 2020 paper of their own in the same journal.

What are the largest things in our solar system?

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragment G with Jupiter on July 18, 1994. (Image credit: NASA)

While the solar system is puny compared to the scale of the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, here is a bonus list of superlative objects in our own neighborhood.

Largest planet: Jupiter, roughly 88,846 miles (142,984 km) across, about 11 times the diameter of the Earth.

Largest moon: Ganymede, which orbits Jupiter, is roughly 3,273 miles (5,268 km) in diameter and is a little larger than the planet Mercury.

Tallest mountain: Olympus Mons on Mars, roughly 15 miles (25 km) high and three times the height of Mount Everest on Earth.

Largest canyon: Valles Marineris on Mars, more than 1,865 miles (3,000 km) long, as much as 370 miles (600 km) across, and 5 miles (8 km) deep.

Largest crater: Utopia Planitia on Mars, which has an estimated diameter of 2,050 miles (3,300 km). It was the general landing area of the Viking 2 spacecraft that landed there in 1976.

Largest asteroid: Vesta, which is 330 miles (530 km) across. It is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Largest dwarf planet: Pluto is the largest dwarf planet, with a diameter of 1,473 miles (2,370 km). It was once thought to be smaller than dwarf planet Eris, but Pluto's measurements were confirmed up close by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.

Additional resources & reading

If you're boggled by the scale here, one place to explore distances and size in space is Google's 100,000 Stars site, which they call an "interactive visualization of the stellar neighborhood." It will take you on a tour of our solar system and our galaxy, which is much smaller than a supercluster but still enough to blow your mind. For kids (and adults!) who want to know more about superclusters, check out the NASA site Imagine the Universe for more galaxy clusters near us. And if you want to dive into a book, read more in astrophysicist Helene Courtois' 2019 book Finding Our Place in the Universe: How We Discovered Laniakea - the Milky Way's Home.

Bibliography
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Addis Ababa, 7 February 2022 (SPS) - The resolution of the conflict in Western Sahara must be consistent with the provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU), which emphasizes the principle of the inviolability of the borders inherited at the time of independence, says the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) in its new report on peace and security in the continent.



"Deeply concerned" about the unstable situation in Western Sahara following the resumption of the war in this non-self-governing territory, the AU PSC stresses the "urgent need to reinvigorate efforts to facilitate a definitive resolution of the conflict, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the AU Constitutive Act.



The situation remains "tense (...) despite the UN-AU resolutions and decisions", said Uhura Kenyatta, President of Kenya who chairs the PSC at the presentation of the report.



"The PSC has noted with deep concern the resumption of military confrontation between SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) and Morocco," he said.



According to Uhura Kenyatta, the AU Assembly could "request the PSC to discharge its mandate on the conflict in Western Sahara under the relevant provisions of its Protocol and the relevant decisions of the Assembly, by considering the situation in Western Sahara as necessary at the level of Heads of State and Government, including information from the AU Troika.



In his report, the Kenyan president said that the AU Assembly should ask the African Troika on Western Sahara, so far inactive, to start a political process that must guarantee the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.



"It is also important that this Assembly calls on the Troika to begin a dialogue with the parties to the conflict to find an amicable solution to the conflict that will ensure the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara," said the PSC chairman.



The PSC has included the issue of Western Sahara in its monthly agenda and plans a virtual summit on this issue at the level of heads of state on February 16.



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NEWTOWN  A small group of residents criticized plans for a 345,000-square-foot warehouse in environmentally sensitive woods off Interstate 84 as a threat to Hawleyvilles water quality.

This project is an unmitigated disaster, said Donald Leonard, one of three Newtown residents to speak against the warehouse proposal during its first public hearing.

Leonard, who promised to rally against the project is referring to plans by a Manhattan-based developer of distribution warehouses for 105 acres just south of I-84 at Exit 9 that call for an 8-acre warehouse, along with 75 truck docks, 50 trailer spaces, and 360 parking spaces.

Consultants representing Wharton Industrial countered the opposition during a public hearing at the end of January by noting that the property in question and an adjoining parcel were granted a wetlands permit in 2018 for an office building and warehouse that totaled 525,000 square feet.

That project didnt get off the ground, said Thomas Cody, an attorney representing Wharton.

This project will be less intensive than the previously approved project and is the most feasible and prudent plan for this site, Cody said.

The Jan. 26 hearing before Newtowns Inland Wetlands Commission was continued to its next meeting on Wednesday, and covers only those aspects of the project that impact environmentally sensitive terrain known as wetlands and the boundaries around those wetlands.

Wetlands function as sponges to trap storm water and slow the speed of flooding by distributing excess water evenly across the floodplain.

Newtowns wetlands commission is focused only on how wetlands and immediately bordering terrain will be affected by the project, and what Wharton will do to compensate.

Should the company receive wetlands approval, Wharton will have to go before Newtowns Planning and Zoning Commission for site plan approval.

During the January public hearing, Wharton said it would fill 3,100-square-feet of wetland with construction material and build a man-made wetland of almost equal size to compensate. Wharton would also disturb 2 acres of sensitive land directly bordering the wetlands.

Steve Maguire, Newtowns senior land use enforcement officer, said he was concerned about the environmental impact of major earth moving during construction and asked if the project would be staggered.

No, said a Wharton consultant.

This is not a phased development, said Matthew Bruton, an engineering consultant. The applicant wants to build as quickly as possible.

One resident at the public hearing said he had concerns about the credentials of the consultants and wanted Newtown to hire a neutral environmental scientist to evaluate the wetlands plan.

Wetlands commission Chair Sharon Salling said Newtown would only do so if it felt it was warranted.

Another resident questioned how Wharton would keep oil from the vehicles and contamination from the building from washing into the wetlands.

The attorney Cody responded that Wharton would follow local and state environmental control protocol.

The Wharton warehouse proposal is the latest in a string of commercial interest in Newtown.

In August, Newtown agreed to sell 14-acres to a developer that proposed 200 age-restricted apartments. In July, a Boston developer won a bid to convert two Fairfield Hills buildings into apartments and commerce. Also in July, an Ohio distributer announced it would establish northeast headquarters in the former Hubbell factory off Route 25.

The Wharton warehouse proposal is not to be confused with a 200,000-square-foot warehouse proposed on Danburys west side by New York-based Clancy Moving Systems. That project is also seeking a wetlands permit in Danbury.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
Senior Canadian officials hit back Monday at high-profile U.S. Republicans who have voiced support for the self-described "Freedom Convoy," as the group continued to block traffic in downtown Ottawa in protest of vaccine rules for cross-border truckers.

The Canadian convoy has attracted the attention of U.S. politicians debating their own country's coronavirus protocols, and drawn support from Republican figures including former president Donald Trump.

Responding to some of those critics Monday, Canada's public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, said: "We're Canadian. We have our own set of laws. We will follow them."

The demonstrations began in late January after Canada and the United States imposed a new rule requiring cross-border truck drivers to be fully vaccinated to enter their respective countries. Since then, the protests have grown into a broader condemnation both of pandemic-related measures and the government of recently reelected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as far-right extremists, conspiracy theorists and anti-government activists have joined their ranks.

In what Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly characterized as a "siege" of the downtown areas, protesters have used big rigs and cars to block crucial traffic arteries, with horns blaring throughout the day. Ottawa police said they have launched 60 criminal investigations, issued hundreds of tickets, towed vehicles and made at least 20 arrests since Friday. National monuments have been desecrated, and businesses forced shut over security concerns. A state of emergency was announced for the city Sunday.

Calling Trudeau a "far left lunatic," Trump said in a statement Friday that "insane covid mandates" are destroying Canada and urged the convoy to come to Washington to protest the United States' public health measures.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, both Republicans, tweeted over the weekend that their states will investigate GoFundMe after the fundraising platform said it was freezing more than $8 million in donations to the convoy's organizers.

But public safety minister Mendicino shot back Monday, saying: "It is certainly not the concern of the Texas attorney general as to how we in Canada go about our daily lives in accordance with the rule of law."

"We need to be vigilant about potential foreign interference. . . . Whatever statements may have been made by some foreign official are neither here nor there," Mendicino said during a press briefing.

Similarly, Canada's emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair said Monday, "We're all entitled to an opinion, and in my opinion, [Paxton] is wrong."

Trudeau, whose administration has become the convoy's target, wrote on Twitter that Canadians have the right to protest. "But let's be clear: They don't have the right to blockade our economy, or our democracy, or our fellow citizens' daily lives," he said. "It has to stop."

But the anti-public health sentiments expressed by the Freedom Convoy participants in Ottawa are being amplified in other parts of the world. For example, participants of the "Convoy to Canberra" spent last week demonstrating against Australia's vaccine mandates. Police in the capital warned residents Monday that protest activities may increase this week and disrupt traffic and public spaces.

A similarly inspired convoy of cars and campervans blocked streets around New Zealand's Parliament on Tuesday. And rallies are being organized in Europe, as opponents to public health measures rush to plan in various Telegram channels.

In Alaska on Sunday, more than 100 truck drivers gathered in Anchorage and rallied to show support for the Ottawa protesters, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The city's Republican mayor, Dave Bronson, and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, reportedly attended the event.
Several dozen police and fire departments in Connecticut participate in the Ring Neighborhood Public Safety Service that allows authorities and the community to share information, photos and videos about crime and other safety issues.

But only a few like the West Hartford and Bristol police departments have video sharing programs that allow residents to voluntarily sign up to be placed on a list, indicating they are willing to provide their home or business video footage to investigators if a crime occurs in their neighborhood.

West Hartford has registered about 100 residences and businesses since launching its video sharing program about a year ago, Community Relations Division Commander Lt. Aaron Vafiades said.

The program is voluntary with people providing basic information such as their name and location and whether their camera faces the street. When people sign up, their name goes into a database that can be accessed by officers investigating a crime or incident, Vafiades said.

They pull out the spreadsheet and contact the person in that area and ask them to review their own cameras, Vafiades said. If they want to share it, great.

Bristol police have had a similar program for years, Lt. Geoffrey Lund said.

It saves time going door to door, he said.

The database is updated regularly for detectives, Lund said.

Its a good tool for them to use, he said.

New Canaan police do not have a designated video-sharing program, but created a special website for people to upload videos in the Jennifer Dulos disappearance case, Lt. Jason Ferraro said.

The disappearance drew international headlines when the mother of five vanished in May 2019. A neighbors security camera captured her returning home that morning after dropping off her children at school. The image of her vehicle captured the last activity before police believe she was killed by her estranged husband in her garage.

Other videos, including of what police believe was Fotis Dulos riding a bicycle that morning in the direction of his estranged wifes home, were among the estimated more than 100 Ferraro said they received in the case.

It was a massive undertaking to view the videos to determine which contained evidence in the disappearance, he said.

Those videos and others from local school buses, state highway cameras and the Hartford public safety camera system built the case against Fotis Dulos, who died by suicide in January 2020 while facing murder, kidnapping and other charges in the case.

But even before the Dulos case, Ferraro said the department has for years knocked on doors seeking videos when incidents have occurred.

In 25 years, I dont think Ive ever heard someone say they didnt want to help in an investigation when something happened in their neighborhood, Ferraro said.

West Hartford augments its video sharing program by participating in the Ring Neighbors app, which allows police to post requests for video or information and residents can share photos or videos and reports of potential crimes.

The program is primarily used by people who have a Ring camera security system, but anyone can sign up to check on incidents in their area or post information.

Dozens of Connecticut police and fire departments participate in the Ring Neighborhood Public Safety Service, but some use the program more than others, according to information on the companys website.

Trumbull police have participated, but didnt post anything in 2021. Danbury police requested information on a shooting that occurred in late December. Other Danbury posts have received more than 2,000 views.

The Ring app is useful because it allows police to interact with the public, share accurate information if neighbors are commenting about an incident and request video during a certain period, Vafiades said.

We can send the request from an official PD account, Vafiades said. If you have a Ring device, it will pull the video in the time we requested for you to review.

The Ring app and the video sharing program helps police save time when investigating a crime or an incident, he said.

A lot of people are at work during the day, Vafiades said. This allows us to make a phone call and ask people if they can check their video.
As the General Assembly prepares to vote on the executive orders of Gov. Ned Lamont, a lot of confusion persists.

Thats understandable because even though the most controversial issue is simple  requiring students and school staff to wear masks  the laws underlying the orders are not.

Here are questions and answers to help you sort out whats actually happening beyond the headlines.

If the legslature votes no and doesnt extend the orders, can local schools still require masks in schools?

The governors order allowing the state Department of Education to order a statewide school mask mandate (with input from the Department of Public Health) expires Tuesday. Cities and towns probably could keep the mandates in place even without an executive order. Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 170, Section 10-220 says each school board shall provide an appropriate learning environment for its students which includes...a safe school setting. Some lawyers believe that means they could order masks worn in schools even if state legislators reject the executive order. But unlike the executive orders, which have been tested in court, a mask order without specific state rules allowing it might come under new legal challenges. City and town charters might also matter in the legal authority.

Would cities and towns do that?

Most have not said what they would do. Some have said they would maintain limited mandates or make masks optional. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said he believes the municipal mandate for masks in public buildings, still in place, would extend to the schools automatically.

The executive order mandates masks for teachers and students, right?

Wrong. The order allows the state Department of Education, in consultation with the state Department of Public Health, to set policy on school masks. Lamont wants the legislature to extend it indefinitely. On Feb. 28, Lamont would end the statewide mask mandate and leave it up to local officials, under the order he hopes lawmakers will extend. The state House of Representatives is voting today, Thursday, and the Senate is set to vote Monday.

Is Lamont calling for an end to school mask mandates after Feb. 28?

No. Hes asking for an extension of the order with a modification that sends the authority to local schools. The order specifically says local officials can do this, although it doesnt say which local officials  school boards, mayors, city and town councils, etc. There is some debate about who, locally, would have the right to issue orders. Lamonts administration said it will issue recommendations to the local officials closer to the 28th, and of course they can follow federal guidance as well.

Is Lamont asking the legislature to extend his emergency powers?

He says no, because he would no longer have the authority to issue new orders. He is asking the legislature to extend 11 executive orders  whittled down from some 300 that were in force over parts of the pandemic. Republicans say that amounts to an extension of his emergency powers because he would retain limited authority under those orders. It would definitely not be a seventh extension in the way of the prior six, which gave him blanket authority. Separately, Lamont is requesting and the legislature is considering an extension of the declared state of emergency.

What is the legislature preparing to do?

Both chambers to vote on one bill that would extend most of the requested orders until April 15. Thats a strategic decision; since the order allowing the school mask mandates is so controversial, theres a good chance it would not pass on its own. It has a stronger chance of passing as part of a package that includes orders most people agree the state needs. The bill would be done under special rules for emergency legislation, which means they would not need to clear numerous committees with public hearings beyond the hearing that was held Tuesday. Also, passing 11 separate bills would eat up valuable time in a short session of only 12 weeks. That unified bill would also allow schools to have fewer than the required 180 days of in-person instruction this year only because of the omicron disruptions. Lamonts education department opposes that waiver.

What are the executive orders related to vaccines and other mask rules?

The list of orders up for extension includes vaccine requirements for employees at state-owned hospitals, staff at long-term care facilities and visitors to those facilities. (Vaccine rules for state employees will expire and Lamont is not seeing their renewal.) The list also includes a mask mandate in indoor spaces open to the public for people who are not vaccinated and who cannot socially distance  unless they have a medical exemption. Another order up for extension allows the state Department of Public Health to disclose a persons vaccination status to their health care provider, school nurse or local health director.

Are there other orders the legislature might extend?

The list includes an order that allows state officials to waive certain licensing requirements to increase the number of health care workers available to treat patients; and an order that allows the state to change the training, competency, scope of practice and temporary hiring policies for temporary nurse aides. The orders up for extension would give state agencies more leeway to find suitable housing for at-risk people such as those experiencing homelessness; and to purchase emergency goods and services. Finally, an order requires insurance carriers to reimburse out-of-network health providers at 100 percent the Medicare rate for giving vaccination shots  which are free to all people under federal rules.

Read about the 11 orders here and here.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
The Connecticut Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for the United States Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program for the 2022 program year.

Funding priorities include strengthening and improving food systems, improving food security and food safety, and implementing controlled environment agriculture production systems to adapt to climate change. Applications are due by March 10 at 4 p.m., to AGR.grants@ct.gov.

Connecticut is pleased to offer eligible applicants an opportunity to fund initiatives which will benefit a wide variety of specialty crop producers, said Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt, in a statement. From marketing to research, participation in the Specialty Crop Block Grant program further enhances our diverse agricultural production to strengthen our food systems and mitigate climate change.

Eligible applicants include commodity groups, agricultural organizations, colleges and universities, municipalities, state agencies, and agricultural nonprofits. Projects must benefit the industry as a whole and not a single organization, business, or commercial product. As a result, individual farms or businesses are encouraged to apply and partner with other eligible applicants rather than apply themselves. This is a reimbursement grant with awards up to $99,999, according to the department.

The goal of the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program is to solely enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in domestic and foreign markets. Specialty crops are defined as any fruit or vegetable, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops, including floriculture. Also included is honey, maple syrup, Christmas trees and processed foods/food products which are made of at least 50% specialty crops (excluding added water). An eligible plant must be intensively cultivated and used by people for food, medicinal purposes, and/or aesthetic gratification to be considered a specialty crop, according to the department.

The project template, performance measures, and information required to apply are available online at https://portal.ct.gov/DOAG/ADaRC/Publications/Specialty-Crop-Block-Grant

For more information on the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, go to http://www.ctgrown.gov/grants and click on Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, or contact Rebecca Eddy at Rebecca.Eddy@ct.gov or 860-573-0323.
SALISBURY  Connecticut State Police are looking for witnesses after a local man was killed late Monday evening in a rollover crash.

State police identified the man as 37-year-old Christopher Michael McKenna.

McKenna was headed east on Route 112 in his Toyota 4Runner when the vehicle crossed into the westbound lane, subsequently rolling over, state police said in a statement.

The crash occurred around 11:35 p.m.

McKenna was taken to Sharon Hospito by Salisbury paramedics, where he was pronounced dead, the report said.

His vehicle was later towed from the scene.

State police are asking anyone with information about the crash to contact Trooper Corretto at Troop B, at 860-626-1820.
Rockville General Hospital in Vernon closed its maternity ward in 2010. Since then, at least four maternity wards in Connecticut have shuttered, suspended services, consolidated or are in the process of doing so.

The reasons have varied from lack of staffing to COVID-19.

At Windham Hospital, its owner, Hartford HealthCare, cited declining birth rates in the region and hiring challenges.

The hospital, which ranks last in Connecticut for number of births this year, has plans to enhance its womens health services as part of a larger, long-term strategy to provide the highest quality, coordinated care, Donna Handley, president of Hartford HealthCares East Region, said in a statement.

At Sharon Hospital, Nuvance Health said cost was the driving factor.

If we want this hospital to be here, it's important that we look at retooling ourselves for the future, not for the past, Sharon Hospital President Dr. Mark Hirko said.

Yale New Haven Health said it closed labor and delivery at Saint Raphael in New Haven in response to the pandemic.

Trinity Health of New England closed labor and delivery at Johnson Memorial in Stafford, citing staffing issues.

After ongoing and careful consideration, we implemented a temporary pause of the labor and delivery services approximately one year ago, spokesperson Mary Orr said in an email. The decision was made largely in response to pandemic-related staffing challenges, which resulted in staff turnover and difficulty in recruitment of new, qualified staff.

But some advocates see the continued closures of maternity wards in Connecticut as part of an overall trend toward consolidation.

It's not just an issue with maternity wards, though that seems to be the latest thing, said Lynn Ide, director of program and policy at the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. We have seen tremendous consolidation in the health care industry.

As an example, Ide noted the decline in the number of independent hospitals in Connecticut in recent decades.

In the year 2000, there were roughly, I think, 32 or 34 independent nonprofit hospitals in Connecticut, she said. Fast forward 20 years later, and there are only four independent nonprofit hospitals in Connecticut. Every other hospital in the state has been taken up by a larger health system.

John Brady, a registered nurse and vice president of AFT Connecticut, a union representing many health care workers in the state, said those hospitals used to compete for the same patients. But thats changed.

In the old days, every hospital was independent of each other, he said. As hospitals started getting bought up by each other, now they dont have to compete with each other.

Were seeing consolidations, he added. Maternity seems to be at the forefront.

COVID closes a maternity floor

Johnson Memorial, Windham and Sharon hospitals are all in somewhat rural areas. In contrast, Saint Raphael is in the center of New Haven.

Yale New Haven Health decided early on in the pandemic to consolidate Saint Raphaels labor and delivery with the maternity ward at nearby Yale New Haven Hospital.

We did that in order to continue to provide the level of obstetrical care that we provided in normal times, but do it under the stress of the pandemic, and simultaneously care for our obstetrical patients through especially that acute first wave that we experienced here in Connecticut, said Dr. Katherine Campbell, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale School of Medicine and medical director of the hospitals labor and delivery unit.

The decision, she said, was based on the availability of resources as COVID cases began to rise.

There's only so many resources, right? We have so many physicians, we have so many ventilators, we have so many nurses, Campbell said. You can't create a doctor overnight. You can't create a nurse overnight, you can't create a bed overnight. And so all of a sudden, you have to start thinking about what can we do to make our hospital nimble and operational to care for an entirely different population that wasn't here last week.

Obstetrics is unique, she said, because while you can halt elective surgeries and only treat the sickest patients, obstetrics doesn't change. You can't stop obstetrics, there's no pause on obstetrics. So our obstetrical volume that came through the hospital had to be maintained, Campbell said.

In April 2020, when hospital officials began considering making this shift, COVID was still very new. Nobody was sure how it spread, and hospitals had COVID positive and negative birthing moms to help.

So Yale physically moved the labor floor from Saint Raphael to Yale New Haven Hospital.

What that did is it created some space and allowed us to then also create a unit for our COVID-positive patients, Campbell said.

And while it worked well, Campbell said, there were some growing pains as they made the switch in just two weeks.

The Saint Raphael's campus and the Yale New Haven Hospital campus each had independent labor floors for a long time, and when places exist for long periods of time, strong cultures develop around those, she said. The consolidation we did, we did it in about two weeks, which probably had we done a consolidation outside of that pandemic probably would have taken four years.

A national trend

The continued closure of labor and delivery services in rural Connecticut mirrors a much-studied national trend.

A study published in July 2020 by researchers from the University of Minnesota found that 54 percent of rural U.S. counties had no hospital-based obstetric services in 2014, and the least populated, most remote rural counties experienced the greatest reduction in obstetric service availability in the four years that followed.

Campbell said safety can be a concern in smaller hospitals.

We do know that in places that have higher obstetrical volume, they see things more often, they get to practice things more often and they're able to take care of obstetrical emergencies that may arise and have plans in place to do that, she said. I think this is one of the arguments from the side of consolidation where we can do things in a way, maybe handle these rare emergencies better, because we have volume and we can practice it more often.

The problem, according to Ashley Minihan, a professional birth assistant, can be the travel times from rural areas.

If things are moving too quickly and you aren't able to get there in time, then that's absolutely going to present a problem, she said. There are emergencies happening potentially even at home. There could be babies being born in cars.

The University of Minnesota study said rural counties that have lost hospital-based obstetric services experienced higher rates of emergency department births, and in rural counties not adjacent to urban areas, increases in preterm birth, a leading cause of infant mortality.

In several cases  Windham, for example  prepartum and postpartum care is continuing, but actual births are happening at sister facilities.

Especially if you're a smaller hospital that has been gobbled up, they often will take certain functions and move them to another hospital in their system, Ide said. It isn't just happening in labor and delivery services. It's happening with other profit centers that the larger systems have decided to move to other parts of their system to consolidate.

In Trinitys case, birthing mothers are transferred to Saint Marys Hospital in Waterbury, Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., or Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford.

This allows for uninterrupted continuity of care for any patients who were and may potentially be impacted by the suspension of labor and delivery services at Johnson, Orr said.

Sharon Hospital will transfer new mothers to Danbury or Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which could present its own set of problems.

Patients crossing state lines to get care often run into issues with insurance coverage, said Dr. Maryanne McDonnell, a practicing obstetrician in Connecticut and chair of district 1 for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

McDonnell said maternity ward closures in rural areas can disproportionately impact people of color, as well as lower-income families.

When you start to talk about patients that are below the poverty line, getting to a hospital thats even a half-hour away, that has a significant impact, she said. A lot of these patients don't necessarily have cars or their own transportation. They rely on public transportation. And so they would pretty much be relying on ambulance services to get to those hospitals.

Whats next?

In New Haven, Campbell said she could not comment on whether or Saint Raphael would restart labor and delivery services.

Now we have time to figure out what's the best way to deliver care to our obstetrical population, she said. And so there are some plans in the works of trying to figure out what that is and hearing what our patients want, how they want to receive their obstetrical care.

Usually, if licensed hospitals want to alter their offered services, they begin by formally asking the state Office of Health Strategy if they must file a certificate of need, commonly called a CON.

If the Office of Health Strategy determines a CON is required, a public hearing process is triggered.

The state has not yet decided on Sharon Hospitals CON determination request. Windhams public comment period is still open, and the state has requested more information.

Johnson Memorial ended maternity services before filing a CON determination request, which resulted in a state investigation.

The state told them you need to apply for a certificate of need, Brady said.

But Trinity has said maternity services at Johnson Memorial have been paused, not shuttered.

To date, we do not have intentions of permanently closing the unit as we remain deeply committed to serving the local community in and around Stafford Springs, Orr said. We continue to actively recruit staff to be able to safely return labor and delivery services to Johnson.

Windham also suspended labor and delivery before requesting approval from the state, according to Ide and Brady.

They still dont have the OK to eliminate the service, Brady said. The decision hasnt been made, but there hasnt been a baby delivered there in two years, other than in an emergency situation.

Ide and Brady said as more hospitals are consolidated into larger health systems, Connecticut officials should begin examining medical services statewide and conduct strategic planning when considering a request to alter services.

I think our state has a responsibility and OHS has a deep responsibility to be doing some systems planning and looking at, are we meeting the needs of people in certain areas, particularly people who have transportation issues, income and other barrier issues, Ide said.

The question becomes, whats the right thing for the people of Connecticut? Brady said. Its an argument that shouldn't be decided by the health care corporation.
STAMFORD  The citys mask mandate could be coming to an end.

Mayor Caroline Simmons said she is hoping to announce a decision on the city-wide mask mandate by next week.

As we make decisions regarding COVID-19 procedures and protocols, our first priority is always protecting the health and safety of Stamford residents, she said, in a written statement, through spokesperson Lauren Meyer. Based on our monitoring of the data and current trends, we are hopeful we will be able to make a decision next week regarding lifting the city-wide mask mandate. We are grateful to the public for their cooperation and patience during this time.

Whatever Simmons decides to do, it wont impact the citys schools.

Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday announced Connecticut teachers, staff and students will soon no longer have to wear masks in schools and the governor said it is up to leaders within school districts to decide whether a mask mandate will be in place for students and staff.

In Stamford, where a parent-led anti-mask protest is scheduled for Tuesday night, school officials are not making any decisions on masks quite yet.

Justin Martin, spokesperson for the school system, did not provide any details Monday about where school officials stand in terms of the mask mandate in school buildings.

We will continue to work closely with our local health professionals and experts in the field and continue to make decisions based upon what is safest for our staff, our students, our families, and our community, Martin said, in an emailed statement.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review magazine and author of the new book A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living. She is also chair of Cardinal Dolans pro-life commission in New York. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.
Amy Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,400 stations. She is the co-author, with Denis Moynihan and David Goodman, of the New York Times best-seller Democracy Now!: 20 Years Covering the Movements Changing America.
Charles Sullivan, a veteran broadcasting executive with 25 years of experience, has been appointed general manager of Milwaukee Radio Alliance, a group of three radio stations co-owned and operated by Times-Shamrock Communications and All-Pro Broadcasting.

Sullivan assumed oversight of WLDB, WLUM and WZTI effective Feb. 1.

Chucks extensive experience, detailed market knowledge and desire to drive content and revenue coupled with passion to build relationships are the reasons we are excited for Chuck to lead MRA forward, said Times Shamrock Chief Executive Officer Jim Lewandowski.

Sullivan joins the company after serving seven years as senior vice president and market manager for Entercom/Audacy in Milwaukee and Denver, Colorado. Prior to his stint with Entercom, Sullivan served in leadership roles for Cumulus Broadcasting in Mobile, Ala., and Destin, Fla., and Ocean Broadcasting in Wilmington, N.C.

He will lead 20 full-time employees at the three MRA stations.

Sullivan is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a degree in Communications and Media Studies.
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As many as 1,487 COVID-19 Omicron cases were confirmed in Romania as of February 8, the National Public Health Institute (INSP) informed on Tuesday.

According to INSP, 341 Omicron cases were confirmed in the week January 31 - February 6.

"Of the 1,487 Omicron cases identified so far, 49 were with the BA.2 sub-variant (3.3 percent)," the INSP mentions.

As many as 9,184 cases of concern involving SARS-CoV-2 variants have been confirmed in the reporting period, including 5,941 instances of Delta, and 1,487 instances of Omicron infection.

As of February 6, the confirmation rate of variants of concern was 94 percent.

Of the 5,941 Delta cases, 16 were confirmed last week.
The European Union's Platform on Sustainable Finance, which includes a representative of environmental NGO Agent Green, has strongly opposed the proposal by which the European Commission has included gas and nuclear power generation in the Complementary Delegated Act, as sustainable technologies, Agent Green said in a release on Tuesday.

"The European Commission presented last week the Complementary Delegated Act that classifies gas and nuclear power generation as sustainable technologies included in the new Green Taxonomy. The European Union's Platform on Sustainable Finance, which includes an Agent Green representative as one of the 57 expert members selected from the EU, has categorically opposed this proposal, as the expert group's analysis shows the inefficiency of gas-fired power plants, as even the best performing ones have a significant negative impact on the climate, while the Commission will declare 1.4 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent emitted over the lifetime of the new gas-fired plants as sustainable," the statement said.

Agent Green president Gabriel Paun said that nuclear and gas power are definitely not green energy.

"There is nothing green about nuclear or gas power. The European Commission has only taken into account the opinion of the industry that has triggered the climate crisis, and bypasses science. This attitude worries me. If Europe is going in this direction, it will fail in fulfilling the climate neutrality goal, while putting its citizens at incalculable risk," the Agent Green president cautions.

The Agent Green representative on the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, Edinburgh University's Associate Professor of Sustainable Finance Theodor Cojoianu, also emphasized that the approval of nuclear and gas sources as eco-friendly works to the detriment of sustainable capital markets.
The opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) is asking the Social Democratic Party - National Liberal Party - Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania ruling coalition to remove Energy Minister Virgil Popescu from office before the lawmakers' vote on the simple motion filed against him.

"Virgil Popescu is the main to blame for the aberrant energy bills the Romanians are paying today and he cannot stay in office one minute longer. There are some serious corruption suspicions surrounding him. In 2021 Popescu attempted to entrust without tender NRRP contracts worth almost 600 ml euros to a PNL chummy businessman. We urge the PSD not to vouch for the incompetence and corruption at the top of the Ciuca Government and to support Virgil Popescu's removal from office in today's coalition meeting. We also reaffirm that the only solution to the current energy price crisis is the return to the regulated market, until the competitive requirements are fully met," AUR said in a release on Tuesday.

During the Chamber of Deputies plenary sitting debating the simple motion filed against the Energy Minister, AUR Co-chairman George Simion and Virgil Popescu had a shouting match, with the former climbing to the rostrum to shout Popescu in the face that he is a "thief" and laying hands on him during the jabbering.

After an interruption, the debate on the motion resumed without the participation of the Energy Minister and of the PSD, PNL, UDMR and minorities' deputies.

Virgil Popescu announced on Monday evening that he will file a criminal complaint against George Simion for his aggressive behavior.

The final vote on the simple motion is scheduled for Wednesday's meeting.
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu attended the summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Tuesday to launch the Renewed European Security Dialogue, on which occasion he spoke out against any attempt to undermine the "European security architecture".

According to a release sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), Minister Aurescu referred, in his intervention, to the recent evolutions in the Eastern Neighborhood. "In recent years, we have witnessed a deteriorating security situation in the OSCE region," he said.

The head of Romanian diplomacy pointed out that, at the moment, "the security context is more seriously damaged, following the consolidation of the military presence at the borders of Ukraine and in the Black Sea region, including through the massive deployment of troops".

Bogdan Aurescu reiterated his call for de-escalation and dialogue, as well as for the observance of the principles and obligations assumed by all OSCE participating states, Agerpres.ro informs.

"The key-concept of the OSCE through comprehensive cooperation continues to be of major relevance, as do the principles set out in the Helsinki Final Act and the Paris Charter for a New Europe. All these fundamental principles are of equal importance," the Romanian Minister said at the opening of the meeting.

He pointed out that behind the current "unfortunate" security situation there is not the lack of rules, but the lack of enforcement.

"We need to start this dialogue process with a sincere self-assessment at the OSCE level of why the current security situation is deteriorating. And our answer is that behind this unfortunate situation is not the lack of rules, but the lack of norm application. Therefore, we cannot allow any attempt to undermine the current parameters of the European security architecture (...). Romania continues to be convinced that security and stability in the OSCE area can only be restored by implementing in good faith all existing agreements and respecting OSCE principles, values and commitments," Bogdan Aurescu said, according to the quoted source.

The Minister also expressed regret over the situations that hinder the implementation of the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

In this context, the head of Romanian diplomacy called for increased efficiency in the implementation of OSCE mechanisms for resolving protracted conflicts in the Black Sea region, including by evaluating these instruments in this new dialogue format.

The OSCE Summit was held in Vienna in hybrid format by Poland, as the OSCE Chair-in-Office for this year, marking the launch of a new political process called the Renewed European Security Dialogue. The aim is to provide a comprehensive framework for discussions on reducing the risk of confrontation and strengthening security and stability in the OSCE area, in the context of the security situation arising from the massaging of Russian equipment and personnel in the vicinity of Ukraine and the Black Sea.

Minister Bogdan Aurescu stated that the Renewed European Security Dialogue could be used to discuss the instruments of the OSCE conflict cycle in order to analyze their capabilities and needs, as well as to improve them. He also stressed the importance of managing security threats in the energy and cyber spheres in the new political process.
The Crang forest near the southeastern Buzau municipality, where the local authorities want to arrange the largest urban park in Europe, was transferred to the property of the local authorities through a recent government decision, and on Tuesday it was officially taken over by the municipality, mayor Constantin Toma announced.

He said in a post on his Facebook page that he had signed the protocol with the Forest Guard and Romsilva.

"Today, February 8, 2022, we signed the protocol with the Forest Guard and Romsilva, to take over in the public property of the Buzau municipality, of the Crang forest, in an area of 177.78 hectares, which is added to the 9.4 hectares existing around the lake. There, the dream of the mayor of Buzau, Nicu Constantinescu, who took over on May 1, 1881 the Crang forest by law and who respected 'the condition that forever, the Crangul to serve as a place of walking and embellishment of the city', is carried on," wrote Constantin Toma.

The intention of the local authorities is to regenerate the forest and turn it into the largest urban park in Europe.

"It is our obligation to regenerate this wonderful forest, to improve its biodiversity, so that, together with the other circular economy projects, we can turn Buzau city into one of the most sustainable cities in Romania," mayor Constantin Toma added, Agerpres.ro informs.

Buzau municipality was the owner of this forest since May 1, 1881 until June 11, 1948, and after nationalization, the forest was administered by the state, through Romsilva.

Almost five years ago, Constantin Toma requested the restitution of the Crang forest, and the Romanian Government approved in January this year its free transfer to the public property of the Buzau municipality. The forest is located in the extension of the park of about 10 hectares with the same name, Crang, which is the oldest and most famous park of the city.
Romania's Commissioner for the Venice Art Biennale, Attila Kim, on Tuesday, said that the participation in the 59th edition of the International Art Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia - with the project "You are another Me: A cathedral of the body," signed by Adina Pintilie, represents an "extremely important" event for the Romanian cultural diplomacy.

"It is an extremely important event for Romania's cultural diplomacy abroad, probably the most visited exhibition of Romanian art or architecture both domestically and internationally. Only if we look at the data from 2019, when the previous edition of the Venice Art Biennale took place we can see that there were 595,000 visitors, with another 292,000 visitors recorded at the Architecture Biennale, which was postponed from 2020 to 2021. We would like to see that kind of interest in the exhibition that we have at home too, but, after all, this is our chance to show the Romanian art and architecture to the world, considering also the success that we had abroad in the past couple of years," Attila Kim said at the headquarters of the Romanian Cultural Institute, at the press conference where Romania's participation in the Venice Biennale was announced.

Atilla Kim also announced that two other Romanian artists - Alexandra Pirici, who in 2013 represented Romania together with Manuel Pelmus at the Venice Biennale, and Andra Ursuta, a sculptor living in New York - will take Romania to the Venice Art Biennale, participating in the central exhibition. At the same time, another Romanian artist will be present at the Biennale, within the Eriac Pavilion, to promote Roma art and culture on a European level, namely Eugen Raportoru, Agerpres.ro informs.

The Romanian Commissioner for the Venice Art Biennale informed that the budget for this year's participation of Romania in the event is one million lei.

In his turn, the president of the Romanian Cultural Institute, Liviu Sebastian Jicman, stated that Romania's participation in the Biennial is a priority of ICR this year and in the future.

"It's part of our strategy, which we have been presenting in the past couple of days, and I assure you that we will remain a stable and important partner in this project," said Jicman, who brought to mind that this year's project and those shown in the previous years will be presented in a dialogue between the Romanian Pavilion in Geardini and the ICR Gallery at the ICR headquarters in Venice.

Secretary of State with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andrei Novac said that "Romania has an extraordinary chance this year."

"We come on a very good background from my point of view and I have noticed this internationally every time I have come in contact with the international art market. Romanian artists are currently in a favourable season. We have a lot of important artists and we also noticed this at the Paris Art Fair in the autumn where, without any modesty, even if they were not in the central part of the exhibition space, they had very important works," Novac underscored.

He announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will make efforts for the restoration of the Romanian Pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale, while all the repair works in the latest years were done by the participants in the Biennial of Arts or Architecture.

"All the spaces are about to be finished. We are waiting for the judging to end, we will have discussions in the coming weeks and we hope that everything will be ready when the exhibition opens. It is a long process and, not that I want to justify somehow what happened in the previous years, by the Ministry is managing a lot of spaces abroad and we need to find solutions for all. There is, for instance, the Accademia de Romania in Rome, which is one of our biggest spaces abroad and which also needs repair works done," added Novac.

A message from the Secretary of State with the Ministry of Culture Liviu Bratescu was relayed by Liviu Sebastian Jicman.

Adina Pintilie stated that the project "You are Another Me: A Cathedral of the Body" is a continuation of a process that started with the making of her debut feature film "Touch Me Not," together with an international team of artists and curators.

"I'm in a very unusual position here. This research started ten years ago, in this area of intimacy and corporality and, in fact, in the area of forgetting what you've learned and re-learning in terms of how we relate to our body, to intimacy, to the visual, how we communicate in terms of audiovisual language these topics that are so important in our lives, but so sensitive and difficult to communicate. This research that took me so many years to complete it's not out there, in the world, in the first stage, in the world of film. And I realize that we are actually now here we the same team plus a couple of new international collaborators. It's a combination of a team coming from the world of film, which comes from the world of visual arts. (...) What we create, we create together. You can't create this thing that we produce now without a team," said the artist.

Members of the jury, representatives of the three organizing institutions were also present.

The Ministry of Culture, which organizes together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Cultural Institute the competition dedicated to Romania's participation in the Venice Biennale, announced in January that the project selected to represent Romania at the 2022 edition of the event is "You are Another Me: A Cathedral of the body," by Adina Pintilie, curators Cosmin Costinas and Viktor Neumann.

The 2022 edition of the Biennale will take place from April 23 to November 27, 2022, with a pre-session for specialists and the press from April 20 to 22, 2022, the theme of the 59th edition, launched by curator Cecilia Alemani, being "The Milk of Dreams"/ "Il latte dei sogni"/ "Laptele viselor."

Film director and screenwriter, Adina Pintilie, born on January 12, 1980, graduated from the National University of Theatre and Cinematography in Bucharest, Film Directing, in 2008. "Touch Me Not," Adina Pintilie's debut feature film, won, in 2008, the Golden Bear trophy at the 68th Berlin Film Festival, and was nominated for the Best Debut Feature Film.
Save Romania Union (USR) Deputy Chairman Dan Barna on Tuesday rejected the possibility of running for USR chairmanship at the party's next congress.

"There is no question that I will return in the next period, because I have led the party for four years. I believe that I had a good, successful mandate. (...) Catalin Drula is currently the interim head, I have full confidence in him," he said.

Dan Barna also stated that he will not run for the USR leadership in the next elections, including due to the fact that many expectations of the electorate in recent years "have been reflected in reproaches" to the chairman.

"I will not run for the chairmanship now. I have recorded in these four years results I am proud of, but equally all the expectations and desires - many unrealistic of the people - have been reflected in reproaches to the party's chairman. From this perspective I do not think my appearance in the front line at this time would help either the organization or the public perception," he said, Agerpres.ro informs.

Barna said talks on changing USR status would begin in the coming weeks. He said it would be more effective for the USR chairman to be validated at the same congress where the status change would be discussed.
Over 100 US military have already arrived in Romania, in order to ensure the logistics of providing accommodations for the US troops that will arrive in our country in the near future, the Minister of Defence, Vasile Dincu, said during a press conference on Tuesday, at the "Dr. Carol Davila" Emergency Military Hospital.

"They have already arrived in Romania, from what I understood in other countries as well, in Poland. Alongside our logistics specialists they are handling this exact thing during these days. That means that it won't be long until the rest of the troops will touch down," Dincu said.

"We have been preparing for a few years for accommodating a multi-national force, just like these talked about battle groups. So, we have been prepared for a long time and we have several places where we can accommodate them. (...) We have been ready for a long time, from a logistical standpoint," the Minister of Defence explained.

The Pentagon said last week that 1,000 American troops will be repositioned from Germany to Romania.
The General Prosecutor's Office announced on Tuesday that it has taken notice and opened a criminal case for assault regarding Monday's incident in Parliament, when Deputy George Simion, co-chairman of AUR (Alliance for the Union of Romanians) assaulted the Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu.

"On February 8, 2022, as a result of the ex officio notification in accordance with art. 292 from the Criminal Procedure Code, at the level of the Section of criminal investigation and forensics within the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, a criminal case for assault was registered, provisions from art. 275, paragraph 1 and 2 regarding disturbing the public order and peace, provided by art. 371 of the Criminal Code. In fact, following the materials appeared in the media on February 7, 2022, it was concluded that George Simion, Deputy in the Romanian Parliament, during the session in the Chamber of Deputies of the same day, went to the stand of the Chamber's plenum, where the Minister of Energy was delivering a speech at the simple motion against him, and assaulted the minister," the General Prosecutors's Office announced in a press release.
The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, will attend, on February 9-10, the Joint Conference of EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Health on Global Health and the Meeting of the Informal Ministerial Council on Health, which will take place in Lyon and Grenoble.

According to the Ministry of Health, the two events are being organized under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union (PRES FR).

"Officials in the member states will have the opportunity to discuss actions taken by the European Union in support of developing countries to promote equitable access to medicines in the context of COVID-19, but also to strengthen national health systems," the source said, Agerpres.ro informs.

The agenda of the informal meeting of the Ministerial Health Council will address current issues regarding the intervention and resilience of public health systems in the event of health crises and the joint development of policies for the creation of a "Health Union."
Nine migrants from Afghanistan were found hidden in a semi-trailer truck that was checked at the western Arad County's Varsand Border Crossing Point before leaving the country to head for Germany.

According to a press release sent by the Border Police on Tuesday, the driver of the semi-trailer truck is Romanian and was transporting glass for fireplaces and refrigerators for a German company.

"Following the thorough inspection of the means of transport, nine foreign nationals were found hidden inside the cargo compartment. The persons were taken over and transported to the headquarters of the sector for investigations. Preliminary checks have established that they are citizens from Afghanistan, aged between 19 and 30, asylum seekers in our country," the release said.

The migrants stated at the hearings that they got into the trailer near the city of Arad, without the driver knowing. They risk criminal charges for attempting to illegally cross the state border.
The parliamentary procedure for appointing Romania's candidates for the position of judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was started on Tuesday by the leadership of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

The start of the procedure was requested, by a letter, by the Minister of Justice, Catalin Predoiu.

The standing bureaus of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies sent the Minister of Justice's letter to the parliamentary legal committees on Tuesday for a joint opinion.

On December 17, 2022, the term of office of the judge elected on behalf of Romania - Iulia Antoanella Motoc - will end.

The procedure for appointing Romania's candidates for the position of judge at the ECHR is regulated by Government Ordinance 94/1999 on Romania's participation in proceedings before the ECHR and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the exercise of the recourse right of the state following decisions and amicable settlement agreements, Agerpres.ro informs.

The procedure for selecting candidates took place between October 12 and December 8, 2021, and the list of the three proposals was approved by the Government in the sitting of December 15, 2021.

List of Romanian candidates for the position of Romania's judge at the ECHR, in descending order of the votes obtained in the Selection Committee: Sebastian Raduletu, Bogdan Iancu and Razvan Horatiu Radu, and the reserve candidates are Claudia Jderu and Mihaela Tofan.
The objectives of defending the country and the interests of the Romanian state in front of potential external threats represent a noble mission, of huge responsibility and especially difficult at the same time, which the professionals with the Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) carry out steadily, PM Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday, on the occasion of the SIE day.

He highlighted that this structure's activity very complex specifics involves high level of professionalism, patriotism and dedication from those activating in this field, people capable of taking responsibility and risk assessments in order to fulfill their missions in the service of the country.

"As a military, I am convinced that what motivates these professionals in the intelligence area for successfully finishing their missions are, firstly, the courage and devotion towards the country which they have my full admiration for," Ciuca added.

According to him, the constantly changing global context requires a continuous adaptation to any sort of situations and new threats, because the prevention of potential danger represents the best defence of strategic, economic, military or national security interests, which the safety of each Romanian citizen depends on.

"And even if the people's work in these foreign intelligence structures do not generate news, we know that they are always on duty. Respect and appreciation for the work of these discreet heroes of Romania! Good luck in future missions! Happy anniversary!" the head of the Executive said.

SIE was founded on February 8, 1990, through Decree nr. 111 of the National Salvation Front.
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca emphasized, on Tuesday, after participating in an economic forum organized by AmCham Romania, the importance of maintaining jobs, the functioning of all economic enterprises.

The Prime Minister announced that next week a new meeting of the Interministerial Committee for Energy will be held, emphasizing that there is need for a solution to be understood and assumed both by the Government, as well as by suppliers, distributors, producers and the business environment.

"This subject was raised at the meeting today. I established with them that at the level of Government, following the decisions that have been taken, the last being that of January 15, by which we ensure compensatory measures for February and March, to work together, which we did, meeting for the first time in the Interministerial Committee, to seek solutions together with them and with consumers. I said very clearly that the center of the Government's concerns are the citizen and keeping economic activities open," said Ciuca, after participating in the meeting.
The economic and security dimensions of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United States of America are a solid foundation for facing current challenges, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said Tuesday at a forum organized by AmCham Romania.

"The message I want to convey in this business forum is: we invest together, we build together. The economic and security dimensions of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United States of America are a solid foundation for facing the current challenges. Together, shoulder to shoulder, we can strengthen the Eastern Flank of the European Union and the North Atlantic Organization and we will discourage threats in a consolidated defense posture," Nicolae Ciuca said.

He stressed that in recent years, Romania has made remarkable economic progress, and resilience during the pandemic has been a challenge for all.

"As an immediate priority, the Government's solutions to respond to the energy crisis are aimed both at protecting the citizens and at ensuring the necessary conditions for the economic sectors to carry out their activity in conditions of efficiency and competitiveness. We are constantly evaluating the effects of implementing these measures and we are considering, in the perspective of April 1st, new legislative solutions adapted to the situation caused by the energy crisis," Ciuca said.

The government is committed, said he, to accelerating structural reforms and efficiently investing national and European funds.

"Romania is a safe business destination, competitive and oriented towards modernization and development (...). Whether we are talking about digitization and energy, health and infrastructure, education and the environment, we have the perspective of a sustainable development, focused on modernizing the country and increasing the quality of people's lives. We need to work together, the private sector and the administration, two important pillars to ensure the success of this ambitious plan. The implementation of the investment projects will be accompanied by the reforms assumed through the PNRR [the National Recovery and Resilience Plan]: the fiscal reform of the state-owned companies, the reforms in the fields of education, health and pensions, the decarbonisation policy and the support for the development of energy from renewable sources. We are concerned about the timely completion of the public procurement procedures for large investments, given the very tight timetable for the implementation of this Plan," Ciuca said.

According to him, the government will encourage the opening of IT&C services from the public sector to the private sector, by organizing public-private partnerships, technology transfer and know-how to and from competent and competitive companies, reusing components and promoting open-source technologies.

"Through the Ministry of Economy, projects will be launched with a 500 million euro PNRR financing scheme for the microelectronics industry. Romania is well positioned to become an effective contributor in this ambitious programme, given the tradition in the field, continued in several centers of excellence, as well as the fact that significant industrial investments of great European interest, such as the automotive industry, are already being hosted," the prime minister said.

He also said that the energy sector, with a focus on energy produced from renewable sources with low carbon emissions, the refurbishment and modernization of energy networks and investments in energy storage capacities, represents an important opportunity.

"The investments programmed through the PNRR and the Modernization Fund are able to radically transform Romania's energy infrastructure, as well as the energy mix, offering financing opportunities of over 16 billion euros by 2030," Ciuca said.

According to him, for Romania, the development of the transport infrastructure represents a medium and long-term strategic objective, which is reflected in the Investment Programme for the development of the transport infrastructure for the period 2021-2030, which aims to recover the deficit of basic infrastructure at national level on all areas of transport, but especially in the road transport sector.

The Prime Minister said that the Government understands the importance of legislative stability and predictability, transparency and dialogue and has highlighted the fact that advantageous fiscal policies, granting state aid or tax facilities, high-skilled labour force are elements that make Romania a preferred destination of investors.

An additional guarantee meant to strengthen the confidence of the business environment in the Romanian economy, he said, is the opening of negotiations for accession to the OECD.

In view of the above, the Prime Minister said that, for Romania, the US investors represent a strategic milestone.

"We count on the desire of your companies to be part of the success Romania can know through its sustainable anchoring in the community of consolidated democracies. The message with which I would like to end my intervention is this: have confidence in Romania, in the opportunities and competitive advantages our economy offers. Come to develop together future projects in digitization, clean energy and environment, infrastructure, advanced technologies," Prime minister Ciuca said.
The rules of the Chamber will be changed, so that situations like the one that happened on Monday, in the plenary sitting, when the Minister of Energy was assaulted by Deputy George Simion, will not happen again, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the Social Democrat leader Marcel Ciolacu, stated on Tuesday.

"Now I have talked to the group leader, we will come up with a form of modification to the regulations so that such things do not happen again. It is inadmissible when someone addresses the microphone to be assaulted like that. We are talking about the Romanian Parliament, we are talking about Romania, a member of the European Union," Ciolacu specified after the meeting of the joint Permanent Bureaus of the two chambers.

He added that it is possible that the leaders of the parliamentary groups will complete the draft modification to the regulations of the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday, Agerpres.ro informs.

The PSD leader mentioned that it is excluded that gendarmes, policemen or representatives of the Internal Affairs Directorate of Parliament should take care of the security of the plenary sessions, mentioning that these problems are solved by the quaestors.

In his view, what happened on Monday was an exception and will not happen again after the chamber rules are modified.

The plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies in which the simple USR (Save Romania Union) motion was debated was suspended on Monday, after the speech of the Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu, was interrupted by George Simion, leader of AUR, who went to the rostrum and assaulted the Minister, with whom he had an exchange of remarks.

The General Prosecutor's Office announced on Tuesday that it acted on its own initiative and started a criminal investigation into the crime of assault in connection with this incident.
PSD (Social Democratic Party) leader Marcel Ciolacu discussed on Tuesday with representatives of Varta, the world leader in battery production, about "an investment of hundreds of millions of euros," the Social Democrat leader expressing his wish that the future facility of the German company should also be built in Romania, as well as the one in Brasov, and that government support will be found in this regard.

"PSD's commitment in this government is to put the people and the economy first. Therefore, all our efforts are channeled to attract large direct investments in Romania, which will contribute to the recovery of the economy and to the increase of the living standard for our citizens. Today we had a very good meeting with the representatives of Varta, the world leader in battery production, we talked about an investment of hundreds of millions of euros, only in the first phase, and a lot of jobs. The Germans should also build the future facility in Romania, just like the one in Brasov, which was a success story," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook, Agerpres.ro informs.

He stated that he was convinced that government support would be found for a "quick and positive" decision.
A committee to inquire into the abuse of juveniles in residential centres will be set up in the Senate, as the necessary signatures have already been collected, Senate Deputy Chair Alina Gorghiu said on Tuesday.

"The necessary signatures have been collected for the establishment of a committee to inquire into the abuses committed against minors in residential centres; I hope the committee will come to life very soon at a plenary session of the Senate (...). We will have to find solutions in real time for the misdeeds. The future is digital, and our duty is to build it safe, and I will consider this conference as one of the steps that will help secure the Internet for our children," Gorghiu said at a Save the Children Internet safety conference hosted by the Senate.

She said that solutions have to be devised to protect children so that they do not fall "into the trap of cyber predators of any kind."

According to the senator, fake news and hate speech should be reported because they can reach children and influence their personality and actions.

Family Minister Gabriela Firea sent an online message to the attendees, and Maria-Madalina Turza, a state councilor with the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, spoke during the debate.

A sociological survey called "Use of the Internet by Children and Adolescents" was released during a debate on how the children and adolescents' Internet behaviour changed two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, held in partnership with the Romanian Senate, moderated by Save the Children Executive Chair Gabriela Alexandrescu and attended by representatives of the Romanian Senate and government, the General Romanian Police Inspectorate, the Section for Combatting Terrorist Crimes and Cybercrime within DIICOT and the International Police Cooperation Centre.

Authority officials provided procedural details and statistics on how to work and act in child sexual abuse cases, while also putting forth solutions to improve public policies on child safety online.

Save the Children also released a report on the esc_abuz child abuse reporting line. During the debate, the results of the Net Time programme of 2021 were also presented. Although affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, the Romanian online security centre in 2021 continued its educational activities to support children, parents and teachers, so that the use of the Internet can be as safe, useful and efficient as possible. The activities consisted of information sessions and school competitions involving over 40,015 children and 6,000 adults nationwide, as well as online campaigns, conferences and events that garnered hundreds of thousands of views.
The President of the Senate, Liberal leader Florin Citu, stated, on Monday evening, at private broadcaster Digi24, that deputy George Simion, co-chair of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), should have been ejected by the Parliament's quaestors from the plenum, after the exchange with Energy Minister Virgil Popescu, believing the former should be punished both by Parliament, as well as by authorities.

"We will see what we can do about the rules so that such events don't occur anymore. Ultimately, we must see if it's ok for an MP to come next to a speaker. In the Romanian Parliament you can publicly express your opinion at the microphone (...) but to come and to physically assault someone, this must be punished by Parliament and the Romanian authorities," said Citu, at Digi24.

He added that this isn't the only incident and that the event could have been avoided if the behavior of those in AUR had been punished with a criminal complaint when they filed the censure motion [e.n. - On September 3, 2021], together with the Save Romania Union (USR).

"At that time, with them there were those from the USR , the same behavior that wasn't punished then either. The fact that it wasn't punished with a criminal complaint made it so today we have a repeat offense from the same political group. An extremist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic group that has made it a title of glory to verbally and physically aggress those with differing opinions. This is not democracy, this is the way of violence and we will not tolerate such a thing," said Citu.

The Senate's President mentioned that he will propose in the Standing Bureaus the drawing up of "clear and harsh punishments for those who make such gestures in the future."

Citu expressed his thanks for the fact that Virgil Popescu filed a criminal complaint against George Simion, emphasizing that the state institutions should do their duty with celerity.
The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Sorin Grindeanu, on Tuesday discussed with the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Peer Gebauer, about bilateral collaboration, in the context of the shared interest for developing road, rail and airport infrastructure in Romania.

"I spoke with His Excellency Peer Gebauer, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, about bilateral cooperation in the context of the shared interest of the two countries in developing the road, rail and airport infrastructure in Romania. German companies have long been present on the relevant Romanian market and this is an important aspect when we are talking about developing the Romanian infrastructure with European funds (National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Transport Operational Programme, Connecting Europe Facility 2.0) and the national budget," said Grindeanu, in a post on his Facebook page.

The head of Transport reiterates that, through the Investment Plan, Romania intends to develop the transport infrastructure by 2030.

"We want to recover the deficit we have in terms of road and rail infrastructure in the next 10 years. Through the PNRR we will also focus on two levels of reform: sustainable transport, decarbonisation and road safety, quality management in the field and administrative improvement," Grindeanu explained.
Former USR (Save Romania Union) leader Dacian Ciolos said on Tuesday that a congress should be held as soon as possible to change the statute and elect a new party leader.

Ciolos, who resigned on Monday from the position of USR chair, after he failed to have his project meant for the modernization of the party adopted by the National Bureau, voiced hope that, in exchange, the National Bureau would organize a congress by summer.

"I believe that a congress, as soon as possible, would be welcome, for it would help us clarify some things. And I'm talking now both about the internal organization and functioning of the party and the prerequisites for overcoming this type of dichotomies. For we should stop talking about Barna's side and Ciolos's side, the former PLUS, the former USR. If we succeed to do this by summer, my opinion is that, as I know the party right now, by fall, at the latest, we would be able to be the opposition that we all want to be, a real opposition, as Catalin Drula would say, which should be done not only by a few leaders at the central level, but in the territory, too. If we do not succeed in making things clear and giving confidence to the members of the party, real confidence, they we are going to step into the next electoral year as a weak party," Ciolos told Digi FM private television broadcaster.

The former USR (Save Romania Union) chair maintained that the "artificial" maintenance of a "dichotomy" Dan Barna - Dacian Ciolos is a "false track" that hurt the party. Dacian Ciolos recalled that he proposed to Dan Barna in the summer of 2021 that both of them gave up the idea of running for the top position in the party. On the other hand, he claimed that the majority team in the National Bureau "leaves little room for real dialogue."

He said that there is a compatibility of ideas and vision between the USR members, but "there is still work to be done" regarding the internal organization of the party. In his view, the USR will "find it very difficult" to convince the electorate if it is not coherent internally.
USR MP Silviu Dehelean, member of the Legal Committee, criticized the draft amendment to the Regulation of the Chamber of Deputies, appreciating that PSD and PNL "take advantage of AUR violence to classify debates" in the Legislature and especially in the parliamentary committees.

"PSDNL and AUR act in perfect complicity and use each other to silence the USR. (...) The ruling coalition has decided to ban live broadcasts or recordings of plenary sessions, committees, the Permanent Bureau or the leaders' Committee. The press will be allowed to attend only with prior approval, following a written request", the deputy wrote on Facebook.

According to him, the proposals are meant to "bring back that peace and obscurity" in which "almost any kind of maneuvering" can be done. The deputy adds that the representatives of PSD and PNL want to "return to the state before 2016", in which Romanians "did not know" what is happening in the Romanian Parliament, and the legislative process "was only for privileged politicians who wrote in their texts privileges, for them and theirs".

"Obviously, AUR will continue to do the same (...)," adds Dehelean, Agerpres.ro informs.

He notes that on Tuesday, the Legal Committee reported on a text that incriminates "Inciting the public, by any means, to violence, hatred or discrimination against a certain person or against a person on the grounds that he is part of a certain category of people defined on the basis of (...) opinion or political affiliation, wealth. "

PNL, PSD, UDMR and the group of national minorities proposed, on Tuesday, a draft amendment to the Regulation of the Chamber of Deputies prohibiting the live transmission or recording by deputies or other persons of plenary sessions, permanent bureau, committee of leaders or committees.

Parliamentarians are also prohibited from using physical violence or insults against another parliamentarian.
The acting chairman of USR (Save Romania Union), Catalin Drula, declared on Tuesday his priority will be the party's unity, which needs each and every member.

During a press conference held in Parliament, Drula discussed about the possibility of organizing the congress for modifying the statute of USR's and the one for validating the formation's chairman.

"In the following period my priority will be the party's unity. I am certain that we will get out of this moment stronger than before, and this is my message for both my colleagues and for those in PSD (Social Democratic Party) and PNL (National Liberal Party) - USR will make a proper opposition," he specified.

Asked about what he is telling the USR members that would be tempted to leave the party, Catalin Drula said that the merger project between USR and PLUS (Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity) needs to deepen, in order to form a single team.

Drula thanked the former party chairman Dacian Ciolos for the work he put in these last few months and for his contribution in the merger project. He highlighted that "without Dacian Ciolos and Dan Barna", the merger between the two parties, USR and PLUS, would have never existed.

The acting chairman of USR added that he will discuss with his colleagues in the National Bureau about a possible simultaneous organization of the congress to electing the chairman, and the one to modifying the party's statute.
The Save Romania Union (USR) will assume the opposition mantle, "covering the whole pitch", USR interim Chairman Catalin Drula said on Tuesday, noting that the current governing coalition has had "too many honeymoons".

"The USR's opposition will cover the whole pitch and as soon as the epidemiological situation allows, you will see us in the streets again. We are reconnecting with the grassroots, we engage in opposition, propose reformist public policies and prepare the government of 2024. All these projects and others we will talk about in the next period are in the pipeline. We will work united to offer Romania the alternative it deserves. The days of ease in this dysfunctional coalition are over. They've had too many honeymoons and it became obvious that the Liberals and the Social Democrats are unable to rule Romania. This coalition against nature has its days numbered," Drula told a press conference at the Palace of Parliament.

He added that the USR will have monitoring teams covering each ministry and agency, ready to step in at the helm of the respective institution, should the formation return to power.

"The USR will make a real opposition. We will battle a system that prioritizes clientelism instead of the country's welfare. We will show where the budget resource is being squandered and we will come up with concrete solutions to plug in these black holes," the USR interim Chairman said.
Millions of Americans are on the hook for filing federal income taxes every April. The U.S. government generally expects that whenever you earn a certain amount of income, youll submit that information to the IRS  and settle up in a timely fashion.

But what if you dont?

Whether its accidental or intentional, missing a tax deadline can have serious consequences. You may miss out on a tax refund, or you may face fines from the IRS for not following the law. You may owe back taxes, a phrase that can refer to overdue taxes and returns from years past.

Filing back taxes can be an intimidating process, especially if youre worried about finding the right forms and paying your obligations. But it doesnt have to be painful. This guide will walk you through exactly how to file back taxes.

Have you started filing your 2021 Taxes? Select your state to begin the process of filing your taxes with TurboTax.

Steps to filing back taxes

Gather your information

Back taxes require the same tax information that on-time returns do. The IRS will need to know about your past wages, investment income, unemployment benefits, freelance checks and more from the appropriate year(s). Most of this data can be found on forms W-2 and 1099.

To fill out a 1040 form, which is the basic income tax return for individuals, youll also need to have your Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number as well personal information for you, your spouse and your dependents (if applicable).

What to do if youre missing records

Ambrea Lacy, a tax professional in Cedar Hill, Texas, says one of the biggest worries for clients with back taxes is that theyre missing prior-year returns and forms. The issue they usually have is, Oh my gosh, I dont know if I have all my W-2s, my 1099s,' she says. I probably lost it, maybe in a move; its been misplaced.'

You can contact your old employer(s) and financial institutions, but they might not want to help you dig up years-old tax documents.

If youre in this situation, dont worry. You can request whats called a tax transcript from the IRS. There are different types of transcripts, but if youre missing information about your earnings, the one youll want likely want is a wage and income transcript. Wage and income transcripts go 10 years back and include the info the IRS has from your old W-2s, 1099s and more.

Any tax document thats gonna get mailed to you is on that tax transcript, Lacy says.

The quickest way to get and view a tax transcript is to use the IRSs Get Transcript Online tool. If that doesnt work, you can call 800-908-9946, ask for transcript by mail or send in Form 4506-T to request the years you need.

If youre accessing your transcript yourself online, Lacy says youll likely get a masked transcript that redacts personally identifiable information for entities and individuals. To get an unmasked version, youll have to ask that one be mailed to you or team up with a tax professional who can access it on your behalf.

Complete and submit the return forms

Though the specific list of forms needed to file back taxes depends on your personal financial situation, below are some of the documents youll likely have to round up for the year(s) you need to file.

Forms for filing back taxes

They include:

Form W-2, a wage and tax statement

Form 1099-G if you received unemployment benefits

forms 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC if you completed contract work or received certain kinds of payments

forms 1099-INT and 1099-DIV if you had interest income or dividends

Form 1099-R if you took distributions from a retirement account

Form SSA-1099 if you got Social Security benefits

Form 1098 if you received over $600 of mortgage interest

Form 1098-T if you paid tuition expenses

records that prove youre eligible for certain deductions and credits

Where to submit back taxes

The IRS says you can file your past due return the same way and to the same location where you would file an on-time return, though if you received an IRS notice you should follow its instructions.

Weve rounded up the best tax software programs here, but note that the fine print may be different for the current year than it is for back taxes.

For example, tax prep service TurboTax has links on its website where you can buy products to prepare your 2018, 2019 and 2020 taxes, though it says you will have to print out and mail in your tax return for previous years. In other words, you cant file these tax returns online through TurboTax.

TaxAct will allow you to buy its software for 2020, but you cant start returns for 2016-2019 online. (Returns for 2015 and earlier arent available online.) H&R Block also requires a software purchase for the year(s) in question, but it offers IRL options as well if you want to physically visit an office.

Check the status of your return

The IRS says it typically takes six weeks to process past-due returns that dont have errors, though the agency is currently taking longer than usual to do just about everything.

If you want to find out the status of your past-due tax return, you can call the IRS at 800-829-1040. Youll need to have handy your Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number, birthday, filing status, prior-year(s) return and any letters the IRS previously sent you.

Improve your potential refund amount - Prepare and file your federal income tax return using tax preparation software

Tax preparation software companies like TurboTax will help improve your earning potential.

Guide to back taxes

Why should I file back taxes?

Perhaps the biggest reason to file past-due taxes is to claim a refund. There are a couple exceptions, but the IRS typically requires you to file within three years of a tax returns due date in order to get that refund. Tax credits are handled the same way.

If youre a taxpayer living in the U.S., dont have certain international disclosures to make, and the government owes you or your tax liability is zero, its not as big of a deal as when you owe the government, says Ryan Losi, a certified public accountant (CPA) with PIASCIK.

But if youre on the hook for a tax bill and you skip out on filing, the IRS may charge you penalties. The IRS says failing to file your taxes could also impact your Social Security benefits and chances of getting approved for a loan.

Its prudent in general to have your income on file with the IRS. Not only did it help some people get their stimulus checks and advance child tax credit payments faster during the pandemic, but Losi says it also could also establish a record youll need later.

There may be tax attributes in those years that carry forward, he adds. For example, if theres a business loss, or maybe you had a capital loss, sale of securities or investments  those might offset future taxable income. But if you havent substantiated and documented it, generally itll get denied.

What happens if you dont file back taxes?

The IRS might file a substitute return for you, and it wont be as kind as you would be if you were doing it yourself. Its calculations probably wont include all the deductions, credits and exemptions you technically qualify for.

You may also have to pay up. If you owe the IRS, the failure-to-file penalty is 5% of your unpaid taxes for each month (or partial month) past the due date, up to 25%. After 60 days, the minimum penalty is $435 or 100% of the tax on the return. You could also face a failure-to-pay penalty and interest.

Beware: The IRS will start the collection process if you ignore a tax debt and may pursue a federal tax lien on your property.

What to do if you cant afford to pay back taxes

Because of the potential for interest, the IRS advises you to pay your tax bill in full as soon as possible.

If you owe less than $100,000 and cant pay right away but will be able to soon, you may want to pursue a short-term payment plan. Short-term payment plans can buy you an extra 180 days and dont cost anything to set up online. You can apply using the Online Payment Agreement tool at IRS.gov or call 800-829-1040.

If youre unable to pay that quickly, there are other options.

Request an installment agreement

If you cant afford to cover your unpaid taxes, you can request an installment agreement by filling out Form 9465 (or, if youre an individual who owes less than $50,000, applying with that Online Payment Agreement tool). Fees start at $31 but vary based on your income level, how much you owe, how you pay and how you set up the long-term payment plan.

Request an offer in compromise

If paying your bill would be a serious financial hardship, you might consider an offer in compromise, which is essentially a settlement with the IRS for less than your total bill. The IRS warns that this program is not for everyone given its restrictions and rigor. Fees depend on your income but start at $205 (plus an initial payment on your bill).

You can apply for an offer in compromise, or OIC, by completing Form 656. Lacy says its a good idea to hire a tax professional if youre planning to pursue an OIC because its a lengthy process, and it does take diligence.

Back taxes FAQ

How many years can you file back taxes?

The IRS says itll accept all delinquent returns submitted by a taxpayer, whether upon his/her own initiative or at the request of a Service representative, except in cases of fraud or intentional avoidance.

Taxpayers can file back taxes for as many years as they are behind, Lacy says.

How to file back taxes without records

You will need records in order to file your past-due tax returns. To get your old tax data, reach out to the entities that issued the prior-year documents or request a transcript using the instructions above.

The IRS says that wage and income transcripts are available for a decade, but watch out  information about local and state taxes isnt included.

How long does the IRS have to collect back taxes?

The IRS is generally supposed to assess taxes you owe within three years of you filing a return or its due date. But if you omit a substantial amount of income, gifts or excise tax on your return, it has six years to do so. (If your return was fraudulent, though, theres no limit to how long it can take.)

From there, the IRS has 10 years to actually collect the payment.

Is the IRS collecting back taxes during the pandemic?

The IRSs collection department paused enforcement for a few months in early 2020, but in 2021 those activities were gradually restarted while being careful not to interfere with COVID-19 relief programs like the stimulus checks and child tax credit payments, according to a post on its website. The agency also changed how it handles offers in compromise and tax refunds.

How much does it cost to file back taxes?

If you owe the IRS, there are fees for not filing your taxes and paying the balance on time. (You may also qualify for first-time penalty abatement.) But the actual filing doesnt cost extra  depending on what preparer you use.

You may be able to file for free with a provider like FreeTaxUSA, though you might have to pay for postage to mail in the printed return.

Can you file back taxes electronically?

In general, whether you can submit your back taxes online depends on what youre filing and for which years, Losi says. (The IRS portal for electronic filing also tends to shut down for a few weeks every year for maintenance, so keep that in mind.)

Though paper returns take way longer to process, Losi says you might want to snail-mail in a back tax return so you can include a cover letter that explains why you didnt meet the tax deadline  death of a spouse, major medical issue, et cetera  with the hope that the IRS will be a little bit more accommodating.

Bottom line to filing back taxes

Filing back taxes is important for several reasons. Its a way for you to get old tax refunds youre owed, put your income information on file with the IRS and avoid penalties from the government.

Youll need to round up information about your income and taxes for the year(s) youre filing. Dig up those old W-2s and 1099s; if you cant find them, request a tax transcript from the IRS. Locate documentation about any credits you may qualify for. Do your taxes carefully, because mistakes will make IRS processing will take even longer.

You can do this all yourself, but Losi says you may want to hire a professional to guide you through it if youre multiple years behind on taxes or have a complex financial situation. Check out our list of the best tax relief companies to get started.

Connecting with an expert may also put you at ease, especially if youre afraid to find out how much youll owe the IRS.

If you give us ballpark numbers, we can give you an idea of what your obligation might be, if any, he adds. A lot of times, if theres uncertainty and anxiety, that can be resolved quickly.

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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.
Best Online Broker

If youre shopping for life insurance, finding the right insurance company  and comparing quotes  can feel overwhelming. Rather than getting prices and policy details directly from individual companies yourself, you can use an online broker to get quotes from several insurers at once.

PolicyGenius allows comparisons of whole and term life policies from top insurance companies. Its our pick for the best online broker because it allows customers to shop entirely online, but it also has insurance agents available to give you personalized assistance if you need it.

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.

PolicyGenius Life Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros

Allows comparing multiple quotes at once

Not affiliated with any insurance company

Offers access to licensed agents if you want

Multiple term coverage options

Cons

Limited range of insurance partners

Medical exams usually required

Some partners have low customer satisfaction scores

Pros

Allows you to compare multiple quotes at once

In the past, buying life insurance meant manually getting quotes from multiple companies or working with an insurance broker to do the research for you. PolicyGenius simplifies and streamlines the process, allowing you to fill out one form and get quotes from several top insurers.

Not affiliated with any insurance company

Like most other brokers, PolicyGenius isnt an insurance company, nor does it own one. It sells policies from multiple companies without giving priority to any one of them, so you can get unbiased information.

Fully licensed agents available

In some cases, even with an online purchase, you may want to talk to an insurance agent because of special circumstances or to answer questions about the insurance process. Unlike some brokers who offer no option for human interaction, PolicyGenius has fully-licensed agents available by phone or text to help you.

Multiple term coverage options

Term life insurance is a popular choice for many people, but some insurers limit options to terms of no more than 30 years or benefits of $2 million or less, to give just two examples. A broker like PolicyGenius allows you to shop multiple companies for terms as long as 40 years and coverage of up to $10 million.

Cons

Limited range of insurance partners

While brokers like PolicyGenius allow you to get quotes from several insurers at once, not all insurance companies work with them. They only provide quotes from its partners that pay commissions, and you may be able to find better rates elsewhere if youre willing to do the research yourself.

Medical exams are usually required

Most PolicyGenius policies are fully underwritten and require medical exams. If youre looking for simplified issue or guaranteed issue policies, you may have to work with another company.

Some partners have low customer satisfaction scores

Since PolicyGenius doesnt underwrite insurance policies, customer satisfaction ratings vary by insurer. While a few of the companies have very good ratings, most are ranked relatively low for customer service. (During the shopping process, PolicyGenius is available for assistance. But once the policy is purchased, youll work with the insurer with any customer service issues, so company customer satisfaction ratings are important).

PolicyGenius Life Insurance Products

Through PolicyGenius, you can get quotes for and purchase term and whole life insurance policies. Once you choose a policy, youll work with a PolicyGenius agent to finalize your quote and submit your application.

Available Life Insurance Plans

PolicyGenius has two life insurance options:

Term Life

With term life coverage, you purchase life insurance for a specified term. As temporary coverage, term life insurance is usually cheaper than whole life insurance, but your beneficiaries only receive a death benefit if you pass away during the policy term.

When purchasing term life insurance through PolicyGenius, you can choose a term of 10 to 40 years. And, you can get up to $10 million of coverage.

Whole Life

If youre looking for a life insurance policy that never expires, a whole life plan might be best for you. Unlike term life insurance, whole life policies last for your lifetime. And, they can accumulate cash value over time; you can utilize the cash value in the form of loans or withdrawals as needed.

Through PolicyGenius, you can get quotes for whole life insurance with death benefits as high as $10 million.

Insurance Riders

Although the insurance companies that sell policies through PolicyGenius offer riders, PolicyGenius doesnt list what riders each company offers, and it doesnt give you any details on what the riders would cost when you get a preliminary quote. The only way to get that information is to contact a PolicyGenius agent or the insurance company directly.

Limitations

PolicyGenius only sells term and whole life insurance. If youre looking for another form of coverage, such as guaranteed issue policies or universal or variable life insurance, youll have to look for another company.

Prepare for the unexpected with a Whole Life Insurance policy.

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PolicyGenius Credentials

PolicyGenius was launched in 2014. Since its inception, it has sold more than $140 billion in insurance coverage, including life, auto, disability and homeowners policies. It has headquarters in New York and Durham, North Carolina.

PolicyGenius doesnt underwrite or issue policies. Instead, it connects customers to leading insurance companies. For life insurance, its partners include AIG, Brighthouse Financial, Lincoln Financial Group, Pacific Life, Prudential and TransAmerica.

Financial Stability

Purchasing a life insurance policy is a serious decision; your policy will last for decades, if not your entire life. To ensure that your beneficiaries are protected, you want to make sure the company you choose to buy a policy from will be financially stable over the long-haul.

Before purchasing a policy, review ratings from credit rating agencies to see what experts believe about the companys stability and future outlook.

The companies PolicyGenius works with generally have high financial stability ratings. Below are the credit ratings for the companies that issue PolicyGenius policies:

Carrier AM Best Rating Moodys Rating S & P Global Rating AIG A (Excellent) Baa2 N/A Brighthouse Financial A (Excellent) BAA3 A+ Lincoln Financial Group A+ (Superior) BAA1 BBB Pacific Life A+ (Superior) AA3 AA- Prudential A+ (Superior) A3 AA- TransAmerica A (Excellent) A1 N/A

Third-Party Ratings

PolicyGenius works with many different companies, and their ratings and customer service rankings vary between insurers.

PolicyGenius partners did not perform very well in the J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, which ranked 21 life insurance companies based on customer satisfaction. Only one of PolicyGenius partners  Pacific Life  was in the top 10; the rest all had scores below the industry average.

Insurance Company Ranking Score (based on a 1,000 scale) AIG 20/21 729 (Below industry average) Brighthouse Financial 21/21 714 (Well below the industry average) Lincoln Financial Group 12/21 773 (A little bit below the industry average) Pacific Life 4/21 801 (Above the industry average) Prudential 15/21 753 (Below the industry average) TransAmerica 19/21 747 (Below the industry average)

Regulatory Actions

PolicyGenius has not faced any regulatory actions.

Cost of PolicyGenius Life Insurance

If youre deciding which insurance is best for you, consider that term life insurance tends to be much cheaper than whole life policies. If you purchase life insurance in your 20s, coverage can be inexpensive since you are less likely to have existing health conditions.

When you request a quote from PolicyGenius, it will give you a range for the premiums rather than a set rate. Many variables can affect your premiums, including the insurance company, your location, age and health history.

To give you an idea of what rates to expect, we requested quotes for a healthy 30-year-old. We found that PolicyGenius quotes were in line with industry averages.

Below are the sample monthly premiums:

$100,000 policy $250,000 policy $500,000 policy $1M policy 10 years $7 to $8 $9 to $14 $11 to $22 $16 to $34 20 years $8 to $11 $11 to $18 $16 to $29 $25 to $49 30 years $11 to $16 $22 to $38 $37 to $69 $67 to $128 Whole Life $80 to $82 $189 to $194 $374 to $384 $733 to $754

Your rates may vary from the sample rates we received because premiums are based on multiple factors including your age, gender, health history and location.

PolicyGenius Accessibility

Customers can apply for a life insurance policy through PolicyGenius website. However, PolicyGenius also has fully-licensed agents that can answer your questions or may be able help you find a policy if you have chronic health issues or a complicated medical history.

Contact Information

The life insurance customer support team is available by phone or email:

Phone: 855-695-2255

Customer service is available Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. EST, on Fridays from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. EST, and on weekends from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. EST.

User Experience

PolicyGenius allows customers to create an account to save their information as they get quotes and navigate through the application process. However, once you have purchased a policy, youll need to create an account with the company issuing the policy to make payments or change your beneficiaries.

PolicyGenius Customer Satisfaction

While customers often leave positive PolicyGenius reviews, the companies that underwrite and issue the policies that PolicyGenius sells receive less-complimentary remarks.

Customer Reviews

On TrustPilot, PolicyGenius has outstanding reviews. Its TrustScore is 4.8 out of 5 based on over 2,900 reviews, putting it in the excellent category. PolicyGenius customer reviews typically praise the quick application process, communication and cost.

Complaint Index

To get an idea of what kind of customer service PolicyGenius offers, we looked at the complaint ratios of the companies that issue policies through the site. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) releases ratios that reflect the number of complaints submitted relative to the companys size. The industry standard is 1.0; a ratio above 1.0 indicates that the company received more complaints than is typical for its share of the market.

Because PolicyGenius life insurance policies are sold by different insurers, the level of customer service can vary by company. Some of the partner companies, such as Prudential and AIG, have a much higher complaint ratio than the industry standard, meaning they received significantly more complaints than is expected for their size.

What insurance companies does PolicyGenius work with?

PolicyGenius works with several top life insurance companies, including: - AIG - Brighthouse Financial - Lincoln Financial Group - Pacific Life - Prudential - TransAmerica

How does PolicyGenius make money?

PolicyGenius is paid a commission by insurance companies for every sale made through the site. The commission is built into the rate quotes, so you don't have to pay extra to buy a policy through PolicyGenius.

Who owns PolicyGenius?

PolicyGenius is a private company. It was founded in 2014 by Jennifer Fitzgerald and Francois de Lame.

How We Evaluated PolicyGenius Life Insurance

In our evaluation of PolicyGenius and other life insurance companies, we looked at the following factors:

Available plans and terms

Insurance riders

Policy exclusions

Underwriting process

Cost

Financial stability

Customer service

Customer reviews

Third-party ratings

Summary of Moneys PolicyGenius Life Insurance Review

If you need life insurance and arent sure where to start, PolicyGenius could be a helpful resource. As an online broker, PolicyGenius allows you to fill out one simple form and get quotes from multiple insurance companies so you can pick the best fit for you. You can get up to $10 million in coverage, and you can purchase either term or whole life policies.

However, some people may find it worthwhile to shop around on their own. Because PolicyGenius only works with certain insurance companies, you may find better rates  and a higher level of customer service  from other insurers that dont partner with PolicyGenius.

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.

 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.
The IRS is facing widespread backlash right now  and no, its not because of the agencys backlog of tax returns.

The latest criticism is over the IRSs use of facial recognition software, which has drawn the attention of lawmakers and privacy advocates, among others.

Starting this summer, Americans who want access to certain records via the IRS website, like information about child tax credits and payment plans, will need to use a new sign-in and identity verification system that includes taking a video selfie.

The IRS is using ID.me, a third-party technology company that provides online identity verification. People who already have accounts with the IRS can continue to use their existing credentials until this summer, but are being prompted to create an ID.me account as soon as possible, according to a statement the IRS issued in November.

If youre a new user and need to create an IRS account, the agency says that you should create an account with ID.me, which the agency describes as its trusted technology provider in helping to keep your personal information safe.

You dont need to submit a selfie to the IRS to file your taxes. But there are certainly useful aspects to an account with the IRS, like the ability to request an online tax transcript.

While online, your personal information is constantly exposed to bad actors. Protect your identity TODAY. Don't fall prey to cybercriminals looking to steal your hard-earned dollars. Find the best Identity Theft Protection now by clicking on your state.

The IRS, facial recognition and privacy concerns

The IRS already has tons of our personal information, but people are understandably creeped out by the idea of the agency also having recordings of our faces.

Im very disturbed that Americans may have to submit to a facial recognition system, wait on hold for hours, or both, to access personal data on the IRS website, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden, D-Ore., tweeted in January. While e-filing returns remain unaffected, Im pushing the IRS for greater transparency on this plan.

In a letter sent Monday to IRS commissioner Charles Rettig, Wyden called the facial recognition move simply unacceptable and called on the agency to reverse its decision, The Washington Post reported. (The Posts editorial board also weighed in on the controversy in an opinion piece, saying the extra verification procedure would be a mistake and that low-income Americans often lack the necessary technology, and research shows people of color are more likely to be misidentified.)

Wyden isnt alone. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are demanding more transparency from the IRS. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., sent a letter to Rettig last week demanding that the agency immediately discontinue any programs that collect, store, and use any type of biometric data to identify American taxpayers, according to a press release from Blunts office. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., sent Rettig a letter asking for additional information from the IRS, including how the IRS came to the decision, if there will be an option to opt-out of the requirement and whether there are controls in place to limit ID.mes use of taxpayer data.

Meanwhile, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., tweeted that the facial recognition requirement by the IRS was a very, very bad idea that will will further weaken Americans privacy.

Consumer advocates are also condemning the move. Jeramie Scott, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told NPR there are safety concerns with outsourcing this information and that it creates another kind of target for criminals.

Several civil rights groups have also started a petition asking the IRS to reverse its decision.

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Whats next for IRS face scanning?

Blake Hall, CEO and founder of ID.me, issued a statement that the company is committed to ensuring everyone can verify their identity online and use it to access essential services. He added that the 1:1 face match is comparable to taking a selfie to unlock a smartphone and that ID.me does not sell the personal information of its users.

We are committed to working together with the IRS to implement the best identity verification solutions to prevent fraud, protect Americans privacy, and ensure equitable, bias-free access to government services, ID.me said in a written statement to Money.

Still, the government may now be backtracking. The Treasury Department is reconsidering the IRSs use of ID.me for access to the agencys website, Bloomberg News reported in late January.

When asked for comment from Money, the IRS provided an earlier statement from the Treasury, which said, The IRS is consistently looking for ways to make the filing process more secure but to be clear, no American is required to take a selfie in order to file their tax return. We believe in the importance of protecting the privacy of taxpayers, while also ensuring criminals are not able to gain access taxpayer accounts.

The statement also said that the lack of funding for IRS IT modernization has made it impossible for the IRS to invest in state-of-the-art technology and that the agency uses third-party providers to validate the identification of people attempting to improperly gain access to taxpayers accounts.

Money Classic

To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we've combed through decades of our print magazines to find hidden gems, fascinating stories and vintage personal finance tips that have withstood the test of time. Dive into the archives with us.

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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.
Best for Customer Satisfaction and Stability

If youre looking for a life insurance policy with a substantial death benefit to provide long-lasting financial support to your family, youll want to be confident the company you choose will be able to honor its future claims. Whether youre looking for term or permanent life insurance, State Farm could be a good fit for you.

State Farm offers multiple life insurance policies, and it was top ranked for customer satisfaction by J.D. Power. Despite being one of the largest writers of individual life insurance, it has received a surprisingly small number of complaints from customers. Together, these distinctions make the company our choice for the best life insurance company for customer service and stability.

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.

State Farm Life Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros

Sells a wide selection of term, whole and universal life policies

Top ratings from third-party agencies

High coverage amounts available

Multiple optional riders

Cons

Age restrictions apply to some policies

Must work with an agent

Not available in Massachusetts

Pros explained

Sells a wide selection of term, whole and universal life policies

While some companies only sell one type of life insurance, State Farm sells 10 different life insurance plans. You can choose a term, whole or universal life policy, and customize your plan to meet your needs.

Top ratings from third-party agencies

State Farm has an outstanding reputation within the insurance industry. It has an A++ (Superior) rating for financial stability from AM Best  the highest possible rating  and it was the top-ranked company in the J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, beating out 20 other life insurers.

High coverage amounts available

Although some insurers limit policy death benefits, sometimes to $1 million or less, State Farm has no such restrictions. Depending on the plan you choose, you could purchase $10 million of coverage or even more. That makes the insurer a good fit for high-income individuals who want to give their beneficiaries a substantial windfall or to leave a lasting legacy.

Multiple optional riders

With insurance riders, you can customize your policy and get additional coverage or even insure other family members. State Farm has several riders, including spouse and child term coverage, guaranteed insurability and waiver of monthly premiums for disability riders.

Cons explained

Age restrictions apply to some policies

While State Farm has multiple plans, some of the policies are restricted to certain age groups. For example, final expense policies are only available to individuals between 50 and 80, and Select Term customers that want a 30-year term must be 45 or younger.

Not available in Massachusetts

State Farm life insurance policies are not sold in Massachusetts. If you live in that state, youll have to get a policy from another insurer.

Must work with an agent

Although some companies allow customers to buy life insurance entirely online, State Farm doesnt offer that option. You must work with an agent to complete the process with all of its policies.

State Farm Life Insurance Products

State Farm sells term, whole and universal life insurance products. Whether you want a basic term life policy or a more complex universal survivorship plan, State Farm has an option for you.

Available Life Insurance Plans

State Farm has 10 different life insurance plans:

Term Life

Term life insurance, also known as temporary insurance, provides coverage for a specified term. The cheapest form of life insurance, your beneficiaries only receive a death benefit if you pass away during the covered term.

There are three term life options from State Farm:

Instant Answer: If you are between 16 and 45, you can get up to $50,000 of coverage without a medical exam.

Return of Premium: With this option, you can have all of the premiums you paid returned to you if you outlive the policy term. The premiums can also build cash value during your term, and you can choose a term of 20 or 30 years. A medical exam is usually required.

Select Term: Select Term policies have terms of 10, 20 or 30 years. You can choose the death benefit amount that fits your needs, and you can decide to extend your coverage once your term expires. Or, you can convert the policy to permanent coverage. You can get $10 million of coverage or more, depending on the underwriting and the results of a medical exam.

Universal Life

A form of permanent life insurance, universal policies tend to be cheaper than whole life plans. Universal life insurance has two parts: a death benefit and an investment or savings account that is known as the policys cash value. Universal policies offer more flexibility than whole life plans since you can adjust your premiums and death benefits over time.

State Farm has three universal policies. All require medical exams.

Joint : Two people can purchase coverage, typically for a lower rate than if they each bought a separate policy. State Farm will pay the death benefit upon the death of the first covered person.

: Two people can purchase coverage, typically for a lower rate than if they each bought a separate policy. State Farm will pay the death benefit upon the death of the first covered person. Survivorship : Survivorship plans cover two people, but only pay a death benefit once both covered persons pass away. A survivorship plan may be cheaper than buying separate policies.

: Survivorship plans cover two people, but only pay a death benefit once both covered persons pass away. A survivorship plan may be cheaper than buying separate policies. Universal Life: State Farms universal life policy is available to individuals up to 85.

Whole Life

Whole life plans last for your lifetime. Besides a death benefit, they can also build cash value through a savings component. State Farm has four plans:

Final Expense: Final expense plans are relatively small and are intended to cover your burial expenses. The maximum amount of coverage you can get is $10,000.

Limited Pay : If you elect for a limited pay whole life plan, you only pay premiums for a specified length of time, such as 5 or 10 years. After that, you dont have to pay premiums, but your policy remains in force.

: If you elect for a limited pay whole life plan, you only pay premiums for a specified length of time, such as 5 or 10 years. After that, you dont have to pay premiums, but your policy remains in force. Single Premium : With the single premium plan, you make one lump sum payment to purchase the policy. After that, your policy is in effect and you dont have to pay premiums.

: With the single premium plan, you make one lump sum payment to purchase the policy. After that, your policy is in effect and you dont have to pay premiums. Whole Life: With a whole life plan, your plan covers you for your lifetime.

Insurance Riders

Insurance riders can be added to a policy  with added charges  to get additional coverage or to insure a family member. State Farm offers several riders, including the following:

Accidental Death : If you pass away as a result of an accident, this rider pays your beneficiaries an additional benefit.

: If you pass away as a result of an accident, this rider pays your beneficiaries an additional benefit. Additional Insureds Level Term : You can get term life insurance for your spouse until they reach 85.

: You can get term life insurance for your spouse until they reach 85. Childrens Term : You can purchase term life insurance for your children.

: You can purchase term life insurance for your children. Guaranteed Insurability : At specific option dates, you can increase your death benefit without providing evidence of insurability.

: At specific option dates, you can increase your death benefit without providing evidence of insurability. Waiver of Monthly Deduction: The monthly premiums will be waived if you become totally disabled, for as long as the disability lasts.

Limitations

State Farm is available in all states except for Massachusetts.

While State Farm has multiple insurance plans, most of its policies require you to work with an agent and undergo a medical exam. Individuals looking for online-only applications and simplified issue plans may have to work with another company.

Prepare for the unexpected with a Whole Life Insurance policy.

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State Farm Credentials

State Farm is one of the biggest insurance companies in the country. As of 2020, it was the sixth-largest writer of individual life insurance based on direct premiums written.

The company was founded in 1922. It has over 19,000 agents, and it sells about 100 different insurance products, including life, auto and property insurance.

Policies are issued under State Farm Life Insurance Company or State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company (licensed in New York and Wisconsin).

Awards

In 2021, State Farm won the Best User Experience Award for its new mobile app in the Stevie Awards. The app provided customers with new ways to manage their policies and used new technology, such as facial recognition.

Financial Stability

A companys financial stability is a critical factor to consider when shopping for life insurance. Your life insurance company is who you rely on to provide support  and pay claims  for decades. You want to be sure that the company is financially sound and will be around for the long haul.

Checking company ratings from credit rating agencies like Moodys, AM Best and S&P Global is a good practice. A high rating indicates that the company is stable and able to weather market changes.

State Farm is very highly-rated by all three agencies, and its AM Best rating is the highest the agency offers.

Credit Rating Agency Rating Rating Range Moodys AA1 C to AAA AM Best A++ (Superior) D to A++ S&P Global A+ D to AAA

Third-Party Ratings

State Farm has an outstanding reputation in the insurance industry for customer service. It was the top-ranked company in the 2021 J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, beating out 20 other companies for the top spot. In the study, J.D. Power evaluated companies products, pricing and customer satisfaction to rate and rank each company.

Each company is ranked on a 1,000-point scale. The industry average score was 776, while State Farm scored 822.

Regulatory Actions

State Farm has been involved in several regulatory inquiries and class action lawsuits. For example, State Farm recently entered into a settlement agreement with the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation over allegations the company improperly calculated interest payments for life insurance beneficiaries.

Regulatory inquiries and lawsuits are not uncommon for a company of State Farms size, but consumers should always proceed with caution. Carefully review all documents before signing, and make sure you understand the policys terms and conditions.

Cost of State Farm Life Insurance

When youre shopping for a life insurance policy, keep in mind that its usually cheaper to buy life insurance in your 20s or 30s. Youre less likely to have existing medical conditions, so you can typically qualify for cheaper rates than if you wait to buy a policy later in life.

To get an idea of State Farms costs, we requested quotes for term life insurance for a 30-year-old individual in excellent health. We found that State Farms premiums tend to be higher than the industry average. For example, a 20-year $250,000 policy costs $17.85 per month, while the industry average is just $13.75 per month.

$100,000 policy $250,000 policy $500,000 policy $1M policy 10 years $12.27 $16.74 $22.64 $32.19 20 years $12.35 $17.85 $25.69 $40.89 30 years $16.27 $24.14 $37.39 $66.09

Your rates may vary from the sample rates we received because premiums are based on multiple factors including your age, gender, health history and location.

State Farm Accessibility

To purchase a State Farm policy, you must work with a State Farm agent; you cant complete the process entirely online like you can with some insurers. You can talk to an agent in person or over the phone.

Contact Information

You can use the Find Agent tool to locate a State Farm agent near you.

If you have general questions, you can reach customer support by calling 800-782-8332. Customer service is available 24/7.

User Experience

State Farm allows customers to manage their accounts online. You can also use State Farms award-winning mobile app to make payments, download forms and change your beneficiaries.

State Farm Customer Satisfaction

When it comes to customer satisfaction, State Farm received top marks from third-party agencies and regulators.

Customer Reviews

Despite its strong third-party ratings, State Farm has a poor rating on TrustPilot. Its TrustScore is 1.7 out of 5 with over 100 reviews. However, reviews primarily concerned auto and property insurance customer complaints, so the rating may not accurately reflect its life insurance segment.

Complaint Index

Researching the number and type of complaints submitted to insurance regulators can give you an idea of the level of customer service a company provides. You can use the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to compare companies. Each year, the NAIC releases company complaint ratios that show how many complaints the company received relative to its share of the market.

The industry standard is 1.0. A company that received fewer complaints than is typical for a company of its size will have a ratio below 1.0. Likewise, a company that received more complaints than expected will have a ratio over 1.0.

State Farms complaint ratio for its individual life insurance segment was 0.26 for 2020, significantly lower than the industry standard.

Can I get a discount if I have my house or car insured with State Farm?

No, State Farm's multi-policy discount does not apply to life insurance policies.

Does State Farm require medical exams for life insurance?

For nearly all of State Farm's policies, a medical exam is required. The one exception is its instant-answer term life policy, which is a

What types of life insurance does State Farm sell?

State Farm sells 10 different life insurance plans, including term, whole and universal life options.

How We Evaluated State Farm Life Insurance

In our evaluation of State Farm and other life insurance companies, we looked at the following factors:

Available plans and terms

Insurance riders

Policy exclusions

Underwriting process

Cost

Financial stability

Customer service

Customer reviews

Third-party ratings

Summary of Moneys State Farm Life Insurance Review

If youre looking for a reputable life insurance company with a strong reputation for customer service and financial stability, State Farm is likely a wise choice. Its a top-ranked company for both customer satisfaction and financial strength, and it sells several forms of life insurance. Whether you want a relatively small policy to cover your burial expenses or a more robust plan to leave to your estate, State Farm has options available for you.

However, State Farm may be more expensive than other companies, and most of its policies require medical exams. You also have to work with an agent to complete the process, so those looking for instant-issue coverage will have to look elsewhere.

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.

 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.
A firestorm of conversations around paid family leave are taking over LinkedIn feeds. In the name of transparency, major employers are sharing their paid leave policies openly across the professional networking website  and the conversations are spilling over onto Twitter and other social media.

A recent LinkedIn post from theSkimm, a media company known for its daily newsletter, called on employers to be more upfront about their leave policies  especially for parents who are adjusting to life with new babies, adoptions or foster children. TheSkimm added pressure to do so by telling LinkedIn users to tag the companies whose policies they wanted to see.

Employers, its time to #ShowUsYourLeave, read the now-viral rallying cry.

TheSkimm kicked off the initiative by posting its own policies, which include 18 weeks of paid parental leave, flexible scheduling for parents, bereavement leave for pregnancy loss and unlimited paid time off.

The campaign triggered a flurry of responses. Adobe, Bank of America, DoorDash, Instacart, Live Nation, Nestle, Ocean Spray, Reddit, Snapchat and others followed suit by posting branded fact sheets on LinkedIn and other platforms that outlined their paid leave benefits.

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Some notable leave policies include:

Live Nations paid parental leave of up to six months for birth or adoption

Adobes 26 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birth parents and 16 weeks for non-birth parents

Reddits paid parental leave of up to 26 weeks for birth parents and 16 weeks for non-birth parents

Bank of Americas 26 weeks of parental leave total  16 of which are fully paid

Of course, many companies took this opportunity to flex other attractive benefits. Instacart, Live Nation and Patreon underscored their flexible or unlimited paid time off policies. Adobe boasted its four-to-six-week sabbatical perk for workers employed for five years or longer.

While not a result from the #ShowUsYourLeave campaign, Google announced an overhaul to its leave policies in late January. The tech behemoth says birth parents can now take off up to 24 weeks, up from 18. Non-birth parents will be able to take off up to 18 weeks, an increase from 12. Additionally, Google bumped up its baseline paid time off policy to 20 days for all employees.

The call for transparent leave policies comes as the Great Resignation rages on. In December, 4.3 million workers quit their jobs while layoffs hit the lowest level ever recorded by the Labor Department. The result? An extremely tight job market where workers are in high demand.

To attract (and keep) workers, employers are experimenting with enhanced retirement benefits, increased wages, student loan repayment programs and paid leave  which companies are increasingly expanding to include paid time off for mental health and extended bereavement as they grapple with the realities of pandemic life.

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Parental leave laws in the U.S.

The parental leave policies of many companies above are in stark contrast to what federal legislation requires.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides only 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave, and the leave is only available to Americans who work at employers with at least 50 employees. Under the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA), the federal governments 2.8 million workers are able to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for a new birth, adoption or foster.

Meanwhile, Labor Department data show only 23% of privately employed workers have access to any paid parental leave.

In general, the U.S. lags far behind other nations in providing paid leave. According to the intergovernmental Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. is the only member nation to not offer paid parental leave. By contrast, Estonia, the OECD member with the highest amount of parental leave, guarantees 86 weeks.

Money Classic

To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we've combed through decades of our print magazines to find hidden gems, fascinating stories and vintage personal finance tips that have withstood the test of time. Dive into the archives with us.

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 Copyright 2021 Ad Practitioners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Like many teenagers, Jeff Burkes daughter has a summer job. She doesnt legally have to file a federal tax return, because her income is too low. But her father, a financial planner in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, makes sure she files a return anyway. The potential benefits, he says, are too good to miss.

In 2020, about 17.6% of Americans between the ages of 16 and 19 had paying jobs while also enrolled in school. They earned a median income of just under $250 a week. Many of those young people were only enrolled seasonally, working summer or holiday jobs. Theyre often in the same situation as Burkes daughter: they dont legally have to file a return, but they should consider doing so anyway. Experts say the benefits are more than worth the minimal hassle.

Have you started filing your 2021 Taxes? Select your state to begin the process of filing your taxes with TurboTax.

When do teens have to file a return?

Americans are legally required to file federal tax returns when they make at least $12,550  the standard deduction for the 2021 tax year. Earn less than that, as many teenagers do, and you dont have to file a federal tax return.

The exception, says Yves-Marc Courtines, a financial planner in Manhattan Beach, CA, is for the so-called kiddie tax. A dependent child with more than $1,100 in unearned income (from interest or investments, typically) has to file a return. Any unearned income above $2,200 is taxed at the parents rate.

This means that the teen who earned a wage by working as an ice-cream scooper or summer camp counselor and made less than $12,550 during 2021 isnt legally required to file a federal tax return. A kid who has done well in cryptocurrency or stock trading, on the other hand, may need to file.

Improve your potential refund amount - Prepare and file your federal income tax return using tax preparation software

Tax preparation software companies like TurboTax will help improve your earning potential.

File anyway, even if it isnt required

Its still worth spending a few minutes to file a federal tax return, even if the law doesnt require it. First, a teenager who earned less than $12,550 last year probably doesnt owe any federal or state taxes. Filing means getting a refund of any taxes your employer withheld from your paychecks. It also lessens the chance of a misunderstanding in which the IRS wonders why you had a job but didnt file a tax return.

A tax return also creates a paper trail for a Roth IRA, though technically you can contribute to a Roth without filing. If youre at least 18 years old, you can start a Roth in your own name; parents or guardians can set up beneficiary Roth accounts for younger teens.

This is a big reason that Burkes daughter files a return, he says. Even though her earnings are low enough that she doesnt have to pay taxes, she can still contribute to an investment account, he says. Since her current tax rate is zero, we have her contribute to a Roth account, where she will get tax-free growth. In essence, this is money that will never be taxed.

That money has a lot of time to grow. Begin contributing $100 a month to a Roth when youre 15 years old, and youll have $382,697 when you turn 65, if you keep your contributions at that modest level, assuming an average annual return of 6%.

Money Classic

To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we've combed through decades of our print magazines to find hidden gems, fascinating stories and vintage personal finance tips that have withstood the test of time. Dive into the archives with us.

A return can help families afford college

By putting money in a Roth, families get another benefit. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, doesnt consider money thats in a Roth as available to pay college expenses. Otherwise, half of student income above $6,600 will count against any financial aid award.

Filing a tax return also helps families expand their opportunities to take advantage of educational tax credits. College students are eligible for the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which lets filers claim a maximum tax credit of $2,500 per student for each of the first four years of higher education, as well as for the Lifetime Learning Credit, which is worth up to $2,000 a year per student for an unlimited number of years. Taxpayers can choose which credit theyll take in a particular year, and they can take different credits for different dependents. They cant take both credits for one student in the same year.

Both these credits have income limits: a phase-out for single filers with between $80,000 and $90,000 in annual income, and between $160,000 and $180,000 for married couples filing jointly. Earn more than $90,000 as a single filer or $180,000 as joint filers, and you cant take either credit at all. Parents might earn too much to claim either credit.

A student who files a tax return, however, might have an income thats low enough to take these creditsif her parents dont claim her as a dependent. The IRS lets parents claim students as dependents up to age 24, but it isnt required. By not claiming a student as a dependent, parents lose a $500 dependent credit, but the student may get a credit worth much more.

A student who files as her own dependent could also get the last $1,400 of pandemic stimulus money, which was sent out as an advance tax credit based on IRS information from 2019 and 2020. But thats only if her parents didnt already receive that money on her behalfa detail that both the IRS and accountants are likely to check.

Need some financial aid to cover tuition? A Student Loan can help. When you need a hand to cover the many costs that come with higher education, a Student Loan is a good option. Click below for more information.

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CLAYTON  Clayton-based health insurance giant Centene on Tuesday reported increases in earnings and revenues, as Medicare and Medicaid membership grew.

Revenues rose 15% to $32.6 billion, compared to $28.3 billion during the same period last year. Profits climbed to $599 million, compared with a $12 million loss in the quarter last year.

Full-year revenues rose to $126 billion from $111.1 billion in 2020. Full-year profits declined to $1.35 billion, from $1.81 billion in 2020. Managed care members jumped 1.1 million to 26.6 million.

Centene chairman and CEO Michael Neidorff, who had previously announced plans to retire by the end of 2022, was asked during a call with investors Tuesday about when the next CEO would be announced.

Neidorff, who has led Centene for a quarter century, revealed his intention to retire in December as the company struck a deal with an activist investor.

On Tuesday the company disclosed in a press release that Neidorff had informally notified the board in July that he may step down before the end of his contract for personal reasons. The company in mid-July had established a three-person office of the president.

During the earnings call, Neidorff said providing more information would be getting over our skis. But he said the company is looking at various candidates.

Its a clear process, he said. I hope to see it resolve over, between now and mid-year, at the latest.

Centenes health benefits ratio  which reflects medical claim costs over income from premiums  declined slightly, to 87.9%, compared with 88.4%.

Centene shares rose 6% on Tuesday to close at $85.67.

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Several St. Louis-area restaurants have joined together for a fundraiser to benefit the Very Asian Foundation, created after KSDK reporter Michelle Li shared a viewer voicemail telling her to keep her Korean to herself.

Timed to follow last weeks celebration of Lunar New Year, the fundraiser runs Feb. 7-14 and features 15 restaurants donating a portion of their sales to the Very Asian Foundation.

Organizers include the Asian American Chamber of Commerce and Shayn Prapaisilp, whose family operates the Thai restaurants Chao Baan and the King & I.

KSDK reporter gets racist message for being very Asian KSDK (Channel 5) reporter Michelle Li, who grew up in Missouri, reported on traditional foods for New Years and mentioned Korean dumpling soup.

Nobody should ever be attacked for sharing details about their culture, Prapaisilp said in a statement. If everyone took the time to learn about others, we would have more compassion, respect and care for one another.

Li received the racist message after she mentioned on air her New Years tradition of eating dumpling soup. Most of the participating restaurants are donating the sales from their respective dumplings (e.g., gyoza, potstickers, mandu).

The list of participating restaurants and the details of each restaurants offer, as provided by the organizers:

Akar (7641 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton)  Dumpling of the day (e.g., pork and chive stuffed dumpling with black rice vinegar and ponzu).

Chao Baan (4087 Chouteau Avenue)  Potsticker starter. Chao Baan will also be donating 10% of total sales on Feb. 9-10.

Corner 17 (6623 Delmar Boulevard, University City)  Any of the restaurants eight varieties of dumplings, including colorful options in purple, orange and green.

Drunken Fish (multiple locations)  Gyoza, regular and large orders.

Hello Poke (Food Hall at City Foundry, 3730 Foundry Way)  5% of all daily sales will be donated Feb. 11-13.

Indo (1641D Tower Grove Avenue)  Gyoza starter.

Kimchi Guys (612 North 2nd Street and 282 Skinker Boulevard)  Kimchi Mandu appetizer

King & I (3155-3157 South Grand Boulevard)  Potsticker appetizer. King & I also will donate 10% of total sales on Feb. 9-10.

Mai Lee (8396 Musick Memorial Drive, Brentwood)  Mai Lee will donate 10% of total sales on Feb. 10.

Nami Ramen (278 Skinker Boulevard)  Nami Ramen will donate a portion of proceeds from all appetizer sales for the weeklong giveback.

Nippon Tei (14025 Manchester Road)  Gyoza, pork and chicken dumplings.

Nudo House (6105 Delmar Boulevard and 11423 Olive Boulevard)  Nudo House will donate 10% of total sales on Feb. 10 at its locations.

Sando Shack  Available only for pre-order (here) and pick-up at the Hello Poke kitchen at the Food Hall at City Foundry. 10% of sales will be donated 5-7 p.m. on Feb. 7, Feb. 9 and Feb. 10.

Seoul Taco (multiple locations)  Potstickers made with pork and vegetables. Seoul Taco will donate 10% of sales on Feb. 9-10 at locations in Chesterfield, the Grove, Kirkwood and the Delmar Loop.

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Q  I would love the recipe for the yummy Celine Dijon chicken salad at Sisters Sandwich Shoppe.  Carolyn Lewis, Princeton Heights

A  Owners Jules Karagiannis and Tracy Calabro are sisters in real life and business partners. They first opened Espresso Yourself coffeehouse in 2018.

When the storefront adjoining the coffeehouse became available, Karagiannis and Calabro decided the time was right to pursue the neighborhood sandwich shop theyd talked about for years. They opened up the wall between the two spaces and began a new chapter with Sisters.

Creativity is a strong point for these sisters in the food, and in the decor. They have a knack for knowing what their south side neighborhood needed  a gathering place for neighbors and friends with tasty, interesting food, good coffee and good music on occasion.

We wanted to put a little twist on all our classic sandwiches at Sisters. My youngest daughter, Eleni, puts hot sauce on everything. It was her idea to add hot sauce to the chicken salad. So we did a little research, and decided hot sauce and Dijon would be a good place to start, and it went from there, Karagiannis says.

Oddly enough, both my daughters had recently gone to a Celine Dion concert. Eleni loves puns, so she threw out Celine Dijon as the name for the chicken salad. We both thought it was perfect.

The sandwich quickly became a customer favorite, one of the top three sellers at the cafe that opened in 2021. The roast beef Au Jus You Shouldnt Have and the Gagagool, an Italian sub piled high with roast beef, salami, capicola and provolone are also top picks from the lineup of delicious sammies at Sisters.

The sisters source locally for both cafes, supporting local businesses and organizations. The bread and bagels for their sandwiches come from Bridge Bread, a nonprofit social enterprise employing persons experiencing homelessness to provide them with marketable skills. The hoagie buns for Celine Dijon come from Bridge Bread and can be purchased at its Cherokee Street store.

Karagiannis and Calabro not only provide good food and coffee, but theyve also built a community at their south side cafe and coffee house. They feature local artists in an ongoing series of shows. They bring in musicians on weekends, posting players and details on their Facebook pages.

Look for new items coming to the menu. Were working to come up with our take on the classic Reuben sandwich, Karagiannis says, and during Lent, well have a tuna salad on the menu. Of course, each classic will have a flavorful twist.

Sisters Sandwich Shoppe

5353 Devonshire Avenue

To request a recipe Would you like to request a recipe from a restaurant that is still open in the St. Louis area? Send your request along with your full name and the city you live in to reciperequest@post-dispatch.com.
MONDAY, Feb. 7, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- There will no longer be a limit on how many over-the-counter rapid COVID-19 tests customers can buy at a time, the pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens say.

CVS previously restricted customers to purchasing six tests at once but has dropped those restrictions because it has increased its supply, the company said. "We've worked with our vendors to increase inventory of over-the-counter COVID-19 tests and have removed all product limits on those products at CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide and on CVS.com," a CVS Pharmacy spokesperson told CBS News. CVS currently carries six different rapid COVID-19 tests.

Walgreens had limited customers to a maximum of four tests per purchase in stores or online, but they may now buy as many as they want, according to a company spokesperson.

Around the holidays, the tests were particularly difficult to obtain as Americans sought to travel and gather with others at a time when there was a surge in cases of the highly contagious omicron variant. In mid-January, the Biden administration introduced a rule requiring private insurers to cover the cost of eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per month for each covered member, and on Thursday, that rule was extended to recipients of Medicare. Some insurers have teamed with retailers to make the tests available for free at the point of purchase, while clients of other insurers have to save their receipts and submit them for reimbursement, CBS News reported.

Americans can also receive four free at-home tests directly from the U.S. government.

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
WASHINGTON  The federal government has penalized 764 hospitals  including more than three dozen it simultaneously rates as among the best in the country  for having the highest numbers of patient infections and potentially avoidable complications.

The penalties  a 1% reduction in Medicare payments over 12 months  are based on the experiences of Medicare patients discharged from the hospital between July 2018 and the end of 2019, before the pandemic began in earnest.

The punishments, which the Affordable Care Act requires be assessed on the worst-performing 25% of general hospitals each year, are intended to make hospitals focus on reducing bedsores, hip fractures, blood clots and the cohort of infections that before COVID-19 were the biggest scourges in hospitals. Those include surgical infections, urinary tract infections from catheters, and antibiotic-resistant germs like MRSA.

This years list of penalized hospitals includes Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles; Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago; a Cleveland Clinic hospital in Avon, Ohio; a Mayo Clinic hospital in Red Wing, Minnesota; and a Mayo hospital in Phoenix. Paradoxically, all those hospitals have five stars, the best rating, on Medicares Care Compare website.

Eight years into the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, 2,046 hospitals have been penalized at least once, a Kaiser Health News analysis shows. But researchers have found little evidence that the penalties are getting hospitals to improve their efforts to avert bedsores, falls, infections, and other accidents.

Unfortunately, pretty much in every regard, the program has been a failure, said Andrew Ryan, a professor of health care management at the University of Michigans School of Public Health, who has published extensively on the program.

Its very hard to capture patient safety with the surveillance methods we currently have, he said. One problem, he added, is youre kind of asking hospitals to call out events that are going to have them lose money, so the incentives are really messed up for hospitals to fully disclose patient injuries. Academic medical centers say the reason nearly half of them are penalized each year is that they are more diligent in finding and reporting infections.

Another issue raised by researchers and the hospital industry is that under the law, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services each year must punish the quarter of general care hospitals with the highest rates of patient safety issues even if they have improved and even if their infection and complication rates are only infinitesimally different from those of some non-penalized hospitals.

In a statement, CMS noted it had limited ability to alter the program. CMS is committed to ensuring safety and quality of care for hospital patients through a variety of initiatives, CMS said. Much of how the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program is structured, including penalty amounts, is determined by law.

In allotting the penalties, CMS evaluated 3,124 general acute hospitals. Exempted from the evaluation are around 2,000 hospitals. Many of those are critical access hospitals, which are the only hospitals serving a geographic  often rural  area. The law also excuses hospitals that focus on rehabilitation, long-term care, children, psychiatry or veterans. And Maryland hospitals are excluded because the state has a different method for paying its hospitals for Medicare patients.

For the penalized hospitals, Medicare payments are reduced by 1% for each bill from October 2021 through September 2022. The total amount of the penalties is determined by how much each hospital bills Medicare.

A third of the hospitals penalized in the list released this year had not been punished in the previous year. Some, like UC Davis Medical Center in California, have gone in and out of the penalty box over the programs eight years. Davis has been penalized four years and not punished four years.

UC Davis Medical Center is usually within a few points of the [Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program] threshold, so its not unusual to move in and out of the program year to year, UC Davis Health said in an email. It said Davis ranked 38th out of 101 academic medical centers that use a private quality measurement system.

The Cleveland Clinic said that its satellite hospital in Avon has received awards from private groups, such as an A grade for patient safety from the nonprofit Leapfrog Group. Both it and Cedars-Sinai touted their five-star ratings. In addition, Cedars said that overall assessment comes even though the hospital deals with large numbers of very sick patients. This rating is particularly meaningful because of the complexity of the care that many of our patients require, Cedars said in a statement.

Other hospitals declined to comment or did not respond to emails.

The Kaiser Health News analysis found that the government penalized 38 of the 404 hospitals that were both included in the hospital-acquired conditions evaluation and had received five stars for overall quality, which CMS calculates using dozens of metrics. Those include not just infection and complication rates but also death rates, readmission frequencies, ratings that patients give the hospital after discharge, and hospitals consistency in following basic protocols in a timely manner, such as giving patients medicine to break up blood clots in the 30 minutes after they display symptoms of potential heart attacks.

In addition, 138 of 814 hospitals with the next-highest rating of four stars were docked by the program, Kaiser Health News found.

Lower-rated hospitals were penalized with a higher frequency: Although just 9% of five-star hospitals were punished, 67% of one-star hospitals were.

Five-star hospitals in the St. Louis area are Missouri Baptist in Town and Country, Mercy in Creve Coeur, St. Lukes in Chesterfield and Anderson in Maryville, Illinois. None were penalized for hospital-acquired conditions in the most recent reporting period; readmissions penalties were below 1% for each.

The Kaiser Health News analysis found major discrepancies between the list of penalized hospitals and how Medicares Care Compare rated them for virtually the same patient safety infection rates and conditions.

On the Medicare site, two-thirds of the penalized hospitals are rated as no different than average or better than average for the public safety measures CMS uses in assigning star ratings. The major differences center on the time frames for those measures and the structure of the penalty program. The Medicare website, for instance, evaluated only one year of infection rates, rather than the 18 months worth that the penalty program examined. And the public ratings are more forgiving than the penalties: Care Compare rates each hospitals patient safety metric as average unless its significantly higher or lower than the scores of most hospitals, while the penalty program always punishes the lowest quartile.

Nancy Foster, the vice president for quality and patient safety at the American Hospital Association, said the penalties would cause more stress to hospitals already struggling to handle the influx of COVID patients, staffing shortages, and the extra costs of personal protective equipment.

It is demoralizing to the staff when they see their hospital is deemed unsafe or less safe than other hospitals, she said.

Dr. Karen Joynt Maddox, co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, said it was time for Congress and CMS to reevaluate the penalty program.

When this program had started, the thought was that we would get to zero avoidable complications, Maddox said, and that hasnt proven to be the case despite a really good effort on the part of some of these hospitals.

She said the hospital-acquired conditions penalty program, along with other quality-improvement programs created by the ACA, feels very ready for a refresh.

The Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
SPRINGFIELD  Republican gubernatorial candidate Jesse Sullivan says three core values guide his life: faith, family, service.

And it's "not just a political slogan," said Sullivan, who considers himself an "anti-politician."

Sullivan, a venture capitalist from Petersburg who was a virtual unknown before launching his campaign in September, is one of five men seeking to take on incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker in November.

He has embarked on a 19-stop "Save Illinois" truck tour across central Illinois, the region he's from, although even many voters there are still getting to know him.

"Just going around trying to learn from them, hear what issues matter most and then also getting to introduce myself," Sullivan said in an interview Monday. "I started this race at -1 on the name ID side. And so, just really getting to share who I am and the conservative values I hold."

Sullivan is a wild card of sorts in the Republican primary, which also features candidates like state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, lauded by many conservatives for challenging Pritzker's COVID-19 emergency orders; and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, a moderate with significant financial backing from Chicago-area donors.

Also running are businessman Gary Rabine and former state Sen. Paul Schimpf.

"I'm a fiscal-social-constitutional conservative," Sullivan said. "And I think Republican primary voters are good at sussing out and figuring out who actually shares my values, and who's viable to actually beat J.B. Pritzker in this next election and who can lead."

Sullivan himself is well-financed, having relied on a handful of large out-of-state donors to amass nearly $11 million before launching his campaign. He still had $9.1 million on hand as of Dec. 31, according to campaign finance records.

With these resources, Sullivan is the only Republican airing television advertisements besides Irvin. His message compares certain parts of Chicago to war-torn Afghanistan, where he spent time as a civilian intelligence analyst.

"Pritzkers leftist agenda is literally killing us, turning parts of Illinois into a war zone, Sullivan says in the ad.

"I want to bring people back and make Illinois the 'Land of Lincoln' again," Sullivan said, speaking after a campaign meet-and-greet in downtown Springfield. "And I feel like it's become the capital of Capone, where it's corruption, crime and chaos."

The Petersburg Republican called for the repeal of the Safe-T Act, the massive criminal justice reform bill signed into law by Pritzker last year.

Though he acknowledged that some of the most controversial provisions, such as the elimination of cash bail, have not gone into effect, Sullivan said the law and sentiment behind it has had a chilling effect on law enforcement.

Pritzker has defended his support for the legislation and announced more funds for public safety in his budget, including $250 million for community-based violence prevention initiatives.

Sullivan, however, was mum when asked about a resolution passed last week by the Republican National Committee that declared the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol "legitimate political discourse."

That day, supporters of former President Donald Trump violently stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. About 140 police officers were injured and one died as a result of the attack. More than 750 have been charged in connection with the riot.

"I do not pay attention to national politics at all," Sullivan said. "I genuinely have no interest right now in fixing D.C., I have every interest in fixing Illinois. And my entire attention and focus is on my neighbors here in Illinois ..."

Sullivan was critical of Pritzker in other ways, including the latter's handling of state finances, saying he "looked the other way" on the biggest challenges facing the state, specifically mentioning the state's massive unfunded pension liability.

The state's pension problems preexist Pritzker, who, unlike some previous governors, has made required payments into the system every year while proposing an additional $500 million in his fiscal year 2023 budget.

Sullivan said he wants to lower taxes while still dealing with the massive mountain of pension debt and other growing obligations, something that can be done by expanding the state's tax base.

Though state coffers are flush with cash due to strong economic growth and COVID-19 stimulus funds, Sullivan said people are still leaving the state, an ominous long-term sign.

"I have a commitment to growth," Sullivan said. "It's one that says 'we want to look more like Florida and Texas, not like California, New York.' So that means let's lower our taxes and regulation so we can attract in the industries of the future, the talent all coming to Illinois."

Sullivan also applauded a Sangamon County judge's ruling barring the state from enforcing its school mask mandate.

"I am a believer in local control," Sullivan said. "We're a diverse state and local communities should be making those decisions and parents get to weigh in with school boards to decide: 'How do we want to handle this situation?'"
Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

One of the last local survivors of the Battle of the Bulge will be buried Saturday in Ballwin with military honors.

Eugene Ganz, 98, of Manchester, was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his service in the historic battle of World War II. He died on Saturday.

Born on a farm in Ballwin, Ganz quit school after eighth grade to help his father. He was drafted in 1944 and served with the Armys 1st Infantry Division ("The Big Red One").

At the Battle of the Bulge, Ganz was struck in his arm and leg with shrapnel. And while the bitter cold on the battlefield killed some soldiers, Ganz has said the freezing temperatures may have prevented him from bleeding to death.

After a stay in a military hospital, Ganz was transferred to Nuremberg, Germany, to supervise captured Nazi officers.

Back home after the war and raising a family in Manchester, Ganz worked as a heavy equipment operator, an insurance agency owner and a tax preparer.

"He was such a dear man," said Betsey Bruce, longtime STL television reporter/anchor and family friend.

"I heard him speak about his war experiences at a luncheon once. But other than that, he didn't talk much about it at all," Bruce said.

Ganz did share his stories during numerous visits to area schools, always wearing his Army uniform from 1945, to tell students about the war.

He also was the last veteran of the battle who was active in the local chapter of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, chapter head Dave Schroeder said.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Schrader Funeral Home, 14960 Manchester Road. A military burial will follow at Salem United Methodist Cemetery in Ballwin.

Your weekly capsule of local news, life advice, trivia and humor from Post-Dispatch columnist Joe Holleman. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Seven years ago this week, Keilee Fant put her name on a lawsuit that was going to end debtors prisons in America. The lawsuit, labeled Fant vs. Ferguson, told in simple terms what was happening to poor, Black people every day in the conglomeration of cash-starved municipalities that make up north St. Louis County:

In 2014, the City of Ferguson issued an average of more than 3.6 arrest warrants per household and almost 2.2 arrest warrants for every adult, mostly in cases involving unpaid debt for tickets. The City of Ferguson issues more arrest warrants per capita than any other city in Missouri larger than 10,000 residents, read the lawsuit, filed by ArchCity Defenders, St. Louis University Law School Clinics and nonprofit Equal Protection Under the Law. If the rest of the Saint Louis metropolitan area generated revenue from its courts at the rate done by relatively low-income Ferguson, it would have made nearly $1.3 billion in the past five years. The Citys modern debtors prison scheme has been increasingly profitable to the City of Ferguson, earning it millions of dollars over the past several years. It has also devastated the Citys poor, trapping them for years in a cycle of increased fees, debts, extortion, and cruel jailings.

There has been progress in those seven years. Most of the old guard in the police and court system in Ferguson are gone. The Missouri Legislature passed a law that limited the amount of revenue cities could raise from traffic debt. The Missouri Supreme Court ordered improvements to the operations of municipal courts, requiring, for instance, that there be ability-to-pay hearings before people are sent to jail because they cant afford their fines and fees.

But, seven years later, the lawsuit languishes, in large part because of a dispute with the insurance company that represents many St. Louis County municipalities. Accountability awaits. Similar lawsuits against other cities in the county that operated similar schemes  Maplewood, Edmundson, St. Ann  also continue.

As much as these towns have claimed to move on, the reality is our clients are still poor, says ArchCity Defenders attorney Jack Waldron. They paid these municipalities thousands of dollars over the years. There are thousands of people who still have their drivers licenses suspended.

There is a lesson for other cities across the nation as the Ferguson lawsuit drags on. Trying to undo the municipal schemes that extract money from poor people with devastating consequences is no trivial matter. The cities want their revenue. They will fight hard.

So it will be in the new Ferguson, a small town in Alabama known as Brookside.

Last month, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Archibald wrote a series of articles exposing the debtors prison scheme in the small burg along Interstate 22 just north of Birmingham, which raised 49% of its revenue from traffic fines in 2020. On court days in Brookside, defendants line up outside while police direct traffic and order family members to remain in their cars, Archibald wrote, describing a scene many in the St. Louis region know too well. Many face hefty fines for failing to use a turn signal, or following too closely, or driving too long in the left lane of the interstate.

Brookside is now facing its own civil rights lawsuits  five and counting. Its police chief has resigned. City and state leaders are aghast at the government tyranny behind a scheme that uses poor people as a back-door revenue source, with no real impact on public safety.

But Brookside is not alone, just like Ferguson wasnt seven years ago when Fant filed her lawsuit. Real change wont come until cities like Ferguson and Brookside have to pay the people whose civil rights they trampled some recompense.

In the St. Louis region, that ultimate outcome might mean that every taxpayer who pays into the St. Louis Area Insurance Trust bears some of the cost, which is appropriate, because Ferguson was never just about one little town in north St. Louis County.

It was about the region. It was about the state. It was about a nation that banned debtors prisons more than a century ago but allows them to operate in plain sight in 2022.

Seven years later, Fant and thousands of others like her are waiting to be made whole. Until they are, Ferguson is still everywhere.

From City Hall to the Capitol, metro columnist Tony Messenger shines light on what public officials are doing, tells stories of the disaffected, and brings voice to the issues that matter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  A St. Francois County man is facing charges after reportedly threatening to blow up a school on Monday at a church in south St. Louis County.

Randy A. Brown, 55, of Leadwood, was charged on Monday by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office with first-degree terrorist threat, court records show.

Police said that employees of Assumption Catholic Church in unincorporated south St. Louis County told them Brown came to the church's campus on Mattis Road on Monday asking for help.

When employees asked what he needed, Brown became upset, and threatened to harm himself and others and to blow up the school next door.

The Assumption Parish School, which is on the church's campus, went into lockdown because of the alleged threats, court records show.

Brown was arrested near the campus. A judge set his bail at $50,000, cash only.

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JEFFERSON CITY  The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday placed a St. Louis couple who waved guns at racial justice protesters outside of their Central West End home in 2020 on probation as attorneys for one year.

Under terms of the decision, the court suspended Mark and Patricia McCloskeys law licenses but delayed the suspension, putting them on probation for one year. That means they can continue to practice law during that time.

Should probation be revoked and the suspension take effect, no petition for reinstatement shall be entertained for a period of six months from the date the suspension becomes effective, wrote Chief Justice Paul Wilson.

Mark McCloskey said Tuesday that he was unhappy with the decision and was considering appealing it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But, he said, We have no interference with the practice of law during the probation period. This will all go away after a year.

And, he told the Post-Dispatch the decision would not affect his ongoing bid to replace U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt.

People out there know what I did and know why I did it, McCloskey said.

In the decision, Wilson cited American Bar Association standards, as well as evidence in the case, for putting the couple on probation.

The decision was based on the couples behavior during a June 28, 2020, racial justice protest sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

As protesters walked by their mansion, the two waved their guns as they confronted the group. No shots were fired and no one was hurt.

The McCloskeys say some of the 350 to 500 protesters who marched past their home on the way to then-St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewsons house ignored signs they were entering a private street and destroyed a gate in front of their home, which they contend constitutes criminal rioting under Missouri law.

Their actions generated praise from Republicans, including then-President Donald Trump.

The incident resulted in Mark McCloskey pleading guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment. Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, later pardoned them.

The pardon didnt stop the court from acting on a recommendation that their licenses be suspended. Missouris chief disciplinary counsel, Alan D. Pratzel, said the couples actions showed indifference to public safety and involved moral turpitude.

Originally posted at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8.

Essential reading on the McCloskeys, the St. Louis couple who used guns to confront protesters on a private street On June 28, Mark and Patricia McCloskey say they felt threatened by a group of protesters who entered Portland Place, a private street in the 

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JEFFERSON CITY  Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft used an unconstitutional set of laws to derail a 2019 effort to roll back newly approved abortion restrictions, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

In a 5-2 decision, the judges said Ashcroft used the laws to shorten the time frame needed to collect signatures required for a ballot initiative sought by opponents of the restrictive abortion law.

The courts decision could result in a change to the rules governing how residents can alter the Missouri Constitution at the same time Republican lawmakers are attempting to make it harder to bring issues to the ballot.

The case stems from a ruling in December by Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem, who found that Ashcroft should have given the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and other groups more time to circulate their proposed ballot initiative.

Missouri allows residents to collect signatures, prior to a law taking effect, to trigger a public vote. Ashcroft approved the referendum effort in mid-August, giving supporters just two weeks to turn in 100,000 signatures.

Ashcroft had already slowed the process down before that deadline hit. He initially rejected the petition effort, saying that because part of the law had taken effect immediately, the rest of the pending law could not be put to a vote.

He lost that argument in court, but Ashcroft was not forced to allow signature collection to begin right away.

In the lower court ruling, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem said the law granting Ashcroft the power to derail signature gathering is in conflict with the constitution, which gives residents the opportunity to overturn laws approved by the Legislature.

The ACLU argued that the rules used by Ashcroft are a roadblock to democracy.

The statutes at issue prevent petitioners from collecting signatures until the government acts, eating up much of their time for circulation and effectively extinguishing the constitutional referendum right, the brief said.

The high court agreed.

The Missouri Constitution guarantees the right of referendum to all Missouri citizens, not just those capable of raising the necessary funds to complete a signature-collection effort within the tightest of timeframes, Supreme Court Judge Mary Russell wrote in the majority ruling.

Ashcroft, a Republican who is eyeing a 2024 run for governor, defended his actions in a statement issued Tuesday.

My office followed the law  we did not act unconstitutionally. The Western Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court had the opportunity, two years ago, but did not override the law then. Now, it has been adjudicated unconstitutional  and we will, again, follow the law, Ashcroft said.

The attorney generals office, which is representing Ashcroft, argued that the current deadlines are a needed guardrail on the initiative petition process.

These are entirely permissible, straightforward practical rules governing the ballot measure process, the states brief said.

In a dissent, Supreme Court Judge Brent Powell said he would have reversed Beetems decision.

(T)he legislature has the power to enact reasonable, practical regulations to address the realities of implementing a constitutional right, Powell wrote.

The law that sparked the decision bans abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, except in medical emergencies. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. The ban is not in effect because it has been blocked in court.

The court case comes as Missouri lawmakers are again debating a number of proposals that would make it harder for residents to change the constitution.

In action Monday, the House gave initial approval to a bill sponsored by Rep. Mike Henderson, R-Bonne Terre, requiring those collecting signatures to convince at least 10% of voters in each of Missouris eight congressional districts to sign on, compared to the current standard of 8% of voters in six of the eight districts.

The ACLU did not respond to a request for comment.

Originally posted at 2:53 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8

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UPDATED with mugshot

ST. CLAIR COUNTY  Prosecutors filed murder charges against a man Monday in the weekend shooting deaths of his grandmother and uncle in Cahokia Heights.

Simeon M. Moore, 32, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in St. Clair County. Moore was being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

Moore lives in the 2700 block of Calvin Boulevard in Cahokia Heights, in the same house where the victims died.

The bodies of Esther Cummings, 76, and her son, Ronnie Cummings, 48, were discovered Sunday morning, said St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. They had both been shot, Dye said.

Someone had called police about 8 a.m. Sunday about a domestic disturbance at 2722 Calvin Boulevard, just south of Camp Jackson Road, city officials said. Police took Moore into custody Sunday, and the state's attorney in St. Clair County charged him on Monday.

Moore is the grandson of Esther Cummings and the nephew of Ronnie Cummings, said Francella Jackson, director of administrative operations for the city of Cahokia Heights. Jackson said Moore and the two victims all lived in the same house.

Authorities did not disclose a possible motive for the killings. The police chief said Moore didn't say anything to officers. A relative declined to talk to a reporter Monday night.

Cahokia Heights, a city of about 22,000 residents, was formed when voters in November 2020 approved the merger of three cities: Alorton, Cahokia and Centreville.

Staff writer Kim Bell can be reached at kbell@post-dispatch.com

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ST. LOUIS  Federal prosecutors charged a woman Tuesday with distributing fentanyl and crack cocaine at an apartment building that was the site of several fatal overdoses over the weekend in the citys Central West End.

Court documents said Chuny Ann Reed sold crack cocaine to at least two people who overdosed at the Parkview Apartments, 4451 Forest Park Avenue.

Police said at least six people died in the building or nearby on Saturday and another died Monday, marking a grim 72 hours in the citys struggle with an opioid epidemic that claims hundreds of lives each year.

Access to drugs and drug use is all over our city and community, said Dr. Kanika Cunningham, a physician at Family Care Health Centers. This is an epidemic; its a crisis.

After the first spate of deaths, an overdose survivor told investigators they had gone to Reeds apartment to buy crack cocaine. The person immediately ingested it and overdosed, court documents said.

Surveillance video from the building also showed a man identified with the initials M.L. going to Reeds apartment hours before he was discovered dead inside his apartment, officials said.

An analysis of a substance left on a crack pipe found in M.L.s apartment revealed a mixture of fentanyl and cocaine.

Police and federal agents executed a search warrant Monday and arrested Reed.

Reed told investigators that she sold drugs to her neighbors in the apartment complex to support her own addiction, according to court documents. Reed said the cocaine she had purchased Friday may have been laced with fentanyl.

Reed is facing a single charge of distribution of cocaine base and fentanyl.

Fentanyl has been showing up in U.S. cities for years but has become increasingly prevalent in the St. Louis area, said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Andree Swanson.

In 2021, agents with the DEAs St. Louis division covering Kansas, southern Illinois and Missouri seized as much fentanyl as in the previous two years combined.

Its ubiquitous, Swanson said.

Almost all fentanyl sold on the streets comes from Mexico, where it is made with precursor chemicals shipped from China, Swanson said.

Throughout the distribution process the fentanyl is combined with other ingredients, making it nearly impossible to say how much of the potent drug is in any pill or powder sold on the street and making it potentially deadly to those who take it.

Since 2019, there have been 1,168 fentanyl overdose deaths in the city, officials said in a news release.

In January and February, 20 people died from overdoses of fentanyl or fentanyl mixed with other drugs, according to records from the St. Louis Medical Examiners Office.

And despite years of knowledge about the opioid epidemic, a well-established standard of care has not been adopted in Missouri. While research suggests that medication-assisted treatment saves more lives, there remains an emphasis on counseling-based therapy.

In St. Louis, there has been a push to get naloxone, commonly called Narcan, into more communities to help revive people from overdoses.

Cunningham said a key way to prevent deaths is to widely distribute naloxone and test strips to detect fentanyl. She said oftentimes, officials concentrate efforts in areas known to be hot spots for overdoses, but the focus should be citywide.

No neighborhood should be left out, she said. We need to make (resources) abundant and available for everyone, whether theyre actively using or not.

People can get access to treatment, naloxone and fentanyl test strips at {a href=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__nomodeaths.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=UCja3IwhyjPGYeHcG7oIbg&r=exhibJFduJm8wE3htVXW2glmcPiQh6QDFk__uKan9Z0&m=Vp5tp5GmQj1DHvV8YwsNXw2ifMXc7OpMPRBb2p_tzUUdDGBCsLmOCWbAi-7zjpt2&s=XbooMKyc3soqgW-Xl5OPUum1Kgs6ENDPzfmshib8y2w&e= target=_blank}nomodeaths.org{/a}.

Authorities also urged people to educate themselves on the signs of an overdose, including constricted pinpoint pupils; falling asleep or losing consciousness; slow, weak or no breathing; choking or gurgling sounds; and cold, clammy or discolored skin.

City firetrucks and ambulances are equipped with naloxone. Missouri law also protects people who call for help or who are experiencing overdoses from minor drug and alcohol violations.

In a suspected overdose situation, calling 911 for EMS immediately is essential to the patients survival, said St. Louis fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson in a news release. Please dont delay, call us immediately.

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Katie Kull Katie Kull covers public safety for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She previously wrote about local government for the Springfield News-Leader. In her spare time, you can find her cooking, riding horses or spending time outdoors. Follow Katie Kull Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
JEFFERSON CITY  Two differing visions for Missouris next congressional map collided on Monday when conservative hard-liners attempted to block a status quo-style plan that GOP leaders had brought up for debate.

The House narrowly backed the proposal in January, but official discussion on the boundaries had been on hold in the Senate as Republicans tried to broker an agreement between the two factions behind closed doors.

Debate continued through the night, with senators still debating at 8 a.m. Tuesday, after a coalition of Republicans and Democrats turned back the hard-liners amendment to aggressively gerrymander Missouris congressional map to eliminate one of two Democratic districts.

Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, introduced the House map for debate Monday evening, saying it was drawn to meet constitutional requirements and that it appropriately and fairly represented Missourians.

The map maintains two heavily Democratic seats covering the states two largest metropolitan areas  St. Louis and Kansas City. It draws up five mostly rural GOP districts and one mostly suburban St. Louis-area seat Republicans believe incumbent Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, will win.

But two St. Charles County hard-liners  Sens. Bill Eigel and Bob Onder  were quick to hold off a vote on the plan. They proposed an aggressive gerrymander to send seven Republicans and one Democrat to the U.S. House by eliminating the safe Democratic district of U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City.

Hard-line senators held the floor for several hours but relinquished it and allowed a vote on the 7-1 map shortly before 10 p.m. A coalition of Republicans and Democrats killed the plan on an 8-24 vote.

I just cannot tell you how disappointed I am in Republicans in this building, Onder said.

Party hard-liners such as Onder and Eigel and the anti-abortion Missouri Right to Life have attempted to turn support of a 7-1 map into a litmus test for GOP lawmakers.

Demonstrators in favor of a so-called 7-1 map rallied in the Capitol on Monday. In a sign Republicans were in disagreement over how to proceed, the Senate convened five hours later than expected.

A difficult and potentially damaging conversation concerning our congressional redistricts must be had  not because we despise one another, but because the consequences of who we send to represent us in Washington, D.C., loom so large, Eigel said at the beginning of debate on Monday.

Onder criticized the process by which the maps were drawn. The top House and Senate lawmakers in charge of redistricting released the proposed map on Dec. 30.

This process has stunk from the very beginning, Onder said.

Eigels proposed 7-1 map would have eliminated the safe Democratic district in Kansas City by pairing Democrats there with conservative rural voters.

It would also make major changes to congressional lines in the St. Louis area.

The current congressional boundaries, as well as those outlined in the House plan, split St. Louis County between the 1st and 2nd Congressional districts. Eigels plan would have split St. Louis County three ways, between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts.

The 2nd and 3rd districts wouldve paired St. Louis County voters with rural, heavily conservative voters from outside the St. Louis area.

But despite bitter speeches on the Senate floor, support for the 7-1 plan was lacking, with the majority appearing to favor the previously approved House plan.

We were told in a group text by our floor leader (Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia) tonight that a majority  and although I will say a narrow majority of our caucus  supports (the 6-2 House) map, Onder said.

After Eigels 7-1 map failed, Sen. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, proposed an amendment he said would strengthen minority representation in the 1st Congressional District, held by Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis.

The House Republican plan would increase the 1sts footprint in Webster Groves area, placing Democratic-leaning voters in those majority-white communities in the 1st, which is a majority-minority district under the Voting Rights Act.

While Democrats in the House said shifting these voters to the 1st would harm the districts majority-minority status, placing these voters in the 2nd would also increase that districts competitiveness this decade, another goal for Democrats. Republicans initially appeared skeptical when presented with the plan.

Some Democrats may ultimately support the 6-2 House plan if it means avoiding a GOP gerrymander of the Cleavers district as the conservatives have pushed.

Two Democrats from Kansas City rescued the 6-2 House plan in the Senate Redistricting Committee, providing the votes necessary to send the plan that keeps the Kansas City congressmans district intact to the Senate floor.

Listen the debate live here: http://chamber.senate.mo.gov/SenateChamber

The legislation is House Bill 2117.

Updated at 6:55 a.m.

Jack Suntrup  573-556-6186 @JackSuntrup on Twitter jsuntrup@post-dispatch.com

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JEFFERSON CITY  The boundaries of Missouris next congressional map remained in limbo Tuesday as senators continued debate on redistricting into the night.

The Missouri Senate took no final action before it adjourned after midnight Wednesday. Senators were scheduled to reconvene at noon.

Discussion on the congressional map began after 5 p.m. Monday. For most of the day Tuesday, conservative hard-liners held off a vote on a so-called 6-2 map sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, that was described as a compromise.

The Rowden map kept two Democratic seats, and appeared to shore up Rep. Ann Wagners 2nd Congressional District for the Republicans, giving the GOP six safe seats. Republican hard-liners, who have sought to eliminate one of the Democratic districts, werent satisfied.

Senators eventually gave Rowdens map preliminary approval at about 5 p.m. Tuesday. The map passed on a 22-5 vote, then was withdrawn from consideration.

Senators broke for a recess. They returned and brought up for debate the map that the House approved last month.

The House map would keep Wagners district somewhat competitive over the next decade.

But the House plan does create a 2nd District that is more Republican-leaning than is currently the case, according to an analysis by the 538 redistricting tracker. GOP leaders have expressed confidence that Wagner will retain the seat.

Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, the chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, said early Tuesday afternoon that both Rowdens map and the House version had enough support.

Getting to a vote is a whole other thing, Bernskoetter said.

While the Senate could opt to send the House map directly to Gov. Mike Parson, passing its own map would mean more discussion in the House, Bernskoetter said.

If we stick with this one, then like I said, then it has to go back to the House and go through that process again, Bernskoetter said of Rowdens map. It doesnt really have a certain path over in the House because of the changes that we made might not make people happy over there.

Both plans divide St. Charles County between the 2nd and 3rd congressional districts  a point of contention for St. Charles County Sens. Bob Onder and Bill Eigel, who both blasted the Rowden plan on Tuesday.

But the conservative hard-liners were clearly in the minority on the redistricting issue.

Not only did both Republicans and Democrats express support for Rowdens 6-2 map, but a bipartisan coalition also killed an alternative map proposed by the hard-liners  a 7-1 plan to eliminate one of the Democratic districts  Monday night on an 8-24 vote.

The floor leader (Rowden) has said this makes CD2 stronger for a Republican, but Ive been lied to before in this building, and in this chamber and so Ive got to see those numbers, Onder said.

He said other potential compromise maps didnt make as aggressive a cut into St. Charles County as this map does. And I start to think some of its just vindictiveness.

Rowden has accused Onder of wanting a congressional map that keeps St. Charles County whole so that he can more easily run for Congress in the future. Onder has called that nonsense.

GOP leaders may need Democratic votes to approve any 6-2 map.

My objective from the beginning is and continues to be finding a path to getting 18 votes, Rowden said on Tuesday morning. Its a path to 18 and Im not entirely sure where those 18 come from but we  thats the goal at this point.

The Senate set aside other maps that couldve delivered a broader compromise, Eigel said. This conversation seemed to really exclude basically a third of the majority caucus.

The worst compromises are the ones that are only made with part of the group in mind, Eigel said Tuesday morning.

The hard-line Republican senators cited Democratic gerrymandering in New York and Illinois to argue for a more aggressive effort by Missouri Republicans to maximize the partys strength in Congress.

But GOP legislative leaders have warned a too-aggressive redistricting effort could hurt the party in future elections.

Updated at 9:17 a.m. Wednesday.

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JEFFERSON CITY  The Missouri House gave preliminary approval Monday to a GOP-led proposal that could make it harder to amend Missouris Constitution.

After watching a number of Democratic policies win approval through the ballot initiative process in recent years, the latest Republican effort would raise the bar for passage of constitutional changes from a simple majority to at least two-thirds of voters.

That higher threshold would have resulted in the defeat of a number of high-profile changes in recent years, including Medicaid expansion and the legalization of medical marijuana.

Were going to make sure this bill gets done and goes forward, said Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, who chairs the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee.

The plan sponsored by Rep. Mike Henderson, R-Bonne Terre, also would increase the number of signatures needed to put a proposal on the ballot.

It currently takes 8% of voters from six out of Missouris eight congressional districts to put a measure on the statewide ballot. The pending measure would require signatures from 10% of voters in all eight congressional districts.

Each part of the state should be represented in this process, Henderson said.

The change would address concerns that petition supporters often ignore the most rural and mostly conservative districts and focus on collecting signatures where the population is denser and more Democratic.

Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, said he backed changes in order to stop out-of-state special interests from pouring money into Missouri campaign funds to spur changes to the course of state government.

Rep. Shane Roden, R-Labadie, also said the state should ban people from out of state from coming to Missouri to collect signatures.

How about you just have to be a citizen of our state if you want to change our constitution, Roden said.

Democrats said the proposal will limit Missouris constitutional guarantee of direct participation in democracy at a time when Republicans control state government.

They said the measure will take away the ability of Missourians to govern themselves.

Rep. David Smith, D-Columbia, said the changes will kill the initiative petition process.

This is basically going to make it impossible to get anything done, Smith said.

I hope were satisfied with this Frankenstein monster that will make it harder for the people to have their voices heard at the ballot box, said Rep. Kevin Windham, D-Hillsdale.

Among groups expressing opposition to the change are the League of Women Voters, labor unions and advocacy groups for Medicaid expansion and abortion rights.

Similar legislation is pending in the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, has repeatedly said he supports plans to make it harder to alter the Constitution.

While Hendersons legislation was the first to win initial approval in either chamber, at least nine different bills have been filed to raise the threshold for placing changes on the ballot.

The legislation is House Joint Resolution 79.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Gov. Mike Parson said Tuesday that he is not sure who should bear the responsibility for compensating wrongly convicted people freed from Missouris prisons.

Asked about the issue on Up To Date, a news program on public radio station KCUR, Parson said he would have to take a hard look at a compensation proposal and questioned if a city, county or Missouris entire state tax base should pay.

Who is responsible for that, if there is a responsibility party? said Parson, a Republican, later adding: I just think to say, OK, all the taxpayers in the state of Missouri are responsible for that. You know, I dont know. If he was wrongfully convicted in a county or in a city, what responsibilities do they have to that? So I think theres some moving pieces to that.

More than 35 states have compensation laws, including Missouri. But the states law is so narrow, most people freed after wrongful conviction, like Ricky Kidd and Joe Amrine of Kansas City, never receive a dime.

Currently, only prisoners freed through a specific DNA testing statute can receive money, though few prove their innocence that way. If they do, they are entitled to payments of $36,500 a year.

Parsons comments come as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seek to broaden compensation to those exonerated of crimes they did not commit.

Legislators across the state moved to act after the November release of Kevin Strickland, a 62-year-old Kansas City man who spent 42 years in prison for a triple murder that he did not commit. He did not qualify for compensation under state law.

Steve Kraske, the host of Up to Date, told Parson he had Strickland on the show several weeks ago. He asked Parson  who was urged last summer to pardon Strickland, but did not  what he made of the fact that Strickland was released with nothing.

Parson said, whether good or bad, that is the way the system is right now. He said the current structure would remain the way it is until there is some sort of legislative change.

At least four bills have been introduced that would, to varying degrees, expand state compensation to the innocent. The broadest yet is sponsored by Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, a St. Louis Democrat whose legislation would nearly double the amount paid to exonerees to $65,000 for each year they wrongly spent in Missouris prisons. It would match the amount paid in Kansas.

Missouri currently pays less in compensation than other states. The federal standard is $50,000 for each year of imprisonment. The majority of states with a compensation law, including Alabama, provide that or more. Texas is $80,000 per year.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Two men from Granite City were killed and a Glen Carbon woman was seriously injured when their vehicle crashed into the back of a truck that was parked on the side of Interstate 270, the Missouri Highway Patrol said.

The crash happened about 1:30 a.m. Sunday on southbound I-270 near Highway 364.

James C. Abbott, 47, of Granite City was driving a 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan southbound on I-270 when it traveled off the road to the right and struck a 2020 Peterbilt Cascadia truck that was parked on the shoulder, the highway patrol said.

James R. Chastain, 46, of Granite City and Stephanie D. Lane, 27, of Glen Carbon were in the Dodge Caravan with Abbott. Both Abbott and Chastain were killed in the crash, and Lane was seriously injured, the highway patrol said.

Lane was taken to an area hospital for treatment, while the two men were pronounced dead at the scene. None of the three was wearing a seat belt, the highway patrol's report said.

The two men in the Cascadia truck, both from Minnesota, were treated at an area hospital for minor injuries.
Ukraines ambassador tells Security Council that Putin has declared war on Ukraine. Congress backs Biden sanctions, gas prices to spike, Trump calls Putin a "genius." Get the latest developments here, and find out how they affect you.
The Covid-19 crisis is nearing the second anniversary of the pandemic declaration by the World Health Organization, on March 11 -- and many people are now ready to know both when and how society can return to what we used to think of as normal.

In the United States, the White House has told CNN that federal officials are "thinking about" what comes next, after the United States transitions out of the current Covid-19 emergency and into a greater state of normalcy -- but officials still have not released a plan for that transition.

"Right now, our focus is on fighting Omicron," White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said at a news briefing last week when asked about whether or when there might be guidance from the White House on what a transition could look like.

He did not provide any details about when or what guidance might come next.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at the briefing that it remains unclear when that transition -- into a phase where Covid-19 no longer has such strong effects on people's daily lives -- might happen.

"We have to be totally honest that we don't know," Fauci said.

"We believe that we are now going in the right direction," he added. "The best-case scenario, as I and my colleagues have often described, is that with the tools that we have -- vaccination, boosting, testing, masking and all the other mitigations that we know about -- when you have a level of community protection, which is the level of immunity throughout the community, we will reach a stage, and I hope that it's sooner rather than later, when this will not dominate our lives."

Nationally, as of Monday, Covid-19 cases were down 43% from the week before, according to Johns Hopkins University data, and infections were trending down in nearly every state. The data also showed that hospitalizations last week fell 19% from the week prior, and new hospital admissions were down -- a promising sign that the downward trend will continue.

Yet federal officials have remained mum about any plans for lifting certain Covid-19 policies and returning to some version of normal.

Meanwhile, some leading public health experts and state governors have called for such plans to be released as soon as possible.

The types of guidance that state officials and public health experts seek include at what metric, such as which level of community transmission or hospital rates, can we declare the end of the pandemic and lift restrictions, as well as which mitigation measures should lift first as communities transition out of the pandemic and into a greater state of normalcy.

The case for guidance

The lack of guidance is not unusual, because "we're still in the middle of a hurricane," Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told CNN last week. The US is now averaging 2,462 new deaths each day, according to JHU, and it has been holding steady.

"We know there is still much to be done to stop the spread of COVID-19 and end the pandemic. We are still seeing far too many new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths," Kristen Nordlund, a spokesperson for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN in an email in late January.

"As we look forward to the spring, it's important to continue practicing prevention measures that we know work -- vaccinating, wearing a mask in public, indoor settings, staying home when you are sick, and washing your hands frequently."

Some public health officials, including CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, have pointed to Covid-19 hospitalization rates as a metric to help determine when to lift certain Covid-19 restrictions.

As hospitalizations trend down but still are high, Dr. Megan Ranney, professor of emergency medicine and associate dean of public health at Brown University, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Thursday that "today is not the day" to start rolling back safety measures.

"We are still in the midst of a surge. We still have hospitalization rates that rival those of last winter, and we still have well over 2,000 Americans dying every day," Ranney said. "When is it going to be time to start to roll back some of these mandates? I expect that it's going to be within a month or so."

But Benjamin, of the American Public Health Association, said he hopes the nation has a "lull" in the Omicron wave right now to develop guidance on moving forward.

"What I would suggest what we do is, we look and we imagine some possible futures of where the disease might go, and then we plan the transition according to those various scenarios," Benjamin said.

For instance, one scenario might be the emergence of a more virulent variant that causes subsequent lockdowns, while another could be Covid-19 shifting into an endemic seasonal disease that no longer overwhelms health systems and quietly circulates at low levels -- as endemic means a disease has a constant presence in a population but is not affecting an alarmingly large number of people, as typically seen in a pandemic.

"The point being is, you lay out those scenarios," Benjamin said. "And then as a nation, we decide how we're going to handle that, with a consensus around that with the governors, with the mayors, and everybody kind of agrees that's what we're going to do, and that's how we move forward."

That guidance could come from a "higher authority" than the CDC, he said, such as the White House Covid-19 Task Force as a whole.

"This is not CDC's responsibility. They will be part of the process, but this is much bigger than CDC because this pandemic has been much bigger than just one agency," Benjamin said. He added that such guidance should include scenarios and models of where the pandemic might be headed and how to address what could happen next.

"While CDC can provide some leadership there -- they can provide the science, they can provide the evidence, and maybe they can do the modeling -- because that involves so much of a society that's got to come at a higher authority," he said. "Maybe the Covid Task Force pulls that together and lays it out for the nation."

'A perpetual state of emergency'

Some state governors also are calling for guidance to be issued.

A bipartisan group of governors told President Joe Biden that the country needs to "move away from the pandemic," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said at the White House last week, adding that they asked for "clear guidelines" on how to return to what we used think of as normal.

Benjamin concurs: "I think the governors are right to begin asking the question: What's the endgame? And I'm glad to see that that's being asked, and I'm glad to see that's being asked in a bipartisan manner.

"There's so many public policy decisions involved with this. CDC is only one of the entities that needs to be involved in this, and it really is a whole of government discussion," he said. "By the way, it's a whole of government discussion at the federal, state and local level. The governors need to be part of that discussion, too."

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, said even though the United States is "not close" to the pandemic's end right now, governors are looking for clearer guidance as to when mitigation efforts should be rolled back.

"I think what governors are agitating for are some clear guideposts that define what the on and off ramp is for this. When do we start to roll back this mitigation? We don't have an agreed upon set of nomenclature and metrics for measuring that," Gottlieb told CBS's Margaret Brennan on Face The Nation on Sunday.

"What governors are sensing is that we need to agree upon a set of metrics -- when we're going to start to roll back these mitigation steps, and give people a light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "What is that point when this stuff gets turned off?"

CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen has added her voice to the chorus that now is the time for the Biden administration to start lifting some Covid-19 restrictions in some areas where cases and hospitalizations are low, as part of a transition back to a state of normalcy.

"We cannot live in a perpetual state of emergency. There is a place and a time for that, and I believe that we best preserve public health authority for when those times are most needed," Wen told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday.

"By the way, I am not advocating that we lift restrictions right now for the entire US," she added. "There are many parts of the country that are still being overwhelmed with patients, that hospitals are still really full. And so we certainly should not be lifting restrictions there. But there are other places that are clearly trending in the right direction, and we need to give people hope. We need to have an off ramp with these same restrictions we're putting in."

The movement begins overseas

"What we're saying is, every country will chart their way out of this in their own way, but we're asking countries to really look at your epidemiology: What's your vaccination rate? What's your hospital status? Is your hospital system in a good place, or is it over-strained?" Dr. Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for WHO, told CNN's Kate Bolduan on Thursday.

Globally, "we recorded record numbers of cases over and over again -- more than 3.3 million cases just in the last 24 hours," Harris said. "So we have huge numbers of cases, but we're in a much better place than we were before because we also have vaccinations, we also have treatments, we've got many more tools that mean we can beat this."

During last week's White House briefing, Zients said that the United States is focused on using those tools -- including vaccinations, treatments and at-home testing -- to improve the current Covid-19 situation.

"At the same time, we are always planning for the future. The most important thing that we have now, when comparing to a year ago, are the tools to protect people: the vaccines," Zients said, adding that the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children younger than 5 is on the horizon and the nation now has access to more treatment options, including Covid-19 pills.

"So, our progress over the last year and the tools we now have certainly allow us to get closer to a time when Covid doesn't disrupt our daily lives, that it's something we protect against and treat," Zients said. "And as we make more progress against Omicron, we'll get closer to that point."

The National Association of County and City Health Officials plans to hold brainstorming and listening sessions this spring with local and federal public health officers to discuss what the end of the pandemic might look like -- and how to determine when we've reached the end.

Representatives from the CDC, Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are expected to be in attendance. The first meeting is scheduled for April.

Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO's chief executive officer, told CNN last week that she hopes the White House might release some guidance before those sessions begin.

"We are hopeful that we will see some of these start to appear before our listening sessions," Freeman said. "The conversations are starting, and it appears to be good timing."

The-CNN-Wire

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In 2019, then-President Donald Trump tried to strong-arm Ukraines president by withholding military aid his country needed to ward off Russian aggression. The aid wouldnt be forthcoming unless the Ukrainian helped gin up bad publicity against Trumps reelection opponent, Joe Biden. Trump was deservedly impeached for that appalling betrayal of a U.S. alliance.

In a potentially illuminating postscript that comes as Ukraine again dominates American headlines, the star witness from the first of Trumps two impeachment trials, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, is suing Donald Trump Jr., Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and others from Trumps inner circle. Vindman, forced to retire from the military by a vindictive president, alleges they launched a campaign of personal destruction against him during and after his testimony  a campaign that included the leaking of classified materials.

As a White House national security aide, Vindman listened to the July 2019 phone call in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy implored Trump to free up U.S. weaponry his country needed to resist Russian-backed fighters. I would like you to do us a favor though, Trump responded before pressing Zelenskyy to investigate the Ukraine business ties of Bidens son, Hunter Biden. This was a sitting American president compromising U.S. security for the sake of his own reelection.

Vindman, later subpoenaed by the House impeachment committee, had no choice but to testify about what he heard. Nonetheless, Trumps team engaged in an intentional, concerted campaign of unlawful intimidation and retaliation against [Vindman] to prevent him from and then punish him for testifying truthfully before Congress, Vindman claims in his lawsuit.

During the testimony, a Republican staffer asked Vindman about a separate conversation he had with a Ukrainian security official, in which the official asked Vindman (who had emigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine as a toddler) if he wanted to serve as Ukraines minister of defense. Vindman immediately reported the potentially compromising exchange to superiors, as he should properly have done. That report was classified.

Vindmans suit alleges that the only way the Republican staffer who questioned him could possibly have known about the issue was if the White House had leaked classified information. Republicans later raised it to suggest Vindman had dual loyalties.

In what appeared to be a clearly orchestrated operation, Giuliani and others immediately picked up on that theme and began smearing the character of this military officer, who had served in war.

Ukraines precarious position today, with a Russian invasion looming, dramatizes just how urgent U.S. support for that country is  and just how big a betrayal of Americas own national interests Trump committed back then. Vindmans lawsuit offers hope for at least some semblance of the justice that Senate Republicans thwarted at the time by refusing to remove Trump from office or even hold him minimally accountable.
It remains debatable whether policies imposed by Mayor Tishaura Jones were responsible for the jail release of a man accused of brutal domestic violence, simply because he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Whats not debatable is the harsh, less-than-sympathetic exchange Jones had with the woman who endured the abuse and is still recovering from severe burns to her face and shoulders after the man beat her and flung boiling hot soup on her.

A photo of the scarred and disfigured victim, posted online with a story by KSDK (Channel 5) reporter Christine Byers, underscores the feeling of many that the man accused of this crime poses an ongoing danger and should remain behind bars until trial.

The victim certainly feels that way. The Black woman lashed out at the mayor for reportedly advocating the release of coronavirus-infected detainees to limit the virus spread in city jail cells. St. Louis police union lawyer Jane Dueker cited this case in an angry series of tweets last month expressing outrage over the release of the alleged attacker, Mac Payne.

The victim, whose name is being withheld, apparently mistook an online video of a woman dancing as depicting the mayor. The victim posted on Facebook, She has time to dance but not care about her constituents needs. Tishaura O. Jones can definitely go to the nearest hell.

This was the ideal moment for Jones to pause before responding and perhaps consider the trauma this woman has experienced. An expression of understanding and empathy certainly would have helped lower the temperature. An attempt to contact the woman offline might have helped ease her trauma.

But Jones reacted in typical fashion whenever she faces criticism  lashing out with insults and barbs designed to ensure that the confrontation escalates.

The victim repeated the allegations made in Duekers tweets, adding, Meanwhile Im over here fearing for my life because the man who threw hot soup on me is getting out of jail back to back.

Jones responded by shifting blame to the courts, the St. Louis circuit attorney, and even the governor for the chain of decisions leading to Paynes release. Jones ended that response with: #GurlBye, an insulting dismissal that is tantamount to saying: Now, get out of my face.

The victim acknowledged Paynes right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty but added that my skin and my childs eyes saw what happened. The graphic photo in Byers story backs that up.

Jones has got to learn that politics is no place for people with thin skin. Perhaps a smarter approach to criticism might be to roll with the punches instead of taking every critical remark as a personal affront. Unless Jones is deliberately trying to emulate former President Donald Trump, she must recognize that childish insults and barbs bring dishonor to her office and serve only to undermine her agenda.
Despite so few real successes, the idea of starting a new airline apparently gets to some promoters like the hard stuff. And despite COVID-19 and its associated woes, you'll have a chance to try out a new startup or two this year.

Actually, for many, the most interesting development is the second phase of last year's major debut: Breeze, the latest go by serial airline founder David Neeleman. Last year saw phase I, with short-range Embraer planes flying short routes among relatively neglected airports in the East and South. Many of us were waiting for Phase II, with new small, long-range A220s (former Bombardier C Series) entering the fleet this year. So far, the new routes have been underwhelming, mainly not much longer than the Embraer routes. But for some travelers  specifically, those looking to escape the small-seat crunch of today's "main cabin," the big deal is the proposed fare structure. Breeze A220s have two cabins, five-across economy with both bare-bones "Nice" and "Nicer" with moderate extras fare options, and four-across "Nicest," the equivalent of domestic first class seating. And they have lots of those Nicest seats  36, filling almost half the cabin. As of this writing, for a one-way flight from Tampa to Tulsa, a posting shows fares of $79 for bare-bones Nice and $99 for Nicest. Twenty dollars for a first-class seat? To me, that's a no-brainer. The Nice level will attract those who look for the lowest fare, which is competitive with other lines. But just $20 more  maybe up to $50 long haul  for a first-class seat is unique, and it will draw just about anyone who wants to enjoy rather than endure a low-fare flight.

Two brand-new U.S. lines for 2022 are a complete contrast:

 Airbahn plans all-economy, very low fare A320 flights linking Southern California with regional cities such as Oakland and Sacramento. The Southern California base hasn't been announced, but it will likely be Ontario. Unlike the similar Allegiant, Airbahn will likely start up in head-to-head competition with Southwest and other big lines. Some of us are asking, "How will that likely work out?" Fares have not been announced.

 Northern Pacific will fly 757s from Asia to the mainland U.S., connecting through Anchorage much as Icelandair links the U.S. to Europe through Reykjavik. With near-direct routes, low fares, and quick U.S. customs in Anchorage, it expects to compete even with nonstops on the major lines. My take, however, is that it is more likely to find markets linking secondary Asian and U.S. cities that don't enjoy nonstops on other lines. Either way, lots of Alaska stopovers would obviously help. Flights will offer both standard 3-3 economy seating and 2-2 premium seats, with lots of legroom but not lie-flat.

Two new lines are entering the transatlantic battleground, and both seem to be emulating earlier lines that went broke.

 Norse Atlantic follows Norwegian's approach  even starting with a former Norwegian 787  of low-fare two-class economy and premium economy nonstops from Oslo and (later) London/Stansted to peripheral airports in three big U.S. destinations: Ft. Lauderdale for Miami, Ontario for Los Angeles, and Stewart for New York. In all three cases, ground access to the primary cities is lousy, but the immediate airport areas serve good-size regional markets.

 Play follows WOW in the U.S.-Iceland-Europe sweepstakes, with one-class A320 flights. Fares  already posted  seem great, but after all the near-essential extras, total costs will likely not be game-changing. Baltimore and Boston get the first flights, starting in April, with New York/Stewart added.

I won't try to handicap the new startups, but at least Northern Pacific's plan is original. As the strippers in the musical Gypsy note, "You gotta have a gimmick" to succeed as a stripper, and that goes for airlines, as well. Really low fares are a reliable gimmick  but only if other lines let you retain an advantage. And that's a big if. For now, I'm happy to be an observer, not an investor.

(Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at eperkins@mind.net. Also, check out Eds new rail travel website at www.rail-guru.com.)
LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Johnson Matthey up as investor builds stake

Friday, April 29, 2022 - 17:12

Stocks in London on Friday ended a volatile month of April in a positive fashion, with a strong first quarter performance from Smurfit Kappa allowing other packaging firms to rise in a positive read-across.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 35.36 points, or 0.5%, at 7,544.55 - ending the week overall up 0.3%. Over the month the UK flagship index lost 0.5%.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 index ended up 89.09 points, or 0.4%, at 20,708.71 and lost 0.8% over the past 5 days.

The AIM All-Share index finished up 7.40 points, or 0.7%, at 1,022.26 - closing out the week 2.3% lower.

The Cboe UK 100 index closed up 0.5% at 750.31. The Cboe 250 closed down 0.6% at 18,265.99, and the Cboe Small Companies closed down 0.2% at 15,139.35.

In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris ended up 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt up 0.8%.

As China's lockdowns continue and new infections continue to spread in Beijing, the central government outlined wide-ranging economic stimulus plans to temper expected losses. The government will subsidise businesses, pausing unemployment insurance payments if companies avoid mass layoffs, as well as electricity and internet charges.

In the FTSE 100, Smurfit Kappa closed up 4.3% after the paper and packaging firm reported first quarter earnings growth despite headwinds at the start of 2022.

The Irish firm reported year-on-year revenue growth of 33% to 3.02 billion in the first quarter of 2022, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rising at the same rate to 514 million. Its Ebitda margin was flat at 17% despite inflationary pressures in the period.

Rivals Mondi and DS Smith rose 3.4% and 1.6% respectively in a positive read-across.

Pearson closed up 1.9% after the educational materials publisher provided a positive update on first quarter trading, while also announcing a new acquisition.

Pearson has agreed to buy Mondly, an online language learning platform. It provided no financial details, but said it expects the purchase to accelerate revenue growth for its English Language Learning division from 2023 onward. It expects mid-teens margins for the division by 2025.

Turning to its own recent trading, Pearson reported underlying sales growth of 7% in the first quarter. It reaffirmed its guidance for adjust operating profit in 2022.

Pearson added that its 350 million share buyback programme has begun, with 75 million already completed.

AstraZeneca added 0.5% after the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker reported a sharp rise in first-quarter revenue.

Quarterly pretax profit shrank 66% to $553 million from $1.61 billion a year ago. Revenue rose by 56% to $11.39 billion from $7.32 billion. Revenue from its oncology arm grew by 21% to $3.64 billion from $3.02 billion.

AstraZeneca completed its $39 billion takeover of Boston-based rare diseases firm Alexion Pharmaceuticals in July last year, helping to boost its top line.

In the quarter, AstraZeneca generated $1.09 billion in sales from its Covid-19 vaccine Vaxzevria, ups sharply from a year prior. Contracts with the vaccine are expected to complete delivery by the second half of the year, the firm added.

Astra backed annual guidance. It tips revenue to rise by a high teens percentage and core EPS to climb by a mid-to-high twenties percentage.

At the other end of the large-caps, Hikma Pharmaceuticals ended the worst performer, down 7.2%, after the drugmaker noted its Generics business has experienced some headwinds.

Hikma explained its Generics business has been hurt by increased competition and a challenging pricing environment, resulting in a slow start to the year.

Nonetheless, Hikma said it continues to expect full-year Generics revenue growth between 8% to 10%, though it noted this would likely be weighted towards the second half of the year.

Conversely, Hikma reported its Branded business is performing well.

Vodafone closed down 4.3% after Bank of America downgraded the telecommunications firm to 'neutral' from 'buy'.

NatWest Group lost 2.2% despite reporting largely positive first-quarter numbers.

In the three months to March 31, the Edinburgh-headquartered bank recorded an operating pretax profit of 1.25 billion, surging 41% from 885 million in the same period a year prior. Attributable profit rose 36% to 841 million from 620 million.

NatWest - formerly Royal Bank of Scotland - saw total income rise 17% to 3.03 billion from 2.59 billion. Net interest income rose to 2.05 billion from 1.86 billion, while non-interest income increased to 982 million from 727 million.

Looking ahead, NatWest said its 2022 income excluding notable items will be comfortably above 11.0 billion in the 'go-forward group' - advancing at least 4.7% from total income of 10.51 billion in 2021.

In the FTSE 250, Johnson Matthey ended the standout performer, up 19%. A regulatory filing on Friday showed industrial investor Standard Investments LLC has built a 5.2% stake in the specialist chemicals firm. Standard Investments is based in New York.

The pound was quoted at $1.2568 at the London equities close, up from $1.2458 at the close Thursday.

The euro stood at $1.0547 at the European equities close, up from $1.0524 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP129.68, down sharply from JP131.00.

On the continent, the eurozone's economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the first quarter of 2022, while separate data showed inflation picked up slightly in April.

According to Eurostat, eurozone gross domestic product grew 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of 2022. The figure fell short of an FXStreet cited estimate of 0.3% growth. In the fourth quarter of 2021, GDP had expanded by 0.3%.

Annually, first quarter economic growth from the single currency area was 5.0%, accelerating from the fourth quarter's 4.7% rise. Annual growth came in line with FXStreet cited consensus.

Separate figures from Eurostat showed inflation accelerated to another record high in April, as expected. The eurozone annual inflation rate for April was 7.5%, an uptick from 7.4% in March. The April figure was in line with FXStreet cited consensus. On a monthly basis, consumer prices grew 0.6%.

New York was sharply lower at the London equities close amid disappointing corporate earnings reports.

The DJIA was down 1.1%, the S&P 500 index down 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.7%.

Amazon.com plunged 13% after reporting its first quarterly loss since 2015 as sales growth slowed while the company faces challenges with rising costs.

Intel was down 5.6% after the semiconductor maker warned the global chip shortage will remain a challenge for the industry until at least 2024, particularly in areas such as foundry capacity and tool availability.

Brent oil was quoted at $110.30 a barrel at the equities close, up sharply from $106.55 at the close Thursday.

Gold stood at $1,906.75 an ounce at the London equities close, higher against $1,887.75 late Thursday.

The economic events calendar on Monday has manufacturing PMI readings from the Germany at 0855 BST, the eurozone at 0900 BST and US at 1445 BST. Financial markets in the UK are closed on Monday for the Early May bank holiday.

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Despite the priority the U.S. Navy has attached to its nuclear sub program, and the recent success in producing new Virginia class subs on time and under budget, that is changing. In part it is because of covid19, which slowed down shipyard activity and made it more difficult to hire new workers.

This was in addition to problems that have wrecked so many other American warship building programs and are now spreading to the nuclear sub construction effort. The most urgent problem is the management of the two commercial shipyards that build nuclear subs. Even before covid19 there were increasing problems with quality control, which means faulty work has to be done over and that means more delays. The navy, to its credit, has been paying attention and has caught most flawed work. This is due to the still vivid memory of two SSNs (nuclear attack subs) that were lost in the 1960s because of construction flaws. Ever since then the navy has paid particular attention to quality control and has caught bad habits reappearing several times and put an end to it. This time around there is another problem; many of the experienced shipyard workers are retiring and, because of a nationwide shortage of skilled workers, it is difficult to find and attract qualified workers to replace the retired ones and maintain the rapid pace of constructing new subs. This is further complicated by the need to build new Columbia class SSBNs (nuclear powered ballistic missile subs) to replace the elderly Ohio class boats. The first of the new Columbias must be ready for service by 2031, and keep coming on a regular basis, to replace the retiring Ohios.

The Navy is spending a lot of money on its new subs. The Navy put its 17th Virginia class SSN into service during 2020. That sub, the South Dakota (SSN 790) took three years to build and is the seventh of eight Block 3 Virginias. Ten years earlier the navy got its fifth Virginia eight months ahead of schedule and under budget. At that point, the Virginias were taking 5-6 years to build and arriving at the rate of one a year. Over the last five years, the speed of construction has increased as well as the rate of delivery, now one or two a year, in order to replace the aging Los Angeles class boats. In one recent 25-month period, five Virginias were put into service. Covid19 halted the ability to build Virginias at the rate of two a year. Finally, the next batch of Virginias are 30 percent larger than the previous ones because they will have 40 launch tubes for cruise missiles. This is about three times as many cruise missile tubes as the previous Virginias. That means even more skilled workers are needed for the larger Virginias.

The Columbias are similar to the Ohios they are replacing but are designed to be less expensive to operate and offer more comfortable accommodations for the crews. This will be done by incorporating much of the technology found in the Virginias. The cost of developing and building the twelve Columbias will be about $128 billion. About half of that is for development and the rest (about $6 billion each) for building the new SSBN. Construction is supposed to start in the early 2020s. This will be delayed because of covid19 and a shortage of qualified new hires. One of the problems seems to be that a lot of potential hires from other parts of the country prefer to avoid an outdoor job in chilly New England, especially when they have offers from areas with better outdoor work conditions.

One solution for all this is to reopen the Avondale shipyard in Louisiana. This yard ceased building warships in 2014 and has since kept the lights on by building oil industry equipment. Avondale is on the Mississippi 30 kilometers north of New Orleans. In the 1980s Avondale had 26,000 workers and was a major producer of military ships. The need for that disappeared in 1991 with the end of the Cold War. The navy needed much less shipyard capacity and all submarine construction ended up in two New England yards.

The Navy currently plans to build 66 Virginias with ten currently under construction and 17 in service. Blocks 1-4 of Virginia are all armed the same way but Block 5 (arriving in the early 2020s) will have additional space to store and launch missiles and will carry 65 missiles and torpedoes. This is 75 percent more than Block 1-4 boats. This will be accomplished by adding an additional section called the VPM or Virginia Payload Module. This adds 25.6 meters to the length of the sub and increases displacement to 10,400 tons. Each new Block gets better electronics and sensors and it is believed that the passive sonar in the late model Virginias have much longer and accurate detection ranges. The Block 5 will also receive a large number of equipment upgrades. The main problem with the Virginias is the larger size and the shortage of shipyard capacity to build them and the Columbias.

Solutions are being sought but few practical ones are in sight.
An Army helicopter crew chief flies a 12th man flag in honor of the Seattle Seahawks fan base during a flyover of the pregame ceremonies at Lumen Field, Seattle, Nov. 21, 2021. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Adeline Witherspoon)

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How to Deliver a More Lean-Forward TV Viewing Experience Online

Learn more about the streaming TV user experience at Streaming Media East 2022.

Read the complete transcript of this clip:

Ryan Ford: When you're on a lean-back type of experience, CTV, it's probably in a family room or family setting. There is that moment where the user might be several users who are all trying to agree on what to watch tonight. And so the amount of content that you display to them is gonna probably need to differ. And the type of content may actually need to differ as well in that lean-back experience versus mobile, which is again, like others have said, a more personal device. And so the amount of content and the way you display that content may be much more tailored to the user. But something that I don't think any of us have covered is the actual expectations that users have from the interfaces that they're interacting with--mobile, tablet, web, television. We'll interact with these tools in different manners, using different different methodologies. On web, we generally are using a trackpad, or a mouse cursor. On mobile and tablet, we're using our fingers.

And then on TV, of course, we're using a very limited experience, except for in some cases where manufacturers have attempted to turn the remote into a mouse cursor--and don't get me started on that. But we, as users--and I think we should all think of ourselves as users, as well as builders--have expectations of what we're gonna get when we hover or select a card or a title in a list. What's gonna be on the other side of that? What's gonna happen when we tap on it? Will it start playing the content? Will we be able to learn more? And I think that most platforms have tried to do a pretty good job in respecting users' expectations around how they interact with these with the content in these different environments.

But the web, I think, has largely been an afterthought for a lot of people. Most of the web streaming experiences that I've come upon from all of the top players have largely been like a web-based version of a tablet player, which I think on one hand is very efficient. It's very cost-efficient to just kind of recycle an interface you've already made. But at the same time, I think that we are as an industry, not going above and beyond to leverage some of the unique capabilities of all of these different platforms and building something that is really above and beyond or extra delightful in the context of that platform.

So, going back to web, there's so much exciting stuff that we could be doing on the web that I think we, as an industry, are not yet doing. We have tended to focus a lot of our energy on TV and mobile and tablet. Those are very popular devices. And especially during the pandemic, we've seen this incredible growth of of native CTV usage in streaming where meanwhile, set-top boxes and smart TV devices like the Apple TV or even PlayStation have, generally speaking, declined in usage. So a lot more people are coming to TVs. Itmakes sense to focus on TVs. But shouldn't we, can't we do something more interesting on the web?

Thomas Wadsworth: I think Ryan is an interesting point where, four years ago, if I was looking at web, you're kind of looking at it as, when is this gonna die? When do I not have to worry about this anymore? But with the pandemic coming in, I think a lot of there's a lot more usage on web, people are probably watching TV while they're in conferences or while they're on meetings. It's a reality. And so there should be something in which the web is an easier platform to make updates and something that everyone owns. You know, I think to Ryan's point, when you're looking at mobile and you're looking at living room, it's mainly chasing dollars in that sense, to be able to put together a design where we feel that that's gonna be able to grab the most attention and engagement. But I think web is now at least where we're setting loose our sites, in some ways can there be more innovation on web and not necessarily on Android.

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HIGHLIGHTS

5 drill-hole assay results from the 2021 drilling program at the Elizabeth Gold Project include 2 holes with high-grade gold intersections from the Blue Vein

Drill holes EZ-21-26 and EZ-21-27 establish additional strike length to high-grade zone developing at the Blue Vein: EZ-21-26 intersections: 9.13g/t gold over 1.25 metres from 121.45 metres, including 45.1g/t gold over 0.25 metres from 121.45 metres EZ-21-27 intersections: 14.3g/t gold over 1.40 metres from 152.20 metres, including 19.2g/t gold over 1.00 metres from 152.20 metres

Since its discovery in September 2021, the Blue Vein has developed a high-grade mineralised zone now extending over 80 metres of strike - three drill-holes establishing the zone include bonanza' (>1oz/t) intersections

Further development of the Blue Vein high-grade zone, which remains open in multiple directions, will be a priority for additional drilling at the Elizabeth Gold Project

PERTH, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / February 8, 2022 / Tempus Resources Ltd ("Tempus" or the "Company") (ASX:TMR)(TSXV:TMRR)(OTCQB: TMRFF) is pleased to announce the final assay results from drilling completed at the Elizabeth Gold Project during 2021. The drill holes released in this announcement are EZ-21-20, EZ21-21, EZ -21-26, EZ-21-27 and EZ-21-28. Drill collar information can be seen in Appendix 1, Table 1.

Tempus President and CEO, Jason Bahnsen, commented "These results from late-2021 drilling at Elizabeth Gold Project continue to extend the scope of the high-grade mineralised zone of the Blue Vein. We now have a strike length of over 80 metres, established with multiple bonanza grade results. The 2022 exploration drilling program at Elizabeth will focus further expansion of the Blue Vein along strike and down dip."

Elizabeth Gold Project - Phase 1 Drilling Program

The Elizabeth Gold Project is the flagship project for Tempus and is located in the Bralorne - Pioneer Gold District of southern British Columbia. The 115km2 project is a relatively underexplored high-grade mesothermal gold project with mineralisation presenting itself in vein sets which range in true width from 0.5 m to 6.5 metres. The high-grade quartz veins encountered in the drilling at Elizabeth show close geological similarities to the Bralorne-Pioneer mesothermal vein system (approximately 30km south), which was mined to a depth of approximately 2,000 metres and produced more than 4 million ounces of gold over a period of more than 70 years (from approximately 1900 to 1971).

A total of 28 drill diamond core drill holes (approximately 7,820 metres) were completed at the Elizabeth Gold Project in 2021. Combined with drilling completed in 2020, Tempus has now completed 39 drill holes (approximately 9,826 metres) in total on the Elizabeth Gold Project.

The overall exploration drilling strategy for the Elizabeth Project is focused on increasing the size and confidence level of the historic inferred resource of approximately 206,139 ounces of contained gold (522,843 tonnes @ 12.26 g/t gold - SRK 2009). Apart from a few infill drill holes intended to convert inferred resources to the indicated category, the majority of the drill holes completed by Tempus to intersect the gold vein structures are outside of the 2009 resource block model.

Blue Vein Drilling

The Blue Vein is located approximately 150 metres to the northwest, near vertical in dip, and parallel,

to the SW Vein (See Figure 1). This previously unknown vein has now been intersected by 7 drill-holes

(EZ-21-09, EZ-21-12, EZ-21-19, EZ-21-24, EZ-21-25, EZ-21-26, EZ-21-27) demonstrating an initial

strike length of 380 metres (see Figure 3). The Blue Vein

structure has been intercepted to approximately 100 metres depth and remains open along strike and

down dip. (See Figure 1, Figure 3)

The two drill holes released in this announcement (EZ-21-26 and EZ-21-27) intersected the Blue Vein approximately 40 metres to the SW of the Blue Vein discovery hole, EZ-21-12.

Drill hole EZ-21-26 intersected 9.13 g/t gold over 1.25 metres from 121.45 metres, including 45.1 g/t gold over 0.25 metres from 121.45 metres.

Drill hole EZ-21-27 intersected 14.3 g/t gold over 1.40 metres from 152.20 metres, including 19.2 g/t gold over 1.00 metres from 152.20 metres.

These latest results from the Blue Vein are in addition to:

The Blue Vein discovery drill hole EZ-21-12 with an intersection of visible gold returning 33.7 g/t gold over 1.0 metre from 117.8 metres (announced 27 September 2021).

Drill hole EZ-21-25 with an intersection of quartz veining that assayed 13.4 g/t gold over 2.70 metres from 111.0 metres including 71.3 g/t gold over 0.50 metres from 111.50 metres.

The strike distance of high-grade results from the Blue Vein between drill-holes EZ-21-27 and EZ-21-25 is approximately 80 metres and encompasses the discovery hole EZ-21-12 and EZ-21-26 (See Figure 3). Assay grades for these for holes range from 9.13 g/t gold to 71.3 g/t gold over widths ranging from 0.50 m to 2.70 metres. These results show the continuity of the high grades within the Blue Vein over a strike distance of more than 80 metres. The Blue Vein structure has been identified over a total strike length of 380 metres.

Drilling in 2022 will focus on expanding the identified gold mineralisation of the Blue Vein along strike and at depth.

SW Vein Drilling

The final 2021 drill holes reported in the SW Vein are from EZ2-21-20, EZ2-21-22, and EZ2-21-23. The later two holes are step outs from the northern ore-shoot and were successful in intersecting the SW Vein in a previously undrilled zone of the SW Vein and extending mineralization by approximately 80m along strike to the northeast.

EZ-21-23 intersected a 4.10 m quartz vein zone at 1.83 g/t gold from 145.00 m with an intersection of 4.98 g/t gold over 0.70m from 147.50m.

EZ-21-20 was a 200m step out to the southwest of previous Tempus drilling and did not intersect any significant gold values.

Drilling of the SW Vein is showing a consistent structure. Tempus has drilled deeper at Elizabeth than any of the historic drilling completed on the project. The deep intersections of the SW Vein are encouraging and geologically very significant as the vein continues at depth, as does the alteration and associated mineralization as identified in other high-grade intercepts from the SW Vein. This mineralization at depth is consistent with typical Mesothermal/Orogenic gold deposits, such as the Bralorne-Pioneer Gold mine 30km to the south of Elizabeth and is confirmed with the ICP-OES assay analysis which indicates elevated arsenic, antimony, silver, and mercury when intersecting the SW Vein at depth.

Of interest is a distinctively different set of veining at Elizabeth that is anomalous in silver, lead and bismuth. This vein set tends to be more of a brecciated zone that is consistently intersected in nearly every hole on the project. These vein sets have been overlooked in the past as they are low in gold grades at high elevations however, they may represent shallow mineralization of a separate mineralizing event at Elizabeth.

Significant intersections from the SW Vein include:

EZ-21-04 - 31.2 g/t gold over 4.00m from 122.00m, including; 52.1 g/t gold over 1.50m from 123.00m, and including; 72.0 g/t gold over 0.50m from 124.00m

EZ-20-06 - 61.3 g/t gold over 5.0m at from 116.5m, including 186.0 g/t gold over 1.5m from 118.0m

EZ-20-10: 28.1 g/t gold over 3.2m from 184.0m, including 178.0 g/t gold over 0.5m from 184.5



Other Target Veins

Drill hole EZ-21-21 was an exploration hole which followed up on quartz veining identified from 2003 trenching in the Ella Zone. This is the first drill hole in this target and results are very encouraging. Assay results returned up to 1.03 g/t gold over 2.00m from 184.00 m within a 4.0m veining zone. The geochemistry supports a mesothermal style mineralized vein with assay results retuning highly anomalous arsenic and antimony. Tempus technical staff will continue to review these results.

The Elizabeth project is a multi-vein epithermal/orogenic system with historic bonanza' grade intercepts in drill core and surface trenching.

Historic trenching at Elizabeth on the West Vein (above the West Vein underground drift) in 2003 returned 55.1 g/t gold over a strike length of 20.00m and 14.2 g/t gold over a strike length of 20.00m and from the Main vein (above the Main Vein underground drift). Historic 2003 trenching also exposed anomalous quartz vein mineralization in the Ella Vein zone where Tempus targeted with EZ-21-21. Historic trenching results are historic in nature and are not compliant with NI 43-101 standards and should not be relied upon. Historic results are used only as a reference.

The West, Main, Ella veins are largely under explored and no drilling has been conducted to the southern extension. Drill hole EZ-21-05 intersected the West Vein at 554.85m downhole depth with mesothermal type mineralization and anomalous gold. EZ-21-05 was a sizable ~450m step out to the SW, along strike from any previous drilling on the West Vein.

Tempus completed a high-resolution airborne geophysics survey in 2021 (see announcement on August 13th, 2021). Which interpreted the Blue Creek Porphyry intrusion, which hosts the high-grade gold mineralisation at Elizabeth, likely covers an area >4x its previously known extent. This is a significant outcome for Tempus as it greatly expands the area of exploration with a higher probability of discovering new mineralized quartz veins.

Tempus will continue to evaluate the potential on these veins with drill testing in 2022.

Figure 1 - The Elizabeth Project - Phase 1 Drilling

Figure 2 - Elizabeth Project - SW Vein Phase 1 Drilling

Figure 3 - Elizabeth Project - Blue Vein Intersections

Figure 4 - Elizabeth Project Cross Section

This announcement has been authorised by the Board of Directors of Tempus Resources Limited.

Competent Persons Statement

Information in this report relating to Exploration Results is based on information reviewed by Mr. Kevin Piepgrass, who is a Member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the province of BC (APEGBC), which is a recognised Professional Organisation (RPO), and an employee of Tempus Resources. Mr. Piepgrass has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, and as a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI43-101. Mr. Piepgrass consents to the inclusion of the data in the form and context in which it appears.

For further information:

TEMPUS RESOURCES LTD

Melanie Ross - Director/Company Secretary Phone: +61 8 6188 8181

About Tempus Resources Ltd

Tempus Resources Ltd ("Tempus") is a growth orientated gold exploration company listed on ASX ("TMR") and TSX.V ("TMRR") and OTCQB ("TMRFF") stock exchanges. Tempus is actively exploring projects located in Canada and Ecuador. The flagship project for Tempus is the Elizabeth-Blackdome Project, a high-grade gold past producing project located in Southern British Columbia. Tempus is currently midway through a drill program at Elizabeth-Blackdome that will form the basis of an updated NI43-101/JORC resource estimate. The second key group of projects for Tempus are the Rio Zarza and Valle del Tigre projects located in south east Ecuador. The Rio Zarza project is located adjacent to Lundin Gold's Fruta del Norte project. The Valle del Tigre project is currently subject to a sampling program to develop anomalies identified through geophysical work.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Tempus's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, the ability of Tempus to successfully achieve business objectives, and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Tempus to control or predict, that may cause Tempus' actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein and the other risks and uncertainties disclosed on Page 27 under the heading "Risk and Uncertainties" in the Company's Management's Discussion & Analysis for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 dated November 15, 2021 filed on SEDAR. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Tempus believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Tempus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Tempus or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Appendix 1

Table 1:Drill Hole Collar Table

UTM UTM Hole ID Target Easting (NAD83 Northing (NAD83 Elevation (m) Length (m) Azimuth Dip Z10) Z10) EZ-21-01 SW Vein 531203 5653771 2400 105 121 -52 EZ-21-02 SW Vein 531203 5653771 2400 132 146 -55 EZ-21-03 SW Vein 531203 5653771 2400 111 158 -47 EZ-21-04 SW Vein 531203 5653771 2400 135 168 -58 EZ-21-05 SW Vein 531078 5653776 2400 561 123 -48 EZ-21-06 SW Vein 531078 5653776 2400 255 110 -55 EZ-21-07 SW Vein 531203 5653771 2400 126 115 -75 EZ-21-07b SW Vein 531203 5653771 2400 186 115 -75 EZ-21-08 SW Vein 531195 5653839 2427 231 115 -68 EZ-21-09 SW Vein 531200 5654020 2330 360 120 -48 EZ-21-10 SW Vein 530953 5653772 2390 354 127 -50 EZ-21-11 SW Vein 530953 5653772 2390 381 136 -50 EZ-21-12 SW Vein 530953 5653772 2390 375 125 -45 EZ-21-13 SW Vein 530919 5653596 2300 261 94 -45 EZ-21-14 SW Vein 530919 5653596 2300 261 108 -55 EZ-21-15 SW Vein 530919 5653596 2300 330 100 -55 EZ-21-16 SW Vein 530919 5653596 2300 330 83 -48.5 EZ-21-17 SW Vein 530919 5653596 2300 414 98 -63 EZ-21-18 SW Vein 530919 5653596 2300 351 128.5 -63 EZ-21-19 SW Vein 530953 5653772 2390 417 129 -58 EZ-21-20 SW Vein 530849 5653432 2260 300 129 -45 EZ-21-21 East Veins 531695 5653463 2120 357 90 -45 EZ-21-22 SW Vein 531195 5653839 2427 188 75 -45 EZ-21-23 SW Vein 531695 5653463 2120 165 91 -45 EZ-21-24 Blue Vein 530953 5653772 2390 219 84 -54 EZ-21-25 Blue Vein 530953 5653772 2390 201 105 -58 EZ-21-26 Blue Vein 530953 5653772 2390 198 95 -45 EZ-21-27 Blue Vein 530953 5653772 2390 195 150 -60 EZ-21-28 No.9 Vein 530953 5653772 2390 321 300 -55

Table 2: Significant Interval Table

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) True Thickness (m) Gold Grade MET Screen Grade Vein EZ-21-01 94.00 96.60 2.60 2.21 4.60 5.12 SW Vein and 83.50 84.00 0.50 0.43 20.50 pending SW Vein EZ-21-02 102.40 109.00 6.60 5.61 8.40 pending SW Vein including 105.40 106.50 1.10 0.93 46.30 pending SW Vein EZ-21-03 88.60 95.00 6.40 5.44 7.22 pending SW Vein including 89.30 91.90 2.60 2.21 11.80 pending SW Vein and 90.00 91.30 1.30 1.11 19.80 pending SW Vein and 34.70 35.20 0.50 0.43 3.15 pending SW Vein EZ-21-04 122.00 126.00 4.00 3.40 31.20 34.40 SW Vein including 123.00 124.50 1.50 1.28 52.10 68.30 SW Vein including 124.00 124.50 0.50 0.43 72.00 87.30 SW Vein EZ-21-05 134.00 135.00 1.00 0.85 1.38 Not Preformed 7 Vein 217.55 218.25 0.70 0.59 1.74 1.67 SW Vein and 256.00 256.50 0.50 0.43 1.03 0.89 SW Vein and 554.85 555.35 0.50 0.43 0.24 Not Preformed West Vein EZ-21-06 134.50 136.00 1.50 1.28 1.10 1.71 7 Vein and 245.00 246.00 1.00 0.85 2.05 2.45 SW Vein EZ-21-07 Hole lost EZ-21-07B 40.10 41.10 1.00 0.85 4.88 Not Preformed 7 Vein and 51.50 52.20 0.70 0.60 9.06 Not Preformed 7 Vein and 160.00 165.75 5.75 4.89 0.53 0.70 SW Vein EZ-21-08 196.25 202.40 6.15 5.23 0.65 0.66 SW Vein and 226.60 227.10 0.50 0.43 1.54 1.85 SW Vein EZ-21-09 58.60 59.10 0.50 0.43 0.31 Not Preformed Blue Vein and 270.90 272.90 2.00 1.70 2.56 Not Preformed SW Vein and 355.88 357.00 1.12 0.95 0.85 Not Preformed SW Vein EZ-21-10 223.00 223.50 0.50 0.43 4.04 Not Preformed 7 Vein and 347.70 349.20 1.50 1.28 0.22 0.21 SW Vein EZ-21-11 326.90 327.40 0.50 0.43 0.55 0.44 SW Vein EZ-21-12 117.80 118.80 1.00 0.85 47.6 33.7 Blue Vein and 130.70 131.20 0.50 0.43 26.4 Not Preformed Blue Vein and 163.90 164.40 0.50 0.43 5.50 8.41 Blue Vein and 344.90 347.00 2.10 1.79 0.78 1.22 SW Vein EZ-21-13 230.70 232.60 1.90 1.62 0.76 0.71 SW Vein Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) True Thickness (m) Gold Grade MET Screen Grade Vein EZ-21-14 224.00 224.90 0.90 0.77 1.63 1.15 SW Vein EZ-21-15 318.40 320.80 2.40 2.04 0.31 Not Preformed SW Vein including 320.30 320.80 0.50 0.43 1.14 Not Preformed SW Vein EZ-21-16 305.00 306.90 1.90 1.61 0.55 Not Preformed SW Vein EZ-21-17 171.00 171.50 0.50 0.43 0.14 0.57 Vein and 204.00 204.60 0.60 0.51 0.53 Not Preformed vein and 254.60 256.85 2.25 1.91 1.40 1.58 7 Vein and 350.13 350.75 0.62 0.53 1.01 Not Preformed SW Vein and 379.47 382.00 2.53 2.15 0.63 0.64 SW Vein EZ-21-18 299.50 299.90 0.40 0.34 1.53 Not Preformed SW Vein EZ-21-19 127.50 128.00 0.50 0.43 4.52 Not Preformed Blue Vein and 129.00 130.50 1.50 1.28 4.25 Not Preformed Blue Vein and 167.80 168.70 0.90 0.76 4.50 6.14 Blue Vein and 351.80 354.90 3.10 2.63 0.34 Not Preformed SW Vein EZ-21-20 NSI** EZ-21-21 184.00 186.00 2.00 1.70 1.03 Not Preformed unknown and 263.45 264.30 0.85 0.72 1.34 Not Preformed unknown EZ-21-22 175.55 176.70 1.15 0.98 1.60 2.50 SW Vein EZ-21-23 145.00 149.10 4.10 3.48 1.11 1.83 SW Vein including 147.50 148.20 0.70 0.59 1.08 4.98 SW Vein EZ-21-24 139.80 141.00 1.20 1.02 0.58 0.58 Blue Vein and 181.70 182.65 0.95 0.81 0.85 0.84 Blue Vein EZ-21-25 111.00 113.70 2.70 2.30 13.4 Not Preformed Blue Vein including 111.50 112.00 0.50 0.43 71.3 Not Preformed Blue Vein EZ-21-26 121.45 122.70 1.25 1.06 9.13 Not Preformed Blue Vein including 121.45 121.70 0.25 0.21 45.1 Not Preformed Blue Vein and 159.06 160.25 1.19 1.01 1.35 1.45 Blue Vein EZ-21-27 152.20 153.60 1.40 1.19 12.1 14.31 Blue Vein including 152.20 153.20 1.00 0.85 16.3 19.19 Blue Vein and 157.00 157.40 0.40 0.34 1.27 1.28 Blue Vein EZ-21-28 245.60 246.85 1.25 1.06 0.67 Not Preformed No.9 Vein

*true thickness is estimated using a multiplier of 0.85.

**no significant intervals

Appendix 2: The following tables are providedto ensure compliance with the JORC Code (2012) requirements for the reporting of Exploration Results for the Elizabeth - Blackdome Gold Project

Section 1: SamplingTechniques and Data

(Criteria in this sectionapply to all succeeding sections.)

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Sampling techniques Nature and qualityof sampling (eg cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gammasondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc).These examples shouldnot be taken as limiting the broad meaningof sampling.

Include reference to measures taken to ensuresample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systemsused.

Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Materialto the Public Report. In cases where industry standard' work has been done this would be relatively simple(eg reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay'). In other cases more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types(eg submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. HQ (63.5 mm) sized diamondcore using standardequipment.

Mineralised and potentially mineralised zones, comprising veins, breccias, and alteration zoneswere sampled.

Samples were half core.

Typical core samples are 1m in length.

Core samples sent to the lab will be crushedand pulverized to 85% passing75 microns. A 50g pulp will be fire assayedfor gold and multi-element ICP.Samples over 10 g/t gold will be reanalysed by fire assay with gravimetric finish Drilling techniques Drill type (eg core, reversecirculation, open-hole hammer,rotary air blast, auger, Bangka,sonic, etc) and details (eg core diameter, triple or standardtube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whethercore is oriented and if so, by what method, etc). Diamond Drilling from surface (HQ size) Drill sample recovery Method of recording and assessing core and chip sample recoveries and results assessed.

Measures taken to maximise samplerecovery and ensurerepresentative nature of the samples.

Whether a relationship exists between samplerecovery and grade and whethersample bias may have occurred due to preferential loss/gain of fine/coarse material. Detailed calculation of recovery was recorded, withmost holes achieving over95%

No relationship has yet been noted between recovery and grade and no sample bias was noted to have occurred.

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Logging Whether core and chip sampleshave been geologically and geotechnically loggedto a level of detailto support appropriate Mineral Resource estimation, mining studies and metallurgical studies.

Whether logging is qualitative or quantitative in nature. Core (or costean, channel, etc) photography.

Thetotal length and percentage of the relevantintersections logged. Detailed geological and geotechnical loggingwas completed for each hole.

Allcore has been photographed.

Complete holes were logged. Sub- sampling techniques and sample preparation If core, whethercut or sawn and whetherquarter, half or all core taken.

If non-core, whetherriffled, tube sampled,rotary split, etc and whethersampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, qualityand appropriateness of the samplepreparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all sub- sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in situ material collected, including for instance resultsfor field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grainsize of the material being sampled. Half core was sampled, using a core saw.

Duplicate samplesof new and historical core are Quarter core or half core where not previously sampled

Sample sizes are considered appropriate for the grain size of the material being sampled.

It is expected that bulk sampling will be utilisedas the projectadvances, to more accurately determine grade. Quality of assay data andlaboratory tests The nature, qualityand appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whetherthe technique is considered partialor total.

For geophysical tools,spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc, the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, readingtimes, calibrations factorsapplied andtheir derivation, etc.

Nature of qualitycontrol procedures adopted(eg standards, blanks,duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whetheracceptable levels of accuracy (ie lack of bias) and precision have been established. Core samplesthat have been sent to the lab for analysis include control samples(standards, blanks and prep duplicates) inserted at a minimum rate of 1:5 samples.

In addition to the minimumrate of inserted control samples, a standard or a blank is inserted following a zoneof mineralization or visible gold

Further duplicate samples were analysedto assess variability Verification of sampling and assaying The verification of significant intersections by either independent or alternative companypersonnel.

The use of twinned holes.

Documentation of primary data, data entry procedures, data verification, data storage (physical and electronic) protocols.

Discuss any adjustment to assay data. Re-assaying of selectedintervals of historiccore have been sent for analysis.

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Location of data points Accuracy and qualityof surveys used to locatedrill holes (collarand down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in MineralResource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control. All sampling points were surveyed using a hand held GPS.

UTMgrid NAD83 Zone 10.

A more accurate surveypickup will be completed at the end of the program, to ensure data is appropriate for geological modelling and Resource Estimation.

Down hole surveys have been completed on all holes. Data spacing and distribution Data spacing for reporting of Exploration Results.

Whether the data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish the degree of geological and grade continuity appropriate for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserveestimation procedure(s) and classifications applied.

Whether sample compositing has been applied. Most drilling is targeting verification and extension of known mineralisation.

It is expectedthat the data will be utilised in a preparation of a MineralResource statement.

Additional drilling is exploration beneathgeochemical anomalies, and would requirefurther delineation drilling to be incorporated in a MineralResource. Orientation of data in relation to geological structure Whether the orientation of sampling achieves unbiased sampling of possible structures and the extent to which this is known, considering thedeposit type.

If the relationship between the drilling orientation and the orientation of key mineralised structures is considered to have introduced a sampling bias,this should be assessed and reported if material. In general, the aim was to drill perpendicular to the mineralised structures, to gain an estimate of the true thickness of the mineralised structures.

At several locations, a series (fan) of holes was drilled to help confirm the orientation of the mineralised structures and to keep land disturbance to a minimum. Sample s Security The measures takento ensure samplesecurity. Samples from Elizabeth were delivered to the laboratory by a commercial transport service. Audits or Reviews The resultsof any auditsor reviews of sampling techniques and data. An independent geological consultant has recently visited the site as part of preparing an updated NI43-101Technical Report for the Project.

Section 2: Reportingof Exploration Results

(Criteria listed in the preceding section also apply to this section.)

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Mineral tenement andland tenure status Type, reference name/number, location and ownership including agreements or material issueswith third partiessuch as joint ventures, partnerships, overriding royalties, nativetitle interests, historical sites, wilderness or national park and environmental settings.

The security of the tenureheld at the time of reporting along with any known impediments to obtaining a licence to operate in the area. The Blackdome-Elizabeth Projectis comprised of 73 contiguous mineral claims underlain by 14 Crown granted mineral claims and two mining leases.

The Property is located in the Clintonand Lillooet MiningDivisions approximately 230 km NNE of Vancouver

Tempus has exercised the option to acquire the Elizabeth Gold Project and has completed an addendum to the original Elizabeth Option Agreement (refer to ASX announcement 15 December 2020) A net smelterroyalty of 3% NSR (1% purchasable) appliesto several claimson the Elizabeth Property.

No royalties applyto the Blackdome Property or Elizabeth Regional Properties.

There are currently no known impediments to developing a project in this area, and all tenure is in good standing. Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. In the 1940s, placergold was discovered in Fairless Creek west of Blackdome Summit.Prospecting by Lawrence Frenier shortly afterward led to the discovery of gold-bearing quartzveins on the southwest slopeof the mountain that resulted in the stakingof mining claimsin 1947. EmpireValley Gold Mines Ltd and Silver Standard Resources drove two adits and completed basicsurface work during the 1950s.

The Blackdome area was not worked again until 1977 when Barrier Reef Resources Ltd. re-staked the area and performed surfacework in additionto underground development. The Blackdome Mining Corp. was formed in 1978 and performed extensive surface and underground work with variousjoint venture partnersthat resulted in a positive feasibility study. A 200 ton/daymill, camp facilities and tailings pond were constructed and mining operations officially commenced in 1986. The mine ceased operations in 1991, havingproduced 225,000 oz of Au and 547,000oz of Ag from 338,000tons of ore (Godardet al., 2010)

After a period of inactivity, Claimstaker Resources Ltd. tookover the project, reopening the mine in late 1998.

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Mining operations lastedsix months and ended in May of 1999. During this period, 6,547 oz of Au and 17,300 oz of Ag were producedfrom 21,268 tons of ore. Further exploration programs were continued by Claimstaker over the following years and a Japanese joint venture partnerwas brought onboardthat prompted a name changeto J-Pacific Gold Inc. This partnership was terminated by 2010, resulting in another name change to Sona Resources Corp. Gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered near Blue Creek in 1934, and in 1940-1941 the Elizabeth No. 1-4 claims were staked.

Bralorne Mines Ltd. optioned the property in 1941 and during the period 1948-1949, explored the presently- named Main and West Veins by about 700 metresof cross-cutting and drifting, as well as about 110 metres of raises.

After acquiring the Elizabeth Gold Project in 2002, J- Pacific (now Sona) has conducted a series of exploration programs that included diamonddrilling 66 holes totalling 8962.8 metres (up until 2009) Other exploration work by Sona at the Elizabeth Gold Project has included two soil grid, stream sediment sampling, geological mappingand sampling, underground rehabilitation, structural mapping and airborne photography and topographic base map generation. Geology Deposit type, geological setting and styleof mineralisation. The Blackdome property is situatedin a region underlain by rocks of Triassic to Tertiary age. Sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Triassic Pavilion Group occurring along the FraserRiver represent the oldest rocks in the region. A large, Triassic age, ultramafic complex(Shulaps Complex) was emplaced along the Yalakomfault; a regional scale structure locatedsome 30 kilometres south of the property. Sediments and volcanics of the Cretaceous Jackass Mountain Groupand Spences Bridge/Kingsvale Formations overlie the Triassic assemblages. Some of these rocks occur severalkilometres south of Blackdome.

Overlying the Cretaceous rocks are volcanics and minor sediments of Eocene age.These rocks underlie much of Blackdome and are correlated with the KamloopsGroup seen in the Ashcroft and Nicola regions.

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Geochemical studies (Vivian,1988) have shownthese rocks to be derivedfrom a "calc-alkaline" magma in a volcanicarc type tectonicsetting. Eocene age granitic intrusions at Poison Mountain some 22 kilometres southwest of Blackdome are host to a gold bearing porphyry copper/molybdenum deposit. It is speculated that this or related intrusions could reflect the source magmas of the volcanic rocks seen at Blackdome. There is some documented evidenceof young graniticrocks several kilometres south of the mine near Lone Cabin Creek. The youngest rocks present are Oligocene to Miocene basalts of the Chilcotin Group. These are exposed on the uppermost slopes of Blackdome Mountain and Red Mountain to the south. Transecting the property in a NE-SWstrike direction are a seriesof faults that range from vertical to moderately westerly dipping. These faultsare the principal host structures for Au- Ag mineralisation. The faults anastomose, and form sygmoidal loops.

The area in which the Elizabeth Gold Project is situated is underlain by Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic rock assemblages that are juxtaposed across a complexsystem of faultsmainly of Cretaceous and Tertiary age. These Paleozoic to Mesozoic-age rocks are intrudedby Cretaceous and Tertiary-age stocksand dykes of mainly felsicto intermediate composition, and are locallyoverlain by Paleogene volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The Elizabeth Gold Project is partly underlain by ultramafic rocksof the Shulaps Ultramafic Complex,which include harzburgite, serpentinite and theiralteration product listwanite.

The gold mineralisation found on the Elizabeth Gold Project presentcharacteristics typical of epigenetic mesothermal gold deposits. The auriferous quartz vein mineralisation is analogous to that foundin the Bralorne- Pioneer deposits. Gold mineralisation is hosted by a seriesof northeast trending, steeply northwest dippingveins that crosscut the Blue Creek porphyry intrusion. The Main and West vein systems displaymesothermal textures, including ribboned-laminated veins and comprehensive wall rock breccias. Vein formation and gold mineralisation were associated with extensional- brittle faulting believed to be contemporaneous with mid- Eocene extensional faulting along the Marshall Creek,Mission Ridge and Quartz Mountain faults.

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Drill hole Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes: easting and northing of the drill hole collar elevation or RL (Reduced Level- elevation abovesea level in metres) of the drill hole collar dip and azimuth of the hole down hole lengthand interception depth hole length.

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basisthat the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detractfrom the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearlyexplain why this isthe case. Refer to Appendix 1 for drillhole collar information Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/orminimum grade truncations (eg cutting of high grades)and cut-off gradesare usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengthsof high grade results and longer lengthsof low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation shouldbe stated and some typicalexamples of such aggregations shouldbe shown in detail.

Theassumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. Intervals reported usingseveral samples are calculated using a weighted average.

Calculated intervals usinga weighted averagedid not use a top cut on high-grade samples.High-grade samples are reported as including'

Calculated weighted averageintervals are continuous intervals of a mineralized zone and do not includeunsampled intervals or unmineralized intervals. Relationship between mineralisation widthsand intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known,its nature shouldbe reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengthsare reported, thereshould be a clear statement to this effect(eg down hole length, true width not known'). In general, drilling is designed to intersect the mineralized zone at a normal angle,but this is not always possible.

For the reported intervals, true widthsare reported where mineralized core was intactand possible to measure the orientation. Otherwise the true widthis left blank Diagrams Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts shouldbe included for any significant discovery being reportedThese should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drill hole collar locations and appropriate sectional views. Refer to maps withinannouncement for drillhole locations.

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Balanced reporting Where comprehensive reporting of all Exploration Results is not practicable, representative reporting of both low and high grades and/or widthsshould be practiced to avoid misleading reporting of Exploration Results. Where broaderlow-grade intervals are reported the high-grade intercepts are reported as including' within the reported interval Other substantive exploration data Other exploration data, if meaningful and material, shouldbe reported including (but not limitedto): geological observations; geophysical survey results;geochemical survey results; bulk samples - size and method of treatment; metallurgical test results; bulk density, groundwater, geotechnical and rock characteristics; potential deleterious or contaminating substances. Tempus recently completed an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey over the Elizabeth Gold Project (refer to ASX announcement 02 August 2021) by completing 97 lines for a total of 735 line-kilometres. Flight lines are oriented east-west with north-south tie lines and spaced 200 metres across the entire 115km2 Elizabeth property. Line spacing of 100 metres was flown over the Elizabeth Main and Elizabeth East Zones.

The airborne magnetic survey data was reviewed and interpreted by Insight Geophysics Inc. using 3D magnetization vector inversion (MVI) modelling.

The geophysical surveys identified the Blue Creek Porphyry, which is the known host of the high-grade Elizabeth gold-quartz veins, as a relative magnetic low anomaly within the Shulaps Ultramafic Complex. From this correlation of geology and geophysics it was determined that the Blue Creek Porphyry, originally explored / mapped to approximately 1.1km2 in size, is likely much larger. The airborne magnetic survey and MVI 3D modelling interpret the Blue Creek Porphyry to be at least four-times the size at approximately 4.5km2.

This interpretation of the Blue Creek Porphyry is also extensive at depth extending to at least 2km deep Further work The nature and scale of planned furtherwork (eg testsfor lateral extensions or depth extensions or large- scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drillingareas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. Tempus plans to updatehistorical NI43-101 foreignresource estimates to current NI43-101 and JORC 2012 standards

Tempus is also seekingto expand the scale of the mineralisation at the projectthrough further exploration.

SOURCE: Tempus Resources Ltd

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The Headwater Pump Station accommodates fast-growing crude oil production and throughput on its Marten Hills Pipeline System

SUGAR LAND, Texas & CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rangeland Midstream Canada, Ltd., (Rangeland Canada), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rangeland Energy III LLC, today announced its Headwater Pump Station was commissioned in January 2022. The new pump station, part of the Marten Hills Pipeline System in northern Alberta, is needed specifically to service the increasing volumes of crude oil from Headwater Exploration Inc. (TSX: HWX).

Rangeland Canada built and commissioned the new Headwater Pump Station to transport Headwaters growing oil production volumes in the Marten Hills region. Headwater recently reported a successful exploration program targeting the Clearwater formation in Marten Hills, and its board of directors approved a capital budget increase to $145 million to allow for the drilling of new exploration prospects in 2022.

In total, 120 new wells were drilled in the Marten Hills 450,000-acre area of mutual interest (AMI) in 2021, said Rangeland Canada Vice President of Business Development Briton Speer. Oil production continues to grow across the Marten Hills region. We stand ready to make additional capital investments in our pipeline system to support the growth of area producers in 2022 and beyond.

The Marten Hills Pipeline System throughput has doubled since startup in July 2020, and the system is now operating at 80 percent of capacity. The Marten Hills Pipeline System spans approximately 85 kilometres (52.8 miles) across northern Alberta, terminating at an interconnect with Plains Midstream Canadas Rainbow Pipeline System, which serves the Edmonton, Alberta, hub and refining market (system map here).

Rangeland Canada has long-term transportation agreements in place with three of the regions largest crude oil producers. The agreements span a 450,000-acre AMI dedicated to the Marten Hills system.

The Marten Hills Pipeline System has been in service since mid-2020 with a perfect safety record.

About Rangeland Energy and Rangeland Midstream Canada

Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Rangeland Energy was formed in 2009 to focus on developing, acquiring, owning and operating midstream infrastructure for crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and other petroleum products. The company is focused on emerging hydrocarbon production areas across North America, with a current emphasis on the Gulf Coast and Canada. Rangeland Midstream Canada, Ltd., a subsidiary headquartered in Calgary, was formed in 2016 to serve oil and gas producers in western Canada with a full suite of midstream services including oil and gas gathering, processing, terminaling and transportation. The Rangeland Canada team has significant expertise in designing, constructing and operating midstream assets in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The Rangeland team represents more than 200 years of combined midstream experience and is backed by growth capital commitments from EnCap Flatrock Midstream. For more information, please visit www.rangelandenergy.com.

About EnCap Flatrock Midstream

EnCap Flatrock Midstream provides value-added growth capital to proven management teams focused on midstream infrastructure opportunities across North America. The firm was formed in 2008 by a partnership between EnCap Investments L.P. and Flatrock Energy Advisors, LLC. Based in San Antonio with offices in Oklahoma City and Houston, the firm manages investment commitments of nearly $9 billion from a broad group of prestigious institutional investors. EnCap Flatrock Midstream is currently making commitments to new management teams from EFM Fund IV, a $3.25 billion fund. For more information please visit www.efmidstream.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005225/en/

TEN|10 Group

Bevo Beaven

303.433.4397, x114 o

720.666.5064 m

[email protected]

or

Casey Nikoloric

303.433.4397, x101 o

303.507.0510 m

[email protected]

Source: Rangeland Midstream Canada, Ltd.
Volta Inc. (NYSE: VLTA), the industry leader in commerce and people-centric electric vehicle ("EV") charging, today provided an update on its activities in key European markets, highlighting new contracts for the installation of DC Fast and AC (Level 2) charging stations in the region, and the inaugural installation of Volta stalls at a retail location in France.

Volta has signed partnership deals with the global sporting goods chain Decathlon, starting in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and the movie theatre company Cineplex Group in Germany. Volta also recently celebrated the installation of its first charging stations in France at the popular restaurant Key West near Annecy. The company will continue to work with commercial properties and retail locations to bring charging stations to additional sites in Europe in the coming months.

"Europe continues to be a top priority in our expansion strategy, and it's been encouraging to see such a positive response from the market as we continue to connect clean miles to commerce and help our partners meet their business and climate goals," said Chris Wendel, Co-Founder and President of Volta. "Our intelligent charging network is built around understanding and guiding the ongoing shifts in consumer and driver behavior, which means better outcomes for businesses and shoppers alike. We look forward to continuing to grow our European footprint and cultivating more mutually-beneficial partnerships with our retail, commercial, and media partners along the way."

With high-impact, large-format digital screens located near the entrances of popular commercial properties and retail locations, Volta stations simultaneously serve as a demand-pull for EV adoption, attract loyal customers to sites, and allow brands to reach shoppers seconds before they enter a store to make a purchase. The build-out of Voltas network is powered by best-in-class behavioral science and machine learning technology, allowing the company to deploy infrastructure intelligently and efficiently.

"My clients have adopted Volta's unique charging stations very quickly and enthusiastically," said Gregory Sabatier, Owner of Key West. "As soon as they turned on, customers showed satisfaction with the charging experience, while the advertising model aroused real interest in terms of local communication. I am very proud to be the first French site deployed with the Volta EU team."

Volta's Europe expansion is driven by experienced local teams of EV charging hardware and software engineers, SaaS experts, and digital outdoor media sales leaders operating out of initial offices in Berlin and Paris
WAYNE, Pa., Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Judge Group, a leading global professional services firm, has acquired Chicago-based Slayton Search Partners, a globally respected leader in retained executive search services. The deal closed on February 1.



The Judge Group is a leading provider of consulting, learning and talent services with over 50 years experience. The acquisition of Slayton Search Partners brings a depth of knowledge and expertise in retained executive search to Judges broad portfolio.

The acquisition of Slayton combines two leading providers of search services with decades of experience and expertise, explains Marty Judge, III, CEO of The Judge Group. Slaytons reach, depth, and expertise in executive search coupled with a dedication to creating impactful client experiences make them an ideal partner for The Judge Group. Together, we will leverage our collective expertise to build new business relationships, develop deeper partnerships with existing clients, and grow into untapped markets.

We are very excited to have Slayton Search Partners join The Judge Group, said Richard Slayton, Managing Partner and CEO of Slayton Search Partners. When we looked at ways to grow our business, it became clear that it was time to extend our reach by merging with an organization that shares our dedication to client satisfaction. Through The Judge Group, Slayton will now be able to offer our clients a full suite of professional services while continuing to deliver leading executive search capabilities.

The Judge Group will continue to operate Slayton Search Partners under that name. Slayton Search Partners counts some of North Americas most recognizable brands as clients. They have been delivering executive talent for over three decades to help organizations innovate and grow their business.

Stephen Green, President of Judge, Inc, will add Richard Slayton, Managing Partner and CEO of Slayton to his executive team. This important acquisition greatly strengthens our expertise in the retained executive search arena, noted Green. We are thrilled to welcome Slayton Search Partners to the Judge family.

The Judge Group, headquartered in suburban Philadelphia, is located at 151 South Warner Road, Wayne, PA 19087. The office can be reached at 1-800-650-0035. For more information on The Judge Group visit, https://www.judge.com.

Slayton Search Partners, headquartered in Chicago, is located at 200 South Wacker Drive, 40th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606. The office can be reached at 312-456-0080. For more information about Slayton Search Partners visit, https://www.slaytonsearch.com.

CONTACT

Ryan Miller

Marketing Director

(610) 667-7700

[email protected]
FAIRFAX, Va., Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics Mission Systems announced today that it was awarded a contract by the U.S. Army to develop and produce a certified hand-held device to manage and transfer cryptographic key material and mission planning data. Under this contract, awarded by the Army's Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, General Dynamics will design and build a National Security Agency-certified key-loader: The Next Generation Load Device-Medium (NGLD-M). The initial value of this multiple-award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract is $229 million, with a 10-year period of performance, during which the U.S. Army plans to procure 265,000 units.

The NGLD-M will be used broadly by U.S. government agencies and U.S. global partners to replace aging Simple Key Loader fill devices. The NGLD-M devices will transfer the strongest NSA-generated cryptographic keys to tactical, strategic, and enterprise network systems operating from unclassified up to the highest levels of security classification.

"We are proud to partner with the Army to bring our industry-leading crypto experience to bear, along with a powerful user experience team," said Chris Brady, president of General Dynamics Mission Systems. "Our device will be designed with the mobile Soldier in mind to ensure security and ease of use, while standing up to the rigors of a tactical environment."

"By leveraging our demonstrated crypto, key management, and tactical computing expertise, we will deliver an accelerated, low-risk, sustainable, NSA-certified NGLD-M solution," said Brian Morrison, vice president for the Cyber Systems line of business with General Dynamics Mission Systems. "It will be built from the ground up to support useability and security, with significant modularity to allow future upgrades."

General Dynamics Mission Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), provides mission-critical solutions to defense, intelligence and cyber-security customers across all domains. General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $38.5 billion in revenue in 2021. More information about General Dynamics Mission Systems is available at www.gdmissionsystems.com. More information about General Dynamics is available at www.gd.com.

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SOURCE General Dynamics
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Army Secretary Christine Wormuth on Tuesday said she expected few soldiers would be discharged for refusing to receive the mandatory coronavirus vaccine.

There is, I think, going to be a fairly small number of people who do not seek exemptions  or are not granted exemptions  and will be separated from the Army, the services top civilian said during an event at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank. I think as people are faced with the prospect of actually being asked to leave the Army, some of them are going to take the vaccine who might not have otherwise.

Wormuths comments come about a week after she sent orders to commanders across the Army instructing them to begin the process to remove some soldiers who have refused the vaccine. Her orders gave refusers or those whose exemption requests are denied seven days to begin a vaccination regimen or face dismissal.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in August mandated the coronavirus vaccine for all U.S. service members. To date, the Army is the Pentagons only military service yet to expel any refusers. Lt. Col. Terry Kelley, an Army spokesman, said Tuesday that commanders had begun working through the involuntary separation process for at least some soldiers, but none had yet been dismissed.

Nearly 4,000 soldiers have applied for a permanent exemption from taking the coronavirus vaccine, the vast majority for religious reasons. To date, only six permanent exemptions have been approved by the Army, all for medical reasons, according to service data published Feb. 3. Of the 3,170 soldiers requesting a religious-based exemption, 328 have been denied and the rest remain under consideration.

The service said last week about 3,394 soldiers had outright refused the vaccine and were subject to discharge unless they were already scheduled to leave the service by July 1.

In comparison, as of last week, the Navy had dismissed 118 sailors from its service, the Marine Corps had removed 469 troops and the Air Force had discharged 142 airmen for refusing vaccination, according to data provided by those services.

Military troops discharged for refusing a coronavirus vaccine will receive an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions based on a law passed last year.

Despite some refusals within her ranks, Wormuth said Tuesday that the vaccination program within the Army was a good news story.

You know, if someone said to me not too long ago that you could get the Army of 1.2 million [soldiers]  get 97% of that Army to all do something, Id say that is a pretty amazing achievement, she said. And thats about where we are right now  97% vaccinated in the active-duty Army.

Wormuth stressed vaccination was a combat-readiness issue, saying soldiers need to be vaccinated to be able to be deployed.

The Army secretary said she saw an influx of emails in the summer identifying the coronavirus as the cause of death among soldiers and Army civilian workers. At least 92 U.S. troops have died of complications caused by the virus since March 2020, and another 408 Defense Department civilians have died, according to DOD statistics, which do not list deaths by service.

Wormuth said since vaccinations became available to the public almost all deaths among Army-connected individuals have come among the unvaccinated.

So, I feel really strongly that this is something that we need to do for the force, she said. Its for the health of our Army families and soldiers.
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TOKYO  Another 17,113 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Japans capital city, public broadcaster NHK reported Tuesday, a number slightly below the running seven-day average but still comparatively high in the history of Japans coronavirus pandemic.

Tokyo and other prefectures, including neighboring Kanagawa, home of the U.S. 7th Fleet, asked the central government to extend a quasi-emergency scheduled to end Sunday, according to Kyodo News on Tuesday.

Thirty-four of Japans 47 prefectures are under public health restrictions. Quasi-emergency measures encourage bars and restaurants to close early and refrain from alcohol sales, and residents to avoid unnecessary travel.

In Tokyo, the number of severely ill COVID-19 patients surpassed 50 for the first time since October, NHK reported. Still, less than 10% of hospital beds reserved for those patients are filled. But 55% of those set aside for routine coronavirus patients were filled on Monday, according to metro government data.

Japans new case numbers fell from 103,038 on Thursday to 92,865 on Tuesday, according to the World Health Organization.

U.S. Forces Japan on Tuesday reported 103 new cases at 15 installations,34 fewer than the previous day, according to its daily update. Yokosuka Naval Base again held the top spot with 61 new cases. Tied for No. 2 were Yokota Air Base and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni with nine each.

Thirty-four people at Yokota tested positive between Thursday and Monday, the airlift hub in western Tokyo said on its website Tuesday. The base also serves as USFJ headquarters.

Kadena Air Base on Okinawa reported 123 active cases Tuesday, according to its daily website update.

Okinawa prefecture on Tuesday reported another 682 people had contracted COVID-19, the highest one-day count since 709 on Thursday, according to the prefectural Department of Public Health and Medical Care. The department reported 17 cases from the U.S. military on Okinawa, the fewest in that category since 15 on Jan. 26.

Sasebo Naval Base on Kyushu island has recorded one infection since Monday, according to a post on the base Facebook page. Sasebo has 32 active cases.

Stars and Stripes reporter Mari Higa contributed to this report.
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  Liberal politicians in South Korea have denounced the conservative presidential front-runner for suggesting that an additional U.S.-made missile defense system be deployed in the country.

Yoon Seok-youl, the conservative People Power Partys nominee , proposed the deployment of a second Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system during a presidential debate Thursday ahead of the March 9 election. He cited inadequacies with the one unit deployed about 130 miles south of Seoul.

THAAD is needed for the capital area, accordingly, Yoon a former chief prosecutor, said during the debate with three other candidates. The sole THAAD system in South Korea lacks sufficient range to defend Seoul, he added.

South Korean lawmaker Huh Young, chairman of the Democratic Party in Gangwon branch, released a statement Friday that strongly condemned Yoons analysis and demanded he apologize to the people.

We express deep regret about the remarks of PPP presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl, who pays absolutely no attention to peace on the Korean Peninsula and the survival of the people, Huh said.

The ruling Democratic Party in a statement Friday characterized Yoon as someone who lies about issues directly related to national security and that he doesnt deserve to run for presidency.

Yoon must not distort the additional THAAD deployments issue directly connected to security and diplomacy by targeting only votes and trying to cheat the people, the partys Central Election Polling Committee said in its statement.

A spokesman for the left-leaning, minority Justice Party accused Yoon of warmongering without giving a toss about possibilities and effectiveness.

We understand Yoon wants to gain votes by talking about security populism and avoiding public anger in those areas, Oh Seung-jae said in a statement Friday.

Since 2017, a THAAD battery has been stationed at a South Korean military base in Seongju. The $800 million THAAD system, built by Lockheed Martin, is able to track enemy missiles up to 1,864 miles away, but it can only intercept them up to 124 miles, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Critics of an additional U.S.-controlled THAAD battery have suggested other options, including developing an indigenous version or integrating THAAD with existing South Korean missile defense systems.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Partys candidate for president and the former governor of Gyeonggi province, clashed with Yoon during Thursdays debate. Lee urged for pragmatic diplomacy and described Yoons insistence on an additional THAAD battery as reckless.

Lee also referred to the economic pressure enacted by China in retaliation for the deployment of the THAAD unit in South Korea. China opposed deploying the U.S. missile defense system in South Korea and boycotted the countrys businesses and firms. Seoul estimated the resulting economic losses reached around $7 billion.

Why are you trying to ruin our economy by installing THAAD in Korea again? Lee asked Yoon during the debate.

Yoon is leading Lee by 1.8 percentage points, a survey conducted by the Korea Research International agency said, according to local news reports Monday.

The survey had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. Around 11% of 1,012 South Korean adults polled between Feb. 5-6 are reportedly undecided.

Stars and Stripes reporter Yoo Kyong Chang contributed to this report.
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CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  New coronavirus cases from the U.S. military have declined for the fourth consecutive week, though infections across the country continue to reach record highs.

U.S. Forces Korea, the command responsible for roughly 28,500 troops on the Korean Peninsula, counted 153 new COVID-19 cases in a seven-day period ending Monday. Thats 43 fewer than USFK reported the previous period and far below the pandemic high of 1,599 cases between Jan. 4-10.

USFK leaders have said they are proud of their communitys continued efforts in adhering to mitigation measures.

Their actions are reflected in our numbers and they speak for themselves, spokesman Army Col. Lee Peters told Stars and Stripes in an email last week. We've seen a continued downward trend  and expect to continue this trend.

Dining in off-post restaurants remains off-limits, but after a monthlong pause, most dining facilities on U.S. installations are open again for indoor eating.

The command on Monday shortened its 10-day mandatory quarantine period to seven days to align with South Korean mandates. Those who already live in South Korea may quarantine at home with approval from their supervisors.

USFK remains at a high level of readiness and continues to maintain a robust combined defense posture to protect [South Korea] against any threat or adversary while implementing and maintaining prudent preventive control measures to protect the force, the command announced Monday.

New COVID-19 cases in South Korea hit a daily record of 38,689 on Saturday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. South Korea confirmed its one millionth positive case and over 6,870 deaths since the pandemic began, the KDCA reported the same day.

The country on Monday counted 36,719 new cases, according to the KDCA. The home of Camp Humphreys, Gyeonggi province, reported 12,138 new infections and Seoul reported 5,910.

Over 87% of the country's population has received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and about 55% has received a booster shot, according to the agency.

Health officials on Friday extended social-distancing restrictions for another two weeks due to the increase in case numbers. Restaurants and other recreational facilities must close by 9 p.m. and private gatherings are limited to six people.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday admitted small business owners were facing troubles due to the governments extended curfew but promised his continued support to lessen their difficulties as soon as possible.

Stars and Stripes reporter Yoo Kyong Chang contributed to this report.
Meta Platforms has once again threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from Europe if it is unable to keep transferring user data back to the U.S., amid negotiations between regulators to replace a scrapped privacy pact.

European Union regulators have for months been stuck in negotiations with the U.S. to replace a transatlantic data transfer pact that thousands of companies relied on, but which got struck down by the EU Court of Justice in 2020 over fears citizens' data isn't safe once shipped to the U.S.

In its annual report published Thursday, Meta said that if it couldn't rely on new or existing agreements  such as so-called standard contractual clauses  to shift data, then it would "likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe."

Meta has already warned in its previous annual report that if it is not allowed to use standard contractual clauses, it would be "unable to operate" parts of its business in Europe, without naming its two key social media platforms.

"We have absolutely no desire and no plans to withdraw from Europe, but the simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organizations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate global services," a Meta spokesman said in an emailed statement.

The latest comments highlight the increasing tension between the social media company and lawmakers over the ownership of user data. The stock suffered a 26% plunge Thursday over fears about Facebook's outlook, which produced the biggest value wipeout in stock market history. Meta shares were up about 1.6% in U.S. premarket trading Monday.

The European Commission said data transfer negotiations with Washington have intensified, but they "take time given also the complexity of the issues discussed and the need to strike a balance between privacy and national security," a commission spokesperson wrote in a statement to Bloomberg on Monday.

"Only an arrangement that is fully compliant with the requirements set by the EU court can deliver the stability and legal certainty stakeholders expect on both sides of the Atlantic," the spokesperson added.

Privacy campaigner Max Schrems has long been challenging Facebook in the Irish courts  where the social media company has its European base  arguing that EU citizens' data is at risk the moment it gets transferred to the U.S.

In 2020, Facebook sought a judicial review of the Irish Data Protection Commission's preliminary decision that the company may have to halt trans-Atlantic data transfers using standard contractual clauses. An Irish court last year rejected the social network's challenge, saying it didn't establish "any basis" for calling into question the Irish watchdog's findings.

Data protection authorities are increasingly scrutinizing these kinds of supplementary security measures that have allowed companies to send data back and forth in the absence of a new agreement, according to Patrick Van Eecke, a partner and head of cyber and data at law firm Cooley LLP.

"I am not surprised companies outside of Europe are reconsidering whether or not it makes sense to continue offering services to the European market as there are not many options left any longer," said Van Eecke.

It is not the first time Facebook has threatened to withdraw its services. In 2020 it said it plans to block people and publishers in Australia from sharing news, in an attempt to push back against a proposed law forcing the company to pay media firms for their articles.

The company has also previously affirmed its commitment to Europe.

Nick Clegg, the company's head of global affairs, said at an event in 2020: "Let me also be absolutely crystal clear. We have absolutely no desire, no wish, no plans to withdraw our services from Europe. Why would we?"
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who used to go to antiwar demonstrations as a child, on Tuesday donned a bulletproof vest and a camouflage helmet to visit an area in eastern Ukraine where soldiers face off against Russian-backed separatists.

As Western powers try to persuade President Vladimir Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraines border, Germany is caught in the middle. The U.S. has been pushing Europes biggest economy to take a clear stance on measures to deter Russia -- which has repeatedly denied it plans to attack Ukraine -- while Kyiv is increasingly frustrated with Berlins refusal to send weapons.

Baerbocks Ukrainian hosts made it clear theyre losing patience with Germanys resistance to break with its policy against exporting weapons to crisis areas. On Monday, a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Baerbocks office had put on her itinerary didnt take place.

Zelenskiys office denied that it had ever been scheduled, and she met Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal instead.

Despite the embarrassment, Baerbock -- who previously met with Zelenskiy on Jan. 17 -- sought to project solidarity with Ukraine as she visited a conflict zone near the port town of Mariupol.

Dwarfed by the military personnel protecting her, she saw vacated houses and toys abandoned on the snow-covered streets with trenches less than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away.

Its something different if you see all this with your own eyes, the 41-year-old Green politician said. For the people who live here, theres the constant fear of getting hit by a sniper.

The number of violations of the ceasefire at the so-called contact line between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists have increased in the past few weeks, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

There are also regular attempts to jam or destroy the groups observation drones, and on Monday, another soldier had been shot dead not far away from where Baerbock visited.

The German foreign minister could do little more than offer symbolic support for Ukraine. Together with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, she visited the Holodomor memorial on Monday. The site commemorates millions of victims who died in a famine in the 1930s that Ukraine blames on Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Later, Baerbock toured a military hospital where wounded soldiers from skirmishes with Russian-backed separatists are treated. By way of support, Baerbock noted that Germany funded medical equipment to treat the injuries.

The help that we provide has saved many lives here, she said.

During the trip, Baerbock was handed a wish list of military equipment, including night-vision devices and land-mine detectors. She promised to study the requests very carefully, but already signaled she wouldnt be able to fulfill most of Ukraines wishes.

I work for the goal that military activities wont escalate further, she said after touring the front. We will not be able to solve this Russian aggression by military means.
NAPLES, Italy  Six Russian amphibious assault ships participating in Black Sea drills could play either a decisive or a diversionary role should the Kremlin mount a new invasion of Ukraine, naval analysts said.

On Tuesday, three of the six ships began their transit into the Black Sea in preparation for the drills, the Russian news agency Tass reported. The remaining three ships will follow suit Wednesday, according to Tass, which described the scale of the exercise as massive.

There did not appear to be any U.S. or NATO ships in the Black Sea on Tuesday, according to the Istanbul-based ship-watching website turkishnavy.net.

But on Friday, the Navy issued an account order for all active-duty and reserve personnel, dependents and naval civilian employees in Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Belarus, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia and Bulgaria.

Russia has denied that it plans to invade Ukraine, but it has massed more than 100,000 troops along the countrys borders. Moscow forcibly annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and backs separatist groups in eastern Ukraine.

The six Russian ships, which sailed into the Mediterranean Sea late last month, may be there to scare Ukraine into believing that an amphibious assault is likely, some analysts said.

That could force the Ukrainian military to move troops to protect coastal areas, leaving the country with fewer defenses elsewhere, said Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist at the Arlington, Va.-based think tank CNA.

Its also possible the ships are needed to reinforce Russias Black Sea Fleet, which has only four operational landing ships, said Gorenburg, whose focus includes Russian naval strategy in the Black Sea.

That possibility exists because three of the Black Sea Fleets ships are undergoing repairs, he noted.

If the Russian military wanted to undertake a larger operation, they would need more ships to carry troops and equipment from Crimea or southern Russia, Gorenburg said.

He added that the six ships in question are unlikely to be carrying troops or equipment because those already are in place in Russias Southern Military District.

A large-scale Russian amphibious assault is unlikely, said Bryan Clark, a fellow and senior director of the Hudson Institutes Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.

A small, strategic approach, with an estimated six ships and 1,000 troops, likely would be to land away from Ukrainian force concentrations along the coast between Crimea and the Ukrainian city of Odessa, he said.

Russian troops could seize roads and prevent Ukrainian reinforcements from moving toward Mariupol and the Sea of Azov, which would be one of the first Russian targets in the south, Clark said. The amphibious troops could then join up with advancing Russian forces and threaten Odessa.

But its more likely the Russians will position their amphibious troops offshore in the Black Sea, to keep Ukrainian forces from heading east in preparation for Russian moves in eastern Ukraines Donbas region, Clark said.

Separatists backed by Russia have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the Donbas for several years.

The six ships could be part of an amphibious assault, although it would be small and more useful as a raid or blocking maneuver rather than attacking Ukrainian forces directly from sea, he said.

The strategic Snake Island, a Black Sea outcropping called Zmiinyi Island in Ukrainian, could also be in Russias sights. The small island is held by Ukraine.

If Russia seized it, the Kremlin would gain control of access to Ukraine's southern coast, making a blockade somewhat easier, Gorenburg said.

Russian troops on the island also would obligate Ukraine to keep forces in Odessa, preventing its military from reinforcing troops in Kyiv or the east, who could be facing Russian invasion forces, Clark said.

Russias shift from large, blue-water ships designed to counter the U.S. Navy to a fleet that is oriented around smaller frigates and corvettes has allowed it to improve its capabilities, Clark said.

Still, any amphibious assault isnt without risk for Russia, wrote Sidharth Kaushal and Sam Cranny-Evans in a December opinion piece for the London-based think tank RUSI.

The lack of large assault vessels equipped with command-and-control suites, the ability to carry helicopters and storage space for supplies is a challenge, they wrote.

Such capabilities are typically needed to conduct and sustain an assault.

The proximity of Crimea to likely (Ukrainian) targets partially offsets this, but it remains a weakness, the two analysts wrote.
STUTTGART, Germany About 100 U.S. service members have arrived in Romania to lay the groundwork for a follow-on force that is deploying to reassure allies worried about potential Russian aggression, Romanian officials said Tuesday.

Defense Minister Vasile Dancu told reporters in Romania that the Americans have arrived, while another 1,000 troops are on the way.

U.S. Army Europe and Africa confirmed in a statement Tuesday that elements of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment have started movement to Romania and are due to arrive over the coming days.

U.S. forces actually have been in Romania long before the decision to send elements of the Vilseck, Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment to the country. There are about 900 U.S. troops carrying out a wide range of long-standing missions, U.S. European Command said last week. The incoming cavalry soldiers will more than double those troop levels.

President Joe Biden ordered 3,000 U.S. troops  2,000 of which are coming from Fort Bragg, N.C.  to be repositioned in an effort to reinforce NATOs eastern flank. About 1,700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne will work out of Poland, while another 300 soldiers will set up a task force headquarters in Germany.

The moves come amid concerns about Russias military buildup around Ukraine, which has sparked fears of a new invasion of that country. To date, there has been no indication that Moscow intends to target NATO members. Still, as tensions have ratcheted up, allies in central and Eastern Europe have sought security reassurance.

It isnt unusual for the 2nd Cavalry Regiment to carry out missions beyond its garrison in Bavaria. For years, the unit has convoyed along NATOs eastern flank for training exercises. The regiment also has led NATOs multinational battlegroup in northeastern Poland, some 50 miles from Russias military exclave of Kaliningrad.
Senior White House and State Department officials failed to grasp the Taliban's steady advance on Afghanistan's capital and resisted efforts by U.S. military leaders to prepare the evacuation of embassy personnel and Afghan allies weeks before Kabul's fall, placing American troops ordered to carry out the withdrawal in greater danger, according to sworn testimony from multiple commanders involved in the operation.

An Army investigative report, numbering 2,000 pages and released to The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request, details the life-or-death decisions made daily by U.S. soldiers and Marines sent to secure Hamid Karzai International Airport as thousands converged on the airfield in a frantic bid to escape.

Beyond the bleak, blunt assessments of top military commanders, the documents contain previously unreported disclosures about the violence American personnel experienced, including one exchange of gunfire that left two Taliban fighters dead after they allegedly menaced a group of U.S. Marines and Afghan civilians. In a separate incident a few days later, U.S. troops killed a member of an elite Afghan strike unit that had joined the operation and wounded six others after they fired on the Americans.

The investigation was launched in response to an Aug. 26 suicide bombing just outside the airport that killed an estimated 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. service members. But it is much broader, providing perhaps the fullest official account yet of the evacuation operation, which spanned 17 nightmarish days and has become one of the Biden administration's defining moments  drawing scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats for the haphazard nature in which the United States ended its longest war.

Military personnel would have been "much better prepared to conduct a more orderly" evacuation, Navy Rear Adm. Peter Vasely, the top U.S. commander on the ground during the operation, told Army investigators, "if policymakers had paid attention to the indicators of what was happening on the ground." He did not identify any administration officials by name, but said inattention to the Taliban's determination to complete a swift and total military takeover undermined commanders' ability to ready their forces.

Vasely could not be reached for comment.

The report includes witness statements from dozens of people interviewed after an Islamic State-Khorasan operative detonated a suicide vest at the airport's Abbey Gate. Senior defense officials announced Friday that the investigation had determined that a single bomb packed with ball bearings caused "disturbing lethality" in the tightly packed outdoor corridor leading to the airfield.

The operation evacuated 124,000 people before concluding about midnight Aug. 31. It required U.S. commanders to strike an unusual security pact with the Taliban and rapidly deploy nearly 6,000 troops to assist a skeleton force of about 600 left behind under Vasely's command to protect U.S. Embassy personnel. U.S. officials have lauded the effort, but critics have said that although U.S. troops performed heroically, the evacuation was flawed and incomplete, leaving behind hundreds of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghans who supported the war effort and were promised a way out.

John Kirby, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, said in response to questions about the report that while the airlift was a "historic achievement," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has acknowledged it was "not perfect."

"We are committed to, and are intensely engaged in, an ongoing review of our efforts during the evacuation, the assessments and strategy during the conflict, and the planning in the months before the end of the war," Kirby said. "We will take those lessons learned, and apply them, as we always do, clearly and professionally."

Marine Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, chief of U.S. Central Command, said in an interview Tuesday that he was "not surprised" commanders had different opinions about how the evacuation could have gone better.

"But remember," he said, "what did happen is we came together and executed a plan. There are profound frustrations; commanders, particularly subordinate commanders, they see very clearly the advantages of other courses of action. However, we had a decision, and we had an allocation of forces. You proceed based on that."

There "might have been other plans that we would have preferred," the general added, "but when the president makes a decision, it's time for us to execute the president's decision."

Military officials told investigators that although the evacuation was in many ways cobbled together on the fly, planning within the Defense Department began months earlier. Initial discussions presumed the possible use of Bagram air base, a sprawling U.S. military installation 30 miles north of Kabul, and assistance from Afghan government forces to help secure the path there, Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Farrell Sullivan, who was involved in planning and oversaw the Marines sent into the capital, told investigators. Those plans evolved from incorporating both airfields to "just HKIA," the Marine general said, using the military's shorthand for Hamid Karzai International Airport.

U.S. officials have said previously that the decision to turn over Bagram to the Afghan government was made because it was deemed too far outside Kabul, where the majority of evacuees were expected to be, and because it would have required a significant number of U.S. troops.

"Everyone clearly saw some of the advantage of holding Bagram," McKenzie said Tuesday, "but you cannot hold Bagram with the force level that was decided."

Disagreement between U.S. military officials and American diplomats in Kabul about when to press forward with an evacuation appears to have gone back months. Vasely, who took command as the top officer in Afghanistan in July, said he was told by the departing four-star commander, Army Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller, that there would be opposition among senior officials at the embassy to shrinking its footprint in Kabul.

Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was focused on maintaining a diplomatic presence there, Vasely said, and questioned how the United States was supposed to preserve its influence without an embassy, the admiral added.

Wilson did not respond to requests for comment.

Vasely told investigators that he was advised by embassy staff that he should provide those close to the acting ambassador with data illustrating the country's rapid collapse to the Taliban, "so it could be sold as a collective approach and not a power grab by DoD."

Wilson wanted two weeks to evacuate the embassy and leave a skeleton staff at the airport, military officials said. But by Aug. 12, three days before Kabul's fall, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called Wilson and instructed him to move more quickly, Vasely told investigators.

Vasely "was trying to get the Ambassador to see the security threat for what it really was," said another military official, whose name is redacted from the report. As many as 10 government-controlled districts were falling to the Taliban daily, this official noted, adding, "The embassy needed to position for withdrawal, and the Ambassador didn't get it."

By mid-July, Sullivan, the senior Marine officer involved in planning the evacuation, wanted to stage supplies to host 5,000 evacuees at the airport, but his effort was complicated because he was not permitted to discuss the possibility of a full-scale evacuation with anyone other than British officials, he told investigators. Other U.S. military leaders, whose names were redacted from the report, said there were fears among administration officials that if the United States, by raising alarm, inspired other governments to quickly leave Afghanistan, it would accelerate the central government's demise.

The Marine general told investigators that trying to engage the embassy in discussions about an evacuation was "like pulling teeth" until early August. "After that," he said, "it became more collaborative."

A spokesman for Sullivan referred questions to McKenzie.

During an Aug. 6 meeting, a National Security Council official, who is not identified in the report, appeared to lack a sense of urgency and told others involved that if the United States had to execute an evacuation, it would signal "we have failed," Sullivan recalled. "In my opinion, the NSC was not seriously planning for an evacuation," he said.

The White House declined to comment.

National Security Council officials regularly convened meetings last summer to assess the situation in Afghanistan and prepositioned troops in the region in the event of a crisis, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday at the White House, after an early version of this story was published.

"I would just say if you look back at the specific planning steps we took, we did plan for a range of contingencies," she said. "There wasn't an anticipation that the Afghan National Security Forces would fall as they did, or as quickly as they did."

At the State Department, spokeswoman Jalina Porter said that "cherry-picked comments do not reflect the months of work that were well underway, or the whole picture of what the U.S. diplomats undertook to facilitate the evacuation and relocation of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and allies."

"Some of the claims allegedly included in the report regarding State Department personnel and plans are outright false and shamefully so," Porter said, without elaborating.

Another senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity, defended how the State and Defense departments coordinated to execute Biden's decisions. The State Department "steadily drew down our diplomatic presence in Kabul starting in April 2021, nearly four months before the fall of Kabul, when the Embassy went on 'Ordered Departure' status," the official said.

The official declined to address criticism from senior military officials that the State Department showed a lack of urgency initially, but said the U.S. government "swiftly and nimbly" assembled a network of nearly two dozen overseas locations that hosted tens of thousands of Afghans, while also working to ensure "they'd pose no security or health threat" to American communities before being resettled in the United States.

By Aug. 14, Vasely believed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government would collapse, he told investigators. The United States carried out 10 airstrikes against the Taliban that day 10 miles south of Kabul, killing about 100 fighters, but it did not halt its advance.

"We were killing them in bunches, destroying tactical vehicles, and they kept coming," he said.

After word spread the next day that Ghani had fled the country, the airfield in Kabul descended into chaos, as thousands of desperate people sought a flight out. One medical officer interviewed by investigators compared the atmosphere that week to "Lord of the Flies," the classic book in which teenagers stranded on an island fail to govern themselves. Several military officials recalled U.S. Marines coming under fire that night by Taliban fighters, and the Marines, in turn, killing two.

Army Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, who arrived after the collapse and oversaw airfield security, recalled that early discussions with the Taliban were tense.

"We told them that we would control the gates and they would push people out," said Donahue, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division. "We expressed that they will comply, because if they fight us on this we would be able to kill more of them than they would ever hope to kill of us. After that their tone changed."

At the embassy, U.S. troops went room to room on Aug. 15, pressing people to meet deadlines and get ready to go, an Army officer from the 10th Mountain Division told investigators. Some State Department personnel were "intoxicated and cowering in rooms," and others were "operating like it was day-to-day operations with absolutely no sense of urgency or recognition of the situation," the officer said.

The administration official said they had not previously heard that allegation. "Were there any truth to it, we presumably would not be learning of it six months after the fact," the official said.

The mission eventually hit a rhythm in which thousands of people were screened and allowed to enter the airport each day to board outbound flights. But it remained dangerous.

Four Afghans were crushed to death in the first four days, and U.S. troops remained concerned that crowds could break open a gate and riot, service members recalled to investigators. A Marine officer reported that a stun grenade used for crowd control killed a civilian, an incident that should be further examined, the report says.

Between 40 and 50 people were detained each night after jumping fences, the report says.

Sullivan, the Marine general, told investigators that there were changing expectations about how many people associated with Afghan paramilitary units aiding the evacuation needed to be taken out of the country. He initially thought it was 6,000 people  including strike unit members and their families  but later learned the correct number was about 38,800, and advised that it would be wise for the military to request commercial airline help through the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to increase overall flights.

Additionally, U.S. troops were overwhelmed with thousands of requests from the White House and Congress, and as far as the Vatican, to locate and rescue specific people in the crowd, including some who would not otherwise have been eligible for the evacuation.

The bombing on Aug. 26 set off a scramble to save as many people as possible, but there was little the on-site medical personnel could do for those who died, they told investigators. The survivors relied on tourniquets and other first-aid equipment to help anyone they could, the report says.

Officials said on Friday that, in addition to the 13 service members who died, another 45 were wounded in the blast, with some suffering brain injuries that surfaced later.

On Aug. 29, an errant U.S. drone strike killed 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children. Top Pentagon officials initially justified the attack, saying they believed it had targeted another would-be suicide bomber. The victims included an aid worker and several members of his family.

Sullivan, the Marine general, suggested that those tense final days of the war in Afghanistan would have a lasting impact on those exposed to danger. Commanders, he suggested, should stay vigilant and watch for any further fallout.

"I am not particularly soft, as adversity comes with our duties," he said, "but this was an extremely challenging situation."

- - -

Horton reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report from Manama, Bahrain.
House Democrats introduced legislation Monday to keep the federal government funded through March 11 in an attempt to avoid a shutdown on Feb. 18, when current short-term funding expires.

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced the new short-term funding measure, saying the continuing resolution will provide time for Congress to complete its bipartisan negotiations on the budget for fiscal 2022.

The House is expected to vote on the stopgap measure Tuesday, and, if passed, it will go to the Senate.

Congressional negotiations for a 2022 deal have been slow, as Democrats attempt to sell Republicans on a $1.5 trillion appropriations package that would pump new spending into health care, transportation, science and defense  many of President Joe Biden's key agenda items.

Since Biden took office, the government has operated under short-term measures that keep federal agencies and programs funded at their existing spending levels but that do not provide new funding for initiatives championed by the president. While Republicans appeared content to continue funding the government in this limited fashion, recent negotiations have signaled the possibility of a longer-term budget resolution.

Until a final deal is reached, however, another stopgap measure is needed before Feb. 18, when the current short-term government funding measure expires.

"Our country needs a government funding agreement to create good-paying jobs, grow opportunity for the middle class, and protect our national security. We are close to reaching a framework government funding agreement, but we will need additional time to complete the legislation in full," DeLauro said in a statement.

Both Democratic and Republican leaders have signaled that the short-term funding measure will pass and have expressed optimism over a larger funding bill.

"We're going to get something done. It will probably be a short-term CR, and it will be this coming week to give us a little more time," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., said Sunday on MSNBC. "Negotiations are very vigorous, and I think that we're going to get agreement both on the top line, how much spending is going to be in, and how it will be spent."

In the Senate, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said that while some Republicans would prefer to continue funding the government at its current levels  and through short-term measures  their party also wants to secure more funding for the military.

"Can't have it all the ways," Blunt said, per CNBC. "We still have a likelihood of getting the final bill done."

DeLauro's Monday measure also provides $350 million to address water contamination from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii.

Last year, a fuel storage installation hidden inside a mountain ridge near Pearl Harbor leaked petroleum into a drinking water well, sickening thousands in military housing. The Hawaii Department of Health has ordered the Navy to suspend operations at the fuel storage facility. The Navy sued the state of Hawaii last week over the order to defuel.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in a statement Monday that he helped secure part of that Hawaii funding  $100 million  to cover the cost of draining the tank facility.

"This bill funds defueling, and it establishes Congress's position on Red Hill: the DOD must defuel and follow the state's order immediately," he said.
A Texas National Guard soldier died Monday from injuries suffered during an accidental shooting while deployed along the states border with Mexico, according to local law enforcement.

The Kinney County Sheriff's Office first responded to the accidental shooting Monday morning at Fort Clark Springs, according to Sheriff Brad Coe. They have since handed the investigation to the Texas Rangers, the criminal investigative branch of the Texas Department of Public Safety, he said.

The incident was unrelated to the soldiers mission, according to the Texas Military Department.

The department, the governors office and the Department of Public Safety declined to comment on the nature of the investigation.

The name of the soldier will not be released until 24 hours after next-of-kin is notified, according to the Texas Military Department, which did not officially release a cause of death.

The soldier was part of about 10,000 troops deployed to a mission known as Operation Lone Star, which was ordered in March by Gov. Greg Abbott.

"Our hearts are heavy at the news of the tragic death of a Texas Guardsman stationed at the border as part of Operation Lone Star. We grieve for the soldier who died and lift their family and loved ones up in prayer, Abbott said in a statement.

He vowed state military officials will take action to ensure such loss of life never happens again.

Operation Lone Star has become a controversial mission during the past few months. It has triggered at least one lawsuit, a federal discrimination complaint, and calls from state and federal lawmakers to investigate whether its legal for Texas to conduct border security and make arrests. Others have called for a review of the treatment of troops assigned along the border, as news reports and the governors political opponents have said theres been a disregard for the hardship that the deployment has caused some service members.

The military department has confirmed at least two soldiers assigned to the mission died by suicide.

The soldier was injured in Brackettville, the county seat and largest town in rural Kinney County, which sits on the states border with Mexico. The soldier was then flown to a hospital in San Antonio, located about 130 miles east.

"We are deeply saddened by this loss," Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, adjutant general for the Texas Military Department, said in a statement. "We are focused on supporting the soldier's family and are providing all available resources."
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  The environmental community last year welcomed President Joe Biden setting a goal of conserving 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, even as critics on the right denounced the initiative as a federal land grab.

Administration officials working to deliver on the presidents target now find themselves working to allay concerns among rural residents that they could face heavy-handed mandates  even as some environmental groups push for a more aggressive approach.

All sides agree that much hangs on how the administration defines which lands and waters count toward the 3030 goal, which is intended to preserve natural areas, protect threatened wildlife species and help address climate change.

Opponents argue that under the strictest of possible definitions, reaching the 3030 mark would require locking up vast swathes of land  hundreds of millions of acres.

The administration has described its efforts as kinder and gentler than all that, emphasizing the role of voluntary, grassroots actions and respect for private working lands.

They also have rebranded the effort from 3030 to America the Beautiful.

That hasnt exactly won over conservative politicians, who have been rallying their constituents to resist the proposal.

Nebraskas Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts held a series of town halls last year criticizing what he continues to call 3030. Ricketts told farmers to look out for unfamiliar clauses in their USDA contracts and urged county officials to consider rejecting conservation easements if they went too far in locking up land.

While the federal agencies in Washington can seem far away, Ricketts said, the battle lines are much closer to home.

This fight is in our own backyards, Ricketts told his constituents. Its right here in our state. Were in the trenches right here.

His barnstorming appears to have produced results  Ricketts said in a recent interview that 65 of the states 93 counties have passed resolutions opposing 3030 and that hes heard of at least two rejecting proposed conservation easements.

Counties in New Mexico, Colorado and other states have adopted similar resolutions.

In a recent progress report, the administration touted a slew of actions it already has taken. Those include approving grant funding for a range of conservation projects and actions to help underserved communities, such as reinstating a program to address outdoor recreational gaps in urban areas.

The Interior Department has taken steps to make it easier for Bureau of Indian Affairs regional directors to place land in trust and moved to extend protections for specific areas such as New Mexicos Chaco Canyon and Utahs Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

But some environmentalists have called for the administration to be more aggressive.

Randi Spivak, public lands program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, expressed concern about the initial tone.

Giant step backward

Bidens success will depend on the number of acres protected, not the number of committees established, Spivak said in a statement after the December progress reports release. Bidens actually taken a giant step backward by indicating intentions to reduce protections for the endangered Florida panther, which would pave the way for rampant habitat destruction. He must reverse course and significantly up his game if were to have any chance of reversing the extinction and climate crises and protecting life on Earth.

Conservation has occasionally represented an area of bipartisan cooperation. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle came together to support the Great American Outdoors Act during the final year of the Trump administration. That law provides nearly $1 billion a year to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is used in part for federal land acquisition.

But now Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has introduced legislation that would nullify Bidens executive order on 3030 and take other steps, such as prohibiting federal land acquisition or national monument declarations in certain areas.

Ricketts said the difference between Bidens and previous GOP-supported conservation measures is that the earlier proposals were handled transparently. He said the new administration has engaged in happy talk while refusing to define basic terms about what will count as conserved land under the plan.

Farmers and ranchers were the original conservationists, he said, noting that Nebraska land is heavily agricultural.

You could say it all qualifies if you define it the right way, in which case then were not going to have a problem, Ricketts said. But if the federal government is trying to be more restrictive, permanently protect in its natural state, well, thats a very different definition.

In an interview, Spivak pointed out that many see the 30 percent goal as a milestone on the way to conserving 50 percent of all lands and waters by 2050.

Spivak said the administration cant settle for paying lip service to 3030 and worried that its initial approach emphasizes access to the outdoors and nature.

Those are worthy goals but not the core rationale for 3030, she said.

Globally, scientists are raising the alarm that we are losing wildlife  plants, bugs, mammals, marine mammals, its across the board  at an alarming rate, Spivak said. Not only are they important for their own intrinsic value, nature, but it underpins our life support systems on this planet.

Measures such as conservation easements and working with landowners can be helpful, but more is required, Spivak said.

We are agitating and advocating for the Biden administration to take 3030 seriously, to really be aggressive in creating new national wildlife refuges, expanding existing refuges, and creating new national monuments and parks, Spivak said.

Radical environmentalists

Ricketts said that kind of language worries him regardless of how many times the administration says it values voluntary action and the rights of landowners.

Its being driven by those radical environmentalists, which is why Im so concerned, Ricketts said.

A fundamental question is what will be counted as conserved land.

The administrations reports thus far highlight that working lands can play a role, but Spivak said there are still harmful practices, from heavy pesticide usage to clear cutting timber, that should disqualify land from being considered conserved.

Those questions are key as the administration gathers public comment on the American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas, intended to serve as a new tool for establishing a baseline of conserved lands and waters. The Interior Department held a trio of January listening sessions to get input on the atlas.

During one of those sessions, Hilary Cooper, a county commissioner in San Miguel County, Colo., said ranchers in her area are wary of federal conservation efforts.

In an interview, Cooper said several of her neighboring counties have passed anti-3030 resolutions and shes sensitive to how terminology is important.

She has worked on a payment for ecosystem services program that provides incentives for landowners who protect and improve water, soil and habitat conditions. The pitch to private landowners is that they are providing a critical public service, not accepting a government handout.

She said its about taking it one rancher at a time, helping a particular rancher adopt practices that can result in more grass, happier cows and more productivity, ultimately resulting in more high-value beef.

And then his neighbors going to be like Hey, whatcha got going on over there? and itll be a neighbor-to-neighbor kind of conversation, Cooper said.

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NORFOLK, Va. - A Coast Guard petty officer was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison for the death of her 5-month-old daughter at a small island outpost in Alaska, in a case that centered on the young mothers mental health and postpartum depression.

Katie Richard, 25, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter last week after a trial lasting nearly a month at a Coast Guard facility here. The eight-person jury determined there was insufficient evidence to substantiate first-degree murder charges or alleged obstruction of justice tied to the suspected deletion of phone records during the criminal investigation.

Richard intends to appeal her conviction, her attorneys said.

When she announced on social media that her daughter, Scarlett Flores-Guerra, was found dead in her crib at the familys Kodiak, Alaska, home on April 18, 2020, Richard said the baby had died in her sleep, eliciting an outpouring of support from friends and colleagues, according to evidence gathered by the Coast Guard as part of its investigation. But two months later, Richard told investigators that she might have pushed her babys face into the cribs mattress as she settled her to sleep, according to audio of her interview with investigators played in court.

Richards case was the first Coast Guard murder trial in more than a decade. With about 54,000 personnel, the Coast Guard is the militarys second-smallest branch of service after the newly established U.S. Space Force and prosecutes comparatively few criminal cases every year. (In 2021, only 28 courts-martial were convened, a spokeswoman said.) And while the larger services have courtroom facilities on-site at most major bases, the Coast Guard tries most cases at just two, one in Norfolk and the other in Alameda, Calif.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Allison Murray, who delivered the prosecutions closing arguments Jan. 31, called attention to what she said was Richards troubling web search history, which was found to contain queries such as What do I do if I feel like I want to hurt my baby? and What do I do if I hate being a mom? according to evidence presented in court.

Richard, Murray said, was a detached and unhappy mother who let her husband, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Gustavo Flores-Guerra, do most of the parenting. After the babys death, the prosecutor added, witnesses described Richard as showing little emotion and appearing to have moved on from tragedy quickly.

Its jarring, Murray told the court, to hear this indifference, this callousness.

Richards defense attorneys argued in court that Coast Guard investigators ignored exonerating evidence, made significant procedural errors during the course of their inquiry, and developed tunnel vision around Richards mental health issues.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Luce, one of Richards attorneys, asked the jury to ignore Richards June 19, 2020, interview with the Coast Guard Investigative Service during which she told agents she had freaked out as her child cried on the day of her death and agreed she might have pushed the babys head down - an admission Richard would later recant.

Luce also emphasized there were unanswered questions about missing evidence, such as a cloth-and-plastic bib the baby had around her neck, which appears wet and covered with a dark substance in photographs presented in court, but was never recovered by investigators. That bib left marks on the babys face, Luce said, suggesting it may have caused an accidental death.

A lot of people have postpartum depression. [Richard] got help. She got medication, Luce told the Coast Guard members composing the jury. The most disturbing thing is, [investigators] pushed the narrative onto her until they convinced her she killed her daughter.

Richard, who did not testify during the trial, kept her eyes down for most of the closing arguments, drawing with a stylus on a computer tablet. She quietly wept when her attorney told the jury that Richard had grieved in private.

A Coast Guard administrative clerk, Richard and her husband - they have since divorced - arrived at Base Kodiak in June 2019. Located on an island 400 miles south of Anchorage, the remote post is staffed by about 600 personnel and used as a staging point for search-and-rescue missions and maritime patrols.

Richard and Flores-Guerra met in January 2019, and she became pregnant the following month, court documents show. Friends told investigators that the couple seemed happy together and that Scarlett, who was born in October 2019, seemed well-nurtured.

On the day of Scarletts death, Richard and Flores-Guerra were with friends, Coast Guard Seaman Daniel OLeary and his wife, McKenna OLeary. The men washed cars while the women watched television at the OLearys home, eventually relocating to Richards house so the baby could go to sleep.

About three hours after putting Scarlett down for a nap, Richard returned to the nursery to feed her. Daniel OLeary told investigators he heard screams coming from the house after Richard and Flores-Guerra found the child blue and unresponsive.

The Alaska State Medical Examiner Office determined the death was due to asphyxia, ruling out sudden infant death syndrome. The medical examiners report also drew attention to a small bruise on the back of the babys head and another under her chin. Prosecutors concluded that, during a 10-minute span when Richard was alone with her daughter in their home, she had tightly swaddled the screaming infant, then held her face into the mattress for up to 90 seconds, ending her life.

Richards defense team, led by attorney Billy Little Jr., did not commit to a single alternate theory about the death, but emphasized what they said were missing pieces in the prosecutions case.

In addition to the missing bib, investigators never recovered the babys clothes, crib and mattress, according to courtroom testimony. A defense witness also said in court that officials initially were lax with how they treated the scene of childs death, allowing Flores-Guerra to return to her room during the investigation to place a rose in the crib, which appears in investigators photographs.

The babys pacifier, which appears partially covered in blood in photos, was insufficiently analyzed, Richards lawyers said.

Chris McDonough, a retired homicide detective who testified as an expert witness for the defense, said in an interview that he believed Coast Guard criminal investigators were out of their league in the case.

They should have called in some folks, you know, [Naval Criminal Investigative Service], with more experience, or even the FBI, he said.

The Coast Guard did not respond to questions about its handling of the investigation.

Despite the defense teams assertions about missing physical evidence, prosecutors said they had enough information to ensure a conviction, pointing to the testimony of an expert witness, medical examiner J.C. Upshaw Downs, who dismissed the bib as a possible cause of death.
WASHINGTON  The State Department on Monday announced a reward of up to $10 million for information about the leader of the Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State terrorist group that was responsible for the August blast that killed 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans at the Kabul airport.

The U.S. is seeking information about Sanaullah Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir, who leads the branch called ISIS-Khorasan.

The terrorist group was behind the Aug. 26 suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport that killed 11 Marines, a sailor and a soldier during an evacuation mission in the final weeks of the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

[Ghafari] is responsible for approving all ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations, the State Department said in a statement announcing the reward.

ISIS appointed Ghafari, 27, as the emir for the groups Afghanistan branch in June 2020, according to the State Department, which made him a specially designated global terrorist in November.

Terrorist designations expose and isolate entities and individuals and prevent them from exploiting the U.S. financial system, the State Department said in a statement at the time. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of U.S. agencies and other relevant enforcement entities and governments.

Pentagon officials on Friday said the Aug. 26 attack was likely carried out by one person who detonated a bomb packed with ball bearings in a tightly crowded area at the airports Abbey gate.

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, said Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who is the commander of U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

An ISIS statement announcing Ghafaris ISIS-K leadership in June described him as an experienced military leader and one of ISIS-Ks urban lions in Kabul who has been involved in guerrilla operations and the planning of suicide and complex attacks, according to the State Department.

Those with information on Ghafari can send tips via Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp to 202-702-7843, according to the State Department.
Monitoring the actions of terrorist groups in Afghanistan without U.S. forces on the ground has proven extremely difficult, the Army general nominated to take U.S. Central Commands reins later this year told senators on Tuesday.

Over-the-horizon capability is extremely difficult, but not impossible, Lt. Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the commander of the Armys 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, N.C., said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider his nomination by President Joe Biden to the four-star post. I think the biggest challenge for Afghanistan is that as a landlocked country, we rely on another nation  to enter Afghanistan, and the distances required to fly [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions] are great.

Kurilla, if confirmed by the Senate, would become the CENTCOM commander responsible for operations in 21 countries across North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, where U.S. troops last summer left Afghanistan after two decades of war. Kurilla would oversee continuing operations against Islamic State group terrorists in Iraq and Syria, but he would also be charged with monitoring and containing the ISIS Afghan affiliate  ISIS-Khorasan  and al-Qaida in Afghanistan using the so-called over-the-horizon capabilities that employ military assets from afar.

Kurilla, who has vast experience fighting in the CENTCOM region as a past commander of the Armys elite 75th Ranger Regiment and 82nd Airborne Division, said intelligence-collecting drones are spending two-thirds of their time flying to and from Afghanistan, leaving little time for them to watch the actions of terrorist groups in the country governed since August by the Taliban. He told senators -- if they confirm him -- that he would look closely at best options to ensure ISIS-K and al-Qaida remain incapable of attacking the U.S. homeland from Afghanistan.

Among those options, Kurilla said he would consider some case-by-case intelligence sharing with the Taliban, if it proved fruitful in targeting ISIS-K, a group that is considered a common enemy. He also said the United States should look to rebuild some of the human-intelligence capability that was lost during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Kurilla also said during the Senate hearing that the United States was continuing talks with nations near Afghanistan in hopes of staging over-the-horizon capabilities, but he declined further comment because he has not yet been involved in such discussions.

Since American forces pulled out of Afghanistan on Aug. 31, the U.S. military has not conducted an airstrike in that country, said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. Pentagon officials late last year said neither ISIS-K nor al-Qaida was yet capable of attacking the U.S. homeland from Afghanistan, but both terrorist groups strived to do so in the future.

Kurilla appeared poised for an easy nomination, garnering assurances of support Tuesday from Republican and Democratic senators, including the committees top leaders.

I'm very confident that you will be confirmed and confident too that you will lead with distinction, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the committees chairman.

Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the committees top Republican, added Kurilla had served with great honor in the CENTCOM region.

Youre the right guy to do this, Inhofe told the general.

Kurilla was scheduled to depart for a deployment to Europe on Tuesday immediately after his confirmation hearing to command 18th Airborne Corps troops sent to NATO allied countries in recent days amid heightening tensions with Russia over its buildup of more than 100,000 forces on Ukraines borders. He told the committee that he was very concerned about the potential of a Russian invasion into Ukraine, but he kept his testimony largely focused on issues facing the United States in the Middle East.

Among those issues, Kurilla pledged to look closely at allegations that the U.S. military has killed thousands of civilians during years of war in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan but has not acknowledged doing so. A report issued last month by the Rand Corp. found the Pentagon had not done enough to investigate allegations in recent years of civilian deaths in military operations, including drone strikes.

Kurilla told senators that if he was confirmed for the CENTCOM job, he would request to work closely with a Pentagon panel ordered last month by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to establish new guidelines by summer on mitigating harm to civilians.

The general said, every civilian casualty is a tragedy, adding they often contribute to anti-American sentiments in areas U.S. troops operate.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told Kurilla that he would be responsible for implementing some real changes in the militarys efforts to avoid civilian casualties.

The system is broken, she said. We cannot accept the deaths of innocent civilians as just an unavoidable cost of warfare General, if confirmed, I think you're going to have an opportunity to set the standard for protecting innocent lives.

Kurilla is a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. As an infantry officer, he has fought in Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. He has twice received the Purple Heart for combat injuries. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal with V device for valor for his life-saving actions during a 2005 firefight in Mosul, Iraq, in which he was shot multiple times, according to the Army.

He would replace Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who is slated to retire in the spring, after leading CENTCOM since 2019. McKenzie has overseen the region as the Pentagon has shifted much of its attention away from the decades-long war on terror toward the new power competitions with near-peer rivals China and Russia. He has overseen the U.S. withdrawal last year from Afghanistan and commanded two special operations raids in Syria that killed ISIS top commanders -- Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi last week.

McKenzie has long fingered Iran as his top issue in CENTCOM. He has cited Tehran as being behind most destabilizing activities in the region, including attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria by militia groups with ties to Iran.

Kurilla said Tuesday that Iran is a menace throughout the region and the country would be a major issue for McKenzies successor. He endorsed working through diplomatic channels to forge an enforceable agreement that limits Tehran's ability to gain nuclear weapons. He also committed to publicly sharing Irans malign behavior when there is evidence that can be exposed.

The general said Iran often reacts after their behind-the-scenes actions are made public, such as their illicit weapons supplies to the insurgent Houthis group in Yemen or support for militias in Syria and Iraq.

They try and hide their behavior and it can cause them to not take action for a period of time, he said. That is my experience when I was at CENTCOM.
MCALLEN, Texas  The authority given Texas National Guard troops to detain people at the U.S.-Mexico border has drawn several challenges from advocacy groups and some lawmakers about whether it violates the Constitution.

In nearly a year since Gov. Greg Abbott kicked off a state military mission known as Operation Lone Star, it has grown from about 500 Guard troops to roughly 10,000 who are mostly assigned to locations along the states border with Mexico, according to the Texas Military Department. Other troops work out of Austin and Houston to provide administrative support to the mission.

With about $3 billion in state funding allocated to border security, Abbotts mission puts Guard members to work with the Texas Department of Public Safety in what the governor called efforts to combat illegal immigration, stop the smuggling of drugs and people, and keep our communities safe.

Yet, Operation Lone Star has triggered at least one lawsuit, a federal discrimination complaint, and calls from state and federal lawmakers to investigate whether its legal for Texas to conduct border security and make such arrests.

From its inception, Operation Lone Star has suffered from constitutional deficiencies that upend our federal system of government, 50 Democrats in the Texas legislature wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, calling for an investigation into the mission. They cited a 2012 Supreme Court case that recognized that states may not unilaterally set and enforce immigration policy.

Lawmakers also have called for a review of the treatment of troops assigned along the border, as news reports and the governors political opponents have said theres been a disregard for the hardship that the deployment has caused some service members. The Texas Rangers began an investigation this week into troops at the border after a soldier assigned to Operation Lone Star died following an accidental shooting in Kinney County. The incident was unrelated to the mission, according to the Texas Military Department.

As members of the Texas congressional delegation, we are concerned [Operation Lone Star] is severely eroding the readiness of our National Guardsmen and their ability to be deployed on federal orders, 13 Texas Democrats serving Congress wrote to the inspector general of the Texas Military Department. When National Guardsmen are deployed on state active-duty orders, their well-being is entrusted to the state. However, it is clear state leadership does not have our troops best interest in mind.

Yet Abbott has touted the mission as successful, sharing videos and photos of troops on his social media accounts and hosting other states leaders for tours of the border. Hes also continued to blame the reason for the deployment on the immigration and border polices of President Joe Biden.

The Texas Department of Public Safety [and] Texas National Guard are playing vital roles in arresting illegal immigrants , Abbott wrote Feb. 3 on Twitter. Biden ignores dangers caused by his open border policies. Texas is responding.

However, Bidens attempt to rescind a policy from former President Donald Trump that required migrants remain in Mexico while their court cases navigated through the U.S. legal system was overturned. Another policy to release those found illegally crossing the border began under Trump and remains in place because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The latter has been highlighted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as a key reason for increased activity at the border.

More than 10,400 criminal arrests have been made by Guard and state police, according to DPS. However, a recent court ruling on one arrest might throw into question whether the state is able to overstep the federal government when it comes to enforcing border security and illegal immigration. The arrest was challenged in Travis County court last month, with the judge ruling the state did not have the right to detain the man, Jesus Alberto Guzman Curipoma, who came from Ecuador to seek asylum.

The people arrested by the Guard who are turned over to DPS can be charged with trespassing, a state misdemeanor offense, as well as for any other crimes that they are believed to have committed. So far, about 2,500 people have faced trespassing charges.

Calls for review

State legislators also raised concerns about the treatment of migrants once they are taken into custody as does a discrimination complaint filed by immigrant and civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

As the complaint states, Texas law enforcement officials have directed individuals near the border to a particular place  giving them the impression they have permission to be on the property  and then arrested them for trespassing. Gov. Abbott has deployed the Texas National Guard to put up new fences near the border to make crossing property criminal where it was not before  just to enable the arrest of migrants, according to a statement from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Once the people are arrested, they then face a series of due process transgressions which warrant immediate review, the 50 Texas Democrats wrote to Garland and Mayorkas. Additionally, hundreds of those arrested have languished in jail for weeks or months without a lawyer and without a court date.

The Department of Justice declined to comment.

At a hearing in early January for Guzman Curipomas lawsuit, a Travis County judge ruled the practice of detaining those arrested on a trespassing charge violates the U.S. Constitution. His defense attorneys argued he was unlawfully detained when he instead should have been allowed to apply for asylum.

Kristin Etter, an attorney with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aide, which fielded the case on behalf of Guzman Curipoma, said in a statement that the ruling allows for all arrested on misdemeanor trespassing under Operation Lone Star to have the exact same challenge.

This sets a clear precedent in all those cases both pending and future, she said.

Its unclear what the ruling could mean for the future of Operation Lone Star, which began in March, and the troops assigned to it.

Despite the attacks, Abbott does not appear to be slowing the border mission. The National Guard is creating more permanent living arrangements for troops assigned to the West Texas region, where they sleep in trailers. In south Texas, troops primarily live in hotels. Guard officials said the difference in living arrangements for troops stems from more lodging being available in some locations than in others.

Abbotts office and DPS declined to comment on the sustainability of the operation or how the governor will know its been effective enough to allow for a reduction in the force.

Texas will do whatever it takes to secure our southern border and protect Texans in President Bidens absence, said Nan Tolson, Abbotts spokeswoman.

Biden also has National Guard troops assigned to the border on a federal mission that began in 2018 under Trump. About 2,400 Guard members from 20 states work in a support and administrative role with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to U.S. Northern Command, the military department that oversees the mission. Those troops work in all southwest border states and do not have any authority to make arrests. Their work has included vehicle maintenance, monitoring security cameras and detection equipment and working at Border Patrol stations or checkpoints.

The Texas Military Department and the Department of Public Safety said they work in coordination with Customs and Border Protection, known as CBP, to select locations for state Guard troops to establish observation posts at the border. Both agencies also call CBP to take over when they detain migrants, which can include groups with children.

However, CBP officials would not confirm they work with Operation Lone Star in any capacity.

CBP does not have a role or partner in any way with Texas DPS on Operation Lone Star. Migrants who have recently illegally crossed into the United States and are encountered by U.S. Border Patrol at or near the U.S. border may be processed by CBP in accordance with law, according to a CBP statement.

Every day is different

During a soggy and unusually cold morning last month at observation points in Starr and Hidalgo counties along the U.S.-Mexico border, some soldiers donned hats and cold-weather gear as they stood armed alongside Humvees and watched the landscape to the south for activity. It was a quiet morning.

I think every day is different, Spc. Kevin Dominguez of the Texas National Guard said Jan. 21, while checking on troops at an observation point in Rio Grande City. Occasionally you'll see [migrants] moving across the border and then we report them in.

The amount of activity that troops see varies depending on location, the weather and time of day, he said. When they see people, soldiers detain them and call state troopers or Border Patrol agents to take over.

Since March, the Texas National Guard said troops have been responsible for referring more than 103,865 people for apprehension.

The Guard also said their presence at the border has led to nearly 10,000 turn backs, which means the people moving toward the border decided instead to turnaround and remain in Mexico. DPS said the operation has also seized more than 36 million lethal doses of a synthetic opioid called fentanyl crossing the border. Across Texas, DPS officials have said they can trace about 250 million doses of the drug seized by its agents back to the border.

Had we not been there, all of it likely would have crossed into the country unimpeded, according to a DPS official.

Dominguez said he works in his civilian life as a newly minted sheriffs deputy for Fort Bend County, just outside of Houston. As a Spanish-speaker, he said hes able to communicate with the people they detain, mostly from Latin America and some from Mexico. Most just want to turn themselves in, he said.

I approach with caution until I get the feeling that its safe, Dominguez said. It's not like they're running from us. Its like they just got tired from the journey. We have them sit down and we call the Border Patrol agents. They come in, they do all their paperwork and they take them away.

The migrants mostly want to know whats next and whats going to happen to them, he said.

From what Ive learned, if you treat people with respect, theyre going to treat you with respect, Dominguez said.

Despite so much attention on border crossings in 2021, the number of people encountered at the southwest U.S.-Mexico border remained historically high. Customs and Border Protection said agents reported contact with more than 1.7 million people in 2021 who did not have documentation to be in the United States. Thats up from 977,500 in 2019. During 2020, the coronavirus pandemic is cited for cutting the number of encounters to about 458,000.

CBP reports describe any contact with people found crossing illegally between ports of entry or people at the ports who are denied access as an encounter.

The coronavirus pandemic ushered in an ongoing public health policy that requires agents send people back across the border instead of detaining them, which has led to more repeat offenders, according to CBPs annual statistics report. Nearly one of every three people encountered by Border Patrol is a repeat offender.

Thus, while total enforcement encounters increased 82% between 2019 [the last year before the pandemic] and 2021, the number of unique individuals encountered at the border increased 30%, according to the report released Jan. 3.

As for fiscal year 2022, which began Oct. 1, Customs and Border Protection has already encountered more than 518,000 people at the southwest U.S.-Mexico border.

None of the formal complaints or calls for investigations into Operation Lone Star have yet triggered any action, so civil rights attorneys are moving forward with more litigation to aid those arrested as a result of the state mission. After the successful hearing in Travis County last month, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid filed to have the court overturn the arrests of nearly 450 migrants under Operation Lone Star who the organization represents.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, with the support of the governor, has appealed the January ruling, calling it ridiculous.
Marine veteran John Gerlaugh spent the last decade convinced that Afghanistan could be transformed through commerce.

But Gerlaughs hopes for economic diplomacy, as he deemed it, have been extinguished.

Team Afghan Power, the nonprofit organization he and other veterans founded in 2015, closed Friday. Gerlaugh, who served as director of counterterrorism policy at the Pentagon from 2004 to 2006, and his colleagues worked to bring renewable energy-powered grids to rural Afghan villages.

For U.S. veterans like Gerlaugh who founded businesses and nonprofits, the Talibans return to power last summer proved to be a time of reckoning.

I realized that our investment in the country, both the U.S. governments investment of trillions of dollars and my personal investment, was a fools errand, Gerlaugh said Monday. I was just thinking, Its enough.

Some other veterans who made similar commitments to Afghan development think they can still keep operations viable under Taliban rule, though they acknowledge economic and logistical challenges. Others question whether high standards of human rights can be maintained.

Matt Griffin, an Army Ranger veteran who co-founded Combat Flip Flops said the financial crisis in Afghanistan has forced the company to shift its focus to humanitarian efforts.

In addition to its signature flip-flops bedecked with parts of bullet casings, the company was selling Afghan scarves, or shemaghs. Its goods were made in a factory in Kabul, and a portion of the profits helped Afghan girls go to school.

But production at the Kabul factory stopped after the Taliban took over, Griffin said. The Issaquah, Wash.-based company ran out of its stock of shemaghs in November.

There are more stored in Afghanistan, Griffin said, but the company cant move them abroad.

Until further notice, we cannot manufacture or export from Afghanistan is what visitors to the Combat Flip Flops website see when they try to buy Afghan scarves, which are listed as sold out.

The U.S. froze nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank, so managers at the factory can take out only small sums of money at a time to pay workers, he said.

Theres no way to get money in, which means theres no way to get product out, Griffin said.

The company hopes to start manufacturing insulated fleeces for Afghans braving the harsh winter within a month or so, Griffin said.

Im just there to do business, he said. Im not trying to push an ideology on people. I dont want to interfere with the government. I just want people to go to work.

A third company, Rumi Spice, said they were able to grow over the last year, and that they plan to stay the course. It partners with farmers in western Afghanistan to export saffron, the worlds most valuable spice.

Genuine saffron costs up to $5,000 per pound because production requires intensive manual labor and cannot be automated. Rumi Spice employs hundreds of women who hand-pluck crocus flowers and harvest the aromatic spice filaments.

Army veteran and company co-founder Keith Alaniz said the Taliban have so far not interfered with production and their workers remain employed.

The Taliban are hungry for that view of Afghanistan being a friendly place to do business, Alaniz said.

The Chicago-based company, which has been backed by investors such as billionaire Mark Cuban, sells saffron, cumin and spice blends in U.S. stores such as Whole Foods.

In some ways, business is easier now, Alaniz said. The Taliban stopped their roadside attacks, which means more routes to transport goods.

He recognizes that the success of the company could be seen as a public relations win for the Taliban. But he said the benefit of helping individual Afghans is worth it.

I dont care whos running the government, Alaniz said. As long as in the little world that I can affect through my activities there, those people are being treated right.

All three ventures were founded on the belief that private enterprise could help fix a country that the U.S. military and government couldnt. Since regaining power, the Taliban have courted international investment, especially from China.

The groups leadership would most likely welcome foreign businesses, even ones that are run by onetime foes, said Jamshid Mohammadi, a scholar with the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program in New York.

But Westerners who wish to do business in Afghanistan should be aware of the risks, he said.

Rank-and-file (Taliban), I witnessed myself post-collapse, are very allergic to anything provided by Americans, be it jobs or money, Mohammadi said. But we can navigate through them and provide jobs.

And Sara Wahedi, an Afghan-Canadian tech entrepreneur, advised Western businesses to have a human rights policy to avoid complicity in potential Taliban abuses.

Putting the stamp of capitalism on this isnt going to sway the Taliban, who arent a unitary force, Wahedi said. A concern is that Afghan workers will receive the short end of the stick when it comes to foreign businesses testing out this new environment of a Talib-governed Afghanistan.
Stillwater, OK (74074)

Today

Strong thunderstorms likely. High around 80F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

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 near 45F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Graveside service will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 30, 2022 at Lawson Cemetery, Yale, OK. Visitation will be on Friday, April 29 from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Palmer Marler Funeral Home in Cushing.
Sullivan, IN (47882)

Today

Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 61F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a half an inch..

Tonight

Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 61F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view.
Bay of Plenty

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Kiwi scientist believe they have found a way to reverse heart failure with a revolutionary new type of pacemaker.

A revolutionary pacemaker that re-establishes the hearts naturally irregular beat is set to be trialled in New Zealand heart patients this year, following successful animal trials.

Currently, all pacemakers pace the heart metronomically, which means a very steady, even pace. But when you record heart rate in a healthy individual, you see it is constantly on the move, says Professor Julian Paton, a lead researcher and director of Manaaki Manawa, the Centre for Heart Research at the University of Auckland.

Manaaki Manawa has led the research and the results have just been published in leading journal Basic Research in Cardiology.

If you analyse the frequencies within your heart rate, you find the heart rate is coupled to your breathing. It goes up on inspiration, and it goes down on expiration, and that is a natural phenomenon in all animals and humans. And were talking about very ancient animals that were on the planet 430 million years ago.

Twelve years ago, Paton was a member of a group of scientists who decided to investigate the function of this variability.

They made a mathematical model that predicted it saved energy. That made them question why a metronomic heartbeat was used in heart-failure patients who lacked energy.

They asked, Why arent we pacing them with this variability?

All cardiovascular disease patients lose the heart rate variability, which is an early sign that something is going wrong.

People with high blood pressure, people with heart failure, their heart rate is not being modulated by their breathing. It may be a little bit, but its very, very depressed, very suppressed, Paton says.

We decided that we would put the heart rate variability back into animals with heart failure and see if it did anything good, says Paton.

Following positive signals in rats, the latest published research was on a large animal model of heart failure, performed by Dr Julia Shanks and Dr Rohit Ramchandra.

And the big news is that we believe we have now found a way to reverse heart failure, Dr Ramchandra says.

Dr Julia Shanks, the research fellow who carried out the research, explains, Theres nothing really on the market that will cure heart failure. All the drugs will do is make you feel better. They dont address the issue that youve got damaged tissue thats not contracting as efficiently as it was.

Our new pacemaker brings back this variability, which of course is natural, in a way you could call it natures pacemaker.

Dr Ramchandra says, Currently, pacemakers trigger a metronomically steady beat, but this study shows introducing a natural variation in the heartbeat improves the hearts ability to pump blood through the body. The other big news is that we get a 20 percent improvement in cardiac output, which is effectively the ability of the heart to pump blood through the body. And 20 percent is a big number.

Dr Rohit Ramchandra

The pacemaker is almost like a bionic device, says Paton.

It understands the signals from the body that tell the device when we're breathing in and when we're breathing out. And then the device has to communicate back to the body and pace the heart up during breathing in and down during breathing out.

On seeing the results, interventional cardiologist Dr Wil Harrison from Middlemore Hospital remarked: Very interesting study. We do recognise clinically that permanent pacing is non-physiological to a certain degree, and pacing-induced cardiomyopathy is a well-recognised phenomenon. It will be exciting to see if the findings translate over to humans.

Dr Martin Stiles, a cardiologist from Waikato Hospital, who will lead the trial said: We typically see improvements in heart function with current pacemakers, but this bionic pacemaker has far exceeded our expectations. This discovery may revolutionise how heart failure patients are paced in the future.

The next steps are well under way, with plans to recruit patients into a trial planned for later this year in New Zealand.

The trial will be supported by Ceryx Medical (https://www.ceryxmedical.com/), a startup company that owns the IP on the unique electronics within the bionic pacemaker.

The study was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.




The Ministry of Health is reporting 202 new Covid community cases in New Zealand today, eight of which are in the Bay of Plenty.

In a statement released this afternoon, the Ministry says they reporting new community cases in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Lakes, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, Hutt Valley, Capital & Coast, and Nelson Marlborough.

"Today we are reporting eight new cases in the region, all in Tauranga or the wider Western Bay of Plenty.

"This number includes one mariner aboard the SF Maui, which has been at the Port of Tauranga."

According to the Port of Tauranga shipping schedule the vessel was here over the weekend.

The Ministry reports six of today's cases are linked to previously reported cases.

Cases at schools

There have been a number of Covid-19 cases identified at schools recently.

"This is not unexpected following the start of the school year," says a spokesperson for the Minsitry.

"A range of public health measures have been established to help ensure our tamariki are well protected from Covid-19 at school.

"Vaccination continues to be New Zealands best defence against Covid-19, and vaccination of those currently eligible will help to both protect children and further lower the risk of transmission in schools. All staff in schools are required to be vaccinated and the vaccination programme is well underway for 5 to 11-year-olds."

The Ministry says there are requirements for mask wearing such as for visitors, and for staff and students in year 4 and above, when at Red.

"Where not required, mask wearing is encouraged, especially in higher density indoor settings where there is an increased risk of transmission.

"We also continue to encourage good hygiene practices and urge parents to keep children home from school and to be tested if they have any symptoms that could be Covid-19."

Regional Breakdown

Northland

There are 17 new cases to report in Northland today. Investigations are ongoing to determine links.

Auckland

There are 119 cases to report in Auckland today.

There are 2,670 people isolating in the community, 1,099 of whom are cases.

Waikato

There are 39 new cases to report in Waikato today. Twenty-nine of these cases have links to previously reported cases.

Public health staff are continuing their investigations into the remaining ten cases.

Twenty-five of todays cases are in Hamilton, two in Ngaruawahia, two in Ohaupo, two in Taupiri, one in Morrinsville and the remaining locations are to be confirmed.

Lakes

There are four new cases to report in the Lakes DHB area today  two of which are in Rotorua and two are in Taupo.

Three of these cases have links to previously reported cases, while the source of the remaining case is under investigation.

Bay of Plenty

The Ministry is reporting eight new cases in the region, all in Tauranga or the wider Western Bay of Plenty.

This number includes one mariner aboard the SF Maui, which has been at the Port of Tauranga

Six of these cases are linked to previously reported cases.

Taranaki

There is one new Covid-19 case to report in Taranaki today which is linked to a previously identified case in Northland.

This case was reported by Taranaki DHB on Sunday, but is officially included in todays numbers. The case and their household contacts are isolating in South Taranaki, and at this stage there are no new locations of interest for the region.

Hawkes Bay

There are eight new cases to report in Hawkes Bay today, four of which are associated with Te Mata Primary School in Havelock North.

As two of the cases were unknowingly infectious while at school last week a number of individuals have been identified as close contacts. Hawkes Bay DHBs Public Health Unit is working closely with the school and the Ministry of Education.

Pop-up testing is available for close contacts of the Te Mata School group today.

The other four Hawkes Bay cases are linked to known cases.

Wellington

There are five new cases in the Wellington region today, all are household contacts of existing cases.

Nelson-Marlborough

There is one new case in the Tasman region. This case is linked to a previously reported case.

Investigations are continuing to determine the source of a case who was staying at Tahuna Beach Holiday Park at the time of the positive test.

Mobile testing and vaccination was available at the park over the weekend and Public Health staff are wanting to thank people at the park for the strong testing and vaccination turnout.

See below for a full breakdown of today's numbers:

COVID-19 vaccine update

People vaccinated to date (percentage of eligible people): 4,048,018 first doses (96%); 3,973,893 second doses (94%); 1,605,815 booster doses (57% of those due)

Vaccines administered yesterday: 264 first doses; 476 second doses; 1,502 paediatric doses; 18,655 booster doses.

Maori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 514,565 first doses (90%); 489,372 second doses (86%).

Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 278,268 first doses (97%); 270,817 second doses (94%).

Paediatric vaccines administered to date (percentage of 5 to 11-year-olds): 200,562 first doses (42%)

Maori (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 27,395 (first doses (24%)

Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 15,969 first doses (32%)

Vaccination rates for all DHBs (percentage of eligible people aged 12 +)

Northland DHB: First doses (89.9%); second doses (87%)

Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (97%); second doses (96%)

Waikato DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%)

Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)

Lakes DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (91%)

MidCentral DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)

Tairawhiti DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (89.7%)

Whanganui DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (89.7%)

Hawkes Bay: First doses (97%); second doses (94%)

Taranaki DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)

Wairarapa DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)

Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (97%)

Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)

Nelson Marlborough DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)

West Coast DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (91%)

Canterbury DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (98%)

South Canterbury DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (94%)

Southern DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (96%)

Hospitalisations

Cases in hospital: 14; North Shore: 4; Middlemore: 4; Auckland: 3; Rotorua: 2; Christchurch: 1

Average age of current hospitalisations: 60

Cases in ICU or HDU: 1 (Rotorua)

Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only excluding cases recorded in emergency departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (1 case / 10%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (1 case / 10%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (8 cases / 80%), unknown (0 cases / 0%).

Cases

Seven day rolling average of community cases: 183

Seven day rolling average of border cases: 38

Number of new community cases: 202

Number of new cases identified at the border: 63

Location of new community cases: Northland (17), Auckland (119), Waikato (39), Lakes (4), Bay of Plenty (8), Taranaki (1), Hawkes Bay (8), Hutt Valley (1), Capital & Coast (4), Nelson Marlborough (1)





Number of community cases (total): 13,468 (in current community outbreaks)

Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 9,776

Number of active cases (total): 2,048 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)

Confirmed cases (total): 17,876

Contacts

Number of active contacts being managed (total): 4,996

Percentage who has received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 75%

Percentage who has returned at least one result: 67%

Tests

Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 13,997

Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 18,679

Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 6,732

Wastewater

No unusual detections to report.

NZ COVID Tracer

Poster scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday: 1,648,509

Manual diary entries in the 24 hours to midday: 35,040

My Vaccine Pass
The trial venue for the companies and individuals charged in the wake of the Whakaari/White Island eruption has yet to be decided and a Ministry of Justice report into possible venues was criticised as derisory.

The venue for the trial, which is expected to last four months and to start in July 2023, was set to be decided at a virtual meeting on Tuesday.

However, WorkSafe prosecutor Kristy McDonald took aim at the venues suggested by the report, and the document itself.

A fairly derisory attempt by the ministry to find a suitable venue.

McDonald also said it was extraordinary and a rather sad indictment of matters that seemingly no court in New Zealand can accommodate.

She also said the trial would likely be the most significant trial to be held in the District Court and would attract significant national, and international attention.

Venues suggested in the Ministry of Justices property group report included Sky City, the Vodafone Events Centre, the Auckland Pullman and the Tauranga Events Centre.

The question as to the particular venue is an important one, McDonald said.

This will be a very emotional and distressing hearing, I don't think that can be underestimated.

McDonald said the venue would also need to have an adequate IT infrastructure, something she said was not addressed properly in the ministry report.

She also took aim at the suggestion the Te Manuka Tutahi Marae in Whakatane be used, citing the fact Ngati Awa owns one of the defendants, White Island Tours.

It is not a neutral venue.

David Neutze, defence lawyer for Whakaari owners the Buttle brothers and Whakaari Management Ltd, agreed more work needed to be done to locate a suitable venue, and suggested an Auckland focus.

Where were most likely to find a suitable venue.

White Island Tours lawyer Richard Raymond QC hit back at McDonalds criticism of the marae as a venue, telling the court to Ngati Awa frankly its offensive.

You cant get a more solemn venue than a marae, he said.

Judge Evengelos Thomas said he would ask the Ministry of Justice to make further enquiries, and also raised the possibility of the trial opening at Whakatane District Court before shifting.

He also said it would be premature at this point to say when we can reconvene.

The location of the trial has been subject to legal debate between lawyers representing the defendants, and a report from court-appointed lawyer Roger Gowing, obtained by Stuff, revealed concerns over adverse psychosocial impacts on the community if it was held in Whakatane.

The December 9, 2019 eruption took place while 47 people were on the island, leaving 22 dead and the remaining survivors with severe or critical injuries.

The event also led to WorkSafe filing numerous charges against a total of 13 individuals and organisations.

Some charges date back to April 4, 2016, and most relate to individuals and companies in their capacity as a person conducting a business or undertaking.

Fourteen of the charges have a maximum penalty of $1.5 million in fines.

Details of the charges were spelt out across 19 pages of charging documents.

WorkSafe filed a total of 20 charges against various people or groups: Whakaari owners Andrew, James and Peter Buttle and Whakaari Management Ltd, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, the National Emergency Management Agency, White Island Tours, Volcanic Air Safaris, Aerius Ltd, Kahu NZ, Inflite Charters, ID Tours New Zealand and Tauranga Tourism Services.

The Buttles are alleged to have failed with due diligence duties, including failure to acquire and keep updated knowledge of work health and safety matters and failure to gain adequate understanding of the hazards and risks associated with access to Whakaari.

Their company, Whakaari Management Ltd, is also alleged to have failed its duty to workers and tourists, including ensuring an adequate means of evacuation from Whakaari.

The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences is alleged to have failed to ensure the safety of pilots travelling to and remaining on the island.
Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Garry Webber has announced his decision to step down from the mayoralty and council at the next local body elections.

The mayor made the announcement during his Waitangi Day speech at Whareroa Marae at Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

I thank the organisers for giving me the opportunity to speak to you for the last time in my capacity as Mayor of Western Bay of Plenty District Council at a Waitangi Day celebration, says Webber.

The Mayor says when preparing his words for the Waitangi Day commemorations this year, he reflected back on what he had said at Hopukiore in 2017 when he was a new but aging Mayor.

On that occasion, he made the point that Waitangi Day is an opportunity for us to stop and reflect on how our nation has progressed from that day in 1840 when our historic treaty was signed, and to look forward in genuine partnership to build a better nation for those who will follow us.

In his speech Webber referenced the 1907 korero of Sir Maui Pomare at the tangi for the celebrated leader, prophet and Chief Te Whiti o Rongomai, the 1949 writings of Sir Apirana Ngata to his niece Rangi Bennett and a paper written by Dr Stephen Tauwhare in 2008, speaking of changing the old order, and an old fishing net making way for the new.

Webber, who turned 75 in February 2021, was a WBOPDC councillor for two terms before standing for mayor. He is into his second mayoralty term with eight months left to run.

In the last 12 years, I have tried my best to walk in the shoes of others and have read much about past leaders to better understand the full history of Aotearoa New Zealand, says Webber.

So, as I reflect on my years as the Mayor of Western Bay of Plenty District Council I accept that on October 6 it is time for this old net to step aside and make way for a new net.

Ive always maintained that I dont believe anyone over 75 years of age in New Zealand should be putting their name forward for local government, says Webber.

The reason for that is were supposed to be there sorting out the future for future generations. I think at 75 years of age youre past the point where some are not as in touch as they should be.

Therefore Ive made this commitment. I am past 75 and will not be standing at the next elections. If you believe in principles, then I say live them dont just say them. Thats the reason for it.

By the time hes completed his mayoralty he would have completed 14 years of public service, starting with the Omokoroa Community Board for nearly two years, followed by two terms as a Western Bay of Plenty District councillor doing what he says was his apprenticeship.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor Garry Webber. Photo: SunLive.

I think thats fundamental, you need to do some time as a councillor before standing for mayoralty and putting your hat in the ring.

All up, he will have completed 12 years serving at Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

I stepped into this because there were a few things happening in Omokoroa where I thought that ratepayers deserved better. There may be a few that think I dont think of the ratepayers. If you dont think of the ratepayers you have to ask what are you there for?

As well as dealing to the rates issue, a notable highpoint was leading the unanimous council vote in 2020 in favour of returning the 172 hectares of land, commonly known as Panepane Purakau, to the five local hapu that connect to Matakana Island that are part of Ngai te Rangi Iwi and include Ngai Tuwhiwhia, Ngati Tauaiti, Te Ngare, Te Whanau a Tauwhao and Ngai Tamawhariua.

I am a child of the Treaty and for the last 12 years I have tried really hard to understand the real history of our district and our nation to enable me to try to find the best solutions using a collaborative partnership approach along the lines that Dr Stephen Tauwhare recommends, says Webber in his Waitangi Day speech.

In stepping aside I urge you all to remember that Waitangi Day is all about celebrating the coming together of two rich cultures who wanted to build the great nation of Aotearoa New Zealand.

As to the future, he is hoping to be giving his wife Carole more of his time which previously was often taken up by the 24/7 role.

For 55 years work has come first but you try and put family in front of it. The dairy industry and the mayoralty have been very time-consuming and are very disruptive to family life, so being able to do a lot of things together which we enjoy doing and getting out to the back of New Zealand and enjoying the scenery appeals to us.
Even in the best case scenario for Omicron, there's going to be huge pressure on already busy hospitals, a leading emergency doctor says.

Latest modelling by Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa suggests a peak of 800 people in hospital on any given day at best, but well over 3000 at worst.

There is growing optimism the country will achieve the lower hospitalisation numbers - as long as people kept getting boosted and restrictions stay in place.

But College of Emergency Medicine head John Bonning says that will still mean a big few months for emergency departments.

Many have been extremely busy with normal work in the past few days, and having Covid-19 on top of that will be a big stretch.

The impact will be felt even more with the inevitable short-term loss of staff who will become infected themselves, he says.

"Currently we are very busy and very full of a lot of people with non-Covid illness and so it is going to be tough, and particularly in emergency departments."

But there is no need to panic, he stresses.

While there will be a huge amount of pressure for people working in health, there will still be care for those who need it.

"I don't want to put people off coming to emergency departments when they have terrible chest pain, or they're having a stroke, or they're haemorrhaging or they're elderly and they fall," he says.

He urges people to get boosted to keep themselves safe and to help keep hospital numbers low.

One of the modellers, Michael Plank, says he's also optimistic New Zealand will flatten the Covid-19 curve - as long as people kept getting boosted in big numbers.

His team has investigated three main trajectories - following the path of South Australia in the best case scenario (a peak of 800 people in hospital on any given day), London in the middle (resulting in a peak of 2100 people in hospital a day when applied to New Zealand), and New York in the worst (a peak of 3300 per day in hospital).

All of those figures assumed a 90 per cent boosted eligible population, with the figures considerably worse if just 70 per cent took up the booster.

Professor Plank says the most likely scenario is South Australia, or a mix between South Australia and London.

"If we can really keep the momentum going with boosters and we continue the momentum with the five to 11 year old vaccinations then we stand a really good chance of avoiding some of the worst outbreaks we've seen in other countries," he says.

"But nevertheless I am still worried about the amount of pressure that our health care system could have during the peak of the outbreak, so we can't afford to be complacent.

"We can't afford to drop our guard."

All the measures to slow or flatten the curve were still crucial, he says.

The modelling has predicted a range of deaths with the different scenarios from about 400 to about 1400.

Professor Plank says that is the least certain factor in the modelling because fewer people had died from the variant, so there is less statistical evidence to base the modelling on.

-RNZ/Rowan Quinn.
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narayanbabu BHPian

Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 30 Thanked: 215 Times

VW Tiguan DIY | Adding Adaptive Cruise Control, Massaging, TPMS & Wireless Charging

Detailed ownership

As any other self respecting car owner, before sitting in the drivers' seat, I went through (thoroughly) my ownership manual/handbook to understand how the car works. As a CBU, the manual was *not* custom printed for India. So, I came across terms like Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)

Traffic Jam assist

Blind Spot Assist

and more... I would learn later that these are *not enabled* in the Indian variant and many of them can be *enabled* easily. I would have to wait for over a year to figure out how to really get this done.

So, here is my experience enabling some advanced features on my Allspace (with the risk of losing warranty/or not), and my experience of using them for over a month.

In Nov 2021, I found someone who could help me with the quest of upgrading my Allspace, for the first round I chose these features

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)

Massaging on driver's seats

Wireless charging

TPMS (with pressure levels)

Auto high beams None of these involved (major) hardware upgrades. Most of these features involved mostly coding and switching of some components.



TPMS

This was by far the most time consuming and invasive process. [Not sure, if I will recommend, considering the vanity value]. It involved adding a new TPMS module under the boot, pulling the wires all the way to the cockpit and then connecting it. Then taking the car to a tyre shop and putting sensors on all 4 tyres, remembering the serials and coding the new sensors and setting desired pressure levels for different modes ( I chose 32, 34, 36, for Comfort, standard and full load).







It took good half day to get done end to end, and after everything the pressures didn't update for a while, and realized it needs a few kms of drive to get calibrated.



Massaging for drivers' seat

This was again a vanity, but something which makes the car really feel posh. I remember seeing this feature for the first time when a friend of my showed off this in his fancy high end BMW 2 seater. The process is simple, the car has electronic adjustment for lumbar support, you just swap out the controller, and then configure the 3rd seat preset button to activate massage. When triggered, it massages for 5 mins and then stops. Took 15 mins to swap the controller and add the coding.



Wireless charging pad

Another easy swap (which honestly I feel VW should have included for their top priced car for India). Involved just pulling out the cover of the storage base (below AC controls) adding a plate below it and connecting it, and putting the cover back. Once coding is done, it will show a nice notification, whenever a phone is kept on the storage, "Qi charging something something...", another 30 mins job.



Miscellaneous

The guy who helped me code all this added a few miscellaneous tweaks, like Auto high beams, seat adjusting to the right position as we unlock the car and few other small things. What I missed was enabling closing of boot remotely, which is for some reason disabled from factory.





ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL!!!

This was what it all started with. My quest for enabling ACC, which already has the necessary hardware. The modder gave me and option to switch to a new steering wheel (sporty VW) vs, swapping the ACC switch piece on my existing one. Considering the extra 40k price hit, I went for the switch swap. As he inspected the car, also suggested upgrading the radar module, the stock module could only support up to 150kmph, while the new one could do 220kmph. And since the 3rd generation Driving assist systems that Tiguan Allspace has comes with dynamic calibration, swapping out the radar won't create any issues. For the uninitiated the radar module hides behind the ceramic VW logo on the front grill.





This was the easy part. The next part involved opening the steering and swapping out the ACC buttons.







This was a tricky process, unlocking the steering from the base, and then opening it, and swapping the switches. Was a nervous 90 mins or so. Once this was done, our guy plugged into the CAN port and starting coding, after another 60mins or so installed the license, calibrated everything and it was good to go.







[



The whole mod affair took almost a full day, and mostly the delay was because of some lack of planning. The car was in our apartment basement, we needed to get it to a open, well lit place to be able to work on. Then we realized we needed a good internet connection and power point to connect the laptop. Downloading and backing up the entire firmware took a lot of time, with choppy mobile data and connection drop off. We started in the morning, but the car was ready to be coded only by 6pm. Eventually everything got done by 1am. Lesson learnt.





Look how the speed is going down as the car in front comes closer.



How is ACC?

So, the whole crux of what I did was to get this one single feature. As soon as our car was ready (at 1am) we left to Chennai (from Bangalore), we were supposed to leave by evening, but since this all took time, we ended up leaving really late.

ACC took maybe around 30 mins to get used to, after that it was bliss!! It was almost surreal to the car working its way through the high way with ACC and lane assist. In the beginning your muscle memory does not let you let the car take control, but over a period you start trusting the car for slowing down and speeding up. [NEVER EVER took this lightly, was still alert all the time). From Chennai, next day we went to Trivandrum (another night drive). Along this 1000km+ in the 48 hours, we drove mostly using ACC, and maybe 2-3 times car switched to emergency braking instead of following the vehicle on front. I got a little scared, then realized, at night when there is a truck with no rear lights or even reflectors, car was not considering it as a vehicle but an obstacle (this is my inference).

The biggest change in the driving post ACC was, we did not drive beyond 90kmph, but still had a very high average speed (55-65). Overall, we were reaching destinations faster, even though overall drive was relaxed. I was told ACC would bring down mileage, but I attained never been seen mileage ranges post the mod.







After our 1000km+ drive.





Tidbits ACC+Lane assist gives *kinda* autonomous driving on highways, but the camera sensor only scans for 20secs, so you get the warning *take control of the steering* after 20 secs. The camera can be upgraded to enable for autonomous driving, and other features like Traffic jam assist, sign board identification etc.

With the upgrade cockpit shows a small car icon, when there is a car in front of you, even when ACC is off, also when ACC is on, the car icon gets closer or farther depending on distance maintained

ACC turns off, during adverse conditions, Driver assist is a very secure system it was turn off when it finds it not safe to use. It happened to us once, when the car was on heavy rain, came back on after a while

Wireless charging is very slow, and really not that useful (at least that's what we found)

Overall, super super super happy after the upgrades, feels surreal every time I get into the car, and it makes me (and my family) feel even more safe (which Tiguan has always made us feel even before).



What next

So far I haven't made any major hardware upgrades, but some items which are on the list are Upgraded ACC cameras for fully autonomous drive and few missing features mentioned in the manual (traffic jam assist, city drive enhancements). The current sensors does not have the fidelity or precision to handle slow speed or continuous monitoring.

for fully autonomous drive and few missing features mentioned in the manual (traffic jam assist, city drive enhancements). The current sensors does not have the fidelity or precision to handle slow speed or continuous monitoring. Blind spot Assist (BLA). Another feature mentioned in the booklet. This involves replacing the side mirrors with BLA lights but also adding side sensors to detect when cars come into the blind spot. This is really useful for our Indian conditions where drivers switch lanes at whim. I have used this in Volvos and they're really effective.

Another feature mentioned in the booklet. This involves replacing the side mirrors with BLA lights but also adding side sensors to detect when cars come into the blind spot. This is really useful for our Indian conditions where drivers switch lanes at whim. I have used this in Volvos and they're really effective. 360 cameras . Something I am not sure if I will do, because of the invasive surgery it requires to add the sensors and cameras and wiring. But, really sour after seeing the 2022 Kodiaq has it!!

. Something I am not sure if I will do, because of the invasive surgery it requires to add the sensors and cameras and wiring. But, really sour after seeing the 2022 Kodiaq has it!! Dynamic Chassis control. The ultimate and most expensive hardware upgrade. Not sure, how effective this will in terms of driving pleasure, but again Kodiaq 2022 has it, will have to do research, test drive the Kodiaq to get a feeler.

The ultimate and most expensive hardware upgrade. Not sure, how effective this will in terms of driving pleasure, but again Kodiaq 2022 has it, will have to do research, test drive the Kodiaq to get a feeler. Discover+ infotainment Another maybe/may not item. There is a 9 inch upgraded infotainment unit which supports 3D maps and better gesture controls etc.

Overall, it has been 3 months since I made the upgrades and wanted to share my experience with this awesome community.

Thanks for listening in. Guys, I have something really exciting to share. I bought my Allspace in December 2019.Detailed ownership review here (My Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace - Ownership Review & Upkeep) As any other self respecting car owner, before sitting in the drivers' seat, I went through (thoroughly) my ownership manual/handbook to understand how the car works. As a CBU, the manual was *not* custom printed for India. So, I came across terms likeI would learn later that these are *not enabled* in the Indian variant and many of them can be *enabled* easily. I would have to wait for over a year to figure out how to really get this done.So, here is my experience enabling some advanced features on my Allspace (with the risk of losing warranty/or not), and my experience of using them for over a month.In Nov 2021, I found someone who could help me with the quest of upgrading my Allspace, for the first round I chose these featuresNone of these involved (major) hardware upgrades. Most of these features involved mostly coding and switching of some components.This was by far the most time consuming and invasive process. [Not sure, if I will recommend, considering the vanity value]. It involved adding a new TPMS module under the boot, pulling the wires all the way to the cockpit and then connecting it. Then taking the car to a tyre shop and putting sensors on all 4 tyres, remembering the serials and coding the new sensors and setting desired pressure levels for different modes ( I chose 32, 34, 36, for Comfort, standard and full load).It took good half day to get done end to end, and after everything the pressures didn't update for a while, and realized it needs a few kms of drive to get calibrated.This was again a vanity, but something which makes the car really feel posh. I remember seeing this feature for the first time when a friend of my showed off this in his fancy high end BMW 2 seater. The process is simple, the car has electronic adjustment for lumbar support, you just swap out the controller, and then configure the 3rd seat preset button to activate massage. When triggered, it massages for 5 mins and then stops. Took 15 mins to swap the controller and add the coding.Another easy swap (which honestly I feel VW should have included for their top priced car for India). Involved just pulling out the cover of the storage base (below AC controls) adding a plate below it and connecting it, and putting the cover back. Once coding is done, it will show a nice notification, whenever a phone is kept on the storage, "Qi charging something something...", another 30 mins job.The guy who helped me code all this added a few miscellaneous tweaks, like Auto high beams, seat adjusting to the right position as we unlock the car and few other small things. What I missed was enabling closing of boot remotely, which is for some reason disabled from factory.This was what it all started with. My quest for enabling ACC, which already has the necessary hardware. The modder gave me and option to switch to a new steering wheel (sporty VW) vs, swapping the ACC switch piece on my existing one. Considering the extra 40k price hit, I went for the switch swap. As he inspected the car, also suggested upgrading the radar module, the stock module could only support up to 150kmph, while the new one could do 220kmph. And since the 3rd generation Driving assist systems that Tiguan Allspace has comes with dynamic calibration, swapping out the radar won't create any issues. For the uninitiated the radar module hides behind the ceramic VW logo on the front grill.This was the easy part. The next part involved opening the steeringand swapping out the ACC buttons.This was a tricky process, unlocking the steering from the base, and then opening it, and swapping the switches. Was a nervous 90 mins or so. Once this was done, our guy plugged into the CAN port and starting coding, after another 60mins or so installed the license, calibrated everything and it was good to go.The whole mod affair took almost a full day, and mostly the delay was because of some lack of planning. The car was in our apartment basement, we needed to get it to a open, well lit place to be able to work on. Then we realized we needed a good internet connection and power point to connect the laptop. Downloading and backing up the entire firmware took a lot of time, with choppy mobile data and connection drop off. We started in the morning, but the car was ready to be coded only by 6pm. Eventually everything got done by 1am. Lesson learnt.Look how the speed is going down as the car in front comes closer.So, the whole crux of what I did was to get this one single feature. As soon as our car was ready (at 1am) we left to Chennai (from Bangalore), we were supposed to leave by evening, but since this all took time, we ended up leaving really late.ACC took maybe around 30 mins to get used to, after that it was bliss!! It was almost surreal to the car working its way through the high way with ACC and lane assist. In the beginning your muscle memory does not let you let the car take control, but over a period you start trusting the car for slowing down and speeding up. [NEVER EVER took this lightly, was still alert all the time). From Chennai, next day we went to Trivandrum (another night drive). Along this 1000km+ in the 48 hours, we drove mostly using ACC, and maybe 2-3 times car switched to emergency braking instead of following the vehicle on front. I got a little scared, then realized, at night when there is a truck with no rear lights or even reflectors, car was not considering it as a vehicle but an obstacle (this is my inference).The biggest change in the driving post ACC was, we did not drive beyond 90kmph, but still had a very high average speed (55-65). Overall, we were reaching destinations faster, even though overall drive was relaxed. I was told ACC would bring down mileage, but I attained never been seen mileage ranges post the mod.After our 1000km+ drive.Overall, super super super happy after the upgrades, feels surreal every time I get into the car, and it makes me (and my family) feel even more safe (which Tiguan has always made us feel even before).So far I haven't made any major hardware upgrades, but some items which are on the list areOverall, it has been 3 months since I made the upgrades and wanted to share my experience with this awesome community.Thanks for listening in. Last edited by Aditya : 7th February 2022 at 09:37 . Reason: Maximum two smileys per post please; reference of WhatsApp group deleted
sheelRP Newbie

Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 14 Thanked: 127 Times

Ownership Review of my Daewoo Matiz | Almost 20 years and 93,000 km later | A Perfect city car Ownership Review of Daewoo Matiz: Almost 20 years and 93000 Kms later



Hello BHPians! I have been following this fantastic forum over the years and consider myself lucky to be a member of this vibrant and knowledgeable community with a great passion for cars. This is my first ownership post on this forum and I would like to share my experience of my cute little steed and one of the perfect city cars of its time (and I dare say, it is still so even after more than 20 years) to be sold in the Indian market and one of the rare cars seen on the streets now: Its my Daewoo Matiz SD 1999 model. Have a look at my lovable bug-bear Matiz,



My lovable Matiz (1999): After more than 20 years on the road





The car is still going strong after more than 20 years of its ownership and >93000 km later and yes, some naysayers say, why not replace this old city car and purchase todays BS-VI hatchbacks. But take my word, I have never felt the need to replace this wonderful car as it has been a trouble-free experience so far (yes! just take care of it and it will never surprise you). I can still say that it was the most underrated car to have hit Indian roads and of course, the troubled history of Daewoo Motors India did not help. So, lets begin.



Prelude:



Way back in 2002, I was looking for a small hatchback for my city errands and occasional outstation highway trips. Back then in the market, we had omnipresent M-800, jelly bean Zen, a relatively odd-looking Hyundai Santro (1998), and this cute little Daewoo Matiz (1998-), a car that was slowly gaining popularity. However, by the early 2000s, soon there was news of financial troubles with Daewoo Motors in India, and huge discounts were slowly being offered on its products (both new and pre-owned and new). Technically, I feel all Daewoo cars (Cielo-Nexia, Matiz) were well-engineered but for their parent company troubles, it could have given its Korean counterpart a tough competition.



Anyway, in Nov-2002, Myself and my father (also a car enthusiast who has meticulously maintained his Premier President 1973 model and also owns Fiat Linea), saw a well maintained Matiz (SD model,1999 make) in a pre-owned market in Kolkata with odo reading of about 13000 km going for a price which may not be enough to buy a 350 cc bike today. We bought this car and initially, planned that maybe after 2-3 years, I would later upgrade to a higher segment car. But it was not to be as I am still enjoying this cute steed (later in 2011, I also bought 3rd Gen Arrowhead Honda City and yes! even that car is going strong > 95000 km of blissful motoring and running on stock brake pads even till now). In my opinion, ride quality and stability at >100 kmph would put even current hatchbacks to shame. Some more pictures of my car.



Live to Drive: Rear View and Front Cabin of my Matiz





A. Front view and Odo (inset). B. Engine Compartment and C. User Manual





Now, I have driven this car for almost 20 years after I purchased it in Kolkata (always serviced at ASC which was Topaz Motors then), driven for almost 8 years on Kolkata roads before I traveled to North East for 2 years, and finally now, living in Ahmedabad for more than 10 years now. The car has never given me any reason to complain and after ASC, routine services were either done by me or by FNG. Yes! few spares like the water pump, fuel pump, and the plastic intake manifold were a little difficult to find but nothing more than that.



Matiz: Technical Specifications and Basic Service Chart from User Manual





Ownership experiences:



Parts Replaced: Routine consumables like oil (Shell/Castrol Magnatec-15W/40), oil filter, air filter (Purolator, Mahle, Zip), coolant, transmission oil/brake fluid, belts (alternator and AC belts) were done strictly as per service manual. Batteries and Tyres have lasted for more than 6 years and 40000 km respectively. Major parts which had to be replaced include a water pump, plastic intake manifold, and fuel pump which were issues in this car but again had to do it only once so it is still not a surprise considering the period and km driven so far. Availability of spares has never been a cause of major worry. Yes, a few weeks back I had to purchase tyre (145/70 R13 but with tube) and I finally got it with some effort as almost every vehicle now runs on tubeless. I must also acknowledge that most of the dealers are more than ready to help me out after they see my car and my passion.



Major Likes:



Design and comfort: Italian automobile designer Giorgetto Giugiaro had designed Matiz initially as a replacement for Fiat Cinquecento but Fiat rejected this design and Daewoo bought it and made it a commercial success worldwide. Sloping bonnet, bug-eyed headlamps, roof antenna, contoured side mirrors, and winged rear tail lamps gave it a classy European looks. More than compact in length (L-3495mm, W-1495 mm), very aerodynamic (drag Coeff. <0.4), and though small from outside but very spacious for 4-5 in a family inside, it was a great balance in proportions. Ergonomics were spot-on. Foot pedal-steering wheel-gear knobs are perfectly positioned with no fatigue even after hours of driving. However, my SD-1999 model did not come up with power steering, windows which were available in higher models and hence I feel would have offered even better convenience.



Power and Fuel Efficiency: Matiz has a M-tec MPFI 6-valves 796 cc (3-cylinder) engine with an output of 52 hp which was enough (though not peppy) for city runabouts. It has given me almost 16-18 kmpl over the years. Yes! it feels a bit sluggish with powerful AC put on but you learn to extract max power with correct gear shifts. In fact, compared to tallboys and jelly beans of that time beyond 90 kmph, the Maximum Technique (M-Tec) engine has enough juice and does not run out of breath. It can comfortably cruise at near 3-digit speeds. I must mention, that on the Kitna deti hai aspect, the Matiz gasoline engine probably held the Guinness world record for being the most fuel efficient in its class in that period.



Ride Quality and Stability: For city use and even at highways, the ride quality is pretty good with exceptional stability. Higher gross weight (1135 kgs) and with independent Mc Pherson struts and isolated trailing links at the rear, the vehicle stability is fantastic even at triple-digit speeds.



Build Quality and Interiors: Metal sheet and corrosion resistance is good (though not excellent) as I have not had any major issues so far. Seats are very good and comfortable with good lumbar and back support (even after 2 decades of use, the foam has not sagged and its cushioning is perfect). The Interior dashboard is airy and I love the instrument cluster and good quality stalks and buttons. HVAC control knobs are stylish and easy to use. It has a built-in radio (FM/AM) and a cassette player with 2 speakers on its door which is beautifully finished in the dashboard console. Audio quality is good but not exceptional. More importantly, all of them work as they should even after so many years of use and I call this quality. Interior space was much better compared to its peers though boot space was quite similar to other compact hatchbacks.



Air Conditioner: Its a chiller and though it used to come up with R12 refrigerant which later got banned because of environmental safety reasons. After my research, I used Mo49 from DuPont for re-fills which is compatible with old refrigerants and I would say that in older cars, never use R134A (as used now) as seals of AC would start showing signs of failure. AC has not given me any complaints to date and chills even in the hotter climate of Ahmedabad.



Safety: Forget GNCAP, ANCAP, 3-4-5 stars, etc. which are screamed by a few manufacturers today as its USP (all cars need to be safe as nothing is more precious than human life). But, please note that way back in 1998, Matiz was designed to comply with Euro 1998 legislation. It came with side impact beams, Child locks, collapsible steering column, Anti-submarine seats (probably, most folks may not know this), 2 stage bumper set-up, double channel brakes, pre-tensioner seat belts, safety bars on roof, thick A-pillar (though it did restrict visibility) and hence, its safety was never in question (again compared to cars in India on the road then). However, with safety elements, all this contributed to its higher curb weight of 800 kgs (of course, heavier than its counterparts in the Indian market) and even after 52 horses, the engine would feel a bit sluggish but slowly with higher RPMs became more responsive. With all these safety features in the hatchback in the late 1990s, have we really progressed much with times?



Technology: Euro-1 emission compliant in India in 1998 with lambda oxygen sensors (mercs had it then) it was way ahead of its time. With power and fuel efficiency, the M-Tec engine never got its due.



Major Dislikes:



Gear shifts: 5-speed, cable-operated gear shifts are extremely notchy, especially from 1st to 2nd gear.



Pick-up and acceleration: Power delivery peaks near 6000 rpm and it becomes an issue in stop-and-go traffic and leapfrogging at traffic lights. With AC on, it is even worse. However again, with good 3rd gear acceleration (up to 60 kmph), it becomes a better cruiser on highways and can easily maintain speeds of 80-90 kmph all day long.



Stalks configuration: It follows the European configuration of light/indicator and wash/wipe on left and right respectively which still causes confusion sometimes (especially when I drive my 3rd Gen Honda City and Matiz on the same day).



Mechanicals: I had to change my plastic intake manifold, waterpump and fuel pump though once only over so many years. Nothing more than this which I feel is still trouble-free when compared to so many issues seen in new cars these days. I doubt whether the new connected cars will remain connected to roads after 15 years from now.



Some Mantainence Tips:



Also, before I close, I would like to share a few tips which I have strictly followed over so many years for both cars which I own (and holds true for my 3rd gen honda city as well) and driven them for almost 2 lacs km. Anyways few pointers:



1. Always follow routine maintenance as per car manual (oil changes, coolant, brake fluids, transmission fluids, tyre rotation etc.) and it is better to have good knowledge about them as I feel that service centers do not pay so much attention to the correct procedures (say, oil flush in a warm engine, etc.) or the lubricants (grade, etc.). In case the km is less, then follow the time period for change intervals in case of lubricants as because of our road /traffic conditions and hot climates, it degrades faster with time.



2. Always wait for your check light (in matiz it is there and the fuel pump gets activated) to go off before you crank and wait for 30 seconds before you drive off. Maintain lower RPMs till the engine reaches its optimum temperature and if possible, do not switch on AC in a cold engine.



3. Maintain at least  full petrol in your tank for better fuel pump health. Also, maintain stipulated cold tyre pressure and check at least once a month if you drive regularly.



4. Always drive incorrect gear and maintain steady rpm. Never slug or rev the engine. While using brakes, anticipate the traffic (my Honda city is still running on stock brake pads) for less wear and tear.



5. Do not unnecessarily wash your car with water (especially, in areas where hard water is there) as they always hasten rust and leave white spots. We all use Jopasu duster and it works well for daily use. Also in areas like wheels, water causes rusting of brake calipers/discs. After washing, it is always better to take your car for a spin to dry it off. Also, use a microfibre cloth or chamois to dry the water and never air dry it. Lastly, never wash a car under direct sun. Of course, regular waxing helps to retain paint gloss and gives water beading capability to paint surface.



6. Use distilled water for your wiper fluid as it helps to avoid corrosion and blockages of small pinholes. This water can be used for coolant top-up also and it does not cost much.



7. Be always proactive to change belts (like alternator belts and even timing belts though it lasts really long) as it is quite cheap to replace but critical for safe running of the car.



8. Keep your batteries top clean as even dust can cause electric currents to dissipate. Of course, use petroleum jelly (never grease) on terminals to avoid corrosion and proper electrical contact.



9. In winter months, switch on your AC for a few minutes for proper lubrication and more life.



10. Try to avoid using car for very short runs (less than 3-5 km) as it shortens engine life.



Of course, there is a separate detailed thread on the forum but I thought I will share a few tips which have helped me over the years.



In short, it has been a great journey with my compact Matiz for almost 2 decades and I still feel it was a wonderfully engineered and affordable compact car for the Indian market in its segment but support (or maybe marketing) let it down and of course, the collapse of its manufacturer was the final nail.



Probably, it has been a long write-up but I could not resist sharing my experience with this Team-bhp family. Also, sometimes it makes me feel anxious that in case I have to relocate to some other part of India and I may have to part with this vehicle which has given me so much pleasure, it will probably be one of my saddest days. Anyway, lets see what happens in the future. Now I close and many thanks to all Team-bhpians who had the patience to go through this write-up. Very happy motoring to all. Hello BHPians! I have been following this fantastic forum over the years and consider myself lucky to be a member of this vibrant and knowledgeable community with a great passion for cars. This is my first ownership post on this forum and I would like to share my experience of my cute little steed and one of the perfect city cars of its time (and I dare say, it is still so even after more than 20 years) to be sold in the Indian market and one of the rare cars seen on the streets now: Its my Daewoo Matiz SD 1999 model. Have a look at my lovable bug-bear Matiz,My lovable Matiz (1999): After more than 20 years on the roadThe car is still going strong after more than 20 years of its ownership and >93000 km later and yes, some naysayers say, why not replace this old city car and purchase todays BS-VI hatchbacks. But take my word, I have never felt the need to replace this wonderful car as it has been a trouble-free experience so far (yes! just take care of it and it will never surprise you). I can still say that it was the most underrated car to have hit Indian roads and of course, the troubled history of Daewoo Motors India did not help. So, lets begin.Way back in 2002, I was looking for a small hatchback for my city errands and occasional outstation highway trips. Back then in the market, we had omnipresent M-800, jelly bean Zen, a relatively odd-looking Hyundai Santro (1998), and this cute little Daewoo Matiz (1998-), a car that was slowly gaining popularity. However, by the early 2000s, soon there was news of financial troubles with Daewoo Motors in India, and huge discounts were slowly being offered on its products (both new and pre-owned and new). Technically, I feel all Daewoo cars (Cielo-Nexia, Matiz) were well-engineered but for their parent company troubles, it could have given its Korean counterpart a tough competition.Anyway, in Nov-2002, Myself and my father (also a car enthusiast who has meticulously maintained his Premier President 1973 model and also owns Fiat Linea), saw a well maintained Matiz (SD model,1999 make) in a pre-owned market in Kolkata with odo reading of about 13000 km going for a price which may not be enough to buy a 350 cc bike today. We bought this car and initially, planned that maybe after 2-3 years, I would later upgrade to a higher segment car. But it was not to be as I am still enjoying this cute steed (later in 2011, I also bought 3rd Gen Arrowhead Honda City and yes! even that car is going strong > 95000 km of blissful motoring and running on stock brake pads even till now). In my opinion, ride quality and stability at >100 kmph would put even current hatchbacks to shame. Some more pictures of my car.Live to Drive: Rear View and Front Cabin of my MatizA. Front view and Odo (inset). B. Engine Compartment and C. User ManualNow, I have driven this car for almost 20 years after I purchased it in Kolkata (always serviced at ASC which was Topaz Motors then), driven for almost 8 years on Kolkata roads before I traveled to North East for 2 years, and finally now, living in Ahmedabad for more than 10 years now. The car has never given me any reason to complain and after ASC, routine services were either done by me or by FNG. Yes! few spares like the water pump, fuel pump, and the plastic intake manifold were a little difficult to find but nothing more than that.Matiz: Technical Specifications and Basic Service Chart from User ManualRoutine consumables like oil (Shell/Castrol Magnatec-15W/40), oil filter, air filter (Purolator, Mahle, Zip), coolant, transmission oil/brake fluid, belts (alternator and AC belts) were done strictly as per service manual. Batteries and Tyres have lasted for more than 6 years and 40000 km respectively. Major parts which had to be replaced include a water pump, plastic intake manifold, and fuel pump which were issues in this car but again had to do it only once so it is still not a surprise considering the period and km driven so far. Availability of spares has never been a cause of major worry. Yes, a few weeks back I had to purchase tyre (145/70 R13 but with tube) and I finally got it with some effort as almost every vehicle now runs on tubeless. I must also acknowledge that most of the dealers are more than ready to help me out after they see my car and my passion.Italian automobile designer Giorgetto Giugiaro had designed Matiz initially as a replacement for Fiat Cinquecento but Fiat rejected this design and Daewoo bought it and made it a commercial success worldwide. Sloping bonnet, bug-eyed headlamps, roof antenna, contoured side mirrors, and winged rear tail lamps gave it a classy European looks. More than compact in length (L-3495mm, W-1495 mm), very aerodynamic (drag Coeff. <0.4), and though small from outside but very spacious for 4-5 in a family inside, it was a great balance in proportions. Ergonomics were spot-on. Foot pedal-steering wheel-gear knobs are perfectly positioned with no fatigue even after hours of driving. However, my SD-1999 model did not come up with power steering, windows which were available in higher models and hence I feel would have offered even better convenience.Matiz has a M-tec MPFI 6-valves 796 cc (3-cylinder) engine with an output of 52 hp which was enough (though not peppy) for city runabouts. It has given me almost 16-18 kmpl over the years. Yes! it feels a bit sluggish with powerful AC put on but you learn to extract max power with correct gear shifts. In fact, compared to tallboys and jelly beans of that time beyond 90 kmph, the Maximum Technique (M-Tec) engine has enough juice and does not run out of breath. It can comfortably cruise at near 3-digit speeds. I must mention, that on the Kitna deti hai aspect, the Matiz gasoline engine probably held the Guinness world record for being the most fuel efficient in its class in that period.For city use and even at highways, the ride quality is pretty good with exceptional stability. Higher gross weight (1135 kgs) and with independent Mc Pherson struts and isolated trailing links at the rear, the vehicle stability is fantastic even at triple-digit speeds.Metal sheet and corrosion resistance is good (though not excellent) as I have not had any major issues so far. Seats are very good and comfortable with good lumbar and back support (even after 2 decades of use, the foam has not sagged and its cushioning is perfect). The Interior dashboard is airy and I love the instrument cluster and good quality stalks and buttons. HVAC control knobs are stylish and easy to use. It has a built-in radio (FM/AM) and a cassette player with 2 speakers on its door which is beautifully finished in the dashboard console. Audio quality is good but not exceptional. More importantly, all of them work as they should even after so many years of use and I call this quality. Interior space was much better compared to its peers though boot space was quite similar to other compact hatchbacks.Its a chiller and though it used to come up with R12 refrigerant which later got banned because of environmental safety reasons. After my research, I used Mo49 from DuPont for re-fills which is compatible with old refrigerants and I would say that in older cars, never use R134A (as used now) as seals of AC would start showing signs of failure. AC has not given me any complaints to date and chills even in the hotter climate of Ahmedabad.Forget GNCAP, ANCAP, 3-4-5 stars, etc. which are screamed by a few manufacturers today as its USP (all cars need to be safe as nothing is more precious than human life). But, please note that way back in 1998, Matiz was designed to comply with Euro 1998 legislation. It came with side impact beams, Child locks, collapsible steering column, Anti-submarine seats (probably, most folks may not know this), 2 stage bumper set-up, double channel brakes, pre-tensioner seat belts, safety bars on roof, thick A-pillar (though it did restrict visibility) and hence, its safety was never in question (again compared to cars in India on the road then). However, with safety elements, all this contributed to its higher curb weight of 800 kgs (of course, heavier than its counterparts in the Indian market) and even after 52 horses, the engine would feel a bit sluggish but slowly with higher RPMs became more responsive. With all these safety features in the hatchback in the late 1990s, have we really progressed much with times?Euro-1 emission compliant in India in 1998 with lambda oxygen sensors (mercs had it then) it was way ahead of its time. With power and fuel efficiency, the M-Tec engine never got its due.5-speed, cable-operated gear shifts are extremely notchy, especially from 1st to 2nd gear.Power delivery peaks near 6000 rpm and it becomes an issue in stop-and-go traffic and leapfrogging at traffic lights. With AC on, it is even worse. However again, with good 3rd gear acceleration (up to 60 kmph), it becomes a better cruiser on highways and can easily maintain speeds of 80-90 kmph all day long.It follows the European configuration of light/indicator and wash/wipe on left and right respectively which still causes confusion sometimes (especially when I drive my 3rd Gen Honda City and Matiz on the same day).I had to change my plastic intake manifold, waterpump and fuel pump though once only over so many years. Nothing more than this which I feel is still trouble-free when compared to so many issues seen in new cars these days. I doubt whether the new connected cars will remain connected to roads after 15 years from now.Also, before I close, I would like to share a few tips which I have strictly followed over so many years for both cars which I own (and holds true for my 3rd gen honda city as well) and driven them for almost 2 lacs km. Anyways few pointers:1. Always follow routine maintenance as per car manual (oil changes, coolant, brake fluids, transmission fluids, tyre rotation etc.) and it is better to have good knowledge about them as I feel that service centers do not pay so much attention to the correct procedures (say, oil flush in a warm engine, etc.) or the lubricants (grade, etc.). In case the km is less, then follow the time period for change intervals in case of lubricants as because of our road /traffic conditions and hot climates, it degrades faster with time.2. Always wait for your check light (in matiz it is there and the fuel pump gets activated) to go off before you crank and wait for 30 seconds before you drive off. Maintain lower RPMs till the engine reaches its optimum temperature and if possible, do not switch on AC in a cold engine.3. Maintain at least  full petrol in your tank for better fuel pump health. Also, maintain stipulated cold tyre pressure and check at least once a month if you drive regularly.4. Always drive incorrect gear and maintain steady rpm. Never slug or rev the engine. While using brakes, anticipate the traffic (my Honda city is still running on stock brake pads) for less wear and tear.5. Do not unnecessarily wash your car with water (especially, in areas where hard water is there) as they always hasten rust and leave white spots. We all use Jopasu duster and it works well for daily use. Also in areas like wheels, water causes rusting of brake calipers/discs. After washing, it is always better to take your car for a spin to dry it off. Also, use a microfibre cloth or chamois to dry the water and never air dry it. Lastly, never wash a car under direct sun. Of course, regular waxing helps to retain paint gloss and gives water beading capability to paint surface.6. Use distilled water for your wiper fluid as it helps to avoid corrosion and blockages of small pinholes. This water can be used for coolant top-up also and it does not cost much.7. Be always proactive to change belts (like alternator belts and even timing belts though it lasts really long) as it is quite cheap to replace but critical for safe running of the car.8. Keep your batteries top clean as even dust can cause electric currents to dissipate. Of course, use petroleum jelly (never grease) on terminals to avoid corrosion and proper electrical contact.9. In winter months, switch on your AC for a few minutes for proper lubrication and more life.10. Try to avoid using car for very short runs (less than 3-5 km) as it shortens engine life.Of course, there is a separate detailed thread on the forum but I thought I will share a few tips which have helped me over the years.In short, it has been a great journey with my compact Matiz for almost 2 decades and I still feel it was a wonderfully engineered and affordable compact car for the Indian market in its segment but support (or maybe marketing) let it down and of course, the collapse of its manufacturer was the final nail.Probably, it has been a long write-up but I could not resist sharing my experience with this Team-bhp family. Also, sometimes it makes me feel anxious that in case I have to relocate to some other part of India and I may have to part with this vehicle which has given me so much pleasure, it will probably be one of my saddest days. Anyway, lets see what happens in the future. Now I close and many thanks to all Team-bhpians who had the patience to go through this write-up. Very happy motoring to all. Last edited by Aditya : 9th February 2022 at 07:02 . Reason: Edited the text and sequence of pictures
Kaja Finkler talks about her personal experience during and after World War II, as a part of Holocaust Remembrance Day. She is one of the survivors of concentration camps and recounted her journey with her mother during those dark times. Its ironic when I say that the epidemic saved us, Finkler said. The only reason she was smuggled out of Warsaw when she was a child is that the city was struck by typhoid. They all thought that the Germans wouldnt attack a place where more than 10 percent of the population was Jewish, but they were wrong, and she was fortunate enough to be saved due the widespread disease. This emotionally touching event took place Wednesday in SAS Hall.
What just happened? Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of Arm has collapsed. The US tech giant has announced that the intense regulatory scrutiny the deal faced prevented the transaction from completing. As previously speculated, Arm will now start preparations for an initial public offering (IPO).

There were reports that Nvidia was considering walking away from the acquisition last month. Now, the company has confirmed that "the parties agreed to terminate the Agreement" due to the "significant regulatory challenges" it faced.

"Arm has a bright future, and we'll continue to support them as a proud licensee for decades to come," said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. "Arm is at the center of the important dynamics in computing. Though we won't be one company, we will partner closely with Arm. The significant investments that Masa has made have positioned Arm to expand the reach of the Arm CPU beyond client computing to supercomputing, cloud, AI and robotics. I expect Arm to be the most important CPU architecture of the next decade."

News that Nvidia had begun the first steps in acquiring UK-based Arm from SoftBank arrived back in September 2020. Team green said it would take around 18 months to complete a deal of this size, but it has been beset by problems, mostly due to the regulatory approval required from the UK, China, the European Union, and the United States.

In addition to an investigation by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) and intervention from the country's government, the FTC sued to block the acquisition over fears it would stifle innovation, there was an extended EU antitrust investigation, and China threatened to block the purchase even if others didn't.

There was also significant pushback from those within the tech industry. Qualcomm, Google, and Microsoft all voiced concerns, even Arm's co-founder, Hermann Hauser, said the deal would be a disaster.

Arm will now start preparations for an IPO within the fiscal year (ending March 31, 2023), a move many believed would happen if the deal fell through. SoftBank will receive a $1.25 billion breakup fee that Nvidia previously agreed to pay if the purchase failed to complete.

The Financial Times writes that the deal's failure will result in Arm's chief executive, Simon Segars, being replaced by Rene Haas, head of the company's intellectual property unit. The publication also notes that the cash-and-shares acquisition would have been worth $66 billion as Nvidia's share price has increased since the initial announcement.

The tech industry will doubtlessly breathe a sigh of relief following confirmation of the deal's demise. Many Arm licensees feared the consequences of a competitor such as Nvidia owning the company they rely on for their chip designs.
A hot potato: A controversial UK scheme that requires porn sites to legally verify the age of visitors using passports, credit cards, and other means is being resurrected. The original system was scrapped back in 2019, just weeks before it was set to be implemented.

To mark Safer Internet Day, UK digital minister Chris Philip announced that the Online Safety Bill would be updated with a section requiring all sites that publish pornography, not just those with user-generated content (i.e. OnlyFans), to put "robust" checks in place ensuring visitors are over 18.

Rather than using a pop-up that asks "are you over 18?" which is about as far as most porn platforms go when verifying ages, it's suggested that "secure age verification technology" is used to confirm visitors have a credit card.

A user's age could also be confirmed by checking their details held by a mobile provider. Another suggestion is to use a third-party service that checks someone's date of birth against government-held data such as passport information. "The onus will be on the companies themselves to decide how to comply with their new legal duty," the government said.

Any sites failing to implement the age verification checks could be fined 10% of their annual worldwide turnover or be blocked in the UK. As before, we can expect VPN uptake to suddenly increase in the country. Check out some of our favorites in this Essential Apps Guide.

As was the case previously, the law is primarily designed to protect children from accessing pornography online, but it comes with numerous privacy and security concerns, not only from hackers but also from the fear that someone's porn viewing habits could be associated with their identity. Those reasons, along with technical challenges, are believed to have been why the government abandoned the plans three years ago.
Samsung is reportedly testing a sustainability effort that integrates recyclable materials into its smartphones.

The said materials are made from recycled fishing nets and they came just in time for the company's Unpacked launch event for Galaxy S22 series.

Samsung to Use Recycled Fishing Nets

In a blog post on Feb. 6, Samsung announced that it will debut a new plastic material together with the launch of the Galaxy S22 series, according to 9to5Google.

The said plastic material will be integrated in various products of the company. The new plastic material is made from discarded fishing nets that are ocean-bound.

However, Samsung has not yet revealed which devices will use the new plastic material, but the tech giant said that it will give more details about it on Feb. 9, during its Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S22 Vs. iPhone 13: Possible Advantages of Apple's Upcoming Smartphone Competitor

The tech giant hinted that the material will be used in either the Galaxy S22 series or Galaxy Tab S8 series.

Samsung said that it will incorporate repurposed ocean-bound plastics throughout its entire product lineup, starting with the Galaxy devices.

The devices will reflect their ongoing effort to remove the need of using single-use plastics and to expand the use of eco-conscious materials like recycled post-consumer material or PCM, and recycled paper.

With this switch, the future of Galaxy technology will bring different product designs and serve better impact on the environment.

Last year, The Nature Conservancy and the University of California reported that more than 100 million pounds of plastic polluted the ocean, and they are fishing gears alone. This contributed to issues including the spread of microplastics, habitat damage, and capture of sea animals.

Another report says that more than 640 tons of fishing nets are abandoned and discarded yearly.

Galaxy Unpacked Event

According to GSMArena, Samsung fans can expect "the most noteworthy S series ever produced," which is a nod towards the company's S Pen slot that Galaxy S22 Ultra is expected to have.

The Galaxy Unpacked Event will be livestreamed so fans all over the world can witness the new products being revealed in real time.

The tech giant also posted a video on its YouTube page, asking to break through the night and break the rules of light. The company teased the improved low-light photography capabilities of the new Galaxy S smartphones.

However, there is no word on whether any other devices are in line but fans can expect to see the Galaxy Tab S8 series on stage.

A leak revealed the lineup and it showed that it will include three different devices: the Galaxy Tab S8, a larger Galaxy Tab S8+, and a bigger Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.

Aside from the new products, fans of the Korean boy group BTS can expect them to make an appearance during the event, according to Sam Mobile.

The collaboration between Samsung and the K-pop group immediately became a global sensation and it is expected to continue this year.

Samsung posted about the appearance of BTS through Twitter. However, it is not clear of the group will be there while the products are unveiled or if they will only be there for a quick performance.

BTS was also present at the Unpacked event last year, when the tech giant revealed the Galaxy S21 series for the first time. But unlike the past few years, the company did not release a purple Galaxy S21 BTS Edition smartphone.

Related Article: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra to Have Better Video Stabilization? Camera Shake Reduced 4x!

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Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tesla's "App Store" launch is rumored to see the light of day before much-awaited deliveries of its upcoming electric pickup, the Tesla Cybertruck.

Its app marketplace is rumored to rival both the Apple App Store for iPhones or iPads and the Google Play Store for Android devices as it carries similar capabilities.

Tesla App Store

As per the news story by The Driven, the giant EV maker of billionaire Elon Musk is reported to be working on its own app marketplace, allowing car owners to download and install various applications, much like on an Android device or an iPhone.

The news outlet further noted that rumors regarding the Tesla "App Store" started sprouting like mushrooms when it was first hinted at the version 11 update of the in-car software of Tesla way back in December 2021.

During the December update, Tesla went on to include a new feature that allows its users to customize the app icons on the bottom of the screen.

In turn, some bystanders speculated that various apps are coming to Tesla in-car software, which could only be possible if it has its own app marketplace like the App Store or Play Store.

On top of that, rumors have also suggested that the CEO and founder of Tesla, Musk, would go on to announce the "App Store" during the earnings calls of the EV tech giant last January.

However, to their dismay, Musk did not mention anything regarding an upcoming app marketplace during the earning call.

Read Also: Apple Ordered to Allow Alternative Payment Methods to be Used on Dating Apps by Regulators

Tesla App Store Release

Despite that, it appears that the Tesla App Store rumors are still not dead.

In fact, a notable investor of the EV giant, Sawyer Merritt, tweeted that rumors are suggesting that an Apple App Store-like function is coming to "four wheels that starts with a T."

Although another well-known automaker, Toyota, also "starts with a T," rumors only previously suggested that Tesla is making its own App Store.

Rumor has it something similar is coming soon to something with four wheels that starts with a T  https://t.co/qBGPzZpbdE  Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 5, 2022

Another Twitter account that goes by the name Teslascope echoed the feature that the Tesla investor is hinting about, noting that the EV maker has been working on its "App Store" since May 2021.

Teslascope further predicted that the Tesla "App Store'' is launching before the Cybertruck deliveries, which has yet to start its production.

It also noted that even if the Tesla boss failed to mention it during the first earnings call with its investors in 2022, Musk still said that this year is going to be "the year of software."

Related Article: Elon Musk Agrees with Epic Games: Apple App Store is 'Overpricing' Fees with 30% Sales Tax, Says It's a Monopoly

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
NASA chose and gave the contract to Lockheed Martin to create the so-called Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) that will journey to the Jezero Crater and rendevous with Perseverance. The automated systems would then load the first rock samples from the region to the MAV and bring them to the home planet for further analysis and studying to know the planet more.

NASA: Lockheed Martin Will Create the MAV for the Retrieval Mission

The Mars Ascent Vehicle will play a pivotal role in the upcoming mission from NASA that aims to retrieve the rock samples from Mars and the Perseverance rover. According to NASA, it awarded the contract to make the small rocket to Lockheed Martin and it will help in bringing the samples from the Red Planet to Earth.

Lockheed Martin's MAV will launch the lightweight rocket filled with the rock samples from Mars to the home planet and it will fulfill the first retrieval mission of NASA with the 2020 mission. The mission would also involve the European Space Agency to complete the handoff for when MAV is in range with the home planet.

Read Also: James Webb Space Telescope Witnesses First Photons From a Distant Star, Prompting the Start of its Alignment

NASA MAV: Perseverance Will Soon Bring Samples from Mission

NASA is not yet employing humans to go to Mars and retrieve the rock samples from Perseverance and back home. Lockheed and ESA's role will focus on a remote-controlled operation that would have robots and computers complete the process while simultaneously communicating with the home base to complete the retrieval mission.

NASA Perseverance: Missions Collect Samples in the Jezero Crater

NASA's Perseverance Rover and the Ingenuity Helicopter, both part of the Mars 2020 Exploration Program, are nearing the end of their initial mission to collect rock samples in the Jezero Crater.

But what is next for the mission, right?

The spacecraft controlled by NASA would not yet go home like the Curiosity Rover and would continue to mine the planet for samples. However, another part of its mission is to ensure that the rock samples are delivered to the sealing chamber it has that will ready it for the upcoming retrieval mission that NASA would soon launch.

Now, the focus of the space agency is to retrieve the samples and bring them home for the Earth's top scientists and researchers to examine these and make a formative study regarding Mars. It will help understand the Red Planet more and identify the many mysteries behind it that would soon help the future missions that will bring humans to Mars.

Soon, Lockheed Martin will help in fulfilling the success of that mission as NASA awarded the contract to them for the retrieval of the samples. The Perseverance's effort in the past year will reap its fruits when the MAV successfully brings these samples back to the home planet and bring humans the information it needs regarding the neighboring planet.

Related Article: NASA Mars Rover Captures What People Think Is Proof Life On Mars-It Isn't, Here's Why

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Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Peloton is in crisis mode, and in order to save the company, it is pushing for cost-cutting measures such as letting go of 2,800 employees, slashing millions of dollars in annual costs, and replacing its CEO in its attempt to win back the confidence of its investors.

Peloton CEO Gets Replaced

According to The Wall Street Journal, the 20% job cut will not affect the company's roster of instructors or fitness content. The exercise equipment company hopes that these changes will increase its profitability.

Peloton employed 6,742 people in the United States last year. That is more than double the 3,281 employees it counted in 2020.

The company said it expects to reduce around $800 million in annual costs and reduce capital expenditures by almost $150 million this year.

Also Read: Peloton Reveals SEC Probe, Investigations that Question the Safety and Injuries of their Exercise Equipment

Peloton has lost many customers, and demand for its equipment has decreased post-pandemic.

Last year, Peloton blamed Apple's app tracking transparency for losing new customers.

The company was once valued at $50 billion, but it was reported that it is now only valued at $8 billion as of last week.

The company's co-founder, John Foley, will be replaced as CEO by the former CFO of Spotify and Netflix, Barry McCarthy. Foley will now be the company's executive chair.

Foley told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that he believes that there is someone who could do a better job as the company's CEO. He added that Barry was suited for the position, which was why he decided to step down.

The company's other cost-cutting measures include delaying the construction of its $400 million factories in Ohio, reducing its delivery teams, and reducing its warehouse space. These measures will save them almost $1 billion this year alone.

The company's shares fell around 10% in premarket trading on Feb. 8. On Feb. 7, its stock was down 31%, giving Peloton a market value of only $9.7 billion.

According to CNBC, the company predicted its preliminary quarterly revenue and subscriber figures back in January, and the numbers were great. However, today's announcement included a lower forecast for the results this year.

The company cut its fiscal 2022 revenue estimate from $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion, down to a range of $3.7 billion to $3.8 billion.

Peloton's president, William Lynch, is also expected to step down from his position, but he will remain as part of the board.

Peloton For Sale

As for the rumors that Peloton is for sale, Foley stated that they are not closing any doors, and they are keeping an eye on all opportunities as they aim to create value for their shareholders.

Foley previously controls 80% of the company's voting power, so if the company is really for sale, the decision will be down to him.

Amazon was reported to be interested in buying Peloton, as the e-commerce company consulted its advisers about the potential purchase.

However, Amazon was not the only one that was interested. According to The Financial Times, Nike is also thinking of buying the exercise equipment company.

Neither Amazon nor Nike has talked to Peloton about any offer, which could mean that it may not push through at all.

Related Article: Peloton Under Investigation Due to Several Injuries Involving its Equipment

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Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
ISS is now testing a new technology that relies on sound to manipulate space objects. If the innovation is successful, there's a high chance that astronauts stationed in the International Space Station can gather small materials without actually being there.

"The objective of the Ultrasonic Tweezers project is to develop acoustic tweezers that use sound to allow for remote and contactless manipulation of materials in a microgravity context," explained NASA.

The international space union added that they created an ultrasound beam that can produce a trap, which can be used to contain space objects.

ISS Tests Ultrasonic Tweezers

According to SciTechDaily's latest report, Matthias Maurer, one of the ESA (European Space Agency) astronauts, is the one who tested ISS' ultrasonic tweezers.

Also Read: NASA's International Space Station to Crash Into Pacific Ocean on its Retirement in 2031

During this activity, Maurer was assisted by Vandehai, a NASA astronaut and former U.S. Army officer. On the other hand, NASA Gov's official blog post explained that the latest ISS activity used ultrasonic tweezers in a vertical position.

NASA claimed that having the ability to isolate space objects in their natural environment will help astronauts. The international space agency added that this could be possible through acoustic or optical wave traps.

Ultrasonic Tweezers' Characteristics

The new ultrasonic tweezers have various characteristics that NASA astronauts and other space experts in the ISS can take advantage of. These include the following:

They offer non-audible sound waves with enough force to move space objects during a space sampling.

The idea of ultrasonic tweezers is already theorized more than 30 years ago.

If you want to see more details about other details of the International Space Station's ultrasonic tweezers, you can visit this link.

In other news, space explorations are now expected to become cheaper in the near future. Experts claimed that the first Venus private mission is a sign of it. Meanwhile, Toyota's moon-exploring car is now under development.

For more news updates about ultrasonic tweezers and other unusual technologies in the International Space Station, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: NASA Gives Lockheed Martin the Contract to Build MAV and Retrieve Mars' First Samples from Perseverance

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A Meta executive officer claimed that the company's metaverse platforms could allow companies and businesses to have more revenues.

As of the moment, Mark Zuckerberg's tech company offers two virtual places where consumers can interact in different ways. These include Meta's Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues.

In the first one, the tech firm's consumers can play various video games using Oculus VR headsets. On the other hand, Horizon Venues allows people to interact with one another in different virtual events.

Now, Vishal Shah, a Meta executive, claims that the company's offered metaverse services can lead to more earnings.

Meta Exec Claims Metaverse Lead To More Revenues

According to Gadgets 360's latest report, Shah explained his thoughts regarding Meta's metaverse during the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual leadership meeting held in New York on Monday, Jan. 7.

Also Read: Meta To Remove Facebook, Instagram From Europe-Saying Data Sharing is Needed for Services To Continue

"Without the physical limitations that exist today that put pressure on businesses' bottom line, things like real estate, supply chain, and geographical reach, the metaverse will open up more opportunities for businesses to make money," said the Meta exec.

But, the metaverse is still not accepted by many people across the globe. Vishal said that it would take decades until consumers completely accept the arrival of a metaverse in their lives.

While this is the current status of the metaverse platforms, he suggested that companies create AR advertisements.

Preparing for Metaverse

Entrepreneur reported that there are various ways how you can prepare your business for the arrival of metaverse platforms. These include the following:

You need to consider rebranding your products or services.

Always update your company's business on search engines, such as Google.

Make sure that you know what makes your business different from other companies.

In other news, Meta's $10 billion loss reveals how much the company spends on the Facebook platform. Facebook's crypto project is expected to arrive.

For more news updates about Meta and other related topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Peter Thiel, the Early Investor: Board Member Steps Down From Facebook's Parent Company, Meta

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Adobe Premiere Pro has received a new feature once again. This enhancement is specifically designed to make sound editing and syncing easier and quicker.

As of the moment, Premiere Pro (PR) is still the most preferred video editor by creative professionals. Unlike other software models, PR offers more advanced features that can provide better-edited video output.

Thanks to Adobe's efforts, Premiere Pro received continuous updates every year. Now, another upgrade has arrived. If you are a PR user, then here's what you need to know about the new Remix Tool feature.

Adobe Premiere Pro's Remix Tool

According to Apple Insider's latest report, the new Remix Tool allows Adobe Premiere Pro users to complete their sound editing and syncing activities in just a few minutes.

Also Read: #TechCEO: Get to Know Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and How He Came on Top of the Business

Before the new editing feature arrived, videographers took hours just to sync the audio of their captured videos, especially if these sounds were being dubbed.

Now, Adobe Premiere Pro's new Remix Tool feature changes this scenario by offering automated processes on crossfades, streamlining, and razor-cut edits.

Thanks to the integration of this new function, the process of audio editing and syncing on Premiere Pro is now quicker and simpler.

Aside from the Remix Tool, PR also received another enhancement that allows users to customize the software's options. This will lead to a more personal tool arrangement experience, allowing creatives to enjoy their editing activities.

Should You Always Use Adobe PR?

Although Adobe Premiere Pro offers more advanced features than its competitors, some issues can still be experienced.

This includes the complicated tools of the editing software. Because of this, Adobe released the so-called Premiere Elements back in 2004, which is a year after Premiere Pro arrived, as explained by the company's official blog post.

If you are not that technical when it comes to video editing, the best option for you is to use Adobe Premiere Elements.

In other news, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator's simplified web versions were recently launched. Meanwhile, Adobe PS' AI-powered enhancement was released in 2021, allowing consumers to change their subject's poses.

For more news updates about Adobe Premiere Pro and other editing tools, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Adobe's New Project Morpheus is a Deepfake Tool, Experts Claim | Here's Why This Could be a Bad Editing Software

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Learn from Integra Sources experiences about Bluetooth mesh networking, how and where to use it. Well tell you about the design and operation principles of this protocol and compare it with similar technologies, such as Zigbee and Thread. In our Bluetooth mesh guide, youll learn about the advantages of this networking standard and the challenges our team has met working on BLE mesh projects.

Contents:

If youre choosing an out-of-the-box and easy-to-implement solution to build decentralized wireless networks, Bluetooth mesh may be an option.

This protocol can provide secure and reliable communication between multiple devices on a large-scale network. BLE mesh can compete with Wi-Fi, Z-wave, Zigbee, Thread, and other technologies in the context of the Internet of Things and smart connectivity.

However, this is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and like any other technology, it has both strong and weak points. Using our personal experience with Bluetooth mesh networks, well shed some light on this standard to help you understand whether it works for you.

What Is A Bluetooth Mesh Network?

What is a mesh network, broadly speaking? A mesh network is a network of devices, or nodes, connected directly, dynamically, and non-hierarchically to as many other nodes as possible. The nodes cooperate with each other by exchanging data.

A Bluetooth low energy mesh network is a meshnet based on BLE technology.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) first introduced Bluetooth Low Energy or BLE in 2009. In early 2010, it was completely integrated into Bluetooth 4.0. The new technology was designed for smart connectivity systems with low power requirements.

However, the abilities of BLE networks were quite limited. Bluetooth Low Energy allowed for one-to-one communication, and simple devices (like beacons) within a network could communicate only via the central hub.

The release of the Bluetooth mesh networking standard became a game-changer in 2017. The Mesh Profile specification, added to Bluetooth 5, provides the possibility for many-to-many communication.

Bluetooth mesh is intended for networks with a large number of nodes - mesh devices that broadcast messages. It targets the growing IoT market which continuously demands:

more energy-efficient solutions;

more security;

more communicating devices;

more flexible technologies.

How BLE Mesh Network Works

What differentiates the Bluetooth LE mesh network from Zigbee/other forms of technology, in the first place, is broadcasting messages. Unlike the other wireless networks based on routing, the BLE mesh protocol applies the managed flood principle.

This approach offers a peer-to-peer communication model in which every node, or device, communicates directly with each other. Managed flooding makes messaging efficient without complex routing algorithms. You dont need to use the central hub but you can relay messages straight to the right nodes without any interruptions.

The self-sufficiency of the nodes, coupled with multipath messaging, facilitates the scalability of BLE mesh networking. It can help you create countless networks with innumerable nodes.

Nodes of a BLE mesh network communicate with each other using a publish/subscribe model. Meshnet publishers can send messages to a group of devices. Devices can subscribe to different addresses, or sets of them, and receive the messages they are interested in.

This type of messaging gives you an opportunity to configure BLE mesh devices to form network segments of different scale and purpose. As a consequence of this configuring, technology becomes even more flexible and manageable.

BLE mesh architecture has a multi-layer structure typical of any communication network:

The upper layers take responsibility for the contents of messages.

take responsibility for the contents of messages. The middle layers are responsible for the logic and behavior of the network.

are responsible for the logic and behavior of the network. The lower layers define message transmission.

Bluetooth mesh networking places a strong focus on security. There are encryption and authentication systems for all messages based on the AES-CMAC and AES-CCM algorithms. The security keys protect the contents of messages and ensure sensitive communication between the nodes.

The use of security credentials protects the BLE mesh network from unauthorized access. Provisioning, or adding a device to the meshnet, is also secure. A new node provisioned on the network gets a unique ID and access to the security keys.

You can create a mesh network using literally any low energy Bluetooth chip or microcontroller that supports the technology. The popular manufacturers, such as Nordic Semiconductors, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Silicon Labs, Qualcomm, and others, produce the hardware and provide SDK to build custom BLE mesh networks.

The main challenge is not just choosing hardware, but creating a viable meshnet.

Why Use A Mesh Network?

All Bluetooth low energy networks have low power consumption and BLE mesh is no exception. So, low energy and large areas clearly make a substantial difference.

Compared to the connection-based Bluetooth network, mesh technology does not require a connection between two nodes or a stable configured route. Should the closest devices in the network be disconnected, the initial node continues to broadcast the packet with no issue. Eventually, it reaches the recipient with just a few seconds delay.

Most of the standard implementations provide no guarantee of this. However, the mesh network is different. It reconfigures itself. It is flexible, which is sometimes more important than a guaranteed speed and shorter delays.

Nodes in a Bluetooth mesh network may change their position without breaking the whole network structure and without losing transferred data. Data loss is possible only if the nodes leave the coverage area of the receiver.

BLE mesh nodes can communicate with Bluetooth 4.x and 5.x devices. A Bluetooth 4.x compatible device will be able to receive messages. But it will not become a fully-fledged node of the network as it can communicate only with the paired device.

Now, there are a growing number of devices that support BLE mesh. One of the most promising areas for Bluetooth mesh networking is mobile communication because smartphones are compatible with Bluetooth 4.0 and BLE.

BLE mesh technology is closely connected with beacons. BLE beacons are broadly used in sensor networks, indoor and outdoor positioning, and other low-power connected systems.

As a highly flexible, energy-efficient, and secure solution, BLE mesh can find use in traditional networking applications, such as:

Home automation

Industrial automation

Smart lighting

Asset tracking

Proximity detection

Our development experience proves that you can use this technology as a nonstandard solution for your project. Further in our guide, well give an example of BLE mesh network used for an unconventional application.

BLE 5.x Mesh Compared to Similar Technologies

Apart from BLE mesh, there are other similar mesh networking technologies. The most popular of them include Zigbee and Thread. These protocols have much in common with Bluetooth mesh networking.

Announced in 2014, Thread is the youngest technology compared to Zigbee and BLE mesh. It is an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) based mesh networking protocol designed for IoT systems.

This protocol has a limited number of routers (32 per network) and it is not appropriate for large-scale networks. However, you can connect up to 511 devices per router. So, this networking standard works well for high-density meshnets.

Thread is an IP-addressable out-of-the-box solution that you can easily integrate into your IPv6-based app. This standard has a sufficiently high data rate compared to similar technologies. Thread is fine for local IoT systems and it is not intended for long-distance data transmission.

Zigbee is much older than its competitors. It first appeared in 1998 and was standardized in 2003. Zigbee is a low-power and low-bandwidth wireless network. Its application areas include home automation, medical devices, industrial and building automation, and others.

This technology is intended for low data rate networks. It has a fixed maximum rate of 250 Kbits/sec.

Version 2.0 of Zigbee Smart Energy supports IPv6 and provides services for electric vehicles. Zigbee RF4CE is a standard developed for radio frequency remote controls. It finds use in diverse consumer electronics and low-cost remote control devices.

Zigbee supports different frequency and output power ranges and consequently different transmission distances. It can work with a variety of transceivers, including Bluetooth Low Energy. Zigbee is rarely supported by consumer electronics. So if you want to add a new device without a special Zigbee transceiver, like a smartphone, on your network, youll need to use a gateway.

Each of the three standards provides wireless mesh communication and is widely used in IoT and smart home systems. The technologies are suitable for networks with low bandwidth and low power consumption. Security is a significant feature of all the protocols.

Depending on the project requirements, Zigbee, Thread, and Bluetooth mesh standards can show roughly the same performance.

The main distinction of BLE mesh networking is that it uses Bluetooth instead of the Internet Protocol and managed flood messaging instead of routing.

IP-compatibility gives an advantage in cases when you need to connect devices that use IP addresses. If you want to introduce IP-based devices into a BLE mesh network, you need to think through addressing mechanisms.

In managed flooding, all nodes of the network receive and pass messages on unless they are subscribed to them. Devices dont store this data so they dont need much RAM.

When you use Zigbee and Thread, you should make certain that devices in the network have enough RAM to store routing tables.

The use of managed flooding in multi-node networks may create much noise since messages are relayed to all the nodes at once. Thats why this approach works better for low-density meshnets.

The routing mechanism applied in Zigbee and Thread assists you in directing messages to the destination nodes. This helps mitigate noise and use these protocols in high-density networks.

The flood-based approach engages every node of a BLE mesh network in communication which creates certain overhead. To reduce it you can develop filtering algorithms or use virtual addresses with unique identifiers.

Compared to flood messaging, routing has a more complicated implementation. But at the same time, it provides faster data transfer with lower overhead.

For one of the projects, we have compared the main characteristics of BLE 5.x Mesh, Zigbee, Thread, and our own Integra BLE networks. BLE mesh network had the lowest bandwidth, less than 1.5 kbit/sec for 100 bytes packet on six hops, and the largest delay (640 ms for the same packet and four hops).

BLE mesh has no guaranteed data delivery, unlike Zigbee or Thread. So, for a small amount of data that does not require fast and guaranteed delivery, it might be a good option.

Nowadays, all smartphones and most consumer electronics support Bluetooth. So you can easily integrate a Bluetooth network into the existing environment, making the implementation faster and less costly.

The strongest point of Bluetooth mesh networks is their survivability - you dont have to worry much about the nodes relocation. The weakest points include heavy broadcast traffic and low throughput. The most suitable application of BLE mesh is a smart home and similar IoT projects that involve the transmission of small amounts of data.

-Sergey Belykh,Hardware team Technical Lead, Integra Sources

Our Experience with Bluetooth Mesh Projects

Working with any new technology is always challenging for a developer. When the technology is young, it may lack the necessary documentation and use cases available online. In this situation, you resolve every issue by trial and error.

One of the non-standard commercial projects based on Bluetooth mesh and realized by Integra Sources is a network of Bluetooth devices for restaurants and bars. The standard BLE Mesh network realization fits the project well.

The devices in this network are stylish cubes located on the tables with NFC tags but not tied to them. The staff can relocate the cubes in any order, as the network is absolutely flexible.

Visitors of the restaurant can use these devices to call a waiter and ask for the check. The cubes also inform the waiting staff how long the guest has been kept waiting. Besides, the devices work as a table lamp.

The staff receive the data from the cubes using iOS smartphones and tablets that connect to the closest Bluetooth device. The latter becomes a gateway. This connection, however, does not affect the whole network configuration.

Data accumulated from the devices generate comprehensive statistics. Owners can use the data to optimize employee performance and improve the quality of service in the restaurants.

The arbitrary placement of the nodes makes it possible to create a completely different Bluetooth mesh network configuration. On the schemes below you can see just some of the situations.

We performed several experiments on about 100 Bluetooth nodes to find the algorithms that can configure this network automatically.

In the restaurants, the cubes are constantly relocated; some of them may be off; they may be used in facilities with several rooms. So, the human factor has a constant effect on the physical topology of the network.

Integra Sources had to spend several hundred hours creating methods and rules to build and rebuild the graph in real time. That was worthwhile - now the system is reliable and flexible at the same time.

As long as there is no routing in the standard BLE mesh implementation, the total number of nodes and data transfer operations between them decreases the network performance. The nodes broadcast all the data they receive from other nodes - and receive all the packets - and rebroadcast them, and so on.

Even with a low message time-to-live (TTL), it is easy to imagine the broadcast storm that a 1000-node mesh network could generate. The delays and latency only grow with the number of nodes and the number of packets sent between them.

Bluetooth mesh networking technology allows you to connect more than 30 thousand devices at once. But in our experience, even a mere hundred of them can create the amount of spam that could seriously threaten the whole ecosystem.

For the restaurant cubes project, we had to find a way to reduce the effect of this storm. First of all, we added a certain TTL to each packet of the node. This has decreased the traffic in the network.

To reduce the consequences of the storm, we decided to replace the managed flood messaging native to BLE mesh networks by routing mechanisms.

Our engineers developed routing tables for each node. The routing algorithms provided fast and guaranteed data delivery from the devices to the gateway.

We introduced measurements of signal strength or RSSI to build strong connections between the modes and make the communication efficient.

In theory, the maximum physical speed of a mesh network with Bluetooth 5.x devices (including the service data on the beacon, packet type, etc.) is 2 Mbit per second. However, such speed is impossible to reach in real data transmission. So the potential of using Bluetooth mesh networks is still not that great.

To estimate the real bandwidth of data transfer within a mesh network, you should take into account two basic criteria:

the number of devices;

the distance between the devices and the BLE network topology.

Thus, in one of our asset tracking projects, as well as in the restaurant mesh network, the data throughput rate was about 80 kbit/s. However, this data rate allows for timely notifications and even imaging with low power consumption.

One of our customers wanted to implement a mesh network for an industrial company to track employees and transport movement within a facility.

However, they needed a high bandwidth and the highest reliability at the same time, while transferring data for quite a long distance, about one kilometer. All the devices, aside from one gateway, were battery-powered.

Taking this into account, we couldnt guarantee reliable data delivery and high throughput by implementing a BLE mesh. As a consequence, we developed a custom meshnet based on the BLE protocol that could not cause a broadcast storm.

We have built a network that reconfigures itself automatically. The network topology gets updated upon provisioning a new device. The number of provisioned devices is unlimited. Each device acts as both a node and a router.

-Sergey Belykh,Hardware team Technical Lead, Integra Sources

A direct connection between the neighboring nodes and routing the data to the gateway proved to be more effective for this project. The developed people and asset tracking solution guaranteed message delivery within the hard-to-reach industrial area. Using multiple beacons, the solution assists in tracking employees and equipment located even at a long distance from the gateway.

Conclusion: Yes or No for BLE Mesh?

In spite of its undeniable benefits, Bluetooth mesh network technology is not universal and its scope of use is limited. If the protocol fits the companys needs, it requires a fine setup and much experimentation and tests.

However, our experience proves that this is a robust technology, especially for the Internet of Things solutions. BLE mesh meets the latest requirements of smart connectivity - it is low-power, large-scale, flexible, and secure.

Working on Bluetooth mesh projects, we complete all necessary types of tasks:

provide a custom gateway;

create a mesh network topology;

write firmware for the nodes and the gateway;

optimize the topology by making it compatible with the existing devices and system.

So if you need a low power wireless system with scalable connectivity and secure data transfer, we can create a BLE mesh network for your particular project.

We hope that our BLE mesh guide gave you an idea of this networking technology. If you still have doubts about using BLE mesh technology for your product, feel free to Integra Sources and get our professional advice.
Madisonville, KY (42431)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. High near 80F. Winds light and variable..

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Showers this evening then scattered thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
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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FILE - A Dreamliner 787-10 arriving from Los Angeles pulls up to a gate at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., Monday, Jan. 7, 2019. Federal safety officials are directing operators of some Boeing planes to adopt extra procedures when landing on wet or snowy runways near impending 5G service because, they say, interference from the wireless networks could mean that the planes need more room to land. The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, that interference could delay systems like thrust reversers on Boeing 787s from kicking in, leaving only the brakes to slow the plane. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) ORG XMIT: NYSB526 ORG XMIT: BAT2201141923532018
The Louisiana Supreme Court said Tuesday it will decide whether Baton Rouge serial killer Kenneth Gleason's conviction should be thrown out because he died in prison while appealing the verdict.

A state appeals court, at the request of Gleason's appellate attorney, used a little-known common law doctrine known as "abatement ab initio" to toss his conviction in November.

+3 After Baton Rouge serial killer's suicide, court uses little-known rule to void conviction Seven weeks after convicted Baton Rouge serial killer Kenneth Gleason died of an apparent suicide just days after his arrival at Angola, a sta

The doctrine requires courts to set aside a conviction if the defendant dies while his appeals are pending.

The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate Gleason's first-degree murder conviction. Prosecutors want the justices to either abandon the doctrine or allow for a suicide exception "so that a convicted defendant cannot circumvent the fact of conviction and obtain a de facto acquittal by electing to kill himself."

Katherine Franks, who is handling Gleason's appeal, has said the Baton Rouge-based 1st Circuit Court of Appeal did not err in following the doctrine and throwing out the conviction.

+3 A serial killer's conviction was overturned in death. Here's why his lawyer says that was right. An appeals court did not err last month when it threw out Baton Rouge serial killer Kenneth Gleason's conviction after he died in prison while

Gleason, 27, was found hanging in his Angola cell in September, a month after he was sentenced to life in prison for his April conviction.

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East Baton Rouge prosecutors want the high court to adopt what is referred to as the "Alabama Rule," which multiple jurisdictions have adopted. The rule allows for a note in the trial court record that says a conviction removed a defendant's presumption of innocence, but that the conviction was appealed and was neither affirmed nor reversed because the defendant died.

Gleason, a White man, was unanimously convicted in the Sept. 14, 2017, shooting of Donald Smart, 49, as the Black man walked along Alaska Street just north of the LSU campus to his overnight shift at Louies Cafe.

To convict Gleason on the first-degree murder charge, which can be brought when there are multiple killings, the jury also had to find that he fatally shot Bruce Cofield, 59, two days earlier, as Cofield, who also is Black, sat at a bus stop near the intersection of Florida Boulevard and South Acadian Thruway.

+3 Kenneth Gleason, accused of killing two Black men in Baton Rouge, sentenced to life in prison Convicted Baton Rouge serial killer Kenneth Gleason, who was accused of fatally shooting two Black men and firing into the home of a Black fam

Gleason also was accused of firing into the home of a Black family on his street in the Hickory Ridge subdivision off Coursey Boulevard over a four-day span in 2017.

He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Aug. 23 and arrived at the Louisiana State Penitentiary on Sept. 20. He was found hanging in his cell two days later.

The Supreme Court has given prosecutors until March 7 to file their written arguments, and Gleason's lawyer until March 25. The justices said they will hear oral arguments on the court's next available docket.
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Louisianas court system needs to be funded by taxpayers and not defendants, a task force reported Monday to legislative leaders and the governor.

The report, which was approved by the 25-member Louisiana Commission on Justice System Funding Report, didnt offer any specific bills to forward in the upcoming regular session of the Legislature that begins March 14.

But the analysis lays out legal changes that might be necessary and adds credibility to any lawmaker wanting to submit measures for consideration, said state Sen. Rick Ward III, the Port Allen Republican representing the state Senate on the panel.

Louisiana is one of the last states looking at shifting to taxpayers the obligation of funding the courts, rather than rely on users paying.

Critical vote on plan to change court funding system in Louisiana postponed by lawmakers A legislative task force postponed a crucial vote Monday on its report to the Legislature on how to wean Louisiana off funding the court syste

The effort began in 2017. Almost immediately commissioners discovered that Louisianas system of charging the accused fines and fees to pay for court services and expenses was far more sprawling and complex than in most states.

The commission received technical assistance from the National Center for States Courts, which examined the steps other states took to reengineer their judicial systems.

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Louisiana does pay the salaries of state district judges, but not lower courts. Most courts' expenses are  to varying degrees  covered by charges made on defendants. Each parish, each municipality, each judicial district, has its own roster of fees and its own way of collecting the money. There was no way to compare between jurisdictions.

We first had to pass a bill to require the courts to report how much they spent, who paid the fees and how they were collected, said Will Harrell, a New Orleans lawyer representing Louisianans for Prison Alternatives. The one thing all the courts shared was that the people paying the bills were those charged with crimes who often couldnt afford the costs.

The commission also discovered that any change of the funding sources  from user pay to taxpayer pay  requires several legal changes to bring the various systems into line. Even definitions of restitution and court costs differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and need to be standardized.

The commission organized into work groups to make recommendations. There were no proposals adopted by the full commission, the report stated.

Speaking for the marshals and constables in city courts, Carl Richard, the Shreveport City Marshal, testified that legislators cant just cut off funding because since 2003 they operate off fees and fines from delivering about 15,000 subpoenas each year in Caddo Parish. Were going to have to lay off people, Richard told the task force.

If legislators allow the commission to continue, they would next study the financial obligations of criminal defendants and try to calculate how much money would be needed from state and local general revenue systems.
Although Black residents make-up one-third of Louisiana's population, Black voters would get the chance to elect their preferred candidate in just one of six congressional districts, under several proposals advanced by Republican legislative leaders.

If those plans are enacted, they certainly are in danger of being struck down by the courts under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, according to a coalition of civil rights organizations, who repeated their concerns in a Friday letter to lawmakers.

But how can they be so confident the maps are illegal?

Decades ago, the United States Supreme Court established a three-part test to determine whether a districting plan violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the federal law that bars racial discrimination in election procedures and requires that minority voters be given an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.

Nicknamed the Gingles requirements  pronounced like "jingle" because of the landmark opinion that spawned them, three preconditions must be met in order for a plaintiff to assert that a map illegally dilutes minority voting strength.

2022.2.4 Letter in Opposition to HB1 Advocates letter in opposition to House Bill 1

It's rare that all the Gingles requirements are met and a map isn't thrown out. A federal court in Alabama relied on the test in a recent decision to block the states congressional districts from being used in the upcoming election.

But the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling Monday evening lifted the lower court's stay, saying it was too close to the election to require Alabama to redraw new maps. The decision likely clears the way for Alabama to use its original maps  which packed Black voters into one of seven congressional districts, even though 27% of the population is Black  for the 2022 election.

The court didn't rule on the merits of the case, leaving open the possibility that Alabama's maps could be struck down in the future.

Redistrict USC on Alabama 020722 US Supreme Court stay on Alabama redistricting care

Can a second majority-Black district even be drawn?

To satisfy the first Gingles requirement, plaintiffs will have to prove that the Black population in Louisiana is "sufficiently large and geographically compact" to support a map with a second majority-Black district.

More than 33% of Louisianas population  or roughly 1.5 million people  identify as Black, and theres little dispute that its possible to draw those communities into two districts where Black voters make-up a majority.

In fact, nearly a dozen proposals have been introduced by Democratic state lawmakers that include such a configuration.

To pass muster, however, maps must be reasonably compact. Courts turn to mathematicians and a trio of widely recognized statistical measures of compactness to make that determination.

Of the maps proposed by Democrats, eight are more compact on all three statistical measures than the configuration put forward by GOP legislative leaders, according to Michael Pernick, redistricting counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Inc.

It is beyond question that Louisianas Black population is sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority of voters in a second congressional district, the civil rights groups wrote in their letter.

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

Is there racially polarized voting in Louisiana?

For the second and third Gingles requirements, plaintiffs must show that Black voters are politically cohesive and that White voters tend to vote as a bloc to defeat candidates preferred by Black voters.

In essence, the courts are asking whether voting is racially polarized, or in simpler terms, whether Black and White voters in Louisiana consistently vote for opposing candidates.

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Louisiana has a well-documented history and ongoing record of racially polarized voting in elections across the state, the civil rights group argued.

As they note in their letter, Over the past three decades, numerous federal courts have found that racially polarized voting pervades Louisianas statewide and local elections.

The 2020 congressional elections offer a peek into Louisiana's racially polarized voting patterns. In the five districts comprised of a majority of White voters, four included contests between Black and White congressional candidates. In each of those races, White candidates were elected over Black candidates.

When you have racially polarized voting present, and you dont have districts drawn in a manner such that Black voters can elect candidates of their choice, then the candidates preferred by Black voters will be defeated by White bloc voting, Pernick said.

A 'totality of circumstances'?

After satisfying the three Gingles requirements, the courts would next evaluate whether under the "totality of circumstances," Black voters have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and elect representatives of choice.

The courts achieve the analysis by examining a list of so-called "Senate Factors."

The nine factors cover a wide range of considerations, including: whether political campaigns in the state have been characterized by overt or subtle racial appeals; the history of official discrimination against the minority group; the extent to which members of the minority group bears the effects of discrimination in education, employment and health.

In the Alabama lawsuit, the three-judge panel  which included two appointees of former President Donald Trump  noted that Supreme Court precedent also requires that courts take into consideration whether the number of districts in which the minority group forms an effective majority is "roughly proportional" to its share of the population.

Under the proposals put forward by GOP leadership, Black residents would form an effective majority in 16.7% of the state's congressional districts, even though they comprise 33% of the population.

Litigation all but inevitable

On Friday, shortly before lawmakers voted to advance House Speaker Clay Schexnayder's proposal  House Bill 1  to draw one majority-Black congressional district, Pernick offered a blunt assessment.

"House Bill 1 violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act," Pernick said. "How do we know this? It's simple: we walk through the test that's been laid out by the United States Supreme Court in the 1986 opinion Thornburg v Gingles."

Mark Ballard: Louisiana redistricting likely headed for the courts No lawmaker will say it aloud, though several privately admit to the strategy of asking the courts to redistrict Louisiana should Republican l

The warning doesn't seem to have fazed GOP legislative leaders.

"We could have drawn a sunshine picture, and they would've filed a lawsuit against us," said Speaker Pro Tem Tanner Magee, R-Houma.

Asked in an interview Sunday what he understands the Voting Rights Act to require of the Legislature, Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, declined to go into specifics.

"I'm not going to get into the Voting Rights Act. That's on the court side. That's on the legal side. I'm going to leave that where it is," Schexnayder said.
The first political casualty of the Legislatures redistricting effort emerged Monday when a Black Democrat who represents Natchitoches decried Republicans plans to eliminate his district.

Its like you threw a land mine into my district and blew it up, state Rep. Kenny Cox, a Democrat, told members of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Saying he saved lives as an Army officer after a terrorist plane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, Cox added, I didnt think this would bother me. Ive been to war. Ive done a lot of killing and other things. But I havent been able to rest.

Cox made his comments during the first public hearing of the Republican-drawn plan of the 105 House districts as part of the redistricting process that takes place every 10 years. His district would be shifted nearly 250 miles south to create a Black-majority district in New Orleans Mid-City neighborhood, where the population has grown over the past decade.

The House committee is scheduled to approve the new map for the House on Tuesday, as the first step in the legislative process.

The Republican measure, House Bill 14, will put the GOP in position to retain and even grow its huge majority in the House over the next decade.

Katie Bernhardt, chair of Louisiana Democratic Party, said she believes Republicans are trying to create 72 GOP seats. They currently hold 68. Getting to 70 would give them a two-thirds majority that could override bills vetoed by the next governor.

State Rep. John Stefanski has played the lead role in redrawing the new House boundaries as the chair of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.

This is my baby, for lack of a better term, Stefanski, R-Crowley, told the committee members.

In an interview after the hearing, he denied that he is trying to pad Republican numbers.

My goals and the partys goals are not necessarily the same thing, Stefanski said. My goal is to pass a bill that has the greatest support possible.

Stefanski said he juggled several factors during the remap  the need to adhere to the federal Voting Rights Act, members personal demands, the states geography, shifts in population over the past decade, and the requirement that each new House district must contain 44,395 residents, give or take 5%.

During the committee hearing, Democrats went out of their way to praise Stefanski for meeting with them multiple times to better understand their districts in advance of redrawing the lines.

But the Black members complained that Stefanskis map envisions only 29 districts where Black residents of voting age would be a majority, the same number as today.

GOP lawmakers double down on single majority-Black congressional district, as litigation looms Six White Republican senators voted in lockstep Friday to advance legislation that redraws Louisianas state Senate and congressional maps wit

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Rep. Wilford Carter, D-Lake Charles, said that wasnt enough since the state has more Black people than 10 years ago and fewer White residents. Noting that Black people now account for about 33% of the population, Carter said the Black-majority districts in the House should number 34.

Stefanski countered that bills filed by two Democratic members of the committee  Rep. Royce Duplessis, of New Orleans, and Sam Jenkins, of Shreveport  also called for 29 Black-majority districts.

Duplessis quickly interjected that he was not actually presenting his bill because it doesnt create enough Black-majority districts.

Ashley Shelton, president and CEO of the New Orleans-based Power Coalition, told the committee members that her group is presenting a plan that would add three majority-minority districts.

Stefanksis plan substantially shifts the racial makeup in two districts while keeping the number of Black-majority districts at 29.

Stefanskis HB14 would give Black voters a majority in House District 62, which is represented by Roy Daryl Adams, a White political independent from Jackson. It would do so by taking West Feliciana Parish away from him and giving him a portion of north East Baton Rouge Parish instead.

Adams complained to committee members, saying the two Feliciana parishes contain common interests and ought to remain in his district.

In July, Adams angered House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, by admitting he lied when he privately told Schexnayder that he would vote to override Gov. John Bel Edwards veto of a bill that targeted transgender athletes. Adams voted with the governor, and the speakers override attempt fell short by only two votes.

Asked whether Schexnayder might be punishing him now, Adams in an interview said he didnt know.

In another change under Stefanskis map, the district of Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, who is White, would no longer be a Black-majority seat.

Much of Mondays committee hearing focused on complaints by Black Democrats that Stefanski erased Cox's district and not that of Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, who like Cox is term-limited.

Stefanski said he chose to move Coxs Black-majority district because it has lost the most population of the four term-limited members in central and north Louisiana.

That decision has gutted Cox, a 64-year-old former lieutenant colonel.

All I can do now is apologize to my people, he told the committee members. Apologize with great disdain. I did not know this would hurt me like this. It hurts me to my core.

Replied Rep. Tanner Magee, R-Houma: Its nothing personal.

In an interview, Cox said his brother Johnny, who is Coushattas mayor, has been planning to run for his seat.
Senate leaders on Monday proposed a map that would largely keep current boundaries for Louisiana's top school board intact while three other proposals are aimed at adding a third majority-minority district to the mix.

The Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee is set to vote on the measures Tuesday, the same day the House debates a separate measure that would largely keep the current lines in place.

After arguments, House panel approves map with new boundaries for state school board Despite complaints from Black lawmakers, a state House committee Friday approved a bill that would spell out new boundaries for Louisiana's to

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education includes 11 members, with eight elected by voters and three named by the governor.

Boundaries for the eight elected districts are being redrawn as part of the once-a-decade process called redistricting sparked by population changes.

BESE sets policies for nearly 700,000 students statewide.

Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette and Sen. Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge, are proposing a map that would retain two majority-minority districts. That means a district where Black residents, who make up 33% of Louisiana's population, comprise a majority of the BESE district.

Foil told the committee one goal of the proposed map  Senate Bill 14  is "continuity of representation," which he said would allow voters to retain or reject members during elections in 2023. "This map achieves that," he said.

Cortez rejected an argument by backers of a third majority-minority district that the lines should be shaped in part by the fact Black students and other minorities makeup 57% of the state's public school population.

He said redistricting is driven by changes in population, not the population of student bodies.

Two Black senators disagreed.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, is sponsoring two bills designed to add a third majority-minority district  Senate Bills 7 and 12.

Senate Bill 7 would convert BESE District 5 in northeast Louisiana, which now consists mostly of White voters, to one where Black residents make up 50.5% of the population and 47.7% of the voting-age population.

District 5 is held by Ashley Ellis, of Monroe.

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Senate Bill 12 would change BESE District 4 in northwest Louisiana, which is mostly White residents, to 51.1% Black residents and 48.3% of the voting-age population would be Black residents.

District 4 is held by Michael Melerine, of Shreveport.

Fields told the committee Black students make up 42% of public schools and Hispanic students 9%, with other minority students making up another 6% of the total.

"So the total minority population in the state of Louisiana in public schools would be 57%," he said.

Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, offered a map that would convert District 5 to 50.5% Black residents, and Black voters would make up 47.8% of the voting-age population.

Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell and chairperson of the committee, repeatedly questioned Barrow and others on whether a voting-age population of 47.7% would be enough to ensure the election of a minority BESE member.

"At the end of the day it creates an opportunity," Barrow replied.

"That is the best we can ask for," she said. "Whoever the candidate is they have to get out and do the work."

Bid to add new minority seat to BESE could spark controversy during redistricting session A new redistricting dispute is brewing amid a push by civil rights groups to add another minority seat to the state Board of Elementary and Se

Victoria Wenger, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Inc., said her group is confident that a revamped BESE district where Black voters make up about 47% of the voting-age population would stand a good chance of allowing a minority candidate to win.

Hewitt said legislative officials disagree.

Former BESE President Linda Johnson, who served on the board for 13 years, backed the push for a third majority-minority district and said it should have happened after the 2010 census.

"I think it is morally responsible for us to have representatives not just on BESE but any of these organizations that look like the children," said Johnson, who lives in Plaquemine.
At first glance, it seems like the right candidate needs only a range of standard office skills: Effective multitasking; great verbal and written communication; attention to detail. But then the requirements become rather more demanding: Understanding of Class III implantable neuromodulation devices. Not everyone, it is clear, will have what it takes to work for Elon Musk.

For this is a job ad just posted by Musks five year-old company, Neuralink. And not just any job ad. This is not one of the usual tech openings for software engineers, or digital designers dreaming up products of the future. This is a job ad for Clinical Trial Director - for someone, in other words, to run tests on living humans of a product thats ready for surgical insertion now.

Elon Musk says his start-up has tested its elaborate interface of "threads" - which connects with a chip embedded in the skull - on rats and now wants to begin human trials as soon as next year. Credit:AP

In a way, it should come as no surprise. Other job vacancies at Neuralink (Animal Care Specialist; Licensed Veterinary Technician) testify to the progress of experiments on monkeys. But that should not detract from the import of the moment. For though it is not as well known as Tesla and SpaceX, Musks more celebrated electric car and rocket ventures, Neuralink is, if anything, even more ambitious. It aims to develop a device, known as a brain machine interface (BMI), that will ultimately plug our grey matter directly into the connected, digital world, allowing us to control devices, tap global knowledge, and even communicate with each other, purely with our thoughts.

No wonder that under the job ads heading of What we offer, the very first line reads: An opportunity to change the world.
Two views from Hubble of the massive galaxy cluster Cl 0024+17 (ZwCl 0024+1652) are shown. To the left is the view in visible-light with odd-looking blue arcs appearing among the yellowish galaxies. These are the magnified and distorted images of galaxies located far behind the cluster. Their light is bent and amplified by the immense gravity of the cluster in a process called gravitational lensing. To the right, a blue shading has been added to indicate the location of invisible material called dark matter that is mathematically required to account for the nature and placement of the gravitationally lensed galaxies that are seen. Credits: NASA, ESA, M.J. Jee and H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University)

Pictures of the Milky Way show billions of stars arranged in a spiral pattern radiating out from the center, with illuminated gas in between.

But our eyes can only glimpse the surface of what holds our galaxy together. About 95 percent of the mass of our galaxy is invisible and does not interact with light. It is made of a mysterious substance called dark matter, which has never been directly measured.

Now, a new study calculates how dark matter's gravity affects objects in our solar system, including spacecraft and distant comets. It also proposes a way that dark matter's influence could be directly observed with a future experiment. The article is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"We're predicting that if you get out far enough in the solar system, you actually have the opportunity to start measuring the dark matter force," said Jim Green, study co-author and advisor to NASA's Office of the Chief Scientist. "This is the first idea of how to do it and where we would do it."

Dark matter in our backyard

Here on Earth, our planet's gravity keeps us from flying out of our chairs, and the Sun's gravity keeps our planet orbiting on a 365-day schedule. But the farther from the Sun a spacecraft flies, the less it feels the Sun's gravity, and the more it feels a different source of gravity: that of the matter from the rest of the galaxy, which is mostly dark matter. The mass of our galaxy's 100 billion stars is miniscule compared to estimates of the Milky Way's dark matter content.

To understand the influence of dark matter in the solar system, lead study author Edward Belbruno calculated the "galactic force," the overall gravitational force of normal matter combined with dark matter from the entire galaxy. He found that in the solar system, about 45 percent of this force is from dark matter and 55 percent is from normal, so-called "baryonic matter." This suggests a roughly half-and-half split between the mass of dark matter and normal matter in the solar system.

"I was a bit surprised by the relatively small contribution of the galactic force due to dark matter felt in our solar system as compared to the force due to the normal matter," said Belbruno, mathematician and astrophysicist at Princeton University and Yeshiva University. "This is explained by the fact most of dark matter is in the outer parts of our galaxy, far from our solar system."

A large region called a "halo" of dark matter encircles the Milky Way and represents the greatest concentration of the dark matter of the galaxy. There is little to no normal matter in the halo. If the solar system were located at a greater distance from the center of the galaxy, it would feel the effects of a larger proportion of dark matter in the galactic force because it would be closer to the dark matter halo, the authors said.

How dark matter may influence spacecraft

Green and Belbruno predict that dark matter's gravity ever so slightly interacts with all of the spacecraft that NASA has sent on paths that lead out of the solar system, according to the new study.

"If spacecraft move through the dark matter long enough, their trajectories are changed, and this is important to take into consideration for mission planning for certain future missions," Belbruno said.

Such spacecraft may include the retired Pioneer 10 and 11 probes that launched in 1972 and 1973, respectively; the Voyager 1 and 2 probes that have been exploring for more than 40 years and have entered interstellar space; and the New Horizons spacecraft that has flown by Pluto and Arrokoth in the Kuiper Belt.

But it's a tiny effect. After traveling billions of miles, the path of a spacecraft like Pioneer 10 would only deviate by about 5 feet (1.6 meters) due to the influence of dark matter. "They do feel the effect of dark matter, but it's so small, we can't measure it," Green said.

Where does the galactic force take over?

At a certain distance from the Sun, the galactic force becomes more powerful than the pull of the Sun, which is made of normal matter. Belbruno and Green calculated that this transition happens at around 30,000 astronomical units, or 30,000 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. That is well beyond the distance of Pluto, but still inside the Oort Cloud, a swarm of millions of comets that surrounds the solar system and extends out to 100,000 astronomical units.

This means that dark matter's gravity could have played a role in the trajectory of objects like 'Oumuamua, the cigar-shaped comet or asteroid that came from another star system and passed through the inner solar system in 2017. Its unusually fast speed could be explained by dark matter's gravity pushing on it for millions of years, the authors say.

If there is a giant planet in the outer reaches of the solar system, a hypothetical object called Planet 9 or Planet X that scientists have been searching for in recent years, dark matter would also influence its orbit. If this planet exists, dark matter could perhaps even push it away from the area where scientists are currently looking for it, Green and Belbruno write. Dark matter may have also caused some of the Oort Cloud comets to escape the orbit of the Sun altogether.

Could dark matter's gravity be measured?

To measure the effects of dark matter in the solar system, a spacecraft wouldn't necessarily have to travel that far. At a distance of 100 astronomical units, a spacecraft with the right experiment could help astronomers measure the influence of dark matter directly, Green and Belbruno said.

Specifically, a spacecraft equipped with radioisotope power, a technology that has allowed Pioneer 10 and 11, the Voyagers, and New Horizon to fly very far from the Sun, may be able to make this measurement. Such a spacecraft could carry a reflective ball and drop it at an appropriate distance. The ball would feel only galactic forces, while the spacecraft would experience a thermal force from the decaying radioactive element in its power system, in addition to the galactic forces. Subtracting out the thermal force, researchers could then look at how the galactic force relates to deviations in the respective trajectories of the ball and the spacecraft. Those deviations would be measured with a laser as the two objects fly parallel to one another.

A proposed mission concept called Interstellar Probe, which aims to travel to about 500 astronomical units from the Sun to explore that uncharted environment, is one possibility for such an experiment.

More about dark matter

Dark matter as a hidden mass in galaxies was first proposed in the 1930s by Fritz Zwicky. But the idea remained controversial until the 1960s and 1970s, when Vera C. Rubin and colleagues confirmed that the motions of stars around their galactic centers would not follow the laws of physics if only normal matter were involved. Only a gigantic hidden source of mass can explain why stars at the outskirts of spiral galaxies like ours move as quickly as they do.

Today, the nature of dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in all of astrophysics. Powerful observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have helped scientists begin to understand the influence and distribution of dark matter in the universe at large. Hubble has explored many galaxies whose dark matter contributes to an effect called "lensing," where gravity bends space itself and magnifies images of more distant galaxies.

Astronomers will learn more about dark matter in the cosmos with the newest set of state-of-the-art telescopes. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which launched Dec. 25, 2021, will contribute to our understanding of dark matter by taking images and other data of galaxies and observing their lensing effects. NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch in the mid-2020s, will conduct surveys of more than a billion galaxies to look at the influence of dark matter on their shapes and distributions.

The European Space Agency's forthcoming Euclid mission, which has a NASA contribution, will also target dark matter and dark energy, looking back in time about 10 billion years to a period when dark energy began hastening the universe's expansion. And the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a collaboration of the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and others, which is under construction in Chile, will add valuable data to this puzzle of dark matter's true essence.

But these powerful tools are designed to look for dark matter's strong effects across large distances, and much farther afield than in our solar system, where dark matter's influence is so much weaker.

"If you could send a spacecraft out there to detect it, that would be a huge discovery," Belbruno said.

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The US seized about $US3.6 billion ($5.1 billion) in Bitcoin stolen during a 2016 hack of the Bitfinex currency exchange  the largest financial seizure ever  and arrested two people, the Justice Department said.

Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, were detained on Tuesday morning in New York and are scheduled to appear at federal court in Manhattan in the afternoon, the Justice Department said in a statement. The two  who appeared to have colourful social media accounts ahead of their arrests  allegedly conspired to launder 119,754 Bitcoin stolen after a hacker breached Bitfinexs systems.

Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan allegedly conspired to launder 119,754 Bitcoin stolen after a hacker breached Bitfinexs systems. Credit:Instagram/@heatherreyhan

Todays arrests, and the Departments largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions.
Netflix has long been the place to nurture our true crime obsession, drip-feeding us series and documentaries that linger after the final credits have rolled. Its been six years since Making a Murderer premiered, and the case of Steven Avery still occupies my thoughts. Now, the streaming giant has dropped a new gem in the form of The Tinder Swindler.

The documentary tells the story of Israeli fraudster Shimon Hayut, who changed his name to Simon Leviev and posed as a billionaire diamond dealer on Tinder, conning women into falling in love with him and showering them with overseas trips and gifts.

Once theyd fallen for his charms, Leviev would hit them up for loans claiming his enemies in the diamond game had frozen his accounts.

The Tinder Swindler tells the story of fraudster Shimon Hayut and the women he conned. Credit:Netflix

The con left three women  Cecilie Fjellhoy, Pernilla Sjoholm and Ayleen Charlotte  thousands of dollars in debt and kicked off an international manhunt for The Tinder Swindler. But like all tremendous true crime series, the ending often feels like the beginning, and we dont doubt youve got unanswered questions.
Queensland finally reached its long-awaited 90 per cent fully vaccinated target on Tuesday, as the state recorded 12 more deaths from COVID-19.

Of the people who died, one was aged in their 30s, although Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said that was a somewhat unusual case.

Its not clear to what extent COVID played a part in this persons death, but it could have played a part so we included this case for the sake of transparency, he said.

The state recorded 5178 new cases, with 663 people in hospital, 42 in intensive care, 22 of those people ventilated.
Surrounded by children learning to swim on Monday mornings at Melbourne City Baths is a group of adults working on the same skills  blowing bubbles under water and practising kicking with a kickboard.

The adults are refugees from Afghanistan who had never seen a swimming pool, let alone visited a beach, before fleeing their landlocked country last year when it fell to the Taliban.

Life Saving Victoria diversity and inclusion project co-ordinator Ramzi Hussaini did a similar program when he first arrived in Australia. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Swimming instructor Ramzi Hussaini says the water safety skills the refugees are learning are essential.

We have seen an increase in the drowning rates, drowning numbers in people within multicultural communities, he says. The water safety sessions equip them to just learn a very basic water safety message to keep themselves and their family safe.
Pedestrian safety

Its good to see the police cracking down on e-scooter riders who are endangering pedestrians (Police crack down on electric scooter misuse, The Age, 8/2). But Im more worried about being hit by a car. Indeed, many drivers treat giving way to pedestrians at intersections as optional.

Of course we dont have the police resources to monitor every intersection. But there are technical solutions, such as early starts for pedestrians at signalled crossings. What does it take to get the authorities to implement such simple measures? I recently asked my local council to apply for improvements to a signalised intersection where near misses are common and pedestrians have been seriously injured. It said no. Apparently the criteria is that there must be three serious injuries (requiring hospitalisation) that could have been prevented by the improvements. Three! It says a lot about how much the authorities value pedestrian safety.

Andrea Bunting, Brunswick Scooting safely

After travelling more than 3000 kilometres in six months on my e-scooter Ive had to become hyper-aware of my ability to return home safely. This vehicle can roll downhill without power at 45 kilometres an hour but thats a death wish.

Some roads I wont travel on and I resort to the footpath. Everybodys safety is paramount, so be seen, slow down and be hyper-alert to the rules and return home unscathed.

Patrick Walker, Coburg North Useful guidelines

Rod Wise suggests (Letters 8/2) religion is to blame for many of societys problems. I believe that, in the main, religions provide guidelines for ethical behaviour. The problems are caused by how people interpret, then apply those interpretations, to their actions.

Andrew Moloney, Frankston History wars

Deborah Morrison, (Letters, 8/2), makes a telling point  in the context of teaching history  that instead of teaching what to think, perhaps teaching how to think is required. Such an approach would contradict the conservative Commonwealth curriculum draft, which, the World War I Gallipoli campaign being a prime example, does not allow for contested narratives. Ideally, an enlightened curriculum in 2022 would acknowledge that the brave Anzac Diggers in 1915 confronted an equally brave Turkish adversary for whom Islam was their guiding force. For the latter, the Anzacs were perceived arguably as latter-day Christian Crusaders invading their nation. Questioning skills in relation to historical narratives should be a curriculum priority in a world where students are being subjected to disinformation across a range of media.

Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza Not the full story

By golly, Captain Cook has a lot to answer for. If only he had curbed his adventurous spirit and remained at home, we would not be having this tedious debate on Australian history. In fact, we wouldnt have any schools, much less all these opinions on what should be taught.

It is what it is. The history prior to settlement is based on myths, handed down over generations. It remains part of the history of Australia, which must be acknowledged, but not the full story. Trish Young, Hampton

Real jobs

That the last time the jobless rate had a 3 in front of it was in the mid-70s will be a mantra used by the government right up until the May election. But it should not be taken at face value. In 1974-75 a job meant tenured employment, holiday pay, sick pay and in most cases superannuation. In 1974 more than 50 per cent of the workforce belonged to a union and received regular wage increases arbitrated at the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and most workers could afford to buy a home in one of the growing suburbs of our capital cities. Today to be employed is to work more than one hour every week and a vast number of new jobs are contracted or casual and are without the benefit of holiday or sick pay. Less than 17 per cent of workers belong to a union and so we now have a sector of the workforce referred to as the working poor who struggle to find money for rent and for whom home ownership remains an impossible dream.

Craig Horne, Fitzroy North Aged care assistance

In addition to sending in the Defence Force to provide certain limited functions in aged care homes (Plea for aid as aged care surge force inadequate, The Age, 7/2) maybe Scott Morrison could ask Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck to help as well. The senator could provide assistance with dressing, showering and toileting and it could give him a better understanding of his portfolio and the difficulties and daily pressures that workers experience.

Peter Williams, Alphington Skills shortage

The Prime Ministers statement that, in aged care, you want qualified people providing care (Compliance checks in aged care cut back, The Age, 8/2) is quite right. The aged care royal commission has identified that a core problem with Australias broken aged care system is that aged care workers are not sufficiently trained to provide quality care. This is also the ongoing daily observation of primary, family and friend carers of aged care residents. The amount of minimal training that currently enables someone to earn a salary as an aged care worker, does not enable workers to fulfil even the basic requirement for care, which are the skills of observation and thought processes that lead to practical solutions. Carers entering a residents room usually dont even notice what is wrong, and on the rare occasions they do notice, they dont have the time, knowledge or skill to alleviate the problem. The aged care royal commissions report provides full details of the whole range of facets of care, where expertise which should be core knowledge for aged care workers is completely missing from their training and consequently, their care practice. It is this that the Coalition should have been working on from February 2021, when the aged care royal commissions report was first released.

Ruth Farr, Blackburn South Fair pay

I see the Fair Work Commission is going to make a decision on the value to the community of the work of aged care workers, in order to set an appropriate wage rate. Im sure many would like to see the commission do the same for bank executives.

John Hannah, Castlemaine

Successful return

A huge shout out to all staff in schools on their rather daunting return to the workplace. Having conformed to the vaccine mandate (triple-vaxxed by mid-March in Victorian schools) they continue to educate, motivate, counsel and nurture all students. With case numbers high as was predicted in the first week, many staff are in the at risk of more serious illness category. As with our wonderful health care workers, their responsibility for those in their care is paramount. The last two years have highlighted just how much many of those in positions of power have historically undervalued, underpaid and under-acknowledged the contribution made by workers in the service industries.

Terry White, Lilydale Park your egos

There should be a sign where politicians enter Parliament House that reads:

Park your egos. Leave any wheelbarrows to be pushed outside. Take off any political party ideology and place it in the cloakroom along with any sexism, racism or willingness to discriminate. Your role here is not self-serving, nor is it to serve a party. You have a job to do on behalf of all Australians. You chose to be here and to do this job. Now just get on with it without any fanfare, fuss and self-aggrandisement.

Greg Tuck, Warragul Seen it all before

The current shenanigans emanating from Canberra are of little interest to a vast number of Australian voters. Thats because we have such a low opinion of politicians that all the skulduggery, infighting and backstabbing is seen as par for the course.

Tim Nolan, Brighton How to save the reef

The only action that will help save the Great Barrier Reef is the government taking urgent science-based measures, specifically, 75 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, and speedily ending new fossil fuel mining and subsidies. Such measures would also help the world to stay under the crucial 1.5 degree warming limit that is essential for the survival of all coral reefs (Reef report only muddies the waters, Opinion, The Age, 8/2). Tragically, the Morrison government refuses to heed the science. The question is why is it so irresponsible and callous? Is its higher value money and profits? Or has it lost control of the fossil fuel industry?

Barbara Fraser, Burwood

Closed to visitors

I went to watch a sitting of the Victorian Parliament and was turned away. The person on the door informed me there was no public gallery, online viewing only. Fair enough I thought, probably due to COVID. I then wandered across to Treasury Place and saw people gathering for the government outdoor press briefing. I thought I might watch from a distance but was intercepted by a protective services officer who told me to leave. I apologised saying I thought I was in a public area, that Id not seen any signs or barriers and how far away do I need to be? Im telling you now, 50 metres away snarled the PSO as he followed me off the premises. Welcome to the state of Victoria. Democracy by invitation. Security by intuition. Interpersonal skills optional.

Duncan Cameron, Seddon And another thing Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: Politics

The Prime Ministers values are on display  he would rather see a transgender kid kicked out of school than a crook kicked out of Parliament.

Gary Sayer, Warrnambool

It looks like an effective federal ICAC is still a year or two away  and always will be, if the Coalition has its way.

Laurie McCormack, Northcote So there are core and non-core policies! Whod have thought that? Perhaps Scott Morrison would be kind enough to label them for us this election.

Doris LeRoy, Altona I dont want Scott Morrison or anyone else peering into our kids undies.

Dean Platt, Ocean Grove Its time for Jen to wonder what if one of her daughters is trans, then explain it to Scott.

Margaret Callinan, Hawthorn I cant understand what swines have to do with park barrelling.

Mike Pantzopoulos, Ashburton

Aged care

And will the ADF be paid at the same rate as carers while working in aged care homes?

Pamela Pilgrim, Highett My mum in aged care is waiting to have her hair washed. Is the Prime Minister available?

Cheryl DeCoite, Gembrook The Nationals

In the four watches saga Christine Holgate resigned after being shamed and told ... She must go. Barnaby Joyce can stay after a bitter and damaging leaked text. Aint forgiveness grand.

Myra Fisher, Brighton East The political survival of Richard Colbeck and Barnaby Joyce doesnt reflect a talent pool (Letters 8/2) but a blocked sink.

Gary Sayer, Warrnambool Furthermore

If we need three vaccinations why dont tourists?

Barbara Lynch, South Yarra
Two women have been charged over an assault at a service station in Melbournes south-east on Tuesday morning that left another woman fighting for life in hospital.

Victoria Police were called to the 7-Eleven store at the corner of Hawthorn Road and Pyne Street in Caulfield about 10.15am following reports of an assault.

Upon arrival, investigators were told a woman had poured coffee over a 52-year-old woman and assaulted her before fleeing the area.

Emergency services rushed to the scene about 10.20am and took the 52-year-old to the Alfred hospital, where she remains in a critical condition.
Desley Taylor has been unable to find a home since January last year, when the lease on her private rental wasnt renewed.

Its not for a lack of trying. Her search has been exacerbated by recent sharp rises in rents in the private rental market since the pandemic began.

Desley Taylor is homeless, sleeping in her car with her toddler. Credit:Sharon Smith

Ms Taylor has applied for countless rentals, registered with real estate agents and contacted every housing and crisis support service in the metropolitan area.

She is on the priority housing list with the Department of Communities, but the average waiting time for a priority-listed applicants sits at 53 weeks.
In a nation where politicians insist it is time to open up and learn to live with COVID-19, Parliament House in Canberra was among the most locked-down buildings in the country on Tuesday.

The public galleries of the House of Representatives and the Senate were as empty as the waiting rooms of a thousand aged care homes.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Scott Morrison during an apology in the House of Representatives. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Heaven forbid, of course, that we mention aged care.

Anthony Albaneses opposition tried every which way to demand the government debate the COVID crisis that has taken the lives of more than 600 in aged care homes this year, and has infected almost 12,000 residents and workers in more than 1100 facilities.
When the freshly crowned former Australian of the Year Grace Tame gave a speech about swallowing fear and making noise on January 25, 2021, former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins was inspired to go public with allegations she was raped in Parliament House.

Together, the two 26-year-old women unlocked a movement that saw survivors all over the country stand up against systemic abuse in all its forms.

Tame and Higgins will address the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, where theyre expected to call out the government for not doing enough to protect women from harm in Parliament House, and the rest of Australia. The address will follow Parliaments statement of acknowledgement.

It has only been a little more than a year since both women stepped onto the national stage. We look back on some of the moments that led up to tomorrows speech.
Brittany Higgins says she was disappointed by Scott Morrisons response to her allegation of rape by a colleague in Parliament House because she didnt want his sympathy as a father, but action from him as the Prime Minister.

In a nationally televised address on Wednesday with Grace Tame, Ms Higgins took aim at Prime Minister Scott Morrisons address last year in which he said his wife Jenny told him to imagine if it were his daughters.

Brittany Higgins addresses the media at the National Press Club. Credit:James Brickwood

What bothered me most about the whole imagine if it were our daughters spiel wasnt that he necessarily needed his wifes advice to help contextualise my rape in a way that mattered to him personally ... I didnt want his sympathy as a father. I wanted him to use his power as Prime Minister.

Ms Tame, the former Australian of the Year for her advocacy for victims of sexual abuse after she was groomed and sexually assaulted by her maths teacher, told the National Press Club about instances of the government using power imbalances and implored elected politicians to respect the privilege and purpose of this power.
Taxes should be hiked or the GST raised to fund a major increase in the aged care workforce, with advocates calling for the Productivity Commission to decide how the federal government fixes a sector in crisis as it grapples with staff shortages due to coronavirus outbreaks.

In a pre-budget submission to the federal government, National Seniors calls on both major parties to commit to investing the billions of dollars needed to deliver safe, quality care for elderly Australians  a task that would require making difficult and unpopular decisions to raise the cash.

National Seniors says a multibillion-dollar boost to aged care must have bipartisan support. Credit:Louise Kennerley

All parties should commit to investigating the fairest and most efficient way to fund aged care reforms, the submission said.

The advocacy group estimates between $7 billion and $15 billion in extra funding will be needed to properly staff aged care homes and expand home care packages, as providers and unions join forces lobbying for wage increases in the Commonwealth-funded sector.
Some human rights reform is exceptionally hard. Passing a law that prohibits religious discrimination isnt. Or at least it shouldnt be.

> Credit:Andrew Dyson

In my previous role as Human Rights Commissioner, I documented the harm that discrimination can cause people of faith. I heard about a Jewish boy who was subjected to antisemitic slurs and a serious physical assault at a Melbourne school, resulting in the child being hospitalised. I heard about a Muslim family  parents and children  who were verbally abused on a train, with the assailants yelling they would love to kill them all.

I was equally shocked by the experiences of some LGBTIQ+ children and their families. I heard too many stories of kids tormented because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The default setting for most kids is bright, happy and open to the world. Discrimination almost always flips that switch. Parents would tell me  sometimes through tears of desperation  that they didnt know whether they could keep their children alive.

Anyone who wants to protect one of these groups from discrimination should support protection for both groups.
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has launched a stinging attack on a potential high-profile Labor candidate for previously resigning from the party on at least two occasions and his public criticism of several leading women, suggesting ALP members could not rely on him to remain loyal when things turn bad.

Prominent employment lawyer Josh Bornstein told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald at the weekend he was again considering challenging veteran Labor senator Kim Carr ahead of the next federal election, despite putting his campaign on ice last year after The Australian reported a series of inflammatory tweets as far back as 2013 he says he feared would cause too much distraction.

Kevin Rudd launched a stinging attack on a potential Labor candidate Josh Bornstein for previously resigning from the party. Credit:Simon Schluter/ Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Bornstein was a vocal critic of Mr Rudd as prime minister, declaring he had reached his moral limits of political affiliation when he returned to lead the former Labor government in 2013 and introduced a hard-line policy on asylum seekers arriving by boat. He tweeted at the time he would not vote Labor at that election.

Mr Rudd said his criticism was not about Bornsteins past personal attacks on him, but about his commitment to Labor. He remains a close friend and political ally of Senator Carr, a cabinet minister in his governments and the longest-serving current member of the Senate.
The state governments controversial $252 million council grants program lacked integrity and applied no merit-based assessment in awarding 96 per cent of funds to Coalition-held electorates.

In a scathing audit of the Stronger Communities Fund, NSW Auditor-General Margaret Crawford said former premier Gladys Berejiklian was advised in a 2018 briefing note that her staff were working to get the cash out the door in the most politically advantageous way.

Ms Berejiklian and her then-deputy John Barilaro determined the bulk of grants to 24 councils from 2018 to 2019 in consultation with other Coalition MPs.

Hornsby Shire Council was given $90 million, part of which was allocated to transform a disused quarry into a park.

The Auditor-General found there was little or no basis for how they awarded grants, with the only record of their approval a series of emails from their staff.
Putins spokesman declined to comment on any assurances about military deployments and said that Russian troops were already due to leave Belarus on February 20 once their exercises have been completed. A French government official said Macrons remark that Putin assured him of no further escalation was in reference to not massing any further troops near the Ukraine border. The official added it was a conditional commitment and the situation, and its perception by Putin, could change. Still some distance between their positions. Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron meet at the Kremlin. Credit:Kremlin via AP The French President said he received assurances from Putin that Russia wouldnt escalate further around Ukraine. The Kremlin wouldnt confirm that, instead blaming the West for fuelling tensions. I obtained that there will be no worsening and escalation, Macron told reporters on the plane from Moscow to Kyiv after nearly six hours of talks in the Kremlin on Monday evening.

He didnt elaborate on what assurances hed received and there was no mention of any specific steps in his joint briefing Monday night with Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the French assertions but blamed the US and its European allies for ignoring Russias security concerns and adding to tensions with weapons deliveries to Kyiv. Looking for a breakthrough: French President Emmanuel Macron. Credit:AP He said Russian troops will return to their bases after manoeuvres in Belarus later this month. Putin noted that in Macrons ideas there are rational elements on the basis of which work can continue, Peskov said. But it will in large part depend on what the tone of his discussions in Kyiv are today and later with his colleagues in the European Union and NATO.

Rape lyric It emerged that the Russian leader, in criticising Ukraines president, referenced an obscene song lyric from a Soviet-era punk band during Putin and Macrons media conference. Whether you like it or dont like it, bear with it, my beauty, Putin said, in demanding Zelensky implement elements of a 2014 ceasefire agreement on eastern Ukraine. Experts said the quote came from a song called Sleeping Beauty in a Coffin by Red Mold. Responding to Macrons report that he gained assurances from Putin that Moscow wouldnt escalate frictions with Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman said that was not so clear.

EU penalties The European Commission, the blocs executive body, has taken the lead in mulling possible penalties for Russia should it invade Ukraine. It has held back on providing written details to the 27 member nations, which would need to give their unanimous backing to any action, according to diplomats who asked not to be identified talking about the preparations. Those diplomats said officials are shunning paper, as well as a group discussion within the bloc, to avoid leaks and highlighting potential differences between states. EU officials have also said concrete proposals would only be shared if Russia actually took action, since sanctions are not a tool for deterrence.

The lack of detail has limited the extent to which member states can prepare for the economic fallout at home from any sanctions, one EU diplomat said. Prices for European natural gas rose following Bidens remarks that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would be scrapped in the event of a Russian invasion. Loading Europes energy crisis has been exacerbated by the prospect of reduced flows from Russia amid geopolitical tensions surrounding Ukraine. Macron met with Putin for about six hours Monday night in a bid to inject momentum into discussions on the Kremlins European security demands and efforts to revive the stalled Ukraine peace process.
Producers Vivek J. Tiwary, Arvind Ethan David, and Eva Price have announced plans for a multi-year North American tour of Jagged Little Pill, which is set to begin fall 2022. Only one tour stop has been revealed: Seattle's Paramount Theatre from November 8-13. Other stops will be announced at a later date.

Featuring music by Alanis Morissette and a Tony-winning book by Diablo Cody, Jagged Little Pill tells the story of one Connecticut family with a whole lot of problems: Drug addiction, the trials of gender nonconformity, tensions arising from interracial adoption, and sexual assault are all addressed using music from Morissette's groundbreaking 1995 album, as well as later albums.

You can read TheaterMania's review here.

The production is directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, with scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by Justin Townsend, sound design by Jonathan Deans, video design by Lucy Mackinnon, and hair, wig, and make-up design J. Jared Janas.

Click here to learn more about Jagged Little Pill and to sign up for alerts about the upcoming tour.
Driving and Smoking

We all have our own idea of what relaxation looks like.

Of course, going on holiday to your favourite getaway destination is a great way to relax, as well as a great opportunity to really pamper yourself and indulge in all of your favourite vices.



Naturally, you'll need a way to get around, and expensive taxis and crowded public transport isn't always the best option.



A rental car opens up plenty more opportunities to enjoy your holiday.



A long, relaxing drive through a new country is a great way to get to grips with the culture. Even a slightly overwhelming journey through a busy city brings the opportunity to learn new road signs, immersing yourself in new road etiquette.



However, if you enjoy a cigarette, these scenarios might sound like the perfect time to light one up, but is it?



Of course, putting the cigarettes away until you've parked the car is the best choice, as having your hands preoccupied with a cigarette can become dangerous when you're behind the wheel!



The last thing you want is a brush with law enforcement in a foreign country.



To help you avoid this, so you can relax in peace, we decided to do the hard part for you and delve into the complicated laws and policies surrounding smoking and driving across the world.



So if you're planning your next getaway, or you booked your own rental to get to your international business meetings, read on to find out which countries are cracking down on smoking and driving.



Not all countries have an easy-to-follow, strict no smoking policy. Some have different specifications that are important to remain mindful of before sparking up at the wheel. You might want to blast the air conditioning if you're considering lighting up behind the wheel in Singapore. Their laws dictate that whilst smoking is allowed in private vehicles, no secondhand tobacco smoke can be expelled. So, get winding up those windows before smoking if you want to avoid a brush with the law.



Driving in a stressful environment, such as a new country, can really make those nicotine cravings spike. But, if you're in France, remember to keep those cigarettes tucked away if you have any passengers under the age of 12.



If you do happen to feel the need for nicotine, and you fancy having a quick bite to eat to keep the cravings at bay, be prepared for an on the spot fine of 50. Motorists in France are forbidden from eating whilst driving!



France isn't the only country that specifically says 'no smoking with any passengers under 12'.



Greece and Luxembourg both specify that drivers cannot smoke behind the wheel with any passenger who is under the age of 12 in the car.



In fact, Luxembourg law dictates that smoking is prohibited in playgrounds and sporting venues in which children under the age of 16 are playing. It also says that you cannot smoke in private vehicles in which children under the age of 12 are present. Of course, if you're smoking in a car, it's not always just you who's breathing in cigarette fumes.



Several countries across the world have implemented strict laws that dictate when you can and can't smoke in your car.



It's not always completely clear, and the age cut-off for passengers you can smoke around often varies from country to country.



In fact, in Poland, their laws forbid smoking for drivers with passengers, with the exception of passenger cars and trucks. But, there is no age limit for these passengers.



However, in Cyprus, the ban on smoking in cars applies when people under the age of 16 are travelling in the vehicle. Make sure you follow these rules if you're looking for a family trip to the idyllic island, as you'll face a fine of up to 85 euros if you break the law.



Keeping on top of the new laws is also key. The age limit is much higher in New Zealand, in comparison to Cyprus, as in June 2020, the country banned smoking in any vehicle carrying a person under 18 years old.



Here is a complete list of countries whose laws restrict smoking in cars that are carrying passengers, including minors:



South Africa

Luxembourg

Poland

Cyprus

Greece

Italy

New Zealand

Australia

Mauritius

France

Ireland

Belgium

Denmark

Austria

Malaysia

Qatar

Well, some countries have gone the extra mile, and completely banned the smoking of cigarettes behind the wheel, no matter the circumstances.



The penalties for breaking this law varies from country to country.



In Argentina, smoking while driving is illegal, as well as listening to music through headphones and using a mobile phone. So make sure you keep your hands on the wheel if you're planning a car journey in this country!



Jordan has the same laws, as new traffic laws dictate that drivers may not smoke or use a mobile phone at the wheel.



Some countries ruled out smoking behind the wheel a long time ago; for example, Iran has had a smoking ban for all car drivers since 2006



Other countries, including Armenia, Turkmenistan, Honduras and Burkina Faso, all have a complete ban on smoking behind the wheel, no matter the circumstances.

Smoking and driving in the United States

Of course, whilst many of these countries have issued a nationwide ban, or restricted when you can smoke whilst driving, it can vary depending on which area of the country you're in.



All 50 states in America have their own state laws, which can cause trouble if you're not up to date on which state you're in and what their rules dictate.



So, whilst a road trip across America has probably featured on the majority of people's bucket lists, you might want to double-check where you can spark one up.



Some states do allow smoking behind the wheel, regardless of the circumstances. These include West Virginia, Kentucky, Nebraska and Iowa.



They're not the only states that allow you to spark up whilst driving, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Indiana, South Dakota, Indiana and Ohio do as well.



Of course, much like other countries, the US has states that have brought in laws to protect passengers from second-hand smoke.



The following states have specifications in their laws that dictate you can't smoke when carrying underage passengers:



Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Utah

Louisiana

Maryland

Mississippi

New York

Texas

Virginia

Hawaii

California

Washington

Arkansas

Oregon

Vermont

Maine

So, if you're in a traffic jam and you're starting to feel those nicotine cravings, make sure you're up to speed before grabbing your lighter.



If you're planning a road trip and you know you're going to have a few drinks in the evenings, why not start studying the drink driving limits from around the world, here?



The smoking and driving laws and regulations were correct when this research was carried out between the 15th-19th of March 2021.
Associate Editor

Brent Addleman is an Associate Editor and a veteran journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He has served as editor of newspapers in Pennsylvania and Texas, and has also worked at newspapers in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Kentucky.
A voter begins to cast his ballot during voting at a poling place inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
Former WNBA player Tamika Catchings directs voters as she works as a clerk during voting at a poling place inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
Eliminating Nebraska's tax on Social Security would be 'super popular' move, think tank says
A sign directs motorists to a "by appointment only" drive up COVID-19 vaccine clinic set up by the New Hampshire National Guard in the parking lot of Exeter, N.H., High School, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Exeter.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (second from right), and his wife, Tammy Murphy, talk with poll workers before voting June 8, 2021, in Red Bank.
Andy Puzder is the former CEO of CKE Restaurants, chairman of the board of 2ndVote Advisers, a senior fellow at Pepperdine Universitys School of Public Policy, and visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Stephen R. Soukup is the senior commentator, vice president, and publisher of The Political Forum, an economics research provider that delivers research and consulting services to the institutional investment community, with an emphasis on economic, social, political, and geopolitical events. He is the author of The Dictatorship of Woke Capital.
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EMLENTON - The board of directors of Emclaire Financial Corporation, the parent holding company of the Farmers National Bank of Emlenton, declared a quarterly cash dividend on Feb. 16, of 31 cents per common share payable on March 18, to shareholders of record on March 1.
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Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 58F. NNW winds shifting to ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
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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
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News

Prolific produce: Maryville Farmers Market meets to discuss its needs and necessities for the future

Scott Keller | The Daily Times An estimated 40 plus members and guests attended the Markets Market meeting Sunday at the Maryville Municipal Building. Scott Keller | The Daily Times Nathan Hannah, Food and Dairy Regional Supervisor, Dept. TN (left) and Catherine Warner, Food and Dairy Inspector, Dept. TN presented regulations concerning home produced food distribution at the Farmers Market meeting Sunday at the Maryville Municipal Building. Scott Keller | The Daily Times Dustin Allen was recognized for winning Best Display during last years Maryville Farmers Market season. Scott Keller | The Daily Times Bailey Foster of Real Good Kitchen answers a few question after her presentation to the Maryville Farmers Market's 17th annual meeting. Scott Keller | The Daily Times Maryville Farmers' Market manager Beverly Johnson listens to a question from the group as she and the board address the members' question. Scott Keller | The Daily Times 2021 officers of the Maryville Farmers Market conduct business at the the groups meeting Sunday afternoon. Scott Keller | The Daily Times Catherine Warner, Food and Dairy Inspector, Dept. TN discussed her work following the Farmers' Market meeting Sunday at the Maryville Municipal Building.

The chill of winter may still be in the air, but those involved with the Maryville Farmers Market are already anticipating the arrival of spring. The group held its 17th annual meeting this past Sunday at the Maryville Municipal Building in order to review the practices and procedures local vendors and producers need to know.

This years meeting was chaired by Maryville Farmers Market president Trish Dean and featured two representatives from the State of Tennessee Department of Agricultures Division of Consumer and Industry Services. Nathan Hannah, the departments East Tennessee Area Supervisor, and Food & Dairy Inspector Catherine Warner shared a slide presentation that gave the approximately three dozen people in attendance an opportunity to acquaint themselves with state and federal requirements as far as the permits, rules and regulations that govern home kitchens and individual production procedures.

Wagner, who said she makes it a point to visit four or five East Tennessee farmers markets on an annual basis, said repeatedly that both she and Hannah were available to advise and consult with local producers on the things they are required to do to comply with the regulations and ensure the safety of meat, poultry, eggs, and other non-perishable food items they may produce.

I know you can feel very overwhelmed, she said. Everybodys situation is different, but were happy to answer your questions. Feel free to reach out.

Hannah said that awareness of specific strategies was essential to business success, no matter how modest the operation.

All large manufacturers start out as small businesses, he said.

Bailey Foster, owner and founder of Real Good Kitchen, a full-service commercial kitchen facility based in Knoxville, elaborated on the rules that govern which foods can be made in home kitchen and those that are prohibited from home production. She stressed the need for liability insurance and the fact that the wares sold by local vendors in a farmers market cannot be items that have been purchased for resale by any other retailer or wholesaler.

Foster also said that the goal of Real Good Kitchen is to provide local entrepreneurs with the resources and support they need to run a successful home food business. She said that her co-op kitchen offers advantages to those looking to expand their business. That includes that ability to employ a larger kitchen capacity, utilize more equipment and to collaborate and consult with others in a similar situation.

Following the presentations and a break to enjoy refreshments and distribute door prizes, Farmers Market secretary Angie Cook took the roll call. Karen Turner shared the treasurers report, manager Beverly Johnson updated the group on applications and market rules, and media manager Kristen Burrange reported on upcoming events.

Dean then announced the Farmers Market board and officers for 2022  including incoming president Tammy Zavells, vice president Phyllis Connatser, and Turner and Cook who will remain in their respective positions as treasure and secretary. Board officers Mike Garland, Dustin Allen and Tiffany Peavley were also introduced.

Recognition was also given those individuals that have shown continued loyalty and devotion to the Maryville Famers Market through the years. Angie Cook received the Blue Truck Award on behalf of Cooks on the Curb, a Knoxville-based vendor that handcrafts and produces authentic southern pimento cheese. Dustin Allen of Seven Deer Farm was given an award for Best Display as part of his efforts to increase the Maryville Farmers Markets visibility overall.

This is a good group of vendors, Johnson told The Daily Times after the meeting concluded. Some of us hadnt seen one another since last November, so there were members who simply wanted to reconnect with one another. Everybody here is like family.

In that regard, she said the Maryville Farmers Market maintains its mission as a producer-only gathering. All the vendors involved create their own offerings and sell it directly to consumers. Nevertheless, she said it was important to have these annual meeting because the regulations governing local producers often tend to change.

Johnson, who has been with the organization since it originated, and has served as its manager for the past two years, said that theres been a farmers market in Maryville for decades.

The farmers used to pull up on the sidewalks, she said. However when downtown was redeveloped, they couldnt do that anymore. The city then made it possible to hold the farmers market downtown in Founders Square. They even passed an ordinance that made it official. The City of Maryville has been very good to us.
An award-winning political journalist, John L. Micek is Editor-in-Chief of The Pennsylvania Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. Email him at jmicek@penncapital-star.com and follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek.
If you're anything like us, as soon as you finished watching the 'Tinder Swindler' documentary on Netflix you headed straight to Instagram to find Simon Leviev AKA Shimon Yehuda Hayut.

Couldn't find him? Here's why.

After the release of the documentary, which exposes him for using Tinder to scam women out of thousands of dollars, he deleted his Instagram.

Although Shimon, who is currently a free man, had a few things to say before his departure from social media.

He thanked some followers for their 'support' before adding
There are countless ways in which every homeschool is unique, but with a little creativity, you can transform your everyday homeschool into an extraordinary learning experience. Add a dash of personality and a splash of color to energize your kids with homeschool spirit.

Try these six fun ways to add a spark of personality to your homeschool.

Name Your Homeschool

Naming your homeschool can be as simple as your last name plus homeschool or academy. This sounds so simple, and yet it effectively identifies your family school.

For example, we live way out in the countryside of eastern Pennsylvania, so we named our homeschool Countryside Academy. The Charron kids in Halifax, Nova Scotia, attended Hidden Hill Homeschool because, you guessed it, they live up on a hill out of sight from the main road.

The Gray and Behe families faith inspired the naming of their homeschools, Grace Academy and Holy Family Academy, respectively.

Engage the entire family and brainstorm ideas. Need a little inspiration? The trio of Silver kids in Georgia attends The Silver Academy of Science and Sarcasm: Pushing Buttons and Testing Limits All Day, Every Day. Miss Magee in Kansas attends Pinky Pie Academy, named for the beloved pink pony of My Little Pony fame.

Choose Homeschool Colors

Ignite your kids school spirit with a splash of colorhomeschool colors. These can be favorite colors, the color of your house plus white, black, gold, or any other combination of colors that go well together. How about the colors of moms and dads birthstones?

Or maybe youve narrowed it down to three distinct colors and just cant decide. But dont fret. Go ahead, choose a trio of homeschool colors. Add some patriotic pride to your homeschool by choosing red, white, and blue.

Design a Homeschool Logo

You dont have to be artistic to design your homeschool logo. In fact, invite your kids to give it a go. Something as simple as stick figures can make a fun logo. Take inspiration from those cute stick figure family stickers you see on the back windows of cars. I always notice those and love how unique each set is.

Or enlist the help of Canva, a free, easy-to-use design program with clip art, stock photos, symbols, a draw-your-own option, and tons of fonts from which to choose.

Remember the Silver familys Silver Academy of Science and Sarcasm? Well, their homeschool logo is a wild-haired, cartoon scientist. If your homeschool is based on your faith, a simple cross along with your homeschool name could work well. Or if you were to name your homeschool Shining Stars Academy, for example, there are all sorts of star clip art available.

The thing to remember is to just have fun with it. Your homeschool logo doesnt need to be fancy or detailed. It can be anything you want it to be.

Adopt or Create a Homeschool Motto

You may be wondering: Why do we need a homeschool motto? Well, a motto represents the corethe heart and soul of your homeschooling philosophy expressed in a few simple words or a catchy phrase.

We adopted our homeschool motto from Charlotte Mason, a distinguished British educator, whose motto, I am, I can, I ought, I will, is well-known in homeschooling communities around the world. We chose this particular motto because the words are powerful, self-affirming, and easy to remember.

Many private schools and colleges adopt a motto based on faith, tradition, or the schools founding principles, and many are composed in Latin. It was the common language back when many schools were founded, but more importantly, it connects us with our heritage and the foundation of education. For example, the Admiral Farragut Academy in Florida chose the motto Scientia Omnia Vincit, which means Knowledge Conquers All and the motto for Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts is Discere et Vivere, meaning To Learn and to Live.

A well-chosen motto can add meaning and depth to your homeschool. The words or phrase you choose can center your children around the purpose of home educationtheir homeschool. And, if you do choose a Latin motto, the words just sound so much more important, dont they? Think about how important your kids will feel reciting it.

Appoint a Mascot

If you have a beloved cat or dog who loves nothing more than curling up and snuggling with your kids while they work on schoolwork, then look no further. You could even dress up your furry mascot in your new homeschool colors with a new collar.

Dont forget about those beloved outside animals. A horse, a ram, or a favorite chicken (maybe use the breed name) can fill the role of mascot rather well. Or perhaps your son has a pet iguana. You cant discount his terrarium-dwelling sidekick, right? One thing is for sure, your homeschool will most likely be the only school with an iguana for a mascot.

Another great option is to choose your state animal or bird.

Add Color-Coordinated Apparel and a Banner

OK, so once youve chosen your homeschool colors and have designed your logo, why not take it a step further and add some cool DIY branded apparel. This is a great hands-on project for your kids.

I suggest using plain color T-shirts in one of your school colors because they are inexpensive and make the perfect canvas. Add your logo by printing it out onto iron-on transfer paper and ironing the logo onto the T-shirts, then outline it with fabric markers. Or you and your kids can hand draw the logo outline onto the T-shirts with the same fabric markers. Then color in any larger areas with fabric paint.

Now encourage your kids to make a DIY banner with your homeschool motto printed in big bold letters in your school colors. Hang it up over your main workstation or in a central location in the family room where everyone can see it every day.

So gather your kids together, share these ideas, and brainstorm fun ways to personalize your homeschool.
A Trans-Africa Railway Courtesy of Communist China

The railway will be a conveyor belt for China

News Analysis

Unbeknownst to most of the world, the Chinese are hard at work exploiting African mineral wealth.

The major component of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinpings plan for China to become the worlds leading economic power is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI goal is to develop a global infrastructure controlled by communist China.

The infrastructure elements are focused on the development of transportation assets such as roads, ports, railroads, bridges, etc., that can later be exploited by Beijing to transport the resources and raw materials needed to fuel Chinese manufacturing concerns, as well as on mineral, oil, and gas extraction as appropriate. The transportation networks will also support the exportation and delivery of finished Chinese goods to overseas markets around the world. BRI investments also include renewable energy projects, communications infrastructures, and cultural exchanges.

Because of its vast mineral wealth, Chinese investment in Africa features prominently in the BRI scheme. The Chinese have made investments of hundreds of billions of dollars in 40 of 55 African countries to date, according to U.S. News and World Report, with grandiose plans for the construction of ports, roads, and railways.

A mounted police officer stands outside Ivory Coasts newly inaugurated 60,000-seat Olympic stadium, built with the help of China, in Ebimpe on Oct. 3, 2020. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images)

The concept of extracting material riches from Africa is not new. European colonial empires in Africa were established exactly for that reason, beginning in the 15th century. African colonialism accelerated greatly during the period 1881 through 1914. Sometimes called the scramble for Africa, by the beginning of World War I in 1914, around 90% of Africa was under European rule, according to the World Atlas.

In 1870, the French conceived of a north-south Trans-Saharan Railway linking Algeria to the port city of Dakar, Senegal in western Africa, and to parts east and south in the Belgian Congo in the heart of central Africa, and the east African coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya.

The railway was envisioned as an overland conveyor belt for the mineral riches of Africa to industries in France, including the nickel, cobalt, and copper of the Congo and the mineral wealth of the Bushveld Province in South Africa, which hosts the majority of global platinum-group element, chromium, and vanadium resources, in addition to major deposits of copper, nickel, gold, tin, iron, fluorite, and dimension stone, according to Mining Review Africa.

The British counterpart to the French scheme was the Cape-to-Cairo railway, which was proposed in 1874 to link parts of the British empire in Africa between Cairo, Egypt, and Cape Town, South Africa, as discussed by the Institute of Civil Engineering. The entrepreneur (some would say imperialist) Cecil Rhodes was a big proponent at the time, given his massive investments in Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). However, like the French railway, the line was never completed, as there are no railway segments in the Sudan or Uganda. But at least the project did complete the famous Victoria Falls Bridge over the Zambezi River, which connects Zambia and Zimbabwe, in 1905.

Enter the Chinese and their grand vision of a Trans-African railway, linking Port Sudan on the Red Sea all the way to Dakar on the Atlantic Coast. Call it the African Silk Road. That amounts to 4,700 miles of track over some of the most difficult terrain in the world from Africas east coast to its west coast!

The first increment across Sudan to Chad was contracted for in 2017, according to Global Construction Review. Branch lines will radiate north and mostly south to span the vast continent and interconnect the Spider Dragons vast web of commerce that is envisioned by the Chinese communists (Chicoms) in central Africa.

China just happens to be the largest importer of Sudanese oil, capturing 60 percent of the countrys oil exports, as reported by Advanced Energy Technologies in 2018. China is also engineering and financing thermal power generation plants in eastern Sudan to power its electric railroads, according to the Institute of Developing Economies.

After the Port Sudan to Ndajema section is completed, the Niger and Mali sections in north central Africa will be completed. Geographers call the savanna grasslands south of the sandy, rocky Sahara Desert, the Sahel. Building this part of the railway to eventually envelop all of Africa presents only geopolitical problems. Although semi-arid, there is sufficient water available, and there are no major mountains to conquer.

It is predictable that the Islamic bandits causing a kerfuffle along the Niger River in Mali (refer to the Strategy Page for an up-to-date synopsis of Islamic terrorism in Mali) may soon be hired to help build the railroad. The BRI-funded cash that they earn will melt away their religious fervor against non-believersor if not, the Chicoms will somehow cause them to cease to exist. The Chicoms, after all, are not bashful about taking any necessary measures to achieve their goals. Uyghur country in Xinjiang is a case in point in which dissident Chinese Muslims are put by the hundreds of thousands into re-education camps until they begin to understand that Allah and Muhammad are not to be tolerated any longer. Can that be the future for Muslims in central Africa when/if they create problems for the trans-Africa railway?

Meanwhile, the Chinese are shoring up the west end of the trans-Africa railway with plans to invest $1.1 billion in a new 1,500-acre port at Ndayane, near Dakar, Senegal, according to the Maritime Executive. The new port will serve as a logistics hub and gateway to western and northwest Africa, as well as another significant piece of the Spider Dragons economic web. This project is just the latest in a long line of Chinese investments in the country.

Security officers walk past a banner at the entrance of a conference hall during the China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meeting at the Diamniadio in Dakar, Senegal, on Nov. 29, 2021. (Seyllou/AFP via Getty Images)

Once that Trans-Africa rail line has been shot east and west across the whole 4,700 miles, north and south branch lines down each coast might swiftly follow, which would facilitate the delivery of finished Chinese goods to a billion new customerswith that billion who, in turn, can mine the Dark Continent for its mineral wealth in order to pay back the Chinese for their BRI investments over the years.

Conclusion

While it is difficult to predict the completion date for the trans-Africa railway, the Chicoms may have more staying power than the French or British did. After all, the rest of the worldespecially the United Statesis helping Beijing fund the BRI, thanks to massive trade surpluses. The communists love it when the rest of the world buys products that are Made in China!

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A Border Patrol agent organizes illegal immigrants who have gathered by the border fence after crossing from Mexico into the United States in Yuma, Arizona, on Dec. 10 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

AG Brnovich: Arizona Can Defend Itself From Southern Border Invasion

Arizona and other border states have the constitutional right to defend themselves from the current invasion at the southern border, according to a Feb. 7 legal opinion published by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

The on-the-ground violence and lawlessness at Arizonas border caused by cartels and gangs is extensive, well-documented, and persistent. It can satisfy the definition of actually invaded and invasion under the U.S. Constitution, the opinion reads. The federal government is failing to fulfill its duty under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution to defend the States from invasion. The State Self-Defense Clause exists precisely for situations such as the present, to ensure that States are not left helpless.

As commander-in-chief for Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey has the power to engage in defensive actions within its own territory at or near its border, according to Brnovich. The governor has the power to use the National Guard and militia forces.

Ducey didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.

Much of Arizonas border terrain is remote, inadequately fenced, and unpatrolled. Its rife with drug and human smuggling, and thousands of unknown and unvetted illegal aliens evade law enforcement every month.

The state has experienced a colossal increase in Border Patrol apprehensions in the past year. In 2020, agents apprehended almost 91,000 illegal aliens entering Arizona. In 2021, that number jumped to almost 399,000.

In mid-December 2021, law enforcement authorities seized a record 1.7 million fentanyl pills in Scottsdale, Arizona.

4 Agents Cover 150 Miles

Border Patrol agents are so busy processing large groups of illegal aliens that, in Arizonas Yuma sector, only four agents are available to patrol a 150-mile section of the border.

That 150 miles of border normally takes about 75 to 90 agentswe had four agents out there, Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said at an unofficial House hearing at FreedomWorks in Washington on Feb. 1.

The city of Yuma declared an emergency on Dec. 9, 2021, after unprecedented numbers of illegal aliens began pouring across the border from Mexico around the unfinished border wall. Some of them got tired of waiting by the border fence to be picked up by Border Patrol, so they walked into the city.

In early December 2021, when the latest influx started, the 911 dispatch center was tied up for hours with calls from illegal aliens asking for transport, food, and clothing, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot told The Epoch Times.

About 300 illegal immigrants were arriving at the hospital every day, he saidnot for medical assistancebut to request transport and supplies. Others wandered around looking for the Border Patrol station.

Invasion

Brnovichs opinion centers around the definitions of actually invaded and invasion and whether the federal government has abdicated its duty to protect.

Brnovich said the Biden administration has taken unprecedented actions  to destroy operational control of the border.

He listed examples such as the rescission of the Migrant Protection Protocols, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants being released into the United States with court dates scheduled years down the road. He also mentioned the halt of border wall construction, the closure of Border Patrol highway checkpoints, and the narrowing of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers ability to execute the law.

House Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Ariz.) who submitted the initial request for a formal legal opinion, said hes happy with Brnovichs groundbreaking opinion and now wants Ducey to utilize the states powers to end the invasion and secure our border.

You would normally expect an invasion would mean a nation-state invasion. But there is long-standing precedent that an invasion can be more than just a nation-state invasion, Hoffman told 550 KFYI on Feb. 8. We shouldnt be the welcome wagon. For these folks that are coming across the border illegally, we should be picking them up and throwing them back across the border, sending them back where they came from.

Not Seeking Asylum

In Cochise County, Sheriff Mark Dannels deals with illegal aliens that are evading law enforcement. His county sits in southeastern Arizona and shares 83 miles of remote desert land with Mexico.

Dannels said his office currently tracks between 900 and 1,000 smuggling vehicles in the county every montha massive increase that began escalating at the start of President Joe Bidens tenure.

Drivers are being paid about $1,000 per illegal alien that they smuggleusually to Phoenix, which is used as a hub to travel to other cities throughout the United States.

Its like the cartel Uber. They just stage in public places all along the roadways waiting to get called up to go pick them up, Dannels said.

Recently, the Sinaloa Cartel put a hit out on two of Dannelss top border guys.

We had real good information  from a federal agency that said there were two guys that were going to cross and they were going to kill one of us, Cochise County Detective Jake Kartchner told The Epoch Times. We never knew which one of us it was.

He said a breakdown in communication between the sheriffs office and federal agencies allowed the men to evade authorities.

Local border ranchers such as John Ladd are bracing for the worst, as hundreds of illegal aliens traverse their land.

Weve got a gun at every door in the house, Ladd told The Epoch Times recently.
A Westjet employee assists people checking in for a domestic flight at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Jan. 21, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

Airlines Cancel Flights, Call for Travel Restriction Rollbacks

Canadas two main airlines continue to slash their schedules and demand that Ottawa roll back COVID-19 travel restrictions to staunch the cash bleedthough experts see glimmers of hope on the horizon.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. has cancelled 20 percent of its flights in March, extending schedule cuts from February amid ongoing uncertainty that continues to drain demand.

Interim CEO Harry Taylor said travel advisories and testing requirements were meant to be temporary, but that after two years the industry crisis has come to a head.

It is disappointing that Canada remains stagnant in its approach and continues to make travel inaccessible and punitive for Canadians and inbound tourists, he said Monday.

Echoing demands from Air Canada and Torontos Pearson airport last month, WestJet called for randomized testing upon arrival only, rather than mandatory molecular testing before takeoff and after landing for fully vaccinated international passengers. The Calgary-based company also wants an end to quarantines for travellers awaiting results when they return from abroad.

Canada remains the only G7 country to require pre-departure and on-arrival molecular testing, Taylor noted, adding Ottawa must outline a recovery path for the travel and tourism industry.

Since early November, WestJet and budget subsidiary Swoop have cancelled 11,285 trips that they had planned for March, or 48 percent. Meanwhile, compared with its plan in mid-October, Air Canada has scrapped 16,617 or 41 percent of its scheduled March flights, according to flight data firm Cirium.

More cuts may be en route across the airlines, as passengers hold off on ticket purchases until closer to the departure date to ensure pandemic measures dont mar their travel plans. If the bookings come through, the flight schedule may hold steady, but if they dont then even fewer planes will leave the tarmac than planned.

Nowadays many more people are making even their leisure travel decisions at the last minute, because the world is a very fluid place right now and people are finding it difficult to plan months in advance with changing restrictions and changing rules, said David Huttner, a London-based aviation expert.

Maybe Id rather drive in my own car by myselftravel habits have changed too, especially on shorter flights.

Richard Vanderlubbe, president of Hamilton-base Tripcentral.ca, has cut nearly 60 percent of his 160 employees and shuttered all 26 office locations in Ontario and Atlantic Canada since early 2020. But the travel agency founder, who offers bookings mainly to Caribbean destinations, remains upbeat.

Im seeing lots of hope, he said. Consumer confidence is climbing, despite the travel advisory still being there  Things are returning. Weve seen a big uptick.

Bookings for winter and early spring are on the rise as Family Dayobserved in six provinces including Ontario, Alberta and British Columbiareading week and March break approach, Vanderlubbe said.

For summer its a little more wait and see right now.

Even with a return of vacation bookings, business remains at 40 percent of 2019 numbers, Vanderlubbe said.

Travel agencies have also had to adjust their approach to pitches and promotions.

We used to sell the resorts and everything about it, he said. Now people just sorting out through all of the restrictions and rules has become kind of the new marketing for travel, which is very odd.

By Christopher Reynolds
Arizona Attorney General Declares Illegal Immigration Surge an Invasion, Says State Can Defend Itself

Arizonas attorney general on Feb. 7 declared the surge of illegal immigrants into the state an invasion, enabling the state to defend itself.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, issued the legal opinion at the request of state Rep. Jake Hoffman, another Republican.

Under President Joe Biden, Arizona and other border states have seen a record number of illegal immigrants streaming across the border.

According to the ruling, the illegal immigration crisis, which includes cartels fomenting violence at the border and helping many aliens reach and cross into the United States, meets the definition of an invasion outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

The on-the-ground violence and lawlessness at Arizonas border caused by cartels and gangs is extensive, well-documented, and persistent. It can satisfy the definition of actually invaded and invasion under the U.S. Constitution, the opinion states.

Two conclusions flow from this. First, the federal government has a duty to protect Arizona under the Invasion Clause. Second, Arizona retains the independent authority under the State Self-Defense Clause to defend itself when actually invaded, it adds.

We were asked for an opinion and are thus providing Arizona policymakers with our legal analysis, Brnovich, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat, said in a statement. The Constitution recognizes Arizonas interest and power to defend herself from this type of invasion.

Illegal immigrants who have gathered by the border wall prepare to board a bus going to the Border Patrol station for processing in Yuma, Arizona, on Dec. 10, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

While Brnovich issued the opinion, its up to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to approve the finding.

If Ducey, a Republican, does, then the governor as commander-in-chief of the state has the power to defend Arizona from the invasion, Brnovichs office said.

CJ Karamargin, communications director for Ducey, told The Epoch Times via email that Ducey deployed the National Guard to the border in April 2021 and extended the mission in August 2021 to give our law enforcement the support they need to fight this criminal activity.

Arizona has and will continue to protect our communities with our National Guard, our Border Strike Force and in partnership with local law enforcement, Karamargin said, asserting the Biden administration has totally failed to address this very real public safety and humanitarian crisis.

For Attorney General Brnovich to imply the Guard is not on our border does them a serious disservice and shows that he fails to appreciate the commitment these men and women have to protecting Arizona, he added.

A White House spokesman and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to inquiries.

Hoffman said he was glad to see the assessment.

This groundbreaking legal opinion further reinforces what I, and my colleagues at the state Capitol, have been calling for, that Arizona under Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution has the authority to step up and protect itself from this invasion, Hoffman said in a statement.

The human smuggling, cartel drugs and violence, sex trafficking, and other illicit activity must end, he said, calling on Ducey to utilize his constitutional powers to end the invasion and secure our border.
Prof Turnell is a former advisor to the ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (LinkedIn)

Australian Advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi Remains in Detention in Burma

Australian economist Sean Turnell remains in detention in Burma (also known as Myanmar) as the Cambodian Prime Minister apologised for giving the wrong information that he had been released.

Prof. Turnell is a former advisor to the ousted Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He has been detained for a year after being arrested on Feb. 6, 2021, five days following a coup started by the countrys military junta, which ousted Suu Kyis elected government.

Along with Suu Kyi and three of her former Cabinet ministers, Turnell was charged with violating Burmas immigration and official secrets acts, which has a maximum penalty of 14-year jail term.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was quoted on Monday by Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP), Cambodias national press agency, as saying that he welcomed Turnells release by Myanmar junta leader Aung Min Hlaing, following Sens lobbying on behalf of Australia.

The release is indeed to the senior generals credit, but at least I also contributed as the rotating chair of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the government-friendly Fresh News service reported him said.

Hun Sen, the first leader to visit Burma since the coup, was there to push an ASEAN-backed Five-Point Consensus forward.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Jan. 22, 2019. (Ng Han Guan/Pool via Reuters)

The Prime Minister issued a statement later on Monday, saying he had been mistaken.

In reality, the Australian national was not released, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a Facebook post late on Monday. The confusion is because of me getting information wrong; please forgive me for the unintentional mistake.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told AAP on Monday that according to Burmese authorities, Professor Sean Turnell remains detained.

Meanwhile, the Australian government has again called on the military regime in Burma for Turnells immediate release, and for his rights and welfare to be upheld.

Professor Turnells detention is unjust, and we reject the allegations against him, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Feb. 6.

We once again call for Professor Turnells immediate release so that he can return to Australia to be with his family and for his rights and welfare to be upheld.

The Foreign Affairs Minister said the DFAT is providing all possible consular assistance to Turnell, including ensuring he can speak to his family and the Australian Embassy, as well as supporting his health and welfare in detention. DFAT is also providing consular assistance to Turnells family.

Consistent with basic standards of justice and transparency, we expect that Professor Turnell should have unimpeded access to his lawyers and that Australian officials be able to observe his court proceedings, she said.

Turnell is still waiting for his trial to start.

Around 11,000 people had been detained since the military coup, according to activists.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologises to abuse victims in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Screenshot by The Epoch Times)

Australian PM Scott Morrison Apologises for Culture of Abuse in Federal Parliament

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has apologised directly to former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins who was allegedly raped after hours in the federal parliament, as well as to other staffers who have experienced bullying, abuse, and harassment in the countrys seat of power.

Morrison said a review into parliamentary culture found that a power imbalance had long been exploited, creating an ecosystem that resulted in traumatic experiences, particularly by female staff and politicians.

This review speaks of a long standing culturegenerations of culturein this place, and in the building before it, of bullying and harassment that has occurred over this time, and a power imbalance over that time that has been exploited, Morrison said on the floor of Parliament on Feb. 8.

That exploitation, abuse, bullying, and harassment has played itself out through terrible, traumatic, and harrowing experiencesthe harassment of staff, particularly female staff, as well as the harassment of female members and senators.

The revelation last year of Higgins allegations triggered a review into the workplace culture of the federal parliament by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, who recommended the public apology.

I am sorry. We are sorry. Im sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here. And the place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare, the prime minister said.

Former political staffer Brittany Higgins speaks to the media as she leaves the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices after meeting with Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Sydney, Friday, April 30, 2021. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Higgins alleged that she was raped in March 2019, before the federal elections, in a ministerial office after entering Parliament House late at night with a male colleague after drinking heavily at a work function off-site

Both Higgins and her accused attacker, a Queensland man named Bruce Lehrmann, worked for then-DefenceIndustry Minister Linda Reynolds, in whose office the alleged rape took place.

Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to the charge and a trial date has been set tentatively for June 2022.

The parliamentary apology was among 28 initiatives called for by Jenkins who found one-third of staff surveyed across Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces had been sexually harassed.

While warning perpetrators that any abuse would come to light, Morrison cautioned that all allegations would be dealt with under the rule of law and proceed on the basis of fairness and justice.

National Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese apologises to abuse victims in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Screenshot by The Epoch Times)

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese also said sorry, as did Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, and Greens leader Adam Bandt.

Addressing Higgins during his apology, Albanese said: You have torn through a silence that has acted as the last support system for the most odious of status quos. To describe your experiences is to relive them.

Albanese said the Jenkins report had exposed a damaged culture with its piercing honesty about the treatment of both women and men in parliament.
Syringes with a COVID-19 vaccine are pictured in Central Falls, R.I., in a file photograph. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden Administration to Fund Distribution of Smoking Kits, Needles to Drug Addicts

Update: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement on Feb. 9 saying, no federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits.

Original article below.



The Biden administration is to grant $30 million over the next three years in an effort to address drug use and overdose issues, intending to distribute smoking kits and syringes to addicts as part of the program.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency under Health and Human Services (HHS), will distribute $10 million per year over the next three years for a harm reduction grant program. The agency said the program is unprecedented and the first-ever.

According to the program (pdf), grant funds must be used primarily to support the following required harm reduction activities, including purchasing equipment and supplies such as safe smoking kits/supplies and syringes to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases.

Other harm reduction equipment and supplies include infectious disease testing kits, overdose reversal medication, and safe sex kits.

SAMSHA said in awarding the grants, it would prioritize funding for programs that address the needs of underserved communities as defined by executive order 13985 (pdf), one of the first signed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office.

It defined underserved communities as those denied equity, or the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including black, Latino, other persons of color; LGBTQ+ persons; and persons adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.

Applicants could be state, local governments, non-profit organizations, and primary and behavioral health organizations, with the deadline 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 7.

Used syringes are discarded at a needle exchange clinic where users can pick up new syringes and other clean items for those dependent on heroin in St. Johnsbury, Vt., on Feb. 6, 2014. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The program was announced last December by HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, who said at the time that harm reduction services are critical to keeping people who use drugs alive and as healthy as possible.

Americans deserve health services that address the full range of drug use and addiction issues, and this funding will help provide those services in the neighborhoods in which they live, Becerra added, noting that for the first time, overdose deaths in the United States exceeded 100,000 over a 12-month period.

Distributing smoking kits among addicted people has been controversial, with supporters saying it would reduce the risk of transmitting diseases between people who share pipes. Opponents say they could enable drug use.

San Francisco and Seattle have distributed smoking kits for years. The San Francisco Health Department said the department supports evidence-based harm reduction and city funding goes to staff and programsnot supplies.

Sgt. Clyde Boatwright, president of the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police, told The Washington Free Beacon that the government should focus on preventing drug abuse rather than making it safer.

If we look at more of a preventive campaign as opposed to an enabling campaign, I think it will offer an opportunity to have safer communities with fewer people who are dependable on these substances, Boatwright said.

Last year, Anne Arundel County in Maryland distributed crack pipes in Annapolis and Brooklyn, a neighborhood in Baltimore, causing backlash from local African American leader Carl Snowden.

Absolutely dumbfounded, Snowden, the chairman of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County, told FOX Baltimore. It was inexcusable, unacceptable.

Snowden said he received a call from a recovering addict, who got a smoking package at home.

When the health department is giving people these crack pipes purportedly because it is out of concern for their health, its having an unintended consequence, said Snowden. Its really compounding and exacerbating the problem.

The county health department later stopped the program, admitting it hadnt put enough thought into it.

An HHS spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that the grant offered by SAMHSA and authorized by the American Rescue Plan is designed to help Americans who are struggling with substance use stay healthy and safe, prevent overdose death, and find pathways into evidence-based treatments.

Like all programs that use federal funding, these grants must adhere to relevant federal, state, and local laws or regulations, the spokesperson added.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security emblem is pictured at the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) located just outside Washington in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 24, 2010. (Hyungwon Kang/Reuters)

Biden DHS Declares Heightened Terrorism Threat

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has declared a heightened terrorism threat because of false and misleading narratives, misinformation, and conspiracy theories.

The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors, a Feb. 7 DHS bulletin reads.

The agency didnt state what foreign or domestic actors are responsible for the alleged proliferation of misinformation or disinformation.

Mass casualty attacks and other acts of targeted violence conducted by lone offenders and small groups acting in furtherance of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances pose an ongoing threat to the nation, the bulletin reads, noting that some individuals are seeking to sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions.

Some individuals are calling for violence against critical infrastructure, faith-based institutions such as churches or synagogues, colleges, government personnel or facilities, and other targets, according to the bulletin.

As an example of key factors that have allegedly contributed to the heightened threat environment, DHS stated that there are misleading narratives surrounding COVID-19 and claimed that some individuals have used COVID-19 mandates or vaccines to carry out attacks since 2020. The agency didnt elaborate or provide additional evidence for its allegations. DHS also listed online claims of election fraud as a contributor, and it again didnt provide additional details or evidence.

Foreign terrorist organizations and domestic threat actors continue to amplify pre-existing false or misleading narratives online to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions, the agency stated.

It stated that violent extremists, including the individual who recently launched an attack against the synagogue in Texas, highlight the continuing threat of violence based upon racial or religious motivations, as well as threats against faith-based organizations.

The ISIS terrorist group and its affiliates may issue public calls for retaliation due to the strike that recently killed ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the bulletin states. The Biden administration announced last week that al-Qurayshi was killed during a raid in northern Syria.

The bulletin also made note of alleged recent threats to black colleges and universities across the United States.

Domestic violent extremists have also viewed attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure as a means to create chaos and advance ideological goals, and have recently aspired to disrupt U.S. electric and communications critical infrastructure, including by spreading false or misleading narratives about 5G cellular technology, the bulletin reads.

The DHS stated that the heightened threat alert will expire on June 7.
Sarah Bloom Raskin, nominee to be vice chairman for supervision and a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, speaks during the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Feb. 3, 2022. (Bill Clark-Pool/Getty Images)

Bidens Fed Nominee Faces Growing Opposition Over Climate Views

Sarah Bloom Raskin, the White Houses nominee to be vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve, is facing increasing opposition because of her past public statements on climate change.

Raskins confirmation path is expected to be contentious this month, as Republicans and business groups have raised concerns about her past statements that advocated for using financial regulations to defund the fossil fuel industry.

A Harvard-trained attorney, Raskin was formerly a member of the Federal Reserve Board. Shes currently a professor at Duke University School of Law. One of the classes she teaches is Climate Change and Financial Markets.

She was a key contributor to a 2020 report by Ceres (pdf), an advocacy group that has listed more than 50 recommendations for financial regulators to protect the U.S. economy from climate-related shocks.

The report outlines how and why financial regulators, who are responsible for protecting the stability and competitiveness of the U.S. economy, need to recognize and act on climate change as a systemic risk. It states that regulators could require banks to assess and disclose climate risks, including carbon emissions from their lending and investment activities. It also calls on the Fed to implement climate stress testing on banks.

Stress testing emerged from the Great Recession (December 2007 to June 2009) as a way to determine whether a bank has enough capital to weather various economic risks.

For the past year, some Republican lawmakers have been raising concerns about the Biden administration potentially using financial regulation as a back door to achieve its climate policy objectives. Theyre concerned that the administration and financial regulators, including the Fed, could politicize access to capital and choke off bank financing for sectors they disapprove of, such as coal, oil, and gas.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Fed officials have repeatedly affirmed the governments commitment to addressing climate-related risks to financial stability. In 2021, Yellen made it clear that Bidens climate agenda would be a major focus of her tenure as Treasury secretary.

During her Senate confirmation hearing in January 2021, Yellen said climate change is an existential threat and pledged to do whatever I can to address this impending crisis.

More than 40 trade organizations representing U.S. oil and gas producers sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee on Jan. 28, urging committee members to not advance the nomination of Raskin to the Federal Reserve.

She is a strong advocate for debanking the very industry that powers America, the letter reads. Her multiple public statements indicate an agenda at odds with the Presidents goal of providing Americans with reliable, affordable energy.

Raskin wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times in 2020, arguing that the Fed should not be directing money to further entrench the carbon economy.

Sarah Bloom Raskin and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) in the front yard of their home in Takoma Park, Md. on May 4, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

However, Raskin struck a milder tone on Feb. 3 during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on her nomination.

It is inappropriate for the Fed to make credit decisions and allocations, she said in response to questions by Republicans. Banks choose their borrowers, not the Fed. Its inappropriate for the Fed to choose winners and losers, and doing so is not the proper institutional role of the Fed.

Raskin has been nominated alongside economists Lisa Cook and Philip JeffersonBidens two other nominees for the board. They face a key committee vote on Feb. 15. However, critics say Raskin has the hardest path to confirmation.

The American Bankers Association, the largest banking trade group in the United States, has welcomed the nomination of Raskin for the top banking regulation and supervision post at the Fed.

The worlds largest central banks are pondering how to promote green financing, as they seek to introduce regulatory frameworks to mobilize more money for green and low-carbon investments. However, free-market advocates argue that the U.S. central banks role shouldnt be picking winner and loser industries.

About 79 percent of U.S. energy consumption comes from oil, natural gas, and coal, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank.

Ms. Raskin would have the Federal Reserve discriminate against these sources of energycondemning America and the rest of the world to higher energy prices and greater dependence on Russia, OPEC, and China, the group said in a statement, urging Biden to withdraw her nomination.

Raskin is married to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who led the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

During the hearing, Raskin was also questioned about her role as a board member for a Colorado-based financial technology trust company. She and her husband came under fire recently for not properly disclosing the sale of $1.5 million worth of stocks that she held in the company.

The Biden administration and top Fed officials earlier announced their plans to introduce regulations to address climate-related financial risks, saying they believe banks are vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The Fed hasnt yet proposed a framework to address climate change, but a recent study by the New York Fed shows that severe weather conditions such as wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and droughts had almost no effect on banks.

The staff study published in November 2021 found that weather disasters over the last quarter-century had insignificant or small effects on U.S. banks performance.
In a file photo, clouds form above the U.S. Capitol in between rain showers on the National Mall on March 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

Bill Reforming Family Courts Draws Rare Bipartisan Support

Kaydens Law, named after a Pennsylvania girl who was bludgeoned to death by her father with a 35-pound dumbbell in 2018, has received rare near-unanimous bipartisan support as a critical measure to protect abused children.

Not even the longstanding federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which the bill for Kaydens Law would amend, enjoys such rare, politically non-divisive support.

In March, the VAWA, first enacted in 1994 and since reauthorized multiple times by Congress, was passed by the House in a bipartisan-led charge on a bipartisan 244-172 vote. It has now stalled in the Senate due to some partisan push-and-pull over gun rights and transgenderism.

One major sticking point for both sides is a proposal to allow transgender men to be housed in shelters for battered women.

Another disagreement is over a newly-proposed clause that prohibits gun ownership by anyone convicted of misdemeanor stalking. Republicans opposed to the proposal argue that just driving by an ex-spouses house can lead to a misdemeanor stalking conviction and, could, therefore, lead to unfair Second Amendments infringements.

Supporters of the revisions argue that such a conviction does not come without a trial and thus without an opportunity for the accused to exonerate themselves.

But then theres Kaydens Law. Under its federal legislative name Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act, the law would have judges prioritize a childs safety over parental rights in private custody matters.

It is named after 7-year old Kayden Mancuso who was murdered by her father in 2018 after a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, family court judge ignored her mothers warnings that Kayden would not be safe with the father alone.

The judge granted Jeffrey Mancuso, Kaydens father, unsupervised time anyway. A few months later, Mancuso killed his daughter during a weekend visit alone with her. Kaydens mother Kathryn Sherlock has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against various Bucks County agencies.

Similar cases have filled national headlines. In 2020, 8-year old Tommy Valva was killed by his father, an NYPD police officer, after a judge stripped Tommys mother of custody and accused her of making up abuse allegations against the father. In 2019, three-year-old Zoey Pereira died in a torch-lit car that her father allegedly chained shut after a family court judge ignored the mothers warnings that the father was dangerous.

The father, Martin Pereira, was charged with murder but later died from burns he sustained in the car fire.

The tragedies have drawn bipartisan support for Kaydens Law to stymie a growing trend of family courts choosing parental rights over a childs safety.

According to the California-based Center For Judicial Excellence, more than 700 children have been murdered by a parent in the U.S. in private custody cases. In most cases, a family court judge forced the children into an unsupervised relationship with a parent who either had known tendencies toward violence or documented past violent acts against the child.

In many of the cases, according to its website and backed by a Department of Justice study of the trend, judges frequently strip protective parents of custody and award full custody of children to the parent accused of abuse.

A diverse lineup of organizations including the National Organization For Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) and the National Organization for Women (NOW) have dedicated websites to stories about family court judges ordering coercive therapy that often forces a child into a relationship in private custody cases involving well-documented abuse by a parent.

Rohini Hughes, co-founder of the National Military Family Advocacy Organization (NMFAO) said her organization has craved media coverage of the problem for a while.

Hughes, a staunch conservative, told The Epoch Times that when she was invited by California Congresswoman Jackie Speier, a Democrat and close ally of Nancy Pelosi, to testify before U.S. Congress in 2019 about the way military courts treat domestic violence and child abuse cases, she thought it would be the beginning of a national call for reform, but that never materialized.

We are grateful for any attention that brings about family court reform and addresses the abuses of judicial immunity, said Hughes.

Sheila Jaffe, founder of the Florida-based group Families Against Travesties told The Epoch Times her organization created #MeTooFamily Court in a desperate attempt to get the attention the MeToo movement received from the media in hopes of helping stop the practice of children being forced by judges to live with an abusive parent.

I dont know if its re-training they need so much as being held accountable for not following the law, Jaffe told The Epoch Times. Jaffe said she has been working for 37 years to try to get both the media and lawmakers to investigate the problem in the family courts.

Hughes told The Epoch Times that her Virginia-based organization, which she described as Christian, conservative, pro-military, and pro-second Amendment, supports Kaydens Law, but not the pending version of VAWA that would put transgender men in shelters for battered women and lead to what her group perceives as gun control overreach.

Under Kaydens Law, federal funding would be provided to states willing to retrain family court judges on the way they handle private custody cases. The bill would also allocate funds to state which wish to improve domestic violence and child abuse laws.

The measure also calls for judges to rely only on qualified expert testimony in abuse cases and to stop ordering children to attend reunification camps with a parent they have said they are afraid of.

The National Family Law Violence Law Center at George Washington University, the organization which drafted Kaydens Law, and the National Safe Parents Coalition, which is promoting the bill, declined to comment.
Travelers wait in line to verify their Covid-19 vaccination status as they check-in for a flight to Sydney, Australia at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 1, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/ AFP via Getty Images)

Border Closures Cause Trouble for Australian Employers Looking for Staff

Closed international borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a plunge in skilled migration have resulted in a loss of $32 billion (US$22.9 billion) to the Australian economy as 380,000 fewer people had entered the labour force, a new study found.

The joint study by RMIT Online and Deloitte Access Economics also pointed out that the Australian economy could have enjoyed an additional growth of $148 billion (US$106 billion) had the pandemic not existed.

The closure of international borders brought Australias migration to a virtual standstill and has exacerbated the talent shortage in Australia, the study released on Feb. 8 showed.

It also warned that the impacts from the closure of Australias international borders were not a temporary impediment. And if the government did not take any action, the economy would permanently decrease in size compared with what it would have been without the pandemic.

This means that reverting to pre-pandemic trends isnt enough. Instead, even stronger growth is needed to correct for losses incurred during the pandemic, the study results read.

A quarter of the surveyed employers attributed border closures to one of the key barriers preventing them from attracting new staff.

According to a survey of 413 business leaders and 1,040 workers from mid-size and large companies in several Australian industries, over 50 percent of Australian employees have taken action to change their current employment.

Its no secret that employers across Australia are struggling to find great people with the right skills, RMIT Onlines CEO Helen Souness said.

In some industries, such as technology, big companies are raising salaries to attract talent and making it even harder for smaller businesses and startups to hire. We need to increase upskilling and open the borders to change this situation.

The logo of job seeking website Seek is seen on a screen in Canberra, Australia, Feb. 21, 2017. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Nevertheless, employers express confidence that their staff will stay, with one-third of the companies predicting six to ten percent of their workforce will jump jobs. Similarly, one in four employers anticipates that 11 to 20 percent of their workers will move on.

Nearly three-fourths of the employers participating in the survey had difficulties attracting new staff, with 27 percent citing border closures as the most common obstacle.

Additionally, companies wanting to attract new workers encountered significant hurdles created by employees seeking dream careers (26 percent) and having remarkably high standards for work-life balance (24 percent).

Meanwhile, the study revealed that digital skills were growing in importance in all work areas, with Australian employers being willing to pay a wage premium for workers with digital skills.

A job advertisements analysis in 2021 showed that digital skills ranked third among the most requested skills, ahead of core areas like sales, budget management, and business processes. However, customer service and project management occupied the top two positions.

The study also highlighted the importance of upskilling in the labour market.

Upskilling will play a crucial role in closing the skills gaps, Deloitte Access Economics partner John OMahony said.

Employers anticipate they will spend more on upskilling over the next year, and employees value this investment, with many noting that it is a sign their employers want to invest in them, and they care about their development.
Police carry evidence they sized from the headquarters of the Apple Daily newspaper and its publisher Next Digital Ltd. on June 17, 2021 in Hong Kong, China. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Broad Coalition of Governments Denounces CCPs Attacks on Press Freedom in Hong Kong

Twenty-one governments belonging to the Media Freedom Coalition have issued a joint statement expressing their deep concern over Hong Kong authorities and the Chinese Community Partys (CCP) ongoing censorship and suppression of the media of Hong Kong.

While much of the world focuses its attention on the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Hong Kong reels from an aggressive and escalating clampdown on local media. In December, police raided the offices of the independent website Stand News, arresting seven staff and forcing the site to shut down. Then, in January, the independent website Citizen News announced it would fold out of concerns for the wellbeing of its staff in the frayed environment.

An immediate precedent for both these developments can be found in the raid on the offices of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily in June, and the confiscation of notebooks, computers, disks, and files belonging to the news staff. Authorities also arrested founder Jimmy Lai and charged him with crimes under the harsh national security law imposed on Hong Kong in June 2020, soon following up with additional charges related to his work on what authorities described as a seditious journal.

And, in October, Hong Kongs legislature, ostensibly in the name of national security, enacted a new film censorship law widely predicted to make it more difficult for local moviemakers to bring their visions to the world. Experts said the law was likely to have a greater impact on smaller independent filmmakers centered in Hong Kong, given that the bigger names already active in both mainland China and Hong Kong, like Tsui Hark, who maintains an office in China, have already had to grapple with CCP censorship there.

The staff and operations of the Hong Kong edition of this publication have also come under attack. In the early hours of April 12, 2021, four intruders entered the Hong Kong printing facilities of the Epoch Times and proceeded to damage printing equipment and computers. The incident was similar to an arson attack on the same facility in November 2019, which also involved four intruders. On May 11, 2021, an assailant wielding an aluminum bat came up to Epoch Times reporter Sarah Liang while she stood outside her residence and inflicted more than ten blows, inflicting severe bruises and causing Liang to be hospitalized, before fleeing.

The Media Freedom Coalitions Feb. 8 statement cites the recent raids and clampdowns on local news sources in its denunciation of the erosion of free speech in Hong Kong, charging that the campaign has eroded the protected rights and freedoms set out in the Basic Law and undermines Chinas obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The joint declaration is an international treaty governing Hong Kongs handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997, under which Beijing pledged to allow the city freedoms and autonomy not enjoyed in the mainland for a period of 50 years.

Besides wiping out nearly all independent media outlets in the territory, the statement charges, the authorities have done serious harm to Hong Kongs international reputation.

A stable and prosperous Hong Kong in which human rights and fundamental freedoms are protected should be in everybodys interest. We urge Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities to freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Hong Kong, in line with the Basic Law and Chinas obligations under the Sino-British joint declaration, the statement continues.

The statement bears the signatures of the governments of Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
California to Extend COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave, No Tax Credits for Employers

SACRAMENTO, Calif.In a deal between Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers, California is expected to pass another mandatory COVID-19 paid sick leave package for businesses with more than 26 employees, retroactive to Jan. 1. 2022.

Senate Bill 114 passed the state Assembly on Feb. 7, while a mirror version of the legislation, Assembly Bill 84, is making its way through the state Senate.

The proposed frameworkauthored by the governor, Senate President Pro Tem Toni G. Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendonwill provide up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for all COVID-19 related work absences for full-time employees. Part-time employees will be granted paid sick leave based on the median hours theyve worked in a typical work week.

The bill also allocates $1.9 billion to Californias COVID-19 emergency fund, with $1.6 billion that will go toward the Department of Public Health for contact tracing, vaccinations, testing, and other COVID-19 related responses.

A waiter carries food at a restaurant in Newport Beach, Calif., on Sept. 9, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Several groups called into the state Assemblys informational budget committee hearing on Feb. 7 in both praise and critique of the proposal that would run through September. Proponents of the billlargely made up of labor unionsargue it will bring relief for workers and their families who contract COVID-19 while also mitigating the spread by keeping workers at home.

Meanwhile, opponents say this will burden the states businesses without an adequate plan to aid them as they recover from the effects of the pandemic shutdown.

It is a massive new cost that is heaped upon already uncertain job creators in California, John Kabateckstate director of the National Federation of Independent Business, a nonprofit advocacy group for small and independent businessestold The Epoch Times. And its important to point out that it not just cost but its more recording requirements and opens the door to liability for small businesses.

One of those industries became particularly battered during the pandemic, according to California Restaurant Association Senior Legislative Director Katie Hansen.

The states food sector bore the weight of many of the dining restrictions for more than a year during the state shutdown which was first enacted in March 2020, Hansen said, adding that the added cost of extended paid sick leave is another layer to overcome before restaurants can fully rebound.

Hansen said during public comment that restaurants were the first to be closed during the pandemic and will be the last to recover from the financial impact of the COVID-19 state restrictions on indoor and outdoor dining.

A spike in cost of labor, food, and supplies, as well as any debt the business may have incurred from the pandemic; so any additional cost increases will impact a restaurants ability to recover, she said.

The restaurant associationa 23-member advocacy group for the states restaurantsreported last year that a third of Californias restaurants had permanently shut down due to the states restrictions on indoor and outdoor dining. Prior to the pandemic, the state had 76,000 eateries and beverage establishments employing close to 2 million people.

The state first enacted the COVID-19 paid sick leave program at the height of the pandemic in April 2020 for workers sick with COVID-19 in the food sector, then extended it to all employees in businesses with more than 500 employees beginning in September 2020. Both programs expired in December 2020, but by March 2021 the program was rekindled and retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021.

The 2021 paid sick leave program expired in September and employers who offered extended paid sick leave under President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan Act received federal tax credits, which offset much of the costs. The federal benefits expired in December 2021 for employers.

Johnnie Pina, a spokesman for the local government advocacy group California League of Cities, said the league takes a concerning position on the extended paid sick leave legislation.

We have concerns in some of the language contained in this measure that creates even more administrative burdens and cost to public employers, Pina said during public comment.

A file photo of the Legislature at the State Capitol June 2, 2009, in Sacramento. (Max Whittaker/Getty Images)

Whats In The 2022 Paid Sick Leave Package?

Though the new proposalSenate Bill 114contains identical language to the previous versions, it has a few new caveats. First, theres currently no framework provided for employers to receive state tax credits, so they will have to fully fund the paid sick leave unless the state adopts the federal tax credits program that was available last year.

Not only does this variation of paid sick leave cover employees who fall ill with COVID-19, but it provides an additional 40 hours if a member in their household gets sick, too. However, they must provide documentation of a positive test to the employer. Without a positive test for themselves or a family member, the employer isnt required to grant the paid sick leave.

In addition to the COVID-19 paid sick leave package, workers are also qualified for any paid sick leave available under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act passed in 2014.

Workers who have appointments to receive any of the vaccines or booster shots are eligible for the proposed paid sick leave. If they have side effects from the injections, that is also covered in the amended language of the bill.

Employers are also required to pay for the employees COVID-19 test, but its not clear in the framework whether this is applicable to their family members, too. Additional language in the bill covers in-home supportive service providers and personal waiver care service providers who are unable to work for reasons relating to COVID-19.

The legislation has garnered support from several unions and advocacy groups including California Professional Firefighters, California Teachers Association, Writers Guild of America West, Service Employees International Union, California School Employees Association, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, State Building and Construction Trades Council, and California Work and Family Coalition.

The reality that construction workers would continue to show up to work as opposed to staying home while theyre sick is not just a danger to their own co-workers but also to those of the other construction workers on the project due to the close proximity on the job site, Mike West, spokesman of the State Building and Construction Trades Council, said during public comment.

Becoming Law

The proposal is expected to pass with the governors approval, but Budget Committee Vice Chair and state Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) cross examined the Legislative Analysts Office (LAO) and the Department of Finance on the bills financial framework during the Feb. 7 meeting.

According to an analysis by the LAO, the cost to provide a statewide tax credit system for employers who must implement paid sick leave ranges from $500 million to $1.4 billion through the programs expiration date in September.

So, whatever costs was incurred in the previous bill would be incurred again, but we now would know with no offset? Fong asked the LAO during the hearing.

That is correct, an LAO spokesperson responded. And again, I always point to some of the other supports that are outside that we are providing to small businesses.
Chart Wars: Between Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor, Which Stock Looks Set to Fly Higher?

NVIDIA Corporation and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. were each trading 1 percent higher on Monday despite the broad sector ETF SPDR S&P 500 consolidating with an inside bar pattern.

Both stocks have reached new all-time highs recently with Nvidia soaring to the $346.47 mark on Nov. 22 and Taiwan Semiconductor hitting a Jan. 13 high of $145. Since reaching their all-time highs both stocks have sold off, with Nvidia dropping 38.35 percent to reach a Jan. 28 low of $212.96 and on that same date Taiwan Semiconductors bounced up from a bottom at the 114.19 level, which represented a 21.25 percent decline.

While both semiconductor stocks have fallen lower, Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductors have both printed reversal candles on their daily charts, which indicates higher prices may be on the horizon. Nvidia may have a potential political advantage, however, being a U.S. company because on Friday the U.S. House formally passed a China competition bill to increase chip production.

It should be noted, however, that events affecting the general markets, negative or positive reactions to earnings prints, and news headlines about a stock can quickly invalidate patterns and breakouts. As the saying goes, the trend is your friend until it isnt and any trader in a position should have a clear stop set in place and manage their risk versus reward.

In the News

Taiwan Semiconductors printed a fourth-quarter earnings beat on Jan. 13 before the market opened, which caused the stock to soar 9.66 percent higher than the previous days close before the price action marked the top. The company reported earnings per share of $1.15 compared to the analyst estimate of $1.12.

Nvidia is set to print its next quarterly earnings after the closing bell on Feb. 16. When the company was printing its last earnings report on Nov. 17, the stock flew 18.46 percent higher over the three trading days that followed. Traders and investors will be watching to see if Nvidia has a similar reaction to Taiwan Semiconductors stock.

The Nvidia Chart

Nvidia is trading in a confirmed uptrend, with the most recent higher high printed on Feb. 2 at $258.17 and the most recent higher low of $236.32 formed on Friday.

On Monday, Nvidia was attempting to break up over the 21-day exponential moving average and if the stock is able to complete the task and trade above the area for a period of time, the eight-day EMA will eventually cross above the 21-day, which would give bulls more confidence going forward.

Nvidia looked to be printing a bullish Marubozu candlestick, which could indicate higher prices will come on Tuesday. If that happens, it will likely cause the stock to print another higher high in its uptrend.

Nvidia has resistance above at $252.59 and $272.29 and support below at $230.43 and $208.88.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Chart

Taiwan Semiconductor may have reversed course into an uptrend when the stock printed a higher low on Feb. 3 near the $121 level. On Monday, the stock attempted to move up toward printing a higher high but failed due to weakness in the general markets.

By early afternoon, Taiwan Semiconductor looked to be printing a doji candlestick, which indicates indecision. When a doji is found at the top of a trend it can indicate lower prices will follow.

If Taiwan Semiconductor is unable to make a new high on Tuesday there is a likelihood the stock may settle into a triangle but if it falls below the most recent higher low, a downtrend may be on the horizon.

Taiwan Semiconductor has resistance above at $125.15 and $128.88 and support below at $121.80 and $119.45.

By Melanie Schaffer

 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
People destroy a makeshift camp of migrants during a protest against the increase of crime, which they claim is due to the presence of immigrants, in Iquique, Chile on Jan. 30, 2022. (Fernando Munoz/AFP via Getty Images)

Chilean Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Migration Crisis

SANTA CRUZ, BoliviaChiles foreign minister Andres Allamand stepped down from office on Feb. 6, amid accusations of abandoning his post as a migration crisis continues unfolding at the nations northern border.

Allamand hosted a meeting in Madrid on Feb. 3 as the Ibero-American secretary general, which was a red flag for Chilean officials.

Back in South America the countrys interior minister Rodrigo Delgado traveled to the remote Tarapaca desert regionwhere the migration problem is occurringto address the need for increased security.

Undersecretary of foreign relations, Carolina Valdivia, will replace Allamand during the transitional periods between the administrations of outgoing President Sebastian Pinera and president elect Gabriel Boric.

Chiles Foreign Minister Andres Allamand delivers a statement during a meeting in Brasilia, on Aug. 31, 2021. (Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images)

Chamber of deputies member Jaime Naranjo called Allamands move a remarkable abandonment of duties and didnt rule out the possibility of a constitutional accusation against the minister.

He [Allamand] shouldve resigned as soon as he assumed an international office in Madrid, and not be an absent foreign minister, fellow deputy Gabriel Ascencio said.

In the isolated desert town of Colchane on Chiles northern border with Bolivia, illegal immigrants continue to cross freely due to a lack of security forces to patrol the vast area.

The crisis at the ChileBolivia border began gaining momentum near the end of 2020 as droves of migrants gathered near the dividing line, waiting for a chance to cross when police patrols were out of sight.

Undeterred by strict pandemic measures, dangerous altitude, extreme climate factors, and a lack of water for many miles, hundreds of migrants have been crossing the barren frontier to find work in Chiles larger cities.

Officers from the Chilean Carabineros police take immigrants from the Dominican Republic into custody after intercepting them near the Chile-Peru border on Nov. 22, 2021 in Arica, Chile. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Many of the illegal immigrants are Venezuelans and Haitians.

Chileans have been protesting against the surge of migrants filtering down from the high desert, which has led to violent encounters between demonstrators, police, and immigrants.

On Jan. 30, more than 4,000 protesters took to the streets in the city of Iquique, demanding greater security at the countrys northern border near Colchane.

Physical altercations between demonstrators and an immigrant, along with a group of protesters destroying a tent camp near the beach, were reported.

During the march residents brandished signs reading, Close borders now and Stop victimizing criminals.

They [migrants] do not respect the police, Iquique resident and protester Jimena Ortiz said.

The Chilean flag flies over a mountainside squatter camp built by Haitian and Peruvian immigrants on Nov. 21, 2021 in Lampa, Chile. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Fellow demonstrator Christian Guerra echoed Ortizs sentiment, We are tired of indiscriminate immigration  we Iquiquenos are bored with that.

Responding to the recent accusations by locals that greater numbers of migrants are driving the rise in violent crime, the governor for the Tarapaca province, Jose Miguel Carvajal, said, We cannot compare the migratory situation with the criminal situation, they are very different.

This is the second incident involving clashes between migrants and residents in Iquique in only four months.

During a September protest last year, angry residents surrounded and burned a large migrant camp, occupied primarily by Venezuelans, amid clashes with the police.

Iquique, which is a small but important commercial coastal city, is the first major urban hub migrants reach after crossing the inhospitable desert beyond the border.

Chile has a population of just over 19 million and immigrants now account for more than 7 percent of the nations total inhabitants.

On Feb. 4, officials in Chile and Bolivia held a video conference to address the security challenges at their shared border.

Three days before the conference, Delgado remarked that Bolivia is by far the country that collaborates the least when it comes to policing the nations collective frontier.
An aerial view of the 39 buildings developed by China Evergrande Group that authorities issued a demolition order for in Hainan Province, China on Jan. 6, 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters)

China Evergrandes Debt Crisis Piles Pressure on Suppliers Who Issue Spate of Profit Warnings

The debt crisis of Evergrande Group and other property developers in China has jeopardized their supply partners, as a growing number of Chinese construction and interior design companies write off assets or report profit warnings.

Beijing Jiayu Door, Window, and Curtain Wall Co. projected a loss of as much as 1.4 billion yuan (about $220 million) in 2021, owing to 1.89 billion yuan (about $297 million) in unpaid receivables and commercial bills from Evergrande that are likely to go sour, in its annual earnings forecast last week.

Shenzhen Wenke Landscape Co. also warned, in the latest exchange filing, of a net loss last year as a result of Evergrandes 1.88 billion yuan (about $295.3 million) in defaults and receivables.

As dozens of Chinese suppliers have revealed debts owed by developers like Evergrande, and most China-listed companies begin reporting their annual financial results this month, more such disclosures are expected. Some companies have already set aside provisions, while others have filed lawsuits against the developer in an attempt to reclaim the unpaid bills.

Asia Cuanon Technology, a paint manufacturer, reported a 598 million yuan (about $93.9 million) credit impairment loss linked to a dozen of Chinas distressed property developers. It stated that Evergrande was accountable for 84 percent of delinquent receivables and commercial bills.

These commercial bills, known in China as commercial papers, are short-term IOUs, and have become an important financing means for Evergrande as they arent technically classified as debts.

Similarly, Asia Cuanon estimated a net loss of 580 million yuan (about $91.1 million) over last year, wiping out all profits from 2020.

Shanghai Trendzone Holdings, a residential decorating company, reported it would book a loss as high as 1.2 billion yuan (about $188.5 million) in 2021, reversing a net profit of 133 million yuan (about $20.9 million) the previous year, after earlier saying that unpaid client receivables were piling up.

Trendzone revealed that Evergrandes bills started being overdue as early as April 2021. Recently, it filed 134 lawsuits against Evergrande and its subsidiaries.

Despite some measures by Beijing regulators to ease developers liquidity stresses and boost the slowing economy, recent data suggest that the problem may worsen.

Guangdong Tianan New Material claimed that Evergrandes 286 million yuan (about $44.9 million) in unpaid debts will contribute to a net loss of up to 65 million yuan in 2021, reversing its 38.28 million yuan (about $10.2 million) profit in 2020.

The company, a ceramic building materials provider, stated that it was proactively pursuing a settlement through negotiations with Evergrande, but that it would most likely have to write off the debt entirely.

Shenzhen Grandland Group, an interior design company, disclosed 3.24 billion yuan (about $508.9 million) in overdue commercial bills issued by what it described as the top one client and its subsidiaries.

Grandland estimated a loss of up to 5 billion yuan (about $785.3 million) during 2021; it previously mentioned Evergrande accounted for around 45 percent of its 2020 revenue.

On Jan. 26, Evergrande told creditors that it would formulate an initial six-month restructuring proposal in the developers first communication with them since its finances started to deteriorate a year ago.

Evergrandes crisis has also spread to other Chinese developers struggling to repay their debts, and dented the countrys property market, a crucial engine of the worlds second largest economy.

Subordinate units of Shimao Group Holdings, Kaisa Group Holdings, and Greenland Group were named in January on a list of Chinese companies consistently overdue on commercial paper payments.

And the overall number of such delinquent companies climbed by 26 percent in December over the previous month, reported Reuters, citing the Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange.
Hikvision headquarters in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang Province on May 22, 2019. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese Surveillance Cameras Used in 60 Percent of UK Public Bodies: Report

China-made surveillance cameras dominate the British market, with over 60 percent of public bodies in the country currently using cameras made by Chinese firms Hikvision and Dahua, a new report (pdf) has revealed.

Through more than 4,500 Freedom of Information requests to government departments, police forces, universities, schools, and hospitals in the UK, civil liberties group Big Brother Watch found that around 2,800 public bodies, or 60.8 percent of all public bodies, maybe use surveillance equipment produced by the two controversial Chinese companies.

Hikvision and Dahua, the worlds top manufacturers of surveillance cameras, have been blacklisted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for posing a threat to American national security.

Both firms, which are ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are known to supply surveillance equipment that has been used to target Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Chinas Xinjiang region.

Schoolchildren walking below surveillance cameras in Akto, south of Kashgar, in Chinas western Xinjiang region on June 4, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

Big Brother Watch said there are serious privacy, legal, and ethical issues when foreign companies involved in ethnic persecution watch British streets.

According to the findings, 34.9 percent of UK police forces, 73.2 percent of local authorities, and 60.3 percent of NHS (National Health Service) Trusts use Chinese-made CCTV equipment.

In addition, 53.8 percent of higher education bodies and 63.4 percent of schools use Chinese-made surveillance equipment.

Many of the cameras have advanced surveillance capabilities from object detection, behavioral analysis, to facial recognition, which come as standard on many of Hikvision and Dahuas new camera models.

At least 40 schools that responded to the study have facial recognition capabilities in their CCTV equipment, though most say it is not active.

In 14 schools, the China-made cameras have demographic detection capabilities and detect peoples age and gender.

One education trust, which runs multiple schools, disclosed that its surveillance cameras have face mask detection and people-tracking capabilities, and some of its CCTV can use artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize a fight.

Big Brother Watch said: The human rights concerns, security risks, and normalisation of highly advanced camera technology make the Hikvision and Dahua takeover of British CCTV systems particularly alarming.

If these cameras are used to profile and persecute ethnic minorities abroad, what could bad actors use them for at home?

Commenting on the report, senior Conservative MP David Davis called the revelations shocking.

Technology so closely linked to the repression of Uyghurs should not be being used in the UK, he wrote on Twitter. The widespread use of Hikvision and Dahua CCTV in the UK poses serious rights and security risks.

In July 2021, the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Commons called for a ban on products of Hikvision and Dahua in the UK. But the government did not accept the recommendation.
A health worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine to a pregnant woman at Clalit Health Services, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 23, 2021. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

COVID-19 Increases Risk of Pregnancy Complications, New Study Suggests

Pregnant women infected with COVID-19 appear to be at greater risk of experiencing common pregnancy complications compared to women who are uninfected, according to a new study.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study included data from more than 13,000 pregnant women from 17 medical centers across the nation. Of those participants, nearly 2,400 tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Women infected with COVID-19, and who also experienced moderate to severe symptoms, were more likely to need a C-section (45.4 versus 32.4 percent), deliver preterm (26.9 versus 14.1 percent), die around the time of birth, or experience postpartum hemorrhage (also called PPH), the study found.

The women were also more likely to experience severe illness from infection besides COVID-19, develop high blood pressure, lose the pregnancy, or have the infant die as a newborn (3.5 versus 1.8 percent).

The researched data only included unvaccinated participants who delivered between March 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020before COVID-19 vaccines were widely available in the United States.

Complications during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, PPH, or infection from any kind of disease, are of course possible in any pregnancy, regardless of COVID-19but women who had tested positive to the virus during or immediately after their pregnancy are at increased risk to develop severe complications, said Dr. Torri Metz, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at the University of Utah who led the research.

Hypertensive disease of pregnancy, or maternal hypertensive disorder, affects 10 to 20 percent of pregnancies in the United States and is among the leading causes of severe maternal morbidity (SMM), which refers to health-impacting and life-threatening events that occur during hospitalization for childbirth.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended last year that pregnant women should get vaccinated against the CCP virus. The federal health agency said in an observational study published in the New England Journal of Medicine researchers found no obvious safety signals among pregnant persons who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

A separate study published in JAMA on Monday reported that babies born to mothers who got the shot during pregnancy are more likely to have antibodies against COVID-19 in their blood.

Researchers reported on 28 six-month-old infants born to mothers who were vaccinated with two doses of an mRNA vaccine at 20 to 32 weeks gestation when a transfer of maternal antibodies to the fetus via the placenta is at its highestand 12 babies of that age whose mothers were infected during that same time frame. The small study found detectable levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG), the most common antibody in blood, in 57 percent of babies born to vaccinated mothers, but in only 8 percent of the babies of infected, unvaccinated mothers.

It is not clear how high antibody levels need to be to protect against infection, and antibodies are not the bodys only defense mechanism. But many interested parties from parents to pediatricians want to know how long maternal antibodies persist in infants after vaccination, and now we can provide some answers, Dr. Andrea Edlow of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said in a statement.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Australian Research Declares mRNA Vaccines Overwhelmingly Favourable Despite Causing Myocarditis

Australian researchers who studied a 20-year-old man with symptoms of myocarditis after his second Pfizer COVID-19 jab have argued that mRNA vaccines are still overwhelmingly favourable for all eligible age and sex groups. This is despite the countrys medicines regulator noting that myocarditis and pericarditis rates were increasing each week as vaccination rates rise.

The research team, led by Joshua Wong from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, examined a patient who presented to the hospital with chest pain, fever, and sweats after his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Reportedly, 12 hours after receiving the second dose, the patient started experiencing symptoms of headaches, night sweats, and chills and developed chest pain 48 hours later even though he was fine after his first dose 23 days prior.

The patient had no history of myocarditis, however, an ultrasound of the heart showed a decrease in function of the left ventricles generally associated with myocarditis, suggestive of possible vaccine-induced myocarditis.

Wong and his colleagues reported that the patient also had elevated troponin levels, as indicative of heart injury and markers indicating inflammation.

The patient was released from the hospital after making a full recovery in 24 hours. While there have been no reported deaths in Australia from vaccine-induced myocarditis, the patient was advised to avoid strenuous activity to allow healing of the heart muscle and was scheduled for a check-up in three months time.

The studys authors thus concluded that given the scarcity, mild presentation, and clinical course of mRNA vaccine-related myocarditis, and the efficacy of vaccines in reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection, the benefit and risk assessment for the vaccines is still overwhelmingly favourable for all age and sex groups.

As of Jan. 30, there have been 1,369 cases of suspected myocarditis in Australia out of 35.9 million doses administered.

Australia is seeing slightly higher than estimated rates of myocarditis with 1.7 cases per 100,000 and 1.4 cases per 100,000 respectively for Moderna and Pfizer doses.

The Pfizer vaccine-related myocarditis incidence for males aged 12 to 17 is currently 6.7 and 10.9 per 100,000 people for first and second shots respectively. The Moderna vaccine has a higher incidence rate for males aged 12 to 17 at 8.5 and 15.4 per 100,000 for first and second doses.

However, given that the current background incidence of myocarditis (pdf) in the general population for Australians aged 18 to 34 is estimated at 37 per 100,000 patients in males and 16 per 100,000 patients in females, per year, the authors stated that vaccine-induced myocarditis is an extremely rare and mild complication.

The Australian government has also cited a non-peer-reviewed U.S. study that noted myocarditis was seen much more commonly in people with SARS-CoV-2 infection than in vaccinated people.

According to Australias medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administrator (TGA), as of Jan. 30, no likely cases of myocarditis have been reported for children aged 5 to 11, from the 913,000 vaccine doses given.

This comes despite the TGA noting in December 2021, that the incidence rate for heart conditions following COVID-19 vaccinations were rising each week, consistent with rates internationally.

The number of reports of myocarditis is increasing each week, which is expected as the number of vaccine doses given also increases each week. We are closely monitoring the rates of myocarditis for all age groups and sex, the TGA said.

As of Feb. 7, more than 93 percent (pdf) of people aged over 16 have received two doses in Australia with more than 44 percent of boosters administered to eligible people aged over 18.
By Trend





The technical director of the Turkish company Baykar Makina, Seljuk Bayraktar, shared a post on his Twitter page in connection with the presentation of TEKNOFEST in Baku, Trend reports.

"Today we were in Baku at the presentation of TEKNOFEST Azerbaijan. Let our united festival TEKNOFEST turn the boundless brotherhood of one people, the common destiny of two states into new success stories," he wrote.

The upcoming TEKNOFEST International Aviation, Space and Technology Festival will be held in Azerbaijan on May 26-29, 2022. TEKNOFEST in Baku is held by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan. At the same time, the TEKNOFEST production office operates in Baku. The full staff of the office is comprised of Azerbaijani specialists.

The event has been held annually since 2018, with the joint organization of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation, which is managed by the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology and the chief technology officer of Baykar Makina, in partnership with more than 60 Turkish government institutions, universities and private companies.

The goal is to popularize such areas as aviation, space industry and digital economy, to encourage entrepreneurship in these areas, to identify the knowledge and skills of young engineers through competitions organized within the framework of the festival, as well as to present national technologies to the general public.

Trend, Day.az, Milli.az, Azernews, Eastweststream, Today.az and Turkic.World are official media partners of TEKNOFEST.




Deer in NY Infected With COVID-19 Omicron Variant: Study

A new study found that white-tailed deer on Staten Island, New York, were infected with the COVID-19 Omicron variant, triggering concerns that the variant could spread via animals.

The study, which is in preprint and was published on the BioxRiv website, was carried out on Staten Island between Dec. 12, 2021, and Jan. 31, 2022. They found that of the 131 deer that were sampled, 19 tested positive for having Omicron antibodies, suggesting a prior exposure to the virus.

PCR testing of 68 deer found that about four tested positive for Omicron.

The research, the study found, highlights an urgent need for comprehensive surveillance of susceptible animal species to identify ecological transmission networks and better assess the potential risks of spillback to humans.

Previously, scientists have reported COVID-19 variants in deer across the United States. However, the Staten Island study appears to be the first to confirm that Omicron has been detected in deer.

The circulation of the virus in deer provides opportunities for it to adapt and evolve, Vivek Kapur, a veterinary microbiologist at Penn State University, told the New York Times. And its likely to come back and haunt us in the future.

The researchers noted there is no evidence suggesting the deer can spread the virus to humans. But they speculated that Omicron could be spread to deer by hand-feeding them in the park or more indirectly via wastewater.

Officials in Denmark killed the countrys entire mink population in 2020 over fears COVID-19 could transmit from the animals to humans. And earlier in 2022, officials in Hong Kong ordered the mass culling of hamsters after a pet store worker and hamsters were confirmed to have tested positive for the virus.

Previously, in August 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducted a survey of about 500 deer in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania. The agency found that about 33 percent of those deer had COVID-19 antibodies.

We do not know how the deer were exposed to SARS-CoV-2, USDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole told Reuters at the time. Its possible they were exposed through people, the environment, other deer, or another animal species.

The USDA has previously reported COVID-19 in animals, including dogs, cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards, otters, gorillas, and minks.

The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine collected samples from the infected deer in Ohio from January to March as part of ongoing studies last year, the USDA stated. The samples were presumed to be positive for COVID-19 in university tests, and the cases were confirmed at USDAs National Veterinary Services Laboratories, according to the statement.

COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Defending Taiwan: Hardware Alone Isnt Enough

Commentary

Sometimes one thinks Taiwans defense is just a question of hardware. Buy or build this-and-that weapon in the right quantities, and dont buy or build this-and-that weaponand all will be fine. The Chinese will be deterred.

And just about every American analyst, official, and commentator say they know exactly what Taiwan needs.

A recent article in the Texas National Security Review calls for a large number of small things as the solution for Taiwan. And they describe a detailed laundry list of weaponry best suited for Taiwans defense.

Now to be clear: hardware matters, and the right sorts of weapons, properly employed, would make Taiwan a tough nut to crackor a porcupine, as is frequently described. The thrashing that Hezbollah gave the Israeli military during the 2006 Israeli assault on Lebanon ought to give even the most dominant military second and third thoughts. Switzerland has been coasting on a similar reputation for decades, if not centuries.

Taiwan would indeed do well to have long-range precision weapons, missiles, mines (especially smart mines), weaponized unmanned aerial and undersea vehicles, sophisticated anti-air weapons, sensor-fused munitions, and other weapons that are hard to target and can inflict damage and casualties at long distances.

How many are needed? A lot. A more precise figure: one more.

A U.S.-made F-16V fighter jet with its armaments is on display during an exercise at a military base in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, on Jan. 15, 2020. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

But national defense isnt just hardware. And a discussion of Taiwans defense ought to always keep the following in mind.

Chinese Political and Psychological Warfare

Chinese political warfare and subversion against Taiwan (and against Taiwans allies) is as serious a threat as the Peoples Liberation Armys (PLA) growing assault force. Beijing used social media and other media and influencers to elect its man as mayor of Kaohsiung, Taiwans second largest city, in 2018. He made a serious run for president two years later. Fortunately, Taiwans government had woken to the threat after the Kaohsiung surprisebut it has not gone away.

If Chinese political and psychological warfare isnt effectively countered and manages to erode Taiwans defenses, hardware and weaponry wont matter much. Chinese political warfare is also directedand usually successfullyagainst the United States, Taiwans main backer. Professor Kerry Gershaneck detailed all this in his book Media Warfare: Taiwans Battle for the Cognitive Domain.

Military Service in Taiwan

Military service in Taiwan is not a respected profession, and the serf-like treatment the military receives undermines Taiwans defense. Its underfunded, underappreciated, and, until recently, has not been an urgent priority for Taiwans government. People matter as much as weapons.

Taiwan has a shambolicand ineffectivemilitary reserve system and no civil defense scheme. This is inexcusable. A civil defense scheme and a military reserve system give the average citizen an awareness of the threats and a stake in the nations defense. Without them, a mindset takes holdas it has in Taiwanthat someone else will take care of it.

Even if Taiwan has the right hardware, it must employ it properly. This requires new ways of thinkingor operational conceptson the part of Taiwans top officers. Taiwans military isnt the only one where, in general, the higher one rises in rank the more ones thinking calcifies. Younger Taiwanese officers know what needs to be done. But being a Confucian society, in Taiwans military the old-fashioned senior officers call the shots and the younger officers, who know a different approach to defense is needed, dont (or cant) say anything.

A Galapagos Military

Taiwans military is in most respects a Galapagos militaryisolated since 1979 and forced to evolve on its own as best it can. The American military haswith only a few rare and small-scale exceptionsrefused to conduct joint training with Taiwans armed forces.

Its hard to put up a serious defense when you feel like you have no friendsand equally hard for a military to improve its capabilities operating by itself. Will the Americans go first and break the isolation? Theres a lot of talk, but no real sign of it. Seems some are still too afraid of China, and a sizeable constituency even blames Taiwan for not doing enough (or doing the right things) to defend itself. Do so, they imply, and only then the Americans might consider treating you like a friend. This is not exactly a confidence builder for Taiwans military or its civilian population.

Taiwan-US Free Trade Agreement

A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States would help with Taiwans defenseand bolster civilian morale. Indeed, an FTA would be worth a few squadrons of F-35s. Former President Donald Trumps trade officials apparently declined to move on this since they were busy with China. Being civil servants, they were perhaps unfamiliar with the words work overtime.

An FTA would probably give a nice jolt to Taiwans economy, thus improving job prospects for young Taiwaneseand maybe encouraging them to procreate and produce more Taiwanese, who are in short supply.

So, as you can see, theres more to defending Taiwan than sending out procurement officers with credit cards and bags of money to buy the right weapons. Hardware is indispensable, of course, but is not a magic solution. Rather, it is one piece of a ten-piece puzzle when a nations defense is on the line.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announces the state will join a lawsuit challenging then President Donald Trump's executive order travel ban in Boston, Mass., on Jan. 31, 2017. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Democrat Attorneys General Side With Mexico in Lawsuit Against Gun Manufacturers

Fourteen Democrat attorneys general are backing the Mexican government in a lawsuit against American gun manufacturers.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Jan. 31 filed a brief in Mexico v. Smith & Wesson, along with other 13 attorneys generalall Democratsarguing that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a federal law, cannot be used to bar gun manufacturers and dealers from being sued under state consumer laws.

We urge the Court to recognize that gun dealers, manufacturers, and distributors may be held accountable under state laws for how they market and sell their products, Healey said in a statement.

In the case of Mexico v. Smith & Wesson before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the Mexican government named gun manufacturers Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Glock, Ruger, and Barrett.

Boston-based arm wholesaler Interstate Arms has also been named as a defendant.

Mexico alleged in the case that gun trafficking from the United States to Mexico is not a natural phenomenon, and that arms manufacturers are to blame.

Defendants design, market, distribute, and sell guns in ways they know routinely arm the drug cartels in Mexico, the Mexican government claimed.

The defendants rebutted the Mexican government in a joint motion to dismiss, saying they didnt help smuggle the firearms to Mexico.

Neither can they be sued because of the protection offered by the PLCAA, they said.

Mexico disagreed with both arguments, saying PLCAA doesnt bar foreign governments from suing U.S. gun manufacturers.

Workers repair the facade of City Hall riddled with bullet holes, in Villa Union, Mexico, on Dec. 2, 2019. (Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

Firearms trafficking from the United States to Mexico by Mexican drug cartels and other transnational organized crime groups has long been an issue at the Southern border, partly because Mexican law severely restricts gun ownership.

About 7090 percent of guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico were trafficked from the United States, according to the Mexican government.

Mexican marines escort five alleged drug traffickers of the Zetas drug cartel in front seized grenades, firearms, cocaine and military uniforms in Mexico City on June 9, 2011. (Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images)

In January, six persons were indicted in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for providing high-powered firearms and over 250,000 rounds of rifle ammunition to the Mexican drug cartels.

The suspects allegedly obtained firearms in Oregon and Nevada and smuggled them into Mexico.

They also reportedly obtained ammunition from various states and delivered them to Nevada before they were transported to Mexico, the indictment said.
Democrat-Controlled Virginia Senate Passes Bill to Ban Mask Mandate in Schools

The Democrat-controlled Virginia Senate on Feb. 8 passed a bill to make masks optional in schools. The move comes as a January executive order to the same effect has been challenged by lawsuits, and resisted by dozens of school districts across the state.

The bill, introduced by Democratic state Sen. Chap Petersen, would bar school districts from compelling mask-wearing in public schools, making it the choice of parents instead. The legislation now heads to the Republican-controlled House of Delegates.

A parent making such an election shall not be required to provide a reason or any certification of the childs health or education status. No student shall suffer any adverse disciplinary or academic consequences as a result of this parental election, the bill read.

Virginia Gov. Youngkin welcomed the outcome. In the last week, we have seen Democrat-led states like Oregon, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware move away from universal mask mandates in schools. I am pleased that there is bipartisan support for doing the same in Virginia, he said in a statement.

This shows that when we work across the aisle, we put Virginians first. I look forward to signing this bill when it comes to my desk, Youngkin added.

Virginia State Senator J. Chapman Petersen (D-Fairfax) with his family. (Courtesy of J. Chapman Petersen)

Petersen, who has been a member of the state legislature for over 20 years, told The Epoch Times last week, I think the masks are going have to go away this spring. This is not a long-term policy. It cannot be a long-term policy.

He added, I think at some point, there has to be an endpoint, and I think its going to be the spring. And I think youll see legislation to make that happen.

Peterson told The Epoch Times today that the senates passing of the bill is consistent with his earlier prediction.

He said that he would prefer to have the state legislature resolve the issue on mask mandates rather than having it decided by the courts. Youngkins January executive order to make masks optional has been challenged in three separate lawsuits.

One of these cases was recently dismissed by the Supreme Court of Virginia. In another case, the Arlington Circuit Court issued a temporary injunction in favor of seven school boards challenging the order, allowing them to keep mask mandate before the final ruling.

Peterson also wrote a letter to Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) Superintendent Scott Brabrand on Feb. 8, in response to an FCPS email to staff and families about the Arlington Circuit Courts ruling. He has two children studying in that school district.

In the senators letter, he rebutted two arguments made in FCPSs letter: forced masking of children saves lives, and forced masking of children is popular.

Peterson wrote: More critically, the decision to wear a mask in publicwhen there is so little correlation with public healthmakes it de facto a political decision. In other words, by wearing a mask in a public setting, the wearer is able to communicate a political message, e.g. I Care About Others or I Voted for Biden or even Im Vaccinated.

The ability to communicate a political message is the essence of our First Amendment, but coercing others into adopting that statement, especially a student in a public school, is the exact opposite, he added.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the Shul of Bal Harbour in Surfside, Fla., on June 14, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

DeSantis: Biden Border Policies are Harming Children and Promote Human Trafficking

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Feb. 7 met with faith leaders and Cuban Americans to discuss the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border.

DeSantis said that failed border policies are endangering migrant children and the nation as a whole by promoting human trafficking, which has risen 35 percent year-over-year in fiscal year 2021, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Drug cartels are living in the golden age since Biden became president, DeSantis said.

Border patrol agents seized 1,000 pounds of fentanyl, which is enough to kill 226 million people, or 70 percent of the U.S population, he said. Most of the children who are coming into the country are males between the ages of 15 and 17.

DeSantis said the administration is trying to compare what is happening on the southern border to Operation Pedro Pan, when unaccompanied minors were flown from Cuba to the United States in a legal manner after Fidel Castro came to power.

To equate what is going on with the southern border, with mass trafficking of humans, illegal entry, drugs, all this other stuff with Operation Pedro Pan, quite frankly is disgusting and its wrong, he told reporters. It is not even close to the same thingthere were people coming here that were fleeing a communist dictatorship. They were not illegalthese people were sanctioned to come by the U.S. government.

Pedro Pan was an agreement between the U.S. State Department and Catholic Charities of Miami. From 1960 to 1962, Cuban families who wanted to flee the Castro regime sent their children to Miami, fearing for their future under the communist regime.

More than 14,000 children, ages 4 to 16, were released into the well organized refugee program in order to escape political persecution. During that time, there was no U.S. embassy located in Cuba. After the revolution, special visa waivers were issued to Cuban children and a network within Cuba was formed to educate families on how they could safely send their children to the United States, where Catholic Charities of Miami would take care of them until they could be reunited with their loved ones. Some were reunited within six months, while others had to wait a few years.

In an effort to find answers and encourage discourse, Gov. DeSantis, along with Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez and Attorney General Ashley Moody, met with faith leaders and Cuban Americans who knew first-hand what an unaccompanied minor looked like in the 1960s when they were a part of the historic mass exodus.

Their story concerns unaccompanied children who were sent to the United Statesbut in a legal manner, DeSantis explained.

Maximo Alvarez, who was part of the childrens airlift, has long been an advocate of legal immigration and warned those in attendance that the Biden administration is trying to draw parallels to Pedro Pan.

They are trying to use this program to try to convince people that this is similar to what is happening today  not even close, he told the roundtable.

A visibly emotional Alvarez told the group that the program was much more organized and compassionate.

Let me assure you that they [government] knew exactly who I was, they knew who my parents were, he said.

He warned others of what is to come if things continue on the path they are on.

This is the way communism works  remember, the end justifies the means. What is happening right now  children are used as merchandise, and these cartels are using these kids for personal gain, Alvarez said.

Carmen Valdivia, executive director of the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora echoed his sentiments.

We came into the hands of the church; we had documents. None of us got lost; anything that had to do with us, our parents would be consulted, she said. Each of us were put into a group that would take care of our faith because that is what our parents wanted.

Referring to the present situation, she said: To put children on the frontline and put them through a political agenda is inconceivable.

Floridas Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez compared the 14,000 Cuban immigrant children of the 1960s to todays numbers at the southern border and said she was on the side of law and order.

By contrast, the chaos at our southern border means that in the last year alone, about two million migrants from all over the world have crossed our border illegally, she said. President Bidens reckless open-border policies have incentivized a mass influx, in which murderous drug cartels, gang members and human traffickers are smuggling individuals across the borderchildren.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody stood with the Lt. Governor, adding that taxpayer dollars are being used as a travel agency to help with illegal immigration programs.

We had to sue our own government to get information about their policies and who they are bringing into the state of Florida, Moody said. We dont know who theyre bringing here because theyre not telling us. The numbers of those folks that they have brought in and released are astronomicalFlorida is feeling the effects. This is in violation of public safety immigration laws.

Two of the roundtable guests offered solutions, but said the crisis would continue if policy did not change and protecting children must be at the forefront of the solution.

These conversations have to begin and end with what is best for the child, Dr. Jerry Haag, CEO of One More Child, a Florida childrens advocacy group said. Today, regarding children, we have a failing foreign policy that is creating a domestic disaster for children as they are incentivized to become victims and make this trek all the way to the U.S. We can no longer incentivize children to make that journey where they are victimized, abused and trafficked.

Jack Brewer, Founder and Executive Director of the Jack Brewer Foundation said that one solution would be to help people where they are. Jack Brewer founded his non-profit in 2006 where he helps people around the world that are in extreme poverty and assists with human rights challenges.

We could go into those countries and actually establish programs and give people an opportunity and a chance. Florida is a catalyst for that opportunity, he said.

Brewer said that feeling good about a charity is not enough. You have to be smart. We have to first start as Americans serving each other.

At the end of the roundtable, Brewer offered up a prayer for DeSantis and his administration, and for his efforts in combating the problems Florida and the U.S. are facing.

Florida is the light for so many across the world, he prayed.
On Dec. 1, 2021, an article I wrote about the Childcraft books appeared in The Epoch Times. Several days later, a reader notified me that his grandfather and his father had both worked in executive positions for World Book, which published the Childcraft set as well as the World Book Encyclopedia.

His kind note brought back many pleasurable memories of that encyclopedia. My parents purchased a set for our family when I was around 11 years old. And for the rest of the years I remained at home, I often spent time on the sofa in the living room, browsing the pages, skipping from the EgyptiansI can still recollect the illustrations of their dressto Napoleon, to whatever other topic struck my fancy. Yes, those volumes were educational and certainly helped with high school research projects, but mostly I read them for the sheer fun of it.

After hearing from my World Book reader, I investigated the two libraries in my town and found that these massive storehouses of knowledgeWorld Book, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and other such setshave gone the way of the dinosaurs. In my public library, for example, the computer lists page after page of encyclopedias, but these are one-volume compilations generally aimed at a single topic: space exploration for younger readers, woodworking, and even an ebook encyclopedia on embalming. Those large sets so familiar to me in my boyhood have vanished, gone the way of the pterodactyl and the stegosaurus.

In the mid-20th century, the encyclopedia was becoming standard in American households, as married actors Dick Powell and June Allyson, circa 1947, with a new set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, suggest. (Archive Photos/Getty Images)

A Question

This disappearance of print encyclopedias and other reference material, especially anthologies, caused me to wonder: Are we losing something valuable in this exchange of paper and ink for electronics?

The internet has put the world at our fingertips, and I would be the first to agree that this is a good thing. If I wish to find a synonym for observation, I hit a few keys, and a dozen sites offer me help. If I wish to find a passage from Anne Morrow Lindbergh or Henry David Thoreau, I type in my search words and begin my investigation. If I wish to find a quote about encyclopedias, I enter the word and up pops a boatload of citations.

Surely, most of us would consider our electronic connection to this massive library of information an enormous gift. We can search for whatever we wantthe poetry of Rupert Brooke, the causes of the American Civil War, the best way to cook a quiche Lorraineand within seconds our quest is over.

But are we missing something?

Explorations

As I write these words, at my elbow are sitting The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, published in 1983, and two anthologies, A Treasury of the Familiar and Treasures of Love & Inspiration. The first volume clocks in at 943 pages; the anthologies are slightly slimmer. Stacked one on top of the other, they stand over five inches tall. As I contemplate this tiny mountain of print, the line from a Mark Twain novel comes to mind: Theres gold in them thar hills.

About three months ago or so, I purchased the Columbia volume from the small used bookstore in my public library. This cut-and-dried encyclopedia may not bring the pleasures of the World Book of my youth, but its still magical to open the book to any page and find a squadron of familiar and unfamiliar topics.

For example, I just now randomly opened the book to a page headed Foster, Stephen Collins. This 19th-century songwriter was familiar to me as the creator of Oh! Susanna and Camptown Races, and I know where Fort Knox and Fort Worth are. But Id never heard of the Italian writer Ugo Foscolo or the American composer Lukas Foss. I was also surprised to find how so many American cities were named after forts.

Had I simply entered Stephen Foster into my computer, that predetermined search would have caused me to miss these adventures.

A Collection of Gemstones

In my home library, much diminished over the last 15 years by various moves from one apartment or house to another, are several anthologies. One particularly treasured compilation is A Treasury of the Familiar, poems and prose excerpts originally assembled and edited by Ralph L. Woods. My old, worn 1945 copy of the book bears this penned inscription in the front: Randy has enjoyed browsing thru this from time to time and we thought you might too. Love, Ellen.

Well, Ive enjoyed browsing through it too. Many of the selections included in these pages truly are familiar: Longfellows Paul Reveres Ride, passages from Scripture, and Scotts Lochinvar. Reading these and the other authors Woods assembles is like attending a reunion with old friends.

Reading authors that Ralph L. Woods assembled is like attending a reunion with old friends.

Were I to be banished to some island, A Treasury of the Familiar is one book Id definitely want to pack in my bag.

In his Foreword to Treasury, author and mid-20th century media personality John Kiernan explains how Woods, an inveterate reader from childhood, filled scrapbook after scrapbook with excerpts from literature he loved and then organized those pieces into his book. Kiernan ends his remarks with praise that always brings me a smile: A final warning. When not in use, this volume should be kept in a cool dry place, well away from draperies, loose papers, and other inflammable material. It is apparent that the contents are an exciting mixture, possibly explosive.

Beauties More Rare

Treasures of Love & Inspiration, the anthology compiled by Marjorie Barrows over 70 years ago, offers fewer familiar passages and authors, which makes it equally interesting and valuable in its own right. Works by Shakespeare, Robert Browning, and Edna St. Vincent Millay all appear here, but also taking a bow are writers unknown to most of us, making this book a gold mine of inspirational ideas for the would-be songwriter or poet. Here are works we might discover online only by the accidents of chance and circumstance, or for that matter, might not find at all.

An example is a paragraph taken from Mary Beth Jorgensens brief essay American Hero about the nameless soldier buried in Arlington Cemetery who is known but to God:

He is a symbol of heroic qualities, of the vision of Washington, of the humanity of Lincoln, of the courage of MacArthur, of the faith of Rickenbacker, of the sacrifice of Kelly. He is, moreover, a symbol of the common man who dies daily in order that freedom may not perish from the earth.

Works by Shakespeare, Robert Browning, and Edna St. Vincent Millay all appear here.

Then theres the beauty of this short poem, Symbol, by David Morton:

My faith is all a doubtful thing,

Wove on a doubtful loom,

Until there comes, each showery spring,

A cherry tree in bloom;

And Christ who died upon a tree

That death had stricken bare,

Comes beautifully back to me,

In blossoms, everywhere.

The Jorgensen piece is nowhere online, at least that I can detect, and though Mortons poem appears on several sites, I doubt I would have ever stumbled across it outside of the Barrows collection.

Fact Checks

In addition to such adventures in browsing, these collections, particularly the encyclopedias, provided readers another service often missing in online references: accuracy. The men and women who wrote articles for encyclopedias were experts in their fields, and their work was peer-reviewed for accuracy.

Moreover, the editors of such reference works were interested in appealing to a broad audience. That desire surely reduced any inclination to taint the material with ones political beliefs.

On the other hand, when we look up information online, we must check and double-check much of what we find for accuracy. An example: Whenever I seek out a quotation for an article, I have learned to verify its authenticity. All too often I find the quote falsely constructed or attributed to the wrong author.

The last set of Encyclopaedia Britannica to be printed was in 2010. (monticello/Shutterstock)

A Fond Farewell

Today, World Book offers the only new hard copy encyclopedia still available to buyers. Online reviews of the 2020 edition are overwhelmingly positive, tempting me to reach for my wallet and order a set for some of my grandchildren. Well see.

Nearly a decade ago, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which had existed in print for 244 years, went to a totally digital format. Britannicas website offers lots of articles and videos, but it left me a little cold. Too many memories, I guess, of shuffling pages and finding surprises.

Though I lament the passing of the encyclopedia in print form and the demise of certain anthologies I consider valuable, I get it. The price for the 2022 World Book Encyclopedia is $999. Books like A Treasury of the Familiar are perhaps out-of-fashion these days, with their emphasis on virtue and the beauty of language.

So, I understand. Technology and market forces come into play, and we change the way we do things. That word change, by the way, is derived from the Latin cambiare, meaning to exchange or barter, and in this case we have exchanged the old for the new.

As the old Arabic saying goes of change, The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on.

Woof! Woof!

OK. Im done barking.
A discarded syringe sits in the dirt with other debris under a highway overpass where drug users are known to congregate in Everett, Wash., on Feb. 16, 2017. (Elaine Thompson/AP Photo)

DOJ Evaluating Opening Safe Injections Sites for Heroin Use, Other Illicit Substances

Update: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement on Feb. 9 saying, no federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits.

Original article below:

The Justice Department is considering implementing supervised sites in underserved communities where they will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and other narcotics, in an effort to reduce the risks associated with substance abuse and prevent fatal overdoses.

Known as the Harm Reduction Program Grant the $30 million grant program would provide funding to community-based overdose prevention programs, syringe services programs, and other harm reduction services.

Funding such overdose and prevention activities will help stem the spread of infectious diseases associated with substance abuse and support the distribution of FDA-approved overdose reversal medication to individuals at risk of overdose, the program stated.

The program will also provide those at risk of developing, or who already have substance abuse issues, with counseling and health education, and encourage such individuals to take steps to reduce the negative personal and public health impacts of substance use or misuse.

The funding would also be used to purchase equipment and supplies to enhance harm reduction efforts, which includes a harm reduction vending machinean automated dispensing system stocked with supplies to reduce the risks associated with drug useand safe smoking kits/supplies.

A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon that these kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and any illicit substance.

The kits aim to reduce the risk of infection when smoking substances with glass pipes, which can lead to infections through cuts and sores, HHS said.

Applications for the grant closed on Monday and will begin in May with a focus on underserved communities, including African Americans and LGBTQ+ persons, as established under President Joe Bidens executive order on advancing racial equity HHS said.

The program is being authorized under the Public Health Service Act and Bidens American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

A spokesperson for the agency confirmed to the Associated Press. that they were considering implementing the supervised consumption sites and had been holding discussions with regulators.

Although we cannot comment on pending litigation, the Department is evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety, the agency said in a statement Friday to the AP.

A DOJ spokesperson told The Epoch Times: Although we cannot comment on pending litigation, the Department is evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety.

Critics of the program argue that government efforts should be more focused on stopping illegal drug use as opposed to making it safer.

Is this a cruel joke? Drug overdose deaths are at their highest recorded levels. The Biden administration should focus on stopping traffickers instead of creating more demand for their product, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark remarked via Twitter.

A drug user takes a needle before injecting himself with heroin in New London, Conn., on March 23, 2016. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The program comes as Bidens administration has been working to tackle the nationwide opioid crisis and substance use disorders via a comprehensive, public health approach.

In March, Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, which appropriated nearly $4 billion to enable the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration to increase access to behavioral health services to tackle the crisis.

Biden has also advocated for individuals with substance abuse issues to be offered treatment as opposed to being incarcerated for drug use.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses from May 2020 to April 2021.

Bidens position on so-called safety sites for drug users represents a drastic change from that of the Trump administration, who fought vigorously against opening such sites across Philadelphia.

A federal appeals court in Philadelphia eventually ruled that it was a federal crime to open such supervised injection sites or consumption rooms across the state and that although the opioid crisis may call for innovative solutions, local innovations may not break federal law.
A Compact Fluorescent Bulb (CFL) is seen illuminated in Sydney, Australia, on June 4, 2007. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Energy Retailer Wrongfully Cuts Off Dozens of Customers

Victorias Essential Services Commission has fined an energy retailer for wrongfully cutting off dozens of customers and planning to disconnect another 1,500 in the Australian state.

The commission found that 143 customers from Sumo Power and Sumo Gas had their services wrongfully cut off in December 2020.

It said that in one particular case, the energy retailer disconnected a customer who was actively involved in a payment plan without warning.

The commission also mentioned that another 142 customers were subject to service cut-off before the required six-day warning period had lapsed.

This case illustrates the seriousness of a retailer taking shortcuts and not providing assistance to customers when providing an essential service, Commission Chair Kate Symons said.

Electricity and gas are essential services and customers should only ever be disconnected by an energy retailer as a last resort and by following the correct procedure.

Symons said the commission discovered through investigation that Sumo had set up a target to cut off 1,500 plus customers before Christmas 2020.

It arranged the timing of the billing process, so as to meet minimum regulatory requirements, and it short cut the time required to allow customers to reach out for help prior to disconnection, she said.

Some customers, who then sought to be reconnected to the energy supply, waited for long periods of time on the phone to speak to a Sumo representative.

Flames come out of a domestic gas ring of an oven in Durham, Britain on Sept. 23, 2021. (Lee Smith/Reuters)

Furthermore, she alleged that Sumo stuck the names of customers it sought to cut off into a wall that staff labelled as the wall of shame.

She said the company also established a separate telephone call queue, and required employees to put customers calling about service cut-off into that queue.

Call wait times in the separate call queue were long, an average of 45 minutes, with some customers eventually hanging up before they could speak to Sumo, Symons said.

Customers being disconnected from an essential service in this way is completely unacceptable.

Sumo received 100 penalty notices from the commission in November 2021, and has since paid $500,000 in fines.

The commission has informed that from March, energy retailers will have to pay $36,348 (US$25,912) for a penalty notice instead of the current $5,000 (US$3,564) rate.

In addition, new civil or criminal mitigation liabilities will become effective. Specifically, retailers liabilities will be capped at $218,000 (US$155,000) per contravention, while criminal fines will be capped at $1,090,000 (US$777,000) or ten years in prison per offence.

Sumo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Boeing 737 MAX airplane lands after a test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash., on June 29, 2020. (Karen Ducey/File Photo/Reuters)

FAA Moves to Protect Safety Employees From Manufacturer Interference

WASHINGTONThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Monday it was issuing draft guidance seeking to protect aviation employees who perform government certification duties from interference by airplane manufacturers and others.

Congress in December 2020 approved legislation boosting FAA oversight of aircraft manufacturers, requiring disclosure of critical safety information and providing new whistleblower protections in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people and led to the planes 20-month U.S. grounding.

An FAA survey released in August 2020 found some safety employees reported facing strong external pressure from industry and raised alarms the agency does not always prioritize air safety.

Agency employees reported being over-powered in meetings with industry. Boeing did not immediately comment Monday.

The draft guidance, which is open for comment, calls for manufacturers to monitor, report and investigate all allegations of interference and to report the results to the FAA. It also establishes a clear path for these employees to speak freely with FAA certification officials at any time.

In November, the FAA told Boeing that some of its appointees overseeing aircraft certification tasks lack expertise and directed the largest U.S. planemaker to quickly address the issue.

In a Nov. 2 letter seen by Reuters, the FAA told Boeing an oversight review conducted this summer found some appointees did not have required expertise and found some of those Boeing employees performing certification tasks for the agency are not meeting FAA expectations.

Under the reform law, the FAA in January began exercising new oversight over selection of candidates who perform safety work on the FAAs behalf.

Boeing is nominating candidates but FAA must approve or reject them.

Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department into the MAX certification as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

By David Shepardson
FDA Recalls Illegally Imported At-Home COVID-19 Tests

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the recall of an at-home COVID-19 test because they have been illegally imported into the United States.

SD Biosensor Inc. confirmed to the FDA that it is voluntarily recalling its Standard Q COVID-19 Ag Home Test over confirmed reports that the test kits were illegally imported into the United States, according to the FDAs bulletin on the action.

The STANDARD Q COVID-19 Ag Home Test is not authorized, cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for distribution or use in the United States. While there is no known distribution of these tests directly to consumers, SD Biosensor, Inc. is issuing this voluntary recall out of an abundance of caution, said the drug regulator.

While it is unlikely that American consumers will encounter the Standard Q COVID-19 Ag Home Test, the FDA encouraged them to discard or avoid any use of the test.

The agency did not elaborate on what might happen if an individual uses the test.

COVID-19 tests made by SD Biosensor Inc., which has its headquarters in South Korea, are approved by South Korean drug regulators, according to its website.

The Standard Q COVID-19 Ag Home Test kit, made by SD Biosensor, Inc. (US Food and Drug Administration)

Consumers that have used the test are strongly encouraged to consider retesting with an FDA authorized or cleared test, said the FDA.

SD Bionsensor Inc. said it is carrying out an investigation into how the at-home tests were imported into the United States despite no FDA approval. SD Biosensor further said that if future importations are discovered, distributors and individuals will face legal action from the company.

Distributors or individuals who illegally imported the products initially sold outside the United States will be ordered to stop the illegal activity and initiate an immediate product recall, the company said in a statement.

It added: SD Biosensor, Inc. is taking appropriate measures to prevent further attempts at illegal importation of unauthorized tests by strengthening contract terms and their enforcement with its distributors. In addition, the company announced publicly that if such illegal importations are discovered in the future, the responsible individuals/distributors will face strict legal action and liabilities for damages.

The FDA also previously warned people not to use the E25Bio COVID-19 Direct Antigen Rapid Test because it hasnt yet been authorized by the agency.

In December, the federal drug regulator identified a Class 1 recallthe most serious typefor the Empowered Diagnostics LLC. CovClear COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test and ImmunoPass COVID-19 Neutralizing Antibody Rapid Test.
At the forum, Boluarte shared her sector's experience in the fight against food insecurity and poverty eradication, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In her speech, Boluarte stressed that as part of Midis' coordinating role it has been essential to intervene along the food supply chains, as well as to fight against poverty and structural inequalities, strengthening food environments and guiding the behavior of consumers to promote eating habits that provide positive effects.

Similarly, she highlighted the progress made at soup kitchens and community kitchens, where the participation of female leaders has been very important to preserve food security and healthy nutrition.

"We have tripled the number of food baskets distributed (in Peru), thus benefiting 1.6 million vulnerable people. Likewise, Qali Warma (school feeding program) served more than 4 million students in over 64,000 public educational institutions in 2021," the minister stated.

Boluarte highlighted the articulated work between Midis and local governments towards food assistance, which is reflected in the training of 230 municipalities on issues related to food service management, where 623,000 users in vulnerable situation have benefited from 12,121 soup kitchens.

The forum also featured ministers and international senior officials from Argentina, Finland, Liberia, Mongolia, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Japan, as well as representatives of country delegations, international organizations, and civil society.

?? | La ministra del Midis, @DinaErcilia , expuso la politica del sector ante el Foro Ministerial del 60. periodo de sesiones de la Comision de Desarrollo Social de las Naciones Unidas ?? https://t.co/3rjZ09Oob0 pic.twitter.com/w3mfgWxQgr

Ministra @DinaErcilia: Desde el Midis estamos convencidos de que las acciones conjuntas entre paises permitiran lograr el bienestar y la dignidad para todos, buscando la cooperacion y alianzas estrategicas en areas tan relevantes como el desarrollo social de nuestros pueblos. pic.twitter.com/RdoUK4YKQJ
Craig Kelly MP preparing to take members of the 'Convoy to Canberra' movement inside federal Parliament in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

Federal MP Craig Kelly Brings Convoy Protestors Into Parliament

United Australia Party leader Craig Kelly MP has signed-in a group of people participating in protests against vaccine mandates to enter his office at the federal Parliament building.

Thousands of protestors had gathered in front of Australias national legislature on the first parliamentary sitting day of the year to express their views against vaccine mandates and restrictions as part of the Convoy to Canberra demonstrations held in solidarity with the major U.S. and Canadian truckers convoys.

Kelly rejected that it was irresponsible to bring the rallygoers into the building amid COVID-19 restrictions in place during parliamentary sitting weeks.

These people are protesting about, they simply want to the mandates to end, so they can go back to work, he told reporters from his office.

United Australia Party leader Craig Kelly (C) with protesters against COVID-19 government-backed restrictions and mandates that he signed into Parliament in his office at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 8, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

We cant afford in this nation to have these people out of work for another single day. I was at the protest campaign yesterday, and 99 percent are good family people hard working Australians who just want to get back and contribute.

Kelly said the group planned to deliver a letter to the prime minister, opposition leader, and speaker of the house, covering a range of issues including an end to vaccine mandates, the resumption of free and open interstate travel, and a moratorium on the deregistration of medical practitioners who expressed opinions in conflict with existing COVID-19 medical orthodoxy.

The MP added that the crowds of people outside on the lawns of Parliament House today want one simple thingfor the mandates to end so they can have their jobs back.

Members of the Afghan community and protestors against COVID-19 government-backed restrictions and mandates gather at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

Liberal Senator Gerard Rennick also joined protestors outside the federal parliament, saying he would help the crowd fight to end the mandates.

Make sure our children dont get vaccinated. Make sure to restore our civil liberties and end this government overreach, he said.

This is the second week of Convoy to Canberra protests with demonstrators gathering across major landmarks and roads in Canberra, including the National Library, Parliament House, Australian War Memorial, Canberra Airport, and outside Government House, the governor-generals official residence.

Police have estimated that there are around 3,000 protestors in the national capital. Law enforcement are currently maintaining a large presence outside Parliament House.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe campaign that had raised more than AU$179,000 (US $127,000) for the protests was frozen and subsequently refunded to all donors.

The Canadian truckers protest to Ottawa has inspired individuals around the world to hold similar events protesting government-backed COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates, with events in the Netherlands, Austria, United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
(L-R) Honorees actor Brad Pitt, director David Fincher and actor Edward Norton accept the Discretionary Guy Movie Hall of Fame honor for "Fight Club" onstage at Spike TV's 2009 "Guys Choice Awards" held at the Sony Studios in Los Angeles, California on May 30, 2009. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Chinese Censors Restore Fight Club Ending After Backlash

Finally, Chinese people can watch the original ending of David Finchers 1999 cult classic movie Fight Club on Chinas Tencent streaming platform.

Last month, Tencent released the Chinese version of the movie on its platform. However, audiences found out that about 11 of the movies 12-minute ending were cut, and the movie ended with a pro-government note, likely as a result of the Chinese regimes strict censorship policies.

The news of Chinas alternate movie ending went viral around the world, and sparked hot debate and criticism even on Chinas social media platforms. Some comments pointed out that the Chinese ending rendered the film nonsensical.

On Feb. 6, audiences shared on social media platforms that Tencent quietly restored the original ending of the 1999 cult film.

U.S. actor Edward Norton arrives at the premiere of Fight Club in Los Angeles on Oct. 6, 1999. (Lucy Nicholson/AFP via Getty Images)

The Hollywood movie starred Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. The original ending presented Nortons narration and Pitt as his imaginary alter egoTyler Durden, after the narrator killed off his imaginary alter ego. Then buildings exploded across the city skyline in a subversive plot to reorder society.

The first Tencent-version film ended with a message saying the police rapidly foiled the plot and arrested the criminals, and that Durden was sent to a lunatic asylum.

Through the clue provided by Tyler, the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding, the films title card reads. After the trial, Tyler was sent to a lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012.

It is worth mentioning that the current Tencent version is still shorter than the original film. The missing scenes are mostly of the nude footage of Pitt and Bonham.

The Chinese regime has strict censorship on all movies. To hit the big screens in China, Hollywood is required to self-censor. American movies that enter Chinas market are frequently shorter than the original ones, with some of them being altered.

US actor Nicolas Cage speaks to the press as he arrives on the third day of the fifth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival on Dec. 13, 2008. (Houda Ibrahim/AFP via Getty Images)

The 2005 movie Lord of War was uploaded on the Tencent stream platform in 2021 with an altered ending.

In the Tencent-version of Lord of War, the main character, a criminal arms dealer played by Nicolas Cage, confesses and is sentenced to life in prison. The original film ended with the dealer being freed with help from the U.S. government.
Spider-Man: No Way Home starts off where the previous Spider movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home, concluded: The baddie, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) had broadcast Spider-Mans secret identity to the world, thereby putting Peter Parkers buddy Ned, his girlfriend MJ, and his Aunt May in danger.

(LR) Peter Parker (Tom Holland), MJ (Zendaya), and Ned (Jacob Batalon), in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

Lets cut to the chase: Is this new Spider-Man: No Way Home any good? Like all sequels (or in this case, since its part of a massive nine-quel), it suffers from the usual fact that one can only really experience the world-building once; its only completely pristine, new, exciting, and mind-blowingone time. The rest is rehash. And, as I stated of the recent release Ghostbusters: Afterlife in my review, Spider-Man: No Way Home is a perfectly good rehash.



Spoiler Alert

Warning: Im going to talk about what would normally be considered a major spoiler, because I think not mentioning the main hook of this movie is to simultaneously neglect giving audiences incentive to go see it. However, anyone wanting to see the movie with a completely clean slate, anticipating getting hit out of nowhere, in the face, with surprises, is not going to be happy hearing some of these things. So proceed with caution.

So this time around, Peter Spider-Man Parker (Tom Holland) has just had his secret identity revealed by the perennially shouting online conspiracy theorist J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). It should be noted that Simmons is not actually reprising his character from Spider-Man (2002) and its sequels.

This results in a media firestorm: helicopters hovering outside Peters apartment, getting stoned (by actual stones), and his high school principal (J.B. Smoove) and front office staff becoming cartoonishly star-struck and sycophantic with their new celebrity student.

The worst part of this unwanted megafame, though, is that the press-instigated (and continually fueled) controversy regarding ethical and legal issues surrounding Peters actions as Spider-Man gets him and his friendsgirlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and friend Ned (Jacob Batalon)rejected from all the institutions of higher learning theyve applied to.

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) base-jumps without a parachute to get girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) out of danger, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

The one they all really wanted to get into (so they could remain united as friends), M.I.T., even specified that the rejection was in regard to all the Spider-Man brouhaha. Which is nonsenseM.I.T. would welcome Spider-Man in a heartbeat on full scholarship (in exchange for allowing its professors to lab-test his spider abilities). Who do they think theyre fooling?

Strange Happenings

Peter goes to see Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), that caped, arm-waving magician who opens portals to other dimensions and time-spaces by using a sort of large (but invisible) sparks-generating can opener.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) watches as Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) opens a portal to another dimension, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

Peter wants to know if its possible to go back in time and get a do-overthat is, hide his identity from the world again. Dr. Strange declares that that particular request is not possible, but what he can do is make everyone alive forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Peter thinks thats perfect.

Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) ejects Spider-Mans (Tom Holland) soul out of his physical body, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

The spell-casting commences, and then suddenly Peter realizes this memory erasure will include all his close friends and relatives. His realization kicks off a few stop-start situations: Peter keeps remembering more people hed rather not have included on that list, which ends up distracting and annoying Dr. Strange so much that the spell is eventually rendered useless.



And not only that, but an altogether different outcome ensues, whereby the spell-gone-wrong rends the very fabric of time-space. And you know what that meansspoiler-alert!Spider-Men from parallel universes (old Spider-Man movies) may show up in this movie.

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) sporting the spider suit featuring metallic spider legs designed by Tony Stark (who is also Iron Man), in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

Where would they come from? Well, from the 20022007 Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi, and the 20122014 The Amazing Spider-Man (two-parts) directed by Marc Webb, naturally. (Im trying to talk about this without talking about it but you know what Im talking about and thats all Im going to say about it.)

Electro (Jamie Foxx), in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

The result of this is that those separate realities deliver to the time-space of No Way Home all the dastardly Spider-Man villains of those other films. That would include: Doc Ock (Alfred Molina, Spider-Man 2), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man), Lizard (Rhys Ifans, The Amazing Spider-Man), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church, Spider-Man 3), and Electro (Jamie Foxx, The Amazing Spider-Man 2)a veritable cornucopia of Spider-Man evil villains.

(LR) Electro (Jamie Foxx), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and Lizard (Rhys Ifans), in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

Since thats probably too many Spidey villains for a singular Spidey to deal with, they arrive with (OK, I lied) the Spider-Men of their particular dimension in towthat would be Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. There, I said it. Their interaction is far and away the best part of the movie: the bickering, the shoptalk, the gear comparisons, the fulfilled longing for brothers, the warm sense of tribal belonging after years of feeling like solitary freaks, and a brief one-on-one Spidey skirmish where the more experienced Spidey pulls a particularly fabulous Spider-Man move that a different Spidey didnt see comingnever even thought ofand is in immediate admiration of.

Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

So in a nutshell, what No Way Home is, is a live-action version of something the same studio already did three years ago, with the two-dimensional Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Does live action add anything? Not really. Except for maybe the part where Tobey Maguires Spidey is asked what hes been up to lately, and he answers, Trying to do better. Maguire was all but blacklisted in showbiz a few years ago after having been outed as a cold-blooded, vengeful Hollywood card shark in the film Mollys Game (by actor Michael Cera doing a dead-on Maguire impression), and labeled a bad person. One imagines that atonement is taking place.

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) running from a car-slinging Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

But for me personally, the film is interesting in that it is through cartoons and cartoon movies that some of the most vast and heretofore obscured secrets of the cosmos are being revealed. Spider-verses and Multiverses indeed. What if the cosmos was like a massive Russian doll, with each dimension containing a smaller, exact replica of itself within it? And that smaller dimension contained a smaller one? And on down to infinity? And on the vast end, theres a Spider-Man so large that Earth would appear as a tiny blue speck underneath the red Spider-boot? And a Spider-Man so tiny that he operates in the realm of quarks and neutrinos? And they all do the same stuff? And if the tiny one cast some web it would take a nanosecond, but if that giant one did it, it would take ten million years? I enjoy that these cartoon movies have gigantic philosophical concepts hiding in plain sight.

An unmasked Spider-Man (Tom Holland) doing the now-classic superhero landing, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures)

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Director: Jon Watts

Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau

Running Length: 2 hours, 28 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Release Date: Dec. 17, 2021

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Md., on Aug. 29, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Fire the FDA

Commentary

The late, great economist Milton Friedman used to point to the Food and Drug Administration as an example of a government agency that killed tens of thousands of people every year. This declaration stunned and even enraged people.

How could an agency that is supposed to help develop, test, and certify the safety of new drugs be guilty of killing people?

Friedmans point was that the long and cumbersome five- to 10-year drug approval process at the FDA can be deadly. If a new drug to prevent strokes comes along and saves, say 50,000 lives a year, how many lives were lost because of needless bureaucratic delays?

The point was well-taken: Even when well-intentioned regulations can do more harm than good in promoting health and safety.

As we look over the past two years of COVID, how much of what the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told us about this disease and sold it as science has turned out to be true? The CDC has changed its tune of mask-wearing at least three times to our knowledge, while treatments that have shown promising results for those who have contracted COVID have been flatly rejected by health officials in Washingtonin some cases only because Trump endorsed them.

Amazingly, more than a year into Joe Bidens presidency, there is no confirmed chairman of the agency. This would be like not having a secretary of defense in the middle of World War II.

Meanwhile, the FDA has become so politicized that its top two vaccine officials resigned in protest months ago and the agency has almost completely stopped convening its outside expert panel. That panels advice was routinely second-guessing the wisdom of Bidens rules, and often was summarily overruled by the health bureaucracy.

Why was there never an effective vaccine developed to deal with the Omicron variant? Trump got the original life-saving vaccine to combat the Delta variant in just eight months. The same agency that Warp-Speeded three vaccines from nothing in less than a year under Trump hasnt been able to update them for the actually circulating variants in a year under Biden.

Developing and approving a vaccine or treatment for Omicron should have been a hop, skip, and a jump, although Operation Warp Speed under Trump has become Operation Snail Speed under Biden.

Meanwhile, there is pressure to greenlight a vaccine for newborns to children under the age of 5. Why? There is close to zero risk of an infant or young child dying or getting seriously sick from the Omicron variant. The long-term health impact of injecting a newborn with the vaccine is completely unknown. Government approval would give billions of taxpayer dollars to the pharmaceutical industry for a vaccine of questionable value.

When it comes to COVID, we need vaccines for the elderly, not the very young.

Most unforgivable of all, the FDA, the National Institutes of Health, and the CDC (under the guidance of people such as Dr. Anthony Fauci) were all caught napping when COVID hit these shores. Thats the real scandal that no one in the media will investigate. The combined budgets of these three agencieswhose main mission should be to keep society safe from and prepared for killer pandemics, as we saw in 1918, when the flu pandemic killed millions of Americansis well above $50 billion.

What was all this money used for? Where did it go?

Heres my suspicion from reading the webpages of these health agencies: The government officials were preoccupied with highlighting trendy matters of concern to the far left, such as LGBTQ issues, gun violence, racism, and even climate change.

Talk about taking your eye off the ball.

If Republicans take charge of Congress after the 2022 November midterm elections, they should make a priority of investigating the malfeasance at the FDA and the CDC. We spend over $1 trillion a year at the federal level on health care, and the system tragically failed us under its biggest test.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
(Left) The coordinator of the Canadian Freedom Convoy 2022, Benjamin Dichter, on NTD's The Nation Speaks on Feb. 5, 2022; (Right) one of the organizers behind the U.S. trucker Convoy to Save America, Denby Melisha Morgan, on NTD's The Nation Speaks on Feb. 5, 2022. (NTD)

Freedom Convoy Trucker Organizers Say They Are Receiving Overwhelming Support

The coordinator of the Canadian Freedom Convoy 2022, Benjamin Dichter, and one of the organizers behind the U.S. trucker Convoy to Save America, Denby Melisha Morgan, said they have been overwhelmed by peoples support for their efforts to end mandates and restore personal liberties.

The response has been amazing and overwhelming, and something I never would have thought I would experience in Canada, the amount of support and unity amongst people, Dichter told Cindy Drukier, the host of NTDs The Nation Speaks, on Feb. 5.

The truckers are demanding an end to vaccine mandates and the passport phone application being required by the Canadian government. Thousands of truckers from Canada converged on the Ottawa Capitol on Jan. 29 and on Feb. 6, the mayor declared a state of emergency.

Dichter said participants of the convoy have mostly gotten the support of local police because of their upright and orderly conduct.

And after a few days and talking with police on the ground, it seems to be that strategy worked, because they understand that this is a peaceful, family-oriented event where people can bring their kids, said Dichter.

In Dichters estimation, there have been about 40 to 50,000 people in attendance over the weekends, which he said is even more amazing when you remember it is minus 30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) in Ottawa.

Still, people didnt care because theyve been locked up in their homes for a couple of years, Dichter said. They just came here just to be free, doesnt matter that it was arctic temperatures, they finally didnt have a government breathing down [their] neck with its boot on them.

The truckers protest was started by Canadian truckers but rural Canadians have also come out in great numbers to support freedom from mandates.

Justin Trudeau basically turned Alberta into a third-world country, its quite scary when you go there to rural parts of Alberta. So they have had their lives destroyed. Their businesses were crushed. Suicide rates are through the roof, said Dichter, adding that it started before the COVID mandates.

The convoy was able to raise over $10 million Canadian ($8 million USD) before being shut down by the owners of the GoFundMe website.

Thousands gather around Parliament Hill in support of the Freedom Convoy truck protest in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 2022. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Meanwhile in the United States, Denby Melisha Morgan, a mother of seven, said she was inspired by the Canadian convoy and their demands to end the mandates.

I dont know, it just touched my heart. And I was like, Im gonna contact the organizers of the main convoy and see how we can help on this side, said Morgan.

She had the idea that the U.S. truckers could extend the convoy to stand in solidarity with the Canadians and protest the mandates in the U.S. by taking the trucks to Washington D.C.

Morgan has also been overwhelmed by the support for the truckers by a broad segment of her community.

Then I had tons of people like yes, yes! So, I put the hashtag #convoytoDC and then started reaching out to people and organizing, said Morgan. I have just been overwhelmed at the number of people that are like lets go!  the Canadian flag the American flag combined together, its everywhere.

Dichter said people have made their voices heard by giving money to the convoy in support of freedom.

Because thats their vote. Its not even about the money at all. The moneys going to the truckers, but its not even about that. Its them signaling to the political class and to everybody, youre the official opposition, said Dichter.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian mainstream media have tried to slander the convoy participants and label them a fringe minority.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a press conference in Ottawa on Jan. 12, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Dichter said the claims made by Trudeau are false and the strategy to insult them and call them names will not work.

Because every strategy that the Trudeau government has tried or Trudeau has tried, which is one strategy, and its the same strategy over and over again of calling people names, even his own base of support is starting to get a little turned off on it, said Dichter.
A woman walks by a "Now Hiring" sign outside a store in Arlington, Va., on Aug. 16, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

From Automation to Retention: How Businesses Are Adjusting to Labor Shortages

As labor shortages intensify amid The Great Resignation, companies are making several adjustments to current market conditions.

In December, job openings totaled 10.925 million, topping the market estimate of 10.3 million, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The number of employment quits eased from Novembers record high, coming in at 4.338 million.

The reasons for workers quitting in such massive numbers range from not wanting to return to the office to complaints of being overworked and underpaid.

Surveys have found that the situation isnt subsiding. A recent Morning Consult poll found that more than half of workers would think about quitting before returning to the workplace.

But how are employers adapting to this post-pandemic landscape?

From automating parts of the workforce to retaining more employees, businesses are adjusting by any means necessary to ensure they can keep their doors open.

Automating the Workforce

With 62 percent of executives at large U.S. companies reporting challenges with the present labor shortage, 78 percent of them are planning to invest or increase their investment in automation, according to a recent survey commissioned by UiPath, an enterprise automation software firm.

The study revealed that businesses are incorporating automation and automation training into their day-to-day practices, serving as a complementary resource rather than a replacement of the human component. Executives plan to better train employees to better utilize the technology, giving the employers a better chance of retaining talent.

Champ, the serving robot, heads back to the kitchen for more orders in Lelulos Pizzara Cape Coral, Fla., on Jan. 18, 2022. (Jann Falkenstern, The Epoch Times)

The dynamics of work and the workplace continue to evolve, creating multi-faceted pressures on employers to retain employees and attract new talent, said Bettina Koblick, chief people officer at UiPath, in a statement. Business and technology leaders recognize automation is both a long-term strategy that maximizes the impact of their existing technology stack and a solution that helps each individual employee grow and succeed.

The skills these workers gain in automation-first environments provide rich career opportunities in inventive workplaces.

A separate report from the Association of Advancing Automation (A3) highlighted a record number of robots joining the U.S. workforce in response to last years labor crunch.

According to the group, companies across North America spent more than $2 billion for about 40,000 robots, up 28 percent from 2019.

Although the lockdowns and pandemic-related benefits played a role in employers across multiple industries shifting to robots, its also about the technology not needing to take breaks for food and sleep.

With human labor, what they produce depends on if theyre hungry or are they tired or have they had their coffee, Brian Tu, chief revenue officer for DCL Logistics, told Reuters.

We still have employees working around the robots, but we can reduce labor by roughly half.

Restaurants have been at the forefront of implementing automation into daily operations, whether its preparing hamburgers or frying chicken wings. And experts say the trend may accelerate since there arent too many signs of labor shortages abating.

Fast food restaurants and other establishments that have embraced automation have fared better throughout the pandemic. Restaurants with automation are most poised to stay open because they meet consumers where theyre atwhere they want to order, Sam Zietz, CEO of GRUBBRR, a self-ordering-systems solutions provider, told The Epoch Times.

The data also show it can be a profitable investment.

In addition to the one-time cost of a kiosk being a fraction of the price of maintaining a worker, customers spend more when they order themselves.

On average, a cashier at a quick-service restaurant open 15 hours per day will cost more than $6,000 per month, whereas GRUBBRR self-ordering systems are a fraction of that price. In addition, kiosks always show up, dont call in sick, and are ready to work 24/7, he said.

Consumers spend on average 12 percent to 20 percent more when they order with their eyes and with touch from a self-ordering device than when ordering from a cashier, thereby reducing the need for price increases.

Its projected that the food tech market will swell to an estimated $342 billion by 2027, according to an Emergen Research report in January 2021.

Looking Inward

One notable trend in the labor market is the growing number of employers who are retaining their personnel, relying on higher wages and superior perks to incentivize staying at the business.

This does have some drawbacks for employees who have decided to stay.

A staff member at a restaurant puts chairs on tables ahead of the 5 p.m. curfew in Montreal on Dec. 31, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

Bank of America researchers note that companies are leaning on the labor they presently possess, requiring them to boost productivity and take on more responsibilities.

This is not sustainable: you can only speed up the treadmill for so long, BofA researchers stated.

Because the labor market is tilted in favor of workers, staff can demand better working conditions, flexibility, and compensation. Otherwise, if they protest long shifts and short staffing, it could threaten operations and force the businesses to close their doors.

There are three broad sets of actions organizations should take: Create a more attractive work environment that is engaging, fulfilling, and sustainable; make the employer-employee relationship stickier; and go on offense to turn the Great Attrition into the Great Attraction. We will examine each of these three areas closely in an upcoming blog post, McKinsey wrote in a report titled The Great Attrition.

Whatever the case, the current trend of labor shortages dominating business headlines and discussions has seeped into the broader economy. Restaurants are scaling back their menus, businesses are simplifying their products, and food processors are facing intense backlogs that are sending smaller amounts of poultry to the supermarket.

With the nations labor force having about 3 million fewer people than it did prior to the public health crisis, market analysts think that the jobs market has been permanently altered.
Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti Accused of Perjury by Former Aide

A former spokeswoman for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is demanding the mayor be charged with perjury for denying that he knew of another former aides alleged sexual misconduct.

Last week, law firm Whistleblower Aide sent a 31-page letter (pdf) to the U.S. Department of Justice, the state attorney general, and the LA County district attorney on behalf of Naomi Seligman, who worked as Garcettis communications director from 2015 to 2017.

In the letter, Seligman accused Garcetti of committing perjury and conspiring with staff to cover up more than a dozen instances of sexual misconduct by his chief of staff and close advisor, Rick Jacobs.

In December 2021, Seligman published a letter in New York Magazine in which she also alleged Jacobs forcefully kissed her back in 2016, and that when she told Garcettis then-Chief of Staff Ana Guerrero, Guerrero brushed off her concerns, saying that there was nothing she could do about it as Jacobs was important to the mayor.

Senators should be outraged that someone nominated to represent our country in a key diplomatic post would lie to their faces so brazenly, Seligman said in a statement. Its time for them to take a serious look at the evidence that I and others have presented and live up to the commitment that many of them have made to protect victims of predatory behavior in the workplace.

Garcetti declined to respond to reporters questions about Seligmans complaint during a press conference on Feb. 7, but the mayors office released a statement denying the allegations.

There is nothing new hereand these false claims about the mayor are just as ridiculous now as they were when they were first made, the statement read. The mayor stands by his testimony unequivocally, and more than a dozen witnesses have testified under oath that he was never made aware of any improper behavior.

According to the letter, the mayor sent an email to staff in 2016 announcing that Jacobs would be placed on a leave of absence to work on political and civic matters, but that he would continue to be a dear friend, and one of [his] most trusted advisers.

In 2020, LA Police Department officer Matthew Garza accused Jacobs of sexual harassment and claimed Garcetti witnessed the encounter but ignored it.

During his deposition for the lawsuit in February 2021, Garcetti denied knowledge of the incident and of Garzas accusation, claiming he was unaware of the allegations until the suit became public in July 2020.

President Joe Biden nominated Garcetti to be the U.S. ambassador to India last July and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmed the nomination after a hearing in December; during the hearing, the mayor again denied his knowledge of Garzas accusation.

In regards to the specific [Garza] case, I want to say unequivocally, that I never witnessed nor was it brought to my attention the behavior thats been alleged, and I want to assure you if it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that, Garcetti said during the Senate hearing.

Seligmans letter includes several other instances which claim the mayor was present for Jacobs misconduct.

In 2017, Jacobs, Garcetti, and Garcettis then-chief counsel Julie Ciardullo were in an elevator when Jacobs allegedly began blocking Ciardullo into a corner. According to the letter, Jacobs allegedly continued pushing Ciardullo into the corner despite Ciardullos pleas for him to stop until the mayor intervened.

The letter (pdf) includes a photo that shows Jacobs allegedly with his hand on another mans genitals, while Garcetti allegedly smiles and gives two thumbs up in the photo.

A picture is worth a thousand words, the complaint said of the photo, though the letter notes that Garcetti denied having seen Jacobs pose while the photo was taken.

The complaint was also sent to more than half of the members of the U.S. Senate, as well as the California State Personnel Board, the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, and the California State Auditors Office.

Mayor Garcettis office, as well as U.S. Department of Justice, California Attorney General, and LA County District Attorney, did not respond to requests for comment by press deadline.

A spokesperson for the city of Los Angeles was not immediately available for comment.
A security official wearing a mask and protective plastic visor walks past Olympic Rings at the National aquatic Centre in Beijing on Jan. 30, 2022. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

George Washington University Reverses Decision to Censor Posters Criticizing Beijing Olympics

George Washington University (GW), amid widespread criticism, has reversed its decision to censor criticism of Beijing, admitting it was a mistake to remove political posters on campus at the behest of a Chinese student group controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The posters in question are designed in a way that at the first glance they look like real advertisements for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing that are currently underway, but in fact contain satirical messages against ongoing human right abuses in China. One of the posters depicts a Chinese biathlete pointing her rifle execution style at a blindfolded Uyghur man. In another poster, a Chinese figure skater skates over a bleeding flag of Hong Kong, representing the dramatic decline of the citys freedoms under ever-tightening CCP control.

The appearance of these posters on campus provoked a strong reaction from the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), which is known for doubling as an arm of the Chinese embassy to advance Beijings oversea interests. The GW chapter of CSSA decried what it called racism, calling on the university administrators for a public apology, and demanding that those responsible for posting the images get punished severely.

During the opening of the Winter Olympics, these posters express not only trampling on the Olympic spirit, but also a naked attack on the Chinese Nation, the group wrote in an email, which was posted to Twitter by Badiucao, the Australia-based artist who created the posters and made them available for free download online.

The CSSA complaint initially received supportive response from GW officials, including its president, Mark Wrighton.

Please know that I am personally offended by the posters, Wrighton wrote in an email to a pro-CCP student, shared by Badiucao on Twitter. I treasure the opportunity to work with talented people from all over the world, including China. Your reaching out to me directly is much appreciated, and we are working to have all of these offensive posters removed as soon as possible.

In a statement released on Monday, however, Wrighton revised his stance, admitting that the university administrators accepted the CSSA demands before investigating what the posters were actually about.

At that time, and without more context on the origin or intent of the posters, I responded hastily to the student, writing that I, too, was concerned. University staff also responded to ensure the posters were removed. These responses were mistakes, Wrighton wrote, adding that he now realizes that these posters are a critique of Chinas policies and no longer considers them racist.

I want to be very clear: I support freedom of speecheven when it offends peopleand creative art is a valued way to communicate on important societal issues, Wrighton wrote. He promised that GW will not take any action against the students who displayed the posters.

Wrightons change of position on the issue came after intense criticism on social media from students, alumni, and senators.

Many American universities are enthusiastic agents for Chinas censorship efforts in America, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) wrote on Twitter.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a non-profit group focusing on First Amendment rights on college campuses, said it is pleased to see Wrightons decision, but still finds his initial response worrisome.

It remains troubling that his first instinct was to censor the posterswhich Wrighton admits have already been taken down by university staffrather than abide by his universitys free speech commitments, said Sarah McLaughlin, director of FIREs Targeted Advocacy program. Wrightons belated positive opinion of the posters content should not determine whether students can see it. After all, this is not the first time GW has announced an investigation into anonymously posted flyers.
Official portrait of Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, a Republican (Office of Louisiana Secretary of State)

Group Sues Louisiana for Denying Access to Voter Files After State Rebukes Democrat-Dominated Data Service

An electoral integrity group is suing Louisiana in federal court for refusing to allow inspection of voter list maintenance records, including information the state receives from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a controversial data-matching service accused of inaccuracy.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) says that Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, a Republican, is violating the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by not allowing the foundation to access voter documents, including data provided by ERIC.

PILF, a nonprofit, describes itself as the nations only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity. It exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections.

The lawsuit comes days after Ardoin announced he was putting Louisianas membership in ERIC on hold while he investigates allegations made against the organization.

The litigation also comes after Wes Allen, a Republican running to be Alabamas secretary of state, said in a statement on Jan. 31 that he would pull Alabama out of ERIC if he wins. Allen described ERIC as a Democrat-dominated leftist group.

About the lawsuit in Louisiana, PILF President J. Christian Adams said in a Feb. 7 statement that ERIC is hiding documents the public has a legal right to see.

Transparency is essential to having free and fair elections that Louisianans can trust, said Adams, a leading expert in election law and a former U.S. Justice Department civil rights attorney.

ERIC is blocking transparency and violating federal law by hiding these list maintenance documents. The publics right to these records will be vindicated in court.

The legal complaint (pdf) in the lawsuit, PILF v. Ardoin, court file 3:22-cv-81, was filed on Feb. 4 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. Ardoin is being sued in his official capacity.

ERIC reported that as of October 2021, it had 31 states plus the District of Columbia as members. ERIC describes its mission as assisting states to improve the accuracy of Americas voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens. The organization was created in 2012 with assistance from The Pew Charitable Trusts, a left-wing philanthropic organization.

ERIC provides regular reports to its members indicating which registered voters are no longer eligible because they have died or moved. The NVRA states that all records used to add and remove voters are public records, yet the ERIC membership agreement prohibits disclosing these records, according to PILF.

Louisiana took initial steps to pull out of ERIC last month, saying it no longer had confidence in the organization.

Ardoin announced in a Jan. 27 statement that the state was suspending its participation in ERIC effective immediately. According to the statement, the move came amid concerns raised by citizens, government watchdog organizations and media reports about potential questionable funding sources and that possibly partisan actors may have access to ERIC network data for political purposes, potentially undermining voter confidence.

When Louisiana joined ERIC under my predecessor, we did so under the impression that it would enhance the accuracy of our voter rolls and strengthen Louisianas election integrity, Ardoin said.

After reading about these allegations and speaking with election attorneys and experts, I have determined that it may no longer be in Louisianas best interests to participate in this organization.

It is vital that any legitimate allegation of voter fraud or possible misuse of our voters personal information is investigated. My job is to ensure that the data voters entrust to my office is protected. I look forward to ERICs swift response to these allegations.

ERIC also has critics on the political left, as The Epoch Times previously reported .

Liberal journalist Greg Palast has likened ERIC to Jim Crow, a set of post-Civil War state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. Barbara Arnwine, former executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, reportedly said, ERIC should be called ERROR because its that erroneous and that full of flaws.

The Epoch Times reached out for comment to both ERIC and Ardoin but didnt receive replies by press time.
Love is a glorious thing, but chocolate is my favorite part of Valentines Day. Public displays of romance are awkward. And chocolate is much less complicated.

South of the border, Valentines Day goes by the name El Dia del Amor y Amistad, which translates to The Day of Love and Friendship. I find this holiday a lot more palatable, as its based on a broader concept of love that doesnt require having the hots.

Mexican culture has a more nuanced approach to chocolate as well, one that often involves savory dishes and a different kind of hots. We get a taste in Like Water for Chocolate, when the heroine Tita Garza prepares a mole of chocolate and spices that leans into the bitter side of cocoa.

Titas heart was built for romance, but Garza family tradition required her, as the youngest daughter, to care for her mother instead of getting married. And Titas mom saw to it that Pedrowhom Tita loved and who loved her backmarried Titas sister instead. Denied the love she wanted, Tita put her passion into her cooking. After eating her mole, one of the guests pressed Tita for the recipe. The secret is to prepare it with love, she said.

Like chocolate and love, hot chile can really get the blood pumping. These ingredients trigger endorphins, adrenaline, and the kind of manic energy you need to melt the snows of winter, if not the prison bars around a lonely heart.

I have my own formulation of mole, which I also prepare with love, as well as some of my own proprietary ingredients, including instant coffee for extra bitterness and buzz. I got the idea from a red chile and coffee osso bucco I once ate at Casa Vieja in Corrales, New Mexico. I remembered this lovely combination while formulating my mole, and the coffee fits right in.

I also use red wine in my mole, as it too plays well with the other ingredients, and turns out to be the only sweetness that I add. After all, I think there is enough sugary chocolate in this world, and unsweetened chocolate makes pungent ingredients like chile, cumin, coriander, and garlic more vivid.

While working on this mole recipe, I came up with a dry rub along similar lines. It takes 30 seconds to mix chile powder, cocoa powder, instant coffee, salt, and garlic powder. The combination is bold, dark, and mysterious. Perfect for the hottest Valentines Day ever.

Mole of Love and Friendship

Use mole in a manner analogous to BBQ sauce: as a condiment or as a medium in which to cook protein. Its most commonly prepared with chicken or turkey, but its also great with beef and beans.

I often use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, but any cooked chicken or parts will do. Deconstruct and cut the chicken into whatever size you wish, and add the pieces to the simmering brown brew.

Makes about 4 1/2 cups

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons whole cumin (or powder)

1 tablespoon whole coriander (or powder)

6 tortilla chips, crumbled

2 tablespoons hot chile powder (or to taste, as the chile heat is very subjective)

5 tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon instant coffee

2 tablespoon cocoa powder

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup red wine

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond butter

Salt to taste

In a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in the oil and butter on medium heat until the onions are translucent. Meanwhile, set a heavy-bottomed pan onto medium heat and slowly toast the sesame, pumpkin, cumin, and coriander seeds until they are dark but not burnt. (Skip this step if using powdered spices.)

Grind the toasted spices and tortilla chips to a powder in a spice grinder or mortar. Add the ground spices to the translucent onions, along with the other spices, including the coffee and cocoa. Stir it all together, then add the stock, wine, vanilla, and almond butter. Keep it on medium heat, stirring as necessary to keep from sticking. Season to taste.

High-Octane Dry Spice Mix

Makes a little over 1/4 cup

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

2 tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon instant coffee

2 teaspoons hot chile powder (or to taste)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix the ingredients and use as a dry rub to season anything savory, such as roasted roots.
El ano pasado, la inversion minera alcanzo un incremento de mas de 20%, segun el Boletin Estadistico Minero, superando la meta proyectada. Moquegua y Ancash se consolidaron como las regiones que concentraron mayor inversion.https://t.co/XtRRLYn2Uk
Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) is seen in Washington on May 21, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

House Passes Bill to Ban Use of Forced Arbitration in Lawsuits Involving Sexual Assault and Harassment Cases

The House passed a bill on Monday that would ban the use of forced arbitration in lawsuits involving sexual assault and harassment claims.

Lawmakers passed the bill on a bipartisan basis, 33597. In total, 113 Republicans joined with all Democrats in support of H.R.4445, also known as the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, while 97 Republicans voted against it.

Forced arbitration, also known as mandatory arbitration, prohibits workers from suing an employer if they experience sexual harassment in the workplace.

The legislation will void forced arbitration agreements in any contract if a sexual assault or harassment claim is brought and will instead grant them the option of suing in federal, state, or tribal court.

This, lawmakers say, will provide survivors with the freedom to decide what legal path works best for them.

More than 60 million Americans are subjected to forced arbitration clauses in the workplace, preventing them from choosing how to seek justice for wrongful and abusive treatment, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who co-led the legislation.

Survivors should have the opportunity to use their voices however they see fit. Today the House of Representatives took an important step towards protecting workers and their wellbeing and ending widespread, systemic abuse in workplaces across this country, she said.

Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), the measures chief sponsor, said that the majority of Americans unknowingly signed their rights away when they sign employment paperwork and lease agreements to the terms and conditions for apps and services where such legal agreements pertaining to forced arbitration are hidden.

The legislation we passed on the House Floor today will do away with these predatory pitfallsand Im proud to say that it has widespread support among Democrats and Republicans and in the House and Senate, Bustos said.

The bill, which was first introduced last year, now heads to the Senate, where its expected to advance and reach President Joe Biden, who could sign it as soon as this week.

The White House indicated earlier this month that Biden will sign it, saying in a statement that the administration is committed to eliminating sexual harassment and assault, and looks forward to working with the Congress on the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act as it proceeds through the legislative process.

Passage of the bill comes more than four years after the social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment, known as Me Too, began in 2017.

The movement, which saw people across the globe share their personal experiences of sexual abuse and harassment, including celebrities, prompted lawmakers in several states to expand sexual harassment laws, while Congress itself took steps to reform itself as a workplace after allegations of sexual misconduct arose.

However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce strongly opposes the bill, saying it promotes expensive class action litigation that does little to help businesses, consumers, and employees.

Arbitration is a fair, effective, and less expensive means of resolving disputes compared to going to court, the Chamber said in a Nov. 3 letter to senators. Multiple empirical studies demonstrate that claimants in arbitration do just as well, or in many circumstances, considerably better, than in court.
Demonstrators gather in support of Huntington Beach City Councilman Tito Ortiz, at the Huntington Beach Civic Center, on Feb. 1, 2021.(John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Huntington Beach Recall Signatures Fall Short for 2 Councilmembers, More Confident for Others

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.The effort to recall two Huntington Beach elected officials failed to get the required number of signatures by a Feb. 7 deadline, according to recall organizers.

The recall effort by a 20 -member group known as Save Surf City had targeted Barbara Delgleize, who is now the citys mayor, and Councilwoman Natalie Moser.

Organizers needed to submit to the Orange County Registrar about 13,000 valid signaturesrepresenting 10 percent of current Huntington Beach votersto force the issue on an upcoming ballot.

Organizers did not reveal how many they received.

Despite missing the mark, organizers said they feel their effort has awakened locals to issues they fear will forever change their beach city.

We feel that undertaking the recall was a necessary response to some of the radical steps that the council had taken, they forced our hands, Save Surf City organizer Russ Neal told The Epoch Times. This is really not the end of anything but the beginning of a movement to save Surf City from Sacramentos agenda.

In its petition to recall, Safe Surf City cited issues such as the councils stance on density housing, what they say is a lack of transparency, the financing of a homeless shelter, and massive government expansion.

Organizers additionally cited the councils decision to not hold a special election after Mayor Pro Tem Tito Ortiz, a Republican, resigned in 2021 as another reason for their recall.

The council voted to appoint lawyer and civil rights activist Rhonda Bolton to the seat instead.

When [Ortiz] resigned, putting in somebody who was [politically] opposite to him  and who had never been elected before, Neal said, gave [the council] the ability to move forward quite rapidly with an agenda that could upset the city for a long time. So we had to act immediately.

An initial recall for all five who make up the council was initiated in August.

However, Save Surf City had to restart the recall process for councilmembers Kim Carr, Dan Kalmick, and Mike Posey after missing a deadline to file paperwork.

They now have until Feb. 23 to submit the same amount of signatures, which would then need to be verified by the registrar.

If successful, the issue would be decided by voters during a special election this summer.

We ran out of time for [Delgleize and Moser], Neal said, but we are pretty encouraged that well still be able to make it for the other three [councilmembers].

Delgleize and Moser were not immediately available for comment.
Ineligible Unions Collected Nearly $37 Million in Federal COVID-19 Relief: Report

Labor unions and related organizations took in $36.7 million in federal taxpayer funds through the Paycheck Protection Program for which they were legally ineligible, according to a new report from the Freedom Foundation.

Legislation creating the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was signed by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The PPP authorized $349 billion in guaranteed U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans for eligible individuals, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations to cover payroll, rent, and utility payments.

Some loans were forgivable if specific criteria were met. SBA records show at least $24.2 million of the $36.7 million in labor union-related loans have been forgiven, according to the report (pdf).

Between the time the PPP was created in March 2020 and the American Rescue Plan was passed in March 2021, as many as 226 forgivable loans totaling $36.7 million were given to labor unions and related organizations that were barred under federal law from receiving the funds. Teachers unions, government employees unions, and advocacy organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) are among the most prominent beneficiaries of the relief funds.

That hundreds of labor unions received tens of millions of dollars in federal COVID relief for which they were legally ineligible represents failure on so many levels, said report author Maxford Nelsen, director of labor policy for the Olympia, Washington-based Freedom Foundation.

The loans were intended for organizations registered under 501(c)(3) of the tax code, that is, nonprofit charitable groups. But labor-oriented organizations registered under 501(c)(5) and (6), as well as union building corporations under 501(c)(2), and union-operated benefit plans under 501(c)(9) also received PPP funds, according to the report.

At least a dozen teachers unions and unions representing government employees also received money from the PPP.

It only adds insult to injury to know that teachers unions were getting federal funds all while trying to keep schools closed, and that labor groups that engage primarily in political advocacy received taxpayer dollars to do so, Nelsen said.

The labor union borrowers werent eligible for PPP funds, which raises the possibility that some of the loans were fraudulently obtained, he said, adding that the Freedom Foundation has submitted its findings to the SBAs Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justices National Center for Disaster Fraud for further investigation.

Unions shouldnt have appliedlikely fraudulentlyfor aid for which they werent eligible, Nelsen said.

The lenders, themselves affiliated with unions in some cases, should have done their homework or not looked the other way when approving the union applications. And the Small Business Administration should have had better controls in place to ensure that only eligible organizations were being approved for loans.

Several affiliates of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) received PPP loans, but when asked about those loans, AFSCME spokesman Nick Voutsinos deflected questions about the wrongdoing those affiliates are accused of in the report.

Instead, Voutsinos sent a reply email that was empty except for a link to a post at a labor-funded website called Accountable Northwest that noted the Freedom Foundation had taken out a $650,000 PPP loan.

The Freedom Foundation says its mission is limited, accountable government, but it apparently makes an exception for big federal handouts, the post states.

Nelsen confirmed his employer took out a PPP loan but said it didnt violate the law because its a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The loan, which was actually in the amount of $644,125, was later forgiven, along with accrued interest, which brought the total amount forgiven to $651,157.

At $6,420,500, the largest single loan in the report to go to an ineligible organization was received by the Michigan Education Association (MEA), a teachers union affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA).

Contacted by The Epoch Times, an MEA spokesman said the union applied for the loan believing that doing so was the right decision given the guidelines available at the time and the tremendous uncertainty facing our organization.

However, as we prepared for the loan forgiveness application and reviewed final rules promulgated after the loans were funded, we believed we would be ineligible for forgiveness and, as such, paid back the PPP loan in full prior to the end of the 2020 calendar year, Doug Pratt, MEAs director of public affairs, said via email.

There are still questions left unresolved, Nelsen told The Epoch Times.

Who filled out that application? And what did that application say? Was there any fraudulent information that was included?

Obviously, there was at least a false attestation that the union was qualified to participate in the program in the first place. And then the other concern is, while the MEA was in possession of this $6 million, that was money that was not then available to other eligible entities, small businesses that were trying to stay afloat, Nelson said.

Even though labor unions werent eligible for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, they still benefited from those loans, Nelsen said.

PPP loans allowed employees, including unionized employees, to stay on the job and to continue getting paid during the pandemic.

There was no need to set up a separate set of funding for labor organizations because the unions were getting their cut of that money from any unionized employer that received PPP funds.
Is the UN Helping China Hide Its Crimes?

Commentary

In 1945, shortly after the Second World War, the United Nations (U.N.) was established. According to its website, the intergovernmental organization was created to develop friendly relations among nations, and promote social progress, better living standards and human rights.

In reality, though, the U.N. appears to be inherently corrupt. In 2005, as The Economist reported at the time, Benon Sevan, the former head of the U.N.s oil-for-food program in Iraq was accused of taking kickbacks to help an oil company win numerous contracts. Another senior U.N. official was accused of soliciting bribes. Further investigations proved that Sevan had accepted bribes from the former Iraqi regime. Shortly after the revelations, Sevan resigned from his position. In October 2005, a criminal investigation was launched. Sevan quickly fled the United States, where he resided at the time, and returned to his native Cyprus, where he still resides to this day.

Now, the U.N. appears to be aiding the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to cover up its crimes (at least temporarily) in Xinjiang, a region in northern China where acts of genocide are occurring.

Are the U.N. and the CCP colluding to cover up human rights abuses? This might sound like a ludicrous question to askbut its not.

On Feb. 2, the South China Morning Post published a rather damning piece, in which the U.N. and China stand accused of constructing a mutually convenient stalemate. The accusation came after the U.N.s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the organizations top human rights body, confirmed that it will not publish a report on alleged abuses in the Chinese region of Xinjiang before this months Winter Olympics.

Why?

The headquarters of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) named Palais Wilson, honoring the former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, in Geneva on Jan. 8, 2018. (Fabrice Coffrin/AFP via Getty Images)

After all, as the Post piece notes, the Xinjiang report has been in the works for close to three years. Additionally, it is believed to have been ready for publication for much of that time. Commenting on the inexplicable delay, OHCHR spokeswoman Liz Throssell said: I am afraid we dont have an updated timeline yet for the publication of the report. However, I understand that it will not be ready for publication before the start of the Winter Olympics this Friday (Feb 4).

Is Beijing pressuring the U.N. into silence, preventing the organization from spoiling the Winter Olympics with some harsh truths? It appears so.

Last year, Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador, accused China of quietly working to corrupt the United Nations from top to bottom. She called on the Biden administration to call out Chinas attempts to co-opt the United Nations and its agencies and rallied other countries to oppose Chinas influence.

Haley had a point.

The U.N. has a number of specialized agencies. Fifteen to be exact. Four of these are run by Chinese nationals: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDP), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The U.N. relies heavily on funding to cover administrative costs and its 30-plus affiliated programs and specialized agencies, as well as peacekeeping operations. A lot of this funding comes from China. In fact, in recent decades, the CCPs financial support for the U.N. has grown exponentially.

According to researchers at the China Power Project, before the turn of the century, China was reluctant to play an active role in the organization. Today, however, its now one of the largest contributors to the U.N.s regular budget and peacekeeping budget. Interestingly, it now provides more personnel to peacekeeping operations than any other permanent member of the Security Council. All of these contributions, note the authors, allow the CCP to exert diplomatic and political influence globally. In other words, the CCPs contributions allow it to control the U.N. narrative.

Its clear to see that China carries a great deal of clout. Should we be surprised? The answer is no. Not at all. The U.N. appears to be a highly compromised organization, masquerading as an impartial one.

If in doubt, let me point you in the direction of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which is, to quote the aforementioned Haley, a protector of human rights abusers, and a cesspool of political bias. Again, Haley is spot on. This cesspool consists of Qatar, a country with a horrid history of human rights abuses; and Kazakhstan, a country where at least 225 people, many of whom happened to be peaceful protesters, were recently gunned down in broad daylight. It also consists of Russia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and, of course, China. All of these countries score poorly on the human rights and rule of law index.

Which brings us back to the initial question: is the U.N. helping China?

Although we cannot answer this question with a definitive yes, its safe to say that the U.N. is far from impartial. Its also safe to say that communist China, a country where genocide is most definitely occurring, has far too much influence over an organization that was established to prosecute, rather than protect, bad actors.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Containers are seen at the international cargo terminal at the port of Tokyo on March 18, 2020. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP via Getty Image)

Japan Flags Vulnerability to Supply Chain Reliance on China Ahead of Introducing New Economic Security Legislation

Japan flagged its supply-side vulnerabilities in a recent report, highlighting risks posed by the countrys heavy dependence on Chinese imports.

On Feb. 3, Japans Cabinet Office released the latest edition of its twice-yearly World Economic Trends report. The report analyzes Japanese, American, and German goods trade with China, underscoring Japans larger share of imports from China compared to other major economies.

According to a Nikkei Asia report, a Japan-based financial newspaper, citing the analysis, Japans imports from China in 2019 accounted for 23.3 percent of its total, compared with the U.S.s 18.1 percent and Germanys 8.5 percent.

Out of the 5,000 or so items examined, China accounted for more than a 50 percent share (calculated by value) in 1,133 categories of Japans imported goods, compared to the U.S.s 11.9 percent share in 590 categories and Germanys 5 percent in 250 items, the analysis showed.

The analysis said that Japans reliance on China was about twice the U.S.s dependence on China, while noting the heightened risks posed by Chinese supply chain disruptions.

According to the Japan Times, the analysis comes as Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas government is expected to introduce an economic security bill later this month. The bill aims to strengthen supply chains, ensure core infrastructure security, enhance research and development, and tighten information disclosure on patents.

We will improve the autonomy of our economic structure and make our technology superior and essential to protecting our security, Kishida said. Economic security is an urgent matter and a key pillar [of his administrations agenda].

Japans reliance on Chinese imports extends across various goods but is most pronounced in household electronics such as personal smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Chinas share of electronic handsets imported by Japan rose to 85.7 percent in 2019 from 69.1 percent in 2009, and the country gets nearly all its imported tablets and laptops, 98.8 percent, from China, according to the Nikkei Asia report.

However, the makeup of Chinas exports has shifted as the countrys economy has grown and labor costs rose. While its share of Japanese imports of electronic devices and semiconductors has risen, labor-intensive products have shifted to Vietnam, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian countries.

In 2019, Japan bought 66 percent of its imported footwear from China, down from 91.7 percent in 2009, a significant reduction.

Japan-based current affairs commentator, Hajime Takamine, told The Epoch Times that significantly more Vietnam-made products have been seen in major Japanese malls in recent years. And that many processing plants have either moved back to Japan or to Vietnam and other countries due to the pandemic and increased labor costs, especially those related to footwear.

Stolen Technology

Hajime believes that Japans dependence on Chinese-made products will gradually decrease, and that one of the primary reasons for this is that Japan has realized that China has been stealing Japanese technology.

In the past, many electronic parts were produced in Japan and then assembled in China, but many key technologies were stolen during this process, resulting in Chinese-made electronics now dominating the market, Hajime said.

Similar views were expressed in the March 2019 edition of Japans Cabinet Office World Economic Trends report, according to the Chinese edition of Nikkei Asia.

As the worlds assembly factory, China has gradually acquired the technologies to manufacture high-quality parts and machinery, benefiting from domestic production of price-competitive goods.

According to the report, Chinas exports in intermediate goods and capital-intensive commodities increased more than 10 percent in 2016 compared to 2000.

Although the import of information technology devices from China has increased substantially for Japan, the United States, and European countries over the past decade, they have been reworking their supply chains since the coronavirus pandemic began due to economic security concerns. Japan and the United States have taken steps, such as promoting domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

Justin Yifu Lin, Dean of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University, said in July 2021 that to compete with developed countries in technological innovation and industrial advancement will require enormous investment and incur high risks if relying on Chinese innovation, according to the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency.

However, Lin said that developing countries, like China, have the unique advantage of being latecomers. As the worlds manufacturing hub, it can import the advanced technologies and industries from developed countries and use them as a source of innovation. He suggested that would be much cheaper and less risky than relying on independent inventions in China.

In the context of the Chinese Communist Party, import means plagiarism, Hajime said.

Japanese people are often hesitant to buy products made in China due to their inconsistent quality. On the contrary, Chinese people love Japanese products as they are known to be of high quality, Hajime added.

While the Japanese analysis showed the overall dependence on Chinese imports had changed little from a decade earlier, experts around the globe have called for more resilient supply chains and less reliance on China.

Ellen Wan contributed to this report.
Screenshot from video of clashes between police and protesters as officers use a police vehicle to escort Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to safety near Parliament in Westminster on Feb. 7, 2022. (Courtesy of Conor Noon via PA)

Johnson Resists Pressure to Apologise After Starmer Confronted by Protesters

Prime Minister Boris Johnson resisted calls for him to apologise for taking a swipe at Labours Sir Keir Starmer after the opposition leader was surrounded and followed by a group of protesters.

Police had to bundle Starmer into a car near Parliament on Monday evening after around one or two dozen protesters chased him, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, and three other individuals, shouting at Starmer and making accusations seen by some as echoing Johnsons comments.

A few minor scuffles between the police and the protesters followed the incident, resulting in two arrests. The Metropolitan Police said the pair were arrested on suspicion of assault after a traffic cone was thrown at an officer.

The group of protesters, led by Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, have been demonstrating regularly against a wide range of issues including lockdowns and the push towards mandatory CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccines.

In a video posted online, a protester was heard asking why Starmer hadnt opposed the governmentpresumably referring to Labours support of the Conservative governments CCP virus policieswhy he didnt stand up for the working class, and if the Labour Party had become a party of the elite.

He was also heard asking, Why did you go after Julian Assange? without specifying what he meant by the accusation, while others were heard chanting traitor. Phrases including protector of paedophiles and Freemason were also heard in the video.

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer leaves his home ahead of the weekly Prime Ministers Questions session in the House of Commons in London, on Jan. 12, 2022. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

The incident came a week after Johnson accused Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, of spending most of his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute [paedophile] Jimmy Savile before his death in 2011.

Starmer, director of public prosecutions at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) between 2008 and 2013, apologised on behalf of the CPS on Jan. 11, 2013, after three official reports uncovered that Savile had committed at least 214 sexual abuse offences, including 34 rapes or serious sexual assaults, over 54 years against adults and children of both sexes aged between 8 and 47, and that police and prosecutors had missed the chance to build a case against the BBC star in 2009 after four victims came forward. But theres no evidence Starmer had a direct personal role in the failure.

Johnson, who was trying to repel calls for him to resign over alleged lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street, made the remarks on Jan. 31 during a heated exchange of words in Parliament after Starmer said the prime minister was unworthy of his responsibilities.

Johnson later clarified that his comment was referring to the former prosecutors public apology, but stopped short of apologising to Starmer, irking Downing Streets policy chief Munira Mirza, who resigned over the matter.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons, London, on Jan. 19, 2022. (House of Commons/PA)

Following Mondays incident, Johnson denounced the protesters behaviour as absolutely disgraceful on Twitter, adding, All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable. But a number Conservative and opposition MPs blamed Johnsons previous jibe as a contributing factor in the incident, calling on the prime minister to apologise.

Also writing on Twitter, Julian Smith, who previously served as Johnsons Northern Ireland secretary, said it was really important for our democracy and Starmers security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.

Former minister Stephen Hammond, one of the 15 Tory MPs to have publicly called for Johnson to resign over the Partygate saga, said he agreed with Smith, as did fellow Tory MPs Robert Largan and Aaron Bell, who were elected in 2019.

Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, said its very hard to draw a direct link and to say that in some ways, the prime minister is directly responsible for what happened, but suggested that injecting poison into politics will lead to unintended consequences including intimidation  violence  extremism.

A government minister defended Johnson, saying the prime minister is not to blame for the incident.

Speaking to Sky News, technology minister Chris Philp said Starmer wasnt the only person targeted by the group.

The people involved in that fracas have previously done similar things to people like [cabinet minister] Michael Gove and BBC journalist Nick Watt, he said.

They did mention Jimmy Savile. They also mentioned Julian Assange repeatedly, they mentioned COVID, they also mentioned the opposition more generally, Philp added.

I dont think you can point to what the prime minister said as the cause of that. You certainly cant blame him for the fact that that mob were clearly behaving in a totally unacceptable way.

Johnsons official spokesman said the prime ministers original words last week in the Commons were capable of being misconstrued but did not issue an apology.

The prime minister clarified his remarks last week to make clear he was not suggesting Keir Starmer was individually responsible for the Savile decision, the spokesman said.

I think the prime minister was making a political point about taking responsibility for organisations as a whole, he said.

PA Media contributed to this report.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnsons Director of Communications Guto Harri arrives at Downing Street in London, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Rob Pinney/Getty Images)

Johnsons New Communications Chief Lobbied UK Government Not to Ban Huawei: Report

Boris Johnsons new communications director lobbied the British prime ministers office not to ban Chinese technology giant Huawei in the UK, The Sun newspaper reported.

On Feb. 5, following a string of resignations of his senior staff in Number 10 Downing Street, Johnson named Guto Harri, a former BBC journalist who served as his spokesman and chief of staff during his first term as London mayor, as his new director of communications.

The Sun reported on Feb. 6 that Harri, who had been working for lobbying firm Hawthorn Advisors, was directly involved in talks with senior officials in 2020 trying to persuade the government not to ban Huawei from Britains 5G networks.

People arrive to attend the Huawei keynote address at the IFA 2020 Special Edition consumer electronics and appliances trade fair, in Berlin, on Sept. 3, 2020. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Johnson initially favoured a limited role for Huawei, but eventually decided to strip Huawei equipment from Britains 5G networks by 2027, due to pressure from the United States and his own backbench Conservative members of Parliament.

Responding to the revelation by The Sun, the prime ministers official spokesman said on Feb. 7 that Harri provided advice to the clients of a private company and it was entirely legitimate.

Its in the public domain and obviously we would not exclude from government someone with valuable experience and expertise, he said.

Later, the newspaper published more details of Harris involvement in the Huawei affair.

On June 2, 2020, Harri had a 25-minute video call with Sir Eddie Lister, then chief of staff of Number 10, alongside three top Huawei executives, the paper said.

According to minutes of the meeting, obtained by The Sun, Lister said: This PM is not anti-China and is not Donald Trump.

But he said: We are caught. We want the technology, we want it rolled out. Theres an American concern and a parliamentary concern. There are a large number of MPs across the political divide who have a problem with China. Some are Atlanticists, some over COVID, some over Hong Kong, some over human rights.

The minutes show Harri directly asking Lister if there were any ministers we should talk to.

Perhaps give a nudge in DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport) or Treasury? he asked.

The revelations raised concerns among UK lawmakers over Harris appointment.

The main opposition Labour Party warned of potential national security issues arising from the revolving door from lobbying to government.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative Party leader, called for Harri to be subjected to full security oversight including past involvements with Huawei.

After the Sun reported the leaked minutes, a Number 10 spokeswoman said: In full compliance with appropriate guidance, government officials met with a number of interested parties, including Huawei, following the change in U.S. policy.

After a technical review by the National Cyber Security Centre in response to the U.S. sanctions, the government then banned the purchase of any new 5G Huawei equipment and is in the process of removing all Huawei equipment from 5G networks.

The prime minister always acts in the best interests of the UK when dealing with China which allows us to manage disagreements, defend our values, and preserve space to tackle challenges including on security.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Trucks are blocked by police barricades as a rally against COVID-19 restrictions, which began as a cross-country convoy protesting a federal vaccine mandate for truckers continues in Ottawa on Feb. 1, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Patrick Doyle)

Judge Grants 10-Day Injunction to Stop Truckers From Honking at Ottawa Protest

Judge orders truckers to stop honking at ottawa protest for 10 days

An Ontario court has granted a 10-day injunction to stop truckers participating in the Freedom Convoy in downtown Ottawa from honking their horns.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean, who granted the injunction on Feb. 7, said the ruling is temporary because he needs to hear more evidence, and a myriad of people may still wish to come before the court to be heard.

The request for an injunction came from a proposed class-action lawsuit filed on Feb. 4 against convoy organizers by lawyer Paul Champ on behalf of his client Zexi Li, a 21-year-old Ottawa resident, who said the honking of horns has caused unbearable torment for her and other residents living closest to the protests.

The hearing has adjourned for the day and the court is slated to hear more evidence on how the injunction will be enforced.

The lawsuit names four Freedom Convoy organizersChris Barber, Benjamin Dichter, Tamara Lich, and Patrick Kingand up to 60 big rig drivers with unknown names.

Keith Wilson, a lawyer with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom (JCCF) representing three of the respondents in the case, had told McLean that the ruling on the injunction would carry national importance.

Earlier in the day, the JCCF had issued a statement saying court filings in the case will reveal a more realistic picture of the protest than what the lawsuit claims.

A more realistic picture of what is happening in Ottawa will soon be revealed by sworn affidavits filed in this court application, JCCF said in a press release on the morning of Feb. 7.

The Freedom Convoy has been working closely with the Ottawa Police Service, the RCMP, and the Parliamentary Protective Service.

Convoy leaders have asked all truckers to refrain from honking their horns between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. after receiving a complaint from a local resident on Feb. 1, one of the witnesses in the court action has also stated under oath.

My primary concern is individuals or groups with potential to deliberately instigate conflict with the Freedom Convoy movement and to discredit the Freedom Convoy, the unnamed witness said in the affidavit.

The Canadian Press contributed to this article
LA County to Terminate Unvaccinated Sheriffs Deputies, Thousands More

LOS ANGELESThe Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 40 on Feb. 8 to approve a proposal to terminate all unvaccinated county employees, after dozens of residents called in to oppose the measure.

The move would terminate about 18,000 county employees in various departments, with 4,000 of those workers being deputies in the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department (LASD).

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl introduced the motion to discipline the employees of any County Department for noncompliance with the Countys Policy or directives related to the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, according to the agenda item (pdf).

Six months have now passed, and we dont have 100 percent compliance, and the refusal to get vaccinated or to request an exemption, that is not even to register in the system and do one or the other, really puts county lives at risk, and it is simply unacceptable, Kuehl said during the meeting.

LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva called in at the start of the meeting to urge the board to oppose Kuehls motion, saying it will be a death blow to public safety in LA County. He said the LASD would lose thousands of its deputies.

The more than 9,000 officers in the department who have been vaccinated have a 3.46 percent COVID-19 positivity rate, he said.

We have 5,766 not vaccinated and we had 221 test positive, for a 3.83 percent positivity rate, Villanueva said. So, your motion is going to seek to basically cause us to lose 4,000 employees for a grand total of 0.4 percent improvement in positivity rate. Its not exactly a benefit to public safety.

The sheriff pointed to the countys 94 percent rise in murders over the last two years and a 64 percent increase in grand theft auto. With these rates, he said, the department is unable to handle a further deterrent to the departments functions.

This is ill-advised, illogical, and probably in the long run illegal, Villanueva said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 2, 2021. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

But Kuehl staunchly disagreed and said the county has the authority to enforce the policy to every county department.

If you will not take this matter seriously and enforce it in your department, a county director of personnel is willing to do so, she said. We are not going to permit county lives to be jeopardized by an individual decision not to comply with county policy.

Kuehl said the board has increased the [number of] people who work for [Villanueva] and increased the departments budget.

In this case, we have an absolute right to say these are our employees, not yours, she said.

Currently, the board estimates that the sheriffs department has a total of 5,700 unvaccinated employees, which makes up for 60 percent of the countys noncompliance rate.

Unfortunately, the sheriffs department is the only department in the county thats refused to implement this policy, and thats, I think, why were here today. I think we were left with no other choice, Supervisor Janice Hahn said during the meeting.

Hahn suggested the board should lift the departments hiring freeze to ensure they can hire more deputiesif in fact they end up losing personnel as a result of this enforcementto keep public safety a priority.

The sheriffs department is the only county department that remains on a hiring freeze that was imposed by the board at the start of the pandemic to curtail budget deficits across 37 county departments.

Villanueva has been a vocal critic against mandatory vaccinations in law enforcement and didnt impose requirements in his department when the county implemented the mandates last year.

The county first issued an order to create a vaccine policy in August 2021 requiring all county employees to submit proof of vaccination. By October 2021, the policy was implemented, and all employees were mandated to be fully vaccinated unless a religious or medical exemption was granted.

In the current model, employees with an exemption undergo weekly COVID-19 testing paid for by the county. As of Feb. 1, 2022, 81.5 percent of the countys 100,000-person workforce is vaccinated.

But according to Kuehl, the high vaccination rate isnt enough. She singled out the LASDs 60-percent vaccination rate as the driver to amend the current policy.

Unsurprisingly, approximately 74 [percent] of the more than 5,000 COVID-19-related workers compensation claims filed by County employees as of [Jan.] 29, 2022, have been filed by employees in the Sheriffs Department, Kuehls motion reads. This data illustrates vaccinations vital role in limiting the spread of COVID-19 and thus, the urgent need to increase vaccination rates across the entire County workforce.

Los Angeles County has embraced some of the strictest vaccine mandates in the country, with residents required to show proof of vaccination when entering bars, wineries, breweries, distilleries, nightclubs, and lounges. As of Feb. 7, the county had 2,773 COVID-19 hospitalizations and 4,360 new cases reported.

Santa Clarita resident Tracy Hauser told the board she agreed with Villanueva and that her sonwho is a local firefighterhas faced a lot worse danger than what this has all been.

Attorney for the Los Angeles Peace Officers Association Jim Cunningham said the association stands in strong opposition to any changes to the current Countys civil service rules.

[The rules] are already extremely robust in terms of discipline and disciplinary appeals. Any changes that would have a direct impact on our employeesthere has to be other tools and other available avenues to address concern that the Board of Supervisors may have about the sheriffs department, Cunningham said. But to punish the sheriffs employees by a significant change in the charter, we would submit, is not only potentially illegal  but also itll be incredibly disruptive to the men and women that you rely on on a day-to-day basis.

The boards approved proposal will be heard again at the March 15 regular board meeting as an ordinance to the Countys civil service rules.
Liberal MP for Louis-Hebert Joel Lightbound speaks about COVID-19 restrictions during a news conference on Feb. 8, 2022 in Ottawa. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Liberal MP Breaks Ranks, Calls for End of Divisive COVID Policies

Liberal MP Joel Lightbound gave a solo press conference this morning to call on his own government to lift COVID-19 restrictions and to change its divisive tone on the issue.

Taking an opposing stance to his partys leader, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Lightbound said legitimate concerns about restrictive policies should not be dismissed and governments should not demonize those who voiced them.

The MP representing the Louis-Hebert riding said such an approach needs to stop, saying the vaccination issue is being used by Trudeau as a wedge to divide people and score political points.

I cant help but notice with regret that both the tone and the policies of my government changed drastically on the eve, and during, the last election campaign, said Lightbound at a press conference on Feb. 8.

From a positive and unifying approach, a decision was made to wedge, to divide, and to stigmatize. I fear that this politicization of the pandemic risks undermining the publics trust in our public health institutions.

Along with his plea to tone down the rhetoric, Lightbound made other recommendations to move forward, saying the government should provide a roadmap with measurable targets, such as hospitalization levels, to lift all restrictions within its purview.

He said Canadians are finding it harder to comply with restrictions because the government no longer cares to explain them, adding that policies such as the vaccine mandate for truckers is not based on science nor economically sound.

The MP, who also chairs the Quebec caucus, said hes looked for the data supporting these policies but hasnt found it.

This leads me to humbly suggest that the government should systematically publish the epidemiological projections and the scientific analysis underpinning the measures it imposes going forward, he said.

Citing a third solution, Lightbound said capacity building within the health care system is essential to prepare for future waves, and as such, the federal government should start negotiating health transfers with the provinces and territories.

The governments position is quite frankly hard to understand. On the one hand, we say that we will not be negotiating the transfers before the pandemic ends. And on the other hand, we say that the pandemic will last for years. If you want to be able to truly live with the virus without resorting to the violence of lockdowns, these discussions cannot wait, he said.

Despite his dissent from the party position, Lightbound said he plans on remaining a Liberal, but could no longer keep quiet after raising the issue internally. He said other colleagues share his concerns, though they have yet to step forward.

Trudeau previously expelled two prominent cabinet ministers, Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, over their dissent on the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

Legitimate Protests Being Dismissed, Says Lightbound

The MP had opened his remarks by condemning the display of hateful symbols amid the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, while also calling for its end, but he then shifted to say he disagrees with the generalizations that have been made about the protest.

Ive seen on [CBC] Radio-Canada an interview with what seemed to be a very kind grandmother who demonstrated for her grandkids, she looked and sounded nothing like a white supremacist, said Lightbound.

Nor did the black, Sikh and indigenous Canadians I saw demonstrating on my way to Parliament these last two weeks, or in Quebec City this last Saturday. I have enough respect for my fellow Canadians not to engage in these easy and absurd labels.

Opponents of the Freedom Convoy have latched onto pictures of an individual holding a Nazi flag, and the holding or display of at least two Confederate flags on Jan. 29 to try to paint the entire group as racist and bigoted.

Moving on from the protest, Lightbound said he was speaking out on behalf of constituents and citizens whove reached out to him recently to express concerns about where the country is going with its restrictive COVID-19 policies.

Ive heard from parents worried to see their kids sink into depression and slowly lose their joy of living. Ive heard from pediatricians in tears telling me about their young patients despair, anxiety, isolation, as well as the stunning increase in school dropouts they are observing, said Lightbound.

Ive heard from artists who are on the brink of mental and financial collapse after two years, with barely enough work to get by. Ive heard from social workers answering suicide hotlines, who are overwhelmed by the number of calls theyre receiving. Ive heard from entrepreneurs and restaurant owners who are contemplating losing what theyve spent their whole lives building.

Lightbound went on to note examples of how COVID-19 health policies have had far-reaching consequences, such as some Canadians selling everything to move to the United States, presumably to enjoy a less restrictive environment, as well as teachers worried about schoolchildren reenacting segregation between vaccinated and unvaccinated kids in the schoolyard.

The Liberal MP then said that Canadians are confused about the legitimacy of health measures when they hear from health experts like Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam recently saying policies like the vaccine passports need to be re-examined, and when they see other countries with lower vaccination rates than Canada opening up, or the WHO recommending dropping border measures such as vaccine requirements since they cant stop the spread of the Omicron variant.

Now, while folks are hearing and seeing all of this, theyre left rightfully wondering, where the hell are we heading here in Canada? I think there lies the frustration. They feel there is no appetite from our government to adapt so as to reflect the changing data and the changing reality of the pandemic and of the world, Lightbound said.

Theyre worried that measures that ought to be exceptional and limited in time, are being normalized with no end in sight.

Conservative MPs were quick to show support on Twitter after his address.

The statements from Joel Lightbound demonstrate it is time to act with respect. Yes, his words are aligned with ours: hes had enough of the divisive politics from the Prime Minister, said former House Leader and Quebec MP Gerard Deltell.

In the context of the pressure exerted by party caucuses in our system, Joel Lightbound has shown immense courage today, said Saskatchewan MP Garnett Genuis.

We also see that courage is contagious. Its time for more MPs to speak out for unity, common sense, and hope. Things are changing.
The Cabinet member recalled that he had spoken with the Head of State about the need to define a Cabinet "in accordance with the urgencies that we face in the country, to seek unity, but also to affirm the promises, the government design that he had proposed from the beginning and that, in my opinion, should not be missed."





Regarding the possibility that he becomes Prime Minister, Cevallos affirmed that he had spoken with the Head of State two days ago to evaluate different options.





"Beyond that, there has been no commitment," he said in statements to the press from Lima's Ancon district, where the "I take care of the sea, I take care of my health" Campaign took place.









Regarding the convening of a Council of State as requested by Judiciary Chairwoman Elvia Barrios the Health minister stated that said body does not have a decision-making capacity.





"What we need here is for the President to make a decision, in order to define the recomposition of the Cabinet, about a new Prime Minister. Meanwhile, the ministries continue working," Cevallos indicated.





On the other hand, the high-ranking official ruled out the existence of a parallel Cabinet within the Executive Branch.





In this sense, Cevallos affirmed that he mentioned to President Castillo the need to make the administration transparent so that doubts are not generated in this regard, and that he review the team with which he works and makes decisions.





(END) MCA/VVS/MVB
Los Angeles Seeks Law to Prevent Bicycle Chop Shops

LOS ANGELESThe Los Angeles City Council voted Feb. 8 to instruct the City Attorneys Office to draft an ordinance that would prohibit people from assembling, disassembling, and selling their bicycles in the public right-of-way.

The motion, introduced by Councilman Joe Buscaino, passed 10-4, with council members Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Nithya Raman, Curren Price, and Mike Bonin opposed. Harris-Dawson said the potential law could have gotten him arrested as a child.

The motion calls on the city attorney to prepare an ordinance similar to one already in effect in Long Beach to prohibit the assembly, disassembly, sale, offer of sale, distribution of bicycles and bicycle parts on public property or within the public right-of-way.

Buscaino said it would prevent bicycle chop shops, in which people allegedly disassemble stolen bikes and sell the parts on sidewalks.

Buscaino said his district, which borders Long Beach, has seen a proliferation of bicycle chop shops.

Councilman Paul Koretz spoke before the vote in support of the motion, alleging theres a lot of criminal activity in some homeless encampments, including bicycle theft operations.

Harris-Dawson said before Tuesdays vote that if this ordinance existed when he was growing up in Los Angeles, he would have been arrested four, or five, or eight times.

Growing up in this city I never had a new bicycle. Never. It was always a hand-me-down bicycle, so I never had a receipt, he said.

I dont remember how many times my bicycle broke and I had to fix it, or me and my brother had to fix our bikes, or me and a friend on my block had to fix our bikes, he added. This wide swath that says anybody fixing a bike on a street that cant prove its theirs, somehow, is moved into the category of a criminal.

Raman noted that the actions being alleged as justification for the ordinanceincluding bicycle theft and blocking the sidewalkare already illegal.

Buscaino, however, said the ordinance would give the Los Angeles Police Department a necessary tool to reduce the number of bicycle thefts in Los Angeles. His motion called for the citys ordinance draft to be modeled after a similar ordinance in Long Beach, which he said describes a chop shop as:
Locals stand next to a flooded area, as Cyclone Batsirai sweeps inland, in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, on Feb. 6, 2022. (Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

Madagascar Cyclone Kills 21, Leaves Homes and Lives in Ruins

MANANJARY, MadagascarResidents of a coastal town in Madagascar that was battered by Cyclone Batsirai over the weekend were left picking through the wreckage of their homes on Monday, collecting soaking wet clothing and anything else worth salvaging.

The cyclone killed 21 people and displaced more than 60,000 after it slammed into the Indian Ocean island late on Saturday, knocking down houses and electricity lines along the southeastern coastline until it moved away late on Sunday.

It also destroyed crops of rice, fruits, and vegetables that were close to being harvested, worsening a food shortage in an area that was already struggling with the consequences of a severe drought, the United Nations food aid agency said.

In Mananjary, one of the worst affected towns, many houses had been completely flattened, while others still had walls standing but their roofs were missing. Debris and uprooted palm trees lying on their sides were everywhere.

My house started to crack and we had to leave, all of a sudden it collapsed, said resident Sezie Kajy, who was picking up clothes from her ruined home.

She said she and other local people went to a school that had been designated as an evacuation center, but the buildings roof was blown off, so they were stuck in the open.

We were in a bad situation, all the houses were destroyed. Water from the river and water from the sea rose, all the houses collapsed, we were really scared.

The state disaster relief agency said over 14,000 households, or more than 70,000 people in total, had seen their homes damaged or destroyed. Of those, about 62,000 were in shelters, while another 8,000 were either in the open or staying with relatives.

Cars stop before a flooded area, after Cyclone Batsirai made landfall, on a road in Vohiparara, Madagascar, on Feb. 6, 2022. Picture was taken with a drone. (Christophe Van Der Perre/Reuters)

Crops Destroyed

With a population of nearly 30 million, Madagascar had already been dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Ana, which killed 55 people and displaced 130,000 just two weeks earlier.

Cyclone Batsirai struck a different part of the island, further south, where the population is facing a precarious situation in terms of food supplies because of a severe drought.

The impact was severe and harsh and we are still counting casualties, said Pasqualina Di Sirio, country director for the United Nations World Food Programme in Madagascar.

She said the destruction of rice crops so close to harvesting had made a bad situation worse and would be felt for six months. Fruit and vegetable patches had also been destroyed.

Emergency rescuers were struggling to reach the worst affected areas because 12 roads and 14 bridges were impassable, while rising river levels were threatening to displace more people, officials said.

The state disaster relief agency said more than 200 schools were partially or fully destroyed, leaving more than 10,000 children unable to attend lessons.

President Andry Rajoelina flew to Mananjary, normally about 500 km (300 miles) by road southeast of Antananarivo. Land routes to Mananjary were cut off due to flooding.

Locals stand on a damaged road following a landslide, as Cyclone Batsirai hits Madagascar, in Haute Matsiatra region, Madagascar, on Feb. 6, 2022. (Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

Rajoelina said on Facebook he went to see for himself what was needed in terms of aid.

By Alkis Konstantidinis and Christophe Van Der Perre
We look back three years as Beijing continues to siphon the soul from Hong Kong. My guest this episode warns about the next step: Hong Kongs pro-Beijing government could be aiming to clamp down on religions. This comes as Hong Kongs national security law is used to arrest political critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and advocates of freedom.

We go into detail on what is going on in Chinas film market. Are Chinese people really tired of Hollywood? Or is the CCP also behind that? We discuss the term main melody films, referring to films that fit the regimes narrative on how to tell the China storythat is, how they can toe the party line. That comes as a popular Korean War movie rewrites the historical facts about the fight between Chinese troops and American U.N. forces at the Chosin Reservoir.
Maine Doctor Ordered to Undergo Psych Evaluation for Prescribing Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine

Dr. Meryl Nass was hailed a hero by veterans for helping them expose the connection between the militarys mandatory anthrax vaccine and the serious illnesses they were experiencing.

The 70-year old Maine internist has given Congressional testimonies in four states on vaccine efficacies, deciphered scientific studies for courts, and served as an international national consultant on biological warfare and pandemics for more than three decades.

Last month, the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine suspended Nasss license and set a string of conditions for her to meet in order for her to get her license back, including undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, releasing a list of every patient she has seen in the past 6 months, and answering more than 25 questions about her medical beliefs, even asking her how she advertises her practices.

Nass, who has been in practice for 41 years, called her suspension a tyrannical witch hunt.

The whole purpose of suspending my license was to scare doctors around the country not to go against the governments narrative that the COVID vaccine and mask mandates are good, Nass told The Epoch Times.

Dr. Meryl Nass (Courtest Meryl Nass)

Members of the state license board did not return numerous phone calls from The Epoch Times for comment about Nasss case.

Nass joins doctors and physician assistants in at least 10 states including Kansas, Florida, Hawaii, Washington, Texas, and Arkansas who have had their license suspended or found themselves under investigation by their states medical license board.

According to the states complaint, the Maine boards harsh scrutiny of Nass stems specifically from three legal prescriptions she wrote for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

The patients didnt complain about the prescription. All recovered from the virus. One complaint came from a Twitter user, another from a hospital doctor, and a third from a midwife associated with the same hospital. The midwife complained about Nasss prescription of hydroxychloroquine to a pregnant woman.

The board also accused Nass of spreading misinformation about the pandemic by way of her personal blog, writing that she posed a danger to the public.

Nass certainly does not hold back on her blog. In announcing she would livestream the CDCs Feb. 4 ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices) hearing, she wrote the same cast of characters who lie, cheat and befuddle us with the poorest quality federal science ever invented, will be back tomorrow. Dont miss their weasel words. Watch how they try to turn myocarditis into the mildest malady known to man.

She added, Watch how the CDC turns those who have taken the Oath of Hippocrates into robotic Hypocrites who merely want to transform your children into SpikeVax factories.

According to documents obtained by The Epoch Times, the Maine board originally gave Nass until Feb. 1 to undergo its directive that she undergo a neuropsychological evaluation, which was to be conducted by a psychologist of the boards choice and paid for by Nass.

Failure of Dr. Nass to undergo the evaluation as directed constitutes an admission of the allegations against her, the board wrote in its order.

Nass told The Epoch Times that she has yet to undergo the ordered evaluation or complete any of the other conditions set by the Maine board.

She emphasized that prescribing Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine is not against the law, but the state said it is unethical.

In a joint statement issued last April, The Maine licensing board along with the state Board of Osteopathic Licensure warned that prescribing alternative drugs to prevent or treat COVID-19 may lead to stockpiling of medication, inappropriate use, and potential drug shortages for patients with a legitimate need for the medication. They drew the conclusion that absent acute or emergency circumstances, prescribing the drugs is considered unethical and unprofessional conduct and that it may also violate applicable Board rules.

These are made up policies from nowhere, Nass told The Epoch Times, they should be [a] wake up calls to Americansfrom local towns to state boardsthe government is using them to replace the law and the Constitution.

Nass said she fears her days as a doctor in Maine are numbered and that she suspects the boards intentions may be to make sure she cant get a job as a doctor anywhere else.

Nass told the Epoch Times on Tuesday that she just learned the Maine licensing board has already submitted her name to National Practitioner Database, the Laurie-list version for discredited doctors.

Nass, however, is still a hero at least to some in the northern reaches of Maine where she ran her private practice.

Daniel Lorey, a recently retired hospital clinical social worker who worked closely for many years with Nass at MDI Hospital, recently wrote a letter to the editor published by the Bangor Daily News in which he called Nass an impeccable MD with clinical skills second to none.

Lorey said Nass prescribed him life-saving medication to help him combat COVID-19 last October.

I am quite convinced that her early interventions and timely prescriptions saved my life and limited my hospitalization to a brief two-hour emergency room visit, Lorey wrote.
Most Australian Companies Failing to Identify and Address Modern Slavery Risks: Report

A new report has found that companies in Australia are failing to identify or address modern slavery and labour exploitation in their supply chains and called for the strengthening of Australias modern slavery laws.

The Modern Slavery Act, which entered into force on Jan. 1, 2019, established a modern slavery reporting requirement for large businesses and entities with annual consolidated revenue of at least $100 million (US$71 million).

Two years since it was implemented, almost 4,000 statements have been published, and the investigative report by a coalition of human rights organisations, church groups, and academics examined submissions by 102 companies.

The Modern Slavery Act was meant to drive a race to the top by business to address modern slavery in global supply chains, but our research indicates most companies have barely left the starting blocks, report co-author Freya Dinshaw said.

Instead of focusing on the largest market listed on the stock market, the authors examined companies in four sectors with known risks of modern slavery: garments from China, rubber gloves from Malaysia, seafood from Thailand, and fresh produce from Australia.

They found that most companies showed superficial and incomplete compliance with reporting requirements.

It is increasingly apparent that reporting alone is not going to be enough to drive fundamental change, Dinshaw said. If the Government is serious about eliminating modern slavery, it must strengthen the Modern Slavery Act to make it enforceable and require companies to take action.

Medical personnel removes rubber gloves after collecting a sample during COVID-19 coronavirus testing at a badminton hall in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Jan. 18, 2021. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images)

On average, submissions addressed 59 percent of the mandatory criteria, with less than one in four companies completely addressing the requirements.

More than half of the reviewed companies were failing to identify prominent risks in their operations and supply chains while sourcing from sectors that have been constantly identified as having systematic exploitation.

For example, three-in-four garment companies that sourced from China failed to mention the risk of Uyghur forced labour. In addition, more than half of healthcare companies sourcing gloves from Malaysia failed to identify forced labour risks in their industry.

Further, less than one-third of companies reviewed demonstrated that they were taking action against these risks.

Additionally, just one in four companies reported that they complete human rights due diligence for new suppliers at the selection stage, and 14 percent expressed commitment to ensuring workers in their supply chain were paid a living wage.

However, some small clusters of companies appeared to be rigorous and detailed in their reporting approach, and business size was not a determining factor.

The small clusters of leading companies who are showing what is possible should be commended for their efforts, report co-author Amy Sinclair said. Looking forwards, those that are lagging should be forced to act to eliminate modern slavery from the goods we use every day.

The authors made several recommendations to the federal government to address this issue. These include banning imported goods made from modern slavery, developing additional guidance for companies operating in high-risk sectors, and giving priority in the public procurement process to companies that address modern slavery as a reward.
A convoy of trucks and other vehicles sit parked on the streets in front of Parliament during a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions in Wellington, New Zealand, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Marty Melville/AFP via Getty Images)

New Zealand Convoy Protesters Gather Near Parliament Against COVID-19 Restrictions

Hundreds of New Zealand protesters have gathered near the Parliament building in the countrys capital Wellington, demanding an end to COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.

Arriving in convoy from around the country, cars, trucks, camper vans, and other vehicles jammed the capitals streets for hours as they got out to meet and speak on Parliaments forecourt.

Protesters carrying signs and flags against vaccine requirements and other restrictions took to city streets.

In New Zealand, teachers, doctors, nurses, police, and military personnel are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Masks are also required in stores and among children over age 8 in school classrooms.

Vehicles covered with messages such as give us back our freedom and coercion is not consent stationed themselves in the streets surrounding the Parliament building, AFP reported.

Protesters stand on an overpass to welcome a protest convoy of trucks and other vehicles into central Wellington, New Zealand, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Marty Melville/AFP via Getty Images)

Stu Main, from Wellington, told AFP that he believes people should be free to choose whether to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Im actually vaccinated but Im against mandating people to be vaccinated, he said. I think its disgraceful, forcing vaccination on people who dont want it.

Police told 1News they were monitoring the protests.

We understand any delays for motorists as a result of the protest will be frustrating. Our staff will continue to monitor the situation and respond to any issues that may arise, a police spokesperson told the news outlet.

Police also said Tuesday afternoon they hadnt made any arrests and that protest organizers had asked protesters to move their cars and trucks by 5 p.m., ahead of the evening rush hour.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Radio New Zealand that she didnt plan to enter discussions with the protesters.

Ninety-six percent of New Zealanders have gone out and got a vaccination, which has enabled us to live now with fewer restrictions because of the extra protection that has provided, she said.

A protester waves an upside down New Zealand flag on an overpass to welcome a protest convoy of trucks and other vehicles into central Wellington, New Zealand, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Marty Melville/AFP via Getty Images)

Ardern said last week that New Zealand would end its quarantine requirements for incoming travelers in stages as it reopened its borders. With about 77 percent of New Zealanders fully vaccinated, Ardern has also promised she wont impose more lockdowns.

The protests in New Zealand come as trucker protests in Ottawa, Canada, enter a 12th day on Tuesday.

The Freedom Convoy in Ottawa consists mainly of truckers, and began as a protest against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for drivers crossing the U.S.Canadian border. Protesters have vowed to stay put until COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
North Korean Regime to Increase Spending Despite Complicated Problems Caused by Sanctions

The North Korean regime vowed to increase its epidemic prevention and national defense capability budget, despite complicated problems caused by what it called hostile forces persistent sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, state media said on Tuesday.

The state budget was presented at a two-day meeting of the regimes top political body, which began on Sunday, according to state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). North Korean head of the communist regime Kim Jong-un was not present at the meeting.

According to the regimes mouthpiece, the rubber-stamp legislature passed plans to increase the budget for emergency epidemic prevention by 33.3 percent compared to last year.

Kim Tok Hun, North Koreas premierwho is in charge of the economysaid in the meeting that emergency epidemic prevention would be given top priority.

North Korea has closed its borders and imposed severe travel bans despite the regime not confirming any COVID-19 cases.

The head of the regime had ordered officials to strengthen military capacities and develop high-tech weapons while prioritizing anti-pandemic emergency campaigns, emphasizing that incompetence and loopholes would not be tolerated.

KCNA claimed that the regime spent 15.9 percent of the national budget last year on its nuclear weapons program, the same amount that would be used for the national defense budget this year.

Last year, the economic construction field faced more difficult and complicated problems than expected due to the hostile forces persistent sanctions and worldwide health crisis, KCNA quoted Kim saying.

According to South Korean estimates, North Koreas trade with China, its biggest trading partner, and an economic pipeline, shrank by about 80 percent in 2020 before it plunged again by two-thirds in the first nine months of last year.

North Koreas economy has suffered major setbacks in the past two years due to pandemic-caused border shutdowns, persistent U.N. sanctions, and the fallout from natural disasters.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration imposed new sanctions on six North Koreans for procuring goods from Russia and China for North Koreas weapons programs, an action that follows a series of North Korean missile launches.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ohio Supreme Court Rejects States Legislative Maps for Second Time, Calls Them Unconstitutional

The Ohio Supreme Court on Monday rejected new state legislative maps for a second time and ordered them to be redrawn after deeming them unconstitutional.

According to a ruling (pdf), the court sided with the League of Women Voters of Ohio, which had filed an objection to the Ohio House and Senate maps adopted on Jan. 22 by the Ohio Redistricting Commission.

In 2015, Ohioans overwhelmingly supported a constitutional amendment that mandated that the committee proportionally distribute districts to reflect Ohios 54 percent Republican, 46 percent Democratic split in nationwide elections in an effort to avoid partisan favoritism.

The maps adopted in January would have given Republicans a 5742 advantage in the House and a 2013 advantage in the Senate, or 58 percent of overall seats, according to the ruling.

In a 43 decision, Chief Justice Maureen OConnor, Justice Michael Donnelly, Justice Melody Stewart, and Justice Jennifer Brunner ordered the Ohio Redistricting Commission to adopt a new plan and file it with the Ohio secretary of states office by Feb. 17 ahead of the 2022 general election.

It is clear that the map drawers and the commission knew that their approachstarting with the invalidated map and switching competitive Republican-leaning districts to competitive Democratic-leaning districtswould have the dual effect of eliminating weak Republican districts and creating weak Democratic districts, the ruling said.

While the Constitution does not require exact parity in terms of the vote share of each district, the commissions adoption of a plan in which the quality of partisan favoritism is monolithically disparate is further evidence of  a violation, plaintiffs said.

Our instruction to the commission issimplyto comply with the Constitution, the opinion said.

The decision marks the second time the Ohio Supreme Court has rejected new state legislative maps after previously voting 43 to strike down the one submitted on Jan. 12 saying it was unconstitutional.

In a statement, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters praised the courts decision in rejecting GOP attempts to gerrymander our state and disenfranchise Ohio voters.

The Ohio Supreme Court cannot be more clear: Republicans must produce fair maps that accurately reflect our state, not the Ohio GOPs political wishlist, Walters said, while accusing Republicans of delaying the process of bringing forward fair maps.

Its past time for them to finally do their jobs and give Ohioans what they deserve: fair representation and a state government that reflects the wishes of Ohio voters, not the wishes of extreme Republicans and the special interests theyre bought by, Walters said.

In their dissenting opinion, two justices, including Pat DeWine, who is Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines son, and Sharon Kennedy, sharply criticized the decision.

At this point, one must wonder which seven-member body is the true redistricting commissionthe constitutionally named officers or this court? they wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Crude oil storage tanks are seen in an aerial photograph at the Cushing oil hub in Cushing, Okla., on April 21, 2020. (Drone Base/Reuters)

Oil Slips From Seven-Year High Ahead of More USIran Talks

LONDONOil slipped towards $90 a barrel on Tuesday ahead of the resumption of indirect talks between the United States and Iran, which could revive an international nuclear agreement and allow more oil exports from the OPEC producer.

A deal could return more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil, equating to more than 1 percent of global supply, to the market. The nuclear talks are due to resume in Vienna on Tuesday.

If sanctions against Iran are lifted, global crude oil supply may receive much-needed support, said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Avatrade.

Eight rounds of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington since April have yet to result in an agreement on a resumption of the 2015 nuclear pact, with differences remaining over the speed and scope of the lifting of sanctions.

Exports could resume swiftly if a nuclear deal is reached, said Tamas Varga of broker PVM. But it is a big if. The re-emergence of Iranian barrels is only a possibility at this stage.

Brent crude was down $2.02, or 2.2 percent, at $90.67 a barrel by 1110 GMT after hitting a seven-year high of $94 on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.60, or 1.8 percent, to $89.72.

Both benchmarks have found support this year from rising global demand, Russia-Ukraine tensions, supply disruptions in producers such as Libya, and a slow easing of 2020s record output cuts by OPEC and its allies.

Prices were also dented on Tuesday by comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, who said his meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had helped to prevent a worsening of the Ukraine crisis.

Oil also came under pressure from the prospect of an increase in U.S. crude inventories. Analysts estimate that inventories rose by 700,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 4.

The first of this weeks two supply reports, from the American Petroleum Institute, is due at 2130 GMT.

By Alex Lawler
Conservative MP Candice Bergen rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 15, 2021. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

Opposition Echoes Dissenting Liberal MPs Demand That Trudeau End Politicization of Pandemic

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced off familiar calls from the official opposition to drop pandemic mandates during question period today, but this time they leveraged the words of a dissenting Liberal MP who broke ranks this morning by heavily criticizing COVID-19 restrictions and calling for their dismissal.

Interim Conservative Party Leader Candice Bergen said her party could not agree more with dissenting Liberal MP Joel Lightbound, who she said clearly and strongly stated its time to end the divisiveness and the politicization and end the mandates.

When it comes to lockdowns and mandates, were seeing things change very quickly and rightly so, Bergen added, noting recent comments from Canadas Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam that vaccine mandates should be reevaluated.

This cannot be a slow and dragged-out process simply because of the Prime Ministers ego, pride, or denial, Bergen said. Canadians are too tired. Canadians need hope. So will the prime minister follow the science, follow the evidence, end the restrictions, end the mandates?

Trudeau acknowledged that people are tired of pandemic-related restrictions, but said that his government will continue to follow the science on appropriate health measures.

Everyone is sick and tired of lockdowns, of the measures we have to do, of the sacrifices weve had to make, but Canadians have continued to step up over the past two years, been there for each other, been there to get vaccinated, Trudeau said.

Were going to continue to follow the science. Were going to continue to have Canadians backs, were going to continue to protect peoples lives.

Trudeau has yet to comment publicly on Lightbounds future within the Liberal Party. Lightbound announced this afternoon he was resigning from his role as chairman of the partys Quebec caucus.

Trudeau previously expelled Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus after they dissented over the SNC-Lavalin scandal in 2019.

Wilson-Raybould welcomed Lightbounds decision to take a different stance than his government, writing on Twitter today the move shows Glimmers of democratic independence from MPs in Ottawa.

Addressing Lightbounds statements and allegations, Trudeau said in a media scrum on Feb. 8 that mandates are the way to avoid further restrictions and that his government would remain focused on that approach.

In his solo press conference earlier today, Lightbound enumerated all the suffering caused by restrictive COVID-19 measures as shared by constituents and citizens and called for the government to draw a roadmap to full re-opening, to provide the data that justifies restrictions, and to fulfill the federal health transfers to provinces and territories to build health care capacity.

The dissenting MP also said that his party had made a conscious decision to use the issue of vaccination as a wedge in the last federal election, hence dividing and stigmatizing Canadians.

I cant help but notice with regret that both the tone and the policies of my government changed drastically on the eve, and during, the last election campaign, Lightbound said in a press Feb. 8 conference.

From a positive and unifying approach, a decision was made to wedge to divide and to stigmatize. I fear that this politicization of the pandemic risks undermining the publics trust in our public health institutions.
Queridos compatriotas: Mi compromiso sigue vigente y con mas fuerza hasta el 28 de julio de 2026. Con conviccion, reiteramos un arduo trabajo para dar soluciones a los problemas del Peru, pensando siempre en el ciudadano de a pie, a traves de la unidad y gobernabilidad.

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Oregon to Scrap Indoor, School Mask Mandate by March 31, Officials Say

Oregon will scrap its mask mandate for indoor public places and schools by March 31, the Oregon Health Authority announced on Monday.

Citing declining COVID-19 infections in the state, health officials said it is expected that by late March, 400 or fewer Oregonians would be hospitalized with COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

The evidence from Oregon and around the country is clear: masks save lives by slowing the spread of COVID-19, state epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said in a statement. We should see COVID-19 hospitalizations drop by the end of March because so many Oregonians are wearing masks and taking other steps to protect themselves and each other.

Health officials forecast that by late March, the level of COVID-19 hospitalizations would return to what the state experienced before the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus began to spread.

The Oregon Health Authority and Department of Human Services also said Monday that state health officials said they would consider lifting the indoor mask mandate earlier than March 31, if hospitalizations decline to the levels projected to the end of March sooner than expected.

School districts, however, will have mask requirements lifted on March 31 regardless of the level of COVID-19 hospitalizations, to give school districts time to prepare.

Sidelinger said that after the mask mandate is scrapped, individual businesses and schools can independently choose whether to enforce mask-wearing.

Going forward, after March 31, you need to look at what conditions are like on the ground, he said.

State health officials said they strongly recommend high-risk individuals continue wearing masks in indoor public settings after mask requirements are lifted, including people who are unvaccinated, immunocompromised, at high risk of COVID-19 hospitalization, including those with underlying health conditions and those 65 and older, and those living with people at high risk.

The states temporary indoor mask mandate rule, which was put in place in August amid a surge in cases largely fueled by the Delta variant, was set to expire on Feb. 8. The Oregon Health Authority will now issue a new temporary rule on mask requirements.

The White House, meanwhile, continues to back masking in schools as a growing number of states are moving to scrap mandates.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday that wearing masks in schools still remains our recommendation.

Our advice to every school district is to abide by public health guidelines, Psaki said. It continues to be at this point that the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] is advising that masks can delay and reduce transmission.  Its always been up to local school districts to determine how they implement.

According to Burbios school mask policy tracker, which looks at the top 500 mask policy trends, as of Feb. 7, masks are required in roughly 60 percent of school districtsdown from 73 percent on Oct. 8.
Civilians participate in a Kyiv Territorial Defense unit training session in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 29, 2022. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Ottawa Increases Warnings About Ukraine, Urges Canadians to Leave Over Russia Threat

Ottawa is warning all Canadians against travelling to Ukraine due to Russian threats and the risk of war.

The federal government is also urging Canadians currently in the country to leave.

The increased warning comes amid escalating tensions between Russia and the West over the deployment of 100,000 Russian troops on Ukraines border.

Talks between the U.S., NATO and other Canadian allies and Russia have so far proven unsuccessful, leading to fears of a new war in Europe.

Canada had warned against nonessential travel to Ukraine and pulled some diplomatic staff along with their families from the country in recent weeks.

But the stepped up warning suggests growing concerns that a conflict is on the verge of breaking out, even as negotiations continue.
Ottawa Police Chief Takes Credit for Trucker Convoy GoFundMe Cancellation

The chief of police in Ottawa says his efforts and those of the city are behind the cancellation of the GoFundMe campaign in support of the Freedom Convoy.

Chief Peter Sloly outlined the enforcement actions taken so far against the protesters in a press conference on Feb. 7 and said these actions were responsible for the reduced numbers of trucks and people participating. He said targeting the protesters funding has been key.

What particularly has occurred of a significant nature, we went after the funding. Our efforts combined with the citys efforts eliminated the GoFundMe, Sloly said. Ten million dollars are no longer accessible to the demonstrators.

In a press conference of their own the day prior, protest organizers said the cancellation of the fundraiser was a result of political interference.

It was clearly direct interference from the government to cancel this campaign, said protest organizer Benjamin Dichter on Feb. 6.

Besides Ottawa Police, after GoFundMe pulled the funds, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson thanked the company for listening to the plea made by the City and the Ottawa Police to no longer provide funds to the convoy organizers.

The House Committee on Public Safety on Feb. 3 had called on GoFundMe to testify about the source of the funds and to ensure it would not promote extremism.

Organizers had stated the funds would be used to pay for the truckers expenses such as fuel, food, and shelter.

GoFundMe cancelled the Freedom Convoy fundraiser on Feb. 4, claiming it received information from law enforcement that the protest had become an occupation and violated its terms of service. The fundraising platform initially said the collected funds would be directed to other charities, but it later reversed course under pressure and said it would automatically reimburse the donors.

The California-based company has been accused in the past of taking political stances and having double standards by allowing campaigns aligned with its ideology while cancelling those it opposes.

While it removed the Freedom Convoy campaign, it previously promoted on Twitter a campaign of someone involved in the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) in Seattle in the summer of 2020, an occupation where police were barred form entering and that was rife with lawlessness.

GoFundMe also suspended the campaign of a Texas nurse last October who was fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and was collecting funds to launch a lawsuit, citing misinformation that violated the companys terms of service.

After the cancellation by GoFundMe, Freedom Convoy organizers began using Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo to accept donations.

From the set-up of the fundraiser, the platform has been overwhelmed by traffic and cyberattacks, but within a very short time it has raised over $6 million as of Feb. 8 morning. GiveSendGo said in a Feb. 7 press release that this campaign is its largest ever.

Along with the tremendous showing of support, there has also been plenty of push back, said Jacob Wells, co-founder of GiveSendGo.

Weve seen nearly 10 million bots trying to overwhelm our servers in just the past two hours. Though this has caused issues for the platform, we will not let it stand in the way of providing a safe and effective means of fundraising for our campaign owner[s] across the globe.

The Ottawa Police is likely to go after this source of funds as well, according to statements by its chief in the press conference, but it could prove harder given GiveSendGos position that the freedoms we have are God-given, not authorized by governments.

There are other funding avenues that we continue to aggressively go after, through intelligence, information, coordination with financial institutions, and all three levels of government. We will be relentless in pursuing the funding that has enabled this demonstration to continue to this point, said Chief Sloly.

Meanwhile, GoFundMes actions have been noticed and criticized in the U.S., where Republican politicians and administrations have vowed to investigate.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said he sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commissioner asking to open an investigation into GoFundMe into whether theyve committed deceptive trade practices, he told Fox News.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on social media he would be working with his Attorney-General Ashley Moody to investigate these deceptive practices, referring to GoFundMes initial announcement that it would give the donations for truckers to charities it has validated.

GoFundMe hasnt been responding to requests for comment.
Protesters in Ottawa as demonstrations against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions continue, on Feb. 7, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Ottawa Towing Companies Refusing to Haul Away Freedom Convoy Trucks: City Manager

All tow-truck operators on contract with the City of Ottawa have refused to remove the heavy vehicles associated with the Freedom Convoy from the downtown core, the city manager says.

Steve Kanellakos says the consensus seems to be that many of the companies dont want to do the work because the heavy truck industry is such a large part of their livelihoods and they dont want to damage that part of their businesses.

Weve contacted them all and theyre all refusing as of [Feb. 7] to provide heavy tow truck work, said Kanellakos in a press conference following a special city council meeting.

Signs by Parliament in Ottawa as demonstrations against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions continue, on Feb. 7, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

The companies, however, are still performing light work for the city like towing cars, he said.

Kanellakos added that the city is reviewing the contracts of the tow operators and deciding on the course of action to deal with the unprecedented situation.

Meanwhile, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has contacted counterparts in other large cities in Ontario to seek assistance, and the city is calling towing companies across Eastern Ontario.

On Feb. 5, a towing company in Ottawa took to Twitter to express its support for the truckers who are protesting in the city against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions.

Due to covid, our company Drivers will not tow away any vehicles involved in the Freedom Convoy, Alliance Towing Ottawa said.

We stand behind choice, Freedom and peace.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Owner of West LA Pharmacy Sentenced to Prison for Health Care Fraud

LOS ANGELESA West Los Angeles pharmacy owner was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison on Feb. 7 for running a scheme in which millions of dollars in reimbursements for compounded drugs were generated through illegal kickbacks and fraudulent co-payments.

Navid Vahedi, 42, of Brentwood, pleaded guilty a year ago to one federal count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and payment of illegal remunerations, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

He also entered a guilty plea to the felony offense on behalf of his business.

On Jan. 18, U.S. District Judge Christine Snyder sentenced Fusion Rx Compounding Pharmacy to five years of probation. She has ordered Vahedi and his company to jointly pay $4.4 million in restitution.

The pharmacy was a provider of compounded drugs, which are tailor-made products that doctors may prescribe when the alternative approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not meet the health needs of a patient.

Vahedi admitted routing millions of dollars in kickback payments through the businesses of two marketers to steer prescriptions for compounded drugs to Fusion Rx. As part of the scheme, Vahedi and the marketers provided physicians with preprinted prescription script pads that offered options to maximize the amount of insurance reimbursement.

From May 2014 to at least February 2016, Fusion Rx received about $14 million in reimbursements on its claims for compounded drug prescriptions. As part of its contracts with various insurance networks, the pharmacy was obligated to collect co-payments from patients.

Because the co-payments might discourage patients from requesting expensive and potentially unnecessary compounded drug prescriptions, Fusion Rx did not collect co-payments with any regularity and, in other instances, provided gift cards to patients to offset the amount of the co-payments, according to documents filed in Los Angeles federal court.

After an audit raised concerns that Fusion Rxs failure to collect co-payments would be discovered, Vahedi directed Fusion Rx funds to be used to purchase American Express gift cards, which were then used to make co-payments for certain prescriptions without the patients knowledge.

Fusion Rx then submitted claims on those prescriptions to various insurance providers, falsely representing that patients had paid the required co-payments.

The two marketers involved in the schemeJoshua Pearson, 42, of St. George, Utah, and Joseph Kieffer, 41, of West Los Angelespreviously pleaded guilty. Kieffer was sentenced to six months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.25 million in restitution. Pearson was sentenced to three years of probation, prosecutors noted.
(Left) The logo of Kia Motors in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 13, 2017. (AP Photo); (Right) The Hyundai logo displayed on a brand new Hyundai Santa Fe SUV at a Hyundai dealership in Colma, Calif., on April 7, 2017. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Park Outside: Hyundai, Kia Recall Vehicles Due to Fire Risk

DETROITHyundai and Kia are telling the owners of nearly 485,000 vehicles in the United States to park them outdoors because they can catch fire even if the engines have been turned off.

The recalls from the two Korean automakers are another in a long string of fire and engine failure problems that have dogged the companies for the past six years.

This time the problem is contamination in the antilock brake control module that can cause an electrical short. This increases the risk of fire while the vehicles are being driven or are parked.

Affected are certain Kia Sportage SUVs from 2014 through 2016, and the 2016 through 2018 K900 sedan. Recalled Hyundais include certain 2016 through 2018 Santa Fe SUVs, 2017 and 2018 Santa Fe Sports, the 2019 Santa Fe XL, and 2014 and 2015 Tucson SUVs.

The automakers say they have 11 reports of fires in the United States but no injuries.

Documents posted Tuesday by U.S. safety regulators say owners should park the vehicles outside and away from structures until repairs are made.

Dealers will replace a fuse. In addition, Hyundai dealers will inspect the control modules and replace them if needed. Hyundai will mail notification letters starting April 5, and Kia will send them March 31.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says owners can go www.nhtsa.gov and enter their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if their automobile is being recalled.

Hyundai said that when it finds a safety defect we act swiftly and efficiently to recall the vehicle and fix the problem at no cost to affected customers.

Kia said there are warning signs that drivers could see or smell. The antilock brake warning light could come on, and they could smell something burning or melting, or see smoke coming from the engine compartment.

Tuesdays recalls come after U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stepped up a series of investigations into engine compartment fires that have plagued the Korean automakers.

In December, the agency consolidated two investigations from 2017 into a new a new engineering analysis covering more than 3 million vehicles from the 2011 through 2016 model years. At the time, NHTSA had received 161 complaints of engine fires, some of which occurred in vehicles that had already been recalled.

The first recall from the companies related to engine failures and fires reaches to September 2015. Since then they have issued at least eight more recalls for a host of engine problems, according to NHTSA documents.

The agency said its evaluating whether previous recalls covered enough vehicles. It also will monitor the effectiveness of previous recalls as well as the long-term viability of related programs and non-safety field actions being conducted by Hyundai and Kia.

At the time, the automakers said they have undertaken numerous recalls to address engine issues, including recalls, new engine monitoring technology, and providing extended warranties.

Michael Brooks, chief counsel for the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said the recalls Tuesday are different from the engine failure problem that caused most of the previous Hyundai-Kia fire recalls. Although NHTSA has the authority to order a recall and potentially a buyback of all affected vehicles, the separate fire defects that have plagued millions of Hyundai vehicles across multiple model years makes this a very difficult task, he said.

In November of 2020, NHTSA announced that Kia and Hyundai must pay $137 million in fines and for safety improvements because they moved too slowly to recall more than 1 million vehicles with engines that can fail. The fines resolved a previous probe into the companies behavior involving recalls of multiple models dating to the 2011 model year.

Kia was to pay $27 million and invest $16 million in safety performance measures. Another $27 million payment will be deferred as long as Kia meets safety conditions, NHTSA said.

Kia denied the U.S. allegations but said it wanted to avoid a protracted legal fight.

Data collected by the Center for Auto Safety show more than 30 U.S. fire and engine-related recalls from Hyundai and Kia since 2015. The recalls involve more than 20 models from the 2006 through 2021 model years totaling over 8.4 million vehicles.

Many of the recalls involved manufacturing defects that stopped oil from flowing through the engine block. Many involved expensive engine replacements.

Hyundai and Kia also did a U.S. product improvement campaign covering 3.7 million vehicles to install software that will alert drivers of possible engine failures.

By Tom Krisher
A file image of Peter Thiel speaking onstage during an event in New York City on Nov. 1, 2018. (Michael Cohen/Getty Images for The New York Times)

PayPal Co-Founder Peter Thiel Resigning From Metas Board of Directors

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel is resigning from the board of Facebooks parent company Meta later this year, the company announced on Monday.

Thiel, a co-founder of online payments system PayPal, was one of the earliest investors in Facebook and joined the company board in April 2005.

He became a Facebook investor in 2004 when he provided $500,000 in capital at a $5 million valuation for a 10 percent stake in the company and a seat on its board of directors.

Meta said Monday that Thiel will not stand for re-election but will serve as a director until the companys annual shareholder meeting.

Thiel aims to spend time helping elect candidates who he believes will advance former President Donald Trumps agenda in the U.S. midterms this year, a person familiar with the situation said.

Peter has been a valuable member of our board and Im deeply grateful for everything he has done for our company  from believing in us when few others would, to teaching me so many lessons about business, economics, and the world, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder, and CEO, said in a statement.

Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions. He has served on our board for almost two decades, and weve always known that at some point he would devote his time to other interests. Im grateful hes served on our board for as long as he has, and I wish him the best in his journey ahead, he added.

Thiel said in a statement announcing his departure from the board that it has been a privilege to work with one of the great entrepreneurs of our time.

Mark Zuckerbergs intelligence, energy, and conscientiousness are tremendous. His talents will serve Meta well as he leads the company into a new era, Thiel added.

The announcement comes as Metas shares have fallen sharply over concerns that privacy changes to Apple products were making it harder for advertisers to see how their ads work on Facebook. The stock fell 5.1 percent on Monday, and has lost a third of its value this year, but is still worth more than $600 billion.

Thiel plans in particular to help Blake Masters, a Republican candidate hoping to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), the person familiar with the situation said. He was also backing J.D. Vance, author of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy and a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, the person said.

Last year, Thiel donated $10 million to the Protect Ohio Values PAC, the political action committee backing Vances Senate bid.

Thiel has donated to dozens of American figures on the political right, including Trump. Thiel was one of the California delegates for Trumps nomination. He announced a $1.25 million donation to Trump in October 2016 and was subsequently named to the executive committee on Trumps transition team.

Ivan Pentchoukov and Reuters contributed to this report.
Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley billionaire and adviser to former President Donald Trump, is leaving the board of Facebook parent Meta. What could be next for him?

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The biggest day in advertising is coming this Sunday. How are businesses in the crypto space taking advantage of it?

American Express is launching its first digital checking account for customers. You can even earn rewards while you spend.

Two hundred pairs of Nike sneakers designed by a late Louis Vuitton creative designer are being sold at auction. This is the first time Nike and Louis Vuitton have officially collaborated.
A volunteer prepares food for protesters demonstrating against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Feb. 8, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Photo Report: Trucker Protest Continues in Ottawa, in the Second Week Since Convoys Arrival

Despite pressure from Ottawa police and officials to end the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, protesters continue to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.

This week, Ottawa police said they would arrest anyone carrying fuel to the protest site. Police also confiscated fuel containers and made several arrests on mischief charges.

Here are some photos from protesters on Feb. 8, 2022.

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Feb. 8, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Feb. 8, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Feb. 8, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)
Political Interference in Australian Universities an Existential Threat: ANU Boss

Political interference in university research funding presents an existential threat to the tertiary sector, the head of the Australian National University (ANU) has warned.

In his state of the university address on Jan. 7, ANU Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt referenced acting Education Minister Stuart Roberts decision on Christmas Eve to veto six research grants awarded by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Of the four known occurrences of political interference, three have occurred in the last three yearsand as things stand, BOTH major parties agree it is appropriate for the [education] minister to wield this power.

Political interference has bipartisan support. I see this as an existential threat to Australian universities, Schmidt said.

According to Western Sydney University Vice-Chancellor Barney Glover, some of the vetoed grants would have funded the examination of modern-day China and the motivations behind school students climate activism.

Schmidt said political interference could corrupt knowledge and slow its creation and stressed the importance of academic autonomy and freedom to pursue ideas across a broad spectrum.

After all, what would our society be like when the study of history, politics, and literature has to reflect the views of the minister of the day? he said. Where would we be if we hadnt been working on climate mitigation strategies for the past 30 years while the merchants of doubt sowed their seeds?

Schmidt said Australia needed an apolitical system to allocate research funding and strongly called for a review of the ARC and its governance.

The impetus here for the university is to resist the restrictions of the present and focus confidently on the future, he said.

International students pose for a photograph with university representatives after arriving at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 6, 2021. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi)

The chief executive of Universities Australia, the peak body for the sector, stated at the time when the six research grants were rejected by the education minister, that they would be pursuing this matter, on behalf of our members, with the minister as a matter of the highest importance.

Universities Australia told The Epoch Times that their position has not changed since the previous statement.

Mark Scott, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney, backed Schmidts concerns about the impact of political interference in funding decisions.

It doesnt work this way in the worlds great liberal democracies, and it harms the credibility of our funding schemes in Australia, Scott told The Epoch Times. I urge the minister to meet with university leaders and our finest researchers to address their deep concerns at the way the current system is operating.

ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop, a former Liberal frontbencher, also supported Schmidts calls in her own state of the university address.

I publicly and openly endorse the vice-chancellors comments about apolitical processes in the field of research and the ARC in particular, she said.

On Feb. 8, Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi will move to establish a senate inquiry into a bill that will remove ministerial discretion in the approval of research grants approved by the ARC.

Two Liberal ministers have now vetoed seventeen projects in the last four years, she said. Political interference has no place in research funding.




During the presentation of this report, Executive Director of Public Health Surveillance at Minsa, Dr. Cesar Munayco, stated that confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide fell 62% (76,967) last week compared to the previous week.





The researcher commented that Tumbes is the only region in Peru that saw an increase (of 3%) in COVID-19 infections last week and that a decline in cases has not yet been observed.





In Metropolitan Lima, the 5 districts with the highest number of confirmed cases are Downtown Lima, Santiago de Surco, Jesus Maria, San Juan de Lurigancho, and Magdalena del Mar.









Deaths





Regarding deaths, Munayco explained that the death rate also showed a decrease (of 12%) nationwide, when comparing epidemiological week 4 (1,318) with epidemiological week 5 (1,165), but an ascending pattern of SARS-CoV-2 mortality is still observed in most regions.





Finally, the specialist stressed the importance of maintaining physical distance of at least one meter from others, remaining within the family bubble, wearing two face masks or a KN95, choosing to be in well-ventilated spaces, as well as completing the primary vaccine series and receiving the booster dose.





(END) NDP/RMB/MVB

Peru has reached the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic curve and has begun the descent phase of the third wave of infections, the National Center for Epidemiology, Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) has reported.Published: 2/8/2022
Bidens Climate and Energy Policies Are Imposing High Costs, Which Are Likely to Increase

Commentary

President Joe Biden has made fighting climate change the centerpiece of his presidency, primarily through restricting and eventually ending the use of fossil fuels. Why? Because, in Bidens own words, [Climate change is] the number one issue facing humanity. And its the number one issue for me.

Bidens vain war to control the weather, to prevent the climate from changing, is coming at a high cost to Americans. Energy prices are rising, and because energy is the foundation of all goods and services produced, so are the prices of everything else, especially food.

Among the initial steps Biden took to fight climate change, he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline partnership with Canada, and shortly thereafter, he imposed a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands and on the U.S. outer continental shelf. Since then, Biden has canceled oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, proposed methane emission restrictions making it more expensive to develop, store, and transport oil and natural gas in the United States, proposed increasing the fees and royalty rate oil and gas producers must pay the federal government, and recently announced plans to ban drilling on more than half of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

Energy is the master resource, the lifeblood of the economy. Energy abundance and the low prices it brings creates jobs and keeps the economy humming. Biden has ignored this fact to the detriment of businesses, consumers, and homeowners.

How bad is it? My colleague at The Heartland Institute, Linnea Lueken, a research fellow on energy and the environment, has crunched the numbers for a forthcoming Heartland Institute publication. Lueken found that during Bidens first year in office, residential electricity prices rose 11.3 percent, natural gas prices rose 86.3 percent, and regular gasoline prices have risen by 42 percent while diesel rose by 38.9 percent.

Because Biden has pledged to implement policies to reach net-zero emissions for the nation as a whole by 2050, its clear these higher prices are just a small down-payment on Bidens ultimate energy plans.

As a candidate for president, Biden claimed his comprehensive climate/energy plans would cost $2 trillion over four years. As high as this figure isequivalent to five times the amount that consumers and industry currently spend annually on electricityit pales in comparison to estimates recently calculated by consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

McKinseys report titled The Net-Zero Transition provides a detailed analysis of the costs of the economic transition necessary to hit net-zero by 2050.

McKinsey estimates the global economic cost would be a staggering $275 trillion by 2050, or approximately $30 billion per day for the next 25 years. In an almost laughable degree of understatement, the consulting firms report states, Our estimates of the annual spending on physical assets for a net-zero transition exceed to a meaningful degree the $3 trillion$4.5 trillion total spending estimates that previous analyses have produced.

As high as these figures are, McKinsey admits its analysis isnt comprehensive.

As a result, McKinsey writes, it is likely that real outcomes will diverge from these estimates, particularly if the net-zero transition takes a more disorderly path or restricting warming to 1.5C proves unachievable. Spending requirements could be higher, for example due to the additional investment needed to maintain flexibility and redundancy in energy systems, or heightened physical risks and commensurate adaptation costs.

Nor does McKinseys report address the kinds of political losses one should expect to occur in the process of implementing a large-scale makeover of the energy system underpinning the economy, via special interest lobbying and the operation of government itself. Those who expect to be harmed or disadvantaged by the change, and those who expect to benefit from or be advantaged by it, will devote massive amounts of money and resources to shape the legislation as much as possible in their favor. In addition, significant money, resources, and manpower are diverted to government agencies to establish rules and mandates for the transition, monitor its implementation and measure its results, and police the programs and punish lawbreakers.

So, if all goes right and the transition is smooth, then the costs of hitting net-zero will only be $275 trillion by 2050.

Making matters worse, McKinsey concludes this fundamental transformation of the economy will likely not save the world from supposed climate disaster, noting, It is not clear whether a 1.5C scenario is achievable in the first place, nor what pathway the world would take to achieve it if it were.  Indeed, even if all net-zero commitments and national climate pledges were fulfilled, research suggests that warming would not be held to 1.5C above preindustrial levels.

A forced economic transition greater than any in history, at costs that exceed any in history, and far above what has been previously estimatedthats what net-zero requires. Yet the result is likely to be for naught with the dreaded 1.5 temperature rise still exceeded.

The good news is that the best evidence indicates the world isnt on the brink of a climate apocalypse. Despite corporate media reports, extreme weather isnt worsening or becoming more frequent and, largely because of the use of fossil fuels, by almost any measure, humans are living better now than they ever have.

Climate change doomsaying is unwarranted. Governments need not commandeer the economy to save us.

Unfortunately, to the detriment of most people of the world, this fact wont stop elites from attempting to impose authoritarian energy restrictions. After all, thats what will benefit the wealthy and politically powerful elites.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) speaks on the fifth day of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 13, 2021. (congress.gov via Getty Images)

Rep. Raskin Allegedly Failed to Report $1.5 Million Stock Sale

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has been accused of failing to disclose stock assets owned by his wife in contravention of U.S. law.

The American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a right-leaning watchdog group, sent a complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics, saying that Raskins wife, Sarah Bloom Raskin, had waited too long to report stocks she received from a Colorado tech firm in payment for her work with the group.

She sold 195,936 shares in the company for $1.5 million in December 2020, but Rep. Jamie Raskin did not report the sale until August 2021.

U.S. law forbids people with insider information, such as members of Congress, from buying stocks on the basis of that information, and those who break these laws can be subject to criminal prosecution.

Laws against congressional insider trading were strengthened in 2012 amid a wave of insider trading in Congress; the STOCK Act, or Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, placed limitations and new reporting guidelines on federal lawmakers. Most critically, the law began requiring members of congress to disclose trades made by themselves, their spouses, or their dependent children publicly and quickly.

The legislation was passed to address a series of ethics questions raised by former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who allegedly engaged in insider trading.

The allegations leveled against Raskin are only the most recent instance of stock market ethics violations by members of Congress. A recent investigation by Insider uncovered that a bipartisan group of 49 members of Congress had failed to properly disclose their stock market activity.

In a statement to Fox Business, AAF founder Tom Jones criticized the Raskins failure to disclose the major trade.

Sarah and Jamie Raskin are career politicians who have used the system to enrich themselves, and it is time that someone holds them accountable, Jones said. If House rules are going to mean anything, the House Ethics Committee needs to open an investigation and sanction Jamie Raskin for hiding this shady stock deal from the public.

Sarah Bloom Raskin was recently nominated by President Joe Biden for a top banking regulatory position at the Federal Reserve.

Raskin has already come under fire for past comments arguing that banks should face restrictions in lending money to the fossil fuel industry. But during confirmation hearings with the Senate, she claimed the opposite.

It is inappropriate for the Fed to make credit decisions and allocations, Raskin said at one point during the hearing. Banks choose their borrowersnot the Fed. Its inappropriate for the Fed to choose winners and losers.

I have to say, this is one of the most remarkable cases of confirmation conversion I have ever seen, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) quipped in response to Raskin, although she doesnt acknowledge the contradiction of what she has said today compared to the things she has been saying and writing for years.

Under President Barack Obama, Raskin also served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.

Rep. Jamie Raskin has acknowledged that he took too long to file the financial disclosure, but has said that this was in part due to the death of his and his wifes son around the same time that the sale was made.

We lost our son during the reporting period, and I filed the report late, Raskin told Insider.

While AAF founder Jones said that it was appropriate to afford some latitude to the grieving parents in meeting filing requirements, he also noted that Rep. Raskin had wasted no time in leading impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump around the same time.

Still, the Raskins violation of the STOCK Act is just one of dozens of violations that have occurred in the decade since the law was passed, leading some to suggest that the law should be changed to bar congressmen and their immediate family from stock ownership outright.

One recent effort to do just that was led by moderate Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), the only House Democrat to vote against Bidens Build Back Better spending package in November. Golden gathered a sizable bipartisan coalition, including such unlikely pairings as left-wing progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and America First conservative Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

Speaking about the effort, Gaetz quipped that Rashida Tlaib and I dont often agree. But when we do, America should totally go that direction.

There has been little progress on this front, as bringing legislation to the floor is largely under the jurisdiction of the House Speaker; Pelosi, however, has made clear that she opposes an outright ban.

We have a responsibility to report [our trades]  [and] if people arent reporting, they should be, Pelosi responded when asked whether a ban would be appropriate. But, she contended, were a free market economy. [Members of Congress] should be able to participate in that.

It is not yet clear whether the Office of Congressional Ethics will pursue an investigation of the Raskins, or how this discovery may affect Sarah Bloom Raskins confirmation prospects.
Ringing Ears Affects About One Quarter of Australian Workers

Analysis of a survey led by the Curtin University in Western Australia has concluded that around 25 percent of the Australian workforce will experience tinnitus, also known as ringing ears.

Tinnitus, the perception of sound without stimulus, is common and often is not a sign of a severe health problem; however, if persistent, it can disturb sleep, cause anxiety/depression, as well as impair a persons quality of life according to the research team, led by Kate Lewkowski, an audiologist and research associate at Curtin University in Perth.

The research was done under the Australian Workplace Exposure Survey (AWES) from Jun. 7, 2016, to Mar. 20 in 2017 found that out of the 4970 respondents, 35 percent reported experiencing tinnitus.

Of 4970 respondents, 1317 reported experiencing tinnitus (26.5 percent): 713 people had occasional tinnitus (14.3 percent), 259 intermittent tinnitus (5.2 percent), and 345 constant tinnitus (6.9 percent), the authors wrote.

The research reported that constant ringing was more prevalent in males at 7.5 percent than females, who had a prevalence of 3.3 percent. The prevalence of constant ringing also increased in higher aged groups.

This finding was partially supported by a study conducted in the UK and led by the Institute for Epidemiology in Germany showed the incidence of tinnitus was dependent on age rather than gender, with an incidence of 11.4 per 10,000 people for those aged 60 to 69 but was 5.4 per 10,000 across the population.

Lewkowski and colleagues estimated from the survey that 2.4 million workers, around 24.8 percent of Australian workers, experience tinnitus, of which 5.5 percent experienced constant tinnitus.

Whilst studies conducted in the US and UK have mostly shown that the prevalence of Tinnitus is approximately 1 in 10, different studies in Australia seem to indicate that the prevalence of tinnitus may even be higher than reported, with the Health Direct reporting that 2 in 3 Australians experience tinnitus sometime in their life whilst 1 in 10 Australians experience tinnitus that impacts the quality of their life.

Nonetheless, with few studies on tinnitus prevalence in Australia conducted previously, further studies may be needed to determine the reliability of the results.

Consistent with previous literature, the prevalence of any tinnitus was highest for occupations more exposed to hazardous noise levels, with automotive workers, drivers and farmers being the three occupations with the highest prevalence of any tinnitus as well as constant tinnitus.

However, the authors argued that drivers are an exception, with the occupational group being the second most prevalent after automotive workers whilst being exposed to less hazardous noise levels compared to other occupations.

The authors reasoned that drivers are exposed to ear poisoning chemicals, including carbon monoxide, with 84.1 percent of drivers in Australia being exposed to the medium to high-medium levels of carbon monoxide.

Lewkowski and her colleagues interpreted that the higher prevalence of tinnitus in certain occupational groups suggested that much of the burden of tinnitus is preventable.

But the authors noted that to properly assess the prevalence of the problem, a clinically validated instrument for categorising tinnitus is required, and modifiable risk factors should be explored.
Saskatchewan to End Vaccine Mandates

Masking will no longer be required starting March 1

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has announced that all proof of vaccination mandates across the province will be lifted on Feb. 14, with masking requirements ceasing by the end of the month.

Today, with Omicron, the benefits of the proof of vaccination policy no longer outweigh the costs. This policy most certainly has run its course, Moe said at a press conference on Feb. 8.



So its time for us to take a step back and start living with COVID and to make every effort to get our lives back to normal.

Effective at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 14, proof of vaccination requirements will end for all businesses and provincially regulated workplaces in Saskatchewan. This means that vaccination proof or the negative test option will no longer be a provincial requirement, the premier said.



From Feb. 14, masking in public indoor spaces will be the only COVID-19 measure remaining in place, and that will expire at the end of February.

Today, where we are with reducing hospitalizations, reducing numbers, were confident as we move ahead with this phased approach that we are going to take these steps back to normal by reducing and eliminating the public health orders that are in place, Moe said.

Saskatchewan introduced the proof of vaccination program on Sept. 16, 2021. Moe said at the time, the fourth wave of the pandemic was driven almost entirely by the 2030 percent of the population who chose not to be vaccinated.

He said introducing the proof of vaccination requirement provided much benefit in the fight against the Delta variant, but advent of the Omicron variant changed things.

Today as we deal with a very different strain, the Omicron variant, the benefits of this policy no longer outweigh the costs, Moe said. Vaccination as we know is not preventing transmission of Omicron like it did with previous variants.

The premier said while he continues to encourage Saskatchewan citizens to receive COVID-19 vaccines, the government respects the right of anyone to choose not to be vaccinated.

Its time for us also to heal the divisions in our communities over vaccination, Moe said, noting that disagreement over vaccination has caused rifts not only in Saskatchewan but across the country.

Its time for us to come together as families, as friends, as communities, as a province, and as a nation, and its time for us to reach out and support one another. Lets not judge our neighbour because they may be vaccinated or because they may not be vaccinated. Lets not judge our neighbour if they should choose to wear a mask or not to choose to wear a mask in the weeks ahead, he said.

Wed also ask Saskatchewan residents to be gracious and understand that everyone is doing their own personal risk assessment and they might arrive at a different conclusion than you and we should accept that and we should respect each and every one for the decisions that they are making in their environment.

Moe said that as hospitalizations decline across Canada, he has no doubt that other provinces will put forward their own plans to lift COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.

He also said the federal government should also at some point in time end pandemic-related mandates currently in place for federally regulated sectors.



Living with COVID and taking steps towards getting life back to normal will vary given the individual cases, individual situations, that we see in various regions of Canada, he said.

We should as Canadians know where we are going over the course of the next number of weeks.

Editors note: A previous version of this article misstated the date the vaccine mandate in Saskatchewan would be lifted. The province will end the program on Feb. 14. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
A billboard in a campaign urging women to donate their eggs to childless couples trying for a family in London on Nov. 15, 1996. (Johnny Eggitt/AFP via Getty Images)

Say No to Egg Donation

Commentary

This year, National No Smoking Day is March 9, 2022. And the Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, will be on Nov. 27, 2022. Catchy slogans around these smokeouts are, Say No to Smoking and Say Yes to Life and Quitting Starts Here.

I often make comparisons between smoking, and the Big Tobacco industry, and the practice of egg donation and what I call Big Fertility. I use quotation marks around the words donate or donation, because most often women are paid to sell their eggs, they arent donating them. Both smoking and selling your eggs are harmful to your health, but these industries make millions of dollars peddling their goods to people.

In the early days, cigarettes and cigarette smoking were marketed and promoted as cool and hip, often boasting celebrities smoking and representing their brand. Bob Hope smoked Chesterfields because theyre milder and Lucille Ball said, Smoke for pleasure today, while her husband Desi Arnaz promised, No cigarette hangover tomorrow, as if to say that smoking was healthy but drinking alcohol was not.

Similarly, egg donation also depends heavily on advertisements to recruit young women for their eggs, luring them in with large sums of cash to be an angel and help someone have a family. Celebrities such as Elton John, Andy Cohen, and Anderson Cooper, all had their babies because women risked their health by selling their eggs to them.

In the early days of all the slick smoking promotion, there were no warning labels on cigarettes, restrictions on where you could smoke, or warnings about secondhand smoking as the studies on risks and harms to those who smoked had not yet been done. So, Big Tobacco was able to operate free from regulations and restrictions until 1965 when Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which required the warning Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health be placed in small print on one side of the cigarette package. By 1969, this warning was changed to say, Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.

In California, we worked to pass legislation (A.B. 1317) that would require those who advertise to women to sell their eggs to post a warning saying that there have been no long-term studies done on the risks to women who may choose to sell or donate their eggs. Then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law, but it proved to be a meaningless piece of legislation that protects Big Fertility and not women. The bill states that egg donation ads must include this language:

Egg donation involves a screening process. Not all potential egg donors are selected. Not all selected egg donors receive the monetary amounts or compensation advertised. As with any medical procedure, there may be risks associated with human egg donation. Before an egg donor agrees to begin the egg donation process, and signs a legally binding contract, she is required to receive specific information on the known risks of egg donation. Consultation with your doctor prior to entering into a donor contract is advised.

But, like Big Tobacco who lobbied and fought tooth and nail to not have to warn people of the risks, Big Fertility lobbied too. And they won, by getting this language inserted into the law:

Persons or entities that certify compliance with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) guidelines by registering with ASRM are exempt from the notice requirements set forth in subdivision (a). Use of the exemption when the guidelines are violated shall constitute false advertising. (Emphasis mine).

ASRM is in bed with Big Fertility. Theyre the roosters guarding the hen house and their guidelines are meaningless because theyre not enforceable; like a suggested donation at the museum, they can be ignored and are ignored as Ive yet to see any advertisements in California that include the language set out in A.B. 1317.

The history around the campaign and glamorous marketing of smoking is perhaps aptly illustrated by the iconic Marlboro Man. The rugged, strong, handsome cowboy, smoking his Marlboro cigarettes didnt conjure up concerns of ill health or lung disease. But, over the years of this campaign, at least four men who appeared in these ads, all who smoked, all died of smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which led Marlboro to being nicknamed cowboy killers.

The history of the harms and eggsploitation of women has yet to be written, but we do know that selling your eggs is risky business. The question now is, how many women will be harmed or die from selling their eggs before the egg poachers are stopped?

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Martha and Luis Gerardo at the Shen Yun performance in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 6, 2022. (Sonia Wu/The Epoch Times)

EL PASO, TexasIts the color of Shen Yun that draws people in, and at the Sunday matinee in El Paso, it was no different.

Luis Gerardo, retired law enforcement, and Martha Gerardo, a chief human resources officer, came to Shen Yun for the first time that day.

Actually weve seen it (advertised) a couple of times that its come here to El Paso and weve always wanted to come and we decided it was the right time this year, said Mrs. Gerardo.

She found an instant connection with the traditional culture of China, including some parallels to her own Hispanic cultureparticularly the love for dance and high color.

Its a show for the whole family, Mrs. Gerardo said. I see a lot of younger people coming in and I definitely think its good for people to come and get diversified in different cultures. Were very strong in our Hispanic culture here in El Paso so its nice that others get to share their culture as well.

Shen Yun has been enthralling its audiences with brilliantly colored costuming, fluid choreography, and original orchestral compositions since 2006. The New York-based company is centered around the task of reviving Chinas 5,000 years of traditional culture.

Shen Yuns emcees explained that the program is not allowed to be shown in China, where the ruling communist party has been destroying and rewriting history.

Unfortunately it sounds like they are not able to practice their culture in recent times so thats very unfortunate but very fortunate with us that they are able to share with us here, she said.

Reporting by Sonia Wu.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Some Trucks Rerouted Due to Freedom Convoy Protests: White House

Trucks carrying goods across the U.S.Canada border have had to shift their routes because of the protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Canada, the White House said Feb. 7.

While there have been zero impacts to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations, some shipments were rerouted by our law enforcement partners to other points of entry due to road closures, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during a briefing in Washington.

Some shippers have had to reroute. But CBP has been in communication throughout to ensure shipments can be cleared and onto the normal routes, she added.

CBP, which has more than 60,000 employees, handles border security.

Later Monday, Ambassador Bridge, which connects Michigan to Ontario, was closed because of protests against mandates.

Psaki was responding after a reporter with Reuters asked if the U.S. government was investigating right-wing forces that the reporter claimed have been supporting the protesters.

Is there any, kind of, you know, involvement of U.S. authorities in looking at those money flows going to these truckers? And are you concerned about it? the reporter wondered.

After speaking about the rerouting, Psaki added, In terms of an assessment of any other engagement from here, we dont really have any update on that or any investigation to read out at this point in time.

Truckers have gathered in multiple cities in Canada, including Ottawa and Winnipeg, to protest against the Canadian governments COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all truck drivers crossing the CanadaU.S. border. The movement started on Jan. 29.

Trucks and other vehicles drive through Ottawa as part of the trucker convoy protesting COVID-19 restrictions and mandates on Jan. 29, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Similar protests have since spread around the world, including to New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Authorities in Canada have reacted against the protesters, including seizing fuel from protesters in Ottawa and threatening to revoke the licenses of truckers.

The fundraising website GoFundMe also seized funds from the convoy but backtracked on a plan to donate the funds to charities of their choosing after several U.S. officials said they would probe the move.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he wont meet with the truckers and Ottawas mayor on Feb. 7 said federal ministers should appoint a mediator to try to resolve the situation.

Many protesters have said they wont stop protesting until the border mandate and similar restrictions are lifted.

Andrew Chen, Limin Zhou, and Omid Ghoreishi contributed to this report.
Yoon Suk-yeol (2nd R), the presidential election candidate for South Korea's main opposition People Power Party (PPP), and Lee Jae-myung (R), the presidential election candidate for the ruling Democratic Party, attend a ceremony to mark the first stock trading day of the year at the Korea Exchange (KRX) in Seoul on January 3, 2022. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji / POOL / AFP)

South Korean Presidential Candidates Clash Over US, China Diplomacies in First Televised Debate

As a run-up to the 2022 South Korean presidential election scheduled for March 9, four candidates clashed in a two-hour televised debate. The candidates sparred over their approaches to the United States and China as well as their plans to reinforce national missile defense against North Korea.

The debate, on the evening of Feb. 3, brought together Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), Yoon Suk-youl of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), Sim Sang-jung of the progressive Justice Party, and Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition Peoples Party.

Debate topics touched on foreign policy, national security, housing, the economy, and various hot topics.

The two leading candidates were Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl , as the two other candidates do not have enough support at this time to clinch the top role.

Balanced Diplomacy Versus South Korea-US Alliance

On the issue of foreign policy, Lee underlined that South Korea should continue to develop a strategic cooperative partnership with China due to the countrys high-level dependence on trade, while Yoon commited to further strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance, according to The Korea Herald.

Lee refused to answer when asked by the moderator to choose the first person he would meet with among the leaders of the United States, China, Japan, and North Korea, if he was elected as president.

Lee said his decision would depend on the meetings efficiency and usefulness, and he underscored the significance of balanced and practical diplomacy centered on national interests.

In response to the same question, Yoon said he would meet with the president of the United States first and then the leaders of Japan, China, and North Korea respectively.

Yoon emphasized the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance while denouncing the Moon Jae-in governments inclination toward China and North Korea.

The priority is to restore relationships with the United States and Japan, which have been fractured  during the period of the Democratic Partys rule, Yoon said.

Ahn had an attitude similar to Yoons, prioritizing South Korea-U.S. relations before China and the others.

However, Sim said that meeting the North Korean leader is the top priority, and the United States is second.

National Missile Defense Against North Korea

THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) is a U.S.-designed and manufactured anti-missile system that South Korea installed between 2016 and 2017 to defend against North Koreas nuclear missile build-up. However, Beijing has insisted that the deployment of THAAD affects Chinas security and has since adopted a series of countermeasures against South Korea.

Yoon openly endorsed the additional deployment of THAAD and purchasing THAAD batteries from the United States. However, Lee opposed the idea and proposed developing a homegrown missile defense system in fear of a backlash from Beijing.

Lee stressed the need for practical diplomacy as South Korea relies on China for 25 percent of its trade.

Why redeploy such a useless thing [referring to THAAD] that also causes a backlash from China and harms [our] economy? Lee said while citing the Moon-Jae-in governments Three Nos policy.

In 2017, in an attempt to appease Beijing, the Moon Jae-in government outlined three principles for security known as the Three Nos: no additional deployment of the U.S. missile system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD; no participation in a U.S.-led regional missile defense system; and no morphing a trilateral security alliance with the United States and Japan into a military alliance.

In response, Yoon pointed out that it would take considerable time to deploy South Koreas homegrown missile defense system, which is still under development.

Yoon emphasized the necessity for the THAAD system to destroy ballistic missiles fired toward the Seoul metropolitan area with a lofted and high-angle trajectory. The systems hit-to-kill technology is capable of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles at altitudes between 40 and 150 km, according to The Korea Herald.

Only when deterrence is maintained  can South Koreas national security risk be reduced, Yoon said.

The debate had a combined viewer rating of 39 percent on South Koreas three major television stationsKBS, MBC, and SBSranking first in South Korean general election debates since 1997.

At least two polls conducted in early February put Yoon, the main opposition candidate, ahead of Lee, the ruling party candidate, widening the once-narrow gap between the two leading candidates, according to The Straits Times, a Singapore-based newspaper.

A study released on Feb. 4 by Research View put Yoons approval rating at 46 percent to Lees 38 percent.

Another survey by Korea Social Opinion Research Institute cited a 45.7 percent support rate for Yoon, against Lees 40 percent.
Supreme Court May End Affirmative Action in College Admissions, Experts Say

The Supreme Court may end the use of race-based so-called affirmative action in college admissions in cases later this year, legal experts told The Epoch Times.

Although left-wing activists such as advocates of Marxist-derived critical race theory say race-conscious government policies are essential to dismantle the systemic racism they say pervades the American experience, critics say using race in the college admissions process is both anachronistic and wrong.

Critics quote then-Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor, who believed the policy was a necessary evil. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), she wrote: We expect that 25 years from now the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.

Making race-focused admissions decisions is dangerous, OConnor wrote, calling it a deviation from the norm of equal treatment. Such programs must be limited in time, she stated, adding that all governmental use of race must have a logical end point.

Although 2028, the year OConnor said the policy might no longer be needed, is still six years away, two lawyers interviewed by The Epoch Times said the use of race in admissions may come to an end soonerif enough conservative justices on the nine-member Supreme Court are willing to show the courage needed to make history.

Some speculate that liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced Jan. 27 he would retire at the end of the courts current term, might have voted with a majority against affirmative action in the upcoming cases, but he almost certainly will not be a member of the court when the cases are heard, probably in the fall or winter.

Breyer voted with the 6-3 majority in Grutters companion case, Gratz v. Bollinger, to strike down the University of Michigans system, in which points were automatically distributed to every applicant from an underrepresented minority. That system ignored the individualized consideration requirement from Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the court found. In Bakke, the court struck down racial quotas, but found that a narrower use of race to bring in more minority students could be constitutional in some circumstances.

Justice Clarence Thomas was also on the court for the Michigan case. He, too, voted to find the system was unconstitutional.

President Joe Biden is under pressure from the base of the Democratic Party to replace Breyer with a justice who is significantly to his left, and who would presumably favor affirmative action.

Background

On Jan. 24, the court agreed to hear Students for Fair Admissions Inc. (SFFA) v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, court file 20-1199, and SFFA v. University of North Carolina (UNC), court file 21-707. The cases were consolidated and will be heard together. Both of the federal judges who heard the cases at the trial court level were appointed by then-President Barack Obama.

Considered a conservative group, SFFA calls itself a nonprofit membership group of more than 20,000 students, parents, and others, who believe that racial classifications and preferences in college admissions are unfair, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.

Harvard and UNC are, respectively, the oldest private college and the oldest public college in the United States.

In the Harvard case, U.S. District Judge Allison Dale Burroughs found after a 15-day non-jury trial for Harvard, ruling its admission policy that was said to discriminate against Asian American applicants was not motivated by racial animus  or intentional discrimination and was narrowly tailored to achieve diversity and the academic benefits that flow from diversity. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upheld the lower courts decision, ruling against SFFA.

The Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) weighed in, siding with SFFA in an appeals court brief that stated the evidence at trial showed Harvard actively engages in racial balancing that Supreme Court precedent flatly forbids.

But the Biden administration is siding with the college.

In a brief (pdf) filed Dec. 8, 2021, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the Supreme Court to reject the case, arguing that overturning Grutter and other precedents authorizing consideration of race in university admissions, would cause upheaval among colleges and universities around the Nation that rely on those precedents.

In the North Carolina case, U.S. District Judge Loretta Copeland Biggs held an eight-day non-jury trial to determine if UNC was complying with existing precedent.

The court approved the schools admissions policy because it uses race flexibly as a plus factor and only as one among many factors. The court found UNC had no viable race-neutral alternatives to help it achieve the educational benefits of diversity about as well as its current race-conscious policies and practices.

The court stated that providing admissions preferences based on socioeconomic status instead of race would not work because the majority of low-income students are white, so the schools would just be choosing more white students. Race should be used by UNC indefinitely because it is interwoven in every aspect of the lived experience. Until the U.S. one day resolves its struggle with racial inequality, minority students would continue to be less likely to be admitted in meaningful numbers on [race-neutral] criteria.

SFFA promptly filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, but before that court could rule on the case, also sought review from the Supreme Court, which was granted.

SSFA President Edward Blum said in a statement that his group hopes the justices will end the use of race as an admissions factor at Harvard, UNC, and all colleges and universities.

Surveys from both Pew Research Center and Gallup show nearly 75 percent of Americans of all races do not believe race or ethnicity should be a factor in college admissions.

The cornerstone of our nations civil rights laws is the principle that an individuals race should not be used to help or harm them in their lifes endeavors.

Blum said his group hopes the court will use these cases to begin the restoration of the colorblind legal covenant that holds together Americans of all races and ethnicities.

Legal Experts

Curt Levey is president of the Committee for Justice, a nonprofit that describes itself as devoted to restoring the Founders vision of a federal judiciary governed by the rule of law and anchored by the Constitution. Levey said he was part of the legal team for the plaintiffs who challenged affirmative action policies in the Grutter and Gratz cases.

Unlike in the past, the five votes needed on the nine-member Supreme Court to abolish affirmative action may finally be there, Levey told The Epoch Times in an interview.

Although Chief Justice John Roberts may be a squish on many issues important to conservatives, he has been quite clear on this issue, Levey said.

Levey was referring to Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007), which Roberts wrote. Roberts said the court was rightly concerned that racial balancing has no logical stopping point.

Racial balancing, he wrote, is not transformed from patently unconstitutional to a compelling state interest simply by relabeling it racial diversity.

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race, Roberts concluded.

Given the presence of the six-member conservative bloc, there appears to be majority support for ending the diversity rationale for racial preferences, Levey said.

The question is, do they have the guts to do it?

If they go against establishment thinking on affirmative action and banish race-based admissions, the justices will face the ire of the elites and minority enrollment at institutions of higher learning would probably significantly fall, Levey said.

This would prove very embarrassing to all of these progressive university presidents, he said. The justices are under as much pressure to save affirmative action as they are to save the constitutional right to abortion, and only time will tell whether they have the courage to stick up for their principles.

Levey said he was hopeful but also a realist.

Roberts is very concerned with the legacy of the Roberts court and [Justice Brett] Kavanaugh is obviously worried about his reputation and [Justice Amy Coney] Barrett  we just dont know.

Striking down affirmative action would be bold, [but] it would be the right thing to do.

Wen Fa is an attorney at the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation, a national public interest law firm that filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the upcoming SFFA cases.

University admissions have been plagued with racial preferences since the Grutter ruling, Fa told The Epoch Times in an interview.

The decision, which allowed for the use of racial preferences to further an amorphous interest in diversity, was wrongly decided.

We think that the principle of equality before the law prohibits racial discrimination, and just as the principle of equal protection prohibits the use of racial discrimination elsewhere, it should also prohibit racial discrimination in the context of college admissions, Fa said.

We hope that the Supreme Court took both of these cases to overrule the Grutter decision, and to sayonce and for allthat racial preferences have no place in the context of university admissions, he said.

Schools should treat individuals as individuals and judge them based on their own individual abilities, achievements, and aspirations and not on the basis of their membership in a broad arbitrary racial group.

Race-based discrimination hurts people and can lead to stereotyping, Fa said.

For example, college guidebooks counsel Asian American students not to say that they want to be a doctor, or they want to major in math and sciences, because that would be a negative on their application.

Asian American applicants generally have higher academic scores and higher extracurricular scores, so to suppress the number of Asian American students at Harvard, and to get at Harvards desired racial balance, the admissions officers score Asian American applicants lower on these personal ratings, which is a subjective metric that purportedly judges students by likability, courage, kindness, [and] things like that.

Fa said this leads to Asian American applicants being stereotyped as unkind, cowardly, unfriendly, even though the alumni interviewers who actually meet these students routinely disagree, and thats just one example of the type of pernicious stereotypes that racial preferences can lead to.

Liberal Resignation

Meanwhile, liberal supporters of affirmative action have considered the ideological inclinations of the justices and seem resigned to the fact that the Supreme Court is not going to do what they want. Some are already writing affirmative actions epitaph.

Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, expressed alarm.

The courts decision to hear the cases seriously threatens the nations ideals of equality, she said, and comes amidst the backdrop of widespread efforts to erase and deny the experiences of people of color.

As our country experiences a resurgence of white supremacy, it is as important now as ever before that our future leaders be educated in a learning environment that exposes them to the rich diversity that our country has to offer, so they may be fully prepared for the many challenges ahead.

Opting to hear the cases is in itself a very, very significant threat to the continued constitutionality of affirmative action, Tanya Washington, a law professor at Georgia State University, told ABC News.

This is not just going to impact the elite, she said. What we are going to see, what I predict, is a cataclysmic drop in the numbers of Latino, black and indigenous students attending institutions of higher ed.

William Spriggs, a professor of economics at Howard University, lamented that the court will probably by hook or by crook, find our way back to 1950. Whatever it takes. And that would be really unfortunate.
An engraving of the Contemplation of Justice is seen outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on Feb. 7, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Supreme Court Halts Order to Redraw Alabama Congressional Map

The Supreme Court on Monday halted an order requiring Alabama to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2022 elections.

A lower court had determined in late January that the new Alabama congressional electoral map disadvantages black voters and likely violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The lower courts three-judge panel said the state should have two majority-black districts, instead of one. The congressional map, approved by Alabamas Legislature last year, has one majority-black district.

Alabamas delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives consists of six Republicans and one Democrat.

Alabama was given until Feb. 11 to create a new map, but it appealed the district courts decision instead.

The Supreme Courts 5-4 ruling (pdf) grants a stay of the lower courts order to have the districts redrawn.

The stay order is not a ruling on the merits, but instead simply stays the District Courts injunction pending a ruling on the merits, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, wrote.

The stay will allow this Court to decide the merits in an orderly fashionafter full briefing, oral argument, and our usual extensive internal deliberationsand ensure that we do not have to decide the merits on the emergency docket.

The Supreme Court is set to hear the full case next fall.

Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberal-leaning justicesStephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kaganin dissent.

Roberts wrote that he would not grant a stay and would have allowed the district court opinion to stand while the state of Alabama appeals. He said he agreed to have the court take up the case for the next term.

I respectfully dissent from the stays granted in these cases because, in my view, the District Court properly applied existing law in an extensive opinion with no apparent errors for our correction, Roberts wrote.

Alabama, in its emergency application (pdf) to the Supreme Court, had stated, Without a stay, the States forthcoming congressional elections will be run on district lines that never could have been drawn by the Legislature but for sorting Alabamians on the basis of race alone.

The U.S. Constitution cannot tolerate such a perversion of the [Voting Rights Act] that the district court demands, the state of Alabama argued.

The courts order is contrary to the promise of the Equal Protection Clause, the state argued, adding, The injunction is premised on the noxious idea that redistricting begins and ends with racial considerations that would place race first above race-neutral districting criteria, sorting and splitting voters across the State on the basis of race alone.

According to Alabama, In a sample of more than two million race-neutral maps generated by [respondents] own experts, not even one contained two majority-black districts.

A total of 14 states issued a friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court in support of Alabamas appeal.

Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.




Upon his departure from the Government Palace, Salas said that he met with the Head of State to discuss issues related to his portfolio and that, after such meeting, Mr. Castillo would finish to work on the reshuffle of the ministerial team.





"So, do not worry, surely the new Cabinet ministers will be sworn in the next few hours," he told reporters.





The minister remarked that his continuance or removal from office is a decision that falls to the President and that he will continue working as long as he has his confidence.





In addition, government official emphasized that the President of the Republic has been elected for five years to hold such position and that "we must respect that as democrats."





On the other hand, when asked about the oil spill caused by the company Repsol , the Minister of Culture noted that this is not an issue in his portfolio.





"What I do know is that work continues on the Repsol issue, on the corresponding solutions; Peru cannot wait," Salas remarked.





(END) MCA/VVS/RMB
A chip by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) on display at the 2020 World Semiconductor Conference in Nanjing in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on Aug. 26, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Taiwan Sells Nearly Half of Its Exports to China, Reflecting Chinas Dependence on Island for Semiconductors

Taiwans exports were booming in 2021, especially to China, which accounts for a solid 42.3 percent share of total exports. Taiwan officials have recently revised their 2021 estimate of economic growth from 6.09 percent to 6.28 percent, with both figures hitting an 11-year high. Experts say that Taiwans trade surplus with China continues to grow, indicating that China relies heavily on Taiwan.

According to the latest figures released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Jan. 27, Taiwans economy grew at a rate of 6.28 percent last year, 1.9 percent higher than the forecast made in November.

In fact, the 6.09 percent growth rate estimated last year was already very high. Following release of the figures, Taiwans Vice President Lai Ching-te said on Dec. 28 that Taiwans epidemic control and prevention in the past two years was relatively smooth. Thus, the country was less affected by the epidemic and the economy had performed better than in other countries. Taiwan has ranked first amongst the Four Asian Tigers (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong) for two consecutive years. Wu Daren, CEO of the Taiwan Economic Center at National Central University, said that the main reason for Taiwans outstanding economic performance last year was that the countrys manufacturing exports and private investments were both very strong.

The main growth engine of Taiwans economy is exports. According to investment information platform MacroMicro, Taiwans exports account for more than 60 percent of the total GDP, with electronic components, information and communications, and audio-visual products as the main export products.

In terms of manufacturing exports, the largest contributor is the semiconductor industry. The semiconductor industry is known as the backbone of Taiwans economy, with TSMC being the most prominent performer. Due to the global chip shortage, TSMCs strategic position has increased, making semiconductors the fastest-growing export item in Taiwan.

The most important source of private investment is the continued expansion of investment by technology companies such as TSMC and related supply chains. TSMC alone invested $30.04 billion last year, accounting for approximately 4 percent of Taiwans total $760 billion economy. In addition, the telecom industry continues to invest in 5G infrastructure, the airline industry is expanding its capacity and investing in the localization of its supply chain, and the government is promoting investment in public green energy facilities; all of which are making important contributions to economic growth.

In addition, Wu said, Chinas control of energy consumption and the outbreak of epidemics in Southeast Asia have also brought significant benefits to Taiwan; and the increase in domestic demand in Taiwan has prompted many industry players to start expanding their plants, which in turn has boosted the construction industry.

Chinas Dependence on Taiwan

Taiwans largest export market is China. According to the Ministry of Finance, the Chinese market (including Hong Kong) accounted for 42.3 percent of Taiwans total exports last year, slightly lower than the 10-year high of 43.9 percent set in 2020, and far ahead of the second and third largest export markets, ASEAN and the United States, which accounted for 15.7 percent and 14.7 percent respectively.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs of the Peoples Republic of China, Taiwans total exports to China (excluding Hong Kong) amounted to $249.999 billion last year, up 24.7 percent year-on-year, while Taiwans total imports from China amounted to $78.364 billion, up 30.4 percent year-on-year. Taiwans trade surplus with China reached $171.6 billion, an increase of $31.1 billion from 2020.

According to Taiwans Ministry of Finance, exports to China (including Hong Kong) last year totaled $188.906 billion, up 24.8 percent year-on-year, while imports from China were $84.171 billion, up 29.9 percent year-on-year. Taiwans trade surplus with China last year was $104.735 billion, also exceeding the $100 billion mark.

Taiwan economist and veteran political and economic commentator Wu Jia Long told The Epoch Times that the fact that Taiwan enjoys a trade surplus with China, which continues to grow, does not mean that Taiwan is dependent on China, but that China is dependent on Taiwan. In terms of the technology supply chain, Taiwan is upstream and Chinas production line is downstream. Taiwans trade surplus with China reflects Chinas demand or dependence on Taiwan.

In May 2021, Taiwans Ministry of Economic Affairs devoted a prominent headline to refute former President Ma Ying-jeous interpretation of Taiwans dependence on China, which stated that the growth of exports to China is driven by semiconductor exports, but it is Chinas dependence on Taiwan.

Economic Miracle 2.0

The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics has maintained its November forecast of 4.15 percent economic growth for this year, but the outbreak of the omicron variant since the beginning of the year has raised concerns about whether the economy will be able to maintain its 4 percent growth rate this year.

However, Wu Jia Long said that the United States and China have shifted from rapprochement to confrontation. With the United States and Chinese economies decoupling, manufacturing industries pulling out of China, and Taiwan facing structural changes that usually last around 20 years, he estimates that the Taiwan economic miracle that lasted for 20 years in the second half of the last century may happen again.

Wu said that in the case of high growth, people would be worried that the base period has already risen enough and it would not be easy to maintain the same high growth in the next year. However, now we are facing a structural change, Taiwanese businessmen are returning in large numbers, and capital is flowing back, we have seen capital flowing out every year in the past, this outflow that has lasted for nearly 20 years, it is impossible that it will be over in two years.

Wu emphasized that it was inevitable for Taiwanese businesses to leave mainland China, with some going back to Taiwan and some to other countries. As for the reasons for the return, he said, On the one hand, Taiwanese businessmen have to avoid U.S. tariffs by re-exporting their goods. On the other hand, the Chinese Communist Partys financial shortage has reached the point where as the saying goes: so starving for food, that one kills the chicken to get the eggs and will definitely take action against Taiwanese businesses and the mainland firms.

Apart from the return of Taiwanese businesses, the semiconductor and green energy industries will also continue to attract investment. Not only that, but Taiwan has the most complete supply chain in the world, so emerging technology sectors such as artificial intelligence, big data, meta-universe, and third-generation semiconductors will all attract significant investment.

Wu did not give a specific estimate for Taiwans economic growth in 2022, but he said that There is no need to worry about Taiwans domestic demand, as the second wave of Taiwans economic miracle, which lasted for 20 years in the second half of the last century, will come again, and we can call it Taiwan Economic Miracle 2.0.'

Semiconductor Industry

Bloomberg reported on January 27 that TSMC will build new factories this year to ease the semiconductor shortage, with investment expected to reach $40 billion to $44 billion. This investment is equivalent to about 5 percent of Taiwans $760 billion economy, so the outlook for Taiwans growth in 2022 remains optimistic.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, researcher Liu Pei-jin of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research said that, in light of the trend of digital and energy transformation, semiconductor applications are everywhere, and demand is rising. The semiconductor market will continue to grow this year, both in Taiwan and globally, and TSMC, a leader in advanced manufacturing processes, will see even greater growth this year.

She also said that the U.S.-China technology war would provide more business opportunities for Taiwan. With the United States imposing various controls and restricting access to critical semiconductor equipment or chips through its allies, Chinas semiconductor industry is stagnating, and its end-use markets are inevitably dependent on Taiwans semiconductor supply.

Epoch Times reporter Joyce Liang contributed to this report.
The Canadian Way: Former Sergeant-at-Arms Calls for Dialogue to Resolve Trucker Protests

A former official in charge of security for the House of Commons is calling for peaceful dialogue with participants of the truckers Freedom Convoy, as Ottawa City Council ramps up rhetoric and measures to end the protests.

In a post on Twitter, former Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers said the Canadian Way, which involves respectful debate and dialogue, is the way to out for the ongoing protests in Ottawa against the governments COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions.

There is a way to resolve this. The Canadian Waythe strength of forgiveness over the weakness of hate, listening, respecting one another, dialogue, sitting down and talking, Vickers said in a post on Twitter on Feb. 7.

There is a way to resolve this. The Canadian Way  the strength of forgiveness over the weakness of hate, listening, respecting one another, dialogue, sitting down and talking. https://t.co/IMZcN4RDS3  Kevin Vickers (@KVickers) February 7, 2022

The Canadian WayInvolves recognizing, accommodating, and reconciling differing perceptions and interests through informed, respectful debate, and compromise, he said in another tweet.

Vikers was called a Canadian hero after shooting dead one of the gunmen in the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill.

His plea for peaceful dialogue came as Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson called for a special meeting with the city council on Monday to discuss the impact of the trucker convoy demonstration on the local residents and businesses.

During the meeting, Watson described the truckers demonstration as an aggressive and hateful occupation of our neighbourhoods, adding that the honking of horns heard intermittently during the protests in the citys downtown core is tantamount to psychological warfare.

We will do everything in our power to take back the streets of Ottawa from the criminal activity and hooliganism that has transpired over the last nine days, he said.

On Feb. 6, the mayor declared a state of emergency that he said reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations.

The trucker convoy encamped in Ottawa began as a protest against the federal governments COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border. It soon expanded to a national movement, attracting supporters across Canada who want to see an end to COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. It has also sparked similar protests around the world.

The convoy rolled into Ottawa on Jan. 29, and organizers said they will stay in the nations capital until the government lifts its COVID-19 mandates.

Convoy organizers said they want to talk with the government, but so far no representatives from any level of government have contacted them.

The first thing theyve got to do is call us  were sitting here, were waiting by the phone, protest organizer Benjamin Dichter said in a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 6.

Ottawa police said on Twitter on Feb. 6 that anyone attempting to bring material supports such as to the demonstrators could be subject to arrest.

Ottawa Police Service said in a statement the same day that seven people have been arrested and there have been over 60 criminal investigations in relation to several enforcement actions related to the ongoing demonstration.

During the Ottawa city council meeting on Monday, Watson said he will ask Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to dramatically increase our law enforcement capacity as quickly as possible.

He said the city has also asked the chief justice of Ontario to increase fines for unlawful activities in order to assist the bylaw officers in enforcing municipal bylaws at the downtown core. He said the fines for idling would increase from $100 to $1,000, the fine for violating the noise bylaw would increase from $490 to $1,000, and the fines for encumbering a roadway would increase from $350 to $1,000.

The convoy organizers had previously raised C$10 million (US$8 million) in donations for the truckers participating in the protests in Ottawa on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.

On Feb. 4, GoFundMe said it would block the release of the money raised for the truckers convoy and would instead give it to charities of its choosing. The fundraising platform later said the donors could request a refund, but on Feb. 5 it said the funds will be automatically reimbursed.

After GoFundMe pulled the funds, Watson thanked the company for listening to the plea made by the City and the Ottawa Police to no longer provide funds to the convoy organizers.

On Monday, Peter Sloly, the chief of police with the Ottawa Police Service, said at the city council meeting that the end of the GoFundMe was a successful effort, while noting the need to prevent new fundraisers being set up for the truckers protests.

As of this morning, I can report the following activities and efforts over the weekend: the end of the GoFundMe, part of almost $10 million denied to the demonstrations, Sloly said. I just want to advise, while that effort was successful, almost immediately other efforts to fundraise [on] other platforms around which funds were made available have popped up.

[Its] a significant success between the city and the service in ending the GoFundMe, but there needs to be ongoing efforts at all levels of government to deny funding for the unlawful demonstrations.

As of Feb. 7, the Freedom Convoy raised more than $5 million on GiveSendGo after GoFundMe removed its campaign.

Limin Zhou has contributed to this article.
The New Moral Law

Commentary

President Joe Bidens announcement that a black woman would be his nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer may violate the core liberal principle of individualism, but in no way should anyone be surprised.

Liberals have been crossing liberal premises for so long that no exertion of identity politics on their part should call for the charge Hypocrite! When someone pledges one thing and does another over and over, moral judgments only cloud the behavior. Its too consistently inconsistent for that. Something else is going on.

The phenomenon is everywhere. We have super-liberal parents who put Black Lives Matter signs in their yards but do anything to get their kids into Tier One schools with a tiny black population. They say they care about people and they attach their ears to one NPR story after another on this victim and that, but they live in neighborhoods those victims could never afford. Mark Zuckerberg didnt like Trumps wall; at the same time, he was building a mile-long, six-foot-high wall around his Hawaii estate and blocking longtime access to the beach.

Biden claims to bring harmony to a nation divided by Trump, and proceeds to align opponents of his voting bill with Bull Connor and Jefferson Davis. Officials mandate masks and forbid gatherings, then they  well, you know.

Stop wasting your time yelling, Hypocrisy! Dont bother pointing out the contradiction. They dont care. Consistency isnt a liberal virtue. Only the outcomes matter, as the favorite term equity underscores (equity seems to have passed diversity on the ladder of values), and the first outcome is that liberals remain in power. Theyre the good ones, the responsible ones, the enlightened ones, and if they waffle and feign, if they self-contradict with a smile, they do so in order to protect the country from the deplorables and their impulsive leader.

Its indeed remarkable to watch a committed liberal shrug off allegations of the financial corruption of BLM and the riots of 2020, while the very sight of a trucker in a MAGA cap at a rally excites feverish indignation. Its personal, you see, or perhaps social is a better word. Ideas come second to personalities, as we saw when Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) shared some ideas about protecting the American worker, but the same thoughts uttered by Sanders, which they approved, became abhorrent when in the mouth of the Bad Man. Sanders was one of them; Trump was sui generis, and that made him dangerous.

In a situation like this, when politics become entirely a contest of identities, logic and rationality slip and falter. Alls fair in love and war. Say this one day, say that the next, and worry not about integrity. Do you want to win or lose? Do you want to rule them or be ruled by them? When feminists in the 60s coined the slogan The Personal Is Political, they meant it. (The line was aimed mostly against the middle-class household, where women were putatively oppressed and exploited.)

If everything is personal, however, the civic sphere no longer exists. The First Amendment on which the American public square is based is no longer a market of ideas and words, values, and policies. Its a schoolyard, a battle of egos and identities, and in that setting, the requirements of consistency and sincerity go down. We get identity politics, not democratic politics. When the left first pushed identity politics many decades ago, they did so in the cause of the victims, the marginalized, we were told, and the major institutions of our time have bought that rationale.

The cancel culture of the 2020s proves it wrong. Its a merciless, joyless, unforgiving project, happy to make new victims of anyone upholding beliefs contrary to progressive dogmas of race, sex, gender, borders, and equity. The people who cheer the cancellation of a witless individual who told a stupid joke on social media or muttered homo as an insult and got filmed doing it are like neighborhood gangs clearing the parks of kids who dont belong, whose looks annoy them, who talk funny. They clear the grounds of intruders, which is how the woke regard the un-woke.

When liberals twist their own principles, then, they have a binding goal: protect themselves. The woke schoolyard is competitive and unpredictable. Its also inconsistent, as when last years cultural respect becomes this years cultural appropriation. We shouldnt expect consistency from liberals when they manage such a tense, mercurial environment, or merely seek to survive within it. Biden doesnt have to be principled. He just has to endure, to go with the woke flow, reverse course when he must, drift into illiberal words and deeds when necessary, scrap the old civic rules that kept politicians from demonizing a fair slice of the American public.

We now live under a governmental/corporate/digital regime that has shown its willingness to trash the old norms of free speech, freedom of association, freedom of religion, and rights of privacy. Liberals in power will compromise, trim, prevaricate, dissemble, and accuse in order to appease the zealots and keep their posts. America has entered a whole new moral condition, and the sooner conservatives realize it, the better they will fight the ideological war now thrust upon them.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
There are some unexpected benefits when we use fear to our advantage

Fear can be the thing that keeps us from living the life we want, especially in our fear-saturated world today. Fortunately, there are some great insights about fear that can help us get above its gravitational pulllike Frank did.

Just the idea of talking to a woman he was interested in scared Frank, a roll-up-your-sleeves, fix-it sort of guy whose wife had divorced him two years earlier. Frank, who was middle-aged, wanted to be in a loving relationship. In fact, he was hoping to get married again. But he didnt know how to get over his fear. So he phoned a therapist he knew and trusted to help him work through the fear.

That therapist was Dr. Harriet Lerner, a clinical psychologist. She recounts Franks story in The Dance of Fear: Rising Above Anxiety, Fear, and Shame to Be Your Best and Bravest Self, a 2004 book thats as relevant today as it was when it first came out. At the time, Lerner had recently participated in a fear workshop that was led by a therapist named Cloe Madanes. Inspired by Madaness workshop, Lerner had an outside-the-box idea for Frank, if he were willing to try it.

Lerner explained to Frank that she believed his real problem wasnt what he thought it was. The real issue, in Lerners assessment, was that Frank didnt have enough experience being rejected. So Lerner gave him some homework: Actively seek out 75 rejections in one day.

Seeking Rejection?

Seventy-five rejections in one day? Why would anyone want to subject themselves to that much misery and humiliation? But Frank was the kind of person who appreciated a challenge. He was highly motivated to move on with his life after the divorce. And he told Lerner he was game to try.

This all happened before the #MeToo movement raised awareness about unwanted sexual attention and harassment, but Frank developed a non-threatening script that read something like: My name is Frank. I hope you dont think Im being too forward, but would you be willing to have coffee with me? With Lerners input, Frank also adopted a cautious and polite approach so he wouldnt be seen as acting inappropriately.

The crazy idea worked. Franks goal was to get rejected, of course, not to get a date. But, much to his surprise, even though most of them said no, some of the women he approached said, sure, they would be glad to have a cup of coffee with him. So Franks first lesson was that it wasnt as easy to get rejected as he had feared.

More notably, during the experiment, Franks extreme fear of being rejected wore off so quickly that halfway into the assignment he pulled out his cellphone and called a female friend from work whom he had been wanting to ask out on a date. His work colleague said no. It turned out she was already in a relationship with someone else. But, after trying to get so many rejections, adding one more rejection feather to his cap didnt upset him. He also wasnt sorry he had called her. Instead, he was inspired. Lerner had helped him flip the script and now he was able to see that last failure as a success.

We All Feel Afraid

Especially now, two years into worldwide concerns about COVID-19, every human on the planet can relate to feeling fear.

A new study by scientists at the University of Essex showed that COVID-19 concerns have caused a spike in anxiety and depression among pregnant women in the United Kingdom. Published in the journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, the researchers found that 60 percent of the pregnant moms surveyed were experiencing symptoms of anxiety.

Other recent studies have similarly shown that Canadians are experiencing anxiety levels at the highest rates since March 2020, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Healths ninth survey of Canadians pandemic health and substance use. And other reports suggest that COVID fatigue has led Americans, like so many people around the world, to feel fearful, burned out, and stressed.

But even pre-pandemic, physicians and psychologists were seeing an increase in fear levels among their patients. A few years ago, Dr. Stefan Topolski, a medical doctor based in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, told me he was seeing several patients a day who said they were suffering from fear.

Anxiety affects every part of someones life, Topolski said, explaining that mental fear can cause or exacerbate several physiological problems. High anxiety leads to elevated levels of stress hormones in the body, including cortisol and adrenaline. These stress hormones in turn can weaken the immune system, according to the American Psychological Association.

Topolski agreed: Fear leads to a weakened immune system, which means white blood cells work slower and weaker, and the body cant mount a fever the way it should. It also means increased fat placed around the waist, which is a risk for heart disease, and general weakening in ligaments and tendons.

The Protective Nature of Fear

We know fear is bad for our health. At the same time, however, theres no question that fear can protect us from bad outcomes and even save our lives. According to Lerner, fear is the minds way of protecting us from our own stupidity and keeping us safe. When my teenage son looked over the edge of a rock and into the water while on a camping trip with his friends, he felt too afraid to jump off. His fear, arguably, helped him make a life-saving decision. When his older sister didnt feel the same fear and jumped into a different body of water without first making sure it was deep enough, she ended up with a huge gash in her leg that subsequently got infected. In that instance, her lack of fear could very well have killed her.

In small bursts, Topolski also agreed that fear can be helpful. The problem is when we are bombarded with anxious feelings and stress 24/7 in a way that compromises our health, something we have seen throughout the pandemic.

Its normal to have fear, Topolski said. But fear [should] occur for small momentsthe fight-or-flight response[and] within an hour or two, you should be back to your normal self.

Take Charge of Your Fear

Fear, like any other emotion, is information. When we pay attention to our feelings of fearand become interested in what they are trying to teach uswe can reap powerful benefits.

Franks bold approach to feeling fearful, according to Lerner, was that it enabled him to be squarely in charge of his own symptom. Rather than being a passive victim of his greatest fearrejectionhe became actively engaged in making rejection happen, she wrote.

Feeling fearful and working through it can help you improve your life. Some of the take-away lessons from Franks experience and from Lerners book include:

Actions Matter

We humans learn by doing. Sometimes our thoughts are more worrisome than our actual experiences. When we take the leap of faith and actapproaching someone we are hoping to be friends with, saying yes to a public speaking engagement even though the idea of speaking in public is so terrifying it gives us hives, trying a new activity like journaling or painting or a sport weve never played beforelife becomes richer and more interesting. And even if we fail (whatever that means), we reap the benefit of having felt the fear but tried anyway.

Feelings Are OK

Its OK to be nervous, shy, uncomfortable, or afraid. All feelings can teach us powerful lessons. While it may seem easier not to feel, we become better adjusted and more mature humans when we treat our feelings with curiosity, give ourselves some grace, and allow ourselves to feel. When we feel fear appropriately, we keep ourselves safe from physical harm.

But sometimes we feel fear for no reason: We become afraid of things that are not actually threatening. But this inappropriate fear can also be a teacher. Pay attention to what is going on at a deeper level. Perhaps someone is trying to manipulate us; a company is trying to sell us a product we dont want or need; or we are afraid of being vulnerable because we dont want to risk getting hurt.

When we tune in at a deeper level, we become psychologically healthier. We can end an unhealthy relationship, say no thank you to people who are trying to keep us afraid, or take a risk of rejection in order to reap the reward of being accepted.

When we feel fear inappropriately but we pay attention to what is actually going on at a deeper level, we become psychologically healthier and improve our lives immeasurably.

Invite Fear Into Your Life

Instead of shying away from it, be open to your fears. Invite them in and learn from them. Fear isnt something to overcome or conquer, Lerner insisted. Instead, she advised her clients like Frank to pay attention to their fears and act in spite of them.

If you pay attention, you may find that it is not fear that stops you from doing the brave and true thing in your daily life. Rather, the problem is avoidance. You want to feel comfortable, so you avoid doing the thing that will evoke fear and other disquieting emotions, Lerner said. Avoidance will make you feel less vulnerable in the short run, but it will never make you less afraid.

Motivation Matters

When youre highly motivated to overcome a challenge, even if you arent sure how, you will find a way. Dont let fear keep you from acting. Instead, use the fear as a motivator to make positive change. Even if that change is simply to find the help you need to figure out what is driving your fear, that is the right first step.

Practice Relaxation Techniques

If feeling fearful is causing you physical distress, use that information to improve your health. To learn relaxation techniques that you can implement throughout the day, take a meditation or a yoga class (or both). Increase your daily movement and activity levels. This can be as simple as getting up every 20 minutes from your desk if your job involves sitting and walking around your office, house, or apartment.

Dedicated daily exercise is also a highly effective relaxation techniquea great way to feel better if you find yourself overrun with anxiety. In fact, a study by Swedish researchers published in January in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that the anxiety levels of participants in a 12-week group exercise program were reduced as a result of both high-intensity and low-intensity workouts. Since humans thrive when we are social, group exercise can be especially beneficial for improving your mood and your fitness levels.

Be Grateful

When the worlds worries are weighing you down, experts suggest you count your blessings. Something else that can help you climb out of fear and back into the light of purpose is gratitude, said Rick Kirschner, a naturopathic physician based in Sandpoint, Idaho, and co-author of the book Dealing With People You Cant Stand.

Maybe counting your blessings is already something you do. It is for me, but sometimes I forget. Sometimes its not easy to notice those blessings, Kirschner said. In that case, you can be like the optimist. The pessimist says, It cant get worse! The optimist says, Sure it can! Which means theres something to be grateful for right now.

Reading The Dance of Fear, a book full of wisdom and unconventional, sometimes surprising ideas, as well as watching documentary films about people who found courage in the face of fear, will also inspire you to better understand the upside to feeling afraid.

In a country with so much wealth and food and shelter, its odd that we suffer from so much more anxiety than our ancestors, Topolski told me. While the collective anxiety the world has been feeling has proved crippling for some, Lerner challenges readers in her epilogue to act with compassion even in the face of fear.

We neednt let anxiety and shame silence our authentic voices, or stop us from acting with clarity, compassion, and courage. In todays world, no challenge is more important than that, she wrote.

Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., an award-winning science journalist and book author, is a frequent contributor to the Epoch Times. A sought-after speaker, she has worked on a child survival campaign in Niger, West Africa; spoken out against child slavery on prime time television in Paris, France; and taught post-colonial literature to nontraditional college students in Atlanta. Sign up for her free weekly emails at JenniferMargulis.net.
Theres No Law: Physician Experienced in Investigating Biological Warfare Challenges Medical Boards Misinformation Allegation

Though Dr. Meryl Nass, a board-certified internal medicine physician, has been untangling narratives of dis- and misinformation long before COVID-19, it wasnt until recently that her license was temporarily suspended under the allegation that she is now spreading it.

Her research has brought her before Congress and state legislatures to give testimonies on bioterrorism, Gulf War syndrome, and vaccine safety.

Throughout her career, shes consulted for international health and intelligence agencies regarding prevention, investigation, and mitigation of chemical and biological warfare and pandemics.

She spent three years investigating what had been deemed a naturally occurring anthrax outbreak during Rhodesias civil war.

Nass was able to prove that it was due to biological warfare, with her findings published in a 1992 paper that marked a new achievement in scientific research.

This was important because it was the first time in history potential perpetrators learned they could be identified, Nass told The Epoch Times. You couldnt just start an epidemic somewhere and assume that no one was ever going to prove it because there wasnt any scientific way to prove that it was done. I established that way.

She was the main author, along with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (author of The Real Anthony Fauci) and Childrens Health Defense, of a citizens petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its vaccine advisory committee regarding the authorization of COVID vaccines and why she said theyre not suitable for children.

As censorship and disinformation have thickened around the COVID narrative, Nass has followed and written about the suppression of early-treatment medication such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

Given this background, the Maine Medical Board of Licensure nevertheless saw it appropriate to charge Nassa physician for 41 yearswith misinformation, an allegation that came with no explanation as to what misinformation she was spreading.

Never before has any censorship been imposed by a collection of organizations who are attempting to make law by whining in unison about misinformation with threats to licenses and board certificationswhile there is no legal mechanism by which they can strip certification, Nass said. There are no rules, regulations, or laws underpinning the threats of punishment for spreading misinformation.

The Maine Medical Board of Licensure didnt respond to The Epoch Times request for comment.

Inducement

Five matters were reviewed by the board regarding Nasss suspension.

There are two allegations that she was spreading misinformation.

In addition, a doctor reported that she had treated a patient with ivermectin, while someone else reported that she had prescribed hydroxychloroquine.

In one matter, when asked by the pharmacist why she was prescribing hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, she told the pharmacist that it was to treat Lyme disease.

By fall, more and more pharmacies were refusing to dispense these medications if you were giving them for COVID, so every time I wrote a prescription for these drugs, the pharmacist would ask why Im giving it, which they normally didnt do, she said. If I said COVID, they wouldnt dispense it.

It was during this time that she was trying to obtain hydroxychloroquine for a high-risk patient.

So, when the pharmacist called and asked why I was ordering the medication, I told them for Lyme disease, and therefore the patient was able to get the drug, Nass said. Five minutes later, I wrote the Maine Medical Board of Licensure and told them that my patients cant get a potentially life-saving drug unless I tell a white lie, which is unacceptable.

The board then used this to accuse her of committing a serious crime.

Not a single one of these matters alleges that a patient was harmed or that I did anything illegal, apart from telling a white lie to a pharmacist, she said.

However, there is another charge to be considered that should be applied to the medical boards, she said, which is inducement.

Inducement is a legal concept alluding to the creation of circumstances that cause someone to have to go against the law to prevent a worse problem.

And I self-reported it to the board immediately after I did it, asking them to please change their policies so no one would have to be placed in this position again and we could go back to focusing on the care of patients primarily, Nass said.

Psychological Evaluation

In addition to having her license suspended, Nass must undergo a psychological evaluation to get her license back.

I guess they claim Im crazy for prescribing ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine or for writing articles about problems with the vaccine, Nass said.

By ordering a neuropsychological evaluation, Nasss name gets sent to a national physicians database, which she said is the blackest mark a doctor can get and makes it impossible for her to get a job or license in another state.

The other thing it does is it allows all the records that I have sent to the board to enter the public domain, resulting in some of the medical records of my patients being repeated in media reporting on the case, Nass said.

Nass hadnt been seeking publicity, however, those records accessed through public domain were now cast into the limelight.

Nass suggested that the evaluation could also be an attempt by the board to punish her for challenging what she called the boards self-appointed authority to create a new crimethe spreading of misinformation without defining what misinformation isand charging her with it.

Fraudulent Studies and Media

The vagueness of the allegation shifts with time, as public officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases were at one time stating that one couldnt contract COVID-19 after being vaccinated, a claim that could currently be classified as misinformation.

Nass cited several instances in which fraudulent studies picked up by media resulted in the manufacturing of misinformation, such when The Lancet medical journal published a May 2020 observational study claiming that hydroxychloroquine significantly increased mortality.

The Lancet report contributed to a widespread stigma surrounding hydroxychloroquine, however, The Lancet later retracted the study.

Nass details how the suppression of hydroxychloroquine was accomplished in her article How a false hydroxychloroquine narrative was created, and more, which can be found on her website Truth in the Age of COVID.

On ivermectin, she pointed to misinformation generated by Rolling Stone last year.

The magazine sourced a local media outlet that cited Oklahoma physician Jason McElyea who claimed that people overdosing on farm-grade ivermectin were causing emergency rooms to fill up, leaving no room for gunshot victims.

Rolling Stone updated its article after a spokesperson at Northeastern Health System Sequoyahwhere McElyea said the overcrowding was taking placesaid McElyea hadnt worked at that location in over two months, and that the hospital hadnt treated any patients experiencing complications from ivermectin.

A screenshot taken Dec 24, 2020, of thelancet.com shows the retracted study that prompted some countries to ban the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. A study published in The Lancet that was later retracted prompted some countries to ban the use of hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19. (Screenshot/TheLancet.com)

Theres No Law

Theres no law about misinformation, Nass said. The First Amendment gives you freedom of speech, and the Fourteenth Amendment specifically prohibits states from abridging those rights that the U.S. Constitution has given.

Because of this, Nass said, the Maine medical board cant suddenly enforce a law prohibiting misinformation.

Also, laws are made in the legislature, she said. Thats the purpose of legislatures. And then agencies issue rules and regulations to carry out those laws; however, there is no law or rule on the books at a federal or state level about misinformation in the medical sphere.

However, a group of non-profit medical organizations began issuing warnings in the fall of 2021, threatening physicians with license suspensions if they spread misinformation about COVID-19.

Bloated Nonprofits

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), a non-profit organization that Nass said has no regulatory authority, is an organization to which state medical boards pay dues and depend upon for policies and training, Nass said.

In July 2021, FSMB issued this statement warning that physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension or revocation of their medical license.

Medical boards such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Pharmacists Association followed suit.

All of these organizations have presidents who earn about a million dollars, so they are what I call bloated nonprofits, Nass said. None of them had authority to threaten doctors licenses or their specialty certifications.

After the non-profit organizations applied pressure, 15 of the 70 U.S. state medical boards began investigating their local doctors, Nass said.

The Misinformation Inquisition

In September 2021, the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners adopted FSMBs statement.

After one board member asked who will determine what constitutes misinformation, a staff member referred to an investigative process that would require the doctor to show proof from recognized academic and medical journals that support the doctors opinion.

Later, Tennessee state Rep. John Ragan said the board didnt have the authority to create a new disciplinary offense without lawmakers approval.

The board pulled the statement from their website, but the question remained as to whether the board would continue to investigate and charge physicians because some have argued that there isnt a precedent for the board upholding a policy that was not published on its website.

Ragan, a Republican who is chairman of the Government Operations Committee, the oversight committee for the board, told The Epoch Times that the adopted policy moved out of the guardrails of the law and gives the board arbitrary judgment on what misinformation is.

I explained that if they are going to have a policy on this sometime in the future, they need to define what misinformation and disinformation are because otherwise what you have is the Inquisition, Ragan said. It then becomes a situation of, Heresy is what I say it is, and Ill know it when I see it kind of thing.

In October, the Tennessee legislature passed a bill that emphasized the legislatures role in drafting laws that establish disciplinary offenses regarding dispensing and prescribing medication for COVID-19.

They Have Invented a Law That They Refuse to Define

While some lawmakers argued that legislators arent elected to oversee medically educated boards, Nass argued that the board members and staff are working for the state to assure the safe practice of medicine.

Their role is to carry out the law, not invent new laws, which is the role of the legislature, Nass said. Not only that, they have invented a law that they refuse to define. None of the organizations, like the FSMB or AMA, or state agencies that have threatened or suspended doctors licenses, has had the courage to put into writing how they define misinformation and disinformation.

Nass asked, Do you want to live in a state that says the law is what we think it is, but were not putting it in black and white?
Interim leader of the Conservative Party Candice Bergen rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 7, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Trudeau Needs to Depoliticize Response to COVID and Reopen Canada Quickly: Bergen

Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to depoliticize his response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reopen Canada quickly.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Feb. 7, Bergen criticized Trudeau for not following the science in removing the COVID-19 restrictions that have impacted Canadians daily lives for the past two years.

Canadians have suffered. They followed the rules. They have done what they were asked to do. We cant have a slow and drawn-out process of reopening just because the prime minister is hiding and in denial, she said.

Citing Ontarios chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore, who said on Feb. 3 that society has to learn to live with COVID, Bergen argued that the pandemic restrictions must end soon.

Will the prime minister follow the science, follow the advice of experts, and assure Canadians that hell be removing all federal vaccine mandates quickly?

In response, Leader of the government in Parliament Mark Holland said the federal government will only consider dropping the restrictions provided there is scientific evidence that proves it is safe to do so.

We need to follow science. We need to look at what is the best way to get out of this pandemic using evidence, not politics, he said. We are not in a place where we can afford to play games with public health.

In a letter to Trudeau on Feb. 7, Bergen said it is time to depoliticize the response to the pandemic since the countrys Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Teresa Tam said on Feb. 4 that all COVID restrictions, including vaccine passports, will need to be re-examined.

Canadians were encouraged to hear Dr. Tam say that we need to find a more sustainable way of dealing with the pandemic. She further recommended that all existing public health policies be re-examined with provinces and territories so that we can get back to some normalcy, she wrote.

Bergen stressed to Trudeau that federal leaders have the responsibility to bring Canadians together.

It is my sincere hope that we can show leadership by coming back together to talk about solutions, to follow the science rather than the politics when it comes to mandates, she said.
An Ethiopian woman sifts through distributed food supplies during a visit by World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director Michael Dunford to a camp for the internally-displaced in Adadle, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, on Jan. 22, 2022. (Claire Nevill/WFP via AP)

UN: 13 Million People Face Severe Hunger in Horn of Africa

KAMPALA, UgandaDrought conditions have left an estimated 13 million people facing severe hunger in the Horn of Africa, according to the United Nations World Food Program.

People in a region including Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya face the driest conditions recorded since 1981, the agency reported Tuesday, calling for immediate assistance to forestall a major humanitarian crisis.

Drought conditions are affecting pastoral and farming communities across southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, south-eastern and northern Kenya, and south-central Somalia. Malnutrition rates are high in the region.

WFP said it needs $327 million to look after the urgent needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months and help communities become more resilient to extreme climate shocks.

Food supplies of wheat are distributed during a visit by World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director Michael Dunford to a camp for the internally-displaced in Adadle, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, on Jan. 22, 2022. (Claire Nevill/WFP via AP)

Three consecutive failed rainy seasons have decimated crops and caused abnormally high livestock deaths, it said in a statement. Shortages of water and pasture are forcing families from their homes and leading to increased conflict between communities.

More forecasts of below-average rainfall threaten to worsen conditions in the coming months, it said.

Others have raised alarm over a fragile region that also faces sporadic armed violence.

The U.N. childrens agency said earlier in February that more than 6 million people in Ethiopia are expected to need urgent humanitarian aid by mid-March. In neighboring Somalia, more than 7 million people need urgent help, according to the Somali NGO Consortium.
Taiwans navy soldiers stand in front of a Ta Chiang Corvette during an inauguration ceremony in Yilan, Taiwan on Sept. 9, 2021. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

US Approves $100 Million Military Deal for Taiwans Patriot Air Defense System

TAIPEI, TaiwanThe United States has approved a potential $100 million sale of equipment and services to boost the islands Patriot missile defense system, amid Chinas increasing aggression against the self-ruled island.

The money would be used to sustain, maintain, and improve the missile defense system, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement on Feb. 7.

This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipients continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability, DSCA said.

The agency added, The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees Taiwan as part of its territory that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary. However, internationally, Taiwan is widely recognized as a de facto independent body, given that it has been governed as a separate entity for more than seven decades.

In light of its ambitions toward Taiwan and the broader AsiaPacific region, Beijing has been engaged in an aggressive program of military modernization.

U.S. military officials and China experts have given different timelines as to when China might attack Taiwan.

In March 2021, Adm. Philip Davidson, who was then-head of U.S. IndoPacific Command, told a Senate hearing that the Chinese regime could invade Taiwan in the next six years. Weeks later, Davidsons successor at the Command, Adm. John Aquilino, testified in front of another Senate hearing that China might attack Taiwan sooner than most think.

Currently, the United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, ever since Washington changed its diplomatic recognition in favor of Beijing in 1979. However, the two sides have enjoyed a robust relationship based on the Taiwan Relations Act, a law that authorizes the United States to provide the island with military equipment for self-defense.

DSCA also said that the main contractors for the sale would be U.S. defense giants Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin.

Beijing has reacted angrily to the sale. On Feb. 8, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for Chinas foreign ministry, condemned the pending sale and demanded Washington to revoke the deal immediately during a daily briefing, according to Chinas state-run media.

Also on Tuesday, Taiwans foreign ministry said it highly welcomed the U.S. decision in a statement.

In the face of Chinas continued military expansion and provocative actions, our country will maintain its national security with a solid defense, and continue to deepen the close security partnership between Taiwan and the United States, in order to contribute to the long-term peace, stability, and prosperity of the IndoPacific region, the ministry said.

In recent years, Taiwan has been bearing the brunt of persistent Chinese military harassment, with military jets flying into the islands air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on a regular basis. According to Taiwans defense ministry, there were about 380 sorties in 2020, which more than doubled to 961 sorties in 2021.

The Chinese regimes largest show of force took place on Oct. 4, when 56 military aircraft breached the islands ADIZ. In the month of January, there were only seven days when the ministry didnt report a Chinese incursion.

This marks the second U.S. arms sale to Taiwan under the Biden administration. In August 2021, the United States approved the possible $750 million sale of 40 155-millimeter M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems and other military equipment, according to DSCA.

Xavier Chang, spokesperson for Taiwans Presidential Office, said the sale demonstrates a rock-solid bilateral partnership, according to a Feb. 8 statement.

On Tuesday, Taiwans defense ministry said the sale was expected to come into effect within one month.

DSCA said it had delivered the required certification notifying Congress of the possible sale, following the State Departments approval of the deal.

Reuters contributed to this report.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger testifies during the Senate Rules and Administration Committee oversight hearing in Washington, on Jan. 5, 2022. (Tom Williams/Pool/Getty Images)

US Capitol Police Accused of Illegally Entering GOP Offices, Taking Pictures of Protected Documents

The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) are under fire after the USCP inspector general opened an investigation into allegations that the department illegally entered the offices of GOP members of Congress, interviewed GOP staffers, and took photos of documents that were protected under congressional rules.

In a Twitter thread, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) alleged that his office was one of several GOP offices that had been illegally entered and searched by the USCP.

The Capitol Police Intelligence Division investigated my office illegally and one of my staffers caught them in the act, Nehls opened the thread.

On November 20th, 2021, Capitol Police entered my office without my knowledge and photographed confidential legislative products protected by the Speech and Debate clause enshrined in the Constitution, Article 1 Section 6, Nehls continued.

Two days later on Monday November 22, 2021 (Thanksgiving week), three intelligence officers attempted to enter my office while the House was in recess.

The USCP, Nehls said, never informed myself or senior level staff of their investigation and the reasons are clear. They had no authority to photograph my office, let alone investigate myself or members of my staff.

So, why is the Capitol Police Leadership maliciously investigating me in an attempt to destroy me and my character?

Nehls suggested an answer to the rhetorical question: Maybe it is because I have been a vocal critic of [Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)], the January 6th Committee, and [USCP] leadership about their handling of January 6th, the death of Ashli Babbitt and the subsequent SHAM investigation.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) commented on a retweet of the thread, This must be investigated fullyand there must be consequences. Alsowho knew about this, and when did they know it?

The investigation was opened at the request of USCP Chief J. Thomas Manger.

In a letter to seven GOP lawmakers, Manger denied the allegations that the USCPs search and seizure of documents and other information from Republicans was illegal, but marketed the inspector general investigation as a safeguard.

While I am confident in our methods, I am asking the USCP Office of the Inspector General to review the USCPs programs related to these security assessments to assure both this Committee, the Congress as a whole, and the public that these processes are legal, necessary, and appropriate, Manger wrote.

The request came after Nehls found USCP agents snooping in his office, and Mangers request likely arose in part from this discovery.

In a statement, Manger defended the actions of the USCP.

Manger wrote, The United States Capitol Police is sworn to protect Members of Congress. If a Members office is left open and unsecured, without anyone inside the office, USCP officers are directed to document that and secure the office to ensure nobody can wander in and steal or do anything else nefarious.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, one of our vigilant officers spotted the Congressmans door was wide open. That Monday, USCP personnel personally followed up with the Congressmans staff and determined no investigation or further action of any kind was needed.

No case investigation was ever initiated or conducted into the Representative or his staff, Manger claimed.

Manger replaced former USCP Chief Steven Sund in the wake of the Jan. 6 rally at the behest of Speaker Pelosi. On various occasions, Sund has said that he asked Pelosi appointed Capitol officials to bring in the National Guard on various occasions in advance of the rally, but says that the request was refused each time.

Despite the severity of these allegations, which imply that Pelosi left the Capitol unprepared at a time when tensions were running high, Pelosi admitted on Feb. 3 that she had not given any testimony or documents to the Democrat-dominated Jan. 6 commission.

Republicans, for their part, have vowed to look into Democrats missteps ahead of the rally if they take back control of the House in November.

In a press release, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) alleged that President Joe Bidens Department of Justice (DOJ) was mixed up in the scandal as well.

Gohmert said that in January, he had received mail that was already opened and bore the stamp DOJ MAILROOM and X-RAYED. Gohmert argued that this search of his mail constituted a violation of the Constitution since Congressional mail is constitutionally protected under the Speech and Debate Clause.

This is felonious behavior, Gohmert ruled.

Referencing the allegations against the USCP, Gohmert said, the Democrats spying on political opponents appears to know no end.

He added, The Supreme Court has made it clear that the Department of Justice cannot even use a search warrant to search a Representatives mail and office.

We want answers to this outrage, Gohmert concluded, not excuses.

The bombshell discoveries are likely to be a key Republican focus in future investigations if they take back the House in November.

The DOJ could not be immediately reached for comment on Gohmerts allegations.
A staff member tends to a COVID-19 patient in Petah Tikva, Israel on Feb. 1, 2022. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

US CDC Adds Israel, Japan to List of Countries With Very High COVID-19 Risk

U.S. health authorities on Feb. 7 said travelers to Israel and six additional countries are at very high risk from COVID-19, expanding a list that now includes more than 130 other nations.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned against going to Israel, Japan, Cuba, Armenia, Libya, Oman, and Congo.

The countries were added to a list that already included European nations like Austria and Belgium; African nations like Botswana and Niger; and Middle Eastern nations like Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Avoid travel to these destinations. If you must travel to these destinations, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel, the agency says on its website.

Fully vaccinated refers to getting two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab.

In specific country-by-country guidance, though, travelers are urged not just to be fully vaccinated, but to be up to date with COVID-19 vaccines before traveling.

According to federal health officials, up to date means getting a booster shot when one is eligiblecurrently five months following the second Moderna or Pfizer shot, or two months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson one.

Even with boosters, people arent fully protected against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19.

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 says, recommending that anyone 2 years or older wear a mask while in indoor public spaces.

The very high category is the highest of five categories. The others are unknown, low, moderate, and high.

The CDC says its risk determinations come from analyzing the level of COVID-19 in a country and taking into account additional information such as vaccination rates and hospitalizations.

Some of the countries designated as very high risk, such as Israel, are among the most vaccinated in the world.

Vaccines were already waning over time against infection from the CCP virus when the Delta variant was dominant in many countries. The Omicron variant, which displaced Delta in late 2021 in the United States and elsewhere, is better able to evade protection from vaccines.

The CDC last elevated countries to the top category in January. At the time, the agency moved Anguilla, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, French Guiana, Kosovo, Mexico, Moldova, Paraguay, the Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Singapore.

Lowering a countrys risk level comes when that countrys COVID-19 case rate and testing metrics meet certain thresholds that the CDC developed.




"Whatever the President decides, I think he will do it in the most beneficial way to establish governability, and he would appoint a prime minister, of course, who is open to dialogue and who can dialogue with all political forces from the right, center, and left," Torres told Exitosa radio.





Likewise, the high-ranking official expressed confidence that the new Cabinet chief will be a professionally capable person one with probity, honesty, and morality to lead the office.





The Cabinet member affirmed that several of the current ministers have the profile to become Prime Minister. However, it is a decision that corresponds solely to the Head of State, he noted.





On the other hand, Torres recalled that from the moment he became Justice and Human Rights minister, he established a policy of putting an end to the "golden prisons" and of non-discrimination of prison inmates even more so for those officials who had held high offices.





Concerning the case of sentenced former President Alberto Fujimori , he said there are internal National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) reports which determined that he should be held at Ancon II Prison.





However, the government official said ex-INPE Chairwoman Susana Silva did not notify him when Fujimori returned to Barbadillo Prison in Lima a penitentiary center that he described as a "golden prison."





In this sense, minister affirmed that the former president's health status should be analyzed again and that once his condition allows it he should be transferred to an ordinary prison.





Torres also specified that the sentence against Fujimori does not specify at which penitentiary center he should be held.









(END) RMCH/VVS/MVB
The seal of the Department of Commerce is pictured in Washington, on March 10, 2017. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)

US Commerce Dept. Adds 33 Chinese Firms to Red Flag List

The U.S. Commerce Department on Feb. 7 announced it has added 33 Chinese entities to its red flag list, warning American companies that they should treat them with extra caution.

The majority of the flagged companies are electronic firms, but the list also includes an optics company, a turbine blade company, a state-run university laboratory, and a university department, according to a notice (pdf) in the Federal Register.

The red flag list is officially known as the Unverified List, meaning that U.S. officials cannot verify the legitimacy of these firms. Additionally, U.S. companies can no longer use license exceptions to export products to any of the companies on the list but instead will need to get a new license.

The ability to verify the legitimacy and reliability of foreign parties receiving U.S. exports through the timely completion of end-use checks is a core principle of our export control system, Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the departments Bureau of Industry and Security, said in Feb. 7 statement (pdf).

Axelrod added that the addition of 33 entities based in China will assist U.S. exporters in conducting due diligence and assessing transaction risk, and signal to the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] government the importance of their cooperation in scheduling end-use checks.

The departments announcement came a week after FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that no country that presents a broader threat to our ideas, innovation, and economic security than China.

Wray also said that his bureau has over 2,000 investigations focusing on Beijings effort in trying to steal U.S. technology, and the bureau is opening new cases to counter Chinas intelligence operations about every 12 hours.

The Commerce Department conducts checks on some foreign companies buying from the United States to ensure that they are legitimate businesses and that their purchased products are being used for the stated purposes. Thats a particular concern in China, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deploys a strategy known as military-civil fusion (MCF) to divert commercial technologies to advance its military modernization.

The U.S. State Department has warned that theft is part of the communist regimes MCF strategy.

This is not the first time that Chinese firms have been added to the Unverified List. In April 2019, 37 Chinese companies and schools and six organizations in Hong Kong were added to the list.

One newly flagged entity is the State Key Lab of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics at Chinas Hunan University. The school, supervised by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, is home to two of Chinas defense laboratories, according to a 2019 report (pdf) by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

The report pointed to an example in Hunan Universitywhere a big data scientist served as a specially-appointed expert for Chinas Ministry of State Securityas to how the ministry can leverage civilian universities for training, research, technical advice and possibly direct participation in cyber espionage.

The Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering at Chinas Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) was also added to the list on Monday. In June last year, the universitys website reported that Xu Shaolin, a professor at the department, was chosen to be the secretary of the departments CCP committee.

In September 2021, SUSTech reported on social media that the universitys College of Engineering held a Party committee meeting. During the meeting, Wang Hong, the colleges Party secretary, said that the colleges development should be driven by the Partys political-building.

Aside from the Unverified List, the Commerce Department currently has maintained two trade blackliststhe Entity List and the Military End User Listto warn U.S. exporters.

The Associated Press contributed to the article.
Russia test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from a new nuclear-powered submarine, the defense ministry said, describing the test as successful (Russian Defense Ministry)

US Facing Epic Nuclear Threat From China and Russia: US General

The United States must contend simultaneously with two peer nuclear powers for the first time, as China and Russia continue to expand and modernize their nuclear arsenals, according to Maj. Gen. Ferdinand Stoss, director of plans and policy at U.S. Strategic Command.

This is the first time ever that we have a three-party nuclear peer dynamic, Stoss said, according to Air Force Magazine. And we have no history of this. This is epic.

The comments were delivered during a talk on the modernization of U.S. strategic nuclear deterrent capabilities at an annual summit on nuclear deterrence in Washington.

The remarks underscored growing anxiety about the Chinese regime and its continued efforts to become a nuclear peer to the United States and Russia.

Chinas communist leadership is engaged in a systematic military modernization program, of which a part is alleged to be the rapid expansion of the nations nuclear arsenal.

Satellite images revealed in summer 2021 that China was building more than 100 new silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles in the northwestern part of the country, and the Pentagon has said that China could have more than 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030.

Stoss, whos responsible for the development of the Pentagons strategic war plans and contingencies, said the United States and its allies havent fully dealt with the ramifications of the new balance of power and how it will affect future operations.

He also said the combined threat of Russia and China is compounded by the fact that the United States has continuously underinvested in its own nuclear modernization efforts.

Concerning U.S. modernization efforts, Stoss said the country had taken the knee and accepted these risks. His remarks echoed comments previously made by Patty-Jane Geller, a policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation.

Americans should understand that nuclear threats are not a relic of the Cold War, Geller said in November 2021. As China expands its arms to become a nuclear peer competitor with the U.S. and Russia, the U.S. will have to figure out how to deter two nuclear peers at once, which weve never had to do in our history.

Stoss said while Russia is the more imminent of the two threats, the Chinese regime is developing in a way that would allow it to break out of strategic confines in an unprecedented way.

To be sure, to have this type of a breakout and the capabilities theyre bringing online would have taken them years to plan, to develop, and then to actually build, Stoss said.

Why are they doing this strategic breakout? Well, we dont exactly know.  But, you know, perhaps this is just one more brick to put into the wall to cement their capacity to play a much bolder role, certainly in the region and around the world, and they think that they need this nuclear underpinning.

Stoss said the rise of a multipolar world with more than two major nuclear powers would effectively end the U.S. ability to control the level of violence present in individual conflict zones, thereby increasing the risk of conflict overall.

Today, both Russia and China have the capability to unilaterally escalate at any level of violence, across any domain, into any geographic location  and to do so at a time of their choosing, he said.
A motorist with his car at a gas station amidst high gas prices in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 12, 2022. Prices have touched a seven-year-high. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

US Gas Prices Remain at High Levels Buoyed by Global Tensions

Gas prices in the United States are edging towards multi-year record levels, pushing up prices of daily essentials and eroding the quality of life of Americans along the way. Multiple factors such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis and OPEC production are contributing to the rise in prices.

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price of regular gas was $3.441 per gallon as of Feb. 7. This is 2.22 percent higher than the average price of $3.366 a week ago, 4.17 percent higher than a month ago when the average price was $3.303, and 39.65 percent higher than a year ago when the average price was $2.464.

Tracy Noble, a spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said that the persistent Ukraine-Russia tensions were a reason why crude oil prices were pushing up almost daily, in an interview with AP.

Russia has amassed some 100,000 soldiers along its borders with Ukraine. Moscow is blaming the West for worsening the situation and has demanded that Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO. Washington has warned that Moscow might use a staged attack to create a justification necessary to invade Ukraine, reported Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has dismissed requests to boost production, which combined with the Ukraine crisis has created instabilities in the market.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the gas prices which are at a seven-year high during a recent press briefing. Psaki replied that Washington is in touch with European allies and suppliers to make sure that capacity is increased to meet the rising energy needs.

Well continue to  to look at options that can be done to lower gas prices for the American people In terms of whether or not there could be more oil drilling, you know, Id point you to the oil companies on what available places they have and if theyre maximizing that. My understanding is theyre not, Psaki said.

In early Monday trading, oil prices initially fell and then rose subsequently. Experts have pointed to investors booking short-term profits after seeing progress in nuclear talks between the United States and Iran for the change in prices. However, prices soon began to move up after the technical correction as the global supply of oil is still expected to stay tight, according to Reuters.

U.S. oil prices had rallied to break through the $90 per barrel level for the first time since 2014 on Feb. 3. Some experts are predicting the commodity to break through the $100 level soon due to strong international demand.

However, demand for gasoline in certain regions in the country has been falling for the past few days. According to a tweet by oil market expert Patrick De Haan, PADD 3 (U.S. Gulf Coast) gasoline demand as compared to the same day a week earlier is showing a downward trend.

On Feb. 3, demand was 47.4 percent higher than on Jan. 27. A day later, gas demand was only 38.1 percent higher compared to Jan. 28. And on Feb. 5, the demand for gas was just 19.7 percent higher than it was on Jan. 29. The same decline was seen in the PADD 2 Midwest region.
A man hammers quality Japanese steel as he makes a traditional Japanese sword at his workshop in Himeji, Japan, on Nov. 28, 2017. (Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

US Launches Agreement With Japan to End Trump-Imposed Steel Tariff

The United States reached an agreement with Japan on Monday to lift the 25 percent tariff imposed on Japanese steel products by Trump during his presidency, according to U.S. Trade Representative and Department of Commerce officials.

The agreement will allow up to 1.25 million tons of Japanese steel imports per year into the U.S. market without being subject to Section 232 tariffs, starting April 1.

It stated that Japan would begin implementing relevant domestic measures within six months, such as antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard measures, or other measures of at least equivalent effect, to create more market-oriented conditions for steel.

Gina Raimondo, the U.S. commerce secretary, talked up the benefits of the agreement with Japan.

It will strengthen Americas steel industry and ensure its workforce stays competitive, while also providing more access to cheaper steel and addressing a major irritant between the United States and Japan, one of our most important allies, Raimondo, said in a statement.

Todays announcement builds on the deal we struck with the EU and will further help us rebuild relationships with our allies around the world as we work to fight against Chinas unfair trade practices and create a more competitive global economy for Americas families, businesses and workers, she said.

Aluminum imports will remain to be subject to a 10 percent tariff under the U.S.-Japan agreement.

In 2018, former President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports from several countries, including the European Union and Japan, citing national security concerns.

The Biden administration had previously removed tariffs on EU steel and aluminum in October last year. In exchange, the EU halted its retaliatory tariffs against U.S products like whiskey, motorboats, and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The United States did not specify the volume of duty-free steel that will be allowed into the country under the EU agreement, but sources familiar with the matter estimated that annual volumes exceeding 3.3 million tons would be subject to tariffs.

U.S. steel industry executives had voiced concern that the Biden administration would negotiate too much access for foreign steelmakers, which might result in a flood of imports as they invest billions of dollars in new capacity.

But they expressed relief that the deal restricts Japanese imports to about their two-year average from 2018 and 2019, a level that reflects the impact of Trumps 25 percent tariffs.

Unliked the EU deal, which added past tariff exclusions to the blocs quotas, Japanese steel imported under past tariffs will count against Japans quota volumes.

Reuters contributed to this report.
U.S. Air Force loadmasters and pilots assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron load passengers aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III in support of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 24, 2021. (Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen/U.S. Air Forces Europe-Africa via Getty Images)

US Offers $10 Million for Intel on ISIS-K Leader and Kabul Airport Attack

The United States on Monday announced two rewards of up to $10 million each for information leading to the identification or location of ISIS-K leader Sanaullah Ghafari, and for information leading to the arrest or conviction of those responsible for last years deadly attack at Kabul international airport.

ISIS-K, is the regional ISIS affiliate that first appeared in 2014 and is named after an old term for the Khorasan region. It has previously fought both the Western-backed government that fell in August and the Taliban.

Ghafari was in June 2020 appointed to lead the ISIS-K in Afghanistan by leaders in the extremist group.

He was designated by the U.S. State Department as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in November, and is responsible for approving all ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations.

The second reward on offer is for information linked to the attack on Kabuls international airport on Aug. 26 last year, as evacuation efforts were underway following the withdrawal of U.S. troops by President Joe Biden as the Taliban terrorist group seized control of the city.

The U.S. military said that a single ISIS bomber killed 13 U.S. troops and at least 170 Afghans in the attack.

Terrorists launched a suicide bombing against the airport as the United States and other governments conducted a large-scale evacuation of their citizens and vulnerable Afghans from the country, the State Department said Monday. ISIS-K claimed responsibility for that attack.

The bombing left President Joe Bidens administration struggling to answer accusations that the State Department could have evacuated Americans sooner instead of putting U.S. troops at risk.

U.S. officials said in November they believed ISIS-K could develop the ability to strike outside of Afghanistan within six to 12 months.

These rewards are being offered at an important moment in our fight against ISIS, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security Gentry Smith said, highlighting the recent death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the leader of ISIS since 2019, during a U.S. counterterrorism operation in Syria.

He was the target of an operation in northwest Syria, and as U.S. special operations forces under the control of U.S. Central Command approached the building in Atmeh where the terrorist leader was, he committed suicide, U.S. officials said.

That operation and these new reward offers are a clear demonstration of our determination to identify and find and defeat ISIS leaders in Syria, Afghanistan, and anywhere else in the world where they may be found, Smith added.

Zachary Stieber and Reuters contributed to this report.
Shipping containers, including one labelled "China Shipping," are stacked at the Paul W. Conley Container Terminal in Boston, Mass., on May 9, 2018. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

US Posts Record Trade Deficit in 2021

WASHINGTONThe U.S. trade deficit surged to a record high in 2021 as imports increased sharply amid the restocking of shelves by businesses to meet robust domestic demand.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that the trade deficit increased 27.0 percent last year to an all-time high of $859.1 billion. The deficit was at $676.7 billion in 2020.

The US trade picture wont return to normal until the pandemic purchases start to slow and life returns to what it was, said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York.

The trade gap represented 3.7 percent of gross domestic product, up from 3.2 percent in 2020. The economy grew 5.7 percent in 2021, the strongest since 1984, after the government provided nearly $6 trillion in pandemic relief, which fueled consumer spending on goods.

The goods deficit shot up 18.3 percent to a record $1.1 trillion last year. Imports of goods hit an all-time high of $1.8 trillion. They were driven by imports of industrial supplies and materials, which increased to their highest level since 2014.

Food imports were the highest on record as were those of capital, consumer, and other goods. There were record imports from 70 countries in 2021, led by Mexico, Canada, and Germany.

Robust import growth overshadowed a sharp rebound in exports. Goods exports surged 23.3 percent to a record $1.8 trillion. Exports of industrial supplies and materials, foods, consumer goods, other goods, and petroleum were the highest on record.

The United States logged record exports to 57 countries last year, led by led by Mexico, which increased to $276.5 billion. Shipments to China rose to $151.1 billion, while exports to South Korea increased to $65.8 billion.

The final boost to the trade deficit came from a 1.8 percent increase to $80.7 billion in December. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast an $83.0 billion deficit.

By Lucia Mutikani
Taiwan soldiers stand next to the domestically produced corvette class vessel Tuo Chiang (R) during a drill at the northern city of Keelung, Taiwan on Jan. 7, 2022. (SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)

US Should End Strategic Ambiguity on Taiwan: Rep. Luria

The United States Congress should hold a debate on the possibility of formally announcing military support for Taiwan in the event it is invaded by the Chinese regime, according to Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.)

Luria said that ending the United States policy of so-called strategic ambiguity, wherein the nation neither openly confirms nor denies it will militarily defend Taiwan, was vital to deterring a Chinese invasion of the island.

I think that our current policy of strategic ambiguity is, its time to change that, Luria said. I think that we need to provide strategic clarity. We need to be very clear and unambiguous and say that the United States will react in order to maintain the status quo.

Luria made the comments during a recent webinar of U.S. seapower hosted by Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute,

Luria is the vice-chair of the House Armed Services Committee and served as a commander in the U.S. Navy. She said that providing strategic clarity, formally saying the United States will or will not defend Taiwan from invasion, was necessary to address the urgency of the situation in the Indo-Pacific.

Such a declaration, she said, would also require the United States to position its forces in the region and direct its allies in facilitating the defense of the islandsomething Luria believes is impossible with the current state of legal and political affairs.

With our current presence, with our current legal and political statements of ambiguity, I think the Chinese see this as a very clear window where they can act and theyre building a fleet to do that, Luria said.

President Has No Authority to Defend Taiwan

Luria said that a key reason Congress needed to convene on the issue of defending Taiwan was that the president does not actually have authority to declare war on China in the event it does invade.

The president essentially has no authority to react right now in order to defend Taiwan, Luria said.

She explained that, although the Taiwan Relations Act contains provisions allowing the United States to furnish Taiwan with military technologies with which it can defend itself, it does not include any mutual security agreements.

Relatedly, the War Powers Act bars the president from deploying forces where hostilities are likely to occur unless consent is given by Congress.

This means, in effect, that if the Chinese regime were to invade Taiwan tomorrow, President Joe Biden would have no legal authority to order a military intervention to stop it until Congress voted on the issue.

We as Congress have a role, Luria said. We need to have a debate and we need to be very clear and unambiguous. I think that we should say that we will come to the defense of Taiwan in order to maintain the status quo.

Such an effort, Luria said, would ensure that the president has the authority he needs when he needs it, and would also do more to deter Beijing from invading in the first place.

To that end, she said that she would like to see the president make a similar commitment to that made by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, who oversaw the development of a 600-ship Navy following a reduction of forces in the wake of the Vietnam War.

US Needs a More Effective Deterrence

Lurias remarks come nearly a year after then-Adm. Phil Davidson said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would be ready to invade Taiwan in six years, and amid increasing warnings that Beijing is truncating its timeline for just such an invasion.

Luria said that the Davidson window of invasion by 2027 was confirmed by an academic who advised CCP leader Xi Jinping as being under consideration by the regimes military.

Meanwhile, increasing demands have depleted the U.S. Navys fleet readiness, and tight budgets for new ship development continue to constrain the Navys ability to build next-generation vessels required for great power competition.

Luria said that the state of affairs was owed in part to a lack of cohesive strategy concerning how to integrate maritime forces with broader U.S. goals.

Ive been clear that I feel there is a lack of a maritime strategy, Luria said. I think its very important to understand what the strategy is. Where do we need our forces? What type of forces do we need? Weve gone years without a 30-year shipbuilding plan.

The truth is that you have to actually have the deterrence, Luria said. You have to have the forces.

To that end, the United States naval forces total under 300 vessels. The Chinese regimes, meanwhile, number over 360.

The numerical discrepancy is more severe when one considers the strategic situation of the Indo-Pacific. The United States has only about 60 ships in the region. The entirety of the CCPs maritime militia is located near Chinas shores, however, which could bring the effective number of Chinese maritime forces to more than 600.

To help mitigate the current poverty of maritime strategy, Luria recommended that the lead commander in the Pacific, Adm. John Aquilino, directly and regularly advise the president on the matter.

This is our number one defense issue, Luria said. The sense of urgency that you get from the commander in the theater  the level of urgency, concern, and investment in this, we could clearly see that go up.

To that end, Luria urged people to consider the ramifications of a world in which the United States did not commit to the defense of Taiwan.

If you think about what happens if China invaded Taiwan, what follows from that? Luria said. I think that thats not acceptable to any Americans or any of our allies.

Theres really a bigger question, Luria said. The bigger question is: What is our role in deterrence? In the sense of, is the United States going to react?
Vic Rapid Antigen Testing Expanded to 3 to 5 Year Olds

The Victorian Labor Government has expanded the twice-weekly rapid antigen testing to children aged 3 to 5 at childcare centres as news comes of possible ceasing RATs after the first four weeks of the school term.

The Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews announced that more than 1.6 million RATs will be delivered to childhood settings in the coming weeks for voluntary twice-weekly testing. Sessional kindergartens will receive their deliveries in the next two weeks, followed by long daycare, family daycare and occasional care.

The premier has reiterated that it is not compulsory, rather it is something that we will recommend and something that we make possible.

The Victorian Government reported positive feedback from principals, staff, parents, and students for the RATs for providing confidence and comfort to everyone in our schools and teachers and students, therefore, the cohort receiving RATs have been expanded.

The 1.6 million RATs will be an addition to the 943,000 RATs the government is already supplying to staff in kindergarten and childcare.

Additionally, there has been a discussion of expanding the twice-weekly testing regime past the fourth week of the first school term.

The Victorian Education Minister James Merlino stated on Feb. 7 that there are active discussions as to whether twice-weekly testing will extend beyond the fourth week.

We will obviously have discussions about that, he said at the press conference on Feb. 7.

We havent made a call yet, whether well wrap up surveillance testing after four weeks or whether well continue it.

Victoria to Seek Legal Avenues to Religious Discrimination Bill

Meanwhile, the contentious religious discrimination bill will go through its first sitting in federal parliament on Feb. 8, with five days of senate sittings scheduled before the likely election in May.

The Victorian premier has maintained that Victoria will use any and all legal avenues to defend members of the LGBTQI+ and other communities that may be affected by the override in the religious discrimination bill.

At present, the bill allows an override of state and territory discrimination laws for schools and religious avenues to hire employees based on how they identify with the schools teachings and ethos which would effectively override Victorias anti-discrimination bill against unemployment of staff by religious groups and schools.

Andrews stated that he believed everyone should be treated equally, however, he also mentioned some exceptions for anti-vaxxers, encouraging more vaccine uptake.

He argued that whilst not getting vaccinated is the wrong choice, peoples identity is not a matter of choice, and asserted that he found it pretty offensive for some in the community to equate sexual orientation or gender identity to a choice not to get vaccinated.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reiterated that he stands behind the religious discrimination bill at the press conference on Feb. 8.

For so many Australians, their faith and their religion is their culture; you cant separate them, asserting that the faith of Australians always has been binding Australia together, not forcing it apart.

There were 9,785 new COVID-19 cases as of Feb. 8, whilst Victoria reported 49.9 percent of children aged 5 to 11 in Victoria have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Virginia Democrat Says Forced Masking in Schools Violates First Amendment, Plans to Vote to End It

A Virginia senator is promising to help pass a law barring school districts from compelling students to wear masks, asserting forced masking violates the U.S. Constitutions First Amendment.

Virginia Sen. J. Chapman Petersen, a Democrat, said in a missive obtained by The Epoch Times that he plans to ask Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, to send down special legislation or amend existing legislation to end the forced masking of children.

We will pass that with a bipartisan majority and this sad episode will finally end, he said.

The Feb. 7 missive was sent to Fairfax County Public Schools superintendent Scott Brabrand.

Officials in Fairfax and multiple other school districts in the state have fought against Youngkins executive order prohibiting school mask mandates and on Feb. 4 won a temporary injunction against the order.

Universal mask wearing has been a critical safety measure throughout the pandemic, especially during this most recent surge. We are committed to providing all students safe and in-person instruction. We believe that in order to do so, masks and our other layered prevention strategies must remain in place for now, the district said in a statement after the ruling.

Petersen took offense to the announcement, questioning the claim that mask-wearing has been critical for safety.

Petersen said that he is unaware of any scientific basis for forcing children to wear masks and pointed to states with school mask mandates like New York having similar health outcomes to states like Florida with no mandates.

Virginia Sen. J. Chapman Petersen. (Virginia General Assembly)

After a year, the data on student masking is easily found and it is overwhelming: the forced masking of school children has no correlation with community health, Petersen said.

Many health experts now say mask mandates shouldnt be in place, particularly in schools, and the governors of New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut on Feb. 7 announced plans to lift school masking requirements.

While Fairfax officials claimed their mask mandate is largely supported by parents and teachers, Petersen said he was skeptical because hes been contacted by many parents and staffers in recent weeks who want to speak out against forced child masking but are afraid of the consequences.

Petersen said he sees the decision to wear a mask as a political decision since there is little data to back the choice, and that therefore Brabrands mask mandate violates the Constitution.

In other words, by wearing a mask in a public setting, the wearer is able to communicate a political message, e.g. I care about others or I voted for Biden or even Im vaccinated,' the senator wrote. The ability to communicate a political message is the essence of our First Amendment, but coercing others into adopting that statement, especially a student in a public school, is the exact opposite. For this reason, your argument that forced masking is popular is the very reason why this policy must end. You are forcing children to make a politcal statement that they (and their parents) may not believe. That violates the First Amendment.

Virginia lawmakers stopped schools from closing in 2021 with the passage of Senate Bill 1303, needing to stop in because school districts were failing to do the right thing for children, the senator said, before pledging to likewise end mask mandates in schools.

Fairfax County Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the office of Youngkin.

Petersens support for legislation barring school mask mandates is significant because, throughout the pandemic, Democrats have largely supported enacting or continuing such restrictions, and because the senator is a key swing vote in Virginias Senate.

If all Republicans and Petersen vote for a bill, and the rest of the Democrats vote against it, the 2020 tie could be broken by Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, a Republican who serves as president of the chamber.

Republicans also control the Virginia House of Delegates.
We Have Drifted Too Far to Recover Reason

Commentary

A perceptive Ottawa friend says the current Freedom Convoy Sturm und Drang in the nations capital can be captured in three words: Bouncy Castles. Snipers.

The first two obviously refer to the playful atmosphere of the protest so evident in videos and live streaming. Despite the citys usual lugubrious February weather, the days-long campaign against vaccine mandates and related state anti-COVID measures has been routinely compared to Canada Day for its family-friendly, flag waving, singing-dancing visuals.

Metaphorically, the word snipers refers to the mood of menace many media reports insist citizens reportedly feel because some downtown streets remain clogged with big rigs two weeks after the convoy arrived. The air filled with the sound of truckers air horns is a contributor as well. Even an intermittent 80-decibel din in a small apartment could put anyone on edge.

But snipers also has a real-world point of reference, however. Rumour has it police marksmen were on the roof of a building across the street from a locale that Ottawas finest raided this week in search of suspected trucker-miscreants who were allegedly illegally storing containers of gasoline. The rumours werent dampened by the citys police chief figuratively setting his hair on fire with a public demand to hire 1,800 more officers to control the mayhem and, who knows, perhaps deflate some of the bouncy castles.

Watching from a distance, I find it impossible to reconcile the starkly divergent images of the protest. But having lived and work in Ottawa for three distinct periods of my career, and loving the place dearly, I can confidently say that the truckers and protesters made a serious strategic error by picking it as their point of celebration and demonstration. I say so for two reasons.

The first is best illuminated by the immortal words of Huddie Ledbetterbetter known as Lead Bellyin his classic The Bourgeois Blues: Cause its a boojwah town/ Uhm, a boojwah town/ I got the boojwah blues/ Gonna spread the news all around.

If Ottawa is anything, it is the quintessential Canadian boojwah town. The populace is singularly ill-equipped to deal with even slightly impolite pushback against hallowed government edicts, and almost genetically predisposed to antsy panic if those without the requisite civil service status get uppity ideas about involvement in public policy. You want riots and unkempt occupiers? Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, even Winnipeg, we got em. Ottawa? A homeless inebriate raises his voice in the Rideau Centre and its call out the cavalry.

But there is an even more serious reason why taking the protest to Ottawa was flawed. In many ways the protesters walked into a trap, or at least chose to fight on the opponents terrain, that is in a capital city where the media-politico apparatus already occupied the high moral ground through its complete control of the propaganda machinery. The campaign, then, was really over before it started. Now, the Freedom Convoy is bogged down in its own braggadocio-fuelled insistence that it wouldnt leave until its demands are met.

What should have been a bright moment of revival for democratic dissent in Canada has deteriorated into the drudgery of keeping the ruder and more reckless members of the contingent out of trouble. It has pitted those whose intentions were liberty against a bourgeois citizenry that craves safety uber alles. Freedom has become, in fact, the enemy. Those who sought to restore it are identifiable. We have, rumour has it, snipers on the roof keeping a bead on them.

Gone, too, is any possibility of rational appraisal of state policies imposed to quell COVID. The vaccine mandates that were the catalyst for the truckers protest convoy initially now have the warrant of sacred scripture about them. Anything done by government to counter the pandemic is not a necessary evil, but a positive good.

Two years of misbegotten government tomfoolery that did absolutely zero to combat the virus is waved away with the hocus-pocus mantra of follow the science. The phrase still tumbles out despite the reality that for great swathes of time the scientists driving the science had no clue what constituted practical, effective public policy.

So far have we drifted from any attempt to recover reason, not just in Ottawa but across the country, that Premier Francois Legault was able to capitalize on the fearmongering thats gone on in Canadas capital and vow drastic action for any members of the Freedom Convoy who pitched up in Quebec City last weekend. There would no tolerance, Legault warned darkly, of anything that interfered with people enjoying normal life in la vielle capitale.

Normal life. Yes, he actually said those words. The man who has twice imposed draconian, utterly pointless curfews on Quebecers during the pandemic. The premier who has made it impossible to shop in large stores without first showing a vaccine passport. The leader who, until saner heads talked him down form the political bridge, was going to impose a special tax on the unvaccinated whether they were infected with COVID or not.

Normal life? The very phrase falling from his mouth should have produced shrieks of hysterical laughter as if 8.4 million people were all jumping on an insanely large bouncy castle at the same time.

But no. Fear of the Freedom Convoy was enough to silence us as if snipers had us all in their sights.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament is holding a session today.

16 items are on the agenda of the session.

The lawmakers will debate at second hearing the bills on making amendments and changes to the Law on General Education, the Law on Compensating the damages caused to life or health of servicemen during the defense of Armenia, and the Judicial Code.

The Parliament will also debate the 2020 annual report of the 2017-2020 State Property Privatization program performance.
People flow into the Capitol Rotunda after being let in by a protester, shown on this surveillance video on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

What the Jan. 6 Capitol Incursion Really Was

Commentary

After the 2020 presidential election, my Epoch Times columns summarized actions state legislatures could take in states with disputed results. When asked to do so, I also summarized those options directly to interested state lawmakers. Last week, a leftist website distorted this into a claim that I guided private citizens to represent themselves as presidential electors without legislative authorization.

My guess is that the author hoped Id be subpoenaed by Congresss Jan. 6 committeethe Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Perhaps he thinks Im a co-conspirator in the insurrection.

I dont think a subpoena is likely, though, because the committee probably wouldnt want to hear what Id have to say. It is this: The Capitol incursion was wrong, but it was not an insurrection. It was a very different kind of event with deep roots in our Anglo-American heritage.

What Would Have Happened in D.C. if Trump Had Won?

To put the Jan. 6 event into context, let us ask this question: What would have happened in Washington, D.C. if Donald Trump had won re-election?

We dont have to speculate much, because we have a lot of experience with leftist protests. The 1968 Watts riots, for example, lasted for six days and killed over 30 people. More recent incidents include, in 2011, the 17-day occupation of the Wisconsin State Capitol; in 2018 the storming of the Supreme Court, invasion of the U.S. Capitol, and seizure of the Hart Senate Office Building; and in 2020 the Black Lives Matter/Antifa riots.

So we know the playbook. Heres what would have happened in Washington if Trump had won:

Tens of thousands of protesters descend upon the city. Massive marches, some undertaken without permits, block bridges and roads. Protesters leave mounds of filth behind them.

Many protesters riot. Vehicles transport bricks and other potential weapons to strategic points to arm rioters. Rioters use them, as well as weapons they brought with them, to smash windows and loot all throughout the central areas of the city. They start fires everywhere. Graffiti and vandalism are of Augean proportions.

Protesters trumpet insurrectionary slogans: No Trump, no wall, no U.S.A. at all. They create autonomous zones purportedly independent of the U.S. government. They attack and tear into the Capitol and other public buildings. In some buildings, they camp for days or weeks, until the police can get them out. In other buildings they start fires and leave. They assault police officers, counter-demonstrators, and bystanders with chemicals, bricks, and other weaponsseverely injuring many and killing some.

Meanwhile, CNN reports that the protesters are mostly peaceful. Rioters apprehended by the police are often released on minor charges or with no charges at all. Kamala Harris and others raise bail money so that few violent offenders suffer jail time.

How the Capitol Incursion Was Different

The Capitol incursion was the work of a small minority of the Trump supporters who gathered in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6. They focused on the Capitol and the Capitol alone. But they didnt attack private property or other public buildings. They didnt loot businesses or assault bystanders. They didnt occupy other public spaces. They caused damage estimated at $1.5 million, compared to the BLM/Antifa riot total of over $1 billion. The only person to die from the application of force was a rioter shot, likely without justification, by a police officer.

And while the 2011 leftist occupation of the Wisconsin State Capitol lasted over two weeks, the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol incursion was over in about four hours.

Many of those arrested were typical trouble-makers. But many were otherwise-respectable community leaders: a police officer, teachers, multiple firefighters, a company CEO, and numerous elected officials. Unlike leftist demonstrators, they didnt envision themselves as overturning the Constitution, but protecting it.

Limited Forcible Resistance

This riot was very wrong. But it was also in a different category from those regularly sponsored by the left.

The late Pauline Maier was a distinguished historian of colonial and Revolutionary America. She identified an Anglo-American tradition of limited forcible resistance. Although different kinds of actions fit this description, they all have four characteristics:

Limited forcible resistance is not scattershot, like the looting propagated by leftist demonstrators. Its focused on the source of political grievance. It is, Maier wrote, remarkably single-minded and discriminating  [T]argets [are] characteristically related to grievances.

When the resistance includes riots or other disorder, it may cause significant property damage, but results in very few casualties. Usually more casualties are inflicted on the protesters than by them.

Participants include not merely the mobile vulgus (mob or rabble) but community leaders who see themselves as protecting the constitutional order.

When participants engage in disorder they do so only because they perceive that all legal means of redress have been foreclosed.

How the Capitol Incursion Fits

The Capitol incursion met all of the first three criteria. It was targeted at the Capitol, where the protesters believed fraudulent electoral votes were being counted. There were few casualties, very few weapons, and the crowd included community leaders who believed they were defending the Constitution.

The incursion also matched the fourth criterion: lack of legal redress.

Recall that the 2020 election was marred by numerous and serious allegations of irregularities in six or seven crucial states. In a previous column, I documented one undeniable irregularity: the widespread use of mail-in ballots in violation of a constitutionally authorized federal law.

Other allegations were less clearly proven, and it was uncertain whether they flipped any states electoral votes. Yet they were serious enough to cry out for speedy investigation.

Those whose duty it was to investigate refused to do so. State and local election officials assured us that their own administration of the vote had been just ducky. State legislatures, whom the Constitution charges with overseeing the choice of electors, seemed paralyzed. Their legislative lawyers, unfamiliar with this arcane area of constitutional law, sometimes told legislatures they had no options.

The courts employed legal technicalities to slam the doors on almost all lawsuits challenging the certified election results. The mainstream media asserted over and over againwithout serious investigationthat charges of irregularities were baseless and that the courts had rejected them on the merits.

All of the usual remedies for election irregularities had failed. So some protesters concluded they had only one remedy left: They could enter the Capitol to tell the vice president and members of Congress to stop the electoral vote count pending an investigation. But when the protesters arrived at the Capitol, they found their entrance barred.

The Rioters Foolishness

The plan to enter the Capitol and confront the vice president and members of Congress was not only illegal, but also foolish. As I informed curious state lawmakers after the election, the practical deadline for challenging the election results was Dec. 14, 2020, the day Congress had designated for the Electoral College vote. Jan. 6 was too late.

Trump and many of his followers thought the vice president could adjourn Congress and order an investigation. They were mistaken. The vice president is the presiding officer of the congressional joint session, no more. The joint session was under Democratic control. If the vice president tried to adjourn proceedings, a motion from the floor to appeal the decision of the chair would have reversed him.

Moreover, under the Electoral Count Act (pdf) (which probably isnt constitutionally binding on these joint sessions, but which they generally follow) the only way to displace a state-certified delegation of presidential electors is for both Houses of Congress to vote to do so. There was no chance this would happen in a Democratic Congress.

In any event, its incredible that anyone could believe that the framers would write a Constitution that gave one manlikely a presidential or vice-presidential candidate himselfpower to delay or overturn a presidential election.

Still, It Wasnt an Insurrection

All of that having been said, its wrongheaded to classify the Jan. 6 riot as an insurrection rather than what it was: limited forcible resistance undertaken by people convinced they had no other remedy.

Maier observed that limited forcible resistance traditionally was viewed as a sign the government had failed in some way. There were two methods of stopping it. One was to impose a repressive tyrannya cure worse than the disease. The other, far better approach, was to address the deficiencies that provoked the resistance.

In the case of the 2020 election, those deficiencies were the failure of officials and the media to promptly investigate credible allegations of irregularities and, if necessary, to undertake corrective action. At the least, this would have assured people that Joe Biden (or Trump) had really won.

Lets hope the Jan. 6 committee shows enough humility to recognize the official and media culpability contributing to this sad incident. It probably wont, but I hope it will.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Powerball lottery tickets in front of the splash screen for the powerball.com website in Washington on Jan. 10, 2016. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

Wisconsin Couple Claims $316 Million Powerball Prize

MADISON, Wis.A northeastern Wisconsin couple have claimed half of a $632.6 million Powerball jackpot won last month, the Wisconsin Lottery announced Monday.

Tammy and Cliff Webster, who live in Oneida, near Green Bay, won roughly $316 million of the jackpot from the Jan. 5 drawing. The other winning ticket was sold in California. The total jackpot was the seventh largest in Powerballs history.

The Websters, who are members of the Oneida Nation, are taking the cash option of $225 million instead of annual payments, according to the lottery. After state and local taxes, they will take home nearly $154 million.

We always believed that we had a chance to win if we played and this is a dream come true, Tammy Webster told the lottery, which said the couple wouldnt do media interviews. We are sincerely grateful for this incredible event.

Cliff Webster also expressed his deep appreciation for what he called a wonderful blessing.

The Websters did not say how they plan to spend their newfound wealth, the lottery said.

Jackson Pointe Citgo, on Packerland Drive in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon, received $100,000 for selling the winning ticket.

The California winning ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven in Sacramento, the California Lottery said.

Powerball is played in 45 states as well as Washington, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are one in about 292 million.
Chinese Communist Partys head Xi Jinping arrives at The Great Hall of the People for the opening of the National People's Congress in Beijing, China, on May 22, 2020. (Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images)

Xi Jinpings Agenda May Suffer From Adverse Economic Feedback

Economic troubles cast doubt on the future of Xis agenda

News Analysis

Right now, China faces an array of economic troubles, and evidence is mounting that they are creating resistance to Chinese leader Xi Jinpings economic agenda.

America and China, for all their vast differences, have one big thing in common. When it comes to securing political power, the crucial issue is, in the words of one-time Clinton adviser and political commentator, James Carville, the economy, stupid.

Of course, political maneuvering in China always takes place in the shadows. But if it is hidden from view, no one should doubt that it occurs. In any country under any system, in any institution, when there are two or more ambitious, capable people involved, there is political maneuvering.

Americas legacy media often write and speak as if Chinas leadership has an unanimity of purpose. This easy but naive assumption defies both human nature and experience. And in China, that lack of unity has begun to leak out in the face of the countrys economic and financial troubles. It seems to center less on Xis ambition to rule for life than on his push to rebuild Chinas once rigid adherence to centralized economic decision-making.

Heading the list of Xis problems is the once-great property developer, Evergrande. With the equivalent of $300 billion in liabilities, it recently announced the default that for months all knew was inevitable. As indicated in this column months ago, Evergrande was never alone in carrying unsustainable debt. Now other defaults are rumored or have already been announced. According to calculations made at the Asia society, this vulnerable debt already amounts to some 29 percent of Chinas gross domestic product (GDP). The matter threatens the stability of Chinese finance and even the economy.

A lot of blame has fallen on the managements of these developers, but still the difficulties have emerged on Xis watch, and reasonable people, even in Chinas government, are aware that much of the problem stems from official Beijings long promotion of real estate development, almost without regard to what Chinese buyers wanted or where. Both considerations have bolstered doubts about Xis centralizing agenda.

An aerial view shows a halted residential construction site of Evergrande in Suzhous Taicang, Jiangsu Province, China, on Oct. 22, 2021. (Xihao Jiang/Reuters)

In addition to these serious financial matters, Chinas economic prospects have also suffered from the waves of COVID-19 that, if not Xis fault, nonetheless weaken his position, and from power shortages that clearly reflect badly on central government policy.

Many have expressed skepticism of the recent announcement that Chinas economy grew 8 percent real terms last year. And as if to confirm such skepticism, Chinas Academy of Social Science recently announced its projection of only 5.3 percent real growth in the current year. What is more, Beijings turn to monetary and fiscal stimulus implies that even achieving that modest growth rate will require government help. Especially against Chinas record of stupendous past growth, this low figure effectively announces that policy has taken a wrong turn.

Hints of just such doubts about basic policy emerged during last Decembers Central Economic Work Conference. That important annual meeting saw considerable debate on how much economic and financial decision-making belongs in Beijing, and how much should reside with more independent economic actors, private companies, as well as state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The conference directive hints that not all the power lies with the centralizers. The December 2020 directive for 2021 noted eight major tasks, one of which clearly aimed at centralization. It stated the need to bring order to the allocation of capital. This past Decembers directive for 2022 left this point out and spoke only of seven major policies.

Dissent has even appeared in major government media organs. As Asia Society President Kevin Rudd recently pointed out for The Wall Street Journal, Central Committee member Qu Qingshan in the Peoples Daily recently made an unfavorable comparison between todays centralizing tendencies and the economic opening introduced by Deng Xiaoping, concluding that our modernization and socialism will be ruined. He did not mention Xis policies, but the implication was clear. Similarly, Hu Wei, a leading member of the Party School in Shanghai, wrote in Liberation Daily, linking Dengs success with the end overcentralization.

It would overstate to conclude that a movement against Xi is afoot or that he will fail in his attempt this year to secure his power for a third term or even for life. But it is nonetheless clear that recent shortfalls in Chinas economic performance have brought discredit to Xis centralizing approach and may serve to limit this movement going forward.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Rik Mehat in an interview with NTD broadcast on Feb. 7, 2022. (Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

You Cannot Live in a Continual, Perpetual State of Emergency: Former FDA Official

A former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official said that the Biden administration should end the public health emergency and focus more on the treatment options for COVID-19, a disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

The Biden administration has doubled down to reauthorize and reissue a federal public health emergency, Rik Mehta, a former deputy division director with FDA, told NTD Monday.

But they havent really added any scientific or evidentiary basis on why we are in an emergency, and many of us have been arguingmyself includedfor a long period of time: You cannot live in a continual, perpetual state of emergency. Its either an emergency or its not.

On Jan. 14, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency for an additional 90 days, effective from Jan. 16, 2022.

Thats the eighth time the federal government has done so since the public health emergency was first declared in January 2020.

On Jan. 31, the latest Monmouth University Poll found that 70 percent of Americans agree that its time we accept that COVID is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives.

In January, England and Ireland ended most of their COVID-19 related restrictions. In February, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden followed in announcing or ending most of their COVID-19 restrictions. Some other European counties relaxed their restrictions as well.

Japan ended its COVID-19 emergency on Sept. 30, 2021.

Its all about fear and control, Mehta said. The fact that they havent reconciled this and the fact that they continue to keep us in a state of emergency means that they want us under their thumb. They want to exert control and theyre not allowing Americans to move on with their lives.

Mehta also criticized the Biden administration for not putting in many efforts on COVID-19 treatment.

Its very disappointing to see that the Biden administration has not rolled out a similar operation Warp Speed for treatment options, said Mehta.

We see new drugs coming down the pipe that have over 90 percent effectiveness for vaccinated and unvaccinated people to keep them out of hospital and from developing serious infections.

A double-blind, randomized controlled trial published in The Lancet in October 2021 showed that early treatment with fluvoxamine, an FDA-approved antidepressant, reduced COVID-19 mortality rates by up to 91 percent and hospitalizations by two-thirds.

And now you see the FDA under the Biden administration cutting off access to monoclonal antibodies and other treatment options.

On Jan. 24, FDA announced it is restricting the use of two monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19, saying data show such treatments are highly unlikely to be active against the Omicron variant.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the move medical authoritarianism.

We have to increase access to new treatment options that are available, allow for monoclonal antibodies, change the way we look at the pandemic to call it an endemic, Mehta said.

And most important: let doctors be doctors. They are at the frontline. They know their patients. They know what works and what doesnt work. Allow them to prescribe off-label and allow them to treat their patients without government overreach.

Mehta previously worked for Pfizer as the head of U.S. Regulatory Policy, Pfizer Consumer Health. Currently, hes running for Congress in New Jerseys 6th Congressional District.

The HHS hasnt responded to a request from The Epoch Times for comment.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan had a meeting with Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Armenia John Gallagher, discussing a number of issues relating to human rights, the Ombudsmans Office said.

Arman Tatoyan introduced the Ambassador on the problems existing in the judiciary.

Protection of rights of women and children were also discussed. The Ombudsman said that during the COVID-19-related restrictions in Armenia a working group has been formed at his Office dealing with the protection of womens, childrens rights, the prevention of domestic violence. He also presented the current challenges in the field of the protection of rights of children.

The meeting sides also highlighted the role of reporters in guaranteeing freedom of speech and ruling out hate speech.

Tatoyan also presented to the Ambassador the violations of rights of Armenias border residents by the Azerbaijani armed forces, with concrete facts and examples. He emphasized the urgency of the return of Armenian captives illegally held in Azerbaijan, as well as the fact that those people are held there for political and military interests, for trade purposes.

The Ombudsman said the Azerbaijani armed forces must be withdrawn from the roads near to the Armenian villages, sometimes even near to the houses of the residents, and stressed the necessity of creating a demilitarized security zone.

Arman Tatoyan highlighted UKs role in the field of human rights, as well as the cooperation with the British human rights institutions.

In his turn the UK Ambassador highly appreciated the high quality of the cooperation with the Armenian Ombudsman, as well as expressed readiness for further joint work.
EDWARDSVILLE  The past two years detoured plans for a 4 Hands Brewing Company to open at 119 South Main Street, which has been vacant for many years. A second 4 Hands Brewery will open but not in Edwardsville, Madison County or even Illinois.



Sometime after April 2020, after the alpha wave of the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country, a deal for a 4 Hands Brewery in Edwardsville fell through as people shut themselves at home and restaurants began to lay off staff and close.



James Arnold, the citys economic and community development director, confirmed the deal fell through and per other reports, Kirkwood, a St. Louis County suburb, now will benefit from the brewerys second location, which plans to open sometime this fall.



Arnold said the Bank of Belleville, or specifically, a division of the bank, Bank of Madison County, bought the Edwardsville building in late summer or early fall of 2020.



They are moving forward with an interior and exterior remodel that will allow for a drive-through if everything is approved by the Historical Preservation Commission (HPC), he said. They want to begin construction immediately after approvals in the hopes of being in the building [in August] and open by September.



To that end, the citys finance committee approved a facade grant application for the building, up to $25,000 with a 2-0 vote last month, with Alderwoman Jennifer Warren abstaining. While this amount seems large compared to some previous city facade grants, the sum is a pittance compared to the total monies needed. The building comprises around 9,000-square-feet over a basement level and main floor. Rachelle Lengermann, a project executive with Plocher Construction Co., said they plan to partially finish the basement.



The first renovation step is to install helical anchor pins to keep the exterior from any further movement. After that is complete, all of the 16 exterior windows, lintels, windowsills and storefront will be replaced. Masonry tuck-pointed, caulking and sealing will be done to improve the appearance and prevent any more deterioration. The current roof system and membrane are well past their service lives and the roof leaks. The current membrane may be adding to the stress load of at least one wall. New insulation and membrane could cost between $70,000 and $75,000. The drive-through area, which will be off of West Park, will also have a canopy.



On the west side, or rear of the building, an elevator and stair tower will be built so the structure complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Code. The tower will use architectural metals and masonry to complement the existing exterior. This work will total $439,907 plus the cost of a new roof and insulation, which was not included in the cost list for the project scope. Plocher Construction and its subcontractors will do the work. The remainder of the funding would come from the city's TIF #2 fund.

Alderwoman Elizabeth Grant raised a concern about traffic on South Main and possible accidents when exiting from West Park onto South Main Street because the building was closely built to the street, which hinders drivers' visibility, especially for drivers wanting to turn left onto northbound South Main. Langermann said plans exist for erecting wayfinding signs to help customers and visitors.
PONTOON BEACH  Al Mahan believes in honoring the memory of fallen veterans and first responders, and last week, he and his fellow American Legion members took their efforts to Pontoon Beach.

Mahan is the Junior Vice Commander for the American Legion 22nd District. On Jan. 28, he was among the Fifth Division 22nd District officers who were part of the presentation at the Pontoon Beach Police Department, where Mahan gave out handmade bracelets honoring Pontoon Beach Officer Tyler Timmins, who died in the line of duty on Oct. 26, 2021.

Timmins died after being shot at the Speedway gas station in Pontoon Beach during the traffic stop of a suspected stolen vehicle. He was pronounced dead at a St. Louis hospital.

The bracelets I make are for anyone who has been in any branch of the service, including World II, Vietnam era and Korean War veterans. I also do them for first responders, Mahan said. Im an ex-firefighter and police officer in addition to being a veteran, so it really hit home for me when (Timmins) got killed. I lost my best friend in Vietnam.

Theres a little charm that goes right in the center of the bracelet when people put them on their wrist. Right after Officer Timmins was killed, I got together with Chris Modrusic, who is the Pontoon Beach police chief, and asked if it was OK if I made bracelets for everyone in the police department plus the mayor (Mike Pagano) and all of the city hall workers.

In addition to Mahan, officers at the presentation included Fifth Division Commander Larry Miller, 22nd District Commander Jim Page, 22nd District Senior Vice Commander Ron Swaim, Post 307 (Venice-Madison) Senior Vice Commander Don Scheyer, Fifth Division and 22nd District Adjutant Tracy Bohnert and Post 199 member Dave Schindler.

Mahan said it takes about 15 minutes to make each bracelet, and he made 27 bracelets for the presentation in Pontoon Beach.

I presented each of the officers on duty at the time with a bracelet, said Mahan, who is a member of Post 307. Some of the bracelets had the Pontoon Beach Police Department patch in the center of it, and on the border, there are two little scrolls, and on each side, I put in Tyler Timmins name and his DSN (department serial number).

Some of the bracelets that I made had Tylers picture on it. For Tylers wife (Linsey Timmins), I gave her a magnetic bracelet which is basically a We Back the Blue bracelet.

Mahan started making the bracelets a little over a year ago.

A buddy of mine lives down in Florida. I was in the service with him 47 years and he received a Purple Heart, Mahan said. He contacted me and asked if I had any ideas how we could do fundraisers for the military or first responders, and thats how the idea started for the bracelets.

While Mahan has done many bracelet presentations before, each one is still an emotional experience for him, and the presentation in Pontoon Beach was no exception.

When I did the speech that I wrote up, I was doing good until I got to a part near the end, Mahan said. Being a police officer is like being a veteran. You take an oath to defend people in your community, while veterans take an oath to defend our country.

We know there are times when we will be in harms way, and we might have to make the ultimate sacrifice and give up our lives in the name of duty. When I got to that point (in the speech), thats when I started breaking down.

The bracelet presentation was equally emotional for Timmins fellow officers.

Tylers partner, the one who took him to the hospital, is an Army veteran and he lost his best friend the exact same way as he did with Tyler, Mahan said. Hes been through this situation twice now.

Mahan also makes different types of commemorative clocks for a variety of presentations.

I did two clocks for a lieutenant colonel that my buddy in Florida asked me to do something for, said Mahan, who also makes commemorative coffee cups and T-shirts. Ive been doing these clocks for over 30 years, going back to my days when I was in the Army.

I served in the Marine Corps for six years and then I did 10 years in the Army. It only takes me about an hour to make one clock.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Culture Anar Karimov has got acquainted with cultural institutions in Shamkir region.

First, the Minister visited the monument to national leader Heydar Aliyev in the city of Shamkir and laid flowers at him.

During the visit, Anar Karimov visited the Cultural Center of the Shamkir region and got acquainted with the activities of the institution. He stressed the importance of creating folk groups, theater groups at the center and gave relevant instructions in this regard.

The Culture Minister also visited the Shamkir Centralized Library System. He was informed about the library departments and book collections. Anar Karimov gave instructions to improve the technical equipment of the CBS.

In addition, the head of the department viewed the museum exhibits and the book fund of the Shamkir Historical and Local Lore Museum.

He was informed about the work of the architect, artist Farman Huseynov - a wall miniature Toy ("Wedding").

The area of ??the wall miniature is 73 square meters. The head of the department was also provided with information about the 2500-year-old column stones stored in the museum.

Having visited the Children's Music School, Anar Karimov got acquainted with the state of the building of the educational institution and listened to the performances of the choir and schoolchildren learning to play the tar.

Some 134 teachers are teaching 665 students. The music school organizes training in such specialties as piano, violin, tar, kamancha, accordion, nagara, clarinet, mugham performance, choral singing.

At the Heydar Aliyev Center in Shamkir, Anar Karimov held a meeting with the heads of institutions subordinate to the Shamkir Regional Department of Culture.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament Vagharshak Hakobyan from the ruling Civil Contract party condemned the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenkos recent remarks on Armenia.

Yesterday, in an interview with Vladimir Solovyov, the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made inadmissible comments unfitting to a head of state, saying who needs Armenia and so on. Id like to note that these kind of remarks are truly condemnable. The leader of our partner country doesnt have the right to voice such views about his partner. Id like to remind who needed Armenia during the latest Kazakh events, and I am sure that Mr. Lukashenko very well realized who needed and who needs Armenia, the lawmaker said.

In the interview, Lukashenko said the Union State between Russia and Belarus should expand and include most of the ex-Soviet republics. Particularly, speaking on Armenia, he said Armenia has nowhere to run..what, you think anyone needs them? They have already seen it, Nikol Vovayevich [Pashinyan] has already seen it.
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.

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.

Tri Township Library Book Sale

9 a.m. - noon at the Tri Township Library, 209 South Main, Troy. Book donations are accepted during the book sale and on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. The book sale is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. In case of inclement weather contact Tri Township Library at 618-667-2133 after 9 a.m.

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.
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YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the statement made by the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Anar Karimov (February 3) on the establishment of a working group for the destruction and change of the identity of the Armenian religious and historical-cultural monuments fallen under the control of Azerbaijan, the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said in a statement today.

The establishment of such a working group at the state level aimed at deliberate and illegal looting of the historical and cultural heritage of the neighbouring people and depriving them of their historical memory, is unprecedented even in the history of conflicts. It once again demonstrates the fact that the cases of vandalism and destruction of the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh during the 44-day war and the following period, are deliberate and pre-planned, and are part of the policy of annihilating Nagorno-Karabakhs indigenous Armenian population.

This action of the Azerbaijani Government is a blatant defiance to the decision on application of provisional measures issued by the UN International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021, which clearly obliges Azerbaijan to; Take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artifacts.

In view of the current situation, the immediate intervention and unimpeded involvement on the ground of the international community, in particular UNESCO, is becoming more urgent for the preservation and prevention of the cases of vandalism against the Armenian monuments of Artsakh, which are part of the universal cultural heritage.

This policy of destruction and distortion of the identity of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage and religious sanctuaries contradicts Azerbaijan's statements on achieving reconciliation in the region, and creates serious obstacles to the establishment of lasting peace in the region, the statement says.
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Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 58F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
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That release could not be found.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has reiterated that all its members across the country will take industrial action against the Fedaral Government if it fails to implement the Memorandum of Action it signed with the union last year.

ASUU Chairman in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Dr Biodun Olaniran, and the Union's Secretary, Dr Toyin Abegurin, jointly disclosed this in a statement released after the union's congress held on Monday, emphasising that the government's failure to fully implement its agreements was a matter of concern to the union.

The union stated that it would embark on an indefinite strike if the Federal Government fails to succumb to its demands within a stipulated period.

Meanwhile, the union also urged Nigerians to prevail on government to prevent the looming strike; it also claimed to have consulted the government many times over the issue, but not see positive action from government.

According to the statement issued: Our union, ASUU, is using this medium to call upon the Federal Government of Nigeria once again to implement the agreement it signed with ASUU. It is unfortunate to mention that the FG signed an agreement with the ASUU since 2009, but the agreement is not implemented till date.

The agreement was renegotiated in the name of peace. But to our dismay, the government has refused to sign the renegotiated agreement. In order to make the implementation of the agreement easy for the FG, the union has limited its demand to only three.

These include the signing/implementation of the renegotiated agreement of 2009; and the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Software instead of the controversial IPPIS.

When reacting, Dr Salau Sheu, the Chairman ASUU of Kwara State University, commented that the Presidency was trying to evade its responsibility by charging ministers to oversee the implementation of the MoA

According to him; It is wrong for President Muhammadu Buhari to assign two ministers to oversee the implementation of the Memorandum of Action signed last year with ASUU. First, the assigned ministers are not part of the agreement. Only the ministers of Finance and Education were part of the agreement. The Federal Government is trying to take away university autonomy through its designed programmes and it is trying to shy away from implementing the resolutions of the negotiations.

ASUU is having its National Executive Council meeting at the University of Lagos on February 12 and 13. If nothing is done by the government between now and then, the lecturers may go on strike.

University of ilorin's Chairman of the union, Prof Moyosore Ajao, disclosed that the work- free day will be observed in the branch today.

Also, the Chairman of the union in University of Abuja, Dr Kasim Umaru said: We are meeting this week, precisely on Wednesday, and we are going to make our own resolutions. The government has failed to honour our demands times without numbers. The plan is to hold our congress on Wednesday, make our own decision and transmit it to the national body".

Meanwhile, a member of the ASUU National Executive Council who preferred anonymity said: At this point, we have no choice but to go on strike; that is the only language the government understands. We have been going back and forth, but it seems as if they are not ready to listen and do what is right".
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Moscow and Ankara have agreed on Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Turkey, but no specific dates have been reported so far, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, reports TASS.

Indeed, such a visit will likely take place in the future. As we have repeatedly stated, President Putin and [his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip] Erdogan agreed <> that this visit would take place as soon as the presidents schedules and epidemiological situation allowed. There are no exact dates yet, but they will be agreed through diplomatic channels in a timely manner, the Kremlin spokesman noted.

On Monday, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin revealed that the date of Putins visit to Turkey would likely be announced in the next few days.
Three crew members on board an oil vessel that exploded last week off the coast of Nigeria have been found alive, while seven were still missing, according to the ship's operator.

Ikemefuna Okafor, the executive officer of Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL), said late on Sunday the company would ensure the survivors receive the appropriate medical attention.

Okafor added that one dead body was discovered in the vicinity, but it was not immediately clear if it was of a crew member.

The identity of the dead body is yet to be ascertained, Okafor said. Efforts to locate the remaining crew members, clean up and limit damage to the environment, and establish the cause of the explosion were ongoing, he added. 22,000 barrels a day

The Trinity Spirit, a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, caught fire following an explosion on Wednesday off southern Nigeria's oil-rich Delta state, raising fears of an environmental disaster. The blaze was extinguished a day later.

The vessel had a processing capacity of 22,000 barrels per day and a storage capacity of two million barrels, according to SEPCOL.

Idris Musa, of the country's spill detection agency NOSDRA, told the AFP news agency on Sunday that no spill incident had taken place other than emulsified oil in small quantity.

A Reuters news agency witness saw the burned-out remains of the Trinity Spirit, which broke into two and partially submerged, but said there was no evidence of spilled crude.

Nevertheless, environmental activists have expressed concern about the potential impact.

There will definitely be a spill, said Mike Karikpo, of the local NGO Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria.

This is a facility that handles over 20,000 barrels per day  the oil will reach the surrounding communities.

Eric Omare, executive director of Niger Delta Good Governance and Environmental Initiative, said high tidal waves could have washed away the oil and that the full impact would be felt soon. Vessel was 'old, badly maintained'

Two sources and an environmental group told Reuters the oil vessel had been in precarious conditions.

A trading source who used to occasionally store oil on the Trinity Spirit described it as old and badly maintained and said they had stopped using it because of too many technical issues.

Most, if not all of the big trading companies stopped using it several years ago, the source said.

Nnimmo Bassey, from Health of Mother Foundation, said the vessel had been in operation for more than 30 years, outliving its lifespan of 20 years, and should have been decommissioned.

Accidents are frequent in Nigeria's oil and gas industry, Africa's largest crude producer, although they usually occur on land.

The region continues to suffer the multiplier effect of decades of environmental degradation, which has eroded livelihoods and deprived residents of basic essentials such as access to clean drinking water.

The area's mangroves and swamps have become uninhabitable for many species and the average human life expectancy is also 10 years lower in the Delta than elsewhere in Nigeria.

There have also been attacks on oil installations in the past, piercing pipelines to take crude oil and increasing kidnappings to obtain a ransom.

Source- Al jazeera/ marineandpetroleumnigeria


A Catholic priest abducted in an armed raid in Kaura Local Government Area (LGA) of southern Kaduna on 6 February in which one person was killed, has regained his freedom. His release comes amidst emerging news that an intermediary delivering the ransom payment on 25 January for the last student still in captivity after being abducted from Bethel Baptist High School, was himself taken hostage.

Rev Fr Joseph Danjuma Shekari of St Monicas Catholic Church, Ikulu Parish, was released at around 10.30pm on 7 February by his abductors, who had raided his home at around 11.30pm on the previous evening, killing his cook, who was reportedly a student at the Government Secondary School, Kizakoro. According to one source, the kidnappers also seized the sum of N2 million that was realised from a thanksgiving service, and other valuables.

Confirmation of Rev Fr Shekaris release came in a statement from the Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Uchechukwu Okolo, in which he thanked all who had prayed for his release, and called for prayers for the repose of the soul of his cook and the swift release of all who are still in the hands of kidnappers.

According to the Secretary of the Kaduna chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev John Joseph Hayab, over 18 pastors, priests and Christian leaders have been abducted for ransom in Kaduna state in the last two years. Additionally, millions of Naira have been paid to secure their releases, while six have been killed by their captors. In a comment to CSW Rev John Joseph Hayab added that Rev Fr Shekaris abduction further shows that Christian clergy are no longer safe in Kaduna state and in northern Nigeria. Gradually, bandits have turned this noble calling into a dangerous vocation to venture in to.

Rev Fr Shekaris release comes amidst disturbing reports about the student kidnapped from Bethel Baptist High School in July 2021 who is still being held by his kidnappers, and who is reportedly the youngest of the abductees. Following the release of two of his colleagues on 1 January 2022, CSW had been informed he might have developed Stockholm Syndrome, as he had expressed a willingness to remain with his captors.

Towards the end of that month the kidnappers had requested a ransom to secure the students release. However, the person who went to deliver to deliver it on 25 January was subsequently abducted.

Rev Hayab continued: The bandits took advantage of the young man and enticed him with many gifts and things to make him feel comfortable with them. There is no way the bandits can love him more than his parents or guardians. We need to seriously pray and work hard for the freedom of this fragile and innocent boy before the damage they do to him will be beyond remedy.

Kaduna state has become an epicentre of kidnapping and violence by non-state actors, despite being the most garrisoned state in Nigeria. According to government figures, 1,192 people were killed and 3,348 abducted across the state during 2021 at an average rate of around nine people daily. The fatalities comprised 1,038 men, 104 women and 50 children.

A government gazette published in January 2022 designated non-state actors operating in northwest Nigeria who were previously described armed bandits, as terrorists, extending this designation to other similar groups operating in any part of Nigeria, especially in the North-West and North-Central Regions.

CSWs Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: As we give thanks for Rev Fr Shekaris safe and speedy return, we also grieve at the life that was cut short so cruelly, and extend our deepest condolences to the family of the cook who was killed on 6 February. Rev Fr Shekaris abduction, and that of the individual sent to deliver the ransom for the final Bethel Baptist High School student, highlight the continuing severity of the kidnapping crisis in Kaduna state. We call on the Nigerian authorities to do all in their power to secure the release of the vulnerable young student, the intermediary who sought to assist him, and of all those held captive by armed non-state actors who the Nigerian government has correctly deemed to be terrorists. Finally, we continue to urge the international community to hold the Nigerian government to account for its failures to protect citizens, and to assist in combatting these terrorist threats at every opportunity.
A nongovernmental youth body, Niger Delta Youth Collaboration NDYC, has called for a South South President in the 2023 Presidential election in the Country.

National Co-ordination of the NDYC, Prince Emmanuel Ogba in a statement made available to newsmen, argued that the people of the SouthSouth are yet to complete their eight years tenure as former President Goodluck Jonathan served for only four years.

The NDYC opined that the people of the SouthSouth who have over the years been engulfed in the environmental degradation of their area due to pollution, resulting from agelong exploration and sundry activities by oil companies, deserve to be given another chance for the Presidential ticket next year.

The youth body noted that the office of the President requires a person that is energetic, experienced and God-fearing who can serve as a symbol of unity, peace and progress.
All provinces record lowest level of revenue in 2021

BUSINESS: Tourism receipts in 77 provinces set another historic low in 2021 with revenue declining by 69.55% to B241,350 billion, while the income gap between Bangkok and other major provinces remained wide, according to the Tourism and Sports Ministry.

CoronavirusCOVID-19economicstourismhealth

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 8 February 2022, 09:06AM

Tourists take photos from Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. Photo: Narumon Kasemsuk

Meanwhile, almost 42% of hotel operators remain concerned about the COVID-19 situation, even though more have started to reopen, reports the Bangkok Post.

Last year the capital posted the highest revenue at B62.7bn, plummeting by 75.39%, while Chiang Mai lagged in second place with a decrease of 53.27% to B23.3bn, followed by Phuket at B21.3bn, a drop of 80.34%.

In the bottom half, Nong Bua Lam Phu, Amnat Charoen and Samut Sakhon earned the lowest tourism income at B58.24mn, B139.6mn and B142.2mn, respectively.

The tourism recession carried on from 2020, in which total revenue from 77 provinces plunged 55.4% to B482bn.

The hotel business operator sentiment index conducted by the Thai Hotels Association (THA) and the Bank of Thailand which polled 200 operators nationwide between Jan 10-26 also reported the ongoing impact from the pandemic as 49% of them had revenue lower than 30% compared to the pre-COVID level.

The average occupancy rate in January dipped to 32% from 37% in December as the temporary suspension of the Test & Go programme put a break on new arrivals.

Some 50% of hotels had less income compared to December, while 53% had cash flow to sustain them for less than three months.

Three-quarters of hotels were uneasy about the Omicron threat as 42% of them were deeply concerned about the situation and 44% were moderately worried about the latest outbreak, particularly hotels in the North which recorded a high number of cases, said Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of THA.

She said most of the hotels were affected because domestic travellers reduced out-of-home activities, while Test & Gos suspension impacted bookings from international guests.

Even though 73% have already returned to business, the declining employment rate compared to December is still worrying.

Employment in the hotel sector last month was 63.6% of the 2019 level as half of hotels pivoted to casual employment to cope with the uncertain viral situation and to reduce fixed costs.

As the Test & Go programme has resumed from this month, average occupancy in February is expected match Decembers level. However, with higher operating costs amid sluggish income, hotel operators would like the government to extend land tax reduction of 90% for at least two years, said Mrs Sukosol.
Foreigners assassins are hiding in Phuket

PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police is stepping up its hunt for gunmen who shot dead a foreign national in Rawai on Friday night.

murdercrimepolice

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 8 February 2022, 09:41AM

National police chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk (left) in Phuket yesterday (Feb 7). Photo: Radio Thailand Phuket

Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk, chief of the national police, arrived on this resort island yesterday (Feb 7) to supervise the investigation into the killing of Jimi Singh Sandhu, who was gunned down at a beachfront villa at Rawai beach.

Police said the attackers were hiding in Phuket, and officers are now tracking them by checking CCTV footage in the province, report sthe Bangkok Post.

The victim was previously identified as Mandeep Singh, as found in his passport, according to reports. However, Canadian authorities said he had been stripped of his Canadian nationality after being found involved in criminal activity, police said.

Police said the killing likely stemmed from conflicts between rival gangs and two suspects, likely foreign nationals, are being sought, noting they were captured on a security camera following the attack.

According to police, the victim, known as "Slice", was believed to be a member of an Indian criminal gang operating in Canada, involved in the drug trade, human trafficking and other violent crimes.

Police said the victim stayed at the villa 15 days per month, paying B100,000 a month to rent the place. He drove to and from the villa several times a day and was frequently visited by two foreign women, they said.

In the villa, police found brand name handbags worth hundreds of millions of baht, three Apple mobile phones and a rented red MG car. They also found many footprints in an empty house near the villa.

Pol Col Kritsana Pattanacharoen, deputy police spokesman, yesterday said officers were working closely with Canadian authorities on the investigation.

He said the initial probe showed that the gunmen used two types of guns: 9mm and .38mm pistols. The attackers were likely to be foreign nationals, he noted.

He said the victim entered Thailand on Jan 27 via a private plane and noted that police have not ruled out any motives behind the killing.

Pol Lt Gen Ampol Buaraporn, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8, said the victim likely migrated from India to Canada when he was a child.

He said the victim was also wanted by Indian authorities for alleged drug trafficking.
Police assign 20 teams of officers to hunt two suspects in Jimi Sandhu murder

PHUKET: Police have 20 teams of officers scouring the island in the hunt for the two killers who shot dead known criminal Jimi Sandhu in a hail of bullets in Rawai last Friday (Feb 4), police announced today.

murdercrimeviolencepolitics

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 8 February 2022, 07:00PM

Image: CCTV via Phuket Police

The news follows national police chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk arriving in Phuket in person to be briefed on progress in the investigation.

Gen Suwat urged the officers to expedite their investigation and gather relevant evidence for forensic analysis in order to apprehend the accused and prosecute as soon as possible in order to build confidence among citizens and tourists.

Gen Suwat also urged officers to carefully adhere to the correct procedures for arresting the suspects as the suspects committed a serious crime and may possess firearms.

The performance of duties must focus primarily on the safety of officers and people, he said.

Pol Col Kritsana Pattanacharoen, deputy spokesman of the Royal Thai Police, speaking from Bangkok, yesterday repeated the comments announced in Phuket, that police believe the killers are likely to be foreigners.

The assailants are two tall men, he said.

From checking the travel records of the deceased, it was found that he entered Thailand on Jan 27, 2022 and entered Phuket by private plane, for which investigators have gathered relevant evidence and interviewed many witnesses," Col Kritsana continued.

"Currently, all issues of motives have not been ruled out," Col Kritsana added.

Police are currently in close coordination with the Canadian police to obtain information useful to the investigation and pending the results of further forensic investigation, he said.

The two assailants were recorded on CCTV carrying out the murder, during which they shot Sandhu 19 times, he added.

The two assailants walked past several closed-circuit cameras enroute to the scene of the incident, Col Kritsana said.

The investigative team has tracked down their escape route from the scene and are currently investigating their further escape route, he added.

The police officers are collecting evidence related to the case from the deceaseds home and nearby abandoned houses. he added.

Police have previously noted that footprints were found in a villa nearby where the shooting took place.

Now we are waiting for DNA test results from the Police Forensic Science Center 8 in Surat Thani and the Police Forensic Science Center 8 in Songkhla," Col Kritsana added.
Putin says ready for compromise after talks with Macron on Ukraine

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready for compromise and would look at proposals put forward by French leader Emmanuel Macron during talks yesterday (Feb 7), while still blaming the West for raising tensions over Ukraine.

Russianmilitary

By AFP

Tuesday 8 February 2022, 09:20AM

Putin (left) and Macron voiced hope that a solution could be found to the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. Photo: AFP

Emerging from a meeting in the Kremlin that lasted more than five hours, the two leaders voiced hope that a solution could be found to the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.

Moscow has amassed tens of thousands of troops on the borders of Ukraine, raising fears that it is preparing a possible invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.

The West has repeatedly warned of severe consequences if Russia invades, and Macron was the first major Western leader to meet with Putin since the start of the crisis in December.

Repeatedly thanking the French leader for coming to Moscow, Putin said at a joint press conference that Macron had presented several ideas worth studying.

A number of his ideas, proposals... are possible as a basis for further steps, Putin said, adding: We will do everything to find compromises that suit everyone.

He did not provide any details but said the two leaders would speak by phone after Macron meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv today.

Putin ready to engage

Macron said he made concrete proposals to address the concerns of both Russia and the West.

President Putin assured me of his readiness to engage, Macron said, adding: There is no security for the Europeans if there is no security for Russia.

The French presidency said the proposals include an undertaking from both sides not to take any new military action, the launching of a new strategic dialogue and efforts to revive the peace process in Kyivs conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in the countrys east.

Putin again denied that Russia was to blame for the tensions.

Saying that Russia is acting aggressively is illogical, Putin said.

It is not us who are moving towards NATOs borders, he said, in reference to alliance deployments in eastern Europe.

The meeting in Moscow came at the start of a week of intense diplomacy over the Ukraine crisis, with US President Joe Biden also hosting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington yesterday.

Biden threatens gas pipeline

Biden made a categorical vow at the talks to shut down the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe if Moscow sends forces across the Ukrainian border as it did during the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

If Russia invades - that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again - then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, Biden told a joint White House news conference with Scholz.

I promise you, Biden said, we will bring an end to it.

US officials say Moscow has assembled 110,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and is on track to amass a large enough force - some 150,000 soldiers - for a full-scale invasion by mid-February.

Macron yesterday cited a figure of 125,000 Russian troops.

Russia insists it has no plans to attack and has instead put forward its own demands for security guarantees.

It is demanding a permanent ban on Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, joining the US-led alliance and that the bloc roll back its military presence in eastern Europe.

Macron, whose country currently heads the European Union, has tried to position himself as the key EU figure in negotiations with Russia.

UK, German troops to deploy

Germanys new government has come under criticism from Ukraine and some in the United States over accusations that it is not fully engaging with US-led efforts to push back against Russian military pressure on Ukraine.

Scholz said he and Biden were absolutely united on sanctions against Russia, though he repeatedly avoided mentioning the Nord Stream 2 pipeline by name.

Biden has reacted to the Russian troop build-up by offering 3,000 American forces to bolster NATOs eastern flank, with a batch of the troops arriving in Poland on Sunday.

Britain said yesterday that 350 more British troops would be sent to the Polish border and Germany announced that another 350 of its soldiers would go to Lithuania.

While Scholz was in Washington, his foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, was in Kyiv along with her Czech, Slovak and Austrian counterparts for a two-day visit.

Scholz himself will be in Moscow and Kyiv next week for talks with Putin and Zelensky.

Visits to Moscow by the British foreign and defence secretaries are also expected at the end of this week.
Saudi crown prince to visit this year

BANGKOK: The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, will visit Thailand once the government finishes the roadmap to restarting bilateral cooperation between the two kingdoms, Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai said yesterday (Feb 7).

politics

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 8 February 2022, 12:17PM

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha talks with HRH Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia during his visit to the kingdom on Jan 25. Photo: Government House

The roadmap will prioritise cooperation in certain areas, in particular energy and labour, Don said.

The remarks were made in response to an enquiry by Senator Jadet Insawang in parliament on the restoration of working ties between the two countries, which followed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-chas visit to Riyadh on Jan 25.

The Saudi crown prince will pay Thailand a visit likely towards the end of the year.

During the visit, he will sign a framework agreement on the implementation of bilateral cooperation in various sectors, Don said, adding the visit will set the tone for the future relationship between Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

He said the Foreign Ministry is coordinating with Saudi officials to determine what will go on the agenda for the next bilateral talks.

After Prayut met the Saudi crown prince in Riyadh, he urged government officials in both Thailand and Saudi Arabia to move quickly to turn words into action. Cooperation in some sectors could begin in two months, but more complex agreements might take up to six months to implement, he said.

Don said a priority is to find an ambassador to fill the post in Riyadh, which has been vacant for three decades due to strained ties between the two nations.

Saudi Arabia downgraded diplomatic ties with Thailand and adopted a number of measures after the murder of Saudi diplomats and the disappearance of a Saudi businessman in Bangkok following the theft of Saudi state gems in 1989.

These included replacing the head of its diplomatic mission with a charge daffaires, prohibiting Saudi Arabian nationals from travelling to Thailand, and stopping Thai workers from being employed in the Middle East nation.

Separately, members of the Thai Chamber of Commerce met yesterday to discuss trips to Saudi Arabia starting from Feb 25.
The Grow Boating Networking Evening for March 2022

Start From: Friday 4 March 2022, 05:00PM to Friday 4 March 2022, 10:00PM Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun.

We would like to invite you to join us for the next Grow Boating Evening which will be held at the Sea Breeze at the Royal Phuket Marina on Friday the 4th of March from 5pm.

Our drinks sponsor for the evening will be Royal Phuket Marina. There will be a delicious light buffet for all attendees and as always all of your favourite beverages will be available from the bar.

Come and join in the fun everyone is welcome and there is no entry fee. We hope to see you there and if you know anyone you think would be interested in coming please invite them along.

To join our mailing list please send an email to growboatingphuket@gmail.com Grow Boating is kindly supported by our media partner The Phuket News, Live 89.5 radio and Phuket News TV. See www.thephuketnews.com
Vachira Hospital issues urgent call for blood donors

PHUKET: Vachira Phuket Hospital has issued an urgent plea for blood donors to step forward as the fallout from COVID-19 has led to a shortage of blood stocks at Phuket hospitals.

CoronavirusCOVID-19healthVaccine

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 8 February 2022, 04:27PM

The request detailed that all blood types are needed and Thai as well as foreigners are encouraged and welcome to come and donate.

Dr Aumpai Saengwijit, medical technologist and chief of Vachira Phuket Hospitals blood bank, emphasised that the situation is urgent.

The situation has been created due to two factors, he said.

Firstly, the rising number of people being infected with COVID-19 on the island. Secondly, people who have recently received a vaccination cannot donate blood for a week after they have been inoculated.

This has meant a major decrease in the number of people donating and, therefore, a shortfall of supplies.

Donations can be made at the Vachira Phuket Hospital Blood Bank which is situated on the 4th floor of the outpatient building. The facility is open to donors Monday to Friday between 8:30am to 8pm and on weekends and national public holidays between 8:30am to 3pm.

Additionally, people can donate at Limelight Avenue Phuket, Dibuk Rd, Phuket Town starting from today (Feb 7) and running until Friday (Feb 11). The facility is open between the hours of 11am to 4pm.

There will also be a series of mobile stations operational from today until Feb 28 at the following locations on the following dates:

Feb 7-8, 11am to 4pm at Limelight Avenue Phuket (Phuket Town)

Feb 9, 10am to 3pm at Boat Lagoon Resort (Koh Kaew)

Feb 10, 10am to 3pm at Non-formal education centre (Phuket Town)

Feb 11, 11am to 4pm at Limelight Avenue Phuket (Phuket Town)

Feb 13, 11am to 6pm at Limelight Avenue Phuket (Phuket Town)

Feb 15, 10am to 3pm at Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach (Patong)

Feb 18, 10am to 3pm at Thalang Hospital

Feb 20, 10am to 6pm Baan & Beyond Phuket (opposite Central Festival Phuket)

Feb 22, 10am to 3pm at Kathu Subdistrict Municipality

Feb 23, 10am to 3pm at Thalang Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA)

Feb 24, 10am to 3pm at Rassada Subdistrict Municipality

Feb 25, 10am to 3pm at Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas (Mai Khao)

Feb 28, 10am to 3pm at Phuket Revenue Office (Phuket Town)

People requesting any further information are advised to call 076-361234.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Today the placement and buyback auctions of government bonds totalling AMD 28 billion have taken place on Armenian Securities Exchange.

In particular, the volume of auction allocation of government bonds (ISIN AMGN60294268) amounted to AMD 25 billion, with the demand surpassing AMD 64 billion. The maturity period of bonds is 5 years. The weighted average yield of the auction is 9.84%, and the annual yield of the coupon is 7%. This testifies to the stability of the financial market, its attractiveness, and the confidence in the bonds of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, ARMENPRESS was infomred from the Armenia Securities Exchange.

The Armenia Securities Exchange informs that the primary auctions of government bonds through primary dealers, the list of which is published on the website of the Ministry of Finance of Armenia. To buy government bonds from the secondary market, you should connect Exchange members or market participants.
Progress_news

Morris Township solicitor offers updates on legal matters

MORRISDALE  Solicitor Dan Nelson reported on various legal-related matters in Morris Township at a recent meeting.

Nelson offered an update on the Municipal Authority of the Township of Morriss request to build a garage on the end of the townships garage. Last November, MATOM noted it needed space to store equipment.

Nelson, the township solicitor, and Heather Bozovich, who represents the authority, are working on agreements. It is important to keep in mind the township and authority are two separate entities, Nelson noted.

There may be some cross pollination on the individuals who occupy those seats, meaning certain people involved with the township are the same people involved on the authority side, and you have a shared vision, Nelson said. But legally speaking, those entities are separate.

If the authority were to be dissolved in the future, the municipality would be guided by agreements over who gets what.

It will essentially talk about what are the responsibilities for each entity, when will we break ground, and if you decide to wrap this up, how that will walk and how it will work, Nelson stated. We hope to have that month of March.

Previously, a representative from MATOM noted the long-term intent to dissolve and hand MATOMs responsibilities over to the township. However, this would occur in the far off future.

They never ever happen with the people who created the vision, Nelson said. It happens years later and then everyones trying to figure out what did the parties intend?

In other township business, Jim Hummel was appointed to fill the seat on the Moshannon Valley Joint Sewer Authority presently held by Theresa Couturiaux as a holdover. Mark Rusnak was also appointed to a seat.

Nelson also presented potential amendments to an existing nuisance ordinance. The amendments pertained to all-terrain vehicles, utility-terrain vehicles, campers and recreational vehicles.

Basically to stop storage and accumulation of junk on peoples lands, Nelson explained.

The proposed amendment involved making it unlawful to store these items on private property for 90 days without moving them, Supervisor James Williams noted.

Williams stated his camper usually sits on his property for most of the winter and fall months. Many of those at the meeting stated their situation was similar.

Williams indicated the township should stick to tackling unlicensed and unregistered items, which are currently not allowed per an existing ordinance.

Technically, if its sitting there, its not registered and not licensed, its basically junk, Williams said.

Code Enforcement Officer Josiah Jones wanted the items mentioned spelled out in the ordinance for clarity in terms of enforceability. He noted the township is only looking at pursuing cases where the item is unregistered and unmoved.

The amendments will be further worked on and return in March.
H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media

Gas prices on average in Connecticut are over a dollar more today than this time last year, according to AAA Northeast.

The agency said winter weather and events across the globe are driving up crude oil prices to more than $90 a barrel. The national average as of Monday was $3.44 a gallon, which is up about 7 cents from last week, 14 cents from last month and 98 cents from last year.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. The Armenia-Greece Friendship Association (AGFA) has condemned in a statement the initiative of the Azerbaijani government to establish a working group to eliminate the Armenian presence from Armenian churches, ARMENPRESS reports the Armenian Embassy in Greece presented the statement on its Facebook page.

"The Armenia-Greece Friendship Association condemns the initiative of the Azerbaijani government to set up a working group to destroy the Armenian presence from the Armenian temples in the territories occupied by Azerbaijan under the pretext that those temples belonged to the Caucasian Albanian Church," reads the statement.

According to them, the reality is that the Albanian Church in the Caucasus was an autonomous church, established for a short time in the 5th century, and in 705 it was subordinated to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Albanian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405. "Therefore, it is almost impossible for the Armenian Church to use Albanian temples. It is obvious that Baku's goal is to commit another cultural genocide through the action of cultural fascism," the statement reads.

The Armenia-Greece Friendship Association condemned the act and called on the UNESCO and other international organizations to take a stand and do everything possible to prevent it.
Salem, MO (65560)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. High 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Low 56F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected.
Today

Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 62F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 41F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy in the morning. Increasing clouds with periods of showers later in the day. High around 60F. ESE winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
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.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan chaired a consultation on the preliminary fiscal framework of the 2023-2025 Medium-Term Expenditure Program, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Offic eof the prime Minister.

Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan presented the summary analysis made by the Ministry, the purpose of which is to provide information to the state agencies on the assessment of the current and capital expenditure limits of the fiscal space. The Minister referred to the main indicators of the fiscal framework, the opportunities for the implementation of the Government's targets in terms of current and capital expenditures, the risks of the fiscal framework and the forecasted trends in other directions.

In this context, an exchange of views took place, issues related to the activities envisaged by the Government's Action Plan were touched upon. The current and capital projects, the reform process initiated in various spheres and further actions were discussed.

The Prime Minister stressed that it is necessary to work actively and effectively in order to achieve the social, infrastructural and other targets in all the directions, and gave specific instructions to the officials in charge.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Occasional light rain. Low around 18C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Occasional light rain. Low around 10C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Lets not pay into this service at all and go down another path. This conversation is not foreign if they remove these services from our territory while charging us for them. Dollard-des-Ormeaux Mayor, Alex Bottausci told The Suburban.
Today

Thunderstorms likely. High around 75F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.

Tomorrow

Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, then cloudy skies late. High near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
ALTON  No injuries were reported in a Tuesday morning blast reported at Alton Steel.

At about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Alton firefighters received a call reporting an explosion at Alton Steel, 5 Cut St., in Alton. Heavy brown smoke could be seen for miles, billowing from the facility and blowing across East Broadway.

Firefighters were told the explosion had been on the east side of the building, which was the same side that an oxygen explosion occurred on Dec. 1, 2021 and reportedly injured two employees.

Tuesday's incident had no injuries reported, and as smoke began to dissipate from the large building firefighters at the scene were told they were not needed.

Several Alton Police units also responded to the call Tuesday and joined firefighters at the main gate. The cause of the incident has not been released.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Artsakh Republic issued a statement on the occasion of Azerbaijan's intention to appropriate Armenian cultural heritage, noting that the establishment of a special commission in Azerbaijan, which is tasked with changing the appearance of Armenian cultural and religious monuments and with their subsequent appropriation is a gross violation of the order of the International Court of Justice, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Artsakh Republic.

We strongly condemn the decision of the Azerbaijani authorities to establish a special commission tasked with, according to subsequent statements by officials, destroying the traces of the Armenian identity of cultural and religious monuments located in the territories of Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan. This serves as another convincing evidence of the fact that the Armenian cultural heritage that has come under the control of the Azerbaijani authorities is in real danger of being completely destroyed or torn off from their historical roots.



We have repeatedly stated that the falsification of history and the cultural genocide by Azerbaijan are an integral part of the broader anti-Armenian policy systematically pursued by Baku for several decades. If at the initial stage of the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict, manipulations with history and culture served as a justification for the deportation of the Armenian population from the former Azerbaijan SSR, now they are aimed at legitimizing the results of the illegal use of military force by Azerbaijan against Artsakh.



The elimination of any traces of the Armenian presence both in the occupied territories of Artsakh and in Azerbaijan through the falsification of history, destruction of Armenian cultural monuments and renaming of autochthonous toponyms is, in fact, a continuation of Azerbaijan's aggression by other methods.



There is a strong belief among the international community and in expert circles that the destruction of cultural monuments is an attack on the dignity of peoples, their values and ideals in order to undermine the nation's ability to withstand historical trials and develop. By declaring war on Armenian history and culture, Azerbaijan is trying to achieve exactly this goal.



The destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage is not only an attempt to deprive the people of Artsakh of their rights, including the right to culture, but also a challenge to the international community and a threat to peace and security. Over the past decades, the international community represented by the UN, in response to the increasing number of cases of deliberate destruction of cultural monuments during conflicts across the world, has developed a position according to which the destruction of cultural sites is a war crime and amounts to acts of terrorism.



The creation in Azerbaijan of a special commission tasked with changing the appearance of Armenian cultural and religious monuments and with their subsequent appropriation is a gross violation of the order of the International Court of Justice on provisional measures, which require official Baku to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration of the Armenian cultural heritage, including, but not limited to, churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts. The order of the International Court of Justice is binding on Azerbaijan. The refusal to implement it demonstrates Baku's intention to undermine, albeit at a local level, the system of international relations that ensures international peace and security.



We once again call on the world community and specialized international organizations to urgently take all necessary measures to make Azerbaijan comply with its international obligations to preserve and respect the cultural heritage of the Armenian people and to fully implement the order of the International Court of Justice on provisional measures, reads the statement.
MOUNT OLIVE  Mount Olive Illinois First Baptist Church at 410 W. 3rd N. St. in Mount Olive will be celebrating "Jesus Is My True Valentine" on Sunday, Feb. 13 in the 9:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. services.

The theme verse is "We love Him because He first loved us." Everyone is welcome. For more information, call 217-299-0508.
Death on the Nile is a supposedly ensemble cast, but to me it was all about 5-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh who directed, had the best costumes, had the most screen time and lines as Hercule Poirot.

A sequel to Murder on the Orient Express, which was all about Branagh, this too was slow and boring. If you slept through the first two hours and woke up for the last seven minutes, you would understand the whole story. I wasnt that lucky.

Agatha Christies Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot's vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer, the S.S. Karnak, is destroyed when a couple's honeymoon is tragically cut short by murder. Poirot is entrusted with the important task of identifying which one of the passengers is the killer before they can strike again.

Set against the gorgeous Egyptian vistas and the majestic Giza pyramids, the Christie story centers around passion, greed, revenge and jealousy.

Besides Branagh, Gal Godot is newlywed Linnet married to Simon Doyle played by Armie Hammer. Supposedly this is Hammers last movie based on a sexual scandal that happened last year.

Four-time Academy Award nominee, Annette Benning is Euphemia mother to Poirots best friend Broc played by Tom Bateman. Other actors include Russell Brand, Dawn French, Ali Fazel and Rose Leslie.

The screenplay by Michael Green is based on the 1937 book by Agatha Christie of the same name. I have read everything Christie has written and her words and dialog having you waiting with bated breath with anticipation.

Green did not do Christie justice in either film because he also wrote the script for the 2017 Murder on the Orient Express. For thrilling movies, see both original films.

Paco Delgado designed the costumes, which were a disappointment. Branagh always looked impeccable, but the rest of the cast looked okay but not as spiffy as Branagh. I usually love costumes from the period, but Delgado should have done so much more. All the characters were wealthy and would have dressed with more panache. Also, in Egypt they would have melted in all the heavy clothes they were wearing.

Now showing at the Edwardsville AMC. I give Death on the Nile two stars.
EDWARDSVILLE  State Reps. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, and Jay Hoffman, D-Belleville, are hosting a virtual Witness Slip Seminar on Monday, Feb. 14.



There are many ways individuals can be involved in the legislative process and share their opinions on bills, said Stuart. Witness slips are a useful and simple method for individuals or organizations to communicate their position on an issue to all members of the legislature.



As part of the legislative process in Illinois, witness slips are a tool for individuals or organizations to create a public record of their stance on a bill and help legislators gauge the publics opinion on the potential legislation. Witness slips can be filed on any bill that is scheduled to be heard in a committee and will be read into the official record when the bill is heard in committee. The seminar will explain the process of submitting witnesses.



A lot of new bills will be introduced to committees in the coming weeks, and filing a witness slip is a great way to publicly weigh in on them, said Stuart. I encourage anyone who would like to learn about the process or needs a refresher to attend this seminar. Additionally, residents are always welcome to reach out to my office with their views on issues.



The seminar will be held 6-7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14. A Zoom link will be provided upon RSVP to repkatiestuart@gmail.com.


To the Editor,

On Feb. 4, President Biden issued an executive order mandating project labor agreements to improve timeliness, lower costs and increase quality on federal construction projects greater than $35 million. How ironic. The truth is that PLA schemes increase costs to taxpayers, reduce opportunities for qualified Illinois contractors and skilled tradespeople and exacerbate the construction industrys worker shortage.

Government-mandated PLAs steer taxpayer-funded public works contracts to union-signatory contractors, granting unions a monopoly to build these projects. Studies show that PLAs can increase the cost of public works projects by 12% to 20%, in part because of reduced competition. Discriminatory PLAs effectively exclude 87.4% of the construction workforce nationally (65.5% in Illinois) from working on these jobs because they are not unionized.

Taxpayers would be best served by the administration adopting inclusive, win-win policies that welcome all of Americas construction industry to realize the potential of the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. We cannot effectively rebuild our nations crumbling infrastructure, increase accountability, and reduce waste with anti-competitive and costly union-only PLAs. Come election time, voters will remember.

Learn why government-mandated PLAs are not the answer to building long-lasting federal construction projects safely, on time and on budget by visiting: buildamericalocal.com.

Alicia Martin

Associated Builders and Contractors
Redistricting proposal

Here are the lists of counties and towns in the proposed 8th and 9th congressional districts, according to the redistricting map recommended Monday to the state Supreme Court by Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough. The two districts cover most of Northeast Pennsylvania. U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Moosic Democrat, represents the existing 8th. Rep. Dan Meuser, a Dallas Borough Republican, represents the current 9th.

8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : All of Lackawanna, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming and Bradford counties; part of Luzerne County consisting of the cities of Pittston and Wilkes-Barre; Dallas, Exeter, Franklin, Jackson, Jenkins, Kingston, Lake, Lehman, Pittston, Plains, Plymouth Ross and Wilkes-Barre townships; all of Avoca, Dallas, Dupont, Duryea, Exeter, Forty Fort, Harveys Lake, Hughestown, Kingston, Laflin, Laurel Run, Swoyersville, West Pittston, West Wyoming, Wyoming and Yatesville boroughs; and part of Luzerne Borough; part of Monroe County consisting of all of Barrett, Chestnuthill, Coolbaugh, Jackson, Middle Smithfield, Paradise, Pocono, Polk, Price, Smithfield, Tobyhanna, and Tunkhannock townships, part of Stroud Twp., and all of Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono and Stroudsburg boroughs.

9TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Part of Luzerne County consisting of the cities of Hazleton and Nanticoke; Bear Creek, Black Creek, Buck, Butler, Conyngham, Dennison, Dorrance, Fairmount, Fairview, Foster, Hanover, Hazle, Hollenback, Hunlock, Huntington, Nescopeck, Newport, Rice, Salem, Slocum, Sugarloaf, Union and Wright townships; all of Ashley, Bear Creek Village, Conyngham, Courtdale, Edwardsville, Freeland, Jeddo, Larksville, Nescopeck, New Columbus, Nuangola, Penn Lake Park, Plymouth, Pringle, Shickshinny, Sugar Notch, Warrior Run, West Hazleton and White Haven boroughs and part of Luzerne Borough; all of Carbon, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Schuylkill, Sullivan and Tioga counties; and parts of Clinton, Snyder and Union counties.
ETCHMIDZIN, 8 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin calls on all countries involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, first of all, the co-chairing states of the OSCE Minsk Group, sister churches and religious institutions, specialized international organizations to strictly respond to the undisguised cultural genocide implemented by Azerbaijan. ARMENPRESS reports the statement published on the Facebook page of the Mother See reads as follows,

Recently the authorities of Azerbaijan, in the person of the Minister of Culture, made another anti-Armenian initiative.



According to the statement of the latter Working Group of professionals of Caucasian Albanian history and architecture has been set up, comprised of local and foreign experts, the aim of which is to remove the false traces left by Armenians from the so-called the Caucasian Albanian religious temples.



The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin strictly condemns this initiative of the Azerbaijani authorities and qualifies it as anti humanitarian and anti-civilizational activity with manifestation of hostility and hate against Armenia, Artsakh and Armenian people.



The Armenian identity of Christian sanctuaries under control of Azerbaijan is a scientifically proven reality and cant become a subject of dispute within the framework of reasonable and objective thinking.



The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin calles on all countries included in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, first of all, the co-chairing states of the OSCE Minsk Group, sister churches and religious institutions, international professional organizations to strictly respond to the fact of undisguised cultural genocide implemented by Azerbaijan in order to stop and prevent such expressions of vandalism.
London, KY (40741)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 60F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 60F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
MADDY BARRETTE, Chariho, Softball, Sophomore; Barrette hit a two-run single in the seventh inning, lifting Chariho past Cumberland. For the week, Barrette was 4 for 8 with three RBIs and a double in three games.

MADDIE STEPSKI, Stonington, Softball, Senior; Stepski hit two home runs in back-to-back games for the Bears. In three games during the week, she was 10 for 13 with four homers, two doubles and 12 RBIs. Stepski is hitting .750 for the season with 22 RBIs and six home runs.

MICHAEL POOLE, Westerly, Baseball, Freshman; Poole struck out 14 Rogers batters to earn his second win of the season. Poole pitched a four-hitter and allowed just one earned run. For the season, Poole has 19 strikeouts in 12 innings with a 1.14 ERA.

SEAN BERGEL, Wheeler, Baseball, Sophomore; Bergel pitched a complete-game two-hitter in a 1-0 win against Putnam. Bergel struck out seven and did not walk a batter. He is 2-1 with a 1.68 ERA this season.

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Surging power bills are fuelling the worst cost-of-living crisis in Britain for 30 years.

Households have already seen big rises in heating costs this winter, but will be hit with a further 54 per cent hike in April - close to 700, on average.

Bills are also expected to soar again in October, if not sooner, as the crisis shows no sign of cooling.

Crisis point: Households have already seen big rises in heating costs this winter, but will be hit with a further 54 per cent hike in April - close to 700, on average

Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week announced a multi-million-pound support package to ease the pain for households. But millions who need help will miss out, and others will have to pay back more than they receive.

As the nation braces itself for an energy bill blow that could last for three years, suppliers are accused of keeping customers in the dark and luring some into poor-value deals.

The average monthly energy cost could hit 320 next winter.

Swathes of the country will miss out on 150 council tax rebates  including two million pensioners.

Around 200 million of credit owed to customers by suppliers that have gone bust is unaccounted for and will add 10 to every bill.

Supplier call-waiting times are soaring as confused customers panic.

Direct debits are being doubled or even tripled without warning  and months before the energy cap rises.

Providers are accused of promoting more expensive fixed deals, as well as sending out-of-date price and guidance to customers.

So what does the crisis mean for your money? How much should you really be paying for power, and is there any way to save?

Here is our essential guide to surviving energy bill bedlam . . .

When will the price hike hit?

Families know they are going to have to pay a lot more to power their homes  but how much more?

Energy firm customer service teams were struggling to cope with increased demand last week as worried customers flooded their phone lines.

British Gas was warning callers they may have to wait nearly an hour, while Scottish Power customers were told theyd be waiting more than 30 minutes.

EDF had an automated message to say: If you are calling about the Government announcement we have no more information at this time.

Support: Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) last week announced a multi-million-pound package to ease the pain for homeowners. But millions who need help will miss out

The average household on a standard variable tariff will see their annual bill rise by 693 a year when the price cap rises to 1,971 in April. So far Scottish Power and EDF Energy have confirmed they will be hiking prices then.

Analysis for Money Mail by The Energy Shop today also reveals that, if the price cap rises a further 15 per cent in October, average monthly bills will hit 189. The cost of supplying gas and electricity for the average home could also peak at 320 next January.

Regulator Ofgem first introduced the price cap in January 2019 to stop suppliers charging more than a set price for every unit of gas and electricity on their standard variable tariffs.

It is now consulting on changes which could see it reviewed every three months rather than every six.

The exact impact of the new cap on your bill will depend on how much energy you use.

A typical customer in a one-bedroom flat will see their annual payments rise by 405 to 1,235, according to Energyhelpline.com. Yet someone in a six-bedroom property faces a 935 increase to 2,779 a year.

Eight in ten customers are now on a standard variable tariff  up from just over half last year. It means 22 million households will be hit by the price cap rise.

Around 368 fixed energy tariffs are also due to end in the first three months of this year, which will see another 700,000 households moved on to their suppliers default deal.

Those with traditional meters should take readings the day before the price cap is hiked on April 1 to ensure they pay for power used at the lower rate.

Around 4.5 million households with a pay-as-you-go energy meter will be hit even harder as their price cap is increasing from 1,309 to 2,017.

If you have a prepayment meter, you can ask your supplier to switch you to a credit meter, where you pay for bills quarterly or by monthly direct debit. But if you are in debt or have a history of missed payments, it will likely refuse.

Monthly tariff up from 47 to 571 Bill shock: Retired lorry driver Martin Overton Retired lorry driver Martin Overton received an email from British Gas in November suggesting he sign up to its cheapest fixed tariff until April 2023. However, the cost was just shy of 1,500 a year  almost a 40 per cent rise. He rolled on to the standard variable tariff but last month was told his bill would increase from 47 a month to 571. Martin, 66, from Bedworth, Warwickshire, cancelled the direct debit but received an email demanding 1,600 in seven days. He says: My wife was worried sick. After Money Mail intervened, British Gas admitted it had made a mistake. It has lowered the bill to 1,000 and given him more time to pay. His direct debit has also been reduced to 110 a month. A British Gas spokesman says: Were sorry for the issues Mr Overtons had.

Why are standing charges rising?

Three in four families have seen their bills hiked in the past year, according to a Consumer Intelligence poll for Money Mail.

A quarter of all respondents said they were paying between 51 and 100 a month more than they were a year ago.

But as well as paying for each kilowatt of energy you use, suppliers also charge a fixed daily fee to cover the cost of supplying power to your property.

These so-called standing charges are also increasing. From April, firms can charge up to 45p a day for electricity  up from 25p. For gas, the cap is rising by 1p to 27p.

It means the average family will pay 265 a year in standing charges, up from 186. As the charges are fixed, those in smaller homes who use less power will be disproportionately affected.

Much of the increase is down to the collapse of more than two dozen energy firms since last summer.

Ofgem has paid suppliers 1.84 billion to take on these customers and now needs to recoup the money  which works out at around 68 per household. Around half of this will be recovered through standing charges.

The regulator says network maintenance costs have also increased and firms that supply fossil fuels are now having to pay a new Green Gas Levy.

Is now the right time to fix?

Energy prices are expected to remain high until 2025  but the cheapest fixed tariff for the average household currently costs around 870 a year more than a standard variable deal.

Experts say wait. If you are on a fixed deal ending soon, your supplier will write to you to explain your options. However, customers must take care as some firms are pushing costly fixed tariffs.

In a renewal email sent to customers in January, E.on told them that if they did nothing they would be moved to a variable tariff that may be more expensive.Yet, it was 76 per cent a year cheaper than the fixed deal offered.

And in an email to customers last week, Octopus Energy listed its cheaper variable tariff below a 12-month fixed deal that was 47 per cent a year more expensive.

Hikes: The average household on a standard variable tariff will see their annual bill rise by 693 a year when the price cap rises to 1,971 in April

Is it still worth switching?

Many comparison sites have withdrawn their energy-switching services because any new deals available will likely cost more than a standard variable rate tariff.

So if you want to switch because you are moving house or unhappy with your providers customer service, you may have to contact your new firm directly.

Last year some energy firms stopped taking on new customers when soaring wholesale costs led to the collapse of 26 suppliers.

But regulator Ofgem has said suppliers must continue to offer tariffs to households. The largest firms, including British Gas, Scottish Power and EDF, are accepting new customers.

Tom Edwards, of energy analysts Cornwall Insight, says prices are not likely to fall until summer next year.

He adds: Without significant changes to the way we procure, supply, and consume energy, we are likely to see many years of boom-and-bust energy pricing.

To ensure you dont miss out on cheap deals when they return, sign up for future alerts from comparison sites such as Energyhelpline and Comparethemarket.

How do I know my bill is correct?

Complaints about inaccurate bills are soaring, according to the Energy Ombudsman.

The new price cap means households should expect to see their direct debit payments rise by around 54 per cent from April.

Taking meter readings once a month is the best way to ensure you are paying for the energy you use. Always double check the readings on your bill against your meter.

If there is a big difference, contact your supplier. Strict back-billing rules mean firms are not allowed to charge customers for energy debt from more than 12 months ago if they co-operated with readings.

If you think there is a fault with your meter, ask the firm to send out an engineer. But if there is nothing wrong, you may have to pay.

Ovo, for example, charges a 157 fee for testing gas meters. Customers signed up to energy deals that claim to offer 100 per cent renewable electricity may also wonder why they are impacted by soaring wholesale prices.

This is because there is not enough electricity from renewable sources to go around. And around a third of electricity on the grid is generated by gas.

Your energy bill will say how much gas and electricity you are using in kWh. This stands for kilowatt hour.

It will also show the price of each unit you use on your current tariff plus the standing charge, which covers the cost of supplying you.

You should see the record of your meter readings  either actual or estimated.

What's the best way to pay?

Around two in three households pay their bills by monthly direct debit. Suppliers estimate how much power you will use over a year, and split this into 12 equal payments.

In the summer, when you do not have the heating on, you will build up credit. This will help prevent you from being hit with a shock bill in winter when you use more energy.

Providers also often offer customers a discount to pay this way. According to Ofgem, people who pay by cash or cheque will be charged 130 more over a year.

If you are still in credit after winter, its likely you are paying too much. Experts usually advise customers to claim this back and ask for their monthly payments to be lowered.

But you may want to consider leaving this money in your account this year to shield you against price rises.

Keep track: Taking meter readings once a month is the best way to ensure you are paying for the energy you use

Does the price cap protect everyone?

Millions of customers are not protected by the price cap and could see their energy bills rise by as much as 400 per cent.

Around 1.5 million (4 per cent) of UK homes are powered by oil and many are in rural areas.

The price of heating oil has soared from 41p to 63p per litre in the past year, according to comparison site boilerjuice.com.

The average household uses 1,800 litres of oil a year, pushing up annual bills from 738 to 1,134  and set to soar higher.

Sarah Coles, of Hargreaves Lansdown, says: Oil producers are not in a rush to flood the market in case a surge in the pandemic weakens demand, so supply is likely to remain relatively sluggish in the immediate future. High demand will continue to mean high prices.

Around 500,000 households are supplied by communal heating systems  often known as heat networks or district heating. This is where one generator supplies blocks of flats or entire housing estates.

The Government wants five million households to be supplied by these networks by 2050. But unlike ordinary tariffs, these suppliers have to buy gas from the commercial grid where prices are higher.

Stephen Knight, of consumer group the Heat Trust, says: The companies which operate these systems are paying up to 400 pc more for gas than they were last year. This means families with communal heating could be facing massive bill hikes.

Are green tariffs safe?

A small number of energy providers, including Ecotricity, Good Energy and GEUK, are permitted to charge more for their variable tariffs as they support the production of renewable gas or electricity.

Good Energy, which supplies 84,000 households, charges 2,230 a year for its standard variable deal  953 more than the current price cap.

A spokesman for Good Energy says it has no plans to increase the price of its deal in April.

Around 2.2 million households qualify for the Warm Home Discount worth 140. The Government plans to extend this to help an extra 780,000 pensioners and low-income families

What if old firm still owes me?

Some 26 suppliers have gone bust since August last year. Yesterday Ofgem boss Jonathan Brearley told MPs that collapsed suppliers may have lost 200 million in credit owed to customers.

He said every UK household would have to pay an extra 10 on their bills to recoup it. If your energy firm goes bust, you will be moved to a new provider, which is required by Ofgem to honour any credit balances.

This process should usually take around a month. But Enstroga collapsed more than four months ago and its 6,000 customers are still waiting for final bills and credit due. E.on, which took over the accounts, says it is still waiting to be sent account information.

Octopus Energy, which took on 580,000 Avro customers after it collapsed in September, says around 29,000 households are still waiting for a final bill.

If you have not heard from your new firm after eight weeks, you can complain to the Energy Ombudsman.

If your old supplier continues to bill you alongside your new firm, cancel your direct debit to the company that has failed. Extra payments should be returned.

Could my power be cut off?

Under Ofgem rules, suppliers cannot disconnect your energy unless they have first offered you other ways to pay off your debt.

So it is unlikely you will be cut off. If you are in persistent energy debt, your supplier may move you to a pre-payment meter.

But they must give you a chance to repay what is owed with an affordable payment plan first.

Is there support available?

Many energy giants offer financial support to vulnerable households. British Gas has set up a 2 million winter fuel fund and has 1.7 million left to give away.

Customers can get grants of 250-750 to clear energy debts. To qualify you must spend more than 10 per cent of your household income on energy costs, and not have more than 1,000 in savings.

The British Gas Energy Trust offers grants of up to 1,000 for boiler replacements and energy efficiency measures to all households regardless of their supplier.

Vulnerable EDF customers can apply to its support fund for help with outstanding debt. You must first register with its priority services online or call 0800 269 450.

The Government has made 500 million available to local councils to support households most in need. The Household Support Fund runs until March 31.

Around 2.2 million households also qualify for the Warm Home Discount worth 140. The Government plans to extend this to help an extra 780,000 pensioners and low-income families and increase the payment to 150.

It is automatic for those who receive the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit. Others on low incomes can apply to their supplier if they meet its eligibility criteria.

Those on benefits such as Pension Credit or Income Support, will get a Cold Weather Payment of 25 paid between November 1 and March 31 if the temperature drops to 0c or below for seven consecutive days.

Charity Age UK is urging the elderly to call its free advice line on 0800 169 65 65.
HMRC is giving millions of pounds to unregulated firms that charge naive taxpayers hefty fees for simple claims that cost nothing to make.

A Money Mail investigation today reveals how the taxman is helping to fuel the cynical industry that harvests millions of pounds in rebate cash.

Taxpayers who used the third-party firms have repeatedly complained they were unaware they would lose huge sums to fees.

Lost out: Elaine and Michael Hemmings saw much of their tax refunds swallowed up in refund firms charges

One company is siphoning off close to half of the tax relief paid out to those who work from home.

Claims for the perk, worth up to 125 a year, have soared in the pandemic, with nearly five million people applying since March 2020.

Snared online

From the marriage allowance to tax relief on uniforms, theres a rebate company for just about everything.

Many pay internet giants such as Google to appear at the top of search engine results, while others advertise heavily on social media sites such as Facebook.

Tax rebate is searched on Google 40,500 times each month, according to consumer group Which?

When we entered the phrase, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website did not top the search results.

Instead, two tax refund firms beat the real taxman because they have paid Google to appear there.

The top result, Taxrebate.co.uk, is run by Tax Credits Ltd. Its website uses a similar teal colour to HMRCs logo.

HMRC said it did not know how much rebate cash it diverted to rebate companies

Which? money editor Jenny Ross says: Copycat tactics can make it difficult for people to distinguish third-party firms from official government departments.

Rebate firms also draw in customers with online questionnaires that determine if they are owed cash by HMRC.

The taxpayer is then asked for personal information, such as their address or National Insurance number.

Before a claim is made, the customer has to sign a contract: a deed of assignment, which instructs HMRC to send cheques for refunds to the rebate firm.

Joanne Walker, of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG), says: For many years we have been contacted by people who are unhappy with these companies. Some dont remember instructing the firm to make a claim and say they were only trying to find out if they were eligible for a payout.

Martyn James, of complaints site Resolver, says: HMRC is potentially sending these companies millions of pounds each year. It is outrageous that companies such as Google allow them to charge people for something thats free without any warnings.

Punitive fees

Taxpayers can be left with less than half of their payouts once rebate firms take their fees. The charges, usually based on a percentage of the refund, start at around 25 per cent.

But taxrebate.co.uk, which claims to help employees claim rebates for working from home, levies a 48 per cent fee.

Money Mail found no mention of fees on the companys homepage.

One review on Trustpilot says: All they do is fill in a form with all the details you give them and for that they take 48 per cent of what you get  such a rip-off.

Manchester retail worker Ashleigh Hesketh-Hall, 33, found out she could claim tax relief for working from home when she spotted an advert for Tax Returned Ltd on Facebook. It charges 28 per cent of the refund or 42  whichever is greater.

Ashleighs refund came to 60.40, so she lost two-thirds of it to Tax Returned, which says it has claimed back 11.5 million for customers since 2014.

She says: I was so angry when I ended up with hardly anything.

Taxpayers can be left with less than half of their payouts once rebate firms take their fees. The charges, usually based on a percentage of the refund, start at around 25 per cent

Trapped by terms

Once signed, the contract can be revoked only if the company agrees. But some contracts cover up to four previous tax years.

Experts told Money Mail this meant that a rebate firm could take a slice of any future claim  even if unrelated to the original rebate.

Valerie Boggs, of charity TaxAid, says: If the taxpayer makes a backdated claim with HMRC directly, the company will receive the rebate instead of the taxpayer if a contract is in place.

Alison, 65, and Stuart Dixon, 76, signed a contract covering four previous tax years with Ensign Advisory Ltd when they tried to claim marriage allowance.

They found Marriage Allowance Check, which is run by Ensign, after clicking on a Facebook advert.

However, although HMRC informed them it had sent a cheque for 486.91 to the company in January 2021, they were still waiting to receive their money last month.

Unlike claims management and accountancy firms, tax refund companies dont have a regulator so there is no ombudsman to complain to.

Alison, a retired accounting assistant from Bradford, says: We never realised we were handing all of this control to these people.

Ensign says the couple had failed to respond to emails and text messages asking for proof of identity.

How to claim for free Working from home: You can claim up to 125 of income tax relief if you were told to work from home for at least one day of the tax year. Taxpayers who complete tax returns should claim when they fill in self-assessment. Those who do not can apply through HMRCs online portal at gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/ working-at-home. Marriage allowance: Married couples can transfer 1,260 of their personal tax-free allowance to their partner, reducing their income tax bill by up to 252 a year. Apply online at gov.uk/ apply-marriage-allowance. Uniform: Workers who wear uniforms can claim a rebate for maintaining it. What you receive will depend on your rate of tax and the industry in which you work. The standard allowance is 60 a year, so a basic-rate taxpayer would get 20 pc back, or 12 in total. Apply at gov.uk/claim- tax-refund. You can call HMRC to discuss rebate claims on 0300 200 3300.

They have now received their 486.91  minus 204 in fees  and the deed of assignment has been cancelled.

Michael Hemmings, 77, claims he had no idea he would have to pay such a high fee when he entered his details in to the website.

An email confirmed the company reclaimed 967.74 but as it charges 42 per cent of refunds plus 100 admin fee, the pensioner and his wife Elaine will receive only 461.29.

Michael, from Horsham, West Sussex, says: HMRC should be looking into these companies before it goes ahead and sends them money.

Labour MP Emma Hardy, who sits on the Treasury Committee, says: Taking nearly half of someones rebate is too much, but these firms arent registered with the Financial Conduct Authority so theres no one to complain to.

Unclear rules

Nearly half of all reviews about Ensign Advisory on Trustpilot are bad  the worst possible rating.

The review site is littered with terrible reviews about similar tax refund firms from customers who say they did not realise fees would be so high.

Meanwhile, others dont even remember signing up to a service and have reported companies to Action Fraud.

Taxrebate.co.uk has received only bad ratings on Trustpilot.

I feel duped by this company. wrote one customer who did not realise Tax Credits Ltd would charge a 48 per cent fee.

And although Tax Returned has a 4.7 out of five rating on, Trustpilot warned it against cherry picking reviews last year. This is because the company was  until then  inviting only selected customers for feedback.

All three firms say customers are presented with their fees as well as their terms and conditions and must confirm they have acknowledged them.

Tax Credits 2,300-word terms would take the average reader more than nine minutes to get through.

Ensigns customers can find out about its fees by clicking on the pricing section at the bottom of its website before they make a claim.

But the firms full 1,800-words terms, which customers are invited to click on before they claim, would take more than seven minutes to read.

Tax Returned claims customers are informed they can claim refunds through HMRC for free.

However, a spokesman says they could not provide screenshots of this part of the website because it was undergoing maintenance.

HMRC failings

When Money Mail asked the taxman how much cash it diverted to rebate companies each year, it said it did not record these figures.

HMRC could only confirm that agents and accountants made 379,459 claims for clients in 2020-21 for relief on employment expenses, down from 485,075 the previous year.

Yet the LITRG says it has seen an increase in complaints since 2020, as employees rushed to claim tax relief after working from home.

And an HMRC report on the companies, published last year, found taxpayers who used them often did not know they could claim their cash back for free. HMRC says it will be consulting on the high fees charged by these firms this year.

But the LITRGs Ms Walker believes it should go further and question deeds of authority which arrive at HMRC.

She says: Most ordinary people would have no real reason to sign a deed of authority. We would like to see HMRC contacting any taxpayer who has signed one to make sure they understand what they are agreeing to.

An HMRC spokesman says: People who use tax refund agents can forget that they have signed a binding contract and that the agent acting on their behalf will take a significant cut of what theyre due.

An Ensign spokesman says it is inevitable that not every single customer will be entirely satisfied.

A Tax Credits spokesman disputes that its website uses the same colours as HMRCs official website, adding: We will process many hundreds of claims before an individual expresses dissatisfaction.

A Tax Returned spokesman says its reviews are 100 per cent genuine and customers prefer to use its services rather than dealing with HMRC themselves.

Google removed the two tax return firms from its top search results after Money Mail got in touch.

f.parker@dailymail.co.uk
Scottish energy firm SSE has announced more ambitious environmental goals following its decision last year to boost spending on low-carbon infrastructure.

The blue-chip listed group said it now aims to slash its so-called Scope 1 emissions - emissions emanating from sources it directly controls - by 80 per cent by the end of the decade, compared to a previous target of 50 per cent.

It also wants to expand its renewable energy output fivefold so that its network is producing 30 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity by 2030, instead of its previous target of trebling output as set out in 2019.

Targets: SSE said it now aims to slash its so-called Scope 1 emissions - emissions emanating from sources it directly controls - by 80 per cent by the end of the decade

Alongside this, it hopes to connect 2 million electric vehicles and 1 million heat pumps on its transmission and distribution networks, all while advancing 'a fair and just energy transition.'

Soon after the COP26 Conference in Glasgow closed in November, SSE vowed to increase its capital investment in low-carbon infrastructure by around two-thirds to 12.5bilion by 2026 under its Net Zero Acceleration Programme.

The plan would mean another 1billion in additional spending per year by the firm, but it stated that this would help it achieve more than 25 per cent of the UK's 40GW offshore wind target by 2030.

SSE has an extensive portfolio of renewable energy assets in operation and in development, particularly offshore wind farm projects, such as Seagreen, Beatrice and Dogger Bank.

When completed in 2026, Dogger Bank will be the largest offshore wind project in the world, with enough power for over 6 million homes.

Today, SSE said it was making 'good progress' on the net zero strategy as it revealed its third-quarter results, which included an upgrading of its adjusted earnings per share forecast from a minimum of 83p to at least 90p.

Green development: SSE has an extensive portfolio of renewable energy assets, particularly offshore wind farm projects, such as Seagreen, Dogger Bank and Beatrice (pictured)

The Perth-based business said this was thanks to a robust financial performance from its gas-fired power plants, owners of whom have benefited from surging gas prices over the last few months.

This offset a much weaker power output from its renewable sources, which slid from over 7.2 gigawatts per hour (GWh) for the nine months ending 31 December 2020 to around 6.1GWh for the equivalent period the following year.

SSE blamed a significant part of the decline on the lower wind speeds and dry weather that affected the British Isles over the summer months, consequently boosting gas costs and demand.

UK gas prices have also been affected by much higher demand from China, where there has been a gradual shift away from coal, and a much colder European winter in 2020/21 that dramatically cut storage supplies.

Gregor Alexander, SSE's finance director, said his firm's performance 'gives us renewed confidence about delivery of good financial results for the full year.

'When coupled with the progress made on our capex plans in recent months, it also highlights the value we are creating for all stakeholders from continued execution of our net zero-aligned strategy.'

Shares in SSE closed trading 0.2 per cent down at 15.49 on Tuesday, meaning their value has fallen about 6 per cent since the start of 2022.
Vahan Hunanyan, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, has issued a comment on the statement by the Azerbaijani minister of culture.

February 8, 2022, 11:50 Armenia MFA: This action of Azerbaijan government is blatant defiance to decision by UN court

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 8, ARTSAKHPRESS: The comment reads as follows:

We strongly condemn the statement made by the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Anar Karimov (February 3) on the establishment of a working group for the destruction and change of the identity of the Armenian religious and historical-cultural monuments fallen under the control of Azerbaijan. The establishment of such a working group at the state level aimed at deliberate and illegal looting of the historical and cultural heritage of the neighbouring people and depriving them of their historical memory, is unprecedented even in the history of conflicts. It once again demonstrates the fact that the cases of vandalism and destruction of the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] during the 44-day war and the following period, are deliberate and pre-planned, and are part of the policy of annihilating Nagorno-Karabakhs indigenous Armenian population.

This action of the Azerbaijani Government is a blatant defiance to the decision on application of provisional measures issued by the UN International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021, which clearly obliges Azerbaijan to; Take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts.

In view of the current situation, the immediate intervention and unimpeded involvement on the ground of the international community, in particular UNESCO, is becoming more urgent for the preservation and prevention of the cases of vandalism against the Armenian monuments of Artsakh, which are part of the universal cultural heritage.

This policy of destruction and distortion of the identity of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage and religious sanctuaries contradicts Azerbaijan's statements on achieving reconciliation in the region, and creates serious obstacles to the establishment of lasting peace in the region.
Im feeling out of my depth and frankly very concerned and scared about what will happen to me and where I will live in the near future.

I am 55 and a full-time live-in carer for my mother who is now receiving palliative care and not expected to live longer than six months.

I have lived at the address for nine years and have been caring full-time for my mother for the last three years.

Inheritance worry: Could my siblings force me out of my mum's house when she dies? (Stock image)

I have not been able to work in this time, have no income, receive no benefits and have no savings. My late father and my mother have supported me financially.

I am youngest of five children, and the others each have a secure roof overhead, two owning their properties outright.

We are due to have a family meeting to discuss issues relating to my mothers care, funeral and what will happen to the house.

My mother's will was made over 30 years ago and states upon her death that the house will be sold and split five ways between the children.

In the past two years my mother has been adamant that I stay in the house upon her death as I have nowhere else to go and she wants the house to stay in the family.

The will was not changed to accommodate her wishes. Time has gone on, and while being an administrator of my father's estate and caring for my mother, we never got around to it.

Now it is too late to change it and would seem in bad taste and Id be uncomfortable with it. I have power of attorney for financial affairs for my mother.

As our dear mum's health declines, I am becoming ever more anxious and unsettled with worry about becoming homeless.

Im just wondering where I stand on having to move out of the family home or am I entitled to stay as I have been caring for my mother and have nowhere to go on to?

Would my family have to take me to court if I had no choice but to stay put and they wanted to sell the house?

Tanya Jefferies, of This is Money, replies: I'm really sorry to hear of your circumstances and that your mother is so seriously ill.

After all your years of devoted caring for your parents, it must be very upsetting to have to worry now about the potential upheaval of moving - and at worst whether you will have anywhere to live - on top of bereavement.

I hope your siblings are sympathetic and do not try to force you into any immediate decisions or action.

Below, an experienced lawyer explains your options regarding your mother's will and what might happen if she cannot change it before she dies.

Also, as you have no income or savings and are not on benefits, a financial expert looks at what help you might be entitled to now and in the future.

Richard Marshall, partner at law firm Hay & Kilner, replies: This is such a difficult situation, and I appreciate that the uncertainty around what will happen on your mothers death must be causing great concern at an already worrying time given her poor health.

Richard Marshall: If your mother is well enough it would be best for her to seek legal advice to update her will

Can the current will be changed?

As a starting point, the will is the legal blueprint for what happens to the assets someone owns on their death.

Whilst it may be a difficult conversation, if your mother is well enough it would be best for her to seek legal advice to update her will.

If done properly by an appropriate professional, there should be no issues around the validity of the will or any possible allegations that you have influenced or coerced your mother.

In these circumstances it would also be advisable for your mother to have a medical assessment to confirm that she has the required mental capacity to make a new will.

If this is not possible, then your mothers current will takes effect on her death.

Can you alter the will after your mother's death?

Your siblings could agree to allow you to live in the property, but it would be best to have this formalised to give you certainty around your rights of occupation.

If your siblings are agreeable (and all over the age of 18 with the ability to make decisions for themselves) then you can all agree to vary the terms of your mothers will after her death.

By way of example, this could be done to give you a right to live in the property for the rest of your life rent free, and then when you no longer need to live in the property it can be sold and the sale proceeds will pass to you and your siblings accordingly.

As long as this is done within two years of your mothers death it is a very effective way to redirect her estate.

As you will appreciate, your siblings could be deferring their entitlement to their share of the sale proceeds for the rest of your life (and arguably the rest of theirs) so they may not be agreeable to this.

Can you claim a greater share of the estate?

If your siblings were not agreeable to this, then you could consider making a claim against your mothers estate on the basis that you were being financially maintained by her.

Alternatively, if your mother had promised that the house would be yours 'one day' and you had relied on this promise to your detriment then you could bring a claim on this basis.

There needs to be evidence of any such promise which can make these types of claims difficult.

If you have made a financial contribution to or invested in the property you may have a right to a greater share of the property beyond what you would receive under the terms of your mothers will.

Bringing any type of claim against an estate is very specific to the circumstances in question.

It can also be very expensive and a time-consuming process, particularly if your siblings challenge a claim.

It would therefore be important to obtain legal advice if you were to consider making any such claim.

Can your siblings force the sale of the family home?

If your mother did not change her will, and you did not bring a claim against her estate, then your siblings could agree to allow you to live in the property until such time as it was sold.

This would give you the chance to find alternative accommodation and use your share of the sale proceeds to fund this.

If there are sufficient assets in the estate, then you could have the property in satisfaction of your share of the estate so long as there is enough cash or other assets to ensure your siblings receive their entitlement from the estate.

Failing this, if you did not agree to move out, the executors named in your mothers will may force the sale of the property, and apply to court on the assumption that you have not acquired any rights to occupy the property during your mothers lifetime.

What action can you take now?

Unfortunately, this is not a straightforward situation. If your mother is unable to change her will you may be best placed to obtain some legal advice sooner rather than later to fully understand your position and what options would be best for you in the circumstances.

Liam Bradford, technical advice support officer at Age UK, replies: First and foremost, you should speak to an advice organisation such as Citizens Advice or Age UK Advice and request a full personalised benefits check.

What benefits could you claim?

As you currently have no income or benefit entitlement, its likely youll be eligible for universal credit which is the main means-tested benefit for claimants under state pension age (currently age 66).

This would give you a monthly income of 324.84 and can be backdated by up to one month - though backdating is at the discretion of the Department for Work and Pensions, and you would have to state why you couldnt claim sooner.

However, universal credit is made up of various elements which includes an additional personal allowance for those with caring responsibilities.

So, you should also be able to claim this part of universal credit if you provide at least 35 hours' care per week AND your mother  the cared for person  receives a qualifying disability benefit, in this case attendance allowance as she is over state pension age.

This would provide you with an additional allowance of 163.73 per month.

Additionally, you may also be entitled to claim carers allowance, a benefit which has the same conditions of entitlement as the universal credit carer element above but with the further requirement that you are not earning more than 128 net per week.

This would boost your income by an extra 67.60 per week and can be backdated by up to three months.

Both the universal credit carer element and carer's allowance can be claimed at the same time, although carer's allowance will be treated as unearned income for universal credit purposes and be deducted on a pound for pound basis.

What could you claim on behalf of your mother?

As both the universal credit carer element and carer's allowance require the cared for person to be receiving a qualifying disability benefit, if this is not the case currently you can look into making a new claim for your mother.

You can do this as you have power of attorney for financial affairs for your mother.

Which benefit can be claimed will be determined by the age of your mother. As she is over state pension age it will be attendance allowance.

https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance

Considering your mother is not expected to live longer than six months, any of these claims can be fast tracked under what is known as special rules cases.

What if you have to leave the family home?

If you are unable to stay in the family home and end up facing homelessness, you should contact your local council - this will be the district council, if you live in a part of the country which has a county council as well.

Councils are responsible for helping people who are homeless and threatened with homelessness, so long as they are also eligible for help under immigration rules.

British citizens are usually eligible, unless they have recently returned from abroad.

The council will assess whether you meet this condition and whether you are legally considered homeless or threatened with homelessness.

To be legally threatened with homelessness, it must be likely that you will become homeless within 56 days (eight weeks), although councils are encouraged to be flexible where someone clearly at risk of homelessness but does not yet meet this definition.

If the council accepts that you are homeless or threatened with it, and also eligible under immigration rules, it will have a duty to take reasonable steps to help you.

This duty normally lasts for 56 days. The steps taken by the council will vary from case to case but may include attempting mediation with your family or providing financial or other support to help you into private rented housing.

If you are still facing homelessness after 56 days, the council will decide whether to provide further help based on your wider circumstances.

This means the reasons for your homelessness and whether you are considered a priority case.

Age UK has produced a leaflet on homelessness to help clients understand their rights and what to do if they receive a negative decision on their case.
SPARKS [mdash] Mrs. Mattie L. Clements Martin, 93, of Sparks, Georgia, passed away at her granddaughter's home on April 25, 2022. Mrs. Martin was born on January 17, 1929 in Colquitt County to the late Ivey Lane Hart and Ola Gay Hart. She lived most of her life in Cook County and was of the 
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Barre, VT (05641)

Today

A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low around 45F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low around 45F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Moscow and Ankara have agreed on Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Turkey, but no specific dates have been reported so far, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, reports TASS.

February 8, 2022, 15:57 Putin likely to visit Turkey, but no specific dates agreed yet. Peskov

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 8, ARTSAKHPRESS: Indeed, such a visit will likely take place in the future. As we have repeatedly stated, President Putin and Erdogan agreed that this visit would take place as soon as the presidents schedules and epidemiological situation allowed. There are no exact dates yet, but they will be agreed through diplomatic channels in a timely manner, the Kremlin spokesman noted.
Kingsport, TN (37660)

Today

A few clouds. Low around 55F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low around 55F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
The Saudi-led coalition has deployed newly formed units near Yemens Marib where battles have abated, according to military and government sources, as the warring sides hold their positions in the fight for energy-rich areas that has led to the wars biggest escalation in years.

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement last month responded to losses in Shabwa and Marib at the hand of Emirati-backed forces with unprecedented assaults on alliance member the United Arab Emirates, dealing a fresh blow to stalled peace efforts.

Marib is vital because it is the internationally recognised governments last stronghold in North Yemen, and the countrys sole gas producing region with one of its largest oilfields.

Three military sources said the UAE-backed Giants Brigade, southern Salafi Sunni Muslim fighters, have halted their advance in Marib after penetrating a Houthi cordon around the main city and securing the route to oil-rich Shabwa in the south.

The coalition in January sent the Giants Brigade to main front lines after Houthi advances following years of stalemate, during which the UAE in 2019 largely reduced its presence.

Last week, the alliance deployed new units comprised of northern tribal and Salafi fighters, named the Happy Yemen Brigades, near Marib, two government sources said, in a restructuring of local forces battling the Shiite Houthis.

The coalition did not respond to a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear if the move paves the way for southern fighters to return to positions on the western coast, but it further weakens the hold of the Islamist Islah Party that had dominated pro-coalition units in Marib.

So far the new brigade has not entered Marib and is battling Houthi forces holding the Harad border crossing area between Yemen and Saudi Arabia that has been shut since 2015, when the coalition intervened in Yemen.

The war is multifaceted with factions under the coalition umbrella vying for power despite being united against the Houthis, who ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014.

Last months escalation, which once again embroiled the UAE and saw a return of deadly coalition air strikes in Yemen, has renewed international focus on a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and caused a dire humanitarian crisis.

The conflict is largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.

SOURCE: REUTERS
French President Emmanuel Macron, the first leader of a major Western power to meet Vladimir Putin since Russia massed troops near Ukraine, said on Tuesday he believed steps can be taken to de-escalate the crisis and called on all sides to stay calm.

Macron, who in contrast to the U.S. and British leaders, has played down the likelihood that Russia may soon invade its neighbour, shuttled from Moscow to Kyiv on Tuesday in a high-profile bid to act as a mediator.

The French president had no breakthroughs to announce  his office rowed back on Tuesday after an official said overnight that Putin had promised him Russia would not stage military manoeuvres near Ukraine for the time being.

But Macron said he thought his talks had helped prevent the crisis from escalating further. Both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had told him they were committed to the principles of a 2014 peace agreement, he said, adding that this deal, known as the Minsk accords, offered a path to resolving their ongoing disputes.

This shared determination is the only way allowing us to create peace, the only way to create a viable political solution, Macron told a joint news conference with Zelenskiy.

Calm  is essential from all parties in words and in deeds, Macron said, praising Zelenskiy for the sangfroid that you are showing, and which the Ukrainian people are showing, in the face of military pressure on your borders and on your country.

Zelenskiy, for his part, made clear he was sceptical of any assurances Macron may have received from Putin.

I do not really trust words, I believe that every politician can be transparent by taking concrete steps, the Ukrainian leader said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Macron defended the outcome of his talks in Moscow on Monday, which brought no major breakthrough, telling reporters he had never expected for one second that Putin would make concessions.

WESTERN FEARS OF AN INVASION

Western countries led by the United States fear Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. Moscow says it is planning no invasion but could take unspecified military-technical measures unless a number of security demands are met, including a promise from NATO never to admit Kyiv.

The United States and the European Union have threatened Russia with sanctions if it attacks Ukraine. Moscow, still Europes biggest energy supplier despite already being under sanctions since seizing Ukraines Crimean peninsula in 2014, has largely dismissed new sanctions as an empty threat.

U.S. President Joe Biden warned on Monday that if Russia invades Ukraine, there will be no longer Nord Stream 2, referring to a newly built, as yet unopened gas pipeline to Germany. He did not specify how he would halt it.

While Western countries have stood together to back Ukraine, they disagree about the likelihood of war. French officials have suggested they think Washington has overstated the threat, and Kyiv itself has also played down the likelihood of a large-scale invasion.

Macron, who is expected to stand for re-election in April, said before he left on his trip to Moscow that he believed Russia did not have designs on Ukraine but wanted to renegotiate European security arrangements.

But whatever Moscows true aims, Western countries say they cannot safely assume the crisis will end without war unless Russia pulls back its troops.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, asked in an interview with CNN how likely is a Russian invasion, said: Theres no certainty but what we see is a continued military buildup with more and more forces The warning time is going down and the risk of an attack is going up.

SOURCE: REUTERS
By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Azerbaijani police have seized Armenian-left munitions in liberated Jabrayil region, local media has reported .

As a result of the raid, the Jabrayil district police department identified 160 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in a destroyed house in the Jabrayil region, which were left by the Armenian military during the 44-day war in 2020, the report added.

Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security, and cooperation.

On December 9, the Prosecutor-General's Office reported that 29 civilians and seven military servicemen were killed, as well as 109 servicemen and 44 civilians received injuries of varying severity as a result of mine explosions in the liberated lands since November 10, 2020.

Previously, on June 12, Azerbaijan handed over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of 97,000 mines in formerly-occupied Aghdam.

On July 3, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan maps of about 92,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines planted during the occupation of Fuzuli and Zangilan regions.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement on November 10, 2020, to end 44 days of fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.




Defence Secretary Ben Wallace speaks during a joint press conference with Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Main Building, in London. Picture date: Monday February 7, 2022. (PA Wire)

A further 350 British troops will be sent to eastern Europe as tensions continue to rise around Russias military build-up on the border with Ukraine

The soldiers will be sent to Poland with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace saying they will send a strong signal that the two countries stand side by side.

Poland is also facing a crisis on its own border with Belarus, whose leader Alexander Lukashenko is an ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace held a joint press conference with Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak in London (Peter Nicholls/PA) (PA Wire)

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis will continue this week, with Mr Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss expected to head to Moscow for talks.

Mr Wallace said the extra troops will add to 100 Royal Engineers already in Poland.

The bilateral deployment will show that we can work together and send a strong signal that Britain and Poland stand side by side, he said.

Mr Wallace warned that if Russia makes the foolish mistake of invading Ukraine it will face severe sanctions, isolation and more Nato  the very things that President Putin says he doesnt want.

He pointed to the way the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 led to Natos enhanced forward presence in alliance members Poland and Latvia.

Mr Wallace denied that Nato is trying to use divide and rule tactics against Moscow.

Nato is a defensive alliance. It poses no threat to Russia. It is a self-defence mechanism amongst our allies. That is what it is there for. No one wants to divide and rule Russia, he said.

At a joint press conference with Mr Wallace, Polish defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak welcomed the additional British deployment.

Speaking through a translator, he said: Im very grateful to Ben (Wallace) for this quick response and I am very grateful also to the Government of the United Kingdom for supporting Poland during this attack by the Lukashenko regime on Poland, this hybrid attack, and those soldiers will indeed support our army as well.

The Russian Government's aggression against Ukraine  is part of a decades-long campaign to destabilise European security.



The UK  will defend freedom & democracy wherever it is threatened, and that is why we and our allies #StandWithUkraine. pic.twitter.com/O1WQSAmLaS  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) February 6, 2022

He added: Today, we are facing another challenge, the Russian aggressive policy towards Ukraine and as part of Nato, but also on a bilateral level, Poland and the United Kingdom are ready to do all the necessary decisions in order to deter the potential aggressor.

Story continues

Based on historical experience, we see that only a decisive deterrence policy can stop any potential Russian aggression and, based on the very same history, we do see that the policy of appeasement only encourages the potential enemy to do something.

Ms Truss will travel to Moscow later this week for discussions with counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

But former Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick questioned whether the trip would play into Mr Putins hands.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4s The Westminster Hour programme, the former housing secretary said: Im not sure it is actually wise to go to Moscow.

He added: I think that honours Vladimir Putin and plays into his hand I just question the good sense of going to Moscow and honouring Vladimir Putin at a time when he is so aggressive towards Ukraine.

Im not sure thats wise.
EAST GREENBUSH  With cyber threats on the rise, a local nonprofit is tasked with taking down hackers targeting some government entities.

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) works with 12,000 organizations  mostly state, local and territorial government agencies such as election boards  helping them thwart and address cyber threats.

While hackers have deployed the same type of threats against these agencies, their tactics have changed over the years, Senior Vice President of Operations and Security Services at CIS Josh Moulin explained.

He said the last year has been a really active time for advanced cyberattacks.

CIS security operations center fields an average of 26,000 "events" for government agencies each month.

An event is activity detected by CIS systems as suspicious and anomalous. CIS analysts investigate each event to determine whether or not further action is warranted, Moulin noted.

The organizations tools also block roughly 220 million malicious events each month for government branches.

And in 2021, CIS was at the forefront of several large-scale hacks including those that besieged Microsoft exchange servers.

Ransomware attacks and phishing remain common go-to strategies for hackers who have become more clever, disguising emails to appear truly legitimate, according to Moulin. Phishing is effective because a couple of keystrokes allows the adversary to infiltrate multiple layers and access the desktop.

We're really trying to approach a lot of these threats in a two-fold way, Moulin said.

First CIS tries to prevent threats by educating user communities on cybersecurity best practices, then comes detection.

CIS technicians use a tool to deter pernicious traffic from reaching organizations servers and devices. The nonprofit, however, exclusively offers incident response services to the government entities its partnered with to help them recover after suffering a cyberattack. It provides other training and prevention education to most at no cost as well.

Escalating cyber threats during the pandemic have kept CIS busy.

Due to the hike in malicious activity, CIS has had to bring on 41 more employees since 2022. CIS employees have transitioned to remote work like most, which Moulin said has opened up recruitment channels so the firm can seek out employees beyond upstate New York.

Moulin said the company hasnt been adding on technicians just because of the wider net of security threats it has discovered.

We've been growing steadily over the last couple of years, Moulin said. Our adding of people has been because of the increased work and demand for our products and services.
When the writer Nora Ephron knew she was dying, she wrote an essay on what shed miss most about being alive. Along with her husband and kids, pie made the list.

Some of us feel that way about pie, especially homemade, with its flaky crusts, fruity fillings and knockout aromas. Id venture to say Shelley Smith is one such pie-o-phile. She runs Smiths Orchard Bake Shop, a little place with a big output that sits at the edge of a 300-acre farm in Charlton, just west of Ballston Spa.

How lucky are those of us in the Capital Region to have Smiths Orchard right in our own backyard.Take a drive out to rural Jockey Street, and year-round, six days a week ( closed Tuesdays), freshly baked pie can be yours, warming your lap on the drive home.

Smiths Orchard Bake Shop has 20-plus varieties to choose from, most with a choice of regular or crumb topping. Fruit pies come in several flavors  think apple, all kinds of berry, cherry, rhubarb and peach  with many combos. The shop also offers a few non-fruit options: pecan, pumpkin, Tollhouse and chocolate-peanut butter brownie. But its the apple pie at the orchard thats made Smiths a mainstay.

The bake shop makes large (10-inch) and small (6-inch) sizes, will set anything aside for you with a phone call, and with 24-hour notice will bake any flavor in any size to order. And the pies are really good.

Year 'round, apple pie is the best seller, as is to be expected with 100 percent of the fruit coming straight from their orchard. We keep the apples in cold storage so we can peel 12 months a year, Smith said. And then we feed the peels to the pigs so theres no waste.

Yes, there are pigs on the Smith farm, and cows, too. The Holsteins are for milking (they produce 1,300 gallons a day) and

the cattle and pigs stock the shops freezer case. Some of our customers buy half or whole animals, and we sell to a few restaurants, Smith said, but most of the meat goes to their loyal customer base. There are new ones who wander in, more likely in search of pie.

Though the Smiths dont do the butchering themselves (they use a USDA-inspected slaughterhouse), the farm-to-plate footprint for their meat is considerably smaller than supermarket selections. From link sausages to Porterhouse steaks, the meat menu is considerable, with close to 40 cuts available. You can see the offerings online, then call ahead to see what theyve got on a given day.

The zero-waste mentality  peel-to-trough  is trendy in modern farming and culinary circles, but the Smiths are just keeping on keeping on. Smiths husband, Rick Smith, is the third generation of the farms leadership. His grandparents started the dairy farm and orchard in 1931. In the early 1990s, when the stores they sold apples to like the A&P and Chicago Market were disappearing, Shelley Smith started baking apple pies to cope with the glut. Thirty years later, the little-pie-shop-that-could now produces 70,000 pies a year.

From June through December we can barely bake enough to meet demand, Smith said. But this time of year, she uses the down time to be more engaged in the community, supporting fundraisers for the Boy Scouts, schools and the like.

Some might say that the secret to Smith Orchards success is that the pies are pleasantly tart. When I eat a pie, I want to taste the fruit, so were conscientious not to over-sweeten, Smith said. She sources berries and rhubarb locally, when theyre in season and affordable, and from a Utica-based fruit distributor the rest of the year. Pies and cider doughnuts, baked daily, are piled in the Jockey Street Bake Shop that sits on the edge of the orchard.

Smiths seems poised to keep it all in the family for at least a fourth generation, with one of Rick and Shelleys daughters, Katie Daino, formally in business with them. But given the size of the operation it takes additional employees to keep the pins rolling, and "labor is my number one challenge, Smith said. If shes lucky, the high school students she hires to bake with her will stay on through their college years. But its physically demanding work, she said.

Even so, Ive had some wonderful young women  and the occasional young man  come through these doors, and right now I am blessed with a great staff. Come Thanksgiving all family members pitch in: teachers, nurses and town councilors. Family time has its own special meaning for the Smiths at the holidays.

Smiths Bake Shop is blessed with loyal customers, too, and for that Smith is grateful.

To have customers who feel like friends, thats the best part of being in this business.
VALATIE  Routine testing of municipal wells by this Columbia County village last fall found slightly elevated levels of the chemical PFOS, but residents were only informed of its presence in a notice issued Jan. 31.

The chemical was found in one of Valatie's three functioning wells  which has since been taken offline  during state-mandated testing.

PFOS, which is in the same class of chemicals as the PFOAs that plagued Hoosick Falls, was once used in stain repellent and may cause cancer, liver and thyroid damage and developmental effects to fetuses, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which suggests a maximum concentration of 70 parts per trillion in drinking water.

New York issued regulations in August 2020 setting a lower threshold of 10 parts per trillion for drinking water, and mandated that schools and municipalities test their water quarterly for the chemical.

Valatie's Well No. 4 tested at 14 parts per trillion in the third quarter of 2021, according to a notice sent to residents Jan. 31, while the other two functioning wells had concentrations below the threshold. Well No. 4 tested below the threshold prior to the third-quarter test, according to the Columbia County Health Department.

When the results came back showing Well No. 4 exceeded the threshold in October 2021, the well was immediately taken offline at the direction of the state Department of Health, according to a press release from the county Health Department.

However, the village's notice to residents did not come out until Jan. 31, and the county's press release announcing the presence of PFOS was not issued until Feb. 2.

When asked about the months-long gap between when the well was taken offline and when residents were informed, Valatie Mayor Frank Bevens said he had been following the guidance of the Columbia County Health Department.

"That notice went out when we were told to send the notice out," Bevens said.

When asked if he had considered the village notifying residents on its own, Bevens replied that "our thought was to do what we were told to do."

Columbia County Environmental Health Director Maggie McBroom said residents were not informed for three months after the well was taken offline because Valatie had to get a press release template from the state, and then get their press release approved by the state and county Health Department.

"There's a little back-and-forth with proofreading and whatnot," she added.

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In January, the water for the New Lebanon Junior/Senior High School in northeastern Columbia County tested above the state threshold for PFOS, at 11 parts per trillion, one part above the state threshold and three parts below the measurement in Valatie.

The lab results, which were posted online by the school district, came back Jan. 25. The district took action within three days, informing faculty and parents and roping off water fountains and buying water coolers for drinking and food preparation.

Unlike Valatie, the school does not have an alternate water source to switch to, making its problem more immediate than the village's.

The county's press release issued Feb. 2 included both the information about the village well and the testing at the school district.

New Lebanon Central School District Superintendent Andrew Kourt said the school would have to install a filtration system as a permanent solution, which he said was "certainly not ideal  it's definitely coming out of our district funds."

However, the district received permission from the state to consider the installation an "emergency capital project," which allows the district to spend money without a district-wide vote. The state will refund 40 percent of the project as part of the district's annual state aid, according to Kourt.

Valatie also needs a permanent solution to its water problems, which would also most likely be a filtration system, Mayor Bevens said, adding the village was in the very preliminary stages of figuring out a plan.
ALBANY  The citys Common Council approved two financial measures that require it to set aside $14 million in federal rescue funding in order to settle contracts with two unions.

The votes came after several city residents voiced their opposition to the plan, arguing that the city was essentially using American Rescue Plan funds to cover back pay and raises for city police officers. The citys plan does not directly use those funds for that purpose, but without the ARP funding the city would be forced to either borrow money or drain its savings.

The two contracts, with the citys blue-collar union and police officers union, will cost the city $12 million in retroactive pay, and add $3.7 million in new expenses to its 2022 budget.

The city will pay for the 2022 raises and retroactive pay with its fund balance, as well as transfers from department budget lines. It is then using $14 million in American Rescue Plan funding to cover government operations and essentially offset the hit to the fund balance.

Councilman Derek Johnson was the sole opposition vote to both measures, which passed 14-1 and 13-2. Councilwoman Gabriella Romero joined him in opposing the transfer that provided retroactive pay for the citys police union.

Johnson said his opposition was rooted in a problem with the process Mayor Kathy Sheehans administration used and questioned why the city hadnt planned better, knowing the police union had been without a contract since 2016. And since the city was using a similar funding method for both contracts, he opposed both measures.

Im not anti-APD, Im anti-this process, he said.

Romero said she couldnt bring herself to approve a measure that would provide back-pay to former city police officers who were involved in cases of police brutality against city residents.

Im upset and frustrated that there were no options to take those violent actors out of the negotiations, she said.

Other council members also expressed concerns with the lack of information and the timeline involved in approving the resolutions.

Councilman Kelly Kimbrough said that even with those issues, the council had little choice.

The alternative is borrowing, bonding, he said. I get why people are turned off about how this is going down but again, the contracts have been negotiated. How else do we do it?

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

The city had telegraphed its intent to use the federal funding this way from nearly the beginning, discussing the possibility of settling open contracts during a finance committee meeting last spring.

Sheehan also asked the council to set aside $16 million in ARP money for revenue replacement late last year, but the council balked at that request. It instead passed legislation giving it more oversight over how the funds were spent.

The city cannot use ARP money for raises directly. Under the federal guidelines, the city can use up to $18 million of the $80.7 million it received as revenue replacement funds for the 2020 budget year. It will also be able to use some funding for 2021 revenue replacement, but that number has not been established.

The city expects to have about $29 million remaining in ARP funding after it awards $25 million in grants it is opening up to community nonprofits.

The total for the contract with the citys PBA comes to $9.8 million in retroactive pay and adds $2.38 million to the citys 2022 budget.

The tab for the citys blue collar union, which includes some of the citys lowest-paid employees, comes to about $2.5 million. That includes $1.2 million in retroactive pay and adds $1.32 million to the citys 2022 budget.
ALBANY  The New York Power Authoritys effort to blanket the state with electric vehicle chargers is stuck in low gear, with missed deadlines and nearly half of the states 62 counties still without the devices, according to an audit by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

Compared to what was promised, the roll out of electric vehicle chargers has been a disappointment so far, DiNapoli said in a statement accompanying the audit.

Since encouraging more drivers to switch to electric cars is a part of the states strategy for lowering emissions, we have a long road ahead.

The audit raises questions about what might happen in 2035, the year a law recently signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul goes into effect banning the sale of traditional gasoline powered cars. If the state doesnt have enough charging ports for the EVs, motorists could find themselves stranded, or they may simply cling to older gas-powered vehicles or purchase them outside of the state.

Promoting EVs is seen as a linchpin in the states effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to fight climate change. But sales of EVs, which unlike hybrids run solely on batteries, are still a small part of the states vehicle fleet. There are an estimated 91,000 EVs in New York state, of about 4.2 million vehicles statewide.

NYPAs effort to install chargers isnt the only such initiative. Tesla, the first manufacturer to offer EVs, has its own set of chargers across the state, including those at some local shopping malls and other high-traffic locations. Other private companies have been putting in chargers, and EV owners can charge the vehicles at their homes.

Still, the idea of range anxiety, or the fear of needing a battery charge when there is no charging port, is viewed as a drawback for many potential EV buyers. Most EVs advertise a range of about 200 miles before needing to be recharged.

Back in 2013 New York State officials said they would install up to 3,000 EV chargers in five years. Then in 2018, it said there would be 10,000 by 2021.

So far, there are about 9,300 chargers across the state. But the comptroller's audit took aim at NYPA, one of several organizations putting in the devices.

But as of June 2021, NYPA had put in 277 EV charging ports. And they installed another 221 workplace charging ports at its own facilities and at facilities operated by businesses receiving power from NYPAs and at government workplaces.

The audit found that the ports are not necessarily located where theyre most needed. Counties with high numbers of EVs have relatively few charging stations, while some counties have few EVs but a high number of charging ports.

For example, Suffolk County, Long Island, has 7,916 registered EVs, which is more than any other county and about 17 percent of the statewide total. It has three NYPA public charging stations, or 1.2% of the total and just one charger for every 2,639 electric cars.

On the other hand, Erie County, which includes Buffalo, has 1,898 registered EVs, about 4.1% of the statewide total, and 42 NYPA public charging ports, or one public port for every 45 vehicles.

Another 30 counties with 6,189 EVs have no NYPA-placed public charging ports at all.

One of the issues, auditors found, was that NYPA has underestimated the complexity of securing charging sites, especially when it comes to getting leases or space on private property.

Following the approval of legislation, NYPA began to negotiate sites, and it found negotiating real estate firms with private entities was more involved (in terms of time) than had been anticipated, part of the audit noted.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

Some of those barriers are other branches of government itself, though.

John Doran, who operates PlugIn Stations Online, which installs the newer fast-charging stations, said the firm hit a roadblock in Albany when it wanted to put in a charger near the Albany Pump Station bar and restaurant. But because it is near the I-787 overpass, the state Department of Transportation stopped it, forcing the business to find a new spot.

Doran has also faced pandemic-related supply chain issues, which NYPA too, had referenced. Weve moved mountains to get as many sites (running) as we can, he said.

NYPA spokeswoman Susan Craig in a statement said the agency will take relevant recommendations into consideration as the Authority continues to advance its public-access fast charger infrastructure program.



She added that NYPA is operating the largest public-access high-speed charging network in New York state.

Despite numerous complexities that remain in the EV charging arena, including interconnection issues, site identification, and economic challenges, NYPA has made significant progress in installing chargers across the state, she said.

Additionally NYPA has partnered on more than 50 additional charging stations since the March 2021, audit.

An earlier version of this story failed to note that other state officials, not NYPA, had promised to install 10,000 chargers statewide by2021. NYPA is one of several organizations putting in EV chargers across the state.

rkarlin@timesunion.com  518-454-5758  @RickKarlinTU
Update: Missing Johnstown funeral director turns himself in

JOHNSTOWN  Police said Monday afternoon they were looking for the director of a funeral home who faces criminal charges in connection with a probe into the funeral home mishandling peoples remains.

In a Facebook post, police said they believed Brian M. Barnett may have left the area. He faces five felonies, including three counts of concealment of a human corpse, and 10 misdemeanors.

CBS6 reported late Monday that Barnett had turned himself in. The police department told the Times Union late Monday they couldn't provide an update on if Barnett had been located since they put out a call for his whereabouts.

A probe into the Ehle-Barnett Funeral Home began last month after police got a complaint against Barnett from relatives of a deceased person who complained they hadn't heard back about a cremation service. On Jan. 14, police returned to the funeral home at 15 N. William St. with a search warrant and found three more human remains and the ashes of 18 people in the garage, officials said. It was unclear how the bodies were stored or for how long.

More than two dozen families have raised questions about how their dead relatives remains were handled. Police believe Barnett may have run into financial difficulties running the funeral home.

Barnett was detained by police and later taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam for a psychiatric evaluation.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

Police previously said at a press conference that Barnett would be charged after that evaluation.

Barnett lost his license to operate the business last year, but it appears he continued to handle bodies. Operating a funeral home without a license is a violation of state Health Department regulations.

Anyone with information is asked to call Johnstown Police at 518-736-4021.
After watching our last three governors self-destruct, many New Yorkers were initially skeptical of Gov. Kathy Hochuls pledge for a new era in Albany. But now, by proposing eight-year term limits for the governor and statewide officials, Hochul has demonstrated that she is serious about fixing big problems. In the past 30 years, New York governors have been more likely to leave office through scandal than to be defeated for re-election.

Hochul is the latest in a string of major Democrats who have recently embraced term limits as the answer to political dysfunction. Before leaving office, former President Barack Obama remarked that term limits are a really useful thing because we want to see new voices and new ideas emerge. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.; former Rep. Beto ORourke, D-Texas; and former DNC Chair and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell have also championed the idea.

Polls continue to show that the vast majority of Americans, who grapple with the reality of a country run by people in their 80s, are behind term limits for all offices.

New York state has always been an outlier when it comes to executive term limits. Thirty-six out of 50 states already term-limit their governors, including our neighbors in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Vermont. With the exception of Virginia, which doesnt allow governors to run for re-election, all of the existing gubernatorial term limits provide for an eight-year cap.

Even New York City beat Albany to the punch. NYC adopted eight-year term limits for the City Council and mayor by an 18-point margin back in 1993. City residents expanded term limits in 2018, with 72 percent passing a referendum for eight-year term limits on all community boards.

Hochuls term limits plan will help revitalize New York by increasing trust in state government. The Cuomo administrations authoritarian mishandling of the early COVID-19 response  and subsequent cover-ups  revealed that without term limits political corruption can have devastating and tragic consequences. New Yorkers should never have to worry that they or their families safety or businesses will be jeopardized by a politicians lust for getting reelected.

As Hochul pointed out in her State of the State Address, For government to work, officials must not cling to it.

Eight-year term limits will incentivize elected officials to do whats right, not just whats right for themselves.

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Term limits will also have a positive impact on our elections. When an incumbent is allowed to run for reelection in perpetuity, they can become too powerful to unseat. For example, at his fundraising zenith, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had amassed a $33 million war chest and was raising nearly $40,000 per day. The Cuomo machine was taking in more in two days than most hardworking New York families make in a year.

Term limits also address the problem of women being underrepresented in politics. According to research by Professor Samantha Pettey of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, term limits at the state level have led to a 33 percent increase in the emergence of female candidates running for office. When term limits are present, more women run and they win. Hochuls proposal can help modernize and diversify government, making it look more like our diverse state and less like a country club.

Hochuls support will elevate efforts to implement eight-year term limits for the governor, attorney general and other statewide officials, but she will need help from the state Legislature. Amendments to the New York constitution, such as term limits, must be passed twice by the state Assembly and state Senate before going to the ballot for popular approval.

While state lawmakers arent typically the biggest champions of term limits, the circumstances here call for that opposition to be toned-down. State government in New York is emerging from a political crisis, and the public needs reassurance that our leaders still work for us. Term limits are one of the most popular and bipartisan issues, with north of 75 percent public support in every poll. Hochuls proposal would go a long way toward healing much of the polarization we have seen recently, while charting a strong new direction for New York.

Assemblyman Ron Kim, D-Queens, represents the 40th Assembly District.
ALBANY  New York's indoor mask-or-vaccine mandate governing businesses is expected to expire on Thursday and not be renewed, although the regulation that is being used to enforce masking in schools for children and employees is poised to remain in place beyond February.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she expects to make an announcement Wednesday regarding the mandates, which have stoked controversy and constitutional challenges. Her office declined to say whether the governor will continue to impose the guidance impacting school children.

If she continues to keep the schools mask mandate in place, it would remain in effect as governors in neighboring states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut have announced they are ending their versions of the statewide masking requirements for schools.

Jill Montag, a spokeswoman for the New York Department of Health, said that the regulation that the mask mandate governing schools is based on is scheduled to expire Feb. 21 "but is expected to be renewed."

The initial regulation was set to a 90-day window. It is unclear if it were to be renewed whether that would mean it would be continued for another 90 days.

"Let's get more children vaccinated so they have that suit of armor they need to be protected," Hochul said during a news conference on storm recovery in Ulster County. "I am optimistic that we're trending in that direction, but I still need the time."

Hochul's administration is facing several legal challenges over whether the mandates she has imposed  without legislative authority  are legal, and both the business and education sectors have questioned the lack of details on the metrics that the state is using to decide whether to continue or end the decrees.

The New York State Council of School Superintendents, in a letter to state health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett that was released Monday, commended the administration for its "straightforward communications" but said that the mandatory universal masking is a "major outstanding concern."

"The critical issue with mandatory masking in schools at this moment is the urgent need for school leaders and parents to know the plan moving forward with concrete assurances from the state," reads the letter from Phyllis S. Harrington, president of the Council of School Superintendents, and Charles S. Dedrick, the council's executive director. "School leaders, students, teachers, and caregivers have been put through a whirlwind of uncertainty when it comes to masking."

The school council leaders said that parents and others are beginning to fear that the mask mandates will "continue in perpetuity" because the state has failed to "provide reasonable, understandable, and achievable metrics based on recommendations from medical professionals for when masking rules will eventually be changed."

The letter also noted the confusion that erupted after a state Supreme Court justice on Long Island ruled last month that the Hochul administration's mask mandates  which were not authorized by the Legislature  are unconstitutional.

In addition, attorneys in at least two cases challenging the mask mandates  in cases filed on behalf of the parents of school children  have noted that the state attorney general's office had argued in a related federal case defending New York's vaccine mandates for health care workers that masks are "ineffective" at containing the spread of COVID-19.

Hochuls pending decisions on whether to end mask mandates for schools and businesses in New York comes after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ended his states school mask mandate last month; New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that school masks mandates there will end in March; and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday said that as of Feb. 28, school districts in that state will decide on their own whether to continue having students and employees wear masks.

"Were giving a lot of discretion to our principals and our superintendents ... with some pretty strong guidance," Lamont said. "What weve got to figure out is how we, as a society, ... learn to live with COVID."

Beginning in March 2020, New York and other Northeast states sought to align their COVID-19 policies and restrictions. That month, then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the governors in those neighboring states all ordered "non-essential" businesses to close.

The following month, Cuomo and the governors of the five Northeastern states  Delaware and Rhode Island had joined the partnership  announced they were forming a multi-state task force to coordinate the reopening of their economies in conjunction with efforts to control the coronavirus pandemic.

Cuomo acknowledged at the time it was a "federally declared disaster, but he noted that President Donald J. Trump had left it to governors to determine when and how to close their businesses and schools. States also led the effort to coordinate the containment and health care responses.

The restarting of the economy, Cuomo had said nearly two years ago, would require a coordinated effort that would involve mass transportation, schools and businesses. If Hochul extends New Yorks mask mandate for schools, it would signal a break in that earlier plan for the Northeastern states to coordinate their coronavirus policies.

Hochul said, in the context of mask and vaccines, that she is scheduled to have a conversation with school superintendents on Wednesday.

Vaccination rates among children ages 5 to 11 is about 30 percent for those with their complete dosage, according to state health department data. Just over two-thirds of ages 12 to 17 have completed their vaccine series. About 85 percent of people 18 and older have completed their vaccine series in New York.

"I know we can do better than that," Hochul said. "Let's get those younger kids vaccinated."

The process behind how the mandates work  and how the governor's administration could say the business measure can end on a certain date and the schools mandate would continue  on is explained by the state as two separate items.

Both mandates are based on a "regulation" that the state's Public Health and Health Planning Council, along with the state health commissioner, approved on Nov. 24 regarding face coverings. The regulation, which expires Feb. 21, states that the health commissioner could impose requirements either on public places unable to maintain social distancing or in settings like schools, nursing homes, homeless shelters, correctional facilities and public transit.

On Sept. 2, then-Commissioner Howard A. Zucker issued guidance for a requirement to wear face masks in schools based on the regulation that is the subject of the court challenges.

Chad LaVeglia, a Nassau County attorney who filed the case in which a state Supreme Court justice ruled the mandates are unconstitutional  a ruling that is on hold pending the outcome of an appeal by the state  contends Hochul has extended the health commissioner's power to issue "determinations" that hold the force of law over an entire state.

"These determinations are fictional. They are not rules or regulations, they are not laws (but have the force of law), they are not executive orders, and they are not subject to the safeguards of (State Administrative Procedure Act)," LaVeglia said. "It is remarkably troubling that more people don't understand what's at stake here. The DOH would have unbridled, absolute power to make any policy decision it wants to 'further the public health and safety.' They could ban masks, or ban abortions after eight weeks for example."

A determination by Bassett had cited the regulation for its reasoning behind its indoor masking policy.

In that policy, which was extended on Jan. 31 after first launching in December amid the spread of the omicron variant, it lists not only the rules for businesses, but also schools. The business section stated it would expire Feb. 10, while the school section said the mask requirement would remain in place "until this determination is modified or rescinded."

The health department stated that while the regulation behind the school mask mandate is expected to be extended, the indoor mask mandate that is being ended is based on the same regulation.
From left, Mon Health President and CEO David Goldberg, Davis & Elkins College President Chris A. Wood sign a partnership agreement for the Mon Health Scholars program. Looking on are Davis & Elkins College Board of Trustees Chair Mark Barber and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Rob Phillips.
Failte Ireland has tannounced the expansion of Irelands Hidden Heartlands to include all of counties Cavan, Westmeath, Offaly and an additional part of Tipperary, parts of which were previously covered by the Irelands Ancient East regional tourism brand.

The announcement was made at Failte Irelands From Survival to Recovery industry event in Dublin, which was attended by over 800 representatives from the tourism and hospitality industry. Failte Ireland plans a 10m spend to promote tourism in 2022.

Making the announcement, Paddy Mathews, Head of Irelands Hidden Heartlands at Failte Ireland said: Todays expansion of the Irelands Hidden Heartlands brand to include Cavan, Westmeath, Offaly and part of Tipperary will allow us to further raise awareness of this region domestically and internationally.

"The Irelands Hidden Heartlands brand is centred around Irelands natural rural beauty, relaxation, and untouched heritage and outdoor activities which each of these counties boast in abundance.

"We look forward to working with industry stakeholders, strategic partners, members of the Oireachtas and the local authorities as we develop this beautiful region as one of the leading regenerative tourism destinations in Europe, with nature and communities at its heart.

Irelands Hidden Heartlands was launched by Failte Ireland in 2018 and has been successful in growing tourism in the region. The expanded footprint for Irelands Hidden Heartlands to include Cavan, Westmeath, Offaly and part of Tipperary will give visitors a more cohesive visitor experience in the area and will strengthen the overall tourism offering.
(Photo by Leo Rivas on Unsplash)

Looking to get away this half-term? Travellers are being warned to check their holiday plans to make sure they meet Covid vaccination rules  particularly when travelling to EU destinations.

While Britain has eased the rules for returning travellers, with all testing for vaccinated arrivals ending and unvaccinated arrivals no longer required to self-isolate, a complicated web of regulations still exists across some favourite holiday destinations.

France joined Spain and Denmark last week in requiring anyone who completed their vaccination jabs more than 270 days ago to have a booster to enter the country, or be considered unvaccinated. Austria requires boosters after 180 days.

For many destinations testing remains commonplace, unvaccinated people are often banned, mask rules are strict, and Covid passports are widespread. Travellers from the UK are still banned in some countries: heres the full list of them.

In addition, anyone who has travelled during the pandemic will know that Covid tests could cause delays, flights may be cancelled due to staff illness, and new variants could mean the return of the red list and quarantine hotels. Make sure youve swotted up on insurance and refund policies before you hit that confirm booking button.

Check the latest Department for Transport and Foreign Office travel advice. And, be sure you know whether your destination is accepting the NHS app as proof, or if you need to show a letter.

At a glance

No testing for vaccinated

Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey.

No masks required

Sweden, Denmark, Finland, USA (some states, eg Florida).

Difficult for (or closed to) unvaccinated teens

Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, USA (some states, eg New York).

Easy for unvaccinated teens

Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Egypt, Ireland, Maldives, Mexico, Seychelles, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA (some states, eg Florida).

Story continues

Open to unvaccinated

Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Greece, Ireland, Maldives, Mexico, Portugal, Seychelles, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey.

Covid passports required

Austria, Belgium, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, USA (some states, eg New York).

France

Val Thorens (AFP via Getty Images)

Requirements

France will not allow tourists to enter the country if they received their Covid vaccine more than nine months ago unless they can provide a compelling reason. This means British tourists hoping to enter the country over half-term will need to get a booster jab if they want to enter the country. Without a booster, tourists are considered unvaccinated.

All UK travellers must present a negative COVID-19 test - either antigen or PCR - taken within 24 hours before departure. Antigen tests must be certified by a laboratory and NHS lateral flow test kits are not allowed.

When you get there

Mask-wearing is compulsory in all enclosed public spaces - and some outdoor places, including crowded queues, markets, or in the stands of a stadium.

France launched health passes over the summer to access restaurants, bars and other spaces. Your vaccination status on the NHS app is valid. Face masks must be worn indoors.

Spain

Ibiza, Spain (Getty Images)

Requirements

Spain requires travellers from the UK aged 12 or over to show proof of a full vaccination programme (booster required after 270 days), completed at least 14 days prior to arrival. Tourists who are unvaccinated must produce a negative lateral flow test 24 hours before departing.

When you get there

A nationwide state of emergency existed in Spain between 25 October 2020 and 9 May 2021. Although that status is currently lifted, some restrictions and curfews remain in force, but these vary between regions. Beach rules may also differ depending on the part of Spain thats being visited.

Vaccination rates in Spain are very high  around 80 per cent of the population have had two jabs.

Italy

(Shutterstock/Sergey Novikov)

Requirements

Full vaccination (first two doses) and negative PCR test taken within 48 hours before entering Italy or a negative antigen test taken within 24 hours before entering. Children up to 17 are exempt from vaccination requirements if travelling with a fully vaccinated parent. Children aged six and under exempt from testing and vaccination requirements too.

When you get there

Italy has relatively strict requirements to use face masks and show a vaccination pass to access most venues. In many settings, including flights to and from Italy, face masks must be FFP2/N95 standard, not surgical or cloth masks. Vaccination levels are high at around 75 per cent.

Portugal

Porto (Shutterstock)

Requirements

Portugal has announced that they intend to remove the requirement for all travellers to show proof of a negative Covid test before flying to the country, provided you can show a valid digital European Union certificate or recognised proof of vaccination. It is believed the NHS proof of vaccination will be accepted.

Those who are not fully vaccinated will still need to show proof of a negative Covid test taken before entry. There are different restrictions depending on whether you are travelling to mainland Portugal, Madeira or the Azores.

When you get there

Proof of vaccination records and/or negative test results are required to enter restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other similar indoor establishments. Face mask use is mandatory in closed spaces, including public transport. Portugal has one of the worlds highest vaccination rates at 89 per cent.

The Netherlands

Shoppers walk down Kalverstraat in Amsterdam (AP)

Requirements

Full vaccination and booster for all those aged 13 and over. Two jabs does not count as full vaccination for the purposes of quarantine-free travel, regardless of when doses were administered. All those aged 12 and over must also present a negative PCR test result (taken no more than 48 hours before departure), or a negative antigen test result (taken no more than 24 hours before departure).

When you get there

Restaurants, bars and cultural venues reopened on Wednesday 26 January but there is a 10pm curfew in place. Wearing a face mask is advised in any place where it is not possible to stay 1.5 metres apart. This now also applies to busy outdoor places such as shopping streets.

Austria

Requirements

One of three documents is required to enter the country - a negative PCR test no older than 72 hours, a vaccine certificate or proof of past infection. However, only proof of vaccination or past infection will be accepted to enter any type of accommodation, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, theatres and to use cable cars or ski lifts. A negative COVID-19 test will not be sufficient.

When you get there

There is an 11pm curfew for restaurants. Masks are required on public transport and in indoor spaces.

Croatia

Split, Croatia (Le Meridien)

Requirements

Non-EU citizens aged 12 or over need to show evidence of one of the following to be able to enter Croatia without subsequent self-isolation: a negative PCR test (within 72 hours before arrival) or negative antigen test (within 48 hours); a vaccination course completed more than 14 days prior; or a doctors certificate of recovery from Covid-19. You will also have to fill out an online form, and show you have paid for accommodation.

When you get there

Residents and visitors are still expected to use a mask indoors, and in open spaces where physical distancing isnt possible. Vaccination rates in Croatia are low by European standards.

aaSwitzerland

(Switzerland Tourism UK & Ireland)

Requirements

Pre-arrival testing for vaccinated travellers from the UK to Switzerland was scrapped last month in time for the February half-term holidays. Unvaccinated travellers can still not enter, unless they can show proof of recovery from Covid. Unvaccinated travellers who qualify for entry with proof of recovery must still present negative PCR test (not older than 72 hours) or lateral flow test (not older than 24 hours) on boarding a plane to Switzerland and on entry.

Unvaccinated children and adolescents arriving from the UK under the age of 18 are allowed to enter Switzerland if they are accompanied by fully vaccinated adults. Children under the age of 16 are also exempt from the requirement to test before departure, whether vaccinated or not.

The passenger locator form now only has to be completed by those travelling to Switzerland by plane or on a long-distance bus service. That means skiers landing in France and crossing the border will not need to worry about paperwork to visit Switzerland and will only need to fill out the relevant documents for the French authorities.

When you get there

To access most areas of daily life you will have to show a certificate of vaccination or recovery, via an app or on paper. Its compulsory to wear a face mask in other freely accessible enclosed settings, such as public transport and shops. Switzerlands vaccination rates are quite low for Europe, at 67 per cent.

Greece

Ancient Acropolis archeological site in Athens, Greece (X07402/AFP via Getty Images)

Requirements

Previously you could enter Greece with just proof of full vaccination or recovery from Covid, the restrictions have now tightened. Since December 19 2020, travellers over the age of five need a negative PCR test result carried out in the 72 hours prior to departure, regardless of vaccination status, or a rapid antigen test from an authorised laboratory taken in the 24 hours before travel. Visitors must also fill in a passenger locator form at least a day before travelling. You may be asked to take a rapid antigen test on arrival and a strongly recommended to take further tests on days two and four.

When you get there

Face masks are standard in most indoor venues, and you may have to show proof of vaccination to get into restaurants and bars. Vaccination rates are relatively low for Europe at around 67 percent, but many tourism-reliant island areas have been deliberately prioritised.

Turkey

(Shutterstock / muratart)

Requirements

Either proof of full vaccination, evidence of having recently recovered from Covid or a negative test (PCR within 72 hours or rapid antigen within 48 hours of arrival), and also a health registration form are required. There may be random PCR testing on arrival.

When you get there

Mask mandates in public are quite stringent. Turkey accepts the NHS proof of vaccination for situations when a pass is required to enter a venue. Over 60 per cent of Turks are fully vaccinated.

Canary Islands

Tenerife (PA Archive)

Requirements

As a Spanish territory, entry requirements to the Canary Islands are the same as Spain. Travellers to the Canary Islands from mainland Spain may be required by tourist accommodation providers to show evidence of a negative test. See the Canary Island tourist board website for details.

When you get there

Masks and social distancing are required. In Tenerife, masks are mandatory both indoors and outdoors but can be taken off when seated at a table. Vaccination certificates are required to enter venues with a capacity of 30 or more, while capacity is reduced in all public and commercial spaces.

Venues that normally stay open late must close earlier than usual and UK customers must be fully-jabbed to enter. There are also regulations restricting the number of people allowed on certain beaches. Ideally, you should download the RadarCOVID contagion alert app to notify you of the risk of exposure to Covid depending on your location. Over 75 per cent of the population are vaccinated.

United States

Manhattan (TNS)

Requirements

Fully vaccinated travellers can come from the UK without having to quarantine on arrival. NHS proof of vaccination is accepted. Everyone aged two or over has to take a Covid-19 test no more than one day before boarding a flight to the US. Fully vaccinated travellers are also recommended to take a test within three to five days of arrival in the US. Unvaccinated children under 18 can enter without quarantine, but in that case the post-arrival test is compulsory.

When you get there

Covid measures in the US vary between states. Mask mandates are a huge point of political contention, but generally you are more likely to be asked to wear masks in bigger cities. There is no requirement for a vaccinations pass to get into public spaces. Vaccination rates in the US are fairly low at around 62 per cent, but vary greatly by state and area.

Dominican Republic

Punta Cana (Getty)

Requirements

Anyone aged five or over who has been in the UK in the 14 days before travelling to the Dominican Republic needs to be either fully vaccinated or show a negative PCR test result taken in the 72 hours before arrival. The vaccination card should be at least three weeks older than the date of travel. Visitors must also complete the countrys E-Ticket.

When you get there

The Dominican Republic lifted curfews and other emergency measures on October 11 2021, though face-mask requirements and social distancing are still in place. Anyone over the age of 12 is also supposed to show proof of full vaccination or a negative Covid test result (valid for seven days) in order to enter enclosed spaces. If in doubt, check with your hotel what is required. The majority of the population are fully vaccinated.

Barbados

Barbados (Pixabay)

Requirements

Proof of a PCR test taken no more than three days before arrival uploaded via Travel Form or the BIMSafe app as well as carry a copy of the test are required. Fully vaccinated travellers no longer need to take a second test on arrival but a small sample of people will be randomly selected for a free rapid antigen test at the airport. Unvaccinated arrivals are required to quarantine.

When you get there

Local curfews are in place in some areas, and face masks and social distancing in public spaces are standard. About half the population is fully vaccinated.

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua

Requirements

Visitors to Antigua and Barbuda aged 18 or over need proof of full vaccination, and for anyone aged five or over, a negative PCR or approved rapid antigen test taken in the four days before their flight. There is also health screening on arrival. Visitors must not only stay in approved accommodation, but also pick from a list of certified restaurants and excursions.

When you get there

Face masks are compulsory in public places, and you must be able to show that you are fully vaccinated to go to bars or eat in at restaurants.

Turks and Caicos

(Tripadvisor)

Requirements

Visitors aged 16 or over need to be fully vaccinated and everyone aged ten or above must do a PCR, rapid antigen or other approved test in the three days before arrival. This information, along with insurance details and a health questionnaire, should be included in your TCI Assured travel authorisation (an online portal where all international travellers are required to obtain certification before travelling to Turks and Caicos).

When you get there

Restaurants and bars are open at reduced capacity, and masks are mandatory in all public places. Vaccination rates are relatively high at 70 per cent, and travel between islands is allowed.

St Lucia

St Lucia (Jade Mountain)

Requirements

All adults must fill in a Travel Registration Form before their trip, including details of a PCR test that can be done up to five days prior to arrival. The test is also required for children (aged 517), and if unvaccinated they must quarantine until they get the results from a paid test on arrival. Fully vaccinated travellers do not have to go into automatic quarantine on arrival.

When you get there

Masks are mandatory in public places, and visitors are expected to stick to a list of Covid-certified hotels and restaurants. Vaccination rates in St Lucia are relatively low.
Today a controversial decision on Jackson County COVID mask dress code orders that would have impacted local suburbs was sent back to committee.

Reality and just a bit of encouragement of grassroots action from ANYBODY who wants to engage in local politics . . .

Without a dedicated crew of protesters showing up in-person to express their opposition, the legislation likely would have passed.

Meanwhile, here's an important word from local health leaders . . .

"We are still seeing that effect of those great number of hospitalizations that we've been dealing with for the past several weeks," Dr. Dana Hawkinson, at the University of Kansas Health System, said during an update.



Another grim reality is that doctors and nurses continue to lose patients to the virus.



"Unfortunately, we have also continued to have deaths and over the weekend we had eight deaths, three on Friday, two on Saturday, and then three in the last 24 hours," Hawkinson said.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

COVID-19 infections drop but KC hospitals remain full KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the first time in months, every state in the U.S. reported either being stable or a drop in new COVID-19 cases. While it's progress, health experts said rates are still higher now than any other time in the pandemic.

Further reading from BOTH sides of the debate . . .

LOCAL COVID-19 UPDATES: Kansas adds 4,027 news cases since Friday; Missouri reports 1,696 Here are the latest COVID-19 updates around the Kansas City metro area, and in Kansas and Missouri:Monday, Feb.

University of Kansas Medical Center participating in COVID-19 long haul study KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After contracting COVID-19, some people tend to have symptoms for a longer period of time, something scientists have dubbed as "COVID-19 ." Those symptoms vary from a cough, to a loss of smell or taste, among others.

Deadline looms for Missouri schools to get $1.95 billion in COVID money KCPS would receive more than $64 million. Charter schools within the district would get nearly $53 million combined..

Despite dropping COVID-19 numbers, cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children are rising As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline, there's growing concern about another condition that's on the rise. It's called multisystem inflammatory syndrome and it's still a risk among children who also contract COVID-19. Most doctors will tell you we're not out of the woods yet with COVID-19.

Doctors warn ending school mask mandates will lead to rise in COVID cases as several states lift requirements Several states across the country are considering lifting mask mandates in schools in an attempt to return to some semblance of normalcy. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Delaware Gov. John Carney announced Monday that mask mandates in schools will come to an end in March.

Bans On Mask Mandates To Protect Against Covid Endanger Students With Disabilities Jackson Gould is a happy, active and out-going 9-year-old who enjoys school, gymnastics, and swimming. Jackson also has cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness that fills his lung with sticky mucous and makes him very vulnerable to recurrent episodes of pneumonia. (I wrote more about cystic fibrosis last month in " Salt in My Soul...," Mallory Smith's posthumous story.)

The CDC's Flawed Case for Wearing Masks in School The agency's director has said, repeatedly, that schools without mask mandates have triple the risk of COVID outbreaks. That claim is based on very shaky science. The debate over child masking in schools boiled over again this fall, even above its ongoing high simmer.

It's Time to End Mandatory Masks in Schools A Virginia parent and internist writes that it's time to end mandatory masking in schools across the U.S.

You decide . . .
For our beloved late night & early morning denizens of the discourse we share just a bit of reading material on the subject of local crime.



This post features info on suspected scammers and creepers along with updates on court cases and longstanding local streets problems.

As always, we try to finish with a bit of hope . . .

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

Missouri Highway Patrol investigates after KC police fatally shoot man The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating after a man was shot and killed by Kansas City police early Monday.The highway patrol said it started with a domestic situation just after 2 a.m. Investigators said there was a fight inside the house that involved a child, leading to Kansas City police showing up."Domestic violence calls are probably the most dangerous," said Sgt.

Woman facing numerous charges for allegedly taking advantage of elderly residents where she worked OLATHE, KS (KCTV) -- A woman is facing numerous charges for taking advantage of elderly people in Johnson County while she was working at two facilities. According to a release from District Attorney Steve Howe's office, 39-year-old Patricia Ann Myler has been charged with: Seven counts of mistreatment of an elder person Six counts of identity theft Three counts of computer crime targeting elderly residents at Villa St.

How a Kansas traffic stop led to a federal lawsuit over $1.2M in seized marijuana profits ABILENE, Kansas - The dashboard camera video shows eastbound Interstate 70 traffic whizzing past Dickinson County sheriff's deputy Kalen Robison's patrol car, which is parked crosswise in the median about three miles west of Abilene. Robison suddenly pulls out into the left lane, accelerates rapidly and within a couple of miles pulls behind a white van, which immediately moves onto the shoulder and stops.

Overland Park man charged in December deadly crash OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - A 20-year-old Overland Park man is facing charges in connection to a December 2021 crash that killed 75-year-old Barbara Patterson. Isaiah Wallace Sadowski was charged Thursday in Johnson County, Kansas Court with second-degree murder, according to court records. The crash was reported on the night of Dec.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt takes aim at findings in report in Keith Carnes case KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office is taking aim at a Missouri judge's findings in a report issued last month on the 2003 murder case against Keith Carnes.

Texas and Missouri team up to fight illegal immigration, Biden administration (The Center Square) - The attorneys general of Texas and Missouri have been what some may consider an unlikely pair from non-neighboring states, teaming up on lawsuits against the Biden administration over illegal immigration. "Missouri will continue to take concrete action to secure the border, even when the Biden administration won't," Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt told The Center Square.

Victims advocate lawmakers to force convicted peeping suspects onto sex offender registry On Tuesday, the Kansas State Senate is set to hear a sex offender law in Topeka. Kansas Senate Bill 385 would require people convicted of certain breach of privacy offenses, like peeping, to register as a sex offender.

Charges dropped against ex- teacher, 26, after she marries student Prosecutors have dropped charges against a Missouri high school teacher after she married the student she was accused of having sex with.

US Marshals Service increases reward for capture of KC homicide suspect KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The U.S. Marshals Service announced Friday that the reward for information leading to the capture of a Kansas City, Missouri, homicide suspect has increased to up to $5,000. KaShawn Nicole Roper, 46, is wanted by the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department in connection to an Aug.

Man behind book ban effort at NKC schools charged with child molestation KANSAS CITY, Mo - Ryan Utterback, a man who wanted LGBTQ books banned from the North Kansas City School District, was charged with child molestation and domestic assault charges on Dec. 14, 2021. He's also been charged with furnishing pornographic material to a minor. On Oct.

Seven overdose deaths in two-block area of St. Louis ST LOUIS - The public safety director in St. Louis on Monday issued a warning about a dangerous batch of fentanyl after a seventh person died of a suspected overdose in the same area of the city. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that first responders were called to the 4400 block of Forest Park Avenue around 1:20 a.m.

KC-area law enforcement enhancing training to uncover human trafficking, predators KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Law enforcement agencies have stepped up their training to uncover human trafficking and predators. Police departments, sheriff's offices and advocate groups across Kansas and Missouri were at the Police training academy Monday, for a lesson in spotting human trafficking.

Lenexa police help deliver baby late Thursday night Lenexa police officers helped deliver a baby in a car late Thursday night.Authorities said that a couple was on the way to a hospital when they had to pull over on 95th Street east of Interstate 35 because the mother was going into labor.Police said three officers arrived at the scene and jumped into action.

Developing . . .
Right now the city hall honcho is enjoying a bit of digital love with one of the most unpopular elected officials in American politics.



His career advancement probably won't help locals coping with rising crime and taxes.

HOWEVER . . .



The reassuring tone of the conversation will help offer a few more one-liners to his highlight reel . . .



"I look forward to (virtually) welcoming Vice President Harris to Kansas City today, as we discuss how Kansas City government is helping thousands of Kansas City families access federal support through the Child Tax Credit. The event is at 8:30a and Ill be at 4400 Blue Pkwy," Lucas posted on social media.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

Mayor Lucas to join VP Kamala Harris in virtual Child Tax Credit Day of Action KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas will join Vice President Kamala Harris, at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday to talk about the Child Tax Credit program. Lucas is one of two mayor's the Vice President will speak with during the hour long virtual event.

KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas to participate in virtual event with Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas will participate in a virtual event with Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday morning. At 8:30 a.m., Lucas will be one of two mayors the vice resident meets with over Zoom during an hour-long event at the White House related to the Child Tax Credit.

KC Mayor Lucas to join VP Kamala Harris for virtual event on Child Tax Credits KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is set to participate Tuesday morning with Vice President Kamala Harris on an event meant to help Americans navigate how to access Child Tax Credits. Lucas will be one of two mayors taking part in the hour-long ZOOM, starting at 8:30 a.m.

Developing . . .
A bit of clever naming right out of the Frank Luntz playbook will probably thwart a bit Missouri legislation.



To be fair, even suburban prosecutors are speaking up . . .



Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd told KCTV5 News it could make it difficult to take certain cases to trial.



"In many situations the only people in the room for a murder are the murderer and the victim," he explained. "It will be impossible in Missouri to disprove the possibility of self-defense."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .
Bordeaux (France) and Valencia (Spain) launched their European Capital of Smart Tourism 2022 titles and respective programmes with the presence of the cities' Mayors, academia, stakeholders and representatives of the European Commission.

The European Capital of Smart Tourism is an EU initiative, currently financed under the COSME Programme. It promotes smart tourism in the EU, fosters innovative, sustainable, and inclusive tourism development and the exchange of best practices. The initiative recognises outstanding achievements by European cities as tourism destinations in four categories: Accessibility, Sustainability, Digitalisation as well as Cultural heritage and creativity.

During the launching events, the 2022 Capitals received their trophies from Marie-Helene Pradines, representative of the European Commission, and their 3-meter-high hashtag sculptures were unveiled. The sculptures, awarded to celebrate the cities' success as European Capitals of Smart Tourism, are located in the City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia and the Exhibition Centre of Bordeaux. The sculptures are an enduring landmark to the four categories of the initiative and a visual representation of the EU's commitment to smart tourism.

During the festivities, Bordeaux's Mayor Pierre Hurmic said, "I am very pleased to receive today the European Union's European Capital of Smart Tourism Award, which rewards our commitment to the inclusion of all, to sustainable digital technology, to ecology and to the participation of residents and stakeholders."

Valencia's Mayor Joan Ribo said, "Six years ago we decided to change the city's tourism model and transform it into a sustainable, integrated, competitive model that respects its citizens and its natural and cultural heritage."

On behalf of the 2020 European Capitals of Smart Tourism, Eva Flyborg, Vice President of Goteborg & Co, and Francisco de la Torre, Mayor of Malaga sent their digital greetings and congratulations to the new Capitals.

During 2022, the two European Capitals of Smart Tourism will benefit from communication and branding support. Both Bordeaux and Valencia are planning extensive programmes to showcase their outstanding initiatives and inspire other European cities to develop tourism in a smarter and more sustainable way.

For all the latest news on the European Capital of Smart Tourism, sign up to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Image Credit:  Visit Valencia
Brevard, NC (28712)

Today

Some clouds. Low near 60F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low near 60F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
With our experience in the hospitality industry, We introduced Cozy Stay, a Coliving solution powered by advanced technology to address this issue. Cozy intends to provide a comfortable and homelike living experience to the younger generation who relocate to the city for higher education and job opportunities.



(TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - February 7th, 2022 -

The blooming hospitality chain Cozy Colive Concepts on Wednesday said that their co-living vertical Cozy Stay is looking to operate 2000 beds across three cities in India by the end of 2022.

Launched in 2021, Cozy Stay is a fully managed IoT-enabled Coliving platform with over 160 beds in Bengaluru. Currently, the company is on its mission to outstretch its chapters across Chennai and Kochi.

We have been working in hospitality for more than a decade. When we were planning to launch Cozy Stay in 2021, we were looking to combine the concept of Coliving and smart living together. And with this new model Cozy Stay is planning to revamp the face of the hospitality industry says Fayis, chief executive officer, and founding partner of Cozy Stay.

Marking millennials, young professionals, and nomads, Cozy Stay offers long-term, fully managed IoT integrated living spaces that include furnishing, cleaning, maintenance, and accommodation services.

Cozy Stay has witnessed a consistent occupancy rate of 90% in the last four years. And even in Covid 19 peak times, Cozy Stay was able to maintain an occupancy rate of 70%.

Cozy Stay leases an entire building, revamps the outlook of the building according to the Cozy Stay standards, controls end-to-end operations, and manages the community of millennials. With starting price at Rs. 3000 per bed, Cozy Stay is equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity, air conditioning, television, refrigerator, furnishing, decor, housekeeping, power backup, CCTV surveillance, fun zone, and a community for the Cozy Stay residents.

"The concept of Cozy Stay was conceived based on customer demands and feedback to offer them a cost-effective solution that would solve the dilemmas associated with long term rentals, high-security deposits, long lock-in periods, non-transparent payments, and lack of amenities" says Fahad, Managing Director and Founding Partner of Cozy Stay.

"The concept of coliving gave to life several startups over the past few years, however, students and young professionals were unable to keep up with the prices of these coliving platforms. So our ultimate goal was to provide these customers with a cost-effective option with no compromise in the quality of living " he adds.

Since coliving is an untapped sector with numerous prospects, the industry has seen a wave of startups over the past years, such as Stanza Living, Oyo Life, and Zolo Stays being the prominent ones.

Our team is young so we can easily connect with the issues faced by the millennials. When creating Cozy Stay our prime objective was to create a solution that caters to this needs of the youngsters Fayis further adds.

According to records, the country has over 37 million students, with approximately 75 % living away from home. However, existing hostels can only accommodate 18% to 20% of these migrant students. As a result, co-living housing firms are attempting to capitalize on this opportunity by providing fully furnished, professionally managed, internet-ready accommodations.

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By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor faced calls on Monday for a boycott of its cars from Indians incensed over a tweet from the account of its Pakistan partner that expressed solidarity for the people of the disputed territory of Kashmir.

The row erupted on Sunday, a day after Pakistan marked the annual Kashmir Solidarity Day and the posts on behalf of Hyundai's partner Nishat Group appeared on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram commemorating the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for self-determination.

Hundreds of social media users in India, which considers the whole of Kashmir as an integral part of the country, backed calls for a boycott, saying Hyundai must apologise for being insensitive to India's position on the decades-old dispute.

Dozens of Indians posted their intention to cancel orders for Hyundai cars in order to punish the company while urging support for homegrown brands like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Responding to the furore, Hyundai's India unit said that it has a "zero tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view".

"The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country," @HyundaiIndia said, adding that it stands firmly behind its "strong ethos of respecting nationalism".

Reuters requested comment from Hyundai's headquarters in Seoul and from Nishat Group, Pakistan's largest business conglomerate, but did not receive any immediate response.

Hyundai is India's second-largest car seller after Maruti Suzuki selling close to half a million vehicles in the country last fiscal year and exporting over a million units, making it India's largest car exporter.

Ashwani Mahajan, an official at the economic wing of the powerful Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) group with close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government said Hyundai should clarify its position on Kashmir.

Story continues

"While not criticising @HyundaiPakistan Indian arm of @Hyundai_Global is not even saying that Kashmir is an integral part of India. Speaks tons about their commitment to India. Doesn't this call for #BoycottHyundai?", he said.

Indian Twitter user Ashutosh Soni said he has cancelled his booking for Hyundai's Verna sedan which was due to be delivered this month and purchased a car from rival Honda Motor.

"#BoycottHyundai, that's it!", Soni tweeted from his handle @CA_AshutoshSoni on Sunday, along with a photograph of himself taking delivery of a new Honda car.

"Let's make them bankrupt. India is one of the biggest market for cars," filmmaker and social activist, Ashoke Pandit said on Twitter with a screenshot of a fall in Hyundai's share price on Monday.

While Hyundai's share fell 1.25% on Monday, weakening more than Seoul's benchmark index, the main factors behind the drop were concerns over record numbers of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, and ongoing worries that a global chip shortage could hit production and sales.

The trouble over the social media post highlights the risks global companies face amid rising nationalism in the region.

India and Pakistan have twice gone to war over Muslim majority Kashmir and Modi's government has pursued an aggressive policy to combat a militant separatist insurgency that it accuses Pakistan of stoking. Islamabad denies the charge but says it provides moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people.

Twitter users in India have made similar calls in the past, seeking to boycott Chinese goods https://reut.rs/3GqWMhe in 2020 after a border clash between the two Asian giants which disrupted automobile supply chains and other industries. Amazon.com Inc has also faced social media backlash in India after its overseas website was found selling goods with faces of Hindu gods https://reut.rs/3GrE7lj and other sacred symbols https://reut.rs/3B6Cngj. (Reporting by Aditi Shah, additional reporting by Syed Raza Hassan in Karachi and Heekyong Yang in Seoul; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
NEW YORK  New York State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi is running for a newly redrawn congressional district representing the Bronx, Long Island, Queens and Westchester County.

Biaggi is a Democrat who has represented parts of the Bronx and Westchester since her election to state Senate in 2018. Biaggi previously worked as an aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and on the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.

She said in a statement Monday that she's running for congress "to bring progressive and honest leadership to the frontlines of our country's most important fights."

Biaggi is running for New York's 3rd Congressional District. Democrat Tom Suozzi currently holds the seat but is not running for reelection. He is instead running for governor this year.

Under newly redrawn congressional maps signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last week, the district is less competitive and favors Democrats, with new borders stretching up to touch parts of Connecticut.

The new district includes parts of the Bronx that her grandfather Mario Biaggi represented in Congress when he served for about two decades until he resigned in 1988 after he was twice convicted of federal corruption charges.

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GREENWICH  Ending the speculation, Leora Levy formally declared she is a candidate for the U.S. Senate and plans to seek the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

Today we take the first step in our campaign to bring a conservative voice from Connecticut to the U.S. Senate, Levy said in a statement Tuesday. I am running to take on the far-left politicians who want our country to look more like the Communist Cuba my family and I fled in 1960 than the United States we have known and loved.

A Greenwich resident, Levy is one of Connecticuts representatives on the Republican National Committee and is a member of its Executive Committee. Blumenthal, a Democrat, said last year he will seek a third term in the Senate.

Levys entrance into the race sets up a possible Greenwich versus Greenwich match-up against Blumenthal, who is also a town resident. But in her statement, Levy focused more on President Joe Biden.

Im running for Senate to lead the fight for freedom. Joe Biden isnt on the ballot in November, but his policies are, she said. The way to beat back Biden is to beat Dick Blumenthal, and Im the conservative candidate who can get it done.

But Levy faces a crowded field in the race for the Republican nod. Former State Rep. Themis Klarides recently shifted from a possible gubernatorial run to a Senate run. And on Tuesday, Klarides received the endorsement of the state police union, early support in what could be a competitive GOP race.

Levys announcement ended weeks of speculation about her political future. With Klarides in the Senate race, there was some speculation Levy might seek to challenge U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4.

But Levy has joined Klarides in the Senate race, along with Republicans Peter Lumaj, Robert Hyde and John Flynn, who have also filed to run.

Leora is running for U.S. Senate because she would be a great senator for Connecticut and for all Americans, her campaign said. She brings a unique perspective and life experience to this race that no other candidate possesses. Her compelling story will cross traditional party lines and will bring together a coalition of voters that will deliver a Republican win in November.

Levys campaign said it will campaign hard for the support of our men and women in law enforcement, both in the August primary as well as in the general election this November. Her campaign also criticized Blumenthal for attending Black Lives Matter rallies.

The contrast between Leora and Dick couldnt be any more clear, and we look forward to making the case when Leora is our Republican nominee this fall, the campaign said.

Party viewpoints

Greenwich Republican Town Committee Chair Dan Quigley praised Levys candidacy.

Leora has the stature and ability to run a competitive campaign for the U.S. Senate, Quigley said. She will be a formidable candidate for the Republican nomination.

The large field of candidates shows that the Republican Party is well-position to defeat Blumenthal in November, said Ben Proto, chair of the Connecticut state Republican Party.

I think its an indication of just how vulnerable Dick Blumenthal is, and I think its an indication that the people of Connecticut are tired of Sen. Blumenthals act, Proto said.

Blumenthal doesnt really do much as a U.S. senator other than show up at events, Proto said.

State Democratic Party Chair Nancy DiNardo fired back, criticizing Levy for her stance on the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol.

If a candidate is concerned about threats to democracy, she should never have supported the RNCs resolution that declared (the incident) legitimate political discourse, DiNardo said. (Levy) didnt hint at it. She voted for it. Richard Blumenthal has been an incredible advocate for Connecticut and works hard every day to represent its people. Voters know him, they trust him and they will continue to vote for him.

Greenwich Democratic Town Committee Chair Joseph Angland said he would not comment about Levy at this time.

Sen. Blumenthal has done a great job representing both the citizens of Connecticut and democratic principles in Washington, D.C., Angland said.

Levys campaign

In her announcement, Levy said she has decided to put $500,000 of her own money in the race and would also be fundraising aggressively around the country.

After her past criticism turned into support, then-President Donald Trump nominated Levy to be U.S. ambassador to Chile, but her nomination never went before the Senate for approval.

In launching her campaign, Levy also touted her support for Israel and against any attempt by Biden to revive a nuclear weapons deal with Iran that was agreed to under President Barack Obama but was ended controversially by Trump.

Blumenthal supported the Obama-Iran deal.

If Biden and Blumenthal succeed, America will fail and the world will be imperiled, Levy said. When I am elected as U.S. senator from Connecticut, I will be a strong, clear voice for America and for maintaining an unbreakable alliance between the U.S. and Israel. The government of Iran is an evil regime, the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in the world and the enemy of all freedom-loving peoples.

Last summer, Levy unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination to fun for the 36th State Senate in a special election.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to cloudy skies after midnight. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

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Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to cloudy skies after midnight. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
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.
Auburn police said illegal products were found by officers executing a search warrant Monday afternoon at a smoke shop in the city.

The law enforcement raid at Auburn Smoke Shop, 67 Franklin St., was performed by the Finger Lakes Drug Task Force and APD's road patrol and detective units, the Auburn Police Department said. Police were investigating illegal sales of marijuana and untaxed cigarettes.

Officers seized marijuana, untaxed cigarettes, flavored vaping products and "other items not intended for sale under the public health law," APD said.

The investigation is ongoing and charges are pending, APD said. Anyone with information related to the investigation can contact the agency at (315) 253-3231.

The Auburn Fire Department and Auburn Code Enforcement Office assisted at the scene.

Auburn Smoke Shop is owned and operated by Mohamed Algamal, who opened the shop in April.

Shortly after starting the business, he told The Citizen he opened the shop, his first, because he saw a need for a retail outlet selling cigarettes, cigars, vapes, CBD products, hookahs, pipes and more.

He also spoke about his hope to be able to sell recreational cannabis when that becomes legal under the state's new marijuana law.

"I think its a great idea to make it legal," Algamal said at the time. "And if its going to be legal to be sold in my business I will definitely be happy to sell it."

The shop has previously been the site of police activity.

On New Year's Eve, police responded to an attempted armed robbery at the store in which a nearby resident was later apprehended and later arrested. He was accused of using a Glock replica ghost gun in the alleged crime.

The city's property records database show there have also been five additional police calls at the shop since August and two fire/EMS calls.

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The pretext for the introduction of Russian troops in Ukraine may be internal destabilization, including a coup detat.

According to Ukrinform, thats according to Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov, who spoke at the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) panel show on ICTV on Monday, February 7.

"The most realistic scenario could be any attempt to internal destabilization in Ukraine, Reznikov said, answering questions about possible scenarios for the Russian military incursion.

Thats because the Kremlin has a dream that they will be welcomed here with flowers on the streets of Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, or Lviv. In fact, this wont happen in the case of full-scale open aggression. It is no longer possible to seize administrative buildings, take advantage of pro-Soviet population, as happened in 2014, when those little green men were deployed ... An attempt to destabilization in our streets, with the use of so-called antivaxxers or those unhappy with the economic policies, etc., the attempts to topple the government  this is a scenario I see as absolutely likely so we need to prepare for it to allow no such opportunity," Reznikov said.

The defense minister underlined the latest efforts by Ukraines security and defense forces, including the National Guard, the National Police, and the State Emergency Service, to work out ways to hinder various destabilization plots.

Meanwhile, next week, exercises will be held in Kherson region in Ukraines south to clear administrative buildings seized by a conventional adversary  something that took place back in 2014.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on February 4, large-scale joint tactical and spec-ops exercises were held in Prypiat near the Chornobyl NPP, involving forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the participation of the Ministrys leadership and top defense, police, and National Guard officials, also attended by foreign ambassadors and other representatives of Ukraines partner nations.

The National Guardsmen, police, and rescuers worked out coordination in defending a settlement, urban warfare tactics, and efforts to eliminate consequences of active hostilities in urban areas.

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As of today, there are a total of 140,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine from the direction of the Russian Federation, Belarus, and occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

"As of today, there is a ground component of 119,000 soldiers along all borders of Ukraine from the direction of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and the temporarily occupied territories. If we add the air and sea components, there will be 140,000 troops. These are 72 battalion tactical groups, 11 of which are stationed in the Republic of Belarus. These are objective facts," Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov said on the air of ICTV channel on February 7.

The minister noted that the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises "Union Determination 2022" would begin soon, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces would conduct its own exercises.

"Their exercises will last from February 10 to 20, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are also working, so we will hold simultaneous drills at the training areas of Rivne, Kovel, Ovruch, Shyroky Lan, Oleshkivski Pisky, Chernihiv, Chuhuyiv, Sumy, Odesa," Reznikov said, adding that, the Ukrainian military will also conduct exercises using Bayraktar drones, Javelin systems, and NLAW missiles in other places.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine and international partners were closely following the Russian-Belarusian military exercises "Union Determination 2022" and had full information about the maneuvers near Ukraines border.

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The United States has greenlighted the supply of "very interesting items" for the needs of the Armed Forces which Ukraine has long requested.

"Today we received the consent of the United States on the supply of very interesting items from the Baltic states, our neighbors. In the near future, I hope to brag about receiving what we have long dreamed of, what we have long requested, and we have been told that it is impossible," Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov said on the air of ICTV channel on February 7 without specifying any details.

He noted that today Ukraine had unprecedented support from international partners, which strengthen the country's defense capacity and ability to defend itself against Russia.

"A dozen countries supply us with lethal weapons free of charge, in form of assistance and gift. There are countries from which we buy weapons and we are fine with that. Unfortunately, some countries, such as Germany, have a principled position not to supply lethal weapons. Apart from refusing to provide their, German-made, weapons, Germany also blocks the purchase of lethal weapons, for example, through a special agency NSPA [NATO Support and Procurement Agency]," Reznikov said.

According to the minister, the progress is still seen and Ukraine continues its dialogue with partners, to whom it has already submitted a written request on the needs of the Armed Forces.

Earlier, Ukraine could not even dream of such assistance, the minister said, adding: "The number of means of destruction already exceeds the number of potential targets."

On February 5, the eighth plane with military aid from the United States arrived in Ukraine, carrying 86 tonnes of ammunition.

On February 7, Defense Minister Reznikov announced on Facebook, following a telephone conversation with British Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace, that Ukraine would receive another batch of military aid from Britain soon.

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A group of large landing ships of the Russian Navy is passing through the Bosporus and Dardanelles from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.

The Russian Defense Ministry says that the warships are on a scheduled sail to the Black Sea, where they will reportedly take part in naval exercises, Ukrinform reports.

It is specified that the Korolyov, Minsk, and Kaliningrad are currently in the Dardanelles, while the Pyotr Morgunov, Georgy Pobedonosets, and Olenegorsky Gorniak will pass to the Black Sea over the next day.

Earlier, a group of large landing ships made a call at the Russian navys logistics hub on the Mediterranean coast (Syria), where stocks of fuels and lubricants, drinking water, and food were replenished.

As reported, Russia continues to build up its forces in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and around Ukraines borders. The Kremlin is using these military maneuvers to blackmail the United States and NATO, putting forward an ultimatum demanding guarantees of NATO eastward non-expansion and the reversal of the allies security policy.

Should the West refuse to accept such Russian "offers," the Kremlin publicly threatens to use measures of a "military and military-technical nature."

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U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to bring an end to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if Russia launches a new invasion of Ukraine.

He said this at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Monday, February 7, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"If Russia invades  that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again  then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it," Biden said.

When asked how he could do that exactly, since the project is largely within Germany's control, Biden said: "I promise you, we'll be able to do it."

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed that Germany was considering a package of sanctions against Russia, which will also include restrictions against Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Ukraine has exported 39.210 million tonnes of grain crops so far in the current 2021/2022 marketing year, which is 9.683 million tonnes more than in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.

In particular, Ukraine has already exported 17.207 million tonnes of wheat, 5.484 million tonnes of barley, 157.4 thousand tonnes of rye, and 16.095 million tonnes of corn.

In addition, over the reporting period, Ukraines exports of flour came to 63.9 million, which is 24.4 million less than in the same last year).

According to the balance of supply and demand of grain and leguminous crops, the expected production of all crops may reach 83.8 million tonnes. The need for domestic consumption is about 20 million tonnes, which will allow Ukraine to export about 65 million tonnes grain and leguminous crops.

As Ukrinform reported, in the 2020/2021 marketing year, Ukraine exported 44.628 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops.

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The consensus that a new Russian invasion of Ukraine will bring an end to the future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a positive signal.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this at a joint briefing with the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria in Kyiv on Tuesday, February 8, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

Kuleba recalled that Ukraine's position on Nord Stream 2 is unchanged - "we believe that this is a security problem not only for Ukraine but also for Europe."

"We are working with our partners to find a mutually acceptable solution. For us, there are positive signals that, in principle, there is a certain consensus now. Firstly, that there is no need to rush with the certification of Nord Stream 2, and secondly, that any new Russian military incursion into Ukraine will put an end to this project," Kuleba said.

On February 7, U.S. President Joe Biden said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that if Russia launches a new invasion of Ukraine, "there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2."

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed, among other things, the economic and infrastructure cooperation during the talks with President of France Emmanuel Macron.

"I appreciate that the French side is taking an active part in restoring the infrastructure of our country, improving the lives of our citizens, especially in eastern Ukraine. By joint efforts, we implement an important project of drinking water treatment in the town of Mariupol [Donetsk region] and the reconstruction of the water supply system in the town of Popasna, Luhansk region. Thanks to these projects, half a million Mariupol residents and more than one million of our citizens in Luhansk region will have access to high-quality drinking water," Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Macron, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Read also: Ukrainian delegation in France discusses prospects of economic cooperation

He also noted that the agreements had been finalized and important projects had been put into practice during the talks with the French leader, including the supply of 130 Alstom locomotives worth 900 million euros and 370 units of fire and rescue equipment worth 300 million euros.

Zelensky also mentioned the joint construction of patrol boats for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine in Mykolayiv city. Moreover, the cooperation with Airbus company is ongoing to launch a national carrier.

As reported, President of France Emmanuel Macron is on a working visit to Ukraine on Tuesday.

The day before, Macron held talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock discussed defense, energy security, and economic issues during a meeting in Kyiv on February 7.

Shmyhal noted that Ukraine was consolidating its main international partners as much as possible. "We hope for the continued support for our state and the strong and steadfast position of Berlin," he added, the Government portal informs.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine pointed out the crucial importance of counteracting hybrid threats posed by the Russian Federation. In this context, Shmyhal stressed that Russia could use the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as an energy weapon against Europe.

The Head of Government of Ukraine noted that Ukraine continued to implement reforms despite Russian aggression. He thanked Germany for its many years of effective support in this area, in particular, in implementing decentralization reform and promoting projects for the fair transformation of coal regions.

In addition, Shmyhal congratulated Germany on the start of G7 presidency. He also focused on attracting German investors to joint projects, including on mining.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine stressed that European and Euro-Atlantic integration remained the unwavering commitment of the Government of Ukraine.

As a reminder, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at a joint press conference with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on February 7 that Germany still had no plans to provide Ukraine with weapons but was ready to bolster financial and humanitarian support.

Photo credit: Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

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President of France Emmanuel Macron says he sees Minsk accords as the base for resolving the "Ukrainian issue" so he will discuss this with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting in Kyiv on February 8.

Macron spoke of the issue at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.

"The Ukraine settlement must be exclusively political. And the Minsk agreements are the base of such settlement. The Normandy format is the right way when Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany are at the table. These accords require initiative and progress  they must move forward," the French leader said, noting that a number of very sensitive issues, including constitutional reform, (special) status [of Donbas], and elections, are now under consideration and widely debated.

Macron stressed that the recent talks of political advisers to Normandy Four leaders, held in Paris, managed to move forward "on certain technical points."

"Id like to applaud President [Volodymyr] Zelensky's efforts, in particular, the specific commitments he has made in this format, in particular to repeal a law that is not in line with the Minsk agreements, and this law was indeed repealed at President Zelenskys initiative," Emmanuel Macron added.

The French president also noted that Zelensky leads the nation, which is now seeing 125,000 Russian troops near its border, and this is top news of the recent months.

"There was no such presence at the border when the Minsk agreements were signed, so this is a very important point, and it was part of our discussion with Putin, this is what this is about t when we talk about de-escalation," Macron said.

President Zelensky is acting in a cold-blooded manner "and that's to be praised."

"In close coordination with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, we pursue our joint efforts within the framework of the Normandy format, in order to fully implement the Minsk agreements, in order to settle the conflict in Donbas. We need to take concrete steps to implement these agreements  clearly and in full," Macron said.

Regarding his trip to Kyiv, the French president said: I told both President Zelensky and President Putin that the Minsk agreements could really resolve the situation and make progress on the Ukrainian crisis. And this is exactly what I will talk about tomorrow with President Zelensky. "

Macron also said that after his talks with Zelensky, he would have a phone call with Putin.

As Ukrinform reported, French President Emmanuel Macron flew to Moscow on Monday to hold talks with Russian President Putin on withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine's borders.

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The Nick's Ride 4 Friends Board of Directors hosted an open house Wednesday at the addiction recovery support group's new location on Chapel S
Ukraine will be working with Hungary to unblock the countrys accession to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence, while not intending to do so at the expense of its own interests.

This was stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, who spoke at the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) panel show on ICTV this Monday, February 7, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"As for CyberNATO, I think that the name of the country thats blocked the accession (of Ukraine - ed.) wouldnt be a surprise to anyone in this story. But we have no choice but to work on having this process unlocked. However, we will not give up any of our own interests, that is, we will not pay any price for this process to be unlocked," Kuleba said.

As reported by a number of media outlets, Hungary has blocked the process of Ukraine joining NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE).

Ukraine to work with Hungary to unblock membership in CyberNATO - Kuleba

Ukraine will be working with Hungary to unblock the countrys accession to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence, while not intending to do so at the expense of own interests.

This was stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, who spoke at the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) panel show on ICTV this Monday, February 7, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"As for CyberNATO, I think that the name of the country thats blocked the accession (of Ukraine - ed.) wouldnt be a surprise to anyone in this story. But we have no choice but to work on having this process unlocked. However, we will not give up any of our own interests, that is, we will not pay any price for this process to be unlocked," Kuleba said.

As reported by a number of media outlets, Hungary has blocked the process of Ukraine joining NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE).

As reported earlier, last Tuesday Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met at the Kremlin in what was their 12th meeting.

Hungary has been blocking Ukraine on its path toward eventually joining NATO over disputes regarding language law which Budapest claims curbs the rights of a Hungarian minority, widely represented in Ukraines far-western Zakarpattia region bordering Hungary.

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Russia has been working to completely discredit and knock the Normandy format out of the negotiation process over the past year, so the current return to its active phase sends a good signal.

The opinion was expressed by Acting First Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement, Andriy Kostin, who spoke in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"In my opinion, Russias main idea over the past year was to completely discredit and knock the Normandy format out of the negotiation process," Kostin said.

In this context, he recalled the case where Russia leaked diplomatic correspondence with France and Germany. The acting first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG noted that there was nothing classified in that document, but the very fact of such correspondence being leaked is absolutely unacceptable in any negotiation process.

Their idea was to discredit the Normandy format, to sow distrust, and to move everything to the TCG. At the same time, Russia pursued its rhetoric claiming they are a party to the conflict, Kostin said.

According to the Ukrainian negotiator, the current return to the active phase of the Normandy format sends is a good signal, because at the N4 level it would be impossible to rewrite the Minsk agreements the way Russia is trying to through the "guests" they invited to the TCG.

"This is simply impossible. In this sense, it seems to me that the revival of the Normandy format is very important to us. It is, so to speak, superior to the TCG, and the history of the negotiation process shows that all disputes that could not be resolved at the TCG level could be settled within the Normandy format. This hierarchy must be adhered to, and we are doing everything possible to make it happen," the acting first deputy chairman of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG said.

According to Kostin, the latest talks of N4 advisers in Paris have shown that Russia realizes it cant quit the Normandy Four and simply ignore it. Therefore Moscow should recognize that the role of the Normandy format is higher than that of the TCG.

As reported earlier, a meeting of political advisers to the Normandy Four leaders was held in Paris on January 26. The parties agreed to hold their next meeting in two weeks.

According to Ukrinform, such a meeting has been scheduled for February 10.

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Germany is ready to pay a high economic price if Russia resorts to further aggression against Ukraine, because it is about its security.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said this at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Monday, February 7, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We have planned a series of tough measures against Russia, and these sanctions are unprecedented. They have been coordinated and planned with all partners. I would like to draw your attention once again to the fact that given the close ties with partners and my country, we are also ready to bear a high economic price, because it is about Ukraine's security," she said.

Baerbock noted that Berlin is trying to continue dialogue with Russia. In particular, she stressed that together with the United States and NATO, written answers have been conveyed to Russia, which made it clear that the ball is in Moscow's court.

"It is up to Moscow to defuse the situation. And the meaning of diplomacy is to continue the dialogue and be absolutely clear that there will be consequences if it really comes to further aggression against Ukraine," she said.

Baerbock added that her visit is not only a show of solidarity, but it also clearly demonstrates that Berlin will do everything to prevent further escalation.

She said that "at stake is no less than peace in Europe."

Baerbock is on her second visit to Ukraine on February 7-8 at Kuleba's invitation.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

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Russia must end the war in eastern Ukraine immediately, and any attempt to increase aggression will have severe consequences for the Kremlin.

Juri Ratas, chairman of the Estonian parliament, said this at a joint briefing with his Ukrainian counterpart Ruslan Stefanchuk in Kyiv on Tuesday, February 8, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Security is a priority today. The democratic world has no doubt that Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence are unconditional. Invasion of an independent country is a gross violation of international law. The war in Donbas, which has been going on for eight years, must be stopped immediately. Any attempt to increase aggression will have severe consequences [for Russia]," Ratas said.

He added that since regaining its independence 30 years ago, Estonia has pledged never to be alone and has worked hard to become a reliable ally and partner in building collective security.

"We are aware of the importance and value of cooperation between democracies. We promise Ukraine: 'You will never be left alone'," Ratas said.

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal discussed European prospects and the consolidation of efforts to support Ukraine with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia Ivan Korcok, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavsky.

During the meeting in Kyiv, Shmyhal stressed that the visit of the foreign ministers of the three European countries was an important signal of solidarity with Ukraine, the Government portal informs.

He thanked for providing economic, humanitarian, and military support, as well as expressed gratitude personally to the ministers for visiting the line of contact the day before.

"I am grateful for the firm stance of your countries. Today, we have a high level of support from the European Union and its member states. Practical assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is critical for us as Ukraine has become Europe's shield in the face of the threat coming from the east," said the Head of the Government of Ukraine.

"Signing joint declarations on Ukraine's European prospects at the level of heads of state and government will be a clear signal that pro-European reforms in our country deserve the support of all EU Member States," Shmyhal said.

In this regard, he thanked Slovakia for signing the declaration and expressed hope that the Czech Republic and Austria would soon support Ukraine's European integration officially.

Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic fully support Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the ministers assured.

As reported, the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Austria, and Slovakia are on a joint visit to Ukraine on February 7-8 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

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Ukraine now does not see any withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine's borders and no efforts by Russia to de-escalate the situation.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this at a joint briefing with the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria in Kyiv on Tuesday, February 8, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The security situation remains generally unchanged - we do not see any withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine's border by Russia, we do not see any efforts by Russia to de-escalate. We see that now the basic scenario for Russia is to try to destabilize the internal situation in Ukraine by using the threat of force, but not yet the armed force itself," Kuleba said.

He added that Ukraine is preparing for any scenario, as this war has been going on since 2014. He said it was extremely important that Ukraine has support from friends and partners, including the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia, in the diplomatic deterrence of Russia.

In this context, Kuleba thanked the EU for its statements on future sanctions against Russia in the event of further aggression against Ukraine.

"These are all measures to deter the Russian Federation. We are also grateful for the strengthening of Ukraine's defense - these are also measures to deter Russia, because the best deterrence of Russia is a strong Ukraine," Kuleba said.

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The Slavkov format member states  Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia  stand firmly on Ukraine's side.

"We are here with the only clear message: we stand on Ukraine's side in the current situation, we support its territorial integrity and sovereignty. We are here to express solidarity, involvement, and support. We are here to give a clear signal that the choice of where Ukraine should move remains with Ukrainians Ukraine's security is the security of the whole of Europe," Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavsky said at a joint briefing with Dmytro Kuleba, Alexander Schallenberg, and Ivan Korcok in Kyiv on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He noted that Ukrainians, having chosen the path of rapprochement with the West, should be able to fulfill their dream. According to him, Russia is currently trying to play the card when Ukraine's future is at stake. "But we do not want to make concessions. These demands of Russia are absolutely not a way to hold negotiations," the diplomat stated.

Lipavsky added that the territorial integrity of countries is an integral part of the European security architecture. The Czech top diplomat said that "the annexation of Crimea was an illegal act, Crimea is Ukraine, and this must be reiterated again and again."

The Czech foreign minister called his country a strong partner of Ukraine, mentioning humanitarian aid, support for economic transformation, and the recent provision of military ammunition and equipment.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Ivan Korcok confirmed that the visit of the three foreign ministers "is a sign of triple solidarity". According to him, Ukraine has a free choice of its development and has already made progress on this path. "Ukraine does not pose a threat to anyone. We do not understand or share the argument that Ukraine's aspiration for NATO membership is a threat to Russia," Korcok said. He pointed out the need to respect the guiding principles on which Europe has been built since 1989.

Speaking about Slovakia's assistance to Ukraine, the diplomat mentioned, in particular, Slovak projects in Stanytsia Luhanska, an emergency medical station, and more. He also noted that the Slovak GTS provided "double capacity" for pumping gas through its territory to Ukraine and expressed readiness to "analyze the possibility of the commercial viability of such a project."

The program of the joint visit of the ministers to Ukraine includes meetings with the leadership of Ukraine, foreign minister Kuleba, representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, visits to Kharkiv city and the line of contact in Luhansk region, etc.

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Ukraine and France will continue cooperation on the return of temporarily occupied territories to Ukraine's control, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

He said this at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Kyiv on Tuesday, February 8, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We will continue cooperation for the deoccupation of the territories of Ukraine," Zelensky said.

He noted that he has a common vision with Macron on security threats and current challenges to Ukraine, to the whole of Europe, to the world as a whole. "They require unity, new preventive approaches, European leadership," he added.

"Today, support for Ukraine from partners, strengthening resilience and defense capabilities is beneficial for the region as a whole and, I am sure, for all EU countries. Security support is very important, economic support is very important, and we appreciate it very much," Zelensky said.

Macron is on a working visit to Ukraine on February 8.

On February 7, he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky says that the peaceful settlement of the situation in the east was one of the key issues at talks with President of France Emmanuel Macron and hopes the Normandy format summit will take place in the near future.

"The peace process was one of the key issues of our meeting today. We expect that we will be able to hold the next round of talks of the Normandy format leaders in the near future, in accordance with the agreements reached during the Paris Summit in December 2019," Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Macron, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to him, an important step towards the summit is the intensification of dialogue at the level of political advisers. The previous meeting of advisers was held on January 26, and the next one is scheduled "in the coming days", he noted.

"We hope that the meeting on January 26 and the upcoming talks in Berlin will bring us closer to the Normandy format summit," Zelensky said.

As reported, President of France Emmanuel Macron is on a working visit to Ukraine on Tuesday.

The day before, Macron held talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Veronika Remisova, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Investments, Regional development and Informatization, discussed cooperation in the area of digitalization.

The meeting of the two officials took place on the sidelines of the third Diia Summit in Kyiv on February 8, Ukrinform reports, referring to the Government portal.

In particular, Shmyhal has stressed that Ukraine is becoming one of the world leaders in the digital sphere and is interested in new areas of cooperation with Slovakia in this direction.

"Our scientists are interested in cooperation in the field of cryptographic technologies, as we are paying a lot of attention to cybersecurity. We have established Ukraine's first National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity. Every day we counter cyber attacks on Ukraine's digital infrastructure. Therefore, we are interested in further cooperation in this direction, the Prime Minister said.

In addition, Shmyhal and Remisova discussed the development of cross-border cooperation in the field of digitalization of public services in the regions. According to the head of the Ukrainian Government, Ukraine and Slovakia could jointly implement such projects to improve access to public and social services.

As Ukrinform reported, the team of the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation presented more than 10 new digital services at the Diia Summit 2022. The new services include the change of place of registration, new notifications in the Diia app, an updated Diia.Signature, services for pensioners and drivers, and some other digital projects and initiatives.

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Acting Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci is accusing Gov. Kathy Hochul's office and the local Democratic Party of a "backroom deal" to appoint a Democrat as the county's top prosecutor.

Grome Antonacci made the claim in a post on her Facebook page Sunday. Hochul's office, she wrote, is "playing politics by promising to appoint a Democrat to the position of district attorney, regardless of qualifications."

"The appointment of an inexperienced and unqualified individual to such an important role should not be condoned regardless of political affiliation," she continued. "If this appointment is allowed to go through, the governor will send a clear message to the people of New York that partisan politics trumps the safety and best interests of our community."

Grome Antonacci was named acting district attorney after Jon Budelmann resigned in December. Budelmann relinquished the post after being elected to serve as a Cayuga County Surrogate's Court judge.

While Grome Antonacci is fulfilling the district attorney's duties, the position is technically vacant. Under state law, the governor can appoint someone to fill a vacancy until the next election. In this case, a new district attorney will be elected in November.

Hochul's office hasn't revealed whether the governor will make an appointment. In December, a spokesperson for Hochul said that she is "reviewing her options."

A Hochul spokesperson told The Citizen on Monday that "no appointment or decision has been made."

"Governor Hochul continues to review her options and will do what is best for all Cayuga County residents," they said.

If there is an arrangement to appoint a Democrat as district attorney then that's news to Dia Carabajal, chair of the Cayuga County Democratic Committee. Carabajal previously told The Citizen that local Democrats have discussed the vacancy with the governor's office.

On Monday, she reiterated that it's Hochul's call whether to appoint a new district attorney.

"Miss Antonacci really thinks that she is very entitled to this job when she's only had it for a few weeks and she's only lived in town for a few months," Carabajal said in a phone interview. "I don't have any more information than anyone else has ... Miss Antonacci should spend her time unpacking and meeting the people of Cayuga County."

Grome Antonacci has been in communication with the governor's office. In January, she sent an email to a gubernatorial aide informing them that her office was having difficulty filling vacant positions due to the uncertainty surrounding her status. She also warned the governor's office that appointing someone else to serve as the county's chief prosecutor could disrupt ongoing investigations and preparations for upcoming trials.

The email also revealed that Grome Antonacci believed Hochul would decide whether to appoint a new district attorney by the end of December  around the time when Budelmann resigned. More than a month later, there has been no update on what, if any, action Hochul will take.

Grome Antonacci is receiving support from local political parties and a law enforcement union. The Cayuga County Republican Committee urged its supporters to call Hochul's office and tell the governor "to leave the position of Cayuga County district attorney alone."

"We want a DA who will prosecute and not be soft on crime like the rest of the woke (Democratic) DAs in the state!" the local GOP wrote on its Facebook page.

Auburn Police Local 195, a union representing Auburn police officers, issued a statement backing Grome Antonacci and accusing the governor's office of a "dirty political scheme."

"Our members have had nothing but good experiences working with DA Grome Antonacci, and we know that she is committed to keeping our community safe," the union said.

Regardless of whether Hochul will appoint a new DA, Grome Antonacci is a candidate for a full four-year term. She is seeking the Republican and Conservative lines to run for district attorney this year.

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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Ukraine and France have signed five bilateral documents following a meeting between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron, the Ukrainian president's press service has said.

According to the report, in the presence of the two countries' leaders, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky and Vice President for Eurasia at Thales International SAS Christophe Lanovsky signed a memorandum of understanding between the Ukrainian Interior Ministry and Thales International SAS.

In addition, General Director of the Ukroboronprom State Concern Yuriy Husyev and Lanovsky signed an agreement on cooperation.

Read also: Macron calls on all parties to move towards implementation of Minsk agreements

Husyev and French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins signed a joint statement by Ukroboronprom and the French Embassy in Ukraine.

Acting Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Serhiy Kruk and Desautel Group President Jerome Desautel signed a joint declaration of intent between the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and Desautel SAS.

Board Chairman at JSC Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin and Chairman and CEO of Alstom Henri Poupart-Lafarge signed a memorandum of understanding between Ukrzaliznytsia and Alstom Transport SA.

At a meeting with journalists following his talks with Macron in Kyiv, Zelensky said the involvement of France in joint economic and, above all, infrastructure projects was an important issue in their talks.

"Today we have finalized the agreements and put into practice very important projects: the supply of 130 Alstom locomotives worth EUR 900 million and the supply of 370 Desautel units of fire and rescue equipment for EUR 300 million. The project on the construction of patrol boats for the State Border Guard Service, in particular in the city of Mykolaiv, is also being implemented," Zelensky said.

He also stressed that Ukraine and France will continue to develop cooperation with Airbus to establish a national air carrier.

"In addition, in the framework of military-technical cooperation between our countries, an agreement was signed between Ukroboronprom and the French company Thales. Also today, a joint statement was signed by Ukroboronprom and the French side on reforms in the defense-industrial complex of Ukraine," Zelensky said.

Macron is on a working visit to Ukraine on February 8.

On February 7, he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

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Austria will provide EUR 2.5 million in humanitarian aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross and non-governmental organizations working in eastern Ukraine.

Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg said this at a press conference following a joint visit to Luhansk region of the foreign ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

"We have provided more than EUR 14 million in the past several years. The Austrian government will provide another ERU 2.5 million in immediate humanitarian aid in coming days to the International Committee of the Red Cross and non-governmental organizations working here, said Schallenberg.

According to him, during the trip to eastern Ukraine, the foreign ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were able to see for themselves how difficult the humanitarian situation is in the region and that the security situation on the contact line remains tense.

According to Schallenberg, for the first time in many years, "there is a risk of military confrontation in Europe." Against this background, he stressed that the joint visit of the three European ministers is a very strong signal of Central European support and solidarity with Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg and Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Ivan Korcok are on an official visit to Ukraine on February 7-8.

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A Congolese refugee makes facemasks in Musasa refugee camp in Muyinga Province, Burundi.  UNHCR/Will Swanson

Nairobi, KENYA  UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the pledges made by the Government of Burundi in line with the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR).

On 21 January 2022, Burundi officially submitted eight pledges to UNHCR, joining the more than 100 countries that made pledges at the Global Refugee Forum held in Geneva in December 2019.

First announced at UNHCRs High-Level Officials Meeting (HLOM) in December 2021, Burundis pledges include committing to promote refugee and host community self-reliance, guarantee refugee freedom of movement, eradicate statelessness, and reduce the impacts of climate change.

Burundi has generously hosted refugees for decades and this is an important step towards improving the lives of refugees, returnees and the host communities. It will help empower them to lead productive and dignified lives, said Clementine Nkweta Salami, UNHCRs Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes. UNHCR will continue to support the government to meet these pledges, she added.

Burundi has also pledged to continue the dignified voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees from neighboring countries, facilitated by UNHCR, and remains committed to the inclusion of both Burundian returnees and Congolese refugees in the national educational and health systems.

The GCR, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2018, is a framework for equitable responsibility-sharing, recognizing that a sustainable solution to refugee situations cannot be achieved without international cooperation. It envisions more predictable and sustainable support to countries hosting refugees as well as enhances opportunities for durable solutions for refugees whether in their countries of asylum, resettlement countries, or, when conditions allow, in their countries of origin.

The Compact sets out arrangements to ensure host communities also benefit from this support. A central arrangement is the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) where, every four years, States and other actors share good practices and contribute with financial support, technical expertise and policy changes to help reach the goals of the Compact. These contributions aim to transform the aspirations of the compact into positive changes in the lives of refugees. The first GRF took place in December 2019 and was a true milestone in building solidarity with the worlds refugees and the countries and communities that host them.

Burundis commitments and contributions as part of the Global Compact on Refugees are a strong testimony to the governments willingness to join all partners efforts towards supporting humanitarian assistance in the country, said Gervais Ndirakobuca, Burundis Minister of Interior, of Public Safety and Community Development.

Burundi hosts over 86,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Moreover, since 2017, UNHCR has facilitated the voluntary return of nearly 187,000 Burundian refugees from Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya. Some 800 people in Burundi are at risk of statelessness.

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Alice Wong, a writer and organizer in San Francisco, says the isolation and loss of the pandemic have shown society what it's like to be disabled. (Eddie Hernandez/Kaiser Health News/TNS)
The Indian government will soon make it mandatory for the automakers to provide only three-point seatbelts in all seats of a car. This means the third occupant seated in the middle of the rear seat too will get a three-point seatbelt, reveals a Hindustan Times report. According to the report, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will soon announce this mandate.

(Also Read: Tesla recalls over 817,000 cars in this country over seat belt reminder alert)

Currently, only the front seats and two rear seats in most of the cars available in India come equipped with three-point seatbelts. These are also called Y-shaped seatbelts. The rear centre seat in these cars come equipped with only a two-point or lap seatbelt, which is similar to the ones provided in aircraft seats.

MoRTH is expected to issue a draft notification within a month suggesting a three-point seatbelt for the centre rear seat mandatory for the automakers. However, before making it a rule, the government will seek public suggestions and comments.

The government intends to improve the overall safety ratings of passenger cars manufactured in India. This move is expected to increase the safety of the car occupants and reduce the chance of injuries and fatalities in case of accidents. Three-point seatbelts are scientifically proven to be much safer than two-point seatbelts as they evenly spread out the energy of a moving body over the chest, shoulders and pelvis at the time of a collision and result in lesser injuries.

Three-point seatbelts were invented and introduced by Swedish automaker Volvo back in August 1959. However, the automaker decided to leave the patent open for other carmakers in the greater interest of public safety.

According to a MoRTH official, the ministry has found that barring a few models, no other vehicle in India has three-point seatbelts for the passenger seated in the rear middle seat. They only get a lap belt instead, which is hardly effective in case of a crash, putting the passenger at great risk.

This move comes after the MoRTH issued a draft notification earlier this year on 14th January, seeking public comments on the proposed rule that will make it mandatory for all the carmakers to provide six airbags in all cars.

First Published Date:
Adventist Health Sonora is seeking to train and hire certified nursing assistants through a new program that provides free scholarships for applicants.
Kia India says it has a clear policy of not engaging in political and cultural matters.A controversial tweet from a Kia dealership in Pakistan on Kashmir led to enormous flak for the brand in India.

Kia India on Tuesday evening issued a statement in which it distanced itself from a tweet made by an independently-owned dealer in Pakistan on the struggle for freedom in Kashmir.' Facing enormous backlash in India over the said tweet, Kia India termed the social media posts as unauthorized.

In the statement issued, Kia India underlined that it has put in place strict measures to ensure that the use of Kia brand identity is not misused in such a manner.

The tweets related to Kashmir from Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki dealerships, apart from other non-automotive brands like Pizza Hut, KFC and others in Pakistan led to swift and severe backlash in India with netizens calling for a boycott of the products.

The matter was also raised in Rajya Sabha where Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that the Indian government has asked the Hyundai for a better response, after the South Korean company had issued a statement on Monday. This was followed by a response from Hyundai Motor in which, among other points, it was re-affirmed that Hyundai Motor India has no association with the said distributor in Pakistan. (Read full statement here)

Both Kia India and Hyundai Motor, in their respective statements, also clarified that as a matter of business policy, no political, religious or cultural matters are engaged in by the brands.

Here is the full statement issued by Kia India:

Kia is proudly diverse and inclusive organization, committed to leading advanced sustainable mobility in more than 190 markets around the world.

Kia India has taken note of the unauthorized social media posts made by an independently-owned dealer based outside of the country, using the dealer's own accounts. We have since taken strict measures to avoid such misuse of Kia brand identity and have put in place processes to prevent a recurrence.

Kia has a clear policy of not engaging in political and cultural matters. Our focus continues to be on delivering market-leading products and services to our valued customers in India.

We deeply regret the offense caused by this unofficial social media activity.

First Published Date:
By Trend

Even France has come to terms with the new realities in the region created by President Ilham Aliyev, Editor-in-Chief of Trend news agency Emin Aliyev said in the information and analytical program "Results of the Week" on the CBC TV channel, Trend reports.

The results of the meeting in video format with participation of President Ilham Aliyev, President of France Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Council of the European Union Charles Michel and the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, the upcoming visit of the UNESCO mission to Azerbaijan and Armenia and other topical issues were discussed in the program.

The full version broadcast can be found below:




Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal says Hyundai has been asked for an unequivocal apology.A Hyundai Pakistan Twitter handle had previously tweeted on Kashmir, angering many.

The Indian government has reportedly asked Hyundai Motors to be more forceful in its apology on the contentious issue of a Pakistani Hyundai dealership tweeting on struggle for freedom in Kashmir.' The controversial tweet was made by a handle believed to be that of a Hyundai Pakistan dealership and it immediately led to a massive outburst in India with #BoycottHyundai trending.

(Update read: Hyundai Motor issues fresh statement)

What angered netizens, apart from the message posted on the Twitter account of a Hyundai Pakistan dealership called @hyundaiPakistanOfficial is that there was another similar message posted on Facebook by a Kia Pakistan dealership as well. Kia is also owned by Hyundai Motor Group.

While Hyundai Motor India did issue a statement on the matter, there have been many who are demanding an unequivocal apology. The matter was also brought up in Rajya Sabha by Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena. "The content they have posted on their platforms calls for freedom for Kashmir," she said without naming Hyundai. Such posts that are challenging the sovereignty of our country should not be acceptable."

In response, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that the Indian government has asked the South Korean car company for a better response. "This issue has been taken up both with the government there and the company concerned," Goyal said. "They (Hyundai) have already issued a clarification yesterday. We have also asked them to be more forceful in their unequivocal apology on this issue."

Hyundai entered Indian shores in 1996 and quickly elevated itself as the No.2 car maker, after Maruti Suzuki. India is also one of the biggest manufacturing facilities for the South Koreans and several models manufactured here are also exported to markets abroad.

(With PTI inputs)

First Published Date:
Jennifer Ann Hancock was born Nov. 20, 1956, in Atlanta, to William Roy and Martha Jones Hancock. She went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, in Gray. She was preceded in death by her father, William Roy Hancock, and her brother, Timothy Roy Hancock, as well as grandparents


(Photo : Nataliya Vaitkevich from Pexels)

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Like all great things, the 2021-22 editorial boards term has come to an end. Read more
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David Chipperfield Architects have prepared detailed plans to transform the former Jenners department store in Edinburgh into a 96 bedroom 'lifestyle' hotel.

The category A-listed Princes Street building has been acquired by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen to introduce a boutique hotel on the upper levels while retaining The Grand Saloon below as part of a reimagined retail and hospitality experience.

A design team including executive architects 3DReid and conservation specialists Loader Monteith have been instructed to make that happen via the addition of single-storey extensions throughout as well as a new facade and roof terrace to Rose Street and remodelling of the later Princes Street elevation, built in 1966 by Tarbolton & Ochterlony.

Crucially a minimum of 55,000sq/ft of retail space will be retained with a new double-height ground floor facade along Princes Street framed in Craigleith stone matching the scale of the 1895 main building.

A new octagonal tower element will front St Andrew Square, wrapped in flying buttresses to connect with the stone piers of the current facade. Embodying a pared-back design in contrast to the exuberance of its Princes Street partner this tower will adopt a more austere simplicity. The team wrote: "All this space will be part of the hotels roof bar located on the seventh floor of the Rose Street facade, which with its views and vaulted space will become one of its greatest attractions."

Justifying the requested mansard roof extensions the applicant added: "In order to facilitate reconfigurations for the required retail areas and hotel room key count, with a quality of spaces commensurate with the offering, additional space on the roofs is required. The purpose of the roof extensions is for hotel rooms, a public bar and the integration of modern plant equipment to service the hotel and retail."

The unlisted Rose Street extension will be faced with self-supporting stone cladding, with a focus on parapets and cornices for horizontal emphasis supported by vertical pilasters.
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The EU on Tuesday unveiled a plan to quadruple the supply of semiconductors in Europe by 2030, hoping to limit the bloc's dependence on Asia for a key component used in electric cars and smartphones

Brussels, Feb 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :The EU on Tuesday unveiled a plan to quadruple the supply of semiconductors in Europe by 2030, hoping to limit the bloc's dependence on Asia for a key component used in electric cars and smartphones.

The highly anticipated EU Chips Act will "mobilise more than 43 billion Euros of public and private investments" and "enable the EU to reach its ambition to double its current market share to 20 percent in 2030", the European Commission said in a statement.
(@FahadShabbir)

Paris will allocate 1.2 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Kiev, and this will help Ukraine to stabilize its economy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2022) Paris will allocate 1.2 billion Euros of macro-financial assistance to Kiev, and this will help Ukraine to stabilize its economy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.

"We really appreciate this step of solidarity.

.. on the part of France - the allocation of 1.2 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. This will really help us stabilize our economy," Zelenskyy told a press conference after his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Malaysia will not shut down its economic and industrial activities even if new COVID-19 cases spike, Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali has said

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) --:Malaysia will not shut down its economic and industrial activities even if new COVID-19 cases spike, Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali has said.

Previous lockdowns had caused 826,000 people to lose jobs in the first three months of the total lockdown in 2020, Mohamed Azmin said following a Chinese Lunar New Year dinner hosted in Johor state on Monday by the Batu Pahat Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

"We can't do it anymore (total lockdown), yes, we need to manage this pandemic effectively, we will do our best on the health matter, but 'economic health' is also important. And we will now do it in a balanced way if there is a sudden spike (COVID-19)," state news agency Bernama quoted the minister as saying.

Mohamed Azmin said his ministry will focus on getting the employees of the economic sector vaccinated.
The EU targets rare earths as a top priority because 98% of the bloc's permanent magnets are imported from China.

A blockchain-based and EU-funded certification scheme is being developed for rare earths used in electric vehicles (EVs) as automakers demand proof that materials used to make magnets for EVs are not linked to toxic pollution. The system is expected to set global standards and give confidence to consumers demanding sustainable products, Reuters reported.

The Circular System for Assessing Rare Earth Sustainability or CSyARES is expected to be ready in about three years from now, the Rare Earth Industry Association (REIA) and Dutch supply chain traceability firm Circularise said. The system will track rare earths using blockchain tokens or digital passports, throughout the supply chain, from mining to end-of-life.

(Also read | US Postal Service wants to have thousands of EVs in its fleet. Here's why)

The project is being funded by the European Union (EU) through EIT Raw Materials, an organisation implementing an EU action plan drawn up in 2020 to secure critical minerals for the bloc. The funding amount has not been disclosed. The funding scheme is a part of Europe's quest to jump start domestic output of super-strong rare earth magnets used in EVs.

Circularise and REIA are two of five partners involved in the CSyARES system. Other three firms are Germany's BEC, Denmark's Grundfos and London-based Minviro. Auditing firms already issue certificates for sustainability of mining products including some rare earths. "It is a very manual process. Some of those certificates can even be found on Ebay, it's not really trustworthy," said Teresa Oberhauser of Circularise.

She added that once a token is created for a certain amount of sustainably produced mineral, it cannot be changed on blockchain, which is a digital ledger. Processing of rare earths is a complex operation which involves solvents and toxic waste that needs to be disposed of carefully.

The EU targets rare earths as a top priority because 98% of the bloc's permanent magnets are imported from China.

(with inputs from Reuters)

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Antananarivo, Feb 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :Cyclone Batsirai swept out of Madagascar on Monday after killing 21 people, displacing 70,000 and devastating the drought-hit island's agricultural heartland, leading the UN to warn of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Madagascar was already reeling from a tropical storm which killed 55 people late last month, and the latest extreme weather event came as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the continent is "bearing both the brunt and the cost" of global warming.

After drenching the fellow Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, Batsirai made landfall in Madagascar's east on Saturday evening bringing heavy rain and winds of 165 kilometres (102 miles) per hour.

Jean Benoit Manhes, a representative of UN children's agency UNICEF in the country, told AFP on Monday that Batsirai left Madagascar at 7 am (0400 GMT), heading towards the Mozambique Channel.

Madagascar's disaster management agency said that Batsirai had left 21 people dead and forced 70,000 from their homes.

UNICEF warned that many of the victims were likely to be children, who make up more than half of the country's population.

- City 'completely destroyed' - Batsirai first hit a sparsely populated agricultural area in the country's east on Saturday, before weakening.

In Mananjary, the cyclone's epicentre, residents gazed helplessly at their city in ruins.

"Our house collapsed, we don't know where to go, we have no food. Everything has been destroyed," said resident Berthine.

In the southern central city of Fianarantsoa, footage showed a building reduced to rubble.

As the cyclone moved inland it caused flooding that ravaged rice fields in the country's central "breadbasket", UNICEF said.

"The impact of the cyclone does not end today, it will last for several months, particularly the impact on agriculture," Manhes said.

"The roofs of several schools and health centres were blown off" in the affected areas, UNICEF said.

Batsirai spared the capital Antananarivo and the island's main port Tamatave, which led to a lower death toll than had been initially feared by the authorities and aid organisations, who had warned that nearly 600,000 people could be affected and 140,000 displaced.

Some 77 percent of Madagascar's 28 million people live below the poverty line, and the latest blow comes during a severe drought in the south which has plunged more than a million people into acute malnutrition, some facing famine.

- 'Constant humanitarian crisis' - The cyclone partly destroyed the main road linking the island's north and south, "which will make it difficult to provide access and reinforcements to villages, including in drought-hit areas," Manhes said.

"Madagascar is in a constant humanitarian crisis," he added.

Around 20 roads and 17 bridges have been cut, according to the country's disaster management agency.

Some of the hardest-hit areas such as the city of Manakara had become inaccessible, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

A portion of a main road in Ranomafana crumbled while large boulders rolled from adjacent hills onto the tarmac on other sections, an AFP correspondent saw.

The UN on Monday carried out its first flight to try to assess the damage and decide the best response.

President Andry Rajoelina went to Manakara to inspect the damage and distribute relief aid on Monday, according to a post on his Facebook page.

Some 10,000 people on La Reunion were left without electricity on Sunday, three days after Batsirai passed through the French island, injuring 12 people on the way.

Madagascar was still picking up the pieces after Tropical Storm Ana affected at least 131,000 people across the island late last month, with most of the 55 deaths occurring in Antananarivo. Ana also hit Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, causing dozens of deaths.

South Africa's Ramaphosa told a summit of African leaders on Sunday that the continent was "experiencing the worst impacts of phenomena associated with global warming such as droughts, floods and cyclones".

"Despite not being responsible for causing climate change, it is Africans who are bearing both the brunt and the cost," he said.
Maryinka, Ukraine, Feb 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :As international tensions have risen over their country's fate, Ukrainian soldiers in the trenches of war-ravaged Maryinka have been living a strange paradox.

For even as fears have rocketed over a possible full-scale Russian invasion, they have seen a drop in the number of shells and bullets coming their way from Moscow-backed separatists.

"It's too quiet," Ukrainian serviceman Botsman, 49, told AFP, giving only his call sign in line with military regulations.

"It's unsettling, like the calm before a storm." The West's attention is currently focused on the more than 100,000 Russian troops parked on Ukraine's border, but Kyiv has been locked in a festering conflict with Moscow-backed rebels for almost eight years.

The violence along the eastern front line has ebbed and flowed at a relatively low intensity for a long time and, according to Botsman, recently subsided.

Still, he said, on Monday alone his position came under fire from enemy mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. The odd explosion was also audible when AFP journalists visited.

"Autumn was busy," said Botsman. "They used to keep us awake at night, ruin our meals, but now it's quiet."But he added: "I'm sure they know we're here, where we are and how many of us there are."
(@FahadShabbir)

Kuwait City, Feb 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :Dozens of Kuwaiti women staged a protest Monday against the suspension of a women's yoga retreat deemed "indecent" by conservatives -- a move that sparked controversy in the small emirate.

Event organiser Eman al-Husseinan announced the suspension of the retreat last Thursday, stating she had not received a permit from the authorities, a day after MP Hamdan al-Azmi tweeted to denounce the retreat as "dangerous".

"This is not about sports, although that is important," said activist and university professor Ibtihal al-Khatib, who attended the demonstration in Kuwait City's Erada Square, in front of the parliament building.

"The important point is that if we give in, we will see much more regression," she said.

Unlike most Gulf countries, Kuwait is known to have an active political scene, with MPs regularly challenging the ruling authorities.

Women in the square carried placards denouncing the "exploitation of women's issues" by parliament and government, and rejecting the "regime of fatwas" (religious edicts) and "guardianship of women".

Rights activist Hadeel Buqrais told AFP: "What we want the government and MPs to understand is that we do not accept the exploitation of women's issues and their freedoms for the settlement of political scores." In a video posted on social media, the event's organiser decried a smear campaign in local media.

In his tweet, Azmi had called on the interior ministry to put an end to "practices that are alien to our conservative society".

Though several Kuwaiti women have previously held government posts and parliament seats, women failed to win any seats in elections to the last parliament, which is dominated by the Islamist opposition.
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Benghazi, Libya, Feb 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :Libya's anti-drug squad on Monday announced the discovery of 323 bars of hashish wrapped with images of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The 250-gramme (nine-ounce) bars were found in Al-Marj in the country's northeast, an anti-narcotics authority official told AFP.

Pictures of the pot cache were passed around on social media, each bar wrapped in cellophane and topped with a photograph of the Russian leader with a grim expression and black tie.

Drug and alcohol trafficking have exploded since Libya collapsed into lawlessness after a 2011 revolt that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
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Ottawa, Feb 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded an end Monday to a protest by hundreds of truckers against Covid-19 restrictions that has paralyzed the capital, as Ottawa's mayor called on Federal authorities for support.

"It has to stop," Trudeau said during an emergency debate in the House of Commons on his return to parliament after isolating for week due to a positive Covid-19 test.

"This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians," the premier said, visibly frustrated over the protests that have brought Ottawa to a standstill for more than week.

"But Canadians know the way to get through it is continuing to listen to science, continuing to lean on each other," he added.

He pledged federal government support "with whatever resources the province and city need," without elaborating what measures might be planned.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson earlier urged the federal government to send an additional 1,800 police officers and appoint a mediator to work with protesters to "end this siege" that has infuriated local residents with incessant honking and diesel fumes.

On Sunday, Watson declared a state of emergency in the capital, declaring the protests "out of control." "They don't know what to do with us," said 59-year-old farmer and trucker John Lambert, who was taking part in the protest.

"All they've got to do is come to their senses. It's up to them to resolve it." The "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations began January 9 in western Canada as protests by truckers angry with vaccine requirements when crossing the US-Canadian border.

They have since morphed into broader protests against Covid-19 health restrictions and Trudeau's government.

Protest organizer Tamara Lich said activists were willing to engage with the government to find a way out of the crisis, but insisted that pandemic restrictions be eased.

"What we're trying to do right now is reaching out to all of the federal parties so that we can arrange a sit down," Lich said during a meeting streamed on YouTube.

With the capital's center blocked and businesses forced to close, police have come under fire for the protracted crisis.

To up the pressure on protesters, Ottawa police Sunday announced new measures to tame the demonstrations by banning people from bringing fuel and other supplies to the rallies.

"Anyone attempting to bring material supports (gas, etc) to the demonstrators could be subject to arrest," the police said on Twitter.

Officers have since arrested several people, seized multiple vehicles and issued hundreds of traffic tickets.

Protesters had been raising funds to keep up the protests, but were cut off by fundraising site GoFundMe, which said they had violated its policy against content that "promotes behaviour in support of violence." Organizers quickly launched a fundraising campaign on Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo that had raised more than $5 million as of Monday night.

Trudeau last week ruled out deploying the army to disperse the protesters "for now," saying that one must be "very, very cautious before deploying the military in situations against Canadians." "Trudeau has nothing to gain by going to speak to the demonstrators," Genevieve Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa, told AFP.

But another political analyst, Frederic Boily of the University of Alberta, said the protests could escalate into a full-blown political crisis.

"Justin Trudeau reacted badly initially," Boily said. "He reacted too strongly and too abruptly at the start of the protests when he tried to paint them as a far-right protest." Boily added that Trudeau "added fuel to the fire" by turning vaccination into a political issue, especially during last summer's election campaign.

But the opposition also finds itself in a bind politically.

The Conservatives, who will soon be voting to elect their new leader, are themselves divided on the issue of the protests.

"They are afraid that part of their supporters will be tempted by the extreme right, but it is a risky bet for them," said political analyst Daniel Beland.

While only about 10 percent of Canadian adults remain unvaccinated, as many as 32 percent of the population support the anti-mandate protests, according to a recent survey.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino voiced support for vaccines and hit out at the protests, saying, "We cannot allow an angry crowd to reverse a course that continues to save lives in this last stretch" of the pandemic.

"This should never be a precedent for how to make policy in Canada."
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Washington, Feb 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :Democrats introduced a short-term bill on Monday to fund the US government ahead of a potential shutdown next week, when Federal agencies run out of previously allocated money.

Shutdowns typically lead to hundreds of thousands of government workers being sent home, while parks, museums and other federal properties and services are closed.

With funding running out on February 18, President Joe Biden's Democrats and opposition Republicans had been unable to agree on a "topline" number for the 2022 spending bills.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro introduced the stop-gap -- known as a continuing resolution (CR) -- that would keep the lights on through March 11.

"Our country needs a government funding agreement to create good-paying jobs, grow opportunity for the middle class, and protect our national security," she said.

"We are close to reaching a framework government funding agreement, but we will need additional time to complete the legislation in full.

" The March expiration date gives lawmakers the breathing space to reach a larger, long-term spending package to cover the rest of the fiscal year through September 30.

The House is expected to vote Tuesday and the Senate could take up the short-term funding patch as early as this week.

The parties have reportedly agreed to increase defense spending by $25 billion, the amount called for in the annual defense authorization bill that passed both chambers with strong bipartisan majorities.

Democrats want more than $25 billion in additional funding for social programs, however, while Republicans counter that there should be parity in defense and non-defense spending.

It would be the third CR of Biden's presidency and Democrats are eager to get a full-year funding deal agreed, as the short-term fixes keep spending levels where they were under previous president Donald Trump.
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Washington, Feb 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :The United States said Monday it was "deeply concerned" by Tunisian President Kais Saied's decision to dissolve the country's top legal watchdog, the Supreme Judicial Council, and to block access to its headquarters.

"An independent judiciary is a core element of an effective and transparent democracy," said State Department Spokesman Ned price.

Saied dissolved the body on Sunday, months after sacking the government and seizing wide-reaching powers in Tunisia.
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Commander Kyrgyz Air Force Colonel Kylychbek Akimovich Aidaraliev Tuesday called on Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and commended the professionalism of PAF

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :Commander Kyrgyz Air Force Colonel Kylychbek Akimovich Aidaraliev Tuesday called on Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and commended the professionalism of PAF.

He also acknowledged PAF's rising indigenous capacity in aviation industry.

During the meeting, both the dignitaries discussed matters of professional and mutual interest, said a PAF media release.

On the occasion, the Air Chief said, "Pakistan and Kyrgyz Republic enjoy longstanding religious, cultural and historical bonds which are manifested through strong ties between both air forces."The Air Chief reiterated his resolve to further enhance the existing bilateral cooperation between the two brotherly countries.
The European Commission said Tuesday it will take the unprecedented step of tapping into EU funding earmarked for Poland to collect a fine Warsaw racked up for refusing to close a coal mine

Brussels, Feb 8 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :The European Commission said Tuesday it will take the unprecedented step of tapping into EU funding earmarked for Poland to collect a fine Warsaw racked up for refusing to close a coal mine.

The EU executive has informed Poland of its decision, which will be carried out next week, a commission spokesman, Balazs Ujvari, told AFP.

Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller said Warsaw would use "all possible legal means to appeal against this," Poland's PAP news agency reported.

The cut will amount to nearly 15 million Euros ($17 million) for the period between September 20 and October 19 last year. The total unpaid fine amounts to around 70 million euros including interest, according to an AFP calculation.

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) hit Poland with the 500,000-euro a day fine last September for refusing to comply with an order to close its Turow mine producing lignite, or brown coal.

Poland's neighbours, the Czech Republic and Germany, had complained of environmental damage the mine caused, affecting groundwater levels and creating dust and noise.

Last week, Poland signed a deal with the Czech Republic to end the dispute over the mine, but that did not erase the CJEU fine, which Warsaw had steadfastly said it would not pay.

"From the very beginning, Poland has emphasised that the decisions taken by the CJEU had no legal or factual basis," Muller said. "They go beyond the EU treaties and violate the treaty guarantees of energy security." But the EU justice commissioner, Didier Reynders, insisted that the European Commission -- the Brussels executive and guardian of the EU treaties -- must be seen to uphold the decisions of the court.

"If the member state does not pay, it is obvious that we must organise, as we have said from the start, the withholding of funds," he told AFP.

"If we don't do this, no one would pay their fines anymore, obviously," he said.

Ujvari said the levied amount covering the period September 20 to October 19 would be recovered from Poland's EU funding. That comes to 14.5 million euros plus interest, which takes it close to a total of 15 million euros.

By tapping Poland's EU funding, he said, "the commission fulfils its legal obligation to collect financial penalties imposed by the court".

- Another fine - Poland has been hit with another CJEU fine, of one million euros per day, for refusing to suspend a national Supreme Court chamber contested by Brussels.

There, too, the commission has warned it will recover the fine amount -- currently over 100 million euros -- from Poland's EU funding if it goes unpaid.

Poland's president, Andrzej Duda, has proposed a law to scrap the Supreme Court chamber in hopes of drawing a line under the dispute, which views the body as undermining judicial independence and rolling back democratic norms.

But the changes still have to be approved by Polish lawmakers, and legal observers queried whether it was merely a rebranding exercise.

Under the proposal outlined by Duda, the "disciplinary chamber" would be replaced by a different body called the "Chamber of Professional Responsibility" with 11 judges.

Poland's populist government insists reforms are needed for the judiciary to root out corruption and the legacy of judges appointed while the country was still under communist rule.

On the Turow mine deal with the Czech Republic, Poland has agreed to pay the Czechs 45 million euros in compensation in return for Prague withdrawing its complaint.

Poland is reluctant to close the mine as it feeds a power station that provides around seven percent of the country's electricity needs.

Poland relies on coal to meet up to 80 percent of its energy, but has vowed to develop green energy sources and to shut its last mine by 2049, in line with EU emissions targets.
World leaders, scientists and major companies gather in France this week to boost efforts to protect the oceans, which cover 70 percent of the planet but receive far less attention than land ecosystems

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :World leaders, scientists and major companies gather in France this week to boost efforts to protect the oceans, which cover 70 percent of the planet but receive far less attention than land ecosystems.

The One Ocean Summit in the northwestern port city of Brest on February 9-11 seeks to raise the international community's ambitions to protect sealife, cut plastic pollution and tackle the impact of climate change.

The world's five connected oceans regulate the climate, nurture millions of species, feed the world and enable trade but are still badly understood and lack protection.

President Emmanuel Macron hopes to eke "ambitious commitments" from "a small but determined" group of more than 40 countries and multinational companies, including European maritime transport giants Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and MSC.

European Union leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel will address the summit in person as France heads the bloc's six-month rotating presidency.

Environmental groups hope the Brest summit will jump-start efforts to finalise a wide-ranging and legally binding UN treaty in March.

The treaty would protect marine life in international waters -- which cover nearly half the planet -- and the expansion by one million square kilometres (386,102 square miles) of the marine reserve in Antarctica and the South Pacific.

But campaigners are also urging France to do more at this week's summit, petitioning to stop dolphins being accidentally killed by fishing vessels off the French coast and demanding an end to French exploration of the deepest marine trenches.

These ocean trenches, more than four kilometres deep, are home to extraordinary marine life, much of which is not fully understood, and to potentially lucrative mineral resources.

"We have no idea what the ocean really is," said Francoise Gaill, an expert at France's national scientific research centre.

Last year, governments and NGOs at the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Congress approved an international moratorium on deep seabed mining.

France was one of several countries to reject the move.

The Brest summit comes ahead of major UN environmental negotiations in the coming months.

These include efforts to clinch a global agreement on curbing plastic waste, the high seas treaty, key summits on climate and biodiversity and a UN conference on the oceans.
Hyundai and Hyundai Motor India, its subsidiary in the country, have been facing a massive backlash due to the post by a Hyundai Pakistan dealership on Kashmir.

Hyundai Motor on Tuesday issued a statement in which it informed that it has taken strong exception to a Twitter post by a company distributor in Pakistan which mentioned struggle for freedom in Kashmir.' Underlining that it refrains from commenting on political and religious issues as a business policy, Hyundai Motor also pointed that Hyundai Motor India is not associated with the distributor in Pakistan.

Hyundai and Hyundai Motor India, its subsidiary in the country, have been facing a massive backlash due to the post by a Hyundai Pakistan dealership on Kashmir. #BoycottHyundai had been trending on Twitter all of Monday. While Hyundai Motor India did issue a statement on Monday, many felt it wasn't an unequivocal apology. In Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that the Indian government has asked the South Korean car company for a better response. (Read full report here)

In turn, Hyundai Motor issued a statement on the entire matter. As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region. Therefore it is clearly against Hyundai Motor's policy that the independently-owned distributor in Pakistan made unauthorized Kashmir-related social media posts from their own account," the statement read. Once the situation was brought to our attention, we made the distributor acutely aware of the inappropriateness of the action. We have since taken measures to ensure the distributor, which misused the Hyundai brand identity, has removed the social media posts and we have put in place processes to prevent a future recurrence. Our subsidiary, Hyundai Motor India, is not associated with the distributor in Pakistan, and we strongly reject the distributor's unauthorized non-business related social media activity."

The statement further went on to highlight the company's long-standing association in India, one that started in the mid 1990s. We strongly regret any offense caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity."

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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2022) The UK is considering deploying Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect southeastern Europe and reinforce the British battlegroup in Estonia, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

"We are considering deploying RAF Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect southeastern Europe," Johnson wrote to The Times on Monday.

The West will do more to help Ukraine defend itself, Johnson added, noting that the UK is preparing to reinforce the British-led Nato battlegroup in Estonia.

"Nato allies are agreed that we are willing to send more forces to guarantee the security of our allies on the eastern flank. The foreign ministers of Latvia and Estonia have called for extra support due to the Russian military build-up in Belarus.

We stand ready to provide it," Johnson said.

In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of amassing troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for invasion. Russia replied that it has no intention of invading Ukraine while stressing that it has the right to move its forces within its own territory.

Russia has also expressed concerns over NATO military activity near its borders and ongoing military support of Ukraine, including an increase in the number of Western instructors in the breakaway Donbas region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow is not excluding that the "hysteria" around Ukraine fueled by the West is aimed at concealing Kiev's plans to sabotage the Minsk Agreements on Donbas.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that after talks with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders he saw a path toward easing tensions

Kyiv, Feb 8 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that after talks with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders he saw a path toward easing tensions.

Speaking at a joint press conference after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Macron said he believed it would be possible to make progress on two fronts.

Both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who Macron saw on Monday, said they remained committed to the 2015 Minsk peace agreements on the country's separatist conflicts, the French leader said.

"We now have the possibility to make these negotiations move forward," Macron said.

And on tensions between Russia and the West over Moscow's military build-up on Ukraine's borders, Macron said: "I believe for my part that there are concrete, practical solutions that will allow us to move forward.

" He said nobody was "naive" enough to believe that the tensions were not linked to the Russian deployments, calling them "unprecedented".

"In adopting this threatening posture, Russia decided to put pressure on the international community," Macron said.

"We cannot underestimate the moment of tension that we are living through," Macron said.

"We cannot resolve this crisis in a few hours of talks," he said. "It will be the day and the weeks and the months to come that will allow us to progress."
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2022) The Swedish government will remove restrictions on entry into the country from other EU countries, as well as Scandinavian countries and the European Economic Area (EEA), on February 9, Swedish Sveriges Radio reported on Monday.

According to the the broadcaster, the decision to lift COVID-19 entry restrictions was made at an extraordinary meeting of the Swedish government.

The measures reportedly follow on a rapidly rising vaccination rate and decreased pressure on the healthcare system.

On January 18, the Swedish government announced the abolition of the requirement for foreigners arriving in the country to present a negative test for COVID-19.

Denmark has already removed COVID-19 restrictions. Finland is set to lift COVID-19 restrictions on February 14, while Norway intends to lift its last restrictions by February 17.
From solving century-old mysteries to changing what we know about Floridas iconic bird, several resources at the USF Libraries have helped create actionable outcomes.

FINDING THE FORGOTTEN

Drew Smith, associate librarian for the USF Libraries, has played a significant role in helping bring closure to some of the families impacted by the disappearance of the century-old Zion Cemetery  the first African American cemetery in Tampa. In 2019, a Tampa Bay Times investigation uncovered that more than 800 unmarked graves were buried underneath several buildings, including the Robles Park Village public housing complex. Since then, Smith, a former president of the Florida Genealogical Society, has been working with the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) housed at USF to identify living next-of-kin.

Using census records, birth certificates, marriage records, obituaries, newspapers, and even Facebook, Smith and a team of volunteer genealogists are attempting to reconstruct the stories of the hundreds of individuals buried at Zion. Due to the extensive nature of the work, Smith expects the research to take several years.

The Zion Cemetery research is the most meaningful genealogical work Ive ever been involved with, Smith said. Even if we were to find only one living descendant, it would be worth it just to be able to tell that person that their ancestor has not been forgotten. The individuals buried at Zion led lives worth remembering and celebrating.

Research at Zion Cemetery stretches across USF. Its part of the interdisciplinary African American Burial Grounds & Remembering Project led by Department of Anthropology Chair Antoinette Jackson, who also recently launched the Black Cemetery Network, a nationwide effort to preserve Black cemeteries and history. USF librarians are currently building a digital exhibit to combine the oral histories, photographs, videos and archival information gathered by the project team. The USF Libraries already has a number of collections dedicated to Black history and dismantling systemic racism, and in 2020, compiled them to establish the African American Experience in Florida portal. It includes photos and stories of activism, narratives from former slaves and historical overviews of various aspects of Black life, such as in business, community and the arts.

DEBUNKING THE STATES STATUS ON FLAMINGOES

It was just last year that the state of Florida reclassified the flamingo as a native species and its all because of USF Special Collections acquiring a letter from 1937 that didnt make it into the official record books. Up until that point, flamingoes were considered non-native escapees from captive populations, meaning they didnt qualify for the same protection or rehabilitation efforts as native species.

Over the past few years, Audubon Florida has been working with the USF Libraries to preserve and hold their archives, one of which included a letter that provided a first-hand account of nesting flamingoes on Sugar Loaf Key in 1903. It was digitized for their Digital Collections, which can be explored through the Florida Environment and Natural History portal, a central repository for environmental and natural history data. This provided the state the information it needed to recognize flamingoes are in fact native species  a convincing piece of evidence that shows how powerful it is to have these materials digitally available.

Had the materials not been conserved by the library and done in a way that was easy to find later, it never would have been known. How many other amazing stories and facts that we dont know we need yet are buried in an attic in the Florida Keys or already in our library archives? said Andy Huse, associate librarian in Special Collections.

Visitors to the portal can find other historical documents, such as rare maps from the 16th century, scientific illustrations from 1729 of the now-extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker and photographs from the 1890s that share a glimpse of undisturbed natural habitats and frontier life of old Florida. The collection also stores the universitys extensive research on environmental disasters, such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the 2021 leak at Piney Point fertilization plant.

DIGITIZATION = PROBLEM SOLVING

Climate change, illicit trafficking and looting, natural catastrophes, war and conflict, over-visitation and development pressures can all cause irreversible damage to much of the worlds cultural and natural heritage sites. The Digital Heritage and Humanities Collections (DHHC) team has worked tirelessly at hundreds of heritage sites and museums locally, across the United States and internationally in places like Guatemala, Spain and Armenia. From the Moseley Homestead in Brandon to the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine and all the way to the Quirigua Archaeological Park and Ruins in Guatemala, the digitization is not just for the archives, but to ensure the accuracy of future restoration.

Their expertise has proven to be a valuable resource to museums and government agencies. In 2017, Pasco County officials collaborated with the DHHC to assist in their efforts responding to a massive sinkhole that swallowed two homes in Land OLakes. The team used 3D scanners to map the surface, sidewalls and the subsidence of the sinkhole and used drones to collect video and photos. They also reviewed survey maps of the area from 1847 to 1999, which showed the neighborhood was developed on top of a former lakebed.

The technology we use is very good at documenting things very rapidly and in the moment, so we are able to respond quickly to emergencies, Lori Collins, research associate professor, and co-director of the DHHC.

Thanks to the historical records of the area along with the documentation of the sinkhole before and after stabilization treatments, Collins speculates that theyve created the most comprehensive coverage of a sinkhole for future researchers and educators.

The DHHC is in the midst of creating Tampa Through Time, an ongoing project with the Tampa Bay History Center. Its an immersive virtual presentation that allows visitors to explore Tampa from its early foundation through modern development.

We have resources like oversized map collections, city directories and historical photos that will now be linked to locations, so researchers, students and heritage enthusiasts will be able to get a much more complete understanding of the Tampa Bay region, said Todd Chavez, dean of the USF Libraries.

Some of the important and imperiled sites that have been digitally scanned and archived include the Jackson Rooming House, Perry Harvey Park and Central Avenue. Hundreds of other sites are being documented among cigar factories, Columbia Restaurant, Tampa Theatre and the Tampa Historic Courthouse.

Heritage sites in Tampa offer an important look into our collective memory, but many of these sites, even those designated of local and national significance are at risk of disappearing, Collins said. We believe that by documenting these sites, we will help to not only preserve Tampas past before additional loss but will be able to share and create lasting records that will be archived by the USF Libraries for our community.
Senior Ashlyn Anderson (right), president of the Student Basic Needs Coalition (SBNC), tables on Ped Walkway with other members of the organization.
Valdosta, GA (31601)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low around 65F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low around 65F. Winds light and variable.
Fr. Joseph Shekari, priest of St. Monicas Catholic Church, Ikulu Pari in Kaduna State has been released after a day in captivity.

By Vatican News staff writer

A priest of the diocese of Kafanchan, Fr. Joseph Danjuma Shekari, who was kidnapped on Sunday night, has regained his freedom.

The Chancellor of the diocese, Fr. Emmanuel Okolo, in a statement on Tuesday, confirmed the development. He said that the priest was released at about 10:30 pm on Monday.

Unknown persons had stormed Fr. Shekaris residence at St. Monicas Catholic Church, Ikulu Pari, in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, and kidnapped the priest at 11:30 pm on 6 February.

But in less than 24 hours after the attack that claimed the life of the priests cook, the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan announced the release of the priest.

Gratitude

Fr. Okolo expressed gratitude to everyone for their prayers for the safe return of the priest and offered prayers to God to hasten the release of those who are still in the hands of their captors.

He also invited prayers for the repose of the priests cook who was tragically killed in the attack.

All our priests are directed to kindly celebrate Mass of Thanksgiving to God for the quick release of Fr. Shekari as well as Mass for the dead and for the departed cook of Fr. Shekari, the statement read.

Insecurity in northern Nigeria

Nigeria, especially the northern region has been battling with insecurity, fueled by the activities of the Boko Haram religious extremists who have been linked with the so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Clashes between nomadic herdsmen and indigenous local farmers have also been cause for concern for authorities.

More recently, the activities of kidnappers and bandits have challenged the efforts of security agencies with a surge in reports of kidnappings for ransom and unknown gunmen raiding communities, stealing livestock and killing people.

One of the latest attacks left no less than 11 people dead in Kurmin Masara in Atyap Chiefdom, Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna State, when gunmen swooped on the village on 1 February.

The situation of insecurity has led to calls from religious leaders and members of civil society, urging authorities to take urgent steps to ensure the protection of the lives and properties of citizens.
LOS ANGELESSex researcher and writer Key Barrett, MSc will serve as the special guest moderator at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Feb. 8 on the Twitter-based chat program "SexTalkTuesday."

Barrett, who has a Masters of Science in Anthropology and has studied sexual subcultures across Europe and North America, will discuss the dynamics of female-led relationships along with other topics. Before turning his attention to female-led relationships, Barret investigated a diverse set of subcultures including female sexual dynamism and aggression in medieval European texts, the bondage and submission clubs of New York, as well as the transgender burlesque cultures of the Deep South. He is also the author of many femdom erotica stories available on Amazon, and enjoys discussing and researching all matters related to female-led relationships and male chastity. His latest release, Surrender, Submit, Serve Her, is also now available as an audiobook on Audible.

Its such a treat to have Key back with us," said Angie Rowntree, founder of Sssh.com and producer of "SexTalkTuesday." "Both his creative work and intellectual pursuits deeply enrich the perspective he brings to SexTalkTuesday. Anyone who is curious about exploring or understanding female-led relationships is definitely in for a treat.

"SexTalkTuesday" is presented every second Tuesday of the month by Sssh.com, which produces award-winning, sex positive adult cinema for women and couples.

For more updates, follow Barrett on Twitter @KeyBarrettMSc or visit his Amazon author page here.

For more information, visit Sssh.com or follow the brand on Twitter @ssshforwomen. To inquire about serving as a guest moderator, contact Rowntree at [email protected] or visit sextalktuesday.com.
Normal, IL (61790)

Today

Periods of rain. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall possibly over one inch..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.
SEAN MORRISON is a News and Features Editor for The Vidette. He can be contacted at sgmorr1@ilstu.edu. Follow Morrison on Twitter at @ seanmorr122

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.
Police in Cambodia say they have arrested six men who admitted killing five members of a family they believed were using sorcery to kill other people in their village.

A report posted Monday on the national police website said the victims in the Feb. 1 killings in the remote eastern province of Mondulkiri were a 45-year-old man, a 41-year-old woman, two 15-year-old boys and a 5-year-old boy.

It said an 11-year-old boy survived the attack but was in critical condition at a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh, where he was taken.

The victims and several of the alleged killers, who face charges of premeditated murder, are members of the Pnong hilltribe ethnic minority. The Pnong, also called the Bunong, live mostly in jungle areas in east and northeastern Cambodia.

The arrests took place Saturday. The police report said the suspects confessed to the killings and said they acted because they believed the victims family had used black magic against their relatives. Cases of killings linked to belief in witchcraft are rare in Cambodia.

The report said the victims were attacked at their home, where one was killed by a gunshot and the others were bludgeoned with a heavy object.
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French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday it could take months to resolve the crisis stemming from Russia massing 130,000 troops along its border with Ukraine.

You must not underestimate the tension that surrounds the situation that we are living through, its unprecedented nature, Macron said in Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.I do not believe this crisis can be solved thanks to a few hours of discussions.

Macron had spent five hours talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.

The French leader said his discussions with Putin had helped ensure that theres no degradation and no [further] escalation of the standoff between Russia and Ukraine and the Western alliance supporting the Kyiv government.

I believe for my part that there are concrete, practical solutions that will allow us to move forward, Macron said after meeting with Zelenskiy.

Macron acknowledged the crisis is not over, saying, In adopting this threatening posture, Russia decided to put pressure on the international community.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday there were seeds of reason in proposals Macron had made to Putin. Peskov, however, rejected suggestions the crisis had been resolved, saying, So far, we dont see and feel the readiness of our Western counterparts to take our concerns into account.

In the current situation, Moscow and Paris could not make a deal, Peskov said. France is an EU and NATO member. France is not leading NATO, the 30-nation Western military alliance dominated by the United States.

NATO has rejected Moscows demands that it end its expansion into eastern Europe nearest Russia and eliminate the possibility of Ukraine, a one-time Soviet republic, from joining NATO. The West says it is willing to negotiate over the positioning of missiles in eastern Europe and NATO troop maneuvers.

On Monday night, the Russian leader refused to rule out the possibility of invading Ukraine, while leaving the door open to further diplomacy. Putin said he would speak with Macron again by phone after the French presidents talks with Zelenskiy.

For his part, Zelenskiy said after discussions with Macron that he wants Putin to exhibit good intentions by pulling back troops from the Ukrainian border.

Openness is always great, if its true, and not a game, but serious openness, not a joke, and understanding that there is a serious danger, Zelenskiy told reporters following his talks with Macron.

I do not really trust words, I believe that every politician can be transparent by taking concrete steps, Zelenskiy said.

Macron said both Putin and Zelenskiy committed themselves to honoring the Minsk Accords signed in 2014 and 2015 by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany. It was a response to Moscows 2014 unilateral annexation of Ukraines Crimea Peninsula, with the unmet goal of ending the fighting between Kyivs forces and Russian separatists in Ukraines eastern Donbas region. About 14,000 have been killed in the last eight years in the region.

We have now the possibility of advancing negotiations, Macron told reporters following his talks with the Ukrainian president.

Macrons shuttle diplomacy was occurring as U.S. President Joe Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Monday, with both leaders saying they were united behind NATOs threat to impose swift and severe economic sanctions on Russia if Putin attacks Ukraine.

Biden said Nord Stream 2, a new Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline running under the Baltic Sea, will not be made operational if Russia invades Ukraine, cutting off would-be lucrative revenue for Russia.

Scholz did not directly say whether Germany would cancel the pipeline project but said, We will take all the necessary steps, and all will be done together with the United States and other allies.

He said, We have prepared a reaction that will help us to react swiftly if needed in the event of a Russian invasion. He said Germany would not spell out everything in public.

Biden, at his news conference with Scholz, urged Americans in Ukraine to leave the country, saying, It would be wise for them to do so because of the possibility of a Russian attack.

The U.S. State Department already has said nonessential employees in Ukraine could leave the country along with family members.
Cameroonian authorities have erected sanitary barriers around poultry farms in the western city of Bafoussam after an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu. Authorities say a "huge" number of birds have died while farmers say they've been forced to cull thousands of chickens.

At the chicken market in Bafoussam, the Association of Chicken Sellers says at least 1,300 birds were sent to cities across the country Tuesday, despite a bird flu outbreak.

Dieudonne Kepseu is a spokesman for the association. He says they fear their chickens may be culled after livestock officials told them of the bird flu outbreak this week in Kongso, a nearby village.

Kepseu says livestock officials have visited the Bafoussam chicken market several times this week to ask sellers to report whenever their birds stop eating or have labored breathing. He says the sellers are vigilant because some poultry farm owners bring sick birds to sell at cheaper prices.

A statement by Cameroons West region governor on Monday said the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu caused a significant number of bird deaths at a poultry farm.

It gave no further details.

Jonas Temwa is the most senior government livestock official in the region.

Temwa says tests conducted by Cameroons National Veterinary laboratory confirmed the outbreak of the pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in Kongso village. He says the government immediately erected sanitary barriers and deployed several police officers to stop the buying and selling of birds on farms. Temwa says access to the farms is limited to livestock workers who are authorized to cull the birds.

Temwa says the killing of sick birds began on Monday as ordered by the national government.

He would not give the number of birds culled but described it as huge.

Three poultry farmers in Bafoussam told VOA they each lost at least one thousand birds due to the virus or through culling due to exposure to the infection.

Cameroonian authorities say the outbreak has so far been contained to Bafoussam and surrounding villages.

Cameroon's livestock minister says only birds with sanitary certificates that show they are not contaminated are authorized to be sold.

Cameroons Interprofessional Association of Poultry Farmers says the H5N1 virus may have been imported through chicken feed, which authorities are investigating.

Francois Djonou is president of the association.

Djonou says all poultry farmers in Cameroon should be patient and disciplined. He also says he is certain that if all poultry farmers respect measures taken by the government, the outbreak will be quickly controlled.

Cameroons last outbreak of bird flu in 2016 forced the culling of 45,000 birds while hundreds of producers lost their jobs.

Cameroon has been recovering from a scarcity of chickens that came with supply disruptions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poultry sellers say trade restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19 created a shortage and drove up chicken prices.

Cameroon has been importing chicks and hatching eggs from Brazil, the world's largest exporter of poultry, to meet demand.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says truckers who are staging a noisy occupation of the capital, Ottawa, over COVID-19 restrictions are trying to

blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens daily lives.

It has to stop, he said Monday in his first speech to parliament since testing positive for COVID-19 in late January. He said the restrictions wont last forever, adding, Canadians trust science.

The protests have paralyzed downtown Ottawa for more than a week.

Anger is growing in Ottawa against the so-called Freedom Convoy, which arrived on January 29 to demonstrate against the governments mandatory vaccination order for all truck drivers who cross the border into Canada, and have since included calls to end all mandatory mitigation efforts, including mask wearing, lockdowns and restrictions on gatherings. Businesses have shut down and residents have filed complaints about the incessant horn-honking coming from the trucks at all hours of the day and night.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency, and Police Chief Peter Sloly has asked for an additional 1,800 officers to deal with the complaints. A judge for the provincial Superior Court of Ontario on Monday issued a temporary injunction against the truckers over the continuous horn-honking.

Similar protests have occurred in Vancouver and Toronto, as well as at the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between Canada and the United States that links Detroit, Michigan with Windsor, Ontario.

The protests have attracted the support of conservative politicians in the United States, including former President Donald Trump, who has criticized Trudeau over Canadas COVID-19 mandates.

There was no immediate comment from Trudeau to Trumps remarks. The Washington Post quotes Canadas public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, as saying, Were Canadian. We have our own set of laws. We will follow them.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
The former communist countries of eastern Europe are growing increasingly nervous about what they see as a revanchist Russia, with their governments carefully watching the Ukraine crisis for clues to where else Russian leader Vladimir Putin could stir trouble.



Britain announced Monday that 350 Royal Marine Commandos who were on exercises in Norway will be diverted to Poland to take part in contingency planning. The move comes as tensions build around Russias deployment of forces on Ukraines borders in the biggest military build-up since 1945.



A British defense official said the diversion is about reassurance to eastern European partners who fear Putin is using Ukraine as a battering ram in a campaign to upend the post-Cold War security settlement in Europe and reestablish a Russian sphere of influence across Eastern Europe.



And Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday he is prepared to deploy warplanes to Bulgaria and Romania and warships to the Black Sea. Britain will not flinch, he said.

NATO presence



NATO has troops rotating in and out of eastern Europe in what officials in the Western alliances headquarters in Brussels describe as a persistent, but not permanent, presence. They say troop deployments have been intentionally light from the Baltics to the Black Sea in a bid to deter but not to provoke Russian aggression.



Since Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014, there have been four battle groups containing a total of 5,000 troops in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, led by the U.S., Germany, Canada and Britain.

The United States has ordered a further 3,000 troops to strengthen the defenses of NATO's eastern allies, with the first arriving Saturday at Rzeszow military base in southeastern Poland. And Germany is preparing to reinforce its small battle group of 1,200 troops currently in Lithuania



NATO is considering a longer-term military posture in eastern Europe, the alliances Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.

We are considering more longer-term adjustments to our posture, our presence in the eastern part of the alliance. No final decision has been made on that but there is a process now going on within NATO, he told reporters in Brussels.



Stoltenbergs remarks were praised by eastern European governments.

Based on historical experience, we see that only a decisive deterrence policy can stop any potential Russian aggression and based on the very same history, we do see that the policy of appeasement only encourages the potential enemy to do something, Mariusz Blaszczak, the Polish defense minister, said Monday.

Putins next move



Polish analysts say there are real fears in central and eastern Europe that settled borders are now under threat. If Putin decides to add more Ukrainian territory to what he seized in 2014, they ask, what will stop him from using coercive diplomacy or hybrid warfare to manufacture a crisis elsewhere?

Putin has frequently lamented that the breakup of the Soviet Union left 25.3 million ethnic Russians outside the Russian Federation, many of them living in former Soviet republics, including the Baltic states. The presence of a sizable ethnic Russian minority in Ukraine has been used by the Kremlin for leverage, and some leaders of the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Estonia worry the same could happen with their countries.



In Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, the mood is full of anxiety, say historian Karolina Wigura and political analyst Jarosaw Kuisz.

The Russian military menace to Ukraine reawakens old traumas and, paradoxically, not only those generated from the east. Another angst is, to put it bluntly, that the West will again abandon us, they added in a commentary.



"Many citizens of central and eastern Europe have clear memories of living under Moscows rule. For them, 30 years of independence is not long enough to banish the worry that we are trapped in a cycle of ever-repeating history, they added.



NATO deployments  which are dwarfed by Russias military buildup  are going some way to steady nerves but there are fears that Putin no longer feels bound by the postCold War order, which he believes is against Russias national interests. Russian troll factories have long targeted the Baltic states with disinformation using messaging similar to the propaganda focused on Ukraine  namely NATO is occupying them, and Russian minorities are under threat, say analysts.



Kaja Kallas, Estonias prime minister, said recently: The Baltic states are a NATO peninsula and therefore we have our worries.

Estonia has been the target of a series of cyber-attacks since 2007, which are blamed on Russia and started amid an Estonian-Russian row about the relocation of a Soviet memorial in Tallinn.

Nearly a quarter of Estonias population is ethnic Russian, and while integration has proceeded apace most ethnic Russians send their children to Russian language schools and watch Russian media. The countrys third largest city, Narva, is 80% ethnic Russian and analysts see it as the most likely target for Moscow if the Kremlin decides to foment trouble.



Arvydas Anusauskas, the Lithuanian defense minister, points to the channeling of Russian troops to neighboring Belarus for large-scale military exercises as unnerving and says the drills pose a direct threat to his country.



Relations between Lithuania and Russia have also been frosty since the country became the first of the Baltic states, and first Soviet republic, to gain independence in 1990. Russian troops remained in Lithuania for another three years as then-Russian leader Boris Yeltsin linked troop withdrawals to issues concerning the Russian minority in the country. Fifteen percent of Lithuanias population is ethnic Russian. Since independence, Lithuanian leaders have visited Moscow only three times.

This is now an area full of weaponry. Russian troops that are in the south of his country can be moved very quickly. There are sorts of hybrid attacks under way. Pipelines falling apart. This is how unfortunately these regimes operate. There are no red lines they will not cross, she said.



Simonyte questioned Mondays meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin, displaying wariness about the French presidents diplomatic mission to Moscow. Like other Baltic leaders, she is wary of the idea, apparently mooted by Macron, that Ukraine should be blocked from joining NATO. Reports said Macron suggested Ukraine should remain permanently neutral.



Neutrality helps the oppressor and never the victim, Simonyte said.

Lithuanian defense officials fear the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which is squeezed between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, could become the focus for a dangerous economic and military conflict between Russia and NATO, especially if the Western alliance doesnt stand up to the Kremlin in the crisis over Ukraine.



This is a 1938 moment for our generation, Ingrida Simonyte, Lithuanias prime minister, told Britains Guardian newspaper, a reference to the appeasement of Nazi Germany by the British and French. She fears substantial Russian forces will remain indefinitely in Belarus whatever happens in Ukraine and that would change the security landscape.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, was quickly removed from an event Tuesday afternoon because of a reported bomb threat.



Emhoff was attending a Black History Month event at Dunbar High School in Washington when the Secret Service whisked him away.



A Secret Service agent reportedly approached Emhoff and said, "We have to go."



"We had a threat today to the facility, so we did  basically we took the precaution of evacuating everybody, as you saw. I think everyone is safe. The building is clear. But I don't have any specific details at this moment," said Enrique Gutierrez, a spokesperson for the public school system in the nation's capital.



Emhoff was taken to a waiting motorcade.



Students and faculty were also told to leave the building and went home for the day as police searched the building for a bomb.


PEARL, Miss.Tami Rose, sex expert and owner of Mississippi-based adult boutique Romantic Adventures, is encouraging couples to do yoga as part of their Valentines Day celebration and for better sex.

While lockdown and cold winter nights have given us more time at home with our loved ones, it can also leave us feeling a little bored with the same old routine, says Rose. Yoga is a natural place to look for inspiration when it comes to enjoying new experiences in the bedroom ... but rather than a new acrobatic technique, try a new level of meditation and attention to your routine.

She explained that yoga gives you a whole set of metaphysical tools that make average partners astronomically better, and anyone in any physical shape can use them. She added that yogas seven chakras and a good Vinyasa flow may move energy more freely, but a bit of visualization in the bedroom will make that workout pale in comparison.

Rose advises to stay focused exclusively on your partner. Stay in the moment and when they breathe out, you breathe in. She also recommends to be attentive to energy flow. Tantra teaches that a woman receives universal energy in from her crown chakra and brings it down through her body to her root chakra, while men bring energy up from the earth and it rises through their energy system.

While many sex positions can be enhanced physically through yoga, Rose noted that energy and gratitude are key in an intimate connection. Try seeing your partner as a transparent vessel of all the universal energy you have just poured into them and take time to honor them as the vessel of the whole Universe, she said. Your partner has made themselves vulnerable to your attitude and disposition, remember to honor them and appreciate the sacrifice of the ego they are making by being there with you. Happy Valentines Day!

Romantic Adventures is known for its selection of adult products, including adult toys, lubes and lotions, sexy costumes, bachelor/bachelorette gifts, lingerie, clothing and more.

For more information, visit RomanticAdventures.com or follow the store on Twitter.
Ambassadors from six Latin American countries on Tuesday denounced an upcoming auction of pre-Hispanic artifacts in France, reviving a longstanding grievance of the region.

The joint statement came a day after Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador denounced the practice as immoral after a recent major auction.

The Paris ambassadors of Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic condemned "in the strongest terms" the sale of pre-Hispanic artifacts organized by auction houses in the coming days.

In their joint statement, they called for the auctions to be halted.

They denounced what they said was the "continuation of practices linked to the illicit trade in cultural property, which damage the heritage, history and identity of our native peoples."

The ambassadors of Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru made a similar appeal last November.

On Monday, Mexico's Lopez Obrador called on France to legislate on the issue, after the January 28 sale by the Millon auction house of 30 pre-Hispanic Mexican artifacts, despite protests from Mexico City.

In recent years, Mexico has been trying to recover artifacts in the hands of private collectors around the world, with only partial success.

As well as calling for artworks to be returned, Mexico has accused major European fashion houses of cultural appropriation for lifting native designs for their clothes.

It is part of an ongoing debate over the ethics of cultural artifacts held by museums and private owners in former colonial powers, and questions about how they were acquired in the first place.


An Indian court on Monday gave a Kashmir freelance journalist two days to appear before it over a police complaint that he had acted against the public interest by sharing information on social media about a militant attack on a policeman.

The complaint against Gowhar Nazir Geelani comes days after the editor of web portal Kashmir Walla, Fahad Shah, was arrested for uploading on social media "anti-national content to provoke the public to disturb law and order."

"I have granted him two days for appearance before the court," Executive Magistrate Fida Mohammad Bhat told Reuters of Geelani.

A summons issued to Geelani and seen by Reuters said that on February 1, following the wounding of the policeman by militants, the journalist "disseminated information on social media that would have endangered the life of the injured individual and other persons."

Geelani is also accused of sharing information that raised "serious security and breach-of-peace concerns."

"I have strong apprehensions you will continue with such activities that will have an impact upon (maintaining) peace and public tranquility in my jurisdiction," the summons read.

Reuters could not immediately contact Geelani, whose phone was switched off.

Indian authorities have been fighting a decadeslong armed insurgency in the Hindu-majority country's only mainly Muslim region, which is also claimed by neighbor Pakistan.

Kashmir Police Chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters that some people were uploading photographs, videos and posts on Facebook that were "tantamount to glorifying terrorist activities and causing dent to the image of law enforcing agencies, besides causing ill will and disaffection against the country."

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said in a tweet that "standing up for the truth is deemed anti-national," and asked, How many Fahad's will you arrest?"

Last month, police arrested another Kashmir journalist, Sajad Gul, and booked him under the stringent Public Safety Act that allows for detention without trial for up to six months.

He was picked up by police after posting a video of a protest at the home of a militant killed during a gunfight with Indian troops. Gul's family has denied any wrongdoing.
The BBC said authorities in Sudan briefly arrested three of its journalists in the capital Monday as thousands of Sudanese were in the streets across the country in the latest anti-coup protests in the African nation.

The news outlet said in a report the journalists working with its Arabic service were taken to an unknown location in Khartoum. The BBC said authorities released the three journalists late Monday.

There was no immediate comment from authorities.

Thousands of Sudanese marched in the streets of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, according to the pro-democracy movement.

Security forces fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters, especially around the presidential palace in Khartoum, activist Nazim Sirag said.

Social media swarmed with images showing tear gas clouding rallies in Khartoum and protesters hurling stones and throwing back empty gas canisters at security forces.

Sirag said about 200 protests were injured, including at least 12 across the capital who sustained gunshot wounds. There were no deaths reported.

Protests also took place elsewhere in the country, including the eastern city of Port Sudan.

Monday's demonstration was the latest in a series of relentless protests since the military on October 25 ousted the civilian-led government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was reinstated a month later under heavy international pressure.

The turmoil in the country worsened after he stepped down on January 2 when his efforts to reach a compromise between the military the pro-democracy movement failed.

The coup has upended Sudan's transition to democratic rule after three decades of repression and international isolation under autocratic President Omar al-Bashir.

The African nation has been on a fragile path to democracy since a popular uprising forced the military to remove al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.
U.S. President Joe Biden said a crucial European gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, will not go forward if Russia invades Ukraine, as high-level diplomatic efforts took place Monday to try to prevent an invasion, with Germanys leader traveling to Washington and Frances president to Moscow.

Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the notion that Nord Stream 2 would go forward in the event of an invasion by Russian tanks or troops is just not going to happen.

I promise you we will be able to do that, Biden said when asked how he could make that happen.

Scholz did not directly say whether Germany would cancel the pipeline project but said, We will take all the necessary steps, and all will be done together with the United States and other allies.

He said, We have prepared a reaction that will help us to react swiftly if needed in the event of a Russian invasion. He said Germany would not spell out everything in public.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, running under the Baltic Sea, is designed to bring Russian natural gas to Germany. The pipeline was recently completed but is not yet operational.

The U.S., among others, has viewed putting the brakes on the pipeline as part of the deterrence of a Russian attack on Ukraine, eliminating potential Russian revenue from the pipeline.

Addressing reporters Monday, Biden also urged Americans in Ukraine to leave the country, saying, It would be wise for them to do so.

The U.S. State Department has already said nonessential employees in Ukraine could leave the country along with family members.

At the outset of their discussions, Scholz, who took power in Berlin in December, and Biden emphasized the close relationship between their two countries. But they have taken different approaches in assisting Ukraine, with the United States sending weapons to the Kyiv government, and Germany sending 5,000 military helmets Ukraine requested, while adhering to its long-held position of not shipping arms into a conflict zone.

Biden, nonetheless, said the two countries are working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe.

We are closest allies and working intensely together. And this is necessary for doing the steps that we have to do, for instance, fighting against Russian aggression against Ukraine, Scholz said.

Meanwhile in Moscow, French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, trying to curb the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Putin said after the talks that Russia would do its best "to find compromises" in the crisis with the West over Ukraine and said, "As far as we are concerned, we will do everything to find compromises that suit everyone."

He said there would be "no winners" if war broke out on the European continent.

At the start of their meeting, Macron told Putin, "This discussion can make a start in the direction in which we need to go, which is towards a de-escalation" to "avoid a war" and "build elements of confidence, stability and visibility for everyone."

The Kremlin had said ahead of the talks that it did not expect any immediate resolution of its stalemate with the West.

Macron said following the talks that he and Putin would speak again in a couple of days. The French president heads to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian leaders on Tuesday.

Moscow has deployed more than 100,000 troops along Ukraines eastern border with Russia and in its ally, Belarus, with the West fearing that Putin could at any time order an invasion of Moscows one-time Soviet republic.

France, the United States and their NATO allies have rejected Moscows demand that they rule out possible Ukraine membership in the Western military alliance formed after World War II.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday Putin continued to add to his troop numbers along the borders with Ukraine over the weekend.

"Sizable forces continue to be added to the forces Mr. Putin has arrayed, Kirby told reporters. "With each passing day, he gives himself a lot more options from a military perspective."

The United States has warned that a Russian invasion could happen at any time, according to U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

We believe that the Russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into Ukraine, and we have been working hard to prepare a response, Sullivan told NBCs Meet the Press show on Sunday.

In a separate interview on Fox News Sunday, Sullivan said, Any day, Russia could take action against Ukraine, or it could be a couple weeks, with U.S. intelligence officials assessing that Moscow has 70% of its strike force in place for an attack.

Biden has ruled out dispatching the U.S. military to fight in Ukraine, but now has deployed 3,000 U.S. troops to Romania and Poland on NATOs eastern edge and sent $500 million in military assistance to the Kyiv government.

Carla Babb contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed late Monday for Australia where the State Department said he will attend Quad ministerial meetings to advance cooperation on maritime security and cybersecurity, while also pushing back against aggression and coercion in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Quad refers to a security dialogue involving Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

Blinkens visit to Australia is his first trip there after an enhanced trilateral security partnership known as AUKUS  Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.  was announced last September. The agreement includes a deal to build nuclear-propelled submarines for Australianot a G-7 memberas part of enhanced deterrence against Chinas military expansion across the Indo-Pacific region.

Secretary Blinken will meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and other senior officials to discuss a range of bilateral and global priorities, said the State Department in a statement released Friday.

Part of the discussions during the fourth Quad foreign ministers meetings in Melbourne will relate to the challenges that China poses, Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told VOA during a Friday phone briefing.

The Quad is not a military alliance, but it is not lost on China that you have four democracies, all with a strong maritime presence and advanced military capabilities, concerned by the increasingly aggressive approach China takes with its neighbors, said Charles Edel, the Australia chair of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In Beijing, Chinese officials have expressed wariness over the Quad and AUKUS. A spokesperson from Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, said any regional cooperation framework should not target any third party when U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a Quad leaders summit last September. Zhao also called the AUKUS pact extremely irresponsible.

The top U.S. diplomats weeklong trip includes Fiji as well as Honolulu, Hawaii.

In Fiji, Blinken will meet with Pacific Island leaders to discuss the climate crisis and ways to further a shared commitment to democracy, regional solidarity, and prosperity in the Pacific. This will be the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to Fiji since 1985.

The coming visit to Fiji shows the United States recognizes the increasing importance of smaller Pacific Islands in U.S.-China geopolitical competition, according to Dominique Fraser, a research associate with the Asia Society Policy Institute in Australia.

Fraser cautioned that many Pacific Island leaders welcome the economic investment China is making in the region while worrying about becoming too embroiled in superpower rivalry.

Last December, the United States, Australia and Japan said they would jointly fund the construction of an undersea cable connecting the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Kiribati, and Republic of Nauru.

The proposed undersea cable would provide more reliable and secure communications to approximately 100,000 people across three countries while respecting their sovereignty, seen as a reference to U.S. allegations that China uses infrastructure investment to gain political leverage over recipients.

Addressing the threat from North Koreas nuclear and missile programs is high on the agenda, as Blinken hosts Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi and Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong for a U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea Trilateral Ministerial Meeting in Honolulu on February 12.

In January, North Korea conducted several launches, firing ballistic missiles.

The United States remains prepared to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy without preconditions with North Korea, said Kritenbrink. We have reached out repeatedly to Pyongyang; however, to date, we have not received a substantive response.

Blinkens trip to the Pacific comes as Russia continues a massive military buildup around Ukraine.

When asked by VOA if the Quad foreign ministers would issue a joint statement on Ukraine, Kritenbrink said, Im sure Ukraine will be one of them (issues being discussed,) given the seriousness of the issue and the threat it poses to the rules-based global order.
Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing agreed to arrange for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) special envoy from Cambodia to meet members of the ousted ruling party on a future visit, a senior Cambodian official said Monday.

The pledge, made in a January 26 video call with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, represents a small concession in a deadlocked peace process since Myanmar's military seized power a year ago from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).

Min Aung Hlaing did not identify which members of the NLD might be made available, said Kao Kim Hourn, a minister in Hun Sen's office who was part of the video meeting.

"They have said during the video conferencing between our prime minister and senior general Min Aung Hlaing that they would provide access to some of the NLD figures, but we don't know those yet," Kao Kim Hourn told Reuters by telephone.

A spokesman for Myanmar's junta did not answer a telephone call seeking comment.

Myanmar has been in crisis since the military seized power, with about 1,500 civilians killed in the junta's crackdown on its opponents, according to figures cited by the United Nations human rights office.

Involving all parties to Myanmar's crisis in dialog is a key pillar of an ASEAN peace process adopted by the 10-nation bloc last year. Among the others are ending violence and welcoming a special envoy.

Kao Kim Hourn acknowledged that it was unlikely for the envoy, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, to meet on his initial trip with Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the coup and is facing various criminal charges that carry jail terms adding up to nearly 150 years.

"The idea, the goal is to meet with all relevant, important stakeholders. But it may not be on one go - it could be a number of visits," Kao Kim Hourn said. "So, of course, it would be great to have Madame Suu Kyi be included."

Dozens of NLD party members have been detained since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup.

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson of the NLD's exiled remaining leadership, said any meetings with the ASEAN envoy should be agreed on by the party.

Min Aung Hlaing's pledge was not enough for Cambodia to invite Myanmar to next week's ASEAN foreign minister's retreat.

Cambodia, this year's ASEAN chair, last week asked Myanmar to name a non-political representative, continuing the exclusion of junta officials that began at last year's annual leaders' summit.
U.S. President Joe Biden has threatened to block the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine.

The undersea pipeline directly links Russian gas to Europe via Germany and is complete but not yet operating. It has become a major target as Western governments try to deter a Russian attack on its neighbor.

In the past, it has been a source of tension between the U.S., which opposed the project, and Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said all options were on the table but avoided mentioning Nord Stream 2 specifically at a news conference with Biden in Washington.

If Russian tanks roll into Ukraine, "there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2," Biden said Monday. Scholz stressed the need to keep some ambiguity about sanctions to press Russia to de-escalate.

Here are key things to understand about the pipeline:

What is Nord Stream 2?

A 1,230-kilometer-long (764-mile-long) natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, running from Russia to Germany's Baltic coast.

It would double the capacity of an earlier Nord Stream pipeline to 110 billion cubic meters of gas a year and sidesteps Ukraine and Poland, which would lose transit fees. They also said the project would increase Russia's leverage over Europe.

The pipeline has been filled with gas but is not operating yet pending approval by Germany's utility regulators and the European Commission.

Why does Russia want the pipeline?

State-owned producer Gazprom says it will meet Europe's growing need for affordable natural gas and complement existing pipelines through Belarus and Ukraine.

Europe imports most of its gas and about 40% of what they import is from Russia. Nord Stream 2 would offer an alternative to Ukraine's aging system, lower costs by saving transit fees paid to Ukraine and Poland, and it avoid episodes like the brief 2006 and 2009 gas cutoffs over price and payment disputes between Russia and Ukraine.

Why is Biden against it?

The U.S., European NATO allies such as Poland, and Ukraine have opposed the project before the Biden administration. They said it gives Russia the possibility of using gas as a geopolitical weapon.

Biden waived sanctions against the pipeline's operator when it was almost complete in return for an agreement from Germany to act against Russia if it used gas as a weapon or attacks Ukraine. But the U.S. still thinks Nord Stream 2 is a bad idea.

Meanwhile, Scholz, who took the helm in Germany in December, backed the project as Angela Merkel's finance minister, and his Social Democratic Party supported it.

While he has avoided referring to Nord Stream 2 specifically, Scholz says Russia would face "severe consequences" and that sanctions must be ready ahead of time.

How would Biden block Nord Stream 2?

The U.S. could impose heavy financial sanctions  penalizing anyone or any company that does business involving the pipeline, effectively scaring away banks and businesses and making it impossible for the pipeline to operate.

Biden hasn't said if that's the route he might pursue. Asked Monday how the U.S. would stop something that's under German control, Biden only said, "I promise you, we'll be able to do it." Scholz added, "You can be sure that there won't be any measures in which we have a differing approach. We will act together jointly."

In Congress, Republicans and Democrats  in a rare bit of agreement  have long objected to Nord Stream for the leverage it gives Russia over Europe. They have been split for months on whether to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 now or only if Russia invades. Bill backers have refused to say what compromise they might be working on.

In Germany, the approval process has been presented as strictly a legal decision, not a political one, raising questions about what mechanism could be used if there's a Russian attack. In Europe, sanctions against Russia over its seizure of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014 were agreed at the European Union level.

Will Nord Stream 2 help Europe's natural gas crisis?

Not immediately or directly. Since regulators won't approve it for months, the pipeline cannot help meet heating and electricity needs this winter as the continent faces a gas shortage. Gazprom could, if it chose, send more gas through existing pipelines.

The winter crunch has continued to feed concerns about Russia and gas. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the shortage underlines the need for quick Nord Stream 2 approval. Russia held back from short-term gas sales  even though it fulfilled long-term contracts with European customers  and failed to fill its underground storage in Europe.

Some analysts say Russia had to fill its own winter reserves first, and Gazprom has stressed its role as a reliable long-term supplier. Whatever the motivation, Putin's comments did little to relieve concerns that Russia is inclined to use gas for political leverage.

Is Russia the boss on gas?

That's oversimplifying. While Europe needs Russian gas, Gazprom also relies on the European market for sales to support Russian government budgets. And the European Union has been able to force Gazprom to comply with many of its anti-monopoly rules in recent years.

That interdependence is why many think Russia won't cut off gas to Europe even if the conflict over Ukraine escalates, and Russian officials have underlined they have no intention to do that.


For NPR's Emily Feng, it was snail noodles, a deliciously stinky snack.

Her article, written for a large U.S. media organization, triggered a seemingly orchestrated online attack  complete with Feng's photograph  by China's official state media outlets and private Chinese citizens accusing her of being anti-China. Feng tweeted about the "hurdles" she found "perplexing but also sadly routine" in reporting on snail noodles.

For foreign journalists, such attacks, some physical, are increasingly common  and well planned by the Chinese government, according to Chang Ping, a former journalist who now lives in Germany as a China affairs commentator. The most recent occurred during the opening hours of the Olympics, when a Chinese security officer hustled a Dutch journalist off camera on live TV.

"The articles that attack foreign media are not a decision made by editors or journalists or whoever wrote them. Everything goes with the state's grand diplomatic plans," Chang Ping told VOA Mandarin. "The so-called crass 'wolf diplomacy' didn't happen because the diplomats or the government became stupid. It became like this because they believe it will bring them good results. They believe it works." "Wolf warrior diplomacy" is a newly assertive Chinese attitude in its dealings with the world.

Li Busheng, a pseudonym used out of fear by an experienced Chinese journalist working for a Western media outlet in China, told VOA Mandarin that "many times the social media or websites claim they use algorithms to push only the stuff (an audience member) likes to read, but the reality is, you'll always see these anti-West or China-West confrontation articles. It's like they force-feed it to you."

Reporting challenges

A report by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, or FCCC, on media freedom in 2021 found that foreign journalists are facing "unprecedented hurdles" because of Beijing's efforts to "block and discredit independent reporting."

"As the number of journalists forced out by the Chinese state grows due to excessive intimidation or outright expulsions, covering China is increasingly becoming an exercise in remote reporting."

The 2021 FCCC report did not mention any controversial reports on snail noodles; back in 2022 China, however, Feng tweeted about surveillance and middle-of-the-night COVID-19 checks by unmasked Chinese officers. Feng declined to speak with Mandarin VOA.

China's Foreign Ministry has described the FCCC as "an illegal organization, never acknowledged by China."

Foreign journalists are routinely surveilled online and offline, in the field as well as in the cities where they are based, according to the FCCC report, published January 31. Virtually all the foreign journalists responding to an annual survey by the report's authors said that reporting conditions did not meet what they considered to be international standards.

Chinese authorities appeared to be encouraging a spate of lawsuits or the threat of legal action against foreign journalists, the report found. Such litigation is typically filed by sources long after they explicitly agreed to be interviewed.

The FCCC notes that based on precedent, foreigners involved in civil or criminal lawsuits and court proceedings in China can be banned from leaving the country.

Telephone and email requests for comment on the FCCC report, which had been sent last week to the Chinese embassy in Washington, went unanswered.

The report quotes David Rennie, Beijing bureau chief of The Economist, as saying, "In the past, the main tools used to control media involved restrictions on access, blacklisting from events, or problems with press cards and visas. The growing use of the law is new and worrying."

Visa limbo

Foreign correspondents unable to remain in China have relocated to report from Taipei, Singapore, Sydney and London, the report says. Hong Kong, once the preferred post outside China, is no longer an appealing option because of Beijing's crackdown on the press under a national security law imposed in 2020. The broadly written law has been used to arrest and jail local journalists.

The Chinese authorities have hobbled the remaining journalists working for U.S. news organizations by refusing to renew the press cards essential for reporting. At least 22 journalists from the United States, Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan and New Zealand are in constant limbo after authorities trimmed the period covered by residence permits from one year to two or three months.

Authorities use China's strict pandemic measures to delay approvals for journalist visas, which has left many news organizations understaffed, the report says. The pandemic controls also help authorities shut down reporting trips and decline interview requests.

"China thinks it's in the world center now, and you see more reports on how Xi Jinping is pointing a direction for the world," said Chang Ping. "The purpose of attacking media and journalists is clear: to frighten them. And it works."

Noodlegate

So how did Feng's January 16 paean to the delights of stinky snail noodles become a target? Posted on NPR's health and development blog, Goats and Soda, her piece bore the headline, "Snail noodles go viral in China during the pandemic. But the dish is a bit ... funky".

On an always hungry internet that had had quite enough of pandemic favorites such as sourdough starters, snail noodles barreled toward viral fame.

It began: "It's fermented. It's stinky. It's delicious. And during the pandemic, it's become a national sensation. The dish is snail noodles, or luosifen."

The snack, local to China's southern province of Guangxi, so captured Feng that she traveled to the food fad's center near the Vietnamese border.

Her article chronicled the economic ingenuity of a struggling manufacturing center that pivoted to stinky snack stardom even before the pandemic.

Feng tweeted that there were "numerous state pieces" responding to her article, including one from a local newspaper in Guangdong province headlined "Anti-China Chinese reporter infiltrates into Guangxi and writes about luosifen cynically." The article included a photo of Feng.

A pro-China overseas online publication called Student Daily in North America also accused Feng of "spreading rumors that luosifen will cause another pandemic and smearing traditional food as a way of passing virus." The Chinese article ends saying, "From bats to luosifen, Western media never stops smearing the origin of COVID-19 virus."
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday there is an opportunity for further negotiations to de-escalate the crisis on the Ukraine-Russian border, after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Kyiv.

Our desire for the following weeks and months is for the situation to stabilize and for us to be able to re-engage through new mechanisms of guarantees, a sustainable de-escalation, Macron said Tuesday.

In this context, the calm that you demonstrate, the reflection from all participating parties, both in words and in actions, are indispensable, Macron told Zelenskiy at a press conference following the talks.

Warships

Meanwhile, the Russian military build-up around Ukraine continues unabated. Six Russian warships headed to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean Tuesday. Moscow has deployed over 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine and a further 20,000 in neighboring Belarus, where they are taking part in joint military exercises. The West fears an invasion could be imminent but Moscow denies it has any such plans.

The French president said he had received assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow on Monday.

On the discussions on military and security aspects, as I have said very clearly yesterday, we have had exchanges with President Putin, and he told me that he would not be behind any escalation. I think that is important, Macron said.

However, a Kremlin spokesperson disputed that President Putin had given any guarantees over halting military exercises close to the Ukrainian border.

Minsk agreement

President Macron said the key to ending the crisis is the implementation of the Minsk Protocol, a roadmap sponsored by France and Germany through the so-called Normandy Format talks aimed at ending the conflict between Russian-backed rebels and government forces in eastern Ukraine.

The Minsk agreements are also the best protection of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Based on the commitment of the two sides, Russian and Ukrainian, we now have the possibility of advancing negotiations This shared determination is the only path that will allow us to build peace, the only path that will allow us to build a viable political solution, Macron said.

Ukraines President Zelenskiy agreed there was an opportunity, but said that Russian President Putin must prove his commitment.

Generally, I don't quite trust words. That's why I think that every politician can show his or her openness by concrete deeds, Zelenskiy said.

The first steps are what Emmanuel [Macron] mentioned, Zelenskiy added. We have a platform, the Normandy Format. We react very positively to the meeting of the political advisers in the coming days. I believe that after this meeting, there can be an opportunity  if there is openness  for a meeting of the leaders. And there, one can demonstrate one's subjectivity, and one's openness.

The Minsk agreements would see the eastern Donbas region, much of which is currently under the control of pro-Russian rebels, reintegrated into Ukraine, but with political autonomy.

Kyiv Concerns

Ukraine remains deeply skeptical of the deal, says Alexander Titov, a Russia analyst at Queens University Belfast. Moscow sees Minsk [agreements] as a way of re-establishing some form of presence in Ukraine for its pro-Russian forces and stopping Ukraine from formal NATO membership. Ukraine, for exactly the same reasons, opposes it, Titov told VOA.

There are concerns in Ukraine over what President Macron may have offered Russia, according to Quentin Peel of the London-based policy group Chatham House.

Ukrainians are very suspicious that behind it all Russia simply wants to give the separatists in the Donbas a veto over any future constitutional arrangement in Ukraine. So the Ukrainians are suspicious that Macron might try and force them to give that away. But having said that, I think it's probably the only diplomatic way forward that is visible, Peel told VOA.

That explains why Ukraine is trying to calm the situation, says Titov. There is a lot of talk in Kyiv and Ukraine more generally about the whole crisis being kind of exaggerated in order to force Ukraine to actually implement the Minsk agreements as a way of kind of calming down Putin.

Putin pride

Despite those suspicions, Macron has kept diplomatic channels open. I think what Emmanuel Macron has spotted is the need to play up to Putins sense of pride. By coming to Moscow and sitting with Putin and giving Putin, if you like, almost the lead in the negotiations  that's exactly what the Russian president really craves for, Peel told VOA.

Whether that will be enough to avert conflict remains to be seen. European diplomatic efforts continue next week, when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to visit Moscow for talks with President Putin.
The governors of four states announced plans Monday to lift statewide mask requirements in schools at the end of February or March, citing the rapid easing of COVID-19's omicron surge.

The decisions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon were announced as state and local governments grapple with which COVID-19 restrictions to jettison and which ones to keep in place. The changes also come amid a growing sense that the virus is never going to go away and Americans need to find a way to coexist with it.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called the move "a huge step back to normalcy for our kids."

Meanwhile, California announced plans to end its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people next week, but masks will still be the rule for schoolchildren in the nation's most populous state.

The four states are among a dozen with mask mandates in schools, according to the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy. New Jersey's requirement has been in place since classes resumed in person in September 2020.

Murphy cited the "dramatic decline in our COVID numbers" in announcing the rollback. The omicron variant fueled a spike in infections over the holidays, but cases in the state are down 50% and hospitalizations dropped off by one-third since last week, he said.

"We are not  and I've said this many times  going to manage COVID to zero," the governor said. "We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus."

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont recommended ending the statewide mandate in schools and child care centers on Feb. 28. New Jersey will roll back the requirement on March 7. Delaware Gov. John Carney said his state's school mask mandate will run through March.

Oregon's mask requirements for schools will be lifted March 31. The statewide mask requirement for indoor public places will be lifted no later than the end of March, health officials announced.

Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state medical officer and epidemiologist, said education and health officials will meet in the coming weeks to revise guidance to "ensure schools can continue operating safely and keep students in class" once the mask rule is lifted.

The March 31 deadline was selected using predictions by health scientists that COVID-19-related hospitalizations will decrease to 400 or fewer by that time  a level that Oregon experienced before the omicron variant surge.

In California, unvaccinated people will still be required to be masked indoors after Feb. 15, and everyone will have to wear masks in higher-risk areas such as public transit and nursing homes and other congregate living facilities, state officials said. Local governments can continue their own indoor masking requirements.

State officials also announced that indoor "mega events" with more than 1,000 people will have to require vaccinations or negative tests, and those who are unvaccinated will be required to wear masks. For outdoor events with more than 10,000 people, there is no vaccination requirement, but masks or negative tests are recommended.

The debate over masks in schools has been polarizing in much of the U.S., with parents protesting at school board meetings and slates of candidates  pro- and anti-mask  seeking school board seats in an attempt to shape policies.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that universal mask-wearing in schools "still remains our recommendation," but she did not fault states for dropping the requirement.

"It's always been up to school districts. That's always been our point of view and always been our policy from here," she said.

Eight Republican-led states, including Florida and Texas, have bans on school mask mandates, though some have been suspended amid legal fights with districts and parents who want to require masks, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.

In Illinois, where a judge last week struck down Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker's statewide school mask mandate, the Democratic attorney general said Monday he will appeal the ruling. The Chicago school system, where teachers recently refused to hold in-person classes until an agreement was reached on safety measures, including providing KN95 masks to students and staff, said the ruling doesn't apply and the nation's third-largest district will continue to require masks.

Murphy faced pressure from Republicans and some parents who have held rallies at the statehouse demanding an end to the mandate. But the governor has had support for the mask rule from the New Jersey Education Association, the state's biggest teachers union.

In a statement, the union noted that trends show COVID-19 heading in the right direction, and added: "It is appropriate for Gov. Murphy to allow local districts to continue to require masking in communities where that is prudent based on local conditions."

Nationwide, new COVID-19 cases per day have plunged by more than a half-million since mid-January, when they hit a record-shattering peak of more than 800,000. Cases have been declining in 47 states over the past two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Also, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 has fallen 24% since mid-January to about 111,000.

Deaths are still running high at more than 2,400 per day on average, the most since last winter, reflecting a lag between when victims become infected and when they die.

In New Jersey, it is unclear how many and how soon the state's 600-plus school districts might end the wearing of masks.

In Paterson, the state's third-biggest city, the school system will take time to consult with administration officials, principals, parents and staff, said district spokesperson Paul Brubaker.

Melissa Alfieri-Collins, a mother of two who disagrees with mask mandates in schools, saying she prefers "choice," called the governor's decision good news. But she raised concern that districts might keep mask rules in place.

"For this reason, parents need an opt-out option for when and if districts do this," she said.

Connecticut will also allow school districts to retain the mandate. It's unclear if Delaware will follow suit, but the governor said he wanted to give school districts time to consider a local mandate.

Stephen White, a 55-year-old father of a 14-year-old son, said that if the lifting of the mandate were to take effect immediately, he wouldn't be in favor of it. But four weeks from now is a different story.

"By that time period, if the rates are going down and they can say that 'OK, kids are vaccinated'  if they have a substantial amount of kids that are vaccinated  I don't have a problem with them not wearing a mask at school," he said.

Francis Amegah, a 63-year-old with two children in the Newark school district, said the end of the mandate is "well overdue."

"They shouldn't be wearing masks. If something happens, we'll be able to handle that. The parents should be able to take care of that," he said.

Republicans claimed responsibility for pushing the governor to end the mandate.

"Gov. Murphy will never admit that the pressure is getting to him, but it absolutely is," GOP Senate Leader Steve Oroho said.
From the Editors with Bloomberg Opinion:

For the first time in a long while, theres good news about COVID-19. The omicron wave is cresting in the U.S., and in many states is already receding. A respite from SARS-CoV-2 could well follow. And if new variants eventually emerge, it may be possible to live with them  that is, without shutting businesses, always wearing masks and social distancing.

A return to normal  that modest but elusive goal  should be possible once COVID-19 hospitalizations fall from thousands each day much closer to the hundreds associated with a bad flu season. Ensuring it lasts will require careful monitoring, better data collection, and a nationwide effort to prevent another crisis.

Five things in particular need to be monitored:

1. Surges in COVID-19 cases and deaths anywhere in the world. Working with the World Health Organization, the U.S. should help other countries keep a close eye on COVID-19 outbreaks (as well as outbreaks of other contagious respiratory illnesses) and report data quickly and publicly, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does in the United States.

2. Genomic changes in the coronavirus. To detect the arrival of new variants, the CDC must improve its efforts to analyze the genetic code of the virus found in people who test positive. The agency conducts such testing in certain areas, but it has yet to build out a sufficiently extensive and geographically representative system, leaving the U.S. dependent on other countries for news of emerging variants. All patients who experience severe breakthrough infections should have their viruses analyzed.

3. Vaccine effectiveness. Working with vaccine makers and independent scientists, the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC need to jointly monitor Americans for waning immunity, especially as new variants arise. All the existing vaccines are expected to lose some of their power with time. Its crucial to continually assess their effectiveness and have boosters available as needed.

4. COVID-19s presence in sewage. Measuring the level of coronavirus in public wastewater systems can provide an early warning of COVID-19 surges and likewise indicate when infections are waning. The CDC created the National Wastewater Surveillance System in 2020 to work with state and local health departments to test wastewater. In the process, it needs to strengthen standards for sewage testing and ensure that measurements from various systems are comparable.

5. Hospital bed availability and staffing levels. Accurate and timely information from states on hospital capacity can also indicate when viral infections are surging. The CDC already compiles such data, but state-level statistics arent always up to date or consistent. Refining this system can help ensure that the countrys hospitals are prepared to handle an outbreak.

All this information should be uploaded to public databases. Also needed is a clear sense of how much COVID-19 Americans are willing to live with. Ezekiel Emanuel, of the University of Pennsylvania, suggests setting a risk threshold for COVID-19, flu and other viruses together of about 35,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths in a week. Beyond those levels  or similar benchmarks  elected officials could consider reimposing mask mandates and other restrictions to protect health care systems from overload.

Of course, COVID-19 alone caused about four times that many hospitalizations and five times that many deaths in late January. But the numbers are falling, and with luck the omicron wave will have receded by spring. Its time to look ahead with cautious optimism, and to put sensible measures in place to end the permanent crisis.

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Schools and businesses across Haiti shuttered their doors on Monday and large numbers of police patrolled the streets as the country confronted a grim anniversary.

Monday marked not only seven months since President Jovenel Moise was slain at his private residence but also the end of his term, with opponents demanding that Prime Minister Ariel Henry step down, arguing that his administration is unconstitutional.

Henry brushed aside those criticisms during a press conference Monday evening where he again pledged to create a provisional electoral council to pave the way for general elections. He noted that exactly 36 years ago, former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier fled the country amid a violent uprising.

"Thirty-six years later, we must realize that we have failed to establish a truly democratic system," Henry said, adding that for every three steps forward, the country goes back two steps.

Henry blamed the economy for most of Haiti's ongoing problems, saying it was too small to allow people to live well, get jobs or obtain good government services. He said his administration is fighting to reduce a surge in violence and is looking for more resources to help those in need.

"We know there is a lot of misery out there," he said.

Thousands of people opted to stay home Monday, afraid that even greater violence would erupt as Haiti's political instability deepens, kidnappings spike and gangs grow more powerful amid a crumbling economy.

Lionel Fortune, a 33-year-old law student, was among the few who ventured outside and waited a long time for a public bus to materialize on the empty streets.

"This country has totally deteriorated," he said. "You don't know who you can count on, who you can trust to lead the country to the right path."

Henry has promised to hold general elections by the end of this year as his administration tries to improve security conditions.

Haiti currently has only 10 elected officials since it failed to hold legislative elections in October 2019 amid political gridlock and massive protests, with Moise ruling by decree for more than a year before was killed. Since then, numerous opponents have challenged Henry and nominated their own leaders, moves that the prime minister has not recognized.

"The basic thing today is not to fight for a short-lived piece of power," Henry said. "No one has the authority or the right to meet at a hotel or abroad to decide in a small committee who is to be president or prime minister. All this is a distraction."

Bocchit Edmond, Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., echoed those thoughts in an interview with The Associated Press, saying that Henry did not make himself prime minister but rather was chosen by a legitimate and democratically elected president. He said the process of choosing an electoral council was very well advanced and called on opponents to work together with Henry, adding that he remains optimistic that elections will be held.

"My only fear is to see my country not moving forward," Edmond said.

He dismissed accusations that Henry is not considered a legitimate leader given that Haiti's chief public prosecutor, whom Henry has since fired, noted that the prime minister spoke with one of the main suspects in the presidential slaying hours after it occurred. Henry has said he received multiple calls that day and doesn't remember all of them.

"It's an ongoing investigation," Edmond said. "Let us leave (this to) the justice system."

One of the most high-profile groups that oppose Henry, the Montana Accord, named after the hotel where it was signed, has proposed a two-year transitional period to allow Haiti time to create a safer environment for voters. The group, made up of thousands of supporters including prominent politicians and civil society leaders, recently nominated as its leader Fritz Jean, former governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

In a speech on Saturday, Jean said he plans to reach out to more groups and political parties to find solutions to Haiti's issues and noted that violence is not the road to democracy.

As political figures keep vying to be Haiti's new leader, Fortune, the law student, lamented the spike in prices of basic food staples and accused the government of not doing anything to improve people's lives: "The economy has hit rock bottom. It can't go farther than it has. No one can really survive."
The UN childrens fund, UNICEF, warns the Horn of Africa is facing a climate-induced emergency and says the international community must act now to prevent a catastrophic loss of life and livelihoods.

The specter of the 2011 famine in Somalia hangs over the dire situation confronting millions of people in the Horn of Africa. That emergency killed 250,000 people, half of them children. Hunger and malnutrition have worsened in the region after three years of consecutive drought. But famine has not been reported in any area.



UN agencies, however, say that could rapidly change. The UN childrens fund predicts as many as 20 million people in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia will need water and food assistance in the next six months.



Mohamed Malick Fall is UNICEF Eastern and Southern African Regional Director. Speaking on a line from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, he says children will be among the biggest victims of this crisis.



Right now, nearly 5.5 million children in these four countries are threatened by acute malnutrition and an estimated 1.4 million children by severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF fears that this number will increase by 50 percent if the rains do not come in the next three months.



Three dry seasons in a row have decimated crops, led to severe water scarcity, and killed livestock. This has forced families to leave their homes in search of grazing land and water, increasing the risk of disease and severe malnutrition.



The World Food Program estimates 13 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are gripped by severe hunger. Fall says children caught in this climate emergency are missing out on meals, on school and on access to lifesaving health services.



Families are taking extreme measures to survive and in many cases leaving their homes, which puts children on the move at particular risk. This is a crisis that requires a collective responseensuring access to clean water, nutrition, and safe spaces for children.



UNICEF is appealing for $123 million to provide lifesaving aid for the most vulnerable in the four countries until the end of June. It warns many children will die or end up with life-long cognitive or physical damage if the international community fails to act quickly.


Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on salvaging Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers resumed Tuesday after a 10-day break, but envoys gave little away as to whether they were closer to resolving various thorny issues.

Delegates say the talks have made limited progress since they resumed in November after a five-month hiatus prompted by the election of hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Negotiations accelerated last month, but a number of vital issues remain unresolved and Western powers say little time remains before Iran's nuclear advances make the 2015 deal restricting them redundant. Envoys went home 10 days ago seeking decisions from their political bosses to hurry things along.

As officials from Iran, the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany, Britain and the European Union began meeting in various formats Tuesday, it was not immediately clear how much progress had been enabled by any political decisions.

The talks' coordinator, Enrique Mora, declined to comment to reporters as he crossed the road between two luxury hotels hosting negotiations on a blustery day in Vienna, where the negotiations began 10 months ago. Hours later Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, arrived for talks.

"After a short break, 8th round of #ViennaTalks is resumed," Iran's mission to the United Nations in Vienna said on Twitter, with a picture of Bagheri Kani meeting Mora.

The 2015 deal imposed restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities that extended the time Tehran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb, if it chose to, to at least a year from around two to three months. Most experts say that time is now shorter than when the deal was struck.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

Then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018, re-imposing punishing U.S. sanctions on Iran's economy that slashed its vital oil exports.

Iran responded by breaching many of the deal's restrictions and pushing well beyond them, enriching uranium to close to weapons-grade and using advanced centrifuges to do it, which has helped it hone its skills in operating those machines.

Iran has insisted that since the United States pulled out of the deal, it is up to Washington to make the first move by agreeing to lift sanctions and guarantee it will not withdraw again. Western officials say they are seeking a solution where both sides act in a coordinated manner.
Women held in a camp housing families of Islamic State group militants in northeastern Syria tried to kidnap their Kurdish guards Monday, an opposition war monitor said. The attempt led to a shooting that left one child dead and several other people wounded.

A Kurdish official confirmed there was an attempt to kidnap female guards but had no immediate word on casualties. The sprawling al-Hol camp is where tens of thousands of women and children  mostly wives, widows and children of IS members  are held.

The attack in the camp came days after IS's top leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi, was killed in a U.S. raid on his safehouse in northwestern Syria. The camp has witnessed dozens of crimes over the past year.

The incident also comes two weeks after IS fighters attacked a prison in Syria's northeastern city of Hassakeh, where some 3,000 militants and juveniles are held.

The attack on the prison led to 10 days of fighting between U.S.-backed fighters and IS militants that left nearly 500 people dead. U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters brought the situation under control eventually.

President Joe Biden said al-Qurayshi had been responsible for the Syria prison assault.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said women in the al-Hol camp tried to kidnap guards leading to a shooting in which a 10-year-old child was killed and six women and children were wounded.

The Observatory said the shooting caused a fire and the women were not able to kidnap the guards.

Shixmus Ehmed, head of the Kurdish-led administration's department for refugees and displaced, confirmed to The Associated Press that some camp residents tried to kidnap their female guards. He had no information on casualties.

Another Kurdish official who works in the camp said he was not aware of a kidnapping attempt but that there were some riots in a small section holding mostly foreign women and children. Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, he said seven women and children were hurt during Monday's riots.

In the fenced-off camp, multiple families are often crammed together in tents, medical facilities are minimal, and access to clean water and sanitation is limited.

Some 50,000 Syrians and Iraqis are located in al-Hol. Nearly 20,000 of them are children.

Monday's incident occurred in the separate, heavily guarded section of the camp known as the annex, where 2,000 women from 57 countries are held and housed with about 8,000 children. The women in the annex are considered the most die-hard IS supporters.

The Observatory recorded 84 crimes inside the camp in 2021 in which 89 people were killed, including two Kurdish police, 67 Iraqis and 20 Syrians.


Mali's interim prime minister has accused France of using its military mission there against Islamist militants to divide the African country.

Speaking to diplomats late Monday, Interim Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga said Mali would always be grateful to French soldiers who died in the fight against Islamist militants. But he added that the French mission to help Mali was aiding the terrorists.

He said the French people, some who have children who have died in Mali, dont know that it was their government that cut Mali in two.

"France created a sanctuary for terrorists to regroup and reorganize for two years, so that they could come back and invade our country," he said.

Maiga has in the past accused the French military of training terrorists and supporting Tuareg separatists when the French intervention began in 2013. He has not offered evidence to back up those accusations or those made during his speech Monday. There was no immediate reaction from the French government or the embassy in Bamako.

A French military operation known as Serval helped take back northern Mali from Islamist militants.

The operation ran from 2013 until 2014 when it was replaced by Operation Barkhane, an ongoing anti-insurgent mission.

Barkhane last year began drawing down troops from northern Mali military bases.

Europe says Mali has contracted Russian mercenaries, which the Malian government claims are just military trainers.

Maiga on Monday also accused the European Takuba Task Force sent to help Mali fight insurgents of being created to divide the country.

In January, a Danish contingent of Takuba that had just arrived in Mali was asked to leave.

Paris is evaluating its military presence in Mali after Bamako last week expelled the French ambassador after France's foreign affairs minister sharply criticized the military government.

Tensions between Mali and France have been rising since Paris backed West African sanctions for the military delaying elections.

Mali has had two coups since 2020. The military government pulled back from an agreement to hold elections in February, saying the vote would instead take place in 2026.
A ban on Islamic headscarves at schools has prompted an outcry among Muslims in southern India, with large crowds taking to the streets on Monday to protest against the restrictions.

The stand-off in Karnataka state has galvanized fears among the minority community about what they say is increasing persecution under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Students at a government-run high school were told not to wear hijabs last month, an edict that soon spread to at least two other educational institutions in the state.

"It's discriminatory in nature and also it's against the rights that are provided under the constitution of India," Sumayya Roushan, president of the Girls Islamic Organization Karnataka, said at a Monday press conference.

Roushan said the ban violated "a personal choice that the students are entitled to, which doesn't ... harm any other person."

Social media footage showed hundreds of people gathered on roads and waving Indian flags in at least two towns in Karnataka, the latest in several days of demonstrations held to condemn the bans.

One of the schools has since partially yielded, allowing its female Muslim students to attend class with a hijab but instructing them to sit in separate classrooms, according to local media.

Two other schools that had implemented a hijab ban declared a holiday and were closed on Monday.

Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party governs Karnataka state and several prominent members have thrown their support behind the ban, which has been criticized by other political leaders.

"By letting students' hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India," Rahul Gandhi of the opposition Congress party tweeted last week.

The state's top court is expected to hear petitions on Tuesday and rule on whether to overturn the bans.


A South African court convicted and jailed twin brothers for terrorism on Monday over plans to attack the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria and join the Islamic State group, local media reported.

Tony-Lee Thulsie and Brandon-Lee Thulsie, both 28, were arrested in South Africa in July 2016 and have been held in custody since.

The South African brothers pleaded guilty earlier Monday as part of a plea bargain with the prosecution, according to local media.

Hours later, the Johannesburg high court gave Tony-Lee an 11-year jail term, while Brandon-Lee was sentenced to eight years.

Both pleaded guilty to planning to travel to Syria to join IS, media reports said.

Tony-Lee also admitted to planning a terrorist attack in South Africa, they added.

Prosecutors said attacks also had been planned against U.S., British, Russian or French diplomats in Pretoria, as well as Jewish institutions.

The United States added the pair to its terror blacklist in 2017.

The arrests of the brothers in 2016 were the first in South Africa relating to alleged IS membership.

South Africa has so far been spared the jihadist attacks that have struck several other countries on the continent, including its eastern neighbor Mozambique.


A virtual version of the handwritten notes for the song "Hey Jude" has been sold at auction in California for almost $77,000, the latest hammer price success for NFTs.

Originally entitled "Hey Jules," the Fab Four's hit was written in 1968 by Paul McCartney to comfort a young Julian Lennon during father John's separation from his mother, Cynthia.

The NFT version of the notes was presented as an animation in which the words are progressively inscribed on the page and was accompanied by an audio commentary from Lennon junior.

"For me, just looking at a picture is not enough if I was a buyer," Lennon earlier told AFP in Los Angeles. "So I wanted to add something a little more personal. And for me, that was writing and narrating a little bit of story that would be behind the images."

The sale, by Julien's Auctions, also included an NFT of the Afghan coat worn by his father on the set of "Magical Mystery Tour," which fetched $22,400

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital objects that confer ownership.

While their content may be copyable, the NFT is "the original," in much the same way that there are innumerable prints of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," but only the Louvre Museum has the original.

Investors and wealthy collectors have clamored in recent months to get involved in the latest digital craze, which relies on the same blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies and cannot be forged or otherwise manipulated.

Recent auctions have seen eye-watering sums paid for NFTs, including a staggering $69.3 million for a digital work by artist Beeple at a sale at Christie's.
KAMPALA, Uganda  Drought conditions have left an estimated 13 million people facing severe hunger in the Horn of Africa, according to the United Nations World Food Program.

People in a region including Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya face the driest conditions recorded since 1981, the agency reported Tuesday, calling for immediate assistance to forestall a major humanitarian crisis.

Drought conditions are affecting pastoral and farming communities across southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, south-eastern and northern Kenya, and south-central Somalia. Malnutrition rates are high in the region.

WFP said it needs $327 million to look after the urgent needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months and help communities become more resilient to extreme climate shocks.

Three consecutive failed rainy seasons have decimated crops and caused abnormally high livestock deaths, it said in a statement. Shortages of water and pasture are forcing families from their homes and leading to increased conflict between communities.

More forecasts of below-average rainfall threaten to worsen conditions in the coming months, it said.

Others have raised alarm over a fragile region that also faces sporadic armed violence.

The U.N. childrens agency said earlier in February that more than 6 million people in Ethiopia are expected to need urgent humanitarian aid by mid-March. In neighboring Somalia, more than 7 million people need urgent help, according to the Somali NGO Consortium.
The U.N. human rights office says it fears heightened tension between Hema herders and Lendu farmers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo may erupt into more violence following last weeks deadly attacks.

At least 62 internally displaced members of the Hema ethnic community were killed and 38 injured when their camp was attacked by an armed group last week. Fighters from CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of Congo, staged a night-time raid on the Plaine Savo IDP camp in DR Congos Ituri province.

The attack, which took place February 1, is only the latest in a string of devastating assaults on IDP sites by CODECO, which is mainly composed of Lendu farmers.

U.N. human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssel says all the victims in the camp of 24,000 people were either shot or attacked with machetes and knives.

It is already on vulnerable people. It is IDPs. It is people who are in camps. So, of course it is creating fears, tension. It is leading to people fleeing from the violence. Following deadly attacks last week and further attempts over the weekend, there is significant risk that other IDP sites could be attacked as well, Throssel said.

U.N. officials note ethnic tensions between the Hema and Lendu communities have existed for years. Last year, the U.N. agency documented 10 attacks on IDP sites in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces. In all, it says at least 106 people were killed, 16 injured and some seven women subjected to sexual violence.

The human rights agency is calling on DRC authorities to immediately strengthen the protection of civilians in the troubled areas. It says they must ensure the safety and security of people who have sought refuge from violent inter-ethnic attacks in IDP camps.

Military authorities in the region have launched a preliminary investigation into the recent onslaughts. U.N. officials say the investigation must be independent, effective, and transparent, and perpetrators must be brought to justice.
Nathan Finney, an eighth grader with the Flagstaff Home Educators, won the Coconino County spelling bee on Saturday, correctly spelling the word defiant. This year marked the bee's in-person return to Flagstaff after a virtual competition in 2021.

The top spellers at 12 schools across the county gathered at Coconino High School to compete for a chance to move on to the state spelling bee in Phoenix next month.

This year, the final rounds included words like outrageous, restive, eavesdrop, distraught and kerchief.

Ribbons and prizes for first, second and third place (checks of varying amounts) were awarded by the Flagstaff, Williams and Grand Canyon Rotary Clubs, representatives of which also served as judges for the competition.

Last years county spelling bee was remote because of the pandemic and, though 2022 marked the bees in-person return, there were still a few differences. Pronouncer Stephanie Hammond wore a clear face shield to announce the words and spellers only removed their masks when at the microphone.

The crowd at the bee wasnt as full as usual -- due to COVID precautions, attendance was limited to two guests per participant. Other supporters were able to cheer on the spellers from home as the event was also live-streamed to an audience of about 100 people.

Finney said it felt good to win, though it wasnt really what hed expected going into the competition.

He said the pressure of being on stage didnt affect him very much until the last few words, when he began to realize he had a chance of winning. He mentioned that the word twilight made him hesitate, probably because it was an easier word he hadnt thought to focus on.

The easier [words] you skip over in studying, said his mom, Amanda Finney. Its the hard ones that you work on.

His nana, Bobby Wistoski, said she was able to see Nathans nerves in the last few rounds from her seat in the audience.

He didnt feel the pressure until the last two words. Hed go back and go [ahh], she said, imitating a sigh of relief.

Amanda Finney said she felt much more nervous than her son as she watched the competition. Shes also his teacher, as Nathan was representing a local home-school group in the bee.

We just keep practicing and keep studying, she said, both of preparation for todays bee and for the state bee that Nathan has qualified for next month.

For his part, Nathan said he felt good going into the state competition. Im going to try, he said.

Im just happy to be here, Wistoski said when asked her thoughts. Im proud of him.

Levi Sankey of Basis Flagstaff finished in second place, missing the word moxie.

Im feeling pretty good, Sankey said after the competition. Im a little disappointed I didnt get first place because I studied a lot, but second place is still really good, I think. Im pretty happy with what I got.

He said hed prepared using a list of about a thousand words he was given at school and some help from his father.

My dad practiced with me a little bit when I was saying the words, so I think that was pretty helpful, he said.

Kaylee Cotton of Fredonia Middle School came in third place, missing the word admirer. She said she had done better than shed expected and that she had spent a lot of time studying to prepare for the bee.

Her mother, Jessi Cotton, said Kaylee had been participating in spelling competitions since a teacher had recommended she try them in the second grade. Kaylee also reads a lot, she said.

Its pretty exciting, Jessi said of her daughters win. Shes amazing. [Im] super proud, super excited.

Other contestants at the spelling bee were Carly Wendt of Mount Elden Middle School, Cerissa Flores of San Francisco de Asis, Erin Ebers of Sechrist Elementary, Isabelle Abraham of Maine Consolidated, Keira Hupka of Knoles Elementary, Lanzo Bergarmini of Flagstaff Junior Academy, Lillian Auld of Williams Elementary, Murphy Wright of Marshall Magnet and Ransom Vaughn of Montessori Charter. They had all won spelling competitions at their individual schools.

"This competition encompasses our public schools, our charter schools, our private schools as well as our large home-school organizations and we have all of those represented on this stage today, [which] is absolutely wonderful," said superintendent of schools Cheryl Mango-Paget in her introduction to the event. "...What we are doing today is effectively the tournament of champions."

Nathan Finney will be participating in the Arizona State Spelling Bee, which is set to take place March 19 in Phoenix. The winner of that bee will go on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June.

A recording of Coconino Countys 2022 spelling bee is available to watch at vimeo.com/666953204 .

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The Ukrainian military says the number of artillery attacks on the border between Ukraine and the Russia-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions have decreased though Moscow continues mass troops just inside its border. Victor Lymar traveled to the region and has this story narrated by Anna Rice.
The Biden administration is expected in the next several weeks to announce plans for an "Indo-Pacific economic framework," marking the culmination of months of work to reinstate the United States as a counterweight to China and as a major player in developing the trade rules that govern the region.

U.S. business and trade groups have been anxious for the administration to establish itself as a presence in Indo-Pacific trade discussions, five years after the Trump administration formally removed the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a comprehensive trade agreement that the Obama administration had worked for years to complete.

In October, the White House released a statement from President Joe Biden that said the objective of the framework would be to "define our shared objectives around trade facilitation, standards for the digital economy and technology, supply chain resiliency, decarbonization and clean energy, infrastructure, worker standards, and other areas of shared interest."

Over the past few weeks, different administration officials have dropped hints that the effort, led by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department, was beginning to bear fruit.

During an event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association last week, Sarah Bianchi, deputy U.S. Trade representative for the Asia-Pacific region, said that there is still some way to go toward completing a formal plan but that "there's a fair amount of meat to the approach that we're thinking about."

An opportunity to write the rules

"It's important that the administration has started to telegraph some of their engagements in the Indo-Pacific," Jake Colvin, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, told VOA. "We're encouraged by a focus on engaging with economic allies in the region on a whole suite of issues."

He added: "We've said for a long time that the Biden administration has an opportunity to write the rules on digital and e-commerce in the Indo-Pacific (region), and we're excited that they appear to be starting to think through how to seize that opportunity."

The administration's aim does not appear to be the construction of an overarching agreement that touches on all the issues mentioned by the president. Instead, experts such as William Reinsch, the Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expect the negotiations will be siloed. For example, countries could decide to negotiate on standards for the digital economy and supply chain resiliency while not engaging on workers' standards and decarbonization.

Other experts such as Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, question whether the administration can achieve many of its goals given that it has signaled it will not be able to offer expanded access to U.S. markets to the countries most in need of it. Doing so would require dismantling tariff regimes that are popular with much of the president's Democratic base as well as with many Republican lawmakers.

Not much to offer

The fact that no substantial changes will be made to market access rules will be a significant deterrent for other countries, Reinsch, of CSIS, told VOA.

"For the small Asian countries joining something like this, which is probably going to be opposed by China, they're not going to do it unless they see significant enough advantages to overcome the Chinese reaction," Reinsch told VOA. "We've taken market access off the table, so the question for the administration is, 'So what's on the table?'"

Reinsch said that by signaling upfront that it doesn't plan to go to Congress to seek changes to existing trade agreements, the administration is putting clear limits on expectations.

"What we're saying is, 'We're expecting you guys to make all the concessions, and we're going to keep on doing what we're doing,'" he said.

'Best efforts' may be best-case scenario

Hufbauer, of the Peterson Institute, told VOA that he agreed it was unlikely that the administration could extract many binding commitments from its partners, because the kind of benefits that would make substantial changes worth the cost aren't going to be on the table.

"What the U.S. wants to get other countries to do is commit to better labor standards. That would be, obviously, Vietnam and maybe Malaysia, which discriminates against its Chinese citizens. And to pony up on their environmental commitments," Hufbauer said.

However, he said, he thinks it is unlikely that the administration could persuade developing countries to commit to anything other than vague language promising to make their "best efforts" at meeting U.S. requests.

"They're not about to agree to anything binding in those areas unless there's some U.S. concessions on the other side on market access, which the U.S. is not about to do," Hufbauer said.
The United States said on Monday it was offering a reward of up to $10 million each for information leading to the identification or location of ISIS-K leader Sanaullah Ghafari and for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for a deadly August 2021 attack at Kabul airport.

The Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, is the regional Islamic State affiliate that first appeared in 2014 and was named after an old term for the region. It has fought both the Taliban and the Western-backed government that fell in August.

In June 2020, Ghafari was appointed by the extremist group to lead ISIS-K. Ghafari was responsible for approving all ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations, the U.S. State Department said.

In November, the U.S. State Department designated Ghafari as a "specially designated global terrorist."

The U.S. military said on Friday that a single Islamic State bomber killed 13 U.S. troops and at least 170 Afghans at Kabul airport last August.

The bombing occurred on August 26 as U.S. troops were trying to help Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban's takeover, and it compounded America's sense of defeat after 20 years of war.

It also left President Joe Biden's administration struggling to answer accusations that the State Department could have evacuated Americans sooner instead of putting U.S. troops at risk.

U.S. officials said in November they believed ISIS-K could develop the ability to strike outside of Afghanistan within six to 12 months.
The U.S. military is stepping up support to the United Arab Emirates after a series of missile and drone attacks launched by Yemens Houthi rebels. U.S. General Frank McKenzie, head of the U.S. Central Command overseeing American forces in the Middle East, has been in the UAE to bolster defenses. Analysts say the attacks on the Gulf nation could hurt its reputation as a stable business and tourist hub with tough security.

Speaking from the United Arab Emirates, U.S. General Frank McKenzie said battlefield setbacks in Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi rebels may have prompted recent attacks on the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, where a military base also hosts U.S. troops. The seven-year Yemen war has pit Houthis against government forces backed by Saudi Arabia and an Arab coalition, including the UAE. The conflict, viewed as a proxy war involving Iran, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, sparking one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises.

U.S. and United Nations officials have documented Iran smuggling high-end weapons to the Houthis. "Medium range ballistic missiles that were fired from Yemen and entered UAE were not invented, built, designed in Yemen," McKenzie said. So, I think we certainly see the Iranian connection to this."

Giuseppe Dentice heads the Middle East desk at Romes Center for International Studies. He told VOA that the Houthis are using the attacks to leverage their demands.

"Its a strong and symbolic sign that shows how no one in the Gulf is safe and the Houthis have the ability to hit all these countries in the area. Maybe the main risk is the growing internationalization of the conflict with a widening front of new players; for instance, Israel that is interested to support Abu Dhabi to confront Iran in any scenario of this crisis. These attacks aim to weaken the security of the commercial, tourism, (and) financial hub in the Gulf," he said.

Dr. Andreas Krieg, an associate professor at the School of Security at King's College in London, agrees that the Houthi attacks pose a menace to the UAE's standing as the key commercial and tourism hub in the Gulf and could hurt its safe reputation for finance and security.

This is a major reputational damage to the idea of the UAE being one of the safest and more secure countries in the world, Krieg told The New Arab online publication. The fact that air defenses were unable to protect very critical infrastructure is definitely something the UAE will now have to consider, he said.

Until recently, the UAE had been immune from such outright missile and drone attacks that the Houthis have rained down on neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The Pentagon says advanced F-22 fighter jets are being sent to the UAE and a guided missile destroyer, the USS Cole, will aid its navy to surveil Gulf waters for shipments of contraband. U.S. President Joe Biden says Washington is considering re-designating the Houthis as an international terrorist organization, a label which was rescinded last February. The UAE has called for the designation to be restored.
U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Michael Carpenter spoke with VOAs Russian service Monday to discuss the situation along the Russia-Ukraine border.

Carpenter said the allies and its partners are trying to see if the Kremlin is interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution to this crisis, to seeking to de-escalate the situation along Ukraines border, which is very dire.

Here is a transcript of the interview, edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Washington and French President (Emmanuel) Macron is in Moscow. What are your expectations from these negotiations, and what could be the result of these massive diplomatic efforts?

U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Michael Carpenter: Well, I think you're right. It's a massive diplomatic effort. We're trying, with our allies and partners, to see if the Kremlin is interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution to this crisis, to seeking to de-escalate the situation along Ukraine's border, which is very dire. The military buildup is really unprecedented. And so, naturally, we're consulting very closely with allies and partners. We are here at the OSCE. We are at NATO. We're doing it bilaterally, telegraphing to (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin that there will be intense repercussions, both in terms of sanctions, in terms of export controls, in terms of military force posture, if he invades Ukraine, but also holding out hope for the potential for a diplomatic solution, as well.

VOA: How united is the West now in its response to Russian aggressive actions? We saw Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visiting Putin quite recently.

Carpenter: Well, I think if you step back and look at the entire NATO alliance, I think we're actually extremely united in an unprecedented way. When we launched a discussion of the crisis in European security here at the OSCE on January 13, really every state spoke out in support of a dialogue, which could be read as a condemnation of Russia's position. Russia was really alone, and so I think they're seeing that also in terms of the fact that we've had the North Atlantic Council, the European Council, as well as the G-7 (Group of Seven), all speaking in the same language about massive and unprecedented consequences in the event of a Russian military escalation. So, I don't know that President Putin was counting on this, but the West is in fact very united right now.

VOA: How confident is the United States that Russia is in the final stages of preparing for an invasion of Ukraine? And what is that confidence based on? Can the United States convince OSCE partners of the reality of this threat?

Carpenter: Well look, here's what I can tell you, that we have well over 100,000 combat-ready troops on the border. We have all of the equipment that would be necessary for invasion that is in place. And by that I mean attack helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, munitions supplies, medical supplies, engineering  all of the enablers that you would need to launch an invasion within a matter of days. And so, when you look at that military capability, you can't just sit back and wait to see what happens. You have to be prepared, and you have to rally allies and partners to respond in the event that there is an invasion. At the end of the day, I can't tell you what is in President Putin's mind. I can't tell you whether he will invade or not and when he might do it. But what I can tell you is that that capability is of extreme concern.

VOA: What mechanisms does Washington have within the OSCE that it could use now? Because we have the U.S. Helsinki Commission, we have very strong bipartisan statements on Russia from this commission, and we have you as a representative of the executive branch. So, what mechanism can you use?

Carpenter: What we are trying to do is to sharpen the choices for the Kremlin to present them with. On the one hand, a set of very severe consequences if they choose to act militarily, as I said: sanctions, export controls, substantially beefing up NATO's force posture on the eastern flank. You're already seeing it in terms of the fact that we've had now approximately 3,000 U.S. troops deploying to the European theater on a temporary basis. But if Russia invades Ukraine, a lot of other things are potentially on the table, as well. And then at the same time, holding out that option for diplomacy, including here at the OSCE, on things that the Russians have said in the past, that they do care about, things like deconfliction risk reduction, potentially even new forms of conventional arms control and transparency. If they're interested in those things, then the OSCE is the place where we can develop the actual instruments, potentially even legally binding agreements, if we get far enough. That would satisfy our concerns and the Russian concerns. But right now, we're in the process of elaborating these two sets of options and hoping very much that the Russians choose the option of diplomacy.

VOA: You just mentioned binding agreements. What is off the table?

Carpenter: Well first of all, any sort of agreements in terms of military transparency, confidence-building, reciprocal restraint  all of those would need to be negotiated and adhered to by all of our allies and partners. So, nothing about Europe without Europe. You've heard the various officials say that in the past as very much our mantra. Second of all, anything we do we're not going to compromise on the core principles of the European security order, which means no acceding to spheres of influence, no ability of one state to dictate what sort of alliances another state gets to choose. None of that. So first, principles are going to be kept intact. But as I said, there is certainly room for confidence-building, risk reduction, new forms of conventional arms control if we get that far.

VOA: You've been studying in Russia for a very long time, both as an official and as an expert. Why do you think Vladimir Putin needed to create this crisis?

Carpenter: Well, I can't tell you. As a U.S. official, I can't speculate on what President Putin is thinking. What I can tell you is that there was this massive buildup in April, followed by an even more comprehensive, I would say buildup right now, which has all the hallmarks of a potential invasion of Ukraine. Why is President Putin doing it this time? Is it to seek concessions? Is it to try to escalate the situation militarily to Russia's advantage? We don't know. But we have to act from the premise that he may escalate militarily, and therefore, we have to telegraph that the costs that would result from that would be strategically catastrophic for Russia. So that both the Russian leadership and the Russian people understand that if this path is chosen  and let's again, God forbid, that we go down this path  but if it is chosen, those repercussions and consequences will be massive.

VOA: Yesterday's statement by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that the Belarussian army will act jointly with the Russian army, what does this mean for you? How does it change the perspective on the situation? Belarus is a member of OSCE, as well.

Carpenter: Yes, Belarus is a member of the OSCE, and in the past, they have said repeatedly that they would never allow their country to serve as a launching pad for an invasion of a neighbor. And so, that language you've just cited has shifted a little bit, which is of extreme concern. We expect that there could be as many as 30,000 Russian troops deployed to Belarus, together with short-range ballistic missiles and other types of equipment that, in fact, would serve as a launching pad for a potential invasion. So, we're watching the situation very closely. It's very concerning what the Belarusian Ministry of Defense has said, with regards to the purpose of these exercises, frankly, doesn't square with the reality on Belarus southern border, which is that there is no threat whatsoever from Ukraine. So, I think it deserves to be watched very, very closely.
The death of an Islamic State leader in Syria last week was hailed as a blow to the group but families in Syria say danger remains, both from the militants and from the coalition fighting them. For VOA, Mouneb Taim has this report from Idlib with Heather Murdock in Istanbul.
In eastern Ukraine, tensions over threat of a Russian invasion continue to rise, although in the eastern town of Avdiivka, along the frontlines facing Kremlin-backed separatists, the war has never ceased since 2014. For VOA, Ricardo Marquina traveled there and has this report
The Zimbabwean government, which is facing a crippling teachers class boycott, says it will increase all civil servants salaries by 20%, pay each employee an additional US$100 per month and build houses for workers.

In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said President Emmerson Mnangagwa issued this directive following a meeting with representatives of civil servants.

The statement read in part, A 20 percent increase in the Zimbabwe Dollar salary component backdated to 1 January 2022 will be implemented across the board; US$100 per month in hard currency will be paid to every civil servant with effect from the 1st of March 2022. This will be done through the conversion of a corresponding Zimbabwe dollar salary amount into hard currency, bringing the foreign currency amount to US$175.

The Ministry of Finance said the government will introduce an advancement award recognizing seniority for differentiation within the same grade to be implemented across the entire civil service sectorally.

In terms of non-monetary benefits, the government said the state will pay school fees for up to three biological children per teaching family with an upper limit of ZWL$20,000 per child per term, paid directly to the school.

The government has promised to construct 34,000 housing units over a five-year period as institutional accommodation, including critical amenities for teachers within the school premises.

Zimbabwe has also initiated a housing loan guarantee scheme to facilitate home ownership for civil servants.

It has also promised to provide transport for ferrying teachers in rural and urban areas.

Apart from that, according to the Ministry of Finance, teachers would be allowed to import vehicles duty-free but not to dispose of them before the expiry of three years.
2019-2020 School Board - Alexandria Public Schools (L-R) Bob Cunniff (who stepped down from his position in March 2021), Dave Anderson, Angie Krebs, Dean Anderson, Alan Zeithamer, Pam Carlson and Sandy Susag.

Cunniff's position, which is filled temporarily by Jeff Patience, will be on the August primary and Fall Election ballots.
Update, Feb. 7, 2022: Flagstaff police said Norma Lee Cravens was located and returned to her home by an "alert citizen" Monday morning. Officials thanked community members for assisting in the search and keeping an eye out for Cravens.

Police are asking for the public's help in locating a Flagstaff woman missing since Sunday.

Norma Lee Cravens, 66, left her home near the 2100 block of west Adriondack Avenue  just off Route 66 and Railroad Springs Boulevard  around 2 p.m. Sunday to go for a walk in the woods as she normally does, according to Flagstaff police spokesman Sgt. Odis Brockman.

Her family became concerned after Cravens did not return home for an extended period of time, Brockman said. They were unable to find her in the wooded area and contacted police. She hasn't been seen since.

Officials described Cravens as a white woman with brown hair and eyes measuring 5 feet, 8 inches tall and approximately 165 pouds. She was last seen wearing a hooded red puffer-type jacket.

Cravens experiences memory problems and is showing some signs of possible dementia. She left her home without her phone or water.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety issued a Silver Alert for Cravens late Sunday.

Anyone who sees Cravens or may have information about here whereabouts shoud contact the Flagstaff Police Department at 928-774-1414.

Reporter Bree Burkitt can be reached at 928-556-2250 or bburkitt@azdailysun.com.

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Mormon Lake Lodge has long been a fixture of northern Arizona. With a steakhouse, acre upon acre of surrounding nature and cozy cabins to rest your head at night, it is one of many sought-after vacation and day trip spots in northern Arizona.

Located about 30 minutes southeast of Flagstaff and totaling 300 acres, Mormon Lake Lodge is owned and operated by Forever Resorts, which bought the property in the 90s. With headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona the company runs 65 different vacation spots across the United States, including in Texas, Wyoming, Michigan, South Dakota and Utahto name a fewwith more than 20 properties stretching as far as Europe and even South Africa.

The 80-year history of Mormon Lake Lodge began in 1924 when ranching and logging were what drove the northern Arizona economy. A Chandler, Arizona man built the lodge that year as a place to bring the family for a meal and maybe dip out for a little fun in the saloon next door.

Harkening back to the era of cowboys and saloons, Mormon Lake Lodge is a step back in time, filled with modern amenities but the atmosphere of simpler days, quiet and peaceful nature all around. Take a horseback ride over 20 miles of groomed trails, taste the open-pit mesquite-grilled beef served up at the steakhouse or simply sit outside and take in the views. If you wait long enough you just might just catch a herd of elk around sunset.

In many ways, it was for these reasons that Caroline Campbell left her job in Phoenix to come work for the lodge. She has occupied several positions at Mormon Lake Lodge for almost 10 years, most recently getting promoted to general manager. Her coworkers are like family, and Mormon Lake Lodge has become home, she said.

Mountain Living Magazine sat down with Campbell to discuss the history of the lodge, Campbells love for Mormon Lake and much more.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you end up working at Mormon Lake Lodge?

I was taking the summer off from my job in the valley in 2013 and came to Mormon Lake. I was here for about two weeks when I decide to apply for a job in the country store. My husband and I fell in love with this place. We decided to go back to the valley to fulfill my commitment to my job at the time and tied up all our loose ends. We returned to Mormon Lake in the summer of 2014. First I worked in the store there, then the post office. I moved up to dining room manager, then food and beverage manager, next I moved to operations manager and now general manager.

What are some of the amenities Mormon Lake Lodge offers?

Mormon Lake Lodge has cabins and campground areas that can be reserved. Whether you are escaping the Phoenix heat or coming for an event. We have a couple of event venues, such as our historic town hall. We also have a steakhouse and saloon that have live bands on the weekends. The steakhouse is the second oldest in Arizona. There are also numerous hiking trails that will take you through the Coconino National Forest. In the summer months we have horseback riding and fishing in our trout pond. We have a general store that offers gas, propane, and basic food essentials. Its just a great escape from the city.

For those who have never been, what makes a visit to Mormon Lake Lodge worth it?

Mormon Lake Lodge is nestled in the Ponderosa pines. Its a great place to relax underneath the starts that you would not get to see in the city. We have the cooler temperatures of northern Arizona and are our own community. It is an escape thats not too far away but far enough to take pleasure in.

What is something, whether it be history of the lodge or just an interesting fact, that youd like the public to know?

On July 4, 1974 the lodge burned down due to a faulty heater. This happened during a jackpot roping contest. [The lodge still hosts team roping events on Labor Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends.] Volunteers from all over Arizona were able to get everything rebuilt by Labor Day after the fire. Thats when they renamed it Mormon Lake Lodge. The ranchers who helped with the rebuild branded the walls and you can still see the brandings today. Also, the chimney in our lodge an original fixture.

Tell me a little bit about the history of the lodge.

Mormon Lake Lodge has a robust history. It was built in 1924 and was originally Tomblers Lodge. It has seen many changes. Forever Resorts bought Mormon Lake Lodge in 1995.

Whats your favorite thing about your job?

The people that I work with and the diverse amount of individuals I get to talk to every day. The lodge has always had the ideals of family and I love being part of this family.

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Lifting of mask restrictions to apply to all regions in "sign of hope" for Italy.

The Italian government is to lift the outdoor face mask mandate on 11 February, the country's deputy health minister Andrea Costa said on Monday.

Costa told Italian news agency ANSA that health minster Roberto Speranza will sign an order dropping the requirement to wear masks outdoors "throughout Italy" from 11 February, regardless of a region's risk status under the government's colour-coded system of covid restrictions.

Describing the move as "a sign of hope for all Italians", Costa said: "We must give a positive sign, for two years our citizens have respected rules and restrictions and have joined the vaccination campaign en masse."

However, the decision to drop the obligation of outdoor masks, he warned, "does not mean abandoning caution."

Costa also told Italian television programme Tagada on La7 that the government's goal is not to extend the state of emergency after the current legislation comes to an end on 31 March.

"We are still in a phase of fighting covid even if there are encouraging signs, with a decrease of 30 per cent of cases in a week" - health minister Speranza said on Monday - "This was possible thanks to to an extraordinary vaccination campaign."

Last week the government eased some restrictions for schools and people who are vaccinated against covid - including a Green Pass of indefinite duration for those who have had the third "booster" shot - with premier Mario Draghi pledging to move towards an "even greater reopening of the country".

More than 88 per cent of Italy's population over the age of 12 has been vaccinated and 35 million people have received a third dose.
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Lowes ambition rests on the premise that he can succeed where other central bankers have failed, by allowing the recovery to strengthen without getting unbearably hot. Data on Monday showed just how complicated this task will be, with retail sales blowing past forecasts to notch a record 8.2% gain in the final three months of last year. While inflation has jumped unexpectedly in the past two quarters, it hasnt yet pierced the upper end of the central banks 2% to 3% target. Lowe says he wants to see levels sustainably within the range before lifting borrowing costs, though he hasnt defined what that means. The RBA kept its official rate at 0.1% on Feb. 1 and, a few days later, lifted its forecasts for jobs and inflation. The bank counseled patience on rates while, in a nod to the accelerating economy, announced it would wrap up the bond-buying program it introduced at the peak of the pandemic. The signaling here is delicate. Concluding quantitative easing doesnt mean an interest-rate hike is imminent, Lowe stressed. Success in containing inflation  the pace of price increases is well above target in the U.S. and U.K.  will mean the RBA is vindicated in holding off on rate hikes, at least for a while. Failure will mean borrowing costs probably climb faster and further than might otherwise be the case. Many economists foresee rates rising in the second half of the year.

Lowes apparent lack of urgency has him characterized as a lonely dove in a world of hawks. This depiction is incomplete and dismisses how far the RBAs rhetoric has evolved in recent months. The bank concedes rates may rise this year and is scheduled to make the final bond purchases of its quantitative easing program Thursday. It was only a few months ago that officials were guiding investors toward a 2024 liftoff. Thats quite a shift in a fairly short time. If rates go up in the second half of the year, the RBA wont be too far behind the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is all but certain to lift the benchmark federal funds rate in March. That would be the Feds first nudge higher since 2018. Such a timetable would have the RBA running ahead of the European Central Bank, which itself recently executed a hawkish pivot. If ECB President Christine Lagarde, who last week declined to rule out a hike this year, is seen as a hawk, why not Lowe? (The euro zone and Japan were supposed to be the places that would never kick the easy money habit.) Depictions of Lowe as a dove also downplay his awareness of whats at stake. Australia is within sight of a historic milestone  having the national unemployment rate below 4%, he told the National Press Club last week. This is important because low unemployment brings with it very real economic and social benefits for many Australians and their communities. A misstep would be potentially perilous. Lurking in the background, both major Australian political parties want a review of the RBA after national elections, likely to be held in May. Change is coming for the bank regardless of whether the center-right coalition of Prime Minister Scott Morrison stays in power or the Labor opposition is victorious. Potentially up for grabs is the structure of the banks board, Treasurys tradition of selecting RBA leaders from within the institution, and the level of transparency about the banks deliberations. A sharp move higher in rates and, possibly, a recession would be unfortunate timing.
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Europes power costs have been pushed through the roof by a supply crunch in natural gas, the risk of military conflict in Ukraine and bottlenecks for renewable energy. Compounding the problem, Frances aging nuclear reactors -- the backbone of the regions power system -- are becoming more unreliable. Wary of the discontent and disruption that often results from soaring energy bills, governments have stepped in with measures to keep homes warm and factories running.

1. Whats the problem?

Benchmark European gas surged above 180 euros a megawatt-hour to a record on Dec. 21, compared with about 20 euros at the start of 2021. Thats because, although the omicron coronavirus variant had dampened some demand, there is pressure on energy supplies. Coal plants had been shuttered, stockpiles of gas -- a key fuel in European power stations -- were lower than normal and the continents increasing reliance on renewables was becoming a vulnerability. Power prices also climbed, with German year-ahead electricity and futures contracts for the first quarter of 2022 in the Nordic region also reaching records.

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2. What are governments doing about it?

Several are trying to soften the blow to consumers with measures ranging from gas tax cuts to direct payments for struggling households and reductions in charges that finance subsidies for renewables. The French government has decided to force state utility Electricite de France SA to sell more power at a deep discount to rivals. It already froze gas tariffs until the end of 2022, pledged to compensate suppliers with loans until prices recede and offered financial help to struggling households. Britain is offering a package of aid worth 9 billion pounds ($12.2 billion) including support for winter fuel payments, discounts for low earners and other policies. The country faces an estimated 18 billion-pound increase in energy bills from April, when a cap on energy prices is expected to rise by more than 50%.

3. Why the gas shortfall?

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Gas inventories in Europe in January were the lowest on record for the time of year. China, which is by far the biggest consumer of energy and commodities in the world, ordered state-owned companies to secure supplies at all costs. Prices in Europe would need to stay high to attract cargoes of liquefied natural gas away from Asia, where China is stockpiling to power its economy and build reserves. Earlier in 2021, Norwegian gas flows were lower than average during maintenance work at its giant fields and processing stations, and supplies from Russia were limited while it was rebuilding its own inventories. Russian President Vladimir Putin calmed the gas market in October by offering to help stabilize the situation, saying Russia could potentially export record volumes of the vital fuel to Europe. Later, though, a key new avenue for Russian exports to Europe became complicated by geopolitics.

4. What is that avenue?

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea, built to bring more Russian natural gas to Western Europe, has been delayed by a diplomatic standoff over Russias decision to mass more than 100,000 troops along the border with Ukraine. The U.S. government already opposed Nord Stream 2 because of concerns over Europes energy dependency on Russia. On Feb. 7, U.S. President Joe Biden said the project would be blocked if Russian leader Vladimir Putin orders an invasion of Ukraine. Putin has repeatedly said there are no plans for an invasion.

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5. How are power prices set in Europe?

Utilities and big companies buy and sell power years in advance, relying heavily on forecasts about the economy and long-term fuel costs. The broader European power market has traditionally been focused on the price for the following day, with auctions supplying a day-ahead price functioning as the benchmark. Traders submit bids and offers for each hour based on their calculations of supply and demand, and then an average price is calculated by the exchange handling that market. Consumer prices are set by state regulators after utilities request rate changes based on how much theyve paid for wholesale power, transmission investments and overall upkeep of their grids.

6. Whats new in the system?

The huge growth of renewable energy, which is more intermittent than fossil- or nuclear-fuel generators. Because weather patterns can create big price shifts, markets for shorter time periods later the same day have also become vital. Germany has closed most of its nuclear power stations as part of a longer-term policy, putting further strain on European grids. France, traditionally one of Europes biggest power exporters, is struggling to maintain output from its fleet of nuclear reactors due to long periods of planned and unplanned maintenance. European electricity prices jumped in early February after EDF cut its nuclear output target for a second time in a month.

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7. How reliant is Europe on wind?

Northern coastal countries including the U.K., Germany and Scandinavian nations have become leaders in wind generation and technology. In Spain, the growth in wind and solar plants helped to send its share of renewable energy to a record 44% of total power in 2020. France also is producing more power from wind, but its electricity generation is still dominated by nuclear plants.

8. Which countries are most at risk of running out of power?

Those with limited cable links to their neighbors. In a crisis, they are less able to benefit from Europes interconnected market, which enables power to flow to where its needed the most and where it fetches the highest price. Irelands grid operator warned in September that there was a risk of blackouts due to lack of wind. Many U.K. plants are old and break down from time to time. If big outages coincide with little wind or sun, the nation could be close to running out of electricity.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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One of the most influential companies in the tech industry is unknown to most consumers. U.K.-based Arm Ltd. designs key parts of the chips that power almost every smartphone on the planet. So great is Arms strategic importance that when its owner SoftBank Group Corp. decided to sell the company to U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp., it sparked an outcry from Arms customers. In February, after spending more than a year trying to win over antitrust regulators, Nvidia abandoned the $40 billion deal.

1. What was the problem?

Nvidias rivals said a sale to the worlds largest chipmaker by market value threatened a cornerstone of Arms success: its neutrality. Arms technology has been used across the $400 billion semiconductor industry on the understanding that no one would get privileged access. Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and others had an incentive to use it as the basis for their innovation because of Arms ecosystem of compatible software and the legions of engineers who know and use it. Nvidia pledged to uphold Arms independence, to no avail. After the deal collapsed, Softbank said it now planned an initial public offering for Arm.

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2. What does Arm do?

Arm doesnt own factories or produce its own chips. The company designs core semiconductor components and licenses the blueprints to other firms to produce them in exchange for a fee based on how many are made. The arrangement brings it around $700 million in revenue every quarter, making it one of the U.K.s largest tech businesses. Thats still a fraction of the revenue of tech giants like Nvidia and Intel Corp., and Arm has a relatively small workforce of 6,000. Yet few companies reach so far across the tech ecosystem: Arm estimates that 70% of the worlds population uses its products on a daily basis, and that more than 200 billion chips have been made using its technology.

3. Where would I find Arms products?

Theyre used in everything from the tiniest sensor to the most powerful data center. Amazon.com Inc., Samsung and Apple are important customers, among many others. Arms instruction set -- the basic code used by software to communicate with semiconductors -- is in billions of devices, and the effort required to switch to another companys code would be enormous. Devices that work on batteries need chips that that can get by with relatively little power. Arms designs prioritized that from the outset. And when smartphones came along and started to demand more processing horsepower, the technology evolved into more computer-like chips. There are about 1.4 billion of these pocket computers sold every year, with more than 90% using Arm. More recently, major tech names such as Apple and Amazon have been seeking to supply their own chips. Many of those new components rely on Arm, and thats beginning to threaten Intels lucrative hold on high-end computing processors.

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4. Why did Nvidia want to buy it?

Co-founder Jensen Huang made his company a hit with investors by parlaying its strength in graphics processors into a presence in data centers and artificial intelligence processing. A deal for Arm would have increased that reach and allowed Huang to push faster into new areas such as automotive chips.

5. How did the deal go wrong?

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued to block the purchase in December, saying it would hobble innovation and undermine Nvidias rivals. The European Union and the U.K. also investigated, with authorities in London highlighting Arms role in critical national infrastructure and military equipment. Chinese technology companies that rely on Arm, including communications giant Huawei Technologies Co., complained to local regulators, concerned that Nvidia, under pressure from the U.S. government, may force Arm to cut off Chinese clients. A dispute between Arm and the head of its China business complicated things further. It tried to dismiss the local chief executive officer, Allen Wu, for alleged conflicts of interest but he refused to leave. Arm Chinas board, which is mostly made up of local investors, has held talks with authorities to get their help to remove Wu. So far, they havent taken any action.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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As Covid restrictions come down throughout most of the advanced world  even Australia is preparing to welcome international visitors again  public health authorities will need to make decisions on future vaccine protocols. One possibility would be a booster shot formulated specifically for the fast-spreading omicron variant, which is behind the recent growth in infections in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere.

Bloomberg Opinion columnist Therese Raphael and Bloomberg Intelligence pharmaceutical analyst Sam Fazeli discuss a new study that casts doubt on whether such a variant-specific vaccine is worth it.

Therese Raphael: You previously said that an omicron-specific vaccine might make sense, given the ultra-high transmissibility of the variant and also the high rate of reinfections. But you stressed that the jury was still out because of a lack of data. Now we have the results of an animal study that measured the impact of Modernas mRNA booster against the omicron variant. What did we learn?

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Sam Fazeli: Several things. The omicron-specific shot did not induce more or better antibodies against omicron than Modernas current Spikevax vaccine. Not only was there not much difference in neutralizing antibodies, PCR tests show that both shots, given as boosters, were able to protect animal lungs against severe pathology and rapidly clear the virus. T-cells, the bodys other arm of the immune response, were also impacted in the same way with both types of shot.

A similar thing was also seen with a vaccine Moderna developed and tested in humans for the beta variant (which circulated in some countries late in 2020). That shot increased neutralization against the beta variant 35 times when used as a booster, only slightly higher than the 32 times when its regular Spikevax shot was used.

If a similar finding is confirmed by the human trials of the omicron vaccine, it means the vaccines we have will probably work just as well as ones developed to target specific strains, without the need for regular updates.

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TR: One argument for a variant-specific shot is that it could include parts of the virus that have undergone substantial changes from the delta or alpha variants. Does this new data suggest there arent any real advantages to that?

SF: Based on this animal study, yes, thats exactly what the data suggest. But we need to see what happens in people, where the response may be different. The lack of a stronger response could be due to the immune system responding to repeated infections or vaccinations by increasing antibody production against the first antigen it experienced. Or it could be because the antibody-making memory B-cells have developed the ability to recognize any variant once a third shot or an infection stimulates them again. This still needs to be worked out and if found to be the case, that would back the idea of not needing variant specific shots.

TR: Could the omicron vaccine provide a longer immune response even if its not substantially different?

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SF: It could, but we need time to see whether the immune response to having a booster with the current vaccine is any different to that after an omicron-specific shot.

TR: If there are no advantages of an omicron shot, do we know that it is at least not inferior to existing shots. For example, do we know if the immunity provided by an omicron shot works against delta and other variants and whether it would work as well in those who are unvaccinated?

SF: Good question. I have seen data using a novel mRNA technology which has not been tested in humans that showed that mice, which were previously immunized, failed to show increased neutralizing antibody levels against omicron following an omicron-targeted boost. And there is another mouse study that showed the vaccine was effective against omicron but not other variants. This just goes to show how complicated it can be to determine the best vaccine option.

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TR: Maybe we should skip the omicron vaccine and put all our future vaccine eggs in the polyvalent basket  in a vaccine that can be effective against different variants? Also, if we dont really need an omicron specific vaccine, does that change calculations on who might need a fourth shot and when?

SF: Well need to get the confirmation from the human trials, possibly next month, to confirm the animal study results. If an omicron-specific shot isnt better than the current vaccine, we would need to assess how the vaccine effectiveness from a third shot wanes balanced against the relatively lower risk of hospitalization with omicron, to decide who should receive a fourth shot, and when.

But a polyvalent vaccine would be a good idea in any case  if we can actually develop one and test it. Thats the difficult part. To develop a new vaccine it would need to be tested all over again in a large study comparing it to current vaccines. And given the level of immunity in the population, either from prior vaccination or infection, it will need to be a very large study over a relatively long period of time to be able to tease out an efficacy difference.

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Look at how long it is taking Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline to get a readout from their Phase III trial of their vaccine candidate. It will be even harder to show a difference in hospitalization rates given the likely broad use of antiviral drugs.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.

Sam Fazeli is senior pharmaceuticals analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence and director of research for EMEA.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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Peloton Interactive Inc.s response to its escalating crisis is as jolting as one of its classes. On Tuesday, the company said that founder John Foley would relinquish the role of chief executive officer. He will be succeeded by Barry McCarthy, who previously served as chief financial officer at both Spotify Technology SA and Netflix Inc.

The move is partly a response to activist investor Blackwells Capital LLC, which had called for Foleys departure. But in reality, hes not going anywhere: Foley will remain as executive chairman.

The management change was accompanied by parallel announcements that Peloton would cut 2,800 jobs, roughly 20% of its corporate workforce, and wind down the development of a production facility in Ohio. It aims to save $800 million a year, and it will also cut capital expenditure by $150 million.

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This all suggests that Peloton intends to press on on with efforts to turn around the company and maintain its independence. Or it wants to give that impression, so that if a bidder does emerge, it can wring out the best price.

But there is a question mark over whether McCarthy will have the free rein he needs to address Pelotons problems  primarily, maintaining sales when members now have many more fitness options  with founder Foley in the executive chairman role. Theres a risk hell be shouting instructions as McCarthy is frantically pedaling.

The new CEO takes over just as the company issued a hefty warning on this years sales and profits. This is hardly the way to see off an activist or encourage a potential suitor to pay up. And the huge restructuring could further destabilize the business.

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A better way forward would be for Peloton to engage with potential new owners and try to find the right price for a deal. Pelotons market value rose to nearly $10 billion on Monday amid the takeover speculation. If investors are not convinced by the flurry of management and strategic changes  the stock initially fell in premarket changes, before erasing those losses  and this weighs on the companys share price, the more emboldened a bidder may be.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Peloton, Just Do It. Nike Would Be a Better Parent Than Amazon: Andrea Felsted

 Remember Second Life? That Could Be Facebooks Future: Parmy Olson

 Omicron Poses a Puzzle for Vaccine Makers: Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She previously worked at the Financial Times.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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Obituaries of residents from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Marion Mattingly, juvenile justice advocate Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Marion Mattingly, 92, an activist for juvenile justice who volunteered and served in salaried positions for its support, died Dec. 31 at a hospital in Rockville, Md. The cause was complications of pneumonia, said a granddaughter, Marion Steinfels. Mrs. Mattingly, a Rockville resident, was born Marion Woolley in Los Angeles. Her father, Herbert, was a British navy officer in World War I who participated in the commando raid on Norway during World War II and later was assigned to the U.S. Office of Strategic Services to help train underwater demolition teams, or frogmen.

Mrs. Mattingly, who had lived in the Washington area for 83 years, wrote a column for an American Bar Association publication, served on panels for governors of Maryland, helped craft legislation for the Justice Department, testified before Congress, and was active in such groups as Strategies for Youth and Do the Write Thing.

Demetra Shuler, hospital assistant

Demetra Shuler, 54, a Washington native who had been an emergency room assistant at Inova Fairfax Hospital for about three years, died Dec. 24 at her home in the District. The cause was hypertension and cardiovascular disease, said a daughter, Talaya Shuler.

Charles 'Collie' Agle, nature advocate

Charles Collie Agle, 81, a supporter and participant in naturalist causes who was active in campaigns to clean up the Anacostia River in Washington, organized community fix-up and improvement trips to Honduras for Washington youths, and practiced forest conservation techniques and bird sanctuary policies at a West Virginia farm, died Dec. 22 at a hospital in Washington. The cause was pneumonia, said his wife, Betsy Agle.

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Mr. Agle was a resident and native of Washington. He was a founder and principal teacher at St. Marks Meditation Center on Capitol Hill. In the early years of the computer age, he ran classes to help secretaries gain operational skills. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru from 1963 to 1965.

He went mountaineering in the Alps and rode his bicycle around France.

Libby Halaby, women's rights advocate

Libby Halaby, 96, a womens rights advocate who had been special assistant to first lady Lady Bird Johnson, an assistant to the president of the National Endowment for the Arts, and special assistant to the chair of President Jimmy Carters Commission on Women, died Jan. 7 at the home of a daughter in San Rafael, Calif. The cause was complications of a fall, said the daughter, Morrow Cater.

Mrs. Halaby was born Libby Anderson in Birmingham, Ala. She was the widow of S. Douglass Cater Jr., a special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson and the president of Washington College in Chestertown, Md.; and of Najeeb Halaby, the former head of the Federal Aviation Administration and Pan American World Airways and the father of Jordans Queen Noor, Lisa Halaby.

 From staff reports

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Obituaries of residents from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Rhoda Stevens, Wolf Trap volunteer Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Rhoda Stevens, 91, a volunteer for 30 years at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, died Dec. 6 at her home in Vienna, Va. The cause was a stroke, said a son, Curtis Stevens. Mrs. Stevens was born Rhoda Pickwick in Lisbon, N.H., and had lived in the Washington area for 47 years. She was a swimming instructor.

Mario Casarella, Catholic U. teacher

Mario Casarella, 88, a teacher in the department of mechanical engineering at Catholic University from 1965 to 1999, died Dec. 22 at a hospital in Silver Spring, Md. The cause was cardiac arrest, pneumonia and renal failure, said a son, Peter Casarella.

Dr. Casarella, a resident of Laurel, Md., was born in Meriden, Conn. He came to live in the Washington area in the late 1950s, working for IBM in Bethesda, Md. While serving on the Catholic University faculty, he also worked as a civilian engineer for the Navy at the David Taylor Model Basin at Carderock, Md.

Stephanie O'Konek, real estate sales agent

Stephanie OKonek, 69, a real estate sales agent with Pardoe Realty of Georgetown and later with the Washington office of Sothebys, died Dec. 24 at a hospital in Rockville, Md. The cause was complications from covid-19, said a friend, Joan Cromwell.

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Ms. OKonek, a resident of Gaithersburg, Md., was a native Washingtonian. She began her real estate career in the 1970s and remained in the business until shortly before her death.

Samo Lesjak, Army chief warrant officer

Samo Lesjak, 87, a retired Army chief warrant officer who lived in the Washington area since 1990, died Oct. 9 in home hospice care in Springfield, Va. The cause was congestive heart failure and terminal bile duct cancer, said his daughter Patricia Lesjak Davis.

A native of Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, what is now Slovenia, Mr. Lesjak fled communist rule in Eastern Europe in 1951 and joined the U.S. Army while living in Italy. In his 16-year active military career, his assignments included time with the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division and two tours of duty in the Vietnam War. For about 10 years until the late 1990s, he taught college-level business and Serbo-Croat language courses to U.S. service members.

 From staff reports

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President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed an order to establish an Organizing Committee in connection with the 74th International Astronautical Congress to be held in Baku in 2023.

According to the decree, the decision mentioned below has been made in accordance with paragraph 32 of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan to strengthen the social protection of military personnel of the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Azerbaijan who are not employees of the military prosecutor's office.

1. The monthly salaries of the military personnel of the prosecutor's office of the Azerbaijan Republic, who are not employees of the military prosecutor's office increased by 20 percent.

2. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan must resolve the issues arising from this decree.

3. The Military Prosecutor's Office of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Ministry of Finance of the Azerbaijan Republic must take the necessary measures to resolve the issues arising from this decree.

4. This decree is applicable since January 1, 2022.
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ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.  Protests since the death of Andrew Brown Jr. have been a near constant here. But the two-hour march through town on Sunday featured an emotional stop at Brown's small brick home, where a muralist had painted a tribute. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight For a moment, the chants stopped and protesters watched as Browns relatives gathered to place their hands on the portrait captioned Say His Name.

Browns aunt, Lillie Brown Clark, 72, encouraged the crowd to continue demonstrating peacefully. Browns killing, she said, had become part of social justice history.

Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will read his story, she said.

She finished by offering up a now familiar call and response: Say his name.

Andrew Brown, the crowd chanted.

About 200 people marched for two hours through the small city, beginning with a brief rally at a waterfront park and ending with an hour of speakers in front of the municipal building and courthouse.

Brown, 42, was shot in his car on April 21 by Pasquotank County sheriffs deputies who were serving drug-related arrest warrants. An independent autopsy on behalf of Browns family found that he was shot four times in the arm and once in the back of the head.

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Authorities allowed Browns family to view 20 seconds of body camera footage of the incident last week. Browns family said the short clip showed that Brown had his hands on the steering wheel when he was shot.

Pasquotank District Attorney Andrew Womble said shots were not fired at Brown until his car struck two of the officers.

A judge has ruled that the full video will be released to the family 30 to 45 days after the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation has completed its probe.

Sundays march included Black and White families. Warren Holley, 56, came with this wife and two children. It was his second protest since the shooting.

Im looking out for the next generation, he said. Im standing up for them. I want to make sure it doesnt happen to them.

Chanta Poyner was protesting for the fifth time.

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This is my neighborhood. This is where Im from, she said, when asked why she had come out. I want to see justice for Drew.

Poyner said she went to school with Brown. She said he was a few years younger, and that he was a neighbor when they were young.

Keith Rivers, president of the Pasquotank branch of the NAACP, spoke at the courthouse rally.

This is not a moment, but a movement, he said. We cannot allow our community to return to business as usual.

He asked the crowd to continue to protest peacefully. We have shown the world how to protest and do it the right way, he said.

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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.
Washington, IN (47501)

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Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

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Trusted local news has never been more important, but providing the information you need, information that can change sometimes minute-by-minute, requires a partnership with you, our readers. Please consider making a contribution today to support this vital resource that you and countless others depend on.
Burger lovers will soon be forking out more for their Grilld favourites after the burger chains boss signalled the price of some items were set to increase in the coming months.

Grilld co-founder and managing director Simon Crowe said supply chain and inflationary pressures had compounded into mounting costs for the business that needed to be passed onto the consumer.

Grilld stores in Sydneys Crown Street and Melbournes Collingwood are serving a plant based-only menu as of this week.

Were getting a lot of pricing pressure coming at us from all angles, Mr Crowe told the Herald and The Age, noting the rising costs of petrol as well as beef. From all suppliers, Ive not seen this sort of pricing pressure for over 10 years.

As a result, the cost of some Grilld products  which he said were priced at the premium at the end of the market  will increase when the chain adjusts its menu at the end of March.
Neighbours cast and crew realised their show was vulnerable when Channel 5 would commit only to a 12-month contract extension last year. But they were left reeling on the weekend when they got news of the British broadcasters decision to can the long-running soapie  not from production company Fremantle Media, but via British media.

I got a message on Sunday afternoon saying, isnt it terrible, a writer on the show, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Monday. But Id heard nothing, and nor had any of the people I work with.

Fremantle formally broke the news by email on Sunday, after the story broke in The Sun and was widely reported elsewhere. On Monday, the company addressed a grim meeting of cast and crew at the shows Nunawading studio.

About 200 people are employed on the show, either as freelancers or on rolling contracts. Despite its waning popularity with audiences, it is widely considered one of the most important training grounds for talent in the country, both on screen and off.
The Broadway clock tower getting a facelift in 1991. Credit:Peter Kevin Ten owners who spoke to the Herald supported replacement of the awning, but questioned the need for further work to the windows and facade at the same time, describing some of it as cosmetic and not urgent. Mr Khera said a $2.2 million proposal to repair the clock tower was among building projects he hoped could be delayed as we are bleeding under these exorbitant levies. Alan Sedghi, 67, said he now has to pay about $40,000 per quarter in levies for four UniLodge apartments he bought for more than $200,000 each to fund his retirement. It looked on paper like a good investment and something I wouldnt have to worry about, but it has turned out to be the complete opposite, he said. Its devastating.

In his 17 years as a real estate agent, Mark Roberts from McGrath, who Mr Sedghi asked to sell the units, said he had never seen strata levies as high. These levy figures are astronomical, he said. Hes got no hope of selling it. With those fees he couldnt give it away. Varun Marwah, 38, an army reservist who also works as an air quality consultant, paid $240,000 for his apartment 18 months ago as an investment for his eight-year-old twin daughters. I have had so many sleepless nights over this, Mr Marwah said. Legally, the levies have a leg to stand on and we cannot challenge them because all the voting rights have been given to Bright and Duggan as the owners corporation. The old Grace Brothers Broadway building in May 1937 when it was decorated for a Coronation festival. Credit:Fairfax Media Last year, Bright and Duggan sought expressions of interest from owners for a collective sale of the building in view of the precarious financial position of the owners corporation after it received unsolicited offers of $110 million to $160 million.

Mr Marwah said it was a lose-lose situation for owners some of whom were severely distressed. People feel hopeless, bullied, cornered, extorted and helpless, he said. Josephine Sammut, a 74-year-old pensioner who raised three children on her own, said she was shocked to receive a levy notice for $10,767 in September. Bright and Duggan sent her a debt recovery notice on January 27 ordering payment within seven days. These astronomical levies have caused an impossible financial strain and ruin our plan for retirement. I believe they are trying to put us in a debt trap. Apartment owner Choay Kean Wong Ms Sammut said she bought the apartment for $182,000 in 2015 after selling her Punchbowl home to escape mortgage debt. This is all of my life savings. This is my superannuation, she said.

Lien Pham, a single mother of three who paid $220,000 for her 27-square-metre loft apartment in 2018, has received two quarterly levy notices of more than $10,470 each that she cannot afford to pay. I dont have that kind of money, she said. Dushyant Sharma, a 74-year-old retiree was shocked to get two quarterly levy notices for more than $13,000 each since November after previously paying about $2500 per quarter. I bought this UniLodge apartment to partially fund my retirement, he said. Choay Kean Wong said her strata levies were about $1800 per quarter but increased to $22,165 per quarter in the November and February quarters. I believe they are trying to put us in a debt trap, so they can do a mortgagee sale.

A cautionary case Bright and Duggan told the Herald it was appointed to do work that the owners corporation had failed to undertake over many years with the highest priority of ensuring the building can be safely occupied. There are no cosmetic renovations being carried out at the building, it said. Loading This is a cautionary case of the consequences of long-term chronic under maintenance of a building by an owners corporation, resulting in the need for immediate works to ensure the buildings safety, structural integrity, and safe habituation.

We empathise with these lot owners, however, the financial position of individual lot owners does not absolve the owners corporation of its legal obligations to maintain the structural integrity of the building for safe occupation. In its December update, Bright and Duggan said it had contacted the Office of the Building Commissioner and Fair Trading NSW to discuss the condition of the building and seek an independent review of its actions as compulsory managing agent. UniLodge said it had no authority over the management of the owners corporation appointed by the tribunal and was unable to make any comment. Loading Executive director of the Owners Corporation Network Karen Stiles said properties had to be maintained and ideally improved over time to hold their capital and rental values.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains an image and the name of a deceased person.

Kumanjayi Walker, the Aboriginal man shot dead in the remote Northern Territory desert, was partly pinned to the ground underneath another police officer when Constable Zachary Rolfe fired the fatal shots from point-blank range, a court has heard.

On the first day of his murder trial in the Darwin Supreme Court on Monday, previously delayed several times because of coronavirus restrictions and legal arguments all the way to the High Court, Constable Rolfe, 30, pleaded not guilty to murder and other lesser charges stemming from Mr Walkers death on November 9, 2019 in Yuendumu, about 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.

Constable Zachary Rolfe (front and centre) leaving court on the first day of his trial for the murder of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker. Credit:Zach Hope

The court heard Constable Rolfe and his colleague Constable Adam Eberl entered the Yuendumu home at about 7.20pm to arrest Mr Walker, who had travelled to the community days earlier for a funeral in a breach of a court order that he remain at an Alice Springs alcohol rehabilitation facility.
Post-Brexit some people nursed hopes of closer spiritual bonds between Australia and Britain, hopes that are surely dashed after the UKs Channel 5 dumped Neighbours. Hear me out: theres a colonialist subtext to this story.

For nearly four decades, millions of Brits tuned in to the daily goings-on at Ramsay Street. The lace-meets-mullet wedding of Scott and Charlene attracted 20 million UK viewers when the episode aired in the late 80s, a tenfold increase on the Australian audience for the Iconic TV Moment.

The wedding of Scott and Charlene was watched by 20 million people in the UK. Credit:John Lamb

Long after our own interest in the soap had cooled, Neighbours persistent popularity in the UK saw Channel 5 largely funding the cost of its production. Alas, the broadcaster now says its focused on increasing our investment in original UK drama.

The cultural gatekeepers decree its time to head upmarket, to move on from the suburban cul-de-sac at the arse end of the former empire. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, Neighbours is more than Australias signature cultural export; its the emotional cord linking two peoples. Not for the first time, the Mother Country abandons us.
Australia, the United States, India and Japan will ramp up initiatives to counter Chinas disinformation campaigns and coercive economic measures as the four countries look to keep the focus on Asia amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

As American intelligence sources accused Russia of preparing for a potential large-scale invasion of Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared for his first visit to Australia for this weeks fourth foreign ministers meeting of the Quad grouping.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will meet her three counterparts on Friday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

China has been accused by Australia and the US of ramping up its disinformation campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the use of coercive economic measures over the past few years, including imposing more than $20 billion of trade strikes against Australia.

Australian Foreign Minister Payne said she looked forward to hosting the Quad meeting in Melbourne on Friday and suggested a key focus would be to help countries in the region fend off coercion from other nations.
Wilmington, DE (19810)

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Pictured: approximately 120 pounds of packaged marijuana found by Kentucky State Troopers during a traffic stop on Feb. 5, 2022, on I-65S in Elizabethtown, Ky. (Kentucky State Police)
VIRGINIA -- Terrys Steakhouse stands tall in the town of Virginia, even when shadowed by nearby grain elevators.

As the sun sets over the quiet town, the steakhouses tired and worn stones glimmer a little; theyre the color of cream. Flairs of scarlet baste the side and facade for decoration. Tucked in a town of 70 people, this is about as Nebraskan as it gets.

Terry Mencl has owned and managed the steakhouse since 1992. He took it over from his uncle.

Well you know, most bar people last only seven or 10 years at the most, Mencl said. My uncle had it for 45 years.

Mencl said running a restaurant can be a lot work, especially with the labor shortage and pandemic on. The workload leaves him with little opportunity to stop and stretch. He said he doesnt have time for a vacation.

Its hectic when you cant find help, he said. Its been terrible. I mean you take what you can get, but you hope you can get some good people. Right now, I have good people, but theyre a family. So if they move somewhere or have something to do, it will be a struggle.

A group of locals entered just as Terrys opened its doors for dinner on this particular day. They wasted no time in grabbing their spots, next to a Budweiser chandelier. They drank beer and chatted about the weather, about life, about COVID-19.

Mencl said people like them keep him going.

I just enjoy it, he said. Well we got our regulars in here, and its just enjoyable to sit and listen to some of the gossip. And then on the weekends, you get all these different people from Lincoln and Omaha. You start developing relationships with them, too.

The same goes for Troyal Burris, who was waiting, working the bar and helping back in the kitchen on a recent Thursday night.

For the time Ive been here, Ive only worked here for the past few months every couple of days, and I know quite a few people pretty well already, Burris said. Obviously when its really busy in here, you dont have much time to talk. But you recognize faces. And people know you.

Mencl also serves as the head cook. He specializes in steaks.

We put out some good stuff throughout the weekend, he said. I hand cut my own steaks like rib eye and prime rib. And then we have a full sized salad bar where everything is basically homemade. There might be one thing that isnt homemade.

Mencl said he learned to cook early in his life, when his mother would oftentimes be working for his uncle at the same bar and grill he now owns. Back then, hed experiment with different flavors and ways of cooking. Now, after three decades of work, he still likes experimenting and keeping things new.

Mencl uses his home-grown vegetables for cooking at Terry's. Mencl said he used produce from his 60 tomato plants throughout the year.

He said all the work of providing fresh ingredients is worth it for a simple reason.

People appreciate it, he said.

Mencl said hes thought about getting out of the business, but he knows, if Terrys Steakhouse goes down, there wont be much in the way of restaurants for miles.

Somebodys got to be open because theres nothing else around here, he said. Im kind of in the middle of everything, so I just keep the doors open.

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Weatherford, TX (76086)

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Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph..

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Microscope Changes the Future of Weber State Student

February 7, 2022

OGDEN, Utah  Weber State University senior Zadoth Vazquez remembers exactly the moment a new vision of the world opened up for her. It was lab day at Weber High School, and she put a slide with red blood cells under the microscope.

It was so amazing to see such small things that everyone has flowing through their veins look so big in a microscope, Vazquez said. I felt at that moment that this is something that I would want to do, to see and explore other things within the human body.

Born and raised in Ogden, Vazquez often drove on Harrison Boulevard past Weber State, and every time her parents would emphasize thats where she belonged. As immigrants of Chihuahua, Mexico, they wanted their daughter to have opportunities they never enjoyed.

Weber State was not only conveniently located, but with her interest in science, Vazquez was selected as an Undergraduate Research Fellow right out of high school. Beginning as a freshman, she has worked four years with mentor Matthew Nicholaou, chair of the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences. First he had her read many scientific papers to understand the language and purpose of research. By her sophomore year, she joined a team of students and faculty studying the lungs of mice. Their research eventually determined that vaping was doing more damage than cigarettes.

From the moment Zadoth walked into my office she displayed the primary traits that make an undergraduate researcher successful: enthusiasm and curiosity, Nicholaou said. Zadoth has continued to impress me year after year, growing with each new challenge and project she takes on. She has not shied away from any new challenge or project and has displayed an incredible amount of will and determination in completing her research to the highest degree. Zadoth has truly set a high bar for her undergraduate research peers.

While Zadoth loved the lab, science and math required discipline and determination. She entered the university in developmental math and had to work her way from below-college ready through to the most advanced courses, getting As along the way.

Coming here was a very scary thing because I am a first-generation college student, and I'm also the first in my family to pursue any kind of STEM career, she said. But, I think medical laboratory sciences and the undergraduate research program have equipped me with all the resources that I need for whatever comes in the future.

After graduation next year, she plans a gap year working in a hospital lab before heading to graduate school or entering a physician's assistant program. Shes looking at programs in the U.S. and Germany. Her fascination with Germany was enhanced by taking several German language courses. Her interest in travel has also been piqued working on Alternative Breaks in WSUs Center for Community Engaged Learning. After three years on the committee, shes now Alternative Breaks director, helping plan service trips around Utah and the world.

It's amazing to work alongside communities outside of our own in different states or countries to focus on different social issues to see how they are handled and how different communities serve those around them, Vazquez said. That's something that I have been so passionate for, and it just has opened my heart for community engagement.

At the university, Vazquez has also strengthened ties to her own culture and community by serving on the LatinX graduation committee and participating with Ballet Folklorico, where students perform dances native to various regions and countries of the world. She said balancing research, homework, volunteer work has helped her with time management, communication and leadership skills.

I've found a passion in all sorts of areas; it's a wide variety, she said. I was really trying out what I loved. These experiences have enhanced my time here at Weber State. I'm just forever grateful for staff, faculty, mentors, who push you to achieve greatness.

Visit this link to watch a brief video of Vazquez telling her story.

For photographs, visit this link.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
A test method for encouraging the viability of the endangered pallid sturgeon in the upper Missouri River has been aborted due to lack of water.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it would not conduct special test flow of water out of Fort Peck Dam in Montana.

The decision is the latest sign that drought is affecting uses of the Missouri River, which communities in Nebraska and Iowa depend upon for water and industry.

About 87% of the basin is abnormally dry, said Kevin Low, hydrologist with the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center of the National Weather Service. Last year was the 17th driest for the basin, he said.

For now, the corps continues to project another dry year along the river, and the National Weather Service says it's possible Nebraska could see drought worsen in its interior.

Plains and mountain snowpack are below normal as is soil moisture, Low said. However, about 40% of the snow season remains, so there remains time for snowfall to catch up, he said.

The upcoming year was the first time the corps was going to test special spring releases out of Fort Peck dam to see if the additional water created better conditions for fish to spawn and their larvae to survive.

John Remus, who oversees management of the Missouri River for the corps, said there's not enough water behind the dam to run the test.

While it's possible that late season snows or spring rains could replenish the reservoir, Remus said there's not enough remaining time to notify all involved parties.

The test release came out of an agreement between the corps and the Fish and Wildlife Service as an avenue of complying with the Endangered Species Act.

The corps is managing the river for drought conditions, which means that it has limited releases from its dams to the minimal amount practical 12,000 cubic feet per second out of Gavins Point Dam.

Remus said the river will carry enough water this year to meet water supply needs. Communities along the river depend upon it for drinking water and multiple utilities and industries rely on it for their operations.

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When it comes to the wealthiest Wyoming locales, its no exaggeration to say that Teton County is in a class of its own.

Actually, forget Wyoming  that statement can be applied to the entire United States.

Nobody is even close, Jackson economist and town council member Jonathan Schechter said. Our rich people arent other peoples rich people.

The founder of the Jackson-based Charture Institute likes to illustrate the point by breaking up American household income into tiers of roughly $100,000.

The difference between first-place Teton County and second-place New York County is about $100,000, Schechter said. The difference between second-place New York County and 63rd-place Delaware County, Ohio, is about $100,000. And the difference between Delaware County and the absolute last-place county in America, a place called Rock County, Nebraska, is $92,000.

Teton Countys average household income, $312,442, stands alone in the top tier. The next 62 highest-income earning counties comprise the next tier, followed by the remaining 3,000-some counties, boroughs and parishes in the bottom bracket.

Schechter derived his data from the Internal Revenue Service, dividing counties adjusted gross income from 2019, the most recent year of data available, by the number of tax returns filed. The IRS dataset is not detailed enough to allow computations of the median income.

Wyomings other 22 counties have good company, falling in the bottom tier, occupied by 98% of the nations counties.

Converse County, where the household income eclipses $95,000, shows up highest on the list. Nearest the bottom: Hot Springs County, where income comes to around $49,000 per tax filing.

Teton County wasnt always so much wealthier than everywhere else. On the heels of the Great Recession of the aughts, its average household income only marginally exceeded the Wyoming average.

But change has come on strong.

In 2019, Teton County accounted for 5% of all the tax returns filed in the state, while simultaneously accounting for 20% of the statewide income, according to Schechter. Some 35% of Wyomings overall investment income is derived from Teton County, he said, as is 72% of the states total charitable contributions.

Its a very different world, Schechter said.

The data points are staggering even excluding 2020 and 2021, years where ultra-wealthy COVID-19 migrants started flocking to Jackson Hole. Schechter anticipates the income data from those years will be nuttier still, he told subscribers of his CoThrive newsletter.

Bottom line: If it feels like things are not just crazy, but spinning-out-of-control crazy, theres a good reason for it, Schechter wrote.

The massive infusion of wealth has exacerbated troubling trends afoot in Teton County.

Last summer, 95% of businesses reported that the communitys workforce housing crisis was at the core of their staffing struggles, according to the Jackson Hole News & Guide. Pay has spiked out of necessity in response. A Target store is soon opening where workers will start at $24 an hour  equivalent to a $50,000 salary per year. But even those types of wages arent keeping hundreds of desperate seasonal laborers from living in places like the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Even Teton Countys traditionally higher-earning residents are getting pinched. A life change recently caused Animal Care Clinic veterinarian Ernie Patterson to seek out an apartment. The 69-year-old longtime Jackson resident is grateful for what he found, even though rent for the one-bedroom unit eats up more than 40% of his take-home pay.

I really cant afford to buy anything, so now Im just in the rental market, Patterson said. Its tight.

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

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WESTPORT  Local lovers of the famed Asian delight, bubble tea, no longer have to travel to Fairfield or Stamford to satisfy their tea cravings.

The chewy tapioca ball filled tea is now just right around the corner with The Whale Tea recently opening its latest location at 381 Post Road East in Westport. The shop is open daily from noon to 9:30 p.m.

Were very excited to be in Westport, manager and translator Jack Yan said. I like bubble tea and I want to share this tasty bubble tea with the community. Thats the most important thing. I just want to bring it to the places that dont have it.

Yan and owner Bo Chen held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Feb. 1 to officially welcome people to the new tea shop.

Yan said opening The Whale Tea in Westport gives him and Chen a chance to not only bring bubble tea to the community, but also a chance share their culture with the people of Westport.

Yan, who has been drinking bubble tea for the last 20 years, said on the day of the ribbon cutting ceremony, they were joined by their families, but also a large group of residents. He said together they served free bubble tea and had a lot of conversations with everyone who was there.

The opening comes as The Whale Tea spreads across Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. The company currently has seven locations in Connecticut, including in New Haven, Fairfield, Stamford, Storrs, and now Westport. The business recently also opened locations in Norwalk and Milford. Its website also notes upcoming stores in White Plains, N.Y., Melville, N.Y. and Hoboken, N.J. The company also has a location in Boise, Idaho.

Yan said he and Chen were introduced to the owners of The Whale Tea through some family members. Loving bubble tea so much, the two looked for ways to get involved with the company and were delighted when they found out that they could franchise one of their own.

We chose Westport because the original owners of The Whale Tea used to have a Chinese restaurant here, Yan said. They know the community and they know Westport residents. Everyone here is very nice and we can have a lot of success over here.

Yan said the community response to its opening has been positive.

A lot of people have been coming in, Yan said. People used to have to go to Fairfield or Stamford before to go get their bubble tea, but now they have their own so a lot of people have been coming in saying that they are very happy to have one in Westport.

The Whale Tea has a number of different flavors and tea series for residents to try. From the fresh milk milk tea series and the milk foam fresh series to the non-dairy fresh fruit tea series. Yan said the most popular flavor is the brown sugar fresh milk milk tea.

You have to taste it, Yan said. You have to try it to understand how good bubble tea really is.

serenity.bishop@hearstmediact.com
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
If you know of local business openings or closings, please notify us here.

 Juliette Bridals by Ivana has relocated to 161 Glenworth Rd., Pottsville and is having a "relocation celebration" on May 19 at noon.

 Iqor has opened a new 30,000 square-foot call center in Allentown

 Life Advance Fitness at 436 State Ave. in Emmaus opens on May 11

 Grocery Outlet Bargain Market is open at 561 S. Broad Street in Lansdale, in the former Super Foodtown location.

 The Caribbean Grill will hold its grand opening on May 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at 1800 Sullivan Trail in Forks Township.

 A new mafia-themed bar named Capo & Co. Keg and Cork Kitchen is hiring staff in Emmaus. The restaurant is at 1375 Chestnut St. and will feature a self-tap wine bar.

 Terrain on the Parkway, at 1625 Lehigh Parkway East in Allentown is open and renting apartments ranging from studio to three-bedroom size.

 Sports and Social opened April 28 in Allentown. The sports bar and restaurant at 645 Hamilton St. is part of a national chain.

 McCall Collective Brewing plans a May opening for its second location at 7743 Hamilton Blvd. in the Breinigsville section of Upper Macungie Township. The original brewpub is in Allentown.

 Project Paw cat cafe and thrift shop opens April 30 at 452 Northampton St., Easton. The cats in the cafe will be available for adoption. The business supports The Center for Animal Health & Welfare in Williams Township.

 McDonald's of Coopersburg is opening at 6690 Short Drive, Upper Saucon Township, just off Route 309.

 Oley Valley Inn in Oley Township is coming back as The Riedenau House, a farm-to-table restaurant. It will serve a German menu.

 Margaritaville resort, a Jimmy Buffett-inspired resort is coming to Monroe County. Construction in Tobyhanna and Pocono townships may begin next year, with an opening in 2024 at the site of the old Pocono Manor.

 La Dolce Casa, at 16 W. Broad St. on Tamaqua's main thoroughfare, has added La Dolce Casa Bakery and Italian Market just three doors away at 32 W. Broad St. in the former Bittner's General Store.

 Rutter's opens 3rd location in Berks at Route 222 and Long Lane in Maxatawny Township, north of Kutztown.

 Berks Nature opened The Rookery. The Rookery is in Angelica Creek Park, on top of the existing Nature Place structure.

 New Santiago's Restaurant at 125 S. Third St. in Coopersburg has reopened after about a year off.

 Obsidian Tattoo & Piercing Parlor of Bethlehem has expanded to Emmaus. The 173 Main St. location is open now.

 Ocean State Job Lot, a Rhode Island-based discount store, will open at the former site of the Kmart at Shillington Plaza in Cumru Township.

 Elpedio's Ristorante will open May 1 at the site of the Seipsville Inn in Palmer Township.

 King Wing has opened at 129 E. Third St. in south Bethlehem, serving buffalo wings, along with sandwiches.

 Royal Farms convenience store and gas station is headed to the site of the Brass Rail in Allentown on Lehigh Street.

 3 Men & A Bagel is back open after a brief closing for surgery for the baker. The shop is located at 3350 Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem.

 Wert's Cafe is back after a brief closing following the death of owner Greg Wert.

 Vinyl Press Signs & Graphics has moved to 15 S. Second St. in Emmaus. A grand opening will be held May 5.

 Juliette Bridals by Ivana will hold a ribbon cutting May 19 at 161 Genworth Road, Pottsville.

 JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest bank in the U.S., is coming to downtown Allentown.

 The Easton Farmers' Market will open May 7 at Scott Park along Larry Holmes Drive.

 My Sister's Closet has relocated to the Bethlehem Village Shoppes at 3650 Nazareth Pike in Bethlehem Township.

 Fortunoff Backyard Store is open at Hamiliton Crossings.

. Pocono Dessert Co. opens women owned coffee and dessert shop at 2185 PA-611 in Swiftwater
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mostly cloudy. There might be a lingering shower early, mainly north and east..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. There might be a lingering shower early, mainly north and east.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP)  A bicyclist fell to her death when a drawbridge connecting Palm Beach to the Florida mainland began rising before she could reach the other side. A bystander tried to pull her to safety but lost his grip, officials said.

The woman was walking her bicycle toward West Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon and was within 10 feet of the barrier arms that halt traffic when the drawbridge started to move, police told news outlets.

"The woman tried to hang on. There was a bystander nearby who tried to help her, but tragically she fell five or six stories below where she died landing on concrete," West Palm Beach police spokesperson Mike Jachles said.

Why the bridge tender began raising the span before it was cleared of pedestrians will be a focus of the investigation, Jachles said. The bridge tender was described as "distraught," the Palm Beach Post reported.

The Florida Department of Transportation maintains the bridge, but the bridge tenders are staffed by a private state contractor.

"Palm Beach is accessible only through three bridges, and this is the main bridge, so it's very used by cyclists," bicycle safety advocate Juan Orellana told West Palm Beach television station WPTV.

The bridge is equipped with bells and whistles to alert drivers and pedestrians that the drawbridge is going up.

"For one thing you will hear the bell before the arms go down, so when you hear the bell you gotta get out of the way before the bridge goes up," he said.

The woman's name has not been released. The bridge was closed for more than six hours after the accident.
Theres a pervasive and unending joke that North Dakota is a myth. Every time the state makes the national news, online commentators always joke, North Dakota doesnt exist. Its not so much that I feel we deserve to be recognized but more so that Ive scraped my windshield off way too many times to consider joking about the existential state of the state.

Plus, when you think about it, there are plenty of states that also seem like a myth. What do you know about Connecticut? The series "The Baby-Sitters Club" takes place in Connecticut. But James Gatz, better known as "The Great Gatsby," came from North Dakota. You tell me: Which state has a greater literary influence?

The thing is, North Dakota is a myth is the opposite of true. North Dakota is absolutely everywhere. You just have to dust off the surface grime -- or stubborn ice -- and youll find us. When I lived abroad, there were two main reactions to folks hearing about my origins: Is that the one with the faces? and, more likely, there would be a long conversation about a family connection traced all the way back to the Dakota that lacks mountains and faces-on-mountains. Once, while in line to visit the Beatrix Potter museum, a tourist recognized my accent and told me hed just traveled to Max, North Dakota, to pick up some tables.

I recently took a trip west to visit some family that has strayed, and while I half-navigated in the front seat, I passed the time and the miles by reading the latest issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine. As we passed Dickinson, I came across a bittersweet essay by Bronson Lemer who discussed his North Dakota upbringing. In an antique store in Casper, Wyoming, I spotted an art print with the words Minot emblazoned across the top. We had a clerk pull the piece off the shelf, knocking Pyrex and old Thermos containers in the process. The back of the print had a Minot Daily News clipping from 1976. The artist, David Pence, is the older brother of one of my dads best friends.

Last summer, I picked up a paperback with short stories by Katherine Anne Porter while passing through Duluth. I didnt know her work, I just loved the cover. Ive begun reading the selections and in the second story, "Noon Wine," were introduced to a Swede from North Dakota looking for work on a Texas farm. Olaf Helton saves the failing property and single-handedly transforms it into a productive enterprise. But please do not touch his harmonicas. The most recent episode of the "CBS Sunday Morning" show opened with a story about left-handedness, which is why my mom recorded it, but later featured an entire segment on Peggy Lee. I learned that she wrote and performed many of the songs and voice work for Disneys "Lady and the Tramp." Nobody doubts the existence of "Lady and the Tramp." Just ask any plate of spaghetti.

North Dakota pops up when people arent expecting it, like a gust of wind. Netflixs steady stream of true crime documentaries recently added "The Sons of Sam," in which an investigator states, Minot is cold and desolate. Its a place that nobody wants to be. But copious amounts of news clippings and film footage prove that plenty of production members wanted to go, even if to chase a decades-old illicit story.

Maybe thats it. People are curious about North Dakota, so they play coy about our contributions. Were an opaque smudge on the United States map. Were not a myth; it just takes a little muscle to remove that icy exterior and get a clear view. And for those not willing to chisel away at our stoicism, well wait. If I give up on my windshield, the sun will inevitably melt everything away. Plains and panes will eventually appear.

Kayla Schmidt is a freelance writer and creative collaborator with The Good Kids. She's a North Dakota boomerang: originally from Minot, she took a detour to study in England before settling in Bismarck.

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It seems she can go "Anywhere"!

Award-winning pop star Rita Ora is set to appear in the new Disney Plus Beauty and the Beast prequel series, titled Little Town.

Set before the events of Belle and her possible case of Stockholm Syndrome, the show will follow the lives of Gaston and LeFou. Already announced in the cast are Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Briana Middleton, WhatsOnStage Award-winner Fra Fee and Jelani Alladin.

Alan Menken, who created tunes for the original Beauty and the Beast, will executive produce and pen tunes, with Glenn Slater writing lyrics for the first episode.

The eight part series will have Gad, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Once Upon A Time) as show-runners. Tony Award-nominated director Liesl Tommy (Eclipsed) will direct the first episode.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast has just announced it will be headed for The London Palladium this summer as part of its tour.

Ora is set to play "a fugitive with surprising abilities", who could affect a whole kingdom, which sounds relatively pivotal.
The RSC has revealed its second space, the Swan Theatre, will remain closed until 2023 while essential works are carried out.

The Swan, located around the back of the RSC, will be stripped back to its frame, with a new structural grid installed in order to remove pressure from the ceiling. This will also provide an opportunity to add additional lighting, sound and video resources, as well as additional seating. In total the venue will have 11 wheelchair positions, improved lighting and a new hearing loop.

The venue, located behind the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (which has just announced two new productions) is expected to reopen early next year, with cleaned and repaired wood and brickwork.

The company has also launched one of the UK's largest arts learning programmes leed by an online Shakespeare curriculum.
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President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on the release of Yashar Hasanov from the post of chairman of Azeristiliktejhizat OJSC.

Until the appointment of the chairman of Azeristiliktejkhizat OJSC, the temporary performance of these duties is assigned to the deputy chairman of the company Ilham Mirzaliyev.

The order comes into force from the date of its signing.
My first Oscars essay presented Wes Anderson, the Hollywood dandys Francophilia, The French Dispatch, and gentle criticism of liberal intellectual pretense. The 2022 Oscar contenders also include an examination of American Italophiliaveteran Ridley Scotts House of Gucci, as full of todays stars as Andersons movies are of yesteryears. Lady Gaga stars as the social climber-turned-murderess Patrizia Reggiani; Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci, the fashion-business heir husband who left her and whom she paid someone to murder; and Jared Leto as his cousin Paolo Gucci. Salma Hayek plays the lady who helped hire the murderer, and the aged Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons play brothers Rodolfo and Aldo, who made Gucci a global luxury.

House of Gucci is designed like a parody of The Godfather and the entire subsequent generation of movies, which introduced America to Italian concerns with family and honor, passion and decadence, splendor and crime. Thats all over, of course; Americans no longer fantasize about Italy, but decadence and splendor are still important in Hollywood and America. Its all over but the parody, that is, and Scott, a Brit uninterested in Italians, to judge by his career, seems to enjoy mocking the epic ambition of those stories and their insistence on tragedy.

This time its Milan, not New York, and the family business is fashion, not crime; the reputation is accordingly much better, but theres no toughness, no mystery, no authority; an impressive influence attaches to the Gucci name, but it is a very worthless thing, which makes for a good poetic substitute for bragging. Altogether, Scott wants to show that that emptiness is also morally rotten, even repulsive at times. The suits are impressive, yes, but they are empty. In The Godfather, Don Vito is a ruler with a tradition behind him; in House of Gucci, the two generations we see are clowns played for laughs, a family that self-destructs out of pettiness, caprice, and self-importance.

Don Vitos combination of majesty and cunning is split in the parody. Jeremy Irons makes a caricature of the splendor of aristocracy, dressing like an Edwardian gentleman and affecting class contempt through every gesture, grimace, and the occasional pause to swallow his revulsion at everything new in the demotic 1980s. But it turns out hes irrelevant to the plot; the world simply passes him byAl Pacino is the more enterprising and worldly of the two, as he heads Gucci in America. He, in turn, makes a caricature of the family aspect of aristocracy, from the Tuscan countryside roots to the avuncular speeches and tender generosity for the future of the familynamely, his nephew Driver and his colorful wife Gaga. It turns out hes also corrupt, cheats on his taxes, treats his son like a silly child, and comes to a sorry end. The story encourages us to believe these two very successful men, Rodolfo and Aldo, could never have amounted to anything, since it abstracts the family from the business.

House of Gucci treats the old with contempt, but does much worse to the young. Leto plays Paolo Gucci in the most unsympathetic way possible. Hes not only the victim of the contempt of his elders, but his ambitions to design are also treated as a mere nothing, a distraction from the important stuff, which is his ugliness, his thin voice and absurd gestures, his weak character and halfhearted resentments. He is, you guessed it, the Fredo of the showhe imitates the elders who despise him, and does so badly, but reveals in the process their own ugliness. He is nevertheless a victim we are encouraged to believe deserves even worse than he gets as he plays his part in the family intrigue.

The Michael Corleone role goes to Driver, perhaps the most impressive actor of his generation, wasted in this clown show as much as everyone else. He begins a shy law school student trying to escape aristocratic opulence, fearful of its obsession with the past because he knows it makes for cruelty in the present. Like Michael, he finds himself a local girl, which conceals his calculating mind and unpleasant temper. The pushy wife pushes him back to his family and into the business, which he ends up taking over ruthlesslylike Michael, by destroying any family love, to say nothing of anything sacred.

Its somewhat funny to see Gaga be manlier than real-life Marine Corps veteran Driver for a whilewe even get to see him iron the clothes in a domestic scene. She seduces him, gets him to marry, and even intrigues her way to put him in charge of the business. But aside from the elite media obsession with girlboss roles, it makes no sense to have the story told from her point of view; shes not just the worst actor in the cast, but also plays the least interesting character, who knows nothing of glamour and its global reach, less still of the crisis it portends. Yet shes the image of democracyan independent woman, mind of her own, tough, direct, and although shes an outsider among the elites, a striver. And Id bet she gets an Oscar nomination,

The movie is very long, two hours and a half, and though every scene is directed with an easy mastery weve come to expect from Scott, parody should be much shorter than this. The first half deals with the rise of the Gaga-Driver odd couple, their love and their business triumph, but by the time it all begins to sour up and the second half begins to shows their ugly end, theres no reason anymore to pay attention. The change of generations is a change from a striving for greatness that proves empty, a mere nostalgic embrace of the past, to irremediable mediocrity, which lacks interest.

Worse, parts of the movie are unbearably boring. Cutting a sex scene between Driver and Gaga to the Libiamo, ne lieti calici aria from Verdis La Traviata, and cutting their wedding scene to George Michaels Faithits not only bad taste; its obnoxious. Scott makes the entire movie about ironic reflections on media, ruining any interest in the plot in the process. He wants you to notice that the famous aria has been so overused that any interest in the opera itself has been destroyed. I think he went so far as to use a Pavarotti recording, to insist on the decadence created by popularity in the age of TV, with instantaneous worldwide broadcasting on repeat. As for Faith, its not just a juxtaposition of high and low; its a remark on our media degeneracy: Theyre in church, hence faith, but with a twista hip, modern, and fun scene. Hes very clever in his criticism, but its a pain to watch.

Scott seems to be complaining that when mediocrity was glamorized to the point of celebrity worship, this nonsense became authoritative and corrupted art. He made this unfunny farce, getting his actors to offer a tabloid view of Italy since the 70s, to prove we have no tragedy, only sordid scandals, more ridiculous than fearful, and ultimately unimportant. And those actors dont particularly look like the real Guccis, except maybe Pacino. They dont talk or act like themtheyre crass caricatures, intended to abuse cliches of characterization, as if to say, if we can have nothing great, we might as well have misery. The movies message is gloom: Cinema is dead, because the audience was corrupted, as the ideas of romance to which theyve succumbed make everything into a commercial. Scott himself has been making commercials for more than a generation, after all, selling luxury and exclusivity to the middle classes while debasing for their enjoyment the old sacred things. Even the two sacrilegious jokesGaga signing herself saying Father, Son, House of Gucci (an improvisation) and Driver calling Gucci the Vatican of fashion in an interviewhave no power, either as sacrilege or humor.

The good press House of Gucci has received suggests Hollywood and media elites more broadly dont see that they are the object of his mockery. The Guccis are Scotts vision of our debased elites, ugly while pretending to be beautiful, as the movies conclusion suggests by connecting Gucci to transnational corporations, on the one hand, and to Anna Devil Wears Prada Wintour, on the other. As with other satires in our times, our elites arent even smart enough to know theyre being mocked.
Willmar, MN (56201)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 36F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 36F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Two Connecticut State Police troopers recently completed federal training on commercial vehicles and enforcing regulations to keep drivers safe while on the roads.

The two troopers, who are assigned to the Traffic Services Unit, completed the North American Standard Truck Inspection training course at the New York State Police academy in Albany, N.Y.
Wiltons Democratic Town Committee supports Governor Lamonts determination to end the states mandate on school masking and allowing those decisions to be made locally. His announcement follows comment from many constituents, including a request from Wiltons Board of Education sent to Hartford today. We look forward to a careful decision on the final date for required masks in Wiltons schools.

Lets not minimize the real tragedy; over 10,000 Connecticut neighbors have died in the last two years and more would have died without the wise leadership of Governor Lamont and other state and local leaders. School masking has been the right policy, but it has come with real costs. No matter how resilient our students are, emotional health and developmental progress has been a challenge for many. At some point the masking policy needs to evolve.

Vaccines are now readily available to everyone over five, and that group of youngest kids will likely have access very soon. The vaccines are remarkably safe and effective in reducing severe disease and death, and boosters increase that efficacy. Monoclonal antibodies, antivirals, other therapeutics, and newer treatment protocols are proving highly valuable.

Lets acknowledge that Covid is almost always a treatable disease in children. Fewer than 1,000 American children under 18 have died from Covid in the last two years. Each is a tragedy, but context requires that we recognize this rate is equivalent to annual flu deaths in children. And childhood Covid cases should decrease markedly with available vaccines. The fact is that children are the safest group from Covid yet we ask them to bear the greatest burden when it comes to masking.

We are eternally grateful to the teachers and staff who have kept our schools running. Their efforts and health risks must be acknowledged. But many teachers are themselves increasingly concerned by the effect of masking on their students. When school masking is finally relaxed, safety for teachers and staff (and for all of us) will ultimately come from vaccines, therapies, herd immunity, personal choice to continue masking, and the expectation of weaker mutations.

In December and January our hospitals were overwhelmed once again, by the Omicron wave. Too many people are not vaccinated and even vaccinated people can sometimes require hospitalization, especially if they are un-boosted and have significant underlying conditions. We should be prepared to reinstate masking if another dangerous variant comes our way that overloads hospitals, even if that requires state action.

At last weeks Wilton Board of Education meeting Superintendent Kevin Smith and the Board strongly agreed that we must proactively determine a Wilton approach. As Board Chairwoman Deborah Low said, we should bring it from the state into Wilton. And as Superintendent Smith said: Everybody is ready to try to move forward but how do we do it safely? Clear advice is needed from Connecticuts DPH, the CDC, and others. That advice should underpin Wiltons unmasking decision, based on factors such as vaccination rates, absences, hospitalizations, and deaths here and in neighboring towns. There are no easy answers, and Superintendent Smith, Chairwoman Low, and the board deserve thanks for their thoughtful leadership.

Connecticut was right to establish a statewide school masking mandate, but Covid and our ability to respond have evolved. With vaccines and strong therapeutics being widely available, vaccines expected soon for under-five-year-olds, with Omicron waning, with spring and outdoor activities on the horizon, and with the unfortunate reality that no one can guarantee 100% safety, our towns should be allowed to adopt local school masking policies. It will soon be time to try this one step back to normalcy.

- Tom Dubin, Chair, Wilton Democratic Town Committee
All a Florida man wanted to do was find his car, but instead he nearly got killed by a traveling train and was then arrested near a forklift and a fruit stand after asking for help. Here's the story.

The 38-year-old gentleman lost his car after visiting a bar so he did the logical thing and stole one, later claiming he needed it to find his own. He then drove the stolen vehicle over train tracks and got the car stuck. Seeing a train approaching, he jumped out of the car and scurried out of harm's way, seconds before the train struck the car and threw it into a nearby house, where people were sleeping (fortunately nobody was injured).

This should be the end of the story, but it's not. Remember, we're in Florida.

The man, still looking for his own car, then spotted a forklift and fruit stand and, after vandalizing the business, he attempted but failed to steal the forklift.

At this point, he decided maybe an officer could help him locate his car, so he flagged one down. He was then arrested.

From AP:
COVID-19 has once again silenced the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras European debut.

The organization announced Saturday it has postponed its five-city tour of the Netherlands scheduled for May 1-11, citing uncertainties caused by the viral pandemic.

The 2022 tour was created after a planned 2020 tour  which would have coincided with the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands in the final days of the Second World War  was postponed, owing to COVID-19.

Canadian troops played a large role in the Dutch campaign in 1945 and more than 2,300 Canadian soldiers killed in the war are buried in military cemeteries in the Netherlands.

"We are all sad. It was a very tough decision," says Angela Birdsell, the WSOs executive director.

"Theres been so much effort and relationships built that we want to make (the tour) all it can be and should be."

Birdsell recognizes there will be opportunities to second-guess the symphonys decision should the high number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands and throughout the world drop dramatically.

She says the orchestra couldnt afford to take the financial risk and then cancel at the last minute.

The WSO would have had to pay for airfares this week for the tour to go ahead, Birdsell says, and it would only have received a one-year credit, not a full refund, should the orchestra call off the tour.

"The big concert halls book two years in advance, so it would be virtually impossible to reuse (the tickets)," she says.

Several other obstacles hampered the 2022 plans, which would have included a performance at Amsterdams famed Concertgebouw concert hall.

Among them were reluctance from the symphonys donors and supporters to fly to the Netherlands and join the celebrations during the pandemic.

Some WSO musicians also had similar safety concerns, and Birdsell says the tours choral component added another layer of risk.

Choirs have had difficulty rehearsing and performing during the pandemic after some choir practices in the U.S. in 2020 became super-spreader events for COVID-19.

"We didnt want to go over there with two-thirds of the orchestra and supplement with other players," Birdsell says. "Would that be the WSO?"

No new dates for the tour have been selected, but Birdsell said the orchestra is aiming for May 2024 to hold the tour. Daniel Raiskin, the WSOs Russian-born music director, is a Dutch citizen and says in a release the symphony remains committed to the musical commemoration of the relationship between the Netherlands and Canada.

The year 2025 would be the 80th anniversary of the Dutch liberation, but Birdsell says the WSO is focused on holding the tour as soon as possible.

"Does it have to be in an (anniversary) year that ends with a zero or a five?" she says.

Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @AlanDSmall

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COUTTS, Alta. - RCMP say removal of trucks and other vehicles from a protest in southern Alberta against pandemic restrictions is being hampered by towing companies that dont want to help.

A truck convoy demonstrating against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions blocks the highway at the U.S. border crossing near Coutts, Alta., on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. Traffic was flowing slowly through the crossing Tuesday morning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

COUTTS, Alta. - RCMP say removal of trucks and other vehicles from a protest in southern Alberta against pandemic restrictions is being hampered by towing companies that dont want to help.

Moving (massive) vehicles like these require special equipment and operators, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said Tuesday.

Unfortunately (the towing companies contacted said) they were unwilling to become involved when it was implied that helping law enforcement with removal would likely damage their livelihoods into the future.

Police facing a convoy of truck drivers and other supporters in Ottawa have reported similar reluctance from tow operators.

Zablocki said the protest snarling traffic at the Coutts border crossing is illegal, but the goal, for now, is to end it peacefully while keeping traffic and goods flowing as much as possible.

But Zablocki added: We are investigating. There will be charges. And this does not end when the road is clear.

The blockade at the Coutts border crossing began Jan. 29. Protesters in trucks, tractors and other vehicles tied up traffic in both directions and at times stopped it altogether. They are demanding an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers as well as to other public health measures.

Demonstrators in Alberta and other Canadian cities have come out in sympathy with the original trucker convoy in Ottawa and, in recent days, set up at the crucial border crossing to Detroit at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has said he sympathizes with protesters but has condemned the illegal blockade.

Sonya Savage, acting justice minister, said the government is letting the RCMP handle the impasse, but noted the province has the power to pursue civil options, including an injunction and forfeiture.

Property that is involved in the commission of a crime can be seized and forfeited to the Crown, said Savage.

Those are pretty expensive vehicles that are on the side of the road  tractors and other equipment  that could be seized and forfeited.

Irfan Sabir, justice critic for the Opposition NDP, said Kenneys United Conservative government needs to take action.

The UCP still hasnt applied to the courts for an injunction to clear the blockade, said Sabir.

Savage describes the situation as unlawful and intolerable, but refuses to take even this basic step to give the law enforcement all the legal resources they need.

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Its clear the UCP is simply unwilling to uphold the rule of law if it damages Jason Kenneys chance of surviving his leadership review.

Kenney is facing low poll numbers, as well as a split in his caucus and party over the health restrictions, as he heads into a mandatory leadership review in April.

The blockade has stranded travellers and cross-border truckers for days, compromised millions of dollars in trade and impeded access to basic goods and medical services for area residents.

The situation has changed daily and sometimes hourly.

Last week, protesters agreed to open a single lane in each direction so that truckers could haul their loads across the border, but blocked all access Monday night before one lane was reopened early Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
REGINA - Saskatchewan is lifting all of its pandemic public health orders in a phased approach that is to begin Monday with the removal of its COVID-19 vaccine passport policy.

Premier Scott Moe speaks to the Canadian Press during a year-end interview at the Legislative Building in Regina on Dec. 14, 2021. Moe told the John Gormley talk radio show on Monday that he would likely announce a plan Tuesday to lift or reduce the province's public health orders. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell

REGINA - Saskatchewan is lifting all of its pandemic public health orders in a phased approach that is to begin Monday with the removal of its COVID-19 vaccine passport policy.

At the end of the month, it also plans to end its indoor mask mandate and the requirement for people to self-isolate if they test positive for the virus.

Premier Scott Moe said Tuesday that providing proof of vaccination to enter businesses, including restaurants, had helped to fight the infection's spread.

But it also created deep divisions in the province, in effect "two classes of citizens," he said.

"The benefits of this policy no longer outweigh the costs," said Moe, who added people should be able to choose whether to get vaccinated.

"This government is going to respect that right."

Premier Scott Moe speaks to The Canadian Press during a year-end interview at the Legislative Building in Regina on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell

Dr. Saqib Shahab, chief medical health officer, said COVID-19 measures have created unintended risks on mental health and have stunted the development of children and young adults.

"Now that other activities are picking up, it is going to be essential for normal childhood development," Shahab said.

"It's important they proceed in a way that's a bit different than how we lived in 2019, but is as close to living with COVID-19 as we can."

The province recently shifted to treating COVID-19 like other common respiratory viruses. Shahab said the decision was possible because the Omicron variant is less severe, there's community immunity through vaccines or infections, antiviral treatments are available and the public has access to millions of free rapid tests, he said.

Shahab said most people in Saskatchewan who get Omicron have a mild illness for five to seven days and the illness goes away on its own. Those who are at highest risk of hospitalization or severe illness include the unvaccinated.

Shahab said boosters decrease the risk of hospitalization, especially if people are older or have underlying risk factors. On Tuesday, the province approved booster shots for youth between 12 and 17 years old.

In Saskatchewan, unvaccinated people are four times more likely to end up in hospital than those with a booster shot, or three times more likely to end up in hospital compared with those with no booster shot.

Last week, Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, cautioned that two doses of vaccine offer little protection against infection from Omicron, and boosters against transmission only work for a period of time.

Other provinces have said they are also looking at lifting COVID-19 measures. Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King announced Tuesday a three-step plan that would see an end to most restrictions around April 7.

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Alberta was to hold a news conference later Tuesday, while Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec said they are prepared to loosen restrictions in the coming weeks.

Despite Shahab saying the province is on the right trajectory to lift measures, critics have called for them to remain in place. The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour said Omicron still presents a risk to workers.

NDP Opposition Leader Ryan Meili said it's hard to trust Moe is making the right choices, "because we have the pattern of a premier who chose to remove public health measures (in the past) that put people at risk, that resulted in avoidable deaths."

Moe said the province needs to patch up the divisions COVID-19 measures have caused and to move forward together.

Quoting Winston Churchill's Their Finest Hour speech from 1940 Moe said: "If we open a quarrel between the past and the present we shall find that we have lost the future.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
Rural drivers dont buckle up as much as their urban cousins, but Winnipeg drivers use their cell phones more often when behind the wheel.

Rural drivers dont buckle up as much as their urban cousins, but Winnipeg drivers use their cell phones more often when behind the wheel.

Those are the conclusions of a road safety observation study carried out last fall by a company hired by Manitoba Public Insurance.

MPI spokesman Brian Smiley said the study observed 5,500 vehicles in Winnipeg and the capital region and 23,000 vehicles in communities with populations of 1,000 or greater. It found that 10 per cent of drivers in rural areas dont wear seatbelts compared to just three per cent in Winnipeg.

A seatbelt has been required for many, many decades, said Smiley on Tuesday. I assume the majority of drivers know it is against the law to drive without using a seatbelt.

Seatbelts keep people in the vehicle. It prevents them from going through a windshield and prevents them from being ejected and having the vehicle roll over on them not using a seatbelt means you are 50 times more likely to be killed.

The Interlake and the Parkland were the worst offenders during the survey period, Smiley said. Sixteen per cent of drivers observed in the Interlake failed to wear a seatbelt, while 14 per cent of Parkland drivers disobeyed the law.

Researchers stood at stop signs and intersections to observe whether a driver was wearing a seatbelt and whether they were using a phone.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES MPI spokesman Brian Smiley said the new study found that 10 per cent of drivers in rural areas dont wear seatbelts compared to just three per cent in Winnipeg.

Satvir Jatana, MPIs chief customer officer, said the results of the study will be shared with the Manitoba Association of Chiefs of Police.

The purpose of this study was to obtain current rates of risky driving behaviour across Manitoba, with a focus on use of hand-operated electronic devices and seatbelt use, said Jatana in a statement.

The findings of this study will be used as a benchmark to monitor behaviour change overtime and shared with the (chiefs) for the purpose of planning future enforcement and awareness campaigns.

It also found seven per cent of drivers overall didnt wear a seatbelt, while people who drive trucks were slightly less likely to buckle up compared to drivers of passenger cars, vans or SUVs.

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Smiley said when it comes to illegal cell phone use while driving, 10 per cent of Winnipeg drivers have their cell phones up to their ears, something only three per cent of rural drivers do.

Smiley said cell phone use while driving is more prevalent among younger drivers and is highest in areas with traffic lights.

Their use also has some very serious consequences, he said. Driver distraction is linked to almost 50 per cent of fatalities and 37 per cent of all serious injuries. It also has a $672 fine and, for first-time offenders, a three-day driving suspension.

Grant Wainikka, CEO of the Insurance Brokers Association of Manitoba, said in a statement driving without a seatbelt is another example of dangerous driving that can ultimately lead to preventable accidents among our clients.

Both non-seatbelt usage and distracted driving due to cell phones can lead to more severe accidents and, in the long term, higher premiums for Manitoba drivers. Safety needs to be the drivers No. 1 priority when behind the wheel.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
WINNIPEG - Mayor Brian Bowman appeared frustrated Tuesday with a trucker protest against COVID-19 restrictions in its fifth day outside the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman speaks to media in Winnipeg on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The mayor says he wants an end to the ongoing trucker protest against COVID-19 restrictions outside the Manitoba legislature. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Sudoma

WINNIPEG - Mayor Brian Bowman appeared frustrated Tuesday with a trucker protest against COVID-19 restrictions in its fifth day outside the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg.

Bowman said while he and other politicians cannot direct police actions, he wants the protest brought to an end soon.

"There are elements of this protest that continue to be unlawful while disrupting the lives of the general public, including restricted access to public streets, noise and harassment," Bowman said.

"What we're hearing is that Winnipeggers want the law to be enforced."

Bowman said he would ask for a special city council meeting to be held Thursday, which would allow councillors to air their thoughts and give the city's chief administrative officer a chance to update council and the public.

More than a dozen large vehicles remained parked outside the main entrance to the legislature grounds. Workers in the building had earlier been told to work from home if possible this week because of the protest.

The protest has involved loud horn blasts, prompting complaints from area residents, and has sealed off a couple of street blocks.

Winnipeg police posted a social media message Tuesday that said the protesters had agreed to open one of the blocks to allow for more traffic flow in the morning rush hour. The post, on Twitter, used the term "Freedom Convoy"  a title used by the protesters  and said they had "honoured their word".

The tweet was criticized by city Coun. Sherri Rollins, who called it "unacceptable and politically partisan". Bowman called it a poor choice of words and unfortunate.

In a lengthy prepared statement, the Winnipeg Police Service defended its handling of the protest with wording that fired back at critics.

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"The W.P.S. recognizes that these types of operations that balance public safety objectives with public expectations leave many citizens and, in some cases, community leaders with concerns stemming from a lack of understanding of police operations," the statement read.

"The WPS has a full-time presence in the area to ensure public safety for all. We continue to work with organizers to ensure a balance between their objectives and the safety, security, and well-being of others in the downtown."

The police service also hinted at future enforcement measures.

"Police consider several factors when taking enforcement action, including the impact on the event participants' behaviour and the outcomes which may result.

"In some instances, enforcement action is taken at the time, and sometimes it occurs at a later time. Enforcement action is not always apparent to the general public."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
VICTORIA - The British Columbia government says a proposed copper and gold mine on a First Nation's territory will not be given an environmental assessment certificate, citing potential risks to water quality and fish.

A spawning sockeye salmon is seen making its way up the Adams River in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park near Chase, B.C., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. The British Columbia government says a proposed copper and gold mine on a First Nation's territory will not be given an environmental assessment certificate, citing potential risks to water quality and fish. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

VICTORIA - The British Columbia government says a proposed copper and gold mine on a First Nation's territory will not be given an environmental assessment certificate, citing potential risks to water quality and fish.

In a news release, the government said Monday it has rejected the open-pit copper, gold and molybdenum Morrison mine on the territory of the Lake Babine Nation, which was expected to produce 30,000 tonnes of ore per day over a 21-year period.

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Pacific Booker Minerals Inc. had applied for environmental assessment certificates in 2010 and 2012, which were also denied.

The release says the mine could affect "a unique wild sockeye salmon population" that contributes to the Skeena River.

It says there was insufficient data about damages to Morrison Lake, and the potential long-term effects and liability for the province were not acceptable.

Morrison Lake forms part of the headwaters of the Skeena River system, one of B.C.'s largest salmon producing rivers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2022.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Morrison Lake produces the second-largest number of sockeye salmon in B.C. and is at the headwaters of the Skeena River.
CALGARY - A major business group has slammed the Alberta government's decision to eliminate a proof-of-vaccine program, calling it "akin to ripping the Band-Aid off before the wound has healed."

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney speaks to the media while attending the Global Business Forum in Banff, Alta., Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY - A major business group has slammed the Alberta government's decision to eliminate a proof-of-vaccine program, calling it "akin to ripping the Band-Aid off before the wound has healed."

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce issued a strongly worded statement Tuesday evening, just hours after Premier Jason Kenney announced that businesses will no longer have to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination from patrons as of midnight.

Alberta's Restrictions Exemption Program, or REP, was introduced last fall in an effort to curb spiking case rates and encourage vaccination. It requires Albertans to show proof of double vaccination or a negative rapid test result to obtain entry to businesses operating under the program.

The program is the first to go as part of the province's three-step plan to lift public health restrictions.

"The restriction exemption program has served its useful purpose. It has done its job," Kenney told a news conference.

But chamber president and CEO Deborah Yedlin said that public health measures like the REP and masking remain critical to ensuring people feel comfortable dining at restaurants, attending sporting and entertainment events, going to gyms and going to work.

"Today's announcement on the immediate removal of all pandemic measures and restrictions ignores the importance of consumer confidence in our economic recovery," Yedlin said.

She added the chamber believes that prematurely lifting restrictions could lead to reduced revenues for businesses, as people choose to stay home and minimize the potential for exposure to the virus.

Yedlin also warned of labour shortages due to illness, and a potential increase in infection rates at schools, "sending children and teachers home and disrupting work patterns and productivity for many parents."

Another industry group, the Alberta Hospitality Association, which represents restaurants and bar owners, wanted to see other restrictions  such as a liquor curfew, bans on live music and billiards, and rules about how many people can be seated at one table  removed before the passport program.

Instead, those restrictions remain in place until at least March 1.

Were in favour of whatever it takes so that we can operate our businesses at 100 per cent. If that means keeping the REP, then by all means," said Ernie Tsu, president of the association and owner of Calgary's Trolley 5 brewpub.

"They went against all of the stakeholder groups that wrote letters in. They didn't listen to us at all."

Earlier Tuesday, at the Rose & Crown in Banff, Alta., Vern Iskauskas said he was awaiting Kenney's announcement with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

The owner of the pub and popular live music venue said he welcomes a move toward lifted restrictions, but thinks it's a mistake to ditch the proof-of-vaccine program first.

"I'm very open to lifting restrictions, I just hope it's done in the right way," he said.

We fear losing some of the loyal customers who have come back to us because they feel safe here. We also fear that if there is a little bit of a spike in cases afterward, which could happen for a variety of reasons not necessarily associated with the REP, that our industry ... could be scapegoated again, with further restrictions placed upon us.

Many other business owners said they feel mixed emotions over the idea of scrapping the passport.

Paul Shufelt, who owns Robert Spencer Hospitality Group, which operates a handful of Edmonton restaurants including Workshop Eatery and Woodshed Burgers, said he knows that if the province removes the mandate, business owners will have the ability to continue checking proof-of-vaccination for their own purposes.

But he said that's a tough decision to make.

"Probably more than anything, I worry for my staff on the front line, whether we go one way or the other, because those are the people that tend to feel the wrath of angry or frustrated customers," Shufelt said. "I don't think there is a right answer, and that's the hard part."

"We're welcoming a return to normalcy, but I understand both sides of it," said Mark Petros, owner of Nicks Steakhouse and Pizza in Calgary. "A lot of our customers work at the Foothills Hospital and the Children's Hospital because we're close by, and we don't want to see the hospitals getting overloaded."

The Edmonton Chamber said before the announcement that it supported responsible health and safety measures that allow businesses to operate while protecting customers, workers and communities.

"We would hope that any decision to ease restrictions would be made in consideration of health information and supporting data," Jeffrey Sundquist, president and chief executive of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, said in an email.

Also on Tuesday, Saskatchewan announced a plan to lift all of its COVID-19 restrictions. Starting Monday, the province will no longer require COVID-19 vaccine passports. It is also ending its indoor mask mandate at the end of the month.

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Premier Scott Moe said providing proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter businesses like restaurants had helped in the fight against spread of the virus.

But he said it also created deep divisions in the province  in effect "two classes of citizens."

"The benefits of this policy no longer outweighs the costs," Moe said, adding people should be able to choose whether they get vaccinated or not.

"This government is going to respect that right."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.

 With files from Fakiha Baig in Edmonton.
TORONTO - Sally Phuong took a four-week sabbatical from her job as an account executive at Sun Life Financial last year so she could participate in a professional floral design program at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design in Toronto.

Sally Phuong poses for a photo at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design in Toronto on June 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Sally Phuong **MANDATORY CREDIT**

TORONTO - Sally Phuong took a four-week sabbatical from her job as an account executive at Sun Life Financial last year so she could participate in a professional floral design program at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design in Toronto.

Phuong, 37, plans to retire at 55 from Sun Life and open her own floral store. In the meantime, shes looking to hone her skills on evenings and weekends with a part-time job in the business.

"It worked out really nicely that I was able to take a break from work knowing that my job was there and that I could return to it refreshed and bring back any skill set that I learned," Phuong said.

As the pandemic continues, more employers are looking to beef up their benefits packages by adding sabbaticals into the mix.

A survey last July by recruiting firm Robert Half Canada found 38 per cent of Canadian HR managers indicated they plan to offer a leave of absence or sabbatical as a benefit in 2022. The result compared with a report in August 2020 that said 30 per cent of Canadian HR managers said they would offer this kind of benefit in 2021.

At the onset of the pandemic, many organizations restructured and laid off employees. The remaining staff were left with higher workloads, which has contributed to the widespread cases of burnout that were seeing, said Mike Shekhtman, regional director of Robert Half Canada.

Its also been a challenge for many individuals working from home to unplug, Shekhtman added.

With many employees now looking for a substantial break, sabbaticals provide a chance to recharge beyond the traditional two- or three-week vacation, he said.

Terry Hatherell, managing partnerof partner and alumni experience at Deloitte Canada, said theres a strong case for sabbaticals because they help with talent attraction and retention. Sabbaticals can also prevent future health and well-being issues, which might result in a disability leave or leave of absence.

Hatherell said theres a higher success rate when employers work with employees to link a sabbatical to core values and enhancing a sense of purpose.

He considers three-month sabbaticals as short-term sabbaticals, and said breaks of this length with a defined purpose are seen as very attractive for generation Z and generation Y employees.

For employers open to sabbaticals, its important that they communicate to employees that theyre an option, so people dont end up resigning with the assumption that their personal pursuits wont be supported, Shekhtman said.

Likewise, employees curious about sabbaticals should speak to their managers to see if theyre an option, and explain why they would beneficial and what they want to do during that time, he added.

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In terms of the etiquette around asking, Shekhtman recommended workers wait until theyve put in a couple of years worth of service to show they have a proven track record with the organization.

I think its something that is earned over time, he said.

In Phuongs case, she described her sabbatical experience as a win-win for both her and Sun Life. It was a chance to refresh and pursue her personal goals, while also bringing value to her current role.

With floral school, youre learning about the business aspect of it and the art of negotiating, and that definitely ties into my current role.

The 2021 Robert Half survey was conducted online between June 4 to July 1, 2021 and included responses from 800 senior managers at Canadian companies with 20 or more employees. The 2020 survey of 600 senior managers was conducted between July 10 and Aug. 9, 2020. Neither online survey can be given a margin of error because internet panels are not considered to be truly random samples.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
A handful of Americans donated at least $1 billion to charity last year, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropys annual ranking of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity in 2021.

A handful of Americans donated at least $1 billion to charity last year, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropys annual ranking of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity in 2021.

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates topped the list, pledging $15 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a huge player in global health and American education. They announced the multiyear pledge two months after shocking the philanthropic world with the news that they planned to divorce.

Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and financial titan, gave $1.7 billion to the arts, education, the environment, and other causes.

Hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman and his wife, Neri Oxman, ranked third, primarily for donating to Ackmans Pershing Square Foundation and to their donor-advised funds.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, round out the billionaire givers in 2021, with contributions totaling $1.05 billion to bolster their Chan Zuckerberg Foundation and a donor-advised fund.

In total, the donors on the Philanthropy 50 gave nearly $28 billion to charity, with the median level of giving just above $100 million.

But some philanthropy experts argue that the large gifts that earned many billionaires a spot on this years list arent as impressive when one considers that many of these donors have seen their wealth grow by tens of billions in the past few years.

A 2018 report by Bridgespan found that ultrawealthy American families, those with $500 million or more, donated just 1.2% of their assets to charity in 2017. There are few signs that ratio is increasing  and it may in fact be decreasing, given the strong stock market in recent years.

Wealthier Americans have seen their net worth rise by 60 to 70 percent, says Alison Powell, a partner and philanthropy adviser at the Bridgespan Group. Its really surprising that giving hasnt expanded more. Our focus is on getting wealth off the sidelines and to work in the charitable sector.

Novelist and high-profile philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and the tech mogul Elon Musk are among the notable absences on the Philanthropy 50 list. Its likely that those donors made gifts to their donor-advised funds or foundations that would have earned them a spot on the Philanthropy 50, but they and their representatives declined to provide information to the Chronicle.

Scott gave at least $2.8 billion to charities last year, likely through three donor-advised funds housed at the Chicago Community Trust, Fidelity Charitable, and the National Philanthropic Trust, which the online magazine Puck has reported belong to her.

Nearly 86% of the funds contributed by donors on the Philanthropy 50  some $23.8 billion  went to a relatively narrow slice of the charitable sector: colleges and universities, hospitals, foundations, and donor-advised funds.

That was a disappointment for charity advocates who had hoped that broader giving in 2020  which featured large gifts to food banks, racial-justice groups, historically Black colleges and universities, and human-service organizations  marked a turning point in giving by the ultrawealthy.

From this list, you would not know that were living through a global pandemic, and you would not know that as a society were grappling with racial inequity, says Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies. This gift list is completely disconnected from the reality of our society right now.

There are some exceptions. Jack Dorsey (No. 6), the co-founder of Twitter, continued to give big to advance social justice and to provide COVID-19 aid through his donor-advised fund. Scott also made large racial-justice donations.

The Chronicles rankings are based on the total amount philanthropists gave or pledged in 2021. The information is based on extensive research with donors, their beneficiaries, and public records.

Half the donors on the Philanthropy 50 made their fortunes in either finance (14) or technology (11) so it is not surprising that Washington State and California, home to tech hubs in Seattle and Silicon Valley, received the largest share of donations, followed by New York State, with its financial capital, New York City.

Its not just critics of the uberwealthy who are picking up on the fact that billionaire philanthropy is increasingly concentrated in certain sectors and locations.

Some of the donors on the list are noting the same phenomenon  and steering their donations to areas where they see greater need.

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Mark Jones (tied for No. 25 on the list), who earned an MBA from Harvard Business School before founding an insurance company with his wife, Robyn, says they believe they will have a greater impact with their $101 million gift to Montana State University to expand rural nursing education than they would have by adding to Harvard Business Schools endowment.

Were not interested in making donations to attract attention or prestige, Mark Jones says. What matters is how we can use our resources to help improve the lives of as many people as we can in the communities where we live.

Austin Russell (No. 36), the founder of Luminar Technologies, which develops technology used in autonomous vehicles, is, at age 26, the youngest donor on the list and one of five donors on the list under age 40. Russell said in an interview that he chose to make his first megagift to the Central Florida Foundation because two other areas where he has personal or professional ties  Los Angeles and the Bay Area  have far greater philanthropic resources than does Orlando.

More details about the Philanthropy 50 are available at philanthropy.com.

____

This article was provided to The Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Maria Di Mento is a senior reporter at the Chronicle. Email: maria.dimento@chronicle.com. The AP and the Chronicle receive support from the Lilly Endowment for coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits. The AP and the Chronicle are solely responsible for all content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
BERLIN (AP)  Germany's health minister on Tuesday decried calls from the main opposition party to suspend the implementation of a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health workers, saying this would send a dangerous signal that authorities are caving to anti-vaccine protests.

FILE - An elderly person is walks in a nursing home for elders in Neu Isenburg near Frankfurt, central Germany, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Germany's health minister Karl Lauterbach decried calls from the main opposition party to suspend the implementation of a vaccination mandate for health workers, saying that they send a dangerous signal. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)

BERLIN (AP)  Germany's health minister on Tuesday decried calls from the main opposition party to suspend the implementation of a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health workers, saying this would send a dangerous signal that authorities are caving to anti-vaccine protests.

Parliament in December approved the legislation that will require staff at hospitals and nursing homes to get immunized against the coronavirus, with the main center-right opposition Union bloc among those supporting it. Under the new law, those workers will need to show they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 by mid-March.

But in recent weeks, some local officials have complained that they lack the resources to implement it and the rules are unclear. On Monday, Bavaria's conservative governor said he plans not to implement the requirement at least for now, citing concerns about worker shortages.

The Union bloc's health policy spokesman, Tino Sorge, told Tuesday's edition of the daily Bild the federal government should accept the new rules are barely practicable at the moment. He argued that the mandate should be suspended nationwide until central legal and practical questions are answered.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told reporters that the opposition's stance was very problematic" and noted that the aim was to protect vulnerable patients, not harass medical staff.

This sends a signal as if protests against the facility-specific vaccination mandate were more important to us  that we want to prevent these protests  than protecting these (vulnerable) people, Lauterbach said.

The minister added that authorities have for months expected the population to go along with well-founded coronavirus restrictions, and it's a very dangerous signal for governors to suggest that rules don't apply to them. Under German law, it is up to state governments to implement the rules.

He said he hopes to find a solution, and will continue to work on instruments with which we can support implementation of the mandate. Lauterbach warned that it's wrong to assume the omicron variant, which is highly contagious but generally causes milder illness than earlier variants, makes the rules superfluous.

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Prospects for a broader vaccine mandate for all adults or older age groups are uncertain. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has backed a universal mandate but, with his own governing coalition divided, has left it to parliament to put forward proposals. It's unclear whether and when a decision will be made.

Germany is still seeing its infection rates rise to record levels, but the current omicron-fueled wave is expected to peak in mid- to late February. Officials say they are working on plans to relax restrictions, which remain stricter in Germany than in several other European countries, once infections subside.

Amid increasing calls from center-right politicians in particular for rules to be relaxed, Lauterbach said now isn't the time.

We cannot justify broad loosening at the moment, he said. We have 100 to 150 deaths every day, far too many ... if there were a quick opening now, we would significantly lengthen the wave.

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Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
Sasha Abramsky reports in depth on the political takeover of Sequim, Washington, by racist Qanon nuts and right-wing activistsand how the slim blue local majority managed to get rid of them. It's a gripping story, and also an illustrative one, showing how a minority of organized, enraged conservatives are winning big at the ground level simply by turning up for local politics, for meetings and elections: the local Qanon "strongman" ran unopposed for mayor. Once in office, the firings and hirings began and everything turned to crap.

For two years, Armacost ran Sequim like his personal fiefdom, at one time subjecting people who called his city council phone line to a recorded message advertising herbal remedies ("in a capsule or gummy form") that he was selling on the side. Armacost's power was magnified by the Independent Advisory Association, a local group run by two longtime conservative operatives, Donnie Hall and Jim McIntire, with a Roger Stonestyle take-no-prisoners approach. The IAA claimed to be nonpartisan, but locals recall that it would turn local political events into spectacles by red-baiting opponents and accusing critics of being outside agitators. When city council seats opened up, as they did three times in the early days of the Armacost mayorship, the IAA reportedly groomed potential appointees to be selected by the mayor and his colleagues. As the pandemic intensified, it tapped into public anger over lockdowns in order to Trumpify government offices along the peninsula.

Once the left did organize there, thoughnotably in alliance with moderate conservativesthey thrashed the right-wingers with 30-40 point margins.

In Sequim, the five SGGL candidates for city councilRathbun, Janisse, Vicki Lowe, Kathy Downer, and Rachel Andersonall got between 65 and 70 percent of the vote. Both hospital commissioners' positions in the county went to SGGL candidates, as did the fire commission and school district posts up for election last year.  "Four of the SGGL candidates are left-leaning. I'm right-leaning," [Brandon] Janisse says. "But they endorsed me because of how I think government should be run at the local level. We're worried about 'Are the roads paved? Are the alleys good? Do you have sidewalks? Are the sewers not spraying leaks everywhere?'"

Don't miss the grift, too: the first thing this clown did as mayor was rig his phones to sell quack remedies to callers.
BERLIN (AP)  Jennifer Morgan, who heads the environmental group Greenpeace International, is to become Germany's new climate envoy, officials said Tuesday.

Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of the environment organization Greenpeace International poses for a photo during an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. The current head of environmental group Greenpeace is to become Germany's new climate envoy, taking on a key role in the new center-left government which has pledged to ramp up the country's efforts to curb global warming.. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

BERLIN (AP)  Jennifer Morgan, who heads the environmental group Greenpeace International, is to become Germany's new climate envoy, officials said Tuesday.

She will be taking on a key role in the new center-left government that has pledged to ramp up Germany's efforts to curb global warming, including through its presidency of the Group of Seven major economies.

Morgan is to be formally announced in the new role Wednesday by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a member of the environmentalist Green Party, officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because her appointment  first reported by German weekly Der Spiegel  still needs to be approved by the Cabinet.

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The American-born campaigner, who has co-led Greenpeace since 2016, has been a prominent figure in international climate diplomacy for years.

Ahead of last years U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Morgan warned in an AP interview that countries and companies could use the summit to greenwash their ongoing pollution of the planet.

FILE - Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of the environment organization Greenpeace International poses for a photo during an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 21, 2021. The current head of environmental group Greenpeace is to become Germany's new climate envoy, taking on a key role in the new center-left government which has pledged to ramp up the country's efforts to curb global warming.. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Germany aims to stop adding further greenhouse gas to the atmosphere by 2045, one of the earliest net zero targets set by a major industrialized nation. But the government recently acknowledged that it is not on track to meet its emissions goals for 2030.

Climate activists have also blasted Germany's plans to increase the use of natural gas  a fossil fuel  until renewable sources can meet the energy demands of Europe's biggest economy.

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Follow all AP stories on climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
HONOLULU (AP)  Bright lights at a luxury Hawaii resort are killing endangered seabirds, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by conservation groups that say hotel officials need to do more to protect the species.

HONOLULU (AP)  Bright lights at a luxury Hawaii resort are killing endangered seabirds, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by conservation groups that say hotel officials need to do more to protect the species.

Artificial lights at Maui's Grand Wailea disorient Hawaiian petrels as they navigate between breeding colonies and the ocean, the Conservation Council for Hawaii and the Center for Biological Diversity said.

The seabirds can mistake the lights for the moon and stars they instinctively use as a guide to fly out to sea.

During the fledging season from late September to early December, Hawaiian petrels heading to sea for the first time are drawn to artificial lights, circling them until they fall to the ground from exhaustion or hit human-made structures, the lawsuit said. Even grounded birds that aren't injured may not be able to take off again and could die.

Adult birds, which are on Maui from February through October, are also attracted to the lights and end up injured or killed, the lawsuit said.

From 2008 to 2021 at least 15 Hawaiian petrels were attracted to the Grand Wailea's lights, and at least one was found dead, the lawsuit said.

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Protecting all wildlife in the community is important to the resort, a spokesperson at Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, said in a statement.

To that end, we partnered with a leading local expert to assist our efforts to ensure native and endangered bird species can seamlessly coexist and flourish in and around Grand Wailea," the statement said. While we do not comment on pending legal matters, we will respond appropriately to correct any misunderstandings about our record.

The Grand Wailea modified some lights after the groups sent it a letter last year threatening a lawsuit, the groups said in a news release.

The Grand Wailea knows that its lights are harming imperiled seabirds on Maui, said Leinaala Ley, an attorney with environmental legal organization Earthjustice, which is representing the groups. This isnt rocket science  there are pragmatic, straightforward solutions the resort could  and, by law, should  be pursuing.

The lawsuit says Grand Wailea light fixtures that are particularly harmful to seabirds include "unshielded spotlights, mercury vapor and metal halide lights, lighting in large pools, and beachfront tree and path lights.

It notes similar legal action against a Kauai resort resulted in the hotel implementing measures to reduce seabird light attraction and making monthly contributions to fund projects to benefit the seabirds.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico on Tuesday defended its fishermen as the U.S. government banned Mexican fishing vessels from U.S. ports on the Gulf of Mexico because of poaching, saying the incursions were accidental.

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico on Tuesday defended its fishermen as the U.S. government banned Mexican fishing vessels from U.S. ports on the Gulf of Mexico because of poaching, saying the incursions were accidental.

The U.S. government says Mexico has not done enough to prevent its boats from illegally fishing for red snapper in U.S. waters in the Gulf.

Mexicos foreign relations secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, said incidents of fishing by Mexican boats in U.S. waters were mistakes, saying it can be difficult to locate the dividing line between the two countries territorial waters.

Sometimes it is hard to determine the exact line. It's not something intentional, Ebrard said.

But critics say it seems more likely that Mexican boats are going where the fish are, rather than making the same navigational error over and over again. The U.S. Coast Guard has apprehended many repeat offenders, with some Mexican fishermen being caught in U.S. waters over 20 times since 2014.

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Starting Monday, Mexican fishing boats in the Gulf are prohibited from entering U.S. ports, will be denied port access and services, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wrote in a ruling in early January.

Mexico's Agriculture and Fisheries departments said Monday they are holding informational chats with fishermen on Mexico's northern Gulf coast near the border to bring their attention to the poaching issue.

It is important to note the willingness the fishermen have shown toward carrying out this type of measure, the departments said in a statement.

Mexico, however, has a poor record of enforcing fishery limits or safeguards, critics say. Small Mexican boats frequently use prohibited long lines or nets to haul in snapper in U.S. waters. Such nets and lines can indiscriminately trap marine life.

The environmental group Oceana Mexico said in a statement in January that Mexico has yet to implement fully" its environmental commitments to implement sustainable fishing practices as required by the U.S.-Mexico Canada free trade pact.

Environmentalists say Mexicos attitude on the Gulf fishing dispute mirrors its lack of effort to stop gill net fishing in the Sea of Cortez, or Gulf of California, that has driven the vaquita marina porpoise to the brink of extinction.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korea plans to increase its government spending on pandemic measures by one-third this year to carry out leader Kim Jong Uns calls for a more advanced and people-oriented virus response, state media said Tuesday.

FILE - In this photo taken during Dec. 27 - Dec. 31, 2021 and provided on Jan. 1, 2022 by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea fires projectile into sea in the fourth launch this month, South Korea says on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korea plans to increase its government spending on pandemic measures by one-third this year to carry out leader Kim Jong Uns calls for a more advanced and people-oriented virus response, state media said Tuesday.

The budget plans were passed during a session of Pyongyangs rubber-stamp parliament on Sunday and Monday, which came weeks after the North tentatively restarted its railroad freight traffic with China following two years of extreme border closures and economic decay.

Kim had hinted at broader changes to the countrys pandemic response during a political conference in December, when he called for a transition toward advanced anti-virus measures based on a scientific foundation.

The Korean Central News Agency said North Koreas Supreme Peoples Assembly passed plans to increase spending on anti-virus measures by 33.3% compared to last year. The report didnt describe those spending plans in monetary terms.

Kim Tok Hun, premier of North Koreas Cabinet, a key institution handling economic policies, described the North's pandemic response as the top priority in state affairs, but also that the measures will be put on a scientific basis to guarantee the security of the country and the people, KCNA said.

It appeared Kim Jong Un did not attend the parliamentary session and state media didnt mention any comments by senior officials toward Washington or Seoul amid a deepening diplomatic freeze.

Kim in recent political speeches has vowed to further bolster his nuclear arsenal. KCNA said 15.9% of the North's total government spending last year was invested in the nuclear weapons program and the same percentage of its budget this year would go to expanding military capabilities.

Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Koreas private Sejong Institute, said North Koreas description of its budget clearly reflected its plans to gradually expand trade and other exchanges with China, its main ally and economic lifeline, while reshaping its virus response. He said the North could possibly adopt Chinas approach of sealing certain regions to stem transmissions, instead of locking down its entire country.

North Korea still claims to have a perfect record in keeping out COVID-19 from its territory  a claim widely doubted. But the closure of its border to nearly all trade and visitors for two years further shocked an economy already damaged by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over Kims nuclear weapons and missile program.

The Norths resumption of railroad freight traffic with China last month came between a flurry of missile tests clearly aimed at pressuring the Biden administration over stalled nuclear diplomacy, which some experts say possibly shows the urgent need for outside relief.

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The border reopening possibly shows the North is exploring more sustainable ways to deal with the coronavirus threat that may go on for years. It could also provide glimpse into the Norths plans for vaccines against COVID-19.

North Korea so far has shunned vaccines offered by the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program, possibly because those have international monitoring requirements. But some experts say the North may still seek the help of China and Russia to provide regular testing and vaccinations of workers and troops in border areas, where access from other regions will be tightly restricted.

North Koreas resumed trade with China will almost certainly be driven by imports as much of the countrys major export activities are banned under international sanctions tightened since 2016, when Kim began accelerating weapons development. The country needs fertilizers to boost food production, construction materials to support Kim's ambitious development projects and factory goods to spur industrial production decimated by the two years of halted trade.

Still, North Koreas trade with China is expected to be significantly smaller compared to pre-pandemic levels.

North Korea likely doesnt have enough foreign currency reserves to swiftly purchase a huge amount of goods, considering the toll of sanctions and pandemic-related difficulties. It would also be a major policy mistake to expand imports too quickly when an explosion in pent-up demand could further destabilize a fragile economy, experts say.

It seems North Koreas employing a taste and test approach  it will continue to reopen its border in phases if the COVID-19 situation stabilizes but seal itself again if the virus situation worsens, said Kim Byung-yeon, a professor of economics at Seoul National University. It's also likely that the state will try to enforce greater control over trade compared to the past and clampdown on activities like smuggling, so the trade activity likely wont be as dynamic as it once was.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department announced Tuesday its largest-ever financial seizure  more than $3.5 billion  and the arrests of a New York couple accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen from the 2016 hack of a virtual currency exchange.

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department announced Tuesday its largest-ever financial seizure  more than $3.5 billion  and the arrests of a New York couple accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen from the 2016 hack of a virtual currency exchange.

Federal law enforcement officials said they recovered roughly $3.6 billon in cryptocurrency linked to the hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange whose systems were breached nearly six years ago.

Ilya Dutch Lichtenstein, a citizen of Russia and the United States, and his wife, Heather Morgan, were arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday morning, accused of relying on various sophisticated techniques to launder the stolen money and conceal the transactions. They face federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States. It was unclear if they had lawyers or people who could speak on their behalf.

They were in custody pending an appearance in Manhattan's federal court later Tuesday.

The stolen cryptocurrency, valued at $71 million at the time of the theft, is now valued at $4.5 billion, officials said.

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The couple were not charged in the Bitfinex hack, which resulted in more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. But prosecutors said they received stolen bitcoin into a digital wallet they controlled and used money laundering techniques such as setting up accounts with fictitious identities to hide their activities and the movement of the money.

Millions of dollars of the transactions were cashed out through bitcoin ATMs and used to purchase gold and non-fungible tokens as well as more mundane items like Walmart gift cards for personal expenses, prosecutors said.

Justice Department officials say that though the proliferation of cryptocurrency and virtual currency exchanges represent innovation, the trend has also been accompanied by money laundering, ransomware and other crimes

Todays arrests, and the Departments largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter the form it takes.

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Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP.
BERLIN (AP)  Plastic pollution at sea is reaching worrying levels and will continue to grow even if significant action is taken now to stop such waste from reaching the world's oceans, according to a review of hundreds of academic studies.

A Hawksbill sea turtle that was found on a nearby beach is displayed after an autopsy was performed along with trash mostly plastic materials, top, and food items, left, at the Al Hefaiyah Conservation Center lab, in the city of Kalba, on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. A staggering 75% of all dead green turtles and 57% of all loggerhead turtles in Sharjah had eaten marine debris, including plastic bags, bottle caps, rope and fishing nets, a new study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The study seeks to document the damage and danger of the throwaway plastic that has surged in use around the world and in the UAE, along with other marine debris. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

BERLIN (AP)  Plastic pollution at sea is reaching worrying levels and will continue to grow even if significant action is taken now to stop such waste from reaching the world's oceans, according to a review of hundreds of academic studies.

The review by Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute, commissioned by environmental campaign group WWF, examined almost 2,600 research papers on the topic to provide an overview ahead of a United Nations meeting later this month.

We find it in the deepest ocean trenches, at the sea surface and in Arctic sea ice," said biologist Melanie Bergmann who co-authored the study, which was published Tuesday.

Some regions  such as the Mediterranean, the East China and Yellow Seas  already contain dangerous levels of plastic, while others risk becoming increasingly polluted in the future, it found.

The authors concluded that almost every species in the ocean has been affected by plastic pollution and that its harming important ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves.

As plastic breaks down into ever-smaller pieces it also enters the marine food chain, being ingested in everything from whales to turtles to tiny plankton.

Getting that plastic out of the water again is nearly impossible, so policymakers should focus on preventing any more of it entering the oceans in the first place, said Bergmann.

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Some of the studies showed that even if this were to happen today, the amount of marine microplastic would keep increasing for decades, she said.

Matthew MacLeod, a professor of environmental science at Stockholm University who was not involved in the report, said it appeared to be a sound review of existing studies, focused on the effects of plastic pollution.

The part that can (and will) be argued about is whether there is enough evidence to warrant aggressive action (such as what is advocated in this report) that will certainly disrupt current practices for plastic production, use and disposal, he said.

MacLeod was involved in a separate study recently that also concluded immediate measures are required because of the possible global impacts.

Heike Vesper of WWF said while consumers can help reduce plastic pollution by changing their behavior, governments have to step up and share the burden of tackling the problem.

What we need is a good policy framework, she said, looking ahead to the upcoming U.N. environmental meeting in Nairobi. Its a global problem and it needs global solutions.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  An Australian electric vehicle charging company will establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Tennessee, an announcement that President Joe Biden on Tuesday hailed as being a result of the federal government's effort to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers.

President Joe Biden listens as Jane Hunter, CEO of Tritium, speaks about electric vehicle chargers during an event in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  An Australian electric vehicle charging company will establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Tennessee, an announcement that President Joe Biden on Tuesday hailed as being a result of the federal government's effort to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers.

Tritium is expected to produce up to 30,000 charging stations a year and create 500 new jobs over the next five years at the new facility based in Lebanon, roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Nashville.

Biden praised the Tritium announcement in remarks at the White House, saying the Tennessee-produced charging stations will be a reflection of the bipartisan infrastructure deal, which provides $7.5 billion in federal grants to build a network of charging stations.

President Joe Biden speaks about domestic manufacturing and electric vehicle chargers in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Its going to create more than 500 good-paying jobs in Tennessee, but its going to deliver greater dignity and a little more breathing room to workers and their families, Biden said.

Tritium CEO Jane Hunter said that Bidens investments in electric vehicles led the company to pivot and change our global manufacturing strategy.

With the help of the hard-working residents of Tennessee, we expect to double or even triple our charger production capacity to further our product distribution throughout the United States, Hunter said in a statement.

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The companys stock price jumped more than 30% on Tuesday, trading at roughly $9.40 through the afternoon.

The announcement also comes after Ford Motor Co. unveiled plans last September to build an electric vehicle and battery plant near Memphis.

Ford and South Korean battery maker SK Innovation say they will spend $5.6 billion to build a factory to produce electric F-Series pickups. The project, located near the small town of Stanton in rural Haywood County, is expected to create about 5,800 new jobs at the West Tennessee megasite by 2025.

Tennessee is at the forefront of the electric vehicle evolution, and we are proud to have another global company join the roster of companies that support this thriving industry in our state," Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe said in a statement.

___

Associated Press Writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
OTTAWA - Canada's chief justice said those working in the justice system must continue to build on innovations put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Justice Richard Wagner speaks during a welcoming ceremony on Oct. 28, 2021, in Ottawa. Wagner says that those working in the justice system must continue to build on innovations put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Canada's chief justice said those working in the justice system must continue to build on innovations put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Richard Wagner said "there is no turning back" now that the pandemic has forced the justice system to modernize.

"I think that the excellence of our justice system, whether it be criminal or civil, will depend on more use of the technology," said Wagner, specifically citing technology that permits the virtual presence of the parties and lawyers involved.

Since the 1980s, the Supreme Court has had the technology to permit lawyers to argue cases remotely without having to come to Ottawa, he said.

Lawyers "rightly or wrongly" did not opt to use it except for a few instances throughout the years, said Wagner, adding that other courts across the country did not have that technology.

"They have to use that for the future. That's for sure," he said.

Wagner told the Canadian Bar Association's annual meeting Monday that courts across the country have "spared no effort" in adapting to the unprecedented challenge of the public health crisis.

Many courts across the country have allowed participants and observers to join proceedings via videoconference during the pandemic.

Modernizing the system is not simply intended to minimize disruptions caused by the pandemic, said Wagner, but is also about applying those changes "purposefully" to ensure that justice becomes accessible to everyone.

Wagner spoke to the association before it voted and passed several resolutions to make the justice system more modern, accessible and equitable for people in Canada.

The association's members voted to urge dispute resolution bodies to permanently put in place remote proceedings where appropriate, and create a working group with justice system partners to explore matters that are potentially suitable for remote proceedings.

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Attendees voted to ask those in the justice system to consider innovative approaches to help low- and middle-income Canadians in accessing civil legal services, in an effort to address the "access to justice crisis."

Members also voted to urge all levels of Canadian government to address the increased overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in Canadian prisons.

The passed resolution asks each level of government to negotiate an action with Indigenous groups within two years. The action plan would provide well-funded preventive community-based services and alternatives to incarceration of Indigenous peoples.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
OTTAWA - All tow-truck companies on contract with the city have refused to haul away the big rigs that have gridlocked Ottawa's downtown for the second week in a row, the city's manager says.

Police man a barricade in front of vehicles parked as part of the trucker protest, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 in Ottawas downtown core. Ottawa's city manager says all tow-companies on contract with the city have refused to haul away the large trucks that have gridlocked Ottawa's downtown for the second week in a row. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - All tow-truck companies on contract with the city have refused to haul away the big rigs that have gridlocked Ottawa's downtown for the second week in a row, the city's manager says.

Steve Kanellakos said the consensus among many of the companies seems to be that they don't want to do the work because the heavy truck industry is such a large part of their livelihoods and they don't want to damage that part of their businesses.

The city has contracts with 10 companies, which are typically used to tow vehicles during parking bans so city plows can remove snow. Some of the contracts cover towing services for city vehicles, and others help recover lost and stolen vehicles for police.

"We've contacted them all and every one, they're all refusing as of today to provide heavy tow truck work," Kanellakos said Monday evening after a briefing to city council on the demonstration downtown.

Pascal Loyer, CEO of one of the tow-truck companies contracted by the city, said his concern is for the safety of his employees and the future of his business.

If he were to start towing trucks away from downtown, he said "nobody is going to have my back."

The big rigs have been blocking city streets and honking horns day and night in Ottawa since Jan. 28 in protest of vaccine mandates.

Towing away a big rig without the co-operation of a driver is dangerous, difficult,andtime-consumingwork, he said, and the crowds downtown pose a degree of uncertainty.

If one of his employees got hurt, he could be charged under the labour code because of the unsafe work conditions, he said.

Loyer said he wants to remain neutral in the conflict between the city and the protesters and would like to see a political solution that avoids putting private businesses like his and public servants at risk.

The city is reviewing the contracts to see what recourse it has in this unprecedented situation but the problem, he said, goes beyond Ottawa.

Ottawa's mayor has reached out to other large Ontario cities to see if they can help, and the city is calling companies across Eastern Ontario.

The city has raised the issue with the provincial and federal governments but has found tow truck operators have been reticent to get involved with the protests across Canada.

The lack of tow companies willing to get involved has also hampered the efforts of the RCMP to remove trucks and other vehicles from a protest blockade in southern Alberta.

The operators they've contacted worry about long-term damage to their businesses should they help police haul away protester vehicles, said Alberta RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki.

Sonya Savage, Albertas acting justice minister, says the province has other tools it could use if necessary, including filing for a civil injunction and seizing vehicles and forfeiting them to the Crown.

Kanellakos says the tow companies are still doing other work for the City of Ottawa, including towing regularly sized vehicles.

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Steve Bell, Ottawa's deputy police chief, said Monday the issue has cropped up in all jurisdictions and has forced cities and police services to come up with some "creative solutions."

He opted not to share those solutions, citing "operation concerns" about showing their hand to the protesters they're attempting to shoo from the city's core.

"We're not going to let the tow truck operators and the ability to tow those vehicles out of there be an obstacle to ending what's occurring," he said Monday.

By Tuesday, Bell said that some vehicles have been seized and towed but the situation has become even more difficult: some trucks have removed their tires or split their brakes to make them completely immobile.

"The immobilizing of the vehicles in the occupation area is extremely concerning to us," he said at a briefing Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
OTTAWA - As the race to replace Erin O'Toole as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada gets underway, here's a look at the contest so far:

Peter MacKay speaks during the English debate in Toronto on Thursday, June 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

OTTAWA - As the race to replace Erin O'Toole as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada gets underway, here's a look at the contest so far:

Who's in:

Pierre Poilievre: The 42-year-old Ottawa-area MP and well-known Conservative was the first out of the gate to declare his intention to seek the leadership.

Who's out:

Rona Ambrose: The party's last interim leader, who was a cabinet minister in former prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, says she's not going to run despite many Tories hoping she would.

Brad Wall: Saskatchewan's former premier says he's enjoying life in the private sector so won't be returning to elected politics.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford: Ford says his hands are full running for re-election provincially in June.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney: The former MP and high-profile cabinet minister in the Harper government says he's not interested in going after the party's top job.

Potential contenders:

Peter MacKay: A former cabinet minister and leader of one of the Conservative party's predecessors, the Progressive Conservative party. He placed second to O'Toole in the 2020 leadership race and recently penned an op-ed calling for party unity.

Patrick Brown: The mayor of Brampton, Ont., said before O'Toole's departure that he was focused on reopening the city. However, many Tories are looking to him as a candidate. He has also been championing a stand against a controversial secularism law in Quebec, something many MPs and party members feel strongly about.

Roman Baber: An Independent MPP in Ontario who Ford booted from his caucus last year for speaking out against COVID-19 lockdowns. Since his departure from the Progressive Conservatives, Baber has remained a steadfast opponent of vaccine mandates. He recently called for all restrictions to be lifted.

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Leslyn Lewis: She placed third in the 2020 leadership race, strongly supported by the party's social conservative wing and members in Western Canada.

Other possibilities:

Michelle Rempel Garner: A veteran Conservative from Alberta whose name usually appears whenever party leadership questions emerge.

Michael Chong: An Ontario MP who ran in the party's 2017 contest, but didn't re-enter in 2020.

Jean Charest: The former Quebec premier said in 2020 he wasn't going to enter that year's race.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2022.
A recent scientific paper out of Florida International University examined data from Italian criminal records to determine the quality of accountants affiliated with organized crime groups. As it turns out, Mafiosos tend to hire meticulous, careful, and detailed accounting firms to cook their books with their care  and, perhaps more interestingly, that being associated with the mob has no negative impact on the accounting firms' reputations or non-mafia-related work (emphasis added):

While the work accountants do for organized crime group (OCG) ecosystem is not observable, we can determine if OCG hire "good" accountants by assessing the overall quality of their work as external monitors of legal businesses. We find that firms serviced by accountants with OCG connections have higher quality audited financial statements compared to a control group of firms serviced by accountants with no OCG connections. The findings provide evidence OCG are able to hire good accountants, despite the downside risk of OCG associations. [] We find that private legal businesses serviced by accountants connected to criminal organizations have higher quality financial statements, as evidenced by reporting lower levels of abnormal accruals, fewer small earnings, fewer tax-related restatements, and lower levels of discretionary revenues, compared to private legal businesses serviced by accountants without connections to OCG. We also find that firms with accountants having Mafia ties receive more modified audit opinions and pay their accountants higher fees.

In other words: if you're gonna do some illegal shit, it's better to hire someone who's really good at following the rules than to hire an idiot who will just fudge the numbers. And if you're not gonna do some illegal shit, it's probably still better to hire someone who knows how to get away with doing illegal shit. Basically, you want someone who knows how to navigate the loopholes, for better or for worse.

Does the Mafia hire good accountants? [Pietro A. Bianchi, Jere R. Francis, Antonio Marra, and Nicola Pecchiari / SSRN]

Image: Public Domain via Pixabay
A local city councillor travelled to Vancouver last week, seeking ideas to reduce the number of lives lost through Winnipeg drug overdoses.

A local city councillor travelled to Vancouver last week, seeking ideas to reduce the number of lives lost through Winnipeg drug overdoses.

Between Wednesday and Sunday, Coun. Sherri Rollins toured a safe consumption site  where people can consume illegal drugs with medical supervision  and checked out other support programs meant to reduce the harms of drug use.

While shes still lobbying for one of those hotly debated consumption sites to be set up in Winnipeg, Rollins also believes other harm reduction steps should be taken sooner.

A harm reduction approach isnt just the technical aspect of supervised consumption sites, its also the philosophy and public supports that are meeting people where theyre at, said Rollins.

For starters, she believes some supervised consumption services and managed alcohol programs could be offered by existing clinics and social service facilities, to get supports in place more efficiently.

It doesnt have to be a new bricks-and-mortar build. It can be part of existing facilities that we have in Winnipeg, said Rollins.

Shed also like to see the province provide drug-testing strips to various facilities, which would allow clients to determine whats in their drugs before they use them. For example, many such strips can detect small amounts of certain drugs that have been diluted in water.

The councillor noted not offering a safe consumption option, or these other harm reduction steps, hasnt prevented people from using drugs and discarding needles in other, often public, local places.

No one thinks that people arent using here (in Winnipeg). No one thinks its not happening in every transit shelter. It is an impossibility that its not happening in and around every shelter, said Rollins.

The federal government has offered some support for safe consumption sites over the last few years. According to Health Canadas website, the facilities: help save lives; connect people to social services and addictions treatment; reduce public drug use; lessen the spread of infectious diseases; and cut demand on emergency medical services.

The agency says sites across the country dealt with a combined 15,000 overdoses and drug-related medical emergencies between 2017 and 2019, with no fatalities.

Across Manitoba, roughly 370 drug-related deaths occurred in 2020, a number some expect will exceed 400 in 2021 (once final numbers are available).

So far, the provincial government has not supported a safe drug consumption site.

While non-profit agencies can apply directly for federal permission to create the sites without provincial approval, Rollins fears that would place a hefty financial burden on any group that did so.

Its not feasible without provincial funding (because) of the amount of clinical staff, the doctors and the nurses (required), she said.

In Vancouver, Rollins visited the Insite supervised consumption site, which is funded through a provincial health agency. Its main floor offers safe drug supplies and an area where clients can use drugs under the supervision of health workers. The buildings upper floors include a detox centre, community programs and transitional housing, she said.

Ideally, Rollins still hopes to secure a similar fully equipped site in Winnipeg but stressed the smaller harm reduction steps shes calling for are also desperately needed.

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Over the last several years, multiple politicians and advocates have called on the province to clear the way for a supervised consumption site in Winnipeg but the Manitoba government has not taken steps to add one. At times, its members have expressed concern such sites could attract crime or may not be as effective as other efforts to combat addictions.

On Monday, Manitoba Mental Health and Community Wellness Minister Sarah Guillemard noted her government has invested in rapid access to addictions medicine clinics, sobering centres and many other supports to reduce the risk of drug overdose and assist those dealing with addictions.

We are continuously evaluating and implementing cost-effective, safe and evidence-based harm reduction and addictions treatment programs and services, and are committed to a balanced approach across the four pillars of prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery, Guillemard said in an emailed statement.

The statement added all harm reduction initiatives being used in other provinces are being analyzed by her department.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
THE City of Winnipeg is exploring ways to cope with poor air quality, months after wildfire smoke cast a smelly haze over Winnipeg.

THE City of Winnipeg is exploring ways to cope with poor air quality, months after wildfire smoke cast a smelly haze over Winnipeg.

"Last year, we really saw that wildfire smoke create more issues in the city than weve seen before and more concern and more awareness, as we know, with climate change," Jason Shaw, Winnipegs assistant chief of emergency management, told councils protection and community services committee on Friday. "We know the air quality is going to continue being more of a concern."

Three options are up for discussion.

Shaw said the city has reached out to Manitoba Health, Health Canada and other government officials to determine how best to cope with the issue. Thats led the city to consider more air quality monitoring, emergency responses and guidelines.

For example, the city is checking out if it would be feasible to set up "clean air shelters."

"Were looking at potentially doing a pilot project with the federal government on clean air shelters It looks like maybe working with our community clubs and some of our recreation centres to see what would it take to turn them into clean air shelters, what level of filtration, what level of (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system) support they would need (to do that)," said Shaw.

The city will consider obtaining a series of small, portable air-quality monitors, which Shaw said can detect very small particles.

"We might be able to work with the province on a pilot project to put a cadre of these out throughout the city to be able to get that better balance of air monitoring," he said.

Currently, the city has three air-quality monitors; two downtown and one in East Kildonan, Shaw said.

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Finally, the city is researching possible policy changes that could set guidelines for when the city should shut down services that are more risky when air quality is poor.

"We want to be able to work with the federal government and the provincial government to determine at what level (it is) dangerous," said Shaw.

In July 2021, the city closed outdoor pools, wading pools and outdoor recreation programs for about two days due to poor air quality, as smoke from multiple wildfires settled over the city.

The closures were intended to protect public health, after the level of pollution was deemed to pose a "very high risk." At the time, Environment Canada warned the condition of the air could cause sore eyes, tears, coughing and a runny nose, and urged Winnipeggers to limit outdoor activity.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
A Winkler restaurant owner believes the number of would-be diners who try to flout COVID-19 face mask and proof-of-vaccination rules seems to have jumped recently.

A Winkler restaurant owner believes the number of would-be diners who try to flout COVID-19 face mask and proof-of-vaccination rules seems to have jumped recently.

He wonders if supporters of Canadawide protests against mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for truckers crossing the border have become emboldened.

The restaurant owner said he has had to call police numerous times to deal with people who ask to be seated but refuse to follow rules imposed by the provincial government, including as recently as Saturday.

In the latest incident, the people left before police arrived.

"They tried to get in without having been vaccinated. This happens non-stop," said the owner. "Its an ongoing struggle, where we get harassed because we are following the rules."

He spoke to the Free Press on the condition he remain anonymous because he fears reprisals from Winkler residents.

Public health orders and vaccines are a "pretty touchy" subject in the city, he said, and he fears he will lose business for speaking out.

He has grown tired of people "constantly" ignoring the rules and verbally abusing his staff. So have his employees.

"Weve lost a lot of staff, specifically servers," the man said.

Customers are required to wear face masks when they arent seated, and they must show proof they are double-vaccinated to dine in.

JESSICA LEE / FREE PRESS FILES The restaurant owner, who wished to remain anonymous because he fears reprisals from city residents, said his staff ask customers to wear masks and show their vaccination card or QR code.

The owner said his staff ask customers to wear masks and show their vaccination card or QR code.

If someone refuses to show proof of vaccination, they are turned away, he said.

"Were following all the guidelines that our health inspector has set out for us," he said. "We follow the rules. We dont take a stance on whats going on (with restrictions and mandates). We want to keep as many customers as we do have left."

Parts of the Southern Health region, including Winkler, have become known for anti-mask, anti-restriction and anti-vaccine sentiment.

"Everything you hear in the news is very accurate about the Southern Health region," he said. "With the (truckers) Freedom Convoy, its all started again where people are trying to come in with no masks, no vaccination cards, no rules. That really hasnt helped us."

Big-box stores in Winkler were recently accused of turning a blind eye to maskless shoppers amid the surge of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

By health district, Winkler has the second-lowest uptake for COVID-19 vaccines in Manitoba. Just 42.6 per cent of eligible residents had had two doses as of Sunday, the provinces online dashboard shows.

The lowest uptake is in the Rural Municipality of Stanley, which surrounds Winkler and Morden. The RM of Stanleys two-dose total is 21.9 per cent.

Claims of restaurants flouting public health orders have flared in recent days.

A post on Facebook claimed Winkler restaurant Del Rios was opening its dining room to "everyone," hinting to unvaccinated customers, as of Saturday. The restaurant declined to comment.

In September, it was fined $5,000 for allegedly violating Manitobas COVID-19 rules.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winkler mayor Martin Harder expressed displeasure over some residents using social media to create division within the community.

Winkler police Chief Ryan Hunt said he was aware of the Facebook post, but he wasnt aware of any members of the public complaining about Del Rios.

Officers have not gone to the restaurant in recent days to check if it is following the rules, he said.

"Well monitor it, and if any enforcement action needs to be taken, well certainly go ahead and do that," said Hunt.

He said he wasnt aware of any restaurants that had illegally opened up dining to unvaccinated customers.

Mayor Martin Harder said he, too, hasnt heard anything.

He expressed displeasure over some residents using social media to create "division" within the community.

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Harder encouraged people to follow the rules and be patient after Premier Heather Stefanson said last week the government hopes to have a restriction-free Manitoba this spring.

"I think theres a spirit of wanting to open up, and I think that its foolish to keep pushing when youre already making progress," he said. "Its a matter of a short period of time when we should see the light of day.

"Sometimes you push so hard that your pushing becomes a negative, and its contrary to what youre trying to accomplish."

Attitudes would change if people focused on positive things, he said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca
Grieving relatives wept as they placed toys next to the bodies of two children at a funeral for an Indian family who died trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border.

Grieving relatives wept as they placed toys next to the bodies of two children at a funeral for an Indian family who died trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border.

Parents Jagdish Patel, 39, and Vaishaliben Patel, 37, their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi, and three-year-old son, Dharmik, were found frozen to death in a field east of Emerson on Jan. 19.

SUPPLIED From left: Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, son Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, wife and mother Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel and daughter Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel.

About a dozen family members from India and the U.S. flew to Winnipeg for Sundays traditional Hindu funeral service and cremation at Thomson in the Park Funeral Home in Fort Garry.

Mourners in the Patels home village of Dingucha, located in the western state of Gujarat, watched a livestream of the two-hour service on the funeral homes YouTube page.

As the service began, relatives wiped away tears and hugged in front of open caskets decorated with large arrangements of red and white flowers.

A Paw Patrol toy was placed next to Dharmik. Vihangis casket contained a white stuffed animal and a glitter unicorn purse. A sparkly red bow was visible in the girls hair.

Bhadresh Bhatt, past president of the Hindu Society of Manitoba, described it as the saddest funeral he has ever attended.

Bhatt was among a handful of Winnipeggers on hand to support relatives who travelled to Manitoba from abroad.

"Ive been to funerals before, but nothing like this. A funeral for a family of four at the same time," said Bhatt, who didnt know the Patels. "They were tragic deaths. Its a very sad incident for any community. It should not have happened to such a young family."

RCMP officers, who are investigating a suspected human-smuggling operation alongside authorities in the U.S. and India, spoke to relatives of the Patel family.

A relative from Bloomington, Ill., set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral costs and to provide financial support to family in India. More than $100,000 has been donated so far.

"The pain for the family can not be imagined. There are no words to pay tribute," the page stated.

Dingucha resident Amrut Patel, who knows Jagdish Patels father, previously told the Free Press relatives decided to hold a funeral in Winnipeg instead of India because it was too expensive to repatriate the bodies.

Home to about 3,000 people, the farming village has held a period of mourning and events to honour the Patels and support their loved ones.

The Patels were found in a snow-covered field just metres north of the border after seven undocumented Indian nationals were detained by U.S. border patrol agents near St. Vincent, Minn., on the morning of Jan. 19.

Investigators believe the Patels and the larger group were dropped off close to the border the previous night to make a perilous and illegal crossing on foot during a -35 C blizzard.

RCMP said the Patels arrived in Toronto on Jan. 12. Officers are trying to find out how the family travelled from Canadas most populated city to barren fields near Emerson, and who transported them.

A vehicle was not found at the drop-off site on the Canadian side of the border.

Officers from Manitoba recently visited the Toronto area to pursue leads following a public appeal. RCMP said hotel, restaurant or gas station workers may have spoken to or seen the Patels during their journey to the border area.

Police had received about a dozen tips as of a week ago while tracking the familys movements.

The seven survivors were released from custody in the U.S., and are subject to deportation proceedings.

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One told U.S. border agents the larger group had walked for more than 11 hours before they were detained along with an alleged human smuggler, a court affidavit stated.

Another said he bought a fake student visa to enter Canada and was on his way to meet family in Chicago, the document alleged.

Deltona, Fla., resident Steve Shand, 47, has been charged with transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens.

Driving a rented van, he was tasked with picking up the Indian nationals on a rural road just over the border in Minnesota, the affidavit claimed.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching
The provinces first clinic focused on mens health is set to open at the end of February.

The provinces first clinic focused on mens health is set to open at the end of February.

Mens Health Clinic Manitoba will be headed by co-founders Dr. Jay Nayak, a urologic oncologist, and Dr. Premal Patel, a urologist, who are both assistant professors in the University of Manitobas surgery department.

When it opens its doors in Seasons of Tuxedo in Winnipegs south end, it will be the first mens health clinic in Manitoba and the first run by urology specialists in Canada, Patel said.

"Right now, theres a lot of disjointed aspects of health care, and unfortunately, with COVID, things have been exacerbated, wait times are becoming quite long for procedures, even consultation," he said Tuesday.

"So our goal is to have a streamlined approach to these conditions  men who are suffering from erectile dysfunction, men who have testosterone issues, men who have penile curvatures  a lot of these conditions are extremely common, a lot of guys dont really know much about it, and they dont really know where to go."

The first point of contact for these issues is typically a primary care physician, who then refers the patient to specialists like Patel and Nayak. Specialist referrals can take anywhere from three to 12 months, especially when the referral isnt considered malignant or urgent.

The pair are hoping having specialists and an on-site primary care doctor all in one place will allow patients to self-refer to the clinic, reducing wait times and caseloads for hospitals.

"When we think about vasectomies, I perform a lot of them at Health Sciences (Centre), so by being able to have our own procedure suite, youre able to take the procedures out of the main hospital," Patel said.

"It just lessens the traffic in the tertiary care sites It kind of takes that (pressure) away from the public system."

The clinic will also have an operating room and perform a range of procedures, around 80 per cent of which they expect to see being covered by public insurance.

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In time, Patel said, theyll expand and bring on more staff and specialists. He hopes the clinic provides a space for men to talk about health issues they might consider embarrassing or anxiety-inducing, especially considering many issues are a sign of more serious problems.

"When I talk to patients, theyre like, I thought I was the only one," Patel said. "And so our goal is to kind of have a place where people feel comfortable going to."

Theres a lot of benefit to providing spaces where men can get answers to questions they have about their health  be it physical or mental  from people who specialize in the field, sociologist Christopher Schneider said.

"Hearing from other men would help individuals to understand that its not just a unique problem to them," said Schneider, who sits on the board for the John Howard Society in Brandon, which provides a mens resource centre.

"For example, if we look at social health, public health and mens suicide rates, which are very high, especially in rural men to have something like this (is important), where men could connect with other men, and share these issues and know that theyre not suffering in silence or suffering alone."

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
A Christian crowdfunding site that began so Americans could support missionaries has become a prominent source for right-wing fundraising efforts  including the truckers convoy in Ottawa.

A Christian crowdfunding site that began so Americans could support missionaries has become a prominent source for right-wing fundraising efforts  including the truckers convoy in Ottawa.

GiveSendGo, which calls itself the No. 1 free Christian crowdfunding site, has received more than $4.5 million in donations for the convoy after GoFundMe froze donations to the truckers, saying they had violated the websites terms of service.

On the sites home page, two out of three top trending fundraisers are for the convoy. The other is for the legal defence of former Trump lawyer John Eastman, who wrote the infamous memo about how Trump could retain power after losing the election.

There are dozens of individual fundraising pages for the convoy, with the largest being Freedom Convoy, which has raised more than $4.9 million and Adopt a Trucker, with $462,899.

In just 15 minutes between the time the donations totals were checked, the Freedom Convoy received an additional $67,628 and $2,490 was donated to Adopt a Trucker.

The site was started in 2014 by conservative Christian siblings Heather, Emmalie and Jacob Wells so Christians in the U.S. could share resources to demonstrate the hope we have in Jesus with the world.

Another reason, the founders claim, is because of how GoFundMe has taken a stance against Christians and has been taking down campaigns that they did not agree with.

Thankfully, these truckers finally found GiveSendGo where they can safely raise money without fear of censorship or loss of control over their funds, they say.

A sampling of donations shows most are between $25 to $100.

Donors have made comments such as Praying you all stay safe and Canada becomes free again, Stand firm, we are all behind you! With God all things are possible! Stand up to the despots and We are all with you and praying for you in the USA!!

In a statement Monday, GiveSendGo said it had been assured by convoy organizers the money raised would be for humanitarian aid and legal support for the peaceful truckers and their families that stand for freedom.

The website didnt respond to a request for comment by the Free Press.

Unlike other crowdfunders that take a portion of donations to cover costs, GiveSendGo doesnt charge anything to raise money through the site. Its overhead is paid for by donations.

It also doesnt discriminate about which groups or individuals use the site, having hosted fundraisers for the Proud Boys, a white supremacist group, and people who are trying to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

In April 2021, a reporter from The Nation asked if GiveSendGo would host a fundraiser for the Ku Klux Klan. Founders Heather Wilson and Jacob Wells didnt reject the idea.

Some of these campaigns are situational, Wells said, adding If the KKK or any other group of people, if what theyre doing is within the law, I would consider it an honour to have them use the platform and share the hope of Jesus with them.

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Wells expressed doubt the Proud Boys are a hate group, explaining he had visited their website and found it lacked in statements that explicitly embraced discrimination.

One exception to its non-discrimination policy is abortion; GiveSendGo does not allow fundraisers for clinics that provide them. That would be an intentional act for harm, Wells told The Nation.

GiveSendGo has always received a lot of hate having to do with letting certain people use our platform, it says on its website, adding they read all the negative comments about what the mainstream media has made us out to be.

Our platform is a place for all people to raise money as long as the cause is not illegal, whether we agree with the campaign or not. Is there a better way to assure people have freedom?

It goes on to say that No matter what you believe, who you are, or what youve done, our platform will be open and readily available for you to use.

faith@freepress.mb.ca
A British Columbia man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his part in killing another B.C. man outside a Winnipeg halfway house.

A British Columbia man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his part in killing another B.C. man outside a Winnipeg halfway house.

Kleon Cassidy Pop, 34, was originally charged with first-degree murder in the July 2020 shooting death of 31-year-old Cody Alexander Sleigh, but in a plea deal with the Crown agreed to enter a guilty plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter.

FACEBOOK Darlus McKay, 19, was shot in the back.

In an agreed statement of facts provided to court, Pop is identified as the getaway driver for another man prosecutors allege shot Sleigh. That man, Dyllan Petrin, also from B.C., is set to stand trial in April.

Court was told all three men had served prison time together in B.C. before Sleigh, who had been convicted of kidnapping and other offences, was released from Saskatchewan Penitentiary four months prior to his death.

While an exact motive for Sleighs killing remains unclear, prosecutors believe it can be traced to a number of different disputes with various groups in custody, Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft told court.

The agreed statement of facts says Sleigh had left a Main Street halfway house shortly before 6 a.m. and was getting into a taxi to go to work when he was shot multiple times at point blank range, including once to the head.

The shooter accidentally dropped his wallet as he ran to a waiting car and Pop drove away.

The two accused cleaned the vehicle, returned it to the rental agency, checked out of their hotel and drove back to B.C. in a borrowed car.

Both accused were later arrested in B.C.

Whether (Pop) knew (Sleigh) was going to be executed, we dont know, Vanderhooft said. He certainly knew something was going to happen and he (participated) anyway.

Prosecutors had evidence Pop rented the car spotted at the killing scene and security video evidence showing Pop and his co-accused together at a Headingley hotel and various Winnipeg locations, but no evidence putting Pop in the car at the time of the killing.

The admission by the accused he was the driver at the time of the homicide is a fact that would have been difficult for the Crown to prove (at trial), Vanderhooft said.

Sleigh was working two jobs and trying to turn his life around after his release from prison, his father John Sleigh wrote in a victim impact statement provided to court.

A more cowardly crime could not be committed, Sleigh said. This was not an accident that took Codys life. This was a cold, calculated, premeditated act that saw an unarmed man gunned down on the street on his way to work.

This is Pops second manslaughter conviction. Pop, then 21, was one of two men arrested in 2009 after they stabbed a Merritt, B.C., man to death following a night of drinking. Pop was sentenced in 2012 to two years in jail, which was later reduced on appeal to one year.

In another Winnipeg courtroom Monday, Derek Donald William Franklin pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the October 2019 shooting death of 19-year-old Darlus McKay.

Like Pop, Franklin, 39, did not shoot his victim, but pleaded guilty as a party to the killing.

Co-accused Christopher Murdock pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last November and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

An agreed statement of facts provided to court Monday said McKay had previously stabbed one of Murdocks friends when on Oct. 7, 2019, Franklin  carrying a duffel bag Murdock had given him that contained a sawed-off shotgun  and Murdock rode their bikes to McKays Pritchard Avenue apartment.

An argument between Murdock and McKay spilled outside where Murdock, now in possession of the shotgun, shot McKay in the back as he ran away.

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Court heard Franklin, who was a close friend of McKays and considered him a brother, knew that Murdock wanted to fight or even kill McKay and had warned him days earlier to get out of town.

Franklin and McKay met in jail and had known each other only six months at the time of the killing.

Had he not met Mr. McKay in custody we would not be here, said Franklins lawyer, Saul Simmonds.

Franklin provided a full statement to police admitting his involvement, telling investigators he did not believe the shotgun was loaded.

Justice Ken Champagne sentenced Franklin to the equivalent of just under five years in custody.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.com
Job opportunities may be abundant for supply teachers in Manitoba, but substitutes say stringent COVID-19 safety protections are harder to come by.

Job opportunities may be abundant for supply teachers in Manitoba, but substitutes say stringent COVID-19 safety protections are harder to come by.

"We should get danger pay," said Anne Williams, a substitute teacher in west Winnipeg.

Temporary teachers earn far less than full-time educators, yet they often work across multiple buildings in which they are exposed to dozens if not hundreds of students during a shift, said the retired teacher, who has the protection of three vaccine doses.

Space is so limited the 70-year-old said none of the handful of high schools she has taught at recently have had even close to two metres of distance between desks because rooms are typically packed with 30 teenagers.

The majority of substitutes are not supplied with N95 masks at work nor given information about positive cases.

TRIBUNE MEDIA TNS The majority of substitutes are not supplied with N95 masks at work nor given information about positive cases, substitute teachers say. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune files)

Despite her view "it does not feel overly safe" to be in a school, Williams said she feels a moral obligation to students to continue to teach, given all the disruptions they have experienced in recent years and the limited substitute pool.

School divisions anticipated higher-than-usual staff absenteeism rates upon the resumption of classes in 2022, owing to the highly infectious nature of the Omicron variant and significant community transmission.

Prior to the start of the school day Monday, there were 93 substitute requests in the Pembina Trails School Division. In Louis Riel, that figure was 75. There were more than a dozen openings in St. James-Assiniboia.

Leaders organized staff contingency plans during the recent remote learning period and have bolstered their long-term substitute rosters in preparation for such figures. The latter has allowed divisions to maintain near-normal fill rates for absence requests.

Substitute teachers Click to Expand In anticipation of surging absenteeism rates due to the Omicron variant, school divisions across the city have hired dozens of additional long-term substitute teachers in recent weeks. Here are the breakdowns of new temporary teacher hires since Jan. 1:  Winnipeg: 77, in addition to a full-time teacher population of roughly 4,000  Pembina Trails: 47, in addition to a full-time teacher population of around 1,100  Seven Oaks: 45, in addition to a full-time teacher population in the neighbourhood of 900  St. James-Assiniboia: 21, in addition to a full-time teacher population of approximately 700 Louis Riel did not provide an exact figure, but a spokesperson indicated Monday: We have continued to hire teacher substitutes and have also pre-booked existing substitutes before absences were recorded in an effort to combat higher-than-usual absenteeism. River East Transcona did not provide data in time for publication.

One substitute teacher in Winnipeg, however, said she recently disabled her automated job opening calls because she was getting bombarded, sometimes with 15 to 20 offers in a day.

"Its a subs world right now We have that sense of control over our schedule, but its tough for the school staff and the administration and certainly for the kids, who never know whos going to be at the front of the classroom," said the substitute, who spoke to the Free Press on the condition of anonymity.

The temporary teacher said she is becoming increasingly convinced employers should acknowledge the risks inherent to being a temporary worker in a school during the fourth wave with supplemental pay.

"Were being plugged in to cover a frankly, exploding number of staff absences, and a typical day of eight periods might easily involve covering seven to eight classes," added the elementary school educator.

Substitutes only start to receive standard teacher pay after they fill-in for a five-day period, an uncommon occurrence. They often do not have any paid sick days, unless they are hired as a term teacher.

More than 50 retired educators who continue to pick up temporary teaching shifts registered for a virtual town hall on working conditions late last month.

Concerns about pay equity, employers posting misleading or outright false information about openings out of desperation, and teachers leaving limited instructions for their emergency replacements were among the key issues raised, according to Bill Cann, president of the Retired Teachers Association of Manitoba.

CP A typical day of eight periods might involve a substitute teacher covering seven to eight classes, says one elementary school educator. (Hannah Ruhoff / The Associated Press files)

Despite the above frustrations and pandemic risks, Cann said retired educators are motivated to continue covering shifts right now  "and its going to sound really corny" because of their dedication.

"Just like nurses that were retired came back to work (Teachers) came back because they were needed. In many cases, especially in rural Manitoba, the relationship between the retired substitute teacher and a particular school or particular principal is a bond," Cann said.

Debbie Dann, an early years teacher in Winnipeg, is among those who fills-in where needed at the school she worked at before retiring in June 2021.

The 59-year-old indicated she knew she was nearing the end of her full-time career before the pandemic hit, but COVID-19 restrictions on play-based learning and challenges with spacing young students sped up that timeline.

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"Youre telling them every few minutes: No, no, no  stay at your table, at your desk, put your mask over your nose," Dann said, adding seatwork is now the norm in classes that were home to constant sharing and group activity before March 2020.

Dann said its evident both school staff and students are struggling with stress and anxiety, even though everyone is doing the best they can. She often brings in mindful colouring exercises, individual bags of playdough, and individually-wrapped treats to keep spirits high at work.

"I really want to see the kids. I wish it was different. I am scared of going in," added the educator, who has received all three vaccine doses and only removes her mask when she is alone in a classroom.

"Ive got those KN95 masks. When I dont have enough of them, I double-up on the other (medical) masks and Im constantly sanitizing and hoping that Ill be OK."

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
WASHINGTON (AP)  In a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, President Joe Biden met with Germanys new leader Monday and vowed the crucial Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline will be blocked if Russia further invades Ukraine. Russia's Vladimir Putin retorted that the U.S. and its allies are the only ones talking invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Macron traveled to Moscow in a bid to help defuse tensions amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that fueled fears of an invasion. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP)  In a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, President Joe Biden met with Germanys new leader Monday and vowed the crucial Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline will be blocked if Russia further invades Ukraine. Russia's Vladimir Putin retorted that the U.S. and its allies are the only ones talking invasion.

Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron met for more than five hours in Moscow at the same time Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke at the White House in efforts to defuse the crisis before armed conflict breaks out. Russia has massed thousands of troops at the Ukraine border, adding military might almost daily.

The White House has expressed increasing alarm about the prospects of war, and Biden has been looking to solidify support among European allies for economy-jarring sanctions against Russia if it attacks.

If Russia invades, that means tanks and troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, Biden said. We will bring an end to it."

That would hurt Russia economically but also cause supply problems for Germany. Construction of the pipeline has been completed, but it is not yet operating.

We are jointly ready, and all of NATO is ready, Biden said, referring to the powerful Western alliance, though Ukraine is not a member.

While Biden reiterated with certitude that the pipeline would not move forward, Scholz stressed the need to keep some ambiguity about sanctions in order to press Russia to de-escalate the crisis.

Its necessary for Russia to understand that a lot more could happen than theyve perhaps calculated with themselves,. Scholz said.

President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The buildup of over 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine has fueled Western worries of a possible offensive. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine any day, triggering a conflict that would come at an enormous human cost.

At the same time, Biden and NATO allies have made clear there are no plans for sending in troops to fight Russia on Ukraine's behalf.

Macron and Putin, during their lengthy meeting  with a dinner that featured the choice of sturgeon or reindeer with sweet potatoes and pear pie with vanilla ice cream  registered their disagreements but also emphasized a need for more talks.

Putin noted that the U.S. and NATO have ignored Moscows demands that the alliance guarantee it will keep Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations out, that they refrain from placing weapons in Ukraine and roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe.

He, too, signaled his readiness to continue negotiations and denied anew that Russia has any intention of invading Ukraine.

We are categorically against any further NATOs expansion eastward because it poses a threat to us, Putin said. Its not us whos advancing to NATO, its NATO coming to us and so its illogical to talk about Russias aggressive behavior.

He scoffed at Western descriptions of NATO as a defensive alliance, saying sarcastically that people of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan have learned it from their own experience. And he threatened a wider war if Ukraine should join the alliance and perhaps try to win back Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

European countries will automatically be drawn into a military conflict with Russia, Putin said. You will be drawn into that conflict beyond your will. There will be no winners.

Macron described the talks as substantial, deep with a focus on conditions that could help de-escalation.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a news conference with President Joe Biden in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

We tried to build converging elements, he said. The upcoming days will be crucial and deep discussions together will be needed.

In the meantime, Biden warned, "it would be wise for Americans other than essential diplomats to leave Ukraine.

On a positive note, Putin said without elaboration that some of Macrons proposals could serve as a basis for a settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, adding that they agreed to have a call after Macrons visit to Kyiv Tuesday.

Likewise, Biden said when asked if there remained an offramp for Russia in the standoff: The answer is yes.

Before meeting Biden, Scholz told German media that "there will be a very high price if Ukraine is attacked militarily. And we are preparing for this very precisely and have been talking about the details for a long time. Scholz will travel to Kyiv and Moscow Feb. 14-15..

Separately German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said her country would add up to 350 troops within a few days to about 500 already a part of a NATO battlegroup in Lithuania. With this, we are strengthening our contribution to forces on NATOs eastern flank and sending a very clear signal of unity to our allies, she said.

Biden already has deployed additional U.S. troops to Poland, Romania and Germany, and a few dozen elite U.S troops and equipment landed Sunday in southeastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, with hundreds more infantry troops of the 82nd Airborne Division set to arrive.

Britain said the U.S. was sending 350 troops to Poland to bolster NATO forces, joining 100 Royal Engineers already there.

At a news conference in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell defended the increasingly dire Western warnings that a Russian invasion may be imminent.

This is not alarmism. This is simply the facts, Blinken said. And the facts are that weve seen over the last few months a massive amassing of Russian forces on Ukraines borders."

Borrell noted that 140,000 troops massed on the border is not to go to have tea.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is weighing a more permanent military presence in southeast Europe in response to Russias massive military deployment near Ukraine.

We are considering more longer-term adjustments to our posture, our presence in the eastern part of the alliance, Stoltenberg said after talks in Brussels with Polish President Andrzej Duda. If Russia really wants less NATO close to the borders, they get the opposite.

Stoltenberg gave no details and said no final decision has been made, but the move could mirror NATOs long-term military presence in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, where about 5,000 troops are stationed. It would see a similar force based in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

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The aim would be only to bolster the defenses of NATO allies in the region. The troops would not cross into Ukraine should Russia invade.

Biden and Scholz also discussed contingency plans for providing gas supplies to Europe should Russia cut off supply to Europe. Europe is already dealing with liquefied natural gas supplies being sapped by a cold winter last year, a summer with little renewable energy generation and Russia delivering less than usual.

Biden asserted the U.S. and other countries could make up a significant portion of supplies lost should Russia move to cut off Europe.

But energy experts say replacing Russian gas would be complicated and cant be done overnight. Export terminals cost billions of dollars to build and are working at capacity in the U.S.

__

Associated Press writers Corbet and Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Matthew Lee, Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin and Jill Lawless in London contributed.
On February 13, 1982, a 37-year-old man known as Brother James was shot several times in broad daylight by hooded men while he was on a ladder making repairs outside a school in Guatemala where he taught.

Brother James Miller was born into a farming family near Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He entered into religious life with the Christian Brothers and spent many years in Winona.

He received his undergraduate degree in 1966 and his masters degree in 1974 from St. Marys College (now St. Marys University).

Pope Francis beatified Brother James on December 7, 2019, in Guatemala. The title Blessed is one step away from being a Saint in the Catholic Church.

Blessed James is the first De La Salle Christian Brother from the United States to be beatified. He is considered a martyr because his death was a consequence of his faith in Jesus Christ.

It is suspected that he was killed because he and the other Brothers fought to keep their young students from being forced into the military. His murderers were never brought to justice.

On the 40th Anniversary of his death, Bishop John M. Quinn will celebrate a memorial Mass at 10:30 am Sunday at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona. Bishop Quinn will be joined by 20 Christian Brothers, some of whom knew Blessed James.

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A man toting an AR-15 broke into a New Mexico home while the homeowners were out and helped himself to some shrimp and beer. He also enjoyed a bath and a good ol' nap. And when the residents came home, the well-mannered intruder, 34-year-old Teral Christesson, seemed embarrassed and apologized for a window he damaged while breaking in, placing $200 on a chair to reimburse them.

But his good morals didn't save him.

From Yahoo!:
The Winona Police Department has announced the apprehension of a subject associated with a St. Paul homicide investigation.

The subject in question is a 17-year-old male, according to Winona police. In their news release, the Winona PD stated that officers observed the subject as a passenger in a vehicle on the west side of Winona on February 7.

The vehicle was then observed entering a service station on the 1600 block of Service Drive. Officers arrived on scene and found the subject seated in the rear seat of the vehicle.

At that time, the subject was removed from the vehicle and proceeded to flee on foot. Officers then apprehended the subject a short distance away.

The subject was found to be in possession of a loaded semi-automatic pistol and was subsequently taken into custody by members of the St. Paul Police Department.

According to Winona police, the subject now faces possible local charges relating to possession of the firearm. Assisting the police department were members of the Winona County and Houston County Sheriffs Offices, Goodview Police Department and the Southeast Minnesota Violent Crimes Enforcement Team.

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LAKE MILLS  Fourteen musicians chosen from the Lakeside Lutheran High School band are headed to the 2022 Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod West Regional Band Festival March 18-20 at Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School, near New Ulm, Minnesota. The three-day festival involves 10 Lutheran high schools from six states and features more than 100 high school instrumentalists.

The festival involves two days of rehearsal and coordination of select teen musicians who have prepared individually but who have not played together previously. The weekend culminates in a capstone live concert at 2 p.m. March 20.

Serving as conductor of the festival percussion ensemble will be Brett Duwe, director of the Warrior Percussion Ensemble at Lakeside Lutheran. He has more than 10 years of experience as a percussion clinician, and more than 20 years as an instructor, composer and performer.

Students selected from the Lakeside Lutheran Concert Band include junior saxophonist Marissa Duddeck, Whitewater; sophomore baritonist Daniel Ertman, Fort Atkinson; junior flautist Emma Horn, Watertown; senior bassoonist Aree Huwe, Deerfield; junior flautist Manuel Iglesias, Watertown; sophomore trumpeter Elsa Johansson, Columbus; senior percussionist Benjamin Kasper, Helenville; junior bassoonist Nora Larson, Columbus; junior trombonist Nina Litherland, Columbus; sophomore clarinetist Ambria McCrary, Sun Prairie; sophomore saxophonist Maria Meier, Watertown; sophomore clarinetist Emma Meis, Watertown; sophomore bass clarinetist Emerson Milbrath, Watertown; sophomore trombonist Maria Vik, Fort Atkinson.

For more information and a livestream link, visit welsfinearts.org/band-fest.
The village of Lake Delton Board of Trustees placed Police Chief/Director or Public Safety Daniel Hardman on paid administrative leave Tuesday.

The board made the decision by unanimous vote. A third party will now conduct an investigation of complaints against Hardman made by Dells/Delton Emergency Medical Service employees.

The complaints were included in a letter issued Monday by International Association of Firefighters Local 5026 President Spencer Nett that was signed by all 16 EMS staff members. Nett said there have been allegations of discrimination, harassment, racism, sexism, and unwanted physical touching. Documentation provided by Nett of such complaints included letters that had all identifying information redacted.

The village board felt that it was appropriate, said West & Dunn Attorney Benoit Letendre, who represents the village. He is entitled to due process. We are going to bring in an independent investigation team to thoroughly track down these leads, talk to the people who have leveled these allegations, and issue a report to the board.

Lake Delton Village Police Lieutenant William Laughlin was appointed as the interim chief during Hardmans administrative leave. Letendre said Tuesday the third party investigator has not been determined.

Hardman has been the Lake Delton Police Chief since July 1, 2014. Prior to joining the Lake Delton Police Department, Hardman worked for 26 years as a police officer in Chula Vista, California.

The village board also decided Hardman will retain independent counsel at the expense of the village. Hardman will also remain a consultant regarding the construction of the upcoming police station in Lake Delton.

Letendre added that any judgment regarding the allegations was premature due to the recent nature of them, which was another factor in the decision to place Hardman on leave. He said the decision keeps Hardman from influencing the investigation and protects the village if the accusations are proven beyond reasonable doubt.

The fact that we have placed Chief Hardman on administrative leave does not reflect poorly or positively on Chief Hardman, nor does it reflect poorly or positively on the witnesses who have made allegations against the chief, said Letendre. We just felt that in order to have a credible and thorough investigation, it was in the best interest of the village to remove, at least in the short term, Chief Hardman from his role as Chief of Police so that theres no doubt that an investigation will be independent.

Netts letter said that Hardman sees EMS employees as a second-class workforce and that he has publicly communicated his apathy towards the department, along with not advocating for its needs.

I just want to really convey how proud of my Local I am that everyone felt that they could come forward and trusted in my leadership to bring this to light, said Nett Monday.
JUNEAU  Dodge County is having trouble filling positions in critical areas, and the Executive Committee is examining ways to attract candidates to fill them.

The committee met Monday morning to examine possibilities and to address the problem that is reaching critical status. One of those areas is public health, which is down by 50 percent.

In November we had a public health nurse resign and in December our public health officer resigned and Thursday morning of last week another public health nurse tendered her resignation, said Rebecca Bell, Director of the Human Services and Health Department. With that resignation on Thursday we are down three nurses with a staff of six. We have not had a lot of applications for the positions, so Id like to propose doing some type of sign-on bonus, and a retention bonus for the nurses who remain.

She proposed a $6,000 sign-on bonus and a $1,000 quarterly retention bonus for those who remain.

The intent is to follow the October 2021 policy regarding sign-on bonuses and bring this to the Human Resources Committee on Feb. 14, said County Administrator Jim Mielke.

Public health nurses and officers in Columbia and Sauk counties have left their positions in the last year as well. Other critical areas include nursing staff at Clearview, sheriffs office and jail staff. Bonuses may be a help, but a larger problem seems to be finding people with proper qualifications. The subject is a standing item on the Executive Committee agenda.

What are the reasons that three of the six public health nurses gave for leaving their positions? Asked Executive Committee member Kira Sheahan-Malloy.

Bell responded, The COVID-19 pandemic has presented some challenges for staff. I think that COVID has been a considerable stressor.

Mielke pointed out that none of the three staff members has gone back into public health.

I guess I wonder how a sign-on bonus is going to help address the COVID-19 challenges? Sheahan-Malloy added.

Its certainly not going to address the COVID-19 challenges, but it will help us with recruitment, said Bell. We have not had a recruitment that was as fruitful as I thought it would be. Those roles are very, very important.

Programs offered by the Public Health Office include car seat education; community education; cribs for kids; environmental health services; smoking solutions for pregnant women; dental fluoride varnishing for children; health checks; infant home visits; immunization programs; lead poisoning prevention, screening and follow up; partner counseling and referral services; prenatal care coordination; child screenings for blood pressure, hearing and vision concerns; TB skin testing; the Wisconsin Well Woman program; and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program.

Its all about preventing diseases, promoting healthy living and lifestyles and protecting the people of Dodge County against illness and emergencies of all kinds, said Sauer. We promote preparedness and prevention so people are ready for anything. With COVID the demands on our resources and our jobs all became more than full time.

This is just one way were trying to recruit people for public health, said Bell. Just like were doing for the sheriffs office and for Clearview.

One person is now being interviewed for the public health officer position. No qualified candidates have yet applied for the two public health nurse positions.

I just dont feel like a bonus is the solution, but I certainly wont stand in the way, said Sheahan-Malloy.

Mielke said he also is uncertain that is the answer, but its come to the point with public health that there needs to be an attempt. Were certainly open to other ideas of how to approach this but its following the existing policy and trying to be consistent. We can attempt this and evaluate it and see what the response is and also look at other options as well.

He said there is a need to also dig deeper into the reasons there has been that kind of turnover and address the issues.

I really think that the sign-on bonus is a start, said committee member Dave Frohling. I think that the commitment from this county board to support the public health officer is critical.

Sauer said at the time of her resignation, I really love public health but it has become really political. Theres a lot of push-back, and resistance to public health protocols that we know are so good like mask wearing, vaccinations and other measures. Its tiresome.

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JUNEAU  A 39-year-old Minnesota woman made her initial appearance Friday in Dodge County Circuit Court for her seventh offense of driving while intoxicated related to a 2016 conviction in which she used another womans drivers license.

Ebony Lane, from Columbia Heights, Minnesota, appeared in person in the courtroom of Dodge County Circuit Court Commissioner Steven Seim. Lane was released on a $1,000 signature bond. As conditions of her bond, she must maintain absolute sobriety and shall not be in a motor vehicle operated by anyone under the influence of any intoxicant. She shall not operate a motor vehicle without a valid drivers license.

Lane was arrested on July 4, 2016, for her first offense of OWI, but had identified herself as a different individual. According to the criminal complaint, shortly after the conviction, Lanes true identity was discovered. The information was provided to the Dodge County District Attorneys Office at that time, but there was no known record at the time that the correct person had been charged in the incident.

However the actual owner of the drivers license recently came forward asking for the arrest off her record and with the new information, the charges were updated to include the past arrests for Lane.

According to the criminal complaint, Lane had been pulled over around 4 a.m. on July 4, 2016, after another driver reported her vehicle was driving all over the road. Lane was pulled over and presented a valid drivers license belonging to a 26-year-old woman who had no previous drunken driving arrests. Lane had a blood alcohol level of .15 at the time of her arrest.

Around that time, a member of Hennepin County Probation and Parole in Minnesota contacted the Dodge County District Attorneys Office stating that they believed the person who was arrested was Lane. Dodge County Sheriffs Office confirmed it was Lane after determining that the car driven that night belonged to Lane and her mugshot matched the ones that Hennepin County had of Lane. Lane would have been convicted of her sixth OWI if she was identified correctly at the time.

In December, the victim contacted the Dodge County Sheriffs Office saying she was trying to get her license back that was revoked because of the conviction in 2016. The woman said she had lost her license in Minnesota and believed that someone else found it and used it when they got the OWI. The woman said that on the date of the offense she was on a plane headed to Florida. She said she was unable to resolve the matter with Minnesota.

While working with the victim, the Dodge County Sheriffs Office contacted the Dodge County District Attorneys Office about looking at the records and a motion was filed to reopen the court case and have it dismissed and vacated. The statute of limitations on the original arrest still allowed for prosecution which led to the case against Lane being opened.

Lane had previously been convicted of OWI in Minnesota in 2002, 2003, twice in 2005, 2017 and 2018.

A preliminary hearing for the case is scheduled for March 17.

Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760.

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Years after lawmakers promised to replace a juvenile corrections facility steeped in controversy and multimillion-dollar settlements, a bipartisan bill that came before a hearing Tuesday would authorize $42 million in borrowing to build a juvenile correctional facility near Milwaukee.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has long committed to closing the embattled Lincoln Hills juvenile prison, would almost certainly sign the bill into law.

The bill, SB 520, would likely hasten the relocation of youth imprisoned at Lincoln Hills School for Boys and the Copper Lake School for Girls in northern Wisconsin, facilities that in the last decade have faced reports of child neglect, violent outbursts from inmates, use of pepper spray to cause bodily harm and intimidation of witnesses.

Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, said at the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee hearing Tuesday that it was frustrating to see years of partisan squabbles following the decision to close Lincoln Hills lead to no replacement.

The only people that are really being harmed by this are the juveniles that are in those facilities, he said. Still, its gratifying that were finally moving forward to provide our most troubled youth with a suitable facility with the best possibility of rehabilitation.

But the new facility, if the bill is passed, likely wouldnt be ready for years to come.

As the bill awaits approval, the state Department of Corrections requested $3 million to replace Lincoln Hills boilers, water heaters and electrical panels, which the state Building Commission is set to review Wednesday.

The Lincoln Hills repairs are needed soon because the facilitys appliances are beyond their intended life expectancy, the agency request stated.

When a replacement facility is funded and youth moved, DOC intends to continue using the facility, agency spokesman John Beard said in a statement. There are plans to convert it to a minimum-security adult institution. So, whether for youth or adults, the facility will still be used and needed maintenance will continue.

Lincoln Hills is located in Irma, about 30 miles north of Wausau.

Years of delays

The bipartisan bill comes up for a hearing nearly four years after Republican then-Gov. Scott Walker signed a measure authorizing the state to shut Lincoln Hills by January 2021 and replace it with smaller, more regional facilities.

The bill Walker signed into law received unanimous support, but then momentum slowed.

Evers in 2019 signed into law a bill extending the closure date to July 2021, but he later said that wasnt a realistic deadline.

While money had been made available for counties to build youth corrections facilities, and the state Buildings Commission approved the expansion of the mental health-focused Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, the state effort to create a smaller Lincoln Hills replacement lagged behind, causing a ripple effect.

Weve created two out of the three legs of the stool, but until we do the third one, were not going to be able to realize the whole thing, said Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, a former state public defender.

Evers in his two budgets since he became governor proposed creating replacement sites for Lincoln Hills, but each was rejected by the Legislature.

Similar to the bill that came before a Tuesday hearing, he asked for around $46 million to build a facility in Milwaukee County in his proposed 2021-23 biennial budget.

Republicans instead set aside $4 million to begin site selection and design in a move Democrats said would further delay closure of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake facilities. The state Building Commission Wednesday is set to review a request for $2.4 million of that amount for the continued planning, selection and design of a Milwaukee County juvenile facility.

The Legislature also rejected Evers earlier proposal to use $115 million to construct state-run, high-security juvenile facilities.

Its great to hear the Legislature is finally considering coming to the table on this issue, but its unfortunate it has taken this long after Republicans have repeatedly obstructed the governors efforts to reform our juvenile justice system and take meaningful action toward closing these facilities, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a statement.

Some improvement

There were 135 teenagers incarcerated at Lincoln Hills in March 2018, when former Gov. Walker signed 2017 Act 185 to close the facility. In early February, there were 38.

And in the last year, quarterly court-ordered reports have found improvement within the facility, though they clarified that problems remain.

There continues to be concern regarding programming, use of force, use of mechanical restraints, youth self-confining, quality and quantity of education, and other issues, wrote monitor Teresa Abreu after a January visit. However, overall, youth and staff morale were good and there has been progress in some areas of the consent decree from the last site visit.

Abreu also suggested expanding music, art, gardening and welding programs as well as other programs that would reduce idleness during weekends and evenings.

A Copper Lake counselor Tuesday put it more bluntly, saying the facilities continue to be toxic for staff and youth.

Staff have been holding on for far too long now and they cannot hold on any longer, counselor Anthony Bullard said.

The new system would be a massive change for the better, Goyke said, with a far lower capacity and a location better for visitors.

It will not be hours and hours away from the most populous communities, which is disproportionately where kids come from and where they go home to, he said.

The new facilitys location near Milwaukee would be a critical factor in reducing future crime. Studies show people commit fewer crimes when they are visited in prison, which would be more likely in a community close to their homes.

Another snag?

While lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates agreed Tuesday that a facility closer to most of the youths homes should replace Lincoln Hills, the potential placement of that facility triggered pushback.

One potential site, the Felmers Chaney Correctional Center, is an adult facility offering qualified prisoners work release programs with local employers.

Advocates for the facility, including people who were housed there, testified Tuesday that converting the facility would amount to disposing of a critical tool that enhances community integration  and some lawmakers agreed.

Its dumb to close a facility where we need people to connect to work, said Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee.

Goyke said the bill does not clarify a location and that lawmakers cant find a better location if the bill doesnt pass in the first place.
One of the saddest stories I have read is one that is part of a long and beautiful book that I am rereading. Its the story of one of the characters in the book Beach Music by Pat Conroy. The book tells many stories by way of moving from present to past and includes several generations. The fictitious character with the story that broke my heart, was recalling how often he moved with his military family and how unsettling it was. That wasnt the sad part. Many people relocate with regularity and frankly it doesnt have to be traumatic.

The well-written narrative that moved me is about arriving at a new school in February, just before Valentines Day. There was a big party that day and the teacher had made boxes with the names of all the children in the class. The kids were to deposit their Valentines cards in the boxes for their friends. You guessed it, he received not a one. No one knew who he was.

Im fairly certain that these days the schools either dont celebrate this holiday, or the teacher instructs the children to bring a card for everyone, but when I read this account of a child being slighted, my heart sank.

This may seem like an insignificant event in life, but anyone who ever had a child or was a child knows better. Being slighted, being made to seem invisible is one of the greatest of assaults on anyone, least of all, a child. Of course, there are many worse fates for young people, but none the less, this kind of exclusion can leave its mark.

Valentines Day was meant to be an annual festival to celebrate romantic love. Its history is a bit murky and the stories began in the third or fifth century AD. The myths and embellishing were added and what may have started as Galatin Day, which was a celebration of fertility and love, turned into many tales of saints and martyrs.

In ancient Rome they sacrificed dogs and goats and used the hides to whip women. Far worse than not getting cards in school. This brings a whole new meaning to hitting on women. Historians say they were drunk and nude and illicit relationships proliferated. Another story told of squelched love between a priest and a blind girl. Both ended up murdered. The priest signed his last letter to her From Your valentine. Boom. And, a whole industry was born.

Not unlike a choose-your-own-adventure story, lets pick the one about St. Valentine of Slovenia. He was one of the Saints of Spring. He was the patron of beekeepers, and it was said plants and flowers began to bloom and birds began to mate on this day.

Little did he know the day would morph into a billion-dollar business that includes diamond rings inside teddy bears. Many people overcome that simply by ignoring the day, declaring it a pseudo holiday and dismissing it like yesterdays coffee grounds.

Those of us who carried this all on willingly feel that by February we are all looking for something to lift our spirits in the middle of winter. Sending or receiving chocolate or flowers certainly fits the bill. Spreading a little love, and showing some kindness is a perfect way to stave off the winter blahs.

The upside is evident. Its a win-win for all concerned. The card companies and merchandizers make out like bandits, and the recipients are shown some gratitude by someone recognizing their existence. The senders feel good about themselves. All is well for another holiday. Until it isnt.

For those who have loved and lost, this is yet another reminder of what was and is no more. Doing something nice and remembering a friend or loved one can be a boost on an otherwise uneventful day. If just one person says, Hey, you matter, it can make all the difference. Or, like other days fraught with memories and punctuated with loneliness, when no one puts anything in your box, Valentines Day can be painful, but not as painful and being whipped or beheaded for love.

Kay Stellpflug is an educator and trainer in interpersonal and professional communications. She works and lives in Beaver Dam and can be reached at kaystellpflug@gmail.com.
Former President Donald Trump would routinely rip up documents, according to sources.
MAGA folk hate boycotts. But if Kandy Korn Kaligula wants a boycott, his worshippers will jump into action.

Today, the octogenarian ex-beauty pageant impresario issued the following declaration: "If AT&T/DirecTV cancels OAN, I hope that everyone will boycott and cancel DirecTV. It is a very popular channel, far more popular than most would understand, and they are being treated horribly by the Radical Left lunatics running the networks."

The Hill says OAN "holds an audience that is not large enough to be tracked by Nielsen Media Researchers."

OAN, as you probably know, is a far-right news channel that traffics in conspiracy theories, anti-scientific Covid-19 claptrap, support for the January 6 coup attempt, and baseless lies about election fraud. It's currently fighting two defamation lawsuits from different voting machine companies. OAN also unsuccessfully sued Rachel Maddow for saying "the most obsequiously pro-Trump right-wing news outlet in America really literally is paid Russian propaganda" on her MSNBC show.

Trump already has one sycophant boasting that he's canceled his DirecTV subscription  Rand Paul, the senator who told students that lying is a good way to get ahead, and who was the butt of many of Trump's personal attacks during the 2016 Presidential campaign. "Why give money to people to hate us?" said Paul.

It's unclear how DirecTV will survive without Mr. Paul's money.
Canadian protesters block access to the busiest international crossing in North America as demonstrations against Covid-19 measures continue.
An Invitation to Charter Day

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The following message was sent to the campus community Feb. 8, 2022 - Ed.

Dear William & Mary Community,

We will gather to mark Charter Day this Friday, Feb. 11, at 4 p.m. in Kaplan Arena. I hope you will join us in celebrating 329 years of learning and discovery.

William & Marys annual Charter Day Ceremony showcases our remarkable community and, as befitting a birthday party, it celebrates paths to growth and positive change. In recent years, weve highlighted joyful milestones for the university. We will do so again this year, the year of our Asian Centennial.

For the first time, Virginia tribal leaders will join the ceremony; the president of the W&M American Indian Student Association will lead us in acknowledging the indigenous inhabitants of this land;

Excerpts from the royal charter will be read in Arabic, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese and English, affirming our multilingual and global campus;

Student and faculty award recipients will be recognized;

Happy Birthday will be performed by the Accidentals a capella group;

A Winter Carnival with international cuisine, a DJ and games will follow the ceremony on the Commons side of Kaplan Arena.

As is also our practice, we will bestow honorary degrees, including to the person elected by the Commonwealths citizens to fulfill the oath to faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon [the Governor of Virginia]. Charter Day provides William & Mary an early opportunity with elected leaders to showcase the inclusive excellence of our community. Joining Governor Glenn Youngkin in receiving honorary degrees will be Congressman Bobby Scott  the first voting member of Congress of Filipino descent and the first African-American elected to Congress from Virginia since Reconstruction  and former professor and dean, Howard J. Busbee 65, J.D. 67, M.L.T. '68.

Friday promises to be great fun and a great way to reconnect. Please join in.

Best regards,

Katherine

________________________

Katherine A. RowePresident
A program on Feb. 10 by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, in collaboration with the Buffalo International Jewish Film Festival, recalls a period from 1933 to 1941 when authorities in Nazi Germany restricted Jewish artists to perform non-Jewish works to exclusively Jewish audiences.

The Jews were part of the Kulturbund, which Hitler propagandist Joseph Goebbels permitted in order to present a false impression to the outside world that Jews lived unencumbered lives.

Martin Goldsmith, best known as the former award-winning host of National Public Radio's daily classical music program, "Performance Today," learned from his parents later in life that they met as musicians in the Kulturbund. The couple fled Germany in June 1941, three months before the musicians and actors of the Kulturbund, no longer useful to the regime, were shipped off to concentration camps where most would perish.

Goldsmith wrote a book in 2000 about his parents' experience in the Kulturbund called "The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany." The book was turned into the 2019 movie "Winter Journey," co-written by Goldsmith and starring Bruno Ganz as his father.

The film will be shown at 6 p.m. Feb. 10 in Kleinhans Music Hall's Mary Seaton Room, followed by a discussion with Goldsmith and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor JoAnn Falletta. At 8 p.m., Falletta will raise her baton to Danish composer Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, Op. 29, "The Inextinguishable," a piece of music the Kulturbund symphony rehearsed but never performed.

This premiere program has Buffalo connections.

Peter Goldsmith, Martin's older brother, was the founding program director of Buffalo classical radio music station WNED.

And when Goldsmith's parents, Guenther Ludwig Goldschmidt, a flutist, and Rosemarie Gumpert, a violist, met in the Frankfurt Kulturbund in 1936, the conductor was Hans Wilhelm Steinberg. He later emigrated to Palestine and then to the United States where, known as William Steinberg, he began a seven-year stint in 1945 as the BPO's second music director.

"In a very real sense, JoAnn Falletta is the musical descendant of a very brave and inextinguishable artist of the Kulturbund," Goldsmith said of the BPO's ninth music director.

The soundtrack to "Winter Journey" features music the Kulturbund played, including Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Brahms, which gave Goldsmith the idea to pair the film with live music associated with what they played.

Last spring, Goldsmith approached Falleta, who he has interviewed several times on-air with Sirius XM Satellite Radio, about the joint program and she responded enthusiastically.

"The Kulturbund musicians were very aware of the meaning of this remarkable work, and in their terrible situation they drew strength and hope from rehearsing Nielsen's work," Falletta said in the program notes. "The orchestra was disbanded before they were able to perform the symphony. We can only hope that the memory of the music continued to provide some small measure of comfort as they faced the tragic and terrifying end of their lives."

Guenther and Rosemarie Goldsmith settled in St. Louis, with Rosemarie going on to enjoy a long career in music. She played in the St. Louis Symphony for 21 years and 14 with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Guenther stopped playing and became a furniture salesman. Goldsmith believes it was his father's way of doing penance for surviving when so many he knew didn't.

One of the musicians from the Kulturbund came by to visit once, but they didn't stay in touch.

"My father didn't want to be reminded of what happened before," Goldsmith said.

For years, all Goldsmith knew about his grandparents was "they died in the war." It wasn't until Goldsmith was 40 that his father began to fill in the blanks and he learned, along with research for the book, the details of how they and other family members perished in the Holocaust.

Goldsmith also wrote "Alex's Wake: A Voyage of Betrayal and a Journey of Remembrance, the story of his paternal grandfather and an uncle who were among the 900 passengers on the Jewish refugee ship the St. Louis attempting to flee Germany in 1939.

The program to remember victims of the Holocaust comes at a critical time, Goldsmith said.

He noted the rise in acts of anti-semitism, a form of racism, the far right and the decision last month by a Tennessee school board to ban "Maus," cartoonist Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about his father's experience surviving the Holocaust.

PREVIEW

"Winter Journey"

Feb. 10 in Kleinhans Music Hall. 6 p.m. showing of the film, followed by a discussion with JoAnn Falletta and Martin Goldsmith, and then a concert of Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, Op. 29, "The Inextinguishable" by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Visit bpo.org.

Mark Sommer covers preservation, development, the waterfront, culture and more. He's also a former arts editor at The News.

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People perform folk dancing of a dragon made of grass at Langzhong ancient town in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 8, 2022. [Photo by Wang Yugui/Xinhua]

BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua)  "The performances in our new theater are often sold out, and even tickets for standing-room have to be added, which was unimaginable in the past," said Hong Shijian, head of the Quanzhou puppet theater in east China's Fujian Province.

Hong was talking about the well-received string-operated marionette performances at his theater during the Spring Festival holiday, or Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which ran from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 this year.

Quanzhou held various cultural tourism activities, encouraging tourists to visit cultural heritage museums and traditional Chinese opera houses to savor the culture of the city.

Besides Quanzhou, cities across China have provided tourism products like local cultures to attract more people. Many have avoided long-distance travel this year and stayed put to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Cultural Experiences

Online and offline cultural experiences are offered in many Chinese cities, covering different themes.

In Ningbo City of Zhejiang Province, nearly 100 cultural tourism activities were held during the Lunar New Year holiday in famous scenic spots, towns and villages, featuring local cuisine, folk customs, music, and exhibitions.

The city also sent out coupons worth 1 million yuan (about 156,873 U.S. dollars) online to spur local cultural tourism.

Cities like Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, famous for ice and snow-related tourism, have become hot destinations for tourists as the ongoing Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games draws global attention.

New products and consumption scenarios also give fresh expe111riences to visitors.

During the seven-day holiday, Ningbo has opened a cultural tourism market, pooling creative products and local food from neighboring cities, and adopting methods like the "blind box," VR, and livestreaming to bring more tourist involvement.

In January, China unveiled a development plan for the tourism sector. It aims to build a stronger modern system for the sector by 2025, integrating cultural development and boasting an improved barrier-free environment and services.

The integration of culture with tourism is a process for people to appreciate Chinese culture and enhance their cultural confidence, and promote the organic integration of social and economic benefits of tourism, said an official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Local Tours

Short-distance travel and private tours using an independent vehicle have become the choice of most tourists during this holiday.

Orders for intra-provincial tourism products accounted for 65 percent of the total, increasing significantly compared with the holiday period in 2019, according to China's leading online travel agency Trip.com Group, formerly known as Ctrip.

The preferences of tourists are reflected in their booking of vacation rentals.

According to Muniao, an online booking platform for short-term property rental, the number of intra-provincial homestay orders is expected to reach 1.53 times that of the same period last year.

The average number of days they stayed has dropped, with 58 percent of people choosing to stay for only one or two days.

Customers this year are less sensitive to prices, and their requirements for quality services are higher, according to a Muniao report.

(Source: Xinhua)
A boy shows a Chinese New Year decoration at the pavilion for translated Chinese books at the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 4, 2022. [Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa]

The reason behind Egyptian readers' growing interest in China-related books is that the Chinese culture is one of the closest to the Arab culture, and China's development success has made Egyptians curious about its experience, the fair's chief organizer says.

CAIRO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua)  Egyptian book lovers have treated themselves with hundreds of titles on China during the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), a major cultural event in the Egyptian capital that runs from Jan. 26 to Feb. 7.

More than 600 Arabic books translated from Chinese have been on display in the pavilions of Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group, a local publishing house mainly devoted to the Arabic translation of Chinese books.

"Our main goal is to be a cultural bridge between the Arab and the Chinese cultures," said Ahmed al-Saeed, CEO of Bayt Al-Hekma, during the two-week cultural feast.

Featured publications include books on China's history, literature, culture, geography and economy, dictionaries and lexicons, as well as best-seller Chinese children's books in Arabic.

"We also have a pavilion for children's books, with about 300 book titles, in partnership with China's renowned Jieli Publishing House," Saeed told Xinhua.

The language books were published by Egypt's Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group with its Chinese partner Peking University Press and Sinolingua, he noted.

People visit the pavilion for translated Chinese books at the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 4, 2022. [Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa]

Bayt Al-Hekma won the Best-translated Book award at the fair for its Arabic edition of Belt and Road Initiative: A Comparative Study of Regional and National Economies.

Saeed said the rising number of Egyptian students of the Chinese language and the close political, social, economic ties between Egypt and China are behind the rising attention to China among local readers.

Yasmine Ahmed, a student of the Chinese language at Ain Shams University in Cairo, came to visit the Bayt Al-Hekma pavilions because of its "rich and diversified" books on China.

"These books, whether in Chinese or translated into Arabic, help me a lot with my study," she told Xinhua.

Youssef Baghdady, a senior engineering student at the Egyptian Chinese University in Cairo, said he came to buy Chinese-learning books as he plans to work for one of the Chinese companies operating in Egypt after graduation.

"Many people who work there are Chinese. We can communicate in English but being able to speak Chinese with them can better boost your career," the young man explained.

This year's CIBF is held at the Egypt International Exhibitions Center, with the participation of 1,063 publishers from 51 countries.

People visit the pavilion for translated Chinese books at the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 4, 2022. [Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa]

It received 1 million visits during the first nine days and the number is expected to reach 2 million by the end of the fair, up by 20 percent from last year's edition, said Haytham al-Hajj Aly, head of the General Egyptian Book Organization and chief organizer of the CIBF.

The reason behind Egyptian readers' growing interest in China-related books is that the Chinese culture is one of the closest to the Arab culture, and China's development success has made Egyptians curious about its experience, he told Xinhua.

(Source: Xinhua)
Daniela Sena selects the Chinese New Year decorations at a market in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 19, 2022. [Xinhua]

Daniela Sena, who has been living in China for 11 years, now works as a live-streamer on a cross-border e-commerce company in Shenyang.

Her daily work mainly includes selling Chinese goods to overseas buyers via live streaming. For Daniela, the Spring Festival has become an important chance to experience the Chinese tradition and custom.

"During the Spring Festival, elderly people usually give red envelopes to younger ones. Now, I will give this 'lucky money' to my family and friends as well," Daniela said.

In addition to giving red envelopes, wearing new year clothes, pasting the Spring Festival couplets and eating dumplings also draw her attention during the Spring Festival season.

Daniela Sena sells products through livestreaming in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 19, 2022. [Xinhua]

Daniela Sena (R) sells products with her colleague through livestreaming in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 19, 2022. [Xinhua]

Daniela Sena holds the Chinese New Year decorations in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 19, 2022. [Xinhua]

Daniela Sena (R) sells products with her colleague through livestreaming in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 19, 2022. [Xinhua]

(Source: Xinhua)
Woodward, OK (73801)

Today

Partly cloudy. Windy this evening. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 38F. NNW winds at 25 to 35 mph, decreasing to 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Windy this evening. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 38F. NNW winds at 25 to 35 mph, decreasing to 15 to 25 mph.
Tahlequah is a small city nestled at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in the Cherokee County in the northeastern portion of the US State of Oklahoma. Tahlequah forms a part of the States Green Country region and serves as the capital of both the modern Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. As per local legends, the citys name has been derived from the Cherokee words, ta-li and ye-li-quu, which means two are enough. Tahlequah is also home to the main campus of Northeastern State University.

Geography Of Tahlequah

The Illinois River in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

The city of Tahlequah covers a total area of 32.43 sq. km, of which 0.10 sq. km is occupied by water and 32.33 sq. km is occupied by land. The County Seat of Cherokee County, Tahlequah, is situated close to Lake Tenkiller and the Illinois River, approximately 64km west of the Arkansas state line at the meeting point of US Highway 62 with the State Highways 10, 51, and 82. Tahlequah is also located about 74.03km west of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and 94.95km east of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Climate

According to the Koppen climate classification, Tahlequah experiences a humid subtropical climate with very hot and humid summers and cold winters. The hot season lasts from June to September, with July being the hottest month, having an average high temperature of 33.3C and a low temperature of 21.1C. The cold season lasts from November to February, with January being the coldest month, having an average low temperature of -2.2C and a high temperature of 9.4C. The city receives an average annual precipitation of 50.23 inches and an average snowfall of 6.1 inches.

The Population And Economy Of Tahlequah

Native American princesses on a float during the Cherokee National Homecoming Parade in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Editorial credit: Vineyard Perspective / Shutterstock.com

In 2019, the city of Tahlequah had a population of 16,667 people with a median age of 29.1. As of 2019, about 990 people (5.94% of the residents) of Tahlequah were born outside the country. The most common birthplace of the foreign-born residents of Oklahoma is Mexico, followed by Vietnam and India. The largest ethnic groups in Tahlequah are the non-Hispanic White representing 48% of the citys population, followed by the American Indians and Alaska Natives at 28%, two and more races at 11.2%, Hispanic White at 4.05%, and other races at 2.86%. Several people in Tahlequah speak the Cherokee language, and 94.6% of the citys residents are US citizens.

As of 2019, the median household income in Tahlequah was $37,177, and the median property value was $124,600. The average car ownership in Tahlequah was two cars per household. The largest industries in Tahlequah are Educational Services, Health Care & Social Assistance, and Retail Trade. The highest paying industries in the city include manufacturing, Public Administration, and Utilities, while the largest universities in the city include the Northeastern State University and the Beauty Technical College Inc.

Tourist Attractions In Tahlequah

Northeastern State University

The city of Tahlequah is home to the main campus of Northeastern State University. The Northeastern State University serves as Oklahomas oldest institution of higher learning and one of the oldest institutions of higher education situated to the west of the Mississippi River. The Northeastern State University was founded on May 7, 1851, as the original Cherokee National Female Seminary. At present, the Northeastern State University contains five colleges that offer about 13 pre-professional programs, covering Business & Technology, Education, Health & Science Professions, Liberal Arts, and Optometry. In addition to this, the University also offers 18 graduate degrees and 69 undergraduate degrees.

Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum

This building housed the Cherokee National Supreme Court since 1844, as well as offices for the Cherokee Advocate, the newspaper of the Cherokee Nation. Editorial credit: PhotoTrippingAmerica / Shutterstock.com

The Cherokee National Supreme Court was constructed in 1844 by James S. Pierce on the southeastern corner of the town square in downtown Tahlequah. The Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum is Oklahomas oldest public building. This historic building once housed the Cherokee National Supreme Court and has presently been converted into a public museum. The building also hosted the original printing press of the Cherokee Advocate. The Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum also features a wide variety of valuable historical items that tell stories about the Cherokee National Judicial System, the Cherokee language, and the Cherokee Advocate and Phoenix newspapers.

Cherokee National History Museum

The Cherokee National History Museum exhibits are housed in the original Capitol building of the Cherokee tribe in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Editorial credit: PhotoTrippingAmerica / Shutterstock.com

The Cherokee National History Museum is housed in the historic Cherokee National Capitol building at 101 South Muskogee Avenue, Tahlequah. The Cherokee National Capitol Building has been designated as a National Landmark and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This art and cultural history museum contains 370 sq.m of space for permanent exhibits and 93 sq.m of rotating gallery space. The museum exhibits many works by Cherokee nation artists and artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution, Cherokee Nation Archives, Gilcrease Museum, and the Oklahoma Historical Society.

Brief History

The Cherokee National Museum lies on the grounds of the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, where the tribe's history, culture, and arts are preserved and celebrated. Editorial credit: PhotoTrippingAmerica / Shutterstock.com

The Cherokee Indians initially inhabited Tahlequah. In 1839, Tahlequah was designated as the capital of both the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee. As per local legends, the citys name has been derived from the Cherokee words, ta-li and ye-li-quu, which means two are enough, and refers to a meeting of two federal commissioners, who instead of waiting for the arrival of a third commissioner, designated the place to be the endpoint of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. By 1842, the town had four stores and supported a thriving business community. In 1843, the townsite was set out on the Cherokee Council grounds, and in 1844, the Cherokee Supreme Court Building was built. In 1852, the first incorporation act of Tahlequah was issued by the US district court at Muskogee. In due course, the town grew around the capitol square, a government complex containing log or frame structures. However, most of these buildings were destroyed during the American Civil War. After the Civil War, efforts were made to rebuild the town. A new brick capitol was built and first occupied in 1870. In 1907, the building became the Cherokee County Courthouse at the time of Oklahoma statehood. In 1970, the building was returned to the Cherokee Nation. On June 18, 1940, the city of Tahlequah adopted its Charter. With an approximately 39% growth rate, Tahlequah was Oklahomas fourth-fastest growing city during the 1990s.
Canadian protesters block the busiest international crossing in North America as tensions ramp up over Covid-19 rules
Justine Johnson, who is accused of killing her daughter, is seen in this undated booking photo from the Iosco County Sheriff's Office.
US Vice President Kamala Harris participates in the White House's Virtual Passover Celebration with Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff (L) at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2021.
Courtney Schiersing weighed less than 2 pounds when Amy DeSantis first laid eyes on her in the neonatal intensive care unit at Womens & Childrens Hospital.

The newborn arrived after 26 weeks in the womb, more than three months earlier than expected, at roughly the threshold for survivability in 1999.

Baby and nurse stayed connected through many milestones during the two decades since, including on Monday, when Schiersing celebrated her 23rd birthday working side-by-side with her protege in the NICU at Oishei Childrens Hospital, which replaced Women & Childrens in 2017.

I am the only health care worker in my family, Schiersing said beforehand. It was mainly based off my interest in learning how I was born and later seeing the NICU and all the babies like me.

Schiersing and some of her fellow 175 Oishei neonatal ICU nurses were born at the former Buffalo childrens hospital, though officials with parent company Kaleida Health arent sure how many. There almost certainly have been other NICU babies who went on to become nurses elsewhere. But this is the first time veteran nurses remember a baby born in the Childrens NICU who ended up working alongside the nurse who handled her primary care years earlier.

An early arrival

As a child, Schiersing wanted to be a teacher. That changed when she was about 7, and began to understand what life was like in her first few months.

Everything changed, said her mother, Jackie, and she wanted to be a nurse. As she got older, it was I want to work in the NICU someday. I want to be like Amy.' 

Jackie Schiersing's second pregnancy was typical through almost 25 weeks. At the time, she and her husband, Dave, had a 2-year-old son, DJ.

Early that February, she fell ill at work. Within hours she went into premature labor that an obstetrics team at Sisters Hospital stopped with intravenous medications. They sent her home on bed rest, along with IV drugs to prolong the pregnancy.

Courtney wouldnt wait. She was born Feb. 7 at Sisters, which didnt have a NICU at the time. She weighed 1 pound, 12 ounces, measured 12.4 inches long and was transferred to Women & Childrens before her parents had a chance to hold her.

Their daughter was placed into an incubator, called an isolette, to regulate her body temperature and onto a ventilator to enhance her lung development, as specialists talked with the Schiersings about perils ahead. The premature delivery could affect her brain development, causing a range of mental and physical challenges. Her hearing or eyesight might not fully develop. Because of the strain on her tiny organs, she might not make it at all.

They also said chances were good she would grow up healthy.

She was so little, her mother said. It was extremely scary.

In the shadow of such uncertainty, DeSantis became a bright light for Courtney, sharing realities  and hope  along the way.

She was very reassuring that any setbacks for Courtney were normal at her age, that it didnt mean she was going backwards, Jackie Schiersing recalled. Shed say, It's just a minor step back and she'll make up for it.' 

The first-year NICU nurse became primary caregiver each week during her three 12-hour shifts, talking by phone before 7 a.m. regularly with Jackie Schiersing, who two weeks after delivery went back to work so she would have maternity leave when Courtney came home. She and her husband ate dinner after work, left their son with loved ones and arrived at Children's to check in with Amy or another primary nurse starting their 7 p.m. overnight shift.

Her parents got their first chance to hold their daughter 37 days after her arrival, on March 16. Courtney left the hospital after 72 days. She weighed about 4 pounds.

Chasing a dream

Courtney Schiersing grew up and still lives in West Seneca. She turned her desire to become a NICU nurse into a mission while at West Seneca East High School, enrolling in the Life Science Academy before graduating in 2017 and enrolling in the nursing school at Niagara University. By the time she graduated in May, she already had become a presence in unit.

From high school right up until now, she has volunteered for anything that the NICU has done since she was a NICU grad,  DeSantis said. She's volunteered for every single occasion. The March of Dimes walk. Our bereavement programs. She's made blankets for preemies. She's a built-in, lifelong NICU nurse already.

Schiersing carried out her internship at Oishei Childrens, working with mothers recovering from giving birth, including to premature babies.

DeSantis is now one of her on-the-job trainers  called preceptors  who last month started to supervise Schiersing during her 12-week NICU orientation.

They hardly needed a reintroduction. DeSantis has received occasional cards, letters and photos from the Schiersings since Courtney left Women and Childrens in 1999, including on the new nurses first birthday. She also attended several West Seneca East sporting events when Courtney was a high school cheerleader, as well as her high school and college graduations.

Such activities are common for many NICU nurses, DeSantis said.

We spend more weekends and holidays with our babies than we do our own families, which is why we all become so close, she said. We get invited to lots of birthday parties, lots of celebrations  all the fun things after the stress of the NICU. One of the best parts of the job is seeing the babies afterwards, once they're growing up and thriving.

Paying it forward

Last year, 1,029 babies were cared for in the 64-bed Oishei Childrens neonatal ICU, the only Level 4 NICU in the region; 97% of them survived.

Schiersing said she developed asthma as a young girl, but it vanished during her teens. The only other physical remnant from her early days, she said, is her height. She, like DeSantis, is 5 feet tall.

She graduated from high school and college with honors. The approach she took to her education, community service and nursing at the start of the pandemic underlined her desire to help others, her mother said.

In spring 2020, while in her junior year in nursing school, Courtney volunteered with the Covid-19 response team at Buffalo General Medical Center. The work involved helping nurses tend to those sickened with the little-understood airborne disease during a time when treatments were far more limited.

The thought of that just terrified me because we know what Covid was like and what was really happening in the hospitals, Jackie Schiersing said. All I could say was 'OK, she's 21 and she's old enough to make her own decisions.'

They tell you that preemies are stubborn, and man are they correct, she added. Courtney is very stubborn, and very determined. She told me back then, If I had my license and I could, Id be in New York City right now. She's just a very caring person.

A little over a week ago in the NICU, one of her preceptors called Schiersing into a room where a concerned couple was going through the same ordeal her parents endured nearly 23 years earlier.

This is what 26 weeks looks like, the nurse told the couple when introducing the new NICU nurse. The astonished and comforted parents  of a tiny girl  later wondered aloud whether their daughter might one day be standing in very similar circumstances as a NICU nurse.

Schiersing and DeSantis say the hardest part of their job is the death of a child  and that they do their best to help families honor that child as they grieve.

The most comforting part: Rocking the many babies strong enough to leave their medical supports and take a bottle in the days before they go home.

That last piece of bonding takes place from chairs set up along the fourth-floor windows overlooking downtown.

If you love it as much as most of us do in the NICU, DeSantis said, it's not really even considered a job.

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Refurbishment works planned for benches and bins on Queens Square

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Feb 8th, 2022

The benches and litter bins on Queens Square are set to be refurbished for the first time in almost 30 years.

The work, which is due to start on 14 February, is being funded by the Welsh Governments Town Centre Recovery Fund.

The benches have been in place since the late 1990s and have been well used throughout that time.

Work is expected to take three to four weeks and any benches that have to be replaced will be identical to the original ones keeping the character of the town centre consistent.

Cllr Terry Evans, Lead Member for Economic Development, said: The benches have been in place for over two decades now and theyre looking tired and in need of some TLC.

We plan to refurbish or replace the benches and replace all the bins which will make this important part of the town centre attractive to visitors.

The Welsh Government Town Centre Recovery Fund was announced in July 2020 during the gradual easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

At that time outside dining could only be catered for by businesses and the fund aimed to help them purchase tables and chairs to allow them to adapt to this.

Although this funding initiative was successful in supporting businesses Wrexham Council say a surplus was identified which has now been redistributed to invest in town centre public improvements including street furniture and equipment.
Producer

Jacob is the Executive Producer of News 3 This Morning. He joined the News 3 team in December of 2020 as 6 pm Producer. In October of 2021 he was promoted to Executive Producer. Jacob is a proud alum of SIU-Carbondale.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday she will make an announcement Wednesday on the future of New York's mask and vaccine mandates that have been in place since December.

"We are trending in a very, very good direction," Hochul said, noting that the statewide Covid-19 infection rate was 4.2% Sunday, a rate not seen since early November.

Hochul says childhood vaccination rates will drive decision on ending school masking "Gov. Hochul and the Department of Health remain committed to doing everything possible to keep children, teachers and staff safe, and our schools open," a Hochul spokesman said Saturday.

The mandate requires all people in buildings that are not private residences to wear face masks unless the venue requires everyone to be vaccinated. It is scheduled to expire Thursday. A mask mandate in schools is set to expire Feb. 21. Hochul is getting a steady stream of pleas from educators and parents to lift the mask mandate in schools.

The drumbeat got louder Monday when the governors of New Jersey and Delaware announced that mask mandates in their schools will end next month.

"I'm going to continue to head in that direction. We're hoping to get to that," Hochul said. "I've said that for weeks. That is our goal."

Pandemic Lessons: When Omicron recedes, are we going maskless? Western New Yorks Covid-19 case count, which shot above 3,500 in mid-January, has plunged below 800. Hospitalizations are falling, too. Is it possible that soon masks may no longer be part of our daily existence?

And the executive director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents wants the state to announce metrics for removing mandates.

A theme we have repeatedly stressed to state officials is that thoughtful changes to their policies could help sustain public acceptance of whatever requirements that remain necessary or might become necessary as our circumstances change, Charles Dedrick said in a statement.

Hochul said she is in contact with the heads of large hospitals to check capacity and will be meeting with school superintendents Tuesday.

"I have a lot of metrics I'm examining right now," the governor said. "That doesn't mean we won't get to that place."

One of the metrics the state is looking at is vaccination rates, and Hochul said she wants to see the vaccination rate increase for 5-to 11-year-olds. She again asked parents to get their children vaccinated.

In reversal of earlier decision, Buffalo agrees to let maskless student attend school The agreement allows the 10-year-old boy to return to school Feb. 7 wearing a face shield. He will be provided bus transportation and will attend all classes with various safety protocols.

About 37% of 5-to 11-year-olds had one dose of the vaccine, and 29% were fully vaccinated by Sunday, according to the state Health Department. For 12- to 17-year-olds, 76% have had one shot, and 68% were fully vaccinated.

Not having to wear face masks will go a long way toward returning schooling to the fall of 2019, when no one had heard of Covid-19, and students laughed and joked when they ate lunch sitting next to each other in the cafeteria. But it's not the only thing that will get schools back to normal.

"It really means getting back to a pre-pandemic way of life," said Tarja Parssinen, a Clarence parent and member of Western New York Education Alliance. "I do think the pressure is on for New York State to reassess these things."

The group has been calling for a return to normalcy that would include the elimination of:

 School closures connected to Covid-19.

 Quarantines for close contacts in schools and day care facilities.

 Restrictions on extracurricular activities.

 Mask mandates.

 Asymptomatic testing for children.

With mask mandate set to expire, school leaders press Hochul for the 'off-ramp' "Your recognition of the need to move schools from the emergency phase of Covid-19 to a time when the presence of the virus no longer completely disrupts the school experience is both refreshing and essential," states a letter signed by 38 school superintendents in Erie and Niagara counties.

"I think we can really move forward with removing the masks in a safe way now that the numbers are falling and kids have had an opportunity to be vaccinated," Parssinen said. "I think parents would feel better if they just knew there was a plan."

That's what the state Council of School Superintendents told state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett in a letter last week.

"The critical issue with mandatory masking in schools at this moment is the urgent need for school leaders and parents to know the plan moving forward with concrete assurances from the state," the letter states.

The superintendents said the state should provide clear guidance on mask requirements, as well as how and when the requirements will evolve.

"The best way to do this is to provide reasonable, understandable, and achievable metrics based on recommendations from medical professionals for when masking rules will eventually be changed," the letter said. "Absent this clarity, families might assume that current rules and regulations will continue in perpetuity."

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The rapid and continuing surge in COVID-19 cases across Australia has exacerbated a systemic crisis in the countrys chronically underfunded and understaffed public hospitalsthe result of a decades-long assault by Labor and Liberal-National governments. The attacks have been enforced by the trade unions, including the health unions, through sell-out enterprise and industrial agreements.

There is growing anger and opposition among health workers to the harrowing conditions they face. Recent weeks have seen protests of nurses, including ICU nurses at Westmead and Liverpool hospitals in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). In NSW alone, there are currently 2,068 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital, with 132 in intensive care, 61 of those on ventilators.

ICU nurses protesting outside Westmead Hospital on January 19, 2022 (Photo: Facebook / NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association)

To contain the growing anger, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has been compelled to call a ballot on a state-wide nurses strike for February 15. The union is seeking to limit the action, isolate the nurses and direct them to plaintive appeals to the very governments responsible for the crisis.

The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) and Socialist Equality Party(SEP) are calling for workers to establish rank-and-filec ommittees in every workplace and community, independent of the unions, to fight for the resources needed to respond to the pandemic.The SEP has announced a public meeting this Saturday, entitled: Join strike action by nurses! Form rank-and-file committees. Lives over profit. We urge health workers to attend and to contact the SEP. Let us, and other workers, know what is happening in your workplace.

The WSWS spoke with an Enrolled Nurse, based in south-western Sydney, about her experiences, which echo those of nurses and other health workers across Australia and internationally, as healthcare systems are pushed to breaking point. The working class suburbs of the southwest have recorded the highest infection rates and deaths in NSW.

WSWS: Can you explain what has changed in your hospital since the upsurge in Omicron COVID infections?

EN: A lot has changed in how we deliver care. We are grossly understaffed on every shift and we have been told by our Nursing Unit Manager (NUM) that we need to get used to working short staffed with one or two nurses each shift, although this has already been happening every shift. There are always two Registered Nurses (RNs) missing and they are replaced by Assistants in Nursing (AINs). They are very rarely replaced with another RN or Enrolled Nurse (EN). The RNs are either on sick leave or they have contracted COVID or are waiting for a PCR test. An AIN cant dispense medication; they only assist with personal care.

Recently my boss told us that the model of care will potentially be changing, which means that the priorities of doing personal care will change. We wont be showering patients or getting them out of bed as much because we dont have enough staff. There is the possibility that patient observations, which should be performed every 46 hours, will change. It appears at present that this wont proceed but as everything changes every day, we dont know from one shift to another what will happen.

WSWS: What is the normal nurse-to-patient ratio?

EN: It is supposed to be 4:1, that is, one nurse looks after 4 patients. But even prior to COVID that wasnt the case. It was 5:1, but now we are seeing 6:1 and sometimes 7:1. We have had patients waiting to be discharged, sitting in the corridor. At times for RNs, it is 8:1. Many RNs are paired with AINs, with eight patients they have to give medication to, and they have to do it by themselves because AINs cant do it.

WSWS: So really there are no ratios?

EN: Yes, and my manager told us in a meeting that potentially there will be times you will have four staff with 28 patients. That is what we have on night shift which is different to day shift because we dont have to do Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), which includes showers, meal setups, getting patients out of bed. It is still very tough on night shift with only four staff but mostly manageable, but it will be mayhem if we have four staff and 28 patients on a day shift. They either cant fill the staff who are missing because there are no staff to fill or they have been deployed to other wards. Increasingly, NUMs and after-hours managers are putting a lot of pressure on staff to do overtime and if we refuse there is a guilt-trip: your fellow nurses will be short staffed. We are called from the after-hours office saying: if you dont find another staff member you wont get anyone else.

There is pressure on the nurses to call all our colleagues to ask them to come in and do overtime, because there are only 5 of us with 28 patients. The majority say no. I rarely do overtime because it is so difficult to manage doing 16 or 18-hour shifts, then coming in the next day at 7am. It is very tough on our mental health. At one point the kitchen staff were refusing to hand out meals and were going to leave it on the trolleys because they dont want to be in touch with infected patients. That would have meant the nurses would have to hand out the meals too, adding another job onto our lists. At this stage that has been overruled but were ready for that to change also.

Next week, speech pathologists, physiotherapists, Clinical Nurse Consultants who carry out different specialities will be brought onto the ward to help with the ADLsshowers, meal setups, getting patients out of bedbecause the nursing staff cant manage the workload. We have high acuity patients who have heavy care requirements. Our ward is urology/colorectal specialty, but we are now getting patients from other wards which have been changed to COVID wards, so their patients were transferred to us. This means our ward is catering for an array of patients outside of the urology/colorectal speciality.

We are all wearing a lot of PPEmasks, goggles, then face shields and plastic gownswhen in infectious wards which is very difficult and also we cant take them off to have a drink or go to the bathroom. The only time we can is on our breaks so it is very difficult if the breaks are missed or delayed, which happens.

WSWS: You have been informed that they were looking at deploying positive asymptomatic nurses into the COVID ward. Who told you that?

EN: The NUM (Nursing Unit Manager) at a meetingthis has not yet been implemented because the directors are looking at the data from the UK and US, where they have carried out this practice, as to how successful that was. If they think it is beneficial to the running of the hospital then it will be implemented.

The rules for close contacts isolating have changed. The rules change every couple of days because they cant sustain nurses being absent so they alter the close contact rules.

Prior to this, if a nurse was positive and was in the vicinity of a patient or staff without a masklike in the tea roomyou would have to isolate. You would be paid but if you developed symptoms you would have to call the manager to say so and you wouldnt be paid COVID leave but you would have to use your own sick leave (if you have any left). COVID leave doesnt come out of sick pay.

WSWS: What is the feeling among nurses about all the changes?

EN: Shell shocked. We are dealing with situations that are like something out of a movie. We sometimes look at each other and are gobsmacked and ask, is this really happening? Do we really have three patients on trolleys in the corridor right now with no beds? What if a medical episode happened with that patient? There is no equipment to use to assist that patient.

Nurses are becoming fed upespecially senior nurses, who have seen the hospital turn from when they started, to now. They dont understand how nurses can be treated so badly by the hospital management, that we are expendable. The management doesnt listen to us or our concerns. Or if they do, they say, we understand but we cant do anything about it, it is out of our hands. They say, we understand you are stressed, burnt out, emotional at times but we cant do anything about it. You have to deal with it.

Our hospital didnt use to be a COVID hospital, but now it is. It used to be that COVID patients were transferred to a larger south-western Sydney hospital, but they cant take any more so other hospitals have become COVID hospitals.

In my hospital there are now five COVID positive wards with around 2830 patients in each ward. All those wards had specialtiesgeriatrics, orthopaedics or upper GI (gastrointestinal) and those patients have had to be transferred to other wards or discharged. Around 140 patients have been shipped to other wards.

We are also discharging patients that are not ready to go home, like patients who have drains and we have to teach them how to look after the drains at home. Before, we rarely taught patients to manage their own drains, but organised community nurses who would go into patients homes to do them. Im assuming community nurses are run off their feet too.

With all the changes to the hospital and our routines, nurses are struggling to keep up and manage their day-to-day workloads. Its now trickling into personal life as were all too tired to engage in activities with family or friends.

WSWS: What do the patients think?

EN: Sometimes they think we are too slow. Most are lovely and understanding and know we are run off our feet. Families cant come onto the wards now so we have to assist the patients much more.

WSWS: How many extra nurses do you think are needed?

EN: Enough to sustain the 4:1 ratio.
BNSF Corwith rail yard with downtown Chicago in background (Photo by Richard Hurd, distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license)

The World Socialist Web Site urges railroad workers to contact us with your comments. All submissions will be kept anonymous.

On January 31, the presidents of two of the main unions at BNSF sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg over the new punitive Hi-Viz attendance policy at the railroad. The letter is an attempt at diverting workers attention from the unions own treachery, including its dutiful enforcement of an anti-strike court injunction. It also promotes illusions in the same capitalist state that is robbing workers of their rights to strike and to free speech on behalf of the company.

The new points-based attendance policy, which took effect February 1, significantly worsens the already overloaded and uncertain work schedules that leave train conductors and engineers unable to spend time with their families or even schedule doctors appointments. In addition, the policy will lay the groundwork for the carrier to discipline and even terminate experienced, higher seniority workers over only a few days of missed work, allowing the company to shift towards a younger, even more exploited workforce.

The letter to the Biden administration officials came less than a week after a federal judge issued an injunction against workers taking strike action against the new policy. The ruling was based on the reactionary Railway Labor Act of 1926 (RLA), which has been used to all but illegalize strikes in the railroad (and later the airline) industry for nearly a century. Judge Mark Pittman declared that the new policy, which threatens to reduce workers to the status of industrial slaves, would likely be determined a minor issue in his final ruling which, under the RLA, workers are prohibiting from striking against.

The letter from Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) President Jeremy Ferguson and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) President Dennis Pierce does not even mention the injunction, much less the political motivation behind the ruling.

The two union officials plead with the Biden administration to intervene on the grounds that the new policy endangers both the safety of workers and the public at large. Forcing these employees to choose between their job or their safety in the workplace is in complete contradiction to BNSFs obligation to protect public safety, and to provide a safe workplace environment.

It continues, Like all railroad employees, these essential employees [emphasis in original] have placed their health, and that of their families, on the line since the COVID-19 pandemic began. They have moved the Nations freight, working night and day, and are now being put in a position where their livelihoods could be at risk for simply following CDC guidelines for time away from work for exposure or care due to a positive COVID-19 test.

They continue, This policy and its draconian rules and standards fly in the face of railroad safety laws and regulations, and it disregards government recommendations intended to keep COVID-19 out of the workplace. As a result, available work force levels will be impeded and already historic levels of mid-career resignations will be increased.

In reality the Biden administrations policy, no less than BNSFs, is to subordinate health and safety to corporate profits. Rejecting as too costly any necessary measures such as mass testing and quarantining needed to bring the virus under control, Biden is not only getting rid of all coronavirus restrictions as more than 2,000 Americans die every day, but is even ending reporting structures for basic information such as infections and hospitalizations.

In an article summarizing Bidens COVID-19 policy, Politico wrote last week: The Biden administration is plotting a new phase of the pandemic aimed at conditioning Americans to live with COVID-19. The administration is planning a conscious messaging shift meant to get people comfortable with a scenario where the virus remains widespread.

As for Ferguson and Pierces observation that the new attendance policy will result in mass resignations and labor shortages, the Biden administration has responded to the nationwide labor shortage not by seeking to improve working conditions but through economic blackmail, ending supplemental unemployment benefits and cutting the recommended quarantining period to five days. Meanwhile, hospitals, schools, factories and other workplaces have enforced brutal levels of overtime, with 80-hour, seven-day workweeks not uncommon.

While this in many cases has produced sharp increases in resignations, the response has been to flood workplaces with poorly paid, often under-qualified replacements. In a bid to keep in-person classes going, school districts around the country are hiring substitute teachers off the street, and even using police officers in some cases. There is no doubt that BNSF has made similar preparations, and that the intended goal of the policy is to encourage high-seniority workers to quit.

Biden is relying on the services of the pro-corporate unions to enforce these policies against mass opposition. For example, the American Federation of Teachers, whose president Randi Weingarten is a top Democratic Party operative, played the central role in engineering the reopening of schools during the last two school years.

The United Auto Workers, which then-Vice President Biden gave billions in corporate stock in 2009 in exchange for its support for massive cuts to wages and benefits, has been engaged in a joint cover-up with management of the spread of COVID in the auto plants. In the meatpacking industry, where Biden has continued a Trump-era executive order mandating under the Defense Production Act that plants remain open, the United Food and Commercial Workers union even worked with management to create financial incentives for workers to stay on the job in spite of outbreaks.

Because of these and countless other naked betrayals, the growth of resistance of the working class is increasingly taking the form of a rebellion by workers against the corrupt trade union apparatus. Throughout the country and the world, teachers, autoworkers and health care workers have formed rank-and-file committees to oppose both management attacks and union treachery.

Biden is attempting to shore up and expand the reach of the unions through direct state intervention, in order that through these pro-corporate organizations, workers will be placed under a form of state guardianship as a means of containing and suppressing the growth of opposition from below. Thus, a report by a White House task force on the unions, which the WSWS will examine in greater detail, justifies government policy encouraging union membership by declaring that the federal government as a purchaser of goods and services has an interest in its contractors reaching first collective bargaining agreements to promote stability and minimize disruption of services and goods procured by the federal government [emphasis added].

In other words, the aim of the Biden administration in promoting the unions is identical to Judge Pittmans aim in outlawing a strike at BNSF. Biden himself showed his willingness to use compulsion to keep supply chains open when he threatened last October to deploy the National Guard to keep the ports in Southern California open. In the end, however, Biden achieved the same goal by hashing out a deal with port management and the unions to keep them running 24/7.

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a former building trades union bureaucrat turned mayor of Boston, personifies the corporatist strategy of the Biden administration. As for Buttigieg, for whom the post of transportation secretary is only a stepping stone to national prominence in the Democratic Party, he is a former Army intelligence officer and mayor of the ex-industrial city of South Bend, Indiana, whose signature achievement was to gentrify whole areas of the city to drive up real estate values.

The union bureaucracy wants to promote a sense of powerlessness by urging BNSF workers to look to these pro-corporate stooges for assistance. But workers are far from powerless and the railroad bosses, the Biden administration, the strikebreaking judges and the union bureaucrats know it. That is why they are desperately trying to prevent industrial action by BNSF workers and the more than 100,000 other railway workers whom the unions have kept on the job for two years after the expiration of their contract.

A nationwide strike by rail workers would paralyze the capitalist economy. On top of that, rail workers have powerful allies, the countless millions of workers across the country and the world who are fighting against essentially the same conditions. By appealing directly to the working class for support, rejecting groveling appeals to the powers that be and the strangulation of their fight by the unions, this struggle can be won. To achieve this requires the development of new organizations, rank-and-file committees.
At a special meeting of the Douglas County School District board of directors at its Castle Rock, Colorado headquarters February 4, the four-member conservative majority voted to fire school superintendent Corey Wise. Wise, who had worked in the district for 25 years, had been appointed superintendent last spring.

The ousting of Wise was the culmination of a week of turmoil in the district, as the boards new right-wing majority, elected last November, moved to purge the superintendent whom they viewed as supportive of mask mandates and other COVID mitigation policies.

Corey Wise (credit: Douglas County)

In a public Zoom meeting on January 31, the three members of the seven-member boards minority, Elizabeth Hanson, Susan Meek and David Ray, accused members of the conservative majority, including board president Mike Peterson and vice-president Christy Williams, of confronting Wise with the choice of resigning or being ousted by a board vote.

According to Ray, the issuing of the ultimatum to Wise was in violation of Colorados open meetings law, which requires that whenever two or more board members discuss a district-related matter, it needs to first have 24 hours notice and the meeting must be open to the public to observe.

According to a cpr.org report, The move to get rid of the superintendent took community members and the three minority board members by surprise. There was no board discussion, either public or in a private executive session, no notice of the board majoritys intentions, and no prior discussion with Wise about any problems with his job performance, according to Hanson, Meek and Ray.

Furthermore, the minority board members said that Will Trachman, an attorney brought on board by the majority, did not communicate with the board minority or with district legal counsel regarding the meeting with Wise. Hanson, who is an attorney, said that she would file an ethics complaint against Trachman for contractual and ethical violations.

The next day, Peterson claimed implausibly in a statement, Last weeks conversation, i.e., the ultimatum and threat, was to provide our superintendent with information needed to participate in an ongoing discussion. I will continue to engage all board directors on this matter.

That day, Thursday, February 3, hundreds of Douglas County educators requested substitutes, resulting in some 1,500 teacher absences, and forcing the closure of schools. Over a thousand teachers, parents and students braved freezing weatherand threats of retaliationto hold a lively protest at the school board headquarters in Castle Rock, the county seat, with many holding signs in support of Wise. An online petition to retain Wise had garnered nearly 9,000 signatures by then.

At the February 4 meeting, the minoritys motion to postpone the meeting was defeated. Although Peterson had said that the meeting would be public, and the minority had called for public comment, the board president claimed, Due to the meeting last Monday and numerous emails, we have had plenty of public comment.

There followed some debate and a plea from WiseLet me prove, and if I dont, then come out and have that conversation, but please dont do it over a weekenda closed executive session was called at which the foregone conclusion was carried out and Wise was sacked.

In an indication of the right-wing majoritys determination to oust the superintendent, Peterson acknowledged the unpopularity of the action. Just because a leader is loved and respected doesnt mean he has the skills, the vision and the capabilities to lead the large district, Peterson said.

After the vote, Hanson said, I need to be very clear that this decision was not about performance in any way, and that this is politics and its ugliest and purest and most destructive form, while Ray called the decision the day that you have devastated the education of over 60,000 kids.

With a population of more than 350,000, Douglas County comprises the southernmost suburbs of the Denver metropolitan area. It is just south of Littleton, Colorado, site of the 1999 school massacre. It has a 2-1 majority of Republicans among registered voters but went only narrowly for Donald Trump over Joe Biden in the 2020 elections.

In November 2021, however, a right-wing slate swept the school board elections, in the midst of confusion, anger and disruption caused by school closures, conflicts, lawsuits and fiery public meetings over mask mandates and other issues such as charter schools and the unsupported claim that the Douglas County school board was forcing critical race theory on unsuspecting children.

The conservative slate, cynically calling themselves Kids FirstPeterson, Williams, Becky Myers and Kaylee Winegar postured as advocates of parental control and won four seats on the seven-member board after a heated campaign. The slate was well-financed with dark money whose sources they were not required to reveal.

In addition, the slate, through its campaign manager Holly Osborne, was presented as not being ultra-conservative, but just wanting to achieve some balance on the board. In fact, Osborne claimed that the slate was open to such measures as boosting teacher pay through property tax increases and opposed school vouchers.

Once they were elected, however, the new majoritys agenda has not been aimed at balance.

On December 7, the majority voted to hire Trachman over the objections over costs and other concerns.

On December 8, the board passed a resolution allowing parents to opt out of mask wearing. State health officials scrapping of the standard for classification of an outbreak from two to five cases over two weeks for schools meant that undercounting would result.

According to a westword.com report: The overall number of new or tweaked entries in the CDPHEs January 26 outbreaks survey came in at 211  lower than the 237 on January 19, but more than triple the sixty counted just over a month earlier, on December 15. At present, 1,252 outbreaks are under active investigation, compared to 1,090 on January 19 and 889 on January 12. Of the new entries, 135 sites have experienced at least one prior outbreak.

Last week, outbreaks occurred in thirteen Douglas County schools.

In a January video presentation with two other local officials, Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon and County Health Board president Doug Benevento, Peterson denounced policymakers who react emotionally to case counts with fear, and institute one-size-fits-all mandates and restrictions.

In the same video, Commissioner Laydon stated that from now on, severity, not case counts, will set policy, and urged health care workers who had left the field to come back to work. He cited the agreement of policymakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties, including President Biden and Colorado Governor Jared Polis, that COVID-19 had become endemic, not pandemic.

Benvenuto, making the claim that the Omicron variant is less severe than Delta, declared, Until we see significant severity metrics, such restrictions will not happen in Douglas County and instead of reacting to case counts, we will respond to severity. Instead of responding with fear-driven mandates and restrictions, we will respond with courage and freedom of health care choice.

The school board minority offers nothing in the way of an alternative to the right-wing campaign that led to the firing of Superintendent Wise. Tied to the Democrats and the trade union apparatus, all they can offer working class parents and students is the failed vaccine-only policy that has helped spawn more vaccine-resistant variants. The overriding goal, as it is with the board majority, is to keep parents going to work while their children attend unsafe schools.

Parents and students in Colorado and elsewhere are showing the signs of growing resistance to both approaches to the pandemic. What are needed are democratically run organizationsrank-and-file committeesthat act independently of the bourgeois parties and their trade union adjuncts.
After thousands of US troops arrived in Eastern Europe this weekend to threaten Russias western borders, the European Union (EU) powers held high-level talks yesterday. French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz went to Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden, both to discuss NATO propaganda claims that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Events yesterday put paid to any claim that the European imperialist powers represent a kinder, gentler alternative to the US-led military escalation against Russia. While the EU powers both called for diplomacy, they unambiguously aligned themselves with the US plans to deploy tens of thousands of troops in Eastern Europe and back the entry of Ukraine and other states on Russias borders into the NATO military alliance.

Yesterday evening, after four hours of one-on-one talks in the Kremlin, Putin and Macron gave a press conference. While Putin claimed that Macrons proposals could be the basis of our further joint steps, he baldly warned of the danger of a world war if Ukraine joined NATO. I think this is a question of the safety not only of Russia but of the whole world, he said, adding: If everybody wants peace, whats so bad about not placing offensive missile systems near our borders?

Addressing a French reporter, Putin said: Ask your readers, do you want war with Russia? Because thats what will happen if Ukraine, which has made a pledge to take back Crimea by force, joins NATO  you will fight a war against Russia.

After the 2014 NATO-backed coup in Kiev led by far-right Ukrainian nationalists, the Crimea, a Russian-speaking peninsula with a Russian naval base at Sevastopol, voted to rejoin Russia. The NATO powers have refused to recognize the vote and have instead supported the Ukrainian regime as it threatened to storm the Crimea. Putin noted that such an attack would trigger Article 5 of the NATO founding treaty, requiring the NATO powers, including the United States and the major European powers, to enter into a war against Russia.

Russia is one of the worlds leading atomic powers. There would be no victors, Putin warned, adding that Macron does not desire such an outcome. Neither do I.

Macron flatly rejected Putins positions, however, and insisted on an Open Door policy allowing Ukraine to join NATO. He issued only vague proposals that there be transparency on missile bases that NATO would station on Russias borders were Ukraine to join NATO. At the same time, Macron lectured Putin, denouncing Russia for allegedly violating principles of international law.

These rights have been violated on our continent: the use of force, the inviolability of borders, non-interference in internal affairs, the failure to respect fundamental rights and human rights, he said.

Macrons allegations were echoed by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at a press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington. We are living, to my understanding, in the most dangerous moment for security in Europe after the end of the Cold War, Borrell said, blaming the crisis entirely on Russia. Nobody masses 140,000 heavily armed soldiers on a countrys border without posing a strong threat, Borrell said, denying the US stance was at all alarmist. This is not alarmism. This is simply the facts.

In reality, it is the NATO powers who are leading an aggressive war drive against Russia, based on an entirely false premise, that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. Even the head of NATOs puppet regime in Ukraine, President Vladimir Zelensky, has publicly declared that the Russian military is not poised for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Nonetheless, top NATO and EU officials endlessly claim that a massive military buildup is necessary to counter a Russian threat to Ukraine.

The hypocrisy of Macrons accusations was staggering: NATO is guilty of everything he accused Moscow of doing. In the 30 years since the Stalinist regimes 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union removed the main military obstacle to imperialist wars, the NATO powers endlessly used force. Repeated invasions or interventions against Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria and Mali collectively cost millions of lives. While NATO dismembered Yugoslavia along ethnic lines and bombed its capital Belgrade in the 1990s, it organized a putsch inside Ukraine in 2014.

The European powers shift to the right over this period is undeniable. In 2002-2003, before the US invasion of Iraq, based on the Bush administrations lies that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, Paris and Berlin joined Moscow in criticizing and opposing the US war drive. The war hysteria seizing European ruling circles amid the current US war drive against Russia was on full display in a recent Le Monde column by editorialist Sylvie Kauffmann.

No, we will not reopen over Ukraine the great conflict in the West over the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its supposed weapons of mass destruction. There will be no remake of the saga of the smoking gun, the proof of Saddam Husseins crimes that certain Europeans vainly asked from the US.  [T]he watchword is finally clearly formulated among the allies: unity!, she wrote, adding: The Russian president not only threatens the Ukrainians right to choose what camp they are in, but they are also questioning the settlement of the Cold War, which the United States won.

This orientation was on display as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Biden in Washington to pledge that Berlin would align itself with Washington against Russia. Biden stressed that he would halt the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, which successive US administrations have opposed, if NATO declares that Russia had invaded Ukraine. If Russia invadesthat means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, Biden said. We will bring an end to it.

Under pressure from reporters, Scholz did not explicitly commit to ending the pipeline project but pledged to work closely with Washington and the entire NATO alliance. We have intensively prepared everything to be ready with the necessary sanctions if there is a military aggression against Ukraine, he said, adding: We are absolutely united, and we will not be taking different steps.

Behind the reckless militarism of the NATO imperialist powers lie growing class and international tensions tearing apart the world capitalist system. NATO welcomes a war crisis as a distraction from the vast human cost and social crisis caused by its policy of mass infection from the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 2 million people have died in the NATO countries, and millions fall ill every week as governments lift all remaining public health measures in the face of growing working class anger. They are responding by trying to turn internal class tensions outwards into a war drive.

NATOs geopolitical calculations were laid out by French officials who insisted that a hard line with Russia could force it to submit to NATO and function as a base for use against China. Former social democratic foreign minister Hubert Vedrine told the Journal du Dimanche that aggressive dialog with Russia is essential. No one will make a written pledge that [Ukraine] will never be able to join NATO, he said, adding: [t]he Russian elites must not be happy about sliding towards China. We should rely on this wariness, which gives us a lever upon which to act.

Indeed, the bankrupt post-Soviet capitalist regime in Moscow, unable and unwilling to appeal to international working class opposition to war, sees no way out of this crisis. It is split between factions supporting an aggressive policy in Eastern Europe that could trigger war and others advocating abject capitulation to NATO. These latter factions made their views known in an open letter signed by Russian Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, echoing NATOs lying propaganda presenting Russia as the aggressor in Ukraine.

Calling on Moscow to abandon the criminal policy of provoking a war in which the Russian Federation will find itself alone against the united forces of the West, Ivashov demanded that Putin implement Art. 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and resign.

These remarks underscore that none of Washingtons capitalist rivals offers any alternative to the war drive the Biden administration is leading against Russia. The only force that can be mobilized against the war danger, as against the COVID-19 pandemic, is the international working class, based on a struggle for socialism and against imperialist war.
President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree "On increasing the monthly salaries of military servicemen of the prosecutor's office of Azerbaijan, who are not employees of the Military Prosecutor's Office."

According to the decree, the decision mentioned below has been made in accordance with paragraph 32 of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan to strengthen the social protection of military personnel of the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Azerbaijan who are not employees of the military prosecutor's office.

1. The monthly salaries of the military personnel of the prosecutor's office of the Azerbaijan Republic, who are not employees of the military prosecutor's office increased by 20 percent.

2. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan must resolve the issues arising from this decree.

3. The Military Prosecutor's Office of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Ministry of Finance of the Azerbaijan Republic must take the necessary measures to resolve the issues arising from this decree.

4. This decree is applicable since January 1, 2022.
Gov. Kathy Hochul says she's going to make an announcement Wednesday about the future of New York's mask mandate for indoor public spaces, which is set to expire Thursday. She's also meeting Tuesday with education leaders in a closed-to-the-press session about what to do about the mask mandate for schools.

Her decisions will come as governors in at least five other states announced this week plans to scale back or eliminate their mandates.

As of Tuesday, there's some form of a statewide mask mandate for schools in 15 states, including New York, in addition to Washington, D.C., according to the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy. Eight states ban mask mandates in schools.

Eleven states have indoor mask mandates in place, as does Washington, D.C.

On Monday, as cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid-19 continued to show a dramatic drop nationwide, the governors of five states made announcements about their plans for mask mandates, according to the Associated Press.

New Jersey  Masks will no longer be required for students, staff or visitors of schools and child care centers starting March 7, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday. Individual school districts and child care facilities will be allowed to require universal masking. Schools won't be allowed to bar the wearing of masks. New Jersey does not have a statewide indoor mask mandate.

Delaware  Delaware's universal indoor mask mandate will expire on Friday, Gov. John Carney said Monday. He also announced that the states school mask mandate will run through the end of March at which point it is scheduled to expire. That date was chosen to give parents time to get their children vaccinated.

Connecticut  Gov. Ned Lamont recommended a plan that would end Connecticut's mask mandate in schools and child care centers on Feb. 28. The decision to continue the plan would be made at the local level. The plan is contingent on the Connecticut General Assembly voting to extend the existing executive order that will expire Feb. 15, according to Lamont's office.

In Connecticut, unvaccinated people are required to wear masks in indoor public spaces where close contact is unavoidable. Lamont said he wants the mask mandates to remain in place in other settings such as "healthcare facilities, facilities housing vulnerable populations, public and private transit, and correctional facilities," he said.

Oregon  Oregons mask requirements for schools will be lifted March 31. The statewide mask requirement for indoor public places will be lifted no later than the end of March, health officials announced, according to the AP. The state health department indicated that the mask requirements could be lifted sooner if the number of new cases and hospitalizations drops faster than expected.

California  California is set to drop its universal mask mandate for indoor space for vaccinated people Feb. 16. "Everyone will have to wear masks in higher-risk areas such as public transit and nursing homes and other congregate living facilities, state officials said, according to the AP. Also, local governments will be allowed to continue their own indoor masking requirements. State officials also announced that indoor mega events with more than 1,000 people will have to require vaccinations or negative tests, and those who are unvaccinated will be required to wear masks. In Los Angeles County, which is hosting the Super Bowl on Sunday at SoFi Stadium, which is considered an outdoor facility despite having a roof, fans will have to show proof of vaccination and wear a mask unless they're actively eating or drinking, according to KTLA News.

Pennsylvania  Pennsylvania's Supreme Court struck down the state's school mask mandate in December.

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COVID-19 infections and deaths among nursing home residents and staff took a terrible toll last month according to the latest health data. In the week ending January 23, there were 42,584 resident cases, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. This number surpassed the record set during last winters surge, when vaccines were just becoming available.

Nursing Home in King County, Washington. (AP Photo/Ted Warren)

The number of resident deaths increased each week in the last month, with 1,298 people dying from the virus in the week ending January 23. However, this figure is down from the 4,100 deaths reported in the same week from last year, according to the CDC.

Nevertheless, the latest figures show how hard the highly contagious Omicron variant has hit the at-risk group of nursing home residents and staff with another preventable wave of infections and deaths.

During the week that ended January 9, there were more than 32,000 cases of COVID-19 among nursing home residents, with 645 deaths, a sevenfold increase from just a month earlier and a 47 percent rise in deaths. Among staff, there were 57,000 cases in the same week, a 10-fold increase from a month earlier.

These figures come on the heels of a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which found that more than 200,000 residents and staff in long-term care facilities have died since the pandemic began in early 2020, accounting for at least 23 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the US.

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, told the Associated Press as cases were surging in mid-January, We need to build a Fort Knox around protecting nursing homes, but were not doing that right now, and thats why cases are surging, adding, Were going to have exponential numbers of hospitalizations and deaths.

Vaccinations have saved lives and prevented even deadlier outbreaks in long term care homes, with recent tolls being eclipsed by the horrific records set in December 2020, when 6,200 deaths were being recorded in a week.

According to the CDC, 87 percent of nursing home residents have been fully vaccinated, with 63 percent having received a booster shot. The number of fully vaccinated staff is 83 percent with 29 percent having their boosters. The US Supreme Court recently upheld a Biden Administration mandate requiring most health care workers to get a vaccine.

Breakthrough infections still occur, despite vaccines and safeguards such as social distancing and increased testing. The Webster at Rye nursing home in New Hampshire was hit by an outbreak in late November despite its staff and residents being 100 percent vaccinated, although many were not boosted and were awaiting their shots. Six residents died as a result while dozens more were infected, including 20 staff.

Nursing home residents are also having to deal with longer wait times for COVID-19 test results. Slower response times for lab-based PCR tests and a shortage of rapid antigen tests have severely limited the ability to quickly identify outbreaks and quarantine individuals.

An analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found that 25 percent of nursing homes that sent tests to a lab waited on average three or more days for the results in January. A month before, the figure was only 12 percent.

The long waits for test results render them practically useless according to health officials, forcing many nursing homes to rely on rapid antigen tests. These however, have been compounded by shortages further straining efforts to contain Omicron in nursing homes. Experts point out that any delays in testing mean that outbreaks can emerge undetected, and breakthrough infections among the elderly have appeared to cause more severe symptoms.

The Biden Administration is sending 1 billion rapid COVID tests to households and another 2.5 million tests every week, but health experts say this is not nearly enough. A survey from LeadingAge in January, which lobbies for nonprofit nursing homes and other care for the elderly, found that 76 percent of nursing homes had adequate testing supplies, but that restocking supplies was getting more difficult. The American Health Care Association estimates that nursing homes need 5 million tests per week.

The rise in COVID-19 cases among nursing home residents and staff has also caused a shortage in admissions, creating a backlog of patients stuck in hospitals. Normally, hospitals would discharge patients into residential care, but the surge in Omicron means that these facilities have seen many staff get sick and unable to transfer new patients.

Staff shortages at nursing homes have included 234,000 caregivers leaving their profession during the pandemic, a 15 percent reduction. At one point during the pandemic, health care work was listed as the most dangerous occupation in America, according to death rates. These working conditions and shortages led Wisconsin to train 200 National Guard members to work as nursing aides.

Nursing homes have been struggling with understaffing for decades even before the pandemic. Many workers feared correctly that they could bring the coronavirus home to their families, while others struggled to care for children because of school and day care closures. Many became sick or died, or simply moved on to less hazardous and better paying jobs.

Admissions to nursing homes are still not at pre-pandemic levels with some patients delaying procedures, like hip replacements, because it would mean staying at a nursing home or some step-down facility. Many were also rightly concerned about the high rates of death and sickness in nursing homes as well as the isolation and loneliness.

Residents are also complaining of substandard care at their facilities, like not being changed or receiving meals on time. Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman in New Jersey told NPR that her office received complaints that facilities have one nurse taking care of more than 50 residents, when the normal ratio should be one certified nursing assistant for eight residents on the day shift. New Jersey has also deployed National Guard units to help nursing homes with worker shortages.

Many nursing homes have been forced to shut down or close wings of their facilities and reduce the number of new patients they accept, further exacerbating pressures on hospitals and primary caregivers.

The average length of stay in a hospital for patients being discharged to a nursing facility is up 21 percent in the last month compared to 2019, according to Careport, a company which connects patients in hospitals to long-term care facilities. The average hospital stay for patients being transferred to home care agencies, which are also dealing with worker shortages, was also up 14 percent during the same amount of time.
After nearly two years of strict curbs on international travel in response to the coronavirus pandemic, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced last week that a phased reopening of borders will begin later this month.

Until last October, the Labour-Green Party government had a zero-COVID policy for much of the pandemic, meaning that, except for a brief travel bubble with Australia, most foreign travellers were banned from entering the country.

Thousands of citizens and visa holders desperate to return were forced to make emergency pleas to the government or join a lottery system in an attempt to secure a spot in limited Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities at dedicated hotels.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses a post-Cabinet press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on October 4, 2021. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

The decision to re-open the border is in line with the governments pro-business agenda, like those internationally, to open up the economy, forcing the population to live with the virus.

Ardern told her audience, assembled by the BusinessNZ lobby group: With our community better protected we must turn to the importance of reconnection. Families and friends need to reunite. Our businesses need skills to grow. Exporters need to travel to make new connections. Its time to move again.

Far from being better protected, the country is experiencing an escalating Omicron outbreak, first detected in the community on January 23. The day of Arderns border announcement, the Ministry of Health reported 174 new cases. On Saturday there were 243, the highest number of daily cases since the pandemic began. Modelling expert Michael Plank noted that numbers had quadrupled within a week and thats pretty fast growth if that continues.

However, the government has declared that it does not intend to eliminate Omicron, but to slow the spread. The country is operating under the red setting of the three-tier traffic light system for managing COVID, which provides for minimal measures of mask wearing, social distancing and the use of vaccine certificates, but no lockdowns.

From 27 February, fully vaccinated New Zealanders will be allowed to return from Australia and self-isolate at home for 10 days, avoiding an MIQ facility. They will also be instructed to take two rapid antigen COVID tests.

A fortnight later, New Zealand citizens will be allowed to return from elsewhere in the world under the same conditions, as will their families. In response to growing pressure from employers over labour shortages, designated skilled workers will be able to enter while a working holiday scheme will resume in time for the horticulture harvest.

From April, non-citizens with visas and up to 5,000 fee-paying international students can enter and bypass quarantine. Tourists from the UK, US, Australia and other visa-free countries will be allowed to enter in July. Tourists from the rest of the world will be allowed to enter from October.

The system, based essentially on individual self-responsibility, is fraught with risks. The MIQ facilities, which have been directly responsible for keeping an estimated 2,000 cases out of the country, will only be used for non-vaccinated travellers. The self-isolation period will align with current settings for managing close contacts of cases. The government has indicated that as the outbreak expands, the isolation period will drop from 10 to 7 days.

Scientific experts gave guarded responses to the plans. Epidemiologist Michael Baker said the big question is around self-isolation, with its greatly reduced testing requirements, which requires a high trust model. Dr Emily Harvey told the Science Media Centre she was worried about the proposed self-testing regime. Unfortunately the proposed testing regime (rapid antigen tests on day 0/1 and day 5/6) is underpowered and is likely to miss a large number of infections, she warned.

In fact, the border re-openings have not been determined by public health considerations but under pressure from within New Zealand and internationally to do away with any remaining restrictions on business and travel operations, to reconnect to the world and return life to normal. Demands to disestablish the MIQ system have been growing louder for months.

The clamour boiled over last month with the case of Charlotte Bellisa five-month pregnant New Zealand journalist who had to approach the Taliban to stay in Afghanistan after her application for an emergency place in MIQ was rejected by authorities. The case received adverse publicity in the international media, generally implying the Taliban was being more humane than the New Zealand government.

Bellis, a former Al Jazeera journalist, wrote an open letter to the New Zealand Herald on January 29 drawing attention to her plight. Bellis case, based on her need for proper medical care, was completely legitimate. She was forced to leave Qatar, where she was usually based, because it is illegal to be pregnant and unmarried there. She and her partner, Jim Huylebroek, first moved to his native Belgium, but she was unable to stay there as she was not a resident.

Bellis claim was rejected by Immigration New Zealand because it was deemed to be outside the required time limits. In a bureaucratic run-around she was then told, including in a calculated public statement by COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, to re-apply under different criteria.

Bellis made it clear that she was not opposed to the border control system as such, but wanted to use her profile to try to move the dial towards a more empathetic response. Only 29 emergency applications involving pregnancies were successful since last June, a 13 percent success rate. Another 30 cases involving pregnancies are currently pending. A lawyer representing these women says rejections are usually only overturned once legal and/or media pressure is applied.

Unsurprisingly, Bellis was suddenly offered a place in MIQ and a flight booking home by the government last week, as it sought to bury the controversy. Meanwhile, she had become the centre of a tug-of-war over the border quarantine system.

Defenders of the Ardern government moved swiftly to try to discredit Bellis. Former Labour MP Darien Fenton tweeted: There is something deeply questionable about this story. I dont accept Afghanistan is the only place she could go. Daily Blog editor Martyn Bradbury piled on, describing Bellis as a grandstanding Karen, and occasional Guardian contributor Morgan Godfrey tweeted that she was a propaganda agent.

The case was inevitably seized on by sections of the media and political establishment that had been demanding the borders be reopened and the MIQ system dismantled, regardless of the dangers. Far-right ACT Party leader David Seymour declared that MIQ doesn't work, ties up valuable resources, and is unimaginably cruel. The National Party, which had been running an end MIQ petition prior to Christmas, differed only on the timing declaring, in the light of Omicron, that the government should announce a clear plan to end the misery of MIQ.

Media commentators fell into line. Radio NZs Jane Patterson described MIQ as a festering political boil. Stuff political editor Luke Malpass declared border controls had imposed a severe limitation on personal liberties, while simultaneously crimping the economy. The elimination tune, he cynically declared, has had its swan song and the band wont be getting back together.

In fact, with tens of thousands of students being herded back into schools, workers into unsafe workplaces and the borders being reopened, a calamity is looming. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has projected cases peaking at 80,000 a day, with more than 400 dead by the middle of the year.

There is, meanwhile, growing anxiety and opposition among working people to the pro-business response to the pandemic. As the Socialist Equality Group (NZ) noted in its recent Open Letter,  Join the fight to stop the pandemic and save lives in 2022!  these emerging sentiments must be transformed into a political movement of the working class to eliminate COVID-19, directed against the government and the entire capitalist political establishment.
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) yesterday announced it had reached an in-principle agreement with Patrick Terminals, which Patrick workers should reject.

The 11th-hour union-management deal was brokered ahead of a Fair Work Commission (FWC) hearing on Patricks bid to terminate the existing enterprise agreement (EA) covering the companys more than 1,000 workers in the ports of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle.

Meeting of Patrick Terminals workers at Port Botany (Source:Facebook/MUA)

Underscoring the concessionary character of the proposed agreement, the MUA declared it had brokered peace with Patrick Terminals management, ending a two-year dispute.

The union made its orientation clear, stating it has always sought to work cooperatively with Patrick Terminals management on continuous business improvement to ensure job security, safety, and productivity at Patrick Terminals four ports.

The proposed four-year deal contains a pay increase of 4 percent this year and then 2.5 percent or the consumer price index (CPI) increase, if higher, in each of the next three years. This amounts to a pay cut in real terms.

The official CPI is a vast underestimation of the rapidly rising cost of living. In the 12 months to December 2021, the CPI rose 3.5 percent, while the price of non-discretionary goods and services, including food, fuel, housing, utilities, school fees and health care, went up by 4.5 percent.

MUA assistant national secretary Jamie Newlyn said the pay increases were above industry standard. That only highlights the role the union has played for decades in enshrining a continuous assault on pay and conditions as the industry standard in enterprise agreements.

Patrick workers have not received a pay rise since 2019 as a result of the protracted negotiations. The union has repeatedly called off planned industrial action, ensuring minimal disruption to profits.

In exchange for wage increases only marginally higher than those rejected by workers in December, the proposed deal would give the company total control over hiring and firing, removing a requirement in the existing EA for union approval of changes to the composition of the workforce. The union also dropped its demand for a family and friends hiring policy at Patricks Port Botany facility in Sydney.

In announcing the deal, the MUA criticised the lies and opportunism of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who sought to insert himself into the legitimate bargaining process.

In fact, when Morrison assured business lobbyists late last year the federal government was ready to intervene if further strikes were called, MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin quickly obliged. He replied, No, of course not, when asked on television whether any more industrial action was planned before Christmas.

In response to Patricks renewed threat last month to terminate the EA, the union called no industrial action, but instead issued a plea to Morrison to ensure that the company does not move ahead with this court action.

In unison with the MUA, the company welcomed the four-year deal, which a spokesperson said would deliver much-needed flexibilities for the Patrick operations.

In other words, the proposed deal will deliver Patrick exactly what it demandsa workforce at the companys beck and call, whose personal lives must be subordinated to the vagaries of international supply chains.

The spokesperson continued: Patrick Terminals looks forward to the endorsement of the agreement by the MUA members and four years of stability on the waterfront.

Stability is the key word here. What Patrick, the MUA, and the entire ruling elite fear most is that the unions will no longer be able to suppress mounting anger in the working class, motivated by decades of attacks and sellouts and sharply accelerated by the global pandemic.

This was demonstrated by an article last month in the Australian Financial Review, the mouthpiece of Australian finance capital, warning that the left-wing leadership of the ACTU was facing criticism from the further left.

The article stated: In accusing the MUA of a blatant sell-out in a recent waterfront dispute, the World Socialist Website said workers must maximise their current leverage and fight for their interests by the construction of new organisations of struggle, totally independent of the corporatised trade unions. This includes the establishment of rank-and- file committees at every work site across the waterfront and the entire logistics sector and beyond.

The MUA will attempt to ram through the Patrick deal by convincing workers that the only alternative is a reversion to the industrial award, which would slash wages by more than 50 percent.

The fact that the union has for two years been unable to corral Patrick workers into accepting the demands of management is a sign of mounting opposition among workers.

This has forced the union to rely upon the FWC and the threat of EA termination as a gun to the head of workers in order to try to ram through the crooked deal and prove its worth to management and the corporate elite as an industrial police force.

The FWC industrial court, the draconian industrial laws it enforces, and the entire anti-worker enterprise bargaining system were all introduced by Labor governments, with the full support, then and since, of the trade unions.

Similar threats of EA termination are being employed at Svitzer against tugboat operators, also covered by the MUA, and Qantas, against international cabin crew.

The unions have done everything possible to isolate these workers, allowing the proceedings at Patrick to become a blueprint for an expanded assault on the working class.

Patrick workers should reject this rotten deal and the union bureaucracy that cooked it up. They need to fight for the mass mobilisation of workers, including at Qantas and Svitzer, throughout the transport sector and more broadly, in opposition to the growing attacks on pay and conditions.

This requires a conscious break with the corporatised trade unions, and the formation of independent rank-and-file committees in every workplace.
Written and directed by Woody Allen

Rifkins Festival is the latest film from beleaguered writer-director Woody Allen. It follows American film critic Mort Rifkin (Wallace Shawn) in northern Spain in the company of his younger wife Sue (Gina Gershon), a film publicist, while she attends the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Wallace Shawn and Elena Anaya in Rifkin's Festival

At the festival, Sue is working as a press agent for Philippe (Louis Garrel), a French filmmaker whose work Mort does not think much of. As he lets everyone know, Mort has a poor opinion of contemporary cinema in general, preferring the European masters, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, etc. One of the other characters refers to him dismissively as a cranky little introvert. Rifkin has been working, unsuccessfully, for years on a novel. He used to teach film in college, which he enjoyed far more than his current work.

In San Sebastian, much to Morts dismay, Philippes new antiwar film is being celebrated as a masterpiece. Sue and her client spend a good deal of time together, apparently headed toward an affair. Mort seems helpless to do much about it. His wife eventually tells him she wants to end their marriage.

Something of a hypochondriac, Mort seeks out a local doctor when he experiences heart palpitations or some such. A friend suggests Dr. Joanna Jo Rojas (Elena Anaya). Once in her presence, Mort finds himself infatuated. He exaggerates or invents a series of minor ailments or medical conditions to have an excuse to see Jo again. Eventually, they spend an idyllic day together in the countryside. When Jos car breaks down, they make their way to her house, only to discover her painter husband in bed with another woman. Mort fantasizes that Jo might develop feelings for him.

These scenes are interspersed with Morts musings and dreams about films and filmmaking. Rifkins Festival includes parodic references to Orson Welles Citizen Kane, Jean-Luc Godards Breathless, Francois Truffauts Jules and Jim, Bergmans Persona and The Seventh Seal, Fellinis 8 and Luis Bunuels The Exterminating Angel. Most of this material is toothless, but Christoph Waltz does make a delightful, black-clad appearance as Death (a la The Seventh Seal), urging Mort to exercise and watch his cholesterol levels.

Gina Gershon and Louis Garrel in Rifkin's Festival

This is a slight work. Slight, but not as fatally flat and schematic as Allens more ambitious and critically better received work during the 2010s: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Midnight in Paris, To Rome with Love, Blue Jasmine, Magic in the Moonlight and Irrational Man, all made for Sony Pictures Classics.

Now, Allen has great difficulty in finding US distribution for his films. Rifkins Festival, also available online, only played in a couple of dozen movie theaters and the vindictive American media gleefully termed it a flop, a bomb, etc. By comparison, Midnight in Paris eventually opened in 944 theaters and Magic in the Moonlight, 964.

In the midst of the #MeToo sexual witch-hunt, Allens adopted daughter Dylan Farrow reiterated her claims that the filmmaker molested her in 1992, when she was seven. The allegations were the subject of investigations by Connecticut and New York authorities that cleared Allen of any wrongdoing decades ago. The vicious, vindictive campaign pursued by actress Mia Farrow against her former lover, Allen, a campaign almost universally adopted by the US media for its own atmosphere-polluting purposes, is largely responsible for his present predicament. In the finest traditions of Hollywood cowardice and opportunism, various figures, who cannot possibly have any serious knowledge of the case, have publicly denounced Allen and pledged not to work with him. This is how the current sexual McCarthyism operates.

To appear in one of Allens films at present has the character of taking a courageous political stand. Gershon told Chicagos WGN that it serves no one to keep great artists from working, even the alleged victims, right? She continued: In this world that were living in right now its a little bit tricky to even talk about it because things are pulled apart and put on social media and clickbait, and no one is safe.  I thought in this country youre innocent until proven guilty, because if the opposite were true, wed all be canceled basically. Thats how I feel. Its a weird time in the world.

Shawn told the same interviewer that he had familiarized [himself] with this case for quite a while and thinks that what Dylan [Farrow] says happened didnt actually happen.  I feel that Woody Allen is an innocent man, and its an injustice that were even talking about this. The legal system has decided hes innocent, so now its in the court of public opinion.

Christoph Waltz as Death in Rifkin's Festival

In a November 2021 open letter, Shawn discussed the accusations against Allen, including the results of the two official probes, and explained that after carefully considering the case, I personally have concluded that Woody didnt commit the crime. Referring to Dylan Farrow, he explained, I dont believe that the episode shes described ever actually occurred. Ive known, admired and loved people who sincerely believed they had personal contact with God, though I myself have always remained a nonbeliever.

French actor Garrel also played a leading role in a film by another director the American media and #MeToo forces have turned into a pariah. Garrel appeared in Roman Polanskis Jaccuse (An Officer and a Spy), which shamefully has still not been released in the US.

Allen told the French weekly news magazine Le Point in 2020 that the #MeToo crusade bore a resemblance to the Red Scare of the 1950s. He observed that numerous actors have told me they were horrified by the obviously unfair reputation I was given, that they were on my side, but when I asked them why they didnt say so openly, they told me they were afraid of the consequences for their careers.

Rifkins Festival is a small and uneventful film, but the disintegration of the 86-year-old Allens career perhaps has had certain positive results. That unraveling process, the shattering of certain complacent assumptions, has allowed a bit more life and spontaneity to enter into his filmmaking.

In A Rainy Day in New York (2019), Allens previous film, we noted that the film, a rather foolish and implausible work, was rescued to a certain extent by the youthful if uneven energy contributed by Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning and Selena Gomez. In particular, Gomezs entrance in the final scene  provides an understated but emotional jolt that has been largely lacking in Allens work over the past quarter-century, in all its overwhelming flatness.

In Rifkins Festival, things proceed too carelessly, limply, and Mort receives the news that his wife of a good many years wants to leave him in the manner of a patron being told his favorite restaurant is out of breadsticks. The talented Gershon and Garrel, in rather cramped, stereotyped roles, are not given nearly enough to do. On the other hand, there is some fun in watching Wallace Shawns rumbling and fumbling around San Sebastian and environs. He is livelier and more interesting to watch inhabiting the familiar Allen persona than Allen himself has proven to be in recent years.

And the special jolt here is provided by Elena Anaya as Jo, the doctor with an unfortunate husband. Anaya is affecting, as a smart and attractive woman in a sad, difficult situation, and more or less takes over the film and creates much of the interest it has.

It may be that Allen was simply fortunate in his choice of Gomez and Anaya, but its also possible that his traumas have knocked open a small opening through which a portion of realitys complications has unexpectedly made its way.
Late last month Sri Lankan Justice Minister Ali Sabry publicly called on President Gotabhaya Rajapakse to take tough action and ban strikes in key sectors of the economy. Sabry made his appeal on NethFM radio, during a nearly 90-minute conversation about the problems confronting the Rajapakse government.

There are key strategic economic sectors, such as the ports, customs, CEB [Ceylon Electricity Board], Petroleum Corporation, GMOA [in fact, he meant the health sector]. Strikes must be banned in all these, Sabry said.

Ali Sabry (Photo: Facebook)

Strikes in these institutions are a crime, he continued, adding that the right to strike should be removed from the constitution. The army cannot strike, the police cannot strike and, like them, nor should other economically strategic [institutions]. The president is a bit soft, Sabry said and added, We expected a president who would act a bit ruthlessly.

Sabry is a senior corporate lawyer, having previously represented major companies, and one of several technocrats and academics, who rallied to support Rajapakses presidential election campaign in 2019. Known as Viyathmaga, the right-wing group promoted Rajapakses national security first and strong rule for economic security election campaign.

The COVID pandemic has sharply deepened the political and economic crisis of Sri Lankan capitalism over the past two years. The country is on the verge of a foreign debt default with around $US7 billion in loan repayments due in 2022, with similar amounts in the coming years, and sharp falls in state revenue. Facing a foreign reserve crisis and revenue shortfall, the Rajapakse regime is slashing imports, leading to increasing prices and shortages of essentials.

Strikes and demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of workers have erupted in the health, electricity, petroleum, ports, education, plantation and garment sectors over wages, privatisation and austerity measures. There is also widespread popular anger over the governments criminal response to the pandemic. Rural districts have been engulfed by farmers protests. Sabrys remarks reflect the fear of the Rajapakse government and the entire ruling elite of this rising mass opposition.

Sabry told NethFM that protests by electricity board employees were the result of actions by corrupt elements among engineers and insinuated that the unions were using incidents such as the transfer of employees, as an excuse for strike action.

These claims are bogus and used to slander workers taking action over the rising cost of living, shortages and moves towards privatisation. Contrary to Sabrys claims, the unions have been doing their utmost to dissipate social anger and suppress workers strikes and protests.

Targeting the state sector, Sabry said it was overcrowded with massive numbers of workers, many of whom were sitting idle, and now employed 10 times more than it did at independence in 1948. The 52 state-owned enterprises suffered a loss of 200 billion rupees (about $US1 billion) during the past ten years. In contrast, he said, the private sector earned huge profits in the last two years.

Teachers demonstrate in Nuwara Eliya on July 30, 2021 [Credit: WSWS Media]

Sabrys references to the state sector echo the ongoing demands of the International Monetary Fund for downsizing and privatisation. Successive governments, including the current Rajapakse regime, have already privatised some state-owned sectors.

Sabry declared that unpopular decisions have to be made and referred to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who broke strikes and sacked thousands of workers in order to save the country during the 1980s. She was called iron lady, he said. Sabry also referred to Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, who used police-state measures to stop strikes during that time.

Sabrys remarks are not accidental. Similar sentiments have been expressed by other government ministers. In April last year, state minister, Dilum Pamunugama called on Rajapakse to act like Hitler.

On January 21, Minister of Lands M. S. Chandrasena criticised those in parliament denouncing the Sri Lankan president for acting like Hitler and added: But when we see the problems of the country it needs a leader like Hitler.

Sabrys call for strike bans and other calls from the ruling party for Rajapakse to act like Hitler are a clear indication that the regime is preparing for class war. The ruling elite, however, has been emboldened to openly call for the suppression of democratic rights and for dictatorial methods because of the betrayal of trade unions.

When struggles erupted in education, health, port, power, petroleum, the plantations and other industries, the unions deliberately promoted illusions that the crisis-ridden Rajapakse government and big business could be pressured to grant workers demands. They consciously worked to divert struggles from a unified political fight against the government attacks, and have opened the door for attacks on the democratic rights of the working class.

While the circumstances in Germany in the 1930s and Britain in the 1980s were different from today, the rise to power of Hitler and Thatchers attacks on workers were facilitated in both cases by the treachery of the opportunist organisations of the working class.

Hitler came to power with the assistance of the Soviet Stalinist bureaucracy, which directed the German Communist Party to oppose united front action by the working class against the Nazi party and its stormtroopers. Thatcher was only able to able to carry out her class war offensive, closing steel plants, coal mines and other state-owned industries, because the Labour Party and the Trade Union Congress, assisted by the fake lefts, opposed a unified mobilisation of the working class against the Tory government.

Several unions in Sri Lanka have publicly opposed Sabrys comments and asked whether the government was planning to suppress the unions. Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) secretary Joseph Stalin struck a phony militant posture, declaring: If this sort of thing is really done, then all the trade unions will definitely unite against it.

Last year, however, the CTU and other educators unions betrayed a determined 100-day online strike by over 250,000 teachers, accepting a paltry wage increase and supporting the reopening of public schools, as COVID-19 infections continued to surge. These unions blocked teachers from uniting with other sections of the working class to fight the governments austerity policies.

Last year, Rajapakse imposed the essential public services act on many state institutions, banning all industrial actions and imposing heavy punishment on anyone violating its regulations. Not a single trade union opposed this repressive law.

The Rajapakse regime is not alone in advocating state attacks on the working class. Parliamentary opposition leader Sajith Premadasa recently told a Colombo meeting that Sri Lanka needed an elected dictatorship and praised Thatcher. Ms.Thatcher was called Iron Lady because she did what she had to do without fear, he declared.

The working class must take a sharp warning. The trade unions, assisted by the pseudo-left, are paving the way for the ruling regime to intensify their attacks on basic democratic rights. As in every country, the crisis-ridden ruling class is responding to the rising opposition of the working class to austerity and the profit-drive response to the pandemic with increasingly authoritarian moves.

The working class must respond by mobilising independently of the trade unions and in defence of their jobs, wages, working conditions and basic democratic rights. Workers must form their own action committees in every workplace and fight for the class unity of workers across the island on a socialist program and in alliance with the international working class. The Socialist Equality Party is the only organisation that advances this perspective.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had to be escorted to a police car in London yesterday evening after being mobbed by a group of far-right, anti-vax Covid Freedom protestors.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer surrounded during the right-wing provocation (source: screenshot from video - Resistance GB/Twitter)

People chanted traitor and shouted scum, child abuser, working for your new order, youve betrayed our country and you should be hung, accusing Starmer of protecting paedophiles and not opposing the government over COVID vaccinations and restrictions. The Mirror reported that one person was carrying a noose. Two have been arrested for throwing a traffic cone at police.

In the most widely circulated footage from the event, a video by the right-wing participants in the protest Resistance GB, the cameraman shouts repeatably about Starmers role in the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The protest was attended by Piers Corbyn, the leading light of the UK anti-vax movement, who last October erected a gallows outside parliament in protest against vaccine passports and last December called on supporters to hammer to death those scum who have decided to go ahead with introducing new fascism  go to their offices and, well, I would recommend burning them down.

He announced at the beginning of yesterdays protest, Were here to end all the jab mandates and the jab programmes in the United Kingdom and the world. Were here to end all the COVID regulations. Speaking to the mob after Starmer was able to leave, he commented, Its quite exciting just hanging around here, isnt it?

The ultimate author of this attack is Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

On Monday January 31, during parliamentary discussions on the redacted Sue Gray report into Tory drinks parties at Downing Street during the UKs two pandemic lockdowns, Starmer called on Tory MPs to oust the prime minister. Johnson responded by accusing Starmer of spending most of his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile when he was the director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.

This was a red flag for the far-right forces that attacked Starmer yesterday and Johnson maintained it for days, even after many Tory MPs seized on the issue to further the campaign for his removal. Starmer later accused Johnson of parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer surrounded during the right-wing provocation (source: screenshot from video - Resistance GB/Twitter)

Jimmy Savile is one of the most reviled figures in the UK. The former television and radio personality, who built his reputation on his charity work, was outed as a serial paedophile sex offender after his death on October 29, 2011. Amid substantial evidence of a cover-up of Saviles crimes, Starmer was accused, especially by far-right activists and without any evidence, of playing a role in a decision not to prosecute Savile.

To invoke these allegations more than a decade later was a Trumpian moment for the embattled prime minister, a conscious appeal to the far-right layers of anti-vaxxers which the entire Tory Party has cultivated throughout the pandemic. And it worked.

Johnsons accusations were echoed by Starmers fascistic assailants, who repeatedly yelled Saviles name at him. They have been emboldened by the governments ending of all mitigation measures, including the recent abandonment of plans to bring in mandatory vaccination of health and care workers, hailed as a victory justifying the anti-lockdown, bodily autonomy rhetoric of Piers Corbyn and his ilk.

The international parallels are clear. Not only was Johnson following Trumps playbook in whipping up far-right conspiracy theorists, but the attack took place during a somewhat feeble attempt to emulate the Freedom Convoy targeting the Canadian government of Justin Trudeau.

Though small in number, the emboldening of these layers must act as a warning of the implications of the right-wing climate being whipped up during the Tory Party crisis, including by Starmer and the Labour Party, characterised by a turn to a naked policy of herd immunity and the promotion of nationalism and anti-communism to legitimise NATOs military threats against Russia.
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Latin America

Mexican parents protest to demand that teachers get paid

Parents of students in schools in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California demonstrated in Tijuana February 4 to demand that the state government pay wages owed to teachers. The mothers and fathers, who already have had to endure the difficulties of the pandemic, are urging dialogue to get teachers back to work, either online or in-person.

Conflicts over nonpayment of wages are recurrent in Mexico. In August 2019, over 36,000 educators walked out and held marches and other protests. Some of the 3,000 substitute and interim teachers had not been paid since 2016. It was not until February 2020 that they received their pay.

The current dispute has been ongoing since November 2021, and 1,700 public schools in the state have been closed since then. The teachers union claims that their members are owed over 500 million pesos, or US$25 million.

Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Avilas claim that the teachers salaries have all been paid is contradicted by Secretary of Education Gerardo Solis Benavides, who says that only 120 million pesos (US$6 million) have been paid so far.

Puerto Rican teachers protest over salaries, conditions, retirement

More than 5,000 teachers marched and protested in Viejo San Juan, a historic residential district in Puerto Ricos capital San Juan, February 4. The march began at the capitol building and progressed to Calle de la Fortaleza, where the Governors Mansion is located.

The Federation of Teachers of Puerto Rico and the Broad Front in Defense of Public Education were among the organizers of the mobilization. Teachers in other cities like Mayaguez and Aguada also held protests. Schools across the island shut down.

At one point in the march, protesters convened an impromptu assembly in which two demands were approved: an increase of at least US$1,000 in the monthly base salary for all teacherspermanent and temporaryand a 75 percent pension at the end of 30 years of service.

The teachers representatives are demanding to meet with Governor Pedro Pieluisi, who has sent officials from the Department of Education with proposals that have been rejected. They say that they will escalate their actions, with the possibility of an indefinite strike if they get no satisfaction.

Antigua and Barbuda: Public service workers picket for overtime pay

Workers from the Fiennes Institute, a nursing home run by Antigua and Barbudas Ministry of Health & the Environment, picketed in front of the Treasury Building in St Johns to demand the payment of overtime dating back to 2019. The nursing home workers are members of the Antigua and Barbuda Public Service Association (ABPSA).

ABSPA has repeatedly asked the Treasury Department for a timetable of payment for the overdue monies but has received no definite answer. Quarry workers, people attached to the Public Works Department, and Customs officers are also owed overtime.

Picketers chanted, No money, no work! and Its my money and I want it now! and noted the increased cost of living has made their situation more acute. Other complaints cited by ABSPA lack of sanitizers and other basic hygiene items.

Paraguayan truckers issue strike call over fuel prices

Last Friday, The Federation of Truckers of Paraguay (Fedecap) called for a strike of its 36,000 members beginning February 7. The impetus for the strike call is the spike in fuel prices, tolls and other expenses in the industry.

Drought, low agricultural production, the reduction in the amount of freight and a 30 percent decrease in the price of freight have put the squeeze on the sector in the last year. Fedecap wants a restoration of the freight price, while at the same time it is calling for a reduction of the value-added tax to relieve the pinch. Other demands include refinancing of debts and price controls.

United States

California nurses vote for one-day strike over lack of safe staffing

Nurses at the Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside, California, voted overwhelmingly on February 3 to authorize a one-day strike over safe staffing ratios. The 700 members of the California Nurses Association (CNA) have held several demonstrations to call attention to the loss of 300 nurses in the last year due to a punitive work environment and high turnover rate.

Sara Gurling, who is leading negotiations for the CNA, told the San Diego Union Tribune, Its like a revolving door. Some people come, stay for a little bit, and then they leave. The Tri-City board has passed an enormous budget for travel and registry nurses when so many veteran nurses have left.

The union has reported some 40 percent of nurses in telemetry and ICU wards leaving Tri-City due to the stress of missing meals and rest breaks due to insufficient staff. The union has yet to schedule the one-day strike which will require a ten-day strike notice to hospital management.

Sycamore, Illinois teachers union files strike notice as negotiations stall on wages and healthcare

The union representing 280 teachers in the Sycamore, Illinois school district filed an intent-to-strike notice January 13, setting the stage for a strike as early as February 14. The Sycamore Education Association (SEA) and negotiators for the district have been unable after nine months of negotiations to agree on wages, health insurance and other issues. Sycamore, population 17,000, is about 70 miles west of Chicago, just north of De Kalb, Illinois.

The board has offered teachers a series of annual step increases that start from 3.5 percent for the 2021-22 school year and descend in lesser amounts to 2.5 percent in 2025-26. The SEA bargaining unit is calling for a 4.85 percent wage increase in the first year followed by a 4.58 percent wage increase in year two.

Teachers have pointed out that Illinois State Board of Education statistics show average teacher salaries during the five-year period 2016-2021 have increased by 8.8 percent, while Sycamore teachers have only decreased by 0.5 percent. In addition, the school board has been more generous with central administrative salaries, which have risen during the same five-year period by 6 percent.

While the SEA has filed an intent to strike, teachers have yet to take a strike vote. Negotiations are ongoing and a federal mediator has been present since August of last year.

Canada

Toronto hospital workers organize counterprotest against right-wing truckers

About 200 health care workers attended a counterdemonstration to a far-right Freedom Convoy protest in Toronto this past Saturday. The right-wing protest was part of several demonstrations launched in major Canadian cities aimed at dismantling public health measures instituted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and its current Omicron wave of infections.

The health care workers stood in Torontos hospital row wearing their hospital garb before marching to the nearby provincial legislature. Last September anti-vaccination protesters assembled on hospital row to harass, denounce and block workers and patients from entering several hospitals on the street. More recently anti-vaccination protesters have picketed vaccination centers, causing delays and cancellations. In the days before the current Freedom Convoy demonstrations, hospital and union officials sent advice to workers to avoid wearing their uniforms to work and to refrain from taking their much-needed breaks outside in the fresh air.

Refusing to buckle to such terms, workers organized an unofficial counterprotest to highlight the importance of public health measures. After health care workers announced their plans for the counterprotest, the United Nurses of Ontario issued a miserable statement telling its members not to participate. The union bureaucrats were joined by the Director of the University Hospital Network, which oversees the hospital row facilities.

The action to suppress worker opposition was not limited to Toronto. In Ottawa, the Public Service Alliance of Canadathe largest union in the cityintervened to sabotage a counterprotest that was winning widespread support.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI)- The community is buzzing about the newest developments surrounding the casino.

Churchill Downs is now proposing to move its casino to the east side of town, off of Margaret Avenue. The decision to rezone is ultimately up to Terre Haute's city council.

Vigo County Commissioner Brendan Kearns said the move makes sense to him. He said a large amount of space is great for developments. He also said the commissioners and the mayor are working together to fix any traffic problems.

"Personally, I'm happy with the site," he said. "I think it's going to be a boost for Vigo County in general and should bring more development to the east side of the county."

While the casino may boost business across the county, the east side is buzzing about the news.

Matt Bilyeu is the local owner of Culver's, located near the casino's newly proposed site. He agrees the east side is a great home for the casino. Like Kearns, he wants to see new businesses come to the area.

"It's good for us," Bilyeu said. "It's good for every business out here. It's good for our community, good for our schools. It's good for the airport. Any kind of development is a good development."

Still, there are some in the community who are a bit apprehensive about the addition of the casino. Joshua Wulitich said he can see the benefits of the casino, but he could also see it possibly adding more crime to the area.

"It can be complicated," he said. "In the end, it's going to be something we have to feel out and see how it goes."

The Terre Haute casino project will be discussed at the next Indiana Gaming Commission.
A broad initiative to reshape Catholic parish life amid the Buffalo Dioceses bankruptcy has entered a pilot phase in which groups of parishes will share a priest and collaborate on ministries.

The diocese plan does not require any parishes or Catholic schools to close.

But the diocese projects that it will have far fewer active priests by 2030, so it will have groups of up to six parishes share a priest, likely with fewer Masses scheduled.

Twenty-six parishes divided into six groups  two in Buffalo, two in the suburbs and two in rural areas  will meet over the next six months to develop plans for how to carry on as families into a challenging future with fewer priests and greater financial constraints.

Pastors for the new families of parishes will be appointed in April.

Bishop Michael W. Fisher said getting the initiative known as the Road to Renewal off the ground and running has been a top priority in his first year of leading the Buffalo Diocese, which he marked in January.

The three-year plan includes the dioceses ongoing legal issues in federal bankruptcy court and with a New York State attorney generals civil lawsuit over its handling of clergy accused of sexually abusing minors, while also examining ways to bring about healing for those who have been harmed, said Fisher.

The Road to Renewal is about encompassing those things but moving us forward in hope, he said in an interview with The News.

Some abuse victims criticized the renewal as a publicity campaign aimed at turning the page on the abuse scandal, without the diocese holding anyone accountable.

The 569,000 Catholics in the eight counties of Western New York will be most directly affected by the new family of parishes model that aims to rejuvenate the spiritual zeal of parishioners, while at the same time encouraging them to take on greater roles in ministry.

The pilot phase will join St. Martin of Tours, St. Teresa, St. Thomas Aquinas and Our Lady of Charity in South Buffalo as one family and Assumption in Black Rock and Holy Spirit, St. Margaret, St. Mark, St. Rose of Lima and All Saints in North Buffalo as another.

In the Cheektowaga, Depew and Lancaster area, Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Mary of the Assumption, Our Lady of Pompeii, St. Philip the Apostle, Blessed Mother of Teresa and St. Martha will come together as a family.

Other families in the pilot phase are a group of four parishes in Niagara County, a group of three parishes in Wyoming County and a group of three parishes in Cattaraugus County.

By July, the groups of parishes  assisted by volunteer facilitators  are expected to pick a family name; develop a plan for spiritual renewal, outreach, charity and sacramental ministry, including a shared weekend Mass schedule; and create a business manager position to manage all secular affairs and nonpastoral staff for the family.

In addition, each family will form a single pastoral council and streamlined finance councils. Renewal organizers also want families to consider having in place within the six months a consolidated rectory, a centralized family office and standardized human resources administration.

If the pilots are successful, 10 families of 42 parishes will begin coming together in phase one in October. Phase two, slated to take effect in October 2023, will include 47 parishes joining as 10 families, as well as all college campus ministry programs in the region coming together as a single family. The third and final phase will happen in October 2024, with 41 parishes joining into nine families.

The diocese went through tumultuous parish restructurings in 1995 with a plan called New Visions that resulted in the closing of several Buffalo churches and again in 2007 with the Journey in Faith and Grace, which led to the shuttering of many church buildings and merged nearly 100 parishes across the diocese.

Leaders of the Road to Renewal said this latest effort is different in that it focuses not on facilities in dealing with a decreasing availability of priests, but on people and on spiritual rejuvenation.

Priests are essential to the practice of the Catholic faith, educated and ordained to preside over church sacraments such as Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick and celebration of the Holy Eucharist that are central to church life.

But priest numbers continue to decline in the Buffalo Diocese and across the country, with annual retirements far outpacing new ordinations. The diocese has 131 active priests working in Western New York, compared with 174 about a decade ago. Diocese officials project there will be 99 active priests in 2030, with a third of them older than age 70.

In addition to the priest shortage, many parishes have struggled to retain parishioners, and the diocese's bankruptcy filing and the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated their financial problems.

A negotiated settlement with childhood sex abuse victims in bankruptcy court is likely to cost tens of millions of dollars, and while most of that is expected to come from insurance policies, the diocese and parishes will likely be on the hook for some of it.

The Rev. Bryan Zielenieski said it was crucial for parishes to develop more lay leaders now to deal with the reality of whats coming as far as the intensifying priest shortage.

To some people it would seem like, OK, theres another reorganization effort,  said Zielenieski, the dioceses vicar for renewal and development and pastor of St. Mary Church in Swormville. What makes the renewal different is there is a direct plan for programming and for making sure that evangelization is a priority, making sure that reaching out to our youth and young people is a priority, making sure that we have an infrastructure in place for the future of the church to continue even as priests decline.

No church or school closures have been prescribed, but leaders of the renewal effort anticipate that families of parishes will sort through those questions organically as they determine what resources they have as a family and how to live within their means.

Organizers said a 2020 Vatican instruction on parishes has guided their thinking on the renewal effort. The document, "The pastoral conversion of the Parish community in the service of the evangelising mission of the Church," said that the parish territory is no longer just a geographical space and that limiting pastoral work to that territory was outdated.

"It sent us a message that we need to be thinking about something that's very different than what we have today," said Carrie Frank, a retired health care executive who was part of a diocese task force on renewal.

The renewal was initiated under Albany Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, who served as apostolic administrator of the Buffalo Diocese for about a year before Fisher's arrival.

The diocese last summer announced proposed groupings of parishes into families. Those proposals were put on hold for a few months to allow renewal organizers to gather more input.

Fisher said he needed additional time to hear from people across the diocese about their concerns and fears.

"Most of them understand we can't do nothing," he said. "We have to be honest as a family in the diocese and know that we are faced with many constraints, whether they're pastorally, personnel-wise or financially. Our parishes face these challenges and we need to meet them."

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The supervising accountant for the Town of Grand Island has filed a defamation lawsuit against Councilman Mike Madigan and the town.

Pamela Barton claims Madigan has falsely accused her of failing to prevent the theft of more than $100,000 from the town's Golden Age Center and of steering work to a friend's accounting firm.

Madigan revisited the theft and scrutinized Barton's actions in a column in the Island Dispatch and during a pair of public meetings last fall.

Barton in her complaint said the senior center, at the Town Board's direction, previously operated outside her purview but when asked to do so she investigated its finances and uncovered the missing funds.

She also denied any favoritism in seeking bids from, or recommending the hiring of, any outside firm to audit the senior center.

"These statements were made maliciously and in reckless disregard for the truth," Barton's complaint states.

Madigan and Town Attorney Peter Godfrey did not respond to requests for comment. It's likely the Town Board will hire outside counsel to defend the town against the lawsuit given Barton's status as a Grand Island employee.

Barton filed the complaint in State Supreme Court on Jan. 27, two months after formally notifying the town of her intent to sue. She declined, through her attorney Harvey Sanders, to elaborate on the claims in the document.

The lawsuit is centered on the theft of $116,000 over a six-year period from the town's senior center. Barbara Gannon, the center's longtime recreation supervisor, admitted her crime, which prosecutors blamed on a gambling addiction, in 2019 and she was sentenced to probation.

The town owns the Golden Age Center building along Whitehaven Road and Gannon and other center employees have worked for the town.

However, Barton states, a nonprofit organization called the Golden Age Club ran the center's lunch and travel programs outside the financial control of the town  a decision made by the Town Board since at least 2005.

This meant, according to Barton's complaint, that she had no knowledge of what was happening with the money collected by the club from participants in those programs.

In July 2017, Barton contends, Madigan asked his fellow Town Board members whether all of the money the club collected was being used for the programs in question.

It wasn't until November 2018, Barton said, that Madigan revealed he had raised this question because a neighbor of his, a center employee, suspected mismanagement of program funds.

Barton said she was asked in July 2017 to look into center funds but never received written direction on what, exactly, the town wanted her to do.

Two months later, Barton said the town attorney told her the town instead would use an outside accounting firm to review the center's finances.

During a January 2018 meeting, the center supervisor provided financial records covering her tenure in the job but said she did not have records for the period when her predecessor, Gannon, was in charge, Barton wrote.

Gannon was on medical leave at the time and retired at the end of March 2018. Barton said she convinced Gannon to disclose the previous seven years of bank records.

Barton said she reviewed the records for the non-town-owned bank accounts and discovered the misuse of more than $100,000.

The Erie County District Attorney's Office followed up but, Barton said, asked her not to reveal her findings to avoid jeopardizing the criminal investigation and a possible plea agreement.

Madigan, though, disclosed the probe's existence at the Jan. 7, 2019, Town Board meeting and added, unfairly in Barton's view, that a "fresh set of eyes" was needed to oversee center finances.

After Gannon pleaded guilty in February 2019, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said, "What is really disturbing is it took Grand Island six years to uncover this."

Gannon, a 17-year town employee, paid back $6,000 initially and agreed to pay $200 per month going forward but Flynn said it was unlikely she would ever make full restitution. The town's insurance carrier covered most of the loss.

More recently, Barton takes issue with several claims by Madigan in a statement published in the Sept. 17 issue of the Island Dispatch. Madigan stated he pushed for the Golden Age Center to follow generally accepted accounting practices, including regular audits that were "inappropriately and inexplicably excluded" from the town's annual financial review, Barton recounted.

Madigan also accused the town's accountant, in the essay for the Dispatch, of improperly guiding an auditing contract to the Bonadio Group because a firm employee is a friend of the accountant's.

Barton said this could refer to only her and said her sole connection to Bonadio and its employees is a professional one. She also emphasized the Town Board made the final decision to hire Bonadio over the Drescher Malecki firm.

Madigan, according to Barton's complaint, made similar "false and defamatory" statements during portions of the Sept. 7 Town Board work session and Sept. 21 board meeting, accusing her of "malfeasance" and comparing her to a "criminal."

Barton said she has suffered physical and emotional distress, including "shame, humiliation and indignity," because of Madigan's statements. The complaint does not reveal the amount of money Barton is seeking in damages.

Grand Island Supervisor John Whitney, who is Barton's ex-husband, declined comment on the lawsuit but said a similar theft of this scale from the senior center isn't likely today.

"The financial controls are definitely in better shape than they were in previously," Whitney said.

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As art collectors and cryptocurrency investors begin to build up a sizable assortment of NFTs, theyre running up against a new design-centric conundrumhow to best display those virtual pieces in their homes. Whatever happens next, stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches and events, recommended reading, and more

Business News

Supply chain issues have come to occupy a constant place in the headlines over the past year and a halfand as problems in the industry persist, tech companies pull in record numbers of funding with the hopes of finding new solutions. According to Crunchbase, venture-backed supply chain management companies took in $11.3 billion in funding last year, marking a nearly twofold increase from 2020 and beating the previous all-time high of $9.1 billion in 2019. While the industry previously relied on historical data to predict disruptions, experts say the new and often unpredictable issues posed by the pandemic have made the logistics industry more amenable to high-tech solutions like predictive artificial intelligence.

Homeownership has become even more difficult for middle-class Americans during the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reports, as surging home prices converge with dwindling supply. According to a new study from the National Association of Realtors, for households earning between $75,000 and $100,000 in 2019, there was one available affordable listing for every 24 homebuyers; in 2021, that figure was one listing for every 65 homebuyers. Overall, the report also found that housing affordability over the last two years worsened for every income bracket except for the wealthiest Americans.

After postponing its original January event at the Park Avenue Armory, organizers of The Winter Show announced that the fairs 68th edition will run April 1 to 10 inside the former flagship location of Barneys New York at 660 Madison Avenue, The New York Times reports. Split across five floors inside the former department store, the fair will feature 70 total exhibitors available for viewing in person and through online viewing rooms.

More than a month after roughly one dozen employees of New Yorkbased firm SHoP Architects announced their plans to unionize under the name Architectural Workers United, the group has called off their bid. According to Curbed, the move came just days before a vote scheduled to take place at the end of last weekif passed, SHoP would have become the first unionized architecture firm in the U.S. since the 1940s. AWU explained in a statement posted to social media that it was the result of a powerful anti-union campaign they encountered at SHoP after going public with their efforts. SHoPs principles have not yet publicly commented on the matter.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed legislation prohibiting the sale of furniture, mattresses and electronic displays containing flame-retardant chemicals linked to elevated risks of neurological injury, hormone disruption and cancer. Along with posing adverse health effects to animals and humans, the chemicals have been found to be largely ineffective in preventing or suppressing fires, according to the National Institute of Health. The bill prohibits the sale of any furniture containing the chemicals, with a fine of up to $2,500 per day for repeated offenses.

Gwyneth Paltrows newly redesigned Montecito home made a splash on social media when it debuted in Architectural Digest last week, but controversy quickly followed. Among the works by Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari hanging in the living room was what appeared to be a Ruth Asawa wire sculpture that social media users quickly pointed out was a lookalike. As Curbed reports, the saga began when critic Alexanda Lange tweeted that the piece wasnt an original, as the storys online caption had originally suggested. Art and design Twitter took off with the finding, and the photo was later cropped and mentions of Asawa were pulled from the piece. The photo has since returned to its wide crop, with a correction added to the story: An earlier version of this story misidentified the creator of the hanging wire sculpture in the living room. It was made by DLisa Creager. On her website, Creager cites attending a workshop taught by Aiko Cuneo, Asawas daughter, as the inspiration for her lookalike pieces, which typically sell for $10,000 compared to the millions that the originals sell for.

To help bypass shipping delays, Chinese ergonomic furniture manufacturer Loctek Furniture purchased its own container ship, Furniture Today reports. The company agreed to pay Huanghai Shipbuilding $32.6 million to construct the ship, which should be ready for use by March 2023. After a recent surge in online sales and an increase in overseas business, the company said it hopes that owning a vessel will allow it to dodge high freight costs and slow delivery times.

Launches and Collaborations

Solange Knowless multidisciplinary platform, studio and creative agency Saint Heron launched a monthlong ceramics residency at the Clayworks on Columbia pottery store in Brooklyn. Supported by global luxury group Kerings Women in Motion program, which is dedicated to advancing women in the fields of art and culture, the initiative was created to promote the efforts of Black and brown women practicing ceramic art by providing studio space, materials and mentorship from ceramicists Tracie Hervy and Anina Major. Artists chosen for the inaugural residency include Lalese Stamps, Dina Nur Satti, Kenya Cree and Armina Howada Mussa, whose work will be showcased and sold through Saint Herons Small Matter gallery and boutique shop.

1stDibs has joined with The Black Artist Fund for a specially curated collection available on the platform during the month of February. Selected by artist, curator and BAF voting committee member Darryl Westly, the assortment of artwork from 10 BAF grant recipients highlights artists such as Lauryn Levette, Kendall Bessent, Mark Wilson and Ike Slimster, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit BAF.

Erinn Valencich Courtesy of Universal Furniture

Universal Furniture has partnered with Los Angelesbased interior designer and real estate developer Erinn Valencich of Erinn V. Design Group to debut a collection of furnishings at High Point Market in April. The collection, called Erinn V x Universal, will include furnishings in both casegoods and upholstery, with pieces fit for the living room, dining room, bedroom and home office.

Kathy Ireland Worldwide entered into a collaboration with Homeworks Asia to bring a collection of home products designed by Kathy Ireland into the U.K. and European markets. The new range of housewares will span bedding, home furnishings, accessories and furniture, and will launch this month at the Spring Fair in Birmingham, England.

Entrepreneur, author and lifestyle brand creator Robin Wilson announced the launch of her own luxury hypoallergenic textile brand. Called Clean Design Home x Martex, the curated retail collection focuses on wellness and sustainable style in the home, with a full line of sheets, comforters and bath towels designed to reduce allergens and asthma triggers.

Products from the Barbados-inspired section of Annie Selke and Kit Kemp's new collaboration. Courtesy of Annie Selke and Kit Kemp

Annie Selke, founder and chief vision officer of The Annie Selke Companies, and Kit Kemp, founder and creative director of Firmdale Hotels and Kit Kemp Design Studio, have teamed up to create a lifestyle collection inspired by Kemps favorite locales: New York, London and Barbados. The resulting product line features more than 50 different styles of rugs, pillows, bedding and rug ottomans imbued with bold, vibrant colors, floral patterns and geometric shapes.

Together with Detroit-based design brand Shinola, Serta unveiled a new 313 Mattress Collection. The line features a 10-inch memory foam mattress incorporating Shinolas trademark lightning bolt and brand stripethe same motif found across the brands watch bands and leather bags.

Design duo and husband-and-husband team Clay McLaurin and Todd Piercy have combined their weaving expertise for the launch of textile brand McLaurin & Piercy. Kicking off with nearly 100 SKUs of fabrics and yarn produced at the pairs newly acquired Los Angeles mill, the collection is sourced from American wool, linen and cotton, and will include favorite prints and wallcoverings from Clay McLaurin Studio alongside the line of new woven textiles.

Fabrics from McLaurin & Piercy's debut Courtesy of McLaurin & Piercy

Recommended Reading

Though just three percent of professional designers today identify as Black, the most recent U.S. Census produced a 13 percent population estimate for African Americansas Forest Young, senior director of global brand design for Rivian, writes on the discrepancy: We observe a broken mirror. For Fast Company, Young lays out a pathway for a more equitable industry, a journey that begins with affordable and culturally supportive design education and concludes with a workforce focused on introducing new talent into the field.

Anytime youve watched a friend or family member walk down the aisle, odds are decent that youve done it from the comfort of a Chiavari chair. Named after the small Italian village where it originated, the seats bamboo-like frame and classic structure became a fixture at weddings and special events over the years. For House Beautiful, Kristin Tablang dives into the history of the iconic piece, from its place at Queen Victorias palace to the wedding of John F. and Jackie Kennedy.

Cue the Applause

The National Kitchen & Bath Association has announced the 2022 Kitchen & Bath Design Competition winners, recognizing design professionals and projects for their excellence in creating beautiful and functional kitchen and bath spaces. This year's best overall kitchen award went to Jonas Carnemark, owner and founder of Konst Kitchen Interior Design, while best overall bath went to Gina DAmore Bauerle, a partner and interior designer at DAmore Interiors. For the full list of winners, click here.

Homepage image: A flatlay inspired by Erinn Valencichs upcoming collection with Universal Furniture. | Courtesy of Universal Furniture
money cash dividends

Written by Joey Frenette at The Motley Fool Canada

Valuations have become quite stretched, at least across various sectors of the TSX Index. On the whole, though, the Canadian stock market actually looks pretty undervalued versus its neighbours south of the border. Undoubtedly, the lack of performance over the past 10 years is a major reason why the TSX has been such a tough index to make money in as a Canadian investor. When will the tide turn? Arguably, it already has begun to turn, with oil prices blasting off above the US$90 mark for the first time in a long while. Meanwhile, the financials sector is heating up ahead of rate hikes, which bode very well for margins.

Financials and energy were been brutal sectors to own in 2020. In 2022, though, theyre leaders that are likely to keep on leading. You see, unlike the momentum plays (tech) in 2020, energy and financials are still pretty cheap. The valuations are still quite modest, as though investors dont expect the good times to last.

While oil could see its top blow off in a return towards the US$60 range, Id argue that such a negative move is already mostly baked into some of the dirt-cheap TSX energy stocks. As for the financials, the big banks still seem priced in line with historical ranges. Could it be that investors are discounting the positive macro environment up ahead? Perhaps. The fintech meltdown probably helped the case for owning the big banks. While fintechs represent a long-term threat to the old-fashioned banks, I do think that their disruptive capabilities were blown out of proportion last year. Further, dont discount the banks abilities to innovate.

TD Bank

TD Bank (TSX:TD)(NYSE:TD) is just one old-school bank thats shown a willingness to pivot with the times. The company expects to hire plenty of tech-savvy folks over the next few years and its tech edge may allow it to thrive, even as disruptors breathe down its neck. Still, TD Easy Trade, the firms new trading business, may not be what consumers want, with zero commissions (no strings attached) available on a broader range of brokerages. Further, a separate division from its main TD Direct Investing business seems strange in my opinion. That said, I do think that TD is on the right side of innovation, even if its taking a half measure with TD Easy Trade, rather than opting to simply do away with commissions altogether.

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With intriguing growth opportunities going on behind the scenes, ranging from TD Clari to its growing ETF roster, I think TD stock is in great shape to lead the broader Canadian stock market much higher in a year that could be kinder to TSX value stocks.

Air Canada

Air Canada (TSX:AC) has suffered quite the drop. With Omicron cases peaking, I do think that the worst is already behind the popular Canadian airline. Theres no question that Air Canada was dealt a brutal hand in 2020. Still, you have to give management a round of applause for making it through in one piece, even if it did require a bit of assistance. Today, the balance sheet is in good shape, and the firm has shown signs it can keep hanging in there, even in the face of COVID restrictions.

Undoubtedly, a move into endemic could send AC stock much higher. But in the meantime, it seems like the pandemic could drag on for years. With testing, treatments, vaccines, and enhanced protocols, though, count me as unsurprised if AC stock bounces back well before the pandemic ends. It has a pathway toward normalcy, but its going to be a turbulent ride. My takeaway? Keep nibbling away at the dips, but only if youre prepared to hold for the next five years and beyond. AC stock isnt a get-rich-quick type of investment. Its a long-term recovery play, and it could take years before AC stock sees its highs again. To see such highs again, the stock would need to more than double. A double in a couple of years is a pretty good return for investors.

In any case, I think Air Canada stock is a deep-value play for those willing to take punishment come future COVID waves. Short-term pain for long-term gain.

The post 2 TSX Value Stocks to Buy Right Now appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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2022
CAIRO (Reuters) -The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has invited the Red Cross and a U.N. agency to discuss its deadly attack https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/death-toll-rises-91-yemen-detention-centre-strike-houthi-minister-2022-01-25 on a detention centre holding hundreds of pre-trial detainees and migrants, a site it says was not on a no-target list agreed with U.N. agencies, state media said on Monday.

Around 90 people were killed in air strikes on the centre in Yemen's Saada province, a northern stronghold of the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which condemned the attack.

A Reuters witness said African migrants were among those killed https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/another-crime-say-survivors-coalition-strikes-yemeni-detention-centre-2022-01-22 in the detention centre. According to the United Nations, the facility was believed to be holding 1,300 pre-trial detainees, as well as 700 migrants, when it was hit on Jan. 21 by three airstrikes in quick succession.

The state media reports said the coalition would on Tuesday host the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen "to discuss Houthi allegations regarding the Saada prison."

The reports, citing the coalition's spokesperson, did not say how the International Committee of the Red Cross had responded to the request.

The Saada attack came as the coalition intensified air strikes on Houthi military targets after the group extended cross-border missile and drone attacks, normally focused on Saudi Arabia, to alliance member the United Arab Emirates.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and caused a dire humanitarian crisis.

(Reporting by Lilian Wagdy; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Aurora Ellis)
Bloomfield High School in Connecticut

Google Maps Bloomfield High School in Connecticut

A 16-year-old student suffered an overdose at school on Thursday after smoking marijuana that police believe was laced with fentanyl.

The student, from Bloomfield High School in Connecticut, was overdosing in the school's security office just before 11 a.m. when police arrived at the scene, they said in a press release.

School staff and police gave the student first aid and "multiple doses" of Narcan, also known as naloxone, the medication used to reverse an opioid overdose. They were then taken to Connecticut Children's Medical Center and released later that day, Bloomfield Public Schools Superintendent James Thompson Jr. told NBC News.

Police said they are investigating the incident.

RELATED: How Fentanyl Became One of the Biggest Causes of Drug Overdoses in the U.S.

Bloomfield High School went into a "shelter in place" for about a half hour as EMTs dealt with the student.

"The safety and well-being of our students is always our top priority and we appreciate everyone's help in ensuring this continues," the school's principal, Dan Moleti, told parents in a letter.

The incident comes less than a month after a 13-year-old boy in nearby Hartford died from a fentanyl overdose after collapsing in his middle school's gym. Police later found 100 bags of fentanyl in his bedroom that had extremely high levels of the drug.

RELATED VIDEO: Mac Miller Died of Accidental Overdose of Fentanyl, Cocaine and Alcohol: Coroner

"The powder substance that was inside that bag, 58% of that was fentanyl as opposed to on average 2%," Hartford police sergeant Chris Mastroianni told NBC Connecticut. "So that becomes you know, a very, very dangerous product, very deadly product, especially for a child weighing, you know, most kids at that age under 100 pounds. Very dangerous."

And in November, Connecticut's Department of Public Health warned residents about a possible trend of fentanyl-laced marijuana circulating in the state after a string of overdoses. In a press release, the health department said they encountered multiple cases where patients needed naloxone but "denied any opioid use," instead claiming that they "only smoked marijuana."

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RELATED: 100 Bags of Fentanyl Found in Teen's Bedroom After Overdose as Police Warn of the Drug's Dangers

The Plymouth, Connecticut police department tested samples of marijuana from the scene of one overdose and found that it contained fentanyl.

"The CT ORS [Connecticut Overdose Response Strategy] Team strongly advises all public health, harm reduction, and others working with clients who use marijuana to educate them about the possible dangers of marijuana with fentanyl," the health department said in a press release. "The CT ORS Team also recommends that anyone who is using substances obtained illicitly that they know the signs of an opioid overdose, do not use alone, and have naloxone on hand."
Lady Gaga in 'House of Gucci,' Tom Holland in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home,' Kristen Stewart in 'Spencer,' Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Don't Look Up' (Photo: Everett Collection)

Jane Campions Western drama The Power of the Dog showed its might bright and early Tuesday morning as the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards were announced by Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. The film scored a leading 12 nods, including Best Picture (which could score Netflix its first top prize), Best Director (making Campion the first woman in Oscars history with two nominations in the category) and four acting nominations (Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee).

Other top contenders include Dune with 10 nominations, and Belfast and West Side Story each with seven and King Richard with six.

As always, there were major snubs and surprises at every turn, including the years biggest blockbuster (once again) failing to make a dent in the Oscar race, one of the worlds most popular actresses edging out one of the worlds most popular pop stars-turned-actresses, and an acting power couple getting to celebrate together this morning.

Video: See the 2022 Academy Awards nominees

Read on for our full list

SNUBBED: Lady Gaga, Jared Leto and House of Gucci in general

Ridley Scotts prestige drama House of Gucci arrived last fall with some of the biggest hype of the year. Then it screened for critics, and reactions were all over the map, much like the film itself. Still, star Lady Gaga (who earned an Oscar nom for her debut lead role A Star Is Born three years ago) and scene-stealer Jared Leto (disappearing under heavy prosthetics and a heavier Italian accent) were thought likely to represent the film on Oscars night. Both were left off the ballot, though, and Gagas fans, especially, are not happy.

Me to the Oscars after they snubbed Lady Gaga pic.twitter.com/5nEgXhUuR1  Joey Nolfi (@joeynolfi) February 8, 2022

So Lady Gaga got nominated in all the MAJOR awards but didnt get an Oscar one? . This scene is OSCAR WORTHY and Gaga was ROBBED pic.twitter.com/GYVaqvcAiN       (@MotherGerm) February 8, 2022

That left Gucci with just one nomination: Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling. At least they recognized just how unrecognizable Leto was.

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SURPRISE: Kristen Stewart

Meet the reason Lady Gaga missed out on a second Oscar nomination, youve probably heard of her. Though the Twilight alum was considered an early favorite to win Best Actress for her transformative and tragic portrayal of Princess Diana in Pablo Larrains critical darling Spencer, she was snubbed by both SAG and BAFTA and even the staunchest K. Stew fans worried the 31-year-old wouldnt make the Academy Awards cut. In dramatic fashion (because noms are announced in alphabetical order), Stewarts name was called last in Best Actress. Stewart and Best Supporting Actress nominee Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) became the first openly LGBTQ performers nominated in the acting races since Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) in 2002.

SNUBBED: Spider-Man: No Way Home

Oscar voters didnt need another (super) hero or three of them for that matter. Despite an aggressive awards push for Spider-Mans latest  and most financially lucrative  adventure, No Way Home swung away with a sole nomination in the Visual Effects category. That leaves Black Panther and Joker as the only two blockbuster comic-book movies to score Best Picture nominations. Fortunately, some of Spider-Mans amazing friends had reasons to celebrate: J.K. Simmons, aka J. Jonah Jameson, scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Being the Ricardos, while Benedict Dr. Strange Cumberbatch and Andrew Peter 3 Garfield are facing off in the Best Actor category for The Power of the Dog and Tick Tick Boom, respectively.

SNUBBED: Being the Ricardos, everywhere but acting

While Spider-Man was a long shot, there was other drama in the Best Picture race, as films like Being the Ricardos, Drive My Car, Nightmare Alley and Tick, Tick Boom! all sought slots behind surefire noms like The Power of the Dog and Belfast. While Japans Drive My Car and Nightmare Alley squeezed in, that left the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz biopic Ricardos as the biggest Best Picture snub. But even more surprising was the Academys dis of Aaron Sorkin for Best Original Screenplay; The Social Network winner, who also. directed, was widely favored to score his fifth nomination. Ricardos still fared well in the acting races, where surprise nominees Javier Bardem (Best Actor) and Simmons (Best Supporting Actor) joined shoo-in Nicole Kidman (Best Actress).

SNUBBED: Denis Villeneuve

While Denis Villeneuves sci-fi masterpiece clearly impressed the Academy, earning 10 nominations including Best Picture, somehow the French-Canadian filmmaker was left off the ballot, likely losing his spot to international fave Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car). Nothing went right for Villeneuve this morning. As he noted in a statement:

Here is a trick for all filmmakers on Oscars nomination morning. At the very last minute before announcements, make pancakes. It helps with the stress. Now that its over, I can say two things: First, I could not be more proud of my whole team who got 10 nominations... Second, make sure you put enough eggs in the preparation, our pancakes were a disaster.

Its going to take us a minute to figure out why the directors branch snubbed Villeneuves eye-popping spectacle, but to quote Frank Herbert, the author he adapted: Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense.

SURPRISE: Drive My Car

Can we get a Beep beep, beep beep, yeah? Ryusuke Hamaguchis masterful drama Drive My Car steered its way from long shot to major Oscar contender with nominations in four categories, including Best International Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. Its the first Japanese film in Oscar history to score a Best Picture nod, and Hamaguchi is only the third Japanese filmmaker to be in the running for Best Director, behind Hiroshi Teshigahara for 1965s Women of the Dunes and Akira Kurosawa for 1985s Ran. After today, hes got a license to do pretty much whatever he wants for his next film.

SNUBBED: Bradley Cooper (twice)

Bradley Cooper had a stellar 2021, headlining Guillermo del Toros star-studded film noir Nightmare Alley and chewing up the scenery as unhinged movie producer Jon Peters in Paul Thomas Andersons Licorice Pizza. But Cooper failed to score his fifth acting nomination for either; while a supporting nod in Pizza was likelier, he may just not have been in the film long enough. Alls not lost for Coops, though: He is nominated as a producer for Best Picture nominee Nightmare Alley, the fourth time in eight years he has contended for the top prize (previously: Joker, A Star Is Born and American Sniper).

SNUBBED: Jennifer Hudson, and Black women in Best Actress

Though her Aretha Franklin biopic Respect received middling reviews from critics (and was released in theaters in August, not an optimal window for true contenders), Dreamgirls Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson was considered a potential nominee for her impressive acting and even more impressive singing, especially after a nod from the Screen Actors Guild. Hudson, though, got no R-E-S-P-E-C-T from the Academy on a ballot that included no Black women (nor people of color) in her category. Other notable snubs included Passing co-stars Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga; the latter, especially, was considered a very possible nominee for Best Supporting Actress.

SNUBBED: Leonardo DiCaprio

Adam McKays divisive apocalypse comedy Dont Look Up looked pretty good Tuesday, landing four nods, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. But left out of the fray was Leonardo DiCaprio, who couldnt crack a competitive Best Actor race for his Fauci-esque performance as a frustrated astronomer whose doomsday warnings go unheeded. While Leo was hardly considered a lock, his snub is surprising given just how often the Academy recognizes him: At 47, he already has six acting nominations and one win, taking home Best Actor for The Revenant in 2016.

SNUBBED: Nicolas Cage

Looks like a Best Actor nomination just wasnt on the menu for Nicolas Cage. Despite earning some of the best reviews of his career for the offbeat indie drama Pig, the famously eccentric actor  who previously won for 1995s Leaving Las Vegas and was in contention for 2002s Adaptation  missed out on his third nod in that category. Thatll be an order of KFC and Champagne for one.

SNUBBED: Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan

Kenneth Branagh had plenty to smile about as his semi-autobiographical drama, Belfast scored seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. But his parents  played by Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan  will have to be content with watching their son from the sidelines. While both performers were heavily favored in the Supporting Actor categories, voters instead decided to recognize Branaghs grandparents, played by much-loved screen veterans Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds. We hope this doesnt make the Oscar night family reunion too awkward.

SURPRISE: Jessie Buckley

Given that shes already a favourite of Oscar voters, it wasnt a shock to see returning Best Actress champ Olivia Colman pick up her third nomination for Maggie Gyllenhaals directorial debut, The Lost Daughter. But few expected that Jessie Buckley  who plays the younger version of Colmans character in the film  would be recognized in the Best Supporting Actress category. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal picked up a surprise Best Adapted Screenplay nod, beating out high-profile contenders like West Side Storys Tony Kushner and The Last Duel trio of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Nicole Holofcener.

SURPRISE: Jesse Plemons, J.K. Simmons and Troy Kotsur

The Best Supporting Actor race had to be the most difficult acting category to predict. Beyond The Power of the Dog favorite Kodi Smit-McPhee, there were hardly any shoo-ins, especially with Belfast co-stars Hinds and Dornan threatening to cancel each other out. McPhee and Hinds made it in, but the other three are all relative surprises: Troy Kotsur (CODA) has been trending upward and became the first deaf male actor ever nominated for an Academy Award (his Oscar-winning co-star Marlee Matlin, however, was snubbed); Jesse Plemons joined Power of the Dog co-star and real-life partner Kirsten Dunst in making it a special day for that household (Dunst said it was beyond their wildest dreams in a reaction; Plemons later responded "Getting to work alongside such amazingly talented and wonderful people, such as the one and only Kirsten, was everything you hoped filmmaking could be"); and Whiplash winner Simmons scored his second nom for Being the Ricardos.

SURPRISE: Diane Warren, once again

Diane Warren cant stop, wont stop being nominated for Oscars, that is. Thirty-five years after earning her first Best Original Song nod for the immortal Mannequin anthem Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now, the songwriter scored her 13th (!) nomination for Somehow You Do, featured in the little-seen Mila Kunis/Glenn Close collab, Four Good Days. To date, Warren has yet to actually win a statue in this category and it will be a challenge considering the category includes presumptive favorites Lin-Manuel Miranda going for his EGOT with the Encanto tune Dos Oruguitas and Billie Eilish nominated for her Bond theme No Time to Die  but theres always a first, or 13th, time.

SURPRISE: Flees three big nominations

Straight outta Denmark, Jonas Power Rasmussens acclaimed nonfiction animated feature Flee  which chronicles an Afghan refugees perilous passage to Europe  scored a first-time Oscar hat trick. The film received nominations for Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature, giving it a one-in-three shot in taking home a statue. It also means that last years Best Actor nominee, Riz Ahmed, will return for this years Oscars as the Sound of Metal star is one of Flees executive producers.

SURPRISE: The Worst Person in the World

Along with Drive My Car and Flee, Joachim Triers The Worst Person in the World brought an international flavor to some of the more typically homegrown categories. The Norwegian film edged out Aaron Sorkins Being the Ricardos, Wes Andersons The French Dispatch and Mike Millss Cmon Cmon. Worst Person is also in the running for Best International Feature with fellow multi-nominees Drive My Car and Flee.
By Anna Mehler Paperny, David Ljunggren and Ismail Shakil

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Police in Canada's capital said on Monday they had seized thousands of liters of fuel and removed an oil tanker as part of a crackdown to end an 11-day protest against COVID-19 measures, adding truck and protester numbers had fallen significantly.

The protest, which has gridlocked Ottawa, has been largely peaceful but ear-splitting horn blaring by protesters saw a court on Monday grant an interim injunction preventing people from sounding horns in the city's downtown.

The so-called "Freedom Convoy" consisting of truckers and other motorists started as a movement opposing a Canadian vaccine mandate for cross-border drivers - a requirement mirrored by a U.S. rule - has morphed into a rallying point against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau' public health measures.

Trudeau, who appeared on Monday for the first time in nearly a week after being infected by COVID, said the protest has to stop. Responding to an emergency debate in the parliament, Trudeau denounced the tactics used by demonstrators.

"This is a story of a country that got through this pandemic by being united and a few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are," he said.

Trudeau and his family left Ottawa to an undisclosed location as the convoy started rolling into the city due to security concerns. The protests last week included some Confederate and Nazi flags.

Canadians have largely followed government's health measures and nearly 79% of the eligible population has taken two doses of the vaccine. But recent polls have shown frustrations against restrictions are growing.

While Ottawa awoke to its second week of what its political and policing leaders now describe as a siege, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said on Monday activity has decreased at the blockades. This weekend, police counted 1,000 trucks and 5,000 protesters, down from 3,000 trucks and 10,000 to 15,000 protesters last weekend, Sloly added.

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"We are turning up the heat in every way we possibly can," Sloly told reporters, days after he said there may not be a "policing solution" to the occupation. "We are asking for a major push of resources to come in the next 72 hours."

On Monday, a Canadian judge granted a 10-day injunction preventing people from sounding horns in downtown Ottawa. The injunction was part of a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of downtown Ottawa residents, some of whom have said they feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood.

The Ambassador Bridge, a major road bridge connecting Canada and the United States was temporarily closed in both directions, the Canadian government website said https://bit.ly/3rww8zo late Feb. 7. The Windsor-Detroit border is the busiest international crossing in North America.

'PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE'

Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell told city councillors on Monday police had received "active threats to public figures throughout this occupation," which they continue to investigate.

Ottawa police have received help from hundreds of officers in other police agencies, but they say it is not enough. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson asked for reinforcements in a letter on Monday to Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.

"The occupation has turned into an aggressive and hateful occupation of our neighbourhoods," he wrote. "People are living in fear and are terrified." He called the honking "tantamount to psychological warfare."

A short stretch of Metcalfe Street in downtown Ottawa, home to Canada's parliament, central bank, and buildings including Trudeau's office, smelled of campfire on Monday. A clustering of trucks, cars and tractors without trailers bore signs deriding everything from vaccines and mandates to Canada's carbon tax.

One sign showed a poster of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees rights including that of life, liberty and security of the person - subject to "reasonable limits."

'PRIME MINISTER STOP HIDING'

Packets of water bottles, briquettes and diapers were piled high beside open-sided white tents with tables of food.

There was also evidence of pushback from residents. Small signs in the ground-floor windows of an apartment building a few blocks away said: "GO HOME MORONS" and "VACCINES SAVE LIVES."

"We cannot allow an angry crowd to reverse the course that continues to save lives in this last stretch. This should never be a precedent for how to make policy in Canada," Mendicino told reporters on Monday.

Trudeau did not attend the press conference and missed question period in the parliament.

"When will the prime minister stop hiding, show up for Canadians, show some leadership and fix the mess that he's created?" interim Conservative Party leader Candice Bergen, who has supported the protests, told the House of Commons.

On Sunday night, police began removing gas and fuel supplies at a logistics encampment set up by protesters after the city's mayor declared a state of emergency https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/protest-against-vaccine-mandates-paralyzing-canada-capital-mayor-says-2022-02-06 on Sunday.

A well-organized supply chain -- including portable saunas, a community kitchen and bouncy castles for children -- has sustained the protesters. It has relied partly on funding from sympathizers in the United States, police said.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have praised the truckers.

Over the weekend, protests spilled over into other large Canadian cities, including the financial capital Toronto, and were met with counter demonstrations.

(Reporting by Anna Mehler-Paperny in Ottawa; Additonal reporting by Radhika AnilkumarWriting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Lisa Shumaker and Michael Perry)
A convoy of Canadian truckers and protesters objecting to Covid restrictions has caused Ottawa residents headaches for weeks. Now, they are disrupting the other side of the border.

The Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ont., was closed to Canada-bound traffic on Tuesday, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Canadian government, and trucks were told to cross at another bridge 60 miles away. Cars and trucks initially blocked the approach to the bridge in Windsor on Monday, and other vehicles jammed the area in solidarity.



The bridge is a key trade link, and traffic over the bridge accounts for about 27 percent of the $400 billion in annual trade between Canada and the U.S., according to the Federal Highway Administration. The alternate route, the Blue Water Bridge linking Port Huron, Mich., and Sarnia, Ont., was reporting delays of 2 hours for commercial traffic.

The ongoing protests stem from vaccination requirements announced last month by the U.S. and Canada that would require unvaccinated truck drivers to quarantine after crossing the border. But in Canada, a convoy of truckers initially opposed to the mandates turned into a bigger protest of the government's Covid restrictions.

Traffic began flowing again on Tuesday morning at the Coutts border crossing linking Alberta and Montana after it was previously shut down.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Tuesday "the blockade has prevented some traffic from coming into Canada."

"The Ambassador Bridge is one of the most important border crossings in the world and it carries with it a significant portion of all trade between Canada and the United States," Mendicino said. "We will continue to work very closely to see that this blockade is disengaged so we can keep the supply chains moving across the Ambassador Bridge."

Ideological lines drawn

The protests, which have drawn repeated rebukes from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are gaining support from Republicans in Washington.

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"I think it would be a very good thing if the protest expands," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Tuesday. "I think the Canadian trucker protest is a remarkable uprising and it's a manifestation of the deep outrage across Canada and across the United States, directed at petty authoritarian government leaders who are trying to force vaccines onto unwilling people. I'm pro-vaccine, I've been vaccinated myself, but I believe in individual freedom. I think it ought to be your choice."

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said the protests were "unfortunate."

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated Marco Mendicino's title. He is the minister of public safety.
Carrie Coon in The Gilded Age

Even though Julian Fellowes The Gilded Age features a formidable cast, including acclaimed actors like Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Audra McDonald, and Nathan Lane, you can still count on Carrie Coon to stand out. Her Bertha Russell is the HBO prestige series most intriguing characterthe ruthless wife of railroad baron George Russell (Morgan Spector), who is determined to break her way into high society.

Unfortunately, the old money guard of 1880s New York is stacked against her, but Bertha finds that her husbands wealth and business acumen can help open some doors to this seemingly shut society, and she is determined to elevate the status of her family. Some of her tactics can make Bertha a less than sympathetic character at times. The A.V. Club asked Coon about portraying such a complex wife and mother, how she took to period dress, and what Berthas ambitious quest can tell us about feminism even today.



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The A.V. Club: Bertha is so compelling as a character. She has this ruthlessness, but she also just wants the best for her family. Do you find her sympathetic? How do you approach a character like that?

Carrie Coon: Oh, you have to love them. I love her. I love a good character flaw. I really do. Its so much more fun to play. I mean, who wants to play a perfect person? How boring.

I really related to her single-mindedness. I think we can all be myopic when it comes to things that we care about. And for Bertha, you know, this is the only place she can put her energy, in this social ambition. Shes living in a world where women arent allowed any other purviewunless theyre, of course, poor or women of color. They were always in the workforce. Lets not pretend thats not true. But for women like Bertha, it was charity work and it was making good marriages for their childrenthe children they better have, by the way. To make heirs for these fortunes. And what I love about her, too, is that shes worked really hard to get there.

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So she has a chip on her shoulder as it relates to these older families who were born into their wealth, and thats something I relate to. I come from modest circumstances and Ive kind of made my way. I know that meritocracy in this country is a myth, that the cards are not stacked the same for everyone. But I really relate to that in her. And I think ultimately what I respect is that she does want it to be equal. She does want the same for everyone. She doesnt really see everyone, but she doesnt want these arbitrary rules to be obstacles to people who have the means and the capacity to take on more.

AVC: Right. Bertha brings to mind that old Grimms fairy tale, the fishermans wife, where the woman keeps wanting something and once she gets it, she wants the next thing. And you wonder if Bertha could ever really be satisfied.

CC: Well, if you think about, women are given a container. The world gives them a container and theyre supposed to put all their energy into that container. So what happens when you have more energy than the container allows? Where do you put it?

So I think in some ways that question of, where will Bertha stop or will she be satisfied, is a question we often ask of women and we dont ask men. Because women are forced to limit the scale of their ambitions in a way that men are not expected to. And were conditioned to think that way about them. Were conditioned to respond negatively to somebody like Bertha, who is not going to stay in her lane. And I think its interesting and worth examining. I think thats what makes Bertha fascinating and complicated when were watching her because we dont always have those revelations at our fingertips. We dont know why were responding to someone the way we do. Why, in one moment we find her repugnant and the next minute were really rooting for her. I think it has a lot to do with the way were socialized and its unconscious.

Taissa Farmiga, Carrie Coon

AVC: There are some moments, though, when shes really rough on her daughter. Or when that one character dies by suicide after a bad business deal and she just says to George, Well, he was weak, and youre strong. Shes very unidirectional.



CC: Her single-mindedness is a flaw in her character. Shes single-minded in her ambitions and it blinds her, and so she doesnt see her daughter for who her daughter is. And instead of asking a question of what her daughter needs to be fulfilled, shes imposing on her daughter, which she thinks will be fulfilling for her because of what society expects for her. She wants to make sure that her daughter is safe and taken care of. And in a good position in society that shes well respected. She doesnt understand why her daughter doesnt want that for herself.

So youre right, thats definitely a flaw. And I think anybody whos a parent has to admit that thats often the case, that we want more for our children and as a result of that, we dont often see who they really are and what they really need. We just see what we think they need and we dont always listen as well as we could.

And as far as that very shrewd comment she makes to George about the suicide. You know, I try to contextualize it when she says that youre strong and he was weak. I think the source of Georges strength is their marriage, that he is with a woman who is ambitious herself. Its a woman that he respects very much. Shes intelligent and and together theyre going to do what they do together, including fail. And he knows that if he has to make a risky decision, that shell be behind him because shell understand why he made it. So in a way, what she says is absolutely true. The man who died didnt have the same kind of honest relationship, perhaps, with his wife. So he couldnt go to her and say, Im desperate, were desperate. What do we do? He didnt think she would be able to survive the consequences. And so I think shes not wrong. And its hard to hear, but in some ways, shes not wrong.

AVC: So why is she so hungry for this acceptance from these people who obviously dont want her, when she is such a strong person anyway? Just to make a clear path for her children or?

CC: Well, I think its partly that, but thats the only thing shes allowed to be hungry for. Shes not going to be a senator. Shes not going to be an entrepreneur in her own right, even if she has the capacity to do it. This is the only place society is allowing her to put her energy in now. Are there women in history who did other things, who became aviators or archeologists? Sure. But thats not the world Bertha grew up in. Theres one way for her to go, and its up, and up means charity work and making good marriages for her children. So shes constrained. And so her desperate need to break into society is because theres no other place for her to put her ambition, and theres no other way for her to use herself.

Women are forced to limit the scale of their ambitions in a way that men are not expected to. And were conditioned to think that way about them.

AVC: You have such well-known roles in modern-day productions like The Leftovers, Fargo, and Gone Girl, people probably dont automatically think of you as a period actor. Whats the most fun part of that for you?

CC: Well, its fun to think that, because the whole first part of my career was mostly outdoor theater in corsets and upholstery fabric in high heels. So Ive done quite a bit of period work. I really love it, but Ive never gotten to do it at the scale or certainly in TV and film, as you point out. So for me, it was a lot of fun to be invited to that party. Its a time period that I really love. Henry James is one of my favorite writers. I love Portrait Of A Lady. I think its one of those extraordinary openings to any book in literature. Edith Wharton, too, I always really, really loved her voice. So for me, its just a delight.

And then to have the level of craftsmanship and artistry in the production design, the costumes, Julian [Fellowes]s ability to build the worlds and Michael Engler and Salli [Richardson-Whitfield] as our directorstheyve attracted just a world-class team. So I know Im playing in period at the highest level, where every detail has been has been agonized over. Its extraordinary.

AVC: No offense to any of the other cast members, but Bertha does seem to have the best dresses and gowns. They just seem so dramatic; the one with the blue birds is amazing. Do you have a favorite gown? Is there one that kind of personifies Bertha for you?

CC: Oh gosh. Oh, theyre all so perfect for the moment that shes in. Well, the opera look is certainly one of the most extraordinary. I mean, that red velvet is like butter. Its the most fluid piece of fabric, and it drapes so beautifully. And that cape weighs thirty-five pounds. It choked me. I can only do that so many times and we had to take off my necklace because it was going to pierce my skin because the cape is so heavy. So I mean, women still go to great lengths to ascend in the fashion world. That certainly hasnt changed very much, Im afraid.

Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector

I also love this one dress and I wear it, I think, a couple of times, but its turquoise and copper, and it has this black and white sort of graphic element to it. They called it the Eiffel Tower dress. And I just love some of her combinations are so surprising, they feel risque to me in a way thats really, really fun.



AVC: Bertha is such a focal point in the show. Whats the main thing you people want to take away from watching the series?

CC: Well, I have to say, I think Julian knows his audience, and I think hes able to serve up something that is wonderful, a lavish escape from the world youre in. And if thats all you want, you can show up and thats all you need to get from it.

But if you want more I think hes thoughtful enough of a creator that the social dynamics are also compelling and that each character has a specific set of circumstances. And if you want to dig a little bit deeper and find parallels to the world were living in now, those are also there for you. And so you can change your mind from week to week if you want.

And then in addition to that, the extraordinary artistry. I mean, the production design and the costumes, its just all out of this world. And Im telling you every extras costume they built; they didnt rent anything. And so youd be standing across from an extra and you would see like the tiniest brooch in a ribbon; everything was so chosen. And I just hope people get to enjoy that as much as we did while we were there.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved seven more countries to its highest-risk category for travel - a list that has grown to include 134 destinations, with many added since the World Health Organization declared omicron a "variant of concern" on Nov. 26.

The CDC on Monday gave the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Oman, Libya, Japan, Israel, Cuba and Armenia a "Level 4 warning, which means it is recommending that Americans avoid traveling there, even if vaccinated.

Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.

The CDC's four levels - which start at "low" risk and escalate to "moderate," "high" and "very high" - are designed to help Americans navigate travel in the pandemic as case levels continue to fluctuate. The public health agency recommends that all travelers should be fully vaccinated, regardless of their destination's designation. For countries deemed "very high" risk, the CDC guidance is to "avoid travel."

Video: What to do if your flight is delayed or canceled

Countries and territories marked as "Level 4 have an infection incidence rate of more than 500 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people over the past 28 days (or, in places with fewer than 100,000 residents, more than 500 cases cumulatively over the past 28 days). The CDC also takes into account a country or territory's capacity to test for the coronavirus.

CNN reports that Israel has been on the CDC's Level 4 list since Jan. 18, but is listed as a new entry because the agency's warning now includes guidance on Gaza and the West Bank.

A destination's risk designation can go up if both metrics - the case count and the testing capacity - meet the criteria for a higher-risk category for two weeks, or sooner "if there is a large increase in COVID-19 cases reported," the CDC says.

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The State Department issues its own travel advisories, which factor in the CDC's recommendations but also include other threats such as terrorism, civil unrest, crime and natural disasters.

- - -

The Washington Post's Hannah Sampson contributed to this report.

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It is possible four people have died due to the ice storm that swept Memphis in a freeze, downing icicled trees that yanked power lines to the ground.

"We are currently investigating four deaths as potentially weather-related," said Benjamin Figura, director at the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Figura provided the update by email Monday afternoon, the fifth day since Winter Storm Landon deposited ice across the city.

Figura did not provide further specifics about the causes of death or details about the identities of the deceased.

Memphis City Hall: A homeless man died outside Memphis City Hall. How should the city respond?

At the peak of the power outages, 140,000 households in the city were without power, according to the Memphis, Light, Gas and Water outage map. Many have had power restored, but 60,000 customers were still without power Monday afternoon.

MLGW CEO J.T. Young said Monday the utility hopes to have nine out of 10 customers with electricity by midnight. At 4:30 p.m., about 86% of the utility's customers had power. Young said his goal of 90% with power was an estimate and it may not happen.

He said the later stages of the restoration are likely to be more tedious and work-intensive than the previous four days of restoration and customers could lack power throughout the week.

MCA_PowerOutages_020321

'Scary and unnerving': Shelby County copes with lack of power, property damage after storm

Reimbursements: Shelby County asks residents to report property damage for possible reimbursement

The National Weather Service in Memphis reported low temperatures in the 20s since Thursday, when the storm came through.

Thursday, the low was 27 degrees Fahrenheit, followed by daily lows of 22 degrees. Monday's low was 25 degrees, according to NWS data.

Powerlines: Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland on undergrounding powerlines, 'Let's have that discussion.'

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Analysis: What role did Memphis' infrastructure play in widespread power outages? Some

Commercial Appeal reporter Samuel Hardiman contributed.

Laura Testino covers education and children's issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @LDTestino

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis deaths investigated as 'potentially weather-related'
Repairs to the heating system at Pennsylvania State Police Troop E's headquarters in Lawrence Park Township have temporarily shut down the Iroquois Avenue facility.

Officials announced Monday morning that extensive repairs to the building's HVAC system have forced the closing of the building to the public for several days.

State police obtain land for new home: PA State Police acquire Summit property as plans proceed for building new Troop E headquarters

State police operations are being dispatched through the state police station in Girard, and calls to Troop E headquarters are automatically rerouted.

The public is asked to refrain from visiting the station, at 4320 Iroquois Ave., to conduct routine business If necessary, visit the state police stations in Girard, at 5950 Meadville Road; in Corry, at 11088 Route 6 East; or Meadville, at 11025 Murray Road.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: State Police in Erie: Repairs temporarily close Troop E headquarters
(ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

A missing boy was found dead in the Netherlands after allegedly being kidnapped by a babysitter who was jailed for killing another child.

The body of four-year-old Dean Verberckmoes was discovered in Hollands Zeeland province at 10pm local time on Monday after a massive police search to find the child.

Dutch police arrested a 34-year-old Belgian man in the Dutch town of Meerkerk earlier in the day, around 60miles northeast of where the body was found.

The Belgian child was last seen in the company of the man, only identified as Dave De K, the NOS public broadcaster reported.

They were last seen in the Belgian city of Sint Niklaas, near Antwerp.

The man regularly looked after Dean and his younger sister, the childs mother Elke told the Belga news agency.

He was instructed to drop the four-year-old off at the grandmothers house on Thursday last week but failed to do this.

It sparked a huge search for the child.

De K was in prison for eight years for acts of child abuse that caused the death of a two-year-old, prosecutors in Belgium told the news agency.

He served eight years behind bars of a 10-year sentence.

The person concerned served his sentence, and the sentence came to an end in December 2018, the prosecution service said.

After the mans arrest, police had sent out an amber alert which is sent out in abduction cases with a photograph and description of the child.

A police helicopter was deployed and investigators found a possible crime scene before uncovering the body of the child.

Police in Zeeland said in a statement on Twitter, We thank everyone for the help and our condolences go out to the family.
NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) -Israeli forces killed three Palestinian gunmen travelling in a car in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Israel's domestic security service said.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry described the incident as "an ugly field execution". Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israeli forces had shown that "terrorists have no immunity".

Israel's Shin Bet security service said the men were armed, and described them as a squad responsible for shooting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the area in recent weeks.

No casualties were reported in those attacks, which stoked tensions in the West Bank and raised Israeli security concerns.

Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the three men were members of their group, which is linked to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group.

A video seen by Reuters showed paramedics carrying the bloodied men on stretchers into an ambulance near a car riddled with bullets, as people gathered around them.

"Israel is responsible for this criminal assassination. It is part of their ongoing crimes," said Monir Al-Jaghoub, a Fatah spokesperson in the West Bank.

Israel's Bennett said in a statement: "Whoever harms us, will be hit."

A Palestinian source had earlier on Tuesday said the men belonged to the Islamic Jihad group, but a source in the movement later denied that.

Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war. Palestinians seek to establish a state in the territory and in the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.

(Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi in Gaza, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Dan Williams and Henriette Chacar in Jerusalem; Editing by Alex Richardson, Nick Macfie and Timothy Heritage)
A lawsuit filed against eight local school districts seeking to end mask mandates amid the coronavirus pandemic has been dismissed by a Strafford County Superior Court judge.

The lawsuit filed in October by attorney Robert Fojo on behalf of the nonprofit Parents Unite for Kids Health had targeted the Dover, Barrington, Derry, Milford, Newmarket, Oyster River, Rochester and Somersworth school districts.

Judge Mark E. Howard's order stated while Parents Unite has standing, the court finds that it has failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.

A number of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of parents against school districts challenging mask requirements.

"While these parents may disagree with the efficacy of the mandates, it cannot be disputed that schools have a legitimate interest in promoting the health and safety of their students and staff which includes efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among students and staff," Howard stated in the order.

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Last month, Howard denied Fojos injunction to make districts cease mask mandates until the matter went before the court.

This was one of the numerous lawsuits in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Florida filed by Fojo in an attempt to fight mask mandates and COVID-19 protocols in schools. Prior to his suspension last month due to mishandling client funds unrelated to these mask lawsuits, Fojo had not won any of his cases related to mask mandates and COVID-19 policies in schools, including one against SAU 16 in the Exeter area.

Throughout the lawsuit, Parents Unite argued that masks caused their children harm in addition to alleging the districts didnt have the right to mandate masks and doing so infringed on their rights as parents to make medical decisions and raise their children. Howard found no basis for these claims, and he agreed with the districts motion to dismiss all five counts of Parents Unites claim.

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'It's a hardship on all of us': $700 increase? Renters weigh if they should stay or go

Based on the parties arguments by pleading, the relevant facts, and the applicable law, the Districts motion to dismiss is granted, Howard wrote in the order.

Other mask mandates have seen a similar fate. Last September, Rockingham Superior Court Judge Marguerite Wageling called the number of lawsuits challenging face mask requirements in schools filed by Fojo an attempt to play whack-a-mole with the court system. The lawsuit filed by Fojo on behalf of 22 Exeter area parents from the SAU 16 district requesting an injunction against its mask-wearing policy was tossed in October, and later appealed by parents.

Exeter parents fight ruling: Exeter area SAU 16 parents who oppose mask rules in schools appeal judge's ruling

Dover Superintendent William Harbron said that "the masks being required will remain in place as long as spread is considered substantial. At this time, the spread is the main factor." As part of the district's COVID-19 strategy, masks will not be optional until there are minimal sporadic cases without evidence of facility transmission, and it's unclear when cases will get to that point.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Mask mandates remain in schools as judge rejects bid to end mandates
FILE PHOTO: The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday sided with Amazon.com Inc in dismissing a discrimination lawsuit that workplace organizer Christian Smalls had filed against his former employer.

U.S. District Judge Rachel Kovner rejected Smalls' claim that Amazon had fired him because he is Black and had opposed discriminatory COVID-19 policies.

Smalls' allegation that Amazon subjected a largely non-white workforce to conditions inferior to that of its mostly white managers, by failing to provide necessary protective gear, failed on the merits as well, Kovner said.

Smalls had no immediate comment. Amazon did not immediately comment.

The online retailer terminated Smalls in March 2020, saying he joined a protest at its warehouse on New York City's Staten Island despite being on paid quarantine from close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19.

In the months since, Smalls has led an organizing campaign at the warehouse to create what he and peers call the Amazon Labor Union and demand safer conditions, higher wages and job security. The U.S. National Labor Relations Board said last month that the group could proceed with a union election.

Smalls' firing has remained an issue for New York state Attorney General Letitia James, who wants a court order requiring his reinstatement. Smalls has the option to file an amended complaint within 30 days, as well.

The case is Smalls v Amazon Inc, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 20-05492.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, California, and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Shooting wrapped last month on the long-awaited Gerard Butler project Kandahar and here are some exclusive behind the scenes photos from the film, which is notably one of the first major U.S. titles to shoot its entirety in Saudi Arabia. The film, which is produced by John Wick outfit Thunder Road Films and Capstone, reunites Butler with his Greenland and Angel Has Fallen director Ric Roman Waugh. While this certainly isnt the first action thriller the bankable Scottish actor has starred in, Kandahar is one of the first big-budget Hollywood titles to shoot in the countrys northwest AlUla region, which is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra.

Butler stars as Tom Harris, an undercover CIA operative, stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan. He must fight his way out alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in Kandahar, all whilst avoiding the elite special forces tasked with hunting them down.

More from Deadline

Capstone is financing the project along with Middle East media group MBC Studios. The title has had backing from the Saudi Film Commission and producers have tapped into the local rebate scheme. Thunder Roads Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Brendon Boyea produce along with G-Bases Alan Siegel and Butler and Capstones Christian Mercuri. Exec producers are David Haring, Scott LaStaiti, Ruzanna Kegeyan, Andrea Dimity and Jonathan Fuhrman.

Capstone is handling international sales and hinted that it may be showing footage to buyers during this weeks European Film Market. CAA Media Finance reps U.S. rights and arranged financing.

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Deadline sat down with Capstone Chairman and CEO Mercuri a few days before the project wrapped to get the low-down on shooting in Saudi Arabia, a country that only lifted its 35-year-old relgion related ban on cinema in 2017. With KSA ramping up its efforts to attract local and international production to shoot in the region, Film AlUla is playing a major part in the governments Vision 2030 plan to modernize the country. The 27,000km area boasts two mountain ranges, three volcanoes, a nature reserve and more than 100 tombs.

Kandahar - Credit: Hopper Stone

Hopper Stone

DEADLINE: Why did you opt to take this film to Saudi Arabia and Film AlUla?

CHRISTIAN MERCURI: There were a few things that went into it. Obviously, you have to creatively be into it so your talent side has to be willing and they were the ones that actually went first. They were invited by Saudi [Arabia] and they did a trip to scout it and check it out. We just became enamoured with the location with the look, the feel, the authenticity of it all. So that was really phase one. If you dont have that, if it doesnt work creatively, theres really nothing else to talk about. After that, it was about the support that we would get from the region and what we would get from the government, when it came to financial matters. There was a rebate they were working on and then we took on a partner, MBC, the biggest broadcaster out there, and we put it together.

DEADLINE: What can you tell us about the budget and how much did the Saudi rebate step up and invest?

MERCURI: Lets just call it a large budgeted film. Its certainly a big budget and then you take in to account any COVID costs. That was also something that didnt help when we pushed it from last year into this time slot. Borders were shutting down because of the Delta variant flying around. But you know, the rebate is what youve seen online and thats sort of what they were working off of [in December the Saudi Film Commission unvealed a 40% cash rebate for local and international productions]. They had been working with us and trying to figure out how it works and what to apply so it was an organic process with us as they tried to set an official rebate. And its paid out to date and its been solid.

DEADLINE: You mentioned that they key cast were on board for it. Was there anyone you had to convince to come out to KSA?

MERCURI: No. Capstone were the last ones brought on and everybody was energetic and excited about the challenge. There was certainly, from my perspective, nobody that needed to be convinced. It was just my job that the financing was there to finance the movie and do my side of things. But from the perspective on the ground and for the talent, no everyone was excited about it and up for the challenge.

DEADLINE: How did the shoot go?

MERCURI: I think its been great. There are logistical things that, when you go into a new region that doesnt have the infrastructure yet that can be a challenge. But everybody signed up for that from the start and the government supported us and gave us everything that we needed and everything that we asked for. So, although challenging, I think its going to be rewarding and, from what I can see, from what I know that the talent has said, what we have in the can right now is pretty amazing. Were excited to showcase that in the near future.

DEADLINE: When will that be? Will you be showing footage to buyers at EFM?

MERCURI: Everythings on schedule. Most of the world has sold but we will continue to make sales. Theres a few more territories left and well continue that process until we get to the release but everythings on schedule. We will try, if we have enough time, to show some footage in Berlin but well certainly do something big for Cannes.

. - Credit: Capstone

Capstone

DEADLINE: You mentioned the impact that COVID had on the pre-production of the film. How tough was it to stick with it given you were already at the starting line and had to push it? Youre one of the first major Hollywood films to shoot its entirety in Saudi Arabia.

MERCURI: It was really tough. We were all learning for the first time. When youre ramping up a major production, youre spending a lot of money and theres always that risk that you dont expect, as organic as a film is and all of the challenges we deal with anyway, without a pandemic. There are a lot of things that happen in the push to get an independent film made, schedules have to align, everything has to come into place and you can lose momentum and money if youre not careful when youre trying to ramp up. And then youve got Covid shut down costs so there were a lot of things going into that.

But nobody ever wavered on the talent side or on the Saudi side. We kept working and putting together everything that we needed logistically to get it done and to get us into a timeframe that would be ok. We obviously couldnt shoot in the summer out there as 80% of the film is shot in the desert and its sort of warm there in Saudi Arabia in the summer. But we were able to push to fall and we were able to do it and get it off the line. With the pandemic, it wasnt just the costs that went into it as we were forced into the push because of border closings as well. With heads of the department, crews and a lot of materials coming internationally as well, it meant the push was costly. But we got through it and nobody wavered.

DEADLINE: How much of the local crew did you use?

MERCURI: Most of it is local crew. Its a big set and most of the crew are actually locals except for a few heads of department which are international. There are a lot of Saudi actors in the film. When you go to a region, of course you have to use local otherwise you dont go. Theres a mix of international with this one but there are definitely local crews. Not everything has been brought in from the outside.

DEADLINE: It feels like Kandahar, an action title set in the Afghan desert, is a type of film that works well shooting in Saudi Arabia. But can the region offer more in terms of the types of films it might facilitate rather than action desert films?

MERCURI: Absolutely. When you think of Saudi Arabia, we think of the desert obviously and theres a reason for that because it certainly has plenty. But there is a jungle there, a lot of water there so there are different temperatures. Jeddah is very humid and warm, Riyadh is more like LA and dry. It has a lot of terrain, a lot of mountains and its a beautiful landscape. But as they are building their infrastructure and building some studios, I think theyll be able to take on more. Theres a lot to offer with regards to outdoor shooting and this film happened to be very organic in the fact that most of it is shot out in the desert so that played into the fact that this was an opportunity to be an authentic place to shoot.

DEADLINE: Saudi Arabia, of course, has an extremely conservative government and is historically a very patriarchal society. Given you guys are some of the pioneers filming in the country, what would you say to international producers and financiers considering working in the region?

MERCURI: Were artists at the end of the day and we work in the film industry and we try to focus on that. As a support system, the government was extremely supportive of us. They were hands off but supportive and providing and gave us a rebate incentive to maximize the shoot. People are extremely warm, polite, helpful and very intelligent. As things are opening up, you can see they are very hungry for this new modern era thats taking place.

I think the misconceptions we all had of them, myself included, and what you hear from the Western world is ignorant and misguided. I was very impressed and its a truly safe and warm place with warm and helpful people and its been an amazing experience. You can ask the talent as well as everybody was really encouraged and enjoyed their time there. The fact is the material that is going to come out of it is going to show that and that doesnt happen if you dont have support from the region, support from people on the ground and help from crews and cast. If anybody is thinking of it, I would certainly recommend shooting in the region.

DEADLINE: Would you go back to shoot another film there?

MERCURI: 100%. I would absolutely go back. In a heartbeat.

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FILE PHOTO: Leonardo's logo is seen during celebrations for the 500th Eurofighter Typhoon produced by the European consortium

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Leonardo and UK-based Vertical Aerospace will work together to develop the fuselage for Vertical's VX4 electric aircraft, they said on Tuesday.

The two groups will design, test and manufacture a carbon composite fuselage for at least six certification aircraft, with the possibility to extend to production of 2,000 jets a year if the all-electric VX4 is successfully certified, they said.

The deal could provide a new stream of orders for Leonardo's Aerostructures division whose plants in southern Italy have suffered from a sharp fall in orders from Boeing and Airbus amid the pandemic.

"We will focus our VX4 activities at our Grottaglie plant," said Giancarlo Schisano, managing director of Leonardo's Aerostructures division.

The factory in Apulia normally produces fuselages for Boeing 787 jets.

Vertical has preliminary orders for its four-passenger, zero emission VX4 for up to 1,350 aircraft worth $5.4 billion from several groups including American Airlines, the two groups said in a statement.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Jason Neely)
Sen. Ron Johnson on Tuesday accused President Joe Bidens nominee to serve as the top U.S. antisemitism envoy of engaging in malicious poison after the renowned Holocaust scholar called out the Wisconsin Republican for white supremacy.

Deborah Lipstadt, the Emory University professor nominated last year to serve as the State Department's special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, has faced scrutiny from Republicans for her past public criticism of what she identified as dangerous rhetoric  including occasional callouts of specific lawmakers, like Johnson. Republicans had demanded additional vetting of Lipstadt, causing a six-month delay of her consideration by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

When Lipstadt got her long-awaited hearing on Tuesday, she offered the apology for her critical tweet about Johnson that the senator had denied insisting on as a condition of advancing her nomination. But she and Johnson also tangled openly.

Lipstadt pushed back on the idea that her efforts to call out antisemitism and racism have been partisan, noting that she has called out Democrats, too, for similar rhetoric and calling herself an equal-opportunity foe of antisemitism.

A persons political persuasions are irrelevant in the fight against antisemitism, said Lipstadt, whose victorious court battle against a Holocaust denier in the United Kingdom was turned into a movie starring Rachel Weisz.

Those people who only see antisemitism  on the other side of the political transom are not really interested in fighting antisemitism, she added. Theyre weaponizing antisemitism.

In a March tweet, Lipstadt charged Johnson with engaging in white supremacy/nationalism. Pure and simple. She was referring to Johnson telling a radio host last year that he would have been more fearful of Black Lives Matter protesters rioting at the Capitol than the supporters of former President Donald Trump who did so on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Trumps supporters love this country  truly respect law enforcement, [and] would never do anything to break the law, Johnson said. Scores of police officers were assaulted during the insurrection.

Lipstadt apologized for the manner in which she criticized Johnsons comments and acknowledged that she was not as nuanced as she would have liked, adding: Ive also learned not to tweet in the middle of the night. Bad thing to do.

She also appeared to reference her past chiding of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who suggested in 2019 that Americans who support Israel have allegiance to a foreign country."

But Johnson, who has made controversial and false claims about the Jan. 6 riot, did not appear assuaged by the apology. He told Lipstadt she was not qualified to serve as the State Departments antisemitism envoy.

You dont know me. You dont know a lot of the people you have accused online in front of millions of people, Johnson said. You have engaged in the malicious poison [and] vile and horrible charges against people including me that you dont even know.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, defended Lipstadt, whose Twitter account has 20,000 followers  less than one-tenth of Johnson's following.

If we cannot call out comments for what they are, if we dont understand that words have power to them  then we can never challenge whether it be antisemitism or racism or other elements, Menendez said. If you cant call out an antisemitic trope, how in Gods name are you going to do this job?

He called Johnsons comments about Jan. 6 deeply problematic, noting that many of the rioters literally wore and bore Nazi symbolism on that day.

Lipstadt, widely considered to be the foremost expert on antisemitism and Holocaust denialism, is expected to receive bipartisan support for her confirmation to the critical State Department post, which was created during the George W. Bush administration and elevated to Senate-confirmation level last year amid a rise in antisemitic violence worldwide.
Washington  A Virginia man admitted that while he was employed by the Department of Homeland Security, he and his wife wrote a letter on fake State Department letterhead and impersonated an official in order to threaten a French couple who had employed their daughter as an au pair in Southern France.

In court on Monday, Ralph Karau pleaded guilty to one count of Misuse of Names, Words, Emblems, or Insignia  a law that makes it illegal to fraudulently use official U.S. government symbols "for the purpose of conveying the false impression that such communication is from a department," according to court documents.

According to records filed with the plea agreement, in October of 2019, Karau and his wife, Kathleen, prepared the letter soon after their daughter had returned to the U.S. from her stint as an au pair, and a forensic investigation showed that Karau had worked on the letter on devices issued to him by the government.

"The defendant's daughter alleged that she was mistreated by the Madiot family," court documents explained, without detailing the allegations of mistreatment.

"After hearing of these complaints from their daughter, the defendant and his wife together created a fraudulent letter to send to the Madiots," the filing said.

The counterfeit correspondence falsely informed the French couple that a "formal complaint" had been filed against them with the State Department for their alleged mistreatment, and it warned that they could be denied entry into the U.S. because of the claim.

Further, "[t]he letter implied that a 'financial settlement' paid to the Karau's daughter would be in the best interest of the Madiots," the filings reveal.

The Karaus invented a State Department official, "Karl Wilkinson, Deputy Chief, International Investigations Unit" and used the official seal of the State Department to give the letter an air of legitimacy.

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Karau, who at the time worked as a senior adviser to the director of real property at DHS, also admitted he had sent the letter through a post office in Washington, D.C., so that it would be postmarked in the nation's capital, according to the Statement of Offense filed in the case.

Because of his employment at DHS, Karau had a top-secret security clearance, the court records also noted.

CBS News has reached out to DHS for comment on the case and clarification about Karau's employment status at the department.

Upon their receipt of the note, the French couple was described as "deeply concerned for any legal or other consequences they might face," and contacted the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., which brought the issue to the U.S. Embassy in Paris.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department referred CBS News to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., which prosecuted the case. Court records filed by the prosecutors explained, "The U.S. Department of State did not know of this fraudulent letter and did not authorize its drafting or the use of its official seal in the letter."

The issue was ultimately referred to U.S. law enforcement, resulting in charges against the Karaus.

Kathleen Karau entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the government, in which she accepted responsibility for her conduct without being formally convicted. Her attorneys declined to comment on this story.

Ralph Karau now faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. His legal team did not immediately return CBS News' request for comment.

Nicole Sganga and Paulina Smolinski contributed to this report.

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This morning, nominees in the Best Animated Feature Oscar got some very good news. And they responded, well, animatedly. TheWrap got on the phone to congratulate the filmmaking teams from Encanto, Luca, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and Raya and the Last Dragon, and to hear about what this magical morning was like for them. (We didnt get to chat with the filmmakers behind Flee, which was also nominated in the Foreign Language and Documentary categories.) As Luca director Enrico Casarosa said, Its so hard to make these movies, especially through the pandemic, so I think everyone in the 2021 batch of movies should be so proud. Yes they should.

Encanto

Disney

While Encanto is set in sunny Colombia, director Byron Howard found himself in a far chillier predicament this morning. They announce these things so early and I am not good at getting up in the morning. I am freezing. My house was built in the 1950s and has no insolation. So I am buried under blankets. We have this text thread thats been going between myself, Jared, Clark [Spencer], Charise [Castro-Smith] and Lin. Everyone is texting back and forth. I cant focus because my glasses arent on. I cant see the texts and am responding hopefully appropriately, Howard said. Its an unreal moment.

Director Jared Bush made sure to single-out Germaine Franco and her score for Encanto, which was nominated. (Shes the first female composer to ever handle the music for a Disney animated feature.) Im so excited for Germaine Franco, Bush said. We are so in love with her score. The fact that she is getting recognized is so fantastic. Shes a musician on the soundtrack as well. Bush also single out Dos Oruguitas, which was nominated for Best Original Song. Its such a gorgeous song, Bush said. Bush described the entire experience as being bonkers craziness. Im trying to make sure Im responding to the right person, Bush said.

Encanto is available right now on Disney+.

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Luca

Pixar

While Pixar movies are usually a shoo-in for the Best Animated Feature category, the lovely coming-of-age story Luca has an additional Oscar pedigree thanks to director Enrico Casarosa, whose short film La Luna was nominated ten years ago. Oh its no big deal. Hanging out with the Steven Spielbergs of the world. Everything is normal, Casarosa joked about the nomination. You have to kind of pinch yourself. Its quite a wake-up. Its surreal. I needed five minutes for it to hit me. I went for a walk at dawn and was really basking in a lot of pride. Its great to be recognized by your peers. Im so honored.

For producer Andrea Warren, it caused her to think back to her childhood. I grew up in South Dakota as a kid and I always watched the Oscars. South Dakota and my experience felt so far away from Hollywood and actually making movies. Its like, wow its actually happened, Warren said. Thats pretty cool. Of course, Warren also notes, life doesnt pause to appreciate the moment exactly. I have to laugh because my kids like will you make me some hot cocoa, and I got a notification about my dentist appointment later today, Warren said. Its this funny mix of this amazing thing happening and life being as normal as it ever was. Hopefully they both get a little time to bask.

Luca is available right now on Disney+.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Netflix

The Mitchells vs. the Machines, produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Netflix, centers on an oddball family who wind up saving the world from a robot apocalypse. And you get the sense that the filmmaking team, including director Mike Rianda and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, are an equally oddball family (their apocalypse-averting skills, however, are TBD). Were feeling great, Lord said. I always end up waking one minute before, almost on accident. Miller interjected: Especially for having had no coffee today. Rianda sounded particularly taken aback by the adulation. We were just trying to make something that we love and something that would be somebodys favorite movie, Rianda said. Its really wonderful that all of the amazing artists on the movie are getting recognized. The movie wouldnt be what it is if you took one artist away. Im proud of all of those guys.

Rianda said he is in his hometown and he watched the nomination announcement with his whole family. Theyre all losing their minds, Rianda said. Were super happy for the crew and Mike, Lord said. Its a message in a bottle that floats out there. The fact that it hits shore and people found it and liked it, is really gratifying. True to the story of the movie, their smartphones were blowing up. A lot of emojis, Miller said. A lot of emojis happening this morning, which is good. Rianda then shared an anecdote truly out of The Mitchells vs. the Machines: I am also in my parents house in the sticks. Not only have I lost my phone but a gentleman just ran into the one cell tower. There is no internet. My dad was like, I know John, who does the internet. And then my dad goes, This is better than the time those woodpeckers were putting acorns in the telephone lines. Then we couldnt even use the phone! That gives you a sense of where Im at. (Guess what character Riandas father inspired in the movie?) Based on a true story, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Miller said. With any luck John the internet guy has gotten things sorted.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is available on Netflix right now.

Raya and the Last Dragon

Photo: Disney

Equally excited are the filmmakers behind the epic Disney fantasy Raya and the Last Dragon  director Don Hall is a longtime Disney veteran who won the Animated Feature Oscar for Big Hero 6, whereas his fellow director Carlos Lopez Estrada is making his animated feature debut. Feeling lots of things, Lopez Estrada said. Its a really unnatural, amazing, weird thing to be feeling. Hall and Lopez Estrada took over the project after a period of development that saw several filmmakers attempt to wrangle Raya and the Last Dragon, with its mythical overtones and deeply personal relationships. Not only were Hall and Lopez Estrada the ones to complete the project, but they really took it all the way. It is a wonderful feeling. We were building on the backs of those that came before us. We all share in this. And obviously with Encanto too, were all friends and we all work on each others films and support each other, Hall said. Its a big day for Disney Animation.

Im equally happy for Encanto, Lopez Estrada said. Not that either filmmaker has much time to enjoy the accolades; Halls next Disney animated feature Strange World is out this fall. Were in it, which is a very fun, electric part of the process, Hall said. Interestingly, a lot of times when you come off a movie like Raya you have a long gestation period and by the time youre in that zone again, it could be three or four years. Its a familiar feeling. Lopez Estradas next project for Disney Animation was right behind Dons. Whats actually happening is were waiting for Don to be done so that we can start using all of the crew, because hes taking up the entire studio. Its like, We just have to wait until theyre done with Strange World, Lopez Estrada said. Then, jokingly: Were excited but very frustrated. So chances are well be seeing both Hall and Lopez Estrada back at the Oscars very soon.

Raya and the Last Dragon is available on Disney+ right now.
FILE PHOTO: Malian opposition leader Choguel Maiga named transitional prime minister attends the inauguration ceremony of Colonel Assimi Goita the new interim president in Bamako

By Paul Lorgerie

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali has accused France's military of deliberately dividing the West African country and of committing espionage during its fight against Islamist militants, in the latest verbal volley that has seen relations spiral in recent weeks.

Choguel Maiga, appointed interim Prime Minister following a coup last year, did not provide evidence for his claims, made during a meeting with global diplomats on Monday evening to which the media was also invited. French officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Maiga's remarks will further fray tensions between Mali and its former colonial ruler France, whose 9-year counter-insurgency strategy in the Sahel region is unravelling as popular opposition to its military presence grows.

Maiga said the arrival of French troops in 2013 divided the country and allowed jihadists linked to al Qaeda to regroup and continue carrying out attacks.

"The intervention turned into a de-facto partition of Mali, which contributed to the sanctuarisation of our territories for the terrorists who had time to take refuge and reorganise themselves in order to come back in force," Maiga said.

Without providing evidence, Maiga also alleged that France had directed a United Nations peacekeeping plane to spy on the construction of Malian army bases on its behalf. The U.N. mission declined to comment.

Mali on Monday expelled a journalist from the French magazine Jeune Afrique less than 24 hours after his arrival. Authorities said he hadn't obtained the appropriate accreditations.

Tensions between Europe and Mali are nearing boiling point. Paris has suspended air travel and the European Union has sanctioned its leaders for delaying planned elections. Mali expelled the French ambassador last week and demanded Danish troops from a European special forces mission leave the country.

The spat has isolated the military-led government in Mali, which is also under sanctions from West African nations after it said it would not hold elections until Dec. 2025 - nearly four years later than planned.

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France maintains a significant military force in Mali's desert north as part of a mission to combat violence by Islamist militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, but is drawing down troops.

Meanwhile Russian military contractors and trainers have begun arriving in Mali at the bequest of officials, and have been well received by some.

(Reporting by Paul Lorgerie; Additional reporting by John Irish; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Edward McAllister and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Ronna McDaniel, Mitt Romney

Nick Hagen for The Washington Post via Getty; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

Sen. Mitt Romney and his niece, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, have "exchanged some texts" about the party's censure of two members who are part of a Congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Utah senator said this week.

Republican Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois were called out in a resolution passed last week at an RNC conference in Utah for participating in the investigation of Jan. 6.

Republicans determined their efforts to uncover who is responsible in and how the deadly attack unfolded amount to "persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."

Romney, 74, sharply disagreed.

"It could not have been a more inappropriate message," he told reporters on Monday of the resolution. He added that he "expressed my point of view" in text messages to McDaniel.

RELATED: Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan Says Republicans Ousting Rep. Liz Cheney 'Was a Mistake'

Romney  a vocal member of the GOP's anti-Trump minority  said he disagreed with the measure for a couple reasons.

"One, to sanction two people of character as they did. But number two, to suggest that a violent attack on the seat of democracy is legitimate political discourse is so far from accurate as to shock and make people wonder what we're thinking," Romney told reporters.

He also tweeted about the vote to denounce his fellow Republican lawmakers.

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

"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," he wrote on Twitter Friday.

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RELATED: Mitt Romney Defends a Fellow Republican After Trump Calls Sen. Mike Rounds 'Crazy or Just Stupid'

After members of both parties expressed disapproval for the resolution, McDaniel attempted to clarify that the reference to "legitimate political discourse" had "nothing to do with violence at the Capitol," she said in a statement.

Romney, a former governor of Utah who ran for president as a Republican in 2012, was one of seven members of the GOP who voted to convict President Donald Trump in the Senate impeachment trial that followed the Jan. 6 attack. (He previously met with Trump about a role in Trump's administration.)

Despite their differences of opinion when it comes to supporting the former president and the resolution to censure Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger, Romney said he believes McDaniel is "terrific."

"I think she's a wonderful person and doing her very best," he said of his niece.

It's not the first time Romney has distanced himself from one of McDaniel's positions.

Mitt Romney

Rick Bowmer/AP/Shutterstock Sen. Mitt Romney

RELATED: Republican Sen. Mitt Romney Heckled by Angry Trump Supporters on Flight to Washington, D.C.

After McDaniel sent a letter to the Committee on Presidential Debates indicating the RNC could "prohibit future Republican nominees from participating in CPD-sponsored debates," Romney said taking such drastic measures "would be nuts."

"The American people want to see candidates for president debating issues of consequence to them, and it provides a service to the country and to the people, to hear the prospective candidates of the two major parties duke it out," he said at the time.

At the winter conference, the RNC advanced the rule change McDaniel mentioned in January. The ban on presidential nominees participating in debates sponsored by the Commission will likely get a vote at the RNC's summer meeting, The Los Angeles Times reported.
KIRKLAND, Wash., February 08, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Taiyo Pacific Partners (TPP) is excited to announce it has formed a partnership and will become a part of the Yamauchi No.10 Family Office (YFO). The Yamauchi family famously started and built up the global gaming giant Nintendo. Dedicated to creativity, pushing boundaries, and proactively investing in Japan, YFO and TPP found a common bond to build on and expect to grow the Taiyo business through this unique tie-up.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220207005983/en/

From L to R: Michael A. King, Brian K. Heywood, Banjo Yamauchi, Hirowaka Murakami (Photo: Business Wire)

Brian K. Heywood will be joined by Hirowaka Murakami from YFO in the role of Co-CEO while Michael A. King will remain as CIO of Taiyo Pacific Partners. Michael King noted, "We expect to maintain the focus and tight knit team that has driven our success in the past. While there will not be any significant changes to our style, we have always looked for new ways to innovate and improve and we expect this partnership to bring out the best in both firms."

Hirowaka Murakami stated that "YFO had been looking for a partner focused on working with and improving the many legacy companies in Japan. We have always challenged traditions and have supported challengers who are passionate about improving the lives of people around the world with innovative technologies for a better future. We have globally developed partnerships to nurture and expand the growth of young venture talent, and the partnership with TPP will further help us expand our reach to the mature public and private markets, and enable us to provide a higher level of support to those who challenge such markets." He added, "We are very focused on ensuring that the spark of creativity never dies in Japan. TPP will play an important role in our efforts to fulfill our obligation of passing down Yamauchis legacy  the fortune, philosophy, and assets  to achieve an innovative and enduring society."

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"The most dramatic and game-changing transformations in Japan have historically come when dynamic outside forces team up with domestically respected innovators," commented Brian Heywood. "To us, TPP and YFO feel like the perfect marriage needed to spark change and rejuvenate the market. We are excited to integrate the creative DNA of the founders of Nintendo into the unique investment process developed at Taiyo." He also noted, "The ancient Japanese tradition of Tokowaka, or perpetual renewal, involves a form of creative restructuring every 20 years. We have been preaching this concept to Japanese companies and as we approach our 20th year it seemed appropriate that we practice what we have been preaching. We are hopeful that the integration of TPP and YFO will make Taiyo a more exciting place for our employees, provide even better returns for our investors, and make a meaningful impact on Japan and India. "

Taiyo Pacific Partners, located in Kirkland, Washington, was founded in 2003 by Asia-focused professionals dedicated to friendly shareholder activism in Japan and India. The firm currently manages over $3.7 billion in Japan and India-focused funds. All strategies employ a friendly engagement approach.

Yamauchi No.10 Family Office, located in Tokyo, is a Family Office established by the founding family of Nintendo. Its mission of "Dream. Leap. Live." is a philosophy embedded in the Yamauchi family since 1889. YFO is dedicated to continuous and sustainable philanthropy and incubation. With a portfolio of global public and private investments YFO seeks to support talent and management who creatively challenge tradition.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220207005983/en/

Contacts

425-896-5300

taiyo_media@tppllc.com

Brian K. Heywood, CEO

Taiyo Pacific Partners L.P.

Hirowaka Murakami, CIO

Yamauchi No.10 Family Office
Rhode Island lawmakers could vote before Valentine's Day to keep restaurant takeout drinks flowing and outdoor dining setups bustling.

Both the House and Senate are advancing legislation this week that would liberalize zoning and liquor rules for restaurants initially meant to help them during the March 2020 COVID shutdown.

Bill aims at making to-go mixed drinks, beer and wine permanent in RI

The legalization of to-go drink orders  which Gov. Dan McKee proposed in his state budget last month  would be permanent.

The moratorium on zoning enforcement against any change to a restaurant made in response to the pandemic is set to expire April 1 and would be extended another year, until April 1, 2023.

Gov. Dan McKeewants to make drinks-to-go here to stay to help small businesses

Both pieces of legislation are scheduled to be voted out of House and Senate committees Tuesday. If that happens as expected, each chamber is likely to vote on the bills Thursday.

Both bills have been welcomed by the hospitality industry, which says the measures have helped restaurants survive the pandemic.

What do liquor store owners think?

Some package store owners oppose letting restaurants sell alcoholic drinks with their takeout food orders, arguing that letting customers buy alcohol from restaurants will eat into liquor stores' business.

Karen Haxton, owner of Haxton's Kent Liquors in Warwick, said she initially supported takeout drinks, "however as COVID passes, laws need to go back to how they were before the pandemic," she wrote in testimony to the House Small Business Committee.

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"To allow these holders to sell wine, beer, and mixed drinks directly impacts our small business  we rely on customers to shop at retail stores for their at home beverages," she wrote.

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David Iannazzi, owner of Nikkis Liquors in Providence, wrote that another six to 12-month extension "may be warranted, but a permanent extension serves to water down the value of Class A [package store] license holders by creating thousands of de facto Class A licenses."

How would extending outdoor dining rules affect towns?

Keeping the moratorium on zoning enforcement for pandemic restaurant changes going for another year is backed by the McKee administration, including interim Health Department Director Dr. James McDonald, but opposed by municipal officials.

In House committee testimony, the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns wrote that being stripped of the power to bring restaurants back in line with local zoning could "create headaches for communities."

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"For example, if a restaurant converted its parking lot to a dining area and continued to use it for that purpose after indoor dining is fully restored, capacity would exceed 100% of the original permitted use," Jordan Day, policy director for the League, wrote. "Those diners would not have dedicated parking, creating greater demand in commercial districts, increased congestion and impacts on neighbors."

The League testimony did not point to any specific examples of problems caused by restaurants since the moratorium began in 2020 and a spokesperson for the group did not provide any Monday morning.

In testimony supporting the moratorium, Sarah Bratko, senior vice president of advocacy for the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, wrote that "if there is any silver lining to be found in the challenges of the last two years, it is the expansion of outdoor dining in Rhode Island."

panderson@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7384

On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI lawmakers to vote on keeping to-go drinks, outdoor dining rules
LAS CRUCES - More than 200 refugees who fled Afghanistan as the United States withdrew military forces last year now call Las Cruces home.

The Las Cruces branch of Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, the states primary non-governmental refugee resettlement organization, and El Calvario United Methodist Church have each helped refugee families establish new lives in the city over the last several months.

"They're coming to be our neighbors. They're going to live here permanently (in many cases)," said Rev. George Miller, pastor of El Calvario and executive director of the El Calvario Immigrant Advocacy Center.

The organizations, within the first 90 days of a refugee's arrival in Las Cruces, assist them with securing housing, employment, seasonal clothing, household items and medical screenings. The refugees also are assisted with enrolling in government benefits or enrolling children in school. At LFS, they must complete a cultural orientation class aimed at helping them adjust to life in the United States.

"The program is really only 90 days to get them up and running," Miller said.

Rev. George Miller is pictured at El Calvario United Methodist Church in Las Cruces on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.

In October, LFS reported they had anticipated accepting up to 100 Afghan refugees in Las Cruces when the organization submitted projected capacities to its national office and the federal government. As of Feb. 4, LFS has resettled 110 people in Las Cruces, southern New Mexico LFS Coordinator Andrew Byrd said.

Byrd said the organization is expecting to receive up to 125 people by the end of the program.

"There's so many more Afghan refugees that they're trying to resettle than there is capacity," Byrd said. LFS received requests from the organization's national office through the federal government "to do a little bit more."

Byrd said the additional 25 refugees the local organization accepted "were all related to the families we had already received."

More: NMSU student, professor launch volunteer project to assist Afghan refugees in NM

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El Calvario, through a partnership with Church World Service  another one of the nation's nine resettlement agencies along with Lutheran  has resettled about 100 people in town so far. Miller said he expects the total number to be 105 when the program ends.

Once the 90-day period expires, the Afghan refugees have access to refugee support services for up to five years.

Emergency situation

More than 100,000 refugees fled Afghanistan in late August 2021 when the Taliban took over the country. The American military helped many refugees flee to the United States, providing temporary shelter at eight military bases, including nearby Holloman Air Force Base and Fort Bliss.

Nearly 7,100 Afghan refugees were housed at Holloman between August and January. The last group departed the air force base on Jan. 26.

A child walks through Fort Bliss' Dona Ana Village where Afghan refugees are being housed, in New Mexico on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. The Biden administration provided the first public look inside the U.S. military base where Afghans airlifted out of Afghanistan are screened, amid questions about how the government is caring for the refugees and vetting them.

The refugees who resettled in Las Cruces may have come from any of the military bases nationwide where they were being temporarily housed.

The Afghan resettlement effort is unique, Miller said, because of the number of people needing resettlement at once and the urgency of the situation.

"This is an enormous number of people that were evacuated out of the country," Miller said. "It's pretty rare to ever see that. Normally people wait in camps  maybe it's in Afghanistan itself or a country nearby, (and) they live in camps until they get approval to come to the United States. These guys came on the planes, as many as they could fit in there, as fast as they could."

Miller said he thinks the last resettlement effort of this size in his lifetime happened following the end of the Vietnam War.

For both LFS and El Calvario, one of the biggest challenges has been finding permanent housing for the refugees.

More: Staying could mean death. The escape nearly killed her. How one woman fled Afghanistan for freedom.

"There's just not a lot of availability," Byrd said. That's led to refugees needing to sometimes stay in local hotels for extended periods while apartment vacancies open up.

"The federal government, they don't wait for there to be a house available before they send us families," Byrd said. "So when families get here, and there's not a house or apartment ready, they go into hotels."

"There's a real shortage of housing on the market, but we were lucky," Miller said. El Calvario connected with several property owners to get almost all of the people received into housing, he said.

Byrd said landlords or property owners who have apartments to rent or have vacant homes and would like to assist the refugees should reach out to the organization.

Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, mmcdevitt@lcsun-news.com or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces resettles more than 200 Afghan refugees
Tinder says it will no longer charge older users more to use Tinder+, following a new report questioning the dating apps practice of charging older users substantially more.

The report , from Mozilla and Consumers International, detailed just how much Tinder+ pricing can vary based on users age. The report relied on mystery shoppers in six countries  the United States, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Korea, India and Brazil  who signed up for Tinder+ and reported back how much the app charged for the subscription. According to the report, Tinder users between the ages of 30 and 49 were charged an average of 65.3 percent more than their younger counterparts in every country except Brazil.

Tinders age-based pricing for Tinder, which gives users access to premium features like unlimited likes, has long been a source of controversy for the dating app. When it launched, the company said it charged older users more because younger people were more budget constrained. Since then, the dating app has been hit with at least one class action lawsuit over the practice.

But though Tinder had pledged to end the practice in some areas, like California where the class action suit originated, the company continued to offer different rates in many countries. The latest report from Consumers International highlights just how much the dating apps subscription pricing could vary. In New Zealand, where the mystery shoppers were quoted a total of25 different prices, the lowest quoted price was $4.95, while the highest was $24.54, according to the report. In the Netherlands, there were 31 different prices, with the lowest at $4.45 and the highest at $25.95.

Now, Tinder says it plans to abandon its age-based pricing altogether. In a blog post published Sunday, Tinder said younger users were offered subscriptions at different rates in order to make Tinder affordable for those in school or early in their careers. The company said it ended the practice in the US, Australia and UK, and that it plans on eliminating age based pricing for all of our members in all markets by the end of Q2 this year. The company says it never used other personal or demographic info to determine rates.

In a statement, a Tinder spokesperson said the report from Consumers International was deeply flawed and contains completely false and outrageous allegations, but didnt specify what those were. The spokesperson added that the companys internal pricing tests could have impacted the findings, and noted that prices are typically lower on Tinders website than in App Stores due to Apple and Googles commission structure.
A Vacherie man was arrested after police said he used a computer to solicit sex from a child.

Jacques Folse, 35, is charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile and computer-aided solicitation of a minor, State Police said.

The charges resulted from an investigation that began Jan. 5 when authorities learned Folse had used a social media app to meet a girl for sex, officials said.

Investigators said Folse began having an online conversation with an undercover FBI agent posing as a guardian for an 11-year-old girl. The suspect then arranged to meet the child to have sex, authorities said.

Investigators obtained a warrant for Folses arrest Jan. 27 in East Baton Rouge Parish.

More: Sheriff: Labadieville man charged with sex crimes

Members of the State Police Special Victims Unit in Baton Rouge along with the FBI and East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriffs Office took Folse into custody Feb. 2 during a traffic stop, officials said.

He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish jail, where he is being held without bail.

Authorities encourage residents to alert police about suspicious online activities to protect children from sexual predators.

The LSP Special Victims Unit works to rescue and seek justice for the victims of crimes involving the exploitation of children and the trafficking of humans for sex or labor, State Police said. The public plays an important role in identifying suspects accused of these crimes and is urged to report criminal or suspicious activity. The Louisiana State Police online reporting system is available to the public through an anonymous reporting form that is submitted to the appropriate investigators.

Also: Houma man accused of sending sexual messages to teen

If convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile, Folse faces up to seven years in prison. The maximum sentence for a computer-aided solicitation conviction is 10 years.

The case remains under investigation.

 Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Vacherie man accused of computer-aided sex crimes
The group behind the constitutional amendment that created Michigan's citizen-led, independent redistricting process took steps Monday to defend the commission's work in court against a lawsuit brought by Republicans challenging the new congressional map.

Voters Not Politicians filed a motion to intervene as a defendant in the lawsuit against the commissioners who drew the map.

The lawsuit, filed by a group of Michigan Republicans in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, alleges that there is no legal justification for the population differences between the congressional districts drawn by the commission and that the new lines unnecessarily split up counties and municipalities.

A three-judge panel was recently appointed in the case.

"We seek to intervene to ensure that the voice of Michigans voters are clearly heard in this case," said Nancy Wang, executive director of Voters Not Politicians.

More: Michigan Republicans challenge redistricting commission congressional map in federal court

More: Mich. Supreme Court upholds redistricting commission maps in face of voting rights lawsuit

"Independent redistricting commissions, like the one passed by Michigan voters in 2018, are designed to ensure that our political system remains by, of and for the people," said Paul Smith, senior vice president at Campaign Legal Center, which is providing legal representation to Voters Not Politicians. "The court should reject this effort to prevent the commission from accomplishing the purpose for which it was overwhelmingly approved by the voters."

The complaint filed by Republicans alleges that the population differences violate the U.S. Constitution, which requires districts to have the same population size with small deviations allowed under some circumstances. The complaint also alleges that the commission arbitrarily split up communities in violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

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In a brief supporting its motion to intervene, Voters Not Politicians argues that the federal court lacks the jurisdiction to hear the second claim. The Republicans suing the commission "have invented a claim that is entirely without merit or basis in federal law," the brief states. "Instead, they attempt to advance half-baked arguments premised wholly on state law by disguising them in the trappings of the Equal Protection Clause to sneak them into federal court."

Democratic elections lawyer Marc Elias also recently moved to defend the commission's congressional districts on behalf of a group supportive of the commission's work. Elias called the lawsuit a Republican attempt to undermine Michigan's redistricting process.

Opponents of gerrymandering  the practice of politicians who draw voting boundaries to advantage themselves politically  have heralded the work of Michigan's inaugural redistricting commission and its efforts to draw fair maps.

Voters Not Politicians criticized some of the early draft maps drawn by the commission that appeared to benefit Republicans as politically skewed. But the group that drafted the amendment that created the commission celebrated when the final congressional and state legislative district maps were adopted in late December.

Other voting rights advocacy organizations have expressed displeasure with the end product. The League of Women Voters of Michigan and other groups filed a lawsuit in the Michigan Supreme Court alleging that the new state House map is unfair to Democrats.

Last week, the state Supreme Court struck down the first lawsuit challenging the commission's maps and how they divided Black voters. The court found that the commission did not violate federal voting rights requirements that prohibit districts that deny protected racial minorities an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates.

Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Voters Not Politicians moves to defend congressional map
Oregon legislators are considering a bill that would require a law enforcement officer to tell a driver they can refuse a search during a traffic stop and would prohibit them from pulling someone over based solely on a minor infraction such as a broken taillight.

Senate Bill 1510 would make reforms to how drivers interact with law enforcement, as well as to parole and probation conditions.

If it becomes law, the bill would no longer allow officers to pull drivers over because of one broken headlight, tail brake light or license plate light. Officers would still be able to ticket drivers for those equipment violations if the stop was initially made for another unsafe driving violation.

Additionally, officers would have to ask for consent to search a vehicle and get that consent in writing or audio or video recording.

Protests: Calls for accountability in Minneapolis after Amir Locke fatally shot by police

TikTok: Police officer delivers DoorDash order after driver arrested

Advocacy groups such as Transforming Justice Coalition and Next Up Action Fund say unnecessary interactions with police, such as stops for minor traffic violations, disproportionately affect persons of color. The goal is to reduce interactions that could escalate to violence.

A New York Times investigation from 2021 determined police over the prior five years had killed more than 400 drivers or passengers nationwide who were not wielding a gun or a knife, or under pursuit for a violent crime.

But some law enforcement officials and district attorneys argue the proposed Oregon law will make roads less safe.

Fears surrounding traffic stops

Advocate and member of the Transforming Justice Coalition Babak Zolfaghari-Azar said many Oregonians, especially Black, Indigenous, Latino and other persons of color feel unsafe, in part due to "unnecessary" interactions with police.

During an informational hearing on the bill Feb. 2, Zolfaghari-Azar said he's been stopped by police more than 15 times throughout his life.

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His first time was at 17 when he was taken to jail on suspicion of furnishing alcohol to minors, which was later dropped to a traffic violation and fine in court.

In his early 20s, he was placed in handcuffs and his car was searched after he said police lied about him running a red light.

"There were no public safety threats in any of these stops," Zolfaghari-Azar said. "Multiple times, police said in court  and of course a judge took their word over mine  that I didnt signal before turning or didnt stop all the way at a red light before turning, using that lie as an excuse to violate my freedom, ask me questions unrelated to the stop, and leave me with experiences that have reshaped my life."

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Concerns about impact on safety

Yamhill County Sheriff Tim Svenson, who spoke on behalf of the Oregon State Police Officers Association and Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police, said prohibiting officers from making traffic stops for defective headlights and taillights would still create a safety hazard for motorists.

The impacts on visibility are exacerbated on unlit rural highways, the state police officers association president Joshua Wetzel added.

"One headlight not working could be likened to covering one eye 55 miles per hour or faster. Add in weather factors such as fog, rain or snow and this makes for a dangerous situation," Wetzel said.

In written testimony, leaders from the Oregon District Attorneys Association said the bill would exacerbate uncertainty in Oregon over the search and seizure law, which has already been in flux over the past few years.

Oregon Supreme Court and Oregon Court of Appeals decisions have impacted the ability of officers to interact with people during stops, conduct inventories, and largely eliminated the mobile vehicle exception to the warrant requirement, the statement said.

"Introducing additional uncertainty into the consent analysis could lead to the suppression of otherwise lawfully obtained evidence," the statement said.

Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Bill could stop police traffic stops for minor violations in Oregon
DETROIT  After trying everything he could, Kaleb Franks has cut a deal with the government in which he will plead guilty to his role in the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and testify against his co-defendants, according to a new court filing.

A 19-page plea agreement was filed in Grand Rapids federal court Monday on behalf of Franks, whose lawyer had filed multiple requests in recent weeks hoping to advance his entrapment defense. Nearly all were denied.

"The defendant agrees to plead guilty to the superseding indictment, which charges him with kidnapping conspiracy," states the plea agreement, which also notes that Franks, 27, "understands the crime."

The photo shows defendant Kaleb Franks (at far left) with a rifle equipped with a suppressor, also known as a silencer, used to muffle both the sound and the flash of rifle fire.

And perhaps most notably, it asserts the following, which contradicts the entrapment defense that he and his co-defendants have been hammering away at for months: "The defendant knowingly and voluntarily joined that agreement."

So did his alleged cohorts, states Franks' plea deal, which harpoons the heart of the groups' defense: that paid informants who infiltrated their group induced them into saying and doing things that they wouldn't have otherwise.

(Franks) was not entrapped or induced to commit any crimes by these individuals. (He) also knows (his co-defendants) were not entrapped, based on personal observation and discussions, the plea deal states.

The defendants are: Adam Fox, 38, of Potterville, who is accused of being the ringleader; Barry Croft, 46, of Bear, Delaware; Daniel Harris, 24, of Lake Orion, and Brandon Caserta, 33, of Canton. A sixth defendant, Ty Garbin, previously struck a plea deal, got six years in prison, and has agreed to testify against the others.

According to his plea deal, Franks frequently heard Fox and Croft initiate conversations about fighting government authority and kidnapping the governor without prompting." He also heard Harris and Caserta express similar anti-government sentiments during his private discussions with them, when no government informant was present.

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During all their months of training together, (Franks) never heard Fox, Croft, Harris, or Caserta say they were doing anything because  Dan  Steve, or any other informant had advocated it, the plea deal states.

Franks would later learn that several members whom he believed to be fellow cohorts were actually undercover informants or agents: "Dan" and "Steve" were the fake names of paid informants who had infiltrated the group.

Franks' filing comes one month before the case is scheduled to go to trial in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids on charges that six members plotted to kidnap Whitmer out of anger over her COVID-19 restrictions.

In the last month, Frank's lawyer had filed multiple requests with the court to advance his entrapment defense  almost all of which were shot down.

More on the case: How the FBI spent months tracking the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

What the plea deal reveals about the kidnapping plot

In his plea deal, Franks offers a detailed look at what went down during four months in 2020, when the Wolverine Watchmen, a Michigan-based self-styled "militia" group, allegedly plotted to kidnap the governor, but wound up in handcuffs as the FBI was watching their every step.

For four months, between June-October 2020, Franks conspired with five men to kidnap the governor of Michigan, according to the plea deal.

This photo shows from top left, Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta, Adam Dean Fox, and bottom left, Daniel Harris, Barry Croft, and Ty Garbin. A federal judge on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, said he would postpone the Oct. 12 trial of five men accused of planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Franks attended numerous field training exercises with the Watchman, including one in which a co-defendant brought an AR-15 type semiautomatic assault rifle, with a short barrel, a silencer, and a 37-millimetermprojectile launcher and bomb making materials.

At that exercise, two defendants assembled two homemade bombs, though they were unsuccessful in detonating them.

At another meeting, the group talked about planting explosive devices at Michigan State Police posts, with Fox allegedly saying that they could storm the Capitol with 200 men, using machine guns and snipers.

More meetings followed. Foxs kidnapping idea was discussed.

(Franks) knowingly and voluntarily joined that plan, states the plea agreement.

By late August, fears grew within the group that they had been infiltrated. Members brought documents to prove their identities and the group started using a new encrypted chat application that would allow them to instantly delete their messages to avoid detection by the FBI.

Then they cased the governors house  twice.

But before meeting up for a final field training exercise in October, the FBI got to them first.

On Oct. 30, 2020, they were arrested in a sting at a warehouse, where according to prosecutors, the men thought they were going to make a down payment on explosives. Instead, the FBI was waiting with handcuffs.

In his plea agreement, Franks has agreed to fully cooperate with the FBI, the U.S. Attorneys office, the Michigan Attorney General's office and other law enforcement agencies investigating the alleged kidnap plot and similar crimes.

Franks and his co-defendants face up to life in prison if convicted.

Cooperating typically leads to a lighter sentence, as it did with Garbin, who got six years after pleading guilty and agreeing to cooperate.

No details about Franks' potential lighter sentence were listed in his plea agreement.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot suspect to plead guilty
Aberdeen School Board

Meets in special session at 5 p.m. Monday at the District Service Center, 1224 S. Third St. Agenda item of note:

Consider first reading of the district's 2022-23 capital outlay plan and hear revenue report.

For a full school board agenda, visit aberdeen.k12.sd.us/page/agendas-and-minutes-2021-22.

Brown County Commission

Meets at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday in the commission chambers of the Brown County Courthouse Annex, 25 Market St. Agenda items of note:

Consider requests for proposals for fair sound, lights and stage equipment.

Hear report from Deanna Harber with the South Dakota Department of Health.

For a full county agenda, visit brown.sd.us/node/454.

Aberdeen City Council

Meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the city council chambers at the Municipal Building, 123 S. Lincoln St. Agenda items of note:

Consider first reading of an ordinance supplementing the public safety debt service fund for 2021.

Consider allocation of $5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds for the expansion of the city's wastewater treatment plant.

For a full city agenda, visit aberdeen.sd.us/AgendaCenter.

Brown County zoning and planning commissions

Meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Basement of the Brown County courthouse Annex, 25 Market St. Agenda items of note include:

Zoning board to discuss variances at 11847 391st Ave.; 13797 392nd Ave.; and 12619 North Bridge Road.

Planning commission to discuss rezone of parcel at U.S. Highway 12 and 387th Avenue; and plats at 11847 391st Ave.; 126219 North Bridge Road; 13797 392nd Ave.; and 40112 and 40132 138th St.

Aberdeen Planning Commission

Meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the city council chambers at the Municipal Building, 123 S. Lincoln St. Agenda items of note include

Discuss ordinance amending the city code with respect to dwellings in the unrestricted industrial districts.

Discuss project plan for Tax Increment Financing District No. 37.

Plat and rezoning of city bike trail between Third Avenue Northeast and 24th Avenue Northeast.

Plat and Petition to vacate public right of way between the 1400 block of 15th Avenue Northeast and 12th Avenue Northeast.

Rezone of 1516, 1522 and 1526 S. Herret St.; 1217 and 1219 S. Lincoln St.; and 215 and 219 12th Ave. S.E.

Plats at 507 and 515 N. Enterprise St.; and 315 and317 S. Main St.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Agendas for the week of Jan. 17
Jan. 29One archaeological expert calls the recent desecration of ancient petroglyphs in La Cieneguilla a "cultural conflict," one likely carried out by teens oblivious to the significance of the artwork, which dates back hundreds and perhaps thousands of years.

The Bureau of Land Management, which continues to investigate the racist vandalism, says it's a felony, with penalties of up to two years in prison and $20,000 in fines for each count.

Law enforcement officers with the BLM, some with FBI-level clearance and qualifications, are working to identify and prosecute the offenders, said Pamela Mathis, manager of the agency's Taos Field Office.

The office reported 10 petroglyphs along a popular hiking trail in La Cieneguilla had been defaced sometime around Jan. 18. It was the third time the site had been struck in less than a year and the most damaging of the three incidents.

"We have a total of three reports in the last year," Mathis said. "Two were in the summer months and then this recent one, and this recent one is extremely significant."

The graffiti included a swastika, a pentagram and ethnic slurs as well as graphic images spray-painted or chiseled into the ancient art.

"The vandalism is certainly intentional," Mathis said. "The motive behind this particular vandalism we would not know until a suspect is apprehended, and we have more information."

While preventing damage to sensitive cultural sites statewide has proven difficult for local and federal agencies, some protections have been in place in the La Cieneguilla area.

It has undergone monitoring through the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division's SiteWatch program, which trains and coordinates volunteers to conduct routine inspections of historic and prehistoric sites on public, private and tribal land statewide, to search for natural wear and tear as well as looting and graffiti.

After the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, when the petroglyph trail was overloaded with visitors, the BLM worked with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office to increase patrols.

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Following the most recent attack at the site, BLM spokeswoman Jillian Aragon said the agency planned to boost other security and surveillance efforts. She declined to speak in detail about the measures.

"It is a very patrolled and watched area, and we are increasing this," Aragon wrote in an email. However, she added, the agency preferred to keep its tactics secret "in hopes of catching whomever is doing this."

Other petroglyph sites around the state have been subject to damage as well. Visitors to Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque vandalized the area by collecting rocks and stacking them as trail markers in June, according to the Associated Press. In May 2020, the monument was struck by vandals who left graffiti and other destruction.

Mathis noted the procedure for cleaning and restoring sites like La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs after an attack of vandalism can be tedious, delicate and expensive work.

"It's not just purchasing chemicals or asking volunteers or staff to very painstakingly try and restore these, she said. "It's the fact that these are 8,000-year-old panels that tell a very rich history."

While a BLM website says the petroglyphs were produced between the 13th and 17th centuries, the agency says some of them may be nearly 8,000 years old.

When such sites are vandalized, Mathis said, "We are not only disrespecting our cultural and our heritage brothers and sisters, we are ruining sites that we are charged with maintaining for our future generations."

She added: "When you erase this history, it becomes hard to educate the youth that will follow  that's why these offenses are a felony."

Polly Schaafsma, an archaeologist who studies Native American rock art across the U.S. West and Southwest, said she comes across petroglyph defacement "constantly" in her work.

She recounted how a petroglyph found in Southern New Mexico depicting a rain deity was destroyed by the family who owned the property because they were "afraid of it," she said.

"We often think that if something's outdoors, it doesn't matter. If it's inside a building, then it's got some value or something," Schaafsma said. "There's a lack of understanding of the landscape and meaning of [petroglyphs] for Indigenous people."

Such sites often are considered shrines with significance in Native religions, she said. "So when you go out there with your spray can, you are attacking a church, essentially."

Schaafsma said she suspects local teens may be to blame for the recent attack and that it was rooted in a lack cultural empathy.

"It's total desecration," she said. "It's a cultural conflict, in a sense, being carried out by teenagers even though they wouldn't see it that way."

Santa Fe County Commissioner Rudy Garcia, whose District 3 includes La Cieneguilla, said the damage of the petroglyphs was "disheartening," but he was encouraged by the number of people who reached out to him with a desire to help.

He said he plans to work with Mathis, fellow commissioners "and the community to see what we need to do out there in regards to security, law enforcement and cleanup. It cannot continue to be vandalized."
People protest airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition against a prison in Saadah Province, a Houthi stronghold in Yemen, January 22, 2022 Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images

In February 2021, President Joe Biden vowed that the war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has led a brutal bombing campaign, "has to end."

A year later, Biden has neither ended weapons sales to Saudi Arabia nor held the Saudis accountable for the humanitarian crisis the war has caused.

Shireen Al-Adeimi is a Yemeni activist and assistant professor at Michigan State University.

One year ago this month, President Joe Biden made Yemen the focus of his first foreign-policy speech, in which he declared, "this war has to end."

Naturally, headlines declared the end of US military operations in Yemen, but I couldn't help but be skeptical of Biden's intentions. I questioned why he followed that declaration with, "we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales."

When civilians are being killed in airstrikes during weddings and funerals with US-supplied weapons, aren't all arms sales to countries dropping the bombs relevant? How can modern-day siege warfare in the form of a naval, land, and aerial blockade not be considered "offensive"?

Clearly, this seemingly arbitrary distinction between "relevant" vs. "irrelevant" arms sales and "offensive" vs. "defensive" military operations amounts to a rebranding of the war on Yemen.

This year marks the seventh year since Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates formed a coalition that began bombing my country of birth, ostensibly to restore Yemen's internationally-recognized president to power  with the support of the Obama White House.

A wounded man at a hospital after Saudi-led airstrikes targeted a prison in Saada in northern Yemen, January 22, 2022. AFP via Getty Images

The result of this collaboration soon became catastrophic, with the UN describing Yemen as undergoing the world's worst humanitarian crisis. By the end of 2021, an estimated 377,000 Yemenis have either been starved to death or were killed in the violence. The same cannot be said about either Saudi Arabia or the UAE, who have largely been unscathed by this asymmetrical war.

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The impact on Yemeni children is especially difficult to comprehend or justify.

A Yemeni child dies of starvation every 75 seconds. A CNN investigation highlights the devastating effects of the US-supported blockade on the country, while the Oscar-nominated film Hunger Ward poignantly and painfully documents Yemeni healthcare workers' desperation to save emaciated children without proper facilities or supplies.

I can't help but think that I could have been one of those children: too weak to move or cry, let alone dream and hope for a brighter future.

To those of us with loved ones in Yemen, the numbers we hear are people we know and love. They are our aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents, friends and neighbors.

We've been acutely aware of their suffering under near-daily airstrikes that have devastated homes, hospitals, food supplies, infrastructure, and more recently, telecommunications, plunging Yemen offline for four days.

We know that most Yemenis can't access any healthcare, and those who can are faced with severe shortages of medicine, medical equipment, and personnel.

Homeless men sleep under mock drones and missiles set up by Houthi followers in Sana'a, Yemen, January 31, 2022. Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images

With each US-supported airstrike  usually occurring in the middle of the night in Yemen  Yemeni-Americans like myself begin to frantically account for each family member via messaging apps like WhatsApp and breathe a short-lived sigh of relief when we know they all made it through one more night of airstrikes.

But they don't always make it. Many of our loved ones have either been killed in the violence or displaced by it, their homes either damaged or destroyed entirely by US-made bombs.

Despite promising to end weapon sales to Saudi Arabia, saying they were "murdering children and they're murdering innocent people," and saying they would be "held accountable," Biden has neither ended weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, nor has he held them accountable or made them a "pariah."

And when Congress questioned Biden to clarify which "military, intelligence, logistical, or other" support the US would continue to provide to the Saudi-led coalition, and how his administration was defining "offensive operations," they were met with what Rep. Peter DeFazio called a "disappointing non-answer from the Biden administration" two months later.

The same Biden administration that quickly moved to de-list Trump's designation of the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization because the designation "could have a devastating impact on Yemenis' access to basic commodities like food and fuel" is now considering reversing their one positive decision when it as come to this conflict.

Biden's dangerous threat would starve millions of people, most of whom now rely on aid that will no longer be accessible to a terrorist-designated part of Yemen, where 70% to 80% of the population resides.

Smoke rises from the community hall in Sanaa after a Saudi-led airstrike on a funeral, October 9, 2016. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

It's not enough for Congress to ask Biden clarifying questions. It's time to hold him accountable, just as they did Trump, by introducing and passing a War Powers Resolution directing Biden to end all forms of US military support for the war in Yemen. Congress must reassert its constitutional authority over war, one which they have all but abandoned in the year since Biden's announcement.

While writing this piece, I responded to a tweet from someone in Yemen with a message to "stay safe." He responded with, "Our days are numbered, our lives are limited, and God is the protector and keeper."

I've heard this sentiment before. Yemenis have felt largely ignored by the international community, whose bombs they continue to find in the rubble (including a Raytheon fragment in a prison bombing that killed over 80 people this January), and whose diplomatic pressure provides cover from any accountability.

Last October, Saudi Arabia used "threats and incentives" to shut down yet another attempt by the UN to investigate human-right violations committed by all parties in Yemen, including the Houthis. Since then, a "surge in air raids and civilian casualties" were reported by the Yemen Data Project.

Yemenis know the international community, which has largely ignored their plight or benefited from arms sales to their tormentors, will not come to their aid or rescue them from a genocidal war from which they can't escape. Congress and the Americans they represent must not accept Biden's rebranded, yet unchanged, war on Yemen.

Shireen Al-Adeimi is a Yemeni activist and assistant professor at Michigan State University. You can find her on Twitter @shireen818.

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Some of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's best looks. Chris Jackson/Getty Images; Steve Parsons/Getty Images; Samir Hussein/Pool/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have served major fashion inspiration over the years.

While Harry frequently wears simple suits, Markle loves cape dresses and Aquazzura heels.

The couple often coordinates their looks through classic pieces and chic color palettes.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry wore sleek suits to attend the Endeavour Awards in London, England, in February 2018.

The couple wore sleek suits on their way to the Endeavour Fund Awards Ceremony at Goldsmiths' Hall in London, England, on February 1, 2018. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

While Markle typically wears dresses to formal occasions, she sometimes throws in a beautiful pair of pants and gives us businesswoman chic.

For the Endeavor Fund Awards, which honors the military community's achievements, she wore an Alexander McQueen pantsuit with a crisp white blouse paired with a Prada clutch and Manolo Blahnik heels. The "court" heels with pointed toes are popularly worn by Markle and other female royals.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry kept it classic in a blue suit, which is often his outfit of choice.

Later that month, the couple dressed smart and cozy while on tour in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Markle and Harry transitioned from visiting locals in the streets while on tour to then visiting the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, on February 13, 2018. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images; WPA Pool/Pool/Getty Images

The couple wore approachable clothing on their tour around Britain in the lead up to their wedding. Walking the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland, in February, their cozy outfits complemented each other.

Markle wore a plaid Burberry coat  which she later removed at the Scottish royal residence  a Wolford turtleneck, Veronica Beard buttoned flare pants, and Jimmy Choo booties. Harry also transitioned from a grey overcoat to a blue blazer over his button down-sweater combo.

They coordinated on March 12, 2018, for the Commonwealth Day Service in London, England.

The couple opted for cream and navy coordinated ensembles to the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London, England, on March 12, 2018. Joe Giddens/PA Images/Getty Images

At the 2018 Commonwealth Day Service, the couple coordinated their navy and white looks. While Harry wore a navy suit with white dress shirt and burgundy tie, Markle wore an Amanda Wakeley cream coat and navy dress. She paired this with a simple matching beret, Mulberry clutch, and her trusty Malono Blahnik heels.

The couple wore a complementary color palette to the Commonwealth Youth Forum in London in April 2018.

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Markle and Harry dressed smart to attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, England, on April 18, 2018. WPA Pool/Pool/Getty Images

The couple dressed smart and simple for the spring weather to meet delegates at the Commonwealth Youth Forum, where young people debate different generational issues.

Markle opted to wear Australian designers in an Altuzarra pinstripe, buttoned, and belted sundress with a Camilla and Marc blazer resting on her shoulders and an Oroton crossbody bag. Harry's more casual suit separates perfectly complemented Meghan's color palette.

Markle added a pop of green to the couple's Invictus Games appearance later that month.

The couple both opted for blazers to attend the Invictus Games Reception at Australia House in London, England, on April 21, 2018. WPA Pool/Pool/Getty Images

At the Invictus Games, a sporting event founded by Harry for wounded servicemen and women, the couple looked effortlessly classy in coordinated blazers.

Harry donned a navy suit and grey tie while Markle wore the same Alexander McQueen blazer that she wore to the 2018 Endeavour Awards. Her fun and flirty floral A-line green dress by Self Portrait gave a fresh pop of color to the couple's look.

For the Queen's 92nd birthday celebrations in London on April 21, 2018, the couple wore matching monochromatic looks.

Markle and Harry wore monochromatic matching looks for the Queen's 92nd birthday celebration at Albert Hall in London, England, on April 21, 2018. WPA Pool/Pool/Getty Images

The couple wore striking matching monochromatic looks to attend the Queen's 92nd birthday celebration at the Royal Albert Hall.

Harry's navy suit and tie was the same shade as Markle's Stella McCartney cape dress and matching Manolo Blahnik heels. She broke up the sea of navy with a stunning zodiac-design bag by Naeem Khan.

A couple of days later, they wore dark shades to the 25th Anniversary Memorial Service for Stephen Lawrence in London.

The couple looked sharp to pay their respects at the 25th Anniversary Memorial Service to celebrate Stephen Lawrence at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, England, on April 23, 2018. Jeff Spicer/Stringer/Getty Images

Harry and Markle both dressed in dark shades to mourn and celebrate the life of Stephen Lawrence, a British teenager who was killed in 1993 during a racially motivated attack.

Harry's navy suit and brown tie complemented Markle's belted Hugo Boss dress. The patterned dress, which gave the effect that it was shimmering, was paired with suede heels and a simple envelope clutch.

The chic couple matched remembrance poppies for the Anzac Day Service on April 25, 2018, in London.

Meghan and Harry's outfits complimented each other at the Anzac Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London, England, on April 25, 2018. Samir Hussein/Getty Images

Sometimes black and blue just work together. For a service at Westminster Abbey for Anzac Day on April 25, 2018, the couple looked dapper: Markle wore a textured Emilia Wickstead cropped jacket and skirt and a Philip Treacy fascinator, paying homage to Australian designers. Harry wore a navy suit with a red and blue striped tie along with his military medals. The pair also wore remembrance poppies for the Australian and Kiwi soldiers' lives lost in battle.

For their wedding reception on May 19, 2018, the couple looked like they were stepping onto the set of a Bond film.

The couple had outfit changes to leave Windsor Castle to attend their wedding reception in Frogmore House on May 19, 2018. Steve Parsons/Getty Images

After the world watched Harry and Markle marry on May 19, 2018, the duchess changed for the couple's reception before departing Windsor Castle. She slipped into a simple dress, a halter and mermaid-style gown by Stella McCartney. With her husband in a velvet and silk lapel tuxedo jacket, the newlyweds looked glamorous and ready to party at Frogmore House.

The couple looked dapper for Prince Louis' christening in London in July 2018.

Markle and Harry looked dapper in the daytime at Prince Louis' christening at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace in London, England, on July 9, 2018. Dominic Lipinksi/Getty Images

At the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, Harry wore a navy suit and aqua tie, while Markle wore an all-over olive ensemble including a Ralph Lauren knee-length dress, Stephen Jones fascinator, and matching gloves, clutch, and pumps.

For the centenary of the Royal Air Force on July 10, 2018, Markle and Harry wore formal attire to Buckingham Palace.

The couple was formal and refined to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force at Buckingham Palace in London, England, on July 10, 2018. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

They looked regal at the 100-year anniversary of the Royal Air Force. Markle awed in a sleek boatneck A-line Dior dress. The simple and structured dress was paired with Dior heels and another Stephen Jones fascinator. As Harry was an Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington, he wore the military uniform to the event.

In August 2018, the couple matched sunglasses when attending a friend's wedding in Frensham, England.

They wore sleek sunglasses to attend Charlie van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks' wedding at St Mary the Virgin Church in Frensham, England, on August 4, 2018. Joe Giddens/PA Images/Getty Images

At Charlie van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks' wedding on August 4, 2018, Harry served as the best man. He wore a traditional morning suit and a pair of sunglasses. Markle opted for a tea-length Club Monaco dress in navy, green, pink, and white. Her wedding-guest style was superb with a Philip Treacy fascinator, a navy clutch, Aquazzura pumps, and a pair of sunnies to match her husband's.

This day also marked Markle's 37th birthday.

Markle and Harry wore simple monochromatic looks at a university campus opening in Bognor Regis, England, in October 2018.

Markle and Harry were all smiles in monochromatic looks to visit the University of Chichester's Engineering and Technology Park in Bognor Regis, England, on October 3, 2018. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

On October 3, 2018, Harry and Markle were invited to open the University of Chichester's Engineering and Technology Park's Bognor Regis campus and meet staff and students. The pair were all smiles as they visited in their monochromatic looks. Harry wore a light grey suit sans a tie, while Markle opted to wear a forest green leather skirt by Boss by Hugo Boss and a classic blouse by & Other Stories.

Markle repeated a casual outfit from October 2018 when she and Harry visited Cape Town, South Africa, in September 2019.

Left, the couple at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on October 19, 2018. Right, at the Residence of the British High Commissioner in Cape Town, South Africa, on September 24, 2019. Samir Hussein/Pool/Getty Images

At two separate international appearances, the couple dressed effortlessly.

When they embarked on a 16-day tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga in 2018, the duchess was pregnant with their first child and wore looser fitting or flared silhouettes. Barefoot on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on October 19, 2018, she wore a Martin Grant striped maxi dress, while Harry wore a blue button-down shirt and casual khakis.

Then nearly a year later, on September 24, 2019, when the couple was on another tour, Markle wore the same striped dress and Harry wore a casual beige suit with suede shoes to the Residence of the British High Commissioner in Cape Town, South Africa.

Harry and Markle looked regal while visiting the Anzac Memorial on October 20, 2018, in Sydney, Australia.

Markle and Harry looked regal when visiting the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park in Sydney, Australia, on October 20, 2018. Samir Hussein/Pool/Getty Images

The couple was dressed in black and military attire when an extension was added to the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park in Sydney, Australia.

Markle wore yet another Emilia Wickstead dress and another Philip Treacy fascinator. Harry wore his British Army military uniform to pay respect to the soldiers who lost their lives to war.

Markle and Harry were the picture of elegance at a state dinner in Suva, Fiji, in October 2018.

The couple looked effortlessly stunning at a state dinner in the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva, Fiji, on October 23, 2018. Samir Hussein/Pool/Getty Images

Continuing their tour, the couple attended a state dinner in Suva, Fiji, on October 23. They looked radiant in the Grand Pacific Hotel, where Markle wore a beautiful Safiyaa-designed cape dress in "Fijan blue." Harry also looked dapper in a tuxedo with accompanying military medals.

Two days later, the couple wore classic black and white ensembles to a state dinner at the Royal Residence in Nuku'alofa, Tonga.

Markle and Harry kept it classic at a state dinner at the Royal Residence in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, on October 25, 2018. Pool/Getty Images

Harry and Markle kept it classic in black and white ensembles. Markle's cap-sleeve Theia gown with subtle embellishments and a belt was paired with a black Givenchy clutch and Aquazzura heels. Again, Harry was in a staple black tuxedo with a bow tie and medals.

They matched again when they wore black-tie attire to the Royal Variety Performance in London, England, in November 2018.

The couple coordinated in black and white looks for The Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium in London, England, on November 19, 2018. Samir Hussein/Getty Images

In another tried-and-true black and white power look, the couple dazzled at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium. Markle wore another Safiyaa ensemble made up of a sequin top with a white leaf design and a simple black mermaid skirt.

The couple looked sophisticated during a visit to London's National History Museum in February 2019.

The couple attended a "The Wider Earth" gala performance to support the Queen's Commonwealth Trust at the Natural History Museum in London, England, on February 12, 2019. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Attending a performance of "The Wider Earth" to support the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, Markle re-wore the cream Amanda Wakeley coat from the 2019 Commonwealth Day Service. This was styled with a Calvin Klein dress and paired with an olive green purse and heels. Harry went for a sophisticated navy suit.

They wore calming colors to introduce their son, Archie, to the world in Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019.

A couple of days after their son's birth, the couple presented him to the world in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019. Dominic Lipinski/Getty Images

Markle and Harry went against tradition after the birth of their first child, Archie, by refusing to present him to the public in front of paparazzi after he was born on May 6, 2019. Instead, they introduced their swaddled baby more privately with limited press allowed into Windsor Castle a couple of days later.

The new parents looked tranquil with Markle in a double-breasted and button-adorned Grace Wales Bonner cream dress and Harry in a simple light grey suit.

Attending the European movie premiere of "The Lion King" in London in July 2019, the couple kept it simple in sleek black looks.

Markle and Harry looked classy in black to attend the "The Lion King" European premiere at Leicester Square in London, England, on July 14, 2019. Samir Hussein/Getty Images

The couple kept it simple and sophisticated at the London premiere of Disney's 2019 "The Lion King" movie. Harry stuck to a classic tuxedo while Markle wore an A-line satin Jason Wu dress with a mesh neckline and sleeves. This was styled with a Gucci clutch and sling-back Aquazzura pumps.

Markle and Harry wore rich monochromatic looks for a visit to Canada House in London in January 2020.

The couple pictured as they departed Canada House in London, England, on January 7, 2020. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Harry's navy suit was complemented by a simple light blue tie. Markle stood out in shades of brown in a Massimo Dutti turtleneck sweater and satin midi skirt, a Reiss camel coat, and velvet Jimmy Choo heels. The chocolate- and caramel-hued ensemble was full of texture and shine.

They stunned on their way to the Endeavour Fund Awards Ceremony in London, England, in March 2020.

Markle and Harry's outfits popped in the rain on their way to attend The Endeavour Fund Awards Ceremony at Mansion House in London, England, on March 5, 2020. Samir Hussein/Getty Images

During their final week as working royals  after sharing the news that they would be stepping back from the royal family  Markle and Harry had what are widely considered their most fashionable moments. A trio of coordinated looks packed a punch.

First, on their way to attend the 2020 Endeavor Fund Awards, paparazzi captured now-iconic photos of the couple walking in the rain. Markle wore a bright turquoise Victoria Beckham dress and Manolo Blahnik heels. The dress was simple, but the color played off Harry's complementary royal blue suit and tie.

Harry and Markle stunned in monochromatic red looks to attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music in London, England, in March 2020.

The couple dazzled in matching red looks for the Mountbatten Festival of Music at Royal Albert Hall in London, England, on March 7, 2020. Karwai Tang/Getty Images

Harry and Markle dazzled a couple of nights later. At the 2020 Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall, Markle's short-sleeve Safiyaa cape gown was paired with red Simone Rocha earrings, Manolo Blahnik clutch, and Stuart Weitzman shoes. Her sleek appearance was matched by Harry who showed out in a Royal Marines red and black uniform.

For their final engagement as working royals on March 9, 2020, the couple showed out at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.

For their last engagement as royals, Markle and Harry awed at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London, England, on March 9, 2020. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

All eyes were on Harry and Markle for their final royal engagement. The couple continued to amp up their fashion in the last of their trio of jaw-dropping looks.

Markle wore an asymmetrical cape dress, this one by Emilia Wickstead, in a gorgeous emerald shade. She wore a matching intricate William Chambers fascinator, Gabriela Hearst purse, and Aquazzura heels. Harry's blue-grey suit had a matching emerald lining and was paired with a seafoam green tie.

Harry and Markle looked sharp when visiting the One World Observatory in New York City in September 2021.

The couple looked slick for their first major public appearance since moving to the US when visiting the One World Observatory in New York City on September 23, 2021. Taylor Hill/Getty Images

In their first major appearance since moving to the US, the couple visited One World Observatory and the World Trade Center Memorial to meet with the mayor and governor of New York. With face masks in hand, the couple opted for sleek dark pant suits. Markle wore a dark navy Armani coat with a matching turtleneck and wide-legged pants paired with Aquazzura pumps. Complementing his wife's look, Harry wore a classic dark grey suit.

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JEFFERSON CITY  Counties suing over a Missouri gun law asked the state's highest court Monday to block the statute, arguing the law posed "substantial risk" to law enforcement operations. Attorneys for the state, meanwhile, called those arguments "meritless."

The law, passed last year, declares certain federal gun statutes "invalid" in Missouri and fines law enforcement officers who enforce those statutes. The City of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jackson County sued the state, asking a Cole County judge last year to block the law and declare it unconstitutional.

That trial judge ruled that the counties could instead argue the law's constitutionality in other related lawsuits, making their requests moot and allowing the law to stand; the counties then appealed to the Supreme Court.

Attorneys for the counties argued that those other lawsuits are the very reason why they are asking the high court to block the law, which they say puts law enforcement at risk of further litigation. Robert Dierker, a former circuit judge representing the City of St. Louis, said the law  originally sponsored by two southwest Missouri legislators  was "overreaching by the General Assembly."

Missouri gun laws: Supreme Court to hear challenge to state gun measure

The U.S. Department of Justice, which has gone on the record opposing the law, argued both in a brief filed with the court and in testimony Monday that it hampered coordinated violent crime and gun investigations.

"This law has posed substantial threats to public safety," Jeff Sandberg, an attorney with the DOJ, told justices while arguing that the law violated the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause.

Law enforcement entities in Missouri have criticized the law along similar lines. A federal agent based in Kansas City previously testified to the trial court that the law had prompted Missouri officers to withdraw from a federal crime team; the Missouri Police Chiefs' Association has also opposed the measure.

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Missouri gun laws: Bill expanding deadly force use panned by law enforcement, supported by McCloskey

The state argued Monday that the high court did not need to rule on the law's constitutional merits, criticisms of which they called "meritless." The counties, Solicitor General John Sauer told justices, could argue those merits before one of the courts involved in other lawsuits concerning the measure rather than attempting to do so in this case.

In a reply filed with the court, the counties called the state's line of argument "strained and unnatural," and that "the issue of fatal vagueness" in the law should be considered by justices.

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri Supreme Court asked to block gun law by counties, U.S. DOJ
Jan. 12EAST HARTFORD  Police say they arrested a juvenile male Tuesday in connection with a fatal shooting Sunday afternoon.

Police said the 15-year-old Hartford resident is in custody on charges of manslaughter, following the death of a 17-year-old East Hartford resident. Names of both individuals have not been released.

Deputy Chief Josh Litwin said East Hartford police found the victim on the ground on Westbrook Street suffering from gunshot wounds shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday. He was later pronounced dead, Litwin said.

Litwin said detectives began investigating the incident as a homicide, and a suspect was quickly identified and arrested. The investigation was assisted by evidence gathered by the recently installed Street Security Camera system.

The victim was found in the driveway of East Hartford resident Gerald Therrien, who said Monday that a throng of police cruisers was stationed outside his house Sunday afternoon. He said after he walked outside to confront the police, they told him to remain inside, but he was able to see a body between his vehicle and the side door of his house.

Therrien said Monday that he's noticed criminal mischief becoming more frequent in the neighborhood in the 55 years he's owned his Westbrook Street home.

Detectives are continuing to investigate the incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact East Hartford Police Detective Frank Napolitanio at 860-291-7640, or the police department's anonymous tip line at 860-289-9134.

Joseph covers East Hartford and South Windsor. He joined the JI in July 2021. Joseph graduated from the University of Connecticut and he is an avid guitarist and coffee enthusiast.
If you get knocked down with COVID any time soon, you'll almost certainly be dealing with the Omicron variant. This version of the virus is estimated to account for more than 99 percent of new infections in the U.S., edging out the formerly dominant Delta variant almost completely, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Omicron has a number of mutations that make it different from past iterations of COVID, including how fast it spreads and the severity of the infection it produces. But these mutations also appear to be shifting the type of symptoms people infected with the coronavirus should expect. Now, doctors say Omicron is producing pain in two places that weren't commonly reported with past variants. Read on to find out what new sign of COVID you should be looking out for.

RELATED: I'm Boosted and Got OmicronThis Was My Worst Symptom by Far.

Muscle aches and pain is a frequently reported symptom of Omicron.

When doctors in South Africa and other countries first started reporting on the differing symptoms of patients who had come down with a new variant called Omicron, muscle ache or painalso referred to as myalgiawas a common complaint. Now Gavi, a global vaccine alliance organization, says myalgia is one of the top signs of this variant people should be watching out for.

"People will tell us they went to bed last night [and say that] they felt warm and cold during the night, [and wake up with] body aches and pain, chest pain, or backache and fatiguethat's Omicron," Angelique Coetzee, a South African doctor and chair of the South African Medical Association (SAMA), explained to MSNBC.

If you feel pain in your legs and shoulders, you could be infected.

While a coronavirus infection has potential to cause hurt anywhere in your body, there are two particular spots that could be indicative of Omicron. According to the U.K. Zoe COVID Study App, many people who complain about muscle aches with a COVID case feel that pain in the legs and shoulders.

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The U.K. National Health Service (NHS) says that pain in these two body parts can manifest in a variety of ways when the underlying cause is the coronavirus. "Some people have widespread aching that can come and go for a time as you recover. Some people also have odd or altered feelings such as numbness or pins and needles and weakness in the legs," the agency states. In terms of your shoulders, the NHS says that problems can include a "combination of pain, stiffness, numbness," or even weakness.

RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter.

There could be a number of reasons this type of pain is more common with this variant.

Myalgia is common in many viral infections and COVID is no exception, Harish Chafle, a senior consultant for Pulmonology and Critical Care at Global Hospital in Parel, Mumbai, told Livemint. But the medical expert said that it's clear that body pain is occurring more often with the Omicron variant, which could be a result of a number of different factors.

"It is a possibility that due to inflammatory mediators this variant is causing more myalgia than any other variant post-recovery," Chafle said. "Another reason for this can be the fact that this variant is affecting the musculoskeletal system more than any other variant before."

Coetzee also told MSNBC that she believes body pain is more apparent with Omicron because it is more likely to attack the musculoskeletal system first, impacting muscles, bones, joints, and ligaments with aches and pains.

But myalgia isn't one of the top five most common signs of Omicron.

There's no doubt that pain in the legs and shouldersamid other potential placesis popping up more often with Omicron compared to prior variants of the virus. But body pain is still not considered one of the top five signs of infection from this variant. According to the Zoe COVID Study App, the most common symptoms of the Omicron variant are runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing, and sore throat.

There are also not really any signs of former telltale COVID symptoms like shortness of breath or loss of taste and smell. "A lot of the Omicron symptoms, the majority of them are looking like the common cold or some other viral illness, without any of the classic symptoms," Tim Spector, founder of the Zoe COVID Study App, said in a statement.

RELATED: This One Symptom Could Be Your First Sign of Omicron, Doctors Warn.
Nearly 55 million people were under weather warnings in the US on Saturday as a fierce nor'easter sent 70mph winds and heavy snow from the mid-Atlantic to New England.

Several governors declared states of emergency amid fears of blizzard and white-out conditions.

There were warnings of power outages, and coastal flooding, while more than 3,000 flights have been cancelled. Between two inches and six inches of snow had fallen in northeastern states by Saturday morning, with forecasters predicting far more in some areas.

Rhode Island, which is under a blizzard warning, banned all non-emergency road travel from 8am eastern time on Saturday. Speaking on Friday, Governor Dan McKee said: "This is serious. We're ready for this storm, and we also need Rhode Islanders to be ready. The best way to handle this storm is to stay home tomorrow."

Massachusetts, which could see up to 30 inches of snow, banned heavy lorries from interstate highways for much of Saturday.

In Connecticut, a tractor-trailer jackknifed on snow, causing delays on Interstate 84 near West Hartford. Officials in the Nutmeg State, which is expected to see snow falling as fast as five inches an hour in some areas, expressed concerns at the number of snowplow drivers available, partly as a result of the pandemic.

The National Guard was mobilised in Maryland.

BOMBOGENESIS! The latest @NWSWPC and @NWSOPC surface map analyzed the rapidly strengthening low-pressure system at 975 mb, a 35 mb drop in the last 18 hours! Visible satellite imagery reveals a classic, "comma-shape" system, indicative of a maturing cyclone. pic.twitter.com/ry4a0iIhTm  NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) January 29, 2022

The NWS Weather Prediction Center office in Boston told CNN: "Coastal flooding is a concern thanks to astronomically high tides on Saturday. The combination of strong northeast winds and high seas will bring storm surges that, if coinciding with high tide, would lead to minor or moderate coastal flooding."

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As people prepared for the blizzard conditions by stocking up on essentials, there were some fears of hoarding.

Current radar loop depicts an area of moderate-to-heavy snow extending from the Delmarva Peninsula to Eastern Massachusetts. The combination with gusty winds will continue producing nearly impossible travel at times today along immediate coastal regions and parts of New England. pic.twitter.com/npFnPghT7s  NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) January 29, 2022

New England supermarket giant Stop & Shop pleaded with customers to show restraint, the Associated Press reported. "We ask shoppers to buy what they need and save some for their neighbors," the chain said in a statement.

Coastal New Jersey was forecast to get as much as 18 inches of snow and eastern Long Island up to 17 inches, the AP reported, while Philadelphia, New York City, and parts of the Delmarva Peninsula in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia could get 10 inches or more.

Out bright and early in Harlem! Thank you to @NYCSanitation who has been out getting the job done all night long.



You can track their work live: https://t.co/fE2OYHhQnH pic.twitter.com/HKwYn1bRJk  Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) January 29, 2022

Washington and Baltimore were expected to avoid the worst of the snowfall, with only 1 to 3 inches and 5 inches respectively.

With reporting by the Associated Press
Six months.

Thats how long it took for Marco Polselli to find enough staff to open his new sandwich shop in downtown Newport.

It was incredibly hard, Polselli said. After getting all the certificates and all the paperwork from the city done, there was this period of time where I was able to open but I couldnt because I didnt have employees.

Polselli, who also owns the original Marcos Subs and Pickles-A-Deli in Portsmouth and Middletown respectively, had announced the plans and began hiring for the new Marco's Cafe on Spring Street in June 2021 with hopes to open sometime in July. As weeks passed with applications few and far in between, he decided to wait until Newports off-season, as he didnt want a new, understaffed cafe to face record-breaking Newport tourism crowds.

You want to put a good face on the business when it starts, Polselli said. We dont want to disappoint people by having them wait too long or have subpar product because of being short-staffed.

Marco Poleselli owns Marco's Cafe in Newport.

Newport County's diminishing workforce

While Polselli and the rest of the restaurant and hospitality industry have become the faces of the hiring crisis, they are not alone. From March 2020 to August 2021, Newport Countys available workforce, which includes those who are employed and unemployed, dropped by 5%, according to data from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

Although numbers improved little by little as the year drew to a close, there was still a large gap between available jobs and available workers in Newport County by the end of September. Erin Donovan Boyle, executive director of the Greater Newport County Chamber of Commerce, said not much has changed since September, either.

Jose Miller is an employee at Marco's Cafe in Newport.

At every level of employment, it is difficult to attract the workers that we need, from physicians to entry level dishwashing positions, Donovan Boyle said.

In a conversation with the Newport Daily News in September about the hiring crisis, Donovan Boyle pointed to the housing market and aging population of Newport County as two key factors driving the diminishing workforce. Those are still her top concerns, she said, but now she also said people are reevaluating how unemployment is understood and calculated at the same time, so the definitive reason behind the fall in available workers is still unknown.

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Where are the employees?: Newport County's missing workforce isn't on unemployment, they're leaving the job market

I do think part of it is people who have left the market or their industry sector and found alternative options, but its also retirees, Donovan Boyle said. A significant number of Baby Boomers have chosen to retire, some earlier than maybe we expected, and that probably has to do with burnout, as well as ceasing the opportunity and health concerns.

While Donovan Boyle believes the bulk of the labor force exits are retirees, the chamber has been working to help businesses draw in those who are not retired. With more job postings than available candidates, employees have more power in choosing between potential employers, so Donovan Boyle said the chamber has been working alongside businesses to create more incentives for future employees, whether that be added benefits or pay increases.

Erin Donovan-Boyle, executive director of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce.

It depends on where youre looking, there are certainly restaurants who have not had a hard time hiring or retaining their current staff, but there are others that do, Donovan Boyle said. Its still extremely difficult (to find employees), if not more exacerbated in some specific fields, like the healthcare industry.

22 job openings per unemployed nurse

There were 5,730 Rhode Island job postings for healthcare practitioners during the third quarter of 2021, which meant there were 22 listings per unemployed Rhode Islander who claimed healthcare practitioner as their field of work. Of those postings, 42% were hiring registered nurses to relieve the states overburdened healthcare system.

A healthcare worker at Newport Hospital waves to members of Ocean Pointe Church in September 2020 that parked their cars along Powell Avenue in Newport to wave signs and honk horns in appreciation.

The COVID-19 situation has certainly changed the healthcare recruiting climate considerably, said Ara Millette, talent acquisition manager for Lifespan Health System. Healthcare, like many other industries across the nation, has been experiencing what people refer to as The Great Resignation where a high volume of employees are taking opportunities elsewhere.

Lifespan oversees several healthcare facilities throughout Rhode Island, including Newport Hospital. Millette said the healthcare industry's unique position at the frontlines of the pandemic has led to increased burnout and turnover among nursing staff who quit to look for job opportunities elsewhere.

One of the major challenges within the nursing space specifically is that, since this is a national labor crisis, its not localized to the state of Rhode Island, we have seen many of our local staff members resigning from their permanent positions at our facilities to take temporary, very high paying contracts elsewhere in the country, Millette said.

A new way of life: Strain of COVID-19 pandemic grew too heavy for a Tiverton nurse. So she started a business.

Although applications are fewer and further in between, Millette said employee candidates have also been more judicious with their hiring choices, asking recruiters more questions and carefully weighing benefits. To stay competitive and maintain appropriate staffing levels, Millette has spearheaded several new benefits programs and hiring initiatives for various Lifespan health facilities, such as the job fair for Newport Hospital she organized in November. Now that new employee training is nearly complete, Newport Hospital is expecting 33 new workers to join its ranks from that job fair.

Weve implemented new programs, Millette said. Weve greatly enhanced our employee assistance program, we have a robust total rewards program, we have evaluated, and in many cases increased, salaries for high demand positions, weve created a robust employee referral program, so we really are trying to take a careful look at our total compensation and employee package to make us the most attractive employer of choice for our local Rhode Islanders.

Anybody that's good is in high demand

Unlike healthcare and other major labor sectors, the construction industry consistently has more people in the labor pool than jobs that need them, leading to a larger unemployment rate for the sector. In Q2 for 2021, 493 unemployed workers put Construction and Extraction as their occupational field, but there were only 95 job listings for that kind of work.

Despite this, Jeffrey Lipshires at J2Construct said his company still has a hard time getting enough people on a job.

Craftspeople, carpenters, laborers, if theyre getting an extra $600 a week or whatever it is, theres really no motivation for them to go to work, Lipshires said. Well get a lot of guys who really want to work and then a lot of guys who will take the first rain day they can, so its a challenge at all times anyways.

What's next: Plumby's is gone. Here's what's next for the historic Middletown Grange building

While Lipshires has been able to keep his team intact throughout the hiring crisis, he said it has been hard to find tradespeople and subcontractors for certain projects. Like Millette, Lipshires has noticed an increase in labor costs and expectations of employers by employees for the work they provide. Higher wages coupled with high materials costs from the ongoing supply chain disruption causes project prices to soar, Lipshires said.

Jeff Lipshires is president of J2Construct.

Anybody thats really any good is in really high demand, Lipshires said. So if a carpenter is making whatever rate, if hes not happy where he is, hes going to go somewhere else, and people are asking for really, really high rates now.

Everybody you know has COVID

Still, even when Lipshires is able to find people for a project, they might be out sick as the new spike in COVID-19 cases rages across the country.

Everybody you know has COVID, or been exposed, or had COVID, so were really struggling with that too, Lipshires said. Its almost like you have to have a bench because theres people out all the time with COVID you almost need one or two extra guys just to make up for the fact that youre going to have people out.

Fighting omicron: COVID-19 cases are rapidly rising. This is how Newport Hospital is responding.

With the omicron variants high transmissibility, several industries have found themselves with staff out sick. At least one worker from one of Polsellis three restaurants has called in sick every day since the year began, he said.

Everybodys getting sick, Polselli said. Ive had employees call out every day that weve been open. Ive had two locations this week where two people were out the entire week. Its tough right now, but Im hoping what a lot of people are hoping happens now, which is that everybody gets sick, and in a couple of weeks well be better but if that happens in the summertime, we have an issue.

What's expected of summer 2022

Should hiring levels remain the same in 2022, Donovan Boyle and Polselli are worried about what summer 2022 might look like for Newports restaurant and hospitality industry. Lifted travel restrictions and restaurant capacity limits led to a record-breaking tourism crowd from June to September. While college students and international temporary workers may be able to come back to the city to fill in the gaps, the issue remains of where to house them.

Seasonal employers are really starting to get concerned about next summer and the ability to house individuals to supply the workforce demand we will have, Donovan Boyle said. Were limited, not only because we dont have a lot of large organizations (in Newport County), but also because our housing is so high value and limited in stock.

Newport tourism: How good was tourism in this summer? Hotel, dining tax revenues offer an optimistic clue

Although his three shops are running fine with the staff he has now, Polselli is still regularly looking at applications to fill more spots in Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. Hes hoping to have Marcos Cafe open and fully staffed for summer 2022.

We have our posts out there and Im always looking at applications when they come in, but Im not even seeing applications, Polselli said. Nobodys even looking for jobs. Im sure I could do more than what Im doing, but I dont know I dont know why people arent really looking for jobs like they used to be. I remember when youd get a couple applications a week, but now I dont see any.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Businesses hiring in Newport in 2022 have job market concerns
Jan. 10LeBron James took his talents to South Beach.

Javin Richards is taking his talents to the slopes of Utah.

A senior multi-sport athlete at Perry, Richards signed a national letter of intent on Jan. 7 accepting a track and field scholarship at Utah State University.

Richards, a Division II state champion in the pole vault and the 300-meter hurdles last spring, chose Utah State over Akron and Rutgers. However, he did say he had multiple offers to play football, including at St. Francis, Pa.

"I just thought I'd have more success with track," Richards said.

Richards said his athletic scholarship is for full tuition at Utah State, a member of the Mountain West Conference. He admitted the mountains  particularly the ski slopes  in Utah got his attention, too.

He's an experienced skier.

"I'm gonna love it," he said. "When I have my free time, I'm going to enjoy the slopes and the fresh powder. It's been a few years since I've been out there to ski, but I can't wait."

Richards finished his junior year as a state champion in two events and a state-placer in a third event. He won the Division II pole vault with a height of 15-foot, 6-inches and won the 300 hurdles title with a time of 38.20. He also was fifth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.32

Richards is active  and successful  in multiple sports at Perry. He was also a prime target in the football team's passing game this past fall, is sixth in the area this winter on the swimming circuit with a time of 23.05 in the 55 free, and averages 13 points per game with the Pirates' boys basketball team.

But next year at Utah State, he'll participate in just one sport  track and field.

"You know, it's going to be weird playing one sport," he said. "I'm a three-sport athlete. Yesterday alone I lifted after school, went to swimming practice, then to basketball practice and then to a track meet at SPIRE where I did six events and PR'd in two.

Story continues

"It's going to be weird next year not doing as much."

That being said, Richards plans on being very involved at Utah State.

"I'll definitely do pole vault and hurdles," he said. "But I'm going to be a decathlete also. I took third at AAU Nationals last year doing that."

With his college decision in the books, Richards said he's looking forward to the final months of his high school career, including the remainder of the basketball and swimming schedules this winter, followed by what he hopes is another banner year in track.

Then it's off to Logan, Utah.

The signing was held as the capper on a busy Jan. 7 at Perry, following the Pirates' boys victory over visiting Orange and the girls' basketball team's tight loss to West Geauga.

Afterward, numerous teammates, parents and fans watched as Richards sat at a table at midcourt clad in Utah State attire and signed his letter of intent.

"It's definitely a big stress-reliever, I'm not going to lie," he said.
For the first time in its 135-year history, Pratt has a named professorship.

Funded by a $3.5 million donation from alumna Jane B. Nord and named in her honor, the professorship is geared to innovating fashion design at Pratt and beyond. Pratts chairperson for its fashion department, Jennifer Minniti, will serve as the first named professor, which is meant to attract a series of leaders.

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In other Pratt news, Adam Friedman has switched tracks from the Pratt Centers director for community development to the Pratt Institutes chief strategy officer. Lena Afridi is serving as the centers interim director.

Friedmans new role includes working on a project tied to BankStreet Colleges and the department of educations plans to launch a new school in Brooklyn that will be focused on design and social justice. Pratt is helping to develop curriculum and aims to engage the design industry in the guidance for the school.

Noting how the creative economy is a key factor in driving the New York Citys economy, Friedman said simultaneously that it does not reflect the diversity of New York. The aim of the school is to create a more robust pipeline that will funnel more New Yorkers into the creative sectors. This is going to be located in Brooklyn and it should reflect the diversity of Brooklyn, he said, adding that it will be a zoned school that will not require an entrance exam for middle school students.

At this stage, it looks like the school will range from sixth graders to seniors in high school. The opening is slated for the fall of 2024.

Over the past three years, the Pratt Institute has had nearly 200 projects between faculty and community groups. Pratt Institutes proposal for the Bank Street-supported school was one of six that was selected from a field of about 50.

Friedman is also involved with a partnership with New York City College of Technology, which us know as CityTech, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to create a hub that will accelerate faculty-devised projects and develop technologies and strategies in response to business community needs. It is called the Research Yard of Pratt Institute, CityTech and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Fifty percent of the $6 million project is coming from the New York City Councils 2022 budget. Under construction, half of the 40,000-square-foot facility will be available this fall and the other half will be a few months later.

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The Yard will offer memberships to companies that want to learn what the latest emerging technologies are, including climate mitigation ones. The alliance is in line with Pratts mission to create opportunities for designers to be impactful beyond aesthetics and elite fashion. What I see is more and more students addressing issues of climate change and racial injustice. And the business community must step up not only if they want to attract talent, but also if they want to remain viable. Every company has to have a triple bottom line in the future. They have to be aware of what theyre doing financially and also the impacts theyre having in the communities both small and large, Friedman said.

One sign of how consumers and companies are becoming more conscientious about their behavior is the interest in New York States Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act. If passed, the Fashion Act would make apparel and footwear brands with more than $100 million in revenues doing business in New York map their supply chains, among other stipulations, with the aim of providing greater transparency in relation to their environmental and social impact.

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WASHINGTON  Conservatives are signaling they intend to draw attention to third-party "dark money" groups as part of the looming fight to replace Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court  no matter who President Joe Biden nominates.

Days after Breyer announced he would step down following a nearly 30-year stint on the nation's highest court, one conservative group began airing a TV ad decrying "secret money from liberals" it claims is influencing the process. Days later, Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sounded a similar alarm.

"What we wont do is rubber stamp someone committed to implementing a radical progressive agenda by legislating from the bench," the Iowa Republican said during a hearing this month. "I've talked about liberal dark money many times. Seems like these groups have already made it clear that's what they expect."

If the issue of outside influence by third-party advocacy groups plays heavily into the confirmation process it will represent a flipped script for Republicans, who have been on defense over similar criticism from Democrats for years. Third-party groups helped vet and promote all three of President Donald Trump's nominees to the Supreme Court.

Dark money groups, usually nonprofits, raise and spend money to influence public policy debates. Unlike political campaigns and other entities that engage in advocacy relating to elections, the groups are generally not required to disclose their donors or comply in other ways with federal campaign finance laws.

The short list: A look at California Justice Kruger, under consideration for the Supreme Court

First Black woman: Race, gender become factors in Supreme Court confirmation battle

Conservative groups involved with judicial issues have long been seen as better funded and better organized than their liberal counterparts, although there are indications progressive organizations are beginning to catch up. A New York Times analysis of tax records this year found that dark money groups aligned with Democrats in some cases surpassed Republican operations in the 2020 presidential campaign.

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The U.S. Capitol Building stands across First Avenue from the Supreme Court building on Jan. 26, 2022.

Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, asserted that liberal groups want "payback" for their support of Biden and other Democrats in the 2020 election in the form of a left-leaning Supreme Court justice. Severino's group  which does not disclose its donors  said conservative groups are starting an anti-nominee campaign now to highlight what they see as hypocrisy on the left.

The Judicial Crisis Network, which has promoted conservative jurists for years, is financing what it says is a $2.5 million ad campaign targeting Arabella Advisors, a consulting firm with ties to several left-leaning organizations and that was founded by Eric Kessler, who worked in President Bill Clinton's administration.

"The president, and the Senate  were bankrolled by Arabella Advisors," the Judicial Crisis Network asserted in the initial version of its ad.The ad claims, those groups are seeking "a liberal activist" on the Supreme Court.

"I think it's important for people to see the connection," Severino said.

Arabella Advisors spokesman Steve Sampson said the claims in the ad are false and "deliberately mischaracterize the work" of the firm. The company "is not the source of funding," Sampson said, "and we do not exert control over the spending decisions."

Over the weekend, Judicial Crisis Network changed the script of its ad to claim Democrats received money from the "Arabella Advisors network," widening the target from just Arabella to other groups.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, right, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, left, the ranking Republican, to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy on Feb. 1, 2022.

Democrats say it is conservative groups such as Judicial Crisis Network that are engaging in hypocrisy, attempting to demonize a practice they helped to normalize. The group is allied with a network of organizations that have loose ties to Leonard Leo, a conservative legal advocate who has helped promote GOP nominees for the high court for more than a decade.

That effort has paid off with a 6-3 conservative court that has signaled it may overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a constitutional right to abortion and limit the power of states to regulate the open-carry of handguns.

"They accused us of hypocrisy and try to change the subject from the fact that they set the terms," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who has been the most outspoken member of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioning the influence of outside groups on the Supreme Court. "And if we don't fight back on the terms that they set, they just beat the crap out of us with their dark money. This is that play in action."

Whitehouse used his time during Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing in 2020 to draw attention to dark money on the right, which he argues is having a profound effect on the legal system that extends beyond the selection of jurists.

Exactly how much money flows into Supreme Court confirmation battles from either conservative or liberal dark money groups is difficult to discern. Because the groups are not engaged in advocacy related to elections they are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission and they disclose very little detail about their donors or how they spend their money.

While outside spending has already emerged as a political messaging weapon in the upcoming confirmation process, it's not yet clear whether Biden's nominee will arouse the same degree of passion from outside groups as previous nominees. The stakes are lower because Biden, a Democrat, is replacing a justice who was a reliable liberal vote.

'Stealthy': Justice Breyer had a big impact on abortion. That legacy is now in jeopardy

So, the court's 6-3 conservative balance is not in jeopardy.

One of the progressive groups frequently targeted by the right is Demand Justice, which in 2020 committed to spending $10 million to block Trump's nominee to replace Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg until after the inauguration. Trump wound up nominating Barrett and she was confirmed 27 days later.

Demand Justice had promoted several of the candidates Biden is now considering for the Supreme Court, including Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. While conservative groups have called attention to that fact, it's highly likely Biden would have landed on Jackson anyway: The president promised to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court for the first time and there are only a handful of Black women federal judges that could have been considered.

'Tone matters': Some predict Justice Breyer's exit will deepen polarization on Supreme Court

Brian Fallon, cofounder and executive director of Demand Justice, accused Judicial Crisis Network of "trying to muddy the water" about its own role in confirmations.

"It's somewhat laughable for JCN to pretend that we've caught up to their side," he said. "We are losing by a score of six to three."

Biden is expected to announce his nominee by the end of the month. The list of candidates the president is considering includes Leondra Kruger, an associate justice on California's Supreme Court and U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs.

If Republicans raise questions about liberal dark money in the confirmation hearing this spring they will likely repeat many of the same points they brought up when Jackson was before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April for her nomination to the appeals court. Several Republicans pressed Jackson at that time on whether she supported some positions taken by Demand Justice, such as its call to expand the size of the high court.

"Demand Justice is a dark money liberal group whose first priority is getting left wing judges who will follow a liberal agenda instead of the Constitution," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said during Jackson's confirmation hearing last year. "How is this any different from what Democrats have accused Republicans of for the last four years?"

Neither Tillis nor Grassley responded to a request for comment.

Jackson, who responded to Tillis by noting she has "no control" over what outside groups say or do, was ultimately confirmed to the appeals court in June.

She won the support of all Senate Democrats and three Republicans.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GOP signals fight over 'dark money' in Supreme Court confirmation
Donald Trump has weighed in on the row engulfing wildly popular podcaster Joe Rogan, telling the host to stop apologising to the Fake News and Radical Left for his recent platforming of medical disinformation and his long history of racist, misogynistic and transphobic remarks.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump remains under suspicion of violating federal law by mishandling documents that the White House was required to preserve, from schedules to sensitive memos were regularly ripped into quarters and tossed into trash bins or burn bags for incineration at the Pentagon, forcing aides to sift through the contents to determine which needed to be preserved under the Presidential Records Act.

Advisers to the former president insisted that 15 boxes of administration records found at Mar-a-Lago didnt contain any sensitive materials, but rather mementos and correspondence from other world leaders  including letters from North Koreas Kim Jong Un.

The consequences of the former presidents words and actions both in and out of office are the subject of particularly heated discourse at the moment, with Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger warning that the strength of feeling whipped up among Mr Trumps supporters poses a risk of full-on civil conflict.

Key Points

Trump team still recovering documents owed to National Archives

DeSantis dodges on key question regarding Pences constitutional authority on Jan 6

Trump watched riot footage as it occurred, rewound footage to watch people fighting for him

Jan 6 committee member previews public hearing schedule

Mitch McConnell torches RNC resolution calling Jan 6 legitimate political discourse'

20:20 , John Bowden

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not mince words on Tuesday when asked about the resolution passed by the Republican National Committee condemning Reps Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their participation in the effort to investigate the attack on the Capitol.

The shocking statement which referred to the bloody assault on Congress as legitimate political discourse was an expression of the partys continued total loyalty to President Donald Trump and his false claims about the 2020 election, which the party apparatus as a whole embraced wholeheartedly.

Story continues

The Senate Republican leader made what amounted to a defense of Reps Cheney and Kinzinger from the highest-profile Republican elected official thus far, telling reporters: "We all were here. We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next. That's what it was."

He went on to say it was not the job of the RNC to make such statements about sitting Republican officials.

Doug Emhoff rushed out of DC school after bomb threat

20:01 , John Bowden

Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was promptly removed from the premises of a Washington DC-area school on Tuesday after a security situation developed following his arrival.

White House pool reports indicated that Mr Emhoff was at Dunbar High School when a security issue required his immediate removal to a secure location. A statement from DC Public Schools indicated that the incident stemmed from a bomb threat.

Students and faculty at the school were evacuated as well.

Read more from The Independents Andrew Feinberg:

Oversight Democrat says panel to look in to stashes of documents at Mar-a-Lago

19:26 , John Bowden

Rep Carolyn Maloney reacted on Tuesday to news that President Donald Trumps team was continuing to procure boxes of records from Mar-a-Lago that should have been turned over to the National Archives after Mr Trump left the White House last year.

Calling the news troubling, but not surprising in an interview with The Washington Post, Ms Maloney, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said that the panel would likely investigate why the Trump team had failed to hand over the documents last year.

"I plan to fully investigate this incident to ensure the law is followed and records from the Trump Administration are with the National Archives where they belong, rather than stashed away in Trump's golf resorts," she told the newspaper.

Read more in the The Washington Post.

Marylands Larry Hogan wont run for Senate

18:56 , John Bowden

In a blow to the overall Republican Party but a potential victory for former President Donald Trump, the governor of Maryland announced on Tuesday that he would not run for the states Senate seat open in 2022.

The seat is currently held by a first-term Democratic senator, Chris Van Hollen. Larry Hogan, the states GOP governor, is widely popular in Maryland and was seen by the party as one of the few viable candidates to challenge Mr Van Hollen in the heavily blue state.

Mr Hogan is a top critic of former President Trump and his decision not to seek the Senate seat in 2024 represents a victory in Mr Trumps efforts to clear the GOP field of any who oppose him and his false claims about the 2020 election.

[A]s I have repeatedly said, I dont aspire to be a senator, and that fact has not changed, said Mr Hogan in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Omarosa claims ex-boss used to chew documents he ripped up

18:17 , John Bowden

Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House aide and The Apprentice contestant described her former bosss enjoyment of destroying documents he no longer wanted in an MSNBC interview on Monday.

Speaking with MSNBCs Ali Velshi, she painted a vivid picture of a time when she claimed she saw the president chewing what he had just torn up from behind the Resolute Desk.

After Michael Cohen left the office and I walked in to the Oval, Donald  in my view  was chewing what he had just torn up, she told Mr Velshi.

It was very bizarre, she added.

Watch the whole interview via MSNBC:

Hill Republicans keep distance from RNCs censure resolution

17:25 , Andrew Naughtie

The atmosphere among Washington Republicans after the RNCs Cheney-Kinzinger censure resolution appears to be awkward indeed. CNN correspondents Manu Raju and Melanie Zanona report:

Its unclear which six RNC members McCarthy is referring to. A McCarthy aide said he got the number  six  from RNC Chair McDaniel. (Have reached out to RNC and Jan. 6 committee). He also didnt answer when asked if he backed the resolution, which censured Kinzinger and Cheney.  Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 8, 2022

Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, told me that the RNC censure resolution didnt come up in conference meeting today  likely because a lot of people were embarrassed by it.



It was pretty damn embarrassing, he said.  Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) February 8, 2022

Former Trump adviser dumps on Manchurian candidate Pence in Bannon interview

17:05 , Andrew Naughtie

Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, who has long been one of the former presidents most exuberant defenders and became notorious for his erratic pronouncements on Covid-19, has used an appearance on Steve Bannons War Room podcast to lay into Mike Pence for breaking ranks.

A former senior WH official, Peter Navarro, on Bannon's show, talking about former VP Pence: "Mike's not the sharpest tool in the shed. He was never a pure Trump guy...Mike Pence was the Manchurian candidate and the prisoner of Marc Short...Mike you are dead politically."  Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) February 8, 2022

Fox News host slams Trumps stolen election lie"

16:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Brian Kilmeade, a Fox News host not known for his criticism of Donald Trump, yesterday told a caller on his radio show that the former presidents recent address at an Arizona rally was the worst speech he ever gave  and that his fixation on the 2020 election is getting more and more problematic.

Everything that he said and the challenges that he made shouldve been done before the election, Mr Kilmeade said. And they did a recount in Arizona, and the recount showed no difference almost, and he came out and said it showed that they won Arizona. Thats an outright lie, and please stop wasting our time with that.

Andrew Feinberg has the story:

Fox host Brian Kilmeade hits out at Trumps outright lie that election was stolen

Kinzinger on risk of civil war

16:17 , Andrew Naughtie

Adam Kinzinger has never held back in his criticism of Donald Trump, but as the retiring congressman increasingly tackles his own critics head-on, he has warned that the threat posed by the presidents behaviour should not be underestimated.

Look, if it election was legitimately stolen, I would be pretty ticked off too, he told CNN earlier. That violates everything I swore to defend. And so when you convince that number of people, it is not a far thought... to think that someday, some militia shows up somewhere to do something and then some counter-militia and, truly, at that point that is how you end up in a civil war.

Trumps 2020 election lies could lead to civil war, warns Adam Kinzinger

Why hasnt Mark Meadows faced contempt charges yet?

15:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows has been held in contempt by the House of Representatives for refusing to fully co-operate with the 6 January select committee. His case has been referred to the Department of Justice  which has yet to act, much to Democrats frustration.

But according to legal analyst and law professor Barb McQuade, there may be a reason the department has held back: the possibility of more serious charges stemming from the overall effort to overturn Joe Bidens victory.

She laid out her case on MSNBC last night:

.@BarbMcQuade, " One reason they may have refrained from charging Mark Meadows with contempt is because they're thinking of him not as a witness but as a defendant. It could very well be that they're looking at him as a bigger fish." pic.twitter.com/vSaAmUXJl8  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 7, 2022

Trump tells fans to cancel DirecTV subscriptions if it drops OAN

15:17 , Andrew Naughtie

One America News Network, the far-right channel known for putting out pro-Trump misinformation and platforming far-right commentators, is facing the threat of being dropped by mutichannel distributor DirecTV. The former president has just put out a statement telling his supporters to vote with their feet (or rather, their subscription payments):

If AT&T/DirecTV cancels OAN, I hope that everyone will boycott and cancel DirecTV. It is a very popular channel, far more popular than most would understand, and they are being treated horribly by the Radical Left lunatics running the networks. Instead of being allowed to grow, their voice is being shuttered. Dont let it happen, cancel DirecTV. If you feel infringed by what this Communist movement is doing, cancel DirecTV!

Adam Kinzinger on GOPs muddled Jan 6 messaging

15:05 , Andrew Naughtie

Adam Kinzinger, one of the two House Republicans censured by the RNC for daring to join the 6 January probe, points to increasing concerns in the GOP that the partys divisions over the insurrection and its origins are starting to tear apart its national message heading into what should be a very winnable round of midterm elections:

I remember when Kevin McCarthy threw Liz Cheney under the bus because it was time to move on from Jan 6. 



GOP frustration mounts as Trump returns focus to Jan. 6 | TheHill https://t.co/veYcxnt0Br  Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) February 8, 2022

Eric Garcia: Trumps document-hoarding shows how fragile the presidency really is

14:45 , Andrew Naughtie

As the furore over Donald Trumps alleged violation of the Presidential Records Act continues, The Independents Washington correspondent Eric Garcia writes:

Trumps presidency revealed how many of our laws to hold the executive branch accountable kind of depended on the president being a virtuous person without thinking about what happens if a person who disregards laws were to occupy the office https://t.co/BiUXQ6joRR  Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) February 8, 2022

Here is what the Congressional Research Service says about the Presidential Records Act and penalties for someone who removes or tampers with documents: pic.twitter.com/1Gu4e9RLOb  Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) February 7, 2022

Investigation into Trumps election pressure on Georgia officials steadily escalates

14:15 , Andrew Naughtie

CNN reports that Fulton County, Georgia Attorney General Fani Willis is planning to issue subpoenas in her probe of Donald Trumps call to state election officials after his 2020 defeat. The ex-president was recorded asking Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (a Republican) to find enough votes to wipe out Joe Bidens margin of victory.

Atlanta DA investigating Trump plans to start issuing subpoenas in May, with a bulk to come in the summer  and has identified about 100 witnesses. All of them are not going to welcome our invitation to come speak with us," Willis to @SaraMurray https://t.co/KvAOWMB6U5  Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 8, 2022

Trumps document haul to face scrutiny from House committee

13:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, says she is planning a full-on investigation of Donald Trumps decision to take more than a dozen boxes of White House documents to Florida rather than handing them over as the law demands.

.@RepMaloney plans to fully investigate the appearance of 15 boxes of documents and other items at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, which should have been turned over as part of the Presidential Records Act. @jaxalemany @theodoricmeyer @tobiaraji https://t.co/SnONBLfY0v  Dave Clarke (@davecclarke) February 8, 2022

Republicans latest win at the Supreme Court

13:15 , Andrew Naughtie

The current round of congressional redistricting has seen several state maps redrawn to favour one party or the other, but Republicans are overwhelmingly coming out on top in the gerrymandering stakes  and now a US Supreme Court ruling has reinstated an Alabama map that breaks up the concentration of the states Black voters.

In her dissent, liberal justice Elena Kagan pulled no punches about what the decision means, and described the verdict as the latest in a disconcertingly long line of cases in which this Court uses its shadow docket to signal or make changes in the law, without anything approaching full briefing and argument.

Read more:

Supreme Court restores Alabamas GOP-drawn congressional map in voting rights battle

What is the Electoral Count Act, and how can it be reformed?

12:44 , Andrew Naughtie

As Donald Trump insists ever more stridently that Mike Pence in fact had the authority to overturn Joe Bidens 2020 victory, a bipartisan group of Senators are working to reform the Electoral Count Act to make clear that the vice president has no such power. With lawmakers from both parties on board, the legislation is expected to pass before this years midterms, which could give pro-Trump Republicans the majority theyd need to block it.

The New York Times has this write-up of why the move matters:

Very good piece on the complications of fixing the Electoral Count Act. https://t.co/GVs42J0Pg4  Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) February 8, 2022

Trump: Joe Rogan should "stop apologising

12:15 , Andrew Naughtie

In a statement last night, Donald Trump took the side of embattled podcaster Joe Rogan as he faces opprobrium for spreading Covid-19 disinformation, as well as his long history of hosting right-wing conspiracy theories and sharing racist, misogynistic, transphobic and homophobic remarks.

As Mr Trump sees it, Mr Rogan (an interesting and popular guy) should stop apologising to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics.

Statement from President Trump on Joe Rogan. pic.twitter.com/ClWVy4Ja7F  Sheila Sweeney (@SheilaGOP) February 8, 2022

News of delayed Trump social network launch damages stock in key partner company

11:48 , Andrew Naughtie

The delay to the launch of Truth Social, Donald Trumps supposedly censorship-free social media site, has tanked the stock price of the networks key finance partner, Digital World Acquisition Corp.

The app was meant to launch by 21 February, but Trump Media and Technology Group CEO Devin Nunes has since announced it will arrive by 31 March.

Read more below:

Trump SPAC stock Digital World Acquisition Corp. plunges on delay newshttps://t.co/6lf86x4vod  Douglas Walton (@DouglasWalton99) February 8, 2022

House lawmaker describes bullying he receives from fans of Rogan and Carlson

11:15 , Andrew Naughtie

Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat who has long been a specific target of right-wing disgust and conspiracy theories, has told a DNC-hosted podcast just how serious the death threats he is confronted with really are.

As Gino Spocchia reports:

He said a man told him that everything he learned about me and everything that fired him up about me, he heard from Tucker Carlson, as well as under-fire podcast host Joe Rogan  as the congressman first revealed in December. It just shows that you have a lot of lonely people who are easily radicalised and you have people like Tucker Carlson and others who just aim their vitriol at these people, knowing that theyre going to turn and project their anger at lawmakers, said Mr Swalwell. He told Mr Harrison, the host of the Welcome To The Party podcast: So that I thought, you know what, Im going to start fighting back a little bit publicly to show what these threats are. And whats interesting is...These guys back down. And also I have noticed fewer threats come in. Once people realise that you may become famous for the threat that you make to me, Mr Swalwell said.

Read the full story below.

Democrat describes tipping point with death threat from Joe Rogan listener

How to think about Trumps document stash

10:35 , Andrew Naughtie

CNN analyst and former FBI special agent Asha Rangappa asks the most important question about the White House materials retrieved from Mar-a-Lago...

But who among us *hasn't* walked off with fifteen boxes of federal property explicitly covered by legislation clarifying that you are not the owner of said property? WHO I ASK  Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 7, 2022

Outrageous Trump allies insist theyre not lunatics"

10:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Sidney Powell, the pro-Trump attorney whose notorious post-election kraken lawsuits failed to overturn Joe Bidens victory while spreading false conspiracy theories about non-existent election fraud, is facing disbarment for what a federal judge called historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.

She and eight other lawyers facing sanction have now filed an appeal motion objecting to their portrayal as overwrought, dangerous lunatics, quoting Voltaire and Shakespeare as they insist that Millions of Americans believe the central contentions of the complaint to be true, and perhaps they are.

Law and Crime has the story:

Sidney Powell after the 2020 election: I have proof! Kraken!



Powell, while being sued: Reasonable people would not take my claims as factual.



Powell, now facing disbarment: "Millions of Americans believe" my claims are true, and "perhaps they are.https://t.co/hIYNRHKfHV  Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) February 8, 2022

Nikki Haley joins Republicans knocking Cheney-Kinzinger censure

09:15 , Andrew Naughtie

As Trump administration alumni go, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley has played a particularly delicate game since leaving the former presidents team, sometimes appearing to break with her old boss but overall remaining on side as she remains the subject of perpetual speculation about a future campaign of her own.

Now, she appears to have taken exception to the RNCs censure of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger  but as Republican Accountability Project founder Sarah Longwell points out, Ms Haley is hardly arguing based on her own principles.

What I appreciate about Nikki Haley is how consistent shes been in forcefully voicing this principle, especially when Donald Trump was attacking Repub.hahahahahahahahahahah https://t.co/lc8c9T2Iwr  Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) February 8, 2022

Trumps Truth Social app needs Apple and Google to survive

08:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Experts say that Donalds Trumps new social media venture  Truth Social  that is scheduled to be launched within a few weeks is trying to navigate the thin line between Trumps base and Big Tech [Apple and Googles app] policies.

Reuters reported that the risk of .. de-platforming is a top priority for the Trump Media and Technology Group.

According to two people with knowledge of the matter, TMTG Chief Executive Devin Nunes has pledged to deliver an engaging and censorship-free experience on its Truth Social app.

A source was quoted as saying that Mr Nunes believes that Truth Social will be a major target for hackers, so he wants to have cyber talent at the nation-state level.

Trump returned the Hurricane sharpie map to the National Archives

07:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Last month, Donald Trump handed over 15 boxes of documents, letters, gifts and momentos to the National Archives that he had unlawfully taken with him when leaving the White House.

New York Times reported that the items... included a map Mr Trump famously drew on with a black Sharpie marker to demonstrate the track of Hurricane Dorian heading toward Alabama in 2019 to back up a declaration he had made on Twitter that contradicted weather forecasts.

Other items in the boxes were reams of news clips printed out for Mr Trump, as well as at least one item of clothing, the report said.

Biden Cabinet member resigns after admitting to 'disrespectful' behaviour toward colleagues

06:46 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Dr Eric Lander, a former member of Joe Bidens cabinet, has resigned after it was revealed that he had spoken disrespectfully to colleagues in front of others.

Read more here:

Eric Lander: Bidens science adviser quits after being named as bully

Trumps campaign manager picks Mike Gibbons in Ohios GOP Senate showdown

05:47 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Bill Stepien  who was Donald Trumps campaign manager during 2020  is joining Ohios Mike Gibbons Senate campaign as a senior adviser.

In a statement, Mr Stepien said: National Public Affairs is proud to join the Gibbons campaign. Mike Gibbons has the momentum in the Ohio Senate race and is committed to the America First agenda and MAGA movement. Not only is Mike poised to win the primary, but he will be an excellent Senator for the great state of Ohio.

ICYMI: Capitol attack was incited by Donald Trump to overturn the election, Chris Christie says

04:34 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Chris Christie said that Donald Trump incited the Capitol riots and said that the actions the vice president took on January 6 spoke loudly, and Im glad that hes finally put words to it.

He added: I dont know why it took him so long, but Im glad that he did.

Speaking on ABCs This Week, the former New Jersey governor said: Lets call this what it is. January 6 was a riot that was incited by Donald Trump in an effort to intimidate Mike Pence and the Congress.

Mr Christie concluded: He actually told the truth by accident. He wanted the election to be overturned.

Read the full story here:

Chris Christie says Jan 6 was incited by Donald Trump to overturn the election

NPR White House correspondent: GOPs January 6 statement was political malpractice'

04:00 , John Bowden

Veteran NPR correspondent and White House Correspondents Association board member Tamara Keith had harsh words for the Republican Party on Monday after the party passed a resolution censuring Rep Liz Cheney for her role in the January 6 investigation.

Many took issue after the GOPs resolution was passed as they noted one line in the declaration that referred to the deadly January 6 attack, where Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and openly threatened to harm or kill lawmakers, as legitimate political discourse.

That statement was "at the very least, that was political malpractice, or communications malpractice", Ms Keith told anchor Judy Woodruff Monday evening on PBS Newshour.

Psaki and State Department spoxs responses to reporters raise concerns

03:30 , John Bowden

Recent statements from White House press secretary Jen Psaki and State Department spokesman Ned Price attacking journalists who expressed skepticism about official US government narratives involving Isis, Ukraine and Russia are concerning, writes The Independents Eric Garcia.

The pair recently lashed out at journalists who asked for evidence about US claims involving Isis and Russia, despite it being less than a year since the US military wrongly struck a vehicle in Kabul, killing an entire family including numerous small children, and characterised the incident for weeks as a successful strike against militants before fessing up in the face of local media reports and intensifying scrutiny.

Those deaths should have created some humility in the Biden administration, perhaps even a desire to appear especially open about making evidence available to the public. Instead, Psaki seemed incredulous that an American reporter would ask such a thing, writes Mr Garcia.

Read more here:

Bidens people reacted badly to questions about Isis and Russia. Thats concerning

Capitol rioter sentenced to probation, home curfew

03:00 , John Bowden

A Maryland woman was sentenced on Monday to a year of probation and two months of a nightly curfew beginning at 7:00 p.m. for her role in the Capitol riot.

Nicole Prado reportedly entered the Capitol and even joined with others in breaking in to an office before leaving the building on January 6, but avoided the harsher sentence that Justice Department attorneys were seeking.

The government wanted Ms Prado to spend two weeks in jail and an additional two years on probation. She will have to still pay a $500 fine for restitution under the judges sentence.

Ms Prado reportedly left the building after witnessing a fellow rioter steal a drink from a refrigerator in a congressional office; she also witnessed paramedics attending to the body of Ashli Babbitt, a woman shot by police for trying to violently breach the House chamber during the attack.

Major scientific organisation disinvites top White House official after bullying report

02:30 , John Bowden

A major organisation that oversees the publication of scientific journals including their flagship Science magazine disinvited a top White House official from their annual meeting on Monday after blowback over an investigation conducted by the White House that found credible evidence for claims that he bullied staff.

Dr Eric Lander was cut from the list of featured speakers at the annual convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the groups CEO confirmed early Monday evening, hours after White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the decision not to fire him.

A report from the White House obtained by Politico and published on Monday revealed that Dr Lander had repeatedly demeaned and insulted coworkers and subordinates and even taken steps to marginalise and force people out of the small White House office he oversees. Dr Lander apologised in a statement, but one of his named accusers said that he had only acknowledged a small fraction of his rude and inappropriate behaviour.

Biden Covid adviser apologises for bullying staff

02:00 , John Bowden

A top official who serves as the White Houses main adviser on issues of science and technology who sits on the Covid-19 response team apologised on Friday after an internal White House report found he demeaned and belittled staff.

Dr Eric Lander issued an all-staff email to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on Friday, writing that he had spoken to colleagues within OSTP in a disrespectful or demeaning way.

I am deeply sorry for my conduct, he added. I especially want to apologize to those of you who I treated poorly or were present at the time, his email reportedly continued. It's my responsibility to set a respectful tone for our community. It's clear that I have not lived up to this responsibility.

Read more here:

GOP congressman presses Jan 6 committee to investigate absurd conspiracy theory

01:30 , John Bowden

Rep Madison Cawthorn, a right-wing Republican congressman known for sharing misinformation and conspiracies about January 6 and the 2020 election, was back on Monday with a new demand for the January 6 committee to investigate a conspiracy theory about the riot.

In an interview with one of Mr Trumps top allies, CPAC head Matt Schlapp, the North Carolina congressman questioned whether January 6 was...a false flag operation to try and steal the election, and suggested the committee shift its focus to that topic.

Mr Cawthorn is one of many Republicans who has sought in recent months to minimise the destruction and violence of the attack on the Capitol, as well as the culpability of former President Donald Trump and his supporters for causing it.

He also suggested in the same interview that leaders of US Capitol Police were hiding videos of the riot from the public, despite dozens of videos from numerous angles already being public record.

What did all the Capital Police leaders know and when did they know it? Why are we hiding all of these videos?" he asked.

Billionaire Peter Thiel to step down from board of Facebook parent company in order to help Trump

01:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Peter Thiel, the billionaire investor who currently sits on the board of Facebooks parent company Meta, is stepping down in order to increase his political support of Donald Trumps agenda during the 2022 election, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

The PayPal and Palantir co-founder plans to increase his political support of former President Donald Trumps agenda during the 2022 election and doesnt want his political activities to be a distraction for Facebook, a source close to Mr Thiel told the news outlet.

Mr Thiel previously supported Mr Trumps campaigns for office and previewed what his support for the ex-president could look like last month when he hosted a fundraiser for the primary challenger of Rep Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee.

Supreme Court sets up case that could further weaken Voting Rights Act

00:30 , John Bowden

The Supreme Courts conservative majority voted along ideological lines to protect a gerrymandered Alabama congressional district map that activists and civil rights experts say purposefully disenfranchises Black voters in the state.

In a decision on Monday that came before any oral arguments were heard in the case before the Court, the justices voted 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts abandoning his conservative colleagues and siding with liberals. The court also will hear the case in the months ahead, and could issue a decision that further weakens the Voting Rights Acts provisions for preventing gerrymandering for the purpose of marginalising Black communities.

Justice Elena Kagan issued a dissent calling the decision a diservice to Black residents of Alabama. The decision illustrates the iron grip the Courts most conservative members now hold following the expansion of their majority under Donald Trumps presidency.

Cheney reacts to latest Jan 6 texts: Trump ignored his duty

00:00 , John Bowden

Rep Liz Cheney reacted in a statement to The Associated Press on Monday after new information was revealed publicly about the efforts of Alyssa Farah and other allies of Donald Trump to convince him to take action during the Capitol riot.

Speaking with the news service, Ms Cheney said that it was difficult to imagine a more significant and more serious dereliction of duty than the one committed by the president on January 6.

Ms Cheney is one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee in the House, and serves as its vice chair.

Someone is going to get killed, former White House aide warned

Monday 7 February 2022 23:30 , John Bowden

More information is being released regarding the actions taken by White House staffers, current and former, to convince Donald Trump to take action and call off his supporters as the riot unfolded on Capitol Hill.

A text from Alyssa Farah, a former communications staffer in the Trump administration, was reported by The Associated Press to have asked an aide to Mark Meadows, the chief of staff, to take action.

Is someone getting to potus? He has to tell protestors to dissipate. Someone is going to get killed, Ms Farah reportedly texted.

Ben Williamson, the Meadows aide, responded that he literally stormed into the outer Oval Office area to demand that Mr Trump release something on Twitter. The president would wait hours to go on camera and ask his supporters to dissipate.

Trump reiterates Jan 6 conspiracy in angry statement

Monday 7 February 2022 23:00 , John Bowden

As the newest revelations about his failure to follow public records laws unfolded on Monday, former President Donald Trump responded with a statement once again falsely blaming Nancy Pelosi for the speed at which the National Guard responded to January 6.

There would have been no January 6, as we know it, if Nancy Pelosi heeded my recommendation to bring 10,000 Soldiers, or the National Guard, into the Capitol. End the Unselect Committee January 6th Witch Hunt right now. Pelosi and the Dems are responsible! Mr Trump said in a late-afternoon statement released by his office.

The deployment of the National Guard is not something the Speaker of the House can control; despite frequent mischaracterisations of the process by Republicans, the deployment is handled by the Capitol Police Board, and there is no evidence that Ms Pelosi ever directed the House Sergeant at Arms one way or the other on the issue of whether they should support a decision to deploy the Guard.

That decision was initially declined before the riot, but was authorised by the board as rioters breached the Capitol grounds during the attack.

Biden names McConnell challenger, John McCains son to Naval Academy board

Monday 7 February 2022 22:25 , John Bowden

President Joe Biden dealt a blow to the egos of two allies of former President Donald Trump on Monday with a surprise nomination of two candidates to the Board of Visitors of the US Naval Academy, an apolitical body that is rarely the source of appointment drama.

A late-afternoon message from the White House confirmed the appointment of John McCain IV, son of the late Sen John McCain, as well as former Democratic candidate for the US Senate, Amy McGrath, to the board. The nominees are significant both in terms of who they are and who they replaced; Ms McGrath ran a widely-publicised campaign against GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell during Mr Trumps campaign for reelection, and Mr McCains father was one of Mr Trumps loudest critics in the GOP before his death.

The nomination of the pair also comes after two allies of the former president, his ex-press secretary Sean Spicer and Russell Vought of the Office of Management and Budget, were blocked by a judge from being seated on the Academys board after Joe Biden took office in January and instituted a minor purge of a slew of last-minute appointments of Trump loyalists undertaken by the former president during his last weeks in office.

Gawker obtains Kyrsten Sinemas Social Security number

Monday 7 February 2022 21:53 , John Bowden

The gossip and news site Gawker published an explosive article on Monday in which the sites writers claimed to have obtained the Social Security information of Sen Kyrsten Sinema, a centrist senator blamed by many Democrats for her opposition to filibuster changes that would have made the passage of voting rights legislation possible.

Among other information from her bank account and her drivers license number, the websites authors report that they obtained the information through a small fee to the Maricopa County court system in the process of attempting to obtain Ms Sinemas divorce papers.

The senators office did not comment on the story. Gawker did not publish the number itself, or any of the senators other private information.

GOP mocked for brag that record 40 candidates are Black

Monday 7 February 2022 21:24 , John Bowden

The Republican Partys Twitter account faced brutal mockery from Democrats and others after it posted a tweet bragging about how just over three dozen Black people were running for office as Republicans in state and local elections around the country in 2022.

The shockingly low number was touted by the party as historic even though it represents only a miniscule fraction of the seats up for contention this year, prompting head-scratching responses on Twitter.

There are about 470 House and Senate seats up for grabs and there are over 7300 state legislator seats total in the US, many of which are elected in even years like 2022, tweeted Willamette University history professor Seth Cotlar. That doesnt count other local elected positions. So, 40 you say? In the whole country?

Read more from The Independents Josh Marcus:

Republicans mocked for brag that record 40 candidates are Black

Trump staff continuing to search for records owed to National Archives

Monday 7 February 2022 20:51 , John Bowden

A statement from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on Monday afternoon revealed both that the retention of documents from Mar-a-Lago continued into January  and that former President Donald Trumps team is searching for more records owed to the archives.

According to the agencys statement, by law all of the documents were required to be returned to NARA from the White House in January 2021.

"Former President Trumps representatives have informed NARA that they are continuing to search for additional Presidential records that belong to the National Archives, said the agency on Monday.

Trump confused why staff didn't enjoy him rewinding riot footage

Monday 7 February 2022 20:23 , John Bowden

Former President Donald Trump watched from the White House as chaos unfolded at the Capitol and rewinded video footage to enthusiastically watch the people he professed were fighting for me, according to a top aide.

The revelation came from Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary and one of the highest-ranking White House officials to break with Mr Trump after the riot.

Look at all of the people fighting for me, he told Ms Grisham at one point during the carnage, the former aide told The Associated Press.

The AP added in its report that the president was confused why staffers werent as excited as he was watching the unrest unfold, apparently attributing that characterisation of the scene to Ms Grisham as well.

Floridas Ron DeSantis dodges questions on Pences constitutional authority

Monday 7 February 2022 19:50 , John Bowden

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who is considered a potential 2024 candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, dodged questions on Monday regarding whether Mike Pence had the authority to halt the certification of Electoral College votes on January 6.

The issue has become a major point of contention between Donald Trump and his ex-vice president, who refused to go along with Mr Trumps effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Pressed on the matter at a news briefing on Monday, Mr DeSantis hastily changed the subject and claimed he had a great working relationship with the former president, according to NBC News.

Psaki hammered on conduct of science adviser

Monday 7 February 2022 19:31 , John Bowden

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked repeatedly on Monday if conduct of Dr Eric Lander and the decision of the White House to not fire him detracted from Joe Bidens promise to fire any administration appointee who did not treat coworkers with respect.

After Dr Lander apologised for conduct described by a White House internal probe as demeaning and disrespectful to colleagues, it was a top issue broached by reporters at Mondays press briefing.

Ms Psaki defended the White Houses decision and asserted that Dr Lander would be forced to comply with measures taken to ensure his treatment of coworkers was up to standard going forward, and claimed that Mr Biden was still crystal clear about his expectations for staff.

She was hammered by reporters about why Mr Biden broke his promise to fire people; Ms Psaki repeatedly claimed that the White House had taken steps to address the issue, and avoided the issue of whether employees should take Mr Biden at his word on the issue in the future.

Read more here:

Riot committee member says public hearings to begin in April

Monday 7 February 2022 19:19 , John Bowden

Rep Jamie Raskin, who serves on the January 6 committee, said on Sunday that he hopes the panel will be holding public hearings on the Capitol riot beginning in April.

He said that the committee will need time until then to work through the various delays that former officials and other figures close to former President Donald Trump are putting lawmakers through in an attempt to stave off their public or private testimony.

But we are determined to get to those hearings quickly in the spring, hoping in April, certainly no later than May, Mr Raskin said on MSNBC.

Weve gotten overwhelming cooperation from the witnesses, but it still leaves more than a dozen people in Trumps immediate entourage who are sandbagging and foot dragging with the committee, said the congressman, adding that those delays contributed to a few weeks of time.

Hillary Clinton touts But her emails mug amid Trump revelations

Monday 7 February 2022 18:50 , John Bowden

Hillary Clinton, Donald Trumps 2016 opponent, weighed in on Twitter amid news that the former president had documents at his Mar-a-Lago property that should have been returned by law to the National Archives.

Referencing the attacks she faced in 2016 over her own records-handling scandal, she shared a link to an online store page for a mug bearing her likeness and the phrase But her emails, an expression used by her supporters in the years since to mock the coverage of her own wrongful actions.

Take a sip from your new mug as you read the news, Ms Clinton tweeted.

Republican hoping to run against Abrams pounces on maskless photo

Monday 7 February 2022 18:30 , John Bowden

David Perdue, the ex-senator running against Georgias Republican governor in the state primary, is focusing his fire for now on the woman who could be his opponent in the general election.

The Hill reported that Mr Perdues campaign is out with a new ad that slams Stacey Abrams, a Democratic activist and former state lawmaker, for appearing maskless in a photo taken indoors in a classroom where she is seen surrounded by masked students.

The ad apparently serves two purposes: Swiping at Ms Abrams for disobeying the rule, and hitting the governor for instating a mask mandate in the first place. Such anti-Covid measures are unpopular among Republican voters.

This is the Georgia Stacey Abrams wants," the ad says, and adds: "This is the reality Brian Kemp has allowed.

NYT correspondent: Trump hammered Clinton on emails, then spent four years destroying official documents despite federal law

Monday 7 February 2022 18:19 , John Bowden

The chief White House correspondent for The New York Times highlighted the hypocrisy of the revelation that President Donald Trump was in possession of documents at Mar-a-Lago that should have been returned to the National Archives, including some that he attempted to physically destroy.

Peter Baker noted that Mr Trump was elected amid a scandal exploited by his campaign in which his opponent Hillary Clinton was found to have conducted official State Department business on a private email server not overseen by federal employees as was required by law.

Jan 6 committee Republican: Trump is a charlatan with a fragile ego

Monday 7 February 2022 17:11 , John Bowden

Rep Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Congressman serving on the select committee investigating January 6, issued some of his strongest criticism yet of former President Donald Trump on Monday, deriding the GOP leader as unable to take criticism or mockery.

In an interview with CNNs New Day, Mr Kinzinger called the former president a charlatan, and a man with a more fragile ego than anybody I've ever met.

The irony of it is he walks around like the tough guy, but he's the one that gets more offended and wounded and sad than anybody I know, said the congressman.

The Independents Andrew Feinberg has the full story:
Targeting San Pablo Porphyry with 15,000 Meters

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 7, 2022) - Andean Precious Metals Corporation (TSXV: APM) (OTCQB: ANPMF) ("Andean" or the "Company"), a leading Latin American precious metals producer, is pleased to announce the launch of a 15,000 m, Phase Two drill program focused on the San Pablo porphyry target identified in the recently completed Titan geophysical survey.

"Andean came to market in March of 2021 as a Company with a strong foundation of production and cashflow and a focus on growth through project acquisition and development," said Simon Griffiths, President and CEO. "Bolivia is among the most geologically prospective, under-developed jurisdictions in the world, so progressing exploration work on our own portfolio of projects has been a key priority for Andean. Our Phase Two exploration program will test a porphyry target at our San Pablo Gold Project that was identified in our recently completed Titan Geophysical survey. We have budgeted 15,000 meters for this purpose." Mr. Griffiths went on to say, "I am encouraged by the scope of opportunity that exists for Andean to grow organically in Bolivia. Exploration is a key element of this growth, complementing our San Bartolome mine life Expansion Study and the continued extension of our government contracts."

San Pablo Project

The 100% owned San Pablo Project in the Province of Antonio Quijarro, Department of Potosi comprises 650 hectares. San Pablo is located in the southern part of the prolific Bolivian tin-silver and polymetallic belt that hosts several of Bolivia's largest deposits including the former Kori Kollo gold mine (Newmont) which produced more than 4 million ounces1, and the Cerro Rico of Potosi which produced 1 to 2 billion ounces of silver and significant tin2, where the Company's San Bartolome mine is located.

Twelve diamond drill holes were completed at San Pablo in 2021 for a total of 3,580 m, as reported in the press release of November 30, 2021. The highlight was an intersection of 53.8 m grading 1.17 g/t Au from 211 m depth in hole SP21-01. All twelve holes encountered anomalous gold throughout their lengths.

Story continues

Quantec Geoscience subsequently carried out a 9-line, 20.3 line-kilometers, Titan 24 deep induced polarisation survey ("DCIP") and magnetotelluric survey ("MT") at San Pablo that was completed in December. On many lines the DCIP shows a thick, very conductive layer close to the surface that limits the depth of penetration. The magnetotelluric survey, which is a passive method that uses the earth's natural electromagnetic field as the source field to image subsurface resistivity structure, achieved depths of investigation of about 1,200 m. The survey detected very low resistivity anomalies at depth that are interpreted to be altered porphyry intrusions. These will be tested in the forthcoming Phase Two drill program. The holes are being targeted on the basis of low resistivity, high chargeability which may be due to sulphides with associated gold, and geology.

The Phase Two diamond drill program consisting of 15,000 m will be started in mid-February by drill contractor Maldonado S.A. using two drill rigs. Construction of drill platforms and road access is already under way. The first part of the program will consist of 4 holes each of 750 to 800 m length for a total of 3,100 m designed to test the resistivity anomalies. The second part of the program of 11,900 m will be planned on the basis of these results.

"Gold mineralisation at San Pablo is hosted by diamictites (pebble sandstones of glacio-marine origin) of the Silurian Cancaniri Formation over a large area of at least 2.5 km elongated northwest by 1.5 km wide," explained Dr. Stewart D. Redwood, Technical Advisor to the Company. "The gold mineralisation is related to sulphides in narrow sheeted veins and veinlets, as well as wider discrete veins, and in sulphide-cemented breccias. Veining is related to pervasive silica-sericite alteration which overprints secondary biotite alteration that outcrops at lower elevations and is seen in drill core. The dominant sulphides are pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite and bismuth sulphides, which, together with the geochemical association of gold with arsenic, bismuth and antimony, are characteristic of reduced intrusion-related gold deposits," continued Dr. Redwood. "The Phase Two drill targets are interpreted porphyry intrusions that are believed to be the drivers of the gold system. This is supported by the presence of mineralised porphyry dykes and a barren, late stage, post-mineral porphyry intrusion. The low resistivity zones shown by the MT survey are interpreted to be altered intrusions and will be tested by Phase Two drilling."

Figure 1: Geological map of the San Pablo project showing geophysical survey lines, low resistivity MT anomalies, and the first four planned Phase Two drill hole locations.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6409/112952_d0f958e40496ca0d_002full.jpg

Figure 2: MT resistivity plan of the San Pablo project at a depth of -300 m showing low resistivity anomalies and the location of the first four Phase Two drill holes.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6409/112952_d0f958e40496ca0d_003full.jpg

Figure 3: MT resistivity plan of the San Pablo project at a depth of -700 m showing low resistivity anomalies and the location of the first four Phase Two drill holes.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6409/112952_d0f958e40496ca0d_004full.jpg

Figure 4: Plans and section of San Pablo planned Phase Two drill hole DDH-SP-22-013 showing a) surface gold geochemistry in rock-channel sampling, b) outcrop geological mapping; c) MT resistivity anomaly map at -500 m depth; and d) cross section X-X' with geological interpretation and trace of the planned drill hole with azimuth of 295 and inclination of -65 to 800 m depth.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6409/112952_d0f958e40496ca0d_005full.jpg

Rio Blanco Project

The 100% owned Rio Blanco Project comprises 13,462 hectares in the Province of Nor Chichas, Department of Potosi. Ongoing negotiations with the local community and poor road access in the rainy season have delayed exploration work at Rio Blanco. The Company is actively engaged with the local community and expects to re-start exploration work in H2 of 2022. In 2021, ten diamond drill holes were completed at Rio Blanco for a total of 2,154 m.

Rio Blanco is an orogenic gold deposit hosted in Ordovician shales and sandstones. The Phase One diamond drill program covers an initial 7 km of a 22 km long structural corridor along the axis of the northwest-trending Rio Blanco anticline. This structural system hosts gold mineralisation in quartz veins, stockworks, saddle reefs and lenticular bodies.

Analyses and Qualified Person

All samples were prepared by ALS Global at their laboratory in Oruro, Bolivia and the pulps were analysed by ALS Global at their laboratory in El Callao, Peru. ALS Global is an independent, certified, commercial analytical service company, per ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015. Gold was assayed by a 30 gram fire assay with atomic adsorption spectroscopy ("AAS") finish and multi-element values were derived from four acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ("ICP-MS"). Blanks, standards and duplicates were routinely inserted for quality assurance and quality control ("QAQC") per Company protocol.

The scientific and technical data in this press release was prepared by Stewart D. Redwood, PhD, Technical Advisor Geology to the Company, a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, Fellow, Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), UK.

About Andean Precious Metals Corp.

Andean Precious Metals is a Canadian, growth-focused silver producer that owns and operates the San Bartolome project located in the department of Potosi, Bolivia. San Bartolome has been operating consistently since 2008, producing an average of over five million ounces of silver per year. The Company is also exploring its wholly-owned San Pablo and Rio Blanco gold projects and seeking other accretive opportunities in Bolivia and Latin America. Andean Precious Metals is committed to fostering safe, sustainable and responsible operations. For more information, please visit www.andeanpm.com.

Company Contact

Fraser Buchan

Corporate Development

ir@andeanpm.com

T: +1 647 480 1550

Investor Contact N.A.

Daniel Weinerman

NATIONAL Capital Markets

dweinerman@national.ca

T: +1 416 848 1715

Media Contact Eur.

Oliver Lamb

Tavistock

andean@tavistock.co.uk

T: +44 20 7920 3150

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, Inc. 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.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Andean with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but instead reflect Andean's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although Andean believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed thereon, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of Andean. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are the following: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws and regulations both locally and in foreign jurisdictions; compliance with extensive government regulation; the risks and uncertainties associated with foreign markets. These forward-looking statements may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the business of Andean and general market conditions, including COVID-19.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Andean has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended and such changes could be material. Andean does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

____________________

1 Source: Empresa Minera Inti Raymi S..A., former subsidiary of Newmont Corporation.

2 Source O. Arce-Burgoa, "Yacimientos Metaliferos de Bolivia", 2020.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/112952
Photo: Elliott Cowand Jr (Shutterstock)

DMonterrio Gibson was delivering FedEx packages in Brookhaven, Mississippi last month when he claims two white men chased him and shot at his delivery truck. Last week, Gregory Case and his son, Brandon, were arrested for the Jan. 24 attack that Gibson says police didnt take seriously.

According to the Mississippi Free Press, both father and son turned themselves in on Feb. 1 and are now out on bail. Gregory Case was charged with conspiracy while Brandon Case was charged with aggravated assault.

Read more

Gibson and his lawyers believe the men should be hit with hate crime charges. Carlos Moore, an attorney representing Gibson, expressed to the Mississippi Free Press that he will seek an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations and FBI.

Its just sad that it happens. It seems to be a copycat duo copying off the Ahmaud Arbery case. . They saw this man was a Black man, and they just hauled off and shot at him multiple times, at least the younger son did. The older guy tried to entrap him. They were working concertedly to try to entrap and kill this man. I mean, they shot at him several times. Its amazing that he survived, Moore said, according to the Mississippi Free Press.

Heres more about the incident from the Clarion Ledger:

Gibson told The Associated Press on Friday that he was in uniform when the incident happened. He said he was in a van rented by FedEx but that it did not have a FedEx logo on it. He pulled into a driveway and dropped off a package sometime after 7 p.m. on Jan. 24. Before he turned his van around in the driveway to exit, he said, he noticed a white pickup truck pulling away from another house on the same large lot. He said the pickup driver tried to cut him off as he exited the driveway. Gibson swerved around him and then encountered a second man. I drive down about two or three houses and theres another guy standing in the middle of the street, with a gun pointed at my vehicle, said Gibson. The man motioned for him to stop. Im looking at him, like shaking my head, because why would I stop for somebody with a gun? Gibson said the man fired as he drove away, damaging the van and packages inside. He said the white pickup chased him to the interstate highway near Brookhaven before ending the chase. Later, police told local news outlets that the elder Case was the suspected pickup driver, while Brandon Case was the man in the street. Gregory Case is 58, and his son is 35, according to The Daily Leader of Brookhaven. Gibson said he called police and was told by one officer that police had received a call about a suspicious person at the same address at the same time. I said, Sir, Im not a suspicious person. Im a FedEx worker. I was just doing my job and they shot at me.

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Gibson claims that one white officer asked him if he had done anything that would make him look suspicious.

I felt disrespected at that point, because even if I did, they still cant take the law into their own hand, Gibson told the Mississippi Free Press. So I told him all I did was my job. If they think that I was suspicious, that was on them. He was like OK, I was just asking.

Bullet holes were found in the van, a lone bullet discovered on the floor in the back.

The case will be brought before a grand jury, the Ledger reports, to make a final decision on charges once the police complete their investigation.
Oregon reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 33,691 new cases. That's down 32.3% from the previous week's tally of 49,760 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Oregon ranked 16th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 42.6% from the week before, with 2,043,989 cases reported. With 1.27% of the country's population, Oregon had 1.65% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, one states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Some Oregon communities have begun reporting backlogged death records. This will make week-to-week comparisons inaccurate.

Lane County reported 3,320 cases and 14 deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 4,725 cases and nine deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 52,131 cases and 420 deaths.

Across Oregon, cases fell in 35 counties, with the best declines in Multnomah County, with 4,208 cases from 6,649 a week earlier; in Washington County, with 4,055 cases from 6,213; and in Marion County, with 3,830 cases from 5,473.

>> See how Lane County compares to Oregon

Oregon ranked 20th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 76.2% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 75.4%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows.

In the week ending Wednesday, Oregon reported administering another 76,176 vaccine doses, including 13,939 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 102,555 vaccine doses, including 20,205 first doses. In all, Oregon reported it has administered 7,286,933 total doses.

Within Oregon, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Crook County with 1,500 cases per 100,000 per week; Jefferson County with 1,395; and Linn County with 1,250. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

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Adding the most new cases overall were Multnomah County, with 4,208 cases; Washington County, with 4,055 cases; and Marion County, with 3,830.

In Oregon, 128 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 150 people were reported dead.

A total of 654,343 people in Oregon have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 6,214 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 76,505,442 people have tested positive and 902,624 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Oregon's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Feb. 6.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 1,509

The week before that: 1,567

Four weeks ago: 1,180

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 135,738

The week before that: 164,532

Four weeks ago: 185,941

Hospitals in one states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in four states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in two states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Lane County reported 3,320 additional COVID-19 cases this week
CORRECTION - Superintendent McMannon's full salary will be $155,129 while on sabbatical. An earlier version of this story used his salary figure from spring 2021.

This spring, Winooski Schools Superintendent Sean McMannon will take a four month break.

He has requested a sabbatical to recharge after some trying years during the pandemic that have "taken a toll on his energy and his family," McMannon said in a statement to families.

The Free Press sought comment from McMannon and the School Board and was referred to official statements sent out by the school district. The School Board approved his request as part of his contract negotiation; McMannon had been asking for a temporary leave since 2020.

Losing top leadership at this time could prove challenging while the school continues to manage COVID and deal with staffing issues, is undergoing a campus-wide major renovation and elevates equity work within the school system.

Superintendent Sean McMannon stands outside the Winooski Schools campus on Jan. 31, 2021. McMannon will take a four-month sabbatical from Feb. 21 - June 10, 2022. He plans to return in the summer to oversee the final phases of the campus-wide renovation project and planning for the 2022-23 school year.

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A superintendent from one of Vermont's most visible school districts taking leave for wellness reasons illustrates how difficult the last couple years have been on educators.

How the sabbatical would work

McMannon would take a four-month leave from Feb. 21 to June 10, down time he feels he needs to recuperate from stresses from the last few years.

"The impact of leading our learning organization during COVID-19, the Capital Project, and significant social, political, and racial change has taken a toll on my energy and family, and I need time to refuel and reconnect," he wrote in a letter to families.

Winooski efforts to retain BIPOC staff: Winooski launches new look at diversity of school teaching staff

McMannon first requested an extended leave in November 2020 for his 3-year contract that began in July 2020 and ends June 2023. The Board gave him the ability to take time in 2022.

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"The boards support of this request is based on a recognition that the superintendents role and demands have been complex in light of the numerous endeavors underway to build a school and systems that are equitable, relevant, and accessible for each Winooski student," School Board President Tori Cleiland wrote in an update to families.

Fans show their support for the Winooski boys soccer team during the Spartans matchup with Oxbow on Tuesday night at Winooski High School.

McMannon has accrued much of the time he will use for his sabbatical through sick leave (40 days), vacation leave (20 days), personal leave (3 days), and paid leave (10 days), and could take up to 10 days of unpaid leave. He would maintain his current salary of $155,129.

In the meantime, an interim superintendent has been hired, with the approval from Dan French, Vermont's secretary of education.

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Kevin Dirth, of the Vermont School Boards Association and former superintendent of Maple Run Unified School District in St. Albans, will oversee district operations until McMannon's return in June. Dirth will primarily work Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, up to 25 hours each week and 15 hours of onboarding, at a rate of $80 an hour. Some of his duties will include attending regular meetings with district leadership, the School Board as well as updates on construction and the capital project. He will also represent Winooski in regional and statewide superintendents' associations.

"The WSD Board has a clear expectation that Superintendent McMannon will return to our district after his leave and continue to support everyone in our district toward more wellness and health," Cleiland said. Unlike many teachers, superintendents work through the summer break, which McMannon plans to do in order to oversee the final phase of the construction project and prepare for the 2022-23 school year, he said.

Community response to superintendent's leave

Sarah Haven, Winooski's human resources director said leave requests are open not only for the superintendent, and that "any staff member requesting leave for mental health reasons would absolutely be supported by the Winooski School District."

Haven said the number of sabbatical leaves are limited and would be considered based on the priority of application, reason for desiring leave and seniority. A teacher's salary on sabbatical would be less the amount to pay for a temporary replacement, but not any less than half their normal salary. In McMannon's case, accrued leave was used to maintain his salary. Haven said the district offers paid leave and other resources.

Winooski Schools Superintendent Sean McMannon wears a Winooski Strong shirt. McMannon will take a four-month sabbatical leave starting in February owing to the "toll on my energy and family" that he has said the last few years have taken. He plans to return in June 2022 to oversee the campus capital project and the plans for the new school year.

Laura Lee, a parent of two Winooski students and president of the PTO, said she supported McMannon taking leave, as she would for any staff member who said they needed it.

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"We reach a point where we have to be able to hit the pause button when its needed which wont always be at the most convenient times," Lee wrote in an email. "I want to highlight that I believe everyone deserves to prioritize wellness and family, Superintendent McMannon included."

Prioritizing wellness for teachers

As the COVID-19 pandemic labors on, teachers, administrators, school nurses and staff have said they are experiencing extreme levels of mental and physical exhaustion.

Don Tinney, president of the Vermont-NEA teacher's union couldn't comment on this specific situation but said generally teachers' wellness needs to be prioritized.

'Stretched too thin': With staff 'exhausted,' schools cancel class or return to remote learning

"Despite being exhausted, exasperated and stressed, they continue to show up every day to work with their students," Tinney wrote. "It is abundantly clear that all school districts need to make the social and emotional well-being of both students and staff the top priority as we continue to move forward."

Lee said she hopes this action by the Winooski School Board to grant McMannon's leave demonstrates the school district cares about the health and wellness of all members of the community. "The best case scenario is that Superintendent McMannon's leave is leading the way for a larger systemic shift towards work life balance," she said.

Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Winooski Superintendent Sean McMannon takes four-month leave
Lebanon City Hall.

A development plan to build 121 single-family homes north of Lebanons town square has been submitted to the city.

Hancock Crossing is the name of the development plan on Hancock Lane in Wilson County near Coles Ferry Pike and Hartmann Drive and not far from Jones Brummett Elementary School.

Lebanons city council will need to approve annexation and a rezoning for about 32 acres for Hancock Crossing. The planning commission has given a positive recommendation to the plan.

The plan will need passing votes by the city council at two readings to be approved.

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Developer and property owner Mark Vastola has requested a Specific Plan zoning with the development.

To give the city certainties of what were putting in, Vastola said of the Specific Zoning request.

Vastola estimated homes being priced around the upper $300,000s to lower $400,000s, but said the market will dictate that.

Homes will be all-masonry, according to Vastola. Lot sizes are proposed to be around 7,800 square feet and larger.

The proposed use and lot sizes fit Lebanons future land-use plan, city Planning Director Paul Corder said. The plan requests about half the density that could be available, according to Corder.

Hancock Crossing was deferred in December by Lebanons planning commission.

The planning commission deferred all annexations and specific plan requests in December, which Corder said was previously hinted at. The planning commission has also formed a subcommittee to look at annexation and specific plan requests more closely, Corder said.

I think they felt like the process is too fast to really understand what was being asked in the more complicated (requests) like annexations and SPs, Corder said. They wanted more time to look at them in general.

Carver Crossing

Vastola is also part of a plan to build 33 single-family homes on Carver Lane that was approved in December by the planning commission and does not need council approval,

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Carver Crossing is the name of the future development on land north of Highway 70 and just before the Farmington Woods neighborhood. Lot sizes are planned to be 20,000 square feet and up, Vastola said.

Hopes are to start construction later this year.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hancock Crossing: 121 single-family home plan submitted in Lebanon
A Jackson police officer fired gunshots at a 41-year-old woman Tuesday afternoon who pointed what the officer thought was a gun at him, authorities said.

Investigators later determined the weapon was a toy, according to Jackson police spokesperson Sam Brown.

Police responded to Super 8 motel at 6058 Interstate 55 North Frontage Road on a disturbance call about 1:30 p.m. The woman, who has not been identified, pointed a gun at an officer when he tried to talk to her, Brown said.

The officer fired shots but did not strike the woman, Brown said. She was taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation performs investigations into all use of force incidents by police officers in the state. A spokesperson was not immediately available to confirm whether the agency is investigating the incident.

The officer who fired the gunshots has not been identified.

Reporter Mina Corpuz can be reached by email at mcorpuz@gannett.com. You can follow her on Twitter @mlcorpuz.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson police shoot at woman who pointed toy gun at officer
The Kansas Senate fell short Monday in an effort to override Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of the congressional redistricting map, stalling amid division in the Republican caucus.

After over two hours of chaos, with senators locked in the chamber as the vote count remained open, four Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the maps, falling short of the two-thirds supermajority required to overcome the veto.

The GOP-authored map championed by Republican leaders has been accused by Democrats of gerrymandering. Opponents have pointed to the lumping of Lawrence with rural western Kansas in the 1st Congressional District and the split of Wyandotte County between the 2nd and 3rd Congressional District.

A copy of the Congressional map proposed Tuesday by Rep. Chris Croft, R-Overland Park, chair of the House Redistricting Committee. It quickly met pushback from Democrats from dividing Wyandotte and Douglas counties.

GOP leadership did not comment after the Senate adjourned. Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, changed his vote so that legislators can attempt to reconsider the vote Tuesday and it appears they will do so.

More: Gov. Laura Kelly rejects Republican congressional maps, setting up redistricting showdown

A two-thirds majority would still be needed for passage, meaning two lawmakers would need to switch their vote, an uncertain prospect.

Lawmakers confined to chambers while officials look for senator

The vote ultimately ended at 25-14, with Sen. John Doll, R-Garden City, changing his vote to "no" for a second time  a metaphor for the roller coaster that unfolded over the previous two hours.

With whereabouts unknown for Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, and staff unable to locate him, the Senate was left in a quagmire. Members invoked a procedural move requiring lawmakers to come to the chamber and cast a vote and thus were not allowed to leave their seats, let alone Senate chambers, needing to ask permission to go to the bathroom.

The Senate, which has a GOP supermajority, was not expected to have a difficult time finding the votes to pass Senate Bill 355 and the map, dubbed "Ad Astra 2."

We're at the point where one #KSleg lawmaker jokingly asked if the bottle of sanitizer near me contains alcohol.  Jason Tidd (@Jason_Tidd) February 7, 2022

But four Republicans ultimately joined Democrats in opposing the map: Doll, Sens. Mark Steffen, R-Hutchinson; Alicia Straub, R-Ellinwood, and Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha.

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Three of those members  Steffen, Straub and Doll  all changed course after voting to approve the maps last month. All gave different reasons for their opposition and it is unclear if they will change their minds if legislators try again Tuesday.

When asked why he flipped his vote, Steffen said "individual rights trump any map" and said his statement was directed specifically at House Speaker Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, though he did not give a reason for his ire.

Steffen has been a proponent of a range of bills taking aim at COVID-19 vaccination requirements and promoting alternative therapies to treat the virus, though he did not say if those bills were the root cause of his decision.

And Doll said he voted for the map initially because the maps would have little effect on who ultimately represents their district.

But he said the subsequent involvement of outside groups, most notably the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, made the process inherently political.

"That blew it for everyone that it was a gerrymander," Doll said. "Why were those interest groups getting involved? I was a 'yes' all the way up until yesterday."

Republicans say they will defend Congressional map

The debate pitted Democrats against Masterson. He said the map is fair and preserves the minority vote  two points that were disputed by Senate Democrats.

"We hear that this a fair map ... it doesn't look particularly fair to me," said Sen. Jeff Pittman, D-Leavenworth.

Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, says the map "cleaves" Lawrence from the rest of Douglas County, saying that would be "an economic disaster" for the county.

Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, noted the map splits Lawrence precincts.

"That is a fact," Masterson replied. "It was done to achieve zero deviation."

Masterson was the only lawmaker to speak in favor of the maps.

"We hear words like disenfranchisement and gerrymandering ... you keep using those words, but I don't think they mean what you think they mean," Masterson said. "Those aren't facts. Those are opinions."

Several Democrats said a lawsuit is likely if that map passed and urged lawmakers to not turn over the process to the courts.

"I am very comfortable defending this in court," Masterson said.

Absolute chaos in the Senate right now #ksleg https://t.co/c4NRYZgf14  Andrew Bahl (@AndrewBahl) February 7, 2022

Ability to override Gov. Kelly's veto is in doubt

But first, the Senate and the House must override the veto. That is gravely in doubt, even as legislators plan to take another stab at it.

Democrats blasted the intent to reconsider the override vote, as well as a move to adjourn the Senate quickly, with Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, saying she was "appalled" by the majority party's handling of procedure.

Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, Kan., predicted Republicans would put pressure on the dissenters within their own party to flip their votes.

"We have squandered the time of the legislative process in an attempt to subvert the will (of lawmakers)," Haley said. "I can already hear the sounds of bones breaking over the course of this evening and tomorrow."

Doll said he would be open to changing his vote if Senate leadership would concede on other issues that could benefit his district.

"They're going to be offering something, I would think, but if they don't, I'll stay where I'm at," he said.

Kelly vetoed the map on Thursday, taking more time to make her decision than lawmakers spent debating the bill. The map took six days to pass the Legislature from the day it was introduced. Kelly waited nine days.

Kelly alleged that the map violates guidelines established by the Legislature and courts.

The bill "provides no justification for deviation from those guideline," Kelly said. She pointed to the split of Lawrence from the rest of Douglas County and the racial demographics where Wyandotte County is "carved" and combined with rural areas.

Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, introduces a map, dubbed "Ad Astra," during a meeting of the Senate Redistricting Committee.

She called for lawmakers to work for a new map.

"Several alternatives would allow for the same deviation as 'Ad Astra 2' while protecting the core of the existing congressional districts and without diluting minority communities' voting strength," Kelly said. "I am ready to work with the Legislature in a bipartisan fashion to pass a new congressional map that addresses the constitutional issues in Senate Bill 355. Together, we can come to a consensus and pass a compromise that empowers all people of Kansas."

Jason Tidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Tidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Senate Republicans fails on redistricting map veto override
Kentucky remains one of 13 states without safe access to medical marijuana, but it doesnt need to be that way. Kentuckians have a rare opportunity to lead the American cannabis industry, but only if Republican legislative leaders allow it. The good news is that most Kentuckians agree that marijuana should be legal in Kentucky. The bad news is that Republican legislative leaders dont seem to care.

Gov. Andy Beshear and Democratic Party leaders have voiced their support for passing medical marijuana this legislative session. But all the desire in the world from Democrats isnt worth much in Frankfort because Republicans control both chambers with supermajorities.

Polling shows that 59% of Kentuckians support legalizing marijuana, which is above the national average of 57%, based on data collected between July 2019 and January 2021 by the Democracy Fund and UCLA Nationscape. This data was published throughout the 2020 election cycle by USA Today. The same poll shows that only 25% of Kentuckians were against legalization, while 15% remain unsure.

Cannabis plants in a licensed grow operation, Mendo Select, in Potter Valley in Mendocino County, California

Kentucky General Assembly: What to expect when the 2022 session kicks off Tuesday

Its not just a majority of Kentuckians who believe we should legalize marijuana, but a majority of Kentucky Republicans, too. When broken down along party lines, marijuana legalization is supported by 71% of Democrats (and independents who lean Democratic) and 52% of Republicans (and leaners).

Its important to note that the survey question asked about legalizing marijuana, as in full legalization. If Republican support for full legalization is this high, then support for medical marijuana is almost certainly higher.

Republican support for marijuana legalization is only 45% in Kentuckys Second Congressional District, which includes Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Bowling Green. But in every other Congressional district in Kentucky, Republican support for marijuana is over 55%, bringing the state average of Republicans support for legalization to 52%. Only 34% of Republicans oppose legalization, while 14% are undecided.

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When looked at generationally, younger Republicans are significantly more likely to support marijuana legalization than older Republicans. In fact, the difference across generations of Kentucky Republicans is more than 20%. Sixty-four percent of Generation Z Republicans (those who are 18 to 25 years old) support legalization, while only 42% of Republican Baby Boomers agree that cannabis should be legal in Kentucky.

Nikki Lastreto trims the buds on cannabis at the farm she has with Swami Chaitanya of Swami Select cannabis farm in Mendocino County in California.

In fact, the only age group where Republican support is below 50% is Baby Boomers and above. Almost every other age group supports full legalization.

It seems clear from this polling that Kentucky remains one of 13 states without medical marijuana because the 34% of Republicans who are opposed to legalization are preventing the rest of Kentucky from moving forward. Advocacy for changing this sad fact has been met with a dismissive attitude for years, with legislative leaders telling voters that marijuana legalization would never happen in Kentucky. Thats simply not true.

You may like: Does a bill to finally legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky have a shot?

It doesnt take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Of the seven states that border Kentucky, five have legalized medical marijuana  Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia. And of those same states, fully legal cannabis is now available in Illinois, will soon be available in Virginia and will likely get passed in Missouri this year.

How long can we allow one-third of the Republican Party to dictate Kentuckys cannabis policy? If Republican leadership continues to stand in the way of the wishes of its own party, it will not be soon forgotten. The time for legalization is now.

Jim Higdon is the co-founder of Cornbread Hemp and the author of The Cornbread Mafia. He resides in Louisville

Jim Higdon is the co-founder of Cornbread Hemp and the author of The Cornbread Mafia. He resides in Louisville. Jim is a Kentucky native with degrees from Centre College, Brown University, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He worked briefly for the New York Times before returning home to write his first book, The Cornbread Mafia. Published in 2012, the Cornbread Mafia tells the story of the biggest domestic marijuana syndicate in American history. The books success opened the door to a journalism career, allowing Jim to cover Kentucky news for the Washington Post and cannabis policy for POLITICO. Jim leveraged his expertise and connections in the hemp industry to co-found Cornbread Hemp with his cousin Eric Zipperle.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentuckians support legalizing marijuana, so why wait? | Opinion
A shooting on a Greyhound bus in Northern California on Wednesday left one person dead and four others, including an 11-year-old girl and a pregnant woman, wounded, officials said.

The gunfire broke out around 7:35 p.m. inside a Greyhound bus outside a convenience store on Oroville-Dam and Feather River boulevards in Oroville, which is about 65 miles north of Sacramento, the Butte County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

Officers with the Oroville Police Department and deputies with the sheriffs office found several people suffering from gunshot wounds at the scene, according to the release. In total, five people were shot, authorities later confirmed.

Despite lifesaving measures, one person was pronounced dead at the scene and others were transported to local hospitals, the release said.

Authorities did not release the name of the person killed.

During a news conference Thursday, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea identified the suspect as Asaahdi Elijah Coleman, 21, of Sacramento.

According to the sheriff, Coleman boarded the bus in Redding, California, heading toward Los Angeles. Officials said hes had somewhat of a transient lifestyle.

The suspect was exhibiting paranoid behavior on the bus and may have thought another passenger was an undercover law enforcement officer that resulted in a confrontation between the two of them, Honea said.

At one point during the ride, he showed people the firearm he had in a bag on the bus, according to the sheriff.

When the bus parked in Oroville and people began to exit, Coleman fired his weapon, Honea said.

Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said 12 9mm shell cases were recovered from the scene.

After opening fire, Coleman ran off, dropped the weapon  a 9mm handgun  at a construction site and ended up at a Walmart on Cal Oak Road in Oroville, according to officials.

Police and the sheriff's office received calls about the suspect at the Walmart, where authorities said he got into a physical altercation with a man and was ultimately arrested.

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Coleman had "no clothing on" and was "acting in an erratic manner" when he was arrested, according to Honea.

The shooting investigation is ongoing, and officials will determine if drugs, alcohol or mental health issues played a role in the suspects behavior.

A shooting on a Greyhound bus in Oroville, Calif., killed one person and injured several others before the attacker was arrested on Feb. 2, 2022. (NBC Bay Area)

Though authorities did not identify the injured victims pending next-of-kin notification, they shared their ages and conditions.

They include an 11-year-old girl who was taken to a hospital and is stable; a pregnant 25-year-old woman currently listed in critical condition; a 38-year-old man who sustained minor injuries, is in good condition and is expected to be released soon; and a 32-year-old man who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, underwent surgery and is listed in critical condition.

Ramsey called the shooting an extraordinary event" in the small town, adding "a mass shooting (is) something that we have not had in this community.

The DA said Coleman has a juvenile record as well as "brushes with the law" as an adult. At the time of his arrest, he was wanted on a warrant out of Alameda County for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Coleman illegally possessed the gun used in the attack, according to officials.

Ramsey said the 25 passengers and bus driver were brought in for interviews after the shooting.

It's our intent to see if we can get together all of the information necessary to file charges against him" on Friday, according to the DA.

In a statement to NBC News, a Greyhound spokesperson said: Our primary concern at this time is the safety of our driver and passengers. We are working closely with local authorities.
Marcus Jackson's fight to change Kentucky's persistent felony offender law is personal. It ravaged his family.

A monthslong Courier Journal investigation details how the "tough-on-crime" law has strayed from its author's original intent  to the detriment of Jackson as well as tens of thousands of Kentuckians and their families.

Get an inside look at the law, its impact and the battle to change it during a virtual event at 6 p.m. Feb. 9 that will include a screening of three short documentary films  "Persistent: A Challenge to Kentucky's PFO Law," "The Weight of the State," and "Understanding Kentucky's PFO: The Persistent Felony Offender Law."

Louisville roads: Here are the Louisville roads that see the most number of serious and deadly crashes

The films were created by Independent Lens in association with The Courier Journal. A panel discussion and an audience Q&A will follow the screening.

Panelists include:

Jonathan Bullington and Matt Mencarini , Courier Journal investigative reporters

Marcus Jackson , film participant and Smart Justice organizing coordinator with the ACLU of Kentucky

Marlon Johnson , director and producer

Evan Mascagni , director and producer

Ellen Sloan , aunt of an incarcerated loved one

Monica E. Unseld, founder of Until Justice Data

To view the screening and discussion, use this link: https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/lUJfC0RoWVSJYz8DyTw6yEM?domain=ovee.itvs.org

The following organizations are partners for the screening event: ACLU KY; Change Today, Change Tomorrow; Kentuckians for the Commonwealth; Kentucky Center for African American Heritage; New Leaf; New Legacy; Louisville Recovery Community Connections; Simmons College; and Until Justice Data Partners.

PFO: What is a persistent felony offender? The law fueling Kentucky's huge incarceration rate

In its investigation of Kentucky's PFO law, The Courier Journal analyzed more than 140,000 persistent felony offender cases with the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice and found the law has mostly been used in the last four decades against people accused of the state's lowest-level felonies.

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The findings show that 1 in 6 incarcerated people in Kentucky is serving a longer sentence because of a persistent felony offender conviction.

Black people charged in Kentucky are 3 times more likely to face a PFO charge, resulting in longer prison sentences and disproportionate justice.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Film event shows impact of Kentucky's persistent felony offender law
Hong Kong: 625 COVID-19 cases reported

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 625 additional COVID-19 cases, of which 621 are locally infected and four are imported.

It added that 2,628 cases have been reported in the past 14 days.

To stop the potential risk of the virus spreading further, the centre will arrange residents of all units on the second floor of Fu Yuet House of Fu Cheong Estate in Sham Shui Po where cases were detected related to suspected environmental factors to undergo quarantine at a quarantine centre.

The Government tonight made restriction-testing declarations to cover Wang Shing House and Wang Chi House of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po as well as Mei Fung House of Mei Lam Estate in Sha Tin, requiring people in the restricted areas to undergo compulsory testing.

It also extended the period of operation under the restriction-testing declarations covering Fu Yuet House of Fu Cheong Estate in Sham Shui Po and Leung Kit House of Leung King Estate in Tuen Mun until tomorrow.

In the light of positive test results for the COVID-19 virus discovered in some sewage samples collected in Wong Tai Sin, Sham Shui Po, Sai Kung and Kwun Tong, the Home Affairs Department distributed COVID-19 rapid test kits to households, cleansing workers and property management staff living and working in such districts.

As Qatar Airways flight QR818 from Doha on February 6 had passengers who tested positive upon arrival, the Department of Health has prohibited the landing of the airline's passenger flights in Hong Kong from the relevant original port from February 8 to 21.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.

This story has been published on: 2022-02-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the opening ceremony of the reconstructed 330/220/110/10-kilovolt Yashma substation having the strategic interstate importance, Azertag has reported.

President of AzerEnergy Open Joint Stock Company Baba Rzayev informed the head of state of the work done.

The Yashma substation, which connects the Russian-Azerbaijani energy systems and serves as an interstate junction substation, was built on the initiative of great leader Heydar Aliyev in 1971. The substations proximity to the sea, the wear and tear of reinforced concrete, metal structures and other equipment, as well as the long-term operation and deterioration of insulation parameters, often resulted in short circuits. In addition, due to the probability of system failures and the inability to meet the rapidly growing demand, the substation was completely digitalized on the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev. Since the substation has a peculiar location, reconstruction was carried out by local specialists on a rotating basis. Voltage was maintained throughout the reconstruction, enabling uninterrupted operation of the substation.

The Yashma substation, which has a direct connection with Sumgayit, Gobu and Khachmaz power plants and with the C?nub Power Station through the Absheron substation, has an important strategic function. New slots have been installed at the Yashma substation to enable integration with the Gobu Energy Junction, the Khizi-Absheron Wind Power Plant, the foundation of which was laid in January this year, and the new Yashma Power Plant, which will be built in the future. The old 330, 220 and 110 kilovolt open switchgear has been dismantled and expanded at the Yashma substation, which is of exceptional importance in the power supply of the north-eastern regions and the Absheron Peninsula. Three new autotransformers with a capacity of 250 megawatts each have been installed. As a result, the total capacity of the substation has been increased by 110 megawatts to reach 750 megawatts. A 47km 330kilovolt transmission line has been extended from the Gobu Power Station to the "Yashma substation.

President Ilham Aliyev launched the substation.

A new control room has been established on the territory of the substation. A new anti-emergency automation system has been put in place, a local micro-SCADA dispatch control system has been installed and the power system has been integrated into the central SCADA system. In accordance with the digital power system concept, the management of assets, processes and resources, the improvement of supply and distribution chains, the timely elimination of drawbacks, the opening and connection operations at substations are carried out automatically at software level.

A 4km road from the Baku-Guba highway to the substation has been renovated, a new 1km road and inner roads have been built.








Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) lifting its tail flukes to dive for feeding along the Norwegian coast, Norway, Scandinavia. Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Guardian reported that big cargo ships are hurting and killing whales off a Sri Lanka coast.

Scientists suggest the ships slightly alter their shipping routes to protect the blue whales.

Over the past decade, other shipping routes have successfully changed to preserve the endangered species.

If cargo ships change their shipping routes, they can avoid killing and injuring masses of blue whales.

The Guardian reported on Monday that scientists are calling for big cargo ships to reroute in an effort to protect endangered blue whales that live off southern Sri Lanka. According to marine biologist Asha de Vos, who launched a study on the region's whale population starting in 2008, the Sri Lankan blue whale population stay in the area all year round, overlapping with a major shipping route that connects East Asia to the Suez Canal.

"The problem for these whales is that they live in a giant obstacle course that we have created," de Vos told The Guardian.

But the solution to keeping blue whales from being injured by massive cargo ships is "uniquely resolvable," de Vos said  the ships can simply adjust their route.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare wrote in a letter that "risk could be reduced by 95%" if shipping routes were adjusted 15 nautical miles more south than its current route.

While the Sri Lankan government previously refused to approve the change, citing economic concerns, de Vos said the economic impacts of shifting the shipping route would be minimal because the majority of ships don't stop in Sri Lanka, but just transport goods through the area.

The push to protect whales from cargo ships has been going on for over a decade. In 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization wrote that shipping lanes off the California coast will be adjusted to "protect endangered whales from ship strikes" after four blue whales were killed in the Santa Barbara channel in 2007. Five more whales were killed by ships three years later.

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Blue whales are the largest animal to have ever lived, but their numbers are dwindling as an endangered species. Given that the Sri Lankan population does not migrate, de Vos emphasized the increased urgency of protecting their population to avoid all of them dying out.

"They're so different to blue whales anywhere else in the world," de Vos said. "It's not just that it could be a separate subspecies, it has a different dialect, different feeding habits, different behaviours. We could start losing a culture of whales."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Sprecher is switching to cans for its beers, and the Glendale brewer has introduced new labeling.

Sprecher beer switching from bottles to cans

Sprecher's seasonal and year-round beers, including its flagship Special Amber and signature Black Bavarian, are shifting from bottles to aluminum cans with a refreshed design of the classic griffin logo.

The new can label features a wraparound Sprecher griffin and the words "Fire-brewed for bold flavor." Sprecher is one of the only breweries in the U.S. that use a fire brewing process, rather than steam-heated kettles, to create craft beer and soda.

Sprecher's new packaging is reflective of the trend in the beer industry toward canning beer to increase convenience and freshness, while retaining environmentally friendly product packaging. For more information visit: sprecherbrewery.com/beer-bottles-or-cans/

The Polish Center of Wisconsin is taking orders for paczki through Feb. 22.

Paczki pre-order has begun

The Polish Center of Wisconsin, at 6941 S. 68th St. in Franklin, will be taking pre-orders for Paczki Day on March 1. The deadline for ordering is Feb. 22.

Paczki are sold by the dozen for $15. The pastries will be available in custard, lemon, chocolate custard, prune, raspberry, or a mixed box of prune and raspberry.

All orders must be picked up from 7 a.m. to noon March 1. Delivery is available for orders of 5 dozen or more with a $10 delivery fee within a 10 mile radius of the Polish Center.

An order form is available on the center's website for mail-in orders, or use the online link to place your order: polishcenterofwisconsin.org, or call (414) 529-2140.

If you know of other community groups, bakeries and supermarkets selling paczki for 2022, send the information to elaine.rewolinski@jrn.com

Unwrapped in Waukesha

SHARP Literacy will hold its first Waukesha edition of the annual Unwrapped fundraiser from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 27 at Magellans on Main Street, 370 W. Main St., Waukesha.

SHARPs Unwrapped event challenges local chefs to create savory and sweet plates of bite-sized food using ingredients donated by McDonalds suppliers. New this year is the addition of Terrapin Coffee Oatmeal Stout to the ingredient list, and chefs will be allowed to use a few of their own favorite ingredients, as well as a variety of oils, herbs and spices.

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Participating restaurants in the Unwrapped event include: Albaneses Roadhouse, Club 400, Daybreak Prime Meats and Deli, and Magellans on Main Street.

Individual tickets are $50, and guests are also asked to bring nonperishable food items, which will be donated to The FOOD Pantry Serving Waukesha County.

All proceeds will support SHARPs STEAM-based program in schools across Milwaukee, Racine and Waukesha. STEAM involves science, technology, engineering and math integrated with art.

Tickets may be purchased online at Waukesha22.givesmart.com, or call (414) 410-3203.

RELATED: Stingl: It's cool to have a baller teach you to read, especially one who remembers it's hard

Crave Brothers hosts recipe contest

Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese of Waterloo announces its 20th Anniversary Recipe Contest and invites home cooks, culinary students and food professionals to submit original recipes featuring Crave Brothers cheeses.

Recipes must include any one or more of the Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheeses, including fresh mozzarella, mascarpone, chocolate mascarpone, farmers rope string cheese/Oaxaca, and cheddar cheese curds.

Recipe entries will be accepted in three categories: appetizer/side dish (including salads), main entree, and desserts, and the recipe should yield six to eight servings. Contest entrants may enter a maximum of three entries total and may enter the same category more than once.

All entries must be submitted by midnight March 21. For official contest rules, visit cravecheese.com

RELATED: Crave Brothers farm makes award-winning cheese, powered by a bio-energy system

Q, the restaurant at 2730 N. King Drive, now serves brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Brunch at the Q

The Q, the restaurant at 2730 N. King Drive by Darnell Ashley, now serves brunch Tuesday through Saturday in addition to dinner. The new brunch hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To give you an idea of whats on the brunch menu: Skillets ($13 to $16), which include two eggs, cheese and potatoes, include options like the Veggie (mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, green pepper and broccoli) and shrimp with lobster in Cajun seasonings and butter sauce.

Omelet options (most $13) served with hash browns include The Q (smoked pork shoulder, cheese, mushrooms, green peppers, onions).

Old-school breakfast items ($11 to $17) include shrimp and grits or Land and Sea grits (beef brisket with shrimp), and corned beef hash with two eggs; and sandwiches with fries ($13 to $17), such as barbecued pork shoulder, or fried boneless chicken between waffles, are on the menu, too.

Customers can dine in person or pick up takeout. Call to order in advance, at (414) 810-4096.

Siblings Anne Cookson and Chris Miller started Crustology Hand-Crafted Pizza Crusts in 2020 as a subsidiary of their business, Baker's Quality Pizza Crusts. Crustology sells crusts for home bakers.

Crustology introduces new pizza crust

Waukesha-based pizza crust maker Crustology has introduced a new chipotle crust for building homemade pizzas, in time for National Pizza Day Feb. 9.

The new crust is mildly spicy and pairs well with Hispanic flavors, according to Crustology, which offers recipes online to help inspire pizza-makers.

The company was founded by siblings Anne Cookson and Chris Miller, who have a family pedigree of pizza making since their grandfather owned a chain of pizza parlors in the Milwaukee area, and their parents founded Bakers Quality Pizza Crusts Inc., based in Waukesha. To order, visit: www.Crustology.com

RELATED: 'Thinnest crust on the market': Siblings take Waukesha pizza crust business in new directions

It's Phobruary in Silver City neighborhood

Its time for the annual Phobruary event in Silver City, when restaurants offer specials on pho, the Vietnamese bowl of noodles, broth, meat and garnishes thats been adopted by the cuisines of Laos and Thailand, as well.

Until the end of February, Vientiane Noodle Shop, 3422 W. National Ave., will have $5 pho bowls when dining in. Its open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

And Thai Bar-B-Que, 3417 W. National Ave., is offering $5.99 pho and $1 crab rangoons from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Tuesdays, either dining in or taking out. To order takeout: (414) 647-0812.

Face masks are required when moving about the restaurants.

Organizer VIA CDC is hosting a weekly Phobruary giveaway through Facebook and Instagram of a $25 gift card to one of the restaurants; details are at viacdc.org/event/phobruary.

February pause at some restaurants

Several restaurants are closed for a February break: Cavas, the Latin restaurant at 401 E. Erie St.; La Dama, the upscale Mexican restaurant at 839 S. Second St., as it changes ownership; and Rubys Bagels, at Zocalo Food Park, 636 S. Sixth St.  with a few exceptions for Rubys.

The bagel-maker is still supplying its wholesale accounts, such as Small Pie in Bay View, and it will be open Feb. 13 for Valentines weekend and Feb. 26 for a pop-up at Milwaukee Public Market.

Sometimes breaks like these are planned, but early and other temporary closures can happen abruptly in the pandemic because of labor or other issues. Its a good reminder to check a restaurants social media accounts or call before heading out.

Carol Deptolla of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

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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: Things to know in Milwaukee food and drink news this week
Joe Exotic has tested positive for COVID-19.

His lead attorney, John M. Phillips, posted on Facebook Sunday that the former Oklahoma zookeeper is recovering.

"I just spoke to Joseph A. Maldonado," the Jacksonville, Florida, attorney wrote. "Sounded better than he's sounded in days. He's still in Oklahoma. Should be transferred to North Carolina once he's out of COVID protocol."

Joe Exotic was back in Oklahoma for his resentencing in his murder-for-hire case. His attorney last week described him in a social media post as "sick as hell."

He was resentenced to 21 years in federal prison, only one year less than his original sentence.

Joe Maldonado, aka "Joe Exotic," works with Boco, the male Li-Liger at Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 in Wynnewood, Okla.

COVID-19 in Oklahoma tracker: Daily updates on new cases, deaths, vaccines for February 2022

U.S. District Judge Scott Palk chose the new punishment at a hearing Jan. 28 in Oklahoma City federal court. Joe Exotic wore a mask throughout the hearing except when he addressed the judge.

The Oklahoman confirmed the positive test independently.

Joe Exotic became known worldwide after Netflix released "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness" at the start of the pandemic.

The documentary series about his life, case and his now closed zoo in Wynnewood became a breakout hit. He said at his resentencing that he's never seen it. A sequel was released in November.

He was convicted at trial in 2019 of hiring hit men to kill his chief critic, Carole Baskin, and of crimes involving his animals. He maintains he was set up.

His attorneys have said their next step will be to file a motion for a new trial.

The former big cat breeder has early-stage prostate cancer and other underlying health conditions that make getting COVID-19 more dangerous. He is 58.

MORE: Carole Baskin says Joe Exotic resentencing decision was 'fair'

He was at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, before being moved to a jail in Shawnee for his resentencing. He said at his resentencing he will begin radiation treatments for his prostate cancer when he returns to North Carolina.

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"COVID finally caught me and I've been sick for a couple days," Joe Exotic told fans in a Twitter post Saturday. "I'm also taking medication for heart issues now."

Joe Exotic was born Joseph Allen Schreibvogel but his name has changed over the years depending on his marital status. His lead attorney says he now prefers to go by Joseph Maldonado.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Joe Exotic tests positive for COVID. Tiger King star still in Oklahoma
Athens recording artist Convict Julie appears in a still image from her upcoming visual album, "Exquisite Pain," scheduled for release on Feb. 18, 2022.

After receiving the first-ever Emerging Black Artist grant from the Athens Area Arts Council back in December 2020, Camilla Sims expressed an intent to "set the bar in a nice place."

One year later, after performing at several local venues and festivals that culminated in seeing her stage name, Convict Julie, appear on the marquees of The 40 Watt Club and the Georgia Theatre, Sims is prepared to break even more ground.

"Exquisite Pain," Convict Julie's visual album, is scheduled to be released on Feb. 18. The first single and accompanying video, "Battle Cry," will premiere on Jan. 14, with a performance later that evening at Normal Bar.

Visual albums are far from the norm for independent artists, the most well-known examples being Beyonce's "Lemonade" in 2016 and "Black is King" in 2020. Sims told the Banner-Herald that the decision to create videos for each of the tracks on "Exquisite Pain" came from a desire to communicate more closely with her audience.

(Story continues after photo...)

Athens recording artist Convict Julie appears in a still image from her upcoming visual album, "Exquisite Pain," scheduled for release on Feb. 18, 2022.

"I wrote all these songs about what I was feeling in 2020, from the activism and isolation and how I coped with all of that," said Sims. "I wanted people to hear the songs, see the videos and make their own creative assumptions about what I'm depicting."

More: Athens musician, activist awarded Emerging Black Artist grant

Last fall, Sims met director Tim Hardiman of Black 22 Creative and left quite an impression with the self-produced music videos on her YouTube page. After offering to shoot a video for a Convict Julie track, Hardiman listened as the Athens-based musician described her vision for the album concept.

Once Sims wrote the storylines for each video, Hardiman was inspired by her ability to perfectly capture the energy of each song, and realized the project could be completed in a short amount of time. All seven of the videos that make up "Exquisite Pain" were shot in one eight-hour day in Lebanon, Tenn., in late October 2021.

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"As a director, I'm always looking to work with new acts who are doing something different. (Convict Julie) is exactly that," Hardiman told the Banner-Herald via email. "I couldn't be happier with the final cuts. I'm excited for (her) as she enters this chapter of her musical journey."

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Athens recording artist Convict Julie appears in a still image from her upcoming visual album, "Exquisite Pain," scheduled for release on Feb. 18, 2022.

Sims said that she doesn't consider herself a photogenic person, but having played the starring role in all of the album's videos made her more comfortable being in front of the camera, which positively impacted her outlook on producing more music videos.

Though "Exquisite Pain" is slated to premiere on the Convict Julie YouTube Channel on Feb. 18, Sims hopes to find an Athens venue that will host an outdoor screening of the album. After performing local shows in support of the record, Sims plans to tour in May.

"The album will give people a look into my creative process, but it also tells a very real story about things I've experienced," said Sims. "I feel like this kind of vulnerability will be something the audience will relate to, and I hope it inspires other artists to step out creatively. There's so much more to the music."

More: After sold-out shows and streaming music success, will Convict Julie remain in Athens?

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens artist Convict Julie announces release date for visual album
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the Iranian auteur who is a leading voice in art house film, says independent cinema is dying in the era of streaming video.

Makhmalbaf, director of Cannes prize winner Kandahar, Sitges and Tokyo winner Gabbeh and Venice winner The Silence, says that while streaming presents an opportunity to show a film to many people, it also destroys other kinds of medium.

More from Variety

You can eat your food in your room, but why do you go to a restaurant to eat with others?, asks Makhmalbaf. If you are religious, you can go and pray in your room, but you go to a church or temple or mosque, because you want to do it with others. You can see the film in your mobile phone alone, but you go to the cinema to see film with others.

Cinema is dying in this way. Because except festivals, in many countries, we dont have cinema, adds Makhmalbaf. And, like COVID pushed us into isolation, these kinds of media [have] pushed us into isolation, we sit in our home and watch the film on TV. Makhmalbaf says that cinema is best experienced on the big screen to appreciate the nuances.

Streamers increasingly fund prestigious independent films or acquire them for distribution, as Amazon Studios did with Makhmalbaf compatriot Asghar Farhadis A Hero, before its Cannes triumph. Makhmalbaf is skeptical about this model.

How many filmmakers can receive that amount of money and do you think that Amazon wants to make Gabbeh or do they want to make commercial movies? So the art cinema is in danger, says Makhmalbaf. Because we were making things with low budget and then we were trying to have diversity of the art, but then Amazon can suggest you Okay a few of you come and make the film which I like  so this is the end of art.

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Makhmalbaf says that many great artists have left cinema because they didnt want to make films for Netflix and Amazon.

Makhmalbaf is also critical of streamers distribution practices and cites the example of his film, Tokyo and Chicago winner The President, which Netflix acquired for the U.S. The filmmaker queries why it was picked up only for that territory and not others.

The peripatetic filmmaker left his native Iran because of censorship and has made films in Turkey, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, Georgia and Italy and is now based in the U.K., which he finds grey and uninspiring.

I love to make films in Iran, but I am not optimistic about the future of Iran, because day by day, the situation is becoming worse, says Makhmalbaf. And because of support of China and Russia, this regime will keep continuing and everyday become more aggressive with artists.

Makhmalbaf spoke to Variety at Frances Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas, which opened this year with his Kandahar and in 2009 accorded him the Honorary Golden Wheel for lifetime achievement.

Next up for Makhmalbaf is Jerusalem-set anthology film The Quarters with him, Todd Solondz, Arsinee Khanjian and Anne Muylaert directing segments set in the Muslim, Jewish, Armenian and Christian districts of the city. Production was delayed by COVID-19 and is likely to resume soon.

The filmmaker also has 30 scripts he has written over the past 16 years, but asks, How many of them can be accepted by Amazon or Apple TV?

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Dreaming of a Caribbean island vacation this year? It's possible  but it'll take more planning than pre-pandemic trips.

Most Caribbean destinations have reopened to international travelers, but visitors will need to be aware of their destination's COVID-19 travel restrictions before boarding their flight. Entry requirements vary across each island; some require testing, some ask for masks to be worn in public and others enforce a curfew on certain businesses. Travelers can expect the rules to be in flux as countries adjust to match the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are the entry requirements for some of the most popular Caribbean island destinations.

GET READY FOR THE BEACH: The 18 best places to buy bathing suits online in 2022

Aruba

Arikok National Park

Can U.S. tourists visit? Yes.

Do I need a vaccine or test to enter? Starting March 19, Aruba will no longer require a negative coronavirus test or proof of vaccination for entry.

What else do I need to know? Visitors' insurance is still required, and all travelers will still need to complete an embarkation/disembarkation card before arrival. Masks are mandatory at the airport.

Last updated: March 17

SPRING BREAK 2022: What are the entry, masking requirements at popular beach destinations?

The Bahamas

In the Bahamas, Grand Isle Resort in Exuma fronts Emerald Bay Beach.

Can U.S. tourists visit? Yes.

Do I need a vaccine or test to enter? Fully vaccinated travelers and those between the ages of 2 and 11 must show a negative rapid antigen or PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to entry. Unvaccinated travelers from the U.S. ages 12 and older must take a negative PCR test taken no more than three days prior to entry. All travelers staying longer than 48 hours, regardless of vaccination status, must take a COVID-19 rapid antigen test after arrival.

What else do I need to know? Masks are required in public spaces. Visitors must apply for a travel health visa at travel.gov.bs. Unvaccinated travelers 12 and older are also tasked with completing a daily health questionnaire during their stay.

Story continues

Last updated: Feb. 7

COVID ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: Will I need a booster shot to travel in 2022?

Barbados

Can U.S. tourists visit? Yes.

Do I need a vaccine or test to enter? All travelers must have a negative coronavirus test (either a rapid PCR or rapid antigen test taken no more than one day prior to arrival or a PCR test taken no more than three days prior to arrival) to enter. The test must be taken by a healthcare provider at an accredited or recognized laboratory; at-home tests are not accepted.

Unvaccinated travelers must wear a monitoring bracelet while they quarantine at an approved accommodation and take a second PCR test five days after arrival. If the test is negative, they can leave quarantine.

What else do I need to know? All travelers will need to download the BIMSafe app to complete a travel form at least 24 hours before arrival. The form is also available at travelform.gov.bb.

Last updated: March 2

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS: Here are the travel restrictions across Central and South America due to COVID-19

Cuba

Caribbean's best deserted beach, Cayo Jutias, Pinar del Rio, Cuba

Can U.S. Tourists visit? Tourism travel from the U.S. to Cuba is prohibited, but U.S. travelers can obtain a license to visit for other reasons such as family visits or professional meetings.

Last updated: Feb. 7

Dominican Republic

Casa De Campo Resort in the Dominican Republic.

Can U.S. tourists visit? Yes.

Do I need a vaccine or test to enter? Travelers from the U.S. do not need to test to enter, but airports will perform a random breath test on "a percentage" of passengers, according to the countrys Ministry of Tourism website. Passengers who show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival are exempt from the random testing.

Travelers must show proof of full vaccination or a negative PCR test taken within the past seven days to enter businesses outside of the hotels and tourism complexes. Visitors over 12 years old are advised to carry their vaccination card if they leave their resort complex.

What else do I need to know? All travelers entering on commercial flights must complete an electronic entry and exit form, also referred to as an e-ticket, to enter. Passengers will have their temperature checked upon arrival, and those who present symptoms or test positive will be sent to isolation.

In public indoor spaces and where social distancing is not possible, people are asked to distance themselves at least 6.5 feet from others and wear a face mask.

Last updated: Feb. 7

10 BEST: Relax and enjoy the beauty of the 10 best beaches in the Caribbean

Jamaica

Doctor's Cave Beach in Jamaica opened in 1906 as one of the island's first bathing clubs.

Can U.S. tourists visit? Yes.

Do I need a vaccine or test to enter? Starting April 16, international visitors will not need to show proof of a negative PCR coronavirus test to enter.

What else do I need to know? Starting April 15, the island no longer enforces a mask mandate in enclosed public spaces.

Last updated: April 14

COVID-19 IN THE CARIBBEAN: CDC says to 'avoid travel' to these 5 islands

Puerto Rico

Punta Ventana in Puerto Rico. It means "Window Point" as the rock formation resembles a stone window that looks out to a beautiful view of the ocean behind it.

Can U.S. tourists visit? Yes.

Do I need a vaccine or test to enter? Not if you're a U.S. citizen. As of March 10, domestic travelers do not need to show proof of vaccination or negative test to enter.

What else do I need to know? Feel free to leave your passport at home; U.S. tourists don't need one to enter.

Last updated: March 17

TRAVELING TO PUERTO RICO?: Entry restrictions are about to ease for vaccinated US travelers

US Virgin Islands

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, Buck Island in St Croix is a popular spot for tourists.

Can U.S. tourists visit? Yes.

Do I need a vaccine or test to enter? Domestic travelers ages 5 and older flying into the U.S. Virgin Islands must submit a negative antigen or nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) taken within five days of travel, regardless of vaccination status.

What else do I need to know? No need for a passport if you're a U.S. citizen, but all domestic travelers 5 years old and above are required to use the USVI Travel Screening Portal within five days of travel to get cleared for travel. All individuals ages 2 and older, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a mask in public.

Last updated: Feb. 7

WHICH EU COUNTRIES ARE OPEN?: A breakdown of EU travel restrictions by country

Follow USA TODAY reporter Bailey Schulz on Twitter: @bailey_schulz.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caribbean travel restrictions: Entry requirements for popular islands
The European Union is set to hold talks in the coming weeks with China over its alleged breach of global trade rules in a dispute with Lithuania - as the bloc moves forward with the early stages of a World Trade Organization (WTO) case.

Beijing agreed to the request for consultation lodged by Brussels at the Geneva body last month, sources said, with talks obliged to kick off within 30 days of its acceptance.

"Consultations will be held and the EU is preparing for them," an EU spokesperson said.

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.

The EU initiated a suit at the WTO last month, saying it had gathered evidence of numerous trade felonies committed by China against Lithuania, an EU member state.

The bitter row ignited when Beijing reacted furiously to Lithuania's hosting of a "Taiwanese Representative Office" in Vilnius. Typically, such informal embassies for the self-ruled island have been referred to as Taipei representative offices.

China recalled its ambassador to Lithuania and downgraded the status of its embassy in Beijing. Lithuanian businesses then reported being frozen out of the Chinese market.

In December, Lithuania's exports to China plunged 91 per cent from a year earlier, according to China's own customs statistics.

In a WTO filing, Brussels said it had evidence of China refusing to clear Lithuanian goods through customs and rejection of import applications from Lithuania.

The EU also said it had evidence of Beijing pressuring companies operating from other EU member states to remove Lithuanian inputs from their supply chains when exporting to China.

A spokesman in China's Ministry of Commerce said last month that "China has always managed foreign trade in a manner consistent with WTO rules".

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The consultations are to last for 60 days. Should no resolution be found, the EU can request a WTO hearing.

EU officials said last month that they hoped to de-escalate the quarrel through diplomatic channels, rather than embark on what could be a lengthy dispute settlement case.

Dmitry Grozoubinski, executive director of the Geneva Trade Platform think tank and a former trade negotiator for the Australian government, said that the consultations provide both sides with a chance to defuse the situation.

"Option one is [China] tries to argue that what they are doing is, in fact, legal in the hopes the EU will back off for fear of losing an eventual case - probably not a high chance that will work," he said.

Alternatively, China could "back down quietly" or the two sides could seek a face-saving compromise without going through the extensive panel process.

According to WTO rules, China could have ignored the request for consultation - or not responded "substantively" - as the US did in 2020 when Hong Kong sued it in Geneva over a labelling dispute. The case would have then proceeded to the panel stage without discussions.

In Hong Kong's dispute with the US, Washington also rejected Russia's attempts to join the consultation as a third party, saying the case did not "concern the marking of goods produced in the Russian Federation, and the Russian Federation's request to join the consultations does not even seek to explain its claim of substantial trade interest".

As the EU's trade team prepares for the talks, the United States, Britain and Australia are requesting to join as third parties.

"We support our allies, Lithuania & the EU, in standing against China's use of coercive trading practices," Britain's trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said on Twitter. "That's why we will request to join the EU's WTO consultation into these measures as a third party to ensure we combat economic coercion in trade together."

Adam Hodge of the Office of the US Trade Representative, said that the US would request to join the consultation "to push back on the PRC's coercive economic and diplomatic behaviour".

Similarly, Australian trade minister Dan Tehan said that "Australia has a substantial interest in the issues raised in the dispute brought by the European Union against China".

If China concludes that these countries have no substantial trade interest in the dispute, it can refuse the request.

The third parties could then lodge a separate request for consultations with the WTO, but this would in effect start their own proceedings against China.

Should the Lithuania case move to the dispute stage, the countries would not need China's approval to join as observers.

Their participation would mark a continuation of a recent trend in which Western countries have become more critical of China's practices at the WTO.

"It does seem like we are seeing the emergence of a willingness to challenge China publicly on sensitive issues in ways that were not done before," said Simon Lester of the China Trade Monitor website.

"It will be interesting to see how China reacts. Do they quietly back down on Lithuania? Or do they ratchet things up because they don't want to be seen as backing down?"

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.
YORK, Maine  Voters will be asked to add tens of thousands of dollars to the school district's budget to accommodate a rise in requests for school records and information.

Superintendent Lou Goscinski said the York School Department has already received more than twice as many Freedom of Access Act requests this school year than it did last year. He said nearly half of all the FOAA requests in York are directly or indirectly related to the district's policies on equity, diversity and inclusion.

So far in the 2021-2022 school year, the district had received 24 FOAA requests, as of Friday, Feb. 4, Goscinski said. In the 2020-2021 school year, the district received 10 requests, he said.

Before that, the district had received 14 requests in the 2019-2020 school year and 10 requests in the 2018-2019 school year.

Lou Goscinski is superintendent of the York School Department in York, Maine.

Goscinski published a list online late last month of all the FOAA requests the district had received since February 2020.

In the interest of saving staff time and taxpayer money, I made a decision to publicize the list, he said.

Additionally, Goscinski said the cost of labor incurred by administrators responding to FOAA requests is a burden because schools are able to charge only $25 per hour, a standard rate under the Maine law, and the first two hours are free.

Goscinski said another reason he chose to publish the list is because he has received duplicate FOAA requests for the same materials he produced for previous requests.

My only motivation to make the list public  is because of the rising costs associated with our budget for addressing the request, he said.

In an October meeting with the York Budget Committee, Goscinski said he included an additional $38,000 in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal to cover new legal fees incurred from handling FOAA requests.

I think we need to be transparent and let the taxpayers know what the true costs are for these types of requests, he said.

That budget proposal will be part of the package York voters will either accept or reject during the annual town meeting and budget referendum in May.

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'Time to move on': 2 York School Committee incumbents say they will not seek reelection

More than nearby districts

Goscinski said he believes, based on conversations he has had with other superintendents during the York County Superintendents Association weekly meeting, that York schools have received more FOAA requests in recent years than have other nearby districts, regardless of the size.

Jeremy Ray, the superintendent for Biddeford, Dayton and Saco schools  who also serves as a member of the Maine Schools Superintendent Association Executive Committee  said the York School Department seems to be experiencing a higher volume of requests than most other districts in York County.

That said, Ray said he's also seeing an uptick in requests across York County and that it has contributed to a feeling of burnout among school administrators.

"It's such a difficult area for a superintendent because there's so much of making sure you dot every I and cross every T as you respond to those in the right timeline," Ray said. "This is also coming at a point in time where superintendents are chief medical officer ... as these pieces ramp up for us, it just becomes more and more difficult."

Within his own district, Ray said the bulk of requests he's received are usually related to Critical Race Theory and curriculum.

Although people are completely within their rights to file FOAA requests for information they deem important, Ray urged community members to practice empathy toward school officials.

"I think it's important for people to realize that school officials are your neighbors, your friends in the community. ... I think it's just important to realize that everyone's working their hardest to support kids and support teachers," Ray said. "The stressors in a normal time are tough."

"I think you can look at national trends of where educators are feeling and what educators are feeling right now ... at the end of the day it forces some really good people out of the profession, and that's what's sad about it," he said.

Library: York School Committee votes to keep 'It's Perfectly Normal' after bid to remove book

Superintendent believes York requests target diversity efforts

Goscinski believes requests related to the district's policies on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), in some cases, are likely being used to hinder and distract the work of school officials.

"It takes away from my ability to do other work. And we've got to comply with the law," Goscinski said in interview late last year. "Some of the FOAA requests are nuisance requests. It's a form of harassment."

Goscinski said the current debates in York over EDI, anti-bias training, COVID-19 restrictions, curriculum and school library materials are all a microcosm of a larger movement in towns and cities nationwide.

"I believe there's a concerted effort across the country to do this in schools," he said.

Without naming any particular group, Goscinski said the language he is seeing in some FOAA requests seems to mimic language provided by conservative organizations.

Some groups provide toolkits that instruct people to inundate schools with public records requests and complaints of discrimination. One example is conservative think thank, The Manhattan Institute, which last year published "Woke Schooling: A Toolkit For Concerned Parents."

Conservative groups aren't alone in using FOAA requests to put pressure on government officials. Left-leaning groups and professional journalism associations provide FOAA guidance to their constituents as well.

Most of the 38 requests that the York School Department has received since February 2020 were filed by just a handful of repeat requesters, according to the log Goscinski published online. Five people filed three FOAA requests apiece: York Weekly reporter Camille Fine and York residents Donald LeFante, Radka Meader, Cheryl Neiverth and Nina Wright.

The most prolific FOAA requester on the list is York resident Julie Edminster, who has filed 11 requests to the school department in the past two years.

Edminster's requests range from information on COVID student vaccination rates to pandemic protocols, information about the district's upcoming curriculum equity audit and a list of books that the administration has removed from and added to the curriculum.

Edminster declined to comment.

'Why now?' Vision for no-cash tolls on Maine Turnpike frustrates York residents

Classroom visits requested

When the FOAA documents were made public, some community members questioned whether York schools should allow people to visit and observe classrooms, which was something two community members had requested.

LeFante submitted a request in January to visit York Middle School while class is in session. LeFante also asked for all required social studies and English reading and materials which may have been recommended or suggested at the middle school this school year.

Goscinski said LeFante is not a parent of a student attending York, according to school records. Goscinski said the school department doesn't maintain every document or worksheet a teacher hands out.

LeFante submitted an additional request in January to meet with YMS Principal Barbara Maling, visit the building and speak about the books being used for education in history and social studies and any curriculum enhancements exercised by teachers.

Goscinski said he wants to assure parents and guardians that hes not letting just anyone into the schools. The school principal and superintendent have a discussion to determine who can enter the building and make the decision on a case-by-case basis, he said.

We don't allow people randomly to come in and randomly go to classes," he said. "It's just disruptive. It's not fair to the students, or the staff members involved in the educational setting."

Goscinski said he will not fulfill any portion of Lefante's FOAA requests until a $200 fee is paid for the time it will take to collect all the educational materials that LeFante has requested.

LeFante did not respond to requests for comment.

Goscinski said schools have a process for parents to request to observe their student in the classroom. There has to be a reason why the parent would want to come in and observe, he said. There's a set time, it's pre-arranged, and the person can't record audio or video in order to protect the privacy rights of other students.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York ME schools grapple with uptick in freedom of information requests
WASHINGTON  The House voted on Tuesday to fund the government through March 11 in order to try to avoid a government shutdown on Feb 18, when current funding is set to expire. Now, the Senate must vote on the measure before the bill is sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The House voted 272-162 on the short term funding package.

During Biden's presidency, funding on a short-term basis has been the norm. Congress last extended funding into February in a previous package passed in December.

Congress is still working to complete fiscal appropriations for 2022 in the form of a larger bill that would fund the government at new levels for the rest of the fiscal year.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who introduced the Further Additional Extending Government Funding Act on Monday, said in a statement "We are close to reaching a framework government funding agreement, but we will need additional time to complete the legislation in full."

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the House Appropriations Committee chair, and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., right, speak about the tax credit during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.

The bill passed Tuesday extends funding at current levels but also adds $350 million to address the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii. In December the U.S. Navy suspended use of the fuel tanks after petroleum leaked into Honolulu's water supply.

More: Navy suspends use of military tank farm above Hawaii aquifer after petroleum leak

"Doing a CR is an admission that we haven't gotten our work done," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday, referring to the bill, known as a continuing resolution, or CR.

Hoyer said he's "hopeful" a larger bill will be passed in March to fund the government through September.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday that he intends to have the Senate take up the short-term funding bill quickly, before the Feb. 18 deadline. He too is "optimistic" Democrats and Republicans can agree on a larger funding deal by March 11.

While essential functions would continue, a shutdown would furlough hundreds of thousands of federal employees. National parks, museums, and other federally funded agencies would close.

The last government shutdown lasted 35 days, from December 2018 to January 2019.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House passes funding bill to avoid government shutdown
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh prepares to throw out the first pitch at a September 2021 Red Sox game. Rich Gagnon/Getty Images

Labor secretary Marty Walsh offered to help MLB and its players' union find a deal.

MLB owners locked out players beginning last December and there's been no sign of a breakthrough since then.

Previously, MLB had gone decades without a major dispute.

Labor secretary Marty Walsh is ready to be put in, coach.

Walsh said on Monday that if called upon he would happily work to try to help end the MLB lockout that is coming extremely close to possibly delaying spring training as the regular season quickly approaches with no deal in sight, Bloomberg Law reports.

"I have spoken to both the MLBPA and MLB about the ongoing contract negotiations and encourage both sides to continue engagement," Walsh said in a statement to Insider. "Like any contract negotiation in any industry, I stand ready to help facilitate productive conversations that result in the best outcome for workers and employers."

Politico first reported Walsh's offer. A former Boston mayor, Walsh is a lifelong Red Sox fan.

Owners officially locked out players on December 2 and have been unable to reach an agreement since then. The Washington Post reported last week that the MLB Players Association rejected MLB's request for a federal mediator to get involved.

America's national pastime had gone decades without a major dispute, a rare era of peace in what historically has been a fraught relationship between players and owners. A 1994 players strike resulted in the remainder of that season and the World Series being canceled.

If the MLB sticks to its current schedule, pitchers and catchers are supposed to report to spring training in less than two weeks.

The lockout comes amidst a year of bustling labor activity  something that the Biden administration has thrown its support behind. On Monday, the Biden's administration union task force released its first report, which included nearly 70 recommendations for bolstering worker organizing and union membership.

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"The fact is, increasing union membership means a stronger economy and better quality of life for workers and their families  and I'm living proof," Walsh wrote in a blog post on the report.

It comes after thousands of workers across the country went on strike in 2021, with walkouts happening everywhere from Kellogg's to John Deere. In October, Walsh visited Kellogg's strikers on the picket line in Pennsylvania.

"If we respect workers moving forward, we will have a stronger economy, and, quite honestly, a stronger country," Walsh previously told Insider of the striking Kellogg's workers. Walsh also stepped in to help striking nurses in Worcester, Massachusetts, reach a deal with St. Vincent's Hospital, helping bring an end to a historic 10-month strike and securing a contract that helped address staffing issues and concerns over access to health insurance.

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal began giving COVID-19 vaccine booster shots on Monday as coronavirus infections surged due to the spread of the Omicron variant, officials said.

Daily cases jumped by 4,961 on Sunday, the biggest 24-hour increase in more than six months, taking total infections to 955,206, government data showed. COVID-19-related deaths stand at 11,620, the data showed.

The booster shots will be restricted to frontline workers for one week from Monday, the Health Ministry said, after which they'll be offered to people 60 and older.

The booster shots will be given to those people who have completed six months after getting a second vaccine dose, the government said in a statement.

Nepal, a natural buffer between China and India, has double-vaccinated 39.9% of its 30 million people in a campaign that began early last year.

The government has banned large public gatherings and closed schools and colleges until the end of January to curb the rate of infection.

Authorities have also made it compulsory for people to produce proof of full vaccination to use public services from this week, prompting large queues at vaccine centres.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Tom Hogue)
Feb. 8Maine earned a reputation as a national model for reducing its use of solitary confinement. Now, lawmakers will consider whether to end the controversial practice for good.

The Legislature's criminal justice committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on a bill to ban the use of solitary confinement in Maine jails and prisons. It would also restrict the state's use of other kinds of prolonged isolation and create an independent overseer to ensure the state is in compliance with the new rules, called the "confinement ombudsman."

The bill marks the most aggressive step to end solitary since the state made changes several years ago to reduce its use in all but the most extreme cases. Research has shown that prolonged periods of isolation are inhumane and ineffective.

"We're asking the Department [of Corrections] to do the final step  to move beyond solitary confinement and into rehabilitation for everyone," said Jan Collins, assistant director of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, a statewide coalition that helped craft the bill, which was sponsored by Rep. Grayson Lookner, D-Portland.

The bill, LD 696, fleshes out an older version that was held over from last year's legislative session.

It begins by broadening and standardizing the definition of "solitary confinement" to isolation in a cell for more than 20 hours a day, three hours less than the state's current measure.

It then establishes alternative housing options for prisoners who are too dangerous or disruptive to live in the general population, and instead places them in more therapeutic units aimed at addressing their behavioral issues, similar to a bill that recently passed in New York.

Right now, Maine officials have the option of sending prisoners to the Intensive Mental Health Unit at the Maine State Prison, but the criteria for admission is narrow. For example, a recent Bangor Daily News investigation revealed how 25-year-old Zachary Swain failed to get a spot in the unit despite his history of mental illness and repeated suicide attempts in isolation.

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The bill also restricts who can be confined to their cells for longer periods (between 17 and 20 hours a day), should that need to happen in the event of violence or serious wrongdoing.

People with disabilities, who are pregnant or postpartum, older than 65 or under 21 would be excluded from that option. And officials wouldn't be able to isolate people for more than three days in a row, or more than nine days in a 60-day window.

The Department of Corrections plans to share its position on the bill during Wednesday's hearing, a spokesperson said.
MUNCIE, Ind.  A Muncie postal worker has been accused of stealing mail, targeting greeting cards in her search for cash.

Rachael Brim, 36, was charged last week in Delaware Circuit Court 1 with official misconduct, a Level 6 felony carrying up to 30 months in prison, and theft, a misdemeanor.

According to a report by a special agent with the U.S. Postal Service, an investigation into allegations Brim might be stealing mail was launched last September.

At that time, authorities said about 120 pieces of mail had been received at the local USPS processing and distribution center "unsealed, without contents and/or (with) the contents tampered with."

Brim at that point "had conducted multiple collection runs for the Muncie main post office over the last few weeks."

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An affidavit said at least eight "rifled" greeting cards could be linked to a collection route assigned to Brim on Sept. 9.

Interviewed by postal officials on Sept. 23, Brim reportedly admitted she had been "rifling" mail, specifically greeting cards, looking for cash.

The Muncie woman said she "needed money for food and rent," the document reported.

She estimated she had stolen about $100 in total. and recalled using a $10 gift card from Walmart found with one greeting card in August.

Investigators later found USPS collection tubs, along with "rifled mail, specifically greeting cards," in Brim's private vehicle.

Brim, who had worked for the postal service for about a year, resigned from her position as a "city carrier assistant" on Sept. 28.

The Muncie woman will receive a summons to appear at an initial hearing in Circuit Court 1 on March 16.

STAY INFORMED AND SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: Subscribe today using the link at the top of this page.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie woman charged with misconduct, accused of stealing mail
Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed the city where the home exploded.

Natural gas was not involved in the explosion in the area of 36th Street and Lincoln Drive in Phoenix that caused a fire and destroyed a home Saturday afternoon, according to Amy Washburn, spokesperson for Southwest Gas.

In an email sent to The Arizona Republic, Washburn said that Southwest Gas crews worked with first responders after the explosion happened to make sure the area was safe. She said no natural gas reads were found after crews conducted a leak survey in the area.

It was also confirmed that the home wasn't served by natural gas, she said.

Firefighters responded to the scene near Piestewa Peak at approximately 4:40 p.m. Saturday after the explosion leveled the home and damaged several others near it. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to help determine the origin and cause of the explosion, spokesperson Erik Longnecker confirmed, deferring any questions to the fire department.

The Phoenix Fire Department did not release any new information on Sunday, but crews were seen at the scene throughout the day.

Reach breaking news reporter Angela Cordoba Perez at Angela.CordobaPerez@Gannett.com or on Twitter @AngelaCordobaP.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Natural gas didn't play role in explosion of Phoenix home
This story originally published on June 12, 2018.

Its become a daily, White House ritual of sorts: A team of federal employees equipped with rolls of clear tape resume the ongoing, humpty-dumpty task of putting back together pieces of documents that President Donald Trump has torn up. It is a presidential habit that aides have not been able to break  and which apparently extends in reach to his Palm Beach club.

Federal law requires all presidential documents, from diaries to drafts of speeches to scribbled notes, be retained, both for current reference points and for the historical record. But Trump, as laid out in a June 10 article in Politico, isnt so committed to such record-keeping.

The political journals story cited two former employees who stated on the record that the president routinely tears up documents, often shredding them himself. The employees, Solomon Lartey and Reginald Young, Jr., said federal workers collect the pieces of paper from the West Wing and the presidents personal residence and tape the bits of paper back together to restore the historical record as completely as possible.

More: Watchdogs, scholars say Trump breaking law by ripping up papers

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But what happens when the president rips up documents when he is on a weekend foray to Mar-a-Lago or his Bedminster, N.J., retreat? Or, say, on official diplomatic trips to Singapore or Canada?

Is someone assigned to go through the trash and scour the floors of Mar-a-Lago for pieces of paper when the president visits his private club? It seems so, Lartey said in an interview this week with The Palm Beach Post.

I remember some paperwork coming back from Florida, said Lartey, a former records management analyst whose job it was to tape together pieces of documents the president treated like trash. Most of the pieces were newspaper articles the president did not like  including one from a local newspaper in Palm Beach, Lartey said.

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Presidential business at Mar-a-Lago

Undoubtedly, presidential business has been conducted at Mar-a-Lago, which he has dubbed the Southern White House. During his 17 visits to Mar-a-Lago, Trump ordered a missile strike on Syria and hosted two world leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

President Donald J. Trump holds a joint press conference with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, FL, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (Allen Eyestone / The Palm Beach Post)

Hes also conducted discussions on issues like health care for military veterans. He has hosted Cabinet members. And he has held untold numbers of informal talks with individuals, from business CEOs to celebrities to advocates for all kinds of causes.

Notes of those encounters, or better said, pieces of those notes, have made it back to the records team in Washington.

I dont know who the staff member was but Im quite sure somebody was bringing stuff back, Lartey said. You just couldnt throw it away in the trash.

The White House did not respond to questions about the administrations record retention practices when the president visits Mar-a-Lago. Neither did the National Archives.

White House must preserve all documents

Under the Presidential Records Act, the White House must preserve all documents, including memos, letters, notes and emails, for possible inclusion in the National Archives. Documents are gathered, organized and assigned categories. They are then reviewed by officials at the National Archive to determine if they qualify for inclusion in the presidential archive.

The records law dates back to 1978, and was a measure responding to the Watergate era and the infamous Nixon White House tape recordings. In particular, one 18-minute recording that went blank.

MORE: Latest Trump news, photos, videos

The Act places responsibility for the custody and management of presidential records with the president himself. However, the National Archivist is tasked with reviewing presidential records and determining if they can be destroyed.

The originator of the document does not get to decide whats important and not important, said Robert K. Brigham, Boskey Professor of History and International Relations at Vassar College. Especially the president.

Handwritten notes and doodles can show a presidents state of mind at a particular moment in history, said Elizabeth A. Cobbs, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford. Destroying documents also raises suspicion  even if nothing nefarious is going on, Cobbs said.

The propensity to tear things up suggests secretiveness, Cobbs said. Creating a paper-trail...thats how we build confidence.

A memo or note that may not seem important now may have significance in the future, said Lee White, Executive Director for the National Coalition for History. President Obama was very serious about keeping everything, White said. Other commanders-in-chief were not so meticulous. About 22 million emails on a private email server were lost  and subsequently found  while President George W. Bush was in office.

President Richard Nixon, who routinely tape recorded conversations in the Oval Office, also did so when he traveled, Bingham said.

When Nixon traveled to Key Biscayne there were systems in place for capturing what happened, Bingham said. He recorded many of his conversations with Charles Gregory Bebe Rebozo, a Florida banker and businessman who became infamous for being a friend and confidant of Nixon.

While there are no specific procedures that a president must put in place to retain records, Bingham suspects the Trump administration has done so.

As for enforcement of the federal records law, the National Archives, National Security Archive, watchdog groups monitor record-keeping. However, it would take action by Congress hold the executive branch accountable.

Staffers worked fulltime taping together documents

Lartey, 54, had worked under several administrations as a records analyst but had never experienced anything like the work he was doing taping together Trumps ripped up paperwork. Trump tore up so many documents that Lartey and several other staffers worked fulltime taping together documents.

I said to myself, This is like a puzzle, Lartey said.

Lartey was fired on March 23. He said he was given no explanation, just escorted to his car. Later, he was allowed to resign. After 30 years as a civil servant, he had planned to retire in September. He is waiting to hear if he will still receive retirement benefits.

Still, Lartey said clear instructions on record retention were given to the staff of the new administration. But the president kept tearing up documents and articles.

On some documents Lartey could see a stamp that indicated the president had seen the document. One letter, torn into small pieces, came from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer  whom Trump dubbed Cryin Chuck Schumer on Twitter.

He (Trump) didnt understand how this stuff worked, Lartey said. Everything is a presidential record, electronic or paper.

Politico reported that National Archives officials had periodically warned White House lawyers that the Trump administration must to follow document preservation laws.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Federal employees tape together papers Trump ripped up at Mar-a-Lago
Great Britains wait for a medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics goes on.

Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds saw their hopes of bronze in the mixed doubles curling dashed by a 9-3 defeat to Sweden, while 17-year-old Kirsty Muir finished fifth in the freestyle big air final.

Great Britains Kirsty Muir during the womens freeski Big Air final in Beijing (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Chinas Eileen Gu delighted home fans by taking gold in that event as Quad King Nathan Chen showed why he is figure skating royalty with a world-record performance at the Capital Indoor Arena.

Here the PA news agency provides a quick guide to what happened on Tuesday in Beijing  and the highlights still to come.

Star of the day

There is no doubt Eileen Gu has ice in her veins. Gu, known as Chinas Snow Princess, was under immense pressure in the freestyle big air final as her country held its collective breath. But the US-born 18-year-old attempted and landed a 1620  four and a half rotations  for the first time in her competitive career to beat Frances Tess Ledeux to gold.

Fail of the day

Double defending champion Yuzuru Hanyu reacts with disappointment after a poor performance in the mens figure skating competition (David J. Phillip/AP)

Reigning champion Yuzuru Hanyu suffered a nightmare in his expected gold medal battle with Nathan Chen. Hanyu  bidding to become the first man to win three consecutive titles since 1928  said he failed to attempt his opening quadruple salchow because of a divot in the ice. The Japanese skater finished the day down in eighth place, while his American rival Chen delivered a world record score of 113.97 to put him firmly on course for gold.

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Picture of the day

Japans Remi Koyama flips over Czech Republic goalkeeper Klara Peslarova during a failed shoot-out attempt in their preliminary round womens hockey game (Petr David Josek/AP)

Social media moment

Whats on tomorrow

Reigning world champion Charlotte Bankes will be gunning for gold in the snowboard cross (0800 in the UK) as she attempts to put Great Britain on the medal table in Beijing. Hemel Hempstead-born Bankes represented France at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games before switching to Team GB. Gus Kenworthy and Shaun White are also in snowboard action in the mens halfpipe qualification. Farrell Treacy competes in the mens 1500m short track speed skating competition.
MOSCOW  In May 1993, Estonias first post-Soviet leader, Lennart Meri  a wise man with bitter experience of life in the Soviet Union  told the visiting U.S. deputy secretary of state that Estonia urgently needed to join NATO. It was, he said, the only guarantee that Russia wouldnt invade the Baltic state once a less Western-friendly and authoritarian Russian leader replaced then-President Boris Yeltsin.

Meanwhile, Yeltsin openly warned the U.S. that NATOs expansion to the east would inevitably lead to an explosion in nationalist and imperialist sentiment in Russia. Some of Meris and Yeltsins predictions have come true. It took Vladimir Putin, prone to imperial obsession, to awaken Russians ultraconservative feelings, complete with phantom pain for the lost Soviet Union. The more the Russian president advances his Make Russia Great Again strategy, the more Russians are convinced that their country was humiliated following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Yet Putins recent buildup of military forces along Ukraines border has equally brought out Russians fears as tensions heighten. The Pentagon announced Wednesday that about 2,000 U.S.-based troops will be deployed to Poland and Germany, and another 1,000 soldiers from Germany are shifting to Romania, in a show of American commitment to NATO allies. The U.S. says it will not enter Ukraine. The view from Russia isnt clear-cut.

Russians think highly of their government. In a recent poll, half of the respondents blamed the U.S. and other NATO countries for the escalation in eastern Ukraine. Sixteen percent said Ukraine initiated the escalation, and only 4% faulted Russia.

Such patriotic vision has led to an increase in recent years in the number of Russians who believe that the nation has enemies. Most cite the U.S. as the primary foe.

Things can change, however. As soon as international rifts diminish even a little, the attitudes of Russians to everything Western, above all toward the U.S. and the European Union, instantly become less hostile, and vice versa. As for NATO, perceptions of the alliance as an instrument of American power took root back in Soviet times.

Putins belligerent rhetoric and behavior have inspired ordinary Russians, but they have also frightened them. They worry about significant military threats from abroad. In recent years, Russians have begun to fear another world war. Its their second-biggest fear (after that of their loved ones becoming ill), according to a recent survey.

When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, there was an unprecedented torrent of patriotic sentiment, embodied by Putin, whose ratings soared. The majority of Russians believed that reincorporating Crimea  for many years part of the Russian republic formerly under the Soviet Union  simply righted a historical injustice. That consensus about Crimea still exists, but it no longer inspires Russians to unconditionally support Putin.

A war with Ukraine is no less complex. Indeed, Russians view their neighbor as a satellite of the West, but their opinion isnt entirely negative. Last year, nearly a quarter of Russians believed their country and Ukraine should be friendly neighbors but still have their own borders. More than half of Russians between ages 18 and 24 have a positive or very positive attitude toward Ukraine. Its hard to imagine how those young people could be forced to take up arms against their neighbors with that attitude.

In my recent research with focus groups, I found that young people in Russia are very pragmatic about their countrys situation. Theyre concentrating on their private lives  going to school, getting a good job. Some are trying to adapt to political constraints and outwardly showing obedience, while secretly supporting jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The patriotic tantrums on television talk shows are mostly geared toward older demographics. Propaganda works, but many young people are immune to it; theyre mostly on social media.

Most Russians are apathetic. These days, there are fewer ardent supporters of Putin than indifferent ones. Its far from a given that Russians will equate the autocrat with Russia and Russias security with that of the Kremlins inner circle. Todays urbanized Russians dont want to go and fight for Putin and the Kremlin. Invading Ukraine would not be seen as defending their country, and NATO is not Hitler.
To the editor -- Regarding the drive-by-drama article on Feb. 1 regarding life sentences without parole for those who commit drive-by-shootings, and Joe Brusics support.

As the heartbreaking list of local drive-by shootings demonstrates, the current sentences arent stopping this problem in our community.

Reducing crime is more complicated than imposing harsh penalties. We incarcerate a higher proportion of our population than any other country, by an order of magnitude, but our crime rates are no better. There are significant racial (and class) disparities in our criminal justice system.

Racial fear-mongering from our leaders and the media for decades supports our excessive imprisonment of minorities. We have all unconsciously absorbed messaging that people of color are inherently more dangerous and deserve harsher punishments.

We must fight against this. We need sentencing reform to ensure our system is just.

BRENDA KELLY

Yakima
When future historians seek to pinpoint exactly when it was that the Republican Party stopped being a legitimate political entity promoting a coherent set of principles and was transformed fully into a cult of personality organized around a would-be autocrat, Feb. 4, 2022, might be in contention. That date  last Friday  was when the Republican National Committee formally censured two Republican House members, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, for clinging to genuine conservative ideals while refusing to promote the toxic populism and contempt for democracy that now defines their party.

Former Sen. John Danforth told us this declaration should make all real Republicans sick, adding, It is now the official position of the Republican Party that the storming of the Capitol, including attacks on police officers, physical intimidation of members of Congress and destruction of government property, is legitimate political discourse.  It is a complete reversal of what we always have been and should be.

The House committee investigating the attack has an urgent mandate: to bring out all the facts surrounding the first significant attempt from within to violently overturn the result of an American presidential election. The decision by Cheney, of Wyoming, and Kinzinger, of Illinois, to participate in this important endeavor, defying their own partys intransigence, was a display of selfless patriotism.

The censure resolution is a marvel of alternate-reality thinking of the kind that former President Donald Trump is so good at. Among many other scoff-worthy passages, it claims the partys primary mission is to support the United States Constitution. That lofty declaration is rendered ridiculous by the partys continued and fervent support of Trump even after recent revelations that he personally pressed to have federal authorities seize state voting machines to get the election outcome he wanted.

That the Capitol attack and other outrages are todays GOP version of legitimate political discourse should in itself settle the question of whether this is still a rationally functioning political party.

Cheney responded with clarity about the deteriorating values of her party: The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy. Im a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge.

Those words should be engraved in stone and stand as a memorial to a once-great political party that no longer exists in any recognizable form.
Just 15% of coastal regions remain undamaged, with significant amounts in Greenland (Getty)

Just 15% of coastal areas around the world remain undamaged, new research has shown - and protecting these areas could be vital in the battle against climate change.

Researchers from the University of Queensland analysed coastal regions to pick out areas that are highly degraded by human action and those that remain intact.

Brooke Williams, from UQ's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said: "Coastal regions contain high levels of biodiversity and are relied upon by millions of people for ecosystem services such as food and storm protection.

"Our results show that we need to act quickly and decisively if we hope to conserve those coastal regions that remain intact, and restore those that are heavily degraded, especially if we're going to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Some of the damage to coastlines may never been repaired. (Getty)

Read more: Why economists worry that reversing climate change is hopeless

"The rate at which these regions are degrading poses massive threats to not only coastal species and habitats, but also to the health, safety and economic security of countless people who live or rely on coastal regions around the world."

The research team discovered that, of the 15.5% of coastal areas that remain intact as of 2013, Canada was responsible for the largest expanse of coastal region that stood intact.

The findings, which have been compiled into a free and useable dataset, offer valuable insights into humanity's widespread impacts on Earth's precious coastal ecosystems.

"Other large expanses are located in Russia, Greenland, Chile, Australia, and the United States," Williams said.

"Coastal regions containing seagrasses, savannah, and coral reefs had the highest levels of human pressure compared to other coastal ecosystems."

Read more: Why economists worry that reversing climate change is hopeless

Coastline in California. (Getty)

Read more: A 1988 warning about climate change was mostly right

UQ's Dr Amelia Wenger, who worked on the research, said: "While we already knew how important it is to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services in these coastal regions, being able to clearly see how rapidly and how far this degradation has spread, is truly eye-opening.

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"Understanding why coastal ecosystems are under pressure can help us design and implement more targeted management strategies, and hopefully slow this degradation down and even turn it around.

Wenger said: "We're urging governments and custodians of these environments to proactively conserve the valuable remaining intact coastal regions that they are responsible for, while restoring those that are degraded.

"We think our dataset will be a vital tool in achieving that ambition, which is why we're making it publicly available and free to use."
For those of you old enough to remember the debate over single-sex education, and how VMI fo
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By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL, Jan 13 (Reuters) - South Korea is set to pay compensation to Iran's Dayyani Group over a 2015 dispute after the United States cleared the path towards the payment without violating its sanctions against Tehran, the Asian nation's foreign ministry said.

Dayyani, the family behind Entekhab, an Iranian consumer electronics group, filed an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) complaint in 2015 against the South Korean government citing breach of a deal. It said Seoul did not return the $50 million deposit it paid for a failed bid to purchase a majority stake in bankrupt Daewoo Electronics.

In 2018, the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ordered Seoul to provide compensation totalling 73 billion won ($61.4 million) to the Dayyani family, but the payment has not yet been made due to U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The South Korean foreign ministry said on Wednesday the U.S. Treasury's Office Of Foreign Assets Control issued a "specific license" on Jan. 6 to allow the payment using the U.S. financial system.

"The license is expected to lay important groundwork for a speedy conclusion of the ISDS settlement with the Dayyani family, which has been one of the pending issues between the two countries," the ministry said in a statement, adding it would help improve bilateral ties.

The ISDS allows a company from one country to seek arbitration against another country where it has invested.

The Dayyani case marks South Korea's first loss in an investment treaty dispute, and its appeal was rejected in 2019.

Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 after then President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with six major powers, under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for U.S. sanctions relief.

Iran has repeatedly demanded the release of about $7 billion of its funds frozen in South Korea, calling it "hostage https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/iran-says-south-korea-holding-7-bln-iran-funds-hostage-2021-01-05. " ($1 = 1,188.4300 won) (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
VILLANOVA, Pa.Villanova Universitys College of Engineering will welcome Dr. Ricaurte Vasquez Morales 73 CLAS, Administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, to campus on February 18 to deliver the 2022 Ward lecture. This lecture is part of the Colleges annual Patrick J. Cunningham, Jr. and Susan Ward '80 Endowed Lecture Series in Engineering. Dr. Vasquezs presentation to the Villanova community will be on the topic of Global Change and The Panama Canal. The Ward Lecture is the start of Engineers Week 2022 on Villanovas campus.

The 2022 Ward Lecture will take place on Friday, Feb. 18 at 2:30 p.m. in the Villanova Room of Connelly Center. The event is free and open to the public. All visitors to campus, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear masks inside campus buildings (except when eating and drinking) to help protect our community.

The massive expansion of the Panama Canal, which was completed in 2016, intensified water scarcity in the region. Increased municipal demands are causing major challenges for the Canal Authority to assure reliable and sustainable water volumesboth for human consumption and dependable transit operations through the canal. Dr. Vasquez presentation will address the complexities of managing the water resource needs of various constituencies with considerations of rainfall patterns and impacts and the economics of water availability and water valuation methods. Working at the intersection of economics and engineering, he will explore long term solutions for how the Authority is meeting the water resource needs of the region.



Dr. Vasquez is a Panamanian economist with an extensive and successful professional career of 40 years in the government sector and in private companies, with roles in finance, economics and administrative management. He was appointed Administrator of the Panama Canal Authority for a seven-year period starting September 2019.



In the field of public administration, he has held prominent positions, including as Minister of Finance and Treasury, Minister of Planning and Economic Policy, as well as Minister of Economy and Finance in 2004. He was the first non-US Chief Financial Officer for the Panama Canal and later Deputy Administrator and President of the Board of Directors. In the private sector, his experience covers banking at Chase Manhattan Bank and mining with Rio Tinto Zinc in the development of the Cerro Colorado copper project. More recently at General Electric, Dr. Vasquez had regional responsibilities and oversaw Gas-to-Power initiatives in Latin America, retiring in 2015, to carry out his professional practice with SIGMA Management Advisors Corp.

Dr. Vasquez holds a PhD and MS from Rensselaer Polytechnic, a ME from North Carolina State University and a BS in Mathematics from Villanova. He has been a professor of Economics and Finance in Panama and abroad. His professional experience is complemented as a university professor of Economics at Florida State University, at its headquarters in Panama.

The Patrick J. Cunningham, Jr. and Susan Ward '80 Endowed Lecture Series in Engineering was established in 2009 by Villanova Engineering alumnus Susan Ward 80 ChE and her husband Patrick Cunningham, Jr. to offer students exposure to experts from various engineering fields and educational opportunities outside the classroom. The lecture is also part of the Colleges Career Compass professional development program.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nations top universities, Villanova supports its students intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.
The 8th Madach International Theatre Meeting (MITEM) will feature 16 productions from 12 countries at the National Theatre in Budapest between April 20 and May 8, the organisers said.

The opening event of the festival will be Hamlet by the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj (Kolozsvar) from Romania and the programme includes theatre groups from Bosnia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam.



State secretary for culture Peter Fekete told the press that culture could act as an engine for the restart of life in the downward period of the pandemic.



National Theatre director Attila Vidnyanszky said that for the first time in MITEMs history, performances from Bosnia and Vietnam were included in the programme which also features circus, dance and puppet shows.



Click here for more info about the Festival
The opposition parties declared that Viktor Orbans negotiations in Moscow prove that the prime minister is learning how to build a dictatorship from Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

His challenger Peter Marki-Zay said Orban has failed in Europe. In a video uploaded to Facebook, he said Viktor Orban has become Putins puppet.



This is understandable in light of the fact that during 12 years he accumulated tremendous stolen assets, through his family and front men, but he can only keep them if Hungary does not follow EU norms. He might even get us to leave the EU.



A correct relationship should be fostered with Russia, but this does not mean the unconditional serving of Russian interests, Democratic Coalition MEP Klara Dobrev said on ATV.



It is not right that when Russia acts as an aggressor in Ukraine, the Hungarian foreign minister or the entire foreign ministry staff keep quiet or applaud enthusiastically, she remarked.



Viktor Orban is taking lessons from Vladimir Putin about how to build an Eastern dictatorship, Socialist Party co-president Bertalan Toth told a press conference.



We do not want to live in an Eastern dictatorship, we want to live in a western democracy.





MTI Photo: Szilard Koszticsak
A stranger pulled a Sweetwater County woman and her four children to safety after their home caught fire this past week.

A house on the 1600 block of Wyoming Highway 374 in Jamestown, west of Green River, caught fire sometime before 4:30 a.m. The fire was likely started by one of the kids' hoverboards, a kind of electronic scooter, according to the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office.

Green River resident Ryan Pasborg, 32, was on his way to work when he smelled smoke and spotted the blaze. Pasborg pulled over, and watched three kids make their way out of the home, the sheriff's office said in a Thursday news release.

The children told Pasborg their 34-year-old mom and little brother were still in there, and needed help.

Pasborg entered the home through the garage. The smoke was obscuring his vision, so he "crawled on his hands and knees" until he found the 4-year-old, whom he carried to safety, according to the release.

It was below zero that day, so Pasborg put the kids in his truck to warm up. Then he went back in the house.

When he found the woman, she was unresponsive. After dragging the woman outside, Pasborg was able to perform "lifesaving measures" to get her breathing again, the release said.

He waited with the family in their driveway until crews arrived on the scene.

The woman suffered severe burns, which left her in critical condition. Her 4-year-old also sustained minor injuries.

The two were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. The woman was later flown to the University of Utah Burn Center in Salt Lake City.

Pasborg later spent "several hundred dollars" of his own money to deliver the family clothing and other supplies while they sheltered at their grandmother's house, said Deputy Jason Mower, spokesperson for the sheriff's office.

"You know, as a police officer, most of the stories I remember involve bystanders helping first responders in difficult situations," Mower said in the release. "I think this is the first time in nearly 15 years of law enforcement that I've ever heard of a total stranger truly going above and beyond in a way and in a situation that many wouldn't have dared to face."

The sheriff's office said Tuesday the woman's husband was at work when the fire broke out.

The sheriff's office has not identified the family.
After a controversial remark from a dealer in Pakistan, Hyundai Motor India issued a statement stating it stands strong on its ethos of respecting nationalism. However, the statement didn't go well with the social media who were asking the South Korean auto giant for an unconditional apology. Both Hyundai and Kia are facing a backlash on social media and #BoycottHyundai is trending.

Now Hyundai Global has issued another statement saying they 'deeply regret for the inconvenience caused' and action has been taken against the dealer partner. As per the company, the tweet has been deleted as it goes against the company's policy to comment on religious and political issues.

A dealer of Hyundai with handle @hyundaiPakistanOfficial in Pakistan posted a message supporting separatists in Kashmir. The tweet was done to support Kashmir Solidarity day, what it called as "struggle for freedom". Following it, #BoycottHyundai trended on Twitter in India with many people asking to stop buying the company's products in the country.

Earlier Hyundai Motor India issued a statement reiterating its commitment to the Indian market. "Hyundai MotorIndia has been committed to the Indian market for more than 25 years now and we stand firmly for our strong ethos of respecting nationalism," it said. The company further said, "The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country."

Hyundai Motor India is the second-largest carmaker in the country after Maruti Suzuki India. It currently sells 12 models including Creta and Venue in the domestic market. In December last year, the automaker announced plans to invest around Rs 4,000 crore to drive in around six electric vehicles in India by 2028.

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Mercedes-Benz, one of the country's luxury automobile manufacturers, has introduced a new course to upgrade the talent pool and prepare people for the workforce through academic upskilling projects.

The company added an EV module to its Advanced Diploma in Automotive Mechatronics (ADAM) course that is centred on the sector.

To also promote diversity and equal opportunity for women in the auto industry, which is at the cusp of an EV revolution, Mercedes-Benzs EV module is first introduced at the Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha (MKSSS Womens College) in Pune.

Also read: Hyundai Global issues apology, takes action on Pakistani dealer's controversial post on Kashmir

Martin Schwenk, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, commented, "Electric is the future, and it is imperative that we drive ahead with upskilling and re-skilling initiatives for our talent pool, making them industry ready and creating a robust e-mobility ecosystem."



The EV module will be a part of a 12-month Advanced Diploma in Automotive Mechatronics (ADAM) course, a unique public-private partnership initiative to upskill students with the latest technological advancements.

The course will be split into subtopics, designed to impart a holistic understanding of the latest cutting-edge EV technology at par with global industry standards. The module will impart knowledge about the advanced level of systems in the vehicle, awareness about the HV System & its measurements, and personal & vehicle safety. It will also provide an opportunity for the students to get hands-on practical expertise in EV technologies.

Introduced in 2006, the ADAM course is an initiative by Mercedes-Benz focused on building competencies and skills and has been successfully operational in nine technical institutions in various cities across the country. Over 1200 students have benefited from the ADAM course since its inception, wherein they have achieved successful placements in the industry.

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To reduce carbon emission and cut transportation costs the civil aviation ministry has standardized the equipment used for ground-handling services and has allowed electric vehicles for transportation and other allied services, Parliament was informed on February 7.

Currently, a total of 403 electric vehicles are currently deployed across 26 airports in the country, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha.

"At present, 119 electrical vehicles at Bengaluru airport, 71 at Chennai airport, 65 at Hyderabad airport, 50 at Kolkata airport, 38 at IGI Airport-Delhi, nine each at Goa and Pune airports, eight at Kannur airport and six at Vijayawada airport...Are being used," Singh said.

Read also: Kolkata eases flight restrictions from Mumbai and Delhi, check here

Four EVs each are being used at Indore and Calicut airports, apart from three at Agartala airport, two each at Patna, Coimbatore and Madurai airports and one each at Khajuraho, Udaipur, Varanasi, Amritsar, Juhu, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Raipur, Ranchi and Visakhapatnam airports.

The civil aviation ministry has standardized the equipment used for ground handling services, wherein electrical driven vehicles are introduced for transportation and other allied services to avoid pollution and to reduce expenditure on transportation at major airports, he said.

With inputs from PTI

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The status of operations and passenger demand for air travel will depend upon the Covid-19 conditions. On February 7, the government said that decisions regarding domestic scheduled flight operations and relaxation in fare capping are subject to prevailing Covid-19 situations.

Fare bands are in force for airlines, while the capacity restriction on domestic flight operations was done away with from October 18, 2021. Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said that during the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected the revenue streams of businesses, including the aviation sector.

"Under normal circumstances, airfares are neither established nor regulated by the government. However, due to the unprecedented circumstances, fare bands with upper and lower limits were introduced by the government as a special measure.

Read also: Expansion work of arrival terminal at Delhis T1 completed, ready for ops

"The fare bands serve the dual purpose of protecting the interests of the travellers as well as of the airlines," he told Rajya Sabha in a written reply. He noted that fare bands were revised from time to time in view of a substantial hike in the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in order to keep the aviation sector viable while protecting the interests of the passengers.

Currently, fare capping is applicable on a rolling basis for a 15-day cycle, and the minister said the government regularly reviews the situation. "Decisions regarding the domestic scheduled operations and relaxation in fare capping are subject to prevailing Covid-19 situation, status of operations and passenger demand for air travel," he said.

In a separate written reply, Singh said the losses suffered by Air India and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for fiscal 2020-21 during the Covid-19 period stood at Rs 7,083.91 crore and Rs 2,767.01 crore, respectively. "No separate assessment has been made for losses on account of suspension of international flights," he said.

Scheduled international commercial passenger flights remain suspended from March 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Regarding regional connectivity scheme UDAN, Singh said the scheme has transformed the way people travel in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, adding that regional airports like Jharsuguda, Kishangarh, Belgaum and Darbhanga have been witnessing exponential growth in air traffic.

Read also: Watch: Man builds functional million dollar Bugatti Chiron replica at home from scratch

"Till date, out of 948 valid routes, 403 routes involving 65 airports (including eight heliports and two water aerodromes) have been operationalised across the country under UDAN. "Approximately 86.05 lakh passengers have traveled on UDAN flights since its commencement till January 9, 2022," the minister said in another written reply.

"The linkage between the civil aviation sector and economic growth is well recognised. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) study shows that air connectivity has an economic multiplier of 3.1 and employment multiplier of 6.1," Singh said.

With inputs from PTI

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Campus Activities

Details

BSU will be selling candy valentines that students can send to their friends. Candy can be picked up on Monday 2/14 at the same location.
In West Bengal, curbs on COVID flights were eased last week, including those from Delhi and Mumbai. There has been a slow increase in traffic to Kolkata from these two cities for more than a month. Domestic flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Kolkata resumed on February 1st.

West Bengal began restricting flights from severely affected cities as Omicron cases spiked sharply around the start of the new year. Flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Kolkata were restricted after Covid cases spiked on 3 January.

Airlines have welcomed the decision of the state to lift the ban on flights from Delhi and Mumbai as a result of the decision. Although a full-fledged network has not yet been established, there is still time to do so. It has been reported that several major airlines are trying to determine when and how soon flights will be able to resume to Kolkata.

Read also: Domestic flight fare caps to depend on Covid-19 situation: V K Singh in Rajya Sabha

Last December, Kolkata's only direct flight to London was temporarily suspended by the state government. Kolkata to London was flown by Air India's Dreamliner every Sunday before the curb.

Kolkata-London flights could resume on February 13th, as passenger demand on the route is quite high. According to a TOI report, an Air India official said, "This is a huge relief for passengers as they will now be able to travel directly between London and Kolkata. The flight on February 13th has 75% occupancy."

Flights between Bengaluru and Kolkata have been restricted despite flights from Delhi and Mumbai being allowed. These cities can only fly between them on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Considering there are more than 15 flights on this route daily, this is a significant drop.

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Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad on Tuesday made it clear that he had no plans to loosen his grip over the party he founded 25 years ago, putting an end to speculations triggered by his frail health, old age and legal wrangles.

Lau Prasad, who arrived on his home turf here after a gap of over two months, shared his thoughts before boarding his flight from Delhi.

"All this speculation is stupid", the otherwise jovial septuagenarian snapped when asked about reports in a section of the media suggesting that in Patna, he might hand over the top party post to the younger son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav.

Sharing details of his itinerary, the RJD supremo said "our party's national executive is scheduled on February 10 which I will be attending. On 15th, I will visit Ranchi, appear before the court and return".

The former Bihar CM has been convicted in fodder scam-related cases. On February 15, the CBI court at Ranchi is expected to give its verdict in the Doranda Treasury case. If convicted, the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar in the 1990s may end up in jail again. He was released on bail less than a year ago.

Suffering from multiple afflictions like diabetes, heart and kidney problems, Prasad has been spending most of his time at his Rajya Sabha MP daughter Misa Bharti's residence in the national capital, under strict medical supervision.

The RJD chief sought to make light of the infighting within the ruling NDA in Bihar, over issues like special status for the state but underscored that the demand was first raised when his party was in power.

The wily leader chuckled when asked about BJP MP Chhedi Paswan's remark about his bete noire Nitish Kumar which has rattled the Bihar Chief Minister's JD(U).

Paswan had earlier said that lust for power could drive Kumar, to join hands with "even Dawood Ibrahim" the most-wanted Mumbai underworld don and 1993 serial blasts mastermind.

This in turn had led to Kumar lashing out at ally BJP asking it to curb "loudmouth leaders." "There can be no doubt that Nitish has no qualms about aligning with anybody for power", said Prasad in an indirect reference to Kumar's abandonment of RJD and return to NDA in 2017.

Upon reaching Patna, the colorful leader was greeted by a swarm of supporters at whom he nodded, seated in a wheelchair. However, Prasad exchanged no words with local journalists who had been waiting at the airport for hours. He drove straight to the residence of Rabri Devi, his wife who had also succeeded him as the Chief Minister.

As is always the case whenever the legendary crowd-puller politician is in town, the residence at 10, Circular Road remained as busy with activity as a beehive.

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NEW DELHI: Indian documentary 'Writing With Fire' has been nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category at the 94th edition of the Academy Awards. The nominations were announced by Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan on Tuesday evening via the Twitter page of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, both debutantes, 'Writing With Fire' chronicles the rise of Khabar Lahariya, India's only newspaper run by Dalit women. "We are beyond delighted. This is a massive moment for us and for Indian cinema... This film is about fearless Dalit women journalists who are redefining what being powerful means, quintessentially the story of the modern Indian woman," co-director Ghosh told PTI.

Later, Thomas took to Twitter to share her excitement about the film earning a nod at the 2022 Oscars. "Oh My God!!!! Writing With Fire just got nominated for @TheAcademy Award. Oh My God!!!!!!!! #OscarNoms #WritingWithFire," she captioned the video of her celebrating with Ghosh and their family as the nominations in the category were announced.

The festival favourite film follows this ambitious group of Dalit wonder women led by their chief reporter, Meera as the team switches from print to digital in order to stay relevant.

Armed with smartphones and the courage and conviction one must be born with, they investigate the incompetence of the local police force, listen to and stand by victims of caste and gender violence, and challenge long-standing, harmful practices that lead to injustice and intimidation. Other nominees in the category are: "Ascension", "Attica", "Flee", and "Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)". The awards ceremony is scheduled to be held on March 27.

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Gurugram: The Haryana Chief Minister's Flying Squad has raided a diagnostic lab accused of preparing fake coronavirus reports, officials said on Tuesday. The team nabbed a lab assistant while the operator managed to flee.

The lab allegedly charged Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 to issue COVID-19 positive or negative reports.

They also charged Rs 900 for Covid test even as the rate of the test is capped at Rs 299 when a person opts to get it done at a lab. An FIR in this regard has been registered at DLF Phase-3 police station.

According to DSP Inderjeet Yadav of the Chief Minister's Flying Squad, they were tipped-off that Good Health Diagnostic, located at Nathupur Road in DLF Phase-3, was issuing Covid test reports fraudulently.

The lab was a franchise of SRL lab and was started around five months ago.

"We informed the Health Department and drug controller and a joint team was formed which conducted raid at the lab. A decoy customer was sent to the lab seeking fake Covid report and the lab assistant promised him the same after taking money. When the decoy customer signalled, our team nabbed the lab assistant Sanjeev (22), resident of Mahipalpur in Delhi," the DSP said.

"Lab operator Anuj Sharma, who originally hails from Uttar Pradesh, was not available at the lab and our team during the search found that they were giving Covid positive report after taking money. The reports were being issued on the behalf of SRL lab. An FIR has been registered under various sections at DLF phase-3 police station", Yadav said.

According to the investigating officer, a fake report of COVID-19, a laptop, a printer, one phone, a rubber stamp and Rs 12,500 cash were seized from the lab.

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CHANDIGARH: In view of declining Covid-19 cases in the state, the Haryana government on Tuesday issued a notification directing all government employees/officers/staff to attend office on regular basis with effect from Wednesday (February 9, 2022).

The Haryana governments official statement said that all government employees and officers will have to attend office on a regular basis starting February 9.

All the employees/ officers working in any office, department, board, corporations, etc., under the Haryana government, shall, without any exemption, attend office on regular basis with effect from Feb 9, 2022, the order read.

#COVID19 | Haryana govt has decided that all government employees/officers shall attend office on regular basis with effect from Feb 9, 2022, reads the official statement pic.twitter.com/OWfhAIZ4D5  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

The order also stated, Heads of Department/Heads of Office shall ensure that employees wear masks all the time and continue to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour strictly.

The decision to this effect was taken after viewing the Covid-19 situation and the declining number of new cases in the state, the order said.

On February 7, Haryana had reported more than 1,000 cases of fresh coronavirus infections. In a separate order, the Haryana government also announced that all schools for classes one to nine will also reopen from February 10.

#COVID19 | Schools in Haryana will reopen from Feb 10 for classes 1 to 9. Online classes will also continue: State Govt  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

It, however, said that online classes will continue simultaneously.

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New Delhi: A total of 655 police encounter killings have taken place in the country in the last five years with Chhattisgarh reporting the highest number of such cases at 191.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed the Lok Sabha that apart from the 191 police encounter killings in Chhattisgarh, 117 such incidents were reported in Uttar Pradesh in the last five years, 50 in Assam, 49 in Jharkhand, 36 in Odisha and 35 in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a written reply to a question, Rai said 26 police encounter killings took place in Maharashtra between January 1, 2017, and January 31, 2022.

Twenty-two such incidents took place in Bihar during the same period, 15 in Haryana, 14 in Tamil Nadu, 13 each in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, nine each in Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya and eight each in Rajasthan and Delhi.

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New Delhi: After his Lok Sabha address, PM Narendra Modi today (February 8) slammed the Congress once again, this time in Rajya Sabha and launched a scathing attack on the Grand Old Party of the country.

PM Modi attacked the Congress for its 'greed for power' and 'throttling democracy', and said that over the years, the Congress government at the Centre created problems for the state government and that this was true when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.

Slamming the Congress again for dynastic politics, PM Modi said, "The difficulty being faced by Congress is that they never thought of anything else before the dynasty. We'll have to accept that biggest threat to India's democracy is the dynastic parties. When a family is the supreme in any party, then the first casualty is that of talent."

Modi also said, "It was said in the House that Congress laid India's foundation and BJP just hoisted a flag. It wasn't said like a joke in the House. It's the result of serious thinking that's dangerous to the nation - some people believe that India was born in 1947. Problems arise due to this thinking." He added, "This mindset has had an impact on the policies of those who received the opportunity to work for the last 50 years. It gave birth to perversions. This democracy is not due to your (Congress') generosity. Those who strangulated democracy in 1975 should not speak on it."

Modi took a dig at the Congress party saying, it is often said, "'What would have happened if Congress was not there?' I would like to tell you, this was Mahatma Gandhi's wish. He knew what'll happen if they continue to be & he wanted to disband them beforehand."

He then went on to say that if Congress wasn't there, democracy wouldn't have to face dynastic influence, there would be no emergency, no division of nation on the basis of caste and region, there would have been no Sikh genocide, Kashmiri Pandits would not have left the Valley, daughters wouldn't have been killed in tandoor. "Had Congress ceased to be, as per the wish of Mahatma Gandhi, democracy would've been free from dynasty. India would've walked on the path of national resolutions, instead of taking to a foreign view. Had Congress not been there, then there would have been no blot of Emergency," Modi said.

Keeping up with his tirade, Modi said that Congress has a problem with the word nation itself. "When Congress was in power, they didn't allow country's development. Now when in Opposition, they are obstructing the development of the country. They are now objecting to 'Nation'. If the idea of 'Nation' is unconstitutional, then why is your party called Indian National Congress?" the PM said.

(With ANI inputs)

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New Delhi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday (February 8) said BJP is going to lose in Uttar Pradesh.

"People in the state are tired of BJP's propaganda. They have only been talking about riots, religion and temple... ," said Yadav.

Attacking Bihar CM, Lalu said, "Nitish Kumar can go to any extent to stay on the chair of Chief Minister of Bihar."

Meanwhile, BJP today assured free electricity for irrigation, a job for every household and free travel for women over 60 in its Uttar Pradesh assembly election 2022 manifesto, which also promised a minimum 10-year sentence in cases of what it describes as "love jihad."

Polling will take place for 58 assembly constituencies spread across 11 districts, out of the 403 seats in the UP, on Thursday(February 10).

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Gandhinagar: A special court in Gujarat acquitted 28 out of 77 accused in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case. Forty-nine accused were convicted.

The trial against 77 accused was completed by the court in September last year. Nearly 56 people were killed in a series of bomb blasts in Gujarat's Ahmedabad in 2008.

(With ANI inputs)

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New Delhi: India on Tuesday summoned South Korean Ambassador Chang Jae-bok and lodged a strong protest over the controversial social media posts by Hyundai Pakistan on the so-called Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said it was highlighted to the envoy that the matter concerned India's territorial integrity on which there could be "no compromise".

Bagchi said immediately after the social media post on Sunday, the Indian Ambassador in Seoul contacted the Hyundai headquarters and sought an explanation. The Indian mission in Seoul also took up the issue with the South Korean government and conveyed a tough message, he added.

He said the ambassador of South Korea was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday. South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed regret over the issue during a telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, according to Bagchi.

"The ambassador of the Republic of Korea was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs on February 7. The strong displeasure of the government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him," Bagchi said.

"It was highlighted that this matter concerned India's territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise. We expected the company to take appropriate action to properly address these issues," he said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong called Jaishankar this morning and the issue figured in the conversation.

A controversial tweet from Hyundai Pakistans Official Twitter handle on Sunday provoked angry reactions from Indian users on Twitter as they interpreted the post as supporting separatists and terrorists.

After the backlash on social media, Hyundai Motor India on Sunday issued a statement saying that it stands strong on its ethos of respecting nationalism.

However, the statement didn't go well with the Indian social media users who demanded an unconditional apology from the South Korean auto giant. Both Hyundai and Kia are facing a backlash on social media and #BoycottHyundai began trending.

Hyundai Global later issued another statement saying they 'deeply regret the inconvenience caused' and action has been taken against the dealer partner. As per the company, the tweet has been deleted as it goes against the company's policy to comment on religious and political issues.

Hyundai Motor India is the second-largest carmaker in the country after Maruti Suzuki India. It currently sells 12 models including Creta and Venue in the domestic market. In December last year, the automaker announced plans to invest around Rs 4,000 crore to drive in around six electric vehicles in India by 2028.

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Years after lawmakers promised to replace a juvenile corrections facility steeped in controversy and multimillion-dollar settlements, a bipartisan bill that came before a hearing Tuesday would authorize $42 million in borrowing to build a juvenile correctional facility near Milwaukee.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has long committed to closing the embattled Lincoln Hills juvenile prison, would almost certainly sign the bill into law.

The bill, SB 520, would likely hasten the relocation of youth imprisoned at Lincoln Hills School for Boys and the Copper Lake School for Girls in northern Wisconsin, facilities that in the last decade have faced reports of child neglect, violent outbursts from inmates, use of pepper spray to cause bodily harm and intimidation of witnesses.

Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, said at the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee hearing Tuesday that it was frustrating to see years of partisan squabbles following the decision to close Lincoln Hills lead to no replacement.

The only people that are really being harmed by this are the juveniles that are in those facilities, he said. Still, its gratifying that were finally moving forward to provide our most troubled youth with a suitable facility with the best possibility of rehabilitation.

But the new facility, if the bill is passed, likely wouldnt be ready for years to come.

As the bill awaits approval, the state Department of Corrections requested $3 million to replace Lincoln Hills boilers, water heaters and electrical panels, which the state Building Commission is set to review Wednesday.

The Lincoln Hills repairs are needed soon because the facilitys appliances are beyond their intended life expectancy, the agency request stated.

When a replacement facility is funded and youth moved, DOC intends to continue using the facility, agency spokesman John Beard said in a statement. There are plans to convert it to a minimum-security adult institution. So, whether for youth or adults, the facility will still be used and needed maintenance will continue.

Lincoln Hills is located in Irma, about 30 miles north of Wausau.

Years of delays

The bipartisan bill comes up for a hearing nearly four years after Republican then-Gov. Scott Walker signed a measure authorizing the state to shut Lincoln Hills by January 2021 and replace it with smaller, more regional facilities.

The bill Walker signed into law received unanimous support, but then momentum slowed.

Evers in 2019 signed into law a bill extending the closure date to July 2021, but he later said that wasnt a realistic deadline.

While money had been made available for counties to build youth corrections facilities, and the state Buildings Commission approved the expansion of the mental health-focused Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, the state effort to create a smaller Lincoln Hills replacement lagged behind, causing a ripple effect.

Weve created two out of the three legs of the stool, but until we do the third one, were not going to be able to realize the whole thing, said Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, a former state public defender.

Evers in his two budgets since he became governor proposed creating replacement sites for Lincoln Hills, but each was rejected by the Legislature.

Similar to the bill that came before a Tuesday hearing, he asked for around $46 million to build a facility in Milwaukee County in his proposed 2021-23 biennial budget.

Republicans instead set aside $4 million to begin site selection and design in a move Democrats said would further delay closure of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake facilities. The state Building Commission Wednesday is set to review a request for $2.4 million of that amount for the continued planning, selection and design of a Milwaukee County juvenile facility.

The Legislature also rejected Evers earlier proposal to use $115 million to construct state-run, high-security juvenile facilities.

Its great to hear the Legislature is finally considering coming to the table on this issue, but its unfortunate it has taken this long after Republicans have repeatedly obstructed the governors efforts to reform our juvenile justice system and take meaningful action toward closing these facilities, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a statement.

Some improvement

There were 135 teenagers incarcerated at Lincoln Hills in March 2018, when former Gov. Walker signed 2017 Act 185 to close the facility. In early February, there were 38.

And in the last year, quarterly court-ordered reports have found improvement within the facility, though they clarified that problems remain.

There continues to be concern regarding programming, use of force, use of mechanical restraints, youth self-confining, quality and quantity of education, and other issues, wrote monitor Teresa Abreu after a January visit. However, overall, youth and staff morale were good and there has been progress in some areas of the consent decree from the last site visit.

Abreu also suggested expanding music, art, gardening and welding programs as well as other programs that would reduce idleness during weekends and evenings.

A Copper Lake counselor Tuesday put it more bluntly, saying the facilities continue to be toxic for staff and youth.

Staff have been holding on for far too long now and they cannot hold on any longer, counselor Anthony Bullard said.

The new system would be a massive change for the better, Goyke said, with a far lower capacity and a location better for visitors.

It will not be hours and hours away from the most populous communities, which is disproportionately where kids come from and where they go home to, he said.

The new facilitys location near Milwaukee would be a critical factor in reducing future crime. Studies show people commit fewer crimes when they are visited in prison, which would be more likely in a community close to their homes.

Another snag?

While lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates agreed Tuesday that a facility closer to most of the youths homes should replace Lincoln Hills, the potential placement of that facility triggered pushback.

One potential site, the Felmers Chaney Correctional Center, is an adult facility offering qualified prisoners work release programs with local employers.

Advocates for the facility, including people who were housed there, testified Tuesday that converting the facility would amount to disposing of a critical tool that enhances community integration  and some lawmakers agreed.

Its dumb to close a facility where we need people to connect to work, said Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee.

Goyke said the bill does not clarify a location and that lawmakers cant find a better location if the bill doesnt pass in the first place.

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New Delhi: Congress MPs on Tuesday (February 8, 2022) staged a walkout from Rajya Sabha to protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the president's address.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said that they walked out because instead of speaking on President's Address, he accused Congress.

"We've walked out of the PM Speech on Motion of Thanks because instead of speaking on President's Address, he accused Congress," he told ANI.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on Congress and said that the family-run parties are the biggest threat to India's democracy.

The Prime Minister also held the grand old party responsible for several ills confronting the country. He said that the people of the country had to wait for many years to get basic facilities like water, power and roads because of Congress.

As the opposition party, too, the Congress is creating hurdles in the country's development, PM Modi alleged.

He also accused the Congress of being in the grip of urban Naxals, who are today controlling its thought and ideology.

"The Congress in a way is in the grip of urban Naxals. That is why its thought has become negative," the prime minister said.

Modi suggested that the opposition party change its name from Indian National Congress to the 'Federation of Congress'.

He also attacked Congress for sacking over 50 state governments of several parties during its over 50-year rule at the Centre.

Taking a jibe at the party, Prime Minister Modi said if it was not there, the country would not have seen Emergency, the massacre of Sikhs and the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said that PM Narendra Modi didn't answer the question raised by him during his Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha speeches. Rahul Gandhi, reacting on PM Narendra Modi's attacks on first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, said that his grandfather doesn't need any certificate.

"He (PM Modi during his speech in Parliament) didn't answer my questions. We need to take the China and Pakistan issue seriously," Rahul Gandhi said. "My great grandfather served the country, I don't need anyone's certificate. BJP is scared of Congress as we say the truth," the Congress leader said.

Describing dynastic parties as the biggest threat to India's democracy, PM Modi had today said that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, "concerned about his global image", refused to send the Army to help Ram Manohar Lohia led 'satyagrahis' working for Goa's independence.

The Congress, he added, delayed Goa's independence by 15 years until after India attained freedom. Modi also listed instances of past Congress governments muzzling the freedom of expression and cited Lata Mangeshkar's musician brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar being sacked from All India Radio for presenting a poetry on Veer Savarkar.

Lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri, he added, was jailed for criticising Jawaharlal Nehru. Whenever someone within the Congress has spoken against a particular family, the results have been there for all to see, the prime minister said, naming the late Sitaram Kesri.

PM Narendra Modi had today said that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, "concerned about his global image", refused to send the Army to help Ram Manohar Lohia led 'satyagrahis' working for Goa's independence.
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday (February 8) asked all concerned to keep the peace and let children study, amid the ongoing controversy over wearing hijab to college.

Speaking to ANI, Karnataka CM said, "All the concerned people (in the Udupi hijab row) should keep the peace and let children study. The matter will be presented in High Court today, let`s wait for it."

CM Bommai earlier said, "the matter is before the High Court and it will be decided there. Therefore, I appeal to everyone to maintain peace and no one should take steps to disturb peace," adding "All should follow the State's order (on uniform) until the court decides."

Bommai noted that the Constitution has mentioned in several ways what kind of dress to be worn in schools and colleges and even the state's Education Act has made it clear in the Rules. Asked why the row has refused to die down in the state, the chief minister said that the issue is not limited to Karnataka as it has been discussed in a big way in Kerala and Maharashtra where the matter was decided by the respective high courts.

Meanwhile, Muslim students of the college questioned if the right to education under `Beti Bachao Beti Padhao` is not for them.Claiming that they have been wearing the hijab from the beginning of their college years, a student said, "They talk about `Beti Bachao Beti Padhao`, are they (Hindus) the only betis? Aren`t we the betis? We are the daughters of the country. Why suddenly does the government have a problem with hijab? I have been wearing it for three years here now, why is it a problem now?"

Another student said that students with saffron stoles were protesting against Muslim girls."They want us thrown away from the college, that is what they are doing this. Why should we have to choose? We have the right to education and the right to practice our religion," she said.

Another student of the college questioned why the hijab is suddenly an issue."Why are they implementing such rules now when the college is about to end in two months? We were allowed to wear the hijab when we first joined college. Why is it an issue now?" "We are not going to leave Hijab, and we are not going to leave education. It is 75 years since we got freedom and still, we are not free. This is a part of the uniform," she added.

Commenting on the saffron versus the hijab row, the students said, "We never asked them not to wear saffron; they are free to wear it. But it is not compulsory for them...it (hijab) is mandatory for us. We have been wearing it since childhood."

Protests have erupted at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi as students wearing hijab and another group of students wearing saffron stoles-headgears raise slogans on the college campus.

Karnataka State Primary and High School Education Minister BC Nagesh recently said that the students wearing hijab in Kundapura were allowed to enter college premises as a "courtesy" while maintaining that complying with uniform code is a must.

The minister made it clear that the students will need to follow the rules. "Ours is not a Pakistani culture. It is Indian culture. These girls aren`t aware of the school norms and customs, and they will understand later," Nagesh told media persons.

The hijab row started after a few students in Udupi Government Pre-University College started wearing hijab last month and were turned out of classrooms. The students refused to attend classes without hijab and the college administration on the other hand took a firm stand to allow them only if they shun hijab.

At a college at Kundapur in Udupi district of the state, the principal talked to girl students wearing hijabs and explained the government order to them, but the students insisted on wearing the headscarves. The students were later asked to go to a separate room arranged for them.

Meanwhile, some students sporting blue scarves entered a college in Chikkamagaluru, and raised the slogan 'Jai Bhim' in front of those wearing saffron scarves. These students supported the hijab-wearing girls. There were reports of some students in Chikkaballapura, Bagalkote, Belagavi, Hassan and Mandya coming to colleges wearing hijab and saffron scarves in defiance of the government order issued on Saturday banning any cloth other than a uniform.

In Belagavi and Mandya, girls raised slogans demanding justice during a protest rally demanding permission for wearing hijab.

Reacting to the row on Monday, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar said the controversy over the wearing hijab in colleges is part of a conspiracy to poison the minds of the young people. He told reporters in Mangaluru, "The hijab row is an insult to our country and against the tradition of the land."

Shivakumar further said the coastal region has its own history, culture and human resources and is known as an educational hub, adding that an attempt is being made to change the tradition and poison young minds by fuelling the hijab row.

Political parties taking advantage of 'hijab' issue: HD Deve Gowda

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) president HD Deve Gowda has said that political parties in Karnataka are taking advantage of the `Hijab` issue for the 2023 assembly elections.

Gowda told ANI, "There are some elements that are misleading the students and political parties are taking advantage for 2023 elections. The government can stop this. Such issues divide the nation."

Notably, the Hijab protests began on February 4 at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district when some students alleged that they had been barred from attending classes as they were wearing hijab.

(With Agency Inputs)

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HPBOSE Class 10, 12 results: Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE) Term 1 Results 2021-22 for Class 10th and Class 12th are likely to be declared on Tuesday (February 8, 2022), several media reports claimed.

Once announced, the HP Board class 10 and 12 students can check their scores for Semester 1 on the official website - https://hpbose.org.

There will not be any merit list as this is the first term's outcome. Exams for the second semester are scheduled to be held next month.

HP Board Term 1 Result 2022: How to check HPBOSE Class 10, 12 results

Once declared, students need to visit the official website of Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education at https://hpbose.org.

On the homepage, students need to click on the 'Results' link.

On the new page, click on the 'HPBOSE 10th Semester 1 Result -2021' or 'HPBOSE 12th Semester 1 Result -2021' links.

Enter your roll number and other details and then click on the 'submit' option.

Your HPBOSE 10th Result or HPBOSE 12th Result will be displayed.

It is noteworthy that Himachal Pradesh Board conducted class 10 exams for Term 1 between November 20 and December 3 last year and Class 12 Semester 1 exams from November 18 to December 9, 2021.

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Four major corporates -- Hyundai India, KIA India, KFC India and Pizza Hut India -- are facing a backlash over their anti-India statements on social media regarding the union territory Jammu and Kashmir. The posts were made on the social media channels of these companies' overseas branches.

Here is a closer look at the comments by Hyundai, Kia, KFC and Pizza Hut and subsequent apologies:

Hyundai and Kia

Hyundai Pakistan, making extremely controversial comments, called for the "freedom of Kashmir from India" through its official Twitter handle in Pakistan. The day is observed by Pakistan as the "Kashmir solidarity day". The Indian Twitter users began criticising Hyundai on social media, forcing the parent company to issue a response.

"Hyundai Motor India has been committed to the Indian market for more than 25 years now and we stand firmly for our strong ethos of respecting nationalism. The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view," the statement from Hyundai read.

Pizza Hut

Pizza hut Pakistan shared a post on its Instagram account that read, "This Kashmir solidarity day, let's join hands and stand united for the freedom of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters."

Pizza Hut later issued a statement saying "it does not condone, support or agree with the contents of a post circulating in social media" after facing backlash over an Instagram post on Kashmir by its official handle in Pakistan.

KFC Pakistan

KFC, in a similar post, had written last year: "We stand together this Kashmir Solidarity Day, to realise their right to freedom," KFC PAK wrote. Making things worse, a picture of snowy mountains with overlaying text: Their cravings for freedom are heartfelt, was shared.

As the screenshot of last year`s tweet by KFC Pakistan on Kashmir went viral, many Indians took to Twitter to express their dismay. Hundreds and thousands of users have called out the propaganda against India on the sensitive issue of Kashmir.

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Congress and BJP leaders are fighting like cats and dogs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in and outside the Parliament for the past two days. The leaders exhanging salvos at each other includes both parties' top faces. However, there's one state - Meghalaya - where both the parties are now a part of the same ruling coalition - Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA).

The development comes after all five Congress MLAs in Meghalaya joined the BJP-backed ruling MDA, leaving only Mamata Banerjee's TMC occupying the opposition space in the state assembly. They will, however, remain in the Congress, CLP leader Ampareen Lyngdoh said.

Once a formidable opposition with 17 MLAs, the Congress was left with only five MLAs after 12 legislators, including former chief minister Mukul Sangma, defected to the TMC in November last year.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) formally handed over a letter of support to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. "We the undersigned MLAs of the Indian National Congress have decided to join the MDA (Meghalaya Democratic Alliance) government today the 8th of February, 2022. We wish to support you and the MDA to strengthen the government's arms and decision making so as to ensure that our joined (sic) efforts will take the state forward, in the general interest of its citizens," the letter stated.

The letter was signed by Lyngdoh, besides PT Sawkmie, Mayralborn Syiem, KS Marbaniang and Mohendro Rapsang. A copy of the letter was also sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

"The five @INCMeghalaya (Meghalaya Congress) MLAs have decided to join the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance administration in the benefit of the people of the state, particularly our individual constituencies," Lyngdoh tweeted along with a photo of the Congress MLAs with the chief minister.

"We have joined the MDA but will remain part of the Congress," Lyngdoh told news agency PTI.

The TMC, which hardly had any meaningful presence in the northeastern state before November 25 last year, when 12 Congress MLAs led by Mukul Sangma joined Mamata Banerjee's party, reacted to the development with expected glee.

"The unscrupulous & power hungry people have officially joined hands. This alliance between Congress & NPP led MDA has once again clearly MARKED @AITCofficial as the only credible alternative in Meghalaya!," the party tweeted.

"Dedicated to Meghalaya, WE WILL continue to fight for development of all," it added.

The NPP-led MDA is supported by the BJP whose Sanbor Shullai is a minister in the Meghalaya government.

The NPP is also a constituent of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the northeastern version of the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

However, there's one state - Meghalaya - where both the parties are now a part of the same ruling alliance - Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA).
Addressing a virtual rallly for Uttrakhand Assembly Election 2022, PM Narendra Modi said that Congress only worked for the benefit of one family and stalled development projects to make money through corrupt practices. PM Narendra Modi counted on "4 things" against the Congress in Vijay Sankalp Sabha virtual rally.

"They (Congress) know only 4 things, whatever they do will be for a family's benefit, will have corruption, will be politics of appeasement for votes, will have developmental projects postponed for years, so they can fill their own pockets. I've a report on all 4 today," PM Narendra Modi said.

PM Modi said that Congress never thought of developing Uttrakhand's tourism. "They were in power in Delhi and UP for years, used to travel to Uttarakhand for leisure, but never thought of its pilgrimage, tourism, or chardham. Villages got empty, people migrated," PM Modi said.

"Today, when double engine government has given Rs 12,000 crore and completed 90% work for Char Dham road project, they're remembering Char Dham's name for the 1st time," PM Modi said, adding that Congress never worked for people's development in the state.

"Had they understood Uttarakhand's people, they wouldn't have done what they did with RishikeshKarnaprayag railway line," the Prime Minister said.

"During voting, keep in mind that even though I reside in Delhi, Uttarakhand has a big place in my heart," PM Modi said. "We want to move forward and they want to pull us back... Congress has sown poison wherever they have talked about politics of appeasement. Look what they've done to Kashmir," the Prime Minister added.

"They were in power in Delhi and UP for years, used to travel to Uttarakhand for leisure, but never thought of its pilgrimage, tourism, or chardham. Villages got empty, people migrated," PM Modi said.
New Delhi: Amid the simmering 'hijab' row in Karanataka, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said that everyone should follow the dress code in schools and alleged that some politicians and fanatics were blowing the issue further.

"Wearing a uniform is a routine thing, why are they making it an issue? And when school has issued a guideline, everyone should follow it. What is the fuss about it? Undertakings have also been given by students and their parents to follow the dress code," Joshi told reporters outside the Parliament.

All students must follow the dress code prescribed by the schools/administration. Law and order must be maintained in the State. We need to see who are these people instigating the students: Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Karnataka hijab row pic.twitter.com/NEBG1ljnRv  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

His remark came as protests for and against the hijab intensified at colleges in different parts of Karnataka. When asked as to who were those inciting the students for not abiding by the dress code, the Union Minister said "some politicians and fanatics have made it an issue".

However, Joshi, who hails from Karnataka, said the matter is in court and the state government can wait for its outcome. He said no one should take law and order into their hands, and police will do what is expected of them in case of any violation.

In a related development, the states Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday declared a holiday to high schools and colleges in the state for the next three days. Bommai also appealed for peace.

"I appeal to all the students, teachers and management of schools and colleges as well as people of Karnataka to maintain peace and harmony. I have ordered the closure of all high schools and colleges for the next three days. All concerned are requested to cooperate," Bommai said in a tweet.

Tension had prevailed at some educational institutions in Udupi, Shivamogga, Bagalkote and other parts of the state, during protests for and against hijab today, forcing the police and authorities to intervene.

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday appealed to the students and people to maintain peace and tranquillity as the hijab row escalated in parts of the state.

After hearing the petitions filed by some students studying in a Government Pre-University College for Girls in the coastal town of Udupi, the matter was posted for Wednesday.

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Washington: The Indian-American community leaders have condemned the vandalism of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in New York and said this is disrespect to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, two leaders who sought to eradicate hate.

A life-sized bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in a New York City neighbourhood on Saturday (February 5, local time), an act strongly condemned as 'despicable' by the Consulate General of India. The eight-foot-high statue, located in Manhattan's Union Square, was defaced by some unknown persons, the consulate in New York had said.

"As an African American practitioner of the Hindu dharma, I am deeply offended that anyone would disrespect Mahatma Gandhi, who inspired MLK (Martin Luther King) to take up the mission of non-violence, which inspired major changes in society that are still positively impacting our lives today," said Balabhadra Bhattacarya Dasa (Benny Tillman), president of the Vedic Friends Association.

Utsav Chakrabarti, executive director of the HinduPACT said that this is not the first time that a statue of Gandhi has been vandalised in the US. "In the past few years, statues of Mahatma Gandhi have been vandalised by groups aligned with radical Islamists and their sympathisers in South Asian communities," he claimed.

In January last year, unknown miscreants had vandalised, broken and ripped from the base a statue of Gandhi in a park in California, evoking a strong response from India which sought a thorough investigation and appropriate action against those responsible for the "despicable act."

In December 2020, Khalistani-supporters had desecrated a Gandhi statue in Washington, DC in front of the Indian Embassy. Also in June 2020, some unknown miscreants vandalised the statue of Gandhi outside the Indian embassy in the US with graffiti and spray painting, prompting the mission to register a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies.

In a statement, Ajay Shah, convenor of the American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD), said Gandhi and the freedom movement he spearheaded served as the inspiration for King and the American Civil Rights movement. "The MLK Memorial in Atlanta, GA has an area dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi. It is no coincidence that Gandhi's statue was desecrated during the Black History Month. The perpetrators of this act and their sponsors are sending the message that they have not accepted peace, human rights, freedom and equality of all human beings," Shah said.

The largest number of Gandhi statues outside India are in the US. The consulate had said that "the matter (the vandalism in New York) has also been taken up with the US State Department for immediate investigation and urged appropriate action against those responsible for this despicable act".

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New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a case against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and others under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the agency said on Monday.

The agency filed the case based on a recent order received from the Ministry of Home Affairs to register a case against Dawood.

Subsequently, sources said, the anti-terror agency filed a case under UAPA against Dawood and others.

It is learnt that a special team, led by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officer in the NIA along with a Superintendent of Police, will probe the case.

In the FIR, sources said, names of Dawood and several of his associates have been named mentioning their roles in terror activities against India through various means, including pumping hawala money.

NIA`s move comes just one month after India`s Permanent Representative TS Tirumurti while speaking at the International Counter-Terrorism Conference 2022, had said that linkages between terrorism and transnational organised crime must be fully recognised and addressed vigorously. This was deemed as a veiled reference to Dawood Ibrahim believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

"Linkages between terrorism and transnational organized crime must be fully recognized and addressed vigorously. We have seen the crime syndicate responsible for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts not just given state protection but enjoying 5-star hospitality," Tirumurti had said.

Dawood is India`s `most wanted` fugitive and was the mastermind of a series of 13 bomb explosions that occurred in Mumbai in 1993 and killed 257 people and injured more than 713.

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Several voting advocacy groups, city officials and disabilities rights organizations on Monday railed against a package of GOP bills that would, among other measures, allow a legislative committee to cut funding for a handful of state departments, including the state elections commission, if they fail to comply with Wisconsin election laws.

The fast-tracked bills come amid rising scrutiny among Republicans over the Wisconsin Elections Commissions handling of the 2020 election, which saw President Joe Biden defeat former President Donald Trump by close to 21,000 votes. The Wisconsin bills also align with a nationwide GOP effort to clamp down on election processes following unfounded claims by some Republicans, including Trump, of fraud in the 2020 election. The GOP-led Legislature hopes to vote on the measures before it adjourns from session by as early as the end of this month.

The Senate elections committee took more than six hours of testimony Monday on the 10 bills, which could be headed for a veto by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, and a joint resolution that would put before voters a constitutional amendment that would ban the use of private grant funding to administer elections. A constitutional amendment would need to pass the Senate and Assembly in two successive sessions before being decided by voters in a general election.

While the governor cannot veto a constitutional amendment, Evers tweeted Sunday, I wont do anything that makes it harder for eligible voters to vote. Thats a promise, signaling a likely rejection of several of the 10 proposed bills.

Matthew Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, took aim at one bill that would require the elections commission to submit weekly reports to the Republican-controlled legislative rules committee detailing any documents or guidance issued by the agency to local election officials, which he said sets up the commission to be nit-picked and hyper-monitored.

Are you going to allow the elections commission to do its job, or are you going to kill it by a thousand cuts? Rothschild said.

Another proposed bill would give the Joint Committee on Finance the final say over how the elections commission spends any federal funds allocated to the agency and require the bipartisan commissions lawyers to be partisan attorneys appointed by Republican and Democratic leaders.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, who introduced that bill alongside Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said giving the GOP-led budget committee oversight over federal funds aims to improve and protect the integrity of future elections by increasing accountability and transparency and requiring the commission to hire partisan lawyers would make our appointees more informed in the process by having someone on their side interpreting the law for them.

Legislation questioned

Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, questioned the bill as what she described as an effort by the Legislature to micromanage state elections.

The processes we have in place are working and I believe a number of these bills would undermine the integrity of our current elections processes, Cronmiller added.

Committee chair and former elections clerk Sen. Kathy Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, did raise concern over a bill proposed by Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, that would give the GOP-led budget committee the ability to enforce staffing cuts or reduce agency funding at the state elections commission or departments of Transportation, Corrections and Health Services if the departments fail to comply with election-related laws.

My concern is that the penalty goes to the staff, the people trying to run elections, when the decision is made by an appointed commission, Bernier said.

Bernier, who is not seeking another term this fall, said some of the measures will likely be amended before they reach the full legislative chambers, but acknowledged all the proposals could very well be vetoed.

I want to make sure that when theres a Republican governor, they will sign the bills that yours truly has pretty much perfected, Bernier said.

2020 results

The results of the 2020 election have been confirmed by county canvassing boards, recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties, post-election audits by local and state election authorities and a voting equipment audit by the elections commission. Reviews by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty found ways in which elections could be improved but no evidence of widespread fraud. Multiple court rulings have also found no evidence of irregularities.

The constitutional amendment that would bar the state from receiving private funds to help administer elections follows mounting Republican criticism over private election grants provided to cities in 2020 by the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, that they say were used to unfairly increase turnout in the Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine.

Court rulings have found nothing illegal about the more than $10 million in grants CTCL distributed to about 214 municipalities in 39 of Wisconsins 72 counties, including many in areas solidly won by Trump. Nor did CTCL turn down grant requests from any of the Wisconsin municipalities that made them.

Other bills

Other GOP bills would limit who could claim indefinitely confined status, exempting from the requirement to provide a photo ID with each election; and bar election clerks from filling in any missing information on a voters absentee ballot envelope.

The package also would prohibit special voting deputies from being barred from assisting nursing home residents with casting absentee ballots unless a public health emergency is in place or the facility is closed due to infectious disease  at which point personal care voting assistants must be trained to assist residents.

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Kameng: Seven Indian Army personnel, who were hit by an avalanche in a high-altitude area of the Kameng sector in Arunachal Pradesh, have been confirmed dead and their bodies retrieved from the avalanche site.

The Indian Army issued a statement on Tuesday in which it said, Bodies of all seven individuals have been recovered from the avalanche site. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, all seven have been confirmed deceased."

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also expressed deep pain over the tragic deaths of all seven Indian Army personnel.

Deeply pained by demise of Army personnel who were struck by an avalanche in Kemang Sector, Arunachal Pradesh. These brave soldiers lost their lives while serving the nation. I salute their courage & service. My heartfelt condolences to their bereaved families, the Defence Minister said in a tweet.

Deeply pained by the demise of Indian Army personnel who were struck by an avalanche in Kemang Sector, Arunachal Pradesh. These brave soldiers lost their lives while serving the nation. I salute their courage and service. My heartfelt condolences to their bereaved families.  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 8, 2022

The seven soldiers were stuck in an avalanche on February 6. The Indian Army statement further stated that the search and rescue operations, which were launched immediately on February 6 including airlifting of specialised teams, have now been concluded.

The area, located at an altitude of 14,500 feet, had been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall for the last few days.

The bodies of the soldiers are currently being transferred from the avalanche site to the nearest Army medical facility for further formalities, the Army said.

Officials said the soldiers were part of a patrol that was struck by the avalanche on February 6.

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New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi's Opposition takedown on Monday triggered a late-night Twitter clash between Delhi and UP chief ministers. In his broadside against the opposition, the prime minister had charged the Delhi government of instigating migrants to defy Covid curbs in 2020.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, in a tweet, called Modi's statement on the migrant crisis a "blatant lie". "The country hopes that the Prime Minister will be sensitive to those who have suffered the pain of the Corona period, those who have lost their loved ones. It does not suit the Prime Minister to do politics on the sufferings of the people," he posted on Twitter.

Kejriwal's tweet drew a sharp rebuttal from UP CM who asked his Delhi counterpart to apologise for his 'highly condemnable' statement against the PM.

"Today's statement of Arvind Kejriwal about the respected Prime Minister is highly condemnable. Arvind Kejriwal should apologize to the entire nation," Adityanath counter-tweeted, quoting a couplet from Goswami Tulsidas' "Ramcharitmanas" to make his point.

"Kejriwal has a knack of telling lies. When the whole country was battling a global pandemic like Corona under the leadership of the respected Prime Minister, Kejriwal showed the migrant laborers the way out of Delhi," he said in his post, accusing the Delhi CM of "cutting electricity and water "of migrant labourers and forcing them to leave the city.

"The electricity-water connection was cut and the sleeping people were picked up and sent to the UP border by buses. An announcement was made that in Anand Vihar, buses will be available for UP-Bihar. The UP government arranged buses for the migrant laborers and brought them back safely," he posted.

"Listen Kejriwal, You forced the workers of UP to leave Delhi when the entire humanity was groaning due to the pain of Corona. Your government did an undemocratic and inhuman act like leaving even small children and women helpless on the UP border in the middle of the night. Call you a traitor or..." Adityanath said in a series of tweets.

The post led to a duel with Kejriwal. The Delhi CM in his counter posted: "Listen Yogi, You just let it be. Just like the dead bodies of the people of UP were flowing in the river and you were giving advertisements of your false applause in Times magazine by spending crores of rupees. I have never seen such a harsh and cruel ruler like you".



 ,        UP                Times                     https://t.co/qxcs2w60lG  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 7, 2022

In his speech, Modi had launched a scathing attack on the Congress, saying the party has failed to secure people's mandate in several states for decades but is still indulging in "blind opposition". He said the statements and the actions of the opposition party suggest that it has resigned itself to staying out of power for 100 years.

"We are firm believers in democracy. And we also believe that criticism is an essential part of democracy. But, blind opposition to everything is never the way ahead," Modi said while replying to the debate on the president's address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.



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Lucknow: Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister, is all set for election campaign in Uttar Pradesh. Banerjee, who reached Lucknow on Monday (February 7) night, is not contesting the UP Polls but has extended her support to Samajwadi Party (SP). She will address an election rally and hold a joint press conference with SP president Akhilesh Yadav during her two-day visit ahead of the state Assembly polls.

Yadav welcomed her at the Amausi airport here and shared this information on Twitter. "We defeated together in Bengal, now we will defeat in UP. This is a promise to Didi, we will emerge winners. Warm welcome and greetings to Didi in UP," the SP chief tweeted sharing a picture with Banerjee. Mamata Banerjee, who came out of the airport with the SP chief, was also welcomed by her party workers.

Today (February 8), Banerjee is scheduled to reach the SP office where she will address a joint press conference with Akhilesh Yadav. Apart from this, she will address a virtual rally.

Before leaving for Lucknow, Banerjee in Kolkata gave a call to defeat the BJP in the coming elections. She said Yadav has invited her to campaign for the BJP. "We (TMC) want BJP to be defeated and Akhilesh to win Uttar Pradesh. All of us should support him in the fight against the BJP. That is the reason we have decided not to contest in Uttar Pradesh this time," Banerjee, who is the Trinamool Congress chief, told reporters in Kolkata.

Banerjee said she will visit Varanasi later in February but the date is yet to be fixed.

Earlier, Banerjee had informed that Trinamool Congress (TMC) will not contest the Uttar Pradesh elections but will field candidates in the state in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. "In Uttar Pradesh, I am not going to contest Assembly polls but I am going to support Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav. We (TMC) will contest from Uttar Pardesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," she said, reflecting her national ambitions in the next general elections.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly election will be held in seven phases - February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

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New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday (February 8) underlined the country's various achievements in Covid times and also its strategies to make the nation self-reliant. Here are the top 10 statements from PM Modi's Rajya Sabha today:

"All must focus on how to take the country forward in next 25 years when India completes 100 years of Independence."

"We are working fast towards achieving 100 per cent vaccination in country."

"Five crore rural families provided with tap water even during Corona times. Govt focussed on infra projects to help generate employment opportunities during Corona times."

"Govt focussed on agri, MSME sector that provides most employment."

"1.2 crore new members enrolled with EPFO during 2021 including 65 lakh in 18-25 age group."

"Indian sportspersons performed well to take Tricolour to new heights during Corona times."

"India among top three nations in terms of startups due to efforts of youth."

"PLI scheme helped India become leading mobile manufacturer, encouraging results in auto, battery manufacture."

"MSMEs entering defence sector to help country become self-reliant."

"Maximum Unicorns created in 2021, much more than during previous years"

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Jaipur: Amid accusations of paper leak, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday announced the cancellation of Level-2 exam of Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers-2021 (REET).

The decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Gehlot.

The chief minister also said that the exam will now be re-conducted for 62,000 posts instead of 32,000 posts. First, an eligibility examination will be conducted and then a final examination will be held, he said.

      SOG                  Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) February 7, 2022

REET level-2 exam is conducted for the selection of teachers to teach students of Classes 6 to 8.

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misleading people and making non-issue an issue, Gehlot said that the opposition was frustrated because there was no anti-incumbency factor against the state government even after three years of its rule.

"We are not happy with the decision to cancel the exam as the future of lakhs of youths is associated with it," the Congress leader said at a press conference at his residence.

But, the decision was taken due to the protest "gimmicks" of the BJP to malign the state government, he said.

The chief minister also said that the state government will enact a law with strict measures to stop exam paper leaks and ensure that exams are conducted in a fair and transparent manner.

He said that it was not the first instance of paper leak and such incidents have taken place in other states like Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh in recent years and it should be looked into why such cheating gangs have been formed.

Press Conference at residence. https://t.co/XTF6ZQVKwF  Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) February 7, 2022

Gehlot also said that the BJP leaders who are divulging facts regarding the REET paper leak should tell why not they informed the government about it before the exam if they had so much detail about the paper leak.

He said that there are different gangs involved in acts like paper leak, and the leaders who have been making allegations should tell from which gang they belong.

It is noteworthy that REET was conducted in September last year. After the allegations of paper leak, the investigation was handed over to Special Operation Group which so far has arrested 38 persons in connection with the paper leak.

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New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani on Monday (February 7, 2022) slammed Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav for seeking the support of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

While addressing a poll programme in Gautam Buddh Nagar's Jewar, the Union Minister claimed Yadav's reach out to Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo was an indication that he is "not getting people's support on his own strength".

Banerjee, whose TMC had defeated the BJP in the high-stake West Bengal elections in 2021, on Monday reached Lucknow and was welcomed by Yadav at the Amausi airport.

She is scheduled to address an election rally and hold a joint press conference with the SP president.

Irani claimed that the situation has become such for Samajwadi Party that they have to gather people to tell the residents of Uttar Pradesh to seek support.

She hit out at Yadav for seeking support from Banerjee despite her insulting the traditions, culture and food habits of the people of Uttar Pradesh.

"I want to ask Akhilesh ji, what has happened now that you want the support of those who had forgotten the glorious past of this state and openly insult the residents of the state. What compulsion do you have?" she said.

"But Akhilesh ji is definitely giving indications that he is not getting public support on his own strength," she added.

The Lok Sabha MP from Amethi also expressed that it was her good luck that she has been elected to parliament from Uttar Pradesh, which has been not only known as the land that has defined 'sanskar, sanskriti' but is also the land that is redefining development in India's politics.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly election will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

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NEW DELHI: As her film 'Gehraiyaan' is all set to release just days before Valentine's Day, Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone, who has redefined romance with her actor-husband Ranveer Singh time and again, has shared the key to a good and healthy relationship.

The actress, who in 2018 was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME, has also talked about what it feels like to be in love. She says for her love is trust, friendship, companionship and where one can just be themselves.

Talking to IANS in a candid chat about what it takes to make a relationship healthy and successful, Deepika said: "Communication."

She added: "I think honest communication in a relationship is extremely important and it's not necessary that two people in a relationship are always on the same page. They may not necessarily have to agree with each other on all points but I think to communicate the way you feel about certain things and to be honest about that."

Deepika says "communication is extremely key and important."

"Even if there are arguments and disagreements. The fact that you feel a certain way and to communicate is that I think is important. So, I think a key to a good or a healthy relationship is communication," added the doe-eyed actress.

Deepika and Ranveer have set the benchmark of what love is with their constant romance-filled exchanges on social media.

Asked what it feels like to be in love, Deepika shared: "Well, I think love in itself is a very loaded and complicated word to use like that I think. Also, because love just means so many different things to different people."

She added: "But as far as I am concerned, for me love is trust, friendshop, companionship, love is where you can just be yourself, love is adjustment. I think when you are 19 or 21, the definition of love is very different and when you get older the definition changes."

Deepika currently awaits the release of her upcoming romantic drama 'Gehraiyaan', which talks about love and complex human relationships. The film is all set for a digital release on Prime Video on February 11.

Talking about her character Alisha in the film, Deepika said it was her story that was emotionally draining.

"I don't think I can say there's one thing that drained me. I think just the backstory of the character is the baggage that she's carrying from the past. The emotional and mental turmoil she is going through when you see her in the film and the circumstances around her throughout the film," she said.

"So, it's like the character has been layered from the start so the minute you introduced to the character you realise that she is already at quite a juncture in her life in a sense so I think the hardest part was obviously was the conviction with the choices that are being made by this character and the repercussions of the choices," Deepika added.

"So, emotionally that sort of turmoil of choices and consequences was the most difficult part for me."
New Delhi: If you have any important banking work, you must note down the important days during which bank branches may remain closed in several parts of the country.

Though banking activities on mobile and internet will remain uninterrupted, several bank branches will remain closed on account of bank holidays and the upcoming proposed strike by banking associations in the coming weeks of this month.

Bank unions have called for a two-day strike on February 23 and February 24. However, you must note that the banks will NOT be closed for 11 days in all states or regions. This is the total number of days when banks in different parts of the country will remain closed for state-observed holidays and banking strike. For instance banks will be closed for Guru Ravidas Jayanti in Chandigarh, Himachal, Haryana and Punjab but in Tamil Nadu it will NOT be closed.

Chek out the list

February 12- Second saturday of the month

13 February-Sunday

15 February-Hazrat Ali Jayanti/Louis-Ngai-Ni (Banks closed in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur)

16 February-Guru Ravidas Jayanti (Banks closed in Chandigarh, Himachal, Haryana and Punjab)

February 18-Dol Yatra (Banks closed in West Bengal)

February 19-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti (Banks closed in Maharashtra)

February 20-Sunday

February 23-Bank strike

February 24-Bank strike

26 February-Fourth saturday of the month

February 27-Sunday

Reserve Bank of India places its Holidays under three brackets --Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act; Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act and Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday; and Banks Closing of Accounts. However, it must be noted that the bank holidays vary in various states as well not observed by all the banking companies. Banking holidays also depend on the festivals being observed in specific states or notification of specific occasions in those states.

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New Delhi: IPO-bound Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched a campaign for revival of individual lapsed policies.

The campaign has begun from February 7 and will continue till March 25, 2022, an LIC press release has said. "While the current Covid-19 pandemic scenario has emphasised the need for mortality protection, this campaign is a good opportunity for LIC's policyholders to revive their policies, restore life cover and ensure financial security for their family," the state-run insurer said in the release.

Press Release - Special Revival Campaign pic.twitter.com/uHIl8YF6OD  LIC India Forever (@LICIndiaForever) February 7, 2022

Policies, which are in a lapsed condition during the premium paying term and not completed policy term, are eligible to be revived in this campaign.

Concession in late fee for eligible LIC policies:

Concessions are being offered in late fee for other than term assurance and high risk plans, depending on the total premiums paid.

There are no concessions on medical requirements. Eligible health and micro insurance plans also qualify for the concession in late fee, the release said.

Under the campaign, policies of specific eligible plans can be revived within five years from the date of the first unpaid premium, subject to certain terms and conditions, the release said.

With PTI Inputs

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New Delhi: Announcing the Union Budget 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a flat 30 percent taxation on income from crypto and digital assets.

In her Budget speech on February 1, Sitharaman said, "There has been a phenomenal increase in transactions in virtual digital assets. The magnitude and frequency of these transactions have made it imperative to provide for a specific tax regime. Accordingly, for the taxation of virtual digital assets, I propose to provide that any income from transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30 percent."

Ashish Singhal, Co-chair Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), Founder and CEO, CoinSwitch in an exclusive interview with Reema Sharma of Zee Media shared his views on tax on VDA and the future of cryptos in the country.

1. FM Nirmala Sitharaman has categorically said that the term is 'Crypto' and not 'Crypto-currency' as being discussed in the common parlance. What is your view on it?

The industry also wants crypto to be classified as an asset class. The world is moving towards a decentralized future. Tech revolution and crypto-assets play a functional role in building the disruptive decentralized world, aka Web3.0. Regulation of crypto assets is of paramount importance as Indian citizens need to have access to crypto-assets in a safe and secure manner. Crypto is better used as an asset instead of currency, considering India already has faster payment systems like UPI.

2. In her Budget speech, the FM has said that income from virtual digital assets (VDA) will be taxed at 30%. How does the crypto biz interpret it?

We see this as a positive development overall. What it does is that it removes all ambiguity. And signals that the government recognizes this industry. Now there are more nuances to this. Which is: could we look at taxing this at par with other assets like securities. These nuances need to be worked out. The industry is hopeful that the government will work with the industry on some of these finer aspects.

3. The tax on VDA will be levied from 2023. How does it affect crypto investors this year?

We are still studying the fine print and would advise crypto investors to consult their CAs.

4. FM has said that RBI is soon going to introduce a Digital Rupee. How can we understand Digital Rupee in light of Crypto and vice-versa?

We definitely see this as a positive step. Leads to a clear demarcation between the currency (legal tender) and other crypto assets. It addresses concerns about the stability of the monetary system while allowing cryptos and other digital assets to innovate.

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A Republican state lawmaker who falsely claimed that former President Donald Trump won Wisconsins 2020 election and proposed a resolution aimed at reclaiming the states 10 electoral college votes received guidance from a top Trump attorney alleging that the state Legislature had the power to select electors as it sees fit.

The Dec. 30 memo, first reported by Rolling Stone, was sent to Rep. Timothy Ramthun, R-Campbellsport, from Trump attorney John Eastman and alleges that, if illegality in the conduct of the election occurs, and is not remedied by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, then the power to direct the (appointment) of electors devolves back onto the Legislature.

Eastmans memo further underscores efforts by those in Trumps inner circle to circumvent the Electoral College process in several states including Wisconsin following the 2020 election, despite recounts and court decisions affirming that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in the battleground state by almost 21,000 votes.

While I acknowledge that the question posed of me places us in uncharted territory, my conclusion is that the state legislatures, which exercise plenary authority under (the U.S. Constitution) to direct the manner for choosing presidential electors, do have the authority to de-certify the election of presidential electors in their state upon a definitive showing of illegality and/or fraud in the conduct of the election sufficient to have altered the results of the election, Eastman wrote in the memo.

Eastman added that the counter arguments increase in strength with each successive event, citing several deadlines in the electoral process including the certification of the election, the Dec. 8, 2020, safe harbor date for states to certify their results, the Dec. 14, 2020, casting of electoral votes, the counting of the electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021, and the Jan. 20, 2021, presidential inauguration.

More than a year after the final deadline cited by Eastman, Ramthun proposed a resolution on Jan. 25 aimed at reclaiming the states 10 electoral college votes granted to Biden. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, who vowed to kill Ramthuns proposal, has said the resolutions intent was illegal and just plain unconstitutional.

Days before Ramthun proposed his resolution, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, disciplined the lawmaker by removing his lone staff member, but not for Ramthuns comments about who won the states 2020 election. Rather, the removal of Ramthuns staffer stemmed from his false accusations that Vos had signed a deal with attorneys for former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to authorize absentee ballot drop boxes, Vos office said.

Sen. Kathy Bernier, a former elections clerk who chairs the Senate elections committee, said she  like Vos  requested a memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau that confirmed the Legislature cannot affect the electors after an election has taken place.

Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, said on Monday she hadnt seen Eastmans memo to Ramthun, but described the ongoing push to decertify the 2020 election, which has been accepted and counted by Congress, as the dumbest thing I have ever heard of in my life.

Its just ludicrous to think somebody is just going to keep pursuing this avenue, I just dont get it, Bernier said.

Support from the base

Despite the disciplinary measure, Ramthun told Rolling Stone his proposal has boosted his support among some conservatives, due in part to incorrect reporting on the matter by conspiratorial website Gateway Pundit, which falsely claimed the Legislature had voted to withdraw its electoral votes for Biden.

They want me to run for governor, Ramthun told the media outlet, adding that hes considering it.

Ramthuns efforts to overturn the states 2020 election results also drew praise from Trump, who called the state lawmaker in early December to thank him for his efforts, Rolling Stone reported. Trump also issued a statement that month praising Ramthuns proposal.

If Ramthun launches a bid for governor, he would join an already crowded GOP primary that sees former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch facing Marine veteran and self-proclaimed anti-establishment candidate Kevin Nicholson. The winner of the August primary will go on to face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is seeking a second term this fall, in the November general election.

Trump has not yet formally endorsed a candidate in the gubernatorial race, but the former presidents backing could provide a pivotal boost among Republican voters.

Ramthun did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Opinions differ

Documents obtained by the liberal watchdog group American Oversight show that the states nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau sent two memos to Vos on Nov. 16, 2020, indicating that the Legislature has the ability to determine how presidential electors are selected but may not affect the electors after an election has taken place, as the legislature has no unilateral authority to reverse the choice of the people of the state.

However, a Nov. 18, 2020, memo from Boston-based attorney Kenneth Chesebro sent to former Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jim Troupis alleged that there is a very strong argument, supported by historical precedent that the real deadline to come to a conclusion on the states election results was Jan. 6, 2021.

The memo was sent a month before 10 Wisconsin Republicans convened in the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign official-looking documents falsely affirming that Trump had won the state. The meeting occurred on the same day that the Democratic slate of Wisconsin electors met in the same building to deliver the states 10 electoral votes to President-elect Biden. The meeting of Republicans occurred after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Biden had won the election.

Chesebros memo corroborates reports that the fake GOP electors were coordinated by Trumps legal team in an attempt to present Vice President Mike Pence with conflicting slates of electors during the congressional certification so that he could throw the election to a House vote, which would have handed the election to Trump.

Eastman, who sent the legal analysis to Ramthun late last year, was the same Trump attorney who wrote the legal memo suggesting Pence could overturn the election result.

Pence refused to participate in the purported scheme on Jan. 6, 2021, the day Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.

Jan. 6 subpoenas

The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol has subpoenaed 14 people who signed the phony election documents in the seven states, including Andrew Hitt, former chair of the state Republican Party, and 8th Congressional District GOP chair Kelly Ruh.

The subpoenas call for Hitt and Ruh to provide documents by Friday detailing any information about your role and participation in the purported slate of electors casting votes for Donald Trump and, to the extent relevant, your role in the events of January 6, 2021 and sit for depositions on Feb. 28.

Hitt is listed in the signed documents as the chairperson, and Ruh is listed as the secretary. Eastman has also been subpoenaed by the U.S. House committee.

Multiple complaints regarding the fake electors were filed last year by liberal law firm Law Forward with the Wisconsin Elections Commission and Milwaukee County District Attorneys Office alleging the Wisconsin Republicans committed fraud. A third complaint was filed against Hitt with the Office of Lawyer Regulation, the agency that handles complaints against lawyers.

So far, none of the agencies have formally taken up the complaints, while Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal recently suggested that the state or federal justice department would be best suited to determine what steps, if any, should be taken on the matter.

The Elections Commission could take up the complaint as early as next month, and Law Forward attorney Jeffrey Mandell has warned that if no action is taken soon, the group will file a lawsuit over the matter.

The results of the 2020 election have been confirmed by county canvassing boards, which compare vote totals against paper records and other procedures designed to catch and correct errors; recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties; post-election audits by local and state election authorities to identify cases of possible voter fraud, which are then referred to prosecutors; a voting equipment audit by the Elections Commission; and reviews by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which found ways in which elections could be improved but no evidence of widespread fraud. Multiple court rulings have also found no evidence of irregularities.

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Patiala: Punjab Lok Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the Congress had made a big mistake by declaring Charanjit Singh Channi as its chief ministerial face as a chief minister should be decided on grounds of capability and not on the metric of caste.

Stating that Punjab was never before divided on caste or religious lines, he claimed, Channi does not have the calibre of a chief minister and his tall claims cannot fool the people of the state.

Channi claims he has done everything' in 111 days. He is fooling the people. Every project has a gestation period and takes months to start, he noted, warning people against getting carried away by such brazen lies.

Singh added that all the projects mentioned by Channi were initiated by his (Amarinder's) government.

On the Congress declaring Channi as its chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming state polls, Amarinder said, A chief minister should be decided on grounds of capability and not on the metric of caste, be it an SC, Jat or Hindu, which they (Congress) had done."

The former chief minister also warned of an explosion soon from Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying the PCC president was too ambitious to stay quiet for long. Notably, Sidhu was the other main contender for Congress' chief ministerial face.

Alleging that leaders like Channi and Deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa had backstabbed him and misled the Congress high command after he had supported them in their political careers, Amarinder said these men could not be trusted.

They will compromise the interests of Punjab to further their own, he warned in a statement. He said there was no comparison between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as far as political and public life experience go.

He said he had known PM Modi for long and used to meet him frequently in Delhi at a time when they were both chief ministers, adding that the Narendra Modi government had helped him whenever Punjab was in dire straits.

We have to work with them to ensure a safe future for Punjab, he said. The future of Punjab depends on the upcoming polls, he said, underlining the need for close Centre-state coordination to secure the state's interests.

On whether his wife, MP Preneet Kaur, will campaign for him or the Congress, Amarinder said it was for her to decide.

Politics is different, my mother was in the BJP and I was in the Congress. We sat in opposite benches in Parliament, politics politics hoti hai, pyaar pyaar hota hai, he remarked.

He also urged the people to vote for vikas (development) and not vinaash (destruction). He also trashed surveys favouring the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying such polls were conducted even in 2017 and had proven to be false.

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KOLKATA: The West Bengal unit of BJP on Tuesday wrote a letter to the State Election Commissioner (SEC) demanding "immediate deployment of CAPF for free and fair conduct of the municipal elections."

In its letter to the SEC, the saffron party stressed, Immediate deployment of CAPF is needed to remove the environment of fear and build confidence in the people for Municipal elections."

In its letter, the party alleged that there have been several instances of BJP candidates being intimidated and receiving death threats over the phone and in person.

The saffron party further claimed that the local police continue to behave like silent spectators and, in most cases, refuse to register a complaint.

West Bengal BJP writes to the State Election Commissioner demanding "immediate deployment of CAPF to remove the environment of fear and build confidence in the people for Municipal elections" pic.twitter.com/pbpZqAjOqE  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

The main opposition party alleged that the BJP candidates were not being allowed to campaign freely and they were getting no protection or support from the local police, under apparent pressure from the Trinamool Congress government.

West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari also accused Mamata Banerjee of misusing its power and assembling goons of a particular committee. Adhikari also alleged that the State Election Commission was acting like a branch organisation of the ruling camp. He, however, reiterated that his party and its workers will continue to fight the local polls against all odds.

West Bengal Govt is misusing its power and is assembling goons of a particular community but we are ready to fight the polls. State Election Commission is a branch organisation of TMC: West Bengal LoP and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari pic.twitter.com/41ol1X6vVI  ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

In a related development, West Bengal BJP secretary Priyanka Tibrewal on Tuesday wrote to the Police Commissioners of Kolkata, Siliguri, and the Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Eastern Suburban Division stating that she received threat calls implicating her in false and fabricated cases.

In her letter, Tibrewal requested the Police authority to immediately take legal steps in the matter. "I Priyanka Tibrewal.....wrote to the Commissioners of Police West Bengal, Siliguri about a conspiracy to frame me in false and fabricated cases by taking illegal measures including of planting of an illegal substance on me and/or my vehicle during my Siliguri visit."

She had visited Siliguri on February 3 for a poll campaign. According to her complaint, on February 5 at about 7:54 pm, she received a WhatsApp message through a voice recording which was to alert her.

In the message, she said there were two persons who acknowledged that there was a conspiracy to frame her by `planting some substance` in her car at Siliguri, which they failed, and following that they are conspiring to plant some illegal substance in her car White Mahindra Scorpio at Kolkata.

She claimed that the alleged conspirators are ready to pay Rs 1 lakh to the person who can `plant some illegal substance` in her car. Priyanka Tibrewal was the BJP`s candidate against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhowanipore by-polls. She as an advocate has been fighting the West Bengal post-poll violence case in court.

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London: Britain's government on Tuesday said that all pornography websites will be legally required to verify that users are 18 or older as part of new online safety rules.

Under the government's draft online safety bill, porn sites will be legally required to put robust checks in place to protect children from accessing them.

Companies could use secure age verification technology to confirm a user has a credit card or use a third-party service to confirm a user's age against government data.

Officials said that if sites fail to confirm they can be fined up to 10 per cent of their annual global turnover. Their sites could also be blocked in the UK by the communications regulator, and the companies' bosses could be held criminally liable.

It is too easy for children to access pornography online. Parents deserve the peace of mind that their children are protected online from seeing things no child should see, said Chris Philp, the digital minister.

Currently, the online safety bill, which was published in May, only covers commercial porn sites that allow user-generated content. The proposed update announced Tuesday means that all commercial porn sites will be regulated.

Officials said that while the communications regulator could recommend the use of age verification technologies, the onus will be on companies to decide how best to comply with the new rules.

Research has suggested that half of 11 to 13-year-old kids in the UK have seen pornography, and many younger children have stumbled upon porn online.

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Washington: President Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and declared that the US and Germany are working in "lockstep" to counter Russian aggression towards Ukraine. "Germany is one of America`s closest allies," Biden said in remarks at the beginning of the meeting with Scholz at White House on Monday (local time).

"We`re working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe and to address the challenges posed by China and to promote stability in the Western Balkans," The Hill reported Biden as saying.

Scholz, who is on his first trip to the White House since taking over from longtime German leader Angela Merkel, said that their countries were the "closest allies and working intensely together," adding "This is necessary for doing the steps that we have to do to for instance fighting against Russian aggression against Ukraine."

According to The Hill report, the United States is trying to demonstrate a united front with allies in plans to push back against any effort by Russia to further invade Ukraine, besides making preparations to impose harsh economic sanctions that officials say would be triggered by a renewed Russian invasion.

No Nord Stream 2 if Russia invades Ukraine: Biden

US President Joe Biden promised there would be no launch of Nord Stream 2 pipeline project if Russian troops cross the border with Ukraine. Responding to a question on Nord Stream 2, Biden said there would be no chance of the project going ahead if Russian tanks and troops crossed the Ukraine border.

"If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," Biden said after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is on his first trip to the White House since taking over from longtime German leader Angela Merkel.

Last week, Biden also authorized the deployment of 3,000 troops to Eastern Europe to provide additional support to NATO allies, including Germany.

Meanwhile, there are reports that the first group of American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division arrived in Poland following Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby`s announcement about 1,700 additional troops from the United States to be sent to the country.

Last 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, according to The Sputnik News Agency.

NATO continues to pump Ukraine with weapons: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that NATO members continued to pump Ukraine with weapons, this issue was discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron.

"NATO member countries continue to pump up Ukraine with modern types of weapons, allocate significant financial resources for the modernization of the Ukrainian army. They send military specialists and instructors," Putin said at a press conference following the Russian-French talks.

"Of course, we talked about everything with the president, as you can see, for quite a long time, there was a discussion for almost six hours," President Putin is quoted as saying.

Kiev ignores all possibilities for a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas, Putin said, adding that he drew Macron`s attention to Kiev`s refusal to comply with the Minsk agreements.

"Of course, for my part, I drew Mr. President`s attention to the unwillingness of the current Kiev authorities to comply with the obligations under the Minsk package of measures and agreements in the Normandy format, including those reached at the summits," Putin said.Kiev headed for the dismantling of the Minsk agreements, he said.

"In my opinion, it is obvious to everyone that the current authorities in Kiev have set a course to dismantle the Minsk agreements. There is no progress on such fundamental issues as constitutional reform, amnesty, local elections, legal aspects of the special status of Donbas. The well-known -- at least for experts -- Steinmeier formula is still not enshrined in the Ukrainian legislation," Putin said.

Putin, however, expressed hope that Macron would discuss in Kiev issues raised on Monday during the Russian-French talks, adding "We hope that Mr President, at least as he said today, intends to discuss tomorrow at a meeting with the Kiev leadership the issues of guarantees and ensuring security and stability in Europe within the Ukrainian settlement."

Putin believes that Macron "will have a hard time" in negotiations with the leadership of Ukraine on Tuesday in Kiev. He said that after Macron`s visit to Kiev, they would still call each other.

French President Macron plans to visit Kiev on Tuesday, for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

(With ANI Inputs)

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With Wisconsins primary election coming Tuesday and the spring election April 5, special voting deputies are once again visiting nursing homes to help residents complete absentee ballots despite the omicron variant surge of COVID-19 that appears to be subsiding.

When the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020, the Wisconsin Elections Commission directed municipal clerks not to send the election workers to long-term care facilities as had been customary, to help prevent infection. The directive remained in place for the November 2020 presidential election and the February 2021 primary.

In March 2021, the commission cleared clerks to send the deputies again for the spring election the following month, and that guidance has continued. Clerks are being instructed to follow the statute and attempt to serve all qualified facilities in their municipality, commission spokesperson Riley Vetterkind said Tuesday.

Nursing home groups and clerks said the deputies are visiting the facilities and following the same guidelines as other visitors. Upon arrival, they are assessed for symptoms, their temperature is checked and they must fill out a questionnaire about possible COVID-19 exposure and symptoms. When inside, they must maintain physical distance from others and wear face masks, with some facilities requiring other protective equipment.

Theyre going to be treated as any other visitor into the facility, said Rick Abrams, CEO of the Wisconsin Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, and the Wisconsin Center for Assisted Living, which represents assisted living facilities. We want visitation to be as open as possible.

If deputies display COVID-19 symptoms, they wont be allowed into facilities and clerks will be asked to send other deputies, Abrams said. If facilities have widespread outbreaks, deputies may not be let in temporarily, he said.

Abrams said he wasnt aware of any clerks who had decided not to send deputies or any facilities that had refused them.

John Sauer, CEO of LeadingAge Wisconsin, which also represents nursing homes and assisted living facilities, said nursing homes are taking their cues from clerks, noting visitation has certainly opened up, versus a year ago.

Alyssa Gaffney, clerk for the village of Mount Horeb, said two deputies visited the Ingleside Communities facility Monday and planned to do the same before the spring election in April. They had to wear N95 masks and goggles, Gaffney said.

Holly Licht, clerk for the city of Verona, said her deputy visits are scheduled, with temperature checks and masking expected.

Tracy Oldenburg, clerk for the city of Fitchburg, said Tuesday she sent an email to care facilities more than a week earlier asking if deputies could visit for the April election and if the facilities require proof of vaccination. She said she hasnt received any responses.

Some Republicans have argued, without offering evidence, that the Elections Commissions decision to not allow deputies into care facilities in 2020 may have contributed to voter fraud. They include Robert Spindell, a Republican appointee on the commission. The other five members  three Democrat appointees and two Republican appointees  have defended the commissions actions.

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling in October claimed eight residents of the Ridgewood Care Center in Racine cast ballots in the November 2020 election even though their families believed they did not have the capacity to vote. Without special voting deputies to assist them, Schmaling suggested, someone else had to have helped the voters, possibly even filling out their ballots for them.

In a statement last fall, the Elections Commission, with the exception of Spindell, expressed its strenuous disagreement with Schmalings allegations.

Scott Myers, Ridgewood administrator, didnt respond to a request for comment Tuesday about whether the facility is allowing deputies this spring.

The highly transmissible omicron variant, first detected in the state in early December, led to a record 2,278 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Jan. 12 and a record daily average of 18,836 newly reported cases on Jan. 19. By Tuesday, hospitalizations had declined to 1,207 and the daily average was 3,142 cases.

As of Jan. 30, 82.2% of staff at Wisconsin nursing homes that reported the information were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to 89.4% of residents, according to federal data.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8)  President Rodrigo Duterte said he is already packing his things and preparing to move out of Malacanang by March, months ahead of the official end of his term.

Nag-iimpake na po akoso I should be out by March. Hindi ko na paabutin ng Abril. Hindi na matutulog rin dito, said Duterte during his weekly Talk to the People briefing on Monday.

[Translation: I am already packing my thingsI should be out by March. I wont let it reach April. I wont be sleeping here anymore either.]

The President said he will only visit the Palace for work. He also mentioned that he has already sent away some of his things.

He said he's also looking forward to the day he would turn over the reins of power to the new president. Duterte said he will invite his successor over to meet with personally in the Palace.

Dutertes term will officially end on June 30, also the official start of the new presidents term.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Secretary-General of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Baghdad Amreyev met on February 7 to discuss the rehabilitation of Azerbaijani territories liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020, the ministry has reported.

During the meeting, Bayramov emphasized the importance of OTS members' participation in the infrastructure-building process on Azerbaijan's liberated territories.

The minister also briefed the visitor on Azerbaijan's reconstruction efforts in the liberated lands, as well as the current situation in the region.

Bayramov emphasized Azerbaijan's strong interest in cooperation with the OTS and highlighted the activities of the OTS secretariat.

Amreyev, for his part, praised Azerbaijan's active participation in the OTS. He also mentioned the organization's potential for collaboration with other international and regional organizations.

In addition, other items on the agenda, including upcoming events, were discussed at the meeting.

On November 12, 2021, the 8th summit of the OTS was held in Istanbul. At the summit, the decisions were made to change the name of the organization, to grant Turkmenistan the observer status. In addition, the document vision of the Turkic World-2040 and the declaration of the 8th summit were adopted. Azerbaijan transferred its chairmanship to Turkey.

Azerbaijans chairmanship of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS, earlier called the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States - Turkic Council), which began on October 15, 2019, has successfully continued in 2021. During this time, the activity of the organization has been further strengthened and its reputation has grown.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has confirmed the dismissal of another petition challenging the presidential bid of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos.

A briefer released by the poll body on Tuesday showed the plea of Tiburcio Marcos  one that sought to cancel the presidential aspirant's certificate of candidacy (COC)  was junked by the Second Division last Jan. 31.

Comelec has yet to release the full decision on the case.

The complaint of Tiburcio  who also earlier sought the top post but has been declared a nuisance candidate  claims Bongbong is not the real son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.

He argued that Bongbong died decades ago and was replaced by an impostor who filed the COC for the May polls.

With Tiburcio's petition dismissed, there are now only four disqualification cases against Marcos that are pending before Comelec: three at the First Division and another at the Second Division.

LIST: Petitions against Bongbong Marcos' 2022 presidential bid

CNN Philippines correspondent Melissa Lopez contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8)  The Commission on Elections reminds political candidates to follow minimum health protocols as they go around the country to campaign  a first in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic.

How can ordinary citizens report violations during in-person campaigns?

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source on Tuesday, Philippine National Chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos called on the public to report violations to the PNP, one of the agencies deputized by the Comelec to ensure safer polls this year.

Where to report violations

Through the PNP's e-sumbong website, anyone can file a report to authorities, provided that they indicate at least their mobile number. A complaint tracker is also visible on the website to check on the status of the complaint.

Reports can also be filed via [email protected] or PNP's Facebook page or through SMS hotlines 09191601752 (Smart) and 09178475757 (Globe).

What can be reported

Carlos said anyone among the candidates or the public seen to violate the minimum health protocols will first be given a warning "as long as they are not disregarding intentionally."

Those who are seen to be blatantly violating the rule will face a complaint filed by authorities, he said.

Meanwhile, citizens are advised to submit their reports to the PNP, and even screenshots of violators caught in the act will be accepted and validated on the ground.

Carlos said instead of airing their complaints on social media, complainants can simply head to the available PNP platforms.

"In our implementation of the guidelines, we will make sure to address it such that win-win for everybody," he said.

"We will assess if there is enough evidence, then we file a complaint," he added.

Comelec previously set restrictions for in-person campaigns depending on the alert level of different areas. Those under Alert Levels 4 and 5 cannot hold in-person campaigns.

Candidates must also follow the limited operational capacity for caucuses, meetings, conventions, rallies, and miting de avance. Any physical contact during any of these these activities are strictly not allowed regardless of the alert level.

RELATED: LIST: Restrictions during in-person campaigns, caravans of 2022 bets
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8)  The tandem of Senator Ping Lacson and Senate President Tito Sotto kicked off their campaign in Imus, Cavite on Tuesday - both promising to continue their brand of public service: untainted by corruption.

Lacson again stressed the decades of public service between him and Sotto, and in all those years they have never once accepted a bribe.

He urged the public to choose wisely come the May polls and avoid voting thieves into office.

"Pagdating ng May 9, hindi namin pinagpilitan ang aming sarili pero piliin natin. Kasi ang magsa-suffer, tayo. Anim na taon singkad pagsisisihan natin ang ating ginawa pag nagkamali tayo ng iboboto," he said.

[Translation: Come May 9, we are not forcing you to choose us, but choose wisely. Because all of us will suffer. We will suffer for six years if we make a mistake.]

Lacson vowed a better life would come to all Filipinos as he and his running mate would work to fix the government.

"Kapag ako pinagpala na maglingkod, hinding hindi ko kayo ipapahiya. Hinding hindi ko kayo bibiguin."

[Translation: If I will be chosen to serve, I will not embarrass you. I will never fail you.]

Sotto, meanwhile, asked for the public's trust.

"Ang kailangan, sa paniniwala namin, ay kailangan ibalik ang tiwala ng ating mga kababayan sa pamumuno ng bansa," he said.

[Translation: We believe that people should trust government leadership again.]

At an earlier event, Sotto said he and Lacson are ready to take on the roles of the country's top elected officials.

"As early as the day we decided to run, we were prepared mentally and physically," he told reporters at a briefing before the proclamation rally.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8)  Metro Manila mayors are ready to open more industries and sectors once restrictions are further eased in the region, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said Tuesday.

MMDA officer-in-charge and general manager Romando Artes noted that daily new cases in the region are expected to further decline to around 1,000 before February ends. Latest data showed that Metro Manila has recorded 1,271 new daily cases, he added.

Ito po ay patuloy na bumababa. Ine-expect natin na bago matapos ang buwan na ito, bababa na po ito sa 1,000 araw-araw, Artes said during a public briefing.

[Translation: The cases continue to decrease. We are expecting that before this month ends, the cases will decline to around 1,000 daily.]

If COVID-19 numbers in the capital region continue to improve, Artes said that they will recommend that the Inter-Agency Task Force de-escalate Metro Manila from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1.

Ine-expect natin na soon baka mag-Alert Level 1 po tayo. Ang mga alkalde naman po ay handa para sa pagbubukas ng iba't-ibang industriya at sektor sa Kalakhang Maynila," he said. "Ang napagusapan ay kapag patuloy bumababa ang kaso ng COVID-19 sa Kalakhang Maynila, baka mag-request kami na ibaba na sa Alert Level 1 ang Metro Manila."

[Translation: We are expecting that we may soon de-escalated to Alert Level 1. Our mayors are ready for the opening of various industries and sectors in Metro Manila. What we have discussed is if COVID-19 cases continue to go down in Metro Manila, we may request to be placed under Alert Level 1.]

Metro Manila and seven provinces are under Alert Level 2 from February 1 to 15.

Areas under Alert Level 1 have low case transmission and cases are decreasing.

Under such alert level, intrazonal and interzonal travel shall be allowed without regard to age and comorbidities.

Moreover, establishments and activities are allowed to be undertaken at full capacity provided that minimum health protocols are observed. However, face-to-face classes for basic education level shall be subject to prior approval of the Office of the President.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8)  The government will retain the alert level system as it gears for the next phase of the National Action Plan (NAP) against COVID-19, Malacanang said Tuesday.

The Alert Level System will be institutionalized to serve as our warning system for possible increase in cases or outbreaks, said acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles, adding the loosest Alert Level 1 will be the countrys new normal.

READ: COVID alert levels may be structured like typhoon signals in pandemic exit plan, Concepcion clarifies

The NAP aims to balance COVID-19 pandemic management and the safe reopening of the economy. NAP Phase V particularly focuses on the countrys shift to the new normal, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) earlier said.

We expect NAP V to update care provision and health system protocols to include telemed and home-based care and updated plans for procuring of treatment medicines against COVID-19, said Nograles.

RELATED: Transition from pandemic to endemic state likely to begin this February

NAP V is also seen to put more emphasis on full vaccination, administration of booster shots, and inoculation of minors, added the Cabinet Secretary.

We also expect NAP V to focus on catchup plans, investment and job promotion, and accelerating economic growth and development, Nograles added.

The Philippines is currently on the fourth phase of the NAP. NEDA earlier said the country scored 7.63 in December in its NAP IV scorecard, where 9 is the highest. It was an improvement from the 6.99 score obtained the prior month.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8)  The Department of Health on Tuesday reported 3,574 new COVID-19 cases - the lowest single day rise since the start of the year.

This is the lowest daily count since Dec. 31 of last year, when 2,961 new infections were tallied.

The DOH, however, clarified it has yet to receive data from six testing laboratories, which contributed an average of 2.1% of samples tested and 3% of positive results in the last 14 days.

It also noted that the latest figures are based on laboratory outputs on Feb. 6, a Sunday which traditionally have the lowest outputs per week. The bulletin showed 23,754 tests were reported that day, with a positivity rate of 16.3%.

Of the newly reported infections, the DOH said 87% occurred within the past two weeks. Metro Manila was the top contributing region with 528, followed by Western Visayas with 357, and Central Visayas with 308.

Total cases have now reached 3,619,633, of which 105,550 or 2.9% are active or people currently sick.

Based on the update, 96,722 of the active cases are mild; 4,059 asymptomatic; 3,007 moderate; 1,446 severe; and 316 critical.

The death toll, meanwhile, rose to 54,621 with 83 more fatalities. 53 of the added deaths transpired this February, while 24 were from last month, and the remaining six from late reports spanning the months of June to December 2021.

The department also said recoveries jumped to 3,459,462 after 14,644 more patients survived the disease.

After final validation, the DOH reclassified as deaths 35 cases it mistakenly reported as recoveries. Additionally, it removed 328 duplicate entries from its overall data.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8)  The Philippine National Police is on full alert for election "hotspots" and increasing gun ban violations as the campaign period for national candidates officially starts.

"We are monitoring ito pong mga considered hotspots. Yung green zones we keep it at green. Yung red zones (are) an immediate concern, i-aaddress namin agad," PNP Chief Dionardo Carlos told CNN Philippines' The Source.

[Translation: We are monitoring these areas considered hotspots. The green zones we keep them at green. The red zones, our immediate concern, we will address immediately.]

Carlos did not provide any updated data on how many have been identified as hotspots so far, but noted that these areas come in "very small numbers." He said these places are found in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and another region.

"Babantayan namin (We will monitor) as early as now. We'll bring them there together and make them commit to be part of peaceful elections," he said. "Pag hindi po (If they do not cooperate), the military and the police under the Comelec will act on it."

The police general mentioned that among the factors considered when naming an election hotspot are the intrusion of private armed groups or communist terrorist groups in a particular area, and the threat of heated political rivalry attached to the place.

Comelec is currently in coordination with PNP and other law enforcement agencies like the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard to ensure safer polls this year.

Apart from the concern about election hotspots, Carlos also informed that violations of the nationwide gun ban are increasing by the day. Over the weekend, the PNP reported that a total of 836 violators have been arrested so far. They include policemen, some individuals affiliated with the AFP, security guards, and civilians.

The nationwide gun ban started on Jan. 9 and will be in effect until June 8.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8)  The Philippine National Police has set up additional measures to ensure the security of national candidates as the campaign period kicks off.

PNP Chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos told CNN Philippines' The Source on Tuesday that they have set a "standard security package" which includes security teams tailing the candidates as they traverse different parts of the country this election season.

"We have a standard security package for candidates that are going on their campaign, 'yung kanilang pangangampanya, at pantay-pantay po ang ating gagawin (as they campaign, and we will treat them equally)," Carlos said.

"We will deploy security teams. If they (candidates) make the early arrangements or coordination, we look at the site, venue, we look at the movement of the candidates and the activity to make sure the conduct of campaign will be safe for everybody including 'yung ating pagsunod sa ating (compliance to) minimum health protocol because we are still in pandemic time," he added.

Carlos said they coordinate with candidates' liaison teams or focal persons ahead of the campaign events for the day. But the campaign teams are primarily responsible for ensuring they would not be violating rules set by the Commission on Elections.

Carlos shared that the police provincial director will be the ground commander in Bulacan as presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos and running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte kick off their campaign at Philippine Arena later in the day.

"[Depende] kung anong lugar, ang atin pong (Depending on the locality, our) regional and provincial directors are the ones who will be on the ground. We have an integrated command and communication center here in Crame that will monitor the activities," Carlos said.

Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo formally began her campaign in her hometown in Camarines Sur with running mate Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Tuesday morning.

The Ping Lacson-Tito Sotto tandem is starting its campaign in Cavite, the Manny Pacquiao-Lito Atienza team is in General Santos City, the tandem of Isko Moreno and Willie Ong will hold its proclamation rally in Ermita, Manila, while Leody de Guzman and running mate Walden Belo will be in Quezon City later in the day.
(CNN)  President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sought to put on a united front Monday at the White House, but one key sticking point appeared to remain despite their pledges of unity: The future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

At the White House and in an interview on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," Scholz revealed a distinct gap between himself and his American counterpart on the massive pipeline. During a news conference after an Oval Office meeting, Biden was explicit the project wouldn't go forward if Russia invades Ukraine. It's the stance he and US officials have taken for weeks, and has been a key point of discussion with the new Scholz government, according to senior administration officials.

But Scholz himself refused to even name the project during the news conference, and declined to commit to ending the pipeline if an invasion moves ahead -- a stance causing problems for his foreign minister during a visit to Ukraine. In an interview with CNN, Scholz repeated his vow to remain aligned with the US -- though again wouldn't clarify his intentions for the Nord Stream project.

"All the steps we take, we will do together," he told Tapper.

"There will be no differences in that situation. What we do today is giving this very strong answer to Russia, saying, if you invade Ukraine, this will have a very high price for you," he said.

During the news conference, he had made a similar pledge.

"I say to our American friends, we will be united. We will act together and we will take all the necessary steps and all the necessary steps will be done by all of us together," he said, switching into English to make his point to a broader audience of American officials, Democrat and Republican alike, who have voiced concern at Germany's willingness to confront Putin.

The Nord Stream pipeline, which transmits Russian natural gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany, avoiding Ukraine, underscores Scholz's predicament in confronting Russia for its aggressions in Europe. Germany is heavily dependent on Russian energy, making it difficult to impose severe punishment without risking a shut-off of oil and gas during the cold winter months.

The United States opposes the pipeline and has stated clearly it won't go forward should Putin decide to invade.

"If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2," Biden said Monday. "We will bring an end to it."

Yet Scholz declined to specify what he is prepared to do to halt Nord Stream 2, saying only that Germany would undertake the same steps as the United States to punish Russia.

Pressed by a US reporter on whether that meant "pulling the plug" on Nord Stream, Scholz demurred again, appearing to roll his eyes slightly at the question.

"As I said, we are acting together. We are absolutely united and we will not be taking different steps. We will do the same steps and they will be very, very hard to Russia and they should understand," he said.

Pipeline politics anger Ukraine

It wasn't the full-throated declaration that Nord Stream 2 would be halted that some in the US had been looking for as a show of resolve against Russia. The debate over what Germany will do about the pipeline is also ruffling feathers in Ukraine.

A meeting between German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been canceled, the official reason being a scheduling error.

However, a source close to the Ukrainian government told Tapper that the meeting "did not take place due to the fact the German foreign minister refused to say Germany would abandon the Nord Stream 2 pipeline even if Russia invades," and because of "Germany's refusal to provide any military assistance directly or indirectly to Kyiv."

The source also told Tapper, "Germany is increasingly viewed as more of a Russian ally than a Western ally by many in Eastern Europe and Kyiv. And they act like it -- look at former Chancellor Schroeder."

In the interview with Scholz, Tapper put the question directly to Germany's chancellor following his meeting with Biden. Scholz did not outright deny the meeting had been canceled, saying instead, "I don't know whether this is the truth," adding that Baerbock was in Ukraine and that he'd sent her there to go to the front lines and examine the situation.

He also said Germany was working with the US, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union allies to firm up concrete steps they'd take jointly in the event of a Russian invasion.

Scholz said to Tapper, "We are absolutely active working together with the United States especially, and with our allies in NATO and the European Union to find out the concrete measures, the concrete steps we will take if there would be a military invasion of the Ukraine. And in this case, we will act absolutely together. We will have all the same steps that we will take then. And we are preparing for this. And this will be a lot of sanctions, which will harm Russia intensely."

'No need to win back trust'

For Biden's part, he brushed off the notion that Germany could "win back trust" by publicly committing in more explicit terms to ending the Nord Stream project should Russia move ahead with an invasion.

"There is no need to win back trust. He has the complete trust of the United States. Germany is one of our most important allies in the world. There is no doubt about Germany's partnership with the United States. None," he said.

Privately, Biden has made clear he believes the Nord Stream 2 issue should not get in the way of improving ties with Germany and recognizes the delicate politics Scholz is facing with the project. His comments at Monday's news conference suggested an understanding between the two men about the pipeline, which is not yet operable at it undergoes environmental reviews.

But even Biden refused to say how the US would stop Nord Stream, as he promised to do should Russia invade Ukraine, without Germany's help.

"I promise you, we will be able to do it," he said.

Scholz has resisted sending lethal aid to Ukraine and won't spell out in much detail his plans to issue sanctions should Russian troops cross the border in an invasion. But in a chummy joint appearance at the White House, both men said fears among US officials that Germany was hiding from a leadership role were misplaced.

"Germany's completely reliable. Completely, totally, thoroughly reliable. I have no doubt about Germany at all," Biden said during a joint news conference, bucking up his visitor during his first official visit to Washington.

Scholz took office in December, succeeding a towering figure in global politics -- Angela Merkel -- whose absence during the current crisis is being felt on both sides of the Atlantic.

He arrived at the White House as Putin has assembled 70% of the military personnel and weapons on Ukraine's borders he would need for a full-scale invasion of the country, based on US intelligence estimates -- though no one seems to know what his true intentions might be.

"I don't know that he knows what he's going to do," Biden said Monday.

Amid the uncertainty, Biden was eager to demonstrate western unity against Putin's aggression.

"There's no need to win back trust. (Scholz) has the complete trust of the United States. Germany is one of our most important allies in the world. There is no doubt about Germany's partnership with the United States, none," Biden said.

Ahead of the President's meeting with Scholz, US officials said the two leaders would spend most of their time together discussing the Ukraine matter, including a "robust sanctions package" being prepared to punish Moscow should an invasion go ahead.

When they sat down in the Oval Office in front of a roaring fireplace, Biden said the US and Germany were "working in lockstep" to deter Russian aggression.

The dire facts on the ground lent Monday's meeting in the Oval Office the air of crisis talks, though Biden also hoped to use the session to get to know Scholz personally, given they are likely to spend a lot more time together in the years to come. They had met once before, when Merkel brought Scholz along to October's Group of 20 summit, but never as equals. Biden has sought to repair ties to Germany after former President Donald Trump publicly accused the country of shirking its international obligations.

Looming over the meeting, however, was the question of Scholz's resolve to confront Putin. Among the United States' major European allies, Germany has appeared the most reluctant to commit to lethal aid, sending thousands of helmets instead of weapons and refusing to allow another NATO ally, Estonia, to send German-made howitzers to Ukraine.

Germany has not joined the United States, France, Spain and other allies in bolstering troops along NATO's eastern flank. And Scholz hasn't spelled out in any details what sanctions he might be willing to impose on a country that is still a major trading partner for Germany.

US officials frustrated

The impression that Germany is unwilling -- or, because of its energy dependence on Russia, unable -- to offer serious deterrence measures has left some US officials frustrated.

Both Republican and Democratic members of Congress have voiced their displeasure, and even Biden has hinted at the discord, saying last month a "minor incursion" by Russia into Ukraine would prompt some disagreement among NATO members over how to respond.

Ahead of Scholz's arrival, a senior administration official on Sunday sought to downplay any concerns over Germany's stance, saying that NATO members each brought their own particular strengths to the table.

"The beauty of having an alliance with 30 NATO allies is that different allies step up to take different approaches to different parts of the problem," the official said, noting the US and Germany were working closely on sanctions and that Germany was a significant economic donor to Ukraine and had provided humanitarian assistance.

The official also pointed out Germany's diplomatic efforts, alongside France, to revive a ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia. And the official said the US and Germany were aligned in their view of the troop buildup along Ukraine's border.

The United States has been hurriedly searching the globe for alternative supplies of energy that could be diverted to Europe, from Asia to the Middle East to domestic American suppliers. It isn't clear how successful the initiative has been, and some countries have said their gas supplies are already spoken for.

Scholz, meanwhile, has faced the awkward association of a predecessor from his political party establishing close ties to the Russian energy industry. Gerhard Schroeder, the last Social Democratic Party politician to serve as chancellor, serves on the board of directors for Nord Stream 2. And last week, Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom announced Schroeder had been nominated to its board, as well.

There has only been one other chancellor since Schroeder left office in 2005: Merkel, whose absence from the world stage after her 16-year tenure has been felt acutely, particularly as Putin tests the West's resolve.

When Russia last invaded Ukraine, in 2014, Merkel played a central role as a go-between for Putin and Germany's western allies. She spoke with him consistently and encouraged other leaders to step up their sanctions to punish Moscow for annexing Crimea. She also played a central role keeping Washington updated through the close relationship she'd cultivated with then-President Barack Obama.

This time, it is not the German leader who is emerging in that role but the French. President Emmanuel Macron has spoken several times per week with Putin, and placed his third phone call in a week to Biden on Sunday evening. Macron visited Moscow on Monday and is expected in Kyiv later this week.

Scholz hasn't taken as visible a role in defusing the latest crisis, earning him criticism from Germans who accuse the chancellor of making himself invisible at a moment of strain. In an apparent attempt to dissuade that impression, Scholz, too, will visit Russia and Ukraine later this month.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Nord Stream 2 pipeline proves to be a sticking point in Biden and new German chancellor's show of unity"
(CNN)  Protests across Canada over a gamut of Covid-19 regulations are stretching into a second week of blocked roads and sometimes-dangerous rallies, with claims of hate-related incidents under investigation and arrests made amid reports of rocks and eggs thrown.

Sparked by truckers who drove into the heart of Ottawa on January 29 to protest new coronavirus vaccine and testing rules, more demonstrations with trucks left idling in roads sprouted over the weekend. In Toronto, trucks blocked a major intersection for hours, impeding emergency responders. Protests also erupted in Winnipeg, Vancouver and Quebec City.

Trucks and hundreds of protesters on Monday still occupied the downtown core in Ottawa, where fuel is banned from entering the protest "red zone" in front of parliament. Of more than 60 criminal investigations underway in the capital, most involve alleged hate crimes, property damage, thefts and mischief, police there said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced a week ago he tested positive for Covid-19, remains isolated at an undisclosed location, with only private meetings on his schedule for the day; he is fully vaccinated and boosted.

Ottawa's city council was set to meet Monday, a day after Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency because of the "Freedom Convoy" protests. Most businesses in downtown Ottawa have been closed for more than a week or have reduced hours, with owners complaining of financial losses as customers dwindle.

The police department has asked the mayor for a "significant increase" in resources to deal with the unrest, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said Monday.

"We have been 100% full out on this for the last 10 days straight, and we will not rest until it's done, but we need more help," Sloly said.

The chief has been "advocating for all three levels of government to bring whatever they can bring to bear on the permanent, sustainable, lawful, safe resolution of this demonstration," he said.

Many in the city are at their "breaking point," Sloly said.

"This is crushing for those residents and their businesses," he said. "It has to stop, and we are doing everything we can possibly do to stop it. We need more help; we're asking for that help; and we're starting to receive that help, but we need more to get this done."

Watson sent letters to Trudeau, Canada's minister of safety and Ontario's premier and solicitor general, asking them to "help the City secure 1800 officers to quell the insurrection that the Ottawa Police Service is not able to contain."

"People are living in fear and are terrified," Watson wrote, adding the constant honking of large trucks over nine days "is tantamount to psychological warfare."

"Our hope is that your department can help coordinate a response that matches the scale of the challenge we are facing," Watson wrote.

The demonstrations began as an objection to a recent vaccine mandate requiring truckers entering Canada to either be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements. Other protesters have joined to rail against mask mandates, lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and other Covid-19 preventative efforts.

"The whole event has gone beyond just vaccines, and it is now about the entire ordeal," protester James MacDonald told CNN, adding he's been in Ottawa since last weekend and has no plan to leave until health measures are dropped.

Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with about 4 in every 5 Canadians fully vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Ottawa police investigating potential hate crimes

Ottawa's hate-motivated crime hotline -- established after reports of anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic acts at the Covid-19 protests -- has gotten more than 200 calls, according to police.

"We already have a number of hate-related incidents that we're investigating," Chief Sloly said last week. "We encourage anyone who's been the victim of a hate crime or think they may have been the victim of a hate crime or exposed to hate incidents to contact us."

At least seven arrests were made Sunday in the city and at least 450 citations issued since Saturday morning, the Ottawa Police Service said, including for excessive honking, driving the wrong way or on a sidewalk, not wearing a seat belt, having alcohol readily available and having the improper class of driving license.

Demonstrators "exhibited extremely disruptive and unlawful behaviour," police said in a statement, which created "risks to public safety and unacceptable distress" for residents.

Police have repeatedly advised demonstrators to "not enter Ottawa, and go home."

Vehicles and fuel have been seized, police said, and they are advising "anyone found bringing fuel to the demonstration trucks in red zone could be subject to arrest and charges." Officers have responded to more than 650 calls for service in relation to the demonstrations since they began, police said Sunday.

A weekend of arrests and protests

In Vancouver, several hundred vehicles traveled through the city en route to a demonstration there, police said. Five people were arrested Saturday amid reports of "rocks and eggs being thrown, cars being kicked, and nails being strewn on roadways," police said. The five were taken to jail and released, police said.

Among them was a 29-year-old US citizen from Washington state who was arrested after officers saw him wearing a balaclava and pulling a wagon full of egg cartons, police said. The man had a knife in a sheath tied to his belt, and two eggs in his jacket pocket, they said.

"Everyone has the right to peacefully assemble and express their views, and the Vancouver Police Department is committed to providing a safe environment for lawful protest," said police Sgt. Steve Addison. "Today's protests attracted thousands of people who feel passionately about their causes. While most protesters were peaceful, some had to be arrested for violent behavior and unlawful conduct."

In Toronto, Canada's largest city, thousands took to the streets Saturday. And despite the efforts of police, several trucks blocked a major intersection for hours. Police reported problems clearing the way for emergency vehicles near the protest, warning again in a statement this was "unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

Quebec City similarly reported thousands of protesters and hundreds of trucks clogging streets while residents and visitors tried to enjoy a winter carnival.

In Winnipeg, a demonstration Friday night turned dangerous when a man drove into a crowd, hitting four people, according to the Winnipeg Police Service. Three of those hit didn't require medical attention and the fourth was treated and released from an area hospital, police said.

The suspect was arrested after a brief struggle with law enforcement, authorities said. "Some comments he made after his arrest suggested that his motivation was not specifically about the underlying causes of the protests or the mandates," Constable Rob Carver of Winnipeg police said Saturday.

He faces 11 charges, including assault with a weapon, dangerous operation of a conveyance and failure to stop after an accident, authorities said.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Crippling protests in Canada over Covid-19 rules enter second week as reported hate-related cases probed"
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Former Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Tofig Zulfugarov has stated that the Shusha Declaration signed by Azerbaijan and Turkey elevated bilateral ties to a new high, Trend has reported.

"The Shusha Declaration is a collection of documents signed by Turkey and Azerbaijan...The significance of this document is that Azerbaijan and Turkey's allied relations have reached the highest level. This is important for both countries. This is a historical document," Zulfugarov stated.

He added that Azerbaijan and Turkey had signed over 400 documents since Azerbaijan's independence, but the Shusha Declaration is one of the few in diplomatic practice.

Zulfugarov emphasized that the Azerbaijani parliament's approval sends a message to the Azerbaijani and Turkish peoples, as well as the international community.

"The Shusha declaration demonstrates that the Azerbaijani-Turkish union will play an active role in the region," Zulfugarov said.

Meanwhile, Turkish scholar Gokmen Kilicoglu stated that Azerbaijan-Turkey relations peaked during the 44-day Karabakh war, according to Trend.

Each country can cooperate with the otherAzerbaijan and Turkey can even normalize relations with Armenia in the future and cooperate with it, Kilicoglu added.

On February 2, 2022, the Azerbaijani parliament passed the bill "On approval of the Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Turkey".

On June 15, 2021, Azerbaijan and Turkey signed the Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations, during Erdogans first official visit to Shusha, eight months after Azerbaijans victory in the war with Armenia in 2020. The document focuses on defense cooperation, promoting regional stability and prosperity, and establishing new transportation routes.

It affirms joint efforts by the two armies in the face of foreign threats. The declaration also pledges joint efforts for the restructuring and modernization of the armed forces. Moreover, the two nations affirm to encourage the execution of joint projects with the aim of developing capabilities in the field of sea, air, and space.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the Shusha Declaration on allied relations signed with Turkey on June 15, carries strategic importance for Eurasia and fosters peace and security in the South Caucasus region.

Describing the Shusha Declaration as the triumph of the new geopolitical realities, Aliyev said that this historic document ratified the allied status of the friendship, fraternity and partnership ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey.
(CNN)  Crowds gathered in Morocco's northern Chefchaouen province on Monday to attend the funeral of five-year-old Rayan Aourram, who died after being trapped in a well for four days.

Hundreds of mourners carried Rayan's coffin, and laid him to rest two days after he passed away.

Rayan was confirmed dead late Saturday by authorities after an ongoing rescue attempt failed to save him.

The five-year-old boy had been trapped since Tuesday before being retrieved by rescue teams from the well on Saturday, but did not survive his ordeal, state media reported.

Rayan's parents were transferred to the cemetery in an ambulance, both distressed and in tears as seen on local broadcaster, Chouf TV.

"May God be with my son," his father Khaled Aourram told Chouf.

Rayan's rescue efforts gripped much of the country with the hashtag #SaveRayan trending in North Africa and other parts of the world.

The child was stuck in a well that reached more than 100 feet (30 meters) underground in the Chefchaouen province.

Rayan fell into the well Tuesday afternoon and was discovered after he was heard crying, his mother said in an interview with state-owned Al-Aoula TV two days later.

She said he was playing nearby before he disappeared, and that she quickly called authorities after finding out what had happened.

An outpouring of grief

Rayan's passing generated an outpouring of grief with world leaders offering condolences to his family.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco offered condolences to Rayan's family in a phone call, according to a statement from the Royal Palace.

"Following the tragic accident that claimed the life of the child Rayan Oram, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God protect him, made a phone call to Mr. Khaled Oram, and Mrs. Wassima Khersheesh, the parents of the deceased who passed away, after falling into a well," the statement said

While French President Emmanuel Macron said that he shared in the pain and grief felt by Rayan's family and the people of Morocco.

"Tonight, I want to tell the family of little Rayan and the Moroccan people that we share their pain. This evening, I would like to say to the family of the child Rayan and to the Moroccan people that we share their grief," Macron wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.

Rayan was also mourned by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "'May God be with my son.' Father's farewell to Moroccan boy who died after days trapped in well"
(CNN)  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday implored protesters to end their demonstration that has blocked roads and disrupted life across the country for more than a week.

"Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens' daily lives. It has to stop," Trudeau said in parliament, his first public appearance since testing positive for Covid-19.

Sparked by truckers who drove into the heart of Ottawa on January 29 to protest new coronavirus vaccine and testing rules, more demonstrations with trucks left idling in roads sprouted over the weekend.

The demonstrations began as an objection to a vaccine mandate requiring truckers entering Canada to either be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements. Other protesters then joined to rail against mask mandates, lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and other Covid-19 preventative efforts.

"The whole event has gone beyond just vaccines, and it is now about the entire ordeal," protester James MacDonald told CNN, adding he's been in Ottawa since last weekend and has no plan to leave until health measures are dropped.

Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with about 4 in every 5 Canadians fully vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

More than 60 criminal investigations

In Toronto, trucks blocked a major intersection for hours, impeding emergency responders. Protests also erupted in Winnipeg, Vancouver and Quebec City.

On Monday, traffic at the busiest US-Canada border crossing was interrupted. Canada's Windsor Police were advising travelers to avoid the Ambassador Bridge crossing and use the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel or Blue Water Bridge instead.

Earlier Monday, Windsor Police posted a photo to its Twitter account showing a long line of trucks appearing to be at a standstill.

Trucks and hundreds of protesters on Monday still occupied the downtown core in Ottawa, where fuel is banned from entering the protest "red zone" in front of parliament.

Adding to the turmoil is criminal behavior. Of more than 60 criminal investigations underway in the capital, most involve alleged hate crimes, property damage, thefts and mischief, police there said.

Ottawa's city council was set to meet Monday, a day after Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency because of the "Freedom Convoy" protests. Most businesses in downtown Ottawa have been closed for more than a week or have reduced hours, with owners complaining of financial losses as customers dwindle.

The police department has asked the mayor for a "significant increase" in resources to deal with the unrest, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said Monday.

"We have been 100% full out on this for the last 10 days straight, and we will not rest until it's done, but we need more help," Sloly said.

The chief has been "advocating for all three levels of government to bring whatever they can bring to bear on the permanent, sustainable, lawful, safe resolution of this demonstration," he said.

Many in the city are at their "breaking point," Sloly said.

"This is crushing for those residents and their businesses," he said. "It has to stop, and we are doing everything we can possibly do to stop it. We need more help; we're asking for that help; and we're starting to receive that help, but we need more to get this done."

Watson sent letters to Trudeau, Canada's minister of safety and Ontario's premier and solicitor general, asking them to "help the City secure 1800 officers to quell the insurrection that the Ottawa Police Service is not able to contain."

"People are living in fear and are terrified," Watson wrote, adding the constant honking of large trucks over nine days "is tantamount to psychological warfare."

"Our hope is that your department can help coordinate a response that matches the scale of the challenge we are facing," Watson wrote.

Ottawa police investigating potential hate crimes

Ottawa's hate-motivated crime hotline  established after reports of anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic acts at the Covid-19 protests  has gotten more than 200 calls, according to police.

"We already have a number of hate-related incidents that we're investigating," Chief Sloly said last week. "We encourage anyone who's been the victim of a hate crime or think they may have been the victim of a hate crime or exposed to hate incidents to contact us."

At least seven arrests were made Sunday in the city and at least 450 citations issued since Saturday morning, the Ottawa Police Service said, including for excessive honking, driving the wrong way or on a sidewalk, not wearing a seat belt, having alcohol readily available and having the improper class of driving license.

Demonstrators "exhibited extremely disruptive and unlawful behaviour," police said in a statement, which created "risks to public safety and unacceptable distress" for residents.

Police have repeatedly advised demonstrators to "not enter Ottawa, and go home."

Vehicles and fuel have been seized, police said, and they are advising "anyone found bringing fuel to the demonstration trucks in red zone could be subject to arrest and charges." Officers have responded to more than 650 calls for service in relation to the demonstrations since they began, police said Sunday.

A weekend of arrests and protests

In Vancouver, several hundred vehicles traveled through the city en route to a demonstration there, police said. Five people were arrested Saturday amid reports of "rocks and eggs being thrown, cars being kicked, and nails being strewn on roadways," police said. The five were taken to jail and released, police said.

Among them was a 29-year-old US citizen from Washington state who was arrested after officers saw him wearing a balaclava and pulling a wagon full of egg cartons, police said. The man had a knife in a sheath tied to his belt, and two eggs in his jacket pocket, they said.

"Everyone has the right to peacefully assemble and express their views, and the Vancouver Police Department is committed to providing a safe environment for lawful protest," said police Sgt. Steve Addison. "Today's protests attracted thousands of people who feel passionately about their causes. While most protesters were peaceful, some had to be arrested for violent behavior and unlawful conduct."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau to protesters: 'It has to stop'."
(CNN)  As French President Emmanuel Macron visited his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday for diplomatic talks on the country's crisis with Russia, Moscow indicated there were "points of convergence" laid out by Macron during his five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin a day earlier.

But the Kremlin has poured cold water on reports that the two leaders had agreed to de-escalate the tense standoff on Ukraine's border, where tens of thousands of Russian forces have massed in recent months, drawing warnings from Western officials of an impending invasion.

The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday would not confirm any tangible steps toward a resolution, casting a cloud over the French president's shuttle diplomacy as he addressed the media in a joint press conference alongside Zelensky.

Macron told journalists in Kyiv that his trip to Moscow had delivered concrete solutions for stability on the European continent and that Putin said he "would not be the cause of an escalation." He added that the Russian president had promised to respect the Minsk agreements, a ceasefire protocol signed by Ukraine and Russia in 2015 after Russia annexed Crimea and fomented a rebellion in Ukraine's east. Despite the agreement, the two sides have not seen a stable peace.

Putin on Monday insisted in no uncertain terms that Zelensky must implement the peace plan in a press conference with Macron on Monday. "Like it or don't like it, it's your duty, my beauty," Putin said of Zelensky.

Zelensky recently stated that he does not like a single point of the Minsk agreements, which requires Ukraine to give autonomy to two Russian-backed separatist regions in the country's east. To critics, the accord could give Moscow sway over Ukrainian politics.

Responding to a question about Putin's stark, undiplomatic language, Zelensky responded in Russian, saying bluntly: "We are not his."

As Putin tests the West's resolve, Macron has thrust himself to center stage, taking former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's place as leading mediator for Europe as he readies himself for a re-election bid at home. Currently at the helm of the European Union's rotating presidency, Macron has spoken several times per week with Putin, and placed his third phone call in a week to Biden on Sunday evening.

The Elysee Palace trumpeted a list of key takeaways from Macron's meeting with Putin, including Russia's "commitment not to take new military initiatives, which allows for de-escalation" and that Moscow would withdraw troops from Belarus.

But when asked about the statement from the French presidency, Peskov said he did not know anything about it: "I can't comment on it, I do not quite understand what French colleagues were talking about."

And though Putin's spokesman did confirm that Russian military forces will leave Belarus once joint exercises between the two countries conclude, he did not give further specifics or a sense of the timeline for withdrawal. Ukrainian intelligence officials fear Russia could use Belarus as a "full-fledged theater of operations," having ramped up its military presence from several thousand troops in January to an estimated 30,000 sometime this month.

"We are talking about allied exercises, and it is understood that upon completion of these exercises, the troops will return to their permanent bases," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. Asked if a concrete date had been given by Putin, Peskov said, "No."

Based on the latest US intelligence estimates, Putin has assembled 70% of the military personnel and weapons it would need for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but US officials say they still don't know whether Russia's leader has decided to launch an attack. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied it is planning an incursion, but has argued that NATO support for the country constitutes a growing threat to Russia.

Speaking at the joint press conference, Zelensky said: "We stand for the de-occupation of our territory." He added that the talks with Macron were "fruitful."

Ongoing diplomacy

As Russia deploys more troops onto Ukraine's border and the US moves thousands of forces to bolster NATO's eastern front, the Kremlin's noncommittal comments on Tuesday have put a damper on another busy diplomatic day for Macron.

The French President also met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday in Berlin.

Macron, who in 2019 said bluntly that Europe was facing the "brain death of NATO," caused by American indifference to the transatlantic alliance, and has called on the EU to take on a larger role in Europe's defense, is now getting a chance to lay out his vision for what a Europe more independent from US influence might look like.

Speaking alongside Scholz and Duda, Macron told reporters that diplomatic efforts in the last few days have "allowed the emergence of new leads" to de-escalate the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

He said the first objective of the ongoing diplomatic efforts is to "avoid war."

The second objective, Macron said, is to "defend Europe and its allies" with the third being the defense of "principles that have made Europe in the past 30 years, in particular the respect of the sovereignty of all states, the territorial integrity, and values."

Macron also reiterated the importance of dialogue with Russia to avoid any escalation and to "build stability and peace on the long run."

To Moscow, Macron has presented himself as a "quality interlocutor," as Putin described him, according to an official in the French presidency.

The stakes could not be higher. Macron is seeking to stop the massive Russian military buildup of more than 100,000 soldiers from bubbling over into war and soothe Russia's security grievances.

"No one is naive," Macron told reporters Tuesday. "France, since the beginning of this crisis, has never made excessive statements on the subject, but in the same way I do not believe that this crisis can be resolved by a few hours of discussion."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Russia pours cold water on Ukraine crisis de-escalation, as Macron meets with Zelensky."
When talking with Scotus Central Catholic students, it's easy to tell they're having a blast preparing for this years musical, Anastasia.

Whether its discussing their characters, the play or the atmosphere surrounding the production, the students noted theyre looking forward to unveiling the musical later this week.

Opening night will start at 7 p.m. on Friday at Scotus Memorial Hall, 1554 18th Ave. Shows will follow at 7 p.m. on Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door. Each cost $8.

To buy tickets online, visit bit.ly/3LgIseJ.

The music is amazing, said senior Camille Cox, who plays the titular character, Anastasia. We have actual dancers doing the ballet and theyre amazing. So many people have put so much work into it.

The musical  which premiered in 2016 - is from the book by Terrence McNally with music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, respectively.

Anastasia is about a young woman disappearing when her familys palace is overrun. Several years later, two peddlers  Dimitri and Vlad - hatch a scheme to host an audition to find a look-alike Anastasia to pawn off. However, unbeknownst to them, they chose the real Anastasia who suffers from amnesia.

The musical is based on the 1997 animated film of the same name.

Scotus teacher Laura Salyard  who is directing the musical  said she selected Anastasia because it was a chance to hold a bigger production. A smaller production was held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This years senior class is also quite talented and could pull of a show like "Anastasia," she added.

We kept it simple because of COVID, Salyard said. So I wanted to do something more elaborate. As a result, then, we really whipped up something that was really all out. We wanted to do something a little bit familiar too. Its not exactly the same as the animated movie but its a familiar title that people are intrigued by and they want to hear a little bit more about it.

The leads of the play said they have enjoyed inhabiting their characters.

Cox said she likes Anastasia  who goes by Anna for most of the play  as she maintains her independence throughout the show.

She sticks up for herself, Cox said.  She fights people which she needs to.

Seniors Luke Przymus and Chris Adame  who play Dimitri and Vlad, respectively  said its been fun to be two partners in crime.

Weve been together for a while, Adame said. So were just trying to see how we can get out of Russia because we dont like whats going on. The king was overthrown  so were just trying to think of a way to get out.

Przymus added jokingly that he enjoys playing Dimitri because its a chance to play a nice guy." He mostly portrayed villains previously.

Hes a peddler with a heart of gold. Thats what I like to say, Przymus said.  Its been an awesome character to play. Ive had a lot of fun with it.

Salyard said this years students have a ton of energy which she joked can be good and bad.

Every time we stop something is going on, Salyard said, with a big smile. And yes, sometimes it slows it down but it brings a smile to everybodys face. Thats the whole point of something like this. Its supposed to be fun.

Andrew Kiser is a reporter for The Columbus Telegram. Reach him via email at andrew.kiser@lee.net.

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Editor's note: This story first published in the Feb. 1, 2022, edition of The Columbus Telegram.

After more than 30 years of service in Nebraska's 5th District Court, Judge Robert Steinke has retired.

He was appointed to the bench in September of 1991 and has served the 5th Judicial District -- primarily Platte County -- since then. His last day was Wednesday, Feb. 2.

"I'm now dealing with lawyers who are the sons and daughters of lawyers who appeared in court when I first started my career. I thought maybe it was time to consider retirement before I reached the third generation," Steinke said, chuckling. "And, when another friend of mine...retired this last year...he called me and said, 'You know, if you work until Dec. 1, you will be the longest-serving district court judge in Nebraska.' That also made me think a little bit about whether or not it was time to move on in life."

Steinke grew up in Merrick County, which -- along with Platte, Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Nance, Polk, Saunders, Seward and York counties -- is a part of Nebraska's 5th District. The path that led him into law started around the time he was getting his undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL).

"I probably started my legal career basically because two of my better friends in college, as undergraduates, told me they wanted to go to law school and they encouraged me to do the same," Steinke said.

Before that, Steinke was considering a master's in business administration, but the decision to pursue law has clearly worked out for Steinke. After earning his law degree at UNL and practicing general law for 12 years in Columbus, Steinke decided to apply for a vacant judge position.

"I have always enjoyed the challenge of trying to unravel and solve the many legal puzzles that are brought before the court," Steinke said. "...I have been incredibly blessed throughout my career with wonderful support staff...and the support of my family."

Steinke remarked that he has had just two court reporters throughout his tenure as a judge -- first Kathy Habben and then Kelli Scheffler.

"They have been the greatest two court reporters you could ever ask for," Steinke said. "By the same token, throughout my 30 years on the bench I have worked with only one clerk of the Platte County District Court."

That would be Marlene Vetick, who Steinke said is an outstanding clerk and has made his job easier.

"It has been my honor and privilege to work with Judge Steinke," Vetick said in an email to the Telegram. "He is truly the definition of 'honorable.' His demeanor both inside and outside the courtroom, towards litigants, attorneys and court staff have always been one of respect and courtesy. He is diligent and thoughtful in his work. I have been very fortunate to have had the pleasure of his mentorship for all these years. He will be greatly missed not only by our office, but throughout the judicial system as well."

Deputy Platte County Attorney Jose Rodriguez, who has worked alongside Steinke since 2016, also spoke highly of him.

"In my experience, Judge Steinke is one of the best district court judges in Nebraska. His rulings have always been fair to both parties in any case before his court, and he has a statewide reputation for being one of the most scholarly judges in Nebraska," Rodriguez said in an email to the Telegram.

A Jan. 6 Nebraska Judicial Branch press release on Steinke's retirement noted that he leaves the bench having received the highest honor given to judges by the Nebraska Chief Justice; in 2002, he was awarded the Distinguished Judge for Service to the Community for his leadership in the Nebraska High School Mock Trial program.

"It's a great honor to have served the citizens of Nebraska, in particular those of the 5th Judicial District, throughout my career," Steinke said.

Molly Hunter is a reporter for The Columbus Telegram. Reach her via email at molly.hunter@lee.net.

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The Big Spring School Board meeting was cut short Monday night after heated public comment over masks and the board taking issue over the presence of signs.

Community members took to the podium Monday night to argue the school district's mask mandate. The district currently has a mask optional plan though it does require masks for students for at least 14 days if the COVID-19 case threshold surpasses 2.5% in staff and students.

A number of people in the audience, which totaled around 20-25 people, argued against the mandate, mostly from the podium, though some spoke up from their seats. Some also brought signs with them, which was a point of contention for the board.

Board President William Swanson said right before public comment that the board does not allow the presence of banners, which includes signs, though those in the audience argued that it was a free speech right to have them. After coming back from a recess, Swanson ordered a sign to be lowered, which the audience member refused.

Swanson then motioned to adjourn the meeting. Another board member seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned before the majority of the agenda items were addressed. Board members then filed out as some audience members tried to continue to address them.

For more on this story, check back to Cumberlink.com and read The Sentinel's Wednesday print edition.

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It happens most every day, just like clockwork.

School administrators are on the job before 6:30 a.m., puzzling over a staffing landscape often riddled with holes.

Its like a chess board, said Jim Estep, superintendent of the South Middleton School District. The principals are looking at the master schedule. Theyre trying to figure out whos free.

A nationwide teacher shortage combined with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has made the daily work of finding enough people that much more daunting.

You fill as many as you can with substitutes, Estep said. Whatever is left over, you try to cover internally. Its very much a struggle. We literally dont have enough subs to fill all of our openings.

All too often, deals are made where teachers agree to give up a duty or planning period to help cover an otherwise unsupervised classroom section. But this could diminish the quality of instruction.

If you have someone covering content that is not their expertise that poses an issue, Estep said. If the kids have content-specific questions, the noncontent person may not be able to answers the questions at that moment.

Often, the impact is reduced because the teacher who is absent either left behind specific plans for the day or has students savvy enough to follow along on their own in the lesson plan, Estep said.

Even before the pandemic, Carlisle Area School District had a system in place to address the growing number of gaps in its schedule, Assistant Superintendent Colleen Friend said.

Each elementary school had its own substitute teacher who filled in where needed. There were two substitute teachers for each middle school and three to four substitutes for the high school. As the years progressed, the district has allowed each principal to double the number of building substitutes.

We have felt the sting, Friend said. The pandemic has made things worse. Weve always had some absences, especially on Fridays when teachers take personal days, but the pandemic has hyper-jumped this scenario. The number of spots we need to fill has been increasing as people quarantine.

As schools scramble to find enough substitute teachers to keep classrooms running through the latest surge of the coronavirus, some experts warn there are longer-term problems with the teacher pipeline that cannot be solved with emergency substitutes, bonuses and loosened qualifications, the Associated Press reported.

For years, some states have been issuing fewer teaching licenses, and many districts have had trouble filling vacancies. Shortages are being felt much more widely due to absences during a pandemic that is testing educators like no other stretch of their careers, raising fears of many more leaving the profession.

Estep came in as the South Middleton superintendent weeks after the summer hiring cycle. Even then, he heard anecdotally how the district experienced difficulty filling certain key positions.

Even in the best of times, school districts were dealing with fewer and fewer applicants especially in such high-level sciences as chemistry and physics, Estep said. For many of these college graduates, it made more sense to migrate into engineering and the private sector where they could be paid more to offset their student loan debt, he said.

Gradually, this scarcity of applicants has become the norm across all grade levels and subject areas, Estep said. There was a time when you could count on 25 to 30 applicants for a single position. Thats no longer even close to being the case. Now youre lucky if you have five or six applicants for any position.

Signs of shortage

In Pennsylvania, the number of new teacher certifications fell by two-thirds in the 2010s, the Associated Press reported. Although many of the states public universities began as teachers colleges, the number of education majors studying in the Pennsylvania System of Higher Education has fallen from about 30,000 a decade ago to nearly 17,000 last year.

Kerry Mulvihill, a science teacher at Gerald Huesken Middle School in Lancaster, said only five people applied for an eighth-grade science position last fall and none of them made it to the interview state. Two special education teachers recently resigned in the middle of the year, a formerly rare occurrence during her 25 years as a teacher, she told the Associated Press.

Based on declining enrollment at teaching colleges and surveys of teachers about their plans, shortages are likely to become more widespread, affecting regions and subject areas that traditionally have not been affected, said Jacqueline King, a researcher with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

For Estep, signs of the shortage began in 2010. It wasnt as bad, but it has progressively become worse, he said.

While part of the reason for the decline has been a migration to higher-paying private sector jobs, there are other trends at work creating less of a desire among high school graduates to go to college to major in education.

There has been quite a lot of effort in certain media circles to really bash public education, Estep said. Over time, that has had an impact. That has been an effective tool for turning people off.

Much of the rhetoric has focused on what Estep called the false narrative of failing public schools. When you speak a narrative long enough, people start to believe it, he said.

Other factors blamed for the current shortages include a drop-off in hiring during the Great Recession, the politicization of the curriculum, frustrations over standardized tests, less generous pensions and concerns about class size, a lack of autonomy and inadequate resources.

In the course of his career, Estep has seen the role of teacher move from strictly a presenter of content to being part-teacher, part-social worker and part-guidance counselor to cope with societal changes. At its height, COVID-19 only made the job harder  effectively doubling the workload for teachers who had to prepare lessons for a hybrid model of in-person and remote instruction.

The ongoing shortage is being exacerbated by teachers hesitant to return to the classroom out of concern over community spread COVID-19 and the debate over masks, Friend said. They are saying I can do something else. Im not coming into an environment where there are more germs. They are choosing other ways to make ends meet.

Nationwide, districts are using such incentives as signing bonuses and tuition reimbursement to draw applicants from the diminishing pool of college graduates certified in education.

At South Middleton, Estep plans to push the school board to take a serious look at whether the district could offer more competitive salaries and work benefits.

I liken it to the housing market, he said. At some point, it [the teacher shortage] is just going to come down to a bidding war from district to district. If its not a pure bidding war, then you better have other ancillary ideas working to make your district more attractive.

Meanwhile, Carlisle has developed a program through Education Solutions Services, the contractor the district uses to recruit and retain long-term substitute teachers.

If an applicant has made enough progress toward a teaching degree and certification, they can be hired by ESS and paid a Bachelor Step One salary through the district while they continue to student teach, Friend said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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WASHINGTON  A Temple University physics professor who was charged with sharing scientific technology with China only for the case to collapse before trial and be dismissed by the Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Monday to reinstate his claims for damages against the U.S. government.

Lawyers for Xiaoxing Xi and his wife say in a brief filed Monday with a Philadelphia-based appeals court that a judge erred last year when he dismissed most of the claims in their federal lawsuit. They assert that the FBI agent who led the investigation intentionally, knowingly or recklessly made false statements and misrepresented evidence so that prosecutors could get an indictment.

When law enforcement agents abuse the legal process by obtaining indictments and search warrants based on misrepresentations or by fabricating evidence, it undermines the legitimacy of the courts, Xis legal team, which includes lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in the brief.

The judiciary has a stake in ensuring that malicious prosecutions and illegal searches do not go unchecked, and the courts have well-established standards for assessing such claims, the brief says. Moreover, the harm to Professor Xi, his family, and society at large, as well as the need to deter further misconduct, strongly weigh in favor of allowing these claims to proceed.

In a statement provided by the ACLU, Xi said there was clear evidence that the FBI violated our constitutional rights that day, and years later we are still dealing with the trauma of this ordeal.

If we cant hold the government accountable now, there will be little to stop the government from profiling other Asian American scientists and ruining more innocent peoples lives in the future, he said.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment Monday.

The bungled case against Xi was brought three years before the Justice Department in 2018 launched whats known as the China Initiative, an effort to counter trade secret theft and economic espionage by Beijing.

Many of the cases have targeted professors at U.S. universities suspected of concealing Chinese government ties on applications for federal funding. Despite some convictions, the effort has endured notable setbacks, with prosecutors forced to dismiss several cases over the last year  including one last month, when officials said they couldnt meet their burden of proof against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor whod been charged with fraud.

The China Initiative is now under review, and Patrick Toomey, a senior staff attorney with the ACLUs National Security Project, called Monday for the Biden administration to abandon it.

The legal brief traces the history of the case, recounting how Xi, a naturalized U.S. citizen from China with expertise in thin film superconducting technology, was arrested at his home early one morning in May 2015. His wife and daughters were held at gunpoint in the living room while the professor was taken into custody to be interrogated, fingerprinted and strip-searched.

He was placed on administrative leave, suspended from his job as interim chair of Temples physics department and was unable to participate in his research.

Xi was indicted on charges that he had shared information about a device called a pocket heater with academic colleagues in China. But the criminal charges were false and fabricated, Mondays filing states, and the email communications at the center of the indictment were not about a pocket heater but rather about an entirely different device that described a process that Xi and his colleagues had invented.

The Justice Department dismissed the case before trial in 2015. Xi sued in 2017.

In the lawsuit, Xi singled out the FBI agent who investigated him, accusing him of having knowingly made false statements to prosecutors so that they could secure an indictment, of misunderstanding the science at the center of the case and of ignoring information hed been given prior to the prosecution that established Xis innocence. The lawsuit also alleges that Xi was targeted based on his Chinese ethnicity with lawyers Monday calling the prosecution discriminatory.

In seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, Justice Department lawyers representing the FBI agent, Andrew Haugen, said probable cause had existed to indict Xi even if the case was later dismissed, and that the agent had made reasonable efforts to understand the professors work.

A federal judge in Philadelphia, R. Barclay Surrick, dismissed nine of the couples 10 claims last year, ruling that they were unable to recover damages from the U.S. government and that judgments and decisions about the investigation and prosecution were matters of discretion. A 10th claim, related to the surveillance of Xi and his his family, is still pending.

What happened to Xi and his family is very unfortunate, Surrick wrote. Nevertheless, it is the obligation of this court to simply apply the law as it presently exists to the facts.

But that ruling was erroneous, according to lawyers for the professor and his wife, who say in the filing that their lawsuit plausibly alleged the fabrication of evidence to secure an indictment of Professor Xi, the falsification of reports and affidavits to obtain a warrant for the search of the Xi familys home and belongings, and the discriminatory prosecution of Professor Xi on the basis of his race and ethnicity.

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As an attempt to cure the winter blues, some of your favorite Fredericktown shops have come together for a fun "Spread the Love" shopping event.

On Saturday, from 10 a.m to 3 p.m., businesses are planning to provide a day of fun, community support, and of course, deals.

"After all these years in business, 25 actually, we have certainly noticed that by this time of the new year, people are ready to have some fun," Organizer and Co-Owner of Brick & Mortar Aimee Kurgas said. "To be able to get out, to look forward to spring and this was a fun way to work together to provide something that would offer that while giving local business a boost."

Kurgas said many of your local favorites have already committed to having specials for the day and there will be some pop-up shops located on the court square.

There will be food trucks located at the Madison County Service Coordination parking lot on South Main and next to Crazy Wildflower on East College Avenue both in Fredericktown. Some of the food trucks currently scheduled to attend include Musthave Macarons +More, Amy's Goodies, Ghee Ghee's Kitchen, Holy Grounds Coffee, and Waves Mini Donuts.

Kurgas said Brick & Mortar will be hosting a pop-up shop inside its store on South Main Street. A Broken Jar Creations, creator of their plantain product line, will be inside the shop and offering free tasting samples of its new tea line along with baked goodies. The owner of A Broken Jar Creations is a trained pastry chef.

Brick & Mortar also plans to have a fun selfie station where discounts can be earned.

Similar to Small Business Saturday, shoppers will be given a punch card with a list of participating businesses to have their card punched and be entered to win an amazing prize basket.

Punch cards can be picked up at Brick & Mortar, Country Lane, Georgie Kay's and The Crazy Wildflower. After you visit all the locations and have your card filled up, they can be returned at any of those shops to be entered.

"We hope this event gets people out and enjoying their hometown, time with friends and breaks up those winter blues," Kurgas said.

Victoria Kemper is a reporter for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at 573-783-3366 or at vkemper@democratnewsonline.com

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The Leadwood Board of Aldermen met in regular session Jan. 24 and while they tabled making any decisions on police and court agenda items pending the outcome of the sales tax issue they hope to put on the April 5 ballot, the aldermen and the police chief, with contributions from citizens and city employees, discussed the challenges the police department faces.

The agenda included buying a vehicle for the police department, approving new officer gear, taking volunteer efforts and donations of drywall for the interview room, body cam subscription fees, medical supplies kit, a truancy policy, changing ordinances pertaining to the police department and buying a phone for the detective.

Alderman Randy Howard suggested tabling further discussion on the items costing money.

I think we ought to wait until after the April elections to see where we are on our proposition, if that passes, he said.

The one-cent sales tax would raise money needed for the police department, which, like many other rural areas here, is suffering in salary competition from larger municipalities.

The aldermen also heard a report from Water Supervisor Kevin Brooks regarding the previous Fridays DNR inspection, which he said turned out well, although theyll be getting an official report back soon.

As far as wastewater issues were going, Brooks said a rash of electrical issues had been cropping up. He said a few of the grinders were getting close to the warranty expiration or were just outside of the warranty, so hes looking at replacing those, but the electrical problems have him stumped.

The electrical problems I've had are not in one area, theyre in two or three. I'm not sure if we're getting some dirty electric, he said, referring to an uneven flow of current that can diminish the efficiency of electricity delivery. For instance, I have one panel, both contactors and the float wire burned up in that same console  there could be lightning strikes. Right? But we haven't had any lightning ... recently. So I don't know what's going on. And it could be they're just getting old and it's time (to replace them).

In other matters, the aldermen:

Approved business licenses for Professor Garys Sweet Treats, Republic Services Waste Management Company, Happy Times Day Care and Caseys Cookin.

Agreed to duplicate last years budget for this years budget, since no increase in revenue was expected.

Agreed to let Alderman Aaron Penberthy make a shadowbox for former Police Chief Jerry Hicks badge for display.

Sarah Haas is the assistant editor for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at 573-518-3617 or at shaas@dailyjournalonline.com.

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By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijani Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov and Turkish Deputy National Defence Minister Muhsin Dere have discussed expanding military cooperation between the two countries, the ministry reported on February 8.

Welcoming the Turkish delegation, Hasanov underlined the importance of the steadily growing military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey, the report added.

Hasanov emphasized that friendly ties between two countries' leaders have a positive impact on military cooperation and that Azerbaijan and Turkey's strategic alliance is based on friendly and fraternal ties.

Dere also emphasized the importance of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in terms of expanding mutual cooperation.

Furthermore, the top military officials exchanged views on exhibiting aviation equipment and participation of Azerbaijani servicemen in the Teknofest-2022 fair, which will be held in Baku.

The future of bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as the formation of joint working groups in the military-technical domain and other subjects of mutual concern were addressed during the meeting.

Azerbaijan and Turkey periodically hold joint drills to improve interaction and communication between their army units.

Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey first emerged in 1992, with an agreement signed between the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments on military education and weapon equipment and deals to help strengthen the bond between the two nations.

On June 15, the two countries signed a memorandum of alliance that cemented the existing military, political and economic cooperation.

The Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations that President Ilham Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed during the first official visit to Shusha eight months after Azerbaijans victory in the war with Armenia, also focuses on defence cooperation.

It affirms joint efforts by the two armies in the face of foreign threats. The declaration also pledges joint efforts for the restructuring and modernization of the armed forces. Moreover, the two nations affirm to encourage the execution of joint projects with the aim of developing capabilities in the field of sea, air, and space.

In an interview with Turkey's Anadolu Agency on September 27, President Ilham Aliyev said that the signing of the Shusha Declaration raised bilateral relations to an even higher level.
Cases of COVID-19 are on the decline again, but St. Francois County Health Director Linda Ragsdale warned that the virus is not going away.

According to the latest numbers released by the health center on Monday, the county recorded 443 (361 confirmed, 82 probable) new cases between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3, down from 735 the week before.

I do believe cases will continue to decrease as omicron runs its course through our population, but the COVID-19 virus is not gone, nor is it going away, Ragsdale said. Another variant will be just around the corner, such as BA.2. Everyone should continue to practice good health measures and mitigation strategies.

The BA.2 variant, according to the Associated Press, is a descendant of omicron that is widely considered harder to detect and scientists worry could be more contagious. It has been found in at least 40 countries, including the United States.

The testing positivity rate in St. Francois County is down to 25.1% from 29.3%.

Case numbers are still higher than we would like to see, Ragsdale added. We suspect our case rate is much higher due to the fact that most individuals are not reporting at-home testing.

"We continue to encourage vaccination against COVID-19 to prevent severe illness and hospitalizations. We offer the vaccine and booster daily.

Residents can report positive results from at-home test on the health centers website at sfchc.org/covid-19-updates/.

The health center offers vaccines and boosters every day from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No appointments are necessary.

In the county, 43.1% have complete vaccination, which is up just .1% from last week; 47.5% have initiated it, which is the same as last week.

According to a list compiled by Stacker, St. Francois County has the second highest COVID infection rate in Missouri. The list was made with data from the US Department of Health and Human Services and vaccination rates from COVID Act Now.

Stacker said counties are ranked by the highest infection rate per 100,000 residents within the week leading up to Jan. 31. Cumulative cases per 100,000 served as a tiebreaker.

Following is the data Stacker provided for St. Francois County:

 New cases per 100k in the past week: 1,936 (1,301 new cases, +33% change from previous week)

 Cumulative cases per 100k: 25,918 (17,421 total cases); 19.8% more cases per 100k residents than Missouri

 Cumulative deaths per 100k: 375 (252 total deaths); 34.4% more deaths per 100k residents than Missouri

 Population that is fully vaccinated: 42.5% (28,540 fully vaccinated); 21.9% lower vaccination rate than Missouri

Only New Madrid County ranked higher.

Madison County was seventh on the Stacker list and Iron County was 30th. Washington County and Ste. Genevieve County were not listed.

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Area fire departments responded to a commercial fire Monday afternoon in Park Hills.

At approximately 12:10 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to the working fire at a building owned by Scorpion Fence on Main Street across from Dominos Pizza. Officials said the building was one of two owned by the fencing company and used as a welding fabrication shop. It had formerly been Fri-Man's Furniture Outlet.

Park Hills Fire Chief Brad Weiss said he was the first fire unit on the scene a few minutes after the dispatch went out. He said he arrived to find fire venting from the back of the structure. Within about five minutes of his arrival, Weiss said all of the windows had failed, and flames could be seen on all sides of the building.

The chief said they then struck a second alarm for additional crews to ensure enough manpower was available to tackle the sizeable commercial fire.

Weiss said it took area firefighters approximately an hour to contain the fire. The portion of East Main Street from Crane Street up to around Caseys gas station was closed to traffic during the containment efforts.

After the fire was extinguished, the chief said the buildings owner called a construction company to the location to remove debris and the heavy timber roof so fire crews could access the inside and finish working. Firefighters were still on the scene just before 5 p.m. as the building was being torn down.

PHOTOS: Fire destroys commercial building in Park Hills Monday Several area firefighters tackle a commercial structure fire on East Main Street in Park Hills Monday afternoon.

The Missouri State Fire Marshals Office was contacted, and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation. Weiss said that due to the extensive damage the building sustained, there was likely no way to determine the cause of the fire. He said no one was inside the structure when the fire occurred, and he had no reason to believe it was suspicious. No injuries were reported.

Weiss said they had to block off the parking lot of Dominos Pizza as one of the fire hydrants is located in the corner of the lot. Though Dominos was temporarily closed, restaurant employees brought pizza and drinks to the firefighters on the scene, and Weiss said he was very thankful.

Assisting the Park Hills Fire Department with Monday afternoons containment efforts were mutual aid fire companies from Leadington, Farmington, Bonne Terre/Big River, Wolf Creek, Bismarck, Doe Run, and Potosi. Pumper trucks from Terre Du Lac and Goose Creek were moved up to stand-by and cover calls at the Park Hills Fire Department during the fire. The St. Francois County Ambulance District also responded to the scene for firefighter safety.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com

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The Farmington Regional Chamber of Commerce has named Deena Ward as its new director of events.

She is filling the vacancy left when former director of events Cassie Thomas became director of the United Way of St. Francois County at the first of the year.

Ward is a lifelong resident of Madison County who has served as an alderman for the city of Fredericktown off and on over a 17-year period. She has experience working with many civic organizations in Madison and St. Francois counties including the Fredericktown Chamber of Commerce.

Ward volunteered as an assistant scoutmaster of Fredericktowns Troop 0027 for 10 years, while also serving at the district level as a committee member for the Ozark Trailblazers District. During that time, she earned the District Award of Merit, the highest award a district committee can bestow on a volunteer. Ward also received the W. D. Boyce Award for her work establishing a new pack, troop, and crew in the same year.

While serving as resource director for the Southeast Missouri Family Violence Council, Ward planned and organized all fundraising efforts to support the many programs the shelter offered and learned how to utilize volunteers to their full potential to make every event a success.

"We are thrilled to have Deena as part of the chamber team, said Executive Director Candy Hente. Her experience in planning events and volunteer coordination will be such a great asset, along with her warm, friendly personality."

Prior to joining the Farmington Regional Chamber, Ward served as a customer service representative for New Era Bank at the main branch in Fredericktown where she assisted customers in all aspects of banking and bookkeeping. She also served as the St. Francois Baptist Association youth services director for 13 years.

Ward is currently a member of Calvary Church in Fredericktown. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her four children hiking, camping, and traveling.

Kevin R. Jenkins is the managing editor of the Farmington Press and can be reached at 573-783-9667 or kjenkins@farmingtonpressonline.com

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Charlottesvilles fire department is understaffed and underpaid, officials say, but thats not stopping them from looking at programs to help residents react to emergencies before crews can get to a scene.

Currently, the department can send three firefighters on any particular call, putting them one short of a full crew, according to Fire Chief Hezedean Smith. He said hes requesting additional staff in the upcoming budget.

Our firefighters are not paid what is comparable to just [Albemarle County] next door, Smith told the City Council at a Monday work session. Im pleading with you to support our firefighters because it ties in with retention, it ties in with recruitment, it ties in with their families.

Smith said most firefighters live outside of the city limits because of the costs of living in town.

I can probably count on one hand how many of them live in the city of Charlottesville. They travel for hours sometimes to come and serve this community, he said. Its not going to be fixed immediately, but I think you, the council, should be able to at least address it just a little bit.

Smith said it is important to consider not only pay and benefits for firefighters, but also ensuring their safety. A big way to help with this would be hiring more firefighters who can respond to calls, he said.

Were looking to ask for six additional firefighters because we need four firefighters on the truck, Smith said. We need that and I want to make sure that every firefighter goes home safely. I dont want what happened in other cities to happen here in the city of Charlottesville, and weve had some significant incidents within the last 13 months.

Despite lean staffing, the department is working on programs Smith said could help prevent emergencies or provide immediate response before crews arrive. He told the council the plans are 21st Century emergency response.

The department has been focusing on incident prevention, especially through its Community Risk Reduction program. The department has been collecting data on city hot spots for high rates of cardiac arrests, mental health emergencies, drug overdoses and other medical incidents and trying to develop solutions to help the specific neighborhoods and communities.

Its not just about running with lights and sirens to medical calls and car accidents and things of that nature, Smith said. Its actually becoming actually more engaged in our community and educating our community and hopefully they can recognize early signs and symptoms of stroke, heart attack and things of that sort.

The department is planning to release a local version of an app called Pulse Point, a 911-connected app that can immediately inform people of emergencies occurring in their community and can request help when CPR is needed nearby.

It prepares our community members to be able to respond to cardiac arrest emergencies in a public venue and ultimately even start CPR and hopefully enhance the chance of somebody recovering, Smith said.

Smith also said he is looking to implement a Narcan leave-behind program to supply people at risk of a drug overdose with the lifesaving emergency treatment. Smith implemented a similar program when he worked in Orlando, Florida.

We actually put them on the ambulances. So when the crews responded to an overdose and took care of the patient, after it was all said and done, they turned to a family member or someone whos there and said heres a Narcan leave-behind kit. Heres the instructions. These are some of the signs you need to look for.

Crews also provided information on how to get addiction help and delivered Narcan to certain areas and neighborhoods that were at higher risk of drug overdoses, and hed like to do something similar here.

And it was very successful and I think its an easily implemented process in the city, Smith said.

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The Virginia Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a parental challenge of Gov. Glenn Youngkins executive order to prevent public schools from requiring students to wear face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The ruling comes three days after an Arlington County judge found that Youngkin did not have authority to supersede the judgment of local school boards in setting policy for reducing the threat of COVID-19 to students, teachers and other school employees.

Multiple legal cases in opposition or support of the governors executive order are moving through the courts while school systems await clarity. In the Richmond area, schools in the city of Richmond and Henrico County continue to require masks while schools in Chesterfield and Hanover counties are mask-optional.

Unlike the ruling by Arlington Judge Louise DiMatteo, the Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the executive order, only the legal path that a group of 13 parents in Chesapeake used to challenge the governors order allowing parents to choose to send their children to school unmasked.

By this dismissal, we offer no opinion on the legality of [Executive Order] 2 or any other issue pertaining to petitioners claims, the court states in a footnote on the last page of the three-page order.

Attorney General Jason Miyares issued a statement that called the decision a victory for Virginia families.

Youngkin, in a statement on Twitter, said, We are pleased by the dismissal. We will continue to protect the rights of parents to make decisions regarding their childs health, education, upbringing, and care.

To be clear, this is not about pro-mask vs. anti-mask, but rather parents making decisions about whats best for their childs health, the governor said. And we are pleased to see that other states, including New Jersey and Delaware, are following our reasoning and a path to normalcy.

Kevin Martingayle, the attorney for the Chesapeake parents who filed the lawsuit, called the decision a procedural ruling based on the lawsuits use of two legal paths to reach the Supreme Court directly.

The court said neither of those paths works in the parents challenge of Executive Order Two, which Youngkin signed on Jan. 15, the day of his inauguration.

But Martingayle cited the footnote as proof that the Supreme Court has not ruled on the merits of the order itself.

It is a clear signal that the Supreme Court continues to have questions about Executive Order Two, he said in an interview. This is not a ruling on the merits.

Carl Tobias, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Richmond, agreed with Martingayle.

Theyre not ruling on the merits or the legality, Tobias said Monday, calling the grounds of the ruling really technical stuff.

Victoria LaCivita, a spokeswoman for Miyares, said, We consider this a win because the court rejected the challenge to EO2, which is what we asked for.

LaCivita also noted that the high court said in its opinion that Senate Bill 1303adopted by the General Assembly last year to compel public schools to reopen to in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemicdoes not impose a universal mask mandate, as the other side has argued.

The state law requires school boards to follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the maximum extent possible. Those guidelines include requiring all students to wear face masks in school.

Consequently, some school boardsincluding Richmond and six others that challenged the executive order in Arlingtonhave interpreted the law to require universal masking.

But the Supreme Court said Monday that the law necessarily gives the boards a degree of discretion to modify or even forgo those [CDC] strategies as they deem appropriate for their individual circumstances.

With respect to implementing policies on student masking, that discretion persists even if [Executive Order] 2s masking exemption provisions are unlawful, the court said.

The high courts interpretation of the state law appears consistent with that of DiMatteo, who made clear during oral arguments last week that she does not consider the state law a mandate for universal masking.

However, the Arlington judge said in her opinion on Friday that the law and the constitutional provision that gives school boards power to supervise public schools override Youngkins authority to issue an executive order that would supersede them.

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, DiMatteo wrote. On this pivotal point, the court concludes that the governor cannot.

What remains unclear from her opinion is how it applies to school divisions that were not part of the lawsuit, especially those that ended their requirements of universal masking after Youngkin issued the executive order.

Those includes school boards in Chesterfield and Hanover County, as well as Chesapeakewhich lifted its requirement after the parents filed suit to challenge the governors order.

The Hanover board approved a policy making masks optional on Jan. 24 and it took effect a week later on Jan. 31. The Chesterfield School Board voted Jan. 25 to give parents a choice on face masks.

Martingayle said his clients are awaiting the judges order to carry out the opinion to determine its scope and application across the state.

But he said, Theres only one opinion in Virginia so far on the legality of Executive Order Two: It came out of Arlington and the [attorney general] lost.

Two other lawsuits are pending over the executive order, one filed in federal court by the ACLU to challenge the governors action because of its effect on families with disabled children and the other by Loudoun County parents over the school boards refusal to comply with the governors order.
Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 80F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The Azerbaijani armys rocket and artillery units are conducting new drills under the 2022 training plan, the Defence Ministry has reported.

Rocket and artillery units, having left the points of permanent deployment on an alarm signal, moved along the planned routes and took firing positions, the ministry said in a statement published on its website.

The drills are aimed at improving the commanding staff's quick decision-making abilities, drawing on combat experience gained during the 44th war with Armenia in 2020.

The drills are also intended to advance personnel's fire control abilities in interaction with other types of troops, as well as to develop their other practical skills, according to the ministry.

Azerbaijan periodically holds drills to improve its military personnels combat readiness.

The drills also aim to improve interaction and combat coordination between the servicemen during operations, as well as to develop commanders' military decision-making and unit management skills.

Azerbaijan and Armenia entered the second war after that latter started firing at Azerbaijani civilians and military positions starting September 27, 2020. The war ended on November 10 with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres and historic Shusha city. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.




Roughly 1 in 5 Iowa Guard members not vaccinated

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 l Guard members is not vaccinated, an Iowa National Guard spokeswoman said Friday.

Austins letter, dated January 27, was in response to a December 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. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/IF11816.pdf

In Austins response to Reynolds and the other governors, Austin 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.

To ensure that we maintain a healthy and ready military force capable of accomplishing our mission to defend this Nation and to protect the American people, vaccination against COVID-19 is an essential military readiness requirement for all components and units of the military, including the Iowa National Guard, Austin wrote.

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 still 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 December 2 to become vaccinated. The deadline for the Iowa Army National Guard is June 30.

REYNOLDS RESPONSE

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. MILITARY

The 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 percent 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.
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded $25 million to eight groups to test wave energy technologies at Oregon State Universitys PacWave South facility near Newport.

PacWave will be the first commercial-scale, grid-connected wave energy testing site in the country.

The goal is to produce renewable energy from ocean waves, and the funding will focus on wave energy converter designs in geographically remote areas or on small grids.

"Full-scale testing at PacWave is sure to accelerate development even more, assuring that wave energy conversion devices are effective and efficient at harnessing the power of Oregons majestic waves with minimal adverse environmental impacts," Tuba Ozkan-Haller, acting dean and professor in OSUs College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, said in a statement.

While OSU is not one of the recipients, Portland State University is, receiving $4.5 million. The University of Washington will receive $1.3 million. The other funding recipients are in California, Seattle, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Construction on the $80 million facility began in June 2021 about 7 miles offshore. It should be operational in 2023, with testing anticipated to begin the following year.

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The sale of failed Brazilian operator Oi hit a major stumbling block as Brazils telecoms regulator was reportedly told to halt the operators asset sale to rivals Claro Brasil, Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) and TIM Brasil.

Local news outlet O Globo reported telecoms regulator Anatel will review its approval of the BRL16.5 billion ($3.14 billion) deal, which it only greenlit last week. The change in face reportedly stemmed from a challenge by Copel Telecom.

Reuters reported, in a filing Copel Telecom raised to the telecoms regulator that Anatel board member Emmanoel Campelo did not chair the two meetings to approve the deal, rendering the regulators decision illegal.

Copel Telecom said this was the view stated by Anatels own legal team when it was consulted. Brazils prosecutors office recommended the countrys antitrust regulator Cade move to block the deal.

Anatel said in a statement: Until there is a final decision on the case, all the acts carried out by Anatel are presumed to be legal and remain valid.

The saga of Ois sale has rumbled on since 2016 when the company filed for bankruptcy and had since looked for buyers of its assets. Claro Brasil, Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) and TIM Brasil partnered in 2020 to scoop up its struggling rival's assets to improve their own respective networks.
Quantum Switch Tamasuk (QST), a Saudi company specialising in the design, build, financing and operation of data centres, has signed a key business principle agreement with the kingdoms Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to develop and operate new data centres with a total capacity of 300MW by 2026.

QST says its data centres will be designed and built to meet the demands of hyperscale cloud service providers, international gaming and media platforms and global content delivery networks, with a view to attracting them to locate their main regional hubs in the kingdom.

In addition, the data centres will host government digital infrastructure development initiatives, including the Saudi Internet Exchange Point scheme. They will also be centres for co-location of Saudi Arabian government workloads. It is expected that preferential rates for Saudi Arabian-owned start-ups will benefit from hosting and colocation services at the new sites  further stimulating innovation in the kingdoms digital economy.

QST has committed to at least one third of these new roles being filled by Saudi Arabian nationals and will create dedicated training and skills development plans. Local contractors and suppliers will be used for construction wherever possible.

The new sites will feature the latest designs to minimise cooling requirements. MCIT will work with QST to develop and secure sources of renewable energy to further enhance sustainability. Both parties are actively evaluating the feasibility of connecting solar PV facilities to the data centres.

QST already has significant investments in the Kingdom; two data centre campus facilities are already under construction.

As we mentioned last week, activity in the data centre sector seems to be ramping up in Saudi Arabia, where QST is just one of a number of internal and external investors that have announced big plans.
By Trend

Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu is in Azerbaijan on a working visit, which will last from February 8 to 10, Trend reports via the ministry.

According to the ministry, the visit has been organized at the invitation of the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

"The purpose of the visit is to strengthen cooperation between Azerbaijan and Moldova in the trade, economic, investment and energy sectors in the context of the Southern Gas Corridors strategic importance," added the ministry.
Moscow, ID (83843)

Today

Cloudy skies. Morning high of 55F with temps falling to near 45. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy. Low near 40F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
When Child and Family Services opened its doors in 1992, the clinicians focused on offering a variety of mental health services to the Wiregrass.

Over the past 30 years, the practice has added new psychologists and counselors to its team and expanded services to include occupational and speech therapy. With all those changes, the practice has decided to adopt a new name to reaffirm its commitment to mental health and the therapeutic needs of the community.

Child and Family Services is now Milestones Psychology and Therapy.

In adopting Milestones Psychology and Therapy as the face of our practice, we are reflecting our continuum of services across disciplines and across the lifespan, licensed psychologist Melanie K. Cotter, Ph.D., said. Milestones means A notable event marking a significant change in the development of a person so the name seemed fitting because we want to be a part of the journey to positive, sustainable change. It also mirrors our commitment to growth and excellence in serving the needs of our clients. The Milestones brand is a great 30th birthday present to reflect the present picture of our practice.

Today, between COVID culture and recent stories of athletes, celebrities and even political leaders struggles with mental health, much attention has been focused on mental health awareness and treatment. A long overdue public conversation about the importance of mental health has gathered momentum.

COVID has really brought to light how fragile mental health can be, founding partner Richard Dismukes, a licensed professional counselor and supervising counselor, said. We are collectively going through a very complicated time together and we need one another more than ever. I think ultimately, we want to help people navigate these challenging times, and also empower them for a lifetime of resilience and success.

Milestones has four clinical psychologists, nine counselors, six speech therapists, two occupational therapists and one social worker in one location in the medical park near Flowers Hospital. Just like the diverse community they serve, their team is composed of all kinds of people. From young professionals to parents and grandparents, Milestones has a rich resume of professionalism plus life experiences.

In addition, the practice is also community-connected with specialists active in the Wiregrass, providing education, in-school services and training. Milestones is also the supporting agency for Chrysalis Home for Girls, a non-profit group home for girls in the Wiregrass who need protection from mistreatment or abuse. The program coordinates trained specialists who assist the girls in their journey back to physical and emotional health in a nurturing and therapeutic environment. Milestones Kristyn Rouse, licensed professional counselor, serves as Chrysaliss Executive Director and Toni Cannon, a licensed professional counselor, serves as clinical director.

For more information, visit milestoneshealth.com or on Facebook as Milestones Psychology and Therapy and Instagram as Milestones Psychology Therapy. They can also be reached at 334-793-2237 or contactus@milestoneshealth.com.
MOBILEA 9-year-old Alabama girl has been charged with assault in relation to her younger brothers death after authorities say she beat him with a broomstick.

The Mobile County District Attorneys Office confirmed the charge Monday, news outlets reported. Officers said they reported to a home in Mobile on Thursday and found the 4-year-old unresponsive upon arrival. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Court records show that Yolanda Coale, the boys aunt and legal guardian, said she woke up that morning to the sound of the children screaming. She said she found the girl hitting her brother with a broom. The documents say the girl did willfully torture, willfully abuse and cruelly beat the boy, according to WPMI-TV.

Coale, 53, was arrested last week on an aggravated child abuse charge and her bond was set at $150,000. It wasnt immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.

The court records show the boy had other bruises on his body and that while its unclear how he received them, they indicated long-term abuse. An autopsy will determine the childs cause of death.
Over 90 pct of Samsung, Intel workers return to work after Tet

Workers seen at a metal tools factory in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City on February 7, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/An Phuong

Major factories in Ho Chi Minh City reported over 90 percent of employees returning to work after the nine-day Tet holiday, abating employer concerns of a labor shortage.

Some factories with high return rates are Samsung electronics manufacturer HCMC CE Complex (95 percent) and motor parts maker Nidec Sankyo (94 percent). Other manufacturers like Intel and Jabil also reported a return rate of over 90 percent.

Eight factories in Saigon Hi-tech Park of Thu Duc City, which utilize over 45,000 employees, reported between 80 percent and 95 percent of workers returning to work Tuesday after the annual Lunar New Years holiday Tet, according to park data.

Over 17 industrial zones and manufacturing areas where 273,000 employees work posted a return of 82 percent.

The high return rate is considered a relief to HCMC employers who, before the holiday, had expected a shortage of workers after Tet as many preferred to stay in their hometown.

Tet, Vietnam's biggest national holiday, is a time when workers of large industrial parks leave en masse for their hometowns for family renuions.

Some factories of Vinatex, one of the biggest garment companies in Vietnam, posted a worker return rate of 100 percent as the company started off the year three days before the holiday ended to meet the surge in order numbers.

Pou Yuen, footwear maker and biggest employer in HCMC, is expected to see its return ratio rising from 64 percent Monday to 90 percent Wednesday.
Ninth graders at Nguyen Tri Phuong Secondary School in Hanoi are in class on February 8, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

Around 17.1 million students have returned to school after the Tet holidays, including 600,000 middle and high school students in Hanoi who resumed classes on Tuesday after 10 months.

The Hanoi middle and high school students, except those in sixth grade, were back after spending 10 months at home studying online.

For most, it was the first opportunity to meet friends and teachers since May last year, when the fourth Covid-19 wave hit.

Schools have in place safety measures like temperature checks at the gate and practiced actions to be taken in the event of infection.

All over the country, high school students returned to classes after Tet, while 57 out of 63 localities have also reopened middle schools.

In both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, sixth graders and primary school and kindergarten students have yet to return to school.

They are expected to return next week in HCMC, on February 10 on the outskirts of Hanoi and February 21 in downtown districts.

Pham Quang Hung, head of the Ministry of Education and Training's international cooperation department, said reopening schools is inevitable since the vaccine rate is high now.

By mid-January two-thirds of countries in the Asia-Pacific had completely reopened schools, while the rest reopened partially, he said.

"Many countries encourage unvaccinated students to return to school. Japan and Singapore increased surveillance [of students] for symptoms, while Canada and the U.S. require Covid-19 testing results."

In Vietnam, most people aged 12 and above have received two shots of Covid vaccines.

The Ministry of Health is buying more doses to immunize children aged 5-12, and recommends that everyone should be vaccinated.
Passengers arrive at the airport as the Taiwanese government announced a ban for most foreigners entering the island, as part of preventive measures against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), at Taoyuan International airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, March 18, 2020. Photo by Reuters/Ann Wang

Taiwan will reopen its borders to foreign workers from four Southeast Asian nations, including Vietnam, from this month.

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) of Taiwan's National Health Command Center announced Monday that employers may bring in foreign workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam starting Feb. 15, as the second phase of a special program that allows foreign workers to enter Taiwan after a period of Covid border closures.

As regulated, migrant workers must be fully vaccinated with two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine in the country of origin before entry into Taiwan.

After arriving in Taiwan, their employers can arrange for them to stay at a hotel to complete quarantine and self-health management; both foreign workers and employers must abide by related epidemic prevention rules and guidelines, according to the CECC.

Taiwan banned the entry of all foreign nationals without residency, including migrant workers, last May following a spike in Covid-19 cases.

As many as 134,482 of the 147,387 Vietnamese workers who went abroad in 2019 were hired in Japan and Taiwan, according to the Overseas Labor Department.

It revealed Japan remained the largest market for Vietnamese labor with more than 80,000 going in 2019, followed by Taiwan with 54,480 workers.
People swim at a beach in Da Nang City, July 10, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong

Authorities in Da Nang City, a popular tourism hub in central Vietnam, plan to resume all flight routes and tourism activities next month to boost economic recovery.

City Chairman Le Trung Chinh told a meeting Tuesday the number of tourists to Da Nang during the Tet holiday break increased by 17 percent year-on-year, a positive sign.

Despite severe pandemic impacts, major travel firms like Nui Than Tai Hot Springs Park and Sun World Ba Na Hills have invested in new tourism products to serve visitors, he said.

On Jan. 1, Vietnam allowed regular return flights to the U.S. and eight Asian destinations to resume in the first phase of a program to revive international travelers.

Currently, Da Nang is not connected to the U.S. and has not yet resumed commercial flights to the Asian destinations.

Da Nang is one of seven localities that fully vaccinated foreign tourists are allowed to visit under the vaccine passport trial program, the others being Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Quang Nam, and Quang Ninh provinces and Ho Chi Minh City.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked government units to prepare to fully reopen the borders soon, ideally by the end of March.

Da Nang received 1.17 million domestic tourists last year, down 55.8 percent from 2019.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Baku has urged the international community to put pressure on Yerevan to fulfill its obligations regarding the fate of Azerbaijani citizens who went missing during the first Karabakh war (1988-1994).

In a statement published on its website on February 8, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said: We call on the international community to put pressure on the Armenian side to take responsibility for clarifying the fate of the missing Azerbaijani citizens, the bloody legacy of the first Armenian-Azerbaijani war, and to demand that it fulfills its obligations.

The ministry recalled that in exchange for the return of eight Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan, Armenia promised to provide information on Azerbaijani citizens missing in the first war and their mass graves.

However, the statement made by Yerevan on February 7 about Armenia's non-commitment regarding the abovementioned issue should be regarded as the most extreme example of disrespect for the norms of international humanitarian law and the principle of humanism, the ministry stressed.

It was recalled that, under the 1949 Geneva Convention and its relevant protocols, as well as general international humanitarian law, Armenia is required to provide information on civilian and military Azerbaijani citizens (who were systematically killed by Armenian armed forces) and the location of their mass graves.

The ministry emphasized that humanitarian issues were one of the main topics of the videoconference held on February 4 at the French president's initiative. The meeting was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

During the meeting, Aliyev underlined that Armenia had to provide information about the mass graves of 3,890 missing Azerbaijani citizens (including 71 children, 267 women and 326 elderly people). The presidents of France and the European Union Council both supported this issue.

Armenia, which is responsible for determining the fate of about 4,000 missing Azerbaijani citizens, promised to cooperate in this matter.

The ministry stated that Armenia's denial of its international humanitarian obligations, as well as promises made during the video conference on February 4, is completely outside the moral, ethical, and legal framework in light of Azerbaijan's discovery and return of the bodies of 1,708 Armenian servicemen.

Furthermore, Armenias mass arrest and persecution of its military servicemen, who were returned by Azerbaijan as a sign of humanism, should be viewed as a special state "care" for its citizens, the ministry added.

It should be noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has created a DNA database of over 3,000 people based on DNA samples collected from missing persons' families.

The fate of Azerbaijani citizens who have been missing for approximately 30 years can be clarified as a result of testing of the remains to be removed from mass graves (based on information provided by Armenia), the ministry concluded.
Burkina Faso's army seized control of the country on January 24, deposing President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, dissolving the government and parliament, suspending the constitution, and sealing off the nations borders.

The coup was announced on state television by Captain Sidsore Kader Ouedraogo, who said the military had seized power in response to the "ongoing degradation of the security situation" in the country and the purported "incapacity of the government" to unify the population.

Senior military officer Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba was introduced as Burkina Fasos new leader.

In response, the African Union announced, via tweet on January 31, the suspension of Burkina Faso until constitutional order is restored in the West African country.

A few days earlier, the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, suspended Burkina Faso, making it the third nation in the regional bloc  after Mali and Guinea  to be held accountable for military takeovers in a year-and-a-half. The suspensions mean the countries cannot participate in any meetings or decision-making, according to officials.

The United States supports the actions announced by the African Union and ECOWAS in defense of democracy and in support of the rule of law in Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso has been plagued with violence linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda that has killed thousands and displaced 1.5 million people, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. At least 50 security forces were killed in December in the Sahel.

The United States is sympathetic to the plight of the Burkinabe people and security forces, and shares the concerns African leaders articulated, chiefly the suspension of the constitution and the removal of the democratically elected president and national assembly. While some elements of the constitution may have been restored, extraconstitutional seizures of power erode the legitimacy of governance and limit the ability of the United States and other international partners to help the country advance peace and security.

The United States underscores ECOWASs call for the release of President Kabore and other members of the government who are unjustly detained and for the swift return to constitutional order in Burkina Faso.
The Russia-orchestrated crisis at the Ukrainian border has made one thing clear: At its core, its about Russias rejection of a post-Cold War Europe that is whole, free, and at peace, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a recent speech in Berlin, Germany.



Time after time, Russia has violated treaties and agreements to which it is a signatory, principles that have kept the peace for decades.



Those principles, said Secretary Blinken, reject the right of one country to change the borders of another by force; to dictate to another the policies it pursues or the choices it makes, including with whom to associate; or to exert a sphere of influence that would subjugate sovereign neighbors to its will.



To allow Russia to violate those principles with impunity would drag us all back to a much more dangerous and unstable time, when this continent and this city were divided in two, separated by no mans lands, patrolled by soldiers, with the threat of all-out war hanging over everyones heads.



Russia signed the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, which established 10 guiding principles ensuring the sovereignty of independent countries. Russia has violated every one of those principles.



Russia remains obligated to the Vienna Document, a politically-binding agreement intended to increase transparency and predictability about military activities, including military exercises. Russia selectively follows those provisions.



In signing the Budapest Memorandum, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom committed to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine and to refrain from the threat or use of force against the country. Quite obviously, Russia has chosen to ignore this agreement.



If Russia invades and occupies Ukraine, whats next? asks Secretary Blinken.



Russias efforts to turn its neighbors into puppet states, to control their activities, to crack down on any spark of democratic expression will intensify. Once the principles of sovereignty and self-determination are thrown out, you revert to a world in which the rules we shaped together over decades erode and then vanish.



One country has repeatedly gone back on its commitments and ignored the very rules it agreed to despite others working hard to bring it along at every step. That country is Russia, said Secretary Blinken. This is bigger than a conflict between two countries. Its bigger than Russia and NATO. Its a crisis with global consequences, and it requires global attention and action.
Remember when Star Trek first described a cloaking device? It was an enemy technology of Romulan origin that supposedly could generate an energy screen to render a target object  usually a spacecraft  relatively invisible to sensors. The viewing screen on the Enterprise, the front main flat panel that Kirk sat in front of, only displayed empty space to the surprised crew.

From that 1966 episode, The Balance of Terror to now, the science of invisibility has captured the imaginations of everyone from screenwriters to physicists. One of the originals, The Invisible Man, by H. G. Wells, describes scientist Jack Griffin, who in 1897 has devoted himself to research the field of optics and who invents a way to change a bodys refractive index to that of air so it will neither absorb nor reflect light. Unfortunately, there is opium in the secret formula he invents, making him go crazy in the end.

Whimsical you may say. A science fiction story at best. But what is the possibility that the United States Pentagon has spent millions on such programs in an effort to bend light (and microwaves) around aircraft or battlefield objects? It is and continues to be a growing field in science, the ability to bend light using materials other than optical glass.

This technology moved closer to fruition this month after a research team led by Professor Junsuk Rho from the Department of Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology in Gyeongbuk, Korea, developed a super lens system based on a vertical hyperbolic metamaterial that exhibits a negative refractive index. By using a newly created metamaterial he can control the path of light and use negative refraction to achieve optical feats natural materials cannot.

Besides cloaking, if negative refraction occurs over the entire visible spectrum you can make a super high-resolution microscope that can magnify images past the Abbe diffraction limit, the point where optical microscopes stop magnifying. This boundary, named after the German scientist who first discovered it in 1873, explains why visible spectrum microscopes cannot resolve anything smaller than about 0.25 microns effectively, saying: you can see cells with a microscope but not viruses.

What is a metamaterial? You will see this name in the news this year and it is any material engineered to have a property that is not found in naturally occurring substances. They are essentially manmade and can offer incredible new properties never seen before. They are usually made from assemblies of multiple elements fashioned from composite matter such as metals and plastics. The materials are usually set in repeating patterns, at scales that are smaller than the wavelengths of the phenomena they influence.

Metamaterials get their strange abilities from the repeated arrangement of their base and can manipulate incoming electromagnetic rays. With a metamaterial you can easily block, absorb, enhance, or bend the waves to achieve benefits that go beyond what is possible with conventional optical materials. If the hull of as ship could be coated with such material light rays would just pass around.

Using artificial materials for manipulating electromagnetic waves is not new. Some of the first ideas were detailed by the microwave pioneer Jagadish Bose, who in 1898 researched substances with optically active properties to make antennas, polarizers, and waveguides, forcing the beams to bend where he wanted them to. In the 1940s after the military application of radar, scientists at AT&T started developing materials with repeated patterns for lightweight microwave antennas.

Negative-index materials were first described theoretically by the Russian physicist Victor Veselago in 1967. His equations revealed that such materials could transmit light and the real break-through with cloaking devices came in 2006 when physicists from Duke University announced they had built the worlds first invisibility cloak using metamaterials. Using a matrix of metal wires and loops on the nanoscale they were able to control and bend the path of electromagnetic radiation around an object. Unfortunately, the technology only worked in two dimensions and only with microwaves but it was a start. Not long after that David Smith, an American physicist, discovered the first material that exhibited a negative index of refraction, but again, only in the microwave spectrum.

Most optical metamaterials are fabricated using horizontal layers of metal and insulator. This periodicity interacts with the incoming EM waves to bend them because there is an effective permeability and permittivity due to the multiple layers adding and subtracting wave amplitudes, somewhat akin to Braggs Law of diffraction for X-Rays. Typically the layers are made by depositing gold and copolymer resist layers on the order of 100 nanometers thick using standard semiconductor processing techniques.

So the goal of making a cloaking device got a little closer when Dr. Rho and his team describe in their report in Nanophotonics that for the first time in 50 years, the observation of negative refraction across the entire visible spectrum was achieved because if you are going to cloak, you need to have all of the colors. As a side benefit, they said, by using a vertical version of a metamaterial, instead of horizontal, the actual colors of viruses and bacteria can be viewed, which were previously only available in black and white photographs from electron microscopes.

Gary Hanington is Professor Emeritus of physical science at Great Basin College and Vice President of Engineering at AHV. He can be reached at garyh@ahv.com or gary.hanington@gbcnv.edu.

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Watering the West is the trademark for Elko-based Boss Tanks, which does indeed do business in Western states, with customers ranging from ranches, federal and state agencies, and mining operations to geothermal drilling outfits.

We are pretty adaptable to what people need, said Bob Cleveland, co-owner of Boss Tanks with Matt Anderson.

Boss Tanks provides potable water, delivering water boxes to a site and returning with potable water, and then refilling the boxes on a regular basis. The company also sells made-to-order tanks, such as large, polyethylene, heated tanks that a mine might use for cyanide solution or an acid solution.

It depends on what a mine needs, Cleveland said.

He pointed out that the big mining operations deal mainly with contract suppliers on a large scale, but sometimes they need Boss Tanks, whether it be a small operation or a large mine. Contractors at the mines also call on Boss Tanks.

We have a long history of working with the mines and the same with government agencies. We can be a bit of a Band-Aid to get them through a rough spot, he said. We want to keep our customers coming back, and one of the things that makes a difference is that we know our products. We know how to use them and how to install them.

Mining companies that own ranches, such as Nevada Gold Mines and Kinross Gold Corp., also may need water tanks, troughs, wildlife guzzlers, culverts or fencing from Boss Tanks.

The companys patented wildlife guzzler is well-known, and the Boss Tanks website explains that guzzlers are custom watering systems utilized throughout the West by government agencies, ranchers, farmers and environmental groups that are high-density cross-linked polyethylene water catchment tanks that are strong and provide superior longevity in field situations.

We do quite a lot with the mine rancheswater tanks, typically for stock water, and also we do pipeline and develop springs to run to storage tanks or troughs, Cleveland said. Besides tanks, we sell fencing, gates and livestock equipment, culverts and cattle guards.

Boss Tanks has tanks from as small as 25 gallons all the way up to 35,000 gallons, and the company has vehicles to deliver any size tank.

Cleveland said should a customer need potable water, Boss Tanks has a 5,600-gallon tank that is transported with a semi-truck and tanker trailer. The tank, or water box, is brought to a site empty, and then Boss Tanks gets water out of a municipal system with a tanker and we run out to the mine and fill the water box.

The customer would rent the water box, and Boss Tanks can monitor the water level and keep the water box full, if that is what the customer wants.

We are licensed with the state for potable water, Cleveland said. The mines know we have potable water.

Government agencies that Boss Tanks helps include the Nevada Department of Transportation, the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Boss Tanks is a regional company. It sells wildlife guzzlers to customers in Nevada, Washington State, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, and California.

We own the mold and patents, but they are made in California, Cleveland said.

Boss Tanks does not, however, install fencing, because the company is not licensed as a contractor and would rather leave the installation up to those in that business, Cleveland said. Boss Tanks supplies the fencing.

The company also supplies pumps, motors and controls for pumping water and sells to local well contractors. The option of solar power for the pumps is also available.

We sell solar systems for residential and livestock wells. Our partner, Sun Solutions (Justin French), does the designs and installs, Cleveland said.

Boss Tanks opened for business in 1996, with Joe Cumming and Anderson as the original owners, until Anderson bought out Cumming in 2008. Cleveland said he has been at Boss Tanks for five years, after working in the mining industry. His wife Tonya is the office manager.

Its grown. I have been here five years, and it has grown consistently the last five years, but there was a rough patch around 2008, Cleveland said.

The company has six full-time employees and one part-time employee.

Everybody is pretty darn busy, Cleveland said.

Boss Tanks has a large shop, an office building and roughly 10 acres of yard space, where cattle guards, culverts and tanks are stored on racks.

Weve been on East Idaho the whole time, just out further east, Cleveland said.

The volume of sales in different products varies, he said. In a very dry year, Boss Tanks sells a lot of water troughs. In a wet year, it sells more culverts and headgates.

Our goal is like everyone elses  to continue to grow and support whoever we can support, but we dont draw targets on the board. We try to do the best we can on every individual sale, Cleveland said.

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The Supreme Court has ruled that Alabama can implement a Republican-backed map of the states congressional districts despite a lower federal court previously finding that the proposals are likely to discriminate against Black residents.

The ruling was delivered on Monday after a 5-4 decision which saw five of the Courts six conservative justices vote to allow the redrawn map to stand. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and the three liberal justices dissented.

The ruling represents a major victory for the Republicans ahead of the mid-term elections on 8 November, allowing them to gerrymander the state map with just one majority-Black congressional district. In the 2020 presidential election the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, won 92% of the Black vote nationally.

The Republicans are confident of breaking up the Democrats unified control in Washington later this year and believe that both Houses of Congress are within reach. The Democrats currently hold a ten-seat majority in the House of Representatives, meaning that the GOP would need to flip just six of the 435 districts to retake the House.

Supreme Court blocks racial discrimination ruling

On 24 January three federal judges in the state of Alabama ordered state legislators to redraw their proposed congressional map, asking them to ensure that at least two of the states seven districts are likely to elect Black representatives.

The state has a Black population of 27% and the federal court ruled that the proposed map threatened to minimise their voices, violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act which protects against racial discrimination.

In their ruling, the three-person panel argued that the proposed map meant that Black voters have less opportunity than other Alabamians to elect candidates of their choice to Congress.

However in todays decision a majority of the Supreme Court justices agreed that federal courts should not become involved in disputes about states voting practices unless strictly necessary. For now the Supreme Court has simply allowed the states district map to be implemented while they wait to hear arguments on the case in the future.

When an election is close at hand, the rules of the road must be clear and settled, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who voted to reinstate the gerrymandered district map, wrote. Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties and voters, among others.

However the liberal Justice Elena Kagan argued that the Supreme Courts decision to allow the Alabama district map to stand "forces Black Alabamians to suffer what under that law is clear vote dilution."

This case of one of dozens of ongoing legal challenges to electoral districting maps, which could well be a deciding factor in who controls Congress as the mid-terms in November.
Illustrative image (Photo: https://doanhnghiepkinhtexanh.vn/)



The ministry reported that the import-export value of Laos hit 13 billion USD last year, excluding the revenue from electricity exports. The Southeast Asian nation earned 7 billion from exports, while spending about 6 billion USD on imports.



Major exports of Laos included gold ore and bullion, paper and paper products, wood pulp and paper scraps, rubber, cassava, iron ore, banana, garments, electrical appliances, fertilizers, and footwear.



China was one of the five biggest export markets of Laos with value totaling 2.2 billion USD, followed by Thailand (2.1 billion USD), Vietnam (1.2 billion USD), Australia (348 million USD) and Switzerland (116 million USD).



Meanwhile, Lao mainly imported goods from Thailand (3 billion USD), China (1.2 billion USD), Vietnam (499 million USD), the US (250 million USD), and Japan (148 million USD)./.


MOSCOW, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin met with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday to discuss the Ukrainian crisis and the security issue in Europe.

The meeting was businesslike and useful, Putin said at a joint press conference with Macron following their hours-long talks in the Kremlin.

Russia's core concerns on security were ignored by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while the military alliance attempts to lecture Russia on where and how to place its armed forces, Putin said.

He told Macron that Kiev refuses to comply with the 2015 Minsk agreements on a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian issue and even aims to dismantle the deals.

Putin reiterated Russia's opposition to NATO's eastwards expansion.

During the briefing, Macron said that he believes there is still opportunity to find a peaceful path for Europe, where new mechanisms are needed to ensure security and existing pacts should be preserved at the same time.

He said that there is no alternative to a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis and the Minsk agreements remain the basis of it.

As for Moscow-proposed security guarantees between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO, Macron said that negotiations should continue, although it won't be easy to reach a consensus.

Putin and Macron agreed to talk over phone after the latter's visit to Kiev on Tuesday. 

Editor: ZAD
-- Rated as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the Siberian white crane only numbers around 4,000 globally, with just a single migrating route left for them on the planet.

-- Chinese researchers first discovered the Siberian white cranes in Poyang Lake in 1980. Now, about 98 percent of such cranes spend their winter in Poyang Lake.

-- In December 2021, China's Jiangxi Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve Administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strategic cooperation with Russia's Kytalyk National Park for better protecting and monitoring the birds.

NANCHANG/MOSCOW, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Trofimova Iuliia could not help humming the Russian song "Cranes Flock" when she saw Siberian white cranes dancing less than 20 meters away by Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake.

The Russian student studying in East China Jiaotong University, Jiangxi Province, is from Siberia, where about 70 percent of such cranes start their migrating journey from the Kytalyk National Park to China.

Undated photo shows Siberian white cranes at the Five Stars Sanctuary by the Poyang Lake in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua)

DRAMATIC CHANGES ON MIGRATING ROUTE

"Like Siberian cranes, I flew from Russia to Jiangxi over 5,000 km. They came to survive the winter and I came to study," said Iuliia.

Rated as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the Siberian white crane, also known as the snow crane, only numbers around 4,000 globally, with just a single migrating route left for them on the planet.

"The Siberian white crane is alert by nature. If it has been disturbed in one place, it will never go there again," said Guo Yumin, an expert on crane protection at Beijing Forestry University.

According to Guo, Chinese researchers first discovered the Siberian white cranes in Poyang Lake in 1980. Now, about 98 percent of such cranes spend their winter in Poyang Lake.

Photo taken on Dec. 4, 2021 shows a view of the Wucheng Township of Yongxiu County, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua)

In the Wucheng Township of Jiangxi, the crane images and other elements can be found everywhere, even on the telegraph poles along the main road.

Min Rui, head of the Wucheng Township, said the town is a popular bird-watching spot, but for decades, villagers lived on fishing, competing with migratory birds for food.

Min said that the town has attracted investment worth some 1.2 billion yuan (about 190 million U.S. dollars) with the bird-watching development mode.

Gan Huabin, 48, used to live on an islet in Poyang Lake as a fisherman. Now, he runs a restaurant in Wucheng.

The local government gave Gan a discount loan of 100,000 yuan to help him find other businesses instead of fishing.

"After paying off the loan, I borrowed more to expand the restaurant. My brother who worked outside the hometown also plans to come back and participate in the tourism industry," said Gan.

More than 1,500 people in the town are now engaged in tourism and catering businesses that are related to bird watching, striking a balance between economic development and ecological protection.

Photo taken on Dec. 24, 2017 shows Siberian white cranes at the Five Stars Sanctuary by the Poyang Lake in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua)

CHINA-RUSSIA COOPERATION

From Russia to China, and then back to Russia, the rare birds have received full attention from the authorities of the two countries, and their last migrating route is well protected.

On the river-laced south shore of Poyang Lake, more than 1,000 Siberian cranes are foraging in the Five Stars Sanctuary, where they can find enough food even in winter.

"It's amazing, I've never seen real Siberian white cranes in my life. They don't seem to be afraid of people at all," said Iuliia.

In 2017, Zhou Haiyan, a shutterbug, together with many bird lovers, launched the "Retaining the Siberian Crane" initiative to build the country's first privately-funded Siberian crane sanctuary that combines the functions of scientific research, education, and photography.

Zhou has been dubbed by Russian media as the "Chinese mother of Siberian cranes."

Zhou Haiyan (R), founder of the Five Stars Sanctuary, talks to a Russian student Trofimova Iuliia at the Five Stars Sanctuary in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 23, 2022. (Xinhua)

Reputed as "man's closest place to Siberian cranes," the sanctuary usually attracts thousands of cranes during the peak period.

"China and Russia have been strengthening the protection mechanism for Siberian cranes," said Xu Zhiwen, head of the Jiangxi Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve Administration, adding that the administration in December signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strategic cooperation with Russia's Kytalyk National Park for better protecting and monitoring the birds.

According to Maria Vladimirtseva, a senior research fellow at the Russian park, the 1.8-million-hectare park is home to about 70 percent of the world's Siberian crane population.

"Migration is a very difficult and critical time in the life of crane birds, during which they face many dangers, especially for young birds," said Vladimirtseva. "During this process, the Russian and Chinese staff communicated with each other every day, informing each other of all the movements of the cranes on the flight path."

"The signing of the MoU allows us to make more efforts with Chinese colleagues. It is very important to make population statistics, and such work is relatively convenient in Poyang Lake, but impossible on the frozen ground," said Sergei Sleptsov, a research fellow at the Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Vladimirtseva also noted that the MoU will help continue to optimize the cooperation on the protection of white cranes and other migratory birds in a more efficient way.

"The birds know first whether the ecology is good or not," said Dai Nianhua, a researcher at the Jiangxi Academy of Sciences. "They are like 'ecological test paper' for the environment, and China and Russia have managed to expand and improve their habitats."

Editor: WXL
Vadym Crib, Chairman of the Board of Directors and founder of the TEKT Investment Company, Ph.D. (Economics)

Being a private investor, I am extremely worried and disappointed at the processes for selecting and appointing directors of state-operated defense companies. Despite the launch of a reform at Ukroboronprom, a transparent procedure for selecting candidates for top management positions has not been put in place so far. As follows from the register of contracts made with top managers in the public sector that was published on February 1, 2022, directors of 16 out of 97 Group companies were appointed by a resolution passed by Yuriy Husyev, CEO of Ukroboronprom, at his sole discretion; a competition was announced at the further eight companies, which, however, resulted in the appointment of only two directors, and the results of other competitions have not been made public so far. Employment contracts with the directors of other 16 companies ended in Q4 2021, but these positions have not been advertised yet. Detailed information about all companies is set out in the table below.

To be fair, I admit that the representatives of the G7 diplomatic missions and independent anti-corruption NGOs, such as NAKO and State Watch, have been invited to participate in the selection commission. Everything appears to be fine, but this pretended transparency and openness of the selection process is used to disguise a canning nature and real intentions of the Groups management because Yuriy Husyev has the last word while opinions of independent experts are disregarded. The thing is that completions are announced, and leading specialist are invited only to create the appearance of an honest approach to the selection of the directors. The real aim is to appoint loyal directors of state-operated defense companies before the liquidation of Ukroboronprom and thus secure an opportunity for getting unrestricted control over state-owned assets. In fact, the manipulations of the management appointment process are visible to the naked eye as completions have been announced only at those companies that were involved in the numerous media scandals, while directors of all other companies have been appointed personally by Yuriy Husyev.

It is this unacceptable behavior of the Groups management during the selection and appointment of directors of defense companies that pushed me as a private investor into action. I am preparing a number of complaints in connection with the violation of international corporate governance standards, lack of common sense and logic, and attempts to pursue personal interests. I will send these complaints to the ambassadors of the G7 states and international organizations.

A completion for the position of the Chairman of the Management Board of the Meridian OJSC makes a vivid example of a non-transparent scheme involved in the selection and appointment of directors. As a result, it is highly likely that the current infamous director who has been holding this position since 2001 and is a person of interest in a number of criminal proceedings will be re-elected to this office for a new term.

The selection process has arrived at its critical juncture: according to my information, the current top manager of the company, V. Protsenko, and V. Hankevych, who is a former director of State Enterprise PLANT 410 CA, entered the second stage of the competition.

Meridian OJSC is a tasty morsel for government bureaucrats as its assets include over 160 thousand sq. meters of buildings and 22.3 ha of land in Kyiv. Moreover, the companys revenues from the manufacture and repair of military equipment in 2020 totaled UAH 25.7 million, while the value of its assets was UAH 609.8 million, so there is no chance of production performance. This is why the company was allocated to the restructuring category during the reform of the Group, which means that all its assets not involved in the manufacture and repair of military equipment will be sold.

Who is running for director of the state-operated defense company?

Viacheslav Protsenko, a current director of the company who tarnished his reputation by cooperating with sham companies and funneling at least UAH 50 million; who was involved in a scam with leases, which resulted in monthly losses for the company exceeding UAH 3 million, and is notorious for catastrophic outflow of skilled personnel, as a result of which the company currently has only 100 employees. All the other employees exist on paper only and repay half of their salaries personally to the company director, who also misappropriated a portion of the companys real property and transferred the ownership to his wife. These actions resulted in criminal charges brought against V. Protsenko and enforcement proceedings opened against the company to recover overdue debts.

Victor Hankevych is a former director of State Enterprise PLANT 410 CA, who was involved in numerous media scandals and was a person of interest in criminal proceedings while holding this position. He is remembered by the massive outflow of skilled research and development personnel of the defense plant and funneling of state money through his private companies, which has almost resulted in the failure to perform an aircraft maintenance international contract made with India.

However, neither the selection commission nor Ukroboronprom CEO paid any attention to those facts and declared V. Protsenko and V. Hankevych eligible for participating in the competition. Moreover, Ihor Fomenko, the Chairman of the Commission, who is well aware about the abuse of powers committed by the current director of Meridian OJSC, did not object to his getting into the second round. The worst thing is that the representatives of the G7 diplomatic missions and independent anti-corruption NGOs NAKO and State Watch were among the members of the commission, but their opinions were completely disregarded, as Yuriy Husyev is the one who has the final word.

For information: S. P. Korolev Meridian OJSC is one of the companies operating in the Ukrainian defense sector; the state owns 50 % + 1 share in the company, which is operated by Ukroboronprom State-Operated Enterprise.
Ukraine has contracted imports of 500 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas for February, former head of the board of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev has said.

"For February, as of today, volumes of approximately 500 million cubic meters have been contracted," he told Ukraine 24.

According to him, in general, in order to prepare for the next heating season, Ukraine needs to import up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas in 2022, because the country will come out of the current winter with heavily devastated underground storage facilities.

Kobolev noted that the price of gas for Ukraine in the next non-heating period will depend on the balance of supply and demand in Europe, its consumption by China, the ability of gas producers to provide additional volumes to the market, as well as the "behavior" of Gazprom, which depends on the decisions of the president of the Russian Federation.

"But it's not worth expecting a price of $100-200, it's hardly realistic. Analysts predict prices in the range of $400-600," he added.

Earlier, Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Haluschenko said that NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy plans to import about 300 million cubic meters of gas in February.

Imports of natural gas to Ukraine from the EU in January 2022 decreased by 9.8 times (by 394 million cubic meters) compared to the same period in 2021, to 44.8 million cubic meters.

Imports of natural gas to Ukraine from the EU in 2021 decreased by 6.2 times (by 13.34 billion cubic meters) compared to 2020, to 2.56 billion cubic meters.

As of February 6, 2022, Ukraine has 10.833 billion cubic meters of gas in its UGS facilities. The average daily taking in early February is one third lower than in January.
The powers of Azerbaijan's Media Development Agency (MEDIA) have been expanded as a result of a presidential decree amending the "Charter of the Azerbaijan Media Development Agency".

The following have been added to the agency's authority as a result of the changes:

- upon revealing violations of the requirements of the law "On Media" in the activities of media entities living outside of Azerbaijan, implement measures provided for by international treaties to which Azerbaijan is a party, and the law of Azerbaijan "On Media";

- if this is not provided for by international treaties to which Azerbaijan is a party, resolve issues related to the distribution of the products of foreign print media in the territory of Azerbaijan, permanently residing outside of Azerbaijan;

- in cases stipulated by the law "On Media", issue a warning to print and online media entities, file lawsuits to suspend their activities and distribution of their media products, as well as terminate the activities of these entities;

- form, maintain, manage the media register, control its use and data protection;

- provide consent to change the logo (emblem) of the editorial office of print and online media entered in the media register;

- provide a certificate to media entities included in the media register, and a journalist's certificate - to journalists;

- annually announce a list of important events for the next year, post it on your own official website and update it regularly;

- when a media subject is excluded from the media register, post information about this on his official website;

- if a journalist is excluded from the media register, cancel his journalistic certificate and post information about it on his official website;

- require filing a journalistic certificate.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal discussed defense, energy security and economic issues with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the government portal said.

"Ukraine is consolidating its main international partners as much as possible. We look forward to the continued support of our state and the strong and firm position of Berlin," Shmyhal said.

He noted the importance of countering hybrid threats from Russia and recalled that Nord Stream 2 could be used as an energy weapon against Europe.

Shmyhal said that despite Russian aggression, Ukraine continues to implement reforms and thanked Germany for its support in this direction, in particular in the implementation of the decentralization reform and in facilitating the implementation of projects to transform coal regions.

The Prime Minister also congratulated Germany on the start of the G7 presidency and expressed hope that support for Ukraine would continue. Schmyhal focused on involving German investors to the implementation of joint projects, in particular, in the mining sector.

In conclusion, Shmyhal said that European and Euro-Atlantic integration remain the same course for the government of Ukraine.
Ukraine and France have agreed on delivery of 130 locomotives made by France's ALSTOM Transport SA for a total of EUR 900 million to Ukraine, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"Today, we have finalized the agreements and put into practice the implementation of a very important project for the supply of 130 ALSTOM locomotives for EUR 900 million," he said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday in Kyiv.

He also said that the agreement on the supply of 370 units of Desautel fire and rescue equipment worth EUR 300 million to Ukraine has been finalized.

According to Zelensky, the project to build patrol boats in Mykolaiv for the State Border Guard Service is currently being implemented.

"Ukraine and France will continue to develop cooperation with Airbus regarding the creation of a national air carrier," he said.

As reported, the relevant framework agreements were concluded in May last year.
CEO of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC Oleksandr Kamyshin and CEO of Alstom Henri Poupart-Lafarge have signed a memorandum of understanding.

The signing took place at a press conference of Presidents of Ukraine and France Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Earlier, at this press conference, Zelensky said that on February 8, Ukraine and France finalized the agreements and switched to the practical stage the implementation of the project on the supply of 130 ALSTOM locomotives worth EUR 900 million.

As reported, in May, Ukraine and France signed a framework intergovernmental agreement on financing the supply of 130 heavy-duty electric locomotives worth EUR 900 million for Ukrzaliznytsia by Alstom. The document was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada on July 1, 2021.

Alstom welcomed the ratification of the intergovernmental agreement and said that "the next important step is the signing of commercial agreements in the second half of 2021." This will allow Alstom to start supplying locomotives to the Ukrainian market, which will also include 35% local content associated with the production and maintenance of electric locomotives.

Alstom is one of the world leaders (along with Siemens and Bombardier) in the production of power equipment and railway transport. It operates in more than 70 countries.
Slovakia intends to study the possibility of increasing gas transit to Ukraine, Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok has said.

He said at a joint press conference of the ministers of foreign affairs of Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Austria in Kyiv that he is pleased to inform the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine that last week the operator of gas transit systems in Slovakia temporarily doubled gas transit to Ukraine. Slovakia is ready to analyze the possibility of commercial viability of this project in the future, he said.

Korcok added that Austria recently supported the provision of $1.2 billion of macroeconomic assistance to Ukraine, and is also ready to implement a project to build an emergency medical station in the village of Stanytsia Luhanska (Luhansk region).

According to the Slovak foreign minister, the pro-European choice of Ukraine cannot be a threat to third countries, in particular, the Russian Federation.

He said that Ukraine has a free choice regarding the western direction, and this does not threaten anyone. It is absolutely not logical that the free choice of one democratic country is considered a threat to other countries, he said.

Regarding the principles of the indivisibility of security, which is at the center of the discussion, he added that this principle cannot contradict the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty, and this leads to the fact that we maintain a dialogue with the Russian Federation. He said that we need an open dialogue.

He also said that the receipt of the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) by Ukraine requires a consensus on the part of NATO member countries.

The Bucharest decision made in 2008, which says that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO, does not change, but it is a long way to go and we need a consensus for the NATO Action Plan. We need to work on it and he said that he thinks that Ukraine has done a lot, this is the preparatory work, Korcok said.

He said that he does not understand the argument that Ukraine's desire to become a NATO member is a threat to Russia, because back in 2014, when Crimea was annexed and when the war in Donbas began, it had nothing to do with Ukrainian aspirations to become a NATO member.

In turn, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said at the press conference that security in Ukraine is security for European countries.

The territorial integrity of Ukraine is an integral part of the European security architecture. We must reiterate that the annexation of Crimea was an illegal act, he said. Crimea is Ukraine, and this must be repeated constantly, he said.

Lipavsky also said that the Czech Republic is a partner of Ukraine, providing Ukraine with humanitarian aid, artillery and ammunition.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok will together visit Ukraine on February 7-8 on the invitation of their Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

The first ever visit by the foreign ministers of the Slavkov or Austerlitz format to Kyiv is to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service said in a statement.

Kuleba and his Czech, Slovak and Austrian counterparts will hold talks with key agenda items such as "further support for Ukraine in countering Russian aggression, the implementation of a comprehensive containment package for the Russian Federation, strengthening security cooperation, supporting the economic and financial stability of our state," it said.

The Slavkov format ministers are also planning to visit the zone of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation to familiarize themselves with the current situation, Kyiv said.
The UK has sent more than 100 special forces (SAS, SBS, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and Special Forces Support Group) to Ukraine as military advisers to transfer experience to Ukrainian servicemen, Mirror reported.

According to the publication, the British special forces will share their experience with Ukrainian colleagues in counter-insurgency tactics, sniping and sabotage.

It is noted that British special forces have been able to deploy such a large number to the region as they are no longer operating in Afghanistan.

"UK special forces have been deployed to the region to help and advise the Ukrainian military. They have a wide skill set which will no doubt be very useful to the Ukrainian forces,"the publication reported.
On Tuesday, February 8, French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Ukraine, the Elysee Palace reported.

According to the agenda posted on the website of the Elysee Palace, on February 8, the President of France will stay in Ukraine.

It is also indicated that on Monday, February 7, Macron will visit the Russian Federation.
The issue of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's participation in the Munich Security Conference is being worked out, and the President's Office will inform about it when the decision is made, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.

"The issue of the president's participation is being worked out, and the President's Office will duly report this when the decision is made," Kuleba said at an online briefing on Monday, answering a question from Interfax-Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the current day, February 7, Russia-occupation forces have violated the ceasefire three times in the area of the Joint Force Operation (JFO) in Donbas, the JFO Headquarters said on Facebook.

"Not far from Pisky, the enemy opened fire using small arms twice. Russian-occupation forces fired at the positions of the defenders of Pivdenne with small arms. As a result of enemy actions, one soldier of the Joint Forces was wounded," the JFO said.

The serviceman was hospitalized, his condition is assessed as satisfactory.
Diplomats are working to arrange another meeting after the meeting of Normandy Four leaders' advisers in Berlin, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.

"There was a very difficult meeting in Paris. The preparations for the meeting in Berlin are not easy. But we are working to ensure that, at least after the meeting in Berlin, negotiations at the level of Normandy format advisers continue, another meeting is scheduled, since this will mean that Russia will remain on the diplomatic track, this is very important in itself," Kuleba said at a press conference with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Kyiv on Monday.

The maximum plan, the minister said, is the resumption of the work of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG).

"At most, we hope that specific decisions will be worked out on how to essentially unblock the work of the Trilateral Contact Group. And get moving. All those conspiracy theories, rumors that are now circulating in the Ukrainian media space and escalating the atmosphere, they do not correspond to reality. Ukraine does not go to any negotiations in order to give up its positions or cause damage to national interests. And the negotiations in Berlin will not be an exception to this rule," Kuleba said.
By Trend

The State Committee on Property Issues under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy will hold a privatization auction on March 3, 9 and 15, 2022, Trend reports via the ministry.

According to the ministry, 25 vehicles will be put up for auction on March 3, 18 vehicles - on March 9, 18 small state-owned enterprises and facilities, while one unfinished building and 20 vehicles - on March 15.

The ministry also said that interested participants can observe the auctions online.

All those wishing to partake in the auction should select the Electronic auction section on the e-services portal (e-emdk.gov.az).
Germany has prepared a loan for Ukraine to develop projects in the hydrogen energy and plans to provide further financial assistance in this sector, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said.

"We, like the EU, invest in many projects in Ukraine. Therefore, the last time I made it clear that with regard to hydrogen, we will implement projects together with German business. Therefore, we have prepared a financial loan and are planning further financial assistance in this sector, because we, as a partner, are on the side of Ukraine," Baerbock said at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Monday.

In turn, Kuleba said that Ukraine and Germany agreed on concrete further steps in this area.

"We all know the subject of Nord Stream 2, but our countries do not live by it alone. We have a serious future that we want to create around renewable energy sources. In this regard, we paid special attention to projects in hydrogen energy, which should ideally connect our economies and be mutually beneficial for our states. We agreed on concrete further steps in this area," the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock noted the danger of cutting off energy supplies from Russia to Ukraine in case of an escalation of the situation.

"It is also important for me that in our actions we do not draw any scenarios and constantly talk about it. Germany makes a great contribution to the security of Ukraine financially. An attack is not only possible militarily, but also a cyber attack, cutting off energy supplies. This is worse than a tank attack," Baerbock said at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Monday.

"We, as partners, wanted to make it clear that we stand for the security of Ukraine, the sovereignty of Ukraine, we stand for the security of people. And therefore, we, as partners, are ready for any scenarios, and this would have large-scale consequences for the economic plan," she said.

The head of the German Foreign Ministry said that Germany is closely monitoring moves of Russian troops near Ukraine. "We are not conducting any speculation among the public, we have made it clear that as a partner of NATO, a member of the G7, a member of the EU, we see different scenarios, and, surely, we are watching quite closely what troop movements are taking place, what exercises what reinforcements of troops are taking place on the border. We are closely monitoring this," Baerbock said.
Biden, after talks with Scholz, promises Nord Stream 2 would not operate if Russia attacks on Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden, following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, promised the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would not operate if Russia invaded Ukraine.

"If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, then there will be no longer Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it," he said, answering a question during a press conference.

"I promise we will be able to do it," he said, answering the question of exactly how Washington intends to implement this promise.

In turn, Scholz did not say this directly.

When asked whether Germany should reconsider its position on Nord Stream 2 in the current situation, Scholz said as far as sanctions are concerned, Germany will act in concert.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky considers holding meetings of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Format countries an important step towards organizing a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany and Russia.

"The peace process was one of the key issues of our today's talks. We expect that in the near future, in accordance with the agreements reached during the Paris Summit back in December 2019, we will be able to hold the next talks of the leaders of the Normandy Four. An important step along this path is the intensification of dialogue at the level of political advisers. There was a very successful one meeting, we look forward to a second meeting in the coming days. We hope that the meeting on January 26, which was in 2022, and future negotiations already in Berlin will bring us closer to holding the Normandy summit," Zelensky said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday in Kyiv.
Saudi Arabias King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with London-based think tank Asia House to explore bringing high-level business and fintech dialogues to Riyadh.

The MoU will see KAFD and Asia House work together to bring leading business and policy figures from across the world to Saudi Arabia as KAFD develops as a prime business and lifestyle destination. The partnership will see Asia House and KAFD hold a major Riyadh conference in 2022 focusing on Saudi Arabias fintech potential.

The MoU lays the groundwork for a range of events, discussions and research activities highlighting KAFDs status as the prime business and lifestyle destination in the region. It follows Asia Houses highly successful 2020 Global Trade Dialogue in Riyadh, and builds on the organisations engagement across the Gulf through its Middle East Programme and wider research output focusing on economic trends in the region.

The MoU was signed by Gautam Sashittal, Chief Executive, KAFD, and Michael Lawrence, Chief Executive, Asia House, during a digital ceremony on Monday, February 7.

Sashittal said: This is an important agreement set to bring out the best ideas to move forward and create a competitive business ecosystem. We at KAFD are happy to build bridges of cooperation with the worlds top organisations to foster a culture of creativity and innovation.

Lawrence said: We are pleased to be working with KAFD as Saudi Arabia broadens its role in the world economy alongside its Vision 2030 agenda. As an organisation committed to driving economic engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe, we are excited to support KAFDs development as an open and outward-looking business and lifestyle destination.

Asia House and KAFD plan to hold their initial conference at KAFD in 2022.-- TradeArabia News Service
UAE-based Azizi Developments is set to release more than 150 retail units from the remaining stock across its projects including the flagship master-planned community Riviera, Creek Views in Dubai Healthcare City, and several buildings in Al Furjan.

Following the mantra of saving the best for last, the units, which were previously kept unreleased, make up some of Azizis finest, most ideally located and most ROI-inclined retail spaces in Dubai, said a statement from Azizi.

Azizi Developments construction has been progressing more rapidly than ever before in 2021, a momentum that the developer is upholding well in 2022.

In the past year alone, Azizi has handed over thousands of units, including those of Aura in Jebel Ali, Mina on Palm Jumeirah, and Samia, Farishta, Shaista, Plaza and Star in Al Furjan, stated the developer.

CEO Farhad Azizi said: "We are delighted to announce the release of an additional 150 retail units across our most sought-after projects as our response to the increasing demand for prime retail space in the emirate, having already sold the initially released 600+ units."

"It fills us with great pride to know that our projects, strategically located in the most growth inclined parts of the city, form a substantial portion of the outstanding offerings that satiate this growing demand," stated Azizi.

Having added the 2.7-km-long crystal lagoon to Riviera, Azizi said the developer was enriching the lives of its residents there immeasurably. This is very well reflected in the number of inquiries Azizi is receiving for - and sales volumes of - units that are adjacent to it.

"It is a win-win situation in which our investors and end-users benefit from recreational and convenience options, while commercial organisations will have a vibrant, lively atmosphere to successfully conduct businesses in," Azizi added.-TradeArabia News Service
Two new legislative amendments would give the Supreme Constitutional Court the right to revise international arbitration rulings if proven harmful to the local economy, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

Egypts House of Representatives is expected next week to discuss new controversial amendments to the law regulating the performance of the Supreme Constitutional Court (48/1979).

Ibrahim Al-Heneidi, head of parliaments Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, told reporters he had received a message from the general assembly of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) saying it supported two government-drafted amendments to Law 48/1979.

The amendments will allow the SCC to revise international rulings and foreign agreements which might affect Egypts economic security and state whether any of these rulings or agreements violate the constitution. The changes are necessary in order to give the SCC authority over international arbitration rulings and foreign agreements that impact Egypts economy, Al-Heneidi said.

Said Marei, head of the SCC, said in an interview that the SCCs support of the amendments came after careful study and that the changes aim to safeguard Egypts strategic economic interests.

Ali Badr, a member of parliaments Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, explained that the two amendments would expand the SCCs jurisdiction which is currently limited to local laws and decrees. The two amendments extend the SCCs authority to include rulings issued by international institutions and allow it a say on international agreements. If the prime minister thinks that an international ruling or a foreign agreement could impact Egypts national economic security, said Badr, he could ask SCC to review the ruling or agreement in constitutional terms.

Atef Al-Meghawri, head of the Tagammu Partys parliamentary group, told reporters many Legislative and Constitutional Committee members were worried the amendments could discourage foreign businesses from investing in Egypt. Foreign investors always look at how commercial and investment disputes are settled in the country before they invest, Al-Meghawri said. They are unlikely to invest in countries where they think international rulings on investment disputes could be ignored by the government on constitutional grounds.

Al-Meghawri recommended that the Ministry of Investment and Cairos International Arbitration Centre conduct a careful review of the two amendments and inform parliament whether they will harm the investment climate in Egypt.

MPs Suleiman Wahdan and Diaaeddin Dawoud argued during the meeting that the committee should invite the minister of Investment and international arbitration experts to give their views on the proposed changes.

Dawoud said Article 192 of the constitution is clear that SCCs jurisdiction is limited to local laws and decrees. Besides, I think that parliaments approval of the two amendments could cause negative implications in international investment circles, Dawoud said.

MP Nasser Othman defended the draft changes. The amendments come after a number of international arbitration rulings were issued against Egypt, costing the country millions of dollars, said Othman, indicating that in 2009, for example, the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled that businessman Waguih Siag should receive $134 million in compensation for land he bought from the government to develop as a tourist resort in Sinai. Siag bought the land in 2007 to develop it as a tourist destination, but the government decided in 2008 to expropriate the land for public use, and as a result Siag decided to take the resort to international arbitration. Othman added that according to the new amendments, the government could ask SCC to revise ICSIDs ruling in constitutional terms, and if the court said the ruling contravenes internal Egyptian laws or decrees or the constitution, this would be an excuse for the government to ignore.

Othman also argued that many in government circles believe these rulings were politicised. The proposed changes will give the SCC the power to review such rulings and ensure they do not contravene the constitution and will not harm Egypts economic security.

A semi-official report in 2018 shows that the number of compensation claims made against Egypt before ICSID increased sharply after 2011. As many as 19 cases were filed against the Egyptian government in just five years, or from 2011 to 2016, and most sought financial compensation for measures taken by the Egyptian government or for verdicts issued by Egypts Supreme Administrative Court, the report said, revealing that Egypt was forced to pay $224.2 million in compensation for three cases settled in favour of investors between 2011 and 2016.

Othman indicated that the government opted in the last three years to reach bilateral settlements with investors instead of resorting to international arbitration centres. In 2018, for example, ICSID ruled that Egypt should pay the Spanish Company Union Fenosa $2 billion as a result of the governments failure to provide gas to the company after 2011, but the government was able to reach a settlement with the company after 2014, when the country recovered its stability and was able to resume gas supplies to the company, Othman said.

Egypt also faced a fine of up $2 billion in another case with Israels electricity company but the government was able to reach a settlement with the company, allowing it to pay only $470 million.

Ashraf Rashad, spokesperson of the Mostaqbal Watan Party, echoed Othmans concerns. Many rulings issued by international arbitration courts are politicised. The amendments are necessary to safeguard us against any harmful effects from these rulings, Rashad said.

Rashad also said that contrary to what some MPs believe, the two amendments will improve the investment climate in Egypt because they make clear to foreign investors the mechanism used in settling commercial disputes.

Deputy Minister of Justice Haitham Al-Baqli explained that the new amendments do not provide the government with a tool to ignore foreign agreements or international arbitration rulings.

The changes will allow the government to refer foreign agreements and international arbitration rulings to the SCC to decide whether they are constitutional. The prime minister will send a request to the SCC, saying that he believes that a certain ruling violates a certain article in the constitution, and ask the court to meet to give a final say, Al-Baqli said.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 24 June, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The amendments will grant the SCC greater powers to revise international rulings if proven harmful to the Egyptian economy and state

Egypt's House of Representatives approved on Sunday two controversial amendments to Law 48/1979 regulating the performance of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC).

Parliament Speaker Hanafi Gibali said the amendments will be up for a final vote in a later session.

The amendments will grant the SCC greater powers to revise international arbitration rulings if proven harmful to the Egyptian economy and state and whether they violate the Egyptian constitution.

A report prepared by the House's Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee said the amendments are in line with the 2014 constitution and come in light of the fact that a number of disputes are up for settlement before international arbitration courts.

The report argued that "although Article 192 of the constitution states that the SCC's jurisdiction is limited to local laws and decrees, the second paragraph of the article states that the law regulating the performance of the SCC could be amended to grant it greater powers," said the report.

According to the report, two articles will be added to the SCC law. "The first is Article 27, which states that the SCC's jurisdiction will be extended to include rulings issued by international institutions and organisations, foreign court verdicts, and international arbitration rulings which the state is required to implement," said the report.

The second, said the report, is Article 33 which states that the prime minister will be empowered to refer the rulings specified by Article 27 to the SCC to revise their constitutional terms and see whether they can be ignored because of their breach of the constitution and lack of legislative legitimacy.



"The amendments are necessary and represent a progressive legislative step aimed at safeguarding Egypt's national security against foreign institutions and organisations and international arbitration courts which issue rulings that lack legislative legitimacy," said the report.



Ibrahim El-Heneidi, the chair of the House's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, told MPs that the amendments are meant to protect Egypt's economy. "The two new articles will give the SCC authority to revise these rulings, investigate their legitimacy, and see whether they go in line with the constitution," said El-Heneidi.

Besides, El-Heneidi said, the SCC should extend its jurisdiction to cover international rulings as long as they will be implemented in Egypt. "But I also want to stress that the SCC verdicts on investment cases should not negatively affect Egypt's economic interests," he added.

Ayman Abul-Ela, deputy chairman of the House's Human Rights Committee, said "the two amendments to the SCC law do not mean that Egypt aims to ignore international rulings or agreements it has ratified. "Egypt is keen on implementing all international agreements and rulings, but at the same time it is also keen to put its own constitution above all international rulings and foreign agreements," said Abul-Ela, noting that "Switzerland refused to implement several international rulings which negatively affected its national interests, deciding that its own constitution and courts have the upper hand."

MP Amira Abu Shoka rejected the law, insisting that it could negatively affect Egypt's image in international business and economic circles. "Egypt has been trying its best to attract foreign investments, but this law could stem the flow of these investments," said Abu Shoka, expressing fears that "Egypt's assets in foreign countries could be expropriated if the government refused to implement international rulings."

MP Hesham Hilal, the parliamentary spokesperson of Modern Egypt Party, said it was important that the minister of investment and experts on international arbitration rulings come to parliament to give their opinion on the two amendments to SCC law and say whether they might harm Egypt's economic and investment interests.

Mohamed Abu Himila, the parliamentary spokesperson of the People's Republican Party, defended the amendments, arguing that they come to safeguard Egypt's national security. "The government wants to use the new amendments to ask the SCC to give a final say on international rulings which may affect the country's economic interests and rule whether they go in line with Egypt's constitution," said Abu Himila.

Fakhri Labib, chairman of the House's Budget Committee, said he is positive the two amendments to the SCC law will never affect Egypt's image in international circles. "When the SCC meets to revise a certain international ruling, it will be neutral and make sure that its ruling does not contravene the constitution," said Labib.

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President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ratified amendments to some provisions of the Supreme Constitutional Court law.

Under the amendments, the court will monitor the constitutionality of the decisions of international associations and organisations and foreign court rulings that are required to be put into effect.

The prime minister can ask the Supreme Constitutional Court to issue a verdict on ignoring these decisions or rulings.

The amendments were published in the official gazette on Wednesday.

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Egypt and South Korea signed on Tuesday armament contracts and memorandums of understanding for military cooperation during a ceremony attended by Egypt's Minister of Defence and Military Production Mohamed Zaki, a statement by the military spokesman said.

The event witnessed the signing of a contract with South Koreas Hanwha Corporation for the joint- manufacturing of howitzer (EGY k9A1), a statement by the Egyptian military spokesman said.

Ahmed Khaled, the deputy minister of defence, commander of the strategic command and supervisor of military industrialization, signed two MoUs for cooperation in the field of defensive industries and logistics support.

He also inked an MoU on the principles governing cooperation in defence research and development fields between the two sides to coordinate and exchange military expertise, the statement added.

Head of the Armed Forces Armament Authority Osama Ezzat signed a contract with Hanwha Corporation to locally manufacture the howitzer system (EGY k9A1) via the companies and factories of the Egyptian National Authority for Military Production.

The ceremony was held in the presence of Chief of the South Korean governments Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Kang Eun-ho, South Korean Ambassador to Egypt Hong Jin-wook and others.

Tuesday's deals came two weeks after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in Cairo, which marked the first visit by a South Korean president to Egypt in 16 years.

In a separate statement, the office the Korean president said Tuesday that the deal of providing Hanwha's K9 self-propelled howitzers to Egypt is the Asian countrys biggest export contract for the weapon, adding the deal is worth $1.6 billion.

Last week, the US Department of State announced two massive military equipment sales to Egypt comprising transport aircraft and radar systems worth over $2.5 billion.

The sale included 12 Super Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and related equipment worth $2.2 billion, in addition to air defense radar systems worth an estimated $355 million.

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The United States said Sunday it was not sending troops to start a war with Russia after deploying 3,000 additional soldiers to Germany and Eastern Europe over the Ukraine standoff with Moscow.

President Joe Biden "has been clear for months now that the United States is not sending forces to start a war or fight a war with Russia in Ukraine," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told Fox News Sunday.

"We have sent forces to Europe to defend NATO territory."

Sullivan told Meet the Press on NBC that "a military escalation and invasion of Ukraine could happen at any time.

"We believe that the Russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into Ukraine, and we have been working hard to prepare a response," he said.

"President Biden has rallied our allies. He's reinforced and reassured our partners on the eastern flank, he's provided material support to the Ukrainians, and he's offered the Russians a diplomatic path."

Ukraine on Sunday insisted the chance of resolving the soaring tensions with Russia through diplomacy remained greater than that of an attack.

US officials have warned that the Kremlin has assembled 110,000 troops along the border with its pro-Western neighbor but intelligence assessments have not determined if President Vladimir Putin has actually decided to invade.

Officials briefed Congress and European allies in recent days that the Russian force amassed on the frontier is growing at a rate that would give Putin the firepower he needs for a full-scale invasion -- some 150,000 soldiers -- within a few weeks.

They said Putin wants options at his disposal, ranging from a limited campaign in the pro-Russian Donbas region of Ukraine to a full-scale invasion.

Russia denies that it is planning an incursion into Ukraine.

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The United States and its allies clashed with Russia and China in the UN Security Council on Monday over the usefulness and impact of UN sanctions, which are currently imposed on countries from North Korea to Yemen and Congo as well the al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups and their affiliates and supporters.

Russia, which holds the council presidency this meeting and chose the topic, preventing humanitarian and unintended consequences of sanctions, also lashed out at unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union and other countries and groups.

UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the council there are 14 UN sanctions regimes: As examples, in Libya, Mali, South Sudan and Yemen they support conflict resolution; in Guinea Bissau they aim to deter unconstitutional changes of government; in Central African Republic, Congo and Somalia they curb the illicit exploitation of natural resources that fund armed groups; in North Korea, they target proliferation activities; and they constrain Islamic State and al-Qaida terrorist threats.

DiCarlo said UN sanctions are no longer ``the blunt instrument they once were.'' Since the 1990s, they have undergone changes to minimize possible adverse consequences on civilians and third countries, and the Security Council has included and provided humanitarian exemptions in most sanctions regimes, she said.

Russia's deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky, who chaired the meeting, said many sanctions regimes interfere with plans for state-building and economic development, pointing to Central African Republic and Sudan and calling the measures on Guinea Bissau ``anachronistic.''

The Security Council needs ``to take greater heed of what the authorities of states under sanctions think'' and be more realistic in setting benchmarks to lift them to make sure they don't turn into ``a mission impossible,'' he said.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield countered that sanctions are ``a potent tool'' that ``make it harder for terrorists to raise funds via international financial systems,'' and have slowed development of ``certain capabilities'' in North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Sanctions also ``constrain the resources of those who would spoil peace processes, threaten UN peacekeepers, commit atrocities, and obstruct humanitarian assistance,'' she said.

Britain's deputy ambassador James Kariyuki said the value of UN sanctions were proven in Angola, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone where ``they helped end conflict and support the transition to peace and democracy'' and were then lifted.

``In the Central African Republic, they've improved the practices of a mining company,'' he said. ``In Somalia, the arms embargo has enabled the seizure of thousands of ammunition rounds, anti-tank guided missiles, and sniper-fire rifles reportedly intended for al-Shabab,'' the al-Qaida-linked extremist group.

Russia's Polyansky took special aim at sanctions imposed outside the UN by countries or groups, which he said ``remain a serious impediment for full-fledged functioning of humanitarian exemptions,'' citing problems with contractors, carriers, cargo insurance and bank transactions.

He also said Russia proceeds from the understanding that only UN sanctions ``are legitimate,'' and that broader use of unilateral sanctions ``undermines the norms and institutes of the international law.''

Polyansky claimed ``secondary sanctions of major Western powers create a `toxic vibe' around Pyongyang`` that discourages cooperation even in areas not touched by international restrictions. He also cited what he called the ``war of sanctions'' against Russia's ally Syria, which has very negatively affected its economy, as well as US sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela.

China's UN Ambassador Zhang Jun called unilateral sanctions ``extremely harmful'' and expressed concern that a few countries ``have been flinging them about left, right and center, in a frenzy so much so that they seem to be addicted to them.'' He said these measures ``have thrown a spanner in the works of economic and social development and scientific and technological progress of the targeted countries.''

Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador, countered that the US far prefers sanctions to be imposed multilaterally, including at the Security Council.

But when some council members block ``critical designations of peace process spoilers, high profile terrorists, human rights abusers, and sanctions evaders'' the United States and many other countries are prepared to act and to use their currency regulations and domestic financial systems ``as economic leverage to address urgent global challenges such as nuclear proliferation, human rights abuses, violations, and corruption,`` she said.

To Russia's contention that sanctions imposed by individual countries may be unlawful, Thomas-Greenfield retorted, ``the United States categorically rejects that position.''

The US fully supports its partners, regional organizations including the European Union, African Union and West African regional group ECOWAS ``that impose their own sanctions in response to threats,'' she said.

France's deputy UN ambassador Nathalie Broadhurst said EU sanctions are ``''in accordance with international law`` and ``do not impede humanitarian action.``

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The Ministry of Health and Population has closed down 1,268 private health facilities over the period from 23 January till February 3 over violations and noncompliance with medical standards and regulations.

In press statements on Tuesday, Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, the health ministry spokesman, said the closure decision is part of regular campaigns and inspections conducted by the ministry to monitor medical facilities' practices to avoid any harm to citizens' public health.

He asserted that the ministry campaign covered 4,943 private medical facilities including clinics, hospitals and medical centers across the nation.

Abdel-Ghaffar also reiterated that the ministry is keen that all health facilities are operated in accordance with health licenses and applied all health regulations needed to ensure the safety of medical procedures and prescribed medicine.

He explained that all patients who have been receiving treatment in the closed facilities were transferred to alternative hospitals affiliated to the health ministry through ambulances.

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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is set to pay her first visit to Egypt on Friday to discuss a raft of regional and international issues with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

During her two-day visit, Baerbock will also discuss potential areas of cooperation on the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the UNFCCC, which will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, according to a statement by the German Embassy in Cairo on Monday.

The Green party co-leader Baerbock, 41, is the first-woman-ever to serve in the post of foreign minister in Germany, and also the youngest-ever holder of the post.

Meanwhile, German Ambassador in Cairo Frank Hartmann voiced pleasure at Baerbock's early visit, noting that it 'demonstrates Germany's willingness to maintain a high-level dialogue with Egypt on regional and bilateral, as well as international cooperation on climate change.'

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The Austrian SAN Group has chosen Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) as the platform for its green hydrogen and farming subsidiary SAN Enertech. The company will construct a fully integrated sustainable hydrogen production unit, plant, and fish farming on a land plot of 8,470 sq m in RAKEZ Al Hamra Industrial Zone with an investment of AED 12 million ($3.26 million), said a statement by RAKEZ.

This biotech facility will consist of a research centre, laboratory, desalination plant, green house as well as hydroponic and aquaponic indoor systems. It will generate energy through solar power systems that serves as the source of electricity for all the buildings in the premises. Furthermore, this electricity is used to produce green hydrogen.

Our new location in Ras Al Khaimah supports the long-term strategic goals of our company. When deciding where to invest, we gave paramount consideration to cost-effectiveness, the right environment, and ease of doing business, and with RAKEZ we found all the support we needed, said Erich Erber, Founder and President of SAN Group.

SAN Enertech, as a commercial organisation, seeks to collaborate with local scientists to jointly expand the know-how and experience in the field of self-sustained farming. By utilising our fully integrated system, we want to demonstrate a concept and value that can be achieved even in climates that are unstable for agriculture, by providing fresh, home-grown food supplies for a growing population. We will be able to prove this to ourselves, the UAE society, and the entire world through the combination of different disciplines of state-of-the-art technology.

Ramy Jallad, Group CEO of RAKEZ, said: We are proud to welcome SAN Group with SAN Enertech to our ecosystem, which is home to an increasing number of companies that promote sustainable industrial practices. Ras Al Khaimah strives to be at the forefront of sustainability in the region and RAKEZ contributes to this by creating a nurturing environment for players in the sustainable sector. We back them up with tailored and cost-effective solutions, so it is easier for them to materialise their projects and make an impact in todays society and the generations to come.

The facility of SAN Enertech will be fully operational by the end of 2022. The pilot research plant serves as a blueprint for regenerative agriculture in the Middle East and Africa region.--TradeArabia News Service
Al-Qaida's past ties to the recently empowered Taliban have the potential of making Afghanistan a safe haven for extremists, and ``terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than at any time in recent history,'' UN experts said in a report circulated Monday.

In the wide-ranging report, the experts also said extremists linked to both al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are successfully advancing in Africa, especially in the turbulent Sahel. And they said the Islamic State continues to operate ``as an entrenched rural insurgency'' in Iraq and Syria, where its so-called caliphate ruled a significant swathe of the two countries from 2014-2017 when it was defeated by Iraqi forces and a US-led coalition.

In what it called ``a bright spot'' in Southeast Asia, the panel of experts said both Indonesia and the Philippines reported ``significant gains'' in disrupting Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated ``terrorism`` and ``some optimism`` that their operational capability ``may be significantly degraded.``

The report to the UN Security Council by the panel of experts monitoring sanctions against al-Qaida and the Islamic State, also known as IS and ISIL, called the Taliban's return to power on Aug. 15 amid the chaotic final withdrawal of US.\ and NATO troops after 20 years the most significant event of the last six months of 2021.

The Taliban first ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001 and were ousted for harboring al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden for masterminding the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US in 2001. In a February 2020 deal that spelled out the terms of the US troop withdrawal, the Taliban had promised to fight terrorism and deny terrorist groups a safe haven in Afghanistan.

But the panel of experts said ``there are no recent signs that the Taliban has taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist fighters in the country.'' On the contrary, it said, terrorist groups are enjoying ``greater freedom,'' though member states ``have not reported significant new movements of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan.''

The experts noted that al-Qaida released a statement congratulating the Taliban on its victory on Aug. 31, but since then it has maintained ``a strategic silence, likely an effort not to compromise Taliban efforts to gain international recognition and legitimacy.''

``Al-Qaida is also continuing to recover from a series of leadership losses and is assessed to lack the capability to conduct high-profile attacks overseas, which remains its long-term goal,'' the panel said.

Al-Qaida's leader, Ayman al-Zawahri was reported alive in January 2021, it said, ``but member states continue to believe that he is in poor health.''

The experts noted that Amin Muhammad ul-Haq Saam Khan, who coordinated security for bin Laden, returned to his home in Afghanistan in late August. And they said an unnamed country reported that bin Laden's son, Abdallah, visited in October for talks with the Taliban.

As for the Islamic State group, the panel said while it controls limited territory in Afghanistan, ``it has demonstrated a continuing ability to mount sophisticated attacks, adding to the complexity of the security situation in Afghanistan.'' As an example, it cited the complex attack at Kabul airport on Aug. 27 in which more than 180 people were killed.

Member states said the Islamic State's strength in Afghanistan has risen from an estimated 2,200 to near 4,000 following the release of several thousand prisoners, according to the panel, which said one country estimated that half were foreign fighters.

The experts said the Taliban views ISIL ``as its primary kinetic threat,'' that seeks to be the ``chief rejectionist force in Afghanistan with a wider regional agenda threatening neighboring Central and South Asian countries.''

The report does not cover last week's killing of the leader of the Islamic State, known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, in a US raid in northwest Syria.

But the experts said that like al-Qaida, ISIL's leadership ``faces difficulties.`` They pointed to al-Qurayshi's failure to show himself in the last half of 2021 and Iraq's announcement on Oct. 11 that it captured Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, alias Hajji Hamid, who was in charge of ISIL finances and believed to be the most senior deputy and a possible successor to the ISIL leader.

In its former strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the panel said ISIL continues to withstand ``sustained counter-terror pressure from forces in the region.'' It is estimated to retain between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters and is forming cells and training operatives to launch attacks, the experts said.

Both ISIL and al-Qaida continue to make advances in Africa, especially in the Sahel, where the panel said they have ``successfully exploited local grievances and weak governance to command growing numbers of followers and resources, notwithstanding internal divisions and rivalries.''

UN member nations remain ``deeply concerned'' at the success of ISIL and al-Qaida affiliates in Africa during the last half of 2021, the experts said.

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Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea discussed on Tuesday with Russian Ambassador in Cairo Georgiy Borisenko ways to find an urgent solution to release Egyptian orange shipments impounded at a Russian port and destined for the Russian market.

According to a statement by Egypt's cabinet, Gamea stressed that the Egyptian government is currently conducting intensive contacts with the Russian side to resolve the problem.

In December, Russias Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) decided to suspend imports of a number of vegetables and fruits from certain producers in countries including Egypt, China and Iran in order to prevent the spread of large-scale poisoning among the population."

The Russian decision applies to specific producers not countries as a whole.

According to Gamea, Egypt is the number one exporter of oranges in the world at 2 million tonnes annually, pointing out that Egyptian oranges are also exported to the European Union, China, Japan and others.

The Egyptian government is keen to export products that conform to international standards and are approved by the relevant Russian authorities, Gamea said.

From his side, Borisenko said that the Russian embassy in Cairo is following up with great interest the latest developments in the orange shipments designated to the Russian market, pointing out that the embassy has coordinated with relevant Russian authorities to pay more attention to this problem and work to solve it as soon as possible, the statement said.

Economic momentum

During the meeting, Gamea indicated that currently there is an unprecedented economic momentum between Cairo and Moscow based on the steady increase in the annual trade exchange rates and the ongoing negotiations of a free trade agreement between Egypt and the Eurasian Union countries, in addition to the project of establishing a Russian industrial zone in Egypt.

The Russian market, Gamea indicated, is one of the most important markets receiving Egyptian exports, with Egyptian exports to Russia last year amounting to $489 million, compared to $416 million in 2020 - an increase of 17.5 percent.

Borisenko stressed that Russia and Egypt have solid strategic bilateral relations based on a long history of economic cooperation in various fields.

He also emphasised the Russian side is looking forward to further strengthening the frameworks of joint cooperation, especially in light of the great interest of the political leadership in the two countries to move forward on achieving a qualitative leap in joint economic relations.

Moreover, Gamea said that the meeting also dealt with preparations for holding the meetings of the Joint Egyptian-Russian Committee for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation during the second half of March, with the participation of the two countries trade ministers.

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AstraZenecas Country President for Egypt Hatem Werdany spoke to Ahram Online about the Evusheld coronavirus treatment, its pricing policy, as well as the companys other actions in the Egyptian market regarding providing jabs and how the company sees Egypt as a market for the pharmaceutical industry.

In January, Egypt received the first batch of AstraZenecas Evusheld  a monoclonal antibody drug that resists the coronavirus  which contained 15,000 doses.

Ahram Online: What do you think about the developments that Egypts healthcare sector has been experiencing recently, and how do you view Egypt as a market for the pharmaceutical industry?

Hatem Werdany: The healthcare sector in Egypt has been growing quickly recently. COVID-19 has brought about rapid reforms and presented an opportunity for Egypt to strengthen its healthcare system. As one of the most populous countries in the Arab world, Egypt remains a key country of focus for us and we work closely with the local authorities to ensure uninterrupted access to innovative medication for patients. Our priorities are aligned with Egypts national agenda, ensuring that we work hand-in-hand to tackle challenges within the healthcare sector, effectively playing our part in contributing to a robust healthcare ecosystem.

AstraZeneca prides itself on more than five decades of its successful presence in Egypt, and today has over 800 employees. We have a current capital investment of around $60 million, which is expected to increase over the coming three years.

We are continuously increasing our footprint through local partnerships and various programmes to serve Egyptian patients. The company spent around $75 million in the past three years. We strive to bring innovative solutions to patients, to support the healthcare ecosystem, and to support the Governments efforts in infrastructure upgrades and continuous medical education for healthcare professionals.

AO: How exactly does the newly approved Evusheld function?

HW: We have developed a long-acting antibody combination called Evusheld, which is intended for high-risk individuals who will not respond to or who have insufficient response to vaccination and require a different form of protection to be able to return to their normal lives. These include patients with cancer, certain immune diseases or who are treated with immune suppressive therapy, people on dialysis and others with a suppressed immune system.

Evusheld represents an important step in our global fight against the pandemic and we hope this new long-acting antibody combination will fulfil the unmet need and help to protect the most vulnerable populations.

AO: When is the drug expected to be available in Egypt?

HW: Egypt is one of the first countries in the world to receive doses of Evusheld. A first batch of 15,000 doses out of a total order of 50,000 for 2022 arrived at Cairo International Airport in January, soon after obtaining Emergency Use Authorization from the Egyptian Drug Authority. Further doses are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

Millions of Egyptians have already received AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine and, thanks to Evusheld, we can now offer protection to immunocompromised patients and those who may not mount an adequate immune response to COVID-19 vaccination.

AO: How will the pricing for the drug be determined?

HW: We have agreed with the Ministry of Health and Population to keep the pricing structure confidential.

AO: To what extent does Evusheld contribute to protecting people from COVID-19 and its variants?

HW: The primary data supporting Evusheld are from the ongoing PROVENT trial, which demonstrated an 83 percent reduction in the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 (at the six-month analysis) with protection from the virus continuing for at least six months.

AO: Does AstraZeneca plan to manufacture Evusheld locally?

HW: Given the current scale of supply for Evusheld doses worldwide, there are no current plans to manufacture at additional sites.

That said, we will continue to work closely with the Egyptian government and partners to deliver on our commitment to change the course of the pandemic with our innovative medicines.

AstraZeneca has a manufacturing plant in 6th October City with a production capacity of 900 million tablets per year across many of our brands, and we are looking forward to increasing the local production in the coming year.

AO: Are there AstraZeneca vaccine shipments expected to be delivered to Egypt in the near future?

HW: We have delivered to date over 20 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Egypt and are constantly working with the government and our partners to increase that number to support Egypts vaccination campaign.

Our shared commitment to global equitable access has helped protect lives in low and lower middle-income countries. In 2021, AstraZeneca and our partners released for supply 2.5 billion vaccine doses to 170 countries across every continent. Approximately two-thirds of these went to low- and lower-middle-income countries. To date, more than 290 million doses have been delivered to 130 countries through the COVAX Facility. We remain committed to supporting countries to help protect their populations from COVID-19.

AO: What are the updates regarding AstraZenecas anti-Omicron drugs to be used in Egypt?

HW: On the vaccine, new data from a preliminary analysis of our ongoing safety and immunogenicity trial showed that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, when given as a third dose booster, increased the immune response to Beta, Delta, Alpha and Gamma SARS-CoV-two variants, while a separate analysis of samples from the trial showed increased antibody response to the Omicron variant.

In a recent real-world evidence study in Brazil, 90 percent of the participants that received AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as a third dose booster were protected against both Omicron and Delta strains, similar to the performance of the mRNA vaccine used in this study.

As far as Evusheld is concerned, two recent independent studies from University College Oxford and Washington University School of Medicine have also shown that Evusheld retains neutralising activity against the Omicron variant. These data are in line with previous results from tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration and add to the growing body of evidence demonstrating that Evusheld retains activity against all tested SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern to date.

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Egypts information and communications technology (ICT) sector is the fastest growing sector in the Egyptian economy over the past two years, as its contribution to the countrys GDP rose from 3.2 percent in FY2019/2020 to five percent in the current FY2021/22, Minister of Information and Communications technology Amr Talaat said on Tuesday.

Talaat made his statements during an event organised by the World Bank to launch the banks Egypt Economic Monitor 2021 report.

Talaat noted that the ministry targets to raise this contribution to 8 percent over the coming three years.

During the event, Talaat showcased Digital Egypt project, which translates the government strategy for digital transformation.

He noted that such a project is built on three key pillars, including cultivating digital skills, fostering digital innovation, spearheading transformation.

Building human capacity is a key cornerstone for Digital Egypt project. The University of Informatics is one of our main projects that works in this regard with a total cost of EGP 4 billion. The university is expected to work with its full capacity within a couple of years, the minister explained.

He also pointed out to AHMOS project, which is adopted by the communications ministry with an aim to avail more than one service in the meantime for citizens, noting that the project is anticipated to operate starting July 2022 and to be fully implemented within 25-30 months.

He also said that 96 percent of data that are distributed from east to west globally are passing through Egypt through the fiber optics tubes.

Egypts Economic Monitor 2021 opted for digital transformation to be its focus area to be highlighted in the report.

According to the report, investments in telecommunications infrastructure, automation of key government services and procedures, as well as the launch of digital government platforms have placed Egypt at a relatively elevated level of digital government transformation.

The report also noted these actions reflect the progress in Egypts digital transformation strategy.

During the event, Marina Wes, the World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti, asserted the Bank commitment to support Egypt; especially in human development area, through lending policies and technical support.

She added that the World Banks current portfolio in Egypt comprises 15 operations with a total value worth $5.5 billion, pointing out that the bank and Egypts government are working currently on drafting on the country strategy framework for the coming five years, which supports the countrys reforms.

Wes also affirmed that Egypts economy continues to show resilience against the pandemic under the countrys reform programme, highlighting the country progress in the digital transformation sector; particularly Digital Egypt strategy.

Nadir Mohamed, Regional Director for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions in MENA Region at the World Bank, said that Egypt is one of the new countries in the region that managed to escape countering an economic contraction over the past two years of the pandemic.

He added that Egypt is the only country in the region that is expected to approach the pre-pandemic level in terms of the real GDP growth in the current FY2021/22.

During the event, Mohamed underpinned Egypts progress in fields of digital transformation, boosting investment and business climate.

Touching upon Egypts macroeconomic performance, the report said that Egypts macroeconomy has been proving its resilience since the onset of the pandemic despite its severe impacts.

The report projected Egypts economic growth to approach its pre-pandemic level during current FY2021/2022 (ends in June) with a projected 5.5 percent in real GDP growth, the report said.

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The UN Security Council met behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss last month's coup in Burkina Faso but failed to agree on a joint statement on the junta's takeover, diplomats said.

According to a draft statement circulated by Ghana, the Security Council would express "concern" about the coup and demand the restoration of constitutional order, as well as the release of ousted president Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

The Council would also support efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), currently chaired by Ghana, to mediate the crisis.

However, the Council's 15 members did not agree on the statement. "We still have to negotiate," a diplomatic source told AFP.

During the meeting, the Council members were briefed by the UN representative in West Africa, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, who recently visited Burkina Faso on a joint mission with an ECOWAS representative.

Last week, ECOWAS decided against toughening sanctions against Burkina Faso and instead demanded a timetable for a swift return to civilian rule.

The coup is the latest bout of turmoil to strike Burkina Faso, a landlocked state that has suffered chronic instability since gaining independence from France in 1960.

On January 24, Burkina Faso's military toppled the elected Kabore, who is currently under house arrest.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the day after the putsch that military coups are "unacceptable."

"The role of the military must be to defend their countries and their peoples, not to attack their governments and to fight for power," he said.

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The Palestine Liberation Organisations Central Council met this week for the first time in four years amid deep divisions among its factions, Mohamed Abu Shaar reports from Gaza.

Meetings of the Palestinian Central Council began on Sunday. The council is part of the Palestinian National Council (that is, the Palestinian parliament at home and overseas)  and a key body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Palestines highest political authority.

The meeting took place in a climate of division following years of inter-Palestinian conflict, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad boycotting the meeting altogether. Neither group is under the umbrella of the PLO, which was created before they were formed. Fatah founded the PLO in 1964 and Palestinian factions that existed at the time joined it. It remains thepolitical entity that gathers all Palestinians.

The meeting was also boycotted by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) - a faction of the PLO itself - which said no meeting can take place while inter-Palestinian divisions are rampant and because previous resolutions were not implemented.

The gathering was partially boycotted by the Palestinian Peoples Party (PPP), which attended the inaugural session stating that it was eager to protect PLO institutions and affirm the legitimacy of its representation but later objected to the agenda of the meeting and withdrew.

Still, the Central Council meeting is significant due to the current conditions; the last one was held four years ago. Delegates discussed Israeli violations against Palestinians especially in occupied Jerusalem, the frozen Middle East peace process, Israeli settlements, and holding an international conference for peace under the umbrella of the United Nations in order to implement UN resolutions.

Other issues on the agenda included Palestinian cases filed with the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and Human Rights Council and joining international agreements and organisations as the Palestinian Authority (PA) is pursuing several cases against Israel in international courts.

Some key vacant positions in the Palestinian political body were also filled, including choosing Raouhi Fatouh, a member of Fatahs Central Committee, as chairman of the PNC to succeed Salim Al-Zaanoun who resigned. Palestinian Minister for Civil Affairs Hussein Al-Sheikh was chosen as PLO secretary-general to succeed the late Saeb Erekat, who died from Covid-19 last year.

Observers believe Fatouh and Al-Sheikh could be front runners to succeed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who at 87 heads the PA, the PLOs Executive Committee, and is the leader of Fatah, should his position become available. This indicates that a political crisis and quarrels could erupt if Abbas posts become vacant.

In his address to the inaugural session, Abbas said the PA cannot continue to unilaterally implement agreements with Israel. While the Israeli powers of occupation continue to undermine a two-state solution, the options remain open, he declared. We must reconsider the entire status quo to protect the interests of our people and our cause.

Abbas, who recently met with Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz and other members of the incumbent Israeli cabinet, said that contacts with some officials on the Israeli side is not an alternative to a political solution based on international legitimacy.

Israel views these meetings as security and economic discussions to prevent the PAs collapse, while the latter wants the talks to pave the way for a breakthrough in the peace process now that former Israeli prime minister and leader of the hardline Likud Party Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer in power and there is a US Democratic president.

Palestinian officials perceive the Biden administrationas more flexible towards the PA and more critical of Israel, compared to his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.

Abbas called on the global community to shoulder its responsibility in the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions in the face of Israeli arrogance, and reiterated his proposal to hold an international peace conference and an international protection mechanism based on approved international tenets and the Arab peace initiative.

However, the Central Council did not provide definitive decisions on these issues, and contented itself with raising the alarm to the US and world to move on a political track that concludes with the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to PA demands, and end escalating Israeli violations against Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem.

The meeting falls short of addressing more compelling issues that affect everyday life for Palestinians, observers say.

Some key steps could include redefining the PAs relationship with Israel, says political analyst Mohsen Abu Ramadan, without reaching the point of suspending the PLOs recognition of Israel.

This also includes ending security coordination as a bargaining chip with Israel, and suspending the Paris economic protocols -- the economic appendix to the Oslo Peace Treaty between Israel and the PLO signed in 1993.

Abbas reference to steps to confront Israel sends signals to the global community, more than Israel, that the world should intervene to remove obstacles to the creation of a Palestinian state and protect the rights of the Palestinian people, Abu Ramadan told Al-Ahram Weekly.

But there is limited room for a makeover in the Palestinian Authority because of the complex and fragmented Palestinian political front.

When it was founded six decades ago, the PLO was created as a coalition structure. Both the boycott by key factions of the National and Central Councils and the absence of like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad weaken the Palestinian position, Abu Ramadan explained.

This undermines the warnings issued by Abbas about changing the PAs course of action in dealing with Israel.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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As new chair of the African Union Senegalese President Macky Sall took office this week, the impacts of Covid-19 and political instability are still taking centre stage across the continent.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU), which began on Saturday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and lasted for two days, saw delegates unequivocally condemn the recent wave of coups that has been taking place across the continent and re-emphasise their commitment to maintaining peace and security while calling for continuing African solidarity in addressing the impacts of Covid-19.

Senegalese President Macky Sall took over the one-year rotating chairmanship of the AU from President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Felix Tshisekedi at the session, with political instability and the military coups overshadowing the original theme of the meeting, which was Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerating Human Capital and Social and Economic Development.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri reviewed Egypts efforts to promote peace and security in Africa at the meeting. He said Egypt was making every effort to help to overcome the challenges facing the African countries in achieving the goals and aspirations of their peoples for a better future, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.

Egypts top diplomat hailed the establishment of the AU Centre for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) in Cairo in December last year as a tool to deal with such challenges. He described the PCRD as the executive arm of the post-conflict reconstruction and development policy adopted by the AU.

It has been a difficult year for the continent, explained one diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity, as war has erupted in various places, including Sudan and Ethiopia, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, and there have been continuing problems of terrorism as well as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.

He lamented the AUs failure to address the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), another pressing issue in east Africa.

Moussa Faki, chair of the African Union Commission (AUC), said that the meeting came as the continent was facing many challenges, perhaps the most pressing being the unprecedented scale of terrorism together with the wave of coups and unconstitutional changes of government on the continent. These presented new destabilising factors in Africa, he said.

The AU, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, was established to boost cooperation and peace across the continent. However, it has been criticised for failing to take decisive action in the face of the six coups or attempted coups that have taken place in Africa over the past 18 months.

While the AU has suspended the membership of Mali, Guinea, Sudan, and Burkina Faso following military takeovers, questions were raised about whether this would impact the new leaders of these countries.

The devastating impacts of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic presented another challenge to the continent, especially on the economic level, delegates said.

Faki noted that the pandemic had led to a contraction in growth of 2.1 per cent in 2020 and an increase in debt by 10 per cent of GDP, necessitating a continental strategy that will focus on the identification of innovative sources of financing, debt cancellation, and reducing the harmful effects of the pandemic.

Making the Covid-19 vaccines available to all Africans is another challenge. During the meeting, Faki raised concerns about the unavailability of the vaccines for most Africans and asked African leaders to support the African Centres for Disease Control.

Up until 26 January, only 11 per cent of Africas more than one billion people had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Africa CDC and the African Medicines Agency (AMA) are likely to play leading roles in the implementation of the AU strategy of facing up to the pandemic and other public health issues on the continent.

Africa CDC is an AU specialised institution that was officially launched in 2017 to support public health initiatives by member states and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats.

The AMA, established in November last year, aims to regulate the African pharmaceutical landscape and efforts to improve weak regulatory systems.

Israels accreditation as an observer to the AU was raised during the summit meeting. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh urged the AU to withdraw Israels accreditation.

Israel should not be rewarded for its violations and for the apartheid regime it has imposed on the Palestinian people, he said.

Faki emphasised during his opening address the AUs commitment to the Palestinian push for independence as unchanging and [one that] can only get stronger. In response to criticism from member states, Faki defended his decision as being based on the reality on the ground since many African countries had recognised and were doing business with Israel, he said.

So far, he told the meeting, Israel is recognised by 46 of the 55 AU member states and has 17 embassies and 12 consulates in Africa.

The assembly was supposed to discuss Israels accreditation and take a decision on it. However, due to the controversy, the decision was postponed and instead a committee will be set up to study the matter, the diplomat said.

Faki accepted Israels accreditation to the bloc last July, causing debate within the AU. Some African states including South Africa are pushing for Israels status to be revoked, while others, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 2021 AU chair, have supported Israels presence.

Other issues like the conflict in Ethiopia and ways to secure a ceasefire, unrest in Sudan following a coup in October, and plans for the smooth exit of foreign fighters from Libya were other challenges facing the meeting.

The AU meeting provided an opportunity for Shoukri to hold meetings on the sidelines of the assembly, including with Deputy Secretary-General of the UN Amina Mohamed.

Shoukri underlined Egypts support for stability in Somalia during his meeting with his Somali counterpart Abd Said Musa Ali.

Egypt hosted a retreat in Cairo on the post-2021 arrangements in Somalia last month organised by the International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) in cooperation with the AU, the federal government of Somalia, the UN, and international partners.

The retreat aimed to provide a space for informal consultations between Somali officials and African and international partners in order to discuss post-2021 arrangements in Somalia, given the end of the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) mandate in March.

With a view to tackling the issue of climate change that is another challenge to the continent, Shoukri took part in the meeting of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), where he underlined that Egypt would voice Africas aspiration to confront the impacts of climate change before the upcoming 27th UN Conference of the Parties (COP27) meeting due to be held in Egypt in November.

The CAHOSCC meeting was held on Sunday on the sidelines of the AU meeting.

Given that Egypt is the chair of COP27, it will espouse a comprehensive approach that takes into account the concerns and priorities of the various parties. Cairo will also back all African countries in their efforts in a way that contributes to the success of its hosting of the conference, read a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry after the meeting.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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With Europe worried about its gas supplies amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Qatar will host a summit of top natural gas exporters including Russia, organizers said Tuesday.

The United States has sought the help of its close ally Qatar in providing emergency supplies if pipelines to Western Europe are cut, according to US officials.

Organizers did not immediately confirm whether Russia's President Vladimir Putin would attend the biannual Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit on February 22.

Russia, Iran, and Qatar are key members of the forum, which will also hold two days of ministerial meetings.

The United States and Australia, two other leading exporters, are not part of the group.

US President Joe Biden vowed on Monday, during a meeting with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to shut the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe if Moscow launches an invasion of Ukraine.

The massive new pipeline has been completed but has yet to begin funneling natural gas to Germany, a route tying energy-hungry Europe ever closer to Russia.

The European Union has also been seeking alternatives to Russian gas in case of an energy crisis.

European Union energy commissioner Kadri Simson visited Azerbaijan, an observer member of the gas forum, on Friday in an effort to diversify the continent's energy sources.

Earlier this month, Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar's energy minister, told the EU his country could not rescue Europe alone if Russia turned off gas supplies, but was ready to help "in times of need".

The GECF says its 11 members and seven associate countries account for 70 percent of proven gas reserves and 51 percent of global liquefied natural gas exports.

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EGYPTs President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and his Djibouti counterpart Ismail Omar Guelleh prioritised the security situation in the Horn of Africa during their discussions held in Cairo on Monday.

During a joint press conference on Monday, Al-Sisi said both countries were working to establish security and stability in this important part of the continent which has become a hotbed of tension. He also said they were intensifying cooperation and coordination between them regarding security in the Red Sea.

President Al-Sisi indicated that he and Guelleh also emphasised the responsibility the riparian countries shoulder to formulate allg policies related to this vital waterway from an integrated perspective that takes into consideration developmental, economic, and security aspects.

Guelleh embarked on his official visit to Egypt on Sunday evening, only nine months after Al-Sisis official visit to Djibouti in May, the first official visit by an Egyptian president to the African country since its independence in the 1977. Guelleh said his visit to Egypt reflected the solid strategic relations with Egypt at all levels and the strong political will to expand these relations.

The Djibouti president said he agreed with Al-Sisi on the necessity of boosting cooperation between the two countries in various fields, including trade, investments, industry, health, tourism, security, and culture. This is in addition to the sectors of energy, transport, infrastructure, and capacity building, in a way that paves the way for a new phase of partnership between the two sisterly countries, Guelleh said.

The value of trade between Egypt and Djibouti rose to $48.01 million in 2018, compared to $37.99 million in 2017, according to official figures.

Al-Sisi also stressed the importance of the contribution of Egyptian companies to the economic development efforts in Djibouti, highlighting efforts to open a branch of the Egyptian state-owned bank Banque Misr.

Al-Sisi also underscored efforts to establish an Egyptian logistics zone in Djibouti, saying he discussed with Guelleh enhancing cooperation in transport and ports linkage as well as efforts to launch direct flights between Cairo and Djibouti.

In August, on the heels of Al-Sisis visit to Djibouti, Egypt announced that it will start the construction of a giant obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics hospital in Djibouti, the first specialised hospital in the African country. Egypt also assisted the health sector in Djibouti last year amid the coronavirus pandemic by sending several planes carrying medical aid.

Moreover, Al-Sisi reiterated during this weeks discussion Egypts political will to reaching a legally binding agreement on the rules for filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Al-Sisi affirmed to Guelleh, whose country is adjacent to Ethiopia, Egypts determination to reach a GERD deal within an appropriate timeframe in a manner that enhances regional security and stability, based on the rules of law and the decisions of the UN Security Council.

Egypt and Sudan have been negotiating with Ethiopia for 10 years on how to reach a legally binding agreement that regulates the rules for filling and operating the dam, a proposal that has been repeatedly turned down by Ethiopia.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis recent visit to China was of major importance in building political and economic relations between the two countries.

President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi paid a four-day visit to China last week to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics and hold a summit meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi said in a statement on 4 February that the presidents participation in the global sporting event came at the personal invitation of the Chinese president and in the light of the firm and strategic relations between Egypt and China.

Radi said that the summit meeting held between the two presidents in Beijings Great Hall of the People discussed the comprehensive strategic partnership between Egypt and China and the growing economic and commercial relations between the two countries, in addition to exchanging political consultations over a number of regional and international issues.

He said President Xi had stressed that China gives special importance to its relations with Egypt due to the latters influential role in the Middle East, Africa, and the East Mediterranean region.

The Chinese media also cited President Xi as affirming that China and Egypt share similar visions in defending their interests, pursuing common development objectives, enhancing their peoples prosperity, and promoting ideals of fairness and justice in the world as it undergoes changes unprecedented in a century.

President Xi added that the two countries would continue to support each other on issues related to core interests and major concerns.

President Al-Sisi said he hoped the summit meeting would help to attract more Chinese companies working in the fields of scientific research, the pharmaceuticals industries, the manufacture of coronavirus vaccines, as well as electric vehicles, healthcare, and information technology, among other sectors, to Egypt and tap the promising potential of its local market.

Radi said that Al-Sisi had also discussed the contribution of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to developing the Suez Canal Economic Zone and recent developments in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute, the Palestinian cause, and crises in Libya, Syria, and Yemen.

Egypt and China have been actively involved in talks over Egypts participation in the BRI since 2015. The Chinese media have said it views Egypt as a gateway for Chinese investments in Africa. They cited President Xi as describing Egypts role in the BRI as reflecting the enhanced political trust between Cairo and Beijing, with Egypt becoming a model of China-Arab, China-Africa, and China-developing world solidarity.

President Xi stressed that the two sides should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and continue to dovetail the BRI with Egypts Vision 2030, as well as advance joint projects, particularly the development of the Suez Canal Corridor, Radi said.

President Al-Sisis visit to China between 3 and 6 February was the seventh since taking office in 2014, Ahmed Said, an Egyptian expert on Chinese affairs, said in a TV interview on 4 February. He added that while former president Hosni Mubarak had visited China three times during his 30-year rule, Al-Sisi has visited China seven times since he took office in 2014.

While some of these visits aimed to reinforce relations with a superpower like China, others came at the personal invitation of president Xi to attend international events held in China, Said said.

Tarek Fahmi, a professor of international relations at Cairo University, agrees that Al-Sisis visits to China have enhanced political trust between the two countries and achieved fruitful results in the economic, commercial, and political cooperation fields.

No Egyptian president has made such a large number of visits to China as Al-Sisi has over recent years, Fahmi said.

Diaa Helmi, secretary-general of the Egyptian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, told the Chinese news agency Xinhua that the visit was particularly significant as it came after the US, Canada, and Australia had announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games over alleged human-rights abuses.

They said they will be sending their athletes but not their officials or diplomats, said Helmi, adding that in reaction, China decided to invite more than 30 world leaders, including Al-Sisi, to show that it is not standing alone and that the Olympics receive overwhelming support from major world countries.

Al-Sisi was quick to respond to Xis invitation, confirming that Egypt stands by China in various situations, he added.

Said said that President Xi had visited Cairo in 2016  the first visit by a Chinese president in 12 years  to show support for Egypt while it was still facing a war against terrorism. In 2022, Al-Sisi was keen to respond to Xis invitation to also send a message of support to China.

During these visits, they forged a close personal relationship and found in each other a reliable friend, Said said.

In 2021, Egypt and China marked the 65th anniversary of the establishment of Egyptian-Chinese ties. In 1956, former president Gamal Abdel-Nasser decided that Egypt should become the first African and Arab state to establish diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China.

In July 2021, Al-Sisi vowed in a message to the Chinese president on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party to push Egyptian-Chinese relations to broader horizons.

On his first official visit to China in 2014, presidents Al-Sisi and Xi agreed a comprehensive strategic partnership, also signing a number of deals in the economic, defence, and counter-terrorism areas. In response, President Xi visited Egypt in 2016 to show political support and help the country achieve its economic reform programme.

Chinese Ambassador in Cairo Liao Liqiang said China greatly appreciates president Al-Sisis visit to China and Egypts support for his country in hosting the winter Olympic Games. It is a sign of mutual solidarity and support, and it shows that the two countries share strong common interests, Liqiang said.

Over the past decade, Egypt and China have forged closer relations. During President Al-Sisis visit to Beijing in December 2014, the two countries decided to elevate their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

At that time, Egypt looked to China as a critical partner in the revitalisation of the Egyptian economy after five years of political turmoil, said Said, adding that now after eight years and seven visits to Beijing, Al-Sisi has found in Xi Jinping a willing and welcoming partner.

When Egypt began to recover at the end of 2017 from the severe contraction triggered by political turmoil and the countrys economic growth rate rose to 5.6 per cent in 2019 (from 3.2 per cent in 2018), Chinas involvement in the Egyptian economy increased by leaps and bounds.

In 2022, more than 1,500 Chinese firms are registered in Egypt working in all sectors of the economy, Said said, adding that the China State Construction Engineering Corporation, which built the Cairo International Conference Centre 30 years ago, is currently building Egypts 80-storey Iconic Tower in the countrys New Administrative Capital, for example.

Bilateral cooperation has also seen Egypt manufacture Chinas Sinopharm and Sinovac coronavirus vaccines, as well as Chinese involvement in Al-Nasr Automotives plans to produce electric vehicles with an international partner.

Minister of Public Enterprise Hisham Tawfik said Al-Nasr Automotive is currently in advanced talks with two Chinese companies to replace Chinese company Dongfeng after talks collapsed last year, and it could sign an agreement sometime this quarter. President Al-Sisi said last month that Egypt, in cooperation with Chinese companies, is expected to start producing electric vehicles next year.

Figures released by the Central Agency for Statistics and Public Mobilisation (CAPMAS) show Egyptian exports to China achieving a remarkable increase in 2021, recording $1.3 billion during the first months of that year, compared to $583.1 million during the same period in 2020, or an increase of 118.7 per cent.

Egypts imports from China hit $10.7 billion during the first 10 months of 2021, compared to $9.6 billion during the same period in 2020, or an increase by 12.1 per cent.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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SAN Group, a globally operating biotechnology company headquartered in Austria, has announced plans to set up its green biotechnology facility within the Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (Rakez) at an investment of AED12 million ($3.2 million).

The company's green hydrogen and farming subsidiary, SAN Enertech, will be constructing a fully integrated sustainable hydrogen production unit, plant, and fish farming on a land plot of 8,470 sq m in Rakez Al Hamra Industrial Zone.

This biotech facility will consist of a research centre, laboratory, desalination plant, green house as well as hydroponic and aquaponic indoor systems.

It will generate energy through solar power systems that serves as the source of electricity for all the buildings in the premises. Furthermore, this electricity is used to produce green hydrogen.

On the new facility, Founder and President Erich Erber said: "Our new location in Ras Al Khaimah supports the long-term strategic goals of our company. When deciding where to invest, we gave paramount consideration to cost-effectiveness, the right environment, and ease of doing business, and with Rakez we found all the support we needed."

"San Enertech, as a commercial organisation, seeks to collaborate with local scientists to jointly expand the know-how and experience in the field of self-sustained farming," he stated.

"By utilising our fully integrated system, we want to demonstrate a concept and value that can be achieved even in climates that are unstable for agriculture, by providing fresh, home-grown food supplies for a growing population," noted Erber.

"We will be able to prove this to ourselves, the UAE society, and the entire world through the combination of different disciplines of state-of-the-art technology," he added.

Rakez Group CEO Ramy Jallad said: "We are proud to welcome San Group with San Enertech to our ecosystem, which is home to an increasing number of companies that promote sustainable industrial practices."

"Ras Al Khaimah strives to be at the forefront of sustainability in the region and Rakez contributes to this by creating a nurturing environment for players in the sustainable sector. We back them up with tailored and cost-effective solutions, so it is easier for them to materialise their projects and make an impact in todays society and the generations to come," he noted.

The facility of SAN Enertech will be fully operational by the end of 2022. The pilot research plant serves as a blueprint for regenerative agriculture in the Middle East and Africa region.-TradeArabia News Service
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate, highlighted the importance of activating the US-Egypt Climate Working Group to face climate change at the earliest opportunity.

In a video call on Tuesday, Shoukry, also the COP27 president-designate, and Kerry highlighted the importance of activating the joint action group in accordance with the outcomes of the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue, Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Shoukry and Kerry addressed cooperation between Egypt and the US regarding facing climate change ahead of Egypts scheduled hosting of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in November this year in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

The US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue, held in November last year for the first time since 2015, agreed on the formation of the joint working group on climate change and reaffirmed the two countries commitment to cooperate closely on climate issues.

During the phone call, Shoukry affirmed to Kerry that Egypt, during its presidency of COP27, will work on achieving outcomes that reflect the international ambitions in the face of climate change with giving a special importance to supporting developing countries, especially in Africa, the statement said.

In November 2021, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called on developed countries during a speech delivered to the Glasgow conference to fulfill their pledge to provide $100 billion annually to developing countries to address the repercussions of climate change and to allocate at least half of all public climate finance to adaptation measures.

Shoukry told Kerry that Egypt, as president of COP27, will seek to build on momentum achieved during COP26 in Glasgow to enhance international action against climate change at all levels, especially regarding adaptation to the negative impacts of climate change and the funding of developing countries in this regard.

Egypt is counting on the US support to achieve these desired goals, Shoukry told Kerry.

Shoukry and Kerry affirmed the importance of continued consultations and coordination between the Egyptian and US sides regarding the climate file, especially in light of the strategic relations binding the two countries, the statement said.

The top Egyptian diplomat also highlighted the investment opportunities available to the US companies in the sectors of renewable energy and green economy in Egypt amid the achievements made by the Egyptian government in the transition to a green economy.

Late in January, Egypts Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and Kerry discussed the Egyptian-US cooperation programme within the framework of Egypt's National Climate Change Strategy 2050.

The strategy was launched in November on the sidelines of COP26 to achieve five objectives, including fostering climate change action governance, increasing sustainable economic growth, strengthening adaptation and resilience, and enhancing scientific research.

In January, Shoukry said Cairo will focus on meeting the obligations of the Paris Agreement on climate change and explore how the private sector and NGOs can play a role in financing green investments during COP27.

Shoukry made the remarks during a forum organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham) on Monday held under the title Building Momentum to the UN COP 27 Strengthening Public-Private Sector Collaboration on Climate Challenge.

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About 125,000 Russian tourists visited Egypt during the first two weeks of 2022, Russian Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko said in an interview with Sputnik news agency on Tuesday.

Borisenko further stated that 700,000 Russian tourists visited Egypt in 2021, adding that about 20 to 25 flights land at Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh airports per day.

The ambassador noted that Egypt was one of the three most popular destinations for Russian tourists before the Russian plane crash in Sinai in October 2015. Some 3.3 million Russians visited Red Sea Resorts in 2014.

Moscow decided in 2015 to suspend flights to Egypt, after the deadly Russian plane crash in Sinai in the same year that led to the death of 217 people. Egypt has since upgraded its safety and security measures at all airports nationwide.

In 2018, Russia  which used to provide Egypt with the largest number of tourists annually  resumed flights to the Egyptian capital Cairo and later in July 2021 lifted the flight ban to Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, ending a near six-year flight suspension.

Egypt has won AdColonys Campaign of the Month award for October's best promotional campaign, which aimed to promote the Egyptian tourism in the Russian market.

Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Anany has said that Egypt received about 3.5 million tourists in the first six months of 2021, with total revenues was estimated between $3.5 and $4 billion.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, El-Anany said that about 3.5 million tourists visited Egypt in 2020 compared to 13.1 million in 2019, leading tourism revenues to fall to $4 billion in 2020 compared to $13.03 billion the previous year.

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Egypt's parliament rejected on Tuesday a government-drafted legislative proposal aiming to impose an EGP 500-1,000 fine on the parents of students who are absent from school without a valid reason and within one week of being notified.

"The fine shall be re-imposed if students continued to stay absent without an acceptable excuse and after their parents are notified," the amendment said.

A report prepared by the House's Education Committee said the amendment was rejected because the fine is hefty and stands beyond the financial capability of most parents.

"Not to mention that the proposal treats fathers or parents in general as criminals who should be fined simply because their kids do not go to school," said the report, adding that "many MPs also have strong suspicions that the amendment contravenes the constitution."

Representatives of most political parties said the Education Committee's rejection of the amendment reflects a clear support for Egyptian families.

Amr Darwish, deputy chairman of the Budget Committee, said the amendment violates the Egyptian constitution, which states that school education is free.

"I hope that the Ministry of Education will seek ways that will make going to school attractive to students rather than imposing hefty fines on their parents," said Darwish, adding that "one of the major reasons why students refuse to go to school is that school books are very difficult to understand for both students and teachers."

"The ministry should rather simplify education curricula and improve the education level of school teachers to encourage students to go to school," said Darwish.

MP Salah Abu Himila said, "The amendment shows that the Ministry of Education is living in a state of isolation as students refuse to go to school, not only because of the coronavirus pandemic, but also because of the fact that schools do not provide any kind of attractive education and activities."

Ahmed Khalil, spokesperson for the El-Nour Islamist party, said "it is bad that the education ministry resorts to imposing harsh financial penalties on students instead of playing its roles in reforming curricula and making schools attractive for students."

Soliman Wahdan, the spokesperson of the liberal Wafd Party, said the education ministry should instead submit to parliament a plan for reforming curricula, building more schools, and raising the living and education level of teachers.

Hesham Hilal, the spokesperson of the Modern Egypt party, said the coronavirus pandemic has placed Egyptian families under great financial, social and psychological pressure. "It is bad that the education ministry wants to impose more pressure on families during these hard times," said Hilal.

Diaaeddin Dawoud, a Nasserist MP, criticised the performance of Minister of Education Tarek Shawki, insisting that his policies have created many crises for the government and have made it a direct target of criticism by the public.

Meanwhile, the House gave a final approval for a new government-drafted law regulating hotel and tourism establishments. The law, approved in principle by the House on 26 January, aims to simplify regulations for tourism and hotel investments and businesses.

The House also approved the amendments to a law regulating the performance of real estate registration offices.

The amendments to the real estate registration law, which were approved by the House's Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee on 30 January, aim to simplify property registration procedures by cutting red tape, reducing the number of required documents, and putting a time ceiling on the process.

A report prepared by the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee said the amendments aim to encourage citizens to notarise their property in real estate registration offices, create a friendly and bureaucracy-free atmosphere for real estate investors, and fight property theft.

Upon orders from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, the government of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly decided last year to task the Ministry of Justice with amending the current law to streamline the process in order to encourage more notarisations. The new amendments were approved by the cabinet last November. The amendments will be up for a final vote in a later session.

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Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday during what Israel described as an operation against a "terrorist cell".

The Palestinian health ministry and Israel's border police both confirmed three deaths.

The border police said the dead were "armed terrorists who were... killed during clashes with the security forces". It said the three were responsible for recent shooting attacks on Israeli troops and civilians.

No Israelis were harmed in the operation, it added.

Sources in the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas identified two of the dead as Adham Mabrouk and Muhammad Al-Dakhil, adding that they were affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

According to a Palestinian security source, "Israeli soldiers who were in a civilian vehicle intercepted a Palestinian vehicle and directly fired at it, which led to the deaths of three young men."

Onlookers captured video of the bullet-ridden vehicle, shot in broad daylight in the city.

Hundreds of Palestinians thronged the streets outside Rafidia hospital in Nablus as the bodies of the three were carried out.

The city lies in the north of the West Bank, a Palestinian territory that Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967 and is the scene of frequent unrest.

Nearly half a million Israelis live in illegal settlements in the occupied territory among some three million Palestinians.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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Belarus' authoritarian president said Tuesday he has no intention of sending troops to Syria to serve alongside Russian forces in the country but held the door open for a potential deployment of military medics there.

President Alexander Lukashenko's comment followed the publication of a draft agreement between Russia and Belarus that envisages the deployment of up to 200 Belarusian military personnel to Syria.

Related Belarus to send 200 troops to Syria alongside Russians

The document released by the Russian government Monday is yet to be signed by the countries' foreign and defense ministries.

It states that Belarusian military personnel will act under the operational control of the Russian military in Syria when deployed there.

Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since 2015, teaming up with Iran to help Syrian President Bashar Assad's government reclaim control over most of the country after a devastating civil war.

The announcement of the potential deployment of Belarusian military personnel to Syria comes amid increasingly close defense ties between the two ex-Soviet neighbors and allies and it drew an immediate strong protest from the Belarusian opposition.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main challenger to Lukashenko in an August 2020 vote that was rejected as a sham by the opposition and the West, denounced the planned deployment to Syria as Lukashenko's payback for Moscow's support for his crackdown on post-election protests.

In an apparent effort to deflect such criticism, Lukashenko said that he hadn't authorized any deployment yet.

``I haven't sent anyone there,'' Lukashenko said Tuesday, adding that Syria had asked for humanitarian assistance and he discussed sending military medics there at some point.

``If they need doctors, we will offer help,'' he said. ``But not now _ we have plenty of our own problems now and the pandemic isn't over.''

Lukashenko noted that Belarusian and Russian authorities had discussed logistics to accommodate the Belarusian personnel if they are sent to Syria.

The Belarusian leader 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 defense ties with Moscow, and recently offered to host Russian nuclear weapons.

In recent weeks, Russia 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 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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Denmark said Tuesday it was boosting its military preparedness in response to Russia's "unacceptable military pressure" on Ukraine, putting a mobile NATO-operational battalion on alert.

The Danish military "will boost the readiness of the combat battalion at NATO's disposal so that it will be available within one to five days", compared to the usual 30 days, the defence ministry said.

The battalion of 700-800 troops will be located in Slagelse, around 90 kilometres (56 miles) west of Copenhagen, it added.

"The security situation in Europe has intensified as a result of unacceptable Russian military pressure on Ukraine", Denmark's defence ministry said.

Amid Western nations' fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Denmark said it would also be ready to send two F-16 fighter jets to its Baltic island of Bornholm "if judged necessary".

Danish F-16s were already mobilised to the island last summer after Russia violated Danish airspace on several occasions.

"For the moment there is no increased threat to Denmark or Bornholm", Danish defence chief Flemming Lentfer told news agency Ritzau.

"We are strengthening our military capabilities in order to be able to respond more quickly if the situation requires it," he said.

In order to bolster NATO's presence in eastern Europe, Denmark in January sent a frigate to the Baltic Sea and four F-16 jets to Lithuania.

Last week, the Scandinavian country, which is also a member of the European Union, said it was ready to send military equipment to Ukraine and committed to granting Kyiv around 80 million euros in annual aid.

The money is in addition to a support programme worth 22 million euros announced in mid-January by Denmark's foreign minister.

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Former chairman of the Egypt Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Agency Hafez Al-Salamawy talks about the future of renewables in Egypt and the countrys potential as an energy hub to Al-Ahram Weekly.

With Egypt having achieved a target of 20 per cent of its peak load of electricity coming from renewable energy, how do you see the future of this in Egypt?

Around 6,000 Megawatts (MW) of Egypts current installed capacity of electricity is from renewable energy (RE) sources, including 2,800 MW from hydroelectric sources, 1,600 MW from solar energy, and 1,660 MW from wind energy. This represents 20 per cent of demand during peak hours.

However, the optimum energy mix is to have renewables as 20 of total generated electricity. Currently, renewable energy represents only 12.5 per cent of this, and so more projects should be added to fulfill this target.

Nonetheless, the future of RE is very promising in Egypt. The country has all the ingredients to have a successful RE programme because of the availability of wind and solar energy, a good legal framework, and the experience in renewable projects development accumulated over the past 20 years. Over and above all this, Egypts energy sector has a good track record in respecting contracts, which has resulted in attracting international investments and confidence in the business environment.

Egypt was off to a good start by successfully establishing the Benban PV Solar Complex and the Zafarana and Gabal Al-Zeit Wind Energy Farms, as well as other renewable energy projects. However, clear short-term five-year plans for renewable energy projects need to be available to investors. Moreover, Egypt needs to enhance its capacity in contracting and reducing the lead and execution time for renewable projects, diversifying the adopted models for project development, and not restricting agreements to Build, Own and Operate (BOO) concessions or Engineering Procurement and Contracting models (EPC + finance), as these have their own limitations.

Private-public ownership should be encouraged through the involvement of the Egyptian Sovereign Fund in the equity financing of projects in addition to issuing more green bonds by the ministry of finance and financial institutions in Egypt and allowing public subscriptions to finance renewable projects.

The government has imposed five per cent customs duties on the importation of photovoltaic cells. How do you see this impacting the industry?

The impact will be marginal. The variation in the prices of photovoltaic (PV) cells that we witnessed recently as a result of supply chain problems exceeded the five per cent customs duty. Furthermore, the cost contribution of the PV panels, including PV cells, amounts to only 40 per cent of the total cost of a solar power plant, which is why the imposed customs duties will have a trivial impact on the industry as a whole. However, the measure will send a negative signal about the governments support of renewable projects, as well as making only a marginal difference to government revenues.

Electric vehicles are considered to be a useful measure in slowing the emissions that lead to climate change. Will they soon replace conventional cars in Egypt?

The major car producers have announced that after 2035 they are going to halt the production of conventional cars using internal combustion engines (ICE). Thus, shifting to electric cars is an international trend, and Egypt will follow this trend.

What we can do is to accelerate the change by offering substantial advantages for the buyers and consumers of electric vehicles. Already the government has waived customs duties on imported EVs, as well as reduced their registration costs, yet this is not enough. Moreover, studies show that at least 16.5 per cent of cars in Egypt will be EVs, given the current government incentives, by 2030.

If sufficiently encouraging policies are introduced, EVs will replace 31 per cent of all cars in our streets by this date, which is equivalent to two million cars. However, the share of EVs among taxis will rise to 47 per cent due to savings on operational expenses including the consumption of fuel, maintenance, and spare parts. Additional government support could include soft financing for new EVs, limiting the licensing of old ICE cars, encouraging cab hailing operators to use EVs, imposing a carbon tax on liquid fuels for transportation, supporting the spread of fast public-charging outlets, and restricting access of ICE cars to specific districts.

These measures will be progressive and gradual and should be applied in a coordinated way. Studies show that savings on petrol as a result of the move to EVs could be equivalent to 4.5 million tons in 2030. This will lead to a reduction in emissions by the equivalent of 10 million tons of CO2. Further savings will be possible in the freight transport, public transportation, and railways sectors.

Egypts energy mix comes under scrutiny every few years. What are your suggestions regarding Egypts intention to produce more green hydrogen and encourage electric mobility?

We have an energy strategy that is drafted by international consultants. It is sound and can be implemented, yet it needs to be updated to take international and national developments into consideration. These include changes in the prices of different energy supply systems, specifically the reduction in the cost of renewable energy, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, advances in technologies such as electric cars, the potential production and use of green hydrogen, new plans by international partners such as the green deal in Europe, and the potential implementation of the carbon adjustment mechanism on EU imports.

There is also the water supply deficit in Egypt and greater reliance on underground water, which needs more energy for pumping and desalination, the confirmation of the role of Egypt as a regional energy hub, and new discoveries of gas resources in Egypt as well as new export opportunities.

Currently, an international consultancy is working on enhancing Egypts energy strategys methodology and extending it from 2035 to 2040. Other strategies are being formulated for transportation, water, industry, urban planning, and other sectors. The energy issues of these will intersect with the overall energy strategy. There needs to be very good coordination and interaction between them to ensure the balanced and integrated development of all sectors.

Concerning green hydrogen, a high-level committee is currently looking into this. Egypts green hydrogen strategy should be discussed publicly and be binding for all. There should be a body helping to update and modify the strategy, especially in case of emergencies, new technologies, or changing circumstances. I believe there should be a single integrated energy strategy and not various energy strategies for each sector or energy resource. Sectorial and resources issues should be treated through polices and plans derived from the integrated strategy.

What can Egypt do to realise its potential as a regional energy hub?

Egypt can benefit from its comparative advantages as one of the largest producers of gas, the largest energy market in the Southern Mediterranean, a crossroads for energy transit with a mature infrastructure for both gas and electricity, and its good track record in project development.

Egypt can be a regional energy hub in the physical sense as it is interconnected with surrounding countries, representing a nodal point for all of them. Moreover, it can act as a regional market for electricity and gas and be the location where the pricing and contracting of these commodities take place.

The future of energy in Egypt is very promising and will bring financial, political, and energy security to the country, in addition to the political leverage and the mutual benefits that can be gained by exchanging energy and ensuring the energy security of other countries.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Major-General Mohamed Abdel-Salam Al-Mahgoub, a former Egyptian minister of local administration and former deputy chief of Egyptian General Intelligence, died of a heart attack on 31 January at the age of 86.

Prior to entering politics in 1992, Al-Mahgoub was an officer in the Egyptian army. He graduated from the Military Academy in 1955 with a bachelors degree in military science. From 1955 to 1992, Al-Mahgoub was appointed military attache in a number of Egyptian embassies around the world. From 1992 to 1994, he held the post of deputy chief of Egypts national security apparatus, responsible for fighting spying activities in Egypt.

In 1994, former prime minister Atef Sedki selected Al-Mahgoub to be governor of Ismailia, and in 1997 ex-prime minister Atef Ebeid named him governor of Alexandria.

Many agree that Al-Mahgoubs biggest achievements came when he was governor of Alexandria, Egypts second biggest city, between 1997 and 2006. By 1997, Alexandria had been suffering from years of neglect and was close to losing its famous name, the pride of the Mediterranean.

In his book The Lover of Alexandria, journalist Samir Shehata said once he took office as governor in 1997, Al-Mahgoub led a campaign to modernise and renovate Alexandria. With the help of donations from Alexandrias business community, Al-Mahgoub implemented a number of giant projects, the most important of which was expanding the citys Corniche from eight to 20 metres and building Stanley Bridge which became a landmark of modern Alexandria, Shehata said.

Senator Dina Al-Hilali eulogised Al-Mahgoub as the founder of modern Alexandria.

In 2006, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif named Al-Mahgoub minister of local administration. In 2010, Al-Mahgoub won the parliamentary seat of Alexandrias El-Raml district, but in January 2011 and following the outbreak of protests against then president Hosni Mubarak, he was forced to resign and go into retirement.

Al-Mahgoubs daughter Iman told TVs MBC Egypt on 1 February that the family did not know that her father had been an intelligence officer for more than 35 years. For many years he was travelling everywhere and we thought that he was just a military attache serving in several Egyptian embassies, Iman said. But later after he was appointed governor of Ismailia some of my fathers colleagues told us that he was one of the most active intelligence officers during the years of war with Israel between 1956 and 1973.

Shehatas book indicates that Al-Mahgoub was the intelligence officer in the popular TV series Tears in Ugly Eyes which appeared in 1980. It told the true story of Gomaa Al-Shawwan, an Egyptian who worked for the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency between the two wars of 1967 and 1973. He, however, provided the Israelis with false military information with the help of Egyptian General Intelligence and under the direct supervision of Al-Mahgoub.

In a press interview, Al-Hawwan, or Al-Shawwan in the TV series, said when I left Suez after the 1967 War and travelled to Greece to earn a living on a ship, I met a woman with whom I fell in love, and she convinced me to meet with an undercover Mossad agent who promised me a lot of money in return for gathering information about the Egyptian army and navy. When I returned to Egypt, I met Al-Mahgoub who supervised my contacts with Mossad, Al-Hawwan said.

In one of his rare TV interviews, Al-Mahgoub said the Al-Hawwan operation which I supervised led the Israeli Mossad to fire many of its intelligence officers after they failed to discover that Gomaa Al-Hawwan was sending them false information.

Al-Mahgoub was also the intelligence officer who led the Hafaar operation which also appeared as a TV series in 1996. It told the story of an excavator which Israel bought from Canada to use to search for oil in the Sinai Peninsula after occupying it during the 1967 war. In March 1968, Al-Mahgoub led an Egyptian intelligence team that bombed the excavator near the beaches of the Ivory Coast and before reaching the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait at the entrance of the Red Sea.

Shehatas book also indicates that in 1982 Al-Mahgoub was the officer who led an Egyptian intelligence operation which rescued former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from the Israeli military siege of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and smuggled him out to Tunisia.

In 1995 and while he was governor of Ismailia, Al-Mahgoub was also deputy chief of the General Egyptian Intelligence Service. He and Omar Suleiman, chief of the Egyptian General Intelligence, played a leading role in saving Mubarak from an assassination attempt in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, in June 1995. Al-Mahgoub and Suleiman insisted that they take an armoured vehicle to protect Mubarak after news came that Islamist groups living in Sudan might target him after landing in Addis Ababas airport, Shehata wrote in his book.

Minister of Local Administration Mahmoud Shaarawi said Al-Mahgoubs years of public service as both an intelligence officer and a provincial governor were remarkable in Egypts history. Not to mention that he was one of the most efficient ministers of local administration, said Shaarawi, adding that Al-Mahgoub was one of those politicians who played a major role in developing several Egyptian governorates and improving services to citizens and investors alike.

Speaker of the Senate Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razek also eulogised Al-Mahgoub, saying: We lost a great national hero who dedicated his life to his country.

A large number of current and former cabinet ministers, provincial governors, politicians, public figures and artists joined Al-Mahgoubs funeral prayers in Al-Rashdan Mosque in Nasr City east of Cairo on 1 February.



*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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In 2021, Egypt exported $45.2 billion worth of goods, marking a 80 per cent increase from their level in 2020, according to the cabinet.

Non-oil exports constituted 71.5 per cent of the total, while oil and gas exports constituted the remaining 28.5 per cent of the total value of exports in 2021.

The most notable hike was in the oil and gas sector, with export revenue from Egypts petroleum sector increasing to $12.9 billion in 2021, representing a 84.3 per cent surge on their level in 2020.

According to Tarek Al-Molla, minister of petroleum and mineral resources, Egypts export revenues from natural and liquefied gas saw more than a fivefold increase, or about 550 per cent, to reach $3.9 billion, up from $600 million in 2020.

The value of crude oil exports jumped by 32 per cent to record $3.3 billion in 2021, while petrochemical products recorded a 42.5 per cent rise in exports in 2021 to $5.7 billion, up from $4 billion in 2020.

A report by Fitch Solutions said that the production of Egypts petrochemicals sector had reached 3.34 million tons during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, noting that it had achieved a growth in revenues by 50 per cent on a yearly basis and enhanced Egypts ambition to become a regional hub for oil and gas.

Fitch said that new projects implemented by the petrochemicals sector in Egypt include the Red Sea Petrochemicals Complex project in Ain Sokhna with investments of $7.5 billion, the Al-Alamein Petrochemicals Complex with investments of $8 billion and a production capacity of 4.7 million tons per year, the methanol derivatives project in Suez with investments of $119 million, and a bio-ethanol project with investments of $112 million that aims to add 3.7 million tons per year to production capacity.

We have good export volumes, and Egypt has many trade agreements with the European Union, the US, and the African countries, said Khaled Abul-Makarem, head of the Export Council for Chemical Industries, adding that fertilisers and plastics were the top exported products last year.

Al-Makarem said that growth in the petrochemicals sector during 2020 had reached six per cent despite the coronavirus pandemic. We are targeting a volume of exports of up to $8 billion this year, he stated.

According to Cabinet Spokesperson Nader Saad, the African continent is a target for Egyptian exports, and there are plans to expand exports to the continent in order to help realise the dream of reaching $100 billion of Egyptian exports in the near future.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said that what had been achieved in terms of exports in 2021 was the result of great efforts made by the government in exceptional circumstances such as the coronavirus pandemic that had negatively affected economies worldwide.

Madbouli said that the government had focused on encouraging the industrial and export sectors in order to deal with the effects of the pandemic and still achieve remarkable progress.

He pointed to the many initiatives launched to support exports, including the export-support programme that includes disbursing financial arrears to exporters, some of which date back to 2012.

The government has provided manufacturers and exporters with funding that has exceeded LE31 billion, he added.

Changes in the customs system by simplifying procedures and facilitating the movement of international trade, whether through imports or exports, through an integrated one-window system had also helped to raise exports, Madbouli said.

There are many measures the government has taken to realise the dream of Egyptian exports exceeding $100 billion, he said.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance, the governments LE31 billion support for the export sector has been spent on more than 3,000 companies since the launch of the initiative to refund arrears to exporters in cash in October 2019.

One of the key players in boosting exports through paying what is due to exporters is the Egyptian Export Development Bank (EEDB). This finances import-substitution projects, provides financing for Egyptian exports, and facilitates the entry of Egyptian products to various global markets.

The EEDB board has approved an increase in its issued and paid-up capital from LE3.2 billion to LE5.2 billion, an increase of LE2 billion through cash subscriptions from shareholders.

Minister of Trade and Industry Niveen Gamea said that the capital increase aimed to support the banks capital base, increase the volume of its activities, and enhance its expansion plans by increasing the number of branches and creating a competitive advantage in granting loans.

The bank played an important role in paying the financial arrears due to exporters, giving a great boost to Egyptian exports during 2021, Gamea said.

Egypts exports from food industries increased during 2021 by about $644 million, or approximately 19 per cent over 2020, to record $4.1 billion and comparing to about $3.45 billion in 2020.

Hani Barzi, head of the Export Council for Food Industries at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said in a statement that the top importing countries for Egypts food industries in 2021 had included Saudi Arabia with exports worth $304 million, Sudan with a value of $223 million and a growth rate of 222 per cent, and the US with a value of $223 million and a growth rate of 23 per cent in 2020.

Libya ranked fourth in terms of top importing countries of Egyptian food products, with a value of $202 million and a growth rate of 24 per cent, followed by Jordan with a value of $188 million and a growth rate of 11 per cent.

Barzi said the Food Export Council is working with other agencies to increase Egypts exports through marketing and promotional activities including plans to continue positive increases in exports and carry out trade missions to African, Arab, and other fast-growing markets.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The recent increase in Suez Canal transit tolls will reflect positively on the international navigation route, experts tell Al-Ahram Weekly.

The Suez Canal reported its highest-ever annual revenues in 2021 at $6.3 billion, marking a 12.8 per cent increase on 2020, said Chair of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie this week.

The number of ships passing through the canal also increased by 10 per cent, marking an all-time high.

The unprecedented figures were achieved despite the only partial recovery of global trade recorded since the early months of 2021. From January to April last year, the canal recorded a 2.8 per cent increase in revenues, or $1.96 billion, up from $1.907 billion during the same months of 2020.

The SCA attributed the improved figures to the development strategy it has adopted for the canal, one of the countrys main sources of foreign currency.

Mohamed Hassan, managing director of Blom Egypt Investments, an asset management company, said the rise in Suez Canal revenues was the result of increased transit tolls in tandem with the rise in petroleum prices in 2021.

The year before, the SCA had reduced transit tolls on the back of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global decrease in petroleum prices to attract vessels and cargo ships instead of their taking the route around the Cape of Good Hope, he said.

Radwa Al-Swaify, head of research at Al Ahly Pharos Securities Brokersage, an investment bank, said the hike in Suez Canal revenues in 2021 was caused by the increase in the number of vessels crossing the canal due to the reduction in transit fees the SCA had announced a year earlier.

The SCA offered a 48 per cent reduction in transit tolls for petroleum tankers carrying cargos of more than 250,000 tons. Roll-on/roll-off ships sailing from ports in northwestern Europe to Santander and then heading directly to Singapore and those heading to the eastern ports of Southeast Asia and the Far East were offered a reduction of eight per cent.

The SCA also announced a 50 per cent decrease in transit tolls for passenger ships.

Some 20,694 vessels crossed the canal in 2021, up from 18,830 in 2020, registering an increase of 10 per cent, while net cargo was increased by 8.5 per cent, Rabie said.

Hassan said that the New Suez Canal had contributed to the increase in the number of ships crossing the canal. The new axis has reduced waiting times for ships from 12 to six hours, leading to an increase in traffic, he said.

He expects canal revenues to continue to rise in 2022 with the increase in transit tolls announced this month.

In November, the SCA said it would increase transit tolls for all ships by six per cent in February 2022, exempting tourist ships and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from the increase. LNG carriers have been granted a transit fee reduction for the first six months of 2022.

The SCA said it is keen to implement a balanced and flexible pricing and marketing strategy that achieves the interests of the authority and its clients and takes into account global economic variables.

It added that it wants to offer exemplary services that allow the canal to remain at the forefront of international trade routes and become the best, fastest, and shortest navigation route available.

Al-Swaify believes that the rise in transit tolls, coupled with the full recovery of global trade, will increase the canals revenues by between five and 10 per cent. Rabie foresees a rise of 11.1 per cent in revenues, saying that the canal is expected to collect $7 billion this year.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Swedish solar energy leader Midsummer has signed a five-year deal with Italian roof manufacturer Unimetal for supply of 25MW of its thin film CIGS modules worth 45 million euros ($51.4 million) .

Headquartered in Torre San Giorgio just south of Turin in northern Italias industrial heartland,

Unimetal is a company that has been operating successfully for years in the field of tinsmithing and the production of civil, industrial and agricultural roofing.

As per the agreement, Unimetal will purchase up to 5MW per year of Midsummers thin film CIGS modules for a price of 9 million euros per year for five years, it stated.

Unimetal is a subsidiary of Idrocentro, a large Italian distributor of building material with more than 50 stores, focused on northern Italy.

Idrocentro has been operating successfully for more than 40 years in the field of hydraulic, thermal, sanitary and bathroom furnishing supplies, air conditioning, heating, building supplies and fittings for swimming pools, gyms, irrigation, hospital facilities and facilities for the disabled.

Under this agreement, Midsummer has agreed to buy up to 50,000 sq m of metal panels from Unimetal for a price of euro 1.5 million per year for five years at a price of euros 30/sq m.

The quantities are not binding for any party, and the prices can also change under certain conditions.

As part of the agreement, the two companies will jointly launch a new product for the southern European market called Solar Metal structured with Unimetals metals panels and Midsummers modules.

In December, a similar deal was announced with the Italian manufacturer of bespoke curved metal roofs Medacciai, according to which Medacciai undertakes to purchase 3.5MW/6.3m of panels per year from Midsummer.

The two companies will also jointly launch a new product for the southern European market called Panel Energy.

Year after year, Unimetal ranks as one of the top 5 companies in terms of market share in Italy for metal roofing materials, said Jarno Montella, Manager of Midsummer Italia. I believe that the agreement we have signed is a fantastic starting point, and at the same time I believe that there is room to grow Unimetals offtake of our products even more in the future!

In October last year, it was announced that Midsummer Italia has been awarded grants and soft loans to the tune of euros 38m for the establishment of large-scale production of CIGS thin film solar panels in Bari, southern Italy.

The Midsummer factory, expected to be operational by the end of 2022, will be the largest producer of thin film solar cells in Europe.

This is of course very good news and testament to the potential of the Italian commercial and private market, said Sven Lindstrom, CEO, Midsummer.

Together with the previous Medacciai deal, the agreement signed with Unimetal fills a considerable portion of the capacity in our new factory even before we have manufactured the first solar cell. The deals prove that the decision to locate the Groups first megafactory to Italy was the right one, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The Turkish TV series The Club has been revisiting the countrys cosmopolitan past while exposing some old wounds.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but as the Turkish presidency was sending out signals to Israel in November proposing to turn over a new leaf, the Netflix streaming platform surprised Turkish viewers with a new drama series that exposed the old wounds of Turkeys Jewish community.

Kulup, or The Club, stars Gokce Bahadr as Matilda Aseo from a well-to-do Sephardic Jewish family serving life for murder against the backdrop of the Turkish wealth tax of the 1940s and subsequently released from prison in the mid-1950s as part of a general amnesty.

In the series, she tries to reunite with her daughter Rachel while subsisting on a poorly paying job at a nightclub. The series is directed by Zeynep Gunay, praised by Karel Valansi of the Turkish newspaper T24 for avoiding the usual stereotypes and keeping her characters wholly human with a full range of strengths and weaknesses and virtues and flaws.

According to Turkish journalist Nazlan Ertan writing on the website Al-Monitor, the six-episode series wakened the ghosts of the countrys turbulent past with its non-Muslim minorities ... and the past injustices that deprived them of their wealth, language and in some cases, life.

She observed how the tiny space for the minority characters is snatched away as nationalism and anti-Jewish and anti-Greek sentiments are fuelled by the rise of the Turco-Greek conflict in Cyprus. Because of that very trend, the owner of the casino, a Greek man who has changed his name from Nikos to Orhan and taken on a Muslim existence, is forced to replace his non-Muslim employees with Turks.

Perhaps this is another reason why, as Ertan put it, Turkeys ever-shrinking Jewish minority... has been praised for breaking the code of silence among the Jews and is often called Turkeys model minority.

To understand this better, it is necessary to go back over a century ago to a time well before the young Mustafa Kemal, the first president of the Turkish Republic and not yet dubbed Ataturk was already standing for everything that is anathema to present President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

When Mustafa Kemal returned from France in the first decade of the 20th century, he was enamoured with all things Parisian, so much so that his mother, Zeynep Hanim, had to tell him not to forget his Turkish traditions and language.

As it turned out, he did not need the reminder. He had returned not just to please his mother but in response to a deep patriotic calling. Soon after World War I, he led the struggle to found a new republic on the ruins of the former Ottoman Empire.

In that reborn nation, Turkish would not only be the official language, but also the only language permitted in public places. Violators could be subject to questioning and arrest. This also applied to Ladino, the language spoken by Sephardic Jews in many parts of the Ottoman Empire and which was derived from Spanish but with quite a bit of Arabic, Hebrew, and Turkish thrown in.

After Ataturk died on 10 November 1938, his successor carried out his policy of promoting Turkish and ridding it of all foreign words. Signs appeared in the streets, theatres, restaurants and other public places exhorting citizens, if you call yourself Turkish, speak Turkish.

Some municipalities exacted fines for speaking other languages in public, and minorities who did so were frequently harassed and insulted. Such incidents often ended tragically, especially in the 1950s under the leadership of the Islamist-oriented Adnan Menderes and Celal Bayar, the former assassinated in Turkeys first modern military coup in 1960.

All that would gradually change as Ankara applied for EU accession, shifted from a state capitalist to a free-market economy, and developed political and military ties with Israel, signing the strategic partnership with Israel under former president Suleyman Demirel.

This relates to the widespread praise The Club has received from prominent liberal academics and journalists in Turkey and whether the situation has changed under Turkeys currently ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Quite a few who would rank themselves among the opposition believe that Turkish Jews are as vulnerable as ever to discrimination, explaining why the number of Jews leaving Turkey has nearly doubled in the two decades since the AKP came to power.

At the outset of the century, there were more than 33,000 Jews in Turkey. Now they are only 17,000.

If secularist Kemalism inspired waves of xenophobia in the past, todays Erdogan regime feeds on a hybrid ultranationalist Islamist ideology that is doubly exclusivist. If the fervour has recently been tamped down, it is for purely pragmatic reasons.

Turkey is headed for general elections in just over a year and, with the deteriorating economy and mounting grumbling, Ankara needs to put on a more moderate face if it is to attract foreign investment. This means back-peddling on policies and mending fences with regional powers that only yesterday were on Erdogans blacklist.

It may have just been a coincidence, but soon after the second episode of The Club aired in Turkey, Erdogan seemed to be struck by its nostalgic spirit. The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States was meeting in Istanbul on 23 December, and Erdogan received the members of the Alliance and representatives of the Turkish Jewish community at the presidential palace in Ankara.

In his speech at the event, Erdogan did not bring up the injustices mentioned in The Club. Instead, he painted a rosy picture of Turkeys rich culture, ancient history, and the climate of peace and tolerance that he said his guests would witness during their time there. Turkey has been a peaceful haven for Jews persecuted in various countries of the world throughout history, he said.

We are a nation that embraced the Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition in 1492, Erdogan said. Before that, after conquering Istanbul [in 1453], Mehmet the Conqueror invited the Jewish communities residing on both sides of the Golden Horn to Istanbul to improve the citys cultural richness. The Jews who came to Istanbul after acknowledging his invitation made a great contribution to this unique city.

The spirit that enabled the Ottoman Empire to welcome the Jews is still strongly alive today, Erdogan continued. Thanks to the Turkish governments determination and the ceaseless efforts of Turkish diplomats, many Jews who fled the Nazi persecution during World War II were saved from being sent to concentration camps.

Fast-forwarding 50 years, Erdogan said that we see antisemitism as a crime against humanity, just like we consider Islamophobia as a crime against humanity. He listed Turkeys achievements as co-host of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005, and co-host of the 2007 Decision on the Undeniability of the Holocaust.

In 2009 Turkey became an observer of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

However, much in Turkey today speaks of another reality, one that is still not open to minorities, immigrants, or members of other faiths. The wealth tax targeting non-Muslims in the 1940s, and the 1955 pogroms against Jews, Greeks, and other minorities were truly traumatic. But The Club shows a more cosmopolitan version of Istanbul full of nostalgia.

As Ertan writes, it portrays the lost beauty of Istanbul in the mid-20th century, when Turks and foreigners in chic clothes and jauntily angled hats walked proudly on the cobblestones of Pera. Rakish cab drivers with Clark Gable moustaches made eyes at beautiful women, and the hills overlooking the Bosphorus were filled with trees, not cubical condos all lumped together, as is often the case today.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The elimination of top Islamic State group leader Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi Al-Qurayshi has come at a critical time in US domestic politics, writes Ahmed Kamel Al-Beheiry

On 3 February, US President Joe Biden announced that Islamic State (IS) group leader Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi Al-Qurayshi had been killed during a US-led Special Operations raid in the vicinity of Atme in the Syrian province of Idlib near the border with Turkey.

The Pentagon has provided some details about the tactics and intelligence involved in the operation.

According to the information, US forces planned to arrest Al-Qurayshi, but he killed himself by detonating an explosive vest that also killed his wives and some of his children. Questions remain as to exactly how, where, and when the raid was carried out and how Al-Qurayshis death will affect the IS group.

According to Iraqi sources, there was close coordination between Iraqi and US intelligence agencies in order to pinpoint the IS leaders location.

The killing of the terrorist IS group leader was an extension of the great efforts made on the part of all of the components of the Iraqi security forces, which have killed dozens of terrorist leaders and operatives in military operations in Iraq, arrested hundreds of them, and gathered and analysed intelligence that ultimately led to the destruction of the lair of the head of the organisation, said Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on his Twitter account.

There has also been speculation that some militias hostile to the regime led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Idlib had furnished intelligence leading to Al-Qurayshis whereabouts.

The Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group commanded by Abu Mohamed Al-Julani and other Turkish-backed militias hold sway in Idlib. There has been speculation that there was intelligence coordination involving not just the US and Iraqi and Kurdish intelligence, but also the armed factions in Idlib, raising further questions about the circumstances of Al-Qurayshis death.

The operation targeting the IS leader appears to be similar to that targeting the terrorist groups former leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, on 27 October 2019. US Special Forces also used the same tactics to take out Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011. All three operations involved US elite forces and intelligence cooperation between the US and its regional partners.

The elimination of the IS leader has come at a critical time in US domestic politics. Midterm Congressional elections in November are approaching, and with Republican Party candidates gaining an edge over Democratic ones in key states, jeopardising the Democrats control of Congress, the operation could boost the popularity of the Biden administration and improve the prospects of the Democratic Party as a whole.

The announcement of Al-Baghdadis death in October 2019 also preceded a crucial presidential election year in the US, leading some to ask whether the announcements of Bin Ladens death in 2011 and that of Abu Mosaab Al-Zarqawi in 2006 were similarly timed for electoral purposes.

Some regional powers had begun to question the US commitment to the fight against terrorism in the region when Washington withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, reduced its forces in Iraq, and halted the activities of the International Coalition to fight IS in Iraq.

Analysts have suggested that the US withdrawal has helped IS to stage a return in Iraq and elsewhere in the region, leading to a surge in terrorist operations. The special operation to take out Al-Qurayshi thus appears to be geared to reassure Washingtons regional allies regarding the US commitment.

The raid against Al-Qurayshi also took place days after the IS attack against the Ghwaryan Prison in Hasakah in northeastern Syria, when thousands of IS operatives were freed. This was one of the most intensive terrorist operations IS has staged in years, and the spectre of so many of its terrorist fighters on the loose has clearly alarmed Washington and its allies.

Atme, where the late IS leader was hiding, is only 10 km from where Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was taken out. There have been questions as to why this location has been chosen by IS leaders and whether its proximity to the Turkish border is important.

Many have speculated that the location was chosen because of the possibility of escaping across the Syrian-Turkish border. However, Idlib is an area subject to Turkish influence and that of HTS and other Turkish-backed militias, so it could have been a risky choice.

It has been suggested that Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras Al-Din (Guardians of Religion) had a role in hiding the two IS leaders. If so, this raises questions regarding the relationship between IS and Al-Qaeda.

The International Coalition against IS and the Iraqi government succeeded in killing or arresting numerous IS fighters in 2020 and 2021, limiting the candidates to replace Al-Qurayshi.

At present, three names have been mooted as possible successors apart from Al-Qurayshis official spokesman. One is Jumaa Awad Al-Badri, chair of the IS Shura Council and brother of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. He could help sustain the cohesion of the organisation and forestall schisms, observers say.

There have been reports that some branches of IS have wanted to internationalise the leadership of the group to allow the heads of non-Iraqi branches to assume its highest post.

Another name that has been put forward for leadership is Ayyad Al-Jamili, a possible successor after Al-Baghdadis death. However, the most likely contender is Abu Safa Al-Rifai, the most powerful figure in IS and a mostly invisible figure.

Al-Rifai, real name Mazen Noheiri, was born in the 1970s and served as a colonel in the Iraqi army under former president Saddam Hussein before the Saddam regime was overthrown by the US-led invasion in 2003.

One of the three founders of IS, Al-Rifais importance to the group has increased since the death of such second-tier commanders as Abu Muslim Al-Turkomani and Abdel-Rahman Al-Qadouli.

Al-Rifai laid the foundations for the IS intelligence bureau. Structured along the lines of such agencies in totalitarian regimes, it is responsible for surveillance and intelligence gathering, as well as suicide missions conducted by cells or lone wolves abroad.

It is also responsible for protecting the leaders of the group. Al-Rifai operates behind the scenes and has reportedly never shown his face to second-tier leaders.

Some non-Iraqi figures from Tunisia and elsewhere in North Africa have been suggested as possible candidates for the succession. However, choosing a non-Iraqi successor could court difficulties that might jeopardise the groups already shaky structure and cohesion.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.



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A representative of a news outlet I had never heard of before recently contacted me to interview me about changing attitudes towards Egypts 25 January Revolution.

What change? I asked. In public opinion and the state, she said. People have turned against the revolution. They no longer want to hear about it or its ideas.

I asked her not to confuse the issues. People dont want another revolution, thats true. If anyone went to Tahrir Square to call for one, no one would follow him, I said.

I explained that the country had suffered greatly from the anarchy that had set in after the revolution and the consequent security breakdown and economic deterioration. Egyptian society as a whole had paid an enormous price politically due to the post-revolutionary fluidity that had enabled the Muslim Brotherhood to monopolise power.

But all that is one thing, and the people turning against the revolution is something else entirely. It was the 25 January Revolution that made it possible for the people to march in the 30 June 2013 Revolution calling for the fall of disastrous and dictatorial Muslim Brotherhood rule. Had it not been for the 25 January Revolution, people would not have realised their latent power and asserted their will, which repressive regimes had held captive for decades.

The Egyptian people fully appreciate how the 25 January Revolution, which demanded change, paved the way to the great changes they see around them today at all levels, from the resolute confrontation against the extremist terrorist groups that previous regimes had appeased and left free to permeate our lives to the great construction projects that previous regimes had not undertaken on the grounds of insufficient resources.

Egypt now has unrivalled health programme, one of which has succeeded in eradicating Hepatitis C which had ravaged Egyptian lives for years. Plans are in progress to eliminate the sprawling slums that were even threatening to become an emblem of Cairo. Their inhabitants are being relocated to new and dignified housing fit for human habitation.

We also have foreign policies that have enabled Egypt to regain its place in the international sphere.

On the anniversary of the 25 January Revolution, the president himself said that it had expressed the Egyptian peoples aspiration to build a new future for this nation in which all its people would enjoy a dignified life, I told the journalist.

So where is the so-called change in attitude towards the revolution?

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The recent letter by members of the European Parliament criticising Egypts human-rights record is an assault on Egypts sovereignty and its right to govern its own citizens

In a deeply disconcerting and objectionable manoeuvre, 175 members of the European Parliament have sent a joint letter to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) asking for the establishment of a human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism on Egypt.

The letter is meddlesome, abusive, and injudicious. It delves into information that the 175 MEPs could hardly have known had they not been told what to say by contentious sources. The letter cites, often by name, those detained, charged, released, sentenced, and executed in Egypt. But it neglects to mention any wrongdoings committed by those mentioned, claiming instead that they were imprisoned for no particular reason or under false pretenses or tortured inside prison.

The letter also faults the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi, ignoring the fact that 33 million Egyptians called on Morsi to step down. It goes on to say that since then the Egyptian authorities have been ruling the country with an iron fist, brutally and systematically repressing all forms of dissent, as though Morsis rule was characterised by blissful equality and serenity.

It might be as well to inform the signatories of this letter that Egypt remains vulnerable today and that without the current control over potential disorder it could fall victim to the same turmoil faced by other states in the region that it also once faced.

In case the MEPs do not know, Egypt is surrounded by peril and by terrorists and extremists and those who would love to see the country plummet back to the mayhem that earlier existed. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, replying to a journalists question, has said that he is responsible for 100 million Egyptians who live in turbulent times and alongside people who follow extremist modes of thought and do not like to co-exist in peace.

The letter falsely accuses Egypt of arbitrarily detaining thousands of perceived dissidents. But a case in point is the arrest of Hossam Menoufi Sallam, one of the founders of the terrorist group Hasm. Sallam was not in prison or arbitrarily detained and tortured, as some extremist websites have claimed, and which probably those who signed the letter accept. In fact, he was in Sudan when the Egyptian authorities tried him in absentia. His later arrest thus undermines the credibility of such rumours. May be the signatories to the European letter should check their stories.

The letter continues with a hodgepodge of slander. It argues that international organisations have documented a range of human rights abuses in Egypt, including the arbitrary detention of women on morality grounds, the trial of children along with adults, the continued crackdown on members of the LGBT community, and the arrest and prosecution of members of religious minorities on blasphemy charges.

But Egypt is not Europe. Its culture, norms, and social attitudes are different. Rather than apply Western standards to Egyptians, Europeans should accept Egyptians merits and idiosyncrasies for what they are worth.

As for religious minorities, I believe the signatories to the letter are confusing extremists with minorities. European countries have passed emergency laws to deal with similar threats to those that Egypt faces, and yet their positions have not been viewed as contrary to human rights standards. When it comes to Egypt, it is a different ballgame altogether.

Even the new Egyptian National Human Rights Strategy is, according to the letter, drafted in an untransparent manner and without consultation with independent human rights organisations. I wonder if the countries that the signatories belong to consult with international organisations before they set their laws. Who gives these countries the right to tell Egypt what to do?

The signatories to the letter are also concerned about the international communitys persistent failure to take action to address Egypts human rights crisis. They question the continued support to the Egyptian government and reluctance to even speak up against pervasive abuses.

In an effort to present the reaction of the international community to Egypt, the letter does exactly the opposite. It reiterates the international communitys acknowledgement of Egypts role in regional security, stability, and migration management and the statements made by officials on high level visits and in bilateral meetings that often praise the Egyptian government.

Both the international community and the UN will be reluctant to act on the demands set out in the European letter. The international community is very much aware of the role that a stable Egypt plays amidst the havoc that persists in the region, and it stands behind Egypt in its efforts to protect its land and citizens.

In contrast to the picture the letter draws, Egypt today is living through its best years by opening up to the world at large, reaping the fruits of its citizens tenacious and zealous efforts, and providing a better life for all  matters that the letter fails to observe or cares to mention. These successes are what human rights are all about; disappointingly, these European parliamentarians have only jaded perceptions.

Despite the picture presented in the letter, Egyptian diplomats participate in peacekeeping summits worldwide and mediate on regional issues. Egypt will also host the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh later this year. In the light of the strategic relations between China and Egypt, Egypts president is in China at present at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The UN is also very much aware of the role Egypt plays in the region. In October 2021, while celebrating 76 years of partnership and close cooperation with Egypt, the UN resident coordinator in Egypt expressed her deep appreciation to the government and the long-standing cooperation in maintaining global peace, security and sustainable development. Egypt has always been a key contributor to the United Nations and a strong multilateral partner, she said.

The MEPs who signed the recent letter believe that they are licensed to judge other countries and that it is within their rights to dictate their rules. Well, they are not, and it isnt. The vision they present is unsound, exaggerated, and intentionally authoritarian. More importantly, it is an assault on Egypts sovereignty and its right to govern its people.

Pressuring the Egyptian government does not work. Working with the Egyptian government will.

* The writer is the author of Cairo Rewind on the First Two Years of Egypts Revolution, 2011-2013.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The way the Ukrainian crisis is solved will have a lasting effect worldwide, with the resort to a military solution being disastrous for all concerned.

The UN Security Council met at the request of the US government on 31 January to discuss the security situation along the Russian-Ukrainian border. As expected, the meeting became a scene for the trading of accusations between the US and Russian delegations.

US permanent representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield led the charge by stressing that Russian moves strike at the very heart of the United Nations Charter and that the Russian forces on the Ukrainian border are the largest mobilisation of troops in Europe in decades. She went on to say that such mobilisation is a clear and consequential threat to peace and security.

Russian permanent representative Vasily Nebenzya then accused the US of whipping up tensions and rhetoric and provoking escalation.

China sided with Russia. Its permanent representative to the UN, Zhang Jun, said that what the international community needs is what he termed quiet diplomacy and not microphone diplomacy.

The crisis over Ukraine has shone a light on the deepening relations between China and Russia, and one direct result of the confrontation between the West, led by the US, and Russia on Ukraine has been closer cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the official opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing on 4 February and held a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In parallel to the Security Council meeting, the Russian government conveyed its written response to the two notes it received last week from the US and NATO regarding the security guarantees that Moscow asked for last December. According to the Russians, neither the US nor NATO have taken seriously Russias security concerns in Europe, particularly those concerning the eastward expansion of NATO in countries bordering or near Russia, including Ukraine.

In a joint press conference with Hungarian President Victor Orban in Moscow on 1 February, Putin said that Russian security demands had not been addressed as Moscow had wished. US President Joe Biden had previously declared two days earlier in a statement on 31 January that the US and its allies would continue to engage in good faith to address Russian security concerns, but warned that if Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Russia will bear the responsibility and will face swift and severe consequences.

One day later on 2 February, administration officials in Washington announced that Biden had approved the deployment of 3,000 additional US troops to Eastern Europe. The troops, including 1,000 already in Germany, will travel to Poland and Romania.

Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby said that the purpose of the deployment was to reassure NATO allies thatWashington would protect [its NATO allies] from any Russian aggression.

He added that it is important that we send a strong signal to Mr Putin and the world that NATO matters and that the US is going to be prepared to defend NATO allies.

It was not only the Americans who were raising the stakes last week, since the British government also announced on 31 January that it intends to adopt stronger sanctions against Russia, with some of them directly targeting Russian oligarchs that have close relationships with the Kremlin.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told the TV channel Sky News that oligarchs close to Putin and Russian firms involved in acts of support to the Russian government would have no place to hide from the sanctions once they were adopted.

The British government has also decided to double the British forces deployed in Eastern Europe and to provide Estonia with defensive arms.

The British government has adopted a hawkish attitude towards Moscow, which some believe could be explained by two factors. The first is related to the political problems that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing because of violations of the Covid-19 lockdown at Downing Street and by him personally. The other factor is proving to the British public that Britain after Brexit has an independent foreign policy from the European Union.

The hawkish tone employed by Britain towards Russia has caused concern in both France and Germany, the two European powers taking part in the Normandy Process with Russia and Ukraine that was formed in the context of the Minsk Accords in 2015. While showing solidarity with Ukraine and supporting NATO moves to bolster the military capabilities of the Ukrainian military, both France and Germany would prefer a diplomatic solution to the present crisis.

French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Moscow on 7 February and conferred with Putin in an attempt to achieve a de-escalation between the West and Russia over Ukraine. The following day, he met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky as part of his efforts to lead European efforts to de-escalate the crisis.

Before his meetings in Moscow and Kiev, Macron made calls to Biden and other leaders in the European Union to coordinate Western diplomatic efforts. It goes without saying that most countries in the European Union want a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis out of the fear that if war breaks out because of a Russian invasion of Ukraine this would be counter-productive to European security and economic interests and harm European-Russian relations for many years.

The present Ukrainian crisis is deepening the alignment between Russia and China, and relations between the two countries are getting closer in security and defence matters in the framework of their converging world views.

After the Chinese-Russian summit meeting in Beijing on 4 February, a joint statement called for defending the international system with the UN at its core as well as the international order based on international law and for the democratisation of international relations.

It was noteworthy that there was a call for true multilateralism in this statement in which the UN and the UN Security Council would play a central coordinating role. Such a show of solidarity between the two great powers may not mean that China would support a Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the US administration and some of its NATO allies, Great Britain for instance, have been claiming all along. Instead, the Chinese support should rather encourage Moscow to negotiate a climbdown and a de-escalation in Ukraine from a position of strength.

The way the Ukrainian crisis is solved will have a lasting effect on the alignment of forces worldwide during the first half of the present century at least. Needless to say, the resort to a military solution would be disastrous for all concerned.

* The writer is former assistant foreign minister.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Striking a balance between national interests and personal freedoms has been an ongoing global issue over recent decades, when almost all democratic governments have chosen national interests and security over personal freedoms.

The issue has been tested over the past two decades, particularly after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, and security and national interests have generally won every time, tossing away constitutional rights in many cases.

Most Western countries have reported a significant decrease in freedom of speech and public freedoms in recent years. Things became worse after the Covid-19 pandemic led some Western governments to take strict measures beyond standard health restrictions.

What is more alarming has been the degree of aggression in dealing with some of the protesters against the incessant lockdowns in countries such as Holland. Pandemic-related lockdowns have left millions out of jobs and tens of thousands of businesses ranging from manufacturing to hospitality going bankrupt and out of business. The lockdowns have also not attained the goals they were promised to provide, except in rare and temporary cases.

The case of the Canadian governments handling of the Freedom Convoy staged by the countrys truck drivers last week is a vivid example of what Western governments known to preach democracy, freedom of speech, and personal liberties have come to. The convoy emerged after the Canadian government imposed a series of new restrictions including vaccine passports and new vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border last month.

Canada reported nearly 3.12 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic on 5 February, a large number considering the Canadian population of 38.2 million people. Nearly 10 per cent of the population has been infected by the virus, with cases reaching over 30,000 a day this week.

The new restrictions impose a period of quarantine for unvaccinated drivers crossing the border and have stirred up anger within the trucker community, which believes that their rights to accept or refuse the vaccination are being abused. The truckers thus decided to organise protests across the country and to take them to the Canadian capital Ottawa. They blocked some roads, which according to official sources caused disruption.

Whether the truckers are correct or not in their position, the true issue here is about the reaction of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau along with his Liberal Party and associated media. The Canadian truckers are 90 per cent vaccinated according to Trudeau, but that did not spare them his anger when they decided to protest against his measures.

Trudeau attempted to stir up fear in the public by accusing the truckers of hate, abuse and racism, and he went on to portray himself as the defender of Canadians against Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and a whole list of other phobias unrelated to the issue at hand, which is the strict measures he is imposing.

Moreover, accusations against others of various kinds of phobia are ironic when one remembers that the 50-year-old prime minister has been seen in older photographs attending parties in black face as a sort of a joke that is definitely a racist act. This did not just happen on one occasion, but several times. While Trudeau has apologised for this behaviour, the fact that he is ready to accuse others of racism, hate, and abuse is absurd, especially as the protests, while disrupting the flow of traffic, have been peaceful so far.

Trudeau said that sending in the troops to clear the protesters from the nations capital is not on the cards right now, but the statement itself is an indication that it is possible that he will use force to clear a peaceful gathering by truckers.

Trudeau was moved to a secret location last week as a security measure to protect him from the truck drivers, a sign of the feeling of danger there is in Canada coming from a simple group of truckers who oppose the incessant lockdowns and the new restrictive measures on their movements.

Much to Trudeaus dismay, the movement has not died down but has been growing in numbers by the day as both the Canadian government and media continue to bash it day and night with all sorts of accusations, claiming that it has been taken over by radicals.

This is not just about vaccinations as Trudeaus actions pretend, but is more about the dissent represented in the Freedom Convoy movement that is irking Trudeau who likes to preach about the inclusion of all creeds, races, and genders.

Trudeau, who said that freedom of speech is not without limits in 2020, has been a scourge against it in his recent activities. When faced with a test of his rule, he has been acting like a dictator from the developing world, throwing out accusations at the opposition and most recently at the Freedom Convoy leaders.

Canada has been one of the countries that has opened its doors to Islamists in recent years, and it has become a hub for a number of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups on its soil, such as the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), which operates freely and even collects donations. The Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates remain untouched in the country lest the government gets accused of Islamophobia. It is easier to bash groups of working-class truckers and their families gathering in peaceful protest as is their constitutional right.

In the case of the Freedom Convoy, donations are also forbidden. Online crowdfunding for the movement has been organised that gathered nearly $8 million Canadian dollars through GoFundMe crowdfunding outlets. Under pressure from the Canadian government and politicians, the funds were frozen and the leaders of the movement were prohibited from receiving them as Canadas liberal lawmakers labelled the truckers as mercenaries.

The manner in which Canadian society is shaping up is alarming, and alas it is not very different from the manner in which US society is shaping up either. Following blindly a leader who ironically comes from a supposedly liberal party is now the only way to avoid being stigmatised, cancelled, or bashed by the media as racist or some sort or phobe, whether Islamophobe, homophobe, or whatever.

Furthermore, Western leftists are now routinely accusing their detractors of racism, especially if they are right-wing or libertarian, or even if they are leftists who oppose a particular idea or concept.

In a manner that befits the former Soviet media apparatus, the left-leaning Canadian and US media have been vehemently defending Trudeau for the past few weeks. There is hardly any coverage of the peaceful truck protests. For many, it feels that reading articles in some Canadian or US newspapers, or watching reports on their TV, does not feel so very different from the way in which the Soviet newspaper Pravda covered the news, always glorifying the Soviet leaders and bashing their enemies.

The coronavirus pandemic has allowed Western governments to exercise powers they never had in yesteryear, and some are now claiming almost absolute power over the fate of their citizens. They are denying them their rights if they complain, all in the name of the public interest and national security. This is the road towards a modern form of dictatorship disguised as democracy.

While the Covid-19 vaccines are believed to have reduced the infection rate, they have not stopped the pandemic by any means. With recent coronavirus variants such as Omicron, global infections reached nearly 400 million worldwide in February. There have also been millions of cases among those who have been vaccinated, and there is a need for healthy debate on the future.

But the case here is not about the importance of the vaccinations or their effectiveness in protecting populations against Covid-19 and its variants. It is a case of a democratically elected leader acting like a dictator and stigmatising his adversaries. Even if Trudeau is well intentioned, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Canada may now be going along that road.

* The writer is a political analyst and author of Egypts Arab Spring: The Long and Winding Road to Democracy.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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What follows may go against general tenor of the situation in the world and the region as it is perceived today. The global level is dominated by the Ukraine crisis. That appears worrisome in light of the tenor of the rhetoric, troop deployments and escalating exchange of demands to change this behaviour or that. The consequent, constant tension is reminiscent of scenes preceding the Cold War which all had thought had passed never to return.

At the regional level, which has entered the second decade after the spasms of the Arab Spring, what was broken remains broken and the foreign interventions that aided and capitalised on the fracturing are still at full blast, and not just in rhetoric but also in bullets and flames. Against the backdrop at both levels, various fiends and ogres have appeared in the form of cyber technologies, drones and missiles in the hands of assorted terrorist groups and similar proxies used by regional powers keen to win influence, promote ideologies and change realities in more dangerous and brazen ways.

Washingtons decision to send 3,000 troops to various theatres in Europe (not near Ukraine) and other troops plus air power to the UAE send messages that Russian and Iranian expansionism has limits. Russia, for its part, is trying to reshape regional security again. It acts as though the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact had only collapsed yesterday and it was time to reverse that. Vladimir Putins remark that the breakup of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical mistake of the 20th century may mean one of two things: that the remedy is to revive the society union, in which case Crimea, Ukraine and Georgia would become links in a chain calculated to return, or that the mistake can be corrected by restoring imperial Russia to its place in Europe and European alliances.

Whatever he meant, his attitude towards what happened more than 30 years ago is informed, on the one hand, by present-day circumstances - some global, relating to such questions as the pandemic and climate change, and others regional, having to do with the types of tremors that Brexit sent through Europe - and, on the other hand, by purely domestic circumstances connected with the governing systems of world powers.

In the Western camp, this latter factor is coming under a glare. Western liberal democracy and values, efficacy of government and the nature of domestic and foreign policies are being put to the test. Systems of government are being strained by mounting political and ideological pressures and fissures.

This millennium opened to the tune of George Bush Jr, leader of the neoconservatives, proclaiming the beginning of the American century. Less than a decade later, the war on terror had proven an utter failure. The price of invading Afghanistan and Iraq is incalculable, as is the price of exiting them 20 years later, plus the rest of the Middle East in the process. Less than a decade after the US assumed the global helm, Barrack Obama, the Democrat, took office. He felt that worlds problems had to do with the US overreaching itself. At that point, US strategy was caught between reducing its presence and the concept of surge. It was thought that the latter could win a war and, more importantly, generate a better negotiating framework for the US.

Then, in 2016, Donald Trump came to power, riding on the crest of a far right wave clamouring for America First. The isolationist, ultranationalist fervour spread to Europe (Britain), South America (Brazil) and Asia (India). Then, in 2020, the Democrats managed to regain power under Biden who made it clear he wanted to reshape the world, leading a league of democracies opposed to dictatorships. Democracy, at the time, was fraying and splintering. The US, itself, was losing its grip on the basics of the democratic game, from the filibuster to the composition of the Supreme Court to electoral laws.

The global political tremors combined with planetary tremors, such as the pandemic and global warming, yielded an unprecedented combination of raw power and interdependence. The first has been encouraged by advances in armaments, on the one hand, and advances in the technologies that enable meddling, on the other hand. We see, for example, drones and high precision missiles targeting countries in the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula and one power (Russia) engaging in electoral tampering and voter influencing through social media in another (the US). In the more than half a century that has passed since the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968, the number of nuclear nations has doubled.

Yet, crucially, mutual dependency between different peoples and nations of the world has never been as great, regardless of geopolitical, geo-cultural and even geo-economic differences. The weave of intertwining interests and benefits has become so dense that a shortage in one place wreaks havoc everywhere. One salient example is Europes reliance on Russian gas and Russian reliance on Western technological advances in peaceful production. An even better example is the Chinese-US relationship. That epitomises the kind of global interdependence in which everyone relies on everyone elses production and consumer markets.

Because of all the above mentioned tremors, the world is gripped by uncertainty, fear of losing control, and a sense of vulnerability to threats that no country, no matter how strong, can handle on its own. It is abundantly clear that there are certain universal issues, such as health and migration, that demand international cooperation. We also know that, while the world lacks sufficient political impetus to improve the international order that emerged in the wake of World War II and gave rise to the UN and its subsidiary bodies, it is possible to make deals in order to reduce international tensions. The anticipated deal between Iran and the US is a case in point. It will put a ceiling on how soon Iran can make a nuclear weapon, even if it leaves other sources of tension to be handled by future deals or learning to live with them.

The same applies to the situation in Europe where the ingredients for a deal are present. It is increasingly acknowledged in the West that NATOs expansion to its current size has, indeed, provoked Russia to the type of behaviour we see today. Perhaps a halt to NATO expansion, keeping Ukraine independent and with close relations to both its Russian and European neighbours, would strike a happy balance for all.

As for what we Arabs should do in this age of deals, it is to rely on ourselves, our components of autonomous strength and our vast capacity for mutual dependency with others. This opens the horizons for initiatives capable of restoring stability to the region and paving the way to the end of the quakes generated by the Arab Spring.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Egypt-China relations have received a new strong push with the recent visit to Beijing by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. On this, his seventh visit to China since he first took office in 2014, Al-Sisi attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, and had talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The frequency of Al-Sisis visits to China reflects the strength of historic ties between the two countries and their desire to build on a long list of achievements to the benefit of their peoples. In fact, no Egyptian president ever made as many visits to China. Together with his meetings with his counterpart, President Xi, these visits have enhanced mutual political trust between the two countries, and achieved fruitful results in economic, commercial and political cooperation. Thus, the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership has become a model of solidarity, cooperation and mutual benefit between China and Arab, African and developing countries.

As the Chinese president stated while receiving Al-Sisi, China and Egypt share similar visions and strategies in defending their own interests, pursuing common development, enhancing their peoples well-being and promoting fairness and justice in the world, as the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century.

China and Egypt have further consolidated mutual political trust and friendship when they immediately started cooperating on the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. China and Egypt built the first joint Covid-19 vaccine production line on the African continent last year. Egypt has been locally producing Chinas coronavirus vaccine Sinovac since the summer of 2021 to inoculate the public and to export to African markets. Chinas own Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are also used in Egypts mass vaccination campaign. On their latest meeting, Al-Sisi and Xi discussed boosting cooperation in scientific research and transferring technologies in pharmaceutical industries, the manufacture of coronavirus vaccines, and Chinas expertise in combatting the pandemic.

The meeting between the two presidents was also important for consolidating the strategic partnership between Egypt and China, and reflected Chinas increasingly important role in Africa and the Middle East. Through the years, China has proved to be a reliable partner for nearly all countries in Africa and the Arab world, supporting their legitimate causes, such as demanding an independent Palestinian state, or rejecting the interference of domineering Western nations in their affairs.

However, in recent years, and after the strong comeback by China, which placed it as one of the key world players on an equal footing to other developed nations, the joint interests with the Arab world were not limited to political stands. During his visit to Beijing, both Al-Sisi and Chinese President Xi agreed to expand Egypts cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which will certainly promote Egypt and Chinas economic interests.

In the coming weeks and months, Egypt will spare no effort to motivate Chinese businessmen to open up to investment opportunities in Egypt and attract more Chinese investments. Al-Sisi and Xi tackled boosting cooperation in industrial and information technologies as well as the manufacture of electric vehicles, which will start in Egypt soon with Chinese help.

In the same framework, the Chinese president agreed to help Egypt advance projects such as the development of the Suez Canal Economic Zone. This vital Zone will hopefully turn into an economic hub in which Chinese investments can play a vital role. From there, Chinese exports will have easy access to the rest of Africa and the Middle East.

Egypts ties to China are historic, and Beijing knows that Cairo is a reliable partner. Last year, Egypt and China marked the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Egypt having been the first African and Arab state to establish diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China.

By taking part in the opening of the Olympic Games, Egypt also confirmed its agreement with the Chinese view that the aim of the Olympic Games was to bring people together, and that there should be no politics involved when it comes to competing in sports. On 24 January, Egypt celebrated the Beijing Winter Olympics by lighting the historic Cairo Tower with the slogans Beijing 2022 and See you in Beijing in Arabic, English and Chinese. The tower also played the official song of the Beijing Winter Olympics Together for a shared future.

After Al-Sisis visit to China, Egypt expects to welcome Chinese President Xi in Cairo in the near future.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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How are we to conceive of love and romance right smack in the middle of the coldest winter and a pandemic? Yet, here comes the feast when traditionally we are required to turn to thoughts of love.

Could it not have waited till spring when the air is gentle, flowers are in bloom and hope is rekindled by natures rebirth?

Romantic love is the order of 14 February, St Valentines Day.

Forgotten is the saint who inspired love for mankind, though some Christians still attend mass in his honour. Most of us remain captured by red heart-shaped balloons, ping greeting cards, fragrant red roses, candy boxes filled with chocolate, music and dance, love, and romance.

One would presume that Covid-19 has dulled the enthusiasm for such feasting  what with the cold weather, the expense, the effort, the stress  but surprisingly it has not.

When 14 February rolls around, lovers once again want to feast more, but maybe, spend less.

It is a tradition rooted in history for centuries. Historians believe that its origins started in the fourth century BC and was celebrated on 15 February. Lupercalia was an annual young mans rite of passage to the god Lupercus. Determined to put an end to this 800-year-old pagan practice, the Church sought a lovers saint and they found a likely candidate in Valentine who was executed some 200 years earlier, on 14 February, 270 AD.

Romans refused to relinquish their pagan rites, until 496 AD when Pope Gelasius outlawed the mid-February Lupercalian festival and officially declared 14 February St Valentines Day.

It is only during the Middle Ages that the holiday became associated with romance. England and France chose 14 February because they noticed birds started their mating season. How did they know that? Birdwatchers, we presume.

What is this thing called love? Magical, mysterious, bewitching and bewildering, it weaves equal yards of pleasure and pain, agony and ecstasy. Does it really make the world go round?

What a blissfully, glowing, merry-go-round to look forward to.

Our charming blind cherub Cupid (Eros in Greek) has his bow and arrow all sharpened and polished, aiming at your heart.

Give in. Love is the noblest of human emotions. It deserves to be honoured.

Falling in love, being in love, and staying in love  all enchanting, delirious, and ecstatic.

Romantic love or obsessive love is merely a refinement of lust. Hmmmm?

Actual behavioural patterns of those in love are similar to cases of obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Anthropologist Helen Fisher suggests that this malady may indeed be possible as once romantic love begins in earnest, it is one of the strongest drives on earth. It seems to be more powerful than hunger.

How can it be possible that this feeling that makes your knees go weak, causes your palms to sweat, creates butterflies in your stomach, makes you shake and stutter, blush and stammer, is only a chemical state, with genetic roots and environmental influences?

This could not be, yet it is.

To us, love is a function of the heart. To scientists, it is a chemical reaction of the brain. Disappointing, to say the least.

While adrenaline is about love, endorphin is about loving. It is associated with calm mental bliss, security and serenity. It is the explosion of neurochemicals, dopamine, norepinephrine, and phenylethylamine, the love spark that we all seek.

The problem is how to keep that spark. How do we avoid the waning of romantic love, whether before or after marriage?

To reach the heights of romance we must automatically sense the little knots and shifts in the relationship that signal a need for action. Even if we have a very high IQ, (Intelligence quotient), it will do us no good. What we need is a high EQ, (Emotional Quotient).

When falling in love we are motivated to re-educate the heart.

It will be as shocking to you as it was to us, that some of the most deeply passionate lovers are in their 80s. How can that be? Such love is for the young, compulsive, courageous, audacious individuals.

Quite the contrary it seems. Older people discover that both high EQs add up to a romance that never stops growing, never loses excitement. It strengthens them both, individually and collectively.

Relationships are organisms themselves, (we hate calling them that), and by nature must change. It is up to us to make them change for the better.

Why is it that only three of 10 marriages work? The rest end in divorce, separation, or bitterness and discontent.

Your high EQ means you could keep improving your relationship. Never get trapped by intolerant expectations of perfection. Respect all the feelings you have for each other. Stop criticising every little act you disapprove of.

Keep the laughter going in your life. Lovers who will not laugh together about themselves are not accepting of the relationship.

Let your love be known. It is a sign of a high EQ.

A University of Washington experiment conducted by John Gottman and Robert Levenson resulted in the discovery of the secret of love.

After interviewing thousands of newlyweds, older couples, etc, and followed them for five years, they came up with the conclusion that kindness makes each partner feel cared for.

The more you give, the more you receive. Remember to be kind, especially when you are angry.

Love and be kind. Kindness works.

Love conquers all things: let us too give in to love.

Virgil (70-19 BC)

*A version of this article appears in print in the 10 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Al-Burhan told Reuters in an interview in early December that Sudan's military will exit politics after elections scheduled for 2023.

Al-Burhan is also the general commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces.

According to the Sudanese News Agency (SUNA), Al-Burhan "stressed the need to direct arms to protect the borders of the homeland, and safeguard the return of refugees from Darfur to their villages and to deter all outlaws."

Al-Burhan added that "no one can outbid the sacrifices of the armed forces in all parts of the country."

He saluted the sacrifices of the forces of the Sixth infantry Division, saying they are the main force responsible for implementing the decisions of the Joint Supreme Council for security arrangements to achieve peace and stability in the country.

Al-Burhan warned "of the need to confront the campaigns of misinformation, fabrication and lying through social media that are harmful to the security of the country, and which must be viewed with prudence, a conscious ear, and through a purely patriotic spirit."

Meanwhile, according to SUNA, Lieutenant-General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo Ali, the vice-president of the transitional council, said that "affirming the prestige of the state is an urgent necessity required by the circumstances the country is going through, in order to achieve security and tranquillity for the citizens."

Daglo warned of "infiltrators whose goal is to sow division and diaspora, fuel strife and destabilize the country."

For his part, Minni Arko Minawi, the governor of Darfur, welcomed the decisions taken by the Joint Higher Council for Security Arrangements, stressing the importance of completing the implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement.

On 25 October, the armed forces took over power and suspended Sudan's two-year-old transition to democratic rule, which started after the ousting in a popular uprising of former autocrat Omar Al-Bashir in April 2019.

Al-Burhan has since insisted that the military takeover "was not a coup" but only meant to "rectify the course of the Sudanese transition.

In late November 2021, Prime Minister Hamdok resigned his post, warning that the country was now at a "dangerous crossroads threatening its very survival."

His resignation came just two weeks after his release from house arrest at the time of the military takeover and reinstatement to the post of prime minister.

Egypt has urged all Sudanese parties to select a new transitional prime minister consensually and to form a government in the nearest time possible.

Cairo has also expressed its readiness to support a new Sudanese government by all possible means, stressing that "the security and stability of Sudan are integral for those of Egypt and the region."
Keolis Group, the company in charge of operating and maintaining Dubai Metro and operating Dubai Tram, through its subsidiary Keolis-MHI, formed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) , announced its participation in the Mena Transport Congress and Exhibition 2022.

The event, jointly organized by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) Dubai, concludes tomorrow (February 8).

The Mena Transport Congress and Exhibition takes place biennially and serves as a central point for experts and top decision- and policymakers to share industry best practices in public transport in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The three-day event features the presence of Heads of Government Departments, 1,000 participants and 73 speakers, including experts and academicians, from 19 countries. Approximately 40 entities from 17 countries are taking part in the accompanying exhibition.

As a strategic sponsor, Keolis is not only be exhibiting but also taking part in the congress.

Bernard Tabary, CEO International Keolis Group, joined the panel discussion titled Mobility in the post-pandemic world while Annelise Avril, Senior EVP, Marketing, Innovation and New Mobility Services, presented on the topic of Mobility-as-a-Service on February 6.

Commenting on their participation, Tabary, said: "The UITP Mena Congress and Exhibition brings together public transport authorities, operators, manufacturers and other shared mobility stakeholders from around the world and is an excellent opportunity to network with them. We look forward to meeting our counterparts and taking part in all the exciting discussions about the future of mobility in the Mena region, and beyond."

Wallace Weatherill, Managing Director of Keolis MHI added: The Mena region is in its golden period of mass transportation and shared mobility. We anticipate a great increase in public reliance on an integrated transportation system to meet their daily needs, and we are excited to be part of this journey to offer innovative and effective solutions..-TradeArabia News Service
"Morocco has asked for support to guarantee its energy security on the basis of trade relations and Spain has responded positively as it would do with any other friend or neighbour," Spain's ecological transition ministry said in a statement.

"Morocco will be able to obtain liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the international markets, bring it to a regasification plant on the (Spanish) mainland and use the GME pipeline to transport it to its territory," it said, without giving a date nor outlining the volumes concerned.

The announcement came three months after Algeria said it would not renew an expiring 25-year deal to use the pipeline through which it had transported gas to Spain via Morocco.

Algeria, Africa's biggest gas exporter, had used the GME since 1996 to export some 10 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Spain and onwards to Portugal.

In return, Morocco had received around a billion cubic metres of gas per year as transit fees, covering around 97 percent of its needs.
Defence Minister Benny Gantz, making his first visit to Bahrain, said the memorandum of understanding, that covers intelligence, procurement and joint training, takes the countries' relationship to "new heights".

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) normalized relation with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords agreements in September 2020, defying decades of Arab consensus that ruled out ties in the absence of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Only one year following the signing of the accords, we have achieved an important defence agreement, which will contribute to the security of both countries and the stability of the region," Gantz said in a statement.

Gantz earlier called for deeper cooperation with Gulf partners to confront "maritime and aerial threats", as he toured the US Fifth Fleet headquarters based in Bahrain.

The defence minister toured the guided missile destroyer USS Cole, which is set to make its way to Abu Dhabi to help defend the UAE against attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed rebels.

The USS Cole was the target of an Al-Qaeda suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni harbour of Aden in October 2000 that killed 17 sailors.

The US base in Bahrain lies just across the Gulf from Iran. The waters are crossed by hundreds of oil and cargo vessels every day.

There has been an increase in attacks on shipping in recent years that the United States and its allies have blamed on Iran. The Islamic republic denies the allegations.

"Against a backdrop of increasing maritime and aerial threats, our ironclad cooperation is more important than ever," Gantz tweeted.

"We reaffirmed our commitment to stand united in defence of the sovereignty of our regional partners as well as peace and stability in the region."

A US-led maritime exercise involving 60 countries and organisations is under way in and around the Gulf, with Israel joining in for the first time alongside countries that do not recognize Israel.

The exercise comes at a time of regional tensions over Iran's nuclear programme and Yemeni rebels' targeting of Saudi Arabia, which does not recognise Israel, and the Emirates with missiles and drones.
The boy has been trapped in the well, located in the northern village of Ighran in Morocco's Chefchaouen province, since Tuesday evening.

According to reports by Morocco's official MAP news agency, rescue workers have used five bulldozers to dig a hole parallel to the well in an attempt to reach the boy, identified as Rayan.

Local officials said rescue workers have so far reached 19 meters in an attempt to reach the boy.

According to MAP reports, the rescuers are monitoring the trapped boy with CCTV cameras. He is being supplied with oxygen and water through pipes that were lowered to him.

Abdel Hadi Temrani, a member of the rescue committee, told local TV news channel 2M that medical staff are on site to attend to the boy once he's lifted from the well. A helicopter is on standby to transport the boy to the nearest hospital.

Khalid Agoram, the boy's father, told another local broadcaster that he been looking for his son for a few hours on Tuesday before discovering that he had fallen into the well.

Moroccan government spokesperson, Mustapha Baytas, said Thursday that the government is closely monitoring the situation in Ighran, studying different ways to help save the child.

Thousands of Moroccans took to social media to express their sympathy with the boy and his family. The hashtag (hash)SaveRayan has been trending for hours in Morocco and Twitter posts have brought global attention to the rescue efforts.
A key NATO member in the strategically important Black Sea region, Turkey has been urging a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Here's a look at Turkey's ties to Ukraine and Russia, and Erdogan's possible role as a mediator:

ERDOGAN THE MEDIATOR

The Turkish president has voiced fears that the situation could ``turn into a new crisis.''

Ankara has close ties to both Kyiv and Moscow, and Erdogan believes his country can play a key role in defusing the tensions. He has suggested in the past that Turkey could be a venue for possible peace efforts and renewed an offer to host tension-reducing talks during his meeting with Zelenskyy.

``Turkey is prepared to undertake its part in order to end the crisis between two friendly nations that are its neighbors in the Black Sea,'' Erdogan said after his meeting. ``I have stressed that we would be happy to host a summit meeting at a leadership level or technical level talks.''

After seeing Zelenskyy, Erdogan hopes to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey. He has said Putin's visit is likely to take place after the Russian president returns from China, where he will attend the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Speaking to reporters before his departure, Erdogan would not provide information on Turkey's possible mediation plans, saying he first needs to meet with both leaders.

Last week, Erdogan said it would not be ``rational'' for Russia to invade Ukraine, and that Turkey would do whatever is necessary as a NATO member. However, he has also spoken of a need for a ``meaningful dialogue with Russia'' to resolve any ``reasonable'' security concerns it may have and to explain to Moscow why some of its requests ``are not acceptable.''

TURKEY'S TIES TO UKRAINE

Turkey has historic relations with Ukraine and strong ethnic ties with Ukraine's Crimean Tatar community.

Ankara has spoken out against Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimea, vowing never to recognize it. In Kyiv, Erdogan underlined Turkey's commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, including Crimea.

NATO-member Turkey backs Ukraine's efforts to join the alliance.

Ankara has increased defense cooperation with Ukraine in recent years. It has sold Kyiv armed Bayraktar TB2 drones which have been used against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region, angering Moscow. The two countries also plan joint defense industry production projects.

Eight agreements, including a free trade pact, were signed during Thursday's visit _ which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Turkey and Ukraine.

A DIFFICULT PARTNERSHIP WITH RUSSIA

The situation over Ukraine has put Turkey in a bind. The NATO member has been trying to repair its frayed ties with the U.S. and other alliance members, following its controversial decision to buy advanced Russian air defense technology. But at the same time it cannot afford to damage its ties with Moscow.

Turkey would be hard pressed to join in potential sanctions or operations against Russia. The country, which is struggling to cope with a major currency crisis, banks on tourism revenue to help its economy and provide vital foreign exchange, and Russia is Turkey's main tourism market. Moscow has exploited that situation in the past, stopping flights carrying tourists to Turkey _ and halting agricultural imports _ after Ankara downed a Russian military jet deployed in Syria in 2015.

Turkey also needs to tread carefully with Russia in Syria. Ankara needs Moscow's approval to continue its presence in northern Syria, despite the two supporting opposite sides in Syria's civil war. In 2020, 37 Turkish soldiers were killed in Russian-backed airstrikes against rebels in Syria's last rebel-held Idlib province.

To further complicate matters, Russia is a major source for Turkey's natural gas and is currently building the country's first nuclear power station.
In the capital Khartoum, protesters used rocks to build makeshift barriers blocking roads, while across the Nile river in North Khartoum, crowds of over 2,000 people chanted slogans against the security forces.

In Omdurman, the capital's twin city, some 5,000 people gathered outside the home of 27-year-old Mohammed Yussef, a protester who died after he was shot in the chest during rallies on Sunday.

More than three months after the October 25 takeover led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in the troubled northeast African country, defiant mass rallies demanding a restoration of the transition to civilian rule show few signs of abating.

The power grab, one of several in Sudan's post-independence history, derailed a fragile power-sharing arrangement between the army and civilians that had been painstakingly negotiated after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

At least 79 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the crackdown on anti-power grab demonstrations, according to the independent group of medics.

In central Khartoum, Burhan on Thursday met with United Nations special representative Volker Perthes, with the envoy urging him "to end the violence that accompanies the demonstrations", according to state media.

The UN, which has launched talks between factions in a bid to resolve the crisis, has constantly warned the authorities against using force to stop political protests.

'No warning'

Sudan's authorities have repeatedly denied using live ammunition against demonstrators, reporting scores of security officers have been wounded and a police general was stabbed to death.

However, the authorities said they had recently "confiscated" rifles from some officers who were seen using them in videos circulating on social media.

But Human Rights Watch on Thursday said that security forces at rallies last month had "used live ammunition against unarmed protesters", reporting that anti-riot police had also "fired tear gas canisters directly at protesters at the front of the march."

HRW said it had detailed violence that took place on January 17 when at least eight protesters were killed, the second deadliest day since the power grab.

Six witnesses told HRW they had seen a "militarised police unit" open fire on protesters "at multiple locations throughout the day", while other "regular police beat and arrested peaceful protesters".

One 26-year-old protester told HRW how police fired the metal tear gas canisters into the crowds, which can cause severe injury.

"As we retreated to find cover from the tear gas, I was hit in the back by a canister," the protester told HRW. "I also saw two other protesters being hit in the head and chest."

Another protesters reported that "there was no warning nor provocation from our side" before police opened fire.

Sudan, which was already in the grip of a dire economic crisis before the power grab, has seen vital foreign aid cut as part of the international community's condemnation of the takeover.

Washington, which suspended $700 million in assistance to Sudan after the power grab, has warned that a continued crackdown by the authorities would have "consequences".

On Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee said she had "made clear to military leaders, we in concert with our partners are prepared to apply additional costs should the current pattern of violence continue".

The United States was "reviewing the full range of traditional and non-traditional tools at our disposal to further reduce the funds available to Sudan's military regime", she added.

Sudan's military controls vast business enterprises, ranging from poultry farming to construction, and Phee said the US planned "to isolate its military-controlled companies, and to increase the reputational risk for any who choose to continue to engage in 'business-as-usual' with Sudanese security services".
On January 24, Burkina became the third member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to have an elected president toppled by the military in the last two years.

The spate began with Mali, where a coup in August 2020 was followed by a second in May 2021, and then Guinea, where elected president Alpha Conde was ousted last September.

ECOWAS called an emergency summit in Accra to see whether Burkina should join the other two for trade and other sanctions, as well as suspension.

But leaders decided against this for the time being, after hearing the outcome of talks with the junta, said a summit participant.

"We are going to ask the Burkinabe authorities to propose a clear and fast timetable for restoring constitutional order," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"There are no new sanctions against Burkina Faso."

'Good sign'

A diplomatic team led by Ghana's foreign minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, reported positive signs after meeting in Ouagadougou with strongman Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and other junta members.

"They seemed very open to the suggestions and proposals that we made. For us it's a good sign," she said.

The talks were attended by the UN's special representative for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mahamat Saleh Annadif, who described a "very frank exchange".

The delegation also met ousted president Roch Marc Christian Kabore, whose wellbeing and demands for release from house arrest are major issues, at his Ouagadougou villa.

During their visit, the junta declared it had restored the constitution, which it had swiftly suspended following the coup, and named Damiba as president and head of the armed forces during a transition period.

And on the eve of the summit, the junta also lifted a nationwide 9:00 pm to 5:00 pm curfew.

But the duration of the transition period and other key questions have not been detailed.

After seizing power, the junta vowed on January 24 to re-establish "constitutional order" within a "reasonable time".

ECOWAS imposed measures against Mali and Guinea for perceived foot-dragging over spelling out or upholding pledges for holding elections.

These have included the closure of borders by bloc members, an embargo on trade and financial transactions and sanctions against individuals.

The sanctions have ratcheted up economic pressure, although there is no sign yet that this has translated into political action.

Fragile states

In deciding whether to impose sanctions, ECOWAS leaders have to balance the credibility of their organisation against the fragility of some of their states, especially in the Sahel.

Adding to the region's turmoil was a gun attack on Tuesday on the president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, stoking fears that years of efforts to steer West Africa towards stability and democracy are failing.

"We have to think about these coups, despite the sanctions which we impose," Senegalese President Macky Sall said at the summit, in remarks quoted by one of his aides.

Kabore, like his former counterpart in Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was toppled by disgruntled officers on the back of public protests at the handling of a jihadist insurgency.

Both countries are in the throes of a nearly decade-old jihadist emergency that has claimed thousands of lives and forced at least one and a half million people from their homes.

Escalating political friction with the junta in Mali has driven Bamako closer to the Kremlin and cast a shadow over France's anti-jihadist mission in the country.

On Wednesday, the Malian government warned of the risk of sanctions triggering a wider crisis, saying the restrictions imposed on it in January by ECOWAS prevented it from honouring its latest bond payments.

In a statement that sought to reassure investors, the junta said it had the necessary funds in its coffers but the regional issuing bank, the Central Bank of West African States, had refused to allow the payment.

The payment is related to two bonds amounting to around 2.6 billion CFA francs (around $4.5 million, four million euros), launched by Mali on the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) market, the statement said.
This week, traffic is moving in the opposite direction, as delegations from across Africa fly in for the latest summit of the African Union this weekend -- an event the government has described as "a heavy blow to those who were professing the doomsday here".

Well over a year into a conflict ravaging the country's north, Ethiopia appears eager to host a meeting that will focus on other crises, and the AU has several on offer.

From coups to climate change to the coronavirus, the two-decade-old bloc is confronting a number of challenges which look set to weigh on its 55 member states for years to come.

It also faces the prospect of a debate over its relationship with Israel that analysts warn could become highly polarising during the two-day gathering that begins on Saturday.

The result is a fraught agenda that may distract from Ethiopia's troubles while allowing Addis Ababa, home to AU headquarters, to present itself as a strong, stable host for its neighbours.

"I think it can certainly be seen as a political win for Ethiopia," said Imogen Hooper, African Union analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG), a conflict-prevention organisation.

Abiy's government "has been lobbying heavily for this to take place in person, because it does give a sense of normalisation."

Cascading coups

The summit follows a spate of recent coups on the continent, the latest occurring less than two weeks ago in Burkina Faso.

On Tuesday night, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo survived a gun attack that both the AU and the West African bloc ECOWAS denounced as a coup attempt.

The following day, addressing a meeting of foreign ministers preceding this weekend's summit for heads of state, African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned a "worrying resurgence of military coups".

The AU's 15-member security body has suspended Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Sudan over their unconstitutional changes in power.

But it has not suspended Chad, where a military council took over following the death of longtime President Idriss Deby Itno on the battlefield last April.

"The AU's inconsistent response to the slew of unconstitutional changes of government has been particularly damaging," ICG said in a briefing this week.

At the summit , leaders 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 Africa Amani 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 slated 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 1 billion people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

That is a far cry from the body's target of 70 percent by the end of the year.

African leaders have long spoken out against the hoarding of vaccines by rich countries, a theme likely to be repeated.

A draft agenda seen by AFP also includes a discussion of Faki's decision last year to accept Israel's accreditation at the AU.

Accredited non-African states are able to attend some conferences, access non-confidential AU documents and present statements at meetings that concern them.

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.

'African solutions'

Amid all this, it is doubtful the war in Ethiopia, pitting Abiy's government against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebel group, will get much attention.

Foreign envoys are pushing hard for a ceasefire and expanded aid access to conflict-hit areas.

But Abiy's government has dismissed criticism from the US and other Western powers as smacking of neo-imperialism.

If signs recently posted outside the Addis Ababa airport are any indication, Abiy seems poised to use this year's AU summit to shore up his pan-African bona fides.

"African solutions to African problems," reads one. "The future of Mother Africa is bright," reads another.

And a third: "To pull together is to avoid being pulled apart."
Officials had said in October that Bali would welcome foreign arrivals from 19 countries that meet World Health Organization criteria, such as having their COVID-19 cases under control.

But there were no direct international flights to Bali until Thursday when Garuda Indonesia operated its first such flight in two years from Tokyo.

Singapore Airlines will introduce a regular direct route to and from Denpasar in Bali starting Feb. 16, said Taufan Yudhistira, the public relations manager at Bali's international airport.

Fully vaccinated travelers need to quarantine for five days in a hotel or on a liveaboard boat certified by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, and travelers who have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine must quarantine for seven days.

Indonesia reported 27,197 new coronavirus infections and 38 deaths on Thursday in the latest 24-hour period. The country has seen more than 4.4 million total cases since the pandemic began.

The country's latest surge in cases, driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, has mostly been concentrated in Jakarta, but in recent days infections have ``increased significantly'' in Java and Bali, said Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the government minister who leads the COVID-19 response in Java and Bali.

The quarantine for foreign arrivals is intended to prevent the further spread of the virus, said Pandjaitan.

Before the pandemic, Bali's airport accommodated more than 200 international flights with at least one million passengers per day in 2019.

The island was closed to international flights after COVID-19 hit the world's fourth most populous country in 2020.

Tourism is the main source of income in Bali, which is home to more than 4 million people who are mainly Hindu in the mostly Muslim archipelago nation.

Bali's tourist areas were deserted two decades ago after visitors were scared off by deadly terror attacks that targeted foreigners, but the island has worked to overcome that image.

The reopening of Bali to travelers from all countries will help boost the island's economy, which has been badly affected by the pandemic, Pandjaitan said.

The reopening will also serve as a ``trial,'' said Tourism and Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno, as the government prepares to host G-20 events in Bali later this year.

A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in mid-February was supposed to be held in Bali but has been relocated to Jakarta because of the surge in COVID-19 cases. Some attendees will join the events virtually.
After a summit on Thursday evening, the 15-nation bloc "firmly condemned the coup attempt" in the country of two million people.

It added that a "stabilizing support force" would deploy to Guinea-Bissau, without offering any further details.

Guinea-Bissau's presidency declined to comment on Friday when contacted by AFP.

On Tuesday, heavily armed men attacked government buildings in the capital Bissau where President Umaro Sissoco Embalo was believed to be attending a cabinet meeting.

The 49-year-old president emerged unscathed from a five-hour gun battle, later describing the attack to reporters as a plot to wipe out the government.

Eleven people, including four civilians, were killed, according to a government spokesman.

Guinea-Bissau is notoriously unstable, having suffered four military coups since independence from Portugal in 1974, its most recent in 2012.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also sent peacekeepers to the country in 2012 to guard public buildings among other duties. That force left when its mandate ended in 2020.

In 2014, Guinea-Bissau vowed to return to democracy, but it has enjoyed little stability since and the armed forces wield substantial clout.

The identity and motives of the attackers behind this week's attempted coup remain unclear. The army has launched a major probe.
Two of the peacekeepers killed were women, and for the eighth year in a row Mali was the world's most dangerous with 19 peacekeepers killed, the union's Standing Committee for the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service said. Central African Republic was second on the list with four peacekeeper deaths.

``Once again, United Nations staff members, especially `blue helmets', serving in the world's most dangerous places paid the highest price'', UN Staff Union President Aitor Arauz said in a statement Friday.

``No one was apprehended and sentenced for such crimes,'' he said. ``We call on governments to do the utmost to protect United Nations personnel and prosecute their killers.''

Eight peacekeepers who died in 2021 were from Togo, four from Chad, three from Ivory Coast, three from Egypt and one each from Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Gabon, Malawi and Morocco, the Staff Union said. The one civilian killed was from Congo.

The 25 killings in 2021 bring the death toll to at least 462 United Nations and associated personnel killed in deliberate attacks in the past 11 years from improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, artillery fire, mortar rounds, land mines, ambushes, convoy attacks, suicide attacks and targeted assassinations, the Staff Union said.

Last year's death toll compares to 15 killings in 2020, 28 in 2019, 34 in 2018 and 71 in 2017.
Switzerland-based BSV blockchain association has signed an agreement with the Saudi Digital Academy (SDA) for the launch of a BSV Blockchain Academy in capital Riyadh. This is the first full-scale blockchain academy in the Middle East region.

The SDA is a key national initiative by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) of Saudi Arabia, which aims to develop human capital and the digital capabilities of Saudi youth.

It builds a national academy with international standards to educate Saudi talent in emerging technologies, and prepare them for careers in the communications and IT sector that advance the Kingdom's digital transformation and 'Saudi Vision 2030'.

Through the new blockchain academy in Riyadh, the BSV association and SDA will collaborate to provide blockchain learning and development resources for a variety of audiences - including developers, students, start-up entrepreneurs, business executives and government agency representatives.

The academy will focus on the BSV blockchain, an enterprise-grade network that can support big business and government-scale data applications with high volumes of transactions at minimal cost; BSV median transaction fees are often a small fraction of a U.S. cent.

The BSV Blockchain Academy is the latest in a series of sector-specific educational programs launched by the SDA.

Engineer Faris AlSaqabi, Deputy Minister for Future Jobs & Capabilities at MCIT, said: "Because the Fourth Industrial Revolution involves many emerging technologies, the SDA seeks to attract multiple digital academies in order to provide training across all fields that will be vital to Saudi Arabia's digital transformation."

"Since the initial academies announced at our launch event in October 2021, we continually look to add new fields of learning. Given the high interest in blockchain technology, we are proud to work with BSV's team to bring world-class blockchain training to Saudi Arabia in this landmark initiative for the Middle East," noted Al Saqabi.

The BSV blockchain's association and SDA announced their educational partnership during a signing ceremony on the final day of LEAP 2022  the global technology conference in Riyadh which took place on 1-3 February 2022. LEAP 2022 was the biggest ever technology event debut, attracting over 100,000 people.

Commenting on the deal, CEO Mohammed Alsuhaim said: "At SDA we are pleased to partner with the BSV Blockchain Association to create in Riyadh the Middle East region's first full scale blockchain academy. This initiative will teach students, developers, business executives and government representatives across Saudi Arabia the blockchain knowledge necessary to navigate the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

"The BSV team shares our vision for building true blockchain utility at big scale to power data for a digital Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and we anticipate this is the first step in other areas of collaboration with the BSV Blockchain Association," he added.

Also commenting, Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of the BSV blockchain's association said: "Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of emerging technologies such as Internet of Things, robotics, smart cities, and artificial intelligence. These fields are all driven by data, and only the BSV blockchain has the scaling capacity to act as their distributed data infrastructure."

"We are very excited to educate Saudi youth and professionals about the power of BSV to drive digital transformation and build a better world. We look forward to this educational partnership with the MCIT and the Saudi Digital Academy, and bringing useful blockchain adoption to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
"The Israel question has been suspended for now and instead there will be a committee set up to study the issue," one of the diplomats told AFP on the closing day of the AU's annual summit in Addis Ababa.

The relationship with Israel is a rare point of contention for a body that values consensus, with powerful member states, notably South Africa, loudly protesting a decision by Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, to accept Israel's accreditation to the bloc.

The six-member committee will include South Africa and Algeria, who opposed Faki's move to accredit Israel last July, as well as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who supported it, according to the diplomats.

Cameroon also asked to be on the committee, while South Africa requested the inclusion of Nigeria as well, the diplomats said.

There was no immediate information available on the timeline for the committee's work or when the AU might take up the matter again.

As the summit opened Saturday, Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh urged African leaders to withdraw Israel's AU accreditation, denouncing its "apartheid regime".

Member nations such as South Africa said they had not been properly consulted about the decision, which they said contradicted numerous AU statements, including from Faki himself, supporting the Palestinian Territories.

The accreditation handed Israeli diplomats a victory they had been chasing for nearly two decades.

Seventy-two countries, regional blocs and organisations are already accredited, including North Korea, the European Union and UNAIDS, according to the AU's website.
Shoukry made the remarks as he met on Sunday with his Somali counterpart, Abdisaid Muse Ali, on the sidelines of the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Addis Ababa.

Last month, Somali leaders signed a deal to conclude the long-delayed presidential and parliamentary elections by 25 February.

Disputes between the country's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Premier Mohamed Hussein Roble over how the elections would be held has delayed the polls for more than a year.

Observers have worried that the delay will endanger the stability of troubled country.

The UN has been calling the completion of Somali elections as more important than ever at a time when the country is battling ISIS-linked Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

The group, which is responsible for killing thousands of civilians in East Africa and launching attacks against the AU's African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), have threatened to disrupt elections.

During their Sunday meeting, Shoukry affirmed Egypt's support for its sisterly countrys stability.

The top Egyptian diplomat highlighted the need to ensure that post-2021 arrangements of the AMISOM are based on a comprehensive approach that includes building state institutions, reconstruction and economic development, and is not limited to security and military dimensions only.

He also referred to how Egypt hosted a retreat in Cairo on the Post-2021 Arrangements in Somalia that were organised by the International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding in cooperation with the AU, Federal government of Somalia, the UN, and several international partners.

The ministry added that the retreat contributed to the convergence of views between the various parties for the upcoming rounds of consultations.

In January, the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) organised a retreat on post-2021 arrangements in Somalia with the participation of Somalia, the African Union, the United Nations, and several international partners.

The retreat aimed to provide a space for informal consultations between Somali officials and African and international partners in order to discuss post-2021 arrangements in Somalia, given the end of the AMISOM mandate in March 2022, according to a CCCPAs statement.

In a tweet, Ali hailed his discussions with Shoukry as "fruitful," saying they discussed issues of mutual interest including trade, education, maritime security, regional dynamics and violent extremism.
He added that this season's harvest is promising for other reasons, foremost of which are the "befitting" climatic factors and rainfall, in addition to paying a stimulating price for wheat to encourage farmers to cultivate more lands and distribute the yield locally.

In November, Egypt raised the procurement price by EGP 95 to EGP 820 per ardeb to encourage farmers to increase the size of cultivated land.

The decision was taken due to the international rise in wheat prices to their highest records in a decade.

In December, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated a land reclamation project in Toshka meant to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, an Egyptian staple.

The Toshka project, south of Aswan, is reportedly the largest of its kind in the Middle East and is meant to increase habitable areas from five percent to 25 percent and increase agricultural lands by 500,000 feddans.

Egypt has reclaimed 85,000 feddans out of 100,000 feddans as part of the first phase of the Toshka project in 2021. The second and last phase has started in January and will complete the project by reclaiming 500,000 feddans.

In 2021, Egypt imported 5.5 million tonnes of wheat.

Moselhi expected in December that Egypts wheat imports in 2022 would drop to 5.3 million tonnes due to the increase in locally procured wheat.
North Korea may have succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit into ballistic missiles, a UN report claims.

The report by an independent panel of experts monitoring UN sanctions was submitted to the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea on Monday, Reuters reported.

Some member countries concluded that the North has "probably developed miniaturized nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles," it said. At least one country believes that North Korea "may seek to further develop miniaturization in order to allow incorporation of technological improvements such as penetration aid packages or, potentially, to develop multiple warhead systems," the report adds.

"Penetration aid" refers to a device that increases an intercontinental ballistic missile warhead's chance of penetrating a target's defenses. The North has already boasted that it can now use multiple warheads.

A military spokesman here told reporters, "As the Defense Ministry has announced several times, we understand that the North has made substantial progress in its ability to miniaturize nuclear warheads."

Seoul, however, "does not recognize the North as a nuclear state," he added.


Macron, before leaving Paris, told Le Journal du Dimanche, "We have to be very realistic. We will not obtain unilateral gestures, but it is essential to prevent a deterioration of the situation before building mechanisms and reciprocal gestures of trust." After meeting with Putin, Macron heads to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian leaders on Tuesday.

France, the United States and their NATO allies have rejected Moscow's demand that they rule out possible Ukraine membership in the Western military alliance formed after World War II.

Moscow has deployed more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine's eastern border with Russia and in its ally, Belarus, with the West fearing that Putin could at any time order an invasion of Moscow's one-time Soviet republic.

"In recent days there has been nothing new on the topic of security guarantees for Russia," Peskov said. "Our Western interlocutors prefer not to mention this topic."

The Kremlin had said ahead of the talks that it did not expect any immediate resolution of its stalemate with the West. "The situation is too complex to expect decisive breakthroughs in the course of one meeting," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

At the start of their meeting, Macron told Putin, "This discussion can make a start in the direction in which we need to go, which is towards a de-escalation" to "avoid a war" and "build elements of confidence, stability and visibility for everyone."

French President Emmanuel Macron was meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, trying to curb the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the Kremlin said in advance it does not expect any immediate resolution of its stalemate with the West.

Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden is meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House in their first face-to-face talks since Scholz assumed power in Berlin in December. Their talks will also center on easing tensions in eastern Europe and preventing a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden has ruled out dispatching the U.S. military to fight in Ukraine but now has deployed 3,000 U.S. troops to Romania and Poland on NATO's eastern edge and sent $500 million in military assistance to the Kyiv government.

Frustrating some NATO allies, Germany declined to send lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing its policy of not sending arms into conflict zones. The Biden-Scholz discussions are also likely to touch on Germany's reliance on energy supplies from Russia.

The U.S. has declared that if Moscow invades Ukraine, it will not allow natural gas to start flowing through the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. The U.S., among others, has viewed the pipeline as part of the deterrence of a Russian attack on Ukraine, eliminating potential Russian revenue from the pipeline. Scholz told German broadcaster ARD ahead of his trip to Washington, "We have considered all measures [about the pipeline] and there is nothing that is ruled out."

The talks Monday in Moscow and Washington come as the U.S. warns a Russian invasion "could happen at any time," according to U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. "We believe that the Russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into Ukraine, and we have been working hard to prepare a response," Sullivan told NBC's "Meet the Press" show Sunday.

In a separate interview on "Fox News Sunday," Sullivan said, "Any day Russia could take action against Ukraine, or it could be a couple weeks," with U.S. intelligence officials assessing that Moscow has 70 percent of its strike force in place for an attack.

He said a Russian invasion would come "at an enormous human cost to Ukraine but at a strategic cost to Russia," with the U.S. prepared to impose swift and severe economic sanctions against Russia to hobble its economy. "Whatever actions Russia takes next, America is ready," Sullivan said.

Sullivan, however, said the U.S. is willing to negotiate with Putin over his professed security concerns about the actions of the U.S. and its 29 NATO allies. "That includes the placement of certain range systems of missiles," Sullivan said. "It includes transparency around military exercises. It includes greater capacity to have a confidence building and to avoid incidents that could lead to escalation or miscalculation."

"But what we're not prepared to negotiate are the fundamental principles of security that include an open door to NATO for countries who can meet the requirements," Sullivan said in rejecting Putin's demand that NATO rule out the possibility of Ukrainian membership. The Western allies say no outside nation has veto power over which countries join the Atlantic alliance.

In the NBC interview, Sullivan said Biden "has rallied our allies. He's reinforced and reassured our partners on the eastern flank. He's provided material support to the Ukrainians, and he's offered the Russians a diplomatic path if that's what they choose instead, but either way, we are ready, our allies are ready and we're trying to help the Ukrainian people get ready as well."
A surge in coronavirus infections in Korea has put the country's big companies on alert, prompting some to expand measures like working from home.

Samsung is having 30 percent of its employees work from home, while discouraging personal gatherings and discontinuing the shuttle buses serving its worksites.

LG has increased the proportion of work-from-home employees from 30 percent to 50 percent and is not allowing visitors from outside. At automaker Hyundai, employees are all working from home except for essential onsite workers.
Immunocompromised people and nursing home residents will start getting their second COVID-19 vaccine booster later this month.

High-risk groups such as the elderly who had their first booster last October and November could experience breakthrough infections or become seriously ill amid the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.

Jeong Eun-kyeong, the director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said Monday, "We're considering giving them the second booster four months after their first. We believe that they need to get a fourth dose in this timeframe, but we're going to ask an expert committee to review our decision."

The infection rate among the over-60s was an alarming 16 per 100,000 population last week, more than double the 7.3 a week earlier. Their proportion among all patients rose from 7.1 percent to 12.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the government is considering buying supplies of Evusheld, a "monoclonal" antibody combination to fight COVID-19 from AstraZeneca, Jeong said, "It's hard for those with low levels of immunity to develop their own antibodies even if they get vaccinated, so we're considering giving them antibody treatments."

Evusheld, which has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is produced by Samsung Biologics here.
KYODO NEWS - Feb 8, 2022 - 14:47 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

The Japanese government will provide financial support to help local governments arrange substitute facilities to look after children if their nurseries close due to coronavirus infections, the health ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry will introduce an exception to regular rules so community centers and children's centers will be allowed to accept children from nurseries even when there are not enough licensed carers for the number of children they look after, according to a set of new COVID-19 measures announced by the ministry.

Given the recent spread of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant at nurseries, the ministry also temporarily recommends children at nurseries to wear facial masks when possible, although it does not unilaterally require them to do so or recommend it for those aged under 2.

The changes come as a record high 777 nurseries approved by municipal governments in 43 of Japan's 47 prefectures were closed as of Thursday, up 133 from the previous week. While the ministry urges nurseries to stay open in principle even amid the pandemic, it is up to local governments to decide whether to temporarily close them when children and staff are infected with the virus.

"We need to avoid a situation in which infections spread at nurseries and elsewhere, making it difficult to continue our social and economic activities," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno at a regular news conference.

The new measures also include simplifying procedures for parents to apply for subsidies when they are forced to take leave from work to look after children due to closures of nurseries and schools.

Previously, individuals had to obtain confirmation from their employer that they were allowed to take special leave over such closures, but there were cases in which they were denied.

Under the new measures, labor offices will check whether a leave of absence has been given after an application had been filed.

On the medical front, the government will increase subsidies for medical institutes that dispatch nurses to elderly facilities so that residents at such facilities will be able receive treatment there.

It will also strengthen the emergency medical system and facilitate the transfer of COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized but later recovered to local medical institutes without hospital beds specifically allocated to COVID patients.

The government will also facilitate giving booster shots to nursery staff as well as users and staff of elderly facilities.

On Monday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan is aiming to speed up its inoculation drive to administer 1 million booster shots per day in the latter half of February.

New cases exceeded 100,000 a day nationwide for the first time last week, but only 5.9 percent of Japan's population of 125 million or about 7.47 million people have received a third shot since the beginning of December as of Monday, according to the government.
KYODO NEWS - Feb 8, 2022 - 15:20 | All, World, Japan

The U.S. government has proposed the latter half of May as the timing for President Joe Biden's visit to Japan to attend the "Quad" summit that will also involve the leaders of Australia and India, according to a diplomatic source.

Arrangements have been under way for Biden's first visit to Japan since becoming president in 2021. Last month, he signaled to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a virtual meeting that he intends to travel to the Asian country in late spring for the Quad meeting.

The Biden administration views the partnership of the four major democracies in the Indo-Pacific as key amid efforts to push back against China's growing military assertiveness and economic influence in the region.

During his envisioned visit to Japan, Biden will also likely hold the first in-person bilateral meeting with Kishida, who took power last October, apparently to demonstrate the importance of the relationship with the key U.S. ally in Asia at a time when North Korea is frequently test-firing ballistic missiles.

The source said Biden's trip to Asia might also include a stop in South Korea, another close U.S. ally.

Elections in South Korea and Australia, as well as Biden's tight schedule, however, may complicate the planning.

The South Korean presidential election to pick the successor to Moon Jae In is scheduled in March, with the new president being sworn in on May 10. An Australian parliamentary election will be held by May.

Biden has a diplomatic schedule in the first half of June and is also expected to attend the Group of Seven summit later in the month in Germany.
KYODO NEWS - Feb 8, 2022 - 21:57 | Coronavirus, Japan, All

The Japanese imperial family confirmed its first case of coronavirus infection Tuesday, with a 38-year-old princess hospitalized.

Princess Yoko, the younger daughter of the late Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, a cousin of former Emperor Akihito, complained of a sore throat Monday and tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, the Imperial Household Agency said. She was admitted to a hospital inside the Imperial Palace.

Her sister, Princess Akiko, 40, will also be tested. The two met several days ago, the agency said.

Princess Yoko has not attended any gathering involving food and drinks recently, and the infection route remains unknown, the agency added. But she was one of the participants in a ceremony to commemorate a late emperor at the palace on Jan. 30.

No infection has been confirmed among her staff, and none of them has reported feeling sick, according to the agency.

Princess Yoko serves as the head of Tokyo-based social welfare corporation Yuai Jujikai, as well as the honorary president of Japan Universal Sound Design Association, a nonprofit organization that helps people with hearing loss.

Related coverage:

Tokyo, others ask to extend COVID quasi-emergency as Omicron rages

Japan looks to boost daily booster shots to 1 mil. doses within Feb.

Tokyo reports 2nd highest daily record of 21,122 COVID cases
Boeing has announced a supply agreement for two million gallons (7.5 million litres) of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) with EPIC Fuels to power its commercial airplanes operations in the US through 2022.



The agreement is the largest announced SAF procurement by an airframer and further demonstrates Boeing's commitment to decarbonising aviation.



"SAF is a safe, proven, immediate solution that will help achieve our industry's long-term commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050," said Sheila Remes, Boeing vice president of Environmental Sustainability. "Boeing has been a pioneer in making sustainable aviation fuels a reality. Through this agreement we will reduce our carbon footprint and have SAF available for customer deliveries as well as our own operations."



Sustainably produced jet fuel, which reduces CO2 emissions by as much as 80% over the fuel's life cycle with the potential to reach 100% in the future, is widely recognized as offering the most immediate and greatest potential to decarbonise aviation over the next 20 to 30 years.



Made from several feedstocks, sustainable aviation fuel is certified for commercial use and can be blended with traditional jet fuel without modifications to airplanes, engines or fuelling infrastructure. Approximately a year ago, Boeing committed to deliver its commercial airplanes capable and certified to fly on 100% SAF by 2030.



The purchase agreement with EPIC Fuels includes a SAF product made from inedible agricultural waste, blending 30% neat SAF with 70% conventional jet fuel. The purchase will enable broader use of SAF for Boeing commercial production, test, ferry, Dreamlifter and customer flights at facilities in Everett, Renton and Seattle in Washington state and North Charleston, South Carolina.



EPIC Fuels will also continue to supply customized blends from 50/50% up to 100% SAF for the Boeing ecoDemonstrator program, which accelerates innovation by taking promising technologies out of the lab and testing them in the air to solve real-world challenges for airlines and passengers. SAF is currently approved for a 50/50 blend with conventional jet fuel for commercial flights.



"Our focus on environmental stewardship and safety is well known in the industry." said Kyle O'Leary, VP and COO of EPIC Fuels, an independent aviation fuel supplier with primary operations throughout the U.S. and Canada. "EPIC and Boeing have been partners for decades and we are honoured to be a part of this procurement. Working together, we are making sustainability more attainable for our customers."



The purchase builds on Boeing's long-term industry leadership and investment to develop SAF around the world, partnering with airlines, fuel companies, governments and research institutions to expand SAF supply and reduce its cost. Boeing began SAF test flights in 2008, helped gain approval for commercial use in 2011 and enabled airplane delivery flights with SAF starting in 2012.



The 2018 Boeing ecoDemonstrator conducted the industry's first 100 percent SAF commercial airplane test flight on a 777 Freighter in partnership with FedEx. In 2019, Boeing began offering customers the option to power commercial delivery flights with SAF to demonstrate commitment to reducing CO2 and further spur the use of cleaner fuels.  TradeArabia News Service
KYODO NEWS - Feb 8, 2022 - 12:36 | All, World, Japan

Japan's Cabinet approved Tuesday a bill that would facilitate future evacuation missions by the Self-Defense Forces targeting only foreign nationals during overseas crises, after Tokyo rescued just one citizen when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last August.

The current law on SDF operations restricts the rescue of foreign individuals such as spouses and local workers for Japanese agencies to those accompanying Japanese citizens, but the revised legislation will cover cases involving foreign evacuees only.

The law revision "will enable swift and flexible implementation of evacuation missions in dealing with various contingencies," Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told a press conference. The government aims to have the legislation enacted during the current parliament session through June.

When the Taliban returned to power last August after the United States began pulling out its troops from Afghanistan, the SDF was dispatched to evacuate around 500 people, including local employees of the Japanese Embassy and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Limited by the Japanese law however, they rescued just one Japanese and 14 Afghans by the end of their mission on Aug. 31. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called for a review of the law following the disappointing mission.

The revised legislation will also change the current principle that the use of government aircraft will be prioritized for evacuation missions, calling for the use of SDF transport planes instead.

Furthermore, conditions for SDF evacuation operations will be eased. At present, the SDF can carry out evacuations only from a "safe place," but the change will allow the Japanese government to "take measures" to avoid danger based on discussions between the defense and foreign ministers.

During the Afghan evacuation operations, SDF personnel could not venture outside a local airport deemed a safe place under the law. Many evacuees failed to reach the airport on their own due to strict Taliban checkpoints and deteriorating security conditions.
KYODO NEWS - Feb 8, 2022 - 18:47 | World, All, Japan, 3/11 Fukushima

Taiwan plans to lift an import ban, likely in late February, on food products from Fukushima and several other Japanese prefectures, imposed in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the government said Tuesday.

The move comes as the government of President Tsai Ing-wen is trying to secure a further push from Tokyo for Taipei's bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, which mainland China is also seeking to be part of.

In a Facebook post, Tsai sought public understanding, stressing the need to further integrate Taiwan in the international economic and trading system, such as by joining the 11-member TPP, while ensuring food safety.

Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng told a news conference that the ban will be "reasonably adjusted" based on "scientific evidence," adding its lifting is expected to come in late February. "We will apply stricter measures than global standards to ensure the safety of the imported food products."

Japan, which has urged Taiwan to lift the ban and supported Taiwan's TPP bid, welcomed the announcement, saying it marked a "large step" toward the removal of import restrictions and will push forward reconstruction efforts in disaster-affected areas.

"We will continue to tenaciously call for Taiwan to remove its remaining import restrictions soon on the basis of scientific evidence," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference in Tokyo.

Japan's farm ministry separately expressed readiness to ramp up efforts to expand exports to Japan's fourth-largest food export destination.

Taiwan's ban, introduced over radiation concerns, applies to all food products made or processed in Fukushima and four nearby prefectures in eastern Japan -- Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba -- except for liquors.

The ban is expected to be lifted except for certain food items, such as mushrooms and wild animal meat. Imported items would have to carry origin labels and documents proving they have cleared radiation inspection.

Tsai was positive about relaxing the import ban when first elected as president in 2016. In a referendum in 2018, however, Taiwan voters supported maintaining the ban for another two years, and the government continued barring food imports from the prefectures.

Taipei's latest move would likely put a spotlight on China, another economy with a wide-ranging ban on food from areas affected by the nuclear disaster. The trade pact Beijing seeks to join has a provision requiring member countries not to impose unfair restrictions on food imports.

In March 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the northeast. Following the disaster, 55 countries and regions introduced import curbs on Japanese food products, but most have already lifted the restrictions.

Besides Taiwan and China, Hong Kong and South Korea maintain some type of import ban on food from disaster-affected areas.

In September, Taiwan applied for membership of the TPP, formally known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The entry application by Taiwan followed a similar bid by China, which considers the democratically governed island a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland by force if necessary.

The unanimous approval of all existing members is required to join the pact. Japan played a leading role in negotiations on the trade pact following the United States' withdrawal in 2017.

The pact also involves countries such as Australia, Mexico and Singapore.

Related coverage:

Japan 2021 farm exports hit record high for 9th year amid pandemic

Japan to implement compensation rules for losses by Fukushima rumors

Japan sees no technical problem with Taiwan joining TPP
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)
Al-Muthana Hasan al-Shoufi, 53, collects cow dung to use later as heating fuel during the harsh winter in Syria on Jan. 23, 2022. As heating fuel has become out of reach for many Syrians because of the U.S. economic sanctions and its control over key oil fields in the country, farmers in the southern province of Sweida now resort to cow dung as an alternative to survive the harsh winter.(Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

SWEIDA, Syria, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- As heating fuel has become out of reach for many Syrians because of the U.S. economic sanctions and its control over key oil fields in the country, farmers in the southern province of Sweida now resort to cow dung as an alternative to survive the harsh winter.

In the town of Shannireh in the countryside of Sweida, 53-year-old Al-Muthana Hasan al-Shoufi is one of those who had to make the change.

At the barn behind his house, al-Shoufi collected the dung from underneath the cow and then put it in a metal stroller. Batch after batch, the dung was then delivered to a large space behind the barn to dry off in the sun, before being cut into manageable blocks and shoved into a stove inside the house.

Thanks to the cow dung, his wife can heat the stove and cook for the whole family. Besides the mealtime, the family members sometimes gather around the stove to enjoy the warmth and wait for their hot tea or coffee.

"Almost since the beginning of the crisis, we have started using the cow dung in winter for heating and other household needs, such as hot water and cooking," al-Shoufi told Xinhua.

The sturdy man said the cow dung was something his ancestors had used and now has come in handy amid the soaring fuel prices and insufficient electricity at home.

Al-Shoufi also sells cow dung to other people who don't own cows. But for relatives, it is offered free of charge.

"I have a daughter who majored in pharmaceutics and graduated this year. If I had bought the heating fuel, I would not have helped her complete the study," he said, adding his other two children are also college students and hence "everything saved can help the children finish their higher education."

Even if the fuel becomes available in the future, he would still use the cow dung as it is "eco-friendly and comparatively cheaper," the Syrian man noted.

The fuel shortage following the Syrian war has compelled people to find alternatives, including olive pomace, firewood, pistachio shells, and other natural resources.

The Syrian government has repeatedly blamed unilateral U.S. sanctions for the deterioration in the livelihood of the Syrian people. In July 2021, the price of subsidized fuel was raised by 177.7 percent. According to the government's statement, the hike was due to the surging global fuel prices and Western sanctions. 

Al-Muthana Hasan al-Shoufi, 53, collects cow dung to use later as heating fuel during the harsh winter in Syria on Jan. 23, 2022. As heating fuel has become out of reach for many Syrians because of the U.S. economic sanctions and its control over key oil fields in the country, farmers in the southern province of Sweida now resort to cow dung as an alternative to survive the harsh winter.(Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

Al-Muthana Hasan al-Shoufi, 53, and his family use cow dung as heating fuel in Sweida, Syria, on Jan. 23, 2022. As heating fuel has become out of reach for many Syrians because of the U.S. economic sanctions and its control over key oil fields in the country, farmers in the southern province of Sweida now resort to cow dung as an alternative to survive the harsh winter.(Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

Al-Muthana Hasan al-Shoufi, 53, and his family use cow dung as heating fuel in Sweida, Syria, on Jan. 23, 2022. As heating fuel has become out of reach for many Syrians because of the U.S. economic sanctions and its control over key oil fields in the country, farmers in the southern province of Sweida now resort to cow dung as an alternative to survive the harsh winter.(Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
Ren Ziwei of China celebrates after the men's 1000m final of short track speed skating at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Ren Ziwei clinched his first individual gold medal in the men's 1,000-meter short track speed skating in one minute, 26.768 seconds at Beijing 2022 here on Monday.

It was China's second gold at the 2022 Games after their victory in the 2,000m short track speed skating mixed team relay.

Ren's compatriot Li Wenlong took the silver in 1:29.917, and Hungary's Shaoang Liu earned the bronze in 1:35.693.

The men's 1,000 final was restarted in the middle of the race to remove metal debris on the ice. Ren finished second in the restarted event, while Hungary's Shaolin Sandor Liu, who crossed the line first, was disqualified for two penalties in a single race.

Italy's short track legend Arianna Fontana triumphed in the women's 500m event in 42.488 to win her country's first gold medal at Beijing 2022.

World champion Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands took the early lead from Fontana, only to see the Italian bide her time and overtake on the inside going into the final lap. Canada's world record holder Kim Boutin, with a time of 42.724 seconds, took her second bronze over the distance after doing so in 2018.

"It's a 500 meters [race], not a lot of time, but there's still time to recover a mistake, so even though I didn't start first, I was able to just stay focused, speed up and attack at the right moment," said defending champion Fontana confidently.

This is Fontana's 10th Olympic medal. The five-time Olympian has two gold, three silver and five bronze medals, chiefly from the 500m and 3,000m relay events. 

Ren Ziwei of China (front) competes during the men's 1000m final of short track speed skating at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

Arianna Fontana (C) of Italy, Suzanne Schulting (L) of the Netherlands and Kim Boutin of Canada attend the flower ceremony after the women's 500m final of short track speed skating at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

Arianna Fontana of Italy celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 500m final of short track speed skating at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
Aerial photo taken on July 10, 2021 shows a view of the historical and cultural block of Sanfangqixiang (Three Lanes and Seven Alleys) in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)

FUZHOU, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- It took Zheng, a Chinese national residing in Spain, just a few minutes to complete his Chinese driver's license renewal after calling a hotline in his hometown of Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province.

Though they are thousands of miles away from home, the city's overseas Chinese can still feel the warmth of their homeland, thanks to the hotline service developed specifically for the diaspora.

The city is committed to providing more efficient, high-quality and convenient services to overseas Chinese from Fuzhou through this hotline while cracking down on crimes and illegal activities involving this group, said Wang Xizhang, deputy mayor of Fuzhou and director of the city's public security bureau.

The overseas Chinese can dial 0086-591-110 to request assistance, and the receptionists will register and attend to their requests at the earliest possible time.

"We will immediately deal with the request if the issue is relevant to the city. If the events occur in other parts of the country, we will coordinate with our counterparts to address them," said Liu Rongyan, an official with the municipal public security bureau.

"Concerning events that take place overseas, we will guide those who dial the hotline to contact their local police and seek aid from local Chinese embassies and consulates or relevant departments of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Besides, we shall report to the higher public security organs when deemed necessary," Liu added.

Since the launch of the hotline service, the Fuzhou police had received calls from nearly 50 countries and regions including the United States, Spain, Argentina and Japan.

To offer more convenient services, the police also worked in cooperation with overseas organizations to set up the first batch of 30 service stations that currently cover 25 cities across 21 countries.

Fuzhou, located on China's east coast, is well-known for being the hometown of a large number of Chinese who live abroad. According to statistics, there are more than 4.3 million overseas Chinese from Fuzhou living all over the world. 
File photo taken on Feb. 12, 2020 shows the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

If Finland were a NATO member, it would become the primary front in a war between NATO and Russia, says Finland's former Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

HELSINKI, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Finland's former Foreign Minister and long-time Member of Parliament (MP) Erkki Tuomioja said he doubted that his country's possible North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership would strengthen its security.

Commenting on his new book "Finland and NATO" on Monday, Tuomioja raised the question of what in practice would NATO countries be willing to do to help Finland in the event of a war.

If Finland were a NATO member, it would become the primary front in a war between NATO and Russia, he said.

"I believe NATO would ultimately emerge as the winner and would show up as the liberator of Finland, but what would remain of us by that time, especially if nuclear weapons are used?" Tuomioja asked.

File photo taken on June 25, 2012 shows Finnish Foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja (L) and his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt talk prior to a EU Foreign Affairs Council three days before EU summer summit in Luxembourg. (Xinhua/Thierry Monasse)

According to him, it is not in the interest of either Finland or Russia to turn the 1,300-km border between them into a military conflict zone.

In his opinion, Finland should have the opportunity to apply for NATO membership, but now is not the time to do so.

According to national broadcaster Yle's report on Monday, a recent poll found that 45 percent of those surveyed would support Finland's application for NATO membership on condition that it is recommended by the nation's leaders.

Roughly one-third of the respondents opposed the idea and under one quarter were undecided.

Last December, Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson said they had no plans to apply for NATO membership.

The Parliament House is lit up during the Lux Helsinki light festival in Helsinki, Finland, Jan. 5, 2022. (Photo by Matti Matikainen/Xinhua)
JERUSALEM, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Israel said on Monday that it is setting up a government inquiry commission to investigate allegations of the police using spyware on mobile phones of officials, businesspersons and civilians without authorization.

The police used the spyware NSO's Pegasus to hack into phones of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son Avner Netanyahu and two of his close associates, the newspaper Calcalist reported Monday.

According to Calcalist, the police also targeted activists, journalists, civil servants and the owner of Israel's third-largest supermarket chain. A witness in Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial was also allegedly monitored.

Led by a retired Supreme Court judge, the commission will "investigate in depth the violation of civil rights and privacy in the years in question," Internal Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev tweeted.

He said the commission will investigate not only the police use of Pegasus but also their other scandals, including an alleged hacking into the phone of Defense Minister Benny Gantz and other politicians while Netanyahu was in power.

"We will get to the bottom of it. We will eradicate corruption," Omer noted.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who replaced Netanyahu last June, said in a statement that "the reports about Pegasus, if they are true, are very serious."

Noting he will consult with other ministers, Bennett said "we won't leave this without a response."

Speaking at the parliament, Netanyahu, currently the opposition leader, viewed the police use of Pegasus as "a dark day for the state of Israel."

The ousted leader said the alleged use of the spyware against civilians and public servants was "unthinkable," urging the authorities to open an independent investigation.

President Isaac Herzog also voiced his concern. "We must not lose our democracy. We must not lose our police. And we must certainly not lose public trust in them. This requires an in-depth and thorough investigation," he said in a statement.

According to Calcalist, the police used Pegasus during the term of former Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh, who led the force between 2015 and 2018.

The spyware infects mobile phones and enables operators to extract messages, photos and emails, and secretly activate microphones and cameras. It drew international criticism after several governments around the world were found to misuse it to target officials, journalists, activists, and academics.

Last November, the company was blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department over its engagement "in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States." 
KABUL, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish freight train carrying about 750 tons of humanitarian aid has arrived in Afghanistan, the Afghan Red Crescent Society said on Tuesday.

The first train of 750 tons of humanitarian aid from the Turkish Red Crescent Society to the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) arrived at the dry port of Tor Ghundi in western Herat province late on Monday, the ARCS wrote on Twitter.

Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, acting deputy director of the ARCS, Turkish Ambassador to Afghanistan Jihad Argin, and other officials witnessed the arrival of the Turkish assistance in the province, about 640 km west of Kabul, sources said.

The train consisting of 47 wagons of food, clothing, blankets and healthcare materials left Turkey's capital Ankara to Afghanistan on Jan. 27, and arrived in the Asian country through Iran and Turkmenistan. 
BEIRUT, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Energy Envoy Amos Hochstein said on Tuesday that gaps have narrowed between Lebanon and Israel regarding maritime border demarcation.

"There is an opportunity today... We can reach an agreement, but we will not conclude it ourselves, as Lebanon and Israel must decide to do so," Hochstein said in an interview with Lebanese MTV local TV channel.

The U.S. official arrived in Beirut on Tuesday to look into ways to resume talks over Lebanese-Israeli maritime border demarcation.

In 2020, Israel and Lebanon began U.S.-mediated negotiations concerning their maritime border, but talks stalled when Lebanon expanded its demands, increasing the disputed area from 860 square km to 2,300 square km to include part of the Karish North field, initially claimed by Israel. 
Dubai Airports and the Federal Youth Authority have announced a partnership that will see the allocation of commercial spaces at the worlds busiest international airport, DXB, for young Emirati entrepreneurs.



The partnership was solidified during a tour for Saeed Al Nazari, Director General of the Federal Youth Authority, and Jamal Al Hai, Deputy CEO of Dubai Airports.



Both organisations will work together on the Youth Launchpad initiative, a programme which provides commercial spaces, in highly sought-after locations, to help support startup businesses founded by young Emirati entrepreneurs. For the airport, the focus will be to seek start-ups that will showcase Arabian culture, hospitality, and creativity.



In partnership with the Authority, Dubai Airports will create a specially designed area, in one of the busiest areas of the airport between Concourses B and C. This space will offer young entrepreneurs the opportunity to launch their projects to a truly global audience.



The latest agreement is part of Dubai Airports ongoing support to Federal Youth Authority initiatives, with its airports already hosting several projects, as well as the Dubai Airports Youth Council, which it formed in cooperation with the authority.



Saeed Al Nazari stressed that this support of young Emirati entrepreneurs at the worlds busiest airport is a valuable opportunity to invest in young people and empower them, by introducing their products to the world and offering exposure to people from a range of cultures and nationalities, as well as positively reflecting youth projects as a cultural and creative interface.



Al Nazari added: "We are working in cooperation with Dubai Airports to achieve the greatest possible benefit for startups in the UAE. Its airports attract investors and entrepreneurs from all over the world, and were delighted that young businessmen will benefit from this wonderful advantage."



Majed Al Joker, Executive Vice President Corporate Affairs at Dubai Airports said: The UAE has always provided its youth with opportunities and has directed their energies to drive its future. Young people have proven that they are able to excel in business and launch distinctive, pioneering projects that have attracted investors from all over the world."



"Dubai International (DXB) has continued to lead in the recovery of the travel industry and has seen passenger traffic numbers increase over the past year, which means those entrepreneurs selected to be a part of this Youth Launchpad will have a truly global audience, Al Joker added.



Our cooperation with the Federal Youth Authority is a profitable investment in youth ambitions, aligning with our wise leaderships vision of empowering Emirati youth and ensuring their competitiveness across global markets. As well as launching the Dubai Airports Youth Council, we are now actively developing youth-driven programs to reinforce communication between young people and the senior management of Dubai Airports."



In cooperation with its partners, the Federal Youth Authority will provide 12 months support to the startups, with the option to extend based on performance. In addition, entrepreneurs can use the opportunity to evaluate their businesses during this period, as well as attend a training program to improve the businesses quality model and develop their entrepreneurship skills and access guidance and mentoring support, plus help to build their branding and identity.



In addition to free spaces, all participating startup projects will be provided with basic tools and technical equipment to interact with customers free of charge.  TradeArabia News Service
MANILA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose term ends in June, has said that he started packing his things barely four months before he hands over the presidency to the successor.

"I have started packing and shipping my things (to Davao City)," Duterte said in a taped public address aired late Monday night.

"I started shipping the small things, the tokens, the bronze ones which are heavy," he said. The 76-year-old leader lived in Davao City with his family. He commuted between Metro Manila and his hometown during his six-year presidency.

"I will make a speech one of these days thanking the people for the distinct honor of giving me the position as president," he added.

Duterte also said he plans to buy an affordable two-bedroom condominium unit in Metro Manila to hang out whenever he is in town for a visit.

Before being elected president in 2016, Duterte had served as the Davao City mayor for 23 years.

There are 10 presidential aspirants on the campaign trails. According to surveys, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., 64, son of former President Ferdinand Marcos, is leading in the opinion polls. Trailing behind him are 56-year-old incumbent Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo, Manila City Mayor Francisco Domagoso, Senator Manny Pacquiao, Senator Panfilo Lacson, and five others.

In the Philippines, the president and vice president are elected separately. Duterte's daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, 43, will run for vice president as the running mate of Marcos Jr. 
BUDAPEST, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Hungary's top diplomat has acknowledged that even friends may hold different views while commemorating the 30th anniversary of a Friendship Treaty between Hungary and Germany.

Hungary was ready to continue to cooperate with Germany in the decades to come, the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told Annalena Baerbock, his German counterpart, in a letter, said the Hungarian government on its official site on Monday.

The two countries' unique historical connection is supported by many memories, and bilateral economic relations have developed into a success story over the past 30 years, Szijjarto said.

He called on the two countries to continue their joint mission as the European Union (EU) is facing enormous challenges.

"Our views on how to continue do not always coincide but this is not a problem at all as we are sovereign nations and the EU is a special and unique alliance of sovereign countries," Szijjarto said.

Hungary respects the other countries' regulations pertaining to the education of children, approach to life, and other fundamental issues, he said.

"However, we insist that in these fields there should be no attempts, not even through the EU institutions, to impose one's national regulations on other countries," Szijjarto said.

The Hungarian minister alluded to the ongoing conflicts between his government and the EU institutions which argued that Hungary's government fails to respect the rule of law as defined by the EU member states.

"The peaceful co-existence of different social models and keeping the related debates under control are crucial for the cohesion of the Union," Szijjarto said. 
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (1st L, Front) welcomes Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic (2nd L, Front) in Athens, Greece, on Feb. 8, 2022. Montenegro expects Greece's continued support for its accession to the European Union (EU), visiting Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said here on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

ATHENS, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Montenegro expects Greece's continued support for its accession to the European Union (EU), visiting Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said here on Tuesday.

"We are taking important steps towards the European integration of our country, and we expect Greece to continue to support us," Djukanovic said during his meeting with his Greek counterpart, Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

"Greece believes that in times of growing global challenges, such as the period we are going through, the European perspective of the western Balkans, their full membership of the European Union, is in the political and economic interest of the European Union itself, but also an incentive for these countries to make the necessary reforms," Sakellaropoulou said.

Both leaders stressed the special significance of Djukanovic's two-day official visit to Athens. He is the first Montenegrin head of state to visit Greece since 2006, when the country declared its independence and the confederation of Serbia and Montenegro peacefully dissolved.

Djukanovic also talked about the EU integration when met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, according to the Greek national broadcaster ERT. 

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) welcomes Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic in Athens, Greece, on Feb. 8, 2022. Montenegro expects Greece's continued support for its accession to the European Union (EU), visiting Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said here on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Netflix's "The Power of the Dog" led nominees for the 94th Academy Awards, or the Oscars, with 12 nominations, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday.

The Western psychological drama film picked up nominations across a series of major categories, including best picture, best director for Jane Campion, best actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, best supporting actor for Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and best supporting actress for Kirsten Dunst.

Based on the 1967 novel of the same name, "The Power of the Dog" follows a domineering but charismatic rancher who wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son -- until long-hidden secrets come to light.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures' science fiction film "Dune" came in second in the race for this year's Academy Awards with 10 nods, followed by musical romantic drama film "West Side Story" and comedy drama film "Belfast" with seven nominations each.

"The Power of the Dog" will compete against "Dune," "West Side Story," "Belfast," "CODA," "Don't Look Up," "Drive My Car," "Licorice Pizza," "King Richard," "Nightmare Alley" for best picture of the year.

Campion will face off against Kenneth Branagh ("Belfast"), Ryuske Hamaguchi ("Drive My Car"), Paul Thomas Anderson ("Licorice Pizza"), and Steven Spielberg ("West Side Story") in the best director category. The New Zealand filmmaker is the first woman to be nominated twice for the Oscar best director honors. She was first nominated in 1994 for "The Piano."

Battle for best actor will be among Cumberbatch, Javier Bardem ("Being the Ricardos"), Andrew Garfield ("Tick, Tick ... BOOM!"), Will Smith ("King Richard"), and Denzel Washington ("The Tragedy of Macbeth").

Jessica Chastain ("The Eyes of Tammy Faye"), Olivia Colman ("The Lost Daughter"), Penelope Cruz ("Parallel Mothers"), Nicole Kidman ("Being the Ricardos"), and Kristen Stewart ("Spencer") were nominated for the best actress award.

Plemons and Smit-McPhee will face off against Ciaran Hinds ("Belfast"), Troy Kotsur ("CODA"), and J.K. Simmons ("Being the Ricardos") in the best supporting actor category. Dunst will compete against Jessie Buckley ("The Lost Daughter"), Ariana DeBose ("West Side Story"), Judi Dench ("Belfast"), and Aunjanue Ellis ("King Richard") for best supporting actress.

Japanese drama "Drive My Car" is a favorite this Hollywood awards season, making history by becoming the first Japanese film ever to earn an Oscar best picture nomination. The film will compete against "Flee" (Denmark), "The Hand of God" (Italy), "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom" (Bhutan), and "The Worst Person in the World" (Norway) in the category of best international feature film, formerly known as best foreign language film.

Disney and its subsidiary Pixar continued to dominate best animated feature category this year, scoring three nominations with "Encanto," "Raya and the Last Dragon" and "Luca." The other two nominees are "The Mitchells vs. The Machines" and "Flee."

"Flee" becomes the first film ever to score nominations for best animated feature, best international feature, and best documentary feature in the Oscar race.

"Affairs of the Art," "Bestia," "Boxballet," "Robin Robin," and "The Windshield Wiper" are on the list in the best animated short film competition.

Rounding out the rest of its nominations were for documentary short film, live action short film, cinematography, screenplay, costume design, film editing, original score, production design, visual effects, sound editing and sound mixing.

Active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in all 23 categories beginning March 17, through March 22, said the organization in a news release.

The 94th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood in the western U.S. state of California. 
Aurangabad :

NCP MLA from Beed district in Maharashtra, Prakash Solanke, on Monday night announced that he would resign as the member of the Legislative Assembly, as he is "unworthy to do politics". Solanke, who got elected from Majalgaon seat on four occasions, denied any link between his sudden decision and his non-induction in the state Cabinet, which was expanded on Monday.

He, however, added that the expansion of the Cabinet has proved that "I am unworthy to do politics".

"I am going to resign on Tuesday and stay away from politics now," Solanke told PTI.

The MLA further said he was not unhappy with any leader in his party.

"I have apprised NCP leaders about my decision to step down. I will meet Legislative Assembly Speaker (in Mumbai) on Tuesday afternoon and hand over my resignation letter. My resignation has nothing to do with the Cabinet expansion," he clarified.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expanded his council of ministers by inducting 36 ministers, including NCP leader Ajit Pawar who was sworn in as deputy chief minister.

In the 288-member Assembly, the NCP has 54 MLAs after the Shiv Sena which has 56 members.
New Delhi:

The United States is not seeking to escalate its simmering conflict with Iran, a senior official said Monday after the Pentagon launched air strikes on Tehran-allied Iraqi militia forces. US Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker said the Sunday strikes on Hezbollah Brigades bases were a message to Iran after months of "restraint" by the administration of President Donald Trump. US on Monday attacked a pro-Iran group in Iraq killing at least 25 fighters.

"We thought it important to hit a significant target set to send a very clear message to them about how serious we take American lives," Schenker told reporters.

"This was a response that was serious, but was, I think in many ways, proportionate," he said.

"We don't want an escalation here, we want a de-escalation."

Brian Hook, the State Department's Special Representative for Iran, said "The president has been very patient. He has shown a great deal of restraint," Hook said.

"We very much hoped that Iran would not miscalculate and confuse our restraint for weakness. But after so many attacks, it was important for the president to direct our armed forces to respond in a way that the Iranian regime will understand."

"We will not tolerate attacks against US citizens, our military or our partners and allies in the region," Hook added.

Russias foreign ministry called the exchange of strikes between Hezbollah and US forces in Iraq unacceptable, and called for restraint from both sides.

We consider such actions unacceptable and counterproductive. We call upon all parties to refrain from further actions that could sharply destabilise the military-political situation in Iraq, Syria, and the neighbouring countries, a ministry statement said.

While the Russian statement referred to Hezbollah, the US strikes on Sunday actually targeted the Hezbollah brigades, a radical faction of Hashed al-Shaabi, a Tehran-backed Iraqi paramilitary coalition.

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Pune:

Activist and former student leader Umar Khalid said in Pune on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were "lying" about the NRC now as they were scared by nation-wide protests. Khalid was speaking after taking part in a protest march against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens in Pune.

"After seeing the protests across the country, prime minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are lying about the NRC, as they are afraid of people's reactions," he said.

Modi had said recently that there had been no discussion about nation-wide implementation of the NRC. Khalid further said that the amended Citizenship Act should be resisted as freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives had not contemplated a country where religion is the basis of citizenship.

The controversial CAA provides for grant of citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who came to India before December 31, 2014, to escape religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the 60th edition of his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'. The programme was broadcasted on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan and Narendra Modi App at 11 am. In his last 'Mann Ki Baat' of this year, the prime minister extended his greetings to all countrymen on the arrival of year 2020. He talked about the role they are going to play in the next decade of the 21st century. Below are the top quotes of PM Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat'.

PM Modi hails young generations talent

PM Modi said, "Youngsters for some, they are millennials, others call them generation Z ot Gen Zee too, and broadly speaking, one thing that has captured the collective psyche is that this is the 'Social Media Generation'. He further said, "All of us experience that this generation is extremely talented. It thrives on the dream to do something. It has its own set of opinions. And best part is, especially in the case of India, they appreciate the system."

PM Modi says young generation follows the system

PM Modi said, In the coming decade, the young in India will play a key role. Todays youth believes in the system and also has an opinion on a wide range of issues. I consider this to be a great thing. The youth in India likes to follow the system They question the system when it does not work and dont like anarchy as they question the loopholes in the system What todays youth dislikes is instability, chaos, nepotism.

PM Modi encourages people to visit Rann of Kutch

PM Modi said, "And its a matter of joy that our Vice President too visited the Desert Festival held in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat for the inauguration. When our Honourable President and Vice President are visiting such important tourist destinations in India, it is bound to inspire our countrymen. I urge you too to travel and visit these places."

PM Modi urges Indians to buy local produce

PM Modi said, "Whenever I hear about the police personnel of Phulpur or their families, you will also recollect, that I had urged from the ramparts of Red Fort on the 15th of August, requesting the countrymen to buy local produce preferably. Mahatma Gandhi viewed this spirit of Swadeshi as a lamp illuminating the lives of millions as well as bringing prosperity in the lives of the poorest of the poor.

PM Modi says India advanced in field of astronomy

PM Modi said, India is quite advanced in the field of astronomy, and we have taken path-breaking initiatives in this field. 'We have a giant meter-wave telescope near Pune. Not just that, in Kodaikkaanal, Udagamandala, Guru Shikhar and Hanle Ladakh as well, powerful telescopes are located,' he said. We have a giant meter-wave telescope near Pune. Not just that, in Kodaikkaanal, Udagamandala, Guru Shikhar and Hanle Ladakh as well, powerful telescopes are located. ISRO has an astronomical satellite called ASTROSAT. ISRO is planning to launch a satellite called Aditya, to study the sun.

PM Modi on productivity of Parliament

PM Modi said, Today, I wish to proudly mention, that the parliamentarians that you have elected have broken all the records of the last 60 years. "Lok Sabha's productivity stands at 114 per cent, while that of Rajya Sabha is 94 per cent. And prior to that in the budget session, it had the productivity of 135 per cent.

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New Delhi:

Jeane Dixon, a psychic who famously predicted JFKs assassination claims that doomsday of the Bible will be 2020. In her book, The Call to Glory, the psychic who died in 1997 predicts that the world will come to an end in the coming year.

Armageddon will come in 2020, when the False Prophet, Satan and the Antichrist will rise up and battle man himself Dixon predicts of the end days which is hauntingly written in the Bibles Revelation.

Bulgarian mystic Baba Vanga who eerily depicted the 9/11 and Brexit also had laid out eery warnings for the coming year.

"The wolves will be howling in a bush, and innocent blood will be gushing the Bulgarian Nostradamus had said.

In her predictions, she ominously revealed that Valdimir Putin's life could be in danger with an assassination attempt from someone already working within the Kremlin.

The ominous cloud will also fall over President Trump who is rumoured to fall ill with a mysterious illness that will leave him deaf and suffering a brain tumour and even death.

She also foretells that predicted Europe will fall at the hands of extremists who would unleash hell with an arsenal of chemical weapons.

Tweeple, however, seem to have had enough of the doomsday predictions with one user scoffing, As if we dont have enough going on in the world. Just this bit of a reminder. American psychic Jeane Dixon claimed that Armageddon would take place in 2020 and that Jesus will return to defeat the unholy trinity of the Antichrist, Satan, & the False prophet between 2020-2037.

Dixon passed away from a cardiac arrest in January 1997.

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New Delhi:

Five political leaders, who were detained for past four months since the abrogation of Article 370, have been released by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, officials said Monday.

The five leaders released belonged to the National Conference, the PDP and the Congress, who were kept under preventive detention, officials said.

The leaders included Ishfaq Jabbar and Ghulam Nabi Bhat (NC), Bashir Mir (Congress) and Zahoor Mir and Yasir Reshi (PDP), they said. Reshi is considered as a rebel PDP leader who had openly revolted against then chief minister and PDP patron Mehbooba Mufti.

On November 25, two political leaders -- Dilawar Mir of the PDP and Ghulam Hassan Mir of the Democratic Party Nationalist -- were released by the new Union Territory administration.

The Narendra Modi government on August 5 revoked Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status, and bifurcated the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, that redrew the map and future of a region at the centre of a protracted militancy movement.

Fulfilling an electoral promise of the BJP less than 90 days after the Modi 2.0 government took power, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the decision in the Rajya Sabha, which approved both the resolution and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill. Both were passed by the Lok Sabha as well.

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King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), an iconic business and lifestyle destination with state of the art physical and digital infrastructure, has signed a MoU with London-based think tank Asia House to explore bringing high-level business and fintech dialogues to Riyadh.

An architectural marvel designed by more than 25 of the world-leading architectural firms, KAFD currently has 64 towers and 30 buildings that are reshaping the skyline of Riyadh.

It is spread over an area of 1.6 sq km and offers a competitive business ecosystem and vibrant lifestyle experiences.

KAFD is the largest development globally to achieve the LEED Platinum certification, the highest accreditation from USGBC (US Green Building Council), recognizing KAFD as a global leader in sustainability.

The MoU will see KAFD and Asia House work together to bring leading business and policy figures from across the world to Saudi Arabia as KAFD develops as a prime business and lifestyle destination.

The partnership will see Asia House and KAFD hold a major Riyadh conference in 2022 focusing on Saudi Arabias fintech potential.

The MoU lays the groundwork for a range of events, discussions and research activities highlighting KAFDs status as the prime business and lifestyle destination in the region, said KAFD Chief Executive Gautam Sashittal, after signing the deal with Asia House CEO Michael Lawrence during a digital ceremony yesterday (February 7).

It follows Asia Houses highly successful 2020 Global Trade Dialogue in Riyadh, and builds on the organisations engagement across the Gulf through its Middle East Programme and wider research output focusing on economic trends in the region.

Sashittal said the agreement was set to bring out the best ideas to move forward and create a competitive business ecosystem.

"We at KAFD are happy to build bridges of cooperation with the worlds top organizations to foster a culture of creativity and innovation," he added.

Lawrence said: "We are pleased to be working with KAFD as Saudi Arabia broadens its role in the world economy alongside its Vision 2030 agenda."

Asia House works with companies and governments in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, facilitating high-level dialogue, providing business and market intelligence, and driving commercial outcomes.
Houston:

Two people died and one person sustained critical injuries in a shooting at a church in White Settlement of Texas, officials said.

According to the authorities, police responded to reports of a shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ on Sunday around 10:00 am local time.

At least two people were found dead at the scene, MedStar Mobile Healthcare spokeswoman Macara Trusty said. A third person was undergoing treatment for critical injuries, she said. MedStar is an ambulance service.

Mike Drivdahl of the Fort Worth Fire Department said the situation has stabilised and there was no active threat to the community.

Police believe the suspected gunman is among the three who were shot, Drivdahl said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement calling the shooting an evil act of violence.

Places of worship are meant to be sacred, and I am grateful for the church members who acted quickly to take down the shooter and help prevent further loss of life, Abbott said.

White Settlement is a suburb about 15 minutes west of downtown Fort Worth.

The shooting comes more than two years after a gunman opened fire at a church in Sutherland Springsa community about 300 miles away from White Settlementkilling at least 26 people.

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New Delhi:

A day after Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged she was manhandled by UP police personnel in Lucknow, her husband Robert Vadra said there is no crime to be with people in need or in grief. The incident happened after Priyanka resisted police attempts to stop her from visiting the residence of retired IPS officer SR Darapuri, arrested in connection with the recent anti-CAA protests.

Taking to Twitter, Robert Vadra wrote: I am extremely disturbed at the way Priyanka was manhandled by the woman cops. While one held her by the throat, the other woman cop pushed her & she fell down. But she was determined & she travelled on a two-wheeler to meet family members of Former IPS officer SR Darapuri (sic).

I am proud of you Priyanka for being compassionate & for reaching out to people who need you. What you did was correct & there is no crime to be with people in need or in grief, he added.

Priyanka on Saturday said, police dont have the right to stop me. Narrating the sequence of events, Priyanka told reporters, "As we were on our way, a police vehicle came and the policemen said you cannot go. I asked them 'why'. And was told that we will not be allowed to move ahead,"

"I got off the vehicle and started walking. I was surrounded and a woman cop held me by my throat. Another woman cop pushed me and I fell down. I was forcibly stopped and a woman officer pulled me up by my neck. But I was determined. I am standing with every citizen who has faced police oppression. This is my 'satyagraha'."

UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said, "The government is feeling scared of Priyankaji. Hence, she was stopped."

Later in a statement issued here, the Congress said, "Police cars came in speed and blocked the car of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Priyankaii's car had a close shave. Then the police tried to stop her and called more police force."

The statement alleged, "There were only two women police personnel and all male police personnel were also trying to stop her physically."

Refuting the allegations, Archana Singh, Circle Officer, Modern Control Room Lucknow, who was deployed in security duty, said the allegations of manhandling the Congress leader and grabbing her by neck are "false".

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Mumbai:

Ireland Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Sunday visited his ancestral village alongwith his family members in the coastal Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra, calling it "a very special moment". It was his first visit to the village of Varad in Malvan tehsil, around 500 km from Mumbai, said Varadkar, who became prime minister of Ireland in June 2017. His father Ashok Varadkar, a doctor, moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s.

The visit was a "special moment" as three generations of his family had gathered, the Ireland prime minister said after the villagers felicitated him. He also visited temple of the village deity.

"I am here with my parents, my sisters and their husbands, my partner and some grandchildren are here...so it is a big family visit," the Ireland PM said.

It was "very special moment" for them as three generations of his family were visiting "a place of my grandfaher", he said.

"I am on private visit here as of now, but I would like to visit this place again in the official capacity," Varadkar added.

During another interaction with villagers, he said, "This is my fifth visit to India but first to Varad village where my grandfather and father have been brought up. It is a privilege and honour for me to visit this place.

The Ireland PM also said he knows a few words of Marathi, his father's language, but not enough for interaction.

As Varadkar spoke in English, his cousin Shubhada Varadkar, who lives in Mumbai, acted as interpreter.
New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday claimed the BJP has been "blatantly lying" about regularising unauthorised colonies and thanked Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri for "telling truth" on the issue through Delhi Development Authority.

Tagging his deputy Manish Sisodia's tweet in which he shared FAQs (frequently asked questions) from DDA website on unauthorised colonies, Kejriwal claimed the website shows that the Centre's scheme will neither regularise unauthorised colonies nor the houses there.

"DDA website says that centre's scheme will neither regularise unauth colonies nor their houses. Really shocking. Can't believe that BJP spoke such a blatant lie to the people and has put up so many hoardings. Thanks @HardeepSPuri ji for telling truth to people through DDA website," Kejriwal tweeted.

DDA website says that centres scheme will neither regularize unauth colonies nor their houses.



Really shocking. Cant believe that BJP spoke such a blatant lie to the people and has put up so many hoardings



Thanks @HardeepSPuri ji for telling truth to people thro DDA website https://t.co/6lnAryas26  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 29, 2019

Sisodia said BJP is deliberately misleading the people.

"If they really want to regularise the unauthorized colonies why don't they give registry to the people," he told reporters at a press conference.

"DDA in their website clearly mentions -This policy is not for regularization of the unauthorized colonies nor of the structures therein," Sisodia said, showing the FAQs.

The FAQs purportedly says that the PM-UDAY (Prime Minister Unauthorized Colonies in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojana) is a decision of Union Cabinet to confer the ownership or transfer/ mortgage rights to the residents of Unauthorized Colonies in Delhi but in response to another question if it is regularisation of unauthorised colonies it says it is neither regularization of unauthorized colonies nor the structures therein.

No immediate response was available from BJP. But the party has put up hoardings across the city, claiming the 1,731 unauthorised colonies are now authorised.

The Delhi Development Authority's unauthorised colonies cell portal was launched by the BJP government on December 16 purportedly to register residents of unauthorised colonies to apply for ownership rights.

"The BJP's lies on this matter have been exposed by the DDA's own website. The FAQs section uploaded on the DDA website clearly states that the PM UDAY registration is neither regularisation of unauthorized colonies, nor the structures therein," Sisodia said.

"From the day the Bharatiya Janata Party started talking about regularising the unauthorized colonies of Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party has maintained that the BJP is hoodwinking people on the eve of the election," he said.

He said the "dhanyavad" rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 22 was actually a "dhoka" rally. "The BJP has no intention to give registry to the people living there."

Thanking Union Minister Hardeep Puri, Sisodia said, "I am thankful to Hardeep Puri ji for exposing BJP's lies to the people of Delhi before the elections. At least Hardeep Puri ji has the courage to openly say on DDA website that the BJP's hoardings are full of lies."
Washington:

Multiple people were stabbed at a Jewish place of worship in upstate New York late Saturday night, a public affairs group said. "At 9:50 this eve, a call came in about a mass stabbing... It's the house of a Hasidic Rabbi. 5 patients with stab wounds, all Hasidic, were transported to local hospitals," the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) tweeted.

Two people were reportedly in critical condition, OJPAC added. CBS New York reported that a man brandishing a machete went into the rabbi's property in Monsey, New York State, an area with a large Jewish population, during a Hanukkah celebration and knifed at least three people before fleeing.

Yossi Gestetner, a co-founder of the OJPAC for the Hudson Valley region, told the New York Times one of the victims was a son of the rabbi. "The house had many dozens of people in there," Gestetner said. "It was a Hanukkah celebration." Police in the US have been battling a rash of attacks against Jewish targets in recent years.

Also Read: After London, Three Minors Stabbed In The Hague Shopping Street

Saturday's stabbing follows a shooting earlier this month at a kosher deli in a New York suburb that authorities said was fueled in part by anti-Semitism. Six people were killed in the Jersey City attack, including the two suspects.

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Bahrain has launched a 10-year Golden Residency Visa in order to attract foreign investment and expertise. The statement comes after a series of economic reforms and efforts implemented by the Bahraini government, including the Economic Recovery Plan, to improve the kingdom's long-term competitiveness.

"The new Golden Residency Visa will benefit foreign investors and long-term residents while also contributing to the national economy," stated Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, Undersecretary of Nationality, Passports, and Residence Affairs.

Qualified applicants must have lived in Bahrain for at least five years and have earned a monthly basic average salary of at least 2,000 Bahraini Dinars ($5,306) during that time.

Other requirements include owning one or more properties in Bahrain worth at least 200,000 Bahraini Dinars, or having a monthly income of at least 4,000 Bahraini Dinars as a retiree, or being certified as "very skilled." To keep their visas valid, applicants must spend at least 90 days in Bahrain each year.

US President threatens that No gas pipeline if Russia attacks Ukraine

Israel to form committee to investigate allegations of police hacking

Iran calls for U.S to lift' maximum pressure' sanctions to reach good nuclear deal
CAIRO  Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Djiboutian counterpart, Ismail Omar Guelleh, met in Cairo to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues of mutual concern.

Sisi said Guelleh's visit represents a continuation of communication and coordination between the two nations at various bilateral and regional levels, as well as a follow-up to the results of their consultations during Sisi's visit to Djibouti in May 2021, according to reports.

"This outreach emphasises the long-standing strategic partnerships that link our two countries on all levels," the Egyptian President said, saying that bilateral ties had seen considerable progress in both political and economic spheres over the past few years.

He noted that the negotiations were marked by openness and transparency, which represented the two countries' agreement on many bilateral and regional problems.

"We discussed all aspects of the two countries' ongoing cooperation, particularly at the economic, trade, and investment levels, as well as ways to advance them in a manner that is commensurate with our distinguished political relations," he said.

US President threatens that No gas pipeline if Russia attacks Ukraine

Israel to form committee to investigate allegations of police hacking

Iran calls for U.S to lift' maximum pressure' sanctions to reach good nuclear deal
TEHRAN: The Iranian Foreign Minister stated that the Vienna discussions did not address "parts" of Iran's requests for the lifting of US sanctions. Hossein Amir Abdollahian made the comments during a joint press conference with his visiting Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto in Tehran on Monday, according to state news agency IRNA.

"Parts of our demands for the easing of sanctions have still to be answered in the latest texts obtained from the Vienna discussions," he continued.

Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator, and accompanying negotiating experts will focus on the document expected to be agreed upon in Vienna in the coming days, he said, urging all parties involved in the talks to demonstrate their commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The Iranian Minister also expressed hope for a final deal in the next sessions.

Haavisto, for one, expressed concern at the Iranian nuclear deal's demise, saying, "We European countries look forward to achieving an agreement and reviving the JCPOA during the (upcoming) Vienna meetings."

Iran urges commitments balance in Vienna nuclear talks

Australian Treasurer Frydenberg to provide tax breaks for Covid test costs

Beijing parks witness enhance in visitors during Spring Festival
KUALA LUMPUR: Even if the number of new Covid-19 cases increases, Malaysia's economic and industrial activity will not be halted, according to Minister of International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali.

According to the news reports, previous lockdowns resulted in the loss of 826,000 jobs in the first three months of the total lockout in 2020.

"We can't do it any longer (complete lockdown); yeah, we must successfully handle this pandemic; we will do our best to address the health issue; however, 'economic health' is equally critical. If there is a sudden spike, we will now do it in a balanced manner (Covid-19) " Mohamed Azmin said.

Azmin went on to say that his ministry will focus on vaccinating economic sector employees.

According to data from the Malaysian Health Ministry, the Omicron variant has triggered a rise in new Covid-9 infections over the last week, with 13,944 new cases reported on Tuesday alone.

Election campaign picks up momentum in Philippines amid pandemic

4.3mn people in Somalia are affected by severe drought: United Nations

Low-cost airlines in the United States announce a merger deal
According to a report released to the BBC by the Nepalese government, China is encroaching on the Himalayan nation along the two countries' shared border. According to the BBC report, this is the first time Nepal has made official charges of Chinese influence in its territory. The report was produced last September in response to allegations that China had been intruding in Nepal's far west, in the district of Humla.

The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu denies that any incursion has occurred. The Nepalese government has yet to respond to the BBC's inquiries.

It's unclear why the report hasn't been released yet. However, the Nepalese government has increased ties with China in recent years to offset its long-standing alliance with India, its massive southern neighbour. The conclusions of the report are expected to put a strain on these burgeoning ties with Beijing.

Nepal and China have an approximately 1,400-kilometer border that stretches through the Himalayan highlands. According to the BBC, it was laid down in a series of treaties negotiated between the two countries in the early 1960s.

Much of it is located in isolated, difficult-to-reach locations. The boundary is marked on the ground by a series of pillars spaced km apart.

Shooting at Washington grocery store kills one

Under-19 World Cup is over, yet the Afghan players do not want to return to their country, know why?

Continuous abduction of Afghan females activists, raising concerns
The Commonwealth Secretariat has signed an agreement with the International Trade Centre (ITC) to strengthen, promote and support private sector development in Commonwealth countries.

Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal sovereign states. Its combined population is 2.5 billion, of which more than 60 per cent is aged 29 or under.

The Commonwealth spans the globe and includes both advanced economies and developing countries.

Under the terms of the MoU, the Commonwealth and the International Trade Centre (ITC) will leverage their unique strengths, products and services to provide a coordinated and integrated programme of support to Commonwealth countries.

Both organisations emphasised their long-standing work in supporting export growth and business development in developing and vulnerable states.

The Commonwealth Secretariats work on trade takes a three-pronged approach of providing research and policy advisory, bespoke support to build trade competitiveness and a coordinating platform through the Connectivity Agenda to share best practices and collaborate on identified areas of interest.

ITCs priorities include womens entrepreneurship, green trade, intra-African trade and the development of SIDS, among others.

At the signing ceremony, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland QC, and ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton, stressed the importance of this MoU.

Scotland said: "The Commonwealth Secretariat has a history of successful partnership and collaboration with ITC. I am delighted that we are taking that partnership forward with this new agreement  especially as member states strive to build back in a sustainable and inclusive way from the pandemic."

"The Commonwealths small states are among the most exposed to the multiple threats of climate change, economic crises, and the impact of the pandemic. The Secretariats trade programme strives to further strengthen intra-Commonwealth trade and investment, while equipping member states to increase their share and participation in global trade," she stated.

"This renewed collaboration will help us move towards that goal, fostering climate-sensitive and gender-responsive technical support for international trade whilst encouraging an equal and fair distribution of benefits," she added.

The MoU highlights four pressing issues for the two organisations to collaborate on, including resilience building in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), womens economic empowerment, supporting Commonwealth States engagement with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and advancing blue and green economy recovery.

For the MoU, specific areas of collaboration include:

Providing technical assistance on gender-responsive policy reforms, green, blue and circular economy and climate resilience.

Collaboration on trade-related issues around Least Developed Country (LDC) graduation and identify advocacy opportunities to advance international support measures for LDCs.

Collaboration with the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda (CCA) Digital Cluster on the development of paperless trade solutions and/or platforms.

Present and train stakeholders on ITCs SheTrades Outlook and identify policy priorities.

Map a regional business association portfolio for youth empowerment under the AfCFTA.

Promote access to trade-related data between the two organisations to support time-sensitive data-driven reports.

Joint capacity building, workshops and partnerships with a focus on value chains, climate change and financing.

Joint publication products, events, advocacy and sharing of best practices.

Joint campaigns and training for stakeholders on specific tools of priority (e.g. green and circular economy, climate resilience and gender responsiveness)

Executive Director Coke-Hamilton said: "The pandemic has created a greater divide for vulnerable groups forcing us to creatively consider how we work together for the greater good of humanity. As sustainable development continues to be threatened, greater cooperation is needed to safeguard the gains made while pushing for progress."

"I am delighted that with the signing of the deal, both the ITC and the Commonwealth Secretariat will be joining forces around strategic areas, added Coke-Hamilton.-TradeArabia News Service
Description

The Hofstra University Museum of Art presents Art of the Dogon, featuring works by the Dogon people of Mali, at the David Filderman Gallery, February 8-July 22, 2022. The Dogon people reside in a row of cliffs known as the Bandiagara Escarpment, located in the central plateau region of Mali and in Burkina Faso. The 30 works in the exhibition are part of the Museums extensive and highly regarded collection of African art. Many of the featured pieces have never been exhibited before at Hofstra.

The artifacts range from the utilitarian, such as granary doors and locks, to spiritual objects, such as sculptures, masks and jewelry, that connect the earthly world to the supernatural. Much of Dogon art is created in tandem with religious practices and reflect the mythology of the culture. The Hofstra University Museum of Arts permanent collection includes almost 300 African artifacts, representing more than 70 different cultures from western and central Africa.

The public is invited to an opening reception for Art of the Dogon on Thursday, February 10, 2022, 4:30-6:30 p.m., featuring special remarks by Karen T. Albert, director of the Hofstra University Museum of Art. Light refreshments will be available. Admission is free and open to the public. However, RSVP is required. Call (516) 463-5672.

The David Filderman Gallery is located on the ninth floor of Hofstras Joan and Donald Axinn Library. When visiting the Museum, masks/face coverings are required indoors as is proof of vaccination/ID. Guests to the Filderman Gallery are required to first stop at the Emily Lowe Gallery (located on Hofstras South Campus behind Emily Lowe Hall) to show proof of vaccination/ID and obtain a guest pass. RSVPs are required for all on-campus events. These requirements are subject to change as public health conditions evolve. For more information on health and safety protocols visit hofstra.edu/togetheragain.

Additional specialized programming planned in conjunction with the Art of the Dogon exhibition includes:

IN-PERSON PUBLIC PROGRAM

Presentation: African Art in Context

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, 2:40-4:05pm

David Filderman Gallery, Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, Ninth Floor, South Campus

This is a gallery talk presented by Veronica Lippencott, PhD., Adjunct Associate Professor of Global Studies and Geography and Director of the Africana Studies Program at Hofstra University. Professor Lippencott provides contextual information about the background and environment of West Africa/Mali, broadening our understanding and appreciation of the works of art in the exhibition Art of the Dogon. Admission is free. RSVP is required. Call (516) 463-5672.

Image: Africa, Mali, Dogon peoples; Primordial Couple, 20th century; Wood with pigment and patina; 29 x 9.75 x 7.25 in. Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Roda Graham, HU2005.3.33
(Updates with three ships passing straits, adds TV)

By Maria Kiselyova and Ece Toksabay

MOSCOW/ISTANBUL, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Six Russian warships are heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean for naval drills, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's Defence Ministry as saying on Tuesday, in what it said was a pre-planned movement of military resources.

Russia announced last month its navy would stage a sweeping set of exercises involving all its fleets in January and February, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, in the latest show of strength in a surge of military activity during a standoff with the West over Ukraine.

Three of the ships passed through Turkey's straits to the Black Sea on Tuesday, according to a Reuters witness. Turkish sources said the other three are expected to pass on Wednesday.

The vessels include the Korolev, the Minsk and the Kaliningrad, which navigated the Bosphorus on Tuesday, while the Pyotr Morgunov, the Georgy Pobedonosets and the Olenegorsky Gornyak are scheduled to pass on Wednesday.

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border. It denies any plans to invade but is seeking sweeping security guarantees, including a promise of no missile deployments near its borders, a scaling back of NATO military infrastructure and a ban on Ukraine ever joining the alliance.

Legally, NATO member Turkey could shut the straits to transit if Russia were to take military action against Ukraine.

"Turkey is authorised to close the straits to all foreign warships in wartime or when it is threatened by aggression. Also, it is authorised to refuse transit to merchant ships belonging to countries at war with Turkey," said Yoruk Isik, an Istanbul-based geopolitical analyst and head of the Bosphorus Observer consultancy.

Turkey, which shares a maritime border with both Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has said any military conflict would be unacceptable and has told Moscow any invasion would be unwise.

However President Tayyip Erdogan has also offered to mediate in the row between Moscow and Kyiv. Ankara has cordial relations with both countries, though Erdogan says it will do what is necessary as a NATO member in the event of a Russian invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron, said on Tuesday after talks in the Kremlin with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that he believed steps can be taken to de-escalate the crisis and called on all sides to stay calm. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones and Mark Heinrich)
<span class="legendSpanClass">Cause + Effect Strategy achieves 3-year growth of more than 54%, increases workforce</span>

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After flat financial results in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, Cause + Effect Strategy roared back into its customary growth pattern in 2021, driving revenue up 88% over 2020, and nearly doubling its staff, from 8 to 15. With a three-year growth rate of more than 54%, the data-insight specialty company has grown every year but one since its inception in 2015. That growth has also translated into community impact, as the company has donated nearly $40,000 to greater Rochester and Finger Lakes charities since opening.

Cause + Effect Strategy Experiences Explosive Growth

"Growth is important, but it's not the whole story," said John Loury, co-founder and president of Cause + Effect Strategy. "What's most rewarding in our business is partnering with corporate leaders who value the critical importance of business intelligence and the data that drives it. True success for us is measured by the impact that data-driven decisions have on a client's business. Whether it's marketing, sales, operations, finance, HR, or a very specific business challenge, we seek to empower them in using data, in some cases for the first time, but in many cases in ways they've aspired to," Loury stated.

CE Strategy now not only serves clients regionally and nationally, but internationally, including organizations based in London, Toronto and Bogota, Columbia. As a result, the company's workload grew from 103 projects in 2020, to 192 in 2021, a year-over-year increase of more than 86%.

Currently, CE Strategy works with national clients such as Briggs & Stratton, Inshur, Jack Doheny Company, Monro Inc. and Nesco Resource; and regionally with BioWorks, Delta Sonic, Isaac Heating & Air Conditioning, The Strong National Museum of Play and the University of Rochester.

Story continues

Clients sign new, expanded contracts

Driving CE Strategy's growth trajectory is the company's success in adding clients and nurturing multi-year relationships. "As we achieve success with clients, we establish greater levels of trust and collaboration, making the continuation of our work together a natural progression," said Loury. CE Strategy's greatest growth has been in technology and financial-services startup companies, where the work centers on setting up initial data architectures and establishing the vision for how data will be applied to the businesses. A close second area of growth has been in larger, more established enterprises, and is focused on modernizing and finding efficiencies in the processes and technologies clients are using to inform business decisions.

Work leads to expanded lines of service

Adding to its expertise in business intelligence and analytics, CE Strategy's client work has led to its expansion into consulting and tactical development in the areas of data architecture and data science.

"Working with clients on their BI challenges has led us to dig more deeply into the entire lifecycle of how data is ingested, visualized, and used to make decisions," Loury explained. "We are now solidly in the realm of consulting on foundational infrastructure elements such as cloud-data warehousing and data engineering, along with later-stage data initiatives involving advanced data science such as machine learning," he concluded.

Partnerships drive business

One of the drivers of CE Strategy's success has been its partnerships with technology partners. In 2021, the company became a Gold Partner with Sisense, and is on track to be its first Platinum Partner in 2022. In addition, CE Strategy progressed from Registered to Select Partner with Snowflake. Similar partnerships are likely to be announced this year. The company is seeking to add strategic partners in 2022, with the goal of offering clients leading-edge technology in the data, business intelligence and analytics space.

About Cause + Effect Strategy

Founded in 2015, Cause + Effect Strategy is a business intelligence and analytics firm that helps clients achieve data-driven transformations and make more informed business decisions. Headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., CE Strategy has experienced consistent growth resulting from its work with clients in the United States and around the world. Clients include automotive, ad agency, B2B, financial services, fundraising, higher education, insurance, politics, retail, and technology-based companies.

Contact:

Jeff Halik

jhalik@tippingpointcomm.com

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2021-brought-dramatic-growth-to-rochester-based-business-intelligence-consulting-firm-301477953.html

SOURCE Cause + Effect Strategy
The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV should go on sale in the U.S. in January 2023. The European model is shown.

Alfa Romeos meager model line will get a badly needed infusion of fresh blood when the Tonale compact SUV arrives in January 2023.

Armed with standard all-wheel drive and a plug-in hybrid drivetrain delivering 272 horsepower and better than 30 miles of all-electric range, the Tonale will compete with models like the BMW X1 and Mercedes GLA in one of the luxury markets top-selling segments.

The Tonale signals the beginning of Alfas transition to electric power, which will include a fully electric vehicle in 2025 and an all-EV lineup by 2028, Larry Dominique, head of Alfa Romeo North America, told me.

Alfas return to North America started strong with the dynamic and distinctive 2017 Giulio sport sedan and 2018 Stelvio midsize SUV, but its momentum stalled due to quality woes and a lack of new models.

Alfa Romeo will be the first Stellantis brand to go all EV in North America, Dominique said. Stellantis other brands include Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler Fiat, Peugeot, Opel, Citroen, DS and Abarth.

Alfa is Stellantis global luxury brand. Alfa's cars and SUVs command prices similar to Mercedes and BMW, Dominique said.

Alfa is potentially a major money maker, but leading luxury brands outsell it by orders of magnitude. Mercedes sells more vehicles in the U.S. in a month than Alfas total of 18,350 for all of 2021.

The Tonale should be Alfas top seller, attracting new buyers with prices lower than the Giulia and Stelvio, which start at $42,950 and $45,150, respectively, according to KBB.com. Tonale prices havent been announced, but will probably start in the mid-$30,000s.

In a video briefing from brand headquarters in Italy, global Alfa boss Jean-Philippe Imparato said the Tonales design, handling, software and connectivity will set it apart from competitors.

How big, how powerful?

At 178.3 inches long, the Tonale is slightly bigger than the GLA and X1. It should offer more passenger and cargo space than those small SUVs, but its chief calling cards will be style, handling and features, Dominique said. Its about 2.3 inches shorter than a Lincoln Corsair, though Lincoln is not one of Alfas prime competitors. The Tonale is 63 inches tall and 72.2 inches wide, dimensions that put it in the heart of the compact luxury SUV market.

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The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV should go on sale in the U.S. in January 2023. The European model is shown.

All-wheel drive will be standard on Tonales sold in the U.S.

The base drivetrain is a 256-hp four-cylinder engine linked to a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The top model will be a 276-hp plug-in hybrid that uses a 1.3L turbocharged engine to power the front wheels and has an electric rear axle. The plug-in hybrid, or PHEV, will be able to go more than 30 miles on a fully charged battery, and up to 600 miles combined battery and gasoline range.

Alfa Romeo will sell less powerful gasoline hybrids, front-wheel-drive models and a diesel Tonale in other parts of the world, but the U.S. is only slated for the two sportiest and most powerful models.

The PHEV will have a 52% front-48% rear weight distribution, a balance that lends itself to stability and good handling on twisting roads.

The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV should go on sale in the U.S. in January 2023. The European model is shown.

The weight distribution of other models hasnt been revealed, but theyre likely to be more nose heavy, and correspondingly a bit less sporty.

Dominique expects the powerful and well-equipped PHEV to be the best selling Tonale in the U.S. That almost certainly means itll also be the brands top seller.

The Tonale will have three trim levels.

In ascending order:

Sprint

TI

Veloce

Unique face, familiar profile

The Tonales nose is visually arresting and immediately recognizable as an Alfa. Three square projector LED headlight beams frame the deep triangular grille and Alfa badge that have been the brands signature for decades. The taillights mirror the three-light layout, with a narrow red light bar across the tailgate.

The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV should go on sale in the U.S. in January 2023. The European model is shown.

The body side has a pronounced shoulder line running from front to rear along the bottom of the windows. A character line runs along the doors and fenders from the front wheel well to taillights.

Photos of the Tonales forward-leaning stance, wide track and flared fenders recall the larger Stelvio.

The SUV uses a nearly completely reengineered version of the CUSW architecture Stellantis uses for the Jeep Cherokee and other vehicles. Everything but the section under the passenger compartment has changed significantly.

Changes to the architecture include:

Wider track

More aluminum to reduce weight

Weight distribution changes to improve handling

Structural reinforcements

New front and rear suspension

New steering gear and rack

Alfa engineers say the architecture will make the Tonale one of the most responsive and sporty small SUVs on the road, and the PHEVs power and torque  electrification according to Alfa Romeo  will reinvent sportiness for the 21st century.

Alfa builds the Tonale in Pomigliano DArco, just north of Naples and Mount Vesuvius in southeast Italy.

Luxury and connectivity

The interior features a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and 12.25-inch touch screen rising above the center stack.

The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV should go on sale in the U.S. in January 2023. The European model is shown.

The gauges  including a big tachometer and speedometer  recall the analog instruments of previous Alfas, but the layout is configurable. Aluminum paddle shifters and normal and dynamic driving modes are standard.

The infotainment system uses Stellantis latest Uconnect 5 interface and the Android operating system. Its compatible with Alexa and Google Home Assistant. The connected navigation system can search for businesses and compute the vehicles range when mapping.

The Tonale can get over-the-air updates and has a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Harman Kardon audio will be available.

Every owner will get an NFT blockchain card that identifies their vehicle, tracks service and maintenance at Alfa dealers and more.

Alfa didnt provide a good look at the interior, but its safe to expect the appealing shapes and materials common to Italian design.

Alfa was founded in Milan in 1910. It built fast and beautiful vehicles for decades, but has never approached the sales of leading luxury brands.

The Italian government ran Alfa for decades. Quality issues plagued the brand, which Fiat acquired in 1986, on the promise of revitalizing and expanding its model line.

Those promises have yet to materialize. The Tonale and shift to electrification are the latest attempt.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2023 plug-in hybrid Tonale compact SUV kicks off Alfa Romeo's EV push
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich attends the State of the State address during the opening day of the 2022 Arizona legislative session at the state House of Representatives in Phoenix on Jan. 10, 2022.

Mark Brnovich may not be able to match the wallets of his more well-endowed opponents in the Republicans Senate race but hes got something much, much better.

His campaign office is also the Attorney Generals Office

On Monday, Brnovich was in full bully pulpit mode, declaring that Arizona is being invaded at the border and thus within its rights to go to war.

TODAY our office issued a legal opinion determining the current crisis at Arizonas southern border, fueled by violence and lawlessness of cartels & gangs, legally qualifies as an invasion under the U.S. Constitution, & AZ has the power to defend itself, he tweeted.

TODAY our office issued a legal opinion determining the current crisis at Arizonas southern border, fueled by violence and lawlessness of cartels & gangs, legally qualifies as an invasion under the U.S. Constitution, & AZ has the power to defend itself. https://t.co/VqOCI9qGHk  Mark Brnovich (@GeneralBrnovich) February 7, 2022

This was a political move. And a genius one

Attached was his inevitable interview with Fox News, which appears to have occurred even before he publicly released his opinion. (Huh. Wonder how that happens?)

Within minutes, Brnovichs legal opinion became the tip of the spear in his political campaign for the Senate.

I'm declaring war on the southern border invasion, he tweeted from his campaign account, which linked to the statement from his official state account. The southern border is being flooded by cartels and gangs, trafficking people and drugs. This is an invasion and Arizona has the right to defend itself!

I'm declaring war on the southern border invasion. The southern border is being flooded by cartels and gangs, trafficking people and drugs. This is an invasion and Arizona has the right to defend itself! https://t.co/1Amd0QCnCz  Mark Brnovich (@brnoforaz) February 7, 2022

Ill leave it to constitutional scholars to decide whether hes got a legal leg to stand on. And to sociologists to decode the hyper-heated talk of invasion.

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But as a political move?

Genius.

When the heat is on, change the subject

And a stellar way to change the subject from the inconvenient fact that he recently agreed to enter into a diversion program to resolve a pair of State Bar of Arizonas complaints about unethical behavior.

Earlier on Monday, one of his rival candidates, former Arizona National Guard leader Mick McGuire, called on Brnovich to release records from the State Bars investigation of the complaints filed by Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Board of Regents.

The public has a right to know, one, about the specific ethical violations, two, what were the findings of the investigation and three, what diversion or rehabilitation training has been accepted, McGuire told The Arizona Republics Yvonne Wingett-Sanchez.

Brnovichs response was to declare that an invasion of Arizona is underway and warrants a military response, should Gov. Doug Ducey possess the cajones to unleash it.

We, apparently, are Ukraine. Only different.

(Much different.)

Which issue do you think plays best with the Republican base? Brnovichs ethical problems or his legal blessing for the state of Arizona to send troops to the border, and not just in a support mode as Ducey has done?

As I said, genius political move.

The border is a key issue for GOP voters

Brnovich isnt raising much money. He doesnt have the highly coveted Donald Trump seal of approval, and hes under pressure to start indicting people for nonexistent election fraud.

As gubernatorial candidate and Trump favorite Kari Lake so eloquently put it on Monday: The crooks have been cornered & their house of cards is about to fall. We better see some perp walks soon.

But what Brnovich does have is the Attorney Generals Office, and he knows how to use it. If there is one thing Republican voters care about more than nonexistent election fraud, its illegal immigration and border security.

Biden has bungled the border, as immigrants and drugs continue to flow forth in mind boggling numbers. The fact that many of those immigrants are in search of asylum and most of the ones apprehended are sent packing back across the border matters not a whit to Republican primary voters.

The fact that none of the Republican candidates have offered any real solutions to deal with the underlying problems  beyond building a wall  matters not a whit to Republican primary voters.

They want the country to get control of the border and rightfully so.

Thus all the Republican candidates beating a path to the border to video themselves, with extra points scored if they can get brown people streaming by behind them as they make their pitch to be the toughest of the tough.

Not Trump or cash, but Brnovich has red meat

Now Brnovich has trumped them all, with his declaration that we are being invaded and his call to arms.

It remains to be seen whether this will be enough, whether Brnovich can stay ahead in the polls  ahead of Jim Lamon and his millions and Blake Masters and his sugar daddy tech boss, Peter Thiel, who already has committed $10 million to getting the young man elected.

It remains to be seen what Trump will do, although it seems likely that hell endorse Masters, having already attended a fundraiser for the guy.

Can Mark hold onto 35% of the electorate and get a piece of that Trump electorate? longtime Republican consultant Chuck Coughlin mused. You presume the hard Trumpists arent going for him. Whats remaining of the electorate thats persuadable and how does he get them?

This is how he gets them, by tossing out the biggest, bloodiest cut of red meat available: permission for the governor to execute his war powers and send in the military to beat back an "invasion".

In a crowded Senate primary, I like Brnovich's chances. He, after all, has the two most potent campaign weapons of all:

The Attorney Generals Office and a well-worn path to Fox News.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mark Brnovich aims to ride a border 'invasion' right into the Senate
New sexual harassment claims against Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder emerged Thursday morning during a congressional roundtable of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, in which six former franchise employees made allegations about a toxic workplace environment.

The common thread from the former employees: asking Congress to pressure the NFL to release details from its 2020 investigation of the franchise, which examined allegations of sexual misconduct and systemic breakdowns in the work culture. The NFL has said the findings from its investigation were delivered orally in an effort to protect the accusers who came forward. The NFL fined the team $10 million in July of 2021.

Through a team spokesperson, Snyder on Thursday denied the new allegations, calling them "outright lies."

In her opening statement Thursday, former cheerleader and marketing manager Tiffani Johnston recounted an alleged incident at a team-organized activity that was presented as a "networking event." Johnston claimed she was told "to dress cute" and said she realized later that it was "an orchestration by (her boss) and Dan Snyder to put me in a compromising sexual situation."

Johnston claimed she was seated next to Snyder at a dinner after the networking event, and that it "was not for me to discuss business, but to allow him, Dan Snyder, to place his hand on my thigh under the table."

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder

Johnston told the committee she "learned how to discreetly remove a man's unwanted hand from my thigh at a crowded dinner table at a busy restaurant to avoid a scene" and "that job survival meant I should continue my conversation with another co-worker rather than call out Dan Snyder, right then, in the moment."

Johnston alleged that later in the evening, Snyder "aggressively pushed" her toward his limo with his hand on her lower back, encouraging Johnston to ride back with him toward her car.

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"I learned how to continue to say 'no,' even though the situation continued to get more awkward, uncomfortable and physical," she told the committee.

Johnston did not specify when or where the dinner took place.

In a separate allegation, Melanie Coburn, a former cheerleader and director of marketing, said a group of employees was invited to Snyder's home in Aspen, Colorado, as part of a rewards trip. Coburn said there was heavy drinking at a dinner that preceded the employees returning to Snyder's house.

Coburn said she was told to stay in the basement and that she "later learned from a colleague who was there that it was because the men had invited prostitutes back." Coburn also alleged that at the dinner, another colleague was "hazed to drink, despite being a recovering addict." She characterized the culture as "deplorable, like a frat party run by a billionaire who knew no boundaries."

Snyder denied Thursday's allegations in his statement.

"I have acknowledged and apologized multiple times in the past for the misconduct which took place at the Team and the harm suffered by some of our valued employees," Snyder said in the statement that was emailed to USA TODAY Sports.

"I apologize again today for this conduct, and fully support the people who have been victimized and have come forward to tell their stories. In response to learning about incidents like these in 2020, the Team, on its own, undertook to revamp its policies, procedures and personnel. Real change has been made and employees of the Team have confirmed the vast improvement in Team culture over the past 18 months.

"While past conduct at the Team was unacceptable, the allegations leveled against me personally in todays roundtable  many of which are well over 13 years old  are outright lies. I unequivocally deny having participated in any such conduct, at any time and with respect to any person. Tanya and I will not be distracted by those with a contrary agenda from continuing with the positive personnel and cultural changes that have been made at the Team over the past 18 months, and those that we continue to make both on and off the field."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Washington owner Daniel Snyder faces new allegations from ex-employees
The bill for Apple's antitrust stand off in the Netherlands over dating apps' payment methods has ticked up by another 5 million -- and now stands at 15M, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) confirmed today.

The penalty relates to an order by the competition authority requiring Apple to allow local dating apps to use third party payment providers for sales of digital content, rather than mandating these app use Apple's own payment infrastructure which incurs a commission fee to Apple.

The iPhone maker has been fighting the Dutch order since last year and continues to appeal against it. But last month -- as a first deadline for compliance with the threat of a penalty loomed -- it agreed to let apps plug into alternative payment tech, saying it would be introducing two "optional new entitlements" exclusively for dating apps on the Netherlands App Store so they could provide additional payment processing options for users as required by the order.

Apple's claim of compliance last month was, however, quickly met by a fine by the ACM for non-compliance -- as the regulator apparently took issue with Apple foot dragging on fulfilling all the requirements of the order.

The exact details remain murky as parts of a court order related to Apple's challenge to the ACM's order have not been unsealed so the competition regulator has said it is limited in what it can discuss.

Apple, meanwhile, has concentrated its own public-facing comms on this saga at attacking the order -- claiming the changes "could compromise the user experience, and create new threats to user privacy and data security", as it put it in a statement last month.

Information it has provided to local developers wanting to take up the ability to use non-Apple payment tech in their dating apps has also seemed intended to be as off-putting as possible, with Apple warning them that their users may be excluded from certain App Store features, and suggesting they will have to take on additional responsibilities to deal with issues that may arise around such sales, such as support with refunds, purchase history and subscription management.

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In an extra kicker last week, Apple also revealed that it intended to charge a commission fee of 27% on any dating app sales that use non-Apple payment tech -- which is a barely any reduction on the 30% fee Apple typically levies on in-app purchases.

So a tiny discount on the standard fee combined with extra customer service responsibilities plus some extra technical overheads doesn't exactly sound like a revenue windfall for apps that qualify -- suggesting Apple is trying to make it as difficult and expensive as possible for local devs to use third-party payment systems.

This in turn implies that Apple's approach is to opt for faux compliance -- pushing against the spirit if not the literal letter of the ACM's order by making it very unattractive for developers to take up the "entitlements". (Albeit, the ACM's latest penalty suggests Apple is not even hitting the core of what the regulator mandates in the order.)

Asked for details of these ongoing compliance issues, the competition authority told TechCrunch Apple has failed to provide it with full and complete information -- which presumably means it feels unable to properly assess whether it's complied or not.

"ACM has not yet received any information from Apple itself regarding the changes that Apple says it has already implemented so that it complies with the order subject to periodic penalty payments. Under said order, Apple is required to do so. Since Apple has failed to provide us with such information in a timely manner nor with complete information, Apple continues to fail to comply with the requirements laid down in the order. As such, Apple must pay a third penalty payment, which means the total amount that Apple must pay currently stands at 15 million euros," said a spokesperson.

"On the basis of the information on Apples website, we are unable to assess whether or not Apple complies with the substantive requirements laid down in the order subject to periodic penalty payments," they added. "ACM is disappointed in Apples behavior and actions. We hope that Apple will eventually comply with ACMs requirements. Moreover, these requirements have been upheld by the courts."

Apple was contacted for comment -- but at the time of writing it had not replied.

While a sub-set of apps in a single, relatively small European market may not sound like much of a big deal to a money-minting tech giant, the company's App Store commission fee model is now facing developer complaints and regulatory pressure from around the world.

That also means Apple likely sees a far greater risk to its business if it to quickly make sweeping and meaningful changes that cut into its core App Store revenue model based vs dragging its feet per market, creating complexity and doubt for local developers and generally spinning out this process into something slow and painful.

The ACM has said the penalty for Apple's non-compliance will keep going up each week -- until it reaches a maximum of 50M.

But ofc that's still pocket change for a company with a market cap of $2.817TR... So, basically, Apple can afford to make this hard and unfun.

That said, several markets in Europe already have -- or are in the process of -- retooling their competition laws to tackle the singular challenge posed by tech giants, such as the EU's Digital Markets Act proposal for ex ante rules for so-called Internet "gatekeepers"; or Germany's (already legislated) faster powers of intervention against platforms with "paramount significance across markets" which are now being applied against Google.

The German Federal Cartel Office also has an open proceeding probing Apple's App Store -- which could also step up a gear if it confirms the company meets the local threshold for special competition measures.

The UK is also working on a pro-competition reform that will, parliamentary time willing, see it introduce bespoke rules for tech giants which are deemed to have "significant market status".

So regional lawmakers are fast dialling up their powers to target platforms that simply ignore rules they don't like.
German automaker BMW officially launched an expanded vehicle distribution center Monday at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point, relocating from the state-owned Dundalk Marine Terminal to meet increased demand.

BMW began ramping up work in October at the new facility, which was built to process BMW and Mini vehicles that are shipped to the Port of Baltimore from manufacturing plants in Europe, Mexico and elsewhere. Vehicles are then sent to about 126 dealers in the Eastern and Midwest United States.

The automaker, which now employs more than 70 people at Sparrows Point, has the capacity to process about 100,000 imported vehicles a year. Workers at the new facility inspect vehicles, install accessories, and do repairs and maintenance.

The new 75,000-square-foot center on 35 acres is nearly double the space of the facility BMW operated at the previous site on Broening Highway, under a March 2010 deal with the Maryland Port Administration. At that facility, BMW outsourced much of the processing work, hiring contractors.

At Tradepoint, BMW has a long-term lease and has room to grow, said Claus Eberhart, vice president of aftersales for BMW of North America.

Its a long-term commitment, Eberhart said in an interview Monday. Its the center of gravity. The fact that we stay here in the Baltimore area tells you a lot. Its a very good location, but we needed more space to process the volumes coming through here.

The Port of Baltimore is the nations largest importer and exporter of automobiles.

BMW officials said logistical advantages include access to deep-water berths and proximity to rail and highway transportation that allows cars to be processed within two days of arriving at the center. About 50% of the vehicles are pre-sold, Eberhart said.

Officials with BMW and Tradepoint kicked off the facilitys launch with a ceremony Monday attended by Gov. Larry Hogan, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olzsewski Jr. and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, among others.

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Today we are seeing yet another shining example of our growing economy as we celebrate two great companies coming together to forge an innovative, transformative and forward-thinking partnership, said Hogan, citing BMW and Tradepoint Atlantic.

The governor noted that BMW, whose largest plant is in Spartanburg, South Carolina, has become the leading exporter of vehicles from the U.S. by value for the past seven years, according to the automaker.

The job creation and associated economic benefits are a real game changer, Hogan said.

The vehicle distribution center is one of the most recent uses at Tradepoint Atlantic in southeastern Baltimore County, the former home of Bethlehem Steels former mill and shipyard. The steel mill, which had employed 30,000 people at its peak, had a series of owners before the last, RG Steel, filed for bankruptcy and shut down operations in 2012.

Tradepoint has built 8 million square feet of space for distribution, warehousing and industrial uses, and plans eventually to double in size. More than 20 companies, such as Home Depot, FedEx, Amazon and Under Armour, operate warehouse and distribution facilities there.

Last summer, Volkswagen Group of America opened a terminal at Tradepoint to serve about 302 of its auto dealers, a $150 million investment that created about 100 jobs. That facility processes Volkswagen, Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley vehicles. Volkswagen officials said they chose the site partly because the areas connection to a national rail network and major highways would enable faster delivery times to dealerships.

The arrival of Volkswagen and the expansion and long-term commitment of BMW will be a boost to the port, said William Doyle, executive director of the Maryland Port Administration.

We dont have the space across the bay to build these facilities, the land has run out for these types of facilities, Doyle said. So in order to use the port of Baltimore, its built here at Tradepoint Atlantic.

Our relationship, port of Baltimore and Tradepoint Atlantic, is the same, he said. Our goals are the same  jobs, distribution centers.

The Sparrows Point facility is one of five U.S. distribution centers operated by BMW of North America, with others in New Jersey, Georgia, Texas and California, serving 350 BMW dealers and 105 Mini dealers nationwide.
A copy of S.B. 347 is held by Rep. Bradley Ralph, R-Dodge City, before the start of Thursday's House Commerce Committee at the Statehouse.

A sweeping set of tax incentives designed to lure a mystery company to Kansas in what would be the largest economic development deal in the state's history could cost over $1.2 billion and plunge the state budget into uncertainty, projections released Monday show.

The firm, whose identity hasn't been publicly disclosed, would make a $4 billion investment in Kansas if it were to choose to come to the state. It would bring in 4,000 direct jobs and thousands of indirect positions, according to a Wichita State University analysis.

But projections released Monday by the Kansas Legislative Research Department at the behest of House Speaker Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, found the state could be in a budget hole as soon as 2026, in part due to the tax incentive package.

The figures assumed legislators approve Gov. Laura Kelly's current budget proposal, which almost certainly won't happen and projections for a revised version of the bill would limit the fiscal damage.

Previously: Kansas Senate approves tax incentive package for mystery business, despite cries of corporate welfare

But there are concerns the changes made in the House Commerce Committee on Monday could tank the state's odds of getting the project to come in the first place, with legislators starkly divided over whether the entire endeavor is a good idea.

"It could change Kansas forever in a positive way," Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stilwell, chair of the House Commerce Committee said. "But what we need to figure out is: At what cost? How far are we willing to go to get this done?"

Legislators fear proposed price tag could bust the state budget

Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stilwell, chairs a House Commerce Committee hearing on a bill to create a sweeping set of tax incentives designed to lure an unnamed company to Kansas. The committee approved a revised version of the bill Monday.

The bulk of the roughly $1.2 billion price tag stems from a provision allowing the company to claim a credit of up to 15% of their investment, which must total at least $1 billion.

Under changes to the bill approved Monday, that credit would be refundable  meaning the state of Kansas would, in effect, write a company a check for the $600 million credit if they had no tax liability, something unlikely to occur until the facility is up and running.

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The proposal would also include a package of incentives for up to five companies that can be designated as suppliers for the major company, including a credit for their investments as well. KLRD estimates that could mean $300 million in credits, assuming a $2 billion investment.

The rest of the cost would from a variety of other goodies, including a provision to refund up to 10% of payroll costs for the major company, as well reimbursing a set amount of training expenses reimbursed per year, for up to five years.

When the dust settles, the state would pay $320,000 per direct job created.

"Looking at these numbers, I would prefer the deal never happen," Rep. Bill Sutton, R-Gardner, said during a House Appropriations Committee hearing Monday.

Boon or boondoggle?: Experts sound alarm as lawmakers attempt to lure mystery megaproject

The Department of Commerce has urged legislators to approve the bill, arguing the state needs to reverse a trend where the state has fallen short in landing 11 so-called megaprojects, which involved investments of over $1 billion.

Those 11 projects had a combined potential investment of $63 billion, according to documents obtained by The Capital-Journal, but it remains unclear how competitive the state was to land them in the first place.

"The reality is there is a race that is on for new investment, and new jobs, and particularly, for these mega projects," Commerce Secretary David Toland said in an interview last month. "This won't last forever. And we have an opportunity to grab these companies now and set our state up for success."

And some legislators are skeptical the projections tell the full story.

"Numbers can be bent to showcase any sort of particular view, right?" Rep. Stephanie Clayton, D-Overland Park, told reporters. "These numbers do not fully tell the tale."

Changes could shrink budget impact  or jeopardize the deal

Rep. Stephanie Clayton, D-Overland Park, chats with Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stilwell, as Thursday's House Commerce Committee comes to order on a bill to create a sweeping set of tax incentives designed to lure an unnamed company to Kansas. The committee approved a revised version of the bill Monday.

Lawmakers did tout a series of changes they believe will limit the damage to the state's bottom line.

That includes spreading the time period where the investment tax credit will be paid out, with the current timeframe now 10 years, rather than three.

But Clayton said it was her understanding that this change would be a deal-killer for the company involved. She added data she had seen indicated the state would have a positive return-on-investment for the project, making any concessions ultimately worthwhile.

"It effectively keeps us from any sort of progress," Clayton said. "It is my understanding they did not want the jobs or the growth or the positive impact for our economy."

Tarwater said the Department of Commerce had not communicated to him that the company would not choose Kansas with the change and framed it instead as a way of keeping guardrails on the entire project.

"We want to make sure that we're receiving some benefit before we start paying out too much," he told reporters.

Under the new version, suppliers would see their potential benefits capped. And a panel of Gov. Laura Kelly and top legislative leaders would need to sign off on any deal before it is ultimately enacted.

And the legislation now specifically outlines conditions where the state could reclaim benefits if certain conditions are not met.

Businesses across Kansas, meanwhile, would see a one-time reduction in the corporate income tax by 1%, a significantly paired down version of what the Senate approved.

The package would be open not just to the company currently considering Kansas but also future major companies who might be lured to the state.

Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, chair of the House Appropriations Committee urged caution given that fact, with legislators arguing that two or three megadeals could torpedo the state budget for the foreseeable future.

"If we're going to open that valley of economic development, we have to be very careful how we do that," Waymaster said.

Research indicates economic incentives don't play a major role in the site selection process. At most, scholars say, the tax breaks can tip the playing field in 25% of all cases  but some estimate they almost rarely come into play.

And projects in other states have fallen short of their job creation and economic investment benchmarks. Some of the state's existing economic development tools have also come under fire, most notably Kansas' STAR Bond program.

Audit: Projects using hotly debated Kansas economic development tool not hitting key benchmarks

The Department of Commerce has urged legislators to approve the package in the next 24 hours, though it remains unclear whether that timeframe is viable.

And despite the concerns, many legislators still believe the project is worth pursuing.

"It is a huge experiment, yes," Tarwater said. "And a very risky experiment."

Andrew Bahl is a senior statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at abahl@gannett.com or by phone at 443-979-6100.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Tax bill to lure mystery company to Kansas could cost $1.2 billion
There are several ways the Indianapolis Colts can go with their selections in the 2022 NFL draft but many analysts believe they will add a new quarterback to the mix when April arrives.

Though Carson Wentz is still technically under contract for the next three seasons, its likely the Colts will be getting out of it before that time arrives. Even with Sam Ehlinger on the roster, the main belief is that a quarterback will be the selection with their first pick.

In the latest mock draft from ESPNs Jordan Reid, the Colts went with former Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder as their first pick of the draft.

47. Indianapolis Colts Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati Dont be surprised if the Colts take a quarterback with their first pick in this draft. General manager Chris Ballard was clearly not happy about Carson Wentzs finish to the season. The 6-foot-3 Ridder is polished in going through progressions  he took a big step in 2021, leading the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff  and he can execute in all areas of the field. He could be an appealing backup plan to Wentz, who isnt owed much guaranteed money on the rest of his contract.

Theres no doubt the Colts are checking all of their options when it comes to Wentz. That includes drafting a quarterback for the third year in a row.

Ridder is an intriguing prospect because of what he can do with his traits. He has the tools to be a high-upside prospect for many teams even if some mechanical work needs to be done when it comes to throwing with anticipation.

It will be interesting to see how invested the Colts are in replacing Wentz and we may not know up until the selections are made which way the team is leaning.

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One automotive brand that has undergone a major reform with a clear vision of becoming a leader in the electric vehicle (EV) movement is Kia.

Reaching showrooms in 2022, the brand will introduce the public to Kias EV6. The model has embraced the latest rebranding and design which offers customers an elevated mobility experience.

By 2026, Kia will have already completed a full battery electric vehicles (BEV) lineup of 11 new models through the introduction of its Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), which will bring forward a standardisation and modularisation process that offers flexibility in production.

This platform will ensure an increase in the motors maximum speed by 70% and will ensure the vehicle can be charged in approximately 18 minutes.

Yaser Shabsogh, Chief Operating Officer, Regional HQs, Middle East & Africa said: Before we developed our plans to launch our latest fleet, we took a close look at not only the environments needs but also the needs of people. We noticed that peoples main concerns regarding BEVs are based around the belief that the cars will pose as a higher inconvenience when it comes to charging and speed. So, at a group level, weve developed a customer-driven strategy and technologies that address these core challenges to exceed our customers expectations.

A big part of EVs success is underpinned by tech advancements and innovation. Here, brands are investing more in their research and development to produce platforms that give their EV models greater range and reduced charging times.

Not only does this navigate the barriers posed but also ultimately make EVs more attractive to consumers. To this end, Kia has been specifically focusing on the architecture that will underpin its EV vehicles.

At the end of 2020 Hyundai Motor Group unveiled its new E-GMP, the platform which will serve as the core technology for our next-generation BEV line-up. This is the culmination of years of research and development and presents Hyundai Motor Groups most cutting-edge technologies, says Shabsogh. A symbolic turning point for EV development, this means increased driving range, strengthened safety features, and more interior space in our vehicles. Importantly however, this has allowed us to present a significant mobility solution that is a shining example of our progress and commitment to pioneering the EV industry.

BEVs based on the E-GMP can allow vehicle designers to pursue the so-called Progressive Electrification Experience and more radical innovations for the drivers and passengers benefit, he added.

It is no secret that the automotive industry has been developing at a much faster rate than the environment, infrastructure and processes it was going to be introduced to. However, this has been changing as governments have actively begun paving the way for individuals to switch to EVs by creating a supportive environment for them through generous incentives.

This can be seen all over the GCC, and especially in the UAE where EV owners can enjoy the benefit of free parking across various parts of Dubai and can apply for free Salik tags for their EVs.

Shabsogh said: We have definitely seen an increase in support from governments to create an environment that truly makes people more confident in purchasing EVs. This is part of the different GCC governments sustainability goals that are part of their national agenda, like Vision 2030 in KSA. There has been a noticeable move towards establishing more charging stations, especially in remote areas, which makes citizens feel more confident in the infrastructure available to them, rather than anxious about whether their next adventure is limited to a certain distance.

During the past year, e-commerce services have skyrocketed, and this year the worldwide e-commerce revenue is expected to reach five trillion US dollars. Peoples increased preference in e-commerce gives a significant rise in the growth of the global mobility services provided, which means an expansion in fleets.

Herding this expansion towards a sustainable direction would require drivers to switch to BEVs. However, this leap currently poses three main challenges  the ability of drivers to afford BEVs, the charging time disrupts the flow of business and the driving range anxiety of being stranded if charging stations are limited. Once again, Kia has managed to find a solution to all three challenges.

Shabsogh explained: A part of contributing to a better ecosystem definitely falls on global mobility companies, and it is our responsibility as leaders in the automotive industry to foster partnerships with these companies to encourage a switch toward adopting EVs. That is why Kia and Hyundai Motor Company have partnered with Grab, Southeast Asias largest ride-hailing company, to lower the barriers of drivers owning EVs by decreasing the total cost of ownership. Going a step further, to reduce driving range anxiety, drivers would be able to swap their e-moped batteries at GrabKitchen as they wait to collect food orders, which also contributes to lowering their downtime. Switching to EV should be made easy and seamless, and that is exactly what we are working on.

With governments paving the way to encourage individuals to switch to EVs, more solutions being offered to mobility automotive services and a continuous flow of innovation from automotive leaders like Kia, the foundation towards a greener future thanks to BEVs is finally nearing a positive tipping point.

-- TradeArabia News Service
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Composites One announced today that it has named Al Dobbeck Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective immediately. Mr. Dobbeck will be stepping into the EVP and COO role after the recent appointment of Leon Garoufalis to President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Al Dobbeck, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Composites One

Mr. Dobbeck recently served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Synergy55/Composites One. Prior to his CFO post he joined the company as Controller in 2011. At Composites One, Mr. Dobbeck has elevated financial services and operations support and provided a leadership role as the company works through an enterprise resource planning (ERP) transformation. He is well respected by the many team members that contribute to the success of Composites One.

Before joining Composites One, Mr. Dobbeck spent six and a half years at Deloitte in his last position as Audit Senior Manager. He holds a master of accountancy degree from the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to support our team members at Composites One in helping our customers grow their businesses," said Mr. Dobbeck.

Mr. Dobbeck will work closely with newly appointed President and CEO Leon Garoufalis as he transitions to his new role.

About Composites One

Composites One is North America's leading distributor of composites materials serving customers from more than 44 locations. Composites One provides composites fabricators and molders thousands of products from 600 of the industry's top suppliers through a technical sales, technical support, and customer service force that is the most knowledgeable in the industry. The company offers its customers a variety of value-added services that includes closed mold technologies, process enhancement guidance, regulatory compliance assistance and unmatched technical support. Composites One is headquartered in Schaumburg, IL. Find out more at www.compositesone.com.

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Cision

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SOURCE Composites One
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danske Bank said on Tuesday it will recommend veteran German banker Martin Blessing as its new chairman, tasked with increasing profitability and steering the Danish lender through one of the world's biggest money laundering scandals.

Denmark's biggest lender said current Chairman Karsten Dybvad, a former head of the Confederation of Danish Industry and a senior civil servant before he took over three years ago, will not stand for re-election at a March 17 general meeting.

The bank will recommend Blessing, a former Commerzbank chief executive and former co-president of UBS' Global Wealth Management unit, as his replacement.

Danske Bank is still trying to regain its footing after its involvement in a money laundering scandal in its former Estonia branch was revealed in 2018.

The bank remains under investigation by authorities in Denmark, Estonia, France and the United States, and could be hit with major fines.

Its top shareholder, the holding company of the Maersk family that controls shipping giant Maersk, said in a statement it was "highly supportive of Martin Blessing as successor and chairman candidate, given his extensive executive leadership experience in banking and strong personal values."

Dybvad has overseen two major management changes since his election in 2018. In April, Carsten Egeriis took over as CEO from Chris Vogelzang who resigned after Dutch authorities named him as a suspect in an investigation into violations of money-laundering regulations at lender ABN Amro.

Danske is also struggling to cut costs, especially within compliance, and to boost top line growth. It is also facing legal action from investors, after the money laundering scandal erased around $15 billion of market value.

Its shares rose as much as 3.3% and were up 2.9% by 0918 GMT, but still around 50% lower than levels seen four years ago.

"Dybvad has been chairman during a difficult time, but he has not made the difference," said Nordnet analyst Per Hansen. "Danske Bank still has a lot of work ahead."

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Blessing, who joined Danske's board in 2020, was also among a group of investors who last year launched European Fintech IPO Company BV, a so-called blank-cheque company that raises funds for the sole purpose of using the money for acquisitions.

"If elected, I will, together with the board of directors and in close cooperation with the bank's executive leadership team, ensure that Danske Bank continues the positive development," Blessing said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kirsten Donovan and Susan Fenton)
Doug Emhoff

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/Shutterstock Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (left) leaves an event at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff's planned appearance for Black History Month at a Washington, D.C., high school was cut short on Tuesday afternoon because of a bomb threat.

"U.S. Secret Service was made aware of a security threat at a school where the Second Gentleman was meeting with students and faculty," an Emhoff spokeswoman said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

The spokeswoman said he "is safe and the school has been evacuated. We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work."

Emhoff, 57, had planned to meet with students at Dunbar High School to highlight a program they're participating in, in partnership with the National Park Service, "that helps them relate to history on a personal level," Emhoff's office said.

Emhoff and a park ranger were to "meet with school leaders and program directors, prior to having a conversation with a group of students about the films and projects they're creating as part of their involvement in this program."

Instead, about five minutes into his appearance at the school on Tuesday afternoon, Emhoff "was ushered out of the room ... by a Secret Service agent," according to the reporters with him.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

"The agent said something like, 'We have to go,' " the press pool reported.

The school principal followed a few minutes later.

A district spokesman said in a statement to PEOPLE that D.C. police "responded to a bomb threat at Dunbar High School. All students and visitors were safely evacuated in accordance with DC Public Schools protocols and given the time of the incident, students were then dismissed for the school day."

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"DC Public Schools values the safety of all students, staff, and visitors and will continue to support the Dunbar community as MPD investigates this incident," the district spokesman said.

The spokesman said later Tuesday that the high school was subsequently cleared and no explosive or device was found. Some remaining students and staff were allowed to go back, the spokesman said.

It was unclear if there was a connection between the threat and Emhoff's trip or the month.

"A school announcement came over the intercom at 2:34 [p.m. local time] calling on teachers to evacuate the school and pool left the building as well," the traveling reporters said.
According to Precedence Research, the global e-bike market size is projected to be worth around US$ 40.98 billion by 2030 and expanding growth at a noteworthy CAGR of 9.6% from 2021 and 2030.

Tokyo, Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global e-bike market was valued at US$ 17.56 billion in 2021. Electric bikes are foreseen as a flexible and eco-friendly mode of transportation. Customers perception about e-bikes is as they are ideal substitute for smart cars, scooters, and public transport. These bikes help in tackling traffic jams, owing to the compact size of bikes and can attain high speed with minimum efforts plus they also provide health benefits owing to the act of peddling. These factors are raising the popularity of e-bikes across the globe.



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Global E-bike Market Report Highlights:

The Asia Pacific captured major portion of revenue as well as consumption share of more than 90% in the year 2019. Significant production of e-bikes in China is the major factor that drives the market growth in the region.

Based on speed , up to 25 km/h is the most opportunistic segment owing to the no regulations applied on the usage of e-bike under 25 kmph speed range. In 2020, up to 25 Km/h segment dominated the market with around 66.62 % share in terms of revenue of the total market. In addition, up to 25 Km/h is projected to grow at highest CAGR of 9.59% during forecast period from 2021 to 2030.

On the basis of battery type , li-ion are the most lucrative segment that register the fastest growth over the analysis period owing to numerous on-going research to enhance the battery performance and reduce its overall operating cost and size of the battery.

By class, in 2020 , Class 1 segment dominated the market with around 45.80% share in terms of revenue of the total market. In addition, Class 1 is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 9.80% during forecast period from 2021 to 2030.

By motor type, in 2020 the hub segment dominated the market with around 77.28 % share in terms of revenue of the total market. On the other hand, mid-drive is projected to grow at highest CAGR of 10.81% during forecast period from 2021 to 2030.

By m ode , in 2020, pedal assist segment dominated the market with around 43.86% share in terms of revenue of the total market. In addition, pedal assist is projected to grow at highest CAGR of 10.05% during forecast period from 2021 to 2030.

By application, in 2020, city/urban segment dominated the market with around 60.71% share in terms of revenue of the total market. On the other hand, mountain/trekking is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 10.20% during forecast period from 2021 to 2030.





E-bike Market Revenue Share, By Class, 2020 (%)

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By Class 2020 (%) Class 1 45.80 % Class 2 21.98 % Class 3 32.22 %

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COVID-19 Impact Analysis:

The automotive industry was badly impacted due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the year 2020 and witnessed a decline of nearly 20% in the automotive sales

Mobility service sector was among the severely impacted industries by the coronavirus pandemic as transit system and Uber registered a fall in passenger of approximately 90%-70%

Although, the automotive sector is struggling through this pandemic time, the electric bike (e-bike) industry expected to witness promising growth in the near future

The import figure of e-bikes in Europe is slightly impact in the starting four months of the COVID-19 outbreak with a decline of nearly 3%

Global E-bike Market News:

In March 2021, SUNRA introduced a new e-bike for riders who want more, more distance, more manpower saving, more style & more fun. All of Sunra e-bikes are designed with pedal-assist motors that are located in the same area as your pedals. They feel natural while pedaling, are easy to shift on hills, and provide a boost of smooth, consistent power with every pedal stroke you take.

In May 2019, Giant Manufacturing announced to join a B2B platform ConnectBike. Under this project the company will develop more than 300,000 e-bike for providing connected bike sharing platform in the Netherlands and Belgium by 2022.

In April 2019, Accell Group has signed a contract with a Dutch hotel chain for the delivery of 1,300 Sparta e-bikes via B2B partner Zilt bikes. Fletcher Hotels will use the e-bikes, painted in its company colours, to expand its rental portfolio.

In July 2018, Giant Bicycle released its new eMTB models for model year 2019, the Trance E+ and the Stance E+. These models are more based on the Trance and Stance traditional mountain bikes that make their line more consistent. The bikes are called the Trance E+ and Stance E+, respectively.

In August 2017, Germany based e-bike manufacturer, Derby Cycle introduced four new e-bike model families Endeavour (Trekking), Entice (Cross), Image (City) and Berleen (Urban) under its brand named Kalkhoff. The new e-bike are integrated with mid-engine and fully integrated battery





Get More Ready to Dispatch Reports

Key Players

The major players operating in the e-bike market are Accell Group, Derby Cycle, Fuji-ta Bicycle Co. Ltd., Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Jiangsu Xinri E-Vehicle Co. Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (GenZe), Prodecotech LLC, Tianjin Golden Wheel Group Co., Ltd., Trek Bicycle Corporation, Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.

The global e-bike market research report classifies the market as follows:

By Class

Class 1

Class 2

Class 3





By Speed

Up to 25 km/h

25-45 km/h

By Battery Type

Lithium-ion

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)

Lead Acid

Others

By Motor Type

Hub

Mid-drive

By Mode

Pedal Assist

Throttle

Others





By Application

Mountain/trekking

City/urban

Cargo

Others

By Regional Outlook

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa (MEA)





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Precedence Research is a worldwide market research and consulting organization. We give unmatched nature of offering to our customers present all around the globe across industry verticals. Precedence Research has expertise in giving deep-dive market insight along with market intelligence to our customers spread crosswise over various undertakings. We are obliged to serve our different client base present over the enterprises of medicinal services, healthcare, innovation, next-gen technologies, semi-conductors, chemicals, automotive, and aerospace & defense, among different ventures present globally.

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EnWave Cannabis Drying Technology

EnWave vacuum and microwave dehydration technology being used for drying cannabis.

EnWave vacuum and microwave dehydration technology being used for drying cannabis.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EnWave Corporation (TSX-V: ENW | FSE: E4U) (EnWave, or the "Company") announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted the Company a new method and apparatus patent for the drying and decontamination of cannabis using its Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) advanced dehydration technology. This new patent further strengthens EnWaves intellectual property protection of its method of reducing bioburden in cannabis while concurrently achieving fast, uniform drying. EnWaves newly patented process uses proven parameters, including power density and vacuum conditions that vary throughout the process, to optimize terpene and cannabinoid retention and materially reduce bioburden. The original patent application was filed in 2017.



EnWave has successfully commercialized its proprietary drying technology with large cannabis operators in the United States and Canada, with three large-scale machines being sold to multi-state and single state operators in the U.S. within the past year. EnWave collaborates closely with cannabis producers to optimize drying protocols and programs to maximize the quality of finished dried products and optimize the return on investment achieved using REV technology.

Traditional methods for drying cannabis, such as room drying or hang drying, expose the harvested plants to open air. As a result, cannabis cultivators must routinely monitor the drying room's humidity, temperature, and airflow patterns for long periods of time from 7 to 14 days. The unsophisticated nature of cannabis drying rooms also allows for mold to proliferate and spread due to inconsistent humidity and airflow controls. The traditional methods also take significant time for the cannabis plants to dry from 75% to 80% initial moisture down to 8% to 15% final residual moisture and increases the likelihood of crop spoilage during the drying phase.

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Traditional drying methods often also require subsequent processing step, such as gamma and electron (beta) irradiation, to reduce the bioburden in the cannabis (e.g., killing microbes on the product). These subsequent processes add further time and cost to the post-harvest processing and can cause elevated temperatures and generate highly reactive radicals that damage active components such as cannabinoids and terpenes, causing discoloration, and/or changing the smell of the final product.

In contrast to the traditional drying methods, EnWaves proprietary REV process allows for the drying of cannabis in the absence of oxygen, at low and controlled temperatures, resulting in a fresh-to-dry processing time of less than 2 hours. Since REV rapidly dries cannabis in a controlled environment the plants can be dried before bioburden and microbes can propagate. REV technology offers an improved method for reducing the bioburden of cannabis and avoids the drawbacks of traditional decontamination methods. EnWaves proprietary processing methods allow cannabis cultivators to rapidly process high volumes of plant material and eliminate unnecessary costs and time associated with traditional drying methods.

In 2021, EnWave made significant progress after partnering with one of the largest cannabis cultivators in the U.S. market. Furthermore, it announced that the Illinois MSO producing REV-dried premium cannabis flower on its first 120kW REV system since September 2021, has recently purchased a second 120kW REV system that will be delivered over the coming months. The MSO pays EnWave a royalty based on the finished weight of dried cannabis processed using the installed REV systems. A single 120kW REV machine can process approximately 200 lbs/hour of wet cannabis biomass, yielding approximately 45 lbs. of dried finished product. This translates to over 200,000 lbs./year of dried cannabis for sale. EnWaves REV equipment can be manufactured for GACP compliance and GMP upon request.

The timing of the approval of this new patent coincides with double-digit growth in the U.S. cannabis industry. U.S. sales of medical and recreational cannabis are expected to reach an estimated $45.8 billion by 2025 according to Headset. Legal cannabis sales are forecast to increase steadily with each consecutive year, with cannabis flower sales dominating the market, accounting for $13.1 billion in 2021.1

EnWaves vacuum-microwave dehydration technology is protected by a portfolio of 18 various apparatus and process patents.

Additional information regarding REV drying technology for cannabis applications can be accessed in the Maximizing Terpene Retention White Paper located on EnWaves website.

About EnWave

EnWave Corporation, a Vancouver-based advanced technology company, has developed Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV)  an innovative, proprietary method for the precise dehydration of food and cannabis applications. The Company has developed patented methods for uniformly drying and decontaminating cannabis through the use of REV technology, shortening the time from harvest to marketable cannabis products. EnWave also holds a robust intellectual property portfolio protecting several unique processes relating to specific food applications produced using vacuum-microwave technology.

REV technologys commercial viability has been demonstrated and is growing rapidly across several market verticals in the food, and pharmaceutical sectors, including legal cannabis. EnWaves strategy is to sign royalty-bearing commercial licenses with innovative companies in multiple verticals for their use of REV technology. The company has signed over fifty licenses to date spanning twenty countries and five continents. In addition to these licenses, EnWave established a Limited Liability Corporation, NutraDried Food Company, LLC, to manufacture, market and sell REV-dried snack products in North America, including the Moon Cheese brand, as well as co-manufacture for third parties.

EnWave has introduced REV as an advanced dehydration platform in the food and cannabis sectors: faster and cheaper than freeze drying, with better end product quality than air drying or spray drying. EnWave currently offers two distinct commercial REVS platforms:

nutraREV which is a drum-based system that dehydrates organic materials quickly and at low-cost, while maintaining high levels of nutrition, taste, texture and colour; and, quantaREV which is a tray-based system used for continuous, high-volume low-temperature drying.

EnWave is also active in the pharmaceutical industry through a joint development agreement with GEA Lyophil, a leader in GMP drying machinery.

More information about EnWave is available at enwave.net.

EnWave Corporation

Mr. Brent Charleton, CFA

President and CEO

For further information:

Brent Charleton, CFA, President and CEO at +1 (778) 378-9616

E-mail: bcharleton@enwave.net

Dan Henriques, CFO at +1 (604) 835-5212

E-mail: dhenriques@enwave.net

Safe Harbour for Forward-Looking Information Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking information based on management's expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the Company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures, and the expected synergies following the closing are forward-looking statements. All third-party claims referred to in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate. All third-party references to market information in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate as the Company did not conduct the original primary research. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

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.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/534c32ce-a014-46a9-bb4f-ca27a868a89f

1 Source: MJBiz Daily




FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a cable to charge up a Renault Kangoo ZE electric utility vehicle at a Renault automobile dealership in Cagnes-Sur-Mer

By Nick Carey

LONDON (Reuters) - Governments and utilities need ambitious plans to cut red tape to install vehicle chargers if Europe is to be ready for 130 million electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035, a new report from EY and Eurelectric said on Tuesday.

According to "Power sector accelerating e-mobility," by the professional services group and Europe's utilities trade body, Europe will need 65 million EV chargers - 9 million public and 56 million residential - to handle the huge growth anticipated in EVs from the 3.3 million on Europe's roads today.

One in 11 new cars sold in the European Union in 2021 was fully electric, a jump of 63% versus 2020.

Europe currently has 374,000 public chargers, two thirds of which are concentrated in just five countries - the Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom - while some European countries do not have a single charger per 100 km (62 miles) of road, and this "polarisation between economies risks destabilising" electrification.

To keep up with demand, Europe needs half a million public chargers annually through to 2030 and one million a year after that, EY global energy and resources leader Serge Colle told Reuters.

But building out public charging infrastructure today "faces massive delays," because of planning and permitting issues, said Eurelectric secretary general Kristian Ruby.

"We're sending a wake-up call to politicians at all levels that ambition requires permission," Ruby said. "If we want to pursue this (charging infrastructure) ambition then we need permission to run."

Rising EV sales will push up European electricity demand 11% annually, the report says.

To mitigate the risk to local grids, the report recommends supporting smart charging solutions - such as offering tariffs to EV owners to charge during off-peak overnight houses - which could lower spikes in peak power demand by 21%.

(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Mark Potter)
After a two-year (semi) hiatus from the New York Fashion Week circuit, Patrick Herning is jumping into the in-person shows full swing.

The Los Angeles-based designer and fashion entrepreneurs plus-size womens fashion platform 11 Honore is expanding its partnership with Nordstrom and inching toward profitability as it refocuses its attention on its own private label, starting with a show in Manhattan on Friday.

More from WWD

Pieces from 11 Honores spring 2022 collection. - Credit: Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo

Theres a return to joy; what the customer wants is a return to some joyous dressing, Herning told WWD. She absolutely wants fashion; she absolutely wants style and a point of view. And I think its a hybrid. Weve gone from being athleisure for 18 months to getting dressed again. With that in mind, there is an evolution of dressing.

Shoppers are always shopping luxury, he continued, over the phone from his L.A. headquarters. In the middle of the pandemic we had shoppers who were buying Carolina Herrera gowns. I think theres always a time and a place. But I think what the consumer wants is more variety in her wardrobe and her dressing options. And thats really what were giving her. And I feel like weve really cracked the code on what she wants and what shes looking for from us.

That includes lots of pinks and other brightly colored shorts and suits for spring 2022, from lead designer Danielle Williams Eke, that will be on display in New York for what Herning promises to be a super chic, super innovative hybrid presentation, a combination of real-life models and a short film.

The show, a partnership with Afterpay, marks the five-year anniversary of 11 Honore  which Herning founded in 2017 as an online plus-size fashion platform, featuring a selection of high-end womens apparel brands in sizes 12 to 24  and its efforts to grow its own in-house 11 Honore label.

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We started with a priority of acquiring as many brands as possible, Herning said. And then from there, really identifying which brands to go deeper into. But what we ultimately realized was that a lot of brands struggled with getting fit right. As a retailer that is now a brand, were intimately well aware of the challenges that coincided with plus-size sizing.

11 Honore founder Patrick Herning. - Credit: Hagop Kalaidjian/BFA.com

Hagop Kalaidjian/BFA.com

Despite the hurdles  or perhaps because of them  11 Honore launched its own private label in 2020.

We have a true north in our brand, the 11 Honore collection, with fit consistency, proprietary fit technology, grading rules that we ensure for the customer when she gets it into her closet, Herning said. Its where weve been able to enter the market with a contemporary price point. And thats really how the business has evolved, really since the beginning of last year. Because what we dont want to perpetuate is a frustrated retail experience for this customer.

Now, when we look at our merchandising strategy, its really not about how many brands we have  it could be five brands; it could be 50 brands. It could be 25 brands. It doesnt particularly matter, Herning continued. What matters is that the brands we carry have fit consistency and integrity that we put our stamp on. We will always carry third-party brands that have expertise around fit.

But Herning is the first to admit that 11 Honores evolution hasnt been easy, especially during a global pandemic. Retail industrywide supply chain challenges and the need to downsize large numbers of staff aside (in 11 Honores case, 60 percent of the staff was laid off at the start of the pandemic), 11 Honore faced other challenges.

Even with roughly $25 million in investments to date, (from such investors Greycroft, GC1 Ventures and Nordstrom) 11 Honore has remained unprofitable.

Part of our challenge was that we had not been able to profitably identify our path to growth, Herning said. So when the pandemic hit, obviously, it impacted our business the way it impacted retail in general. But, more importantly, we had been burning capital without driving profitability.

Where we fundamentally struggled was on our customer acquisition, the fashion entrepreneur continued. That was partially from the need for expanded pattern grading, or simply, more sizes, and the added investments that come with that. Onboarding additional fit models, grading scales and pattern makers, Herning explained, was an added expense that many of his industry peers are still not willing to embrace.

But in order to do it, to ensure proper fit, investment has to be made on the brand side. Theres no way around it, he said. Its just a matter of prioritizing your resources to start extending your sizing. We have tested and sampled and done everything in between, on a myriad of body types across all sizes to ensure that the grade rules that we developed are ones that fit our customer. And with that came a tremendous investment.

11 Honore, spring 2022 - Credit: Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo

The strategy seems to be paying off. Herning said 11 Honore is on track to reach profitability by Q2 of this year.

We were unprofitable in scaling. But we decided at the beginning of 2021 that the most important metric of success for this business was proving our path to profitability, he explained. We are up [in revenues] from 2021 and were flat to 2019. But [while] we hit the same revenues as in 2019, [we did it while] spending $3-and-a-half million less. So we really, really reexamined our inventory position strategy; we reexamined headcount. And in order to profitably build your business you have to be hyper-focused on key pillars of whats going to move the business forward. Right now, in addition to optimizing our e-commerce platform, its leveraging our success through our omnichannel approach.

That includes an expanded partnership with Nordstrom (from five doors to 10 doors this spring), in addition to partnerships with other retailers, such as Stitch Fix.

The company also promoted Erin Milley to the post of chief executive officer in January 2021, so that Herning could focus on the role of founder, and is launching a five-year anniversary collection in August, in addition to another celebrity collaboration rolling out later this year.

Herning wouldnt say with whom, except that shes an incredible, incredible actor and its come together so beautifully. He added that last springs limited-edition capsule collection with actress and producer Lena Dunham, which sold out, was one of the best marketing pushes weve ever done. It drove an entirely new customer to the site.

Stand-alone 11 Honore stores are also a possibility, but not until 2023 at the earliest.

Brands like 11 Honore need to exist, for many reasons, Herning said. Its really, really important that curve continues to show up in a meaningful way, front and center during Fashion Week, because theres so many customers to be speaking to. And for the first time, were starting to see high-end designers put curve into their fashion shows. Id like to think 11 Honore played a huge role in that. So the more brands that get into the category, for us, the better.

Im just grateful, because look, were a small startup marching towards profitability, Herning continued. Im really proud of the journey. It wasnt for the faint of heart. And its taken a minute to get here, but we have so many exciting things coming out. Its a really, really big year.

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ATLANTA  Republicans in the state Senate Monday defended legislation prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory in Georgia schools from criticism by Democrats that the bill would stifle honest discussion of Americas history of systemic racism.

Were not perfect. Our history is stained with racism, Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, the bills chief sponsor, told members of the Senate Education and Youth Committee. In no way shape or form is it my intention to prevent history being taught to students.

What is Critical Race Theory?: Why don't Republicans want it taught in Georgia schools?

Hatchett said the legislation targets nine divisive concepts to be prohibited from being taught not only in Georgias K-12 classrooms, but also in the states public colleges, universities and technical colleges.

The banned concepts include that any race is inherently superior or inferior to any other, that the United States is a systemically racist country or that any individual is inherently racist.

The bill would provide a process for students, teachers or parents to file a complaint if they believe the law is being violated. Failure to comply could subject an offending school or school system to lose 10% of its state funding.

David Perdue, left, Gov. Brian Kemp

The legislation is being backed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who faces a primary challenge from former U.S. Sen. David Perdue this year, prompting some opponents to argue the issue is being used to appeal to GOP base voters.

On Monday, Sen. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah, questioned whether the bill is necessary.

Most racist theories are taught at home, not in the classroom, he said.

Op-ed: Underfunding is the enemy, not Critical Race Theory

Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, wondered how the legislation could be enforced without creating a chilling effect on teachers who already are leaving the profession in large numbers.

Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, said the bills aim is not to prevent the teaching of history but to avoid stereotyping Georgians as part of a group rather than as individuals.

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Sen. Lester Jackson

When you put people in groups and assume theyre a certain way or treat people a certain way, thats what were trying to get away from, he said. We want to learn from our history.  Nothing in this bill prohibits that.

Hatchett conceded the legislation deals with difficult issues and expressed a willingness to work with Democrats on crafting language to build more support.

More: Georgia House Speaker unveils bipartisan bill to boost mental health services in state

This is our first stab at it, he said.

The committee took no public comment on the legislation during Mondays hearing. Committee Chairman Chuck Payne, R-Dalton, said there will be an opportunity for the public to weigh in as the panel continues considering the bill.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Senate debates CRT bill backed by Gov. Brian Kemp
Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market

Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market

Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market

Dublin, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market (2021-2026) by Type, Technology, Payload Type, Application, Shape and Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market is estimated to be USD 1.57 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 3.71 Bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 18.75%.



Market Dynamics

The Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market is expected to increase due to the high acceptance of AUVs for surveillance, ocean floor mapping, and inspection. Autonomous underwater vehicles can also be helpful to track illegal human and drug trafficking along with goods and materials smuggling.

Moreover, these vehicles can also be used to investigate air crashes and ship wreckage. Factors such as rising demand in the defense sector, increasing use of AUVs for deep-sea field development and seabed mapping, increasing use in intelligence, surveillance, and coastal protection, and raising capital expenditure in the offshore industry are some of the driving factors of the market.



However, lack of high-level security and high cost of maintenance are some of the factors that may hinder the market growth.



The Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market is segmented by Type, Technology, Payload Type, Application, Shape & Geography.



Company Profiles

Some of the companies covered in this report are Kongsberg Maritime, Teledyne Marine, Bluefin Robotics, ECA Group, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Atlas Elektronik GmbH, Boston Engineering Corporation, Boeing Company, L3 Harris Technologies Inc., RTSYS, etc.



Competitive Quadrant

The report includes the Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Why buy this report?

Story continues

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 force model and the Ansoff Matrix. The impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's Proprietary competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



4 Market Influencers

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Rising Demand in Defense Sector

4.1.2 Increasing Use of AUVs for Deep Sea Field Development and Seabed Mapping

4.1.3 Increasing Use in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Coastal Protection

4.1.4 Increasing Capital Expenditure in the Offshore Industry

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Expensive & High Cost of Maintenance

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Rapid Technological Advancements in AUVs

4.3.2 Growing Adoption of Mobile Technology, Cloud Computing, and Web-Based Applications

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Rising Operational Issues

4.4.2 Lack of High-Levels Security



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market, By Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Shallow AUVs (up to 100 meters)

6.3 Medium AUVs (up to 1,000 meters)

6.4 Large AUVs (more than 1,000 meters)



7 Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market, By Technology

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Collision Avoidance

7.2.1 Sonars

7.3 Communication

7.3.1 Acoustic Communication

7.3.2 Satellite Communication

7.4 Navigation

7.4.1 Compass-based Navigation Solutions

7.4.2 Inertial Navigation Systems

7.5 Propulsion

7.5.1 Fin Control Actuators

7.5.2 Propulsion Motors

7.5.3 Pump Motors

7.5.4 Linear Electromechanical Actuators

7.5.5 Battery Modules

7.6 Imaging

7.6.1 Side-scan sonar (SSS) Imagers

7.6.2 Multibeam Echo Sounders (MBES)

7.6.3 Sub-bottom Profilers (SBPS)

7.6.4 LED Lighting



8 Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market, By Payload Type

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Cameras

8.3 Sensors

8.4 Synthetic Aperture Sonars

8.5 Echo Sounders

8.6 Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers

8.7 Automatic Target Identification Systems

8.8 Warning Systems

8.9 Automatic Target Detection Systems

8.10 Stabilized Weapon Systems

8.11 Ultra-short Baseline (USBL) Positioning Systems



9 Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market, By Application

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Military & Defense

9.2.1 Border Security and Surveillance

9.2.2 Antisubmarine Warfare

9.2.3 Monitoring Smuggling of Illegal Goods

9.2.4 Environmental Assessment

9.2.5 Mine Countermeasures

9.3 Oil & Gas

9.3.1 Pipeline Surveys

9.3.2 Geophysical Surveys

9.3.3 Debris/Clearance Surveys

9.3.4 Baseline Environmental Assessments

9.4 Environmental Protection & Monitoring

9.4.1 Habitat Research

9.4.2 Water Sampling

9.4.3 Fishery Study

9.4.4 Emergency Response

9.5 Oceanography

9.6 Archaeology & Exploration

9.7 Search & Salvage Operations



10 Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market, By Shape

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Torpedo

10.3 Laminar Flow Body

10.4 Streamlined Rectangular Style

10.5 Multi-hull Vehicle



11 Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market, By Geography



12 Competitive Landscape

12.1 IGR Competitive Quadrant

12.2 Market Share Analysis

12.3 Strategic Initiatives

12.3.1 M&A and Investments

12.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

12.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



13 Company Profiles

13.1 Kongsberg Maritime

13.2 Teledyne Marine

13.3 Bluefin Robotics

13.4 ECA Group

13.5 Saab AB

13.6 Lockheed Martin Corporation

13.7 Fugro

13.8 Atlas Elektronik GmbH

13.9 Boston Engineering Corporation

13.10 International Submarine Engineering Ltd.

13.11 Graal Tech S.r.l

13.12 Boeing Company

13.13 L3 Harris Technologies Inc.

13.14 Hydromea SA

13.15 BAE System PLC

13.16 Deep Trekker Inc.

13.17 General Dynamics Corporation

13.18 Rovotics

13.19 RTSYS



14 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/t26w01

Attachment

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




Don't expect to receive more updates for your Pixel 3. Esper's Mishaal Rahman has learned Google is delivering one last security update to the Pixel 3 and 3 XL. The company previously said the Pixel 3 would get one last update in the first quarter of 2022, and confirmed to Engadget this represents the device's last hurrah.

It's not certain what the patch fixes. However, DarkPlayer noted the build ID matches that for an October patch that targeted newer Pixel models on Verizon. This is a catch-up release rather than an up-to-the-moment patch.

You can expect more if you have a recent Pixel, at least. Google has posted a February 2022 update for the Pixel 3a and newer phones. The revision tackles several significant problems, including reboots during camera use, Bluetooth audio disconnection and quality problems, carrier-specific connection woes and keyboards that override input text in some cases.

This won't thrill you if you're fond of the Pixel 3  you'll have to upgrade if you want up-to-the-minute security fixes. Don't fret if you have a Pixel 6, though. Google has promised five years of security updates for its latest phone line, so you might not have to worry about patches until 2026.
Limited spaces are left as time is running out for women looking to take part in Saudi Arabias inaugural Rally Jameel, which is being held from March 16 to 19.

Entries for the historic, women-only navigational rally are set to close on March 1.

Rally Jameel, which is initiated by Abdul Latif Jameel Motors and Bakhashab Motorsports, is the latest world-class motorsport event to be hosted in Saudi Arabia as it is sanctioned by the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) and supported by the FIA, through their Women in Motorsport (WIMC) programme, said a statement.

The rally is a perfect opportunity for adventurous women looking to take part in their first off-road rally. The event is not designed as a speed test, rather it is about using navigational skills to traverse a route, which will cover between 300 km and 500 km per day. Each days route will only be issued the night before, with everyone taking part seeing it at the same time.

We have been really delighted with the response from women around the region and beyond, with over half of the places already filled, commented Abdullah Bakhashab, rally director. But I also know there will be potential racers out there who want to take part, but havent signed up yet. We urge them to submit their application as soon as possible, as there are only a limited number of spaces left.

The rally, which has already attracted widespread interest, is open to national and international entrants aged over 18 and holding a driving licence accepted in Saudi Arabia. Each team will consist of two female racers. No special equipment is needed, as the cars are required to be totally unmodified. The only pre-requisite is that the car must be a 4x4 or AWD.

Teams wanting to participate can simply go to the rally website  www.rallyjameel.com  and fill in the application form. Successful applicants will receive a weekend training course and three days of competition, as well as accommodation in 5-star hotels, a comfortable, secure camp, food and beverages, a finishing ceremony, and tickets to the gala dinner.

The uniquely designed route will pass through some of the Kingdoms most spectacular scenery. It will start in the north-central city of Hail, passing through Al-Qassim city and then heading to the capital, Riyadh, via hidden checkpoints and challenges. Further details of the rally schedule will be announced on International Womens Day on March 8.

Naturally, safety is paramount at the rally. A state-of-the-art Tracking System will be mounted on each competing vehicle with SOS buttons for any emergency, while a helicopter medic and maintenance teams will be on standby at all times. All competing cars will be pre-checked to ensure they adhere to the highest standards, said officials.

Munir Khoja, Managing Director Marketing Communication at Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, commented: Abdul Latif Jameel Motors is extremely proud to be backing this great initiative, designed to further empower women in the Kingdom. We are committed to ensuring this becomes a firm fixture on the global motorsport calendar, offering women from a range of different nationalities, backgrounds and experiences the chance to take part in a uniquely exciting event.

With Saudi Arabia now hosting an FIA Formula One race, as well as the famous Dakar Rally, which featured Saudi female racers, Dania Akeel and Mashael Al-Obaidan, there is a growing interest in motor-related sports, especially off-road racing and rallying, the statement said.  TradeArabia News Service
Jan. 11Supporters of a bill that would require state-funded public schools and universities to adopt policies making "affirmative consent" the standard for sexual activity urged Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday to include the proposal on the agenda of the upcoming legislative session.

The bill also calls on schools and universities to adopt "trauma-informed responses" for investigations into allegations of sexual assault and other violence.

In addition, the bill would require high schools to include affirmative consent in a health education course required for graduation. Affirmative consent is defined as an "affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity."

State Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque, has tried unsuccessfully to get the affirmative consent bill passed in two previous sessions. The proposal has received support from lawmakers, including passage in the House last year, but it hasn't been able to cross the finish line.

Thomson, who is once again the lead sponsor of the bill, said she hopes this will be the year it reaches the governor's desk.

The 30-day session, which begins Jan. 18, is focused on the state budget for fiscal year 2023, which begins July 1, but the governor has the authority to place other business on the call.

Lawmakers are expected to consider several crime bills during the session, and Thomson said her proposal is one of the few bills, if not the only one, that's preventive.

"Not only will it prevent crimes, it will prevent destruction of lives [and post traumatic stress disorder] of young people," Thomson said during a virtual news conference. She added she is a survivor of childhood sexual assault and date rape in college.

Nayomi Valdez, public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said prevention is imperative in the fight to reform the criminal justice system.

"All too often we avoid talking about sexual violence because it's uncomfortable or because it's scary," she said. "But like so many of the issues that we face today ... the first step in addressing it is discussing it."

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Alexandria Taylor, deputy director of the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, called sexual violence in New Mexico a crisis.

"Over the past several years, data has shown that New Mexico ranks seventh for sexual assault and rape," she said, citing FBI statistics. "We know that 41 percent of reported sexual assaults in New Mexico are children under the age of 18. That means one in four girls and one in six boys in New Mexico experienced sexual violence prior to reaching their 18th birthday."

In addition to advocating for the bill, Taylor and others urged the Legislature to increase sexual assault service funding by $5 million as proposed in the governor's budget. The Legislative Finance Committee is recommending a $2.3 million increase.

Funding for sexual assault services in the state is now about $4 million, and the additional $5 million in funding would be for sexual assault nurse examiners, treatment providers, children's advocacy centers, tribal services and a statewide sexual violence hotline.

The request for additional funding comes amid reductions in federal dollars.

Taylor said 27 of New Mexico's 33 counties lack adequate sexual assault services.

"In parts of our state, a survivor may need to travel three hours or a nurse may need to travel three hours to provide critical care after an assault," she said. We also are experiencing in parts of our state a 12- to 17-month waitlist for counseling services, so we believe it is urgent to address this gap in funding and resources."

13th Judicial District Attorney Barbara Romo said the No. 1 reason sexual assault survivors don't follow through with the prosecution process is because they're "revictimized" by the criminal justice system.

"Part of that starts at the beginning when they don't get the resources and the support that they need," she said. "If anything is going to interrupt a victim's want or desire to participate, it's going to be the inconvenience or the unavailability of resources."

Follow Daniel J. Chacon on Twitter @danieljchacon.

Follow Daniel J. Chacon on Twitter @danieljchacon.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri lawmakers passed a plan to increase state worker pay out of committee Monday, in the process reducing the amount of money budgeted for raises and eliminating the universal minimum wage requested by the governor.

The additional spending will now head to the full House for further debate almost a week after the Feb. 1 deadline for passage Gov. Mike Parson originally requested. The amended plan does not raise the baseline minimum wage for all state jobs to $15 as requested, instead granting the $15 minimum only to those who work in "direct care" roles within the government, such as in veterans' homes.

All other jobs will have a $12 minimum, the current state rate; all workers will receive a 5.5 percent raise.

Those changes, proposed by House budget chair Rep. Cody Smith, a Carthage Republican, were met by fury from Democrats on the committee. The minority party had supported the plan but wanted to hear further input on the changes from state officials, who have pleaded for higher wages amid high turnover and a competitive labor market.

Missouri state workers: Raises needed amid turnover and vacancies, budget director says

The proposal was voted out of committee by a vote of 22-8 on Monday afternoon, almost entirely along party lines. Greene County's Republican Reps. John Black, Alex Riley and Craig Fishel voted yes; Democratic Rep. Betsy Fogle voted no.

Smith, who said the committee was on a tight timeline and declined further testimony, maintained that his changes were in the state's best interest.

"I just disagree that the baseline wage of $15 an hour is really the right approach when there are state jobs that ... take a minimal amount of skills and experience," Smith said.

He said the intention of the plan was "not to give the lower rungs lesser increases as much as it is to not pay more than minimum wages where there are truly minimum wage jobs in the state."

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Democrats condemned the changed plan as inadequate to address Missouri's vacancies and loss of workers to the private sector.

"I think we're missing the boat of why this raise was requested, and that where the market has shifted the most is at the bottom of the pay scale," said Rep. Peter Merideth, a St. Louis Democrat. "And we're not going to be able to keep up. We're hearing from departments that if this raise doesn't go into effect, they've got people ready to quit now that have only been holding off on the promise that they're going to get a couple bucks an hour bump in their pay."

Missouri state workers: Gov. Parson recommends minimum wage hike to $15

When Parson first requested the pay increase for workers in December, his office issued a news release quoting Smith, who said that he "recognize(s) the urgency and support an early supplemental (budget)." Asked by Fogle if he had ever specifically supported the universal $15 standard, Smith said he did not. Parson's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the plan's changes Monday afternoon.

Earlier Monday, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe said he was in support of the plan.

"When you live in this area and get behind a state worker at the grocery store and they use a food stamps card, something needs to be done," said Kehoe, a Republican. "Your state employees need an adjustment and I strongly endorse that."

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: House committee cuts universal $15 minimum from state worker pay plan
Twenty Iowa Democratic lawmakers are set to file legislation that would ban construction of large livestock confinements for five years, a measure that's repeatedly failed to gain support in the nation's largest pork-producing state.

This year's measure will be legislators' fifth attempt at getting a moratorium passed in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Rep. Art Staed, a Cedar Rapids Democrat, said Monday in an online news conference that he believes more Democratic legislators will sign onto the bill, although he acknowledged few Republicans will join the call for a moratorium on large concentrated animal feeding operations, called CAFOs for short.

Walcott farmer Mike Paustian checks on his young pigs at his farm on Friday, March 19, 2021.

Most of the 50 million pigs marketed each year in Iowa are raised in the large feeding operations.

John Aspray, a Food & Water Watch senior organizer in Iowa, said the industry overapplies the manure from the pigs to Iowa cornfields, resulting in large amounts of nitrogen washing into the state's rivers, lakes and streams. It's hazardous in drinking water, and utilities like Des Moines Water Works spend millions on equipment to remove it.

Factory farms are expanding unchecked in Iowa, and with it our water pollution is reaching crisis levels, Aspray said Monday.

MORE: 'War on breakfast': Will California proposition improve care of pigs, or just raise ham and bacon prices?

Livestock producers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iowa agriculture groups have said their members are taking measures on their farms to protect water quality, including investing in saturated buffers, denitrifying bioreactors and construction of wetlands, all of which cut nutrient loss from farm fields.

In 2018, Iowa lawmakers agreed to pump $282 million into water quality initiatives over 12 years. The funding includes $156 million to help farmers adopt practices such as growing cover crops, building bioreactors and restoring wetlands, measures that can keep excess nutrients from polluting Iowas lakes and streams.

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Fertilizer contributes to high nitrate levels in the state's water and feeds toxic algal blooms that can sicken people, pets and livestock. The blue-green algae also can create toxins called microcystins that drinking water utilities have limited capabilities to remove.

Also, E. coli and other bacteria from manure in water can cause diarrhea and respiratory and other illnesses.

More: Animal activist, pork producers both declare victory after case over videotape of hog farm euthanasia dismissed

Last year, conservation group American Rivers ranked the Raccoon River, a drinking water source to more than half a million Iowans, including much of the Des Moines metro, as one of the nations most endangered rivers.

Unlike past efforts, the proposed moratorium seeks to empower the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to fine large meatpackers when water quality violation, such as manure spills, occur.

Tarah Heinzen, Food & Water Watch's legal director, said large meat processors are "really controlling the practices at these factory farms," providing farmers with everything from the animals to their feed and medicine.

Staed said the bill "will stymie corporate ags predatory growth in Iowa, confront our water quality crisis, and rectify the unfair treatment of contract growers  all by stopping the new construction of factory farms."

"Corporations need to be held accountable for their environmental degradation," he said.

Aspray said Iowa, which has an estimated 10,000 animal feeding operations, sees up to 500 new CAFOs built each year. "Time and time again, we've seen over-application of that manure and quantities far greater than the soil or the crops can possibly use," he said.

Aspray pointed to a 2019 John Hopkins survey that showed 63% of Iowa voters support a ban on concentrated animal feeding operations.

Heinzen said the legislation is aimed at temporarily stopping construction of facilities with 1,250 pigs or more.

This article has been edited to correct the name of Des Moines Water Works, and the size of the facilities for which the moratorium is proposed.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com or 515-284-8457.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Concentrated pig-raising facilities once again face Iowa challenge
TORONTO, Feb. 8, 2022 /CNW/ - Only days after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan last August, the world watched in awe as the Taliban swiftly retook control. Desperate and visceral images of Afghans clinging to evacuation planes, lifting children over Kabul airport's barbed wire fences and other crisis stories dominated news coverage for weeks.

The Canadian Journalism Foundation's upcoming J-Talks Live webcast "Reporting on the Ground in Afghanistan" features (from left to right): Nil Koksal, CBC; Stewart Bell, Global News; Hind Hassan, VICE World News; Kiana Hayeri, Photographer; and Jeff Semple, Global News. The show takes place on Tuesday, February 22 at 1 P.M. EST. (CNW Group/Canadian Journalism Foundation)

At the Canadian Journalism Foundation's (CJF) next J-Talks Live free webcast, on Tuesday, February 22 at 1 p.m. EST, a panel of storytellers who were there before and during the takeover share their insights into the challenges, safety issues and nuances of covering this humanitarian crisis.

Featured speakers are Global News journalists Stewart Bell and Jeff Semple, who captured moments of loss and sacrifice after the Taliban had swept to power; VICE World News journalist Hind Hassan, who spoke with Taliban leaders in advance of the takeover; and visual storyteller Kiana Hayeri, who captured the transition through powerful photographs. Leading this discussion is Nil Koksal, host of CBC's World Report and former foreign correspondent in Turkey.

"We are thrilled to welcome this extraordinary group of brave journalists and storytellers who captured history as it happened," says CJF Executive Director Natalie Turvey. "Leading our discussion is one of Canada's most recognizable names in global affairs coverage, Nil Koksal. Together, our panel will share and illustrate the moments before and after the takeover and lessons learned."

Adds Koksal: "As the world and world leaders seemed to forget Afghanistan and its people, these journalists are among those who ensured it would be impossible to look away and impossible not to act."

Stewart Bell, a national online investigative journalist at Global News, is the author of three non-fiction books, most recently Bayou of Pigs about a far-right coup plot in the Caribbean island nation of Dominica. Bell's reporting has received numerous awards, including the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.

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Hind Hassan is an award-winning international correspondent for VICE News covering conflicts and humanitarian crises around the world, including the post-ISIS legacy in Syria, massive demonstrations in Lebanon and Iraq's anti-corruption protests where her team witnessed and documented human rights abuses.

Kiana Hayeri, an Iranian-Canadian photographer based in Kabul, is a Senior TED Fellow and a regular contributor to The New York Times and National Geographic. In 2020, she received the Tim Hetherington Visionary Award and the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting. Last year, Hayeri received the Robert Capa Gold Medal for her photographic series "Where Prison is Kind of a Freedom," documenting the lives of Afghan women in Herat Prison.

Jeff Semple is a Senior Correspondent and Video Journalist with Global National News based in Toronto. He has reported from more than 30 countries across five continents, covering terrorist attacks in Europe, the refugee crisis in the Middle East and from the frontlines of the fight against ISIS in Iraq and in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Semple's reports have been recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the Radio Television Digital News Association, the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Online Publishing Awards and Apple Podcasts.

Nil Koksal is the host of World Report, CBC's flagship national radio news show with more than one million listeners. While working as a foreign correspondent in Istanbul, Koksal covered Syria, the refugee crisis and ISIS. She is a winner and two-time Canadian Screen Award nominee for her reporting.

This free virtual event is part of the CJF's J-Talks Live program that explores pressing journalistic issues.

The CJF thanks the generosity of exclusive J-Talks Live series sponsor TD Bank Group and in-kind supporters CPAC and Cision.

Cision is the exclusive distribution partner of the CJF.

DATE: Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, 1 p.m. EST.

Register now

#JTalksLive

About The Canadian Journalism Foundation

Founded in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates and facilitates excellence in journalism. The foundation runs a prestigious awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers' series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, business people, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for media in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training and research.

SOURCE Canadian Journalism Foundation

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2022/08/c4441.html
Jerusalem-based sales agent Go2Films has taken both worldwide rights (excluding North America) and Israeli distribution rights to Fiddlers Journey to the Big Screen by Oscar-nominated director Daniel Raim and narrated by Jeff Goldblum. Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist Films will handle North American distribution on the film, which follows the making of Norman Jewisons Fiddler on the Roof.

The film was meant to have its international premiere in the Official Selection of Palm Springs Film Festival, which was cancelled due to COVID-19. A new international premiere is currently being negotiated. The film will have its market premiere at the European Film Market, running Feb. 10-17.

More from Variety

Norman Jewison on the set of Fiddler on the Roof - Credit: Courtesy of NFB

Courtesy of NFB

Go2Films also confirmed it has already closed the first deal for the film ahead of the EFM, with JIFF set to release the film in Australia in November 2022. Israeli documentary channel yes will broadcast the film after its theatrical release in the country, handled by Go2Films.

Narrated by Goldblum, the feature-length documentary is an intimate portrait of Jewison and the making of Fiddler on the Roof. Raim, Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary Short with The Man on Lincolns Nose (2000), draws on behind-the-scenes footage and never-before-seen stills. Fiddlers Journey to the Big Screen features original interviews with Jewison, Topol (who played Tevye), composer John Williams, production designer Robert F. Boyle, film critic Kenneth Turan, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and actors Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh and Neva Small (who played Tevyes daughters).

We were incredibly moved by Daniels excellent achievement in depicting the story of Norman Jewison and the making of his iconic film, said Hedva Goldschmidt, Go2Films managing director. It is a compassionate film filled with love of life, which raises fascinating issues of identity and artistic creation, she added.

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Topol and composer John Williams on the set of Fiddler on the Roof - Credit: Courtesy of Rosalind Harris

Courtesy of Rosalind Harris

Another highlight in Go2Films EFM lineup is Back in Berlin by Bobby Lax, which has received the documentary film honorable mention at Haifa Film Festival last year. It tells the story of a friendship under pressure: while Bobby finds out the shocking truth of his family perishing in the Holocaust, Manuel discovers his fathers uncle was the infamous Nazi propaganda filmmaker Veit Harlan. Together, the friends embark on a journey to Berlin to discover more about their respective pasts  a journey which puts their friendship to the test.

Further titles on Go2Films slate are Bronca! by Shlomo and Tomer Slutzky, which will have its rough-cut premiere at the EFM and presents the filmmakers pursuit of Anibal Gauto, who lives in Israel protected by the authorities and was involved in the murder of Shlomos cousin, during the 1970s Argentinian dictatorship; and Housewitz, by Dutch filmmaker Oeke Hoogendijk, winner of two awards at IDFA in 2021, which will screen at the EFM ahead of its international premiere at the upcoming Thessaloniki Doc Festival as part of the Film Forward Competition.

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(Instagram/JoshNeuman)

American skateboarder Josh Neuman was among four people killed when a small plane crashed into a lake in Iceland.

Authorities say that the 22-year-old was onboard the plane to create commercial content for the Belgian fashion brand Suspicious Antwerp, when the plane went missing.

Rescuers found it on Sunday in Lake Thingvallavatn, Icelands second-largest lake with the help of an autonomous submarine and sonar technology.

Officials say that also onboard the plane was Tim Alings, the companys sponsorship manager, 27; Nicola Bellavia, a 32-year-old skydiver and social media influencer from Belgium, and pilot Haraldur Diego, 49.

There was a delay caused by poor weather in recovering the four bodies, which were found at depths of 157ft in the lake 30 miles east of Reykjavik.

For the safety of divers we have to wait until the weather improves, police chief Oddur Arnason told The Associated Press.

The Cessna 172 plane did not send out a distress signal when it vanished from radar on Thursday, which sparked a 1,000 person search and rescue effort.

Bram Boriau, a spokesperson for Suspicious Antwerp, told the AP that the group was capturing footage of Iceland on the flight.

All persons present were hugely passionate about travel and content creation, hence these themes were the main focus of the trip, Mr Boriau said.

Neumans family thanks his fans for their support on his official Instagram account.

To all Joshs supporters, thank you. Every single one of you meant so much to Josh. We have upcoming plans in store to keep his legacy alive for ever, it stated.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The company confirmed on its Instagram account that an employee and two content creators were onboard the flight.

We are enormously distressed by the news and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends, they stated.

We are in close contact with them, as well as the authorities, and were doing everything we can to assist them during these difficult times.
TORONTO, Feb. 8, 2022 /CNW/ - Lead Depot has announced the acquisition of DSG Auto's online assets for an undisclosed fee. These assets include multiple domains and web properties including autofinance.ca, getmeacar.ca and multiple other web platforms that drive auto finance leads from consumers in Canada looking for an Auto Loan.

Lead Depot Acquires DSG Auto (CNW Group/Lead Depot Inc.)

"We are happy to announce the asset base acquisition of what is one of Canada's most popular auto finance lead providers, DSG Auto." Says Christopher Mckenzine, Lead Depot's Director of Sales for Canada. "At the height of its operations, DSG was servicing over 1,000 Dealerships in Canada providing Auto Leads to them and we at Lead Depot are excited to complete the acquisition, with an immediate vision to re-brand the platforms and immediately come back into the Canadian Market with an increased focus on customer service to offer robust, higher quality Auto Loan leads to all dealerships Nationwide in Canada." Says Chris.

The Canadian Auto Loan market has stayed steady throughout the pandemic, with more people opting to obtain their own vehicle rather than ride a bus or train due to close contact with others. In addition to that, subprime lenders in Canada have widened their lending criteria to lend to lower credit scores, due to the average consumers credit score suffering during the Pandemic, making it much more affordable for all Canadians to now apply online for a vehicle loan online.

One of the other factors fueling Canadians need for a vehicle, is the difference in the Country's public transportation system compared to other areas of the world like Europe, the United Kingdom and even parts of the United States such as New York, where the need for a vehicle is less of a necessity due to a much more robust public transportation system, so in those areas less people require a vehicle regardless of the close contact issue with other passengers. The weather also plays a large factor, with Canada experiencing tougher winter conditions in most of the Country, causing more people to aim for vehicle ownership as part of their daily lives.

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David St Germain, the Founder of DSG Auto says," I am happy to complete the sale of DSG Auto's Assets to Lead Depot. The Leadership at Lead Depot have a core focus on customer service to all dealerships and strong vision to help all Canadians with their vehicle finance needs through fully digital web platforms and in turn provide robust leads to all Car dealerships and Lenders in Canada." says David.

Lead Depot is now the new parent company to all DSG's previous assets, including but not limited to autofinance.ca, albertaautoclearance.com, getmeacar.ca, firstnationsfinancing.ca, firstnationsfinancing.net, canadacreditcompany.ca, canadacreditcompany.com and bcautofinance.ca. Lead Depot will be launching all these brands back into the Canadian market to help all Canadians apply for an Auto loan without the need for a Bank or Lender to physically sit or meet with the applicant.

The entire, simple step process will be digital through the acquired web platforms. Lead Depot's proprietary algorithms will then, in real time and within seconds, analyze the incoming application, and route it to a financer or dealership within its network, that will have the highest chance of success for that applicant to obtain a loan through, without any hassle or extensive paperwork. It is a process that has been proven highly popular in Canada especially during the pandemic, due to the fully digital and hassle-free process to apply. Companies competitive to Lead Depot, such as LendingArch, have thrived during the Pandemic offering online auto loans to consumers. This entire process will also be free to the consumer as they will not be charged a fee by Lead Depot on any of its platforms to apply. "We will not charge any application fees." says Chris McKenzie. "We are here to help you get a vehicle loan as fast as possible and get you driving and charging an application fee on any of our platforms is against our corporations core values of customer service, and customer affordability. We look forward to serving thousands of applicants through our acquisition of DSG Auto's web properties, for many years to come." Says Chris.

Lead Depot will also be increasing its focus on customer service to its dealerships and higher quality leads as it re-launches the newly acquired brands back into the Canadian marketplace for car dealerships nationwide.

About Lead Depot

Lead Depot is focused on the sale of vehicle finance and auto loan leads to car dealerships and lenders throughout Canada. Through its advertising to consumers, capturing applications and then routing the application to the best lender or dealership for that consumer, Lead Depot eliminates the need for an applicant to go physically into a dealership, bank, or lender, as everything will be done via its platform and over the phone, with dealerships offering fully sanitized delivery and trade ins, even more so now due to the Covid pandemic.

About DSG Auto

DSG Auto was established in 2010 and since then has serviced over 200,000 Canadians looking for an Auto Loan. DSG's network of dealerships spans over 1,000 locations in Canada. Lead Depot is now the new owner of the Assets of DSG Auto.

SOURCE Lead Depot Inc.

Cision

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<span class="legendSpanClass">Creators of Low Impact Training Add Seasoned Leader to Executive Team to Spearhead Expansion into Franchising</span>

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Backed by Marcy Venture Partners and five-time MLB All-Star Adrian Gonzalez, LIT Method , the wellness and tech company known for its innovative, high-intensity, Low Impact Training (LIT), announces the hiring of Mike Abramson as Chief Strategy Officer. The news comes on the heels of the brand's launch of its franchise opportunity  a first of its kind hybrid digital and physical experience set to reimagine the future of fitness franchising.

Lit Method Franchise (PRNewsfoto/LIT Method)

Abramson's more than two decades of senior leadership experience, combined with his passion and commitment to excellence in franchising, brings immense value to the LIT Method executive leadership team. With an aggressive growth goal of awarding 100 units over the next 12 months, Abramson will spearhead LIT's innovative expansion into the fitness franchise space.

"When we made the decision to create a whole new kind of franchise opportunity, we knew there wasn't a stronger candidate for this position," said Justin Norris, Co-Founder & CEO of LIT Method. "Mike has the proven track record with fitness franchise brands, and he consistently meets and exceeds goals. But more than that, he saw right away the unique opportunity we're trying to outline for entrepreneurs and the versatile experience we're introducing for clients. That's the kind of eye, determination, and alignment on vision we need in order to grow our brand through franchising."

Abramson's career spans both the entrepreneurial and corporate landscapes. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer for Xponential Fitness Inc. While acting as COO, Abramson served on the IPO steering committee, playing a pivotal role in taking Xponential Fitness public. Previously, Abramson served as President of D1 Training, where he led the franchise model from its founding, to receiving a strategic investment from Princeton Equity Group, to its solidification as one of the most successful franchised fitness brands in America.

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After 15 years plus in the fitness industry, Abramson has become a well-known and respected leader. "I've worked with Mike a lot over the years and when it comes to boutique fitness brand expansion, there's nobody better," said Fritz Lanman, CEO of ClassPass. "Mike knows what makes  and sustains  a legacy fitness brand. Franchising at scale requires a very granular understanding of how quickly the fitness world can change, and there's no one out there more adept at strategic leadership and more equipped to handle that kind of growth."

"As someone always looking to be at the cutting-edge of the fitness franchise space, I jumped at the opportunity to be part of a nationally recognized brand while being on the ground level of an emerging concept with tremendous potential," said Abramson. "I truly believe LIT Method will reimagine the future of fitness. No other fitness concept has LIT's hybrid studio and showroom model, and its proprietary Low Impact Strength Machine. I'm eager to use my experience to accelerate company-wide success to scale nationwide and to welcome franchise partners to the LIT family."

LIT Method began as a passion project by husband-and-wife founders Justin and Taylor Norris , which has evolved over the years while staying true to its steadfast promise to deliver results not injuries. The duo opened their first flagship studio in West Hollywood in 2017 and in May 2020, they formally launched the patent pending LIT Strength Machine  the world's first all-in-one Pilates reformer , water rower , and strength trainer. LIT's hybrid model offers multiple revenue streams in the form of virtual training , LIT Labs with direct-to-consumer products , and its brick-and-mortar group fitness program.

With investments from Marcy Venture Partners (MVP) and former Los Angeles Dodger and five-time MLB All-Star Adrian Gonzalez, franchisees will have the unique chance to get in on the ground level of a highly sought-after brand with a lucrative franchise opportunity.

LIT Method is looking to partner with qualified and engaged individuals seeking single and multi-unit opportunities and who are involved with their community, have a passion for fitness, and are hungry to dive into the world of franchising. LIT Method offers an affordable, highly scalable opportunity with strong profit-potential. Franchisees will enjoy the benefits of world-class training and ongoing support. Interested individuals can expect a total investment ranging from $200K- $500K, with discounts available for multi-unit signings. As International Franchise Association VetFran members, veteran franchisees who join the LIT Method team will receive a 15% discount off the initial franchise fee.

For more information on LIT Method and the franchise opportunity, please visit www.litmethodfranchise.com or call (800) 692-6894.

About LIT Method

Through its Los Angeles-based fitness studio, LIT On-Demand platform, and patent pending multifunctional LIT Strength Machine, LIT Method delivers a first of its kind, high-intensity, low impact strength training workout. Created by husband-and-wife duo, Justin and Taylor Norris, LIT is a combination of physical therapy, injury prevention, and personal training  and the LIT Strength Machine is an all-in-one water rower, Pilates reformer, and strength trainer. Known for delivering on its promise of 'no running, no jumping, and no weights,' the method is designed to build bodies, not break them. Learn more about LIT Method and its franchise opportunity at www.litmethodfranchise.com and follow LIT Method on Instagram @litmethod .

Cision

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SOURCE LIT Method
Jan. 30A man died in an Anchorage hospital Wednesday, days after he was punched outside a downtown bar, police said. A 21-year-old man has been charged in his death.

The Anchorage Safety Patrol was called to the Gaslight Lounge bar on West Fourth Avenue in the early hours of Jan. 22 for a report of an intoxicated person, according to charges signed by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Shorey. The bar is located directly across the street from police headquarters.

The patrol is dispatched by the Anchorage Fire Department Call Center in response to reports of people who appear to be incapacitated by alcohol or drugs in public, according to the municipality's website.

When safety patrol arrived around 3:20 a.m., 44-year-old Carl McGeary was sitting up and breathing, the charges said. Security staff from the bar told the safety patrol team that McGeary had been punched, Shorey wrote.

Safety patrol staff took McGeary to the Anchorage Safety Center, which is located next to the Anchorage Correctional Complex. The center is used as a place to monitor the sobering process, according to the city's website.

When they arrived at the safety center, staff found that McGeary was not responsive to stimuli, although he was still breathing, so they called for medical help, the charges said. McGeary was brought to Providence Alaska Medical Center, charges said.

Anchorage Safety Patrol vans are staffed with a state-certified emergency medical technician. It is not clear whether McGeary was evaluated for injuries related to the assault or how long he was unresponsive in the van before it arrived at the center. A spokesman from the city health department, which manages the patrol program, did not immediately respond to questions Friday.

McGeary's family made an online report to police. Officers responded Monday to the hospital, where they learned that McGeary was brain dead and would not recover from the injuries, the charges said.

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He died Wednesday at the hospital.

Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the Gaslight Lounge, and McGeary could be seen leaving the bar at 2:50 a.m., laughing and talking with another man outside the door before they began to push each other, according to charges.

A man standing in a nearby group outside the bar walked up to McGeary and punched him in the head, the charges said. McGeary had not had any other interaction with the man or other people he had been standing near, according to the court document.

"McGeary immediately falls to ground and his head strikes the pavement violently," Shorey wrote. The man who punched him remained in front of the bar and "at one point, raises his arms in a victory celebration and dances in a circle," the charges said.

Neither bar employees nor witnesses called 911 to request police or medics, the charges said.

A bar employee named 21-year-old George Murfitt as the man who may have assaulted McGeary, the charges said.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Murfitt's army barracks, and clothing matching what the man was seen wearing in the surveillance video was taken from his barracks, according to the charges. Murfitt is a private first class in the U.S. Army and is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Shorey wrote.

Police interviewed him at the department headquarters on Thursday. The charges said he admitted to being at the bar and punching McGeary.

Murfitt was arrested on a charge of manslaughter and is being held at the Anchorage Correctional Center. He did not appear in court Friday but was rescheduled for an arraignment on Saturday.

McGeary's death came as a shock to his friends and family, according to an online fundraiser and memorial that describes him as "the most amazing father, brother, friend and human."

A spokeswoman for the police department would not answer questions about McGeary's death Friday.

[Correction: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect spelling of McGeary.]
TheStreet.com

From our laptops and video game consoles to medical devices and even our cars, chips power much of what we use regularly, from the ways we work and travel to the ways we enjoy leisure time. The global chip shortage picked up steam in the first year of the pandemic and snowballed when China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) was hit with restrictions from the U.S. Department of Commerce during conflict between China and the U.S. Since then, people have either joined long waiting lists in hopes of eventually buying the items they want, or turned to the secondhand market to buy new cars and electronics, many of them marked up far above their market value.
Technip Energies, a leading engineering and technology company for the energy transition, has acquired a 16.3% stake in X1 Wind, a renewable energy startup, and become the lead investor in this funding round.

The startup has designed an innovative and disruptive offshore wind turbine floater with major environmental and operational benefits.

This strategic investment is supplemented by an operational agreement whereby Technip Energies will support X1 Winds management through its participation in joint technical and commercialisation committees and bring its engineering capabilities, offshore project execution and industrialisation know-how to carry the X1 Wind concept to commercial application, with the aim to include the pioneering technology in Technip Energies floating offshore wind (FOW) offering.

The X1 Wind FOW concept is based on a Tension Leg Platform (TLP) mooring, with a weathervaning system and a downwind turbine. The design allows for a lighter floater design with a significantly reduced steel requirement and for a more efficient and restricted mooring system minimising the impact on seabed. It is scalable for turbines of 15+ MW, facilitating cost-effective deployment for large-scale offshore wind farms. Technip Energies and X1 Wind will collaborate on the development of the first commercial-scale demonstrator, as well as the related industrialisation and commercialisation plans of the technology.

Technip Energies, which also counts with the participation of the European Commission-owned European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, advised by the European Investment Bank (EIB), and some of X1 Winds previous shareholders. Under the terms of the agreement, Technip Energies will hold two of the nine seats on X1 Winds Board of Directors.

Willy Gauttier, Technip Energies Vice President for Floating Offshore Wind, commented: With this investment and collaboration, Technip Energies demonstrates that it is not only addressing todays floating offshore wind market with its current semi-submersible technology, it is also preparing the future with this promising design to become the leader of the next generation of floaters. Thanks to our offshore project execution and experience in developing technical concepts all the way to commercialisation, we are confident that X1 Wind will be a great addition to Technip Energies portfolio of technology solutions in the near future.

Alex Raventos, Co-founder and CEO of X1 Wind, said: Our innovation capacity and disruptive light-weight technology, coupled with Technip Energies decades of experience in the offshore sector and proven track-record implementing the first floating wind projects, brings a perfect alliance to develop the next generation of floating wind technology, necessary to lower the costs of the floating wind sector to meet the ambitious targets and contribute to a carbon neutral but competitive energy mix.-- TradeArabia News Service
Each week, well offer insights into new businesses, developments and closings in the area. And well answer your questions about whats happening in a vacant store or empty lot. Email us at wpotter@theadvertiser.com.

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is partnering with groups in Vermilion Parish to host Accelerate Vermilion  part of an 18-month initiative to promote economic development across Acadiana.

UL's Louisiana Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center will work with the Vermilion Economic Development Alliance and the Nehemiah Projects of Acadiana to lead the three-week Accelerate Vermilion program, which will help new business owners grow their businesses in Vermilion Parish.

More: UL Leed Center, Evangeline Chamber partnering to help entrepreneurs with new program

More: North Lafayette arts resource center aims to be help artists showcase their talents

Accelerate Vermilion is an opportunity for anyone dreaming of starting a business or anyone wishing to improve their current small business to engage in three sessions that are designed to help entrepreneurs grow," said Geoffrey Stewart, the director of the LEED Center and the Moody Company/BORSF Endowed Chair in Regional Business Development.

"Working with Anne Falgout at the Vermilion Economic Development Alliance and Kenneth Campbell at The Nehemiah Projects of Acadiana Inc. will help to build a program that is sustainable and one that lasts beyond the scope of this grant. Finally, entrepreneurship is about empowerment, and it is an honor to collaborate with citizens and community leaders that are seeking to build economy, jobs, and momentum through the growth of new businesses," Stewart said.

Accelerate Vermilion will include workshops on three consecutive Wednesdays on Feb. 9, 16 and 23. The workshops include topics like business planning, financial resources and support, and marketing. The events will be at the Abbeville Event Center, located at 1907 Veterans Memorial Drive in Abbeville.

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The program costs $450, but scholarships of up to $425 are available. For more information, go to business.louisiana.edu/leed/acceleratevermilion.

Moncus Park soon playing host to food trucks

Food Truck Fridays have begun at Moncus Park.

Vendors will be at the park every Friday in February and will highlight local Black entrepreneurs in honor of Black History Month, according to the park's Facebook post.

More: Food truck Fridays are coming to Lafayette's Moncus Park. See which trucks will be there.

The trucks will be set up on the festival lawn, which is near the parking lot, 2913 Johnston Street.

The vendors are as follows:

Feb. 11, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Nina Creole, a creole food truck

Feb. 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. AwwShucks. a seafood food truck

Feb. 25, 5-7 p.m. C'est Bon Manager, a creole and soul food truck

Former Dat Dog to be new restaurant and bar

The former Dat Dog in Downtown Lafayette was purchased by a group of investors headed by Ravi Daggula to bring a new restaurant and bar to the space, the Downtown Development Authority said in a newsletter.

The building is at 201 Jefferson Street.

Ochsner receives permit for medical center construction

The Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center received a permit last week for renovations totaling more than $6.4 million, records from Lafayette Consolidated Government show.

No details were included on LCG's permit website, but the medical center is slated for numerous updates and renovations as part of its sale to the Ochsner Health System.

Ochsner opens Crowley clinic

Ochsner Lafayette General opened a new family medicine clinic in Crowley in late January, providing full family care services to Crowley and the surrounding area.

The Ochsner Acadia General Health Center  Crowley is a 4,007 square-foot facility located at 1325 Wright Avenue.

The services offered at the clinic include pediatric wellness visits and vaccinations, work/sports physicals, preventive care visits, diabetic care, contraceptive counseling, womens health services, hypertension management/care, and Flu/Strep/COVID/RSV testing, vaccinations and treatment.

Continuing our mission and commitment of bringing exceptional care closer to home, this new facility will help us further our goal of providing more robust healthcare services to the community and the people in and around Crowley, said Joseph Mitchell, CEO of Ochsner Acadia General Hospital.

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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Moncus Park launches 'Food Truck Fridays'; UL starts Accelerate Vermilion
Short answer: No.

In January, several news outlets reported frightening news: a shortage of Girl Scout cookies! But A.) its been solved, and B.) it was never going to affect all of North Carolina anyway.

The explanation sheds light on the Girl Scout cookie program's deepest, darkest-chocolate mystery.

What was the problem?

Girl Scouts of the USA doesnt bake box after box of cookies. It has commercial bakers do that. At the start of this cookie season, Little Brownie Bakers projected that it would not be able to meet demand for a small percentage of [orders for] one cookie, which is Adventurefuls, due to a labor shortage, Girl Scouts of the USA spokeswoman Kelly Parisi said Jan. 26. At that point, Little Brownie limited orders of Adventurefuls.

But! The key thing you need to know is that two different companies bake Girl Scout cookies: Little Brownie and ABC Bakers.

The 'weakest link in the supply chain': Thieves looting Los Angeles trains like the Wild West

There is no geographical logic to which Girl Scout council uses which baker. Little Brownie serves much of greater Charlotte plus a few counties in the northeast. The rest of the state uses ABC. Which not only never had an Adventurefuls shortage but stepped in to help Little Brownie meet that gap, Parisi said.

We have plenty of Adventurefuls, Girl Scouts of the Coastal Pines communications chief Yolanda Tate confirmed. No shortages.

That said, the demands for Adventurefuls have exceeded all expectations, Parisi said. Its a chocolate-brownie base with a salted-caramel schmear. So there may be timing issues that impact availability and given popularity of cookie, limits on reorders.

If there are no shortages, why cant I find Samoas?

Because the two bakers have different cookie names, recipes and in fact lineups. You can tell at a glance which baker youve got because the Little Brownie names are more fanciful  Tagalongs as opposed to Peanut Butter Patties, Do-Si-Dos vs. Peanut Butter Sandwich, Samoas not Caramel deLites.

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The cookies inside the box have subtle and not-so-subtle variations. The Los Angeles Times did side-by-side taste tests that make compelling reading if youre that sort of person, which obviously your reporter is.

For instance, the paper of western record says that ABCs Shortbread cookie is noticeably superior to the [Little Brownie] Trefoil  crispy and light, not exactly buttery but milky, and with a slight saltiness to contrast with the sugar.

Finally, though both bakers offer the core lineup of six--Thin Mints, the trefoil shortbread, the coconut/chocolate ring, the two peanut butter cookies and the new Adventurefuls  the rest of the offerings vary. ABC offers a French toast cookie, a lemon cookie and a gluten-free caramel chocolate-chip. Little Brownie offers a different lemon cookie, a smore and a gluten-free toffee.

A cookie and a cause: How Girl Scout Cookies went from cafeteria treat to national treasure

I live in Cumberland County but I want those Smores.

You can have them! You can order online across local Girl Scout council lines.

Its not something thats against Girl Scout cookie law or anything, said Tate, who likes to support family around the country. Order Little Brownie cookies here or ABC Cookies here.

Will there be Girl Scout cookie tables this year?

More than last year, when health guidelines limited the usual public sale tables. So did the drop-off in membership that happened when schools and troops went virtual, Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida member experiences director Kelly McGraw said in mid-2021. Membership is rebounding strongly, Parisi said.

The Girl Scout Cookie Finder app and website lists table times and locations.

I can't handle delayed gratification.

Like many other food companies, the Girl Scout cookie initiative has pivoted to Doordash. Along with a possible benefit for sales, it feeds the educational goal of the Girl Scout cookie program, which is to teach girls business. It is the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world, the Coastal Pines website says.

Using Doordash gives girls this extra digital skill set  that e-commerce aspect, Tate said  tracking and fulfilling orders, managing inventory. We use our innovation to get the cookies out to people. Because they are still so popular. So popular.

Her current favorite? Adventurefuls.

Danielle Dreilinger is a North Carolina storytelling reporter and author of the book The Secret History of Home Economics. For the first time in her life, she is living in an ABC Bakers zone. Contact her at 919-236-3141 or ddreilinger@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC Answers: Girl Scout Cookie shortage in North Carolina?
Silver Award Recognizes Olympus' Contributions to State Economy

WESTBOROUGH, Mass., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Olympus Corporation of the Americas announced today it has been named the winner of a Silver Massachusetts Economic Impact Award for the Central region by MassEcon. The award recognizes Olympus' contribution to economic development in the state through its recent investment in a new $45M state-of-the-art facility in Westborough, Mass., which is serving as a hub of medical technology innovation for Olympus.

Olympus is the winner of a Silver Massachusetts Economic Impact Award by MassEcon. The award recognizes Olympus contribution to economic development in the state through its recent investment in a new $45M state-of-the-art facility in Westborough, Mass, which is serving as a hub of medical technology innovation for Olympus.

The Silver MassEcon Award recognizes Olympus' contributions to the economy in Massachusetts.

"We are thrilled to be recognized as an employer that has made significant investment in the Massachusetts health science sector, and we are grateful to the Town of Westborough for nominating Olympus," said Richard Reynolds, President of the Medical Systems Group at Olympus America, Inc. "The expansion of our medical business in Massachusetts furthers our ability to support physicians in diagnosing and treating diseases and disorders, such as colorectal cancer. With this new investment, we also deepen our impact throughout the state as we further our connections and collaborations with health care and community partners."

Olympus is among 14 award-winning companies that will be honored at a dinner being held Thursday, April 7, 2022, at the Gillette Stadium Putnam Club in Foxboro, Mass. Winning companies were selected for their outstanding contributions to the Massachusetts economy, which included establishing new operations in Massachusetts or expanding existing operations.

Company expansion projects represented in this year's Economic Impact Award include a financial investment over $3.9 billion, 1.375 million in additional square feet of facilities, and approximately 975 new jobs in Massachusetts. Other factors considered in the evaluation were social impact through community involvement/philanthropic efforts and equity, diversity, and inclusion practices.

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"The commitment of these companies to innovate, invest and grow in Massachusetts is emblematic of the broader vitality of our economy and the workforce that drives it," said Peter Abair, Executive Director of MassEcon. "We are incredibly honored to recognize these companies and their achievements."

The 150,000-square-foot Olympus facility located at 800 West Park Drive in Westborough, Mass., will enable coordinated and agile management processes to support a global medical technology enterprise. Olympus has taken a conservative approach to the company's return to the office plans with a primary focus on employee safety and wellbeing. With the successful continuation of business operations done virtually, the company has implemented a hybrid scheduling option for all office-based employees once the company determines it is safe to fully reopen facilities.

With this new campus and recent announcements about the company's new medical business direction, Olympus expects that there will be positions opening at Westborough. Job listings can be found at https://careers.olympusamerica.com

About Olympus

Olympus is passionate about creating customer-driven solutions for the medical, life sciences, and industrial equipment industries. For more than 100 years, Olympus has focused on making people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling by helping to detect, prevent, and treat disease; furthering scientific research; and ensuring public safety. Olympus is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with more than 35,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries and regions.

Olympus Corporation of the Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Olympus Corporation, is headquartered in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USA, and employs more than 5,500 employees throughout locations in North and South America. For more information, visit www.olympusamerica.com.

About MassEcon

MassEcon's mission is to promote and champion Massachusetts as the best place to start, grow and locate a business. Built upon a robust network of corporate and civic members, MassEcon convenes public and private sector leaders of industry to create an inclusive business ecosystem that enhances job growth across a diverse talent pool; promotes investment in all communities; expands equitable opportunities throughout the Commonwealth.

(PRNewsfoto/Olympus Medical Systems Group)

Cision

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SOURCE Olympus
To provide our community with important public safety information, the Statesman Journal is making this daily update related to the coronavirus free to read.

We'll update this story with the latest news about coronavirus and its effects in Oregon on Monday, Feb. 7.

Oregon to lift school, indoor mask requirements by March 31

Oregon will remove general mask requirements for indoor public places no later than March 31, state health officials announced Monday.

Mask requirements for schools will be lifted on March 31.

Scientists project that 400 or fewer Oregonians will be hospitalized with COVID-19 by late March, the Oregon Health Authority said. Thats the level of hospitalization the state experienced before the Omicron wave.

More: Long-term care facilities have had three or more outbreaks of COVID-19

To date, COVID-19 hospitalizations have not topped the 1,178 high point of the Delta surge, despite initial projections that warned Omicron hospitalizations could more than double Deltas zenith.

Mask requirements need to remain in place for now, however, because COVID-19 hospitalizations remain high and the states health care system is under strain, health officials said.

Over the past week, the average number of newly diagnosed cases has dropped about 40% in Oregon. At the same time, hospitalizations, which are a lagging indicator, have remained above 1,000 people per day.

Oregons high number of COVID-19 hospitalizations comes at a time when state health officials have mobilized an unprecedented response to prevent Oregons health care system from buckling.

More: COVID-19 infected deer could pose health risk to humans

The Oregon National Guard has mobilized 1,300 Reserve National Guard members to help staff hospitals. The state has contracted to bring in more than 1,179 nurses and other medical staff from out of state to help treat the high numbers of severely ill patients.

Current models show hospitalizations peaking at 1,169 and then beginning to decline throughout February and March as infections slow.

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However, health officials cautioned that the states emergence from the Omicron surge depends on Oregonians sustaining effective prevention measures in coming weeks.

Were likely to see as many cases on the way down from the Omicron peak as we saw on the way up. That means we need to keep taking steps to prevent more hospitalizations and deaths, state epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger said.

Also on Monday, OHA filed a permanent rule requiring masks indoors in public places. The filing was the only way to extend the temporary mask rule past its Feb. 8 expiration date. Officials will lift the rule March 31, or earlier if hospitalizations decline sooner than expected.

Oregon reports 7,928 new COVID-19 cases, 30 new deaths

Oregon has reported 7,928 new cases of COVID-19, and 30 new deaths over the weekend.

That brings the states cumulative case count to 662,250, and the death toll to 6,244, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

The state recorded 4,053 cases on Friday, 2,047 cases on Saturday, and 1,828 cases on Sunday.

Marion County reported 774 new cases, while Polk County reported 213 new cases.

Other counties new cases were: Baker (22), Benton (242), Clackamas (652), Clatsop (63), Columbia (104), Coos (110), Crook (89), Curry (42), Deschutes (561), Douglas (178), Gilliam (1), Harney (7), Hood River (22), Jackson (416), Jefferson (97), Josephine (133), Klamath (178), Lake (2), Lane (776), Lincoln (110), Linn (384), Malheur (43), Morrow (13), Multnomah (1216), Sherman (1), Tillamook (34), Umatilla (98), Union (22), Wallowa (12), Wasco (35), Washington (1088) and Yamhill (190).

There were 1,072 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 Monday, which is one fewer than on Sunday. Of those, 197 were in intensive care.

Oregon has administered an average of 7,890 COVID-19 vaccine doses per day over the past week.

As of Monday, 2.8 million people in Oregon had completed a vaccine series, and 300,054 had received at least one dose.

OHA did not release details Monday of the 30 new deaths.

COVID-19 patients at Salem Health

Coronavirus patient numbers at Salem Health on Monday, Feb. 7:

105: Total COVID-19 inpatients, 62% unvaccinated.

13: COVID-19 patients in the ICU.

4: COVID-19 patients on a ventilator.

Latest COVID-19 by the numbers statewide

Here's the most recent data from the Oregon Health Authority, as of Monday, Feb. 7

6,244: People who have died from COVID-19.

662,250: Total cases of COVID-19.

1,072: COVID-19 patients in hospitals.

Oregon COVID-19 cases by county

Here are the number of cases, both tested positive and presumptive, and deaths as of Monday, Feb. 7:

Baker: 3,061 cases, 42 deaths.

Benton: 13,829 cases, 55 deaths.

Clackamas: 56,665 cases, 490 deaths.

Clatsop: 4,293 cases, 38 deaths.

Columbia: 6,996 cases, 72 deaths.

Coos: 9,903 cases, 132 deaths.

Crook: 5,658 cases, 64 deaths.

Curry: 3,009 cases, 43 deaths.

Deschutes: 43,445 cases, 234 deaths.

Douglas: 18,401 cases, 342 deaths.

Gilliam: 265 cases, 4 deaths.

Grant: 1,506 cases, 18 deaths.

Harney: 1,498 cases, 36 deaths.

Hood River: 3,302 cases, 41 deaths.

Jackson: 39,831 cases, 443 deaths.

Jefferson: 6,852 cases, 73 deaths.

Josephine: 15,029 cases, 305 deaths.

Klamath: 13,311 cases, 183 deaths.

Lake: 1,287 cases, 23 deaths.

Lane: 52,905 cases, 424 deaths.

Lincoln: 6,433 cases, 65 deaths.

Linn: 24,569 cases, 222 deaths.

Malheur: 7,928 cases, 100 deaths.

Marion: 65,499 cases, 602 deaths.

Morrow: 2,886 cases, 26 deaths.

Multnomah: 106,231 cases, 991 deaths.

Polk: 14,272 cases, 117 deaths.

Sherman: 296 cases, 3 deaths.

Tillamook: 3,401 cases, 55 deaths.

Umatilla: 21,672 cases, 194 deaths.

Union: 4,791 cases, 70 deaths.

Wallowa: 1,176 cases, 14 deaths.

Wasco: 4,798 cases, 53 deaths.

Washington: 80,277 cases, 483 deaths.

Wheeler: 207 cases, 3 deaths.

Yamhill: 16,768 cases, 184 deaths.

Source: Oregon Health Authority

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon COVID-19 updates: Mask requirements to be lifted by March 31
The Carolina Panthers dont necessarily need a defensive lineman like they need an offensive one. But would they really pass on what could be the top prize of 2022 NFL draft class?

Pro Football Focus college analyst Seth Galina seems to think so, as he has University of Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux slipping right by the Panthers sixth overall selection. Instead of opting for the No. 2-ranked player on PFFs big board, Galina hooks Carolina up with North Carolina State University offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu in his new mock draft.

Some believe that Ekwonu is the best tackle prospect in the draft, so the Panthers would be wise to select him at sixth overall, he writes. Hes a mauler in the run game but still has some kinks to work out in pass protection. However, if Carolina wants to get the best out of whoever is starts at quarterback, finding a franchise tackle is key.

Spending that pick on any of the premier hog mollies of this group would, obviously, be a wise investment. Save for Taylor Motons right tackle spot, there are no guarantees along that feeble Panthers front for next season.

Leaving Thibodeaux in the green room, though, may not be too slickespecially if the teams leading pass rusher in Haason Reddick bolts in free agency. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Duck posted 35.5 sacks over his 30 games for Oregon, proving to be an absolute terror on tape and in the stat sheet.

Often times, free agency is there to fill needs and the draft is there to simply add the best talent available. And Thibodeauxwho fell past a total of seven teams in this particular projectionis certainly one of, if not the, best talent coming up from the college ranks.

Related

QB Malik Willis named one of 2022 Senior Bowl's 'biggest winners' Haason Reddick named Panthers' 'unsung hero' of 2021 season

List
Venture Capitalist Peter Thiel in his offices at the Presidio in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. Thiel, who cofounded PayPal with Max Levchin and Elon Musk recently released a book called Zero to One, a how-to for building startups. (John Green/ Bay Area News Group)(Digital First Media Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images) (MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Peter Thiel is leaving the board of Meta, more than 16 years after becoming one of Facebook's earliest investors. In a statement, Mark Zuckerberg said that we've always known that at some point he would devote his time to other interests. The New York Times reported that those interests include influencing the upcoming November midterm elections and "backing candidates who support the agenda of former president Donald J. Trump."

Peter has been a valuable member of our board and I'm deeply grateful for everything he has done for our company  from believing in us when few others would, to teaching me so many lessons about business, economics, and the world, Zuckerberg said in a statement. Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions.

Thiel has advised Zuckerberg from the earliest days of Facebook. He joined the board of the social media company in 2005 after investing $500,000 in the fledgling social network. In a statement, he called Zuckerberg "one of the great entrepreneurs of our time."

The billionaire is also one of the more controversial members of Metas board. After cofounding PayPal, he started Palantir Technologies, a secretive data mining and analytics company that contracts with numerous government agencies. Thiels venture capital firm, Founders Fund, was also an investor in Oculus founder Palmer Luckeys virtual border wall startup. He also funded the multimillion-dollar lawsuit that resulted in the 2016 bankruptcy of Gawker Media.

Most controversially for Facebook and Zuckerberg, Thiel was an early supporter of Trump, and was at a White House dinner in 2019 when Zuckerberg reportedly came to an understanding with the presidents team that Facebook would not fact check the president. Critics have long questioned Thiels position on Metas board of directors given his close ties to Trump, but Zuckerberg has always defended him. In 2016, Zuckerberg told employees it was an issue of diversity and standing up for the rights of people with different viewpoints. (Notably, not every company insider agreed with Zuckerberg. Netflix CEO and one-time Facebook board member Reed Hastings reportedly told Thiel his support of Trump showed catastrophically bad judgment.)
YORK, Maine  Two community members will have a say in determining who will lead the York Police Department as the next chief of police.

During a Board of Selectmen meeting Monday, Feb. 7, Assistant Town Manager Kathryn Lagasse outlined a process for how the town will hire the new police chief.

Every member of the select board voiced approval of the process, which includes an outside consultant and an appointed committee to interview candidates.

Over the next few weeks, the town will work with New Hampshirebased Municipal Resources Inc. to help with the administrative portion of the hiring process. The company will help the search committee, which is tasked to interview police chief candidates and make a final recommendation to the board.

Two community members will have a say in determining who will lead the York Police Department as the next Chief of Police.

The search committee will consist of Town Manager Steve Burns, two representatives from the Board of Selectmen, two citizen representatives and three town employees, including one member of the police department.

Unlike the last time York hired a new police chief, applicants from outside YPD will be considered for the role.

'More transparency': Outside applicants to be considered for York police chief job

Board of Selectmen Vice-Chair Robert Palmer said Monday this process is the right path for the town.

I'm glad we're doing a search with a consultant to help us through that process, Palmer said.

Board members Michael Estes and Marilyn McLaughlin agreed with Palmer.

"I think that its important  to let them (members of the public) see that  they can become a part of this, and they can actively participate in choosing who their next police chief should be, McLaughlin said.

Lagasse said community members who are interested in helping to vet police chief applicants should submit their own applications as soon as possible. There is a general application form for board membership posted on the town manager page of the town website.

The towns board, committees and commissions application for membership will be updated online for people to fill out and return to Diana Janetos, assistant to the town manager.

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Board of Selectmen Chair Todd Frederick said board members will likely interview community members for the committee during a Feb. 28 board meeting.

Different process from last time

Burns said the hiring process was completed internally when former YPD Chief Charles Szeniawski was hired in 2019. Szeniawski announced his retirement in September after spending nearly two and a half months on paid administrative leave. Burns has declined to comment on his reasons for placing Szeniawski on leave, citing a need for confidentiality.

Szeniawski received a $50,000 payout under the terms of a severance agreement with the town. The agreement set limits on what Szeniawski and town officials can say about each other and prohibits Szeniawski and the town from disclosing or discussing the agreement to anyone else, unless required by law. The town released the agreement to The York Weekly in response to a public records request under the Maine Freedom of Access Act.

In this file photo, York Police Chief Charles Szeniawski presents an update March 9, 2020, about local preparations to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Szeniawski was placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday, July 21, 2021, for reasons that had not been made public nearly a week later.

Burns named Owen Davis as acting police chief to lead YPD since Szeniawski's leave began. If he wants to pursue the permanent position, Davis will have to apply for the job like anyone else, Burns said.

I think Owen is a great candidate for the position  he's going to have to compete for it, Burns said.

Although Burns has authority under the town charter to decide what the hiring process looks like, the board ultimately needs to affirm all department heads.

How police chief applicants will be screened

Lagasse said when the police chief job is posted online, applicants will have three to four weeks to apply. Municipal Resources will create the job description and advertisement.

Before the committee chooses the top 10 or 12 candidates for an initial round of interviews, Municipal Resources will screen and remove applications that do not meet the positions minimum qualifications, Lagasse said.

Once interviews are complete with candidates, the committee will have two or three days to narrow down a handful of applicants to interview again. The committee will then make a recommendation to the town manager.

Last month, Burns said the position may be filled in April, though that timeline is optimistic.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York ME police chief search will seek input from 2 community members
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- QurAlis Corporation, a biotech company developing breakthrough precision medicines for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets, today announced an expansion of its leadership team to strengthen expertise in regulatory affairs, clinical affairs and operations, and global supply management. Bryan Boggs, Pharm.D., RAC, has been appointed as head of regulatory affairs; Christopher Gerry Lohan (Gerry) has been appointed head of clinical operations; and Guzide Adhikari has been named head of global supply chain management.

QurAlis Corporation logo (PRNewsfoto/QurAlis)

"As we position QurAlis for our next phase of growth and value creation, we are thrilled to announce the addition of such experienced leaders as Bryan, Gerry, and Guzide in key competencies  regulatory affairs, clinical operations, and global supply chain management," said Kasper Roet, Ph.D., CEO of QurAlis. "With their combined breadth of expertise within these central functions, they will play a critical role as we advance our deep pipeline of novel therapeutics for ALS and beyond to help patients desperately in need of treatment options."

Dr. Boggs has extensive experience in U.S. and international regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, project management, and clinical strategy across the clinical and regulatory spectrum - from preclinical through late-stage. He joins QurAlis from Eli Lilly and Company where he spent 30 years in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as director, global regulatory and pharmacovigilance. In this position, Dr. Boggs oversaw strategic regulatory direction, quality oversight, and processes for regulatory initiatives outside of the U.S. during a three-year assignment in Germany. During his tenure at Eli Lilly, Dr. Boggs was responsible for leading project teams in both early and late-phase drug development including new drug applications in diabetes, depression, and chronic pain. He has contributed to dozens of other global regulatory filings and agency interactions, three of which led to successful drug registrations. He earned his doctor of pharmacy from Purdue University and a B.S. in biology from Indiana University.

Mr. Lohan brings more than 20 years of clinical research experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries with expertise in U.S. and global clinical drug and device trials from Phase 1 through Phase IV. Immediately before joining QurAlis, he was senior director of clinical operations for Editas Medicine where he was responsible for the clinical operations management and execution of the company's in vivo rare disease clinical programs. Prior to his tenure at Editas, he held positions of increasing responsibility within clinical affairs and operations at Avedro, Inc., scPharmaceuticals Inc., Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Medtronic, and Boston Scientific. He started his career as a clinical research associate at Wyeth Research. Mr. Lohan holds a master's in regulatory affairs and a B.S. in health science from Northeastern University, and a project management certificate from Worchester Polytechnic Institute.

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Ms. Adhikari has more than 15 years of commercial and clinical supply chain experience in planning, logistics, and technical operations at global pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies. Prior to joining QurAlis, she was senior director, supply chain management at Translate Bio, a Sanofi company, where she established and led a new supply chain team responsible for planning and overseeing external development, manufacturing, procurement, and distribution of raw materials. Previously, she was at Takeda where she spent 10 years in roles of increasing responsibility within the company's global supply chain management organization. Ms. Adhikari holds a M.S. in operations research from Northeastern University and a B.S. in industrial engineering from Dokuz Eylul University (Turkey).

About QurAlis Corporation

QurAlis is trailblazing the path to conquering amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets with next-generation precision medicines. QurAlis' proprietary platforms and unique biomarkers enable the design and development of drugs that act directly on disease-causing genetic alterations. Founded by an internationally recognized team of neurodegenerative biologists from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, QurAlis is advancing a deep pipeline of antisense oligonucleotides and small molecule programs including addressing sub-forms of ALS that account for the majority of ALS patients. For more information, please visit www.quralis.com or follow us on Twitter @QurAlisCo.

Cision

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SOURCE QurAlis
A red plastic chair stamped with "Assembly Hall" surfaced this week on a Bloomington online yard sale group. The seller commented that they raised the price from $10 to $75 after family members told her it was worth more.

A family member, the seller wrote, worked at Assembly Hall, and he claimed it was the iconic chair Bob Knight threw across the court in 1985 during a game against Purdue.

2019: It looks as if Bob Knight is moving back to Bloomington

The image online certainly seems to be one of 100 red molded plastic chairs IU bought in 1971 to serve as team benches. But only one flew through the air at that game.

A screenshot shows an Assembly Hall chair for sale on a Facebook garage sale group for the Bloomington area.

It's not the first time someone has claimed ownership of the legendary chair.

"So many people over the years have mentioned it to me on emails or on Facebook: 'I have the chair,'" Indiana University Facilities Director Chuck Crabb told IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel in 2015.

More: Chuck Crabb, voice of Assembly Hall, retires after 45 years on the mic for IU basketball

At the time, Crabb had a stack of 13 of the red chairs in the depths of Assembly Hall.

There's another one signed by Knight for a former IU student. It sold at a charity auction for $8,000.

Commenters denied that the seller's chair is the right one, saying it's not worth the listing price. There's no way of knowing if it's actually the one Knight threw  but there's a 1 in 100 chance it is.

More: Knight makes long-awaited return to Assembly Hall

A replica of the chair that Bob Knight threw is a theme heavily used throughout the hallways and grand staircase going to the Jack and Diane Terrace at the Graduate Hotel on East Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Did Bob Knight throw the red Assembly Hall chair listed for sale?
FILE PHOTO: Gas pipelines are pictured at the Atamanskaya compressor station, part of Gazprom's Power Of Siberia project outside the far eastern town of Svobodny

By Oksana Kobzeva and Olesya Astakhova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian gas giant Gazprom may tap a field hit by U.S. sanctions off the Pacific island of Sakhalin to provide China with gas under a recently signed deal, sources and analysts said on Tuesday.

Russia, already Beijing's No. 3 gas supplier, has been strengthening ties with China, the world's biggest energy consumer, reducing its dependence on its traditional European energy customers amid a standoff with the West.

President Vladimir Putin announced new gas supply deal with China on Friday, which would boost gas exports from Russia's far east where the pipeline network is not connected to traditional routes of its fuel exports to Europe.

Gazprom said it signed a long-term sales and purchase agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for natural gas to be supplied via a far eastern route.

As the project reaches its full capacity, the amount of Russian pipeline gas supplies to China would grow by 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, totalling 48 bcm per year, including supplies via the existing Power of Siberia pipeline.

Gazprom has not revealed the source base for the new deal. The company and CNPC have not responded to a request for comment.

Two sources said gas may come from the fields off Sakhalin, including the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye, which Washington put under sanctions in 2015 for Moscow's role in the crisis in Ukraine.

The field, part of the Kirinsky block in the Sea of Okhotsk, also contains oil, while sanctions are related to exploration for or production of, oil or gas in Russian deepwaters.

The sanctions prevent foreign companies from tapping hydrocarbons at such fields, and the possible gas exports from Yuzhno-Kirinskoye may show that Russia has learned how to get around the sanctions.

Moscow-based Sova Capital brokerage said gas for the deal could come from the Kirinskoye field "or more likely the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye field, which should launch in 2023 or 2024".

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According to Gazprom's data, Yuzhno-Kirinskoye's reserves amount to 711.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas, 111.5 million tonnes of gas condensate and 4.1 million tonnes of oil. Production is seen there at 21 bcm per year.

"This will be Yuzhno-Kirinskoye, no doubt about that," a source said about the gas source for the new deal with China.

Gazprom said on its website that "Yuzhno-Kirinskoye is in the process of pre-development, with geological exploration completed within the boundaries of the field."

It has also said the company had been constructing production wells at the field using semi-submersible drilling rigs and it expected to put it on stream gradually in the period from 2023 through 2025.

Sakhalin-1 project is expected to begin LNG production in 2028.

Gazprom's own LNG plant on the region, Sakhalin-2, has not enough resources of gas to raise production and set up a third production line.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Oksana Kobzeva and Olesya Astakhova in Moscow; additional reporting by Chen Aizhu in Singapore; editing by David Evans)
From left to right, Ilse Cruz, Marisol Esteban, Collier County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Jim Spartz, and Meals of Hope CEO Stephen Popper pack meals for Meals of Hope at Grace Place in Golden Gate on Wednesday, June 17, 2020.

Some in Naples might find it difficult to contemplate that hunger is a genuine issue in this affluent community.

But it is, according to people whose work and passion are focused on ensuringthat all residents of Southwest Florida have enough to eat.

The need is great, said Stephen Popper, president and CEO of Meals of Hope, a nonprofit that runs the regions largest food pantry and whose mission is to feed the communitys hungry and to eventually eradicate hunger from the area.

More: Celebrities step up for Fort Myers kids charity: Ziggy Marley, Rosanne Cash and many more

AND: Naples gala raises more than $1 million

Unfortunately, people dont realize how pervasive hunger is in our community.

Thats why this years Satisfy the Hunger food drive is so important for the area. The need is greater than ever, advocates say.

The 2021 campaign, which is sponsored by the Naples Daily News, runs from April 5 through May 7. Donations can be made at bit.ly/2OnsXt5.

This year we are continuing to face the challenges of the pandemic, so any contributions we can get from any source is greatly appreciated, said Popper.

Additional funding coming in will allow us to open up hopefully additional pantries this year. The funding will allow us to feed upwards of 4,000 a week.

Naples Daily News workers sort more than 7,000 pounds of food collected during a prior year's Satisfy The Hunger campaign. This year, due to the pandemic, the campaign is targeting strictly monetary donations to feed the hungry.

Unlike in years prior to 2020, when actual food contributions were sought, the 2021 Satisfy the Hunger effort is targeted strictly on raising monetary donations to purchase food for the hungry.

Food drop off venues and a food collection bus from years past have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. So have theme weeks when contributors were asked to donate certain specific items.

The objective is to raise funds to purchase food for the shelves of participating organizations (see list below) whose whose responsibilities include feeding the regions hungry. Last years Satisfy the Hunger food drive raised $170,000.

Satisfy the Hunger

Meals of Hope, like other participating nonprofits, provides food for those families in the community who having trouble putting adequate and health food on their tables.

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Every week Meals of Hope puts together a weeks worth of food for its clients that includes items like frozen meat, fresh produce, canned goods, dry goods, hygiene products, and diapers.

One misconception when it comes to feeing the hungry is that the food goes primarily to the homeless.

For the most part, said Popper, its not so much the homeless as it is working families that need assistance.

He explained that with the high cost of housing and health care in town, couples with two children and earning $45,000 annually often are barely surviving.

If one parent works 40 hours a week and the other 20 hours, and they both earn $15 an hour, family members likely would be eligible for reduced or free breakfast and lunch programs.

People dont realize that service workers, restaurant employees, caregivers of our seniors, and landscapers all earn far less than were talking about, said Popper. Were dealing with the working poor.

Fortunately, he said, Naples is an extremely generous community, and Meals of Hope and other local organizations dedicated to feeding the hungry are counting on this years Satisfy the Hunger drive to help feed those who need assistance.

The following organizations all are participants in the Satisfy the Hungry food drive: Collier Harvest Foundation, Collier Senior Resources, Everglades Community Food Pantry, Grace Place for Children and Families Food Pantry, Harry Chapin Food Bank, Meals of Hope, Naples Senior Center at JFCS, Our Daily Bread, Salvation Army and St. Matthew's House Food Program.

Donations will be matched up to $55,000 by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, the Community Foundation of Collier County, the Moorings Park Foundation and United Way of Collier County and the Keys. All are partners to the Satisfy the Hunger campaign.

"Cash donations will provide food pantries with the flexibility to purchase specific items for children and seniors' summer necessities, said Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Collier County. The food pantries' purchasing power enables them to exponentially amplify donations for the most significant benefit to those in need in our community."

Want more local news? If you're already a subscriber, thank you! If not, please subscribe and help keep coverage of the most important local news coming.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Satisfy the Hunger kicks off in Naples; monetary donations sought
Hearts Radiant, a Spanish startup that's building a "longevity coach" for seniors -- with the goal of extending quality of life through app-based personalized coaching designed to combat and even prevent frailty -- has closed a seed round of funding as it gears up to launch in the U.S., eyeing Florida's 4M+ over 65s.

We covered the startup as it came out of stealth to announce pre-seed funding for its digital coach, aka Rosita Longevity, back in October 2020. It followed that by launching out of beta in Spain at the end of 2020 -- and went on to amass around 2,000 "very active" users, with an average DAU/MAU of 30%.

The app is offered as both paid or a lighter, freemium version.

"Over the first months we worked on creating adherence and medical plans and by September 2021 we came out of beta and launched our first paying cohort," says co-founder Juan Cartagena. "The cohort was capped to 40 users paying an average $60/quarter because it involved many manual processes.

"Over the last five months we have been working on automatizing those processes while delivering the service to those users (aside the other ones on the free version). To this day we have had just one person churning and an average DAU/MAU of about 80%, which is incredible for a non-chat product."

The idea for a personalized digital coach to motivate seniors to make lifestyle improvements to raise their quality of life and even, potentially the number of healthy years they can live -- grew out of an in-person spa/retreat for seniors run by the wife-husband founder team.

Digitizing programs developed at the spa -- and proving that digital coaching and other remotely delivered technologies can be as effective as in-person therapies is a key part of Hearts Radiants' mission, as it works to scale a business that sells 'longevity as a service'.

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A clinical trial on its approach is still ongoing, with progress having been delayed somewhat by COVID-19. But the startup tells TechCrunch it plans to publish research on its methodology soon, possibly this summer.

The app-based coaching program packaged as Rosita Longevity focuses on encouraging (gentle) exercise as a way to boost seniors' mobility and decrease frailty, as well as increasing their social connections (via cohort-based group classes) for an age group that can suffer especially from loneliness and associated mental health issues.

The app organizes seniors into different cohorts depending on their physical condition and muskulo-eskeletical symptoms in order to tailor support -- with AI used to help develop a personalized plan per user, based on information they provide about their mobility and any illnesses/conditions etc.

But core to the program is "motivational" coaching -- which is provided by (human) healthcare professionals who, while they are dispensing advice/classes digitally, are certainly not made of pixels.

The app-delivered program also provides seniors with other information on how to live better for longer, such as advice on diet, or provides support to manage chronic pain, such as through targeted physiotherapy, in addition to serving up info on relevant emerging research around ageing and longevity.

"When you download the app you go through an evaluation process where Rosita learns where you are today and relevant issues of your past health, helps you set the goals for your next months and proposes an action plan to achieve them. The plan combines live and recorded sessions, follow up tests and group chats with our specialists that will cover all the questions and issues our seniors have," explains Cartagena.

"We have found these group sessions very relevant in the senior community because as you age, most of the pathologies affect them in a very similar way (comorbidities are very similar and close in symptoms) so it feels very productive to group them in terms of learnings and follow ups."

"Users inside of a cohort get a personalized plan but are coached in teams per cohort, leveraging social health and peer dynamics. So we are connecting the human part with the automated part for most impact, keeping a healthy trainer ratio," he adds.

The 2.4 million ($2.8 million) seed round was led by Barcelona-based impact fund, Ship2B ventures. Other investors include JME Ventures, KFund, Seedcamp, Bankinter, Seedlink Health, Telefonica Wayra, the University of Chicago, and a number of business angels -- including Cristobal Viedma (founder of Lingokids) and Poonam Sharma (a "health veteran" at Oscar Health).

As well as the seed funding the planned expansion into the U.S. -- where Cartagena says it will (at least initially) opt for the same b2c model, charging seniors to access a "Prime" version of the app that unlocks access to more classes/therapies -- the startup wants to spend on R&D with the goal of developing what he describes as "longevity biomarkers with biomechanics and artificial vision".

Which is a condensed way of saying the startup hopes to be able to use computer vision/machine learning technologies to automate the detection and assessment of frailty/prefrailty in seniors to better tailor programs and interventions, even if the only hardware in the room is a relatively old smartphone with a not-so-amazing camera.

Further plans for the seed funding are to expand "longevity plans" to more specific cohorts -- "based on a combination of behavioral patterns and health history" -- so it can offer increasingly customized programs.

"The holy grail of all of this is preventing frailty before it happens," adds Cartagena. "Frailty and prefrailty are like being diabetic and prediabetic: It is just a matter of where you set the bar. Neither prefrailty nor prediabetes gets much attention but the impact to society is very large. We want to find the people who have the risk of becoming prefrail much much earlier, in their 60s and early 70s.

"We are initially very focussed on functionality, which includes biomechanics, muskulo-eskeletical changes and other areas related (such as gait strength or patterns) that are proxies to mental health (even stronger than cognitive tests!) and literally life expectancy. As we grow we will combine these tests with other lifestyle data, blood tests, microbiome and epigenetic clocks."

"Tests for frailty and prefrailty exist, but geriatricians can easily point a frail person by looking at how they walk a couple of steps. Therefore an AI might be able to do the same," he adds.

Asked about the ongoing clinical trials it intends to demonstrate the effectiveness of its digital programs, he suggests the "key variable" is consistency -- noting that the current paying cohort is doing 320 minutes+ of exercise a week ("which even for in person coaching is amazing for the senior community").

"What I believe we have proven with our pre-seed round, is that you can achieve high adherence and results with virtual coaching," Cartagena adds. "The WHO recommends 150 minutes of physical activity for seniors per week (the average is less than 50 and most do 0 minutes (walking does not count)), and we are achieving a lot more than that (320 in paying users and 170 in non-paying users), plus people are feeling better so they are also becoming more active outside the App, which we do not measure properly yet. This amount of activity in seniors in really unheard of in geroscience."
Last week the proof-of-stake (POS) and wider cryptocurrency community celebrated what seemed like a victory following an Internal Revenue Service decision to concede a lawsuit filed by Joshua and Jessica Jarrett, who sought a $3,200 refund for taxes they paid on staking rewards in past years.

Much of the crypto community treated this as legal precedent, or as a signal the IRS will not tax staking rewards in the future. This analysis misinterprets the IRS decision. Staking rewards are incentives that blockchains pay participants for confirming transactions.

Omri Marian is a professor of law and the academic director of the Graduate Tax Program at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. The views expressed herein are his own.

From a legal perspective, the IRS decision is a nothingburger that could even help the IRS, if the agencys aim is to more aggressively collect taxes on staking rewards. This possibility is why the Jarretts intend to refuse the refund and pursue the case. Had the refund been a victory, they would have walked away with the money.

Why is the decision a nothingburger? Say you steal a car. The local police department investigates you, comes to believe you indeed stole the car and shares the investigation findings with the county prosecutor. For whatever reason  overworked department, underfunding or plain disinterest  the county prosecutor declines to file charges. Such a decision frees you from legal repercussions, but it does not mean that stealing a car is now legal.

This reasoning is likely behind the IRS Jarrett decision. The government lawyer overseeing the matter probably thought, I am so constrained for time and recourses. I have thousands of active cases. I am not going to spend office time and money fighting in court over a $3,000 refund.

Thats all. Neither a court nor the IRS decided anything, except that the agency could make better use of its time.

The end result: The IRS can still come after your staking rewards.

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It might be because the IRS has a good basis to argue that unsold staking rewards are taxable. True, the IRS did not issue specific guidance on staking rewards, but it does not really need to. Current law and existing guidance are broad enough to capture unsold staking rewards under the definition of income.

The Jarretts filed their refund claim in the first place to challenge such interpretation of the law, not for the $3,000 refund. Partners at the law firm representing the taxpayers easily charge north of $1,000 per billable hour. I suspect the taxpayers have already accrued over $100,000 in legal fees.

Read More: US Lawmakers Don't Want Proof-of-Stake Networks to Get Overtaxed

A court ruling that unsold staking rewards are not taxable  not the refund  is the goal. So far, the taxpayers are losing this argument, simply because the IRS refuses to fight them.

The IRS refund decision should worry the POS community, not make it jubilant for two reasons.

If the IRS thinking is about something other than I just dont have time for this, then the decision suggests the IRS believes staking rewards are taxable. The IRS may have declined to pursue this case because the agency believes it can make a better case elsewhere. By giving the taxpayers the refund the IRS extinguished the controversy, which is going to make it harder for the taxpayers to keep the case alive. It means that  if the case is not thrown out immediately  for the next couple of years the fight in court will be about whether the court should hear the case at all. So even if the case stays alive, it will be a long time before the court gets to discuss the issue on the merits. Such delays give the IRS time to issue specific guidance on staking. Lets say that in a year or two the IRS issues guidance that some or all unsold staking rewards are taxable. Such guidance will improve the IRS position in court because courts usually give weight to IRS guidance. The Jarretts are probably trying to force a court decision before the IRS gets a chance to issue guidance.The IRS can also try to delay any future litigation on the issue by telling courts that guidance is coming. Until then it will not pursue these types of cases. Of course, the IRS calculations can change if they need to start issuing larger refunds, but a $3,000 suit is not going to cut it.

Ive said little about substance, and whether unsold staking rewards should or should not be taxable is a different topic on which reasonable minds can differ. Ive focused on the ramifications of the IRS latest decision to issue a refund.

As a tax scholar, I interpret this decision as legally meaningless. Other lawyers within the crypto community have noted as much. The IRS did not wave a white flag. The IRS did not concede anything important. Not only that, but the IRS may have signaled it is preparing a strong legal case to start collecting tax on staking rewards in earnest.

The day may come when the IRS decides not to tax unsold staking rewards. Or a court may decide they are not taxable. But the IRS refunding $3,000 to the Jarretts is not that day.








Dr. Georgia Hale, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, will retire at the end of the 2022 fiscal year, effective June 30.

Dr. Georgia Hale, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, announced her plans to retire at the end of the 2022 fiscal year.

In her announcement to campus, Hale stated that her retirement will be effective June 30.

"The progress I have witnessed and friendships I have developed during my 18 years at UAFS make this a bitter-sweet moment. However, now is the right time, said Hale.

Hale came to UAFS in 2004 as the associate dean of the newly created College of Business to help prepare the faculty and staff for their initial Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation. The College of Business, now the College of Business and Industry, still holds the ranking today.

Following her tenure as associate dean, Hale served as interim dean of the College of Business and the College of Applied Science and Technology, and provost and vice chancellor.

The greatest blessing and impact of my 18-year career at UAFS has been the relationships formed with faculty, staff, and students along the way, said Hale. I look forward to watching the university through different lenses  cheerleader and supporter  as it progresses to new heights.

UAFS has secured the services of the Academic Career and Executive Search (ACES) firm to conduct a national search for the next provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.

According to ACES, the specialized search firm offers expansive networks, broad knowledge and a deep understanding of higher education and recruitment, using skilled researchers, analysts and internal recruiters to ensure every search reaches the most diverse candidate pool and runs on schedule.

Dr. Hale has been a critical member of our senior leadership team since my arrival as chancellor, and I will always be grateful for her support as I learned about higher education in the state and became acclimated to the university, said Dr. Terisa Riley, chancellor of UAFS.

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During her career at UA-Fort Smith, Dr. Hale has invested her time and talent to ensure that our students reach their educational and career goals, Riley continued. She has mentored many students and colleagues during her time at UAFS and has interviewed each faculty member hired since she became provost. Many people in our region owe a portion of their successes to her advice, guidance, and support.

Riley will soon appoint a search committee to select acceptable candidates for on-campus interviews. Members of the campus community, including faculty, staff and students, will have the opportunity to provide feedback on each of the candidates and Riley will consider input from all groups in selecting the best qualified individual to serve as the universitys next academic executive.

While Riley expects the hiring process to be complete before June 30, she expressed gratitude that Hale had agreed to continue serving the university until an acceptable candidate has been selected.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: UAFS Provost Hale announces retirement plans
A Spotsylvania County woman accused of causing a fatal accident early Sept. 9 while driving intoxicated and the wrong way on Interstate 95 had a charge against her upgraded Monday.

Taylor M. Andujar, 28, is now charged with aggravated DUI manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Prosecutors John Ackerman and Stephanie Fitzgerald announced the new charge prior to a preliminary hearing in Spotsylvania General District Court.

Several other charges against Andujar were dropped, but they could be reinstated when the case goes to a grand jury next month. If convicted of the aggravated charge, Andujar would have to serve a minimum of a year. She has been in jail since shortly after the crash.

The charge stems from the September 9 death of 14-year-old Jarliz Sanchez, a passenger in a 2021 GMC Yukon that police said was heading south on the interstate about two miles south of the Massaponax exit when it collided with a 2021 Toyota Sequoia driven by Andujar shortly before 3 a.m.

The teenager was a member of a New York family that was heading to Georgia for a funeral. The five other occupants of the Yukon suffered varying degrees of injuries.

Senior Trooper Daniel Jablonski, the only witness to testify during the preliminary hearing, said Andujar had left her job at a downtown Fredericksburg bar when she somehow got onto the southbound lanes and headed north.

Jablonski testified that Andujar told him shed had three or four vodka-based drinks while she was working and thought she was on State Route 3 when the crash occurred. Court records show that she had a blood-alcohol content of just under .20 when she arrived at the hospital that morning.

Defense attorney Nicole Naum didnt dispute that Andujar was drinking, but she challenged the claim that Andujar was the one traveling in the wrong direction. It came out during cross-examination that two of the three witnesses who met the trooper at the scene thought it was the Yukon that was heading in the wrong direction.

But Jablonski said his investigation showed that those witnesses were mistaken. He said they were further back than the other witness who stopped and were hindered somewhat by the fact that both vehicles were white.

Judge Richard McGrath said there was clearly enough evidence to send the case to a grand jury.

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Two of three men who escaped from the Sullivan County, Tenn., jail Friday were confirmed dead Monday after being involved in a convenience store robbery in North Carolina, while the third man remained at large, according to the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office.

On Monday, Tobias Carr, 38, of Kingsport, Tenn., and Timothy Sarver, 45, of Pulaski, Va., were confirmed dead in the Wilmington area, the SCSO said.

There were many unanswered questions about exactly what happened and how the men died. Its also not known whether the third man, Johnny Brown, 50, of Rogersville, Tenn., was still with Carr and Sarver.

Preliminary information indicates both men were involved in a robbery at a convenience store in another part of North Carolina and led authorities on a multi-jurisdictional pursuit before the vehicle was disabled in Wilmington.  Johnny Brown remains at large, the Sheriffs Office said Monday afternoon in a post on its Facebook page and on Twitter.

No further details were released.

Additional details will be released when possible, said Andy Seabolt, SCSO spokesman.

The Sheriffs Office would not confirm whether the convenience store robbery Carr and Sarver were involved in was the same one that occurred Saturday in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, which is in Onslow County, about 40 miles from Wilmington.

The robbery occurred at the Speedway Convenience Store at the intersection of state Highway 172 and state Highway 210, where the store clerk reported that around 4:30 p.m., two white men entered the store and robbed him at gunpoint, according to the Onslow County Sheriffs Office.

The clerk was tied up and left after money was taken from the cash register and safe, the Onslow Sheriffs Office said in a post on social media at around 6 p.m. Monday. The clerk was not injured, the post states.

The two men fled in the clerks car, the Sheriffs Office said.

The North Topsail Beach Police Department, which was assisting, was speaking with the clerk when he saw his vehicle drive by with the two men inside, the post states.

Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the suspects refused to stop, and a high-speed pursuit began. Multiple agencies assisted as it traveled through Onslow, Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick Counties. The pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed in Brunswick County, according to the Onslow County Sheriffs Office.

Both men, who were not identified, were dead, the post states. The investigation is being handled by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

The escape at the jail in Blountville happened early Friday, when the trio got out through an HVAC air vent to the roof, the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office said. Few other details have been released.

Since that jail break, Seabolt said the issue with the vent that was used to escape has been corrected.

The men were considered armed and dangerous.

Carr had been in jail on charges of second-degree murder, vandalism and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of his wife, Jennifer D. Carr, 39, whose body was found at their home in November 2019.

Sarver was in jail on charges of auto theft, identity theft, drug paraphernalia and unlawful carrying of a weapon. News reports in Virginia say that Sarver previously escaped from the courthouse in Pulaski.

Browns list of pending charges in Sullivan County include failure to appear, driving on suspended or revoked license, harassment, violation of order of protection, domestic assault and aggravated stalking.

Anyone with information about Browns whereabouts is asked to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Opponents of mask mandates in schools are using the power of the legislature to let parents decide whether to send their child to school with a facemask.

The Virginia Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would prevent local school boards from levying mask mandates, and from punishing students whose parents opt to send their child to school without a mask.

Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, filed the provision Tuesday as an amendment to a bill about in-person learning introduced by Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico.

Nine Democrats voted in opposition, and two abstained from voting.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is tied up in two remaining legal disputes challenging his executive order giving parents the power to opt of mask mandates, hailed the Senate vote as a "victory for parents and children."

Youngkin plans to fast-track the bill to becoming law once it reaches his desk, meaning that it could be the law in less than two weeks.

Tuesday's vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate is a significant bipartisan victory for Youngkin. The measure will face another procedural vote in the Senate on Wednesday, and will then head to the GOP-controlled House of Delegates, where the measure is expected to pass.

School districts and parents are waiting clarity amid the pending legislation and multiple lawsuits related to the issue.

On Monday, the Virginia Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to Youngkins executive order filed by a group of parents in Chesapeake.

That ruling came three days after an Arlington County judge found that Youngkin does not have authority to supersede the judgment of local school boards in setting policy for reducing the threat of COVID to students, teachers and other school employees.

In Albemarle County last week a group of parents of students with disabilities filed a lawsuit in federal court against Youngkin, alleging his executive order allowing masks to be optional for schoolchildren violates the Americans With Disabilities Act and other federal law. Meantime, in Loudoun County, a group of parents who support Youngkin's order sued the local school board over its continuing mask requirement.

In the Richmond area, Richmond and Henrico County school officials continue to require masks while Chesterfield and Hanover counties recently moved to make masks optional.

The Senate bill will still face opposition from Democrats in the House. On Tuesday, Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, said that while other Democrat-led states like New Jersey are planning doing away with mask mandates, their decisions come as the omicron variant recedes. She notes Youngkin's executive order on masks came while cases were still surging.

Youngkin and Petersen instead argued that the actions by other states show that making masks optional has overwhelming public support, regardless of party affiliation.

Once the measure reaches Youngkin's desk, the governor is planning to add an emergency clause to the bill, according a spokeswoman. The clause would require approval from the legislature. If Youngkin is successful, masks could be optional for all students across the state as soon as Feb. 21.

"This shows that when we work across the aisle, we put Virginians first," Youngkin said in a statement.

This is a developing story.
The Virginia Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a parental challenge of Gov. Glenn Youngkin's executive order to prevent public schools from requiring students to wear face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The ruling comes three days after an Arlington County judge found that Youngkin did not have authority to supersede the judgment of local school boards in setting policy for reducing the threat of COVID-19 to students, teachers and other school employees.

Multiple legal cases in opposition or support of the governor's executive order are moving through the courts while school systems await clarity. In the Richmond area, schools in the city of Richmond and Henrico County continue to require masks while schools in Chesterfield and Hanover counties are mask-optional.

Unlike the ruling by Arlington Judge Louise DiMatteo, the Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the executive order, only the legal path that a group of 13 parents in Chesapeake used to challenge the governor's order allowing parents to choose to send their children to school unmasked.

"By this dismissal, we offer no opinion on the legality of [Executive Order] 2 or any other issue pertaining to petitioners' claims," the court states in a footnote on the last page of the three-page order.

Attorney General Jason Miyares issued a statement that called the decision "a victory for Virginia families."

Youngkin, in a statement on Twitter, said, "We are pleased by the dismissal. We will continue to protect the rights of parents to make decisions regarding their childs health, education, upbringing, and care."

"To be clear, this is not about pro-mask vs. anti-mask, but rather parents making decisions about whats best for their childs health," the governor said. "And we are pleased to see that other states, including New Jersey and Delaware, are following our reasoning and a path to normalcy."

Kevin Martingayle, the attorney for the Chesapeake parents who filed the lawsuit, called the decision "a procedural ruling" based on the lawsuit's use of two legal paths to reach the Supreme Court directly.

The court said neither of those paths works in the parents' challenge of Executive Order Two, which Youngkin signed on Jan. 15, the day of his inauguration.

But Martingayle cited the footnote as proof that the Supreme Court has not ruled on the merits of the order itself.

"It is a clear signal that the Supreme Court continues to have questions about Executive Order Two," he said in an interview. "This is not a ruling on the merits."

Carl Tobias, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Richmond, agreed with Martingayle.

"They're not ruling on the merits or the legality," Tobias said Monday, calling the grounds of the ruling "really technical stuff."

Victoria LaCivita, a spokeswoman for Miyares, said, "We consider this a win because the court rejected the challenge to EO2, which is what we asked for."

LaCivita also noted that the high court said in its opinion that Senate Bill 1303 - adopted by the General Assembly last year to compel public schools to reopen to in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic - "does not impose a universal mask mandate, as the other side has argued."

The state law requires school boards to follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "to the maximum extent possible." Those guidelines include requiring all students to wear face masks in school.

Consequently, some school boards - including Richmond and six others that challenged the executive order in Arlington - have interpreted the law to require universal masking.

But the Supreme Court said Monday that the law "necessarily gives the boards a degree of discretion to modify or even forgo those [CDC] strategies as they deem appropriate for their individual circumstances."

"With respect to implementing policies on student masking, that discretion persists even if [Executive Order] 2's masking exemption provisions are unlawful," the court said.

The high court's interpretation of the state law appears consistent with that of DiMatteo, who made clear during oral arguments last week that she does not consider the state law a mandate for universal masking.

However, the Arlington judge said in her opinion on Friday that the law and the constitutional provision that gives school boards power to supervise public schools override Youngkin's authority to issue an executive order that would supersede them.

"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," DiMatteo wrote. "On this pivotal point, the court concludes that the governor cannot."

What remains unclear from her opinion is how it applies to school divisions that were not part of the lawsuit, especially those that ended their requirements of universal masking after Youngkin issued the executive order.

Those includes school boards in Chesterfield and Hanover County, as well as Chesapeake - which lifted its requirement after the parents filed suit to challenge the governor's order.

The Hanover board approved a policy making masks optional on Jan. 24 and it took effect a week later on Jan. 31. The Chesterfield School Board voted Jan. 25 to give parents a choice on face masks.

Martingayle said his clients are awaiting the judge's order to carry out the opinion to determine its scope and application across the state.

But he said, "There's only one opinion in Virginia so far on the legality of Executive Order Two: It came out of Arlington and the [attorney general] lost."

Two other lawsuits are pending over the executive order, one filed in federal court by the ACLU to challenge the governor's action because of its effect on families with disabled children and the other by Loudoun County parents over the school board's refusal to comply with the governor's order.

Both viewpoints were reflected in political debate on the floor of the House of Delegates on Friday.

Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, expressed outrage over the Loudoun school board's reported threat of criminal arrest of any student who comes to school without a mask.

"In the commonwealth of Virginia, we should not be sending someone to jail because they decided not to wear a mask in the public school system," Freitas said.

Loudoun County Public Schools said the allegation is untrue and that no student has been arrested on a trespassing charge for coming to school without a mask. The system has 22 students suspended for defying the policy, down from 29 on Friday.

The school system "does not have the authority to arrest or charge any suspended students or their parents for trespassing," Superintendent Scott Ziegler told parents and employees on Friday. "Furthermore, LCPS has not requested that local law enforcement charge any student with trespassing in connection with recent suspensions."

Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, said she considers it "offensive" that the governor's order would allow unmasked students to potentially threaten the health of her child, whose immune system is compromised because of a disability.

"It is time for our governor to listen to all of the parents," Convirs-Fowler said, "not just the parents he is pandering to."
Sharjah Museums Authority (SMA) is readying for the opening of its Wonder and Inspiration Venice and the Arts of Islam exhibition, which demonstrates the far-reach of Islamic civilizations influence to the world, especially in arts.



The first-of-its-kind exhibition, taking place at Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, will run from February 16 to July 2.



Held in collaboration with Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia in Italy, the unique event showcases as many as 70 artefacts over three distinct sections, namely Encounters, Dialogues, and Inspirations, with each chapter featuring important documents and selection of objects of both Islamic and Venetian art.



Through the display of never-seen-before objects from the East, such as the official gifts presented to the Doge, the head of the Serenissima Republic, the first chapter Encounters demonstrates how the two cultures interacted with one another and shared knowledge.



Meanwhile, the second chapter illustrates how encounters between the two cultures became reciprocal Dialogues, rich of interests and opportunities, for both sides and on many different levels including trade, science, literature and art.



The third chapter, Inspirations, sheds light on the shared influence of each culture in relation to techniques and decorative styles.  TradeArabia News Service
THE PANDEMIC has created critical shortages among restaurant workers, truck drivers, teachers and a host of other occupations.

Nowhere, though, is the shrinking number of workers a more pressing issue than in the medical profession.

Nurses on the front lines in the war with COVID are crashing and burning. And its happening at a time when an aging U.S. population is needing more and more medical care.

According to one study, employers will need to hire 1.1 million more registered nurses nationwide by 2026. Pandemic burnout and retirements are driving the need. Two-thirds of nurses surveyed by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses last year said they were considering leaving the field. Twenty-one percent said they planned to quit within the next six months.

Eileen Dohmann of Mary Washington Healthcare said in a recent article in The Free LanceStar that the pandemic has seen annual nursing turnover there climb from 15 percent to 23 to 27 percent.

All of this makes a request to the General Assembly from the states community colleges worth honoring.

The Virginia Community College System is asking for $26 million over two years to double the number of nursing graduates from its schools.

Dr. Patti Lisk, dean of nursing and health technologies at Germanna Community College, says unless nursing programs get a boost, there wont be enough graduates to fill critical jobs.

If the General Assembly approves the request, $2 million of it would go to our local community college, Germanna. If anywhere needs more trained nurses, its the Fredericksburg area.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will open one of the largest outpatient clinics in the country in Spotsylvania in 2025, with a staff of 750 servicing some 29,000 veterans per year.

Baby Boomer retirements, the toll of COVID on nurses and the new VA center are pressing reasons for Fredericksburg area residents to hope the General Assembly funds more training.

The community college system says that the legislative funds would enable its campuses, of which 19 offer registered nursing programs, to increase the nursing workforce by 3,500 graduates per year by 2028, including 1,700 RNs.

Over that same time span, the Virginia Employment Commission projects that the commonwealth will need more than 10,000 more nurses.

Do the math, and those two facts tell you that what the community colleges are asking isnt excessive. It wont solve the shortage, but it will help.

The pandemic is ebbing, but it has come back before. The Baby Boomers arent getting any younger. That VA center opens in three years.

Those are three very good reasons for the General Assembly to give community college nursing programs a boost. Itll be good for Virginia and especially good for our region.
Farmers, ranchers and local food processors can learn strategies for growing and selling their products to school districts at the Bringing the Farm to School: Local Producer Training.

The training, hosted by the Nebraska Department of Education, will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 3 at the Douglas-Sarpy Counties Extension Office in Omaha. To register, visit education.ne.gov/ns/farm-to-school/ or contact Sarah Smith, Farm to School Specialist at the Nebraska Department of Education, 402-525-3128 or sarah.e.smith@nebraska.gov.

Producers that attend this training will:

 Learn about accessing school markets and growing products for schools;

 Hear from producers that have successfully navigated school markets;

 Gain new knowledge and resources for integrating school markets into a business plan;

 Meet local peers and experts, and participate in a question-answer session.

Schools offer a strong market opportunity for local producers. More than 30 million students enjoy meals at school through the National School Lunch Program each day, and according to a USDA Farm to School Census, schools across the country purchased more than $789 million in local foods during the 2013-2014 school year  a total that has continued to increase. At the state level, 553 Nebraska schools serving 235,367 students participate in Farm to School efforts.

The development of this training was funded at least in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service through an agreement with the National Center for Appropriate Technology in partnership with the National Farm to School Network.

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Cedar Bluffs Superintendent Harlan Ptomey supports legislation that will offset property taxes.

The area school official recently talked about a new sales tax proposal and COVID numbers from his district.

Ptomey said he and the district are backing LB 890 and LB 891, introduced by State Sen. Lynne Walz (Dist. 15) and Sen. Brett Lindstrom (Dist. 18), respectively.

The legislative bills will create a one-cent sales tax, offsetting property taxes, to fund public schools in the state.

Ptomey said during the past couple of weeks, hes spent a great deal of time working on a legislative committee. He was chosen to serve on the committee for the Nebraska Rural Schools Association.

As a rural school, we have continually asked our legislation to create a new funding mechanism that would fund public schools adequately, but with less reliance on property taxes, Ptomey said in a prepared statement.

Ptomey said residents of the Cedar Bluffs district could see a decrease in their levy of almost 40 cents after full implementation.

The full scale of the implementation would dramatically affect how public schools are funded in Nebraska, with the scales being moved further from property taxes to sales taxes.

LB 890 will act as a template in how schools will be funded with LB 891 being the actual implementation of the gradual shift from property taxes to sales taxes.

They are two separate bills, but tied to each other. For one to pass, the other one has to pass, unless there is a situation where 891 does not pass and is instead absorbed into 890, Ptomey said.

Ptomey indicated the bills would have benefits for smaller schools and larger communities alike.

The main argument for the bills is a more equitable, longer-term solution to funding schools in the state.

Although the Property Tax Credit Fund may give back 24% of property taxes this year, it may not in future years where LB 890/891 are fundamentally changing the way we tax and pay for public education moving forward, Ptomey said.

Ptomey added that his district and many districts throughout Nebraska rely on property taxes too much to fund public schools.

We are just way too reliant on property taxes, Ptomey said. We all know it. We all feel it. It hurts. I think this is a real permanent fix whereas right now LB 1107 (which was the Property Tax Relief Fund) has a lot of money in it for relief, but that does not mean that it is always going to be there.

Omaha Public Schools has testified in opposition of LB 890/891 saying it believes the change would create an unstable funding method.

Currently, Omaha Public Schools is receiving 65% of Nebraskas funding for public education, and this is where Ptomey believes LB 890/891 would help facilitate a more equitable solution.

Under 890, it goes to more schools. I believe under 890, that money would help equalize over 120 schools who get little to no state funding. I think Omaha sees that as well, Ptomey said.

In other news, Cedar Bluffs schools also released its COVID-positive and quarantine numbers on Friday with four students and one staff member out for COVID and six students/faculty members being quarantined.

During the 2021-2022 period, Cedar Bluffs Public Schools has had 75 students and 10 staff members out for COVID.

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A Fremont man pleaded no contest in the Dodge County District Court Monday to attempted distribution of methamphetamine.

Vincent W. Perry, 43, initially filed a not guilty plea before entering the new plea and was found guilty of the class 2A felony by Judge Geoffrey Hall.

Between Jan. 10 and March 17, 2021, a confidential informant worked with the III Corps Drug Task Force and notified them he had arranged a drug transaction at a north Fremont gas station on Jan. 13, 2021.

Prior to the deal, the informant was searched, provided currency and given a listening wiring to allow investigators to monitor the meeting.

The confidential informant said Vincent Perry is the one who sold them $100 worth of methamphetamine, Deputy Dodge County Attorney Anthony Hernandez said. The drugs were tested and confirmed to be methamphetamine by the Nebraska State Patrol Crime Lab.

As part of his plea, Perrys attorney said the state would not be opposed to a probation term for his client.

After making the verdict, Hall ordered a presentence investigation and set Perrys sentencing for March 21.

In other district court news on Monday:

Miguel Morales, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, pleaded no contest to possession of a controlled substance. On July 25, 2021, a Fremont Police Department officer pulled Morales over for a minor traffic violation. After failing to provide registration and visibly shaking, Morales was asked to leave the vehicle. When asked by the officer, he admitted to having drugs inside of the car and a pipe containing meth was found on the floorboard. As part of his plea, Morales attorney said the state would not oppose a term of probation for her client. Hall found Morales guilty, ordered a PSI and set his sentencing for March 14.

Elizabeth M. Field, 30, of Fremont pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. On Nov. 23, 2021, a Dodge County Sheriffs Office deputy pulled a driver over for a malfunctioning tail light. After the driver failed to provide registration, Field, a passenger, was asked to exit the vehicle. During a search of her purse, two syringes containing meth were found inside. As part of her plea, Fields attorney said his client would apply for the Dodge County Adult Drug Court. Hall found Field guilty, ordered a PSI and set her sentencing for March 14.

Jasten J. Zurcher, 19, of Fremont and Nathan Trout, 33, of Fremont had their status hearings continued to March 7 and April 18, respectively.

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Tuesday

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Letters to the Churches of Revelation, 10 a.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Ready for Kindergarten, 10 a.m., Keene Memorial Library, 1030 N. Broad St., Fremont. This program is designed for children ages 2-5 and their caregivers. Stories, art, manipulatives and sensory stations will help build the skills needed for kindergarten.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous Steps of Freedom meeting, 1 p.m., LifeHouse, 723 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511.

Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business.

Utility and Infrastructure Board meeting, 4 p.m., Fremont Municipal Building, 400 E. Military Ave. The meeting will be held in person and electronically to allow remote meeting access via computer or telephone. The link and instructions are provided on the agenda that is posted in the agenda section of the citys website, www.fremontne.gov.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Special Joint Fremont City Council and Planning Commission meeting, 5:30 p.m., Fremont Municipal Building, 400 E. Military Ave. The regular city council meeting will follow at 7 p.m. The meetings will be held in person and electronically to allow remote meeting access via computer or telephone. The link and instructions are provided on the agenda that is posted in the agenda section of the citys website, www.fremontne.gov.

Mens and Womens Bible Study, 6 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont.

Wednesday

City of Fremont Board of Equalization No. 1 Committee meeting, 8:30-10 a.m., City Council Chamber, Fremont Municipal Building, 400 E. Military Ave., Fremont. The meeting is open to the public.

Dodge County Board of Supervisors, Dodge County Board of Equalization and Dodge County Board of Corrections, 9 a.m., board room, third floor, Dodge County Courthouse, 435 N. Park Ave., Fremont. The meetings are open to the public.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Mens Bible Study, 1 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fremont Community Breastfeeding Support Group, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Three Rivers Health Department conference room, 2400 N. Lincoln Ave., Fremont. This support group is for mothers and their babies. Siblings are welcome.

Eagles Aerie 200 meeting, 7 p.m., Fremont Eagles Club.

Eagles Auxiliary 200 meeting, 7 p.m., Fremont Eagles Club.

Narcotics Anonymous Library Group, 7 p.m., Keene Memorial Librarys east building, 1030 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511.

Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Thursday

Mens Bible Study, 8 a.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous big book study, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. The kitchen will be open from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The menu will include hamburgers and cheeseburgers, tacos and soup. Pitch will be played at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

Lego Club, 4 p.m., Keene Memorial Library, 1030 N. Broad St., Fremont. Lego bricks will be supplied.

Soil health seminar, 4 p.m., Milady Coffeehouse, 105 E. Sixth St., Fremont. Graham Christiansen of GC Resolve will be the guest speaker. Topics will include regenerate soil, increasing resilience and maintaining net profits. Chicken from Raising Canes will be served. There also will be raffle prizes. Call 402-719-6768 to RSVP.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

The Banquet, 5:30-6:30 p.m., First Lutheran Church, 3200 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Drive-thru meals served. The dinner is free.

Bedtime storytime, 6:30 p.m., Keene Memorial Library, 1030 N. Broad St., Fremont. There will be stories, songs, dancing and crafts before bed.

Civil Air Patrol, 7 p.m., 1201 W. 23rd St., in yellow hangar at Fremont Airport.

Marine Corps League, 7 p.m., Disabled American Veterans Club, 137 N. D St., Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave.

Tally Ho Toastmasters, 7-8 p.m., Midland Universitys Anderson Building, Ninth and Clarkson streets, Fremont. Everyone is welcome to learn skills in communication, self-confidence and leadership. For more information, call 402-936-3479.

Narcotics Anonymous Back to Basics meeting, 7:30 p.m., First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 N. Davis St., Oakland.

Alcoholics Anonymous big book study, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

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The Fremont City Council will have a joint meeting with the Planning Commission to hear an update on the citys comprehensive plan on Tuesday.

Houseal Lavigne Associates will update the two bodies with a draft of the plan, which the urban planning department has been working to develop along with the unified development code.

The plan aims to provide land usage information for the city to plan future developments, as well as a subarea plan dedicated to downtown Fremont.

In developing the plan, Houseal gave a presentation to the city council in August 2021. That same month, a community open house took place in which students provided input on the downtown plan.

In October 2021, another update was given to the council and commission, as well as another open house that invited business owners to share ideas for their vision.

The draft that will be presented this week includes objectives, as well as land use maps for business, industrial and residential zones.

The City of Fremont will be known as a welcoming and friendly community with small-town charm, big-city opportunities and amenities, the drafts vision statement read. Fremont will continue to be a major employment hub in the region, supporting and growing existing businesses and attracting new ones.

The plan also includes considerations, including adding more housing types and densities, improving access to businesses and expanding employment opportunities.

At its regular meeting following the special meeting, the city council will vote on creating and approving a Library Project Selection Committee as recommended by Mayor Joey Spellerberg.

MCL Construction initially was hired as a construction manager at risk (CMAR) for Keene Memorial Librarys expansion project after its approval by the council on Nov. 30, 2021.

However, in order to meet statutory requirements by the Political Subdivision Construction Alternatives Act, the process had to be redone and the contracts authorization was denied on Jan. 11.

Using the CMAR method, the city must put together the committee to evaluate the received proposals and make a recommendation to the council for final approval.

Spellerbergs recommended committee includes Councilmember Sally Ganem, interim City Administrator Jody Sanders, Director of Public Works Dave Goedeken, Library Director Laura England-Biggs, Tetrad Property Group Project Manager Alex Henery and Library board member Linda McClain.

The council also will vote on a contract to hire Sawyer Construction Company on a repair project for the Fremont, Farmland and Railroad Levee, which was breached in the spring 2019 flood.

The work would provide better flood protection for both Fremont and Inglewood, with the project including rehabilitation, extension and breach repair.

The project, which would cost $168,992, would have 90% of the costs to make the permanent repairs reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and 5% by the state of Nebraska.

The council also will vote on a real estate purchase agreement with Dodge County to sell land at Fremont Technology Park to Allo Communications.

Although the city and county owned the land, an issue arose that prevented the county from transferring its interest to Allo, requiring the county to sell it interest to the city.

The Dodge County Board of Supervisors previously approved the sale and purchase agreement at its Jan. 26 meeting.

The special meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Fremont Municipal Building at 400 E. Military Ave. The city councils regular meeting will follow at around 7 p.m.

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A Delta Air Lines flight from Omaha to New York City was delayed more than an hour Monday when several passengers, apparently employees of an Omaha company, were removed for unruly behavior.

Laura Austin, a Creighton University graduate who lives in New York, had been in Omaha to visit her parents. She said she had noticed "a large group of younger people drinking and being loud" at an Eppley Airfield bar. She estimated that the group, many of whom were wearing polos and face masks with Buildertrend logos on them, consisted of about 30 people.

"We heard someone from the group say they had been scheduled to take a Frontier flight to Orlando, but Frontier was having computer issues and they were being detoured through New York," Austin said. "When we got on the plane, that group of Buildertrend people were seated near the rear of the plane. We were in first class, but we could all hear them."

A Black flight attendant told Austin and other passengers that the flight crew would have to decide whether the Buildertrend group would stay on the plane. The flight attendant then went to the back of the plane and returned "very shaken," Austin said.

"She told us that she asked some people to put their masks on, and someone called her the N word," Austin said. "She was very upset because here she is trying to do her job and that happens.

"It's a shame to see that sort of behavior and racist attitude," Austin said, "because I know people in Omaha aren't typically like that."

The plane, which had begun to taxi for takeoff, then returned to the gate and everyone on board was told to get off, Austin said. After airport police investigated, she said, about 15 to 20 of the passengers from the Buildertrend group got back on the plane.

"Then they removed two of those people, who we were told had been causing a lot of the trouble," Austin said. "The rest of the flight, everyone was very quiet and there were no issues at all." She added that she thought Delta handled the situation well.

Delta flight 5593 originally was scheduled to take off at 1:10 p.m., but the pilot told passengers that weather issues would delay takeoff. Issues with the unruly passengers pushed the takeoff back to about 3:40 p.m.

A message for Eppley Airfield police was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Austin and another passenger posted messages about their experience on Twitter. One passenger said, "@Buildertrend one of your employees just called a flight attendant on my @Delta flight the N word & are being kicked off for that + not wearing masks. Pro tip: if you're going to send a whole BDR team on a plane & they're going to be ass----s, don't give them masks w/ your logo."

Austin followed that post with another Tweet.

"These individuals were drunk, disrespectful, and took racist aim at our flight attendant," she wrote. "They also disrupted the lives of everyone on the plane."

Buildertrend, an Omaha-based company located near 118th and I streets that specializes in cloud-based construction project management software, responded on Twitter that it's looking into the incident.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are doing our best to learn more. Plainly, we do not stand by any such behavior," the company replied.

A spokeswoman for Buildertrend said Tuesday morning that the company is "taking this incident very seriously and apologize to the passengers who experienced a disruption as a result." "In no way do the behaviors reported on social media align with our core values," spokeswoman Megan Longo said in an email. "We are working diligently to understand what happened, and are conducting a review with all parties involved, including Delta Airlines and the Eppley Airport Police Department. Once we have a complete understanding of the incident, we will take appropriate action." A representative of Delta Airlines did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

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After not holding in-person meetings with foreign leaders for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in a flurry of face-to-face diplomacy on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics as China looked to project its rising global status.

Despite a diplomatic boycott from many Western nations over Chinese human rights abuses, 22 world leaders attended the open ceremony in Beijing on February 4, including Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Many represented autocratic nations, with leaders from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan sending leaders to meet with Xi, along with delegations from other nondemocratic countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Serbia also went to Beijing.

For visiting dignitaries, the diplomatic possibilities on the sidelines of the Olympics were a rare opportunity to meet face-to-face with Xi and other senior Chinese officials, with many arriving with high-level delegations to try and invigorate relations with China and kick-start various initiatives derailed due to the pandemic.

Pakistan's Khan was looking to reaffirm his country's all-weather friendship with China during his February 6 meeting with Xi.

Beijing and Islamabad have a storied relationship and Pakistan has been one of Chinas most enthusiastic partners on China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project becoming a centerpiece of the massive infrastructure project.

But the CPECs progress has been patchy for several years and the combination of the pandemic and a series of attacks on Chinese workers across Pakistan in the summer of 2021 have slowed things down further and become a sore spot in relations between Beijing and Islamabad, despite their rosy public rhetoric.

Khan left Beijing without any new agreements and instead used his visit to discuss his countrys longstanding ties with China.

Pakistan and China not only see each other as iron brothers, Khan told Chinas state-run Global Times during a February 5 interview, but they also think that the China and Pakistan relationship is as high as the Himalayas.

Meanwhile the most high-profile meeting came in the form of a summit between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a choreographed showing of solidarity between the two leaders amid Moscows tensions with Ukraine that threaten turning into a war.

Beijing and Moscow announced a new gas deal, with the Kremlin promising to increase its exports at a time when Putin is at odds with European customers. In a joint statement after they met, the two leaders said their friendship had no limits, and China sided with Russia on its security demand that NATO put a moratorium on an eastward expansion.

The meeting with Putin concluded shortly before the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing's National Stadium, and both events amounted to a display of Chinas newfound place in the world as it looks to shore up its own partnerships, win over countries, and push back against what Chinese officials view as Western pressure to impede its rise.

Russia and China stand against attempts by external forces to undermine security and stability in their common adjacent regions, Putin and Xi said in the 5,300-word joint statement.

Seeking Face Time

While Putin and Xi put warming ties between China and Russia on display, no other region in the world was better represented diplomatically at the opening ceremony than Central Asia, with its five presidents eager to boost ties with China, the regions main source of trade and investment.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev met with Xi for the first time since unrest rocked the country in January and the Chinese leader said ties between the two countries had reached beyond the boundary of bilateral relations.

But perhaps the Central Asian leader with the most on the line was Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, who was keen to make progress on the long-stalled China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.

During a January 25 virtual summit between the five Central Asian leaders and Xi, Japarov said the railway could be a flagship project" of the BRI, Beijings global foreign policy venture, and that he was heading to Beijing with new contracts and a financing plan, RFE/RLs Kyrgyz Service reported.

Japarov, however, failed to gain traction for the railway during his February 6 meeting with Xi despite Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev also pushing the project during his talks with the Chinese leader.

According to the Chinese readout of their meeting, Beijing asked that Kyrgyzstan first improve the countrys business climate before it green-lighted the project.

Besides the railway, Japarov also discussed other investment and cooperation possibilities, even proposing that Kyrgyzstan could begin to export electricity to western China.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov both came to Beijing with more modest expectations and neither left totally empty-handed.

Berdymukhammedov, who went to Beijing despite Turkmenistan not sending any athletes to the Olympics, gave a rare interview to China's state-run CCTV news agency in which he praised Xis leadership, discussed Ashgabats neutrality, and reaffirmed Turkmenistans adherence to the One China policy, which does not recognize Taiwans status as an independent entity from mainland China.

While the Turkmen leader left with few deliverables, he also raised a long-delayed project of his own: a new natural gas pipeline to transport more gas across Central Asia to China known as Line D.

While Turkmenistan is eager to increase its exports, many analysts contend the project is unlikely to gain momentum in the next decade when a substantial increase in Chinese demand is predicted.

In addition to requisite face time and a photo op with Xi, Rahmon also inked a joint economic and trade cooperation plan with China through 2025 during his February 5 meeting.

'Ironclad'

The chance to meet with Xi in person was also an important opportunity for two leaders close to Beijing that were eager to breathe new life into their established partnerships with China: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Vucic met with Xi on February 5, with the leaders referring to their countrys relations as an ironclad friendship, a level of rhetoric that Beijing reserves only for its closest partners.

Under Vucic, Serbia has steadily deepened its ties with China in trade, technology, and defense. While the partnership has changed quickly, Belgrade also maintains a foreign policy that looks to balance its relations with Beijing off the European Union, Russia, and the United States.

The Serbian president appeared to strengthen his hand during the trip to China, leaving with an array of economic and political deals, such as a fast-tracked, free-trade agreement, new investments, and the introduction of direct flights from Belgrade to Shanghai and Beijing.
A Taliban delegation is due to meet with the Red Cross and Swiss and European officials in Geneva for talks on aid amid a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

The weeklong conference marks the second time that representatives of Afghanistan's Taliban-led government have taken part in humanitarian talks hosted by a European country.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry insisted that the delegation's presence in Switzerland does not constitute recognition of the Taliban-led government.

The Taliban-led government last month sent a 15-member delegation to Oslo for similar closed-door talks with Western diplomats.

Separately, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on February 9 that he had met with Taliban health officials ahead of the Geneva conference to discuss the "dire" situation in Afghanistan.

The WHO chief said he had met on February 8 with Taliban Health Minister Qalander Ebad, who is part of the delegation attending the conference, to discuss the health and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

He had previously met with Ebad during a trip to Kabul in September 2021 in the days following the Taliban takeover.

"Despite some improvements since then, the health situation in Afghanistan is still dire and the acute humanitarian crisis is continuing to put lives at risk," Tedros said.

International assistance has virtually come to a halt despite a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power in August.

Geneva Call, a foundation that works to protect civilians during conflict, is hosting the closed-door conference, which runs through February 11. The conference is aimed at enhancing the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the country, Geneva Call said in a statement.

"The country is facing a complex emergency due to past overlapping armed conflicts, COVID-19 and its socioeconomic consequences, and extreme weather," the nongovernmental organization said. "Today, 23 million Afghan people are at risk of malnutrition and 97 percent of the population lives under the poverty level."

Geneva Call also said the conference would facilitate the discussion on improving compliance with "humanitarian norms," but its statement does not mention the treatment of women and girls under the Islamist group's rule.

Geneva Call invited the Taliban to the conference "to discuss the status of humanitarian assistance, the protection of civilians, respect of health care, and the issue of land mines and explosive remnants of war."

Representatives from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Swiss Foreign Ministry's Peace and Human Rights Division, and the ministrys Asia and Pacific Division are due to meet the delegation during the conference, according to AFP.

The International Committee of the Red Cross also said it would hold talks with the delegation.

At the conclusion of the Oslo talks on January 26, the international community linked humanitarian aid to the Taliban's respect for human rights, particularly the rights of girls, women, and ethnic minorities.

No country has recognized the Taliban-led government, largely because of its lack of attention to these issues.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban foreign minister and leader of the delegation that went to Oslo, told AFP in an interview last week that the group feels it is inching closer toward international recognition.

"We have come closer to that goal," he said, urging Washington to unlock $9.5 billion in Afghan Central Bank assets to help ease the humanitarian crisis.

With reporting by AFP
More Information

If you are struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations free national helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

The helpline is a confidential treatment referral and information service, provided in English and Spanish, for individuals and families facing substance abuse or mental health disorders.
Two teenagers threaded through lines of sign-waving students, dodged honking cars, pulled out their old-school boombox and pressed play. Out poured the first cords of Green Days "American Idiot."

"We picked a song to go along with the rebellion thing thats going on right now," said Layla Lucero from behind shell-studded sunglasses.

Lucero and her friend Maya Frola were among hundreds of Douglas County students who checked into their final class Monday and walked out of school in support of former Superintendent Corey Wise. Wise was fired Friday night during an emergency Douglas County school board meeting. The vote was 4-3 in favor of Wises dismissal.

Many of the students told The Denver Gazette they watched the meeting online with their parents.

"How the voting went doesnt made sense to me," said 16-year-old Kailani Smile.

Her friend, Amelia Orton, also 16, said, "I think the way he was fired was unprofessional and stupid."

At Parkers Chaparral High School, about 100 students gathered at the flagpole at the entrance just after 1:10 p.m.

A Denver Gazette reporter tried to interview the students about their protest, but a security guard quickly escorted him to the sidewalk across the street from the school, at 15655 Brookstone Drive.

Students chanted "We want change!" and after about 10 minutes, they began to march around the school.

They made at least two laps around the school, which serves about 2,270 students.

Tensions flared slightly as two students driving off campus shouted to two students walking away from the protest.

"Get back to class," the students shouted at each other.

At Highlands Ranch High School, students lined the street in front of the entrance and pumped their fists as cars honked in support. They waved homemade signs that said, "Tell Us Why," "Let the Sunshine In" and "Students for Equity." At one point, another hundred students from nearby Cresthill Middle School walked up a snow-sodden path to join them and the crowd erupted in a chant, yelling "Corey! Corey!"

Paula Hans, a spokeswoman for Douglas County School District, said she had no official numbers of how many of the districts students walked out Monday. But 15-year-old Kohen Kasselder, who opted to skip the rally and go to class instead, said most of the students in his Photoshop class were gone.

"Im trying to get my education and get through school with the best grades possible," said Kasselder, who said he wasn't interested in moves made by the Douglas County school board.

Kris Jehnsen, 16, also opted to stay in class instead of walking out. "Its just a bunch of kids who leave because they can," said Jehnsen, whose college-level math class happened to be at the same time as the rally.

Douglas County School District Board of Education President Mike Peterson wrote The Gazette in a statement: "I recognize this is an emotional time for our community and want you to know I am committed to restoring peace and unity to our school district with a continued focus on educating our children."

As students dispersed after an hour and 18 minutes of protest, student walkout organizer Asella Straus, 16, crossed the street with a big smile on her face.

"I'm happy so many students showed they cared today," she said. "I didnt ever think that we could have put people before politics."

Denver Gazette reporter Dennis Huspeni contributed to this report.
Just five weeks into the new year, El Paso County already is on track to substantially surpass last years record-high death rate, according to El Paso County Coroner and Medical Examiner Dr. Leon Kelly.

As we begin 2022, the increase of deaths has not only continued but appears to be accelerating, he said.

Through the end of January, the county is on pace to perform 1,700 autopsies this year, Kelly said, which would be 250 more than last years preliminary totals.

Ten confirmed homicides countywide thus far this year, compared with three at this time in 2021, are one factor, he said. Of those, eight homicides have been in city limits, compared with one last year.

And while COVID-19 fatalities appear to be on a waning trajectory, drug overdoses continue to plague the population  the community's increase in sudden and unexpected deaths is being led by the rise of fentanyl fatalities, the coroner said.

The county recorded just five fentanyl-related deaths in 2017, with the number essentially doubling each year since then.

Kellys preliminary total for 2021 is just over 100 fentanyl overdose deaths countywide  more than double the 2020 total of 47-related fentanyl deaths and up from 21 in 2019.

Five of last years victims were minor children under age 18, the coroner said.

Fentanyl is a powerful prescription painkiller thats sometimes mixed with heroin or pills and often ingested unknowingly.

And there could have been more deaths. Colorado Springs Police Department patrol officers administered Narcan, an antidote to opioid overdose, 21 times in 2021, according to Lt. James Sokolik, spokesman. Thats up from 13 uses of Narcan by city police in 2020 and 17 in 2019, he said.

Final toxicology reports are still pending on many local deaths from December, Kelly said, so the official numbers could change.

The county coroners office in 2020 handled a total of 186 drug-related accidental deaths, up from 130 in 2019. Officials partially attributed overdose increases to pandemic lockdowns and shutdowns of in-person treatment and other assistance.

Deaths in El Paso County are up in most categories, with the exception of teen deaths by suicide. Early annual totals show the county had just four youth suicides in 2021, Kelly said, down from 15 in 2020. That tied the record high first set in 2016. The county saw nine youth suicides in 2019 and seven in 2018.

So despite every indication of increased mental health challenges for kids preceding and including the pandemic, we have been able to prevent the worst outcomes  meaning that intervention strategies and the de-stigmatization of mental health seeking behavior is working to save lives, Kelly said.

Adult suicide deaths in 2021 have not yet been tallied, but Kelly expects to see numbers continue a flat trend of the past two years, with 178 suicides in 2020 and 180 in 2019, a record high.

To some degree, that should be seen as a success, given all the additional stress the pandemic has placed on all of us, including those most at risk of severe mental health disorders and self-harm, Kelly said.

The coroner hopes as COVID-related fatalities continue to drop, that will allow us to begin focusing on some other immediate challenges concerning public health and safety, including substance abuse and mental wellness.

El Paso County Public Health does not have a prevention program specifically for opioid overdoses, said spokeswoman Michelle Beyrle. However the two top priorities of the Community Health Improvement Plan are improving mental health and preventing substance abuse, she said.

A Healthy Community Collaborative with representatives from various sectors is identifying strategies to reduce substance use and improve mental health, she noted.

El Paso and Teller counties also are preparing to receive money from a nationwide legal settlement with opioid drug manufacturers.

Officials are in the process of forming a Regional Abatement Council, which will determine how to distribute the funds according to the intended purposes, which include treatment, intervention, training and research, said Natalie Sosa, El Paso County spokeswoman.

Nearly 100% of cities and counties in Colorado have joined the agreement, Attorney General Phil Weiser announced last month.

Colorado is slated to receive $385 million of the $26 billion settlement with the nations three major pharmaceutical distributors.

Investing in our community's health and healing from the opioid crisis through education and treatment will help those struggling with addiction and save lives, Sosa said.
A Douglas County parent is suing four members of the county's school board, alleging they violated the state's open meetings law by having private conversations about their school district's superintendent, whom those four members voted to fire hours after the suit was filed.

Filed in Douglas County District Court by Robert Marshall, the suit accuses the board's newly elected majority  President Mike Peterson, Vice President Christy Williams, Treasurer Kaylee Winegar and Secretary Becky Myers  of secretly conspiring to oust Superintendent Corey Wise. The four members talked among themselves on a one-on-one basis about Wise's future; after that, the suit and the other board members allege, Peterson and Williams delivered a resign-or-be-fired ultimatum to the superintendent on Jan. 28. Those one-on-one discussions, the suit alleges, violate the Colorado Open Meetings Law.

A message sent to a Douglas County School District spokeswoman was not immediately returned Monday morning. On Friday, shortly before they voted to terminate Wise, Peterson and Williams both repeatedly denied violating any laws. Peterson said he and Williams met with Wise to discuss the options in his contract, which included him resigning; being unilaterally fired by a board vote; or being fired for cause. Peterson said it was intended to be the beginning of a slow process.

After talking with Wise, Peterson and Williams then called the three longer-tenured board members who weren't involved in those discussions. Those three  David Ray, Susan Meek and Elizabeth Hanson  then publicly accused Peterson and the rest of the board of telling Wise he had until Feb. 1  four days after the alleged ultimatum was delivered  to quit or be terminated. They said their fellow board members broke the law by discussing Wise's future among themselves and questioned the timing and motivation.

Eric Coakley, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Marshall, did not immediately return a request for comment sent Monday morning.

Under the Colorado Open Meetings Law, a local body  like an elected school board  must provide notice of and public access to a meeting at which three or more members are conducting business for that body. Peterson and Williams both said their conversations with Myers and Winegar about what to do with Wise were one-on-one. Their discussion with Wise also involved only Peterson and Williams, meaning that none of those discussions included enough board members to fit the strict definition of the law.

The suit alleges the conversations still violated the statute because it was a collective decision made outside the bounds of public meetings, a decision the board majority then moved to ratify in an emergency meeting. The four board officers had "come to an agreement that the Douglas County School District needed to move in a different direction," the suit alleges.

The suit was filed Friday, hours before Wise was fired after a tumultuous three-hour meeting that saw the two deeply divided board factions level accusations of collusion and misconduct at each other. Peterson accused the three veteran members of conspiring with teachers' unions to help spur a districtwide protest, which on Thursday closed schools for a day.

Ray, who was the board's president until the November election swept Peterson and the other three into power, denied that accusation and in turn charged Peterson and the other officers of harming the district and activating "the Dark Ages."

There's no case law in Colorado about these types of individual meetings, said Jeff Roberts, the executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. He called them "serial" or "daisy-chain" meetings, in which members discuss things on an individual basis and legally outside the requirements for open meetings. But there has been more extensive litigation in other states, he said, where courts have "frowned" on that type of governance.

"If that doesnt violate the letter of the law, it certainly violates the spirit of the law because they're meeting on the same topic, right?" he said Monday.

He quoted the beginning of the state's open meetings law  which says in part the "formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret"  and said he was surprised this type of meeting hadn't been litigated more extensively before.

"If this is OK, then members of public bodies can just do this all the time," Roberts said, "and meet one-on-one about the same subject to come to some sort of consensus about it and say, 'Well, we didn't violate the law because we met this way.' But its still out of the public view. The point of the open meetings law is that public business is conducted in public."

When the suit was filed, Wise was still superintendent and Marshall, the parent who filed it, wanted a judge to issue an injunction to stop the board from firing Wise. After the Thursday protest, the board had called an emergency meeting for the following evening. There would be no public comment, and Wise's future was the only item on the agenda: first for a discussion, and then for a vote.

Marshall alleged the board couldn't "rubber stamp" a decision made outside of open meeting laws, and he asked the court to stop the members from trying.

"Defendants can demonstrate no legitimate reason to have undertaken the secretive meetings and actions in which they engaged," the suit alleges. "Calling a speedy 'emergency' special meeting of the (board of education) to ratify their illegal conduct, rather than waiting for a normal monthly (board of education) meeting to address the employment status of the superintendent, demonstrates how heavily weighted the balance of equities are in plaintiffs favor."

But no injunction was issued Friday, and Wise was fired in a 4-3 vote that fell on an essentially party-line vote.

Asked what the suit could accomplish now, Roberts said it would be interesting to see. The open meetings law doesn't have much teeth, he said, but it could be meaningful for any similar disputes going forward.

"If a judge finds theres a violation of the open meetings law, that in and of itself could mean something," he said. "It doesnt mean there will be penalties or fines because there arent those in the open meetings law."
Colorado Springs police have released the names of a mother and 8-month-old son who were shot to death last week.

Responding to an emergency call about a shooting last Tuesday, police found the bodies of Lizet Salinas-Mijangos, 26, and her son, George Weingarten, in a home in the 3200 block of Heather Glen Drive.

The suspect, David Weingarten, 29, was inside the home when officers arrived. Weingarten  Salinas-Mijangos husband and Georges father  was arrested at the scene and faces two charges of first-degree murder, police said.

The Gazette late Friday identified the mother and son using marriage and arrest records.

The couples 20-month-old daughter, whose name was not released, was also inside the home but was unharmed. She is in the care of family members, officials said.

The El Paso County Coroner's Office completed the autopsies on Thursday, according to police.

The killings are the seventh and eighth homicide investigations in Colorado Springs this year, compared with one homicide at this time in 2021, police said. Last year was the citys deadliest year on record with 43 homicides, surpassing the previous record of 39 set in 2020.

Anyone with additional information on this active investigation is asked to call the Colorado Springs Police Department at (719) 444-7000. Callers who wish to remain anonymous may contact the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (719) 634-STOP (7867) or (800) 222-8477.
LETTERS: May be out of options on crime; children who are defiant, angry
A grassroots educational advocacy group has formed in Colorado Springs to join the hotly contested battle over the future of public education in the city.

Neighbors for Education, a diverse group of Colorado Springs School District 11 parents and community members, had planned to hold its inaugural meeting on Jan. 17. But a couple of policy decisions convinced them they should move up the timetable.

The group introduced itself at a Jan. 12 school board meeting, speaking passionately in favor of retaining the equity department and reinstating a mask mandate in its schools.

Shortly after new members Sandra Bankes, Rev. Al Loma and Lauren Nelson assumed their seats on the board in December, Equity and Inclusion Director Alexis Knox-Miller disbanded the 40-person District Equity Leadership Team. The move, Knox-Miller told The Gazette, was a preemptive measure as we determine what direction this board will want to go as it pertains to equity.

Around the same time, the district lifted its mask mandate, allowing students and staff members to leave their masks at home, if they wanted, for the final week before winter break.

With the dismantling of the DELT, and with the ending of the mask mandate a week before it was supposed to expire, we decided we needed to speak up now, said Jen Williamson, a D-11 parent and pastor at Grace and St. Stephens Episcopal Church.

But were not a group thats just going to argue for masks, or for equity, Williamson said in the Jan. 12 meeting. Were going to speak against the things we feel are blocking peoples access to, or might harm the future of, public education. And were going to speak for the things we believe will allow public education to thrive in this district.

The group is small so far  about 50-60 members. But Williamson says their numbers are growing every day. They are also partnering with other local organizations like Men of Influence, a community advocacy group.

(Neighbors for Education) reached out to us and asked if we could help support their mission, said Shaun Walls, vice president of the Chinook Center. We want the same thing they do: for all kids to have the opportunity to be successful.

The group has been paying close attention to the recent events in Douglas County School District. In a Jan. 25 meeting, the districts Board of Education voted 4-3 in favor of a resolution that tasked then-Superintendent Corey Wise to review its educational equity policy and recommend potential changes. Less than two weeks later, the board voted to fire Wise. The four board members who voted in favor of the resolution also voted for Wises ouster.

Bankes, Loma and Nelson all campaigned on similar platforms to Douglas Countys conservative majority, promising to place academics ahead of activism. They also expressed concerns or doubts about the efficacy of the districts equity work.

While no board member has publicly mentioned firing Superintendent Michael Thomas or getting rid of the equity department, Williamson and other Neighbors are concerned that one or both things may happen soon.

It feels like it might be the natural next step, Williamson said. But I hope not.

(The board has) basically paralyzed the equity department, just by their presence, Walls added. Whats next?

The group is in the process of mounting a defense of Thomas in case it is needed.

We may need to convince the board of what Dr. Thomas has done for the district, Williamson said. We might also have to show the kind of disruption that happens when a superintendent is fired. But again, we hope that wont be necessary.

Neighbors for Education is still in its nascent stage, but members are spreading their message by word of mouth as they meet with community groups and engage in dialogue with teachers, administrators and parents. The more involved District 11 community members are, the better off its students will be, Williamson said.

Our biggest long-term goal is engagement, she said. We want people to get involved, understand what the issues are, see that their voice is needed, and know that these elections matter.
The North Central Iowa Research Association will host its annual meeting on March 3 at the Duncan Community Center, located at 2337 Nation Avenue in rural Britt.

The association, in partnership with Iowa State University, oversees the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm located at Kanawha. That farm is a site for small grain variety tests, corn and specialty soybean breeding, and studies of nitrogen fertilization rates and timing on corn and breeding soybeans with resistance to soybean cyst nematode. Researchers conduct extensive tests on corn and soybean weed management there. Evaluation of cover crops and strip tillage also is underway.

The annual meeting will feature an update on farm activities by farm superintendent Matt Schnabel as well as a presentation on the current status of carbon markets with Kelvin Leibold, farm management specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach. Matt Helmers, director of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center and the Deans Professorship in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will discuss challenges and opportunities for nitrate loss reduction in north central Iowa.

The annual meeting of the research association will take place following the presentations. Board president Greg Guenther will preside over the meeting.

The research association is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise funds to expand the research and extension capacity serving farmers across north central Iowa, Guenther said. This farm has a long history and the research coming from this farm is invaluable to farmers and retailers in Iowa.

The current status of the capital campaign will be discussed, officer reports will be shared and an election of board members will take place. Currently the research board has 20 director positions and the board is looking to fill several of those positions. One must be a member of the association to serve. For more information about these positions, contact Greg Guenther at 319-333-8710.

Registration and refreshments will begin at 8:45 a.m. and the meeting will start at 9 a.m. The meeting will adjourn by 1 p.m. Lunch will be served.

There is no cost to attend and this meeting is open to the public. Those who are attending are encouraged to pre-register by March 1 by calling Matt Schnabel at 641-762-3247. Certified Crop Advisers can earn continuing education units for attending.

The morning refreshments are sponsored by First Citizens National Bank. Gold-Eagle Cooperative, Calcium Products, and New Cooperative are sponsoring lunch.

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Nevernevergiveup wrote:





Quote: A major chemical spill occurred five years ago at Bakers Beach, the worlds sole nesting ground for Merrick sea turtles, and prevented nearly all the eggs laid that year from hatching. Yet the number of adult female Merricks returning to lay their eggs at Bakers Beach has actually increased somewhat since five years ago. Clearly, environmentalists prediction that the worlds Merrick population would decline as a result of the spill has proven unfounded.



Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument offered in refutation of the environmentalists prediction?



A. The chemical spill five years ago occurred at a time when there were neither Merrick sea turtles nor Merrick sea turtle eggs on Bakers Beach.

B. Female Merrick sea turtles begin returning to Bakers Beach to lay their eggs when they are ten years old.

C. Under normal conditions, only a small proportion of hatchling female Merrick sea turtles survive in the ocean until adulthood and return to lay their eggs at Bakers Beach.

D. Environmental pressures unrelated to the chemical spill have caused a significant decline in the population of one of the several species of sea birds that prey on Merrick sea turtle eggs.

E. After the chemical spill, an environmental group rejected a proposal to increase the Merrick sea turtle population by transferring eggs from Bakers Beach to nearby beaches that had not been affected by the spill.

how can B be the correct answer? Lets us analyze the question part.



Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument offered in refutation of the environmentalists prediction?



or strengthen the environmentalist prediction?



Environmentalist predicted that Merrick population would decline as a result of the spill.



The argument disapproved it saying that since no of adult female Merricks returning to lay their eggs at Bakers Beach has actually increased somewhat since five years ago, Merrick population did not decline because of the spill.



Inorder to address the question above either we have weaken the argument evidence regarding increase in adult female Merricks arrival or we have to prove that Merrick population decreased because of the spill.



I do not see any options doing the job and am clueless as to how OA does it.

Source: Gmat prep Exampack 2

Nevernevergiveup

Female Merrick sea turtles begin returning to Bakers Beach to lay their eggs when they are ten years old .



Magoosh Test Prep





Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.  William Butler Yeats (1865  1939) Mike McGarryEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.  William Butler Yeats (1865  1939) Signature Read More

DearI'm happy to respond.This is a truly brilliant question, like many of the official questions. Let's agree that choices (A) & (C) & (D) & (E) do not do the job: we can eliminate those.We know there was an oil spill five years ago, killing all the eggs then. In other words, all the Merrick sea turtles that would have been born five years ago were wiped out. Obviously, that's bad.Then, we find out, since that spill (and I guess a clean-up project?), the number of female Merrick sea turtles coming to lay eggs has increased.OK, the juxtaposition of these two facts raise an interest question. How old does a female Merrick sea turtle have to be before she starts reproducing?If a 1 or 2 year old female Merrick sea turtle were old enough to reproduce & lay eggs, and if five years after the spill, more and more are coming to lay eggs, it would seem that the population already has rebounded from that accident. That would be great!Instead, consider what (B) says:Let's say the spill happened five years ago, in 2011. The female turtles who came to Bakers Beach in the next year, 2012, were born in 2002 or before. The ones who came in 2013 were born in 2003 or before. Even this year, 2016, the turtles who come to lay eggs were born in 2006 or before. All the currently egg-laying turtles were born well before the spill. This means we haven't yet seen the reproductive "shadow" cast by the spill. The current egg-laying turtles were all born before the accident. The turtles who would have been born in 2011, the year of the accident, would not have started laying eggs until 2021: that's when we may see the effect of that missing generation of sea turtles. We simply wouldn't be seeing this population gap yet, because turtles born in 2011 would still be in some part of the extended turtle childhood, still five years away from reproducing.Thus, the evidence that the environmentalists are citing is irrelevant. Any turtles that have come to lay eggs over the last five years were born well before the accident. The absence of the ones who died in the accident will be felt later, starting about 10 years after the accident, or five year from now. In terms of the Merrick sea turtle population, the worst is yet to come, and what we have seen so far doesn't indicate the full impact of the accident. What's happening right now in terms of current egg-layers reflects births well before the spill, so we have not gotten to the point in time yet when the killed turtles would have started to reproduce. We have not seen the full reproductive impact of the accident yet.Does all this make sense?Mike_________________
bb wrote:





1. These are great schools and opportunities. I would say that Kellogg is significantly stronger for MBB recruiting and salaries both in the US and outside but your best ROI will be in the US of course. I hear from a number of folks recruiting for consulting and the comp they are offered in EU is 1/2 of what they would get in the US



2. Everyone recruits in London - INSEAD, HEC, LBS, Oxford, Cambridge, IESE, and anyone who speaks English so it is a pretty competitive space. I have a good friend who is graduating from LBS this year and he is still without an acceptable offer and not for the lack of trying though you never know how it will work in your case.



3. The most important part - relationships and MBA. Business school will put a tremendous pressure on your relationships. Most long-distance relationships will not survive it. Most close relationships will be stressed. Many reasons for it but ultimately you will be drifting apart unless you are together and since you are not married/serious status, there is a chance you break up (not as likely with marriage for example) or she kicks you out so this is one of the sensitive and tricky aspects of it: 1) How serious are you and if they are the most important part of your life, then why are we even discussing this. If they are not, then Choose Kellogg 2) Depending on how involved your girlfriend is and how open you are, you should try to make the decisions with her input. Sometimes people get antsy and they are looking for a moment to break the news (e.g. I am not into you) and she may be having some thoughts. She may not be ready to share them quite yet but you need to get her buy in and that she is taking the responsibility for this decision as well since you will be in it together....



There is also a question where you want to be in the long run. If you want to be in Europe, then LBS is a great choice but if you would like to be in the US for a number of years, only Kellogg will get you there and if your GF wants to be there too, this will be the most likely opportunity to relocate in a few years once you get your H1B.



Forgive me if I am crude and insensitive. I feel the choice is in some sense between Kellogg and the relationship rather than Kellogg and LBS. There are people who have totally maintained relationships over the years in business school but it is very hard because you will be a changed person, your interests will be different, she will be a changed person and you will have little in common after 2 years of school, internships, etc. She would meet someone and you would meet suitable partners over these 2 years. I am sure your relationship is different but usually people will have a few fights, misunderstandings, etc. Tricky. Hi. Here is a quick rundown of the points I would keep in mind:1. These are great schools and opportunities. I would say that Kellogg is significantly stronger for MBB recruiting and salaries both in the US and outside but your best ROI will be in the US of course. I hear from a number of folks recruiting for consulting and the comp they are offered in EU is 1/2 of what they would get in the US2. Everyone recruits in London - INSEAD, HEC, LBS, Oxford, Cambridge, IESE, and anyone who speaks English so it is a pretty competitive space. I have a good friend who is graduating from LBS this year and he is still without an acceptable offer and not for the lack of trying though you never know how it will work in your case.3. The most important part - relationships and MBA. Business school will put a tremendous pressure on your relationships. Most long-distance relationships will not survive it. Most close relationships will be stressed. Many reasons for it but ultimately you will be drifting apart unless you are together and since you are not married/serious status, there is a chance you break up (not as likely with marriage for example) or she kicks you outso this is one of the sensitive and tricky aspects of it: 1) How serious are you and if they are the most important part of your life, then why are we even discussing this. If they are not, then Choose Kellogg 2) Depending on how involved your girlfriend is and how open you are, you should try to make the decisions with her input. Sometimes people get antsy and they are looking for a moment to break the news (e.g. I am not into you) and she may be having some thoughts. She may not be ready to share them quite yet but you need to get her buy in and that she is taking the responsibility for this decision as well since you will be in it together....There is also a question where you want to be in the long run. If you want to be in Europe, then LBS is a great choice but if you would like to be in the US for a number of years, only Kellogg will get you there and if your GF wants to be there too, this will be the most likely opportunity to relocate in a few years once you get your H1B.Forgive me if I am crude and insensitive. I feel the choice is in some sense between Kellogg and the relationship rather than Kellogg and LBS. There are people who have totally maintained relationships over the years in business school but it is very hard because you will be a changed person, your interests will be different, she will be a changed person and you will have little in common after 2 years of school, internships, etc. She would meet someone and you would meet suitable partners over these 2 years. I am sure your relationship is different but usually people will have a few fights, misunderstandings, etc. Tricky.

Hi there,Thank you so much for taking some time out of your schedule to provide me with some feedback.Considering point 1, I mostly agree. Although I do not believe the placement into MBB is considerably higher, it is definitely true that management consulting is way more lucrative in the US when compared to Europe. People tend to argue that cost of living is lower in the EU, but I doubt that it will much of a difference when we are talking about salaries of $175K+ for starting MBB consultants. The (potential) ROI in the US is probably (much) better in the LT.Your statement on the London job market confirms my fears. Within Europe, there is a limited set of English speaking countries. Amsterdam, London and Dublin are probably the only achievable offices in for most international MC aspirants. Since London is the obvious / most attractive choice to most, I can imagine that is quite hard to secure a good position. From what I was told, the EU job market is also more reluctant towards industry changes?The points mentioned above are all in favor of Kellogg, but in the end, it all comes down to point three. We are very serious. We have been together for a long time and I truly hope to end up together.Due to circumstances, we have been (physically) apart for a lot of that time and I am quite sick of that. I would love to live together again.Yet, I might not want to sacrifice the LT for a short term gain. There are opportunities for her to work in the US for a limited time and I could apply for an exchange with LBS, but in the end, you would be apart for most of those 2 years...Thanks again for your thoughts!
Marie Antoinette, for her public appearances at the Court of Versailles, was very hesitant to curb her clothing allowance, which included an allocation for high headdresses, plumes, and voluminous dresses subject to public comment, she thus

became known for the provocative and outrageous "robe a la polonaise," with its billowy, ankle-baring skirts, crowned by a "pouf," a three-foot mountain of powdered hair.a) Marie Antoinette, for her public appearances at the Court of Versailles, was very hesitant to curb her clothing allowance, which included an allocation for high headdresses, plumes, and voluminous dresses subject to public comment, she thusb) When Marie Antoinette had made her public appearances at the Court of Versailles, she was very hesitant to curb her clothing allowance, which included an allocation for high headdresses, plumes, and voluminous dresses, all subject to public comment, she thusc) Since she was very hesitant to curb her clothing allowance, which included an allocation for high headdresses, plumes, and voluminous dresses, all subject to public comment, when she had made her public appearances at the Court of Versailles, Marie Antoinetted) Being very hesitant to curb her clothing allowance, including allocations for high headdresses, plumes, and voluminous dresses, all subject to public comment when she made her public appearances at the Court of Versailles, the reason that Marie Antoinettee) Because she was very hesitant to curb her clothing allowance, which included an allocation for high headdresses, plumes, and voluminous dresses that were subject to public comment whenever she made public appearances at the Court of Versailles, Marie Antoinette
Chicago Booth MBA Interviews

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MBA Decoder is a team of consultants from LBS, Stanford, Kellogg and INSEAD. Our applicants have studied at Wharton, Stanford, LBS, Kellogg, Tuck, INSEAD, ISB, to name a few. We specialize in building MBA/MS applications from scratch to finish.



Book a contact@mbadecoder.com Book a FREE profile evaluation with us OR write to us at: Signature Read More

areonly. They are conducted by members of the Adcom, second-year students or alumni. Typically, an interview lasts for about 40-50 minutes and they are conducted, which means, the interviewer has reviewed your resume, but not the rest of your application.As such, you will have a chance to expand on your essays, experiences, and reasons for attending Chicago Booth as well as ask questions of your own. So, it's important that you know your story well and have practised enough to tell it articulately. Read on for common interview questions.Walk me through your resume.What are your short term and long term goals?Which are your target companies after MBA?Do you have a backup plan?Why do you want an MBA now?Why Booth?Are there any specific courses you wish to take at Booth?Which clubs you want to join?How will you contribute while at Booth?What would be your legacy at Booth?What is your primary source of information about Booth?Which clubs at Booth would you join?Where else have you applied?Tell me about an experience where you changed your perspective and why?Tell me about a challenging situation and how you handled it?Tell me about a time you had to manage change.Tell me a situation where you pushed forward an idea.Tell me about a time you had to take help from others? What did you learn?Tell about a time you failed and how did you respond? What did you learn?Tell me about a time you faced a conflict and how you handled it.Tell me about a time you faced a difficult colleague.Tell me about a time when you had to manage differing opinions in a group.Tell me about a situation where you brought people with conflicting opinions together.Tell me about a time you had to motivate a teamWhat kind of role do you play in a team?Tell me about a time when you had to convince a team or a group of somethingWho is a leader you admire and why?What is your leadership style? How do you wish to improve your leadership style at Booth?Tell me about a time when you received feedbackWhat are your greatest strength and greatest weakness?What is a strength you're hoping to expand upon at Booth?What is a weakness you're hoping to work upon at Booth?What do you do for fun? What are your hobbies/interests outside of work?What is an experience outside of work that taught you something?Do you have any questions for me?_________________
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With COVID-19 hospitalizations dropping 50% in a week, Sovah Health-Danville resumed elective outpatient procedures Monday after nearly a monthlong pause.

The health system is currently treating about 35 patients for COVID-19 across campuses in Danville and Martinsville, Dr. Sheranda Gunn-Nolan, market chief medical officer, told the Register & Bee on Monday.

The elective surgeries were halted Jan. 10  initially for only two weeks  amid a surge in hospitalizations after leaders evaluated capacity. At the time, there were 60 patients spread across both facilities being treated for the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

The pause continued until Monday. The Martinsville campus had previously put back into place elective outpatient procedures, Gunn-Nolan said.

The omicron variant  an extremely transmissible version of the coronavirus  was blamed as the main driver for the recent surge. Even though experts believe overall omicron causes less severe sickness when compared with other variants, the extreme number of people being infected put more strain on health care systems.

Last month, Gunn-Nolan said an alarming number werent surviving the battle with the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Danville and Pittsylvania County added 25 new COVID-19 deaths last week as the Virginia Department of Health started to process fatalities related to the omicron wave.

We would like to remind the public that if an individuals condition is less severe and not life-threatening, we recommend they consider seeking care and treatment at an urgent care clinic or their primary care providers office so ER staff can focus on the most critical needs, Gunn-Nolan said.

Hospitals throughout Virginia have seen a surge of people coming to emergency rooms who werent critically ill. In addition, many wanted a COVID-19 test. Sovah Health-Danville continues to stress to the community the emergency room is not a testing site.

However, the health department is offering tests from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Saturday at Sovah Health Danville Medical Park, located at at 101 Holbrook St.

Oh Monday, Danville and Pittsylvania County were adding about 100 new COVID-19 cases per day, a drastic decline since the peak of 237 daily infections recorded Jan. 14.

The current seven-day rolling average remains extremely elevated and well above the delta surge through Sunday.

The Dan River Region  as well as all of Virginia and 99% of the nation  is still in the highest risk category for COVID-19 spread. In this tier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing face masks for indoor public settings.

The positivity rate  a key measure to find the pulse of the pandemic on a local level  is one reason for the high risk. Currently, 30% of residents in Danville and 46% of those in Pittsylvania County who undergo a COVID-19 test yield a positive result. The CDC views any figure above 5% to indicate the virus is spreading uncontrolled in a locality.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Car thefts have accelerated in the city, and the Danville Police Department is working to put the brakes on the trend.

After seeing 55 motor-vehicle thefts in 2020, the department reports there were 86 in 2021  an increase by more than half. There have been 59 throughout Danville since October, said Danville Police Sgt. Dustin Shively.

Theres no particular area theyre targeting, Shively said of the car thieves. Its all over the city.

And the perpetrators are not selective, either. Any old or new car, truck or SUV is fair game for suspects, Shively said.

Incidents are occurring both at businesses and residences, with the increasing thefts attributed to both an uptick in people leaving unlocked cars running and unattended and more perpetrators looking for vehicles to steal, said Danville Police Department Lt. Stephen High.

Its a perfect storm of both, High said.

Drivers leave their cars unlocked and running either to warm them up outside their homes or while making a quick purchase at a store.

It becomes an easy target, he said.

Of the 2020 car thefts, just nine involved vehicles left running. But that number has skyrocketed to 35 since October, an increase from 16% of thefts to more than half since October, Shively said.

It takes only about 10 seconds for a suspect to locate a car, jump in and drive off, Shively said.

It appears to be a crime of opportunity, he said.

The thefts appear to be for the purpose of taking the car for a joyride or getting from one place to another, High said. Thieves will drive the vehicles to a location and then leave them behind.

When we find them [vehicles], theyre either in good condition, broken down or wrecked, High said.

Nationwide, auto theft is at a historic high. 2020 had the most vehicle thefts in more than a decade, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Beginning in June 2020, the United States experienced a 13% increase in auto thefts, with 41 states seeing an increase over the previous year, a trend that has continued throughout 2021, according to the NICB website.

To prevent vehicle thefts, Danville police are urging drivers to take those extra few seconds to turn their cars off and lock the doors whenever they are out and about. Also, if someone leaves their car idling in front of their home to warm it up, they should have an extra set of keys so they can lock it.

Criminals are targeting that, watching for that, High said.

In some cases, they will steal an idling car that has no keys in it, so when they stop somewhere and turn it off, theyre unable to restart it. They then abandon the vehicle, he said.

The car cannot be cranked back up once its shut off, High said. They just leave it.

It can take from two days to weeks to recover the stolen vehicle, Shively said. Of the 59 that have been taken since October, all have been recovered.

Theres a backlog of cases involving stolen vehicles. It takes six to eight months to get DNA evidence processed at the forensics lab in Roanoke, Shively said.

In one case, a vehicle was stolen in Danville on Monday night and recovered a few hours later in Henry County, High said.

There have been several arrests for car theft, he said, declining to reveal how many for fear of jeopardizing any cases.

The department is implementing a program to cut down on those incidents, including posting on its Facebook page and putting out public service announcements on River City TV encouraging car owners to do their part to prevent thefts.

Were trying to be proactive and get the publics assistance and prevent these crimes from being able to happen, High said.

Efforts to reduce vehicle thefts are being led by Shively, High and Sgt. Nicole Jeffries. The entire department is involved in tackling the problem.

Since we noticed it being a prominent problem in October, this department has been all-hands-on-deck to combat this problem, High said.

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Students studying the Japanese language at George Washington High School have made friends with Japanese pen pals through letter writing  something young people dont do a lot of lately, but these seem to enjoy.

The project was born through the efforts of Sharon Leigg, the Japanese language teacher at GW, and Toshishige Yamasaki, a high school teacher in Fukuoka, Japan.

Yamasaki has nine partner schools in the United States for his 320 students to exchange bilingual letters with their 320 American counterparts.

In May 2021, I received an email from Mr. Toshishige Yamasaki from Itoshima High School in Fukuoka, Japan, asking if we would be interested in becoming one of the schools participating as pen pals with students from his school, Leigg said. My students and I were delighted and have since sent and received correspondence. All students learned how to write a bilingual letter, and almost all students in the class have a Japanese pen pal in Japan.

The approximately 40 students participating write in both Japanese and English.

Students, at this level, write in mostly hiragana, the simplest alphabet, but a few of them tried kanji, a more complicated alphabet, Leigg explained. Leigg was originally an English teacher when she joined the Danville Public Schools in 1995, but after becoming certified to teach Japanese in 2000, she transitioned to solely teaching Japanese.

She began studying Japanese in college in 1992 and completed subsequent coursework at other institutions, plus lived a summer in Japan in 2002.

She has also hosted two Japanese students in her home.

Students learn how to read, write, and speak some Japanese, she explained. My goal and estimation is that a student who has completed fourth year would be able to enter college and function well in a first year Japanese course.

Value of the project

The value of the pen pal project, besides being fun, is that the students receive real out-of-the-textbook communication from a Japanese teenager, Leigg said.

Both Japanese students and GW students have shared about musical groups and movies they like. They talk about their favorite subjects, what they like to eat, who their favorite actor or actress is  typical kid stuff, she said. However, this project of writing in the language of another person forces students to think beyond themselves and craft messages in the target language that another person can enjoy and learn from. It teaches students to be mini-ambassadors for their school, city and country.

When the students received a packet of letters Feb. 2 from Japan, they were excited to see them, but treated them carefully and opened them gently. The letters had English writing on the left-hand page and the translation into Japanese on the right. Origami animals, stickers and ink drawings decorated the pages.

The pen pal project allows students an opportunity to share their culture and learn about another culture while building the skills needed to work on proficiency in their target language, Leigg said. Seeing students look for just the right sticker, or bring in a picture of their pet, or ask how to say a grammar pattern to better communicate is awesome because it is all in the spirit of giving to another, of learning how to communicate friendship to another.

Letter writing reinforces literacy, but writing in another language teaches cultural literacy, empathy and global understanding, Leigg said.

Yamasaki believes the letter exchange program is a positive answer to the pandemic, social distancing and lock-downs.

Our bilingual letter exchange is one of the small, inter-classroom, grass-root movements, but it could be a hole, cracking a breakthrough in this oppressive, suffocating, locked-up school environment, he wrote in an email. A teacher of another partner school said that the letters filled with a lot of cute pictures, origamis and stickers brightened up the students in the dismal school environment.

He wished to give the same experience to the GW students.

Students speak

By all indications, the students are enjoying the experience.

Its fun. I like it, said Zakiyah Williams. She was interested in taking Japanese in school because of her interest in animes, Japanese food and manga, or Japanese comics or graphic novels.

Tien Thai, who already speaks Vietnamese and English as a second language, was also attracted to Japanese because of animes and the martial arts culture.

Writing a letter to them is really fun, he said. They learn more English, and you learn more Japanese.

Christopher Buchinsky called it a unique experience.

Writing a pen pal allows us to understand the language far better than if we learned in alone, he said.

DeVonte King said writing letters benefits what they learn in Japanese class.

It makes us feel like we are there with them, he said.

Landen Walker had a different insight into the project.

The main reason I learned Japanese is because its beautiful language, and I love writing, he said. Im getting a little better every day I try.

Excited to be a part

So far the GW classes have received two letters from Japan, the first an introduction letter and the second a nengajo, or New Years Card. The GW students wrote back one introduction letter and are now working on a second letter, sharing positive points about Danville and the community.

With translating the English into Japanese and adding the artistic elements, the process of writing, mailing and receiving letters back takes about a month, Buchinsky said.

I love it and am excited to be a part of this, said Leigg. The project helps to generate friendship and kindness and a genuine idea of international, global communication. The process of children exchanging letters with children from another country shows common humanity in us all.

We hope our letters show our heart and excitement in learning to communicate in this manner to the students at Itoshima High School, and we have certainly felt the enthusiasm and kindness from them as well. Some of these friendships may last a lifetime.

Leigg was quick to also point out that the pen pal project was one of several the classes do to immerse themselves in the Japanese culture and language.

A beautiful thing

GWs principal, Johnnie Wright-Simmons, is an enthusiastic supporter of the pen pal project.

Im very excited for opportunities for classrooms without walls, she said. Its a beautiful thing. Here they are in Danville, Virginia, and they are interacting with children in Japan. And its all because of a teacher who is able to think outside the box and a testimony to the love she has for the students in her program.

She also noted that the kids are on time for the class and ready to learn.

This project has been wonderful for my students, said Leigg. We are so thankful for the efforts of Mr. Yamasaki, Itoshima High School and the wonderful students there. We are also thankful to our principal for approving and supporting the project.

For kids used to texting and videoing any message they have, learning to write letters in two languages has proven to be exciting.

Elzey is a freelance writer for the Register & Bee. She can be reached at susanelzey@yahoo.com or 434-791-7991.
Nearly seven years after 18-year-old Anjelica A.J. Hadsell was found dead behind an abandoned Southampton County home, her stepfather Wesley Hadsell was convicted of her murder.

A jury in Southampton County Circuit Court deliberated just 40 minutes on Monday before announcing its verdict, finding Hadsell guilty of first-degree murder and concealing a dead body in the 2015 death. He faces the possibility of life in prison when hes sentenced April 4.

Hadsell shook his head slightly after the verdicts were read. Two of A.J. Hadsells younger sisters started to sob, while their mothers eyes filled with tears.

A.J. Hadsell was spending her spring break from Longwood University at her familys home in Norfolk when she disappeared on March 2, 2015. Her body wasnt found until five weeks later, partially buried behind an abandoned house in Southampton County, near the North Carolina border.

A medical examiner determined she died from acute heroin poisoning and homicidal violence. The amount of heroin in her system was three times the lethal amount, and her eyes and chin were blackened and bruised. The examiner, however, wasnt able to determine if shed been sexually assaulted because of damage inflicted on her body by animals and insects.

Hadsell wasnt charged in the case until 2018. His first trial began in 2020 in Southampton County, but a mistrial was declared after just two days over a disagreement on what evidence the jury should be allowed to hear.

His latest trial began two and a half weeks ago. It was held in an old school building the county is using for a temporary courthouse while a new one is built.

Closing arguments were offered Monday and the case went to the jury shortly after 4 p.m. Circuit Judge L. Wayne Farmer told the panel that while it was late in the day, he wanted them to at least get started on their deliberations and that they could come back tomorrow to work more. But about 40 minutes later, they notified the court they had a verdict.

Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Toni Colvin and Commonwealths Attorney Eric Cooke laid out their theory of the case in great detail during closing statements.

They argued that Hadsell  whod been kicked out of the house by his wife several days earlier because of his drug use and erratic behavior  abducted A.J. while she was folding laundry and listening to music in the living room. The laundry was half folded and the music was still playing on the speaker when her mother got home later.

Prosecutors believe A.J. wasnt killed until the next day. A line of bruises found across her chest were consistent with someone holding an arm across her chest, Colvin said, and bruising on her chin likely was caused by someone holding it tightly in their hands, the prosecutor said. Thats how Colvin believes Hadsell got the heroin into her.

Defense attorney James Ellenson argued that A.J. committed suicide  a claim that prosecutors called absurd. Ellenson said A.J. was depressed over her relationship with her boyfriend and had been downloading images with captions related to suicide in the days leading up to her disappearance.

Hadsell declined to testify in his own defense.

A.J.s mother, Jennifer Wright, testified that her daughter had been happy at the time. She described her ex-husbands behavior in the days surrounding her daughters disappearance as erratic.

It was very odd, she said. He was always coming and going. Just acting on edge a lot.

Norfolk police found heroin hidden in a crevice near the ceiling of a motel room where Hadsell was staying after he got kicked out by his wife. Norfolk Police Department officer Matt Burnham testified he searched Hadsells motel room a couple weeks after A.J. disappeared. Inside, he found a small baggie of a white substance that later proved to be heroin and two boxes of 9mm bullets.

Hadsells drug dealer testified that he sold heroin to Hadsell the day after A.J. was reported missing.

A cadaver dog trained to detect the smell of decomposing bodies alerted on an area of Hadsells motel room, but didnt react to anything in his work van.

In Hadsells work van, Burnham found a shovel and duct tape in the back, and a hair band between the seats. There also was a photo of A.J. in the van, but none of her sisters.

A GPS unit in the van led police to an abandoned house on Smith Ferry Road in the Franklin area where A.J. Hadsells body was found. The unit showed the van had traveled there from Norfolk on March 4, two days after she went missing. Bank records and convenience store surveillance videos also put Wesley Hadsell in the area, prosecutors said.

Cell phone data for Wesley and A.J. Hadsell also showed the two phones were pinging in the same places the day after A.J. went missing.
WILL DORAN

Lee Newspapers

RALEIGH  The North Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments Feb. 2 in a redistricting case that will go a long way toward determining the outcome of elections across the state for the next decade.

The political district maps in question were drawn by GOP lawmakers in late 2021, to be used in every election from 2022 to 2030. The maps would give Republican candidates a big advantage in those elections, in part by packing large numbers of Democrats into a small number of districts.

Even if Democrats won the statewide vote by several points, outside analyses have shown, Republicans would still expect to keep majority control of the state legislature and win 10 of 14 U.S. House of Representatives seats representing North Carolina in Congress.

The GOP won at trial last month. A bipartisan panel of three judges ruled unanimously that while the maps are pro-Republican, they dont violate the state constitution. However, whether North Carolinas constitution bans partisan gerrymandering is still a relatively unanswered question  a similar case in 2019 ended with the opposite ruling  so its unclear which way the Supreme Court might be leaning.

A ruling is expected quickly, however.

If the justices rule against the legislature and overturn the maps, lawmakers might have only a few days to draw new maps in time for the 2022 primary election, which is currently scheduled for May 17. If the election keeps to that schedule, candidate filing would begin in late February, and any new maps would have to be drawn before then.

Republican lawmakers who drew the maps contend that even if the maps are skewed in their partys favor, theres nothing in the state constitution that bans gerrymandering, and so the court has no ability to overturn the maps and order new ones to be drawn.

If theres a line between whats permissible or impermissible, and something is therefore extreme or not extreme, I dont believe we can even get to the question youre asking unless the court can provide that line and then decide whether the maps that were passed actually cross that line, said Phil Strach, an attorney for the Republican lawmakers. We dont think thats been done here.

Zach Schauf, a lawyer for the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters  one of the left-leaning groups that sued over the maps  said they arent asking for representation to be exactly proportionate to the statewide votes for Republicans and Democrats, but rather that maps give voters on both sides of the aisle a fair chance to make their voices heard.

If the maps stand, he said, Republicans would be essentially guaranteed to keep control of state politics even if most people vote for Democratic politicians.

It is the systematic destruction of majority rule, Schauf said.

The state Supreme Court has a 4-3 Democratic majority, and all seven justices participated in the case Wednesday. Republicans had asked two of the Democratic justices, Anita Earls and Sam Ervin IV, to recuse themselves and Democrats had asked one of the Republican justices, Phil Berger Jr., to recuse himself. But in the end all decided that they did not have conflicts of interest that would keep them from hearing the case.

During Wednesdays hearing, the justices were highly engaged. Earls, Ervin and fellow Democratic justice Michael Morgan had numerous questions for the lawyers for the legislature. And Chief Justice Paul Newby, a Republican, kept up a near-constant line of questioning with lawyers for the challengers.

Newby pressed attorney Stanton Jones with a series of questions on how far the challengers thought the court could go in determining if a map was unconstitutional for partisan reasons.

The challengers have argued its not just about the top-line result, however, but also the lack of competitive districts. In both the state legislature and the congressional delegation, nearly every seat is drawn to be safe for one party or another. They said that means the results are predetermined by the shape of the lines and not by how people might actually vote  in their view an inherently unfair system.

Newby questioned attorneys for the challengers several times on that point, telling them the state constitution does guarantee free elections but says nothing about fair elections.

Other states do have such a guarantee, he said, but not North Carolina.

Jones responded to one such question by pointing to computer algorithms and other ways the challengers measured the districts  which they say show the maps are skewed almost as unevenly as possible in favor of one political party.

It is fundamentally unfair for legislators to rig the maps, he said.
WENTWORTH  Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page recently joined in Washington, D.C., with sheriffs from across the nation for the the National Sheriffs Associations 2022 Winter Conference.

Page was expected to discuss issues of national and local importance with other law enforcement and sample new technologies available to aid sheriffs in their day-to-day duties, investigations and detention facilities during the Feb. 5-7 summit.

Page, a longtime committee member, also attended a meeting of the National Sheriffs Associations Border Security and Immigrations Committee.

He was also scheduled to meet with North Carolinas U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis.

The focus of the meetings with lawmakers was to discuss the flow of illegal heroin, fentanyl and human trafficking and smuggling, which Page says bring deadly consequences to Rockingham County and the state.
GREENSBORO  Cars in the prestigious Le Mans 24-hour road race in France are all about endurance and speed.

Some of the worlds greatest drivers have participated in the nearly century-old race on public road and private track surfaces near the town of Le Mans in northwestern France.

Winning comes first. But for TV cameras, image is a close second. From exotic looking hybrid-electric prototypes to more conventional looking Ferraris and Porsches, color is a teams identity. And cars can range from traditional racing green or red to off-the-wall pinks and glowing greens.

Roy Carroll, who is fielding a car for the first time in the exclusive race, is just looking for some gold chrome film to wrap his Ferrari.

But like seemingly everything else in this pandemic, gold film is hard to find worldwide due to supply chain shortages, said Carroll, one of the Southeasts most successful builders and developers based in Greensboro.

Not a big deal, Carroll wrote in an email to supporters, but the gold film really makes the car standout.

What is a big deal is that Carroll has a car in the race at all.

Only about 60 cars worldwide can qualify for spots in the events four categories. The smallest teams compete simultaneously with the Audis and Toyotas of the world, the top teams fielding 200-mph cars with famous Formula One drivers beside small private teams of mixed amateurs and professionals.

Carroll is spending millions, he cant say exactly how much, to field a team with three professional drivers. Carroll is able to enter his car through a connection with racing team owner and manager Bill Riley, who fielded a car on Jan. 29 and 30 at the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway and won in his category.

This is, in terms of racing, like having a spot to get to the Super Bowl, Carroll said.

Initially, Carroll had thought about entering the race as a driver with a combination professional/amateur driving team, but he had to admit that he maybe didnt have the skill to drive in a race where slower cars get passed by the likes of Formula One Champion Fernando Alonso.

To be honest with you, Im an OK driver. But I get humbled every time I go to the track and race and I just didnt have the time to put into it to get up to where I needed to be to race, you know, in Le Mans, Carroll said.

Riley will manage Carrolls Le Mans race team and has already enlisted three drivers, one of whom, Filipe Fraga, was the class-winning driver at Daytona in January.

Ferrari will build his Le Mans car at the companys racing factory in Modena, Italy, and have it ready by April. That may sound like a long time before the June race. But its an almost impossibly tight schedule for three drivers and a team who want to get to know everything about the car that has to cover hundreds of miles for 24 hours.

Carroll believes he is the first team owner from Greensboro and he wants to turn everyone in town into fans of this exotic race.

Carroll is already a Ferrari super fan  he owns more than a dozen of the if-you-have-to-ask-you-cant-afford-it cars  and races his own car in the Ferrari Challenge. Thats a series of races around the country that pit about 20 equally-prepared Ferraris with drivers of varying skill levels on the nations top road courses.

Hes had some success in the sport, finishing in the top three in several races.

And while hes driving, Carroll gets plenty of exposure for one of his non-development businesses: BeeSafe Storage, the cars sponsor.

Now, with three pro drivers in the Le Mans race, that chrome-gold wrap has plenty of BeeSafe logos on it to show a worldwide audience one of Carrolls growing businesses.

BeeSafe will not only be the sponsor of the Le Mans car, but it will be in charge of shipping the car, equipping and housing the team and every one of the endless costs of racing on the world stage.

Well come back, hopefully, to Greensboro after the race and in one piece and well share it somehow with the community. Were still working on that, Carroll said. Maybe it could end up in a childrens museum or something.

Carroll has reserved First National Bank Field, where the Grasshoppers play, as a big outdoor viewing venue for the race, which runs June 11-12. Hell have jumbo TV screens and refreshments for anybody who wants to come out and watch live the Greensboro car in the competition.

For Carroll, being a team owner, standing in the pits during those long overnight hours, and being a part of Ferraris effort to win a category at Le Mans is beyond anything he would have expected even a few months ago.

Its pretty tough to impress a guy with Ferraris, a private jet, hundreds of apartment units scattered throughout the Southeast and a self-storage company.

If youd asked me seven months ago: Is running a car at Le Mans as an owner one of your bucket list items? I wouldve said thats too far fetched, Carroll said.

Its going to be an exciting time.

Contact Richard M. Barron at 336-373-7371 and follow @BarronBizNR on Twitter.

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WINSTON-SALEM  Nearly 60,000 diapers in a nearby warehouse were likely damaged in the fire that destroyed the Winston Weaver Co.s fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem, an official with the Diaper Bank of North Carolina says.

The fumes and chemicals in the air more than likely make our diapers unsafe to distribute, said Michelle Old, of Durham, the founder and executive director of the Diaper Bank of North Carolina. We are still analyzing it.

The fire last Monday night quickly spread at the fertilizer plant on 4440 N. Cherry St. As the fire burned, it poured smoke and pollutants into the air, raising concerns about the air quality over much of Winston-Salem and western Forsyth County.

The Winston-Salem Fire Department initially withdrew its firefighters because of the danger that about 500 tons of ammonium nitrate could cause a massive explosion. The fire department allowed the fire to burn throughout last week in order to eliminate the fuel from the ammonium nitrate.

Those chemicals are used in fertilizer.

A hazardous materials team from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed Diaper Bank officials that the fumes and chemicals generated by the fire could have harmed its supply of diapers and related projects inside its warehouse at 4500 Indiana Ave., Old said.

The affected diapers were lying on 10 pallets inside the warehouse, which is less than 100 yards from the fertilizer plant, Old said.

These diapers were not contained in their manufactured wrapping and might have to be thrown away, Old said. Many other diaper-related products such as wipes and adult incontinent diapers also may have been affected.

The organization has asked its diaper manufacturers to conduct tests to determine if the affected diapers are safe to distribute, Old said.

We are probably going to lose some diapers, Old said. We dont know what the loss will be or what we need to recover.

The organizations Greater Triad branch operates the warehouse and distributes 100,000 diapers a month to low-income families in Forsyth, Guilford, Davidson, Randolph, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties, Old said.

Since the fire, the organizations Triangle branch in Durham distributed diapers and other products to the Greater Triad branchs recipients, Old said.

Authorities allowed the Diaper Banks representatives to briefly visit its Winston-Salem warehouse Friday, Old said. The plant and nearby areas including the warehouse had been closed since the fire started.

We had to halt all that distribution from the warehouse because we couldnt get in, Old said. The branch is closed.

The warehouses roof has a big leak, which damaged many empty pallets inside the warehouse, Old said.

Two employees work at the warehouse, and hundreds of volunteers also helped distribute the diapers and related products, Old said.

We cant use the diapers until we make sure they are safe, Old said. We cant utilize our volunteers to get the diapers out, and our staff cant come in.

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LONDON (AP)  When 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth was proclaimed queen on Feb. 6, 1952, the British Empire stretched across the world, royalty was widely revered and televisions were still a novelty item.

The world has undergone profound changes since then and so has the monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II's empire shrank, then crumbled. While most people in Britain remain loyal to the queen and respect her years of service to the nation, attitudes about the monarchy have swung from unquestioning deference to scrutiny. In the 1980s, Princess Diana brought global star power to the House of Windsor, but also ushered in an era in which the royal family was forced to negotiate an uneasy relationship with the media.

Over her 70-year reign, the queen has  at times reluctantly  overseen the modernization of the family known as "The Firm" and its adaptation to evolving expectations.

As Britain marks the 95-year-old monarch's Platinum Jubilee on Sunday, here's a look at some key moments of change:

1953: ELIZABETH'S CORONATION AND THE AGE OF TELEVISION

On June 2, 1953, Elizabeth's coronation at Westminster Abbey was the first time most people had watched an event live on television. Millions around the world saw the ceremony on TV, outnumbering the radio audience for the first time.

The coronation broadcast heralded a turning point for television - as well as the monarchy  making the Windsors seem much more real by bringing them into people's living rooms.

In 1957, the queen made her first televised Christmas broadcast, saying she hoped the new medium would make her message "more personal and direct."

"It is inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you  But now, at least for a few minutes, I welcome you to the peace of my own home," she said at the time.

___

1957: 'WINDS OF CHANGE' AS THE COLONIES BREAK AWAY

In 1957, Ghana became the first British colony in Africa to celebrate independence. Three years later, then British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan made his famous "winds of change" speech in South Africa, telling lawmakers there that "whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact."

By 1970, most of Britain's African and Caribbean colonies had gained independence. In 1997, the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule marked the final chapter of the British Empire.

Britain still has pockets of overseas territories, the largest of which is the Falkland Islands. The queen remains the head of state in 15 Commonwealth countries including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

___

1970: FIRST ROYAL 'WALKABOUT'

In another shift with the times, the queen carried out the first royal "walkabout"  which sees members of the royal family greeting, chatting and shaking hands with ordinary people at public events  in Sydney, during a royal tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The practice has since become a key part of the royals' public relations strategy. Princess Diana perhaps best embodied the power of such outings, showcasing her empathy and knack for connecting with people as she walked among adoring well-wishers.

___

1990s: PRINCESS DIANA AND A TURBULENT ERA

Diana's fairy-tale wedding to Prince Charles in 1981 brought youthful glamour and irresistible star power to the House of Windsor. But the very public way the couple's marriage disintegrated eroded respect for the monarchy.

The 1990s saw the monarchy's popularity sink to new lows as royal family dramas  from tell-all interviews to embarrassing phone conversations and topless photos  continued to play out in public like soap operas. In 1992, the queen famously referred to her 40th year on the throne as her "annus horribilis" (horrible year) as the marriages of three of her four children collapsed.

1997: DIANA'S DEATH AND A CHANGE OF TONE FOR THE MONARCHY

When Diana died in a Paris car crash in August 1997, the queen was widely criticized for her perceived aloofness and being out of touch with the grieving nation.

Many were angry at the royals' failure to lower the flag at Buckingham Palace and at the queen's decision to stay secluded with her family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. After days of intense pressure, the queen finally broke her silence, addressing the nation on television as "your queen and grandmother" and acknowledging that "we have all been trying in our different ways to cope."

2011: ELIZABETH'S STATE VISIT TO IRELAND

In May 2011, the queen became the first British monarch to set foot in Ireland in 100 years. King George V visited in 1911, a decade before the creation of the Irish Free State. The queen spoke of her sincere sympathy for all those who suffered because of the two countries' "troubled past," and the trip was widely praised as a historic moment of reconciliation.

2012: DIAMOND JUBILEE AND THE LONDON OLYMPICS

The queen's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating her 60 years on the throne, marked a period of record popularity for the queen and the royal family. The national mood of jubilation and support for the queen was boosted by Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding a year earlier and general euphoria as London hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics.

2020: 'MEGXIT' AND PRINCE ANDREW'S TROUBLES

In recent years the royal family has been buffeted by two unprecedented PR disasters: the departure of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to the U.S., citing intense media scrutiny and racist attitudes among the British media, and growing sex abuse allegations against Prince Andrew, the queen's middle son.

Harry and Meghan, who stepped downed from their royal duties in 2020, have accused the royal family of racism and called out its lack of compassion for Meghan's mental health struggles. Harry has openly and repeatedly criticized the royal family for the way he was brought up.

Meanwhile, Andrew is fighting a U.S. lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was forced to have sex with him when she was 17. Last month, Andrew was stripped of all his honorary military titles in an apparent effort to distance him from the monarchy.

2021: THE DEATH OF PRINCE PHILIP

On April 9, 2021, the queen lost Prince Philip, her husband of 73 years and her "strength and stay" throughout most of her life. A scaled-down, socially-distanced funeral was held amid coronavirus restrictions. Somber images of the queen sitting alone in St. George's Chapel were a stark reminder that she was entering the twilight years of her reign, with increasing duties handed to her heir, Prince Charles.

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Follow AP stories on Queen Elizabeth II at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
Rosemary Roberts was many things, but above all she was an adventurer. Roberts, who died last week at 83, became the first woman to write editorials full time for the News & Record when, as editorial page editor, I lured her from the newsroom in the late 1970s. She was always very proud of that. She was part of a fine editorial page tradition that includes such luminaries as Bill Snider, Ed Yoder, Jonathan Yardley (her first husband), Jim Ross and many more.

On the editorial page and in her signed columns, Rosemary took on controversial issues such as the death penalty (she opposed it) and abortion (she did not favor it, but argued it should be a womans right to choose) and thrived on the inevitable give-and-take with readers in the letters section. In her columns she occasionally took positions that were in opposition to those taken by the papers editorialists (of whom she was one), which added to the lively mix of opinions. In 1981 she won a prestigious Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University, where she lived in residence with her two young sons  both of whom, she was proud to say, later pursued journalism careers as adults. Even after shifting from full-time status at the News & Record, Rosemary continued to write her column and to teach journalism (or as she might say, flinty-eyed journalism) at UNCG and later at Elon University.

Working with Rosemary was, above all, great fun. She had an insatiable curiosity about the world, a beautiful smile and a twinkle in her eye. A native Southerner, she appreciated the importance of place and was quick to point out that she grew up in tiny Albertville, Ala.  also the birthplace of her friend Tom Hearn, the distinguished and long-serving president of Wake Forest University. Her trips back to Albertville  which she often wrote about in her columns  were tinged with nostalgia, but also with keen insights about the changing nature of the South. Rosemary loved to travel, and she loved history. In one such jaunt, she visited friends in Germany shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. She wrote about that trip in her columns, and as proof she brought me a small piece of that wall, a memento I still treasure. She also took us to Cuba, China and other far-flung places, always with an eye toward their cultures and their place in history. Yet her travels always brought her back home to Greensboro, which she cherished, along with friends and admirers too many to count.

John Alexander lives in Summerfield and was editorial page editor of the News & Record from 1975-1990.
A cancer spreads

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel recently characterized what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, as legitimate political discourse. Suppose Republicans retake one or both houses of Congress in the midterm elections. If a horde of unhappy Democrats were to storm the Capitol and suggest Kevin McCarthy be hanged, would that also be seen as legitimate political discourse? What has happened to the Republican Party?

As an unaffiliated voter, Im not inclined to vote for anyone who thinks what happened on Jan. 6 is acceptable, responsible, mature behavior. Unfortunately, what was once a small, rather inconsequential fringe of the GOP has metastasized into something much larger. It presents a threat to the foundations of our democracy. I question the effectiveness of President Biden but the alternative seems much worse.

I am encouraged by the willingness of true patriots like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Mitt Romney and, as of today, Mike Pence to speak out against the shenanigans masquerading as Republican politics.

Jim Fisher Jamestown

Border security

Is it just me or does it seem strange that we can send 3,000 troops to Eastern Europe to deter a possible invasion of Ukraine, but cannot send troops to the U.S./Mexican border where an invasion is ongoing (see the 1.9 million arrests by our Border Patrol in 2021)?

Mike Sigmon Greensboro

A benevolent giant

If you dont believe in angels among us, you never met Johnny McGee, who passed away last week. Johnny, the son of a Southern Baptist preacher, was a passionate advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Triad for more than 35 years. He and his husband Bruce were two of the original founders of Triad Health Project, established in 1986 as AIDS was ravaging the gay community.

Johnny and Bruce worked with Dr. Tim Lane at Moses Cone to refer folks to support services like housing and food stamps. They created the Buddy System that paired patients with volunteers. Client records were kept in a shoebox under their bed and their home phone number eventually became THPs office number. Johnny was fluent in Spanish and ran a Latinx support group twice a month at Higher Ground, THPs day center. He and Bruce were often surrogate family for people who had been abandoned by their own. I hope Bruce is comforted by the knowledge that he does not grieve alone. Our community has lost a benevolent giant, but Johnny McGees legacy of providing hope and light in the darkest of days will endure in all who ever crossed his path.

Addison Ore Winston-Salem

Merit alone

In reading Charles Davenports Feb. 6 column, All hires should be made by merit alone, it seems that he inadvertently supported an argument he may not have intended. Those taking issue with selecting a qualified individual from an unrepresented group speak volumes  specifically, about the need for education about our history, documented in Nikole-Hannah Jones The 1619 Project.

Davenports points overlook the underlying reasons to promote those who overcame immense challenges to rise and meet the requirements expected from our highest court. The reasons are clearly established in the generational suffering of African Americans. They are reinforced through reflection on the ironically named Redemption era in which Reconstruction gains were reversed through Jim Crow laws, intimidation and terrorism. The ripple effects continue today. What is there to fear from taking steps addressing inequities built over 300 years?

What if, instead of trying to restrict education about history, we face ours honestly? No one suggests that a nonqualified person be nominated to the Supreme Court. Whats proposed is to nominate a person who is qualified and who also shares a perspective with more than 22 million Black American women.

This wont mend all fences. But the choice might at least bring a unique voice to the highest court in America.

Louis Panzer Jamestown

Voter information

In a recent letter, a volunteer with the New North Carolina Project wrote about how difficult it can be to find information on how and where to vote. Social media, blogs and news programs give out a lot of voting information, but it is hard to know what is correct, especially about voting by mail. I recommend using the VOTE411.org website produced by the League of Women Voters as a place to find current, accurate, nonpartisan information.

On VOTE411.org voters can and should check their registration to be sure it is correct.

There is also information on registration deadlines, ID requirements, early voting, polling places and absentee ballot requests. Closer to the May primary candidates resumes and their answers to questions about issues relevant to the office they are running for will be posted.

Since this is nonpartisan, all candidates are invited to participate, and their answers will be posted as submitted. When you enter your address you can see your ballot with only the candidates you are eligible to vote for showing. Hopefully with the efforts of the New North Carolina Project and access to VOTE411.org many more eligible voters will be informed and feel confident about voting.

Sue Jezorek High Point

Colorblind? Really?

Leave it to Charles Davenport to intone the pious and familiar words A vacancy on the court should be filled by the most qualified individual, regardless of the nominees race or gender (Feb. 6). Theres at least one insuperable problem with this simplistic principle: Given any reasonably large pool of candidates, its impossible either to define or to identify the most qualified individual. (My relevant experience is having served on university search committees.) What then? Well, other considerations must then play a role. How about some kind of gender and racial parity?

Does Davenport really believe  I mean, really believe  that the selection of so many white males for the Supreme Court has owed nothing to their being white males? Gimme a break!

Kenneth Caneva, Greensboro
Authorities said an 18-year-old Helena man was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment after allegedly pointing a gun at another man and pulling the trigger, but the weapon did not fire.

Gunnar Lee Shelton was taken to the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center, and bond was set at $30,000.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriffs Office deputy Cole Fuhrman was sent to the Valley Hub, 4960 N. Montana Ave., on Dec. 8 regarding an alleged assault that occurred Dec. 2, according to documents filed Jan. 28 in Justice Court in Helena.

A husband and wife said the husband had been confronted by a man who flashed and pointed a handgun toward him. He and the man went outside and argued. According to charging documents, the man said he was going to start cracking some skulls, according to a Jan. 26, affidavit, filed Jan. 26 by Deputy County Attorney Josh Nemeth.

The suspect allegedly tried to chamber a round in the small handgun but the round became stuck sideways in the slide. The man set the gun, later identified as a Springfield XD-S 9 mm, on the ground and the wife was able to get the handgun and put it in their vehicle.

The husband said there were other times when the suspect pointed the gun at him. He said the man put the handgun against the husbands head and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire due to the round not properly placed in the chamber.

"I haven't been OK the past couple days with it," the husband told the deputy. "It's been bothering me a little bit."

If it didnt jam, I wouldnt be standing here, he said.

The suspect put the gun in his waistband and began yelling at the couple, who walked to their vehicle to leave, court documents state. He tried to hug the husband and apologize, but the husband pushed him away. The gun fell from the suspect's waistband and he allegedly picked it up, tried to chamber a round and pulled the trigger again.

The couple tried to leave the parking lot in their vehicle, authorities said in court documents. The suspect allegedly stepped in front of them and pointed the gun at the husband, who was driving. They got out and told the man to stop, and that they have children and needed to leave. The suspect put the gun on the ground, and the couple put it in their vehicle.

The husband gave the gun to the deputy along with a 9 mm round. The magazine was missing, and authorities said it had fallen out during the altercation. The couple told the deputy they did not call 911 because they didn't know the mans name. The bartender said the man showed an ID that said he was in his early 20s.

The deputy was provided with the mans name later by the bartender.

Deputies said Shelton is on supervision with juvenile probation and turned 18 on Dec. 31. He is wanted on a separate assault allegation that occurred in 2021, but had not been located.

All charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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Kendall Cottons recent op ed about parents and schools makes it clear he is not about trying to break down barriers in government, but he is just trying to break down government.

Parental rights does not mean a single parent (or even a small minority of misinformed folks) should be able to disrupt the educational process for our community of students and parents. His article uses distortion and false flags to discredit educated professionals who are working under difficult circumstances (to say the least) to do their best for students.

He started the latest column with a whereas from the 2011 SJ-9 resolution without credit. Always give a source when quoting something or someone so it may be verified.

To be clear, a resolution is not law. Also, this whereas contains an error  as a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling states that education is not among the rights afforded explicit protection under our Federal Constitution. Both the federal and Montana constitutions provide for equal access.

He states that the Montana public school system doesnt afford parents the basic right to direct their childs education. But he is wrong. Parents have the ability to vote for members of the schools board and can vote for someone with similar views  or they can run for the position  and they may attend school board meetings to express their opinions (preferably, in a civil manner). This is a mature democratic process, in action, at a local level.

A basic tenet missing is that of the primary purpose of public schools: to prepare youth to take their place in society. This means providing an education that serves the general public and not that of a specific individual parent. Freedom is not meant as a free pass to do whatever a person wants, especially if it disrupts the rest of society.

Finally, public schools are charged with the safety of all students and staff. I dont remember Cotton complaining about the presence of school resource officers (law enforcement)  without parental consent  when we began having mass school shootings. Why is he now complaining about masks when he has abdicated to the schools about locked doors and metal detectors?

He seems to want parents who may be engineers or sales clerks to have more to say about what qualifies as a good, general, well-rounded education than people who have spent years being educated, trained, and have the experience to make those decisions. His thoughts extrapolated a bit would give each passenger the right to determine how a commercial airliner is flown, even though the pilot has hundreds or thousands of hours in education, training and experience  utter foolishness.

He mentions one-size-fits-all as a complaint instead of the compliment it is. This is exactly what public schools aspire to in providing a general education as preparation for youth to be valuable, contributing citizens.

C. Burt Caldwell is a retired director of manufacturing in the automotive and space industries, a member of local boards and councils, and has been active in Montana politics for over a decade. He lives in Missoula.

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Donnette Beckett "Together Decatur" Columnist and Food/Drink Reporter Together Decatur columnist and food and drink reporter for Lee Enterprises Central Illinois. Follow Donnette Beckett Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

DECATUR  Lifes lessons are never done.

Audrianna Bartholomew earned her bachelor's degree in musical theatre from Millikin University in December. Just a two months later, she has been named a finalist in the 5th annual NextGen National Competition: Finding the Voices of Tomorrow, presented by The American Pops Orchestra.

Bartholomew is one of 10 contestants to be selected as a finalist following the semifinal event that was broadcast on Jan. 29. The finalists were announced the next day. The final competition will be held on March 20.

However, national competitions arent new to the 23-year-old California native. In 2018, she competed on NBCs The Voice and was selected by judge Jennifer Hudson to be part of her team. After the battle round, and performing a duet with Hudson, Bartholomew went home.

She spent a gap year preparing for The Voice as well as working as an intern for a childrens performing arts academy.

I got to work with the kids and also get to see the more corporate side, she said.

The experience provided Bartholomew with another view of the business. I really enjoyed getting to see how art affects kids, she said.

As a child, she also took part in similar arts programs and was hired for small acting parts. My parents were able to send me to learn more about the craft, Bartholomew said about her time on stage as a child. Its great seeing that inspiration.

Bartholomew continues to perfect her craft. As a Millikin alumni and working artist, she auditions for acting roles, spends time in a recording studio and is looking for the appropriate agent. It really is a waiting game, especially with Hollywood and COVID going on, she said. Theres not really a lot of opportunities. Youve just gotta keep hustling and chasing what you can.

Millikin provided some of the tools needed to make an artist marketable, according to Bartholomew. Ive had to do a lot of different genres, she said. Ive tried to change those styles. I feel I can whip those out whenever I need to at a different moment.

Bartholomew credits Millikin vocal instructor Ann Borders for much of her success in college. She taught me a lot about my power as a vocalist, Bartholomew said. I dont always need to be so forceful with my sound. I learned how to have better control of my voice.

Other supportive professors gave her the strength she needed to accept the struggles that may lay ahead of her. They were always challenging me, she said. And not always telling me 'Yes,' which I was accustomed to hearing.

Bartholomew was a straight-A student in high school. She kept the momentum going while at Millikin. I was able to not only gain a lot of experience in my field, but I was also able to graduate Magna Cum Laude.

The NextGen National Competition, her newest competitive challenge, is sponsored by The American Pops Orchestra. The organization inspires the next generation of musicians.

College students are encouraged to apply with the hopes of winning $2,000 and the opportunity to perform in New York City. Bartholomew was encouraged to apply through her high school voice teacher and Borders. Its great to see the great support system Ive had through the years, she said.

Bartholomew understands the newest competition is another opportunity to expand her career. Her plans include to eventually move to New York City. She said she will network among others in the business while in the city. Im using this experience as a learning experience, Bartholomew said. But also to meet great people.

The competition, a mix of 30 young performers, is the first step. They all came from great schools as well, Bartholomew said. This is something weve all seen before.

Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR

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MOUNT ZION  Students and staff of several area school districts returned to class Monday to altered masking and vaccination requirements.

The changes are the result of a ruling Friday by Circuit Court Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow implementing a temporary restraining order against Gov. J.B. Pritzker's executive orders requiring masks be worn in schools; that unvaccinated employees in those buildings be tested weekly; and that staff and students identified as close contacts be refused admittance to districts' buildings without a negative test.

Grischow found that the executive orders and the resulting actions by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois State Board of Education, and nearly 170 school districts named in the suit were unlawful and the defendants had overstepped their authority and issued the temporary restraining order the prevents the mandates from being enforced.

The Illinois Attorney Generals Office filed immediate notices of appeal in the cases and on Monday filed motions asking for an emergency stay of the order pending the appeal. As of Monday afternoon, the 4th District Court of Appeals had not yet ruled on the motion for an emergency stay.

Local districts including Mount Zion, Central A&M and Maroa-Forsyth have issued statements in which they recommend, but do not require, masks for entry into schools and dropped requirements for testing. Mount Zion and Central A&M are named in the lawsuit acted on by Grischow.

Students riding buses will still be required to wear masks as that's a federal order.

Decatur schools, which were not named in the lawsuit, are requiring all students and staff to continue complying with mandates.

Mattoon schools, which were named in the lawsuit, are excusing only students whose parents were part of the suit from compliance with current policies.

Details surrounding this case could change in the days and weeks ahead, read the letter sent to Mount Zion families and staff, provided by Superintendent Travis Roundcount. Therefore, during these difficult times, we ask that everyone be respectful of the choices of others, and feel comfortable with your choices moving forward.

The decision has been appealed and the result of that appeal is expected by Feb. 17. Until then, Mount Zion's altered policies include:

Masks will revert back to our districts original plan before the executive order. Masks are recommended in school, but no students will be suspended, or disciplined by the Mt. Zion School District.

Masks are still currently required by everyone on the school bus under a federal requirement.

No employee or persons in the school building will receive any consequences related to masking.

Quarantines will be recommended for close contacts, but no close contacts will be suspended, or disciplined in any way for not isolating.

Positive cases will still be expected to stay home for five days, or until symptoms improve.

Decatur Public Schools plan to continue to use the guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Public Health, said spokeswoman Denise Swarthout.

Kristopher Kahler, superintendent of Maroa-Forsyth schools, said his district was not named in this case, but is named in another case that will be heard shortly. In anticipation of the second suit resulting in the same outcome as the first, and until the appellate court issues a ruling, Kahler said, he sent out a letter to district families and staff.

In it, he said the district would continue to "recommend and encourage" indoor mask wearing for all students and staff, but it would not be required.

"Please understand that this may have repercussions for some of our sporting events, and this situation is very fluid," Kahler wrote. "Masks may be required to play some other schools. We are awaiting updated information from IHSA and IESA about hosting events."

Maroa-Forsyth's policy on illness, which was in place prior to the pandemic, will continue to be enforced. Students must be fever-free without medication for 24 hours before returning to school, and must have no vomiting or diarrhea. If they have been absent three consecutive days, they will need to bring a doctor's note. If students test positive for COVID-19, it is recommended they stay out of school for five days and wear a mask to school for five days after returning.

Tomorrow some children will come to school with masks on and some will not, read the letter, sent on Sunday. "I encourage you to make this a 'teachable moment' for your child and remind your child to be tolerant and respectful of the personal choice of their friends and peers. Families must make the choices that are best for them, and it is important that all students and staff members personal choices are respected."

Central A&M has paused COVID-19 mitigations until further clarification from the courts, according to the letter sent out by Superintendent DeAnn Heck.

Please understand that this has always been and continues to be a fluid situation, Heck wrote. She said the district would continue to communicate changes as they occur, and its Return to School Plan would be reevaluated at the Feb. 28 school board meeting.

No matter what you choose to do as a family, everyone at CAM will be treated with kindness, compassion, and respect," she wrote. "We all understand that this is a highly politically charged issue but everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness. A good lesson to keep in mind no matter the situation.

Mattoon Superintendent Tim Condron's letter to district families said that only the students whose parents were part of the suit would be excused from the mitigation measures.

Furthermore, while our nurses will continue to conduct contact tracing, we will only notify parents that their child was a close contact, Condron's message read. We will not require them to pick up the students unless they have tested positive or are symptomatic. School exclusion will be the sole responsibility of the health department.

Mattoon's school board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday and further discuss the situation during that meeting. The meeting will be held at Riddle School in Mattoon.

Cumberland schools in Toledo is also part of the lawsuit and had not returned calls by deadline. The district posted the temporary restraining order on its website but made no further comment there about any updated procedures.

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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The building was originally constructed in 1915, according to History of the Heartland, a local historical group, and was used as an apartment house with four large units. In 1923, the building was converted into a piece-rate factory for Hi-Flier Kites. The company moved to larger quarters in 1928, and the building on Marietta was converted back into apartments until the 1970s.

In other business, the council approved a $3,000-per-month professional services agreement with former Illinois Environmental Protection Agency director Lisa Bonnett, who will consult the city on its long-term initiative to reduce siltation in Lake Decatur.

According to a memo from Wrighton, there is state and federal assistance available to defray costs, but "access to these programs is competitive and requires that the city develop new contacts in state and federal water resource agencies."

Wrighton added that current city staff did not "not have the time, or in some cases, the political and intergovernmental expertise, to land significant funding and technical assistance for these planned water resource projects," thus leading to the hiring of an outside consultant.

Bonnett's contract will be capped at $36,000.

Also, the council approved a $308,235 contract of five 2022 Ford police interceptor utility vehicles and one 2022 Ford F-150 police responder.
DECATUR  A 36-year old woman was arrested on a preliminary charge of domestic battery after police say she attacked her husband, who recently returned from a military deployment.

A sworn affidavit from Decatur Police said the woman was arrested on a preliminary charge of domestic battery after she repeatedly slapped her 51-year-old husband in the face. She also struck him with a quarter-filled bottle of Powerade, according to the affidavit.

(He) stated she threw it hard and he was having pain in his kidney area, but refused medical assistance at this time, said the affidavit. (He) stated they separated until after the police showed up.

The mans wife was interviewed and told police they had begun arguing after he got back after being away for four months and she decided to check his phone, where she found messages from other women. (She) said she slapped him a few times in the face area with both of her palms, the affidavit said.

She said after that she threw a quarter-filled Powerade bottle at him making contact, but stated it was not very hard of a throw.

The incident happened in the early hours of Jan. 31 and Macon County Jail records show the woman was booked in at 2:24 a.m. and released at 2:40 p.m. after posting a $500 bond on bail set at $5,000. Her bail conditions forbid contact with her husband or his home.

All preliminary charges are subject to review by the state attorneys office.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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TAYLORVILLE  Police say a drunk driver who proved to be more than twice over the legal limit fled from pursuing officers and wound up in Taylorville after saying he was trying to get home to Mount Zion.

The 22-year-old man was arrested the night of Jan. 30 and booked on a preliminary charge of aggravated fleeing and eluding. Taylorville Police said he blew a .201 on a breath test; the legal limit is .08.

A check of Macon County Circuit Court records show the man was convicted of driving under the influence in October and sentenced to 12 months court supervision and fined $1,000. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service work, 10 hours of DUI education and 12 hours of DUI treatment.

A sworn affidavit said his latest arrest came after Blue Mound Police were alerted to an intoxicated driver traveling west on Elwin Road. A person was following his vehicle and giving real time updates to dispatchers as the vehicle weaved all over the highway and drove in and out of ditches.

Police said they picked the vehicle up after it had turned south on Illinois 48 and was approaching Blue Mound, but the driver fled when an officer tried to stop the vehicle. The driver is described as hitting speeds of 55 mph in a 30 mph zone as he zipped through Stonington before Christian County deputies and Taylorville Police joined the pursuit while the car was approaching Taylorville.

Taylorville Police did attempt to Stop Stick the vehicle (deployment of tire deflation spikes), however the vehicle avoided the sticks and continued southbound, said the affidavit.

Police said the driver finally pulled over a mile later and was arrested. During a Mirandized interview, (the driver) advised he was trying to get home to Mount Zion after coming from Decatur, the affidavit said. He had no idea that he was in Taylorville until during the interview, and he advised that he had no reason to come to Taylorville.

A check of Macon County Jail records shows the man was released the same day of his arrest after posting $7,500 bond on bail set at $75,000.

All preliminary charges are subject to review by the state's attorneys office.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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DECATUR  Police knew just whom to go to when they wanted to identify and arrest a Decatur burglary suspect who fled from them: they asked his mom.

A sworn affidavit from Decatur police said the 71-year-old woman had no trouble recognizing her 50-year-old son from surveillance video captured during a house burglary on Dec. 20. And, as an added bonus, the affidavit said she also identified an accomplice seen with her son in the video; the accomplice is now being sought by police.

Detective Benjamin Massey, who signed the affidavit, said police had been alerted to a burglary in progress at the time after an alarm system had been tripped. They found French doors at the house in the 500 block of West William Street had been smashed.

Officers performed a protective sweep of the residence, said Massey. While doing this, a white male wearing a tan Carhartt jacket, jeans and ball cap entered the residence. Upon (officers) contacting him, the white male fled on foot to the north. He was not located.

Police found the house had been looted of a 65-inch television, a sound bar and surround sound equipment and various tools including a chainsaw.

The homeowner later provided police with surveillance video which showed the white male moving around inside the house along with a black male accomplice. Massey said a police sergeant who viewed the video thought he recognized the white male, although he had not seen him in years.

Massey said police then had the idea of contacting the mans mother and, when she was shown the surveillance footage on Jan. 25, she made the positive identification of the white male as her son and told police she recognized his accomplice, too.

Detectives also did not have to travel far to find and arrest the womans son: he was already being held in the Macon County Jail on seven charges of aggravated identity theft.

He was booked on a new preliminary charge of residential burglary and a check of jail records Monday showed that he remained in custody with bail set at $105,000, meaning he must post a bond of $10,500 to be released.

All preliminary charges are subject to review by the state's attorneys office.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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CHICAGO - An 88-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man were found dead in an apartment early Tuesday after Chicago firefighters extinguished a blaze in the building  which apparently did not have working heat and was so filled with belongings it was difficult for firefighters to move around inside the first-floor unit, according to Chicago fire officials.

Emergency responders were called to the 3600 block of North Kedvale Avenue in the Old Irving Park neighborhood around 2:30 a.m., Chicago police and Fire Department officials said. The woman found inside was pronounced dead at 4:37 a.m., and the man was pronounced dead at 4:43 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiners office.

The woman and man have not been identified and no cause of death had been determined, according to preliminary information from the medical examiners office.

The apartment was so densely filled with objects it was difficult to get around in the building, said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Fire Department. Space heaters were being used as the building didnt have a functioning heating system, but investigators had not yet determined whether that was a contributing factor in the fire, he said.

The temperature at OHare International Airport, the most reliable nearby weather site, was 19 degrees around the time of the fire, said Brett Borchardt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Landlords in Chicago are required to provide heat or maintain functioning individual unit heating equipment, according to Title 14X of the citys municipal code. The code specifies that space heaters do not meet this requirement.

A fatal apartment fire in New York that killed 19 people in January was caused by a faulty space heater, according to New York fire officials.

The Old Irving Park fire remained under investigation early Tuesday.

The Chicago Fire Departments Public Education Division planned to distribute smoke detectors and fire safety literature Tuesday at 10 a.m., as is standard practice following fatal fires.

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More than 600 acres of ranch land in western Comal County now protected from future development
FILE PHOTO: A woman waits in line during the last day of early voting for the 2020 general election at the Comal County Elections Office on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. MIKALA COMPTON | Herald-Zeitung
BRISTOL, Va.  The Bristol, Virginia school system has made a series of amendments to its comprehensive agreement with J.A. Street, pending funding approval for its proposed new elementary school.

The changes were briefly discussed Monday during the School Boards regular meeting. School officials are awaiting a bond funding agreement with the citys Industrial Development Authority to pay for its long-sought elementary school.

The IDA recently agreed to serve as the conduit to fund the $22.8 million project.

J.A. Street is contracted to construct the nearly 88,000-square-foot building, but not withthe public-private funding model originally proposed several years ago.

This basically is pulling all the old parts of the old financing and adding in the new parts about the IDA, Superintendent Keith Perrigan said after the meeting. We were going to have to do this regardless because we had changed our financing plan. Now that we know exactly which direction that were going, were doing this. Now that Ive shared this with the board, Ill share it with J.A. Street tomorrow to see if they have any other changes or additions, and well finalize it.

Among the amendments, the lease provides for a term of 30 years with base rent payable annually or semi-annually at the discretion of the school division. The school district can exercise a purchase option, the developer agrees no liens will be placed against the property, and the lease will limit future development and use of the property.

The lease payments shall equal the debt service payment on the bonds borrowed to construct the building, with the first payment not due until the school is occupied.

Unless expressly authorized by the Bristol Virginia City Council, the total annual cost of debt service on the bonds shall not exceed $1.3 million, according to the agreement.

The developer will execute the design-build contract within 14 days of the execution of the contract amendments.

As of now, if they can finalize the financing and begin construction in the coming weeks, the plan is to close Highland View, Stonewall Jackson and Washington-Lee elementary schools and consolidate all the elementary students into two buildings on the Van Pelt Elementary campus starting in August 2023.

Van Pelt would house primary grades, and the new school would house the older elementary students.

Perrigan said the School Boards attorney met with the citys bond counsel, and he expects the financing process is proceeding.

The clock is ticking on the project  the board has committed $2 million in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief COVID funding toward the construction. It has a 2024 spending deadline, and the school needs to open on time next year to realize the savings needed to make the payments, he said.

If we dont open in August, the savings we would have generated from reducing staff is not there because we have other schools to operate, Perrigan said. Primarily its about generating the savings.

In other matters, Perrigan told the board he has established a fentanyl task force that includes the Mount Rogers Health District, Highlands Community Services, city police and sheriffs departments to raise awareness about the drug that is becoming more prevalent in this region.

The task force will educate our parents, our staff, our students and our community about the potentially tragic dangers of fentanyl, Perrigan said. The goal is for our staff to know the warning signs, parents know what to look for in their home, students understand what the real dangers are and our community knows well be in support of [them] as we try to prevent the same thing from happening in our schools that has happened in parts of our nation.

In other matters, the board held a reorganizational vote and selected Randy Alvis as its chairman and Steve Fletcher as vice chairman, to serve until July 1. The vote was required to fill the role of former Chairman Tyrone Foster, who resigned in December to become the city sheriff. The meeting also marked the first for recently selected interim board member Breanne Forbes Hubbard.

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BRISTOL, Va.  A Georgia firm specializing in developing Waffle House locations is one step closer to accessing a Mt. Vernon Drive parcel off Lee Highway in Bristol, Virginia.

Crown Legacy Investments, LLC, of Alpharetta, is asking the city to vacate a narrow public right-of-way that bisects a city-owned lot on Mt. Vernon Drive. The site is across from Resting Tree Drive  the former Alpha Natural Resources access road  along the eastbound side of Lee Highway near Interstate 81s Exit 7.

The city acquired the land where a Pepsi bottling plant was located years ago and reconfigured the entrance to a residential subdivision to align with Resting Tree Drive. The site has remained vacant despite being located at a signal-controlled intersection.

The total right-of-way being requested is just a fraction of an acre.

The matter appears on second and final reading on tonights City Council agenda. The council voted 5-0 Jan. 24 to approve the request on first reading following a public hearing that included no public objections.

Under terms of an agreement, the city will retain an easement for all present and future utility needs and a deeded utility easement will be required by BVU Authority before the property could change ownership.

Crown Legacy Investments, which is a real estate acquisition and construction firm, filed its request Dec. 7.

The request was filed by Steve Hutchens, who in addition to overseeing that firm, serves as president and CEO of Southern Legacy Waffles, LLC, which bills itself as the oldest and largest Waffle House franchisee in the nation.

The company has restaurants and real estate in Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, North Carolina and Virginia. Last week, the firm opened a Waffle House location on Volunteer Parkway in Bristol, Tennessee.

It also currently operates Waffle House restaurants at The Pinnacle in Bristol, Tennessee, Piney Flats, Kingsport, Johnson City, Elizabethton and Abingdon, Virginia.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 300 Lee St.

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Abilene, KS (67410)

Today

Showers and thundershowers likely. High around 55F. Winds ENE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low around 40F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Higher wind gusts possible.
" " Junkyardsparkle/Wikimedia /HowStuffWorks As a slave, Biddy Mason trekked 1,600 miles on foot across the U.S. while herding livestock and nursing a baby.

On Aug. 15, 1818, a baby girl named Bridget was born into slavery in Georgia. She was sold as an infant to new masters who called her Biddy. When Biddy turned 18, she was presented as a wedding gift to Robert Marion Smith and his wife Rebecca in Mississippi. This was the life of an enslaved Black woman in the Deep South. She was property to be bought, sold, punished and even violated if the master so pleased.

But Biddy's story is different. It's the story of a strong and humble woman who endured terrific hardships before bravely fighting for her family's freedom and winning. Biddy's story takes us from the muggy cotton fields of Mississippi to the frontier boomtown of Los Angeles, where Biddy becomes one of the city's most sought-after midwives and parlays her earnings into a small real-estate empire.

But before we arrive at that happy ending, there are decades of degradation to endure and thousands of miles of country to cross. In Mississippi, Biddy lived the typical life of a slave woman. She was expected to labor in the cotton fields, but also assist in the home, primarily as a midwife during the births of Rebecca Smith's six children. Biddy likely learned the duties of a midwife  which included the use of medicinal herbs and basic nursing skills  from fellow slaves steeped in traditional knowledge.

Robert Smith was an early convert to the fledgling Mormon faith and in 1847 decided to relocate his family, including his slaves, to the Utah Territory. By this time, Biddy had three daughters of her own. While the Smith family traveled in wagons and on horseback, Biddy walked behind, tending the livestock. For seven months, she trekked the 1,600 miles (2,754 kilometers) from Mississippi to Utah with her 10-year-old daughter, 4-year-old daughter and an infant on her breast.

The Smiths stayed only a few short years in Salt Lake City before setting out for San Bernardino, California, in 1851 where the Mormon church was building a missionary outpost. California was the newest state in the Union, admitted in 1850 as a free state. The California Constitution was rare in its powerful denunciation of slavery, promising, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crimes shall ever be tolerated in this state." During her time there, Biddy befriended other free Blacks who told her about this law, although she seems to have been unsure as to whether it applied to her as she continued to serve the Smith family.

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Enter the Cavalry

Nervous that the authorities would try to take away his 14 slaves, Smith moved his family and slaves to an encampment in the Santa Monica Mountains and planned an escape to slavery-friendly Texas.

But a cavalry led by Robert Owens, a Black vaquero who owned several stables in Los Angeles, tracked Smith down and the local sheriff presented a writ of habeas corpus demanding that Biddy and her fellow slaves be released. Smith fought the decree and the case ended up in front of Judge Benjamin Hayes of the First District Court in Los Angeles.

Even with California's strong anti-slavery stance, the law was very much in favor of whites over Blacks and other people of color. In fact, it was illegal for a person of color to testify against a white person in court. And Smith had bribed Biddy's lawyer not to appear in court. Despite these unfavorable conditions, Judge Hayes took a particular interest in Biddy's case and met in private with Biddy and other Smith slaves to hear their side of the story.

Rather than accepting Smith's claims that the slave women and children were "members of his family" who left Mississippi on their own consent, Judge Hayes chose to believe Biddy, who confessed that she was terribly afraid to be taken to Texas. In a landmark decision heralded in California newspapers, Judge Hayes wrote that "all of the said persons of color are entitled to their freedom and are free forever."

Historian Dolores Hayden writes that Biddy's decision to stand up to Smith was an act of profound bravery.

To understand Biddy's courage in going to court against her master, it is first necessary to think of her lifetime in Mississippi, her complete immersion in the culture of the southern plantation, where physical torments such as whipping and being hosed down in brine would have been common punishment for both male and female slaves' minor infractions ... Any slave's loved ones could be put on the block  husband, wife, child  and sold, never to be seen again. In this context, all slaves' courage in risking a public test of white men's justice is striking.

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Wealth and Service

One of the first things Biddy did as a free woman was choose a last name for herself. For the rest of her life, she was known as Biddy Mason. She and her daughters lived alongside the Owens family, who continued to be a terrific support and close friends. With the press coverage from the court case, Mason caught the attention of Dr. John Strother Griffin, a prominent white physician who offered her work as a midwife. Mason also acted as a nurse to inmates in the county jail.

" " A shot of Biddy Mason Park in Los Angeles on Spring Street. Jim Winstead/Flckr/CC BY 2.0

With her decades of experience, she soon became one of the most in-demand midwives in Los Angeles, catering to the needs of both wealthy residents and impoverished new arrivals. After saving for 10 years, she followed the examples of Robert Owens and Dr. Griffin, both real estate investors, and bought a piece of land on the outskirts of town among the vineyards and orange groves.

Her homestead on Spring Street would become a refuge, not only for her growing family, but for all Los Angelenos in need of a helping hand. As she slowly amassed more wealth with investment properties, Mason freely gave to community members in need. In 1872, the First African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in her living room and she put up the funds to pay the minister and pay the church's property taxes. (The church now has some 19,000 members.) In 1884, after flash flooding destroyed homes across Los Angeles, Mason opened a tab at the Spring Street grocery store and instructed the owners to provide free food to anyone who needed it, Black or white.

As she grew older, she became lovingly known as "Auntie Biddy" or "Grandma Mason" throughout Los Angeles. By the time of her death in 1891 at age 73, she had amassed a fortune of $300,000 (more than $9 million in 2022 dollars), which, as we saw earlier, she generously used to help others.

"If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in," Biddy Mason famously said. "The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance even as it receives."

Now That's Cool In a small Los Angeles park not far from Biddy's first home on Spring Street, there's a modest memorial to the remarkable woman who was one of LA's first Black female landowners and a compassionate benefactor to all.

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Originally Published: Feb 1, 2019
Students at Mount Pleasant Elementary had a real treat last Friday when Principal Rick Money had his head shaved.

But Money didnt just shave the sides of his head for laughs. The school held its annual PTO Boosterthon fundraiser, and students participated in a Fun Run to help raise money. This was the first time since 2020 that the school held the run.

The fourth- and fifth-grade students participated in a Color Fun Run. Over the past two weeks, they raised over $34,000 through pledges. For each fundraising goal that students and classes pass, they typically earn an incentive like getting to pie a member of the Boosterthon Team in the face, extended recess and individual prizes.

This year, the big incentive was for Money to have his hair shaved on the sides with a design if the students surpassed $20,000 in total funds raised. They well exceeded that goal.

Money said he had noticed some people have haircuts with designs shaved into the sides  like lines, shapes or flags.

Many of our students seem to be getting those haircuts, he said. As a 90s kid, it reminded me of the hair fashion that was in style when I was in elementary school, and I wanted to have that connection from what was fun for me as a child and what is again trendy. Plus, its been fun talking with the kids on what kind of things they are going to get shaved into their own hair. So, that is why we chose that as the incentive.

Students gathered in the afternoon on Feb. 4 to watch a livestream of Money getting his design.

One of the schools parents, Autumn Bost, is a hairdresser. She reached out and said she would love to cut Moneys hair for the fundraiser.

Bost copied a design seen in several students hair, Money said. She shaved an American flag into each side of his head.

Hopefully the kids got a laugh out of it, but the biggest fun of all was getting to see the kids participate in the Fun Run event, Money said.

As for the funds raised, the parent-teacher organization is planning to use the money to pave a blacktop court by the school playground. This will give kids an extra access recess area and will help out during rainy days.
Kannapolis announced that the Run Kannapolis 5K Series is back. Runners and walkers of all ages and abilities are invited to participate in this unique series featuring the best 5K runs/walks in the city.

Each run is held in Kannapolis and hosted by a nonprofit that benefits from the entry fees. Most of the runs include a 1-mile fun run, and Strides for Stroke will include a new 10K option.

Join the thousands of people who have participated in Run Kannapolis over the years. Run Kannapolis is part of the city of Kannapolis Discover a Healthy Life brand and cosponsored by Atrium Health.

Kannapolis anticipates hosting four more runs this fall. Details will be announced at a later date. Runners/walkers are encouraged to participate in the entire series of eight races for unique prizes from the city.

Register at www.runkannapolis.com  registration is $15 per race, or register for all four now and save 25%.

Good luck with the 2022 Run Kannapolis series and we hope to see you at the finish line!

2022 Run Kannapolis Series

March 12: Rhythm & Run, 8 a.m.

April 9: Strides for Stroke, 9 a.m.

April 30: Spring It On, 8 a.m.

May 11: Jiggy with the Piggy, 6:30 p.m.

Host organization

N.C. Music Hall of Fame

Atrium Health

Kannapolis Education Foundation

Kannapolis Parks and Recreation
Former President Donald Trump would routinely rip up documents, drafts and reading materials, and he took several boxes to Mar-a-Lago when he relocated to Florida after leaving the White House -- raising concerns about his preservation of presidential records as required by federal law.
DECATUR  Participants for the Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge for Special Olympics are invited back to take a dip in the frigid waters around Central Illinois.

The fundraiser, created to support the Special Olympics, provides an opportunity for individuals, groups and organizations to take a quick jump into local lakes and waterways.

The theme for this years Polar Plunge is Plunge Our Way. The 2022 event combines the festivities from last years plunge, in which plungers dunked themselves in whatever water source they could dream up, and the traditional activities with the lakes as the jumping off point.

Each participant will need to raise a minimum $100 to plunge. They will receive a signature hoodie and opportunities to win prizes.

The Decatur Polar Plunge will be at noon Saturday, March 5, at Lake Decatur in front of the Beach House.

Effingham plungers will jump in at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, in Lake Sara Beach.

Eastern Illinois Universitys Glow Plunge will begin at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, at the EIU Pavilion.

Vanessa Duncan, Region I assistant director of development for the Special Olympics Illinois, is hoping to see the plungers return to the lakes. But theres also the option to plunge your way, she said. That means you can decide to plunge by yourself at home or maybe you even have a small group at the office that is part of your team.

Plungers can register for either option.

The event promoted social distancing during the pandemic that plagued 2021. Participants ran through spray from firefighters water hoses, stood still while a bucket of ice water was poured over their heads, sat in dunk tanks, jumped in small childrens pools and other imaginative ways.

We saw a lot of creativity, Duncan said.

Joanie Keyes, Region I director for the Special Olympics Illinois, has participated in various Polar Plunges, including last year with her family. Keyes along with her husband and son had a backhoe bucket filled with water dumped over their heads. As for jumping in a lake, she offers words of advice.

Dont wear jeans, pants and sweatshirts, she said. Those are heavy.

The less you wear, the easier it is to get dressed afterward, added Jackie Mendoza, sport director for Region I, which includes Decatur, Effingham, Eastern Illinois University and Mahomet.

Mendoza said she believes jumping into a cold lake isnt difficult. The waiting, however, can be the hard part. Its the anticipation of the wait in line, she said.

Organizers suggest participants wear shorts and closed-toed shoes. Flip flops are discouraged, because they float.

However, costumes are encouraged. The most unique outfits could earn the participants various prizes.

Participants have already begun signing up for a jump in the lake. Traditionally the plunge has anywhere from 400 to 500 plungers, Duncan said.

The Polar Plunge post-plunge parties will offer awards and opportunities to warm up.

We want to make it exciting for the plungers, Duncan said. Our post-plunge tent is completely warm. The food helps with warming up as well.

The post-plunge party after the Effingham Polar Plunge will be at the Effingham Event Center. People love the post-plunge party at Effingham, Keyes said.

The EIU plunge takes place in the dark, with glow-in-the-dark festivities. Its the only one throughout the state that actually occurs at night when the lights are off, Keyes said.

In the dark of the night, the black lights and glow lights light up the plunge pools, which will be used instead of a lake. Its really unique, Keyes said. It makes it a little bit chillier.

Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR

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MATTOON  The Mattoon School District returned to class Monday, continuing to require that masks be worn by all students, with the exception of those whose parents are part of lawsuit against the district and state.

According to the ruling and confirmed with our attorney, only students of the parents named in the lawsuit are directly impacted by the order and will not be required to wear masks at school unless the local health department issues a quarantine. For other students, we will continue to operate under our current plans, including the wearing of masks, the district said in a note to families.

Furthermore, while our nurses will continue to conduct contact tracing, we will only notify parents that their child was a close contact. We will not require them to pick up the students unless they have tested positive or are symptomatic. School exclusion will be the sole responsibility of the health department, the email said.

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Friday granted a request from attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily halt Gov. J.B. Pritzkers 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."

Mattoon was one of the districts named in the Austin v. Pritzker lawsuit.

The Illinois Attorney Generals Office filed immediate notices of appeal in the cases and on Monday filed motions asking for an emergency stay of the order pending the appeal. As of Monday afternoon, the 4th District Court of Appeals had not yet ruled on the motion for an emergency stay.

Mattoon's school board will meet at 7 p.m. on Feb. 8 and further discuss the situation during that meeting. The meeting will be held at Riddle School in Mattoon.

The Charleston school board, which wasn't named in the lawsuit, has scheduled a special meeting on the topic at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Dr. Nell Wiseman Media Center at the high school.

Cumberland schools in Toledo are also part of the lawsuit and had not returned calls by deadline. The district posted the temporary restraining order on its website but made no further comment there about any updated procedures.

Mount Zion, Central A&M and Maroa-Forsyth districts have issued statements in which they recommend, but do not require, masks for entry into schools and dropped requirements for testing.

Students riding buses will still be required to wear masks as that's a federal order.

Details surrounding this case could change in the days and weeks ahead, read the letter sent to Mount Zion families and staff, provided by Superintendent Travis Roundcount. Therefore, during these difficult times, we ask that everyone be respectful of the choices of others, and feel comfortable with your choices moving forward."

Roundcount attached a copy of the restraining order to the message, with page numbers throughout for reference.

Kristopher Kahler, superintendent of Maroa-Forsyth schools, said his district was not named in this case, but is named in another case that will be heard shortly. In anticipation of the second suit resulting in the same outcome as the first, and until the appellate court issues a ruling, Kahler said, he sent out a letter to district families and staff.

While in accordance with CDC recommendations the school district will continue to recommend and encourage indoor mask wearing for all students and staff, it will not be required or enforced beginning on Monday, February 7, 2022, the letter read. Again, as a result of this court decision, effective immediately, face masks will be encouraged at all Maroa-Forsyth Schools and all school-related events for both staff and students. Please understand that this may have repercussions for some of our sporting events, and this situation is very fluid. Masks may be required to play some other schools. We are awaiting updated information from IHSA and IESA about hosting events.

Maroa-Forsyth's policy on illness, which was in place prior to the pandemic, will continue to be enforced.

Tomorrow some children will come to school with masks on and some will not, read the letter, sent on Sunday. I encourage you to make this a 'teachable moment' for your child and remind your child to be tolerant and respectful of the personal choice of their friends and peers. Families must make the choices that are best for them, and it is important that all students and staff members personal choices are respected. Thank you for your continued partnership and support in providing the very best for our students. We will continue to keep our community informed of all decisions surrounding the health and safety of our students, staff and visitors as we work toward our goal to maintain safe and exceptional in-person learning.

Central A&M, which was one of the schools named in the suit, has paused COVID-19 mitigations until further clarification from the courts, according to the letter sent out by Superintendent DeAnn Heck.

Please understand that this has always been and continues to be a fluid situation, Heck wrote. It is our understanding that the State has already filed an appeal of this (temporary restraining order) and changes may occur in the near future. As these changes occur, the district will communicate them to our community. In addition, the districts Return to School Plan will be re-evaluated at the regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting on February 28, 2022.

No matter what you choose to do as a family, everyone at CAM will be treated with kindness, compassion, and respect. We all understand that this is a highly politically charged issue but everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness. A good lesson to keep in mind no matter the situation.

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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CHARLESTON  Coles County health officials announced two COVID-related deaths on Monday, while noting a decrease in positive cases.

The deaths bring the countys total since the pandemic began to 158.

The weekend also saw the addition of 62 positive cases  22 cases on Saturday, nine cases on Sunday and 31 cases on Monday. To date, the county has reported 14,763 positive cases since the start of the pandemic.

The Coles County Health Department said the total number of positive cases reported from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5, 354, are down 57.91%.
SKODA 1100 OHC Coupe: a racing car painstakingly reconstructed 07.02.2022: - Two copies of the KODA 1100 OHC Coupe were built in 1959/1960 - Further development of the streamlined coupe design and lower weight (555 kg) a testament to the KODA teams high level of technical expertise



- Two copies of the SKODA 1100 OHC Coupe were built in 1959/1960









- Further development of the streamlined coupe design and lower weight (555 kg) a testament to the SKODA teams high level of technical expertise





- Traditional manufacturing techniques were combined with cutting-edge technologies at SKODA AUTOs Prototype Centre to reconstruct the vehicle according to historical documentation





- SKODA 1100 OHC Coupe (1959) complements the open-bodied version of the vehicle from 1957 in the SKODA Museum collection.









To mark the 120th anniversary of SKODA Motorsport, employees from the SKODA Museum and SKODA AUTOs Prototype Centre collaborated on a project to reconstruct the SKODA 1100 OHC Coupe racing car. The teams began by reconditioning the original frame, chassis and engine and rebuilt the body according to historical documentation. In the process, they used state-of-the-art technology as well as traditional techniques in body construction.







Planning for the SKODA 1100 OHC (internal type designation 968), which was intended primarily for endurance circuit races, began as early as spring 1956. By the end of 1957, the first of two copies with open GRP bodywork had been completed. This vehicle is still among the highlights of the SKODA Museum exhibition in Mlada Boleslav. It regularly competes in national and international classic car events. The second 1100 OHC is used by SKODA UK for advertising purposes, mainly at local events in the UK.







In 1959/1960, the designers continued working on the 968 project and created two SKODA 1100 OHC coupes with closed bodywork. Tried and tested components from SKODAs production models were used. However, unlike the SKODA SPORT and SUPERSPORT, which were created at the end of the 1940s, the vehicle was no longer based on a central tube with forks for an OHV engine to be mounted at the front.







Instead, the SKODA 1100 OHC Coupe took advantage of a lightweight yet rigid truss frame welded from thin-walled tubes. Trapezoidal suspension, consisting of two triangular wishbones arranged one above the other, was used for the front wheels, while a coupling axle with trailing arms was installed at the rear.







The engine was located behind the front axle and, along with the assembly unit, comprising rear axle differential and five-speed gearbox, achieved an almost ideal weight distribution. The handling of the dynamic racing car was outstanding; the SKODA 1100 OHC Coupe was powered by a naturally aspirated in-line four-cylinder engine.







The cylinder and crankcase were made of aluminium and were derived from the SKODA 440 Spartak, as was the crankshaft. However, the racing car significantly exceeded the Spartaks output of 40 hp (29.4 kW) at 4,200 rpm thanks to its optimised combustion chambers and OHC valve drive, a compression ratio of 9.3:1, two carburettors, double dynamo battery ignition from Bosch, Scintilla Vertex magnetos and many other modifications.







Its output was 92 hp (67.7 kW) at 7,700 rpm, with an impressive 85 hp per litre of displacement. For short bursts, it could reach up to 8,500 rpm. Depending on the overall gear ratio, which could be adjusted according to the specific racetrack, the two-seater with aluminium bodywork and an unladen weight of only 555 kg reached a top speed of around 200 km/h. Dual-circuit brakes always ensured effective deceleration, and to reduce the unsprung mass, rear drum brakes were mounted on the differential gear.









The racing career of the two SKODA 1100 OHC coupes lasted from 1960 to 1962. In 1966, they were sold to private buyers when they were no longer allowed to compete due to changes in technical regulations, which resulted in the end of the under 1,100 cm3 category. Subsequently, both coupes were destroyed in road accidents.





The owner of the first vehicle, the surviving components of which were used in the reconstruction, replaced the engine of the 1100 OHC with a production four-cylinder with OHV valve timing from a FELICIA. The original engine was on display for a long time in the vocational school in Mlada Boleslav before it was finally installed in the reconstructed 1100 OHC Coupe. The second coupe caught fire in an accident.







The driver managed to escape from the vehicle, but the aluminium bodywork was irreparably damaged. The dismantled, one-of-a-kind rear axle with integrated gearbox had been part of the collection at the National Technical Museum in Prague before it was donated to the SKODA Museum 25 years ago. The SKODA Museum acquired the truss frame, which had been cut into three parts, along with the complete front axle and other surviving parts from a private collector in 2014.











A legend reborn





The ambitious project to restore the vehicle would not have been possible without the experts from the SKODA Museum and their experience of working on the open SKODA 1100 OHC. The original technical documentation was also crucial to the projects success. Almost all of it had been preserved in the SKODA AUTO archive, including an explanation of each production section and an explanatory drawing for the installation of individual assemblies.





The original mechanical components had very little wear, as the car had only taken part in a few races. The renovation of the entire chassis, along with a newly reconstructed radiator, fuel tank and other elements, was completed at the end of 2015.







Originally, the cars chassis was to be displayed at the SKODA Museum next to the open-bodied car. However, it was decided instead to reconstruct the coupe as a fully functional vehicle.







The most challenging task was to reconstruct the aluminium body. The original designer was the former factory designer Jaroslav Kindl. The carpenters of the time built a wooden model according to his documents. A group of metalworkers hammered out the aluminium panels by hand, and the individual parts were then welded or riveted together.







Throughout the reconstruction, the SKODA Museums restoration workshop team worked closely with colleagues from the Prototype Centre at SKODA AUTO. Based on scans of the 2D drawings on a scale of 1:1, a three-dimensional grid was created, which was then post-processed visually. The shapes of individual elements were painstakingly examined and corrected, for example at the front of the vehicle and around the rear lights. Historical photographs were compared with the sketches and the 3D model.







The experts were then able to view the car from all sides in the virtual studio and make adjustments. Miniature models were created followed by models of the front and rear body corners on a 1:1 scale. After expert appraisal, necessary adjustments and final approval, SKODA AUTOs engineers started working on the partition walls, the wheel arches and other body elements.







The bodywork was created from 0.8 mm and 1 mm thick aluminium sheets that were manually welded and beaten to shape during the reconstruction. Originally, both coupes were unique, featuring an anodised finish. On the track, however, this surface treatment failed to demonstrate any benefit, and so both cars were painted red in the middle of the 1962 season.

The elaborate project to completely reconstruct the vehicle required numerous smaller components to be sourced that were identical to the parts used in production vehicles at the time. The outer door handles of the coupe, for example, were the same as those on the SKODA 1200 Sedan, and some switches and the ignition lock were also used in the SKODA 440 Spartak and the OCTAVIA. The three-spoke steering wheel finished in black plastic was adopted from the SKODA POPULAR, the bestseller from the pre-war period.









Ondrej Lanik- photos Skoda


ARCOLA  After the events of Aug. 15, when the Taliban captured the Afghan capital of Kabul, Army veteran Ilene Henderson received frantic calls from several former interpreters she worked with during her time in Afghanistan in 2003.

Having served in the military for 21 years, Henderson and her mother, Inge Henderson, and aunt, Sue Montgomery, decided to create the Afghan Welcome Home Project of Central Illinois to help support Afghan refugees with the hopes of relocating some to the regions into a home of their own.

Now, with about eight evacuees already resettled in Central Illinois, the Afghan Welcome Home Project has welcomed 10 more Afghan evacuees to Arcola.

We really have had a great outpouring from the community and thats been our thing from the beginning, Henderson said. Thats nothing against the official government resettlement process and infrastructure, it has its place but I dont think anything can do as much as the power of the community and the people.

Currently, Henderson said the 10 men are being temporarily housed in Arcola until they can find permanent jobs with a sustainable income that could lead to permanent housing.

The men served as members of the Afghan National Army working alongside the United States military and even helping special operations forces in missions as peers, Henderson said.

With their wives and children still back in Afghanistan, Henderson said they are determined to make money to send back home and eventually resettle their families in the states.

Unfortunately, there are already some roadblocks they have faced.

When looking for jobs, Henderson said some of the men were hoping to find skill-based positions as truck drivers or manufacturers since that was what they had experienced prior to the military. The problem is they would need to receive training and take a certification test to even get a chance.

Coupled with the fact that all of them speak little English and cannot read or write in their native language of Pashto, Henderson said its become increasingly difficult to find permanent positions for them to take.

If theres any kind of a challenge or roadblock that is encountered, everyone just seems to freak out and say they dont want to have to deal with it rather than come up with an alternate way of doing things, Henderson said. Most of the guys that are here, no one speaks English but they all understand some works and are very intelligent and can learn.

Another issue they have crossed has been with management companies refusing to rent property to anyone due to them not having a credit or background history that would show up, Henderson said.

Companies are even refusing when local organizations are willing to cosign and provide funds to cover the costs, so Henderson said they are now looking for private individuals who rent properties that might be interested.

Also, Henderson said each of the evacuees is here on humanitarian assistance, which is only valid for two years before they need to leave, and are looking for someone versed in immigration law to help file and apply for special immigrant visas that would allow them to stay.

These guys have fought and put their lives on the line for the United States just as much as I did as an American veteran, Henderson said. I mean, I hold a personal responsibility to help them because they deserve as much help as possible.

Individuals interested in volunteering or donating items to the evacuees can learn more at afghanwelcomehomeproject.blogspot.com about any opportunities or updates on necessities.

If someone seeking to help is local to the Arcola area, they can contact organizer Juanita Marner at 217-246-6141 to drop off donations.

A volunteer informational and planning meeting will also be held at the First Christian Church of Arcola, 311 E. Main St., at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8. The meeting will discuss both small and big ways to get involved in the project and help facilitate the resettlement of these evacuees in Central Illinois.

There's something for everybody, whether its big or small theres always something that anyone can do to contribute," Henderson said.

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The chief of the Griffith Volunteer Fire Department in Forsyth County was charged on Friday with two felony counts of falsifying fire incident reports, according to an announcement from Mike Causey, North Carolina insurance commissioner.

James Adam Berry was arrested by special agents of the Department of Insurance and deputies with the Yadkin County Sheriffs Office.

A spokesman for the state Department of Insurance said Berry overstated the number of firefighters who responded to incidents in an effort to obtain a higher insurance rating for his department.

Officials said that the offenses occurred between June 30, 2016, and Oct. 8, 2021.

Authorities said Berry allegedly misstated the firefighter numbers in reports submitted to the Office of State Fire Marshal and to the Forsyth County Fire Marshals Office

A spokesman for the Department of Insurance said that when fire departments are able to report larger numbers of firefighters responding to fires, they can raise their insurance ratings, which in turn can provide better insurance rates to people who live in a fire departments coverage area.

Berry was released on a written promise to appear in court on March 10.

Berry also is a full-time employee of the Clemmons Fire Department Inc.

Clemmons Fire Chief Jerry Brooks said Berrys arrest would not affect his standing with that department. Brooks said the arrest does not involve the Clemmons department and that Berry is innocent until proven guilty.

In response to the arrest, Forsyth County Emergency Services officials released a statement saying they had contacted the Griffith department by certified mail asking for an explanation, and to ensure steps are being taken to maintain fire protection for the Griffith Fire District.

We have been notified of some very concerning allegations involving the fire chief of Griffith Volunteer Fire Department in southern Forsyth County, the statement reads. It is signed by Daren Ziglar, director of emergency services, and Gary Styers, fire marshal.

The two said they are both monitoring the situation.

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Understandable though it may be, one news item of particular import was obscured by a nonstop cloud of toxic smoke last week.

With good and valid reason, of course.

Its not every day (or every decade) that a raging fire in an aging fertilizer plant with a recent issue with an electrical problem, as noted by the Winston-Salem Fire Department, forces a 1-mile worst-case scenario evacuation perimeter.

Now that the immediate danger has passed  and we all wait to learn why the Winston Weaver plant burned with some 500 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate on hand  its time to turn some attention to other things.

Near the top of that list, though its far from sexy and far from over, is the legal battle over North Carolinas congressional and legislative redistricting maps.

Once approved, those small, computer-generated tracts will have a great deal of sway over such weighty matters as womens reproductive rights, voting rights and most importantly, the size of your bank account.

Check the fine print

Even without the potential for one of the worst explosions in U.S. history, as Chief Trey Mayo put it, following developments in court fights over the maps under which politicians will seek high office  and the attendant access to fast, easy campaign cash that comes with it  has for many all the appeal of watching paint dry in the dentists office.

A half-hour of boredom followed quickly by pain and/or bloody gums. Not fun.

Partly because the job requires it and partly because my brain is wired to hone in on such things, heres a handy Readers Digest synopsis:

The N.C. Supreme Court ruled Friday that political maps drawn by Republican legislators in Raleigh are unconstitutional and must be redrawn  and approved by a three-judge panel  this month.

A 40-page decision accompanying a 4-3 decision made along party lines says that Republicans drew maps that denied voters of substantially equal voting power on the basis of partisan affiliation.

Which, if youve been following along even half-heartedly, amounts to Yeah, and what else is new?

Politicians have been drawing favorable districts  selecting their voters instead of voters choosing them  since the beginning of the Republic.

The fact that state Republicans drew Congressional maps that favor GOP candidates in 11 of the 14 districts, along with the potential for veto-proof majorities in the state House and Senate, is in no way surprising.

Fairness in a state that voted 50-49 in favor of Donald Trump over President Biden was never a consideration. The median congressional district in the plan struck down Friday would have favored Trump by 14 points in the 2020 election.

The temptation not to put beefy thumbs on the scales is too great to pass up. Power to politicians these days is to be used ruthlessly to crush the opposing party rather than find ways to compromise.

Its as true for Republicans in North Carolina and Texas, to name two egregious GOP examples, as it is in New York and Illinois, to name two Democratic states that have done the exact same thing.

The decision by the state Supreme Court on Friday is but the latest in a nonstop, hard-to-follow series of court challenges and decisions.

Remember that the last time we saw this movie in 2010, the maps originally approved by Republicans in Raleigh were tossed out (and ordered redone) three separate times before the GOP threw their hands up and let court-drawn maps stand.

A matter of fairness

Its not just partisanship thats odious; the ever-present whiff of race hangs over the process as well.

Diverse districts used to be a requirement for the redistricting process. States, particularly those with long, sordid histories of voter suppression used to have their plans pre-approved by the U.S. Justice Department.

But because that ceased to be the case in 2013 when the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, some states fell back on old practices to draw districts that overwhelmingly favored white voters.

Such as Alabama, to name one.

More than 25% of the 4.9 million residents of Alabama are black. The Legislature there drew its congressional maps with only one majority black district out of seven allotted the state by the 2020 Census.

(The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday put on hold a lower court order requiring Alabama to redraw congressional districts before the 2022 election.)

It goes without saying, but bears repeating, that if districts are so heavily tilted one way or another, primary elections will produce more extremists, not fewer.

There is a better way, however.

Some 15 states have independent redistricting commissions that, while still subject to political influences, have managed to produce more equitable maps. Virginia managed it and Ohio, where voters directly approved the creation of an independent commission, is trying.

We here in North Carolina could, too, but only if more people start paying attention.

Once the smoke clears, of course.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump was in the Oval Office with his daughter Ivanka and Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, when he made yet another push to pressure Pence.

Trump again told Pence that he had a duty to reject Electoral College votes that would formalize Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election, something the vice president had no authority to do in his ceremonial role in Congress that day.

"You don't have the courage to make a hard decision," Trump told Pence, according to congressional testimony. Even after Trump called him a "wimp," Pence rebuffed the demand, issuing a lengthy statement afterward laying out his conclusion that he had no power to influence the outcome.

When the call ended, Ivanka Trump turned to retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg and said, "Mike Pence is a good man."

"Yes, he is," Kellogg replied.

Now the House committee investigating the riot wants to know what else Ivanka Trump heard and saw that day as they try to stitch together the narrative of the riots and the former president's role in instigating them. There was a frantic effort by many of Trump's top supporters to persuade him to intervene, and some directly sought to use his daughter as their conduit.

Keep scrolling for a photo gallery from Jan. 6, 2021

A committee aide said they are hopeful that she will soon commit to a time to meet.

Throughout her time in the White House, Ivanka Trump was known as a rare voice who could get through to her father and talk him out of bad decisions, though her success was mixed. The former first daughter has kept an extraordinary low profile since her father left office and has distanced herself from him and politics since moving to Florida.

But her proximity to him on Jan. 6 could provide the committee with direct access to what Trump was doing during those crucial three hours when his supporters violently stormed Capitol.

"Ivanka Trump has details about what occurred in the lead-up to and on Jan. 6 and about the former president's state of mind as events unfolded," Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla, a member of the panel, told The Associated Press.

It is highly unusual for congressional investigators to target a family member of a president, but as a senior adviser to her father, she also had a perch close to power.

Kellogg disclosed the exchange with the committee, but so far Ivanka Trump, who famously guards her image and public profile, has not talked to the panel.

The answers could have significant repercussions not only for Donald Trump, who is eyeing a political comeback in 2024, but for those in the Republican Party who have downplayed his role in the insurrection.

A spokeswoman for Ivanka Trump did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But in a statement issued in late January, a representative for her noted that Ivanka Trump did not speak at the rally near the White House where the then-president urged his supporters to "fight like hell" as Congress convened to certify the 2020 election results, and said she still believed that "any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable."

Members of the committee hope to get beyond such vague assertions.

Hours after Trump's call to Pence, Ivanka Trump joined brother Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Kimberly Guilfoyle under a large tent at the rally to listen to Trump's speech.

She reportedly told aides she "decided to attend only because she had hoped to calm the president and help keep the event on an even keel."

After Trump's speech, as rioters began to smash through Capitol police barriers and break windows, the former president tweeted: "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution ..."

That tweet, according to court testimony, only added to the anger fueling the mob.

Back in the White House, as staffers watched in shock at what was unfolding down Pennsylvania Avenue on television screens positioned throughout the West Wing, Trump's attention was so rapt that he hit rewind and watched certain moments again, according to Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary.

"Look at all of the people fighting for me," Trump said, according to Grisham, who also served as chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump. At one point, the president was confused why staffers weren't as excited as he was watching the unrest unfold.

Kellogg testified that staff wanted the president to take immediate action to address the violence consuming the Capitol, but Trump refused.

"Is someone getting to potus? He has to tell protestors to dissipate. Someone is going to get killed," Alyssa Farrah Griffin, a former White House communications official, texted Ben Williamson, an aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

"I've been trying for the last 30 minutes. Literally stormed in outer oval to get him to put out the first one. It's completely insane," Williamson wrote back.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., then called Ivanka Trump, pleading that the president "ask people to leave."

"We're working on it," she replied.

At that point, staffers acknowledged that despite efforts by Meadows, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Kellogg, the only person who could get through to him would be his daughter.

Ivanka Trump, according to testimony, went on to make at least two "tenacious" attempts to reason with her father as staffers were bombarded with messages from Trump allies begging him to quell the violence.

"Can he make a statement. I saw the tweet. Ask people to leave the (Capitol)," Fox News host Sean Hannity texted Meadows.

But inside the West Wing, Kellogg strongly recommended that they not ask the president to appear in the press room, where a group of reporters would be waiting for him.

"Apparently, certain White House staff believed that a live unscripted press appearance by the President in the midst of the Capitol Hill violence could have made the situation worse," lawmakers wrote in their letter to Ivanka Trump.

The president ultimately agreed to a video statement. Multiple takes were filmed but not used. In each one of the initial takes, according to the committee, he failed to ask rioters to leave.

The final video was released on Twitter at 4:17 p.m.  nearly two hours after Trump's initial tweet criticizing Pence.

"This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play into the hands of these people," Trump said in the video. "We have to have peace. So go home. We love you; you're very special."

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the vice chair of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, has said it's hard to "imagine a more significant and more serious dereliction of duty" than Trump's failure to quell the riots.

Trump's last words that day came at 6:01 p.m. when he tweeted that the 2020 election was "unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long."

He ended with, "Go home with love and in peace. Remember this day forever."

The committee has been aggressively interviewing witnesses  nearly 500 so far  and has subpoenaed Meadows and Trump's personal lawyer. They are asking Ivanka Trump to cooperate voluntarily.

***

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.
The decision arrived late Friday, creating, perhaps, a little weekend cheer for supporters of democracy.

The N.C. Supreme Court struck down the maps for congressional and General Assembly districts that had been drawn, unrepentantly, by the Republican-led legislature for Republican advantage.

The legislature now has two weeks to redraw the district maps. If they then dont meet the courts approval, the court will draw its own maps.

The outcome was somewhat predictable, as was the 4-3 majority-Democrat split. But though the bias of the maps was not in doubt, the real questions before the court were whether the bias was extreme enough to violate the state constitution and whether the justices themselves had the authority to  we have to say  stop the steal.

In fact, a previous trial court found that the maps were indeed a result of intentional, pro-Republican partisan redistricting. The court just decided that it wasnt the judiciarys place to intervene.

Which left many wondering what the judiciary  a branch of government co-equal to the executive and the legislative  is for, if not to provide oversight and repair unconstitutional legislative injustice.

Fortunately, a majority of Supreme Court justices decided that the court does have the authority to disqualify the maps, which plaintiffs showed adhered to a model that was, not just slightly tilted in Republicans favor, but an example of extreme and unconstitutional gerrymandering. In their ruling, the justices wrote that the maps violated beyond a reasonable doubt the states guarantees of free speech, free assembly, free elections and equal protection under the law.

The maps would likely have increased the Republicans U.S. House advantage from 8-5 to 10-4, even though voters statewide are roughly equally divided between the two major parties.

The Republicans didnt just put a thumb on the scale  they planted a fist.

The legislature violates the constitution when it deprives a voter of his or her right to substantially equal voting power on the basis of partisan affiliation, the courts majority said Friday. Achieving partisan advantage incommensurate with a political partys level of statewide voter support is neither a compelling nor a legitimate governmental interest.

Plus, as Elisabeth Theodore of the law firm Arnold & Porter said, The U.S. Supreme Court said its up to state courts to rein in partisan gerrymandering, and thats exactly what the North Carolina Supreme Court has done.

Republican officials were quick to criticize the decision. Senate redistricting committee co-chair Ralph Hise calling it a perverse precedent that once set, will be nearly impossible to unwind. As if that were a bad thing.

And Justice Paul Newby, one of the Republicans on the court, wrote a sharp dissent: 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 accused the courts majority of advancing its agenda with a partisan bias.

He also wrote that the remedy to illicit maps should be left to voters, who, if not satisfied with the way election districts are drawn, can act to change things through two legitimate avenues for reform: a statute or a (state) constitutional amendment.

But those avenues would be very, very difficult to acquire from a legislature that was determined to cement itself into office.

As weve written before, gerrymandering, no matter which party practices the tactic, cheats voters. Weve got to be allowed to select our representatives rather than have our representatives select their voters.

Youd think such a principle would be ingrained in our DNA as well as in our constitution.

We appreciate the courts decision, but admit that its disturbing to see it divided so sharply along party lines. Such partisan divisions lead to questions about whether the court has been overly politicized  even when its rulings are just. Its also disturbing, and unbecoming, to hear Newby rail against the motives of his colleagues.

There is a way out of this kind of quandary  at least when it comes to elections  and weve urged it before: appointing an independent voting commission, whose members would have the will, integrity and know-how to draw fair district maps that few could dispute. It would truly be the best way forward.
Reason for concern

The following is in response to the Jan. 30 letter A credible fear, in which the writer was concerned about Christian nationalism.

I have a book titled: American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. The author, Chris Hedges, is, among other things, an ordained Presbyterian minister.

Hedges, who graduated from Harvard Divinity School, was a war correspondent for nearly two decades for The New York Times and other publications. He was part of the team of reporters that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of global terrorism.

The author of the aforementioned letter has several reasons to be concerned.

Kenneth Brian Scalf

Mocksville

Adopting better options

As options are explored to make fertilizer plants safer, the option of greatly reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers should be considered. There are other ways for farmers to build the soil and grow healthy crops.

No-till agriculture uses cover crops to build the soil. No-till adds nitrogen to the soil by growing legume cover crops before or after the cash crop. The soil stays covered by plants year round so the farmer never has to worry about it being too wet to plow. Plus, the cover crops take carbon dioxide out of the air while making the soil richer and healthier. The USDA currently has money available for farmers and educators interested in no-till agriculture.

A natural source of fertilizer is composted food and yard waste. Large-scale composting operations provide large quantities of compost needed by farmers. They keep food waste out of landfills and reduce the volume of material landfilled. Reduced food waste in the landfill means reduced release of methane gas.

Two large-scale composting operations in North Carolina include Brooks Compost, which serves the Triangle, and McGill Compost in Raleigh and Rose Hill. Henderson County is also composting food waste instead of sending it to the landfill. Forsyth County currently recycles yard waste but not food waste.

With our acute awareness of the dangers of producing, shipping and storing large quantities of chemical fertilizers, now is the time to encourage farmers to adopt practices good for their farms and the climate.

Greta Lee

Jefferson

Just dont

Not that theyre going to read this  or much of anything  but Id like to offer some advice to the top Republicans who are getting all geared up to oppose President Bidens Supreme Court justice nominee:

Dont. Just dont. Theres no upside, youll just wind up looking even more like buffoons.

After approving Justice Amy Coney Barrett, with nothing to recommend her but the promise of finding some way to destroy Roe v. Wade  she had the thinnest resume in modern times  and supporting beer-loving Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who exhibited his unfitness by throwing a temper tantrum during his hearing, theres no credible way to oppose women of integrity and accomplishment like J. Michelle Childs and Anita Earls. Theres just no way.

Theres nothing you can do that wont make you look mean and stupid except graciously going along. Ask a few sharp questions to keep your base from calling you RINOs, then vote in favor of her. You might even avoid tearing the country further apart, if you have any interest in that at all.

A competent Black woman is going to win a spot on the Supreme Court no matter what you do. You may as well break the mold and be agreeable. It might win you some much-needed respect.

You can also comfort yourself with the knowledge that youve already got six activist justices who dont give a damn about precedent; all they care about is increasing conservative power. More than that is just greedy.

Jane Freemont Gibson

Winston-Salem
Secretary of State Bob Evnen will lead an agriculturally based trade mission to the Middle East this month.

The 25 delegates from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska commodity groups, state government and private industry will visit the United Arab Emirates and Jordan during the trip.

Included in the group are university faculty members, representatives of agricultural commodity groups and private sector businesses involved in agricultural technology, including water utilization, value-added ag products, food preparation, pest control, network security and entrepreneurs in other economic sectors.

Nebraska is one of two states that the U.S. Embassy in Dubai invited to a showcase that will include a Taste of Nebraska event.

UNL experts from the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources will give presentations on research in beef production, water management and precision irrigation, food processing and the Food for Health Center.

"This trip underscores the important role Nebraska plays on the worldwide agricultural stage," said Mike Boehm, University of Nebraska vice president and vice chancellor for UNL's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon

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In the wake of reduction of Lincoln's airline service following departure of Delta Airlines, Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln has proposed a constitutional amendment that would give the city and the Lincoln Airport the authority to negotiate a minimum revenue guarantee agreement during the first months of new or expanded airline service.

The proposal (LR283CA), which would apply to all nine commercial passenger airports in the state, would need to be approved by Nebraska voters in the November general election to become effective.

During a public hearing last week, Bostar told the Legislature's Revenue Committee that the proposal would give airports "a tool to allow them to remain competitive within the modern air travel industry and provide for future development and expansion of air service critical to the state's economic success."

"Minimum revenue guarantees offered to airlines during the first months of new or expanded service helps to assure an airline that the effort they make in investing in a community is being met with a commitment from the airport and the community it serves," Bostar said.

Bostar's bill follows on the heels of departure of Delta Airlines from the Lincoln Airport, leaving Lincoln with passenger service solely provided by United Airlines with flights only to Chicago and Denver.

Delta service to Minneapolis ended on Jan. 10.

"LR283CA would permit the voters to determine if airports and communities in Nebraska should be equipped with this important tool to compete for air service in our modern market environment," Bostar told the committee.

"The reality of the air travel industry in 2022 is that airports across the country compete to attract and develop commercial air service," he said.

"To remain competitive, our communities and small-to-medium-sized airports will need access to this near-universally utilized tool."

LR283CA would "simply ask the voters to equip Nebraska's airports with what they need to compete for economically essential service for our communities," Bostar said.

The Lincoln Airport is engaged in a $55 million expansion and renovation of its passenger terminal.

Representatives of the Lincoln Airport Authority, the City of Lincoln, the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners, the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Lincoln Independent Business Association testified in support of Bostar's bill.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon

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A Lincoln judge Monday sentenced a 21-year-old inmate to 26 to 40 more years in prison for sexually assaulting a fellow inmate in 2020 and starting a fire at a Lincoln prison last year.

Puom Gach pleaded no contest to first-degree sexual assault, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony and attempted first-degree arson.

In a hearing held by video, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jessica Murphy called it a violent sexual assault that involved the use of a weapon and asked for a sentence that reflected the very serious nature of the incident and the ongoing harm to the victim.

As for the arson, Murphy said Gach's actions put all inmates at risk.

On June 16, Gach was serving a two- to 10-year sentence for an attempted robbery in Sarpy County when he set a fire at the Lincoln Correctional Center, causing inmates to be evacuated from adjacent cells, damaging a mattress and leaving burn marks on the electrical outlet and wall at the prison at 3216 W. Van Dorn St.

Prosecutors said a corporal discovered a fire in Gach's cell. After it was put out with a fire extinguisher, Gach acknowledged starting it because he didnt want to go to another unit.

The sexual assault occurred Nov. 23, 2020, but wasn't reported initially because the inmate said Gach threatened to harm him if he reported it.

Prosecutors said Gach had used an improvised weapon made from a piece of fencing in the assault.

Attorney Spike Eickholt said Gach now is housed at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution in long-term restrictive housing and likely will remain there for the foreseeable future.

Gach said he was sorry for what he did.

"I'm owning up to it. It'll never happen again," he told Lancaster County District Judge Ryan Post.

Post said, according to the presentence report, Gach approached another inmate with the weapon and sexually assaulted him because he thought the other inmate had snitched on one of his friends for having synthetic marijuana.

"Then you attempted to start a fire in the prison, which as you know is incredibly dangerous to you, to the other inmates and the staff," the judge told Gach, before announcing his sentence.

Gach will have to serve 13 years before he's eligible for parole.

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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday he plans to launch a promotional campaign aiming to persuade more people to get a booster shot against COVID-19, and also relaunch a lottery to reward people who do opt for the extra shot.

And even as Republicans in the House of Delegates sent a letter Tuesday to the state superintendent of schools and the State Board of Education calling for an end to the masking mandate in schools, Hogan did not specifically say he wanted an end to mandatory masking in schools, as is being done in several other states, citing his lack of authority.

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The Republican governor, however, touted Marylands high vaccination rate compared to other states and dropping cases of COVID-19, numbers that could support such action.

And he insisted boosters are a key method to keep people safe and to relieve still overwhelmed hospitals, where the majority of patients are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

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We do know protection wanes over time and no one should consider themselves protected if they dont have a booster shot, Hogan said.

Cases and hospitalizations have been coming down in Maryland and across the country since hitting their pandemic highs in mid-January, and many health officials believe the surge from the omicron variant will continue to recede into spring.

A big concern, and reason for many masking mandates and other measures, was not only to protect individuals but to provide some relief to overwhelmed hospitals, some of which resorted to crisis standards of care.

Maryland hospitals reported 1,111 people in their beds Tuesday, a drop of more than two-thirds since the peak, when nearly 3,500 were hospitalized a month ago. There were 738 new infections and 42 deaths reported Tuesday.

The statewide positivity rate also has been dropping among those tested for COVID-19 in Maryland, though it remained slightly above 5% Tuesday, a threshold that suggests widespread community transmission. The rate also varies by county.

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Mask mandates in schools and retail establishments and elsewhere have been a political flashpoint, with supporters fearing outbreaks in the classroom and elsewhere and opponents saying such measures infringe on personal rights and harm children.

The Democratic governors of Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon announced in recent days they would end school mask mandates sometime in March. Connecticut plans to end its school mandate by the end of February. All four states will allow local school districts to maintain mandates if they choose.

Marylands House Republicans argued that cloth masks were ineffective in preventing the spread of COVID-19; that N95 and KN95 masks have not been properly tested in children; and that childrens emotional and cognitive development was at risk from the masks.

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The damage that covering faces does to the development of children is something that we will not fully grasp for many years to come, the letter read. However, there are early indications that masking negatively impacts cognitive development as well as emotional wellbeing  neither of which should be sacrificed for a mitigation measure that provides no true health benefit for those children.

The letter goes on to call for an end to the face coverings in public schools by eliminating the off ramps put in the current order.

Hogan, however, cited lawsuits in Virginia filed against the new governor, Glenn Youngkin, when he lifted school mask mandates on his first day. Hogan said he didnt have the authority to order the state school board to lift its mandate but would instead make a recommendation. He didnt spell out any specifics of that recommendation.

The change may take an act of the legislature, which approved a statewide school mask mandate in January after a vote from the state school board in December. The measure was intended to last through the school year but allowed students to go without masks if spread of the virus in their county was moderate or if vaccination rates were above 80% in the school or the surrounding community.

The state vaccination rate among kids has lagged that of adults.

Hogan touted the adult rate milestone Tuesday. He reported 95% of those 18 and older had at least one shot.

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About 82% of children aged 12 to 17 in the state overall have received at least one shot, but only about 42% of those aged 5 to 11 have gotten at least one since they became eligible in November, according to state data. Rates in each county vary.

Some public health officials have said that they supported mandates in schools to ensure a high compliance rate with the safety measure. But more recently many have said they also support ending the mandates when conditions improved.

Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a Johns Hopkins pulmonologist who treats COVID-19 patients, said he could support lifting mandates if conditions such as low community transmission were met and if schools had the ability to change course if there are outbreaks.

I dont mind as long as the schools have the flexibility to react in real time, if there is say a super-spreading event, he said. Mandates never take the place of active engagement and apply in real time.

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Since vaccines, and now boosters, have been widely available, Hogan has pushed for more shots. But booster shots have lagged.

As we achieve another incredible vaccine milestone, I want to thank all the health care heroes we honor this week who have made this possible, Hogan said in a statement. While we will continue to work to reach that last 5% of adults, we are just as focused on getting more Marylanders boosted to maximize protection against the virus and its variants.

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State data shows the state has given out about nearly 2.1 million booster shots, or enough for about a third of the population.

Public health officials say boosters can help stave off a case of COVID-19. With many breakthrough infections after vaccinations, the boosters also help prevent severe infections requiring hospitalization.

Hogans new campaign will involve calls and text messages about the availability of booster shots at hundreds of locations around the state. With the demand for testing dropping since the holidays, Hogan said some of the locations at hospitals would turn their focus to the boosters.

He also said the lottery would run for 12 weeks, beginning with a $500,000 prize through a random drawing Feb. 15. Everyone boosted in the state at any time is automatically entered in the drawing.

Baltimore Sun reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this article.
NEWARK, N.J.  The former owner of a failed multistate chain of nursing homes pleaded not guilty Monday to failing to pay nearly $30 million in payroll taxes for about 15,000 employees.

Joseph Schwartz appeared via videoconference before a federal judge in Newark. Last month, the 62-year-old Suffern, New York, resident was charged with multiple counts of failing to pay taxes withheld from employees' paychecks covering unemployment insurance, Social Security and Medicare from mid-2017 through mid-2018.

A message seeking comment was left Monday with an attorney representing Schwartz.

Prosecutors also allege Schwartz failed to file annual financial reports related to his company's 401K retirement plan contributions that are automatically withdrawn from an employees gross pay.

Schwartz's company, New Jersey-based Skyline Health Care, at one time operated more than 100 health care and rehabilitation facilities under subsidiary companies in at least 10 states including South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to an Associated Press review. Schwartz has relinquished most of his nursing homes because of financial insolvency.

A lawsuit in Nebraska and an arrest warrant in Arkansas, filed in recent months, accuse Schwartz of Medicaid fraud. Messages were left Monday with spokespersons for the attorney general's offices that filed those actions.

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GRAND ISLAND  Fonner Park, in planning for future horse racing growth, has firmed up its policy regarding the use of stalls, which has alienated one longtime Nebraska trainer.

Marvin Johnson was not pleased to be told he can bring only horses to Fonner Park this year that he will run at this years meet.

Fonner officials have given that message to all trainers. But Johnson notes that he has run many horses at the Grand Island track during the years and paid a lot of Nebraska taxes.

Johnson, who received the message in August, will not compete at Fonner Park this year for the first time since 1974. He feels he is no longer welcome at the Grand Island track. The news was the biggest punch in the gut hes ever had, he says. It left an awful bitter taste in my mouth.

Not racing at Fonner Park will prevent him from spending two months with his family that he normally enjoys. Johnson, who lives eight miles from Fonner Park, has children and grandchildren in the area.

Fonner Park Chief Executive Officer Chris Kotulak says Johnson is not being singled out.

Marvin Johnson has been racing with us forever. But he is not being treated any differently than what we ask of other horsemen, Kotulak said.

The rule is not new, Kotulak said. But with a casino and bigger purses on the horizon, Fonner Park wants to get its stalls in order for the future.

In his annual letter to horsemen in the 2022 condition stakes book, Kotulak emphasized that the stall rule will be enforced. Asking trainers to bring only the horses they intend to race is something every racetrack in the world would require, he said.

In spreading the news of the tighter enforcement, Kotulak and racing secretary Doug Schoepf informed Johnson first as a matter of courtesy because of his long history here at Fonner Park, Kotulak said.

Johnson was informed six months before the racing meet that we were just going to start enforcing a rule that had been loosely or not enforced at all, Kotulak said.

And then we called other trainers after we spoke with Marvin and gave them the same message, he said.

The message, Kotulak said, was to please only bring horses here to race at Fonner Park."

Even before Fonner gave away Johnsons longstanding barn, Barn N, he was contacted again to make sure he was really not coming. We didnt want to give his barn away to someone else if he was coming, Kotulak said.

Instead of Fonner Park, Johnson will race in Indiana and perhaps other tracks. Johnson, a member of the Nebraska Horse Racing Hall of Fame, said he wont come back to Fonner as long as Kotulak is in charge.

Kotulaks predecessors would never have told me something like that, he said, referring to Al and Bruce Swihart and Hugh Miner.

Johnson, 67, could understand the policy if the stalls were going to be full for this years meet. But he says there will be open stalls.

If it was me, I dont guess I would have been real quick to kick a guy like me out until they needed the stalls, he said.

Fonner expects more horsemen to arrive in future years. Hence the tighter policy this year at the track, which opens its live meet Feb. 19.

In his welcome message to horsemen, Kotulak wrote that I want nothing more than Nebraska thoroughbred horse racing to be able to stand on its own and allow you the opportunity to thrive without ever leaving the state. Thank you for being with us in the early days of our goal to return to the good ol days  and the better new days to come.

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While the world watches Ukraine for signs of a Russian invasion, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been brandishing his nuclear sword in a way that is bound to draw attention in the command bunker at Offutt Air Force Bases U.S. Strategic Command.

North Korea conducted 11 missile launches in January  compared with nine the entire previous year.

Its more than in any other single month in North Korean history, said Ankit Panda, an Asia-Pacific expert with the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The flurry kicked off Jan. 5 with the first of two tests of new hypersonic missiles and concluded Jan. 30 with the launch of an intermediate-range Hwasong 12 rocket capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam.

The tests covered an array of systems, including cruise missiles and short-range ground-to-ground missiles, launched from trucks and others from trains.

Still, the barrage caused barely a diplomatic ripple, in the United States or internationally.

Everybodys pretty chill. I dont know why people arent more worked up, said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at Californias Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Theyre really going to expand their nuclear arsenal.

One place where the launches were certainly closely watched was in StratComs underground Global Operations Center, at Offutt.

StratComs team of military and civilian monitors staff the command post 24/7, watching for threats to the United States via a worldwide system of sensors on land, at sea, in the air and in space.

Every one of those launches, there are multiple people involved (at StratCom), said Rick Evans, director of the University of Nebraskas National Strategic Research Institute, a StratCom-funded academic alliance.

Evans, a retired Air Force major general, served in top leadership posts at StratCom during a previous series of missile tests in 2016 and 2017. Part of that time was as StratComs acting deputy commander, the second-highest ranking officer.

Thats the time frame we saw (North Korea) get very active, Evans said.

The 2016-17 launches numbered more than three dozen and included several tests of intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The sequence also included three underground tests of nuclear weapons. The explosions and missiles set off alarms at the Offutt command post.

Literally, its a ding, then-Col. Reyes Colon, a StratCom battle-watch commander from 2015-18, told The World-Herald in a 2016 interview. That alerts me that theres an event thats going on.

Evans said StratComs battle staff often knows in advance when a test is coming. Russia and China typically announce them in advance, so there is no mistake.

In the case of North Korea, the various intelligence streams that come from the U.S. and its allies in the region  notably, South Korea and Japan  may pick up clues.

One important intelligence source is the U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft that keep a close watch on North Korean activities  in particular, the 55th Wings RC-135 Rivet Joints, which are continuously deployed to Okinawa.

The Rivet Joints fly frequent tracks near North Koreas borders, casting a surveillance net that can pick up a range of electronic signals up to 300 miles away. The four-engine jets carry interpreters who can translate intercepted radio communications.

Three Rivet Joints deployed to Japan conducted at least 13 flights over the Korean Peninsula in January, according to Amelia Smith, a hobbyist from Massachusetts who tracks military surveillance flights on public websites and tweets about them using the handle @ameliairheart.

Evans said the Rivet Joints constant data collection helps analysts notice when something is different and may be leading to a launch.

Theyre out there characterizing the battle space, he said. Theyre flying missions every single day.

With advance warning, the 55th Wing can also deploy the RC-135S Cobra Ball. The jet, distinctive because of its black right wing, carries gear that can record the sights and sounds of missiles in flight and gain critical knowledge about their capabilities.

Once StratComs network of sensors detect a launch, as it would have during the last month, it triggers a conference that may include representatives of Northern Command, Space Command, Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Forces Japan and U.S. Forces Korea.

Most launches are regional. Theyre going almost straight up and straight down, Evans said. If its threatening the homeland, then youll have more people involved.

That could mean activating missile defense batteries in Alaska and California, which were designed to counter small-scale strikes by rogue actors such as North Korea  onesies and twosies, Evans called them. In a dire situation, the president could be brought in.

North Koreas launches over the past several months were telegraphed at a Communist Party Congress early last year, Panda said. Kim laid out a five-year plan that included development of a wide array of weapons: cruise missiles, anti-aircraft rocket systems, multiple-warhead missiles, tactical nuclear weapons, sub-launched missiles, even a super-large hydrogen bomb, according to the Stimson Centers influential Korea-watching website, 38North.

Most of Januarys tests involved smaller weapons and were predictable, Lewis said, which may account for the muted response compared with the worldwide outcry over the 2016-17 series.

I dont think we should freak out, Lewis said. Its all stuff weve seen before in one form or another. On the other hand, these systems are all vastly improved.

He described the deployment of missiles on railcars as a really big deal. He also sees the plan to build small battlefield nuclear weapons as ominous evidence of Kims willingness to actually use them  presumably in a conflict with South Korea.

Kim wants the ability to use tactical nuclear weapons, Lewis said. They are now testing them  and no one seems to care.

The end-of-the-month test of the Hwasong 12 prompted the biggest stir. Kim hadnt launched one in more than four years, and it partially broke the unilateral moratorium on testing longer-range missiles he had announced in April 2018 as a confidence-building measure.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement condemning the launch as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. He expressed great concern and urged North Korea to desist from taking any further counter-productive actions, according to a U.N. spokesman.

The Biden administration called on North Korea to return to long-stalled talks on its nuclear and missile programs. Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, described the launches as destabilizing to the region and said the United States was still committed to its longstanding policy of removing all nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

But Panda said the denuclearization policy has little support outside the government, given how far North Korea has come in developing nuclear weapons.

It came out of a time when the only nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula were American weapons, Panda said. Very few believe its realistic.

Lewis goes further.

Its just totally delusional, he said.

Lewis fears their success could give Kim the perceived security to return to an era when North Korea blew up commercial airliners and launched attacks on the South Korean government. In the late 1960s, North Korea shot down a Navy reconnaissance plane 90 miles from its shore and seized the Navy surveillance ship USS Pueblo and crew for 11 months.

The North Koreans have made the kind of advances that give them a fighting chance, Lewis said. Theres a persistent risk of a serious crisis if the North Koreans push it too far.

Evans described Kim as a boisterous individual who likes to prove hes important.

How do you get attention? Evans said. You shoot missiles.

At the same time, with North Koreas growing nuclear capabilities, he predicts Kim will remain a headache at StratCom.

Theyre still a rogue nation, Evans said. Thats got to worry us.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.

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Supporters and opponents turned out in nearly equal measure to the Lincoln City Council's meeting Monday to testify on an issue that sat dormant for 10 years: revising municipal code to expand protection against discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Proponents said revising the ordinance was important because it was the right thing to do, because it would align city code with federal law and that it would boost the economy and help the city grow by attracting and retaining young people.

Im like most people with friends and families in this group that will be affected by these revisions, Susan Soriente said. I believe justice matters. I want all people living or visiting Nebraska to feel they are welcome and their rights are protected. This revision is a step in the right direction.

Opponents said civil rights laws already provide protections, that the Bible defines sex as male and female, that the revisions would allow unfettered access to bathrooms and locker rooms, endangering women and children, and that the question should be decided by voters  as it should have been a decade ago.

In 2012, the council passed the so-called fairness ordinance and opponents mounted a successful referendum petition drive to take the question to voters. The council chose not to do that, but didnt rescind the ordinance, so its been in limbo since.

If Im being honest today, Im a little disappointed, Im a little frustrated to see this fairness ordinance come through a second time around, said Samuel Lyon, who in 2020 led an unsuccessful recall attempt of the mayor and several council members over their handling of the pandemic.

The right thing to do, he said, is let voters decide.

(The previous council members) didnt do what they are required to do  put it to a vote of the people. Why not? Why not put it to a vote of the people? Do they not trust the people of Lincoln?

The proposed ordinance introduced by Councilwoman Sandra Washington is broader than the earlier ordinance and would revise the entire section of municipal code on equal opportunity.

It also adds active military and veterans as a protected class, and updates definitions of marriage, race and natural origin. It also replaces outdated or archaic language, updates and strengthens definitions of disability protections and those regarding service animals, and reorganizes the section to clarify the process.

City Attorney Yohance Christie said the revisions are necessary to align city code with federal law  including a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a lawsuit involving housing discrimination that redefined sex to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Not doing so, he said, could threaten federal funding received by the citys Human Rights Commission. He noted that 12 of the 14 cities that have schools in the Big Ten Conference have such protections and state law protects one community, making Lincoln the only city in the Big Ten not to offer such protections.

Angela Garbacz, who owns Goldenrod Pastries, urged the council to pass the ordinance and said she was contacted last week by a member of the transgender community looking for a place to work where they feel safe and accepted.

I will always make sure Goldenrod Pastries is a safe place to work, but its not a small-business owners responsibility to make people feel safe, she said. Its the responsibility of the city to make sure that happens.

Dayle Williamson, who spent 32 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard, testified in support of the ordinance, the only person speaking to the addition of military personnel as a protected class.

Carl Eskridge, the former councilman who introduced the fairness ordinance in 2012, said the constitutional questions have been largely resolved and community support has increased in the past decade.

What a joy it is to appear before you today for this effort, to make our community a more loving and welcoming place for all, he said.

Ander Petersen, a school counselor, said his job is to make children feel seen, heard and that they matter and thats why passing the ordinance is important.

If this will do anything to make kids feel safe where they are, we have to do it, he said.

Many of the opponents talked about safety, too, saying the ordinance would have unintended consequences of endangering girls and women by allowing men into womens bathrooms and locker rooms if using such facilities was based on gender expression.

Several of the opponents said theyd opposed the 2012 ordinance and argued the council didn't have the power to redefine sex.

You want to change the word of God, to change the definition of sex in this proposal, Stephanie Johnson said. Do you believe you have the power of God? I strongly encourage you to reflect on that.

Mary Hilton, who made an unsuccessful bid for City Council last year, promised there would be another referendum if the council passes the ordinance.

This is a solution looking for a problem, she said. If you pass this, we will double down and we will have another referendum.

The council will vote on the ordinance at its Feb. 14 meeting.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSreist

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A longtime Kenosha County Sheriffs Department detective testified Tuesday that a Racine man charged in the 2018 killing of 23-year-old Joseph Riley at first blamed an unknown gunman for the death.

Eventually, though, Anthony Harris, 26, of Racine, admitted his involvement.

Detective Jon Hasselbrink was the first witness called Tuesday by the state during second day of the jury trial before Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Jason Rossell. Harris is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, which carries a life prison sentence if hes convicted. He also faces felony charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, armed robbery and burglary.

The attempted homicide charge stems from the shooting of another person inside of Rileys home that night.

Hasselbrink, in response to questioning by Assistant District Attorney Jessica Krejcerek, said he helped collect evidence at Rileys home in Wheatland and described the scene there for the jury. Nine shell casings and two fired bullets were recovered, the detective testified.

Three others were charged in the crime  Markeith Wilson, 23; DeMarco Hudson, 22; and Augustine Sanchez, 23, all of Racine. Through phone calls from the Kenosha County Jail, where Wilson and Hudson were being held, investigators were led to Sanchez and Harris, Hasselbrink testified.

A fifth person, Christina May, 43, of Lake Geneva, pleaded guilty last April to conspiracy to commit armed robbery and was sentenced to nine years in prison, followed by five years extended supervision.

Following a lead

Wilson, who has since been convicted and is serving a life sentence with no chance for parole, mentioned in one call that he wanted a relative to contact Harris.

(Wilson) stated that (Harris) was the only one who could save him, Hasselbrink said.

Thats when detectives began to investigate Harris, who asked Hasselbrink on Nov. 17, 2018, how his name became connected with the shooting.

Harris at first admitted to helping with a robbery of Riley, Hasselbrink said, but that his only involvement was to call 911 after both Wilson and Hudson had been wounded in an exchange of gunfire with Riley.

Thats when Harris told the detective that an unknown masked person, whom he believed had stolen his gun, pulled up in another vehicle and began shooting.

He said he didnt know who this person was, but believed he was the one who took his gun, Hasselbrink said.

But when confronted with evidence, and the fact that Wilson stated that Harris was the gunman, the story changed, according to the detective.

We told him Markeith told us he was the shooter, and he let out a loud sigh and put his head on the table, said Hasselbrink, who added that Harris admitted he had his gun and had kicked in the door with Wilson, who then was shot.

Then he went in and shot in the direction where Markeith was shot, Hasselbrink said.

The 9mm handgun that belonged to Harris had 11 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber when it was taken by police.

(Harris) said he always has it ready to fire, Hasselbrink said. He said he fired until the gun was empty. (He said he was) firing in the direction of where (Riley) was sitting, but believed because of the direction he was firing, probably also hit the female.

Police later recovered Harris handgun, along with a Glock owned by Sanchez but used by Wilson, near the Breezy Hill Nursery in Salem Lakes, where the weapons had been discarded the night of the shooting.

Mark Simonson, a former examiner with the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, testified that he examined both weapons, along with bullets and casings, including those taken from Rileys body during an autopsy by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office.

Seven separate items from Riley were examined, and Simonson ruled that five of them came from the gun connected to Harris. Two other fragments were too small for him to make a determination, he said.

Doctor testifies

Brian Linert, of the Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office, completed the autopsy on Riley and found four gunshot wounds, three penetrating and one perforating, which had both an entrance and exit wound.

Linert ruled that Riley died of multiple gunshot wounds, but he couldnt determine with certainty which of the four was the fatal shot.

I have no way of knowing the order they were in, he said.

Testimony was set to resume Tuesday afternoon. District Attorney Mike Graveley, who is prosecuting the case with Krejcarek, said he expected the state to rest its case by Wednesday morning at the latest.

Harris defense attorney, David Berman, then will present his case, followed by closing arguments, before its handed over to the jury. There currently are 14 jurors, seven men and seven women, seated, and two of those will be eliminated by random draw before they begin deliberations.(tncms-asset)435666ad-1700-58a8-8cd3-f2af51d199f7[0](/tncms-asset)

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The second to be released, Alvino Castillo, 58, will reside at 4608 Durand Avenue. He was convicted of third degree sexual assault in 2019 and criminal solicitation of a minor in 2008. His victims were juveniles who were not known to him, according to the RPD. Castillo is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors, contact with the victims, or consume drugs. He is required to comply with standard sex offender rules and cooperate with electronic monitoring. Castillo must also comply with all requirements of the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry. Both individuals are not wanted by law enforcement at this time. This notification is not intended to cause fear, but rather it is our intent to better inform the community which creates a safer community, read both announcements from the RPD. Citizen abuse of this information to threaten, intimidate or harass registered sex offenders will not be tolerated. Please understand that such abuse could potentially end law enforcements ability to keep the community informed on these releases. For more information, the RPD urges the public to visit the Wisconsin Sex Offender website, appsdoc.wi.gov/public/offenders.
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.

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Marylands highest court heard arguments Tuesday on whether Washington, D.C., sniper Lee Boyd Malvos six life sentences without the possibility of parole should be reconsidered because of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring mandatory life sentences for juveniles.

Kiran Iyer, a Maryland public defender, argued that life without parole sentences for Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the shootings that terrorized the region, should be reconsidered in light of the Supreme Court ruling. He also contends his client should benefit from Marylands new law enabling prisoners convicted as juveniles to seek release once theyve served at least 20 years.

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Malvo and his mentor, John Allen Muhammad, then 41, shot people in Virginia, Maryland and Washington as they pumped gas, loaded packages into their cars and went about their everyday business during a three-week period in 2002.

Muhammad was sentenced to death and was executed in Virginia in 2009.

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This photo provided by the Virginia Department of Corrections shows Washington, D.C.-area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo. Maryland's highest court heard arguments Tuesday on whether Malvo's six life sentences without the possibility of parole should be reconsidered because of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring mandatory life sentences for juveniles. (Virginia Department of Corrections via AP) (AP)

Iyer argued Tuesday before the Maryland Court of Appeals that a judge failed to properly consider Malvos youth during sentencing. He also contended that it was clear that the judge found Malvo was capable of change, which takes on added significance under changes in the law.

The bottom line with the sentencing is that Malvos corrigibility was undisputed. It just had no legal significance in 2006, Iyer said. It has legal significance now. It means that his sentences are excessive.

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Carrie Williams, an assistant attorney general for the state of Maryland, noted that Malvo is incarcerated in Virginia and would first have to be paroled from that state. She said he is serving four life sentences there, for three murders and one attempted murder.

Malvo also has been sentenced to six separate life without parole sentences in Maryland for killing six people.

While the sentencing judge may have acknowledged change and growth in Malvo, he did not acknowledge the amount of change or growth that would be required  or even the capacity for the amount of change or growth that would be required  to release someone who had killed six separate people over a 22-day crime spree back into society, Williams said.

[ Marylands highest court to take up case of Beltway sniper Lee Boyd Malvo ]

Mr. Malvo had multiple opportunities to reflect upon each one of his 10 bad decisions, and the bad decisions that have not been prosecuted but to which Mr. Malvo has confessed, Williams said.

The Court of Appeals did not issue a ruling Tuesday. It could take months for a decision.

The 2012 U.S. Supreme Court Miller v. Alabama ruling stated that life sentences for defendants 17 and younger should be barred for all but the rarest of juvenile offenders, those whose crimes reflect permanent incorrigibility.

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In addition, Marylands General Assembly abolished life without parole for youths, overriding a veto by Gov. Larry Hogan last year. Virginia passed similar legislation last year. That change prompted Malvo to drop a legal appeal that had gone to the Supreme Court to determine whether his life sentence should be rescinded.
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Ethos Life Insurance is a company that sells term and guaranteed issue whole life policies. If youre eligible for a whole life policy of such a type, you cannot be denied a policy, no matter what health conditions you may have. Thats why Ethos is our choice for the best guaranteed issue life insurance company.

Apply for a Life Insurance Policy in minutes with Ethos Getting a policy means protecting your family for decades. Don't wait - click on your state to get a free quote today!

Ethos Life Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros

Sells guaranteed issue whole-life plans

Offers both simplified issue and fully underwritten policies

Coverage can begin immediately

Policies are sold online, but there's also an option to consult with an agent

Cons

Whole life policies only available to seniors

Not available to residents of New York

Limited rider information

Payments must be made with debit or credit cards

Pros explained

Sells guaranteed issue whole life plans

If youve struggled to qualify for life insurance in the past because of your health or medical history, a guaranteed issue whole life policy may be an option. Such policies are available without a medical exam, and you cannot be denied one based on your medical history.

Offers a range of policies

Ethos doesnt exclusively write guaranteed issue whole life policies. The company offers term coverage, too, and simplified issue plans, which also dont require medical exams, as well as fully underwritten plans, which do  but . can be cheaper and available to a higher death benefit.

Coverage can begin immediately

If you apply for a guaranteed issue whole life plan or simplified issue term life policy, you could receive a decision right away. If approved, you can activate your policy immediately, and your policy will go into effect instantly.

Policies are sold online, but agents are available

While many life insurers sell policies solely through agents, Ethos gives you the flexibility to buy term and whole life policies completely online, if you want, or to consult with an agent by phone or text, if youd prefer those options.

Cons explained

The companys whole life policies are only available to seniors

Ethos whole life policies are only sold to individuals between the ages of 66 and 85. If youre outside of that range, you are not eligible for Ethos whole life plans, and will have to apply for its term life insurance policies or work with another insurer.

Not available in New York

Residents of New York are not eligible to buy Ethos policies, and so will have to get coverage from another company.

Available riders are unclear

Although Ethos policies may allow you to add optional riders to your plan, Ethos doesnt list information about the available options. Instead, you have to contact customer support to discuss possible riders.

Payments must be made with credit or debit cards

While most insurance companies allow you to use your checking or savings account to make payments, Ethos doesnt have that option. It only accepts debit or credit card payments, and payments must be made monthly.

Ethos Life Insurance Products

Ethos sells term life insurance and whole life policies. Its policies can be purchased online, or you can work through an Ethos life insurance agent.

Available Life Insurance Plans

Ethos sells two main types of life insurance plan:

Term Life

Term life insurance provides temporary coverage. When you purchase a policy, you are covered for the designated term. If you pass away within that term, your beneficiaries receive the policys death benefit, but they receive nothing if you die after the policys term ends.

A term life insurance policy is usually less expensive than a whole life plan with the same death benefit; those lower costs help make it a popular choice for many people.

Ethos offers terms of 10, 15, 20 and 30 years. You can opt for between $20,000 and $2 million of coverage, through either a simplified issue plan or a fully underwritten one. Simplified issue plans dont require medical exams; you simply have to answer a few questions. While such policies can be more expensive than fully underwritten plans, the application process is quicker and easier.

Fully underwritten plans usually require a medical exam with lab work. The application and approval process can take several weeks, but you can qualify for a higher death benefit or cheaper premiums than if you opted for a simplified issue policy.

Whole Life

Unlike term life insurance, whole life coverage is permanent. Because it lasts for your lifetime, and includes a cash value in addition to its death benefit, it tends to be more expensive than term life coverage.

Ethos sells guaranteed issue whole life policies only to seniors. Ethos whole life plans are available to individuals between the ages of 66 and 85, and coverage amounts range from $1,000 to $30,000.

Guaranteed issue plans have relatively low death benefits, but you cannot be denied coverage based on your health or medical history. They can be a useful option for individuals that have been denied life insurance coverage in the past, and want a basic policy to give their loved ones some financial protection.

Insurance Riders

Although Ethos may allow you to add optional insurance riders to your policy, it doesnt list information about the options on its site. Instead, you have to contact customer support to find out if riders are available.

Limitations

Ethos policies arent available to residents of New York.

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Ethos Credentials

Ethos is a relatively young company. It was founded by two individuals, Peter Colis and Lingke Wang, who met at Stanford Business School after discussing negative personal experiences buying life insurance. They designed Ethos with the aim of making life insurance easier to purchase and understand.

Ethos doesnt underwrite plans itself. Instead, its policies are underwritten by several major life insurance companies, including Legal & General, Ameritas Life Insurance Group, AAA Life Insurance COmpany, TruStage Financial Group, CMFG Life Insurance Company, MEMBERS Life Insurance Company and Senior Life Insurance Company.

Financial Stability

When you buy life insurance, its important to consider the financial stability of your insurer. Term policies can last up to 30 years, its essential to find a company that will still exist over the long-term, and so be able to honor any claims. Industry credit rating agencies like Moodys and S&P Global issue ratings based on their evaluations about insurers ability to survive economic changes.

Because Ethos policies are issued by multiple insurers, we looked up the credit ratings for each company. In general, the companies that underwrite Ethos policies have high ratings, meaning the credit agencies view these companies as financially sound and able to handle economic fluctuations in the future. Here are the details:

Carrier AM Best Rating Moodys Rating S & P Global Rating AAA Life Insurance Company A (Excellent) N/A N/A Ameritas Life Insurance Group A (Excellent) N/A A+ (Excellent) CMFG Life Insurance Company A (Excellent) AA N/A Legal & General A+ (Superior) AA N/A MEMBERS Life Insurance Company A (Excellent) AA N/A Senior Life Insurance Company not rated N/A N/A TruStage Financial Group A (Excellent) NAA A+ (Very Strong)

Third-Party Ratings

When it comes to third-party ratings, there is limited information about Ethos. Neither Ethos nor the companies that issue its policies were included in the J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. The study ranked 21 life insurance companies based on customer satisfaction.

Regulatory Actions

PolicyGenius has not faced any regulatory actions.

Cost of Ethos Life Insurance

Ethos offers both term life insurance and whole life policies. As with other companies, term life insurance tends to be cheaper than whole life policies with the same death benefit, and policies can be quite inexpensive if you purchase life insurance in your 20s.

To give you a snapshot of Ethos usual rates, we requested quotes for a healthy 30-year-old. Unlike other companies that give a specific rate, Ethos provides a premium range  to reflect how such factors as your health and prescription history can affect your rates. We found Ethos to be in line with the industry average for term life insurance.

$100,000 policy $250,000 policy $500,000 policy $1M policy $1M policy 10 years $8 to $12 $9 to $15 $13 to $23 $19 to $40 $25 to $58 20 years $9 to $12 $12 to $19 $18 to $32 $29 to $57 $40 to $82

Your rates may vary from the sample rates we received because premiums are based on multiple factors including your age, gender, health history and location.

For whole life insurance, we recommend contacting Ethos directly. While you can get a quote online, it doesnt allow you to customize your coverage amount, and it provides a wide range. For example, we requested a quote for a healthy 66-year-old woman, and it gave us a quote of $56 to $129.

Ethos Accessibility

Customers can apply for life insurance directly through the Ethos website; theres no need to speak with an agent unless you have questions or need help with the application process.

Ethos has a team of licensed agents available via phone or email. It also contracts with a network of independent insurance agents, so you may be able to find a local agent that sells Ethos policies.

Contact Information

Ethos customer support team can be reached via live chat or phone:

Phone: 415-915-0665

Text: 415-702-1844

Customer service is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. CST.

User Experience

Ethos customers can use the online customer portal to make payments and view policy details. However, you cannot update your beneficiaries online; to make any changes to your beneficiary information, you must contact Ethoss support team.

Ethos Customer Satisfaction

In general, Ethos life insurance receives positive reviews from customers, with relatively few complaints.

Customer Reviews

Ethos has excellent customer reviews on TrustPilot. It has a TrustScore of 4.6 out of 5, based on over 400 reviews. Customers mentioned the quick application process, helpful and responsive agents and transparent application requirements.

Complaint Index

By looking up the number of complaints that customers submitted to insurance regulators, you can get a sense of how the company handles customer service. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) collects information on the number and type of complaints consumers submit about insurers. Comparing that information to industry norms, the NAIC releases annual complaint ratios.

The industry standard for complaint ratios is 1.0. A company with a higher ratio received more complaints than the NAIC would expect, while a company with a ratio below 1.0 received fewer complaints.

Most life insurance companies that issue Ethos policies tend to have low complaint ratios, meaning fewer complaints were submitted about them than is typical for companies of their size. The only exception was AAA Life Insurance Company; its complaint ratio was 1.65, slightly higher than the industry standard.

Carrier 2020 Complaint Index for Individual Life AAA Life Insurance Company 1.65 Ameritas Life Insurance Group 0.67 CMFG Life Insurance Company 0.62 Legal & General Not listed MEMBERS Life Insurance Company 0.00 Senior Life Insurance Company 5.80 TruStage Financial Group Not listed

Does Ethos require medical exams?

Whether a medical exam is required is dependent on the type of life insurance and the coverage amount you want.

For Ethos' whole life policies, medical exams aren't required.

For term life coverage, Ethos has both simplified issue plans and fully underwritten policies. Simplified issue policies allow you to skip the medical exam. Instead, you answer a few questions about your health to apply.

How long has Ethos life insurance been around?

Ethos was launched in 2016 by entrepreneurs Peter Colis and Lingke Wang. Colis and Wang founded Ethos to offer simple, affordable life insurance policies.

What types of insurance does Ethos sell?

Ethos sells term life insurance and guaranteed issue whole life policies. Its term policies are for individuals between the ages of 20 and 85, while its whole life policies are only available to applicants 66 to 85.

How We Evaluated Ethos Life Insurance

In our evaluation of Ethos and other life insurance companies, we looked at the following factors:

Available plans and terms

Insurance riders

Policy exclusions

Underwriting process

Cost

Financial stability

Customer service

Customer reviews

Third-party ratings

Summary of Moneys Ethos Life Insurance Review

If you dont have life insurance and have had difficulties qualifying for a traditional term or whole life policy, Ethos guaranteed issue policies could be a useful option. You can get up to $30,000 in coverage online, and you cannot be denied based on your health or medical history.

Ethos also sells term life policies, and you can get up to $2 million in coverage. Some individuals will qualify for simplified issue term life coverage, allowing them to purchase a policy without a medical exam.

While Ethos could be a convenient option for some, it may not be the best choice for everyone. Its whole life policies are only available to individuals between the ages of 66 and 85, and residents of New York arent eligible for any of Ethos policies. If you dont qualify, shop around and compare life insurance policies from other companies to get the coverage you need.

Tailor your Life Insurance policy to fit your budget and needs

Get the policy that's best for your family today with Ethos. Click below to get started!

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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.

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ST. PAUL, Minn.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is urging extreme caution downstream of Lock and Dam 8 in Genoa the week of Feb. 7. There will be an abundance of ice being released and subsequent open water and/or thin ice, causing possible safety concerns for anyone on the ice downstream.

It is highly recommended that recreational users do not fish below the lock chamber or below the dam due to the unknowns of these conditions as well as the possibility of being stranded due to the open water.

The release of ice is due to contractor movements in the lock chamber associated with the ongoing winter maintenance. The contract fleet will back out of the lock chamber, turn around downstream and then park on the lower guide wall.

All lock construction activities are scheduled to be completed during the winter to avoid impacts to the navigation industry. The completed work will improve safety for Corps lock operators and industry deckhands.

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The following people have been charged with felonies in La Crosse County Circuit Court:

Erik V. Sims, 40, La Crosse, has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. According to the criminal complaint, police found 87 grams of marijuana and 29 grams of marijuana gummies during a Dec. 30 search of his residence. The search was triggered by a report that Sims had attempted to illegally purchase a firearm. He is free on $200 cash bail.

Cody L. Nelson, 33, La Crosse, has been charged with stalking. According to the criminal complaint, Nelson repeatedly followed a man between Jan. 1 and Feb. 1 and made threats that made the man fear for his safety. Nelson is free on a $2,500 signature bond.

Criminal complaints has been filed against the following people:

Michael Robert Nelson, 51, La Crosse, is accused of forgery. According to the criminal complaint, Nelson cashed seven stolen checks totaling $437.73 between July 10-14. Police have been unable to locate Nelson, and a warrant for his arrest was issued Feb. 2.

Lucas G. Stach, 29, La Crosse, is accused of retail theft. According to the criminal complaint, Stach went to Walmart in Onalaska Dec. 17, and loaded $911.71 worth of merchandise into a shopping cart before leaving the last point of sale without paying. The complaint says Stach loaded the merchandise into a black sedan and drove away. Police have been unable to locate Stach, and a warrant for his arrest was issued Jan. 31.

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Valley View Mall will be sold in a public auction next month according to a notice published on the La Crosse County Sheriff's website, after a foreclosure judgement was issued for the 42-year-old mall.

The sale of the property, located at 3800 WI-16 in La Crosse, will occur at 10 a.m., March 8 at the La Crosse County courthouse.

General manager for the mall, Jeff Odom, declined to comment on the sale in an email to the Tribune on Tuesday. An attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP for the plaintiff's was unable to be immediately reached for comment as of Tuesday morning.

In the fall of 2020, a La Crosse County Circuit Court judge ordered a foreclosure sale of the mall, which first opened in 1980 and has fallen victim to the "retail apocalypse" that has been haunting malls for about the last decade. It's unclear why the sale has taken more than a year to be scheduled.

The mall has been owned by Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, or PREIT, since 2003, and managed by Spinoso Real Estate Group of Syracuse, N.Y. since 2020.

Some portions of the mall are not included in the sale, according to tax parcel information included in the sale notice. This includes the former Sears department store that will soon be home to a Hy-Vee supermarket and the former Herberger's department store, part of which is currently occupied by the River Valley VA Community Clinic.

One section that used to be home to the Macy's department store  which was one of dozens to close in 2017  is also not included in the public sale according to the tax parcels. PREIT indicated in a report last year that it intends to sell an anchor store at the mall sometime in early 2022, but no other details have been released.

The wooded land to the south of the mall and borders the La Crosse River will be sold as part of the public auction.

The most recent assessment data available on the La Crosse County website states that the three parcels up for sale were last valued at a combined $27,130,100.

According to the notice of the sale, 10% of the winning bid during the auction will need to be paid immediately, and the balance is due no later than 10 days after the court's confirmation of the sale or the sale is forfeited.

The property is being sold "as-is," the notice states, including any existing loans.

A sheriff's office representative told the Tribune previously that a foreclosure sale typically begins with an original price determined by the owner and then bids can be made.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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A Conoy Township man picked up a missing 14-year-old girl and transported her across the county after having sent her numerous sexually explicit messages on social media, according to Susquehanna Regional police.

Carl Richard Umbrell Jr., 50, picked up the girl at a location in Conoy Township sometime between 9:30 p.m. Oct. 2 and 12:30 a.m. Oct 3, then took her about 30 miles away to the 400 block of Lancaster Pike in Providence Township, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Umbrell was arrested Monday on charges of interference with custody of a child, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors.

The girl, who was later reported missing, was taken without the knowledge or permission of her parents, police said.

Umbrell and the girl had been exchanging messages on social media for about two weeks, with conversations sometimes becoming sexually explicit. Umbrell sent the girl numerous lewd messages, telling her he found her sexy and encouraging her to send him photographs of herself, police said.

Umbrell was aware during the conversations that the girl was underage, writing in one Facebook message sometimes I forget youre only 14, according to the affidavit.

Police first received a report the girl was missing at 1:08 a.m., being told she had run away from her mothers residence.

Umbrell later called police, admitting to taking the girl and claiming the girls family was harassing him on social media, according to the affidavit.

Court documents did not list an attorney for Umbrell.

Judge Randall Miller set Umbrells bail at $250,000 Monday, court records show. He is currently free on unsecured bail.

Umbrell will face a preliminary hearing before Miller on Feb. 25.
As Canadas capital remained paralyzed by nearly two weeks of protests against pandemic measures, a new road blockade effectively cut off Canadas busiest link to the United States, threatening to undermine a significant sector of the countrys economy.

While smaller than the protests that have buffeted Ottawas downtown, the new protest targets the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit. The bridge is a vital link for the automobile industry, which relies on a constant shuttling of parts and components across the border to keep factories humming in Ontario and the Midwestern United States.

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The heavy trucks and private vehicles have blocked traffic destined for Canada. On Tuesday morning, the Canada Border Services Agency listed the bridge as temporarily closed. But Windsor Police said on Twitter that traffic was again moving to the United States through a secondary entrance to the bridge.

Most of the trucks in the Windsor protest were covered with flags and posters denouncing vaccine mandates and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau himself had his own message for the protesters in the national capital, whom he accused of undermining Canadian democracy: It has to stop.

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Trucks are backed up heading to and from Canada on the Ambassador Bridge, due to protests on the Windsor side, in Detroit on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. (Daniel Mears/AP)

Speaking to the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday night, the prime minister said the protests, which began in opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, were harassing Ottawa residents in their own neighborhoods.

They are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens daily lives, he said.

Trudeau said on Twitter that hundreds of Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been mobilized to support Ottawa police officers, and promised that the Canadian government and city would employ whatever resources are needed to get the situation under control. On Sunday, authorities in Ottawa had declared a state of emergency.

In Ottawa on Tuesday morning, several hundred trucks continued to paralyze the city center but the nonstop honking of previous days appeared to have subsided. Reports on local radio in Ottawa said residents had had a good nights sleep for the first time in over a week. But many businesses have been shuttered during the protests, losing tens of millions of dollars.

The demonstrations in Ottawa started in January as a loosely organized convoy of truck drivers and protesters rumbled across the country en route to the capital to oppose the mandatory vaccination of truckers crossing the U.S.-Canadian border. It soon attracted the support of other Canadians exhausted by nearly two years of pandemic restrictions.

The Ottawa protests have also become a rallying cry for powerful far-right and anti-vaccine groups around the world.

Photos of the Canadian truckers appeared on anti-vaccine groups on Facebook and other social networks about two weeks ago. Since then, prominent far-right figures in numerous countries, including the United States, Australia and Germany, have praised the protests, spreading the images and arguments even more widely. Some, including in the United States, want to replicate the protests.

Donors have contributed millions of dollars meant for the Canadian protesters in online campaigns.

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Now, the protests are threatening the supply chain of an industry with deep links between Canada and the United States.

Flavio Volpe, the president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, a Canadian trade group, said that about $300 million in goods cross the bridge daily with about $100 million of that related to the auto industry. Most assembly plants, he said, have enough parts for only one days production, raising the possibility of layoffs if there is a prolonged border disruption.

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The idea that a group is hiding under the profession of trucking, though unsupported by trucking associations, to disrupt this is brain-dead, he said. Theyre showing Canadians that they dont actually care whats on the shelves or that they dont care if they can go to work.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, denounced the bridge blockade Tuesday, noting that it is used by many health care workers.

Officials in Detroit are redirecting traffic bound for Canada to a border crossing about two hours away in Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario. Another Canadian protest convey closed a highway leading to that bridge Sunday and slowed border traffic.

A blockade of the border between the Western province of Alberta and Montana that started Jan. 29 continues to slow and sometimes close the border in the town of Coutts.

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In Ottawa, the protesters remain defiant. Some were clearly on the fringe, wearing Nazi symbols and desecrating public monuments. But some say they had never attended a protest before. And many described themselves as ordinary Canadians driven to take to the streets by desperation.

They keep doing the same thing, and its not working, said Nicole Vandelaar, a 31-year-old hairdresser, who was at the protest in Ottawa. They have to do something else. No more lockdowns. Let us live our lives.

c.2021 The New York Times Company
As lawyers prepare for the trial of a former Ephrata lawyer charged with planning to drive to Washington, D.C., to kill Democratic U.S. senators, his answers to an FBI agents questions wont be allowed as evidence.

Thats because a federal judge determined Kenelm Shirk, 72, should have been given his Miranda rights before questioning him.

But the ruling by Judge Jennifer Wilson of the Middle District of Pennsylvania last month may not hurt the governments case because she denied Shirks efforts to exclude other evidence.

In her 51-page opinion last month, Wilson said Special Agent Bruce Doupes 40-minute interview of Shirk in WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital room happened in a custodial setting, because a reasonable person wouldnt have felt free to leave. Shirk was at the hospital for a potential involuntary mental health commitment.

As such, Wilson found, Doupe should have informed Shirk of his right to remain silent and have an attorney present  commonly known as Miranda rights.

Shirks attorney declined to comment on the ruling, which followed a two-day hearing in December.

Shirk is charged with one count of threatening to kill a United States official, a charge that carries a potential sentence of six years incarceration. Shirk has been incarcerated since his arrest, despite efforts by his attorney to have him released on grounds he is not a danger, wasnt seeking to overthrow the government and that it was an isolated episode exacerbated by drinking. A March 7 trial is scheduled.

Pennsylvania State Police, acting on a be on the lookout bulletin, found Shirk at a gas station near Shippensburg around 8:45 p.m. Jan. 21, 2021. That was the day after President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

Shirks ex-wife, with whom he lived in Cornwall, Lebanon County, had called 911 about 90 minutes earlier and reported that he threatened to kill her and senators.

She told the officer Shirk had been planning this for a while and bought a new silver Subaru for this mission; he had been depressed lately; and he would not be returning, as he intended to commit suicide by cop, Wilsons opinion recounted.

Doupe questioned Shirk about his plans the morning of Jan. 22, 2021, after Doupe told Shirk he was going to be discharged.

After Doupe was finished and Shirks evaluation was completed, he was discharged and state police arrested and charged him with making terroristic threats. That was dropped when federal prosecutors took over.

Wilson also ruled that Shirks statements to nurses at the hospital can be used by prosecutors in the trial, as can an AR-15 rifle, two handguns and ammunition police found in Shirks Subaru when police impounded it.

One of the nurses Shirk spoke with as part of his intake called the FBI tip line because staff was concerned he could be a danger if he left the hospital, which he was legally allowed to do, according to Wilsons ruling. Thats because Shirks involuntary commitment paperwork hadnt been processed.

Shirks attorney had argued statements to the nurses should be excluded under psychotherapist-patient privilege, which would have amounted to an extension of that privilege.

Even if the privilege did extend to nurses, the statements were made outside of treatment, Wilson ruled.

Finally, Wilson determined police appropriately impounded Shirks vehicle and took inventory.

Shirk's former firm, Shirk Law Associates, was the longtime solicitor for Akron Borough. Akron dropped the firm shortly after Shirks arrest and the state Supreme Court disbarred him in May.

Shirk comes from a family with a history of community service and political involvement. His father, K. L. Shirk, who died in 2006, was an attorney and long active in Lancaster Countys Republican Committee, serving as chairman of the party from 1964-71. Shirks grandfather was a Lancaster County district attorney.
A recent MSNBC report on Sunday night detailed how Martin Luther King Jr. smuggled a letter containing some of his most famous writings out of his prison cell in Birmingham.

What some viewers may have noticed about 15 seconds into the broadcast was that part of the letter was written on letterhead tied to a Lancaster-based ceiling manufacturer.

King used at least two pages of Armstrong World Industries notepad paper while writing his Letter from a Birmingham Jail in 1963.

King wrote the 21-page letter in his jail cell on the margins of a newspaper and scraps of writing paper before concluding it on a notepad his attorneys were able to give him. The notepad contained Armstrongs Acoustical Fire Guard branding.

Its our small, small, small role in this gentlemans life, which was so incredible, said Jennifer Johnson, an Armstrong spokesperson.

It wasnt exactly clear how Kings attorneys got the Armstrong-branded letterhead, which Johnson said was likely in use during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

LNP|LancasterOnline's The Scribbler (Jack Brubaker) previously reported on the letter in 2011.

Armstrong World Industries post about the letterhead can be read here.

King addressed the letter to a group of white Alabama clergymen who were critical of his methods, favoring the electoral process to societal change, according to University of Alabama archives. King had been imprisoned in Birmingham after he and about 50 other supporters defied an injunction and marched in hopes of disrupting the citys system of segregation during the Easter season.

While in jail, King was subject to solitary confinement and denied access to his lawyers. A friend smuggled him a copy of a newspaper which contained the clergymens statement. King began writing the later in the margins of the newspaper, defending his presence in Birmingham.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail can be read here.
When Mike Leichliter announced his retirement from the Penn Manor School District in October, he never planned to bow out of education for a life sipping lemonades on his front porch.

He looked across the country for new opportunities  a new challenge. And, last week, he found it; Harwood Unified Union School District in Vermont selected him as its new superintendent.

For the first time in my life since I was 21 years old and graduated from college, I had the opportunity to go look at life and decide what I want to do next, Leichliter said.

Staying true to his initial plan to retire no later than Aug. 31, Leichliter, 53, told the Penn Manor community that he will end his 13-year tenure with the district on June 30 and will start at Harwood July 1.

Penn Manor is accepting applications for his successor until Feb. 18 through the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13. Leichliter earns a salary of $210,840.

The Harwood school board could not yet release his salary information Monday evening because the contract is still in negotiation.

Leichliter spent most of his 30-year career in education with Penn Manor but was drawn to Vermont through his travels there as his daughter attended the University of Vermont. He was also ready for a fresh start with a new district.

After being in a school system for 25 years, having known the people in the community and the issues I really am looking for a chance to go and learn, discover and help ask those questions that help another school district make the progress they want, he said.

Harwood has 1,800 students across six towns which house well-known businesses such as Ben & Jerrys, Cabot Cheese Cooperative and Green Mountain Coffee, Leichliter said in a letter to the Penn Manor community. Penn Manor has 5,400 students.

He was selected out of three candidates that had been narrowed down from a much larger pool.

Mike was a clear favorite among board members as well as among the 120 staff, parents and community members who responded in our survey, the Harwood school board wrote in a Feb. 5 announcement.

Leichliter told a Vermont-based newspaper, the Waterbury Roundabout, that his wife was a bit concerned he had applied to only one of Vermonts 12 open superintendent positions, but he wanted to make Harwood a top choice. The other two candidates had applied for at least one other open position.

Harwood is similar to Penn Manor in many ways, Leichliter said, but differences in financial governance and student engagement made the opportunity particularly appealing.

As a former civics teacher, Leichliter said the Vermont education systems direct democracy interested him. School budgets, he said, are approved by a school board then passed along to each of the towns in the district to be voted on at town meetings. Also, at Harwood specifically, students can petition to make significant changes within the district.

That is very exciting to me, he said. And to be part of a school that looks at student voice in a different way, I think they really have proven that thats something important in their community.

The pandemic also played a role in the decision-making process for Leichliter and his wife, Mary Edith. COVID-19 had changed both of their lives, and around the time they began discussing the implications of those changes, Leichliters mother died four days after suffering a massive stroke.

He said his mothers sudden death pushed him and his wife to reevaluate where they were at in life. And, their house, now emptied of their three grown-children, is too big for the two of them, he added. It was time for a move.

But it wasnt time for retirement.

I always intended to continue working full-time, Leichliter said. I dont feel like I am anywhere ready to retire or even go into semi-retirement. I have a lot of energy and I feel very passionately about public education and the work we do.
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design recently purchased the building of its longtime neighbor and Lancaster County cultural landmark, the Chameleon Club, for nearly $1 million.

After 33 years as a hotspot for live music, the building  with entrances on 224 N Prince and 223 N. Water streets  could become student and artist housing, studios or exhibition space. Whatever the college decides on, the new location is just a few doors down from its 204 N. Prince St. address.

The potential to keep the cultural heritage of the performance aspect of the Chameleon Club alive is exciting, President Michael Molla said in a press release.

The buildings use isnt finalized but Molla said student housing is a priority for the college. His goal is to present a building plan to the colleges board by the end of May and, if the group chooses to go forward with housing, Molla hopes to open that up by August 2023.

The 223 N. Water St. building, assessed at $969,000, is taxed a total of $36,128 per year at current city, county and school tax rates. Whether or not the non-profit college will seek tax-exemption will be determined by its use, said a PCAD spokesperson.

PCAD, a private college offering Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, is one of only 36 colleges accredited through the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design in the U.S. and Canada. Even fewer schools offer a four-year program as PCAD does.

In the past decade, Lancaster County residents have consistently accounted for a quarter of the schools population. The remainder of students  originating from as far as California  must find housing rather than commute.

We also recognize the strength of a residential creative community, Molla said. Our faculty continue to say to me all the time: those students who are in housing, progress greater and more quickly and mature in their work, because they're part of a living learning community, not just on their own in an apartment off campus.

From the fall of 2017 to the fall of 2020, the college has fallen from a peak enrollment of 260 to 242, according to PCAD data. In 2015, 223 students were enrolled. From 2015 to 2017, however, college-supervised housing (housing offered by the college) rose from 35 to 102 beds.

Pennsylvania College of Art and Design total enrollment by year Fall 2020 - 242 Fall 2019 - 246 Fall 2018 - 251 Fall 2017 - 260 Fall 2016 - 233 Fall 2015 - 223

Students who aspire to be artists and designers and creative, they thrive here and these are the kinds of students that may not thrive, or do exceptionally well at larger or more public kinds of institutions, Molla said. Being small is a blessing in many ways.

Though the farthest college housing is a 10 to 15 minute walk away from 204 N. Prince St., distance is still a challenge, Molla said  particularly for those lugging artwork to class.

Art students are incredibly rigorous, Molla said. Students want access to equipment and facilities  proximity makes a huge difference because it just expands that living.

Before finalizing a decision for housing space, Molla said he plans to gather current and prospective student input.

With the Chameleon Club, we're beginning to say how could the 200 block of Prince Street become an epicenter for creative community engagement and art design education, he said.
When: School District of Lancaster board meeting, Feb. 1.

What happened: During this committee of the whole meeting, board members discussed a possible bilingual pilot program for kindergarten and first grade students that could begin next fall. The Newcomer/Heritage model is one of several plans offered by administrators to replace the districts current dual-language immersion instruction. The board must decide on a plan Feb. 15. Board members also could vote to restart dual-language immersion instead.

Background: Board members voted to freeze the districts K-8 dual-language immersion instruction in June after a consultants report said the program, which costs about $1.2 million per year, does not work. Administrators presented several replacement options at the Jan. 11 meeting that would offer some kind of Spanish instruction at elementary schools.

The plan: The Newcomer/Heritage model would teach kindergarten and first grade students all subjects in Spanish and English, with teachers using mostly Spanish when students start kindergarten. Spanish instruction would gradually decrease as students become proficient in English.

More info: The pilot program would call for one kindergarten and another first grade class at one elementary school for three years, according to Kelly Burkholder, who coordinates the districts community relations. Administrators would evaluate data before decided to expand the model to other elementary schools. Superintendent Damaris Rau said transitional classes likely would be held at either Washington or King elementary schools.

Quotable: I really, really believe thats where well get the most benefit for our students and the most engagement for our families, Kareena Rios, board vice president, said during the meeting. Board member David Parry agreed. Thats the one that most excites me. Lets target the early learners and help them.

Another view: Luis Morales, another board member, offered a different perspective. Morales came to the United States from Puerto Rico when he was in fifth grade and told board members he would have appreciated more help with writing in English then. Youre skipping second, third, fourth, fifth grade and older, Morales said of the Newcomer/Heritage model. I would like to see (help for Spanish speakers) at the other end.

Finding teachers: Any elementary language instruction plan will face a current teacher shortage, said Karen Wynn, the districts instructional program director. Currently, McCaskey has two openings for Spanish-certified teachers, as does Jackson middle school. Wynn said the state Department of Education says that those positions must be filled first before hiring teachers for language instruction in elementary schools. Also, the dual language immersion program, which stopped admitting students this past fall, has an opening for a teacher certified in Spanish and elementary education.

Coming up: Superintendent Damaris Rau said the board will continue to discuss language instruction at the next board meeting.

Next: The school board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8 as a committee of the whole. The public can view meetings and register to comment on the district website.
THE ISSUE

The pandemic has stretched school bus companies thin as employees get sick and new drivers are hard to recruit in a nationwide labor shortage, LNP | LancasterOnlines Ashley Stalnecker reported in Mondays edition. The fast-spreading omicron variant has pushed the situation to a breaking point, she noted. 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.

It doesnt surprise us that a nurse practitioners daughter would be resourceful enough, even at age 8, to figure out that she could quickly warm her frozen hands using a hair dryer.

But it shocks us that an 8-year-old elementary school student was left outside in 17-degree temperatures for 30 minutes while waiting for a school bus that never came, leaving her so cold that she needed to figure out ways to warm up.

This happened to the daughter of nurse practitioner Lori Layton on Jan. 31 along a Hempfield School District bus route.

As Stalnecker reported, 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.

Irwin-Bass told Stalnecker that a substitute driver was filling in on the route where Laytons daughter and several other students were stranded Jan. 31.

The driver was unfamiliar with the route and so missed a few stops, Irwin-Bass said.

As the saying goes, this explains but does not excuse what happened.

Hempfield School District Superintendent Mike Bromirski said Student Transportation deployed its office staff as substitute drivers that day. So the employee normally responsible for communicating delays with parents was driving a bus.

Again, an explanation but not an excuse.

In no scenario is it OK for schoolchildren to be left out in below-freezing temperatures for any stretch of time.

Unacceptable is what Bromirski called it in an email to a Mountville Elementary parent, and we completely agree. Were glad that Hempfield School District is  according to the superintendent  investigating new routing software that would ensure that all school bus stops are clearly defined. This would be a particular help to substitute drivers.

Wed encourage other school districts to urge their bus companies to consider such software as well, if they havent implemented it already.

We were dismayed by another aspect of Stalneckers bus driver shortage story.

Hempfield parent Cassandra Harter told Stalnecker that 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  25 minutes  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, Stalnecker explained. In those instances, Harter said her children wouldnt get picked up until 9 a.m.

Which meant they missed the free bagged breakfast that Hempfield wisely offers to all students, regardless of household income, before the 9 a.m. elementary school bell.

We would hope that students who arrive to school late because of busing issues still would be provided with a bagged breakfast. Trying to learn on an empty stomach isnt easy, which is why the free breakfast program is so smart.

We imagine that some parents and guardians rely on both the school breakfast program and bus transportation because they work outside the home and their morning schedules are tight. Not all employers are understanding when a parent or guardian is late to work because of a tardy school bus  especially if the delays happen repeatedly.

Michelle Pollis told Stalnecker that she and her husband are out of the house before their two children leave for school. A sitter drives their children to the bus stop but cant stay with them until the bus comes. On Jan. 31, Pollis said, her children waited half an hour for the bus before a neighbor offered to drive them into school.

Hempfield told parents Jan. 4 that delays were to be expected, but they shouldnt expect a robocall notification unless a bus was running more than 15 minutes late, Stalnecker reported. Pollis said the district had been giving us less and less notice when buses were delayed.

We have made things so hard for ourselves during this pandemic. Because so many of us failed to mask up and get vaccinated against COVID-19, one surge has followed another, and weve given the virus plenty of opportunities to mutate. This has caused waves of infections and illness, which in turn have led to substitute teacher and school bus driver shortages and countless other issues.

Thats the underlying reality. But the pressing matter at hand is the safety of children waiting to be picked up by their school buses.

School officials cannot count on kind neighbors to drive kids to school when their buses are late or dont show. What happens when a trusted neighbor isnt available? What happens if a child stranded at a bus stop cannot reach a parent by phone? How long does it take school officials to learn when something goes awry on the bus routes?

While parents and guardians should help if they can by driving their kids to school  and even apply to be school bus drivers if their schedules, driving skills and skeptical children allow  thats simply impossible for some.

School administrators and bus company managers must ensure that children arent left outside in the elements, waiting for school buses that never arrive. We sympathize with the challenges they face, but they need to implement fail-safe procedures and adhere to them. What happened to Lori Laytons 8-year-old daughter and other children on the last day of January simply cannot be allowed to happen again.
Recently, LNP | LancasterOnline has published multiple stories on groups that have held meetings in Lancaster County and are designated as hate groups, and I applaud you for reporting on those groups.

However, I would like for you to investigate more groups, specifically Black Lives Matter. In my opinion, and that of many others I have spoken with, this is also a hate group.

Remember, originating in 2014, the chant, What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want it? Now?

Also, in late 2021, a Black Lives Matter leader in New York City threatened to burn the city if some of the movements demands were not met.

And who can forget the rioting, looting and killing during the summer of 2020 under the guise of peaceful protests?

Also, just recently, Californias Department of Justice warned Black Lives Matter that it must properly file tax and charity documents for 2020, regarding its $60 million bankroll.

So come on, LNP | LancasterOnline, do your due diligence and investigate whether this group or any other anti-law enforcement group has held secret meetings in our area. And if they did, what was the location and who was in attendance? Also, which corporations or businesses, if any, in our area have contributed to this organization? You are so adamant about the Right-to-Know requests  support your readers and subscribers right to know and search for answers to these questions.

You want answers from some of the participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, incident, and we want answers concerning Black Lives Matter.

Randy L. Herman

Manor Township
Former FBI director and CIA director William Webster and his wife Lynda Webster, left, were targeted by a man who peddled a lottery scam over phone calls and emails. They helped the FBI foil the elder scam and make an arrest in the case. (Jose Luis Magana/AP) (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

I seldom use the expression a special place in hell because it has been suggested as the ultimate destination for too many people by now, from serial killers to women who voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. Invoked too often, it loses its punch.

Still, its a tempting phrase to employ in certain situations  like the one Ill be describing later in this column.

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Ive always taken a special place in hell to mean that uniquely horrible damnation awaits the predatory class of criminals who exploit the vulnerable  that is, sociopaths who abuse children or the elderly.

The latter is particularly despicable  those who gain the confidence of men and women in their golden years and find ways to steal their money. The FBI calls it elder fraud. Its a big problem thats become bigger in recent years.

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The bureaus preliminary estimate for 2021 shows losses reaching $1 billion among about 24,000 victims. That would represent a significant increase over 2020, when the bureau estimated losses from elder fraud at $600 million among 23,751 victims. As the nations senior population increased over the last five years, so did the number of fraud victims.

The schemes include classic cons and romantic scams. Lottery or sweepstakes frauds are also common. Criminals will gain their targets trust and may communicate with them directly via computer, phone and mail, the FBI says. Once successful, scammers are likely to keep a scheme going because of the prospect of significant financial gain.

Seniors are prime targets because they tend to be trusting, and because they usually have money tucked away in a savings or checking account. Some seniors are vulnerable because of their declining conditions.

Several years ago, I reported on a classic scam: A young con man claiming to be her grandson called a Maryland grandma from a tropical vacation spot. He said he was in trouble with local police and needed money for bail and a lawyer. Grandma wired thousands of dollars to the island and, following instructions, never spoke a word of her grandsons troubles to his parents.

That same scheme has been carried out countless times. In fact, just a year ago, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Baltimore charged two Florida men and a Maryland woman with using the same con job on some 70 senior citizens to the tune of $1.5 million in cash. (The woman has since pleaded guilty to federal crimes; the two men await trial in May.)

Having spent many days in the home of an elderly relative, I can attest to the sickening number of callers who try to keep a telephone conversation going in the hopes that theyll end up with a credit card number or the numbers associated with grandpas checking account.

Ive recently heard a story along those lines. This one came with the breathtaking price tag of $175,000.

The case involves an 89-year-old woman from Carroll County and her son, a resident of Cecil County.

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According to Eric Bratcher, his mother would sometimes sign and leave blank her personal checks to pay people for various things and services at the Carroll County retirement community where she lived. Some employees of the retirement community noticed this, became concerned, intercepted presigned checks and contacted her son.

The director of the assisted living center was worried that she was giving out information on the phone, Bratcher told me. Her friends thought she might have given out her Social Security number.  So I went to her bank to see about protecting her checking account.

There should have been about $215,000, primarily representing proceeds from the sale of the womans house prior to her move into assisted living. But, when the bank manager looked up the account, he found only $34,000.

You can imagine Bratchers shock to learn that a personal check, signed by his mother, had been made out the month before for $175,000 to a Chinese technology company and deposited four days later to an account with JPMorgan Chase. On the subject line of the check were the words, home renovation.

All markings were by hand and, to my eyes and Bratchers, it appears that more than one person might have taken a pen to the check.

Neither Bratcher nor his mother ever heard of the Chinese company.

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Incredulous that his mothers bank, PNC, would process a check for $175,000 without conducting some kind of review, Bratcher appealed to the bank for relief. None was offered. (An official of PNC said the bank cannot comment on customer related matters. My questions by email to the Chinese corporation listed on the check were not answered.)

Someone must have been familiar with her checking account, Bratcher says, referring to his mothers previous balance. They knew how much she had, so they knew the check [for $175,000] wouldnt bounce. Bratcher reported the matter to the Westminster Police Department, then enlisted the help of a Baltimore law firm, Keilty Bonadio, but so far his mothers money is still missing.

I offer this troubling story as a warning to everyone. Scammers are working full time.

Some good news: One of Bratchers attorneys just learned that an agent for the U.S. Treasury is investigating the matter. Will this turn out to have been a case of identity theft? Was a crime committed? I cant say for sure yet, but it has that distinct, foul aroma.
WildEarth works to protect animals through broadcasts and other technology. It is now creating NFTs linked to 25 popular animals in the protected wildlife area the Djuma Game Reserve in South Africa. It is selling the NFTs to raise money for conservation.

NFT stands for non-fungible token. It is based on a technology called blockchain, which is also used with digital currencies known as cryptocurrencies. It became largely popular last year.

An NFT can be attached to a piece of digital artwork or other things existing in digital form. The NFT can be used to provide proof that the pieces are real. While anyone can view the work, the buyer has official ownership rights over the pieces.

The most popular NFT for the Djuma Game Reserve comes from Tlalamba. Tlalamba is a four-year-old leopard, a kind of large cat. She is a leading cat for her territory, which means she is called a queen. And she has had two babies, called cubs.

Buyers of the NFTs will get special access to images, videos and information about animals like Tlalamba on an app. They can talk to other NFT owners on that app. Buyers will also get voting rights for the names of Tlalambas cubs and the ability to buy the cubs future NFTs first.

Forty percent of the earnings go to taking care of the animals habitat, or where the animals live. Some $16,000 has been raised for the Djuma Game Reserve from the sale of 1,000 NFTs. Each NFT costs around $200.

Graham Wallington is the co-founder of WildEarth. He said the project allowed followers to gain a sense of responsibility in the protection of the animals they love. The project also offers a possible new, dependable, and environmentally friendly way to provide income for conservation around the world.

He said, "If we don't create the necessary economic incentives to conserve wildlife, it won't happen. Current conservation income comes mainly from hunting and people visiting the protected areas. He said these current ways harmed animals, their habitats, or were largely undependable during the pandemic.

He said, "We're going to have to find a solution which allows people at home to conserve nature in the wild."

Jurie Moolman is the owner of the Djuma Game Reserve. He said even visitors to the reserve can be harmful if a protected area has too many visitors. Djuma has closed its hotels.

He said that the reserve is trying to reduce its harmful effects to the earth. He added that organizations like WildEarth and the NFT program allow them to continue to share Djuma with people everywhere, while also keeping the habitat safe from harm.

The NFTs will however need to be continuously resold for them to become a dependable source of income for the reserves. Each time an NFT is resold, a percentage of that sale will go to the reserve. It is unknown if there will be a demand for this.

Even with this, Wallington is looking to expand. He hopes to sign up reserves in the countrys south. The homes of flightless birds called penguins and Kenyas large reserve called the Maasai Mara are both in the south.

He said, "We've got a plan to scale this, in our roadmap, to all conservation areas around the world.

Im Gregory Stachel.

Emma Rumney reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

conserve  v. to keep (something) safe or from being damaged or destroyed

access  n. a way of being able to use or get something

allow  v. to permit (something): to regard or treat (something) as acceptable

incentive  n. something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder

reserve  n. an area of land where animals and plants are given special protection

scale  v. to increase the size, amount, or extent of (something)

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Direct international flights to Indonesias popular vacation island of Bali have restarted after a break of nearly two years.

All arriving travelers who are fully vaccinated will be required to quarantine for five days in hotels or on boats offshore.

Officials announced in October that Bali would welcome foreign travelers from 19 nations. But there had been no direct international flights to the island until last Thursday. The first plane to arrive was a Garuda Indonesia flight from Tokyo.

Singapore Airlines said last week it would resume flights to Bali from Singapore starting on February 16.

Indonesia reported 27,197 new COVID-19 infections and 38 deaths Thursday in the latest 24-hour period. The country has seen more than 4.4 million total cases since the pandemic began.

The latest rise in virus cases, driven by the fast-spreading Omicron version, has mostly been centered in Indonesias capital, Jakarta. But infections recently increased significantly in Java and Bali, said Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the government minister leading COVID-19 efforts in those areas.

The island was closed to international flights after COVID-19 hit the worlds fourth most populous country in 2020.

Bali drew 6.2 million foreign visitors in 2019. Last year, the whole country recorded just 1.6 million foreign visitors, down 62 percent from 2020.

Tourism is the main source of income in Bali, which is home to more than 4 million people. Balis tourist areas were mostly empty 20 years ago after deadly terror attacks that targeted foreigners. But the island has worked to overcome that image.

Local officials say the reopening of Bali to travelers from all countries is a start to help repair the island's economy.

Indonesias Tourism and Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno, said the reopening will also serve as a trial as the government prepares to host G-20 events in Bali later this year. The G-20 is a grouping of the worlds largest 20 economies.

A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors planned for mid-February was supposed to be held in Bali. But the meeting has been moved to Jakarta because of the latest rise in COVID-19 cases.

Im Jonathan Evans.

The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English.

_____________________________________________

Words in This Story

quarantine  n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading

significant  adj. important or noticeable

tourism  n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

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Oregon will remove general mask requirements for indoor public places no later than March 31, the Oregon Health Authority announced Monday, Feb. 7.

Mask requirements will be kept in place for now while COVID-19 hospitalizations crest and the states health care system is strained, according to a news release.

Health officials said by late March, health scientists expect around 400 or fewer Oregonians to be hospitalized with COVID-19, which is the level of hospitalizations Oregon experienced before the omicron variant began to spread.

As of last week, 1,092 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Oregon.

Mask requirements for schools will be lifted March 31 to give time for schools to prepare for the transition. During the next few weeks, state health officials will work with Oregon Department of Education officials to revise guidance so schools can continue to operate safely and keep students in class after the mask requirements are lifted, according to the news release.

Oregon Republicans responded with an it's-about-time.

State Sen. Chuck Thomsen, R-Hood River, called the move "long overdue.

These metrics should have been put forward months ago, Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, said in a statement.

On Monday, Feb. 7, OHA filed a new rule with the Oregon Secretary of State to require masks indoors in public places. The new rule replaces a temporary rule set to expire Tuesday, Feb. 8. The news release said this was the only way to extend the current temporary mask rule past its expiration date until mask rules will no longer be needed.

Oregon has the third lowest cumulative COVID-19 case rate in the country and the seventh lowest COVID-19 death rate, according to OHA.

State health officials said scientific research shows that masks protect people from COVID-19, and Oregons strong compliance with mask rules and high vaccination and booster rates have, at the moment, blunted the omicron surge.

According to OHA, COVID-19 hospitalizations have not topped 1,178, which was the high point of the delta surge.

The evidence from Oregon and around the country is clear: masks save lives by slowing the spread of COVID-19, Dean Sidelinger, health officer and state epidemiologist, said in a statement. We should see COVID-19 hospitalizations drop by the end of March because so many Oregonians are wearing masks and taking other steps to protect themselves and each other, such as getting a booster shot or vaccinating their children. At that point, it will be safer to lift mask requirements.

According to OHA, over the past week, the average number of newly diagnosed cases has dropped around 40% in the state. Hospitalizations, which are a lagging indicator, have remained above 1,000 people per day.

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As of Monday, Oregons seven-day total in COVID-19 hospitalizations decreased 1% with 1,072 people reported as hospitalized with COVID-19. More than nine in ten intensive care unit and acute care beds are currently occupied by a patient in Oregon hospitals, according to OHA.

Current models predict hospitalizations will peak at 1,169 and then start to decline through February and March, according to the news release. State health officials said emerging from the omicron surge will still depend on Oregonians sustaining effective prevention measures in the coming weeks.

Were likely to see as many cases on the way down from the omicron peak as we saw on the way up, Sidelinger said. That means we need to keep taking steps to prevent more hospitalizations and deaths.

According to OHA, state health officials will consider lifting the mask requirement before March 31 if hospitalizations decrease to the projected end of March levels sooner than expected.

As of now, health experts strongly recommend that high-risk individuals continue to wear masks in indoor public settings after the mask requirements are lifted. These individuals include:

The unvaccinated.

The immunocompromised.

At a high risk of COVID-19 hospitalizations, like those with underlying health conditions and those 65 and older.

Living with people at high risk.

After requirements are lifted, employers and businesses can continue to have their own mask requirements for employees and customers, according to OHA.

The news release said more than 100 people testified at the indoor mask rule public hearing and gave written comments. According to OHA, a large part of the testimony brought up the following concerns:

Oregon being one of the few states with an indoor mask requirement.

Questioning the effectiveness of masks.

Mask rules infringing on personal choice.

Mask rules taking decisions away from local communities.

Maddie Pfeifer covers public safety for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6091 or Madison.Pfeifer@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @maddiepfeifer_
In the wake of reduction of Lincoln's airline service following departure of Delta Airlines, Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln has proposed a constitutional amendment that would give the city and the Lincoln Airport the authority to negotiate a minimum revenue guarantee agreement during the first months of new or expanded airline service.

The proposal (LR283CA), which would apply to all nine commercial passenger airports in the state, would need to be approved by Nebraska voters in the November general election to become effective.

During a public hearing last week, Bostar told the Legislature's Revenue Committee that the proposal would give airports "a tool to allow them to remain competitive within the modern air travel industry and provide for future development and expansion of air service critical to the state's economic success."

"Minimum revenue guarantees offered to airlines during the first months of new or expanded service helps to assure an airline that the effort they make in investing in a community is being met with a commitment from the airport and the community it serves," Bostar said.

Bostar's bill follows on the heels of departure of Delta Airlines from the Lincoln Airport, leaving Lincoln with passenger service solely provided by United Airlines with flights only to Chicago and Denver.

Delta service to Minneapolis ended on Jan. 10.

"LR283CA would permit the voters to determine if airports and communities in Nebraska should be equipped with this important tool to compete for air service in our modern market environment," Bostar told the committee.

"The reality of the air travel industry in 2022 is that airports across the country compete to attract and develop commercial air service," he said.

"To remain competitive, our communities and small-to-medium-sized airports will need access to this near-universally utilized tool."

LR283CA would "simply ask the voters to equip Nebraska's airports with what they need to compete for economically essential service for our communities," Bostar said.

The Lincoln Airport is engaged in a $55 million expansion and renovation of its passenger terminal.

Representatives of the Lincoln Airport Authority, the City of Lincoln, the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners, the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Lincoln Independent Business Association testified in support of Bostar's bill.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon
Baltimore is launching a long-awaited water discount program that will give city residents income-based financial assistance with their bills.

The program, known as Water4All, provides a monthly discount for water and sewer costs for some residents based on their income. Tenants who do not pay their water bills directly also will be eligible for water payment assistance.

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Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott announced the start of the program at a news conference Tuesday, calling it an important step in creating a more equitable Baltimore. Access to clean, affordable water should be considered a fundamental right, he said.

Water4All will be a game changer for our residents, Scott said.

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Water4All will use a rate schedule that caps bills at 1%, 2% or 3% of a customers income, depending on household size. The program, which takes effect immediately, is available to residents with incomes less than 200% of federal poverty level  a threshold of about $53,000 per year for a family of four.

Department of Public Works Director Jason W. Mitchell, left, with Mayor Brandon M. Scott to announce a new initiative that will provide water payment assistance to eligible Baltimore City residents. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

Tenants whose names are not on the water bills for the properties where they live must provide copies of their leases, stating they are responsible for water and sewer service fees, along with documentation of the amount they pay.

Water4All has been many years in the making. The program was mandated by the citys broader Water Affordability and Accountability Act, a sweeping piece of legislation designed to make changes to Baltimores long-dysfunctional water billing system. The Baltimore City Council passed the act in 2019 and it was due to take effect in July 2020. However, then-Mayor Bernard C. Jack Young, a Democrat, said the coronavirus pandemic complicated the process and delayed its implementation by a year.

In 2020, the City Council, then headed by Scott as council president, passed legislation calling for the implementation of the act to be accelerated. Under that legislation, new interim effective dates were created, including an April 1, 2021, deadline to publish proposed rules and regulations for Water4All. The entire act was due to be implemented by July 2021.

That July deadline was not met, and even with the implementation of Water4All now, pieces of the law remain unfinished. Most significantly, the city has yet to hire a customer advocate who is meant to head an independent dispute resolution process for water bills.

[ Baltimores high-tech water system has lost millions of dollars because thousands of customers arent being billed ]

Complaints of overbilling from customers of Baltimores water system have abounded for years, and the city has lagged in addressing requests for repairs. A December 2020 joint report from the Baltimore City and Baltimore County inspectors general found more than 8,000 open tickets for problem water accounts that had been unresolved, many of them for years at a time. The city-operated system serves both the city and Baltimore County.

James Bentley, a spokesman for Scott, said the city prioritized Water4All because it will assist residents in the greatest need.

This piece has the largest impact for residents who are struggling paying water bills, who are seeing rising costs, he said. That was the focus.

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Rianna Eckel, senior Maryland organizer of the group Food and Water Watch, praised Baltimore for establishing the program, one of only two in the country to provide income-based water affordability services. The other is in Philadelphia.

After years of steady rate increases, more than half of Baltimore City residents pay more than 3% of their household income for water  the international standard for affordable water service, Eckel said. Water rates for Baltimore customers have increased by 10% annually for the last three years, based on a schedule approved by the city Board of Estimates in 2019.

Eckel said Food and Water Watch expects Water4All to increase revenue to the city as residents receive more affordable bills. Currently, most customers who receive bills they cannot afford dont pay at all, Eckel said.

When water bills are affordable, she said, people pay them.

Still, affordable water advocates have concerns about the Water4All program as it is being implemented.

For instance, eligible tenants who are not named on their water bills but instead pay their landlords for water service will receive preloaded debit cards with the amount of their savings. The federal government considers that taxable income, and recipients of the program will receive 1099 forms from the government at the year, Eckel said.

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Eckel said the small infusion of income could be enough to make some recipients ineligible for other income-based benefits they receive from the government.

This goes against the premise of the program, Eckel said. Its not affordable if were taxing that.

[ Report finds broken equipment, unresolved water customer complaints cost Baltimore City, county millions ]

Scott said during the news conference Tuesday that the tax issue remains a concern.

We dont want to hurt our residents while trying to help them, he said.

Faith Leach, deputy mayor of equity, health and human services, said the tax issue will be disclosed to recipients of the funds, and city staff will receive training in benefits counseling to provide assistance to applicants who are at risk of losing benefits if they apply.

Long term, city officials plan to work on the issue with state and federal legislators, Leach said.

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When youre talking about a necessity  thats what water is  for residents in one of the wealthiest states in the wealthiest countries in the history of the world, this should not take away from any other benefits, Scott added. Thats why we have to push our other partners to understand that.

Water4All replaces Baltimores existing BH20 Assists and BH20 Plus assistance programs, which were closed to applicants in July. Applicants to Water4All can apply for assistance retroactively dating back to that month, Bentley said.

Tuesdays announcement came just ahead of the release of an audit report on the citys water billing operation. Due to be presented Wednesday to the Board of Estimates, the report shows the city has no process to collect delinquent funds owed by its customers. The system has about 400,000 water meters in the city and the county.

According to a draft copy of the audit, city officials have not been monitoring all billing complaints to make sure they are acknowledged within 48 hours and resolved within five business days  benchmarks in place during the audit of fiscal years 2019 and 2020. Officials with the Department of Public Works told auditors that they monitored the complaints of city customers, but not those in the county, to track how quickly they were handled.

Without monitoring the timeliness of resolving customer billing complaints, DPW cannot manage the operating effectiveness and adequacy of the workforce, city auditor Josh Pasch wrote.

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Additionally, officials did not monitor a report generated monthly that shows accounts that are overdue by 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or longer. Late notices are not sent to customers with overdue bills and accounts are not referred to the citys Law Department or collections agencies if overdue, according to the draft report.

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Pasch recommended city officials quantify the amounts, customers and months when water bills have not been paid and provide the information to city leaders.

DPW managers agreed with the recommendation, but said passive tools, such as delinquency charges, liens and termination of service, have been used before to collect on overdue accounts.

Some collection tools have been hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, DPW leaders wrote.

Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. issued executive orders in March 2020 saying neither jurisdiction would turn off water service for failure to pay during a state of emergency such as the pandemic.

Agency leadership continually monitors revenue and holds discussions internally about revenue collection practices, department managers wrote. Current collection practices have not had a material impact on the financial condition of any of the utility funds.

DPW collected $177 million in fiscal year 2019 in water payments. In fiscal year 2020, the total was $212 million.
United Way of Dane County, which has supported hundreds of local causes for a century, unveiled its 2022-23 investment decisions Tuesday  a large chunk of the $22.3 million amount will be devoted to racial health disparities for the first time.

The nonprofit, headquartered on Madisons East Side, is also funding the money it garners over its two-year investment cycle into initiatives that tackle problems such as homelessness, lack of access to educational opportunities and generational poverty, said Tim Bartholow, who is on the organizations board of directors and chairs the Vision Council.

The council helps coordinate the investment effort and has existed for about two decades.

The funding amount surpasses the nonprofits 2021 campaign goal of $18.1 million, which comes from an estimated tens of thousands of donors so far, said Karen Burch, United Way of Dane County vice president of community engagement and marketing.

United Way of Dane County amassed $18 million through 20,000 donors (600 of those being companies) in 2020. Since the nonprofits founding in 1922, the organization has raised just over a half a billion dollars overall to help address the regions most pressing issues. The entity has 70 full-time employees, and mobilized 700 volunteers in 2021 for its various projects and initiatives.

In May 2021, United Way of Dane County announced plans to confront racial health disparities over the next several years. While CEO Renee Moe said then that the organization had worked on uprooting the issue for more than three decades, it was important to make a formal commitment to the target.

The two goals of the new plan were to not only reduce racial health disparities, but expand supports for Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, Southeast Asian and other people of color who have faced psychological and physical trauma. The United Way of Dane Countys Health Community Solutions Team approved the plan in April 2021 after a year of analysis.

The nonprofit updates its strategies for addressing community needs in education, income and health about every five years.

The team found that people of color in Dane County are more likely to experience obesity, asthma, low birth-weights, death because of a stroke, death due to diabetes, infant mortality and mental illness.

Communities of color are also more likely to lack access to high-quality health care and experience higher amounts of stress, which has a detrimental impact on health, according to research by United Way. Stress can contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and eye disease.

Where the money is going

The organization will put $3.36 million into 29 programs that help youth decide career paths, promote literacy among minority and low-income students, spur leadership development and prompt social-emotional learning, among others.

The nonprofit is also investing $2.86 million into 38 efforts that meet the needs of families living doubled-up with other households, decrease homelessness and create pathways out of poverty.

Additionally, $2.4 million will go into 16 initiatives that promote health and wellness among Black, Latino, Hmong and Indigenous families, and $1.13 million will fund four programs to ensure that children under five experiencing poverty have access to resources that help them meet key developmental milestones.

Bartholow said United Way of Dane Countys investments are not only reflective of both the needs funding applicants, but trends  while the issues the nonprofit seeks to solve have existed for decades, the pandemic has been the microscope to spotlight just how much they continue to pervade, he said.

The rest of the money will be go toward 800 nonprofits ($5 million), United Way of Dane County services and budgets ($3.5 million), as well as the engagement and capacity building of volunteers and other efforts ($3.6 million).

Celebrating a century

The funding announcement comes as United Way of Dane County commemorates its 100-year anniversary.

A community celebration of the milestone is scheduled for March 3 at the Orpheum Theatre in Downtown  where the organization is expected to host a panel of local leaders to discuss its current campaign and future goals.

Additionally, American Family Insurance became the largest corporate donor last Tuesday to United Way of Dane County in its centurylong history.

The Madison-based mutual insurance company gave the nonprofit $5 million in the form of a corporate challenge grant thats expected to be matched by area companies in the coming weeks.

If weve learned anything over the last century, its that meaningful, measurable change doesnt happen alone, Moe said in a statement Tuesday.

And were so incredibly grateful to every community member who chooses to trust us with their hard-earned dollars! By investing in United Way, youre investing in families  and youre joining a community-wide effort to intentionally reduce systemic barriers to well-being that have enabled disparities to remain.

State Journal reporter Emily Hamer contributed to this report.

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A state prison inmate serving a 12-year sentence for the 2014 rape of a woman on Madisons South Side pleaded guilty Monday to two more assaults, both from 2010.

Mariono L. Weaver, 51, of Madison, pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree sexual assault for the Oct. 15 attack in Fitchburg and the Oct. 29 attack in the town of Madison. Each comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years of combined prison and extended supervision. A sentencing hearing was set for March 30.

In the Fitchburg incident, a woman told police that she met Weaver, whom she previously did not know, at a Fish Hatchery Road convenience store, according to a criminal complaint. She said the man told her how to get to Walmart, then offered her a ride after she started out for the store on foot.

But instead of taking her there, the complaint states, he drove her to a gravel road off Seminole Highway, raped her and drove off. She called police.

Weaver had been a suspect in the town of Madison assault, according to the complaint, but was not charged, even after the woman chose him from a photo lineup.

In that incident, the woman told police that she was waiting for a friend when a vehicle pulled up and a man asked if she could get him some smoke, meaning some marijuana. She got into the vehicle, and he told her he had some he could smoke with her, and drove her to an area near Carver and Balden streets, just outside of the Arboretum.

The woman said the man then offered her money for sex, and she agreed, she told police, but then he said he didnt have any money. Instead of paying her, she told police, he raped her and made threats, she said, that she feared meant he would kill her and dump her body in the woods.

Weaver was identified as a suspect in the cases from 2010 using DNA evidence accessed during a yearslong effort by the state Attorney Generals Office to process a backlog of untested rape kits. The office finished its review of the approximately 4,500 kits in November 2019.

Weavers DNA was also tied to two other reported sexual assaults  one in 2008 and a second one in 2014. Madison police said in 2019 that the alleged victim in the 2014 assault did not wish to pursue charges, while UW-Madison Police said the victim in the 2008 case had since died.

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Wisconsin lawmakers are considering legislation to make it easier to sell off public lands, raising concerns that the proposal could undermine trust from private donors whove helped preserve thousands of acres.

The bill would allow the sale of some lands purchased with Knowles-Nelson Stewardship funds, a program through which the Department of Natural Resources helps local governments and nonprofit organizations preserve land for nature-based use by the public.

Since its creation in 1989, the Knowles-Nelson program has been used to preserve more than 800,000 acres throughout the state, including places like the Pheasant Branch Conservancy and Cherokee Marsh.

Current law prohibits the sale of Knowles-Nelson lands without DNR approval, something the agency rarely grants.

Companion bills sponsored by a pair of northern Wisconsin Republicans would allow lands acquired through grants to nonprofit conservation groups and local governments to be sold for private use so long as the state grant is repaid.

Consumer group asks utility regulators to halt 'bridge to nowhere' Continued construction of the power line in the face of the challenges amounts to little more than an orchestrated train wreck," a federal judge said.

Groups including Clean Wisconsin, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited and the Wisconsin Bike Fed oppose the bill, which they say would compromise the stewardship program and the states outdoor economy.

Its a pretty significant departure from where the law stands now, said Charles Carlin, director of strategic initiatives for Gathering Waters, an alliance of more than 40 private land trusts. It undermines this incredibly popular conservation program.

While the bill would require repayment of state grants, theres no such provision for private donors who often put up half the funds to buy the land or people who sell at below-market prices with the expectation that land will be conserved for the public.

This bill is really about honoring the commitments weve made, said Peter Burress, government affairs manager for Wisconsin Conservation Voters.

Scott Walker appointee to lead Wisconsin natural resources board; Fred Prehn to stay on In a secret ballot, the board voted 4-3 Wednesday to appoint Greg Kazmierski to serve as chair for 2022.

Carlin notes the bill affects just a fraction of Wisconsins roughly 6 million acres of public land but would make it harder for conservation groups to help local governments acquire public lands.

Madison Audubon has used Knowles-Nelson funds to protect more than 2,700 acres, including the roughly 700-acre Goose Pond Sanctuary in Arlington. Executive director Matt Reetz said the limitations on future use are essential to securing matching funds.

It gives people the assurance that the conservation of that land is forever, Reetz said. You have that trust.

Conservation groups also warn the bill could create a perverse incentive to use stewardship funds as low-interest financing for land speculation.

If youve got a park and you conserved it 25 years ago and now the real estate value is 25 times what it was  you can sell it to a developer, Carlin said.

Fear tactics

The sponsors say they are simply trying to make it easier for grant recipients to get rid of land that no longer meets their needs  something thats currently burdensome and rarely ever approved, said Sen. Mary Felzkowski of Irma.

No one is required to sell their stewardship land, said Rep. Calvin Callahan, R-Tomahawk. We are simply attempting to make it easier for those who no longer need the land for their own conservancy goals.

The DNR estimates about 10 properties would be sold off each year if the bill is passed.

DNR spokesperson Sarah Hoye said the agency has not approved the sale of any land bought with Knowles-Nelson funds but has approved some land swaps in cases where the land was subject to eminent domain or otherwise sold to a utility or the state Department of Transportation.

Under the bill, a county or other landowner would simply have to notify the agency, pay back the grant with interest and keep the land open until its sold.

In comments submitted to an Assembly committee last week, Felzkowski said her office has received an influx of calls from people concerned she is gutting the stewardship program.

This is incredibly far from the truth, and were extremely disappointed with these fear tactics, said Felzkowski, who accused opponents of being more concerned with protecting their business than preserving healthy ecosystems.

Boy Scout site

Collin Driscoll, an aide to Felzkowksi, said the bill was drafted in response to a request from Langlade County, which is seeking to sell part of a former Boy Scout camp it bought about five years ago with Knowles-Nelson funds.

County Administrator Jason Hilger said the board wants the option to sell some of the 652 acres to fund improvements on the rest.

I understand some (people) may not like what were proposing, Hilger said. Why couldnt we sell a few lots to help develop the rest of the property?

There are better ways to patch local budgets, said Mike Kuhr, state council chair for Wisconsin Trout Unlimited. Selling off public lands is a short-term fix, an economic band-aid that robs future generations of their outdoor recreation rights and prevents the expansion of our sustainable outdoor recreation economy.

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Several voting advocacy groups, city officials and disabilities rights organizations on Monday railed against a package of GOP bills that would, among other measures, allow a legislative committee to cut funding for a handful of state departments, including the state elections commission, if they fail to comply with Wisconsin election laws.

The fast-tracked bills come amid rising scrutiny among Republicans over the Wisconsin Elections Commissions handling of the 2020 election, which saw President Joe Biden defeat former President Donald Trump by close to 21,000 votes. The Wisconsin bills also align with a nationwide GOP effort to clamp down on election processes following unfounded claims by some Republicans, including Trump, of fraud in the 2020 election. The GOP-led Legislature hopes to vote on the measures before it adjourns from session by as early as the end of this month.

The Senate elections committee took more than six hours of testimony Monday on the 10 bills, which could be headed for a veto by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, and a joint resolution that would put before voters a constitutional amendment that would ban the use of private grant funding to administer elections. A constitutional amendment would need to pass the Senate and Assembly in two successive sessions before being decided by voters in a general election.

While the governor cannot veto a constitutional amendment, Evers tweeted Sunday, I wont do anything that makes it harder for eligible voters to vote. Thats a promise, signaling a likely rejection of several of the 10 proposed bills.

Matthew Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, took aim at one bill that would require the elections commission to submit weekly reports to the Republican-controlled legislative rules committee detailing any documents or guidance issued by the agency to local election officials, which he said sets up the commission to be nit-picked and hyper-monitored.

Are you going to allow the elections commission to do its job, or are you going to kill it by a thousand cuts? Rothschild said.

Another proposed bill would give the Joint Committee on Finance the final say over how the elections commission spends any federal funds allocated to the agency and require the bipartisan commissions lawyers to be partisan attorneys appointed by Republican and Democratic leaders.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, who introduced that bill alongside Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said giving the GOP-led budget committee oversight over federal funds aims to improve and protect the integrity of future elections by increasing accountability and transparency and requiring the commission to hire partisan lawyers would make our appointees more informed in the process by having someone on their side interpreting the law for them.

Legislation questioned

Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, questioned the bill as what she described as an effort by the Legislature to micromanage state elections.

The processes we have in place are working and I believe a number of these bills would undermine the integrity of our current elections processes, Cronmiller added.

Committee chair and former elections clerk Sen. Kathy Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, did raise concern over a bill proposed by Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, that would give the GOP-led budget committee the ability to enforce staffing cuts or reduce agency funding at the state elections commission or departments of Transportation, Corrections and Health Services if the departments fail to comply with election-related laws.

My concern is that the penalty goes to the staff, the people trying to run elections, when the decision is made by an appointed commission, Bernier said.

Bernier, who is not seeking another term this fall, said some of the measures will likely be amended before they reach the full legislative chambers, but acknowledged all the proposals could very well be vetoed.

I want to make sure that when theres a Republican governor, they will sign the bills that yours truly has pretty much perfected, Bernier said.

2020 results

The results of the 2020 election have been confirmed by county canvassing boards, recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties, post-election audits by local and state election authorities and a voting equipment audit by the elections commission. Reviews by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty found ways in which elections could be improved but no evidence of widespread fraud. Multiple court rulings have also found no evidence of irregularities.

The constitutional amendment that would bar the state from receiving private funds to help administer elections follows mounting Republican criticism over private election grants provided to cities in 2020 by the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, that they say were used to unfairly increase turnout in the Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine.

Court rulings have found nothing illegal about the more than $10 million in grants CTCL distributed to about 214 municipalities in 39 of Wisconsins 72 counties, including many in areas solidly won by Trump. Nor did CTCL turn down grant requests from any of the Wisconsin municipalities that made them.

Other bills

Other GOP bills would limit who could claim indefinitely confined status, exempting from the requirement to provide a photo ID with each election; and bar election clerks from filling in any missing information on a voters absentee ballot envelope.

The package also would prohibit special voting deputies from being barred from assisting nursing home residents with casting absentee ballots unless a public health emergency is in place or the facility is closed due to infectious disease  at which point personal care voting assistants must be trained to assist residents.

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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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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday that he wont run for the U.S. Senate, removing a potential challenge to Democratic incumbent Chris Van Hollen that national Republicans believed could have helped them secure control of the Senate in the November elections.

When I pledged to the people of Maryland that I was going to give this job as governor everything Ive got every single day that Im given, I meant it, the governor said during a news conference at the State House in Annapolis. And that commitment is far more important to me than any political campaign.

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The second-term governors decision was a setback in the GOPs fight to seize the Senate majority this fall. The Senate is deadlocked 50-50, but Democrats control the chamber because Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaking vote.

There are 34 Senate seats up this November, but fewer than a dozen are considered competitive. Republicans need a net gain of just one seat to flip the chamber from blue to red.

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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday that he wont run for U.S. Senate at a briefing in Annapolis. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun)

Given his popularity in Maryland, the 65-year-old Hogan, a critic of former GOP President Donald Trump, instantly would have become a legitimate contender against Van Hollen, even in a state Trump lost by 32 percentage points in 2020.

I sincerely appreciate the people who have been encouraging me to consider it, Hogan said. A number of people said they thought I could make a difference in the Senate as a voice for common sense and moderation. I was humbled by that, and it certainly gave me and my family reason to consider it but, as I have repeatedly said, I dont aspire to be a senator and that fact has not changed.

Van Hollens Senate office referred a request for comment to his reelection campaign.

As we have said time and again, Senator Van Hollen is ready to go up against whoever [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell recruits, said campaign spokesman Keith Presley in a statement.

Hogan has not ruled out a presidential run in 2024. He flirted with a presidential bid in the 2020 race but decided instead to start a national nonprofit advocacy organization called An America United.

In January of 2023, Ill have plenty of time to think about what the future holds, he said Tuesday. I think the worlds going to be a different place a year from now.

A Senate candidacy could have had a downside if Hogan wants to later run for president.

The loss is the obvious risk, said Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College.

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She said forgoing the Senate contest also could allow him to spend time directly enhancing his national profile so he can raise money and win votes on a larger scale.

He doesnt need to build name recognition in Maryland. He needs name recognition in New Hampshire or Iowa, Kromer said. Its also about building networks with national donors.

There was no immediate reaction from the Republican National Committee about Hogans Senate decision.

An aide to McConnell referred questions to political strategist John Ashbrook, a former McConnell aide, who did not return messages.

GOP efforts to recruit the governor included McConnells wife, Elaine Chao, who held Cabinet positions in the administrations of presidents Donald Trump and George W. Bush. She encouraged a Senate bid during a private lunch with Hogans wife, Yumi Hogan, at Government House in Annapolis, which Hogan briefly attended.

A handful of senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, reached out to Hogan to encourage him to run.

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There are no other high-profile Republican contenders in Marylands Senate contest; Hogan said Tuesday that he would have won the seat if hed run. The filing deadline is Feb. 22.

Few believed Hogan would run for the Senate, so this is not a big surprise, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Maryland Policy & Politics Weekdays Keep up to date with Maryland politics, elections and important decisions made by federal, state and local government officials. >

Had Hogan run, though, it would have created a competitive race Sabato said. National Republicans would have been delighted, since Maryland would otherwise have been seen as safe for the incumbent. Van Hollen is now strongly favored to hold the seat.

After Hogans announcement, state Democrats took a political swipe at the governor.

Our focus remains on getting Democrats elected, not Gov. Hogans future endeavors, said Eva Lewis, the Maryland Democratic Party executive director, in a statement. However, we do hope that now he will find more time in his schedule of appearing on cable news shows to do his job.

Hogan said he had notified McConnell and Van Hollen of his decision.

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Hogan has just under one year left in his final four-year term as governor. Due to term limits, he cannot run again for governor.

Van Hollen, 63, was elected in 2016 to the Senate, replacing Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Baltimore, who was retiring. The Montgomery County resident served before that in the U.S. House of Representatives, the state Senate and the House of Delegates.

Baltimore Sun reporter Meredith Cohn and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Jerome Chazen, a UW-Madison graduate who went on to co-found Liz Claiborne Inc., and donated $25 million to fund the expansion of the campus art museum named after him and his wife, died Sunday at age 94.

Jerry was deeply devoted to the arts and to education, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a press release, adding that Chazen was someone who found great joy in introducing new audiences to the art world.

His commitment to UWMadison will live on in the Chazen Museum of Art and the many lives he touched, she said.

The free museum at 750 University Ave., near Park Street, was founded as the Elvehjem Art Center in 1970 and became the Elvehjem Museum of Art in 1978.

It was renamed the Chazen in 2005 after Jerry and Simona Chazen, his wife of 72 years, made the lead gift in the museums expansion in 2011.

The couple met when they were attending UW.

The Chazen is the largest collecting museum in the Big Ten and the second-largest art museum in Wisconsin.

I am deeply saddened by the news of Jerry Chazens passing, said museum director Amy Gilman. Since my arrival at the Chazen in 2017, Jerry was instrumental in providing guidance and support as I navigated my role as director and I will miss his candor and wisdom. He was a force in every part of his life  business, family, art collecting, philanthropy  and perhaps his most profound legacy will be his everlasting pursuit of his passions.

As alumni, in the 1980s, the Chazens became active with the Elvehjem. By 1997, Simona had joined its advisory council. In 2000, the couple made their first gift of art to the museum, Harvey Littletons Red Squared Descending Form (1982).

Together they served on the museums advisory council for more than 20 years. The Chazens gave many works of art to the museum and a large part of their remarkable collection will eventually enter the collection, according to UW-Madison.

Chazen was born in New York City and got his bachelors degree in economics from the UW in 1948. He credited a UWMadison art history course with awakening his interest in the visual arts.

A funeral service will be held at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday Eastern Time at Riverside Memorial Chapter in Manhattan and via livestream at www.legacycelebrated.com/jerome-chazen/.

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The Madison Police Department will host a series of public discussions on body-worn cameras after the City Council last month approved another delay in the citys years-long debate over whether to adopt a technology that has become increasingly common in American police departments.

Advance registration is required for the first, in-person event Thursday at UW-Madisons Memorial Union, but there will be free pizza.

Guests will look at case studies and research, participate in hands-on activities and engage in honest and facilitated discussions about body-worn cameras, the department said in a statement, and patrol officers and department brass will be there to talk about the cameras impact on their work.

The program is designed to build mutual understanding about the use of technology in law enforcement, the department said. Body-worn cameras hold officers accountable for wrongdoings and could save a lot of time during investigations.

If you go The Madison Police Department is hosting a series of public meetings to address body-worn cameras. THURSDAY 6:30 to 9 p.m., UW-Madison Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St. Pre-registration is required at surveys.axon.com/s3/MPDST and space is limited. Check in Thursday at the information desk for a room number. FEB. 17 6:30 to 9 p.m. via Zoom. Sign up at surveys.axon.com/s3/MPDST. The Zoom link will be provided the day of the event. FEB. 24 6:30 to 8 p.m., MPD Training Center, 5702 Femrite Drive. MARCH 3 Via Zoom, details TBD.

Madison police leadership and the officers union have long been in support of adopting the cameras, but local police-reform activists have opposed them, citing the desire to reduce funding for law enforcement and research that doesnt show the cameras are associated with reduced use of force by police, which is already low in Madison.

An online event will take place Feb. 17 and there will be second in-person event Feb. 24 at the police departments training center. A second online event will take place March 3. Its details havent been announced yet.

The council has approved $83,000 in funding for a body camera pilot project, but on Jan. 18 members opted to delay a decision on starting it until April after the mayor and council leadership asked police to conduct more public engagement on the cameras. Council president Syed Abbas is in favor the pilot, but Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway has repeatedly refused to take a position on the use of the cameras.

A resolution authorizing the pilot is slated to return to the council on April 19, with the three-month delay giving police time to comply with an ordinance adopted in 2020 covering the use and purchase of surveillance equipment. One provision in the ordinance requires a city agency to hold a public meeting on new surveillance technology if the mayor or council leadership request such a meeting, according to the city attorneys office.

In January 2021, the third and most recent Madison city committee to study body cameras since 2014 made a caveat-laden recommendation to adopt them.

Among other things, the committee called on the city to first implement scores of recommendations from earlier reviews of the department and conduct a rigorous, randomized controlled trial camera pilot program, as well as ensure that the Dane County District Attorneys Office  over which the city has no formal control  has implemented policies related to the use of the cameras.

The technology hasnt been quite so contentious in other places. About half of all U.S. departments had them as of 2016, according to a 2018 U.S Justice Department report. Among departments, such as Madisons, with between 500 and 999 personnel, about 80% had acquired the cameras and about 63% were using them to some degree.

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KIMBERLY  A man who police suspected was taking a kidnapped 18-year-old woman to Las Vegas was arraigned on drug charges in Twin Falls Monday.

Billy Joe Gerst, 35, was arraigned in Twin Falls County court on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors. Police initially arrested Gerst on suspicion of kidnapping, but as of Monday he was only charged with the drug offenses.

Kimberly Police Chief Jeff Perry said they received an alert from Idaho State Police to be on the lookout for Gerst and the 18-year-old after her mother reported her daughter said she was being held in a car by a man with a gun. The car was headed from Boise toward Twin Falls. Police requested the cellphone be pinged to find it, and dispatchers used information from the mother that the teen sent in texts to help find the car at milepost 1 on Idaho Highway 50 near Kimberly.

Just before 5 a.m., Kimberly Police were at Red Cap Corner  Idaho 50 and 3500 East  when they spotted a car flashing its lights at them before continuing on to U.S. Highway 30. Police followed the car, which pulled over, court records said.

Police said the woman was driving and complied with their requests to get out of the car, but when they shouted commands at Gerst, he didnt respond. The woman told police Gerst said he had a gun and was passed out in the car.

Police blocked Kimberly Road for about a half hour while responding.

Gerst finally got out of the car when officers said they had a police dog with them, court records said. Several times, police said, he reached down toward his pants and sweatshirt pocket, which had a bulge in it. When searched, police did not find a gun on Gerst or in the car, court records said. After police told Gerst he was under arrest on suspicion of kidnapping, he requested an attorney.

Police reported finding a bag of marijuana in a compartment behind the stereo and a pipe on the passenger-side floor in the car.

When police asked the 18-year-old to explain what happened, she said she had gone to a friends house who had moved in with Gerst. He began joking he was going to take her to Las Vegas because she had just turned 18, she said. At first she thought nothing of it, but soon became nervous when he continued talking about it at a gas station where they had gone to get snacks, court records said.

Back in the car, she said, Gerst said things that made her feel like she couldnt leave and groped her several times as he drove, court records said.

By the time the two were in Mountain Home, she told police, she had to grab the wheel several times as Gerst began to pass out. She said she began to feel trapped and believed he would shoot her if she tried to leave and was only able to text her mother when Gerst would fall asleep or pass out, court records said.

Eventually, Gerst pulled over somewhere before Wendell and switched seats so the woman began to drive. She told police she was nervous they wouldnt notice her flashing her lights as she passed by their patrol car.

A pretrial conference for Gerst is set for March 22.

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Q: Is the dead space the space where sediment goes in the reservoir? I also noticed that the Salmon Falls Dam is listed in the National Inventory of Dams as one with a high hazard potential. Do you know if there are any plans to address the infrastructure issues causing the high hazard designation?

A: For every reservoir, space within the reservoir is generally broken into useable space (active storage) and unusable space (dead storage), according to the Bureau of Reclamation public affairs. Active storage is that space in the reservoir that can be used to store water and that can be released later when needed. The release of this active storage is controlled by the outlet works of the dam. Dead storage stores some water and is located at an elevation below active storage. Water cannot be released because of the elevation of the outlet works. Depending on the type of reservoir and the purpose of the dam, the amount of dead storage is a function of how the dam was constructedor in some casesspecifically designed to capture sedimentation that can occur over time.

Salmon Falls Dam near Rogerson is privately owned by the Salmon Dam Canal Company. It is a large dam inspected and regulated by the Idaho Dam Safety Office.

The National Inventory of Dams (NID) is listing this dam as high hazard potential in fair condition, said Adoratia Purdy, a public affairs specialist for Dam and Levee Safety, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Common practice among federal and state dam safety offices is to classify a dam according to the potential impact a dam failure (breach) or mis-operation (unscheduled release) would have on upstream and/or downstream areas or at locations remote from the dam. These classifications attempt to classify dams according to the potential impacts from a dam failure or mis-operation, should it occur. Dams assigned the high hazard potential classification are those where failure or mis-operation will probably cause loss of human life. The hazard potential classification does not indicate the condition of the dam.

According to the NID, the Salmon Falls Dam was inspected in May 2020 and received the fair condition assessment. The NID Data Dictionary defines fair as no existing dam safety deficiencies are recognized for normal operating conditions. Rare or extreme hydrologic and/or seismic events may result in a dam safety deficiency. Risk may be in the range to take further action. Note: Rare or extreme event is defined by the regulatory agency based on their minimum applicable state or federal criteria. Note: A dam safety deficiency is defined as a load capacity limit or other issue that can result in a failure of the dam or appurtenant structure. It is a characteristic or condition that does not meet the applicable minimum regulatory criteria. Normal operations are defined as loading on the dam resulting from day-to-day pool operations to achieve authorized purposes in accordance with minimum state or federal regulatory criteria, Purdy said.

South-central Idaho's high hazard dams Blaine County 9 dams, 5 are high hazard: Little Wood River, Magic, Fish Creek, Trail Creek, Magic Spillway Camas County 4 dams, 1 is high hazard: Mormon Cassia County 7 dams, 3 are high-hazard: Oakley, Sublett, Minikdoak South Dike Gooding County 9 dams, 2 are high-hazard: Bliss, Lower Salmon Jerome County 6 dams, none are high hazard Lincoln County No dams Minidoka County 1 dam, 1 is high hazard: Minidoka Twin Falls County 19 dams, 3 are high hazard: Salmon Falls, Cedar Creek, Murtaugh Lake

According to National Inventory of Dams, the average dam age for Twin Falls County is 77 years. All high hazard dams have an emergency action plan.

The term hazard is applied to the potential downstream consequences (damages) that likely would occur in the event the dam was to fail and release its contents in an uncontrollable fashion, said John Falk, dam safety manager for the Idaho Department of Water Resources. The hazard classification does not have any bearing on the condition of the dam, or how well it is maintained and operated. High hazard potential dams must be properly maintained and safely operated at all times because the consequences of a failure would be so devastating (loss of lifethink of Teton Dam). The other two hazard assignments are low and significant.

To expand on your question, the probability of failure due to seismic, runoff, or design/construction flaws must also be considered when assessing any dam, Falk said.

When considering the safety of dam(s) the pair (hazard & probability) are examined together, and then used to arrive at a determination for risk. There is a whole endeavor dedicated to risk analysis that likely can be better explained than I can here. For example, insurance companies typically base their rates on actuary graphs/tables which resemble risk computations applied to dams.

But the basic guideline to remember is that high hazard dams must have a low probability of failure, and the corresponding risk to downstream life and property must fit within an accepted (often predetermined) range of permissible values. Otherwise, actions must be taken to reduce the risk. Hazard can be mitigated to some degree (move people out of the flood zone), but the more tangible option is to work to reduce the probability of failure by improving the condition and/or operation of the dam, Falk said.

Have a question? Just ask and well find an answer for you. Email your question to Kimberly Williams Brackett at timesnewscuriousmind@gmail.com with Curious Mind in the subject line.

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Put this in the category of wishful thinking, but there may be a way for President Biden to turn around his sagging approval ratings. And, for those who may be interested, to keep former President Trump out of the White House in 2025.

Heres the roadmap: Republicans need to win at least one (preferably both) house of Congress in this years mid-term elections. My thinking (or maybe wishful thinking) is that that Biden would be more effective working with a Republican Congress than he has been with a Democratic majority. If that ends up playing out, with Biden uniting the country, there would be no stopping him from re-election in 2024.

Does that sound crazy? Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, for one, doesnt think so  although hell reject any notion about Bidens favorable chances in 2024. Crapo backs Donald Trump all the way and welcomes any help the former president can give to Republicans during the mid-term campaigns.

But the senator has given some thought to what might have happened if elections in Georgia went the other way and Republicans maintained control of the Senate.

Ive believed that if he had to deal with a Republican Senate, he would have been a different kind of president, Crapo told me in a conversation at his

Boise office. But I dont know that for sure.

What we all know is that Biden doesnt need to give Republicans the time of day with Democrats holding slim majorities in both houses.

We do know that when he was campaigning and got elected that he said he would be everybodys president and that he wanted to work with Republicans. And we also know that he hasnt done any of that, Crapo said. He is catering almost exclusively to the far left extreme wing of his base.

And what weve seen is that Democrats  as with Republicans when they have a majority  cant seem to govern effectively. Biden pushed through an infrastructure bill with the help of some Republicans (including Crapo), but he has been unable to get all Democrats on board on other high-profile agenda items  including Build Back Better and voting rights.

As Crapo sees it, there is room for Biden to work with Republicans.

Republicans are being falsely accused of trying to stop innovation and trying to control elections, which the reverse is true, by the way, Crapo said. The Republicans position on issue after issue  whether its tax policy, health care policy or what have you  are being falsely portrayed and the media is picking up that talk on the national level. The accusation is that Republicans wont work with (Democrats) and that plays out on issue after issue. Republicans are very willing to find areas where a consensus can be built, but right now this administration will not do that.

But if Republicans were in charge, at least in the Senate, Biden would have a choice. He could get nothing done in the last two years of his term, and go down in history has a do nothing president, or become the old dealmaker that he was during his years in the Senate.

He had a record of being able to make deals (with Republicans), says Crapo, who served with Biden in the Senate. Crapo well remembers Vice President Biden working out a deal with Sen. Mitch McConnell on a budget compromise years ago.

So, there may be a ray of hope. I hope so, Crapo says.

In the immediate future, Crapos focus will be on winning re-election (not much suspense there) and helping Republicans regain control of the Senate. If that happens, Crapo will be back as chairman of the Finance Committee. Crapo says he has a bill that could be a game-changer for cancer care, a prescription-drug bill that will cut costs without government price fixing and an energy bill aimed at reducing dependence on foreign oil and gas.

He might be able to make headway on those issues with Biden the dealmaker, opposed to the president who panders to the left and basically ignores anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders.

There we go with more wishful thinking.

Chuck Malloy is a longtime Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com.

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The matter at hand: Where will the future litigation proceedings on reversion be held and who will hear them.

The verdict: Before a three-judge panel in Martinsville Circuit Court.
As the Virginia Department of Health predicted last week, the number of COVID-19 cases statewide, as well as regionally, is in decline as the omicron variant plays itself out.

With overall indicators trending downward, health officials say, masking will become less of an issue in the weeks and months to come, and the personal health and safety will become more incumbent on each individual.

Were seeing the numbers drop as expected, hospitalizations are dropping and the overall cases in Virginia are down, said Health Director Dr. Noelle Bissell, assigned to the New River Valley Public Health Task Force, during a virtual Virginia Department of Health briefing on Monday. More options with vaccinations are coming, and therapeutics are continuing to evolve.

Bissell said there is currently no variant on the horizon that has been identified as significant.

Although the VDH COVID-19 dashboard showed 13 new deaths in the district over the weekend, 10 were in Franklin County and attributed to a lag in the accounting and a correction in the assignment of where those deaths actually occurred. There were also three new deaths reported in the same period in Henry County.

Henry County continues to lead the district in deaths due to Covid with 224, followed by Franklin County with 155, Martinsville at 103 and Patrick County with 78.

Henry County has had 499 hospitalizations since the pandemic began, followed by Franklin County with 319, Martinsville at 190 and Patrick County with 141.

In total, Henry County has had 10,525 cases of Covid, followed by Franklin County with 10,139, Patrick County with 3,299 and Martinsville with 2,983.

We generally know those who have the worst outcomes are those that are older, have significant morbidity factors and are unvaccinated, Bissell said.

The 7-day average number of new daily cases reported per 100,000 population statewide has dropped from 77 to 64. In the West Piedmont District, Patrick County decreased from 107 to 98, Franklin County is at 88, down from 100, Henry County is down from 112 to 69, and Martinsville boasts the lowest average in the district at 64, down from 76.

As is typical across the state, localities with the lowest number of cases have the highest vaccination rates and Martinsville not only has the lowest average of new cases, but the highest percentage of those who are fully vaccinated.

In the state, 70% of the population is fully vaccinated. Martinsville is at 57%, Henry County is at 49%, Franklin County is 48% and Patrick County is at 41%.

A lot of areas have begun relaxing masking restrictions and a lot of schools have made masking optional, and they havent shown a significant exponential spread in schools, said Bissell. Were in a different place now. We have immunity from prior cases, wonderful vaccines, therapeutics and areas that have very high mask compliance have numbers that are no different from other areas.

The entire state is classified at a high level of transmission of the virus, meaning that the percentage of COVID-19 tests that returned a positive is greater than 10. Statewide, that number is 21%. Martinsville has shown a recent spike in positive tests, reflected in its 50% rate, while Franklin County is 33% and Henry and Patrick counties are at 26%.

Of the 6,857 outbreaks statewide, 69 have occurred in the West Piedmont Health District.

The district has had 27,012 total cases, 1,149 hospitalizations and 564 deaths.

Statewide, there have been 1,588,958 cases, 47,232 hospitalizations and 17,227 deaths due to COVID-19.

In the U.S. there have been 76 million COVID-19 cases and 905,544 deaths. Worldwide there have been 397 million cases and 5.7 million deaths as reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Said Bissell: Masking has become such a polarizing issue and its a shame. We need to empower people to live their lives within their own risk tolerance.

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 2360. Follow him @billdwyatt.

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